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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Lie Back and Think of England

Lie Back and Think of England

by | 218 Comments

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So Dollhands has started his excellent English adventure, and it is just going great so far. First off, this is how the UK news establishment was treating his entrance:

Trump was then greeted by the following as he entered England:

In other news he has called Meghan Markle nasty and then lied about saying it despite there being a video of him doing it, insulted the mayor of London, and had Boris Johnson calling him a lunatic procted on to Big Ben:

So, basically, things are going well.

Reader Interactions

218Comments

  1. 1.

    Kent

    The Brits are just better at this theater of the absurd than we are. Can’t wait to see what they cook up next. The giant balloon blimp of a baby Trump having a tantrum last time was perfect.

  2. 2.

    jl

    Apparently, from what I see in news and twitter news blurbs, Trump has an asinine and idiotic domestic program for the UK, which is is ready and willing to ‘share’ with them on his visit. From what I’ve read, it would be as disastrous as his policy impulses (don’t want to dignify it with the word ‘ideas’) for the US. Anyway, I hope the UK population is grateful to him yelling at them about what they should do on a variety of issues.

  3. 3.

    dmsilev

    Somehow it seems fitting for Teresa May to end her PM term like this. Earned it, she has.

  4. 4.

    rikyrah

    London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan sent this scathing new video message to Trump: “Only weak men fear strong women”#TrumpsAnInternationalDisgrace pic.twitter.com/mG9ZMSWjtg

    — Scott Dworkin (@funder) June 3, 2019

  5. 5.

    TenguPhule

    Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a sobering assessment of the prospects of the Trump administration’s long-awaited Middle East peace plan in a closed-door meeting with Jewish leaders, saying “one might argue” that the plan is “unexecutable” and it might not “gain traction.” He expressed his hope that the deal isn’t simply dismissed out of hand.

    “It may be rejected. Could be in the end, folks will say, ‘It’s not particularly original, it doesn’t particularly work for me,’ that is, ‘It’s got two good things and nine bad things, I’m out,’ ” Pompeo said in an audio recording of the private meeting obtained by The Washington Post.

    We are so fucked.

    But that’s nothing compared to what’s coming for the Middle East.

  6. 6.

    rikyrah

    The British are making their feelings known :)

    Remarkably, there are fewer people along The Mall for #TrumpUKVisit than there would be on a day without anyone visiting. Tremendously unpopular here. pic.twitter.com/GaC79HhPcy

    — Alasdair Buckle (@ajb2323) June 3, 2019

  7. 7.

    rikyrah

    Currently being projected on the Tower of London during President Trump’s visit to the UK.

    Photo: @ByDonkeys pic.twitter.com/UchJZwjTjp

    — Travis Akers (@travisakers) June 3, 2019

  8. 8.

    TenguPhule

    @dmsilev:

    Earned it, she has.

    And she’s getting it good and hard.

  9. 9.

    rikyrah

    Ain’t no shade like British shade ????

    No red carpet = most subtle #British burn ever. #TrumpUKVisit pic.twitter.com/YBXarsY5Me

    — Zubair Zakir (@zubairzakir) June 3, 2019

  10. 10.

    rikyrah

    ???
    Pete Buttigieg wants to overhaul the Supreme Court by launching a commission to depoliticize it & expanding the number of justices, with five affiliated with Democrats, five affiliated with Republicans, and five apolitical justices chosen by the first 10. https://t.co/WmZBkcfrpq

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 3, 2019

  11. 11.

    rikyrah

    BREAKING NEWS: @realDonaldTrump Trump won’t be allowed to stay at Buckingham Palace during UK state visit even though President Obama did. @BarackObama https://t.co/veTq60rpfF This totally made my day!

    — Belkiss Obadia (@BelkissObadia) June 1, 2019

  12. 12.

    jl

    @TenguPhule: One problem, from what I read is that these ‘plans’ are just renditions of oral BS sessions and a few talking points jotted down on a notepad. The Trumpsters are not competent enough to write down anything a normal person would call a plan, starting from the contractor fixing your roof to someone planning a shopping run for dinner.

  13. 13.

    TenguPhule

    @rikyrah:

    to depoliticize it & expanding the number of justices, with five affiliated with Democrats, five affiliated with Republicans, and five apolitical justices chosen by the first 10

    This has got to be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard today.

  15. 15.

    rikyrah

    ???
    A little more about him since this got popular ? His name is Grayson. He’s 7 & has Autism/ADHD. He learned how to to use buttons/zippers in occupational therapy which is why he’s so proud of himself for getting dressed. ? pic.twitter.com/RaX1iUrroz

    — ash (@Abkjames1) June 2, 2019

  17. 17.

    rikyrah

    FYI
    Alert??

    @TheKitchenista can you please get this PSA out to the masses… If you have a grill brush with metal bristles throw it out NOW! I have had 3 friends (real life friends) that have been hospitalized bcuz they ingested 1 bristle & it punctured their insides!

    — abbeysmom (@missnicely) June 3, 2019

  19. 19.

    rikyrah

    I will only point out that this is one of the reasons why the GOP hates Obamacare. They don’t mind WHITE Socialism-the deplorables,….but, socialism that helps EVERYONE has gotta go ???

    BREAKING: Great news. Since the ACA, African American disparity in advanced cancer diagnosis & treatment has almost entirely caught up to whites where Medicaid has expanded, a near 5% improvement.

    There is a right direction. Support those pushing for it. https://t.co/IaJfWHknll

    — Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) June 2, 2019

  20. 20.

    TenguPhule

    @jl: Its worse then that.

    He also recognized the popular notion that the agreement will be one-sided in favor of the Israeli government. “I get why people think this is going to be a deal that only the Israelis could love,” he said. “I understand the perception of that. I hope everyone will just give the space to listen and let it settle in a little bit.”

    They intend to actually present their bullshit that everyone literally knows is complete shit as the official “ideal outcome” of the negotiations.

    However low the expectations are, they will still fail to meet them.

  21. 21.

    sdhays

    @rikyrah: What the hell is an “apolitical” judge? The whole point of the Supreme Court is to interpret things which are unclear or weren’t situations that Congress/the Founders could have really considered when the law or Constitution was written. Inevitably, your ideological viewpoint is going to be used here.

  22. 22.

    R-Jud

    I was in London this morning. My friend and I were heading back to Euston Station when we heard helicopters approaching. “Those sound particularly flatulent,” I said, and then once they hove into view, we realised it was the Rough Beast on his way to the palace.

  24. 24.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    I have been having more fun than a person should have reading #trumpukvisit on British twitter.

    Several points:

    No red carpet
    No carriage ride to the Palace up the Mall
    No room at Buckingham Palace
    No address to Parliament
    BBC is reporting that the State Banquet has been pared back to three courses so not to confuse Twitler with too much cutlery.
    Charles allocated 15 minutes for tea with the Trumps.

    Most of the big protests (including the balloon) are scheduled for tomorrow, so it will be interesting to see that.

  25. 25.

    dmsilev

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    BBC is reporting that the State Banquet has been pared back to three courses so not to confuse Twitler with too much cutlery.

    Can’t they just serve overcooked hamburgers and fries? No silverware needed (and you know he’d try to steal the forks, so that’s another plus for not putting out the silver).

  26. 26.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??

    @TenguPhule:
    Pompeo was a Tea Party member, right? The world’s getting a good look at the political geniuses that that “movement” put out. However, it’s not like the GOP is unique these days. Plenty of incompetent right-wing authoritarians running around these days.

    Still, American conservatives are literally the worst people on the face of the planet

  28. 28.

    Noncarborundum

    @rikyrah: Happened to me in 2009. Fortunately it only got as far as my tongue, but I still had to be hospitalized for it.

  29. 29.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:

    American conservatives are literally the worst people on the face of the planet

    Make that virtually, lest you bring down the Wrath of Steve in the Wherever.

    But, upon further reflection, perhaps they’re literally the worst too.

  30. 30.

    Kent

    @sdhays: @rikyrah: What the hell is an “apolitical” judge? The whole point of the Supreme Court is to interpret things which are unclear or weren’t situations that Congress/the Founders could have really considered when the law or Constitution was written. Inevitably, your ideological viewpoint is going to be used here.

    Exactly. No such thing. Apolitical in practice is going to end up being old white Republicans of the non-insane variety like the first GW Bush or Bob Dole.

    The better proposals I have seen would be 18 year Supreme Court terms with one Justice replaced every 2 years on a rolling basis (during 1st and 3rd year of each presidency so druingnon-election years). So that every President automatically gets to nominate 2 new justices. Any additional out-of-term replacements due to deaths or retirements would only be for the duration of the existing justice’s term. Just like if you are nominated to replace an existing Senator. I’d also change the rules for confimation so that the Senate actually has to vote down a nominee or he/she is automatically seated. If they don’t have hearings or don’t vote then the nominee is automatically seated.

  31. 31.

    TenguPhule

    Republican Matt Gaetz becomes first US politician to be ‘milkshaked’

    The debut of the American protest milkshake came on Saturday when the conservative Republican congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida was leaving a town hall. Gaetz was met by protesters chanting and wielding signs outside a restaurant in Pensacola where the event was held when one of them tossed what appeared to be a strawberry milkshake at the legislator.

  32. 32.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??

    @sdhays:
    Exactly. Judges are human beings and bring their biases into their decisions. The thing is they’re supposed to respect prior decisions (stare decisis) and at least try to use logic to reach their conclusions. The Gang of Five don’t even do that.

  34. 34.

    Kent

    Well, I don’t know what happened with my post above at #30 but the quotes and my comments got reversed and now I can’t edit it.

  36. 36.

    Betty Cracker

    I really hope Trump sees the clip where Boris Johnson said Trump’s Muslim ban “betray[ed] a quite stupefying ignorance that makes him frankly unfit to hold the office of president of the United States.” There’s no way Trump knew about that comment when he called Johnson a friend and endorsed his PM candidacy last week. (If it’s not on Fox News, Trump doesn’t know about it.)

  37. 37.

    TenguPhule

    @Kent: The simplest solution would be to simply purge the registered Republicans from all three levels of the Federal Court System for the disqualification of being an active member of a terrorist organization.

  38. 38.

    Gin & Tonic

    @rikyrah: But, but, people on this very website delight in telling us how smart he is.

    Christ, this is a boneheaded idea.

  40. 40.

    Redshift

    Has anyone (anyone with a bigger megaphone than me, that is) pointed out that Trump’s genius idea that he’s sure would have gotten Britain a better deal from the EU is just his standard asshole method of stiffing contractors?

  41. 41.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??

    @TenguPhule:

    restaurant in Pensacola where the event was held when one of them tossed what appeared to be a strawberry milkshake at the legislator.

    That protester was later summarily executed for being a libtard traitor /s

    Also, I like how these news stories use the descriptor “conservative” before Republican, as if there are still liberal Republicans

  42. 42.

    TenguPhule

    NBC News says there are 58 members of the House of Representatives who favor starting an impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump. That includes 57 Democrats (and 12 of the 24 Democrats who serve on the House Judiciary Committee) and one Republican- Michigan’s Justin Amash.

    This is a disgrace.

  43. 43.

    TenguPhule

    Trump Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao asked federal officials to organize travel arrangements for at least one family member and include other relatives in high-level meetings with Chinese government officials during her first visit to China as a Trump cabinet member, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

    “She had these relatives who were fairly wealthy and connected to the shipping industry,” said a State Department official. “Their business interests were potentially affected by meetings.” The trip was reportedly canceled by Chao after ethics concerns were raised with the State and Transportation Departments.

    I have Federal Corruption Bingo.

  44. 44.

    Gretchen

    They’re also projecting SS John McCain hats and Obama vs. Trump approval ratings on other buildings.

  47. 47.

    sukabi

    @TenguPhule: it gets better, if the 10 can’t agree on the other 5, then they won’t hear arguments for the next session. This basically renders the SC moot.

  48. 48.

    TenguPhule

    “El Paso billed Donald J. Trump for President Inc. for his “Make America Great Again” rally — for nearly half a million dollars. The invoice was sent to the campaign’s Fifth Avenue offices in New York on March 27. It was due April 26, and El Paso has yet to see a dime,” ABC reported.

    Surprise, Surprise.

    Any region that allows Donald Trump to campaign there without demanding full cash payment first deserves what they get.

  50. 50.

    Brachiator

    @Betty Cracker:

    I really hope Trump sees the clip where Boris Johnson said Trump’s Muslim ban “betray[ed] a quite stupefying ignorance that makes him frankly unfit to hold the office of president of the United States.”

    I wonder whether Trump will say that he didn’t know that Boris was nasty.

    ETA. A couple of news stories claim that Prince Harry avoided Trump and minimized contact with other Trumps, but still fulfilled his obligation to be present at the state visit. Good for him.

  52. 52.

    Gin & Tonic

    @TenguPhule: There’s an old story, possibly apocryphal, possibly from Hunter S. Thompson, about some helicopter pilot in New Hampshire who was chartered to take some Presidential candidate from one venue to another. Waited until candidate and some support staffer were in the chopper to turn around and ask for payment, in cash, or he wouldn’t take off. Obviously someone with experience dealing with campaigns.

  54. 54.

    TenguPhule

    Asked about the president’s racism, Kushner said confidently that Trump was “absolutely not” a racist, and that Democrats who call the president a racist are doing “a disservice to everyone who suffers from real racism in this country.”

    Interviewer Jonathan Swan interjected by pointing to birtherism – Trump’s first foray into US party politics as an agent of the disproven idea that Barack Obama wasn’t born in the US.

    You may be forgiven if what followed gives you the sensation of being stuck in a time loop.

    Swan: “Was birtherism racist?”

    Kushner: “I wasn’t really involved in that.”

    Swan: “I know you weren’t. Was it racist?”

    Kushner: “Like I said, I wasn’t involved in that.”

    Swan: “I know you weren’t. Was it racist?

    Kushner: “I know who the president is and I have not seen anything in him that is racist.”

    SNL is going to have a field day with this.

  56. 56.

    dmsilev

    @TenguPhule:

    I have Federal Corruption Bingo.

    Chao used to have the distinction of being “Cabinet Member Most Skilled At Hiding Her Inevitable Corruption”, but I guess we’ll have to look for a new entrant, or perhaps just retire the category entirely.

  57. 57.

    Plato

    NBC News now counts 58 members of the House who favor starting an impeachment inquiry against Trump.There are 57 Democrats — including 12 of the 24 Democrats who serve on the House Judiciary Committee — and one Republican. https://t.co/a3mZVwE3Co— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 3, 2019

    Only 58?

  60. 60.

    sdhays

    @Kent: That’s how I think it should work. The length of the term isn’t that important to me other than it should be fairly long and appointments should be regular.

  61. 61.

    dmsilev

    @Emerald: I like the idea of going with the greasiest, chewiest, most taste free version of fish-and-chips possible.

  62. 62.

    Ruckus

    @Kent:
    May have had something to do with the reply button being captured by the blockquote.

    Still a valid comment. I like the concept. The house is too small because the growth was stopped when the country was much less populated, so a rep in CA may have as many as 900,000 constituents, the SC has too few. Five people control the fate of an entire nation and right now, those 5 people are, well, shit. As a nation that is supposed to be ruled by the people’s representatives, this ain’t it.
    Of course that a large number of people don’t vote at all is also a huge problem, I’m almost at a point of mandatory voting, or at the least making it far easier to do. Early voting, weekend voting – both Sat and Sun. All machine readable paper ballots. Maybe traveling ballot boxes for those who can’t travel themselves. Maybe a maximum worth for national office. Shorter running times for national office. We have almost a permeant class running for president – for the next 18 months how much time will Warren and Harris be in DC doing the jobs they have now? (Yes they should be able to run, I hope one of them wins!, but other countries do this in much less time without time for the “news” business to lie about them.)
    OK that’s enough for now.

  63. 63.

    MCA1

    @Gin & Tonic: One bad idea doesn’t mean he’s not smart. He’s not in my top 3, fwiw, but at least he’s talking about an issue that should probably be discussed.

  64. 64.

    trollhattan

    When you’re being reviled and mocked by the Brits, you’re being reviled and mocked by the best, so Donny has that. “The Best, because I’m worth it!“

  67. 67.

    trollhattan

    @Ruckus:
    Read that the 2020 census may result in Calif losing a House rep, simply because the state has not grown at the rate of some others.

    In the meantime, Wyoming.

  68. 68.

    Fleeting Expletive

    A few months ago this visit was noted to NOT be a”State visit” in the diplomatic protocol sense, I remember. But, If Her Majesty grants him an audience, I suppose by definition it becomes a state visit.
    Oh well.

  69. 69.

    Citizen Alan

    @rikyrah:

    This is literally stupider than anything even Bernie Sanders has proposed. Buttigieg has now reset the bar on “idiotic unicorn plans to attract liberal morons.”

  70. 70.

    Mike in NC

    To truly appreciate the bad behavior of the Trump Crime Family in London, try to find “The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret” starring comedian David Cross (“Arrested Development”). It used to be on Netflix but no more, it seems. In a Season 1 episode he goes to the UK as salesman for a new power drink, and ends up crashing the solemn Remembrance Day ceremony where the Queen and other dignitaries lay wreaths at the Cenotaph to honor Commonwealth war dead. It’s captured on camera and at one point Todd Margaret spills a can of the drink and to the TV audience it looks as if he’s deliberately urinating on the monument.

  71. 71.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Brachiator:

    Or fish and chips

    Dump: Uhhhh this isn’t a fillet o’ fish, and these are fries. *manbaby inauguration pouty face*

  73. 73.

    germy

    A teenager has mowed an anti-Trump message, complete with a giant penis, into the grass of his family home ahead of the US president’s UK state visit.
    Ollie Nancarrow spent his weekend mowing the words “Oi Trump” into his lawn, near Hatfield Heath, in Essex.

    The 18-year-old also used the mower to etch a giant polar bear, penis and the words “climate change is real” into the grass, according to the Bishop’s Stortford Independent.

    Oi.

  75. 75.

    Betty Cracker

    @MCA1: NBC News has additional info on Buttigieg’s SCOTUS reform plan. An excerpt:

    Buttigieg’s preferred plan is a twist on the various “court-packing” proposals for the Supreme Court that have been bandied about for decades, including the failed push by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to add justices in 1937. The plan aims to ensure the Supreme Court is viewed by the American public as above politics, and to reduce the political stakes of any individual vacancy.

    Buttigieg says it’s rooted in a forthcoming paper in the Yale Law Journal by Daniel Epps, an associate professor of law of Washington University in St. Louis, and Ganesh Sitaraman, a law professor at Vanderbilt Law School. Buttigieg and Sitaraman met as undergraduate students at Harvard and became friends.

    Under the plan, most justices would continue serving life terms. Five would be affiliated with the Republican Party and five with the Democratic Party. Those 10 would then join together to choose five additional justices from U.S. appeals courts, or possibly the district-level trial courts. They’d have to settle on the nonpolitical justices unanimously — or at least with a “strong supermajority.”

    They final five would serve one-year, nonrenewable terms. They’d be chosen two years in advance, to prevent nominations based on anticipated court cases, and if the 10 partisan justices couldn’t agree on the final five, the Supreme Court would be deemed to lack a quorum and couldn’t hear cases that term.

    The idea is similar to what’s used in commercial arbitration, a system to resolve business disputes, in which each side gets to pick one arbitrator they trust, and those two arbitrators then jointly pick a third neutral arbitrator who acts as the swing vote.

    I have no idea how workable that plan is, but I agree reform is urgently needed.

  76. 76.

    germy

    Axios: “Does it not set off some alarm bells when you see an email that the Russian government wants to help the campaign?”

    Kushner: “The email that I got on my iPhone said ‘Show up at 4’
    I didn’t scroll down…”

    Axios: “It had Russia in the subject line.” pic.twitter.com/Dwmz5APZhf

    — Marcus Baram (@mbaram) June 3, 2019

  77. 77.

    Ruckus

    @Plato:
    Hence Nancy’s problem. We think it should be 100% but it never will be. It’s a process. It’s a slow process to bring everyone on board. Some think that we should just work on getting a far better person, someone that actually knows how to at least act human elected next year. That’s 17 months away, it only seems like a lifetime. But some don’t want to impeach and fail, which is what one man, Mitch McConnell will make happen. Mitch is all in with this disaster of a president. Mitch wishes he had the stupidity to be trump. He doesn’t, but he has the power to keep him in office as long as possible.
    Nancy is right, there is only one chance to get this right and right now no chance to make it actually work all the way through. But it is possible to have enough hearings to limit the power of what can go wrong, to take away his willing co-conspirators and to make all republicans tainted with his brush. In the long run that will do far more for the country than impeachment of the top dipshit.

  81. 81.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Redshift: How would that’ve worked? Stiffed the EU on the first batch of insulin?

    “Haha! Suckers! We’re not paying for this!”
    “Ok. Good luck once it’s all gone, morons. Enjoy the completely avoidable diabetic health crisis. Oh, and we’re taking a vote on banning Britons from the EU.”

  82. 82.

    germy

    Mitch McConnell Feeling Emasculated By Wife Who Makes More Illicit Money Than Him

    WASHINGTON—Admitting that the financial arrangement of their marriage made him uncomfortable, Senator Mitch McConnell revealed Monday that he often feels emasculated by his wife, U.S. secretary of transportation Elaine Chao, who makes more illicit money than him. “I don’t like saying it, but it makes me feel like less of a man to see how much more ethically compromised money my wife brings in,” said the Republican Senate majority leader, adding that despite his own efforts to leverage his congressional standing for ill-gotten gains from a variety of dark-money financiers, the vast majority of the couple’s wealth came from his wife’s work using her government positions to give favorable treatment to her family’s overseas firms. “I’m a traditional guy, so it’s just hard to stomach looking at our joint illicit finances and knowing she’s contributing way more dirty money than me. Plus, her family gives us a lot of cash, which is kind of embarrassing to be a grown adult man receiving financial help from your wife’s corrupt parents. It’s just hard being in a marriage where your wife is the primary payola winner.” McConnell also admitted that in his darkest moments, he feels emasculated by the thought that his wife has been way more successful at undermining the principles of democratic government in the United States than he has.

    (the Onion)

  83. 83.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @germy: Axios: “It had Russia in the subject line.”
    This is news to me. I admit haven’t read the Mueller Report yet, though I made sure to buy a copy. I’ve been crazy-busy lately

    and of course, everyone who believes Prince Jared would take an order like that from Fredo, raise your hand… Yeah, thought so.

  86. 86.

    tokyokie

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:

    Also, I like how these news stories use the descriptor “conservative” before Republican, as if there are still liberal Republicans

    I think it’s because “conservative,” when used as a descriptor for Republicans, means “fascist.”

  88. 88.

    germy

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I love how their lying talking points are so weak. You just know he discussed it with his wife and father in law. “I’ll just say I didn’t scroll down so I didn’t know the email was from Russia!”

    Jesus, I’ve had bosses like Jared. Wealthy, but with no head for facts or details. And dishonest as the summer day is long.

  92. 92.

    TenguPhule

    @Betty Cracker:

    and if the 10 partisan justices couldn’t agree on the final five, the Supreme Court would be deemed to lack a quorum and couldn’t hear cases that term.

    I would think this would be an immediate disqualifier for any rational person.

  93. 93.

    Just Chuck

    Does anyone honestly think this country is even capable of making any big structural changes like increasing the size of the house or the supreme court? I certainly don’t. Call me an Eeyore or whatever, but I’ll bet my life I’m not wrong.

  94. 94.

    TenguPhule

    @Just Chuck:

    Does anyone honestly think this country is even capable of making any big structural changes like increasing the size of the house or the supreme court?

    it would be simpler and easier to purge the sitting Republicans from the SC. Literally.

  96. 96.

    Another Scott

    @Betty Cracker: Seems too complicated. Complicated systems invite being messed with in ways that are not fair.

    Conservatives have run the US courts almost exclusively throughout our history, except for the Warren era. It’s time for the court to more accurately reflect sensible views about the purpose of government. Bring on the 18:5 liberal majority!!1

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  97. 97.

    Brachiator

    @Ruckus:

    But it is possible to have enough hearings to limit the power of what can go wrong, to take away his willing co-conspirators and to make all republicans tainted with his brush.

    It’s wishful thinking to believe that hearings and investigations will accomplish anything. Mueller pretty much told Congress that they should Impeach Trump. Too bad they are not paying attention.

  98. 98.

    sukabi

    @dmsilev: I think she’s had a lot of help hiding it, this story is from early 2017, someone is letting McConnell know that his family is about to become very uncomfortable with a huge spotlight shining on them.

    His Rusal deal and her family’s business interests won’t fare well in the sunlight.

  99. 99.

    Brachiator

    @Just Chuck:

    Does anyone honestly think this country is even capable of making any big structural changes like increasing the size of the house or the supreme court? I certainly don’t. Call me an Eeyore or whatever, but I’ll bet my life I’m not wrong.

    As it happens, you may actually be betting your life on the stakes of the upcoming presidential election. We all are.

  100. 100.

    mrmoshpotato

    @sukabi:

    His Rusal deal and her family’s business interests won’t fare well in the sunlight.

    Fuck ’em.

  101. 101.

    Betty Cracker

    @TenguPhule: Yeah, that part sounds unworkable to me too. I guess the idea is that SCOTUS would find that notion so horrifying that they’d come up with five consensus candidates? But as we’ve seen from the “sequester” budget gambit, Republicans are kamikazes.

  105. 105.

    Aleta

    Jane Chelliah @ambitiousmamas
    Don’t let Fox News fool you about numbers. This is the crowd outside Buckingham Palace right now while President Trump is havlng lunch with the Queen. More people down at your local garden centre on a hot day

    Just Di @YepJustDi
    Q was bigger at Greggs for my sausage roll today

    Sandy M @SandyColMc
    I’ve been to London about 10 times in the last nine years. Been to the Mall on each trip. That’s normal daily tourist traffic, with no one visiting. That is no “crowd” in any way, shape or form.

    Damon Evans @damocrat

    There are more police officers here than spectators. Poor Trump

    Some random people wearing MAGA hats and playing bagpipes.

    Me: “Is Trump coming down this way?”
    Police officer: “I believe so, sir.”
    “Not a great turnout, is it?”
    “I couldn’t possibly say, sir… [grins]”

    Me: “You lot look really busy. Were you expecting more people?”
    Police officer: “A few more.”
    Me: “It’s quite funny… Depending on your viewpoint, of course.”
    Police officer: “Trust me, it’s very funny.”

    There are more people waiting to get out of the park than there were watching Trump. Ouch.

    Trump was waving at the 7 people who had gathered. Although I think they were just waiting to cross the road, which had been blocked off.
    Melania looked very bored.

  106. 106.

    burnspbesq

    @TenguPhule:

    Do you ever bother to familiarize yourself with applicable laws and rules before vomiting forth one of your crackpot proposals?

  108. 108.

    germy

    Trump was also shown the pewter horse that he’d given the Queen last year in his visit to Windsor. He was asked if he recognised it and he said “no”! Melania came to his rescue and said “I think we gave that to the Queen”. pic.twitter.com/SaIXvhUb7P
    — Emily Andrews (@byEmilyAndrews) June 3, 2019

  112. 112.

    James E Powell

    @tokyokie:

    I think it’s because “conservative,” when used as a descriptor for Republicans, means “fascist.”

    I always took it to mean unapologetic racist, misogynist, and religious bigot – the three pillars of Republican ideology.

  114. 114.

    Learned Handyman

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: With regards to choosing judges with sound judgement, there are some good organizations that have deep knowledge of good candidates. The American College of Trial Lawyers comes to mind. Their members are considered the creme of the creme, and represent a broad political spectrum.

    There are some organizations that are not good for this. The Federalist Society comes to mind. They are dedicated to pushing conservative “values” and more-or-less are a branch of the GOP. They are to be shunned.

  116. 116.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??

    @Brachiator:
    Then I guess we’re fucked then. The Senate will never convict and you better believe Mitch will game the process to his and his party’s advantage.

  117. 117.

    Brachiator

    @FelonyGovt:

    I wonder whether Trump will say that he didn’t know that Boris was nasty.

    No, “nasty” is only for women

    Trump also used the word to insult the London mayor.

    The president said the mayor has been “foolishly ‘nasty’” to him, calling Khan a “stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London, not me.”

    But I bet Trump will find a way to praise Boris Johnson and forget what Johnson said about him.

  119. 119.

    jl

    Can’t find it now, but I saw a news report that Trump has a proposal, threat, something, to ‘encourage’, or maybe force the UK to to do a Trumpster style privatization (aka, pure unadulterated scamification) of UK National Health Service, after they enter the paradise of Brexit.

    What a dangerous ass this Trump is. No wonder there are demonstrations against this goof’s visit.

  122. 122.

    jonas

    I forget where I saw this a little while ago, but apparently the Queen’s official present to Trump and Melania for the occasion was an “abridged” edition of Winston Churchill’s WWII history.

    Lol. Should have been a flash drive with a PowerPoint slide version. With one-syllable, bullet-pointed words. And pictures.

  127. 127.

    jl

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: The idea of depoliticizing an institution by enforcing an arbitrary political balance seems, to put it mildly, somewhat odd. But, it may be the kind of balance BS that the corporate media talking heads love, so may generate more praise for Buttegieg from those quarters.

    How about Congress just pass a law to put more justices on the SCOTUS, and if my dreams come true, impeach convict and remove some of the current reactionary partisan hacks who have been, IMHO, clearly issuing corrupt (edit: and nonsensical) opinions. And, in some upcoming case on the corrupt census citizenship question the Trumpsters want added, there will be another opportunity for some of those corrupt SCOTUS memebers to condemn themselves out of their own mouths, or through their own pens, or whatever…

  129. 129.

    chopper

    @jonas:

    “and the book’s cover is soft plastic, so it’s spillproof and won’t hurt when you drop it on your foot!”

  132. 132.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @jl: Mayor Pete’s Court idea doesn’t even rise to the level of interesting, but unworkable. It also smacks of management consultancy.

  133. 133.

    plato

    Donald Trump is an asshole's asshole. He's the kind of asshole other assholes look at and say, "Now THERE'S an asshole."— God (@TheTweetOfGod) May 29, 2012

    From 2012. From god. And yet …

  134. 134.

    germy

    @plato:

    Donald Trump is an asshole’s asshole. He’s the kind of asshole other assholes look at and say, “He’s got MY vote!”

  135. 135.

    jonas

    @jl: The next Dem president (who has a Dem Senate) needs to send Merrick Garland’s name up for immediate confirmation. He was robbed by a corrupt Senate leader the first time around and this would send a strong message to future GOP pols that bullshit stunts like McConnell’s will not stand. There’s no rule saying there can’t be 10 SCOTUS justices.

  138. 138.

    Kent

    @jl: The problem has always been that the GOP is better at court packing becuase their base cares about it more.

    Simplest way to reform the court?

    18 year term limits. Every president gets 2 appointments per term in the 1st and 3rd years of his/her presidency

    Unexpected vacancies are replaced for the duration of the dead/retiring justice’s term but eligible for re-appointment for another full term when the current term expires if the president at that time choses to re-nominate them.

    Senate has 60 days to vote up or down on all SCOTUS nominations. Absent a vote within 60 days, Senate consent is presumed and the nominee is seated. (this rule should apply to ALL Senate-confirmed nominees from ambasadors to cabinet officials).

    The issue would be the transition period. Would probably have to rank-order the existing justices by length of service which would advantage the GOP at least to start but over the longer term the court would be brought back into closer balance. Would still require winning the presidency but without the presidency there isn’t much hope for anything else anyway.

    Supreme court elects their own Chief Justice every 4 years or so.

    The idea of nonpartisan justices is ridiculous in the extreme. What it would actually amount to is 1/3 of the justices being radical GOP conservatives like Thomas and Kavanaugh, 1/3 old-school moderate republicans like Collins who are perceived by the “establishment” to be moderate centrists but in practice always vote with the rest of the GOP when it really matters, and then finally 1/3 Dems so long as they are moderate Dems, no one so radical as say Elizabeth Warren of course. The result would be a permanent 2/3 conservative majority

  142. 142.

    Kent

    @jonas:

    @jl: The next Dem president (who has a Dem Senate) needs to send Merrick Garland’s name up for immediate confirmation. He was robbed by a corrupt Senate leader the first time around and this would send a strong message to future GOP pols that bullshit stunts like McConnell’s will not stand. There’s no rule saying there can’t be 10 SCOTUS justices.

    Well, no rule in the Constitution. But existing statutes set SCOTUS at 9 so the next president can’t unilaterally raise the number to 10. It would require an act of Congress.

  143. 143.

    mrmoshpotato

    OT: Getting texts from Wilmer 2020? Reply confused, that you thought losing an election meant the candidate should fuck off to the forest and take up knitting.

    They’ll opt you out of future texts.

  144. 144.

    sukabi

    @Kent: uh huh. Unless they have video proving it was “foreplay” this guy will get away with murder since they only have his word it was “foreplay”.

  147. 147.

    Miss Bianca

    @Omnes Omnibus: Wonder if he and his lawyerly buddy happened to be McKinsey consultants together?

    It just so happens that I worked for McKinsey myself as a project assistant. For about three months. I still have nightmares about it sometimes.

  152. 152.

    satby

    @James E Powell: et al: think seems it’s just one of several ideas suggested in Buttigeig’s actual policy position, as detailed in his website:

    KEY POLICY
    Depoliticize the Supreme Court
    We need to reform the Supreme Court in a way that will strengthen its independence and restore the American people’s trust in it as a check to the Presidency and the Congress. One promising idea is to restructure the Court so that ten members are confirmed in the normal political fashion, with the other five promoted from the lower courts by unanimous agreement of the other ten. Others have proposed implementing term limits. As president, Pete will create a bipartisan reform commission for the purpose of recommending structural improvements to protect the Supreme Court from further politicization.

    But absolutely, we should always trust the veracity of Twitter.
    I mean jeezus, can no one just fucking Google before going off half cocked about tweets?

  153. 153.

    jl

    @Kent: Just so that comment is no confused with mine, I agree with idea of renominating Garland, but that would have to be after we could get House and Senate to pass a law to increase SCOTUS seats, under a president with a mind to make good nominations to the additional seats.

  155. 155.

    trollhattan

    @Kent:
    Think the fundamental weakness is the tendency for Democratic presidents to choose judges who would be qualified, fair and just while Republicans will continue to choose Clarence Thomas and Tony Scalia and Brett Kavanaugh.

  156. 156.

    jl

    @Kent: I think those interesting ideas, worth debating.

    I think should be clear by now that a corrupt and radically reactionary GOP has rigged the existing system to ensure what is effectively a corrupt ongoing long run court-packing scheme, and strongly favors extreme reactionaries on the bench. So as soon as we get a Congress that will pass responsible legislation, the system needs to be changed.

    One reason I support Warren as best progressive candidate is that she seems willing to push for those kinds of changes, while BS seems to cling to the hope that some kind of demonstration of popular will or preference will be enough. Maybe the BS approach worked during Great Depression, when GOPers were so afraid of losing their seats they would go along with FDR and progressive Dem proposals. But short of that kind of catastrophic disruption, I don’t see it happening. The safeguards in the system that prevented the Great Recession from turning into some thing as bad, or likely worse, than the Great Depression, prevent that kind of seismic shift in voter behavior. BS has been surprisingly timid on institutional changes needed to prevent bad faith GOP gaming and sabotage of the current system.

  157. 157.

    TenguPhule

    @burnspbesq:

    Do you ever bother to familiarize yourself with applicable laws and rules before vomiting forth one of your crackpot proposals?

    In the Calvinball timeline we’re all trapped in, my proposals make more sense then the ones which rely on the outdated concept of Republicans not breaking the rules, laws and customs to do whatever the hell they want to do.

    All of the lofty ideal proposals to fix the courts, the justice system and safeguard the electoral integrity all run into the gordian knot of 35% of the country being Full Metal Nazi Friendly.

  160. 160.

    jl

    @satby: Thanks for info and the text, but I don’t think the general drift of his ideas is promising re courts and SCOTUS. So I stand by my comment.

  161. 161.

    satby

    And I don’t necessarily agree that court packing is a good solution without first impeaching the justices that committed perjury to get confirmed. Because there should be consequences for that perjury first. Strip them from the court, and if possible revoke their license to practice law.

  162. 162.

    jl

    @trollhattan: Putin, and other sundry unsavory authoritarians, ain’t there, and even Trump realizes he is no competition for center of attention when with the royals, so I guess explains why Trump hisself is not enthused. Melania seems happy, but then she is not as far gone as Trump hisself is..

  163. 163.

    TenguPhule

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    It also smacks of management consultancy.

    I always thought that line of work should have been either regulated up the yinyang or outlawed. I have never seen a single course or seminar that was not a waste of money and time.

  166. 166.

    satby

    @jl: I don’t disagree, but I also don’t think thought exercises are policies. Note that “non-partisan judges” isn’t mentioned.
    But upping the number of judges on SCOTUS should be secondary to removing ones who don’t belong there.

  168. 168.

    JoyceH

    State dinner comment – that has got to be the most unflattering outfit Trump has ever worn! The white vest extends waaaay below the black jacket, but it has to, to cover that enormous belly. White tie is unforgiving.

  169. 169.

    jl

    @satby: ” But upping the number of judges on SCOTUS should be secondary to removing ones who don’t belong there. ”

    I do agree with that 100 percent, but removal through Congressional action may not be feasible. I hope at some point an attempt can be made.
    But if cannot get Congress to try to remove, need to fix a broken system and live with the corrupt reactionaries.

  170. 170.

    satby

    @mrmoshpotato: I think I remember that Gorsuch also lied to get confirmed. Thomas obviously did, but he’s more likely to die than get impeached at this point. Even if we just got rid of the drunk, it’s important to have that disgusting performance during his confirmation result in consequences for perjury.

    I am sick of them thinking they can lie to our faces and we can’t do a damn thing about it.

  171. 171.

    Dan B

    @sukabi: McConnell’s corruption, and dozens of GOP leaders, is so great that their best option may be defacto martial law, or purging the IC and Pentagon. I’m concerned that there is scant discussion about how to counter such a coup. Big corps, MSM, and the majority of the public seem to feel this can’t happen here. Just remember that Roberts was in the Brooks Brothers Riot at the Gore vs. W recount in Florida. And now we’ve got the Russian bots involved.

  172. 172.

    Miss Bianca

    @satby: It’s even stupider when you actually look it up. Oh, right…10 Supreme Court justices (when a). 9 are mandated by the Constitution, so all you need is a literal Act of Congress to change it); b). Really? An even number of appointed judges?) and then “5 that all the other 10 can unanimously agree on”? Jesus, really? It’s like the guy just hasn’t been paying attention. I mean, not only not paying attention to the current political reality, but not paying attention to history. There is not now, and there never has been, such a thing as a “depoliticized Supreme Court”.

    ETA: I mean, yes, the Supreme Court is fucked up right now. But proposing “solutions” that will JUST MAKE THE PROBLEM WORSE strikes me as…fatuous.

  174. 174.

    mrmoshpotato

    @satby: I vaguely remember Gorsuch lying. Either way, he’s a Supreme Court Injustice sitting in Merrick Garland’s seat.

  177. 177.

    satby

    @Miss Bianca: my point wasn’t whether you agree with him (I don’t as detailed above), my point is that as usual, some tweet engendered a ton of commentary about something he isn’t actually proposing in those words. Basically, he’s agreeing that the court needs to be expanded and then suggesting a couple of avenues for that. Not out of line of other candidates positions. But I personally prioritize removing unfit judges, not working around them.

  178. 178.

    jl

    @wasabi gasp: Cute puppies and kitties on the SCOTUS! We could watch them decide on a live cam! New panel every year, so they’ll always be optimally cute. Would make just as much sense, and be less corrupt than how the reactionaries would usually decide.

  180. 180.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Miss Bianca: Could’ve gone with
    absurd
    asinine
    birdbrained
    boneheaded
    brainless
    foolish
    idiotic
    inane
    lamebrained
    ludicrous
    mindless
    moronic

    but went with fatuous. Bravo.

    (Partial list from thesaurus com)

  182. 182.

    Miss Bianca

    @wasabi gasp: OK, I could get behind the Puppy Bowl Supreme Court pick. I mean, if we’re going to go with ridiculous solutions to current political problems, they might as well be CUTE ridiculous solutions.

    @satby: Point noted.

  183. 183.

    PaulWartenberg

    Someone on Twitter showed a series of photos for the parade route for trump’s visit to the Palace… it seemed smaller that the small turnout for trump’s inaugural, so… BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

    P.S. tonight is the last episode of the Chernobyl miniseries.

  184. 184.

    TenguPhule

    @Dan B:

    or purging the IC and Pentagon.

    Why bother?

    In the event Trump decides to go for all the gold, who in the Secret Service or the Ranking Officers of the military in the vicinity of DC is going to risk a display of initiative by going against him?

    I’ve seen people saying that the SS or the Cap police or the Feds or the Nat Guard or the Fed Marshals would do it, but who among them actually would step forward to arrest the fat cat at the moment of truth?

    Keep in mind.

    1. If they step forward and fail, their lives are over. Figuratively and probably literally.

    2. Trump’s appointees have had years to rot Homeland Security. Also, despite Trump burning the SS budget on his protection, to my knowledge there have been no real leakage about any embarrassing details which would indicate the SS rank and file don’t find this acceptable.

    3. All too often it seems the Pentagon officials are more concerned about turf wars and ass covering then about actually doing what’s best for the country they swore to serve.

  185. 185.

    Dan B

    @TenguPhule: Yep. I don’t see any security detail coming to prevent the theft of democracy. The question is will it be blatant or subtle? There have been a series of trial balloons to see how far they can go to screw the undeserving poor and minorities, and Dems.

  187. 187.

    jl

    @PaulWartenberg: Good to know Trump got small crowds. I remember Estonian friends who told me that when GW visited Estonia, after the country was enraged with him for getting them involved in the Iraq invasion mess, there was a social media campaign to persuade people to stay away from any of his public appearances. Very important to stay away lest any gawkers, even for the sake of cursing him, would be mistaken for support.

  188. 188.

    jl

    @TenguPhule: The important thing is not that any of those people try to arrest or detain him, but that they realize that at some point there will be consequences for those who obey illegal commands, so they will extremely slow walk, passively disobey without overtly disobeying, otherwise see that things do not happen, and at some point of extremity, just overtly refuse to follow illegal orders.

    It has happened before in US history, several times. The one that comes to mind right now is military’s effective refusal to intern Japanese-Americans in Hawaii. Told FDR they were really trying hard to get it done, but always another problem popped up that needed attention before it could be done. That wasn’t even a matter of doing something that they would be sanctioned for, but they realized following orders would produce a complete mess and risk disaster in terms of civil unrest and breakdown of governance.

  189. 189.

    TenguPhule

    @jl:

    The one that comes to mind right now is military’s effective refusal to intern Japanese-Americans in Hawaii.

    That was only because the majority of the population of Hawaii was Japanese Americans. Trying to intern all of them would literally have shut the whole place down for all intents and purposes and they needed Pearl Harbor up and running for the war.

    It wasn’t that they found the order illegal, it was that for that specific region, the order was impossible. There was no moral stance taken by the military.

    but that they realize that at some point there will be consequences for those who obey illegal commands,

    Ollie North and Collin Powell are two among the many walking, talking, still breathing examples that its not true if you’re a loyal Republican.

  190. 190.

    Jay

    @jl:

    “World War II

    Dec. 7, 1941 — 7:57 am: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. 4:25 pm: martial law declared by Gov. Joseph B. Poindexter. Detention of local Japanese begins

    Dec. 8, 1941 — Sand Island camp activated; it housed about 300 Issei and Nisei men and a handful of women. Camps are also activated on the islands of Hawai‘i (Kīlauea Military Camp), Kauaʻi (Kalaheo Stockade), and Maui (Haiku Camp) over the next few days.

    Dec. 9, 1941 — Total arrested as of Dec. 9: 473. Breakdown: 345 Issei, 22 Nisei, 74 German nationals, 19 citizens of German ancestry, 11 Italian nationals, 2 citizens of Italian ancestry.

    Feb. 19, 1942 — President Franklin Roosevelt issues Executive Order 9066, laying the groundwork for the mass forced removal and detention of 110,000 Japanese Americans living on the West Coast.

    Feb. 21, 1942 — 199 prisoners at Sand Island are transported to mainland detention centers. Five more shipments take place in 1942 and 3 more in 1943. Meanwhile, prisoners held in neighbor island detention centers are transported to Sand Island.”

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Island_(Hawaii)

  191. 191.

    jl

    @TenguPhule: ” It wasn’t that they found the order illegal, it was that for that specific region, the order was impossible. ”

    Yes, that is what I said. At some point, Trump’s orders will become so unwise, so impossible, and the possible personal consequences of obeying illegal orders will keep a critical mass of people from doing bad and stupid things.

    Just trying to talk you off your ledge. There is some hope.

    @Jay: Thanks for info on Sand Island. I was talking about plans for mass detention of vast majority of Japanese-American population of Hawaii.

  192. 192.

    trollhattan

    @catpal:
    He seems nice.

    Pled guilty to same in ’91. Dude is going to harvest considerable time this go round.

  194. 194.

    NotMax

    @TenguPhule

    Also, the entire territory was placed under military rule that covered everything under the sun, even to the point of regulating the prices which brothels were permitted to charge.

  195. 195.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @jl: easier than that; Tell Trump “Oh that will be taken care of” and wait for Trump to forget.

  196. 196.

    Kay

    @satby:

    IMO, he’s doing more than that. He’s introducing and promoting the idea that the court is a problem that should be addressed. He’s getting past “is the court a problem?” and going right to solutions.

    He’s good at this. Democrats would be nuts not to take advantage of that. He doesn’t have to be President, and he won’t be. Still, he’s a big asset and should be valued just for that.

  197. 197.

    chopper

    @Kay:

    that’s true, but i wish this solution that’s getting attention weren’t so goddamned ‘centrist pundit’-friendly.

  198. 198.

    Kay

    @satby:

    You know, Republicans celebrate and promote these really fucking mediocre people – people like Paul Ryan or Marco Rubio, and Democrats get genuinely talented newer entrants and we all can’t wait to knock them down. It’s self-defeating.

    I don’t understand what I see as the lack of generosity, the sniping at our own side that goes on. If Republicans had AOC or Mayor Pete – people who came out of nowhere and are really quite good at politics considering their inexperience, they would be promoting them all over the place. He adds. He doesn’t subtract. It’s not zero sum.

  199. 199.

    Kay

    @chopper:

    He isn’t shutting anyone else down. They can jump in any time. The important part is to make it a problem. To get past what will be huge institutional drag to doing anything. Now, it’s a problem. “Should we..” to “do THIS” is a huge leap.

  202. 202.

    zhena gogolia

    @Kay:

    THANK YOU

    This is exactly my feeling about all the Democratic (note I said Democratic) candidates, except Gabbard. Each of them has something valuable to bring to the conversation.

    ETA: And I’m not interested in tearing any of them down. Gillibrand really impressed me in her handling Wallace — I sent her a contribution today.

  203. 203.

    jl

    @chopper: I 100 percent agree. Buttigieg said himself that he is running a ‘values’ campaign not a ‘policy’ campaign, then the corporate media celebrates the supposedly innovative and unique policy emphasis of his campaign (as opposed to others?, really?). And much of his policy is too vague and fluid, and what isn’t seems more designed to to cater to centrist corporate media yappers than well thought out proposals.

    So, OK, if this gets a serious focus on problems with reactionary GOP court packing schemes among the Dem candidates, then OK it is a net plus. But I really don't like his specific proposals or the general direction of his thinking on how to fix the court problem. If his approach makes such centrist catering posturing as the default for terms of debate, then it is, IMHO, a net minus.

  204. 204.

    TenguPhule

    @NotMax: Not to mention we were the only state to ever get its own version of US dollars specifically designed to not be usable outside of the state for fears the Japanese would seize all the dollars in the islands.

  205. 205.

    TenguPhule

    @rikyrah:

    They played Palpatine’s theme for Dolt45 ???

    That’s the Imperial March, which is the Empire’s theme.

    Palpatine has his own sinister theme.

  206. 206.

    debbie

    Oh, my. Trump seems to have found himself in a country filled with nasty people. //

  207. 207.

    sukabi

    @trollhattan: if it was any other administration he might be able to get a sentence reduction by turning on higher ups, this go round he’ll be lucky if they don’t off him to keep him from talking about the higher ups.

  208. 208.

    satby

    @Kay:

    He’s good at this. Democrats would be nuts not to take advantage of that. He doesn’t have to be President, and he won’t be. Still, he’s a big asset and should be valued just for that.

    I agree, and that’s why the misquote/crazy hostility thing makes me angry. It happens all to often from people supposedly on our side. And I have to wonder why this particular candidate seems to get it so much. Almost Wilmer levels of hate, and for a team player who will be a support to the eventual candidate and an asset to our side.

  209. 209.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @TenguPhule: I have a friend, 90 years old, I have trouble keeping up with his thinking. I asked, so ok, you have physically slowed down not mentally, He told me “avoid depression”

    There are a lot of people here who are disaster porn addicts like Tengu here, who can’t even get out of it to laugh at the Queen trolling Trump to his face in public, and you all are just killing yourselves by inches.

  210. 210.

    satby

    @jl: @chopper: his real “proposal” is a fucking study of how best to improve the court, the rest recapped ideas that have been floated. To fixate on one spitball idea as if he was married to it is disingenuous, which was the purpose of tweet that started all this.
    A reading of all his policy stances on his campaign website shows an almost anodyne progressive Democratic candidate. Who is repeatedly savaged as a stealth RINO on this blog. It’s insane.

  211. 211.

    Uncle Cosmo

    FWIW, I am being offered access to the “Click to Edit” & “Request Deletion” buttons attached to comment #209 from EVT. Nice guy that I am, I will not attempt to frack with that post – just wanted to alert the site mavens, as this is the first time in lotsa lunations that this has happened to me.

  214. 214.

    Tenar Arha

    @JoyceH: it isn’t though, if he’d paid to get it properly tailored, especially with his height he’d actually look better than usual in his boxy crumpled baggy suits. No really, bc the jacket doesn’t button & the vest masks the waist, & is supposed to hang even with the vest plus the taper on the bottom of the wide legged pants it’s a good line.

  215. 215.

    Fester Addams

    @rikyrah:

    Ida Skibenes ❄️ (@ida_skibenes) Tweeted:
    ”ThE bABy YoU aBoRt cOuLDv’E cUrED CaNcEr”

    Though not if she studied biology at one of your christer universities.

  218. 218.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @satby: I will just note that a lot of the people who are skeptical at best of his candidacy are people of color. I get the feeling that they are hearing or seeing in him something that others are not. Are they right or wrong? I don’t know, but this court idea is nucking futs.

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: You may want to avoid the next thread up.

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