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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Open Thread: Today’s Impeachment Inquiry (Partial) Update

Open Thread: Today’s Impeachment Inquiry (Partial) Update

by Anne Laurie|  November 14, 201912:01 am| 86 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Impeachment Hearings, Impeachment Inquiry, Open Threads, Let A Thousand Watergates Bloom

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I think I’m a pretty good lawyer and can defend a lot, but I have no idea how I could defend Trump given the testimony today.

— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) November 13, 2019

Amb. Taylor gets to the heart of things. #ImpeachmentHearings pic.twitter.com/s3c1IZ35ZF

— Republicans for the Rule of Law (@ForTheRuleOfLaw) November 13, 2019

“If they impeach President Trump for blackmail or extortion or making threats or demands, they have to call President Trump a liar to do it.” – John Ratcliffe, setting the bar a little low.

— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) November 13, 2019

“A scheme to condition official acts or taxpayer funding to obtain a personal political benefit does not become less odious because it is discovered before it is fully consummated.” – Rep. Schiff in his opening statement

— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) November 13, 2019

“They had settled into a strategy many defense attorneys adopt when the prosecution has the goods on their client—confuse the issues and distract the audience from the evidence at hand.” https://t.co/m1bGSLhz5Q

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) November 14, 2019

Renato Mariotti, former federal prosecutor, whose opinion on such matters is not to be taken lightly:

… I’ve tried many federal criminal cases, and Wednesday’s hearing looked a lot like trials in which the prosecution has the defendant on tape admitting to a crime. When defense attorneys can’t mount a defense on the merits, they raise a lot of peripheral issues in the hope of convincing at least one juror that there is reasonable doubt.

So every time you heard the Republican’s designated counsel ask about Hunter Biden’s language skills or one of the Republican members of the Intelligence Committee ask whether the Obama administration sold Javelin missiles to Ukraine, what you were actually hearing was a defense attorney doing his level best to avoid talking about what his client said on tape. It was chaotic and often unfocused, though not always. In fact, there were moments when members actually executed their playbook with some skill.

But they simply can’t overcome the abundant evidence Democrats possess to prove their central point—that President Donald Trump conditioned military aid to Ukraine on a public announcement that his political rival, Joe Biden, was under investigation.

When prosecutors have overwhelming evidence, as the Democrats have here, it can be tempting to pile on as much evidence as possible. But when too many points are made, the jury has difficulty picking out what is important. It’s better to select a few key points and hammer them over and over.

That’s what Democrats did effectively at the first hearing. They made the most of a rule that permitted an attorney for each side to conduct 45 minutes of uninterrupted questioning. Experienced trial lawyers are better at asking questions than politicians, and it takes time to develop a strong line of questioning, and Democrats chose well turning to an experienced former federal prosecutor who has handled many high-profile cases involving organized crime…

Many commentators have bashed the performance of Republican attorney Steve Castor, openly predicting that he will be mocked on the upcoming edition of “Saturday Night Live.” Certainly his lack of experience trying cases showed. His opening line of questions, which attempted unsuccessfully to get Taylor and Kent to agree to a confusing conspiracy theory about Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election, was particularly choppy. But Castor had very little to work with, and unlike an attorney at a trial, Castor wasn’t allowed to just ask a few questions and sit down. It appeared that he was told he had to fill 45 minutes, which is not easy to do when your side has no legitimate defense on the merits. He tried his best to testify through his questioning and confuse the issues—he spent a lot of time trying to get Taylor to acknowledge that Rudy Giuliani’s “irregular” diplomatic channel wasn’t as irregular as it could have been—but he could have sharpened his questions considerably.

Castor did a much better job, however, than prominent Trump allies Reps. Jim Jordan and John Ratcliffe. Both men appeared to be trying too hard to create a “gotcha” moment, with Jordan in particular speaking at light speed, as if he were trying to squeeze in 15 minutes of content into five minutes of questioning. He would be better off trying to make four minutes worth of arguments in five minutes, by speaking slowly and developing one or two key points…

What hamstrings Republicans most is the psychology of Trump himself. He has refused to admit the quid pro quo and instead argue that it is not an impeachable offense, as many prominent Republicans have advocated. Admitting wrongdoing would take a lot of the air out of the impeachment hearings, but Trump appears incapable of doing so.

So Democrats will remain in the enviable position of proving a point on which they have ample evidence, even though Trump has kept them from getting key documents and witnesses. It’s not hard to tell a compelling story when you hold all the cards, but it won’t be a winning hand unless they can move public opinion.

This – FINALLY – is the point. Very, very clear that the White House finally released the aid only when the whistleblower report was coming to light and the Intel committee was already starting its investigation! They relented because they finally got caught. pic.twitter.com/GiFbOMBKSE

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) November 13, 2019

The best that can be said of Castor is that he was pretty sober in his questioning and looks super-sane compared to Devin Nunes. The problem is thatTrump is likely furious Castor was pretty sober in his questioning and looks super-sane compared to Devin Nunes. https://t.co/3nKjaUyFF8

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) November 13, 2019

As you watch Bill Taylor testify, remember that he was retired until Secretary Pompeo personally recruited him to become the top diplomat in Ukraine. Skeptical about what happened to Marie Yovanovitch, he was reluctant to take the job, & testified his wife advised him not to.

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) November 13, 2019

Rep. Jordan says Congress won’t be able to question the one “who started it all,” referring to the whistleblower.

Rep. Welch: “I’d be glad to have the person who started it all to come in and testify. President Trump is welcome to take a seat right there.” pic.twitter.com/nE8Exwn3CG

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) November 13, 2019

That strikes me as the big takeaway from today — Democrats were trying to make a clear case to people on the fence; Republicans were playing to the MAGA crowd. https://t.co/ofJc9lBn3c

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) November 13, 2019

You know who I bet is really enjoying watching this?…

.@HillaryClinton to @maddow: “Ironically, I was on the staff of the 1974 impeachment inquiry and you should follow every thread to see where it leads.”

— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) October 3, 2019

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    86Comments

    1. 1.

      JaySinWA

      November 14, 2019 at 12:06 am

      Oh boy, an Anne Laurie Twitter anchor test.

      Reply
    2. 2.

      HumboldtBlue

      November 14, 2019 at 12:07 am

      The images in the links displayed did not appear until I went to comment.

      Win10/Firefox

      Reply
    3. 3.

      Mary G

      November 14, 2019 at 12:10 am

      I’m pitching a fit at the media on Twitter:

      WaPo: “Wooly” diplomats vs. deep state darkness

      NBC: Not enough pizzazz to interest public

      NYT: Same venom and drama. But that’s about all.

      Reuters: Consequential but dull

      Me: Ho hum, nothing to see here. You’d call the Magna Carta a long boring grocery list. Plus a gif of Kurt Cobain singing “Here we are now. Entertain us.”

      Reply
    4. 4.

      Geoduck

      November 14, 2019 at 12:14 am

      With my copy of Win 10 Firefox, the first thing I see out on the main page is “Renato Mariotti, former federal prosecutor..” When I click into the full article, I see all the stuff before that. Dunno if this is intentional. I do have my browser larded up with various script-blockers.

      Reply
    5. 5.

      Mary G

      November 14, 2019 at 12:16 am

       

      @Mary G: Took a lot longer to cut and paste that when I used to be able to just click on “embed tweet.”

       

      Reply
    6. 6.

      Mary G

      November 14, 2019 at 12:17 am

      @Mary G: Plus, I’m having to refresh to see my comment sometimes but not always.

       

      Reply
    7. 7.

      Debbie(Aussie)

      November 14, 2019 at 12:23 am

      This is a reply to Mary not sure how it works yet 🙂

      when did journalism (truth telling) became a form of entertainment? (I know, don’t pick on me 😀) So very frustrating.

      we here in the (burning) land of Aus, are having a riveting argument, whose form you would be very in tune with: you can’t discuss climate change while people are suffering the results of facts (?) caused by climate change. Head meet desk/brick wall🤬😭

      eta did press reply button but didn’t work, next time maybe 🙂

      Reply
    8. 8.

      David 🎃🧙Booooooo🧙🎃 Koch

      November 14, 2019 at 12:23 am

      ⚓
       

      Reply
    9. 9.

      laura

      November 14, 2019 at 12:23 am

      So the village has weighed in and found that on the whole nothing to see, move along?

      That’s some crap right there. That’s some crap

      Reply
    10. 10.

      NotoriousJRT

      November 14, 2019 at 12:24 am

      Same here.

      @Mary G: Same here.

       

      Reply
    11. 11.

      stinger

      November 14, 2019 at 12:24 am

      Commenting just to get my nym in the system. Nice site re-do, BTW. Chipped in a little, as I’m sure this all cost big bucks, as well as a lot of volunteer effort.

      Reply
    12. 12.

      🐾BillinGlendaleCA

      November 14, 2019 at 12:24 am

      @Mary G: It’ll take a few days to work some of the kinks out.

       

      Reply
    13. 13.

      AJ

      November 14, 2019 at 12:24 am

      Looking great on Chrome mobile on Android

      Reply
    14. 14.

      stinger

      November 14, 2019 at 12:25 am

      Same here.

      ETA: This was a reply to Mary G at #6, but the fact it was a reply didn’t display.

      Reply
    15. 15.

      Debbie(Aussie)

      November 14, 2019 at 12:26 am

      no longer required edit surfaced

      Reply
    16. 16.

      Mary G

      November 14, 2019 at 12:28 am

      I’ve been up since 4:45 am CA time, and eaten no real food for breakfast, so I’m off to eat something, blast some loud angry rock music, try to sleep.

       

       

      Reply
    17. 17.

      mrmoshpotato

      November 14, 2019 at 12:29 am

      @Mary G: Declaration of Independence?  More like Declaration of Whining, right?!  *high fives all around*

       

      Reply
    18. 18.

      PJ

      November 14, 2019 at 12:29 am

      @Mary G: Your tweet just shows up as a block quote – there’s no link.

       

      Reply
    19. 19.

      🐾BillinGlendaleCA

      November 14, 2019 at 12:29 am

      @Mary G:

      blast some loud angry rock music

      “It’s a Small World”

       

      Reply
    20. 20.

      Mary G

      November 14, 2019 at 12:30 am

      @Debbie(Aussie): I’ve seen some terrible fires there online. As far as our media, it’s crickets. Stay safe.

       

      Reply
    21. 21.

      Debbie(Aussie)

      November 14, 2019 at 12:30 am

      😴 tight!

      Reply
    22. 22.

      Debbie(Aussie)

      November 14, 2019 at 12:31 am

      @Debbie(Aussie): weird, I can reply to myself, but not to Mary G??

       

      Reply
    23. 23.

      scav

      November 14, 2019 at 12:32 am

      @David 🎃🧙Booooooo🧙🎃 Koch: News Anchors are increasingly nothing but dead weight.  Somehow spouting nothing but fluff, but . . .

       

      Reply
    24. 24.

      Repatriated

      November 14, 2019 at 12:33 am

      @🐾BillinGlendaleCA:
      She said “angry,” not “rage-inducing”…

      Reply
    25. 25.

      🐾BillinGlendaleCA

      November 14, 2019 at 12:34 am

      @Debbie(Aussie):  The reply box only seems to work after you hit the button twice.  To reply to you, I hit the button, but the link to your comment wasn’t in the text box, hit it again and it is.  One of the kinks they’ll have to work out.

      Reply
    26. 26.

      scav

      November 14, 2019 at 12:35 am

      Can the site actually be refreshing so rapidly that we beat the processing time to get a comment up?

      Reply
    27. 27.

      Aleta

      November 14, 2019 at 12:36 am

      Elizabeth Smith @elizagardens
      If you like subpoena coladas, getting caught in Ukraine….

      Nullus Nomen: Today we are all Devins Cow @NomenNullus
      Still waiting for a mixologist to create the Rudi Colluda.

      Reply
    28. 28.

      Steeplejack

      November 14, 2019 at 12:38 am

      Does commenting make tweet images appear?

      ETA: Sadly, no. (Win10, Firefox, no ad blocker.)

      Reply
    29. 29.

      🐾BillinGlendaleCA

      November 14, 2019 at 12:40 am

      @Repatriated:  Check out her reply to one of Cole’s tweets this afternoon.

       

      Reply
    30. 30.

      Cowboy Diva

      November 14, 2019 at 12:40 am

      I did like this clip of Ratcliffe’s statement about Trump being a liar.

      Reply
    31. 31.

      Steeplejack

      November 14, 2019 at 12:43 am

      @Debbie(Aussie):

      If you press the Reply button and don’t get an @Person gizmo, close the comment box and press Reply again. That should get you the @Person thing.

       

      Reply
    32. 32.

      🐾BillinGlendaleCA

      November 14, 2019 at 12:50 am

      @Steeplejack: Still got a few rough spots, but I’m sure they’ll clean them up in the next week or so.

       

      Reply
    33. 33.

      Repatriated

      November 14, 2019 at 12:50 am

      @🐾BillinGlendaleCA:

      Oh, that makes sense now.

      “Eighty dolls singing ‘small girl after all'”

      Let’s see if this works…

      Hey, it did!

      Reply
    34. 34.

      MisterForkbeard

      November 14, 2019 at 12:50 am

      I think this is broadly how things are going to go.

      The media wants something exciting. Ordinarily, the fact that the president is massively corrupt and using foreign policy to extort allies into rigging our elections would be really exciting on its own.

      But it isn’t, because we already know this about Trump and his supporters actually like that about him – he broke the law to pwn the libs, and they like that. And then they get to pwn the libs by continuing to keep their head up Trump’s ass.

      The Dems are in a bind – treating it respectfully and with the gravity it deserves is boring to the media, but flipping out will have the media saying the Democrats aren’t taking it seriously and can’t rely on the evidence.

      Keeping the media interested is going to be a fully time job. :)

      Reply
    35. 35.

      Mary G

      November 14, 2019 at 12:51 am

      From Brian Stelter’s newsletter:

      “Bring. It. On.”
      Maer Roshan has impeccable timing… He came out with this new cover of Los Angeles mag on Wednesday… calling Adam Schiff, “the mild-mannered, Vegan congressman from Burbank,” the GOP’s “worst nightmare:”

       

      “It’s hard stay on top of the news as a monthly,” Roshan told me, “so we pushed our deadlines to terrifying extremes and kept constantly updating the story. Adam Schiff may be a national figure now, but he’s our local congressman, so we were determined to do this right.”

      Reply
    36. 36.

      My Side of Town

      November 14, 2019 at 12:54 am

      Trump is so screwed. There is no doubt that he asked Ukraine to interfere on his personal behalf in the 2020 election. He thinks that he made a perfect ask, apparently because he thinks that is not against the law or the constitution. How deluded can you get in a dementia clouded mind? Butt… just to make sure he has some muscle behind the ask, he doesn’t tell Ukraine that he has this ace up he sleeve where he is withholding military aid, and when they find out, he will remind them of that little favor. Mob type bribery, or extortion, if you will. And both diplomats who testified today, saw it loud and clear. As did I, but apparently no republican is blessed with sight or hearing to see the writing on the wall. Dumbasses.

      Reply
    37. 37.

      Mary G

      November 14, 2019 at 12:56 am

      @Mary G: Haven’t figured out how to get out of the blockquote. so the LA Mag story is:
      Adam Schiff Is Ready to Rumble
       

      He is world-famous now. The chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence can now see himself caricatured on Saturday Night Live. In Trump’s Twitterverse, he’s the limp, Ivy League-educated elitist scheming to bring down the President of the Real America. To his supporters, he is Elliot Ness chasing Al Capone, Joseph Welch facing down Joseph McCarthy. Which of these images wins out may ultimately determine nothing less than the fate of the free world.

      Or, as Schiff put it while sitting in his office, his expression indicating a half-hearted attempt at gallows humor: “Just another day.”

      He may not want to play the leading man, but Schiff’s confrontation of Trump is the stuff of a Frank Capra film. The by-the-book former prosecutor, who seems every bit the embodiment of the process he champions, is poised to take down a president whose primary mission has been to blow up the system for his own gain, regardless of how many laws (or reputations) were trampled in the process.

       

      Reply
    38. 38.

      JWR

      November 14, 2019 at 12:56 am

      @MisterForkbeard: Keeping the media interested is going to be a fully time job. :)

      No Kidding. I watched the entire hearing, and boy, was that a doozy of a hearing!

       

      PS. Hello evvverybody! (Is this thing on?)

       

      Reply
    39. 39.

      TS (the original)

      November 14, 2019 at 12:59 am

      @Mary G:  Those wooly diplomats were  “defending the old ways”

       

      I assume that means the way of cheating and lying is the new Way”

       

      Reply
    40. 40.

      MisterForkbeard

      November 14, 2019 at 1:00 am

      @JWR: Maybe we should have some Dem representative use their time to embarrass Gym Jordan… or to use their planned comments, but to SHOUT THE WHOLE THING and then mildly say “Our republican colleagues seem to believe yelling is how you prove points, so I thought I’d give it a try.” and then move on.

       

      Reply
    41. 41.

      TS (the original)

      November 14, 2019 at 1:03 am

      @Debbie(Aussie):

       

      Someone mentioned on the last thread – if you press reply & get an empty box, close it and press reply again – works the second time.

      Hope you are safe from the fires. We had family members self evacuate (not compulsory) but all is now ok. Scary times.

       

       

      Reply
    42. 42.

      Death Panel Truck

      November 14, 2019 at 1:04 am

      If you live in southeastern Washington state and are looking forward to a white winter, forget it. I can almost guarantee it’s not going to snow this year, or even next year. How do I know this?

      Easy. I just bought a brand new snowblower.

      Reply
    43. 43.

      JWR

      November 14, 2019 at 1:05 am

      @Mary G: Adam Schiff may be a national figure now, but he’s our local congressman

      He became my congressman when he defeated that creepy, sleazy “impeachment manager”, James Rogan. Then I got redistricted to Judy Chu’s district. Fair trade, all in all. ;)

       

      Everything’s working bloggy well for me. Nym and email addy right there where I left it just before the blog went down.Woo hoo, Watergirl!

       

      Reply
    44. 44.

      Mnemosyne

      November 14, 2019 at 1:06 am

      Admitting wrongdoing would take a lot of the air out of the impeachment hearings, but Trump appears incapable of doing so.

      Yep. Because he’s a toxic narcissist. He can never, EVER admit to even the smallest fault or he risks the implosion of his entire self. He is always right, always good, always perfect, or he is a howling void. No in-between state exists.

      Reply
    45. 45.

      tomtofa

      November 14, 2019 at 1:06 am

      Looks pretty good, glad my investment finally paid off ;-)

      Be nice to see FP contributors in the right column along with the “Featured” block.

      As to the hearings, I’m waiting to see how deep they go – will the whole multi-year campaign against Ukraine be developed, or will the Dems stick with the narrow phone call, alternate diplomacy track? Hoping for the former, of course.

      Reply
    46. 46.

      JWR

      November 14, 2019 at 1:07 am

      @MisterForkbeard: Hey! Where’s my Upvote button!

      Reply
    47. 47.

      TS (the original)

      November 14, 2019 at 1:07 am

      Wondering what it will take for Noah Rothman to call the president* a liar.  I have trouble finding anywhere that trump tells the truth.

       

      Reply
    48. 48.

      Mary G

      November 14, 2019 at 1:12 am

      I lived in So. Pasadena then and so voted for him in that one too. It was a brawl all the way.

       

      The LA Mag article I linked above is a great long read.  One more quote:

       

      As Schiff drove me to the studio, he looked almost cool in his reflective shades. (It’s a fleeting moment. He drives an Audi whose license plate frame bears a line from The Big Lebowski: “I don’t roll on Shabbos.”)

      Reply
    49. 49.

      JWR

      November 14, 2019 at 1:19 am

      I take it the edit button doesn’t show up for some people, myslef included. But this is my first interaction with the new site, and I is very patient. ;)

      But srsly, I hope everyone who was able to watch the hearings, watched the hearings, ‘cuz that was some great TV! Well, except for the Republican counsel, who I thought looked and acted a lot like Cory Lewandowski.

      ETA, there’s the edit button!

      Reply
    50. 50.

      JaySinWA

      November 14, 2019 at 1:24 am

      @Death Panel Truck: Thank you for your service.

       

      Reply
    51. 51.

      Calouste

      November 14, 2019 at 1:25 am

      Hopefully Donald Jr. won’t be too upset that his dad thinks that he is a limp elitist, although evidence suggests that he attended an Ivy League school, but wasn’t actually educated there.

      Reply
    52. 52.

      Debbie(Aussie)

      November 14, 2019 at 1:25 am

      @🐾BillinGlendaleCA:

      thanks Bill 🙂

       

      Reply
    53. 53.

      Xenos

      November 14, 2019 at 1:25 am

      Just catching up a bit in the early morning. I am suprised the Dems do not have counsel using 80% or more of the time. Still, a big improvement.

      Sorry for the banal comment, getting logged in here…

      Reply
    54. 54.

      guachi

      November 14, 2019 at 1:25 am

      Not a fan at all of the enormous font and acres of white space.

      It’s like a font size for people sitting 10 feet from their monitor. Reading comments on my phone is just endless scrolling.

      The website loads fast but the layout is a mess.

      Reply
    55. 55.

      Amir Khalid

      November 14, 2019 at 1:27 am

      @Death Panel Truck:

      I know how that feels. I bought a backscratcher last month, and right on cue my back stopped itching.

       

      Reply
    56. 56.

      JWR

      November 14, 2019 at 1:30 am

      Mary G: Thanks! Reading the LA Mag piece now.

      “Mr. Gaetz, please absent yourself!”

      God, I loved that little episode.

      Reply
    57. 57.

      JaySinWA

      November 14, 2019 at 1:30 am

      @Amir Khalid:

      A good investment, yes?

      Reply
    58. 58.

      Robmassing

      November 14, 2019 at 1:31 am

      Hillary: Ironically, I was on the staff of the 1974 impeachment inquiry
      Alanis Morissette: Hold my beer.

      Reply
    59. 59.

      Debbie(Aussie)

      November 14, 2019 at 1:31 am

      @TS (the original):

      Thanks. All good where we are (Ipswich). If anyone is interested The Guardian has some good articles about former fire chiefs and their inability to get this bastard government to listen to anything that mentions CLIMATE CHANGE! ☹️

       

      Reply
    60. 60.

      Anne Laurie

      November 14, 2019 at 1:35 am

      Not a fan at all of the enormous font and acres of white space.

      It’s like a font size for people sitting 10 feet from their monitor. Reading comments on my phone is just endless scrolling.

      @guachi: I suspect the ‘acres of white space’ will disappear when the ads go up next week.

      As for the ‘enormous fonts’... remember, the commentariat skews old, and we like big readable type.

      My laptop has an option, in the top toolbar, to reduce or increase the image/font size (little plus minus icons).  Maybe there’s a comparable shortcut on platform your phone is using?

       

      Reply
    61. 61.

      JWR

      November 14, 2019 at 1:35 am

      @guachi: When I first got here, the font on my Win 10 desktop was huge, but I was able to shrink it down to size with Ctrl – minus key. Dunno about phones.

       

      Reply
    62. 62.

      Amir Khalid

      November 14, 2019 at 1:36 am

      @🐾BillinGlendaleCA:

      I don’t know about you, but I kind of miss the sometimes trippy glitches of Balloon Juice site rebuilds past. All we’re getting this time around are trivial errors.

       

      Reply
    63. 63.

      Comrade Nimrod Humperdink

      November 14, 2019 at 1:40 am

      “For what purpose does the gentleman from Ohio seek recognition?”

      Reply
    64. 64.

      mrmoshpotato

      November 14, 2019 at 1:40 am

      @Robmassing: 🎶 It’s like being on the impeachment staff

      In 1974🎶

       

      Reply
    65. 65.

      Mnemosyne

      November 14, 2019 at 1:41 am

      Your eyes must be much younger than mine, or at least a lot crappier. I LOVE the giant font that means I don’t have to squint to read the page.

      ETA: Huh. That was supposed to be a reply to @guachi. I think replies are still a wee bit glitchy.

      Reply
    66. 66.

      mrmoshpotato

      November 14, 2019 at 1:42 am

      @JWR: Congress-speak for GTFO.

       

      Reply
    67. 67.

      David 🎃🧙Booooooo🧙🎃 Koch

      November 14, 2019 at 1:43 am

      So Adam Schiff is 59 years old.

      I’m shocked. He looks so much younger than that.

      Reply
    68. 68.

      Mnemosyne

      November 14, 2019 at 1:45 am

      @David 🎃🧙Booooooo🧙🎃 Koch:

       

      You’re comparing him to Republican politicians, whose bigotry and hatred age them prematurely.

       

      Reply
    69. 69.

      TS (the original)

      November 14, 2019 at 1:50 am

      @Debbie(Aussie):

       

      Mr TS would approve your description of our current government although he puts much of the blame on the PM who talks through the holes in his ears most of the time.

       

       

       

      Reply
    70. 70.

      guachi

      November 14, 2019 at 1:52 am

      @Anne Laurie: the large amounts of space are between the lines of comments and between the comments themselves. Are ads going to reduce that space?

       

      There’s so little text on my phone screen at any one time in the comments section that I can read it and continuously scroll, which makes it unpleasant to read. I used to read almost all the comments but I just can’t now.

       

      Too bad as this was my favorite site to read and I enjoyed the comments. But I can’t give it even middling marks. It’s just outright bad.

       

      Reply
    71. 71.

      Larime

      November 14, 2019 at 1:56 am

      @Debbie(Aussie): We have the same thing in the US with guns and mass shootings. We can’t talk about guns while people are mourning, we’re told, but with shootings every week, we’re ALWAYS mourning somewhere.

       

      Reply
    72. 72.

      JWR

      November 14, 2019 at 1:59 am

      @mrmoshpotato: Hell yeah! ;)

       

      And yes, sometimes the Reply to button doesn’t always keep the link to the reply “to”, but closing the comment window, then reopening it, I see the reply to person’s nym then shows up twice. Oh well, no problemo.

       

      Leastwise not yet! (And then I’d like to complain!)

       

      Reply
    73. 73.

      Anne Laurie

      November 14, 2019 at 2:00 am

      @Amir Khalid: Do NOT tempt the Trickster God, I implore you!

      I don’t know about you, but I kind of miss the sometimes trippy glitches of Balloon Juice site rebuilds past. All we’re getting this time around are trivial errors.

       

      (He didn’t mean it, Murphy, good sir!… )

       

      Reply
    74. 74.

      ruemara

      November 14, 2019 at 2:03 am

      @Amir Khalid: Stop that.

       

      Reply
    75. 75.

      Sister Golden Bear

      November 14, 2019 at 2:08 am

      A belated congratulations and thank you to Watergirl and Cole (and Alain for keeping the old site going for so long).

      Reply
    76. 76.

      prostratedragon

      November 14, 2019 at 2:08 am

      @guachi:

      I find the type size much more comfortable, both on my phone and at my desktop, where I do indeed sit arm’s length away from a rather large monitor. Also, with an unserifed font the extra size and space make it more readable to me.

      I did notice that in an earlier post with a video up top, the display box looked suitable for Lawrence of Arabia or something, but that’s not a major especially with the greater loading speed.

      Reply
    77. 77.

      a lurker

      November 14, 2019 at 2:11 am

      Just delurking to say that the desktop version looks nice, however I’m definitely on team “way too much whitespace on mobile.”

      Reply
    78. 78.

      something fabulous

      November 14, 2019 at 4:44 am

      Just also poking about in I hope an unbothersome older thread…

      Reply
    79. 79.

      SFAW

      November 14, 2019 at 8:20 am

      @TS (the original):

      I have trouble finding anywhere that trump tells the truth.

      That’s ridiculous. I clearly remember him once saying that he was wrong.

       

      No, not really.

       

      Site/comment item: Have to plan out and sequence how a blockquoted reply will be written.  Can’t move the cursor out of a blockquote, so need to (A) hit “Reply” (B) Insert a couple of carriage returns (C) Insert the phrase to be blockquoted between the “replied-to” link and the last CR. If I don’t do it that way, my own comment appears inside the blockquote, and can’t move the cursor outside of it.

      Win XP, Chrome

       

       

      Reply
    80. 80.

      SFAW

      November 14, 2019 at 8:23 am

      @Anne Laurie:

      As for the ‘enormous fonts’... remember, the commentariat skews old, and we like big readable type.

      DOES THIS MEAN I CAN STOP SHOUTING???

       

       

      Reply
    81. 81.

      Another Scott

      November 14, 2019 at 8:29 am

      [ This is a reply to SFAW at #79.  Sigh. ]

      Yeah, there are a lot of little glitchy annoyances like that that I hope can be addressed.

      1. the “did my comment/edit take, or do I need to wait and refresh?” issues.
      2. the “when does manual HTML take and when does it not?” (related to #1) issues.
      3. the “anchors to parents in replies sometimes not appearing” issues.
      4. the “anchors not pointing to the right place” issues.
      5. the “not returning to the previous point in the comment thread after posting a comment” issues.
      6. the “too much white space between replies” issue.
      7. the “why does a refresh of the top of the page cause the B-J graphic to be reloaded and shift the page down an inch – can’t that be cached somehow?” issue.
      8. the “Visual and Text editing tabs seem to have weirdness about button bars appearing or not for no obvious reason”

      In general, the site seems to work well.  It has a lot of promise, but needs some polishing.

      Thanks to everyone for their efforts!!

      Cheers,

      Scott.

      Reply
    82. 82.

      CatFacts

      November 14, 2019 at 9:04 am

      Test comment. You’ve redecorated. I… I think I like it!

      Reply
    83. 83.

      glory b

      November 14, 2019 at 9:51 am

      Elie Mystal’s response to the NBC comment on Twitter:

       

      Analysis: Nuremberg Trials lay out disturbing details, but lack pizzazz necessary to capture public attention. Unlike the Blitz, which, like, totally persuaded people to get out of bed and pay attention to the nightly news.
      — @jonallendc, Nov 20th, 1945, probably.

      Reply
    84. 84.

      Wolvesvalley

      November 14, 2019 at 5:19 pm

      Testing a comment using visual tab.

      Editing.

      Reply
    85. 85.

      Wolvesvalley

      November 14, 2019 at 5:21 pm

      Testing in text tab. Edit box has buttons.

      Reply
    86. 86.

      Wolvesvalley

      November 14, 2019 at 5:24 pm

      @ruemara: Replying to ruemara; @nym showed up on first click. When I posted the comment, I landed at the comment I was replying to (74). But after I edited, I landed at comment 79.

      Reply

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    Johngcole avatarJohn Cole@Johngcole·
    1h 1203983293710028802

    New Post added at Balloon Juice - Monday Morning Open Thread: Seasons' Greetings -

    Balloon Juice | Monday Morning Open Thread: Seasons' Greetings

    I chatted today with the pastor of a Claremont church which erected a nativity scene depicting Jesus, Mary and Joseph as refugees separated in cages h...

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    Johngcole avatarJohn Cole@Johngcole·
    2h 1203977603230699522

    New Post added at Balloon Juice - On The Road - Wag - The Wilson Group, Part 1 -https://www.balloon-juice.com/2019/12/09/on-the-road-wag-the-wilson-group-part-1/

    Twitter feed video.
    Image for the Tweet beginning: New Post added at
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    Johngcole avatarJohn Cole@Johngcole·
    8h 1203889031832113152

    the drainage in this hotel sink sucks guess I will have to find another way to dispose of the body

    Reply on Twitter 1203889031832113152Retweet on Twitter 12038890318321131521Like on Twitter 120388903183211315211Twitter 1203889031832113152
    Johngcole avatarJohn Cole@Johngcole·
    8h 1203881556957417472

    why can't we do this over here our presidential elections look like the soviet politburo in the 80's

    Finland's Social Democrats name Marin to be youngest ever prime...

    Finland's Social Democrats name Marin to be youngest ever prime...

    Finland's transportation minister Sanna Marin was selected by her Social Democratic party on Sunday to become the country's youngest prime minister ev...

    reut.rs

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    Johngcole avatarJohn Cole@Johngcole·
    8h 1203880861260759041

    yes

    Linda Ronstadt Confronts Mike Pompeo, Says He Should "Stop Enabling Donald Trump" at Kennedy Honors Dinner

    Linda Ronstadt Confronts Mike Pompeo, Says He Should “Stop Enabling Donald Trump” at Kennedy Honors Dinner

    In the hours before the Kennedy Center Honors Sunday night, Linda Ronstadt had some strong words for Mike Pompeo.

    www.spin.com

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    GaryLegum avatarGary Legum@GaryLegum·
    12h 1203825054036959232

    @DevinNunes @foxandfriends @CNN Sir, blink twice if the reporter was mean to you, three times if you need a diaper change.

    Reply on Twitter 1203825054036959232Retweet on Twitter 120382505403695923211Like on Twitter 1203825054036959232316Twitter 1203825054036959232
    Johngcole avatarJohn Cole@Johngcole·
    8h 1203878388215287811

    my man @DevinNunes shaking like a leaf he is so guilty and knows he is going to answer for his behavior

    MOOO

    Devin Nunes on Twitter

    “This guy stalked me in hotel lobby after my appearance on ⁦@foxandfriends⁩ Saturday AM maybe he was in Vienna with @cnn #goodnightVienna&...

    twitter.com

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    Johngcole avatarJohn Cole@Johngcole·
    8h 1203877399013842945

    my first act as president would be to make election day a four day paid federal holiday with voting starting saturday morning at 12:01 am and continuing up until 5 o’clock on Tuesday and the results would be announced 10 pm est 7 pm pst

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    Johngcole avatarJohn Cole@Johngcole·
    8h 1203875264545079296

    one of the best aspects of staying in a hotel is after showering just throwing the towel on the bathroom floor guilt free and thinking someone else can deal with it

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    Johngcole avatarJohn Cole@Johngcole·
    9h 1203873184287735808

    New Post added at Balloon Juice - Greetings From the Middle of Nowhere, Virginia -

    Balloon Juice | Greetings From the Middle of Nowhere, Virginia

    So this morning I popped up, drove from Charlotte to Charleston, SC, and got my car and my parents care unloaded and the folks settled in. They went o...

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