If those 17 kids hadn’t been killed, just think of the ugly questions the White House would have had to answer:
“For everyone, it was a distraction or a reprieve,” said one White House official, speaking anonymously to reflect internal conversations. “A lot of people here felt like it was a reprieve from seven or eight days of just getting pummeled.”
The official likened the brief political calm to the aftermath of the October 2017 gun massacre in Las Vegas that left 58 dead and hundreds more injured. That tragedy united White House aides and the country in their shared mourning for the victims and their families.
“But as we all know, sadly, when the coverage dies down a little bit, we’ll be back through the chaos,” the official said.
Another winner:
Last Wednesday’s shooting, however, effectively stabilized Kelly’s standing internally, officials said, shifting the media glare away from him and giving the retired four-star Marine Corps general a chance to perform his job in helping coordinate the federal response. Though Trump remains frustrated and at times angry with his chief of staff, Kelly’s presence on the weekend trip to Mar-a-Lago was interpreted as an indication that he was on firmer ground with his boss.
Just think – only a few more killing sprees and Kelly might make it to the midterms!
Baud
The odds are favorable.
ET
Everyone working at the white house is vile.
Corner Stone
And now Trump can put out an insensitive statement about Parkland/students and the Porter/DV/security clearance issue will be gone forever down the memory hole.
Corner Stone
Hearing a “both sides” perspective from this Parkland survivor on MSNBC right now is disheartening, to say the least.
Baud
@Corner Stone: It’s so ingrained in the culture.
Yutsano
JFC…the horror of these individuals…
They all gotta go. And never have work anywhere ever again.
Mike in NC
The sooner Kelly is replaced by Jared, the better off the country will be. Jared won’t be able to manage the chaos. Then indict the whole rotten Trump crime family and begin the trials.
dexwood
Fucking ghouls, one and all.
Betty Cracker
Speaking of vile motherfuckers who should go leap into the nearest conflagration:
Allow me to Floridasplain: Andrew Gillum is mayor of Tally, running for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination (probably won’t win). Fant is the ghoul who represents a chunk of Jax in the statehouse and is running for AG (definitely won’t win).
different-church-lady
The reprieve was brief: now they’re getting pummeled by teenagers.
NotMax
Silk purse. Sow’s ear.
Jeffro
Oh good – so they are primed and eager for the next big tragedy, the better to take the spotlight off of their daily fuckups.
Jay
Sarah Palin could see Russia from her house,
and yet, she did nothing.
Suspicious?
efgoldman
How anyone who hasn’t ingested the kool-aid can see Orangina’s statement and the reaction immediately to his visit was hardly a distraction from his every day horribleness. It was just more hideous, conscience free, empathy free, self- centered piece of Marmalade bullsjit.
Mandalay
The silver lining in the cloud that is Trump is that he so completely amoral that he is not tied to any position on any issue:
Slime like Cruz and Rubio are beholden to the NRA because they took their blood money, but Trump is better than that: he takes money from the NRA then does whatever the pollsters tell him. Trump is a honey badger.
James E. Powell
Know this: every morning and every night, the entire staff prays for a devastating terrorist attack.
mai naem mobile
Unless the WH staff pre and post plan the Listening Session with the school kids Dolt45 really well, they’re going to wish they were dealing with the security clearances.
WaterGirl
How vile and fucked up do you have to be to just openly admit you are lying about things and not understand how that looks to normal people?
Yutsano
@mai naem mobile:
Heh. U funnee!
@WaterGirl: I’m in Albigensian heresy territory with these fuckers now. Kill them all. God will know His own.
WaterGirl
@WaterGirl: Oh my god. Unless the media screwed up an off the record comment, this guy was actually willing to put his name to this:
Suzanne
@Mike in NC:
The sooner Jared is in an orange jumpsuit, the better off the country will be.
Here’s a selected list of Jared nicknames that I enjoy:
Vanilla ISIS
Ralph Lauren of Arabia
Fratsputin
Coup D’Tot
Little Lord Fauntleroy
The Red Queen
White Russian
Jarhead Kushner
Aide de Kampf
Add more of your own!
Roger Moore
@Mike in NC:
The chaos will never go away until Trump, it’s primary cause, is gone.
WaterGirl
@James E. Powell: Sadly, I think that is probably true.
Gravenstone
@Jeffro: Primed and eager? No. Planning? Absolutely!
schrodingers_cat
Kelly is the real President, the power behind the regent. Look at how much he has aged in one year.
Roger Moore
@Mandalay:
Except racism, Russia, and corruption. He has very consistent positions on all of those.
schrodingers_cat
@Roger Moore: Word.
lgerard
@Betty Cracker:
Fant sounds like a real winner. After running his 65 year old family business into the ground, it is only fitting that his next job be a state legislator.
? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?
@WaterGirl:
Like that will ever happen. Hasn’t Ron been paying attention over the past year? If communications in the WH haven’t improved by now, they never will.
? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?
@schrodingers_cat:
Pics?
Waratah
@Mandalay: He could not accept any bipartisan agreement on Dreamers so I doubt he will on gun control
Gravenstone
@James E. Powell: If we must have one, I’d like to order a decapitation strike. Preferably removing the entire existing order of succession. We can figure out what to do from there, without all those ghouls in the way.
Roger Moore
@James E. Powell:
Thank FSM they aren’t competent enough to pull of a successful false flag.
schrodingers_cat
@? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?: I just say his picture yesterday, he looks like he has aged by 10 years. Look at one of his pics last week and compare that to the ones say a year ago.
? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?
@Gravenstone:
You wouldn’t happen to have a spare death note lying around, would you?
oatler.
I was watching American Gods last night and the scene where Corbin Bernsen’s Vulcan gives a speech about his “religion” is even more chilling in light of the massacre.
WaterGirl
@schrodingers_cat: I love what the Kelly scandals have surely done to Kellyt’s hopes of being the next president. Without having Trump propped up, appearing to be president.
Corner Stone
@Jay: I had not thought of it that way. I find your ideas intriguing. Newsletter?
Roger Moore
@Yutsano:
I’m way past you. There’s no need to worry about God recognizing anyone in Trump’s circle as being one of his own.
Chet Murthy
@Mandalay: Don’t spend that money until the check’s been cashed and the bank’s lifted the hold, eh? He says shit like this a lot, and only ever goes in one direction. And it ain’t toward decency.
schrodingers_cat
@Waratah: I don’t think that the President will question R orthodoxy in any meaningful way, nor will the Rs challenge him in any meaningful way. They are joined at the hip.
terraformer
Fucking ghouls.
donnah
Trump’s “listening session”, like his rallies, will be set with a group of pre-selected teens whose parents have guns. The conversation may touch on some of the school shooting issues, but mostly it will be yet another ego-stroking booster for His Royal Heinous.
Followed by a brief statement of, “I told you so” by Sarah Huckleberry Sanders.
mai naem mobile
@Jay: Sarah might have been too busy dealing with her wife beating gun toting son to pay attention to Russia.
Corner Stone
@Mandalay:
For all the BS about being a dealmaker, it seems far more likely that Trump does not want anything done on any issue. Everyone says he just wants a win, something to sign, but that is demonstrably not true.
MattF
@Mandalay: I think that’s a category error. Given, Cruz and Rubio are slime. But taking anything Trump says as though it means something is mistaking word the words he says for linguistic expressions that have a meaning.
raven
phantomist
@Corner Stone:
You would think there would be one news host who remembered all the way back to 1994:
-The Federal Assault Weapons Ban (AWB)—officially, the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act—is a subsection of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, a United States federal law that included a prohibition on the manufacture for civilian use of certain semi-automatic firearms it defined as assault weapons, as well as certain ammunition magazines it defined as “large capacity”.
The ten-year ban was passed by the U.S. Congress on September 13, 1994, following a close 52–48 vote in the Senate, and signed into law by then President Bill Clinton the same day. The ban only applied to weapons manufactured after the date of the ban’s enactment, and it expired on September 13, 2004, in accordance with its sunset provision.-
Mandalay
@Roger Moore:
But those are all positions that don’t hurt him significantly, especially with his base. If the pollsters started telling him that he needed to change position on an issue or he’s doomed he’d turn on a dime. There is no hill worth dying for in Trump’s politics.
sukabi
@WaterGirl: thank the stars they’re so incompetent or they’d plan a false flag operation…
efgoldman
@WaterGirl:
They can’t organize anything more complicated than taking a dump
mai naem mobile
@schrodingers_cat: Kelly’s aged for sure but so has Dolt45. They’ve been showing clips of him on the campaign trail with his statements about Russia and he clearly looks a lot lot shittier than he did during the campaign.
schrodingers_cat
@schrodingers_cat: *saw not say..
Corner Stone
@donnah: People like this guy, wearing a Trump 2020 t-shirt and looking for his daughter after the Parkland shooting. She did not survive.
efgoldman
@Suzanne:
I always call him “Kushkie”
Seems to fit.
Kay
@terraformer:
They’re really like some kind of decadent gentry:
They have to rest and recuperate to deal with their scandals. It’s all about them. Gosh, I hope they’re okay. Thank goodness Kelly was spared having to explain why he lied about Portman. That would have been very stressful for him.
schrodingers_cat
@mai naem mobile: He does look weirdly bloated.
? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?
@schrodingers_cat:
He looks the same to me honestly, aside from some more wrinkles and his hair is thinning some more.
While browsing, I’m ashamed to say it looks like he’s wearing a watch I own.
Has Trump aged at all in a year?
Corner Stone
@mai naem mobile:
Even as incompetent as this WH staff is, I find it literally incomprehensible they would actually go through with this.
Corner Stone
@Suzanne: JarJar is in full on flopsweat mode. He’s losing millions of dollars in his family business, is now under the gun of CoS Kelly, and is inhaling as much classified info as he can get his hands on before the spigot is turned off. He’s going to need something to bargain with when Mueller turns his steely gaze his way.
Corner Stone
@Gravenstone:
May I suggest a modern day Woodstock? With all the sex, drugs and rocknroll we can handle?
Mandalay
@MattF:
You may well be right, but so far Rubio has conceded nothing, and Cruz has (wisely) said nothing.
Trump’s talk may also mean nothing, but he has indicated that he is open to revising background checks. Rubio is so spineless that he may end up doing the same (depending on which way the wind is blowing), but you’ll never get that concession from Cruz.
Aleta
From Raw Story (from Bloomberg reporting)
Fair Economist
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has out its new Congressional map and it’s just amazingly good. Tight, compact, logical districts and only a slight tilt to the Republicans (10-8 in an evenly split state). Somebody did their homework.
EdTheRed
Fuck these incompetent fucking ghouls. May they never live down the shame of having worked for this sociopath, nor the shame of rejoicing in the deaths of our children.
danielx
@Betty Cracker:
Another exploit of Florida Man!
danielx
@Corner Stone:
Seconded.
Kay
@Aleta:
There was absolutely no reason for Jared Kushner to go to work in the Trump Administration. He could have hidden this sleaze forever and enjoyed his free ride on nepotism to a ripe old age. He’s rich. He doesn’t really work. He has fancy friends and a famous wife. But that isn’t enough.
They’re so arrogant, so privileged, they believe they will never be held accountable for anything. So they flaunt it.
It’s a “fuck you, I make the rules” attitude and they ALL have it in that administration.
Calouste
@Aleta: How the fuck can someone’s personal debt go up by $155 million in a year? Unless they are taking on company debt as personal debt.
WaterGirl
@donnah: It makes me terribly sad to have to say that I feel certain your predictions are absolutely correct. On a happier note, how is your Pooh art project going?
Jeffro
@Suzanne:
The first four
are my faves. Probably the last two, if I had to pick fave-faves.
WaterGirl
@efgoldman: And they might not think ahead to needing toilet paper afterwards…
efgoldman
@Corner Stone:
Anybody interview the stupid, asshole, racist bastard?
Yes, I *can too* say that.
Jay S
@Aleta: I think the 7-8 year thing is related to IRS rules for initial investigation. They have probably been on the less than legal side for longer and if there is evidence of that from what they find here, I believe they have the authority to go back as far as the evidence leads them. OTOH they aren’t all that old are they? OK just checked Jared is 37, so could be a little farther back.
Jeffro
@Fair Economist: That’s almost beautiful, right there. Compact, sensible districts?!? Whoodathunkit?
? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?
@donnah:
Nobody but his supporters will believe it’s legit anyway.
burnspbesq
@Mandalay:
You need to update your magic decoder ring: when Trump says he’s open to bipartisan solutions, that’s McConnell’s cue to make sure that no such thing ever comes into existence.
MattF
@Calouste: Some not-so-smart people lent them money with the value of the Trump ‘brand’ as collateral. Old con artist saying: “If you can’t fool a banker, you should be in a different business.”
WaterGirl
@Kay:
I love this, Kay!
Shana
@Mike in NC: I thought I heard today that Kelly is going to start cracking down on interim security clearances and kick out people who haven’t been able to get permanent ones.
Gin & Tonic
@Aleta: That’s wonderful to hear. Hasn’t our very own Yutsano said that the IRS criminal investigators are people that you really, really don’t want to run afoul of?
Fair Economist
@Calouste:
That’s exactly what’s happening. The billion in additional debt reported today is basically all corporate debt, but he’s personally cosigned $300 million of it. His companies are going under, and his creditors are demanding personal guarantees to roll over credit. Incredibly stupid of him; he should let some companies go under and keep his wealth sheltered but I guess he’s got to keep up appearances.
Kay
@WaterGirl:
Trump also “surveyed” Mara lago members on whether he should respond to the students.
Just disgusting people. Can you imagine? His gross country club flunkies were weighing in on the politics of dead 14 year olds.
I mean, Christ. None of these people just personally find this repulsive? Not a one?
Mandalay
@Aleta: Looking on the bright side:
No matter how rich you are, when you are carrying a credit card balance of over $50k you are either really short of ready money, or totally clueless and irresponsible with your own funds. Or both.
Elmo
@Calouste: Easy.
He’s been hoovering up classified intel at a record pace for the last year. He’s using it as collateral, and when he can’t do it any more, he will sell every last bit of data to the highest bidder. Think of the supposed loans as down payments. Earnest money. He’ll make sure it’s worthwhile to the eventual buyers.
WaterGirl
@Fair Economist: What was the split before?
WaterGirl
@EdTheRed: That felt kind of like a prayer. Amen.
WereBear
@Calouste: Unless they are planning to scamper off to a place with no extradition…
moops
@Mandalay: There is nothing the NRA can do to help him, Donald Trump, personally, at this point or any point in the future. So, it doesn’t matter how much money the NRA laundered from the Russians to help him get elected. Loyalty only goes one-way for Trump.
In a sense, Trump can call the NRA’s threats out. What is the NRA gonna do? back Democrats? HA!
Trump can come and take their guns away, literally, and tell everyone Obama or Hillary or Pelosi did it.
geg6
@efgoldman:
Yeah, I pretty much have no empathy for him at all. This is the result of his own voting choices. Now his poor deceased daughter (and any innocent siblings)? My heart breaks for her.
geg6
@Jeffro:
Agreed. I totally love it.
Jay S
@Fair Economist:
It’s hard to believe his personal guarantees are seen as meaningful collateral but I expect that some of those lenders are people it is dangerous to say no to. Perhaps he is flailing to try to stay afloat.
moops
@Kay: What a pathetic sight that would be. A hopeless sociopath soliciting advice about how to fake empathy from more skilled sociopaths.
daverave
From The Guardian:
“Slide Fire, a manufacturer of bump stocks, did not immediately respond to an email and a phone call seeking comment on what message it was trying to convey by using President Trump’s slogan as a marketing device. The small company, based in Moran, Texas, touts its American-made products.”
Irony is indeed dead.
Fair Economist
@WaterGirl: The split in the 2018 presidential election was 12 Trump and 6 Clinton. The Congressional seats are 13-5.
Mandalay
@Kay:
I think the jury is still out on that one.
Roger Moore
@donnah:
I will also predict they’ll be liberally salted with home-schooled kids.
Gin & Tonic
@moops:
Are you aware that the NRA (successfully) backed Wilmer when he ran for the House and defeated the then-incumbent Republican Peter Smith?
No Drought No More
“For everyone, it was a distraction or a reprieve,” said one White House official..”.
While serving much the same purpose as once did the “body counts” during our War in Vietnam.
WaterGirl
@Kay: Ugh. That’s even worse than what I heard, which was that he was surveying them to see if he should come out in favor of background checks.
Really, why listen to the professionals when you can ask FOX “news” and your buddies at the country club?
geg6
@Fair Economist:
Very exciting for me as I might actually get a Democratic congressperson out of the deal, with Beaver County in a district with Allegheny.
ETA: And it would kill the career of the vile Keith Rothfus, a bonus of untold worth.
Fair Economist
@Jay S:
110% no question on that. He’s hundreds of millions underwater on 666 5th alone and I’m sure that wasn’t his only boneheaded business decision.
moops
@Fair Economist:
The only sane reason to roll LLC debt into personal debt is if you have some big payout coming but your creditors don’t believe you, so the compromise is you demonstrate your faith in your guesses about the future.
…Or, you take on the debt personally and load it up because you know you, personally, are going down (bad heart, impending indictment) and know your own personal bankruptcy is in the noise of your pending bad press. You will get hired back with a big salary after you get back, but there is no cushy paycheck waiting for you if the business goes under and gets picked up by vulture capitalists.
WaterGirl
@Fair Economist: Thanks. Assuming you meant “were” and not “are”, that does seem to be a big improvement.
Corner Stone
@daverave:
Killed by a Trump voter using a bump stock.
WaterGirl
@geg6: Do we know how/if the new map will impact the fellow that everyone likes? (I can’t recall his name, hoping you will know who I mean.)
cope
@Suzanne: I’m going with Doogie Fauntleroy.
Kay
@Mandalay:
Well, we don’t know. He’s been working in the White House for 2 years and no one knows anything about his finances.
THAT’S…odd.
I met a person who was waiting to become a US attorney once, at a birthday party. He looked horribly drawn and stressed as he described this incredibly elaborate background check and confirmation process. It took so long!
But not Donald Trump’s talentless and otherwise unemployable family. They get a pass.
It’s anti-merit. The opposite of merit. The worst people get the best treatment.
Mandalay
@moops:
Exactly. The NRA needs Trump a lot more than Trump needs the NRA. Bush One told the NRA to go fuck themselves with a red hot poker and it didn’t hurt him at all.
? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?
@Fair Economist:
So, much more surrmountable?
Is this split before or after the new maps?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
My guess is the daddy- and other issues that led him to blunder into 666 5th are still driving him, and some vague sense that daddy and president daddy-in-law, and Uncle Kizlyak and whatever Chinese patrons his sister lined up last year, will figure out how to bail him out
Corner Stone
@efgoldman: I’m not sure. But I just think the egregious decision to wear a fucking Trump 2020 t-shirt while you are driving around looking to find out if anyone has seen your daughter after a school shooting means he deserves all the pain in the world.
I do wonder if he’s even capable of grieving. Or just blaming liberals somehow for her murder.
Fair Economist
@WaterGirl @? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?: : I meant there are currently 13 Republican and 5 Democratic Representatives from PA. Some Republican apparently got reelected in spite of his district going to Clinton. 12-6 is what the old map “should” have been in 2016 but of course it doesn’t always work that way.
? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?
@Kay:
Wasn’t meritocracy not meant to be desirable by the person who proposed the idea?
efgoldman
@Aleta:
Separate and distinct from the special prosecutor investigation
Dunno where yarrow is, but tick tocl, motherfuckers
Corner Stone
@Kay: It’s beginning to sound like Jared may have been a bad hire for this WH.
WaterGirl
@Aleta:@efgoldman: Unless I am reading this wrong, Jared is the subject of 3 investigations: 1) the IRS, 2) the Justice department (for use of foreign visa program), and 3) Mueller’s investigation. Hat trick! From the article:
Aleta
@Kay: My guess is 1-They thought the WH would convey the power to hide records, stall investigations and suppress stories; 2- Kusher, in a jam for immediate money, thought doors would open immediately if he and Ivan jetted around the world as presidential advisors. 3-They knew Trump couldn’t be trusted. Which is why they also (imo) put Rob Porter and Reed Cordish into close positions.
Roger Moore
@Kay:
I think you’re wrong about that. Kushner is deep in debt on 666 5th Ave, and he’s going to need a lot of money when the note comes due. A huge amount of his effort for the past couple of years has been about dealing with that debt, which he hasn’t been able to do through legitimate channels. He needs the power from being Trump’s confidante to justify somebody lending him money on his gigantic white elephant.
efgoldman
@Shana:
Doesn’t mean shit, ccording to Adam. “The president” under current law can grant clearance to anyone he wants to
efgoldman
@Mandalay:
“You mean I have to pay it back?”
mai naem mobile
Don’t know much about Florida politics but Tom Rooney from District 17 just announced he’s not running again. It’s a Cook R +13 district. Is there a decent chance of a Dem pickup? I wonder if the shooting was the final straw that made him pull out.
geg6
@WaterGirl:
If you mean Connor Lamb, that district would be gone (which it should be; it was a weird district with Pittsburgh suburbs of Allegheny County in with rural shitkickers in two of the most rural, poor white and uneducated counties in southwestern PA). I’m not sure where Connor lives, but he went to Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, so I have to guess he’s from the Pittsburgh suburbs part of the district (specifically the South Hills). Not sure from that map how the South Hills fits in, but it looks like Allegheny County is split into two districts, the 17th and 18th. So he could conceivably run in one of those and, probably, win. I would be in the 17th.
Fair Economist
@Roger Moore:
IIRC some Chinese investors got interested when Trump got nominated but pulled out in response to either the political heat or the hopelessness of Kushner’s finances.
geg6
@? ?? Goku (aka Baka Amerikahito) ? ?:
That is the current split.
Jay S
@efgoldman: @Corner Stone: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/parkland/florida-school-shooting/fl-florida-school-shooting-meadow-pollack-funeral-20180216-story.html Andrew Pollack was the father in the Trump 2020 shirt. Not an interview, but words at a funeral.
efgoldman
@Corner Stone:
I probably wouldn’t consider what I was wearing in a panic situation like that. Would you, looking for your son in similar circumstance, or just run to the car and the school as quickly as you could.
Kay
@Corner Stone:
It’s not just that. This shooter was deranged but he was also political. It started early. The first person he wanted to shoot was Obama. Later came the whole Trump roster- immigrants, black people, liberals.
That’s not true of all of them – I can’t think of another school shooter who expressed such passionate political views.
Obviously Donald Trump is not responsible for the actions of all of his fans but if they really want to look at mental health that involves looking honestly at what the shooters say. That’s what this one said. Over years.
Adam Lanza didn’t have any expressed views about “liberals” – he loved guns but there’s no indication he was politically aware at all. This shooter was. Does it matter? I don’t know but you can’t be “concerned” about mental health and ignore what the sick people say.
Aleta
@WaterGirl: So then 3; and (though not an investigation) I wonder if any investigating is still active due to the security clearance check– are they still looking into information that the check turned up, or was found to be hidden. Perhaps reported to the JD or one of the security organizations.
Mandalay
@geg6:
I’d never heard of him until I saw your post, but “vile” seems a little too kind:
Not what you would call a “people person”.
Kay
@Corner Stone:
I forgot “Jewish people”. THIS shooter was an early adopter of the alt Right Nazi fetish. His mother had to force him to remove a swastika he had adorned his backpack with. THIS shooter has some specific qualities that the others lack.
Aleta
@Kay: Cruz said he wanted to shoot our former pres?
Corner Stone
@Jay S: They are Jewish? Good God, that makes it so much worse.
What a POS to make it about him and his masculinity as Daddy Protector. How about you fucking vote to change policies that allow this to happen? Garbage time motherfucker.
Corner Stone
@efgoldman: I’m not giving him any benefit of the doubt.
Considering I’d never be wearing something so hateful, I’m not going to go too far out on a limb on the speculative.
WaterGirl
@geg6: Yes! Conor Lamb. He’s running now in a special election that will be held in early March, right? So that election will still happen with the old districts, correct? So the issue for him is whether he will be in a competitive district when he runs for re-election in the next regular election?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
The IRS inquiries are unrelated to Meuller, but…
Kay
What a coward. If Scott does something for public schools it will be a first. Not just a coward- a liar. He’s blowing them off.
WaterGirl
@Corner Stone: Women and children as possessions.
Aimai
@Corner Stone: what I think and what I would say are two different things.
WaterGirl
@Kay: Surely Rick Scott knows it will be a clusterfuck with Trump coming and he doesn’t want to be anywhere near it. he’s a coward and a liar and he cares more about politics than he cares about the kids who were murdered. But I’ll bet his #1 reason is he’s afraid of the outspoken kids.
I loved the tweet that I saw on Preet’s twitter feed:
Mandalay
@Kay:
Long may his cowardice and lying continue.I had been assuming that he would buy that Senate seat in November, but now I’m not so sure. His position on guns could become a real liability with those pesky parents who have the temerity to get uppity about their children getting slaughtered at school.
Aleta
Although the raffle was previously planned, my guess is their reason for going through with the raffle is more than for the necessity to not back down. But because the message ‘kids + guns = perfectly fine’ is intentional. This week, more than ever, is exactly what they want to put out. Also I’ll guess that the coach is in the NRA, maybe part of their outreach-to-youth programs.
So he could “turn it into a positive thing” indeed.
WaterGirl
From Lawyers, Guns & Money:
edit: I saw this at the bottom of the article.
Make America Grieve Again!
donnah
@WaterGirl:
Oh, you are so kind! I have gotten back to my travel/teach schedule, so hooking time has been limited. But I did get started on the right side border, which is an oak tree, and I should have some more time this week to spend on it.
The other side is a beech tree, and in The Hundred Acre Wood, oaks and beeches are the most common trees. Once those are finished, the background and lettering should go quickly!
Corner Stone
@Aimai: I am sure this is somehow of great import to you.
Corner Stone
@WaterGirl: As we all know, he’s not afraid to fly coach. He just knows he deserves better than everyone else, and can get away with it for as long as he likes.
Aleta
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: such good news
WaterGirl
@donnah: Maybe you can share some more photos once the trees are done? That would be great. If you don’t remember how to use imgur, you could always send photos to Anne Laurie or Adam or Betty Cracker. We can always use a happy open thread.
donnah
@donnah:
here’s the link!
https://i.imgur.com/ip2ytQd.jpg
Aleta
Dear Donjohn,
You’re going to be in the news so much, you’re going to be so sick and tired of being in the headlines, you’re going to come to the reporters and go ‘Please, please, don’t put me in the news anymore.’ You’ll say ‘Please I beg you I don’t want the headlines anymore. It’s too much. It’s not fair to everybody else.’”
Aleta
@donnah: Beautiful…Thank you very much!
Mandalay
This interview with Mario Rubio gives insight into why nothing gets done on gun legislation: https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/965706303891886085
Rubio spends all his time nitpicking, criticizing and sniping while attempting to sound reasonable, but does not specify anything specific that he wants to do to reduce the slaughter. The contrast between Rubio’s sophistry and the straightforward plea of the grieving student (“…make some compromises and get some stuff done…”) was absolutely stunning.
If you want to understand the terms analysis paralysis and admiring the problem you could not do better than that Rubio interview.
WaterGirl
@donnah: You did remember how to use imgur, Go you! If I created something that amazing, I don’t think I could give it away. It’s so impressive that you want to share your gifts with your whole community. Please link to another photo when the trees are done. It’s neat to see how it progresses.
terraformer
From what little I’ve read about Kelly, it’s hard to say whether he’s always been a racist prick. I wonder if it has anything to do with having lost his son in Afghanistan (e.g., he hates everyone not from the US)? Or is that too wide a brush?
WaterGirl
@Mandalay: I like that concept – admiring the problem. It’s definitely a thing, if not a thing to aspire to.
donnah
@WaterGirl:
Thanks, Watergirl. I will post when it’s finished. I have done commissions and have sold my rugs before, and while sometimes it’s difficult, I treat them like surrogates, knowing I have to make a wonderful piece that is meant for others to enjoy.
And giving it to the childrens’ area of our library will be really special to me.
WaterGirl
@donnah: oh, please don’t wait until you are finished! I want to see the trees come into form. (she said selfishly)
donnah
@WaterGirl:
Ha ha! Okay!
geg6
@WaterGirl:
Yes and yes.
Steeplejack
@WaterGirl:
And delusional: “I’m always able to protect my family in any situation.”
Corner Stone
@Steeplejack: His pen!s pride is damaged. It has almost nothing to do with his daughter being murdered.
J R in WV
@Gin & Tonic:
That’s OK for them. Wilmer isn’t a Democrat, wasn’t then, certainly isn’t today!
Steeplejack
@donnah:
Nice!
No One You Know
@WaterGirl: Even in my current state of “stunned into numbness,” I felt this.
It’s the very definition of politicizing tragedy.
So…writing another letter. Not email, this time. Asking my reps to notice this.
Sometimes I wonder if it matters, but even as therapy, it’s worth doing.
WaterGirl
@No One You Know: Rule #1. Stay sane. :-)
J R in WV
@donnah:
@Aleta:
You guys know “hooking” has another meaning, right?
;-)
No offense, intended, I was just a little amused. It took me a moment to remember the home hobbiest meaning. My uncle did hooked art work, his best was a copy of Picasso’s “Woman in a Mirror” IIRC. His daughter has it beside her bed, where she can see it every morning first thing.
SiubhanDuinne
@donnah:
Nice.
rikyrah
@dexwood:
Tell it
donnah
@J R in WV:
Of course I know how it sounds. My husband finds it hilarious when he tells people that his wife’s a hooker. And because I cut wool into narrow strips to use, I’m a stripper, too. Har har.
stinger
@donnah: Beautiful!
donnah
Thanks, everyone! I’ll keep posting progress on the rug. I appreciate the interest and support!