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You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2018 / Friday Evening Open Thread: The NRA Lost This Election

Friday Evening Open Thread: The NRA Lost This Election

by Anne Laurie|  November 9, 20189:00 pm| 115 Comments

This post is in: Election 2018, gun safety, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, All we want is life beyond the thunderdome

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"Dems ousted at least 15 House Rs with 'A' NRA ratings, while the candidates elected to replace them all scored an 'F' NRA rating."https://t.co/4SVsqggqy0

— Jesse Lehrich (@JesseLehrich) November 9, 2018

More good news of the Blue Wave!
 

listen up nerds, WE make the gunshot victims, and YOU treat them https://t.co/NkMwZyeXte

— ben hsieh (@tweetsbenedict) November 8, 2018

Forensic pathologist for the rebuttal:

'Stay in your lane,' NRA tells doctors who want to reduce gun deaths https://t.co/p0Ldy8Jsd9 via @nbcnews

— Judy Melinek M.D. (@drjudymelinek) November 9, 2018

Do you have any idea how many bullets I pull out of corpses weekly? This isn’t just my lane. It’s my fucking highway. https://t.co/48S9UIFaV2

— Judy Melinek M.D. (@drjudymelinek) November 9, 2018

If the #NRA had stayed in their lane, they'd still be teaching hunter safety to country folk. Instead, they've become weapons dealers.

— Justitia (@Justitia2018) November 9, 2018

We are not self-important: we are important to the care of others
We are not anti-gun: we are anti-bullet holes in our patients
We consult with everyone but extremists
Most upsetting, actually, is death and disability from gun violence that is unparalleled in the world https://t.co/E8qz3lewK7

— Esther Choo MD MPH (@choo_ek) November 8, 2018

"Stay in your lane, doctors," says the NRA, taking a momentary break from unhinged shrieking at video games, movies, protest marches, "socialism," lemons, and black people who would prefer not to be shot.

— ApocalypseOfTheWeekHat (@Popehat) November 8, 2018

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Reader Interactions

115Comments

  1. 1.

    Roger Moore

    November 9, 2018 at 9:04 pm

    Yeah, the NRA is warning doctors to stay in their lane, because we wouldn’t want another road rage shooting.

  2. 2.

    Platonailedit

    November 9, 2018 at 9:05 pm

    Is jeff denham toast in CA?

  3. 3.

    Platonailedit

    November 9, 2018 at 9:07 pm

    When these gunnutz are shot (most likely self-inflicted), the docs should stay their in their lane and not treat them.

  4. 4.

    Mary G

    November 9, 2018 at 9:07 pm

    How things have changed since Valentine’s Day.

  5. 5.

    TS (the original)

    November 9, 2018 at 9:07 pm

    Rachel mentioning that trump has a meeting planned with Putin on Sunday (confirmation from Russia, not from the White House).

    I’m wondering if trump is going to ask for asylum – for himself and/or the children

  6. 6.

    Kent

    November 9, 2018 at 9:09 pm

    It’s not just the candidates. Here in Washington Ballot measure 1637 passed by a whopping 20 points (60% to 40%) which raises the minimum wage to buy assault weapons to 21, increases background checks, and implements weapons storage requirements and makes gun owners liable if their guns fall into the wrong hands or the hands of children.

    Expect to see a lot more ballot measures in subsequent elections in every state that they are possible.

  7. 7.

    Roger Moore

    November 9, 2018 at 9:12 pm

    @TS (the original):

    I’m wondering if trump is going to ask for asylum – for himself and/or the children

    I’m not sure if Trump would think to ask for asylum for anyone but himself. That would require empathy, which is not his strong suit.

  8. 8.

    Mary G

    November 9, 2018 at 9:13 pm

    @Platonailedit: Even the school superintendent race is getting closer:

    #.SPI Update pic.twitter.com/UkRjsfgpWM— CATargetBot (@CATargetBot) November 10, 2018

    I would love to see Marshall “Private Charter Schools Are Awesome” Tuck go down.

  9. 9.

    gene108

    November 9, 2018 at 9:14 pm

    I am getting soooo bored. I had a kidney transplant last week. Got released from the hospital last Friday.

    Convalescing this week and waiting for the clearance to get back to work, drive, etc.

    It is nice having down time, but damn it gets boring fast, when you are relying on others to do things for you.

  10. 10.

    Yarrow

    November 9, 2018 at 9:15 pm

    Kudos to the Parkland kids, Moms Demand Action, Gabby Giffords’ organization and others who working to reduce the power of the NRA and reduce gun violence.

    I met some of the Moms Demand Action women when I was volunteering for my congressional candidate this summer and fall. They are awesome. They were always there, always in their Moms Demand t-shirts, so positive and full of great ideas for how to make a difference.

    All these groups working together are helping us get results like this. Great job!

  11. 11.

    jl

    November 9, 2018 at 9:16 pm

    Vile hypocrisy from NRA. The NRA has taken lead in limiting the ability to do public health research on firearms, on best practices in gun safety and education. They have tried to interfere with health practitioner-patient relationship in state level gags against talking with patients about gun safety.

    Gee, the National Association of Home Builders doesn’t freak out over public health research on construction safety, slips and falls and how to use ladders,and how to hammer a nail without smashing your fingers off.
    Weird, I wonder why.

    ‘Stay in your lane’ indeed!

  12. 12.

    Yarrow

    November 9, 2018 at 9:17 pm

    @Kent: That is great news. Those are exactly the types of things that push people to be responsible gun owners and punish them if they are irresponsible gun owners. Great to see.

  13. 13.

    Martin

    November 9, 2018 at 9:20 pm

    The March for our Lives young adults really deserve a massive amount of credit for walking out of a tragedy and building this intersectional campaign organized by high schoolers. It’s massively impressive.

  14. 14.

    MomSense

    November 9, 2018 at 9:20 pm

    @gene108:

    Your brain is bored but your body is very busy healing itself. Hang in there.

  15. 15.

    Platonailedit

    November 9, 2018 at 9:21 pm

    Democrats Plan to Pursue Most Aggressive Gun-Control Legislation in Decades.

    Democrats say they will pass the most aggressive gun-control legislation in decades when they become the House majority in January, plans they renewed this week in the aftermath of a mass killing in a California bar.

    Their efforts will be spurred by an incoming class of pro-gun-control lawmakers who scored big in Tuesday’s midterm elections, although any measure would likely meet stiff resistance in the GOP-controlled Senate.

    Democrats ousted at least 15 House Republicans with “A” National Rifle Association ratings, while the candidates elected to replace them all scored an “F” NRA rating.

    “This new majority is not going to be afraid of our shadow,” said Mike Thompson, a California Democrat who is chairman of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. “We know that we’ve been elected to do a job, and we’re going to do it.”

    Mr. Thompson, who represents a district in the Napa Valley north of San Francisco, said he plans to introduce legislation mandating universal background checks in the opening weeks of the new Congress.

  16. 16.

    Amir Khalid

    November 9, 2018 at 9:22 pm

    @Kent:
    Assault-style rifles are useful only to a soldier in combat. For anyone else, they are an unacceptably dangerous adult toy. Me, I think the minimum age to buy a personal one should be “dead of old age”.

  17. 17.

    geg6

    November 9, 2018 at 9:24 pm

    Those Parkland kids should get a Presidential Medal of Freedom. If we had a legitimate president, that is.

  18. 18.

    Villago Delenda Est

    November 9, 2018 at 9:25 pm

    The NRA is a terrorist organization. Treat it like Al Qaeda.

  19. 19.

    germy

    November 9, 2018 at 9:25 pm

    @geg6: Next president.

  20. 20.

    Kent

    November 9, 2018 at 9:25 pm

    @Amir Khalid: I don’t disagree. However I think the thrust was at least to prevent HS students from walking into a gun shop and buying them before shooting up a school.

  21. 21.

    Villago Delenda Est

    November 9, 2018 at 9:27 pm

    @geg6: As the French say, instead, we have a sack of merde.

  22. 22.

    Mary G

    November 9, 2018 at 9:29 pm

    The SS Whitaker takes on more water:

    NEW from me: Acting attorney general Matt Whitaker said he supports state's rights to nullify federal law https://t.co/C9AioLW0G3— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) November 10, 2018

    Yes, he is a full-bore Confederate.

  23. 23.

    Anne Laurie

    November 9, 2018 at 9:29 pm

    @gene108:

    It is nice having down time, but damn it gets boring fast, when you are relying on others to do things for you.

    If you can stream videos, pick a tv series from a genre you enjoy (even one you’ve watched sporadically already). It doesn’t take much physical or mental energy to surf a serial mystery / police procedural / dramedy / medical show, pausing when you need to, letting the continuity arcs ripple over you.

    I think it was Norman Lear who said watching old Three Stooges shows on videotapes got him through a serious medical crisis… although that sure wouldn’t be my pick!

  24. 24.

    HumboldtBlue

    November 9, 2018 at 9:30 pm

    @gene108:

    What momsense said, get better and best wishes.

  25. 25.

    Keith P.

    November 9, 2018 at 9:32 pm

    This is really off topic, but it really is an open thread, so really weird thing I’ve been in the ICU for. So long and so many drugs, I’m starting to wake up and watch myself have conversations with people who aren’t around and sometimes the nurses…ll in a British accent. For reference my social accent is Gulf Coast, and my business accent is Generic American

  26. 26.

    Anne Laurie

    November 9, 2018 at 9:35 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Yeah, but restricting gun sales in America is like, I think, permitting alcohol sales in Saudi Arabia. If you’re not very careful about phrasing every step of the way, you agitate a lot of potentially dangerous true believers. Which doesn’t mean people in Saudi Arabia — even ‘observant’ Muslim Saudi citizens — don’t find ways to get their hands on booze, which further erodes the trust factor between ordinary people and the authorities who are supposed to be ‘protecting’ them.

  27. 27.

    zhena gogolia

    November 9, 2018 at 9:35 pm

    This is very heartening.

    The PBS Sound of Music is kind of cute. I love Julian Ovenden.

  28. 28.

    Platonailedit

    November 9, 2018 at 9:35 pm

    Next week's cover of @NewYorker. "Welcome to Congress," by Barry Blitt. pic.twitter.com/Du9CQJ27jl

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) November 10, 2018

    Hello dicks.

  29. 29.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    November 9, 2018 at 9:36 pm

    @TS (the original):

    Rachel mentioning that trump has a meeting planned with Putin on Sunday (confirmation from Russia, not from the White House).

    Hmmm, guess it’s performance review time again.

  30. 30.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    November 9, 2018 at 9:37 pm

    @Mary G:

    I would love to see Marshall “Private Charter Schools Are Awesome” Tuck go down.

    Me too.

  31. 31.

    Amir Khalid

    November 9, 2018 at 9:38 pm

    @Kent:
    And I agree that keeping them away from disgruntled high schoolers is a helpful start. But they should eventually be kept away from anyone who doesn’t use them at work. Too many American high schoolers who don’t like Mondays have access, or can gain it, to Dad’s gun collection.

  32. 32.

    Jay

    November 9, 2018 at 9:39 pm

    “Prosecutors in Sicily are examining allegations by shipwreck survivors that a US navy ship ignored distress calls and failed to assist them before their dinghy capsized.

    The USS Trenton rescued 42 people after the dinghy sank on 12 June, but survivors allege that the cruiser had earlier ignored their cries for help, failing to avert a disaster in which 76 people died.”

    Snip:

    “Fabio Butera recorded a radio conversation between the Trenton and a Greek merchant vessel, Leone Hermes, which suggests that the Americans might have ignored another rescue request two days before from migrants drifting in an overloaded raft.

    The recording makes it clear that the crew of the Leone Hermes reported the presence of a distressed raft to the US ship on 10 June. An American voice can be heard replying: “I have other tasking which I’m following … We are unable to assist in this matter.”

    In that case the migrants were recovered by the Leone Hermes.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/09/us-navy-ship-ignored-sinking-migrants-cries-for-help-say-survivors

  33. 33.

    cain

    November 9, 2018 at 9:40 pm

    @Mary G:

    Yes, he is a full-bore Confederate.

    Yep, but I guess he’ll be totally onboard for the criminal lawsuits against the president from NY state, right? This guy cannot maintain his oath of office with attitudes like that. Keep leaking, intelligence community.

  34. 34.

    khead

    November 9, 2018 at 9:45 pm

    @Platonailedit:

    Is jeff denham toast in CA?

    I read this as Jeff Dunham and was briefly happy at the thought that someone had finally killed his act.

  35. 35.

    japa21

    November 9, 2018 at 9:48 pm

    @Mary G: So sanctuary cities and states are just fine. Great news.

  36. 36.

    Villago Delenda Est

    November 9, 2018 at 9:48 pm

    @Mary G: Find a sour apple tree for the asshole.

  37. 37.

    Amir Khalid

    November 9, 2018 at 9:48 pm

    @Anne Laurie:
    I think the rich in Saudi Arabia have access to contraband alcohol and speakeasies at home, and of course remain free to imbibe when they travel abroad. That is the lesson of your Prohibition era, I think: the few who enjoy something enough to break the law for it will not be dissuaded. The point is to discourage the rest.

  38. 38.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 9, 2018 at 9:49 pm

    @Mary G:

    said he supports state’s rights to nullify federal law

    Hasn’t that question been settled at some point in US history?

  39. 39.

    Villago Delenda Est

    November 9, 2018 at 9:51 pm

    @Keith P.: Sounds like the Vicodin is doing its job if you ask me.

  40. 40.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 9, 2018 at 9:52 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I want to know why Putin was invited to a commemoration of the end of WWI. What role, precisely, did Russia play in bringing about that end?

  41. 41.

    Ruckus

    November 9, 2018 at 9:53 pm

    @khead:
    I thought he killed the act a long time ago, just by appearing on stage. Every time he shows up one of those long poles with a hook on the end, like they used to use in vaudeville should follow him on stage and drag him off and would be totally appropriate.

  42. 42.

    jl

    November 9, 2018 at 9:54 pm

    @khead: I read in thread below and on twitter that Harter is up by slightly over 3,000 votes now. People starting to say that lead will probably stick.

    I typed in previous thread that Denham’s lead after Tues night was never more than barely over 1,000 votes. So I kept a faint hope complete vote count might swing other way. The district is just about evenly split, and primary results show Denham’s support very weak Just checked and my memory was correct, the miserable fraud only got 37% of the primary vote.

    As I’ve noted, Denham does an elaborate dance to defraud the locals into thinking he is moderate conservative, while his acts and votes are hard core Trumpster (edit: and before Trump, a jackass reactionary). I don’t think the act would have lasted this long, except that the local media has given him cover as some kind of sensible moderate, for some reason. Except they yanked it this year, again, for some reason I don’t understand.

  43. 43.

    FelonyGovt

    November 9, 2018 at 9:55 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Me three.

  44. 44.

    satby

    November 9, 2018 at 9:55 pm

    @gene108: @Keith P.: Both of you just take it easy and get well soon. Recovery can be boring but getting better is the main thing.
    And yeah Keith, that is odd. But hell, enjoy the novelty, it’s probably just the drugs and will pass when you are less medicated.

  45. 45.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 9, 2018 at 9:58 pm

    @gene108: Glad you’re doing well.

  46. 46.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 9, 2018 at 10:00 pm

    The NRA is going to be even more out of sorts if the Florida Agricultural Commissioner race keeps heading in the direction it’s been going. The Ag Commissioner in Florida is in charge of issuing conceal carry permits. Florida is a shall issue state, meaning that it can’t not issue a permit unless there’s a legitimate reason, but having a Democrat in control and overseeing this is going to put Marion Hammer into full pucker!

  47. 47.

    gene108

    November 9, 2018 at 10:06 pm

    @Keith P.:

    Have they at least figured out what is the problem, which is making you sick?

    Get well soon.

    @MomSense:

    Your brain is bored but your body is very busy healing itself. Hang in there.

    With one working kidney, Imhave more energy than I have had In years. The bigger issue, than my body needing to heal is I am on strong doses of immune-suppressants to avoid rejection, so that limits going out, because of a compromised immune system and the chance of getting sick.

    @Anne Laurie:

    Binge watching and reading, but there’s something naughty about binge watching, when you have something to do that doesn’t guide make it the same as now. I know, I shouldn’t watch more episodes of “x” because I need to do laundry or grocery shopping, but damn it all I will keep watching. Makes binge watching a guilty pleasure rather than just a way to pass time.

  48. 48.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 9, 2018 at 10:07 pm

    @Mary G: What the hell is in the water in Iowa?

  49. 49.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 9, 2018 at 10:08 pm

    @Keith P.: You may want to ask the nurses to dial back whatever’s in your IV…

    Feel better!

  50. 50.

    Adam L Silverman

    November 9, 2018 at 10:09 pm

    @Anne Laurie: The other issue is that if you’re not very careful in your wording you create some really weird legal effects that you didn’t intend to.

  51. 51.

    J R in WV

    November 9, 2018 at 10:11 pm

    @Keith P.:

    When wife was finally off the ventilator in MICU back 8 years or so ago, from septic shock from pneumonia, she told me she was getting phone calls from a Romanian – no phones in ICU – and there were crowds outside the hospital cheering the football playoff game at the stadium. No stadium near the hospital.

    So don’t feel too bad, that kind of thing must be really common for patients dealing with serious illness and recovery.

    I figured out that what she was hearing at first was the little pump pushing food down the tube into her stomach.

    Don’t know where the Romanian spy came from, although 20 years ago I worked with a Romanian computer guy who was unable to get his report to come up with the data totals the users knew they should get, and hard-coded the answers into his report. That only worked until the next month when the newly run report had the same results last month’s report presented!! Fired!

    Then he wanted me to come to Cincinnati Bell where he got another contract job… no thanks Igor!! Because he would get a hiring bonus for placing a new contractor… No Thanks, Igor!!!

  52. 52.

    Matt McIrvin

    November 9, 2018 at 10:12 pm

    What are they proposing to do to these doctors–the same thing the anti-abortion fanatics did?

  53. 53.

    gene108

    November 9, 2018 at 10:13 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Believe Putin was invitèd to be part of the Paris Peace Forum,, organized by Marcon and not so much about the WW1 ceremonies.

    I believe the USA will not be participating in the Forum.

    https://parispeaceforum.org

  54. 54.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 9, 2018 at 10:15 pm

    @gene108: Thx

  55. 55.

    jl

    November 9, 2018 at 10:18 pm

    I don’t know why I found this tweet and response so funny I almost fell on the floor. I’m a little goofy on Friday after a very hectic week, maybe.

    @jonswaine
    It was on his Wikipedia page.

    Daniel Dale @ddale8
    WaPo: The acting attorney general’s role as an adviser to a scam company “came as a surprise to both senior Justice Department and White House officials, several officials said.”

    https://twitter.com/jonswaine/status/1061048800788258816

    Edit: probably I am just a loser critic. Trump doesn’t like the critics, you know. Found on joshtpm twitter

  56. 56.

    Amir Khalid

    November 9, 2018 at 10:22 pm

    @jl:
    This White House didn’t even do the absolute minimum of looking the guy up on Wikipedia. Somehow not surprising, but certainly risible.

  57. 57.

    Kay

    November 9, 2018 at 10:22 pm

    @Kent:

    Under the measure, a person who left a firearm in a place where a prohibited person (someone who is prohibited from firearm possession under state or federal law) could potentially gain access to the firearm would be guilty of community endangerment, a class C felony, if a prohibited person gained access to the firearm.

    That’s good. We had one here- 2 boys, friends, 15 and 17. Uncle leaves a loaded gun on top of a clothes dryer in the garage. Two boys are in the garage before school- they’re waiting for the school bus inside the (open) garage. 15 year old accidentally shoots and kills the 17 year old. The school bus driver was the first adult on the scene. The uncle was charged with a misdemeanor. They didn’t have anything else to charge him with.

  58. 58.

    Amir Khalid

    November 9, 2018 at 10:24 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:
    More or less. At least that’s the implied threat.

  59. 59.

    Platonailedit

    November 9, 2018 at 10:25 pm

    @jl: Utter incompetence and total corruption is the new normal under white entitlement.

  60. 60.

    Mary G

    November 9, 2018 at 10:26 pm

    @gene108: You just had a kidney transplant! Rest is what your body needs. Boredom is a good sign you’re healing, though.

    @Keith P.: That seems quite common. My mother was on some kind of antibiotic that had her convinced she had been taken to Santa Barbara in an ambulance, and she was so rational-sounding I almost believed her under I realized that I had seen her 45 minutes before and SB is three hours away at rush hour. I called her doctor and yelled at him, and he kind of blew me off, then called me the next morning and said something like “you’re right, she’s batshit on that stuff, I’m taking her off it.” And one of my best friends’ mother had surgery and kept complaining about the circus outside her window on the sixth floor of the hospital, with fire-eaters and acrobats and everything. Once she was off whatever drug it was, she was perfectly sane. Did you get to vote?

  61. 61.

    Anne Laurie

    November 9, 2018 at 10:28 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Yeah, we tried that national-alcohol-prohibition thing, and it famously didn’t work so well. One of the major, permanent side effects was that it enabled national organized crime — formerly local mostly urban-ethnic gangs grew strong feeding the upper-middle-class desire for quality (smuggled) liquor. Joe Kennedy (reputedly) made the bulk of his money there; but while Joe got out with his reputation mostly intact, the working-class Irish networks who did the scutwork for people like Joe eventually bred Whitey Bulger. And everyone who’s seen the Godfather movies knows about the Mafia getting its American foothold during Prohibition.

    That’s within living memory, and the people with the best chance of actually enacting gun-safety regulation do *not* want to repeat those mistakes. Which is why their (our) efforts are liable to look more like the anti-smoking, or anti-drunk-driving, campaigns — chipping away at the edges, towards the bedrock, rather than attempting to blow up the whole corrupt structure at once. Because a big part of it will involve changing attitudes, not just laws. I can remember when asking someone not to smoke next to you at a restaurant or concert was considered faddish, if not outright rude; now you can be casual friends with a person for years without knowing they’re smokers, because the social norm has reversed — it’s the smokers who are imposing their nasty habits on us ‘normal’ people. Given time (and it may not take as much time as we thought, even 10 years ago, since younger people are becoming increasingly angry about mass-shooter drills, never mind incidents), the responsible gun owners will be the same way — we hope!

  62. 62.

    Martin

    November 9, 2018 at 10:30 pm

    @Kent: We’re going to have to organize an intervention on Oregon. WA and CA seem to be in alignment on gun control and Oregon, which is excellent on a range of issues but keeps doing shit like this.

  63. 63.

    Anne Laurie

    November 9, 2018 at 10:30 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    What the hell is in the water in Iowa?

    Fertilizer runoff, pesticides, and pig-manure slurry?

  64. 64.

    J R in WV

    November 9, 2018 at 10:30 pm

    @jl:

    Fascinating!! We all knew he was associated with a patent fraud company days ago, and it comes “as a surprise to both senior Justice Department and White House officials”!!!!!!

    Amazing. Nothing surprises me any more. Fascists hating, racists calling police on people doing routine people things. BBQ while black, Babysitting while black, walking into your apartment building while black!

    At least they’ve started arresting bigots for 911 violations and hate crimes.

    Maybe if enough of the racists get arrested, the rest of the racists will get the idea that they need to hide that despicable shit away again, forever.

    Have you guys seen the photo of the 19 black women who were all elected judges in Harris county (Houston) TX? A whole bunch of well educated, outgoing, attractive, vivacious women going to be judges come January!!!

  65. 65.

    Spanky

    November 9, 2018 at 10:33 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    @Mary G: What the hell is in the water in Iowa?

    Pig shit. This is not snark.

  66. 66.

    A Ghost To Most

    November 9, 2018 at 10:34 pm

    @J R in WV:
    I for one welcome our new feminine overlords.

  67. 67.

    pk

    November 9, 2018 at 10:35 pm

    I was thinking today that in these two years as president, Trump has never even mentioned his son Barron in any context. The Obama’s always used to talk about Malia and Sasha. We saw them grow up, saw the dog, saw them doing family things. But zip as far as Trump is concerned. One would think that his someone would tell him to take pictures doing ordinary everyday things with his son. Does he spend even a minute with Barron? All he seems to do is eat, tweet, watch FOX, hate watch CNN, and hate rallies.

  68. 68.

    Mary G

    November 9, 2018 at 10:36 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I don’t know, but I’m glad Dorothy Winsor got out of there alive.

  69. 69.

    Spanky

    November 9, 2018 at 10:39 pm

    @pk:

    Does he spend even a minute with Barron?

    Probably prohibited in the pre-nup.

  70. 70.

    jl

    November 9, 2018 at 10:39 pm

    @J R in WV: I take the officials’ statements with a grain of salt. If this was one of those messes sprung from one of Trump’s on-the-fly flashes of genius, he just ordered it in a furious rage and no one could talk him out of it, it is hard for me to believe that several people didn’t run and research this crooked goofus.

    But, what are they going to say? “Yeah, we looked him up, gawd what a sleazy goofball! But what are going to do? Trump wants him.”? Better to just act like a fool.
    But, I found the idiocy and chaos on parade, that would be obvious to the typical sixth grader, hilarious. Whether or not the officials were lying (of course they were, IMHO).

  71. 71.

    Kay

    November 9, 2018 at 10:41 pm

    @jl:

    Oh, he’s a lovely person, Donald Trump’s newest low quality hire:

    In an August 2015 email included in court documents, Whitaker wrote to a complainant who threatened to go to the Better Business Bureau, “I am assuming you understand that there could be serious civil and criminal consequences for you.” He noted he was a former U.S. attorney.

    He’s a thug. He threatened those people he robbed.

    I love how the rest of the low quality hires “didn’t find” this- they should try a Google search before they hire the nation’s top law enforcement official. We’re right in the middle of a white collar crime wave and they’re hiring the criminals.

  72. 72.

    Yutsano

    November 9, 2018 at 10:41 pm

    @pk: The Third Lady is keeping Barron as far away from his sperm donor as possible. Look at how all the other children he “raised” have turned out. If she only has one decent quality, it’s the fact that she is at least a decent mother. But that’s as much credit as she deserves.

  73. 73.

    J R in WV

    November 9, 2018 at 10:41 pm

    Many years ago my dad had a routine chest x-ray at a routine doctor’s appointment.

    There was a shadow of some sort!!! He quite smoking in 1960, was quite healthy over all, they did an endoscopic biopsy first, nothing. So then they talked him into a needle biopsy, because the x-ray shadow “looked” so ominous. Nada again!!

    They talked him into major surgery to remove this shadow thing – it turned out to be a benign cyst, an encapsulated infection they couldn’t even ID because it was killed off by the pre-op antibiotics.

    Anyway, dad was on Cipro post op, at the time a brand new super antibiotic. When best friend Joe visited, Dad asked him about the kittens Joe had with him. Saw other things that weren’t there. We told the Dr, who asked us if he had a history of using psychedelic drugs like LSD or others. Dad was a republican who did one drink before dinner, didn’t even smoke Tobacco.

    I looked Cipro up in the PDR, one of the major side effects at high doses is hallucinations~!!!~ but the Dr was totally unaware of this?!?!? Not competent to be prescribing the medication. Dad was left with permanent nerve damage, pain from that nerve damage, for nothing!! A prior infection already killed off. Fuck those rural doctors, not prepared for anything more complex than STDs.

  74. 74.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    November 9, 2018 at 10:43 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:
    That question will never be truly settled, not as long as eyes can see and men can breathe.

  75. 75.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    November 9, 2018 at 10:44 pm

    @Kay:
    Only corrupt people would want to work for a corrupt “president”.

  76. 76.

    jl

    November 9, 2018 at 10:47 pm

    @Kay: As I noted, my theory is Trump ordered it in some kind of fit, and he couldn’t be talked out of it.
    And people just say whatever they need to in order to get through the next minute or so (they are forced to operate on Trumpian management principles, which chills my spine, even given how much I disapprove of all of them).
    I am operating on the premise that no group of incompetent stupid people can make decisions as incompetent and stupid as Trump by himself.

  77. 77.

    Mary G

    November 9, 2018 at 10:50 pm

    I like her:

    JUST IN: Facing criticism from Pres. Trump, Sen. Rubio, Gov. Scott and other Republicans, Palm Beach Co. supervisor of elections says it's “unfortunate” that they “are trying to disrupt our democracy because they don’t like the demographics of our voters.” https://t.co/WgZYvQ3yud pic.twitter.com/ngnsNYnUKv— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 9, 2018

  78. 78.

    jl

    November 9, 2018 at 10:53 pm

    @J R in WV: Medical education is very highly compartmentalized. I can tell your stories from curriculum development wars past on how much physicians think they need to know about drugs, and how much pharmacists think they need to know about actual patients under treatment, and when and how often they need to talk to each other. But, I probably better not. It is changing, but at a snails pace. Interprofessional training is the rage now, but they won’t do it until people are far enough along to get on the clinic floor. The basic science is still completely compartmentalized, even when it would be more efficient to teach docs, pharmacist and advanced nursing students together. It is IMHO the most unreasonable and unnecessary compartmentalization of any applied area I’ve seen.

  79. 79.

    Kay

    November 9, 2018 at 10:54 pm

    @jl:

    “Serious criminal consequences for you”. For going to the Better Business Bureau. Whatever state bar licensed him should have sanctioned him. These aren’t “high standards”. They’re rock bottom. The Trump people don’t even meet minimum standards for their professions.

  80. 80.

    Frankensteinbeck

    November 9, 2018 at 10:55 pm

    @Platonailedit:

    Utter incompetence and total corruption is the new normal under white entitlement.

    A black man became president. It is absolutely essential to demonstrating the superior position of whites that utter incompetence and total corruption not merely be tolerated, but pushed to the fore and celebrated. It’s sort of like rubbing minorities’ faces in it, except they’re making themselves feel superior by demanding that the worst white men be celebrated. The aristocrats have had it the fuck up to here with anyone denying their ability to get what they want. The voting slime want to see their own dumbass, mean-spirited horribleness enshrined. The Republicans in the middle care way more about who you hate than whether you’re competent anyway, and they’re getting a fine rush of sadism.

  81. 81.

    Mary G

    November 9, 2018 at 10:57 pm

    More Whitaker fuckery:

    In a Des Moines Register piece last year, it appears Whitaker confirmed that he didn’t know Sessions before being made his chief of staff. Also check out the kicker. https://t.co/3zfAqNHAhv pic.twitter.com/tcHqlqeVqe— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) November 10, 2018

    This won’t take long.

  82. 82.

    Ohio Mom

    November 9, 2018 at 11:00 pm

    @pk: There are persistent rumors that Melania and Barron live with her parents in suburban Virginia, and that she basically commutes to the White House.

    Maybe not so different than the Obamas having Mrs. Robinson live with them to watch over the girls while they were busy with official duties? With the added benefit of keeping Mom and son a good distance away from Trump.

    One imagines that for Trump, Barron being out of sight leads to him being out of mind. Or whatever Trump has that passes for a mind.

  83. 83.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    November 9, 2018 at 11:01 pm

    @Kay:
    I’m sure a lawyer being so stupid and unethical rising to be Acting Attorney General sits in your craw, huh?

  84. 84.

    jl

    November 9, 2018 at 11:09 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: Sadly, that line of reasoning works for at least 40 percent of the population, almost all of them aging white bigots. But, among the general population, especially as time goes on and the older bigots pass on, that strategy has some problems, in general, and for winning elections in particular.

    But, it is horrid to live through. Hope things stay under control enough that the phrase ‘live through’ isn’t in poor taste.

  85. 85.

    HumboldtBlue

    November 9, 2018 at 11:15 pm

    I stopped in at a county Supervisors meeting a week ago and the proceedings were led by women in key leadership positions.

    When I went upstairs for a court hearing the entire proceeding — Judge, DA, Public Defender (Chief) — was directed by women with three other professionals (all women) in admin roles.

    The City of Eureka just elected a slate of four progressive women — Mayor and three council seats — to office and the city government will feature five women and one man. A few years ago the small town of Blue Lake became the first city in the state to feature an all-woman council.

  86. 86.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    November 9, 2018 at 11:16 pm

    @jl:
    The real question is whether younger bigots are being created at a rate needed to replace the ones dying. The emergence of the alt-right disturbs me. The only saving grace is that they’re greatly prone to infighting.

  87. 87.

    John Revolta

    November 9, 2018 at 11:16 pm

    @pk: I remember a couple years ago, maybe during the campaign, he tried to claim that he was up to date with the latest technology because his son Barron “knew all about the cyber”. So there’s that.

  88. 88.

    Ruckus

    November 9, 2018 at 11:19 pm

    @Anne Laurie:
    Look at the number of people on this blog who used to hunt and shoot and want nothing to do with guns, as was discussed the other day.
    Not sure it will take 10 yrs, we now have examples of how to make it work, and every poll, except the nra polls say a lot more control.

  89. 89.

    jl

    November 9, 2018 at 11:20 pm

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??: We’ll see. The GOP has dug themselves into a deep deep hole with younger people. They’re forced into ridiculous and disgusting nonsense to keep the older bigots in line, that disgusts everyone else.

    The next question is, given the blazing hatred most young people have for the GOP because they believe the GOP is most responsible for making their generation noticeably less well off than their parents, do they have room in their psyche for blazing hatred of anyone else? And also, more than any other generation before, they live with the people the GOP wants them to hate. Thinking through that is above my pay grade.

  90. 90.

    Ruckus

    November 9, 2018 at 11:24 pm

    @Kay:
    They did a google search.
    That’s how they know this is an acceptable hire to them.

  91. 91.

    jl

    November 9, 2018 at 11:24 pm

    @John Revolta: Barron must be punking his own dad. A horrible thought. Or maybe Barron has given up in despair. That seems more likely and doesn’t seem so depressing.

  92. 92.

    jl

    November 9, 2018 at 11:25 pm

    @Ruckus: I don’t believe a single word, syllable, or phoneme that comes out of their mouths.

  93. 93.

    The Lodger

    November 9, 2018 at 11:29 pm

    @Keith P.: Have you seen The English Patient?

  94. 94.

    Ruckus

    November 9, 2018 at 11:33 pm

    @jl:
    Safest way to deal with these fucking assholes. Don’t believe a word. Except the word guilty. As long as it’s not preceded by Not.

  95. 95.

    debbie

    November 9, 2018 at 11:35 pm

    I want to rip Dana Loesch’s face off her head.

  96. 96.

    Another Scott

    November 9, 2018 at 11:37 pm

    @Ohio Mom: People:

    7. His idea of good parenting is “supplying the funds”

    In a 2005 interview with Howard Stern, Trump said he “won’t do anything to take care of” his kids. “I’ll supply funds and she’ll take care of the kids. It’s not like I’m gonna be walking the kids down Central Park. Marla used to say, ‘I can’t believe you’re not walking Tiffany down the street,’ you know in a carriage. Right, I’m gonna be walking down Fifth Avenue with a baby in a carriage. It just didn’t work.”

    8. Marla Maples said that when it came to raising their daughter, Tiffany, Trump was generous with his money — but not his time

    “Her daddy is a good provider with education and such, but as far as time, it was just me,” Maples once told PEOPLE of raising Tiffany largely on her own. “Her father wasn’t able to be there with day-to-day skills as a parent. He loves his kids. There’s no doubt. But everything was a bit of a negotiation.”

    Everything is transactional with Donnie. Even his kids.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  97. 97.

    Ruckus

    November 9, 2018 at 11:45 pm

    @J R in WV:
    I’ve had Cipro two different times, along with some other rather unusual antibiotics, for massive infections I got in the hospital. No hallucinations. But I think the amounts normally given have been reduced since it first came out because of the possible side effects.
    @jl:
    Some of the compartmentation is going away, slowly. My doc, 45 yrs ago told me that the compartmentation was coming like a train, it wouldn’t be long before he wouldn’t be able to do things, like actually give you an X-Ray or set a bone. He was right the family doc went away not long after that. A problem was that medicine was expanding at a rapid rate and keeping up with everything was impossible. So the response was to only do one thing and get good at that, at the expense of actually healthcare. My primaries at the VA, who is always an RN or LP or DA have caught more things than you can imagine. They can’t treat it but they know who to send me to. They have been right every time. Amazing that 2-4 yrs of education often beat 10 or more of specialization.

  98. 98.

    pk

    November 9, 2018 at 11:45 pm

    @Ohio Mom:

    One imagines that for Trump, Barron being out of sight leads to him being out of mind. Or whatever Trump has that passes for a mind.

    If Trump wasn’t so awful I’d feel sad for him. He doesn’t seem to have any capacity to love anyone.

  99. 99.

    Mary G

    November 9, 2018 at 11:50 pm

    I didn’t want to soil the puppy thread with Twitler and Whitaker, but it cracks me up that he’s rapidly being demoted below coffee boy:

    Matthew G. Whitaker is a highly respected former U.S. Attorney from Iowa. He was chosen by Jeff Sessions to be his Chief of Staff. I did not know Mr. Whitaker. Likewise, as Chief, I did not know Mr. Whitaker except primarily as he traveled with A.G. Sessions. No social contact…— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2018

    That has “written by Emmett Flood, actual credentialed lawyer still working for the president, even if you never hear anything about him” rising off it.

    Also, CNN has another article that says Sessions didn’t realize that Whitaker was putting the knife in his back until it was too late. In direct contradiction to the above tweet, it says that Whitaker attended principals’ meetings that Session should have, but wanted to stay out of sight. Then, when Kelly called to tell Sessions he was fired, he asked to stay a few more days and Kelly said he’d get back to him. Then this happened:

    Soon, Whitaker strode into Sessions’ office and asked to speak one-on-one to the attorney general; the others left the two men alone. It was a brief conversation. Shortly after, Sessions told his huddle that his resignation would be effective that day.

    It’s notable that the memo on “America will not give asylum anymore” came out Wednesday morning, with Whitaker’s name on it, while Sessions was cluelessly trying to negotiate more time.

  100. 100.

    The Lodger

    November 9, 2018 at 11:52 pm

    @jl: You realize that would make Trump stupider than the average committee. That’s fucking terrifying.

  101. 101.

    Another Scott

    November 9, 2018 at 11:53 pm

    @Mary G: NYT Mike:

    Michael S. Schmidt Verified account @nytmike

    Fact check: The White House pressured Sessions to make Whitaker his chief of staff.

    Reminder – Everything Donnie (and his minions) says is a lie.

    (via ddale8 on Twitter)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  102. 102.

    Ruckus

    November 9, 2018 at 11:53 pm

    @Another Scott:

    Everything is transactional with Donnie. Even his kids.

    Something that should never be forgotten. As many have stated, he’s a maximum narcissist and because of that everything is from a viewpoint of what will it do for him – transactional. He doesn’t even have to be right about the transaction benefiting him in the end, as so many/all of his end up. He only has to see it positive when any decision/idea is stated. He’ll never think about it again, unless it screws him. And then, most often he’ll just lie about it.

  103. 103.

    Ruckus

    November 9, 2018 at 11:55 pm

    @pk:
    Well himself……

  104. 104.

    Ruckus

    November 9, 2018 at 11:59 pm

    @The Lodger:

    You realize that would make Trump stupider than the average committee.

    Unfortunate but true. OK it’s possible that there are a few HOA committees that are equally stupid. But that’s it.

  105. 105.

    HumboldtBlue

    November 10, 2018 at 12:07 am

    Dave Chappelle nailed the Trump presidency a decade ago.

  106. 106.

    jl

    November 10, 2018 at 12:57 am

    @Ruckus: The comparison of Trump to the average committee was in the back of my mind. But too terrifying for me to type it out.

  107. 107.

    Aziz, light!

    November 10, 2018 at 1:07 am

    What I want to know is if Melania and Barron will ever visit Donald in prison.

  108. 108.

    sgrAstar

    November 10, 2018 at 1:32 am

    @Anne Laurie: It was Norman Cousins, the late and great editor of the Saturday Review. My mother subscribed to the SR, so I read it too, and learned about Cousins’ decision to check himself out of the hospital and into (I think) the Plaza Hotel, where he watched Marx Brothers movies and laughed himself well. His story made quite an impression on me…and I do love the Marx Brothers. Cousins wrote a book about his experience, The Anatomy of an Illness.

  109. 109.

    Kayla Rudbek

    November 10, 2018 at 1:49 am

    @Kay: As I said to Adam a few threads back, I’d love it if he also got into trouble with the USPTO for unauthorized practice of patent law. The Office of Enrollment and Discipline can then refer those charges over to whatever state bar he’s actually licensed in. I truly hate those scam invention promotion companies.

  110. 110.

    Kayla Rudbek

    November 10, 2018 at 1:52 am

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??: I am more qualified to be acting attorney general than Whittaker in my arrogant opinion, and I haven’t cracked open my criminal law textbook since I graduated from law school!

  111. 111.

    Anne Laurie

    November 10, 2018 at 2:29 am

    @sgrAstar: Thanks!

  112. 112.

    Darkrose

    November 10, 2018 at 3:17 am

    @Platonailedit: I sure hope so! I’ve been seeing his ads for weeks, and they’re vile. *crosses fingers*

  113. 113.

    Darkrose

    November 10, 2018 at 4:06 am

    @Mary G: Me too. I was going with Thurmond anyway, but Tuck’s negative ads would have made me vote for pretty much anyone else on general principle.

  114. 114.

    Mike J

    November 10, 2018 at 1:49 pm

    Off to the PO to send ginger snaps, m&m’s, and pumpkin spice coffee (hey, it’s what she likes) to Bagram. Of course since this is Seattle it’s raining. Meaning I’m doing more fore the troops than the president.

  115. 115.

    bluefoot

    November 10, 2018 at 2:17 pm

    @Keith P.: it’s actually really common in people who are in the hospital especially the ICU for extended periods of time. Between meds, sleep disruption, the physical stresses on the body, essentially 24 hr artificial light, your brain does some wired things.

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