Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

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

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

How stupid are these people?

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

Let there be snark.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

You cannot shame the shameless.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Because of wow. / Friday Evening Open Thread: Shots Fired Markers Laid

Friday Evening Open Thread: Shots Fired Markers Laid

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“You cannot be at home with something that you feel is wrong.”

Blessings to Rep. Lewis for standing up, as he has alway stood up, for truth and justice. The Trumplodytes are going to call him every name they can think of — and the Very Serious Media People will amplify the screeching, because they have concerns about civility — but they’ve been calling him those names for more than half a century anyway.
.

Apart from calling things by their rightful names, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
.

And furthermore…

Reader Interactions

206Comments

  4. 4.

    Corner Stone

    I had a late start the other day and made the mistake of turning it to Stephanie Ruhle on MSNBC. She said to at least three different guests how badly she wanted this “whole Russian story” line to just go away but it wouldn’t.
    Let’s see. Eight Congressional hearings on Benghazi, a solid year+ on a private server conflated with stolen private staff emails…but our next president having repeatedly demonstrated close and enduring ties to a foreign adversarial government…that’s the real non-story here.

  5. 5.

    hovercraft

    @debbie: With Chuck as the boss, of course a bunch of morons are doing the transcribing. Remember that he is not only the host of the show, he is the Political Director for NBC and MSNBC, he sets the tone for all of the political coverage, which is why if you read the First Read memo/blog, you would be able to see how it sets the tone for each days coverage. I assume all the producers use it to shape their show topics.

  7. 7.

    dm

    Here are the members of the Senate Intelligence Committee (both Senators from California I sort of understand, but both Senators from Maine as well?).

    I don’t know who will be on this “bipartisan committee”, though.

    Cole: I’m sure Manchin could use some encouragement.
    Betty: Little Marco no doubt wants to hear your opinion on this committee.

    Republicans
    James Risch – Idaho
    Marco Rubio – Florida
    Susan Collins – Maine
    Roy Blunt – Missouri
    James Lankford – Oklahoma
    Tom Cotton – Arkansas
    John Cornyn – Texas
    Democrats
    Dianne Feinstein – California
    Ron Wyden – Oregon
    Martin Heinrich – New Mexico
    Angus King – Maine
    Joe Manchin – West Virginia
    Kamala Harris – California

  11. 11.

    MomSense

    @dm:

    For over a week now I can only get voicemails at Collins’ DC office so I’m calling her local offices too.

  13. 13.

    hovercraft

    @Corner Stone:
    I was suspicious of her from the get go. Republican scandals are always being overblown by liberals, why can’t they just focus on the important things like the republicans when they criticize democrats. E-mail servers in basements, are a far bigger national security threat than a hostile nation manipulating our elections.

  15. 15.

    The Dangerman

    @dm:

    Kamala Harris – California

    Good news; she’s a future Presidential candidate so she could use a big soapbox to get her name out there.

  17. 17.

    Corner Stone

    @hovercraft: Apparently she used to be a financial reporter at Bloomberg. I have noticed she goes full hard core pro ultra capitalism any time the topic comes up. Sometimes she seems like she’s trying to hide being Devil’s Advocate but more and more I just think she’s a RWNJ not yet made it to FNC.

  18. 18.

    dm

    @MomSense: From what I’ve heard calling the local office is more effective than calling the DC office.

    My Congresswoman’s local office is not far from my morning walk to work. I’m tempted to drop in and say “hi” sometime.

  19. 19.

    hovercraft

    @Corner Stone:
    Hell she no longer even has to make the move, at the rate their going, she could just settle in and let her freak flag show. The right wing stable is growing, Joe is no longer a lonely voice, he now has Megan and Greta, also too Tweety no matter what anyone says.

  20. 20.

    Mnemosyne

    @dm:

    My Congresswoman’s local office is not far from my morning walk to work. I’m tempted to drop in and say “hi” sometime.

    You’re a constituent. They can’t stop you. Just be polite rather than belligerent.

  28. 28.

    GregB

    I don’t like to criticize the editorial choices of the front pagers but the shots fired analogy in conjunction with John Lewis seems a little off base.

    He’s a pacifist who got his head knocked in by government thugs and is also the lone survivor of those who spoke from the steps in the March on Washington with gunshot murder victim MLK.

  31. 31.

    MomSense

    @chris:

    I saw that. Like I kept saying before the election. Authoritarians move fast. They’ve had some of this garbage queued up for decades.

  33. 33.

    Kathleen

    @hovercraft: That along with the talking points fax’d by good person KellyAnne what’s her name.

    Also, too, this thought flitted across my feeble brain. John Lewis, a man who almost died from blows to his head from KKK goons talking with Chuck Todd, who broke skin when he pinched his pinky in Sally Quinn’s chafing dish while battling David Gregory for the last Swedish Meatball.

  38. 38.

    dm

    @Mnemosyne: No need for me to be belligerent. She’s already announced she won’t be attending the inauguration.

    Oh, hey, this is an Anne Laurie thread, so it’s probably okay to mention that Congressman Lewis has a graphic novel trilogy (winner of the Eisner Award!) called March.

  40. 40.

    Mnemosyne

    @dm:

    Oh, in that case, bring her a nice box of cookies. Preferably sealed from a bakery, because sadly they may be a little paranoid right now.

  41. 41.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Slag:
    @Baud:

    I did too. And then when the photo came up and it was a picture of John Lewis, my heart stopped for a minute.

    Sure, I get metaphor, but this was, shall we say, both inelegant and ill-advised.

  47. 47.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Well, Chuckles the Toddler isn’t a legitimate journalist, so this works out all around.

  48. 48.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @MomSense:

    Ha!! Sometimes I have to do math problems or verb conjugations in my head to stay calm.

    I have learned to recite the alphabet backwards and can do it as fast as the normal way. I also find myself reciting the list of auxiliary verbs (“am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been, can, could, will, would, shall, should, may, might, must, etc….”). These kinds of mindless recitations and mnemonics are very useful for getting centered.

  49. 49.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    AL, can you please change the title? It is really jarring when John Lewis’s picture comes up under the current title. Perhaps “shots across the bow” or something similar?

    ETA: or the better idea NotMax already suggested.

  52. 52.

    tobie

    @chris: This is a stupid question but would it be possible for Obama to veto some of this legislation in the next 7 days before his term ends? Yes, the Republicans can introduce the legislation again and it would likely pass again but this would be just one extra hoop they’d have to go through. I don’t mind making them work a little harder as they chip away at the federal government and all it protects.

  54. 54.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @The Dangerman:

    Just the other day I mentioned to a friend that this country would be the country of its founding document when a black woman got elected president, and my friend said especially if her name was Shaniqu’a. I lol’ed.

  57. 57.

    Lizzy L

    Reposted from prior thread:

    Hey, fellow jackals!

    For those worried about ACA coverage for themselves and their families…. After hearing about the midnight repeal of the pre-existing conditions clause, a friend of mine called Senator Warren’s office. The woman she spoke to said they are being flooded with calls, as are the offices of Speakers Ryan and McConnell.
    Senator Warren’s staff member told her that what would help the most would be to call the five Republican senators who have broken away from the GOP to demand a slow down of the repeal. Tell them how much you appreciate their efforts to stop this train wreck! If this issue affects you or someone you love, share your story with the staffer who answers the phone. (Remember the time difference when you call.)

    The senators are:
    Senator Bob Corker – (202) 224-3344
    Senator Lisa Murkowski – (202) 224-6665
    Senator Rob Portman – (202) 224-3353
    Senator Susan Collins – (202) 224-2523
    Senator Bill Cassidy – (202) 224-5824

    Monday’s a holiday. But Tuesday…

  58. 58.

    Corner Stone

    @debbie: It’s now a pandemic. What relentless budget cuts will get you. This from a Newsweek tweet:

    Trump adviser made several calls to Russian envy as U.S. announced retaliation

  59. 59.

    El Caganer

    @Corner Stone: Did he put something out today? Last I saw, he was saying there was a lot of shaky stuff out there, but if there was real evidence of wrongdoing the government should move immediately. I didn’t get any sense of Putin man-love there.

  61. 61.

    Ella in New Mexico

    @debbie: To cut him some slack, these transcriptions are often done by non-English as a first language workers who are listening to them, and even computer-based transcription software gets things wrong.

    You should read some of the “History and Physical” and “Progress Notes” that are dictated by doctors and go directly into patient’s electronic charts. The interpretation errors can be pretty fucking hilarious.

  63. 63.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @MomSense:

    You are a gem. Just thought you should know.

    Have no idea what I said that would prompt such a lovely tribute, but I’m happy to take it. Thank you!!

  64. 64.

    The Dangerman

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne:

    Just the other day I mentioned to a friend that this country would be the country of its founding document when a black woman got elected president…

    I just looked it up and Kamala Harris is 52, so lots of time for her to run for the Presidency; she’s a potential star of the Democratic Party, so watch that name.

  67. 67.

    lamh36

    Some blonde bish on CNN called John Lewis despicable…so glad I don’t watch CNN, cause I woulda screaming at my tv at that moment…

  74. 74.

    lamh36

    I’m legit looking into moving to Canada…smh…or California…that way I’m there when they secede and become their own country…smh

    “Great American’s Day”…really Biloxi…

    @CityofBiloxi
    Non-emergency municipal offices in Biloxi will be closed on Monday in observance of Great Americans Day.

    Don’t know who’s running the account, but when called on “Great American’s Day” they tweeted:

    @CityofBiloxi
    While some are wrapped up in a holiday we did not name, please consider the big news coming out of Biloxi today…

    Bish…whet..oh..but wait…

    @RoseNissen 29m29 minutes ago
    @CityofBiloxi According to the Biloxi Code of Ordinances, helpfully linked on your city website, the city did in fact name this holiday.

    @RoseNissen 26m26 minutes ago
    @CityofBiloxi The ordinance was unanimously passed by the Biloxi City Council on December 31, 1985.

  75. 75.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Corner Stone: Yesterday’s “civil libertarians” are all plum loco now because they hate “neoliberal” something “deep state” something something so much.

  76. 76.

    Elmo

    @SiubhanDuinne: Huh. I never heard them called “auxiliary verbs.” I was taught in high school to avoid “is am are was were be being been” because those are the handmaidens of passive voice. But I was never taught to avoid the others.

  78. 78.

    Shalimar

    @Major Major Major Major: The format of the Nuremberg rallies was already in place a year before Conway joined, and I don’t know of anything she did to make them more fatherlandy. Goebbels seems like a more appropriate analogy for a bullshit artist.

  79. 79.

    Major Major Major Major

    @FlipYrWhig: I was thinking of that dumb Snowden tweet about “a choice between Goldman Sachs and Donald Trump” and realized why would a libertarian hate Goldman Sachs? Unless their ideology was… whatever most conveniently split the left, updated daily.

    @Shalimar: isn’t that Bannon?

  81. 81.

    Ohio Mom

    @Lizzy L: They all have multiple offices. You don’t have to limit yourself to the D.C. number.

    For example, if Portman’s Washington line is busy, call his Toledo office. Call every single one of them in every part of Ohio.

    They don’t take your name, they just make a hash mark so they can tally how many calls on what topic. So stuff that ballot box.

  84. 84.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Elmo:

    I never heard them called “auxiliary verbs.”

    “Auxiliary” or “helper” verbs. I wasn’t taught to avoid them completely, just to use them sparingly and thoughtfully.

  86. 86.

    GregB

    @lamh36:

    In what context is that Tweet?

    Is it in response to some Trumpian smoke and mirrors?

    Did Trump Tweet to the White House:

    You’re the puppet

  89. 89.

    Peale

    @FlipYrWhig: when shock of all shock, nominating the most bellicose candidate in my lifetime turns into a foreign policy disaster, and as Guantanamo again fills up with tortured victims, I look forward to strangling these narrow-focused civil libertarians who lecture us on the bigger picture all the time. No forgiveness for the fools. None. Never. If I had a teen son or daughter, I’d rather come home to find them strung out on heroin than find out that they followed Glenn Greenwald on the Intercept.

  95. 95.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    100th birthday.

    WOOT!! That’s special! Please tell her that hundreds of snarling jackals who have never met her are wishing her many happy returns!

  97. 97.

    JPL

    @GregB: What I find interesting, is that Sean Spicer talks about details on calls made the 25th, and 28th. The article was about calls made on the 29th.

  98. 98.

    Mandarama

    @dm:

    Oh, hey, this is an Anne Laurie thread, so it’s probably okay to mention that Congressman Lewis has a graphic novel trilogy (winner of the Eisner Award!) called March.

    Is it OK for me to brag that Congressman Lewis spoke at my kids’ high school in Nov. as part of our public library series? Both of my boys got to shake his hand and he signed their copies of March. We all left feeling more hopeful. My youngest said his favorite line was “Find a way to get IN the way.”

    I’m still so worried for all of our futures…but my kids are looking to me, and I’m looking to Congressman Lewis.

  102. 102.

    Mandarama

    @lamh36: I’m from Mississippi, 6th generation, 8th generation Southerner. So I feel qualified to say along with Phil Ochs, “Mississippi, find another country to be part of.” (I would actually use much stronger language than that.)

    I also know that if MS tried to secede, it would fall into a banana republic in 3.2 seconds without all the federal money that the more prosperous states pay to pour into it.

  103. 103.

    Anne Laurie

    @Corner Stone:

    When did Taibbi turn into a Russia apologist?

    Taibbi is, tragically, too invested in his self-image as “The Wild Colonial Boy Who Knows What Moscow Is Really Like” to accept that other people, especially boring intel people, might have other information.

    He’s still very good explaining American politics — especially on the know-nothing, xenophobic, spite-centered politics of the Republican party and its voters. There will be plenty of space for him to work that angle in the next few years, that’s for sure!

  105. 105.

    p.a.

    @Major Major Major Major: Had a history prof who told us he would fail any work with a split infinitive in it. Really focused the mind, although I consider that pedantry. Many more important things to consider for improving writing.

  106. 106.

    Jeffro

    @Mandarama:

    Is it OK for me to brag that Congressman Lewis spoke at my kids’ high school in Nov. as part of our public library series? Both of my boys got to shake his hand and he signed their copies of March. We all left feeling more hopeful. My youngest said his favorite line was “Find a way to get IN the way.”

    I love this and of course you can brag, I would!

    Our kids love MARCH and it’s great to link that fight with what’s going on today. Rep Lewis, deep in the suburbs of NoVA, you’ve created two little quite liberal civil rights warriors ;)

    (Actually pretty much all kids are civil rights warriors…it’s when they get older and have absorbed too much right-wing claptrap that they turn into Ryanistas. Ugh).

  107. 107.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Ohio Mom: Like Mom Sense, I’m happy you had a good medical report.

    Thanks AL for the new title!

  111. 111.

    Lizzy L

    @Anne Laurie: Sure, go ahead. But you might want to add: if you call the number and get VM, one approach would be to leave an appreciative and encouraging message. I know people who prefer to do that, since calling a Representative’s office often means waiting on hold for a loooong time.

  113. 113.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Not to mention references most people won’t get. And sentence fragments!

    And never use a preposition to end a sentence with.

    However, it’s all right to sometimes split an infinitive.

  114. 114.

    batgirl

    Today at the library, I helped two middle-aged white men, big Trump supporters, who are on all kinds of government assistance. I’m sure they think they are worthy while “others” are not. They are about to learn that the Republicans think they are unworthy as well. Poor schmucks.

  115. 115.

    Major Major Major Major

    @p.a.: rules can certainly help sharpen the mind but not always in a valuable direction. I work largely in programming languages and my favorite one (Go) is what you’d call opinionated, and easiest to use in a certain idiom. This is very helpful for program design because it’s a well designed language. Some programming languages (or English rules) are less useful.

  116. 116.

    lamh36

    @BenSasse
    To John Lewis, one of my heroes:

    Please come to the Inauguration. It isn’t about a man. It is a celebration of peaceful transfer of power.

    Fuq you sir…who da fuq are you…

  117. 117.

    Jeffro

    @Lizzy L:

    The senators are:
    Senator Bob Corker – (202) 224-3344
    Senator Lisa Murkowski – (202) 224-6665
    Senator Rob Portman – (202) 224-3353
    Senator Susan Collins – (202) 224-2523
    Senator Bill Cassidy – (202) 224-5824

    Monday’s a holiday. But Tuesday…

    Thanks for the list. I’ll call all but Corker…the way he blew off the Russian hacking would make it impossible for me to not mention that first.

  120. 120.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Mandarama:

    Kind of amazing, isn’t it, to realize that not much more than a century and a half ago, Mississippi was the wealthiest state in the Union.

  121. 121.

    JPL

    Reuters

    Michael Flynn, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for national security adviser, held five phone calls with Russia’s ambassador to Washington on the day the United States retaliated for Moscow’s interference in the U.S. presidential election, three sources familiar with the matter said.

    link

  122. 122.

    Mandarama

    @Jeffro:

    Actually pretty much all kids are civil rights warriors…it’s when they get older and have absorbed too much right-wing claptrap that they turn into Ryanistas. Ugh.

    I have told both of mine: Because they’ve had to listen to me go on and on for their whole young lives about social justice, racism, feminism, LGBTQ rights, intersectionality, the many Things Wrong with Where Mom Grew Up, and how they need to surrender any white male privilege they ever see coming and they had better learn to look for it…I understand that might get tiresome and they might one day want to rebel and study Ayn Rand. And when they do, I will whup them like nobody’s business. No Alex P. Keatons in my house. ?

  126. 126.

    Tenar Arha (same Tenar, more Nameless Ones)

    I’m just happy I was able to allocate the time to go to Arisia this weekend. /waving hello
    ETA & Rep. Lewis has every right to do whatever he wants to express his opinion & demonstrate it to us all. He’s earned it * 1000000’s

  130. 130.

    Mandarama

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yes, and almost none of my people there recognize that the wealth was concentrated in very few hands back then. Why, everyone would have been the Wilkes family if not for federalism! (Ugh, fucking GWTW.)

    I have to say this because it is on constant replay by my 7th grader: “A civics lesson from a slaver / Hey neighbor, your debts are paid ’cause you don’t pay for labor!”

  132. 132.

    Jeffro

    @lamh36: @Baud:

    That’s disappointing of Sasse, and so easily refuted: if you won’t draw the line at not normalizing Donald Fucking Trump (and therefore not attend his inauguration) where WOULD you draw it, Ben?

    I guess it’s not enough for Sasse that Trump’s a world class jackass, admitted sexual assailant, business fraud, racist, and complete moron – he’s also in league with one of our country’s most dangerous enemies. But yeah let’s “celebrate” all the manipulation and fraud and complete betrayal of American values. Sheesh.

  133. 133.

    Anne Laurie

    @lamh36:

    Fuq you sir…who da fuq are you…

    Ben Sasse hopes to be the Last Honorable Repub Standing in 2020, once Trump implodes and the open opportunists like Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz are left standing in the spotlight with Trump’s… shoe polish all over their chins.

    Can’t blame the man for trying (he’s from Nebraska, you’d wanna get out too) but he better keep his words soft & sweet when he’s talking to a serious hero like Mr. Lewis!

  134. 134.

    EZSmirkzz

    Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
    As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
    Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others,
    even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.

    …

    Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
    You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars;
    you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you,
    no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

    Also, too

    Go placidly amid the noise and waste,
    And remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
    Avoid quiet and passive persons, unless you are in need of sleep.
    Rotate your tires.

    …

    You are a fluke of the universe.
    You have no right to be here.
    And whether you can hear it or not,
    The universe is laughing behind your back.

    YA YMMV

  135. 135.

    Mandarama

    @Major Major Major Major: LOL…I’ll tell you one thing that’s changed in MS: one of my close friends in high school was gay, but had to be closeted. He still got relentless bullying, with other guys calling him the usual awful names and harassment. Fast forward 20 years, and on Facebook, I noticed all of those same assholes going out of their way to post hellos to my now-out friend, telling him it’s great to see him, he looks great, etc. They know he remembers, we all remember, and their consciences actually work and they want absolution from him.

  136. 136.

    Jeffro

    @Mandarama: None here either. My 15-year-old daughter is skeptical that things w/ Trump and his gang are truly That. Bad. sometimes, but I think most days she gets that this is something I’ve never seen before, never been this repelled by before, in my many centuries of living.

  137. 137.

    hilts

    Jason Chaffetz sinks to a new level of douchebaggery

    Walter Shaub Jr., director of the Office of Government Ethics, said this week that Trump’s plan comes nowhere close to eliminating conflicts or the appearance of conflicts. “We can’t risk the perception that government leaders would use their official positions for professional profit,” Shaub said.

    A statement like that, coming from the government’s chief ethics official, should serve as a call to action for Congress to perform its oversight duty. And the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, has answered that call — by threatening to subpoena Shaub.

    As Politico reported this week, Chaffetz is demanding that Shaub appear before his committee to answer for criticisms he has leveled against the Trump administration’s flagrantly unethical conduct and will slap him with a writ if he doesn’t show up of his own volition. As far as Chaffetz is concerned, the real unethical conduct on display here has been shown by Shaub, who is violating good government standards by speaking out against an incipient kleptocracy. “When you talk publicly about private conversations, that’s not ethical,” Chaffetz said.

    h/t http://www.salon.com/2017/01/13/donald-trumps-corruption-enablers-congressional-republicans-target-the-ethics-watchdogs

  138. 138.

    Baud

    @Jeffro:

    It isn’t about a man.

    This is where Sasse is wrong. With Trump it’s all about the man. He wants the perks and honor of the office but none of the responsibility that comes with it. They can’t have it both ways.

  142. 142.

    Baud

    @Jeffro: Why don’t you act like Trump for a few days and maybe she’ll understand?

    (Except for the quasi-incest thing, of course.)

  144. 144.

    Jeffro

    @hilts: This is the same douche, Chaffetz, that wanted to go after Comey for not prosecuting Clinton…until a bit later when Comey blew up Clinton with his letter, and then all was well and good.

    I swear, you could just run split-screen ads on ALL of these clowns showing their double standards, their utter lack of principles, the degree to which they think their followers are stupid. So…let’s!

  148. 148.

    Jeffro

    @Baud: Yup. I mean, let’s say Trump had been ONLY a business fraud and congenital liar. He then wins the election anyway – yeah, the bigger problem is with the jerk Republican voters and so perhaps most/all folks still attend the inauguration. We wouldnt’ have a major crisis of conscience on our hands, we’d just rail about Republican corruption and gear up for 2018.

    But an admitted sexual assailant? Pass. I have to rearrange my sock drawer that day. A complete racial demagogue, one who whips up violence at his rallies? Hell no.

    And then on top of that: a guy so obviously connected by staff, financial ties, and white supremacist leanings to a hostile foreign power, an enemy of our Republic? Someone who might even be getting blackmailed to sell us out while he lines his own pockets? Ye gods.

  152. 152.

    Jeffro

    @Baud:

    Why don’t you act like Trump for a few days and maybe she’ll understand?

    (Except for the quasi-incest thing, of course.)

    I may have mentioned on BJ before, it’s been a running joke in our household for almost a year now that when one of us does something dumb, we make a stupid-face and go “darrrrr…I has the best words…”

    Just the fact that he’s so. dumb. makes her severely irritated, as it should. The constant stream of norm-violations is not something she fully gets, so Mrs. and I try to calm down and explain at the dinner table whatever dumbass, offensive, criminal, unacceptable thing Trump & Co have done most any given day. And then we try to move on to more pleasant things, like the Coolest Preznint Evar giving his BFF a Medal of Freedom WITH DISTINCTION. Finish on a high note while we finish our peas ;)

  154. 154.

    Jeffro

    whoops, looks like the second letter of the alphabet and tenth letter of the alphabet, paired too closely, got me in moderation trouble here…

  159. 159.

    hilts

    @Jeffro:

    After the Access Hollywood tapes were released, Chaffetz was one of those clowns who said that as a father and husband, he could not support Trump.

  162. 162.

    Jeffro

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Sasse is just another traitor who needs to be dealt with.

    Let’s just send him to the back of the line. There’s a lot of other folks who’ve had a much bigger hand in enabling Il Douche.

  163. 163.

    magurakurin

    John Lewis is a great man and he is entitled to his opinion. I understand his reasoning and I respect it and support him. But I do not actually agree.Of course Shitgibbon is the “legitimate” president. That’s the whole fucking problem. People voted for this asshole. He is a symptom of the disease. America is populated with a lot of shitty people. Always has been. It’s only when a miracle happens that a good person like Obama gets to be in charge. This has all already happened before…first as tragedy second as farce…

    “If the current polls are reliable… Nixon will be re-elected by a huge majority of Americans who feel he is not only more honest and more trustworthy than George McGovern, but also more likely to end the war in Vietnam. The polls also indicate that Nixon will get a comfortable majority of the Youth Vote. And that he might carry all fifty states… This may be the year when we finally come face to face with ourselves; finally just lay back and say it — that we are really just a nation of 220 million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns, and no qualms at all about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable. The tragedy of all this is that George McGovern, for all his mistakes… understands what a fantastic monument to all the best instincts of the human race this country might have been, if we could have kept it out of the hands of greedy little hustlers like Richard Nixon. McGovern made some stupid mistakes, but in context they seem almost frivolous compared to the things Richard Nixon does every day of his life, on purpose… Jesus! Where will it end? How low do you have to stoop in this country to be President?”
    Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72 (1973) HST

  167. 167.

    Jeffro

    @hilts:

    After the Access Hollywood tapes were released, Chaffetz was one of those clowns who said that as a father and husband, he could not support Trump.

    Yes. In an earlier thread, I mentioned that an enterprising young reporter might want to ask Chaffetz about his spiritual journey from “repelled dad” to “boot-licking worm”. He’ll say Hillary was worse but Hillary is gone now and Trump’s lack of ethics rolls on…

    That same reporter, or a colleague, would probably find that Chaffetz has received pretty significant Mercer cash this past cycle…

  168. 168.

    Major Major Major Major

    @magurakurin: the number of qualifications and asterisks you have to use in order to make the statement that trump won the election, in the context of every other election, is staggering. I don’t know if Lewis used the same words I would use but I see where he’s coming from.

  169. 169.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @lamh36:

    Have never seen those pictures. Delightful! — as was the letter Barbara and Jenna left behind for Malia and Sasha. Never thought I’d be using the term “classy” with reference to a member of the Bush family, but the twins pulled it off.

    I remember also seeing the letter Poppy Bush left for Bill Clinton in January 1993. It was incredibly gracious.

  170. 170.

    oklahomo

    @lamh36: He’d probably also be willing to let Putin have the rest of Ukraine and the Baltic states, too, just to achieve peace in our time…

  171. 171.

    JPL

    If you are not watching Dateline NBC, please try to find the episode later. I love this man, and all he fought for.

  173. 173.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @SiubhanDuinne: Did you read the current “as you leave” letter in Time? Class and comedy:

    Enjoy college. As most of the world knows, we did.

    Things I never thought I’d say about a Bush. Although Our Father Who Art in Houston was pretty damned presidential about broccoli. And brave: I don’t think I’d talk that way to Mrs. Bush – she’s scary.

  174. 174.

    Jeffro

    @magurakurin: Take a look at #148 and see what you think. It’d be one thing if he was a crook and he won a majority of votes…he’s vastly worse, he didn’t win a majority, and he was aided – willingly aided – by a hostile foreign power.

  175. 175.

    magurakurin

    @Major Major Major Major: none of which changes the fact that 62 million pinheads voted for him. HST quote about McGovern compared to Nixon can be used today simply by changing the names. The Russians used propaganda…his voters lapped it up like mothers milk…as did many of the Bernbros…the rot is deep and old.

  176. 176.

    lamh36

    @magurakurin: didn’t John Lewis statement come AFTER the meeting with FBI Comey…that all the Dems left from saying that they didn’t trust Comey…My feeling is…something in that meeting…had John Lewis willing to make this statement…

  178. 178.

    Aleta

    @Jeffro:
    + suggests shooting his opponent to a crowd of the inflamed. + says if he wins he will put his opponent in jail.
    + Loses control at suggestion that he is mistaken, then threatens those who criticize him to make them be quiet.

    In other words, so at ease with abuse of power that he views it as a useful response.

  179. 179.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @lamh36:

    My feeling is…something in that meeting…had John Lewis willing to make this statement…

    I have the same thought, because it seems quite out of character as a statement from him.

  180. 180.

    magurakurin

    @Jeffro: but you don’t need a majority to win because the rules were written by slave holders who were as foul and evil as he is. I have no problem with anyone claiming he isn’t legitimate…hell, I won’t even use his name. But he still 62 million votes…what do we do about them?

  181. 181.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @magurakurin: I tend to trust John Lewis’s conscience.

    ETA: If Lewis and I were to disagree on a matter of conscience, I would take a serious second look at my stance.

  182. 182.

    Jeffro

    @Aleta:

    In other words, so at ease with abuse of power that he views it as a useful response.

    Yes. “so at ease with abuse of power” = “never had to accept ‘no’ a day in his life”

    Well, until Marla left him…lol…

    When it all crumbles, he’s going to be a sight to behold. He’ll leave deep, deep claw marks on the Oval Office door frame, BELIEVE ME…

  185. 185.

    Suzanne

    @Jeffro: I want the flameout to be spectacular and humiliating. I want people who voted for him to have to wear a scarlet T for the rest of their lives so we can shun them from polite society.

  187. 187.

    Jeffro

    @magurakurin: Not sure I understand the question, but please clarify. In the meantime, yes, the system (the Electoral College, gerrymandering, voter ID, access issues) needs addressing as do the voters and the media.

  188. 188.

    Jeffro

    @Suzanne: It will be. We’ll know who they are because they won’t be cheering, or they’ll float some bs excuse like, “Well, if I’d know he was working with Russia…” Dude, seriously? Being a complete con man, sexual assailant, and racial demagogue wasn’t enough?

    Ah well…the day is coming…

  189. 189.

    Jeffro

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    If Lewis and I were to disagree on a matter of conscience, I would take a serious second look at my stance.

    That’s a great way to put it. That’s what Dems do!

  190. 190.

    magurakurin

    @Jeffro: The first election was only of white male property owners. Women didn’t vote at all for the first 150 years and voter disenfrancisement is cottage industry for the GOP even today. I support Lewis, I admire his courage (he is a far better man than me) but Shitgibbon shouldn’t have gotten 10 votes…yet he got 62 million. He is the president, I acknowledge that, but nothing else. No one should go the inauguration of this jackass…precisely because he is a jackass not worthy of respect…legitamcy notwithstanding.

  192. 192.

    dww44

    @Baud: and, I salute and honor John Lewis again for refusing to part of the normalization of Donald Trump as President. Attending his inauguration contributes to that normalization.

  193. 193.

    dww44

    @dww44: As I can’t edit my own comment I will reply to it. Should have written: “I salute and honor John Lewis again for refusing to be part of the normalization of Donald Trump. Attending his inauguration helps to normalize him.

  194. 194.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @dww44: That’s a good and fair statement. The shitgibbon should not be normalized…and anyone who does so (looking at you, Villager vermin) is a collaborator.

  195. 195.

    NotMax

    @magurakurin

    For the sake of those unaware, it ought be pointed out that “property owners” did not refer exclusively to landowners, there was also a threshold for ownership of real property as opposed to real estate (otherwise many city dwellers would have been disenfranchised). Also too, every one of the 13 original colonies allowed anyone who paid at least a designated minimum in taxes to vote, property owner or no.

    Still, with all that, it is absolutely true that voting rights extended to a low percentage of the white male population.

  196. 196.

    magurakurin

    @Omnes Omnibus: and it took a bloody civil war to get some of them and more are needed. Yet there are a large number of Americans who have no desire to move forward, in fact they want to move back. I don’t think you are understanding my point. I applaud Lewis. And if he wants to talk about illegitimacy, fine. But even if the Russians hadn’t interfered there is a good chance he still would have won. And even if he had won a majority or 49 states, no one should be going to the inauguration because he is a “greedy little hustler” just like Nixon was. I’d oppose him regardless. The fact that there was so much fucked up with the election just makes it all the more terrible. But he still got a lot of votes…maybe enough to win without the interference. We may want to believe that he has merely been forced upon us by outside forces…yeah, I’d like to believe that…but that shit ain’t the truth…the truth is 10’s of millions of Americans are happy he is president…not a majority, true, but by 62 million. And if those 62 million were a country, it would be the 23rd largest country in the world…that’s a whole lotta assholes.

  197. 197.

    NotMax

    @NotMax

    A bit more. Post-Revolution, some states gave the vote to any men of voting age who had served in the army or the militia, irrespective of any other requirements.

    Property ownership as a requirement eroded quickly during and following a severe economic downturn in the early part of the 1800s. Religious requirements also eroded fairly fast.

    Vermont, from it’s entry as a state, had no restrictions other than age on white males so far as being eligible for the vote.

  199. 199.

    NotMax

    @Omnes Omnibus

    Little known is that, before the time of the Civil War, some midwestern states permitted voting by male immigrants who evinced an “intention” to become citizens.

  201. 201.

    NotMax

    @Omnes Omnibus

    History major (among other disciplines), teacher (for a time) and history lover.

    Some folks might find the tidbits and fleshing out of interest or enlightening. If not, that’s fine, too.

  204. 204.

    James Powell

    @Jeffro:

    and he was aided – willingly aided – by a hostile foreign power.

    Not to mention rogue elements in the FBI. I’m shrill, I know. But fucking Comey threw the election to Trump. Deliberately.

  205. 205.

    Anne Laurie

    @efgoldman:

    The convention wasn’t the violet shitshow of Chicago in ’68, but there was a lot of conflict about which delegations got seated.

    Yes, the New! Improved! Progressives decided to kneecap the feminists, using the Black Caucus as their excuse. (Seriously: ‘We can’t acknowledge Shirley Chisholm’s delegates, because that would be an insult to Jesse Jackson’.) They ended up losing both coalitions, along with the Establishment “old bulls” who were already tired of all this fire-eating radical shite, so they jumped ship when it became obvious the self-styled Young Radicals couldn’t even stage a viable coup without stepping on their own dicks. Which they were busy waving at the cameras…

    I was in high school; it was my introduction to the standing ground rule that young white “radical” men would never be trustworthy allies.

  206. 206.

    Applejinx

    Did the reporter really say ‘foraged relationships’? Do sparrows on curtain rods count?

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