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You are here: Home / Politics / An Unexamined Scandal / Open Thread: Trump Caters to His (Very) Base

Open Thread: Trump Caters to His (Very) Base

by Anne Laurie|  January 27, 20175:50 pm| 135 Comments

This post is in: An Unexamined Scandal, Foreign Affairs, Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, Religion, Republican Venality

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This confirms it. It was a Muslim ban all along. "Extreme vetting" was just dressing it up. https://t.co/S5YhnIRwsx pic.twitter.com/0sVb0Fi8Te

— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) January 27, 2017

@SopanDeb As you might imagine, Trump is not correct about discrimination against Christian refugees. https://t.co/ZOk76VlL6J

— Brian Hurn (@brianhurn) January 27, 2017

@SopanDeb Signing refugee ban of Holocaust Remembrance Day reminds us how many have failed to learn from mistakes of the past.

— Michael Fischman (@FischmanMichael) January 27, 2017

Trump — not to mention his “Chief Strategist” Steve Bannon — only care about religion as a tribal marker to help them pick off the rubes. But how does Mind-Behind-the-Man (Trump’s son-in-law) Jared Kushner handle the dichotomy between the shoddy rhetoric and the ugly truth?

USAToday reports:

In a departure from predecessors on both sides of the political aisle, President Trump’s statement Friday marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day did not mention the deaths of six million Jews — a lapse the head of the Anti-Defamation League called “puzzling and troubling.”

In the three-paragraph statement Friday, Trump said: “It is with a heavy heart and somber mind that we remember and honor the victims, survivors, heroes of the Holocaust. It is impossible to fully fathom the depravity and horror inflicted on innocent people by Nazi terror.”

“Yet, we know that in the darkest hours of humanity, light shines the brightest.‎ As we remember those who died, we are deeply grateful to those who risked their lives to save the innocent,” he continued, again referring only to “the innocent.”

“In the name of the perished, I pledge to do everything in my power throughout my Presidency, and my life, to ensure that the forces of evil never again defeat the powers of good,” he concluded. “Together, we will make love and tolerance prevalent throughout the world.”…

Trump’s generic phrasing contrasts considerably with Obama’s fuller statements on the occasion, which always spoke about the sufferings of the Jewish people, even though Trump has consistently portrayed Obama as a foe of the Jews and Israel.

The failure of the White House to mention the distinctive Jewish losses in the Holocaust could be problematic given that Trump has been accused of trafficking in anti-Semitic stereotypes and his campaign has been accused of employing anti-Semitic tropes. He has also been criticized for failing to call out virulent anti-Semitism among some of his supporters.

(Video proof here, if you don’t mind giving the ‘Christian Broadcasting Network’ a click.)

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Previous Post: « Paul Ryan, Invertebrate
Next Post: What Has Been Will Be Again 2: The US Does Not and Has Never Really Lifted a Lamp Beside the Golden Door »

Reader Interactions

135Comments

  1. 1.

    SFAW

    January 27, 2017 at 5:56 pm

    Deadbeat Shitgibbon being a(n) (not-so-in-the-closet) anti-Semite? Shocked, I am.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    January 27, 2017 at 5:57 pm

    I thought the Judeo in Judeo-Christian would last at least a month.

  3. 3.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 27, 2017 at 5:57 pm

    Vitriolic Jackal Lawyers:
    How does a religious litmus test for refugee status pass the constitutional muster?

  4. 4.

    Baud

    January 27, 2017 at 5:58 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Cuz they get to replace Scalia.

  5. 5.

    cmorenc

    January 27, 2017 at 5:59 pm

    This is both (yet) another fresh Trump Admin horror-show move AND a shiny object to distract us (and the MSM) away from all the other egregious horror-show moves they’ve made already (which doesn’t even include some under-the-radar moves by GOP congress-critters under cover of the Trump million-watt kleiglights – such as preparing the way for an attempted looting of western federal lands by sagebrush rebels (via declaring zero value on such assets to facilitate transfer of ownership to states).

  6. 6.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 27, 2017 at 5:59 pm

    What the fuck is The Brody File?

  7. 7.

    Elizabelle

    January 27, 2017 at 6:01 pm

    Call it “extremist vetting.”

  8. 8.

    NeenerNeener

    January 27, 2017 at 6:01 pm

    Kushner may have been born into a Jewish family but he actually worships Mammon. That’s the only way I can square any of the circles that include Jared Kushner and the Trump machine.

  9. 9.

    skerry

    January 27, 2017 at 6:03 pm

    Not sure if this has been mentioned, but for those of us living in deep blue Congressional districts, swingleft is a great resource for helping flip a red district in the midterms.

    Control of the House in 2018 will be decided by a handful of Swing Districts, places where the last election was decided by a thin margin. Find your closest Swing District and join its team to learn about actionable opportunities to support progressives—and defeat Republicans—in that district, no matter where you live. We can stop Trump and the GOP agenda by working together NOW.

    I am now a member of Team VA-10. Look out Barbara Comstock – I’m coming for you.

  10. 10.

    ? Martin

    January 27, 2017 at 6:05 pm

    You start out in 1954 by saying, “Nigger, nigger, nigger.” By 1968 you can’t say “nigger”—that hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff like, uh, forced busing, states’ rights, and all that stuff, and you’re getting so abstract. Now, you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites.… “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, uh, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “Nigger, nigger.”

    ..extreme vetting…

  11. 11.

    O. Felix Culpa

    January 27, 2017 at 6:05 pm

    Is anything O/T in the T***p era? So, British PM Theresa May says that T***p confirmed to her that he’s “100 Percent” behind NATO.

    Reminds me of another British PM, you know, that nice Chamberlain fellow, who so happily told his countrymen that the accord he signed with Germany signalled “Peace for our time.” That one worked out great.

  12. 12.

    Hal

    January 27, 2017 at 6:05 pm

    Facebook friend is on her third “there’s nothing you can do about it, just accept Trump is president” post in the past two weeks. Water is wet, that’s just life etc. 30 plus likes and from the names I noticed, all Trump supporters.

    Honestly? I’m ticked. It’s hilarious how butt hurt she is that so many people don’t like Trump. Facebook is soooo negative! Waaahhh. Love it.

    Facebook should add a feature in a couple of years that let’s people wipe their timeline clean of any pro-Trump references. I wonder how much use that would get?

  13. 13.

    J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford

    January 27, 2017 at 6:06 pm

    This is Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller. Trump doesn’t write or think about anything that isn’t told to him by his handlers.

  14. 14.

    trollhattan

    January 27, 2017 at 6:06 pm

    @SFAW: One suspects “the blahs” weren’t the onliest group Dear Old Daddy kept out of his precious rentals.

  15. 15.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 27, 2017 at 6:06 pm

    @Baud: This is no longer a Constitutional Republic then.

  16. 16.

    NotMax

    January 27, 2017 at 6:07 pm

    Have been going back and forth, back and forth, mulling about a succinct term for (my own) regular use to avoid typing out the T name when referring to the person.

    The proverbial light bulb over the skull has illuminated.

                      Dolt 45

    Feel free to steal. (Acknowledgment gratefully accepted but not expected.)

  17. 17.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 27, 2017 at 6:07 pm

    @Hal: EvilBook is evil. It lets people seal themselves in airtight ideological bubbles.

  18. 18.

    dr. bloor

    January 27, 2017 at 6:08 pm

    The failure of the White House to mention the distinctive Jewish losses in the Holocaust could be problematic given that Trump has been accused of trafficking in anti-Semitic stereotypes

    Never change, USAToday.

  19. 19.

    Anne Laurie

    January 27, 2017 at 6:09 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    What the fuck is The Brody File?

    AFAICT, the Sean Hannity of CBC CBN — aka, Fox News for people too timid for potty-mouthed men like Bill O’Reilly or slutty bimbos like Toni Lahren.

  20. 20.

    O. Felix Culpa

    January 27, 2017 at 6:09 pm

    @NotMax:

    Dolt 45

    Stolen! I can’t bring myself to type or utter the T name either. I’m also disinclined to use the various epithets bandied about here, although I totally enjoy them.

    ETA: Upon further consideration, I realize that this is another epithet for He Who Must Not Be Named – very clever, but still an epithet. I shall examine my scruples. Maybe.

  21. 21.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    January 27, 2017 at 6:10 pm

    I don’t know if this was discussed here — is anyone familiar with the Countable app? It’s supposed to make it easier to keep up with legislation — you vote on whether you’re opposed or in favor, and it automatically emails your representatives. Has it actually had any impact?

  22. 22.

    Baud

    January 27, 2017 at 6:10 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: More of a kakistocracy.

    @dr. bloor: It’s not like his statement was stored on a private email server.

  23. 23.

    Aleta

    January 27, 2017 at 6:10 pm

    @NotMax: I like it.

  24. 24.

    A Ghost to Most

    January 27, 2017 at 6:11 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: not to mention what could happen if/when the fascists get their hands on all that data.

  25. 25.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    January 27, 2017 at 6:11 pm

    @NotMax:

    Dolt 45

    My GOD, that’s beautiful.

  26. 26.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 27, 2017 at 6:11 pm

    @Baud: Is that like the Confederacy of Dunces.

  27. 27.

    EllenH

    January 27, 2017 at 6:12 pm

    @NotMax: I use “Pussygrabber” exclusively.

  28. 28.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 27, 2017 at 6:12 pm

    @Baud: I’ve always admired your optimism.

  29. 29.

    NeenerNeener

    January 27, 2017 at 6:12 pm

    @NotMax: Bravo!

  30. 30.

    humboldtblue

    January 27, 2017 at 6:14 pm

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    You’d find a far better example in Tony Blair. At least Chamberlain had just witnessed five years of bloody combat that had taken the lives of millions of young British men and was doing his best to avoid a repeat.

    Blair, on the other hand actively concocted evidence to back Bush in his war to prove to his daddy he was a big boy.

  31. 31.

    Brachiator

    January 27, 2017 at 6:15 pm

    @cmorenc:

    This is both (yet) another fresh Trump Admin horror-show move AND a shiny object to distract us (and the MSM) away from all the other egregious horror-show moves they’ve made already (which doesn’t even include some under-the-radar moves by GOP congress-critters under cover of the Trump million-watt kleiglights – such as preparing the way for an attempted looting of western federal lands by sagebrush rebels (via declaring zero value on such assets to facilitate transfer of ownership to states).

    Is it really the case that the most important thing,once you get past the “distractions” is the looting of the Treasury or federal lands.

    Fucking up the lives of people seems bad enough without looking for plots within plots.

  32. 32.

    PPCLI

    January 27, 2017 at 6:15 pm

    @Anne Laurie: CBN, not CBC. CBC is a good place for news. And you can get it in French too.

  33. 33.

    lollipopguild

    January 27, 2017 at 6:16 pm

    @NotMax: D’oh 45.

  34. 34.

    rikyrah

    January 27, 2017 at 6:17 pm

    @NeenerNeener:
    Kushner is a slave catcher.
    If folks don’t get that….Oh well.,???

  35. 35.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 27, 2017 at 6:17 pm

    @lollipopguild: Homer Simpson is a doofus but I don’t think he is malevolent.

  36. 36.

    A Ghost to Most

    January 27, 2017 at 6:18 pm

    @lollipopguild:
    Why not both?

    D’ohlt 45

  37. 37.

    Baud

    January 27, 2017 at 6:18 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: It’s Mourning in America Again.

  38. 38.

    rikyrah

    January 27, 2017 at 6:18 pm

    @Hal:
    He will receive the same amount of respect that he had for 44 during his YEARS of peddling birtherism.

  39. 39.

    Bill from PA

    January 27, 2017 at 6:19 pm

    Pennsylvania Readers: Lawmakers in Harrisburg are acting to support the anti-immigrant Trump agenda. Senate Bill 10 passed a PA Senate committee on Wednesday of this week. The bill seeks to punish communities like Philadelphia that declare themselves Sanctuary Cities by denying state funding.

  40. 40.

    lollipopguild

    January 27, 2017 at 6:19 pm

    Off topic-I come home from work and my wife informs me that Newt g. made a statement that any federal employee that voted for Clinton should lose their job. Has anyone else heard this and where did you hear it?

  41. 41.

    O. Felix Culpa

    January 27, 2017 at 6:19 pm

    @humboldtblue:

    You’d find a far better example in Tony Blair.

    Yes. He came to mind too. May’s NATO remarks started immediately sounding off “peace in our time” bells in my head. Your tintinnabulation led quite reasonably to Blair.

  42. 42.

    Aleta

    January 27, 2017 at 6:22 pm

    But how does ( ) Jared Kushner handle the dichotomy between the shoddy rhetoric and the ugly truth?

    Believes that money and influence will protect him. That worrying about others leads to downfall.

  43. 43.

    Baud

    January 27, 2017 at 6:25 pm

    @rikyrah: Again, I plan to give him less.

  44. 44.

    pat

    January 27, 2017 at 6:25 pm

    @NotMax:

    I refer to him as scumbag. That’s all.

  45. 45.

    debbie

    January 27, 2017 at 6:26 pm

    @NeenerNeener:

    Except that Kushner’s observant. He keeps Sabbath. I can’t believe he didn’t get Trump to hold off until the next day.

  46. 46.

    Lizzy L

    January 27, 2017 at 6:27 pm

    @lollipopguild: Here you go. It’s real.

    http://www.salon.com/2017/01/20/newt-gingrich-wants-to-fire-federal-employees-who-voted-for-clinton/

  47. 47.

    trollhattan

    January 27, 2017 at 6:28 pm

    @NotMax:
    That is freakishly good amongst the many entries to the ongoing naming competition. Twenty Quatloos awarded to Griffindor!

  48. 48.

    bemused

    January 27, 2017 at 6:28 pm

    I’ve met online a lovely, liberal lady, 82, who marched on the 20th with a few folks in a very small town in next door county. We’ve been emailing back and forth documenting the atrocities. I don’t think she has seen the blog post that first pointed out that it’s always about 27% of Americans who make up the fringy far right. Now I can’t find that post or even remember the name of the blogger(s) who originally wrote it. Help.

  49. 49.

    Aleta

    January 27, 2017 at 6:28 pm

    @Bill from PA: Take that Ben Franklin.

    “We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”

  50. 50.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 27, 2017 at 6:29 pm

    @lollipopguild:

    Off topic-I come home from work and my wife informs me that Newt g. made a statement that any federal employee that voted for Clinton should lose their job. Has anyone else heard this and where did you hear it?

    I knew I had seen something about it. A bit of googling found this Salon piece from about a week ago. Don’t know of anything more recent.

  51. 51.

    Mnemosyne

    January 27, 2017 at 6:29 pm

    @rikyrah:

    His own people have a word for him: kapo. The Jews who collaborated with the Nazis to try and save their own hides.

  52. 52.

    geg6

    January 27, 2017 at 6:30 pm

    @lollipopguild:

    I think I saw it on TPM.

  53. 53.

    rikyrah

    January 27, 2017 at 6:30 pm

    @Hal:
    They really get in their feelings when they realize that not only do we not respect him, and have no intentions of respecting him, but their vote for him had lowered respect that we may have had for them.

  54. 54.

    chris

    January 27, 2017 at 6:31 pm

    @Anne Laurie: CBN please! I’ve a lot of problems with the Canadian Broadcasting Corpse but this ain’t one.

  55. 55.

    debbie

    January 27, 2017 at 6:31 pm

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    I listened to the press conference, but I want to see the tape on tonight’s news to see if Trump rolls his eyes when May brings up NATO.

  56. 56.

    geg6

    January 27, 2017 at 6:32 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Which, for many, did them no good at all.

  57. 57.

    Mnemosyne

    January 27, 2017 at 6:32 pm

    BTW, since today was also the “March For Life” by the forced birthers, I abso-fucking-lutely GUARANTEE you that the wording is a shout-out to the forced birthers. Because legal abortion and the Holocaust are the exact same, don’t’cha know. In fact, legal abortion is worse.

  58. 58.

    eclare

    January 27, 2017 at 6:32 pm

    @EllenH: I call him POS, also refuse to say his name. Dolt 45 is clever, though.

  59. 59.

    J R in WV

    January 27, 2017 at 6:32 pm

    Well, no surprises there. Bigots are usually equal-opportunity haters, niggers, spics, rag-heads, kikes, all othered, all hated, all banned from immigration. And we are supposed to believe that the USA has been discriminating against Christians seeking asylum? Really? Nope!

    You can tell when these folks are lying – they’re breathing, they’re lying. About everything.

    I’m way against selling off our land, I’m way against slacking off environmental controls, mileage requirements for vehicles, letting bigotry come back to life in schools or the workplace, listing people by religious beliefs or national origin, sending people who grew up here back to a “native country” where they don’t even know the language.

    There’s probably as long a list of despicable plans at the White House as ly short list above. They plan on 3 new predatory revelations daily, no doubt.

    We have elected a fascist to the Presidency, and he is surrounded with smaller fascists making policy.

    GrrGrrrr~!!!

  60. 60.

    Elizabelle

    January 27, 2017 at 6:33 pm

    @bemused: Kung Fu Monkey. The Crazification factor.

    Tyrone: Obama vs. Alan Keyes. Keyes was from out of state, so you can eliminate any established political base; both candidates were black, so you can factor out racism; and Keyes was plainly, obviously, completely crazy. Batshit crazy. Head-trauma crazy. But 27% of the population of Illinois voted for him. They put party identification, personal prejudice, whatever ahead of rational judgement. Hell, even like 5% of Democrats voted for him. That’s crazy behaviour. I think you have to assume a 27% Crazification Factor in any population.

    John: Objectively crazy or crazy vis-a-vis my own inertial reference frame for rational behaviour? I mean, are you creating the Theory of Special Crazification or General Crazification?

    Tyrone: Hadn’t thought about it. Let’s split the difference. Half just have worldviews which lead them to disagree with what you consider rationality even though they arrive at their positions through rational means, and the other half are the core of the Crazification — either genuinely crazy; or so woefully misinformed about how the world works, the bases for their decision making is so flawed they may as well be crazy.

    John: You realize this leads to there being over 30 million crazy people in the US?

    Tyrone: Does that seem wrong?

    John: … a bit low, actually.

  61. 61.

    Josie

    January 27, 2017 at 6:34 pm

    Booman rightfully points out that our commander in chief seems to be ignoring the fact that American soldiers are currently involved in the fight for Mosul.

    http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2017/1/27/11417/1411

  62. 62.

    dr. bloor

    January 27, 2017 at 6:34 pm

    @bemused: You’re thinking of the “crazification factor”–Google should provide numerous links.

  63. 63.

    Brachiator

    January 27, 2017 at 6:34 pm

    Trump’s generic phrasing contrasts considerably with Obama’s fuller statements on the occasion, which always spoke about the sufferings of the Jewish people, even though Trump has consistently portrayed Obama as a foe of the Jews and Israel.

    The only thing smaller than Trump’s hands (aside from, well, you know) is his moral sense.

  64. 64.

    Ian

    January 27, 2017 at 6:35 pm

    It was harder for Christians than Muslims? I know he lives in an alternative reality, but come the fuck on. Facts, they are irrelevant.

  65. 65.

    debbie

    January 27, 2017 at 6:35 pm

    @Baud:

    Less than zero.

  66. 66.

    geg6

    January 27, 2017 at 6:35 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Did you see some GOPer running for some office in MS or some other Deep South state tried to pass off the 2009 inauguration photos as today’s march? And was busted immediately. How are we losing to these idiots?

  67. 67.

    O. Felix Culpa

    January 27, 2017 at 6:35 pm

    @Josie:

    Booman rightfully points out that our commander in chief seems to be ignoring the fact that American soldiers are currently involved in the fight for Mosul.

    More accurately, he’s probably ignorant of that fact.

  68. 68.

    p.a.

    January 27, 2017 at 6:36 pm

    Well The Onion won’t want for material, that’s for sure.

  69. 69.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 27, 2017 at 6:36 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    How’s your mom?

  70. 70.

    debbie

    January 27, 2017 at 6:38 pm

    Repeated from below: Time’s new cover!

  71. 71.

    Mike in NC

    January 27, 2017 at 6:39 pm

    Another day, another deranged barrage of fucked up Trumpanoia is unleashed.

  72. 72.

    PsiFighter37

    January 27, 2017 at 6:40 pm

    1 week down, 207 weeks to go!

    Ugh…

  73. 73.

    Josie

    January 27, 2017 at 6:40 pm

    @O. Felix Culpa: True, and even if he knows about it, he is ignorant of how difficult it may be for the troops to work with the Iraqi soldiers after his stupid pronouncements.

  74. 74.

    eclare

    January 27, 2017 at 6:41 pm

    @debbie: Awesome!

  75. 75.

    oldster

    January 27, 2017 at 6:42 pm

    Sure, there’s the anti-semitism, which was manifestly evident throughout the campaign.

    But don’t forget the Russian angle!

    It has been a long-standing complaint among Russo-philes that the “obsessive” focus on the Jewish victims is unfair to the Russians, who lost even more people to Hitler’s predations.

    Those Jews–they’re claiming special victim status, when we Russians are the real victims!

    So today’s letter was a Trump-n-Bannon two-fer: they got to piss off the Jews, and also please their Russian master.

    Good work, you two! May you rot in hell together, along with your pal Putin!

  76. 76.

    bemused

    January 27, 2017 at 6:42 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Thx and I had just found it. Forgot the “crazification” but knew that was it when the word finally popped up in my searching. Definitely bookmarking it this time.

  77. 77.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 27, 2017 at 6:42 pm

    @p.a.: LOL! Sharing around!

  78. 78.

    Mnemosyne

    January 27, 2017 at 6:44 pm

    @geg6:

    Because they want to believe. They’re cosplaying through their daily lives.

  79. 79.

    Ian

    January 27, 2017 at 6:44 pm

    @O. Felix Culpa:
    While Chamberlain might have had bad judgement, he acted in good faith. He assumed the Germans wanted an end to Versailles, not Lebensraum. If a similar situation arose today, I would prefer the diplomacy option, provided the other party isn’t Hitler. Or Trump.

  80. 80.

    Mnemosyne

    January 27, 2017 at 6:46 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    So far, so good! They had to leave the breathing tube in several hours longer than usual because she’s in the early stages of COPD, but they said that’s common with smokers. Otherwise, all of her numbers are really good. We’re hoping she can be moved to a regular room and start PT by tomorrow.

  81. 81.

    Lizzy L

    January 27, 2017 at 6:46 pm

    Turns out the T administration was unable to cancel all the ads for the ACA which were scheduled to run through Jan 31, though they did cancel a lot of them.

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-administration-unable-to-totally-scrap-obamacare-outreach

  82. 82.

    Pinksnapdragon

    January 27, 2017 at 6:46 pm

    @debbie: Just goes to show you that hypocrites come in many different kinds of stripes.

  83. 83.

    NotMax

    January 27, 2017 at 6:46 pm

    @oldster

    Wouldn’t do for a Cossack to say anything remotely supportive of da Jooz.

  84. 84.

    debbie

    January 27, 2017 at 6:49 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Sorry to hear about your mother. and hope she’s better soon. PT really helped my mom’s COPD.

  85. 85.

    debbie

    January 27, 2017 at 6:51 pm

    @Lizzy L:

    Money paid for ad time wasn’t refundable back when I was in marketing. I wonder if that’s changed.

  86. 86.

    Ian

    January 27, 2017 at 6:52 pm

    @Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA:
    I have been a staffer for Betsy Markey (D-CO4). We ignore emails that we get that are automatic or have been read before. The amount sent is noted, but not taken as seriously as letters/emails that are clearly personal.

  87. 87.

    magurakurin

    January 27, 2017 at 6:53 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: my airtight ideological bubble of friends on Facebook is one of the main reasons I haven’t jumped off a bridge. It’s become a support group. It’s not the bubble that is the problem, it’s not knowing that you are, in fact, in a bubble that is the problem. I constructed my FB feed to basically be a safe space. I know that. The people who think their FB feed is a pipe line to the pulse of the world or nation are deluded.

    The enemy is ignorance. Its tools can be legion.

  88. 88.

    Mnemosyne

    January 27, 2017 at 6:54 pm

    @debbie:

    Thanks! She had a planned bypass that seems to have gone smoothly, which we’re hoping means we’ll have at least another 10 years with her despite her lifetime of smoking. She comes from pretty tough stock, so her odds are good.

  89. 89.

    Ruckus

    January 27, 2017 at 6:55 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    This is no longer a Constitutional Republic then.

    Just as conservatives wanted all along.

  90. 90.

    debbie

    January 27, 2017 at 6:56 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Moms are tough like that. Has she quit smoking yet?

  91. 91.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 27, 2017 at 6:57 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Oh, she had the bypass. Best wishes on her recovery.

  92. 92.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 27, 2017 at 6:57 pm

    @magurakurin: Keep in mind, too, that the Facebook news bubble isn’t as airtight as reports might lead you to believe. (Shameless self-link)

    ETA: @Mnemosyne: Oh! Glad to hear it went well!

  93. 93.

    NotMax

    January 27, 2017 at 7:00 pm

    @schrodingers_cat

    You said a mouthful.

    The new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, pledged on Friday to overhaul the world body and warned U.S. allies that if they do not support Washington, then she is “taking names” and will respond. Source

  94. 94.

    magurakurin

    January 27, 2017 at 7:01 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: interesting. Someone should clue Dolt 45 in on the Goldilocks Number idea, because the numbers he pulls out of his ass are yuuge and bigly. sad.

  95. 95.

    debbie

    January 27, 2017 at 7:01 pm

    @NotMax:

    They must have transfused the Blood of Bolton into her. Quite a change from her Senate hearing.

  96. 96.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 27, 2017 at 7:02 pm

    @magurakurin: Why handover all your personal info to Marky Zuck on a platter, so that he can sell it to the highest bidder.

  97. 97.

    Mnemosyne

    January 27, 2017 at 7:02 pm

    @debbie:

    She doesn’t know it yet, but she has. My brother has already thrown away all of her remaining cigarettes. ?

    She was already down to only smoking 3 or 4 cigarettes a day, so she shouldn’t miss them by the time she gets done with her PT.

  98. 98.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 27, 2017 at 7:04 pm

    @NotMax: So the United States is going to behave like a gulli ka goonda*?

    *goon of the alley

  99. 99.

    Brachiator

    January 27, 2017 at 7:05 pm

    @Mnemosyne: good to hear that the bypass went well.

  100. 100.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 27, 2017 at 7:05 pm

    @magurakurin: Shhh, then his statistics won’t be completely ridiculous on their face!

    ETA: If you’re interested in that sort of thing I can recommend the book I mention, The Influencing Machine. You can read it in an hour or two.

  101. 101.

    NotMax

    January 27, 2017 at 7:07 pm

    @schrodingers_cat

    Derplomacy.

  102. 102.

    magurakurin

    January 27, 2017 at 7:08 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: If companies want to pay him for information as useless as that, what can I say? What personal information can they possible gather that I wouldn’t freely admit to? If they pull my posts and give them to the newly minted secret police force it won’t make a difference because I’ll freely tell them of my opposition if they ask anyway. As for the commerce…FB is way, way behind Google in terms of knowing who I am. If you are worried about that issue, you should definitely not use Google in any way. I can turn it around, if Zuk wants to give me a free platform to network with 20 old friends, why shouldn’t I use it?

  103. 103.

    Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA

    January 27, 2017 at 7:12 pm

    @Ian: Thanks. I suspected as much.

  104. 104.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 27, 2017 at 7:12 pm

    @magurakurin: FB/Google/etc., all the data miners and ad-based services, don’t just know things you know, they try to know things about what you’re going to do before you do. Keep in mind they gobble up subscription info, credit reports and other stuff beyond just what you share, plus all your web browsing habits and physical locations. The predictions are far from as creepy as it sounds at this juncture but they’re getting there.

    Source: did something similar for two years.

  105. 105.

    XTPD

    January 27, 2017 at 7:13 pm

    @NotMax: LGM’s Mike G beat you to the punch by about six days.

  106. 106.

    magurakurin

    January 27, 2017 at 7:16 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: so how do you connect to the web? Microsoft is doing the same thing. What browser do you use? Are you connecting through a proxy server? Basically, unless you are a hacker…it is what it is. I honestly just don’t give a shit. Not saying you shouldn’t either…just that it’s more than likely that we are all kidding ourselves if we think we have any sort of privacy when connected to the network.

  107. 107.

    NeenerNeener

    January 27, 2017 at 7:18 pm

    @debbie: He’s not all that observant; he and Ivanka went to Trump campaign events and debates on the Sabbath last year. He’s a Trump first; Jewish is somewhat farther down on the list.

  108. 108.

    debbie

    January 27, 2017 at 7:20 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Good luck to you both when she finds out what he’s done!

  109. 109.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 27, 2017 at 7:23 pm

    @magurakurin: I use disconnect.me and ghostery for browser plugins, which cuts out the most egregious commercial stuff. But yeah I have no expectation of privacy unless I’ve encrypted something or using a squid-in-the-middle VPN or somesuch.

  110. 110.

    Catherine D.

    January 27, 2017 at 7:27 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Let’s see if the pinstripes on his suits get really wide.

  111. 111.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 27, 2017 at 7:29 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    I’m glad it went well. Hope she doesn’t resume smoking the minute they spring her from the hospital — quitting can make an enormous difference in the rapidity and thoroughness of her recovery. And she can tuck away the money she would have spent on cigarettes and after six months or so treat herself to a lovely celebratory gift.

    All best to her from one who has been there (former heavy smoker and quadruple bypass).

    (Small edit.)

  112. 112.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    January 27, 2017 at 7:30 pm

    @cmorenc: This… this is gonna come… and FAST…

    I suspect one reason these flaming arseholes are moving so fast is that they realize once the rest of us catch onto what they’re doing, all hell will break loose…

    That land belongs to all of us and they’re going to rip us off for a trillion dollars worth of public land…

  113. 113.

    Mnemosyne

    January 27, 2017 at 7:30 pm

    @debbie:

    I live in California, so I’ll be fine. My brother is the one who has to worry, because he lives with her in Illinois! ?

  114. 114.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 27, 2017 at 7:32 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Ha! Hadn’t seen this when I wrote my #111 comment.

  115. 115.

    dopey-0

    January 27, 2017 at 7:35 pm

    @bemused: the 27%? here it is:
    Tyrone Discovers the 27% Crazification Factor. Courtesy of the Kung Fu Monkey.

  116. 116.

    magurakurin

    January 27, 2017 at 7:43 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I will investigate those plugins. thanks.

  117. 117.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 27, 2017 at 7:46 pm

    @geg6:

    Any kind of source on that story? (I totally believe it, I’d just like to read details.)

  118. 118.

    Tokyokie

    January 27, 2017 at 7:46 pm

    @NotMax: I’ve decided to use the ICD-10-CM code F60.81 for him. You can look it up.

  119. 119.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    January 27, 2017 at 8:03 pm

    @Anne Laurie:

    I’d be lying if I tried to claim I dont find Tomi appealing in that “taking the ‘Walk of Shame’ home from the party after having woken naked, run around the strange house wearing nothing but a stained tshirt from one of the passed out guys she woke up with (while muttering ‘sluts’ at the girls still asleep) in order to find her clothes and purse scattered across three rooms, then angrily proclaiming her forever virginity to a girlfriend on the phone as she walks to her yellow VW bug on a broken heel while planning a trip to the pharmacy for Plan B” way.

  120. 120.

    Sloane Ranger

    January 27, 2017 at 8:09 pm

    I didn’t get a Chamberlain or even a Blair vibe from what May said re HO’s position on NATO. She made a point of turning and looking directly at him as she said it and he didn’t contradict her. According to one report from someone who was in the room he even mouthed an agreement. This could just be his previously noted tendency to agree with the last person he spoke to but the point is that this was said at a formal press conference with the Head of Government of a close ally. Other leaders of close US allies are already cautious of dealing with him, so any attempt to take the US out of NATO will be a signal that he can’t be trusted on anything and lead to a widespread breakdown in diplomatic relations that will negatively affect the USA, which wiser heads will realise and want to avoid. I think that’s the best we can hope for in the circumstances.

    What I found interesting was that May clearly knew the reporters she picked out and the questions they asked Dump were extremely pointed. Although that could have been because the British press were almost denied entry to the conference because they had given their birtdates in the standard British format of day/month/year and Dump’s staff were shirty with them about this!

  121. 121.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 27, 2017 at 8:14 pm

    @Sloane Ranger:

    the British press were almost denied entry to the conference because they had given their birtdates in the standard British format of day/month/year and Dump’s staff were shirty with them about this!

    ….SERIOUSLY??

  122. 122.

    Mnemosyne

    January 27, 2017 at 8:18 pm

    @Sloane Ranger:

    I think your comment is correct, except in its assumption that there are any “wiser heads” that can prevail over the anti-NATO faction. And the sooner our current allies realize that, the better it will be for them, though not for us. Leave now, save yourselves!

  123. 123.

    debbie

    January 27, 2017 at 8:20 pm

    @geg6:

    It must be a GOP thing. Trump used a 2009 Inaugural photo for his Twitter header.

  124. 124.

    Aleta

    January 27, 2017 at 8:25 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Glad she’s doing well.

  125. 125.

    Sloane Ranger

    January 27, 2017 at 8:34 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: It was reported in The Sun online. Not normally a source I trust but they cite the Mail on Sunday and Buzzfeed UK reporters as fellow lockouts.
    @Mnemosyne: You may be right but he currently seems to rate Gen Mattis who’s pro-NATO and,as it’s a Treaty, presumably Congress will have a say. Anyway, what choice do we have? The French are pushing for a European Army but we’re committed to the stupidity of Brexit and a European Army is a joke given the low defence spending of most European countries.

  126. 126.

    Sloane Ranger

    January 27, 2017 at 8:57 pm

    Tried posting responses to MajorX3 and Mnemosyne but they are not showing up. Don’t know if the problem is my phone or the site. Seeing if this gets through.

  127. 127.

    Sloane Ranger

    January 27, 2017 at 9:01 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: It was in The Sun online. This is not normally a source I would trust but they name reporters from other media outlets who were also caught up in this so I tend to believe it.

  128. 128.

    Sloane Ranger

    January 27, 2017 at 9:04 pm

    @Mnemosyne: What choice do we have? We burnt our bridges with Brexit. Although the French are pushing for a European Army it’s a joke given Defence expenditure in most other European countries.

  129. 129.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    January 27, 2017 at 9:49 pm

    @lollipopguild: From Salon…

  130. 130.

    PIGL

    January 28, 2017 at 2:27 am

    @Sloane Ranger: why need be a joke how big it Army does it really need to be a nuclear deterrent is probably essential a Davie to keep an eye on the approaches and the Mediterranean. Otherwise there’s no real need to prepare to refight World War II it with the Russians.

  131. 131.

    Lurking Canadian

    January 28, 2017 at 7:57 am

    @NotMax: It is one thing to win 46% of the vote and believe that gives you a mandate to revolutionize a country because 46>54.

    It is a whole new level of delusional to have one vote (OK, 2: I’ll spot them Micronesia) out of 160 and think that gives you a mandate to revolutionize an institution because 2>158.

    I wonder which country will be first to introduce the “Donald Trump should go fuck himself” resolution at the General Assembly.

  132. 132.

    Byron King

    January 28, 2017 at 11:10 am

    In the name of the perished, I pledge to do everything in my power throughout my Presidency, and my life, to ensure that the forces of evil never again defeat the powers of good,” he concluded. /blockquote

    Is the president(asterisk) unaware who won WWII? I know the fact that it was in all the papers wouldn’t affect him, but surely it must have been mentioned on at least one of The Shows.

    Or maybe he knows and this is just his non-traditional assignment of the roles of Good and Evil.

  133. 133.

    Byron King

    January 28, 2017 at 11:23 am

    In the name of the perished, I pledge to do everything in my power throughout my Presidency, and my life, to ensure that the forces of evil never again defeat the powers of good,” he concluded.

    Is the Prez unaware who won WWII? I know the fact that it was in all the papers wouldn’t affect him since his name probably wasn’t mentioned very prominently in the story. But surely they must have mentioned the result in passing on one of The Shows.

    Or maybe he does know and this is just his non-traditional assignment of the roles of Good and Evil.

  134. 134.

    btom89

    January 28, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    @Baud: Not with Steve Bannon in the White House.

  135. 135.

    btom89

    January 28, 2017 at 2:43 pm

    @bemused: I think it’s John Rogers, and it’s called the Crazyification Factor. There’s another prominent post on Balloon Juice from 2011 that talks about it. The interesting thing is 46 percent of the eligible voters who turned out, went for Trump. Less than 60 percent of all eligible voters turned out at all. 45 percent of 60 percent is 27 percent. So slightly more than the crazyifcation factor of the eligible voter population turned out for Trump. This is why I’m consistently depressed by the voter turnout—it seems like too many people sit out the election like it doesn’t matter to them. It does. The Republicans have made voter suppression a standing tactic of their own party to make sure they stay in power so they can shave away at the margin of the voters who actually turn out.

    https://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/2005/10/lunch-discussions-145-crazification.html

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