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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Tuesday Morning Open Thread: (Ruck)Sack Up

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: (Ruck)Sack Up

by Anne Laurie|  February 7, 20175:54 am| 161 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Your Place Is In The Resistance, Get Angry

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Full points to all the Democratic senators who filibustered the (probably inevitable, thanks Repubs!) appointment of Betsy DeVos, but of course I have a personal favorite…

Senate Democrats stage all-night protest against Betsy DeVos. This is Elizabeth Warren. #HoldTheFloor pic.twitter.com/yx54Zfn4LD

— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) February 7, 2017


.
So… what’s on the agenda for the day, and going forward?

The will of the people will stand. pic.twitter.com/SKJCRLhRKn

— Women's March (@womensmarch) February 6, 2017

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Next Post: 4.29% enrollment loss is the cost of Trump’s First Day EO »

Reader Interactions

161Comments

  1. 1.

    satby

    February 7, 2017 at 5:57 am

    I wondered if someone would try to get a general strike going. It’s not something that was ever particularly successfully done during the Vietnam protests, IIRC.

  2. 2.

    Schlemazel

    February 7, 2017 at 6:04 am

    @satby:
    Too many people can’t afford the day without pay or the consequences they could suffer from their owners to join in.

    The overnighter was just a disappointing publicity stunt. Why not go all the way and filibuster? Just hold the floor until her name was withdrawn, its not like we want this Senate to do any of the things they have planned for us.

  3. 3.

    oldster

    February 7, 2017 at 6:10 am

    “General strike” is a pretty loose term that can cover lots of things.

    If the Women’s March can get millions of people in the streets again saying “no Trump,” then it will be a success.

    For some weird reason, a segment of the labor left that I really admire–Erik Loomis at LGM in particular, and Alex Gourevitch at CT–have treated this as though it is a call for a very specific thing: a union-led attempt to expand the power of trade unions.

    As they (correctly) point out, that’s not on the cards right now. American unions do not have the clout to pull that off. But from that fact, they go on to condemn what *is* possible, namely having a lot of people (and a lot of women) pour into the streets for some portion of a day.

    If Yemeni bodega-owners can close up shop for a day, then lots of other small businesses can, too.

    Will the UAW be able to shut down the auto factories for the day? Should they?

    Who cares? And who but historians is going to insist that this is the only thing “General Strike” can mean?

    If the Women’s March organizes it, I will be out for it. So it will not be a recreation of the Pullman Strike or the British General Strike of ’26 that we all read about in Labor History 101. So what. It will be another kick in the Russian Puppet’s teeth, and another step towards making America American again. That’s enough for me.

  4. 4.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 7, 2017 at 6:12 am

    And what fresh new hell awaits us this day?

  5. 5.

    Raven

    February 7, 2017 at 6:15 am

    It was called “the moratorium ”

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moratorium_to_End_the_War_in_Vietnam

  6. 6.

    RedDirtGirl

    February 7, 2017 at 6:17 am

  7. 7.

    Schlemazel

    February 7, 2017 at 6:17 am

    @oldster:
    If a general strike is called I will go out for the day, I have a job not a career. The trick in pulling this off though is in expectations. We are not going to bring the nation to a halt (IMHO) though there could be localized disruptions. The media will label that as a failure. That makes this a risky tactic. The big questions to me is, does it generate momentum? I worry it will have the opposite effect but we do have to keep hammering.

  8. 8.

    RedDirtGirl

    February 7, 2017 at 6:20 am

    Oops. Trying to post link to article about women’s strike in Iceland in 1975. 1/10th the country’s population took to the streets that day.

    ETA: I’m doing something wrong

  9. 9.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 7, 2017 at 6:23 am

    @oldster:

    And who but historians is going to insist that this is the only thing “General Strike” can mean?

    Everybody who thinks words should mean what they mean and not what some numbnut wants them to mean? Or have we entered the days of “alternative definitions” too?

    Seriously, we all know what a general strike means and if you call for one and it fails (as this one would) Trump and the Repubs will jump all over that fact. Replying with, “We called for a ‘general strike not a ‘general strike’.” will just make you look weak in addition to stupid.

    The Women’s March was a great success. We need to build on that, not overreach and fail spectacularly.

  10. 10.

    oldster

    February 7, 2017 at 6:26 am

    @Schlemazel:

    Agreed. Who wants to bring the nation to a halt? That’s neither feasible nor desirable.

    So the leaders of this should say, “this is a day-long opportunity to get out, make some noise, and be heard. It’s happening on a weekday, not a weekend, so there may be minor disruptions. We’re not trying to shut down hospitals, but if some nurses want to take turns out on the sidewalk with signs, that’s great.”

    Something like that is feasible and effective.

    If Fox News can spin this into “omygod the communists want to smash all American business and shutter the day-care centers,” then it will be less successful, both because it will created distorted expectations of what success looks like, and because people will not want to participate in something destructive (the crowd I was part of in DC was not a destructive crowd.)

    That’s why it seems weird to me that the labor left is spinning this in a direction that will help Fox, namely insisting that if you call it a “General Strike” then it must involve massive disruption, smashing shop windows, National Guard intervention, and so on. Sorry, labor left: I love you, but you don’t own the term. And don’t help Fox, please.

  11. 11.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 7, 2017 at 6:30 am

    So Melanoma’s suit against the Daily Mail reveals she was going to “cash in” on status as FLOTUS, and the escort stories impacted that. Some folks have been uncomfortable with criticism of her.

    Fuck her, and fuck that entire nasty family. I don’t want Ivanka2024 or Barron2032, so salt has be poured on every fucking one of these evil slugs so they’re dissuaded from ever seeking a public spotlight again.

  12. 12.

    Betty Cracker

    February 7, 2017 at 6:31 am

    @oldster: Thank you for saying that; I also noticed the weird attempts on the part of some to shoehorn this general strike idea into a historical pattern without benefit of modern context.

    I’ll definitely close up shop and hit the streets on the day of the strike, but it’s easy for me to do so since I’m self-employed. The decision is a lot tougher for people who’ll face blow-back from employers.

  13. 13.

    Kay

    February 7, 2017 at 6:32 am

    If you wanna understand why there’s so much opposition to DeVos, read this:

    DeVos interpreters have marveled that the family is structured like a government, complete with a constitution that “captures its mission and values.” They have likewise explained that Betsy’s lifelong effort to breach the wall between church and state so that taxpayer dollars might flow to Christian schools is but a vehicle for realizing the conservative Calvinist ideal of “Kingdom gain.” Yet beneath the family’s piety, their “if you ain’t Dutch, you ain’t much” swagger, the DeVoses are a familiar archetype. They’re rabid anti–New Dealers whose crusade against the nanny state has never ceased. Western Michigan, a land of tulips and fine-grained religious disputes, is like nowhere else, but its right-wingers want what right-wingers across the land have wanted since the days of the DuPonts: freedom—from regulations that hamstring, taxes that confiscate, government that overreaches, and unions, above all unions, that gum up the whole profit-making works.

    Trump nominated a GOP political operative for Sec of Ed. She’s been going after Democrats for 30 years, and that’s what she’ll do in that Department. Forget “education”. That isn’t what this is about because that isn’t what the DeVos are about.

  14. 14.

    Baud

    February 7, 2017 at 6:35 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Is that worse then Michelle Obama’s bare shoulders though?

  15. 15.

    Baud

    February 7, 2017 at 6:38 am

    @oldster:

    Erik Loomis at LGM in particular, and Alex Gourevitch at CT–have treated this as though it is a call for a very specific thing: a union-led attempt to expand the power of trade unions.

    I thought the trade unions were now on the Trump bandwagon.

  16. 16.

    Betty Cracker

    February 7, 2017 at 6:39 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Saw that story too, and damn if they didn’t spell out exactly how they’d intended to cash in: “apparel accessories, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics, hair care, skin care and fragrance.” Good gawd, has a tackier band of brand-humping grift mavens ever descended on a more hapless failing empire?

  17. 17.

    satby

    February 7, 2017 at 6:41 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: yeah, I was still in school for the moratorium, and we walked out as I recall. And that’s all I recall about it. I can and would take part in any action the Women’s March organizers call for, but I agree that a tepid turnout undercuts the success of the marches.

  18. 18.

    J Michael Neal

    February 7, 2017 at 6:42 am

    @Schlemazel:

    The overnighter was just a disappointing publicity stunt. Why not go all the way and filibuster? Just hold the floor until her name was withdrawn, its not like we want this Senate to do any of the things they have planned for us.

    Not possible. Harry Reid nuked the filibuster for executive branch and district and circuit court nominations.

  19. 19.

    Tissue Thin Pseudonym

    February 7, 2017 at 6:45 am

    @oldster: It’s also worth noting that a general strike, as in unions walking off the job for any reason other than a contract dispute, is illegal under American labor law. Individuals might fail to show up to work for some reason, but the union can’t coordinate anything.

  20. 20.

    Immanentize

    February 7, 2017 at 6:45 am

    My guess — and it is just a guess — is that the general strike will be a timed walkout — like everyone out into the streets at 2 EST. The Women’s March people seem very sensitive to low
    wage workers and the needs of single parent earners. So before we doom the whole to failure, let’s see the plan.

    Meanwhile, people are already chatting about it which means people are taking it seriously.

  21. 21.

    satby

    February 7, 2017 at 6:46 am

    General strikes occur and cause big disruptions in Europe, and that’s what people will assume is being called for here, as Ozark points out. If they don’t mean a “General Strike” then don’t call it that.

  22. 22.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 7, 2017 at 6:47 am

    @Baud:

    Hillary didn’t take private meetings with Clinton Foundation donors that the donors requested, as Andrea Mitchell reports. Questions linger….

  23. 23.

    satby

    February 7, 2017 at 6:48 am

    @Immanentize: Well, that’s a more achievable goal. So I hope you’re right.

  24. 24.

    rikyrah

    February 7, 2017 at 6:53 am

    Good Morning,Everyone??

  25. 25.

    Baud

    February 7, 2017 at 6:53 am

    @rikyrah: @rikyrah: Good morning.

  26. 26.

    Kay

    February 7, 2017 at 6:57 am

    @Baud:

    Unions are complicated. Building trades often back people who promise infrastructure, for obvious reasons. Service workers (who tend to be more diverse and more female) are less focused on trade than manufacturing unions are, again, for obvious reasons. Service unions are “place based employment” – so although they are more diverse and more female, you run into anti-immigration among them because immigration brings workers IN, and that cuts into the advantage of “place based” workers, which is that their jobs can’t be shipped out. That’s just private sector. Public sector unions also have goals that diverge- police are much further Right than teachers, for example. You run into alliances you wouldn’t see anywhere else- the opposition to Kasich’s public union gutting law in Ohio cities was literally police joining with mostly AA civil servants- office workers.

  27. 27.

    Baud

    February 7, 2017 at 6:59 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    “BREAKING: AP analysis: More than half those who met Clinton as Cabinet secretary gave money to Clinton Foundation.”

    Never forget. Never forgive.

  28. 28.

    Baud

    February 7, 2017 at 7:01 am

    @Kay: Right. But that complexity suggests that the day of true general strike is long gone, no?

  29. 29.

    Kay

    February 7, 2017 at 7:02 am

    @Immanentize:

    I think they’ve earned credibility. The prize goes to those who show up and they showed up last time. They did an amazing job.

  30. 30.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 7, 2017 at 7:04 am

    @Kay: Question: A lot of times when they try to gut public sector unions, they exempt police and fire departments. Shouldn’t that be challengeable under the equal protection clause?

  31. 31.

    Baud

    February 7, 2017 at 7:05 am

    @Kay: Agree. If it doesn’t work out, move on to the next thing.

  32. 32.

    Aimai

    February 7, 2017 at 7:07 am

    @Schlemazel: there is no filibuster.

  33. 33.

    TidyCat

    February 7, 2017 at 7:07 am

    @Betty Cracker: @oldster
    read this by Erik Loomis at LGM

  34. 34.

    Lapassionara

    February 7, 2017 at 7:09 am

    Good morning. Has anyone else heard that there is an asteroid hurtling toward earth? My son tells me ETA February 16. Or is this something the Onion cooked up?

  35. 35.

    Kay

    February 7, 2017 at 7:09 am

    @Baud:

    To keep people engaged they’ll have to do more than just repeat the last march. I wouldn’t focus so much on the specific historical meaning of “general strike”. There could never be a general strike with modern labor union structure now anyway even if everyone belonged to one- labor unions are regulated in ways they weren’t in the 1930’s. They’re rule-bound. They can’t just walk off. Federal regulation of labor unions wasn’t to protect workers- it was to tame unions- put them within a regulated structure, reduce uncertainty and chaos for business.

    The point is work has value. All work. I’m for that, whoever advances it. Democrats should focus on it more.

  36. 36.

    Baud

    February 7, 2017 at 7:11 am

    @Lapassionara: You’re just trying to make us feel better.

  37. 37.

    debbie

    February 7, 2017 at 7:13 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    “Cash in” on the office? She’s more Trumpian than Trump.

  38. 38.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    February 7, 2017 at 7:14 am

    It may only take 3.5% of the population to topple a dictator – with civil resistance

  39. 39.

    debbie

    February 7, 2017 at 7:14 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    I know I’d lose my job.

  40. 40.

    Baud

    February 7, 2017 at 7:15 am

    @Kay: I’d feel better about that principle if we guaranteed everyone a job.

  41. 41.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 7, 2017 at 7:17 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    Every accusation he made on Hill was pure projection not so much as a deliberate lie, but because that is his assumption of what everyone else does – the constant hustle.

  42. 42.

    Betty Cracker

    February 7, 2017 at 7:19 am

    President Cray-Cray is on Twitter again:

    I don’t know Putin, have no deals in Russia, and the haters are going crazy – yet Obama can make a deal with Iran, #1 in terror, no problem!

    Good lord. First, he’s repeatedly lied, on camera, about his relationship with Putin, saying he knows Putin when he thinks that’ll bolster his credibility and claiming he does not when he has reason to obscure the association. Second, he’s conflating personal financial dealings with nation-state agreements — WTF? And since he won’t release his tax returns, we have no idea how in hock he is to the Russians. The man is unstable and not very bright. WASF.

  43. 43.

    Kay

    February 7, 2017 at 7:20 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I don’t know. Police and fire unions are essentially barred from striking because there’s a public safety exception. Maybe that somehow works the other way too- they can be exempted from broad laws covering other public service workers.

    This stuff is complicated partly because it evolved over decades but also because it intersects with labor laws. People jeer at teacher contracts which are often drafted really tightly as far as work hours but there was a reason for that- teachers weren’t eligible for overtime (there’s an overtime exception) and they were female and low status and they were taken advantage of- the contracts were a response to that.

  44. 44.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 7, 2017 at 7:22 am

    @Lapassionara: There is always an asteroid hurtling in the general direction of Earth. I wouldn’t sweat it.

  45. 45.

    Baud

    February 7, 2017 at 7:22 am

    @Betty Cracker: Obama released his taxes.

  46. 46.

    oldster

    February 7, 2017 at 7:24 am

    @TidyCat:

    Thanks so much, TidyCat!

    You may have noticed that I mentioned Erik Loomis in my earlier comment, and referred to the piece that you have linked (and EL in turn links to the piece by Gourevitch that I also referred to).

    So I read it yesterday, and found it entirely irrelevant. A nice trip down memory lane, a good reminder of the history of the labor movement. I have learned a lot from Loomis over the years, about the history of Labor and also the Civil Right’s movement. He’s an excellent historian.

    But what happened really has nothing to do with the Women’s March call for a General Strike later this spring.

    If the Women’s March organizers go ahead with their call for a General Strike, then they will also lay out what they mean by it and what they hope to accomplish. Obviously I hope that they set their sights on achievable objectives, and I hope that the actual results smashes the expectations.

    Most of the world are not labor historians. What “General Strike” meant in 1926 will be only as relevant as the public makes it. I know that Fox News will try to make that the benchmark, in order to ratchet up the expectations and the sense of danger. I hope that they will not be assisted by people who are sticklers for historical purity.

  47. 47.

    debbie

    February 7, 2017 at 7:24 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    In that O’Reilly interview, he sounded like a silly, lovestruck teenaged girl when talking about Putin.

  48. 48.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 7, 2017 at 7:24 am

    @Baud: It was reported that Dolt45 was wandering the White House at night in his bath robe, Spokes Spice said he doesn’t own a bath robe. Has Dolt45 become Baud-like?

  49. 49.

    Betty Cracker

    February 7, 2017 at 7:25 am

    @TidyCat: I did, and I assume Oldster did as well from reference to LGM in the comment to which I replied. ETA – What Oldster said.

  50. 50.

    Kay

    February 7, 2017 at 7:26 am

    @Baud:

    I admit it’s tough. I don’t want to go back to Clinton where there was a definite demonizing of people who can’t work, but I also don’t want to pursue the modern Democratic message, which sounds too much like “we only value college graduates”. OTOH, you want to encourage people to get an education and not exclude what Obama calls “strivers”.

    Broadly, the idea is to meet people where they are. If you’re talking to low wage workers talk about that work, not some possible work they might better pursue. Stop advising them and start advocating for them.

  51. 51.

    bemused

    February 7, 2017 at 7:26 am

    Dump and WH have been abnormally quiet about McCarthy’s amazing send-up of Spicer but word out they don’t like looking weak. First thing that popped into my mind was Rudy Giuliani in drag with Dump’s face in Rudy’s neck and bosom. I regret looking up the youtube and watching it again. Now those images are going to stay in my head. Gah!

  52. 52.

    MomSense

    February 7, 2017 at 7:26 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    He’s a dumbass. Aside from his obvious stupidity, there is also the issue that he seems to lack the basic knowledge required for someone to serve at the highest levels of government. I suspect that if the press had asked him basic civics questions he would have failed. I bet if he had been asked to take a citizenship test he would have failed.

  53. 53.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 7, 2017 at 7:26 am

    @Kay: OK, thanx. Just a thought that has been niggling at me for quite some time.

  54. 54.

    amk

    February 7, 2017 at 7:27 am

    I am betting the con clown will quit once he realizes that he is boxed in in terms of him or his family making money out of presidency. I have sacrificed enough and lost enough already, so I quit will be the lame reason.

  55. 55.

    MomSense

    February 7, 2017 at 7:28 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    If he really wanted to end the rumors all he would have to do is release several years of tax returns.

  56. 56.

    Iowa Old Lady

    February 7, 2017 at 7:29 am

    Your morning madness:

    Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 18m
    18 minutes ago

    More
    I don’t know Putin, have no deals in Russia, and the haters are going crazy – yet Obama can make a deal with Iran, #1 in terror, no problem!

  57. 57.

    Baud

    February 7, 2017 at 7:29 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: He could do worse.

  58. 58.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 7, 2017 at 7:31 am

    @MomSense: And the people who voted for him still would have voted for him anyway.

  59. 59.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 7, 2017 at 7:31 am

    @Baud: You mean he will do worse.

  60. 60.

    Baud

    February 7, 2017 at 7:34 am

    @bemused: I’m waiting for SNL to portray him with Putin, shirtless and with big man boobs.

  61. 61.

    Baud

    February 7, 2017 at 7:34 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Guaranteed.

  62. 62.

    Kay

    February 7, 2017 at 7:35 am

    Providing a way for people to express opposition or be heard is an objective. The Senate Democrats who are opposing DeVos won’t achieve anything. What they are doing is acting as advocates- they are expressing the opposition of their constituents. Sometimes people who have no chance of winning in court want a hearing. They want a hearing because they want to be heard. They have no other objective. This is an important thing! It’s a big part of advocacy.

  63. 63.

    satby

    February 7, 2017 at 7:36 am

    @debbie: it would cause big problems for me too, to go to the Women’s March I had to take the day off as we work Saturdays. Saturday was a good day for turnout since most people have it off, so was the unseasonably nice weather in much of the country. Those factors helped boost turnout beyond expectations and we’re all really happy it did; I’m just sceptical that a “strike” is a good follow up. Though most of the women in my predominantly female place of work supported the Women’s March to varying degrees I was the only one who went. They didn’t think of themselves as marchers or protesters… But I bet a few more would go to another march. Not too sure a “strike” would get them in action, and we need to pull in the tepid but inactive supporters.

  64. 64.

    Baud

    February 7, 2017 at 7:37 am

    @Kay: I hope they are rewarded or they will stop doing it.

  65. 65.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 7, 2017 at 7:37 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    My assumption is that most of the nutty morning tweets are done from the toilet.

  66. 66.

    MomSense

    February 7, 2017 at 7:39 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I’ve been saying for a long time that the Republicans simplify issues to a ridiculous extent like turning all foreign policy into strength vs weak/feckless/apologies in order to make their voters feel smart. Republicans can’t discuss issues beyond the talking points. Hell half their talking points are in contradiction. All you have to do to reveal the flaws in their arguments is keep asking follow up questions. Unfortunately there are only about a handful of reporters who attempt to do this.

  67. 67.

    MomSense

    February 7, 2017 at 7:40 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    Oh gross. That is a terrible mental image.

  68. 68.

    TidyCat

    February 7, 2017 at 7:40 am

    @oldster: first? Apologies for my brain working faster than I type because I was thinking “I assume you have read” and hadn’t yet seen your comment referencing it yet.

    Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a purity pony in any sense just a idk, history sponge?

    Obviously I hope that they set their sights on achievable objectives, and I hope that the actual results smashes the expectations.

    I’m pretty sure that was the point Loomis was trying to make. Regardless? I couldn’t agree with you more in that!

  69. 69.

    Kay

    February 7, 2017 at 7:42 am

    @Baud:

    They poisoned the well for DeVos. She was getting opposition from places like Nebraska. Public schools aren’t federal agencies. To reach them in any real way she needs their consent and cooperation. She won’t get it.

  70. 70.

    Amanda in the South Bay

    February 7, 2017 at 7:44 am

    @Schlemazel: Wasn’t the filibuster gotten rid of for cabinet nominees?

  71. 71.

    TidyCat

    February 7, 2017 at 7:44 am

    @Betty Cracker: yeah. What @oldster said. I do try to keep up but you all comment faster than I can type (^o^)/

  72. 72.

    bemused

    February 7, 2017 at 7:46 am

    @Baud:

    Thank you very little for adding that image to my daymares.

  73. 73.

    Baud

    February 7, 2017 at 7:46 am

    @Kay: Good. I suppose there’s an argument that it’s better at this point if she’s confirmed.

  74. 74.

    debbie

    February 7, 2017 at 7:47 am

    @Baud:

    There’s a photo on my FB feed of a shirtless Putin doing a reach-around on a closed-eyed Trump. I can’t unsee it.

  75. 75.

    Baud

    February 7, 2017 at 7:50 am

    @debbie: When even the BDSM people scream No Mas!

  76. 76.

    Betty Cracker

    February 7, 2017 at 7:51 am

    Trump’s comments last night on his relationship with President Obama are revealing. Here’s an excerpt from the O’Reilly interview:

    “It’s a very strange phenomenon. We get along. I don’t know if he’ll admit this, but he likes me. I like him because I can feel it. That’s what I do in life – it’s called like, I understand.”

    As a person who is utterly devoid of grace and humility, Trump misinterprets Obama’s politeness and attention to duty as personal regard for himself. Trump understands nothing, being compelled by his untreated personality disorder to filter everything through the distorted lens of his own bloated ego. Watching his multiple pathologies unfold would be a fascinating case study if they didn’t imperil the nation and the world.

  77. 77.

    Another Scott

    February 7, 2017 at 7:51 am

    @Schlemazel: If all the taxi drivers could be persuaded to participate, it could have a big impact. Especially at IAD and DCA. I know there was a quick attempt in NYC when the ban was first announced, but it didn’t happen in DC AFAIK.

    When I was growing up in the ’60s, there were nationwide strikes not all that infrequently. Some lasted for many weeks. My senior year of high school the teachers went on strike for a week or more. Labor power has lessened over time, but they/we still have the ability to get the MoTU’s attention if we act together. It won’t be easy, but we won’t get power more equitably balanced without fighting for it.

    It’ll be interesting to see what happens…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  78. 78.

    Kay

    February 7, 2017 at 7:51 am

    Disgraced charter school founder Steven J. Ingersoll will be spending his federal incarceration time at a Minnesota facility.

    Here’s one of the awesome school “operators” DeVos backed.

    Ingersoll, 63, started his 41-month sentence at Federal Prison Camp Duluth on Thursday, Feb. 2, a prison employee confirmed. The prison is located about seven miles north of the Minnesota port city, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The minimum security camp is located on the former Duluth Air Force Base. It currently houses 503 male inmates.

    It’s a wild story. He’s an eye doctor and he had a crackpot theory about learning- that it was connected to eye measurements in some way. That was the snake oil. The eye measurement theory. He was eventually prosecuted NOT for ripping off the state of Michigan but for defrauding Chemical Bank. They were fine with this absolute bullshit until he stole from a bank, then the hammer came down! :)

  79. 79.

    satby

    February 7, 2017 at 7:51 am

    @oldster: you found Loomis’ piece irrelevant? I consider him spot on, and I’ve been a protester since the Vietnam years. This

    It would be reasonable for workers to dismiss the call for a general strike.

    (from Loomis)
    is what is likely to happen in a lot of places because the reality of work in most of this country is that people could and would lose their jobs. That’s not a historical trip down memory lane, and potential allies will resent being put in that position. Coming off a greater than expected success to call for this smacks of hubris.

  80. 80.

    Kay

    February 7, 2017 at 7:55 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    I think it’s hilarious how he name-drops the more popular Obamas like they are celebrities. He does it at rallies! He lobs out “Michelle Obama” so the wingnuts can feast on it like fresh meat, then says that she’s nice. It’s just so fucked up and pathetic.

  81. 81.

    TidyCat

    February 7, 2017 at 7:55 am

    @Kay:

    Sometimes people who have no chance of winning in court want a hearing. They want a hearing because they want to be heard. They have no other objective. This is an important thing! It’s a big part of advocacy.

    This is the essence of what I think we are asking for from our elected democrats now. Not to win this or that battle today – just for us to be heard in opposition. The Chinese have a saying for that:

    C滴水穿石 Dripping water wears away stone

  82. 82.

    Currants

    February 7, 2017 at 7:57 am

    @RedDirtGirl: Awesome article–thanks for posting that! Also fun to see the … hmmm … matrinymic? form (-dottir) that is still in use for girls there, unlike the other Scandinavian countries

  83. 83.

    efgoldman

    February 7, 2017 at 7:57 am

    @Kay:

    To keep people engaged they’ll have to do more than just repeat the last march. I wouldn’t focus so much on the specific historical meaning of “general strike”.

    Maybe all of those people that Tangerine Torquemada has put back to work in the coal mines and steel mills could walk out for the day.
    Oh, wait….

  84. 84.

    Kay

    February 7, 2017 at 7:59 am

    @TidyCat:

    It’s really important, I have learned. They want someone on their side. It isn’t about checking boxes or “objectives” – it has value all by itself. It is literally “stand up for me”.

  85. 85.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 7, 2017 at 8:03 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: It is not possible that a 70-year-old well-off white guy doesn’t own a bathrobe.

  86. 86.

    oldster

    February 7, 2017 at 8:06 am

    @satby:

    I’m not sure how much we are disagreeing on substance here.

    Of course lots of workers will not be able to leave their jobs on that day, and that’s reasonable for them not to get involved. Of course we are not going to see transportation paralyzed, factories idled, and so on. There are about 123 million full-time employees in the US right now, and very very few of them will be able to leave their jobs on whatever day this occurs.

    But if 95% of them have to stay at their jobs, that still means 5+ million people making noise in one day. And that will be a Biden BFD–provided that we don’t let Fox News set the terms for success in advance.

    I think we’re just arguing over who owns the rights to the phrase “general strike,” and my view is that language changes, and the use of language partly depends on who is using it.

    If the AFL-CIO had come out with an announcement saying that they were calling for a general strike, then I would be right there with Loomis, saying, “good luck with that, fellas” The days when one union could call for a “strike” in the sense of an organized union action, and count on other unions (much less non-union labor) to honor and observe it, are long gone, and tragically so.

    But the announcement I saw yesterday did not come from the AFL-CIO. It came from the Women’s March. We all know that they don’t control the labor unions. So when they call for a general strike, they mean something different by it.

    We’ll see what they have in mind–I hope (again) that it will be something achievable, and that it will be glorious. But I’m not going to start dismissing it in advance by reference to what the phrase “general strike” used to mean back when there was a stronger labor movement.

  87. 87.

    efgoldman

    February 7, 2017 at 8:09 am

    @Kay:

    They poisoned the well for DeVos. She was getting opposition from places like Nebraska.

    There’s a gofundme out there to “buy back” Toomey’s vote by outspending the contributions she gave him. It has far exceeded the goal.
    Did they try to give him the $$? Did he take it?
    Inquiring minds….

  88. 88.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 7, 2017 at 8:12 am

    OT: Infrared pic of Downtown LA with restored color(reds and blues).

  89. 89.

    Kay

    February 7, 2017 at 8:12 am

    I wonder how the FBI investigation into Trump’s connection to Russian interference in the election is coming.

    I’d just like to congratulate the ethical professionals at the IRS, in comparison to Comey’s FBI.

    Trump’s tax returns are probably the single most-wanted document in this country and there hasn’t been the slightest leak or politicization from the IRS. Not one word.

  90. 90.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 7, 2017 at 8:13 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Especially one that “owns” hotels, fucker doesn’t even have to steal them.

  91. 91.

    Baud

    February 7, 2017 at 8:14 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I like it.

  92. 92.

    Kay

    February 7, 2017 at 8:16 am

    @efgoldman:

    Toomey doesn’t know anything either. He said yesterday there are no for-profit charter schools in Pennsylvania. Absolutely, 100%, not true. There was actually a high profile charter school prosecution in Pennsylvania. The affidavit was wild. They were exchanging bags of cash in a Pizza Hut parking lot. The state treasurer in Pennsylvania regularly uses the case as an example of lax regulation.

  93. 93.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 7, 2017 at 8:17 am

    @Baud: Thanks, I think it’s really aesthetically pleasing to restore the colors that get lost with IR and the post processing(otherwise you end up with red skies).

  94. 94.

    TidyCat

    February 7, 2017 at 8:17 am

    @satby: I don’t want to start and/or be in the middle of a flame war here because none of you know me but you just pointed out the one thing that stuck out in my mind to even make me comment – history is *never* irrelevant. It can applied in productive ways or not – that’s our choice. I certainly think @oldster has a grasp of this and is working/thinking towards a very positive goal! How it worked in the past can’t be directly applied to the current environment was Loomis’s point as you mentioned. But that doesn’t mean the tactic of a rolling general strike that does fit today’s reality can’t work if done smartly as I interpret @oldster

  95. 95.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 7, 2017 at 8:18 am

    I was just thinking about camp’s and internment.

    A lawyer in my office is from Bosnia and arrived as a refugee (she was a youngish Yugoslavian lawyer, her husband a gynecologist – they had resources, so they managed to get out early). She’d been born in Dubrovnik and they were living in Sarajevo. Describes herself as “communist atheist Muslim”, which makes sense.

    She’s an American citizen now, but her parents and in laws still live in the vicinity of Sarajevo and she visits there a few times a year. What she reports happens as civil order breaks down is that quite often your oppressors are people you were previously acquainted with or even considered as “friends”; this fact stuns you into a paralysis and a belief that this will pass and things will get better. Unfortunately, those people who are known to you – have the same amusements, have friends in common – listen to the firehose of propaganda from the regime stirring the division and come to be more brutal and inhumane, and that while they may not be the ones to target you personally for real brutality, they’ll target those who they don’t know, and won’t really help when people unknown to you target you.

    I could see that happening here, and not just with regard to Muslims.

  96. 96.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 7, 2017 at 8:19 am

    @Kay: They learned their lesson when they were targeting Tea Party groups who were engaging in political actions.

  97. 97.

    Jeffro

    February 7, 2017 at 8:21 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    So Melanoma’s suit against the Daily Mail reveals she was going to “cash in” on status as FLOTUS, and the escort stories impacted that. Some folks have been uncomfortable with criticism of her.

    An ex-escort looking to cash in on her newfound status…as the (3rd) trophy wife of a man the world loathes…you really can’t make this stuff up. I guess it’s hard to sell when the market (or rather, the nation) is so severely depressed.

  98. 98.

    TidyCat

    February 7, 2017 at 8:22 am

    @oldster: apparently we agree on this. You’re just better at saying it than I am m(_ _)m

    Also I type slow and miss shit upthread

  99. 99.

    Tenar Arha (same Tenar, more Nameless Ones)

    February 7, 2017 at 8:23 am

    @satby: I’ve seen mentioned a nationwide “General Strike” on Friday Feb. 17th with the stipulation that if you realistically can take the day don’t work or buy stuff. See this in Cosmopolitan, which sounds more like a consumer strike combined with elements of a day long strike like in France but without getting the unions involved.

  100. 100.

    Jeffro

    February 7, 2017 at 8:23 am

    @Kay: Oh. I thought it was because she’s a moron AND a Koch in Dutch clothing.

  101. 101.

    TidyCat

    February 7, 2017 at 8:30 am

    @Kay: I worked for 10 years at a state revenue department. My job in IT gave me access to literally everyone’s tax info. Half my job was making sure we knew which employee accessed what and why. Anyone caught without a reason was escorted out quickly and quietly (and we had many ways to know). It was a silly point of honor that those of who could look never did. But I’m still waiting for that one IRS employee to download it and walk out the door and not look back

  102. 102.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 7, 2017 at 8:30 am

    @Tenar Arha (same Tenar, more Nameless Ones):

    I note that Buzzfeed, Cosmo and Teen Vogue weren’t in the pre-election scrum of email stories, Wikileaks repetition or Trump fluffing.

    They got the “serious” NYT beat all to hell.

  103. 103.

    Yarrow

    February 7, 2017 at 8:40 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    So Melanoma’s suit against the Daily Mail reveals she was going to “cash in” on status as FLOTUS, and the escort stories impacted that. Some folks have been uncomfortable with criticism of her.

    I wonder if this lawsuit was initiated by Donald and he told her to sign the paperwork? Or, did she initiate it to show him she can? You know she has to have some dirt on Donald that would really hurt him if it came out. Did the Russians make Donald do this as an exercise in humiliation?

  104. 104.

    delk

    February 7, 2017 at 8:50 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Awesome shot!

  105. 105.

    p.a.

    February 7, 2017 at 8:51 am

    Failed MSM not reporting stories of imaginary terror attacks. Failed MSM reporting administration whinging of failed MSM not reporting imaginary terror attacks. Fail^2. Or fail!

  106. 106.

    satby

    February 7, 2017 at 8:53 am

    @oldster: @TidyCat: @Tenar Arha (same Tenar, more Nameless Ones): words have meanings, and if you have to go into a multi paragraph explanation of how “general strike” doesn’t mean general strike, you’re losing. First rule of organizing, make it easy for people to join in. From Alinsky: “”The end is what you want, the means is how you get it. Whenever we think about social change, the question of means and ends arises. The man of action views the issue of means and ends in pragmatic and strategic terms. He has no other problem; he thinks only of his actual resources and the possibilities of various choices of action. He asks of ends only whether they are achievable and worth the cost; of means, only whether they will work”

    And I got the announcement from the Women’s March organizers too. I don’t belong to a union, I work in a service sector job at just over minimum wage in a red state.

  107. 107.

    Tenar Arha (same Tenar, more Nameless Ones)

    February 7, 2017 at 8:54 am

    @Yarrow: With an up front argument like this, how does she (her attorneys) expect to get through discovery without revealing financial information about their finances?

  108. 108.

    JordanRules

    February 7, 2017 at 8:57 am

    I hope Sessions and his racism get at least as much blowback as DeVos.

    Howard Stern said in his recent interview about his “friend” that he wants us to find a reason to call the whole thing off. And this is one of the motivations he has for the voter fraud story. Interesting.

  109. 109.

    Immanentize

    February 7, 2017 at 8:57 am

    @efgoldman:

    Tangerine Torquemada

    I hadn’t seen this one before — Like!

  110. 110.

    Yarrow

    February 7, 2017 at 8:58 am

    @Tenar Arha (same Tenar, more Nameless Ones): And maybe that’s the point of the lawsuit? To force Donald’s hand. “Either you do/sign/give me X or I’m going ahead with this lawsuit and tax returns will be part of it.”

  111. 111.

    Shalimar

    February 7, 2017 at 8:59 am

    @Betty Cracker: proposed Daily Mail answer: “Ivanka already has all of that crap and her brand is dying even though no one has called her a prostitute.”

  112. 112.

    Shalimar

    February 7, 2017 at 9:04 am

    @Yarrow: Quick check of those theories: do her attorneys also work for Donald?

  113. 113.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 7, 2017 at 9:04 am

    @delk: Thanks, it’s from a small nature park just west of Downtown. I thought it’d work well for IR with the greenery in the foregound. I’ll return there once I can get back there, not have auto transportation makes things difficult.

  114. 114.

    rikyrah

    February 7, 2017 at 9:07 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Amen

  115. 115.

    Immanentize

    February 7, 2017 at 9:08 am

    Where is the real fake news about this administration?
    Something like the National Enquirer would do if it weren’t in the Trump bag?
    Headlines like:
    “Bannon Secretly Goes into Rehab — with Bono!”
    “Bannon Involved in Templar Plot to Assassinate Pope”
    “Trump’s Fountain of Youth — Transfusions Taken from Pre-Teens”
    (This last one could be co-titled “Trump is a Vampire.”)

  116. 116.

    Yarrow

    February 7, 2017 at 9:08 am

    @Shalimar: Good question. I’m not sure how to find out.

  117. 117.

    rikyrah

    February 7, 2017 at 9:09 am

    @Kay:
    I knew that she was bad news from jump street

  118. 118.

    rikyrah

    February 7, 2017 at 9:11 am

    @Betty Cracker:
    he really tweeted that????

  119. 119.

    Yarrow

    February 7, 2017 at 9:15 am

    @Immanentize: The actual news is so unreal, it’s hard for even the likes of The Onion to compete.

  120. 120.

    Shalimar

    February 7, 2017 at 9:16 am

    @rikyrah: Trump is the worst liar I have ever heard of. “I don’t know Putin.” He literally talked with Putin on the phone for an hour from the Oval Office 10 days ago. Jesus. That is brazen.

  121. 121.

    delk

    February 7, 2017 at 9:18 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: It reminds me of the jigsaw puzzles I have been doing on my iPad in lieu of watching the news. :-)

  122. 122.

    satby

    February 7, 2017 at 9:19 am

    @Shalimar: or tge dementia theory is accurate and his short term memory is shot.

  123. 123.

    Woodrowfan

    February 7, 2017 at 9:19 am

    the whole rack of tabloids in the supermarket, not just the Enquirer, have gone full tilt loony on smashing Hillary and boosting Trump. Most6 people don’t believe it, but it adds to all the info pollution and primes people to be more receptive to such stories in most “respectable” sources.

  124. 124.

    Kay

    February 7, 2017 at 9:20 am

    @rikyrah:

    Republicans are saying she’s a “moderate”. Guffaw. She cleansed the Michigan legislature of moderate Republicans to get back at them for bucking her on taxes. She’s a far Right political operative and that’s all she is and that’s why she doesn’t know anything about education- “education” was just fertile ground for politicking. It could have been “health care” – doesn’t matter.

  125. 125.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 7, 2017 at 9:21 am

    @Tenar Arha (same Tenar, more Nameless Ones):

    Maybe they’ve been doing “married, filing separately”.

  126. 126.

    Kay

    February 7, 2017 at 9:22 am

    @Woodrowfan:

    I think it makes a difference. It’s wild that they’re now another Right wing news outlet. I wonder if it’s a mistake- if people who read those will get sick of the clear political agenda.

  127. 127.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 7, 2017 at 9:26 am

    @Kay:

    Betsy Fucking DeVos as a MODERATE!?!!?

    Jesus….

  128. 128.

    Shalimar

    February 7, 2017 at 9:30 am

    @Kay: I think it has to be a long-term mistake. The way things are going already, it is a matter of months before “Trump doing terrific job” becomes as much of a joke as “Martian impregnates Florida youth pastor.”

  129. 129.

    Immanentize

    February 7, 2017 at 9:30 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: The good thing about the Republicans saying she (and each other appointee) is a moderate is that they are admitting that is what their constituents demand. So then the fight can be over that adjective. And she is clearly not a moderate. They really have lost this one generally (but not in actual confirmation votes, sadly).

  130. 130.

    hovercraft

    February 7, 2017 at 9:32 am

    Here’s What Obama Has Been Up To Post-White House (VIDEO)

    Former President Obama was serious when he said that he would go on a vacation after leaving the White House.

    During his escape, billionaire Richard Branson challenged Obama to a kite surfing duel in the British Virgin Islands.

    Branson published photos and a video of the former president enjoying water sports on Tuesday.

  131. 131.

    Shalimar

    February 7, 2017 at 9:34 am

    @hovercraft: The contrast between current president and esteemed former president enjoying water sports has never been more stark.

  132. 132.

    CarolDuhart2

    February 7, 2017 at 9:34 am

    Isn’t that ridiculous for the tabloids? Hillary isn’t doing anything and is barely seen these days. But Donald insists on it because he can’t bear the thought that Hills is doing so well. People didn’t want her to be President-but only by a margin of 80,000 in four states. She won the popular vote. And her party isn’t abandoning her (Wilmer fanatics not included).

    The reason is that they have to keep up the anger on the Trumper side. The worry could be that the less committed ones could start peeling away.

  133. 133.

    Yarrow

    February 7, 2017 at 9:35 am

    @Woodrowfan: The tabloids are still bashing Hillary? Even now? She’s mostly stayed quiet since the election. What is there even to bash at this point? There’s nothing new out there.

  134. 134.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    February 7, 2017 at 9:39 am

    @Kay: I don’t suppose anyone has links? I couldn’t find anything on a quick google.

  135. 135.

    Yarrow

    February 7, 2017 at 9:40 am

    @hovercraft: That is AWESOME! Thanks for posting. That smile on Obama’s face is so great to see. He looks so relaxed and happy. A well deserved vacation.

  136. 136.

    Aleta

    February 7, 2017 at 9:44 am

    I buy a product. The one that’s delivered is not the one advertised when I chose it. The specs are quite different than what I was shown. I’ve got better protections than I do against these walking talking false advertisements.

  137. 137.

    hovercraft

    February 7, 2017 at 9:45 am

    @Shalimar:

    it is a matter of months before “Trump doing terrific job” becomes as much of a joke

    The only place that’s not a joke is with the GOP. No one else hears those words and laugh. Even the “give him a chance, he’s our president brigade”, are keeping their mouths shut already. He is managing to prove everything bad said about him in record time. If he was smart he would have gone the Shrub route and surrounded himself with people who had a clue, evil, soulless people, but at least they understood the system and knew how to run things, this idiot is so clueless he doesn’t know he’s clueless and that hiring a bunch of just as clueless morons makes him look even worse. The media as always will do all in their power to make him look better, but he’s even squandering their desire to kiss his ass by picking fights with them. All they want is to love him, but he’s too stupid to let them. His excuses are pathetic, the entire world at this point in his sad head is conspiring against him. He wrong that we are conspiring, but he’s right that we all hate him, and want to see him fail. Enjoy presidenting while being an ignorant asshole, you asked for it, and in the process became the most hated person on earth.

  138. 138.

    GregB

    February 7, 2017 at 9:46 am

    I hate to sound classist but the pretty much every news and media outlet that pride themselves in treating people like ignorant useless eaters and buffoons and petty and vindictive cretins are the ones that are all in for Trump.

    Idiocracy.

  139. 139.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 7, 2017 at 9:49 am

    @hovercraft: I hope his incompetence is visible to the masses who don’t pay much attention, but I can’t help wondering if we aren’t just the numerical equivalent of those right-wing dolts who spent 2009 sending around pics of BHO with a bone through his nose.

  140. 140.

    Immanentize

    February 7, 2017 at 9:52 am

    @Gin & Tonic: I think this too, sometimes, but then I look at the Women’s March and the spontaneous protests at airports and cities last week and I know we are different than those poor souls.

  141. 141.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 7, 2017 at 9:53 am

    @Immanentize: I know we are different, but is there more of us?

  142. 142.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 7, 2017 at 9:54 am

    @Immanentize:

    For the first time ever, my still-a-registered-Republican (but blue voting, or so she claims) spouse called our idiot senators.

    As she put it, because they’re Yertle and Ron Paul’s less bright spawn, it was a wasted effort, but she felt obligated.

  143. 143.

    hovercraft

    February 7, 2017 at 10:00 am

    @Yarrow:
    They need something to distract from what a shitty job the Trumpenfuror is doing, unfortunately for them, no one gives a shit what Hillary is up to anymore. No now it’s all Shitgibbon all the time, he loves attention, and now he’s going to get it like never before. All the crap and minutia we know about Hillary and Bill, we are about to learn about him and Melania, and that’s with I’m sure many more of their haters hiding in the woodwork. This presidency is going to be a boon to enterprising reporters willing to write about what’s really going on. He thought a Proctologist was intrusive, welcome to the presidency, cough, and again sir.

  144. 144.

    Kay

    February 7, 2017 at 10:07 am

    @Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:

    Sure. I only know about it because Trombetta is actually an OHIO charter school scammer. That’s where he started. Part of what they did was purchase a home for a girlfriend in Ohio with public funds. There was all this PA-OH overlap. It’s just the craziest story. The state treasurer screams about the lax regulation constantly but he’s completely ignored :)

    They know. They have to know.

  145. 145.

    hovercraft

    February 7, 2017 at 10:08 am

    Politico: SNL’s Sketch Angered Trump Because Spicer Was Played By A Woman

    Though White House press secretary Sean Spicer seemed to take “Saturday Night Live’s” impression of him in stride, his boss is reportedly not so happy about it.

    President Donald Trump was apparently displeased by the sketch, in which Spicer was depicted by a screaming, gum-swallowing, prop-wielding Melissa McCarthy, because, of all things, McCarthy is a woman, Politico reported Tuesday.

    “Trump doesn’t like his people to look weak,” an unnamed top Trump donor told Politico.

    The sketch was a latest ding on Spicer’s record, Politico reported, as he has already gotten into several beefs with the press and was mocked in his first week for everything from his insistence on Trump’s inauguration crowd size to his ill-fitting suit.

    Trump has repeatedly attacked “Saturday Night Live” on Twitter, but he so far has been silent on the Spicer skit.

    Spicer shrugged off the portrayal in an interview “Extra” on Sunday, saying that McCarthy was funny but that she should “slow down on the gum chewing.” But, Tuesday’s press briefing marks the first time that Spicer will be face to face with reporters who will undoubtably have questions about the sketch. In an interview with Politico Monday, Spicer tried to navigate away from SNL.

    “I would much rather have the focus be on the President’s agenda and the success he’s having,” he told the site. “That’s all I’m saying on it.”

    Awww they are so sad, why is SNL being mean and making them look bad.

  146. 146.

    lamh36

    February 7, 2017 at 10:10 am

    “Here is Barack Obama, wet, happy and magnificent, to make your morning a little better.”
    https://twitter.com/theonlyadult/status/828949984234070023

  147. 147.

    lamh36

    February 7, 2017 at 10:16 am

    @lamh36: oh and there’s video!

    https://youtu.be/Vqhw8kxVd2o

  148. 148.

    Kay

    February 7, 2017 at 10:16 am

    @hovercraft:

    I often don’t find “smackdowns” as great as other people do and I thought that was very funny. The whole “your word” bit was brilliant. You get such a sense of how hard it is to deal with lying and everyone has experienced that. Everyone knows what that’s like.

  149. 149.

    hovercraft

    February 7, 2017 at 10:17 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    So I think his job approval should be much lower, it’s been less than three weeks, yes I know that’s hard to believe. Even if the squishy middle has not come over to where the haters are yet, they are definitely already giving him the side eye. Obama was most unpopular at the height of the Tea Party protests. I think the people who don’t pay attention assume that if people are pissed off enough to be out protesting then you did something wrong, so if nothing else the protests are making them think he’s doing something wrong.

    How low can Donald Trump’s approval rating go?

    Since his inauguration, Donald Trump’s net approval rating — already at a historic low for an incoming president — has taken a further hit. According to the Pollster average, about 50 percent of Americans disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president while 43 percent approve, for a net approval rating of -7. In Gallup’s polling, Trump’s net approval is -10.

    So what next? At the end of Trump’s first 100 days, where will his approval rating be? As part of our First 100 Days forecasting tournament, conducted in partnership with Good Judgment, forecasters were asked this question: “What will Gallup report President Trump’s net approval rating to be on 28 April 2017?”

    Forecasters can choose from three options: below -15, between -15 and +15, or above +15. For comparison, President Barack Obama was at +22 in Gallup’s last poll. Here is a graph of the forecast:

    Click the link to see the graph.

    Forecasters believe the “middle” outcome is most likely, giving Trump a 72 percent chance of having a net approval rating between -15 and +15. They believe Trump has very little chance (6 percent) of attaining a more positive rating than +15. In fact, the forecasters give Trump about a 1-in-5 chance (22 percent) of ending his first 100 days in office with a net approval rating below -15.

    It is interesting too that there have not been sharp swings in the forecast, despite the dramatic events and controversies of Trump’s first weeks in office. This may imply that the drop in Trump’s net approval rating does not necessarily portend a larger drop (below -15), although that scenario isn’t impossible, either.

    Of course, the range between -15 and +15 is not small. A net approval rating of -10 has quite different political implications than +10. And this forecast does not provide a clear sense of where Trump’s current net approval rating is headed next. But the chances that it will fall significantly appear larger than the chances that it will rise significantly.

    Small wonder, then, that Trump and his staff are already rethinking their tactics.

  150. 150.

    Jerzy Russian

    February 7, 2017 at 10:17 am

    @Lapassionara: There is an asteroid that will come within about 50 million km of Earth, but will not collide. See this. For comparison, the Moon is about 384,000 km away.

  151. 151.

    Juju

    February 7, 2017 at 10:19 am

    @Shalimar: maybe he means know in the biblical sense.

  152. 152.

    Kay

    February 7, 2017 at 10:26 am

    Democrats have made a mistake focusing so much on Betsy DeVos rather than on Tom Price

    The NYTimes. Democrats will make a mistake if they think they can control every aspect of dissent. These things spark for a reason. This channeling is fruitless – “protest THIS, not THAT” is not the way this works. The people calling are VOLUNTEERS. Operatives don’t get to tell them what to care about. I get it, I really do, they’re “fact based data people” but just let the passionate people lead for a while. When they’re back in power they can return to droning on about the earned income tax credit and increasing subsidies :)

    Step back. The protestors are in front for now.

  153. 153.

    hovercraft

    February 7, 2017 at 10:29 am

    ‘Yes, The Future Is Female,’ Clinton Says In First Post-Inaugural Message

    Hillary Clinton made her first public statement following President Donald Trump’s inauguration in a video for the MAKERS Conference.

    Clinton’s “surprise video message,” the MAKERS Conference website said, kicked off the three-day event on Monday. MAKERS calls itself “the largest video collection of women’s stories” and its conference features videos, talks and interviews with activists, politicians and celebrities.

    “Despite all the challenges we face, I remain convinced that, yes, the future is female,” Clinton said in the video. “Just look at the amazing energy we saw last month as women organized a march that galvanized millions of people all over our country and across the world.”

    “We need strong women to step up and speak out. We need you to dare greatly and lead boldly,” she added. “So please, set an example for every woman and girl out there who’s worried about what the future holds, and wonders whether our rights, opportunities, and values will endure. And remember, you are the heroes and history-makers, the glass ceiling breakers of the future.”

    Clinton closed the message with a call-back to her concession speech on Nov. 9, the morning after Election Day.

    “As I’ve said before, I’ll say again: Never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every change and opportunity in the world,” she said.

    Watch Clinton’s message below:

  154. 154.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    February 7, 2017 at 10:29 am

    @Kay: TY! Still looking for the Toomey quote.

    The people I’d be passing this on to have Rules about sharing unsourced reports these days. Even things I think of a common knowledge get hit with requests for sources. (And then they’re proven to not actually be common knowledge, like the size of the favor Sen. Burr, sir, and his pal Tillis owe DeVos.)

  155. 155.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 7, 2017 at 10:31 am

    @Kay:

    I once had an interesting case where a C suite offficer of a decent-sized corporation was looking at filing a dissolution of his union to a long term spouse, but was disinclined to file after learning that his cash purchase of a largish home for a mistress and retention of the title interest was going to inspire a great deal of scrutiny of his overall financial practices over a large number of years.

    Might have been one of the dumbest tools I ever spoke to. I was glad he walked away – I’d have have to have killed him.

  156. 156.

    Kay

    February 7, 2017 at 10:39 am

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    Trombetta was smart. He hired tons of locals who then had an incentive to keep the scam going. It was a cash machine. Pennsylvania reimburses cyber schools at the same rate as brick and mortar and they’re of course much cheaper. They had so much money they didn’t know where to put it all.

  157. 157.

    The Moar You Know

    February 7, 2017 at 10:50 am

    How low can Donald Trump’s approval rating go?

    @hovercraft: Just coming off the idiot middle who thought he would probably be a better president than Hillary because speaking fees. His approval among Republicans is still north of 80%.

  158. 158.

    Yarrow

    February 7, 2017 at 10:50 am

    @Kay:

    The people calling are VOLUNTEERS.

    Haven’t you heard, Kay? The protesters are paid. By George Soros, I think. That’s the talking point in wingnuttia.

  159. 159.

    Mnemosyne

    February 7, 2017 at 11:00 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    That’s what I do in life – it’s called like, I understand.

    Narcissists are vaguely aware that there’s this thing called “empathy” that other people claim exists, but they aren’t quite sure what it feels like. Their attempts to show that they do too understand what other people are thinking and feeling can be quite comical if it doesn’t affect you personally. Unfortunately, every fucking thing Trump does now affects us personally.

  160. 160.

    chopper

    February 7, 2017 at 11:14 am

    @Betty Cracker:

    it’s part and parcel of the massive inferiority complex that accompanies this sort of malignant narcissism. he has to reframe absolutely everything in terms of the other person having personal regard for him.

  161. 161.

    J R in WV

    February 7, 2017 at 7:32 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    “It is not possible that a 70-year-old well-off white guy doesn’t own a bathrobe.”

    I’m only 66, and I have one. It’s terry cloth, and one shoulder is torn. Way torn! It’s too short, too, the belt crosses below my chest. But it’s a robe, and it’s mine!

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