Last month on Air Force One, Trump denied any knowledge of his fixer Michael Cohen’s $130K payoff to Stormy Daniels. This week, Rudy Giuliani revealed that Trump had reimbursed Cohen, which suggests strongly that Trump was aware of the payoff.
The Trump fluffers on Fox News tried to square that circle by claiming that maybe the notoriously cheap Trump allowed Cohen to disburse a $130K payment without knowing to whom it was going or for what purpose. But today, Trump denied that he said he didn’t know about Michael Cohen’s payoff to Stormy Daniels:
WATCH: President Trump denies he once told reporters he didn't know about the Stormy Daniels payment.
"You take a look at what I said … You go take a look at what we said." pic.twitter.com/MNFgs1CRO5
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) May 4, 2018
He’s a liar, of course — it’s on video and everything. But why is he lying about this particular thing now? My guess is that it’s related to the since-retracted revelation yesterday that Michael Cohen’s phone was tapped. First NBC said the phones were tapped, meaning agents could listen in to conversations, and that a White House call was intercepted. Later, NBC walked that back, claiming other sources said call logs only were monitored.
Trump ain’t taking any chances. Maybe the lines were tapped, maybe they weren’t, but Trump knows he talked to Cohen about Daniels. He knew about the payoff — the cheap bastard doesn’t even pay legit vendors, so he’s not rubber-stamping outgoing mystery money. He’s afraid he’s on tape discussing Daniels with Cohen. So, what choice does he have now except to lie about what he said just a few weeks ago, even though it’s on video?
Gaslighting worked on Trump’s marks during his career as a real estate scammer and licensing schemer. It worked on his wives, at least for a while. It works on his stupid base, and fellow elected Republicans at least pretend to his face to believe Trump’s lies. The mainstream media has proved willing to choke down a tray of bullshit sandwiches too. Looks like Trump will test the full limits of their credulity.
The Dangerman
Trump has regressed to trying to light his farts with a match?
yam
@The Dangerman: It appears that he’s trying to light his presidency on fire with a match
Major Major Major Major
Sigh. Argh.
I don’t know, I kind of just can’t with the news right now.
O. Felix Culpa
Never underestimate the stupidity and cupidity of the trumpistas. Based on my Facebook feed, they happily believe and disseminate at least five blatant lies before breakfast. Doesn’t even matter if one lie belies another, they BELIEVE.
MomSense
Why won’t our fearless media follow Ryan and McConnell areound and ask them not just to comment but why they will not do anything about the lying, the obstruction, the chaos,and the corruption?
Yes we all know what they will answer but why let them get away with their refusal to meet their obligations? Get up all in their grills and hound those cowards. Put them on the spot. Jesus I’m so sick of this.
The Dangerman
@yam:
I’ve basically given up trying to predict what will bring this fucker down, but it’s going to be spectacular flameout.
Betty Cracker
@Major Major Major Major: I go back and forth on that, vacillating between escapism and immersion.
germy
talkingpointsmemo
MJS
In line with MomSense’s question, why wouldn’t someone in that gaggle immediately pull the video up on their phone and say, “Here Mr. President. This is what you said.” (Can’t watch at work, so if someone did, my bad, but I’ll be shocked if it happened).
MattF
Lying, bullying, bluster, obfuscation. Trump has a limited behavioral repertoire, and that’s all there is to it. For the record, it’s not at all delusional– it’s very clearly done deliberately and with malice aforethought.
germy
Roseanne went after Stormy, claiming she’s known for “anal porn scenes”
Stormy wasn’t having any of it.
WereBear
Since most of them are Fundy Christians, that’s their most important skill anyway.
LAO
*thud* >head hits desk<
randy khan
My theory on Giuliani’s appearance on Hannity is evolving. Originally, I thought he might have done it on his own. Then yesterday morning’s tweets and the White House staff reaction made me think that Trump and Giuliani had cooked it up together. Now I’m beginning to think it was a Giuliani plan, and he wrote tweets to support the story that Trump then transcribed (which explains the one random typo), but that Trump now has been told by someone that Rudy’s plan wasn’t so hot.
MattF
@LAO: It’ll have to be one of those magical self-refuting statements, e.g., “This sentence is false.”
debit
@O. Felix Culpa: The true believers will continue to do so until they die. I’m talking the hard core idiots, the Alex Jones fans. I feel confident those are the actual 27%. The rest of them? They may have some regrets now. It’s too bad and so sad they will forever have Trump stink all over them.
germy
Gaslighting letter written by drumpf in 1992.
LAO
@MattF: I almost can’t wait to see what Giuliani comes up with next. The office pool is running 2:1 in favor of admitting the commission of a new federal crime by Trump. I hate everything about these fuckers.
feebog
@LAO:
So they have figured out that Rudy’s version of the facts don’t match up with Trumpov’s and now they are going to attempt a “do over”. Pro tip, there are no do overs in politics.
Baud
@MattF:
It’s the one thing Trump could say that I’d believe.
LAO
@feebog:
Or in Criminal Prosecutions!
WereBear
Did someone go back in time and plant the phrase “trumped up evidence” in an attempt to warn us?
Major Major Major Major
@Betty Cracker: Please enjoy the world’s calmest video: A 7-minute tutorial on how to pick up a cat
Spanky
Now on the WaPo front page:
Why does the WaPo hate ‘Merka?
prostratedragon
@WereBear: I’ve often mused on my college-days obseesion with card games, in which the best bids were No Trump. (See also Star Trek Next Gen, “Cause and Effect”)
MomSense
I know the balloon-juice media empire already has a few podcasts but why not give the willing FPers cameras and pay them to do some decent GD reporting.
No One of Consequence
The Schadenfreude is indeed compelling, but I fear for my country.
Recall Jefferson’s quote. Perhaps His Justice is, in fact, finally awakening. Recall Lincoln’s quote to the KC lawyers that no foreign boot would set foot on the Appalachians, but that American would require internal enemies for our downfall.
I, like many of you, believe that there is compelling evidence to suggest a systematic, intentional weakening of our government and the checks and balances it relies upon for idealistic *and* pragmatic functioning.
Our President* is a man of low character at best. At worst he is a Traitor. Capital T. Capital crime. Capital punishment as laid out in the Constitution, for the *only* crime addressed in that document.
But it is the small, gathering mass of all the unintended consequences of this chapter in our collective History. This malfeasance will have a looooooooooooong tail, and we will be feeling and dealing with it’s effects for longer still.
We are losing more than our global reputation (deserved or undeserved), we are losing our ability to attract good businesses, good people and perhaps most costly to us in the long run, good *will* of our neighbors and allies. We are allowing discord to be sewn amongst our citizenry and populous, and we will all share the bitter harvest that results.
This is going to require more than ridding ourselves of this Administration and all they have touched. This will require a re-dedication to our highest ideals, and a coordinated striving to regain the stature we have forsaken. Much ground has been lost. It will continue to be lost until we collectively decide to be fellow Americans and strive to live up to the ideals laid down by our forefathers and foremothers.
I, for one, am hoping my malaise and weariness and shame turn to anger, and action and advancement of corrective measures. If enough Americans get pissed off enough, and if they can somehow find a way to work together, Lord help those who oppose us.
I’m getting Angrier.
How ’bout choo?
– NOoC
Brachiator
Makes sense. Trump can’t exactly deny anymore, so he’s got to establish a different motive and try to obfuscate everything.
Don’t know why
You don’t believe my lies,
Stormy Daniels,
Cohen and Rudy can’t get their shit together
Keeps lying all the time
Life is bare
That Mueller’s everywhere
Stormy Daniels,
Just can’t get my poor self together
I’m weary all the time, the time
So weary all the time
It almost doesn’t matter anymore. Trump’s base don’t care and see all this as keeping Trump from doing what he promised them.
ETA: I am curious to see how Trump revs up the NRA crowd. He needs another dip in the adulation of Deplorables.
Mandalay
@Major Major Major Major:
Mika?….
MattF
@Baud: It must be meta-Infrastructure Week.
West of the Rockies
Maybe, maybe some original Trump supporters weren’t evil. Maybe they were just wildly ignorant, misinformed, dumb. Maybe 20 years of anti-Hillary propaganda marred them and they thought, “Hey, Trump is a rich businessman. He must be super smart! He’s not a politician, so we can trust him.”
But if you still like him, there is no longer any wiggle room: you are a bigoted, misogynistic, racist money-pig… And you’re still dumb.
germy
@Spanky:
Don’t worry. They’ll run an editorial by Ed Rogers pretty soon to make up for it.
The Golux
@O. Felix Culpa:
Through the looking glass, indeed.
MattF
@LAO: I make no predictions until they find the third Stooge.
rikyrah
@germy:
Stormy owns who she is and doesn’t take prisoners…
I saw that earlier and LMAO.
rikyrah
@LAO:
Here’s the thing….no matter the answer…there’s always an underlying crime with this group-which makes THE TRUTH – not an option.
So, it’s a win-win for those of us who want to see them in orange jumpsuits.
WaterGirl
@feebog:
That’s only true if the “media” don’t let you getaway with the lies and the bullshit.
kd bart
“Yesterday I was lying, today I am telling the truth”-Bob Arum
debit
@germy: Hah hah hah! I took great pleasure this morning in seeing that Roseanne’s ratings continue to plummet every week. If she continues to shed viewers at the same rate, that second season renewal may be reconsidered.
Yutsano
@germy: Sigh. Roseanne can’t even slut shame properly. And even if Stormy DID do anal, so what? It’s the fucking 21st Century. Fuck her ersatz Puritanism.
Spanky
Why does grilled eggplant make my mouth itch?
Shell
See voters. What an advantage it is having a real businessman in the White House?
Mandalay
Marco Rubio on April 26:
Marco Rubio on May 2:
Trump has now released Rubio’s family. They are safe, and were not harmed during their captivity.
Baud
@debit: I hadn’t heard that. Good news.
germy
@rikyrah: Meanwhile, Tom Arnold will be starring in a new TV show. Something about tracking down the hidden Apprentice outtakes.
He’s been crowing about that for about a year now. I suspect he has nothing. But at least he’s found work.
West of the Rockies
@No One of Consequence:
I hope, NOoC, that we can right the ship. I suspect though that once we have a president in office from the Democratic Party, once more we’ll see outrage, hear squeals of indignation from conservatives when that president orders the “wrong” mustard or otherwise offends their tender sensibilities.
Hopefully, other countries will welcome our return to logic, decency and honor.
Amir Khalid
@MJS:
If you call this President a liar to his face, or worse if you prove it, he’ll take it out on you and your newspaper/TV network/whatever. And your editors will not thank you for the loss of access.
Baud
@Mandalay: Almost RandPaulish.
Baud
@West of the Rockies:
Fixed.
satby
@Spanky: it’s a nightshade plant, like tomatoes and peppers. Lots of people are allergic and allergies can develop even to something you’ve used a hundred times. Don’t eat it!
Brachiator
@germy:
So is Roseanne. How is this an issue?
Also, even among Trump voters, Stormy Daniels has always been a popular star. Trump having a brief fling with her trips their fantasy meters.
Baud
I liked it better when reality TV was fake.
The Ancient Randonneur
@Mandalay:
You’re giving Rubio way too much credit. He’s a gutless punk ass coward.
SiubhanDuinne
@Major Major Major Major:
What a wonderful video! The SQ (Soothing Quotient) is only enhanced by the Canadianness of the vet.
Amir Khalid
@LAO:
I can’t say I find this surprising. Giuliani’s only just shown the world that he’s disconnected from reality and common sense.
ET
I don’t know that the mainstream media won’t call out this bit of shit, the problem is that in some respects they know it won’t matter. They know that the people who haven’t lost their minds and are paying attention can see what is going on and while they will discuss it and question administration officials and GOP talkers and everyone is shaking their head wonder what the hell while at the same time knowing that someone this blatant seems to get away with shit. Everyone is a bit befuddled.
They also know that tRumpers don’t care that tRump lies. They know that those people aren’t listening because they are purveyors of “fake” news and are part of the “liburl media bias” . No one over here is befuddled because they don’t care and aren’t listening.
germy
Each day brings more news.
Worst thing that ever happened
to Trump was winning.
rikyrah
Get the ENTIRE PHUCK OUTTA HERE!!
Jill Stein: I’m refusing to turn over some docs in Russia probe because lawmakers shouldn’t have even asked for them https://t.co/vqiBZjVxH7 pic.twitter.com/dCXAFGT9Kv
— The Hill (@thehill) May 4, 2018
Cacti
At this point, the GOP is a fully post-truth party, following a pathological liar.
rikyrah
White man goes on 10-minute racist tirade towards black woman on Long Island Railroad: https://t.co/L6tPhcAwBE pic.twitter.com/QhT0zCRQVA
— The Root (@TheRoot) May 4, 2018
TenguPhule
@MJS:
What do you think we are, Norway?
Baud
@rikyrah: The Trump Defense!
Baud
@TenguPhule: No wonder they don’t want to immigrate here.
germy
essay by someone who worked for Charlie Rose.
https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2018/05/04/the-open-secret-of-charlie-rose/
debit
@rikyrah: I bet that works out just as well as refusing to file and pay taxes because sovereign citizen argle bargle.
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@randy khan: I’ve been off working and now I’m trying to figure out what the hell is happening. Or, in R speak, what statements are or are not now operational. Your summary makes me think my effort is pointless.
Brachiator
@The Ancient Randonneur:
They all are. All the Republicans. Everyone of them.
Even McCain is having his “come to Jesus” moment way too late. From various news reports.
Even odds that Trump will attack McCain, despite McCain’s illnesses.
Chyron HR
@germy:
“Ha ha ha benis go in your butt!”
Are they saying that their President has shit on his dick? Sick burn, yo.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Yutsano: Agreed, most female performers do anal since it pays twice to 3 times as much money.
khead
Stopped by for the snappy banter and pet pics. The references to bridge(!) and TNG are just a bonus. On a side note, I’m glad my college days obsession with card games came before the poker craze. Bridge was a lot cheaper.
Mnemosyne
@West of the Rockies:
This. EVEN IF you granted someone an excuse for their initial vote, anyone who continues to defend him is hopeless and needs to be ignored.
lgerard
I love trump’s new position
Rudy is just a trainee and is not yet up to speed
Bobby Thomson
@feebog: please. There are probably more Mulligans in politics than any other field. We had Dick Nixon to kick around for quite a while.
TenguPhule
@West of the Rockies:
“Stupidity cannot be cured. Stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death. There is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.”
― Robert A. Heinlein
The Ancient Randonneur
@Brachiator:
Indeed. Trump is already on the record stating he prefers vets who weren’t captured.
TenguPhule
@Spanky:
Not cooked well enough or you have an allergy to it.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Seriously? That much more? Interesting. I need to think about some life choices.
TenguPhule
@Mandalay: Other way around?
TenguPhule
@West of the Rockies:
Sorry, our one and only Mulligan was Bush Jr’s regime of error.
TenguPhule
@satby:
Even if you’re not allergic, not eating eggplants is always the best option.
Spanky
@Brachiator: Hang on now. There’s a huge difference between doing an asshole and being an asshole. I’m unaware of Roseanne being in the fomer category, but the latter ….
TenguPhule
@Baud:
i liked it better when reality tv wasn’t even a concept.
Kay
It’s still hard to get used to- how much they lie. They lie to everyone, all the time. The lies aren’t even consistent from one Trump Administration employee to another so you don’t know if the 2nd lie is to cover up the 1st lie or to cover up the truth.
They’ll now point to the record of Trump saying what he said and say it doesn’t exist, I guess. This is insanity. In a way it’s terrifying because it’s so unmoored from anything real. There’s no ground under you feet when you’re listening to them- no objective truth.
They won’t even admit “YOU said THIS on THIS day”- so not even going to the truth of what they said but simply getting them to admit they said it. Simply getting them to admit the statements are inconsistent, not even weighing in one whether one is false and the other true. You can’t even get that.
Probably BOTH statements are lies, right, considering the character and past history of the two people who made them? Trump and Sanders were lying with the first statements and Rudy is also lying with the second.
TenguPhule
@rikyrah:
“Congress has made their demands, now let them enforce it!”
“How many army divisions does the Senate have?”
HeleninEire
@Baud: Inorite????
Shell
So, Trumps latest excuse is that Guiliani “is learning on the job.”
Yup, all the best people.
TenguPhule
@Baud:
Apparently if the choice is between Lutefisk and Republicans, the Lutefisk is preferable.
Felony Govt (Formerly Old Broad in California)
What’s really scary is – it’s Friday. Is there going to be any MORE of a news dump today? The entire week has been one bombshell after another. Don’t know if I can take the excitement.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@rikyrah: Reminded me of this out here in blue California.
laura
@Spanky: because you are developing an allergic reaction.
I ate shellfish my entire life. December 2001, first dungeness crab of the season. One unbelievably delicious bite in -a funny feeling in the mouth. Next, i felt slammed by a semi-truck, an overwhelming feeling of anxiety as my blood pressure dropped while my pulse skyrocketed. Breathing became difficult as my throat swelled and restricted. I looked up and said call 911.
Fortunatley, there was bendryl in the cupboard and i was given three and then the ambulance hauled me off to the er.
Now allergic to all shellfish. No more chinese restaurants due to cross contamination or hidden oyster sauce.
Never leave the house without an epi pen with a strio of benadryl taped to it.
Do not risk eating it until/unless you’ve been evaluated to determine if this is safe. Your life could depend upon it.
JPL
Pence’s doctor who complained about Jackson has resigned.
LAO
@Shell: Well, it’s called the “practice” of law for a reason.
Bobby Thomson
@rikyrah: it’s not like the Russian party will do anything with them.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: A lot is compensation for the prep, basically like getting a colonoscopy.
TenguPhule
@Kay:
This is why I favor the “just kill them all and lets pretend this whole sorry state of affairs never fucking happened” approach.
I don’t want to have to keep dealing with this shit. I want to go back to normal boring life things happening at a predictable rate.
HeleninEire
So I’ve got a question/complaint. As a lifelong NY’er (well until now) all I heard was “Oh NY gets all the attention. If that (insert a NY disaster/problem/political issue) happened anywhere in the US it would not get nearly the attention as NY is getting.”
So ALL NY’ers, certainly NYC people, knew about Trump and Guilianni and what assholes they were/are. Why didn’t the rest of the country know this, since NY got all of the media coverage?
rikyrah
THIS.SHYT.HAS.GOT.TO.STOP!!!
TenguPhule
@HeleninEire:
Because apparently they assumed everyone was up to date on everything in New York, so Trump’s past was not news, it was olds.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: When I had my colonoscopy, they put me under.
TenguPhule
@rikyrah:
Fuck her feelings, the pissy white snowflake.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@HeleninEire: The FTFNYT sets the agenda and they seemed to think the lady with the emails were more important.
rikyrah
@Kay:
CRIMES all the way around…which is why they can’t tell the truth. At every turn, it’s a LIE to help with the CRIME.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Did you see the post I left you..
Kucinich is now doing interviews with RT.
RT!!
He doesn’t care if he wins. He’s not a Democrat.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: That wouldn’t work well in porn. You should read Asa Akira’s book.
Mandalay
@germy: Well Rose’s planned comeback/redemption just took a bit of a hit:
And CBS now has some more mansplainin’ to do:
schrodingers_cat
@Major Major Major Major: That was nice. I find Shiro and company’s videos very soothing.
Here is Shiro watching some dumplings being made
ascap_scab
Whether the FBI has the conversations recorded doesn’t matter. Cohen didn’t have any secured phones. With all the Stingrays in DC, somebody has him on tape. Is it the Russians, Chinese, Koreans, or some other actor who will give it to Wikileaks at the time to do the most damage?
rikyrah
@laura:
This just terrified me.
Glad you’re ok.
But, this story terrified me.
rikyrah
@Spanky:
Just grilled?
What about raw?
What about cooked in a soup?
West of the Rockies
@TenguPhule:
Love that quote!
Brachiator
@Spanky:
Why not both?
rikyrah
@Mandalay:
30?
30?
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I’ll wait for the movie version.
Mnemosyne
@HeleninEire:
Because the NYC media didn’t want us to know what their hometown boy was up to. They’ve covered for him for years, and they keep doing it.
Mandalay
@germy: From your enlightening link:
WTF??? Rose should be locked up for more than one reason.
Raoul
The sadly inept NYT yesterday called Trump’s pair of incompatible statements a “reversal of position” as if saying one thing a few weeks ago and the opposite this week is akin to going from “I oppose seatbelt laws” to “I support them”. Obviously to all but Maggie Haberman’s employer, there was a blatant lie involved here. But we’ll call it a positional change to be nicey-nice. Gaaah.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@LAO:
Sorry, Rudy. Trump is already giving you the “I hardly know him, he’s just a coffee boy” treatment.
Corner Stone
@JPL:
Looks like she was just another poor sap who got turned to shit by being in the Trumpverse. Although her resignation may save her reputation, if not her military career.
Politico Link:
Pence doctor resigns after Jackson debacle
“Vice President Mike Pence’s physician has resigned, the latest fallout from the collapse of Ronny Jackson’s nomination for secretary of Veterans Affairs.
Dr. Jennifer Peña, who like Jackson is a military physician detailed to the White House, was among those who detailed claims of professional misconduct against Jackson to senators considering his nomination, according to a person familiar with the events. “
Major Major Major Major
@TenguPhule:
Ah, it’s going to be one of those days. (Ending in -y.)
@schrodingers_cat: thanks, I’ll check that out later—gotta bang my head against some cryptography. Peace out ✌?
terraformer
@MomSense:
Hear, hear.
I know that “Washington is wired for Republican control” (per Josh Marshall), and the hypocrisy of Republicans is never called out, and that if a Democrat did something 1/1000000th as bad as any number of Republican scandals, the media would most certainly be all up in their grills about it.
But dammit, at what point should the media take in on themselves to tear all that out and re-wire? Perhaps take the view that there sometimes (lately, almost never) are NOT two sides, and one of them should be treated as the threat to democracy and our country that they so obviously are? I had enough of this shit during the BushCo years; the current wackjobs make them all seem rather quaint.
HeleninEire
@Baud: Propofal? (sp?). Oh holy hell the best. Had it at my colonoscopy. That’s what Michael Jackson killed himself with (with the help of his doctor). I kinda get it. As an insomniac, falling asleep in a minute and then waking up a little bit stoned is heaven.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: No need to wait, there’s a 3 part series.
RedDirtGirl
@Spanky: Because it’s a nightshade?
Spanky
@laura: Uh, yeah, well I ate what was there. No further itchiness or after effects. I’m not a big fan of eggplant, so I won’t miss it.
Thanks all!
Mandalay
So here’s the headline:
Gun Owner Will Give Birth in Prison After Trying to Protect 2-Year-Old Daughter from Assailant
Guess her skin color and her religion. You are limited to one guess for each.
Shell
Silly me. I thought you hired somebody cause they KNEW what the hell they were doing.
Corner Stone
Recognizing that it’s NSFW, but damn the Stormy Daniels’ twit feed is a freaking riot.
Baud
@HeleninEire: I actually don’t remember. It was a long time ago.
@?BillinGlendaleCA: YouTube?
Neldob
Can’t they just have a headline that says-Today’s Big Lie and spell it out. Treat him like the evil clown he is.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@Brachiator:
Why do you always accentuate the negative? It’s always “it doesn’t matter to Trump’s supporters” as if nobody knew that already. They don’t matter anymore, have shrunk to a hardcore of nutjobs, and will be swamped in Novemeber by hardworking, passionate people who actually care about their country.
Their time is over.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Heh, maybe porntube.
Chyron HR
@Corner Stone:
So Mother has to come with Mikey for all of his examinations? Even grabbing the balls and the finger up the butt? Awkward.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@Major Major Major Major:
At this point, can you blame him?
TenguPhule
@Shell:
Recall in 2017 that this was Trump’s excuse for being a fuckup.
So, for once he’s practicing the fine art of recycling!
LAO
Tapper thread with Giuliani’s statement:
Baud
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: I agree. Thank you.
LAO
This made me laugh:
Timurid
@Mandalay:
That case is so screwed up, even Treason Magazine is getting woke…
RobertB
@HeleninEire: Propofol. I had a colonoscopy last year. They didn’t knock me out all the way out with it, but ‘smashed out of my mind’ was a good description. No driving, signing legal documents, etc.
JPL
@LAO: haha
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Indeed. If I never hear about the man in WH or his supporters ever again. It will be too soon. I don’t care what they think.
HeleninEire
@LAO: So I read it. It says nothing. Nothing at all.
TenguPhule
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
Millions and millions of them.
Do not underestimate the power of the Dark Side.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@Baud:
I don’t want to be some mindless booster or anything. We all need to sometimes temper our expectations but I notice Brachaitor doing that a lot and it gets tiresome.
Spanky
@rikyrah:
Heck, grilled was what was just in my lunch. Never had ’em raw, and I don’t remember them in soup. I was just sitting here at my desk reading BJ and eating lunch, and threw out the question.
LAO
@HeleninEire: Indeed.
rikyrah
@Mandalay:
Nothing from the NRA…right?
Baud
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
No worries. I can do it.
TenguPhule
@Baud:
Baud 2020: A mind is a terrible thing to waste. So let me do it instead!
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
@TenguPhule: All we need to do is keep fighting the good fight and standing up to them, speaking truth to power. Because good people countered the Nazis last year (and their own idiosyncrasies) the alt-right has virtually collapsed in the United States. Because good people got involved we have started to see results in special elections, even in places like Arizona where the Republican got less votes than normal. We have to keep hammering them.
It’s the never-ending battle that has existed throughout history.
HeleninEire
@RobertB: After resting for 30? minutes they let me walk 3 blocks home ACROSS QUEENS BLVD!!! I was fine. And had a very quiet day. Gonna say it was like 2?? beers. But the falling asleep right away. All you sleep people; you have no idea how frustrating it is to lie in bed forever waiting for sleep.
TenguPhule
Mark Hamill has a podcast up on the Wapo homepage, for those of you who could use a lighter distraction.
EBT
Whoo
Got a tip inside of five minutes of posting the last post of my newest story!
TenguPhule
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: I’ve been where you are at. That was my sentiment back in 2008.
MomSense
@Major Major Major Major:
There’s a catcon in Pasadena in August.
PPCLI
As entertaining as the Stormy Daniels Show is, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that nearly 20 women (or is it more by now? I’ve lost count…) have made plausible accusations of sexual assault against Trump. The only counter the administration has provided is to state flatly that every one of the women is lying, because Trump says so.
The key takeaway from the Daniels show (even more important than the campaign finance violations etc.) is that it makes clear even to people like NYT Maggie that Trump will lie about anything. He will even tell lies that contradict one another. He is still refusing to acknowledge that he had sex with Daniels, when it’s clear he did.
So given that he can’t be believed about anything, why are we not talking about the women who have plausibly accused him of sexual assault? His denials are worthless, everyone can see that.
TenguPhule
North Korea is going to rick roll him.
TenguPhule
@PPCLI:
Because our media is stupid and has the memory of a mayfly.
The other ten thousand current scandals in the wings also tend to drown out the older ones.
Gex
@Yutsano: They are stuck pretending anal is deviant because they need it to be to hate gay people.
Emma
@germy: It is odd to think, but a porn star is becoming my hero. Kick their asses, Stormy!
TenguPhule
Friday infrastructure news dump. Interesting times ahead. And behind. And right now.
US-China talks end in increased tension and demand for $200bn trade deficit cut
How stupid is Mnuchin? This stupid.
Brachiator
@Mnemosyne:
Yeah, but odd on a number of levels. Maybe they didn’t think that he was a “serious” candidate. I can believe that he was so well connected the New York and New Jersey media barons owed him any big favors.
And Staten Island was the only New York City borough where the majority voted for Trump (56 percent), so it’s not like the New York Times was catering to a pro-Trump reader base.
rikyrah
Kucinich is getting help from Republicans in attacking Cordray ??
Uh huh
Uh huh
https://twitter.com/eclecticbrotha/status/992455435981611009?s=19
Spanky
@Emma: How many of us want to be defined by our jobs? And I don’t even suck at mine!
Ghost of Joe Lieblings Dog
@HeleninEire:
Rumor has it that early in the campaign, the entire NYT, reporters, editors, admin staff, and physical plant, moved to Punxsutawney PA in pursuit of a MAJOR story on one P. Phil, and on their way back to the metro Manhattan area unexpectedly ended up in Kansas instead of NY.
So NYC didn’t actually have a major newspaper during the campaign …
Spc123
As mentioned, today’s walk back is almost certainly due to the discovery late yesterday that the “wiretap” is only a pen register. Plumbing the depths of incompetence.
Major Major Major Major
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: many, dare I say most, people are able to make it through the day without recommending killing sixty-three million people in writing.
ETA or, if I’m misreading, then replace that with “the president and his family”
rikyrah
Jr’s wife had 100 million reasons to drop him???
https://twitter.com/Only4RM/status/992151684649496583?s=19
Brachiator
@TenguPhule:
Wow., I knew that Trump and his people were stupid, but not this deep level of stupid.
To be fair, this is just at absurd as the UK’s Theresa May insisting on wanting to leave the EU without any negative consequences at all.
Gravenstone
@Mandalay: Saw a tweet in Cole’s timeline about Rubio’s flip flop. He’s blaming the original statement on an intern. Monica freaking Lewinsky called him on it! Said blaming it on the intern was “very 90’s”. I LoL’d.
HeleninEire
@Ghost of Joe Lieblings Dog: Well that would explain everything.
smintheus
I have been dealing for the last half year with a group of college students who think they can get away with anything just by willing it so, and when they were caught cheating they just gaslighted me. All the same answers: Nope. All the same answers verbatim: Nope. All the same wildly mistaken answers verbatim: Nope.
They actually persuaded a disciplinary board to let them off the hook for cheating because some people are willing to be gaslighted. Sad fact of modern life.
Brachiator
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
I’m only stating a fact, the same as any number of posters here.
You find this kind of empty cheer leading “positive?” Interesting.
Also, I never take Republicans as political opponents for granted, not until they are defeated, and dead and buried and I have pissed on their graves. At least three times.
Ghost of Joe Lieblings Dog
@HeleninEire:
Seems plausible – or at least, I don’t know how else to rationally explain it.
Dan B
Today’s dodge by Trump seems like a ‘time to up the chaos’ ploy. Our MSM don’t seem to know how to report on or spin the chaos. They also miss what the chaos is hiding: Religious Freedom executive order for one.
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major:
I assure you that number is much smaller then it was 15 months ago.
feebog
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Are there pictures?
TenguPhule
@Brachiator:
I expect about the same response to Mnuchin the EU gave to May.
El Caganer
@TenguPhule: I think those Midwest soybean farmers should consider raising covfefe instead. They’re gonna get hosed.
TenguPhule
@feebog: Its designed to be touch friendly.
TenguPhule
@Brachiator:
And that’s only because you have to rehydrate before resuming.
Gravenstone
@rikyrah: To quote a commercial catchphrase: That’s not how this works. That’s not how any of this works.
efgoldman
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
As always I’m… ummm… impressed by the… ummm… depth… yeah that’s it, depth… of your knowledge
ruemara
@Spanky: You may be eating too much of it. If I overdo the eggplant, I start reacting. Deadly Nightshade family & all. Oddly though, it’s really good in this vegan stew I made. with more deadly nightshade – tomatoes.
@rikyrah: Fuck her. I hope she spends a good long time in jail, the fatuous, seditious nitwit.
Brachiator
@TenguPhule:
Two of my favorite BBC programs is the satirical program The News Quiz via podcast and Have I Got News For You (via YouTube). They regularly mock the shit out of May and her chief BREXIT negotiator, the improbably and redundantly named, David Davis.
It’s also clear how absurdly similar the US and UK approaches have been. Weak, poorly thought out, and with childish lies to the people and to each other.
For example, Mnuchin tried to get away with a one page “analysis” of the positive impact of the Trump tax cuts. David Davis had to admit that the UK Government had done no impact assessments for the implications of Brexit on sectors of the British economy.
No One of Consequence
@TenguPhule: Reality TV is neither.
Peace,
– NOoC
Brachiator
@TenguPhule:
It also just feels good.
TenguPhule
@Brachiator:
After claiming he was too busy in getting those assessments ready to spend time with Parliament discussing the negotiations.
I’ve read the Guardian’s politics sketch.
Yutsano
@Brachiator:
I knew I liked you.
I’ll bring coffee. Maybe we can do this in one day.
gvg
@laura: I think Spanky should get tested. Cross contamination is common and it might not be the eggplant he is reacting too. so if he starts avoiding eggplant but it’s actually something else he is becoming allergic too, he could still have one of those life threatening reactions.
My sister developed the shellfish one suddenly in her 30’s. It was lucky for her that she was a doctor at work with other doctors and they gave her an epi pen quick. However she has always been vegetarian and hadn’t know she got any shell fish. It was cross contaminated utensils at a catered lecture lunch. Since then she has learned to avoid places that serve shellfish, for instance she can’t risk iced tea at Captain D’s. Also many prepared foods use crab juice to flavor up foods that have no obvious connection with shellfish such as squash casserole. You have to read labels very very carefully and never assume. Since it is so much work to look out for an allergy, it’s best if you know for sure.
jl
As Krugman said on twitter a while back, Trump is an authoritarian without the authoritarianism. For this kind of gaslighting to work reliably and over longer term in government, you need to control the legislature, elections, the courts and the press first.
So far, Trump only has control of the legislature, and we’ll see about he media. But scary how far he’s been able to go already down the authoritarian road in our country.
Brachiator
@Yutsano:
Done deal.
opiejeanne
@satby: Tomatoes do the same to me, if I eat enough of them. We grow them every summer and I avoid store-bought for obvious reasons. Usually I can eat them 3 or 4 times a week for about 3 or 4 weeks before the itch begins, and I’m done. I figured out that it was an allergy when I was an adult, and that probably explained my aversion to them as a kid. I HATED them, but my dad’s tomatoes were very acidic and not tasty like the ones we grow.
George Spiggott
@HeleninEire:
Here’s Frank Rich’s take: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/04/frank-rich-roy-cohn-the-original-donald-trump.html
J R in WV
@rikyrah:
Well, now, all you say is true, and there is no explanation of the woman’s call to 911 other than racist hatred… but after speaking with the young Native American men, they were in theory allowed to rejoin the tour.
Except that the tour had progressed away from the young men and their police escort, and they didn’t get to take much tour at all. After a 7 hour drive!!!
Pretty despicable on the part of the person who called the cops on people because she was a flaming bigot!!!
KS in MA
@George Spiggott: Thanks–Good article!