• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Their shamelessness is their super power.

“Alexa, change the president.”

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

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

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

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

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

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

He really is that stupid.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

Everybody saw this coming.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Politics / America / Open Thread: The Weight of History

Open Thread: The Weight of History

by Anne Laurie|  January 30, 20178:50 pm| 164 Comments

This post is in: America, Don't Mourn, Organize, Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, Rare Sincerity

FacebookTweetEmail

Today's Google doodle honors the 98th birthday of Fred Korematsu, the activist who took Japanese internment to the Supreme Court. pic.twitter.com/AEZyTbxvD7

— Peter A. Shulman (@pashulman) January 30, 2017

What was not clear until years later was that the government's case for internment as a security measure was bogus & the government knew it.

— Peter A. Shulman (@pashulman) January 30, 2017

It was done to boost morale, especially on the west coast, not deal with a legitimate risk. And that's why fear is so dangerous.

— Peter A. Shulman (@pashulman) January 30, 2017

First dem question for SCOTUS pick should be whether #Korematsu is still good law.

— Brishen Rogers (@BrishenRogers) January 30, 2017

While we’re on the topic of ugly history… CAN’T SAY YOU WEREN’T WARNED, REPUBS…

On this day in 1933, Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany. "We have the power. Now our gigantic work begins." pic.twitter.com/3zcmZLEMXz

— Military History Now (@MilHistNow) January 30, 2017

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Get Used to It, Dahling
Next Post: DC Immigration Protest and March »

Reader Interactions

164Comments

  1. 1.

    Roger Moore

    January 30, 2017 at 8:53 pm

    It was done to boost morale, especially on the west coast, not deal with a legitimate risk.

    It was also done to steal as much stuff from the Japanese Americans as possible. Greed was a vital part of the whole equation.

  2. 2.

    ? Martin

    January 30, 2017 at 8:56 pm

    We need to take action. Peter Capaldi is out as the Doctor. How to we get either Obama to be the new doctor? Barack has experience, but I think Michelle would bring a bit more drama.

  3. 3.

    Brachiator

    January 30, 2017 at 8:56 pm

    The internment was a result of an executive order by FDR, EO 9066

  4. 4.

    trollhattan

    January 30, 2017 at 9:03 pm

    My house Rep was born in the Poston, AZ internment camp. All of my childhood Japanese friends’ parents had lived in the camps, only this was never discussed (I think mostly to not call attention to their country’s shame). The fabric of the internments was woven throughout society.

  5. 5.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 30, 2017 at 9:04 pm

    Yesterday Cory Gardner, R Sen of Colorado, whined that out-of-state paid activists were filling up his voicemail box. Now, we have Dave Brat, the guy who took out Eric Cantor

    Rep. Dave Brat, R-7th, is feeling some political pressure as Republicans in Congress move to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
    “Since Obamacare and these issues have come up, the women are in my grill no matter where I go,” Brat told an audience Saturday at a meeting of conservative groups at Hanover Tavern.
    “They come up — ‘When is your next town hall?’ And believe me, it’s not to give positive input.”
    Brat, R-7th, asked the GOP-friendly audience to get organized.
    “Help us write newspaper articles. We’re getting hammered,” he said.
    …
    “We need activists coming out on everything,” he said.
    In a phone interview Monday, Brat said he thinks many of the people protesting the Trump administration are paid activists from outside their area of protest.
    “I had one woman on my Facebook say she was going to get up in my grill,” he said. “There’s paid protesters … paid activists on the far left, not my Democratic friends I go to church with.
    “They’re being paid to go around and raise havoc.
    ”

    ETA: My point, and I did have one, is that the protests and phone calls and contacts are working. They’re nervous about getting their fingerprints on health care. They don’t want to be known as the party of Trump. We haven’t won yet, but we’re in the fight.

  6. 6.

    p.a.

    January 30, 2017 at 9:07 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: goddamnit, where’s my check! and I’m still waiting on my Obamaphone…

  7. 7.

    Baud

    January 30, 2017 at 9:07 pm

    First dem question for SCOTUS pick should be whether #Korematsu is still good law.

    IIRC, it is and should be good law in that the case establishes that discrimination on the basis of national origin is subject to the highest level of judicial scrutiny. The court simply bothched the application of that test in that case.

  8. 8.

    Mike J

    January 30, 2017 at 9:07 pm

    @? Martin: http://data.whicdn.com/images/51615823/large.jpg

  9. 9.

    debbie

    January 30, 2017 at 9:08 pm

    @? Martin:

    Yes, Michelle would be the equal to Diana Rigg’s Emma Peel.

  10. 10.

    (((CassandraLeo)))

    January 30, 2017 at 9:08 pm

    @? Martin: This is very likely in “Too soon!” territory, but I heard a half-joking suggestion that Hillary Clinton should be cast to play General Organa in the ninth Star Wars film if they decide not to write the character out. She actually does look more than a bit like Carrie Fisher, and she is the perfect sort of person to lead a rebellion against an evil empire.

    The future of Doctor Who certainly is a potential major crisis, though.

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Man, I wish I were being paid for my activism.

  11. 11.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 30, 2017 at 9:09 pm

    For those who may not know, George Takei’s Allegiance is getting an encore presentation in U.S. cinemas Sunday, February 19th. I missed it the first time around, but am most decidedly going to see it this time.

    http://fathomevents.com/event/allegiance-encore

  12. 12.

    Baud

    January 30, 2017 at 9:09 pm

    Wait, you guys aren’t getting paid to be here?

  13. 13.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    January 30, 2017 at 9:10 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Our efforts are annoying them, decreasing their pleasure in life. It’s making them squirm and burn and chafe.

    It is to laugh…

  14. 14.

    (((CassandraLeo)))

    January 30, 2017 at 9:11 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Thanks for the heads-up. I won’t have work that night, so maybe I’ll be able to see it.

  15. 15.

    debbie

    January 30, 2017 at 9:11 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Something’s going on with him and grills.

  16. 16.

    p.a.

    January 30, 2017 at 9:11 pm

    @(((CassandraLeo))): Berniebots will pan her performance…

  17. 17.

    amk

    January 30, 2017 at 9:12 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    goddamn you, that hungarian guy whasshisname. where is my check?

  18. 18.

    Peale

    January 30, 2017 at 9:13 pm

    @p.a.: Glenn Greenwald will leak her plans and note that she’s the real war monger…not that guy who continues to build Death Stars.

  19. 19.

    geg6

    January 30, 2017 at 9:13 pm

    @? Martin:

    Oh lord, no. Not even Barack and/or Michelle could get me to watch that show. Now, PBO doing a cameo in the next Star Trek movie as a Vulcan? That’s must see!

  20. 20.

    Central Planning

    January 30, 2017 at 9:13 pm

    @Baud: Define “paid”

  21. 21.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 30, 2017 at 9:14 pm

    @Baud: I’m still waiting for my Soros check for the peace vigils I went to years ago.

  22. 22.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 30, 2017 at 9:15 pm

    Getting real sick of libertarians. Today’s marching orders seem to be “hurr hurr obama banned refugees too.”

    @geg6: wow, you have a surprisingly strong negative opinion of it for a foreign children’s fantasy programme.

  23. 23.

    dmsilev

    January 30, 2017 at 9:18 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Getting real sick of libertarians.

    I assume this is your first real encounter with the species? It usually only takes one.

  24. 24.

    Renie

    January 30, 2017 at 9:18 pm

    I haven’t gotten any checks from Soros yet and my Obamaphone broke.

    My idiot rep, Peter King (NY2CD) never even has town halls. Local paper had article where he claims Guiliani was mistaken in saying King had anything to do with the EO. But he does support it.

  25. 25.

    Ian G.

    January 30, 2017 at 9:18 pm

    @Brachiator:

    And every good liberal I know, who praises FDR for his actions during the depression and much of WWII, knows this is one of the darkest moments in living memory in American history.

    10, 20, 50 years from now, if there are any groupies for Cheez Whiz Ceausescu left, do you think any of them would dare suggest he did anything wrong while in office? Hah!

  26. 26.

    Baud

    January 30, 2017 at 9:19 pm

    @Central Planning: The receipt of something of value to compensate for time spent in the company of jackals.

  27. 27.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 30, 2017 at 9:21 pm

    @dmsilev: oh, heavens no. Any ideology that can’t come up with a coherent policy on giant asteroid defense is inherently really fucking stupid. I just assumed they could make it more than a week into the Trump presidency before resuming being the most irritating people on my Facebook feed.

  28. 28.

    amk

    January 30, 2017 at 9:21 pm

    @? Martin:

    “We’re here,” Basiago claims the young president-to-be said to him.

    And the supposed reason for the secret teen task force’s Red Planet expedition? To “acclimate Martian humanoids and animals to their presence,” according to Basiago.

    so, the hot heads still needed the cool headed kenyan to play the good cop?

  29. 29.

    Timurid

    January 30, 2017 at 9:21 pm

    The look on Hindenburg’s face in that photo is priceless… “KILL… ME…”

  30. 30.

    PsiFighter37

    January 30, 2017 at 9:22 pm

    Yates just got canned. Not surprising.

  31. 31.

    trollhattan

    January 30, 2017 at 9:22 pm

    @Renie:
    I received my Soros checks via PDF on my Obamaphone. Sadly, the Ammoshop ™ wouldn’t cash them!

  32. 32.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    January 30, 2017 at 9:23 pm

    @dmsilev:

    They inevitably fancy themselves smarter than everyone else. They would never be fooled by Carter, Reagan, Bush the Elder, Clinton, and so forth. Smug, self-righteous knuckleheads libertarians are.

  33. 33.

    Renie

    January 30, 2017 at 9:23 pm

    anyone watch press conferences? is it true spicer puts up print outs of tweets trump doesn’t like

  34. 34.

    Pogonip

    January 30, 2017 at 9:24 pm

    @p.a.: I had 9 years of lessons and I still can’t play the Obamaphone very well.

  35. 35.

    raven

    January 30, 2017 at 9:24 pm

    @PsiFighter37: Way to stand up!

  36. 36.

    Central Planning

    January 30, 2017 at 9:25 pm

    @Baud: So why am I need being paid here?

  37. 37.

    amk

    January 30, 2017 at 9:25 pm

    @PsiFighter37: wow. so, the purge has begun? who am I kidding? it began on day one.

  38. 38.

    Mike J

    January 30, 2017 at 9:25 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Foreign Policy magazine has the answer to that.

  39. 39.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 30, 2017 at 9:25 pm

    @West of the Rockies (been a while): they like to think that they would do well in a zombie/nuclear apocalypse but you know they’d be the first ones dying from fucking poorly regulated undercooked squirrel meat.

  40. 40.

    Corner Stone

    January 30, 2017 at 9:26 pm

    I love you, Sally Yates.

  41. 41.

    hilts

    January 30, 2017 at 9:26 pm

    Trump has his Sat Nite massacre less than 2 wks into office

    White House spokesman Sean Spicer has issued a statement saying that Sally Yates has been “relieved … of her duties” as acting attorney general:

    h/t https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2017/jan/30/trump-travel-ban-executive-order-world-protests-live

  42. 42.

    MomSense

    January 30, 2017 at 9:27 pm

    And Yates was fired. The statement I just read is I don’t even know what it is. Our institutions are just crumbling. We have to stay on these assholes. We have to be in the streets and in the phones and in our congressional offices every day.

  43. 43.

    Percysowner

    January 30, 2017 at 9:27 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    Yates just got canned. Not surprising.

    Shades of the Saturday Night Massacre. We’ll see if the rest of the employees of the Justice Department will stand up to Trump.

  44. 44.

    Yoda Dog

    January 30, 2017 at 9:27 pm

    @Baud: Well I am being paid handsomely but Im just a robot in Siberia, so no biggs…

    Приветствуйте, товарищи ваш новый ад!

  45. 45.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 30, 2017 at 9:27 pm

    @Baud:

    time spent in the company of jackals

    I believe that we are more accurately described as “snarling jackals”.

  46. 46.

    debbie

    January 30, 2017 at 9:28 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Christ, the wording in the statement!

    https://twitter.com/bencjacobs/status/826253337611948032

  47. 47.

    geg6

    January 30, 2017 at 9:28 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I find it quite literally one of the worst shows I’ve ever seen and do not understand why people I normally find to be intelligent and of good taste are so obsessed with it. I feel the same way about Game of Thrones, except it’s not quite as stupid. And my grandparents were British. Don’t blame it on it’s being British and me not getting it. I understand quite well the odd sensibilities of my ancestors. It’s Benny Hill bad. Even my grandfather thought Benny Hill was unfunny in the extreme. That’s how I feel about the Doctor. Dumb show with which smart people, for some reason I can’t fathom, are obsessed. YMMV.

  48. 48.

    Mary G

    January 30, 2017 at 9:29 pm

    @geg6: Oh thank FSM; I don’t have the Dr. Who gene either. Almost everyone I know and love loves it, but I can’t watch more than a few minutes without something twitching.

  49. 49.

    misterpuff

    January 30, 2017 at 9:30 pm

    @Percysowner: Monday Night Massacre…
    Sessions needs to be blocked.

  50. 50.

    Larkspur

    January 30, 2017 at 9:30 pm

    Whoa. I just fell in love with Sally Yates.

  51. 51.

    Timurid

    January 30, 2017 at 9:30 pm

    Sumbitch went and did it. Hold on to your hats, boys…

  52. 52.

    debbie

    January 30, 2017 at 9:30 pm

    @geg6:

    Benny Hill is a very low blow.

  53. 53.

    amk

    January 30, 2017 at 9:31 pm

    @debbie: horrible language indeed. they are bringing back witch-hunts. literally.

  54. 54.

    Brachiator

    January 30, 2017 at 9:31 pm

    @Percysowner:

    Shades of the Saturday Night Massacre.

    Yes. And so it begins. Trump will be searching for his Robert Bork.

  55. 55.

    Baud

    January 30, 2017 at 9:31 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: No amount of money is enough for that.

  56. 56.

    PsiFighter37

    January 30, 2017 at 9:31 pm

    Dana Boente, Eastern District of VA Attorney General, is current acting AG. He was appointed by Obama to his current position in late 2015…wonder if he will have the balls to do the same thing.

    If Trump has to keep firing acting AGs until Sessions gets confirmed, it should signal that there is something very, very wrong with the current state of affairs.

  57. 57.

    dmsilev

    January 30, 2017 at 9:31 pm

    @debbie: Christ, what a set of assholes.

  58. 58.

    Lizzy L

    January 30, 2017 at 9:31 pm

    Sally Yates has been relieved of her duties. The new Acting A. G. is Dana Boente, currently U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of VA.

    Shit gonna get interesting now. Boente is also an Obama pick.

  59. 59.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 30, 2017 at 9:31 pm

    @geg6: @Mary G: surely there must be one redeeming episode in 35 seasons.

  60. 60.

    Corner Stone

    January 30, 2017 at 9:32 pm

    @Mary G: I am physically unable to watch any episode of that show.

  61. 61.

    Corner Stone

    January 30, 2017 at 9:32 pm

    @Larkspur: Back Off!

  62. 62.

    geg6

    January 30, 2017 at 9:33 pm

    @debbie:

    The shoe fits.

  63. 63.

    Davis X. Machina

    January 30, 2017 at 9:33 pm

    @Timurid: Of course he did. Sie war ungenügend führertreu.

  64. 64.

    amk

    January 30, 2017 at 9:33 pm

    that north korean guy must be giddy now. man, I am not the worst dictator any more.

  65. 65.

    ? Martin

    January 30, 2017 at 9:34 pm

    Well, took Nixon two terms to abuse power, Trump got there in two weeks. No non-partisan explanation given, Trump says she ‘betrayed the DOJ’.

    Eventually Republican members of Congress will no longer be able to suck up to this kind of behavior.

  66. 66.

    geg6

    January 30, 2017 at 9:34 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Perhaps but there’s not enough money or power in the world to make me sit through them all to find it.

  67. 67.

    Davis X. Machina

    January 30, 2017 at 9:34 pm

    @PsiFighter37: Eventually they’ll hit a committed careerist.

  68. 68.

    hilts

    January 30, 2017 at 9:35 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    Just heard some talking head on cable say he’ll follow Trump’s order.

  69. 69.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 30, 2017 at 9:35 pm

    @Larkspur: Apparently Ms. Yates was a Bush appointee and was held over by Obama. Gawd, that press release is childish.

  70. 70.

    Brachiator

    January 30, 2017 at 9:36 pm

    @Ian G.:

    And every good liberal I know, who praises FDR for his actions during the depression and much of WWII, knows this is one of the darkest moments in living memory in American history.

    Too many good liberals at the time said nothing, did nothing.

    We will see what good liberals do in the dark days ahead.

  71. 71.

    MomSense

    January 30, 2017 at 9:36 pm

    @Percysowner:

    Remember when we were posting from cubicles in the basement of the CIA?

    Those were good times.

  72. 72.

    amk

    January 30, 2017 at 9:36 pm

    @? Martin: yeah, we are still waiting for that checks and balances pony.

  73. 73.

    The Dangerman

    January 30, 2017 at 9:36 pm

    @Roger Moore: Got it in 1. Real estate got looted bigtime. Trump probably gets hard at the thought of it.

  74. 74.

    raven

    January 30, 2017 at 9:36 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    President Obama nominated Yates to be U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Georgia. She was confirmed by the Senate on March 10, 2010.[4] During her time as a U.S. Attorney, Yates was appointed by Attorney General Eric Holder to serve as Vice Chair of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee.[7]

    UGA Law School!

  75. 75.

    p.a.

    January 30, 2017 at 9:36 pm

    @debbie: check this out. fast work!

  76. 76.

    Corner Stone

    January 30, 2017 at 9:36 pm

    @debbie: What a sniveling coward that Boente looks to be.

  77. 77.

    PsiFighter37

    January 30, 2017 at 9:37 pm

    @hilts: Yes, see the same thing on the Twitters. Guess a man doesn’t have enough balls to do what a woman did…stand up to Trump.

  78. 78.

    Iowa Old Lady

    January 30, 2017 at 9:37 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: I was just about to make the same comment about childishness. He has to insult her as “weak” and attribute her to Obama. Good info on her being a Bush appointee.

  79. 79.

    hilts

    January 30, 2017 at 9:38 pm

    @? Martin:

    Trump went from Zero to Batshit Crazy on the day he announced his candidacy yet still won, which only proves that this is one dumb fucking country.

  80. 80.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 30, 2017 at 9:38 pm

    @raven: I sit corrected.

  81. 81.

    Larkspur

    January 30, 2017 at 9:38 pm

    @Corner Stone: I am happy to take a number. But she’s gonna like me better. But trubba not, all is cool.

  82. 82.

    Brachiator

    January 30, 2017 at 9:39 pm

    @? Martin:

    Eventually Republican members of Congress will no longer be able to suck up to this kind of behavior.

    You really are an optimist.

    Republicans who felt that Nixon should have been protected will now be able to provide cover for their Dear Leader Trump.

  83. 83.

    patroclus

    January 30, 2017 at 9:41 pm

    Wow – a Monday Night Massacre! So Boente is the new Bork. This raises real questions about Sessions and his Heydrich-like history. If the Republican Reichstag rolls over for this, they’ll be hell to pay.

  84. 84.

    hilts

    January 30, 2017 at 9:42 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    Guess a man doesn’t have enough balls to do what a woman did…

    On Election Day, millions of Americans lacked the balls or the brains (or both) to do the right thing and now we’re stuck with cocksucker Trumpenstein for 4 fucking years.

  85. 85.

    BBA

    January 30, 2017 at 9:42 pm

    @? Martin: Yeah, in eight years, maybe.

  86. 86.

    Corner Stone

    January 30, 2017 at 9:43 pm

    Jeebus but I hope Trump just torpedoed his own pick for AG, Jeff Sessions.

  87. 87.

    p.a.

    January 30, 2017 at 9:43 pm

    @Larkspur:

    But trubba not…

    Is that a Riddley Walker reference? ‘Cause that may be our future.

  88. 88.

    Fernando poo

    January 30, 2017 at 9:43 pm

    Without Yates, there are no FISA warrants. Or am I mistaken?

  89. 89.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    January 30, 2017 at 9:44 pm

    but but….. oligarchy!

  90. 90.

    Larkspur

    January 30, 2017 at 9:45 pm

    @p.a.: Yep. O what we wuz, and what we become.

  91. 91.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    January 30, 2017 at 9:45 pm

    Zeddy ‏@ZeddRebel

    Holy shit. WH poached Hill staffers to write EO, made em sign NDAs so couldn’t tell bosses. Hilarious AND Terrifying

    13 replies 234 retweets 149 likes

  92. 92.

    PsiFighter37

    January 30, 2017 at 9:46 pm

    @Fernando poo: I’m a bit confused if Boente can sign them or not.

    What’s worse is that he says he will do Trump’s bidding.

    @Corner Stone: Absolutely no way that happens. No one in the GOP has a fucking spine.

  93. 93.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 30, 2017 at 9:46 pm

    Douglas Adams used to showrun Dr. Who. He was a funny guy.

  94. 94.

    ? Martin

    January 30, 2017 at 9:47 pm

    @Brachiator: Dave Brat: “Since Obamacare and these issues have come up, women are in my grill no matter where I go, they come up – ‘When is your next town hall?’ And believe me, it’s not to give positive input. We’re getting hammered.”

  95. 95.

    Baud

    January 30, 2017 at 9:47 pm

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: If they Republicans in Congress weren’t cowards, everyone of those staffers would be fired.

  96. 96.

    tobie

    January 30, 2017 at 9:47 pm

    @Davis X. Machina: better syntax would be: “Sie war dem Führer nicht genügend treu”.

  97. 97.

    Fernando poo

    January 30, 2017 at 9:47 pm

    @PsiFighter37: unless he was confirmed, he can’t

  98. 98.

    trollhattan

    January 30, 2017 at 9:47 pm

    @debbie:
    Holy crap. I have no words….

  99. 99.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 30, 2017 at 9:49 pm

    @efgoldman: I had read that they had sought warrants over the summer, one presumes they have them.

  100. 100.

    Lizzy L

    January 30, 2017 at 9:49 pm

    @Corner Stone: Unpack this, please. I don’t see the connection.

  101. 101.

    Larkspur

    January 30, 2017 at 9:49 pm

    Are there any Buffy folks here? Because I keep thinking there must be a “Wishverse” amulet that Giles can crush to return us to our regularly scheduled reality.

  102. 102.

    Mary G

    January 30, 2017 at 9:49 pm

    OK, fellow Californians, she doesn’t appear to be getting the message, probably because they took the phones off the hook:

    Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she did not think there would be further delays of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) as attorney general; and it was unclear whether Democrats would succeed in delaying a hearing Tuesday for Price.

    Time for a new Senator. She’s up in 2018. I still like Jerry.

  103. 103.

    amk

    January 30, 2017 at 9:50 pm

    hope the dems show some backbone a la sally. ‘cos, the rethugs sure won’t.

  104. 104.

    trollhattan

    January 30, 2017 at 9:50 pm

    @amk:
    Haircut now second-worst, so win-win.

  105. 105.

    hovercraft

    January 30, 2017 at 9:52 pm

    @Baud:
    This is the problem with liberals, they promise us all these great things, FEMA camps, magic ponies, free phones and monthly checks to bother “true patriots”, and then they never deliver. If we had a True Leader like Baud, then we could all sit back and watch the checks roll in.

    Baud Will Fix It !!! 2020

  106. 106.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 30, 2017 at 9:52 pm

    @(((CassandraLeo))):

    It’s actually a matinee, 12:55 pm EST curtain. If you’re going n a different time zone, check local listings. By all accounts, it is well worth seeing.

  107. 107.

    debbie

    January 30, 2017 at 9:52 pm

    @p.a.

    Love it!

  108. 108.

    Corner Stone

    January 30, 2017 at 9:52 pm

    @Lizzy L: There’s a chance, however small it may be, that the action to fire Sally Yates ahead of the Sessions confirmation hearing may energize opposition to JS as AG.
    We can hope.

  109. 109.

    Larkspur

    January 30, 2017 at 9:52 pm

    @Mary G: yeah, I cannot get a message through to her. I’m liking my congresscritter Jared Huffman, but maybe too soon for him.

  110. 110.

    Mary G

    January 30, 2017 at 9:52 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I’ve tried and tried. Recommend one and I will try again.

  111. 111.

    Teddy's Person

    January 30, 2017 at 9:52 pm

    @Larkspur: Seriously, playing the part of the vengeance demon is Kellyanne Conway.

  112. 112.

    PaulW

    January 30, 2017 at 9:53 pm

    more and more the Trump people try to cover up their crimes by exploiting and destroying others.

    more and more they reveal their own incompetence and hatred.

  113. 113.

    Anne Laurie

    January 30, 2017 at 9:54 pm

    @hilts: Thanks; new dedicated post up top.

  114. 114.

    trollhattan

    January 30, 2017 at 9:55 pm

    @Mary G:
    Done with DiFi for awhile now but the water deal she championed recently was the clincher. And yet she’s considering running in ’18. [eyeroll]

    Don’t actually believe Willy Brown’s scenario about her resigning and Jerry taking the seat, but it’s amusing to consider because he’d ruckus the joint from day 1 (hopefully the prostate cancer is under control).

  115. 115.

    chris

    January 30, 2017 at 9:56 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: She was appointed in 1989 by GHWB.
    I don’t know how the DOJ works but I wonder how many of its lawyers will refuse to defend the EO and resign.

  116. 116.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 30, 2017 at 9:56 pm

    @Mary G: ‘Blink’ is probably the best, but I imagine you’ve tried it already. Nothing wrong with not liking a show.

  117. 117.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 30, 2017 at 9:56 pm

    @PsiFighter37:
    @amk:

    Who here is old enough to remember Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre”?

  118. 118.

    Brachiator

    January 30, 2017 at 9:58 pm

    @Mary G:

    .OK, fellow Californians, she doesn’t appear to be getting the message, probably because they took the phones off the hook

    Feinstein should resign and let Brown appoint someone, someone young, or at least younger. Maybe controller John Chiang.

  119. 119.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 30, 2017 at 9:58 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Cannot edit my own comment, FYWARTWP, but I see about a squillion people thought of the Saturday Night Massacre analogy before I had time to put my pants on.

  120. 120.

    Lizzy L

    January 30, 2017 at 9:59 pm

    @Mary G: Jerry Who? Jerry as in Brown, our Governor? Why? Jerry is old and has cancer. Let’s find someone else.

  121. 121.

    trollhattan

    January 30, 2017 at 9:59 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Hand up.

  122. 122.

    Ksmiami

    January 30, 2017 at 10:00 pm

    @Roger Moore: Yes. I grew up in PV and learned later that prior to WW2, a number of Japanese strawberry farmers were there. So land confiscation was definitely part and parcel of the internment result

  123. 123.

    mdblanche

    January 30, 2017 at 10:01 pm

    @PsiFighter37: The last president to do something like that was gone just over nine months later. Just sayin’.

  124. 124.

    Lizzy L

    January 30, 2017 at 10:02 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Oh yeah, I remember. Elliot Richardson, stand up guy. He was a platoon leader in the Normandy invasion.

    Robert Bork, toad.

    I expect we’re going to see a lot more of this.

  125. 125.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 30, 2017 at 10:02 pm

    @efgoldman: He ran for Senate in 1982.

  126. 126.

    debbie

    January 30, 2017 at 10:02 pm

    @efgoldman:

    I remember. This is worse.

  127. 127.

    chris

    January 30, 2017 at 10:03 pm

    @chris: Cancel that appointment, got it off Twitter. She became an Asst US Attorney in Georgia in 1989.
    FYWP can’t edit previous comment.

  128. 128.

    Ksmiami

    January 30, 2017 at 10:03 pm

    @hilts: At least the Germans had the excuse of a really horrific economy and a very one dimensional news system. I’m to the point though where I openly confront Trump supporters for giving rise to fascism.

  129. 129.

    hilts

    January 30, 2017 at 10:04 pm

    @Lizzy L:

    What about Gavin Newsome?

  130. 130.

    Jay S

    January 30, 2017 at 10:04 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I do remember Nixon’s Saturday night, and sorry, one resignation does not a massacre make.

  131. 131.

    Mary G

    January 30, 2017 at 10:04 pm

    @Lizzy L: I just want to see Jerry troll the president. Actually, I have recently fallen head over heels for Rep. Ted Lieu. Young, liberal, Asian-American, ex-military, funny as hell on twitter.

  132. 132.

    Percysowner

    January 30, 2017 at 10:04 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Who here is old enough to remember Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre”?

    You are. I are. Raven are too.

    I’m part of the old people’s club!

  133. 133.

    Larkspur

    January 30, 2017 at 10:04 pm

    @Teddy’s Person: Hiya. There’s a lot at stake, huh.

  134. 134.

    chris

    January 30, 2017 at 10:05 pm

    @Larkspur: Yes, waiting.

  135. 135.

    Mike in NC

    January 30, 2017 at 10:05 pm

    @efgoldman: We never thought Trump/Pence would resemble Nixon/Agnew in only a matter of days, did we?

  136. 136.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 30, 2017 at 10:05 pm

    @Ksmiami: I’m sure Dolt 45’s SOTU will tell us how terrible things are here and he needs emergency powers to fix them. I’m sure the Republican Congress will give him those powers.

  137. 137.

    p.a.

    January 30, 2017 at 10:06 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Who here is old enough to remember Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre”?

    yup.

  138. 138.

    Yoda Dog

    January 30, 2017 at 10:06 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:@efgoldman: I am not but I like to come here and listen to you fogies teach me neat stuff. Proceed.

  139. 139.

    hovercraft

    January 30, 2017 at 10:07 pm

    @Ian G.:

    if there are any groupies for Cheez Whiz Ceausescu left

    Nuh uh, they do not get to disown this, they did this, we all saw them do it, and it wasn’t just a bunch of old white dudes who did it, and will be dead soon. 53% of white women, and white voters overwhelmingly voted for this. When President Consuela Martinez is elected and she tells them that she won fair and square and they should shut the fuck up, this is our country too, I don’t want to hear shit from any of them, they have shown themselves to be irredeemably irresponsible, so they don’t get a say. They had their tea party tantrum, which was destructive enough, but this time they have gone too far, I’m one of the people who now says fuck em, I hope they get everything that they deserve, I know all this shit hurts us all, but since karma is a bitch, it’s hurting them more, because they had less to begin with. We live longer, make more, are better educated and even in this storm we will maintain our superiority. I hate them, and I hate that they made me hate them.

  140. 140.

    Davis X. Machina

    January 30, 2017 at 10:07 pm

    @tobie: Man kann auch ‘führertreu’ sagen.

  141. 141.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    January 30, 2017 at 10:08 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I remember it, though I was a wee tot.

  142. 142.

    hilts

    January 30, 2017 at 10:09 pm

    @efgoldman:

    I’m old enough to remember that incident.

    Trump is much dumber and more dishonest than Nixon and John Dean believes Trump will be worse:

    “I used to have one-on-one conversations with [Nixon] where I’d see him checking his more authoritarian tendencies,” John Dean recalled. “He’d say, ‘This is something I can’t say out loud…’ or, ‘That is something the president can’t do.’” To Dean, these moments suggested a functioning sense of shame in Nixon, something he was forced to wrestle with in his quest for power. Trump, by contrast, appears to Dean unmolested by any such struggle.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/01/john-dean-interview/513215

  143. 143.

    Lizzy L

    January 30, 2017 at 10:10 pm

    @hilts: Not one of my faves. Besides, he wants to be Governor.

  144. 144.

    patroclus

    January 30, 2017 at 10:12 pm

    I remember the Saturday Night Massacre like it was yesterday. Then, there was an enormous reaction to force the new AG to be independent of the President. Now, the Republicans are likely to put party over country and railroad Sessions through, despite him having been behind the unconstitutional Muslim ban EO. Wasn’t McCain’s slogan “Country First”? All it would take would be 3 patriotic Republican Senators and it could happen again.

  145. 145.

    Anne Laurie

    January 30, 2017 at 10:12 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    We never thought Trump/Pence would resemble Nixon/Agnew in only a matter of days, did we?

    I was sure they’d get there, but I’ll admit I figured it would take them at least a few months.

  146. 146.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 30, 2017 at 10:12 pm

    @efgoldman: I’m barely old enough to remember Saturday.

  147. 147.

    hovercraft

    January 30, 2017 at 10:15 pm

    @efgoldman:

    I’m thinking, nothing gets him hard. Not enough Viagra in the world.

    This.
    Between the small hands and his inability to get it up, he is overcompensating.

  148. 148.

    hilts

    January 30, 2017 at 10:16 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    Trump/Pence will be a lot worse than Nixon/Agnew. As John Dean pointed out in a quote I cited in a previous post, Nixon possessed some restraint. Trump is pure id and pure unadulterated scum.

  149. 149.

    Uncle Ebeneezer

    January 30, 2017 at 10:18 pm

    @Larkspur: Try faxing. I’ve had zero luck with her LA or DC phone.

  150. 150.

    Major Major Major Major

    January 30, 2017 at 10:19 pm

    @hilts: trump is ALREADY worse than Nixon.

  151. 151.

    hovercraft

    January 30, 2017 at 10:20 pm

    @efgoldman:

    I’m thinking, nothing gets him hard. Not enough Viagra in the world.

    This.
    Between the small hands and his inability to get it up, he is overcompensating.

  152. 152.

    Mnemosyne

    January 30, 2017 at 10:24 pm

    @Mary G:
    @trollhattan:

    This is when the jungle primary works in our favor, if we can get a good Democrat to run against her and not, say, a second run by Loretta Sanchez.

    I think my former rep Adam Schiff would be a great senator, but some folks might not like him kowtowing to Big Entertainment.

  153. 153.

    frosty

    January 30, 2017 at 10:27 pm

    @efgoldman:

    You are. I are. Raven are too.

    I are also.

  154. 154.

    hilts

    January 30, 2017 at 10:33 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I’m fully confident that Trump will be the worst President we’ve ever had.

    I’m just hoping this raging moron can go 4 years without starting another world war.

  155. 155.

    debit

    January 30, 2017 at 10:33 pm

    @Larkspur: I vote for the world of nothing but shrimp.

  156. 156.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    January 30, 2017 at 10:33 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Take it to Bloodbath & Beyond over in Springfield. They’ll cash it!

  157. 157.

    Shalimar

    January 30, 2017 at 10:42 pm

    Next in line for Acting Attorney General was the U.S. Attorney for Eastern Virginia? I haven’t looked at an organizational chart for DoJ, but that seems odd.

  158. 158.

    Larkspur

    January 30, 2017 at 11:01 pm

    @debit: I’m leaning toward bunnies, bunnies, it could be BUNNIES!

  159. 159.

    J R in WV

    January 30, 2017 at 11:10 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I remember the Saturday Night Massacre, almost like it was yesterday. Wife was city editor for an AM paper, and Saturday night was our day off, the PM Paper did Sunday morning’s paper. We were are a staff party that night, and the radio news at the top of the hour came on with a list of people Nixon had fired.

    The party broke up not long after that, even though we usually worked until 11 or so in the evening. Mrs J and I went straight to the newspaper, to the wire room, where the teletypes were typing that night’s news. There were 3 AP machines, 2 UPI, the NYTimes wire… there were more, I’m not remembering them all.

    They typed on endless sheets of paper in big boxes under the teletype machines, connected to Wire Service bureaus, the NY Times HQ, etc by dedicated telephone lines – this was 15 or 20 years before Internet Technology started. You could tell how important each story coming over the wire was by the number of Bell characters at the front of the story.

    5 bells was Second Coming, Pearl Harbor Bombed, War Declared, D-Day Invasion, President Fires Attorney General, Deputy Attorney General Soliciter General Appointed Acting AG, Fires Special Prosecutor.

    We watched 5-bell stories, rewrites, write-throughs, and because the Sunday AM paper was already published by then, no one else was there. The lights were off in the Newsrooms, you could feel the press running 3 floors down, the whole building trembled when they got it up to speed. And the bells kept ringing, just for us.

    That night is why I still have a little optimism that the Trump Regime will end quickly, cut off short, by real Americans, willing to read the simple American English of the Bill of Rights. Hope, anyway.

  160. 160.

    J R in WV

    January 30, 2017 at 11:19 pm

    @Jay S:

    It wasn’t a resignation, asshole, it was a firing, of a person originally hired into the Justice Department during the Bush Administration. They also fired AG Lynch, on Jan 20th. So that’s two.

    I expect the US Attorney for Eastern Virginia was quizzed about his willingness to defend the Executive Orders of President Trump before being appointed Acting Deputy AG by President Bannon, er, Trump.

    Otherwise there could have been more firings, and more similarities with Nixon’s Saturday Night Massacre.

  161. 161.

    Tenar Arha (same Tenar, more Nameless Ones)

    January 30, 2017 at 11:22 pm

    @Corner Stone: I just keep hearing this combo in my head:

    without law there are no property rights,
    without property rights any company is fair game,
    if any company is fair game then why oh why are they going along with this…

    I think I was thinking of the rhyme For want of a nail. Any of you all feel free to play with this.

  162. 162.

    liberal

    January 30, 2017 at 11:28 pm

    @? Martin: Nixon? Two terms? You’re high on crack.

  163. 163.

    Jaker

    January 31, 2017 at 12:14 am

    I thought yous voted for Trump the “Chump”; not Bannon the “Bad’un”?!

  164. 164.

    Peale

    January 31, 2017 at 1:00 am

    @liberal: it was after he got out of office that Nixon did the really bad things. Like rehabilitate himself in the eyes of the punditry.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - Albatrossity - The Birds of May 3
Image by Albatrossity (7/31/25)

World Central Kitchen

Donate

Recent Comments

  • Marc on Saturday Night Open Thread (Jul 13, 2025 @ 1:10am)
  • eclare on Late Night Open Thread: America’s Fascists Love Alligators (Jul 13, 2025 @ 1:07am)
  • hotshoe on Late Night Open Thread: America’s Fascists Love Alligators (Jul 13, 2025 @ 1:06am)
  • Jay on War for Ukraine Day 1,234: The Cost (Jul 13, 2025 @ 1:05am)
  • NotMax on Late Night Open Thread: America’s Fascists Love Alligators (Jul 13, 2025 @ 1:01am)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!