Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

It’s easier to kill a dangerous animal than a man who just happens to have different thoughts/values than one’s own.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

It’s a doggy dog world.

ha ha ha! Nice try weird people.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Another missed opportunity for Jamie Dimon to just shut the fuck up.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

American History and Black History can not be separated.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

Trump makes a mockery of the legal system and cowardly judges just sit back and let him.

I desperately hope that, yet again, I am wrong.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

There is one struggling party in US right now, and it’s not the Democrats.

“And when the Committee says to “report your income,” that could mean anything!

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Monday Evening Open Thread

Monday Evening Open Thread

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Hey, who knows more about making a profit off ginning up terror-hysteria than Rep. Peter “NORAID” King?

On the bright side, at least he’s not a Democrat, has never been a Democrat, and doesn’t pretend to be a Democrat for the media…

Anything on the agenda this evening that doesn’t completely drain the soul?

Reader Interactions

78Comments

  3. 3.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    I’m guessing he isn’t talking about the Irish terror threat that he embraced and nurtured.

  4. 4.

    scav

    lacking all else and avoiding a search for ethernet cables? Deep analysis of the first three episodes of Doctor C. Identity . . . holding up three for three.

  6. 6.

    Elizabelle

    @jeffreyw:

    Can taste the cinnamon on that one. Dig in!

    Thanks, Anne, for the open thread.

    Had my fill of Violet’s Goateed Beaver. And someone’s reasonable speculation that maybe Morning Joe is being groomed to fill said Beaver’s shoes, should this MTP iteration not work out.

  7. 7.

    Elizabelle

    Where is Cassidy? I’ve not been around much, but have not seen him at all for a few days…

    Also: did anyone else watch “Breathless” on Masterpiece Mystery? I kind of liked it, but last episode was the choppiest thing I’ve ever seen.

  8. 8.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @JPL: It’s increasingly difficult to know what a good Catholic is any more. Terrorists, murderers, pedophiles, who can know.

  9. 9.

    Violet

    at least he’s not a Democrat, has never been a Democrat, and doesn’t pretend to be a Democrat for the media…

    I’m sure Fox can turn him into one if they want to.

  12. 12.

    Dog On Porch

    That depends. If watching Monday Night football counts as soul draining, then no, I have anything else on the agenda.

  13. 13.

    Howard Beale IV

    o/~ First you get down on your knees, fiddle with your rosaries,
    bow your head with great respect
    then, genuflect, genuflect genuflect…. o/~

  18. 18.

    lamh36

    Denzel Washington Recalls Experiences with Discrimination and N-Word Insults

    Denzel Washington’s experience shooting his new movie The Equalizer in Boston revived memories of racial discrimination he encountered more than 30 years ago.

    Washington was at the Toronto Film Festival press conference Sunday for Equalizer… talked about acting methods and the uneasiness of the first day of shooting. But a question about filming the movie in Boston and a comment Washington made about his wife’s upcoming one-woman show led to unexpected revelations.

    Washington recalled how about three decades ago he was in Boston with wife Pauletta Learson Washington, who was performing in a play, and some people in his hotel thought he was a pimp, and she was a prostitute. Security was called, and a fight broke out.

    “I didn’t know how to fight, but I knew how to win,” Washington told the assembled media.

    He also recalled how he walked to his wife’s show one night and was called the N-word.

    “‘Hey n—, n—, n—, n—, hey boy.’ I was like, ‘Damn.’ That was the taste I had about Boston,” he said.

  19. 19.

    tsquared2001

    When I was a kid, I would watched Dad grab Mom’s hands whenever she would be whaling on him, talking about, stop, you dumb broad.

    I have also seen two of my older brothers hit their partners.

    I have been Janay in that tape – totally the “oh, I know you did not just hit me, asshole”.

    I think of the seasons as football season and not football season. This has been a bad day.

  21. 21.

    PsiFighter37

    Still hard to believe that it took the video getting out – from freakin’ TMZ, of all places – for Rice to get the (minimal) punishment he deserves for what he did.

    As for Goodell, what a moron. The cover-up will end up being worse for him than the crime…there’s no way the NFL didn’t see this video before handing out that mockery of a suspension to Rice.

    I’m sure someone will mansplain this stuff starting tomorrow though. It sounds like Mike Ditka was already getting started on it.

  23. 23.

    PurpleGirl

    @Elizabelle: Awww. that’s sad. But there are many, many kitties in shelters who would love to make Kevin Drum their human. (And they wouldn’t mind being the subject of Friday Cat Blogging, either.)

  27. 27.

    PsiFighter37

    @Anne Laurie: Almost there, for which I am quite thankful! Woke up at 6 AM yesterday morning and moved all the electronics (save for my wireless router and the laptop I’m typing on) yesterday, along with virtually all of our kitchen supplies. The last bit left to do is mainly for my fiancee – she still has a bunch of clothes that she needs to pack up. Movers get here at 8:30 AM, and that will put a cap to my 6+ years in Curry Hill.

    Wedding planning is basically done as well – the last major item left is giving the DJ the necessary intros for the toasts and anything else we need him to say. Oh, and we need a little bit of luck on the weather this Saturday – the ceremony and cocktail hour are outside, and the current forecast calls for a 30% chance of rain in Westchester County and a high of ~70 and a low of ~50 – I need it to stay above 60 degrees so the string trio can contractually perform. Apparently all the wedding spending doesn’t guarantee you picture-perfect weather, but that suits about right, I guess – when I proposed in SF nearly 2.5 years ago, I was hoping for a killer view from the Land’s End Trail…and it ended up being typically foggy by early afternoon.

    I will say that I am REALLY looking forward to the 15-hour flight the Monday after the wedding and the 3 weeks off of work, though. It will probably be the longest amount of contiguous time I have not had to work since the end of middle school (I worked every summer in high school and college). Maybe the 6 weeks I had after college finished counts as well…but I feel like this will be much better, mainly because I’m not the broke-ass kid just finishing up school that I was, and I’ll be traveling around instead of spending almost all my time at my parents’ place.

  29. 29.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @jeffreyw: Initially I thought that was a cleek filter joke. Such a cynic I am. Now I’m wanting something sweet; I hope you’re happy.

    To answer AL’s question, I’ll be reviewing the archived live blog of opening day of the criminal trial of a local juvenile judge.

  32. 32.

    lamh36

    @Elizabelle: Not that I have even done, but I swear, I’m never allowing ANYONE to buy or bring me a drink with out a sealed cap anymore. Reminds me of being in India where they recommended NOT drinking water from on the street vendor..

  33. 33.

    PurpleGirl

    @lamh36: Not sure how to express my complete gobsmackedness at his actions. This sounds quite sociopathic and that he was raised with social skills whatsoever. I am sorry I read some of the comments: a few people (men?) tried to joke about it but there is nothing funny about it.

  34. 34.

    Anne Laurie

    @PsiFighter37: With luck, some of us will be having a Boston-area meetup this Saturday. We’ll have to make a note to raise a(n extra) toast to you & your new bride!

  35. 35.

    Schlemazel [was Schlemizel till NotMax taught me proper yiddish!]

    @lamh36:
    Perfectly reasonable – I mean how many times has a guy thought “I KNOW! If I just sneak a little of my man juice into her morning java she’ll HAVE to fall madly in love with me!”? Seems completely normal to me.

    Hey, wanna have coffee sometime?

    EDIT: @PurpleGirl:
    oops. Sorry, some things are so sick I have to joke. It keeps me from opening a vein.

  38. 38.

    Schlemazel [was Schlemizel till NotMax taught me proper yiddish!]

    @PurpleGirl:
    Its worse than ‘no social skills’. There is something seriously wrong with him. He needs to be separated from decent society until that gets fixed.

  39. 39.

    lamh36

    Rachel is discussing the ESPN article that actually describes a second video that describes almost to a tee what happens in the elevator.

    So basically the NFL is lying about never seeing the video.

    Totally agree with Booman here. Especially what he says about Janay Rice.

    Not Enjoying the Ray Rice Controversy
    by BooMan
    Mon Sep 8th, 2014 at 03:31:14 PM EST

    …The release of the video is controversial, and I guess it contradicts with what Ray and Janay say happened in that elevator. To that extent, the video tells the truth and is valuable. But the release is also going to be traumatizing to Janay Rice, and very few people seem to care about that…

    To whatever small degree her lying adds to her shame, she mostly doesn’t deserve this. And don’t forget that they are now a married couple, so this is some strange justice. Her family loses its main source of income, perhaps forever, and this is supposed to vindicate her right not to be abused…

  41. 41.

    Schlemazel [was Schlemizel till NotMax taught me proper yiddish!]

    @lamh36:
    Short version:
    The NFL acted not because THEY saw the video but because WE saw the video.

    The benefit (if any) that organized team sports provide in no way compensates for the evil it promotes.

  42. 42.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    ObOpenThread: Speaking of soul-draining…

    An article by Euan MacDonald (a former editor of Kyiv Post). Well worth a read.

    How Russia Defeated Western Journalism:

    Do you think that the government in Ukraine was overthrown in a violent, Western-backed putsch, and the new government in Kyiv is dominated by far-right radicals? Do you suspect that the downing of MH17 was orchestrated by a Kyiv “junta” to garner support for military intervention in Ukraine by the West? Do You think that there has been no armed intervention by the Kremlin in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, with tanks and mercenaries and regular units of the Russian army, and that the war is a purely domestic Ukrainian affair? Do you think that the volunteer battalions fighting on the behalf of the Kyiv government are, to a man, neo-Nazi fascists, hell-bent on subjugating the people of eastern Ukraine, and forcing them to speak Ukrainian rather than Russian?

    Then you’ve been hoodwinked by Kremlin propaganda.

    Don’t feel too ashamed though: you’ve been mislead by the most sophisticated propaganda machine that the world has ever seen – one that attacks, undermines and emasculates a key source of information that you may rely on: the Western media. As a small part of that media, I’m partly to blame for your being mislead, so I owe it to you to explain as best I can how this happened.

    […]

    Absurd though it seems, these are the reasons I cannot tell you on the radio tonight some things that I know personally to be true: There never was a rebellion in Ukraine: it was fomented by Russian intelligence operatives – most people in eastern Ukraine never supported the separatists. The reason the Ukrainian army has suffered reverses in the last two weeks is because Russia sent in massive quantities of men and materiel to stop the “rebels” from losing. MH17 was almost certainly shot down by a BUK anti-aircraft missile, operated by Russians. And the “ceasefire” is almost certainly a ruse to wrong foot the West and the Ukrainian government into lowering its guard ahead of further Russian intervention in Ukraine, and then further afield.

    I can’t tell you all that because the Kremlin propagandists will assault my every claim with obfuscation, confusion and denial, and their account will be broadcast in the Western media, who “seek the other side of the story,” and give it equal airtime, as if this other side of the story is not the outright lies and propaganda that it actually is.

    That is why Russian propaganda has defeated Western journalism. Now: what are we going to do about it?

    Check it out (you too, Bob in Portlandia).

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  43. 43.

    Anoniminous

    @lamh36:

    Outstanding.

    Georgia had a 39.9% voter turn-out in 2010. The seat is winnable if the Dems and OFA get in there and hustle.

  44. 44.

    WaterGirl

    @lamh36: BooMan links to Dave Zirin:

    The Revictimizing of Janay Rice

    ESPN “NFL insider” Adam Schefter was enraged and called the entire situation “the biggest black eye in league history.” Unfortunate phrasing aside, even the statement speaks volumes. What about every other act of domestic violence in league history that wasn’t caught on videotape? What about the Kansas City Chiefs’ Jovan Belcher two seasons ago actually killing the mother of his child, Kasandra Perkins, before taking his own life? Why are these actions seen as less of a black eye? The answer, of course, is that this one was caught on videotape. In other words, it damages the league’s public relations. In other words, this is—again—not about Janay Rice. It is about the well-being of the league.

    So if no one is going to talk about the welfare of the person who is actually subjected to the violence on that tape, let’s talk about it here. I spent the morning communicating with people who work on issues involving domestic violence and violence against women nearly every day of their lives. They all said the same thing, without dissent: releasing this tape to the world is incredibly damaging to Janay Rice. Just as we would protect the name of an alleged rape victim, just as we would not show a video of Ray Rice committing a sexual assault, we should not be showing this video like it’s another episode of Rich People Behaving Badly. If Janay Rice wanted to show this tape to the world, in other words if she had offered her consent, that is a different matter. But showing and reshowing it just because we can is an act of harm.

    Re-enactment of a comment I put up in an earlier thread.

  45. 45.

    lamh36

    For people asking “Why did she marry him?” Check out the #WhyIStayed hastag on twitter and check out the heartbreaking answers! While you are at it, also check out the #WhenILeft timeline as well.

    #WhyIStayed

    @hellokaman 4m
    #whyistayed b/c I thought getting screamed at and put down was how normal couples fight.

    @Karnythia 2h
    #WhyIStayed I always fought back so I thought it was my fault too. #WhenILeft I realized that I had a right to self defense.

    ‏@traciethoms 2h
    My friend: “#WhyIStayed : He said he’d kill himself if I left. But I finally left after he told me he’d thought about killing me too.”

    #WhenILeft

    © ‏@MarshaAmbrosius 45m
    They attempted suicide #WhyIStayed
    They attempted suicide #WhenILeft

    @Karnythia 2h
    #WhenILeft it was to save myself & to save my son from thinking the abuse was normal. He was 2 & trying to protect me.

    @9LivesofKat 4m
    #WhenILeft is when I realized it wouldn’t stop & eventually I would become a story on the news of how “I was such a nice girl.”

  48. 48.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @lamh36: I am a guy, and there are a lot of bars in which I will only drink bottled beer. Watered-down booze, worse than generic brands poured into premium bottles, iffy hygiene, and that’s before I get to the concerns you were raising.

  49. 49.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @lamh36: There is an apocryphal story that some of the members of the Sex Pistols did the same into Glen Matlock’s ( the original bassist for the group) jar of mayo and then served him a sandwich.

  51. 51.

    lamh36

    I’m really not comfortable with Maddow et al continually showing the video of Janay Rice being knocked out by Ray.

    I don’t care if they give you a “heads up” that they will be showing the video, just direct people to TMZ if you have to.

    I mean compare this to the beheading of those journalists…they chose to not even broadcast the video out of respect for their families.

    But they continually show this video of Janay Rice being knocked unconscious and dragged out of that elevator on a continuous loop? Something is just not right about that!

  52. 52.

    Elizabelle

    @Schlemazel [was Schlemizel till NotMax taught me proper yiddish!]:

    The NFL acted not because THEY saw the video but because WE saw the video.

    That’s exactly it, too.

    Big money corrupts everything. I’d like to see a scalp or two over this. (NFL executives.)

    Feel so badly for Janay, who stuck with her fiance/now husband. And why?

    That hit looked bad enough to do brain damage.

    ETA: It’s bad enough they let the players sustain concussions. But the families? Come on!!

  54. 54.

    Elizabelle

    @lamh36:

    I’m actually OK with the elevator video, although I hope cable outlets don’t play it enough to desensitize viewers. (A la the Simi Valley Rodney King jury.) And they might, if they think it draws viewers/$$$$.

    People need to see what violence against a woman means, and the video is more compelling than any written description.

    Seeing it once or twice — you don’t need to see it again. It has registered.

    If OJ had ever been caught on video abusing Nicole, maybe she would still have life and breath.

    I hope to never see a beheading video. Avoid stuff like that.

    But they’re different.

  55. 55.

    catclub

    @PsiFighter37: It is amazing how little imagination people have. Only when the video of him knocking her out appears, do people figure what kind of hitting someone is involved in a person being unconscious on the floor of the elevator.

  57. 57.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @catclub: I have no intention of voluntarily watching the video, but I have seen things the look like light hits knock a person out and things that look like they should have killed the the person being hit barely faze the person. What I can say is that a blow that knocks out a person is a serious one, no matter what it looked like.

  58. 58.

    lamh36

    @Elizabelle: And yet the video of him dragging her from the elevator, WAS NOT showed on a continuous loop when it came out.

    I mean the people need to actually see his fist connect to her face to be “outraged” is just ridiculous.

    @TheLastWord 2m
    How did seeing the video of Ray Rice & Janay Palmer make you feel? Did the @nfl do enough? http://on.msnbc.com/1BokzYO

    Really, really, we are asked to tell them how ‘WE” feel, but not one of them cared enough about how Janay Rice must/will feel knowing this video is being played on a loop on every newscast?

    No, it matters more how we feel when we see it, NOT what the victim feels.

    I’m thinking alot of this is because Janay went back/married Rice anyway. So maybe people in the back of their minds feels her victimhood is somehow not as deserving of some consideration of her feelings.

  59. 59.

    Ruckus

    @jeffreyw:
    That’s not fair, posting that. It’s a low blow that’s what it is, a low blow.
    Here I am thinking about dinner and you show up with the perfect meal, apple pie a la mode. My grilled salmon just won’t be the same.

  60. 60.

    PurpleGirl

    @Gin & Tonic: I read the article. It confirms my impression that you cannot tell what a person is until you spend more time with them and that you understand the very complex history of the area. Things are not black & white but thousands of shades of gray. And it’s been that way going back centuries. That is one point that makes BoP a fool and tool. Thanks for the link, btw.

  61. 61.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Ruckus:

    My grilled salmon just won’t be the same.

    Have you considered following it with apple pie a la mode? All I had was microwaved potato with sour cream and cheese because I am single and lazy. I do have one last gelato ice cream sandwich in the freezer, but I don’t think its day is today.

  62. 62.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Gin & Tonic: I really hope that nothing fucked up happens in the Carpathians. That is getting far too close to NATO countries like Romania.

  63. 63.

    Ruckus

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name):
    Walked to the store earlier today but am not doing it again. And no, I don’t have any sweets around. My problem is if I have any I will eat them till they are gone. I’d say close to zero self control once I purchase, so I skip that part. I do have some apples but they are the wrong kind to make a pie and I don’t have any other ingredients.
    I’ll have to make do with just the mouth watering part.

  64. 64.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Ruckus: My mother has that. I would save “good” Halloween and Easter candy. Sometimes, and I have a good memory, a solid chocolate bunny wouldn’t be there when I went to look for it. Years later, Mom confessed. If you giver her a box of candy, it is gone in 24 hours max. Yet, she is one of the most self-disciplined people I have ever met. Everyone has a weakness or two. One of mine is European women. It’s beyond my control.

  65. 65.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): The only area where I have some concern is along the border with Transdnistria, but that’s not the Carpathians anyway. But anyone who thinks there’s any level of separatism in Uzhhorod, or Mukachevo, or Khust, or Rakhiv can’t possibly have been there in recent years. Sure, it’s a little odd seeing street signs in Ukrainian and Hungarian, for instance, but those areas are quiet and stable, and those signs have been that way probably since before WWII.

  66. 66.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Gin & Tonic: Just seeing the Carpathians mentioned in some stories churned my stomach a little. I have driven in them – in a NATO country. Transdnistria is a bit too close for comfort as well. I don’t follow it as closely as some, so I do not pretend to be informed about the specifics, but potential Russian-Ukrainain conflicts on the Romanian borders is going to make NATO have a second cup of coffee.

  67. 67.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name): That reminds me….

    I can’t find the link again, of course, but the BBC had an interview with the head of one of the rebel commanders in eastern Ukraine. He said (according to this transcript):

    Despite the ceasefire being breached, neither the pro-Russian nor Ukrainian side is willing to declare the truce officially over.

    But pro-Russian rebel leader Pavel Gubarev has told the BBC there is unfinished business to be resolved.

    (Translated) “Of course, I will be glad if missiles stop exploding here. But I will be more satisfied when our rebel army reaches the border of Romania. Then, there will be an independent state called New Russia.”

    :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  68. 68.

    Suzanne

    So Phoenix got hit by a tropical storm today. Starting around midnight and lasting for about eight hours, we had heavy rain. In fact, today was the wettest day in recorded history here. We got over five inches (that’s what she said) here in my corner. Schools closed, roofs collapsed, homes and roads flooded, dumbasses who had to be rescued from the top of their cars, the works. We often get short bursts of very heavy rain, but they stop after about ten minutes. This rain was that hard, but for hours. Apparently we got more rain today than we did all of last year. The thunder was shaking the house and I got next to no sleep last night, so I’m off to bed now. Supposed to rain again tomorrow and Wednesday.

    Climate change AHOY.

  70. 70.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: Yeah when BiP wonders what the US interest is, the security of NATO allies comes to mind. And yes, BiP, (if you are reading this) there were fascists in Romania. OTOH, my connections to the country come through my ex whose family was rather high up in the Communist government.

  73. 73.

    Gin & Tonic

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: What they’re talking about is taking the southern perimeter, essentially the north shore of the Black Sea. West of Odessa there’s a small section “underneath” Moldova where Ukraine borders Romania — but to OO, that’s not the Carpathians — to get to the Romanian border in the Carpathians, you have to go north of Moldova through Kamyanets-Podilsky and on to Chernivtsi, and there is *no* Russian support there. And to think that Russia can build a land bridge from Rostov all the way through Odessa and down to Romania, completely cutting Ukraine off from the Black Sea in the process, is seriously delusional thinking. In Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts, Poroshenko polled nearly 50%, in the northern ones (Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky, Chernivtsi) at or over 60%.

  74. 74.

    Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)

    @Gin & Tonic: I know that the Carps don’t run to the Black Sea. They simply were mentioned in some stories, and, despite my doubts about veracity, they made me nervous. It is the centennial of WWI after all.

  75. 75.

    Suzanne

    In case y’all are interested, many Phoenix-area animal shelters were hit really hard by the storm and have lost a lot of supplies. Here’s a story. If you’re looking to donate, I’m sure they would appreciate it. Four of my animals have come from the Campus for Compassion.

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