Presented without comment. #StateVisit #StateDinner pic.twitter.com/BLAJmmkpy6
— Lesley Abravanel (@lesleyabravanel) April 25, 2018
I guess the good news is that Donny Dollhands didn’t try to return Louisiana to France, in hopes of pocketing the refund for himself…
He @BarackObama invited his top campaign bundlers and donors to the British State Dinner http://t.co/Zou6q9Q2 So corrupt!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 15, 2012
Prince and Princess Griftalot arrive at the Pre-Prison Cotillion. pic.twitter.com/mnn0blfRyw
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) April 24, 2018
Tonight's guests include Henry Kravis who gave $1 million to President Trump's inauguration (https://t.co/8bg3bLgoSg); Stephen Schwarzman, who gave $250,000 (https://t.co/Bss3hVXGu1); and Amb. Jamie McCourt, who gave "more than $400,000" to the campaign (https://t.co/2zLGzDF2Il). https://t.co/tb7j4KrqPq
— David Gura (@davidgura) April 25, 2018
From the Washington Post‘s style page:
… On an already symbolic evenin that carried the added pressure of being the Trumps’ foray into official diplomatic branding, the first couple managed to pull off the glitzy party in honor of French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, without any major glitches. There were the bigwigs gussied up in black tie, the fine china decorated in gold, the long red carpet, the thoughtful toasts. All in all it was a state dinner, but in and of itself that is something.
Remember back on the campaign trail when then-candidate Trump denounced state dinners altogether? Speaking about “China and others” who allegedly “ripped off” the United States, Trump said that the White House should “forget the state dinners that cost, by the way, a fortune.” Hamburgers, which POTUS unabashedly enjoys, and a conference table were all the pomp and circumstance he needed, so the campaign bombast went, to iron things out.
My, how things have changed…
The list was fairly standard for events like these, filled mostly with White House officials, cabinet members, the diplomatic corps and a smattering of surprise faces.CIA Director Mike Pompeo breezed past the press without answering any questions about his nomination for secretary of state. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards was one of the few Democrats who made the cut. Apple CEO Tim Cook brought along former Obama administration EPA chief and current Apple environmental director Lisa Jackson. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch arrived with his wife, former model Jerry Hall, who said she was looking forward to “seeing the French president.” Managing head of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde, who is French, was slightly less enthused. “This is my third French dinner,” she said.
The most unexpected (and perhaps joy-filled) moment came when a seemingly unrecognizable couple arrived at the White House. (Don’t worry: their last name wasn’t Salahi.)
“Are we supposed to stop?” asked the man as he conferred with the woman standing next to him. To help jog the press’s memory “in case you guys don’t know who we are,” the pair pulled two giant medals seemingly out of nowhere. Still nothing? Remember the Olympics? In South Korea? Which would have been a “total failure” without President Trump? These two — curler John Shuster and ice hockey player Meghan Duggan — were there and won gold…
The three-course meal — “a showcase of the best of America’s cuisines,” according to the East Wing — featured rack of lamb served alongside jambalaya, a traditional Louisiana dish with heavy French influences. The Post’s food critic Tom Sietsema described the main course as “a lovely nod to the American South.” The wine that was paired with dinner all hailed from the West Coast and not from the president’s own winery in central Virginia…
White House prohibition on inflatable companions leaves a disgruntled Stephen Miller dateless for State Dinner. pic.twitter.com/AOlfc0L3O4
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) April 25, 2018
Incidentally, looks like Ronny Jackson should’ve passed one more illicit dose of Adderall over to his most prominent patient…
Every sound bite from Trump today was borderline incoherent. I know this is the norm now, but I think it's still worth noting for history.
— Schooley (@Rschooley) April 25, 2018
This may be the best story of the day — or even the month. Michael Anton, the always gruff NSC spokesman, is also a chef and cooked for the France state dinner tonight. And @MarkLandler tells the tale with grace and wit. #MustRead https://t.co/qKbQr0iwSu
— Michael D. Shear (@shearm) April 25, 2018
(Until, of course, it turns out that Anton’s revenge involved poisoning those shrimp canapes.)
rikyrah
Good Morning,Everyone ???
NobodySpecial
@rikyrah: Good morning!
Surprised Olympians were invited, since they’re competent in their professions.
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
Baud
For something more uplifting, I really enjoyed reading this Hillary interview.
https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/culture/2018/4/24/17271638/hillary-clinton-chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-arthur-miller-freedom-write-pen-america-world-voices
OzarkHillbilly
blech.
Monsieur Macron? My I suggest the next time you reply, “Donald? you appear to have a booger on your shoulder, let me remove i… Mon Dieu!! It is your head!”
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
OzarkHillbilly
Listening to the first whippoorwill of spring thru my open window right now.
satby
@rikyrah: Good morning ?!
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: HOORAY!
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: The birds woke me at 5am today. They were so loud I could hear them through my closed windows. Finally spring around here!
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Hilarious – Fox eating their own (in this case, long time gop mole Jonathan Karl)
MattF
Well, Trump’s sour tweet about Obama’s state dinner guests dates from 2012, so it’s only moderately evil. But it would be appropriate to do a fact-check, for the usual Trumpy reasons.
J R in WV
Spring is here, now.
I’m listening to (I think) Chorus Frogs mating in our tiny water drainage pond by the front door. They
Pics soon, when Alain does it, from springs past. Tadpoles, salamanders, etc. Even a cat lurking over the water filled with tadppoles.
rikyrah
ICYMI:
Senator Tester brought receipts against the VA nominee.
1. Hostile work environment.
2. DRUNK WHILE ON DUTY TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
?BillinGlendaleCA
@J R in WV:
As I noted downstairs, I ran across a baby rattlesnake on my hike yesterday.
MagdaInBlack
@J R in WV:
My favorite sound of spring ?
WereBear
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I like to leap over them.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@WereBear: I decided I really didn’t want to see the top of the waterfall and returned to the main trail and headed back to my car.
Kay
@Baud:
It is good, thank you. I agree with this:
Because it really is jarring, the difference in treatment- John Kerry wasn’t told to go away, Mitt Romney not only wasn’t told to go away he was actively encouraged to jump back in and we were told over and over how popular he is – he isn’t that popular. I mean he’s fine as far as a fake-centrist Republican goes but he’s just not loved in the way they make it out he is.
John McCain ran for President several times and he has been in DC forever. Imagine anyone telling him “you’re so old, just shut up”
I think it comes closest to the treatment of Gore- there was a lot of sighing that he adopted a political cause and wouldn’t just go away. They were uncomfortable with that election too- wanted to forget about it, put all the questionable parts about that election behind us. The public were basically ordered to stop talking about it and embrace Bush. The ink was barely dry on the SCOTUS decision and there was a decree issued that only “losers” would ever question any of it again. So it never was questioned. And voting process got much, much worse in the ensuing years, because Republicans took the 2000 election as a license to start suppressing minority votes in all 50 states.
Chyron HR
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
“The fact that other Democrats are outperforming Clinton just proves that she was as terrible as the Armenian genocide hoax.” – The Young Turks, probably
Baud
@Kay: Agreed. They are upset that we aren’t supporting Trump like Dems supported Bush, particularly after 9/11. Unfortunately, the people telling Clinton to go away is broader than the Village. That’s one difference between her and Gore.
WereBear
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I have gotten to the top and the photos are actually better at the bottom.
Kay
@Baud:
That might be a productive thing for Democrats to look at- the Gore election and the Clinton election and media’s role in each.
It felt the same to me a lot, like some decision had been made that they hated him and they were going to promote a specific narrative. Gore was really treated unfairly. He was presented as a liar and that’s just not a striking or stand-out element of that person. He had faults but he wasn’t especially deceptive. The NYTimes did this bizarre thing where they “feminized” him- using this horrible 1950’s version of “feminine”, where it means “like a girl, and girls are lesser”, so there’s a link to sexism there.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Here’s the waterfall(Sturtevant Falls) from the base of the falls.
Immanentize
Good morning All,
Reporting in from Motor City where the FTC Robot World Championship will soon begin! Here is the Immp’s team’s “Robot Reveal” which is now a big thing. Kinda like trash talking your opponent at weigh in?
Baud
@Kay: I think there are similarities, but you’ll probably always find those. Kerry wasn’t treated especially fairly by the media. Or Dukakis for that matter. Gore and Clinton are probably the most similar, however.
JPL
Was yesterday when Melania became first lady?
Baud
@Immanentize: Good luck.
Kay
@Baud:
I always feel bad for my eldest son because he really liked Gore – he was in high school so too young to vote- and he also really supported Clinton. He likes the people they hate :)
He was nervous about the 2016 election ahead of other people I talked to. I put it down to his innate pessimism- he is genuinely a pessimist, to his core- but maybe he saw the commonality.
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
I was embarrassed for America watching the clip of that moment. Couldn’t “Honorable” Stephen Miller have prevented this?
opiejeanne
I would like to see more of Melania’s dress from the front. Something about the lighting or maybe she changed her makeup, but I didn’t recognize her because she looks a bit dowdy, and the dress ain’t helping. I saw a rear view and it makes her look wide.
debbie
@rikyrah:
More than twenty people have made allegations.
Baud
@Kay:
As long as he remains a moral person, that will always be the case.
JPL
@Immanentize: Good luck!
Kay
@Baud:
Kerry was interesting as a candidate because I don’t think he cared that much. He seems to have a real sense of his weaknesses and an acceptance of them. He has the ability to stand outside himself and see what others see. Obama had it too. I think it’s where empathy comes from, which is amusing because it’s presented as “coldness”. It’s the ability to stand in someone else’s shoes. The opposite of “cold” and not at all arrogant.
bystander
I like that people call out the efforts to normalize these monsters. Today WaPo is breathlessly telling us that last night’s state dinner was pivotal for Melania’s coming into being a real First Lady. A salaried staff member is all Melania is.
Baud
I think it’s interesting that Macron proposed a new Iran deal. I think it’s a ploy to keep Trump from abandoning the current deal.
Kay
@Baud:
He was such a lonely Gore supporter in high school. One. Al Gore had one fan in that high school.
Baud
@Kay: Kerry’s biggest problem was that he seems awkward on TV. Obama obviously did not have that problem.
Baud
@Kay: So sad.
rikyrah
Someone had time for GG yesterday on Twitter-thread
https://twitter.com/leahmcelrath/status/988957247760986112?s=20
Central Planning
@Immanentize: There’s some really good technology packed into that little robot. Good luck out in Detriot. I love FIRST Robotics and have been a mentor on FRC teams for 8 years. If only other groups (like high school sports teams) could pick up the FIRST mantra of “gracious professionalism”…
http://www.firstinspires.org for those who want to know more.
rikyrah
@Immanentize:
Good luck to Little Imma and his team???
Kay
@bystander:
I think they’re going to have to tell people something about her if they plan to direct us to love her. She may as well have landed yesterday from space, for all anyone knows about her.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Immanentize: Good luck to Immp and his robot.
Baud
@Kay:
I’ll love her if she files for divorce and turns states evidence.
opiejeanne
@?BillinGlendaleCA: My son went to summer camp at the Methodist camp at Sturtevant when he was about 11. Back then it was only accessible on foot or horseback, and all of the materials to build the camp had been brought in with horses. There was a slide at the pool when he went. Not sure if this is the same pool, and that was over 30 years ago so the slide is probably long gone.
Immanentize
@Central Planning: FIRST has been berry berry good to the Immp. I hope the good tech extends to the very cool programming, because my son is the head programmer….
FRC? Wow — good on you. We stayed with FTC, because $$$ for FRC. FIRST is big in Massachusetts, but Dean Kamen really wats tpspread it everywhere
Kay
@Baud:
It was more than that. He just really didn’t connect with Democrats here, which he knew. I thought it was kind of charming that he knew it – he didn’t try. He started one speech in Ohio with this kind of riff on how he was different than “us” but it wouldn’t matter because he shares policy goals. He has that distance- part of something but also watching it. It wouldn’t have worked anyway, pretending he was the same as them.
Jeffro
@satby: same here! Even my kids were like, what the heck?!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@opiejeanne: Yup, that’s further up the canyon past the falls. The trail I was starting out on when I ran into the rattler is the one that heads there.
Baud
@Kay: No offense, but Ohio Dems seem very emo.
gene108
@Immanentize:
?????????
Very impressive machine.
RedDirtGirl
Good morning, Jackals! Just wanted to again thank all of you that gave advice regarding my cat Alice’s increasingly messy eating habits. I read about “whisker fatigue”, overstimulation of the whiskers caused by the sides of the food and water bowls, and am now using a pie plate for her food and a casserole dish for her water It’s already making a big difference!
Also, too, my Heart and Soul box from Penzey’s arrived a day early! Have a great day, all!
rikyrah
@Kay:
You are right, Kay.
I also think it goes back to, well, if Hillary would just shut up;
1. Then we can get about the business of normalizing Dolt45
2. We can floss over OUR role in all of this
3. By making Hillary go away, then we can just shut up all those folks who won’t just let us have our Dolt45 Administration
4. Hillary goes away, then we don’t have to acknowledge our professional malpractice in missing the huge story that was in front of our faces – RUSSIA.
But, as I have said before..
This isn’t 2000
This isn’t even 2004, after they lied us into two wars
This is something altogether different, and those in our side, haven’t given an inch. We wouldn’t let them shut Hillary up. We pointed our the double standard. We would not let them normalize Dolt45. We continue to bring 8 years of receipts collected during 44’s term.
debbie
How much yelling and raging must it have taken to get her to let him hold her hand?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Sturtevant Camp.
debbie
@Immanentize:
I won’t have time to watch until tonight, but I hope Immp’s team knocks the judges’ socks off!
Baud
Sotomayor, yesterday.
rikyrah
@Baud:
Same Iran Deal as 44’s, but will allow 45 to put his name on it.
piratedan
@Kay: I guess the question for me is how do you change the narrative? I mean what do the Democrats have to do to change the MSM perspectives and framing from being pro-GOP as a default?
Do you challenge the reporters to be as informed as you are as a candidate? Does everyone we trot out there have to be well versed in damn near all things? For me the issue is expertise, it doesn’t matter if we have it if we can’t communicate it effectively in a way that average voters can consume… and since Dems are the only ones who are apparently fact checked it feels like its perpetually rolling that boulder up the hill. Conversely, the GOP gish-gallops the crap out of anything they get a great big freaking pass, yet when the Dems were crafting the ACA, suddenly we’re getting nuance in the level of reporting being done (and tbh, I would prefer informed nuance on ALL reporting) regarding what changes are taking place and what they might mean.
I guess the other related question that nobody ever seems to offer, how the fuck do you stop making the News a revenue generating arm of the public network broadcasting? Why in the hell should there even be the sponsors for News, if there were no sponsors and its forced to be revenue neutral, its part and parcel of the public service for using the airwaves…well, at least in my world with the rose tinted glasses….
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@opiejeanne: reading in the checkout line last night and I came across this gorgeous paint suit on Blake Lively (photo)
opiejeanne
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I didn’t realize the church had sold that camp.
I remember the deer flies were eating us alive at the drop-off spot for the camp trail, at Chantry Flats.
That parking area or one near it was the big scandalous make-out place when I was in HS. I knew a guy who drove off the side; he had graduated the year before and was dating one of my friends. He went up there to sit on the big rock (I guess that was A Thing then) after a date with her, and coming back down he left the road. It sent some shockwaves through the school and community.
Baud
@rikyrah: Probably. I’ll take it over war though.
BruceFromOhio
From the FTNYT link above:
This.. is actually kind of cool. Given, he’s another asshole in a party of assholes, and this does not give him a pass on any of that. Jumping in to prep and deliver on a state dinner is one of those things you just have to do, and Anton got his chance. To ask for it as a parting gift speaks to how important it was to him.
magurakurin
@Baud: exactly. Mondale, Dukakis, Gore, Kerry, and HR Clinton all would have been vastly better presidents than the cretins they all lost to. And it was clearly obvious that they were the better choice. Better in every sense and definitely better for the “average Joe’s and Jane’s” that they weren’t able to “connect” with. Voting is a job hiring process not a dating service. The real problem in America is a lot of people suck and they find excuses to vote for others who suck, too. I don’t have any solution for that. I emigrated 20 years ago…
rikyrah
I have said before: they are after the 14th Amendment because it is the foundation of every inch of social progress in the past 50 years
https://twitter.com/BV/status/989061943515328512?s=20
MomSense
@Immanentize:
Let the nerd games begin! So cool.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@opiejeanne: The road up to Chantry Flats is closed at night now, I took the drive really slow.
opiejeanne
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: That’s pretty nice and a bit daring the way Marlena Dietrich wearing pants was back in the day. It’s reminiscent Victor/Victoria in blurring the gender lines. .
rikyrah
Making it clear about CA and the Mercers
https://twitter.com/peterjukes/status/989059773634170881?s=20
OzarkHillbilly
@rikyrah: What “birther debate”?
satby
@Immanentize: cool video! I’m in awe of these kids doing these robot competitions. Good luck to the Immp and his team!
Neldob
@Kay: “Let the banner burn and blow out on the winds of time, shining and streaming”. Love those younglings.
rikyrah
They are going after Joy Reid
https://twitter.com/marcushjohnson/status/988991403534569473?s=20
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@Immanentize: That video is so cool! I love how kids can create all this stuff. I am so jealous.
BruceFromOhio
@piratedan: Good question (I know, you were asking Kay). Candidates have to:
1) Be well-liked – anyone on background says “oh s/he is so great, we’ve been friends for years” and back-stabbers are few or easily dismissed;
2) Be “likable,” that whole who-would-you-have-a-beer-with myth;
3) Be consistent – speak to positions, platform, messages, sound bites, and stick with them;
4) Take some risks – on the trail, after the speech, invite two or three press folk at random to sit down and talk uninterrupted for 30 minutes – no handlers, no lights, no bullshit; and make this a ‘prize’ for the pool;
5) Take the money and be upfront about it – “Yes I accepted contributions from so-and-so – because of Citizens United, our political process is infused by cash, and I will accept the support of those that support my platform.”
So basically you are looking for someone who simply cannot exist in the fucked up world we live in. Conclude we are stuck with this mess, and either have to work with what we have, or find some way to end-run around these GOP-loving shitheads in the major press.
Baud
@rikyrah: I’m sure the people who oppose political correctness will stand up for her.
ETA:. Any second now.
rikyrah
More folks seeing the coordination against Joy Reid-thread
https://twitter.com/IAnotherSlyFox/status/989013776761573381?s=20
opiejeanne
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Probably because of that incident and others like it. I never went there after dark but my HS driver class teacher had us drive up there and back down. I had no problem with it but a boy my age was nearly in tears by the time he got down off that hill. He wasn’t in my group when I took the class. The two cars were donated by a dealership and had a brake pedal on the passenger side that could override the driver.
opiejeanne
@rikyrah: And our own Imani, aka ABL.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@opiejeanne: I’m old enough that we still had Driver’s Ed in high school* with the special cars that had the extra brake pedal on the passenger side. Now kids have to pay for private driver’s ed.
*I think Prop. 13 killed that off, fuck Howard Jarvis.
Brachiator
@Baud:
Very perceptive. This point was raised in a BBC newscast yesterday.
Unfortunately, this angered the shit out of Iran. A government official said that Iran sees the French president as weak and an unreliable negotiator for trying to please Trump.
In the US, reporters want to pretend that only what Trump wants or believes is all that matters when it comes to foreign policy. But Iran is doing a little saber rattling, and implying that anything that endangered the current deal will leave them free to ramp up their nuclear program.
satby
@Kay: there’s actually quite a bit of information in the public sphere about Melania, even if the type of “modelling” is a little glossed over in Wikipedia. But there’s been articles throughout the years, not just when bigmouth decided he wanted to play at presidenting.
rikyrah
Thread
Wilmer taking credit for other people’s ideas
https://twitter.com/Patrickesque/status/988579253255004160?s=20
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@Immanentize: I showed that video to my husband (PhD Mechanical Engineering). He watched the whole thing and kept saying wow.
rikyrah
Officer involved in Wal-Mart parking lot shooting previously charged with a hate crime??
https://twitter.com/TheRoot/status/988804807870775296?s=20
Montanareddog
@rikyrah:
Agreed. But it is a dead letter, because Bolton/Pompeo/Cotton/Graham/Miller will get to Fatberg next.
But what will the US do after repudiating the JCPOA? Reimpose sanctions which would be useless if the other JCPOA parties do not? Do nothing because Fatberg will just claim the win and move on to his next empty symbolic gesture?
There is certainly no strategy there.
germy
Elizabelle
The Trumps are imposters. They should not be there. It’s awful to have them in the White House, or flying Air Force One.
Imposters. Illegitimate.
And that was a strange WH dinner guest list. Heavy on WH staff and political donors. Not a Mercer in sight though, LOL.
guachi
Looks like the final tally from AZ-08 special election was 5.2% GOP victory. It was 52.6%-47.4% so it rounds to 53-47 and 6% but it was closer to 5% just in case you see different reports.
A great showing for Democrats and I’m sure you’ll see Cook Report and other handicappers adjusting their Solid/Likely/Lean/Toss-Up ratings in favor of Democrats. Cook Report, for example, has steadily seen an erosion of Solid Republican seats and mostly they end up piling up in the Toss-Up or Lean Republican category. There are currently about 25 Republican seats in each of the Likely Republican/Lean Republican/Toss-Up categories. That’s quite a lot. AZ-08, for example, was listed as a Likely Republican seat before the election and you can see how that turned out.
raven
@?BillinGlendaleCA: My old man teaching drivers ed in 1956!
WaterGirl
@?BillinGlendaleCA: @WereBear: I am on Team BillinGlendaleCA on this one!
rikyrah
The curve for Unqualified White Men is REAL??
https://twitter.com/aspirational12/status/988823194210656256?s=20
WaterGirl
@Immanentize: Wow. I am speechless!
WaterGirl
@JPL: Funny. But sad, because I’m sure someone will say it – not in jest.
NotMax
@raven
Illinois plates?
Driver ed instructor I had in high school was also (and primarily) the Latin teacher.
Kay
@Baud:
No offense taken. It IS sort of childish to think the President has to be exactly like you, though. Why shouldn’t he talk like he’s from Massachusets? That’s where he’s from. It’s just REALLY narrow to insist that they personally connect with the candidate. I have to say I felt he was going to lose. I worked really hard with his organizer here but I always assumed it was a worthwhile but losing effort. I’m okay with that, losing and trying anyway. It doesn’t really matter in my work- I work just as hard to lose as I do to win :)
Bush was a better candidate than Democrats gave him credit for. Republicans adored him and low info voters thought he was acceptable- they liked him. But Kerry would have been a fine President. He might have been great.
O. Felix Culpa
@Baud:
Thank you for the link to that interview. I was particularly struck by Hillary’s reference to The Odyssey and the long history of the silencing of women. Can you imagine Tr….nah, won’t even go there.
opiejeanne
@NotMax: Mine was a history teacher and a coach for either baseball or football, but not the varsity football coach.
WaterGirl
@raven: Love that photo.
O. Felix Culpa
@Immanentize:
Wow, that’s amazing. Best of luck to Immp and his team!
germy
WaterGirl
@NotMax: Mine was the math teacher, Mr. Ramsey. I really liked Mr. Ramsey and I loved math, but he smelled kind of like old b.o. and stale cigarettes, so it wasn’t fun to be in the car with him.
bemused
@J R in WV:
I love hearing the frogs start up their loud croaking in the spring. That’s when I know spring has arrived in the north country. Hopefully, we’ll hear them before the end of April but not likely. The temps just recently went above 50 and snow finally started melting.
Baud
@Kay: Kerry probably couldn’t have stopped the financial crash, so he would have gotten blamed for it. But he would have been able to replace the Chief Justice after Rehnquist died. But I learned in 2016 that our voters don’t really care about the Supreme Court, so no big deal.
@germy: Always be hawking.
different-church-lady
@Chyron HR: I want “The Young Turks, probably” to become a meme.
Lapassionara
@Baud: not to mention all the other federal court appointments. Sigh
Kay
I confess I love this. She deserves an opportunity to give them shit. This has been going on nearly her entire life
I know, I know, move on. Except she’s a human being in addition to being famous and they earned her scorn and it’s very gratifying to me that she’s letting the tight self control slip and just letting them have it. I don’t even know what “hair keratin treatment” is and I don’t care but she’s right. It shouldn’t just be made up. Give ’em hell, Chelsea. About time.
Baud
@Lapassionara: Yep. You’re not just electing a candidate, you’re electing a whole team of people. And when their candidate wins and ours loses, that means thousands of good people being shut out and thousands of bad people gaining power and experience.
Baud
@Kay: EVERY TWEET PROVES SHE’S RUNNING!!!!!!
schrodingers_cat
@Kay: Its some kind of hair straightening treatment.
Kay
@Baud:
It disappoints me about our voters, how they don’t care about the supreme court. They’re supposed to be so smart and that’s just dumb. They coulda had a decades-long majority, and they threw it away for fleeting outrage on Goldman speeches. Bad trade. Bad deal. It kills me. I try not to think about it. You could weep.
Aleta
@J R in WV: @bemused:
I heard what we call the peepers –the little frogs — about 10 days ago on Cape Cod. To me their sound is silvery, and it seems to get more silvery the further in the wilderness you get.
I heard them again this week, it was either in NH or on the coast north of Portland –can’t remember where.
bemused
@rikyrah:
I noticed that yesterday. The evil wingnut mob was swamping her twitter feed. Made me sick. Reid is just too damn good at her job so they are doing a coordinated, all out assault on her.
Betty Cracker
@Kay: Ha, I was just posting the same comment before I saw yours. I so enjoy watching Chelsea drag Chozick around Twitter.
Manyakitty
@?BillinGlendaleCA: That was a sound decision. I see a snake and nope right out.
Kay
@schrodingers_cat:
They couldn’t find the (public) records on Trump’s properties and bankruptcies but they really nailed that hair-straightening scandal.
Democrats should hire 4 really hard working and boring people to review every public record Donald Trump has ever filed, or generated. This job is tailor made for me! I would adore that. They have to pay me though. I sort of love reading bankruptcy petitions. Bankruptcy courts are, in my opinion, a real underappreciated jewel in the US court system. Smart people work there.
Chyron HR
@Aleta:
Actually, it’s spelled “Pepe”.
randy khan
Tim Cook bringing Lisa Jackson is just a little bit of shade.
satby
@Kay: @schrodingers_cat: keratin is mostly what hair is made of. A keratin treatment is basically a conditioning coating that replenishes the hair and makes it more manageable and less frizzy, especially in high humidity. It’s an odd thing to even put in a book, much less falsify. It’s like claiming she uses a particular shampoo. Who cares?!?
bemused
@Immanentize:
Awesome.
Manyakitty
@Immanentize: Super cool! (also, dig the music! Kind of has a Crystal Castles vibe)
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
The Clinton’s relationship with the press is too layered and weirdly personal and fucked up to figure out, but I’m thrilled she dropped her incredible self discipline and is just yelling at them. 30 years of pent up frustration.
Lurking on twitter is the best. It’s very egalitarian. Mike Huckabee had to block you personally, which means you got to him. Ha!
Juju
@satby: Apparently Amy Chozick cares. I myself didn’t realize that frizz was some sort of hair sin.
Kathleen
@Baud: Thank you for that. When I read interviews or her books I always feel comforted, like having conversation with old friend. I don’t think I’ll ever get over how horribly press and Slanders and his cult treated her. I’m still so angry.
Manyakitty
@Kay: Email Tom Perez!
Frankensteinbeck
@rikyrah:
5. They don’t have to listen to a woman. I think for most of the ‘Hillary should stop talking’ crowd, that is more important than anything else.
@piratedan:
There is nothing we can do to change the media narrative. Nothing. They are Republicans, and will frame everything from a Republican perspective. There is no winning an abusive relationship. Obama never succeeded. The best he got were backhanded compliments where you could hear how badly they wanted to call him ‘boy.’ Obama also has superhuman charisma and nobody cared how the pundits assured us he was cold and stiff and weak. Unfortunately, that’s not a strategy we can employ long-term. My best guess is, we take the lumps, tell the truth so it gets on the few friendly news spots, and put our effort into other things.
Emma
@rikyrah: Happy morning to me! That’s a lovely ass-kicking.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@bystander:
Trump’s live in dominatrix is all Melania is, but at lest she has the decency to step up to role that got dumped on her. Unlike Spanky.
Emma
@Kay: Move on my arse. I hope she kicks them into the ground. I hope WE kick ALL OF THEM into the ground. Politely letting them take pot shots didn’t work. Now it’s time to shoot back.
bemused
@Aleta:
I’m not a frog expert but our spring croakers are super loud. I think some are gray tree frogs. Our next door neighbor has a low swampy area very near their house and they have to close windows if they want to hear the tv, etc.
In summer, we will have lime green frogs hanging around, window screens. etc. They seem to like basking in the sun. We hear frog croaking during the day but I’m still not sure what breed of frog it is.
gene108
@Kay:
One of the first questions asked to Trump, in the first Republican debate (the one hosted by Megyn Kelly) was about how he can claim he’s good at business but has multiple bankruptcies.
He blustered through it blaming the lawmakers on stage for creating such laws and enabling him. The sheer audacity on display was jarring and a bit impressive.
I think that got the media to not worry about how bad he is at running a business, because of that one answer. Where he should of been on the defensive, he turned the tables with his answer jut got the media to think there’s no way we can get him on this because he’ll just bluster his way through and look good.
Might as well focus on e-mail servers and hacked e-mails.
satby
@gene108: no, that was the same debate where the follow-up discussions were about whether Kelly had “blood coming out of”… Because Drumpf knows how to manipulate the media and they fall for it every time. Discussing what a pig he was supplanted discussing what a failure as a business man he was.
MomSense
@Kathleen:
I am still so GD angry.
Aleta
@gene108:
That describes perfectly another thing he did and kept doing after that debate. Like you say, to change the subject. He also blamed Kelly’s question on hormones, and (I think on purpose) was crass and outrageous so the media would go after that story instead. Later when stories began to break about Russia he did something similar.
Damned at Random
My god, Michelle is stunning in that dress
Barbara
@Damned at Random: My favorite Michelle Obama state dinner gown of all time: Alexander McQueen
I love it because I can’t think of too many other women who could wear this dress without the dress wearing them. I also like the asymmetrical shape, the full skirt and the fact that it’s patterned, all things that make it distinctive.
LanceThruster
@Baud:
Pizzagate was essentially dismissed with handwaving. Any interview that doesn’t address the unsavory aspects of the pictures on Alefantis’s Instagram account (or some of the musical performers at his “family” pizza restaurant), the perverse pedophiliac artwork of Tony Podesta, or try to get any sort of explanation/clarification of the pedophilia code words (as identified by the FBI) in the DNC emails, is merely running interference for Clinton. If it’s truly a big nothingburger, then addressing head on shouldn’t be a problem.
Some of the art/performance pieces by Marina Abramovic are at least as salicious as Trump’s alleged pee tapes. I know there’s a history of powerful people dismissing any controversy over artists by pointing out that artists are a different breed, but it’s still worth delving into.
I know guilt by association is a stretch, but these people were highly connected with the Clinton and Democratic machine.
Barbara
@LanceThruster: I am not getting pulled off topic but it seems to me if you are alleging that someone is running an illegal activity of any kind from their basement you should at least check to see if they actually have a basement. And you know what? The owner of that restaurant should have sued every party that repeated that allegation for defamation. Just in case you didn’t know, it is per se libel — damages presumed — to falsely accuse someone of a crime. Stop doing it.
schrodingers_cat
@Barbara: That’s a gorgeous dress and Michelle looks great in it. Her height is an asset when wearing dresses like this.
Barbara
@schrodingers_cat: Her height, for sure, but also the fact that she is not so thin that she is drowning in it.
Emma
@LanceThruster: Jesus Christ on a Harley. Really? Would you consider you landed in the wrong Universe by mistake? In this one the sky is blue, the grass is green, and Spock doesn’t wear a beard.
Yutsano
@Emma: He’s a Wilmerite. Not even worth responding to.
MomSense
@Barbara:
I loved the black floral gown she wore to the State Dinner for Canada.
Kathleen
@MomSense: It’s so nice to know I’m not alone. Thank you.
patrick II
@debbie:
is it on tv or youtube? what channel?
patrick II
@piratedan:
I’m not sure that would make a difference anymore while corporations like the profits from news, but have come to value news programs even more for corporate friendly propaganda. FOX and Sinclair being prime examples.
Steeplejack
@patrick II:
I think she’s referring to the video at #24.
patrick II
@Steeplejack:
Thanks. I guess it was wishful thinking that something that cool involving student intellectual activities would be televised.
Quaker in a Basement
Trump is such a sourpuss.