Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

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

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

Republicans do not trust women.

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

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

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

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Friday Morning Open Thread: “Routine Resistance”

Friday Morning Open Thread: “Routine Resistance”

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From the Washington Post, “Thousands demonstrated against Trump in Philly“:

The rally didn’t start until 11 a.m., but Jackie Hamilton and Barb Beattie had shown up to the downtown plaza by 9:45 a.m. Planning to march in support of the Affordable Care Act, the retired schoolteachers donned attire that they sensed, wearily, would get a lot of use over the next four years.

“Ready?” asked Beattie, 68, putting on the pink knit hat she’d acquired for the Women’s March on Washington just days earlier.

“I feel like we’re being stirred up,” said Hamilton, also 68, adjusting the pink sash she got at the same place. “Trump is stirring us up and distracting us with all of his — whatever — and meanwhile Congress . . .” She trailed off. “I’m so angry. I can’t believe we’re having to deal with all this stuff. Still. Again.”

Several thousand protesters converged Thursday in Philadelphia, hoping to have their voices heard by President Trump and Republican members of Congress, who were meeting in a hotel blocks away to plan their legislative agenda for the coming months…

…[M]arching — an age-old protest strategy — has taken on new meaning as a tool against a leader who is uniquely preoccupied by numbers and size.

The crowd that gathered in Thomas Paine Plaza focused on one of the most aggressive measures of the new Republican administration — an effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Signs at the rally protested this plan but raised other angers as well, residual and new: “Scientists Against Trump.” “Not a Journalist, and I want to see your tax returns.” “Stand Up Against Alternative Facts.”

Organizers said that about 5,000 people showed up in response to their invitation to try to disrupt the new president’s first jaunt away from the White House. The protests appeared to unfold peacefully, with no reports of widespread arrests or clashes…

The WaPo‘s local-color area columnist, speaking for the worker bees in the city whose monopoloy industry is national politics:

… Meetings? Deadlines? Schedules? All plans are soft in the District, a city where people chanting in the streets or rappelling off construction cranes bring traffic to a halt. The working world is feeling it. #Thisisnotnormal.

I have to confess that I’ve always been a street protest skeptic… But this time feels different. Keep it up, protesters, because this time, it’s working. You’re getting to him.

This daily public humiliation — the massive, televised rejection of the direction of this administration — Donald Trump cares about that…

He’s a showman, a ringmaster, a ratings junkie. And nothing angers an attention addict more than a bigger, louder show next door.

This is Trump’s language.

It’s not going to change policy, but it will rankle and distract him. And it will signal to the rest of the world that most of America isn’t on board the lying train to Absurdistan…

***********

Apart from buckling down for the long haul, what’s on the agenda as we await the Friday news dump (now with extra NPD-ism)?

Reader Interactions

180Comments

  1. 1.

    NobodySpecial

    Morning. Today’s a good day to call the offices of my MoCs (Duckworth, Durbin, and Bustos) and offer my support.

  2. 2.

    NotMax

    Open thread?

    Discovered on Netflix, a South Korean TV series, Iris. ‘Tis a bit of an odd duck, so not necessarily a recommendation so much as a mention for the curious.

    Revolves around an ultra secret government espionage/assassin agency. The political intrigue, North-South machinations and action sequences more often than not are crackerjack (if sometimes over the top), however the show has a disconcerting tendency to suddenly switch gears into the sappiest of soap operatics* and then back again.

    The first episode is especially treacly and gives scant indication of the sheer intensity which will follow. Oh, and eye candy aplenty (of both sexes).

    *Something I’ve noticed is apparently required for Korean TV.

  3. 3.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    My prediction?

    If you’ve got a nice cash position, start shorting stocks.

    All of them. Titanic is steered for the iceberg and her captain is sure she’ll plow right on over it, so he’s ordered full steam.

  4. 4.

    Mustang Bobby

    @NotMax:

    however the show has a disconcerting tendency to suddenly switch gears into the sappiest of soap operatics* and then back again.

    It’s not just a Korean thing. I learned a lot about Mexican love lives and relationships by watching the telenovela Simplemente Maria.

  5. 5.

    raven

    @NotMax: Ever seen “Silmido“?

    Based on a true story of 1968 Korean Republic Army plan to assassinate North Korean president Kim Il-Sung. 31 criminals and death row inmates are recruited into secret training on the island of Silmi; for two years they are subjected to maximum mental and physical abuse before the mission is cancelled and the unit terminated.

  7. 7.

    opiejeanne

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Yeah, figuring out when to jump is the hard part. My agent has been stunned by the stock movement, watching the wrong stocks rise or fall, not being able to explain any of it to me. I’m mostly blue chips and I used to have faith in my portfolio’s ability to recover from anything but now I’m eyeing the market and worrying.

  13. 13.

    J R in WV

    @opiejeanne:

    So if you sell your stocks, then what? Our portfolio is good now, after 8 years of retirement, we have a balance near it’s peak, ever. I really don’t want to see the same curve we saw in 2007-2009. But after you sell, what then? Our advisor and the firm can put cash in multiple banks to protect the cash with FDIC, but there is no ROI on cash in a bank today.

    Just wait, holding cash, until after the crash? Buy equities when you think the crashing is done? I know shorting is a possible way to make big bucks, or lose everything if the crash takes longer to develop than you plan for.

    Not sure I have the stones for that wait. Our advisor doesn’t really specialize in that kind of stock betting, rather tries to invest in stocks with dividend payouts and upside potential. So we would have to involve another advisor in the firm, after being with the current broker for 30 years, successfully. Change, ughh we haters it!

    Any specific advice would be carefully considered and valued.

  15. 15.

    opiejeanne

    @Baud: I’m not filled with exuberance about my stocks because they are not behaving in a rational manner and I’m not seeing the huge jump in value, just grinding along and even losing some serious ground right after the election. It’s nearly caught up now, but yeah, I know several people who’ve pulled everything out.

    The question becomes: where do I put the money if I cash out?

  17. 17.

    japa21

    Sitting in my recliner thinking my shoulder surgery was a mistake. But then I realize it distracts me for just a little while from the disaster happening around us.

  20. 20.

    Mustang Bobby

    I am totally in favor of resistance on every level, especially by bringing it to the local representatives. If they get the impression that their jobs are on the line because of what Cheeto McShitgibbon is doing, they’ll work to save their own asses before they save his. Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 not because the House had voted out articles of impeachment but because he no longer had the support of his own party. They weren’t appalled at his lawlessness. They were staring down the barrel of mid-term elections and knew that if Nixon stayed they’d get wiped out.

    The problem today is that it will be hard to convince the core Trump voter to change their opinions. Right now Trump could stand on the Truman balcony in nothing but a Speedo and holding an orb and sceptre and declare himself to be the King of Cats and they’d applaud… until their health insurance is gone and their kid in the service comes home from Syria in pieces.

  21. 21.

    raven

    @japa21: I thought long and hard before I decided not to have labrum surgery but, that said, I think you are in a really tough stretch and need to be as positive as possible. My buddy had his knee replaced and he felt the same way you did after the surgery. Hang in there and stay ahead of there pain with the meds.

  25. 25.

    opiejeanne

    @J R in WV: Like I know anything about what to do. Heck, my oil stocks dropped like a rock after the election while all of the other oil stocks took off like rockets. I have a lot of blue chip stock but I’m looking sideways at those too.
    Yeah, what do I do with the money if I cash out? Stash it in my mattress? Stash it in open-ended IRA accounts? I have one of those with our credit union. If everything crashes and/or we get runaway inflation, it will be worthless.
    It’s not our retirement money; that’s fairly secure with CalPers, thank goodness.

  27. 27.

    japa21

    @raven: Thanks. I know it will be better, just frustrating in the meantime. And based on what the doctor told my wife, the tears had gotten a lot bigger so surgery was pretty much a necessity.

  29. 29.

    Baud

    @Mustang Bobby:

    I am totally in favor of resistance on every level,

    Can’t let up, or else Trump will send out a tweet declaring victory for crushing the resistance.

  35. 35.

    Kay

    Could get really interesting if big blue states push back against a federal voter suppression effort. We haven’t seen that before- states v feds with states protecting voting rights. States can do it, too. They could raise a huge public stink and there would be a real threat behind it- they have the power to cripple any federal effort to target their voters both with proactive state laws protecting voting rights and refusing federal demands. It’s a huge political opportunity for Dem governors. I’d be thrilled if I were the governor of California and Trump picked a fight on voting rights. The governor of California will win easily- both substantively and politically. They have no incentive to cooperate at all.

  39. 39.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud: I got them checked last week, this is a follow-up to get glasses and new contacts(he gave me some contacts and they seem to work well). Basically they’ll want me to buy my contacts/glasses from them, I’ll ask to get the script and take it to Costco.

  40. 40.

    Central Planning

    Since it’s an open thread, 2 things: Why am I getting an add for China Love at the top of the page? I haven’t googled anything Chinese or mentioned anything like that on Facebook, or searched for anything with the word China on google. Plus, I’m happily married (at least I thought I was… maybe the ad agency knows something I don’t).

    The other – what does everyone recommend for a great sipping tequila? I’m going to get a bottle for a person who helped me out at work as a thank-you gift. I’m looking for something in the $100 range. I’m also going to a restaurant tonight that claims to have 200 tequilas in stock to try a few. I tried a nice Dobel last week.

  42. 42.

    debbie

    The first thing I heard this morning was Trump’s rating approval of 36%. I know some people are tired of all things Trump, but this was oddly exhilarating.

  46. 46.

    Elizabelle

    Good morning, all. Friday, yet.

    To all who brought up stock market volatility and peril: This is one way I think Trump and the Republicans go down, sooner rather than later.

    Businesses and average Americans like more stability and certainty. We are all pretty much worried about our stock market portfolios, and not irrationally so. Wildcat markets are for oil speculators and, I guess, developers, who don’t have much of their own money in their positions.

    People do not like this amount of risk and edginess. Maybe plutocrats do (shock doctrine!), but not your average citizen and family. It’s frightening.

    And now these morons the Red States voted in are going after healthcare.

    I wonder if zombie shows will have less appeal, now that we are living in more dangerous times.

    You got me thinking on that, talking about the Korean and Mexican soap operas. In unstable times, romantic and family dramas may be enough risk. Maybe we will see more westerns (ie. the return of law and order).

  47. 47.

    debbie

    @japa21:

    My brother and my teenaged nephew have each had multiple shoulder surgeries. Recovery was very painful each time, but once they were past recovery and physical therapy, they found they had never felt better.

    P.S. What raven said. Drugs and ice are the ticket.

  49. 49.

    bystander

    It looks as if the repubs got a loud reminder, courtesy of a lot of Philadelphians, that we are not normalizing Trumputin.

    Isn’t consistently showing up to remind politicians that people object to what they are doing Rev. Barber’s tactic with his Moral Mondays?

  50. 50.

    Jeffro

    @opiejeanne: Money’s just continuing to pour in, for no good reason…everything was running fine, and all the measures that Trump & Ryan & McConnell are gearing up for will hurt the economy.

    It’s doubtful that this will end as cleanly as a reality TV episode…

  51. 51.

    Schlemazel

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
    I am deeply concerned about my meager 401k. I have been investigating mutual funds and ETFs that pay off in down markets. Naturally they have lost huge amounts, some around 80% and many others have done 4 for 1 negative splits in the last 6 years. Had someone gotten in on them through 07 to 09 they would have doubled or even tripled their money, Huge risk, YOOOOGE, obviously. Meanwhile getting out of the equity market in the last few weeks would have missed a decent run up. Timing is for fools but I feel like the downward pain we all know is coming would be long-term enough that I can miss the peak on both sides & still outperform the last decade.

  55. 55.

    bemused

    I read yesterday that some republicans complained they got no ACA replace or other specifics from Rump at their policy retreat and laughed and laughed. Who would expect stinkin’ specifics from him. I just skimmed the article and wanted to read it more carefully. Now I can’t find it again. Grrr.

  57. 57.

    Baud

    @Elizabelle: The GOP is one giant bet that no matter what they do, white voters can always be frightened into supporting them. All in all, it’s not a bad strategy.

  58. 58.

    Chat Noir

    @Kay: Kay, I thought of you yesterday when I listened to Pod Save America. Jon Favreau and Dan Pfeiffer interviewed Tom Perez. I really liked what he said and it’s what you’ve been saying for a long time about building the Democratic Party from the local level on up. Give it a listen! I’m onboard with Perez as DNC chief.

  59. 59.

    Schlemazel

    @J R in WV:
    Blackrock iShares are exchange traded funds, ETFs, and there are a large number of them. The function like mutual funds in that you are buying a share of a market basket of stocks or bonds but trade like stocks. They do carry usually small management fees (less than .1%) but it varies. Where that gets interesting is that they have a whole line of ‘bear’ shares. Funds that specifically are targeting the market, or some segment of the market, going south, See my earlier comment for other info. I’d have to look up the info I am compiling but several of the ETFs will make a ton on money in a down market. There is a big risk though as the lose big in an up market. If things are turning to shit I assume they will stay that way long enough to make the switch and catch some of the profit

  62. 62.

    Central Planning

    @Elmo: @The Lodger: I’ll give the Chinaco a try tonight. It’s on their list. $70 would be fine too.

    Ultimately, it’s about the tequila, not the price, but I thought it might be nice to give him a bottle of something he wouldn’t normally buy. $70 is probably in that range too.

    Thanks!

  63. 63.

    Schlemazel

    @Elmo:
    Bartcops favorite, I have one now and again in his honor. Lucky bastard died so he would not have to see this turn of events.

    It is smooth and mellow & worth the $70

  64. 64.

    Mary G

    @Kay: Jerry Brown gave the state of the state speech for California on 1/24 and it was a barn burner. He made fun of “alternate facts,” defended immigrants and climate change action, and ended up with  a strong message to the new administration: “California is not turning back. Not now, not ever.”

    Also, too, the reason California takes so long to count votes is that most of the time big counties go to long lengths to determine the will of the voter instead of just tossing the ballot in the trash, so there’s a well experienced, well funded infrastructure in place to push back on bullshit. I know when my mom died, I didn’t have to notify them; she was automatically removed from the rolls by the next election.

  66. 66.

    Iowa Old Lady

    I hear that when Trump addressed the R retreat yesterday, he repeatedly “Where’s Pompeo?” and scanned the audience. He thought the head of the CIA should be at a partisan political gathering.

  68. 68.

    satby

    Good morning everyone! By coincidence, I have to go into the bank today to move some money out of the IRA I inherited. I’ve been wondering if I should put in orders to move it out of the growth and income mix most of it is in to something more cash based because I really need this to hold value as my emergency funds. I go back and forth on what to do, because the window for it to recover value is much shorter than if I was in middle age.

  69. 69.

    Schlemazel

    Here is an invstopedia link on inverse ETFs. FOr those with more guts than brains there are even leveraged inverse ETFs!
    http://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/inverse-etf.asp

    And a list of some of them.
    http://www.tradermike.net/inverse-short-etfs-bearish-etf-funds/
    I would not recommend any of these and am not really sure if I want to play DOW roulette but I may liquidate and dip a toe in a couple of these when the stinky stuff hits the whirly stuff. I’m working till I die anyway so my risk tolerence is higher than yours probably.

  71. 71.

    Yoda Dog

    Good morning. MY kids slept in til 7:30! WOOHOO!!!!!

    One of the only trumpers I tolerate contact with is scared and confused. She’s worried about her healthcare. I told her in a completely dry tone that Trump had said he was going to roll out a great replacement plan for everyone and she had nothing to worry about. At that she got distraught, “YOU KNOW THATS NOT TRUE!” “Yea, no shit, I tried to warn you people not to do this.”

    Just an anecdote but I’ve heard similar stories around here as well lately. I’m hopeful. Just gotta keep hammerin on that door til we knock that fucker down.

  73. 73.

    Schlemazel

    Here is an invstopedia link on inverse ETFs. FOr those with more guts than brains there are even leveraged inverse ETFs!
    Investopedia on ETFs

    And a list of some of them.
    List of inverse ETFs

    I would not recommend any of these and am not really sure if I want to play DOW roulette but I may liquidate and dip a toe in a couple of these when the stinky stuff hits the whirly stuff. I’m working till I die anyway so my risk tolerance is higher than yours probably.

  76. 76.

    Chat Noir

    @satby: I think he was one of the “up and comers” in the Dem Party that President Obama mentioned last week on Pod Save America. Also Jason Kander (“my boy” as Obama called him).

  77. 77.

    JMG

    I have read the comments and I want to offer my opinion, which is borrowed/stolen from money managers I trust. Making investment decisions based on your political beliefs is a big mistake. Look what happened to all the Republicans who sold stocks in early 2009, missing out on much of the huge bull market to come. Stocks are expensive now, and portfolio rebalancing is good, but don’t make decisions based on doomsday scenarios.

  78. 78.

    Schlemazel

    @Yoda Dog:
    My FB contacts that are trumpsters have been incredibly quiet the last week. They were often spoiling for a fight before that. The only time they were quiet before the election was when one of the both-siders asked us to explain why were were going to vote the way we were without saying anything about the other candidate. the replies were 8-0 Clinton so I noted that & they would not even rise to the bait then,

    I am waiting for the right moment to hammer them & hope to hear some screaming. Problem is none are on ACA though they may know others who are and most are rural white so they are not yet feeling the full pain.

  79. 79.

    satby

    @Yoda Dog: I haven’t spoken to one young Trump supporter I knew because I was furious with the kid (my handyman, age 33). He stopped by yesterday and the buyers remorse was clear. He’s worried about his family’s health care too, they have a new baby on the way. He said he was done with politics and that’s probably a goid thing because he’s a truly low information voter even when I try to pierce the Fox bubble.

  82. 82.

    Elizabelle

    @JMG: It’s so hard to know, isn’t it? But thanks for the advice.

    ETA: I guess investing in pink yarn is a growth industry. Yea, tricoteuses!

  83. 83.

    Yoda Dog

    @JMG: But what about all the people that did invest in 2009? Republicans live in a fantasy world, so Im not sure I follow your example of why investing based on politics is necessarily wrong. I would short this market right now, no question. The dow is sky fucking high and president dipshit is fucking up at the speed of light.

  85. 85.

    Schlemazel

    The Knoxville Sentinel cartoonist has a good one today (linking is near impossible) but you can put your own picture to the words:
    “As I was going up the stair I saw millions of fraudulent voters that were not there
    They were not there again today but I saw them anyway”

  86. 86.

    Mary G

    I am a big fan of sitting tight in the market. I have seen too many people panic and sell at the worst time and lose way more money than I ended up doing. Unless you have a very short time line then sell and stay in cash, at least until the Republicans defund the FDIC.

  87. 87.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Schlemazel:

    Problem is none are on ACA

    But all were helped by the ACA. Wait until they have to start paying for vaccinations again, or their wives mammograms, or their 22 yr old sons healthcare, or….

  88. 88.

    Schlemazel

    @satby:
    I am similar and am being very cautious about this inverse idea. Probably the only way I dive in is after I have lost some on my equities and the bear run is in full swing. I would get out after the bulls are running. Not trying to hit the top or bottom but hope to hit the middle by being prepared and expecting a long run, 3-4 years of bad times. But I may just sit on cash.

  90. 90.

    p.a.

    I don’t know which would be worse for the country (and therefore possibly better for progressives long term) but I could see enjoying a ‘Pence for President’ movement on the web. It could drive LordLittlehands nuts and make life very uncomfortable for Dense while he’s veep.

    Since they’re incinerating the 20th and 21st centuries, we might as well toast some marshmallows at their expense.

  91. 91.

    Another Scott

    @satby:

    I really need this to hold value as my emergency funds.

    If you can’t afford to lose it, put it in a 1-2 year CD of some sort – there’s too much risk in the stock market for money that you must keep. Or put it in several CDs of different maturities (“ladder” them) so that if/when interest rates change you can get some of the upside (rather than locking it all in for a long period).

    Good luck!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  94. 94.

    Michael Bersin

    On Wednesday, with the executive orders on refugees, I was so fed up that I broke out a protest sign from fourteen years ago. At noon I stood for an hour on campus at the flag pole with the Bill of Rights plaques on the quad holding up poster board: “Propaganda is not designed to fool the critical thinker, but only to give moral cowards an excuse not to think at all.” It was freakin’ cold and I wasn’t dressed warmly enough. Fourteen years ago (March 2003) I held up the same sign at the same place. At that time the local paper had sent a photographer searching out the previous day’s anti-war protest (yeah, typical, they were a day late), so he took my picture and briefly interviewed me. The image appeared on the front page of the paper the next day. I got a lot of hate for that back then. After Wednesday’s vigil I looked up that old photo – I was wearing the same thing – jeans, a gray sweatshirt over a pink shirt. Go figure.

    On Thursday I stood at the same place at noon, dressed much more warmly, with my new sign: Сделать Америку великой Снова (Make America Great Again). The reaction was interesting. Most passed me by with maybe a glance. Some people asked me what it meant. I replied that it was sarcasm in Russian, then translated for them. Those individuals who bothered to ask usually laughed at the answer.

    You don’t necessarily need a large demonstration to show your resistance to this thing. You just need poster board, permanent markers, a bit of sign making skill, and sarcasm. One person can make an impact on another. I learned that important lesson over fourteen years ago.

  95. 95.

    Gator90

    @BillinGlendaleCA: My father was a never-Trump Republican who actually voted for HRC (or so he claims) but now supports Trump because he is infuriated by the insolent reaction of Dems and libs to the Trump presidency and, even more, by the cruel mockery to which meanie-pants Dems and libs have subjected salt-of-the-earth Trump voters who merely have polite disagreements with the Democrats about tax policy and entitlements. (I’m not making this up.) So in other words, it’s taunts like yours that are poisoning my relationship with my dad. So thanks a lot.

  96. 96.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Schlemazel: I have heard a lot of Republican talk about keeping “the good parts” of the ACA. They are saying this because their voters are talking to them. The GOP has constructed an unthreadable needle. Should be interesting to watch. Probably fatal too. Oh well, at least my death will be entertaining.

  98. 98.

    debit

    @p.a.: Since Trump has been so insistent that his son in law be there to hold his hand I think it’s just a matter of time before “Jared’s really the one making the decisions” starts making headlines. That will also enrage the shitgibbon and drive a wedge between them.

  99. 99.

    Schlemazel

    @p.a.:
    Remember when were were very worried about an incompetent, unprepared, mental midget a heart beat away from the Presidency? 2008 seems so long ago now.

  100. 100.

    Elizabelle

    I think we should be doing marches every 3-6 weeks. Lot of pent up demand out there. Biggest issue for me is don’t screw with the ACA/Obamacare, no matter how much the Oval Office Occupier wants to discard it.

    @Gator90: I’m sorry to hear that. Your dad sounds like he’s reverted to the lizardbrain; that’s very hard. I don’t have much patience with people who cannot see the patriotism in demanding that our elected officials look out for our citizens. Fakeass patriots.

  102. 102.

    debit

    @Schlemazel: I was just thinking about a Gregory McDonald novel I read ages ago where the plot was that someone had changed a few key words in a political speech in order to cause such a scandal the politician had to step down. Oh, how I yearn for a return to the lamb white days of innocence.

  104. 104.

    Elizabelle

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    And then they’d blame Obama

    .

    Expect this was snark, but I don’t think they will get away with that. No drama Obama is going to look even better after a few more weeks of through the looking glass.

  106. 106.

    Jeffro

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I have heard a lot of Republican talk about keeping “the good parts” of the ACA.

    Meaning, everything but its nickname? I seriously don’t know why they don’t re-name it Trumpcare and call it a day. Oh wait, Randian dogma, that’s right.

    The GOP has constructed an unthreadable needle. Should be interesting to watch. Probably fatal too. Oh well, at least my death will be entertaining

    You’re going to make it…we’re going to take these bastards down (even if it means just letting them blow themselves up)

  108. 108.

    satby

    @Elizabelle: the relentless anger and mockery I see on FB from people who never or seldom commented politically before is heartening. I think it’s also helping wake some conservatives up a bit, they took the general silence as agreement with their beliefs; now they’re finding out that a lot of the new silent majority actually wants the ACA, factual information from the government, and integrity in officeholders.

    Yeah, who knew? A lot of people thought those were things they could take for granted, they’re not happy to find out they can’t.

  109. 109.

    Jeffro

    Since this is an Open Thread, two observations…

    1) I don’t know if anyone else is having a similar experience, but as I mentioned last night, Mrs. Jeffro is now almost as painfully up on all things political as I am (and that is saying something). It’s been a little shocking to see a pretty mild-mannered moderate lefty turn into an enraged daily activist – she’s been calling our senators every single day, is ready to donate the kids’ college accounts to PP and the ACLU, and plans on registering as a Muslim with me if it comes to that. (Like, WOW, dear!) Seeing the Women’s March…seeing just how incredibly bad Trump has been since the election …it all has really opened her eyes. To which I can only say, “How about we go pitchfork shopping this weekend, dear?” =)

    2) On another note, once this all comes crashing down on Trump, Ryan, and the GOP, I certainly hope that a few national Dems are ready to step in and remind everyone that this didn’t have to happen. It is not “America’s tragedy” or an “American embarrassment”, it is the GOP that inflicted this on the country and they should own it. We will have to watch for this and push back at every turn. “How did this happen to America?” should more properly be phrased as, “How could the GOP do this to America?” and so on. Just a thought for future reference.

  110. 110.

    debit

    @Vheidi: There was a front page post late December announcing it was out. Click on Tunch and he will take you to the Cafe Press store where you can order it.

  111. 111.

    Jeffro

    @satby:

    the relentless anger and mockery I see on FB from people who never or seldom commented politically before is heartening.

    Exhibit A in my post at #109 below yours…see #1 regarding my newfound activist spouse =)

  113. 113.

    Baud

    @satby: All those people who kept saying they disapproved of Obamacare because it didn’t go far enough kind of fucked us over.

  114. 114.

    Sab

    @Gator90: If he tells you he voted for HRC he lied to you. I am the only Democrat in my extended family. Everyone else is a traditional Eisenhower Republican. They are uniformly horrified by Trump, and were horrified before the election. None of them voted for Trump, but several voted for Stein or Johnson.

  116. 116.

    OzarkHillbilly

    This made me laugh:

    It was another unfortunate incident that spurred Moeliker to establish the exhibition (the Dead Animal Tales exhibition) in the first place. In 1995, a male duck flew into the glass facade of the museum and died on impact, a fate that did not deter another male duck from raping the corpse for 75 minutes. The incident ruffled feathers in the community but earned Moeliker a much-coveted IgNobel prize when he published his observations . “I was the one and only witness,” Moeliker said. “I’m a trained biologist but what I saw was completely new to me.”

    I also laughed at this stupid human trick:

    a catfish that fell victim to a group of men in the Netherlands who developed a tradition for drinking vast amounts of beer and swallowing fish from their aquarium. The catfish turned out to be armoured, and on being swallowed raised its spines. The defence did not save the fish, but it put the 28-year-old man who tried to swallow it in intensive care for a week.

    Having been stuck by a catfish spine a time or 3, I can only say, “Well, Duuuuuuuhhhhhhh.”

  119. 119.

    Kathleen

    @japa21: What raven said. A friend had shoulder surgery and experienced an unexpected rough patch but is doing quite well now and is glad she had it done.

  120. 120.

    Jeffro

    PS not sure when it will be up on the WaPo website, but the ever-impressive Catherine Rampell had a great op-ed in today’s dead tree edition about how the first weeks of Trump sure resemble an extremely poorly run business. Look for it later!

  123. 123.

    Kathleen

    @Kay: What do you think Kasich would do? I read that he and Brown are working together to block repeal of ACA. Do you think that would carry over to voter rights even though Ohio’s recent record on voting rights is abysmal.

  124. 124.

    D58826

    The negative reaction of a conservative magazine to Der Fuhrer’s Syria policy:

    This is especially unwise because a large-scale American military presence in Syria will almost certainly provoke terrorist attacks on American targets, and admitting a relative handful of refugees from Syria is all but guaranteed not to lead to any. All in all, Trump’s Syria policy is shaping up to be dumb, cruel, and dangerous, and we’re just in the second week of his presidency.

    http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/trumps-dangerous-syria-policy/

  125. 125.

    satby

    @debit: debit, I missed the Walter update last night, read it this morning. Walter is enjoying probably the best life he’s ever had, his bucket list was always just a loving home, full belly, and people who cared for him that he could give his incredible love back to. I just wanted you to know how much we all are grateful to you for stepping up and giving an old, abused dog the best life any animal could wish for as a final act. He is happy, and that’s all that matters now. Thank you!

  126. 126.

    D58826

    from twitter yesterday:
    Pres. Of mexico – ‘trumps tariff will impact the exporting of calamari to US’

    Aide to pres. – ‘yes it will’

    Pres of mexico – ‘perhaps if we contributed to the wall, sort of a ……’

    Aide to pres. – ‘don’t say that sir’

    Pres of Mexico – ‘a squid pro quo’

  127. 127.

    Bupalos

    Alright everyone knows I’m one of the kumbaya kaucus people that believes we have to try and engage the Trumpies, and I’ll get flamed for opening my mouth in this direction, but I had a non-negative political interaction with a trumpie. She provided a little opening with something that was kind of anti-trump in the direction of “too bad the democrats MADE US DO THIS by nominating a crook” and I just ran with that a little in the spirit of “yeah now look at all these billionaire wallstreeter fraud guys that are going to do the schools and mortgages and stuff, we shouldn’t let them manipulate us with these games, we should just follow and vote on things that affect us, but man it takes too much time man do they have us screwed!”

    She was in total agreement. Baby steps. I now can raise direct issues with her. Before anyone flames her up, this is the lady who lost her son to heroin/fentanyl last year and is trying to raise his little boy, we stand waiting for the school bus.

    Find one. Try it. This is what RESIST means to me!

  128. 128.

    debit

    @satby: I’m just doing what anyone else would have done, yourself included (how many pups do you have right now?). I’ve said before, I feel so lucky that John trusted me to take Walter and to do right by him.

  132. 132.

    rikyrah

    @Jeffro:

    2) On another note, once this all comes crashing down on Trump, Ryan, and the GOP, I certainly hope that a few national Dems are ready to step in and remind everyone that this didn’t have to happen. It is not “America’s tragedy” or an “American embarrassment”, it is the GOP that inflicted this on the country and they should own it. We will have to watch for this and push back at every turn. “How did this happen to America?” should more properly be phrased as, “How could the GOP do this to America?” and so on. Just a thought for future reference.

    This. This. This.

    Cheeto Benito needs to be hung around their necks.

  135. 135.

    JordanRules

    @Bupalos: Glad you had a good experience with her. My nominee was not a crook and I still don’t know how one accepts the racism, sexism and other indecent things. I hope one of your first deeper discussions is about where she gets her info from. Also, maybe introduce her to the Mothers of the Movement who all lost their kids to police violence.

  136. 136.

    Ohio Mom

    @Gator90: That’s rich. For eight years, folks your dad agrees with, looks to for leadership, denigrated the Obama family. The watermelons, the ape jokes, etc.

    When we make fun of Trump, it’s mainly with ammunition he supplied, e.g., grabbing women’s genitals.

    I know it isn’t just your dad, I’m hearing this from other people who were down with mocking the Obamas who now are crying, Why can’t we all come together?

    Maybe you can try a few sessions with a counselor with your dad so you two can create a truce. If you could get him there. Sigh…

  139. 139.

    Mike E

    @japa21: not to pile on here but my shoulder surgery went through the phases everyone else describes, including doubt…a good PT will guide you through the inevitable plateaus which will seem like walls at the time. Keep pluggin’

  140. 140.

    Sab

    @Bupalos: Yeah. We have three Trump families in the neighborhood. One is a bunch of racist misogynistic deplorable jerks. The second is hardcore retired marine right-to-lifers. The third is new to the neighborhood. Husband is weird marathoner type who spends all his free time running. Wife who walks their dog a lot seems sweet. I bet at least some of these people are reachable.

  141. 141.

    Ohio Mom

    @Bupalos: I am all for what you are trying to do. One, it might work, especially if you demonstrate lots of empathy for her (the world always needs more love and empathy). Two, this sort of exercise really helps sharpen your thinking, and your ability to clearly, succinctly, and accurately zero in on what is most important.

    For years now, my favorite thing to do to people who say their taxes are too high is to agree with them. It’s great watching their faces relax.

    Then I go on to explain that their taxes are too high because the wealthy aren’t putting in their fair share. Then their faces scrunch up in confusion.

    I hope you can find a way to help your neighbor past her uncomfortable confusion.

  142. 142.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Bupalos:

    “too bad the democrats MADE US DO THIS by nominating a crook”

    For some reason or other I can never get past “She is an absolute genius at hiding all the evidence of her evil deeds from law enforcement authorities. Either that or Republicans are the most incompetent fucks in the world. Which is it?”

  145. 145.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Ohio Mom:

    For years now, my favorite thing to do to people who say their taxes are too high is to agree with them. It’s great watching their faces relax.

    Then I go on to explain that their taxes are too high because the wealthy aren’t putting in their fair share. Then their faces scrunch up in confusion.

    I’ve done that. Now they vote Republican twice as much.

  148. 148.

    Ian G.

    Morning, everyone.

    I’m not sure if the PPP poll showing that 59% of Trump voters believe that his inauguration crowds were bigger than the women’s march has been discussed here (it might have been missed since it was in the same group of polls as the one showing Trump voters are hunky dory with him using a private email server).

    Anyway, I bring it up because if you multiply 59% by the 46% Trump won in the popular vote, well, guess what number you get?

  149. 149.

    Ian G.

    @Bupalos:

    I’m trying. I know good people who are under the false impression that Trump is a wildly successful self-made billionaire, and that his business experience is what the country needs to grow the economy. These people have made a reasonable conclusion, but their data is false. Try telling them about all his business failures, and how the guy’s money is really his father’s. And go easy! They’re more likely to listen if you don’t seem judgmental.

  150. 150.

    rikyrah

    Trump’s bogus claims about American cities start to add up
    01/27/17 08:40 AM—UPDATED 01/27/17 08:45 AM
    By Steve Benen

    During one of the 2016 presidential debates, Hillary Clinton noted that the murder rate in New York City is dropping. “You’re wrong,” Donald Trump said, interrupting her. “Murders are up.” Trump was wrong; murders in NYC are down.

    Five months later, on Martin Luther King weekend, Trump thought it’d be a good idea to feud with Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) after the iconic congressman questioned the legitimacy of the president’s election. The Republican responded in part by going after Lewis’ Atlanta congressional district, insisting Lewis should overlook the election scandal and focus instead of his “crime infested” city that’s “in horrible shape and falling apart.” A closer look revealed Trump’s condemnations of Atlanta weren’t at all true.

    Earlier this week, the president turned his attention to criticizing Chicago, insisting that during President Obama’s farewell address, “two people were shot and killed during his speech.” It turns out, Trump simply made that up and those shootings didn’t happen outside of the president’s imagination.

    Yesterday, as the Washington Post noted, it was Philly’s turn.

    Speaking in Philadelphia on Thursday, President Trump made one of his trademark digressions into a discussion of violent crime.

    Mentioning the increase in violent crime in some major cities nationwide – which is true, homicides have gone up in numerous big cities – Trump also pointed to the city where he was speaking during a Republican strategy retreat.

    “Here in Philadelphia, the murder rate has been steady – I mean just terribly increasing,” he said.

    Trump has no idea what he’s talking about. The murder rate in the city just decreased, and it’s improved steadily in recent decades.

  151. 151.

    bupalos

    @Elizabelle: I’m not sure how these people accept any of the things they accept. Except I kind of am sure. They watch Fox News, and they are relentlessly and scientifically targeted by increasingly sophisticated behavioral science.

    There is no way I’m discussing issues of ethnicity or “law and order” with her. We need to be pragmatic about what to talk about. I’m not after this woman’s (incredibly fearful) soul, I mean, great if we make some strides there. I’m after her vote so the environment that her grandson grows up in gives him a better chance to be a better person than I think is likely possible for her.

  153. 153.

    Jeffro

    @Ian G.:

    Anyway, I bring it up because if you multiply 59% by the 46% Trump won in the popular vote, well, guess what number you get?

    Is it between 26% and 28%, roughly speaking?

  154. 154.

    rikyrah

    Bannon’s Battle Plan
    by Nancy LeTourneau
    January 27, 2017 9:19 AM

    A couple of weeks after the election, Trump’s Chief Strategist Steve Bannon said this to Kimberly Strassel:

    I never went on TV one time during the campaign. Not once. You know why? Because politics is war. General Sherman would never have gone on TV to tell everyone his plans. I’d never tip my hand to the other side. And right now we’ve got work to do.

    One week into the Trump administration, we have a pretty good idea of the battle plan Bannon has been cooking up. Not only did he and Steven Miller write Trump’s combative inaugural address, according to reporting by Isaac Arnsdorf, Josh Dawsey and Seung Min Kim, they have written the series of executive orders that the president has signed this week, as well as those that have been leaked to the press.

    While their plan is an attempt to show an appearance of momentum, it’s not hard to see Bannon’s fingerprints on things like restricting Muslim refugees and immigrants from entering the U.S., the announcement that the administration will be tracking and publicizing individual incidents of crime by undocumented immigrants, attempts to cripple the U.N. and policies that will be a great recruitment tool for ISIS. It is a white nationalist Islamophobic dream come true.

    The problem is that apparently Bannon and Miller haven’t consulted with Trump’s cabinet nominees, the federal agencies involved or members of Congress on any of these plans. That means that many of them might be “unworkable, unenforceable or even illegal.”

    The backlash that has been unleashed, along with an obsession with the results of the election that placed Trump in the White House, have led Mr. Bannon to be more than a little bit combative – as he demonstrated in an interview with the New York Times.

    “The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for a while,” Mr. Bannon said in an interview on Wednesday.

    “I want you to quote this,” Mr. Bannon added. “The media here is the opposition party. They don’t understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States.”…

    “The elite media got it dead wrong, 100 percent dead wrong,” Mr. Bannon said of the election, calling it “a humiliating defeat that they will never wash away, that will always be there.”…

    “That’s why you have no power,” he added. “You were humiliated.”

    Obviously Bannon shares Trump’s world view that assumes every interaction involves either dominating or being dominated. He thinks he can humiliate the press by pointing out how they got the election wrong and telling them to keep their mouths shut. Obviously that isn’t going to happen. But it’s telling to hear someone who assumes he can outsmart his opponents say something that exposes how obsessed they are and how much the reaction to these first few days of Trump’s presidency has unsettled them

  155. 155.

    Jeffro

    @Spanky: I know, right? He’s going to chuck tens of billions at defense contractors because…well, just because. His mind is stuck in the 80s and he thinks that’s how you beat ISIS, I guess? Out-spend them??

    We seem to be engaged in ‘brushfire’ cyber wars as it is…somehow I don’t think paying a warehouse full of hackers costs 1/100 as much as a single F-35. Maybe he could save us some dough AND get with the 21st century? Oh wait, that was Obama…

  156. 156.

    Jeffro

    @rikyrah:

    Obviously Bannon shares Trump’s world view that assumes every interaction involves either dominating or being dominated.

    Yup. This is THE big-picture thing about Trump and Bannon, and all their little submissives they surround themselves with.

    He thinks he can humiliate the press by pointing out how they got the election wrong and telling them to keep their mouths shut. Obviously that isn’t going to happen. But it’s telling to hear someone who assumes he can outsmart his opponents say something that exposes how obsessed they are and how much the reaction to these first few days of Trump’s presidency has unsettled them

    Looks like a chink in the armor to me…a bruise that needs pushing, and Pushing, and PUSHING…

  158. 158.

    Jeffro

    @Ian G.

    I know good people who are under the false impression that Trump is a wildly successful self-made billionaire, and that his business experience is what the country needs to grow the economy. These people have made a reasonable conclusion, but their data is false. Try telling them about all his business failures, and how the guy’s money is really his father’s. And go easy! They’re more likely to listen if you don’t seem judgmental.

    Send them links to that Catherine Rampell op-ed once it goes live on the WaPo, I’m telling you, it’s excellent. It’s all about how Trump has behaved just since the election, not his mythical awesome-businessman prior life.

  160. 160.

    dww44

    @rikyrah:I saw that and once again I am really worried that our new administration is a Russian asset. The firing of those knowledgeable career State Department employees to make way for the Russian/oil loving Secretary of State to install his very own supporter is now doubling concerning.

    I hope to God that the Deep State and/or the journalsits are hard at work on this threat to our republic.

  161. 161.

    Gator90

    @Ohio Mom: I kind of had this heroic image of my dad as that rarest of creatures, the Principled Republican, and to see him “come home” to the GOP less than one week into the Trumpening genuinely bums me out. Feels in some weird way like I’ve been played. The counseling thing ain’t gonna happen, so I’m here looking for sympathy instead.

  162. 162.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    And dropping this as a place marker – who ever trusted Kaspersky or any other Russian software vendor in the first place? Who actually trusts open source?

    How much of this burn was related to Snowjob’s material? How much was related to something fed from Trump’s twits?

    Methinks that the chunky goobers with filthy “Han Shot First” or worn out plaid shirts and camo caps who worried so much about the NSA storing their pr0n, hentai, and racist chat habits (along with violent extremist fantasy plotting) actually have all their shit being pored over and laughed at in hack farms from Chelyabinsk to Novgorod.

  163. 163.

    Jeffro

    @rikyrah: btw here’s Josh Marshall’s take on Steve Bannon’s nonsense:

    When Steve Bannon says the press is “humiliated”, “opposition party” and should “keep its mouth shut” I really hope people know the proper response is contempt and derision. Like his boss, Steve Bannon is a punk. This is no more than Trumpian dominance politics, drama and threats meant to cow and put people back on their heels. Mockery and derision. The country is against this administration. Just trash talk. Meet it with laughter. Please, people.

  165. 165.

    Larkspur

    @satby: I love senior dogs. Recently one of the dogs (a golden retriever) I walked and dog-sat for died. She made it to 11 years old, but she had cancer. It was some kind of sarcoma on her leg. She was able to live a good life despite it for several years, but then the cancer took over everywhere, so her folks let her go after a last day featuring petting and vanilla ice cream, which she loved. They took her to the vet and waited while the vet gave her the injections. It seemed to take longer than they had been told, but the vet came out afterward and said the delay was because all of the techs and office people wanted to say good-bye to her. They all loved her. She had a good life and a mercifully gentle death.

    When dogs and cats I know die, I usually send a little donation to my favorite local senior dog rescue group, Muttville, and they email a card to the family. If I had a house (which I never will, because I’m oldish and I doubt I’ll ever have the money), I’d adopt and foster senior dogs. If I had a lot of money, I’d have a part of the house designated for a foster cat “colony”.

    But I wouldn’t foster tarantulas. I was doing a vacation house-check the other day and discovered a large one under a desk. I’ve seen tarantulas there before. I apologize to Team Tarantula and its supporters, but they have to go, and since I’m always too freaked out to escort them to a farm upstate (or even just out the door), they make the final journey by getting flushed. Is this a character flaw?

  166. 166.

    cmorenc

    @Mustang Bobby:

    The problem today is that it will be hard to convince the core Trump voter to change their opinions

    It’s very important to realize that the pool of the electorate who voted for Trump is NOT of monolithic depth. The proportion of the electorate who are resistantly committed to staying in the deep end of the Trump-voter pool is indeed large, but not as forbiddingly so as their obnoxiously noisy visibility may make it seem. A quite substantial portion of people who ended up voting for Trump only waded in at much shallower depth – some hoping for improvement in their personal economic prospects, others because they came to believe they were making the less bad of the two most awful major-party candidates in their lifetime – the point is, these people ARE reachable, even though the sort of Trump voters who attended his rallies, and Tea Party events before that, are not. The rocky transition period and initial first week of the Trump Administration will likely have already induced significant disillusionment among many of them – yes we CAN persuade enough of them to come back over, provided we go about attractively facilitating their change of mind. We only really need to win back about 5-10% of voters who crossed over to the dark side to profoundly change the electoral dynamics back in our favor, even given gerrymandering etc.

  167. 167.

    Aleta

    I’m not engaging anyone myself, but the unhappy Trump voters are going to be harvested by someone. Who’s probably working on it right now.

  168. 168.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @Jeffro: I can imagine the Rs keeping the popular parts of the ACA and dumping the rest because, despite their angsting about balanced budgets, history shows they have no qualms about blowing up the deficit.

  169. 169.

    Ian G.

    @cmorenc:

    Exactly this. If Trump’s hardcore base drops to 27%, who cares. We win Texas, Arizona, Georgia, Utah, all of Obama’s states, etc. in 2020.

    Don’t waste your time on those who think his inaugural crowds were larger than the women’s march. They’re hopeless. Peel away the ones who voted Obama twice but (mistakenly) thought Hillary was a crook. They can obviously be persuaded, especially with Trump imploding.

  170. 170.

    debit

    @CaseyL: Yeah, I’m pretty sure it was a Flynn novel. I haven’t read any of the Fletch or Flynn books for years and years, so I have no idea how they hold up, but I’m tempted to load up my kindle and give them all another read.

  171. 171.

    Miss Bianca

    @Gator90: Well, a great way to get sympathy here is to say “fuck people like you” to other commenters. I know that that always opens up *my* heart’s purse-strings.

    That being said, it’s sad but not surprising that your father seeks to blame the “incivility of others” for his reversion to type. Any excuse will do – and making excuses for Trump by saying, “see what you’re doing? You’re FORCING me to support a monster, you monsters!” is…just…wrong.

    Pro-tip for ya: From now on, don’t kid yourself that there is any such thing as a “Principled Republican”. Unless, of course, their principles stand for “I’ve Got Mine, Fuck You”, which they most often do. It will result in far less disappointment and disillusionment.

  172. 172.

    rikyrah

    @Ohio Mom:

    I know it isn’t just your dad, I’m hearing this from other people who were down with mocking the Obamas who now are crying, Why can’t we all come together?

    It’s a simple reply:

    45 will receive the same amount of respect that the GOP showed 44.

    Same level, Boo.

    Same level of respect that 45 showed 44 during his 4 years of BIRTHERISM.

    It’s called receipts.

  173. 173.

    MCA1

    @Yoda Dog: That is encouraging, as are the already declining poll numbers. People who were foolish and overly optimistic or had some sort of an irrational problem with e-mails or having 4 out of 5 presidents with only two surnames or whatever, but who kind of pay attention nonetheless, are going to be flipping quickly.

    The ongoing issue will be the rest of them. See here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/27/donald-trump-michigan-voters-media

    “People are actively choosing to avoid news they don’t want to hear – or not receiving news at all.” They are the proverbial toddlers in a screaming tantrum, a complete la la la la la I can’t hear you, Obama’s the real racist, Hillary Benghazi e-mails Trump’s bringing jobs back, stereotype. One guy interviewed is pissed at Obama because he’s been out of work since the Great Recession started and was all fired up to move from Michigan and work on the Keystone pipeline but his plans were thwarted by the traitorous Kenyan. I’d love to hear someone describe the auto bailout and then point him to some Republican quotes about why we couldn’t have a standard issue Keynesian infrastructure bill to get millions of people working on medium to longer term construction projects because deficits, combined with their enthusiastic support for just such a thing now.

    The epistemic closure is ossified for a lot of the country. They’ve clearly no idea that the last 8 years were not normal levels of obstructionism, and have completely swallowed the alternative reality that’s been conjured up and curated over the last 25 years by Fox and whatever else. And so now they refuse to even listen, pre-emptively reject all media that doesn’t conform to their wishes, and actively shut their eyes and ears.

    One week in and my hopes and expectations of a total collapse of the Drumpf presidency are going up up up, but longterm, really, WASF. Too large a portion of the citizenry has been wired and primed for confederacy for this to be a governable populace.

  177. 177.

    Ohio Mom

    @Gator90: There were a bunch of threads around Thanksgiving that were about dealing with crazed right-wing relatives. IIRC, the solutions discussed in those threads included announcing you were never discussing politics with them ever again (and sticking to that to the extent you would get in your car and drive away), and distancing yourself even before any socializing would occur. There might have been others.

    I don’t have too many right-wingers in my extended family myself, and they are easily ignored because we live in different parts of the country. A blessing I guess I should count.

  179. 179.

    SWMBO

    Reposting this from an earlier thread:

    My mother is a case in point. She is registered independent and says she looks at all the issues and candidates impartially. Then she watches Fox News and votes the straight republican ticket. Every fucking time. Her reason for voting against Clinton? “We don’t need any more Clintons in the White House”. My autistic son asked her who she was voting for when she told him, he asked her, “What do you want to vote for that asshole for?! He hates disabled people like me!!” She told him at Christmas that she wrote in John Kasich and then a few days later she said Ben Carson. And she voted the straight republican ticket down ballot too. If there is a hell, I want Rupert Murdoch to clean all 7 levels of hell. With his tongue.

  180. 180.

    Regime Touchon

    @Jeffro: Same goes for my hubby. I think he might be ready to go marching himself. Especially since he’s a scientist.

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