The U.K. government was so confident that it would meet the Oct. 31 Brexit deadline that it minted commemorative coins. They will now be recycled. https://t.co/hdINERzGCc
— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) October 29, 2019
Tell that to the troops serving in Afghanistan right now, @realDonaldTrump. Tell that to their families.
A five-time draft dodger has no business trying to minimize the horrors of a war zone. https://t.co/WyqhtyP8l6
— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) October 28, 2019
He would have to ask Nancy Pelosi how Afghanistan looks, since she has actually been there and he's too chickenshit to go.
— Client #3 (@jacquiestern1) October 28, 2019
We've gone from a Black man holding a beer summit for a white campus cop and a Black college professor to a racist kumquat who flies to Chicago to attack the Black police chief and Cook County state's attorney while spewing hatred before an assemblage of police leaders.
— Ragnarok Lobster (@eclecticbrotha) October 29, 2019
Trump going to Chicago to shit all over the city (saying it makes Afghanistan look safe by comparison) is a reminder of the asymmetry in our politics. A Dem president would get absolutely killed if he, say, went to Topeka and mocked education levels in the heartland.
— Sam Stein (@samstein) October 28, 2019
It would be most useful if reporting like this noted that Trump was lying when he said things about Chicago like, “Afghanistan is a safe place by comparison. It’s true.” No, it isn’t. I care more about that being debunked than about some street interview. https://t.co/hQuURbfmMz
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) October 29, 2019
Jeffro
It’s almost like there’s something about Chicago in particular that really, really gets under trumpov’s skin…
…verily, ‘tis a mystery!
lollipopguild
I love how Obama and Killery live in trump’s head rent free.
Another Scott
Meh. Donnie being Donnie. Totally expected. ;-)
In other news, Twitter:
Yup.
Eyes on the prize. Don’t let Donnie set the agenda.
Cheers,
Scott.
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
There’s no fucking bottom to this guy. I swear, he’s a force of nature. You think he’s reached the lowest that any nominally human life form can reach, and he finds a way to dig down even lower.
the Conster
The majority of white people who voted, voted for this. Every Dem out there running for president needs to understand that you can offer free education, well paying green jobs, free housing, free weed and a lower retirement age, but if it doesn’t come with white supremacy, the white majority will vote for the racist rapist traitor.
Jerzy Russian
Christ, what an asshole!
Cacti
Oooh, that’s gonna leave a mark…
President Obama calls out Twitter scolding, woke culture, and purity politics as useless wankery:
Who will be the first bro to tell us that the most popular living Dem politician doesn’t know what he’s talking about? Place your bets.
lollipopguild
@the Conster: The GOP is a cult and trump is their cult leader.
lollipopguild
@Cacti: Tulsi? Senator Shouty McWagyfinger?
Another Scott
In other, other news, since the F-35 comes up here from time to time. GovExec:
$34B / 478 = $71.1M. It’s not clear why the numbers are different from the story. But it’s good the prices are coming down about as expected.
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
The bit I love about Trump’s Chicago mess in Trump’s imaginary super cop friend. Trump claims to have meet some motorcycle cop who Trump claims would be able to clean Chicago up in three months and the Chicago police chief says there is no one with that name on the Chicago police force. I really think Small Hands is well into dementia and mixing reality up with the stupid action movies he likes.
Of course that the problem; how does one tell the difference between dementia and American conservatism? It’s the Poe’s Law of the Boomers.
MattF
I’ve noted this before, but… liar, asshole, bully, criminal, cray-cray, hater. Also, specifically, bigot.
Brachiator
They should melt them down and use them to line the ditch that Boris Johnson promised he would dig for himself if he failed to deliver BREXIT by October 31.
Kay
This is true. There’s an assumption in political media that there are “real” voters and everyone who is not them is an “interest group”. It’s pervasive, won’t be easy to dislodge, and Trump has completely exploited it to his political advantage. But it predates him.
I think it’s horrible but also incredibly PHONY since media centers are in huge cities. This isn’t even authentic to these people as individuals. They all just signed on to a bunch of nonsense.
scav
@Another Scott: Well, Trump certainly has an active program for creating employment in manufacturing evidence, but for some reason seems to be outsourcing all the actual jobs to foreigners!
germy
@Cacti: I’m not sure if this is the first:
rikyrah
Dems unveil resolution on impeachment proceedings
EJ Dionne tells Lawrence O’Donnell why he thinks the new House impeachment inquiry resolution could prevent GOP “flame throwers” from making the proceedings into a “circus.” Julian Epstein, who played a key role on the House Judiciary Cmte. during the last impeachment investigation, joins.
Martin
@Another Scott: If these F-35s actually cost $71.1M, I’ll buy and eat an F-35.
Jeffro
@Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly, Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.): He does make this atheist wonder if there isn’t something to the Bible, Satan, etc. But then I get a hold of myself and realize it’s just human evil (albeit really, REALLY stupid human evil) abetted by other evil people.
A Josh Hawley or Tom Cotton would, unfortunately, be an order of magnitude worse.
germy
Stan & Ollie star in “Leaving Europe”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9_AdehYiIY
Ken
@Martin: Well, you know, shipping and handling, demurrage, breakage, carried inventory charges, rust-proof undercoating, sales tax… It all adds up.
Another Scott
@Martin: Accountants can make things cost any amount you want. Defense accountants, even moreso. At least that’s my guess…
But it’s that way with commercial aircraft as well. Boeing and Airbus have their “list” prices, but I’d be very surprised if major airlines pay anything close to that.
The list price for a Boeing 787-8 is around $250M.
Cheers,
Scott.
rikyrah
@Another Scott:
Kay has been telling us…
trollhattan
@germy:
WTF is “cancel culture”?
Wait, I probably don’t want to know, do I? #DudeBroASIFInMyDreams
Brachiator
@germy:
Very funny stuff.
Kay
@Another Scott:
It’s odd, the manufacturing slump. You can really feel it, locally. I’m nervous about it because the last collapse hit here first also- there were signs of impending disaster here in 2006. I think it contributed to the D wave in that year.
The auto loan defaults are going to be EPIC. You would not believe how much they are lending on cars and who they are lending to. Anyone with a pulse. They have CRAZY payments- 600 a month for people who make 35k a year. Some of the payments are breaking 1000 a month. All those cars are going back. They will not be able to make the payments. No way.
trollhattan
@rikyrah:
Continue to wonder if all those soybean and corn farmers are still supporting him as their crops self-ignite in giant unsold, unshipped piles.
trollhattan
@Another Scott:
That $250M is before the undercoating and mud flaps.
chopper
@Cacti:
OTOH, “let’s be judgy as hell and that’s it” is really, really easy. fun, too!
BobS
@rikyrah: On the other hand, all of those ‘economically disadvantaged’ white Wisconsinites are still white.
Martin
@Another Scott: No, I get that, but you presume that defense contracting is anything other than a scheme to get infinite dollars out of taxpayers. Coming in under budget is to fail the primary goal of a defense contract.
I’m actually inclined to defend a lot of inflated cost estimates like $70 hammers or whatever, because I have a decent understanding of the kind of chain of manufacturing documentation that underlies this stuff and how cost plus accounts for all of that. Cost plus does indeed allow you to put whatever pricetag on an item you want. But Lockheed knows how this works. The lower price is just there for political posturing. The actual cost is almost certainly going to be higher than the last batch, mainly because the F-35 still has a mountain of unsolved problems – oxygen deprivation for pilots, structural damage at high speeds, difficulty in landing on carriers, etc. Lockheed is still dumping tons of money in the plane and I suspect the lower advertised price is really just there to try and keep some other nations in the program.
sukabi
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: does drumpf call super cop The Punisher?
Frankensteinbeck
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Narcissists do that already. The signs he’s well into dementia are his incoherent speech patterns and his shrinking vocabulary. He wasn’t like that 20 years ago.
@Kay:
Like most of Trump’s political successes, it’s easy because he believes that only white men are legitimate voters.
West of the Rockies
So any word on how Chicago cops responded to the speech? Law enforcement runs conservative, but Trump walked into their house, took a dump, and spiked the football. How’d that go over?
rp
@Brachiator: Better yet, have Khal Drogo dump the pot on Boris and Nigel’s heads.
Elizabelle
@Kay: It is going to be hitting trucking, too.
Which is already being propped up by Amazon and just in time deliveries.
Captain C
@Cacti: Cenk “The Armenian Genocide never happened and they had it coming anyway” Uygur?
Martin
@trollhattan: Cancel culture is wholly rejecting individuals because of some minor slight. “I’ll support a primary to Ilhan Omar because of her Armenian Genocide present vote” or “I’m never listening to this artist again because they used the wrong pronoun for someone”. A lot of the heat that was here in 2008 between Obama and Hillary supporters fell in that category. Something that if you tilted your head just right could be construed as racist or sexist turns into a threat to vote for McCain or stay home if the other candidate won.
SiubhanDuinne
The Reagan Presidential Library is apparently under fire evacuation orders, as is the surrounding area. No fan of RR by any means, but it would be a terrible thing for all those historic documents and artefacts to be lost.
ETA: And all the staff. I wish them no harm.
rp
@Martin: I don’t think I’d support a primary to Omar because of it, but man that present vote and her statement were pretty f*cking terrible.
West of the Rockies
Maybe people waking up to the truth, to identifying their best self-interests takes time, like a super tanker reversing course in the ocean, or breeding docility in a wild animal species (12-18 generations).
Why anyone who is LGBQT or a POC or who values science and the environment would vote Republican is stupefying. And when a majority of white people will stop being fearful, resentful, angry piss ants is unclear.
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne: Guessing the Library has a world-class sprinkler system? As well as its building materials and how the grounds have been designed. To hear.
Eric U.
@Another Scott: I used to work with Gen. Fick. Haven’t talked to him in years, which is too bad. I occasionally worry about him working in this administration. Two of the 4 of us military that worked in that office made general, so that always makes me feel like a loser.
Martin: they have funny accounting methods for the price of an airplane. It doesn’t count things like support equipment and spares and any number of other things that actually make up the price of a plane. In that view, 71 million is actually half a trillion (rough guess). I’m sure there are better estimates of the actual cost. I think when I worked on the F16, the price of a plane was quoted as something like $6million and everyone I worked with called it a $60 million dollar airplane. And that was probably low.
VOR
@rikyrah: Wisconsin is dealing with the fallout from the Foxconn deal. Former WI Governor Scott Walker (and former presidential candidate) made the deal giving huge (up to $4B) tax breaks to Foxconn. Trump got into the mix too, touting it as a great deal. Now it is clear Wisconsin got rolled as Foxconn is not delivering on their promises. With any luck, this will hurt Trump in Wisconsin. https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a29626588/scott-walker-foxconn-wisconsin-paul-ryan/
germy
@West of the Rockies:
I don’t know, but I wonder if they think like Rambo: “I could get the job done if my hands weren’t tied!”
Ruckus
@Ken:
Forgot the pinstriping.
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne: Check out the front page of the LA Times website right now. http://www.latimes.com
Incredible photo. From inside the Reagan Library: looking past Air Force One to see the surrounding hillside ridge on fire outside the big windows.
Can anyone embed it? Wow. That one is prize-winning contender. Sadly, a lot of the fire photos are. They’re dramatic, with heightened colors and contrast.
eclare
@Another Scott: I used to work for an airline and am an accountant. You are correct, airlines do not pay list prices.
feebog
@SiubhanDuinne:
The immediate area around the library is pretty clear of brush. Firefighters have done a great job of protecting it so far. Of much greater concern are all the homes in Moorpark and Thousand Oaks that are in the path of the fire. Winds here (I’m in North San Fernando Valley) are blowing about 30-35 miles an hour with gusts over 45. Ventura County was projected to be even higher. No relief in sight from the winds until tomorrow night. This could get really bad very quickly.
PJ
@Martin: I guess it depends on what you think of as a minor slight, and what the alternatives are. Some would say that Ilhan Omar not acknowledging the Armenian Genocide is a sign that she doesn’t really care about human rights (or at least not human rights for some people), in which case, maybe it’s better to have someone else in that office. But if your ultimate choice is between voting for the Democrat, who doesn’t think Armenians are sufficiently human, but other people are ok, and the Republican, or staying home, it’s probably better to vote for the Democrat.
The problem with purity politics is that, if you look at any candidate objectively, they are going to have at least some personal behaviors or policy positions that you, personally, disagree with. Which means that there will be never be anyone good enough to vote for, so you might as well stay home. The only person who is going to line up 100% with your own policies or behaviors is yourself (and you will also probably let yourself down a lot in that area, too, so there will be some self-cancellation to look forward to). A representative democracy is bound to fail if you look at it solely as a way to validate your personal beliefs, rather than as a way to advance policies which you believe will improve your welfare and the welfare of your community.
Joey Maloney
@Another Scott: Look for bargain pricing soon on a crapload of lightly-used 737-MAX.
Ruckus
@Kay:
I work in mfg in CA and I see us not having any long lead time work in the shop. We are busy but it’s all short term, no big stuff. With nothing to fall back to when that ends.
I’ve seen this before, and it’s not pretty.
Martin
@rikyrah: Wisconsin’s a bit of a special case. They dumped $5B in subsidies into Foxconn thinking they’d come in and build a big TV factory, which they haven’t done, and show no real signs of doing.
Had they put $5B in infrastructure, or in emerging markets, they might have jobs. For example, there are no electric bus factories in the US. Getting a tv from China isn’t a problem that needs to be solved, but getting a bus is since China makes almost all of them and buses are huge. Wisconsin could have been their own best customer for those buses, saving municipalities a lot of money, and paving the way for other states, and I can’t imagine that Thomas or Blue Bird wouldn’t have been enticed by $5B in subsidies. Instead, it looks like Proterra out here in CA is going to emerge as the US leader in this market. They have a deal with Thomas and start volume production in a few months. And we spent $0 to get that arrangement, because, well, we aren’t stupid, unlike Scott Walker.
The US is lagging on manufacturing largely due to technical debt. CA has massive technical debt, while also working harder than any other state to overcome it. Wisconsin isn’t even trying. That said, I worry about the consequences of these mass power outages. They’re annoying for residences, but they could be fatal to a lot of manufacturers.
rikyrah
@rp:
Unnecessary fumble on her part.
BobS
@rp: While I would have preferred she had voted yes, there was nothing wrong with her “present” and even less with her comment (which could have been issued with a “yes” vote, although with less fanfare)- it simply cited the hypocrisy of Americans calling foul on the Turks (as well as the Kurds, who were participants in the Armenian genocide). The vote was largely a political stunt in reaction to the recent events in Syria.
germy
stinger
@Brachiator: They should mint new ones with the date February 30. No year.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@germy:
quite a handle there….
This is who’s he’s always been. The first black man– with the middle name Hussein– to win the presidency and the first Dem to win the popular vote twice since FDR. But Bernie told them he was a fayl-yuh ’cause he didn’t shout enough.
Elizabelle
@Ruckus: Yes. We have seen that movie before. Buckle in.
Kent
Josh Marshall has a post up on TPM this morning discussing how it seems that Trump scheduled his World Series visit for Game 5 specifically because he thought he would be greeted with an adoring public after the Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killing which was scheduled to be announced that same morning.
Certainly goes to the argument that he is suffering from a toxic blending of dementia and pathological narcissism.
Jager
@Ken:
You forgot the vinyl “Landau” roof
p.a.
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
My nomination for comment of the year.
Martin
@SiubhanDuinne: It’s a pretty cool library actually. Definitely worth the visit for anyone who hasn’t gone. It’s also a pretty modern building with good fire breaks around it. Will probably be okay.
Elizabelle
@p.a.: Yeah, noticed that one too. It’s brilliant.
sdhays
@VOR: For the amount of money they were giving Foxconn, they could have just paid even more people really high salaries for years. I forget the details (and I don’t have time to look them up), but it was clear that even if everything worked out as designed, it was a total boondoggle. And it was clear to all but the most credulous that Foxconn was not going to do what it said it would do.
rp
@BobS: She said “it should be done based on academic consensus,” which certainly sounds as if she’s saying that there’s some question about whether it actually happened. If that’s not what she meant, she needs to fire her spokesperson ASAP. Plus there’s the fact that the vote is a political stunt in response to Turkey massacring the Kurds.
Aleta
Good post AL, thanks.
rp
@germy: “My issue was with the timing and context. I think we should demand accountability for human rights abuses consistently, not simply when it suits our political goals.”
WTF. These resolutions are mostly meaningless, so the only time they might have some impact is in response to current events — e.g., the situation with Turkey and the Kurds. Arguing that it’s bad to hold this vote to put pressure on Turkey is bizarre at best.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@germy:
I saw that earlier and I can’t even tell if she’s bragging or mocking the resolution. I’m not so much bothered by her vote as her first-year grad student justification of it. And this…
Not: “I’ve made my statement” or “not now”, but “You may not”
Kent
@rp:
Yes, unbelievably fucking stupid on her part. Her argument was essentially that we shouldn’t condemn one genocide unless we simultaneously condemn them all?
I wonder if she would agree with the equivalent parallel argument that we can’t address Israeli treatment of the Palestinians unless we simultaneously address Chinese treatment of the Uighurs in western China and Saudi treatment of their ethnic Shiite minority in southern Saudi Arabia? I mean that is the exact equivalent argument.
The Moar You Know
@West of the Rockies: Noting the relationship between the Chicago rank n’ file with both their commanders and the city officials they answer to, it probably went over very, very well. Some of them probably did walk up to him with tears in their eyes and said “thank you, SIR, for finally telling the truth about this vile city”.
Immanentize
@rp: It is just a very public version of “whataboutism.”
Cacti
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
The proof that Bernie is right can be seen in his long list of legislative accompli…oops, never mind.
The Moar You Know
@Martin: I would. That district can do better than an idiot who can’t stop saying the quiet parts out loud, a problem she shares with some other asshole who’s name escapes me at the moment.
Amir Khalid
@Another Scott:
That the numbers don’t match suggests that at least one set of them is fiction.
SiubhanDuinne
@Martin:
Oh, I’m not knocking the library just because I didn’t care for the man. I’d never pass up an opportunity to visit a presidential library/museum. In fact, I expect to drive through Texas sometime next year and will try to plan things to take in the LBJ and both Bush centers.
Glad you think the structure is safe.
Cacti
@Kent:
Her argument isn’t actually an argument at all. It’s a tu quoque fallacy that would get a failing grade as an undergraduate level thesis statement.
Raven
@SiubhanDuinne: fuck lbj from south of Macon
different-church-lady
Hell, we get killed for what Cons imagine Dems think about heartlanders.
BobS
@rp: I’ll grant you that sentence could be read that way. On the other hand, the “academic consensus” (outside of Turkey) is that the Armenian genocide is a historical fact, of which Omar is most likely aware. I read that sentence as a set-up for what came after (kind of like “a well regulated militia”) about the slave trade and Native American holocaust, two genocides that are curiously overlooked in the United States. And I only mentioned the Kurds because of the irony that it took their current massacre for their past crimes to finally be ‘officially’ acknowledged by the US.
Kent
@The Moar You Know: I honestly don’t even know what the “quiet part” is here with regard to Armenia. Is it that the Armenians were Christians and the Turks were Muslims? I honestly don’t even know what is going on here on the QT. My very scant historical knowledge of the Ottoman Empire was that as it collapsed in the wake of WWI the Turkish majority basically took advantage of the chaos to wage expansionist genocide and war against its Greek, Armenian, and Assyrian Christian minorities and also, of course, the Kurds.
What is the quiet part?
patroclus
@The Moar You Know: Uh no. Trump isn’t well liked here in Chi-town. Not by most people, most cops, most librarians, most teachers, most bankers, most firefighters, most immigrants or most anyone. He just isn’t. Rank and file cops can easily dislike their superiors, all city officials and Trump all at the same time. Every time Trump comes here (rarely), there is a near-riot and lots of injuries.
Gravenstone
@rp: No. As in it (and others) should have always been consistently called out, and new instances called out as they are identified. Not done only when politically expedient.
SiubhanDuinne
@Raven:
I was waiting for you!
rp
@BobS: I would be more inclined to read that sentence in the more favorable and innocent light if she wasn’t supported by Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks and hadn’t appeared in a photo with Erdogan.
BobS
@Kent: I read that as a critical comment regarding Omar’s willingness to offer criticism of Israel that is slightly more candid than Americans are used to hearing (also ironic, inasmuch that an obstacle to the US recognizing the Aremenian genocide- which Omar seems to be accused of denying- was the lobbying efforts of Israel and the ADL).
geg6
@Cacti:
This. Can’t the people in that district find a smarter representative? Was she the only person who ran? I’ve been willing to have her back against GOPer and racist attacks, but for fuck’s sake! She needs to just shut up and think a little before she opens her mouth. Quickly becoming not-a-fan.
balconesfault
Police officers seem always to join ranks and defend other police departments when people are critical of some young black kid getting gunned down by a cop.
Will they join ranks and defend the Chicago Police Department when the Great Orange One craps on them?
West of the Rockies
@SiubhanDuinne:
Well, I can’t say I’m eager to see the eventual Trump library…
Actually, it’s more likely to be the Trump Presidential Casino and Golf Course.
patroclus
@SiubhanDuinne: The LBJ Library is quite good; so is the George H.W. Bush Library. I’d skip the W. Library, however, unless you’re into torture, devastating ignored hurricanes and the utter destruction of the U.S. economy.
rp
@Gravenstone: Define “politically expedient.”
BobS
@rp: Given her generally strong record on human rights, I prefer to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Immanentize
@Raven: @SiubhanDuinne:
Raven must have a notification system….
sukabi
Oh good this is an open thread, didn’t want to interrupt the needless bashing with something a bit more important.?
Vindman was sidelined from his role as Ukrainian expert by Nunes aid who presented himself repeatedly as the Ukrainian expert to drumpf.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@geg6:
I think she won a narrow victory in a multi-candidate primary in a pretty safe blue district.
Aleta
@Martin: Of course, fire resistant materials and designs don’t mean fireproof. Sometimes it just means you have a little more time to hope that conditions change or to rescue stuff. (And testing and theory only predict for performance under the conditions you anticipated.)
Miss Bianca
@PJ:
QFT
I still can’t believe I had people lecturing me about why they weren’t going to sully the purity of their political visions (or would that be, “hallucinations”?) by lowering themselves to vote for HRC.
Cacti
It’s starting to look like her reason for softballing the Armenian genocide resolution may be a bit less anodyne than Rep. Omar suggests.
Turns out she led a delegation of Minnesota Somalis for a face to face with Erdogan back in September 2017 at the UN General Assembly, when she was a state representative and relatively unknown. Photos of her seated smiling next to a scowling Erdogan were found on social media.
Looks like Tulsi Gabbard might not be the only Dem in Congress with a favorite dictator.
James E Powell
@Another Scott:
While I think it is useful to note that Trump’s promises about manufacturing jobs were just more bullshit that he never delivered on, it is more important to recognize that 2016 was never about manufacturing jobs in swing states.
Kay
The public phase will be interesting because now they have much more information to ask questions as a result of the private phase. As a hearing it will be odd, too, because Trump doesn’t have any witnesses. I mean, he COULD have them call his horrible lawyers or whatever but, you know, he can’t :)
So what it will be is a parade of damaging witnesses and House Republicans yelling a lot. They have no factual defense, which didn’t matter when they were pretending to object to process but will matter in a public hearing just because it’s so lopsided.
eclare
@Miss Bianca: I have a distant friend like that in FL, of all places. We don’t speak much anymore. Used to be reasonable, now a full on grievance machine. One guess as to his demo.
khead
@Kay:
Once up on a time Mrs Khead worked for a small Citigroup office in MD that did subprime auto loans back right before the crash. In January, they were doing $15-20 million of those loans a month in the mid-Atlantic. Credit card rates for cars basically. In May, the office was closed.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Being already persuaded, I’m not the target of this ad, but it looks pretty good to me.
Tell Susan Collins to put country over party.
If anything, I think they could have used better clips of trump saying he would take foreign asssistance from the STephanoplous interview, but maybe this is just the first volley.
Need to Impeach is Steyer’s group, isn’t it? Nice to know he’s doing something besides burning big piles of money to make the third debate
BobS
@Cacti: She was probably trying to curry favor with Erdogan when she wrote this: “My issue was not with the substance of this resolution. *Of course* we should acknowledge the Genocide.”
James E Powell
@Martin:
Hey! That’s just crazy commie talk. The whole point of the “free market” system is to shovel taxpayer dollars into corporate coffers.
different-church-lady
@West of the Rockies:
BobS
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: If Steyer wants to get more bang from his “Need to Impeach” dollars, he should offer to pay the legal fees for government employees (coming forward to attest to Trump’s malfeasance) who have been- or will be- forced to hire attorneys.
Steve in the ATL
I must be the luckiest man on the planet. I spent a week in Chicago last month and didn’t get killed even once!
Steve at a primitive third world airport where i had to remove my laptop, iPad, and kindle from my bag to go through security
Miss Bianca
@eclare: Yeah, there’s more than one person in my circle – family included – I don’t speak much to, anymore. It was so disheartening to see the noxious blindness to white privilege among both the righties and the lefties of my acquaintance.
germy
@Steve in the ATL: Did they demand to see all your balloon-juice comments?
Steve in the ATL
FYI for those who don’t encounter Foxbots in their daily lives: that Democrats put party before country and that everyone who goes to Chicago gets shot are articles of faith for these morons.
Steve in the ATL
@germy: I told them I was Bob in Portland so they were cool
different-church-lady
Folks, I’m requesting periodic reminders to stop hate-reading LGM.
glory b
@Frankensteinbeck: Raw Story has an interview with one of the psychiatrists who contributed to the book warning us about Trump’s mental illness. It’s pretty frightening.
Miss Bianca
@different-church-lady: Oh, why, what did they do this time?
lgerard
It’s funny. When trump was in Mississippi last week he did not mention:
Mississippi’s homicide rate, which is 50% higher then that of Illinois
Mississippi;s last in the nation health care metrics
Mississippi’s bottom of the barrel education system, which barely eclipses a few other red states
I’m sure that there is some reason for this oversight
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@glory b: I went to Raw Story and got distracted by the story of today’s Megan McCain Meltdown on The View. She started a fight with Cory Booker over mandatory buy-back
Just tell me semantically. The pride of the Columbia University English Dept.
glory b
@Kay: I always hate the talking heads (most recently that I’ve heard, Willie Geist on Morning Joe) say “Well, it’s true that Chicago has a horrible violence problem, but…!
The CDC’s list of most violent cities:
New Orleans
Memphis
Birmingham AL
Baltimore
St. Louis
Milwaukee
Louisville KY
Detroit
Kansas City MO
Chicago
Not to discount the levels of violence anywhere, but a clear eyed look at this is appreciated.
Miss Bianca
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Just wish, I wish Cory Booker could get away with the Wonkette opening of, “Dear Shit-fer-Brains…”
Cheryl Rofer
It looks like our President tweeted a photoshopped photo rather than come near a dog
Ken
@lgerard: @lgerard:
You can’t expect Mississippi to win the race to the bottom in all categories right off the bat. Give them a little more time, and I’m sure they’ll have the worst education system in the country.
(Yes, I’m deliberately mis-reading your comment.)
Steve in the ATL
@lgerard:
On the other hand, ole miss girls are a total smoke show
Steve in the ATL
@glory b: great. So I survived Chicago but will be killed next week in New Orleans.
Barbara
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Just once, I want someone to ask McCain if she thinks she would be on tv if she weren’t the daughter of a famous man. Same for Abby Huntsman. At least Luke Russert had enough self-awareness to move on.
immanentize
@glory b:
And they were always one of my favorite groups! :-)
oatler.
@Steve in the ATL: You interest me strangely,Watson.
Emma
Say what you want about Republicans, they stick with their own. We’re already shopping to replace someone because — she’s not a political windup doll like so many Republicans. (added) Or we accuse her or currying favor with dictators. Jesus.
trollhattan
@immanentize:
Stop making sense!
trollhattan
@Cheryl Rofer:
That’s so fucking weird. We have a weirdo for president*. He could not be more weird if he tried very, very hard.
lgerard
@Steve in the ATL:
But their football team sucks, which I am sure is a far greater concern to the powers that be then public safety, education or healthcare
jonas
@Jeffro: I’ve read his building there has done really poorly — high vacancy rates, low bookings, etc. At one point, they tried to claim the drop-off in income was due to all the violence in the city scaring off tourists, but some cursory research showed comparable hotel and resort properties in the city did quite well during the same period.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@different-church-lady: Bit hard to believe there ever will be a Trump Presidential Library. First Trump doesn’t keep records (supposedly his staff has to print out Trump’s tweets as policy) and second Trump or his family would just embezzle any money allocated for such a library the first chance they got. All snark aside, considering Trump’s anti-intellectualism I think a Trump approved movie directed by Micheal Bay is far more likely.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Cheryl Rofer: God gawd, he really photoshoped it?
Kent
@Steve in the ATL: I suppose if you into the MAGA group-think that is southern sorority culture at SEC schools. My daughter is in a sorority at a big SEC school and she tells me stories.
Personally if I was still of an age to be in college and dating college students I’d much rather be someplace with a much more interesting and diverse dating pool like say UCLA.
Cacti
I’ve also noticed he’s never mentioned that all of the bottom 10 states for infant and under 5 mortality rates are light to deep red.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@jonas: I have no idea what this website is, but..
I’ve read other stories about how sales were down, apartments were getting a lower price per sq ft than other buildings in the neighborhood. OTOH, the google search shows a Tribune article that says prices are way up. I think the Chicago hotel was one of the properties that benefited from some no-show bookings by the Saudis
mad citizen
@West of the Rockies: which will go broke of course.
eclare
@immanentize: You win the internets for today!
Mnemosyne
@rp:
This is part of the problem with freshman representatives — she seems to have no clue at all how many times Adam Schiff has tried to get this same or a similar resolution through the House. Just completely clueless about the history and so assumes that it’s a brand-new effort that only came up because of the current spat with Turkey.
Ohio Mom
@Ruckus: This is interesting to me. Ohio Dad started a new job in a manufacturing outfit that makes machinery for factories just under two months ago.
At first he assumed he was being given little bits and pieces to write code for because they weren’t going to give the new guy anything too complicated until they were sure he was up to speed.
But the other night he remarked that almost all the work is just writing updates for already sold systems, and he can’t see how they are making much money.
So maybe the word I am looking for isn’t “interesting,” it’s “concerning,” if this is the first sign of a downturn. I am not in the mood for another bout of no money coming in, the four months of unemployment this summer were enough.
Cheryl Rofer
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: I doubt that he photoshopped it, but someone did and handed it to him.
trollhattan
@Cheryl Rofer:
That would require a skillset that Trump does not and cannot possess. However, whomever did it also doesn’t know PS very well, it’s a shabby jerb. TBF it’s challenging to “select” hair/fur convincingly.
satby
@the Conster: Chicago is a multiracial city, just like all big cities, and people there didn’t vote for Drumpf.
BobS
@Mnemosyne: I was aware that Schiff introduced a resolution during American Idiot’s presidency- how many times has he tried?
Ken
@Cheryl Rofer: “Here’s what it might look like if the terms of the restraining order allowed me to be within 50 yards of any dog.”
Omnes Omnibus
@sdhays: Yes, Scott Walker was/is an idiot.
Mnemosyne
@BobS:
Schiff has been trying to get a resolution passed since at least 2007, and got into public tiffs with both Obama and Hillary Clinton over it.
Wikipedia:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_resolution_on_Armenian_Genocide
Omar is apparently completely clueless about the legislative history of her own house of Congress, which is embarrassing.
Chyron HR
@Mnemosyne:
Omar knows that Schiff, Obama and Sec. Clinton are all neoliberal shitlibs who will be the first against the wall when the Bernievolution comes. What more does she need to know?
Mnemosyne
@BobS:
Here’s Schiff reading his open letter to President Obama into the Congressional Record in 2016. He’s been pretty relentless about it, to the point of sparking a couple of diplomatic complaints from Turkey, because a huge percentage of his constituents are Armenian Americans:
https://youtu.be/Hpppg7WiT2c
Again, Omar seems COMPLETELY clueless about this Congressional history. Just embarrassingly ignorant.
Aleta
@Cheryl Rofer: I wondered if the first photo released of the dog was actually that dog, or whether they lifted it from stock. Now this … is too much. Especially since they put effort into it—positioned the dog’s head to cover part of T’s face and changed the medal. But my god.
I’m sure in their world it’s A-OK to broadcast an image to tell us Trump respects the dog without noting for accuracy that it’s obviously not a photo of an actual ceremony. Cause that sums up how they treat images; their purpose is to tell us what to believe about T. But then to grab the most recent photo of a ceremony, just because it’s handy… Donating the salary of one staff member in the WH ‘communications’ office to retired dogs would show a lot more respect. But of course it’s actually only a photo about Trump. (And the out-of-proportion dog head communicates that pretty well.) Here come some good twitter parodies.
BobS
@Mnemosyne: From the link, it looks like this was just the third time. Why would you assume she’s “completely clueless”? She seems to be a lot more aware of what’s going on in the Middle East and North Africa (and the US role) than many of her peers.
Aleta
@Ken: ha, yes exactly
Gravenstone
@rp: In this specific case, a targeted statement calling out a century old and long established genocide undertaken by Turkey which is being released right now to rebuke Turkey for their ongoing action in Syria, but which should have historically been done in the timeframe of the genocide and reinforced as needed going forward. Something that has not previously been done largely out of political calculus and a not insignificant amount of moral cowardice.
Sab
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I thought Meghan McCain had an art history degree.
Ruckus
@West of the Rockies:
Well the trumper at work just stated that all the murderers and rapists are being let out of jail. I have no idea what or where that came from but I’d bet it’s from one particular “news” channel.
rp
@Gravenstone: So the “expediency” in this case is rebuking Turkey for committing similar human rights abuses at this very moment. Seems like a pretty good reason to me. And the fact that it wasn’t done earlier is hardly an argument for not doing it now.
jonas
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: It’s sometimes hard to tell with Trump and his properties. One minute he touts how prices and profits are through the roof at some resort or hotel, but then at the same time reporters find that his lawyers are filing papers with city and county assessors saying they should get big tax breaks because they’re not making any money and values have fallen. Let’s just say either way, he’s a slimy crook.
Aleta
And the campaign is selling merch, a dog bandana in camo that is supposed to “show your support” “in honor of all the great dogs who serve our country.”
Photo at https://twitter.com/JerylBier/status/1189530584147734529
Some messages to say ‘Republicans love animals’ started showing up a few weeks ago. I especially remember the ones on Karen Pence’s twitter and Ivanka’s.
Mnemosyne
@BobS:
Hey, if you want to argue that she is fully aware of the Congressional history but voted “present” and then made a weak “All Genocides Matter!” statement because she doesn’t care that 1.5 million Armenians were murdered, then go ahead. I was trying to give her the benefit of the doubt when it came to her statement, but if a vocal supporter thinks she was lying, who am I to naysay you?
different-church-lady
@Miss Bianca: Nothing that they don’t usually do, which is why I’m getting sick of them.
BobS
@Mnemosyne: Eleven reps (Republicans all, including Pence’s brother) voted against the resolution. Three reps voted ‘present’, including Democrats Omar and Eddie Bernice Johnson, who’s represented her Dallas-area district since 1993 (is she “completely clueless about the legislative history of her own house of Congress”?). Yet Omar is the only rep being singled out for reprobation, despite her issuing an explanation which touches on two issues about which many Americans (most of whom probably vote Rebubbalican) are also “completely clueless”. Maybe she deserves some credit for using the forum she has to shine some light on a couple things that Americans have been guilty of sweeping under the carpet for a few hundred years, a lot longer than the mere 100 years it took to recognize the Armenian genocide.
(by the way, the flippant “All genocides matter”? That would be you, not her)
satby
@Steve in the ATL: damn, you’re back in Indiana again?!?
Steve in the ATL
@satby: ha! Chattanooga, Tennessee *shutters* (h/t the late CornerStone)
Ruckus
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
I’d bet that the trump library will consist of one visitor’s log book at whatever federal pen he ends up in.
PJ
@BobS: Christ, are you just Bob in Portland under a different name?
The US has a long way to go repair the damage caused by the extermination and forced migration of Native Americans and the enslavement of African-Americans, but if you grew up in this country you can’t say Americans are “completely clueless” about them. They may not want to think about them or to ignore them or pretend they never happened, but they sure as hell know about them. Omar’s argument that recognition of the Armenian genocide can’t happen unless all other genocides are recognized at the same time is just BS. For her, “accountability and recognition of genocide should not be used as a cudgel in a political fight. It should be done based on academic consensus outside the push and pull of geopolitics.” So, I guess in 1945 she would have said, “Denazification? Holding people responsible for the Holocaust? No way, that’s just a cudgel in a political fight. We should leave these assessments to academics.”
If a monumental crime like genocide should not be used to influence current political behavior, then we should just give up on politics altogether.
Omnes Omnibus
@glory b: I’ve spent a lot of time in Milwaukee and Chicago and I’ve never even been shot at.
Ruckus
@Ohio Mom:
Yep. I’m concerned because I’m 70 and have to keep working a bit longer so I can afford to retire. And I’m pretty sure I’m ready to retire tomorrow. I just love republican economic theory – which roughly stated is “Fuck the 99%, let them figure out how to steal everything.”
And of course there are lots worse off than me. Another clusterfuck brought to us by republicans.
Mnemosyne
@BobS:
Only one of those Democrats has a photo of herself meeting with Erdogan before being elected, and it ain’t Johnson.
Only one of them is heavily supported by “The Young Turks,” at least one of whom (Cenk Ugyar) has repeatedly denied that the Armenian Genocide happened at all, and it ain’t Johnson.
But, hey, if you want to say that Omar was right to deny the Armenian Genocide and to imply in her statements that there’s some kind of “academic” disagreement about it outside of Turkey — where people have been IMPRISONED for referring to the Genocide as one — feel free to do so. I’m still going to call you out for it, and call her an idiot for taking an indefensible public stance.
You might want to take a look at her Twitter feed. She is not getting the adulation from her constituents that you seem to think she deserves.
Mnemosyne
@PJ:
Part of the huge pushback Omar is getting is that there IS an academic consensus: it was a genocide. The only country whose academics deny it is Turkey, where you can literally be jailed for saying that a genocide happened in 1915.
Omar picked a side in a nasty ongoing fight, and it was the wrong side.
Steve in the ATL
@PJ: magic 8-ball says: all signs point to yes!
Ruckus
@Omnes Omnibus:
I worked in south central LA for 27 years and never heard a gunshot.
BobS
@PJ: A lot of you people here are one-trick ponies- I’ve been Bob S a lot longer than there was a Bob in Portland or an internet. But keep pretending to be internet sleuths.
You’re really arguing that a lot of (mostly white) Americans AREN’T “completely clueless” about the details of slavery and the Native American holocaust, including the willingness to acknowledge those crimes similar to how Germany has acknowledged it’s guilt? Fine, where are the resolutions condemning those acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing in US history? Americans are ready (albeit 100 years later) to apply standards to other nations (at least sometimes, so long as they’re transgressions committed by our enemy-of-the-moment) we’re loathe to apply to ourselves.
Everybody is just assuming that Omar is acting in bad faith, but it’s possible her status as a Somali refugee makes her more able to see- and speak out on- the beam in our eye.
But enough about Omar- what’s Rep. Johnson’s excuse?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Kent:
Go Bruins!
Mnemosyne
@BobS:
Oh, is that why she’s repeating the bogus “no academic consensus” talking point that’s been pushed by the Turkish government for the past decade?
The more she tries to defend herself, the more Turkish government propaganda she pushes, so I’m less and less inclined to think it was an honest mistake on her part.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@trollhattan: “Select and Mask”, ti’s like magic!
Mnemosyne
@BobS:
Also, Johnson voted FOR sanctions against Turkey. Omar was the sole Democrat to vote AGAINST them.
That’s why people are questioning Omar’s votes. She made TWO votes supporting Turkey, while Johnson voted “yes” on the substantive one and “present” on the more symbolic one.
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/467986-house-approves-turkey-sanctions-in-rare-bipartisan-rebuke-of-trump
BobS
@Mnemosyne: Speaking of arguing in bad faith, that’s twice now you’ve essentially attributed quotes to Omar that she never made, in the process completely ignoring her subsequent statements:
“My issue was not with the substance of this resolution. *Of course* we should acknowledge the Genocide.”
&
“My issue was with the timing and context. I think we should demand accountability for human rights abuses consistently, not simply when it suits our political goals.”.
Given her overall record of support for human rights, I’ll take what she says at face value.
You don’t want to, don’t. Just don’t expect everyone to buy your obfuscation (which includes, by the way, what you’re writing about Cenk Ugyar, someone I was aware of only by name until today. While you’re correct he has denied the Armenian genocide in the past, he’s apparently amended his views).
BobS
@Mnemosyne: So why are you getting so wound up about a “symbolic” vote (which Johnson still hasn’t explained, by the way)? Also, it’s pretty easy to see you only just learned about the sanctions vote, otherwise you’d have been using it for your anti-Omar tantrum all along, instead of just citing it now to try and move the goalposts.
Dan B
@Steve in the ATL: Did 7th grade in Arkansas back in the way back. Thw World History text was ml issing the cover and some of the first chapter. So I looked at the last pages and discovered it ended before the finish of the Great War. The school principal taught it – mostly how he had escaped peril in the woods of Arkansas.
The principle’s degree was from that elementary school. That was as far as he got. Arkansas has tied Mississippi a few times.
Mnemosyne
@BobS:
So Omar wants us to “consistently” make a statement in favor of human rights, but not actually punish any country for human rights violations by voting for economic sanctions against them?
You asked why Omar is getting bashed for her “present” vote when Johnson isn’t, and I explained the reason why: because Johnson voted FOR sanctions against Turkey and Omar voted AGAINST them, the only Democrat to do so. Don’t ask for reasons and then whine about “moving the goalposts” when I give you the reasons you asked for.
I find it extremely implausible that Omar’s Turkey votes were not linked and deliberate. She just happened to make two separate votes within a few hours of each other that just happened to support Turkey? Pull the other one, it has bells on it.
PJ
@BobS: Hmm, I notice you didn’t deny being Bob in Portland. (Should we call you “Bob S, Formerly Known as Bob in Portland”, or BSFKABIP for short?) You’ve certainly got the “America is guilty guilty guilty” whataboutism down pat.
Cacti
@PJ:
Boob in Putinland is back?
How’s it going, Boob? Tell us all about Victoria Nuland’s cookies.
JAFD
@Steve in the ATL: Read that, at first glance, as ‘Foxbat’ – NATO code name for MIG-25. Thought was comment on F-35 thread, took minute or two to figure it out…
JoeyJoeJoe
@Steve in the ATL: I have been to the Knoxville airport. Departing, there was no line at security. Never seen that before.
J R in WV
@the Conster:
This was clearly true in 2016, but also clearly not so in 2008 and 2012. Plus, the “white majority” has been shrinking, and may be extinct already. I’m surely white, but not a part of the white supremacy group at all~!!~
I think the white supremacists are a shrinking minority at this point, at least I surely hope so.
Uncle Cosmo
@Jager:
Which can only be ordered with the Lifshitz spoiler & detailing, don’t ask me why. /physics joke
Bobby Thomson
@Emma:
Just one dictator. Because she did.
J R in WV
@JoeyJoeJoe:
Here at the Charleston WV Airport (CRW) there frequently is no line at TSA security, unless you’re just at the perfect time for everyone on your flight to be checking in.
If you’re 10 or 20 minutes earlier than most folks, no line at all. Not always, but often. Small town airports, better than really big airports.