Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

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

Battle won, war still ongoing.

I really should read my own blog.

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

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

You are here: Home / Politics / America / Breaking News: Protestors and Police Clash in DC

Breaking News: Protestors and Police Clash in DC

by | 212 Comments

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I’ve pulled the Pericles post because a small group of masked protestors is clashing with the DC police. This is off the parade route. MSNBC is reporting three officers injured and at least 95 protestors have been arrested.

I’ll update as more information becomes available.

Updated at 2:45 PM EDT

And by contrast, sparse crowds of folks not protesting:

Stay Frosty.

Reader Interactions

212Comments

  6. 6.

    The Moar You Know

    @Mike in NC: Dude, that is not resistance, that’s a bunch of pissed off cops/FBI/Breitbarters, all Trump supporters, trying to make “liberals” look bad by starting some shit in front of the cameras. False Flag 101 operation.

  10. 10.

    bemused

    I suppose it’s too much to hope that James O’Keefe is in this brawl. Even if he had a hand in instigating anything, he’d be long gone before things got rough.

  12. 12.

    Trentrunner

    These hooligans’ violence and property damaging won’t matter because I know we can count on Trump and the MSM not to conflate the millions of peaceful protesters and these half-dozen dickwads

  13. 13.

    MazeDancer

    Guys in all-black suits with face masks? Doing their best to create made-for-camera melee. Not exactly Dems looking to support Constitution.

    Feels like Bannon working the Martial Law plan. Or an excuse to cut parade route short so it won’t be so obvious how small the crowd is. And let Trump keep railing against American carnage.

  14. 14.

    trollhattan

    @Adam L Silverman:
    It’s a long haul from the East Bay but they’ve had awhile to plan. If them I’m happy they’re nowhere near the California Capitol for tomorrow’s women’s march. They’ve already done their dirty work here.

  15. 15.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Was wondering downstairs where the Prince of Tyre wandered off to. Hope you’ll put the post back up at a more appropriate time.

    What is meant by “masked” protesters? Like full-face Anonymous/Guy Fawkes masks or balaclavas or surgical masks?

  17. 17.

    Chris

    Do we have any confirmation that the people breaking shit are actually anti-Trump? It’s perfectly plausible and even likely that they’re Black Bloc types. I’d just like some kind of confirmation.

  18. 18.

    Adam L Silverman

    @trollhattan: Not sure if its the same group, but most likely similar folks/fellow travelers. Unfortunately all this does is play into Trump’s rhetorical hands.

  19. 19.

    The Moar You Know

    How do you know that?

    @cervantes: Just an educated guess. When I lived in the Bay Area, every protest for ANYTHING was chock full of undercover cops urging people to break shit and set stores on fire, and if nobody would do it they’d do it themselves.

    ETA: usually the Black Bloc rich kids brigade would happily take up the challenge, but they stayed away from protests like BLM (they were a known quantity and would get their asses kicked) and so the cops would just do it themselves.

  20. 20.

    JerryN

    My money is on black bloc or wannabes. I’m only hoping that they don’t come out to play again tomorrow during the Women’s March.

  24. 24.

    Dave C

    @Chris:
    Guys like this have been at, and marred, pretty much every protest I’ve ever been to. I don’t think they’re anti- or pro-Trump. They just want to break some shit.

  25. 25.

    JPL

    I just read the Brokaw on NBC said that it wasn’t much of a protest compared to 1968.
    It makes good news, and it will be enough for Trump to crack down on peaceful protests. imo

  26. 26.

    Gin & Tonic

    Well, I know Manafort has extensive experience with hiring more-or-less untraceable goons to disrupt peaceful protests.

  27. 27.

    goblue72

    @The Moar You Know: False flag garbage by undercover “law enforcement” still at it in Bay Area. Last protest I attended in Oakland (maybe a year ago or so) there were some blindingly obvious undercover cops trying to foment vandalism and violence. Thankfully a few protestors picked up on it and stood in front of them yelling to the crowd to ignore them.

    Will see what happens tomorrow in Oakland at the march.

  33. 33.

    OGLiberal

    Like somebody said, probably anarchist arsenecks. But will get lumped together with the left. But anarchists don’t want any government whereas I thought the left supported big government.

    Regardless, plays right into the autocrats hand. Jerks.

  34. 34.

    Dave C

    @? Martin:
    Many of them are not protesting. They’re rioting. They do so because they’re assholes. Protests just happen to be convenient places to successfully create havoc without necessarily being caught.

  35. 35.

    Ohio Mom

    I can just hear my two newspaper staff in-laws in my mind’s ear, based on previous conversations with them: “We can’t say it’s a false flag operation because we don’t know that. All we can say is that they are protesting Trump because that is what the police are telling us.”

    “Uh, you can’t mention that historically a lot of these sorts of things have indeed been false flag operations?”

    “No, because we don’t have a source for that.”

  36. 36.

    SatanicPanic

    Who cares? If they didn’t do this, Trump would just make it up. No point in hand-wringing.

  39. 39.

    Chris

    @OGLiberal:

    I have no particular problem with anarchists being put on the left. It’s not *good* left, but not everyone on our side of the aisle is. Just, in this country, most people. (The nastier strands of leftist thought never got much traction here).

    I also would say that the automatic association of “left” with “big government” is questionable, though the right loves to push the narrative. In some places, certainly, but when it comes to a lot of matters of personal mores, many on the left are small government as fuck. And also generally much less “big government” than the right when it comes to the military and security states.

  40. 40.

    Spanky

    Well, the CNN website is all about the “protest”, and not so much about the *president.

    Also too:” Melania Trump channels Jackie O”, but I ain’t clicking. Oh CNN! Don’t ever change.

  42. 42.

    JPL

    D.C. police chief: Small group, “maybe a couple hundred,” causing chaos downtown. “Literally thousands of others” peacefully demonstrating

  48. 48.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Gin & Tonic: I’m counting you among the people who saw all this coming when Manafort joined the team – in terms of behavior/planning. I’m not sure any of us believed the nightmare that happened could, then. I suspect Bannon has similar contacts.
    @Ohio Mom: My back spasms aren’t going to let me march tomorrow. : (

    Will you take a Bella Q note with you so I can “be” there? I’m be really grateful.

  50. 50.

    Thoroughly Pizzled

    It was going to happen anyway, but now all people opposed to Trump are forever discredited in the eyes of our worthless media. Fun times.

  51. 51.

    Mary G

    They looked straight out of central casting to me. All skinny and white.

    ETA: Jennifer Rubin was scathing.

    There has never and will not be a better Trump. His vision is dark, false and frightening. He leads by stoking nativism, protectionism (which actually makes us poorer) and seething resentment. God help us all.

  53. 53.

    Mai.naem.mobile

    One of Lumpys first executive orders is cancelling the decrease in Fannie Mae loan insurance. From what I saw,it’s going to cost Fannie Mae loan homeowners an extra $500/year. MAGA indeedy. Mofo. Must be Munchkins idea.

  57. 57.

    Gravenstone

    @MazeDancer:

    Feels like Bannon working the Martial Law plan.

    /adjusts tin foil hat accordingly

    Actually, that was my first thought. If this gives authorities the excuse they need to halt, or greatly curtail tomorrow’s primary site Women’s March, then it makes sense.

    Of course, it can just as easily be anarchist morons out for their cheap thrills. A lot will depend on who is apprehended and the resulting investigations.

  61. 61.

    ? Martin

    @Mai.naem.mobile: Fannie Mae primarily deals with mortgages of $425K and below (conforming). So anyone with the means for a more expensive home is almost certainly not affected. So, basically just fucking over the middle/working class with that move.

  65. 65.

    gratuitous

    Whoa, that little bit of tape posted by Katy Tur should probably be enough to get her off the White House beat for the entirety of the Trump administration. Well played.

  67. 67.

    ArchTeryx

    Great, my first attempt at a comment got eaten. There are times I really hate the BJ commenting system, especially when I have to bounce back and forth from the keyboard to RL.

    Adam: I need your email address. I also wanted to ask exactly which of my CVs you wanted – I have resumes for bioscience (molecular virology, clinical virology, immunology, mol. biology), museum educator, technical writer, teacher, even office assistant. I’ve been trying to get into a lot of different fields, but face three huge obstacles:

    1) Complete lack of mobility. I’m a couch crasher and have zero dollars to pick up and move to one of the Big Cities just to maybe get a job.
    2) Need of a living-wage job with health insurance. Those are pretty rare these days, and a whole lot rarer at the entry level of any field.
    3) Multiple disabilities, especially the one that has me by the throat, prevent really long (>1 hr) commutes. “Drive until you can afford it” no longer is an option – I just can’t hack it any more.

    Jeffro: I do teach K-12 – I’m a freelance tutor. Problem is I am in NYS, which requires a *specific* education degree *from a NYS University* to get certified for K-12, as well as $400 just to apply. And, as above, I have no mobility just to go to another state to search for work. This is my last stand right here.

  69. 69.

    OGLiberal

    @Chris: I was being sarcastic about the “big government” thing because, as you noted, it’s a go to attack line for the right. The left wants the government to do the things the private sector can’t be trusted to do…and that list is pretty short.

    And to all talking about “false flag”, that’s Alex Jones talk. Please stop. These folks are assholes until proven otherwise. It happens on both sides. The problem is that our media presents violent protestors on the right as patriots or just real Americans just fed up with shit whereas if they are associated with the left they are spoiled, immature, violent elements. Regardless of which side the lean towards they are alway violent elements but until the media stops treating Bundy like shit as a both side issue, we really need to do our best to make sure folks who lean to our side don’t do this. The shit that happened in’68 got us 20 years of Republican presidents only briefly broken up by four years of Carter, which only happened because Nixon was and outright crook that even his party abandoned. Today’s Republicans won’t abandoned this guy and the media will continue to ignore his already obvious examples if corruption, because emails.

  70. 70.

    ArchTeryx

    What the hell? None of my comments are suddenly getting through. I just lost two and I’m out of time to write it a third time. :/

    ETA: They must be on moderation for some godforsaken reason.

  72. 72.

    Gravenstone

    @ArchTeryx: Well, at least one comment slipped through. Perhaps an enterprising front pager can troll through the sundry FYWP back alleys for the remainder?

  73. 73.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @H.E.Wolf: Thank you – and I’ll be honored to be there! I’m feeling much better thanks to meds, but it will take a couple of days on them to knock it down completely. And part of feeling better is being loopy. Thanks much for carrying me.

  78. 78.

    Chip Daniels

    I notice the Tea Party folk never got their panties in a bunch about the presence in their midst of Confedrates, Klansmen, or Neo Nazis.
    Instead our complaints were met with “But I have a black friend and you can’t prove I’m racists so suck it lib!”

    Yeah, the black bloc guys and Guy Fawkes guys and assorted nutjobs will pepper every Trump protest forever.
    No reason to wring our hands; we have enough normal people to make our point.

  79. 79.

    ? Martin

    @? Martin: On that, I would note that one reason why certain parts of California and I assume other markets escaped some of the 2009 housing carnage was that, for example, in my neighborhood there are no homes cheap enough for a conforming mortgage unless you are putting down a massive downpayment. So when the market for buying and selling mortgates through entities like Fannie dried up, it didn’t affect us nearly as much. Sure, prices fell because demand fell, but unlike more reasonably priced markets, there was no impact on the ability to get a mortgage here because they were all non-conforming and weren’t nearly as sensitive to the effect of the mortgage trading market. People in more expensive homes just didn’t get screwed as badly. Now, that wasn’t an intended effect of how the markets were structured (unlike the action today) but it almost certainly shaped how the recovery was handled. Had rich people suffered in the same with, being underwater and having no market to sell a house into, thereby pushing its value even lower, then I think we definitely would have seen much more aggressive calls for action.

  81. 81.

    Quinerly

    A Gay friend of mine just messaged me. All traces of the White House.gov LGBT page has been scrubbed. It’s like it never existed. All references to climate change scrubbed too.

  82. 82.

    Uncle Ebeneezer

    Since the other thread is dead, reposting:

    I was looking into Signal for texting tomorrow during march, but it is asking for credit card CID #? I thought it was a free app? Is that normal? I’m hesitant to give that info.

  84. 84.

    Spanky

    I’m kinda liking this bile-filled Jennifer Rubin:

    Trump’s America is a rotten place

    President Trump delivered a campaign speech, not an inaugural address today. That he and his staff do not understand the difference goes to the heart of his insufficiency as a leader. Addressing a shockingly sparse crowd, he painted a picture of a hellish America that can only be restored by turning inward, deciding the world is a burden and our allies are thieves.

    etc

  88. 88.

    Jeffro

    @Quinerly:

    A Gay friend of mine just messaged me. All traces of the White House.gov LGBT page has been scrubbed. It’s like it never existed. All references to climate change scrubbed too.

    “Reality has a way of asserting itself” – PBO
    Kind of like empty streets at an inauguration, eh? ;)

  90. 90.

    eclare

    @Uncle Ebeneezer: I downloaded it last week to my Android phone, and it did not ask me for a CC#…something is off. I would not do it until you hear something from Major*4.

  91. 91.

    Jeffro

    @Spanky: J-Rubs has been all over his case all last year. I don’t agree with her principles, but I do admire her sticking with those principles when so many on the right have dropped to their knees for Trump.

  94. 94.

    liberal

    A little bird told me that at one government department, the LGBT rights page came down within 25 minutes of inauguration.

  95. 95.

    Dave C

    I heard that Trump signed a bunch of executive orders earlier today. I already know about the FHA one, but is there any info regarding the others?

  99. 99.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Quinerly: Same with the climate, civil rights, and healthcare sections. Apparently the Obama folks have archived it on their own servers. So its all preserved, just no longer at Whitehouse.gov.

  102. 102.

    Quinerly

    @Adam L Silverman:
    Oh, I know it is all preserved. Know the site changes with the presidency. My young Gay friend was just startled and very upset that there is no reference to his community anywhere.

  106. 106.

    Quinerly

    @gratuitous:
    I had missed the update on this original post when I came back here to the comments. Saw the post when it went up and only a few comments at that time. Thanks.

  108. 108.

    ET

    I am only watching to see what the crowd size is like, but why did he get into the limo looking like he was going to a funeral?

  111. 111.

    trollhattan

    @ET:

    but why did he get into the limo looking like he was going to a funeral?

    Technically he is–ours.

  112. 112.

    catclub

    @Quinerly: I have now already gone to ‘obamawhitehouse.org (com?) looking for his 2009 inaugural speech.
    I think that will be where to look for those things.

  113. 113.

    Chris

    @ET:

    Did he? Maybe it’s finally occurred to him that this job might be hard and he hasn’t got a fucking clue what he’s doing.

    Maybe all the stories about how he only got into this as a publicity stunt, never expected it to go this far, and is still shell-shocked on the inside that it has and he doesn’t know what to do are true.

  114. 114.

    ruemara

    I’m concerned that the ACLU is already warning that the DC cops are turning off their body cams for tomorrow.

  116. 116.

    J R in WV

    Well, that NBC video posted by Katy Tur is really swell. They run it sped up a little bit mostly, to get the whole parade route in just over 2 minutes. The place is really deserted, 15% or less of bleachers have someone, anyone. More police/troops than spectators in most of the parade route.

    The comment that each spectator has a private porta-Don is about accurate. I guess they really hoped to get at least a respectable crowd, but not. So proud of the nation to NOT show up for the Don’s show. Didn’t watch the speech, given descriptions, I may need to. Anyone notice how long it ran?

    Notice I’ve coined a new word for toilet? So long for now, I’ve gotta go to the Don…

  118. 118.

    catclub

    here’s a question for Adam or other lawyers. I saw this statement at the WaMonthly Political Animal blog:

    Collusion with a foreign adversary to influence the outcome of the presidential election would certainly meet the standard of a high crime or misdemeanor.

    Which law? I agree this should be against the law, but which law?
    How would adversary be defined? How about influence? Does having Bibi Netanyahu campaign for you qualify? Why or Why not?

    My real suspicion is that this is just norm breaking. There is no actual law stopping this from happening, and if there were, it should have been applied to Romney and Netanyahu.

  120. 120.

    Quinerly

    @catclub:
    Oh, I’m not looking for it. Could find it with no problems. It’s all archived. I was just pointing out how quickly the page was scrubbed and not replaced. My Gay friend is young and scared. It startled him.

  121. 121.

    sam

    I’m going to march in D.C. Tomorrow. Trying to decide if I should bring my Kevlar and armor vest. I’d say the probability of more tomorrow just went up, a lot

  123. 123.

    ArchTeryx

    @Jeffro: I did respond believe it or not to your post a few threads down, but I’m having to duck away from the keyboard frequently, and my response got lost in moderation.

  125. 125.

    Woodrowfan

    @ruemara: actually I read the ACLU asked them to, so they can’t use the cameras to gather intell on protestors. The ACLU will have numerous cameras there recording the cops themselves…

  126. 126.

    clay

    @ET:

    but why did he get into the limo looking like he was going to a funeral?

    Maybe he believed his own bullshit about how UUUUGE his ‘movement’ is, and the lack of attendance slapped him in the face?

    It seems pretty clear that the only part of Presidentin’ he enjoys is riling up crowds. If he can’t do that, then what appeal does this even have for him?

  128. 128.

    Woodrowfan

    @Quinerly: the flip was already to go and is normally done immediately. The lack of LGBT and other issues is alarming though, and not unexpected. Trump interviewed a possible SC nominee who thinks states have every right (and duty) to jail people for having same-sex intercourse.

  129. 129.

    Calouste

    @catclub: For impeachment, “high crimes and misdemeanors” is what the House of Representatives votes that it is. Nothing more, nothing less.

  130. 130.

    sam

    mother Jones has good video, looks to me like the anarchist types came out. Not very surprising.

    Tomorrow will be the big day. I know lots of people (local, D.C. Area) that are going. Didn’t know anyone who went today

  132. 132.

    jake the antisoshul soshulist

    @Comrade Scrutinizer:

    I try to avoid paranoia, but I remember COINTELPRO. It will just be combined with COMPROMAT. Anyone know any former East Germans who can give advice about dealing with the Stasi?

  133. 133.

    p.a.

    Don’t forget, police FBI etc provocation goes back at least to ’60’s, Oakland/Panthers etc. Remember the cop who got caught infiltrating a Quaker antiwar group in Bush 2 admin? Quakers!

  134. 134.

    Adam L Silverman

    @ArchTeryx: I freed it. It appears in the comments up above. I sent you an email to the address you use to post here, did you get it?

  135. 135.

    ET

    Fox TV crew made a comment that in their area the crowd looked sparse. What crowd there is may have a hard time seeking past the phalanx of law enforcement I see in some places.

  136. 136.

    GregB

    This is already seeming to be the worst case of buyers remorse ever.

    The Trump team will end up making George W’s Iraq set up look downright competent.

    Imperial Life, Escape from DC Edition.

  137. 137.

    Quinerly

    @Woodrowfan:
    #127. I’m aware of the “flip” from transition to transition. I guess my point was LGBT rights didn’t seem to be a big deal for Trump during the campaign. Actually, he made a point of saying marriage equality was settled law. And yes, I know about Pence and his views and some SC possibles on that Heritage Foundation list.

  140. 140.

    debit

    @Pogonip: Walter is the same. He still has a good appetite, is excited to see me when I get home, still getting up on the couch when he thinks I don’t know. His next appointment is mid Feb for another set of xrays to see how much the cancer has spread/how much more bone density has been lost. We’re just taking it day by day and making sure he gets lots of treats.

  141. 141.

    ArchTeryx

    Yep, sometimes I hate the BJ commenting system, particularly the speed in which threads die and new ones reappear, since I am constantly back and forth from the keyboard it’s tough to keep up. Here goes.

    @Adam L Silverman: I did send out my resume and CV, as well as a sample cover letter. You got the full package. The skills list and cover letter tends to change depending on the individual position.

    I’ve been trying to wear a whole lot of hats but there’s four very big obstacles in my way, that’s put me in this situation:

    1) Lack of mobility. I’m basically a couch-crasher with a friend at this point, and can’t just pack up and move, say, to Boston or SF on the premise of *maybe* getting a job. If a job offered relocation, yes. Otherwise, Albany, NY is pretty much my last stand.

    2) Need for a job that comes with non-junk health insurance and pays enough to afford rent. Those are pretty rare these days, and a whole lot rarer at the entry level.

    3) The usual problem of trying to convince someone outside of my main field that I’m not either a) overqualified or b) have the skills to actually do the job over the folks with actual experience in the field.

    4) My disabilities, particularly the physical one. “Drive until you can afford it” is a luxury I no longer can afford; commutes >1 hr are simply a no-go at this point. Tried it in D.C. for a few years just under the 1 hour mark, and after 3 years I basically had to call it quits.

    @Jeffro: I do teach K-12, I’m a freelance private tutor. However, living in NYS, the only way I get a teaching cert for K-12 is get another master’s degree from a state university *in education*, and I don’t have $400 to throw away just to be told I don’t qualify for cert. Plus, 1) above – can’t just relo to a state with less nasty cert requirements to maybe get a job 6 months down the road.

  142. 142.

    El Caganer

    Shit. I’m one of those unfortunates who doesn’t have a teevee. Missed all the hijinx of the Urination Coronation.

  143. 143.

    liberal

    @Calouste: yes. House gets to define it, and Senate gets to try it. There’s absolutely no requirement that an actual statute has to be violated.

  151. 151.

    Pogonip

    @ArchTeryx: How much, in money and time, does a master’s degree cost? Can you do any ordinary jobs, like a guard who sits at the door and looks at employee badges? Restaurant work would probably be too strenuous for you.

  152. 152.

    Adam L Silverman

    @catclub: High Crimes and Misdemeanors is not a legal term, rather its foundational/constitutional language that is up to the interpretation of the Congress and reinterpretation from Congress to Congress. They are, essentially, whatever Congress decides they are.

  153. 153.

    Quinerly

    While we are on the subject of the new Whitehouse.gov site, Maddow just reported that Melania’s QVC site is mentioned on the new site. Didn’t we just go through this crap re the transition site? They still can’t or won’t get it right.

  154. 154.

    ArchTeryx

    @Pogonip: Pretty much ANY low-wage job wouldn’t work. My disability involves needing quick and unlimited access to a bathroom. I’ve yet to see the low-wage job that didn’t severely limit bathroom breaks, and wouldn’t fire you for taking one without permission.

    I worked in the state Tax and Finance Dept. for a couple of peak seasons because, bluntly put, they didn’t put up barriers to me using a bathroom. But this year, they tried to put me in the call center, and the MOMENT the CC found out about my disability, they withdrew their job offer on the spot.

    And a Master’s Degree would cost me way more in money then I have, and I already have $50K in student loans from the other three degrees. Getting a fourth degree to *maybe* get a job at the end is a nonstarter.

  155. 155.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @The Moar You Know:

    ETA: usually the Black Bloc rich kids brigade would happily take up the challenge, but they stayed away from protests like BLM (they were a known quantity and would get their asses kicked) and so the cops would just do it themselves.

    The protest is tomorrow, so likely it’s the Black Bock thinking it’s safe.

  157. 157.

    Yoda Dog

    I love how noone came out to the inauguration because they’re all supposedly too busy with important big-boy-and-girl jobs unlike us ‘lazy, moocher’ dems but at the same time I’m supposed to be touching all their feels because they supposedly have it so terribly that they just had to go out en masse and vote for a psychopathic toddler to blow up the system. Those two things don’t go together, guys, sorry.

  159. 159.

    mai naem mobile

    @J R in WV: I don’t know if you saw this last week but the company providing the portapotties for the inauguration was called Dons Johns and they had to hurry up and cover the Dons Johns signs on all their portapotties.

  160. 160.

    Timurid

    @liberal:

    He’s not going to bomb Iran. He’s not going to go on any foreign adventures. If and when he gets us involved in some international crisis, it will be through neglect, not aggression. Trump will wage war, but it won’t be on foreign soil. He’s not an old-school Cold Warrior. He’s not a neoconservative. He doesn’t want to fight Russia, China, Al Qaeda or the Axis of Evil. His real enemies are Those People.

    Part of the rationale for his cooperation with Russia (and, by extension, all of the bad actors and potential threats who are allied with or beholden to them) is that it buys him peace abroad while he focuses on his domestic agenda. Which will consist mostly of stigginit, by any means necessary. There may be a buildup… expensive toys and the contracts to build same are good for rewarding friends and all around grifting… but the military will be kept busy on its bases training for invasions and worst case scenarios that will never happen, or off in Kyrgyzstan or somewhere guarding very important rocks. Anything to distract them from the horrors going on Stateside…

  161. 161.

    Peale

    @Quinerly: Actually he did not say it was settled law. He said that he would appoint judges to over turn it. He can’t make it an issue because marriage and LGBT in the military are still popular, but the plan is clearly to roll things back. How far back is up to the courts. How much the rollback sticks after he is gone depends on how much support LGBT people will have during the next transition.

  167. 167.

    ET

    Of course he gets out near the hotel. And anyone want to bet that there is going to be a photo of him with the hotel in the background before he got back into the limo.

  168. 168.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @ruemara: The ACLU supports this, so that protestors don’t feel stifled by being filmed when they’re just protesting and not in an interaction with law enforcement. Given the tone of this regime, I’m actually cool with that.

    ETA: Or, what Woodrowfan already said.

  171. 171.

    Mai.naem.mobile

    @Yoda Dog: I heard somebody say FOX was getting its audience prepared for low turnout due to brave manly man RWgrs being scared of hippy dippy hippies and blackity black protestors getting violent.

  172. 172.

    jonas

    @Chris: Not for someone in such thrall to the Dunning-Krueger effect. He’s probably already convinced himself that he just addressed the largest crowd ever assembled in human history, gave a speech that has already eclipsed the Gettysburg Address in the annals of American oratory, and that the lame MSM is actively covering up his 96% approval rating. Even more people would have come, but some stupid general nixed his idea for a Red Square/May Day style military parade with cool tanks n’ shit.

  174. 174.

    jonas

    @Mai.naem.mobile: I’ve been reading this too: the official Talking Point is that evil librul protesters scared off the hundreds of thousands of attendees who were arriving to watch the inaugural. Sad!

  176. 176.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Thoroughly Pizzled: I think you’re generalizing. All of us who are anti-Trump are not tainted by a few rioters. And protests aren’t going away. Trump needs to be resisted every day he’s in office. It’s just unfortunate that a few rioters get the spotlight when thousands are protesting peacefully.

  177. 177.

    Lyrebird

    @ArchTeryx: Got no answers, just sending good wishes. Part of how I ended up teaching at the univ. level instead of K-12 is because I could get funded all the way through the doc instead of racking up tens of thousands of debt for NYS teaching requirements. And I do not know where I will be teaching next year, and right now I’m visiting BJ to escape from another rewrite of my teaching statement.

    Wish I had some answers!

  178. 178.

    randy khan

    @J R in WV:

    A big chunk of the parade route is near where I work (when my office isn’t shut down because it’s inside the no-cars perimeter – and, in fact, I think the nearest Metro station also was shut down today), and the total number of people I have seen in photos taken in that area looks to be fewer than you’d see there on a normal Friday at this time. The parade is a total bust.

    Any word on whether the Donald’s big flyovers got cancelled because of the low ceiling? That would be funny, too.

  180. 180.

    randy khan

    @sam:

    I’d skip it – this looks like a standard lefty protest with a lot of chanting and some singing. The anarchists seem to have decided today was their day.

  181. 181.

    Quinerly

    @Peale:
    #162 Not looking for an argument. But it is well documented. Google “Trump says marriage equality settled law.” Numerous articles. I don’t have time to beat this to death. I think it first came up in that controversial Chris Matthews interview. He wouldn’t admit Roe vs Wade was settled law but was dismissive of any roll back on marriage equality. Now with that said, I don’t trust anything he says or has said.

  182. 182.

    Another Scott

    @Quinerly: It’s quite likely that Donnie is just going to be a figurehead. He doesn’t know what people below him are doing. His cabinet nominees contradicted him in their Senate testimony. His spokesmodels contradict him when they talk to the press.

    I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Donnie continues his tweeting and having his Victory Rallies and spending the next 2+ years giving his campaign speeches over and over, telling how much of a loser Crooked Hillary™ and Lying Ted™ are, talking about how everyone loves him and how everything is going great, and how America First™ will make the other 95% of the planet cower in fear, and all the rest. In the meantime, Pence and McConnell and Ryan will try ram through whatever they want. Since Donnie doesn’t read anything of substance and has to have his kids interpret everything for him, he’ll sign whatever he’s told to sign and be happy.

    Because he’ll be on top and everyone will say yes and continue to do what he tells them, like they always have.

    They won’t really, of course, but he won’t know the difference.

    Everybody wins, but Donnie wins bigly!!

    :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  185. 185.

    OGLiberal

    @Another Scott: I think this exactly right. Trump has no ideology outside of Trump. He doesn’t care or know about shit that has nothing to do with that. Stroke his ego and you’ll get whatever you want. Given the current composition of Congress, that is frightening. I’m pretty certain Trump doesn’t care about re-election either – he’ll be bored with all of this in about 30-days – so he won’t even care about signing stuff that’s unpopular with voters.

    In other words, we have President Ryan and his capo Mike Pence running the shot with a cruel but effective political operator as Senate Majority Leader. Fun times.

    Oh, and wel’ll get Scalia squared as our 9th Scotus member with maybe another 1 to 2 depending on how well the older liberal member hold up during these next four-years. And yes, it will be at least four-years, even if it’s not Trump for all four.

  187. 187.

    Quinerly

    Il Dem Rep just tweeted that she looked at the label of one of her GOP colleague’s Trump hats given out today. It was made in China.

  188. 188.

    Suzanne

    @bemused: Paul Ryan is a dangerous snake in the grass, and I hope we don’t lose sight of that shit because we keep getting distracted by Agent Orange.

  189. 189.

    liberal

    @Timurid:

    He’s not going to bomb Iran.

    I didn’t mean it as “he will bomb Iran.” I meant it as, if he pulls enough neocon shit, JRubin will get on board.

    I hear what you’re saying about Trump’s own preferences. But—like so much with Trump—it depends on how much he outsources to his picks. Flynn is a nutjob on that stuff, and even Mattis is on record as saying “Iran is not an enemy of ISIS”.

    IMHO the odds of attacking Iran are low, but they’re not zero.

  190. 190.

    Shalimar

    That Katy Tur video, I have seen much bigger crowds at Mardi Gras parades in Mobile, AL that were estimated at 85-100k.

  192. 192.

    Chris

    @liberal:

    Agreed. This is one area where it’ll be interesting to see how his Putin love will affect things. The American right wing’s hate-on for Iran is if anything even stronger than it is for Cuba, but it’s a buddy of Russia, which is Trump’s new BFF. On the other hand, Trump may just think losing Iran is a very acceptable loss for gaining America.

  193. 193.

    Elie

    @Another Scott:
    I think there will be chaos and confusion. He will give confusing directions and contradict himself and his minions. It will be disastrous to foreign and economic policy. He will not just be a figurehead. His ego will not allow it. His regime will be riven by factions and confusion

  194. 194.

    trollhattan

    Just watched the route video. Heh, it’s like Black Friday and nobody can figure out which way to WalMart. Sad! #PresidentAnywayYouLosers

  196. 196.

    Another Scott

    @Elie: There’s certainly that downside of not having the US government speak with one voice and have sensible adults running the place.

    Seriously, it is indeed extremely dangerous for Donnie and his team to be so incompetent and stupid about reality.

    Last May the DPRK ran an editorial praising Donnie. Maybe they were helping his team too. ;-)

    Lately, they’ve been more belligerent, of course. Who knows what other mischief (besides the ICBM test that is seemingly imminent) they have in mind to try to provoke and humiliate him. I have no confidence that he won’t make things worse there.

    :-(

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  197. 197.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Quinerly: Hey, I missed the chance to follow up this morning. The drive between Torrey and Bryce (are you going north or south?) is really spectacular, but there are some stretches where it’s very exposed, and in March could be difficult. It’s paved all the way, but it can still be pretty hairy. Boulder is pretty much the middle of nowhere, and I don’t think you find any services at all until Route 89.

  199. 199.

    dance around in your bones

    Whatever happened with the ‘Don’s John’s’ portapotty duct tape coverup? (If anything…)
    Anyone hear if the logo got covered up/ripped off? See, my mind’s on important stuff like that.

  200. 200.

    gene108

    @Quinerly:

    Il Dem Rep just tweeted that she looked at the label of one of her GOP colleague’s Trump hats given out today. It was made in China.

    If there was a liberal equivalent to Fox News, they could turn this into a story for several weeks. But there’s no media outlet that will repeat the “outrage” over and over and over again.

  201. 201.

    dance around in your bones

    @dance around in your bones:

    To clarify (because I couldn’t edit my comment :( …. I have to focus on the tiny absurd details that make me smile/laugh/chortle rather than the bigger picture, which only leads me to rending my garments and hacking at my hair with sharp objects….gotta watch the blood pressure, doncha know.

  202. 202.

    Quinerly

    @Gin & Tonic:
    Thanks. Will be heading north (after a week in Kanab) then making my way to Torrey, Capitol Reef on 3/10. From there to Goblin Valley SP. From there to Bluff, Utah on 95 and 191. Bluff is my 5 day base for Monument Valley, Canyon de Chelly, and Mexican Hat area. From Bluff, I head to Canyonlands, Moab, and Arches. Hit I 70 around 3/19 to start the drive back to St. Louis. Thanks for your interest and kind words. Open to suggestions. I think I left a comment towards the end of that morning thread on the trading posts.

  203. 203.

    Joy in FL

    @debit: So glad he feels his usual self. His story is one of my favorites, and I love knowing he is safe and loved with you, whatever his health does.

  204. 204.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Quinerly: Can’t help on trading posts, as I’ve not gone down into AZ-NM in that area. Keep in mind it’s very early season in that area, and a lot of it is at fairly high altitude. Not sure what’ll be open then.

    I’ve stayed at Escalante Outfitters, and recommend them. If you have time and conditions are right, I’d recommend taking the Burr Trail Highway east from Boulder – you should be able to make it as far as Muley Twist Canyon with a standard car; I seem to recall it’s paved. Don’t go past Muley Twist and don’t take Hole in the Rock Road unless you have a good 4WD vehicle.

    I like that area a lot, been there 3 times. Here’s one shot from along Hwy 12.

  205. 205.

    Quinerly

    @Gin & Tonic:
    Pardon. I responded early this AM to someone who commented about the AZ portion..when I leave Albuquerque and head to Window Rock and Ganado. I thought that was you. That person had hit a trading post in Toadlina that I was in last year.? Thanks for these suggestions. Looks like I’m camping in Canyon Reef or grabbing a cabin in Torrey if she is open. I guess it sounds like a crazy trip. I usually just rent a house in Santa Fe for the month of February and explore NM. Wanted something different this year when I started planning in July. So it became Grand Canyon, Sedona, Kanab, and above described…with Cerrillos, Abiquiu, and Albuquerque, NM; Holbrook and Winslow, AZ on the front end. Are you from out there? Utah?

  207. 207.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Quinerly: No, I’m from the east coast, I’ve just had the opportunity to travel out in that area a bit.

    Escalante Outfitters says they open 3/1 for cabins.

  208. 208.

    Quinerly

    @Gin & Tonic:
    I’ll check them out. It rings a bell from the summer research. Travel with 75 lb dog. Can’t remember if that was an issue. Thanks.

  210. 210.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Quinerly: Hey, give me a shout if you’re in Cerillos. I’m just a stone’s throw away from there. Could meet at the Mineshaft in Madrid. :)

  211. 211.

    No One You Know

    @ArchTeryx: Ah, just curious, are you anywhere near Johnson City/Binghamton? I have a good friend from that area. She’s now in DC, but has family there. Not sure what she could do but might be worth a shot.

  212. 212.

    Quinerly

    @O. Felix Culpa:
    Thread be dead. Staying with friends on Gold Mine Road for three nights. Actually, rented a house in Madrid, NM last year for the month of February. Now, that was a lot of Madrid….30 days. Are you the Juicer who lives near Galisteo? I seem to recall someone who moved out there before the election. Dinner in Madrid at the Hollar on 2/10 with a group. I’ll catch you on another thread about Mine Shaft arrangements, maybe after dinner or just come to the Hollar. It’s a group. If you haven’t done it, check out my friend’s shop just as you come into Madrid. “Lori Musil Art and Antiques.” SF side. She’s a bestie. Staying with her husband and her on GMR. Hope to connect with you. Would be cool.

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