Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

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

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Republicans in disarray!

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

Second rate reporter says what?

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Cat Blogging / Saturday Morning Open Thread: A Century of Progress

Saturday Morning Open Thread: A Century of Progress

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On the one hand, Hillary should be ahead by 23%. On the other hand, when I sealed my ballot this week, I realized I hadn’t actually been confident of seeing a woman President in my lifetime…

Apart from applauding overdue change, what’s on the agenda for the day?

Reader Interactions

259Comments

  1. 1.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Speaking of the past century…

    This is a ballpark that has seen so much losing. Record-setting losing. Crazy losing. Historic losing. Legendary losing. You think that in baseball each game has one winner and one loser, in equal proportion, but at Wrigley Field for Chicago Cubs fans, the math doesn’t really add up that way.

    So the World Series came back to Wrigley, the shrine to baseball losing, on Friday for the first time in 71 years. And while Cubs fans feel that they have paid their price and done their time, and that this is their rightful moment, the Cleveland Indians don’t seem to grasp the meaning of this party. The Indians won Game 3 1-0. They now lead the Cubs two games to one.

    Heh.

  3. 3.

    satby

    @rikyrah: Good morning sunshine ?
    And Ozark, too!

    I’m frustrated by the fact that two of my three days off this week were chilly and raining, and now the next three days I work will be in the 70s and beautiful. I’d forgotten while working from home how the weather always seems to do that.

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @raven: Heh. This rivalry is the best.** Simply nothing like a Cards-Cubs game. Doesn’t even really matter who wins. The fun is all in giving each other shit. Been to a couple in STL, I hope someday to see one in Wrigley.

  11. 11.

    bemused

    I can’t wait until Nov 9. This campaign has been an ordeal from hell. I’m also sick to death of campaigns that last two years or more…who can even remember anymore. They seem to start up all over again the day after elections. That’s insane. I think that most Americans, reality-based or batshit crazy, would be in favor of cutting this crap way, way back.

  12. 12.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @OzarkHillbilly: Can’t edit, meant to add ** in Pro sports. College has several that are better: Alabama/Auburn, Michigan/Ohio, Mizzou/Kansas used to be among them but Kansas killed it as revenge for Mizzou leaving the Big 12.

  14. 14.

    raven

    @OzarkHillbilly: Georgia-Fla!!!

    eta Actually living down here gives a much bigger idea of rivalries. Playing Auburn and Tech every other year in Athens we absolute insanity.

  17. 17.

    Kathleen

    @rikyrah: @satby: @Baud: @?BillinGlendaleCA: @OzarkHillbilly: @raven: Good Morning, All! Indeed, Raven, F**k the Cardinals! So glad “Not The Cardinals” are in the World Series. Planning a 5-6 mile run, cleaning and working on writing project with deadline. Bill Clinton is in town this evening and Hillary will be here on Monday! I’m so excited because it will be after work and it’s downtown, about 5 minutes from me so I can finally get to see her. I already voted last week. Turned off local NBC affiliate this morning after I heard words “bombshell” and “emails” and recommended via Tweet that they learn facts and stop listening to Republican rhetoric. Have whatever kind of day you all feel like having!

  18. 18.

    HeartlandLiberal

    Yesterday, we voted, then took our son out for lunch for his 50th birthday. Sunday morning at 6 we fly to Nassau, Bermuda, for a week on a friend’s yacht. I will try not to worry about this election, although waiting for Nov 9th is very stressful this year. Instead, I will go snorkeling and fishing. Also we have never had conch, so hope to sample it. We have always enjoyed sampling cuisine wherever we have traveled around the world.

    Never did expect to see an election this totally insane, with a candidate so imminently unqualified as Trump representing a major party. And as for Comey, the head of the FBI, his letter of resignation needs to be on Obama’s desk by end of the day today.

    That is all.

  19. 19.

    satby

    @OzarkHillbilly: living in SW MI and now South Bend, I have to add Michigan State-Notre Dame to that list of rivals. Seriously, you can tell when those games are on, the streets on both sides of the state line are empty.

  20. 20.

    opiejeanne

    @rikyrah: Good morning. I never get to say it to you because I’m never up this early, but I haven’t slept tonight, so yay! It’s almost 4am. Maybe I can get a nap this afternoon.

  22. 22.

    satby

    Everyone can’t wait for this election to be over. How to keep the next one from being two years long would be the question.

  26. 26.

    opiejeanne

    @HeartlandLiberal: Lucky you. I’d like to be on a sailboat there for a few days. The one time we were there the heavens opened up on us while we were walking around the town; it was raining so hard that we took a taxi the few blocks back to the ship. (The Disney Wonder).
    I had conch in Nassau and it was really good. Our daughter knew a place and ordered for us. She was a cast member on the ship, the only reason we went, and it was surprisingly awesome even though we had no kids with us.

  27. 27.

    Botsplainer

    Had a blast last night. Went to the final game of the regular season for my high school, a gritty, blue collar, slightly shabby urban Catholic all boys high school. They finally scraped enough together to build a facility on the grounds. Tailgated for a couple of hours just before wt a house across the street with some of the guys, including one who I hadn’t seen in thirty years. Then at the game, several of my old teachers and coaches had actually shown up for whatever reason – great to see them.

    Hung with a few of the guys and wives at a close by dive until 2 am, laughing, lying and swapping reminiscences, gossip and good will.

  30. 30.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @satby: I’m an AM person too, always up by 4. I’m just not overly cheery about it.

    @satby: There are good rivalries all over in college ball. I was trying to remember if Mich state/Michigan was among them and realized no, it was Mich/Ohio. Texas/Oklahoma was a huge one when I was a kid, lost track of it when my Texan mother died so am unsure if it still is.

  31. 31.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud: I’ve vote on Nov. 8, it’ll take me that long to get through the 20 ballot measures.

    ETA: I’d rather just walk to my local polling station rather than drive 5 miles to the weekend place or 20 miles to the weekday place(they only have one for the entire county on weekdays).

  35. 35.

    opiejeanne

    @Baud: I have threatened my children that I’d move to an island in the Caribbean or someplace and not have a telephone or a television. If people wanted to talk to me they’d have to write me a letter or come to me, but it’s an idle threat. I’m not happy about hurricanes.

    Now, the Loire Valley might be nice.

  41. 41.

    WereBear

    For the commenter who asked about it and I came late to the thread:

    Grooming the Senior Cat

    It was a morning thread. Good morning!

    People complain about the length of the election season, but any shorter, and would Trump have blown up? People say they can’t wait for it to be over, but I say more rope to Trump to hang himself.

  43. 43.

    Betty Cracker

    Later this morning, I’m off to the Miami Beach hotel where the opening scene of “Goldfinger” was filmed to attend a weekend long party for an old friend’s birthday. I plan to get there before 3:30 so I can watch the Florida-Georgia game. Although several fellow party goers attended the University of Florida with me (including the birthday girl), I think I’ll be the only serious football fan there.

  49. 49.

    opiejeanne

    @Baud: Yes, I’m a junkie and this place is keeping me sane. I can’t even look at Facebook these days and have avoided it for about 3 months, with a few lapses to look at my kids’ photos of their adventures.

  50. 50.

    Botsplainer

    @Betty Cracker:

    Ah, the Fontainebleau – there’s actually a famous old appellate case about vertical land rights and the nuisance of shadow that involves that hotel and its neighbor that we spent a stupid, inordinate time on in law school.

    In nearly 30 years of practice, it has never come up.

  52. 52.

    satby

    @Baud:

    Then again, would I need Balloon Juice if the rest of the world weren’t bringing me down?

    I would. I’m here as much for the pet pics, garden chat, picture sharing, and general comity as I am for the political stuff.
    Not the sports though, I tend to skip those threads ?

  54. 54.

    JPL

    I woke at four and planned my day. I thought it might be fun to go out for breakfast, but just discovered there is a 5k pumpkin run and the street I exit on will be partially blocked until ten. I blame Hillary!

    @Betty Cracker: Have a wonderful time!

  56. 56.

    NorthLeft12

    I was just reading a driftglass post and came across another couple of oxymorons to add to my list;

    From January 2001:

    We seem to be entering a period of competent conservatism and reactionary liberalism. George W. Bush has put together a cabinet long on management experience and practical skills.

    David Effing Brooks

    And the related [from 1979 and regurgitated ad nauseum since then] “compassionate conservatism”

  64. 64.

    Botsplainer

    I sailed back in to emailgat to see if there is any actual damage, and don’t actually think so.

    My hot take is this, though – stymie Chaffetz. When his committee issues a subpoena, issue a “fuck you” statement and don’t comply with any questions, explaining that his committee is a corruption serving an agenda no longer related to anything meaningful so you’re neither answering nor taking the fifth.

    Let the weasel faced fuck sit there in impotent rage.

  65. 65.

    opiejeanne

    @Baud: I eliminated the single Trump fan in my friends/family group, but I still have one Hillary hater who was a dear friend and the friendship may not recover; she’s simply irrational, and she’s a Democrat. I have friends whose other friends are Trump morons, so I’ve just wandered away for a while. I don’t know how they can remain friends with someone who discounts everything they say and bullies them. How is that a good friendship?
    The only reason I joined was so that our youngest could show us what she was doing while she travelled with a Disney tour group for 3 years. She’s been almost everywhere except Africa and Russia. I have a drawer full of postcards from a lot of places I’ll never get to see. She’s been to Machu Picchu! And then rode a bicycle back down! She posted beautiful photos on Facebook and we posted photos from home. Most of the people I’ve met on Facebook have been interesting and nice, and I’ve located old friends I hadn’t seen since HS. The ones I’ve run into who are idiots I just block, but a lot of my friends are people I either know in Real Life or are from a couple of now-defunct forums with a certain slant in favor of science and truth.

  67. 67.

    opiejeanne

    @OzarkHillbilly: Compared to other places on the internet, this is like a nice nursery school run by sweet middle-aged ladies who give us fruit juice and graham crackers and let us sleep on little mats if we get tired.

    Twitter is like the howler monkey cage at the zoo. Facebook is worse.

  69. 69.

    opiejeanne

    @Baud: You know, he’s probably one of my cousins. Mom’s clan came from the Macks Creek area, and he’s a bit to the East of there, I think. Over towards Foose.

  74. 74.

    amk

    @Botsplainer: If she gives the mofo the finger, what is the worst the thugs can do? Frankly, I find the dems are not that smart in legislative maneuvers like the rethugs. The past 8 years and the clinton 8 years prove it.

  76. 76.

    opiejeanne

    @amk: I think our side is a little nicer is all, and it’s about time we knocked off that shit.
    It was pointed out to me that the FBI has never had a director who wasn’t a Republican. Maybe it’s time for us to stop appointing Republicans to that post. I know Comey’s contract is for 10 years, but I really think he needs to step down now so he can spend more time with his family. Let Hillary find a qualified Democrat to run it.

  78. 78.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @opiejeanne: Nah, you are spared that shame. My old man was from Joliet, IL, begotten of 2 turn of the century Slovenian refugees. My mother was a Texas belle, from good old time Southern Baptists, she was threatened with being disowned if she married my Papist father.

    I actually live in Washington Co., almost exactly halfway between Sullivan and Richwoods.

  80. 80.

    WereBear

    @opiejeanne: Not successfully.

    There is a trend in criminology which is recognizing that criminal sociopaths often begin by roping in a seriously depressed partner who is in a highly suggestible state. The Dartmouth murders, and the Columbine murders, both fit this pattern.

  81. 81.

    JPL

    @opiejeanne: According to news reports, many agents are upset with Comey and his politicizing the email investigation. He might want to step down and run for office.

  83. 83.

    OzarkHillbilly

    The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in the heart of Christian quarter of the walled Old City, covers the assumed site of Jesus’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

    Six denominations – Latin (Roman Catholic), Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Syrian Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox and Copts – share custodianship of the cavernous church. Bitter disputes over territories and responsibilities have erupted in the past, sometimes involving physical altercations.

    In a sign of the distrust between the different denominations, the keys to the church have been held by a Muslim family since the 12th century.

    I had no idea. I wonder what the RWNJs think of this?

  84. 84.

    Another Holocene Human

    Trichael Macey ‏@trichael_macey 22h22 hours ago
    [Parody Account Error #307-45B: Unable to come up with stupider take than “Ammon Bundy is actually good”]

  86. 86.

    Kay

    @JPL:

    They really have to start worrying about the effect on Trump supporters. They’re ginning people up too much and Comey has now made it worse, twice.

    Is he an idiot? Is he aware of how insanely these people are behaving? The last thing we needed was someone stoking them up 9 days before the election. There are two choices here- he’s a moron or he’s a hack. The press conference where he went out there and shared his opinions on management skills was bad enough- completely out of line, and now he injects this. If Trump loses and his supporters go nuts (which seems more and more likely to me watching their behavior on the local level) we can all blame this idiot.

    He talks too much. He should not be such a prominent political figure. It’s unseemly and outside his job description.

  88. 88.

    CZanne

    Good morning, all. I have an unexpected demolition today. We’ve been in the house a year and change — meaning it has now been occupied approximately 3 years of its 20 year existence — and one of the upstairs sinks has fungus in the drain. The fungus does not respond to germicides, antifungals, boiling water, Lysol or bleach, and when it gets frisky, I get sinus headaches. So, I need to replace the drain, and replace the 20 year old faucet that drips a bit and is feeding the fungus. I turned off the water to that sink now 36 hours ago to let the drain dry out, and everything was dry when I unloaded that cabinet. Yesterday morning when I went to get started, there was a puddle in the vanity. The shutoff valve is leaking, has leaked before, and that’s why the vanity is a bit warped. The vanity is very on trend for 1996, and some of the laminated Formica edging has come loose, because adhesives do fail with time, even in houses where nobody lived for 18 years. So the vanity needs to be replaced as well as the valve. But replacing the vanity means replacing the flooring, because all of our bathrooms have carpeting. I’d been planning to de-carpet over the next few months, but well, now’s the time. And I want floating vanities with drawers, mine and not mine, to keep me from spreading my crap everywhere and because that’s where the studs are. And since I’m installing floating vanities, I should replace the slightly rusty, also on trend 96 builders’ lights that don’t play well with either CFs or LED bulbs.

    I spent yesterday figuring out what has to go, what I can get away with keeping (the 78″ mirror on the wall, mostly, but the tub, shower and toilet are fine), how much and which flooring, and making sure spouse agrees with my choices. I’m going with basic white IKEA sink cabinetry but I’ve got a roll of car wrap vinyl en route to wrap the basic boxes and drawer fronts. The vinyl because it adds a significant layer of waterproofing, and because I like having color, which we have not had in this house yet. Spouse wanted to keep the builder white walls, tile, countertops and woodwork, pale maple cabinets and bookcases, and cream carpet. I did succeed in replacing the window coverings, from white gauze to silver roller blinds, mostly because spouse realized that there is a level of light that gets ridiculous. After a year of living in a white box, I am getting twitchy — this feels like being back in base housing, and that makes me less motivated to actually do anything. But I am a commitment-phobe when it comes to specific colors, so I may get tired of garnet cabinets in a couple years and want gloss sapphire or brushed aluminum. Vinyl is the way to handle my mercurial tendencies about color.

    I’ve happily done vinyl tile with grout, so yet again. I don’t feel like hauling cement board up 4 flights of stairs to install cold tile that I’m just going to hate when my feet ache and when I trip over the bath rug, and vinyl tile with sealed grout is equally waterproof. With luck, I can be done in 4 days, not including the schlep down to the ass end of Denver to IKEA. My big worry is the subfloor under the vanity; if that’s gotten wet, that needs to go, too.

    Yay, crowbars.

  89. 89.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    Kurt Eichenwald has been one of the real stars of this cycle, along with Farenthold and the NYT reporter who published the Trump finances/tax return stories. Joy Ann Reid is a great show host. Also John Harwood has tried hard to not normalize Trump. Everyone else is a disgrace.

  90. 90.

    Botsplainer

    @amk:

    It would be a breath of fresh air if she gave them the finger.

    Send a ready to retire career lawyer with whomever is testifying to give the statement outlining the waste of the investigation, contrast it with important things the committee never gets to, with a concluding statement of “your witness is here, but will neither dignify this charade with answers, nor will there be an invocation of the fifth.

    And when shitweasel bangs the gavel and starts squeaking like a fucking pig about contempt, say, “personally, representative, I find your actions and yourself to be beneath contempt. Do what you will.”

    Mic drop, walk out…

  92. 92.

    Another Holocene Human

    @NorthLeft12: He should be hounded by this sage pronouncement wherever he goes. Sadly, he’s on NPR where nobody would be so impolite as to point out his history of boners.

  93. 93.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @Kay:

    There are two choices here- he’s a moron or he’s a hack.

    He tried to thread the needle between the two, and became both.

  94. 94.

    opiejeanne

    @OzarkHillbilly: My paternal grandfather’s family was from Joliet, but I know a lot about that family and their kin so it’s not likely we have a connection there.

    Both of Mom’s parents were from Camden County and I have an enormous number of cousins spread from Cross Timbers to Bannister Holler. The family came there ca. 1830, before it was called Kinderhook County or even was a county. Macks Creek has about 300 residents and all but one are related to me. The other one is related to my husband but very distantly, an accident of geography is the reason she’s not related to me.

  97. 97.

    Another Holocene Human

    @CZanne: Sounds like fun! Not! That evil fungus must live in nooks and crannies to evade the bleach. Good luck doing battle with that mess. Shades of my house, lived in a little over a year but we did one thing right, painted all the walls bright colors before move in. Our friends notice the awesome walls and overlook our mess–ha! I’ve been a jerk about not hanging stuff on walls and it drives my wife crazy but I love how serene it is. Master bath is a nightmare. We did partial reno but got screwed by the contractor, however nothing is leaking, so #winning. Haven’t had time or money to finish the job but maybe I can fix that (looking for a new job right now).

  99. 99.

    Botsplainer

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    To RWNJs, those eastern Christian churches are just crypto muslims anyway. They dress funny and don’t sing proper ancient Christian songs like “Rock ‘o Ages” and “Jesus Loves Me” like Jesus sang in the upper room, in authentic, twangy authentic ‘Murkan English.

    I fondly remember several years ago when some fundivangelical visited the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and started trashing icons on the wall, shouting about “idolatry”.

  100. 100.

    Kay

    Just a head’s up to Mr. Comey and the gang at the FBI. The Trump loonies here are convinced that Deb at the Board of Elections is rigging the election, even though this entire county is run by Republicans. Comey inserting himself will make that worse.

    Reap the whirlwind, you reckless moronic hacks. Someone else will be stuck with the mess you made.

  101. 101.

    Gin & Tonic

    @HeartlandLiberal:

    Also we have never had conch, so hope to sample it.

    You can preview it before you leave. Take one of the tires from your car, cut into 1″ cubes and boil them for six hours. Season to taste.

  103. 103.

    opiejeanne

    @WereBear: I recognize the pattern from Columbine and the movie “In Cold Blood”.
    So Baud and I should not contemplate a partnership; it would not work.

  104. 104.

    Botsplainer

    @Kay:

    What I think is that it wasn’t Comey doing it for a political purpose – it is that he’s gutless and afraid of Chaffetz, since nobody has ever given him or his weasel committee the finger and dared them to try something.

  105. 105.

    JJ

    @opiejeanne: Yesterday someone made an interesting comment about BHO’s appt of Comey. The gist was that the appt highlighted BHO’s biggest flaw- his unshakable HOPE in the process of bi-partisanship. Sigh.

  109. 109.

    Botsplainer

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    It isn’t so much a matter of trust, but instead a matter of placing it in the hands of a neutral without a dog in the fight.

    Very culturally Arab. Muslims do the same thing with local Christian populations.

  110. 110.

    PsiFighter37

    @Kay: Except the vast majority of people gave him plaudits for coming out and being clear (not really, but people will believe what they want) about why there were no charges filed in July. So he probably believes he is doing the right thing now, but this time there is a vast amount of criticism for him doing so.

    I bet you do not hear another peep out of Comey before the election, and I bet Obama is probably weighing his options about how he gets rid of Comey for unprofessional behavior in the lame duck session. Sure, it will give the GOP the vapors, but Obama has no fucks left to give. He should just do it.

  111. 111.

    ThresherK

    @Gin & Tonic: The same way Americans call it a wrench and Brits use spanner, I’m convinced that Americans’ conch refers to the same supposed seafood as Britons’ whelk.

  112. 112.

    amk

    @Kay: Whatever happened to kasich will stop the racist carnival barker meme? Will he also end up as a boneless coward endorsing the scum?

  113. 113.

    Kay

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:

    Trump supporters were convinced it was stolen before. Now they are going to go full-out bonkers.

    I’d like to personally deliver his most manic supporters to Trump Tower and let Mr. Trump enjoy the fruits of his labor. He’s stuck the rest of us with a pack of ginned-up lunatics who are behaving like thugs. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is that the nation’s top law enforcement seems to be completely oblivious to how bad this scene is and decided to throw a match on it.

  115. 115.

    Iowa Old Lady

    I’m with AL in that I did not expect to see a woman president in my lifetime. Every time I look around, the media and the powers that be are off in their own little world of men.

    T. Becket Adams
    ✔ ‎@BecketAdams

    As a woman inches closer to the White House, news is dominated by sexual misconduct of her opponent, her husband and her aide’s husband.

  117. 117.

    opiejeanne

    @JPL: I have been reading snippets regarding that. There was a Tiwtter post that one of my friends was following, written by a guy on a plane seated next to an agent today. The agent was so agitated he was talking about it to the guy who was tweeting, and venting on the phone to another agent about Comey in a manner that suggested neither cared if they were overheard.
    There was also a rumor that Comey thought the NY agents were going to leak it, that there was conflict between DC and NY, and that Comey has really pissed off the career agents.

  119. 119.

    Oldgold

    Over time I have counseled many entities, run by the likes of Comey, who believe they are being confronted by unique circumstaves that have placed them in a ‘damned if you do and damned if you don’t’ situation. Normally, this is code for not wanting to follow long-established policy.

    I always ask what is the established policy. Suggest the reason for establishing policies is to avoid making mistakes when making decisions under pressure and tight time constraints. And, then, counsel them to ‘go by the book.’ It is the safe harbor and where wisdom lies.

    Here, Comey did the opposite. Rather than follow long-established policy, he chose to go rogue. That means he is, at minimum, a damn fool and probably a partisan hack.

  120. 120.

    Immanentize

    @amk: The worst is they can issue an order holding her in contempt of Congress for failing to honor their subpoena. Then it is up to the US Attorney whether to pursue/prosecute a criminal Contempt charge.

  122. 122.

    Eric S.

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Been to a couple in STL, I hope someday to see one in Wrigley.

    When you’re ready, let me know. I live 3 blocks west. I’ll break out the birds on the bat jersey with you if you like.

  124. 124.

    Kay

    @amk:

    The Kasich analysis from national media is just dumb. That isn’t how state politics works. He’s not the “leader” of the Republicans. Every top (state) Republican is already running for governor. He’s irrelevant to Ohio politics. He was never really part of it anyway. He came from DC- he’s a national politician. They look at it nationally because that’s what they cover. It’s state politics. It has its own weather system- people vying for their next job at the state level.

  125. 125.

    NotMax

    @CZanne

    Best of luck with the project.

    Brings back memories of returning from vacation several years ago only to discover one of the shut-off valves under the bathroom sink had begun and continued dripping while I was away.

    @Kay

    Comey’s lack of communication skills is frankly astonishing and a sign of managerial isolation – the crafted vagueness, incertitude and let’s-cut-the-baby-in-half attempts at appeasement, the apparent ignorance or disdain as to how his statements will play in the public forum.

  126. 126.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @CZanne:

    My big worry is the subfloor under the vanity; if that’s gotten wet, that needs to go, too.

    The subfloor in all likelihood is fine. It takes a year or more of sustained wet to ruin a subfloor beyond all usage. Good luck. I hate working in bathrooms. No matter which way you turn, you’re bound to run into something with a hammer or a chisel.

  127. 127.

    Comrade Scrutinizer

    @PsiFighter37: I’m not aware of the vast majority of people praising Corey’s previous statement. In fact, I recall Democrats were accusing him of partisan hackery then for hectoring Clinton about being irresponsible.

  128. 128.

    debbie

    @raven:

    Ohio-Michigan is so insane that it’s year round. I once got in a bit of trouble with a client because, unthinkingly, I submitted a design that was blue and yellow. I kid you not.

    ETA: I shouldn’t have been so brief. It was for OSU’s Parent Association. The design was based on Mexican tiles (ultramarine and lemon yellow). If I paid attention to football, I would have known not to do that.

  129. 129.

    hovercraft

    @Kay:

    Trump supporters were convinced it was stolen before. Now they are going to go full-out bonkers.

    FFS these people are crazy, nothing was going to change that, this gives them more “ammo”, just like people voting for Clinton in Philly gives them “ammo”, the huge numbers of people in big cities gives them “ammo”, her being ahead is ammo. The fact that he is losing in and of itself is proof that the system is rigged, so this will not make it any better or worse. They are the “silent majority”, facts be dammed.
    It’s not my job to coax them back to reality, the elections results will slap them back to the real world. Obama won fair and square, and yet they still walk around bleating about Acorn and New Black Panthers and dead people and Chicago Style Politics. This was always going to happen.

  130. 130.

    opiejeanne

    @CZanne: I have not heard this story about your house that was never lived in until you came along. How does that happen with a new house? I know it happens sometimes with older houses and I’ve known about a few like that before now. There’s a house in our neighborhood that sold a few years ago, and no one lives in it. I don’t know where they live or why they bought it if they didn’t want to live in it.

  131. 131.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    Trump supporters were convinced it was stolen before. Now they are going to go full-out bonkers.

    Even if this is nothing, it provides incentive to amass even more pitchforks. The only way this will be a peaceful transition is if Trump mans up and calls his dogs off. Which makes me even more pessimistic.

  133. 133.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Botsplainer:

    I sailed back in to emailgat to see if there is any actual damage, and don’t actually think so.

    In terms of the election, there will be some damage, because the mere presence of headlines about new revelations, Clinton and emails will depress Clinton’s support somewhat even if there’s absolutely nothing to it, and there’s not enough time for a recovery to happen.

    But the short time remaining also means that there’s not enough time for the story to develop into something that will truly sink her, if it doesn’t go away.

  134. 134.

    Immanentize

    @OzarkHillbilly: I visited the Chirch of the HS about 5 years ago. The treaty that ended the Crimean War is very specific about who controls what parts — down to which steps on staircases each group cleans. Those are some well swept steps!!

  135. 135.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @hovercraft:

    Exactly. These people live in opposite world. Nothing penetrates their misinformation bubble – they just simply deny reality and substitute their own no matter what. I got into it yesterday with one of them on FB – denies every fact, insists that the opposite is true, then goes ad hominem about liberals. It puzzles me how they’re able to get dressed.

  136. 136.

    Botsplainer

    @Gin & Tonic:

    POTUS can, but lessers can’t.

    Somebody needs to nut up on it, but whoever does it is going to do some lasting damage to the notion of compliance.

  140. 140.

    debbie

    @Botsplainer:

    If Chaffetz bleats for a hearing, someone very publicly needs to point out the expense of all of these endless GOP hearings and let the taxpayers know what they’re being asked to fund. Or maybe propose deducting the cost of the hearing from Congressional pensions.

  141. 141.

    Matt McIrvin

    @HeartlandLiberal: Obama may be reluctant to fire anybody, if it turns out that an obstructionist Republican Senate will prevent President Clinton from making any appointments. I suspect a lot of people in Cabinet-level departments from the Obama administration may have to stay on longer than they thought, because the Senate is trying to deny Clinton an executive branch of her own.

  142. 142.

    opiejeanne

    @ThresherK: Oh God! I worked on a play in SF with a Brit who was delighted when he discovered canned whelks at a market near the theater. He ate them out of the can, cold. Ugh.

  143. 143.

    Mike E

    @OzarkHillbilly: Miss E’s paternal (heh) grandpa fought for the Serbian prince; her grandma, a Croatian Jew who converted Catholic during WWII…whenever I see my daughter, I marvel!

  144. 144.

    Oldgold

    From the New Yorker:

    ” Comey’s decision to make public new evidence that may raise additional legal questions about Clinton was contrary to the views of the Attorney General, according to a well-informed Administration official. Lynch expressed her preference that Comey follow the department’s longstanding practice of not commenting on ongoing investigations, and not taking any action that could influence the outcome of an election, but he said that he felt compelled to do otherwise. “

  145. 145.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @opiejeanne:

    My paternal grandfather’s family was from Joliet,

    What’s his ancestry? I have Aunts and Uncles who married either Poles or Hungarians. Grandpa got off the boat in 1900, Grams in 1904. They actually lived in Rockdale, on the south side of Joliet.

  146. 146.

    Botsplainer

    @opiejeanne:

    Would you want somebody crawling up your ass for months in a perjury trap investigation? Self-preservation for Comey.

    Keeping in mind, the root of this is in being mad at the administration for criticizing that redneck racist filth piece of shit Terry Jones (Authentic ‘Murkan Pastor from Authentic Tradition) for videoing that Koran burn and sparking riots.

  147. 147.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Botsplainer:

    when some fundivangelical visited the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and started trashing icons on the wall, shouting about “idolatry”

    Jesus save me…

  148. 148.

    Another Scott

    @Botsplainer: That’s pretty much my take, also too. He’s scared to death of the howler-monkeys swooping down on him after the election when these e-mails on Weiner’s PC would have come out – “OMG! COVERUP!!1 COMEY IS PROTECTING HILLARY!!111”. So, he felt that he had to protect himself even if it meant interfering with the Presidential (and Senate) elections.

    He seemed genuinely shocked that the GOP would question his oh so professional pronouncements in his July press conference saying that Hillary was stupid and incompetent but that he wouldn’t recommend charges. I think that spooked him.

    He does seem to me to be (or at least to have been) a decent professional with a sense of what’s important (especially in his threat to resign during W’s term). But now he’s either playing politics with these e-mails, or oblivious to how he’s feeding the political hacks, or something. It smells to high heaven and he needs to explain it and get control over how he deals with this stuff, or he needs to resign.

    Honestly, he probably needs to submit his resignation in January, regardless. There are too many clouds and shadows for him to be effective as Director any more. Everything he does that touches on politics will be suspect.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  149. 149.

    Botsplainer

    Speaking of authenticness, I DVRed “Noah” a few weeks ago.

    What a shitshow. Crowe’s agent had to be doing bath salts when he signed the poor guy on to this trash.

    I recorded it for free off of FX, and feel like I wasted resources on it.

    Soooooooo stupid.

  150. 150.

    D58826

    @Kay: one of the issues that the FBI looked into was whither Hillary’s server had been hacked. The conclusion they came to was that there was no evidence that it was but then there was no evidence that it wasn’t. Given the DNC/Podesta hacks, as well as hacks into a number of government servers, how come none the e-mails, esp. the ones that were later up-classified, have been leaked? It would certainly seem like they would prime items to leak. But so far nothing. I realize that State has been releasing them gradually over the summer/fall as part of the law suit but the upclassified ones have been either redacted or held back. If a malicious hacked had gotten into the server it is surprising that they haven’t released unredacted copies.

    As to Comy, I’m tired of hearing about his integrity. He has proven himself to be a political hack. The GOP had already announced that they were going to investigate the FBI investigation so he writes this letter to Congress to try and get his butt off the hotplate. He is a smart lawyer and a Washington political player of long standing. Not to mention that he has been after the Clinton’s since his Ken Starr days. He knew exactly what the effect of that letter would be.

    There is the old medical dictum – first do no harm. If he waited till after the election there would have been a GOP uproar but then that is what they do. If there is something incriminating in the e-mails there are remedies – impeachment/indictment/political pressure to resign – that can be used to correct the situation. On the other hand if the e-mails turn out to be nothing but Comey’s letter results in flipping the election there is no do-over. There is no way to correct the injustice. That is why it has been DOJ policy to shut down politically sensitive investigations during election season.

  151. 151.

    Ivan X

    I just landed on a flight with Rudy Giuliani directly in front of me. It was hard not to kick the seat. I say that both as a New Yorker and an American.

  152. 152.

    Immanentize

    Comey did solid thing when Gonzalez tried to force Ashcroft to issue a
    Subpoena when Ashcroft was in intensive care.

    That is what Comey’s integrity rap is based on and why Obama felt it was safe to appoint him. But he is no leader or good manager. I think I read somewhere that he doesnt know how to (or Just won’t) use a computer in his office.

  154. 154.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    Unfortunately, by trying to have things both ways – revealing the change in circumstances while remaining vague about what the agents know – Comey has created that misleading impression that could change the outcome of a presidential election, an act that, if uncorrected, will undoubtedly go down as one of the darkest moments in the bureau’s history.

    This is Newsweek. Just to show how broadly condemned this will be. The only part I’d correct would be to strike “if uncorrected”.

    As to why he did it, it’s certainly basically the usual harassment and bullying from the right wing, which at this point includes virtually every Republican in congress. Whether he acted because of that pressure or intentionally wanted to influence an election is immaterial, it was partisan hackery either way.

    Another example, here’s Politico, with a piece titled Comey Disclosure Shocks Former Prosecutors , and I quote:

    “The Justice Department’s longstanding practice is don’t do anything seen as trying to influence an election. That’s usually interpreted as 60 days, let alone 11. … It’s completely unfair to Secretary Clinton and it’s really unfair to the voters. There’s no reason he had to send this letter”

  155. 155.

    Another Holocene Human

    @Botsplainer: So authentic he spent years in Germany working the marks until he and his wife made their grifting too obvious and he got kicked out of Germany.

    He popped up a few years ago selling (no lie) potato fries at a Tampa mall.

  157. 157.

    Another Holocene Human

    @opiejeanne: I have a coworker who dumped two cans of slimey canned oysters into a bowl and shook hot sauce all over it and ate it. Ugh ugh ugh.

    She’s a nice lady but HOW CAN YOU EAT THAT WAY DEAR GOD

  158. 158.

    D58826

    @Immanentize: IIIRC Obama was having a problem filling the slot due to the usual GOP filibuster threat. They had to extend the term of the previous director by 2 years. Comey was the only person the GOP would allow a vote on. He owes his job to the GOP and now he is just repaying the debt.

  160. 160.

    LAC

    @hovercraft: I agree!! And I am so fucking tired of worrying about trump supporters. They have been given outsized importance and treated like they are some unstoppable bogeyman who we need to fear. It is easy to act tough when there is a few thousand of you at a rally and you can shove one person around. Try that shit someplace else. Keep thinking that what you put out there won’t come back to bite your asses. We get out there and vote and they can go back to their Doritos super bags and couches and watch trump tv.

  161. 161.

    tybee

    @ThresherK:

    and you would be correct. it’s not bad if cooked correctly. the hard part is getting the mollusc out of its shell and then pounding the snail into tenderness.

  162. 162.

    Botsplainer

    @D58826:

    Yeah, of all the hacks, the one thing that has remained unhacked was her private server.

    There is security in relative anonymity. Nothing was released that shouldn’t have been, a crucial element of the alleged offenses.

  164. 164.

    Another Holocene Human

    @OzarkHillbilly: I hired a friend electrician to rewire the bathroom lights in the downstairs powder room (lights on either side of mirror instead of above mirror). The studs were literally 6 inches apart and there was a super fragile (yes, it got broken–twice) fiber optic cable wired through the other side of the same wall. And to top it off his drill bit fell off his drill and broke the contractor special sink. I took the opportunity to get a new sink that hides the water lines so the cat can’t chew on them any more. My friend declined to charge me :DD

    He went away muttering about why this is why he doesn’t work residential!!

  166. 166.

    LAC

    @Ivan X: my hat is off to you. I would have tried to make a paper cross and see if that would have caused him to hiss uncontrollably.

  167. 167.

    NotMax

    Beginning of the purge of the eggheads?

    North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong-un has ordered a full-blown investigation into the recent missile launch failures, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, citing a North Korean defectors’ group. The test firing of two intermediate-range ballistic missiles, or Musudan, ended in failure about two weeks ago.
    [snip]
    “Officials and workers who engaged in the launches of the missiles are now banned from travelling and their mobiles phones are confiscated to check their conversation records,”…
    [snip]
    The reclusive state has attempted to test-fire the Musudan missiles eight times since 15 April. However, all the launches, except one on 22 June, ended in failure. The only successful launch saw the missile flying a distance of 400km and reaching an altitude of over 1,400 km, Yonhap reported. Source

  168. 168.

    opiejeanne

    @OzarkHillbilly: English and Irish. Great grandpa was Irish & English, from Canada, came with two brothers to Chicago in 1862. I have a letter from their parents to them, telling my great grandpa to take the other two to church (which made everyone laugh who knew him).
    Great Grandma was English, a Clark from Vermont. Her family included the Kingsbury and White families from Keene, N.H. dating to 1739 in this country.
    I’m so English/Irish if it weren’t for the one Portuguese greatX4 grandfather, I’d glow in the dark.

  170. 170.

    Botsplainer

    So as I watch this Noah shitshow, the thing that I’m reminded of how much of a psychotic prick God is.

  172. 172.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Mike E:

    whenever I see my daughter, I marvel!

    And say, “God bless Tito.”? I don’t know how he managed to hold Yugoslavia together.

  173. 173.

    Oldgold

    From Kevin Drum:

    “There is literally nothing here. We have a bunch of emails from Huma Abedin to other people. The FBI has not read them yet and has no idea what they’re about. At first glance—presumably from scanning the subject lines and names of recipients—they appear to be duplicates of stuff we’ve already seen. And it will likely take several weeks before we know anything more.”

  175. 175.

    Ivan X

    @LAC: He has really hairy hands, it turns out. Perhaps he’s a werewolf.

    I also now have the great honor of saying I shared an airport bathroom with him. He splashed water on his hands after, but didn’t use soap.

  177. 177.

    WereBear

    @Iowa Old Lady: Yeah. When someone tries to pull that “women are slaves to their hormones hur hur” crap, I point out that men have the greater demonstrated tendency to think with their little head.

  178. 178.

    opiejeanne

    @Another Holocene Human: You have undoubtedly heard that the first person to eat an oyster did it on a dare.
    I have had oysters, not raw, and they were ok but not something I’d seek out. My daughter had mussels in Lyon and assures me they are delicious but I look at them and see bait.

  180. 180.

    opiejeanne

    @Another Holocene Human: The two I knew about before moving to WA were in Southern California, pre-Prop 13. The people who owned them just had a lot of money, because both were pretty fancy joints; one even had an elevator.

  184. 184.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Another Scott:

    He’s scared to death of the howler-monkeys swooping down on him after the election when these e-mails on Weiner’s PC would have come out – “OMG! COVERUP!!1 COMEY IS PROTECTING HILLARY!!111”. So, he felt that he had to protect himself even if it meant interfering with the Presidential (and Senate) elections.

    I have seen suggestions that a lot of those howler monkeys are inside the FBI, and Comey is feeling pressure from below that threatens his ability to lead the organization.

    If so, it’s particularly worrying, because it suggests that the FBI may be turning into an organization that will try to sabotage any Democratic administration.

  190. 190.

    Another Scott

    @Botsplainer: That Old Testament God really was a character. Creates everything, knows everything, but can’t find naked Adam hiding in some bushes? Really?

    It’s a bunch of old stories mixed together by Ezra and at least 3 other old dudes. Neat stuff, but it’s not a manual for running a modern pluralistic society.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  191. 191.

    opiejeanne

    @Botsplainer: Or rather, what a psychotic prick humans thought God was (or should be) back then.
    The God of the New Testament is practically a softie compared to the one in the Old Testament. Lots of discussion in HS Sunday School about how our perception of God has changed as society has changed.

    It’s telling that so many not particularly religious RWers were more attracted to the Old Testament than the New, starting in the early 80s. We were stunned by that.

  192. 192.

    gogol's wife

    @LAC:

    Ooh, yeah, press it on his forehead and see it leave a bloody impression. (Just watched Horror of Dracula a couple of nights ago.)

  193. 193.

    OzarkHillbilly

    .@opiejeanne:

    I’m so English/Irish if it weren’t for the one Portuguese greatX4 grandfather, I’d glow in the dark.

    Heh, you and my mother, tho she had some Scots in there too.

  194. 194.

    opiejeanne

    @WereBear: Funny, I just felt a tiny bit sorry for the other guy who was portrayed as so weak of character that he just went along with the scheme, and that he wouldn’t have been involved in anything so terrible if he hadn’t met the other guy.
    It’s been a long time since I saw it so I may be wrong.

  195. 195.

    D58826

    @Oldgold: Given the close personal and professional relationship between Weiner/Huma and the Clintons it would be odd if some e-mails with Hillary’s name on them were NOT on the laptop. Even just recipe exchanges or baby announcements.

  197. 197.

    Kay

    We have Halloween tonight so I have to get the candy. They’re getting what I like- all the candies in the fruit-flavored sector except Twizzlers, which are horrible with a weird texture.

  198. 198.

    Barbara

    @Oldgold: What compelled him to make selective disclosure to Republicans only? I lost whatever residual respect I had for Comey. I am certain this is payback for the Garner reassignment. Comey has made it clear in other statements that as far as he is concerned police killings are an acceptable form of collateral damage. He went so far as to claim that rising murder rates in some cities are attributale to police afraid of being punished for “doing their jobs.”

  199. 199.

    NotMax

    @Barbara

    AFAIK he sent the same letter to both the chairman and the ranking member of the committee. It was Chaffetz who immediately made a beeline for the microphones.

  201. 201.

    opiejeanne

    @OzarkHillbilly: The not-so-funny immigrant story is that my great great grandfather on Dad’s side came from Ireland sometime between 1800 and 1832, and his descendants were told after he was gone that he was Scottish. I managed to track down a cousin still living in the Ontario area who was looking for John The Immigrant’s origin in Glasgow. He had no idea the man had been born in Ireland, but Lord knows where. The aunties, his many daughters-in-law, had lied so solemnly that three generations later I had to inform this guy that he was looking in the wrong place and he got angry with me when I told him. He hadn’t bothered to check the cemetery records right down the road, nor the Canadian census. John The Immigrant married a woman of English descent, Hannah Freeman, the granddaughter of John Freeman, of the Battle of Freeman’s Farm, better known as the Battle of Saratoga. Freeman and his family were Royalists, but in Canada they’re known as Loyalists, and they’re still damned mad about our little rebellion. When I was hunting for family some of the people sitting on records in Canada wouldn’t talk to me because I’m a Yank. Very interesting and weird to discover that your family includes what we would consider a traitor in the Revolutionary War, after finding lots of other direct line ancestors who fought on the side of Goodness and Light.

  202. 202.

    D58826

    Has the media spent as much time obsessing over the ties between Trump’s General Flynn and Putin vs Hillary’s e-mails?

  203. 203.

    Botsplainer

    @Kay:

    Officially sanctioned Halloween is just wrong.

    That shit needs shut down, and the true day honored with pranks.

  205. 205.

    MomSense

    Have a story from phonebanking. Oldest kid said on one of his calls he got a guy who went off about Michelle Obama and all kinds of weird Breitbart like news. He finally said that Obama is gay and has been carrying on an affair with Joe Biden. It was at this point my son jumped in to say “That would be amazing. That would be the best thing ever. I wish that were true.” The poor guy on the phone did not expect that response and it completely shut him down.
    Everyone had a good laugh.
    Listen we always knew the media, Republicans, and all the bastards would be out for blood in this election. They live to tear people down. That is what they do. We like to use government to help people, to protect our environment, and to make it possible for our citizens to be educated and healthy. Fighting the good fight is always going to be tougher.
    Let’s all just try to have fun and remember we are the party that elected the first black president and we are working to elect the first woman president. It is an awesome time to be a Democrat. So if you can chip in some more cash for the last 10 days or spare some time to volunteer- do it. It matters.

  206. 206.

    D58826

    @NotMax: I saw an article that said the same thing, the minority members were cc’ed. Not sure if that is the standard protocol but the democrats did get a copy.

  207. 207.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    @Barbara:

    What compelled him to make selective disclosure to Republicans only?

    Not true. The Democrats on the committee were informed as well, as Comey’s letter shows.

  208. 208.

    bemused

    @LAC:

    I’m sick of hearing people on my tv saying Dems need to reach out more to Trump supporters and Dems have ignored their real concerns. Garbage. Those folks are unreachable. They will believe anything stupid that they hear and read. I just read the letters to ed cesspool in local paper. One guy ranting that Trump will rule with an iron hand and Clinton would ban Americans from using your shutgun for birds and rifles for deer because the John Birch Society and tree huggers will have won over Hillary’s heart. Clueless idiot seems to think the JBS is some lefty group that wants gun control, lol.

  209. 209.

    WereBear

    @opiejeanne: The book goes into much greater detail.

    As far as the movie, I have always had a soft spot for Robert Blake. Yes, I know he’s possibly a murderer, but he was also abused as a child, and never got any help when it would have helped.

  210. 210.

    Immanentize

    @bemused:

    I’m sick of hearing people on my tv saying Dems need to reach out more to Trump supporters and Dems have ignored their real concerns. Garbage.

    Yes. Where are the stories about how Trump really needs to understand the issues that poor people, women, people of color and demonstrate his understanding of their concerns? The aggrieved older white guy is not the center of the universe (much as I would profit would that be so).

  212. 212.

    Kay

    @Botsplainer:

    I like it. I don’t wear a costume or decorate. I’m more of a costume critic: “how is that even a costume? You’re going to have to try harder”.

    Older kids are the worst. They aren’t dressed any differently and they just stand there when you open the door.

    “Can I help you,Corbin? Is there a reason you’re out mutely begging?”

  213. 213.

    germy

    @Immanentize:

    Where are the stories about how Trump really needs to understand the issues that poor people, women, people of color and demonstrate his understanding of their concerns.

    But he has addressed those issues. Poor people need more tax breaks for the rich, women need to quit and switch careers if they’re harassed at work, and people of color need more stop and frisk in their neighborhoods.

  215. 215.

    PsiFighter37

    @Ivan X: I would have given him the finger. Speak in a language that he as an old-timer New Yorker would unmistakably understand.

  216. 216.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    Voter protection training today! I’ll be helping at the sign in table also, since we have to get everybody in though the locked law school door before the session can start. Apparently it’s too complicated for the university to have the door unlocked for 4 hours on a Saturday. We’ll get credentials after the training.

  217. 217.

    Another Scott

    @Barbara: The letter was directed to the chairs of the relevant committees. On the 2nd page is the list of CCs, which was the list of ranking members (Democrats) on those committees. I think it was the standard protocol for such letters.

    HTH.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  219. 219.

    Kay

    The thing about Trump that is depressing is that to me he’s a sign of a decline. Donald Trump doesn’t have a single redeeming quality other than the property and money he inherited and tens of millions think he’s good enough to be President. Like it or not, his shit sticks to all of us. That’s why this has been one big depressing slog and I cannot wait until it’s over. What Trump and his supporters complain about- the “decline” of the US? The Trump Family exemplify “decline”. They don’t know it but they’re the best evidence of what they’re complaining about.

  220. 220.

    JMG

    It is my belief this will now be a close election, not because of Comey, but because Republicans will decide to remain loyal, As for Comey, he’s screwed no matter who wins. Nobody on either side trusts him now.

  222. 222.

    Kay

    @NotMax:

    Oh, most say thank you. I just think if you’re old enough to be too cool to wear a costume you’re too old for trick or treating. I like the holiday. It’s completely bizarre.

  223. 223.

    burnspbesq

    @JPL:

    @opiejeanne: According to news reports, many agents are upset with Comey and his politicizing the email investigation. He might want to step down and run for office.

    Bet on it. Comey is running for Governor of NJ next year.

  226. 226.

    amygdala

    I was invited to a Diwali party tomorrow night, and asked to “bake some things.” Just put the first trays of coconut cookies in the oven. Tonight I’ll make a batch of mango bread.

  227. 227.

    bemused

    @Immanentize:

    I’ve met plenty of those cranky old rightwing white guys. Nothing would ever make them happy, nothing. The know-it-alls wouldn’t know how to live without bitching about everything.

  229. 229.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Kay: When we lived in the city and had a porch, I sat on the porch to hand out candy. One year 3 male teenagers walked up nearly at the end of the begging hour, with bags and no costumes. They held out the bags. I looked at them and said “you know how this works – say the magic words.” Two of them kind of rolled their eyes and mumbled “trick or treat,” and I handed them some candy. The third one sort of stretched up and scowled at me, probably thinking “little old lady (though I wasn’t 50 yet!) I don’t have to play that game. I just looked back at him, and he still seemed to believe he could intimidate me into giving him candy just because he stood there. Finally I told him, “say the words and get your candy, or go away.” He still scowled, and this went on for at least a full minute, if not longer. Having taken a hard line stand, he clearly didn’t want to back down in front of his friends, but I’m really stubborn and pretty difficult to intimidate. I finally said, “your choice” and I think he figured it was easier to lose a tiny bit of face when confronted with an obviously unstable woman who insisted on calmly sitting in a chair unimpressed by his (attempted) menacing stance than let it go on any longer. So he said the words, and got his candy. They went away.

    All the other teens that year had played along, and some had even sorta kinda made an effort at a “costume.” And most were cheery about making the ask. I think it was the next year that I raised nodded an eyebrow at a teenager who walked up and just held out a bag, and his pal said “I bet this is the badass lady who makes everybody say ‘trick or treat’!” They both laughed when I asked him “how’d you guess?”

  230. 230.

    Matt McIrvin

    @opiejeanne:

    It’s telling that so many not particularly religious RWers were more attracted to the Old Testament than the New, starting in the early 80s. We were stunned by that

    And yet: the Old Testament is the Jewish Bible, but Jews aren’t unusually tyrannical or bloodthirsty (of course every religion has got some). They’ve got their own ways of interpreting and reasoning with all that that are not the right-wing Christian ones.

  231. 231.

    MattF

    @JMG: I agree that Comey is in trouble, no matter what. The whole business of treating the FBI Director as a demigod is the result of the long, sad reign of JEH and ought to have expired by now.

  232. 232.

    MattF

    @Matt McIrvin: And there’s a long Jewish tradition of argument about biblical interpretation– and, for that matter, argument about just about everything. But that’s not how Xtian fundie culture works.

  233. 233.

    opiejeanne

    @Matt McIrvin: I know, and I know that Jews are only useful to the ridiculous fundamentalists as a prop for the “end times”, and the end times isn’t even sound theology. Relatively new idea, sprang up sometime in the mid 1800s.
    It’s still really strange to me, that these people were suddenly drawn to join a church, but not one that emphasized the New Testament and loving your enemy or your neighbor. They really liked all that absolutism and smiting of the OT rather than the bits about forgiveness in the NT. I’ve heard these self-proclaimed Christians sneer at the Sermon on the Mount, call it part of the hippie Bible. I spent a lot of my childhood and most of adulthood in the Methodist church and hearing this is kind of like walking into a swarm of hornets for me, regardless of my current state of belief.

  234. 234.

    Immanentize

    @opiejeanne: I was wondering if there was a connection to the Eric Garner case substitutions by DOJ….

    Looks like the Feds are having a family feud. Frankly well played by NY who probably knew what a boy scout Comey thinks he is. Somewhere someone wrote something like — “Comey is not scrupulously apolitical, he is obsessed with appearing that way.” I think this is the truth and his decisions are based on his personal view of himself rather than on what is just or correct.

  236. 236.

    Matt McIrvin

    @MattF: Argument with God, even. There are those traditions of God getting into arguments with scholars over Torah and backing down. The Christian impulse is more to think of God as infinitely wise and good, so there could be no argument you could win. With RW fundamentalists it’s basically divine command theory, in which the command of God is by definition what is good.

  237. 237.

    Matt McIrvin

    @opiejeanne: There are certainly bits of the NT they’re fond of: Revelation, of course, and all the Jesus-is-the-only-way bits in the Gospels and Paul’s letters. They tend to turn Jesus into a sort of walking talisman to ward off damnation rather than as a person who actually had ideas.

  238. 238.

    Immanentize

    @Matt McIrvin: This is one reason Job is my favorite book in the bible, which could be subtitled — “God and Satan have argument about Job’s piety”

  240. 240.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Kay:

    They’re getting what I like- all the candies in the fruit-flavored sector

    Ick! Chocolate is the only acceptable Halloween candy. Only thing worse than fruit-flavored candies is those – shudder – little boxes of raisins.

    ETA: I always valued your judgement, but this candy heresy…is a bridge too far. :)

  241. 241.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud:

    Lately, I’ve neither been a morning, afternoon, evening, or night person.

    You must be one of those undecideds we keep hearing about.

  242. 242.

    debbie

    Has anyone mentioned the Iowan woman being charged with voter fraud? I just heard it on NPR — she voted for Trump twice because she was (she said) afraid her vote would be switched over to Clinton. If convicted, she can get up to 5 years. I can not wait to hear her patriot’s defense of her actions.

  243. 243.

    Kropadope

    @Kay:

    We have Halloween tonight so I have to get the candy. They’re getting what I like- all the candies in the fruit-flavored sector except Twizzlers, which are horrible with a weird texture.

    Sour Patch Kids?!?!?!? Those are the best.

  244. 244.

    hovercraft

    @burnspbesq:

    Bet on it. Comey is running for Governor of NJ next year.

    If he thinks he has a snowballs chance in hell he is even more of a moron that I already think he is. We are a democratic state, yes we elect republicans as governors, but they are supposed “moderates” who are able to pull a significant number of democrats to vote for them. Comey will not be able to get diddly squat after this shitstorm he’s created. He may have been able to summon some good will because he “chose” not to bring an indictment, but now he will not stand a chance. New Jersey governor is not an option for him, additionally coming off of our Christie experiment, republicans will have a hard time retaining the seat anyway, he has tainted the brand.

  245. 245.

    Another Scott

    @debbie: I saw it mentioned in my Google News list. E.g. Washington Post. It’s not surprising – almost all the cases I recall hearing about have been either GOP political people or GOP voters…

    It’s sad (and dangerous) that people believe this “they’ll switch my vote!!1” stuff. :-(

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  247. 247.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)

    I got out and exercised my franchise this morning at the Madison branch of the NPL. They had plenty of staff and voting machines on hand so it went quickly. There was a man on a power chair decked with flags and a big Trump-Pence banner over the chair back. They made him cover it up before they’d let him in, of course.

  251. 251.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @MomSense:

    He finally said that Obama is gay and has been carrying on an affair with Joe Biden. It was at this point my son jumped in to say “That would be amazing. That would be the best thing ever. I wish that were true.” The poor guy on the phone did not expect that response and it completely shut him down.

    And absurd because you know Micheal would never be able to say out of that much Biden.

  252. 252.

    Steeplejack

    @Barbara:

    Here’s the PDF of the actual letter. All the Democratic ranking committee members are CC’d, as per standard practice.

    Only hours after Republican members and not before Chaffshit released his own statement.

    If you mean that physical delivery of the letter (and e-mail version, presumably) was delayed to the Democrats, I would love to see a link or citation for that.

  253. 253.

    CZanne

    @Another Holocene Human: ouch.

    I’m just glad this is hitting at midterms, when I schedule all of us for two light weeks because the undergrad interns need to keep their GPAs, and the (paid) grad students also get paid to proctor and grade. I like them much better when they can afford to eat.

    I could have advocated for more paint, but we’d just finished painting the old house, and I wasn’t interested. We did compromise on art — we have much more art on the walls now.

    @WereBear: eh. You know, I don’t hate it. We’re careful with drips and bath mats, so the carpet never gets wet, and this is a DRY climate. Today’s indoor humidity is 17%, and that’s with a humidifier running and lots of plants. If we had little ones, or more people, or worse aim, I would have pulled it faster, but it’s kinda nice having warm feet in January, and I really love not hearing the tap dancing herd of miniature elephants over my head when I’m downstairs and someone’s upstairs. Our house is a support system for a staircase, so unless I’m on the top floor, I am under a room.

    I would never put carpet in a kitchen, though. In 2009, I pulled the nasty, crusty stuff that my great-grandparents put in their kitchen in the late 60s or early 70s (before I was born). Oh god oh god no. I do not know what possessed them, except maybe the fear of a broken hip. My great-grandmother was fastidious, but it was still awful.

    @efgoldman: heh. No back yard, and we don’t own the mineral or water rights anyway. Colorado’s cruel that way. Timing on the money front ended up being good, for some value of that — I’ve got everything paid off except the mortgage, and have been shoving all the extra money into savings for the last year because I’ve been expecting my sister’s husband to decide he wants a divorce instead of just cheating, gaslighting and emotionally abusing my sister (long story, but untreated PTSD and Southern Good Ol Boy toxic masculinity are a terrible mix). So the money’s there, and replaceable in a short time if necessary. And the toxic waste of tattoo ink has floated round to honeymoon phase again, and my sister keeps falling for it, so I’ve got 3-6 months before the next crash. $2K is the budget, and I do this work myself.

  254. 254.

    Mel

    @a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio): My great grandma (born in the 1880s – lived well into her 90th decade) was a tough old suffragette from a long line of abolitionist Quakers. Her daughter (born in the 1910s) was a poll worker well up into her 80th decade. Those ladies took no nonsense from anybody, and election rules and voter protection were sacred to them. They are both gone now, but Oh, how I would have loved to see one of the Trumpian “poll watchers” try and pull some tomfoolery on their watch…

  255. 255.

    Ruckus

    @Baud:
    I’ve crossed the Atlantic a few times, by boat, I’ve been above the Arctic Circle in the winter, I’ve been in the Caribbean in the summer, I’ve even owned my own sailboat, one big enough that it had to be hoisted out of the water with a lift, and I’m not all that overjoyed with the ocean anymore. It’s gorgeous at times, like when it’s dead flat, you can’t see a ripple for miles in the moonlight, but it is also one of the most unforgiving surfaces we travel on.

  256. 256.

    Ruckus

    @opiejeanne:
    I do look at FB, I have friends that I keep in contact with through it. I learned of my HS friend who passed away a couple of weeks ago from pancreatic cancer. BTW FUCK, FUCKING CANCER. But I have unfreinded a few people who turned out to be tRump lovers, you know, flaming racists. And now I only befriend those who I vet and don’t find any idiotic conservative or tRump tendencies. It’s OK though, I already have an asshole, I don’t need more of them.

  258. 258.

    JR in WV

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I had a friend who was a guard at the prison in Joliet years ago, briefly. Long passed away now, wild as a youngster, didn’t quite grow up out of the wildness. Interesting guy. Loved the outdoors, trapped, fished, hunted, canoed, all while drinking. A lot.

  259. 259.

    JR in WV

    @Kay:

    As a little kid, I was always so disappointed on Halloween when I said Trick-or-Treat in costume, and the nice folks answering their door called me by name. Of course, it was because I was 6 and my Mom was standing behind me. So sad!

    Then after the Navy, married, moving to the big city, I went to parties where serious creativity went into costumes, adults prowling the consignment / Goodwill shops for weeks.

    One year wife found a violet gown with black lacework bodice. For $19 we got a blond wig at KMart, and some make-up (which she never uses) and she did a Mae West imitation for hours. People she worked with for 60 hours a seek never caught on. The next year was the Symbionese Liberation Army, who kidnapped the rich girl, and people came in uniform with assault rifles. And they caught a guy who kidnapped coeds at the U and decapitated them, 2 or 3 guys came as him, with cabbages in a burlap sack. Great.

    One year a guy came as a dog, on all fours, drank his beer from a bowl. When the cops came (it was never a successful Halloween party unless they came twice) he went down the long flight of steps to the cruised, and raised his hind leg and peed on their back tire. They blinked, and went away, never to return. Won a Pulitzer Prize many years later IIRC. Strange but good times. many of those guys are dead and gone now.

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