Today in bearing witness to things that are not normal, we note that outgoing US Attorney General Loretta Lynch will be replaced with a man deemed too racist to serve as a federal judge by the US Senate in 1986. Via TPM:
Sessions’ nomination will likely be met with opposition in the Senate. While serving as a U.S. attorney in Alabama, Sessions was nominated for a federal judgeship in 1986, but he was never confirmed due to past racist comments. He withdrew his name from consideration and went on to be the Alabama attorney general and later a senator.
During the 1986 hearings to consider Sessions, J. Gerald Hebert, a Justice Department prosecutor, testified about how Sessions talked about a lawyer representing a black client. Herbert said that he once told Sessions that a judge had called a white lawyer “a disgrace to his race” for representing black clients. In response, Sessions said, “maybe he is,” Herbert said. Herbert also told Congress at the time that Sessions had called the NAACP “un-American” because the group was “trying to force civil rights down the throats of people.”
An African-American prosecutor testified to Congress that Sessions had called him “boy” and once joked that he felt the Ku Klux Klan “was O.K. until I found out they smoked pot.” Sessions denied called the prosecutor “boy” but not the other comments.
Though Sessions is likely to meet opposition from Democratic senators, it’s not clear how Republicans will approach his nomination now that he is one of their colleagues.
Trump’s picks so far: a white nationalist for Chief Strategist, an Islamophobic nutjob for National Security Adviser, and a walking monument to the Confederacy in name and outlook as AG. He is who he said he was.
ETA: Appending my comment below: I don’t know what more Democrats need to know to conclude that the only proper response to the incoming administration is implacable resistance. They should have a convo with Rep. Lewis. He knows a little something about how to stare down racist goons.
JMG
On Jan. 20, the United States government becomes the avowed enemy of the vast majority of mankind. That isn’t promising for it or mankind.
mai naem mobile
Kay suggested in previous thread attaching voting rights bill to Sessions’ confirmation. Excellent idea.
tobie
I gather Pompeo’s in line for the CIA. His one claim to fame is a 48-page addendum he drafted to the House Benghazi report. Clearly a rabid partisan. Oh dear god.
Betty Cracker
@mai naem mobile: Agreed. Also, I don’t know what more Democrats need to know to conclude that the only proper response to the incoming administration is implacable resistance. They should have a convo with Rep. Lewis. He knows a little something about how to stare down racist goons.
Oatler.
I remember when Homer Simpson watched a donut being incinerated sobbing “This just can’t be happening!” Trump has burned my donut across the Rubicon or whatever. Also, wasn’t Jefferson Beauregard a Sweathog?
Cacti
Maybe Bernie or Liz Warren can be a character reference for him.
He seems to have a lot of economic anxiety.
Betty Cracker
@Oatler.: That made me smile, which I needed. Thanks!
Iowa Old Lady
Didn’t a Republican Senate already reject Sessions once over racist remarks? He was denied a Federal judgeship in the 80s I think. Doesn’t that matter any more?
mkro
No worries, Dana Millbank and Chris Cillizza have assured me that the Trump pivot is just around the corner
The Dangerman
#Calexit. And we’ll build a wall. Well, we want Vegas, too.
Major Major Major Major
J. Beauregard Sessions III sounds awfully economically anxious.
EDIT: dangit
Cermet
Yet Hillary lost. Somehow these remarks by small handed dick head didn’t get enough attention to dem voters to be effective. Someone wasn’t spending their money well …the other didn’t need to spend thanks to our corrupted media.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
I work for an executive agency, thankfully not one that can be as politicized as DoJ or one that’s likely to be whacked (Dept of Ed). Nonetheless, once Cheetoh Donnie and the rest of the goons are installed, watch for the massive outsourcing. The Bushies were the first ones to really do this systematically across the gubmint but these people will do it on steroids in those departments that aren’t designed to implement a Brownbackian conservative agenda. We all live in Kansas now.
None of this should surprise anyone. It’s to be expected. Of course our response should be implacable resistance but I doubt Schumer will get that memo. Nancy Smash has endured this before, I hope she remembers what to do.
comrade scott's agenda of rage
@Iowa Old Lady:
No.
Thus endeth today’s episode of One Word Answers.
It happened in 1996 btw. Let the normalizing begin! Sigh.
dedc79
@Major Major Major Major: One of the oddities of America – supposed american patriots naming their kids after some of our worst traitors
Kay
@mai naem mobile:
Get something! Get something big! Chuck Schumer is supposed to be this tough guy ace negotiator. True, not true, who knows? Show us.
A new voting rights law or no racist AG for you, conservatives. They all lied and said they’d pass one after Roberts gutted the one we have. GOP leadership is on record as promising that. We can have a better one now. Updated to cover their latest suppression schemes.
Felonius Monk
I am somewhat confident that some of Trump’s more egregious choices for cabinet positions will not make it through Senate confirmation. Then the fun begins because (1) it is doubtful they will have thought far enough ahead to have a backup candidate, and (2) Trump will become angry with the Repub Senate for not confirming his choice and that will begin a major shitshow
Popcorn will be our friend.
Weaselone
@Cermet:
Hillary spent the money on adds showing actual clips of Duke Daintydigits saying just this sort of crap. The problem is that political adds of this type simply are not that effective at convincing voters, especially without confirmation from actual news sources.
SFAW
@Cermet:
We fucking get it already.
Maybe there can be an auto-post-generator, so you’ll have even more venues to tell us — indirectly, of course — how much you fucking hate Hitlary. I’ll e-mail Cole, I’m sure he’ll get right on it.
Maybe Alain can help, too.
Major Major Major Major
@dedc79: it’s not odd at all. These so-called patriots are still fighting the war of southern secession.
Weaselone
@Felonius Monk:
I wouldn’t count on Trump’s picks not getting through the Senate. They may not have in 1986 even with a Republican majority, but the Republicans are different now, even many of those who were actually in the Senate in 1986.
SenyorDave
To any person who says that Trump is not a racist, GFY! How many GD examples do we need:
1. The Central Park Five (I was in NY area during that time, the cit was on edge, and Trump was a fucking disgrace)
2. Birther several years after PBO released his birth certificate
3. Steve Bannon
4. His general attitude toward African Americans during the campaign (you have nothing, no jobs, no education)
5. His AG nominee couldn’t become a judge because he was too racist for the GOP back in the day!
I want every Democrat coming out against this pick, if Joe Manchin can’t, let him switch parties.
I want the NAACP, ADL, HRC (Human Rights Council), every group that cares about human rights making noise
Gin & Tonic
@Iowa Old Lady:
Nothing matters any more, comrade.
Elie
So those who voted for Jill Stein and Gary Johnson can now see the effects that they didn’t think mattered. Also anyone who stayed at home on Nov 8. I don’t have the stats on my fingertips but I read that Trump actually did better with Hispanics than Romney.
Am I disappointed in what I see coming from this administration to be? I am not disappointed — I expected that which is why I worked to stop it — albeit unsuccessfully. What remains a great source of ongoing depression and anxiety for me is my fellow Americans — those who delivered our country into the worst kind of authoritarianism, most likely because they believed that black and brown people were getting too much. They voted to oppress and suppress the other so that they could feel good about themselves. I just don’t know how I can ever forgive them or forget this. I just don’t know what to do with the darkness in my heart…
rikyrah
Republican proposes charging anti-Trump protesters with ‘economic terrorism’
The Hill
Brooke Seipel
A Republican state lawmaker is proposing a bill that would allow authorities to charge protesters with committing “economic terrorism.”
Washington state Sen. Doug Ericksen proposed the bill Wednesday that would also allow authorities to charge protesters with felonies for a range of other crimes already on the books.
“I respect the right to protest, but when it endangers people’s lives and property, it goes too far,” Ericksen said in a press release Wednesday. “Fear, intimidation and vandalism are not a legitimate form of political expression. Those who employ it must be called to account.
“We are not just going after the people who commit these acts of terrorism,” he added. “We are going after the people who fund them. Wealthy donors should not feel safe in disrupting middle-class jobs.”
The proposed bill would make protesting a class C felony should it cause any sort of “economic disruption” or “jeopardize human life and property.” Such a proposal would mean violators could face five years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both.
Major Major Major Major
@SFAW: I wrote an auto-Berniebot a couple months ago but it was too horrifying to unleash, you’re welcome.
boatboy_srq
Trumpence: Making America White Again.
hovercraft
Reposting an optimistic interview with My President.
Obama Reckons with a Trump Presidency
Inside a stunned White House, the President considers his legacy and America’s future.
By David Remnick
It’s a long read, but worth it.
Elie
@Weaselone:
We still have the filibuster. That is our hope.
JMG
@Elie: Actual vote totals do not confirm exit polls showing Trump doing better than Romney with Hispanics. Exit polls are the least accurate of all polls.
rikyrah
@Kay:
tell the truth.
Iowa Old Lady
At the gym this morning, a WWC guy assured me that Congress would never privatize Medicare because there’d be a revolt. I used to believe things like that, but if Trump is president, anything can happen.
elm
@Iowa Old Lady: That doesn’t matter anymore. In the 80s, the Republicans may have thought they couldn’t win elections with/despite naked racism. Now they know otherwise.
SFAW
@Kay:
Well, in addition to normalizing bigotry and misogyny, Trump’s campaign also normalized all-lying-all-the-time, so it seems unlikely and Rethug would give two shits about being “on record.” Before this campaign, they could probably be shamed. But now? Joseph Welch would blow his brains out.
boatboy_srq
@Iowa Old Lady: when there were ACTUAL ETHICAL REPUBLICANS (however few), it did make a difference. That flavor of Republican got hounded out of the party a while ago (courtesy Gingrich, DeMint et al).
WereBear
Yes a zillion times!
No wonder we all need spreadsheets…
catclub
@comrade scott’s agenda of rage:
So WDC and the beltway bandits will get even richer, the lobbyists for those beltway bandits will be even more influential – just what the rubes were voting for!
Kay
2014:
What’s the hold-up, conservatives? If you’re not racists pass a law to protect voting rights.
Since when do people get the benefit of the doubt for years and years when they do nothing to counter the reasonable assumption they’re all racists? Am I supposed to ignore what’s right in front of me? The GOP Congress has agency. They’re adults. At what point do they ACT? Pass a law. Then we’ll talk about whether you get the benefit of the doubt.
Mnemosyne
Some idiot in my racist cousin’s Facebook feed posted a meme with a (white) soldier talking about how we all have to stop protesting this election because American soldiers died to protect our right to vote.
I replied with a picture from the Edmund Pettis Bridge saying that those were the kind of people who actually died for the right to vote. I’m assuming I’ll get blocked for it.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
This administration keeps getting better and better. Now that David Duke lost his election in Mississippi, I guess he’d be a good fit for the E.E.O.C., or maybe the civil rights division of the Justice Department.
WereBear
Also, bouncing a new idea off of people:
Many have begun to whine that they only voted for Trump for economic reasons, they’re not racist!
Well, they can prove it. I have begun asking them: so…
Will you repudiate your vote for Trump?
Two in person responses were, “Uhhhh” and basically running away, the other got kinda gobsmacked and maybe I made a dent.
Anyway, might come in handy at Thanksgiving for someone…
boatboy_srq
@Iowa Old Lady:Teahadis are in total denial about what the people they vote for plan to do. This is how Governor Voldemort could get elected twice despite all his ugly work in FL. They are convinced that all the things their candidates plan will only affect Those Other People© and that they themselves are automagically exempted from the effects.
catclub
@WereBear: so what, you can have all the laws you want but I doubt that AG would faithfully enforce them.
Would probably spend the rest of his time appealing them.
Another Scott
Kinda OT, but election and “path-forward” related. TheHill:
Much Mavericky.
Kinda makes one wonder what the term “Independent” means to Bernie. :-/
It’s not surprising, and I guess having him (mostly?) pissing out is better than the alternative, but still… And who knows, he might (maybe?) be able to do some good when he’s not taking time off to write a book and so forth.
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.
(“No, I’m not bitter. What makes you think that?”)
permafrost
@Cermet: Congrats on your fascist getting elected, termite.
Elie
@JMG:
Well that is one small comfort, I guess.
Doesn’t do much however for the impact of all those people who actually did vote for him with enthusiasm. When I see what is happening, its hard not to remember that there are people here where I live, people that I know, who WANTED this. Its still a shock to me and is a deep hurt that I feel to my bones….
catclub
@Kay:
who is lying here? Clyburn or his colleagues? Either way, forget it, its chinatown.
NotMax
Repeating.
Especially if you’re calling an R congressperson, remind them that Sessions is someone who Reagan backed away from and withdrew from nomination.
Calouste
So that means Rudy 9/11 is going to get Homeland Security then? Christie is obviously not going to get anything, he’d be lucky to stay out of jail (although he probably knows too much to risk him to sing). And what for Gingrich? State or Ambassador to the UN?
You know that pretty much everyone who was supportive during the campaign is going to get rewarded.
Major Major Major Major
@hovercraft: I was very happy to see him talking about how massive automation is coming but it’s up to us as a polity whether we let that destroy the labor force or use it to equitable ends (presumably with taxation and redistribution).
@boatboy_srq: one of my friends keeps posting memes about how it sounds like trumpets. My favorite was.
God: “and the End shall be heralded by Trump/Pence…”
John the Revelator, writing: “heralded… by… trumpets…”
SFAW
@Iowa Old Lady:
At which point, you should have whacked him upside the head with a straight bar (you can take the weights off first), and shout “Are you a fucking moron? The Rethugs have been saying they want to do this for years, yet people keep electing them. Wake the fuck up!”
Since you’re a “little old lady,” he wouldn’t dare hit you back.
Well, actually, if he voted for Trump, he probably would. And then shoot you, just for good measure, as a way of expressing his economic anxiety.
The Moar You Know
Hey, that was 1986. Even conservatives were pussies back then. By 2016 GOP standards he’s a dope smoking liberal.
catclub
@boatboy_srq:
I am surprised I have heard as much opposition to blowing the budget through infrastructure spending as I have. Whether it is serious, I have no idea. I thought they would say we are in a crisis ( we are always in a crisis when they decide to spend money) and forget about all they said before about blowing up the national debt.
SenyorDave
I understand playing the long game, and trying to trade a VRA fix for approval of Sessions, but we are talking about having a racist cracker as the chief law enforcement officer of the United States. I think they should come out early and hard, bring up his background immediately. The damagae he could is incalculable, he will go after every group he doesn’t like and use the power of the police to destroy them. Think about how many times this happens on a state level, look at IN this election cycle.
POLICE RAID INDIANA’S LARGEST VOTER REGISTRATION OFFICE FOLLOWING FRAUD ACCUSATIONS FROM GOP.
I haven’t seen any follow-up, I suspect the story will just die. But they accomplished their goal.
People died trying to prevent people like Sessions doing the sort of shit he will undoubtedly do.
Kay
There should be a condition for each confirmation. Another one could be we get a real investigation of the FBI agents in the NY office, including subpeonas for any communications with Team Trump. Half the country believe the FBI work for Donald Trump as an individual. They have no credibility. It needs fixed.
catclub
@Calouste: Even if Romney takes State, to try to give Trump establishment cover, I cannot imagine him lasting more than 6 months. Donnie loves to say “you’re fired.”
Hungry Joe
Five’ll get you ten* that the GOP will defend Jeffrey Beauregard Sessions III by braying about Robert Byrd’s once-segregationist past.
* Confederate dollars
catclub
@Kay:
I think that ‘should’ is doing a lot of work here.
Another Scott
@Elie: There are a lot of surprising (to me at least, maybe to many of you) things being reported about exit polls. Maybe they’re right, but one does have to wonder: given the massive fail in the polling this year (Sam Wang says it was off 4-6% and that has never happened before in modern Presidental races), how much can we trust exit polls? We know they only talk to a tiny number of somehow “representative” precincts. But they don’t know a priori whether they will be representative of the final results or not.
I’m not trying to say they’re wrong without evidence, but I think we need to be careful about them (and someone needs to ask these exit polling outfits to show their work to the general public).
Learning the wrong lesson is at least as bad as not learning the lesson at all.
Cheers,
Scott.
SFAW
@Calouste:
Trump might create the new position of “White House Concierge,” just for Cristie.
“Go get me a Supermachogrande from Starbucks, NOW!”
“Go get my shoes shined. NOW!”
and so on.
Couldn't Stand the Weather
General Sherman said about Georgians back in 1863, “They wanted this. They will get it. Good and hard.”
These low information Trump (forgive my repeating myself) voters will, too.
No, I am not bitter. Just disappointed.
End rant.
Cckids
@The Dangerman:
Of course! Hey, if you’re leaving, we’re leaving.
piratedan
@rikyrah: and maybe the added bonus of losing their voting rights as a felon because of conviction?
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@Hungry Joe: Both sides baby !!
Ohio Mom
@Iowa Old Lady: I hope you took his name, so in the awful event Medicare is privatized, you can find him and ask him how’s that working out for him.
In my neighborhood there are a disproportionate number of families with kids with disabilities. We all moved here because the school system has fabulous special ed services, and we are crammed into this end of the district because that’s where the cheaper houses are.
It always amazes me how many of these families are Republicans. I always think, To the extent that their kids are getting what they need, it’s because of the votes I made in favor of the people and taxes that will give them those things; to the extent that my kid doesn’t have what he needs, it’s because of them.
I am so tired of saving them.
This feeling may also be because I started calling the Republicans on the Oversight Committee, asking for a review of Trump — the Committee’s answering machine isn’t taking messages. I got up to number 6 of 24. Their staff people are the smuggest assholes. I don’t have the heart right now to continue. Back to doing the laundry and tidying the kitchen.
Central Planning
@Felonius Monk:
Objection. Assumes facts not in evidence.
I think the republicans will just roll over for him and give him whatever he wants.
hovercraft
@Iowa Old Lady:
No that does not matter. Those GOPers were sane, and could be shamed and embarrassed by their actions. This iteration of the GOP is so desperate for power and so afraid of the wombats it’s cultivated that they will confirm virtually anyone the Shitgibbon nominates. Have we heard how the Granny Starver feels about the likes of Bannon and Gaffney being elevated into positions of great power, of course not. They all knuckled under and helped this travesty to occur, none of them who were not out there on a limb denouncing the Shitgibbon have clean hands. Another quote from the article I posted at # 28:
They will not offer any resistance, so we must.
Kay
@SenyorDave:
The governor of North Carolina is making blatantly racist accusations about “voter fraud” to discredit a close election. Remember him? The business-friendly moderate mayor who has turned into a raving Right winger?
Voting rights are a gaping head wound. Bleeding. Conservatives get worse every single cycle.
boatboy_srq
@catclub: There will always be resistance to SOME spending, and there probably are a few who remember what a mess Shrub made his first year or so. But there is a near-complete disconnect far too many experience.
I’ve actually overheard back executives celebrating the imminent demise of Dodd-Frank and the forthcoming tax cuts – as if license to defraud and diminishing the tax base while the US still has a deficit were suddenly something to celebrate.
Ohio Mom
@Mnemosyne: I’ve long told people that no soldier won me the right to vote, it was women in bloomers. Because it was.
LAO
Since Trump’s election, I’ve learned a lot about myself. The news about Sessions would ordinarily throw me into a rage and lead to lots of ranting. But, instead, the constant drip of horrifying appointments and equally horrifying news, have left me totally numb. Another defense attorney asked me what I thought and I just shrugged.
I fucking hate the electorate. I hate the Country we are.
Mnemosyne
@Cermet:
Yes, it’s a total mystery why Hillary lost in just enough states to give Trump the electoral college. It must have been the economic insecurity, or because she was a bad candidate. No other explanation at all. Nope.
D58826
@Kay: The election results were razor thin in Cooper’s favor and the result of votes found late on election night. There will be a recount and that will be controlled by the GOP. McCory will be reelected by hook or more likely by crook
JMG
Flake of Arizona announced he’ll support Sessions. He is going to be confirmed. People of color to be subjected to police state. Also people like us. Also, Sessions wants to charge Clinton. Suggest Arizonans here call Flake’s office. Then picket it.
NotMax
@catclub
Probably figure all that’s needed is to cut the 136% of the federal budget allotted to foreign aid.
“Idiots. All of them.”
– Mrs. Peachum, The Threepenny Opera
Vhh
@rikyrah: This will for when it is realized that it will apply also to wingnuy protesters.
Mothra
Every word of that comes up in his confirmation hearings. Every word.
hedgehog mobile
@Cckids: Colorado and New Mexico, also too.
Felonius Monk
@rikyrah: IANAL, but I think this is pretty much unconstitutional right out of the box.
I would preclude a union from striking. It would prevent an organized boycott of a product or merchandising scheme. Ete., etc. A law like this would have prevented lunch counter sit-ins during the 60’s.
Major Major Major Major
In a snarky thread on Facebook one of my friends commented “Actually, it’s a popular misconception that the civil war was about slavery, but really it was about ethics in gaming journalism.” Lol.
Kay
@D58826:
I;m sorry to hear that. Shame we don’t have free and fair elections anymore, huh?
He was the “moderate mayor of a city” in the New South, Mr. McCory, correct? One of the “good Republicans” we could all count on to tamp down the most regressive and racist conservative impulses? That worked out well. He’s now ranting about black people committing voter fraud to hang onto power.
sherparick
@comrade scott’s agenda of rage: A particular problem is that Schumer knows Trump and has received hundreds of thousands in campaign donations from him and his family (Son-in-Law Kushner is rich in his own right and he and his family have a long history of donating to Democrats in New Jersey and New York. That is why Kushner’s Dad ended up with a target on his back when Chris Christie was New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney.)
Believe the autocrat. http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2016/11/10/trump-election-autocracy-rules-for-survival/
Also, Matt Yglesias and Vox have decided its time to get SHRILL and HYSTERICAL: http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/17/13626514/trump-systemic-corruption
@Elie: Well, yes, I guess there is a difference between the parties. Someone needs to send this flash to Glenn Greenwald and the fellows at Jacobins.
SenyorDave
@LAO: I fucking hate the electorate. I hate the Country we are.
I’ve come to the conclusion that most white people in this country are racist. Most are casual racists, embracing institutional racism and the like, but apparently a showman like Trump can get them to express their inner racist. The idea that the GOP will oppose him on Sessions is ludicrous. Even a supposed moderate like Snow will have no problem voting for Sessions.
D58826
@SenyorDave:
We will get the racist cracker but would not hold my breath that the other half of the trade will be honored.
Betty Cracker
@Ohio Mom: Excellent rejoinder, which I am filing away for future use.
AliceBlue
@SFAW:
Speaking of hitting–has anyone else heard about the Trump supporter punching a Hillary supporter in the face at a Brooklyn restaurant a few days ago? Digby referenced it in one of her columns.
I don’t understand why these people are still so enraged. They got what they wanted.
Kay
Hey Betty_ tell the people in Florida Trump screwed they won’t be getting any of this settlement because they have a corrupt state AG.
California and NY protected their people from Trump Family robbery. The corrupt FL AG collects a pay check from the same people Mr. Trump robbed, with her blessing. Shame we have to pay these deadbeats. Can’t Ivanka and her husband put Bondi on The Family payroll?
catclub
@AliceBlue:
Now they are entitled. Worse. Anti-muslim, anti-latino hate crimes are up dramatically. Not a surprise to me.
LAO
@Felonius Monk: This is my favorite thing about republicans. They scream and yell that criticism and scorn from private citizens violates their 1st Amendment rights to express their political beliefs. While meanwhile, what the state rep proposes in an actual violation of the 1st Amendment because it is premised on state action. I’m going laugh because I’m all cried out.
Mnemosyne
@Another Scott:
I will keep repeating this: I do NOT want Bernie anywhere near the levers of power unless we know for sure that he no longer speaks to Tad Devine. We really don’t need that idiot accidentally (or “accidentally”) telling the Russians everything about the Democrats’ strategy.
catclub
@Kay: I am surprised. The Trump legal strategy is usually is delay, counterclaim, delay, delay.
Major Major Major Major
@AliceBlue: @catclub: they didn’t get what they wanted. What they WANT is to punch women in the face with impunity. What they got is a president-elect who was a conduit for that rage.
PaulWartenberg2016
@Iowa Old Lady:
Considering Sessions has spent decades in the Senate, his colleagues are not about to block him. They’re too cozy in their wonderful little circle of power, even the Democrats among them.
hovercraft
@Cermet:
It’s funny how the problem with your theory about money being spent unwisely is contradicted by the second half of your statement. The media gets to broadcast their message for free. Their message this election was Hillary corrupt, e-mails, untrustworthy, any and every GOPer who wanted to go on tv to repeat and reinforce this media narrative was given a platform. Every Hillary surrogate who came on was asked to defend these points over and over again, every Shitgibbon surrogate went on brushed aside any questions about the Shitgibbon and then proceeded to hammer on the same media narrative. So no matter how she spent her money she was always fighting a two pronged battle, with the media and the other side both pushing the same narrative and talking points, no amount of money could fully combat that. And yet in spite of that she still nearly pulled it off, and I suspect she would have if not for the Comey letter. She withstood the attacks from Bernie, purity ponies, the GOP, even in their most divided moments they never took their eyes off of her, they spent four years attacking her and laying the groundwork for this, the Shitgibbon, and the media. Tell me who else could have withstood that and still come so close.
So please STFU about how weak a candidate she was, she took all of those punches and is still standing, your guy whined like a baby at even the slightest of criticisms.
tobie
@Kay:
They have. She’s part of the transition team.
SenyorDave
@Kay: I couldn’t imagine this going to trial, I hope the plaintiff’s lawyers used all the leverage they had once Trump won. I assume Trump will get some of his billionaire buddies to pay it, or steal from his charity. He sure as hell ain’t going to write a check.
Brachiator
i’m hearing on the radio that the racism problem was a long time ago, trust Trump, why so sensitive, what’s the big deal, he was joking, there is no racism in America.
I’m also hearing stuff like: “You know who else was castigated for being totally dumb and unprepared? Reagan! And he turned out to be the most bestest greatest President Kind Grandpa that America ever had! Give Trump a chance!”
@Major Major Major Major:
It ain’t a punch in the face. It’s a grab in the p#ssy.
Kay
i hate to break it to those outside NY and CA but we have lousy state lawyers. All they had to do was join the lawsuit and they could have gotten a settlement from the Trumps. We all know they’re too corrupt to go to trial. Of course he settled. He can’t testify under oath.
It’s malpractice. They robbed their own citizens to suck up to Mr. Trump. They didn’t have to DO anything. Bondi could have sat on her ass lunching with lobbyists and shared the settlement. They’re bad lawyers.
catclub
@JMG:
I saw an explanation of this. Exit polling typically takes place in swing districts, so the Latinos in swing districts are MUCH more likely to be wealthier than average, than the majority of Latinos found in non-swing districts.
NotMax
@PaulWartenberg2016
if so, dibs on the AL governor appointing Roy Moore to fill out the rest of the term.
Mnemosyne
@Ohio Mom:
Yeah, but this jackass was careful to put “men and women” in his Soldiers did everything! meme, so I didn’t just want to make it about mostly white suffragettes. That’s why I went for the Selma march.
SenyorDave
@catclub: Eventually Trump would have had to testify. Besides, the judge had already strongly encouraged both sides to settle. My guess is he told the Trump people they would probably lose, and he told the plaintiffs that they would be better off financially by settling. As I said, just a guess.
Bobby D
Sessions! JFC!!! It’s “all racists, all the time” with this bunch. Bannon, Sessions…everytime I think my emotional state is regulating and I’m psyching up to grind out and survive the next four years, they toss another racist in the mix. I just feel like screaming and crying. This is going to be far worse than I even imagined. I work in fed civil service in env protection…my life’s work goes buh-bye as the climate deniers and resource rapers take over the agencies tasked with being stewards of our lands (several of which I’ve worked for in my career). It feels like a surreal downward spiral and I can’t right the emotional ship.
Mnemosyne
@Felonius Monk:
And the problem today’s Republicans would have with that is … ?
Calouste
@Another Scott:
The polls for the 2015 UK General Election were off by 4-6%, leading to a narrow win by the right.
The polls for the 2016 Brexit referendum were off by 4-6%, leading to a narrow win by the right.
The polls for the 2016 US Presidential Election were off by 4-6%, leading to a narrow win by the right.
Notice a pattern?
catclub
@SenyorDave: I was surprised the GOP did not give him a delay ( by law!) until at least Jan 2021.
Given that they insisted that cases against Clinton go ahead, and rank hypocrisy is what they do.
amk
@Cermet: Congrats on your promotion as the latest bj troll.
Another Scott
@hovercraft: Paul Ryan won’t pretend the GOP is unfied (May 11)
“And now, Donald trump will lead a unified Republican government, and we will work hand in hand on a positive agenda to tackle this country’s big challenges.”(November 8)
Words mean nothing to the GOP.
They own it. They’re happy they own it. They want credit for owning it. Let’s make sure they get all the credit they want, and more.
Cheers,
Scott.
Major Major Major Major
@Calouste: the polling error in 2016 for the presidential election was just over two standard deviations. This might not have happened in modern presidential elections but by definition it happens around five percent of the time.
Betty Cracker
My 18-year-old says she’s going to move to Canada. I told her 1) she’ll freeze her ass off, and 2) she should stay and fight back because this is her country. But honest to dog? I’d probably be thinking the same thing if I were her. I hope it’s just idle talk. We’d miss her.
gogol's wife
@Bobby D:
Try to hang in there. We have to survive this.
O. Felix Culpa
@Major Major Major Major:
I first read this as “us as poultry.” May the fowl make a noise, lest we become hens led to the slaughter.
catclub
@catclub: PLUS, Trump is not being sued. Trump University, a private corporation, is being sued. What is the problem.
Brachiator
@rikyrah:
“Economic terrorism.” We’re going full Orwell early.
And putting people and property on the same level. I suppose that corporations are people, too.
@Felonius Monk:
Not at all. It would not have prevented protests and other forms of non-violent resistance, but it would have given prosecutors another way to persecute people.
Major Major Major Major
@O. Felix Culpa: that too, friend.
bemused
@AliceBlue:
Spite. Revenge. Hurt liberals and anyone not just like them. Make them shut up.They can’t deal with other people pointing out who they are.
GregB
Clearly no difference between the two political parties!
Comrade Scrutinizer
Dark times. This is what we should be getting ready for, not rehashing the election.
Calouste
@Major Major Major Major: So things that happen 5% of the time have now happened three times in a row. The chance of that happening independently is about 0.01%
hovercraft
@catclub:
He can’t do that here because this time it’s not happening far away from the media spotlight, it’s occurring right under the klieg lights, and the prospect of a trial with the Shitgibbon elect in the docket would be the biggest media circus in the history of the world. So even if it costs him millions, he’ll recoup his losses from the shiny new scam he’s embarking on, the CEO of America. What’s that, that’s not the job, well fuck that, that’s what it will turn into.
InternetDragons
I just got called ‘hysterical’ for saying that the appointment of people like Sessions and Flynn and Bolton shouldn’t be normalized. I think this is going to be happening a lot.
Also wanted to post to share the link for an excellent essay (We’re heading into dark times: This is how to be your own Light in the age of Trump) by Sarah Kendzior, the journalist and scholar whose specialty area is authoritarian regimes.
Her Twitter feed has been a beacon of sanity for me this week, though I guess I should mention that you shouldn’t read it if you are looking for warm-fuzzy-everything-will-be-just-fine type writing. She’s cool-headed, but offers very disturbing reality checks. If all of that sounds OK to you, please do read. It’s worth it:
https://thecorrespondent.com/5696/were-heading-into-dark-times-this-is-how-to-be-your-own-light-in-the-age-of-trump/1611114266432-e23ea1a6
D58826
@Kay: Media reports that a 20-25 million dollar settlement is in the works. Just buy the problem away. He’ll figure out a way to get the taxpayer to foot the bill
schrodinger's cat
Are we already giving up on this? This is going to be like Reconstruction 2.0.
Major Major Major Major
@Calouste: polling in the UK has a much higher standard deviation. But the simplest explanation would be that right-wing white people in either country who are irregular voters are either not being polled or are being coded as unlikely voters. So they aren’t happening independently but the connection isn’t nefarious either.
Ruviana
@WereBear: But, but I just wanted HBO!
Mnemosyne
@Another Scott:
It’s been clear since at least 2000 that the motto of today’s Republican Party is, “Just win, baby.”
Betty Cracker
@Comrade Scrutinizer: Yep. I’ve been reading Kendzior too and urging my non-wingnut family members to read her. They think I’ve gone off the deep end, that this will be a “dark time” on the Bush rather than the Putin scale. I hope to Christ they are right and I am overreacting.
rikyrah
Every Democrat, House or Senate, needs to be called about Sessions.
hovercraft
Since I no longer hate watch, I’m not clicking on this, but feel free to enjoy.
Morning Joe Circles The Beltway Wagons Around Bigot Jeff Sessions
VIDEO He’s a Senator and a colleague, so sure let’s make him Attorney General!
Comrade Scrutinizer
@Betty Cracker: I tend to have an Eeyore outlook in general, and I’m telling myself I’m overreacting. Problem is, I haven’t been able to point to much that refutes Kendzior; everything right now tends to reinforce her view. Many people here seem to take the view that institutional stickiness will ameliorate the worst of Trump (another kind of normalization), but I’m not seeing much indication of that in real life.
Calouste
@Betty Cracker: I think the “best” you can hope for is a return to 1950s style segregation, with the accompanying persistent vote suppression.
SatanicPanic
@Comrade Scrutinizer: man that is depressing but it’s real. This is where we are now.
WaterGirl
I hope you guys will consider donating to Foster Campbell to help with the US senate run-off on Dec 10.
Winning this run-off would bring us to 51 Republicans and 49 Democrats and Independents. If Dump takes anyone out of the senate, that could be an opportunity to fight back against some of the damage Dump can do. Even maybe in a red state, if people want to protest against what they are seeing from Dump or if people like the idea of divided government.
les
@Felonius Monk:
The humor, it is very dry.
catclub
Slate headline in the not-really-news category.
O. Felix Culpa
@Major Major Major Major: Squawk! I just called my senators and congressman to thank them for their opposition to Bannon and asked them to stand firm. In one call, I misspoke and started saying Jeff Sessions’ name. The staffer laughed with understanding: there is such a flood of names to oppose.
Anyway, keep the calls going, folks. Not hard to do and our representatives need to know where we stand.
JMG
@Comrade Scrutinizer: He can do anything he wants. Any President with 34 Senators behind him can ignore the Constitution, the Supreme Court and Congress. He’s got way more than that. It is going to take civil disobedience on a scale of tens of millions of people to even register a blip. We already know the media will accept the end of its freedom.
SenyorDave
@hovercraft: Morning Joe Circles The Beltway Wagons Around Bigot Jeff Sessions
And this is surprising how? I don’t believe for a second that MJ would care if Sessions was an actual klansman. If he was openly anti-semitic that might be a problem, but your basic racist cracker? Not an issue. I still thank racism and sexism are pretty acceptable among Republicans. Now complaining about those issues, that just means you are overly sensitive.
Kathleen
@Mnemosyne: He is not an idiot. He’s a rat f@@@@r.
Kay
@D58826:
So funny. He can’t go to trial! They should squeeze him for every penny. God knows what would come out about the completely unexamined and unvetted Trump Family in a trial.
Bondi’s such a tacky, low level crook. She took 25,000 to screw over the whole state. There are actual criminals here who would have demanded more than that. She’s not just a bad lawyer- she’s a bad crook.
Gindy51
@Mnemosyne: As they say… it isn’t who votes it’s who counts them that matters.
hovercraft
@schrodinger’s cat:
Here’s a nice little pep talk.
The State of the Union: Molly Ivins
She starts at about 17:00, she starts off by saying that she likes to tell discouraged liberals to cheer up when she travels to places like Alabama.
Chris
@hovercraft:
One of the things I’ve kept in mind all through the Obama presidency is that France got a Jewish prime minister halfway through the 1930s.
What happened next: he was opposed throughout his governance by a right wing that thought “better Hitler than Blum” was an appropriate slogan. After 1940, now that they had the power to, Vichy arrested him and tried to make an example of him through a show trial (he was tried for treason, incidentally; whoever said fascists don’t have a sense of humor?) That lasted until the Germans finally stepped in and ordered the trial stopped, because he was making fools out of the court. He was then transferred to the Germans who kept him at Buchenwald until the end of the war (which he survived, thank God).
In case I was ever tempted to believe that a country electing a member of a historically unpopular minority to lead the country meant that country was no longer racist, that story was there to cure me.
bemused
Interesting. Earlier this morning Raw Story had Morning Joe story with lead panel agreeing there would be a “full blown meltdown” if Trump kept appointing crazy people. Kind of a arbitrary crazy standard going on there which is not surprising.
hovercraft
@SenyorDave:
Not surprising at all, just proof of how hard we will have to fight of keep the worst of the worst out. Even if we make calls and kick and scream we won’t be able to keep them all out, but we must still fight. The Shitgibbon can’t be shamed, but the media can be. If we keep calling them out and drive their ratings and circulation down they will eventually get the message, I hope. MSNBC is not watched by the deplorables, their ratings suck to begin with, if the liberals who watch, stop they will notice.
Brachiator
@Comrade Scrutinizer:
I don’t see that at all. I don’t think that anyone knows for certain what Trump might do, but his statements and actions so far have put a lie to the fantasy that he might be a moderate in conservative clothing.
He is a small minded, vindictive man who is surrounding himself with other small minded, vindictive people.
And among the press and general public are people who still do not believe that there might be a danger, that even if Trump turns out to be a monster, our form of democracy is so gosh darn wonderful that it will prevent Trump from doing evil.
But I also hear conservative people who are not overt monsters or racists breathe a sigh of relief now that there are white people in the White House again.
I hear conservative people who are not overt monsters or racists ask “why not” register all Muslims.
I hear conservative people who are not overt monsters actually say “you know who else was mocked for being a dummy? Reagan! And he was the best White Man President ever. Give Trump a chance,” and insist that we must give him the benefit of the doubt and not try to ascribe bad motives to his actions and appointments.
Trump is at best an ignorant fraud. We have no idea what the worst of him might be, or what damage it will cause.
Goblue72
@Major Major Major Major: keep fighting your losing battles. Losing to Mango Mussolini not large enough of a clue by four?
bemused
@hovercraft:
Ah Molly. She was special. Send us some love and support from where ever you are, Molly.
Kay
@rikyrah:
I called Brown. It seems hopeless to call Latta. His staffer was rude to me during the health care fight. They have an office here and he was late for our “meeting”. I think it’s rude to be late so I was cold with him and he was snotty and superior. So I took A LOT of their free candy on the way out. WAY more than one person’s ration :)
Sab
@Major Major Major Major: War of Treason in Defense of Slavery
Goblue72
@Another Scott: aw, did the elderly socialist piss in your cornflakes?
Good. Your anointed queen got beat by a shitgibbon. That a 70 year old cranky socialist from Vermont gave your team the vapors should have been a clue.
You lost. Because your candidate was wrong and her team fucked up.
Major Major Major Major
The Drudge headline right now is GLOBALISTS PLOT SURVIVAL with a picture of Obama and Merkel having dinner together.
So, these people are basically literally Nazis.
ETA: Oh, good, our friendly neighborhood cop-shooting troll has shown up.
Matt McIrvin
@Brachiator: If Kendzior is right, most of us here are probably going to be killed or imprisoned, or convinced to recant in order to survive. My life can be forfeit, but I’m worried that I’ve endangered my family by being a loudmouth.
hovercraft
@bemused:
By whom? The beltway is torn between telling liberals to STFU and accept real Americas verdict, and tut tutting for a few days before telling us that these appointees are not that bad. Those who are most vocal about these horrendous people are called shrill and hysterical. We are sore losers who don’t want to accept the will of the people, we don’t understand heartland values, we’ve lost touch with real America, which hates gay marriage and abortion, and multiculturism and hollywood.
Chris
@SenyorDave:
Oh Lord, yes. But I came to that conclusion years and years ago. Just look at the Republican/Democrat breakdown of the white vote. Hell, yes the average white person is racist.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Out of curiosity, is this an actual pick or is this more of the stream of consciousness coming out of the Trump camp?
Lizzy L
I just called Dianne Feinstein’s local SF office AND Washington DC office numbers. I got vm both places, and the messages said they were getting lots and lots of calls. Good. I chose to not leave a message; I will call back.
Calouste
Take it away retired Lt. Gen. Flynn:
Oh, and read up a bit about the Crusades, the 30 year war, the early years of the reformation in general, the Inquisition, pogroms….
G. Alain Chamot
@Major Major Major Major: I’ve heard some informed speculation that for whatever reason a lot of the alt right here and in England have been lying to all pollsters. Not sure why or how but there might be this organic series of liars that are throwing polls and survey data to obscure their effect.
hovercraft
@Goblue72:
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Goblue72:
You do know Mussolini was a socialist?
Brachiator
@Matt McIrvin:
The conversation that I am having with my niece and nephew is whether they want to be part of a long family tradition of being involved in the civil rights struggle, if it comes to various forms of resistance.
SenyorDave
@Kay: So I took A LOT of their free candy on the way out. WAY more than one person’s ration :)
I don’t know why but five minutes after I read this I’m still laughing.
Archon
We are witnessing the complete breakdown on whatever post-civil rights consensus we had. America is in for a very, very turbulent future.
Major Major Major Major
@Brachiator: My mom, who was in college when the Kent State shooting happened, has never been very keen on my activism. She’s going to be doing what she can to help, within safety constraints, this time around, though.
Matt McIrvin
@Brachiator: US models may indeed be more helpful than foreign ones, if it comes to that.
Kay
They have to get better. The new normal is the President of the United States lies all the time.
I knew he wouldn’t stop when he was President and he’s not stopping. it’s not minor. The country won’t have any credibility if they don’t correct the lies.
debit
@Kay: We need to start calling him the Liar in Chief. Make it stick.
bemused
@hovercraft:
Yup. It’s fubar.
schrodinger's cat
@Matt McIrvin: If they are going to kill us anyway what is gained by keeping quiet?
Comrade Scrutinizer
@schrodinger’s cat: Because it can extend to our loved ones, not just ourselves? That can be a powerful inducement to STFU even if you are indifferent to your own fate.
kindness
@Goblue72: You keep repeating stuff. I say that because you said the very same thing to me on another thread:
Strangely just like Rightwingtrolls who copy and paste the same thing over and over again. Hmmmm….I see a pattern…..
Matt McIrvin
@Comrade Scrutinizer: Remember, Trump explicitly endorsed “going after” the family members of suspected terrorists. “Suspected terrorist” is a classification that has a tendency to broaden.
Here’s the thing, though: I know a lot of kids who are doomed one way or another in a racist autocratic state, because they’re the wrong race. Saving mine by helping to seal their fate doesn’t seem right either.
Ohio Mom
@Mnemosyne: I know that the suffragette thing only works in certain cases. But I have seen it shut (other white) people up. It’s confused some of them, which is a start. That has been a small satisfaction.
Full Metal Wingnut
Are there blue state republican senators who can be pressured to vote against Sessions?
Mike in dc
Stage 6 of the grieving process: Going to war for what we believe in.
Shalimar
@O. Felix Culpa: Bannon isn’t subject to Senate approval, so there isn’t anything they can do to oppose him, or Flynn or Preibus. Stick with cabinet appointees like Sessions if we want to accomplish anything.
Shalimar
I doubt anyone Trump appoints will be better than Sessions in practice, but I still want his nomination to be defeated for family reasons. Better to be forgotten by history than have a family member remembered 100 years from now as the Heinrich Himmler of the American decline.
Kay
Email from one of my sisters. She’s a CPA, pretty well-off, and not religious:
These are the things that freak me out. If she’s alarmed all hell is breaking loose :)
Chris
@Archon:
And whatever was left of the post-New-Deal consensus is up for grabs, too.
It’s really hard to overstate how bad this looks like it’s going to get.
Kay
@debit:
That, or hold him directly responsible every time a plant closes or moves. He doesn’t get it both ways. If he’s responsible for Ford staying he’s also responsible for every lost job from now on.
At least force him to live in the reality he creates.
Kay
Ugh. Imagine the Trump Family FBI combined with the racist AG. Good Lord.
catclub
@Kay: The NPR interview with Sarah Chayes (?) on Michael Flynn. The interview had wandered all around but he finally asked her how she felt and the answer was ‘incredibly disheartened’ because Flynn has a single job where he needs to make multiple bureaucracies work together and he could not make his own office work. He is supposed to be the calm hand informing Trump of relatively settled opinion of all the agencies but he is a gullible, very energetic, fool who contradicts himself every five minutes.
tybee
@Cermet:
we understand your frustration that your cherished candidate got his ass kicked by a woman.
get over it.
D58826
An article on slate which paraphrases Bernie/Liz – ‘ they will work with Trump provided he pursues a non-racist populist agenda’. Interesting.
This will be my last post here at BJ since I will be elevated to Pope on Monday.:-)
Both items have about the same chance of coming true.
Chris
@catclub:
Scarily, at this point our best hope is that the incompetence and temper of everybody in the administration tie them up so completely that they’re incapable of actually implementing anything.
Unfortunately, lots of slightly more competent right wingers are around who’ll want to see them succeed.
D58826
@catclub: and he seems to have an undo fondness for Vlad.
I’, old enough to remember when people like H. Humphrey and A. Stevenson were routinely called at worst communist and at best fellow travelers by the GOP. Heck even Ike was suspected of being a bit pink. Now they are falling all over themselves to support people who have at best suspicious connections to Vlad and at wprst?????
Amir Khalid
@Weaselone:
Or maybe Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (who named this guy, Al Capp? It sounds like a name for a politician from Li’l Abner) said out loud his over-the-top racist thoughts and the racists all went, “Fuck yeah!”
D58826
@Kay: This is pure speculation over the on going argument as to whither it is racism or economics. Now without a doubt racism and fear of the OTHER has been with us since the founding of the country. So I don’t want to make it sound like racism isn’t part of the equation. But if most of those 1950/1960’s jobs still existed would racism still be as big a factor. In other words the whites on the assembly line would still be racist to one degree or another but with the factory running 3 shifts and all the white folks having jobs then they would not care if a bunch of POC also had good jobs at the factory.
In times of economic stress people have to blame someone and it is easier to blame the OTHER living down the street than the faceless nameless Gordon Gecko who just shut the plant down. The pre-existing racism is inflamed by hard times and can be smothered when time are good.
That make sense? I guess the scientific term is they form a feedback loop. In good times it is in a positive direction and whites look past their racism and it bad times it is in the negative and they re-enforce each other. Now if that is the case then I don’t think there are any easy answers for the democrats and the country since those jobs are not coming back and there do not seem to be enough 21st century jobs in the right places to go around
TriassicSands
No he’s not. He said he would be president of all Americans. He said he was going to help the economically downtrodden.
It’s obvious now (and it was during the campaign) that Trump is the president of some white people (the wealthy). But that isn’t what he claimed. We knew he was lying, and that he will continue to lie. The question is at what point will buyer’s remorse set in? It’s hard to know, because the supporters he’s abandoning are largely very stupid and/or very ill-informed. Like the fellow I heard on the radio the other day say he doesn’t want Trump to repeal Obamacare, just tweak it and make it better. You’ve got to be really stupid or profoundly ignorant to say that. Wishful thinking is not thinking.
Brachiator
@Major Major Major Major:
Some events make activism necessary.
@TriassicSands:
You may find that the buyers are very happy with the product they purchased.
i have no idea who this guy might be. But I saw the crowds hooping and hollering when Trump promised to repeal and replace Obamacare. That wasn’t tweaking.
Ksmiami
@Betty Cracker: I’m encouraging my stem daughters to study abroad. Life for young women is gonna suck here and the election of trump sets the us on a really horrible trajectory. Canada is lovely
nominus
I know I’m supposed to just point and laugh at the obvious stupidity of trump nominating an obvious racist, but that kind of thinking got rattled a bit when he won an election he wasn’t supposed to win.
I know I’m supposed to join the media in tut-tutting trump wasting political capital on a moron racist nomination.
At this point I’m just wondering if this is the obvious ploy so that the next racist is a bit more clean-cut, a lot harder to detect, and obviously much more acceptable. They’re going to feed the outrage machine until it overheats and blows up, everyone ignores it or gets tired of getting outraged, and then they quietly stock what they want anyway.
catclub
@TriassicSands:
Yes. Both.
Blue Galangal
Just chiming in to say, “YES.” This is where I was at about 2:39 am on Wednesday, Nov. 9th, and oddly enough my anger has not diminished and my conviction has not changed. Blockade their asses to hell and back.