Nicolle Wallace said that Trump has been informed by associates that he will be impeached. pic.twitter.com/lDw8zFb5cB
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) October 21, 2019
Throwback Tuesday:
At a press conference in Chicago, Spiro Agnew denounces the Washington Post for their coverage of Watergate. When asked if he's bothered by the problems that have arisen from Watergate, Agnew says that since there is no White House connection, he is not bothered at all.
— Watergate Day Of – 1972 (@WatergateDayOf) October 21, 2019
Connolly says that while it's ideal not to let the impeachment process spill into 2020, it needs to be very complete. `I personally want to make sure we're not making it even easier for Mitch McConnell to give it a pro forma dismissal'
— Laura Litvan (@LauraLitvan) October 21, 2019
Pelosi releases impeachment "fact sheet" focusing on Trump's "shakedown," "pressure campaign" and "cover up" https://t.co/6nmhGkO5lu pic.twitter.com/WE7udEJHYU
— The Hill (@thehill) October 22, 2019
Brief enough for Donny Dollhands to… well, have someone read to him:
… The four-page document divides the narrative into three categories: the “shakedown,” “the pressure campaign” and “the cover up.”
The document first cites the rough transcript released by the White House last month of the July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In that call, Trump told Zelensky that he would have his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and Attorney General William Barr reach out to “get to the bottom” of “a lot of talk” about the business dealings of former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden.
The fact sheet then cites text messages that former Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker provided to the House committees leading the impeachment inquiry that show discussion between diplomats about the Trump administration’s efforts to push for the investigation as evidence of a “pressure campaign.”…
The document from Pelosi then concludes that the intelligence community whistleblower complaint that sparked the impeachment inquiry details evidence of a “cover up” by White House officials to “lock down” records of the July 25 call between Trump and Zelensky by transferring the transcript to a separate electronic system used to handle particularly sensitive classified information…
Bill Taylor, Trump’s Acting Ambassador to Ukraine, will testify Tuesday. His now-public text messages called trading Ukraine aid for political help “crazy.” https://t.co/6SCPhE83EC
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) October 21, 2019
Link to our always up-to-date impeachment bloghttps://t.co/azjVmYkmPy
— Laura Litvan (@LauraLitvan) October 22, 2019
Inbox: Sens. Merkley, Markey, and Hirono have introduced the Scrutinizing White House Activities that Make Profits (SWAMP) Act of 2019, legislation that would prohibit any multilateral summits or meetings with foreign heads of state from being held at Trump Org.-owned properties.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 21, 2019
Before the midterms in 2018, 24 congressional Repubs retired.
We’re over a year out from 2020 elections and we’ve already hit 20 retirements.
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) October 21, 2019
Betty Cracker
“SWAMP Act” — well-played, Dems, even if you did have to omit an “H.”
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ???
Debbie(Aussie)
What would be the reasoning behind wanting to ‘wrap things up’ in 2019?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@rikyrah: Good morning.
Tony Jay
Another glorious day here in Brexit Britain. The sun is bright, the birds are singing, and as the leaves age gracefully to gold our Government is trying to kill us all.
Yes, Shabby Malfoy is attempting to ram his terrible, terrible Withdrawal Deal through Parliament again, without allowing time for even the most rudimentary scrutiny of its numerous clauses, sub-clauses and ritual incantations to the Deep Dark Ones of Atlantean myth. There’ll be two votes, one on Parliament accepting it, another on it accepting his artificially sauced-up timetable.
The vote(s) themselves look like being razor thin either way, with the usual thin slice of Labour Leavers making asinine excuses for shitting all over their deluded constituents and most of the ex-Tories Johnson expelled from the Party assuming submissive poses. It’s reported that the first vote will be around 7pm GMT, which is about 8 and a half hours from now.
Victory for the bastards and it’s all going to go to shit tootie sweetie, another defeat for the gossamer-thatched lardboy and we’re looking at an extension from the EU and either a Vote of No Confidence or a straight up vote on having an early General Election.
Finger, toes and noodly appendages all crossed. if you have a God, sacrifice to them right now.
rikyrah
@Tony Jay:
You do have a way with words?
OzarkHillbilly
@Debbie(Aussie): So they can concentrate on elections in 2020. I was not in favor (ambivalent may be a better word) of impeachment proceedings because I could not say, and neither could/would anyone else, how they would impact the elections. Now that we have pulled the trigger we need to make sure they impact the elections in a way that is favorable to DEMs. To me that means a full and thorough investigation that shows how up to their armpits in this mess (I’m looking at you william barr) the whole trump admin is. Dig dig dig dig until you hit bottom. If there is a bottom..
I think pushing it over the finish line by a predetermined date is a mistake.
NotMax
Amusing slice of history found while poking about online.
Debbie(Aussie)
@Tony Jay:
Did Bercow change his mind?
My head is spinning with all that is going on, politically, and trying to keep up. Sigh!
Tony Jay
@rikyrah:
It’s hanging around this place for years.
Debbie(Aussie)
@OzarkHillbilly:
Thank you. That is what I thought. I think Connolly is wrong, especially as that seems to fit Moscow Mitchs timetable. Any thing that boil on the body politic wants should be avoided at all costs.
NotMax
Don’t recall seeing the data reported here, so FYI, a breakdown of time each candidate spoke during the October debate last week. (Lifted from a NYT article.)
That adds up to 144 minutes and 36 seconds, 80% of the total time allotted for the event.
Betty Cracker
@OzarkHillbilly: Agreed. Last week during a press conference, Pelosi said there’s no “time line” and they’d follow a “truth line” instead, i.e., go where the facts lead. Looks like they’ve settled on abuse of power as the main charge for articles of impeachment, but that’s very broad.
Will they limit the inquiry to the Ukraine affair? Maybe, but we’ve got to assume Trump has subverted US foreign policy for personal gain on every front. I suspect Saudi Arabia would be a fruitful avenue of investigation. Trump’s bizarre behavior WRT to Turkey is another red flag…the list goes on.
I have tons of empathy for Pelosi. She lost a close colleague when Cummings passed, then she lost her brother, and basically she’s running the country since the clowns who are nominally in charge keep stepping on their dicks. Her plate is awfully full.
Raven
@OzarkHillbilly: I thought of you when we drove near Florida Caverns State Park on the way to the beach. Yesterday was unfishable in the surf with high winds and awful crap in the water. I hope it settles but I’m not optimistic.
OzarkHillbilly
My wife prefers to drive and I prefer to let her. It gives me extra reading time. But I have found that on our back roads where the trees grow to within 20 feet of the road, it is impossible for me to read because of the flickering light. I have to wait until we get to an interstate.
NotMax
@NotMax
(no edit function)
Correction of typo on my part. Total adds up to 146 minutes and 36 seconds.
NotMax
@NotMax
Dammit. Fingers being especially rebellious tonight.
Total is 148 minutes and 36 seconds.
Tony Jay
@Debbie(Aussie):
As I understand it (uh huh) here’s what happened.
On Saturday the Government tried to bull through a vote on whether the House accepted Johnson’s Withdrawal Deal as a legit piece of legislation to be put to Parliament, with Johnson planning to use that as evidence for why the EU should refuse an extension (See? Parliament will pass the WA, no need for more time) but because John the Bear-Cow allowed amendments on it, the Letwin Amendment was voted on first and – that – stated clearly that the WA would only be approved by Parliament after proper debates and votes on each stage had been held, so Johnson HAD to ask for an extension.
Yesterday he tried to pull the same “Just say yes” move, knowing full well that Bear-Cow would take great pleasure in telling him where Parliamentary rules advised he should shove it. It was a bit of ‘lack of virtue signalling’ to his Brextremist fringe, nothing more.
These votes today are more or less properly procedural, just artificially speeded up to meet Johnson’s fake deadline of the 31st. The EU have said they’ll decide on an extension after seeing which way Parliament votes, so it’s all in the hands of MPs.
Hopefully Johnson’s blatant attempt to railroad this through before anyone gets to read it pisses off enough Tory and ex-Tory MPs that they vote with Labour and the smaller Parties to reject it, but relying on Tories for anything is not something I’d advise anyone to do.
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: Has there been any mention of who will replace Cummings as chair of oversight?
@Raven: Florida is one great big sponge, mostly filled with water, but there are some spectacular dry caves there too. Despite that, I’ve never done any caving in Florida. My loss.
JPL
Little grandson has the flu and my son is out of town and DIL has an important meeting. I’m leaving in a few minutes to help out. Poor little guy.
JPL
@Tony Jay: Is that his plan? Just vote every day and hope something changes.
NotMax
At the time thought maybe I was just having an off day but it turns out Sunday was another record breaking scorcher. 95 degrees officially; expect it was higher than that in spots..Explains the necessity that day of having to keep a towel close by to repeatedly wipe the sweat from my eyes while doing something as simple as puttering around the kitchen making a cake.
JWR
Wow. 15 whole minutes for his intelligence briefing. How does he do it?
(Also, this is posted as a tweet test.)
eta and it worked. Thanks Steeplejack.
Tony Jay
@JPL:
It’s ram it through. There’s actually legislation out there that mandates AT LEAST 21 days between any treaty-based legislation being given to Parliament and a vote, but included in Johnson’s Withdrawal Agreement is a clause voiding that law in this case. It’s all bollocks. Parliament needs a lot longer just to get the WA documentation and supporting notes studied by experts, never mind all of the assessments and analysis’ that are supposed to accompany anything like this, but he’s trying to get it all done in three days so he can avoid having to accept an extension to the 31st of October deadline.
Hell, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has refused point-blank to provide an assessment of the financial hit the country will take, arguing that Brexit is “self-evidently” good for the economy. That’s the tabloidesque level of seriousness the Government are treating this blatant heist with, supported by the actual tabloids and their broadsheet brothers-in-racism-and-tax-avoidance.
These fucking people.
WereBear
@NotMax: I LOVE that. Thank you!
JPL
@Tony Jay: That’s just trumpism in action. Laws are for little people.
OzarkHillbilly
Was perusing the Time Traveler Dictionary for my birth year (’58). Among such gems as beatnik, birth mother, cancer stick, ekistics, kaon, Lou Gerhigs disease, transient ischemic attack, and zeitgeber, were also, NOLA, psilocybin, and smart ass.
Kinda funny that “smart ass” and I were born the same year. Fitting too.
Tony Jay
@JPL:
Yup. The principle of “Fuck you if you can’t stop me”
And our Media just rocks back and forwards giggling at the expression on our faces.
JWR
@JWR:
Damn it! Should’ve been 45 minutes. But with the way he runs things, I’d be surprised if they made it 10 minutes on the subject at hand.
RedDirtGirl
Just found out my 17 year old niece has been admitted to the hospital for suicidal thoughts. Please hold her (and our family) in your thoughts.
Thanks. I’m gutted.
mozzerb
@Tony Jay: It’s always seemed depressingly likely that Parliament would eventually pass some complete clusterfuck because they’d painted themselves into a corner politically, and then pat themselves on the back for being awesome will-of-the-people-respecters while what relatively sane individuals were left in the country tried to work out exactly how bad things were about to get. This looks like the point at which this might happen.
Of course, if enough of them have the spine to do the sensible thing and reject this particular clusterfuck, or at least attach a confirmatory referendum to it … sorry, I said “have the spine” there. Assuming anatomy not in evidence.
Then again, it’s always seemed blatantly obvious to me that a confirmatory referendum is the only way for any politician to get out from under the final decision (whatever it may be) without having their fingerprints all over it in the very likely event that it all goes shit-shaped. That more of them don’t seem to have the basic political sense to see this (or are too ideologically committed to Brexit to care) is a sad reflection on the current level of political talent.
Barbara
@JPL: He has tested positive for the flu virus? I hope it is a mild case and he is on the mend soon.
Barbara
@RedDirtGirl: So sorry. Wishing her the best. It sounds like she is where she needs to be.
debbie
@JPL:
Poor little guy. Hope he gets over it quickly.
debbie
Congratulations to Canada, but don’t let your guard down. Last night on BBC’s “The World,” I heard a clip of a Scheer rally where the audience started chanting, “Lock him up!” Scheer asked them to stop, but it was chilling to hear.
Another Scott
@Tony Jay: Thanks.
Parliament needs to slap this nonsense down, no matter how they feel about Brexit. He’s crapping all over their standards on how to do their jobs.
Will they? I’d like to think so, but … (groucho-roll-eyes.gif)
Fingers crossed for ya.
Cheers,
Scott.
Mary G
@RedDirtGirl: Sp distressing. Kids have so much shit to deal with. Sending your family healing thoughts.
Amir Khalid
@RedDirtGirl:
Will do. Peace and strength to your niece, and to all in your family.
evap
@OzarkHillbilly: We were born in the same year! As were Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Prince. Thanks for looking up 1958 so I don’t have to
rikyrah
???
The Associated Press (@AP) Tweeted:
Justin Trudeau’s Liberals will keep their hold on Canada’s government, overcoming a challenge from the rival Conservatives in national elections, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation says. https://t.co/ft8fmUJcS6 https://twitter.com/AP/status/1186471089058258946?s=17
rikyrah
@OzarkHillbilly: ICAM ?
They want to Stonewall…then use that as a reason to drag it out??
rikyrah
@JPL:
Awe ?????
Hope the baby feels better ?
rikyrah
@JPL:
Sounds crazy to me ??
rikyrah
@JWR:
Laziest President ever ????
rikyrah
@Tony Jay:
So, no releasing of the financial analysis so that the people would know how this would impact them???
rikyrah
@RedDirtGirl:
Sending positive thoughts ???
rikyrah
New Star Wars movie trailer
https://twitter.com/StarWars_Direct/status/1186459663849668608
Gin & Tonic
William Taylor’s testimony should be interesting, but unfortunately will be behind closed doors. He is a career FSO, and a really solid public servant.
Tony Jay
@mozzerb:
Aye. I’ve said for years that the only thing that matters where Brexit is concerned is what 20 to 30 Tory MPs on the Bad-but-not-insane wing of the Party would do when it came to nut-cutting time. Would they put Party over Country, or would they do whatever they had to do in order to give the electorate another chance to make an informed choice between smashing up the UK and not smashing up the UK. That’s where we are right now and my opinion hasn’t changed.
I don’t think there’s going to be many more Labour traitors than there were for the Letwin Amendment vote, but if too many ex-Tories make the wrong decision for selfish reasons, we’re fucked. And, you know, they are Tories, so……
As an aside, I honestly think Johnson WANTS to lose these votes, because I really don’t think he wants to be the Prime Minister who made Brexit happen. In my murky little palantir I see him much preferring to be driven out of power by a VONC and being able to fight a General Election on the promise of Brexit, hoping to get the 35% to 40% of votes he’d need for an increased majority. Then he could use his mandate to drive whatever WA he liked through Parliament and get on with the important job of just being Prime Minister, which is all he cares about. Expect the insults and incompetence to increase as the vote gets closer, hoping to drive enough wavering MPs to vote against him and give him the excuse to ask for a General Election or demand the Opposition pull the trigger on a VONC.
But I’ve been wrong before.
rikyrah
Rubio ain’t shyt ??
https://twitter.com/dandrezner/status/1186321624032862209
Tony Jay
@Another Scott:
They should. This is an outrageous insult to Parliamentary sovereignty and just a jerk-ass cheap stunt quite in keeping with Skanky Malfoy’s Premiership so far.
But will enough MPs see it that way? If this ends in a new Election (which is the most likely way out) how many of them can expect to retain their seats? Priorities, and shit.
Amir Khalid
@JWR:
“Mr President, I’m here to give you the daily intelligence br–”
“Fuck that shit, I don’t need it.”
“Well, okay then.” Aide gathers up papers and leaves Oval Office.
Trump turns on TV and watches some more Fox News.
Tony Jay
@rikyrah:
Uh Huh. And the Media just note it as some kind of show of strength/statement of principle.
They don’t dare show their own assessments because they’re worse than the 3% to 7% economic hit assessments already out there. The 2008 Recession, BTW, was a 2.4% hit to the economy, and they used that to justify a decade of crippling Austerity. But will enough MPs take note of this and do the math for their own career prospects if they vote it through?
It’s at times like this I wish I still smoked.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@RedDirtGirl: That’s a tough one. I hope they’re able to help her.
@JPL: You’ve had your flu shot, right? Hope the baby recovers quickly.
Betty Cracker
@JPL: Poor kiddo. Hope he feels better soon.
@RedDirtGirl: That’s awful. Hope she gets the help she needs.
@Gin & Tonic: I’ll be surprised if we don’t get a general description of what he said from the committee members. Should be interesting. From the texts, he sounds like a no-bullshit guy.
Betty Cracker
@rikyrah: Useless as tits on a fish.
rikyrah
????
Daryl Sturgis✊? (@darylsturgis) Tweeted:
My mother’s Alzheimer’s has regressed her back to segregation. Today in the grocery store she asked me if Black People were allowed to shop there. Imagine the anti-Black fuckedupedness America had be practicing to force people to shop at different stores due to their race. https://twitter.com/darylsturgis/status/1186344542246789126?s=17
Amir Khalid
@Tony Jay:
Here’s what I don’t get about BoJo. He has had a public career, including being an arsehole Mayor of London. He is a known quantity to the British public. It has never been a secret that he is a major arsehole. He revels in it. How did he work his way to the top of the Tory party and into No. 10?
Also, Arsenal fans are now demanding Unai Emery’s head after the defeat to Sheffield United. With Ole reprieved for now after that draw with Liverpool, could Unai be the next finisher in the sack race?
Ken
@Betty Cracker: They could have made it the “Stop Trump…” and had the STAMP act.
Personally I’m hoping for the CCC Act, Clawback Corrupt Contracts.
Kay
Here’s the NYTimes blaming Hillary Clinton for the fact that the entire Trump Administration uses private accounts for communications:
Still no explanation or apology for the fact that their political reporters covered Clinton’s emails to the exclusion of nearly all other coverage of anything in 2016, or for the fact that they stopped covering this issue the moment Trump was elected.
OzarkHillbilly
‘Humbling’ wreckage of Japanese ships from battle of Midway found in Pacific
Wreckage discovered of Japanese ships from WWII battle of Midway – video
Immanentize
@RedDirtGirl:
Oh how awful. How any of us get through our days is a mystery, but desperate during youth is just not how it should be. I’m glad she is getting help. We know so much more about the adolescent brain than we did even 5 years ago, and have so many more effective ways to support young people.
Hang in there RDG
Ken
@rikyrah: That time the Chancellor of the Exchequer ran screaming “Oh my God” from Number 10, vomited copiously, and had to be led away sobbing “We’re all doomed, gangs will be fighting for the last crust of bread” was sort of releasing the Government’s financial analysis.
OzarkHillbilly
@Tony Jay: You picked a hell of a time to quit sniffing glue.
Immanentize
@JPL: Flu for such a little nugget?! Hold him tight and hydrate.
Love,
Imm
Tony Jay
@Amir Khalid:
The Media. He’s a television celebrity who plays a part more than he’s a politician. Based on his actual resume he’s pretty shit at the politics part, but when it comes to playing Hugh Grant’s bluff but ultimately well-meaning cousin he’s in his element, plus he’s been in the public eye for a long time and the sad truth is most voters only know the actor, not the man. Plus, he lies a lot. The devil’s bargain the Conservative Party made was that if he does the lying in order to keep them in power, they’re happy to live with the rest of it, and to hell with the country.
I was only talking about this with friends last night. Ole has saved his skin at the weekend, the same goes for Silva, and Poch is more likely to leave ‘by mutual consent’ once a major vacancy occurs in Europe. Unai simply can’t put out a consistent Arsenal team and his style of play obviously isn’t working for the players he has. If he’s not gone in a couple of weeks I will be very surprised.
Somewhere, in a Premier Inn car-park on the M1, Fat Sam hushes the Bulgarian escort with a gesture and cocks his head, listening…… he’s always wanted to manage in London.
Tony Jay
@OzarkHillbilly:
Quit? Me? I’d sooner give up watching Gladiator movies.
Ken
@OzarkHillbilly:
In other words, near Midway. As one might expect of a ship sunk in the Battle of Midway.
I can’t decide if the writer of that article didn’t understand that (depressing) or thought the readers wouldn’t know any geography or history (more depressing because probably true).
Betty Cracker
I am a big fan of US Senator from CT Chris Murphy:
To mitigate the psychological effects of living in a state that is idiotic and corrupt enough to send two vile shitheads to the US Senate, I adopt other states’ senators and pretend they’re mine, and currently, Murphy and Warren are “my” senators. I’ve also adopted Rep. Katie Porter as “my” House rep since my actual district elected a Trump-humping religious fanatic who begins newsletters to constituents with verbal diarrhea such as: “Thanks to the Soviet-style Democrats harassing President Trump…”
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Immanentize: How did your talk go yesterday?
Immanentize
@Tony Jay:
You and Tony Curtis?
I really really appreciate your reports from the field. You really do deserve a ticket tape sound, followed by “And now from London….” Before every comment.
I am assuming tech will get us to ‘added sound comments’ in the next blog iteration.
Kay
I read Trumpy Twitter and they’re always close to where Trump is- they’re coming around to the idea he will be impeached but they’ve rolled past that to his sure victory in 2020. The big change is they used to just have to deny all approval polls, but now they have to deny virtually every poll that comes out. All polls are “garbage” now.
They think all the 2016 polls were wrong so you can see how they get here, or COULD see that if they were consistent, but they’re not. If they find a slightly favorable poll for Trump they all believe just those.
TS (the original)
@Kay: The owners/editors of the nyt need to be buried for what they say about Hillary Clinton. I so hope they lose access to every last person in the administration when the democratic candidate defeats trump in 2020. Hillary provided EVERY non private email to the inquiries; this administration will provide nothing & like Romney they will probably destroy all the computer hard drives. Maybe we should be grateful that trump uses twitter for his presidential announcements. At least we get a permanent record of same.
Immanentize
@Dorothy A. Winsor: It was an interesting talk — there were maybe 25 interns and residents from a bunch of different departments with a few PA and med students sprinkled in. I think people liked it generally. It was different than their normal lunchtime fare (the three signs of stroke, know your esophogus, etc.)
I did get pushback when I said, as a patient family member (representing my family patients) I didn’t understand the question “how are you today?”. One two year resident said that he thought that was a perfectly good question to start the conversation. I asked him did he really care what the answer was? He did not like that and sadly, I think I got his back up. In the end I agreed it could be a good opening with a patient in the way up and out of the hospital. Positive and meaningless?
But then a woman resident — appropriately gendered responses — asked what I would do as an opening. Good student technique! So I have been thinking about a greeting protocol for doctors who are not your doctor and do not work with your doctor. Think the resident that comes in during the 7am period just to check on you….
OzarkHillbilly
@Ken: Most people can envision the basic location of Hawaii without looking at a map. I can’t do the same for Midway and I really doubt many can.
RedDirtGirl
@Barbara: @Mary G: @Amir Khalid: @rikyrah: @Dorothy A. Winsor: @Betty Cracker: @Immanentize: Thanks to all. Strangely comforting to lay my fears out here among such friendly strangers.
Amir Khalid
@Kay:
I seem to recall that the W administration also used private email accounts rather than official ones.
Kay
@TS (the original):
I think it’s organizational at this point- baked into that company- because some of their political reporters are too young to have been part of the original NYTimes Clinton witchhunt(s). They’re passing it down like a treasured institutional norm. Maureen Dowd and unto the next generation.
Because the emails weren’t the first time they did this- Whitewater was. It’s the exact same play. They would have done it to Biden too, if the whistleblower hadn’t have crashed in and interrupted.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Immanentize: Sounds like you gave them something to think about, which they should be doing. As a patient or patient family member, this is a rare and possibly unique event for you. And it’s often catastrophic. But they deal with it all the time, and it’s more or less routine.
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker:
Cool idea, I think I’ll do the same. Seeing as I’ve already sent money to Warren on a couple occasions, she’s a no brainer, but who should be my 2nd? And what about my adopted Rep? These are weighty decisions, the fate of the world is at stake. ;-)
chris
@debbie: Thanks, Debbie, we squeaked by and it’s better than I expected. Pessimistic by nature I am cautiously optimistic that we might even see some real action on climate change and universal pharmacare among other things. Also:
ETA: #ScheerlessTuesday is fun
Kay
@Amir Khalid:
They did. It only became a concern of these people when Trump told them it was THE issue they were to cover incessantly for 16 months. It is now no longer a concern. So either our national security is currently at serious risk or they’re all full of shit.
It wasn’t just the NYTimes. Andrea Mitchell and Jake Tapper were real standout players in the emails bullshit. Couldn’t have done it without those two providing sector support.
Betty Cracker
@Kay: True about the Trumpsters being all over the map on polls! Trump is on a tear this morning, citing polls that show people in swing states oppose his impeachment by 10 points and alleging that he has 95% support in the party. But polls that show around half of Americans support his impeachment and removal before the open hearings have even begun are garbage.
Oh, and he described himself today as the victim of a “lynching” because of the impeachment inquiry. Knew he would go there eventually. I’m only surprised it took this long, to be honest.
mrmoshpotato
@Betty Cracker:
???????
You’re more than welcome to adopt Durbin and Duckworth should you want a change sometimes.
I’m particularly fond of Sen Duckwörth calling Dump “Cadet Bone Spurs.”
Tony Jay
@Immanentize:
You’re welcome. OTOH if it all goes to shit tonight I’m likely to descend into a pit of self-medicated melancholy interspersed with sobbing jags and outbursts of foul language.
So no change there then. 8-)
Oh and speaking of Tony Curtis and Gladiator movies, some of this I did not know:
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize:
To which I, a patient, have answered, “How the fuck do you think I am?”
joel hanes
IMHO, the impeachment vote should be held in the second week of March 2020, and be handed to the Senate for action on the 15th (the Ides).
zhena gogolia
@Immanentize:
“Good morning.”
Matt McIrvin
The vote should be held in October 2020 with a huge amount of preemptive crowing about how the corrupt Senate majority will surely acquit because they are all implicated.
Uncle Cosmo
@OzarkHillbilly: As a not-patient rapidy reproaching septuageneric pairodice, on good days I reply, “Perpendicular & on the green side of the sod, & at my age everything else is gravy.” On bad out-of-patients days I snarl, “Compared to what? Also, GTF off my lawn!“
arrieve
@RedDirtGirl: I’m so sorry. Sending good thoughts her way — and yours.
rikyrah
Which is why we pushed back on the ‘Kamala is a cop’ bullshyt ??
Ian Sams (@IanSams) Tweeted:
Russia is interfering in 2020 and they’re dividing on race.
“Among the accounts focused on black activism, there was a moderate amount of content opposing Kamala Harris. Harris’ record as a California DA was mentioned as a reason to oppose her candidacy”
https://t.co/caZ5YhlG5v https://twitter.com/IanSams/status/1186328752529256450?s=17
JMG
@Kay: At this point, my assumption is that at some point in his horndog career in the ’80s and ’90s, Bill Clinton had his way with a Sulzburger wife, daughter, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, niece, etc. It’s the only thing that explains the paper’s psychopathic Clinton hatred.
Immanentize
@zhena gogolia:
“Says who??” See the problems here?
PPCLI
@debbie: Thanks. The Conservatives are indeed a troubling bunch, and it’s a blessing that they won’t be in power. Harper exploited the fact that with vote-splitting, it’s possible to control a majority even though 2/3 of the country is far to your left. But that didn’t happen this time: people are more alert to the danger now, it appears.
Hopefully being forced to govern without a majority will force Trudeau to learn from his multiple screw-ups and start handling things more astutely.
There are very troubling things about the result. The separatist Bloc Québecois was on life support, and now it’s bounced back strong with 32 seats. The legacy of Jack Layton’s NDP breakthrough in Québec appears to be done. And the regional divide is glaring: Tories sweep Saskatchewan and all but one seat in Alberta.
Immanentize
I have to get off to work, but I am interested in suggestions —
My proposed protocol would be something like this:
1)Hello.
2) I’m Dr. _________, and I am a(n)____(identify position like hospital floor resident)____.
3) I looked at the notes from last night, (or identify some reason to believe that you are up to date on the patient’s case even if that is, I talked to the cleaning lady) and
4) I saw you had a (good night, bad night, movie binging night).
5) How are you doing right now?
Does that sound better?
Enhanced Voting Techniques
So with all of his whining how long will be before l Trump say “I am not better than a n-word now”. Because I am looking forward to reading how the pundits will explain to us how that wasn’t racists of Trump.
zhena gogolia
@Immanentize:
Maybe just a wave?
zhena gogolia
@Immanentize:
Yes, that’s great.
zhena gogolia
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
He truly is edging toward that. Giving the finger to a female astronaut is getting there. (And yes, I believe he did.)
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Immanentize: Sounds good to me. Business like, real, genuinely hooked into how the patient is doing.
mozzerb
@Amir Khalid: Being a major arsehole is a plus point in those circles? He’s also a Trump-style bullshitter in that he’ll say whatever seems convenient at the time — so nothing he says can be relied on, but his supporters don’t care about that either. On the other hand, now he’s gone from playing the role of “lovable TV buffoon” (pretty successfully) to playing the role of “leading UK statesman” (very badly) a reasonable proportion of the British public appear to have wised up to him.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: I would go with something like
Hello,
I’m Doctor ____________ and I don’t give a shit,
but I have to be here
and I have to ask you the same moronic questions
the last 3 residents whose names you couldn’t remember on a bet asked you.
So how about we skip all the pleasantries
and get thru them as quick as possible,
so you can get back to Oprah
And I can get back to schtupping the super hot Dr ________________________________?
Martin
@Betty Cracker: Yessss. Katie is the best! I knew her before she was elected and she was the best then as well. I see no problem having 3 senators, so feel free to adopt Harris too. She’s already representing 40 million voters, I don’t think she’d notice a few extra.
hueyplong
@rikyrah: Yes. If Dems say, FU, there is no deadline, it makes delaying tactics less effective as a device to stave off demoralization among less ardent supporters who may begin to think of themselves as they realize that failure is in fact an option and Dear Leader had no one’s back but his own.
I’ll be extra disappointed if Dems agree to any kind of deadline.
Betty Cracker
@zhena gogolia: I’m agnostic on the “Trump gave the finger to the astronaut” thing. I imagine he spends much of his day obscuring the line where the orange spray-on product meets the fishy-white flesh just beneath the hair-visor, so it could have been completely unintentional.
Kay
@Betty Cracker:
For Republican politicians this has become an excuse. Trump wouldn’t have 95% support in the Party if they weren’t all such cowards and ass-kissers. It’s self perpetuating. Trump has support in the GOP base which causes cowardly GOP’ers to support him, which indicates to the base that they SHOULD support him.
They do the same thing on guns. “Our voters oppose any regulation of firearms so we all oppose any regulation of firearms which tells our base that opposing any regulation is a mainstream position”
Their cowardice is CAUSING their base to go more and more extreme. This doesn’t only work in one direction.
If 10 GOP Senators came out today and held Trump accountable that base approval number would MOVE. It would go down.
Immanentize
@OzarkHillbilly:
Ahhh, revealing the internal monologue!
blackcatsrule
@Immanentize: These are what I would want to hear from my doctors but I would add something along the lines of “do you have any questions about your treatment/meds/tests scheduled” etc. “Is there anything I can clarify/explain to you?”
Betty Cracker
@Martin: Did you hear Porter’s interview with Chris Hayes on the latter’s podcast a while back? I already liked her before I heard it, but she’s even more impressive once you know her fascinating back story! She says she named her daughter after Warren, who was an important mentor to her, but she also loves Harris, for whom she worked earlier in her career. Porter wouldn’t choose between the two as a primary endorsement when Hayes asked (as far as I know, she still hasn’t).
JDM
@JWR: Trump doesn’t need more than 15 minutes. Putin is always listening in to Trump’s unsecured phone and will let him know if there’s anything he wants Trump to do.
Kay
@JMG:
I don’t think you have to explain it. I don’t think you have to go to motive. Their political coverage is objectively horrible. It can be rejected for being bad, broadly.
My own explanation is much more boring. It’s business. They’re supposed to be the value-add “prestige” product so they add this layer of “clouds” and “questions” as an attempt to add value over straight reporting.
We’ve spent so much time wondering about Big Themes during the Trump Presidency but all of these elaborate scams always, always include a really small objective- someone thinks they can make a lot of money. It’s too small to be ideological. It’s not a belief system- it’s a lack of one.
Betty
@rikyrah: So sorry for both the regression and the time she thinks she is living in.
VOR
@Kay: I’m sure it has gone down the memory hole, but the entire GW Bush administration used private email accounts at the RNC. Millions of emails were “lost” and never properly submitted to the National Archives. There were entire periods of time where no official email emanated from the Office of the Vice President.
OzarkHillbilly
@Immanentize: I always give extra points for honesty.
rikyrah
????
Pushing the “deep state” conspiracy on Fox, @RandPaul accuses some of his fellow Senate Republicans of “allegiance” to the “deep state” over “allegiance” to Trump. pic.twitter.com/MUUCmw0ATi
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) October 22, 2019
OzarkHillbilly
Alfred E Neuman fails upwards again:
Meritocracy my ass, our capitalism is broken.
Kay
@JMG:
The part that kills me is they sell it twice! They package the first draft as “news”, withhold some juicy parts, produce a book and then sell the book. You’re paying them twice for the same story. The book is akin to a “prime” membership. To get the entire story you must pay an additional 30 dollars :)
I actually like capitalism. I’m not a socialist. What worries me is half our business sector seems to spend most of their time repackaging things and selling them over and over. Trump worries about “shithole countries”? He’s making one. Quality is fucking crashing.
rikyrah
????
When powerful white men use words like lynching and witch hunt to describe their perceived persecutions, it’s because there are no historical analogues to white male persecution. There’s no term for it because historically, there’s no such thing.
— Tom & Lorenzo (@tomandlorenzo) October 22, 2019
rikyrah
#DeedFraud, another cog in the machine of destabilizing black communities and stealing #GenerationalWealth – Why Black #Homeowners in #Brooklyn Are Being Victimized by #Fraud – The New York Times https://t.co/9TBS9dHsQ2
— Michael Lambert (@Mezikenyc) October 22, 2019
Aleta
She’s in my thoughts, and your family as well.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@rikyrah: Wow. That’s an incredible insight.
Kristine
@OzarkHillbilly:
::waves::
Another smart-ass.
jeffreyw
@OzarkHillbilly:
Hawaii? Just south of Texas and east of Alaska.
hueyplong
@rikyrah: It’s always been insulting to hear someone describe as a lynching what is really nothing more than an attempted thwarting of their will.
Kind of the essence of entitlement.
Ladyraxterinok
@rikyrah:
I was just a little white girl in OK in the 40s. But I KNEW something was really, really wrong when I learned that many places had separate libraries for blacks and whites–if there were libraries for blacks at all.
mad citizen
I like the ideas of March or October 2020 vote on impeachment–not sure if people are meaning House or Senate, though. The Senate would have a trial that takes time, etc. For me, it’s not time for the House to move it along until Moscow Mitch says publicly about 5 times that Trump is toast and he will vote to impeach.
Kay
@VOR:
It seems clear to me that they overclassify and it’s intended to thwart transparency and disclosure. Some of the Clinton emails that were retroactively classified are just ridiculous.
But we didn’t get any of that context. We got nothing that actually identifies or solves a problem. We got A THEME- “the she devil is up to her old tricks”. What a fucking huge waste of time, energy and money.
Aleta
@RedDirtGirl: She’s in my thoughts, and your family is as well. ?
Ladyraxterinok
@Betty Cracker:
For several years after I moved from IA to OK in 89 I was able to view Sen Harkin as ‘my’ senator.
Kristine
@mrmoshpotato:
I know IL has its problems, but I am so glad to have two Blue senators (and a Blue US Rep).
JAFD
@RedDirtGirl: Sending good thoughts, invocations of the FSM, and mention that I would have missed a lot, and regretted it, had I cashed out in ’67
@Martin: Anyone who wants Sen. Menendez is welcome to take him. Please. We may even throw in a free NFL team.
(Methinks, at least, that voting for him last fall was sufficient to absolve me from all charges of Purity Ponyhood nunc et semper et in saecula saeculorum.)
@Immanentize: Ah yes, being out-of-the-woods-but still in Cardiac Intensiev Care, human wave attacks of medical students and interns and residents and consultanting MDs and one young man, I think I was His First Encounter With a Real Live Patient…
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@OzarkHillbilly: 1957 here. Happy camper, gold record, fanny pack, floor exercise.
But also raunch, pothead, hipsterism, opioid, and scumbag.
Kay
An example:
Ok, is he a “dealmaker”? Who says? Him. There are no “deals” in evidence. Is he “scaling back America’s military presence in the world”? Again- he says he is but it’s probably not true.
WTF is this that they’re passing off as “news”? This is the NYTimes value-add? This is why it’s a prestige product?
Aleta
@blackcatsrule: yes
@Immanentize: May not apply, but: starting with what someone else wrote about the patient’s night makes it harder for them to speak if it would contradict. Asking ‘how was your night/how did you sleep’ invites the patient to communicate from the start.
Kay
My whole adult life presidential “deal making” has been measured by THE DEALS. One way to measure it (and one we have always used) is legislation passed in a divided government- one that was DESIGNED with a separation of powers. That is WHY it is hard. If making “deals” consisted of making pronouncements it would be easy.
So what has Trump gotten thru a divided government? The tax cuts and the judges. The rest is executive action.
No other President would be referred to as a “dealmaker” without, you know, DEALS. Still, they persist. In the face of all evidence they persist.
OzarkHillbilly
Republican governance in action: Brazilians rally to clean beaches amid outrage at Bolsonaro’s oil spill inaction
Elizabelle
@rikyrah:
@hueyplong:
That’s a really good point re “lynching” and “witch hunts.”
Also remember the complaints of “ramming it down their throats,” when a vote did not go their way. Subject was … expanding healthcare access to their constituents.
Elizabelle
@RedDirtGirl: In my thoughts. Wishing your niece a good outcome. It’s got to be better to be receiving treatment than going without.
Gelfling 545
@Tony Jay: Your legislators actually read what they’re voting on? How quaint! Here they either announce they haven’t read it or claim they need a week to read 2 pages.
Betty Cracker
@JAFD: I would have voted for the crook too if I were a NJ resident, but the party should avoid putting us in that position. It demoralizes voters and hurts the party’s brand. Do you know if there was any effort to get Menendez to resign or not run again?
Ohio Mom
@OzarkHillbilly: You said what I was going to. What we don’t need is for there to be enough time for a “nice, reasonable” Republican like Mitt or Kasich to find an opening to run.
In fact, now that I’ve typed that, I’m having a paranoid moment that this is someone I couldn’t possibly like’s plan.
Imm
@JAFD:
Your insights are welcome! I’m sending my “results” and suggestions to the oncology team at the hospital
OzarkHillbilly
@JAFD:
I had one of those, he performed emergency surgery on me without anesthetic. Poor kid was absolutely terrified.
Tony Jay
@Gelfling 545:
Our are ‘supposed’ to, but in reality most of them get properly credentialed experts to do the grunt work and they read the printouts. That’s the issue with this shitshow. Johnson’s goons are refusing to release anything like the proper amount of information to back up and contextualise the bollocks in his Withdrawal Agreement, and even worse they’re trying to hustle MPs into voting it through or else without time to do more than flick through the contents.
It might even work. Wanker Labour MP on the News this morning was proud to admit he hadn’t read the WA yet but was still going to vote for it as a matter of principle. Fuck knows what the ‘principle’ in this case might be, since his east London constituency voted 65% Remain and he’s apparently standing down before the next Election. Needless to say, he’s a long term anti-Corbyn bigmouth like the bulk of the other potential traitors.
I have fuming head on. Time to cool down with a nice injection of chilli sauce straight into the tear-duct.
Fair Economist
@VOR: About 2 million Bush administration emails were under subpeona when they were erased (mostly from the US attorney scandal). Unlike Clinton, they broke the law, and on a massive scale.
Barbara
@RedDirtGirl: I just went through something similar with one of my kids. I don’t want to say more, but having someone involved who will take these things seriously is the best thing that can happen under the circumstances.
Michael Cain
@Amir Khalid:
From memory, so suspect, but I believe there were a bunch of law/rule changes at the end of the W/beginning of the Obama years. Stuff that was okay (bad practice, but no rules against it) when Colin Powell in particular did it was no longer okay by the time Clinton held the SoS office. At one time there were at least stories going around that Powell had given Clinton advice on bypassing the Dept of State IT arrangement so that all of the e-mail could be handled by a single device while traveling, not realizing that there were new rules about such practices.
trollhattan
@Ken:
Which one was the “scratch one flattop” flattop? I can never remember.
On reading about the finds yesterday I couldn’t help but think Paul Allen’s ghost has found two IJN ghost ships.
glory b
@Immanentize: ‘S’up?
Mandalay
@VOR:
You’re right. From The Emails “that Dick Cheney Deleted”:
BUTTER EMAILS!!!!
rikyrah
Trump wields DOJ as Russia, media reprise 2016 roles for 2020
Rachel Maddow looks at the curiously quiet treatment of the end of the Hillary Clinton e-mail story that shaped the 2016 election and notes that the media seems no better prepared for Russia’s continued online campaigns to help Donald Trump, but for the 2020 election Donald Trump has the power and authority of Attorney General Bill Barr and the DOJ at his disposal.
glory b
@rikyrah: When my grandmother on one side of the fam AND my grandfather on the other side started sundowning, both “saw” crowds of white men coming down the street and begged everyone in the house to flee or hide.
OzarkHillbilly
As to my question, @OzarkHillbilly:
An answer via TPM:
Ruckus
@Betty Cracker:
Not a pretty picture but at this point I’d say that the tenderizing by foot is complete and they are deciding on how rare said appendages will be before self consumption.
rikyrah
State Dept witnesses make case clear in Trump impeachment inquiry
Rep. Jim Himes, member of the House Intelligence Committee, talks with Rachel Maddow about the strength of the evidence and testimony in the Trump impeachment inquiry as committees are set to hear from Ambassador Bill Taylor tomorrow.
Barbara
@Matt McIrvin: I am not sure about that, but one thing that has struck me for a while is the evident inability of the perpetual pro-impeachment crowd to play even one dimensional chess, as in, WHEN the Senate refuses to convict (perhaps not guaranteed, but all but) Trump will perceive that there are no lines that he cannot cross. That will put all of us in great peril. If we are lucky, that point will come when he will be worried enough about reelection to serve as a possible check on his actions, but I am not holding my breath.
Look at what he did when he perceived that he had survived any threat from Mueller. “Taking time” isn’t just intended to be fair, though it should be that, it lessens the time in which we get to deal with Trump after he has been truly unleashed.
zhena gogolia
@rikyrah:
Excellent point.
Ohio Mom
@Immanentize: Yes, the staff person should identify themselves. When Ohio Son was in the hospital (sleep study and ensuing tonsillectomy), the room had a white board where the name of the nurse on duty was listed. That was helpful. IIRC, the board also had the day’s schedule (meals, tests, etc.).
For questions, how about, What’s on your mind, Anything you have questions about, Is there anything you want me to know.
Ladyraxterinok
@JMG:
Remember reading at time of Whitewater there was one guy in either reporting or editorial who had a personal vendetta vs Bill.
Before 92 election there was a column by Paul Greenberg? running regularly in local OK paper. He was in Arkansas and really hated Bill. Fixed my dad’s view of him.
Kathleen
@Betty Cracker: Great idea. We should have a Dave Chappelle type Senator/Rep draft. Since I’m cursed with Chabot and Portman, I choose Pressley (who was born in the country of Cincinnati) and Schiff because I’ve suffered so much due to Chabot. For Senator I pick Harris. She and Sherrod are friends. If she’s the nominee I will pick someone else at that time. I do like Murphy. Will you share?
germy
Chief Oshkosh
@OzarkHillbilly:
I was and am for impeachment. Slow, detailed, investigations by multiple committees with coordinated hearings and press releases. I’m against setting any sort of deadline. Let them take as long as they take. For that to be effective with regards to the election impact, though, there must be coordinated “marketing” as it were, with clear and regular announcements of the advances made by each committee.
I’d love to be surprised and have something like this happen…
Elizabelle
@rikyrah: Thinking more about Tom and Lorenzo’s excellent point you posted:
and thinking about a very good book, Tobacco Culture, about the wealthy 18th century Virginia plantation owners.
And how they (Robert “King” Carter, etc.) so ridiculously misappropriated others’ statuses, the better to whine. They were writing their English bankers/creditors, whingeing that they were being treated like “slaves”[!] under the terms of the contracts they freely entered into. Cannot recall if George Washington signed onto anything that idiotic, but I always meant to look.
I wondered if the bankers receiving the letters laughed.
There is no whiner like a wealthy white male, when things are not going his way.
Barbara
@Immanentize: I think what I would stress to the doctors is that it’s one thing when one person comes in and asks the question, but in the modern hospital setting, especially a teaching hospital, patients see half a dozen or more hospital employees before 9:00 am, and it’s not always clear what they are there for. It becomes tedious and repetitive and does not provide enough information to the patient. I would prefer a sequence such as: Good morning, I am here for [this specific purpose.] [What can I ask in relation to the purpose of the visit]? So, for instance, “Good morning, I’m Susie the phlebotomist. I need to get a few vials of blood this morning.” Followed by: “Do you prefer the left or right arm and is there anything I need to know about taking blood from you, like, are you afraid of needles?”
Non-physicians are actually more informative, in my experience, but physicians should also consider how to be more informative.
J R in WV
@Kay:
I never thought much of Andres Mitchell as a reporter! But then during the last Democratic National Convention, time after time we watched important speeches live, after which Ms Mitchell told us we had seen some other speech that she watched in her demented mind.
@RedDirtGirl:
Thinking of you and your niece. I remember having those thoughts late at night after a bad day as a Jr High and HS kid. Obviously I never acted on them as I’m 68 now, never intended to, just gloomy as I wasn’t a good fit for school. But I do understand. Thinking of your family. Good luck!!
Ruckus
@RedDirtGirl:
Best of luck. Hope she gets the help she needs.
Having those thoughts is not as uncommon in teens as a lot of people think. That many of us didn’t have them makes it seem like it’s rare. But it’s not. So her getting help is a huge step. That she told someone or someone found out is actually a good sign and a huge first step. Getting help is the second huge step. Both in a positive direction.
rikyrah
New bragging points for several 2020 Democrats since last debate
Rachel Maddow looks at a huge New York City rally for Bernie Sanders, good new Iowa polling news for Pete Buttigieg, and a knock-out head-to-head Minnesota poll for Amy Klobuchar over Donald Trump among the latest developments in the Democratic 2020 primary race.
Barbara
@Elizabelle: Knowing the degraded experience of their own slaves made early colonists especially sensitive to being treated like slaves. This has not been lost on many historians. The radical defense of their own liberty grew out of their appreciation of what it meant to lack liberty. That acute insight didn’t make many of them better people but it nonetheless shaped their view of government.
SWMBO
@Immanentize: 6. Do you have any questions? 7. What can I/we do to help you at this time?
rikyrah
Klobuchar takes in $2 million building on strong debate showing
Senator Amy Klobuchar, 2020 Democratic candidate for president, talks with Rachel Maddow about signs her campaign is building a new head of steam since the fourth Democratic debate, including taking in $2 million in donations in just the past week.
Klobuchar touts advantages of public option built on ACA
Senator Amy Klobuchar, 2020 Democratic candidate for president, talks with Rachel Maddow about her support for a public option health care plan, and the level of respect among her Democratic colleagues as they debate their respective ideas.
Ohio Mom
@glory b: Those are a heartbreaking pair of stories. And a rebuke to anyone who discounts how racist a country we have always been and continue to be.
M@JAFD: One of Those Young Men Having Their First Encounter With a Real Live Patient was following my opthamologist around at a recent appointment. She let him peer through the apparatus to see the irregularity on my cornea she would soon be lasering off.
“Oh, interesting!” he said. I replied, “No patient wants to be interesting!” And the opthamogist patched things up by adding reassuringly, “You are a very boring patient to me.”
catclub
@Amir Khalid: yes, there was server run/owned by the RNC that was never recovered, that held large ( but unknown!) numbers of official emails during the lesser Bush admin.
OzarkHillbilly
@Chief Oshkosh:
So would I.
@germy:
The stupid, it hurts.
catclub
@J R in WV:
or you are lucky to be incompetent ;)
germy
@OzarkHillbilly:
Every time Graham plays a round of golf with Trump, Graham quickly falls in line.
Trump’s powers of persuasion must be epic. It’s like Yoko wooing John back from his “lost weekend” with the “smoking cure”
SWMBO
@JPL: Good luck to the little one and you as well. Take care of yourself as well.
J R in WV
@Matt McIrvin:
Or perhaps end of September, but otherwise I agree totally. Close to the election, used to beat the drums of Republican corruption AND Russian-Republican teamwork in both 2016 AND 2020. And Turkish teamwork, AND Sawdi Arabian teamwork.
By the way, I Love that new adaptation of the spelling of the Kingdom since Mohammad bin Sawyer had Kasshoggi murdered… wonder who thought that up?
Elizabelle
@Kay: @J R in WV:
I didn’t even link, because it was so moronic. But last night in the FTF Giuliani-Fed New York Times “The Editorial Board” put out an editorial.
They did not even remotely address their own part in the mess.
They included not one word about previous Republican administrations mishandling emails, or the fact that Colin Powell pretty much handled his email as did Hillary Clinton.
They try to now point the finger at — the Trump administration which, surprise surprise, is handling emails even worse.
They did not open the piece to readers comments, as they frequently do.
Scum and cowards. Fucking scum and cowards.
Not linking, but it is a short, short piece. Because it is so goddamned inadequate. What is most obvious is what it dare not address.
SWMBO
@RedDirtGirl: Sounds like she isn’t so far gone that she can’t communicate that she needs help. Best wishes to all of you. Don’t forget to take care of yourself.
germy
Martin
@Tony Jay: 3% to 7%? Pretty optimistic. That’s probably based on when it was UK vs Germany, not UK vs EU. UK vs Germany, UK at least offered some real advantages. UK vs EU, UK offers almost none. Well, you’ll have Premiere League and F1. You might not even keep N. Ireland or Scotland.
(it’s a bit curious from this side as it appears that you’re more at risk of losing Scotland, creating a new hard border, than you are of losing N Ireland, eliminating one)
Robert Sneddon
@OzarkHillbilly: It’s in the name, mid-way, it’s about half-way across the Pacific between the continental US and the eastern coast of Asia.
The US had claimed Midway Island as theirs and were busy building airstrips on it that would support planned long-range bombers (the B-29 and successors) capable of hitting Japan when the Japanese attacked another US military installation, Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
Ladyraxterinok
@Kay:
When I taught Business German, in materials a lot was made of Germany’s reputation for producing high-quality products.
One student made the point that maybe the German language helped. Speakers are trained from babyhood to pay attn ‘all the way to the end’. Second part of a 2 part verb comes at the end of the sentence—eg, I can the book [buy or sell or read etc]. And verb comes at end of dependent clause—eg, I know that I the book buy [can, must].
Listener, reader HAS to pay attn all the way to the end to know what is being said.
Interesting theory!
SWMBO
@rikyrah: I remember this as well from my childhood. Separate bathrooms, fountains, stores, schools, everything. Bless all of them trying to get through someone’s reliving the past in a way that doesn’t speak well for any of us. It’s so difficult on a good day but going back to the bad days is just exhausting. It is hell living through someone else’s delusion.
Groucho48
@Debbie(Aussie):
I’ve been wondering that, myself. I’d like to see the House finish up voting on the Articles the day before the Senate goes on summer break. Force Republicans to decide between cancelling the break to take up the trial and give up campaigning back home, or, let the House charges go unanswered for weeks.
Finishing up before Thanksgiving gives the Senate months to attack the witnesses and the evidence and to focus on Biden, and, then Trump months to campaign on being totally innocent. A quick impeachment seems worse than no impeachment to me.
Patricia Kayden
@RedDirtGirl: ((your niece)). Sending positive thoughts your family’s way.
Patricia Kayden
Bloop.
SWMBO
NNNNOOOOOO!!!!!
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/22/politics/jimmy-carter-hospital-fall-home/index.html
Patricia Kayden
schrodingers_cat
I have a question about Germany under Hitler, how many German intellectuals and famous artists stood up to Hitler. How many became willing sycophants?
BC in Illinois
@Betty Cracker:
I live in the Missouri 2nd Congressional District.
My local congresswoman represents the Missouri Republican donor class.
I have, however, two people representing me in Congress:
Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Ted Lieu (D-CA).
germy
@Patricia Kayden:
PJ
@Groucho48: There’s a reason why Mitch McConnell is talking up having the Senate trial before the end of 2019, and it’s not for the good of the Republic.
RedDirtGirl
@Elizabelle: True, and better to happen now during her senior year, than next year when she would be away at college!
J R in WV
@Ohio Mom:
While wife was in hospital with Pneumonia / Septic Shock / necrotic lung (not discovered until late in the game) it was a teaching hospital that saved her life. Many students visited her frequently to hear what a collapsed lung sounds like. She was glad to see them, as she was pretty bored, and with room mates who wanted to watch Jerry Springer! Plus she was helping to teach the young wannabe doctors.
TomatoQueen
@Michael Cain: I’ve been in gov’t since 2006, and so have been subject to the evolution of gov’t-wide records retention policy, which is what controls email storage. Any gov’t record, no matter the medium, has some sort of record retention status, from trivial to major, which means a procedure for storage that has in the same time frame also evolved. The evolution has been episodic and reflective of actual and reported cyberattacks as well as the realization of the size and extent of the threat of exposure. So we have gone from something flexible when it’s electronic to something very tightly controlled, that did not become hard and fast until 2016. Built into this are the variations in resources available to agencies: SSA, my agency, does not have the same messaging flexibility that, say Interior might have available to line staff; what’s available to line staff is far more limited than what’s available to management/political, which in practice of course means trusting certain position classifications perhaps more than they should be. Bottom line is now people are told what the rules are, the training is repeated, and if you are screwing up, you will be found out and called on it.
rikyrah
@glory b:
@rikyrah: When my grandmother on one side of the fam AND my grandfather on the other side started sundowning, both “saw” crowds of white men coming down the street and begged everyone in the house to flee or hide.
Lord have mercy :( :(
that’s too deep for words
catclub
@PJ: They have to leave the calendar in 2020 open for NOT considering any new Supreme Court Judges.
Right?
TomatoQueen
@schrodingers_cat: The other way to ask this question is, “how many were able to escape before Sept 1, 1939”? Or check the comparative records of, say, Walter Benjamin and Martin Heidegger.
MattF
@schrodingers_cat: Some well-known philosophers were already right-wing ideologues— Heidigger, Schmitt. Left-wingers and Jews (who survived) left the country.
Amir Khalid
@OzarkHillbilly:
A commenter here (I shall tattle no tales) was fretting the other day that the Democratic party wasn’t timing the impeachment process for maximum advantage in the 2020. I disagreed. I said the purpose of the process was to protect the republic from bad officials like Trump and much of his administration. Overtly gaming the process for partisan purposes would hurt its credibility, and future usefulness. And encourage more frivolous impeachments for partisan gain.
trollhattan
@Amir Khalid:
IMO you cannot control the process timing because its length and eventual complexity cannot be known ahead of time. You can only control when you begin it.
Ohio Mom
@schrodingers_cat: I don’t know the answer but I do know at least some of the Jewish ones got the hell out early. Sometimes helped by sponsorship of colleagues overseas.
The Lodger
@JMG: Porque no los todos?
Tony Jay
@Martin:
It’s ridiculous. The Treasury just straight up said they’re not releasing any of their assessments on economic impact. We won’t tell you, but trust us, it’s “self-evidently” going to be an economic boost. Not one single economic assessment in the last three years has claimed that Brexit will do anything but damage the economy, but there’s the arsehole Chancellor of the Exchequer, the former credit-swap banker, telling everyone that he knows better and they have to believe him, just because.
Honestly, the cavalcade of straight-up lies being vomited up by the Government in this Commons ‘debate’ is horrifying. Lying about customs duties, about workers rights, about clauses in the agreement, about absolutely everything, and the Media is just stenographing it while more and more “principled ex-Tory moderates” announce their willingness to support it as the “lesser of two evils”. The greater evil, I can only presume, being a General Election which the Tories might well get slaughtered in once Nigel “The Man from Innsmouth” Farage gets to work weaponising the short-memories and raging victimitude of the Tory Party Base.
It’s going to be a loooooonnnnnngg night.
Another Scott
@Kay: Not long ago I reviewed some of the FTFNYT stories about Jimmy Carter’s peanut warehouse, etc., and how he divested himself from it. Their coverage was horrible, insinuating all kinds of not-good-enough-divestment-and-what-about-the-managers-and-Billy stuff. The “how dare that Cracker sully the White House with his presence” tone was clear.
It goes back much farther than Clinton.
Grrr…
Cheers,
Scott.
geg6
@Kay:
Late to the party, but…
THIS.
THIS.
THIS.
germy
@Another Scott:
The Eustace Tilley school of journalism.
Just Chuck
@OzarkHillbilly: 1972 for me (makes me a youngun here). I got “bipolar disorder”. Yep.
Ohio Mom
@schrodingers_cat: How could I forget! Recent evidence strongly suggests Hans Asperger was one Third Reich German medical scientist who at the least went along to get along. Or, he could have been an enthusiastic party member. I’m not following this very closely, I think it is a still evolving story.
It’s a reversal of the earlier version of his biography which presented him as sheltering his patients on the spectrum. He went from a hero of autism to a villain, and it’s complicated feelings about the syndrome named for him.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@J R in WV: One time I had to see the staff neurologist during an ER visit. I was asking him about some of the tests, what he was looking for, how I was doing, etc. He completely ignored me. But then a group of med students showed up to observe, and I got all my questions answered as he explained me to them.
MattF
Michael Steele (!) says ‘Trust Nancy’.
schrodingers_cat
@Ohio Mom: @MattF: @TomatoQueen: Thanks. I was in particular interested in what Germans who weren’t Jewish responded to the increasing demonization of Jewish people. India is right now heading into a deep abyss, and many prominent people are sucking up to Modi.
Case in point the newly minted econ Nobel prize winner.
Another Scott
@Immanentize: Pretty good.
It’s clear why the family member is there. They don’t need to explain themselves. The doc needs to explain to the family member why s/he’s there.
“Hi, good morning. I’m Dr. Peabody and I’m here to …”
Cheers,
Scott.
MattF
@schrodingers_cat: Heidigger is a particularly bizarre case, considering that he had an affair with Hannah Arendt while she was a student. In the end, you have to make a judgement about character.
Sure Lurkalot
@Betty Cracker: Sometimes my love for your way with words crashes into my revulsion from what they describe. One of those times.
Ohio Mom
@J R in WV: Oh, I’ve done my share of educating future physicians; most of Ohio Family’s doctors are associated with the local medical school. No one who is planning on going into family medicine or pediatrics escapes my elevator speech on identifying autism (by 18 months, must be able to point to Mom on cue, and must be able to imitate simple gestures, for example, play “How big is baby? So Big!”).
I count my gentle scolding of that young fellow among my efforts. He is never going to scare a patient by calling them interesting.
Another Scott
@VOR: The 22M ‘lost’ W e-mails were found:
Cheers,
Scott.
sdhays
@Tony Jay: I hope he sends Theresa May he apologies since there’s no way this Withdrawal Agreement isn’t 99% the same as what she tried to get passed. I expect her problem was that she treated MP’s with too much respect and lacked a certain appendage between the legs.
Elizabelle
He’s just trolling us, and letting off steam to his favorite fellow blowhard ignoramous. But still:
WaPost: Trump says he doesn’t want copies of the New York Times in the White House
He told Fox’s Sean Hannity he wants to cancel the White House’s Washington Post subscription, too.
He did not have that book of Hitler speeches by his bedside (that Ivana told us about) by accident. Fucker read the things.
This is straight out of Hitler and Goebbels territory.
The language: “We’re going to terminate.” What a pissant.
His lawyers and advisors will surely still read these “fake” papers,
Ohio Mom
@TomatoQueen: People can make fun of the government bureaucracy’s rules but the truth is, we need transparency to make democracy work and keep things fair. And there is no transparency without carefully preserved, and easily retreivable records.
Elizabelle
@schrodingers_cat: That’s a great question, about German intellectuals, Nazis, and the Third Reich.
I would be interested in any recommended books or articles on the topic.
One problem is that a lot of the books did exist, but they have been culled from our public libraries over the years, since people were not taking them out. Harder and harder to find.
Immannetize
@Tony Jay: I hope you are still here — I just read that Small Johnson, your PM, has threatened to pull the Brexit Bill if Parliament requires a delay until January. Doesn’t that mean that MORE MPs will vote for a delay?
Ohio Mom
@schrodingers_cat: One thing German Jews during Hitler’s rise and today’s Indians have in common is a large diaspora to call on for help in leaving and settling elsewhere.
Elizabelle
@Elizabelle: The last paragraph of that WaPost story. Were we talking about white men whining earlier?
Amir Khalid
@Elizabelle:
We all know the saying: “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” All of us, that is, except Trump.
Tony Jay
@sdhays:
Indeed. They’re trying g to make a virtue of that now, insisting that since they’ve only changed parts of it (radically and for the worse) MPs shouldn’t need very long to understand the alterations, hence the 3-day limit on debate.
That is, of course, bollocks. And May, of course, is completing her humiliation by voting for it,
germy
@Elizabelle:
Aside from that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?
Tony Jay
@Immannetize:
Sadly no. It means more Tories and ex-Tories will sadly conclude that they better ram this shit-sandwich down the country’s throat before Flobalob pulls the bill and they have to fight an election that they might (shock horror) lose their seats in.
Tories. Utter craven cowards the lot of them.
Elizabelle
@germy: Bad press is the only thing Abraham Lincoln and Trump have in common.
And Trump deserves every word of his bad press.
Elizabelle
@Amir Khalid: Who is a friendless man, for the most part.
Aleta
@Elizabelle: What–how—dispute? Such a headache.
Amir Khalid
@Elizabelle:
But does not lack enemies, I’ll wager.
PPCLI
@schrodingers_cat: Heidegger and Carl Schmitt are perhaps the two most disgraceful examples, and the Nobel laureate physicist Philipp Leonard, but as noted they were true believers from the outset. There is a useful and troubling book called Hitler’s Professors by Max Weinreich published in 1946 that studies the contributions of mediocrities and lower lights of the lumpenprofessoriate, but again that is mostly true believers from the beginning and active collaborators (IIRC).
zhena gogolia
@Betty Cracker:
Who uses their middle finger to do that????
Aleta
@Elizabelle: We probably pay for those WH subscriptions. Go ahead and cancel all the copies delivered throughout the buildings. Make the aides and consultants and traitors buy their own.
sigyn
@RedDirtGirl: My youngest son was hospitalized twice (Make sure she does her after-care followup). At least at 17, her parents can theoretically Make Her Do It.
Good luck and godspeed and hug her parents for me. They are terrified; I’ll let you know if *that* ever goes away.
Mnemosyne
@schrodingers_cat:
There were quite a few film artists who stood up to Hitler: Marlene Dietrich, Conrad Veidt, Fritz Lang, to name just a few. But they all had to flee the country a few steps ahead of the Gestapo.
One of the very dark in-jokes in Tarantino’s “Inglorious Basterds” is that one of the theater massacre victims at the end is Emil Jannings, who was an acclaimed movie actor who chose to join the Nazis.
Kristine
@OzarkHillbilly: Why the hell are they paying a consultancy fee to the guy who crashed the company? To find out what he did, and do the opposite? All they have to do is look at the history.
Mnemosyne
@Ohio Mom:
There was an ongoing joke in Hollywood in the 1930s about how many relatives “Uncle” Carl Laemmle, the head of Universal Studios seemed to have, and how much nepotism there was at the studio.
It’s come out in recent years that Laemmle would basically claim as a relative any Jewish person in Germany who could get a letter to him. He would tell Immigration that they were nieces/nephews or cousins, and he had enough money to soothe any questions.
TomatoQueen
@Ohio Mom: Not making fun at all, just recounting how the process has gone since I’ve been directly subject to it. Transparency is something that can help or hinder, but the more it becomes a holy cow, the less effective it may be.
Laura Too
@RedDirtGirl: Keeping you in my thoughts. So sorry your family has to go through this, depression is such a bitch. Adam has my email if you need anything-I don’t live far from you and I only get to check this briefly. Big hugs!
Amir Khalid
@Kristine:
To top up his go-away-and-don’t-come-back cash payoff to US$1.2 billion, I guess. Although I’m mystified that they also agreed to lend him up to half a billion dollars. I for one wouldn’t think it wise to fund his next business venture.
Ruckus
@Kay:
I call this the walmartization of the economy. It doesn’t matter if all you sell is crap, it’s CHEAP! It doesn’t matter if everything you sell is made somewhere else, as long as it’s CHEAP! Because then you can justify paying your employees less, like less than a living wage and change their hours to make then totally dependent upon you because they then can’t even get a second job.
TomatoQueen
@Elizabelle: This is a hobby of mine, for various reasons; Amazon does a pretty good job of keeping up with what’s published in the field, quite a lot of which these days is survivor testimony and people’s phd theses. There are two encyclopedias online that are thorough and comprehensive: YIVO is the library now located in New York City that was smuggled bit by bit and sometimes book by book, from Vilna during the 1930s. It was in those days a newish research institute focusing on the life, history, and culture of Ashkenazi (Eastern and Central European) Jews. The smuggling of its holdings in itself is an amazing story. The United States Holocaust Museum is the very best resource online for research and has projects for lay public and the scholarly community. Yad Vashem also has its own online encyclopedia; each is useful and as Talmud itself is often called, is a sea of information. Major figures in the history of rescue: Hiram Bingham IV, Varian Fry who worked together just prior to the war and about whom there are several publications including Fry’s own which was published as soon as he got home; Irene Sendler, rescuer of Polish children, about whom there will be a film in the next year; the devil incarnate who did more to obstruct rescue to the United States than any other public figure, Breckinridge Long, who should be dug up and burned; Nicholas Winton, who organized a part of the Kindertransport to England; Raoul Wallenberg whose fate is unknown and whose courageous actions in Hungary were without peer or parallel; Chiune Sugihara who rescued Jews issuing diplomatic documents even tho’ he was told not to; and in the modern era: Samuel L Kassow of Indiana University who has written ‘Who Will Write Our History”, the heartbreaking story of the archivists in the Warsaw Ghetto, who, led by Emanuel Ringelblum, saved every scrap of paper they could, to leave a record for the future. Each one of these figures, if googled, will yield a whole world of compelling tales, and sources. This is what I can come up with while not hooked up to my machine.
Uncle Cosmo
@Robert Sneddon: Just FTR the B-29 was capable of delivering 12,000 lbs of bombs flying at medium altitude over a range of 1,600 miles.
The air distance between Midway Island and Tokyo is 2,548.53 miles. No B-29 ever flew a bombing mission from Midway against the Japanese Home Islands; such a mission would have involved small bomb loads or 1-way trips, landing in China or the USSR a la the B-25s from “Shangri-La”.
The B-36 could have bombed Japan from Henderson Field on Midway – assuming that it could have gotten airborne in 7,800 ft or that the runway could have been lengthened – but it also could have flown those missions from Hickam Field near Pearl Harbor (Honolulu – Tokyo distance 3,849 mi) where there are currently runways >12,000 ft (which may not have been that long during the war but presumably could have been constructed if needed ). Such a capability was embedded in the original USAAF specifications of 11 Apr 1941 (combat radius of 4,000 mi with 10,000 lbs bomb load). Then again, the initial order of 100 B-36s was not placed via a “letter of intent” of 23 Jul 1943 and the first was not unveiled until 20 Aug 1945.
Meantime. the B-29 was operational & capable of striking the Home Islands once the islands of Saipan and Tinian were secured (15 Jun – 9 Jul 1944) & the runways upgraded. (Tinian to Tokyo 2,371 km [1,474 mi]; to Hiroshima, 2526 km [1,570 mi]; to Nagasaki, 2,533 km [1,574 mi].). Here is a major reason why late in the war American forces made it a priority to capture these islands, from which air raids of massed B-29s could be mounted on the Home Islands.
Glad I could clear that up for everyone! :^p
RedDirtGirl
@Barbara: Thank you for sharing that!
Uncle Cosmo
@Ladyraxterinok: There’s a story I heard from my German teacher in college – possibly a legend – about a British diplomat at an international conference in the 1930s.
:^D
RedDirtGirl
@Laura Too: That’s so sweet of you. Thanks to all you jackals for your good thoughts and kind words. She called her shrink on her own, so she is doing everything right. So hard to see those we love suffer. And it’s happening right when things with my aging parents are getting extra “challenging”. So glad I have siblings.
Uncle Cosmo
@Uncle Cosmo: ETA: Whenever I had to speak German I treated it like a game of Scrabble for words instead of letters: Collect the proper terms, toss them onto the rack I’d imagine in my head, add articles, & declensions & conjugations, shuffle until the grammar was in Ordnung & read it off with confidence! Didn’t guarantee it was richtig, but eh, mir war’s egal.
Amir Khalid
@Ladyraxterinok:
I’m fascinated that subordinate clauses can have a pile-up of verbs at the end, and the whole sentence isn’t understandable until you’ve sorted out all them verbs.
Uncle Cosmo
@schrodingers_cat: And how many left Germany & did their standing up from a (relatively safe) distance? Even if one excludes the Jews, whose lives had they remained would have been forfeit whether they stood up or not. Thomas Mann was one.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Immanentize:
I would omit #4, because it presumes to interpret how the patient’s night was (good, bad, whatever) or even what happened.
I remember one night that probably went in the books as “patient slept quietly” when really I was in agony all night because I desperately needed water but couldn’t reach my call button because it had slipped down behind the bed. And no one checked on me all night. Some doctor coming in and saying “I see you had a quiet night” would have gotten a foot in the balls if I had been able to execute the maneuver.
Perhaps replace it with some statement of why you are there, which may not be obvious to the patient. “I’m here to check on x.” “I’m here to follow up on y.” Even, at this point, “I’m here to see how you are doing.” Full stop. Less of an interrogation demanding an answer and leaving more space for the patient to respond however they want to. Then ease into the conversation from there.
Miss Bianca
@glory b: that is so freaking sad/terrifying, I can’t even imagine.
Ruckus
@Barbara:
Don’t know if you will see this but you just described my experiences with the VA. Had an operation in 2013 and in pre-op I met every single person who would be in the operating room. And this was repeated with the 8 or 10 guys in pre-op. And it’s been the same every time I’ve been sedated. Never had that before.
Ohio Mom
@TomatoQueen: I didn’t mean to suggest you were making fun — I was referring to all the members of the general public who complain of government inefficiency and red tape. The stereotype.
You, Tomato Queen, do god’s work at Social Security. You are helping to maintain the lifeline so many of our fellow citizens depend on.