I want to highlight a couple of things from yesterday’s sporting events.
First, just for John:
Steelers good for a "cover no one" a couple times a game. pic.twitter.com/ADCHl3Yyh3
— Rich Hill (@PP_Rich_Hill) January 23, 2017
Secondly, look at the scoreboard:
Stars Jumbotron with a topical joke. pic.twitter.com/9vsmTG1Agj
— Kate Morrison (@unlikelyfanatic) January 22, 2017
Let’s think about who goes to NHL hockey games for a second (especially in Dallas). The crowd tends to be white, middle class or higher income, and more likely to be male and older than average. That sounds like a core Trump demographic especially in Texas. And the Jumbotron is mocking Trump. Whoever put that up there thought they had at least implicit permission to mock. And it is only week one. Our objective is to get Trump and the Republican Party competing with syphilis in terms of popularity. Mockery will help (and it is a lot of fun anyways)
cokane
im guessing hockey fans might be a strain of globalist nevertrump conservatives tho
Thoroughly Pizzled
These NFL playoffs have been atrocious. A fitting end.
burnspbesq
With each passing week, it’s becoming increasingly likely that Northwestern will make the NCAA men’s basketball tournament for the first time ever.
Everton WILL catch and pass ManUre, so the Red Devils had better make sure they win the EFL Cup so they can enjpy another year of Thursday Night Football.
GregB
Baghdad Bob+Tommy Flanagan+Joe Isuzu=Sean Spicer.
Brachiator
The Jumbotron mockery is a sweet touch. Wonder if any fans complained.
dr. bloor
You have Yahtzee. When you’ve lost Texan hockey fans, it’s time to pack up and go back underneath the rock you call home.
JPL
The Steelers game plan seemed to be let’s see what happens if we don’t cover Hogan. It’s almost as though they voted for Trump just to see what would happen.
JPL
This was in the Boston Globe
burnspbesq
@GregB:
Guy seems to really enjoy his job as Gaslighter-in-Chief.
geg6
Well, when you think about it, Texas has a couple of very prominent never-Trumpers attached to their NBA teams: Mark Cuban with the Mavericks and the Spurs Gregg Popovich. Gaglardi, the owner of the Stars, is Canadian. Maybe that’s why.
SFAW
Was the 1.5 Mil a swipe at Trump, or at Saturday’s march? Given the game’s location, I could see either one.
JPL
@burnspbesq: This is from Maggie @ NYT
One person close to the administration was blunt just now – Trump’s issue with Spicer was not just substance/delivery, but visuals.
Maybe he’ll appear at the news conference with a gold jacket and blonde hair.
JustRuss
I run the Chyron for the Jumbotron at a fairly large college venue. It’s a pretty sweet gig, and I’d never jeopardize it by throwing something up on the screen for the lulz. This came from pretty high up the food chain.
SFAW
@JPL:
Well, they were understandably confused — they kept looking to cover # 87, and couldn’t spot that jersey anywhere (except in the stands), and didn’t know what to do.
And, frankly, that explanation works about as well as their defense’s actual game plan.
JPL
@SFAW: The quote from the Globe is the White House, and no one is questioning the size of the women’s march. It was yuge!
dr. bloor
@JPL: A jacket that actually fits would be a good start for Baghdad Sean.
rdldot
@SFAW: That’s what I was thinking. The NHL one could definitely be read either way. No doubt on the Boston quote, though. That was funny.
burnspbesq
@JPL:
I suppose it’s possible that there was a typo in the position description and Spicer thought he was applying for Gauleiter instead of Gaslighter.
SFAW
@JPL:
Yeah, I wasn’t questioning the Globe thing (which was only one, not 1.5, million, by the way).But I can see Deadbeat Shitgibbon’s fans pretending that the March/protest estimates were inflated, because of Luegenpresse.
randy khan
NHL fans are kind of interesting. While most of them love nothing better than a good fight – honestly, probably even better than a sweet goal – on the whole they are pretty well educated and have learned to also love foreign players (the Canadians don’t count, but a lot of teams have stars from Europe or Russia). I wouldn’t be surprised if they skewed a bit to the left.
randy khan
@SFAW:
Given the specific number, it had to be a swipe at Trump. None of the Women’s Marches claimed even a million, and the total was way higher than that.
randy khan
So, out of 10 playoff games, there were two good ones, and they both were on the same day.
SFAW
@randy khan:
Did Shitgibbon or Baghdad Boob claim 1.5 million? I haven’t seen that figure from them, but I don’t exactly go hunting for shit like that, either.
Corner Stone
@dr. bloor:
Some have suggested that very same thing. Others have countered that Spicer only makes low six figures for income so there is simply no way we should expect him to afford a jacket from anywhere but off the rack at Goodwill.
Yoda Dog
@Thoroughly Pizzled: Yea I was really expecting two good games there yesterday. Got zero. (shrugs)
Corner Stone
As I said last night, the Stillers looked like they just did not want to win that game.
JPL
@SFAW: Shtigibbon was at the CIA boasting about the size of his crowd, in front of the memorial for those who have given their life.
Corner Stone
And while there a deep pockets of very R voters in and around the DFW area (mostly smug SMU legacies) it generally votes blue overall in presidential elections.
Another Scott
@SFAW: Donny at the CIA said “1 Million, maybe 1.5 Million”.
Krugman pointed us to this picture of the motorcade – looks like less than 50 here to me, unless you count the cops.
Cheers,
Scott.
Spanky
This may have been better placed in a morbid thread downstairs, and someone is certainly welcome to repeat it later in the day. Daily Kos has a good article on After the March the Real Organizing Starts.
Fester Addams
@JPL:
And in front of some number of people who’s job description includes accurately estimating the size of outdoor crowds.
Corner Stone
Somebody, I think it was Adam maybe, recently posted the clip from Blazing Saddles where the Mayor harrumphs and signs some orders. It was listed as something like “Trump’s first day in office” or something. That was so freaking spot on to the camera shot of Trump just now where he signed some EO’s.
God, how horrible.
Spanky
@JPL: Yeah, and I’m sure pissing Brennan off just gave the shitgibbon a tiny chubby.
etc
Spanky
@Corner Stone: Actually, I think that was Governor Heddy Lemar.
Origuy
Steelers didn’t get much sleep Saturday night. Someone not a guest pulled the fire alarm and the hotel had to be evacuated. Wonder how much the Patriots paid him.
Another Scott
Via Kevin Drum – Downfall: The Women’s March (3:49)
You knew it was coming…
Cheers,
Scott.
SenyorDave
@geg6: Popovich has been extremely outspoken, I never realized how thoughtful a guy he is.
jacy
As a die-hard hockey fan who hangs with a lot of hockey fans, I would say that hockey skews much further to the left than any other major sport. You have a lot more international flavor in players, a higher education base than other sports fans, and a shitload of Canadian crossover. (Hockey fans tend be a little elitist…..but don’t hold that against us.) Not saying that hockey is a bastion of liberalism, but compared to the other sports, you’re a lot less likely to find a lot RWNJ types as either players or fans. There are a few douchebag coaches and ownership is a mixed bag, but at the fan and player level it’s pretty good.
Corner Stone
@Spanky: Well, I think between us we are slowly moving the ball toward the goal line.
It was indeed the Governor, the Honorable Governor William J. Le Petomane.
Mary G
Not so much sports related, but it would be irresponsible not to speculate that this may be a shot at the Commander in Chief from a somewhat unexpected source:
ETA: Some of the gifs in the responses are amusing. I didn’t read them all, but not many are outraged Trumpsters.
Another Scott
ObOpenThread: GovExec: Trump signs EO for federal hiring freeze:
Of course.
Cheers,
Scott.
Julia Grey
He is beyond…just…I can’t….
hovercraft
@JPL:
Nah, his beef was the lack of products and paraphernalia bearing the Shitgibbons name. Now that the takeover is complete, there must be a branding, no one must mistake that the broadcast is coming from the new center of the Dark Lords Empire. Every appearance must fulfill the primary goal of the entire endeavor, to enrich the Shitgibbon, product placement, every where all the time. When the inauguration is a marketing opportunity for the first lady, we’ve entered a new realm.
swiftfox
@Spanky: That’s Hedley. Hedley Lamarr, you oaf!
SFAW
@JPL:
@Another Scott:
Thanks. I didn’t have the stomach to read Adam’s transcript, and I can’t stand to watch nor listen to Shitgibbon, so I missed that part.
rikyrah
@JPL:
Spicer is like, 5 feet tall, in that ill-fitted suit of his. He’s a walking twitter meme.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@Mary G:
The actual link appears to be a warning about suicidal behavior and warnings, not a comment about Clump.
rikyrah
@Mary G:
That was straight up shade from the DOD
hovercraft
@SFAW:
Joy Reid said yesterday that they were saying that 1.5 million attended the inauguration, she put up the comparison pictures for 2017 and 2008, which was attended by at least 1.8, and they just were not comparable even if one took the 1.8 number which was thought to be a way undercount. She also showed the Shitgibbons remarks at his pre- inauguration concert where he said it was the first ever concert as far as he knew, and if there had ever been one before it was a long time ago, and his was the biggest, even though it was hastily thrown together. His crowd, approx. 10 K, Obama’s crowd was over 400 K.
They lie about stupid shit because they are stupid, they have not yet caught on that there is nothing else to distract the villagers, everything they say will be parsed to kingdom come. Welcome to the real klieg lights.
randy khan
@SFAW:
Trump, during his CIA “speech.”
West of the Rockies (been a while)
So far everything Trump has done in office has been about destroying, downsizing, and belittling. What about that “reaching across the aisle” business that the GOP was so fretful about with Obama, hmmm?
randy khan
@Corner Stone:
I commented on this yesterday, noting that he had jobs that should have paid pretty well before this gig, but I’ll add that if he shops the Nordstrom sales, he certainly could find something decent at a price that even somebody making a mere $100,000 in D.C. could afford, and their alterations are top notch. (If this seems like an ad for Nordstrom, so be it, but the sales are awesome.)
Mike in NC
@Another Scott: Alternative sources must be just like alternative facts.
Yoda Dog
@Another Scott: lol fuck yea, drum. Good shit.
Brendan in NC
@Spanky: Almost – Mel Brooks as the Gov – Governor Lepetomane, and Harvey Korman as Hedley Lamarr…
Gin & Tonic
@hovercraft: No, they lie about stupid shit to show that they know you know they’re lying and they don’t give a shit. “Yeah, so what are you gonna do about it, plebe?”
hovercraft
@JPL:
Intel officials say Trump’s visit to CIA headquarters was “uncomfortable”
“There is nobody that feels stronger about the intelligence community and the CIA than Donald Trump,” Mr. Trump said.
Despite that pledge of support, U.S. intelligence officials tell CBS News Mr. Trump’s visit to CIA headquarters was “uncomfortable,” and that he “made relations with the intelligence community worse.”
PPCLI
@Another Scott: Isn’t this a good thing? (Unintentionally good, of course.) Won’t it hinder any efforts to pack the career levels of the Federal civil service with ideologues the way that the Bush administration did (very effectively)? The Liberty University and Regent University career counseling services must be heartbroken at this news.
Scamp Dog
@Spanky: It’s Hedley!
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Pictures say a thousand words.
Corner Stone
@SFAW:
I can barely listen to anything he says, any answer or speech or anything. It’s almost impossible for me. But when you try and actually read what came out of his mouth? It’s fucking bonkers! It scares the absolute shit out of me to see what meandering just flat out nutso garbage this demented man baby tries to sell as coherent language.
Spanky
@Corner Stone: Ah! You’re right, of course. Mel Brooks’ part.
@swiftfox: You’re welcome! (I was waiting for that.)
Yarrow
I forgot Richard Mayhew was David Anderson and I thought, “Who’s this new guy posting? And why didn’t he tell us about his pets?”
Vidya Pradhan
@Another Scott: Thank you!! Shared everywhere.
Patricia Kayden
@Brachiator: if they complain, aren’t they saying that the inauguration crowd was small in direct contradiction to Trump’s mantra?
Spanky
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@hovercraft:
Well, sure Trump made things worse; IC folk may be many things, but I doubt they’re flat-out stupid. He is used to manipulating yes-men and underlings. The CIA spooks are used to doubting much. He goes in thinking he can toss out a few compliments and get them all in line? Nah, not gonna happen.
Brachiator
@Another Scott:
So, 3 executive orders this morning.
From NPR News.
Wasn’t he supposed to start building that wall this morning?
Stan
@SFAW:
Yes, Trump himself made that specific claim.
Patricia Kayden
@SFAW: Saturday’s women marches had much more than 1.5 million participants. I think it was a dig at Trump’s inflation of his inauguration attendance.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Wow. Poor Melania is living a life of quiet desperation, methinks. She is a pampered poodle who probably gets swatted with a rolled up newspaper (metaphorically speaking).
? Martin
@Brachiator: He is. He’s building it with the corpses of women killed by back-alley abortions and by the poor who died because their state’s Medicaid block ran out.
Dan
Tends to be white. A little bit, yeah.
hovercraft
Since they really seem to be intent on blowing up everything, here’s a positive take on what may follow the demise of Obamacare. I hope democrats heed his advice.
If Trump guts Obamacare, History may Repeat itself — the Australian Lesson
ByJohn JudisPublishedJanuary 23, 2017, 12:06 PM EDT
Is history repeating itself? With Donald Trump’s executive order to agencies to waive or delay any part of the Affordable Care Act that imposes a financial or regulatory burden, Obamacare’s days appear numbered. The administration has begun a process that could lead to the disintegration of the exchanges even before Congress gets around to repealing the act, and well before it creates a viable replacement. Something very similar happened in Australia forty years ago — and the results were not good for the conservatives who eliminated their national health system.
Under a Labor government, Australia passed a national health insurance system called Medibank in 1974 that was similar to America’s Medicare system, but applied to all Australians. Liberals (who in Australia are the “conservatives”) used their majorities in Australia’s upper house and in the state legislatures to undermine the system — refusing, among other things, to levy a tax to support its subsidies for care. Australia’s doctors, with Liberal support, jacked up their rates well above what Medibank was willing to pay. In 1981, a Liberal government, having taken power, repealed the legislation, which didn’t seem to be working. But the story doesn’t end there.
With no protection against rising healthcare costs, the public turned against the Liberals, and in 1983 voted in a Labor government nationally and in four of the six states, which reintroduced a new stronger healthcare bill, dubbed Medicare, which was funded through its own tax. It is popular and remains in place, although government has changed hands several times since then.
In the United States, support for national health insurance has remained very high during its absence — helping Democrats win the White House in 1992 and 2008 — and has fallen when an administration proposed an actual system, as the Clinton administration did in 1993, or when an actual system was adopted, as the ACA was in 2010. If the Republicans gut the ACA, support for national health insurance will revive. You can bet on it. And Democrats may even get a chance in 2020 to implement a new system as the Australian Labor Party did.
But this time they better do it right. Obamacare, like Clinton’s earlier proposal, required a post-graduate degree in medical economics to comprehend. It was far too complex. It had too many layers of coverage. It appeared to be financed at the expense of Medicare. It invited the perception that people who already had insurance were being forced to subsidize with higher premiums those who did not.
As many a healthcare expert has written over the last fifty years, a viable system needs to separate insurance from employment and create one unified system. It doesn’t have to eliminate private insurance. The Swiss have a national system in which every citizen has to purchase the same policy from a non-profit private insurance company, where citizens pay premiums, and deductibles, but where citizens do not pay beyond a fixed percentage of their income.
Democrats in America may get a chance to improve Obamacare — and who knows, miracles have happened, Trump may even make good on his promise to provide cheaper and better insurance for all. But that doesn’t seem likely. If history does repeat itself, and Trump and the Republicans gut national health insurance, the Democrats better be ready this time with a proposal that will endure, even if it takes a longer and acrimonious battle to get it enacted..
SFAW
@Another Scott:
So, as a result of your “Downfall” link, I also watched some of Baghdad Boob’s shriekings about attendance, crowd size, etc.
Holy fuck. I can’t tell if he’s fucking nuts like his boss, or just thought he could put one over on the lying media, or what. I thought he was going to start crying. Holy fuck.
pamelabrown53
@Another Scott: #36
Thanks, Scott for the link to Kevin Drum’s post and the “Downfall” parody: I was just going to ask someone to provide that link as I’m such a fail in that area.
In other words, BJers, if you haven’t availed yourself to the “Downfall” parody, IMO, it’s so worth it.
cosima
@Yarrow: Me too. I didn’t cotton on until I saw your comment. I was just going along for the ride, enjoying having another fp’er.
hovercraft
If Trump guts Obamacare, History may Repeat itself — the Australian Lesson
By John Judis Published January 23, 2017, 12:06 PM EDT
Is history repeating itself? With Donald Trump’s executive order to agencies to waive or delay any part of the Affordable Care Act that imposes a financial or regulatory burden, Obamacare’s days appear numbered. The administration has begun a process that could lead to the disintegration of the exchanges even before Congress gets around to repealing the act, and well before it creates a viable replacement. Something very similar happened in Australia forty years ago — and the results were not good for the conservatives who eliminated their national health system.
Under a Labor government, Australia passed a national health insurance system called Medibank in 1974 that was similar to America’s Medicare system, but applied to all Australians. Liberals (who in Australia are the “conservatives”) used their majorities in Australia’s upper house and in the state legislatures to undermine the system — refusing, among other things, to levy a tax to support its subsidies for care. Australia’s doctors, with Liberal support, jacked up their rates well above what Medibank was willing to pay. In 1981, a Liberal government, having taken power, repealed the legislation, which didn’t seem to be working. But the story doesn’t end there.
With no protection against rising healthcare costs, the public turned against the Liberals, and in 1983 voted in a Labor government nationally and in four of the six states, which reintroduced a new stronger healthcare bill, dubbed Medicare, which was funded through its own tax. It is popular and remains in place, although government has changed hands several times since then.
In the United States, support for national health insurance has remained very high during its absence — helping Democrats win the White House in 1992 and 2008 — and has fallen when an administration proposed an actual system, as the Clinton administration did in 1993, or when an actual system was adopted, as the ACA was in 2010. If the Republicans gut the ACA, support for national health insurance will revive. You can bet on it. And Democrats may even get a chance in 2020 to implement a new system as the Australian Labor Party did.
But this time they better do it right. Obamacare, like Clinton’s earlier proposal, required a post-graduate degree in medical economics to comprehend. It was far too complex. It had too many layers of coverage. It appeared to be financed at the expense of Medicare. It invited the perception that people who already had insurance were being forced to subsidize with higher premiums those who did not.
As many a healthcare expert has written over the last fifty years, a viable system needs to separate insurance from employment and create one unified system. It doesn’t have to eliminate private insurance. The Swiss have a national system in which every citizen has to purchase the same policy from a non-profit private insurance company, where citizens pay premiums, and deductibles, but where citizens do not pay beyond a fixed percentage of their income.
Democrats in America may get a chance to improve Obamacare — and who knows, miracles have happened, Trump may even make good on his promise to provide cheaper and better insurance for all. But that doesn’t seem likely. If history does repeat itself, and Trump and the Republicans gut national health insurance, the Democrats better be ready this time with a proposal that will endure, even if it takes a longer and acrimonious battle to get it enacted..
Kay
I’m glad the CIA aren’t working for dear leader, like the FBI, but why do they allow him to bring this ridiculous cheering section?
It doesn’t just discredit Trump. It discredits all of them. If they don’t stand up to him they’re all going down with him. No one will believe a word they say.
Jeffro
@Yoda Dog:
I know – the Cowboys and Chiefs have to be like, “Can we get a do-over here?” Ah well. GO FALCONS!
@Corner Stone:
They might want to brush up on their man-to-man coverage in the off season. You cannot expect to pull off zone coverage against Tom Brady (and that’s from someone who can’t stand Brady), although it’s questionable whether or not to even call what they were doing, ‘zone coverage’.
Ian G.
FWIW, the Dallas Stars video board is well known among NHL fans for its snarky jokes, but they’re usually at the expense of the opposing team. This was somewhat daring in Dallas, but then again, Dallas hockey fans might be more likely to be transplants, techies, etc. They’re probably not the “Duck Dynasty” crowd, which is probably all the shitgibbon has left in terms of favorability at this point.
MisterForkbeard
@Kay: Realistically speaking, if the President wants to come give an address to your building and says “and I’m bringing 50 other guests to watch”, then they’re going to let him.
pamelabrown53
@hovercraft: #57
Robin Wright at the “New Yorker” also wrote a similar and worth reading post about Trump’s CIA visit. Sorry that my link skills are atrocious. It’s incredulous to me that even a Trump supporter could watch his performance at the CIA and at least not feel uncomfortable. BTW,does anyone have a legitimate link to the story that Trump brought his own “standing ovation” cheering section?
ETA: Oops! See that a link was already provided by Kay. CBS! is a decent source. Thanks, Kay.
cosima
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/22/theresa-may-donald-trump-hold-talks-trade-deal-cuts-tariffs/
This could be good news (if I thought it was true &/or would ever come to fruition), however, my initial response when I saw this headline at the shop this morning was ‘oh fuck.’ There are so many reasons that it’s ridiculous I would be hard pressed to name just 1% of them, but my top reasons would be:
1) One of the irrational reasons for Brexit was all of those stinking foreigners coming to the UK and taking jobs away from Brits. How is this different?
2) 75% of the people in the US would die if they tried to live in the UK on a ‘living wage’ never mind keeling over as soon as they filled the tank on their tiny little Clio from the sticker shock that comes with £1.25/L.
3) WT ever-loving F are we going to be getting from the US? Even the US doesn’t get the majority of its steel from the US. This was the best that May could come up with for Brexit leverage — a deal (not worth the paper its written on) with the shitgibbon?
pamelabrown53
@Kay: #78
The CIA had no choice. Trump is their boss. Besides, it’s currently leaderless. Brennan made his thoughts and feelings known which was the best that could be done given the circumstances.
japa21
Back from my shoulder surgery. The rotator tear that was 7 mm in early December was 2 cm this am. Surgeon told Mrs. Japa that everything looked good though. Going to the recliner to rest now.
Corner Stone
@? Martin:
You mean like that one time in 300 when Spartans built that wall out of dead Persians? Cool!
Spanky
@japa21: Holy shit! That was outpatient?!?
rikyrah
Does anyone here watch The Young Pope?
Wondering how it was.
Corner Stone
@Jeffro: The sad thing was the Stillers made the pathetic offensive attempt by the Texans against the Pats look almost non-comatose.
Brachiator
@hovercraft:
Interesting stuff. If the GOP cannot deliver free market based affordable health care (and I don’t think that they can), they might see fast pushback from unhappy citizens.
True enough. I’ve never understood the insistence of some liberals that single payer must eliminate insurance company involvement.
Cermet
@hovercraft: They are stupid?! Like a fox. By filling headline after headline with this stupid shit they have 1) stopped all talk about the issues with the cabinet selections 2) the terrible results of his signing a number of orders 3) the fact that their translation team is a mess. He won the media war AND his followers further realize that the media is confused – note the language of many out-lets and how they add grey tones to the lies. He is winning this war tiny hands down.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@pamelabrown53:
I read the New Yorker piece you mentioned… oh, my goodness, that was scathing! Trump truly thinks he’s the smartest cat in the box. Talk about an emperor with no clothes….
SRW1
@cosima:
The UK can’t sign any trade deals until they are out of the EU, i.e. no earlier than 2019. Strictly speaking they aren’t even allowed to negotiate such deals before then, which is why what the Brits are doing is ‘sketching out on a napkin’ (O-tone Bobo Johnson).
I am pretty sure Trump and May will talk trade when Theresa comes to the White House, but the Telegraph is one of the Brexiest of pro-Brexit papers. I’d recommend taking any talk about proximate trade agreements with a grain of salt.
Funny thing is that India, Australia and apparently now also the US have requested easier access for their nationals to Britain as part of trade agreements, yet curbing such access is reason No 1 for Brexit.
Yarrow
@Brachiator: Me either. Insurance companies have to be heavily regulated for it to work though. Like utilities. Not massive profit generators for the CEOs.
@cosima: May’s not going to get a deal with the EU so she’s desperate to get something. Trump needs to make some kind of deal to look like he’s doing something. Plus he’s in deep with the far-right Russia fans like Farage and they want the Brexit thing to look like more of a win than it does now. In my estimation it’s all about short term win (“Look! We got a trade deal!”) rather than long term reality.
catclub
@Another Scott: You might as well read his page o promises (it is a pdf). Because this action comes right off of that.
Just wish it includes not hiring Bannon and Kushner. Or Betsy deVos…
Brachiator
@Cermet:
Actually, no. The GOP has decided to back all the nominees, so unless some super duper problem crops up, they are all being given a pass. McCain and Rubio, who hid mild doubts about a couple of the nominees, have announced that they are ready to vote their approval. So, this is pretty much a non-issue now. The nonsense over inauguration attendance is really not a factor here.
catclub
I have posted and the posts disappear – they had links.
Yoda Dog
@japa21: Great to hear.
SFAW
@japa21:
Glad to hear you came through it well. Just as surprised as Spanky that it was outpatient, however.
With things fixed, does this mean you’ll be able to suit up for the Super Bowl, as backup for Ryan/Brady? (Depending on your team of choice)
Yoda Dog
@Ian G.:
They probably figured most of the wingers would be too dense to even catch the joke. And they were probably right.
trollhattan
@rikyrah:
Utterly unplanned I caught the last 15 minutes of Ep. 2. Diane Keaton is quite good as is James Cromwell, and Jude Law really chews up some scenery delivering an extraordinarily Trumpian speech to the faithful. (How could they have known?) The production quality is off the charts, if that’s at all helpful.
trollhattan
@Brachiator:
Ultimately I don’t think they give a shit about a thousand-year
reicrule. They explicitly know that the opportunity to destroy is at hand and it’s time to set fire to as much of “big government” as possible while they have their chance. Even if the Dems were to take congress in ’18 (which nobody expects) it will take decades to undo/correct what they’ve done in the meantime. And that’s good enough.cosima
@SRW1: I didn’t know that about The Daily Telegraph. I actually meant to say that in my comment, that I don’t know which papers here go with which parties — in the 4 years that we’ve lived here (this time) I’ve probably only bought the newspaper 20 times, and that usually for a very specific headline/reason, and I wasn’t particular about the rest of the content because I wasn’t interested in it. My take is that there wouldn’t be much support from the average UK citizen for that trade agreement — not big fans of the US, wondering why they should be subjected to US workers rather than European workers, and also what would be traded???
@Yarrow: Yes, that was my cynical read on it, as well. However, the whole thing still makes me sick.
Reading that Doomsday Prep for Rich Schmucks article definitely didn’t make me feel any better about the state of the world. If you’ve not read it yet, save it for when you are feeling low, but not at your lowest, because if you’re feeling even somewhat hopeful it will drag you down immediately.
Jim Parene
@Spanky: Hedly.
rikyrah
@japa21:
Glad to hear positive news :)
J R in WV
@randy khan:
Well, good if you’re from Bahston, or Atlanta. If you’re from the rest of the country, not so much. My football season is so over. I was looking forward to seeing the Pack crush someone, either team would have been good.
But the Cheatriot Pats vrs Atlanta Birds? nope. jsut nope. Well maybe for the ads.
Raphael Kearns
I’m a Dallas Stars season ticket holder for the past 6 years. The Stars video and in game entertainment team is well known in the NHL for their great mockery of many things on the video board. Trust me, the fans in the AAC knew what that caption meant.
Dallas may be the most blue county in Texas though Harris county might want to dispute that. Every urban county in Texas except for Tarrant county (Fort Worth) is a reliably blue county.Up until the last city elections every elected office was held by a Democrat. The only Republican who won in the last election was the DA who has now stepped down due to ongoing mental health issues.
Raphael Kearns
@rikyrah: I’ve watched the first 3 episodes and I trying to figure out what’s going on.