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You are here: Home / Day by Day by Day

Day by Day by Day

by John Cole|  November 30, 20169:03 pm| 102 Comments

This post is in: OLD MAN YELLS AT CLOUDS

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Things have just been super hectic around here. Between work related issues and the house (which is coming along and I will have an update on Friday), it just seems like by the time I get to where I can move forward with something it’s almost nine pm. Just everything seems to be happening at 78rpm and I am still rolling along at 33 1/3.

Had to do my what seems like a daily pilgrimage to Lowes today, and on the way home I was thinking that I am still in the anger phase of this post-election, with a stunned disbelief. I just drove along thinking “I can’t believe this guy went on national tv, made fun of a disabled person, millions of people saw it, and they voted for him anyway.”

Don’t get me wrong, he’s done SOOOO many things like this, but today this is the one I was fixated on.

On top of that, I just can’t keep up with the news. I quit watching cable tv and honestly have not even TUNED to CNN, Fox, MSNBC, or even any of the broadcast news shows or Sunday programs since the election, and have basically just been reading newspapers and websites. And it’s impossible to keep up with what Trump is doing because 95% of the stuff that comes out of his campaign is just pure bullshit. And it’s by design:

Gingrich explained that Trump diverts the media with “rabbits,” or unimportant stories to throw them off from pursuing real stories. As an example, Gingrich referenced the media’s five or six day long focus on Trump’s irritation and possible internal feud with adviser Kellyanne Conway’s over her critical remarks about Mitt Romney’s potential nomination as U.S. Secretary of State.

“[The Apprentice] was a remarkably popular show,” Gingrich told Fox News host Jenna Lee during the interview. “[Trump] understands the value of tension. He understands the value of showmanship. And candidly, the news media is going to chase the rabbit. So it’s better off for him to give them a rabbit than for them to go find their own rabbit. He’s had them fixated on Mitt Romney now for five or six days. I think from his perspective, that’s terrific. It gives everyone something to talk about.”

“He does not think of this as chaos. He thinks of this as creativity,” Gingrich added.

And most of the idiots are happy to play along.

Oh, and Rosie has an eye infection, so there goes another 100+ bucks tomorrow to fix a dog that just lies around grumping at me all day and bitching when I walk by her.

Feh. I can’t wait for this god damned year to be over. I think I am just going to go play CIV 6.

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Reader Interactions

102Comments

  1. 1.

    Tim C.

    November 30, 2016 at 9:08 pm

    I’m glad you are keeping busy. Curious how other people are handling the fear and anxiety of the coming shit-fest. I do okay until the evenings, then the hormones start pumping again. Also waking up at 3am every fucking morning because that’s what time by brain decides to panic again is awesome as well. Exercise helps, and I’m holding it together, but I want to have the same armor plating I had back in the Bush era where I was pissed as hell about everything, but somehow didn’t let it keep me from sleeping….. bah….

    Take care of yourselves and the people around you is all. Gonna go play with my kids.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    November 30, 2016 at 9:09 pm

    I don’t even see the point of complaining about the media. They’ve proven what they are during the election.

  3. 3.

    khead

    November 30, 2016 at 9:10 pm

    Forget rabbits.

    Have some wonderful, sweet kittehs.

    For your health.

    Pace yourselves people. Gonna be a long four years.

  4. 4.

    Baud

    November 30, 2016 at 9:12 pm

    @Tim C.: Bush wasn’t about hate.

    Good advice at the end there.

  5. 5.

    Elizabelle

    November 30, 2016 at 9:14 pm

    John: glad you gave up on cable news. It’s not worth it. Fuckers, all the way down.

    No broadcast news. They built this.

    @Tim C.: I wake up every morning, a bit sad and disoriented.

    That has never happened to me before. Even after the death of parents.

  6. 6.

    Schlemazel

    November 30, 2016 at 9:15 pm

    I alternate between rage & bargaining

    Just today I was thinking, “maybe the GOP Senate will chicken out & just fiddle with ACA but mostly leave it alone. And then they will be afraid to go after Social Security and medicare, perhaps just have an “opt out” clause for the fools who want it. See? Maybe we will survive. Then I start thinking of voter suppression and the thieves and lairs he has already picked & it is back to rage.

  7. 7.

    lol chikinburd

    November 30, 2016 at 9:18 pm

    Games are good, even if Russia is one of the OP civs in Civ 6. At least the pro-Crimea-annexation player lost the chess thing.

  8. 8.

    Iowa Old Lady

    November 30, 2016 at 9:20 pm

    Headline from Raw Story:

    Petraeus would be subject to warrantless searches by his probation officer as Trump’s Secretary of State

    The mind boggles.

    I guess there’d be no point to having one of them there secret e-mail servers, so that’s good.

  9. 9.

    Jeffro

    November 30, 2016 at 9:21 pm

    I look forward to the Dem politician that figures out how to do the Gish Marathon even half as good as Trump does…just talk right past the media, promise folks the moon, get everyone so angr…

    …no, no I actually don’t. I’ll take our good-hearted, almost overly-reasonable folks over this gang of morons, craven weasels, and dark souls any day.

  10. 10.

    MazeDancer

    November 30, 2016 at 9:21 pm

    People voting for a guy who mocked a disabled reporter continues to astonish and depress me, too.

    Have to keep reminding myself most of America voted for Hillary. And the open, patriotic, equality-loving America is the majority of the country. And that 100K people in 3 Rust Belt states or 120K people in wacky Florida, take your pick, are why the Republic, and the planet, are in jeopardy.

    Still, we have so much fighting to do. And, like many, I thought we had done so much fighting, for so very long, we were in the upswing to goodness. Mr. Obama brought goodness to reality.

    Alas, we have to, once again, stop, then transform, hatred, racism, greed, and misogyny. Seems insane and impossible this is still required. Yet, it is.

  11. 11.

    dmsilev

    November 30, 2016 at 9:21 pm

    Civ VI is pretty good, but hopefully the devs are going to tweak the balance and so forth in patches. They’ve been pretty good about that in the past iterations of the series, so it should happen.

  12. 12.

    Baud

    November 30, 2016 at 9:23 pm

    @Jeffro: Yeah, people who say that they want the Dems to be more like the GOP would be the first to complaint if that were to happen.

  13. 13.

    birnspbesq

    November 30, 2016 at 9:23 pm

    I must be really desperate for some levity. I am finding the fact that Petraeus would need his probation officer’s permission to travel on official business if we were Secretary of State to be fucking hilarious.

  14. 14.

    Baud

    November 30, 2016 at 9:24 pm

    @birnspbesq: What happened to u?

  15. 15.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 30, 2016 at 9:25 pm

    @Tim C.:

    Also waking up at 3am every fucking morning because that’s what time by brain decides to panic again is awesome as well.

    I’m doing a lot of that too. Also, really strange, crazy, weird dreams. And the annoying thing is, I used to be able to capture my dreams pretty well, but these days they just dissipate the second I wake up and I’m only left with a disquieting sense of something profound having happened that I totally failed to grab hold of.

    That 3:00 a.m. shooting wide awake night after night is getting bloody infuriating, though.

  16. 16.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 30, 2016 at 9:26 pm

    @Baud: He’s misspelled.

  17. 17.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 30, 2016 at 9:26 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: that’s hilarious.

  18. 18.

    Starfish

    November 30, 2016 at 9:26 pm

    I saw this video earlier today, and I was convinced that this is John Cole’s life.

    Also, Sarah Palin is being mentioned as someone being considered for V.A. secretary. WTF.

  19. 19.

    birnspbesq

    November 30, 2016 at 9:27 pm

    @Baud:

    That’s a bit of an open-ended question. Care to be more specific?

  20. 20.

    Baud

    November 30, 2016 at 9:27 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I’m sleeping ok, but I’m still on media blackout for the most part. I think that helps.

  21. 21.

    NotMax

    November 30, 2016 at 9:27 pm

    Relatively easy to keep up with the news.

    It’s weeding out the stuff that’s inconsequential, stuff that’s evanescent and stuff that’s speculation that eats up time.

  22. 22.

    raven

    November 30, 2016 at 9:28 pm

    @Starfish: I wrote earlier that, as a Veteran, I’ll be happy to see her fuck the VA up since Vets were so crucial in electing this motherfucker.

  23. 23.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 30, 2016 at 9:29 pm

    @birnspbesq:
    @Baud:

    What happened to u?

    More to the point, what happened to your nym?

  24. 24.

    Baud

    November 30, 2016 at 9:30 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: That’s what I meant.

  25. 25.

    Aleta

    November 30, 2016 at 9:30 pm

    T is a sadist. Putting people through things there’s no need for, pretending things he doesn’t intend, so to enjoy others’ pain.

  26. 26.

    Starfish

    November 30, 2016 at 9:30 pm

    @raven: Does anyone have a breakout of the Veteran vote? There were people in Mississippi assuming that *all* Vets voted for Republicans, and all the Vets that I knew in Maryland are Democrats. The people still serving in the military successfully of course do not yell their political positions on the internet.

  27. 27.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 30, 2016 at 9:32 pm

    Baud’s humor is often subtle.

  28. 28.

    Baud

    November 30, 2016 at 9:32 pm

    @raven: Dropping these names seem to be a persistent joke that Trump’s people are playing. I’m glad to not be playing along.

  29. 29.

    raven

    November 30, 2016 at 9:32 pm

    @Starfish:

    Exit polls show veterans played a pivotal role in Trump’s surprise victory Tuesday night, with those who’d served in the military breaking for the New York billionaire by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, 61 to 34 percent.

  30. 30.

    RSR

    November 30, 2016 at 9:32 pm

    Yup…Atrios calls it the soccer ball in reference to the littlest soccer players who all run after the ball no matter what their assignment was.

  31. 31.

    Baud

    November 30, 2016 at 9:33 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: I prefer to think of my humor as sibtle.

  32. 32.

    Kristine

    November 30, 2016 at 9:33 pm

    @Tim C.:

    Curious how other people are handling the fear and anxiety of the coming shit-fest.

    I’m decluttering. I’ll be getting rid of clothes, books, furniture, papers. I’m also writing, cooking, but something about the decluttering is helping me feel like I can regain control of my space if nothing else. At least that’s something.

  33. 33.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 30, 2016 at 9:33 pm

    God help me, I agree with Ann Coulter, and God help me again, I hope Mickey Kaus (who is still with us) is correctly predicting something

    Ann CoulterVerified account
    ‏@ AnnCoulter Ann Coulter Retweeted Mickey Kaus
    Medicare IS NOT WHAT THE ELECTION WAS FOUGHT OVER. If Ryan wants to change Medicare, then run for president on that & see how far you get.
    Mickey Kaus @ kausmickey
    Genius @ SpeakerRyan strategy: Suck @ RealDonaldTrump into Medicare voucher quagmire-so no time/energy for immigration

  34. 34.

    lollipopguild

    November 30, 2016 at 9:34 pm

    Hilary sold out to Wall Street and if she had been elected THE INTERNATIONAL BANKERS MAFIA would have taken over our country and ran it for us. Trump gets in and our country becomes a wholly owned part of Goldman Sachs. When Trump sells the U>S>A> to the Chinese in a buyout do you think his voters will notice?

  35. 35.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 30, 2016 at 9:34 pm

    @Baud:

    I still do a lot of NPR. Cannot cut that 45-year habit cold turkey. No TV of any description, obviously no cable. The occasional audio of MSNBC or (rarely) CNN on Sirius XM when I am in my car. I generally get most of my news here, or at Digby or Booman or Charlie Pierce, and then follow up at NYT and/or WaPo as seems needful. I also get news alert headlines on my iPad and sometimes I pursue them and sometimes I don’t.

  36. 36.

    RSR

    November 30, 2016 at 9:34 pm

    PS…wait ’til they find out about the tire swing! Man, they’re gonna be pissed they weren’t invited.

  37. 37.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 30, 2016 at 9:35 pm

    @Baud:

    I’m slow tonight, I guess.

  38. 38.

    Baud

    November 30, 2016 at 9:36 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I’ve never been able to get into news radio. I watched a little bit of Chris Hayes and Rachel tonight. Never again with NYT or the regular MSNBC programming. Might someday start reading WaPo and TPM and MoJo more.

  39. 39.

    khead

    November 30, 2016 at 9:36 pm

    I still do a lot of NPR.

    Please stop. Tell your friends too.

  40. 40.

    MobiusKlein

    November 30, 2016 at 9:36 pm

    @Starfish: Apparently the Palin VA thing was a parody trump account.

  41. 41.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 30, 2016 at 9:37 pm

    @Baud:

    I like the way you think, Baid.

  42. 42.

    raven

    November 30, 2016 at 9:39 pm

    @MobiusKlein: And you know that how?

  43. 43.

    lollipopguild

    November 30, 2016 at 9:39 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Baudy?

  44. 44.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 30, 2016 at 9:39 pm

    @khead:

    I worked for them for far too long to simply cut them off. I try to be discerning about their “news” coverage.

    If it helps, I detest Mara Liasson and Cokie Roberts, so there’s that.

  45. 45.

    NotMax

    November 30, 2016 at 9:40 pm

    @MobiusKlein

    Palin? Secretary of Interior.

    Go together like peanut butter and toe jam.

  46. 46.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 30, 2016 at 9:41 pm

    With one phone call, Donald Trump might have upturned America’s relationship with both Pakistan and India. Going against State Department protocol, the president-elect continues to speak to foreign leaders on a personal line and without preparation. Trump is also not releasing read-outs of these calls, so what we know of them tends to come from foreign sources. The office of Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has released a transcript of his conversation with Trump that is both amusing and alarming.

  47. 47.

    donnah

    November 30, 2016 at 9:41 pm

    I switched off CBS evening news when they presented Trump as a wizard genius who saved a thousand jobs in Indiana for Carrier. He’s already fulfilling his campaign promises! His business savvy, his experience as a deal maker…barf! And they barely acknowledged that all of the facts of the deal were still not explained.

    I switched to NBC in time to see their version, which was more honest as they said the details were still not clear and Pence had some influence with Carrier via big tax breaks as the Governor of the state. And that Carrier has a big connection to the government for contracts. So they at least didn’t give Trump a crown and scepter.

    It’s going to be an impossible four years.

  48. 48.

    Lizzy L

    November 30, 2016 at 9:41 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Stopped Clock Syndrome. But it’s really disturbing.

    I’m doing better on sleep than I was right after the election, except for waking up at 4:30 am every third morning. I am constantly tense. Light headache, jaw ache, scalp ache FFS. Friends complain of the same thing. Exercise helps, and spending time with friends.

  49. 49.

    gogol's wife

    November 30, 2016 at 9:42 pm

    @Baud:

    I subscribed to the WaPo and am finding them just as upsetting as the NYT but for different reasons. I have no history at all with WaPo, and I believe everything they say. With the NYT, I’ve been reading it so long and used to believe everything in it but don’t any more and just get enraged by their spin (except the editorial page). But I probably shouldn’t be believing WaPo either.

  50. 50.

    Starfish

    November 30, 2016 at 9:42 pm

    @MobiusKlein: Oh thank goodness!

  51. 51.

    NW Phil

    November 30, 2016 at 9:42 pm

    “He does not think of this as chaos. He thinks of this as creativity,” Gingrich added.

    Uh Huh. We’re now supposed to believe this is all part of the idiot’s plan and not just part of his personality/mental problems?!?

    John – cable and network news have suck’d for so long now, I can’t believe anyone still bothers with it. Our local tv news does a better job and that’s not saying much.

  52. 52.

    raven

    November 30, 2016 at 9:43 pm

    @NotMax: The Newbeats – Bread and Butter (1964) From Hahirah GA!

  53. 53.

    raven

    November 30, 2016 at 9:45 pm

    And Run Baby Run

  54. 54.

    Baud

    November 30, 2016 at 9:47 pm

    @gogol’s wife: I was googling earlier about Hillary and Goldmans Sachs in light of Trump’s new GS Treasury Secretary. Here are NYT headlines that came up in my search.

    Hacked Transcripts Reveal a Genial Hillary Clinton at Goldman Sachs Events

    Leaked Speech Excerpts Show a Hillary Clinton at Ease With Wall Street

    I wouldn’t trust anything the NYT says.

  55. 55.

    Mnemosyne

    November 30, 2016 at 9:47 pm

    Waiting for our pizza to be delivered so I can have a glass of wine and watch Lin-Manuel Miranda on “Drunk History.” My mom may need heart surgery, so I got approximately fuck-all hours of sleep last night.

  56. 56.

    Baud

    November 30, 2016 at 9:48 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Good luck to your mom.

  57. 57.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 30, 2016 at 9:48 pm

    @MobiusKlein:

    Apparently the Palin VA thing was a parody trump account.

    Really? If so, it certainly took in some pretty major news outlets, including ABC News and USA Today. Not saying it couldn’t happen, but if they were fooled, that’s some heavy-duty trolling going on.

  58. 58.

    MomSense

    November 30, 2016 at 9:50 pm

    @Tim C.:

    I’m still waking up panicked, too. I do my Spanish lessons on duolingo until I feel sleepy again.

    Duolingo is a free language app. It gives my brain something engaging enough to chase the bad thoughts away.

  59. 59.

    Iowa Old Lady

    November 30, 2016 at 9:51 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Reality has become so ludicrous that it’s hard to tell parody from Trump.

  60. 60.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 30, 2016 at 9:51 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    I wish your mom all the best. I’m a survivor of open-heart surgery, and while it isn’t the most funnest thing ever, it is not nearly as scary as you might think. Let us know when the procedure is scheduled. But believe me, the surgeons know what they’re doing, and she’ll be fine.

  61. 61.

    Baud

    November 30, 2016 at 9:52 pm

    @MomSense: I was doing that for a while before the election. Gave up on it, although I still have the app.

  62. 62.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 30, 2016 at 9:53 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    Can the English language handle a neologistic-portmanteau like “Trumpody”?

  63. 63.

    Mnemosyne

    November 30, 2016 at 9:54 pm

    @Baud:

    Thanks. She’s not even seeing the specialist until 12/19 so they don’t seem to think it’s an emergency, but the specter of having to pay out of pocket for fucking open heart surgery once the Republicans kill Medicare was keeping me awake.

    And I can’t even call any IL Republicans and scream at them about it because both her Senate seat and her House district flipped blue this year.

  64. 64.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 30, 2016 at 9:55 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I think we may need Trumpopoly, and maybe we can hope for a Trumpolyp

  65. 65.

    Iowa Old Lady

    November 30, 2016 at 9:55 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: The English language is wonderfully creative. “Trumpody” would fit right in.

    I’m still not convinced that Palin/VA thing was parody. It’s a headline on MSN right now.

  66. 66.

    Ruckus

    November 30, 2016 at 9:56 pm

    @donnah:

    It’s going to be an impossible four years.

    It’s going to be impossible long before 4 yrs goes by.

  67. 67.

    Mnemosyne

    November 30, 2016 at 9:57 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    It’s possible that I may have to fly in for a few days to help take care of her because (of course) the brother she lives with had shoulder surgery about a month ago and probably can’t do much right now. Ugh.

    If we can get her scheduled prior to Inauguration Day, I will feel much better about the whole thing.

  68. 68.

    tobie

    November 30, 2016 at 9:57 pm

    @NW Phil: I’d say Trump and cable are made for each other. He bullshits, they lap it up, both get the audience they crave, and no one is the worse for it except the American public.

  69. 69.

    Jeffro

    November 30, 2016 at 9:58 pm

    This will almost make you laugh until you cry..or just cry…

    Picture Donald trying to have this kind of conversation, with this kind of knowledgeable detail, on anything. Even the “no more tears” quotient of children’s shampoo formulas. OMG.

  70. 70.

    joegy

    November 30, 2016 at 9:59 pm

    I am better than three weeks ago. Nov 9 I watched Spongebob for 10 hours just to numb myself (Retired so I can). I’m still in shock but it wanes a bit now and sadly find myself liking the thought of DJTs supporters getting shafted losing their HC. I fight it best I can. Bad karma…

    I get news here, booman trib, and a few other sites. Charles Pierce too. Follow a few key twitter accounts. But I keep myself from going too far down the rabbit hole. I’m hoping a 4yr clusterfck will give momentum to Bernie supporters to find a voice and movement again. Biggest worry is things going really sideways and a draft gets talked about. My son is 19.

  71. 71.

    Truegster

    November 30, 2016 at 10:04 pm

    I haven’t been watching news and I cut back on websites, blogs etc. I bought some ATC speakers (the best I’ve ever heard) off of Craigslist for a steal and have been playing music or watching movies ever since the national tragedy. I had to decompress, step away. I don’t watch PBS nightly news anymore, instead I might play Peter Kruder’s Peace Orchestra and read some fiction. Maybe play Mafia 3 or Fallout 4. As a side hobby I buy high-end audiophile gear and Ebay it for a nice profit, which also keeps me kind of occupied.

  72. 72.

    EBT

    November 30, 2016 at 10:07 pm

    @Tim C.: Lot of sleeping, natures cure for depression.

  73. 73.

    GxB

    November 30, 2016 at 10:07 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Fer Christ’s Sake – you can’t tell me there aren’t less than several dozen high ranking members in the CIA/Military/Other PTB that are working feverishly to keep this moron away from taking the oath of office. If this all goes through, we’ll be a laughing stock and, ironically, dreadfully feared all around the planet. I’d like to say that I can’t believe the american [sic] electorate is so god awful stupid, but I’ve interacted with them and the writing is on the wall.

    Yes. They. Are.
    FSM have mercy on our souls.

  74. 74.

    Mnemosyne

    November 30, 2016 at 10:07 pm

    I would also like to say that I don’t know how you people in red states are keeping it together as well as you are. Pretty much every single person I encounter out here in So Cal — including very highly placed executives at the Giant Evil Corporation — loathes Trump and is pissed off about the election. I don’t know what I would do if I had to try and hold my tongue all day.

  75. 75.

    Lizzy L

    November 30, 2016 at 10:09 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Is your mother already on Medicare? Even if it were to become law — and I don’t think it will — it doesn’t make any changes to the current system until 2018, and the big change doesn’t happen until 2024. From Ryan’s website:

    While there would be no disruptions in the current Medicare fee-for-service program for those currently enrolled or becoming eligible before 2024, all seniors would have the choice to opt in to the new Medicare program once it began in 2024.

    Here’s the link, if you care to look.
    http://paulryan.house.gov/issues/issue/?IssueID=9969

  76. 76.

    Ohio Mom

    November 30, 2016 at 10:14 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Maybe your mom will get lucky and have one of those new-fangled, less invasive surgeries.

    My aunt had stents inserted via a vein — they were snaked up through an opening near her groin. She was able to fly to an out-of-state bar mitzvah two weeks later.

    Compare that with the by-pass surgery her ex had thirty years ago, that was a big operation. Hours long, chest cracked open, huge scar, long recovery.

    I also know someone who had a new valve inserted via a vein, it was folded and rolled up, and then popped open once in place.

    Whatever the options presented, I’d get a second opinion. For reassurance, if nothing else.

  77. 77.

    Mary G

    November 30, 2016 at 10:15 pm

    @Mnemosyne: My cardiologist told me it was 95% certain I would need at least a stent, but open heart surgery was also very possible. Then I had the angiogram and there was nothing at all wrong with my heart. The doctor doing it said my arteries were clearer than his, my heart is just in backwards but fine. Hope for a similar result for your mom, but I know a lot of people who’ve had very successful surgery.

  78. 78.

    Mnemosyne

    November 30, 2016 at 10:17 pm

    @Lizzy L:

    I don’t trust the lying weasel. Plus we just discovered that I screwed up recording “Drunk History” and have to record tomorrow’s repeat. Goddamnit.

  79. 79.

    NotMax

    November 30, 2016 at 10:18 pm

    @Lizzy L

    If Ryan stated that the sky is blue I’d still seek a second opinion.

  80. 80.

    Mnemosyne

    November 30, 2016 at 10:20 pm

    Also, too, I want to remember to buy some Mary Engelbreit products. She has pissed off the right people.

  81. 81.

    James Powell

    November 30, 2016 at 10:21 pm

    on the way home I was thinking that I am still in the anger phase of this post-election, with a stunned disbelief.

    Me too. And like you today, from time to time I think of those things he said or did that would have ended any other campaign and I feel a rage that will not abate. At other times, I consider whether serving the jail time I’d get for burning “Fuck You!” into Comey’s front lawn might give me the opportunity for calmer introspection.

  82. 82.

    Ohio Mom

    November 30, 2016 at 10:23 pm

    @Ohio Mom: Should add, when the ex had his bypass surgery, it was a long operation — nowadays, that surgery is hours shorter and simpler. Modern medicine is full of amazing technology.

  83. 83.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 30, 2016 at 10:28 pm

    @Baud: I don’t even see the point of complaining about the media. They’ve proven what they are during the election.

    Kinda fun to watch them complain about each other, though

    Christopher C. Cuomo ‏@ ChrisCuomo Nov 29
    Christopher C. Cuomo Retweeted Angelo Carusone
    They have always been boosters. Things turned south when trump froze them out but coverage always stilted. They are transition spokesmen now
    Angelo Carusone
    Joe Scarborough is advising Trump, Mika’s heading over there for meeting of some type. Reminds me of this passage from Trump’s book:

    (and no, I’m not expecting a revolution at MSNBC, not in any good direction, like I said, I found this funny)

  84. 84.

    George

    November 30, 2016 at 10:30 pm

    I also have trouble with insomnia these days.

    What helps me fall asleep is that I imagine myself sitting on a comfortable chair near a great, yawning abyss and counting Republicans as one by one they walk over the edge and fall into the inky darkness below.

  85. 85.

    MobiusKlein

    November 30, 2016 at 10:42 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: Parody has lapped Reality twice by now.

    I saw it on an admitted parody twitter DJT knockoff.
    It may also be true by now, also too.

  86. 86.

    AliceBlue

    November 30, 2016 at 10:52 pm

    @Mnemosyne:
    Living in a red state (Georgia) is bad enough, but now I feel alienated from just about everyone I know. Mr. AliceBlue and I have been keeping to ourselves mostly–reading, listening to music, watching Christmas movies. We are close friends with another couple who are Dems like ourselves, so we’ve gotten together with them a few times. We’re going to Memphis for Christmas, so we’ll finally have to face the Drumpf voting relatives. Not looking forward to it.

  87. 87.

    MobiusKlein

    November 30, 2016 at 10:52 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: ech, I just replied, but spam filter got it. And phone keyboard sux too.

  88. 88.

    Ellie

    November 30, 2016 at 10:57 pm

    I find yelling at people on Twitter is very cathartic.

  89. 89.

    hitchhiker

    November 30, 2016 at 10:58 pm

    Another insomniac here. I’ve promised myself no more internet news or social media after 8 pm in the hope that I can get interested in something else. Big problem to have been so invested in this election for so long … it’s a massive hole to fill.

    And trying to fill it with anything in the news is just guaranteed to fire up my fury all over again.

  90. 90.

    Kayla Rudbek

    November 30, 2016 at 11:02 pm

    @gogol’s wife: I don’t trust the WaPo on everything because IMAO they are letting their advertisers (especially the Redskins) influence their news coverage of the Patent and Trademark Office (because the owner didn’t like the federal trademark getting pulled as racially disparaging), and if they are doing that where I can tell what’s going on, who knows how else the Post will whore themselves out?

  91. 91.

    CaseyL

    November 30, 2016 at 11:03 pm

    I’ve had insomnia on and off, mostly on, since the election. Every day I have a feeling of dread and impending doom. After weaning myself off anti-depressants, I’m back on them – at least they help me sleep 5 hours a night instead of 2 or 3. It’s awful, and I live in the bluest city in one of the bluest states in the country – I cannot even imagine what it’s like to live in a red area.

    Bill Moyers wrote a GBCW that says it very well: Farewell America

  92. 92.

    Juju

    November 30, 2016 at 11:04 pm

    Call me crazy, but I find it a bit reassuring that I’m not the only one who panics about this from time to time. I finally got health insurance that I can actually afford and use, two years ago, and this upcoming year it’s even better because I get a lower deductible. After 2017 I will probably lose that coverage. Then I start to think if I can make it to Medicare age that will be good, but then I’m in that 55 and lower group, so I’m screwed again. But then I think about who has the nuclear codes and health insurance may be the least of anybody’s problems. Then I get a stress related migraine.

    Anyhoo, I’m going on an overnight trip to NYC 12/20 and trying to figure out where to stay and what to do. I’m glad I have some savings.

  93. 93.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    November 30, 2016 at 11:23 pm

    @Starfish: The Tail Hook Scandal. Everyone I knew in the military at the time just loathed the rules Hillary had put on the military in the aftermath with this amazing passion.

  94. 94.

    burnspbesq

    November 30, 2016 at 11:26 pm

    @GxB:

    “Seven Days in May” is still fiction. Only “The Handmaid’s Tale” has been reclassified as an instruction manual.

  95. 95.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 30, 2016 at 11:28 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: WTF? I was an army officer at the time and my colleagues looked at Tailhook as a bunch of Squid flyboys being the assholes we always thought they were. It was embarrassing.

  96. 96.

    Suzanne

    December 1, 2016 at 12:41 am

    The only way I’ve ever found to deal is just to worry about something else. I got to hear my while male boss talk about how he thinks the term “misogynist” is used too much these days. I almost said, “Well, your opinion is clearly the one that counts here. Do go on.” But I’m stressed because Spawn had a shitty day at school—her best friend brought a Swiss Army knife to school and was cutting himself in class. She told him to stop and tried to take it away…..when another classmate saw them and turned them both in for “having a knife!”. Cue the drama and investigation. They determined that Spawn didn’t do anything wrong and she isn’t in trouble, but she ended up being taken out of class for most of the day and she is worried about her friend. He has had struggles with his mental health for a long time and she worries about him a lot.

  97. 97.

    seaboogie

    December 1, 2016 at 1:15 am

    @Suzanne: Sorry to hear about your spawn and her friend. As much as we worry, I think that there is also a “trickle down” effect to the younger ones, who are already dealing with so much – hormones, social media, etc. If we do not feel that the world is stable and reliable, their world just feels shakier.

  98. 98.

    Kat

    December 1, 2016 at 1:31 am

    I’m still in the anger phase of this post-election, with a stunned disbelief

    If the following isn’t the very definition of world-wide conspriracy, what would be? Don’t skip those last few paragraphs — they’re the most riveting I’ve ever read. Apparently 2641 commentors thought so too.

    Frightened by Donald Trump? You don’t know the half of it | George Monbiot | Opinion | The Guardian

    This quote explains why I thought John Cole might want to read it:

    As usual, the left and centre (myself included) are beating ourselves up about where we went wrong. There are plenty of answers, but one of them is that we have simply been outspent. Not by a little, but by orders of magnitude. A few billion dollars spent on persuasion buys you all the politics you want. Genuine campaigners, working in their free time, simply cannot match a professional network staffed by thousands of well-paid, unscrupulous people.

  99. 99.

    JAFD

    December 1, 2016 at 2:31 am

    @Mnemosyne: Best wishes to your mother. Will send some positive energy in her direction. My father had a sextuple bypass in ’84, IIRC, and a full life for two decades after.

    Do note that the doctors and hospitals now do things every day that would have been regarded as sheer miracles when I was young – everything is not going to heck.

    Having been around in the flourishing of Spiro T. Agnew, and read The Canfield Decision (Not the worst-written book I’ve ever read, but in the top three, and tho ‘gore porn’ is common on the Net these days, the scene therein where ‘Henry Kissinger’ gets offed is probably the most revolting passage to be found in hardcovers in that era.), I am not that peturbed. Now there was a villian – I sometimes call myself one of ‘The Generation of Spiro’s Democrats’

    Public radio – WBGO may not be the greatest jazz radio station in the world (those who would make their own opinion may listen at wbgo.org), but they are the leading media for coverage of the City of Newark. I sent them a few bucks at spring fund drive, with message “Autumn in New York is one of the great tunes of The American Songbook, and has been covered by many first-rate artists, but you don’t have to play it every eighty minutes from Labor Day thru Thanksgiving”. Judging by past months, they seem to have taken that advice.

    Spent Thanksgiving weekend with friends, in the borderline exurbs, where the fans of Duh Iggles and the partisans of Da Jints dwell as neighbors. Between eating and cruising around to see the Xmas lights, was working with Mark on a custom worktable for my place.

    My pad not being very big, needed the worktable to fit in exact space. And being tall and nearsighted, wanted table higher off floor than standard.

    My not-very-humble opinion is that, for height of work surface for you, stand with arms at side. Bend hands up at right angle, fingers pointing forward and fingernails up. You should be able to put palms on table without bending. For me that’s about 34″

    Is 3/4″ plywood, 1″x 2″ stringers along the edges. A bit overengineered (that’s Mark for you – what he builds will hold together thru hurricane, tornado or small nuclear detonation), very sturdy but heavy. Came out about 1 1/2″ higher than I wanted – should have allowed for the height of the crosspieces for the sawhorses.

    Four things I can think of, to do about that:
    chop 1 1/2″ off legs
    cut crosspieces down from 2″x 4″ to 2″x 2″
    get chair that will elevate to 23″ instead of current one’s top of 21″
    get old telephone directory to sit on

    (At some point next year will need to take it apart, apply ‘drafting-table vinyl’ top, add trim around edges to upgrade the duct tape now covering sawn edge of plywood… So permanent solution 1 or 2 will be applied, but are 3 or 4 useful for moment ? Suggestions sought)

    But for now, not three projects/piles of paperwork competing for every flat surface – along with dinner. So very thankful am I, as this November ends. Hope your Thanksgiving, too, was joyful.

    (BTW, would put pic of table, wondering how to add photos to posts, not going to try to figure it out at 2 AM)

  100. 100.

    sukabi

    December 1, 2016 at 4:36 am

    @Starfish: free drugs for her family?

  101. 101.

    grrljock

    December 1, 2016 at 3:18 pm

    @Kat:

    As usual, the left and centre (myself included) are beating ourselves up about where we went wrong. There are plenty of answers, but one of them is that we have simply been outspent. Not by a little, but by orders of magnitude. A few billion dollars spent on persuasion buys you all the politics you want. Genuine campaigners, working in their free time, simply cannot match a professional network staffed by thousands of well-paid, unscrupulous people.

    But this is not new! This was one of the issues identified after W was installed in 2000, the whole right wing network starting with almost endless funding of all kinds of organizations and including training young assholes (ran out of terms, decided to go back to basics). The left probably will never be able to match this type of funding, but can’t we do better in establishing the leadership + policy infrastructure? Or are we forever doomed to having to luck into Inspirational Leaders like Obama?

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