This parody flyer was distributed on Twitter by @MrJoshGreenberg:
But just for a second there — a nano-second, maybe — didn’t you entertain the possibility that it might be a real Trump inauguration flyer? Poe’s Law will be put to the test in the coming years.
Open thread!
Xenos
This one had me going when I first saw it a couple years ago. Then I noticed it was not “The Rockettes” but “Two Rockettes”, which had me laughing at myself as much as the flyer. I supposed “Karaoke” should have been a dead giveaway, too.
Mary G
Two Rockettes Lol!
LAO
Personally, I’m not yet convinced it’s a parody.
PaulW
Norm Ornstein is PISSED about what the GOP House did in gutting the ethics office:
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/the-gops-ethics-disaster/512021/
PaulW
@LAO:
I’m not entirely sure William Hung is in the country right now, isn’t he touring in India at the moment?
Major Major Major Major
I laughed at karaoke.
matryoshka
I feel like it’s a real flyer, so it’s real!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
He’s considered a genius in France
Yeah, the karaoke thing is what turned my grin into a chuckle.
dr. luba
British singer Rebecca Ferguson has been invited to sing at the inauguration–she accepted, with one condition:
I suspect we won’t be seeing her there.
Seanly
The mixture of several terrible fonts is a nice touch also, too.
Gary K
What do you mean it’s not real? I watched thousands and thousands of people cheering as that poster was going up.
p.a.
What about the complimentary champagne in commemorative, collectable glass? Class!
hovercraft
@PaulW: @Major Major Major Major:
The whole thing cracked me up. It gave me a flash back to William Hung on Idol.
For anyone who missed the joy of his performance, here you go. She Bangs.
You are welcome.
Major Major Major Major
@p.a.: does it come with one of those crazy straws?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
and Trump will see this and it will occupy more of his brain today than North Korea or health care policy
and here’s hoping that the new version of “Celebrity” Apprentice goes down in flames. Maria Shriver, if you’re holding anything back, let it out know.
Literally
@Seanly: & the “YOUR” instead of “YOU’RE”
AliceBlue
“Your” is perfect.
evap
My favorite touch is “your” instead of “you’re”
LAC
They had me at Karaoke.
I am so going…to not be in the area when this shitshow inauguration occurs.
AliceBlue
@Seanly:
Not to mention the queasy colors.
Also too the model’s boobs need to be yuge-er.
Yarrow
That’s awesome. Two Rockettes! I know I read that Mark Burnett is considering having Trump fly in to the inauguration by helicopter. Not sure how that’s going to work, but it would be showy.
I keep hoping the weather will be crap. I looked at a long range forecast and it showed it to be sunny and nice. Dammit.
Another Scott
@Seanly: I liked that it was totally in-character from the first word. Well done, JG!
Cheers,
Scott.
hovercraft
@dr. luba:
Perhaps the Shitgibbon and his minions are too dumb to know what the “strange fruit” was, their levels of ignorance and incompetence are astounding, so I wouldn’t put it past them to not know the significance. He seems to be incapable of understanding that half the time when Putin makes comments about him, he is not being entirely complimentary.
Elizabelle
DJ Barron, the cyber genius.
@Gary K: Brilliant.
Maybe the next 2-4 years is going to feel like we’re all living in The Twilight Zone.
Noted with interest about that series: several episodes about the Civil War, but I did not notice any about the Founding Fathers. Guess they’d not been fetishified in the early 1960s.
catclub
@Seanly: That and the ‘your invited’
DesertFriar
Knew it was a parody when it did not list the Leningrad Cowboys.
p.a.
@Major Major Major Major: Yes. AND A PAPER PARASOL!!!
JPL
@AliceBlue: Mr. and Mrs. Your respectfully decline your invitation.
Yarrow
@AliceBlue: Yes. I loved “Your” instead of “You’re.” Perfect.
Major Major Major Major
@Elizabelle: that or Serling wasn’t a RWNJ.
mai naem mobile
1/where’s the gold? Lumpy luurves him some gold.
2/where’s James Woods?
3/where’s Clint Eastwood and his chair
4/where are Dennis Miller and Victoria Jackson to do shitty impressions of HRC and WJC?
5/I am impressed that inauguration is spelled correctly.
Olivia
It’s missing those really cool sparkly fonts and I am disappointed that there is nothing about the Mormon Tabernacle Quintet.
cmorenc
You forgot to include the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on the poster – they’re still presumably coming despite a member quitting the choir in protest.
The cognitive dissonance it must require for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to appear at the inauguration of a serially-married sex abusing heathen, when the Mormon Church has put so much emphasis on renouncing its polygamous past and expelling fundamentalist offshoots (e.g. the one led by Warren Jeffs) which were about providing cover for lecherous adult males to marry and copulate with underage girls. Also, too is the fundamental part of Mormon church doctrine about the sacred integrity of marriage and family continuing into the next life in heaven and beyond.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Elizabelle:
The Civil War was a big deal in the early 1960s—the Twilight Zone era—because of the centennial anniversary. I remember a big color comic strip every Sunday in the paper that was basically “This Week in the Civil War.”
Major Major Major Major
@cmorenc: obviously the leadership of the choir has sold their soul, but keep in mind McMullin did very well in Utah.
@Steeplejack (tablet): Oh that’s cool. I learned a lot from the twitter account Today In WWII.
father pussbucket
@PaulW:
“If the GOP does it, it’s not illegal.”
– R. M. Nixon, updated
Yarrow
@cmorenc: Yet another data point that the churches that claim to value those things really value power and money. A lot of evangelical Christian women were appalled by their churches’ support of Trump.
catclub
Let me just say that the only SC candidate the Democrats should allow a vote on is Merrick Garland.
schrodingers_cat
@Yarrow: But not enough to not vote for him.
rikyrah
Republicans make more health care promises they can’t keep
01/03/17 11:01 AM—UPDATED 01/03/17 11:21 AM
By Steve Benen
Kellyanne Conway, who’ll soon serve as a senior advisor to the president in Donald Trump’s White House, was asked on MSNBC this morning about the Americans who’ve gained health security under the Affordable Care Act, and whether they can expect to keep their coverage going forward. Conway may not have intended to make news with her answer, but it’s worth keeping these comments in mind as the “repeal” crusade advances:
In an interview with NBC’s “Today,” Conway added that Trump “is committed to retaining those pieces [of the Affordable Care Act] that his advisers will say are working.”
Just on the surface, it’s striking when a Republican acknowledges – out loud and in public – that there are elements of the ACA that have “merit” and “are working.” These truths generally go ignored by the right.
But let’s not brush past the details. According to one of his top aides, the Trump White House will not take away any American’s current coverage and doesn’t intend to drop protections for those with pre-existing conditions.
About a month ago, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) made similar commitments, telling CBS News, “We will give everyone access to affordable health-care coverage,” and adding that protections for consumers with pre-existing conditions is “a very important feature of any health-care system.”
The Speaker added, in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, that the Republican approach will make sure that “no one is left out in the cold” and “no one is worse off.”
Once again, it appears Republicans are writing checks their party can’t cash.
raven
@Steeplejack (tablet): My wife was a twirler at the commemoration in Appomattox for the Centennial of “the surrender”. She wore a corduroy stars and bars outfit.She went back last year but I couldn’t go.
Yarrow
@schrodingers_cat: Not in any number that mattered, no. There could have been some that did, but we’ll never know. And some of them got a lot of push back from other women on what they said. Men are designated as the leaders of the church and households so what men says goes. That kind of thing. It’s insidious and one way they maintain control of women. To go against their church leadership and/or husbands mean they’re not being Christian. Or something.
jonas
Majority still voted for him, unfortunately.
Phylllis
@rikyrah: Joe Wilson, of “you lie” fame, is featured in today’s local paper saying Republicans want to focus on ‘patient-centered health care’. I did not read the article to learn whether or not the reporter asked him ‘what other type of care would there be?’.
cmorenc
Bit of ironic trivia about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s informal referencing of themselves as “Saints” (go to one of the frequently open-to-the-public practice sessions at the Mormon Tabernacle in SLC, and you’ll hear the director referring to the choir in this manner). I know, I know, the self-reference refers to the formal name of the Mormon church: “The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-Day Saints“.
Nevertheless, the irony of a choir of self-professed “Saints” coming to perform at the inauguration of the most carnal, venal incoming President in history is shit too far over the edge to make up.
Yarrow
@Phylllis: The unspoken accusation is that now it’s “insurance company-centered.” All those insurance companies controlling your lives. Or possibly “government-controlled” what with their death panels and all.
“Patient-centered” sounds good but really means the patient has to pay everything.
SiubhanDuinne
@PaulW:
According to a headline alert I just saw, House GOP leadership has pulled it. Off to see if I can find more details.
ETA: http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/02/politics/office-of-congressional-ethics-oversight-of-ethics-committee-amendment/index.html?adkey=bn
Yarrow
@Major Major Major Major: McMullin has been a real bright spot since the election. He’s relentless in pushing back against what Trump and the Republicans are doing. He’s gotten under Trump’s skin and it’s fun to watch.
Democrats should take a page from his book. Keep pushing back hard against Trump. Do not relent. Stand up for America and stand up for your values. People like that kind of thing.
Snarkworth, short-fingered Bulgarian
I enjoyed John’s house update yesterday. And the photos! “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Stepladder.”
SenyorDave
@Phylllis: Joe Wilson, of “you lie” fame, is featured in today’s local paper saying Republicans want to focus on ‘patient-centered health care’. I did not read the article to learn whether or not the reporter asked him ‘what other type of care would there be?’.
I’m guessing it would be something like “Health care CEO compensation package-centered health care”. Or maybe “Campaign contribution-centered health care”. Possibly a combination of those two.
rikyrah
GOP congressman says his pro-hacking comments were ‘misconstrued’
01/02/17 10:40 AM
By Steve Benen
A handful of congressional Republicans have expressed tacit support for Russia’s alleged espionage operation attacking the U.S. presidential election, but no member went quite as far as Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.).
“If Russia succeeded in giving the American people information that was accurate, then they merely did what the media should have done,” the far-right Arizonan told MSNBC late last week.
As we discussed soon after, Franks’ argument is genuinely bizarre. According to the Republican congressman, so long as Russia was stealing actual materials – as opposed to, say, falsifying documents – in order to further its own interests, Franks is satisfied with the results. In fact, the GOP lawmaker seems to believe news organizations should also start committing similar crimes.
This is a bit like saying the Washington Post’s Woodward and Bernstein should have spent less time investigating the Watergate scandal and more time breaking into the DNC headquarters in order to give the American people “information that was accurate.”
A day after the interview, the GOP lawmaker seemed to back away from his own assertions, at least a little.
Franks did not elaborate further on how his comment had been misunderstood.
I’ve checked the transcript, and Franks made no effort to explain how or why his comments to MSNBC had been “completely misconstrued.” He emphasized his concerns about Russia’s government, but that’s largely irrelevant in this case – because the question is whether Franks supports Russia’s alleged espionage operation that subverted the U.S. presidential election.
MattF
I’ve been absent from discussions here for a while… but this is irresistable.
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
Easy fake. I know that because Lee Greenwood isn’t listed.
raven
House Republicans Drop Efforts To Gut Ethics Watchdog After Onslaught Of Criticism
Botsplainer, Cryptofascist Tool of the Oppressor Class
Oh, and where the hell are the filthiest hits of David Allen Coe?
RinaX
@SiubhanDuinne:
I’d love it if Democrats both in the house and out here realized what the key was: go after Republicans in Congress as your primary target, not Donald Trump. There was no Donald Trump to hide behind on this issue. Any legislation that they try to pass need to follow the same pattern, target THEM. Go after Trump when it actually reaches his desk. That makes him a run of the mill Republican president, which we can deal with.
rikyrah
Conservative lawyers have a roadmap that leads to Texas
01/02/17 09:20 AM
By Steve Benen
Yesterday, an important Obama administration regulation was scheduled to take effect that would have prevented discrimination based on “gender identity” or the “termination of pregnancy” in health care services. BuzzFeed reported, however, that policy was blocked over the holiday weekend by a conservative judge in Texas.
The lawsuit – brought by Texas, a handful of other states, and some religiously affiliated nonprofit medical groups – challenges a regulation implementing the sex nondiscrimination requirement found in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). […]
Explaining the lawsuit, [U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor] wrote, “Plaintiffs claim the Rule’s interpretation of sex discrimination pressures doctors to deliver healthcare in a manner that violates their religious freedom and thwarts their independent medical judgment and will require burdensome changes to their health insurance plans on January 1, 2017.”
In other words, if medical professionals can’t discriminate on the basis of gender identity or abortion history, those medical professionals’ spiritual beliefs are being violated.
The Obama administration will now scramble, as the BuzzFeed report added, to either appeal the injunction or ask O’Connor “to limit his order to the plaintiffs in the case,” as opposed to targeting the federal regulation nationwide.
AlbertZ
@SiubhanDuinne: So gutting the ethics panel was just ruse all along so Trump could swoop in, claim to drain the swamp and tout his “ethics”.
SiubhanDuinne
@Seanly:
My favorite is
Trump is completely hung up on the name “Barron.” It’s his youngest son’s name, it’s one of the fake names he used back when he was posing as his own press spox, and from something I read in a biographical piece, it started as a bit of combined petty jealousy and envy/admiration of Barron Hilton, Trump’s one-time rival in the hotel business.
I’m not sure if the “DJ” refers to “disc jockey” or “Donald John.” Either way, it’s a genius inclusion.
SiubhanDuinne
@AlbertZ:
That was exactly my first thought! Between that and the Ford announcement, he’s going to be — if such a thing is possible — even more insufferable than ever.
Gin & Tonic
@AlbertZ: Bingo. It was all play-acting, and our “watchdog” press sucked it up like a 3-year-old with ice cream.
schrodingers_cat
@RinaX: Exactly, that’s what Hillary should have done in her deplorable speech tied Congressional Republicans to T instead of giving them the benefit of the doubt, including the sainted War Hero who ran in 2008. T would not have been possible without the Republican party of the recent past.
SiubhanDuinne
@Major Major Major Major:
If there’s no little umbrella, I’m sending it back.
randy khan
@Gin & Tonic:
Possibly, but the Dems should take credit anyway. That’s how I want them to play it – ignore Trump and say the outpouring of scorn against the change was the key factor.
O. Felix Culpa
And be sure to note the asterisked fine print at the bottom:”Schedule permitting possibly Marie Osmond.”
Nothing but the best for dear Donnie, even in jest.
Another Scott
@raven: This is how we win. We fight them every . single . day.
The Hill.
Cheers,
Scott.
SiubhanDuinne
@Elizabelle:
Dammit.
@p.a.:
Dammit.
germy
Seanly
@rikyrah:
The Republicans will be over a barrel on ACA. The only way to keep the system from collapsing is to retain the individual mandate. They can’t just keep the popular parts (like “give me coverage”) and jettison the unpopular parts (like “why do I need to get coverage?”).
I think at the end of day the Republicans will damage ACA but not destroy it. It’ll end up being mostly a rebranding with some of the newer Republican wet dream BS tacked on (sell crappy insurance across state lines. meaningless TORTreform)
germy
O. Felix Culpa
@Another Scott: Yes! Remain vigilant, fight, and celebrate every victory. Then fight some more.
I remember folks predicting Republican overreach. It just happened and they lost. Which is not to say they won’t keep trying. Of course they will. It’s in their nature. But we still have power and clearly not all norms have been vaporized yet. Score one for good governance. Now back to work.
Major Major Major Major
@germy: eek! Hope the baby’s ok!
@Yarrow: I like him better than most Dems in this regard and I’m as partisan as they come.
catclub
Since it is an open thread:
That is an excellent idea. Democrats should be proposing that.
hovercraft
@SiubhanDuinne:
House GOP Holds Emergency Huddle To Talk Over Ethics Rules Change
House Republicans are holding an emergency meeting Tuesday to discuss a changes they made Monday to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics, according to a Republican congressional aide.
The change – which was included in a comprehensive rules package– would change the way the OCE is governed and would largely nullify the independent body’s power and put it under the control of the congressionally run House Ethics Committee.
The change was highly controversial, with 74 Republicans actually voting against it.
The rules change faced incredible backlash Monday night and early Tuesday with Republican President-elect Donald Trump even tweeting Tuesday that he thought Republicans had better things to do.
During a session with reporters Tuesday morning, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) wouldn’t say whether the rules package was in jeopardy because of the OCE overhaul. He referred questions about it to the House whip, but, the emergency meeting may indicated the package is in jeopardy.
Tuesday is officially the first day of the new Congress with new members actually being sworn in. The House was supposed to vote on the entire rules package later Tuesday afternoon.
ETA: I doubt they are actually going to rescind these new rules, they will make a minor adjustment, and the press will applaud them for hearing the outcry, and listening to it. The end result is a win, win for the Granny Starver, no more ethics rules with teeth, and credit from the media for being reasonable.
germy
Same environment.
Yarrow
@Seanly: Their damaging the ACA will ultimately destroy it. They will claim “See! it’s unsustainable, just like we said.” And then get rid of it.
catclub
@Phylllis:
right wing code words for: interstate sales of insurance, health savings accounts, not much of value compared with useful insurance.
Yarrow
@germy: That sounds like a step down. A daytime program instead of a premier evening show? Having to work weekends? On what network? MSNBC? Don’t they just do prison shows on the weekends? NBC shows sports.
Cermet
@germy: LOL – in state tuition, I’m told by a NY resident, for Sunny is around $6K; not exactly devastating to those in the upper end and I bet few in the lower will have the grades to be accepted since AP courses don’t exist outside the richer subs/NYT city AND the fee’s for the AP tests and such will stop even more to achieve entry; also, dorm and food plans, I bet, would go up a good bit to prevent the poor from even trying if they meet the academic requirements – all a joke for most of the poorer people. Considering he veto’d a bill to pay for the legal fee’s of poor people AND he is an utter asshole, not impressed by this looser’s proposal to win favor with the
O. Felix Culpa
@hovercraft: Per news alert from the NYT, the republicans have withdrawn the plan to gut the ethics office. Too much blowback, even for them.
Major Major Major Major
@catclub: I’d bet a dollar that Democrats at some point did propose it.
Elizabelle
Breaking news on NY Times site:
Megyn Kelly is leaving Fox News for …
NBC News.
Fucking NBC. She gets a daytime program, a Sunday night “in depth” news show, and to be included in news coverage.
Wake up, sheeples. NBC is not yer friend.
Yarrow
@Major Major Major Major: Yeah, me too! It’s really aggravating that the strongest voices speaking out against Trump are Republicans. It’s not all that hard to do. Democrats are really missing an opportunity to lead on this issue. I don’t get it.
Yarrow
@Elizabelle: The media is not your friend. Period.
germy
@Cermet: I feel like he’s positioning himself for a 2020 presidential run.
He isn’t called The Prince Of Darkness for nothing.
Kay
This is a good idea. It will make a huge difference in peoples’ lives immediately. I would have settled for 2 free years at a community college as an expansion of free public education but he’s going all the way:
Elizabelle
@germy: You beat me to it.
NBC, though. What a (not) surprise.
Loved that some NYTimes reader commenter, on another story, referred to Fox News and NBC in the same breath. (As in “this news will never be coming to Fox News and NBC.”) It has become that.
Another Scott
@catclub: He proposed the same thing in “014” – GovExec:
Devil’s in the details…
In general, Rubio isn’t our friend.
Cheers,
Scott.
O. Felix Culpa
@Yarrow: Perhaps the strategy is to allow the republicans to fight amongst themselves and hold democratic powder dry until it’s really needed. Or maybe I’m just making shyt up.
germy
@Elizabelle:
See: Matt Lauer and his “briefings” before the townhall Clinton grilling.
zhena gogolia
I bet Trump wishes he could have the Tolmacheva Sisters singing “Katyusha” in tiny Red Army uniforms. But they must be too old for Trump by now, about 20.
Major Major Major Major
@Major Major Major Major: @catclub: @Another Scott: Hey look, I would’ve won a dollar.
zhena gogolia
@O. Felix Culpa:
That’s good to hear. So they actually still react to blowback. Let’s see if that still happens after 1/20.
Steeplejack (tablet)
@MattF:
Thanks for that link. Hilarious! This could take the place of my Owen Ellickson addiction.
Major Major Major Major
@zhena gogolia: Knowing them they’ll just hid it better once the initial furor dies down.
Jeffro
@Yarrow: McMullin’s great to follow on Twitter btw
Yarrow
@O. Felix Culpa: Maybe. But a Democrat with aspirations for future office could easily be doing what McMullin and other Republicans are doing on Twitter. Stand up for what’s right. It’s just not that hard.
Yarrow
@Jeffro: Yeah, he’s a lot of fun. He’s the kind of person who is going to gain a loyal following. Dems are missing a big opportunity.
hovercraft
@Major Major Major Major:
I like what he’s doing to the Shitgibbon and that he’s calling out fellow republicans. What I don’t like is that he’s basically a John McCain, Lindsey Graham type hawk, which is why he is so against him, and that instead of simply stating that he was unfit and dangerous, he chose to say that both major candidates were unfit and dangerous. Equating someone who you disagree with, with someone as unqualified, ignorant , and dangerous as the Shitgibbon is disgraceful. If as he claims he is a patriot, intent on doing what’s best for the country, he should have had the guts to go all in and support the Clinton.
Unlike you, he let his partisanship stand in the way of him saying, I disagree with her on certain issues, but she is by far the lesser of the two evils. There was a way to endorse her over him without compromising your :conservative” bona fides.
bemused
@DesertFriar:
Hilarious. I hadn’t thought of them in years. Still, they were just “unique”, not in the vile, disgusting category required for performing for Trump.
hovercraft
@germy:
So she’s leaving the genuine article, FOX, to help accelerate NBC’s transition from FOX Lite to all out FOX. Good to know.
O. Felix Culpa
@zhena gogolia: I love their baby blue hair bows complementing the khaki uniforms and boots. Feminine, yet strong. Forward, comrades!
On a vaguely related note, what do you think about sending little Russian and American flags to GOP legislators, asking them which one they pledge allegiance to?
Jeffro
@Seanly: I think the most they’ll be able to do is lower the ACA taxes on the wealthy and pass the costs on to people buying exchange policies. Or the deficit, which as we all know does not now matter
Major Major Major Major
@hovercraft: Yes, but he’s out there and vocal about his opposition even now after the election in a way that a lot of Dems aren’t.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@hovercraft: Can’t wait for Rachel Maddow’s first chummy interview with Megan, or Chris Hayes’ stammering attempts to engage her in a substantive discussion of policy in four minutes
Elizabelle
WaPost headline, right now:
Um. Don’t you think they also heard from constituents, Democrats, and even Norm Ornstein types?
But it’s Trump the all great all powerful.
Way to go, BezosPost.
hovercraft
@Kay:
Yes it’s a good idea, but it should not be allowed to overshadow the evil John posted about yesterday. I appreciate allowing people to get free tuition, but vetoing a bill to guarantee defendants their constitutional right to defense attorneys is both racist and cruel. I understand that asking people to pay for college is much more palatable politically than asking them to cover accused criminals legal expenses, but one, in the end burdens the tax payers much more in the long run.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Elizabelle: Andrea Mitchell was saying the same thing: Trump gets results!
Then she asked fucking Jack fucking Abramoff if Republicans had a point about whether or not the ethics watch dog put into place after the scandal he was at the center of and convicted was fair. I will look for a transcript, but I really don’t think I”m exaggerating at all.
O. Felix Culpa
@Elizabelle: Huh. The NYT header says they backed off after criticism from Trump “and others.”
Major Major Major Major
@Elizabelle: To be fair, the Congresscritters are probably only paying attention to the Trump part.
Elizabelle
The NY Daily News gets it a bit more accurate than the WaPost:
They have somebody backlashing. Although I guess that could be Trump too …
Elizabelle
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I hope they replace Mrs. Greenspan with Ms. Kelly. It would be more honest.
Maybe Andrea hears hyena paws approaching. (In Jimmy Choos, of course.)
Elizabelle
Yeah, now the NY Fucking Times has it better. Although I suspect this headline is a revision, giving reader comment complaints about an earlier header.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Brachiator
@Elizabelle:
Don’t know. Why would Republicans listen to Democrats?
Doesn’t matter. Her popularity depended on her being part of the Fox stable. I doubt that she will bring any viewers along with her (and Fox viewers are in an older, less desirable demographic anyway). This is much like Katie Couric going to Yahoo, part of the desperation of media companies to try to figure out how to reliably appeal to a new audience.
Major Major Major Major
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: This is true. We shall see. In the meantime, no collaboration with Trump.
hovercraft
@Major Major Major Major:
I applaud him for his vocal opposition/trolling. As you say he is doing a lot more than many democrats are at the moment. I’m still holding a grudge over what he said back then. You said you’re not hyper partisan, I am towards any republican or for that matter any “democrat”, ( from a NE small state, with unkempt hair, for example), who equated the two. The fact that these people made the two candidates seem equally bad, in my opinion was a big factor in the result. When people hear over and over that they are both unpopular and will be equally terrible for the country, why not vote for the more “exciting, new guy” over the boring old bitch who’s been after this her whole life? These people went a long way towards normalizing the Shitgibbon.
But he is much, much, much, much better than most republicans who are now just meekly falling in line. I’m looking at you Mitt Romney, how’d that work out for you?
hovercraft
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Thank god I no longer watch, it would be worse than their sessions with Nicole Wallace or Mrs. Greenspan, right up there with their attempts to hold that snake charmer Kellyanne Conway’s feet to the fire. Ugh !!
Major Major Major Major
@hovercraft: I said I am hyper-partisan. I too am mad that McMullin didn’t endorse Hillary during the election but I’ve also made it clear in this thread that I’m talking about what he’s doing right now.
ETA: Too many Dems are still working the “art of the possible” angle here when what we need is a moral opposition to all things Trump. He brings that.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@hovercraft: I mock them, but I’m still a fan, and I have to say based on the clips I saw, Maddow did as good a job with that stone sociopath Conway as anyone could, I think. Not that I think it did or will make any difference.
Weaselone
@O. Felix Culpa:
Just send them Russian flag pins and tell them they should wear them instead because that’s the country who’s interests they are actually serving.
hovercraft
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Here’s the clip from MSNBC, good luck getting it to play, I never can. VIDEO
Elizabelle
@hovercraft: I have not seen MSNBC since the election (had really stopped watching them months before), and not one newscast from anyone since.
Think my blood pressure is probably down. Do not need Big Media’s disinformation and framing.
hovercraft
@Major Major Major Major:
I think we are on the same page, but where we differ is how much credit to give him. I am obviously still more bitter than you are. But I will take his criticisms over the fellating far too many other are doing. The only thing I’ll add, is that I agree with whoever it was who said unthread that he is probably laying the groundwork for a 2020 run. I’ll take his voice for now, but I’m still going to continue to give him the stank eye.
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
From what I read about the interview, she did a pretty good job, unfortunately, that was the exception, in the past she has let her and people like Mitchell and her ilk spout bullshit with little pushback.
SFBayAreaGal
@hovercraft: Don’t forget NBC is owned by Comcast/Xfinity
geg6
@Yarrow:
That’s an old “Survivor” bit. On the last show, they’d have Jeff Probst ride off the island on a ski do and then have a helicopter pick him up off the jet ski and pull him and fly off to New York or LA or wherever they were having the live finale (this was all on tape) and then he’d run through the streets of the city with the urn with the votes in it and finally burst into the venue and read off the vote to see who won the million.
I so hope that’s what he has planned for That Man. That’s a heart attack waiting to happen. That Man is no Jeff Probst.
James Powell
@Steeplejack (tablet):
I think it was also a big deal because it was being re-fought in the civil rights movement.
Major Major Major Major
@hovercraft: He’s absolutely laying the groundwork for something bigger. 2020 president, or maybe an independent Senate bid. I’ve also got my eyes on Sasse. But for now I’ll take all the help I can get, and for now he’s making more of the right noises than a lot of our own Senators.
catclub
@Major Major Major Major: All good points. Obama limiting it to just the G fund is puzzling to me.
The TSP only has 5-6 separate funds. The best reason – mentioned- was the microscopically low administration costs.
Yarrow
@Brachiator: Perhaps Megyn Kelly will be branded a traitor for going to “the liberal NBC.” I’ll laugh and laugh and laugh if that happens.
Katie Couric went to CBS News first and that didn’t work all that well. Then she tried a daytime talk show, with big support from the network. Again, didn’t work. Then to Yahoo. Meh. Right now she seems to be filling in on the Today Show while someone’s on maternity leave. I might be nervous if I were the person on maternity leave. That’s how Katie Couric got that job in the first place.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Major Major Major Major: I thought Sasse was going to lead the anti-Trumpism in the Senate, but apparently he agrees with Ted Cruz that it’s best to go along for now. I think he’s wrong, but I can already imagine the Tweety-Roger Simon- Ron Fourner gushing about Sasse (and his shoulders) in the future, depending on how soon the anti-Trump GOP faction rises up.
Yarrow
@Major Major Major Major:
Yes exactly. Trump is a threat different from who has been in the office before. I’m glad opposition is coming from all sides and I support those who oppose him. Dems need to be stronger on this than they are now. They are ceding the moral ground to people like McMullin when they could claim it for themselves.
Major Major Major Major
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: if Cruz had less of an ego he could play an excellent kingmaker to Sasse. I expect Sasse to do the “I tried to work with him but now in sorrow not anger I must oppose my own party’s president out of first principles” thing, the only question in my mind is how long it’ll take.
Elizabelle
@James Powell: Yup. Definitely, Civil War centennial AND civil rights.
Heard that Rod Serling wrote a screenplay about Emmet Till that was never produced. Would love to see it.
ETA: One episode featured Abraham Lincoln, and the speaking voice was quite similar to what Daniel Day Lewis settled on, decades later. It was startling. Lincoln was the essence of humane and comforting in the show.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
these dumb motherfuckers still don’t get it about self-indulgent, performing-for-an-audience-in-the-mirror protest votes
Major Major Major Major
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Ah yes, Tim Ryan, liberal hero and anti-choice drinker of ‘dago red wine’ who thinks Congress shouldn’t spend so much time on prevention & treatment for disease outbreaks because white people in Wisconsin don’t get Zika.
cmorenc
@Elizabelle: The New York Times is confirming Kelly’s move to NBC. True, NBC news has its own deep flaws (lookin’ at you Chuckie Toad), nevertheless though NBC is infested with inside-the-village myopia, neither is it the quasi-official propaganda arm of the GOP and incoming Trump Administration.
I’d bet the switch is much less about the money, and far more about Kelly’s getting fed up with Fox’s expectations that she remain a sufficiently loyal server of the GOP Kool-Aid flavor of the day/week, including remaining sufficiently friendly to Trump despite Trump’s abusive treatment of her. She may also believe the corporate culture toward women hasn’t really changed enough following the sexual harassment revelations. She may also have undergone enough of a political awakening that although she is still a ways from becoming a progressive, has nevertheless concluded that she didn’t leave the GOP, it left her. That’s a good thing, if true – it may help lead other GOP women to an awakening.
hovercraft
@Yarrow:
Savannah Guthrie, I believe is on maternity leave. I nerve watch the show, but before the election I remember seeing her and she was very visibly pregnant at the time. She is a former White House correspondent for NBC, and was Chuck Todd’s partner when he first started MTP Daily, so she is just the sort of villager who corporate loves, plus she’s a lot younger than Katie, so I think her job is safe.
ETA: This is her husband, from Wikipedia:
“Michael Feldman is an American public relations and communications consultant and a former Democratic political adviser. Feldman was Vice President Al Gore’s traveling chief of staff during the 2000 presidential election campaign.”
You would think he would be able to bring her around, but I guess she lived in the beltway for too long.
Yarrow
@hovercraft: It probably is. But the Matt Lauer & Katie Couric years were golden for the Today Show. I’m sure there’s some pining for that time over at NBC. I think the morning shows are the big money makers for the networks.
zhena gogolia
@O. Felix Culpa:
It’s cute, but I don’t have the energy for it!
Kathleen
@germy: Shows how thin the line is between Fox and other so called “news networks”.
trollhattan
@cmorenc:
Kelly’s dislike of all things liberal will remain intact with the move, so it’s most likely a cynical NBC play for Fox viewership capture. Not to mention a new fount for “even the liberal NBC” quotes and clips.
O. Felix Culpa
@zhena gogolia: Oh, I wasn’t singling you out in particular for that task. I was just recalling “Steal This Book” from my wastrel youth and imagining updated political pranks with a point. I might still do that for Sen. Turtle, if he persists in blocking cyber-hacking investigations.
Kathleen
@O. Felix Culpa: Paul Ryan tweeted that 2017 will be good for our nation. I replied with, “Which nation? US or Russia?”
hovercraft
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
That’s if Tweety can get past his love for Kasich and John Thune. Tweety loves movies, and so gives everyone movie character identities, Kasich is that straight talking hard working salt of the earth guy, his stint on Wall Street and at FOX notwithstanding, Thune like Romney has the jaw to be president, never mind their actual records or anything, they look the part. To him this is all about casting, he is always looking for the fresh new face, that was Hillary’s problem, she was the old hag the studio no longer wanted to cast as the leading lady, they found a fresh young ingénue, in the form of a 70 year old political novice, who also just happened to be a white man, the type of person who you want to cast a movie around.
sukabi
@PaulW:fyi they pulled the bill this morning…
When Jack fucking Abramoff calls you stupid for gutting the ethics oversight office, you’re beyond fucking stupid
O. Felix Culpa
@hovercraft:
That plot reminds me of one of my favorite movies ever. Although Trump is no Anne Baxter.
O. Felix Culpa
@Kathleen: Haha! Clever.
sukabi
@cmorenc: or she’s found a more “liberal” platform to promote her pretty, girl next door whiteness…
hovercraft
@Major Major Major Major:
I suspect he’ll be sharing that role with Jeff Flake. I haven’t seen anything about him fellating the conquering hero, so if he’s still keeping him at arms length, he will also be positioning himself that way.
My only question for all these republicans who want to run in 2020 is how they will go about running against a siting republican president? Even if he is as terrible as we all believe he will be, does any one think he will gracefully exit the stage? If by some miracle he was to not run again, since he had achieved everything he wanted to( been universally acknowledged as a failure who is as popular as syphilis), does anyone see him being willing to sit on the sidelines while his record is pilloried? He would be constantly attacking them, and even he would retain at least that 27%, who will always love him. I don’t see how this works out well for any of these people.
trollhattan
@sukabi:
I think of Megyn as a Hitchcock blonde, not the girl next door. She’s fashioned of unobtanium.
FlipYrWhig
@hovercraft: IMHO Matthews views Trump as Rodney Dangerfield.
O. Felix Culpa
@trollhattan:
Nice.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@hovercraft: when I read @O. Felix Culpa: quote of what you said, he looks for types like he sees on the screen, I thought you were talking about trump. Those two have a lot in common
hovercraft
@O. Felix Culpa:
Definitely no Anne Baxter. I love All About Eve
dww44
@trollhattan: i watch a lot of MSNBC and in the last year they’ve made a lot of additions to their pundit guests, etc from the ranks of the right. Those types of GOP’ers that aren’t insanely reactionary but are still firmly entrenched in the conservative partisan world. Remains to be seen how long LOD, Rachel, Chris, and Joy Reid are still given prime spots. Also read somewhere in one of these posts last night that Great Van Susterern’s has got a brand new NBC/MSNBC gig. The 6 p.m. weekday slot.
Seems to me that NBC’s hard at work burnishing it’s centrist bona fides by getting lots of conservatives on board. Who knows, in 5 years Fox News might switch places on the political partisan spectrum with MSNBC. However, they are just probably buying access for the next 4 years. That’s really the issue with the 4th estate, their incessant need to buy access to those in power. The need to be friends with them.
Kathleen
@O. Felix Culpa: Thanks! I’ll be here all week. Make sure you try the food posts and remember to tip your front pagers!
Major Major Major Major
@hovercraft: I think they’re banking on the media just adoring their story (strong conservative daddy against the slavering hordes on the right and the dusky hordes on the left uniting the center that everybody knows *should* rule the country), and that center actually existing.
Kathleen
@hovercraft: I do, too. I enjoyed the link to Roger Ebert’s review. I’ve seen that film at least 15 times and find something new every time. Marilyn Monroe was pitch perfect, as was the rest of the cast. Love love love Bette Davis.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Dear god, even with the clear understanding that these decisions are based on ratings and ad revenue, that makes no fucking sense.
Kathleen
@dww44: But they never seem to feel the need to suck up to Obama or other Dems.
Yarrow
@dww44: Does this mean CNN will be the “even the liberal” network?
Kay
@hovercraft:
It’ll be a great experiment. I would seriously consider moving to New York for free college. We paid out of pocket for two to go and I would genuinely be much richer if I still had that money :)
Good for the people who can take advantage of it. Maybe the New York economy will boom with a bunch of smart ambitious “strivers” flocking in for free college. It’ll be interesting as hell to see what happens, anyway.
I was reading about the Kalamazoo Promise. It isn’t working exactly as intended and it isn’t working as quickly as they hoped but it’s paying off in ways they didn’t expect, either.
Kathleen
@Yarrow: They’re all liberal, Katie.
Major Major Major Major
@Yarrow: I think it already is.
dww44
@Yarrow: One would hope. It would be nice if CNN could reclaim some dignity and honor.
The Lodger
@geg6: I was thinking more of the effects on Le Coiffure L’Orange, but yeah, helicopters are not DT’s friend.
Chip Daniels
I’ve come around to the Berluscioni strategy of not being distracted by Trump’s bizarre antics, but focusing relentlessly on what Congress is doing, things that are unpopular, especially with the Trump voters such as:
Repeal of health care covereage;
Defunding of Planned Parenthood (PP is widely popular, even with Republicans)
Social Security/ Medicare
Roe v Wade (again, Roe is very popular with something like 70% approval nationwide)
Minimum wage rollbacks/ restrictions
All these things are very popular with most Americans, but are in the laser-like sights of the GOP Congress.
We can fight these, and swing a lot of voters from apathetic/ Trump to energized Dem.
The Rust Belt voters may have wanted to “shake things up” but they sure as hell didn’t vote to repeal Medicare.
Mnemosyne
@rikyrah:
I’ve seen some of Wilmer’s fans make that exact same argument: since the leaks exposed Hillary’s (supposed) perfidy, it was automatically good that the Russians stole the information and we should be thanking them for saving us from the evil of Hillary.
They’re lucky that I only see them on the internet, because I would punch them in the face if they said something that stupid to me IRL.
hovercraft
@dww44:
It’s been going on ever since COMCAST bought NBC, they felt they were much too liberal, so they started to get rid of the liberals. Rachel was their no. 1 in primetime so she was safe, Chris Hayes was supposed to be on the chopping block, but then he won their only Emmy, and then was nominated again last year, so he was spared, Rev, All was spared because he was drawing POC, but he was terrible so they finally relegated him to one hour on Sunday morning, all the other liberals got the boot, Alex Wagner, Ed Schultz and I’m sure I’m forgetting some. They made a conscious decision to go back to “straight” reporters, not liberals. The funny thing is how so many of those straight reporters just regurgitate GOP talking points. I’m not sure what the deal is with LOD, how he survives is a mystery, he’s pissed on Morning Ho several times and yet still has a gig, maybe he has something on someone, or maybe because he has the ability to get real celebrities on he is kept on.
hovercraft
@Major Major Major Major:
While the media wre terrible and did help the Shitgibbon, they did really try to push Jeb! and Rubio as the big strong Daddy types who were tough and going to make us strong again, but “real America” wasn’t in the mood to listen. I guess they are hoping that 4 years will be enough for them to reconsider, and that this time they will listen.
Major Major Major Major
@Chip Daniels: I think this is a very good strategy, but it’s important that we don’t lose sight of the fact that we also can’t help Trump with anything or compromise on our values. It would be easy to fall into the trap of compromising and working with him on ‘good’ things if we focus on policy. I’m not saying we can’t walk and chew gum, we just have to remember that it’s what we’re doing.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Ronan Farrow, Krystal Ball, Toure and Ari Melber, Joy Reid lost her weekday show, Hugh Hewitt was brought on as a seemingly permanent fixture, Brian “Both Sides” Williams was brought back for “serious” news, it was for some reason necessary to have Steve Schmidt and Nicole Walace on the set for every major campaign event….
Ella in New Mexico
@Yarrow:
Exactly. Because every thing that is making the ACA unpopular with some people right now is crap the Republicans poison-pilled it with or modifications meant to get them to vote for it. Barriers to getting enrolled and paying monthly premiums more easily, requiring giant out-of-pocket costs, limits on billing and fee transparency, letting corporations “self-insure” with fewer ACA protections for their employees.
So if it worked so well the last time, why not just go with the tried and true “Make people suffer so much they beg for us to repeal it” approach?
dww44
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: See, it all is about pseudo balance, but really is about access to DC power. However, Ari Melber filled in last week for Rachel and this week is filling in for Chris. Husband is impressed by him. Of course, Nicole Wallace filled in for Brian Williams at his 11 p.m. slot last evening.
Ella in New Mexico
Holy Crap! Did anyone see this “A Visit From St. Dickness” yet?
https://twitter.com/MrJoshGreenberg/status/812418527365738496
Mnemosyne
@hovercraft:
Yep. It was the same old con that people on the left fell for in 2000: Republicrats! Both sides do it! No real difference between the parties!
That’s part of what pisses me off — they pulled the same scam again and people still fell for it after 8 years of Obama. Stupid fuckers.
Brachiator
@Ella in New Mexico:
The Affordable Care Act, deemed “Obamacare” by some, received no Republican votes in either the Senate or the House of Representatives. In the Senate, the bill was passed with a total of 60 votes, or 58 Democratic Party votes and 2 Independent Party votes. The House passed the legislation with 219 Democratic votes.
If the Democrats were trying to modify ACA to sell it to the Republicans, they only outfoxed themselves.
Millard Filmore
@SiubhanDuinne:
I am confused. Why would Trump care about this?
FlipYrWhig
@Brachiator: They had to do all kinds of things to sell it to the more conservative wing _of their own party_, which was at least half the party.
Ella in New Mexico
@Brachiator:
Which they did. And continued to do. And will still do now with Chuck “I’m gonna work with these guys” Schumer.
Never seemingly being able to learn the lesson that the current opposition is not an honorable one, it is a pitiless feral brute.
FlipYrWhig
@Ella in New Mexico:
Sanders and Warren Willing to Work with Trump, The Hill, 10 Nov. 2016.
catclub
@Millard Filmore:
Trump will care about anything that might make him look bad. Otherwise, not interested.
geg6
@FlipYrWhig:
In fact, they were two of the first ones out of the gate with that bullshit.
Progressive heroes, my ass.
trollhattan
@catclub:
I’m a bit perplexed as well, but it may well be he’s flexing his muscle/ego. You know, warming up in the bullpen.
Steeplejack
@trollhattan:
Exactly. Well put.
Ella in New Mexico
@FlipYrWhig:Yes, saw that. (and, might I add, what the Hell happened to the Hill over the last few years? It’s swarming with right wing nutjobs in the comments sections)
But I’d say “work with” is not the actual characterization of what they actually said or meant, however, which was “if he does things we want to see done, then of course we’ll support those things. Otherwise, he can suck it.”
I’m not as confident about whether and when we’ll be hearing Schumer tell Trump to suck it.
But I’ll maintain pessimism until evidence otherwise disproves it…
@geg6: Now now, you’re heading down the wrong rabbit hole here…
Brachiator
@FlipYrWhig:
Not the same thing as claiming that Republicans had to be appeased.
In either case, it doesn’t much matter. Had it been a perfectly progressive law, the GOP would still be planning to kill it.
Brachiator
@Ella in New Mexico:
I think Richard Mayhew has outlined some possible paths of opposition in another post here. Otherwise, preemptive finger pointing doesn’t accomplish much.
The Democrats are craven. The Berniebros are unacceptable. Where does this leave you?
Mnemosyne
@Ella in New Mexico:
Except that the modifications weren’t made to get Republican votes. They were made to secure votes from more conservative Democrats like Lieberman and Max Baucus (remember him?)
People forget how goddamn many conservative Democrats used to be in the House and Senate because they almost all got wiped out in the 2010 midterms. The PPACA was watered down to win their votes, not Republican votes.