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Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

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The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

Let me file that under fuck it.

I really should read my own blog.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

Giving up is unforgivable.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

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Books are my comfort food!

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

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You are here: Home / Breitbartian Rhapsody

Breitbartian Rhapsody

by John Cole|  December 1, 20166:55 pm| 281 Comments

This post is in: Blatant Liars and the Lies They Tell, Our Failed Media Experiment, Our Failed Political Establishment

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Nothing really matters, anyone can see:

You can listen to the whole segment here, but I direct your attention to the part starting at time 14:40. That is when Scottie Nell Hughes, Trump stalwart, joins the show to assert that “this is all a matter of opinion” and “there are no such things as facts.”

You can listen again starting at around time 18:30, when I point out one of the specific, small lies of the Trump campaign—that the NFL had joined him in complaining about debate dates, which the NFL immediately denied—and Hughes says: Well, this is also just a matter of opinion. Hughes mentions at time 21:45 that she is a “classically studied journalist,” an assertion that left Glenn Thrush, Margaret Sullivan, Diane Rehm, and me staring at one another in puzzlement, this not being a normal claim in our field.

It’s worth listening in full. This is the world we are now dealing with.

Nothing really matters, nothing really matters to me:

WATCH IMMEDIATELY……….TRUST ME pic.twitter.com/KsWUUFfX0d

— Yashar (@yashar) December 1, 2016

Any way the wind blows.

We are so fucked.

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Previous Post: « Thursday Evening Open Thread: Tim’s Right About Medicare
Next Post: Mmmmmm….Pie! — Cake Edition »

Reader Interactions

281Comments

  1. 1.

    lollipopguild

    December 1, 2016 at 6:57 pm

    It’s all just words.

  2. 2.

    lollipopguild

    December 1, 2016 at 6:59 pm

    Living in Trumpland. Words fail me.

  3. 3.

    SiubhanDuinne, Mob Enforcer

    December 1, 2016 at 7:04 pm

    That is so….

    It’s just….

    What….?

    I can’t, okay? I just can’t.

    Holy fuck.

  4. 4.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 1, 2016 at 7:06 pm

    Hey, stupid lady with the glasses, I live in California; there isn’t voter fraud. I show up at my polling place with my sample ballot and sign my name in the voter rolls and only then get a ballot. Stupid people.

  5. 5.

    M. Bouffant

    December 1, 2016 at 7:06 pm

    Any Way The Wind Blows: “She’s not like you baby she would never ever lie.”

  6. 6.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 1, 2016 at 7:07 pm

    “There are no such things as facts” is the new “not intended to be a factual statement.”

    God, in my information science presentation yesterday I specifically talked about how there are such things as facts. Nuts. These people don’t even live in the physical world.

  7. 7.

    chopper

    December 1, 2016 at 7:07 pm

    it’s a post-fact world, and i’m the queen of canada!

  8. 8.

    M. Bouffant

    December 1, 2016 at 7:07 pm

    Thursday Triumph of The Trump-‘tards.

  9. 9.

    Big Ole Hound

    December 1, 2016 at 7:08 pm

    The illogical gibberish falling out of their brains inspires me to research “incompetence” in practical terms. Also “bullshit”.

  10. 10.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 1, 2016 at 7:09 pm

    @chopper: Fuck that, I’m King of England.

  11. 11.

    mai naem mobile

    December 1, 2016 at 7:12 pm

    When my niece was in HS her civics teacher taught the students what kind of sites wold be considered reliable sources. The teachet did have FOX and NRO for position papers. I taught her a little more.I don’t think he dolts on this CNN piece know how to do that.

  12. 12.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 1, 2016 at 7:15 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: My people are not particularly fond of english kings named Bill.

  13. 13.

    beth

    December 1, 2016 at 7:16 pm

    I just watched a segment on BBC News where they interviewed a Trump supporter who said “Trump is a self made billionaire; he didn’t start out with anything”. We are so truly fucked.

  14. 14.

    rp

    December 1, 2016 at 7:18 pm

    42 in Atlanta? Whatever…I say it’s 75 with no humidity.

  15. 15.

    debbie

    December 1, 2016 at 7:19 pm

    That chick’s an idiot. From her bio:

    A Magna Cum Laude graduate from the University of Tennessee at Martin with a broadcast communications/ political science degree.

    I’ve lost all respect for the Laude family.

  16. 16.

    jacy

    December 1, 2016 at 7:21 pm

    @debbie:

    There’s a joke in there, but I’m not going to make it.

  17. 17.

    JPL

    December 1, 2016 at 7:22 pm

    @rp: It’s 47 here, so there!

    John, What we need you to post is pictures of the house and the pets. Nothing else matters.

  18. 18.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    December 1, 2016 at 7:22 pm

    I fucking hate these people. I loathe them. These fucking asswipes are going to do everything they can take us all down with them. If we somehow stave them off, they’re set on at least setting fire to as much as they can while they have the matches. Assholes…

  19. 19.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    December 1, 2016 at 7:22 pm

    When does post truth start affecting things like engineering and science, and consequently airplanes, bridges, electric service, telecommunications? Someone needs to let me know what the leading edge of that looks like, because I don’t want to live in the Dark Ages, and will take the stash of painkillers left over from my mother’s Alzheimer’s long goodbye.

  20. 20.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 7:24 pm

    I have doubts that punishing the elites by voting for the most obvious moron on the block is going to work out well for the minority of the American people who selected Shitburger with Orange Fries. Alas, the majority is going to get screwed too.

  21. 21.

    Steve in the ATL

    December 1, 2016 at 7:24 pm

    @debbie: a degree from UT-Martin means she couldn’t get into UT-Knoxville, which has never been difficult. When I was a kid in Tennessee, it was viewed lower than UT-Chattanooga and even ETSU and MTSU.

  22. 22.

    rikyrah

    December 1, 2016 at 7:25 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
    I feel you

  23. 23.

    kd bart

    December 1, 2016 at 7:25 pm

    These people flaunt their ignorance & treat it as a badge of honor. They deserve to get conned. Unfortunately, the rest of us have to suffer along side them.

  24. 24.

    Steve in the ATL

    December 1, 2016 at 7:26 pm

    Also, I am in the Minneapolis airport. Haven’t tapped my foot in the men’s room, but I got a sick feeling in my gut when I walked by the bar where I was watching the election returns on Black Tuesday.

  25. 25.

    Scamp Dog

    December 1, 2016 at 7:26 pm

    @jacy: Something about loud magnets, right? I mean, we wouldn’t want to be crude by going to one of the other words in the phrase, right?

  26. 26.

    Schlemazel

    December 1, 2016 at 7:27 pm

    @debbie:
    The UoT misspelled ‘laudanum’, she graduated mangna cum laudanum . . .a fuck it, it isn’t even funny any more

  27. 27.

    rikyrah

    December 1, 2016 at 7:27 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
    You really should come sit by me.

  28. 28.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 7:28 pm

    @kd bart:

    I think the division between the GOP and the Democrats comes down to this: one party thinks that swindling others is the only moral way to live and that they should be praised for doing it. The other party thinks that people have a right to live in a competently governed society with adequate consumer protections and respect for the rule of law.

  29. 29.

    greennotGreen

    December 1, 2016 at 7:29 pm

    Okay, I saw this both at Kevin Drum’s place and here, and I don’t get why this is startling people. We’ve known that the right wing parted ways with objective (measurable, verifiable) reality a long time ago.

  30. 30.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 1, 2016 at 7:30 pm

    @Schlemazel: There’s an SNL skit with two porn stars trying to sell Swarovski crystals and one of them says, reading poorly from the teleprompter, “magnum cum loudly.” I always think of that now.

  31. 31.

    PVDMichael

    December 1, 2016 at 7:30 pm

    Here’s one of the nice things I like to think about:

    * For every person on the left who thinks he/she knows the exact reason we lost, there’s a person on the right who thinks he/she knows the exact reason they won. These people have egos, different priorities, occasionally complete different positions.. and they will sometimes work at cross purposes.

  32. 32.

    Schlemazel

    December 1, 2016 at 7:30 pm

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:
    There is a whole documentary about what happens them:
    HERE

    and here is a photo of the results:
    https://fsmedia.imgix.net/1b/10/5c/a6/7fdf/463b/810c/2670a4dcb014/detroit-present-day.jpeg?rect=0,80,1280,640&dpr=2&auto=format,compress&q=75

  33. 33.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 7:31 pm

    @debbie: Read this:
    http://www.gq.com/story/desperate-gamble-of-scottie-nell-hughes-trump-surrogate

    The Desperate Gamble of Scottie Nell Hughes, World’s Most Loyal Trump Surrogate

    Like the rest of Trump’s devoted street team, Hughes spends her days evangelizing The Donald with a relentless series of appearances on TV. But why? And what if she he loses?

    For Scottie Nell Hughes, the day had been remarkably chaste. She’d taken her daughter to see Disney on Ice in Nashville, where she lives, and then they visited the Old Spaghetti Factory. It was, she said, a “girlie day,” that is, until news broke that would change her family-friendly evening plans and perhaps the course of American history.

    At 4 P.M. Eastern, on October 7, 2016, The Washington Post published that now infamous video from 2005, the one in which Donald Trump can be heard boasting about grabbing women “by the pussy,” because “when you’re a star, they let you do it.” As far as bombshells go, it was more confirmation than revelation, but it was nonetheless a colossal tipping point. Suddenly, supporters were vanishing and high-level staffers were scrambling to pull out of television appearances—all the better to avoid having to answer for Trump in this, the campaign’s most chaotic hour. While others ran, Hughes surveyed the darkening shit storm and glimpsed something more like opportunity. With calm grace, she did what she could to save her country and preserve her career: She got in front of a camera and started talking.
    …

    Click over and read the whole thing!

  34. 34.

    M. Bouffant

    December 1, 2016 at 7:32 pm

    @debbie: Nothing says “classically studied [?] journalist” like a B.A. from not-even the U. of Tenn. where supreme hack Glenn Reynolds “teaches”.

    Other fascinating facts most adults would leave out of their bio after landing their first paying job & having a little meat for the resume:

    She went on to win the top High School Broadcaster Award for the state of Tennessee and the Broadcaster of the year for her college class 3 years in a row.

  35. 35.

    Mary G

    December 1, 2016 at 7:32 pm

    Reposted from the last thread, because I didn’t notice it was dead:

    Today’s actions: Called Darrell Issa’s local office and demanded that Medicare, Medicaid and Obamacare remain intact. I wrote a few more sentences on a letter I plan to send to It, deleted the profanity and rewrote two of them that I think I can keep.

    Then I went to whitehouse.gov and sent the Obamas a message:

    Dear President and Mrs. Obama:

    I haven’t always agreed with you, particularly on foreign policy, but boy am I going to miss you. You have done your country a great service and I thank you so much for all your hard work, and sacrifice of your privacy and freedom of action. I plan to be active in resisting the rollback of your achievements. Especially the ACA. You have been the best president and presidential family of my 60-year-old life.

    What will happen to the videos and photos of your speeches and events currently on whitehouse.gov? When I am down and discouraged, I watch a speech or look at a few pictures to get fired up and ready to go. There are so many I want to see, but haven’t had time to.

    God bless you, Mary

    I’m still on cable news blackout, even secondhand, so I’m not watching the video above.

  36. 36.

    greennotGreen

    December 1, 2016 at 7:32 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Hey, my second bachelor’s is from MTSU. I resemble that remark! I had some excellent teachers there, but I was only taking upper level classes.

  37. 37.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    December 1, 2016 at 7:34 pm

    @Schlemazel:

    LOL?

  38. 38.

    p.a.

    December 1, 2016 at 7:36 pm

    Lyrics
    C G D Em
    C Bm Am
    The waterfalls trinkling
    C Bm Am
    like bells to my ear
    C Bm Am Em Bm
    The earth rolls out before me through smiles and tears.

    A country lost, a soul discovered
    The ruin that I once was will soon recover.

    C G D Em
    And I know a howlin’ wind runs through here Blowin’ every day.
    C G D Em
    Yeah a howlin’ wind runs through here Takes my breath away.

    Swing time is here children, for large and small
    Let’s dance before the fever is upon us all.
    Yeah it’s a strange religion, without any god.
    The preacher walks with innocence spares the rod.

    hey ey hey ey

    Swing time is here children for large and small
    Let’s rock before the fever is upon us all.

    C G D Em
    Howl, I’m gonna howl, I’m gonna howl, I’m gonna howl
    C G D Em
    I’m gonna howl, I’m gonna howl howl howl howl

    Written by Graham Thomas Parker • Copyright © BMG Rights

  39. 39.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 7:38 pm

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: It looks like this:
    http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/11/29/putins-great-patriotic-pseudoscience/?utm_content=buffer75b3d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

  40. 40.

    gene108

    December 1, 2016 at 7:43 pm

    I do not know why, but I am pulling for Trump to loot the hell out of this country.

    The Old Post Office hotel, he just built in D.C., is being leased from the GSA ( General Services Administrion, which does a lot of procurement for the government).

    He gets to appoint the new head of the GSA. I hope this guy rips up the current lease with Trump, and only charges Trump $0.01 per year, with payments deferred for one million years, so Trump can operate the hotel free and clear forever.

    It would not do any immediate harm to Medicare, for example, if he just worked on self-enrichment and I want the media to fucking realize how they backed the wrong horse.

    I mean, was spending four years on one consulate attack and two years on Hillary’s e-mails, really a bigger story than Trump’s conflicts of interest?

    And Trump does not have to give the media shit. No press conferences. Only agrees to do fluff piece interviews, where Trump gets to pre-approve the questions.

    Those media fuckers rely on the goodwill of others to play by some set of rules, which enables them to do their job, but they have been fucking over the policitians who played nice, nice and respected “the system”, so they deserve to get their shit handed to them.

  41. 41.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    December 1, 2016 at 7:43 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Holy fuckballs. It’s crackpot turtles all the way down.

  42. 42.

    Steve in the ATL

    December 1, 2016 at 7:44 pm

    @greennotGreen: it’s the Harvard of Murfreesboro! Whereas UTM is only the Brown of Martin.

  43. 43.

    debbie

    December 1, 2016 at 7:44 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I skimmed most of it, but this chick is really pissing me off. All she ever does is turn the statement around. No one ever challenges her to provide facts or even back up her statements. Who knew Trump would find his surrogates at the bottom of the swamp he drained?

    That school needs to take its degree back. Magna cum laude and she doesn’t believe there are such things as facts??

  44. 44.

    Matt McIrvin

    December 1, 2016 at 7:44 pm

    The sage Karl Rove says: See, you’re all in the reality-based community. We’re an empire now, and we’ll make our own reality……….

  45. 45.

    Schlemazel

    December 1, 2016 at 7:46 pm

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:
    Note the classic use of duct tape to hold the 2 buildings together. That is the engineering of America’s Trumpian future

  46. 46.

    hovercraft

    December 1, 2016 at 7:47 pm

    This regime is taking the Rove philosophy to the next level.

    The aide said that guys like me were “in what we call the reality-based community,” which he defined as people who “believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.” I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. “That’s not the way the world really works anymore.” He continued “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors … and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”

  47. 47.

    Van Buren

    December 1, 2016 at 7:47 pm

    @debbie: You know who else has a degree in communications? Our rumored future Secretary of the Interior.

  48. 48.

    Matt McIrvin

    December 1, 2016 at 7:49 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I remember hearing somewhere that early on, Soviet physicists were under pressure to espouse ideas every bit as stupid as Lysenko’s, but eventually they basically explained to Stalin that if he didn’t cut it out there would be no atom bomb for him, and he seemed to get the point. So they had a top-flight physics establishment for a while there…

  49. 49.

    Hellbastard

    December 1, 2016 at 7:50 pm

    I love how these nitwits go on and on about how much they distrust mainstream media but cite… mainstream media as the source for their crazy beliefs. “I heard it on CNN!”

    Alysin Camerota is pretty hot. I’m glad she left Fox.

  50. 50.

    gene108

    December 1, 2016 at 7:50 pm

    @p.a.:

    I do not get those lyrics at all…

  51. 51.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 7:52 pm

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: Ayep!

  52. 52.

    debbie

    December 1, 2016 at 7:52 pm

    Tomi Lahren is another idiot.

  53. 53.

    Mary G

    December 1, 2016 at 7:52 pm

    Fighting back can work; WaPo has an example: A photo of a 4-year-old with Hillary Clinton was used as a disgusting meme. Her mom fought back.

    Someone had taken the photo, originally uploaded to the Clinton campaign Flickr page, and turned it into a meme that was then shared thousands of times across social media.

    Bold white type across the top of the image read, “I AM FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS!” Then halfway down, text covering the lower half of Sullivan’s body accused Clinton of accepting money and refugees from countries “that would mutilate this girl’s genitals, marry her to a Muslim pedophile, and stone her to death if she doesn’t wear a bedsheet.”

    The ADL sent a take-down notice to the originating sites and, soon after, it disappeared from the Internet.

    Baby steps, people. Do things.

  54. 54.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 7:53 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Given that Harvard is the Emory of the North, I’m not sure what this all means.

  55. 55.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 7:54 pm

    @debbie: There was Anna Navaro!

  56. 56.

    The Pale Scot

    December 1, 2016 at 7:54 pm

    Standing at the edge of the beach, hoping for the asteroid

  57. 57.

    Matt McIrvin

    December 1, 2016 at 7:54 pm

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: I seem to recall that post-truth affected Iraq and the city of New Orleans somewhat dramatically some years back. Our President-Elect seems more keenly attached to it than the guy in charge at the time, so we may see faster results.

  58. 58.

    Это курам на смех

    December 1, 2016 at 7:55 pm

    If she weighs the same as a duck, she’s made of wood.

  59. 59.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    December 1, 2016 at 7:55 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Harvard is the McGill of the United States – that’s what we told everyone when our daughter went there.

  60. 60.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 1, 2016 at 7:56 pm

    @Van Buren: I am not taking any of the ShitGibbon’s cabinet “appointments” seriously until they’re submitted to the Senate for approval.

  61. 61.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 7:56 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: Does not surprise me in the least.

  62. 62.

    Taylor

    December 1, 2016 at 7:56 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: The ultimate post-truth is that climate change is a Chinese hoax.

    Unfortunately the consequences this time are going to be much, much worse than the death of a major American city.

  63. 63.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 1, 2016 at 7:58 pm

    @Taylor: I see you’ve bought into the hoax.

  64. 64.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    December 1, 2016 at 7:59 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:

    I’m glad I don’t own anything – I sold my house and rent, and lease a car. No debt, will be converting to cash. I don’t think government bonds are safe. Will put in a good stock of cannabis, liquor, and painkillers. My youngest daughter and her husband just bought land in Belize so I have an escape hatch, if they let me.

  65. 65.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 8:00 pm

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: That’s one I hadn’t heard.

  66. 66.

    misterpuff

    December 1, 2016 at 8:02 pm

    Shitgibbon getting all Nationalistic in Cincinnati tonight. Full of simple empty rhetoric, still no details.
    Just saved the managers and engineer’s jobs at Carrier not the WWC jobs, bye bye to Mexico. Trump paid ransom for the white collar jobs…..

  67. 67.

    JPL

    December 1, 2016 at 8:02 pm

    Jennifer Palmieri expressed what many of us feel. You go girl!

    “If providing a platform for white supremacists makes me a brilliant tactician, I am proud to have lost,” she said. “I would rather lose than win the way you guys did.”
    Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s campaign manager, fumed: “Do you think I ran a campaign where white supremacists had a platform?”
    “You did, Kellyanne. You did,” interjected Palmieri, who choked up at various points of the session.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/shouting-match-erupts-between-clinton-and-trump-aides/2016/12/01/7ac4398e-b7ea-11e6-b8df-600bd9d38a02_story.html?utm_term=.89bd36f481cc

  68. 68.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    December 1, 2016 at 8:03 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Have you heard that McGill is the Harvard of Canada? Trust me, Montrealers have.

  69. 69.

    gogol's wife

    December 1, 2016 at 8:04 pm

    @Morzer:

    Right.

    Seeing on Colbert the clip of Trump and Romney walking into an über-expensive restaurant to eat frog legs just made me sick to my stomach. To think of those idiotic rubes who believed him in his goddamned trucker cap, that he cares a damn about any of them.

    I have no use for anyone who voted for Trump. I feel no kinship with them and will give them no civility.

  70. 70.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 8:05 pm

    @misterpuff: $7 million for 800 jobs. He didn’t knuckle Carrier/United Tech, they knuckled the taxpayers of Indiana through him and Pence.

  71. 71.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 1, 2016 at 8:05 pm

    @Taylor: it would make sense, since winter is a Vietnamese hoax.

  72. 72.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 8:05 pm

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: Okay, good to know.

  73. 73.

    dexwood

    December 1, 2016 at 8:06 pm

    Scottie Nell Hughes – Me am Bizarro.

  74. 74.

    Bex

    December 1, 2016 at 8:07 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: FUCK THAT! I’m the Tsar of ALL the RUSSIAS!

  75. 75.

    Steve in the ATL

    December 1, 2016 at 8:08 pm

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: I met a couple of girls from McGill on a train somewhere in Europe when I was in college. You know, I should not tell the rest of this story….

  76. 76.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 8:08 pm

    @Bex: That seldom ends well.

  77. 77.

    greennotGreen

    December 1, 2016 at 8:09 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: LOL!

  78. 78.

    gogol's wife

    December 1, 2016 at 8:10 pm

    @Bex:

    Isn’t supposed to be Marie of Romania?

  79. 79.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 8:10 pm

    @Bex:

    I can see all the Russias from the comments section!

  80. 80.

    misterpuff

    December 1, 2016 at 8:11 pm

    Drumpf declares “We won in a landslide”
    2.5 Million voters disagree with that…..
    Looks to be an all white crowd. Claims empty seats at rally due to Secret Service security.

  81. 81.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 8:12 pm

    @Steve in the ATL:

    You pulled a train with… oh gosh, yes, the weather sure is purty today!

  82. 82.

    Jeffro

    December 1, 2016 at 8:12 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Reminds me of Umberto Eco’s points #1-4 about fascism. Reminds me a lot, actually.

  83. 83.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    December 1, 2016 at 8:13 pm

    @Steve in the ATL:

    There once were some girls from McGill
    who boarded a train in Seville…

  84. 84.

    Jeffro

    December 1, 2016 at 8:14 pm

    @debbie:

    Magna cum laude and she doesn’t believe there are such things as facts??

    Paging Neil deGrasse Tyson, paging Neil deGrasse Tyson, please pick up the white courtesy phone…he’d set her straight in 3 seconds…

    “Ma’am, have you ever flown in an airplane? Is ‘lift’ a factual thing, or does the pilot will the plane into the air?”

  85. 85.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 8:15 pm

    @Jeffro: Ayep.

  86. 86.

    misterpuff

    December 1, 2016 at 8:15 pm

    Drumpster claims NFL rating drop due to Trumpence Campaign.

    On Regulations: The Race to The Bottom is On. Bye,Bye Regs.

  87. 87.

    Steve in the ATL

    December 1, 2016 at 8:15 pm

    @Morzer: @the Conster, la Citoyenne: ha!

    Well played.

  88. 88.

    Steve in the ATL

    December 1, 2016 at 8:17 pm

    @misterpuff:

    Drumpster claims NFL rating drop due to Trumpence Campaign.

    On Regulations: The Race to The Bottom is On. Bye,Bye Regs.

    If this means and end to those bullshit unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, then at least one good thing has come of this.

  89. 89.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 8:18 pm

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:

    And Steve from Atlanta
    Showed them how to canter
    And rode them to many a thrill….

    *cough*
    OK, I will now run naked through the snow and flog myself with birch twigs as a punishment for my sinful thoughts.

  90. 90.

    NotMax

    December 1, 2016 at 8:18 pm

    Gen. Mattis announced for Sec. of Defense.

    Civilian control, a quaint concept.

  91. 91.

    Jeffro

    December 1, 2016 at 8:19 pm

    @JPL: Conway needs to hear it more – every day all day would be fine with me.

    At a similar post-election forum here in NoVA, the unbelievable douchebag Trump campaign manager actually tried to skeeze his way out of Trump’s own statements and claim that his “locker room talk” was ginned up by the Democrats as an unfair slime job. I actually surprised myself by booing.

  92. 92.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 8:21 pm

    @Morzer:

    OK, I will now run naked through the snow and flog myself with birch twigs as a punishment for my sinful thoughts.

    Odd. Scandinavians do that for fun.

  93. 93.

    misterpuff

    December 1, 2016 at 8:21 pm

    MSNBC Cryron: ” Trump: We won in a landslide” / Hillary Clinton leads pop vote by 2.5 million votes”

    Also great Business Brain sez “We will put the miners back to work.” Can change economic realities with his Bullshit.

  94. 94.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 8:22 pm

    @NotMax: Congress will have to pass a waiver for it to happen. I doubt it will be held up.

  95. 95.

    schrodinger's cat

    December 1, 2016 at 8:22 pm

    You can ignore the reality only for so long. Neither spite nor Brietbart is going to pay your medical bills.

  96. 96.

    danielx

    December 1, 2016 at 8:22 pm

    That is when Scottie Nell Hughes, Trump stalwart, joins the show to assert that “this is all a matter of opinion” and “there are no such things as facts.”

    Scottie, that city bus that just turned you into a grease spot? All in your imagination.

  97. 97.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 8:23 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    To express the full depths of my repentance, I might have to invite some McGill girls* to chastise my sinful flesh.

    *The above offer is purely illustrative and does not represent a contractual commitment by Morzer International.

  98. 98.

    Jeffro

    December 1, 2016 at 8:23 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Truly, education in all its forms and models, from as early as possible for as long as possible, has to be an overarching imperative if democracy is going to survive. Hell, a 5-minute primer on confirmation bias would do the country more good than single-payer at this point.

    But it better be an ENTERTAINING 5 minutes, or it’ll be good for nothing. Ah, but ain’t that America, you and me…

  99. 99.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 8:23 pm

    @NotMax: I thought there was a five year waiting period before a retired flag officer could be appointed to a top Defense position.

  100. 100.

    Steve in the ATL

    December 1, 2016 at 8:23 pm

    @Morzer: ha! I was rhyming with something with “trick” but I’m not going to post that either

  101. 101.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 8:24 pm

    @misterpuff: Manufacturing jobs aren’t coming back. Automation is going to take care of all that. Hell, truckers will be lucky to have jobs within a decade as a result of automating vehicles.

  102. 102.

    MoxieM

    December 1, 2016 at 8:24 pm

    Boy that woman on the vid is too stupid to breathe. (Also vicious.) I dislike the idea of voting tests for historical & racist reasons but, wow, she’s a powerful counter argument.

    Also, too, in addition, I’m glad I have a child who lives in Europe. Not sure she’d be thrilled to have mom move in, but it would be better than an American Gulag.

  103. 103.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 8:25 pm

    @Steve in the ATL:

    How do you rhyme “spiritual exercises” with “trick”?

    Asking for a friend.

  104. 104.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 8:25 pm

    @Morzer: Your shame must be immeasurable.

  105. 105.

    EBT

    December 1, 2016 at 8:25 pm

    https://trumpgrets.tumblr.com/?og=1

  106. 106.

    Bex

    December 1, 2016 at 8:26 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Says who? Putin looks a lot like Alexei to me…or maybe Tatiana.

  107. 107.

    NotMax

    December 1, 2016 at 8:26 pm

    @Adam L. Silverman

    Oh, they’ll pass it, as it’s not unprecedented.

    Time was that mad dogs were rightly feared and destroyed.

  108. 108.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 8:26 pm

    @Morzer: I believe that’s mortify your sinful flesh.

  109. 109.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 8:26 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Trump year have six months. Better than normal year because leaner. Also too: less to read!

  110. 110.

    Steve in the ATL

    December 1, 2016 at 8:27 pm

    @Jeffro:

    Truly, education in all its forms and models, from as early as possible for as long as possible, has to be an overarching imperative if democracy is going to survive.

    This is, of course (or “bien sur” as they say at McGill), the precise reason why the republicans have been trying to destroy education.

  111. 111.

    Applejinx

    December 1, 2016 at 8:27 pm

    @Steve in the ATL:

    I met a couple of girls from McGill on a train somewhere in Europe when I was in college. You know, I should not tell the rest of this story….

    But everyone knew them as Nancy?

  112. 112.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    December 1, 2016 at 8:27 pm

    @Morzer:

    No one – NO ONE – can run through the snow like McGill girls. They wear high heeled leather boots to walk to campus like hikers wear crampons on Everest. I have borne witness to their fashion determination.

  113. 113.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 8:27 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: 7. Its statutory. Has only been waived for GEN Marshall.

  114. 114.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 8:27 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Oh I do that too. Bigly!

  115. 115.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 1, 2016 at 8:27 pm

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: And Montreal is a lot more fun than Cambridge.

  116. 116.

    MomSense

    December 1, 2016 at 8:27 pm

    @Steve in the ATL:

    But that is just the kind of story I like.

  117. 117.

    Applejinx

    December 1, 2016 at 8:28 pm

    @Jeffro:

    “Ma’am, have you ever flown in an airplane? Is ‘lift’ a factual thing, or does the pilot will the plane into the air?”

    Angels. Dumbass. Huh, I’m surprised you don’t know that with all your fancy edumacating ;)

  118. 118.

    NotMax

    December 1, 2016 at 8:28 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus

    I believe it is a 7-year period but can be sidestepped with a Congressional waiver, as was done for George C. Marshall.

  119. 119.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 8:29 pm

    @NotMax: So what’s interesting here, and I just checked with my former teammate, a now retired Marine colonel, is I’ve never heard anyone in uniform call Gen. Mattis mad dog. His nickname or moniker is The Warrior Monk. The former because he’s a good warfighter. The latter for two reasons: 1) he’s very scholarly and well read (he’s not GEN Dempsey, but he’s pretty close) and 2) he never married and is single.

  120. 120.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 8:30 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Much the same way as Nissan bent over the brave new free traders of Brexit. Although even the Brexiteers aren’t trying to run around trying to claim credit for their epic fuck-ups in quite so shameless a way.

  121. 121.

    SiubhanDuinne, Mob Enforcer

    December 1, 2016 at 8:30 pm

    @MoxieM:

    I dislike the idea of voting tests for historical & racist reasons but, wow, she’s a powerful counter argument.

    I was thinking much the same. Of course the whole idea of “literacy tests” leaves a very bad taste in my mouth, but I think I might consider something like, every voter must pass the same test immigrants must pass for their citizenship. None of the impossible exams African-Americans were required to pass during Jim Crow — just basic 6th-grade knowledge about the fundamentals of the Constitution, branches of government, etc. Ten minutes, tops.

  122. 122.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 1, 2016 at 8:31 pm

    I made an ornament at work today. It was fun!

  123. 123.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 8:31 pm

    @Bex: Read up on the Romanovs; an awful lot of them don’t die of old age.

  124. 124.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 8:31 pm

    Great wall at the border! Drink!!!!!

  125. 125.

    danielx

    December 1, 2016 at 8:31 pm

    @Morzer:

    Perhaps you can reach Jesus’ General to get contact info for that man in Seattle who possesses the Terrible Spatula of Redemption.

  126. 126.

    Steve in the ATL

    December 1, 2016 at 8:31 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    And Montreal is a lot more fun than Cambridge

    For the poutine alone!

  127. 127.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 8:31 pm

    @Morzer: Ayep.

  128. 128.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 8:31 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    It can hardly be colder in the winter – and I’d bet they don’t spend every spare minute fixing the roads that they were too cheap to deal with properly the first time.

  129. 129.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 8:32 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Do you work in a kindergarten?

  130. 130.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    December 1, 2016 at 8:32 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    LOL. That’s some post truth Christmas shit right there.

  131. 131.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 8:32 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: That’s what I thought.

  132. 132.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 8:32 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne, Mob Enforcer:

    Crayons provided for conservatives who find pens just too complex to handle.

  133. 133.

    Steve in the ATL

    December 1, 2016 at 8:33 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    he never married and is single.

    Was Lyndsey Graham pushing this nomination?

  134. 134.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 8:33 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Which Cambridge?

  135. 135.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 1, 2016 at 8:33 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: And Schwartz’s.

  136. 136.

    Hal

    December 1, 2016 at 8:33 pm

    Watching a bit of Trump’s victory tour on msnbc and I’m am officially all out of can you imagines. As in, can you imagine if Obama held a tour post election to mock and attack the press, lie outright about winning in a landslide, and basically shit on tens of millions of people who did not vote for you. All the while your audience cheers and calls for your opponent to be locked up.

    Fuck every single person who voted for this monster and double fucks to all the bullshit we must reach out and try to understand these people tripe that keeps getting repeated.

  137. 137.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 1, 2016 at 8:34 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: The one where Harvard is. Do try to follow the conversation.

  138. 138.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 1, 2016 at 8:35 pm

    @Morzer: No, the roads fall apart all on their own because the Mafia supplied the concrete.

  139. 139.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 8:35 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    You mean the one where Daddy Kushner bought young JarJar a place at the finishing school?

  140. 140.

    debbie

    December 1, 2016 at 8:36 pm

    @NotMax:

    Wasn’t Panetta SOD for a bit?

  141. 141.

    NotMax

    December 1, 2016 at 8:36 pm

    T-shirt for discerning BJ tipplers.

    (Can be purchased here.)

  142. 142.

    indycat32

    December 1, 2016 at 8:36 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: thanks. I needed a good laugh

  143. 143.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 1, 2016 at 8:37 pm

    @Hal: I heard nine or ten second before I hit mute, heard a bit about ‘no idea who they are, saw the chyron about build the wall. It’s a full on sixty-minute hate. I’m surprised he didn’t burst from holding all this inside for three weeks

  144. 144.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 8:38 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne, Mob Enforcer: No. If you are a citizen, you should be able to vote.

  145. 145.

    EBT

    December 1, 2016 at 8:38 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: People who hate themselves more than me (crazy world) and watched it have told me he was doing his little nazi salute wave thing more.

  146. 146.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 1, 2016 at 8:38 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: arts and crafts is for grown-ups too! Some fool brought googly eyes.

    ETA: and no, my machines haven’t learned nearly enough to be in kindergarten.

  147. 147.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 8:38 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    The Great Boston Ritual – watch them tear up the road, wait two days, slap down some redolent asphalt concoction and then, three months later, do it all again! Observing how the winter salt eats into that stuff makes me suspect that there has to be a better way and that some ambitious young MIT student is going to make a killing in the future.

  148. 148.

    NotMax

    December 1, 2016 at 8:39 pm

    @debbie

    Yes, nearly 40 years after leaving the military.

  149. 149.

    jacy

    December 1, 2016 at 8:39 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    You doubt Congress will pass the waiver? I’m sorry, I’m having reading comprehension fail tonight….

  150. 150.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 8:40 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Well, how do you think he turned orange in the first place? Surprisingly, it wasn’t from eating the shoe polish.

  151. 151.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    December 1, 2016 at 8:40 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    The googly eyes make it extra special. Right now I’m actually LOLing, and I can’t tell you how happy it would make me to have that on my tree.

  152. 152.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 8:41 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: But there are so many Cambridges and people around here turn on a dime and say weird, unrelated shit all the time. I’ve been to a Shoney’s in Cambridge, Ohio.

  153. 153.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    December 1, 2016 at 8:42 pm

    @efgoldman:

    I’m never leaving the Boston area.

  154. 154.

    NotMax

    December 1, 2016 at 8:42 pm

    @NotMax

    Neglected to add the obvious, that Panetta by no means would ever be described as a career military man.

  155. 155.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 1, 2016 at 8:43 pm

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: in times of darkness we must be the light.

    I’m really happy that you find it amusing though! ?

  156. 156.

    MaryRC

    December 1, 2016 at 8:44 pm

    I don’t understand why someone doesn’t simply say to people like this “I read on Facebook that your spouse is a pedophile” and just keep repeating “But it’s just a matter of opinion” over their screeches.

  157. 157.

    misterpuff

    December 1, 2016 at 8:45 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: You got that right. Corporate Soshulism. The Amercan Way – let the Looting of the Coffers begin…

  158. 158.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 8:45 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Well played, well played indeed.

  159. 159.

    NotMax

    December 1, 2016 at 8:46 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus

    I’ve been to a Shoney’s

    And survived to tell the tale.   :)

  160. 160.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 8:46 pm

    @NotMax: He spent two years as an MI LT in the 60s. He was not the target of the legislation in many ways.

  161. 161.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 8:46 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: OT: How’s your Son in Law?

  162. 162.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 1, 2016 at 8:47 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: My condolences.

  163. 163.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 8:47 pm

    @debbie: Yes after he was Director of Central Intelligence and before the current SecDef Ash Carter.

  164. 164.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 8:47 pm

    @misterpuff:

    Trump and the PlunderBlunder Party are going to make Caligula look restrained, genteel and reasonable by the time they are through.

  165. 165.

    Citizen_X

    December 1, 2016 at 8:47 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: There are no rules. All things are permitted.

  166. 166.

    Iowa Old Lady

    December 1, 2016 at 8:48 pm

    @Hal: Are they still doing the “lock her up” stuff?

  167. 167.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 1, 2016 at 8:48 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: A little better, thanks. Don’t really wish to elaborate now.

  168. 168.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 8:48 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: We’ll accept this. For now…

  169. 169.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 8:48 pm

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Someone has to pound that jock into the end zone.

  170. 170.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 8:49 pm

    @jacy: No, I doubt Congress will hold it up. Unless some Senator puts a hold on it.

  171. 171.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 1, 2016 at 8:50 pm

    @Jeffro: God makes the airplane fly, silly.

  172. 172.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 1, 2016 at 8:50 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: MSNBC chyron said they were, also chanting “Drain the swamp”. Lot of Mnuchin (sp?) fans in Cinci

  173. 173.

    Steve in the ATL

    December 1, 2016 at 8:51 pm

    My flight is taking off, so someone else will have to stimulate your lascivious and un-Christianlike thoughts for the next three hours.

    Good luck and Godspeed!

  174. 174.

    Matt McIrvin

    December 1, 2016 at 8:51 pm

    @MoxieM:

    I dislike the idea of voting tests for historical & racist reasons but, wow, she’s a powerful counter argument.

    In practice, the point is always to keep people like her in power.

  175. 175.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 1, 2016 at 8:52 pm

    CNNVerified account
    ‏@ CNN
    Trump: We had “a lot of fun fighting Hillary, didn’t we?”
    Crowd: “Lock her up! Lock her up!”

    ETA: and this, he was paid to watch it
    Josh Barro ‏@ jbarro 29m29 minutes ago San Francisco, CA
    Trump is making some very specific promises right now that are likely to show up in attack ads in four years.

  176. 176.

    NotMax

    December 1, 2016 at 8:53 pm

    Posted this previously, but feel a rerun is in order.

  177. 177.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 8:53 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: No worries and not expecting you to. We’re keeping good thoughts.

  178. 178.

    Iowa Old Lady

    December 1, 2016 at 8:53 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: It’s like Trump is getting the band back together.

  179. 179.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    December 1, 2016 at 8:53 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: “If the President does it, it’s not illegal.”

  180. 180.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 8:54 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: GAAAAAAAHHH!!!!

  181. 181.

    Citizen_X

    December 1, 2016 at 8:54 pm

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:

    When does post truth start affecting things like engineering and science, and consequently airplanes, bridges, electric service, telecommunications?

    Or–ha ha, ha ha ha–the climate?

  182. 182.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 8:55 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: That was after bragging about hiring a billionaire (Wilbur Ross) for Commerce Secretary.

  183. 183.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 8:56 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Good to see that the Narcissist in Chief is showing his characteristic blend of decency and self-discipline.

  184. 184.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 1, 2016 at 8:57 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I think you’ll enjoy this, then

    Zeke MillerVerified account
    ‏@ ZekeJMiller
    .@ KellyannePolls on Trump’s unfounded tweets abt fraud: “He’s president-elect so that’s presidential behavior”

    there’s some kind of public performance of top campaign aides at some kind of college in Cambridge, MA. Apparently it’s quite nasty, and KAC got all huffy about “are you saying I would work for a racist campaign?” Um… yes.

  185. 185.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 8:59 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Jennifer Palmieri let her have it with both barrels. Everyone who worked for GOP campaigns other than Trump’s let Jeff Zucker have it with both barrels too.

  186. 186.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 1, 2016 at 9:02 pm

    @efgoldman: some generals, however *cough* Flynn *cough*, are. Or didn’t you hear that Islam is a totalitarian plot to sap and impurify our precious bodily fluids?

  187. 187.

    Turgidson

    December 1, 2016 at 9:05 pm

    @Steve in the ATL:

    A LGBT friend of mine who travels a lot and regularly goes to or passes through that airport has “checked in” many times on Facebook at the “Larry Craig Memorial Bathroom” or something like that. Makes me snicker every time I see it.

  188. 188.

    NotMax

    December 1, 2016 at 9:05 pm

    Adam, need a smile? Another rerun, for you.

  189. 189.

    Peale

    December 1, 2016 at 9:06 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I should note that the fake news ads that immediately follow the article in that esteemed publication are:

    VIAGRA OBSOLETE: New Replacement Cheaper Safer Faster
    Can Washington Handle The President’s Daughter’s Latest Scandal?
    Men Don’t Need Viagra If You Do This Once Daily – Kills ED
    Homeowners Must Claim their $4264 Before End of 2016
    Tom Hanks Reveals The Diabetes Cure That Saved His Life
    Another embarrassing scandal for Fox News
    The President’s Daughter Picked An Atrocious Time For THIS Scandal
    What Your Cable Company Doesn’t Want You to Know
    Do This Before Bed And You’ll Never Need the Gym, Once Daily
    How to Get ‘Rid’ of Herpes for Good – Try It Today

    The internet is the anti-elightenment. Everywhere.

  190. 190.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 9:06 pm

    @NotMax: After the week I’ve had: thanks!

  191. 191.

    Gravenstone

    December 1, 2016 at 9:08 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I had to dig up the old Asimov quote to remind myself this has long been a known quantity. It is now expanding are relativistic speeds, alas.

    “There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”

  192. 192.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 9:11 pm

    @Gravenstone: I recall this book from high school.

  193. 193.

    Tim C.

    December 1, 2016 at 9:13 pm

    A) We need to call our congressional delegation. Weekly if not more often. Give heart and courage to those with us and be the annoying fly in the ointment to the ones who need a whack between the eyes. They work for us.

    B) Trump is exactly who we think he is. He will not be able to govern. There will be multiple internal fights in his White House. He’s a coward and a bully and will be unable to handle all those factions.

    C) We need to establish an official Balloon Juice commenter/front pager pool on the date Trump hits 27 percent approval.

    D) Maybe It’s the transition though the (made up) stages, but now I’m on anger. I say less than 50/50 he even tries to run again. It’s not a job he going to want in four years. He’ll never be popular, he’ll never be accepted by a majority of the country, he’s going to be a joke. We are going to fucking fight. And even when they win a battle, their ideas are so bad, it’s going to hurt them. Make them feel it.

    E) Focus on the people around you, help them. I found some inspiration by watching “Gandhi” again, do it. There’s our model.

    F) See A. Call. Your. Congressional. Delegation. Do it. Yes you, the lurker or the rare commenter. YOU!

    Finishing with inspiring quote-

    Sons (and daughters!) of Gondor! Of Rohan! My brothers (and sisters!) I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me! A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the age of Men (and kick-ass women) comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand! Men (and kick-ass women!) of the West!

  194. 194.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 9:14 pm

    @Peale:

    Another embarrassing scandal for Fox News

    Obviously fake, because Fox abandoned any pretense of shame or embarrassment years ago.

  195. 195.

    gogol's wife

    December 1, 2016 at 9:15 pm

    @Tim C.:

    Good comment.

  196. 196.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 9:15 pm

    @Tim C.:

    Sons (and daughters!)

    Childpersons!

  197. 197.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 1, 2016 at 9:16 pm

    @Gravenstone: excellent quote, thanks. Looked it up and found the original article, gonna give it a read!

  198. 198.

    NotMax

    December 1, 2016 at 9:16 pm

    @Gravenstone

    Might as well wedge a bit o’ Bierce in.

    Politics: A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.

  199. 199.

    matryoshka

    December 1, 2016 at 9:16 pm

    I knew we were fucked back in the ’90s when a student of mine, after 2 weeks of reading and discussing the book Farewell to Manzanar, responded to an essay question asking her to imagine whether or not something like Japanese internment could ever happen again in the U.S. (why or why not, etc.) with the simple statement that Japanese internment never happened in the first place. When I gave her an unsatisfactory grade for that answer, her parents complained to the principal (a fundamentalist), who supported their assertion that it was acceptable to deny historical facts. This was long before I even heard of Fox News. The Trumpening looks to me like the natural evolution of that kind of ignorance.

  200. 200.

    Kayla Rudbek

    December 1, 2016 at 9:16 pm

    At this rate they will be patenting cold fusion and perpetual motion

  201. 201.

    gogol's wife

    December 1, 2016 at 9:18 pm

    @matryoshka:

    That’s so sad.

  202. 202.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 9:20 pm

    @NotMax:

    Trump: a lunatic masquerading as a moron.

  203. 203.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 1, 2016 at 9:21 pm

    @matryoshka: yikes.

  204. 204.

    mike in dc

    December 1, 2016 at 9:24 pm

    Two new names in contention for SoS—the current CEO of Exxon Mobil…and the former CEO of Exxon Mobil. I guess they really want to drain the swamp, so they can start installing that gold-plated hog trough.

  205. 205.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 1, 2016 at 9:26 pm

    @mike in dc: it’s kind of nice that they stopped pretending.

  206. 206.

    Jilli Brown

    December 1, 2016 at 9:29 pm

    What freaking planet is this? Just watched a portion of trumps open mic night…Sweet jesus, let this just be a bad dream.

    Just heard trump is considering the CEO’s- plural – past and present – for secretary of state. Sweet jesus. Wake me up, or better yet, just shoot me.

  207. 207.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 9:31 pm

    @jacy: Well I was quickly wrong:
    https://twitter.com/JoePerticone/status/804507404868128768

    Follow

    Joe PerticoneVerified account
    ‏@JoePerticone
    Dem Senator Kirsten Gillibrand will oppose a waiver on the 7-year active duty rule for Gen. Mattis to serve as Secretary of Defense

  208. 208.

    Morzer

    December 1, 2016 at 9:32 pm

    @Jilli Brown:

    This is the sugar high period for Trump and the Trumpzis. There’s an almighty crash coming up and I don’t think any of us are going to enjoy the consequences.

  209. 209.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 9:33 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: And I thought it was a five year rule.

  210. 210.

    NotMax

    December 1, 2016 at 9:34 pm

    @Morzer

    Ego Stroking Electric Boogaloo.

  211. 211.

    mike in dc

    December 1, 2016 at 9:36 pm

    @Morzer:
    Bad stuff happens during every president’s first term, and they have to deal with it. How Trump deals with the first couple bad things will be telling. Think about the following:
    1. Mass shooting incident
    2. Terror attack
    3. Foreign crisis
    4. Hurricane or other natural disaster
    5. Onset of a recession
    6. Unarmed person of color killed at a police stop
    Now try to imagine President Trump competently and diplomatically handling any one of those situations.

  212. 212.

    Major Major Major Major

    December 1, 2016 at 9:40 pm

    @mike in dc: NOW try to imagine all of them at once and get ready for February.

  213. 213.

    Gravenstone

    December 1, 2016 at 9:42 pm

    @efgoldman: Hey man, some of the most brutal tests I ever took were open book. Phuck physical chemistry. *shudder*

  214. 214.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 1, 2016 at 9:44 pm

    @Jilli Brown: Just heard trump is considering the CEO’s- plural – past and present – for secretary of state.

    (CEOs of Exxon, that is)
    I suspect that this, like the leak of Palin for VA, is trollery. Not that either of those bastards will be displeased with whatever policies we get from the Trump-Comey administration

    @mike in dc: I was thinking about this today, how right and left love to bleat that the President must personally appear on the site of every national disaster, natural and otherwise. I don’t think trump will wear well as “Mourner-in-chief”. I shudder to think of him speaking at funerals of public figures– I wonder if Poppy and Bar* are redrafting their final instructions–, or occasions like Charleston or Dallas

    *ETA: Old Betty Windsor is gonna tell Charles to put her on ice till That Man will not be invited to her funeral

  215. 215.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 9:44 pm

    @mike in dc: I’ll be the guy in the corner in the fetal position and hooked to a brandy drip.

    @Major Major Major Major: I am ordering a Scotch drip for the other arm tomorrow.

  216. 216.

    SgrAstar

    December 1, 2016 at 9:47 pm

    @mai naem mobile:

    When my niece was in HS her civics teacher taught the students what kind of sites wold be considered reliable sources.

    That’s the first thing I do with my university course in science policy! My students are mostly seniors, and they still need work on this. They are swimming in such murky waters, and a lot of them have no idea. If any of you are interested, Berkeley’s excellent Understanding Science website has a section devoted to this.

  217. 217.

    Jeffro

    December 1, 2016 at 9:48 pm

    @Applejinx: @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Wellll…you two clearly went to a better school than I did…dang legacy admissions…

  218. 218.

    Tim C.

    December 1, 2016 at 9:48 pm

    @gogol’s wife: It was either that or “I’m tired of these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane!”

  219. 219.

    3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike)

    December 1, 2016 at 9:48 pm

    @The Pale Scot: A well-timed and focused CME (coronal mass ejection) from the sun would also work. Blast our electric grid and all our electronics back to the stone age. Both would fry the planet, but the CME would be slightly less messy. Would work pretty well slowing climate change too.

    I’ll be in my cave with my cache of Oxy and Jack Daniels.

  220. 220.

    schrodinger's cat

    December 1, 2016 at 9:49 pm

    @Gravenstone: Open book tests are always harder than closed book and take-homes are the hardest.
    Closed book with a sheet of formulas is the way to go.

  221. 221.

    Jeffro

    December 1, 2016 at 9:56 pm

    Just saw a quip on Twitter to the effect that it helps if you think of Trump as a televangelist and also God…everything starts to at least make sense. After all, that is how both he and his cult see him.

    (quickly Googles how to de-program cult members…)

    Oh hell, I don’t have time for that nonsense…can we just work hard to educate the next generation better, and perhaps ban “reality” TV?

  222. 222.

    3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike)

    December 1, 2016 at 9:56 pm

    @Tim C.: I really like your list – I feel the need to DO SOMETHING and this helps. And I love the quote. But the actor who delivered it so well in the character of Aragorn son of Arathorn voted for Stein, and was proud of “voting his conscience”. I guess that makes him a good actor. Oh, well.

    I currently live among Trumpanzees. I try and stay very quiet now.

  223. 223.

    Lizzy L

    December 1, 2016 at 9:57 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Interesting. I spoke with a friend of mine, retired from the Marines, an attorney, who served with Mattis. He had positive things to say about him.

    I think Gillibrand is serving notice (along with Pelosi, Sanders, Reid, etc) that the Democrats are not going to play nice. I’m pleased.

  224. 224.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 9:59 pm

    @Jeffro:

    Oh hell, I don’t have time for that nonsense…can we just work hard to educate the next generation better, and perhaps ban “reality” TV?

    My nephew and niece (15 and 13) have made efforts to publicly hang out with their black, Latino, and Native American friends/acquaintances over the past few weeks. My whole family is headed for the camps.

  225. 225.

    Emma

    December 1, 2016 at 10:02 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Old Betty Windsor is gonna tell Charles to put her on ice till That Man will not be invited to her funeral.

    Especially after the Obamas, who are some of her favorite people!

  226. 226.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 1, 2016 at 10:03 pm

    @Lizzy L: from what I’ve read about Mattis, we could do a lot worse. One thing I haven’t seen clearly explained is why he retired, though I’ve seen lots of references to a hostile relationship with the Obama White House.

    Also, this
    Simon Maloy ‏@ SimonMaloy 5h5 hours ago
    the only thing I know for certain is that Trump picked Mattis for Defense because he thinks “Mad Dog” is a really cool nickname
    I saw the clip of him announcing it to the howler monkeys in Cincinnati, and he growled MAD DOG two or three times, and they all went apeshit because of course they know all about Mattis’s policy positions and ideas about military engagement. I want someone to ask if Mattis is one of the generals who knows less about ISIS than Trump

  227. 227.

    matryoshka

    December 1, 2016 at 10:04 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Yeah. I was gobsmacked and left teaching not long after that, but that student would be in her mid-30s now and is most likely a Trump voter. Everyone I know in education has similar stories too numerous to tell, all pointing in the direction we find ourselves now.

  228. 228.

    Another Scott

    December 1, 2016 at 10:07 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Nancy at WaMo points to indications that it has more to do with Donnie’s promise to cut the corporate tax rate to 15% than the $700k/yr pittace.

    What that means is that the tax cuts Trump is promising will dwarf the $65 million/year UTC would save from moving those jobs to Mexico. That kind of approach – providing corporate tax cuts to incentivize companies to stay in the U.S. instead of imposing tariffs/taxes on those who leave – is exactly the approach favored by Speaker Paul Ryan and Trump’s incoming Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. So that explanation has the ring of truth. The end result is that it looks like our president-elect just offered UTC an amount of money in excess of $65 million/year in order to save 1,000 jobs. They could have just as easily offered to pay each of those workers more than $65,000/year.

    Of course, it’s only 800 jobs now…

    IOW, Trump doesn’t care about the Carrier jobs, he cares about finding and using a cudgel to get power to do what he wants (looting the Treasury and cutting his taxes).

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  229. 229.

    matryoshka

    December 1, 2016 at 10:07 pm

    @Jeffro: Like Neal de Grasse Tyson said, “Make America smart again.”

  230. 230.

    Jeffro

    December 1, 2016 at 10:08 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    My nephew and niece (15 and 13) have made efforts to publicly hang out with their black, Latino, and Native American friends/acquaintances over the past few weeks. My whole family is headed for the camps.

    That’s awesome!

    I already alerted Mrs. Fro that if Kobach & Co get a Muslim registry started, I’m converting and registering. I’ll do my best to make a big stir about it – call the TV stations in advance, send out press releases, encourage 240M non-Trump-voting Americans to do the same to fuck up the registries and make the whole thing worthless. So…when I’m in the camp cabin next to yours, stop by and say hi!

    But seriously, good on your nephew and niece. Every generation gets it a little more right.

  231. 231.

    Jeffro

    December 1, 2016 at 10:11 pm

    @matryoshka:

    Like Neal de Grasse Tyson said, “Make America smart again.”

    Yes, starting with the very low bar of “Making America slightly less stupid and reactionary, one Tweet or Facebook share at a time”. It’s a long bumper sticker but it’s worth it. =)

  232. 232.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 10:13 pm

    @Jeffro: I won’t convert because I don’t really believe, but I will register.

  233. 233.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    December 1, 2016 at 10:15 pm

    @p.a.:

    Thanks for the chords so I could play along.

  234. 234.

    Soprano2

    December 1, 2016 at 10:18 pm

    I listened to that Diane Rehm show yesterday. What Fallows doesn’t mention is that Hughes stated that something she believed was a fact literally one minute after saying there are no such things as facts anymore! I was disappointed that not one panelist called her on that. She made that claim several more times. If you want to seed a real shitshow go look at the comments to that broadcast.

  235. 235.

    Jeffro

    December 1, 2016 at 10:18 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I probably should have air-quoted “converting” – same here (my bad). All my friends (who have known me as a life-long atheist) will get it and think it’s funny; I can only hope that some of them do the same, just, thing.

    Unfortunately, one or both of my parents may keel over dead when they see me on TV and for that, Mom, Dad, I apologize in advance. Let’s try to keep the big picture in perspective here.

  236. 236.

    Davis X. Machina

    December 1, 2016 at 10:19 pm

    @matryoshka: Typical principal. “No unhappy customers” seems to be the only pedagogical platform most of them know.

  237. 237.

    Drunkenhausfrau

    December 1, 2016 at 10:29 pm

    Yet another day that proves I need to keep drinking…

  238. 238.

    Original Lee

    December 1, 2016 at 10:30 pm

    I have come to the conclusion that every single phrase Trump utters that could be written as ending in a period needs to be followed by [Not true: Fact-checking.] Example: The NFL complained about the debate dates. [Not true: The NFL was fine with the debate dates, link to statement.] Chyrons should do the same thing: Trump: NFL complained about debate dates / NFL: We’re fine with them.

    If a news org isn’t willing to perform this service, they don’t deserve to be called news.

    ETA: If nothing else, it creates jobs and makes watching and reading the news more fun. They could have contests to guess how many false statements Trump will make in a day.

  239. 239.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 10:31 pm

    @Drunkenhausfrau: Well, yeah. Hungoverhausfrau has much less cachet.

  240. 240.

    Regime Touchon

    December 1, 2016 at 10:39 pm

    @lollipopguild:
    Back in the W dayz Suskind interviewed some neo-con dipshit who said we make our own reality. We have come to the ultimate conclusion of truthiness, may I present Donald dipshit trump.

  241. 241.

    slag

    December 1, 2016 at 10:40 pm

    Wiggy. I’ve been singing this very song a lot lately for exactly this reason. And yes, easy come, easy go. Any assertion that the reality-based community stands a chance and that we’re not all just reeds blowin’ in the wind is not founded in observation or reason.

  242. 242.

    fuckwit

    December 1, 2016 at 10:44 pm

    BRING ON THE BRAWNDO!!

    We are now living in a hellish combination of Idiocracy and A Handmaid’s Tale.

  243. 243.

    fuckwit

    December 1, 2016 at 10:46 pm

    @Regime Touchon: That was “a senior administration official”– which, based on the arrogance and attitude displayed, was very likely Turdblossom himselv.

  244. 244.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 10:47 pm

    @fuckwit: No, we are still in Obama’s USA. Enjoy it. The other thing is coming. Get a quick abortion. Get gay married. Do it while you can.

  245. 245.

    fuckwit

    December 1, 2016 at 10:51 pm

    @matryoshka: As I’ve said before: bring on the Brawndo!

    Mike Judge predicted this in 2004. We’re living in Idiocracy now.

  246. 246.

    Another Scott

    December 1, 2016 at 10:55 pm

    @fuckwit:

    “That’s not the way the world really works anymore,” he continued. “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors…and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”

    – Karl Rove

    “History’s actors”. Heh. That’s why W has been erased by the GOP from history just like Alexander Malchenko was…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  247. 247.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 1, 2016 at 11:01 pm

    @Regime Touchon: David Susskind died in 1987.

  248. 248.

    mainmata

    December 1, 2016 at 11:11 pm

    Not a rhapsody, ok? A brain fart at the most generous. Eventually people like her will be overwhelmed by facts and events and shit happening. They either come out of their reality deniance or they die.

  249. 249.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 11:15 pm

    @mainmata: I think that you may have missed the reference.

  250. 250.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 11:27 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: 7, but when Congress did the waiver legislation in 1950 they stated in it that it was the “sense of the Congress that such a waiver should never be granted again”.

  251. 251.

    dww44

    December 1, 2016 at 11:29 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Ron Suskind, author of, among other books, “The One Percent Doctrine“.

  252. 252.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 11:30 pm

    @Lizzy L: He’s not a bad choice all in all. Not sure having a recently retired general officer/flag officer as the SecDef though.

  253. 253.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 11:30 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: The new Congress?

  254. 254.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    December 1, 2016 at 11:31 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Actual quote:

    It became clear to me at age 58, I would have to learn new tricks that were not taught in the military manuals or on the battlefield.

    The missing word changes the meaning substantially.

    The rest:

    In this position I am a political soldier and will have to put my training in rapping out orders and making snap decisions on the back burner, and have to learn the new arts of persuasion and guile. I must become an expert in a whole new set of skills.

    Source.

  255. 255.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 11:33 pm

    @Steeplejack (tablet): Weird. I read that “not” into the quote.

  256. 256.

    GrandJury

    December 1, 2016 at 11:34 pm

    The Nigerian scam guys really really want to get these peoples email addresses.

  257. 257.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 11:36 pm

    @GrandJury: Go blow a goat, derf.

  258. 258.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 11:36 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: He was pegged out in terms of billets. The USMC, because it is the smallest of the services, doesn’t have a lot of four star billets. Once he was replaced a bit early as the CENTCOM Commander, there wasn’t a four star billet for him as a landing pad. He did clash with President Obama as the CENTCOM Commander and the Obama Administration should have and could have done a better job letting him know he was being replaced with GEN Austin. But this is a personalities matter, relationships matter issue. He has a very forthright, very powerful personality. And he will push till something gives. His strategic vision for what needed to be done within his Area of Responsibility was more expansive than President Obama’s. And he argued his vision vigorously, which is what you want. But, and its an important but, the relationship between the CENTCOM Commander and the President is the hardest relationship within the US military. The CENTCOM Commander is the one geographic combatant commander (GCC) that is on the phone with the President every day telling him about all the screwed up stuff in the most active area of responsibility on the globe. So if the personalities already don’t mesh well, this reality will destroy the relationship.

  259. 259.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 11:43 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: No, the one in 1950. They had to pass legislation to waive the law for Marshall. In that legislation they wrote that it was a one time only thing and should not be done again. It can’t really bind a future Congress – all they have to do is pass similar legislation waiving the law or, even worse, just repealing it.

  260. 260.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 11:44 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: It happened to Eric Shinseki. The fact that he was right doesn’t matter. As far as I know, Mattis hasn’t been right where others weren’t. Is he?

  261. 261.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 11:46 pm

    @Steeplejack (tablet): I copied and pasted it from a field manual, because I couldn’t find the full quote anywhere and don’t have it memorized. I know what the full quote is. I sat underneath it every day for four years.

    Also, the co-author of that article, Gregg F. Martin, would eventually be my Commandant and Commanding General – I was his Cultural Advisor.

  262. 262.

    J R in WV

    December 1, 2016 at 11:46 pm

    Well, I’ve read all the comments now, up to 231, and I have to say it was depressing.

    Perhaps I should look up on a liberal news site the Drumpf’s Nazi rally in Cincinnatti tonight? My doctor told me to cut back on my alcohol intake, what timing!!!

  263. 263.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 11:50 pm

    @Steeplejack (tablet): @Omnes Omnibus: The other thing that is important to know is that a determination was made at the US Army’s Military History Institute at US Army Heritage Education Center at US Army War College that the quote cannot be validated. That there are multiple original versions – all similar, but not identical, attributed to multiple primary sources, and to different periods of Marshall’s career – he said it when promoted to Chief of Staff of the Army or SecDef or SecState – that the quote cannot be substantiated and is no longer to be attributed to Marshall. As a result we took the quote down in all the classrooms at USAWC during my last year there.

  264. 264.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 11:54 pm

    @J R in WV: What would you have liked to have posted here about it? IOW, how did this free site fail you? Would a faux naif talking about his family’s wealth make you happier?

  265. 265.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 11:55 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Okay. Noted.

  266. 266.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 11:56 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I never briefed him directly when I provided support to CENTCOM. It was always through the Command Sergeant Major at the time (who I knew)- basically I provided strategic level cultural operations reports from my office at Carlisle and when I was in the area visiting family I went in for a meeting with the CSM. So I do not know, specifically, what Gen. Mattis was proposing that the President didn’t agree with. I just know that it was more aggressive than the approach the President wanted to, and has, taken.

    So I’m not sure this is an issue of being right where others were wrong. Its just that the President wanted someone else as CENTCOM Commander and there was no place left for him to go but to retire.

  267. 267.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 1, 2016 at 11:59 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I think its a great quote. And it certainly seems like something Marshall would say based on what I’ve read about him. It could be truth, it could be truthy. But it does capture an essential important reality regardless of whether it is truth or truthy.

  268. 268.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 1, 2016 at 11:59 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Okay. I get your point.

  269. 269.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 2, 2016 at 12:01 am

    I gather there is some unstated agreement to keep politics down here…

    Zeke Miller @ ZekeJMiller
    .@ KellyannePolls moments ago on the @ splcenter “They are an anti-Trump group”

    Matt FordVerified account
    ‏@ fordm
    The SPLC cut its teeth bankrupting Klan chapters, who firebombed their HQ in retaliation. Viewing them as the enemy is…something.

    founded in 1971 to be mean to Trump in 2016. This reminds me of the Iraq War years when Republicans would insist that some flare up of Shi’a/Shi’ite violence was only meant to embarrass George W Bush

  270. 270.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    December 2, 2016 at 12:01 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    You disseminated an erroneous version of Marshall’s quote that, though the omission seems slight, is pretty much the opposite of his original meaning. That should give you pause, especially if it is wrong in the field manual you copied it from.

    The point is not whether you know what the full quote is. It’s that you have, however accidentally, misinformed the lay readership here.

  271. 271.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 2, 2016 at 12:03 am

    @Steeplejack (tablet): Co-sign. Thank you for noticing.

  272. 272.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 2, 2016 at 12:12 am

    @Steeplejack (tablet): Its been determined that its not even an actual quote. And that was because there are multiple versions being quoted with different primary source citations in multiple sources. So it shouldn’t be surprising that the one from the field manual is not the same one from my former boss’s article when he was a colonel versus two different versions I just found in two different books versus a third different version I just found in a USAWC strategic research project from Academic Year 2010 with a quick keyword search. But for penance, I’ll ban myself. Would that make you happy and hole?

  273. 273.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    December 2, 2016 at 12:18 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    It’s not merely a question of “there are multiple versions being quoted” when one of the versions has the opposite meaning of the other(s). I don’t see why that is so hard to grasp.

  274. 274.

    Adam L Silverman

    December 2, 2016 at 12:22 am

    @Steeplejack (tablet): I give up. I’m deleting the comment. I’m also going away. You can find someone else to annoy.

  275. 275.

    TheMightyTrowel

    December 2, 2016 at 12:35 am

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: PLEASE. we all know Harvard’s the University of Melbourne of the Northern Hemisphere.

  276. 276.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    December 2, 2016 at 12:43 am

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Tracking.

  277. 277.

    Brachiator

    December 2, 2016 at 2:16 am

    @debbie:

    I’ve lost all respect for the Laude family.

    Laude have mercy.

  278. 278.

    prob50

    December 2, 2016 at 4:52 am

    @chopper:

    i’m the queen of canada!

    Queen of Canada is Trumped by the Top Bannona of Breitbart, not to mention all the assorted Minions, Mnuchkins, Jesters, Jokers, Trumpetts, and STRumpetts who dwell in the Nether-factual Twittle-Mirth dominion of Donald-“I won by a LANDSLDIDEPreznitt elect.

    He’s likely gonna appoint the Red Queen as Sekritary of Truthiness, and the Mad Hatter will be soon be anointed as the sole determiner of all Ethics and Cornflakes of Interest.

    Rudy G. will be the Drainmeister of Swamps and Keeper of Order, and Chief Persecutor of Liars, and will be charged with meting out punishments in accord with the Red Queen’s Irrevocable Indictments. Previous Fed-Heads are expected to be rolling like bowling balls on a Free Beer Night in Wisconsin.

  279. 279.

    prob50

    December 2, 2016 at 5:05 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I thought there was a five year waiting period before a retired flag officer could be appointed to a top Defense position.

    But wait, isn’t 48 months 5 years now? I believe this is clearly stated in Trump’s latest Twitter Decree.

    From this point forward all U.S. Laws, Monetary and Foreign Policy will be handled in this manner, as well as all DoJ actions and rulings.

  280. 280.

    grumpy realist

    December 2, 2016 at 7:20 am

    @Matt McIrvin: The story I heard was that it was the meltdown of a nuclear waste dump in the Urals that made the Soviet establishment exempt the physicists from the doctrine of Revealed Truth.

    I still have a physics book from around that time. It’s pretty funny to read. The author wrote a clear, straightforward physics text (quite good) and then randomly shoved in sentences like “This shows the elegance of the electron model, so wonderfully revealed in the writings of Lenin and Marx.” I suppose to get the thing past the censors.

  281. 281.

    Aleta

    December 2, 2016 at 11:10 am

    @grumpy realist: That’s wild, that book. Would be fun to read.

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