The Senate’s top Republican Thursday warned that legislation enacted over President Barack Obama’s veto to allow families of Sept. 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia in U.S. courts may have “unintended ramifications” and that lawmakers should discuss fixes to the measure.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the White House was too slow to warn about the “potential consequences” of the measure. Both the House and Senate overwhelmingly overrode Obama’s veto of the measure on Wednesday.
McConnell said he told the president recently that the 9/11 victims bill “was an example of an issue that we should have talked about much earlier.”
***“Everybody was aware of who the potential beneficiaries were but nobody really had focused on the downside in terms of our international relationships,” McConnell said.
McConnell said that the dynamic involving the bill — in which it barreled through both chambers before and proved unstoppable — was what happens when there is “failure to communicate early about the potential consequences of a piece of legislation that was obviously very popular.“
It’s almost like he doesn’t know it’s his fucking job in the Senate to write bills and schedule debate to “talk about” and discuss “potential consequences.” Beyond that, it’s not like it was super hard to predict there would be consequences. In fact, a certain injury prone D-list blogger with an ice cream fetish and an animal hoarding problem thought of them pretty quick:
RE: 9/11 override
Gonna be interesting when the tens of thousands of victims (excuse me, collateral damage) start suing us.
— Your Debate Binky (@Johngcole) September 28, 2016
Also, there’s a particular somebody, gosh, what’s his name- Soetero something or other- WHO FUCKING VETOED THE GOD DAMNED BILL:
Congressional leaders plan to hold override votes in the coming days and supporters of the legislation say they are confident they can succeed in overturning the president’s action. It would be the first time during Obama’s presidency that Congress has overridden a veto.
The legislation would allow U.S. courts to waive claims to foreign sovereign immunity in cases involving terrorism on U.S. soil. The administration contends that this would break a longstanding practice that sovereign nations are protected from these types of legal threats. The result, according to the White House, is that American officials could now be sued in foreign courts over U.S. military or diplomatic actions abroad, which administration officials said poses a threat to national security.
“I recognize that there is nothing that could ever erase the grief the 9/11 families have endured. My Administration therefore remains resolute in its commitment to assist these families in their pursuit of justice and do whatever we can to prevent another attack in the United States,” the president wrote in his veto message to Congress. “Enacting [this legislation] into law, however, would neither protect Americans from terrorist attacks nor improve the effectiveness of our response to such attacks.”
You were literally planning to hold an override vote without holding any debate as he was telling you about the fucking unintended consequences, YOU STUPID CONFEDERATE HUMPING RETROGRADE IGNORAMUS.
If the media let these guys get away with this or try to pin this on Obama, they are as bad as McConnell.
Mwangangi
Yeah. This is why I’m glad I have a virtual keyboard. Because I feel like I would’ve used it in a violent, off label manner when I read that.
LosGatosCA
What a complete dick!
eric
Given that is a undeniable “fact” that the democrats are responsible for gridlock in DC, i wont be no thang to blame Obama for the passage of a bill he vetoed.
Amir Khalid
“It’s his fault! He should’ve convinced me I was doing something stupid!”
Iowa Old Lady
MajorX4 has been analyzing BJ posts, and as soon as I saw the title of this one, I knew it was Cole’s. Cole is, of course, right. McConnell is a slithery snake.
Skerry
I understand why the Republicans voted to override the veto, but why the hell did so many Democrats vote that way too?! No excuse
Sean
Jesus…Republicans are pathetic. YOU DIDN’T WARN ME LOUD ENOUGH! Maybe it’s the fact that McConnell’s a fucking racist who refuses to listen to Obama that caused him to do something so stupid.
And which Democrats voted for this veto override? I want to tell them personally to go fuck themselves.
max
Pretty good Cole, except I don’t see how anyone, even a turtle, can hump himself.
max
[‘Although I suppose it would be a politician who would figure out how…’]
Joseph Nobles
There is not face enough to palm here.
different-church-lady
A president with some guts would come out with a campaign against drinking bleach. But nooooooo, gotta look forward and not back…
John Cole
@Skerry:
They didn’t want to get pummeled with ads for 6 weeks saying they don’t support 9/11 families.
azlib
Obviously, anything bad is always Obama’s fault. McConnell looks like a real jerk in what he says.
different-church-lady
@max: Who knows what goes on in that shell?
TaMara (HFG)
@Skerry: Because only Republicans can get away with denying anything to Vets and 9/11 first responders and survivors
ETA: Or what John Cole said…
hueyplong
Now. Now is the time for President Obama to announce that under no circumstances are any Republican lawmakers ever to drink Drano.
And he should say it “arrogantly.”
Please, Mr. President. Do not wait until tomorrow.
Ian
McConnell probably wishes he had a time machine. I think it is pretty low that the excuse is “the president failed to warn us!”. When, at any point in the past 8 years, has this shitstain listened to a thing Barack Obama has said?
indycat32
Obama discussed this last night in the town hall on CNN. He explained why he vetoed it and that the senate is not going to vote against 9/11 families in an election year, because they’re a bunch of sniveling cowards. (OK I added that last bit but it was strongly implied).
D58826
@Iowa Old Lady: What do you have against snakes. Many snakes perform very useful functions like keeping the rat population under control.
germy
@different-church-lady: What happens in the shell stays in the shell.
PPCLI
“Look.” McConnell continued “He knows full well that if he opposes something, we are going to do it immediately, without asking even the most basic questions, both to put obstacles in his way and just out of spite. So it was very irresponsible of him to oppose this bill openly. Now we have to clean up the mess that he is totally at fault for.”
Mary G
This reminds me of every abuser in the world who claims it’s his victim’s fault he beat the shit out of him/her.
acallidryas
I already saw a WSJ article complaining about the bill saying, “To be sure, Obama deserves some blame for not education Congress on the dangers….”
Trump’s the symptom not the disease.
Jeffro
@PPCLI:
Pretty much!
The Goopers better just be glad that Dems – and Obama especially – aren’t built to be vindictive, petty little asses like they are. It wouldn’t take too much to turn this kind of reflexive stupidity into some nice 30-second spots in the Majority Leader’s state, just for kicks.
BGinCHI
We’re gonna need bigger re-education camps.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
It really is unbelievable how much shit Republicans have gotten away with. No wonder they never change except to get worse and worse – there is zero accountability for them, from either the purity left who blame Democrats for not getting shit they want, or the hard right who spin and excuse and lie and conspiracy monger and double down and blame everyone else when they fuck shit up, and work the media to get their bullshit on TV. I am for the TPP because Obama is. He’s the only one I trust to see beyond his own shoes.
Helen
Yeah well, just wait until Hillary wins with 49% of the vote. If the R’s keep the senate you can rest assured Mitch will tell us that she doesn’t have a mandate and gosh durnitt we’re just gonna have to wait 4 more years for a full supreme court so that the “voters can speak.”
Barbara
McConnell does look sort of like a cross between the lion and the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz, and obviously lacks both a brain and courage. I mean I’m just a functionary in an office and even I know what the consequences are likely to be and I even said so in a thread that came out before McConnell’s ridiculous tweet.
Pogonip
On the subject of animals, vegetarian cat food came up last night. I thought it was probably a joke, but I looked it up and such a product actually exists. The mind boggles.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
Fixed.
It’s a given the media will do one or the other so I assume that was a rhetorical statement.
Regarding [the lack] of re-education camps: Yet. Another. Obama. Failure.
Worst. President. Ever.
/snark
George Spiggott
Implicit in this argument is that the Post Turtle just admitted that the Lion King is smarter than he and his fellow reptiles are.
? Martin
See my comment in the previous thread about institutional failure and inability to hold leaders accountable…
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@Helen:
I’ve had that thought too, and the media will play along. Notice how there’s been no discussion of Garland in the media, at all.
TriassicSands
McConnell: My job is to prevent the Democrat [sic] president from being successful. It is not, I repeat NOT, to be a thoughtful, responsible member of the government who looks out for the best interests of the country.
Barbara
@efgoldman: I won’t be petty, or an ass, but vindictive is looking more and more appealing every day.
geg6
They had such a hard on to finally overturn one of his vetoes that they never looked into the consequences. It was all “we showed that uppity ni**er what’s what, didn’t we?” And the cowardly Dems who went along are just pandering to the 9/11 families in an election year. I certainly feel for the 9/11 families and wish they could get some sort of justice for their losses. And I have no doubt that someone or several someones in the Saudi royal family/government were playing along with the plot. But…
IANAL nor am I a diplomat, but even I figured out that this would have significant blowback on the US if passed.
Tractarian
@John Cole:
True, but the same “excuse” could be given by Republicans, right? It’s complete horsesh!t.
On the other hand, what McConnell is saying is absolutely mind-boggling. He is saying he voted on this without contemplating the negative consequences.
There’s no amount of snark or sarcasm that can appropriately convey how irresponsible and delinquent this is. You would literally get fired as a McDonalds manager if you displayed this type of brazen negligence.
I’m not prone to hyperbole, but if this is how Congress normally operates, it is terrifying.
Ryan
What, no one read the bill? None of this came up in committee?
redshirt
Isn’t there a clause in this which allows the State Department to over-ride if it wishes?
Corner Stone
That jacket HRC has on in her Q&A presser is making my brain go full fucking Max Headroom. That’s the worst chosen piece of wardrobe I have seen in a while.
Not to be all catty but it keeps cycling power charges! Seizure, here I come! Don’t shoot me SDPD!
Corner Stone
OMG, Thought Leaders. No wonder we haven’t heard much from Fuckhead lately. He’s been advising the HRC campaign!
Iowa Old Lady
@Corner Stone: Does it have a moire effect or something? I haven’t seen it.
Linda
I hate the Repubs as much as any sane person, but the majority became veto proof due to rhe cowardly votes of Dems who were afraid of future negative campaign ads. Shame on them.
liberal
@redshirt: I think Larison said that. If so, the bill is meaningless.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
I’d like to say something witty and pithy here, but, shit, this is so fucking hard to believe that even I can’t come up with anything. “Why didn’t you didn’t tell us that setting our own dicks on fire was a dumb thing to do? Wait, you did? Well, why didn’t you tell us louder?”
Enhanced Voting Techinques
So the GOP has offically become Britexit dumb.
MattF
So, you see, there was the initial vote, there was a veto, there was a veto message, there were plenty of lobbyists (yes, bought by the Saudis) who warned everyone repeatedly. Through all this, McConnell was, apparently, hiding in his pillow fort, fingers in his ears shouting ‘LA LA LA LA LA’. Blame Obama.
Barbara
@Linda: No, Linda. We are all in this together whether we like it or not and we do not expect bravery only from one quarter. It will not do — just as it did not do when TARP was passed. I don’t like this bill, it’s stupid and has bad consequences but it’s not the end of the world and I do not expect Democrats to step off the ledge in order to save us from it.
Enhanced Voting Techinques
@George Spiggott: More like the Turtle just admitted he was expecting the Lion King to save the Turtle from voluntarily turning himself into a Hyena all you can eat buffet.
DCrefugee
If it was almost any issue other than enabling 9/11-related suits against the Saudis, (and if the Dems had a brain and a backbone, and if I had a pony…), this would be the perfect turn of events to slam rethuglicans mercilessly between now and November. Sadly, some Dems voted to override.
Before the debate, I was almost ready to curl up into a ball over this election. Every day since Monday has seen good news for Ds. I’m ready to run wind sprints.
Another Scott
@different-church-lady: Yup.
The Teabaggers and the House and Senate leadership were all over this because it was a way to finally defeat Obama on something. The Democrats (except for Harry and the 77 “brave” souls in the House) were all over it because they’re scared to death of being labeled as “9/11 victim haters” or something.
It’s so stupid.
This is yet another reason why we have to do our best to vote out these stupid, dangerous GOP clowns. Once we have the majority again, then we can work on the “re-education” and backbone exercises for those fortunate enough to represent us…
(sigh)
Cheers,
Scott.
bobbo
I do not get this at all. I have no respect for McConnell’s unprecedented obstructionism, but I at least gave him credit for a bare minimum of competence. How could he not know what the bill would do? If he didn’t know before the override vote, how is he suddenly aware of the consequences now? Angry phone calls from Saudi princes? Or was his actual plan to override the veto and then blame Obama for the override? Is that even plausible?
D58826
@Barbara: yep if your going to be vindictive I say don’t be petty about go whole hog. And I approve of the message
sunny raines
if you wrote a novel about the stupidest effing people you could imagine, it would pale in comparison to today’s republicans. No sane person could think a do republican stupid on purpose.
msdc
And also, you know, only one senator – one – voted to uphold that veto, and his name ain’t Mitch McConnell. (It’s Harry Reid.)
But sure, go ahead, talk about the unintended consequences of your own goddamned vote, you fucking hypocrite.
catclub
So any comments on the clause that Schumer put in that gives the State dept waiver/delay power on any cases – by claiming that the State dept and the respective foreign govt. are looking into the issue?
Would you be surprised if that had gotten past the GOP – or they let it get by on purpose?
Geeno
@srv: Der Cleekstoßlegende – I like it. For whenever they fuck themselves with their knee jerk opposition.
Another Scott
@bobbo:
McConnell and the rest are lying.
They know what the bill would do. They don’t care. They just wanted a cudgel to defeat Obama and the Democrats before the election. After the over-ride was done, then they can change the law so that it doesn’t actually do what they promised, and everything will be “fine” again.
Cheers,
Scott.
msdc
@John Cole: Somehow, though, it was fine for Republicans to withhold aid from 9/11 first responders. Voters never held them accountable for that.
It’s almost like It’s Okay If You’re A Republican or something.
Another Scott
@efgoldman: That costs money. They don’t give money to people – only corporations.
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
catclub
@Iowa Old Lady: No mention that Trump is now only in the Fox bubble – no news conferences since his big success on the ‘I am no longer a birther’ announcement.
Cacti
Now what countries might have an interest in suing the United States?
Let’s see:
Iraq, Iran, Libya, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Cuba, Panama, Venezuela, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Grenada, Haiti…just to name a few.
Corner Stone
@efgoldman: Who pissed all over your old lady compression socks?
Chris
So… By this standard, how many hundreds of thousands of people get to sue our government?
Not that that always sounds like a bad idea.
redshirt
@Cacti: Don’t forget Chile and Honduras!
m.j.
I’m actually hoping someone will want to sue the Bush torture regime.
patroclus
The Saudi government was planning on issuing their first-ever U.S.$ denominated bond to the investor public this month, but this has tanked it. The idea was that the Saudis need to diversify their economy and become less reliant solely upon oil prices so that they can transition into being a modern country, with regular streams of revenue, rather than having them all commodity based, which is cyclical and subject to boom and bust cycles. You know, sort of “normalizing” the Saudi government, step-by-step. Now, they’re just gonna be teed off, and they will undoubtedly retaliate and allow their citizens to sue the U.S. (and its officials and diplomats) in their “courts” – which will be a joke and a rigged political game. This is stupid policy – the FSIA (and its non-U.S. counterparts) is actually a fundamental cornerstone of modern diplomacy and is important in maintaining normal relations. This will undoubtedly set a stupid precedent and will take time and diplomacy to overcome. All because the Republicans don’t care about actual policy and just wanted to over-ride an Obama veto. And because Dems are cowards. If I were a Senator, I would have voted against this without question (of course, I’d be subjected to attack ads and wouldn’t be a Senator for long, if ever).
RaflW
This statement only makes sense if you think Obama is a nobody. Which clearly McConnell does. He’s a complete shit-for-brains idiot. I’m pretty sure the U.S. House of Cards teevee show was really about McConnell — conniving but stupid. That’s our guy in charge of the Senate!
And to think we are, as a country, pretending that it’s mainly Trump that is a flailing, terrible ignoramus. I’m all in for Hillary (because to not be is deadly), but I really regret her decision not to smear the whole GOP with the residue of that diaphanous single-ply asswipe Donnie.
Gaaaaahh!
Chet
So Republicans are blaming Obama for their own votes now?
Corner Stone
@efgoldman: WTF is wrong with you?
patroclus
@Another Scott: Repealing/amending this legislation will take time and effort and probably won’t happen, if ever, until the end of the next Session of Congress. In the meantime, suits will be filed, other countries will retaliate and precedents will be established. Putting the toothpaste back in the tube is always harder.
OzarkHillbilly
@Cacti: You could have just said “the whole damn world including Antarctica”.
jeffreyw
Well, at least it wasn’t treasonous.
SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch
@OzarkHillbilly:
O/T, are the stitches out? How are you feeling?
RSA
“Why didn’t you stop me?” is a question more typically asked by an incontinent drunkard than the Majority Leader of the Senate.
redshirt
@Chet: Thanks Obama!
Frankensteinbeck
Guys, McConnell is not stupid. I guarantee it.
He is racist as fuck, so he may be unable to accept that Obama can be anything but a dumb negro, but I assure you that is his only point of stupidity and it does not apply here. Yes, he knew this bill would be a clusterfuck. He’s an asshole and he doesn’t care. Why should he? He saw an opportunity to beat Obama at something, knowing he could turn around and blame Obama for the bill. And he will completely get away with it. My best hope is that the Supreme Court steps in.
I don’t know how suing another country can even happen. I wouldn’t think there’s a court system in place to compel them to give a damn.
RaflW
@Chet: Well of course they are! It’s liberuls fault that the Trumpyam is the GOP nominee because we all cried wolf over Romney and Dubya.
We are not just post-fact these days, we are in a full-on dissociative fugue state.
Another Scott
@Frankensteinbeck: People in the US were able to sue Libya over the PanAM 103 and similar things, if I understand this correctly, so it’s not clear to me that this bill was even needed. Unless it had something to do with a country being on a “state supporter of terrorism” list or something. But even then this new bill doesn’t seem to be necessary:
1) Individuals have no business taking foreign countries to court over things that should be handled by their elected government.
2) There’s a Victims Compensation Fund which surely was set up so that people wouldn’t have to spend decades in court.
It just seems like a political stunt to me…
Cheers,
Scott.
Bill
Let’s assume for a minute it was the President’s job to protect Yertle and Co. from themselves. A veto doesn’t raise any red flags oh chinless wonder? No? Then how about a written statement from the President at the time of veto which includes the following?
“JASTA threatens to reduce effectiveness of our response to state involvement in terrorism by taking such matters out of the hands of national security and foreign policy and putting them in the hands of courts and private litigants…JASTA would upset longstanding international principles regarding sovereign immunity, putting in place rules that, if applied globally, could have serious implications for U.S. national interests.”
Baud
These are the people who won’t pass an AUMF to fight ISIS, yet blame Obama for ISIS. Given the normalization of Trump that we’ve all seen, this barely registers on the political Richter scale.
Roger Moore
@RSA:
You say tomayto, I say tomahto…
OzarkHillbilly
@SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch: Yep, they’re gone. I am sore and tired. C’est la vie. On the upside my stepdaughter took pity on us and made us a huge pot of mostacciolli, salad, and a cream pie for dinner last night. We eat leftovers tonight. :-)
RaflW
I have to also say, WTF were House and Senate Democrats thinking? Shit like this makes me hate being associated with that party sometimes. I know it’s sort of popular to suspect Obama on things like TPP or Nat Sec that he’s out of step or hiding something. But he was clearly signaling that this was a bad idea.
Dems hiding under their desks because they don’t want a TV ad late in the campaign saying that they oppose helping 9/11 families is chickenshit when long term geopolitical destabilization is on the table. Gaaaah!
hovercraft
Jason Miller a Trump spokes person had Chuck Todd laughing in his face, as he claimed that all the polls conducted since the debate showed he had won, so there was no need to change anything. Clinton lost and is in trouble that’s why she is dredging up the Miss Universe controversy. When Chucky pointed out that online polls are bullshit, and asked why all the scientific polls showed a 2 to 1 Hillary win, Miller said that CNN has no viewers, NBC is biased, and they won all 7 immediate polls before the media influenced the poll results. They don’t want to talk about things that happened a long time ago, but hey lets talk about Bill’s women.
redshirt
@Baud: Politics! Who can figure it out?
Mnemosyne
@RaflW:
It’s even more inexcusable that Barbara Boxer voted for it because she isn’t even running for re-election. She’s retiring this year and will be replaced by a Democrat. WTF, Barbara?
Baud
@RaflW:
If it were just the TV ads, I’d agree with you. As we’ve seen, the media will validate just about any accusation you can invent about a Democrat. It’s a problem that needs solving, and I don’t think it gets solved by yelling at Dem politicians to be braver. FWIW.
SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch
@OzarkHillbilly:
That would almost be worth the pain. Almost.
redshirt
@RaflW: We rarely talk about it here for good reason, but the Democratic Party sucks too. But in an incompetent way, rather than the outright evil way of the Republicans.
Baud
@hovercraft:
Doesn’t it violate one of the laws of physics for Todd to laugh at a Republican?
hovercraft
All you people complaining clearly don’t get it, Obama and Clinton are responsible for everything bad that happens in the world. When republicans behave badly it’s because Obama makes them behave that way. They are not responsible for anything, unless it’s good, then they did it.
dmsilev
@hovercraft: When you’ve lost Chuck Todd….
SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch
@Baud:
I didn’t see it, by I heard it on XM in the car. I was amazed at Toddles. It was a thing of beauty.
TS
In the past 8 years the media has sided with McConnell and pinned everything on Obama – why on earth would you think they would do anything differently now?
Bobby Thomson
This is like a kid who gets grounded for under age drinking, steals the car keys, goes to a party, gets drunk, crashes the car, and then blames his parents.
Roger Moore
@Bill:
You don’t seriously expect the Republicans to read that, do you? It uses long words and complicated sentences; anything much above the level of Trump speech is too hard for them to understand.
Felonius Monk
If anyone believes this bullshit that McConnell is trying to peddle, I’ve got some ocean-front property for sale in Iowa that you might also be interested in.
Turtle is playing games here and it is very likely to blow up in his face. He knew damn well what the implications of this legislation are from the get-go.
RaflW
@Bill: Dad saying several times “Don’t touch the hot stove, Chinny” and then even smacking his hand away a few times. Not enough!
“Whaaaaa, you didn’t save me from myself, Papa!”
OzarkHillbilly
@hovercraft:
When was the last time a Republican did anything good?
singfoom
@hovercraft:
Wait a minute, Chuck Todd was prepared? He made a journalism? I’m shocked. Maybe he actually felt the heat for his bullshit overprepared tweet. Now, every journalist everywhere, confront these liars like this everywhere. In maybe…a couple years we’ll see a shift. Hopefully.
dmsilev
@SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch: TPM has the video clip. We’re well into Baghdad Bob territory at this point.
Roger Moore
@OzarkHillbilly:
Depends on who you’re asking. The Republicans will assure you they’re doing great stuff all the time.
hueyplong
@catclub: Fox News will be Trump’s media hidey hole from now until Nov 8.
As for Chuck Todd “laughing” at a GOP mouthpiece, I assume it was just gas.
[Apologies to any 4 month olds who are offended by that.]
TS
@efgoldman:
The American way – don’t won’t the govinmint supporting the people when the lawyers can get someone else to do it. The exact way Trump behaves & the message the GOP is spreading with their current nominee.
What the idiots didn’t realize – two can play this game – it is not just the US suing other countries …
Bobby Thomson
@bobbo: The plan was for Democrats not to join the override. Then he fails to pass, but can still use it to bludgeon them later.
OzarkHillbilly
This will put a smile on your face:
(graphs at the link)
Major Major Major Major
This is a new level of chutzpah.
hovercraft
@OzarkHillbilly:
I thought you knew that the stock market and the unemployment numbers are a reflection of republican control of congress. The GDP growth rate, that’s Obama’s fault.
hueyplong
@Bobby Thomson: Agreed. The Democrats accidentally foiled their plan by acting on their own political knee-jerk cowardice.
ThresherK
@SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch: Yeah, I have no idea what mostacciolli is, but I now have to look it up…
Okay, I’m in. Must be someplace in an Italian food shop with that pasta.
Major Major Major Major
@hueyplong: this is pretty much how I see it. One party’s entire governing strategy is to shit everywhere and blame the other party for the mess.
hovercraft
@hueyplong:
Trump hasn’t talked to any media outside FOX and talk radio since early last month, so
this is nothing new. In another case of shocking behavior, Mark Halpern said last night that he needed to get out of that bubble, both in terms of who he talks to, and also in terms of what he’s watching.
OzarkHillbilly
@hovercraft: Damn. Must have missed that memo. Thanx for the correction
(ifeelsostoopid)
SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch
@dmsilev:
Thanks. I should have stuck with audio only.
Not to be facialhairist (pace efgoldman), but I detest that style of mustache-beard that both guys are wearing. I like a nice neat full beard, but that, whatever it’s called, just looks stoopid.
TS
@singfoom:
There is no shift – tomorrow he’ll be back giving the GOP point of view – fools like TOD don’t change – but they do like to be on the “winning side” . After the election Toad will quote this forever to prove he predicted the winner.
SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch
@ThresherK:
The nice thing about pasta dishes is that often the pastas themselves are pretty interchangeable.
OzarkHillbilly
@ThresherK:
You definitely are not from South St Louis. No south side wedding is complete without Budve!ser, mostaccioli, and at least one brawl.
Felonius Monk
@SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch:
C’mon, Chuckles looks stooooopid with or without any facial hair.
Bitter Scribe
“It’s your fault I didn’t listen to you!”
sukabi
@Ian: or, they could act like adults and do their fucking jobs…which I’m pretty sure includes READING with comprehension the legislation and thinking beyond “let’s screw with Obama” to game out the ramifications of the legislation.
Pretty sure that’s what they’re sucking up taxpayer dollars to do.
Baud
Steeplejack (tablet)
@SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch:
Goatee. Doesn’t work in some situations, e.g., round, pudgy faces. And that Trump spox was rocking an overstyled model out of Demetrius and the Gladiators.
hovercraft
@Felonius Monk:
This statement is correct.
James E Powell
@hueyplong:
Reminds me of the “no funds to close Guantanamo” vote.
hueyplong
Whatever the motivation of the Democrats, it’s kind of fun to watch the Cleeksoldaten look foolish. Again.
SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch
@Felonius Monk:
Stipulated. But the Trump guy looks even stoooopider.
Eric U.
I can’t decide if I’m happy the dems went along with this or not.
Felonius Monk
BooMan had a one line post up today about Gary Johnson. I’m going to re-purpose it for the subject at hand.
Mitch McConnell should go get his shine box.
Felonius Monk
@SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch:
That, too. :-)
Villago Delenda Est
@Cacti: Canada. Descendants of Loyalists exiled to Ontario after the Thirteen Colonies won their independence from the UK.
SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch
@Steeplejack (tablet):
I saw Demetrius and the Gladiators.
Demetrius and the Gladiators was one of my favourite movies.
Trump spox, you’re no Demetrius and the Gladiators.
Roger Moore
@Felonius Monk:
Truth in advertising!
Botsplainer
Here’s the thing – dealing with litigation long term is a shit sandwich, and tends to define one’s life. I always recommend “no” on long term tricky stuff, and I guarantee that this is a 15 year project from the moment of filing to the final thump at the USSC.
Not to mention that outside of some shit district in the old Confederacy, there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of coming up with anything that would even survive summary judgment. You’re basically looking at 30 years until the inevitable unsuccessful termination of litigation, and ruining the remainder of the life of a litigant, all while doing immeasurable damage to American security interests.
JR in WV
@BGinCHI:
In this case, won’t it be education camps? Wouldn’t they have to be educated for us to re-educate them? And obviously, they aren’t edumacated yet, at all.
Mike J
@BGinCHI: Reëducation, please. If we’re gonna do it, I say we bring back diaereses.
liberal
@Cacti: LOL. I’m quite sure e.g. Iran doesn’t have the protections that SA is moaning about losing.
But thanks for playing!
liberal
@Botsplainer: what security interest? That sovereigns shouldn’t be sued? LOL. People have sued _Iran_ for 9-11.
If the security interest is protecting those shitstain whahhabists in SA, then views on that differ.
hovercraft
Here’s some nutpicking I found over at Kos.
liberal
Here’s a link that explains that all y’all have your panties in a twist over nothing.
Sloane Ranger
I don’t see how this law could work in practice. I’m not a lawyer but isn’t it usual to depose the other side before trial? If the Saudis refuse to play ball what happens then? I suppose the court could issue some sort of order but most of the people they will want to give evidence will probably not be in the US or covered by Diplomatic or Sovereign Immunity. So what happens then?
Even if they have a trial why should the Saudis bother turning up? And won’t the only way to enforce any judgement be to seize Saudi assets in the US? This doesn’t seem a way to make friends but it is definately a way of influening people…negatively!
Lawyers, have I got that right?
Major Major Major Major
@liberal: Nice link to The American Conservative, ‘liberal’.
Chris T.
@ThresherK: mostaccioli is like penne, only shorter and wider, according to http://www.foodsubs.com/PastaTubes.html. (And penne is like ziti, except cut on a diagonal instead of square across like ziti.)
Chris T.
@Mike J: I’ll coöperate on that!
SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch
@Major Major Major Major:
M^4: Have I told you lately that I love you?
Aardvark Cheeselog
@Linda: I think this was the first time in the thread this got noticed. The Senate vote was 97 – 1 FFS. Harry Reid was the one BTW.
Can’t blame this one on Team R.
Sloane Ranger
Further to my earlier post, last week I had a tour of our 17TH century Sessions House here in Northampton and the guide showed us damage to the stonework caused by an American bomber which dropped a bomb on the town centre during WWII. Accepting that it was accidental (probably), can we sue for money to repair the damage?
Eric S.
@Iowa Old Lady: I knew it was Cole as well but to be honest I thought he’d hurt himself working on the house.
Edited to fix auto correct
Major Major Major Major
@SiubhanDuinne, liberal mob enforcer bitch: Thanks!
Did you know that liberal isn’t very trusting?
Enhanced Voting Techinques
@hovercraft: The obsession over zingers, that Trump just has to say the magic sentience that it settles it, and nothing more needs to be said. Real wingnut even horizon stuff. This has to be a sign they’ve been conditioned by the right wing media. It also explains Trump’s bizarre performance at the debate; he’s drunk the cool aid too.
redshirt
@Enhanced Voting Techinques: They’ve all drunk the Kool Aid. Even “moderate” Mitt Romney was so sure he was going to win despite all the polls he had no speech prepared if he lost.
They’re all in the bubble and thus cut off from reality.
raven
Why in the fuck were my posts deleted?
Original Lee
@Frankensteinbeck: I’d love to follow the money that somebody obviously paid out to screw the Saudi bond. Who would benefit from tanking the bond before it was even issued? And which Congresscritters were bought? Screwing Obama was only a side benefit.
Enhanced Voting Techinques
@redshirt: Like I said, the Trump leaners have talk to were not conformtable at with the man himself and mearly thinking it’s time to change governing parties. It’s real easy for Trump to lose those voters.
@efgoldman: Sort of looks like it’s impossible for Trump to even understand why it would be a bad thing.
Comparing Trump to Hitler or the Gracchi Brothers doesn’t work. Both Germany in the 1920s and the late Roman Republic had serious social problems that normal government wasn’t able to deal with. Every problem we have can be solved and is being solved more or less threw the normal process. This is more like a mass hallucination in some retirement home or something .
Enhanced Voting Techinques
@Original Lee:I bet the Iranians. Since Iran Contra to the Iraq War the Republicans have been lead around by their noses by Iranian Intelligence.
amk
These lying racist bastards constantly accuse the kenyan caused their innate racism and their ass licking media pigs repeat it without batting an eyelid.
tones
So let me get this straight – when Bush was attempting to break the world record for war crimes and crimes against humanity we hoped for someone, anyone to prosecute them.
Obama gets elected and spends his time golfing with them and having a grand old time, saying we need to just let go of our need for justice under international law.
I mean, look forward.
Now there is a chance that our own [USAUSA] war crimes could actually be prosecuted and you are all UN-happy about it?
Does it not represent justice, even if we were at fault, and a potential return to reality and honesty?
If Obama won’t send The bush crime syndicate to the Hague, I still hope some one will – don’t any of you?
Omnes Omnibus
@tones: This law will not change the likelihood of any American being prosecuted for war crimes.
amk
@tones: Yeah, why the fuck Obama doesn’t willingly walk into the shredder all alone by himself? Dumbass.
TriassicSands
@Mnemosyne:
Sadly, there aren’t a lot of Democrats who could write an autobiography and accurately call it “Profiles in Courage.” I’m equally disappointed in my two Senators — Murray and Cantwell (Murray is up for re-election, but as of 9/25-9/26 she had a seven point lead; Cantwell has no excuse at all).
LadyNorth
@Another Scott: McConnell knows PERFECTLY what he is doing. He understood very well the consequences; he’s NOT stupid.
I have a theory: in this sad saga, the main purpose of the republican leadership, McConnell included, is to bring down the approval numbers of President Obama. They knew that President Obama would veto the bill and that politically it would be a potential problem.
Their “man” W. finished his presidency in disgrace, hated by the whole world, and with very low approval ratings at home. While President Obama is nearing the end of his presidency with high approval numbers, hasn’t suffered any real scandal, and is respected and liked all around the world.
So the republican leadership will do their best to tarnish the President’s legacy.
They are THAT childish and jealous and vindictive. I once read in a book written by John Dean (the one who had worked for Nixon) that in conversations with his republican friends during the 90s, he understood that the vendetta against Bill and Hillary Clinton and the eventual impeachment of President Clinton was, mainly, PAYBACK for what had happened to Nixon. SERIOUSLY.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@LadyNorth: Yup.
I’m reminded of Jack Abramoff. He and his compatriots (Grover Norquist, Ralph Reed) have a religious fervor about their team and the need to drive Democrats into the sea. It’s pathological, and it goes back a long time.
Cheers,
Scott.
Joyce Hall
@the Conster, la Citoyenne: Amen