Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Consistently wrong since 2002

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

You cannot shame the shameless.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

We still have time to mess this up!

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Everybody saw this coming.

You are here: Home / Politics / America / Take a Deep Breath and a Step Back

Take a Deep Breath and a Step Back

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I want to briefly touch on an issue that seems to keep coming up in comments – regardless of the topic of the post. That issue is the ongoing freak out over what the President is doing. I’m not going to tell anyone not to be concerned. Nor am I going to tell everyone that everything is going to be okay or that it will all work out or that this is normal. As I’ve indicated a couple of times: things are going to be bad, people will be hurt psychologically/emotionally and, unfortunately, some will be hurt physically as well. But recognizing all of that panic and despair are not going to help. They’re not going to help anyone individually, nor are they going to help anyone societally.

Some of you have by now seen either summaries of the Executive Orders the President signed today or the teasers of the one’s he’s supposed to sign tomorrow. And, of course, there was last night’s tweet about Chicago. What is important to keep in mind is that a lot of the stuff in the Executive Orders actually requires Congressional action. For instance, it is against the law to reinstate torture, d/b/a enhanced interrogation techniques, within either the Intelligence Community or the military. It doesn’t matter what the EO states. It doesn’t matter that the President has stated he’ll have DCI Pompeo revisit the Army Doctrinal Publication (formerly Field Manual) for conducting interrogations, DCI Pompeo isn’t in charge of the US Army, isn’t in the US Army’s chain of command, and has no control over US Army doctrine and concepts. If the President wants to bring this back, which is a terrible idea on its face, he’ll have to get it through both the House and the Senate.

It also doesn’t matter that the President signed an EO today indicating a significant increase in the number of ICE personnel. There’s two reasons for this: 1) Congress will have to appropriate the money for those additional personnel and 2) he just signed a hiring freeze for all Federal positions with the exception of the military and the excepted services of Federal civil servants. ICE agents don’t fit into this category. Similarly for increasing deportations for those that have entered without documentation or overstayed their entry. We are pretty much maxed out on the numbers we can deport because those numbers are determined by capacity. And the capacity is determined by the budget. Unless Congress greatly increases the amount for the process, the numbers aren’t going to change much.

Its been teased that he’s going to sign EOs tomorrow limiting the US’s participation and role in the UN. Wonderful, that’s actually got to go through Congress too. Because the US’s participation in the UN is the result of a law passed decades ago. He can keep signing these things till his fingers fall off, but a lot of them are just intended to excite his supporters and demoralize everyone else. Don’t fall for it.

The point here is that if you freak out each and every time something strange, bizarre, provocative is said or done, you won’t be able to do the actual hard work of conserving and preserving the US. And it doesn’t have to be great, gigantic work. The small things are as important as the big ones right now. Looking out for each other. Ensuring that we don’t forget the ideals that are America. That we don’t loose sight of the norms of how American institutions are supposed to function even as they’re being discarded. That we hold our elected officials accountable and make it as difficult as possible for them to discard those norms and jettison those ideals. That we recognize that true patriots don’t need to capitalize the word and scream Liberty and Freedom from the rooftops at the tops of their lungs. Holding the line means not losing your mind. It is important that we keep some perspective and composure as we all wade into uncharted waters. We have a long way to go to preserve and protect the Union. We will get there not by leaps and bounds, but by squaring our shoulders, bracing ourselves, leaning into the headwinds, and putting one foot in front of the other.

 

Reader Interactions

394Comments

  1. 1.

    Adam L Silverman

    I’m going to the gym. Feel free to vent about me telling you all not to freak out. I’ll be back in 90 minutes or so.

  4. 4.

    The Moar You Know

    Thanks for this, it’s very important to keep in mind. This crew will be going Gish Gallop for four years straight because that’s the only stratagem that works for them – just everyone keep your heads down and keep plugging away.

  6. 6.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Thanks, Adam. I just got home from a piano lesson, and I was going to write something like this myself. I saw a tweet that the Executive Orders aren’t even released until several hours after they’ve been signed, which allows the Trumpite interpretations to dominate the news. And the reporters, who should know what you’ve said, jump to the Trumpy tune, not bothering to look at what the EOs actually say.

    If you’re on Twitter or comment on news stories, insist that the reporters look at the EOs and report that, not the inflammatory blather that the lying liars are putting out.

  7. 7.

    Seanly

    True. I had a lengthy post about the engineering requirements behind doing a 2000 (or 1340) mile wall. The biggest factor would be if Congress appropriates funds. I would imagine that, in the case of the wall, there could be some funds diverted to do a very preliminary look at the route, costs, ROW issues, and environmental* impacts. But the preliminary studies wouldn’t be anything that anyone could use to turn over a spade of dirt.
    * Environmental impacts is almost a catch-all term now. It can include historical/cultural resources, Native American issues in addition to what lay people would consider an actual environmental issue.

  8. 8.

    guachi

    I assume Trump is doing this to make it look like he’s doing something to keep his popularity above 27% for as long as possible.

  12. 12.

    K488

    Let me add my thanks, Adam. Your insightful writing here has been an absolute go-to for me through these times. Much appreciated!

  13. 13.

    trollhattan

    @Seanly: The Wall ™ will provide a great excuse for The Emperor ™ to rid us of the pesky NEPA and ESA (r.i.p.). If he can’t eliminate them outright, declare a Border Emergency and waive them.

  14. 14.

    sharl

    Thanks Adam; a timely message. In a non-rigorous, kinda-sorta ad hoc way I’ve been trying to come up with criteria I can use personally to decide which incidents and news items deserve more (or less) concern and attention.

    Of course we all have been doing this anyway as adults, as part of the daily routine of being engaged with the world and its politics. It’s just that the set points, thresholds, and trip wires I’ve traditionally (and subconsciously) relied on to make these evaluations seem to now be undergoing some kind of horrible resetting process. It is mighty disorienting, maybe like going through the NASA astronaut training program unexpectedly while knowing you’ll just be puking a lot while never getting a shot at going into space.

    Gonna keep on keepin’ on…

  18. 18.

    Timurid

    Unfortunately, at the moment ‘it has to get through Congress’ does not appear to be much of an obstacle.
    If they’re going to rubber stamp his Cabinet of circus freaks and cannibals, they’re not going to have many reservations about approving torture or other obviously unethical policies.

  19. 19.

    dm

    Another thing of note is the apparent speed many of these actions get rolled back because of public outcry — like the Dept. of Agriculture rolling back its gag order, or the House Ethics Committee earlier in January.

    The public is already primed to object. I think (hope) the Trump cabal are poking a stick at a hornet’s nest.

    Another good thing: more and more of the mainstream press are describing White House pronoucements as “lies”. Even the weasel-worders are using terms like “false” and “without evidence”.

  20. 20.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    Who or what is able to stop any of this though ? One of the “how to survive an autocrat” is to not trust institutions to save us.

  21. 21.

    Feebog

    Whew, well said. Could I just add, can we stop freaking out when a Democrat votes for a Cabinet nominee? I get that a lot of people would like to see every damn nominee get 48 no votes, but they are going to be confirmed any way. Trump is supposed to make a Supreme Court nomination next week. That’s when we should start screaming hell no at the top of our lungs. And Democrats can make a difference there, the filibuster still applies to SCOTUS nominees.

  23. 23.

    elm

    A lot of the reason people are concerned is that we don’t yet know how creative Trump and his team will be at breaking and disregarding the law on topics like torture. Legal or illegal, it will occur behind closed doors and if the President favors it, I do not expect anyone to be punished for it.

    The fascist regime will move fast to commit atrocities and destroy institutions. They will aim to do so in days or weeks, not months or years. Bannon and his associates surely have dreadful evil plans for all of us and we will likely not discover what they are until the hour is late.

    @Feebog: Resistance is not a resource that is consumed, it’s a muscle that strengthens with use.

  24. 24.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    I am (foolishly) surprised that he has not tossed out some tiny meat-bare bone to those on the left. Obama did not take office and immediately piss over all things conservative. Trump is truly all about rage and revenge, settling scores and belittling people. What a predatory, parasitic prick.

  25. 25.

    ChrisH

    I called my congressman today, John Katko (R) of Central New York and asked his phone handler if he had any opinion on the EPA funding freeze and expressed my concerns about how that might impact local jobs considering Syracuse is home to one of the top universities dedicated to environmental science. I’m noticing I really could call his office daily with a new topic if I wanted.

    One thing I’m wondering is what’s the optimal point to stop talking about what Trump is doing and talk about any action he performs as what ‘the GOP’ is doing? Trying to distinguish between Trump and reasonable conservatives clearly didn’t work, so it’s time to make that marriage as binding and unbreakable as possible.

  26. 26.

    zhena gogolia

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I was going to thank you for this beautiful post. I realized this afternoon when my husband came home and I was uncontrollably quoting Madonna that I have to ease up on paying attention to every little thing that jerk does.

  27. 27.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Baud: Betty Cracker. She basically told me to fuck off. Paraphrasing, scroll on you are not obliged to read every post or something to that effect. I suggested replacing the WASF tag, with something like we are the ones we have been waiting for.

  28. 28.

    mai naem mobile

    I try and tell myself that at his root he is a simple con man who wants to benefit himself from the government and while I am not happy about that it could be a lot worse if it was somebody like Cheney. I think he is going to make a lot of money off his position in the hotels. They reported today that Mar Lago tripled its rates. Same with a couple of his other properties. He met with local construction union leaders he is probably going to get free labor from. I think it is possible that he cancelled TPP because it was a multi lateral deal that was already bargained with by Obama. Now he gets to do bilateral deals with each country and pride each country for his business. Banana Republican.

  29. 29.

    trollhattan

    @Feebog:

    filibuster still applies to SCOTUS nominees.

    Yup, and my arithmetic skilz tell me it’s within our power to prevent another Scalia, Bork, Thomas. Join ranks Dems, and do not waver as the next quarter-century is riding on your actions.

  31. 31.

    zhena gogolia

    @SenyorDave:

    For me it’s been not only the gym but crossword puzzles and playing standards on the piano ad nauseam.

    The semester starts tomorrow so I’ll be more distracted from the “carnage” (to coin a phrase).

  32. 32.

    geg6

    Thanks, Adam. I was mulling over how all this gets done without congressional action and ended with a similar conclusion. But most people aren’t knowledgeable enough about how these things work and so I get the panic it all has for some. Hell, I’m panicking even though I do have the knowledge.

  33. 33.

    zhena gogolia

    @guachi:

    Judging by the comments on WaPo, it’s working with the 27%. “He’s gotten more done in the first few days than Obama did in 8 years!”

  34. 34.

    rikyrah

    Robby Mook ‏@RobbyMook 1h1 hour ago
    To set record straight: I never committed to speeches w Corey & didn’t agree to posts on “teaming up”. It was done w/o my knowledge/consent.

    Robby Mook ‏@RobbyMook 1h1 hour ago
    After seeing the posting in Buzzfeed, I called the firm and asked them to take the site down and correct the record w the reporter.

    Robby Mook ‏@RobbyMook 1h1 hour ago
    I had no appointments booked through this firm and am no longer affiliated with them.

  37. 37.

    SFAW

    On the other hand, an argument could be made that the “ongoing freak out” (“OFO”) is one of the things that has helped propel the Reich wing to the position of political dominance it currently holds. It took a long time for the OFO to become the dominant trendsetter (for lack of a better word), but with Faux News as the standard bearer of all things OFO, they pretty much control the narrative now.

    A response that I would like to see: some left-side organization returns the favor. Catalog every fucking thing Bannon, Shitgibbon, Turtle, ZEGS, Riefenstahl (et al.) do in the service of destroying the government and the “American ideal” that most of us here believe in. Have a left-side set of spokespeople, each with his/her area of expertise, all with name recognition, and have them (figuratively) scream at top of their lungs about the latest Rethug atrocity. (Note: probably not the best word, but couldn’t think of a better one at the moment.) Do that every fucking day.

    At the same time, have a related group work on various issues, such as a latter-day 50-state strategy, voter registration, etc.

    Yeah, some, maybe all, of this has been said before. OFOs are only bad if we DON’T use them to galvanize people into action

  41. 41.

    zhena gogolia

    @SFAW:

    I don’t think the RWNJs get demoralized along with their freaking out, the way we do. They enjoy being enraged 24/7. We like to think happy thoughts and play with kittehs.

  42. 42.

    Yarrow

    @dm:

    Another good thing: more and more of the mainstream press are describing White House pronoucements as “lies”. Even the weasel-worders are using terms like “false” and “without evidence”.

    Yes. I posted in a previous thread that Jake Tapper has a strong segment on the supposed voting fraud. He said, “A stunning allegation for which the White House is providing no evidence. And there is a reason they are providing no evidence: there is no evidence. It is not true.” There’s more and it’s worth a look. Good for him.

  46. 46.

    Another Scott

    Well said.

    I note the the Democrats in the House and Senate aren’t freaking out about this stuff (at least if they are, they’re not getting any press about it). They’re making speeches and voting and proposing legislation (like the $1T stimulus package). Less freaking out and more work on organizing, contacting our representatives, donating, and even running for office, is the way to take away Donnie’s power.

    We’ve got to minimize exciting our lizard brains – it is not good for our health, among other things. We need to work on setting the agenda where we can rather than simply reacting.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  48. 48.

    dogwood

    @ChrisH:
    The optimal time to stop talking exclusively about Trump and using the term “republicans” is now. We don’t have an easy shot at taking back Congress in ’18. Our Senate chances aren’t that great, and while we will probably gain some House seats, that’s an uphill climb as well. But we can maximize our gains by linking Trump to the GOP and republican elected officials with ruthless consistency.

  50. 50.

    Lizzy L

    @Cheryl Rofer: My favorite line in that whole article was the one which said that the Republicans were going to need the Democrats’ help in repealing and replacing the ACA.

    Except for Joe Manchin — yeah, no. In your dreams.

  51. 51.

    waspuppet

    It also doesn’t matter that the President signed an EO today indicating a significant increase in the number of ICE personnel. There’s two reasons for this: 1) Congress will have to appropriate the money for those additional personnel and 2) he just signed a hiring freeze for all Federal positions with the exception of the military and the excepted services of Federal civil servants. ICE agents don’t fit into this category.

    What are the odds that it’s being explained to him right now that he can’t order a clerk/typist from Justice to the Texas border? And the odds that he doesn’t understand this?

  52. 52.

    mai naem mobile

    I have a question regarding Hillary. 4 is bass who wants Hillary in jail can Hillary be prosecuted? I almost want Hillary to be prosecuted. Would it be a jury trial? Would it be in New York? Is there any place in New York that she would be found guilty? It is not so much that I think Hillary is guilty in any fashion but I think it would make the right-wingers,Lumpy and the NY FBI look stupid.

  53. 53.

    elm

    @Yarrow: Fact-checking these lies does not accomplish much.

    A helpful guide for interpreting the language of fascists

    “Hannah Arendt, in her book The Origin of Totalitarianism, provides a helpful guide for interpreting the language of fascists. She noted how decent liberals of 1930s Germany would “fact check” the Nazis’ bizarre claims about Jews like they were meant to be factual. What they failed to understand, Arendt suggests, is that the Nazi Jew hating was not a statement of fact but a declaration of intent. So when someone would blame the Jews for Germany’s defeat in World War I, naive people would counter by saying there’s no evidence of that. What the Nazis were doing was not describing what was true, but what would have to be true to justify what they planned to do next.
    Did 3 million “illegals” cast votes in this election (as Trump tweeted)? Clearly not. But fact checking is just a way of playing along with their game. What Trump is saying is not that 3 million illegals voted. What he’s saying is: I’m going to steal the voting rights of millions of Americans. Fascism is the opposite of conservatism because it refuses to acknowledge reality as a limitation on the scope of human will.”
    – Elliot Lusztig

  54. 54.

    cosima

    Thanks Adam.

    Today I lunched with a friend who asked what’s wrong with me, and I told her I’ll never ever be over this election, not as long as I live, but I am trying to move to a new normal where I send the things over which I have no control out into the universe for safekeeping so that I can focus on the here & now & the many blessings that I *still* have today.

    Part of that process is opening facebook, checking to see if my daughter has messaged, if there’s anything there for my work (volunteer), then logging out without engaging with any of the political horror. Same with email. Checking BJ to see if there’s anything concrete & worth worrying about, then closing the tab.

    I cannot carry the world. Today I talked with my neighbour (a police officer) about a boy who may be being sexually abused, and how to report that. And with my lunch friend about a little girl who is certainly being sexually abused by a family member (friend is on a board that makes decisions about placement of at-risk children). I told her that the other day I felt like I wanted to fall to my knees and sob my heart out, but I did not, and she asked me ‘why didn’t you?’

    We are all freaking the fuck out — because we are good, caring people, and all indications are that our country is careening toward catastrophe. It’s important to find ways to step back from the brink so that we are in the best possible head space to effect positive change. I love this group of jackals, even though I am most often a lurker, not a commenter — never change. But we all have to remember to reflect, even if just for a short time, on what is *still* good in our lives so that we have the strength to meet the challenges that are coming.

  55. 55.

    Cacti

    Progressive hero Tulsi Gabbard just announced she’s back from a secret “fact-finding” mission to Syria, and puts in a good word for that nice guy Assad.

    House Dem leadership had no idea.

    Did the Berniebots get snookered by her or what?

  57. 57.

    Baud

    @schrodingers_cat: I’m sorry to hear that. I’ve never liked WASF.

    @Another Scott:

    I note the the Democrats in the House and Senate aren’t freaking out about this stuff (at least if they are, they’re not getting any press about it). They’re making speeches and voting and proposing legislation (like the $1T stimulus package). Less freaking out and more work on organizing, contacting our representatives, donating, and even running for office, is the way to take away Donnie’s power.

    Agree. They reflect me more than the internet does these days.

  59. 59.

    Yoda Dog

    They got a punching bag at my gym. Never used it back in the before times. Im a lover, not a fighter.

    But now I beat the living shit out of that bag on the reg. Things have changed.

    Onwards, comrades.

  60. 60.

    Feebog

    @zhena gogolia:

    Isn’t there still a filibuster?

    Not for judges below the Supreme Court or Cabinet nominees. Harry Reid burned that down a few years ago. I agreed then and I agree now with his reasoning, but you always have to consider the consequences.

  63. 63.

    mai naem mobile

    @dogwood: from what I remember there are some red Farm State Dems up in the Senate in 2018. TPP is good for Farm States. Lumpy better fix the TPP by then

  64. 64.

    Betty Cracker

    @schrodingers_cat: I was going to let this go because it seems like a really dumb kerfluffle, but since you’ve dragged it to another thread and provided a wildly inaccurate account of what I supposedly said, I’ll just drop links to my two responses here and here so anyone who’s curious can read what you said and how I responded and judge for themselves. I’ve got no quarrel with you.

  65. 65.

    cosima

    @dogwood: We can all think positive, that Obama + Holder = anti-gerrymandering magic.

    One of the things that I was thinking of today was that much as I am glad that PBO & Michelle are enjoying a much-needed/earned vacation on Branson Island, I will be so glad when they’re back in town and his constitutional law genius can be put to work for the American people. I’m guessing that at least 50% of the EOs that SCROTUS is signing are unconstitutional, if not 100% of them. Let’s fire up the lawsuit machine!

  67. 67.

    zhena gogolia

    @Betty Cracker:

    I think your first response was so curt as to feel like a rebuke, especially to a regular commenter.

    But we all have our nerves on edge. As I said, I can’t stop quoting Madonna.

  68. 68.

    Yarrow

    @Cheryl Rofer: The best quote from that piece:

    “Exact, specific and detailed — that’s what people want,” said Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Tex.), the chairman of the House Rules Committee. “We’re going to own this stuff, and we better be able to explain it.”

    Yes. Yes you assholes are going to OWN this shit. Trump is going to be tied around your necks. You will OWN him. It’s all on you.

  70. 70.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Adam:

    if you freak out each and every time something strange, bizarre, provocative is said or done, you won’t be able to do the actual hard work of conserving and preserving the US.

    Sure I can. I am vast, I contain multitasks.

  71. 71.

    mai naem mobile

    @Cacti: I am beginning to wonder if putin has something on Tulsi. A kinky sachsytime tape? It would be irresponsible not to speculate!

  72. 72.

    zhena gogolia

    @debbie:

    Every time I see WASF, I lose heart. We are very far from being SF — we still have the majority of the population on our side, and people are getting energized and mobilized. And WE have to be part of it.

  73. 73.

    bluehill

    I was actually expecting more EOs and bills on day 1, so on a relative basis this is good news for me. I think (hope) that a lot of these things are like his Carrier announcements – more style than substance. He clearly wants to show his base that he’s carrying out his promises, but most will never actually verify that it’s been carried out or will blame the dems if they are unable to.

    Perception of action may help Trump more than results and I think this is potentially a bigger problem. He’s reaching out to unions with the anti-trade talk, which will only help him with the working class and continue to neutralize one key part of the dem coalition. I think he’s trying to appease big business with tax cuts and fewer regulations to offset potential increases in labor costs. Something’s got to give or there have to be some loopholes obscuring things.

    More broadly, I think Bannon/Kushner/Conway are trying to convince the middle class that things are getting better and that they are “winning” even if the actual changes are minor or even detrimental in the longer run. Even though the economy has been growing and unemployment is way down, the repubs have successfully sold the middle class on the idea that the country has spiraled out of control during Obama’s term. Now they are going to talk about how great everything is and some of these EOs will feed into that perception. I think we’re seeing this to some extent in the stock market since the election and inauguration. If the middle class starts to feel more optimistic and open their pocketbooks this will have tangible benefits for the economy. Household debt, while high for the past 50 years, is back to levels before the housing crash. Wages have been rising. Things were not nearly as bad as the repubs were saying and now it is going to be non-stop optimism. Same facts different interpretation.

  75. 75.

    Cacti

    @schrodingers_cat:

    She is a piece of work, that one.

    The same person who gave moral rectitude lectures to the DNC and resigned in protest…

    Had no problem having a sit down with butcher of Aleppo.

  79. 79.

    EBT

    @SenyorDave: I have gotten back on to daily physical therapy at the start of the year. I have done 80 miles in 25 hours and 45 minutes. Need to be fitter to get my nazi scalps.

  84. 84.

    Trentrunner

    @Cacti: When the fuck was Gabbard ever a “progressive hero”? Not to me. I saw the same thing in her that I saw in Alan Grayson: The dead-eyed stare of the true narcissist, and likely criminal. We should have nothing to do with either of them.

  85. 85.

    Yarrow

    @elm: To counter that, if the media continues to point out that Trump lies, then the story is “Trump’s pattern of lying” and “Trump lies again.” As someone suggested during the campaign, the better strategy for dealing with Trump and his lies to to point out it’s a pattern and then talk about the pattern. Talk about the habit/pattern of lying is an issue, a problem. How much he does it. But we have to start with data points to establish the pattern. I know the data points are already there but the media wasn’t doing it. Now they are. I’m not going to beat them up for doing the right thing, even though they’re late to the game.

    Edit: That tweetstorm is no longer visible. I think Eliot Lustzig made his twitter account private after deleting it altogether at some point.

  88. 88.

    NeenerNeener

    I joined the GrabYourWallet facebook group and asked if anyone had started a “Boycott Mark Burnett tv shows” campaign yet. I don’t know what else to do yet, but this is a start. If anyone knows boycotts, it’s these folks.

  89. 89.

    rikyrah

    Kobach says he advised Trump on voter fraud probe, immigration orders
    JANUARY 25, 2017 1:07 PM

    Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach said Wednesday that he advised President Trump to investigate voter fraud and played a role in the early writing of anticipated executive orders on immigration policy.

    Trump promised in a pair of tweets to pursue “a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD” Wednesday morning and pointed to people registered in multiple states as one area that he wants to investigate.

    Kobach, the only secretary of state in the nation with prosecutorial power, has filed nine cases against people accused of voting in more than one state. Six resulted in guilty pleas, one was dismissed and two remain pending.

  92. 92.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Ted Lieu and Ed Markey have a piece of legislation up prohibiting first use of nuclear weapons without a declaration of war from Congress.

    I approve. I didn’t look to see what the penalty is, but I think it should be a capital crime, penalty to be by rope, no variance or judicial discretion on sentencing. If his successor wants to issue a pardon, let that be on him.

  94. 94.

    Roger Moore

    @Timurid:

    Unfortunately, at the moment ‘it has to get through Congress’ does not appear to be much of an obstacle.

    You might be surprised. Converting what Trump says into legislation that will achieve something vaguely resembling what he’s talking about will be a lot of work, and the Republicans in Congress are much more accomplished at obstruction than legislation. If the Democrats put up more than token resistance, it will put an additional crimp into the Republicans’ efforts to enact anything substantive. That’s not to say they won’t be able to get anything done, but that they are going to have to work for it.

  96. 96.

    Cacti

    @rikyrah:

    Funny how Kobach’s crosscheck system managed to miss people named Trump, Mnuchin, and Bannon.

    Just a coinkydink I’m sure.

  97. 97.

    Barbara

    Thanks for this Adam. I would also like to say that these EOs are almost certainly highly cynical in the sense that they get a lot of attention from people who don’t understand which of these things needs congressional action to actually become effective. So his supporters begin to think of him as the decisive man of action even if these particular decisions and actions have zero effect. They make a loud bang and get a lot of attention and when, later, it turns out that nothing happened — that’s never in the news. I will leave you with one concrete thought along these lines: Along the border between the United States and Mexico there is an awful lot of private property. To build a wall on that property requires permission, payment, and sometimes legal action, depending on how the landowner feels about it. The government cannot come onto your property and start building a wall.

  98. 98.

    tobie

    Adam is of course right that if we drive ourselves to distraction in our anger, fear, or shock we won’t be able to fight back. But even if Trump can’t do everything he’s ordering with the stroke of his pen, he’s moving the window in terms of what’s acceptable in political discourse and policy circles in the US, and that does have profound effects. He’s making gag orders acceptable; torture acceptable; withdrawing from the UN acceptable. All three of these are extreme moves that have now become normalized simply by virtue of having been done. That’s one reason we freak out.

    The other is that his rhetoric has destroyed whatever good will the US had abroad and is inflaming tensions in hot spots. I can’t imagine what people in the Middle East are thinking about the proposed refugee ban, the declaration to reinstate torture, the stated wish to steal oil, etc. Geez, if US journalists can’t tell the difference between an executive order and a proclamation/press release, how can we expect the rest of the world to do so. That’s what’s so worrisome.

  100. 100.

    elm

    @Yarrow: Every totalitarian government lies. They all lie all the time. Fact-checking them has never stopped them from accomplishing their goals. Jake Tapper haggling over numbers of fraudulent votes ignores the key point Trump wants to steal the right to vote from millions of US citizens. The lie doesn’t matter, the evil it enables does matter.

  101. 101.

    rikyrah

    5 CALLS
    MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD

    Turn your passive participation into active resistance. Facebook likes and Twitter retweets don’t create the change you want to see.

    Spend 5 minutes, make 5 calls.

    There’s one simple and straightforward way to influence the Government that is supposed to represent you: Call them on the phone.

    Calling is the most effective way to influence your representative. 5 Calls gives you contacts and scripts so calling is quick and easy. We use your location to give you your local representatives so your calls are more impactful.

    Want to know more? Read about why calling works or more about us:

    FIVE CALLS

  102. 102.

    Cacti

    @Baud:

    And attacked DWS, IIRC.

    Supporting the on true progressive savior absolves all sins.

    Like belonging to a homophobic cult, or coming from a family of Hawaii wingnuts turned democrats of convenience.

  103. 103.

    Renie

    @debbie: what is that all about? is there a reason no federal disaster funds are going there? did not enough people die for him care to do it? or does he have no staff in place to do this? i don’t understand this one

  105. 105.

    p.a.

    File under: swabbing the Titanic deck as it goes down:

    On Morning Edition, Kelly explains why. She says she went to the Oxford English Dictionary seeking the definition of “lie.”

    “A false statement made with intent to deceive,” Kelly says. “Intent being the key word there. Without the ability to peer into Donald Trump’s head, I can’t tell you what his intent was. I can tell you what he said and how that squares, or doesn’t, with facts.”

    NPR’s senior vice president for news, Michael Oreskes, says NPR has decided not to use the word “lie” and that Kelly got it right by avoiding that word.

    “Our job as journalists is to report, to find facts, and establish their authenticity and share them with everybody,” says Oreskes. “It’s really important that people understand that these aren’t our opinions. … These are things we’ve established through our journalism, through our reporting…

  106. 106.

    rikyrah

    Just another reason why he should be DNC Chair.

    Tom Perez Verified account
    ‏@TomPerez

    It’s simple: We should give Donald Trump the same respect Mitch McConnell gave to Barack Obama.

  107. 107.

    JPL

    @p.a.: It doesn’t matter because NPR is using their funding. Maybe Rupert will buy it though. That would be fitting justice.

  108. 108.

    Cacti

    @dogwood:

    The Chinese are in charge now.

    Let’s celebrate this victory for the American worker.

    I’m told by my betters that withdrawing from the TPP was such a thing.

  110. 110.

    sharl

    @mai naem mobile: I’m not sure how relevant this is to your questions, but did you see the pre-Christmas story on the court-ordered (FOIA) release of the search warrant documentation used by the FBI New York City office to access HRC aide Huma Abedin’s laptop? [Or maybe it was her estranged husband’s laptop; I’m a little confused on that detail.]

    The L.A. lawyer who filed the FOIA request said the released documents – which were redacted at FBI request prior to release – provided at best a very weak legal basis for justifying issuance of a search warrant. A WaPo legal pundit (Orin Kerr) was a bit more circumspect on that score.

    I wish this story had gotten more coverage, but given the rush of other news at the time, and the fact it came out just days before Christmas, it got overlooked by many. I still think something really, really stinks with the NYC FBI office, especially given what their old friend and working partner Rudy Giuliani said on Fox (I think) just a couple days before Comey announced a revisit to their e-mail investigation. Still pisses me off mightily, and really needs to be followed up by Congress.

  111. 111.

    Jeffro

    @Adam L Silverman: Adam has the right approach – take a breath, and take care of yourself as if this were a four year war. It is.

    See also, Sara Benincasa’s self-care essay of a day or two ago, or the many others.

    We’re going to win this thing, folks ;)

  112. 112.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    You know something I don’t, mob enforcer?

    That’s LIBERAL BITCH MOB ENFORCER to you, candidate boy.

  114. 114.

    JMG

    Adam is right, of course. Can’t be in freakout mode all the time, or bad things happen. One of my best friends from college made a pile, retired to rural Maine and went nuts listening to rightwing talk radio, his only form of entertainment in his allegedly Thoreau retirement from the world. Now he’s in permanent freakout. Makes him a drag.

  115. 115.

    Mike in NC

    Trump’s Folly: if his great wall is estimated to cost some $25B, go ahead and double that number due to the usual low-balling by contractors and typical cost overruns. Putin will be very pleased to see the US Government pissing away such an amount.

  117. 117.

    rikyrah

    US is no longer a full democracy, EIU warns

    The U.S. has been demoted from a full democracy to a flawed democracy for the first time, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

    Every year, the firm’s Democracy Index provides a snapshot of global democracy by scoring countries on five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture. Nations are then classified under four types of governments: full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime and authoritarian regime.

    America’s score fell to 7.98 last year from 8.05 in 2015, below the 8.00 threshold for a full democracy, the EIU announced in a report on Wednesday. That put the world’s largest economy on the same footing as Italy, a country known for its fractious politics.

  118. 118.

    raven

    @Renie:

    Deal said FEMA has taken an initial step to approve a request for emergency help for a Jan. 2 tornado that left $50 million in damage, and Deal said he’s confident a second request for assistance for Sunday’s deadly storms “will be granted and approved very quickly.”

    Dougherty County officials said they already felt abandoned by FEMA after the Jan. 2 tornado and that Sunday’s storms – which left four in the county dead – left the area in further need of help.

    Deal said he’s confident President Donald Trump and his administration would respond. For good measure, his office said he asked the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, to expedite the disaster declaration.

    Meanwhile, Georgia lawmakers on Tuesday shifted $5 million in additional cash to Deal’s emergency fund and the governor has declared 16 counties in a state of emergency. More than 250 state employees are working to clear debris, provide shelter and disaster relief.

  119. 119.

    grrljock

    @Cacti: Re: Tulsi Gabbard, I have a distinct memory of Rachel Maddow saying something to the effect of ,”Tulsi Gabbard. Watch her, she is the future” when Gabbard was elected. Then I remembered being very confused when I read about background. So yeah, some people thought that she was the Dem-star-in-the making (maybe because of her unconventional background?), even before her supporting Bernie.

  120. 120.

    john fremont

    @elm: That’s why I agree with what Jim Wright wrote at his latest column at Stonekettle Station. He draws these conservatives to their logical conclusions.

  121. 121.

    Lizzy L

    @p.a.: There are reasons why I don’t listen to NPR any more. If they’ve decided not to use the word “lie” — how about falsehood, can they go with that? No? — when speaking of shit DJT makes up out of his own head and says aloud, well, that just confirms the righteousness of my decision. Sheesh. //rant

  122. 122.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Mike in NC:

    Trump’s Folly: if his great wall is estimated to cost some $25B, go ahead and double that number due to the usual low-balling by contractors and typical cost overruns. Putin will be very pleased to see the US Government pissing away such an amount.

    Minor flaw, Trump doesn’t pay contractors.

    @Yoda Dog:

    They got a punching bag at my gym. Never used it back in the before times. Im a lover, not a fighter.

    But now I beat the living shit out of that bag on the reg. Things have changed.

    Onwards, comrades.

    Make sure you know how to throw a punch, or you could hurt your wrists.

  123. 123.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @rikyrah:

    The U.S. has been demoted from a full democracy to a flawed democracy for the first time, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). […] Nations are … classified under four types of governments: full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime and authoritarian regime.

    I have faith. I am sure that by this time next year we will be classified as “hybrid regime,” and by 2020 will be able to boast full “authoritarian regime.”

  125. 125.

    HeleninEire

    Had a job interview at Trinity College today. The position has SIXTEEN direct reports. Yeah; no.

  126. 126.

    tobie

    So this is interesting. Neither Mattis nor Pompeo knew about the executive order on torture:

    Two of the officials who will be in charge of carrying out President Donald Trump’s terrorism detainee policies, Defense Secretary James Mattis and CIA Director Mike Pompeo, were “blindsided” by reports of a draft executive order that would require the CIA to reconsider using interrogation techniques that some consider torture, according to sources with knowledge of their thinking.

    Full article can be found here.
    He’s pissing off people who have been in office for a day. Think about that.

    Adams right: we have to remember to breathe first before panicking. (I say this as someone guilty of the latter.)

  130. 130.

    Yarrow

    @elm: I recognize the issues with authoritarian governments and have been posting about them since the election. However, if Jake Tapper, or any reporter, does something good he or she deserves to be applauded for it. Perhaps it’s the beginning of a crack in the media. Who knows. It sure is different behavior, and in a good way, so I’ll take it and keep working away to resist.

  132. 132.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    John McCain will give a lovely speech about torture that will get him on all evening news broadcasts, but will inevitably end up voting party line.

  134. 134.

    rikyrah

    Mazel Tov Cocktail Verified account
    ‏@AdamSerwer

    The state of affairs is: The President is lying about voter fraud to justify a crackdown on people who didn’t vote for him.

  135. 135.

    SFAW

    @zhena gogolia:

    I don’t think the RWNJs get demoralized along with their freaking out, the way we do. They enjoy being enraged 24/7. We like to think happy thoughts and play with kittehs.

    One need not BE enraged in order to ACT enraged. (Although it helps.)

    And I don’t enjoy being enraged, because I’m relatively sane. Well, most days … uh, some days, at least. But if I had HALF — hell, a quarter — the recognition and respect Walter Cronkite had, I would have absolutely no problem doing the outrage thing eight days a week.

    And then I could go home and play with kittehs.

  136. 136.

    elm

    @john fremont: I agree. From the moment Trump began talking about urban violence (in his inauguration speech, before last night’s Chicago tweet) his purpose was clear: He intends to use force against black Americans in the name of law and order. I expect it to happen and soon.

  137. 137.

    magurakurin

    @Mike in NC: honestly, who gives a fuck? If they want to spend that money on a wall…that much less to spend on something even worse. It’ll create some jobs…mostly for lawyers as the ranchers down there sue the government to stop it. It will take eons to complete and even if it didn’t it won’t do shit one way or the other. Unless they are going to put a guard every 100 yards all along the wall…it will stand as a useless monument to dumbassery. I’d rather he spend time fighting over getting the wall built than other things.

    I’m over worrying about all this. I am childless, relatively old, have traveled much of the world and done lots of cool stuff. whatever.

    Donald Trump can blow me. fucking shitheel.

  139. 139.

    debbie

    Everything Trump has been signing is being called an Executive Action? Are they different from Executive Orders, or is this just public relations-type reframing?

  140. 140.

    Mnemosyne

    Also, I think I’ve decided that my personal “red alert” freakouts will be reserved for voting-related issues, and I want to concentrate my energies towards that, because if we don’t have free and fair elections in 2018, it’s game over, man.

  141. 141.

    Alain the site fixer

    ok folks, restored the working up button. I must have missed something for the down button because it’s not there. So, that’s tomorrow.

    Good night and remember some words of wisdom, I think from Jerry, though that’s likely apocryphal – “Don’t take life too seriously, you can’t get out of it alive!”

    I truly wish I could take that wisdom; it eludes me. I writhe and agonize at every new twist and turn the now-enveloping evil takes.

  143. 143.

    Yarrow

    @tobie: I was just about to post that. Kind of cracked me up that his own Defense Secretary and CIA Director didn’t know about it. Great communication there, Trump administration.

    I kind of feel like it’s all a house of cards or a game of Jenga. What gust of wind or piece being pulled is going to make the whole thing come crashing down?

  145. 145.

    SFAW

    @HeleninEire:

    Had a job interview at Trinity College today.

    Well, Hartford’s OK, I guess. And it’s only about 2 hours from Boston and NYC.

    [Yes, I know.]

  146. 146.

    MomSense

    @tobie:

    Der gropenfuror has no idea what he is doing. Mock him mercilessly. Make him even more unpopular. Do not rest until he is such a drag on the GOP that they have to change course drastically.

  147. 147.

    elm

    @Yarrow: They need to do better. It wasn’t enough to fact-check Joe McCarthy and clarify whether his infamous list had 205 or 57 names, nor to point out that he lacked evidence. They need to connect the dots between the lies and the evil ends those lies serve.

  149. 149.

    Ruviana

    @p.a.: Gee, maybe NPR could use the word “wrong.” Is “wrong” okay? This is why I stopped listening to them in 2013.

  151. 151.

    Roger Moore

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    I didn’t look to see what the penalty is

    I think the penalty in this case is would be less important than the law. The point is to make an order to attack clearly illegal, which obligates anyone in the military to refuse it. And more important than any specific criminal punishment, it would clearly be an impeachable offense, so- assuming the law was successful in preventing catastrophe- Congress would then have a solid legal ground for throwing out the idiot who gave the order.

  152. 152.

    magurakurin

    @Ruviana: I remember when I stopped listening to NPR. I used to set my clock radio to NPR and let the voices of the newscasters wake me up. But during the Clinton Impeachment I changed the channel.

  153. 153.

    Lizzy L

    @Mnemosyne: Fair enough. My red alerts are going to occur around healthcare, specifically around the destruction of Medicaid, because I have two close friends (and more not-so-close friends) who will die without healthcare, because their health is severely compromised and their care will stop if Medicaid does.

  155. 155.

    SFAW

    @magurakurin:

    Unless they are going to put a guard every 100 yards all along the wall…it will stand as a useless monument to dumbassery.

    Oh, bullshit . People said the same thing about the Maginot Line, and look at how wrong they were.

  157. 157.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Renie:

    hope you don’t have to write one of these every week

    This is why the Flying Spaghetti Monster in His Infinite Wisdom invented “copy ‘n’ paste.”

  160. 160.

    Roger Moore

    @Yarrow:

    Kind of cracked me up that his own Defense Secretary and CIA Director didn’t know about it.

    It also makes you wonder who in the intelligence community assured him that torture is effective, if it wasn’t his CIA director and Sec Def.

  162. 162.

    Mike J

    KING 5 News ‏@KING5Seattle 1 hour ago
    WATCH >> WA @GovInslee says if President Trump’s border wall is anything like his inauguration crowd assessment… it’ll be 8 inches high:

  165. 165.

    tobie

    @Yarrow: @MomSense: If he has no idea what he’s doing, then someone is pulling the strings behind him, and it will be interesting to see the power struggles that emerge in this White House. Someone gave him this piece of paper to sign and that person was going behind the backs of the CIA and DoD. In the course of a day we’ve seen a pattern typical of Trump: an initial show of force that becomes a total amateur-hour performance.

  167. 167.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @SFAW:

    Oh, bullshit . People said the same thing about the Maginot Line, and look at how wrong they were.

    I always have to stop and count on my fingers and move my lips while reading as I sort out the difference between the Maginot Line and the Mendoza Line.

  168. 168.

    magurakurin

    @Roger Moore:

    It also makes you wonder who in the intelligence community assured him that torture is effective

    Lt. Colonel V. Putin of the KGB. Formerly assigned to the St. Petersburg (Leningrad) section to observe foreign officials and dignitaries.

  169. 169.

    Silvery

    @the Conster, la Citoyenne: We will stop this. Resistance is best served with a cool head full of strategy and tactics. Some institutions are fighting back

    Can't wait for President Trump to call us FAKE NEWS. You can take our official twitter, but you'll never take our free time!— AltUSNatParkService (@AltNatParkSer) January 25, 2017

  173. 173.

    Mnemosyne

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Well, technically, the mortality rate for the human race is holding steady at 100 percent, so we’re all gonna die eventually. We just have to hope that it happens later rather than sooner.

  174. 174.

    rikyrah

    @Cacti:

    Progressive hero Tulsi Gabbard just announced she’s back from a secret “fact-finding” mission to Syria, and puts in a good word for that nice guy Assad.

    House Dem leadership had no idea.

    Don’t call me a purity pony..

    It’s Hawaii and we can do better.

    She needs to be PRIMARIED.

  175. 175.

    Yoda Dog

    @Jeffro: Fuck yea we are. I am agnostic on religious matters, but I still believe in the power of faith. And we all need some of that now. Have faith in each other and have faith in the arc. I do, anyways, and I agree with the cat. WASF needs to go. It isn’t true and it doesn’t help.

    No slight against betty though who remains prolly my favorite FP’er. ONE LOVE!

  177. 177.

    patrick II

    For instance, it is against the law to reinstate torture, d/b/a enhanced interrogation techniques, within either the Intelligence Community or the military. It doesn’t matter what the EO states.

    It was against the law the first time — except it happened anyway under cover of white house lawyer’s opinions. If you think anyone in this congress or white house is going to hold Trump’s feet to the fire for any legal or even constitutional reason as long as they get tax breaks, destroy the environment, stifle minority voting and make sure women are kept in their place, we will have to disagree.

  180. 180.

    Roger Moore

    @tobie:

    I’m betting it was Flynn.

    I’m guessing it was nobody. Claiming support from a nebulous “people in the intelligence community” is exactly the kind of thing Trump says when he’s pulling stuff out of his ass.

  181. 181.

    magurakurin

    @BillinGlendaleCA: VW’s always seem to have some problems. I had a 72 Bus for awhile. It was the worst car I ever owned…but I loved that car. Finally abandoned it in Bisbee, Arizona. Sold for a few hundred dollars when I moved on…it was near death at that point.

  183. 183.

    Yarrow

    @elm: Well, of course they can do better. But I’m not going to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. If they do good work they should be applauded.

    Along those lines, I’m kind wondering what’s up with CNN. Jake Tapper is calling out lies. Brian Stelter did that piece that Doug posted on Sunday about the lies in the administration. Are they the only two? Is Zucker still running the place? i thought he was buddies with Trump.

  187. 187.

    elm

    @Yarrow: I’m going to push them and call them out. They’re grown adults and, in principle, journalists. They’re only barely doing their jobs and that does not deserve applause.

  188. 188.

    Alain the site fixer

    @Baud: Hence the dire need to begin planning for…

    Baud! 2020. Your More Friendly And Non-Rapey Overlord!

  189. 189.

    Quinerly

    @rikyrah:
    I read about her little trip earlier. She’s a nutcase, in my opinion. And, yes, among other things she should be primaried.

  191. 191.

    raven

    I just saw a FB post by my dear friend who had to go to Australia because her wife, legally married in NY, couldn’t get a green card to stay. Now my friend has become an Australian citizen. We didn’t deserve her.

  192. 192.

    La Caterina (Mrs. Johannes)

    I love your posts, Adam. Please do this pedant a favor and make it “lose” instead of “loose.” The advice is great–I’m going to stop paying attention to the EO’s and focus on protecting my clients.

  193. 193.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Mnemosyne:

    Well, technically, the mortality rate for the human race is holding steady at 100 percent, so we’re all gonna die eventually.

    One ancestral line of my family were Christian Scientists, so even though I wasn’t brought up by them, something seems to have rubbed off :-)

  197. 197.

    Lizzy L

    @patrick II: Both John McCain and John Thune have publicly come out against the torture policy — “Torture is illegal” — and so has the FBI. (Go over to The Guardian, they’ve got a good article up.) There is some push back. No bets as to how long it lasts.

  200. 200.

    frosty

    @Seanly: I saw your lengthy description of the process of building the wall and as a fellow civil engineer* I thought it was spot on and I was even more pleased that I didn’t have to write it. This stuff takes time and money to do. And permits, too. And like you said, the scale of it will jack up the price of rebar, steel, concrete, and hey, maybe engineers!

    *Q: What’s the difference between mechanical engineers and civil engineers?
    A: Mechanical engineers build weapons.
    Civil engineers build targets.

    /Rim shot/

  201. 201.

    Yarrow

    @elm: Have at it. I’m going to focus my energies on other things. As someone said above, we may all end up picking the things that are most important to us to focus on. The media is not on my list. They are not our friends and will never be. I’m going to focus on voting rights and healthcare.

  203. 203.

    H.E.Wolf

    Courtesy of Alistair Cooke:

    Colonel Abraham Davenport (1715-1789), of the CT House of Representatives, is famous for saying to his colleagues on the occasion of a sudden widespread darkness at midday:

    “The day of judgment is either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment; if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish therefore that candles may be brought.”

  207. 207.

    Mary G

    On the subject of WASF: I didn’t know what it was, but it may be interpreted two ways:

    – We are so fucked, it’s no use doing anything; we might as well eat worms
    – We are so fucked, we have to FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES JUST TO SURVIVE

    I am taking it the second way. That said, like Adam said, we can’t be on high alert 24/7. I took myself offline today in the hopes of getting some work done. I couldn’t concentrate and didn’t accomplish much except play a lot of stupid games, but it was fun and I do feel less overwhelmed.

    I did call Darrell Issa’s office again and got a very grumpy intern, which is good news, I think. He really didn’t like it that I said today’s call was about gagging scientists and I will call back tomorrow on whatever fresh hell the president raises. Issa ended up winning by only 1,671 votes, so he’s in a very tough position. I plan to keep trying to make it worse. I also printed out the postcards the womens’ march organization put out and will be sending them to Kamala, DiFi, and Darrell.

  208. 208.

    Sloane Ranger

    @tobie: Raw Story has an article quoting Paul Ryan that the draft EO was written by someone on Trump’s Transition Team and that person is not part of the Trump administration. Given his previous, I’m betting on Flynn Junior. In his press conference today, Sean the Sheep also denied any knowledge of the draft. I think this was a trial baloon to test reaction and it’s been shelved for the time being.

    The bad news is that Ryan also said that he would get Congress to provide funding for the Wall. So much for concern about the deficit!

  209. 209.

    magurakurin

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Not a spot of rust. Easy to see where the term “California car” comes from. I grew up back East. No way a car’s body could survive that long there. The salt on the roads kills them. Here’s to your next ride being an equally good friend as that one was.

  213. 213.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Mary G:

    That said, like Adam said, we can’t be on high alert 24/7. I took myself offline today in the hopes of getting some work done. I couldn’t concentrate and didn’t accomplish much except play a lot of stupid games, but it was fun and I do feel less overwhelmed.

    I’ve been playing lots of Fallout, so I’m playing stupid games and preparing for the apocalypse at the same time!

  214. 214.

    sufferinsuccotash, normalized

    @ChrisH: Yes indeed. After all, who’s going to be on the ballot in November 2018, Trump or your friendly GOP House and/or Senate candidate?

  216. 216.

    Yarrow

    @ChrisH:

    One thing I’m wondering is what’s the optimal point to stop talking about what Trump is doing and talk about any action he performs as what ‘the GOP’ is doing? Trying to distinguish between Trump and reasonable conservatives clearly didn’t work, so it’s time to make that marriage as binding and unbreakable as possible.

    Now. Now is the time. Anything Trump does make it “The Republicans say/want to do…” They even know it’s a problem. From the WaPo article Cheryl Rofer linked:

    “Exact, specific and detailed — that’s what people want,” said Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Tex.), the chairman of the House Rules Committee. “We’re going to own this stuff, and we better be able to explain it.”

    Yes! Yes they are going to own it. Let’s MAKE them own it good and hard. Anything Trump wants to do, The Republicans want to do. Tie them to him. Let them all drown together.

  220. 220.

    rikyrah

    Marcus H. Johnson
    ✔
    @marcushjohnson

    Moscow figured out that white America would rather be ruled by Russia then equal with minority groups

  221. 221.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Cheryl Rofer: Some of them, like the reinstatement and expansion of the global gag rule, are real EOs. But some of these are basically policy statements. And like all policy statements they’re aspirational. A couple, like the teased UN one, are a bit of both. The President can order that the US not participate in certain UN activities. He cannot unilaterally pull the US out of the UN.

  224. 224.

    Roger Moore

    @magurakurin:
    It’s more than just places like California that don’t have any snow to melt. I grew up in Colorado, where snow is definitely a factor, but the DOT there prefers to use sand. When it snows in Colorado, it’s usually cold enough that a bit of salt isn’t going to do much to melt the snow- it’s only really useful if the temperature is just below freezing. Sand is a better choice because it A) helps traction, B) makes the snow darker so it absorbs more sunlight and starts to melt from the heat, and C) doesn’t mess up people’s cars nearly as badly.

  227. 227.

    Adam L Silverman

    @JPL: Call your Senators and Representative, especially if they’re Republican. And if you can and are willing, go to their constituent service meetings/events. Its already leaking out of the GOP Congressional retreat in Philadelphia that these guys and gals are running scared. They know the country isn’t behind this – either their or the President’s agenda – and they’re leaking to the press they’re worried their fingerprints will be on it and they’ll be left holding the bag. The majority of them are cowards and they’ve been allowed to sit too long for any good they’ve been doing lately to paraphrase Cromwell.

  230. 230.

    Skepticat

    “The point here is that if you freak out each and every time something strange, bizarre, provocative is said or done, you won’t be able to do the actual hard work of conserving and preserving the US.”
    Not to be confused with getting out of bed in the morning or ceasing sobbing.

  231. 231.

    notoriousJRT

    @JPL:
    This also is what I am struggling with. That, and the suspicion that family members probably voted for this train wreck.

  232. 232.

    Adam L Silverman

    @trollhattan: That wall has to run through private land and several Native American reservations. You think Texan and New Mexican and Arizonan ranchers are prickly in general? See what happens when you try to eminent domain their property. You think the Standing Rock Sioux are the only Native Americans that will protest? The Dine and the Jicarilla Apache have not forgotten the Long Walk and the Bosque Redondo. The Havasupai have little left to loose.

  233. 233.

    schrodingers_cat

    @rikyrah: Many couldn’t stand it that a black man was not only more intelligent than they were but also a better human being. So they took that frustration on the rest of us, by elevating a person with no experience to the highest electoral office.

  234. 234.

    magurakurin

    @rikyrah: they probably just read the Great Gatsby

    Americans, while occasionally willing to be serfs, have always been obstinate about being peasantry

  237. 237.

    magurakurin

    @Roger Moore: I can remember times driving on the PA Turnpike and the salt truck going by and just pelting the side of everybody’s car with sprays of rock salt. Nasty.

  239. 239.

    frosty

    @magurakurin:

    VW’s always seem to have some problems.

    I had 2 Jettas, ’98 and ’01. Both had a lot of repairs, although the ’98 did make it to 250,000. The ’01 had problems with the “Electronic Power Control” where it would only go 10 mph no matter what you did with the gas pedal. They called it Limp Mode. I had a mechanic who ended up doing a lot of free work on it but I never trusted it again. Sold it to CarMax for a pittance.

  242. 242.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Timurid: There is no filibuster/60 vote cloture requirement for nominees other than Supreme Court nominees. Now I would prefer to see anyone clearly not qualified or potentially compromised to get uniform, blanket opposition by the Democrats. However, the rules for legislation are different. Unless it can be run through reconciliation, it can be filibustered, put on a pocket or regular hold.

  243. 243.

    Roger Moore

    @BBA:

    The President can unilaterally denounce a treaty without Congressional action, right?

    He can denounce (i.e. say bad things about) a treaty, and AFAIK he can withdraw acceptance of a treaty that’s been signed by a predecessor but not yet ratified, but he can’t unilaterally renounce a treaty that’s been ratified by the Senate. Once a treaty has been ratified, it’s a law the same as any law passed by Congress.

  244. 244.

    Adam L Silverman

    @dm: Exactly. They don’t expect backlash (bless their hearts), and like all bullies when faced with it they cave. To I trust them not to try to come up with a workaround? Sure. But pressure works with these folks.

  245. 245.

    cain

    Going to a ‘oregon civic hack’ event where we talk about open data and voting patterns and the like. I want to understand our voting patterns in Oregon and start throwing some open source collaboration and making Oregon a test bed for the rest of the country. Should be fun.

  250. 250.

    Feathers

    I was reading Heather Havil Ask Polly column on the train home tonight. You might not think My Boyfriend’s Friends Don’t Like Me! would be a good source for political activism advice, but I really liked this bit:

    Just remember that the whole world doesn’t have to be evil for you to fight evil. You don’t have to globalize.

    The whole thing is worth reading because it goes into how letting yourself constantly get triggered does nothing but wear you down and doesn’t help with building any sort of better life for yourself or others. Which doesn’t mean ignore the world, but to own what you bring to the table, what you can actually control, and not letting yourself get knocked off course.

  251. 251.

    Adam L Silverman

    @ChrisH: Now is the time. Make it clear to your Congressman that as far as you are concerned the President and the Congressional GOP are one and the same. If he does something that upsets you, you will take it out on your Congressman at the ballot box in 2018.

  252. 252.

    Lyrebird

    @Skepticat:
    Hi – advance warning that my snark-o-meter’s clogged up along with my sinuses –

    Not to be confused with getting out of bed in the morning or ceasing sobbing.

    I love this quote:

    “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.”
    ― Mary Anne Radmacher

    And sometimes the hard work is getting outta bed. And sometimes choosing some small resistance or some aid to a friend to carry out helps get one out of bed. You undoubtedly know all this, but I need to type it for myself!

  253. 253.

    Major Major Major Major

    OT: I got some very helpful feedback on the first two chapters of my novel, and I thought I’d share this sentence, which pleases me greatly:

    “Your opening paragraph is so much fun, and captures the feel of the story with its matter-of-fact tone and casual, almost comic violence.”

  254. 254.

    Mary G

    Rep. Ted Lieu has added this footnote to every press release that mentions the president:

    ***In addition to losing the popular vote, Trump – as of January 20, 2017 – is in violation of the Emoluments Clause set forth in Article I, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution due to massive conflicts of interests and his refusal to put his global business holdings in blind trusts. Trump also benefitted from Vladimir Putin ordering a multifaceted and brazen Russian influence and cyber hacking campaign with the goals of undermining faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrating Secretary Clinton’s electability, and helping Trump’s election chances. Trump and his press secretary also routinely make stuff up.

    ###

    LUV

  256. 256.

    Raven

    @frosty: I made a big mistake recently. A good friend and his wife were selling their 2003 Lexus and I decided to buy it and sell my 83 Acoord that had 80,000 miles on it. Because he’s my buddy and said if had been serviced regularly I did not have a buyers check done. I took it in Monday and learned that along with the timing belt job, it has a major oil leak, needs front brakes, tires and maybe a power steering pump. It’s going to be around $2500 bucks and it’s quite a shock since the Honda was perfect.

  257. 257.

    Adam L Silverman

    @mai naem mobile: As someone who wrote the following article for Security Journal:
    http://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/palgrave.sj.8350024

    I can tell you as an expert that any building with his name on it is now a top target for domestic and international terrorists. I hope nothing should happen to them because the people working, living, and/or staying in them do not deserve to be hurt, but the name Trump on a building is a target. That’s it. And every one I’ve seen in the US is designed and situated in a way that doing physical security enhancements is essentially impossible. His son in law’s properties are now in the same category. Fair or not.

    Finally, a number of diplomatic missions to the UN are housed in Trump’s building at Turtle Bay. If he messes with the UN, the UN can hurt him in his wallet.

  263. 263.

    patrick II

    @Lizzy L:

    McCain sounded that way last time too — until it came time to vote.

    …we will never allow torture to take place in the United States of America.”

    With such strong convictions on the issue, many human rights activists were disappointed when, in February, McCain voted against a bill that would have limited the CIA to following the techniques outlined in the Army Field Manual as well. The bill passed anyway, but President Bush vetoed it.

    Plus it will never come to a vote with leaders Ryan and McConnell.

  264. 264.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Yarrow: Given how HRC did in his district, had the Dems actually you know run someone against him, he’d not be in Philadelphia to give that quote. If the Dems are smart, he’s toast in 2018.

  266. 266.

    joel hanes

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I’ve been playing lots of Fallout

    Far Harbor’s _dark_, both in atmosphere and in plot. And aluminum is too damned scarce.

    In the F4 mainline game, I’m sneakly preparing to destroy the Prydwen while pretending to be a BOS sympathizer.

  269. 269.

    joel hanes

    @Roger Moore:

    Sand is a better choice because it A) … B) …, and C) …

    and D) sanding the roads doesn’t poison the soil, kill trees, or salinify streams.

  270. 270.

    Roger Moore

    @Adam L Silverman:
    This is an important distinction. As I read it, the point about not counting on institutions to save us is that we can’t passively wait for Congress, the courts, or the media to step up and stop Trump for us. They may have the power to fight, but Trump is going to do his best to avoid and subvert them, so they can’t be trusted as a bulwark against him. We have to fight him ourselves, but one of the means of fighting him is to prop up the institutions he’s trying to subvert and push them to resist. IOW, Congress has the power to resist, but they’ll only exercise it if they’re more afraid of us than they are of him.

  271. 271.

    Peale

    @mai naem mobile: I don’t know. There are those of us who aren’t even foreign policy progressive betters who are still dumbfounded by Obama’s Mesopotamia and Levant and Lybian and Yemeni policy after the Arab spring. I actually blame our allies and clients more for this mess than the US itself. But Assad was indeed the recognized head of the Syrian government, and for the life of me, I don’t know what the hell our oil kings were thinking. Were Syria and Lydia problems for the US in 2012? Not really. Not at all, actually. Are they now? Yes indeed. But the foreign powers who most wanted them out f the way weren’t us. We just let our chain be yanked by Sarkozy and Cameron and Oman and Saudi. Maybe just frickin ignoring Assad is the best policy right now.

  272. 272.

    mai naem mobile

    @sharl: I saw that story and it would be nice to see an investigation of what happened there but that’s not going to happen under Lumpy.I just would like to see Hillary prosecuted for whatever they think she’s done as long as the trial is in NYC and not a kangaroo court situation .

  273. 273.

    ? Martin

    @Mnemosyne: The GOP needs to be reminded what populations resort to when voting and representation is screwed with. This country was founded on that moment. We seceded from England when we were denied voting rights. We took up arms. Everyone correctly points out that we should take our issues out at the ballot box, but when the ballot box stops working, more aggressive actions result.

  274. 274.

    Yarrow

    @Adam L Silverman:

    any building with his name on it is now a top target for domestic and international terrorists. I hope nothing should happen to them because the people working, living, and/or staying in them do not deserve to be hurt,

    If I worked for anything connected to Trump, I’d be looking for another job. I know not all of the people can find another job, but they have to know they’re rolling the dice to work there. And it’s not like they’ve chosen a dangerous job. It’s a hotel. Another one down the street.

  275. 275.

    notoriousJRT

    @zhena gogolia:
    Thing is, some people feel they have to weigh in on everything. WASF describes how I feel. Sorry if some people don’t like it. Who cares what the taglines are? I guess I don’t. Oh, and BTW, WASF.

  276. 276.

    joel hanes

    Adam and Omnes seem to me to be wildly over-optimistic about the power of institutions and laws to prevent Trump from doing what he’s set out to do.

    @Roger Moore:

    Once a treaty has been ratified, it’s a law the same as any law passed by Congress.

    I remind you that the Geneva Conventions remained in force, on paper, throughout Bush The Lesser’s Excellent Torture Regime.
    And that the law mandated a recount in Florida that was not completed before W took office.

    Treaties can be ignored. Laws can be ignored. The power of institutions is largely the power of custom.

    Who is going to suit up and arrest this President ?

  278. 278.

    Lizzy L

    @patrick II: Yes, I remember. And unfortunately McCain just won re-election, so he’s pretty immune to pressure. Nevertheless, we need to push. Mattis has also publicly stated his rejection of torture.

  281. 281.

    Mnemosyne

    @Yoda Dog:

    If I were a real jerk, I would advise sending those legislators envelopes full of those confetti snowflakes that you get at the party store that scatter everywhere as soon as the envelope is opened and are almost impossible to vacuum up.

  284. 284.

    dm

    @notoriousJRT: I’ve been so accustomed to “WATB” that I keep reading “WASF” as “Whiny-Assed … S?? F??” and have to think for a bit before I remember what it’s supposed to mean.

    Yes, WASFU is good.

  285. 285.

    Origuy

    Well, this is an interesting development. Anti-hacking boss at Russian cybersecurity firm faces treason charge

    Kaspersky Lab on Wednesday confirmed reports in Russia’s respected Kommersant newspaper that Ruslan Stoyanov, the head of its computer incidents investigations unit, was arrested in December. Kommersant said Stoyanov was detained along with a senior Russian FSB intelligence officer and that they both faced charges of treason.

    Kaspersky Lab is a big player in security. Maybe he was running a private email server?

  287. 287.

    Jeffro

    @Adam L Silverman: considering how fiscally conservative most of Obama’s proposals were – including the ACA, which I believe originally started as a heritage foundation proposal – One would almost have to think that there was something other than conservative principles that cause them to oppose him so reflexively, even on the smallest of issues.

    I just can’t quite put my finger on it …

  288. 288.

    Yarrow

    @Adam L Silverman: Expecting the Texas Democrats to get their act together and run someone against Sessions who actually stands a chance of winning may be an exercise in futility. But we’ll see. I posted the article about Harris County (where Houston is) going strong blue this year. I think the Latino demographic and general diversity of the state may be starting to show up in voting results.

  289. 289.

    schrodingers_cat

    @notoriousJRT: Some people (i.e. me) weighed in after seeing the nth post with that tag. It is getting tiresome, repetitive and counterproductive. I expressed my opinion as you did yours. Isn’t that the purpose of the comment section, to comment.

    n>=5.

  292. 292.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Jeffro: the ACA and the Heritage proposal share many traits, largely because they’re both based on the Swiss system. And of course one of the main problems with the canard that “obamacare is a republican proposal” is the assumption that republicans were ever proposing it in good faith.

  294. 294.

    stinger

    @mai naem mobile: You know, Hillary Clinton is a real person, not an avatar or a stand-in for some segment of liberals. She has devoted her life largely to issues impacting women and children. She fought hard and honorably to serve her country, but lost the contest. She does not deserve to have the Repugs’ notion of putting her on trial further bruited about the Internet, even in jest.

  298. 298.

    amygdala

    @Mary G: Thanks for posting that. I grew up not far from Lieu’s district. He’s doing the South Bay proud.

    Hey, Adam, today I saw tweets from Madeline Albright and Jim and Deb Fallows saying they’ll register as Muslim if the registry sees the light of day. What do you think? Sand in the gears or not worth it?

    I’ve been quite heartened by the rogue federal science Twitter feeds that have gone up in the last couple of days. Whoever they are–cranky NPS and NASA scientists, methinks–they’re fighting back and getting info out there. I’m thinking it’s important to pick a cause or two that really matter personally, suit up and fight. There’s too much for most of us to take all of it on. But I’d predict that each of us has an issue that resonates. That’s the only way to stay in for the long haul this will be–find a focus, pick battles, and fight like hell.

  301. 301.

    mai naem mobile

    I saw somewhere – i think Twitter – that Leno Reifenstahl has been using the RNC email system and not the WH. Is Jason Chaffetz going to spend a gazillion dollars investigating that. Have her in front of his committee for 16 hours in her nutcracker outfit or maybe she’ll have on a Joan of Arc outfit on.

  303. 303.

    mai naem mobile

    @stinger: I completely realize she’s a real person but I wonder how she feels about this asterisk on her name about how she got away with some fucking capital crime when all she did was make a mistake. I kind of also know that chances are even if she did go on trial and got off the RW would come up with some BS corruption story as to why she got off.

  304. 304.

    amk

    @Baud:

    cole – still fighting with the critters (and his bed)

    alain – still fighting with the site

    adam – still fighting who knows what

    but, where are the girls? bring on the girls.

  305. 305.

    MazeDancer

    Thanks, Adam. Much needed. Wish there was a site with a list of all the Executive Memo’s and which ones require Congressional action and of what kind. (Not suggesting you do that, Adam. It’s a good job for Josh Lyman, though.)

    And to continue the positive note, here are cancer patients staging a Women’s March in their hospital.

    Those women wheeling their IVs down the hall waving their triumphant fists make me realize why Mr. Obama may have been right when they both said “I believe in America”.

    The midterms pre-game starts very soon. If we focus on local elections, change is gonna come.

  308. 308.

    dm

    @Origuy: It gets better. Over at Josh’s place is an article that quotes the NYT:

    Mr. Mikhailov served in the F.S.B.’s Center for Information Security, the agency’s cyberintelligence branch, which has been implicated in the American election hacking. But it is not clear whether the arrest was related to those intrusions.

    TPM then goes on to say itself (i.e., this part doesn’t quote the Times):

    These two arrests are being reported as coming right upon one another and presumably related. But a week and a half ago there was another development. Andrei Gerasimov, the head of the FSB’s Information Security Center since 2009 was fired. There was speculation in the press that the dismissal was corruption related. A reporter for Agence France-Presse speculated on twitter whether the dismissal might have been tied to the revelation of the Trump ‘dossier’ published by Buzzfeed.

    Could this be an olive branch to Trump? Could this person have been accused of being an asset of US intelligence?

  309. 309.

    Lyrebird

    @MazeDancer: Yes! I was wondering if Major^4 had some new technology to test out to make wiki creation much easier, so some of that info wouldn’t scroll off into oblivion.

  310. 310.

    Jeffro

    @mai naem mobile:

    Is Jason Chaffetz going to spend a gazillion dollars investigating that.

    I know that was a rhetorical question…

    Chaffetz, though, how does that guy live with himself, how does he face his wife and daughters? I wonder if Rebekah Mercer ‘splained it to them personally, or at least wrote a nice note?

    “Dear Mrs. Chaffetz and daughters. We need your husband to play his role as spineless weasel to the utmost if we’re to have a prayer of keeping this crazy-ass Republican coalition together (especially now that Hillary is gone). That’s the deal: I supply the campaign cash, and he looks the other way on, well, basically everything the GOP does. I assure you that eventually he will find someone to prosecute and subpoena, so that he can be your hero again, just as soon as a Dem sticks his neck out for the Consti…er…I mean, for their own nefarious purposes. In the meantime, please bear with him: he really is carrying the team. I don’t know how he does it sometimes! Keep the sharp stuff and the ammo locked up at home, would you? Thank you and yours in Republican Patriotism, Becky”

  317. 317.

    Adam L Silverman

    @rikyrah: She’s created a problem for herself in regard to her National Guard status. She will have to do a full disclosure, including full details of who she met with and what was discussed. That will then be reviewed by a Special Security Officer to determine whether there is a security/clearance issue.

  318. 318.

    jenn

    Thanks for this, Adam! I printed out your “Hold The Line” post back when, and it’s hanging on my to-do board where I see it every day. The phrase and message is also extending out into a good chunk of my acquaintance. You’ve helped make a really big difference for a bunch of people, and I really appreciate it!

    Myself, I’m finding that treating my response to all of this as a zero sum game is useful, because I really do have only so much time/energy/emotion that I can expend. Making sure that it’s positive and focused on what actions I can do, both at the federal and state/local levels (plus NGOs), has been really useful. When I find myself beginning to spin into a freakout, I’m stopping myself, and (occasionally literally out loud) telling myself to use that emotion to be useful, and go find myself something I can do. One of my favorite mottoes that I return to time and again: Sometimes we have to make our own good news.

    Anyway – thanks again!

  319. 319.

    frosty

    @Raven:

    It’s going to be around $2500 bucks and it’s quite a shock since the Honda was perfect.

    Ouch.

    We just helped our son replace a Mazda 3. Beautifully detailed, but … bald tires that won’t pass inspection, an 84 month battery that was 86 months old and died in the first cold snap, and a clutch lockout switch that failed on the way home so the car wouldn’t start in the driveway. I managed to disconnect it and jump the connector to bypass it while we wait to get a new one.

    They sent me a customer satisfaction email. I’m still waiting to see what happens next before I reply.

    But other than that it’s a great car!

  324. 324.

    Lizzy L

    I have a serious question. I got a $$ request from the DNC today. Does it make sense to give them money? I absolutely want to support solid Democratic candidates for 2018 and beyond — is supporting the DNC useful and productive, or is it throwing money down a rat-hole? I live in the SF Bay Area and my representative is solidly blue, so I have no need to donate locally. Again, serious question.

  325. 325.

    Anne Laurie

    @efgoldman:

    If he says today is Wednesday, check your calendar.

    Remember the old crack, “If he walks in soaking wet and says it’s raining — look out the window”? Trump literally announced that the sun came out for his inaugural speech, even though there’s miles of news footage showing people struggling into their rain ponchos. Guy’s pathological, proverbially!

  326. 326.

    Adam L Silverman

    @BBA: I’m not sure. There is no enumerated/delineated process for doing so. Bush did it, sort of, and everyone just let it go. Not sure it actually should have worked.

  327. 327.

    The Truffle

    One thing I will do going forward: stay off Daily Kos. Not good for the blood pressure, that place.

  329. 329.

    Anne Laurie

    @amk:

    rarely paid attention to the so called taglines. never got what they are for.

    On this blog? (Further) snark and cheap jokes, like the footnotes in a comic novel.

  330. 330.

    dm

    @Anne Laurie:

    Remember the old crack, “If he walks in soaking wet and says it’s raining — look out the window”?

    ….Even then, with Trump, you might want to check to see what dossiers Buzzfeed has printed recently.

  333. 333.

    MazeDancer

    @Lyrebird:
    @Major Major Major Major:

    I can spin up a wiki or make a reference site really easily but people would have to, you know, use it.

    Creating a Wiki of Trump’s Executive Memo’s (apparently a lot of them aren’t Executive Orders, so they don’t have to be published immediately) is a giant job.

    Then someone with knowledge would have outline which needed Congressional action and what that would be and why.

    This would be a very popular site. As people all over Twitter keep asking “Doesn’t Congress have to approve that?”. And I don’t quite know why publications or news sites haven’t created this kind of line-up with nice interactive features.

    It’s way too much work for a private citizen. Even as an excuse to procrastinate on other endeavors. (Not that I would know anything about that kind of lure…)

  341. 341.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Peale: The Syria problem goes back farther than that. Bashar quickly tried to partner with the US against al Qaeda – within a year or so after 9-11. They were rebuffed. From what I’ve read about this in open source Assad offered anything if the US would let him partner with us. From that point on Bashar al Assad was going to be a problem for us.

  343. 343.

    Lyrebird

    @Major Major Major Major:
    @MazeDancer: Hmmm…

    A wiki makes it easy to share the labor, but the easier it is for others to pitch in, probably the easier it would be for a few trolls to trash the thing, sigh. Maybe ThinkProgress would be the right place? they have interns…

    I’ve been wishing to have some more-fixed Balloon Juice link that collected, say, some of the pointers from Doug! (like ACLU and SPLC shout outs) and EO feather-unruffling and some connections to who’s fighting what. Like the NAACP is building up momentum in the efforts to block Sessions’ appointment. Who’s still working on pipelines, or the blocking of pipelines? etc.

    Between our FPers and commenters, there’s a lotta knowledge here. I do know things like the glossary get out of date all too fast, but I’m still wishing out loud…

  349. 349.

    Feathers

    @Roger Moore: My understanding is that the mountain snow has a different character from the snow in the East, much drier, lighter, and more powdery. Not as much of the “wintery mix” of snow, rain and ice. As you said, it tends to be cold and stay colder, thus avoiding the freezing and thawing and refreezing of the eastern US, which leads to icier roads, and thus salting of the roads. This coming from a water quality report I worked on, where different regions had different issues, with salt being an issue in the Northeast through the Midwest.

    One of the things that drove me crazy on the report was that there was a reservoir where the road crews were not using salt in the direct watershed of the reservoir. Despite testing through two or three winters and spring, the salt level in the reservoir water didn’t go down. There was much head scratching over this result. I came along after the study and was astonished to realize that no one thought the road crews lied and just kept using salt the whole time. The people doing the study did not even think that, despite the fact that these were Massachusetts road crews, that they should have done salt level tests on the roads alongside the roads as well as of the water. As Charles Pierce would say – “the Commonwealth (God save Her!)”

  352. 352.

    MazeDancer

    @chris:

    The Federal Register lists everything including EOs every day. For now, anyway.

    An excellent resource, indeed! Now we just need Josh Lyman to tell us what’s Congressy and what’s not.

    @Mnemosyne:

    turns out that I know someone who knows someone in that video.

    There really are only 500 people in NYC!

    Sending many high fives and hugs to your friend’s friend. Those women marching in their hospital ward uplifted me mightily. People love their country.

  353. 353.

    Adam L Silverman

    @SFAW: How would you bury him? I’m not sure most of his parts are biodegradable.

    This is largely the same question I had after Zha Zha died a few weeks ago.

  356. 356.

    elm

    @Adam L Silverman: Romney had little to do with Romneycare, in fact he vetoed parts of the bill that the Democrats in the Massachusetts legislature sent to him and they overrode his veotes.

  359. 359.

    J R in WV

    @EBT:

    So you’ve done 80 miles, is that on a bike? Running? Stationary bike? Down hill?

    I’m not trying to be offensive, and I relate to getting fit to be able to take names and kick ass of Nazis. I got a carry permit, so I can transport my weapons legally, and protect myself and my wife and friends.

    Fortunately my Grandma taught me to shoot 55 years ago. Then 45 years ago, when she met Mrs J, she said “I can’t believe Dixie didn’t teach you to shoot!” and then she took her out back and taught her how to shoot. Learn to shoot, easier on your hands than hitting someone in the face!

  360. 360.

    Adam L Silverman

    @elm: I understand that. But that’s how it gets referred to and, until it was adapted into the ACA, which made it toxic, he was planning on running on it in 2012.

  364. 364.

    J R in WV

    @Renie:

    The county most damaged by the tornadoes down south voted 60-40 for Hillary Clinton.

    One may assume that Trump doesn’t want to help people who voted for his enemy, but doesn’t want to brag about his despicable refusal to help fellow Americans in distress because of their votes. That’s just how he rolls, hate drives every decision.

  366. 366.

    Bonnie

    To add to what Adam said, I recommend that any one who hasn’t seen the movie, “Bridge of Spies”, see it. In it, Tom Hanks plays a lawyer who is asked to defend a man who is said to be a spy. The spy, played by Mark Rylance who won the academy award for best supporting actor for the role, is on trial for his life, may receive the death penalty, and, Tom Hanks’ character asks him several times, “Aren’t you worried?” His response every time is calmly “Would it help?” Since I first heard about Trump’s win, that is the attitude I have adapted. Sometimes, when I forget, I take the DVD out and rewatch it to remember that getting hysterical about Trump winning will not help.

  369. 369.

    XTPD

    @The Truffle: My gateways were Taibbi (who’s steadily gotten worse since at least the primary); Alternet (where I got intro’d to a lot of liberal columnists, though I haven’t visited in years) & Pandagon (now defunct, and Amanda’s the only one I’ve kept track of).

    On a related note, it cannot be understated exactly how disastrous David Daley’s tenure at Salon was.

  370. 370.

    J R in WV

    @HeleninEire:

    Does that mean 16 people reporting to that position, or does that position have 16 bosses to report to? The first one would be busy but OK. The second possibility would be insane!

    yeah, nope.

  371. 371.

    Another Scott

    @The Lodger: Before I looked it up, I was reading it as “What A Stupid Fuck”.

    It’s a floor wax and and a dessert topping and personal lubricant and …

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  373. 373.

    SFAW

    @Adam L Silverman:

    How would you bury him? I’m not sure most of his parts are biodegradable.

    Possible responses:
    1) Above my pay grade
    2) I wasn’t the one suggesting that he might die someday
    3) Were he (hypothetically speaking, of course) to die, the manner of his passing might affect the burial method.
    4) Have Bannon-a Republic dig a 20-foot-deep grave by hand. Require him to get it done in two hours. Watch the sides “accidentally” collapse
    5) Similar to #4, except make it 50 feet deep, have various other unnamed America-destroyers help Bannon-a Republic
    6) Launch Keef into quasi-geosynchronous orbit, so that his light is always shining on us. (Technically, not burial, of course.)

    And his funeral music, as far as I’m concerned, can be lots of “Let It Bleed”, especially “Gimme Shelter” and “Monkey Man.” Maybe some Robert Johnson stuff, too.

  374. 374.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @SFAW:

    And his funeral music, as far as I’m concerned, can be lots of “Let It Bleed”, especially “Gimme Shelter” and “Monkey Man.” Maybe some Robert Johnson stuff, too.

    “Dead Flowers.”

  375. 375.

    J R in WV

    @frosty:

    Cousin-in-law was a rocket scientist engineer for Lock-Mart… worked on hard points for hanging weapons – rockets – on the wings of fighter-bombers.

    Otherwise a really nice guy.

    And someone -an engineer – has to do it!

  376. 376.

    J R in WV

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Many years ago we had an elderly Mercedes diesel, a d200 I think. I rear-ended a Volvo when a brake hose failed, and put two tiny marks on the back of the V-car, while destroying the front end of my german car.

    I think you could kick one of those cars to death with a pair of work boots.

    We were trapped out of town for 3 or 4 days longer than our vacation was supposed to last, w/o our car! Mrs J was upset.

  379. 379.

    SFAW

    Boy, the Pack loss must have really done a number on you. What’s next, Starland Vocal Band?

    [And for the first three or so bars, I thought I was listening to a “Rocks Off” retread.]

  380. 380.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @SFAW: It’s a Keef vocal and the “booze and pills and powders” lyric. But you raise a good point: why not just play “Exile on Main Street?”

  381. 381.

    SFAW

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    But you raise a good point: why not just play “Exile on Main Street?”

    OK. But I’m still partial to (most of) “Let It Bleed.” [“Country Honk,” for example, being a non-starter for me.]

    ETA: And, yeah, I know Keef was vocals. I thought I had read somewhere that he also played bass on “Sympathy for the Devil.”

  382. 382.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @SFAW: Let’s just say that “Let It Bleed,” “Sticky Fingers, and “Exile…” is one of the best three album runs that any band has ever had.

  383. 383.

    SFAW

    OK by me. I was given “Let It Bleed” when I was mid-teens, really liked it. Still do, obviously. [I think it’s the only Stones vinyl I have, actually.] And Merry Clayton is/was pretty outstanding.

  386. 386.

    mai naem mobile

    @Adam L Silverman: why was Assad rebuffed? Just more Bush/Chenemy incompetence or legitimate reason?
    @joel hanes: Hillary herself said she made a mistake. At what point do Trump and the GOP say she lost and its over,we’re not going to prosecute or investigate her I hope if the Demo ever get the house or the Senate back they do a never ending investigation of Tom Price and any number of Lumpys issues..

  389. 389.

    The Truffle

    Here’s what I find kind of bizarre: Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown voted for Carson to head the HUD, and already people are saying that the Democrats are failing to oppose Trump. The sky is falling! Warren voted for Carson! Oh noez!

    Meanwhile, Vox explains why Brown and Warren–two of the most progressive Senators–voted for Carson. They weren’t thrilled by him, but at least he promised to do his job and not try to destroy the department from within.

    Now the Pompeo vote? No. Just no.

    Basically, Dem activists need to focus on the grassroots level and stop waiting for the Dems on Capitol Hill.

    Oh, and stay off Daily Kos.

    I will be coming here from now on for my daily dose of sane.

  391. 391.

    Adam L Silverman

    @mai naem mobile: Mu understanding is that the Cheney-Rumsfeld-Wolfowitz types refused to distinguish between al Qaeda, and other terrorist groups such as Hamas and PIJ and Jemmah Islamiyah and what they wanted and Muslim majority states in the Middle East. They thought they were all connected. That the latter were all providing support for the former. This was not always the case. Nor did they recognize the opportunity to pull these states away from their past behaviors and reorient them toward something more in line with US interests.

  392. 392.

    enplaned

    I’d go even further — one reason Trump is doing all these crazy (but in many cases ultimately contentless EOs) is to induce panic. Don’t fall for it. Now is the time to be ice cold, to take names and focus on how to resist and how to fight back.

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