Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

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

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

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

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

Consistently wrong since 2002

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

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

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

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

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

In my day, never was longer.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Open Thread: Nobody Wants Uday & Qusay Trump Repping Them

Open Thread: Nobody Wants Uday & Qusay Trump Repping Them

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Too late! Matea Gold and David A. Fahrenthold, at the Washington Post:

The initial invitation from Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump dangled a rare opportunity for donors willing to pony up $500,000 and more: a private reception with the new president the day after his inauguration and a hunting or fishing excursion with one of the brothers.

“Opening Day is your opportunity to play a significant role as our family commemorates the inauguration of our father, friend and President Donald J. Trump,” read the draft obtained by TMZ.

But days after the details about the high-dollar Jan. 21 “camouflage & cufflinks”-themed fundraiser first leaked, a spokeswoman for the president-elect said Tuesday that neither he nor his adult sons were involved in plans for the event. And the organizers of the function — who include close friends of the Trump brothers — dialed back offers of access to the new president and his sons.

The confusion over the family’s connection to the fundraiser showed the degree to which Trump has failed to set rules that would protect his family from allegations of influence-peddling or draw clear lines between himself and the interests of his children, who will take over management of his business empire, watchdog groups said…

The initial outlines for the “Opening Day 45” event seemed to take advantage of the still-blurred lines by allowing donors to buy time with the new president while offering little information about what charity would reap the proceeds. The conservation foundation named Tuesday as the event’s beneficiary told The Washington Post that it is still considering whether to participate.

It is also unclear to what degree the details of the high-priced fundraiser — and its aggressive use of the Trump name — was a surprise to the Trump family. While Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said the Trump sons were not involved “in any capacity,” organizers of the event said the two brothers took part in discussions about the fundraiser, for which they are still honorary co-chairmen…

Opening Day 45! The crooks behind the Teapot Dome scandals are about to be displaced from their spot at the nadir of American crony capitalism. They didn’t have the chutzpah to send out public invitations: Come loot while the looting’s good, fellas!

Reader Interactions

120Comments

  1. 1.

    Trentrunner

    With AG Sessions and crazy GOP House, I wouldn’t count on a single investigation let alone indictment for all the chicanery and double-dealing.

    We have to beat them on core issues. We can weave their corruption into “GOP is making themselves richer on the backs of the middle class and working people,” but corruption alone doesn’t matter to voters if Trump “delivers” jobs.

  4. 4.

    fuckwit

    The fatal flaw in democracy is that most people are stupid. They’ll vote themselves right into a dictatorship.

    Just happened. Put a fork in it.

  5. 5.

    SiubhanDuinne

    O/T, Anne Laurie, but I hope your Spousal Unit came through his surgery with flying colors, minimal discomfort, and an entirely successful outcome!

  7. 7.

    Mnemosyne

    Because this election has officially made me petty, I am really enjoying the fact that the Trumpers are being driven crazy by the fact that they’re not getting the respect they deserve. It’s feeling really Fatal Attraction to me right now — they will not be ignored!

  8. 8.

    MomSense

    We need to start now getting the word out that trump refusing the daily intelligence briefing is putting us all in danger.

  9. 9.

    Mnemosyne

    @lamh36:

    Something about that outfit says “karate” to me, and now I’m wondering if Zoe will be spending her Christmas karate-chopping all of the adults at the knee. Because that’s as high as she can reach right now. ?

  15. 15.

    Yarrow

    Have to say that Uday and Qusay are just gross. They look straight out of central casting for “Bad guy. Wall St. or Bankster type. Needs to project an unearned haughty entitlement.” They’d make it most of the way through the movie and then either be gunned down or blown up or arrested in some big sting operation. They’d never make it to the end and they’d never be the heroes.

  20. 20.

    Mike J

    @MomSense: A week or two ago I was crewing on somebody else’s boat. After the race, we had scotch and popcorn down in the cabin.

    One of the crew, who is moving to Omnes-land, was a vocal Trump supporter. Best part of the day was when he said, “I’m a conservative, but I usually date women who are”- mikej jumps in – “Smarter than you?” I received another scotch and a handshake from the other five on board.

  21. 21.

    Mnemosyne

    Yet another work party tomorrow, though at least this one will be small. We have one person who has a December birthday and he requested breakfast burritos instead of cake, because we’re all sick of sweets at this point. So, early day while I pick those up tomorrow.

  26. 26.

    Corner Stone

    @Mike J:

    I’m a conservative, but I usually date women who

    “Have really large hands and an obvious adams apple.”
    Not that there’s anything…

  30. 30.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Mike J: An example is the Chinese seizure of our drone submersible; if he’d had the PDB, he would have know that the Chinese had already agreed to return it. Since he didn’t he went on Twitter to tell them they should keep it. Misunderstandings like this by consciously not having information can lead to Bad Things.

  31. 31.

    Jeffro

    Total side note but since it’s an open thread: I’m 1/3 of the way through American Amnesia by Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson (the same team that brought us Winner Take All Politics) and it’s outstanding. A bit of a slow start, but then an excellent historical perspective on how things have frayed (1980-present) since the golden age of our ‘mixed economy’, i.e., business and government actually working together and understanding each other’s roles (1941-1979)

    Longer review later this week…so many good points in it that I need to re-read and take notes for future ref/op-eds/etc!

  33. 33.

    Jeffro

    @MomSense: He really did…I think he said the Left hates the “white establishment” or something? BillO, my man, you didn’t have to let the mask slip before the inauguration like that, did you? Oh me oh my…

  35. 35.

    NotMax

    @Jeffro

    Unrelated other than similarity in title but Gore Vidal’s United States of Amnesia remains worth a viewing. Available on Netflix.

  36. 36.

    Jeffro

    @NMgal: You can find it here and other places

    Oddly enough, it’s not the first time BillO has used “white establishment” where others would typically use “establishment”. Slip, slip, slippity slip…

  37. 37.

    Jeffro

    @NotMax: Happy to check it out, thanks!

    Hacker & Pierson’s choice of subtitles needs work…I think “AA”s is something like “How the War On Government Made Us Forget That Which Made Us Truly Prosperous” or something like that. “We’ve Forgotten What Made Us Great” or “We Didn’t Used to Fight Over Everything Little Thing” might have sufficed.

  39. 39.

    cckids

    @lamh36: She is just ridiculously cute! Always makes my day (or night), seeing your nieces. They’ve just got such bright eyes & attitudes. Thanks for the cheer :)

  42. 42.

    Lyrebird

    @lamh36: Thanks, that is awesome…

    I can’t stop scrolling; what really made my evening, with total respect to the Zoe force, was I Am Moshow the Cat Rapper giving his cat a bath… I don’t have cats but that was hilarious….!

  44. 44.

    Mnemosyne

    I don’t know why I’m pleasantly surprised that Leonardo Di Caprio showed up for Alan Thicke’s memorial, but he did.

    One of my cousins-in-law follows a bunch of celebrities on Facebook, so this is how I keep up with that news. No Kardashians, thank god — she has better taste than that.

  49. 49.

    Mike J

    @Omnes Omnibus: In fact it would make more sense to send yours here. If Washington, Oregon, and California each absorbed 10,000 midwestern wingnuts apiece (no threat in those numbers to our internal stability), we could fix the way the entire country is run.

  53. 53.

    Lyrebird

    @lamh36: That cat has a “resting ghoul face” I’d say — and yes, hilarious! I wasn’t sure what to think at first, but then I saw it only used claws when trying to climb on the dude’s hat (not on him), so kitteh must have been somewhat amused.

    Hope you have lovely and lively and good holidays, you & all the nieces (& nephews if you’ve got ’em) too!

  54. 54.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Lizzy L: Help me out, would you? I live in a formerly progressive state (we invented unemployment insurance and workers’ comp.) that has acquired prion disease.

  56. 56.

    Lyrebird

    @Omnes Omnibus: I think he meant the opposite, i dunno.

    FWIW a few of years ago I felt less comfortable reading/commenting here… I think maybe our Blog Host didn’t grow up around a lot of Jewish people, and though I never felt as uncomfortable as I eventually did at FireDogLake, it seemed like Sheldon Adelson & psycho crooks like whoever tRump just suggested as Ambassador to Isr. were the main examples of people like me. I was impressed that he brought Tom on as a front-pager.

    And now we have a recipe for Sufganiyot!

    I do wish we heard more from Amir K lately,
    speaking of ethn/religious diversity.

  59. 59.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Lyrebird: It is possible that I got efg backwards. I was at work for 13 hours today. The last three giving a presentation with someone else (who let me take the majority of the talkies). A shit day.

  62. 62.

    Larkspur

    It’s nearly Xmas, and one of my slightly warped traditions (like watching Aliens on Xmas Eve) is to re-read one of my favorite books by Connie Willis: “The Doomsday Book”. It’s an SF/fantasy/time travel novel in which, in the near future, an historian, Kivrin, embarks on a low-risk expedition to the Middle Ages (England), but the coordinates are slightly wrong and she ends up smack-dab in the middle of a plague outbreak. In the village in which she takes refuge, she encounters people – scared, brave, irreplaceable people – who face a horrible plague death, and she can do nothing to save them.

    One of the chapter headings is an actual quote from Agniola Di Tura (Siena, 1347):

    Buried with my own hands five of my children in a single grave…No bells. No tears. This is the end of the world.

    And it was…but it wasn’t, because here we are.

    I feel like I want to help in less wealthy California counties, getting people dental care, protecting them from old and new human predators, trying to help people get as strong and resilient as possible so that California – which of course has its share of vulnerable, under-represented people, some of whom would surely dislike or distrust me for my relative status – can be able to take care of itself and partner with other states and communities to help out as much as possible. I mean, it may feel like and look like the end of the world, but it’s really not. But it’s going to be difficult and very messy. So I’d like us to head into it as strong and connected as possible. That means I have to get in there and work. I think health care and wellness needs to be my focus; I don’t think I can handle party politics.

    If this isn’t thread-killing stuff, I don’t know what is.

  64. 64.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @efgoldman: Got it. I was just concerned about inadvertently saying something stupid or offensive. If it is intentionally stupid or offensive, I am fine. You short, cranky fuck.

  66. 66.

    Lyrebird

    @Larkspur: Hey I usually just end up commenting on already-stale threads, so whaddoiknow about that, other than – Willis’ Doomsday Book is on the nomination list for Best Effing Book Evarrrr.

    Back to our reality, though… I wonder if Richard or another FPer would make an “Action Planning” post on a specific day, like Sunday Morning Garden Chat, so people who can’t follow the blog all the time would know when to check in.

  67. 67.

    Mike J

    @Larkspur: Now loaded on my phone.

    If you’re time travel fan, have you read Gibson’s latest? I feel like a @GreatDismal’s witness, I recommend this book so much. And yes, James Gleick’s latest is also on my immediate reading list, but while I want to read it, something else always sounds better at the moment.

  68. 68.

    Yarrow

    @Omnes Omnibus: I hope the smug Californians are guarding their successes and remaining vigilant against any Republican insurgency. Complacency is dangerous. The Republicans, especially with Trump breaking every norm, rule and probably law, will stop at nothing to take and break everything they can. Just being California isn’t going to save them. I like what Jerry Brown did. All Democrats should take notes. But also all Democratic voters need to remember to stand up too.

  69. 69.

    EBT

    @Omnes Omnibus: I never had much of an adam’s apple but my hands are big enough to get me clocked every time Ieave the house, and it’s frustrating to be just a kink or someone’s joke.

  70. 70.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Many Californians have been insufferable

    Right now, we’ve earned it. Our turn will come (again), but for now, nya nya nya nya nyaaaa nyaaa ??

    @EBT: Clocked?

    ETA: @Yarrow: at the moment we are guarding our success quite fiercely, and I see that for the near and possibly even medium term future. I imagine the political coming of age of Silicon Valley will be an important factor on the future of California.

  73. 73.

    Lyrebird

    @Mnemosyne:

    Thanks… I’m really glad I kept peeking back. At this hour, I’m not sure if political-blog-reading is a constructive habit of mine, but y’all inspire me. Even if I don’t have the best snark generation capacities.

    @Omnes Omnibus: See above.

  74. 74.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @EBT: You are not of the gender your body said? I agree that the joke is poor at best. We are working on it.

  77. 77.

    Lyrebird

    @Mike J: Thanks for the Chaka Khan memory!

    If you haven’t read Book of Kells by RA Macavoy, that’s also well worth a read. Like Doomsday Book, it’s about a… difficult time in history, in other words, it might oughta have “trigger warning” tape wrapped around it. But a great book.

  78. 78.

    Mnemosyne

    @efgoldman:

    One of my aunt-in-laws is Jewish and married a nice Catholic boy (G’s uncle) in the early 1970s. Fortunately for her, she immediately loved the whole festival that is Christmas (the lights! the cookies! the music!), which went a long way towards reconciling the rest of the family towards her.

    (Well, except her mother-in-law, but I’m pretty sure the phrase “a piece of work” was invented for her MIL, so everyone else in the family advised her to ignore her MIL the way they all did.)

  80. 80.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Lizzy L: No, some are a couple of years younger than me. But they moved there for college.

    ETA: She is still posting tonight.

  86. 86.

    Yarrow

    @Major Major Major Major: In theory it’s not a problem. However, given that the incoming administration has said a Muslim registry is a good idea and spoken admiringly of the Japanese internment camps as a model for what to do with those pesky Muslims, I think showing a little spine in at least pushing back on those ideas might have been a good idea. Instead there were no comments from them and photos from the Trump camp. That benefits him and makes them look they’re being used. If they’re getting something out of it, then they’re not being used; instead, they’re using us.

  89. 89.

    Mnemosyne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Look, I’m sorry I called you a cheesehead, okay?

    And we are a little gleeful right now because we finally got the Republicans down to a rump, but we also know we need to continue to be vigilant. If they win too many seats, they can start blocking sensible budgets again thanks to Prop 13-era laws.

  90. 90.

    Major Major Major Major

    @EBT: ah. I read “read as trans” in the imperative telling me to read it in a trans context my comment was, yeah I knew the context I still didn’t know what it meant. Then right away I figured out what you meant, so I went to the intermediate edit while I fixed it. Dumb me

  91. 91.

    Mary G

    Was out all day, six hours in the chemo lounge, lunch in a restaurant and got my hair did. Kinda shocked that everyone said “Merry Christmas” at every place. I don’t think it was like that before, so even in California the butthurt is having an effect.

  92. 92.

    catbirdman

    @Major Major Major Major: The FU money of Silicon Valley is huge. There’s a non-zero chance that, after 4-8 years of stupid Trumpy BS, a group of those players make the type of serious move that eventually gets our asses out of the Union. Because making moves is what they do, and they’re not reading it from the “Art of the Deal” handbook. Washorefornia would be such a kick-ass nation!

  93. 93.

    Yarrow

    @Major Major Major Major: There’s no requirement to meet with the incoming or current President of the United States even if they ask for a meeting. The president is not a monarch or dictator where you have no choice. Yet.

    The purpose of the meeting seems to be for Trump to show how powerful he is and to have a photo op. The tech leaders were used, as far as I can tell. Why did they say nothing about the meeting, even if just platitudes? “We had a good discussion about various issues affecting our industry and look forward to a bright future where we continue to lead.” Blah, blah, blah. It’ not like they don’t know how to do PR. Instead, nothing.. Hell, even Kanye figured out how to say something. Where were our brave tech titans?

  96. 96.

    Ruckus

    @Mary G:
    Only had one Merry Xmas so far, am tempted to ask what’s so fucking merry about it. But as long as it seems to be a standard greeting I probably won’t. But if they are wearing a shit gibbon t-shirt, all bets are off.

  97. 97.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @efgoldman:

    Mostly fiscally conservative, pro-business, slightly anti-union, but socially right along with the Democrats.

    Nope, they’ve gone in the other direction; they cray-cray.

  98. 98.

    opiejeanne

    Looks like we may get a little snow at our Washington house on Christmas Eve. That would be nice.

  99. 99.

    opiejeanne

    @catbirdman: Too many of the princes of Silicon Valley lean libertarian, and even if they were all liberals, they don’t have that much leverage.
    I don’t want California and the other west coast states to leave the Union for various reasons, but I do want Washington and Oregon to band together with California and resist Trump. Washington is making noises along those lines, Seattle declared itself a Sanctuary City for one thing, but I don’t know about Oregon.
    Also, the guy pushing for Calexit is in Russia. Makes me suspicious of his motives.

  101. 101.

    opiejeanne

    @BillinGlendaleCA: I saw that. We got out of town this morning to avoid some weather on the way home, which now looks like it will be sunny most of the way home. We’re in Redding for the night, and I was surprised there was no rain. Everything looks greener than I remember ever seeing it along I-5, and there was quite a bit of green in the foothills and passes.

  102. 102.

    opiejeanne

    @BillinGlendaleCA: 1 – 3 inches at the cabin on Christmas Eve. The porch and steps still have ice and snow even though it’s been a little warmer.
    I see evidence that we are acclimatizing to the PNW in our walking around outside in 30 degree weather without so much as a sweatshirt. When it hits 50 in WA, if the sun is out we end up in short sleeves or at least without any jacket.
    This was unthinkable 6 years ago.

  103. 103.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @opiejeanne: I was only up there for 3 years, so I never got acclimated, I do remember folk in the dorm suntaning when it got to 70 degrees, I was still cold.

  106. 106.

    Kay

    Maggie Haberman ‏@maggieNYT 7h7 hours ago
    Regardless of legitimate criticism of Clinton’s use of private server, this warrant appears to have been thin.

    The New York Times grudgingly admits even the despised and loathed Hillary Clinton should get ordinary due process protections. That’s a relief. I was afraid we were in for another round of Lock Her Up.

  107. 107.

    Kay

    Who really runs Trump’s business? It isn’t these two- they never work- and Trump says he isn’t running it now.

    Trump could be (is probably) lying about not “doing deals” but who does the day to day work?

  108. 108.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @fuckwit: Oh chill out.

    Let us look at history and the first Democracy – Athens. Themistocles saves Athenes from getting utterly destroyed by the Persians, makes it the greatest power in the Greece and his reward? He gets exiled because the damn smart ass was right and not telling to voters what they wanted to hear. One can see a parallel with Obama.

  109. 109.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Kay: Wasn’t that a tweet? I recall in tweets NYT journalists have been guilty of practicing their profession before. Will their editors allow such unpossible things as Hilary’s guilt not being a sure thing, that’s another question.

  110. 110.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Oh speaking about the holidays one of my friends is going to visit her Trumptalarte family in Texas for Christmas. I suggested the following line if they tried bringing the subject of Donald the Awesome up.

    “I don’t speak Russian, so what would be the point of talking about it?”

  112. 112.

    liberal

    @opiejeanne:

    Too many of the princes of Silicon Valley lean libertarian…

    AFAICT the vast majority of them are total shitstains. Fundie pervert isn’t the only variety around, after all.

  113. 113.

    laura

    @Yarrow: cali here, old enough to remember how great our public schools were, and how quickly they slid into sharp decline after Prop 13.
    There is still a metric shit-ton of rednecks, republicans, secessionists (free state of Jefferson and whatnot).
    There’s the well off, the obscenely wealthy, the just getting by and homeless on every corner.
    And there’s going to be suffering under the reign of Cheeto Jesus. But suffering provides space and oportunities for kindness and connection. And in kindness and connection, there’s community. And in community, there’s oportunities for building a better future.
    I believe this to my very core, because the alternative is capitulation. Resistance, non-violent loving artful resistance is my battle plan. If I fail, I’ll have failed trying.

  114. 114.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Yarrow: Yes Yarrow, I am sure the CEO of Tesla is in league with Big Oil.

    Maybe they wanted to remind Trump who seems to be living in the ’70s in his head that the real money now is in high tech and just trying a trade war would kill the economy.

  115. 115.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @liberal: Doubtless the Athena’s were hissing to Themistolcise as he was walking down to the harbor.

    “Yes, you saved me from being killed, my wife and daughters raped and my sons castrated and enslaved, BUT you raised taxes and let my house get burned down you bastard!”

  116. 116.

    Barbara

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: They are probably internalizing the message I got from my mother over the weekend, which was, it’s a time for protecting what you have, in order to be able to oppose what is to come from a better perch. She lives in Western Pennsylvania, and, even at the age of 81, no longer thinks that people like me should spend a lot of time worrying about her generation. If they want to axe their own Medicare, well, you know, what can you do? That is what she told me. I have to believe that Elon Musk and company view Trump with a mixture of fear and contempt: A mediocre intellect with a casual willingness to trash what other people have achieved, because he has been given most of what he has, and has a long history of cheating others when that isn’t enough to win the day. For people who have actually taken risks to achieve something big and new, people like Trump must piss you off at a level I can only imagine.

  117. 117.

    Barbara

    @Kay: I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me that, for whatever it amounts to, these two do run the business, and I further suspect that they really do need the money to keep their so-called empire afloat. Selling access to Dad is probably what counts as entrepreneurial imagination in this clan. I don’t think there is anyone behind the scenes pulling strings except maybe lenders, who, as we all now understand, are almost certainly not real banks, which stopped lending to double dealing Donnie a long time ago.

  119. 119.

    Ken

    That photo belongs in the dictionary under “punch-able face”. How any of the good heartland Trump voters can look at them and say “those are my people” is a mystery to me.

  120. 120.

    Tehanu

    @Larkspur:

    Doomsday Book is one of my favorites too, and I think — with the possible exception of Wolf Hall — it’s the best historical novel ever, as well as the best time-travel book ever. I love it because it’s both utterly sad and utterly hopeful, and because you start out thinking how awful everything is, and gradually come to love and understand the people. Wonderful book.

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