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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Sky-High Open Thread

Sky-High Open Thread

by Betty Cracker|  January 13, 201710:56 am| 166 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity, Assholes, General Stupidity

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Faithful Balloon Juice reader (and occasional commenter) cope sent the following beautiful predawn photo of Venus and the crescent moon:

Hope the appearance of a crescent moon in Cole’s Twitter feed doesn’t bring the anti-Islam hysterics down on our host’s head. He has enough to contend with, given the unruly menagerie and impending relocation.

I know we’re all dreading next week’s transfer of power from a decent and thoughtful man to a walking collection of untreated personality disorders. We’re all dealing with that in our own ways.

But though our party may be as shattered as our spirits and the barbarians on the other side are as gleeful as a pack of meth-addled skunks rolling in a dumpster of rotten citrus fruit, I believe we have hidden strengths — and that our opponents have grievous weaknesses — that will soon become apparent.

Anyhoo, the thread: it is as open as the coastal sky.

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Reader Interactions

166Comments

  1. 1.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 13, 2017 at 11:03 am

    I’m seeing a lot of tweets like this

    Dan Riffle ‏@DanRiffle 21m21 minutes ago
    As a hill staffer. I promise you: emails and tweets do not matter. Calls do. And most important thing is showing up at district town halls.

    The House vote is this afternoon, so call your Rep and tell the poor kid answering the phone that you hope s/he’ll oppose this afternoons budget bill, and that the ACA can’t be repealed without a replacement. The more specific you are, the better, per this thread that looks persuasive to me.

  2. 2.

    Cacti

    January 13, 2017 at 11:04 am

    Pee pee gate just keeps getting better.

    Penthouse put up a $1 million reward for anybody who has proof that Trump likes water sports. Three claimants have come forward.

  3. 3.

    hovercraft

    January 13, 2017 at 11:04 am

    Beautiful picture cope.
    Miss Betty why are you trying to deny is the joy of having to fight off a mob of frothing racists and xenophobes? It could be just what we need to brighten our day ;-)

  4. 4.

    raven

    January 13, 2017 at 11:05 am

    Repost of the moonset this morning.

  5. 5.

    greengoblin

    January 13, 2017 at 11:05 am

    I got an encouraging e-mail from Penzy’s Spices that the number of requests for their Kindness pins for the Women’s March is greater than expected.

  6. 6.

    hovercraft

    January 13, 2017 at 11:06 am

    @Cacti:
    LOL, “water sports”, HA !

  7. 7.

    Willie!

    January 13, 2017 at 11:06 am

    @Cacti: Damn!! I guess on the upside, the fall of our republic will be entertaining. We’ll all get a good chuckle before this dumster fire conflagration consumes us.

  8. 8.

    Bobby D

    January 13, 2017 at 11:11 am

    @Cacti: Awesome!
    Can someone ask Mike Pence if prostitute pissing on you falls under the category of those “good Christian values” they bleat on about?

  9. 9.

    MattF

    January 13, 2017 at 11:13 am

    According to the NYT, the Golden One has served up a new tweetstorm. I’m pleased to note that I deleted my Twitter account a while ago– though I never followed the One, anyhow.

  10. 10.

    Oatler.

    January 13, 2017 at 11:16 am

    @raven: I wish you’d gotten a shot of the Wolf Moon I had through my bedroom window last night, winter branches clutching and all
    Chuck Todd tells us subjects “the press is gonna have to adjust” to Trump’s new muscle-confusion press cons. Today Show this morning.

  11. 11.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 13, 2017 at 11:17 am

    Cool picture.

  12. 12.

    Elizabelle

    January 13, 2017 at 11:17 am

    Gorgeous photo, cope.

    the barbarians on the other side are as gleeful as a pack of meth-addled skunks rolling in a dumpster of rotten citrus fruit

    Why I comes here.

  13. 13.

    Betty Cracker

    January 13, 2017 at 11:20 am

    @raven: Beautiful!

    @MattF: True; to sum up: FAKE NEWS! BLAH BLAH BLAH HILLARY! BLAH BLAH BLAH UNFAIR TO MEEEEEE! BLAH BLAH BLAH. Trump is about the same age as my dad. It just astounds me that a man that age can conduct these whiny-ass public tantrums with such frequency — even leaving aside the horrifying fact that this specimen will soon be POTUS. Even the hateful coots in newspaper comments sections are generally more self-aware, and the bar doesn’t get any lower than that…

  14. 14.

    Calouste

    January 13, 2017 at 11:21 am

    @MattF: I think the term you want to use there is “Number One”.

  15. 15.

    japa21

    January 13, 2017 at 11:22 am

    @Elizabelle: Why Betty is a national treasure.

  16. 16.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 13, 2017 at 11:24 am

    @hovercraft: that’s what they call it in the ‘biz.

  17. 17.

    Kay

    January 13, 2017 at 11:25 am

    President-elect Donald J. Trump lashed out at Hillary Clinton again on Friday and he angrily denounced the dossier of dirt compiled by a retired British intelligence agent.
    Cher is striking back at Mr. Trump on social media. And she’s aiming for a place where it may hurt him most: in his television ratings.

    That’s the breaking news. Trump and Cher. Tens of millions of people will lose access to vital medical care and this is what the President of the United States is spending his day doing. I would literally rather have Cher as President. She’s more serious.

  18. 18.

    A Ghost to Most

    January 13, 2017 at 11:25 am

    my imagination is seeing a gecko sleeping one off on that branch

    nice pic.

  19. 19.

    catclub

    January 13, 2017 at 11:26 am

    @Oatler.:

    Chuck Todd tells us subjects “the press is gonna have to adjust” to Trump’s new muscle-confusion press cons.

    There was an article in the Hollywood reporter that the press should ask direct/single part questions. Not the four part mishmash they love.
    Trump picks one (vaguely connected) aspect and ignores all the rest. It is more blatant only if the questions are better and simpler.

  20. 20.

    Weaselone

    January 13, 2017 at 11:26 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    I still don’t get the continued focus on Hillary. As far as I know she’s been taking hikes in the woods with Bill, spending time with her grandchild and making the occasional speaking appearance at an organization or charity. It’s not as though she’s been in the media blasting Trump.

  21. 21.

    MattF

    January 13, 2017 at 11:26 am

    @Betty Cracker: It’s his behavioral repertoire. ‘Limited’, as the professionals would say.

  22. 22.

    jeffreyw

    January 13, 2017 at 11:28 am

    Hope the appearance of a crescent moon in Cole’s Twitter feed doesn’t bring the anti-Islam hysterics down on our host’s head. He has enough to contend with, given the unruly menagerie and impending relocation.

    What’s worse, he may be accused of being a South Carolina sympathizer.

  23. 23.

    trollhattan

    January 13, 2017 at 11:28 am

    @Bobby D:
    “Hate the sinpisser, not the pissee.”

  24. 24.

    Kay

    January 13, 2017 at 11:28 am

    Didn’t you just know reality tv would have horrible repercussions? The first time I saw it I thought “oh, THIS goes no where good!” It’s just a gut thing. Like a bad smell. Brain stem. You don’t even have to think about it.

  25. 25.

    Juju

    January 13, 2017 at 11:28 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I just called Rep. Walter B. jones, for what it’s worth.

  26. 26.

    ArchTeryx

    January 13, 2017 at 11:29 am

    @Weaselone: He and his entire party are sore winners.

  27. 27.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 13, 2017 at 11:29 am

    @Weaselone: a religion can survive without a god, but not without a devil, and Trump spent the last year persuading the 27% that makes up a majority of the Republican primary electorate (and thus controls the Republican party) that Hilary is the Debbil.

    ETA: and the ones who were conscious in/of the 90s already had her pegged as the socialist lesbian who had her lover Vince Foster killed because he was going to expose her vast corrupt financial empire of cattle futures and whitewater

  28. 28.

    jayboat

    January 13, 2017 at 11:29 am

    Thanks for the shot of positivity, Betty. Beautiful image.

    I’m beginning to believe that Putin has been playing Trump like a drum.
    This whole thing is feeling too scripted, surreal as it is.

  29. 29.

    MazeDancer

    January 13, 2017 at 11:30 am

    The Senate Democrats were impressive during the GOP Vote-A-Rama demolition of the ACA budgeting. Each Dem voting no with a little GOP-shaming, not allowed speech.

    If you missed seeing it in the middle of the night, Rachel Maddow had a bit of footage. It starts at 5:55 on this vid. (warning MSNBC vids are very slow loading.) But the beginning of the vid is about DiFi having surgery and getting back to grilling nominees the next day, so also worth watching. Did not know DiFi is 83. She looks 10 years younger.

  30. 30.

    jeffreyw

    January 13, 2017 at 11:31 am

    @Major Major Major Major: They’ve got an options menu? Not gonna click on the next option. No siree!

  31. 31.

    Miss Bianca

    January 13, 2017 at 11:31 am

    OK, so I have no cell phone service till my new phone comes (thanks, AT & T, for switching technology on us with no warning!) and even my office phone is dead. Aaagh! I may have to email or fax my rep just because I have no other choice. Didn’t someone post a link for e-faxing our Senators a couple days back? Same thing for House Reps anywhere?

  32. 32.

    jayboat

    January 13, 2017 at 11:31 am

    @MazeDancer:
    It’s the California water.

  33. 33.

    Yarrow

    January 13, 2017 at 11:33 am

    @Oatler.:

    Chuck Todd tells us subjects “the press is gonna have to adjust” to Trump’s new muscle-confusion press cons. Today Show this morning.

    Perhaps this is yet another example of his usual stupidity and toadying to power. Still, it does get me wondering…What do the Russians have on Chuck Todd? I feel it would be irresponsible not to speculate.

  34. 34.

    chris

    January 13, 2017 at 11:33 am

    @Kay: Yes! I watched one Survivor episode 20 years ago and was horrified. Still am and here we are.

  35. 35.

    NotMax

    January 13, 2017 at 11:33 am

    It’s the Year of the (Giant Inflatable Trump) Rooster at one Chinese factory

  36. 36.

    Juju

    January 13, 2017 at 11:35 am

    @Weaselone: It is because she beat him in the popular vote and he truly knows how close it was in the electoral college and that diminishes his win. So he has to do whatever he can to make her look bad. Very sad.

  37. 37.

    chris

    January 13, 2017 at 11:35 am

    @Miss Bianca: Here you go.

  38. 38.

    trollhattan

    January 13, 2017 at 11:36 am

    @MazeDancer:
    Re. DiFi, rumors swirl about her future with two years left in this term. New to me, Willie Brown is floating her retiring before term is up and Jerry Brown taking her seat, with Newsom sliding into the governor’s chair. I know Willie is trolling, but it actually makes some sense. However, IDK what DiFi and Jerry’s relationship is.

  39. 39.

    Betty Cracker

    January 13, 2017 at 11:36 am

    @Weaselone & @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yep — totalitarians need a hate-object, an enemy to compel their followers to unite behind them. Hillary continues to be their Emmanuel Goldstein for the moment, but as soon as some ISIS loon blows up a Trump property somewhere, the real fun will begin.

  40. 40.

    Yarrow

    January 13, 2017 at 11:36 am

    @catclub:

    There was an article in the Hollywood reporter that the press should ask direct/single part questions. Not the four part mishmash they love.
    Trump picks one (vaguely connected) aspect and ignores all the rest. It is more blatant only if the questions are better and simpler.

    I was thinking the same thing when I watched that farce of a press conference. I don’t think it’s as much him “picking one aspect,” but more that he can’t remember all the various questions.

  41. 41.

    Humboldtblue

    January 13, 2017 at 11:36 am

    Here is this morning’s moon taken at the weather office on a crisp and frosty 30 degree morning at 4:30

  42. 42.

    Yarrow

    January 13, 2017 at 11:37 am

    @Weaselone:

    I still don’t get the continued focus on Hillary. As far as I know she’s been taking hikes in the woods with Bill, spending time with her grandchild and making the occasional speaking appearance at an organization or charity. It’s not as though she’s been in the media blasting Trump.

    He’s like an aging rock star with no recent material. He’s hauling out the greatest hits. They made everyone love him once before! They get the crowd going!

  43. 43.

    Felonius Monk

    January 13, 2017 at 11:37 am

    @Yarrow:

    What do the Russians have on Chuck Todd?

    Incontrovertible proof that Chuck Todd is an idiot?

  44. 44.

    Miss Bianca

    January 13, 2017 at 11:38 am

    @chris: thanks!

  45. 45.

    Belafon

    January 13, 2017 at 11:38 am

    While we’re disorganized, there are more of us than them. When we get organized, and we will, they won’t be able to stand the onslaught.

  46. 46.

    MattF

    January 13, 2017 at 11:38 am

    @Yarrow: More like the whole ‘answer the question’ thing is foreign to him.

  47. 47.

    trollhattan

    January 13, 2017 at 11:39 am

    @Yarrow:
    Wait ’til you see Stonehenge lowered to the dais during the inaugural speech.

  48. 48.

    Yarrow

    January 13, 2017 at 11:39 am

    @Miss Bianca: For free faxing, you can try Fax Zero. The first fax or so is free. There are other online fax options that often offer a few pages for free.

    I think I remember seeing someone say that faxing your reps is free through Fax Zero, but I don’t know if that’s an always thing or just part of their free couple of pages. I have used Fax Zero before and had a good experience.

  49. 49.

    Brachiator

    January 13, 2017 at 11:41 am

    Very nice photo.

  50. 50.

    Humboldtblue

    January 13, 2017 at 11:42 am

    @trollhattan: I don’t see Jerry going for that seat, he’s 78.

  51. 51.

    Yarrow

    January 13, 2017 at 11:43 am

    @trollhattan: I would actually watch the clip of that!

    Stonehenge! Where the demons dwell
    Where the banshees live and they do live well
    Stonehenge! Where a man’s a man
    And the children dance to the Pipes of Pan

    Doesn’t seem all that far fetched now. Scary.

  52. 52.

    Adrift

    January 13, 2017 at 11:44 am

    @Kay:

    I would literally rather have Cher as President.

    I take comfort in the fact that in some alternate timeline, she is. And I’m jealous.

  53. 53.

    Yarrow

    January 13, 2017 at 11:44 am

    @Felonius Monk:

    Incontrovertible proof that Chuck Todd is an idiot?

    Well, it’s not like we need the Russians for that! I’m wondering if there’s something else…. Like I said, it would be irresponsible not to speculate.

  54. 54.

    Bobby D

    January 13, 2017 at 11:45 am

    @Yarrow: Freebird!!!

    I have a feeling the turnout in the midterms is going to be way above normal levels. Might even retake the house.

  55. 55.

    Mike J

    January 13, 2017 at 11:46 am

    Multi part questions aren’t asked to get an answer, they’re asked to show how clever the reporter is.

  56. 56.

    trollhattan

    January 13, 2017 at 11:47 am

    @Humboldtblue:
    True, but Jerry’s not a typical 78YO and wouldn’t say no to an opportunity to jump to the Senate. The whole scenario seems far-fetched but the thought of Jerry alongside Liz Warren makes my heart beat a little faster.

  57. 57.

    hovercraft

    January 13, 2017 at 11:47 am

    @Major Major Major Major:
    Thanks, eh, how do you know what the ‘biz’ calls it, do you moonlight in Waterworld?

    @Weaselone:
    Grandchildren, Chelsea has a boy as well as Charlotte now.

  58. 58.

    Mary G

    January 13, 2017 at 11:47 am

    @trollhattan: I would pay to see Gov. Moonbeam shred the tortoise from Kentucky.

  59. 59.

    trollhattan

    January 13, 2017 at 11:50 am

    @Mary G:
    He’d begin with a challenge to a pull-up competition. Make it so!

  60. 60.

    hovercraft

    January 13, 2017 at 11:53 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    socialist lesbian who had her lover Vince Foster killed because he was going to expose her vast corrupt financial empire of cattle futures and whitewater

    You missed a couple of erogenous zones, Rose Law firm, travelgate, and you forgot to mention her current/former lover/capo, Sidney Blumenthal.

  61. 61.

    Humboldtblue

    January 13, 2017 at 11:54 am

    @trollhattan: You’re correct about that and having him in the senate would be fantastic I just don’t see him doing it. Dan Walters wrote about the situation today, I haven’t read it yet, though.

  62. 62.

    rikyrah

    January 13, 2017 at 11:54 am

    @Yarrow:

    What do the Russians have on Chuck Todd?

    He’s a mediocre White man covering for another mediocre White man…not all that complicated.

  63. 63.

    rikyrah

    January 13, 2017 at 11:55 am

    the picture above is quite beautiful.

  64. 64.

    Brachiator

    January 13, 2017 at 11:56 am

    @trollhattan:

    Re. DiFi, rumors swirl about her future with two years left in this term. New to me, Willie Brown is floating her retiring before term is up and Jerry Brown taking her seat, with Newsom sliding into the governor’s chair. I know Willie is trolling, but it actually makes some sense.

    Hmm. This may spur more stories about the San Francisco mafia (Northern California Democrats) flexing their muscles again.

    I guess that Jerry Brown, at 78, is a spring chicken compared to DiFi, but Jebus, can’t we get someone younger for the Senate? Gavin Newsom may have some old vulnerabilities to overcome, but he shines like new money compared to a hack like former LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is also considering a gubernatorial run.

    If DIFI retired early, it would be interesting to see state treasurer John Chiang get appointed to her seat. Asian American politicians tend to get slotted into second tier state offices (secretary of state, controller, treasurer) and then get stuck.

    Willie Brown is still a power broker?

  65. 65.

    Miss Bianca

    January 13, 2017 at 11:56 am

    @Yarrow: Wait till the dwarves in the little curly-toed shoes come out and start dancing. That’ll be some scary for ya!

  66. 66.

    hovercraft

    January 13, 2017 at 11:58 am

    @Oatler.:

    Chuck Todd tells us subjects “the press is gonna have to adjust” to Trump’s new muscle-confusion press cons.

    Might I suggest that whatever Chuck Todd says be ignored, he is fully aware of what the Shitgibbon is, but is so deathly afraid of losing his status as an important villager with access to his inner circle, that he is willing to let them lie to his face, and then he has the nerve to wonder why people distrust the media. He is literally a waste of your time, do not watch him.

  67. 67.

    cope

    January 13, 2017 at 11:58 am

    @raven: Beautiful shot, thanks.

    Betty: yes, I have taken on the attitude that the disloyal opposition is so poisoned, venal and foul that it will founder under its own weight. I just don’t relish watching that happen. To quote Jack Nicholson in “Easy Rider”, “You know…this used to be a hell of a good country.”

  68. 68.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 13, 2017 at 11:58 am

    @hovercraft: I get around.

  69. 69.

    rikyrah

    January 13, 2017 at 12:01 pm

    Hmmph

    Why Was Michel Flynn Talking to the Russian Ambassador?
    by Nancy LeTourneau
    January 13, 2017 9:40 AM

    David Ignatius has an interesting tidbit in his column about the Trump/Russian connections.

    According to a senior U.S. government official, [Retired Lt. Gen. Michael] Flynn phoned Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak several times on Dec. 29, the day the Obama administration announced the expulsion of 35 Russian officials as well as other measures in retaliation for the hacking. What did Flynn say, and did it undercut the U.S. sanctions? The Logan Act (though never enforced) bars U.S. citizens from correspondence intending to influence a foreign government about “disputes” with the United States. Was its spirit violated? The Trump campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

    What we have is a president-elect’s national security advisor talking on the phone to the Russian Ambassador several times on the day the current president announced retaliation against Russia for hacking and releasing information about the president-elect’s opponent during the election.

    We also know that Flynn has strong ties to Russia via his regular appearances on Russia Today (suggesting that it’s just like CNN). In the dossier released by BuzzFeed, Flynn is listed as one of four members of the Trump campaign who were in contact with Russia during the election (in addition to Paul Manafort, Carter Page and Michael Cohen).

    Of course we don’t know the content of those conversations. But remember the days when the “appearance of corruption” was enough to send the entire media into fits about the Clinton Foundation? Perhaps these phone calls will turn out to be as easily dismissed as those allegations were after a thorough investigation. Let’s find out!

    There are a couple of other things that can be takeaways from this little tidbit. First of all, “a senior U.S. government official” leaked this information to Ignatius. That is important to keep in mind. It indicates that there are people within the government who want to keep this story alive.

  70. 70.

    NotMax

    January 13, 2017 at 12:01 pm

    Upcoming breaking news from inauguration day:

    “The new President is running behind schedule. Word we’ve received is he was last spotted heading for the Rockettes’ dressing room.”

  71. 71.

    raven

    January 13, 2017 at 12:02 pm

    @cope: I have to laugh at the constant deluge of “THIS WILL BE THE MOST FANTASTIC FULL MOON EVAH!!!!”. I got some great shots in November down at the beach but I think a lot of this shit is overblown, it’s the moon.

  72. 72.

    Humboldtblue

    January 13, 2017 at 12:03 pm

    @Brachiator: Chiang has raised a lot of money and there is talk that an Asian candidate could really drive some votes.

  73. 73.

    oklahomo

    January 13, 2017 at 12:04 pm

    @hovercraft: Not to mention killing Ron Brown before he exposed the Mena Mafia that the Clintons controlled.

  74. 74.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 13, 2017 at 12:06 pm

    @oklahomo: wasn’t there a woman thrown into the lion enclosure at the DC zoo? I think that was one of Coulter’s bullet points

  75. 75.

    hedgehog the occasional commenter

    January 13, 2017 at 12:06 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Thanks! The Twitter thread did help. I just called Rep. DeGette’s (CO-1) office. Staffer was very friendly and said she’s long been a champion of the ACA and that he’ll pass my message along (it was “don’t vote for the budget bill.”

  76. 76.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    January 13, 2017 at 12:06 pm

    @trollhattan:

    I know, right?!? Those hussy Jezebels with their pee-pee parts a-showin’ and a-flowin’…

    How’s a red (orange?) blooded man not supposed to get all hot and bothered?

  77. 77.

    Ryan

    January 13, 2017 at 12:07 pm

    The juxtaposition of Cole’s move and the incoming administration is interesting. Does it portend amusing posts about unruly animals?

  78. 78.

    oklahomo

    January 13, 2017 at 12:07 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Not to mention all the anti-government nuts crawled out to bitch about the bar codes on the backs of stop signs that would aid the UN troops prepaing to take over North America for the ZOG

  79. 79.

    Villago Delenda Est

    January 13, 2017 at 12:07 pm

    @Oatler.: Chuckles has just moved up the tumbrel manifest. Mrs. Greenspan needs to up her game!

  80. 80.

    Yarrow

    January 13, 2017 at 12:08 pm

    @hovercraft: I don’t watch Chuck Todd, but occasionally inadvertently see a clip or a few seconds of his show. He’s the epitome of a toadying Villager of average intelligence with a job way beyond his capabilities.

    He can be what he is and also be mixed up in some questionable things. It’s possible. I’ll be interested to see which media figures recognize early that the Trump/Russia story is worth following and which of them drag their feet. Those that drag their feet deserve extra scrutiny for any ties to Russia or anywhere else.

  81. 81.

    Yarrow

    January 13, 2017 at 12:10 pm

    @rikyrah:
    Along those lines:

    When @IgnatiusPost speaks, Langley's 7th floor lips are moving. Zero disrespect, just a fact.

    They are taking traitor Trump out now.— John Schindler (@20committee) January 13, 2017

  82. 82.

    Larkspur

    January 13, 2017 at 12:11 pm

    @Yarrow: Yeah, I’d have asked him if he intended to pay his attorney’s bill for that pathetic document production. I’m a paralegal, and although I have never worked for a very fine big-city law firm, never in a million years would I have let that kind of crapload of messy folders and files out of my office for the whole world to see. I don’t care if they were fake files; you can still dummy up better fake files than that. It would take a team of paralegals three full days to sort through, organize, and find anything in that mess. Sad.

  83. 83.

    Calouste

    January 13, 2017 at 12:12 pm

    @NotMax: It may not be a smart plan to grope women who are trained to do eye-line kicks in high heels.

  84. 84.

    Brachiator

    January 13, 2017 at 12:12 pm

    Just finished reading a NY Times article about Trump supporters, “A Table Full of Trump Voters Who Don’t Regret It One Bit.” The title of the Friday story is a clear nod to the famous “basket of deplorables.” This is a bunch of Iowa white guys who sit around a table for breakfast talking about how America should be run, and you can see how Trump, who comes across as a guy sitting in a bar bloviating about how to make America great again would resonate with these people. A few nuggets:

    “He’s getting responses; things are happening,” Jerry Retzlaff, a retiree, said. “He got Congress to turn themselves around with one tweet.”

    “There’s no secret the press doesn’t like him, and neither does a lot of the leadership,” he added. “And that’s because he’s planning on making a lot of changes.”…

    In the intervening year, Iowa gave Mr. Trump his largest triumph of any battleground state: a 15-percentage-point reversal over President Obama’s easy victory here in 2012….

    Many were hazy on specific policy details about how, say, House Republicans were seeking to replace Medicare with a voucher system. These voters feared an outbreak of European-style terrorist attacks by Muslims in the United States, maybe in their own communities. And overwhelmingly, Trump supporters did not want their hard-earned money redistributed to people they regarded as undeserving….

    “Maybe it’s time to have some change,” Mr. McKibben allowed. “I saw neighbors I knew were strong union people with Trump signs in their yards.”

  85. 85.

    GregB

    January 13, 2017 at 12:13 pm

    There is an obvious bomb about to drop. One of the reports I read said that the FBI ended up getting FISA authorization to listen in on four members of the Trump team.

    I can surmise it is Flynn, Manaforte, Page and Cohen.

    The entire Trump world us full of reckless and hubristic goons.

    Trump told us he was always so careful knowing that he could be on video/audio but he was caught on tape not by the GRU or FSB but Access Hollywood talking about sexual assault.

  86. 86.

    Skepticat

    January 13, 2017 at 12:13 pm

    If the media would simply do their jobs and not wait like puppy dogs for handouts from politicians, it might result in some actually journalism–and Drumpf would go out of what very little remains of his mind.

  87. 87.

    Yarrow

    January 13, 2017 at 12:13 pm

    @Larkspur: The law firm he hired that created that mess of folders won Russian law firm of the year last year. Excellent work, guys!

  88. 88.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    January 13, 2017 at 12:16 pm

    I found the song for Ivanka and Donald to dance to at the Inaugural Ball!

  89. 89.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 13, 2017 at 12:16 pm

    @Yarrow: Flipping through the channels last night I caught Brian Williams, in the uniquely pompous tone of his, saying that the Democrats’ blue wall now consists of two names: (Fifty quatloos if you can guess without reading further) John McCain and Lindsey Graham!

    I didn’t leave it there to hear on which issue(s) the Burns and Smithers of Endless War are supposed to be defending Dems on.

  90. 90.

    Juice Box

    January 13, 2017 at 12:17 pm

    @trollhattan: Given the likely rough ride in the near future, I’d rather have the Guv in the captain’s seat of the country’s biggest state than cooling his heels as one of a hundred dilettantes in DC.

  91. 91.

    hovercraft

    January 13, 2017 at 12:18 pm

    @oklahomo:
    Remember when the UN was coming to steal our golfs, voting for the Shitgibbon was also a way to poke a finger in the eye of the UN. We will keep our golfs, no North America Superhighway, no Bilderberg one world government. He will build more golf courses, courses that we will never be allowed to play on, but hey they are there!

  92. 92.

    JordanRules

    January 13, 2017 at 12:18 pm

    @rikyrah:

    He’s a mediocre White man covering for another mediocre White man…not all that complicated.

    Ha! I am too tickled. So much truth.

  93. 93.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 13, 2017 at 12:21 pm

    We had a catered breakfast this morning for some reason at the office and I tried one of those zero-everything yogurts because it was the only yogurt without infinity grams of added sugar, and oh my god it was disgusting.

  94. 94.

    Brachiator

    January 13, 2017 at 12:22 pm

    @Humboldtblue:

    Chiang has raised a lot of money and there is talk that an Asian candidate could really drive some votes.

    It would be very good if Chiang can drive a credible campaign.

  95. 95.

    hovercraft

    January 13, 2017 at 12:22 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
    WTF is that thing on is head? I think you’ve found the perfect song for their dance, though I suspect Melania may come down for the special day, she knows that she can’t compete with Lucretia and the golden ones, but for this one day, she can pretend she still has a marriage. If nothing else the big day has given her an excuse to go on a shopping spree, gotta grab as much as she can while the goings still good.

  96. 96.

    Miss Bianca

    January 13, 2017 at 12:24 pm

    @Skepticat:

    If the media would simply do their jobs and not wait like puppy dogs for handouts from politicians, it might result in some actually journalism

    Reminds me of something my dad used to say: “Yeah, and if we had any ham we could have ham and eggs…if we had any eggs.”

  97. 97.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 13, 2017 at 12:26 pm

    @Brachiator: for sci-fi book club we just did Ted Chiang’s collection and as I read your thread I keep thinking, that guy should run for office.

  98. 98.

    hovercraft

    January 13, 2017 at 12:28 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:
    My Mom cooked some organic uber healthy brown rice last night, she said it was gross, but I said it couldn’t be that bad, it’s just brown rice. At first as I said it was just brown rice, a little nutty, then as I chewed it turned slimy, like it had okra in it or something, it was so gross. I told her to stick with the brown rice we get from the Asian market, I’m not eating slimy rice, in my mind slime like that means it’s rotten.

  99. 99.

    Yarrow

    January 13, 2017 at 12:29 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I really don’t understand why motel buffets and catered breakfasts and all don’t provide plain yogurt. At least some plain yogurt along with the flavored stuff. Let people put their own fruit, granola, honey, whatever in it if they want. That way you can control the amount of sugar yourself.

    But no…you see the bowl of ice with cups of yogurt in it and you go look and it’s all blueberry and strawberry and maybe peach. It’s like a sugar bomb in the morning. And they’re all low fat so there’s nothing to slow down the absorption of the carbs. Blood sugar spike city.

  100. 100.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 13, 2017 at 12:29 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    Reminds me of something my dad used to say: “Yeah, and if we had any ham we could have ham and eggs…if we had any eggs.”

    Ha! My mother used to say that!

    She also taught me:

    FUNEX?
    SVFX.
    FUNEM?
    SVFM.
    OKLFMNX!

  101. 101.

    cosima

    January 13, 2017 at 12:30 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I usually can’t be bothered to have plain greek yogurt and add my own fruit etc. to it. So I mix one of the nicer tons-of-sugar-tiny-bit-of-fruit to a large tub of plain greek yogurt and it is perfect — tart enough, but not too tart. Add additional sweetened if you’re not into tart.

  102. 102.

    J R in WV

    January 13, 2017 at 12:31 pm

    All the moony photos are nice. I like Raven’s best, I’ve never used a Canon, but obviously they are quality equipment by and large.

  103. 103.

    Jeffro

    January 13, 2017 at 12:32 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    a religion can survive without a god, but not without a devil, and Trump spent the last year persuading the 27% that makes up a majority of the Republican primary electorate (and thus controls the Republican party) that Hilary is the Debbil.

    Without Hillary-Hate to hold them together, the GOP falls apart – exactly right.

  104. 104.

    Miss Bianca

    January 13, 2017 at 12:33 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: OK, I may just be A Idiot (a possibility of non-trivial proportions), but the second thing? I no get he!

  105. 105.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    January 13, 2017 at 12:34 pm

    @hovercraft:

    It is vaguely romantic, and sets a lovely tone after he comes in to the Russian National Anthem, wearing a Russian Flag pin and a couple of Soviet era medals on his suit coat.

  106. 106.

    Yarrow

    January 13, 2017 at 12:34 pm

    Realized this morning that today is Friday the 13th. Wonder what extra special document dump is planned for today.

  107. 107.

    Brachiator

    January 13, 2017 at 12:36 pm

    @hovercraft:

    I told her to stick with the brown rice we get from the Asian market,

    Basmati?

  108. 108.

    MomSense

    January 13, 2017 at 12:37 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I had one last week and almost puked. WTF is with that artificial sweetener taste? Nasty.

  109. 109.

    cosima

    January 13, 2017 at 12:37 pm

    Have any other juicers looked through the FEC document re: the illegal donations? I read it to see if a few of my TX acquaintances with far more money than sense were on it.

    Anyway, I have never had enough money to throw those sorts of amounts at any candidate, but perhaps someone more savvy than me can answer this question: What is the benefit to donating $250 every other day for weeks? There was a lot of that going on (and larger amounts, of course, but same process). Or donating twice in the same day. Why not donate $1000/wk?

  110. 110.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 13, 2017 at 12:39 pm

    Chad Pergram ‏@ ChadPergram 11m11 minutes ago
    As each GOP mbr speaks about repealing Obamacare, Top D on Budget Cmte Yarmuth announces how many ppl in that mbrs state will lose coverage

  111. 111.

    Weaselone

    January 13, 2017 at 12:40 pm

    @Brachiator:

    It really is amazing how deliberately clueless these people are. Terrorists are not going to leap out of there closets at night and these people are the undeserving to whom our hard earned money is redistributed.

  112. 112.

    Brachiator

    January 13, 2017 at 12:40 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    for sci-fi book club we just did Ted Chiang’s collection and as I read your thread I keep thinking, that guy should run for office.

    Is this the collection that includes “Arrival?” I should check it out.

  113. 113.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 13, 2017 at 12:40 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    Say the letters out loud. Don’t try to make words of them.

  114. 114.

    Jeffro

    January 13, 2017 at 12:41 pm

    Government By Spite, no matter what the consequences: Commanding general of DC National Guard removed from his post just hours before inauguration begins.

    The head of the D.C. National Guard, Maj. Gen. Errol R. Schwartz, said Friday that he has been ordered removed from his command effective Jan. 20, 12:01 p.m., just as Donald Trump is sworn in as president.

    Schwartz’s forced departure will come in the midst of the presidential inauguration that he has spent months helping plan alongside D.C. police, the U.S. Secret Service and other top District officials. He will turn over command to an interim as power transfers from one president to the next, and just before the inaugural parade marches down Pennsylvania Avenue.

    “The timing is extremely unusual,” Schwartz said in an interview Friday morning, confirming a memo announcing his ouster that was obtained by The Washington Post. During the inauguration, Schwartz would command not only the members of the D.C. guard but also an additional 5,000 unarmed troops sent in from across the country to help. He also would oversee military air support protecting the nation’s capital during the inauguration.

    “My troops will be on the street,” Schwartz, 65, said. “I’ll see them off but I won’t be able to welcome them back to the armory.” He said that he would “never plan to leave a mission in the middle of a battle.”

    As Matt Yglesias is asking: why? And the most benevolent answer to that question is, “out of sheer spite”. The other possible answers are much darker…

    Trump replacing the 50-year traditional inaugural parade announcer, Trump firing the head of the National Guard, RT beeping in on C-SPAN for a test run…it’s getting a little weird here, folks.

  115. 115.

    Betty Cracker

    January 13, 2017 at 12:42 pm

    @Brachiator: I’ve stopped reading the many articles of that type on the grounds that it’s probably unhealthy for me to wish swarming bedbug infestations, severe gum disease and acute crotch rot on complete strangers.

  116. 116.

    sharl

    January 13, 2017 at 12:42 pm

    Hoooo-boy, I wonder what transpired in those last 15 minutes?

    Dems ‘outraged’ with Comey after House briefing

    A number of House Democrats left Friday’s confidential briefing on Russian hacking fuming over the actions of FBI Director James Comey and convinced he’s unfit to lead the agency.

    “I was non-judgmental until the last 15 minutes. I no longer have that confidence in him,” Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), ranking member of the Veterans Affairs Committee, said as he left the meeting in the Capitol.

    “Some of the things that were revealed in this classified briefing — my confidence has been shook.”

    Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.), senior Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, delivered a similar condemnation.

    “I’m extremely concerned — extremely,” he said.

    “I’ll just — I’m very angry,” echoed Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.)…

    h/t Maggie K-B

  117. 117.

    MJS

    January 13, 2017 at 12:42 pm

    For whatever reason, I became more optimistic yesterday, watching the President award Joe Biden the Presidential Medal of Freedom (hope I have the award right). I believe Joe Biden is an exceptional human being, and I believe there are at least a few more exceptional human beings who are ready to step up to the plate to do whatever they can to thwart the Shitgibbon for as long as it takes. Representative Barbara Lee and Senator Warren come to mind. I recognize their power is limited, and some damage will be done, but I have to believe that at some point, a combination of principled stands and Republican desire to cut their losses will derail this nightmare.

  118. 118.

    Miss Bianca

    January 13, 2017 at 12:43 pm

    So, apropos of nothing except to join the chorus of “gee, I’m gonna miss this guy”, the Book of Faces reminds me that I posted this photo of POTUS this date 5 years ago.

  119. 119.

    Calouste

    January 13, 2017 at 12:45 pm

    @cosima: Candidates are supposed to reject or refund contributions that bring that person’s total contribution over the allowed amount. It is well possible that the software the shitgibbon used was only checking when the individual donation was say $1000 or more.

  120. 120.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 13, 2017 at 12:46 pm

    @Brachiator: it is. “Stories of Your Life And Others” it’s called. “Story of your life” is what arrival is based on. Not the best in the collection, even! He’s good.

  121. 121.

    Betty Cracker

    January 13, 2017 at 12:46 pm

    @Jeffro: Saw that on Twitter, along with someone’s speculation that Trump wants a new commander in place to deal more harshly with demonstrators, including the Women’s March the next day, which I’ll be attending with my sister, daughter and friend. My money’s on spite, though. Plus, the current commander is a black man, right? Maybe that’s reason enough.

  122. 122.

    oklahomo

    January 13, 2017 at 12:48 pm

    @hovercraft: It’s like new covers of all the greatest 90s hits, with some birtherism and troofersism to bump up the beat…

  123. 123.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 13, 2017 at 12:49 pm

    @Weaselone: Yep, that’s what my ex-friend who lives in Idaho for crying out loud, is afraid of. Terrorism. When did the home of the brave, become a nation of pant-shitters and bed-wetters?

  124. 124.

    cosima

    January 13, 2017 at 12:52 pm

    @Calouste: If the allowed amount is $1000/month, $250 every day or every other day for weeks would bring it well above that cap.

    There were many donations like that, and then there were some that were such strange numbers that I wondered if they were actually paying their bills (for whatever dubious service was provided by shitgibbon or his serfs) through contributing to his campaign.

    It’s an interesting document in that there is a lot on it that looks suspicious (which is, of course, why the names were flagged). A little bit of research on those donors would likely bring up some interesting information.

  125. 125.

    Yarrow

    January 13, 2017 at 12:53 pm

    @Jeffro: Okay, that’s creepy. Is another commander going to be in place? Or is it to allow Trump to have direct command of the DC Guard right away? I know he’ll be Commander-in-Chief, but he’d still have to go through generals.

  126. 126.

    John M. Burt

    January 13, 2017 at 12:55 pm

    I’ll tell you this, Betty Cracker, about the Morning Star:
    Years ago, I had an impulse to call my wife “my Brightly Shining”.
    Much later, it occurred to me that, although I don’t remember where I saw it, I somehow thought of the phrase “the Brightly Shining” as being associated with the Morning Star. Well, all well and good: my wife is my Venus.
    Much later than that, I realized that the Morning Star is special because it is not a star. It shines by the reflected light of the Sun, which means that it is a sign that even though you can’t see the Sun, you can still tell that it’s there.
    Much later than that,* I realized that my wife is exactly that: when my depression is at its worst and it feels as though there is no light and no love in the world, her love for me is a sign and a surety in the worst darkness that there is light, there is love, and someone thinks I am worthy of being loved.
    She is my Brightly Shining.
    Hey, you said it was an open thread.

    *Yes, that’s a lot of “much later”s, but I’m old.

  127. 127.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 13, 2017 at 12:55 pm

    @Jeffro:

    Trump replacing the 50-year traditional inaugural parade announcer, Trump firing the head of the National Guard, RT beeping in on C-SPAN for a test run…it’s getting a little weird here, folks.

    raven’s and cope’s and Humboldtblue’s beautiful photos notwithstanding, the phrase that keeps going through my mind is “bad moon rising.”

  128. 128.

    jake the antisoshul soshulist

    January 13, 2017 at 12:56 pm

    @Yarrow:
    It is possible that Chuck Todd and Mickey Kaus share proclivities and possibly the same partner.
    Inquiring minds want to know. And it would certainly be irresponsible nor to speculate.

  129. 129.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 13, 2017 at 12:56 pm

    @John M. Burt:

    That is beautiful. Thank you.

  130. 130.

    Jeffro

    January 13, 2017 at 12:56 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Saw that on Twitter, along with someone’s speculation that Trump wants a new commander in place to deal more harshly with demonstrators, including the Women’s March the next day, which I’ll be attending with my sister, daughter and friend. My money’s on spite, though. Plus, the current commander is a black man, right? Maybe that’s reason enough.

    Madness. I don’t even want to think about how Trump/Bannon want the National Guard to treat 1200 busloads of mostly female peaceful protestors…although at a minimum, I’m certain they will find all kinds of inconveniences if not outright barriers and blockades.

    I want everyone to be safe down there, but if Trump thinks he’s going to have 1200 buses re-routed to some far-away section of DC (or turned back at the city limits), the blowback’s going to be tremendous.

  131. 131.

    Jeffro

    January 13, 2017 at 12:57 pm

    @Yarrow: I believe there will be an interim commander until the current one is replaced. Who knows what the interim guy’s going to be told to do (per #130 above)

  132. 132.

    hovercraft

    January 13, 2017 at 12:57 pm

    @Brachiator:
    Nah, the short grain Chinese rice, sushi rice. I always wonder why the Chinese rice all has Japanese names. We usually buy the Nishiki. The kids are so used to it, they refuse to eat any of the long grain American rice.

  133. 133.

    Yarrow

    January 13, 2017 at 12:58 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Well, to be fair, Idaho is probably at greater risk from terrorism than some other states. Of course it’s white terrorism, so….

  134. 134.

    artem1s

    January 13, 2017 at 12:59 pm

    @Weaselone:

    I still don’t get the continued focus on Hillary.

    Twitler thought the job was winning. He thinks he won. He can’t comprehend that there is actually work that has to be done. He can’t comprehend why everyone doesn’t love him now. He can’t comprehend that more people actually preferred Her and fervently wish he was gone. He can’t comprehend why everyone was in tears yesterday over a black man awarding a medal to a white man. A medal he will never be awarded unless he gives it to himself. He fully understands that Hillary is likely to be voted the most admired woman in the world again this year, for the 25th+ time in her life, and he is never, ever going to be as admired as she is.

    He can’t comprehend that he is the very definition of a clueless loser.

  135. 135.

    If a Tree Falls

    January 13, 2017 at 12:59 pm

    My pick for Trump’s inaugural ball song would be “Were You Born an Asshole” by David Alan Cole.

  136. 136.

    Betty Cracker

    January 13, 2017 at 1:00 pm

    @John M. Burt: That is very sweet! I’m glad you found each other!

  137. 137.

    hovercraft

    January 13, 2017 at 1:05 pm

    @Weaselone:
    It’s always the people in places that are the least likely to be hit who are the most terrified. Here in the godless lands we just go on with our lives, we know it’s possible, but so is getting run over by a cab.

  138. 138.

    ruemara

    January 13, 2017 at 1:05 pm

    @Belafon: Oh. They’ll be in power forever then.

  139. 139.

    Mel

    January 13, 2017 at 1:05 pm

    @Yarrow:
    Agreed. I can see it turning into a nightmarish blend of low-rent Cirque du Soleil, cheesy early 80s rock video, and over the top Renaissance Faire. Mimes in Uncle Sam costumes? Sure. Fifteen foot wide Disco balls, and cannons shooting gold confetti?
    Can’t hurt! Rockettes clad in Red Sonja outfits augmented with flamethrower bullet bras? Why the hell not?
    A witch ducking booth? Always a crowd pleaser!! Keeps the kiddies busy! Just $5 a throw, folks!!

    I laugh because otherwise I’d weep endlessly…

  140. 140.

    Jeffro

    January 13, 2017 at 1:06 pm

    @artem1s: re: Trump

    He can’t comprehend that more people actually preferred Her and fervently wish he was gone.

    I do think on some level he wishes he had lost in the primaries and was now back being a reality-show idiot with all its perks instead of…well…people hearing about his golden fetishes.

    He can’t comprehend why everyone was in tears yesterday over a black man awarding a medal to a white man. A medal he will never be awarded unless he gives it to himself.

    I’m sure in his mind, it was just one Dem clown giving it to another clown. Wouldn’t surprise me if he gave Pence one a week into the administration, just for spite.

    He fully understands that Hillary is likely to be voted the most admired woman in the world again this year, for the 25th+ time in her life, and he is never, ever going to be as admired as she is.

    Well her, and Obama, and everyone & everything that’s good (and gets recognized for it). He decided a long time ago that he must not be worthy of adulation and set out to prove it.

  141. 141.

    rikyrah

    January 13, 2017 at 1:08 pm

    Commanding general of D.C. National Guard to be removed from post
    By Peter Hermann and Aaron C. Davis
    January 13 at 11:08 AM

    The head of the D.C. National Guard, Maj. Gen. Errol R. Schwartz, said Friday that he has been ordered removed from his command effective Jan. 20, 12:01 p.m., just as Donald Trump is sworn in as president.

    Schwartz’s forced departure will come in the midst of the presidential inauguration that he has spent months helping plan alongside D.C. police, the U.S. Secret Service and other top District officials. He will turn over command to an interim as power transfers from one president to the next, and just before the inaugural parade marches down Pennsylvania Avenue.

    “The timing is extremely unusual,” Schwartz said in an interview Friday morning, confirming a memo announcing his ouster that was obtained by The Washington Post. During the inauguration, Schwartz would command not only the members of the D.C. guard but also an additional 5,000 unarmed troops sent in from across the country to help. He also would oversee military air support protecting the nation’s capital during the inauguration.

    “My troops will be on the street,” Schwartz, 65, said. “I’ll see them off but I won’t be able to welcome them back to the armory.” He said that he would “never plan to leave a mission in the middle of a battle.”

    Schwartz said he would oversee duties in a command center and then depart at 12:01 p.m., retiring from the Army.

    Schwartz said that he has been swamped with inauguration duties and packing up four decades’ worth of papers and accumulated items, and has not yet been able to inform District officials, including the mayor and the chair of the D.C. Council. Unlike in states, where the governor appoints the National Guard commander, in the District that duty falls to the president.

  142. 142.

    hovercraft

    January 13, 2017 at 1:13 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:
    They’ve always been susceptible to fear, “reds under the bed” played much better in the hinterlands than it did in the cities. People in the cities knew communists, they were just people in the neighborhood who saw the world differently than you did, no big deal. After 9/11 the people of NY and DC pulled together and got on with their lives, red America crawled under the covers and they keep crawling back under every time someone says boo!

  143. 143.

    rikyrah

    January 13, 2017 at 1:13 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Saw that on Twitter, along with someone’s speculation that Trump wants a new commander in place to deal more harshly with demonstrators, including the Women’s March the next day

    Oh, the visuals of that will be brilliant…beating up on women.

  144. 144.

    3Jane Tessier-Ashpool (a/k/a Lorinda Pike)

    January 13, 2017 at 1:18 pm

    @cosima: ‘Muricans don’t want yogurt, they want pudding. Personally I like the plain, unflavored Icelandic stuff – skyr – which I add whatever I want to it. (It’s kind of pricey, but I’ve learned to make a decent imitation.) To say it’s “tangy” is putting it mildly, but it tastes the way yogurt should taste. Not puddingly at all.

    But I also like 85% cacao chocolate…

  145. 145.

    trollhattan

    January 13, 2017 at 1:18 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    KLAVR!

  146. 146.

    catclub

    January 13, 2017 at 1:19 pm

    I just read a quiz in The Week that said Trump has at least $1B in debts. Why have I never read that before?

  147. 147.

    NotMax

    January 13, 2017 at 1:20 pm

    @If a Tree Falls

    Runners-up:

    Henry Rollins’ I’m A Liar
    The Knickerbockers’ Lies.
    The Castaways’ Liar, Liar
    The Thompson Twins’ Lies

  148. 148.

    Brachiator

    January 13, 2017 at 1:20 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    I’ve stopped reading the many articles of that type on the grounds that it’s probably unhealthy for me to wish swarming bedbug infestations, severe gum disease and acute crotch rot on complete strangers.

    Understandable.

    I run across Trump supporters now and then, some of whom are eager to discuss their support for him. And I am still willing to engage them, and to listen to their rationale for voting for Trump. I also have no problem with bursting some of their ideological bubbles.

  149. 149.

    Betty Cracker

    January 13, 2017 at 1:28 pm

    @Brachiator: The Trumpsters whose acquaintance I can’t escape (relatives, neighbors, etc.) seem strangely eager to justify their vote to me too, as if they can regain my respect. They can’t — not unless they admit their mistake.

  150. 150.

    Weaselone

    January 13, 2017 at 1:31 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Except it’s not all Americans. As noted in a couple of responses below, fear of terrorism appears to be inversely related to one’s risk of actually being the victim of a terrorist attack. It’s not Bostonians, New Yorkers and the residents of Dearborn, MI who are collectively pissing their pants over Syrian immigrants and Muslims.

  151. 151.

    Yarrow

    January 13, 2017 at 1:32 pm

    @Betty Cracker: If they’re explaining and want your approval that means they know they’ve made a mistake. They want you to absolve them of their mistake. Good for you for holding the line.

    I keep hearing, seeing or reading anecdotes like this that indicate that Trump voters know they made a mistake. Iowa Old Lady had one last night with two guys in Barnes & Noble saying the Russia stuff “didn’t sound like Trump.” it’s a good sign in two ways – the “Russia stuff” has filtered down to regular people and they’re working hard to convince themselves and each other that it isn’t true. At some level they know they’ve been conned, that they’ve made a mistake. And eventually some of them will recognize that at a conscious level. Not all but some. And we can work on those people to vote for Dems.

    Just like your family that want you to absolve their guilt. Don’t do it. Make them own it. Fastest way for them to learn.

  152. 152.

    trollhattan

    January 13, 2017 at 1:33 pm

    @NotMax:
    Medley, as sung by Joe Wilson.

  153. 153.

    Brachiator

    January 13, 2017 at 1:35 pm

    @rikyrah:

    The head of the D.C. National Guard, Maj. Gen. Errol R. Schwartz, said Friday that he has been ordered removed from his command effective Jan. 20, 12:01 p.m., just as Donald Trump is sworn in as president.

    Trump has this fetish for wanting to remove as much of the previous government as he can when he takes office.

    To the greatest degree possible, he wants to create a new America. A Trump America. And it starts promptly after he becomes president.

    Seven days until the new order.

  154. 154.

    hovercraft

    January 13, 2017 at 1:37 pm

    @Brachiator: @Betty Cracker:
    I give the few I’ve encountered about a minute before I try to see if they are reachable, or too far gone to bother with. As @Yarrow: says, if they are trying to justify, they know they fucked up, and they are now trying to pre-but his awfulness.

  155. 155.

    catclub

    January 13, 2017 at 1:43 pm

    From the Atlantic:

    A Woman Was Killed By a Superbug Resistant to All 26 American Antibiotics

    She won’t be the last.
    Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria
    Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria, the same species that killed the Nevada woman CDC

    Sarah Zhang 6:00 AM ET Health

    Text Size

    Like ​The Atlantic? Subscribe to ​the Daily​, our free weekday email newsletter.

    Yesterday morning, I published a story about the silent spread of resistance against the antibiotic of last resort, colistin—a major step toward the emergence of a superbug resistant to all antibiotics. While reporting this story, I interviewed Alex Kallen, an epidemiologist at the CDC, and I asked if anyone had found such a superbug yet. “Funny you should ask,” he said.

    Funny—by which we all mean scary—

  156. 156.

    catclub

    January 13, 2017 at 1:47 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    seem strangely eager to justify their vote to me too, as if they can regain my respect.

    Barney Frank, in his autobiography, says that the last thing X wants to hear, when you have voted against his bill, is why
    you are right about the bill and X is wrong to have supported the bill in the first place.

    Especially if X is usually an ally. They (we) do not want to hear any justifications.

  157. 157.

    1,000 Flouncing Lurkers (was fidelioscabinet)

    January 13, 2017 at 1:48 pm

    @Weaselone: You don’t have HairForce One’s preoccupations with status and recognition–or even simple attention form an audience, willing or otherwise, so you’re disadvantaged in comprehending the main reason he keeps yelping about Hillary and others–people he considers competition, people he feels have publically disrespected him, people who have failed to give him the positive reinforcement he craves.
    Just as my dog is a bottomless pit for beef trimmings, this man is a bottomless pit for attention, personal or public, and his ability to obtain it without making a complete ass of himself (never a really strong point for him anyway) is deteriorating as he ages.

  158. 158.

    Mel

    January 13, 2017 at 2:13 pm

    @John M. Burt:

    It’s this that makes the fight worth it even when things get so very, very difficult. Fifteen years into an awful chronic illness and the harsh side effects of the steroids and chemo type meds used to try to control it, sometimes I can hardly recognize myself. But my dearest one still looks at me and sees the me inside, not the broken down parts. He is the strongest, gentlest, kindest person I have ever known.

    Be sure to tell your sweetheart those beautiful thiings that you feel about her. Tell her everyday. And truly hear her when she tells you that you are the very same light to her that she is to you. She means it.

  159. 159.

    Brachiator

    January 13, 2017 at 2:20 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    The Trumpsters whose acquaintance I can’t escape (relatives, neighbors, etc.) seem strangely eager to justify their vote to me too, as if they can regain my respect. They can’t — not unless they admit their mistake.

    Fortunately, I don’t have any relatives who are Trump supporters, and even my immediate neighbors are sane.

    But I suspect that people will not admit their mistake until Trump actually starts governing, if then. And there are still plenty of people I run across who just can’t wait for the new and improved Trump Nation to get running. And what they most love about Trump is how he has thrown out the rules on ethics, transparency, precedent and tradition. More than racial resentment or economic discomfort, some people tingle at the idea that Trump will exercise power absent any restraint. These people have an infantile fantasy that there can be a benign despot, a patriotic demagogue, that rules are for suckers when you need to roll up your sleeves and get the job done. They still don’t see that Trump is playing them.

  160. 160.

    bemused

    January 13, 2017 at 2:42 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Not to lump all those ubiquitous coffee klatch crews into one deplorable basket but the table of Trump voters from the excerpt sound typical from what I’ve observed locally. They’re older, white crotchety men, many retired, “hazy on the details” but think they know everything. I’m sick of hearing about the old coots and their opinions. Once they make their mind up about something without spending even an ounce of energy researching facts and details of an issue supposedly very important to them, they’ll stick with it come hell or high water. Sheer cussedness.

  161. 161.

    Alce_e_ardilla

    January 13, 2017 at 2:54 pm

    @Weaselone: Hillary hate is what drives his base. He will fall back on it until it no longer works, and maybe not even then
    .

  162. 162.

    satby

    January 13, 2017 at 3:13 pm

    @John M. Burt: That’s a beautiful tribute to your wife!

  163. 163.

    satby

    January 13, 2017 at 3:19 pm

    @Mel: and that’s so beautiful too!
    So happy to know there are couples like you all in the world.

  164. 164.

    Brachiator

    January 13, 2017 at 3:30 pm

    @bemused:

    Once they make their mind up about something without spending even an ounce of energy researching facts and details of an issue supposedly very important to them, they’ll stick with it come hell or high water. Sheer cussedness.

    Actually, Iowa has been surprisingly volatile as far as presidential elections are concerned.

    2004: Bush barely edged out Kerry, 49.9 percent to 49.2 percent

    2008 and 2012. Obama won comfortably over Republican challengers, winning by more than 50 percent in both elections.

    2016. Trump won substantially over Clinton, 51.1 percent to 41.7 percent.

    There was also evident gender resentment against Clinton. 64 percent of white men voted for Trump vs only 31 percent for Clinton. A plurality of white women voted for Clinton, 49 percent vs 46 percent. In 2012, 42 per cent of white men and 58 percent of white women voted for Obama.

    I also don’t think the Table gang tells the whole story, not by a long shot.

  165. 165.

    cope

    January 13, 2017 at 3:45 pm

    @raven: Yeah, as an astronomy teacher, I get a lot of questions from my students about “super moons” and “blood moons” and such. It gets tedious to be answering the same old questions over and over again but I hope (I hope) they are learning something in the process. Sometimes, the most beautiful opportunities for a good moon picture are totally unrelated to what phase it is or how close it is.

  166. 166.

    Lizzy L

    January 13, 2017 at 4:06 pm

    NYT:

    The House joined the Senate on Friday in laying the groundwork for speedy action to repeal the Affordable Care Act, approving the budget blueprint passed by the Senate on Thursday that would allow Republicans to tear up the health care law without the prospect of a Senate filibuster. The House vote, coming a week before President-elect Donald J. Trump’s inauguration, places Republicans squarely in position to fulfill their long-held desire to dismantle President Obama’s signature domestic achievement.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/13/us/politics/affordable-care-act-senate-budget.html?emc=edit_na_20170113&nlid=20900995&ref=cta

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