Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

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

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

“Squeaker” McCarthy

After roe, women are no longer free.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

It’s the corruption, stupid.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

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

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Second rate reporter says what?

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

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

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

I really should read my own blog.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

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Reader Interactions

201Comments

  1. 1.

    napoleon

    They have had their guns blazing recently. I really wonder if “KFile” has had a real good influence on them

  2. 2.

    cosima

    I made it through about 10 questions, and they all felt rhetorical to me. Maybe because I’m sane. I couldn’t watch it any further. Reinforced my decision not to watch any news, but as you say, does raise the question of how long this will be tolerated by the ‘administration.’ Feeling like there’s a full-on war between CNN and the shitgibbon brewing. Hope it’s true.

  3. 3.

    randy khan

    If anybody sees something about texting to the Women’s March to help them count how many people were there, be aware it’s not coming from them. I passed the information along on my Facebook page, unfortunately, having seen one affiliate say people should do it. If you did text, I’d suggest texting “STOP” to the same number.

    No count.

  4. 4.

    A Ghost to Most

    It;s been a theme on CNN all day,starting with Reliable Sources, through Poppy Harlow,

    Orangina appears to have pissed off CNN.

  6. 6.

    Yarrow

    Wow. That was amazing. What was the other CNN clip he played in the middle, the one of the ten or so people at the semi-circular desk, where the man on the end asked questions about what it means for how we can trust what this administration says. Can we trust the government in an emergency? What about if there’s a terrorist attack? And so forth. Extrapolating it out. Good stuff.

    Of course it took the Trump people coming after the media for them to finally wake up.

  7. 7.

    Suzanne

    I hope that America’s hip hop and punk musicians are up to this challenge. WE NEED YOU, ART.

  9. 9.

    JJ

    I don’t watch CNN anymore but I did hear about their panel today on the Women’s March. Eight men and 1 women.

  16. 16.

    TS

    Seems to me the media didn’t attack his lies during the primary & the campaign against Hilary so he thinks they will continue to support his lies into the future. In this he is probably correct and much of the media will accept his alternate truths.

  18. 18.

    Politically Lost

    I’m stuck in Atlanta airport after leaving D.C. This morning after the march. . We don’t have a plane apparently. UPDATED: just now. They announced that united airlines is on an hour long nationwide groundstop. WTF is that?

  19. 19.

    TS

    @JJ:

    I don’t watch CNN anymore but I did hear about their panel today on the Women’s March. Eight men and 1 women.

    Didn’t see it but I would guess most, if not all, support the GOP. What I really want to see from democrats is people who can go on TV and call b.s. to every last GOP panelist and pundit.

  20. 20.

    Yarrow

    @schrodingers_cat: Orangina is still available, at least in the UK.

    @A Ghost to Most: The main clip was from Reliable Sources. There is a clip that Stelter shows in the middle. It’s also a CNN clip but it’s one of those large semi-circular desks with a bunch of pundits. That’s the one I was asking about. The background looks like Washington at night, so I’m guessing it’s last night and they were wrapping up inauguration weekend.

  22. 22.

    Yarrow

    @Doug R:

    Much more of this, I may have to extend my cable package to include CNN.

    Can you get a cable package without CNN? I didn’t think that was possible.

  24. 24.

    A Ghost to Most

    @Yarrow:
    Yea, that panel was on and off for awhile in the afternoon (MST). Seeing Karen Tumulty pissed off was interesting; I doubt it lasts.

  25. 25.

    gene108

    Posted this earlier, but it needs repeating. Read any MSM editor, ombudsman, etc replying to criticism that they are doing it wrong.

    The common theme is the political media tries really, really hard you guys to get you just the facts and sift through the spin. And sometimes mistakes are made, but gosh darn it the MSM’s doing the best they can in a supremely difficult job.

    Calling them “the dishonest media” punches them right where they are the most proud and to do it, when the media was (a) there and (b) has pictures to back them up is insulting to whatever perceived integrity they think they have.

    Trump insulted the basic professional competence of folks, who pride themselves on their professionalism.

    I do not see them backing down.

    Plus some of them may know a lot more than what’s been released regarding Trump’s ties to Russia, and are thinking “Putin’s bitch, please, we could’ve sunk your campaign months ago, but we payed nice and now this…there’s a whole world of hurt waiting for you motherfucker…you don’t want us to bring it”

  26. 26.

    Kay

    Bradd JaffyVerified account
    ‏@BraddJaffy
    President Trump shakes hands with FBI Director Comey, gives him a back pat and jokes, “He’s become more famous than me.”

    Ha ha ha, the President and the head of the national police force have zero credibility and it’s all a big joke to them.

  28. 28.

    Chris

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    Yeah. I’m still rooting for them, but as a few right wingers I was reading on Facebook rightly pointed out, the media’s approval rating is even lower than Trump’s. They’d be in a much stronger position vis-a-vis Trump if they hadn’t spent so many years shitting and pissing on so many liberal constituencies while obsessively chasing the one demographic they could never please.

  30. 30.

    Kay

    Richard Hine
    ‏@richardhine
    Trump just literally blew a kiss to James Comey at a WH reception for law enforcement

    What an embarrassment these people are. Jesus. It’s appalling. A big “fuck you!” to the majority of people who didn’t vote for them.

  32. 32.

    Politically Lost

    Updated again. There’s a computer glitch grounding al united airlines flights for the next hour.

  34. 34.

    Hawes

    I know DougJ like to think the media is all in love with GOP Daddies. Maybe he’s right.

    But Trump isn’t a GOP Daddy.

    He’s the ugly drunken uncle who married into the family and has Aunt Doris in an abusive relationship. The media hate him, and they will come to hate him more and more and more.

  35. 35.

    bupalos

    On the one hand, this feels like we’re turning things around and winning, and clown boy is already starting to circle the drain. On the other hand, I find the brazenness of the lies disturbing. It starts to feel like this ends with Trump in handcuffs or a rubber room and with political violence.

  36. 36.

    gene108

    @Chris:

    I am surprised no news director ever figured this out, in all the attempts by the media to become Fox News-lite. The conservatives are not going to switch over from Fox News. Ever.

    With liberals and moderates, you have a punchers chance of attracting viewers and subscribers. Maybe not the rabid, cult like devotion, Fox News enjoys, but more eyeballs on you content then you enjoy now.

  38. 38.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    I think the press is doing a bit of front-running. They have sniffed the breezes and have determined that the GOP is not 100% behind Trump and, especially after the massive rallies yesterday, that there is a deep well of public dissatisfaction with Trump already. So they are feeling emboldened to step up and confront him, especially since he and his minions are attacking the press directly.

  39. 39.

    Kay

    Jake Tapper ‏@jaketapper 5h5 hours ago
    More
    Trump supporter telling me crowd size is a winner for WH because media not discussing #WomensMarch

    I hope Trump ignores the opposition. It’ll just make people more determined.

  40. 40.

    joel hanes

    @raven:

    16 people dead in South Georgia and big ass storms all over.

    Can’t be true. Climate change is the biggest hoax ever perpetrated. Sen. Inhofe told me so.

  41. 41.

    zhena gogolia

    @Kay:

    That tweet makes no sense. It’s good for them that the media is discussing what bald-faced liars they are? And that his crowds were actually small?

  43. 43.

    Politically Lost

    The march was an incredible experience. Holding my wife and watching Judd and planned parenthood lady, ScarJo, the little Latina lady how blew everyone away, Harris, Maxine Waters, that incredible poet and shuffling along with hundreds of thousands of people in front of the Washington monument. We took a half hour and sat at the monument and surveyed the swirling mass of humanity. No bad shit going down, happy energized women. . It was a once in a lifetime experience.

  45. 45.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @bupalos: On the one hand, this feels like we’re turning things around and winning, and clown boy is already starting to circle the drain.

    Even if, as I hope, yesterday was the start of a revived progressive movement, we’ve got a long, ugly road ahead. Just for starters, it looks like all his nominees are going to be approved, and McConnell has already, of course, rubber stamped his SC nominee sight unseen.

  48. 48.

    Tazj

    @Kay: I just saw the video. Trump blowing Comey a kiss would be extremely weird if nothing happened involving the FBI director during the election. Can you imagine another president or politician doing that?

  51. 51.

    WaterGirl

    Since the word television is in the title, is it not OT for me to ask why none of my regular TV shows are on tonight? Is something big happening? I know it’s not the Super Bowl…

  52. 52.

    Chris

    @gene108:

    Yes, I’ve often thought of that too. But it’s another case of supposed businessmen not being guided by business considerations. Logical, cold market economics would suggest that there are untapped markets out there that should be moved on. But that’s not how they think. They think white men are the only real demographic out there, so they don’t bother considering the rest. And they probably recoil at the thought of explaining to their wealthy white social peers that they’re tapping markets that are significantly ::shudder:: left of center.

  55. 55.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Hawes: As long as the ratings are good, they will do nothing to endanger that.

    The MSM is utterly corrupt and compromised.

  56. 56.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Starfish:

    Is that the storm that killed 4 in Mississippi yesterday?

    Same weather system. Unless there’s been an update in the last few minutes, I think the’re included in the count. Four in MS, 12 in GA for a total of 16 in the southeast.

    Tornados are really scary. At least with hurricanes you have some advance warning, but ‘nados can pop up quite fast, and can veer off in new and unexpected directions.

  57. 57.

    clay

    @gene108: That seems pretty astute to me. I had wondered, during the campaign, when the media was going to get sick of the blatant dishonesty and disrespect of the Trump team. What with the advertising disguised as press conferences, and the open hostility and personal endangerment towards specific reporters that Trump fostered at his rallies.

    On a certain level, I think they thought it didn’t matter because they assumed Trump would lose, and they’d be done with it. Now they’re realizing that this isn’t going away, that Trump won’t change, and that the Trumpers consider them The Enemy.* And that they should probably start acting like it.

    *Other administrations have been adversarial with the press, of course, but it was always a love-hate, hey-we’re-all-doing-our-jobs-here kind of thing. This is open warfare, and this conference may just have been Pearl Harbor — the caught-unaware attack that rouses a sleeping giant.

  58. 58.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: Ah. I saw that a football game was on, but that’s nothing new. Didn’t realize it was a playoff game. thank you!

  61. 61.

    japa21

    As I said in a tweet I sent out today, Trump has already, in just two days, guaranteed that he will end up in the bottom 2% of President’s.

  62. 62.

    James Powell

    @TS:

    What I really want to see from democrats is people who can go on TV and call b.s. to every last GOP panelist and pundit.

    Anyone doing that is not asked back. They know that going in, so anyone speaking home truths knows he or she is saying goodbye cable shows.

  64. 64.

    James Powell

    @catclub:

    All media love to be in opposition. It improves the ratings.

    Disagree completely. Consider that everyone who eagerly promoted the Bush/Cheney Junta, the Iraq invasion, the bullshit tax cuts bring prosperity, etc., still has a job, still shows up on cable shows. The people who were in opposition? Other than Krugman, who is there?

  65. 65.

    Suffragete City elftx

    @Yarrow:
    The man at the end of the panel is Jim Sciutto, CNN’s Chief National Security Correspondent and recently tweeted:
    Forget crowd estimates. What happens when the numbers actually matter? US troops killed, terror cells ID’d, North Korean missiles fired?

    For a U.S. broadcaster, Stelterto actually invoke the question of what dictators do in reference to Trump really was shocking. That Looking Glass is shattered.

  67. 67.

    cmorenc

    @Yarrow:

    Can we trust the government in an emergency? What about if there’s a terrorist attack? And so forth. Extrapolating it out. Good stuff.

    This is exactly the critique the GOP tried to hang on Hillary Clinton wrt Benghazi, precisely in order to attempt to erode her credibility. Although the Benghazi front didn’t really work to put more than a few cosmetic scratches on Clinton, especially after she handed Trey Gowdy and company their ass in the House hearings on the matter, nevertheless (just as with Bill Clinton and Whitewater) they pried loose an unrelated scandal with the discovery tools they applied to Benghazi – the email server thing. Likewise, the thing that eventually undoes Trump with a significant portion of the public who voted for him might turn out to be something unexpected and collateral to the initial matter at hand. Except with Trump, it will far more likely be something genuine rather than a puffed up piece of shit.

  68. 68.

    BruceFromOhio

    OK, did that actually make it to the CNN feed that goes out to people watching, or was that just a vlog by one dude thinking clearly?

    I’m with Elizabelle on this one, after the CIA spew and the Spicer incident, we are all being gaslighted. And maybe, just maybe, some of these idiots with microphones and 24 hours of cable time to fill are starting to figure it out.

    Oh, yeah, and there was this march yesterday. Got a lot of hits. Maybe even went viral.

  71. 71.

    James Powell

    @gene108:

    I do not see them backing down.

    I’m betting that by the 4th of July they are fully backed down. The management of the corporations that employ these “journalists” do not have it in them to sustain criticism of a president who offering them freedom from regulation and tax cuts.

  74. 74.

    Patricia Kayden

    @TS: The media can but we won’t. We saw with our own two eyes that Trump’s inauguration crowd was small especially in comparison to the huge crowd which came out in January 2009 to watch President Obama’s inauguration. Plus, we also saw with our own two eyes that the attendance at multiple Women’s Marches far outnumbered Trump’s inauguration gathering.

    Unfortunately for the mainstream media, there are too many other ways to get our news than through them. They can repeat Trump’s lies but we don’t have to believe them.

  75. 75.

    cmorenc

    @bupalos:

    On the one hand, this feels like we’re turning things around and winning

    We’re winning so much that we’ll get tired of winning.
    8<0

  76. 76.

    Jeffro

    Btw speaking of tornadoes and storms…do we know who’s running FEMA these days? Another horse breeder perhaps?

  77. 77.

    bupalos

    @sukabi: The downside is it doesn’t take all that many Pepe people to really ruin society. It’s just hard to see where this goes. I’m pretty close to taking it for granted that politically the whole trump thing is going to redound to our good and this whole white nationalist spasm is going to be seen for what it was and rejected in a big way. But these folks have gotten their (last) hopes up, and I think the fall is going to be really ugly.

    It’s hard to get past how brazen the lie about the relative crowd sizes is. It’s literally impossible to believe unless you are completely brainwashed. Like Kasparov says, it doesn’t even seem like the purpose of the lie is to be believed, it’s more like to see who is more committed to TRUMP than to the idea of reality. It’s bringing me back to his statement about how he could shoot people in the street without losing supporters.

  78. 78.

    Baud

    @James Powell: Bush was extremely popular after 9/11. We’ll have to see how the public reacts after Trump’s first major misstep that actually and directly costs lives.

  80. 80.

    TriassicSands

    The petition on WhiteHouse dot gov calling on Trump to release his tax returns now has 230,800+ signatures. It needs 100,000 to qualify for a response from the White House. I’d expect the response to be “Well, gee, I’m being audited by the IRS, so I can’t release my tax returns, but thank you for caring.” It would be great to get 1,000,000 signatures. Tell everyone you know.

    Anyone who hasn’t signed it should go there and sign it and some other petitions. You’ll probably want to skip the one that calls for investigating Hillary Clinton. It’s been up for a couple of days and it has a whopping 183 signatures.

  81. 81.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @raven:

    This says 12 dead in GA, 4 in MS. Link.

    I expect numbers will shift as the storms move through.

    FWIW, I make a point of avoiding the AJC site. It is not only NOT user-friendly, it is actively user-hostile.

  83. 83.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @TriassicSands: I think the response given by Kellyanne “Alternative Facts” Conway was that to the effect that he was elected: that was “litigated” in the election so he won’t release them because “no one cares but the press.” I can’t offer a link, but I believe I saw her say that. Gaslight in the air makes “believe” a required qualifier.

  84. 84.

    sigaba

    @bupalos:

    Like Kasparov says, it doesn’t even seem like the purpose of the lie is to be believed, it’s more like to see who is more committed to TRUMP than to the idea of reality.

    Well there’s a bullying aspect to it too — “Look at what I can say and what are you gonna do about it? I can lie with impunity so you might as well just shut up an bear it.” This has to be on their minds a little, the crowd size thing is just so unnecessary and gratuitous.

    Edit-

    @Kay:

    Jake Tapper ‏@jaketapper 5h5 hours ago
    More
    Trump supporter telling me crowd size is a winner for WH because media not discussing #WomensMarch

    This is some kind of reductio ad absurdum of the “Win The Morning” mindset. We don’t NEED the press to talk about the Women’s March, and I suppose it’s easy to squelch a negative story about you by intentionally harming yourself but doesn’t this all start to look like cutting, except with the mass media?

  85. 85.

    bupalos

    @TriassicSands: Kellyanne Krazyeyes already gave the response today, in direct response to the question about the petition (which probably is the fastest ever to reach 100k: Flatly, she said “Trump will not be releasing his taxes, people do not care about his taxes, they care about their own taxes.”

    It’s honestly freaking me out. Politically, I think we’re better off with Trump in than impeachment, I think there’s a good chance the GOP pays a generational price for him. But I find this stuff scary enough that I want him impeached immediately.

  86. 86.

    BruceFromOhio

    @sigaba: “Look at what I can say and what are you gonna do about it? I can lie with impunity so you might as well just shut up an bear it.”

    Hahaha, wait till he runs into a Jersey girl.

  87. 87.

    sigaba

    @bupalos: I settle for a lot of yesterday all the time. We’re in the best position if he’s President, the Republican congress is yoked to him at the hip and he can’t show his face in public without being subjected to scorn.

  88. 88.

    Ridnik Chrome

    Hey, man, I don’t need TV, ’cause I got T Rex.
    .
    .
    .
    .
    (Well, somebody had to say it.)

  89. 89.

    Corner Stone

    @sigaba:

    Well there’s a bullying aspect to it too — “Look at what I can say and what are you gonna do about it? I can lie with impunity so you might as well just shut up an bear it.”

    It is an effort to make sure there is no truth. That’s also why they will be wiping govt dept numbers away from public sight.

  92. 92.

    bupalos

    @sigaba: I guess what I’m trying to figure out is whether we can afford that or if this guy might really be Hitler. The parallels are getting a little too thick to bear. I’m starting to feel like it’s not worth the risk. Like nukes may actually fly. You don’t need trains and gas chambers and ovens anymore.

  94. 94.

    sigaba

    @Corner Stone: There are people that will buy what he’s selling and people who won’t. The basic tenet of Fundamentalism is not the religion itself, but the imperative to make everyone choose wether they’re with it, or an enemy that must be destroyed. The lies have to be extravagant, because they’re a test of loyalty, and if you won’t accept them, you’re an enemy.

    I don’t see a huge number of Americans just throwing up their hands and saying “who knows what’s true anymore!” This might be how it works in Russia but we tend to be an opinionated and obstreperous people who have an constitutional resentment of ambiguity in our politics. Intense polarization is a good thing in this analysis, people who are against Trump are unlikely to be equivocal or apologetic or cynical.

    @bupalos: I consider myself a student of World War II history and I can assure you, Hitler had better impulse control. Though I note this whole dispute is taking on a Functionalist vs. Intentionalist framework — is Trump TRYING to gaslight us or is this just how his PR outfit operates, because he’s such a thin-skinned crackpot?

  96. 96.

    BruceFromOhio

    @Baud: Yes, and then President Pence & Vice-President Ryan can fix everything!

    We keep applying templates of ‘normal’ or ‘traditional’ or ‘historical’ to these fucking criminal sociopath assholes. The best we can do is clog the fucking lanes to limit the damage. An impeachment fantasy, as fun as it sounds, is only one step on a long, ugly journey back from the dark.

    @bupalos: It’s always worth the risk.

  97. 97.

    Cassandra

    @gene108: when the media was (a) there and (b) has pictures to back them up is insulting to whatever perceived integrity they think they have.

    What happens when they don’t have pictures?

  98. 98.

    Politically Lost

    Still stuck in Atlanta indefinitely.

    Best part of D.C. march yesterday: seeing all the cool artwork on the signs and reading the messages and saying to myself yeah fuck trump, yeah protect LGBT rights, hell yeah science is the shit, fuckin A black lives matter, god damn right let’s have a humane immigration policy, fuckin double down on prison reform, yes that’s fuckin right the climate matters, oh cool old school ERA and pro-choice signs.

    There was a massive outpouring of likemindedness on issues I had never witnessed before.

  100. 100.

    sigaba

    @Baud:

    I agree Democrats should vote for impeachment, but once started, they slow-walk the process within an inch of its life. As long as it’s going on Congress won’t be able to pass shit.

  104. 104.

    Ian G.

    BTW, thanks to everyone who earlier clarified just what the fascist loon David Clarke’s role in law enforcement is. It makes me somewhat calmer about the possibility that we’d be seeing Iranian Basij types on motorcycles violently assaulting protesters in Milwaukee anytime soon.

  106. 106.

    dww44

    @JJ: And, that one woman was not a minority one of color or religion. Minority women were the primary organizers of the march that I attended in Atlanta. AA, Muslim, and Latino.

  108. 108.

    randy khan

    @Kay:

    Apparently nobody on Team Trump noticed all the headlines (print and online) or the other coverage of the march (or gets that it was just a starting point).

  114. 114.

    Politically Lost

    @raven:

    Was just checking out some of the African stuff.

    Worst part of the march: sitting at Washington memorial and looking at the whitehouse and remembering literally crying in front of it three years ago because I was so proud to have Obama as president. Then working our way to the metro to leave and ending up in front of Twitler’s hotel.

  115. 115.

    Chet Murthy

    @cosima: Ehh, I mildly suggest you try, and will be pleased. He’s doing what he can. He eventually gets around to using the “lie” word. He gets around to asking (repeatedly, IIRC) what people living under other dictatorships are thinking — whether they’re saying “we recognize that”. I give him a lotta props for doing this.

    And to echo the OP, I sure wonder how long he’ll be allowed to continue.

  117. 117.

    amk

    @Kay: aaand the media hacks back to being gop shills. well, it was a nice one minute of some kinda real journalism.

  118. 118.

    TriassicSands

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):
    @bupalos:

    If either of you is saying that Conway’s response means we should give up on the petition, then I’d respectfully suggest you’re taking your instructions from the wrong source. Accepting what Conway says is just giving up.

    AF Conway may have said that, but, if so, she was just repeating what Trump himself said. I saw the clip of him saying only the media care. That’s why it would be good to get 500,000 or a million signatures on the petition. Whether Trump complies or not he should be pressured on this and countless other issues related to integrity and corruption. This is what opposition and fighting back look like. Anyone who says “Oh, he won’t release them no matter what we do” is simply quitting and failing.

    I’ve asked everyone I know who will sign the petition to sign it. If they all do the same and the chain continues we could reach a million or more signatures. If nothing else, it gives the media something more to report about that is not positive for Trump.

    Oh. and fuck Kellyanne Conway and her idiotic “alternative facts.”

  120. 120.

    gene108

    @James Powell:

    Consider that everyone who eagerly promoted the Bush/Cheney Junta, the Iraq invasion, the bullshit tax cuts bring prosperity, etc.,

    1. The media is wired for Republicans. I do not know why. They frame the narrative through Republican talking points.

    2. The run-up to the Iraq war coverage was a direct result of 9/11. The media, like most of America, was angry and wanted to kick some ass.

    3. How do you prove / disprove tax cuts do or do not bring prosperity in real time? This is where our political reporting really breaks down. They treat every policy as spin, especially when it comes to economics, math, and science, because they did not become fucking political reporters do math, science and economics. The problem is there are enough hacks on the Right, who will sell their soul to stay on the wing nut welfare circuit that they will confuse issues for math and science illiterate reporters. I do not see a way out of this.

    4. The media maybe turning on Trump, but think they are still wired for Republicans. They may say Trump’s trying to gaslight the news, but they will still treat McConnell and Ryan as very serious people, even though they are just as bad as Trump. They are just not as blatant about it.

  121. 121.

    Ian G.

    @joel hanes:

    In the “everything’s under control, situation normal” news on the climate, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center issued a High Risk Convective Outlook for parts of Georgia and Florida today. That basically means they expected an extensive and violent tornado outbreak today. That’s only the 2nd ever High Risk outlook issued in January, because massive fucking tornadoes aren’t supposed to happen, even down south, in the dead of winter.

  122. 122.

    GregB

    Wall Street Journal up with a story about Flynn under investigation for Russian ties. And I am not talking about menswear.

  123. 123.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Patton Oswald ‏@ pattonoswalt 1h1 hour ago
    Dear #WomensMarch organizers: please organize a #TrumpTaxesMarch for April 15th. I am happy to help. We all are.

  125. 125.

    FlyingToaster

    @TriassicSands: Alas, the Whitehouse dot gov Petitions site seems to have “purged” my account; they don’t recognize my e-mail or my password (and I have a password tracker so I know it’s the right fucking e-mail and password). I’m not jumping through any hoops tonight.

    +3

  129. 129.

    Corner Stone

    That may have been one of the worst play calls I have seen in some time. Is Bill O’Brien on the Stillers sideline?

  130. 130.

    gene108

    @Cassandra:

    What happens when they don’t have pictures?

    Back to both sides do it, I guess.

    Republicans lie a lot, but they do not usually lie about something where you can do a count a disprove them in real time.

    They’ll say “job killing healthcare law”, with regards to the PPACA, but there is no way to actually disprove that bullshit until the law went fully into effect and jobs were not killed.

    And so their initial lie about the PPACA destroying the economy goes down the memory hole and a new set of bullshit talking points emerge.

  131. 131.

    Mnemosyne

    @Kay:

    Um, since the crowd size comparison is comparing the inauguration to the Women’s March, how is that avoiding discussion of the Women’s March? That doesn’t even make Trump sense.

    (I’m inventing a new phrase: “Trump sense” is something that makes no sense. And declaring that discussing the Women’s March is not discussing it doesn’t even make Trump sense.)

  132. 132.

    TriassicSands

    DougJ, please stop calling Trump “Dear Leader.” That’s an insult to North Korea’s leader who is in all respects Trump’s moral superior.

  133. 133.

    Lizzy L

    @efgoldman: I prefer to think of myself as realistic. But, yeah.

    I just want to say, I’m finding the Hitler references a bit wearisome. In 1933, when Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, he was able to do the following within the first six months of his taking the position: 1) control the state police force, 2) legalize the actions of the SA, Hitler’s private group of street thugs, 3) get parliament to pass a law which allowed him to rule by decree, 4) ban all political parties except the NSDAP.

    While I have no doubt that Steve Bannon would love to be able to do all of this, we don’t have a state police force. (Declaring martial law might get part of the way there, but I’m not actually too worried about that. Second Amendment, yeah.) T doesn’t have an SA. Even this Congress is not going to pass a law to allow the President to rule by decree, and there’s only so much he can do with EOs, and I really don’t think he can get the Republicans to ban the Democratic party, or the SCOTUS to allow it.

    YMMV, of course.

  140. 140.

    TriassicSands

    @FlyingToaster:

    Tomorrow’s soon enough. The whole point of opposition is to oppose.
    You can easily sign up for a gmail account and use that to sign up at the White House.

    Eventually, Trump may stop taking email at the White House. Or they may get rid of the petitions. Either one would be one more negative thing to hang around Trump’s flabby neck.

    I expect Trump to fight constantly and fight dirty. Giving up should not be an option. But then this is Amurka.

    Remember all the people who don’t vote because it won’t make any difference…

  143. 143.

    Mnemosyne

    @raven:

    That’s probably their most pathetic lie so far, but it’s been less than 48 hours since the Women’s March, so I’m sure some other toady will manage to come up with an even more pathetic lie.

  147. 147.

    raven

    Our Administration is proud to stand with American women and of our supporters’ significant role in this cause. Despite the misleading Liberal Media’s claims, we clearly saw that well over half of the participants in yesterday’s march were Trump supporters. We do respect the rights of the minority of participants to dissent peacefully – this is what democracy looks like.

  149. 149.

    Jeffro

    @Mnemosyne: I wonder if they can produce a photo of one, just one, remotely pro-Trump sign from any of the marches worldwide? I’m thinking not.

    Also, fuck the Patriots. Pretty sure I have never (bothered to) root for the Falcons in my entire life, but hey there’s a first time for everything!

  150. 150.

    Baud

    @raven:

    Despite the misleading Liberal Media’s claims, we clearly saw that well over half of the participants in yesterday’s march were Trump supporters.

    Yeah, but the other 99% opposed him.

  151. 151.

    Blueskies

    @zhena gogolia: Makes sense on this level: If the media did the BETTER job of reporting BOTH, you’d have a story with legs. As it is, I am willing to bet any amount of my wife’s money that this blows over by Tuesday, and the media will never point out how huge the Women’s March was. They do not want a longterm, sustained dose of true populism a la the New Deal.

  152. 152.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @raven: Apparently Pence has said that half the demonstrators in DC were Trump supporters.
    Will Mika Brzezinski say this tomorrow, with a Cavuto mark? Or Tuesday as if it’s been established as fact? Where can I place a bet?

  155. 155.

    Lizzy L

    @raven:

    We do respect the rights of the minority of participants to dissent peacefully

    What does this even mean?

    I guess they are trying to pretend that the purpose of the Women’s March (“this cause”) had nothing to do with T. Yeah, no. They cannot hope that anyone will believe this. Kasparov’s right. They’re just trying to tire us out with constant bullshit.

    Not. Going. To. Happen.

  158. 158.

    Chet Murthy

    @Baud: This. The risks of leaving Cheeto Bandito with control of our foreign policy and military are just too great. Not to speak of what Bannon and his ilk could do …. at least we know Yertle and ZEGS would do it quietly and therefore more slowly than Bannon.

  160. 160.

    J R in WV

    @Politically Lost:

    United Airlines has grounded all “mainline” national flights due to an IT outage.

    The last time we were supposed to fly United out of Dulles, we wound up in a cab to National, where United desk staff refused to aid in rescheduling new flights. We had to walk the length of the terminal to another airline desk, and then back, after being in either airplanes or airports for the past 30 hours.

    Fortunately we ran into a supervisor at the other desk who was from near where Mrs J was born, and he took care of us very well. Meal vouchers sufficient for the best place in National, also free flight vouchers we never used… but we got home that night. I was close to packing up, getting a one-way Avis rental and driving the 7 or 9 hours home, the next day.

    I try to stick to Delta in the US and Air France elsewhere. Good luck!

  162. 162.

    Peale

    @Baud: OH MY GOD! That can’t be real? By Wednesday they’ll be claiming that the pussy hat marchers are just folks who wanted to come to the inauguration but couldn’t get off work.

  164. 164.

    Baud

    @raven:

    a friend said it’s fake

    Of course it’s fake. The question is whether it’s a fake by Pence or by someone else.

  167. 167.

    Chet Murthy

    @BruceFromOhio: Bruce, I would ask you to consider the possibility that there are two kinds of darkness: (a) fascism in America, or a shooting war, maybe nukes being used, or (b) standard-issue Rethuglican attacks on anybody who isn’t rich, theft of anything that isn’t nailed-down.

    In the same way that I fully expected every right-thinking American to vote against Trump by voting for Hillary, I think we should also take the first chance we get, to impeach him, and remove the threat to our entire system of government, and the international system.

    I think that a good indicator of the gravity of the situation, is that, if we gave the choice to the citizens of our closest allies, they would (in all likelihood) grab at the chance to impeach him *instantly*. I think they all recognize that there’s more at stake here than the damage he will do to “the least of us” here in America. Yes, it makes me angry that we’re forced to make that choice. And yes, Yertle and ZEGS and his ilk forced that choice upon us. But so did every Stein voter, every Johnson voter, every “I’ll write-in Evan McMullin” voter.

    I’m a progressive, but I’m a patriot first. If American doesn’t exist in a recognizable form, if the world system that has kept the peace (and compared to the mid-20th century, this *is* peace) falls apart, then we lose many of the preconditions for even fighting for progressive outcomes.

    Yes?

  168. 168.

    mai naem mobile

    Lumpys people can lie about the crowd and they can try and think they’ve won because of the supposed change in topic but they look stupid because he’s unpopular and the protest stuff is all over media. You can’t avoid it. It’s on instagram,snapchat,twitter and fb.

  169. 169.

    Chet Murthy

    @BruceFromOhio: Bruce, I would ask you to consider the possibility that there are two kinds of darkness: (a) fascism in America, or a shooting war, maybe nukes being used, or (b) standard-issue Rethuglican attacks on anybody who isn’t rich, theft of anything that isn’t nailed-down.

    In the same way that I fully expected every right-thinking American to vote against Trump by voting for Hillary, I think we should also take the first chance we get, to impeach him, and remove the threat to our entire system of government, and the international system.

    I think that a good indicator of the gravity of the situation, is that, if we gave the choice to the citizens of our closest allies, they would (in all likelihood) grab at the chance to impeach him *instantly*. I think they all recognize that there’s more at stake here than the damage he will do to “the least of us” here in America. Yes, it makes me angry that we’re forced to make that choice. And yes, Yertle and ZEGS and his ilk forced that choice upon us. But so did every Stein voter, every Johnson voter, every “I’ll write-in Evan McMullin” voter.

    I’m a progressive, but I’m a patriot first. If American doesn’t exist in a recognizable form, if the world system that has kept the peace (and compared to the mid-20th century, this *is* peace) falls apart, then we lose many of the preconditions for even fighting for progressive outcomes.

    Yes?

  171. 171.

    dww44

    @TriassicSands: well, you’ve inspired me to sign it (I’d already signed one at Daily Kos) and I’ve now sent it to the 10 Democrats I have in my email address book. Hopefully they too will share. I’ve asked them to.

    Here’s the link.

  173. 173.

    bupalos

    @Lizzy L: Oh, so you think we won’t disolve the Reichstag?

    I mean, yeah, we’re not going to literally follow the exact same timeline and trajectory of National Socialism. But I think maybe it would be useful to meditate on what OUR version of that cataclysm would look like. You don’t need a whole infrastructure and millions of willing murderers to wipe out people by the millions these days. You need probably 10 people in the right position.

    This guy might be just messing. But I think it’s plausible that he’s a seriously messed up dude, and it’s getting a little out there.

  175. 175.

    Another Scott

    @zhena gogolia: Supposedly years ago there was some big story in the NY press about Donnie being a slumlord, horrible conditions for his tenants, everyone hating him. He loved the attention because it showed how big and powerful he was. What he hated was when he was ignored, or passed over because he wasn’t really in the big leagues.

    (Of course, I can’t find the story at the moment – it might have been in that interview with his ghostwriter for “Art of the Deal”.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  177. 177.

    mai naem mobile

    @Peale: that was FOX’s second talking point. Conservatives didn’t show up because they work. Obamas people showed up because they’re lazy unemployed liberals. The first talking point was that the conservatives were scared of the violent liberal protestors. Lumpy fucked it up by not shutting up and moving on.

  178. 178.

    J R in WV

    @Politically Lost:

    Maybe you should see if you can get a Delta flight to wherever? It’s their HQ main hub, they fly nearly everywhere nationally that United does. Or just go get a room, it’s a huge city. It won’t be a problem. In a better world, United would automatically push everyone they have FQed over a room voucher good for tonight, but Trump wouldn’t be Dear Leader in a better world.

  179. 179.

    bupalos

    @TriassicSands: Not my meaning, I already signed it and I’m fully encouraging people to help make it the largest one in history as well as the fastest growing.

    My point is simply that I’m shocked. I think this is another major point along the timeline. Not only has Trump continually maintained that he will release them “when the audit is over” his other excuse has been that “no one cares anymore.” Now it has just switched to “No, they will not be released.” Absolutely, everyone should keep signing. But I think it’s just as important that we call out (and internalize) the idea that they have just escalated things in a significant way. It’s really not a matter of “when we get x-number of signatures, we’ll win.” We got enough. We got more than enough. We doubled the amount in record time. His response was “Oh, in that case, I will NOT RELEASE THEM AT ALL, EVER.”

    I think we need to take a minute and digest that.

  180. 180.

    J R in WV

    @raven:

    “Apparently Pence has said that half the demonstrators in DC were Trump supporters.”

    Of course they were, didn’t you see all the red-ish hats? MAGA, ammirite?

    Trump facts…

  182. 182.

    Lizzy L

    @bupalos: I agree he is a totally messed-up dude. I think he’s going to try to do all sorts of evil shit, some of which the Republicans will support, or at least not fight. I think we’re in for hard times, and I think we need to be awake and alert and politically active. And yes, I am aware that he could easily blow the world to smithereens, nuclear winter, though I don’t think that’s his intention. But it could happen.

    Still tired of the Hitler references. They simply frighten, and they don’t help.

  186. 186.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @schrodingers_cat: A good number people here have been chicken littles on everything. Sometimes they are right. As for me, I am willing to be Sisyphus, even if there is no hope, I’ll still roll that rock up the hill.

  188. 188.

    dww44

    @Lizzy L: Actually, I think Trump’s behavior and personality are more like Mussolini, particularly the lying and ridiculous promises. Unfortunately Mussolini lasted 12 years before he was finally lined up against a wall, along with his mistress, and shot.

    i don’t plan on Trump being around for more than 4 years and I honestly believe he will likely implode before then. In the meantime maybe our press and our civil servants and our intelligence people will really come through for us. he needs to go down and take the GOP with him.

  189. 189.

    Corner Stone

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    As for me, I am willing to be Sisyphus, even if there is no hope, I’ll still roll that rock up the hill.

    Pretty sure they have antibiotics for that, my friend. Every body makes a bad choice once in a while. #judgenotjudging

  192. 192.

    kdaug

    @bupalos: Don’t sweat it. The taxes will come out in discovery – the first federal lawsuit on Emoluments is being filed tomorrow (CREW)

  197. 197.

    RM

    @Lizzy L: I’ve been parsing Benedict Donald as the unholy hatechild of Ronald Reagan and Tricky Dick Nixon… which is more than bad enough.

  198. 198.

    TriassicSands

    @bupalos:
    I’ve never expected Trump to release his taxes. If he had lost the election, which he expected, the issue would have died. Once he won he needed a new excuse. So it became “I won, nobody cares.”
    Numbers do matter. Five hundred thousand or a million would say a lot. We have to keep the pressure on him in as many ways as possible.

    If we keep enough pressure on him, eventually he may start seriously violating civil liberties. Would that be a good thing? In the short-term no; in the long game yes.

    Understand that Trump is a bottomless pit of dishonesty, cruelty, authoritarianism, and more. Nothing bad that he does either surprises or shocks me anymore. He doesn’t believe the rules apply to him so there is almost no limit to what he might try. But he could go too far — I just wish I had more confidence in the American people.

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