I guess spending more time with his young son would be too obvious.
— Schooley (@Rschooley) April 24, 2020
Is Barron even living at the White House, these days? Any caring parent would’ve sent him off to be safe(r) with his relatives, and I’ve been assuming Melania did that (since her parents live in Maryland, IIRC) as soon as the advisors starting hinting, back in February…
“Trump rarely attends task force meetings that precede the briefings, & he typically doesn’t prepare before he steps in front of cameras … [even Fauci] complained the amount of time he must spend onstage each day has a ‘draining’ effect”
This is brutal: https://t.co/yRf4P9uzzj
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 24, 2020
Lotsa pull-quotes to mock Norman Desmond in this one:
… Confined to the White House, the president is isolated from the supporters, visitors, travel and golf that once entertained him, according to more than a dozen administration officials and close advisers who spoke about Mr. Trump’s strange new life. He is tested weekly, as is Vice President Mike Pence, for Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
The economy — Mr. Trump’s main case for re-election — has imploded. News coverage of his handling of the coronavirus has been overwhelmingly negative as Democrats have condemned him for a lack of empathy, honesty and competence in the face of a pandemic. Even Republicans have criticized Mr. Trump’s briefings as long-winded and his rough handling of critics as unproductive.
His own internal polling shows him sliding in some swing states, a major reason he declared a temporary halt to the issuance of green cards to those outside the United States. The executive order — watered down with loopholes after an uproar from business groups — was aimed at pleasing his political base, people close to him said, and was the kind of move Mr. Trump makes when things feel out of control. Friends who have spoken to him said he seemed unsettled and worried about losing the election.
But the president’s primary focus, advisers said, is assessing how his performance on the virus is measured in the news media, and the extent to which history will blame him.…
The daily White House coronavirus task force briefing is the one portion of the day that Mr. Trump looks forward to, although even Republicans say that the two hours of political attacks, grievances and falsehoods by the president are hurting him politically.
Mr. Trump will hear none of it. Aides say he views them as prime-time shows that are the best substitute for the rallies he can no longer attend but craves.
Mr. Trump rarely attends the task force meetings that precede the briefings, and he typically does not prepare before he steps in front of the cameras. He is often seeing the final version of the day’s main talking points that aides have prepared for him for the first time although aides said he makes tweaks with a Sharpie just before he reads them live. He hastily plows through them, usually in a monotone, in order to get to the question-and-answer bullying session with reporters that he relishes.
The briefing’s critics, including Mr. Cuomo, have pointed out the obvious: With two hours of the president’s day dedicated to hosting what is still referred to as a prime-time news briefing, who is going to actually fix the pandemic?…
While many officials have been encouraged to work remotely and the Old Executive Office Building is empty, the West Wing’s tight quarters are still packed. Mr. Pence and his top aides, usually stationed across the street, are working exclusively from the White House, along with most of the senior aides, who dine from the takeout mess while the in-house dining room remains closed. Few aides wear masks except for Matthew Pottinger, the deputy national security adviser, and some of his staff…
Can we call it a bunker, yet?
What a beautiful scene. It's like if in the midst of Watergate Richard Nixon asked Ron Popeil to come over and tell him what a great job he was doing. pic.twitter.com/atdKRqk24F
— Bass Pro Shoppe (@BobbyBigWheel) April 24, 2020
‘His own internal polling shows him sliding in some swing states, a major reason he declared a temporary halt to the issuance of green cards, people close to him said.’
(Couldn’t be clearer this is about stirring anti immigrant anger among Trump’s base and not about economics.)
— Trip Gabriel (@tripgabriel) April 24, 2020
ohhhhhh no no no no no bud you wanted the big house you quarantine in the big house https://t.co/sMfgiswXLP
— kilgore trout, compulsory consumer (@KT_So_It_Goes) April 23, 2020
Over 600 people die, on average, during his morning TV sessions https://t.co/ui8JgqKGGB
— Zeddy (@Zeddary) April 24, 2020
Jeffro
52,000+ dead Americans don’t have a chance to watch TV all morning, then berate reporters all afternoon and tweet lies all evening. So this um ‘suffering’ he’s going through is not even close to what he deserves.
We’re in an accelerating cycle of his throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what if anything sticks, though, and almost everyone seems to be seeing through it. Good. Over a half year left to go before the election, GOP…whatcha gonna do?
HumboldtBlue
The creative people are still being creative.
CaseyL
@Jeffro:
Loot what’s left and burn down what they can going out the door.
Brachiator
This tidbit may be tantamount to Fauci submitting his resignation.
It sickens me that Trump’s supporters are to stupid to bail on him, and that the GOP leadership continues to have his back.
I don’t give a shit that Trump feels isolated and alone or that he misses his Klan rallies. He has failed in a time of crisis. He doesn’t know how to assemble an effective task force and set them loose on the most important mission of their careers. And Pence, the human Ken Doll, is little better than a tired prop.
If it weren’t for the good governors we would be totally screwed.
Parfigliano
I call bullshit on him having “friends” to talk to.
Lapassionara
@Brachiator: Yes, and even the good governors cannot accomplish the testing and contact racing that needs to be done,
”In order to form a more perfect union” did not mean to let the governors take charge in a pandemic.
Joe Falco
@CaseyL: Mitch is already on his way doing that, trying to stuff as many right-wing pukes in judges’ chairs and trying to angle for states being able to declare bankruptcy by outright abandoning them if need be and forcing a completely avoidable crisis to come to fruition.
Brachiator
@Parfigliano:
He does appear to have some plutocrat buddies who, in between suppressing the masses, will take a moment to talk about how much they love him.
HumboldtBlue
@Brachiator:
Now he wants West Point to call back the Cadets and hold a graduation ceremony he can attend.
Even the fucking Daily News called him out for that.
Another Scott
Meh. Politico has a big piece from yesterday saying that he hasn’t changed a bit from 54,256 (latest tally) Americans dying.
And another from today musing about the imminent underbusing of Azar.
Meanwhile, on the reality side of the street:
Cheers,
Scott.
A Ghost to Most
@CaseyL: I’m thinking Yertle knows the jig is up, and is looking for one last score before he and Elaine escape to China.
Gin & Tonic
@HumboldtBlue: The Daily News has been anti-Trump all along.
HumboldtBlue
@Gin & Tonic:
Got it mixed up with the Post.
dmsilev
Thus we get “gargle with Lysol and follow it with a tanning-lamp chaser”.
Searcher
Impossible hypothetical.
Suppose you’re Nancy Pelosi, and McConnell calls you up and says that if Trump were to be impeached a second time for his handling of COVID-19, it would find a more receptive Senate for the trial. They want Donny off the ticket, with Pence in his place as the rescuing hero; anyone will look better than Trump handling the situation.
Do you begin the impeachment proceedings against Trump?
Jeffro
@Lapassionara:
@HumboldtBlue:
Sending the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds around to try and ‘rally support’…letting big-donor ‘dark money’ groups fund and organize these dumb ‘Open ‘Murica’ rallies (always with Confederate flags and automatic weapons handy)…what’s left, trumpov? What exactly is it you think will unite the American people and get them behind you?
I know! How about a coast to coast tarring-and-feathering tour, where you waddle your fat ass from the WH to San Fran, being pelted all the way with rotten tomatoes and a new coat of molasses n’ feathers every mile or so?
Seriously. Talk about bringing the country together!
Six looooong months, GOP. You’re not just going to lose the Senate, your donors are going back to the old tax rates and then some. We. Are. Coming. for your bank accounts to pay for this colossal cock-up.
Brachiator
One of the best jibes about Americans protesting the lockdown, from the BBC satirical show, The News Quiz.
dmsilev
@Searcher: Yes. First off, from a policy perspective it’s the right thing to do. Secondly, GOP Senators knifing Trump will truly epically piss off the Faithful.
Third, it’s a hypothetical that will never happen, so we can speculate to our heart’s content…
Jeffro
@Searcher: If they wait another month, Congress will have evidence of this maladministration confiscating PPE orders from blue state governments in order to reward swing/red-state governments (to say nothing of trumpov/Kushner/etc investing in hydroxywhatever, shorting the stock market, etc) and there will be no need for a call from Mitch…
…we’ll just need the House Dems to follow through and pass Impeachment II.
I’m not optimistic, but then again, we’re still a LONG way out from the election. Why not take a shot, Ds?
Jeffro
@Brachiator: why, it’s almost like the bunkers aren’t really about surviving a crisis, like the guns aren’t really about self-defense, and re-opening the blessed economy isn’t really about personal freedom.
Here’s hoping that many interviews, conducted in the sacred diners of America’s heartland, get to the bottom of this mystery!
dr. bloor
@Searcher: It’s impossible not because it’s beyond McConnell to try, but because while McConnell runs the Senate as his personal fiefdom that works his will, Pelosi runs the House as a deliberative, representative body that she manages, not dictates to.
“Tell you what, MItch, you have Kevin McCarthy and Matt Gaetz hold a presser today saying they think Trump has gone too far and it’s time to reopen hearings.”
End of story.
Aleta
(wrong thread)
mrmoshpotato
@Brachiator:
Oh no no. He caused a crisis, at least stateside. Ignoring reports for 7 FUCKING WEEKS! Fuck ’em!
hueyplong
If he drowns in his own mucous, then I’ll (pretend to) feel sorry for him.
Otherwise, fuck this dime store Mussolini working the Hoover timeline caring about nothing other than his ratings.
mrmoshpotato
@Parfigliano: He wakes up his Daddy Vladdy in the middle of the night to whine.
zhena gogolia
@dr. bloor:
Right. I was trying to formulate this answer but realized that if I just read the thread it would be there.
zhena gogolia
@mrmoshpotato:
Vladimir Vladimirovich has his own hands full.
zhena gogolia
ThresherK
He is about 14 or 15 now, right? Those are formative adolescent years for anyone. Child Protective Services shoulda removed him on Inauguration Day.
randal m sexton
@Searcher: Pelosi should reply, “I agree, but you need to make a public statement stating your position, and I will then encourage my colleagues to pursue this”, “Else mitch, FOAD”.
mrmoshpotato
@Searcher: Impeach the motherfucker again because Fascist Turtle-faced Motherfucker says the second time around is a better chance for Senate removal so Dump doesn’t face the righteous, well-deserved, white-hot anger coming in November?
So the Russthuglican motherfuckers can already start going, “Donald who?”
NO! FUCK ‘EM!
danielx
@Searcher:
Fuck no. He bought the ticket, now let the miserable sonofabitch take the ride.
Mallard Filmore
@Searcher:
Trump will stonewall any demand for records. Will McConnell turn over any records that incriminate himself? Testify about his participation in illegal and immoral activities?
Not likely, so no.
Rand Careaga
@Searcher: I agree with the “impossible hypothetical” part, but much formerly deemed impossible has come to pass, so I’ll take it seriously:
Yes, you impeach without worrying about the November prospects against a President Pence. First, because Pence would be marginally less bad, and marginally less bad is better than marginally more bad, and could result in fewer deaths.
As to the prospects of Pence being a stronger incumbent than Trump? Let’s remember that a displaced President 45 will feel a strong sense of grievance, and would not be shy about sharing this. His public venting would almost surely target the disloyal Republican Senate and the disloyal, usurping President 46.
It would be glorious. In the aftermath, the GOP would look like Dresden following the 1945 firebombing.
Frankensteinbeck
When he feels weak, he hurts a brown person or a woman.
NotMax
Lovely loaf of challah just removed from the super duper bread machine. Y’all ain’t gonna harsh my high.
;)
P.S. – Watching Ken Burns’ The Roosevelts on the All-Arts channel. Just getting to the fifth episode, covering Franklin and Eleanor (as well as various and sundry other Roosevelts) covering the period from FDR taking office in ’33 through to ’39. The differences then from now in what emanated from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue during a dire crisis will be even more stark.
While realizing it is a fairly new streaming channel (about a year since the on switch was thrown), their navigation set-up is very messy, something hoping will be addressed at such time as they can return to full staffing.
mrmoshpotato
Even better for the whiny, orange shitpile to ring him up! :)
Patricia Kayden
West of the Rockies
I wonder if Trump ever surfs over to MSNBC or gets some feedback from his aides as to how he is viewed by non-Fox/Redstate/National Review/Rush media outlets.
I hope he is terrified and aware of what shit he could face come 1/21/21.
NotMax
Pretty sure read somewhere that Barron has been living in Maryland since he and Mommy Sneerest belatedly relocated from NYC and her parents simultaneously resettled in the Old Line State. Reason given out was that their digs are closer to the tony school he attends in MD.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: Bread buzz!
joel hanes
IMHO, one correct move at this moment is to impeach Barr.
I can’t understand why the Bar Association in whichever state he’s licensed has not disbarred him.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@Parfigliano: “friends” = clown sycophants (ie Hannity, Newt, Geraldo)
Brachiator
@NotMax:
Generally, I pretty much believe in leaving the kid alone.
I wonder, though, whether his school has been closed down for the duration.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@Patricia Kayden: Wow. When you’ve lost Walter White, you’ve lost middle Methland.
Ksmiami
@Joe Falco: McConnell is first against the wall after this
hells littlest angel
Resign, ya dumbfuck.
catclub
@CaseyL: in 6 months the economy could be growing again. They mostly say that voters decide around now if the economy is good enough to keep the president.
But a rapidly improving economy, never mind how bad it had gotten, would be seen as an aid to his re-election.
TS (the original)
I am no longer surprised by anything he does – I also understand that empathy was missing from the genes in his roots. He is making every other president since 1776 look like a master of mankind.
NotMax
@TS (the original)
Pedant amendment.
Redshift
@West of the Rockies:
Of course not. He’s not watching to find it what people think of him, he’s watching to see people praise him and tell him what he wants to hear. That’s why it’s a betrayal and not a revelation when Fox occasionally fails to do that.
catclub
I think you report publicly and convincingly that McConnell said all this, then watch the fur fly.
Ohio Mom
I have also read that Baron and Melania live with her parents, though obviously sometimes Melania leaves on jaunts to be Mrs. Trump/First Lady.
I find an amusing symmetry in that the Obama daughters were also looked after by their grandmother during their father’s term in office. Might be the only thing those two families have in common.
Redshift
@Searcher:
Yes, if the majority of Republicans in the Senate vote for a resolution in favor of it, not just McConnell saying he thinks they’ll vote to convict. McConnell has shown that he’s not great at counting votes, and no one should trust that it’s not a tactic to shiv Democrats for “focusing on impeachment during a crisis” (which they’re still humping from January.)
Under those circumstances, you do it because we actually care about this country and not just “our side,” and because Pence isn’t going to miraculously make things better in six months, he’d just not make them worse as much as Trump will.
mrmoshpotato
Having some beers here, watching The Rolling Stones – Sympathy For The Devil (Live at Tokyo Dome 1990) on YouTube. I wasn’t sure if I was looking at Keith because I thought, “He doesn’t look dead enough.” Ahhh 30 years ago.
Jean
@Redshift: The article says that he does check in to MSNBC and CNN and that he watches Cuomo’s conferences for snippets of praise or criticism.
Another Scott
@joel hanes: Relatedly, Courthouse News (from April 20):
“The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceeding fine …”
Cheers,
Scott.
Shalimar
@zhena gogolia: 74,588 cases, only 681 dead. Either Putin is a miracle worker who has figured out the secret to keeping virus victims alive, or he wins the prize for most brazenly bullshit statistics.
Percysowner
@catclub: The economy COULD be growing in six months, but not if states and municipalities go bankrupt or lay of hundreds of thousands of employees, cut public services. And not if the only businesses getting economic help are large corporations.
Re-opening the states may well make COVID-19 deaths increase and even though the Repubs think that hundreds of thousands dying won’t hurt the economy, I’m pretty sure it will make recovery really hard.
I suppose a miracle could happen, but right now, the Republicans are so focused on the “stock market” and taking care of the rich that they can’t make the decisions that would actually turn the economy around in six months.
@Shalimar: It’s not BS, it’s straight up lying. Don’t test, don’t report deaths and you can claim any numbers you want.
Percysowner
Percysowner
@Percysowner:
SFAW
@Searcher:
Does that happen before or after Bill Belichick calls me up to ask if I’m willing to step in as Tom Brady’s replacement? Since neither scenario will happen in this plane of existence.
That being said: irrespective of what you’re hypothesizing Moscow Mitch might do, Speaker Pelosi should certainly consider it, but make it clear she’s going to have Jerry Nadler and Adam Schiff drag out the investigative phase until at least late August. I also think dr. bloor’s suggested response @ 21 (to the call which will never be made) is absolutely spot-on. But I don’t think the Speaker can be convinced of going through it again, unless the deaths start going through the roof. [Meaning: if she sees a severe turn for the worse/worst, where the death toll looks like it’ll easily break through the earlier 200K guesstimate, she’ll conclude she has to take it upon herself (and the caucus) to at least try to stop him.]
Percysowner
Shalimar
@Redshift: Trump occasionally tweets insults at Scarborough and Brzezinski after criticism he particularly takes exception to. It’s very obvious he watches Morning Joe.
SFAW
@NotMax:
You’re more precise, of course, but TS wasn’t wrong.
Rich Gardner
Of course, if all he ever watches is Fox News, then of course everything he sees is positive and he thinks everyone considers him the greatest evah. Now, if he were to watch Rachel Maddow or even Morning Joe once in a while (I’m not a heavy TV watcher, but I know there are other fierce critics), I’m sure that, as Eric Trump has said, the President could be quickly driven over the edge.
Kent
Fuck no. You tell them to fuck off and do it themselves at their convention in 3 months. The Dems are perfectly happy running against both Trump and McConnell
Besides, what crime is McConnell alleging that Trump has committed? Ask McConnell to lay out all of Trump’s wrong-doing publicly and you will take it into consideration.
SFAW
@Percysowner:
Omelet, eggs, etc.
Redshift
@catclub:
Leaving aside that I think a rapidly improving economy by November is very doubtful, that still doesn’t gibe with the political science I’ve seen. The effect of the economy on voting isn’t that people vote based on the overall economy, they vote based on how they perceive their economic situation. (One reason why Republican attempts to “talk up” or down the economy before an election are always stupid.)
Personal situation is not unaffected by how bad things got. If you’ve seen your savings dwindle, if you had then, or struggled to keep things together with assistance Republicans fought against, the fact that the trajectory turns upward and you can imagine getting back to where you were nine months ago instead of not knowing if that will ever happen is not a situation that is likely to make you positive on the economy.
Mandalay
Yesterday the NYT published an article on when states are thinking about reopening. Timely, since the highest number of new cases of coronavirus was recorded yesterday (38,958), and the second highest total so far was for today (35,419). The highest number of daily deaths (2,683) in the US was just four days ago, and there are now 788,233 active cases, so if just 0.73% of those result in deaths (and they surely will), that Fauci/Trump nonsense threshold of 60,000 deaths will be exceeded.
Shouldn’t the folks running things be freaking out about those numbers, rather than making plans to open things up? Put another way, how dire would the numbers have to be to kill the plans to reopen?
TS (the original)
@Brachiator:
All that needs to be said. He failed after being given the strongest economy in 10 years. He is a lazy unemployable git. He failed at being a husband, a lover, a father, a businessman and a politician. He failed at being a human being.
SFAW
@Mandalay:
You’re looking at the wrong numbers. The only number(s) that matter(s) is the Murderer-in-Chief’s polling.
OK, I’m not being totally serious, but I’m probably closer to reallity than should be the case in a rational country/world.
Kent
If a single state even hits at default, the bond market will crash in a nano-second bringing the stock market down with it. And then we would have a REAL financial crisis. And those 20% drops in 401(k) plans would turn into 50% blood-letting.
Besides, employment is a trailing indicator. It will take a lot longer than 6 months for business to get back to full employment. They will drag their feet on hiring as much as possible.
McConnell is fucking playing with fire.
Redshift
@Jean: Good points (and others who made similar comments.) But it’s still the case that he watches to get praise and see criticisms to rail against, not to actually accept any outside perspective about how he’s doing.
Another Scott
@Redshift: I assume Biden’s team will be running that old saw:
“Are you better off today than you were four years ago?”
(I’ve seen one video on it, but I think Biden’s team can (and will) do it better.)
Cheers,
Scott.
Ruckus
No impeachment for trump.
I hate his moronic ass with the heat of a 1000 suns, and if he was gone tomorrow it wouldn’t be soon enough, but impeachment would be too kind to him. And the risk that moscow mitch would be fucking with, well everything, impeachment might just build shit for brains a little bit of breathing room. Do you really think that any GOP senators are going to cross over and vote against their party? For them the party is everything. If any of them had to get by on their own political capital, they wouldn’t make it across the street. It’s all or nothing for the GreesyOldPoop party right now. They have blown their wad on trump, and he’s not giving them a dime back.
West of the Rockies
@Mandalay:
It’s got to be pure magical thinking on the parts of governors thinking of reopening their states. Economies won’t improve markedly, virus cases and deaths will increase, and they will likely have to shut down a second time. There is no logical reason to think reopening things too early will prove effective.
It’s pure fantasy and fear.
Mandalay
@Redshift:
A campaign pitch that Joe can have for nothing:
Possibly needs a bit of polishing up, but it hits all the main talking points without being offensive.
Redshift
@Percysowner:
One of the most annoying things about the modern GOP (as opposed to the infuriating things) is how they focus so much on the economy and they’re so bad at it. A lot of them seem to sincerely think that the economy is big businesses and the stock market, and both consumers and workers are an inconvenient footnote.
TS (the original)
@SFAW:
I am not particularly knowledgeable on US history – my Australian primary schooling of the 1950s concentrated on the history of the mighty British Empire with an hour or two of Australian history (only from 1770 onwards) so we remembered where we were born. I do remember learning one item from every continent in Geography & the one for North America was the “Corn Belt of the USA” and have no idea why that was considered the most important thing for us to learn about the US.
SFAW
@Mandalay:
Hmm. I might need to re-learn English.
West of the Rockies
@Redshift:
I do think that someone (an aide or intern) has to be assigned to monitoring MSNBC and CNN if only to know enemy troop movements. Some of what they see probably leaks out like a fart in an elevator, causing Orangemondyias to go all nose twitchy now and again.
Redshift
@Mandalay: I like it!
Persistent Illusion
@ThresherK: he probably has a nanny, since birth, who actually cares about him. His parents are unimportant to him as he sees them rarely.
SFAW
@TS (the original):
No worries. I was just giving NotMax a mildly-chop-busting hard time, mainly because your “1776” was not wrong. You could have also written “1650,” and not be wrong — just less precise than our Hawaiian pedant.
ETA: Of course, that you’re an Aussie is problematic, on a different level. [No, I’m not being serious.]
mrmoshpotato
Ewwww!!!! Why?
TS (the original)
@mrmoshpotato:
Cause of the horrible way he treats any woman – whether married to him or not.
Kent
If you are a business owner with a shuttered business (restaurant, hair salon, whatever), it is going to take a MAJOR investment to get up and running. You are going to have to order supplies from our wholesalers, hire employees, probably get a line of credit from your bank. It is a risk to open a business even in good times. But if there is a risk that no one will show up, or not enough customers will show up to break even then sitting tight for another month or two may be the smart and wise play.
Just because a governor WANTS to get business going again, doesn’t mean they actually will until they individually decide that the PROFITABLE decision is to re-open. Each business has a burn rate or revenue stream that must be attained for it to break even. Why open a business that is only going to lose money each day during a pandemic?
Ruckus
@SFAW:
Actually you are right though. To trump the only numbers that matters is his approval rating. He doesn’t expect anything from democrats but he’s losing a lot of support from republicans and from the money. Never forget that he’s been in hock for decades and it’s pure bullshit that he’s selling. When that starts stinking worse that turning their backs on him that’s what the power squad of the conservative bubble will do. They stick with him now because they think they believe him, but many are questioning if he’s the republican party savior that they thought he was. All that not saying the racist parts out loud actually got them here, but now he’s blown that away, so they will double, triple down till it’s obvious to the man in the moon that it isn’t working. But we aren’t there yet. But the scale may tip not all that far into the future. I was talking with a buddy of almost 48 yrs, who told me that some people he has written off are questioning their trump support. This wasn’t happening at all 2-3 months ago. Now people are bringing it up. More republicans/trump supporters are seeing what they can’t quite admit, that they fucked up royally.
opiejeanne
@NotMax: I have a dozen English muffins chilling in the fridge, waiting to be grilled tomorrow for breakfast, then toasted. It’s a recipe at Voraciously, linked by the Washington Post. I will be disappointed if they don’t come out as lovey as described and as the photo showed, but the creating time was good therapy.
And the sun came out for a while today.
SFAW
@Kent:
Because they’ll make it up in volume?
Another Scott
@Persistent Illusion: Supposedly Donnie told his first wife that he didn’t want anything to do with the care or rearing of his children until they were 18, (when he could begin to mold them into Titans of Industry, or something).
None of his actions WRT Barron are contrary to that. E.g.:
“Horrors inflicting [sic!] America” should be his Secret Service code name.
Cheers,
Scott.
TS (the original)
@SFAW: I don’t mind being corrected – we learn the trivia about other countries at school – like the Corn Belt being the center of US commerce (and note how I can write American – my spell checker wants me to write centre).
SFAW
@Ruckus:
I understand. But I’m still leery that he (or Barr/McConnell, I guess) will come up with some wag-the-dog Hail Mary, and all his seemingly-disgruntled supporters will come rushing back to him.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
Still, proper date and all, my take is that GWB is saying nothing because he was considered one of the 5 worst presidents and now trump is all 5 of the worst, all on his own. GWB moved up into the bottom 5-10 by doing absolutely nothing but watching trump make a complete fucking hash of everything. If he’s smarter than a flat rock, or trump, he’ll keep his mouth closed and stay under the radar.
dmsilev
@NotMax:
You have a bread machine that can braid? I is impressed.
Thinking about baking a challah sometime soon. I’ve done 3-braid loaves before, but maybe this is the right time to try my hand at something fancier.
SFAW
@Ruckus:
Well done.
Ruckus
@SFAW:
I don’t disagree, other than I don’t think there really is anything they can do to make up for shit for brains. Other than fry him, and I don’t see them doing that in any way, shape or form.
Kattails
Looking at an earlier thread (AL’s daily COVID update) with a link to a test-and-trace study showing patterns of infection in an office building. From that particular set of data it would seem that aerosol spread with close and continuous contact was a key. Yet we, the U.S., with 25% of infections and 4% of the global population, have done sod-all to further the broader understanding of this virus and how it propagates. It could save so many lives; it could also save great stress & uncertainty; it could suggest the correct pattern for reopening society.
It’s not just about us. The power of this country, when focussed to the right ends, could be immense. It used to be. What I most despise about the right-wing is their disdain for intelligence and active contempt for simple morality. Had we applied our collective resources to attack this threat when it first arose the whole planet would have been better off. But the wing nuts would rather wave their guns and their dicks at phantoms than pull in harness, keep the kids fed, and wash their damned hands.
It took two centuries of effort by millions of imperfect souls to build the resources we have. It infuriates me to watch Donald Trump and his toadying sycophants squander those resources to feed his bloated ego. I’m tired and can’t get this to come out right, but my frustration is volcanic at this point. Gotta get to bed.
CaseyL
@Searcher: Not unless McConnell went public with the charges and stated outright that the Senate would vote to convict (and by “public” I mean a press conference carried by every network, including Fox News and the Sinclair outlets). Otherwise, I wouldn’t trust him not to renege and accuse the Democrats of mounting a spectacle for political gain in the middle of a crisis.
I’m also not sure how much it would help. Remember, awful as T* is, he’s just the front man. We’d be getting rid of a known quantity for a dim-bulb fundamentalist dominionist.
Also, whoever is pulling T*’s strings will also be pulling Pence’s strings. Moreover, getting rid of T* doesn’t get rid of Barr, or T*s cabinet. I’m not even sure it would get rid of T*’s money grubbing kids and SIL.
dmsilev
@opiejeanne: Ooh, I saw that recipe. Looked tempting, but I still have some farmers market blueberries left from last week’s shopping so it’ll be pancakes tomorrow for me. Still also have left some of the Jordan Marsh blueberry muffins I made last Sunday with the first of the berries.
SFAW
@CaseyL:
He wouldn’t dare! Were he to do that, Susan Collins would REALLY furrow her brow, and express her SERIOUS CONCERN.
Another Scott
@Kattails: Well said.
Our parents and grandparents didn’t work so hard and give so much for Donnie and his minions, Barr, and all the rest, to break it all.
Grr…
We have to vote them out.
Rest easy.
Cheers,
Scott.
Mandalay
I can understand it being a fun thought experiment for the KKK-inclined who think it’s still 1951, but why would you actually go ahead and do this during a Senate vote?…
Michigan senator apologizes for wearing Confederate flag face mask
Of course a non-apology apology was eventually issued, but only after all his denials, excuses and bullshit didn’t fly.
James E Powell
@Searcher:
No. I call a press conference and play the tape of the telephone conversation I just had with Moscow Mitch.
FlyingToaster
@Kattails: I’ve seen several of these now, from offices and restaurants, and there’s a clear pattern of proximity, airflow, and duration.
Which makes me think that our Governor (Baker, of MA) is listening to the experts and saying we can’t make any decisions until we have a) comprehensive testing b) contact tracing and c) passed the hump.
Our social distancing has lowered the curve (lowered the total number of simultaneous cases), but stretched it out, since we just got contact tracing started two weeks ago. Most of our current cases are coming from residential facilities (nursing homes, assisted living centers, group homes, DoC), and public-facing essential workers (medical, first responders, transit, and grocery/necessary retail). Contact tracing for all of those infected staffers is going to take time. So we’re probably not going to open anything until May 26, and then only outdoor workers who can space apart (construction, landscaping, repair). Then wait three weeks, plug any leaks, and pick the next group to risk.
Georgia’s “reopening” is looneytunes.
West of the Rockies
@Ruckus:
When Trump loses this November, I suspect he will have scant support from any Republicans hoping to hold onto what little power and influence they have left until Biden is sworn in. He’ll continue to say stupid stuff, and few will step forward to support him.
HumboldtBlue
The creative still create.
danielx
@CaseyL:
Fixed.
Frankensteinbeck
@Shalimar:
Last I heard, Russia is experiencing a huge spike in ‘pneumonia’ deaths.
Patricia Kayden
Ruckus
@West of the Rockies:
I tend to agree, maybe it’s just hopefully tend to but some of them aren’t that stupid but if things really go our way we are going to own the house, the senate and the WH. I think trump can/could go even more bonkers than he already has, as difficult as that is to imagine, and cause a lot of trouble. But that’s a bridge to cross when we get there.
Ruckus
@HumboldtBlue:
That was good.
NotMax
@dmsilev
I sort of cheat and don’t bother with the braiding, just use this particular recipe to turn out a regular shape and size sandwich loaf using the challah dough. Makes a top notch loaf.
sdhays
I get what you’re saying, but another way to look at is that W did nothing to prevent 9/11, reacted to his failure by launching one war with no end game and another based on lies and magical thinking, presided over the destruction of a major American city, closed out his last term with the biggest economic catastrophe since the Great Depression, and then couldn’t be bothered to try to save the country and his party from the next terrible President his party decided to foist upon the country. He cares so little that he continues to hide in his bathtub while the country he led for 8 years burns.
He’s still very much in the bottom 5.
Jay
trollhattan
STFU you Tory git. Sully, feeling like hippies let him down, again.
Hey, I have an idea, Andrew. When you have a lot full of vehicles fueled and ready to go, try not giving the keys to a fucking sociopath next time and see how it goes when you discover you need them.
Or, turn the works over to Walmart. Your choice.
p.s. Besos his ownself will make more than $7.2 billion this year alone, and Trump pretends he has that much. So, CDC shouldn’t receive that much?
smike
@Mandalay:
Well put.
Jay
Jay
NotMax
@trollhattan
Other than dues (which non-state contributors are not assessed and which Sullivan lumps in with additional contributions to get his total amount) the largest contributor to WHO after the U.S. is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Will Andrew now bang out a diatribe calling Bill Gates a spendthrift wanker?
BigJimSlade
New theme song for Trump’s covid-19 pressers, as sung by Olivia Newton-Hannity:
Let’s get political
li-ti-cal
Let’s get political
Let’s get hypocritical
Let me hear your money talk
your money talk….
Jay
@NotMax:
and as ususal, like the UN funding, the US is always “late” with paying it’s WHO dues,….. often by years.
a Global System, often set up to ensure American Hedgemony, has always been chronically underfunded/late payment anytime the Rethugs are “in charge”.
Jay
Jay
James E Powell
@Brachiator:
It sickens me that the vast majority of the press/media and the country are still acting like he is a normal president. We need to start the chant for him to resign. If it gets loud enough for people to hear it, they will repeat it.
trollhattan
@NotMax: He pulled me into his orbit with his pro-beagle, anti-Bush, anti-Iraq, anti-torture stance. Enemy of my enemy and all that. Since, I’ve come to understand how profoundly shallow he is while basically presenting himself as BoJo’s doppelganger.
As they say in France, fuck that shit. Shame on anybody giving him column space.
Brachiator
@trollhattan:
I’ve been out and was catching up with the thread. But this tidbit stood out for its arrogant stupidity. Should have been perfectly possible? How could he possibly judge?
Vacuous nonsense.
Ruckus
@sdhays:
In my mind, up until 4 yrs ago, GWB was the worst. Mainly because I wasn’t alive when the the others considered the worst by some were president. But the concept here is that even with all you have listed, that I agree puts GWB in the running for worst, shit for brains is by a wide margin far worse. I think that in an actual race for worst president ever trump is the winner and GWB is the runner up. But trump is so bad, so valueless as a human that he takes up all the oxygen for worst, to the tune of 5 places worth of worst. It is supposed to be a twist on the concept, a small joke if you will, it is not intended to relieve GWB of his earned place in the race to the bottom. And please remember that as I’ve said here before I ended up with $200 to my name and only the luck of age got me SS so that I could eat and not have to live in my van without food due to GWB’s recession. Which I couldn’t afford gas, tags or insurance for. And that was GWB’s fault, along with all his republican buddies. Who are now shit for brains buddies. Please don’t mistake gallows humor with reality, I’m not.
Jay
SFAW
@Brachiator:
And didn’t the CDC people in China tell the maladministration about all this, back in November or December? And the Murderer-in-Chief and his minions ignored it? Or am I mis-remembering?
Brachiator
@James E Powell:
The media and historians have been thoroughly intimidated. No one is willing to step up and unreservedly declare that Trump is a raging, infantile incompetent.
However, the press ain’t magic. They are not going to save us. Nor is it their job to do so.
And Trump is not going to resign. He’s got ahold of a good thing and he is not letting go.
Trump has powerful self protection instincts. He hears what he wants to hear, amplified by flunkies and enablers.
We can try to impeach him again, or vote his ass out of office. That’s it. Those are our options.
SFAW
@Brachiator:
It drives me shithouse when I hear/read people saying he will.
trollhattan
@SFAW:
Little hands flapping about while declaring, “Quitting’s for quitters!”
That’s our Donny, today, tomorrow, until dead as a dead thing.
Tehanu
Gosh, I hope you’re right.
Jay
If you are wondering what ReThugs see in Dumph,…..
Yutsano
@Mandalay: Republicans need to go down fucking everywhere.
From your article:
Fuuuuck you Shirkey. “Insensitive” my ass.
James E Powell
@Brachiator:
I did not mean to suggest that Trump would ever resign. But I still want to hear people demanding it. He is unfit. Why not say so?
And while I am definitely not counting on the press/media to save us, I do belief it is their job to publish and broadcast truth.
Jay
Back in 2016,…..
Jay
terry chay
@catclub: The market hasn’t come to terms with the economy down. It is only 17% down from its peak, so it hasn’t even begun to correct for the actual economy.
This is far worse than 2008, and it took years for that recovery to happen. I think the “economy could recover in 6 months” is laughable. If anything the economy is likely to look much worse in November than it does today. And today it is about a 6% CONTRACTION. These are crazy times.
HumboldtBlue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puIcnMfWMyI
Jay
Jay
@terry chay:
you might not have noticed, but “The Market” and “The Economy” had a bitter divorce during the Volker Recession and have for decades been completely unrelated.
rikyrah
Jay
Jay
@rikyrah:
yeah, saw that. Also saw where all the Covid deaths in Richmond, were POC,
I never know the respectful term, because it’s different up here. Black? AA?
Took me a while to learn “unhoused” or “english as another language”,…….
Jay
Mary G
@opiejeanne: Thank you for this! I bought honey and couldn’t remember what it was for. It’s those English muffins.
patrick II
@Persistent Illusion:
From what I have read, Melania is very protective of her son, and they both spend much time with her parents. Melania has faults, but there is enough wrong with this White House and Melania as the first lady that we can talk about with knowledge that we don’t have to spin bad things out of air.
Ruckus
@Tehanu:
Me too.
But these are a couple of people who were\, 2-3 months ago 100%, died in the wool trumpers. There is no logic, no magical thought process here, but I think they can see, even if they won’t admit it, that he’s a lunatic. But they fully invested in him and they aren’t completely brain dead (just close) and they can see that he really isn’t the the savor they thought he was, not even close. I’m not saying that he’ll get no votes, he will, because there are other morons out there. I’m not saying they will vote democratic, they probably won’t. But all they have to do is not vote. Even a small percentage of them don’t vote and that’s the ball game. Those morons in WI that showed up to complain about their governor trying to keep them alive, they will vote for shit for brains, because they are as brain dead as he is. Some of them probably sooner than later……
Brachiator
@Ruckus:
You cannot count on people not voting. This is a persistent dream of a lot of folks, but it is not supported by what can be discerned about voter behavior.
You have to get some of these people to vote for Democrats.
And you have to get a strong turnout of Democrats.
Brachiator
@rikyrah:
Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, have their own tax systems.
A resident of Puerto Rico who files a Form 1040 should get a check. If they file a Form 1040-PR or Form 1040-SS, they don’t get a check.
This is not right, but this little detail was not publicized.
If an American citizen is married to a non-citizen who does not have a Social Security Number, this couple will not get a check. However, the US citizen will get a check of $1,200 if he files married filing separate.
The Trump administration believes in a narrow definition of who are deserving citizens.
Brachiator
@James E Powell:
Because it might be more productive to make sure we get out the vote. And make it easier for people to vote by mail. And make election day a holiday in every state.
It might be nice if it were so. Some media willingly serves the status quo, no matter who is in power. Other right wing media outlets are dedicated to serving the plutocrat class and their vile servants, the modern GOP.
But some media have been publishing and broadcasting the truth, but the problem is that some people run from the truth as hard as they can.
The Constitution guarantees you, maybe, a free press. It has never guaranteed a fair press.
Ruckus
@Brachiator:
I do agree.
But I also think that conventional wisdom really can’t work now, because so much “wisdom” is blind pig routing through garbage. As I said it won’t be a big number but some may actually not vote because they will see their choice between trump and Biden. They will refuse to vote democratic and I see that some of them will not be able to bring themselves to pull the lever marked shit for brains. He won by 77,000 votes last time. That was without the pleasure of seeing him fulfill the role of shit for brains with gusto and the other choice being a woman. Just because a lot of us could see it, many of the other side either didn’t see it or wanted it. I’m not even saying it will be a large number, but some of them will see it. They already are. And many will think to their dying day that shit for brains is the best choice for president in their lives.
I do understand that we have to work for every vote, and can’t ever count the other side down and it isn’t over till it’s over but I see cracks forming.
low-tech cyclist
Barron’s 14 years old. If you’ve got a teenage son, and you haven’t spent a shitload of time with him earlier on in his life, you probably have next to no relationship with him now. (It’s a challenge even if you have!) I think we can take it for granted that Trump hasn’t a clue what’s going on in his son’s life.
Can’t imagine how horrible it would be, to be growing up with Trump and Melania as your parents. I didn’t have an easy childhood, but I’ll bet it was a picnic compared to his life these days.
It ain’t all that tony; it damn sure ain’t no Georgetown Prep (thank the Lord). My sister taught there until recently: pre-Barron, the kids there weren’t the offspring of anyone you’d have heard of; more SES-level bureaucrats and people like that.
low-tech cyclist
We don’t even need to win over any of the Trump-supporting 43%. All we need to do is win everyone else.
And the vast majority of the people who aren’t in the 43%, but aren’t dyed-in-the-wool Dems either, can see what a fuckup Trump is. That’s why Biden will win in November.
The key is winning the Senate, ideally with a couple of seats to spare so that Joe Manchin isn’t vote #50.
trnc
@Brachiator: Of course, Fauci also can’t be working on what he really needs to when he’s stuck at a briefing, which is more of a problem as competent health professionals in the administration get fired. All because he’s supposed to prop up this performance art where there’s often so little news, DT has to make up crap just to have a reason to flap his gums.
Shalimar
@trollhattan:
This is particularly stupid after last week, when it has been reported that Americans at the WHO were on top of this, were reporting back to the CDC, and were ignored
Edit: The problem very clearly was with Trump and his political appointees, not the bureaucracy.
StringOnAStick
I’m boycotting Facebook, but a friend who has a recently retired head of a large and prominent rehab hospital on his feed has yet another anecdote of evidence that some are turning on tRump. He says this guy never posted anything political, just outdoors stuff, enjoying retirement, etc. Then this guy apparently read the FTFNYT’s timeline story from 2 weeks ago and posted basically “you all know I never post about politics, but I voted for Trump, supported him and donated the maximum to his campaign, but I can no longer stay silent. This man is completely unfit for office and must be voted out of office. ”
I know it’s just another anecdote , but this isn’t a Possum Holler guy.
trnc
@Shalimar: Bingo. Having a bunch of tools doesn’t do any good if the guy misuses or refuses to use them. DT’s house is falling down around him and he’s blaming the hammer sitting in the box.
artem1s
Oh man, that’s a phrase isn’t it? Who believes that those internal polls aren’t being doctored to please Dear Leader the way his staff usually does? We know Quinnipiac does and if the FYNYT is both siding bleach injection, who know what going on with these polls – internal and not. AND THEY STILL SHOW HE’S TANKING. I think we have been in Allen Keys 27% land for a lot longer than anyone realizes.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Something everyone seems to be missing in that article is Trump watches Cumo’s briefings regularly; Trump desperately wants so sponge the job of President off on someone else just as long as Trump still gets to sit at the big desk on Oval Office.
WaterGirl
@dmsilev: I used to make my Greek Christmas break with a 3-way braid, but then I started adding a 2-way twist down the center, on top of the 3-way braid. Still simple, but the look was a bit more elegant.
Then I tried doing smaller 2-way braids, and then connecting the ends, making them into small circles. That makes a nice small amount that can be eaten in a sitting or two, and then you can freeze the other small circle-twists so you have fresh bread whenever you want it.