Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

People are weird.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

Dead end MAGA boomers crying about Talyor Swift being a Dem is my kind of music. Turn it up.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Everyone is in a bubble, but some bubbles model reality far better than others!

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Come on, man.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

When they say they’re pro-life, they don’t mean yours.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

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

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Hail to the Hairpiece / Saturday Morning Clown Show Open Thread

Saturday Morning Clown Show Open Thread

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christie runs away w trump circus sheneman

(Drew Sheneman via GoComics.com)
.

After a week like this, I think we’re all entitled to a little mindless entertainment, and it doesn’t get any more mindless than this year’s Republican presidential contest…

From Costa’s Washington Post article:

… “That was a very deliberate reopening of the same conversation,” Gingrich said in an interview Thursday. “He has concluded that you guys in the media will kill him unless he destroys your credibility. Guaranteeing that the media is not believable is a significant building block of this campaign, as important as showing that Hillary Clinton is corrupt.”

The moment was a telling sign of how the two align, especially when it comes to how to respond to controversy. It also captured the bond between Gingrich and Trump, two consummate insiders who see themselves as outsiders, if not loners, and as having never been fully embraced by “the elites,” whether in Washington or on Wall Street.

That mutual sensibility has elevated Gingrich to Trump’s shortlist to become his running mate. If picked, Gingrich would function not only as a seasoned hand at Trump’s side but also as his alter ego: a combative, populist-sounding politician who relishes clashes with reporters and tearing into presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton…

Much as these two lifelong grifters have in common, and skilled as Newt may be in the dark arts of courtiership, I see one giant roadblock to a Combover Caligula/Giant Albino Amphibian ticket: No moderately vain man of Gingrich’s age with such a fine head of hair can resist flaunting his glory. And Newt (as he would be the first to tell us) does nothing in moderation. Were he, after a long day of joint campaigning, to so forget his place as to verbally tweak Lord Short Thumb’s lesser mane… well, the Secret Service has been trained to spring into action at the first sign of violence, and I’m sure they could wrest the steak knife out of Trump’s hand before he could corner Newt against the buffet table.

Apart from buying more circus peanuts (speaking of which: has any enterprising entrepreneur got plans for selling marshmallow candies molded in the likeness of the GOP candidate at their Cleveland convention? And if not, why not?), what’s on the agenda for the weekend?

Reader Interactions

230Comments

  2. 2.

    Phylllis

    We are in Charlotte NC for a long weekend. Avoiding the news, which is pretty easy, since the tv in our room isn’t working.

  3. 3.

    Central Planning

    I really don’t see how anyone can vote for Trump.

    Certainly if Trump ran as a democrat I would NOT vote for him.

    Anyway, Trump/’rich 2016!

  4. 4.

    RedDirtGirl

    Am planning on a visit to Governor’s Island (NY Harbor) to see if there are still hammocks strung up there. I know there were some a few years ago, but can’t find any information on whether it is a permanent thing. But if there is the possibility of hammock action, it must be looked into!

  5. 5.

    bystander

    I’m convinced Trump is a lookist and as such will never surround himself with overweight guys like Christie or Gingrich. Similarly simian Joni Ernst. Has Pence withdrawn yet?

  6. 6.

    OzarkHillbilly

    My replacement chickens arrive this week. So a trip to the feed store and then to finish getting the coop ready for them. After that who knows. Maybe I’ll finish watching that movie I fell asleep during last night.

  7. 7.

    Face

    The Dems outta sponsor a contest where they buy an enormous amount of Cheeetos, place them in a huge container, and have kids look for the one that looks the most like The Don or Jesus, or both. Then Cheetos Jesus is photographed and used in place of The Don every time they need a stock photo.

    Give the winning kid a free trip to the Dem convention.

  11. 11.

    Immanentize

    Whenever one of Trump’s vanquished opponents speaks at RNC, he should be introed with a montage of Trump’s cruelest attacks on the speaker

    This is why I think Christie is out and Ernst or Gingrich are better choices for Trump.

    How crazy cray cray is it that I just wrote that sentence not in jest? Sheesh.

  18. 18.

    dmsilev

    @Baud: Is there anything preventing him from naming himself as Veep? Or maybe the hair can be his running mate, though it might fail the ‘naturally-born’ test.

  20. 20.

    MattF

    DC has a standing army of Noot haters. And, as it’s been pointed out, he was subject to various investigations, and the investigators (e.g., Nancy Pelosi) have excellent memories and are highly motivated to bring him down, hard. And– btw– who, exactly, is Noot’s constituency?

    So, by any rational standard, Noot is a bad choice. What Der Trump will do, though, is anyone’s guess.

  21. 21.

    Splitting Image

    If Donald Trump proves unable to push Utah into the Democratic column by himself, adding Newt Gingrich to the ticket just might do it.

  27. 27.

    Cat48

    @RedDirtGirl:

    In my area, everyone has a strung hammock from Pawley’s Island, SC. They’re just called Pawley’s Island hammocks. They’re sold in tourist areas.

  28. 28.

    Schlemazel Khan

    @NotMax:
    That is what I assume, Drumpf has no real activities at this point but needs to keep his brand circulating in the press. THis beauty pageant (including his loverly daughter) is simply candy to satisfy the media children and generate excitement before the convention.

    But that does leave the big questions, WHO? I don’t have a clue but would bet it is none of the names his team is floating.

  29. 29.

    Baud

    @Schlemazel Khan: The media yesterday was all aflutter that Trump’s statement in response to Dallas was reasonable.

    Meanwhile, they barely covered Clinton’s speech last night in Philadelphia because, I assume, she didn’t mention her emails.

  30. 30.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    My money for Veep is still on one of his kids.

    Imagine the fun of watching his media supporters justify that decision.

  31. 31.

    Schlemazel Khan

    @Baud:
    They suffer from summer doldrums too. School is out so they don’t want to think, they want to play. Playing with the crazy kid will get them ‘good’ stories (designated ‘good’ because they draw eyeballs and outrage) with no real effort. Lets hope that once school is back in session they will get serious because “President Drumpf” is too horrific to imagine.

  32. 32.

    debbie

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    finish watching that movie I fell asleep during last night

    Similarly, I’ll be finishing up the first season of Luther. After this week, I could use some light-hearted entertainment.

  35. 35.

    Baud

    @Schlemazel Khan:

    Lets hope that once school is back in session they will get serious because “President Drumpf” is too horrific to imagine.

    Same goes for all of us.

  37. 37.

    different-church-lady

    If picked, Gingrich would function not only as a seasoned hand at Trump’s side but also as his alter ego: a combative, populist-sounding politician who relishes clashes with reporters and tearing into presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton…

    That’s not Trump’s alter ego; that is his primary ego.

  40. 40.

    Kay

    They look horrible together- two puffy, soft, pampered old men. Hillary Clinton looks less fussed-over and contrived than either of them and I bet she spends less time on her hair.

  41. 41.

    ThresherK

    The cookout for today was rescheduled for tomorrow, a good move by our hostess. I’m making chocolate ganache cupcakes to bring as dessert.

  42. 42.

    FlyingToaster (Tablet)

    Doesn’t Dipshit Donald (h/t Olbermann) need someone who can help him with the RNC and fundraising?

  43. 43.

    Montysano

    I’m turning off the news and cranking up the turntable. Got a new reissue of the Jackie Brown soundtrack that I’m anxious to spin.

    As a 62 year old life-long politics junkie, I never thought things would get so weird as to no longer be amusing. We have arrived at that distant place.

  44. 44.

    gogol's wife

    I actually enjoyed the Trump short story in the NYTimes Book Review last Sunday, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, told from Melania’s point of view. It was well done.

  46. 46.

    Mike J

    In case you ever had any doubts about the Paulites influence on part of our party, Weigel reports that late into the night the platform committee was in heated argument about the ExIm bank.

  47. 47.

    Woodrowfan

    well, the Secret Service has been trained to spring into action at the first sign of violence, and I’m sure they could wrest the steak knife out of Trump’s hand before he could corner Newt against the buffet table.

    maybe, but after a couple weeks I bet they’d be reallllyyyyy tempted to watch and place bets…

  48. 48.

    JPL

    @gogol’s wife: That was a fun read. As long as Trump loses, the good news/bad news, is he’ll ruin his brand. Bad news because he’ll just declare bankruptcy and take his millions home.

  50. 50.

    NorthLeft12

    @Iowa Old Lady: I agree with this 100%….for most Rs. I have met a few [Dole repubs from Kansas] on my travels that are sickened by what their party has turned into. These older folks [early 70s] were horrified by Brownback and Trump and Cruz and the rest. Although in a discussion with some other Americans I got this comment; “Well, they are from Lawrence, so that kind of figures.” Is every US university city considered a hotbed of liberalism?

  52. 52.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @NorthLeft12:

    Is every US university city considered a hotbed of liberalism?

    They are hotbeds of education, you know, the use of facts, logic, reasoning. So the same thing.

  53. 53.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @MattF: Trump and the Teabaggers will play some sort of clumsy “identity politics” card to try to counter Hillary.

    How about Sarah Huckabee Sanders?

    Sarah Huckabee Sanders is a senior advisor for Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.[1] She is also vice president of Tsamoutales Strategies in Little Rock, Arkansas.[2]
    Huckabee Sanders previously managed the 2016 presidential campaign of Mike Huckabee and worked as Huckabee’s national political director in 2008.[3] She served as a senior advisor to Tim Pawlenty in his 2012 presidential run.[4]
    She was also involved in the campaigns of both U.S. Senators from Arkansas, directing John Boozman’s 2010 campaign and serving as an advisor to Tom Cotton’s 2014 re-election.
    Sanders is Huckabee’s daughter and is married to Bryan Sanders, Huckabee’s 2016 media consultant.[5]

    Grab the womens, the Huckabee Talibanical base, the whites, the youngs-and-prettys. What’s not to like?

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (Who is only half-kidding…)

  56. 56.

    Hal

    ruh-Roh. Lots of whitesplaining and all lives mattering on my Facebook page this morning. This is why at 42 I don’t like having too many high school friends on Facebook any more. It is amazing to me how many Tupac/nwa loving white friends are so dismissive of the real life experiences of people of color, and have the nerve to insist how wrong we are on race in America. The lack of awareness and desire to sweep everything under the rug is angering and disheartening.

  57. 57.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I never thought Gingrich would be able to fake subservience long enough to make Trump pick him, but maybe that’s exactly the kind of “somebody to do the boring stuff” pick Trump is looking for. Robert Costa said his sources are telling him Mike Pence would be willing to resign as Gov to be Trump’s Veep candidate, and I have no problem believing Pence is dumb enough to believe this is the path to the Big Chair and the pages of history.

    I think it was some time in early February I gave up trying to game out the GOP primary because every possible outcome seemed just as unlikely as all the others. That’s how I’m feeling about Trump’s Veep pick. And are the conventions really just a couple of weeks away? O for a remote cottage on the windswept shore of a British isle. Within stumbling distance of a pub and with really good internet so I could still see the funny stuff.

  58. 58.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Mike J: I’m sure more than a few Bernie-or-Busters would give her a double-take. :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  59. 59.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @NorthLeft12: Is every US university city considered a hotbed of liberalism?

    I know there are old, local jokes about “The People’s Republic of Boulder/Berkley/Madison…” and I assume a lot of other college towns I haven’t visited

  60. 60.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Hal: Sadly, what happened in Dallas is a litmus test to determine if the white people you know are “friends” or “acquaintances”.

  64. 64.

    rikyrah

    ‘I would have done 5’: Nashville cop busted for callous post about Philando Castile
    08 JUL 2016 AT 20:04 ET

    Police officers in two Tennessee cities were swiftly disciplined for social media activity following the fatal shootings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling this week.

    In Nashville, Officer Anthony Venable, an eight-year veteran of the force, was “decommissioned” after posting, “Yeah. I would have done 5,” in a Facebook conversation regarding the shooting death of Castile, who was shot four times during a traffic stop. Venable said the comment was meant to be sarcastic.

    “The police department is treating this matter very seriously and took immediate action, regardless of what he claims the context to have been,” Police Chief Steve Anderson told The Tennessean. Anderson had previously told The Tennessean that he was concerned that people were judging all police by the actions of the police officers involved in the shootings of Sterling and Castile.

    “I am extremely concerned and disturbed by the videos and the accounts we have heard thus far coming from Baton Rouge and Falcon Heights,” Anderson said.

    A vigil and protest is planned for Friday night in Nashville, and Anderson said that the vigil should go on as scheduled, despite the massacre of police in Dallas Thursday night. Anderson indicated his support for people to express their concerns. He insisted that Venable was not representative of the Nashville force.

    He told Nashville Public Radio: “What he said does not in any way represent the men and women of this police department It was a disservice to the city of Nashville. It was a disservice to this police department. It was a disservice to every individual officer on the street. It’s something that can’t be tolerated.”

    Meanwhile, over in Memphis, the Commercial-Appeal reported that Memphis Interim Director Michael Rallings had suspended two officers for a social media post. The officers posted an image on Snapchat that was an illustration of a white hand pointing a gun at an emoji depicting a black child.

  65. 65.

    scav

    @Hal: Oh, and I’d bet there’s not much discussion about why an American war vet (suddenly lacking usual fanfare of automatic deference) could come to feel so without hope in our society that he’d do such a thing. (It was never his country to get back, clearly.) But the vets that were killed — the audios suddenly back! The differing examples and experiences of two individuals, one a war vet, one a beloved employed man and father are just instantly lumped into the broken culture that doesn’t count as real American. I’m sure it’s all very cozy and tidy.

  66. 66.

    Cacti

    Newt Gingrich was pushed out of the Speaker’s chair in favor of a known pederast.

    (Drops mic).

  67. 67.

    Run, Lillian!

    Watching the Wimbledon Women’s Final- Go Serena!!!!

    Also, it’s just brain-meltingly hot in Denver these days. Yuck.

    Also, too- Trump and Newt, is this the “Can We Possibly Alienate American Women More” ticket? Bril.

  69. 69.

    rikyrah

    Jon Favreau ‏@jonfavs 2h2 hours ago
    Could anyone who works at @CNN please tell me why you gave Joe Walsh airtime after he publicly threatened the President?

  72. 72.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Chris T.: Minor problem. If he wants her, he’ll put her on the Extreme Trump Makeover Program™ and turn her into a Tiffany Trump look-alike in no-time.

    Bigly.

    :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  74. 74.

    Arm The Homeless

    Recycled exactly 6 laptops and various other electronic sundry at our County solid waste site, conveniently open 6 days a week 8-5pm. I get to pretend my Toshiba laptop circa 2004 will be lovingly repurposed, rather than sent to India or China to be burnt in bonfires and sifted through by children. My tax dollars hard at work.

    So I stop by Panera to settle down a hangry wifey, and I am seated next to a table of 60-70yo, politically aware white folks. The resignation they felt for Cheetos Jesus was palpable. Questions of convention shenanigans and downballot recruitment just kept veering back to the Head Clown, himself. Wish I could have stayed longer, but my food was getting cold and the dog had already stolen my spot in bed.

  75. 75.

    rikyrah

    Steven Greenhouse
    ‏@greenhousenyt
    The New Yorker–The NRA is far less active in asserting the 2nd Amendment rights of black Americans than white ones

  77. 77.

    rikyrah

    HOW is this anything BUT….

    RACIAL PROFILING?

    …………………………………………

    “he looks like one of our suspects just cause of his wide-set nose” – police audio of Philando Castile’s traffic stop

    ST PAUL – The uncle of Philando Castile said the police scanner audio we obtained is an example of racial profiling.

    KARE 11 has attempted to confirm the authenticity of the recording with police officials, but so far they have not responded.

    We have verified that the license plate mentioned by police in the recording matches the plate of the car Castile was driving. The location the officer gives also corresponds to the locations of the traffic stop.

    “I’m going to stop a car,” the officer says on the recording. “I’m going to check IDs. I have reason to pull it over.”

    “The two occupants just look like people that were involved in a robbery,” the officer says. “The driver looks more like one of our suspects, just ‘cause of the wide set nose,” the officer continues.

  78. 78.

    rikyrah

    Annie Drea @AnnieDreaXO
    Police just shot another black man 10 times because they thought he had a gun… He didn’t have anything #Houston #AlvaBraziel

  80. 80.

    Shell

    Do you think theres a possibility that Newt takes seriously Donald joking about ditching the presidency if he actually wins? That he sees this as a way of stepping into the White House?

  83. 83.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    Since the “Site Maintenance” section (in the Quick Links) seems to be a place where threads go to die now, can I make a feature request here (before this thread dies, also too)?

    Since there’s no quick way to know what threads have changed since I last read them (except looking at the short “Recent Comments” section), it would be helpful (to me anyway), if the Left Arrow and Right Arrow hover widgets had the number of comments listed along with the post title. E.g. “Friday Night Open Thread (116)”. Keeping track of that number without having to load the page or refresh the main page might reduce the server load (from needless refreshes) a little and make it a little easier for readers.

    Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  84. 84.

    grandpa john

    @Hal: Living in SC , you can imagine what my facebook page looks like. I am constantly amazed at the number of my former students that at the time I thought were fairly intelligent but now have lost any ability to think logically and reasonably if they ever indeed did possess it.
    my face book time is spent in keeping up with the kids and grandkids and looking to see if my granddaughter has posted any new pictures of my 8 month old great-granddaughter

  85. 85.

    MattF

    @Shell: Noot has several different personae. One is the public Noot– but there’s also the private “You have something I want” Noot and the public-but-not-in-front-of-cameras “You’re blocking God’s view of my golden visage” Noot. All rather different.

  87. 87.

    rikyrah

    It’s Saturday Morning:
    1. Where is the Official Dallas Police report about what happened to those other ‘suspects’ that were detained?

    Where is there anything about them being released?

    2. They’ve admitted that Dallas officers discharged their weapons.

    So, how many of the officers killed, were killed by ‘ friendly fire’?

    3. Where is the ‘ DRONES DRONES DRONES DRONES’ crowd that’s been screeching the entire time of the Obama Presidency about this man being BLOWN UP by a DRONE?
    ( Yeah, I won’t waste my breath waiting for you…you are EXACTLY who I thought you were.)

  89. 89.

    Glidwrith

    @rikyrah: All very good questions. I find the drone bombing troubling in the extreme. It reminds me of Fahrenheit 451 and the robot hunter.

    Didn’t Cole warn us of what would happen if the police had access to drone tech?

  91. 91.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Kay:

    Trump is 70 and Newt is 73. That ticket would put both POTUS and VPOTUS in Reagan age territory. Risky!

    And, not that there’s anything inherently wrong with a big age difference between marital partners, but Melania is 46 and Callista is 50 — respectively a 24-year and 23-year age gap.

    I am a petty and shallow person.

  92. 92.

    ThresherK

    @SiubhanDuinne: All I can say is, Callista had better watch herself. If she knows what’s good for her marital status* she shouldn’t go to a doctor, or even that little machine at the CVS which reads your blood pressure. Show no weakness or he’ll drop her ass.

    *This is with the understanding that she wants to remain married to Newton Leroy Gingrich, Pseuuuuuuuuudo Intellectualllll.

  93. 93.

    MattF

    @Glidwrith: There’s a human driving the drone. So, there’s a policy governing the person driving the drone. So, there’s a process for deciding the policy for the person driving the drone. Et cetera.

  94. 94.

    grandpa john

    @Cacti: The wonder is why it hadn’t happened sooner. I have been expecting something like it for some time. Some people are just ignorant of history and human nature.

  95. 95.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @WaterGirl: A weasel got into my chicken coop. A weasel in the hen house is far worse than a fox. A fox will only kill what it can eat. A weasel will kill everything, bathe in the blood of it’s victims, and then return to Weaselville where it will recount the slaughter in great detail for the admiring hordes.

  96. 96.

    Shell

    In a down thread, Cole asked for recipes for canning jalapenos. The recipe I gave him came from foodinjars.com that also has this tasty looking concoction , since its that time of year, thought Id post it. (Dont stress about p itting all those cherries. She recommends cooking the fruit till soft, and then just pressing them out.
    Sweet Cherry Barbecue Sauce
    Yield: makes between 4 and 5 half pints

    Ingredients

    3 pounds cherries, pitted
    1 cup apple cider vinegar
    1 cup brown sugar
    1 cup minced onion
    2 garlic cloves, crushed
    2 teaspoons smoked paprika
    2 teaspoons salt
    1 teaspoon chili powder
    1/2 teaspoon cayenne
    Instructions

    Combine all ingredients in a wide pot with a tight-fitting lid and stir to combine.
    Place lidded pot on the stove over medium-high heat and cook for approximately 20 minutes, until the cherries and onions have softened.
    Continue to cook, with the lid off, until the mixture has reduced by approximately half.
    Remove pot from heat. Using an immersion blender, puree the mixture until smooth (you may have to tip the pan a little in order to do this without splashing). If you don’t have an immersion blender, scrape the mixture into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
    If the sauce is nice and thick, it is done. If it’s still a little watery, return it to the heat and cook a bit longer. At this point, taste it and add more salt or pepper, if necessary.
    When it’s finished, remove the pot from the stove and funnel the finished sauce into the prepared jars. Wipe rims, apply lids and rings and process in a boiling water bath canner for 15 minutes.

  97. 97.

    Shell

    and then return to Weaselville where it will recount the slaughter in great detail for the admiring hordes.

    Thats how Toad got kicked out of Toad Hall!

  98. 98.

    ThresherK

    @OzarkHillbilly: If I didn’t know you had a chicken coop, I’d think you’d been reading a very dark fanfic from Thornton Burgess’ “Mother West Wind” stories.

  99. 99.

    Kay

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Well, we are petty and shallow, but Clinton is not so it’s okay :)

    They do look pampered, particularly Gingrich. You could put him in a scene with him stepping out of a horse-drawn carriage in slippers with bows on them. They look soft- like they go from the back of the SUV to the reception room at a hotel and no where else. Clinton actually looks like a normal, older working woman in her practical pantsuits. She should go back to the matching jacket and slacks- that’s her real personality.

  100. 100.

    Emma

    @shomi: What the hell is your problem? If I give you a doll would you tell us where Cole touched you? You’re sounding more unhinged everyday.

  104. 104.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @ThresherK: I saved you the truly gory details of exactly how a weasel kills and consumes. It sounds like something out of a vampire movie only far worse. Compared to nature, Hollywood is sorely lacking in imagination.

  105. 105.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    My FB feed today is full of well intentioned white people posting things about fixing what’s wrong with us whites and our inability to look in the mirror. I’m always calling racists out on FB, and because both my daughters married black men, any “friends” that post any racist shit will hear from me. I make my contempt obvious. I just simply stopped caring whether they care. I’ve seen enough, and my grade school teacher daughter is also showing the way – she’s a force multiplier for good, and is becoming a leader among her teacher peers about calling them out too. Silence is not an option any more.

  106. 106.

    MomSense

    @NorthLeft12:

    What upsets me is that people who know, Republicans who know, what has happened in Kansas are upset. Kansas is the poster child for the economics the Republicans advocate. If we had a neutral news media, every Republican who spews crap about tax cuts for job creators, slashing government spending, etc would be asked to explain what happened to Kansas and why they want that for the country.
    We aren’t talking about economic theories in the abstract. You can look at Kansas, look at how California has rebounded once they stopped these policies and have real world proof of what works and what doesn’t.

  107. 107.

    different-church-lady

    @Hal:

    This is why at 42 I don’t like having too many high school friends on Facebook any more.

    But people keep insisting that reconnecting with High School friends is the most valuable feature of Facebook!

    No, wait, that’s the second most valuable — the first is keeping up with the insane thoughts your distant relatives are having about politics.

  108. 108.

    Glidwrith

    @MattF: I am unaware of any policy describing a police-driven bomb-bearing drone for the purpose of blowing someone up.

    Would policy apply like a SWAT sniper? Or the sort of robot deployed to detonate possible bombs?

    If it is easier to kill without endangering a policeman, is it more likely to happen?

  110. 110.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @MomSense: All true, but follow the money.

    Who buys the ads in newspapers and on TV and Radio? Companies. Companies (especially big companies) tend (on average) to be run by Republicans. Even if newspapers want to point out how dangerous Brownback’s, etc., policies are, they feel they have to be careful about how they report it for fear of cutting their ad revenue.

    The internet had (and still has) the promise of steering power away from the big media outlets and making reporting less beholden to advertisers. But we’re not there yet. Cameras in everyone’s hands is helping and perhaps that will save us.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  113. 113.

    ThresherK

    @OzarkHillbilly: Oh, I don’t want the full details. Thank you for that.

    (And I say that as someone with an uncanny ability when channel surfing to find nature shows with animals feeding on each other.)

  114. 114.

    beth

    @rikyrah: 3. Where is the ‘ DRONES DRONES DRONES DRONES’ crowd that’s been screeching the entire time of the Obama Presidency about this man being BLOWN UP by a DRONE?

    This has been sort of bothering me also. I have no love lost for the gunman but I’d really like to know if it was necessary for the police to become judge, jury and executioner with a bomb. Was this guy holed up somewhere where he couldn’t hurt anyone else, if so, why not wait him out? I’d really like to hear a little more detail about how the decision was made to blow this guy up. I just get the feeling there’s a slippery slope in here that no one is talking about.

  116. 116.

    Betty Cracker

    I’m visiting relatives in Northern FL. We had breakfast at a little place that had the best grits I’ve ever had. But unfortunately it also had a TV tuned into Fox News.

    Jesus, it’s Bizarro World. Dana Perino was yammering on about how Hillary blames white people for the Dallas sniper attack and how it’s just wrong-wrong-wrong to foment division. But in the next segment, DP and the assembled cretins said BLM is responsible for the murders of police officers and played clips of a handful of nutbars chanting about dead cops in 2014.

    Self-awareness. How does it work?

  119. 119.

    MattF

    @Glidwrith: I know, but that’s sort of my point. The drones themselves are only the point of the weapon– you need to look behind the point to figure out what’s actually happening.

  120. 120.

    Lizzy L

    This is making the rounds on FB. It’s directed to the “All Lives Matter” folks.

    Imagine that you’re sitting down to dinner with your family, and while everyone else gets a serving of the meal, you don’t get any. So you say “I should get my fair share.” And as a direct response to this, your dad corrects you, saying, “everyone should get their fair share.” Now, that’s a wonderful sentiment — indeed, everyone should, and that was kinda your point in the first place: that you should be a part of everyone, and you should get your fair share also. However, dad’s smart-ass comment just dismissed you and didn’t solve the problem that you still haven’t gotten any!

    The problem is that the statement “I should get my fair share” had an implicit “too” at the end: “I should get my fair share, too, just like everyone else.” But your dad’s response treated your statement as though you meant “only I should get my fair share”, which clearly was not your intention. As a result, his statement that “everyone should get their fair share,” while true, only served to ignore the problem you were trying to point out.

    That’s the situation of the “black lives matter” movement. Culture, laws, the arts, religion, and everyone else repeatedly suggest that all lives should matter. Clearly, that message already abounds in our society.

    The problem is that, in practice, the world doesn’t work that way. You see the film Nightcrawler? You know the part where Renee Russo tells Jake Gyllenhal that she doesn’t want footage of a black or latino person dying, she wants news stories about affluent white people being killed? That’s not made up out of whole cloth — there is a news bias toward stories that the majority of the audience (who are white) can identify with. So when a young black man gets killed (prior to the recent police shootings), it’s generally not considered “news”, while a middle-aged white woman being killed is treated as news. And to a large degree, that is accurate — young black men are killed in significantly disproportionate numbers, which is why we don’t treat it as anything new. But the result is that, societally, we don’t pay as much attention to certain people’s deaths as we do to others. So, currently, we don’t treat all lives as though they matter equally.

    Just like asking dad for your fair share, the phrase “black lives matter” also has an implicit “too” at the end: it’s saying that black lives should also matter. But responding to this by saying “all lives matter” is willfully going back to ignoring the problem. It’s a way of dismissing the statement by falsely suggesting that it means “only black lives matter,” when that is obviously not the case. And so saying “all lives matter” as a direct response to “black lives matter” is essentially saying that we should just go back to ignoring the problem.

  122. 122.

    Cermet

    Fighting a losing battle getting the humidity in a specific room down below 25%; need to run a 275 kV generator and the air is just too humid to believe – the unit will short out (still safe since the current is very low; can touch the unit even at 275 kV with only some pain.) Even with AC going and a de-humidifier unit best so far, 33%. Will continue to try but the outside humidity is even worse today – can’t believe its so high.

  123. 123.

    MattF

    @Betty Cracker: I was thinking this morning that in my own family, the stone-cold racists were all in my parents’ generation and presumably in the generations before that. But in my immediate family, generational peers and their kids have all figured it out. There’s still a few irreconcilables around (my sister lost her best friend to Trump) but only a few. I’m afraid it’s one of those things where the belief just has to die out naturally.

  124. 124.

    Baud

    @Trentrunner:

    You can thank Bernie if you’d like, but it’s not a new position for her.

    While Clinton has long supported the creation of new government-run insurance options, and reiterated that support several times this year, this is the campaign’s first formal endorsement of the idea.

  125. 125.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Kay:

    Agree about Clinton’s pantsuits. Obama famously has only dark blue and dark grey suits, with appropriately-coloured shirts and accessories, so he doesn’t have to waste precious moments making daily decisions about what colour tie to wear, or if the cordovan shoes are a better choice than the oxblood. Clinton should make an early decision along similar lines, for similar reasons. My choice for her would be either (1) black pants and top, contrasting jacket, or (2, my preference) solid-coloured pantsuit, white or black top. Have the style that is most comfortable made up in a dozen different flattering colours, then think of it as a uniform and forget it. There will be plenty of opportunities for glitz and designer chic at State Dinners.

  126. 126.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Lizzy L: That’s not made up out of whole cloth — there is a news bias toward stories that the majority of the audience (who are white) can identify with.

    a pretty stark case from the Iraq War– Jessica Lynch, the blonde POW who was a household name for a long while, a long while before anybody heard of Shoshana Johnson, who was taken prisoner in the same fight, and did not become a household name, and was not blonde.

    I remember Jay Leno had her on for a make up appearance, and that insufferable prick Dennis Miller running over, literally running across the stage as soon as she came out from behind that curtain, and giving her a big hug as if he’d just been waiting for her to get her due.

  127. 127.

    Trentrunner

    @Lizzy L: The racists would say that you’re lying about not getting a serving to try to get MORE than your share.

    They don’t agree with the premise. They think that blacks (women, LGBT) already have it better than they do. They really, truly think that. Convenient.

  129. 129.

    Keith G

    @rikyrah: @beth:

    I’d really like to hear a little more detail about how the decision was made to blow this guy up.

    I have a very high level of certainty is that you and everyone else will be getting that information. Now that this horrible event has entered the phases of investigating the what and the hows and the whys, I don’t mind a judicious use of time to gather information in totality and then releasing when they are sure about information.

    A dearth of information may be frustrating, but few things are more destructive to public confidence than the releasing of information that is not true or can be taken to be willfully incomplete.

  130. 130.

    Baud

    @MattF: Right. I can’t imagine the media wouldn’t make hay of the fact that she was wearing the same outfits over and over again.

  132. 132.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    Fuck the media.

    Edit: And what a huge difference between the way the media treats men and women. Remember that one time Obama wore a tan suit one summer day? They went nutz BECAUSE he wore something different. With a woman, they go nutz when/if she wears the same thing more than once.

  135. 135.

    Emma

    Ok, so I do my usual morning drive by to TPM and find a story about Trump trying to get himself a gig speaking to one of the NYC precincts during roll call on Friday. Bratton turned him down saying that the police were not in the business of providing photo-ops for candidates. Meanwhile Hillary delivers what sounds like a major speech to the AME conference. MSM: crickets.

    Honestly it’s time for all the power players in the Democratic leadership to start thinking long-term about communications. We need to bypass the likes of CNN and get information directly to people.

  136. 136.

    Lizzy L

    @Trentrunner: Some racists, certainly. But quite a few people in this country, I think, hold racist views because that’s the water we all swim in, not as a deliberate political choice. I continue to hope that those people are reachable.

  137. 137.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: there was a rumor that at the big Beltway Star-Fucking Ball in 2000, Tim Russet wore a Bush-Cheney button under his lapel that he would flash at Republicans. I’ve always thought it was credible given his smarmy, suck up personality and what I strongly suggest were his politics*, especially in 2000. Clinton should wear a “Fuck the Village” button under hers.

    *though, credit where it’s due, Keith Olbermann has said he never would have survived at MSNBC during the second Bush term without Russet protecting him from the skittish suits

  138. 138.

    scav

    @Trentrunner: They’re also going to insist that you be sufficiently grateful for any share or right they choose to give you, because there are some elsewhere that don’t have those rights.

    And that does point out one of the problems with the dinner analogy above. It’s not Dad, authoritative Dad ladeling out the food making the comment about fairness (His dodge would be the other eternal “Wait your turn”). It’s your already served, slightly obese, tucking into dessert sibling going on about the essential perfection of theoretical equality while ignoring the contents of the plates on the table and licking the ice-cream off their spoon.

  139. 139.

    MattF

    @Emma: How people get news these days is actually a big puzzle. Yes, some people get all their news from FOX. But most do not.

  140. 140.

    MomSense

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Unless it gives her joy and then I hope she has a ginormous closet full of clothes that are pleasing to her. People have different relationships with clothes. I realize that I say this from the perspective of a maker who works with fiber so I’m obviously in the fabric, texture, and color give me joy category.

  142. 142.

    Baud

    @Emma:
    @MattF:

    I think a lot of “news” these days isn’t about conveying information, but about conveying the “right” attitude about current events. So email server? — outrageous! Torture? — reasonable people can disagree/we can’t let the terrorists win.

  143. 143.

    Emma

    @MattF: That’s the thing. Upthread someone posted about having breakfast at a cafe with the tv on to Fox. Most people only get fleeting encounters with the news, whether Fox or CNN or their piddly little local half-hour at bedtime, and make up their minds like that. The media is now corporate and their owners like the status quo. In fact, CNN is a perfect example of a thumb in the scale in favor of the status quo. We need to find ways to bypass that.

  144. 144.

    MomSense

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:

    I absolutely think that moneyed interests owning media outlets is exactly why we don’t have neutral news. There are still excellent sources of information but the onus is on the citizen to find them.

  145. 145.

    Cacti

    @beth:

    This has been sort of bothering me also. I have no love lost for the gunman but I’d really like to know if it was necessary for the police to become judge, jury and executioner with a bomb. Was this guy holed up somewhere where he couldn’t hurt anyone else, if so, why not wait him out? I’d really like to hear a little more detail about how the decision was made to blow this guy up. I just get the feeling there’s a slippery slope in here that no one is talking about.

    Count me in as one who is alarmed at the thought of police blowing suspects up as the new normal.

  146. 146.

    Keith G

    @Emma:

    Honestly it’s time for all the power players in the Democratic leadership to start thinking long-term about communications

    You have hit upon a problem right off the top. The Democratic leadership has been more fragmented and a bit less creative than that of the GOP. Maybe it’s a money thing. Maybe it’s the nature of the past efficiency of the GOP is top-down organization – one that has found itself in the ditch as of late.

    There was a post-war-era of a golden age of civic minded media. (Rhetorical question, is the passing of that Golden Age yet another mark against the baby boom who seems to have been the ones who dismantled it?) Actually I think we have returned more to the natural state of media that is more didactic and parochial.

    For what it’s worth, I watched that Hillary Clinton speech via CBS News streaming.

  147. 147.

    scav

    @Baud: I would so like to know where this expectation of the President needing to be consoler-in-chief, constantly on-call was indoctrinated. Because a failure proper condolence was the single thing my to-this-date otherwise sane Reverend Aunt could come up with as the eternal failure of Obama. (As though she had any reason to be at the front of the line for any of the national traumas during his administration.) And it was certainly flooding the aether about Dallas: the bleats of “Where is he? Where is he?” as though condoling could only be done on the same continent and time zone and only worked if done within hours. With virtual spectators being the ones most in need and with their fingers on how it should be delivered.

  148. 148.

    Run, Lillian!

    An amazing article by Michael Eric Dyson in The Sunday Times, called Death in Black and White. An excerpt:

    At birth, you are given a pair of binoculars that see black life from a distance, never with the texture of intimacy. Those binoculars are privilege; they are status, regardless of your class. In fact the greatest privilege that exists is for white folk to get stopped by a cop and not end up dead when the encounter is over.

    Those binoculars are also stories, bad stories, biased stories, harmful stories, about how black people are lazy, or dumb, or slick, or immoral, people who can’t be helped by the best schools or even God himself. These beliefs don’t make it into contemporary books, or into most classrooms. But they are passed down, informally, from one white mind to the next.

    The problem is you do not want to know anything different from what you think you know. Your knowledge of black life, of the hardships we face, yes, those we sometimes create, those we most often endure, don’t concern you much. You think we have been handed everything because we have fought your selfish insistence that the world, all of it — all its resources, all its riches, all its bounty, all its grace — should be yours first, and foremost, and if there’s anything left, why then we can have some, but only if we ask politely and behave gratefully.

    A must read, sorry can’t link for some reason.

  149. 149.

    Emma

    @MomSense: And the relationship changes over the years. I have been changing my whole wardrobe slowly to simpler, looser, more colorful trousers and shirts. Less “part of management” and more “professional but not concerned about climbing ladders.” It started before my Mom’s death, but it has definitely accelerated after. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Hillary reworking her wardrobe once she’s in the White House.

  150. 150.

    MomSense

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    That was so over the top. People on Twitter were sharing pictures of other Presidents wearing tan suits. I found one of FDR wearing tan seated next to Churchill and Stalin. Churchill looked like he woke up drunk in his rumpled tuxedo and rushed to the meeting. Stalin seemed to be wearing white linen with a white hat. He even had white socks with black shoes.

    Amazing they were able to successfully manage the big war with such ridiculous clothing choices.

  151. 151.

    Baud

    @scav:

    I would so like to know where this expectation of the President needing to be consoler-in-chief, constantly on-call was indoctrinated.

    It’s not real. It’s an Obama or Dem specific complaint. Like concern over the deficit.

  154. 154.

    Felonius Monk

    @Baud:

    but about conveying the “right” attitude about current events.

    Otherwise known as Propaganda.

  155. 155.

    gogol's wife

    I just made the mistake of going to the gym. There were three guys on treadmills facing me, so I could hear their charming banter about the survivalist camps they’d been to, including shooting and skinning a squirrel and then using it like a hand puppet. I muttered, “Maybe somebody will do that to you some day,” but they didn’t hear me, fortunately, I guess. Then one of them walked by me and I saw his T-shirt, reading, “I proudly support the Second Amendment.” I wanted to stop him and ask him what he thought the Founders meant by the Second Amendment — for people to walk into classrooms and blow the heads off 6-year-olds? But of course I couldn’t do that, because I felt threatened. Which was exactly the intent. I complained to the front desk, but what are they going to do? What kind of insensitivity does it take to wear a Second Amendment T-shirt to a public place today of all days?

  156. 156.

    MomSense

    @Emma:

    Clinton seems much more comfortable in herself and in her clothing. She even moves differently now. Anybody else notice how calm she seems no matter what is swirling around her? I think there’s a bit of quiet NMFTG in Hillz now.

  157. 157.

    scav

    @Baud: Well, that’s a given. :) But the nonsense still had to have an origin, and it spread fast enough that I think it’s being flogged and seeded in the environment.

  158. 158.

    germy

    Washington Post: GOP unity is dead

    Members of Congress and others are no longer feeling any inhibitions about displaying their skepticism of Trump, and there is no longer an ongoing, serious dispute as to whether Trump has the desire, skills or temperament to pull the core of the party together.

  159. 159.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @MomSense:

    Joy is important. I get that, and I want Hillary to have as much joy in her life as she can handle (the grandchildren will provide much of that, I think). But as POTUS, with all respect to wonderful fabrics and textures and colours, the last thing her clothes should be are a distraction — to her or to the media. Every minute she spends wondering whether she should wear the lime-green or the fuchsia is a minute she doesn’t have available to make the life-and-death decisions that come with the Presidency. And if she’s giving a presser about the latest financial crisis or terrorist attack or Congressional obstruction, the last thing any of us needs is the media wondering out loud when they last saw that royal blue pantsuit and which blouse looks better with it.

  160. 160.

    gogol's wife

    @Lizzy L:

    Right.

    And unfortunately, they understand perfectly what it means, they’re just pretending not to.

  161. 161.

    Felonius Monk

    @Cacti:

    Count me in as one who is alarmed at the thought of police blowing suspects up as the new normal.

    Nothing really new about the basic tactic:

    MOVE is a Philadelphia-based black liberation group founded by John Africa (born Vincent Leaphart) in 1972. The group lives communally and frequently engages in public demonstrations against racism, police brutality, and other issues.
    The group is particularly known for two major conflicts with the Philadelphia Police Department. In 1978, a standoff resulted in the death of one police officer, injuries to several other people and life sentences for nine members. In 1985, another standoff ended when a police helicopter dropped two bombs on their compound, which was a row house in the middle of Osage Avenue. This killed eleven MOVE members, including Africa and five children. Fire destroyed 65 houses and prompted widespread news coverage.[1]

  162. 162.

    MattF

    @MomSense: Hilz is being challenged to respond to various accusations, and she’s taken the harder path of a positive response. It’s to her credit (and yeah, I’m a partisan). So.

  163. 163.

    Baud

    @scav:

    It would be an interesting dissertation topic to trace the source and journey of right wing memes.

  165. 165.

    germy

    @Baud:

    (Ben Carson on FOX News) – “Now is the time to use logic and ask ourselves, why do we have a Constitution? Why do we have a Second Amendment? They’re always saying you don’t need a high-powered weapon to hunt deer. The Constitution is not about deer hunting. It’s about people being able to defend themselves from an overly aggressive government or an external invasion.”

  166. 166.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @MomSense:

    Completely agree with this. She comes across as someone who is totally comfortable in her own skin, and I think (hope!) that comes across as reassuring to voters, citizens, and foreign leaders.

  167. 167.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @MomSense: Yeah, she’s got that (brush-dust-off-the-shoulder)-attitude down pretty well. I think she is used to it after the tut-tutting and OMG-ing about her changing hair styles.

    I remember the (brief) scandal about changing his hair part but that (mostly) went away after a few days.

    She’s got a huge amount of press-supplied baggage dumped on her, and she’s shown that she can carry what she needs while leaving the rest behind.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  169. 169.

    Emma

    @MomSense: Oh yeah. I started noticing during the Benghazi hearings. She has settled into herself. I think that’s one of the reasons so many Europeans look at our presidential choices and go WTF AMERICA! In their eyes our choice is between an experienced elder and a clown.

    (added) I think, though, there will be massive interest in the first presidential wardrobe that doesn’t involve blue or gray suits and silk ties.

  171. 171.

    wenchacha

    @rikyrah: No shiz! WHy was Joe Walsh given an open mic at all? Made me ill.

    Also: what gives with Newtie suddenly expressing empathy for blah Americans?

  172. 172.

    debbie

    @scav:

    If not Reagan, then it came from GWB after visiting the families in Dover as they waited for their sons’ caskets to return from Iraq or Afghanistan. You know, the single time he didn’t allow cameras.

    As for Mr. TanSuit, they now bitch about his not being there because their other bitch, that his appearance selfishly makes the event all about him, would not be relevant. Have you not noticed that, a la Hallmark, they’ve got a bitch for every occasion?

  173. 173.

    Tripod

    @trollhattan:

    Team Bernie couldn’t force anti TPP language into a watered down trade amendment.

    That’s stickin’ it to the man….

    @Mike J:

    Gary Johnson not hard line enough on the gold standard? The cult of personality is strong within that crew. Mostly Paulites, but also 2008 Obama supporters who were there for the hagiography. It will be interesting to see who they land on next.

  176. 176.

    wenchacha

    @gogol’s wife:

    What kind of insensitivity does it take to wear a Second Amendment T-shirt to a public place today of all days?

    All of them, Katie?

  177. 177.

    WaterGirl

    @OzarkHillbilly: Evil fucker! (I thought Bastard wasn’t strong enough.)

    I’m so sorry that happened. What do you do to clean up? I suspect the new chickens would smell blood even if it seemed clean and sanitary to us humans? I know nothing about that, of course, just “pulling that out of my whacko hat” as we used to call it in my 20s.

    Good for you for getting more chickens.

  178. 178.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @gogol’s wife: You could troll them with an “I’m sorry you’re so afraid of imaginary monsters” T-shirt, but that might not go over too well either. :-/

    Is there a TV in the gym? Could you get the management to tune it to Oprah’s TV channel or something similar?

    Good for you for speaking up.

    Hang in there.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  179. 179.

    gene108

    The problem with the MSM is it is a dying business model and everyone involved knows it.

    Fewer people make time to watch the 6:30 evening news anymore. Fewer people subscribe to print media everyday.

    And the the ones who do tune in are older. And older folks skew more conservative.

    They have to give their last few onlookers what they want.

    The younger you go, the more folks tend to view content exclusively on their phones or tablets. The MSM never set-up a revenue model to cope with changing viewing habits, and now it is too little too late to catch up.

    I think you can have Democrats and liberals in charge and they’d still have to skew more conservative because that’s who their viewers are.

  180. 180.

    SiubhanDuinne

    President Obama scheduled to speak “shortly” from Warsaw in a news conference. Expected to have more to say about Dallas. It’s significant enough that my local NPR station is carrying special NPR programming instead of The Splendid Table. WABE almost never messes with their weekend schedule, so this may be even more worth listening to than most of POTUS’ pressers and remarks. Maybe a front-pager would like to toss up a new thread?

  181. 181.

    smith

    @germy:

    people being able to defend themselves from an overly aggressive government

    Hmmmm. In my day they called advocating the violent overthrow of the government “treason.”

  184. 184.

    different-church-lady

    @MomSense: That’s just mojo. I’m sure there are plenty of fucks left in the fuck vessel. And she’s going to need them for the next 4-8 years.

  187. 187.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @gogol’s wife: No, you’re not a “wimp”. Idiots like that are always ready to hurt people, so why endanger yourself needlessly? It’s not as though you’re going to change his mind.

  189. 189.

    hovercraft

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    That was Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post, he is gay and very dapper, and freaks out every summer when Obama pulls out that suit. For some reason he used to mention it every year on Melissa Harris Perry’s show.
    The fashion police will be out for Hillary no matter what, she should select a wardrobe that she is comfortable in end of story. They will criticize her anyway, so don’t try to please them. Her hair will be too long, too short, does that hair style take too long to do, is it serious enough, give her the right amount of gravitas. How much tax payer money is she spending on her haircuts, on secret service and travel for her to go shopping. The bullshit will be endless. I don’t remember any how much does that outfit cost stories yet but they will come.
    I say just do your thing girl, fuck em.

  190. 190.

    gene108

    @germy:

    Someone should really dig-up what the Founders thought about the 2nd Amendment, because they had a fear of standing armies allowing for a military coup of a republic.

    It happened in Rome. It happened during the English civil war.

    That’s why the 3rd Amendment prohibits the military from billeting in civilian housing. There’s an entire Amendment dedicated to preventing a standing army from rolling into town and kicking people out of their homes, so the military can have a place to sleep.

    That should clue people in on the fact the Founders wanted the 2nd Amendemnt to people to organize militias for common defense and not have a powerful standing army.

    Now that we have the most powerful standing army in the world, it makes the purpose of the 2nd Amendment moot. We do not need well organized militias to provide for the common defense.

  191. 191.

    James E Powell

    @MattF:

    Yes, some people get all their news from FOX.

    I haven’t been an old guy very long (61), but in my limited experience in Northeast Ohio and Southern California it seems like FOX news is on wherever old, white people gather. And at times it seems that every single person in San Diego County watches FOX news at least three hours a day.

  192. 192.

    different-church-lady

    @Baud:

    I think a lot of “news” these days isn’t about conveying information, but about conveying the “right” attitude about current events. So email server? — outrageous! Torture? — reasonable people can disagree/we can’t let the terrorists win.

    There used to be a wall between news and opinion. Today there isn’t even a hint that wall once existed. News only exists as raw material for opinion shows.

  193. 193.

    gene108

    @smith:

    Hmmmm. In my day they called advocating the violent overthrow of the government “treason.”

    That was before a black man got elected to the White House. It changed all the rules.

  194. 194.

    wenchacha

    @rikyrah: “Wide-set nose”?

    New way to sell all those “contouring makeup” lines that Kim Kardashian made popular.

  196. 196.

    WaterGirl

    @Run, Lillian!: This is the second time in two days that I have read about famous people who are speaking out in what feels like a new way – I can’t quite describe the way in which it feel new and different, maybe it’s more direct, more challenging, something I don’t exactly have words for. The first was a blog by Dave Zirin about the black athletes that have spoken out in the last few days.

    Both times I have wondered if Jesse Williams speaking out at the BET awards in the (wonderful) way he did has inspired people to speak out in ways they didn’t before. In any case, it’s all good and I am grateful for it.

    On a side note, I had to google Jesse Williams to make sure I spelled his first name right, and the first thing that came up is Jesse Williams responding to the petition to have him fired from Grey’s Anatomy. I was inspired by his speech. WTF is wrong with white people? (says this white girl)

  198. 198.

    Suffragete City elftx

    @rikyrah: Philando was not the Driver…and that is what really stood out to me when I learned of his death.

    Seriously doubt an officer would ask my hubby for ID if we were stopped and I was driving.

  199. 199.

    hovercraft

    @Cacti:
    Totally against blowing up suspects to end standoffs. Someone on AM Joy this morning said that while this was potentially a new frontier in policing, there would be very limited opportunity to use in most situations. It was viable in Dallas because the parking structure was open, concrete and steel limiting the danger of the structure collapsing or catching fire, so the bomb could kill the suspect with little danger of any one else getting hurt.
    I’m concerned about the precedent and it’s implications for the future, but for this instance I’m inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.

  201. 201.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    My dad keeps sending me stupid e-mail fowards from his friends. The latest had this GIF –

    Woman throwing grenade

    The e-mail commentary about it said it was “new” and from US Marine training, with some hur-hurs about “throwing like a girl” and so forth.

    :-/

    Of course, it’s old and has nothing to do with US Marines – it’s from China (0:30). The

    I sent him the correct link and said, “I’d like to see someone tell Amanda Scarborough that girls don’t know how to throw.” With lots of smiles.

    I’d like to think that I’m slowly getting though to him that e-mail forwards are full of disinformation, but who knows. Gotta keep up the fight though!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  202. 202.

    Kay

    Carlson was brave to file:

    And it appears she won’t be the last, either. In recent days, more than a dozen women have contacted Carlson’s New Jersey-based attorney, Nancy Erika Smith, and made detailed allegations of sexual harassment by Ailes over a 25-year period dating back to the 1960s when he was a producer on The Mike Douglas Show. “These are women who have never told these stories until now,” Smith told me. “Some are in lot of pain.” Taken together, these stories portray Ailes as a boss who spoke openly of expecting women to perform sexual favors in exchange for job opportunities. “He said that’s how all these men in media and politics work — everyone’s got their friend,” recalled Kellie Boyle, who says Ailes propositioned her in 1989, shortly after he helped George H.W. Bush become president, serving as his chief media strategist.

    I can’t imagine leaving myself open to attacks by these horrible people.

  204. 204.

    dogwood

    @Emma:
    There’s also going to be a lot of interest in how the East Wing of the White House will operate during a Clinton administration. Even more interesting if she runs with Warren. First Ladies are pretty busy hosting events at the WH that don’t even get covered by the press. It’s a big thrill for the people who attend to meet FLOTUS. Had Hillary won in ’08 and picked Biden, it’s pretty easy to imagine Jill being the public face of the East Wing. With Warren as Veep that role would be filled by a social secretary. It’s not a big deal but there would be miles of column space devoted to how much we miss having a First Lady.

  206. 206.

    smith

    @dogwood: .

    Had Hillary won in ’08 and picked Biden, it’s pretty easy to imagine Jill being the public face of the East Wing. With Warren as Veep that role would be filled by a social secretary.

    Huh? Why can’t Bill be the genial host? He’s a people person anyway, and lord knows, he owes her.

  208. 208.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Kay: from the gossip I’m reading, the second-generation Murdochs have wanted to get rid of Ailes for a long time. I wonder if there weren’t some back-channel discussions with them before she went ahead with it,

    Somebody on twitter said that Ailes forgot that Carlson (Stanford, Oxford) only pretended to be a dumb blonde for the sake of her job and her audience– and it’s same to assume her own personal politics. I’ll never forget when they were trying to gin up the OBama’s Czars! story and she pretended, all wide-eyed horror, to have been shocked when she looked up– I mean googled*– the word and found it meant… King!

    *she actually threw that in, for members of the Fox audience whose grand children had taught them about all that “internet” stuff

  209. 209.

    debbie

    @hovercraft:

    Trump’s not the only one who’s used that accusation. That’s a fairly common RWNJ meme, along with the shrill voice and fake, inappropriate laugh.

  210. 210.

    Suffragete City elftx

    @rikyrah: Dallas Police Chief Brown seems to me a pretty straight up dude who has in the past been subjected to political misinformation re the force. The Dallas PD is known for implementing tactics to deescalate situations which is why they were not wearing riot gear.
    At this point I don’t see him trying to ‘hide’ anything..the situation the other night was so fluid the local news had trouble keeping up and it reminded me a lot of the reactions when the Boston bombing occurred.
    In fact when we went to bed that night local news was saying a 6th person had died. Turned out not to be true.
    There are in fact people complaining about the method used to get the shooter. Keep in mind this took place in the parking garage of a college and there were still students locked down in the building.
    You may want to track the Dallas PD press releases as info comes out.

  211. 211.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @MomSense: Just further evidence that the people who wear Adam Smith ties have never cracked open, let alone read, The Wealth of Nations.

  212. 212.

    Kay

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    That’s why it was hard for me to sympathize initially. I’ve watched the FOX morning show- that’s her character on the show- she’s the “innocent nice female” who is just trying to figure all this out. That’s an acceptable role for women- good cop to the male bad cop. Mika on Morning Joe plays the same character. I’ve done it myself in groups of men at work.

    I don’t think media is “conservative” so much as it’s “conventional”. It amuses me, because they’re supposed to be these ultra-sophisticated people but they are weirdly rigid and old-fashioned. It doesn’t surprise me at all that FOX is like Mad Men.

  213. 213.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @gene108: Please. Leave the “original intent” stuff to known scholars on said intent like Fat Tony Scalia.

    Oh, wait. He’s dead. Never mind.

  214. 214.

    dogwood

    @hovercraft:
    I’m inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt as well. Wha they found in the killer’s home was some pretty scary shit. Diaries, big arsenal of weapons and ammo, bomb making materials. Telling the cops that there were bombs planted all over was false, but the search of his home suggests that he might very well been planning something much bigger than what went down. The guy was fucking nuts and extremely dangerous, and there’s just too many of these types out there.

  215. 215.

    Emma

    @dogwood: Bill to be “the face” and a social secretary to handle the arrangements.

    (added) Or if they want a little distance, Chelsea can step in.

  216. 216.

    dogwood

    @Emma:
    I don’t care what they do with the social arrangements; my point was the press will make a big deal of it.

  217. 217.

    germy

    @Suffragete City elftx:

    Philando was not the Driver…and that is what really stood out to me when I learned of his death.

    His girlfriend’s cellphone footage was reversed (mirror image). He was at the wheel. She was the passenger.

  219. 219.

    nutella

    My first reaction to the news of the Dallas drone was ‘What, didn’t they have any tear gas?’ Agreed that it’s too early to make any judgements but that’s one of many questions that needs to be asked in the investigation.

  220. 220.

    Dmbeaster

    @beth: This has been addressed somewhat. Reportedly, after talking for some time and refusing to give up, the guy stated firing his rifle. The police decided lethal force was necessary in response.

    If use of lethal force is justifiable, how significant is the method? The real question is whether or not a lethal response was needed. If it is, then delivering it in this manner is not much of an issue. What should have been done instead? Expose police to deadly fire in order to end it?

  222. 222.

    Cacti

    @Dmbeaster:

    If use of lethal force is justifiable, how significant is the method? The real question is whether or not a lethal response was needed. If it is, then delivering it in this manner is not much of an issue. What should have been done instead? Expose police to deadly fire in order to end it?

    If he was hemmed in with no means of escape, why blow him up? If he was in a place where they could safely detonate a bomb, it seems that the risk of collateral damage was minimal.

  223. 223.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @nutella: Taking the perp alive might complicate things too much. This way he can’t testify to his actions and thus the official narrative will more in compliance with ideological aims.

  224. 224.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @hovercraft:

    Trump accused her of wearing a wig. Apparently self awareness is in short supply on Fifth Avenue.

    A. Really?
    (2) WTF?
    III. Why shouldn’t she?

  227. 227.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Cacti:
    Because bullets go through walls, and he could and would kill people if they tried to wait him out? That’s the first explanation to leap to my mind, and I wouldn’t blame anyone using that logic.

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