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You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Hail to the Hairpiece / Turning Americanese

Turning Americanese

by John Cole|  March 21, 20172:09 pm| 111 Comments

This post is in: Hail to the Hairpiece

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Posted without comment:

During a panel discussion on “Anderson Cooper 360” Monday evening, Lord and seven other commentators discussed the president’s baseless claims that President Barack Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower during the campaign. When the conversation turned to Trump’s credibility, Lord appeared to be the lone guest unwilling to call the president a liar.

On an average day, that might have been par for the course for Lord, who has established himself as a reliable Trump booster since joining CNN as a paid analyst in the summer of 2015.

But Lord’s interlocutors weren’t having it. Hours earlier, FBI Director James B. Comey had snuffed out Trump’s wiretapping allegations, testifying under oath that there was “no information” indicating Obama had spied on his campaign. Even Comey was calling Trump a liar, they argued.

Lord saw it differently, repeating the claim by some Trump backers that he didn’t mean what he said about wiretapping and therefore couldn’t be lying.

Trump, he said, was speaking “Americanese” when he tweeted that Obama had orchestrated a “Nixon/Watergate” plot against him. The president’s supporters knew what he meant, but Washington insiders didn’t and blew it out of proportion.

Cooper and other guests seemed baffled.

My head hurts.

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Reader Interactions

111Comments

  1. 1.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 21, 2017 at 2:11 pm

    CNN alert says the UK is also banning in-cabin laptops etc. from flights coming from many Middle Eastern countries “based on intelligence warnings”.

  2. 2.

    Gravenstone

    March 21, 2017 at 2:12 pm

    You want Americanese, Mr. Lord? Shut your fucking pie hole, you inbred fucking imbecile of a Trump ass kisser. Is that profane and “American” enough for ya, asshole?

  3. 3.

    Mnemosyne

    March 21, 2017 at 2:12 pm

    I think “Americanese” is the new code word for “dog whistling.”

    Now my question is what Trump’s fans heard when he said that.

  4. 4.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 21, 2017 at 2:15 pm

    Cooper and other guests seemed baffled.

    To quote* Dorothy Parker, when she was told that President Calvin Coolidge had died: “How can they tell?”

    *(Quite likely apocryphal. I don’t care. It’s a good line.)

  5. 5.

    Rasputin's Evil Twin

    March 21, 2017 at 2:16 pm

    I never thought mental illnesses were contagious, but in this White House anything goes. Does anyone else wonder if the lesser courtiers whisper among themselves, “Is the King mad?” a la the ones around George III ?

  6. 6.

    Thoroughly Pizzled

    March 21, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    Donald J. Trump, a premier linguist of our time. Real Noam Chomsky type.

  7. 7.

    Mike J

    March 21, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Laptop batteries store a lot of energy. (also too: https://qz.com/632603/another-laptop-bomb-has-exploded-in-somalia/)

    It’s a pity the US government doesn’t have any credibility.

  8. 8.

    germy

    March 21, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    Where did CNN find Lord? From what I understand he’s an old crank who lives with his mother. CNN sends a limo to pick him up, and then after each performance they drive him back to Mother’s house.
    http://www.pennlive.com/news/2016/09/camp_hills_jeffrey_lord_a_trum.html

  9. 9.

    Hunter Gathers

    March 21, 2017 at 2:20 pm

    Americanese – Inbred redneck dialect only spoken by those with an innate fear of black people. Highly popular in rural and southern areas of the US, it is a direct result of the shunning of educational standards. White people who do not understand the dialect’s quirks are usually labeled as ‘nigger lovers who weren’t raised right’. Coversations spoken in this dialect always begin with the prefix ‘I’m a Christian’. People who are fluent in this dialect are mostly illiterate, willfully ignorant, and give off an odor that smells like a mixture of cheap, brown liquor and crystal meth.

  10. 10.

    germy

    March 21, 2017 at 2:20 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Most biographers don’t quote Robert Benchley’s reply to Dorothy’s “How can they tell?” question.

    Benchley said “He had an erection.”

  11. 11.

    Corner Stone

    March 21, 2017 at 2:21 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    CNN alert says the UK is also banning in-cabin laptops etc. from flights coming from many Middle Eastern countries “based on intelligence warnings”.

    I really don’t know what to make of this. Grandstanding by a couple of Western govts? Serious threat? An explosive designed to imitate a battery for an electronic device?
    I think there will be more crashes/disruption from passengers rioting due to going insane without an electronic distraction on a 6 or 8 hour flight.

  12. 12.

    different-church-lady

    March 21, 2017 at 2:22 pm

    What could be more American than pure, fresh, grade A bullshit?

  13. 13.

    Corner Stone

    March 21, 2017 at 2:22 pm

    @Hunter Gathers: “Oh, stewardess? I speak Americanese. Maybe I can help.”

  14. 14.

    chopper

    March 21, 2017 at 2:23 pm

    the whole ‘alternative facts’ thing didn’t go over very well. trying it again with a new term isn’t going to go over any better.

  15. 15.

    dmsilev

    March 21, 2017 at 2:24 pm

    So, Trump speaks Authentic Frontier Gibberish? Works for me.

  16. 16.

    Cacti

    March 21, 2017 at 2:26 pm

    Trump is a compulsive liar, in the literal not pejorative sense.

    He lies habitually and reflexively no matter the topic. Truth-telling feels awkward and unnatural to him, thus his frequent resort to the most easily disproved whoppers.

  17. 17.

    Corner Stone

    March 21, 2017 at 2:26 pm

    BTW, I did not have time to scream out across the interwebs this AM but on MSNBC Kasie Hunt called Paul Ryan a “policy wonk” who has “spent decades” thinking on these serious issues. While she was waiting for Trump to arrive to address the R caucus on healthcare.
    Her number in line continues to skyrocket.

  18. 18.

    Felanius Kootea

    March 21, 2017 at 2:27 pm

    @Mike J: Thank you. I hadn’t heard of these laptop bombs successfully detonating (although it looks like in the one case involving an airplane, only the bomber died because he was sucked out of the hole created and the pilot was able to turn the plane around and land safely).

  19. 19.

    Hunter Gathers

    March 21, 2017 at 2:27 pm

    @Corner Stone: Cut me some slack, Jack! Chump don’ want no help, chump don’t GET da help!

  20. 20.

    germy

    March 21, 2017 at 2:27 pm

    On Election Day, Trump Was The ONLY ONE Under FBI Investigation, Not Hillary Clinton

  21. 21.

    germy

    March 21, 2017 at 2:28 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    has “spent decades” thinking on these serious issues.

    Lots and lots of asterisks.

  22. 22.

    germy

    March 21, 2017 at 2:30 pm

    @Cacti:

    Trump is a compulsive liar, in the literal not pejorative sense.

    He lies habitually and reflexively no matter the topic. Truth-telling feels awkward and unnatural to him, thus his frequent resort to the most easily disproved whoppers.

    In other words, a republican.

  23. 23.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 21, 2017 at 2:30 pm

    @Corner Stone: At first I thought Trump just wanted to piss off Arab businessmen, now I’m not sure there isn’t a credible enough security threat, like with shoes or liquids or other things nobody actually tried more that once.

    Of course, the US and UK don’t have a great track record on using real intelligence when it comes to that region…

  24. 24.

    Brachiator

    March 21, 2017 at 2:30 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    “Oh, stewardess? I speak Americanese. Maybe I can help.”

    Well played!

  25. 25.

    Corner Stone

    March 21, 2017 at 2:31 pm

    Spicey just now: “Your words! He’s quoting you! They’re your words!!”

    Melissa Mc must be peeing herself somewhere.

  26. 26.

    Felanius Kootea

    March 21, 2017 at 2:31 pm

    The New York Times has this very relevant article by a psychologist on how Trumpism is in some ways like psychosis: Trump’s Method, Our Madness.

    Excerpt:

    …
    Of course, a clinical psychoanalytic experience and general social experience are not strictly analogous. But a comparison of them can prove illuminating. Just as disorientation and bewilderment tell analysts something significant about what they are experiencing in the clinical setting, so too our confusion and anxiety in the face of Trumpism can tell us something important about ours. I am suggesting, in other words, that Trumpism as a social experience can be understood as a psychotic-like phenomenon.

    This is not a question of Donald Trump’s personal psychopathology, alarming as that question may be. The point is, rather, that Trumpism as a social-psychological phenomenon has aspects reminiscent of psychosis, in that it entails a systematic — and it seems likely intentional — attack on our relation to reality.

  27. 27.

    The Moar You Know

    March 21, 2017 at 2:33 pm

    Laptop batteries store a lot of energy.

    @Mike J: They sure do. More to the point, once the battery catches fire it can’t be put out unless you’ve got a nice heaping load of sand, which airliners don’t. A laptop battery is certainly big enough to burn through the hull of an aircraft. Although from what I understand they are more concerned about explosives.

    It’s a pity the US government doesn’t have any credibility.

    Sure is. Might be legit, might be bullshit. The default is rapidly swinging from “legit” to “bullshit”. Since the overall “threat” is legit (people do want to blow up airplanes) having people not taking that threat seriously is a problem. But shit, I can’t blame them, not with this crew in charge.

  28. 28.

    Roger Moore

    March 21, 2017 at 2:33 pm

    @Hunter Gathers:
    Jive-ass dude don’t got no brains anyhow! Shiiiiit.

  29. 29.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 21, 2017 at 2:33 pm

    @germy:

    LOL!

  30. 30.

    hovercraft

    March 21, 2017 at 2:34 pm

    Americanese.
    Alternative facts
    Non literal understanding of any and all words uttered or tweeted by the president or his minions.
    There are more, but that’s all that came to me immediately. I thought learning Russian was all we had to do, does Google Translate work on Americanese?

  31. 31.

    raven

    March 21, 2017 at 2:34 pm

    “A laptop battery is certainly big enough to burn through the hull of an aircraft. “Really?

  32. 32.

    lollipopguild

    March 21, 2017 at 2:35 pm

    @Brachiator: trump speaks his own form of “jive talk’ also know as “lying ass bull shit”.

  33. 33.

    Chyron HR

    March 21, 2017 at 2:38 pm

    @Gravenstone:

    Shut your fucking pie hole, you inbred fucking imbecile of a Trump ass kisser.

    What did he mean by this?

  34. 34.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    March 21, 2017 at 2:39 pm

    Argutainment sells. As long as producers keep booking this blathering clown, he’ll keep spewing his nonsense.

  35. 35.

    hovercraft

    March 21, 2017 at 2:39 pm

    @germy:

    He spent decades thinking about how one day he could take “entitlements ” away from people, (especially the ones he himself used), he did not spend decades thinking about how those people would survive after he accomplished his goal, or how normal non ZEGS would respond. I’ve spent decades thinking of the things I would do if I was a millionaire, but I haven’t spent decades think how to become one.

  36. 36.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 21, 2017 at 2:40 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    They sure do. More to the point, once the battery catches fire it can’t be put out unless you’ve got a nice heaping load of sand, which airliners don’t. A laptop battery is certainly big enough to burn through the hull of an aircraft. Although from what I understand they are more concerned about explosives.

    How does putting the laptop in the cargo hold address any of these concerns?

  37. 37.

    cmorenc

    March 21, 2017 at 2:41 pm

    Again, how many people couldn’t bring themselves to vote for Hillary, because they simply didn’t trust her? Because they didn’t think she could tell a straight story about the emails? How’s President Trump working out for you as a trustworthy straight-talking guy?

  38. 38.

    Alain the site fixer

    March 21, 2017 at 2:42 pm

    @Mike J: that’s a big concern I have about this – putting lots of Li-ion batteries in the cargo hold where they normally are forbidden because of fire risk and thus catastrophic airframe-damage risk. It’s almost like increasing the risk of an accidental fire or explosion where no one can see it to develop proof of “terrorist action”. Or perhaps I give them too much credit.

  39. 39.

    hovercraft

    March 21, 2017 at 2:43 pm

    @germy:

    I’m sad to say this, but he’s worse.
    He is a world champion liar, they are merely professional liars.

  40. 40.

    germy

    March 21, 2017 at 2:43 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: If you’re a Dorothy Parker fan, I recommend the Hitchcock film “Saboteur” where she makes a brief cameo. The leading lady and man are fighting, and Parker drives up and says “They must be very much in love!” (she also worked on the script)

  41. 41.

    Corner Stone

    March 21, 2017 at 2:44 pm

    These first 52 days have me thinking of the immortal Nate Dogg for some reason:

    Take a, seat
    Hope you ready for the next episode
    HeyyyeyyyeEYEYyyyEYYYY….
    …. smoke weed everyday!

  42. 42.

    Alain the site fixer

    March 21, 2017 at 2:44 pm

    @Corner Stone: apparently this has been in discussion for weeks, so I’m not confidant it’s truly based on some urgent, immediate threat. Seems like it’s more to make traveling from those countries that much more difficult (long flights!)

  43. 43.

    germy

    March 21, 2017 at 2:45 pm

    @hovercraft:

    He spent decades thinking about how one day he could take “entitlements ” away from people,

    I was disgusted by his recent interview with another “college republican” where he admitted he’d been dreaming of cutting medicaid since he was drinking from a keg in college.

  44. 44.

    Corner Stone

    March 21, 2017 at 2:48 pm

    Man, when that mom starts spanking her funky bass in the Snyder’s pretzel commercial I get completely aroused.
    Don’t act like you’re not impressed!

  45. 45.

    Mnemosyne

    March 21, 2017 at 2:49 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    That was my question as well — it seems like having a potential bomb in the cargo hold would be more of a problem than one in the passenger cabin. IIRC, an airliner can sustain a surprising amount of damage to the passenger cabin and still be able to land safely — remember the Hawaiian Airlines plane that basically had the fuselage peel back?

  46. 46.

    Corner Stone

    March 21, 2017 at 2:50 pm

    @cmorenc:

    How’s President Trump working out for you as a trustworthy straight-talking guy?

    “Be sure to drink your Ovaltine.”

  47. 47.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 21, 2017 at 2:51 pm

    @germy:

    Thanks! I’ve heard of “Saboteur” but have never seen it, and wasn’t aware of the DP connection.

  48. 48.

    StringOnAStick

    March 21, 2017 at 2:53 pm

    @hovercraft: Remember Simpson -Bowles? I went to a presentation put on by our two Senators about it, and in the handout there was this name: Paul Ryan,R from WI. He voted no on it as part of the commission, no doubt because it wasn’t punitive enough. It had plenty of magic asterisks too, so that must be where he learned to use those.

  49. 49.

    father pussbucket

    March 21, 2017 at 2:54 pm

    Trump apparently speaks a “Darmok”-like language of mythical references:
    “Obama, when the Tower was Tapped.”

  50. 50.

    Yarrow

    March 21, 2017 at 2:57 pm

    @hovercraft:

    He spent decades thinking about how one day he could take “entitlements ” away from people, (especially the ones he himself used), he did not spend decades thinking about how those people would survive after he accomplished his goal, or how normal non ZEGS would respond.

    I don’t really understand why attacks on him on this issue haven’t been more successful. “Paul Ryan was supported by Social Security benefits after his father died (with accompanying sad/cute photos). And now he wants to take it away from other children who need it, just like he did. Why is Paul Ryan so cruel and selfish? Why was he more deserving than children today?” Etc. Etc. Tie it to taking away SS from granny and he’s no longer the cute boy with the pretty blue eyes. He’s the mean man who wants granny to starve and die in the street.

    Also, why isn’t there a bigger stink being made about old, white people being kicked out of nursing homes once Medicaid is eliminated? Also, filial responsibility laws. White people will suffer under Paul Ryan’s healthcare law. (Everyone will, I know. But white people need to know they’ll suffer too.)

  51. 51.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 21, 2017 at 2:58 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Much harder to set one off in the hold though, even using a timer since flights get delayed.

    Plus this makes it a lot easier to clone travelers’ electronic data.

  52. 52.

    greennotGreen

    March 21, 2017 at 2:58 pm

    @father pussbucket: Drumpf, when the wall fell.

  53. 53.

    ? Martin

    March 21, 2017 at 2:59 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    How does putting the laptop in the cargo hold address any of these concerns?

    They have additional time and opportunity for screening of checked bags. It’s possible the warning is of a plot that could be detected by the checked bag screening process but not the carryon process.

  54. 54.

    germy

    March 21, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    @Yarrow:

    And now he wants to take it away from other children who need it, just like he did.

    But did he really need it? There was no means testing, as far as I know. He came from a family of prosperous lawyers.

    But he wants to take from genuinely impoverished people.

  55. 55.

    ? Martin

    March 21, 2017 at 3:02 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Much harder to set one off in the hold though, even using a timer since flights get delayed.

    Boy, I wouldn’t think so. My son could rig up a bluetooth trigger from his phone in a few minutes. No network needed – go off when device ID xxxx pairs. $10 Arduino or RaspberryPi module.

  56. 56.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 21, 2017 at 3:03 pm

    @? Martin: Ah yes, the ever-reliable, easy-to-use bluetooth pairing, what could possibly go wrong?

    ETA: Also, I imagine the bags would be far enough away and through enough sheets of metal that many transmitters would be unreliable.

  57. 57.

    The Moar You Know

    March 21, 2017 at 3:04 pm

    How does putting the laptop in the cargo hold address any of these concerns?

    @Major Major Major Major: The paranoid’s scenario: you can’t pull the battery and simply jam a key or paper clip into the terminals, which will short it and cause it to “vent with flame”, as the manufacturers say. I’ve had an employee do this when she ran out of options to cover her alcoholism and resulting lack of work product. Set her fucking laptop on fire and blamed IT. I’m IT at my workplace. Might have ended badly for me had I not found the staples she’d jammed in there.

    But truth be told, this is a shit idea. I can’t send Li-ion battery equipped laptops through UPS/FedEx air. I don’t know why putting passenger laptops in the cargo hold somehow makes that a better idea.

    “A laptop battery is certainly big enough to burn through the hull of an aircraft. “Really?

    @raven: Sure. It’s happened before. It’s not like there’s very much metal there to burn through.

    Gut feeling is that this is simply to make Arabs/Africans miserable on their flights here. But I could be wrong. The laptop as a threat is legit. But I don’t trust the people issuing the alerts any more. They have another agenda that has nothing to do with “keeping America safe” and a lot to do with “keeping the damned browns/blacks out”.

  58. 58.

    rikyrah

    March 21, 2017 at 3:05 pm

    Gorsuch nomination creates important test for Senate Democrats
    03/21/17 12:55 PM
    By Steve Benen
    When Judge Neil Gorsuch arrived in the Senate yesterday to begin his Supreme Court confirmation process, there was a little news before the nominee even sat down. Sen. Michael Bennet (D) of Gorsuch’s home state of Colorado joined the nominee and graciously introduced him to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

    It’s the sort of thing a senator ordinarily does when he or she supports a nomination, which meant Bennet was already undermining Democratic opposition to Donald Trump’s high court nominee before the process had even begun in earnest. Roll Call reported:

    …Bennet did not say if he would support Gorsuch for the high court, telling the committee, “I am keeping an open mind on this nomination.”

    His introduction did highlight what he saw as two clouds hanging over the proceedings, which the committee’s Democrats also acknowledged. The first is the Republicans’ refusal to hold a hearing or a vote on President Barack Obama’s nominee to fill the vacancy, Judge Merrick Garland.

    Bennet said it was tempting to deny Gorsuch a fair hearing, but, “Two wrongs never make a right.”

    But I have a few straightforward follow-up questions for the Democratic senator: two wrongs may not make a right, but what does? Given the circumstances, what’s just in this situation? How will rewarding Republican maximalist tactics move us any closer to what’s “right”?

    As we discussed when Gorsuch was first nominated, part of this fight has to do with the jurist’s record and ideology, but just as important – perhaps more so – is the broader context.

    Over a year ago, President Obama chose a compromise nominee, Merrick Garland, to fill the Supreme Court’s vacancy. The Senate Republican majority responded by launching a blockade without modern precedent: Garland, GOP senators declared, would not be considered in any way. No hearing, no debate, no floor vote, no consideration.

  59. 59.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 21, 2017 at 3:08 pm

    @The Moar You Know: like I said, I assumed this was to piss off arab businessmen until the U.K. followed suit.

  60. 60.

    different-church-lady

    March 21, 2017 at 3:09 pm

    @hovercraft: Look to the classics:

    “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”

  61. 61.

    kindness

    March 21, 2017 at 3:09 pm

    As a good liberal, my reaction to my political opponents should not be that these people need to be put up against a wall and shot. But it sometimes is. I’m not as good a liberal as I should be.

  62. 62.

    different-church-lady

    March 21, 2017 at 3:11 pm

    @Felanius Kootea: Shorter NYT shrink: Trump is the symptom, the voters are the disease.

  63. 63.

    Redshift

    March 21, 2017 at 3:12 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    I think “Americanese” is the new code word for “dog whistling.”

    I think “Americanese” is the new code word for “bullshit.” And “the president’s supporters knew what he meant” means “the rubes will either buy it, or not care if it’s true or not any more than Drumpf does.”

  64. 64.

    Radiumgirl

    March 21, 2017 at 3:14 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: My question exactly. Unless there is a means of screening the devices in the luggage — or you need a human being to set off the explosive? I don’t see how they’re less dangerous in the cargo hold.

  65. 65.

    Redshift

    March 21, 2017 at 3:14 pm

    @Alain the site fixer:

    putting lots of Li-ion batteries in the cargo hold where they normally are forbidden because of fire risk and thus catastrophic airframe-damage risk.

    They are? I can’t recall ever seeing anything telling me I can’t put my laptop in my checked bag. Only reason I wouldn’t is it’s more likely to be stolen by some TSA contractor or baggage handler.

  66. 66.

    The Moar You Know

    March 21, 2017 at 3:16 pm

    Trump, he said, was speaking “Americanese” when he tweeted that Obama had orchestrated a “Nixon/Watergate” plot against him. The president’s supporters knew what he meant, but Washington insiders didn’t and blew it out of proportion.

    Rather deft for an idiot. Implies that “Washington insiders” and the media aren’t Americans.

    Wonder if his mommy whips his ass and calls him a dirty boy. He seems like the kind of guy who would really enjoy that.

  67. 67.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 21, 2017 at 3:16 pm

    Americanese: Indecipherable word salad that sounds like English spoken with an American accent.

  68. 68.

    schrodingers_cat

    March 21, 2017 at 3:18 pm

    You can’t lock your check-in bags and now you are supposed to put your laptop in them?

  69. 69.

    TenguPhule

    March 21, 2017 at 3:18 pm

    On topic, a worthy read.

    America is so boned.

  70. 70.

    The Moar You Know

    March 21, 2017 at 3:19 pm

    Trump is the symptom, the voters are the disease.

    @different-church-lady: I should sue, I’ve been saying this since the day that bastard was handed the election by the Wilmer/Stein crowd.

    And as you may infer from what I say, it’s not just the people who voted for him that are the problem.

  71. 71.

    Chet Murthy

    March 21, 2017 at 3:19 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: @Radiumgirl: Ehhh …. laptops are so cheap now, and besides, every time you come back into the US, you gotta shred/crush all your electornics anyway (b/c the minute you hand ’em to CBP they might as well be bugs), it’s all good, right? (shruggie — wish I knew how to make that ;-)

    In the silver lining dept, YET ANOTHER reason to minimize air travel (as if I needed more).

  72. 72.

    TenguPhule

    March 21, 2017 at 3:22 pm

    @The Moar You Know: So the antibodies are going to be the Germans launching a freedom invasion?

  73. 73.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 21, 2017 at 3:24 pm

    @The Moar You Know: the groups of citizens to blame are, in decreasing order, Trump voters, people who voted for anybody other than Hillary, and people who didn’t vote.

  74. 74.

    different-church-lady

    March 21, 2017 at 3:26 pm

    @TenguPhule: It will be ironic if it ends with them holding West Washington.

  75. 75.

    Redshift

    March 21, 2017 at 3:27 pm

    @Yarrow:

    I don’t really understand why attacks on him on this issue haven’t been more successful. “Paul Ryan was supported by Social Security benefits after his father died (with accompanying sad/cute photos). And now he wants to take it away from other children who need it, just like he did. Why is Paul Ryan so cruel and selfish?

    For that to work, enough people would have to reject the conservative dog whistle that “undeserving” people are getting these benefits. That’s all they want to cut, dontcha know.

    Also, why isn’t there a bigger stink being made about old, white people being kicked out of nursing homes once Medicaid is eliminated? Also, filial responsibility laws. White people will suffer under Paul Ryan’s healthcare law. (Everyone will, I know. But white people need to know they’ll suffer too.)

    That seems like a more effective line of attack. If people can ever be taught that Medicaid is mostly a program for kids and disabled adults, including your parents’ nursing home, and not “free health care for [whisper] lazy black and brown [/whisper] poor people,” they might grasp that Republicans griping about how much it costs is entirely because it’s them paying more and you paying less. But I’m not optimistic.

  76. 76.

    Immanentize

    March 21, 2017 at 3:27 pm

    @? Martin: One — the cargo process is actually less rigorous than the carry-on process. Two — this is more security theater. When one wants to know what mature security threats and responses look like, check out what the Israelis are doing. They do not make people take off their friggin shoes, and they are not (yet?) banning laptops, etc. on flights. We are idiots and just like people to suffer….

  77. 77.

    Gelfling 545

    March 21, 2017 at 3:28 pm

    @Corner Stone: Ryan should sue her for defamation. To suggest that he spent decades and came up with this monstrosity? Might as well call him a moron, outright. Yes, he is, but, still…

  78. 78.

    OGLiberal

    March 21, 2017 at 3:29 pm

    @Corner Stone: Ryan’s wonkiness basically boils down to “tax the rich, starve the poor”. There’s very little nuance or wonkiness or even many big words. Because he doesn’t froth at the mouth and spew our racist and sexist stuff every other time he speaks – like most of the GOP House caucus – he’s a wonk? And seriously, besides falling into the Speaker role and getting selected to be a losing VP candidate, what else has accomplished other than winning elections in a Republican district?

    Problem is that most US journalists these days know and care absolutely nothing about policy and care only about optics so as soon as somebody on the right sounds a bit less than a lunatic, he/she is a wonk. But if President Obama tries explain actual policy to the nation, he’s too professorial and condescending and boring and uninspiring.

  79. 79.

    Redshift

    March 21, 2017 at 3:31 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    You can’t lock your check-in bags and now you are supposed to put your laptop in them?

    Yeah, I saw a statement from a journalist this morning that this will basically prevent them from covering the Middle East, because if they put their laptops in checked luggage they’ll be stolen.

  80. 80.

    Just One More Canuck

    March 21, 2017 at 3:31 pm

    @Yarrow: agreed. Use pictures of him from when he was a kid, and tell the story that old Paul wants to take everything away from young Paul

  81. 81.

    Immanentize

    March 21, 2017 at 3:32 pm

    @rikyrah:

    launching a blockade without modern any historic precedent

    FTFY

  82. 82.

    philpm

    March 21, 2017 at 3:32 pm

    @dmsilev: Gabby Johnson was waaaaay more coherent than Drumpf ever dreamed of.

  83. 83.

    Mike J

    March 21, 2017 at 3:33 pm

    @Immanentize:

    When one wants to know what mature security threats and responses look like,

    It’s hard to have a mature response to a new threat.

  84. 84.

    Immanentize

    March 21, 2017 at 3:36 pm

    @Mike J: In what possible way is this new? Or is there an Americanese definition of “new” that I don’t get?

  85. 85.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 21, 2017 at 3:36 pm

    @Mike J: I think they meant ‘mature’ as in ‘what a grown-up would do’.

  86. 86.

    Tilda Swintons Bald Cap

    March 21, 2017 at 3:39 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: the groups of citizens to blame are, in decreasing order, people who voted for anybody other than Hillary, Trump voters, and people who didn’t vote. Trump was always going to get in the mid 40% because he had an R after his name. I blame the ABC voters more than them.

  87. 87.

    Immanentize

    March 21, 2017 at 3:40 pm

    Like others, Drezner pointed to a report analysis by The Washington Post …, which accused the Trump administration of launching an assault against large and rapidly-growing Gulf carriers because it says they are “competing unfairly on long-haul routes” by enjoying hidden subsidies from their governments.

  88. 88.

    Mnemosyne

    March 21, 2017 at 3:40 pm

    @rikyrah:

    We need to get Miss Bianca, TaMara, and the other CO B-Jers on the phone to yell at their senator. What is that asshole thinking?

  89. 89.

    Immanentize

    March 21, 2017 at 3:42 pm

    @Immanentize: ETA Link for above quote

  90. 90.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 21, 2017 at 3:44 pm

    @Tilda Swintons Bald Cap: an ABC vote is meaningless without a Trump vote though. Trump vote = -1, ABC vote ~= -0.5, non-vote = +0, Hillary vote = +1.

  91. 91.

    Gravenstone

    March 21, 2017 at 3:45 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    How does putting the laptop in the cargo hold address any of these concerns?

    More correctly, how does accumulating a number of lithium ion battery powered devices in the cargo hold help address these concerns? Perhaps something of a related object lesson? Once energetic devices ignite in an enclosed space, bad things tend to happen.

  92. 92.

    Gravenstone

    March 21, 2017 at 3:46 pm

    @Alain the site fixer: Okay, so you got to my point much earlier than I did.

  93. 93.

    Gravenstone

    March 21, 2017 at 3:48 pm

    @? Martin: I’m now wondering if there might be malware available that would cause a laptop to enter a state that demands so much of the battery that it overheats and leads to ignition? No physical screening in the world would find that beforehand.

  94. 94.

    Major Major Major Major

    March 21, 2017 at 3:53 pm

    @Gravenstone: why wouldn’t there be? Easy enough to do accidentally if you’re plonking around in the wrong place with your code.

  95. 95.

    TenguPhule

    March 21, 2017 at 3:54 pm

    @Gravenstone: Feature, not a bug.

    Accidents on Non-American Airlines = Goal of Trump

  96. 96.

    randy khan

    March 21, 2017 at 3:54 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    At first I thought Trump just wanted to piss off Arab businessmen, now I’m not sure there isn’t a credible enough security threat, like with shoes or liquids or other things nobody actually tried more that once.

    Don’t get me started on the stupid liquids rule. Every official justification I’ve ever read for it was nonsense. The rule does not prevent you from bringing flammable, reactive or even explosive liquids on a flight, and there are plenty of ways to combine inert liquids to create dangerous liquids, not to mention that if you think you need more volume than the quart bag will hold, you can just have an accomplice help you. (Also not to mention that people routinely forget to separate their bags of liquids and don’t get caught – there even are travel advice pages that say, essentially, don’t bother unless you’re flying out of a very short list of U.S. airports.)

    As had been pointed out elsewhere in this thread, if you really want to use a laptop to damage a plane, it doesn’t need to be in your hands, and you might actually be able to do more harm if it’s in the cargo hold.

  97. 97.

    randy khan

    March 21, 2017 at 3:55 pm

    @Gravenstone:

    I’m sure Samsung could help with that question.

  98. 98.

    chopper

    March 21, 2017 at 3:56 pm

    @dmsilev:

    fucker better not try to ruin me bishen cutter, that’s all i know.

  99. 99.

    Skwerlhugger

    March 21, 2017 at 4:03 pm

    To the OP, makes perfect sense. They use language in political context to communicate emotions and feelings, not facts. It is a different language, and is one of the key shared values of their tribe. Just don’t put them in a position where they need to do any real communicating about actual facts and reality.

  100. 100.

    Mike J

    March 21, 2017 at 4:06 pm

    @Immanentize: There have been two laptops set off mid flight this year. I don’t know of any before this year. It;’s a new threat. Even though it was possible before, nobody had thought to try it. Now they actually are doing it in the real world.

    Also, before going off the deep end with praise for Israeli security, think about what the reaction would be in the US to the sort of profiling they use. Trumpsters would fucking love it.

  101. 101.

    danielx

    March 21, 2017 at 4:08 pm

    @hovercraft:

    Think this has been cited previously…

    “On Bullshit” (2005), by philosopher Harry G. Frankfurt, is an essay that presents a theory of bullshit that defines the concept and analyzes the applications of bullshit in the contexts of communication. Frankfurt determines that the bullshit is speech intended to persuade (a.k.a. rhetoric), without regard for truth. The liar cares about the truth and attempts to hide it; the bullshitter doesn’t care if what they say is true or false, but rather only cares whether or not their listener is persuaded.

    As pols go, Republicans mostly fall into category A (liars). Trump and a few other Republicans (think Gohmert or Palin) fall into category B (bullshitters), although Trump is really in a class by himself. As long as the word salad he spews has the desired effect, he doesn’t care whether it’s true or not. Granted, this is not a particularly sharp insight on my part.

    The real danger is that sometimes it really matters whether the body politic believes the president to be telling the truth. Presidents are generally granted a certain amount of what I’ll call credibility capital coming out of the gate. Trump doesn’t have that.

    See:

    Fareed Zakaria
    Jeet Heer
    Eldar Sarajlic
    Zakaria again
    Jeff Hancock

  102. 102.

    Miss Bianca

    March 21, 2017 at 4:08 pm

    @rikyrah: Good article. Here’s my letter to my Senator, Michael Bennet:

    Dear Senator,

    First of all I would like to thank you for taking a firm stance against the AHCA. I appreciated your article in the Denver Post last week. Please continue to hold the line on this issue.

    Second, I was less than pleased to see you give the introduction to Neal Gorsuch at his Supreme Court nomination hearing. In fact, I have to say that I was incensed. While I understand that the Gorsuches are important figures politically in Colorado, and that Neal Gorsuch himself may be an acquaintance or even a friend, no Democratic Senator has any place giving any legitimacy to a Trump-nominated candidate for the Supreme Court after the outrageous, obstreperous, precedent-breaking, and just plain disrespectful treatment accorded to Merrick Garland. In fact, if Neal Gorsuch is a friend of yours, ask him how he can countenance being the beneficiary of such behavior.

    However, I would be sorry indeed to hear that a man of such deeply illiberal judicial principles was, in fact, a friend of yours. I would hate to have to think so badly of your judgement.

    You said, with regard to taking a stand against Gorsuch’s nomination, that “two wrongs don’t make a right.” You are absolutely right about this, Senator – but I will venture an opinion that you are wrong about the nature of the “wrong”. The “wrong” in this case would be to perpetuate the notion that the Republicans in Senate ought to receive no rebuke for their behavior toward President Obama’s SCOTUS candidate. The “wrong” is in pretending that this behavior ought to have no consequences. The “wrong” comes from not joining your Democratic colleagues in taking a stand and refusing to hear this nomination. The “wrong” comes from the harm to the country that comes when one party consistently puts its own well-being above that of its constituents, and indeed, the country itself. The “wrong” comes from the fact that Senate Republicans took it upon themselves to steal a Supreme Court seat.

    Do the right thing, Senator. There is only so much “turn the other cheek and take it on the chin” that the people of this country should be expected to put up with. As a matter of principle, you should be opposing the nomination of Neal Gorsuch to the Supreme Court of the Unted States.

    Thank you for your consideration,

    Regards,

    MB

  103. 103.

    Jay S

    March 21, 2017 at 4:39 pm

    @Mike J: Yes, I suspect this is because of a threat assessment. I guess that’s why it is a limited ban instead of airline wide. Sort of like the toner ban from ages ago. However, I would expect the ban to spread in the future unless they have counter measures, but containing it to the cargo hold is probably insufficient in the long term.

  104. 104.

    A Ghost to Most

    March 21, 2017 at 4:46 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I plan on letting Bennet know he’ll face a shit storm from the left, if he votes for Gorsuch.

  105. 105.

    Miss Bianca

    March 21, 2017 at 4:54 pm

    @Mnemosyne: see my awesome letter at 102! (I can’t call from work, but I can compose nasty letters to my congresscritters on my lunch break).

  106. 106.

    Gretchen

    March 21, 2017 at 5:02 pm

    @Miss Bianca: good letter.

  107. 107.

    Jonas

    March 21, 2017 at 5:29 pm

    @different-church-lady: Lord’s spinning was an insult to bullshit.

  108. 108.

    martian

    March 21, 2017 at 6:29 pm

    @father pussbucket:

    Trump apparently speaks a “Darmok”-like language of mythical references:
    “Obama, when the Tower was Tapped.”

    Genius. Funny but weirdly true.

  109. 109.

    Sab

    March 21, 2017 at 8:39 pm

    @dmsilev: Trump speaks Frontier? He is one generation off the boat from Europe and he grew up on Long Island. Gimme a break.

  110. 110.

    Debbie1

    March 21, 2017 at 9:05 pm

    @germy: Well, a boy’s best friend is his mother.

  111. 111.

    No One You Know

    March 21, 2017 at 10:17 pm

    @Miss Bianca: AWESOME. Am copying your letter to use as a template, if you don’t mind. Although, in my red state where the cities are blue, I may be some time before I can deploy it.

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