Flag: Trump has dissolved his Voter Fraud Commission, citing the refusal of states to provide relevant info. pic.twitter.com/EG4oQtQ1EH
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 3, 2018
Give a call to your state’s governors and secretaries of state tomorrow morning. For those who refused to share information with this voter suppression commission, thank them. For those that did share your information, give them a piece of your mind.
Open thread
Mike in DC
Next battle will be the census, and redistricting.
Jeffro
Great point and will do, David. It will be nice to make a positive phone call or two for a change
Patricia Kayden
Why is DHS being tasked with looking into voting matters? Very strange.
O. Felix Culpa
Excellent news to begin the new year. Another victory for the resistance. Celebrate and keep fighting.
germy
B.B.A.
@Patricia Kayden: Well he can’t put the (failing, sad, fakenews) DOJ on it.
lgerard
kobach will be to busy running for governor, this “commission” was just to give him something to do and to keep him in the public eye in the interim.
encephalopath
As someone at LGM noted, a Federal judge just ruled that the commission was required to share all its documents with the Democratic members.
They couldn’t hide what they were up to anymore so it was time to pull the plug. Oh, well…
Another Scott
I wonder if this had anything to do with it. Hmmm?
MotherJones (from October):
Something something discovery something something?
Cheers,
Scott.
encephalopath
Speaking of transparency and the power of investigation, what would a Democratic House be able to do to Scott Pruitt and Ryan Zinke? I’d like to find out. Those two are running their agencies like an organized crime boss would.
My guess is that a stack of congressional subpoenas would lead directly to their resignations in short order.
Lizzy L
The CA Sec of State, Alex Padilla, put out a statement on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/CASOSvote/status/948720444391047168
If you want to call, his number is 916-653-6814
geg6
Wolf and Shapiro stood firm and will get a big sloppy kiss of a call.
Peej
Auto Sales End a 7-Year Upswing
Chink in the economy’s armor. As an aside, I’ve been thinking that there is going to be a significant dip in online and retail sales relative to recent post-holiday years as I’m convinced a majority of excited right wingers shot their wads in 2017 and will be spending most of 2018 in a credit card hangover, paying down all those yuuuuuge balances.
Doug R
Woot
sdhays
@encephalopath: That’s exactly what I thought when I read this. Daylight will not be kind to their “work”…
O. Felix Culpa
@Lizzy L:
Excellent statement. Pulls no punches.
Karen
Pardon my cynicism but I don’t believe it.
Omnes Omnibus
@Karen: What don’t you believe?
Steve in the ATL
@Karen: I swear it’s not butter
oldster
The NYT says this on their front page:
“Mr. Trump signed an executive order to disband the commission, ending its inquiry into his false claims of voter fraud.”
I am glad that they clearly label his claims as false.
Quinerly
OT. Lost in today’s news. Rachel is covering this right now: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/367303-trump-picks-giuliani-law-partner-to-replace-preet-bharara
Another Scott
@Karen: You’re right to be cynical.
I think this only indicates they’re moving inside the DOJ (or whatever) to try to avoid the lawsuits and discovery and all the other issues. They’re no doubt going to try to “prove” the “voter fraud” in the last election and drum up talking points for more voter suppression laws. That seems clear to me.
But shutting this Kobach atrocity down is a good thing.
Cheers,
Scott.
Fair Economist
@Peej: Calculated Risk provides a monthly chart of economic status by state. In the last report, something like 12 states were declining or flat. That doesn’t sound too bad, but it’s actually a fairly good indicator of recession. Over the past 40 years, it’s never been that low unless we were either headed into or recovering from recession. The writer of CR himself is still bullish FWIW but he admits he doesn’t have an explanation. There was a dip in 2015 driven mostly by the oil crash. This one is broad-based; still some trouble in the oil patch, but also in a couple of important non-resource states like Michigan and New Jersey.
Raoul
Bad news.
Corrupt as shit.
dww44
Don’t know if Raven has yet decided to sell or not his tickets to Monday’s UGA/AL football game in Atlanta, but the AJC sent out a news bulletin this afternoon that Trump will be attending the game. It seems that Pence’s Chief of Staff is a Georgian and has invited the President and the First Lady. This could mean really really big bucks for those tickets, if he still wants to sell.
Quinerly
@Raoul: More on this: http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/03/politics/interim-us-attorneys/index.html
MobiusKlein
Makes me suspect there is some vital information in the documents they were ordered to share.
So important they would shut it all down rather than share them. Is it possible to get those docs still, or would a court call it moot?
Mary G
Shutting down Kobach’s commission is a good thing, but they’ll just tell their idiotic base that the Deep State did it because they can’t handle the truth and they’ll buy it.
Baud
@encephalopath:
So having them on did some good? Good.
Raoul
@Patricia Kayden: It may well be bullshit. The WH cannot admit the ‘investigation ‘ is over, so this will go to a dept that, like all Trump depts, is incompetent.
But Hannity et al can bang on about the ‘pending’ DHS investigation.
Yabba
What fresh hell is this?
Tasking DHS to “review the issues and determine next courses of action” does not sound benign. They’ll just claim “National Security!!” to hide everything they want to do…
Steeplejack
** Omnes Alert **
A Fistful of Dollars coming up on TCM at 9:30 p.m. EST. Crisp print, no commercials, not edited for length, format or content. I was informed last time that alerts would need to be issued.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: Duly noted. Thank you.
ThresherK
@Peej:
Whatever favor you wish to ask in exchange for not using that metaphor again shall be considered.
encephalopath
@Steeplejack:
Forbidden Planet was on earlier today, which is astonishingly good for 50s scifi.
Adam L Silverman
@Patricia Kayden: DHS coordinates election security issues, specifically cyber security, with the states.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I accidentally cut’n’pasted the whole internet into a comment. If a front-pager could delete it, I would feel slightly less stupid
Adam L Silverman
@Peej: Apparently the 2018 devastation of retail stores and sales is going to make 2017’s look like a kid’s party.
Adam L Silverman
@Steve in the ATL:
Steeplejack
@Steeplejack:
Oh, dear, the actual title is Fistful of Dollars. My spidey sense was tingling slightly, but I went with my cable system’s on-screen guide and TCM’s program notes. Tsk.
hellslittlestangel
“If you won’t let me beat you up, I refuse to fight you!”
Steeplejack
@encephalopath:
A classic for good reason.
NCSteve
It’s good news of a sort. But it’s also so obviously another crude, brazen, typically Trumpian stupid attempt to cover up outright criminality that you have to laugh. No doubt they’ll be moving to dismiss the thirteen lawsuits as totally, completely moot, believe me, tomorrow. And when that fails, the arguments they make during the discovery motions should be a hoot.
jl
Impeach, convict and remove the miserable jackass before he gets a bunch of people killed for no reason.
Jeffro
@Adam L Silverman: I believe it. Commercial real estate, too. Here in NoVA, it seems like every building has a vacancy and 1 in 3 are completely vacant. I know it’s not easy or cheap, but some enterprising folks might want to convert the most promising buildings to lofts or studio apartments or whatever. Those tenants ain’t coming back.
encephalopath
@Steeplejack:
I watched a good portion of Queen of Outer Space when it was on today. Roughly the same era as Forbidden Planet, but mostly terrible.
encephalopath
@encephalopath:
Capt. Neal Patterson: I didn’t say anything to the Queen. I didn’t want to put her on guard, but I’m beginning to think our being here is not an accident.
Prof. Konrad: I’m afraid I must agree with you.
Lt. Mike Cruze: What is that? What is that?
Capt. Neal Patterson: The ray that destroyed the space station and knocked us off our course may have originated right here.
Lt. Mike Cruze: Oh, come off it! How could a bunch of women invent a gizmo like that?
Lt. Larry Turner: Sure, and even if they invented it, how could they aim it? You know how women drivers are!
SFAW
@Steeplejack:
Is it the Criterion edition? With Eastwood as The Continental Op?
Original Lee
I thought people couldn’t sue government officials in the middle of an investigation or at all, really, except under special circumstances.
We all know Manafort is a special type of idiot, but his lawyer must be really extraordinary.
Patricia Kayden
@Raoul: Everyone in this regime is corrupt. Hope he isn’t confirmed.
Luthe
@Fair Economist: As a Millenial who graduated college just in time for the bloodbath of 2007, this just reinforces my belief there’s a downturn around every corner.
encephalopath
@encephalopath:
Forbidden Planet is Shakespeare by comparison.
***wink***
efgoldman
Lost in the months since this “commission” was established: Many of the refusenik secretaries of state are Republiklowns.
Some people do follow the law
SFAW
@encephalopath:
Were I feeling more prosperous, I might make some half-witty comment, but it’s late, and my mind is a-reel.
Kayla Rudbek
@Jeffro: it’s been that way for some time around the Patent Office where one would *think* that every square foot of office space should be law firms; King Street Old Town may have lost tenants as well if I recall correctly; and even the most local grocery to my house is closing.
Ken
@Original Lee: It is something of a recurring theme with this adminstration – they don’t hire good lawyers, they hire lawyers who do what they’re told to do.
Adam L Silverman
Incoming!
efgoldman
@encephalopath: I was 10 or 11 when Forbidden Planet came out. I wanted a Robbie the Robot SO badly. Didn’t get one/
Chip Daniels
@Yabba:
I think it is a sign they really have no idea how government works, like, at all.
Trump and his gang really do think its like TrumpAmerica, Inc, and every single person int he government personally reports to them and does their bidding.
Adam L Silverman
The fast food companies are now trolling the President on social media!
James E. Powell
@Original Lee:
I don’t understand why it’s not raised as a defense to the indictment. Is he just judge shopping?
Chip Daniels
@Adam L Silverman:
When you post stuff like this I’m tempted to ask, “What does it mean?” but then I’m reminded of that Far Side cartoon where two fishermen see a mushroom cloud in the distance and one says, “I’ll tell you what it means- we catch as many as we want, screw the limit!”
Steeplejack (phone)
@SFAW:
Red Harvest hasn’t been overtly referenced. They’re sticking pretty close to Yojimbo.
CarolPW
@SFAW: Maybe you need to adjust your ariel.
MomSense
I told everyone that Dunlap is trustworthy. He is one of the good guys and he played this just right.
Gin & Tonic
@Adam L Silverman: Adding that the Russian caption blames “radical Islamists.”
encephalopath
@Adam L Silverman:
Fast food is being hawked using nuclear holocaust dick measuring jokes.
Am I offended by that? Is it absurd? Is it funny? I can’t sort my way through it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Adam L Silverman: @encephalopath: How many times has trump announced with a certain growling menace that “nobody’s laughing at us anymore”?
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: Here you go:
https://www.amazon.com/LIGHTS-POL810-Forbidden-Planet-PLLS0810/dp/B001J8NGCQ/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1515035608&sr=8-10&keywords=robbie+the+robot
https://www.amazon.com/X-Plus-Forbidden-Planet-Robby-Figure/dp/B007RVTXQ2/ref=pd_sbs_21_4?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B007RVTXQ2&pd_rd_r=TZHBAEVNWGZ9T0DQMGWM&pd_rd_w=cwAoy&pd_rd_wg=PfD2z&psc=1&refRID=TZHBAEVNWGZ9T0DQMGWM
https://www.amazon.com/Forbidden-Control-Robby-Robot-Blazing/dp/B000HOELNG/ref=pd_sbs_21_6?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B000HOELNG&pd_rd_r=TZHBAEVNWGZ9T0DQMGWM&pd_rd_w=cwAoy&pd_rd_wg=PfD2z&psc=1&refRID=TZHBAEVNWGZ9T0DQMGWM
https://www.amazon.com/Forbidden-Planet-Robby-the-Robot/dp/B00C0ELIXM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1515035608&sr=8-3&keywords=robbie+the+robot
Omnes Omnibus
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The helicopters aren’t laughing. That is certain.
Adam L Silverman
@Chip Daniels: In this case it means that Putin’s announcement that Russia and Syria have won against ISIS and the Syrian rebels is not true. Apparently the incoming fire also hit an ammo dump on that base too. So it is unclear if the ammo dump went up and that took out the other equipment and resulted in the KIAs or whether they’re from separate strikes. Regardless it isn’t good for the Russians or the Syrians.
burnspbesq
@germy:
There are a few hundred lawyers better qualified for that job than Berman, but his resume ticks all the right boxes. And all the cases coming out of Mueller’s shop will be tried in D.C., anyway.
SFAW
@Steeplejack (phone):
Philistines.
In fairness, the plot is a lot closer, anyway (to Yojimbo, that is).
Adam L Silverman
@Steeplejack (phone): So top knots, hakama, jinbaori, zori, and katanas?
Adam L Silverman
@Gin & Tonic: Thanks. I was hoping you’d be around.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: Exactly.
Adam L Silverman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I can’t recall right now because I’m laughing.
Feathers
@Kayla Rudbek: The problem is greedy landlords more than competition from the internet. People really don’t realize how much the capitalist investor class are screwing it up for everyone else.
OT – car wouldn’t start, AAA came to the rescue and it is out of the tiny apartment parking lot and safely at Alewife, which as of 8pm, was completely full on the first level and about half the second. So glad. Did the trick of spraying the windshield with a 70% solution of rubbing alcohol and water. Really did get the ice to melt without the refreezing problem.
Got home in time to catch the last half of the new X-Files season. I love the show, but god the aliens are so fucking boring. I tuned out and read Twitter when I realized it was an conspiracy episode. Apparently the episodes coming up are stronger. I did a rewatch of the whole series two years ago, convinced that I had missed something. Nope, nothing there, the conspiracy sucks. The other thing that stood out was how much better Gillian Anderson’s performance has stood up over Duchovny’s. And that the lengths that the show went to in making the government the bad guys behind every damn thing verged on psychotic.
burnspbesq
@O. Felix Culpa:
I like Padilla. He has turned out to be a really good successor to Debra Bowen.
Cheryl from Maryland
@encephalopath: Brian Frosh, Maryland Attorney General, is working on Scott Pruitt and the EPA.
Frankensteinbeck
Toldja this commission was going nowhere. I dare say Trump and Kobach were stupid enough to think it would have power, but it never did. And heaven knows, Republicans can always invent new excuses for voter suppression laws by themselves.
encephalopath
@Feathers:
I thought Chris Carter promised they were going to leave the mythology stuff alone this season and do more monster of the week episodes. That’s where all the fun was at in the original run of the series as well.
By the end of the original run all the “alien dingo stole my baby” stuff was unbearable. Monster of the week or nothing for me from here on out.
Rhys Darby can come back on and do anything he wants, though.
Kayla Rudbek
@dww44: finally, a silver lining to Notre Dame having a bad year!
SFAW
@Adam L Silverman:
Not only that — do you know how long it took Nakadai to learn Italian (but make it look like English) for his part?
SFAW
@Feathers:
What they needed was Trebek and Ventura.
Adam L Silverman
@burnspbesq: And anything that would arise in NY could be handled by AG Schneiderman if necessary.
Kayla Rudbek
@Feathers: after 7-8 years of empty space, one would think that even the greediest of landlords would be losing enough money that they’d drop their rents enough to get somebody into the space.
Adam L Silverman
@SFAW: Years of hard work. He was very committed to his tradecraft.
Amir Khalid
@Feathers:
That Anderson is the far better actor has always been obvious since Beyond The Sea in season 1 when, as a relative unknown, she wemt toe-to-toe with legendary scenery-chewer Brad Dourif and easily held her ground. And when Duchovny left the show for the best part of two seasons, it was she who carried the show. It makes the blood boil that Fox has always tried to pay her far less than it pays him.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Amir Khalid: She was the best thing in the BBC adaptation of Bleak House, IMHO, and she was very good in The Fall.
Feathers
@Kayla Rudbek: Apparently not. It was explained to me once, but I seemed to have blocked whatever the stupid reason was. Cities really do need to start charging a very steep vacant commercial real estate tax. I’ve seen too many thriving stores close, because of rent increases, only to then have the space go vacant for years. I think some of it is pure ego. A landlord sees a property go for X dollars, and says “these tenants are just ripping me off, why should they get away with robbery!” Ignoring the fact that property one is newer, nicer, and has much better foot traffic.
@encephalopath: I actually found the last, post-Duchovny seasons to be much better than expected. I’d given up the show by then. It’s amazing how much TiVo has changed things. But “alien dingoes ate my baby”is a brilliant assessment of those years.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Adam L Silverman:
Steely looks and guttural growling all around.
SFAW
@Adam L Silverman:
He was/is a great actor. Turned 85 a few weeks ago.
Interesting (short) interview with him, including a discussion of the end of Sanjuro.
Adam L Silverman
@Steeplejack (phone): I’m in!
SFAW
@Steeplejack (phone):
Sounds like the bastard child off Dense and Shitgibbon.
Adam L Silverman
@SFAW: Thanks.
Raven
Hi girls and boys. Back home in the morning. My ass is draggin!
Raven
@dww44: when I heard that shit I listed them for 2k each.
SFAW
@Raven:
Welcome back, youngster. Sorry that your Dawgs made you stay up so far past your usual bedtime.
Well, if you stayed for the whole game, that is.
Raven
@SFAW: that’s some dopey shit right right there bubba
Amir Khalid
@Feathers:
Chris Carter shut down the original conspiracy halfway through season six. Thereafter the conspirators’ chief concern was hiding the dead bodies. The big thing from that point on in the original nine-season run was Mulder and Scully’s relationship, which culminated in the birth of their son William at the end of season eight.
SFAW
@Amir Khalid:
Named for William B. Davis, no doubt.
ETA: No, I have no idea whether that’s true.
SFAW
@Raven:
Good to see you, too.
Glad the kids came through for you. Didn’t get a chance to see the game, but saw some highlights. I’m glad you decided to go.
Uncle Cosmo
@encephalopath: “Forbidden Planet is Shakespeare by comparison,”
Tomencephalopathy said tempestuously… :p