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You are here: Home / Organizing & Resistance / Don't Mourn, Organize / Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

by Anne Laurie|  December 28, 20165:16 am| 141 Comments

This post is in: Don't Mourn, Organize, Open Threads, Blogospheric Navel-Gazing, Daydream Believers

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To-do list for 2017, in honor of Carrie Fischer: take down a fascist regime, revel in what makes us different, bring back the double bun.

— Margaret Wappler (@MargaretWappler) December 27, 2016

it's a bummer that so many bright, outspoken freaks died this year right when the culture needs them most

— c ty (@NOTCHRISTYLER) December 27, 2016

If we loved them like we say we did, we need to make this world safer for the next generation of brilliant weirdos https://t.co/rCSfbUWkTR

— Charlotte Shane (@CharoShane) December 27, 2016


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Generous blogger Batocchio has posted the Jon Swift Roundup 2016, including Cole’s choice for Balloon Juice post of the year, and entries from half a dozen bloggers who also comment here. Highly recommended, especially if you’re looking for fresh voices for the new year.
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What’s on the agenda, as we start another day?
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Maybe 2016 is the year a lot of heroes were born and we don't know yet.

— Maureen Johnson (@maureenjohnson) December 25, 2016

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Previous Post: « Late Night Open Thread: Here’s Hoping
Next Post: “C” is for “Corruption” »

Reader Interactions

141Comments

  1. 1.

    Betty Cracker

    December 28, 2016 at 5:20 am

    So much that is wrong with our culture, captured in >140 characters:

    Inside Carrie Fisher's weight loss and healthy living prior to her death https://t.co/ysLHR40Xo6 pic.twitter.com/CNGY0bOPMy

    — People Magazine (@people) December 27, 2016

  2. 2.

    EBT

    December 28, 2016 at 5:32 am

    @Betty Cracker: And to so many people she will never be more than a coke head. Which is a shame because she struggled hard with her bipolar.

  3. 3.

    rikyrah

    December 28, 2016 at 5:36 am

    Morning Everyone ???

  4. 4.

    Baud

    December 28, 2016 at 5:38 am

    @rikyrah: Morning.

  5. 5.

    Baud

    December 28, 2016 at 5:39 am

    especially if you’re looking for fresh voices for the new year.

    I am. The ones in my head are getting stale.

  6. 6.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2016 at 5:48 am

    @Baud: I’ll give you some of the voices I’m trying to evict from mine.

  7. 7.

    SFBayAreaGal

    December 28, 2016 at 6:09 am

    Good morning everyone. It’s a few minutes past 3:00 am here. Dang insomnia.

  8. 8.

    Raven

    December 28, 2016 at 6:11 am

    Well shit, the new doggie cart I got for Bohdi won’t fit through the front gate!

  9. 9.

    EBT

    December 28, 2016 at 6:17 am

    @SFBayAreaGal: Yeah, it sure fucking is.

  10. 10.

    Baud

    December 28, 2016 at 6:18 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I’ll take the voices with carpentry skills. I could use some of those.

  11. 11.

    satby

    December 28, 2016 at 6:22 am

    @rikyrah: @Baud: Good morning!

    Gearing up to do a run into Chicago later this morning, and not sure if son #2 is staying today or not. He and the gf were having an argument that seems to have gotten settled (she was quite disappointed that I stayed out of it, but hell they’re both in their 30s). They haven’t found a place to live in Kentucky yet, and so aren’t in a super hurry to get back. I have to think up some chores for them to do ;)

  12. 12.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2016 at 6:23 am

    @Raven: Get a gate stretcher, $59.95 at Home Despot.

  13. 13.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2016 at 6:26 am

    @Baud: How about the one that keeps whispering, “Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, Kill, kill, kill…..”

  14. 14.

    satby

    December 28, 2016 at 6:28 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: maybe that one will quiet down if you avoid the Sunday morning circle jerks on TV.

  15. 15.

    EBT

    December 28, 2016 at 6:30 am

    This would be funnier if my anti-psychotic dose wasn’t woefully under-performing.

  16. 16.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2016 at 6:31 am

    @satby:

    (she was quite disappointed that I stayed out of it, but hell they’re both in their 30s)

    Did you tell her she’d better get used to it?

  17. 17.

    Baud

    December 28, 2016 at 6:35 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: If that one can also build a cabinet, I’ll take it.

    @EBT: If you aren’t snarking, perhaps you should see someone about that.

  18. 18.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2016 at 6:38 am

    @satby: I don’t watch TV. However this one does bear a striking similarity in tonality to He Who Shall Not Be Named.

  19. 19.

    EBT

    December 28, 2016 at 6:38 am

    @Baud: Don’t have a doctor in Sacramento, no idea how to find one that I can convince myself isn’t transphobic. (believing and knowing are entirely separate concepts that have nothing really to do with each other besides the wrong one always seems to take precedent for me)

  20. 20.

    Baud

    December 28, 2016 at 6:38 am

    @satby: Have fun in the city.

  21. 21.

    satby

    December 28, 2016 at 6:39 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I like her, she’s very sweet; but everything needs constant analyzing and behavior is always a test of love. I find her a bit exhausting.

    I “interfered” long enough to tell her that stuff is just a moment in time and isn’t always more significant than that unless there’s a consistent pattern, and told him he chooses needy women so he made his bed.
    I think she thinks I’m Mommy Dearesst.

  22. 22.

    Baud

    December 28, 2016 at 6:41 am

    @EBT: Hmm. I can’t help with that, but maybe the Juicetariat can. We’ve got a pretty wide reach.

  23. 23.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2016 at 6:41 am

    @Baud: Oh, it’s very good at building cabinets. It can build one to fit any body.

  24. 24.

    EBT

    December 28, 2016 at 6:41 am

    @Baud: Hardmode: Anthem/Bluecross Medi-cal.

  25. 25.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    December 28, 2016 at 6:42 am

    Were we too busy with the trolls last night to notice that trump Tower has a suspicious package alert?

  26. 26.

    satby

    December 28, 2016 at 6:42 am

    @EBT: is there a local LGBT organization that could give you referrals? Contact them for support and leads.

    Edited: like this one http://saccenter.org

  27. 27.

    Baud

    December 28, 2016 at 6:43 am

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: I didn’t know. Suspicious packages are pretty common and usually nothing.

  28. 28.

    satby

    December 28, 2016 at 6:52 am

    So I jumped on the #ThanksDonald TweetDeck this morning and now my mail is full of favs and retweets. Good times, I only wish he’d actually see it.

  29. 29.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2016 at 6:53 am

    @satby: Ugh, needy people, sigh…. to each their own. I have had a long standing policy to never involve myself in spats between a couple. No matter what one does, it is guaranteed to piss off at least one of them and most likely both of them.

  30. 30.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2016 at 6:56 am

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Trump, as a package, is plenty suspicious.

  31. 31.

    Baud

    December 28, 2016 at 6:56 am

    @satby: What did you tweet?

  32. 32.

    satby

    December 28, 2016 at 6:56 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: yep. My son didn’t expect me to get involved, but she was unhappy I didn’t.
    She knows better now, I told her that they’re old enough to figure it out without my help.

  33. 33.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    December 28, 2016 at 6:59 am

    @Baud: They did evacuate the lobby because of it.

    Turned out to be a bag of children’s toys.

  34. 34.

    satby

    December 28, 2016 at 7:00 am

    @Baud: #ThanksDonald for losing the popular vote so decisively, letting us all know you weren’t the choice of most of America.

    The usual deadenders are also replying that the popular vote doesn’t matter and “get over it”.

  35. 35.

    EBT

    December 28, 2016 at 7:06 am

    @satby: And it has an email address, not just a phone number. This is pretty much exactly the thing my google fu wasn’t finding.

  36. 36.

    Baud

    December 28, 2016 at 7:06 am

    @EBT: satby is awesome.

  37. 37.

    satby

    December 28, 2016 at 7:08 am

    @EBT: hope it’s helpful, good luck!

  38. 38.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2016 at 7:08 am

    @satby: When my sons were little and they’d get into arguments, I always told them, “Boys, you’d better figure it out because if I get involved neither one of you will be happy.” It worked. They always managed to settle their differences with out fists and to their mutual dis/satisfaction. They are very close now. (I also told them many times that someday I would be gone and their brother would be the only one they could depend on)

  39. 39.

    Baud

    December 28, 2016 at 7:08 am

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: A bag of salted dicks would have been more appropriate.

    @satby: Nice. Keep it up. Your voice is your last defense.

  40. 40.

    EBT

    December 28, 2016 at 7:09 am

    @Baud: It’s even at the outside edge of my walking distance.

  41. 41.

    debbie

    December 28, 2016 at 7:10 am

    @satby:

    she was quite disappointed that I stayed out of it,

    Impressive! My mother could never stay out of anything.

  42. 42.

    debbie

    December 28, 2016 at 7:12 am

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:

    Those chicks with shopping bags can really run!

  43. 43.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    December 28, 2016 at 7:13 am

    @Baud: Twitter, of course, had lots of fun with it. My favorite was the suggestion it was the toys Trump stole from Whoville.

  44. 44.

    satby

    December 28, 2016 at 7:13 am

    @debbie: I’ve had a lot of practice with the sulky teen thing, which can carry on long after the teen years. I’m not interested in draaaamaaa.

  45. 45.

    satby

    December 28, 2016 at 7:14 am

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: I have to go find and favorite that one!

  46. 46.

    Baud

    December 28, 2016 at 7:14 am

    @EBT: She probably knows where you live. She’s like Santa Claus that way.

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Ha! That is a good one.

  47. 47.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2016 at 7:15 am

    @Baud: And ours.

  48. 48.

    satby

    December 28, 2016 at 7:16 am

    @Baud: LOL!

  49. 49.

    debbie

    December 28, 2016 at 7:16 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    My dad once got so fed up with my brothers’ constant bickering, he brought home boxing gloves so they could fight it out. I demanded a turn and my dad didn’t even get a chance to tie the laces up. I beat them both, one with a bloody nose, the other with one less tooth. We’re talking about kids aged 6, 5, and 4.

  50. 50.

    satby

    December 28, 2016 at 7:17 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: very true. And y’alls is mine.

  51. 51.

    satby

    December 28, 2016 at 7:18 am

    @debbie: remind me never to piss you off!

  52. 52.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    December 28, 2016 at 7:22 am

    @satby:

    I have to go find and favorite that one!

    Here you go.

  53. 53.

    debbie

    December 28, 2016 at 7:23 am

    @satby:

    No worries, I use my words now.

  54. 54.

    Baud

    December 28, 2016 at 7:26 am

    @debbie: I think I’d prefer the beating.

  55. 55.

    satby

    December 28, 2016 at 7:28 am

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: appreciated!

  56. 56.

    Iowa Old Lady

    December 28, 2016 at 7:28 am

    Tough drive home from Chicagoland yesterday. A big truck ran us off the road. Mr IOL kept control of the car and we were able to get back on unharmed, but that was scary. Then once we were home, we opened mail to find that there’s a screw up somewhere and while he’s been getting Medicare A&B since he retired, I have only A. I spent an hour on hold with SS trying to find out what’s going on, and it turns out one of my forms was lost. So we’ll see if we can fix that, but in the meantime, I have insurance only for hospital care. I did not handle it well.

  57. 57.

    Baud

    December 28, 2016 at 7:30 am

    @Iowa Old Lady: Ouch. Glad you are safe.

  58. 58.

    Elizabelle

    December 28, 2016 at 7:31 am

    Good morning, all.

  59. 59.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2016 at 7:32 am

    @Baud: My oldest sister had a razor sharp tongue, could filet a man in 5 words or less.

  60. 60.

    debbie

    December 28, 2016 at 7:33 am

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    Yikes, glad you’re okay. I don’t know what it is with peoples’ driving skills anymore, but it’s as if the chaos on the road mirrors the chaos in our society.

  61. 61.

    satby

    December 28, 2016 at 7:34 am

    @Iowa Old Lady: Glad you’re safe and home, also glad you found out about the insurance snafu before needing to use it. Hope it gets sorted out quickly.

  62. 62.

    satby

    December 28, 2016 at 7:35 am

    @debbie: It does: the me first fuck everyone else has infiltrated all layers of society and lots of interactions.

  63. 63.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2016 at 7:36 am

    @Iowa Old Lady: Paul Ryan is going to fix it so that you never have that problem again.

  64. 64.

    Elizabelle

    December 28, 2016 at 7:39 am

    @debbie: I’ve noticed people tailgate like crazy.

    Is it the rumored “no driver’s ed?” We were taught about following distance. And “don’t outrun your headlights.”

  65. 65.

    Baud

    December 28, 2016 at 7:40 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I hope I never meet her.

    @satby: A society of people like me is not a society I want to live in.

  66. 66.

    EBT

    December 28, 2016 at 7:41 am

    @satby: @debbie: Funny enough it rather does. By now you’ve seen the ingraphics showing the best way to break up stop and go traffic is to slow down and temporarily sacrifice a few moments to speed the whole shebang up in the long wrong. But fuck that I gotta get to that next stop like a Planck unit faster.

  67. 67.

    Iowa Old Lady

    December 28, 2016 at 7:42 am

    @debbie: I’m talking a big tractor-trailer truck, what I call an 18-wheeler. He was trying to pass a slow car and I don’t think he ever saw us. Since I apparently have almost no health insurance, it’s a good thing we came out of it unhurt.

  68. 68.

    debbie

    December 28, 2016 at 7:43 am

    @Elizabelle:

    And don’t cut in front of others and then immediately slow down.

  69. 69.

    Baud

    December 28, 2016 at 7:44 am

    @EBT: If Big Government Liberals didn’t mandate brake lights, drivers in traffic wouldn’t react to them.

  70. 70.

    debbie

    December 28, 2016 at 7:44 am

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    That’s what I was picturing. I’ve had a few of those pull out right in front of me. It’s like they’re not even looking because they don’t have to. I blame those crappy training schools advertising on late-night television.

    ETA: I’ve taken their numbers and called to complain.

  71. 71.

    satby

    December 28, 2016 at 7:45 am

    @Iowa Old Lady: On I80? Yeah, some of my most tense driving has been on that stretch, and going the other way on the same road through IN.

  72. 72.

    Baud

    December 28, 2016 at 7:46 am

    Maybe driverless trucks are a good thing.

  73. 73.

    satby

    December 28, 2016 at 7:47 am

    @debbie: There are a lot of blind spots on a big rig. I never drive next to one if I can avoid it unless I’m passing or they’re passing me. And then I watch them as much as I do the road ahead.

  74. 74.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2016 at 7:47 am

    @Baud: Sadly, you won’t. She died 22 years ago.

  75. 75.

    Baud

    December 28, 2016 at 7:48 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: :-(

  76. 76.

    Elizabelle

    December 28, 2016 at 7:49 am

    @Iowa Old Lady: Some of the big rig drivers are getting too aggressive — not all; many are definitely gentlemen and -ladies — but enough to notice.

    I put it down to Christmas rush and some wanting to get home, but it was noticeable on my drive through the “heartland”, and scary.

    They don’t seem to drive that badly in Virginia. I think our state troopers make it expensive for them to speed and tailgate.

    Thank you, Virginia state troopers.

  77. 77.

    EBT

    December 28, 2016 at 7:50 am

    @Baud: And yet, I must be the only person in my age bucket who knows what a turn signal is and how to use them.

  78. 78.

    satby

    December 28, 2016 at 7:50 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: That’s too bad. Sorry for your loss.

  79. 79.

    bystander

    December 28, 2016 at 7:50 am

    @Iowa Old Lady: Glad you’re OK. I’ve found SS very responsive.

    Here’s the most ambiguous story of the week. Why would Zsa Zsa and “Prinz Von Anhalt” adopt two adult men as their sons? Why are the two brothers, related to each other only as the adopted adult “sons”, each called “Prinz Von Anhalt”? Who is the Kingz to whom they succeed? And where is Anhalt?

    I’d rather contemplate these mysteries of the Universe than think about what’s about to happen to us all.

  80. 80.

    Baud

    December 28, 2016 at 7:51 am

    @EBT: I just leave mine on.

  81. 81.

    Iowa Old Lady

    December 28, 2016 at 7:51 am

    @satby: We were on 20 in Iowa. We drive 80 a fair amount though too, and you’re right. It’s such a major truck route that sometimes it’s like driving between walls.

  82. 82.

    Elizabelle

    December 28, 2016 at 7:52 am

    @Baud: LOL.

  83. 83.

    EBT

    December 28, 2016 at 7:54 am

    @Baud: Yeah, but everyone your age does.

  84. 84.

    Baud

    December 28, 2016 at 7:55 am

    @EBT: It’s accurate eventually.

  85. 85.

    Kay

    December 28, 2016 at 7:56 am

    In the week before the election, just 16% of Republicans said the economy was getting better vs. 81% who said it was getting worse. Now 49% say the economy is improving and 44% say the opposite.

    It’s NOT the economy, stupid. These beliefs have no rational basis. They may as well just make up jobs numbers and economic indicators- and Trump’s team probably will. Doesn’t matter a bit.

  86. 86.

    EBT

    December 28, 2016 at 7:56 am

    @Baud: Spoken like an engineer!

  87. 87.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2016 at 7:58 am

    @Iowa Old Lady: Same thing happened to me on Election day.

  88. 88.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2016 at 8:02 am

    @Baud: None of us get out alive.

  89. 89.

    Iowa Old Lady

    December 28, 2016 at 8:03 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Perhaps the driver was economically distressed.

  90. 90.

    raven

    December 28, 2016 at 8:06 am

    Remember to ask Adam about John Nixon and his book “Debriefing the President: The Interrogation of Saddam Hussein”. thanks

  91. 91.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2016 at 8:08 am

    @satby: I miss her terribly, we were very close, but guano happens.

    @Iowa Old Lady: Pretty sure he is now.

  92. 92.

    Woodrowfan

    December 28, 2016 at 8:13 am

    mine says krill. Krill. Krill. Krill. I think it thinks it’s a whale

  93. 93.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2016 at 8:21 am

    @Woodrowfan: Heh.

  94. 94.

    Immanentize

    December 28, 2016 at 8:21 am

    Just a ‘twixt holiday (or Hanukkah) comment:
    Thank you BJ morning crew. You have greatly increased my overall happiness this year. Advice, tragedies, moves, generosities, humor, anger, pets and LBJ (fuck him!).

    I never imagined we would be facing a 2017 like the one that is barreling toward us. I am hoping IOL’s experience will be prophetic — a truck nearly misses us, runs us off the road a bit, but we pull back on shaken but OK and continue on the journey. I am glad I am in that car with y’all.

  95. 95.

    Kay

    December 28, 2016 at 8:22 am

    The Trump Family business conflicts of interest have completely disappeared from media coverage. They stonewalled for 2 months and they won- it worked- they’re going to run that business out of the White House and no one is going to stop them.

    No one will even know if a decision benefits them, because no one knows what they own or owe.

    Tax time is coming up. Traditionally we’ve seen what the President paid and his sources of income. Trump will just tell them to fuck off again, I guess. Ivanka and her husband have already indicated they plan to flout the law that bars nepotism by expanding the definition of “first lady (or gentlemen)” to “first family” so presumably they won’t reveal anything either.

    The special snowflake status this family have been given is pretty incredible. The rules just don’t apply. They do what they want, when they want.

  96. 96.

    JPL

    December 28, 2016 at 8:34 am

    @Kay: When Trump said he planned to dissolve his foundation, the local CBS station covered the self-dealing. Sometimes that is what it takes, since a lot of people watch local news. Unless there are charges, you are correct that it won’t be covered in the same way that the Clinton Foundation was.

  97. 97.

    EBT

    December 28, 2016 at 8:36 am

    Fun fact: I forget from time to time how sensitive to caffeine I am now. So I had a mug of coffee yesterday morning and have been up over 30 hours now.

  98. 98.

    Kay

    December 28, 2016 at 8:37 am

    I think it would be easier for me if there were some explanations, some accountability. I don’t understand why the public employees at the FBI are just exempt from explaining their actions. What’s to stop them from interfering in the next election? It’s not like it’s hard to start an investigation into someone. All they’d need some large or small non-compliance with one or another rule. That probably applies to 99% of people currently in office.

    Democrats should take a page from Republicans. Run someone with no government experience and have him or her stonewall on any transparency. Trump set the new standard. They’d be crazy to adhere to rules or norms Republicans don’t have to follow. That’s a recipe for losing.

  99. 99.

    Van Buren

    December 28, 2016 at 8:39 am

    @Kay: The government we deserve, good and hard.

  100. 100.

    Kay

    December 28, 2016 at 8:43 am

    @JPL:

    The foundation is bullshit. It’s small change. Him “dissolving” his foundation doesn’t touch the real issue, which is the family business interests. The NY attorney general hasn’t finished investigating the foundation. I don’t have much hope of learning anything about Trump Family finances there, because they will probably settle, like they did with Trump University.

    The business interests are the issue, which the Trump’s know, and that’s why they threw out the bullshit concession on the foundation. The Foundation is a name and bank account. It was money laundering. The money went in and then out. It has no assets to speak of.

  101. 101.

    Kay

    December 28, 2016 at 8:53 am

    @Van Buren:

    Trump could be making decisions and plans to benefit his family business interests right now and no one would know. It could have been a factor in his nominees for positions. He will hire thousands of people. That’s going on now and not only does no one know if any of those hires were conflicts, no one has any way to find out.

    We’ve also not been given any information on Russian interference in the election. They weren’t just helping Trump. They intervened in House races in swing districts. We’ll have no idea if that happens again in the next midterm until the midterm is over. Who would investigate it inside the US anyway? The Trump-captured FBI? That’s comforting. Will the NY field office be running that show too? Comey is obviously weak and useless. I don’t even know who runs the FBI.

  102. 102.

    EBT

    December 28, 2016 at 8:54 am

    Fuck you Graham.
    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/lindsey-graham-99-senators-russia

  103. 103.

    JMG

    December 28, 2016 at 8:55 am

    Trump as of yet has no power to make government decisions affecting his businesses that will create winners and losers among other businesses. When he does make such decisions, the losers will howl to the media. Some of them will have taken the precaution of documenting the shakedowns we all know are coming. It is hard to do reporting on a situation where all parties are satisfied. Unhappy parties are your leakers and sources.

  104. 104.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 28, 2016 at 8:57 am

    @Kay:

    I don’t even know who runs the FBI.

    Putin.

  105. 105.

    Elizabelle

    December 28, 2016 at 8:57 am

    @Kay: Changing channels, caught a bit of Lindsey Graham reminding that next time, the Russians could hack the Republicans.

    But: didn’t they already do so? And decline to divulge those emails?

    Was that a credible report? Wondering if Graham’s “altruism” was a bit of squid ink.

    Because it’s a huge issue if Russian hackers hold information Republicans do not want to come out.

    Here, I am not speaking of Senator Graham. Could be a lot of stuff, about a lot of Republicans. Catching them doing crooked stuff, way beyond sharing risotto recipes. And the language that they employed …

  106. 106.

    Raven

    December 28, 2016 at 9:00 am

    @Immanentize: yes!

  107. 107.

    Elizabelle

    December 28, 2016 at 9:02 am

    @EBT:

    From your link (TPM re CNN interview with Lindsey Graham, last paragraph):

    “If we don’t push back against Putin, Iran and China — they could hack in to our systems,” he told CNN. “Today it’s Democrats, tomorrow it could be Republicans with the Iranians and the Chinese.”

    Does that mean the Russians don’t need to hack the GOP, because they already got it?

    And “Today it’s Democrats” that the public knows about. But …

  108. 108.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    December 28, 2016 at 9:05 am

    Maybe 2016 is the year a lot of heroes were born and we don’t know yet.

    Maybe 2016 is 70 years after 1946 and 70 is when people really start dying? That baby boomer thing.

    As for Fischer, why it is shocking that a self admit cocaine addict died prematurely from a heart attack?

  109. 109.

    EBT

    December 28, 2016 at 9:06 am

    @Elizabelle: It’s the smugness. He might be passing Zodiac on the ole backfeifengesciet scale.

  110. 110.

    cmorenc

    December 28, 2016 at 9:06 am

    @Kay:

    The foundation is bullshit. It’s small change. Him “dissolving” his foundation doesn’t touch the real issue, which is the family business interests. The NY attorney general hasn’t finished investigating the foundation. I don’t have much hope of learning anything about Trump Family finances there, because they will probably settle, like they did with Trump University.

    True, the foundation of itself is small change, but a “money laundering operation” as you noted further on down from the above quote – nevertheless it does provide solid legal leverage for the NY AG to pry into Trump’s finances that Trump can’t shake off, so long as the AG is unwilling to permit Trump to settle the matter e.g. with a chump-change fine in exchange for securely closing that window into his dealings. The reason Whitewater investigations into the Clintons fizzled into duds (on financial issues) was because try as they might, there was not enough there to even spin into plausible bogus allegations (but note that it provided the needed entree to uncover the separate blowjobs thing that wouldn’t have come to light otherwise, and something analogous may happen with the NY AG foundation investigation). The unrelated-to-any-legit-charitable-foundation-business payoffs to other state AGs are unconcealable, unspinnable steaming turds in Trump’s washbowl – enough to give the AG leverage to pry into the foundation’s financial picture to investigate for further possible violations, rather than settle for fines and close the door on the matter.

  111. 111.

    Kay

    December 28, 2016 at 9:09 am

    @Elizabelle:

    I’m just one person. I don’t have any power to hold any of these people accountable.

    I do think Democratic voters have a right to insist the the new “Trump Rules” apply to the next Democratic nominee. Obviously if one candidate is required to reveal everything and the other candidate reveals nothing, the candidate who reveals is at a disadvantage.

    Democrats can’t accept two sets of rules. They’d be slitting their own throats. If “free for all” is the new normal that applies to both sides. Has to, or we’re setting the stage for one Party rule forever. If the FBI interferes in an election and are never held accountable well, then, the IRS can too, or Homeland Security, or Immigration. They can’t pick and choose. That isn’t how lawless chaos works.

    Transparency is a disadvantage for politicians. That’s why we had to pass all those sunshine and disclosure laws. Unregulated “information markets” weren’t working, hence, transparency laws and rules. A response to the failure of unregulated markets. Markets failed in Trump’s case. He revealed nothing and he was elected anyway.

    If we’re going with this- an unregulated free for all- then that has to apply to both sides. That’s the minimum for a “free and fair election”.

  112. 112.

    FlipYrWhig

    December 28, 2016 at 9:14 am

    @Kay: I think this is all quite perceptive but I have some hope that, with a power vacuum in the Democratic Party, someone will want to make a name as the person who exposed a new dimension to Trump’s corruption. Someone who wants to cleanse the Augean stables and cast the moneylenders from the temple. IMHO that was a big part of the Sanders phenomenon: not so much that he was liberal as that he was outraged at business as usual. Sanders acolytes, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

  113. 113.

    Yarrow

    December 28, 2016 at 9:17 am

    @Elizabelle:

    Changing channels, caught a bit of Lindsey Graham reminding that next time, the Russians could hack the Republicans.

    But: didn’t they already do so? And decline to divulge those emails?

    Was that a credible report? Wondering if Graham’s “altruism” was a bit of squid ink.

    They did hack the Republicans and some of it was released. None of it was very exciting and it didn’t get much news. Graham has said his emails were hacked.

    Had a late night discussion with Adam Silverman about this issue. McConnell changed his tune over a few days from “there will be no investigations into hacking” to “we will investigate.” When he gave his remarks saying there would be investigations his entire body language and tone of voice was different from anything I’d seen from him before. He looked like someone was forcing him to go up there and say those things. I commented about it and Adam Silverman agreed with me. Something was up. I don’t know exactly where the back and forth was on that, but it was in two threads because I asked him if I’d understood his comment correctly and he elaborated on it.

    I have the distinct impression that they either have something on McConnell and/or his family or McConnell fears they have that info. Either way he came across as extremely compromised. If McConnell knows or suspects they have something compromising on him, he won’t be the only Republican. They are vulnerable to blackmail.

  114. 114.

    Elizabelle

    December 28, 2016 at 9:21 am

    @Yarrow: Ooooh, thank you.

    Link to the late night chats?

    Missed the McConnell body language entirely with my new “no broadcast news” lifestyle. Would have switched the channel, anyway, when his mug appeared.

  115. 115.

    PsiFighter37

    December 28, 2016 at 9:21 am

    Trump tweeting that it’s becoming hard to ignore Obama’s statements and that he transition has not been smooth.

    I hope PBO loses any illusions about playing nice and appoints a shitload of judges on January 3rd. The dude has got to start playing hardball.

  116. 116.

    Elizabelle

    December 28, 2016 at 9:21 am

    @JMG:

    It is hard to do reporting on a situation where all parties are satisfied. Unhappy parties are your leakers and sources.

    Good point. Sooner rather than later, please.

  117. 117.

    laura

    December 28, 2016 at 9:22 am

    @EBT: The Center, 1927 L Street is the place to go!
    Any and every service for the lgbtq community. You will find a vibrant and caring community. Or put the Googles on lgbtqsacramento.

  118. 118.

    Kay

    December 28, 2016 at 9:22 am

    @FlipYrWhig:

    I don’t know. I could see it going the other way too. If you tell politicians on either side that transparency and conflicts of interest no longer matter, a lot of them will see that as an advantage. There was a kind of “transparency revolution” in the 1970’s as response to Watergate. That’s where a lot of the sunshine laws came from. It was part of the “consumer protection” push that happened at the same time- the idea was the public can’t make good decisions without good information and that had to be compelled or politicians would dodge.

    We could go back to pre-transparency days. These things aren’t guarantees. They’re specific laws and norms and they’re not even that old. If Trump can just flip that whole idea the bird everyone else can too.

  119. 119.

    laura

    December 28, 2016 at 9:23 am

    @satby: you beat me to it Satby!

  120. 120.

    Yarrow

    December 28, 2016 at 9:24 am

    @Kay: I read that California has passed or is proposing to pass a law requiring presidential candidates to release their tax returns if they want to be on the California ballot. The lawyers here said it will probably be challenged and go all the way to the Supreme Court, but it’s a start.

    Meanwhile, the Dems have two choices. Play by the Republican rules and release nothing, or take the high road and release everything.

    I think Congress should pass a law requiring candidates for president to release tax returns going back X years (ten maybe?). Plus a law requiring them to divest of business interests. And no family members can run them. Be specific.

    It’s clear that norms and customs aren’t good enough. We need laws to protect us.

  121. 121.

    Yarrow

    December 28, 2016 at 9:25 am

    @Elizabelle: I don’t have the links to hand. Sorry. I’ll do some digging on keywords and see if I can find them. If I do and I see you in a thread, I’ll post them.

  122. 122.

    Elizabelle

    December 28, 2016 at 9:26 am

    @Yarrow: Thank you.

  123. 123.

    JPL

    December 28, 2016 at 9:26 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: What are the odds that Russia hacked Comey’s email? hmmm

  124. 124.

    Kay

    December 28, 2016 at 9:28 am

    @PsiFighter37:

    He’s mentally unstable. A mentally unstable individual is about to get control of a vastly powerful government apparatus. Prepare. It’s going to get very bad. He’s vindictive and petty and he has no ethical mooring or foundation. There is nothing he wouldn’t do and he now has enough power to do virtually anything.

  125. 125.

    JPL

    December 28, 2016 at 9:29 am

    @PsiFighter37: Wishful dreaming.

  126. 126.

    cmorenc

    December 28, 2016 at 9:30 am

    @PsiFighter37:

    I hope PBO loses any illusions about playing nice and appoints a shitload of judges on January 3rd. The dude has got to start playing hardball.

    Federal judicial appointments (the lifetime appointment variety) are subject to Senate confirmation. That’s why we don’t already have Justice Merrick Garland. That’s why a large number of Obama federal judicial nominees have been hung up in Judiciary Committee limbo for quite a long time.

  127. 127.

    cmorenc

    December 28, 2016 at 9:31 am

    @Yarrow:

    I think Congress should pass a law requiring candidates for president to release tax returns going back X years (ten maybe?). Plus a law requiring them to divest of business interests. And no family members can run them. Be specific.

    It’s clear that norms and customs aren’t good enough. We need laws to protect us.

    The horse you suggest we should hitch our plows to bolted the barn and ran away when the GOP swept the 2010 off-year Congressional elections.

  128. 128.

    FlipYrWhig

    December 28, 2016 at 9:36 am

    @Kay: See, that’s partly why I think it could become A Thing for Democrats: if Trump becomes the embodiment of one way to handle matters of public integrity, and Hillary Clinton just lost an election because of trumped-up corruption charges, the drive to be neither Trump nor Hillary might well produce clean-handed crusader types. Warren and Cordray are both in that vein too. Of course so was Feingold, like we were saying yesterday, and it didn’t help him very much, so maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree.

  129. 129.

    Yarrow

    December 28, 2016 at 9:41 am

    @JPL: Seems like the odds are high Comey’s owned by the Russians. As early as October 7 he refused to join the Obama administration in a statement saying the Russians were behind the hacks. He claimed it was because he didn’t want to inject the FBI into politics, but then he did that exact thing with the emails press conference and the Weiner computer – and all against Hillary and to help Trump. Even post-election when the CIA and other intelligence organizations said the Russians were behind the hacks, Comey refused to go along.

    Maybe I’m wrong and the Russians don’t own him. But signs indicate otherwise. And if the Russians are blackmailing the head of the FBI…

  130. 130.

    Yarrow

    December 28, 2016 at 9:42 am

    @cmorenc: Of course. I forgot to add that I’d like a unicorn as well.

  131. 131.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    December 28, 2016 at 9:43 am

    @Elizabelle:

    Check here.

  132. 132.

    Elizabelle

    December 28, 2016 at 9:50 am

    @Steeplejack (tablet): Thank you.

    How be the housecat this fine December morn?

  133. 133.

    hovercraft

    December 28, 2016 at 9:51 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    How about the one that keeps whispering, “Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, Kill, kill, kill…..”

    I’ll take it, as long as you are willing to testify that you gave it to me, and that it was the voice that told me to rid America of entire swaths of the Midwest, beginning in Elkhart, IN. @Kay, you and yours will need to wear Tunch shirts to identify yourself as friendlies.

  134. 134.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    December 28, 2016 at 10:01 am

    @Elizabelle:

    She’s at her workstation, heating pad set at 3 for this moderately cool morning. No tail-tip movement, so she appears to be fully asleep.

  135. 135.

    Yarrow

    December 28, 2016 at 10:03 am

    @Elizabelle: Check the next post. I linked the second post – it has more info from Adam Silverman.

  136. 136.

    hovercraft

    December 28, 2016 at 10:04 am

    @Iowa Old Lady:
    Sorry about your misadventure driving home, glad you are safe.
    Good luck sorting out your Medicare. I can totally relate to your “not handling it well”, recently for some reason I’ve not been handling aggravation well.

  137. 137.

    bemused

    December 28, 2016 at 10:19 am

    @satby:
    I just read that many older people are pretty happy and content, more pragmatic about life’s ups and downs. My 93 year old mother-in-law is a great example who has had all the losses of family and friends, health issues, sad and wonderful events living 93 years brings. I just wish so many other old folks were as wise.
    I didn’t grown up with much drama so I was puzzled watching how friends and extended family members could turn an issue into a convoluted mess with what I thought of as unnecessary drama. It took me awhile to get that people who grew up with everyone in their families and circles not knowing how to function any other way really struggle to turn the drama boat around. A friend and her sister when adults distanced themselves from their toxic parents and years later are still discovering how unhealthy their previous marriages were. They eventually knew they had to get out of unhealthy marriages and other relationships but didn’t fully really realize how unhealthy until they spent a lot of time building friendships with low drama, more grounded people and they are still having light bulbs going on. “Oh wow, this person was using passive aggression or domination, etc on me and I’m just seeing the extent of it now.” It’s hard for them to watch their adult children making similar unhealthy relationship choices who are not ready to “hear” what they have learned.

  138. 138.

    mapaghimagsik

    December 28, 2016 at 10:47 am

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Date night at Trump Tower?

  139. 139.

    Applejinx

    December 28, 2016 at 12:55 pm

    @FlipYrWhig:

    I think this is all quite perceptive but I have some hope that, with a power vacuum in the Democratic Party, someone will want to make a name as the person who exposed a new dimension to Trump’s corruption. Someone who wants to cleanse the Augean stables and cast the moneylenders from the temple. IMHO that was a big part of the Sanders phenomenon: not so much that he was liberal as that he was outraged at business as usual.

    Absolutely. I would be happy to sequester Bernie up in Vermont from now until he dies (much like Hillary is apparently walking endless hiking trails) provided other people turn up who are outraged at business as usual. I’m also certain most of the corruption will be on the Republican side at this point, simply because they have the power to abuse: bit of a moot point whether Hillary was shaping up to abuse power also.

    New faces to ‘drain the swamp’. Trump has guaranteed that it will remain a swamp. Those who inherit the call to ‘drain the swamp’ are likely to find that’s still a really great rallying cry. So let’s establish that the Left were always the best ones for that job, and bring new faces.

  140. 140.

    tybee

    December 28, 2016 at 1:46 pm

    @mapaghimagsik:

    dayyum. :)

  141. 141.

    Batocchio

    January 3, 2017 at 12:37 am

    Thanks, Anne Laurie!

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