A monster storm is headed for the East Coast, but don't worry, it's only expected to become a [squints at notes] "bomb cyclone" https://t.co/tLjbbRCQiD
— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 2, 2018
Oh great fucking "bomb cyclones" this is like that sharknado shit but real
— Serenity Now! (@Johngcole) January 2, 2018
Yes, this is an East-Coast-centric blog, because that’s where most of the front pagers are. And besides, those of you on the other coast (or in distant time zones) ought to be in bed by now, anyways. Thoughts & prayers to those between Florida and Maine whose personal environments weren’t meant to deal with *this* level of chill!
Apart from “not freezing”, what’s on the agenda for the day?
How cold is it? The only thing Mimi wants to do is warm her paws over the radiator. pic.twitter.com/5X6NN1OmXf
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) January 2, 2018
Since Shirley Chisolm was one of my first real-life political heroes, I truly admire this woman’s style:
Shirley Chisolm said: "if they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair."
In her incredible campaign for Cincy City Council, @tamayaforcincy always repeated that quote.
Today, at her swearing in, she brought the chair. #mainstreet pic.twitter.com/zTj53qI9P9
— David Pepper (@DavidPepper) January 2, 2018
And speaking of admirable political figures…
Obama's birthday declared a holiday in Illinois https://t.co/DtoBOZKhVU pic.twitter.com/MbOQog8mRB
— The Hill (@thehill) January 3, 2018
@realDonaldTrump ??Rest assured, New York will NEVER, EVER do this for you.
— Hope Sherman (@hope_sherman) January 3, 2018
Viva BrisVegas
Hey, it’s 7:50pm here. I don’t go to bed until 8 or even sometimes 8:30.
Sab
I have admired David Pepper for years even though he’s on the opposite corner of the state. Yay Temaya Dennard!
New England storm sucks. My sister lives up there and they no longer have a generator because they gave it to their horses.
OzarkHillbilly
My neighbor died yesterday. RIP Ron.
Sab
@Viva BrisVegas: Where are you? Obviously not Vegas (in USA NV)?
Sab
@OzarkHillbilly: Oh Jeez. I am so sorry. Will you tell us about him?
?BillinGlendaleCA
It’s only 2:05am, geez.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@OzarkHillbilly: Sorry to hear, condolences.
Amir Khalid
@Sab:
She’s in Brisbane.
NotMax
Pfeh. Just past midnight. Shank of the evening.
?BillinGlendaleCA
While you all prepare for you bit of snow, the rain is coming here and will hit the burn areas* pretty hard next Tuesday; at least that’s the forecast as of this evening.
*The Thomas Fire(largest in CA history) is still burning, but 92% contained. The heavy rain should put it out, but will cause the hills to turn into mud that will flow down to the coastal cities(the area between Santa Barbara and Ventura).
Sab
@Amir Khalid: At last her nym makes sense to me.
Chet
I have a physical scheduled for tomorrow. Accordingly, I’m getting sick.
Sab
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Some of us near the east coast have insomnia, so we wake up and have nothing to do because our dogs, cats and jackals are all sleeping.3
Sab
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Isnt rain supposed to be good in California?
NobodySpecial
Between hurricanes, this thing, and proximity to Trumpolini, the Eastern seaboard is basically unliveable.
4am here, and doing paperwork at work watching the snow fall. Good morning.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Sab: Heavy rain after a fire is not a good thing, there’s nothing holding the earth together(normally plants do that) and and it just ends up as a mud flow, sort of like you see with a volcano.
ETA: On a positive note, Trump honored Gov. Jerry’s request and declared the Thomas Fire area a federal disaster area.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ???
NotMax
@BillinGlendaleCA
One way or another, California seems determined to head into the sea.
;)
Blurry video of lahars in Japan.
Sab
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I had a comment that was eaten: I had forgotten about the impact of fire on soil.
Prayers and best wishes for you all (including my RWNJ brother north of SF. He didn’t give a rats’ ass about my health insurance in the last election, but I still worry about his safety.)
BillinGlendale, I worry about yours more.
Viva BrisVegas
@Sab:
It’s meant to be a bit sarky. Brisbane is probably the least Vegas-like city in Australia.
It’s a centre of somnolent, sub-tropical suburbanism.
Also, wrong gender.
OzarkHillbilly
In the war on ketchup, there is now proof that ketchup can be hazardous to one’s health. Scott Lemieux (or is it Loomis with the ketchup fixation?) over at LG&M must be very happy.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Sab: We’ll be OK here, we’re only going to get a inch or so of rain here in the basin and the closest fire was about 4 miles away(the La Tuna Fire). While I’m not too far from the mighty LA River, it’s pretty well channeled around these parts.
Sab
@Viva BrisVegas: Are you a him or a her. I always thought younwere a him. But no one can tell if you are a dog on the internet.
Also, not really my business to know.
Got the “she” from Amir
Viva BrisVegas
@Sab: Definitely a him. Not that there is anything wrong with being anything else. :-)
Talking about storms, there seems to be a huge storm battering the Irish coast at the moment, although I see almost nothing about it in the media.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Sab:
Sure you can, they make lots of typos, it’s hard to type with paws.
Viva BrisVegas
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Does that explain who tweets for Trump?
Does Trump even have a dog?
Mary G
I saw one meteorologist say that the “bomb cyclone” would cover the entire Atlantic Ocean. Scary!
Quinerly
@OzarkHillbilly:So sorry to hear this, Ozark.?
Cermet
@OzarkHillbilly: Sorry; my neighbor too, died (in 90’s) but it was the previous week; I knew known since I was a young teen. His father (I also kewn) died after he was 107 (either ever lived or needed a nursing home – each died at home living independently – if only we all could.)
Sab
@Viva BrisVegas: Of course there isn’t. Thanks for saying so.
Glad to know your nym was from Australia. I always thought the alternative take was uncomfortable. (my first husband was Jewish.)
I dont know much about Brisbane.
I lived in Las Vegas Nevada for four years. Hated the climate, liked the people, had MAJOR issues with the political climate.
Everyone was tribal. No conception of charity outside their religious tribe. The local womens shelter ( which was BIG, protecting spouses from domestic violence) fed everyone with bag lunches of boloney sandwiches because they couldn’t get funding for a kitchen.
Steve Wynn, who was otherwise an asshole locally, was very charitable but he wasn’t about to be the only rich guy on board.
Basic civic responsibility in my midwestern USA part of the world was beyond their capabilities in Vegas.
How do you not feed and protect battered wives and their children?
They were much worse on animal shelters. All the competing interests (county v. city, humane soc. v aspca) competed. Everyone had a different shelter and they competed in the political arena and if the other side lost they considered it a win even if thousands of animals died in the process. Our current(then) mayor had a new animal charity she liked, so all the other long existing animal charities were defunded and their animals euthanized. Fun times in the American west. They couldn’t even agree on a common dog tag, so if your animal had the wrong dog tag for the shelter that found him, no one would notify the other shelter that he’d been found.
Also we had a natural park, donated by an original founding family, called Nature Park, that was part of the original Las Vegas oasis. The mayor that defunded alternative animal charities also turned Nature Park into yet another Los Vegas golf course with $70 greens fees. However this one was city owned so the mayor could waive the greens fees for her contributors and supporters.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Viva BrisVegas: Trump has never had any pets, this explains much.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
Condolences.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
Good grief. Open the packet!
debbie
@Viva BrisVegas:
We’re too busy over here comparing button sizes.
Viva BrisVegas
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Yes, I just looked it up.
Every President other than Andrew Johnson had pets, and even he left out food for the White House mice.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@debbie: That reminded me of this.
Viva BrisVegas
@debbie: I hope you are doing it indoors.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@OzarkHillbilly: I can’t remember either, but I think it’s Loomis. My condolences about your neighbor.
HeleninEire
@Viva BrisVegas: The storm has hit Galway and the West coast pretty hard. Go to Lovin Dublin’s Facebook page for nutty videos. Even here in Dublin the wind last night was FIERCE. Like, you could barely walk down the street without getting blown away fierce.
Viva BrisVegas
@Sab:
Brisbane would be the result if it were possible to turn Mogadon into a city.
OzarkHillbilly
@?BillinGlendaleCA: He marries his pets.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@OzarkHillbilly: I was thinking the same thing.
debbie
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Very funny!
satby
@rikyrah: Good morning ?!
@OzarkHillbilly: sorry to hear that. RIP Ron, condolences to his family and friends.
Raven
Hey y’all, one more day of hangin in “the Southland”. My buddy is flyin in from Oakland at 7:30 and we’ll just fool around all day. There was a shop in Pasadena where they made a mistake packing our purchase and, when we went back, the guy could not have been nicer. We may blow back up there and see if they have shirts with us as Rose Bowl Champs. My brother is going to meet with us and maybe hit Griffith Park for a bit. Bill, does it cost to get in there? Otherwise we are partly recovered. They charged my credit card for the National Championship so, as soon as the mobile upload hits I have to decide what to do. My brothers recommends selling, the will probably bring $3000 apiece and that would pay for this entire trip twice. What do the jackals think?
debbie
@Raven:
How can you even hesitate? Go!
Gin & Tonic
@Sab:
IIRC, that cartoon ran 25 years ago yesterday. I find that pretty amazing.
satby
@Raven: Glad you had such a great time!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Raven: What does it cost to get into Griffith Park? Nothing. However, the zoo does charge, I’ve not been to the Autry(so don’t know), and it’s $4/hr to park up by the Observatory(you can park for free by the Greek and take the DASH bus up, they run every 20 minutes and I think is $1 each way).
Gin & Tonic
@Raven: After the Rose Bowl, I don’t don’t think you’ll get nearly as much out of it. I say sell, and you get the best of both worlds. But I hardly give a shit about football, so I may not be the best one to weigh in.
satby
@Raven: as far as selling the tickets, if you go and they lose will you kick yourself for not selling and practically paying for this trip? If you sell them and they win, will you feel cheated by not going or was the Rose Bowl game enough to have seen live, especially with that wild ending?
debbie
@Gin & Tonic:
My youngest brother cares as much about OSU as Raven does UGA. He’s gone to the National Championship games when OSU was in it and had the time of his life.
bjacques
I nearly got blown off my bike on my way to work late this morning in Amsterdam. It’s Code Orange (Red means “stay indoors”) but the winds are supposed to die down somewhat later this afternoon. All I know about Brisbane is it’s the main setting for “He Died With A Felafel [sic] In His Hand” and epic about living in share houses in the 1980s and 1990s.
So when do they give the storm a name?
satby
@NotMax: finally started watching Mrs. Maisel! Thanks for recommending, because I wouldn’t have tried it otherwise. I gravitate to moody British mystery series.
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Top of the morn to ya.
Raven
@?BillinGlendaleCA: cool, thanks!
Raven
@debbie: I’ve been to one, Hokies vs FSU. This was such an incredible experience and I’m just thinking about what a pain in the ass going to Atlanta for a game that won’t be over until we’ll after midnight and, right now, that is not appealing.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Raven: Where are you thinking of going in the park? I might have some suggestions.
ETA: I kind of know the place pretty well.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Today is one of OzarkHillbilly’s blech days.
Raven
@satby: both
Betty Cracker
@Raven: If it were me, I’d probably sell the tickets and have a national championship game party at home instead. The game will probably be a let-down after that incredible Rose Bowl.
Raven
The other option under serious consideration is that we sell one and I go. The princess has had enough so we may do that.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: So a day ending in ‘y’?
OzarkHillbilly
@Raven: SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!
Raven
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I dunno, we have the whole day. My friend is quite the mountaineer but we don’t really have the gas for anything serious.
debbie
@Raven:
I do like Betty’s idea of a party. Create your own excitement.
NotMax
@satby
Happy to hear you’re finding it enjoyable.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Not for me. I just did not have a restful sleep.
Raven
@Betty Cracker: That’s a heavily considered option for sure.
Raven
We have a super bowl party and so many of are friends are artsy hipster types. Let me put it this way, half of them would leave to watch that fucking Dowton Abbey!!!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Raven: It’ll probably be too hazy to see much, but here’s ABC7’s cam site, so you can get an idea. If it’s not too hazy, parking at the Vermont Canyon tennis courts and taking the road east to the trail that goes to the heliport OR park on the little road spur just south of the Greek(it’s a left where the tennis courts are the right) and you can take the Boy Scout Trail to the Observatory(the ridge on that trail is the best place for sunsets in LA). The Hollywood sign is really hard to get to now, but you can get a good view from the Observatory or take the trail at the north end of the parking lot and go part way to Mt. Hollywood and there’s a really good view(trail goes north though Berlin Forest and then climbs west and where it heads east is a really good viewpoint).
Baud
I had never heard of Logan Paul before this. So…mission accomplished.
Baud
@Raven:
!
chris
Hey, standing right here.
Raven
@?BillinGlendaleCA: great, thanks!!!
NotMax
@satby
Oh, BTW, might keep an eye out for a period police/intrigue series, Babylon Berlin, due to show up on Netflix January 30.
HeleninEire
I can’t stop watching The Crown. I watched the first 3 episodes on Monday and then FOUR last night. I even got the “Hey you friendless loser, are you still watching this?” message from Netflix.
Love, love, love it.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: I still haven’t.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly: Don’t read my comment.
opiejeanne
@Baud: Yeah, me too. Did not need to know.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Raven: One more link, Griffith Park hiking maps.
Steeplejack (phone)
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Then we must have lots of dogs on this blog.
opiejeanne
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Is TravelTown still owned by that shady church organization, or is it part of Griffith Park now?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@opiejeanne: Always thought TravelTown was owned by the city, there is the LA Steamers down east of TravelTown.
ETA: They have Walt’s barn.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steeplejack (phone): No, just folk like me that can’t spell.
Kay
@Sab:
I like him too, like his direct way of speaking, but other people don’t- they say he’s “pushy”. I don’t think he’s well-liked.
Lapassionara
@Baud: What an evil person. Is he kin to Rand?
Also, anyone have theories about Trump’s twitter frenzy yesterday? Maybe he needs to play more golf. If this is what he does at work, I would prefer he take a permanent vacay.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Lapassionara:
I’m all for that, especially if it involves an orange jumpsuit.
rikyrah
@OzarkHillbilly:
Sorry for your loss ?
Baud
@Lapassionara: My uneducated opinion is that the internet has blurred the line between what’s acceptable and tolerable in reality vs entertainment. It would explain much of the Trump phenomenon.
rikyrah
@Raven:
You’re on a roll, Raven?
Jeffro
.
Jeffro
@OzarkHillbilly:
Hate the packet, not the sauce!
rikyrah
@HeleninEire:
Season 1 or Season 2?
opiejeanne
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I read about the barn when it was moved.
Yes, we were stunned when TravelTown was suddenly operated by a crooked minister and his crooked church. I think that was in the 80s. You couldn’t just buy a ticket to ride the train like before and they had huge concerts on the site. I think he went to prison and for a while TravelTown’s future was in doubt. It had fallen into disrepair during that period. The church may have just leased the property. The scandal that finally brought down the minister was his congregation buying him a helicopter.
HeleninEire
@rikyrah: Season 1
Steeplejack (phone)
Frozen: The Drippening continues here in NoVA. It’s 12° right now, although there’s a chance we may break 30° today. Yay!
I have honed my faucet-fiddling skills over the last five days. I can get the kitchen and bathroom sink faucets down to a two- or three-second drip without even thinking about it. The bathtub is closer to an actual trickle, because two taps are involved. But the noise is minimal—far overshadowed by the almost continual whooshing of the HVAC system. It will be interesting to look at the electric bill next month and compare it to last year.
After our warm spell today, it’s going to get even colder. They’re talking lows down around 6° or 8° over the weekend. Then a heat wave next Monday—up to almost 40°! But snow. Yee-haw.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@opiejeanne: Hmmm, don’t remember that. I went there a couple of times in the 60’s and I think I went back once in the late 80’s. It did seem to be a bit shabbier when I went in the late 80’s.
Kay
So congressional Republicans are covering for Trump, which we knew, but what about media? They can’t get bank records but surely they could investigate the business deals connected to money laundering- take Russia out and just consider that they haven’t investigated the President’s business deals.
Call Trump Inc “Clinton Enterprises” and tell me there wouldn’t be media inquiries into these deals! Of course there would.
Take “Russia” out of it completely- isn’t “money laundering” by itself enough to investigate? Say “money laundering involving China”. NOW would they investigate?
JMG
@Raven: If you sell, you’ll be able to turn the championship game off and go to bad sadly if Alabama gets up big. If you sell and Georgia wins, you can go on Dawg message boards to simulate the happy crowd experience and you will avoid the experience of being in a 2 a.m. traffic jam getting out of the stadium. Selling is recommended by this adviser.
Jeffro
Meanwhile, here’s David Von Drehle, going for the Broder Trophy: Clinton Supporter David Brock’s Rotten Political Empire. Because both sides, don’t you know…
“Silver-haired smear artist”? And why is it wrong to encourage women to come forward with their reports of Trumpov’s assaults? Why is that the problem and not the assaults themselves?
Yes…Media Matters is just like the Media Research Center, absolutely…(eyeroll)
Yes…I know when I think of how women get slimed when they speak up against predators, my first thought is, “dang that David Brock!”
Yes…as if Trumpov toadies would have trouble finding some other brush or twelve to tar women who speak out against him. Seriously?
Riiiiiight…Brock is ‘scum of the earth’…whew…
Not that it matters a huge deal, or that Drehle is some sort of A-list columnist, but I’m going to drop him a short note telling him to get some perspective. Going after Brock and creating some false equivalence between him and the wholesale fiction writers of Breitbart is lazy and stupid on its face.
satby
@NotMax: I will, thanks!
Jeffro
@Kay:
Only if it were “Clinton money laundering involving China” of course.
I’ve seen some good reporting on these various condo-buying/money-laundering scams…pretty sure it was Newsweek?…the info is already out there. I think the Dems’ idea to air this as “things the GOP Congress won’t investigate” is a good strategy (what else can they do, right?). It’ll only help them in November, I mean, what’s the GOP’s defense? “Hey, a real estate guy’s got to take his deals where he finds them”?
And of course, the Congressional investigation is, unfortunately, just a flimsy thing anyway. The RWNJs could hear that Trumpov had strangled hookers every night before bedtime and they’d write it off as “Democrat-funded propaganda…besides, you don’t expect the president to just fall asleep with a good book, do you?”. The real deals are the Mueller and Schneiderman investigations. (I know we all know that, just sayin’ )
gene108
@Jeffro:
Brock repented of his “a little bit nutty, a little bit slutty days”. He wrote a book, Blinded by the Right, about how he became a right-wing hatchet man and what got him to reconsider what a bad decision it was and the damage he caused. He also dedicated the last chapter as an apology to Anita Hill.
The book also touches on the fact all the Clinton “scandals” was right-wing payback for Watergate and Iran-Contra, because they had to smear a Democratic President as corrupt as well. And how respectable right-wing media, like The Washington Times or American Spectaor, doesn’t care about facts, as long as the story advances the right-wing agenda.
From what I gather, Brock is trying to atone for the damage he did.
Baud
@Jeffro:
And yet, Weaver.
chris
Oklahoma strong. Must be one tough person driving that truck.
gene108
@Kay:
There is a different set of rules for Republicans. I don’t know how to change this. Maybe included in calls to Congress, has to be calls to media demanding better reporting? Or maybe force boycotts of advertisers until they hold Republicans accountable?
But, who has the time…
Kay
@Jeffro:
It’s as if they believe NOT investigating the Russian interference means they are also barred from investigating anything else- ordinary corruption. The NYTimes spent 2 solid years on Whitewater- a single business deal. How did they investigate that? Couldn’t they use the same skills to investigate any of Trump’s hundreds of business deals?
It’s like the workplace version of overthinking. They don’t have to crack the Russia mystery. They could just do ordinary investigations- the kind any mayor would be subjected to. They don’t need the Pentagon Papers. They have property records and records of transactions and hundreds of people who engaged in these dealings with Trump. That’s what they used with Whitewater.
O. Felix Culpa
@Baud:
Well, it’s done that for the mediocre white man. For blah persons such as 44, an impossibly high – and ever-shifting – standard is relentlessly applied.
ETA: Forgot to mention persons named Clinton. They also can’t so much as sneeze in public without intense criticism and scrutiny.
OzarkHillbilly
Here Are 2017’s Best Protest Posters I like #19 the best.
Kay
@Jeffro:
I think they have convinced themselves that Trump is extraordinary, a special case, and investigations have to involve national security and spies and mysterious Russian contacts.
Money laundering is against the law. Is he laundering money? They should ask that about the President. They would ask it about any other President. Instead of NOT normalizing Trump maybe they need to normalize him. Just treat him like any other President. That’s enough.
Jeffro
@gene108: You’re absolutely right, and “Blinded By the Right” was a great read. Brock’s “The Republican Noise Machine” is essential reading for anyone (left, right, or center) who wants to understand how the RWNJ puke funnel works, too.
JMG
So here in west suburban Boston the forecast is for a foot of snow tomorrow with gale force winds, followed by single digit highs, strong winds and lows down to 10 below or more, followed by a warmup to the low 30s for freezing rain to start next week. This is ridiculous. We always have big storms, but this level of cold is insane. Like living in Alberta.
Jeffro
@Kay:
Yes indeed. Same thing with the outrageous, offensive, and dangerous things he says & tweets…this isn’t a reality TV show, this isn’t a game. Why is any American president allowed to threaten nuclear war just for ego kicks?
Kay
@Jeffro:
And if you were to do that, if you were to exclude Russia and just ask “is this guy a crook?” you’d get to Russia anyway. They don’t need to worry at all about “collusion”. Ordinary lawbreaking by the US President is enough. Russiagate could be solved along the way of what is an ordinary inquiry into who, exactly, is the President?
opiejeanne
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Yeah, I can’t find any reference to that blip in its history. We visited it in the 60s when I was a kid. I remember reading about the church nonsense in the LA Times but I can’t put an exact date on it. I guess it’s had some restoration done since then.
I think the minister was from Oregon, decided to move his operations to LA while still bleeding the flock back home.
O. Felix Culpa
@OzarkHillbilly: Those were great. I like #19 too.
lgerard
Yipes!
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: I loved that when it first hit Twitter and shared it then. What good parents for that little girl!
satby
@satby: Though #5 is a wonderful sign too, and another one I shared on FB.
gene108
@Kay:
Whitewater was a small scale, one time, land deal. Like Hillary’s e-mail server it was something fixed at a point in time. It wasn’t constantly shifting, which made it easy to investigate.
With Trump properties, you have properties that are actively being managed by Trump. Their records are not fixed. There are moving parts. This makes the reporting harder, as well as the finances are on a much larger scale than Whitewater, which involves math, and reporters hate math. Therefore they look for the easier stories to cover like hot takes on Trump tweets.
What I can’t understand is why no one dug deeep into all the contractors he shafted. Those court cases are fixed. They aren’t going to change. Those records are in NYC and NJ, where reporters live. He destroyed businesses and lives of white working class business owners. Maybe this could have provided some contrast, with his hollow rhetoric? But even that was too much work for our media.
OzarkHillbilly
@chris: No, he just enjoys giving the finger to his neighbors. Mine conveys similar sentiments and nobody has ever said a word of disagreement to me. (I have gotten some quiet compliments)
geg6
@Kay:
It’s crazy. Richard Engle did a one hour special on MSNBC about Trump and his Russian investors/business partners, focusing a lot on Panama but also covering other places, but it seems not have made even a blip on the media radar. I found it fascinating.
Kay
@gene108:
I agree with the rest of your comment but not this part. The investigation into the private jet usage was just a small piece and it was big news and caused a resignation. In that instance the Trump Administration was treated like any other- ordinary questions about expenditures led to a resignation. Real oversight and there was no cloak and dagger or relying on Wikileaks.
The problem isn’t that they “normalize” Trump. The problem is they don’t. We’d have much better oversight if they WOULD normalize him.
That announcement he made where his private business deals are “off limits”? That’s bullshit. Never in history has a President’s private business deals been off limits. Whitewater wasn’t off limits. Why would his be?
If there are hundreds of them then start at the beginning- start with ONE. I don’t care- start in Florida. Pick 5 randomly in Florida.
MomSense
@OzarkHillbilly:
That’s a perfect sign. I liked First they came for the Muslims and we said not this time motherfuckers. There is a fiber artist I follow who did the needlepoint sign that said I’m so angry I stitched this sign just so I could stab something 3,000 times.
OzarkHillbilly
@gene108: Clinton! (as in “Squirrel!”)
Kay
@geg6:
I hate to be so cynical but it is because of the corporate gifts he’s bestowing? Media corporations are first and foremost private sector businesses, and the tax deal alone is a huge gift. They also have labor problems. It doesn’t get any coverage but more and more media outlets are unionizing, even online outfits. The Los Angeles Times is getting ready for vote on a union for the first time.
Maybe it’s about the money. I don’t worry about Trump launching a nuclear strike because I know a nuclear strike isn’t good for wealthy people. Whatever isn’t good for wealthy people will not happen. “Norms” will be enforced exactly to the extent that violating norms puts monied interests at risk.
chris
@OzarkHillbilly: Good for you! It seems a little risky to me, being rude to people who are known to be heavily armed and unstable. Guess you get used to it.
frosty
@Raven: I say be happy you saw the parade and an amazin’ game and sell the tickets to recoup the cost. If it was me I’d be done with football after that one.
OTOH if I saw the Orioles get into the Series I’d damn sure want to see it. So to summarize, I dunno.
OzarkHillbilly
@chris: In their eyes, I appear to be the heavily armed and unstable guy.
Gin & Tonic
@geg6: In the course of that, Engel was (AFAIK) the only Western reporter to interview Serhiy Leshchenko on-air. Leshchenko is the Ukrainian MP who released the Manafort cash-payment “secret” ledger. Yet he seems to be invisible as far as everyone else is concerned, which is really odd – he’s young, speaks good English, knows a lot about Manafort and Yanukovych, and is very widely known in Ukraine. He’s on Twitter regularly, he’s a damn MP, he’s not hard to find.
chris
@OzarkHillbilly: Haha! The madman defence.
Sab
@Kay: Yeah. I know. He’s hugely qualified, he gets all kinds of endorsements, and he can’t get himself to be elected to anything higher than Cinci city council.
sacrablue
@satby: Me, as well. Hinterlands, The Fall, Happy Valley, etc.
opiejeanne
@opiejeanne: I think my fight with this crud has addled my brains. It was the Melodyland Theater that was sold to an Evangelical church group and became embroiled in several scandals. I must have forgotten that it was located in Anaheim. There was a helicopter purchase involved in the final scandal, a Ponzi scheme pretending to raise money for the church and the Final Harvest (just typing that makes my skin crawl). They were associated with The Assembly of God but also slithered around in the Charismatic Movement.
The theater was on Harbor, across from Disneyland. It was torn down in 2003, about when we moved to Anaheim, and the Garden Walk complex is built on the site.