Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

T R E 4 5 O N

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

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

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

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

We still have time to mess this up!

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Everybody saw this coming.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Not all heroes wear capes.

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Reader Interactions

76Comments

  1. 1.

    Suzanne

    I think that what I thought was a cold is turning into an infection of something, and I am on the couch covered in blankets feeling like hell. There is an airport protest today, but sick people in airports/airplanes are demons from Satan’s asshole, so I will not be in attendance. The last thing those immigrants and refugees need is the plague.

  3. 3.

    Sketicat

    I just read this in an article about the immigration ban and the behavior of Customs and Border Patrol staff—”Others were questioned about their opinion of President Trump and pressed to show their social media accounts to federal officials.” I think I’m going to shut down the computer, crawl into bed, pull the covers over my head, and whimper.

  6. 6.

    Corner Stone

    They are denying the fucking holocaust, for FSM’s sake. There is nothing polite about the rules applied to fucking 501c3’s or any other angle of attack. This has to be Botsplainer-style warfare.

  7. 7.

    Corner Stone

    And just like that, she disappeared. The greatest trick Bella the Devil ever pulled off was convincing BJ her comment never existed.

  10. 10.

    Corner Stone

    @Calming Influence: I posted that link in a previous thread. I am still unable to find secondary confirmation that it is actually going into effect. I think it will, but not sure it has.

  11. 11.

    delk

    Been in the hospital since Wednesday. Blood pressure crashed hard. Couldn’t stand up and most frightening, I temporary lost my vision. They suspect my adreanal glands are not functioning.

    Feeling better and my vision is back. Grateful to have insurance. I had a room mate Friday that was panicking about how he was going to pay his bill. Hope to be sprung tomorrow.

  12. 12.

    debbie

    I don’t believe they can sustain this level of chaos until the next election. One week down, 207 left?

  16. 16.

    Hal

    Pro Trump friends are awfully quiet on facebook. I guess that “give him a chance!” philosophy ran out pretty quick.

    Also, has anyone actually identified any actual weaknesses in the States Department’s vetting process?

  17. 17.

    JPL

    On my way to help out a candidate running for city council. I did tell my son, to let me know, if Trump started sending in the National Guard to remove protesters, from in front of the White House. Actually, I’m not kidding.

    @delk: Take care of yourself, and hoping for a speedy recovery.

  18. 18.

    elm

    @debbie: They can and will if we don’t resist early and often.

    These evil people want us to be silent while they do their evil deeds.

    Call, protest, sue, vote.

  20. 20.

    Calming Influence

    @Corner Stone: Thanks, didn’t see that you had already posted it. I follow @TheRickWilson on Twitter and have a certain amount of trust that he has ways of verifying breaking news that I don’t. (political operative, MSNBC talking head, &c…)

    So others may know, the headline is: Breaking: Iraqi parliament blocks visas for all Americans, including contractors & journalists

  21. 21.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Dan Levine ‏@ FedcourtJunkie 32m32 minutes ago
    Breaking 16 state AGs about to condemn Trump immigration order. States are: CA, NY, PA, WA, MA, HI, VA, OR, DC, CT, VT, IL, NM, IA, ME & MD

    Mike Hayes ‏@ michaelhayes 37m37 minutes ago
    Mass. Gov. Charlie Baker, a republican, decries Trump’s Muslim ban, calls for courts to ‘straighten this out.’

    and brave, brave Sir Robin….

    Tarini Parti ‏@ tparti 8m8 minutes ago
    Asked about Trump’s EO, Sen. Lee at Koch gathering said: “We’re here to discuss a diff issue.” (was during talk about crim justice reform)

  22. 22.

    Iowa Old Lady

    @Hal: I suspect Trump and Bannon don’t know the State Dept has a vetting process for refugees. In what I’ve heard him say, Trump doesn’t differentiate between immigrants (documented and undocumented) and refugees.

  24. 24.

    Corner Stone

    @Suzanne: TBH, I was terrified during the GWB administration. But it was a fear that politically they would find a way to rig internal domestic politics to game the system and we would have to fight twice as hard to have our dissenting voices heard. And counted.
    But this admin is a whole other ballgame. I am vacillating between a number of options because I think the world status quo is in peril. That’s not hyperbole. Anyone wants to tell me that I am being a scaredypants crybaby, let’s hear the argument for what we should be rationally considering.

    And I am tired of some people here still having so much faith in our institutions. It’s amazing to me. They were weak and they have failed. DHS is ignoring a court order. Now what?

  28. 28.

    Baud

    @Hal:

    I guess that “give him a chance!” philosophy ran out pretty quick.

    Always was weak sauce. It means they don’t feel comfortable defending him on the merits.

  29. 29.

    Feathers

    @Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: The other issue is that this means he and his Super PACs can keep fundraising. With our completely dysfunctional campaign finance laws, all this black money can then end up in Trump’s pocket. No, not a bribe at all, just a campaign donation. No wonder we don’t “need” to see his tax returns.

    As I said below, my headcanon on this is that Bannon sold it to Trump as his being able to keep doing his sweet, sweet rallies, all the while realizing that it also means that Bannon and his cronies can keep themselves in hookers and blow for the rest of their lives with the “campaign donations” they can demand for access to Trump.

    ETA: Thanks for the recipe. I’ve been eating the Trader Joe’s Orange Chicken, but knowing I needed to scratch recipe to replace. My mixup is to stir in the broccoli, as well as some pineapple chunks. Completely inauthentic, but tasty.

  31. 31.

    Corner Stone

    Apparently the wind has decided to take out my cable and intertrons for the moment. Mighty God of WiFi Hotspot! I bow in supplication to thee!

  32. 32.

    Major Major Major Major

    I have seen mention that the sheer ineptitude of the Muslim ban rollout might be so that in the chaos, Trump can point to the airports at San Francisco and New York and the pointy-headed lawyers at the ACLU and say, these are the liberals, those coastal elites, and the establishment lawyers and their media enablers that I’ve been warning you about. They’re the ones preventing me from putting in place the common-sense measures to combat Radical Islam that I campaigned on.

    Trump’s fanboys are certainly enough of an electoral force to cow congress with an even-more-so-than-normally-Republican-leaning Midterm year coming up.

    Edit: And it’s not like he can’t rescind the order and put in place a more legally sound one after he’s made his point.

  33. 33.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    Okay, Adam – help us out here. What’s up with this, and what comes next?

    Link: Trump puts Bannon on National Security Council, McCain pissed

    President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum Saturday that removed the nation’s top military and intelligence advisers as regular attendees of the National Security Council’s Principals Committee, the interagency forum that deals with policy issues affecting national security.

    The executive measure established Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon as a regular attendee, whereas the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence will be allowed to participate only “where issues pertaining to their responsibilities and expertise are to be discussed.”

    “The appointment of Mr. Bannon is something which is a radical departure from any National Security Council in history,” Republican Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday.

  36. 36.

    A Ghost to Most

    On a lighter note, for all hockey fans (and Bieber haters), there is a great pic going around of the Bieb being smeared into the glass by Pronger. To his credit, he took it well.

  38. 38.

    Calming Influence

    @Corner Stone: Yup. Done deal or not, it does show that there is not only U.S. resistance, but also global pushback against Fuckface von Clownstick, which I view as a positive.

  41. 41.

    opiejeanne

    We recorded AM Joy and have been watching it, and I can not tell you how much I despise Linda Sarsour. I had somehow avoided hearing her talk until now, and hearing her just enraged me as she and another woman trashed the Democrats for not reaching out to minorities.

  44. 44.

    Another Scott

    @Corner Stone: As of 30 minutes ago, Reuters isn’t saying that it has been implemented yet.

    The government in Iraq, which is allied with Washington in the battle against ultra-hardline Islamist group Islamic State and hosts over 5,000 U.S. troops, did not comment on the executive order.

    But some members of its parliament said Baghdad should retaliate with similar measures against the United States.

    IRAN VOWS TO RESPOND

    In Baghdad, influential Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said American nationals should leave Iraq, in retaliation for the travel curbs.

    “It would be arrogance for you to enter freely Iraq and other countries while barring to them the entrance to your country … and therefore you should get your nationals out,” he said on his website.

    There was no immediate reaction to the curbs from Islamic State, although in the past it has used U.S. monitoring of Muslim foreigners to stoke Muslim anger against Washington.

    The Tehran government vowed to respond in kind to the U.S. ban on visitors from Iran, but on Sunday Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter that Americans who already hold Iranian visas can enter the country.

    “Unlike the U.S., our decision is not retroactive. All with valid Iranian visa will be gladly welcomed,” Zarif said.

    There go the Iranians, looking all reasonable again. Those bastards.//

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  45. 45.

    Baud

    @opiejeanne: She and the other organizers did a good job with the Women’s March, so credit where credit is due. But I’m skeptical of Dem critics because it’s such an easy way to get on TV.

  46. 46.

    Ruckus

    @delk:
    I temporary lost my vision.
    Not a lot of fun is it?
    Hope they figure out what is wrong and provide a fix so that you can fully recover soon.

  47. 47.

    Davis X. Machina

    For the scholars:

    5-day summer school will be offered at Tufts University from August 7-11, 2017, with the principal purpose of training mathematicians to be expert witnesses for court cases on redistricting and gerrymandering.

    Topics covered in the summer school will include:

    • the legal history of the Voting Rights Act and its subsequent renewals, extensions, and clarifications;
    • an explanation of “traditional districting principles,” especially compactness;
    • a course in metric geometry and mathematical ideas for perimeter-free compactness;
    • basic rudiments of GIS and the technical side of how shapefiles work;
    • training on being an expert witness;
    • ideas for incorporating voting and civil rights into mathematics teaching.

  48. 48.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @opiejeanne: god that was an awful panel, all about how Democrats are the real problem, and the election of the right DNC chair is the most important issue facing the country. Unusual for Joy Reid’s show

  54. 54.

    Ruckus

    @Percysowner:
    This isn’t the country that I volunteered to do military service for either. What is happening now does not rise anywhere near to the level of the document that I swore an oath to defend. And BTW going on 68 here. One of the things that bugs me is the disrespect for both the Constitution and the citizens of the country, especially as it is going on in the name of what can only be described as bullshit.

  55. 55.

    J R in WV

    @delk:

    Sounds like they are capable of working on whatever you’ve got. Best of luck. After spending lots of time with Mrs J in a teaching hospital, and then having joint replacement surgery in a smaller community hospital, no comparison. Teaching hospital had way better food, for one thing, which is important when your patients may spend weeks or months in hospital with serious and perhaps undefined problems.

    More care paid to sterilization of a room between patients, more availability of specialists.

    Best of luck in your stay!

  56. 56.

    Ruckus

    @Major Major Major Major:

    And it’s not like he can’t rescind the order and put in place a more legally sound one after he’s made his point.

    A couple of things here. First you are giving him way too much credit. He is and always has been pure evil. His brain, such as it is doesn’t work that way. His works that anything he says is correct, when he says it. He may spin 720 deg in 30 seconds but what he says and does at any one time is what he means. He can’t think that far ahead and the people he’s surrounded himself with are too evil to ever consider a rethink. Not that he isn’t evil as well.

  57. 57.

    Calming Influence

    @Major Major Major Major: I’m with you. And it’s important that we not fall into the trap of “That’s cruazy! No red-blooded American president would ever do that!” This psycho will fuck us up if we let him. Be vigilant.

    And feel free to use the motto on my family crest:

    Remain Calm.
    Trust No One.
    Be Bitter.

    (Well, you can leave out the last one if you like; I’ll leave it to your discretion…)

  59. 59.

    bemused

    @Baud:

    This is the only nickname I could use for the bonehead that is linked with the word president. I cannot call him president without choking but President FUBAR I can definitely live with.

  66. 66.

    J R in WV

    @Calming Influence:

    Your family Snake has legs, feet, shoes with heels?!?!?! Amazeballs!!

    I never cease to be amazed at the wide variety of people here on Balloon-Juice – a Calming Influence who calmly mentions, oh, by the way, my family snake has heels!!

  67. 67.

    Davis X. Machina

    @efgoldman: He can federalize the Guard, if there are combinations or even conspiracies beyond the ability of the locally constituted authorities to cope with. This determination is made by the President, and not the governor.

    The Insurrection Act of 1807, as recently amended: 1) The President , may employ the armed forces, or by any other means, including the National Guard in Federal service, to take such measures as he considers necessary to:…

    (B) suppress, in a State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy if such insurrection, violation, combination, or conspiracy results in a condition described in paragraph (2).

    From paragraph 2: a condition that so hinders the execution of the laws of a State or possession, as applicable… that opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws.

    Norms, not laws, kept this from being invoked any number of times. But norms are now gone….

  69. 69.

    opiejeanne

    @Baud: There you go, being all reasonable while I just want to stab people like her for giving us Trump.
    I kind of think she took credit for a lot of work done by we lesser humans. There was a lot of organization done without me ever hearing her name until the day of the Women’s march, and then I couldn’t even go because it hadn’t been six weeks since I had my appendix out and I wasn’t sure I could handle the distance of the walk in Seattle, and I wussed out.

  72. 72.

    Ohio Mom

    @delk: Here’s hoping for effective treatment with minimal side-effects.

    Here are the Ohio Family, we also have dealt with a recent hospitalization. I was reminded what a steep learning curve new medical conditions present. Especially for those of us whose formal training about the human body ended with tenth grade biology.

    Still, you can’t advocate for yourself unless you have something of an inkling of what the doctors are talking about.

    So I will also wish you doctors who are good listeners and explainers.

  73. 73.

    Calming Influence

    @J R in WV: My great great grandfather once tried to revise the family history by suggesting that the image on our crest was a dragon. Knowing our great great grandfather’s history, however, most of the remaining family is still confident that the critter dragging its heels is a snake.

  74. 74.

    amygdala

    In the International Terminal at SFO. Today’s events were scheduled for noon. I got here a couple of hours before that. There were a fairly small number of people (a hundred or so?), most of whom had stayed overnight. Since then, the crowds have steadily grown, now roaming the terminal in several different groups.

    It’s a little noisier than last week’s march in Oakland, but same spirit–lots of families with kids, incredibly diverse, signs ranging from the snarky to the profane to the profound. There are a bunch of lawyers set up outside the Starbucks, with Arabic and Farsi capability, in case anyone needs help. They’re wearing fluorescent green name tags and throughout the terminal are other attorneys in bright green hats that say legal “observer.”

    This being the Bay Area, there are people handing out granola bars, and there are stashes of carrots and other veggies set out alongside bottles of water. There are a couple of folks in full lotus position, meditating for peace, according to their sign.

    They’re saying that an elderly Iranian couple detained for 12+ hours was finally released–that generated a thunderous cheer from the crowd. But there’s a young man from Yemen still in detention, evidently.

    So far, at least, airport staff and law enforcement have been chill. May it be ever thus.

  75. 75.

    Skepticat

    @amygdala: It may not be quite the same at SFO, but there was this great sign at LAX yesterday: “You know it’s bad when Angelenos go to LAX willingly.”
    Or, of course, when anyone goes to a major airport if it isn’t aboslutely necessary (which in these cases it is)!

  76. 76.

    amygdala

    @Skepticat: The international terminal at SFO is new and pretty nice. The only LAX terminals I’ve been in recently (albeit frequently) are terminals 6-8, which are pretty grim.

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