Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

This blog will pay for itself.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

All your base are belong to Tunch.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

We still have time to mess this up!

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

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

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Bark louder, little dog.

The revolution will be supervised.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Hail to the Hairpiece / Sunday Evening Open Thread: Head Deplorable Cheerleader

Sunday Evening Open Thread: Head Deplorable Cheerleader

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There are more dangerous people in the President-Asterisk’s gang, but KellyAnne Conway ranks high on the demand-a-channel-change-at-the-gym roster…

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161Comments

  2. 2.

    Mnemosyne

    New Weekend Movie Club post is up. Apologies for the delay — I managed to be sick two different nights this week in two different ways. ?

    Also, don’t forget the special bonus essay about The Shop Around the Corner will be up in time for Christmas Eve. Unless I manage to get another goddamned migraine.

  7. 7.

    rikyrah

    Because, he is a fraud, from beginning to end. They are in collusion with a foreign country against American sovereignty. They are traitors to this country. The margin of “victory” is because of VOTER SUPPRESSION. Because, the number of voters denied the exercise of the franchise is 4-5 times his margin of “victory”, and even then -THREE MILLION MORE Americans said NO to him.
    And, we are not playing along as we did in 2000, when the SC Selected SHRUB.
    They can sense that people are not falling in line like they thought we would.

    As I’ve written before, in 2000, we had policy positions against Shrub. By 2004, it was personal.

    NOW?

    It is policy AND PERSONAL.

    We are offended by him AS A HUMAN BEING.

    HE is THAT OFFENSIVE to us.

    Add into it that we KNOW that the election was STOLEN…

    That heifer can go phuck herself.

    THREE MILLION MORE AMERICANS SAID HELL NO TO THAT MUTHAPHUCKA…

    and NO…we will not get along.

    Evil azz bitch.

  16. 16.

    SFAW

    @Yarrow:

    Kellyanne Conway is someone who has earned anything bad that happens to her.

    Unfortunately, whatever bad that happens to her will still be FAR short of what she deserves.

  22. 22.

    Mzinformation

    She sold her soul. She lies so easily. Karma is a bitch Kellyanne. I hope it lands with both feet in the middle of her lying spineless back.

  23. 23.

    geg6

    @rikyrah:

    Our local paper had a front page story that there were 66% more ODs here in my small Western PA county than one year ago. They and their parents (because a lot of them are teenagers) all voted Trump, I guarantee you. And the vast majority are white, since we only have about 8-10% African-American here. I have lost all sympathy for them. Sad to say, I keep thinking that more of them will die and maybe sanity will return.

    ETA: I hate what That Man is turning me into.

  26. 26.

    Yarrow

    @Yutsano: Yep. And I’ve never smoked.

    I’m not sure people who voted for Trump understand how personally the rest of the country takes this. We are horrified at a personal and policy level. It is an affront upon our country, our democracy, our very way of life. There will be no going along.

    Personally I see this as a fight between democracy and fascism. I align with those who will stand against Trump and his collusion with Russia. I stand with those who speak out against Trump’s attempt to become an authoritarian dictator. I stand with those who stand against fascism.

  27. 27.

    Germy

    While Conway was in law school, she worked as a research assistant in the firm of Richard Wirthlin, Reagan’s longtime pollster and strategist. She briefly practiced law, and later worked for the Republican pollster Frank Luntz. The polling business was dominated by men. “I’m a female consultant in the Republican Party, which means when I walk into a meeting at the R.N.C. or somewhere I always feel like I’m walking into a bachelor party in the locker room of the Elks club,” she said.

    Conway found mentors in political fixers such as Charlie Black, a partner in Black, Manafort, Stone & Kelly. To Conway, the firm’s principals, who worked for Reagan and George H. W. Bush, “were the untouchables. They were the gold standard of lobbying, Capitol Hill access.” Early in her career, Conway was invited to Black, Manafort, Stone’s Christmas party, and, she said, “it was, like, ‘What am I gonna wear?’ It was like Cinderella.”

    http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/17/kellyanne-conways-political-machinations

    Some people study law, and then try to do some good in the world. Her heroes were lobbyists.

  29. 29.

    Glidwrith

    @rikyrah: Now, wait a gosh darned moment. Are you actually implying in a round about fashion that there might be, just a little, something off about this election?

    (Reads a few Breitfart articles)

    …..I can’t continue the snark, this is making me too damned sick.

    Tell it rikyrah. Tell it ’til the pillars of the earth shake and the bastard’s lies come tumbling down!

  32. 32.

    Baud

    if Obama/HRC “love the country enough” to have a peaceful transition they’d “shut this down.”

    The answer is “no.”

    Or what rikyrah said.

  33. 33.

    Brachiator

    Rogue One was a thoroughly enjoyable addition to the Star Wars saga. No spoilers.

    I had seen only one trailer and avoided plot information, so much of the story was a surprise to me. There is a gritty tone that makes the film feel more grounded than some of the other films, but Rogue One honestly weaves into the Star Wars canon without feeling like a slavish recapitulation of what has come before.

    I’m not sure how the film plays to someone who has not seen any of the other movies. And it may be too intense for younger kids (age 9 and younger maybe), because of tone, not excessive violence.

    The acting is uniformly good, even when the dialog is hokey, although I wish that there were fewer characters and more development. Some of the visuals and action scenes are dazzling. It’s fun to see filmmakers who grew up on Star Wars get a chance to play with the material.

    One thing. Rogue One makes the Phantom Menace and the other prequels feel flabby and unnecessary.

    ETA. I think the Trump transition team attended a screening of Rogue One and took notes on how the Empire deals with subjugated people.

  36. 36.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @raven: Thanks for the reminder!

    @rikyrah: It’s visceral how much his vulgar self offends me – it’s almost painful to see photos of him. And I have a similarly unpleasant response to seeing her photo.

    I don’t like what this election has turned me into, to paraphrase geg6.

  38. 38.

    Glidwrith

    @Pogonip: Well, you are going to have to test this extensively to determine exactly where the problem lies: is it the cocoa butter? Percentage of cocoa solids? The supplier? You will have to be very, very thorough, with repeat trials, just to be sure.\

    Seriously, though, that sucks. Hope it turns out to be something else.

  39. 39.

    bostondreams

    @Brachiator:

    Agreed! Any thoughts on the inclusion of a certain cold-hearted fellow with a foul stench one smells when one comes on board, through CGI? I thought it worked. Some of the folks I went with had not realized it was not actually the actor.

  42. 42.

    EBT

    @rikyrah: To be fair, pill counts by themselves are a shitty metric. If you have chronic pain and have had it for 20 or 30 years then you may very well take 100mg at a dose because of your decades of tolerance. The problem then lies with pharmacies not wanting to stock 100mg pain pills because most people only need the 5mg ones and the manufacturers shying away from even producing large numbers of the larger sized ones because of pressure from a bunch of well meaning but not at all helping directions. Now that means that you suddenly have to take 20 pills for a dose instead of a single pill and your doctor looks like a pill mill.

  43. 43.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Pogonip:

    I am pretty sure I have developed an allergy to chocolate.

    I am genuinely heartsick to read this. You have my deepest condolences.

    This is not snark.

  44. 44.

    Yarrow

    @Mzinformation:

    She sold her soul. She lies so easily. Karma is a bitch Kellyanne. I hope it lands with both feet in the middle of her lying spineless back.

    I once knew someone who was a terrible, terrible boss. High turnover in his department. Subordinates didn’t respect him at all. His assistant covered for him, went along with blaming whoever he chose to blame that day, week, month. He made everyone who worked for him miserable and she never said one thing against him.

    And then one day he turned on her. And he fired her. I heard she talked to people who used to work for him, her former co-workers that she had had a part in tormenting, and cried about how awful he was. They said, “We told you! You wouldn’t believe us.” Only when he turned on her did she see.

    I don’t know if Kellyanne will ever see. I think Trump could turn on her though. At some point he’ll need someone to blame. She’s an obvious target.

    Anyone who works for Trump needs to watch their back.

  47. 47.

    Yarrow

    Trump is already costing us.

    Just talked to a company exec who is deciding not to open shop in the U.S. citing security. Underreported part of this story.— Michael St James (@michaelstjames) December 18, 2016

    He says he still wants to break into America, but concerns over workers safety and chaos in U.S. leadership, he's considering Canada.— Michael St James (@michaelstjames) December 18, 2016

    The US is going to look increasingly unsafe and chaotic and unwelcoming to immigrants. Companies will hesitate before investing here. Brain drain to other safer places.

  48. 48.

    Brachiator

    @bostondreams: The CGI did not bother me, though it seems to be a big deal for some critics. I am holding off on saying more for a few days to give more folks a chance to see the movie unsullied.

    I can see, though, that the CGI choices result in less screen time for other characters.

  49. 49.

    J R in WV

    @Pogonip:

    When my Dr first told me he thought I had Irritable Bowel Syndrome, he told me what the three most common triggering foods are. I didn’t believe him at first, I thought he was just yanking my chain:

    Nuts, popcorn and chocolate.

    My three most necessary comfort food groups! Impossible to live w/o these food stuffs. So sad. Dr is ebil monster!

  50. 50.

    Yarrow

    @Pogonip:

    I am pretty sure I have developed an allergy to chocolate.

    That is a tragedy. Why do you think this? Have you been able to separate out the various parts of chocolate? Perhaps there is a variety you can still enjoy. So sorry to hear this.

  52. 52.

    jk

    Kellyanne Conway is a shameless tool who, like her boss, is missing a conscience and an ethical compass.

    Meanwhile,

    Rex Tillerson, the businessman nominated by Donald Trump to be the next US secretary of state, was the long-time director of a US-Russian oil firm based in the tax haven of the Bahamas, leaked documents show.

    Tillerson – the chief executive of ExxonMobil – became a director of the oil company’s Russian subsidiary, Exxon Neftegas, in 1998. His name – RW Tillerson – appears next to other officers who are based at Houston, Texas; Moscow; and Sakhalin, in Russia’s far east.

    Though there is nothing untoward about this directorship, it has not been reported before and is likely to raise fresh questions over Tillerson’s relationship with Russia ahead of a potentially stormy confirmation hearing by the US senate foreign relations committee. Exxon said on Sunday that Tillerson was no longer a director after becoming the company’s CEO in 2006.

    This new revelation about Tillerson’s directorship sheds light on the use by multinational companies of contrived offshore structures, now under scrutiny following April’s massive Panama Papers leak.

    Exxon Neftegas’s most important oil and gas project is Sakhalin-1. It is located in the sub-Arctic, off the frozen and difficult-to-access north-east coast of Russia’s Sakhalin island. This is 10,700km (6,650 miles) away from the subsidiary’s official business home in Nassau, the semi-tropical capital of the Bahamas. The Bahamas is notorious for secrecy and has a corporate tax rate of zero.

    The documents from the Bahamas corporate registry were shared by Süddeutsche Zeitung with the Guardian and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in Washington DC. They show that Exxon registered at least 67 companies in the secretive tax haven, covering operations in countries from Russia to Venezuela to Azerbaijan.

    h/t https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/18/leak-rex-tillerson-director-bahamas-based-us-russian-oil-company

  54. 54.

    Spanky (ex P-man)

    @Pogonip: That would suck, especially in these times. Make sure first that it’s not a dairy allergy. Get one of the 80%+ bars that have no dairy products in the ingredients, and see how you fare with that.

  56. 56.

    hovercraft

    @rikyrah:

    PREACH !!!
    Evil woman working for an evil man is full of shit.
    I am literally going to go outside and have a cigarette after that.

  57. 57.

    James E Powell

    @Yarrow:

    I’m not sure people who voted for Trump understand how personally the rest of the country takes this.

    I believe a lot of them know exactly how personal the rest of the country takes it. I believe that for many of them hurting others is why they voted for Trump. It wasn’t any particular policy, it was that they knew electing Trump would upset people they hate. That’s who they are, that’s how they think.

  59. 59.

    Yutsano

    @Yarrow:

    Anyone who works for Trump needs to watch their back.

    And anyone who works for The Yam should have the mark of Cain on their careers and be washed out permanently.

    Unfortunately the vast majority will land on Fox. Or some other form of wingnut welfare.

  62. 62.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Germy:

    Some people study law, and then try to do some good in the world.

    Damn straight. Like the time I represented a Hollywood celebrity whose dog had bitten a townie during a shoot.

  65. 65.

    Spanky (ex P-man)

    Electors seem to be having their own troubles. Sad!

    By Angela Couloumbis and Karen Langley / Harrisburg Bureau

    HARRISBURG — Thousands of emails land in their inboxes every day. Copies of the Federalist Papers and other books urging political courage are being mailed to their homes. They are even getting phone calls in the middle of the night.

    Such has been the life of Pennsylvania’s 20 electors for President-elect Donald Trump since the Nov. 8 election.

    On Monday, they will travel to the state Capitol to cast their votes to assign Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes to Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence during what has, in the past, been a ceremonial and largely unnoticed event.

    Not this year.

    This time around, the electors will be greeted by organized protests, urging them to assign Pennsylvania’s electoral votes to anyone but Trump.

    One elector, Ash Khare, said he and each of the 19 others have been assigned a plainclothes state police trooper for protection.

    “I’m a big boy,” said Khare, an India-born engineer and a longtime Republican from Warren County, who estimates he receives 3,000 to 5,000 emails, letters, and phone calls a day from as far away as France, Germany, and Australia. “But this is stupid. Nobody is standing up and telling these people, ‘Enough, knock it off.’ “

    Don’t worry, little elector! When Cheeto Benito takes power I’m sure he’ll make that nasty First Amendment go away!

  66. 66.

    Lizzy L

    @J R in WV: I’ve recently developed IBS symptoms. I was told that the three most common triggering foods are wheat, onions, and garlic. I have eliminated all three from my diet. I eat almost no chocolate, and I don’t eat nuts so I know I don’t have a problem with them. I do eat popcorn but it doesn’t seem to be a problem. Good luck with resolving your symptoms!

  69. 69.

    Yarrow

    @James E Powell: Good point. They are sadists.
    @Yutsano:

    And anyone who works for The Yam should have the mark of Cain on their careers and be washed out permanently.

    Yes, of course. And it won’t happen. I was more speaking to the danger of working for Trump. He will be listening to Putin about how to deal with disloyal employees and political opponents. Putin doesn’t play around.

  72. 72.

    hovercraft

    @Yarrow:

    Only when he turned on her did she see.

    I don’t know if Kellyanne will ever see. I think Trump could turn on her though. At some point he’ll need someone to blame. She’s an obvious target.

    I think it’s naive to think she doesn’t know exactly what she helped elect. She is simply cynical enough to care about getting a republican, any republican elected over a Clinton. She hates them, it’s been her life long mission to bring them down, and she accomplished her goal. This woman tried to help Todd Legitimate Rape Aiken to the senate, she’s a GOP operative through and through, to her this result represents a proud moment for her. She hates the Clintons and democrats more than she loves her country, to her even the worst republican is better than any democrat. Remember to these people, Shrub was a good man who made a couple of bad decisions, Obama is histories greatest monster*.

    * They temper the vitriol directed towards Obama in public because he is popular, but they hate him.

  74. 74.

    Kathleen

    @rikyrah: But…but…rikyrah – Chuck Todd, the guy who accused Obama of not saying anything about Syria during his interview after Obama mentioned Syria 3 times, said she’s a good person. (Ducks).

  77. 77.

    Yarrow

    @Lizzy L:

    I’ve recently developed IBS symptoms.

    FYI, there is now an FDA-approved blood test for IBS. Recent research has shown that it often develops after a bout of food poisoning or other gastro illness. The blood test checks for the antibodies. Here’s an article about it. It can be treated with a specific antibiotic that works in the gut. Doesn’t always work, but can help a lot of people. If you remember that you had a gastro illness of some sort prior to developing IBS you might want to check into it.

  78. 78.

    hovercraft

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    I beg to differ. They are getting precisely the type of ‘respect’ they deserve. None, they are a disgrace to this country as is the asswipe they elected. They won by cheating, see @rikyrah: , this is what they’ve earned with their ‘victory’.

  80. 80.

    debbie

    @Yutsano:

    Speaking of, where’s Omarosa? She was making all kinds of threats about those who didn’t support Trump, and she suddenly went silent.

  81. 81.

    Yarrow

    @hovercraft: Yes, I agree to a certain extent. I also think, like most Republicans, she can’t understand something until and unless it happens to her. Example: Gay marriage is bad until their child is gay, and then oh, we have to be open minded, etc.

    If Trump turns on Kellyanne and destroys her, she may see. She may not. Her understanding of what she is doing in helping Trump to get elected is separate from that. She thinks she is safe so it’s okay to beat up on other people – Clintons, Democrats in general, minorities. She may find out she is not safe. And then find out what it feels like to be on the receiving end.

  83. 83.

    Kathleen

    @Steeplejack (tablet): Tad OT, but the supporting characters are why I love Bringing Up Baby. Masterful job of writing and acting. They each contribute something unique and are the stars of the show.

  84. 84.

    Mandalay

    @Mzinformation:

    She sold her soul. She lies so easily. Karma is a bitch Kellyanne.

    Ah, for a moment I though you were talking about someone else…

    Following the example set by DWS, the duplicitous head of the DNC happily sticks the boot in on President Obama.

    Brazille really is a vile piece of work.

  86. 86.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Baud: And that’s the understatement of the month to date. They think they aren’t getting the “respect they deserve” now? Wow, do they have a surprise, those Trump teamers.

  89. 89.

    danielx

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    I heard some reporter say the Trump people are very bitter because even though they “won,” they aren’t getting the kind of respect they think they deserve.

    And what sort of respect do they think they deserves, one wonders. One further wonders if they’ve ever heard that respect is earned, generally speaking.

    One does not wonder at all about what kind of respect they do deserve – none. Fuck them. They deserve nothing but abuse.

  91. 91.

    Steeplejack

    Re Kellyanne Conway:

    My old reporter’s spidey sense makes me wonder—it would be irresponsible not to speculate—whether Conway has been on the Mercers’ payroll the whole time, either directly, through a PAC or with bogus “polling” commissions to her company. “Look, Kellyanne, go over to the Trump campaign, help him all you can, and we’ll make sure you’re taken care of.” Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

    I mean, who has the means to basically shut down her business during what would normally be its busiest season to go off and do this other temporary, speculative thing? I know she is a true believer, but still . . .

    And the fact that the big bet paid off is just frosting on the cake. The Mercers now have their eyes inside the White House, or at least the administration, depending on where Conway ends up.

  95. 95.

    Mike in NC

    She is the skanky eviler twin separated at birth from Ann Coulter. Remember she first worked for fucking Ted Cruz. Such standards.

  96. 96.

    Mandalay

    @Yutsano:

    Oh FFS sod off

    Yes, let’s have yet another group hug about how awful the winners were.

    Meanwhile an incompetent lying grifter who heads the DNC is sticking the boot in on our President. Nothing to see here!.

    Let’s get back to whining about losing, instead of looking at things that Democrats can change for the better. You’ll still be clutching your fucking pearls and blubbering about how unfair it all is four years from now.

  98. 98.

    Steeplejack

    @Kathleen:

    True. I even get a twinge of sympathy every time for Grant’s straight-arrow fiancée. She can’t help it, and she’s not a mean person.

  99. 99.

    hovercraft

    @Yarrow:
    I agree with your point that republicans have no empathy, so I guess she won’t truly understand his vindictiveness until he turns it onto her. It still think she is callously disregarding the number of people who will be harmed by his reign, because he fulfills her personal ambition.

    @Mandalay:
    You are ridiculous.

  100. 100.

    Mnemosyne

    @Lizzy L:

    FWIW, if you get triggered by wheat, onions and/or garlic, you have a FODMAPs problem. Monash University in Australia has done most of the groundbreaking research on it.

  101. 101.

    Woodrowfan

    does she get her pay via direct deposit or does the RNC leave it on her nightstand in the morning?

    (my apologies to genuine sex workers, who earn their money)

  102. 102.

    Mary G

    Back in June, the LA Times had an article about one of the oxycontin manufacturers that really shocked me.

    The doctor began prescribing the opioid painkiller OxyContin – in extraordinary quantities. In a single week in September, she issued orders for 1,500 pills, more than entire pharmacies sold in a month. In October, it was 11,000 pills. By December, she had prescribed more than 73,000, with a street value of nearly $6 million.

    At its headquarters in Stamford, Conn., Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, tracked the surge in prescriptions. A sales manager went to check out the clinic and the company launched an investigation. It eventually concluded that Lake Medical was working with a corrupt pharmacy in Huntington Park to obtain large quantities of OxyContin.

    “Shouldn’t the DEA be contacted about this?” the sales manager, Michele Ringler, told company officials in a 2009 email. Later that evening, she added, “I feel very certain this is an organized drug ring…”

    Purdue did not shut off the supply of highly addictive OxyContin and did not tell authorities what it knew about Lake Medical until several years later when the clinic was out of business and its leaders indicted.

    By that time, 1.1 million pills had spilled into the hands of Armenian mobsters, the Crips gang and other criminals.

    A Los Angeles Times investigation found that, for more than a decade, Purdue collected extensive evidence suggesting illegal trafficking of OxyContin and, in many cases, did not share it with law enforcement or cut off the flow of pills. A former Purdue executive, who monitored pharmacies for criminal activity, acknowledged that even when the company had evidence pharmacies were colluding with drug dealers, it did not stop supplying distributors selling to those stores.

    Corporations already ignore the law; imagine what it’ll be like after It is inaugurated.

  103. 103.

    Yutsano

    @Mandalay:

    Let’s get back to whining about losing, instead of looking at things that Democrats can change for the better.

    Fine mofo. Let’s hear your brilliant ideas.

    And if you even THINK of uttering White Working Class, stop. Your argument is already invalid.

  104. 104.

    hovercraft

    @Steeplejack:

    whether Conway has been on the Mercers’ payroll the whole time, either directly, through a PAC or with bogus “polling” commissions to her company. “Look, Kellyanne, go over to the Trump campaign, help him all you can, and we’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”

    She was running the Ted Cruz superpac prior to coming on board at the behest of the Mercer family. And guess who financed that superpac, ding, ding, ding, the Mercer’s. So yes she is a longtime flunky of theirs, as are Bannon, and Bosie.

  105. 105.

    Yarrow

    @hovercraft: Yes, but callously ignoring people that will be hurt is indicative of lack of empathy. Feature not a bug. Her ambition is fulfilled but only possible because she lacks empathy.

  107. 107.

    Yarrow

    @Mary G: Well, they’ve already said they want to do away with the FDA testing for drug approval. They just want to release the new medications, let people try them, and then if there’s a problem they’ll know eventually at some point. Human guinea pigs without any compensation or protection. What could go wrong?

  113. 113.

    hovercraft

    @Mnemosyne:
    According to the purists, Obama said he warned Putin about the meddling, Brazille said the meddling and attempts to hack went on till election day, this is being interpreted in some circles as an attack on Obama. I wasn’t aware that Obama had morphed into the shitgibbon, demanding we all speak with one voice.

  114. 114.

    Steeplejack

    @hovercraft:

    I knew she was in the Mercers’ orbit, but I’m hoping that with the weird nature of this whole campaign there will be some paper trail that pops out at some point and bites her on the ass.

  117. 117.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Yarrow:

    Well, they’ve already said they want to do away with the FDA testing for drug approval. They just want to release the new medications, let people try them, and then if there’s a problem they’ll know eventually at some point. Human guinea pigs without any compensation or protection. What could go wrong?

    Mix that with tort reform and get ready to die with no recourse

    ETA: d’oh! The snarling jackal with a camera beat me to it

  119. 119.

    Steeplejack

    @Yarrow:

    I remain reassured by the knowledge that my heirs may or may not be able to sue, based on whether they can even find out which drug killed me.

  121. 121.

    Brachiator

    @Yarrow:

    The US is going to look increasingly unsafe and chaotic and unwelcoming to immigrants. Companies will hesitate before investing here. Brain drain to other safer places.

    The US and BREXIT England will welcome immigrants with money and “brains” with open arms. This is actually short-sighted, since poor immigrants with drive and talent often make the best use of opportunity, but you can’t shake the elitism and racism of the Trump people.

    But I think that areas of scientific research will become illegal in Trumplandia, and this may repel potential immigrant scientists.

  123. 123.

    Millard Filmore

    from the tweet of Sahil Kapur:

    Kellyanne Conway re: Russia meddling talk says if Obama/HRC “love the country enough” to have a peaceful transition they’d “shut this down.”

    In other words, “We were in on it. Stop investigating!”

  124. 124.

    Mnemosyne

    @hovercraft:

    According to the purists, Obama said he warned Putin about the meddling, Brazille said the meddling and attempts to hack went on till election day, this is being interpreted in some circles as an attack on Obama.

    So Obama said he warned Putin to knock it off and Putin kept doing it, so therefore Brazille shouldn’t have said that Putin did not, in fact, knock it off?

    I still can’t figure out where there’s a microgram of logic there.

  128. 128.

    sigaba

    500 years from now historians will argue over wether there ever WAS a Trump presidency, or if it wasn’t all just a Tom Wolfe novel.

  129. 129.

    hitchhiker

    @hovercraft:

    She is simply cynical enough to care about getting a republican, any republican elected over a Clinton. She hates them, it’s been her life long mission to bring them down, and she accomplished her goal.

    Except they aren’t brought down. They’re still exactly who they always were — a couple of do-gooders with a boatload of ambition & the chops to match. Their lives — like KAC’s life — will testify to what drove them & what mattered most to them.

    KAC is nauseating exactly because it’s so obvious what drives her: hate. She’s just a hater who happened into the rooms where the money was.

  131. 131.

    Calming Influence

    @Kathleen:

    Bringing Up Baby — best dry delivery on film:
    Grant: “You see, I’m going to be married this afternoon!”
    Delivery man: “Don’t let it throw you, buddy.”

  132. 132.

    Brachiator

    @Kathleen:

    Tad OT, but the supporting characters are why I love Bringing Up Baby. Masterful job of writing and acting. They each contribute something unique and are the stars of the show.

    Director Howard Hawks had to wrangle some of the supporting cast from rival studios. How it all came together is a bit of a miracle, but I guess that Hawks knew what he was looking for. From the Wiki,

    Hawks obtained character actors Charlie Ruggles on loan from Paramount Pictures for Major Horace Applegate and Barry Fitzgerald on loan from The Mary Pickford Corporation to play gardener Aloysius Gogarty. Hawks cast Virginia Walker as Alice Swallow, David’s fiancée; Walker was under contract to him and later married his brother William Hawks. As Hawks could not find a panther that would work for the film, Baby was changed to a leopard so they could cast the trained leopard Nissa, who had worked in films for eight years, making several B-movies.

    Even the leopard was a showbiz veteran.

  133. 133.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    It annoys me that SNL portrays Conway as suffering from regret and conscientiousness. I think she doesn’t give a shot about truth, honor, decency, or fairness. Just wants cash and power.

  134. 134.

    Ella in New Mexico

    @Spanky (ex P-man):
    “I

    ’m a big boy,” said Khare, an India-born engineer and a longtime Republican from Warren County, who estimates he receives 3,000 to 5,000 emails, letters, and phone calls a day from as far away as France, Germany, and Australia. “But this is stupid. Nobody is standing up and telling these people, ‘Enough, knock it off.’ “

    Amazing they can get this much feedback–which has been described elsewhere as being sincere, respectful and rational as opposed to threatening or insulting– and still stubbornly refuse to consider it might be something to give them pause. Do they not for even one teeny nanosecond wonder if the Universe is not trying to message them?

    To me, THIS group of traits is the hallmark of the Republican voter. Closed minds, stubborn certainty they are right, rage at anyone who disagrees.

  135. 135.

    Mnemosyne

    @Steeplejack (tablet):

    Yes, that’s why I’m going to try and post my essay on the morning of Christmas Eve. I think the other scheduled airing was on 12/15.

    Random factoid: Lubitsch is reputedly the originator of the movie production term “MOS,” which means to shoot a scene without synchronized sound. Because of his heavy German accent, Lubitsch would shout that they were doing the scene “mit out sound” and the crew abbreviated it.

  136. 136.

    Lizzy L

    @Yarrow: Thanks. No gastro-intestinal illness or food poisoning that I can recall. So far eliminating the three foods I mentioned has worked. It may even be just one of them that has created a problem. But I’ll check out the article and ask my doc about the test.

    @Mnemosyne: Yes. I know. Thank you. I have done my research.

  137. 137.

    JPL

    @Mary G: What’s sad is that the pills were cheaper than physical therapy, so insurance companies didn’t question them. They really don’t value human life.

  138. 138.

    Mnemosyne

    @Lizzy L:

    I’ve run into people whose doctors have given them FODMAP lists that are at least partially inaccurate and Monash does seem to update their lists based on their latest research, so it’s mostly an admonition to go to Monash University for the most up-to-date information. Lots of bogusness out there on the web, as with all health information.

  141. 141.

    EBT

    @Mary G: These prescriptions allow the elderly communities to continue working part time from the comfort of their own homes after retirement! These drug companies are job creators and deserve a tax break!

  143. 143.

    Jeffro

    @Steeplejack: Well yeah, she was working for Cruz originally, and Cruz is a tool of the Mercers. That’s why he was busy phone banking for Donnie Smallhands back in September…Rebekah Mercer told him if he ever expected to run for anything ever again, he’d better get on the Trump Train.

  149. 149.

    randy khan

    @Mandalay:

    Speaking of relitigating the last election, you are aware that Donna Brazile is not going to be DNC chair soon, aren’t you? So complaining about her is pretty much pointless.

  150. 150.

    SFAW

    @Mnemosyne:

    I think the point was that Obama told Putin to stop, and then said (recently, perhaps?) that Putin/Russia did in fact stop, but Brazile said they didn’t, even though Obama said they did, which means she’s calling Obama the World’s Biggest Liar and History’s Greatest Monster, all in one tidy package, and therefore (outgoing) DNC Chairwoman Donna Brazile (or “Brazille,” as the linked article spelled it) is a Vichy Dem, etc., etc.

    But as some guy once said: “Forget it Jake Mnem, it’s Chinatown Mandalay.”

  152. 152.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    @danielx: They’re abusive authoritarians. They think power automatically brings respect. Hey, when Daddy beat them they shut up, because Daddy was in charge. But they loved Daddy because that’s what good children do, and besides, look how strong and powerful he is, and one day it’ll be their turn to be the strong and powerful ones just like Daddy.

    Now they’re the ones in charge and the rest of us are supposed to shut up, but instead we’re telling them they’re miserable little shits, and that’s just like how Daddy used to treat them, and that’s not how this is supposed to go.

    Simplistic? Probably. Maybe this just says more about the Trump voters in my family than about Trump voters overall, but that’s my theory which is mine.

  153. 153.

    Jeffro

    @schrodingers_cat: Yes indeed they do – and for what, right? We have (barely) progressive taxes and that horrible, “job-killing Obamacare” and yet, the economy is humming along just fine. They are so wedded to their dogma, so offended by reality, that it just makes them double down and double down again.

    Unfortunately, I got a taste of this first-hand while emailing back and forth with my RW-dad the past couple of days. I thought I was putting out some good info in the hopes that he’d realize he’s supporting a party that’s perfectly ok with opposition-killing, journalist-murdering Putin as an ally, while weakening our actual NATO allies. I thought I was making the case that shredding the safety net is totally unnecessary on any grounds (similar to the above). What I got back from him was that Trump & Co working with Putin is basically the same as Nixon going to China(!), and that most economists and business people are really just Hillary supporters(!!) Real economists will tell you that we’ve basically been in a recession for (yup) about eight years and that what we need is…you guessed it…a flat tax and to privatize Social Security.

    It’s weird, realizing that your own dad is okay with selling out your country to Russia AND the Kochs. But at least he knows that I consider such people traitors to America and everything it stands for.

    So, the good news is: at long last, I know to not waste another second trying to reason with this clown I happen to be related to. The even better news is, when he finally shuffles off this mortal coil, I’m going to take every cent I inherit and set up a foundation that donates to Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, the NRDC, and the SPLC in perpetuity. I’ll probably even name it after him.

    And if I find some extra scratch once we settle his estate, I’m going to fund some DREAMer scholarships for a thousand fucking years, too.

  154. 154.

    J R in WV

    @Lizzy L:

    I’m actually doing pretty well. Thanks for your info, I hadn’t heard about that. I live on onions and garlic, so I don’t think they could be triggering me, as I’m not constantly upset.

    @Yarrow:

    Interesting about the blood test, I’ll ask about that. I have had a couple of food poisoning events. But evidently my Mom and my uncle, (her brother) and my cousin his son all have the same sort of misery, so I bet it’s some kind of genetically linked sensitivity. But we all eat beans with onions frequently… so go figure.

    Can’t be wheat, we eat a ton of bread and pasta without triggering. Nor chocolate, although I try not to overdo it.

  155. 155.

    sukabi

    @Iowa Old Lady: wow, isn’t that just too f’ing bad. Respect is something that needs to be earned, they haven’t done a damned thing to earn a bit.

    Maybe they’ll decide to take their widdle balls and just go home.

    Hate auto correct.

  156. 156.

    Yarrow

    @J R in WV: I think these issues can have multiple factors. A genetic propensity, a triggering event, an exposure to a toxin – may things or a combination of things could be causes. The gut is one of the new frontiers of medicine. What could be a shared genetic issue in your family could also be a similar gut bacteria leading to similar health issues. Or not. It’s a new area of study and there is much to learn. It’s worth inquiring about the blood test, though. Might help you out and is fairly simple to do.

  157. 157.

    StringOnAStick

    @Jeffro: I think we have the same dad, except I fully expect mine to leave us kids a ton of debt from his consulting firm that he is too old and drunk to keep running, but won’t shut down. I hope the corporate veil saves us from his alcohol induced dementia. Good for you with your donation plans!

  159. 159.

    J R in WV

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    ….the Trump people are very bitter because even though they “won,” they aren’t getting the kind of respect they think they deserve.

    They didn’t “win” – they lost by 3 million votes! They don’t care to understand that Dumpf won by a tiny fringe that threw a technicality under the bus. That isn’t winning, any more than Bush won in 2000.

    Getting installed into the presidency by corrupt judges or a 250 year old accident isn’t winning… it’s losing but getting the prize anyway. Only creeps who have cheated all their lives would want a prize that way.

    If he was honest and loyal to the constitution, he would have asked his electors to vote for the person who actually won the election – Hillary Clinton. That would earn Drumpf respect for the first time in his life. But he can’t do that, and that is why he isn’t getting the respect he wants.

    He hasn’t earned any respect. He doesn’t know how.

  160. 160.

    Vhh

    @geg6: Here here. Let’s deregulate opioids. Let the Deplorables thin themselves out of the herd. It’s just like self-deportation, another fine GOP policy position.

  161. 161.

    Brachiator

    @J R in WV:

    They didn’t “win” – they lost by 3 million votes!

    They won the election. You can say that Trump should consider the popular majority, but it is pointless to talk about 250 year old accidents or technicalities.

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