Trump won't throw out opening day pitch. Which is a shame seeing as the Nats had stitched him a special glove. pic.twitter.com/I3Vx6HTXKH
— Father Guido SarDShK (@ZeddRebel) March 28, 2017
David Roth, at Vice Sports:
Two months and change into his presidency, it is perhaps too easy to say that Donald Trump has distinguished himself from his predecessors mostly if not entirely through his thermonuclear oafishness. There’s an obvious reason for that, but for all his material success in signing executive orders that will restore profit-optimized amounts of mining detritus to Appalachian tap water and his more amorphous achievements in the war against the concept of objective reality, there is one achievement that Trump unquestionably owns at this point in his Presidency. No one that has previously occupied the office has ever made it so clear how difficult even the ostensibly easy stuff about the job is.
One of the defining attributes of Trump’s Presidency has been the speed and strangeness with which apparently simple tasks unfold their manifest difficulty in public. In previous administrations, Presidents have thrown out ceremonial first pitches on Major League Baseball’s opening day. Sometimes they have done it well, and sometimes they have done it less well, but never has it seemed like a difficult thing.
But apparently it is!…
.
Apart from well-deserved mockery, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
Baud
This internet privacy issue seems to have legs. I’m hearing about from a wider variety of sources than the usual suspects. Good job, Dems. Not a single Dem vote.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
rikyrah
ELLE Magazine (US)Verified account @ELLEmagazine
You will never, in your entire life, get the best of @maxinewaters: ellemag.co/Ymjuphq
amk
in twitler’s defense, he never knew how difficult any of the things he has already mastered really are.
lollipopguild
@Baud: Lots of people on the right are going to really hate this decision and they will have trump to blame.
dmsilev
@Baud: I was reading a story about it over at Ars Technica (tech news site), and was amused to watch what happened when a couple of libertarian-esque techies started to try the “there’s no difference between the parties” thing. The stark difference in votes (100% of Dems voted no, ~95% of Reps voted yes) was forcibly jammed down their throats by several commenters.
Keith P.
Trump wasn’t going to be able to deal with the “MOOSEKNUCKLE!” chants when he waddles out his golf attire.
Baud
@lollipopguild: Why is Trump to blame?
@dmsilev: Reddit also, although it’s clear some people are struggling with the concept. Apparently, anything bad the GOP does is attributed to the two party system.
Schlemazel
@Baud:
the glibertarian bros on Reddit seem to be having a meltdown because they were just sure it is the GOP that is all libertarian-ie an shit.
Chet Murthy
@rikyrah: HOT DIGGITY DOG DAMN! First Teen Vogue, then (I forget? Cosmo? Glamour?), then Marie Claiire, and now Elle!
The wimminz is woke!
Baud
@Schlemazel: The GOP is libertarian. The Bros are just realizing what that entails. The blow back against Rand Paul is amusing.
geg6
Adam Schiff on Rachel momentarily. Crazy polling from CBS and PPP on whether FBI should investigate Trump campaign ties with Russia and what should happen if ties are proven. High numbers say yes, continue and almost 2/3 say he should resign if ties are proven. And the press conference Burr and Warner gave seems ominous for WH.
Things are getting real.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Mike Huckabee gay-baits Lindsey Graham on the Luara Ingraham show
CNN does not mention if LG’s one time dinner date responded.
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: as a millennial I can’t have an opinion on it until Snowden does, but last I checked he was still outraged that Obama was tapping Trump’s phones.
Ian G.
I wonder if there’s a single baseball stadium where Trump wouldn’t be booed to all hell. The Diamondbacks? Even the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros likely have a lot of Dem fans since those are Dem cities (surrounded by an ocean of winguttery, with occasional other islands like Austin and San Antonio).
Baud
@Major Major Major Major: I understand your predicament. I wish you the best.
Jeffro
@Baud: @lollipopguild:
Good of the GOP to jump in on the side of those poor, starving, internet provider companies…they were just dying for lack of profits, dontcha know!
There’s capitalism, and then there’s “blood from a stone” capitalism, or maybe “wring every last dime” capitalism or something like that (I’m sure someone can put it better than I can). Automate everything, outsource everything, temp and Uber and corner-cut on everything. And then buy off some pols on the cheap, to make it all legal…
…it can’t be a coincidence that we’re at Peak Wingnut, and the first laws they pass are to let more pollution into our water and let companies sell our private info.
Chet Murthy
@Baud: @Schlemazel: Wait, wut? This law (gutting net privacy) IS libertarian, isn’t it? AS LIBERTARIAN AS IT GETS, no? Freedom of contract UBER ALLES, right? right? right? Is this another instance of voters for the FaceEatingLeopard party getting their faces eaten off? B/c I sure can’t see how they have a leg to stand on. Rand Paul was RIGHT to vote for this law as a libertarian. He’s taking a consistent stand. The glibertarians need to find a company that’ll sell ’em internet service without reselling their browser histories, right? Tiniest violin starts playing ….
[To be clear: I’m not a libertarian, and …. well, my opinion of them is not suitable for a family blog such as this.]
Kay
You have to love how we were told prior to the election that this wasn’t directed at Clinton but instead had something to do with some vague, half-ass “chaos theory” and now after the election we learn it was exclusively directed at Clinton.
I don’t know- do you think that’s an important piece of information for voters to have, that Russia hired people to make shit up about Hillary Clinton and therefore elect Donald Trump? Why would Russia be so interested in doing that? Will we ever find out or is this an unsolvable mystery that is forever unknowable?
Whatever you think about Clinton or Trump it seems like you should at least KNOW that this went on and it would be best if you know it before the election.
Should we assume one or another country will be conducting these activities in the 2018 elections, or will we only be informed of that after those elections? Should we start looking for it now in states that are electing Senators? How would we do that, if we have to do this as individuals, by ourselves, as seems to be the case?
I’m not getting any real sense of urgency here. Maybe someone in government could see their way clear to making some sort of public service announcement at some point? We were flying blind in the 2016 election, apparently. Is that the plan for 2018 also? I’d hate to read that Russia hired 1000 hackers to make up shit about Sherrod Brown after the next election. TIMELY. Information must be timely in order to be USEFUL.
dmsilev
There was a nice op-ed in the LA Tines this morning by Tom Perriello, former Rep and current candidate for VA Gov: I lost my seat in Congress because I voted for Obamacare. I don’t regret that decision at all
Compare and contrast with, for instance, Paul “has dreamed of screwing over poor people since he was in college” Ryan.
Chet Murthy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Whereas we know which uniform Huck wants to be wearin’ — the one with totenkopfs on the collar!
Baud
@Chet Murthy: Rand was consistent, but cowardly. He sponsored the bill but didn’t vote on it.
What your seeing is a bunch of tech bros who are rooting for big government this one time because this affects their interests.
randy khan
@Baud:
And totally an unforced error. The rules aren’t in effect and they never were going into effect, thanks to the now R-controlled FCC. They just had to have their revenge on Obama and Tom Wheeler, though.
efgoldman
@amk:
What has he already mastered besides whining, grifting, and abusing women?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud: I can’t find it but I heard something from Marsha Blackburn this morning, trying to spin this as some kind of tax cut. Reminds me of when Bush tried to cast every move he made, including speeches, as vital for national security.
One interesting tidbit I saw looking for the quote was that Flake, up for reelection, is the lead sponsor in the Senate.
Baud
@randy khan: To be fair, spite got them where they are today.
debbie
@Baud:
For all their bitching about right to privacy, I don’t understand how Republicans could have voted the way they did.
Это курам на смех
The lobby of my workplace, the 18-story Portland Federal Building, has yet to be adorned by big photos of Resident Rump and his accomplice. Don’t tell anybody.
It’s heartening to consider that as long as the structure stands the words “President Barack Obama” will be inscribed in the stone outside.
Chet Murthy
@Baud: “Face Eating Leopard Party” voters, then.
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: thanks, it’s very difficult.
Baud
@Kay: Russia probably hired the Greens too.
Gary Johnson appears to have escaped silently
Chet Murthy
@efgoldman: “inciting racist violence” is a skill, man!
Major Major Major Major
@debbie: “right to privacy”? They don’t believe in that and never have.
jl
@Baud: The GOP is a very principled and consistent libertarian party, if only corporations and rich old white farts are entitled to civil liberty and rights, due process, and property. That is why Ryan can look so soulful and sincere, staring into the far distance. Nothing else could explain it other than sheer vacancy.
efgoldman
@Baud:
C’mon, you know better than that.
The president, whoever it is, gets outsized credit and outsized blame.
Also, a president with half a brain would have threatened a veto, or come out against it.
But then, a president with half a brain wouldn’t be trying so hard to fuck over his voters.
Adam L Silverman
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Its the packaging: they’re matryoshka tweets – one tweet inside another inside another inside another inside another inside another inside another inside another…
Makes export-import significantly easier!
jl
@Major Major Major Major: Not for the ‘lesser people’. But for the bigshots and corporations, it’s right there in the Constitution. Corporations are people, my friend.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: What about the Senator from Vt. Many of his diehard supporters went to JS.
Baud
@efgoldman: Ok, I thought you were saying they had a legitimate reason to blame Trump. He will sign this thing, but I hadn’t heard that he was pushing it. I thought it was being pushed in Congress.
Old Broad in California
Re: baseball (no throwing out the first pitch)- last week the US baseball team won the World Baseball Classic for the first time. When asked if they would be invited to the White House there was some embarrassed hemming and hawing. How sad is it that a US championship team doesn’t want to visit the White House because the President is so despicable, controversial and unpopular.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat: I doubt he was personally on the payroll.
father pussbucker
Stupid people think things other people do are easy.
Baud
@Old Broad in California: White baseball players are probably as wingnutty as in any other sports, but baseball also has a lot of immigrant players.
p.a.
@Ian G.: Otkrytie Arena, VTB Ice Palace. Not baseball, but friendly confines for tRump…
father pussbucket
Stupid people think things other people do are easy.
schrodingers_cat
I have something pretty for you to look at here and here.
Old Broad in California
@Baud: The US team had some wonderful American black players (I’m thinking particularly of Adam Jones and Andrew McCutchen) on it.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat: Is it me?
Adam L Silverman
@geg6: What you saw with Senators Burr and Warner is exactly how this should work. Had a busy day or I would have put a thread up with the video. They’ve gotten the same, in closed session (en camera) briefings that made Senators Grassley and Feinstein look like they were just told they had 12 hours to live. They know exactly what they need to do, and even though Senator Burr was a Trump campaign surrogate, he is, unlike Congressman Nunes, not a hack who is in way over his head.
Kay
Obama actually took tons of shit for his pitch. He even got booed. He isn’t a giant spoiled crybaby though so he managed to carry on without all this Trumpian drama.
You would think even Trump fans would get sick of how Trump never shuts up and can’t do anything normally without all sorts of fuss and special hoopla and drama.
lollipopguild
@Baud: Fair or not trump is the guy who will be blamed when folks on the right get their panties in a wad. He sold himself as the guy who was going to fix everything and Maga. If gas prices go up as I am hearing they will trump will be the guy who is supposed to fix the problem-every problem.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: Many of the crooked Hillary and rotten DNC memes originated with his campaign.
Major Major Major Major
@father pussbucket: a million times this.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@geg6:
I kind of feel like things have been stalled at the same level of realness for quite a while. Then I remember that we’re only two months into this abomination of a regime, so there’s still time. But damn, it feels like this has been going on forever.
(On the agenda tonight: celebrating Mr. Mingobat’s 50th. Booked us a cabin in the mountains this weekend, and taking him to see Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at the Ryman in October. He’s very happy. I’m a kick-ass wife, if I do say so myself.)
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: I don’t know what you look like IRL. Its a kitten and Diljit Dosanjh. Are you either?
geg6
@Old Broad in California:
I don’t know about the players from other teams, but the two Pirates on the team are men of color. I’m thinking they aren’t Twitler fans.
p.a.
@efgoldman:
Try hard? Hardly. As natural as breathing for him.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat: Right, and maybe some of his underlings were double agents. I just doubt he was.
I do wonder now about all those $27 donations. He raised a lot of money.
jl
@Old Broad in California: It is very sad. But apparently Trump wants it that way. My understanding is that the Nationals invited Trump to throw out the first pitch but he declined. If that was public, no wonder the US WBC champs weren’t enthusiastic.
Why did Trump turn it down. Embarrassed they would laugh at his obese ass when he tried to throw the pitch? Well, think Taft was game. But then Taft was a dignified fat ass. Maybe Trump couldn’t take getting booed. But presidents have gotten booed before and they survived.
If even a fraction of his campaign rhetoric was not BS and lies, he wouldn’t be nearly so unpopular. He had a chance to become ‘presidential’, and adopt appropriate gravitas and seriousness of purpose, dignity and inclusivity after his election, as he repeatedly promised during the campaign. But that Trumptalk was just to drag in enough low info kunckleheads who thought he didn’t mean it in order to squeak out a win.
So, too effing bad for Trump.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat: No comment.
Adam L Silverman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The twitter responses were brutal. Multiple pictures of him in his USAF uniform.
efgoldman
@Old Broad in California:
It’s going to be… interesting… to see how many Patriots don’t go to the WH on April 19.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@geg6: two Cubs players (I think Baez and…I forget) refused to stay at a Trump hotel during the playoffs last year. One of their starting pitchers endorsed trump, broke the heart of my Cub-Loving and very liberal cousin in Chicago
Baud
Obama should throw out the first pitch for the Cubs, assuming they start at home.
jl
@Adam L Silverman: Not to be too cynical, but Senators also have to worry about real elections in honest districts (their states), unlike many GOPer House members. Probably Burr senses enough voters take the issue seriously enough for him to take it seriously. And acting like a Dumb and Dumber reject on TV night after night is bad electoral political politics in any case.
MJS
“Thermonuclear oafishness” is the best term, ever.
Chet Murthy
@lollipopguild:
My understanding is, that’s part of the repayment schedule for Putin’s loan of fake news. Dampnut’s gotta deliver that.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud: he’s a White Sox fan
Kay
@Baud:
I have had bad experiences with the Greens in Ohio. They manage to discredit genuine voting rights issues by focusing on insane things that don’t matter. The first couple times I thought it was just stupidity but eventually I realized it’s list-building and fundraising. They promoted conspiracy theories about Bush v Kerry in 2004 that made it impossible to address what actually happened which was much more boring than “vote flipping” and was actually the GOP screwing with election administration. They hear hoofbeats and look for zebras…and then the horses trample people ….I’ll stop there with that :)
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I know, but it’s the Cubs that won the series. Bigger opening day.
jl
@schrodingers_cat: Baud is virtual. So, Baud can be any of it.
Baud
@Kay: Yeah, I don’t like them.
efgoldman
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA:
This is my nightly reminder (although Adam might get there first): It was over two years from the Watergate break in until Tricksie Dicksie Nixie’s last ‘copter ride.
This investigation involves a lot more people, foreign money, foreign connections at several levels, and has to distinguish between legitimate if shady business, criminal activity, financial crimes, political crimes….
Patience, Grasshoppers.
Lizzy L
Thank you very much for the Open Thread, because I need to vent.
So this happened: my younger brother — my only sibling — spent ten hours in surgery yesterday. A robot, and the surgeon directing it, resected his ureter in two places, removed a big malignant tumor, removed a bunch of lymph nodes, left both his kidneys alone (yay!,) put in a stent, and hooked all the tubes and vessels and stuff back up again. He’ll be going home Friday if all goes well. I’ll wait until he tells me to come before I fly to Phoenix to see him.
He called me this morning, mumbled “I’m okay” into the phone, and hung up. My niece, his daughter, gave me the details. Ten hours in surgery is especially scary because he has severe cardiomyopathy from a heart attack when he was in his mid-fifties: the only thing that keeps his damaged heart going is a bi-ventricular pacemaker in his shoulder. But he made it. He made it. For now.
I am grateful for the things that modern medicine does well. And, FUCK CANCER.
Adam L Silverman
@Kay: Jeez, they only released an unclassified version of the report about it:
intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ICA_2017_01.pdf
It has been linked to and/or posted at the WhiteHouse.gov site, US Permanent Select Committee for Intelligence (where it is still posted), the NY Times, WaPo, LA Times, and a number of other major newspapers and news websites.
And the DNI briefed it to Congress and that was on TV. And then he went on all the Sunday shows and was interviewed about it.
What didn’t happen, because Senator McConnell threatened to make it a partisan issue that President Obama was trying to put a thumb on the scale against the Republicans in the 2016 election, was what President Obama asked the Senate and House majority and minority leadership to do: join him in making a joint, bipartisan statement about what was happening, why it was an attack on American democracy, and why both Democrats and Republicans stood united against this Russian interference.
Bill Arnold
@Jeffro:
I haven’t dug yet; does anyone know how this was passed, and who, if anyone, orchestrated it? (The Republicans are easily manipulated into herd/tribal action in several quite independent ways.)
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@Lizzy L: I’m emotionally exhausted just reading that. Hugs to you, and here’s to a full, complication-free recovery for your brother.
Sab
@Kay: OT but I have been contacted twice in the last month by Ohio Democratic Party volunteers organizing neighborhood meetings. I occasionally volunteer for campaigns and contribute, but I am certainly not an activist like you. This is heartening. Somebody is working on developing a grassroots outreach. Yeah, I am going to the meetings and contacting like minded friends and relations.
geg6
@efgoldman:
Yes, exactly. But that presser seemed to me to sound like the gears grinding as they start up.
Interesting point just now on O’Donnell’s show. Burr is in Senator Sam Ervin’s old seat.
Kay
@Baud:
In 2012 they sued to remove a software “patch” on voting machines because Mitt Romney’s son once invested in the company (or something- I may have the theory wrong). They failed but had they succeeded it would have been catastrophic to the elaborate turn out plans that were in place. That time I was convinced it was malicious. I still am.
I don’t think they get how completely boring election administration is, or that it’s run by ordinary people who are county employees. They’re not that devious. They don’t want any trouble. They want to get people voted and go home. If they’re career people they don’t care who wins.
mainmata
The Orange Monster never wants to be embarrassed, especially compared to the hated Obama and he would be if throwing the symbolic first pitch. He probably never played baseball at all as a kid given his weird upbringing. He’s also on a steady decline on approval ratings as people realize his utterly destructive policies aren’t going to help them (except for the Fox viewers, of course).
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@geg6: I was struck by the fact that Burr said he “admits” that he voted for trump.
and wasn’t he part of the group of Senators that was briefed on all this back in July or August?
Adam L Silverman
@Major Major Major Major: And here we see the ravages of time on the English language as used in the US and a major blow to Originalism. There is an explicit right to privacy in the Constitution:
When the Constitution was written secure in one’s person was how the right to privacy was described. The terms privacy and private meant very different things. Specifically they referred to one’s genitals (one’s privates) and to where one exposed them (the privacy, shortened to privy). As with so much else, American English has changed and adapted over time and the actual, original meaning of “secure in their persons” has largely been forgotten because we now use the term in private and privacy in place of the longer, older construction.
What they really don’t believe in is to provide for the general welfare. The one part of the US Constitution that was left out of the Confederate Constitution was the clause about providing for the general welfare. They didn’t believe in it. They still don’t.
Shana
Just a quick one before I head up to bed: I actually emailed the Nats tonight and suggested they get Obama to throw out the first pitch. “And it would have the advantage of driving Trump nuts. Win win.”
Old Dan and Little Anne
@Baud: I think Obama is a White Sox fan.
Adam L Silverman
@schrodingers_cat: Actually some of the most recent analysis indicates not so much:
nytimes.com/2017/03/28/upshot/a-2016-review-turnout-wasnt-the-driver-of-clintons-defeat.html
rikyrah
@Kay:
The coddling of the mediocre White male.
schrodingers_cat
@Adam L Silverman: I know 2 B or bust wimmens IRL. Good to know my anecdata is not typical of the stats.
Adam L Silverman
@jl: This is also true and not at all mutually exclusive from what I wrote.
schrodingers_cat
@jl: So Baud is God! Jeebus or Krishna or both and of course Ceiling Cat.
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: Yep.
PJ
@efgoldman: From a political standpoint, it would be better if impeachment/criminal trial/removal did not happen until after the 2018 elections, or reasonably close before. If Pence is implicated in things, as it seems he might be, then he might also be subject to removal, in which case the Presidency passes to the Speaker of the House – I would love for that to be Nancy Pelosi. Of course, it is in the best interests of the nation to root out Russian influence as soon as possible, but I’m not exactly looking forward to President Ryan.
Craigie
“Thermonuclear oafishness” is awesome
mainmata
@Adam L Silverman: As usual, the Turtle is a scheming traitorous partisan. Disgusting.
Adam L Silverman
@Lizzy L: We’ll keep good thoughts.
Kay
@Sab:
That’s nice. I’m gravitating to the Indivisible people because they are new people. I’m going to one of their multi-county meetings next week and Sherrod Brown is sending someone who works for him, so they’re trying to “bring them in” or whatever. I like that role- mixing old and new- I feel like I’m suited to it at this point. I’m comfortable being The Democrat among people who may or may not identify as Democrats. I think there’s some hard feelings or maybe resentment here from Democrats toward them because the feeling is Lefties didn’t turn out but the election’s over and I don’t care if they came out or not. I don’t want to rehash that anymore.
jl
@Adam L Silverman: I forgot to mention the irresistible urge to take any chance to prominently display their Senatorial gravitas and Saturnine majesty, also too, in addition and besides.
danielx
@jl:
Yeah, but this is Donald Trump. Donald Trump does not get booed. And does not put himself in situations where he could get booed.
Mike in NC
“Thermonuclear Oafishness” is a sublime description of Trump.
Adam L Silverman
@schrodingers_cat: I understand the bad blood and ongoing heartburn. But we can’t go back, just forward. Perez and Ellison have smartly put Senator Sanders in charge of (one of) the DNC’s outreach efforts, which is why you’re seeing him on TV a lot talking about what the Democratic Party should do or is doing. Better to have him in the tent pissing out, than out of the tent pissing in.
Gin & Tonic
@Lizzy L: I am healthier than your brother, but underwent surgery under general anesthesia last week, and afterward felt like I’d been run over by a truck, and could hardly move. The drugs they use are very powerful and take some time to work their way out of your system. Be patient.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@efgoldman: Exactly. Hence
But I have to admit, the idea of this dragging on for months of years is painful to contemplate, as understandable and necessary as that pace might be. I’m keeping busy and forcing myself to turn off the news, just for my own sanity. (But then I turn the news back on again because Christ, what a train wreck this country has become.)
clay
@schrodingers_cat:
It’s amazing how much overlap there was between Bernie’s criticism of Clinton and Trump’s criticism of Clinton, as well as the criticisms of Clinton coming from Russian media and officials (especially all of the “warmonger” shit).
And by “amazing,” I mean “blatantly obvious”.
(I don’t particularly think Bernie himself was a Russian agent, but rather he — and especially his followers — were very susceptible to the Russian disinformation campaign spread through lefty social media.)
Adam L Silverman
@jl: Goes without saying!
debbie
@Major Major Major Major:
I’m probably confusing them with Libertarians again. They’re all assholes in my book.
Gin & Tonic
@Adam L Silverman: It would indeed be better to have him inside the tent. Any idea when he plans to come in?
Lizzy L
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA:
@Adam L Silverman:
Thanks for your good thoughts. As I said, I just needed to vent. All will be well, and all will be well, and all manner of things will be well. Just keep breathing…
Steve in the ATL
@Ian G.:
Phoenix has a Democratic mayor!
Kay
@Sab:
I went to the Democrats dinner last week and it was very boisterous. They were all cheery because the health care overturn was in such dire straits. Donald Trump was right about that one thing. It did make them happy.
Adam L Silverman
@Gin & Tonic: My understanding is that Perez and Ellison have decided to allow him in the tent, by granting him this role, without requiring him to formally join the party – just continue to caucus with it. As frustrating as that is for partisans, an ultimatum wouldn’t do any good, so giving him a little bit of flex is what they did. I get the anger and bad blood and heartburn, but don’t let the ideal be the enemy of effective.
Lizzy L
@Gin & Tonic: Yes. Nothing I can do but be patient. He’ll call me when he wants to. How are you doing, by the way? I hope you’ve figured out way to get some sleep. That’s been my post-surgery issue.
debbie
@Baud:
He ought to show up in DC and show Trump how it should be done.
Gin & Tonic
@Lizzy L: Narcotics help.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@schrodingers_cat:Oooh, pretty! Thank you. And baby kitteh is adorable snuggled with baby person.
schrodingers_cat
@Adam L Silverman: One of the two voted for JS and one did not vote. One was in a very red state and one in a blue state, so it didn’t matter, but still.
BBA
@Ian G.: The Unincorporated Cobb County Braves, maybe?
Gin & Tonic
@Adam L Silverman: Fuck him. If he wants to help the Democrats maybe he should first become a Democrat.
Fair Economist
@Lizzy L: Fingers and toes all crossed for you and your family. Sounds rough, but I’m sure your brother will be feeling better and reaching out in a few days.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud:
27? There’s that number again.
schrodingers_cat
@Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: I is glad that Diljit won your heart too.
Dil == heart
jit== win
Aleta
@Lizzy L: Best wishes to your brother during his recovery, and to you.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: You are a kick-ass wife! Weekend cabin and Jason at the Ryman, for which all 3 nights’ tickets sold the 1st day. (Mr. Q was tried to get some). I hope the kids have something special planned also too. Tell Iggy and Muppet their Auntie Bella Q says howdy.
@schrodingers_cat: ZOMG, yes. I thought I’d mentioned that already. Thanks again.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Ellison should tell him he needs to work on his aim.
on the pace of the Russia investigations: To be perfectly crass, I think it works better politically to have unanswered questions floating around, forcing Republicans to stammer and hem and haw and try not to say anything too conclusive one way or the other
Kay
Is that true? Good Lord. For some reason I feel like this is a Trump Family lie that will hurt them. They specifically said they wouldn’t do this and then Ivanka lied about planning it – said it wasn’t planned when it so obviously was. Maybe it matters because Ivanka and her husband so obviously played political media with the planted favorable stories and then the big power grab. They’re really something. I don’t think anyone thought the nepotism and self-dealing would be this blatant. I’m surprised by it and I could not have a lower opinion of these people. I didn’t think they’d do it.
CaseyL
@Adam L Silverman: He damned well better stay off his “Corporatist Democrats must be defeated!” soapbox for 2018. I’m already seeing the Wilmer trolls show up on FB disparaging Democratic office holders and candidates for 2018.
Yarrow
@Adam L Silverman:
McConnell is a traitor to the country for doing this. I’ll never forget his face when he had to give the announcement that okay, he would allow the committee to look into the Russian stuff. Looked like someone had a gun to his head. He’s hiding something. I hope it comes out during these investigations. He needs to pay for his part in all this.
patroclus
Uh, no way on Obama throwing out the first pitch for the Cubbies! He’s a SouthSider. Let Ryno or the Hawk do it, or maybe Bill Murray or Eddie Vedder. Hillary would be okay, because she used to be a Cubs fan, until she moved to Connecticut, Arkansas, D.C. and then (ugh!) NY. As for Trump, he’d be booed less in St. Louis or Arlington (Texas) or maybe Cincinnati.
MomSense
@rikyrah:
I cheered watching that interview last night. Maxine Waters is everything.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@CaseyL: the VA Dem primary is interesting. The Wilmerites are backing the guy Obama (I believe) pushed into the race against MacAuliffe’s hand-picked would-be successor, who voted for Bush twice (he says he wasn’t ‘politically engaged’ all those many, many years ago) and has the backing of NARAL and PP because of Pierrello’s stance on the Hyde Amendment during the ACA debate
Kay
It just makes me sad. The big fish got away and was sitting with the President today pretending to care about heroin addicts.
It’s just gross how no one at the top is ever held accountable. It’s corrosive to the whole justice system. Like Bridget Ann Kelly planned that thing. Right. Sure she did.
Mary G
@Chet Murthy: @rikyrah: The women’s magazines are kicking ass and taking names. Even regular Vogue, which I would have imagined is read mostly by Republicans. It’s awesome!
Chet Murthy
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Uh? Sorry, I think I missed something there. Care to review for the slower-witted?
Only other “27” I can think of is the crazification factor.
jl
@PJ: “If Pence is implicated in things,..”
Well, I dunno. Various pieces of furniture, door stops, dingbats, dumpsters and such like might be implicated too. Not sure how that would effect anything significant.
schrodingers_cat
@rikyrah: BlowhardO has no real achievements unlike Congresswoman Waters.
Chet Murthy
@schrodingers_cat: Called her office today to thank her. She’s not even my rep.
Yarrow
@Lizzy L: Wishing your brother all the best for a safe and speedy recovery. Please take care of yourself now so that you can take care of him when you see him. Get sleep and eat properly now so you’ll be at your best. Glad he was able to talk to you at all–good sign!
Feathers
@schrodingers_cat: @Baud: The problem with the election wasn’t just about the Trumpian corruption. It was also about Russia discovering that White Nationalism, not Capitalism, is the Opiate of the Masses. They fed it hard through every channel that they could find, and a far too large segment of the left found it just as irresistible as the right. That is why the “fake news” is a problem on the left AND right stories drive me nuts. The problem here isn’t left vs right, it’s that propaganda is being delivered to the misogynists and racists and religious bigots.
It is some kind of karma that Russia tried for ages to defeat us via Communism, only to discover that for Americans the real problem with Communism wasn’t communism per se, but the egalitarianism within. If only Stalin had gone racist instead, he probably could have had a fair chance at winning the Cold War. It’s why the press isn’t talking about the real danger – that White Nationalism and democracy are incompatible.
MomSense
@Baud:
Devine on the other hand… I’d like to see him investigated.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Adam L Silverman:
Dude’s pretty old, I’m not sure he has that good of an aim.
Aleta
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: Happy anniversary.
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Hope The High Road
youtube.com/watch?v=ci-6Au1Gnrs
efgoldman
@mainmata:
:::ahem:::
That’s not what he says,
mai naem mobile
@Lizzy L: I will think positive thoughts for your brother. It will probably take him 2-3 months to really get over it completely but just getting out of the hospital without an infection will be a big positive sign for his recovery.
Kay
@Adam L Silverman:
Thanks, Adam. but don’t you think people required specific information? THIS story was planted, in THIS place about THIS candidate? “Russian hackers are interfering” doesn’t mean anything to people. Interfering how? What are they saying on these sites? Why are they saying it? What parts were “mainstreamed” as real news?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@efgoldman: God, I would love to read the reports of the team of psychiatrists it would take to get to the root of that man’s various churning lunacies. Or at a least a good summary
ETA; Sweet Paulie Blue Eyes thinks the Senate is going to defund Planned Parenthood through reconciliation. Another flaming bag of dog poop he wants to toss on Mitch McConnell’s front porch
Yarrow
@Kay: I thought there was another lawsuit against Christie related to the bridge issue.
efgoldman
@Adam L Silverman:
For better or worse, the Bill of Rights restrains and restricts government, not private actors.
Verizon and Comcast might think they’re the government, but they ain’t.
MomSense
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA:
It’s the combo of the reverse presidential aging (the citizens are losing sleep, going gray, morphing into burdened wrecks) and time changing over to dog years.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Yarrow: I hear the Turtle likes chicken.
randy khan
@Old Dan and Little Anne:
But he made sure to have the Cubs visit the White House before the end of his term.
Omnes Omnibus
@mainmata: @efgoldman: I never played baseball as a kid (except in gym class which really doesn’t count). I did do rock climbing and backpacking though.
randy khan
@Shana:
Brilliant – and Obama is living in D.C., so it’s an easy commute.
MomSense
@Lizzy L:
So glad he made it through surgery and hope he recovers fully. Best to both of you.
Fuck fucking cancer.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Chet Murthy: Wilmer’s average contribution == crazfication factor.
Adam L Silverman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: He’s old, some amount of incontinence is to be expected…
It will play out as it plays out in the time it takes to play out.
efgoldman
@Gin & Tonic:
Going on morning shithead and saying we have to compromise on women’s rights and firearms doesn’t help much.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@efgoldman: I heard he was the first to walk on the moon. Believe me.
trollhattan
@efgoldman:
Dear lord. Was he the best in the county at the cybers back in the ’60s also too? Was he awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for meritorious deferments during Vietnam? Did he teach Julia Child how to make Chateaubriand sauce? “My recipe makes three gallons!”
Adam L Silverman
@CaseyL: Remember that a lot of those trolls weren’t ever actually his supporters. They’re either paid trolls intended to cause mischief or their alt-right trolls doing it for the lulz.
Adam L Silverman
@Yarrow: As is the case with the 2016 election bringing extremism back into the Conservative mainstream, this too shows us who is who and where they have chosen to stand. That is useful knowledge going for.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Better an actual title than the untitled bullshyt
geg6
@efgoldman:
Seriously. I was just about to the point where I was ready to let bygones be bygones and then I saw this story somewhere this morning and he’s right back on my DIAF list. Fuck him.
amk
@efgoldman:
Nobody knew throwing a ball would be soooo hard. A fucking narcissistic nothingburger elected to the powerful post. Thanks, media and wwc.
Omnes Omnibus
@rikyrah: It’s illegal.
Origuy
Trump played first base at the military school he went to. Apparently, he was pretty good.
Villago Delenda Est
@Adam L Silverman: The “General Welfare” might be applied to human chattel. Couldn’t have that.
Kay
Here’s Ivanka lying to Lesley Stahl:
Why do all these type people always pick “education”? It seems unfair that that one area gets stuck with them all. It seems like we could share the burden- stick some of them in “criminal justice” or “health care”.
Adam L Silverman
@Chet Murthy: You’re tracking. Carry on.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Kay,
If she was stupid enough to not flip, don’t blame that on the system. Ain’t no way, I would be leaving my children while that Phuck walks around free.
geg6
@Origuy:
That was at least 55 years and a hundred pounds ago. Doubt he can even get the ball near home plate at this point.
Lyrebird
Curious if other people saw this China shoe fail to drop:
(quote from LGM comment in a quite funny thread)
efgoldman
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Nope. It’s like a bad horror movie: look into the abyss and it drives you mad.
geg6
@rikyrah:
Tell it. She put him before her own kids. She’s the world’s shittiest mother.
efgoldman
@Omnes Omnibus:
And that insane pre-drinking ritual called “rugby”
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: Iggy and Muppet will be accompanying us to the cabin. Muppet isn’t pleased — two hours in the car does things to her. And subsequently to the car’s interior. We’ll be trying Muppet’s Little Helper for this trip (Dramamine). Fingers and paws crossed.
Keith P.
LOL
japa21
@efgoldman: There are some things even trained professionals, like psychiatrists or psychologists, should not be asked to do. They would probably not survive the experience.
ThresherK
@Lizzy L: The best thoughts to your family from our home.
Actually going to get on the bicycle tomorrow.
Adam L Silverman
@Kay: Okay, now I understand where you were going. Some of that stuff had come out. But the larger issue is the informational distribution channels have become silos. So even when it was reported, if you had already decided that those sources were biased and bogus you weren’t going to see it. This was, of course, compounded, by some of the largest news platforms 30 year vendetta against Secretary Clinton for merely existing. Which is interesting given that almost all the reporters at those platforms that were waging that vendetta last year were children or teens when it was created out of whole cloth.
Yarrow
@Adam L Silverman: Yes, it’s useful knowledge. But unless we can do something with the knowledge it’s not useful. I want McConnell to pay for what he did. He was wrong. So was Ryan. They knew. They are guilty.
Lyrebird
@jl:
Burr’s seat is safe for now, but maybe he does have principles (some of ’em do), and also iirc D. Ross gave him a run for his money last fall, probably woke him up a little bit.
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: True, but the Constitution was never intended by the framers to extend the rights of citizens to corporations.
And the larger issue is that Conservatives/Republicans do not believe in that right even in regard to the government.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: That was in college.* I also skied.
*I recently impulse bought a rugby ball.
ETA: I wouldn’t volunteer to throw out a first pitch anywhere. No guaranty that I put it anywhere near the plate.
efgoldman
@geg6:
You must not read/watch your local news – or mine.
Kay
@rikyrah:
I sort of liked her by the end of it. She was so combative and seemingly unafraid of gross bully Christie and his assorted goons. Maybe she didn’t have anything additional on him, to tie him close enough to convict.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Anti-Deficiency Act.
Fair Economist
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA:
I’d be hopeful. My son used to have a lot of trouble with cars that way – never in the car, but we had some close calls at the side of the road. Dramamine always worked as long as he took it in advance.
socraticsilence
@patroclus:
Arlington depends how tight the current Ownership is with Dubya, that might be an old friendship you don’t burn for a guy that currently looks like a loser.
Adam L Silverman
@Lyrebird: Yep, I saw the article on it this AM. Remember this is a PRC state backed deal. Or was. The rumbling of a Trump-Putin axis against China doesn’t sit well in Beijing. And while there are now opportunities for the PRC because of the President’s change in policy towards Asia-Pacific, the Chinese leadership also abhors chaos. And all they’re seeing right now is chaos. And that freaks them out and they’re not going to reward it. The other interesting to thing to watch is what they do when the note for Trump Tower comes up for auction. The PRC’s largest state bank currently owns it.
Lizzy L
@Adam L Silverman:
But the people who own those platforms were not — children, that is. Really, when one looks at it, the creation and continued maintenance of that vendetta is extraordinary. It’s still omnipresent.
JeffH
@efgoldman: Yeah, yeah, yeah, patience. How long is that going to take?
Mnemosyne
@Feathers:
Yup. I will repeat again: my friends in Michigan said that the reason their white friends voted for Trump was specifically because they hate Black Lives Matter. And they told this to a white man who’s been married to a black woman for 20+ years.
Omnes Omnibus
Is the site taking forever to fully load for anyone else?
amk
Looks like Steele’s “dossier” has shot its wad. And nothing to show for it.
efgoldman
@Adam L Silverman:
I think it would be fun (for some values of fun) to read closely-translated of the reports their embassy and consulates are sending back.
Lyrebird
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: Just checking: have you tried Dramamine on Muppet before? In young humans, if it doesn’t work quite right it can have an emetic side effect. (dry heaves) Yes I was one of those, & have never tried it again. Fortunately my tummy does better now.
Kay
If I were a Presidential nepotism hire I would defy expectations. “You know what I feel passionately about, Leslie? Federal waterways management. Always been an interest” “The hybrid seed program at the USDA – I want to shake that up!”
It’s always “education”. So predictable.
Lyrebird
@Adam L Silverman: Thank you for the added info! I remember being disappointed that they (PRC officials) said they liked the Republican candidate back over the summer. I was over there in the winter, though, and by then they were publishing very critical cartoons, not to mention the angry rooster statue.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: I experienced a slow down about 1/2 an hour ago.
Yarrow
@Adam L Silverman: I saw that piece about the 666 building, Kushner and China earlier today as well and wondered what you thought. China plays the long game and I wondered if it means they think Trump and relations aren’t the good long game bet. Interesting for sure.
efgoldman
@JeffH:
“Are we there yet?”
Adam L Silverman
@amk: No, that’s not how this works.
Chet Murthy
@Kay: If she had nothing on Big Cheeseburger himself, she should have turned state’s evidence sooner, eh? First one who sings in a conspiracy gets the sweet deal, right? So unless you have the goods on somebody really -juicy-, you’re gonna get hung out to dry.
No, she’s the world’s worst mother, as well as being a despicable human being (for having been part of the conspiracy in the first place).
I don’t for one second buy the “oh, she’s at odds with Christie” schtick. ISTR McDonnell & wife pretended they were on the outs during their trial, too. It’s just a defense tactic, nothing more.
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: Pretty much every embassy.
Omnes Omnibus
@Kay: I haven’t seen you post something that wasn’t angry or outraged since the election. Please say you are just this way here for rhetorical effect. Otherwise, I would be worried about you. None of my business, but still…
Mnemosyne
@Lizzy L:
Good thoughts for your brother and family. It’s nerve-wracking to have to sit by the phone and find out how the surgery went long distance. My mom’s recovery from her heart surgery has been slow, because her COPD caused some complications, but my brother says that she keeps getting better every day.
Seth Owen
@PJ: Assuming Ryan isn’t implicated as well, which is unclear at this point but would explain some of his behavior.
geg6
@efgoldman:
The people I see on the news who are terrible mothers have major issues, usually addiction and/or mental health. What is this nightmare of a mom’s excuse? She is willing to abandon them to shield that piece of crap Christie. She chose to do that, with no mitigating circumstances.
geg6
@Kay:
You can’t possibly really believe that.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
The Socialist Handmaiden’s Tale:
paid speeches are forbidden; women’s reproductive rights are sold out.
I told you from Day One that there was something really wrong with him.
Adam L Silverman
@Yarrow: You also have to remember that they actively collect on the Russians as a regional competitor and potential regional adversary, as well as on the US. I guarantee, just based on how the world works, that they have all the Intel they need about the President, what went on in the campaign, the Russian connections, etc.
And this is the real issue: every one of our NATO allies, every one of our Middle Eastern allies and/or partners, every one of our SE Asian and Asian-Pacific allies and/or partners are doing this collection. Some do it really, really well. Some only have the resources to do it okay. But every single one of them has pieces to this puzzle. Every single one of them knows, in excruciating details, just what happened and is happening. Official denial and obfuscation means very little in the world the President, his family, his business, and his personnel are now operating in. A world where friend and foe alike is using every means available – SIGINT, ELINT, HUMINT, OSINT, GEOINT, etc – to know what every one else is doing. There is no way that Angela Merkel went to DC last week without seeing everything the Germans had on the President.
Adam L Silverman
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Senator Bob Casey, D-PA.
Ruckus
@Lizzy L:
Good luck to your brother.
And just because I haven’t said it yet today. (It can not be said enough)
FUCK Fucking Cancer.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
“had better”… these fucking people
Kay
@geg6:
I do believe it. I think she hates him and would happily put him in prison. I’m not excusing what she did but they didn’t convict the big cheese so I think the whole thing sucks. Christie was a federal prosecutor. He would know better than to give underlings stuff that could hang him. I think she probably only knew what she absolutely needed to know to get the job done. She was definitely a subordinate.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@Adam L Silverman: Casey is a socialist and a revolutionary?
Lizzy L
@Mnemosyne: Glad to hear your mother is improving. Yesterday was nerve-wracking, not knowing what was going on; OTOH, it was much worse for my niece, who had certainly not expected that the operation was going to last 10 hours. (No one expected it, including the surgeon.) But he came through it well, no heart issues on the table that I am aware of, and it could easily have been much worse.
Thanks, everyone, for your good wishes. Kindness helps a lot.
Adam L Silverman
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: No, he’s a personally pro-life, not fully all in on gun control Democrat.
Lizzy L
From The Guardian:
Fuck these people.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Kay: is the investigation closed? I thought the prosecutor was still looking into the Port Authority, which people talk about like it’s a modern day Tammany Hall
Chet Murthy
@Kay:
And yet … and yet, she participated in a criminal conspiracy. How could she not realize it was a crime? That she was tricked into doing it …. well, it’s not really an excuse, is it?
Elie
@Adam L Silverman:
This. I have wondered about this. Doesn’t the Trump admin also know this? Wouldn’t they figure that the big reveal would just be a matter of time. It’s surprising therefore that Trumps disrespectful treatment of Angela Merkel is even more stupid than what we already knew. Add to that all the other trouble Trump is getting into and you are looking at chaos with a cherry on top
Thru the Looking Glass...
Not surprised… he probably doesn’t want to end up looking like this doofus…
So which role is Christie auditioning for in that picture… Twiddle Dee or Twiddle Dumb?
You’d think a friend would care enough to tell him…
stinger
@Adam L Silverman: Maybe “effective” is yet to be determined?
Thru the Looking Glass...
@Elie:
Sorry, but that really needed to be said…
amk
@Adam L Silverman:
Unless congress and senate subpoena and get their surveillance reports from the foreign govts – both of which are not gonna happen – I don’t see much point in putting much faith in them.
Ruckus
@Gin & Tonic:
And how much will it cost?
Elie
@Mnemosyne:
Best wishes to you and Lizzie on your Mom’s recoveries. Also a good “whew” on the successful Heimlich you underwent.
jl
@Adam L Silverman: You must take sides in the eternal and infernal HRC/S*****s feud, or you will be damned and be made NOT.
Edit: heh heh.. couldn’t resist going a little Old Test there. But, this is serious stuff!
Adam L Silverman
@Elie: One would hope someone has explained it.
Jacel
@Old Broad in California: The champion Chicago Cubs worked in their visit to the White House while Obama was still in office, rather than the usual occasion during the baseball season. Good call, Cubs, not only in order to be honored by a president with an affinity for Chicago.
Adam L Silverman
@stinger: Without a doubt. Perez and Ellis have a lot of work to do.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@Adam L Silverman: Wilmer denounces people as traitors to the party (of which he’s not a member) on his issues (paid speeches). Casey does not. As far as I can tell Casey is a pluralist, not a fake self convenient, purist.
Adam L Silverman
@amk: Because the CI investigative task force has it and is using it. And they will be getting Intel from our British allies.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@Lyrebird: We haven’t tried it, no. We’re leaving Friday — I’m wondering if we should try giving her some tomorrow, just to see how she does.
Another issue is that I’ve heard that she shouldn’t take it on an empty stomach; but then she also shouldn’t travel on a full stomach. Not sure we’re going to win either way here. Poor girl.
jl
@Jacel: probably did it just to get a little one-up on the WS.
Adam L Silverman
Well this is interesting:
newsweek.com/fbi-director-james-comey-russian-tampering-election-576417
Much more at the link.
Omnes Omnibus
@Lizzy L: Kelly is an embarrassment.
And for SC’s benefit, anyone who expressed any confidence in military officers in the admin meant only Mattis and McMaster. Kelly and Flynn are and always have been crazy. And so far Mattis has not been good.
Mnemosyne
@Elie:
Believe me, I’m even more relieved than you are that it worked! ? I’ve been going around reminding all my friends and co-workers to get their first aid certifications updated, because you never know what might happen.
Adam L Silverman
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: I got all that. What I was, apparently, fuzzy about was whether you’re objection was to the “pro-life and soft on gun control” bit or something else.
Ruckus
@Gin & Tonic:
You may notice from my question at 226 that I’m not a fan of BS. (such appropriate initials don’t you think?)
But, and it’s a big round firm but, he does have a following. Is pissing them off that good of an idea? JS will run again, she seems to have the lefty grift down pat. BS is going to be too old to run next time so…..
Sometimes in politics you have to have friends that really aren’t.
Kay
@Chet Murthy:
Oh, I’m not saying she shouldn’t go to prison. I’m saying she may not have had enough to put Chris Christie in prison and stay out herself. She testified that he knew about the traffic study. She also testified that the Christie inner circle closed up and she knew she would be the scapegoat, which is why she stopped talking and hired a lawyer.
I don’t think she could show that Chris Christie knew the traffic study was bullshit and was instead a political vendetta and that’s what she needed to have. I think it’s very possible that she wouldn’t have something to prove that. He wasn’t telling staff “I’m now launching the political vendetta”.
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
Meh. Sounds like an after-the-fact attempt at ass-covering on Comey’s part. It’s not my fault I tanked the election, Obama made me do it!
amk
@Adam L Silverman: cya from fucking comey. gutless pos.
Elie
@Mnemosyne:
For real. Thanks be.
sukabi
@Adam L Silverman: just idle speculation here, I think Nunez’ little night trip to the WH grounds was probably a summons to show him a little something to keep him and his “investigation” under control.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Mattis has absolutely no staff. And no pull, apparently, with the White House. Who knew that putting a retired Marine 4 star with a reputation for independent thinking on the payroll was not going to go well with the people around the guy that put him on the payroll. What the President and those around him wanted was the show of appointing Mattis. They didn’t actually want Mattis. Which is why he’s not allowed to pick his own personnel and why, I think, they’re never going to fill most of the political appointments at DOD. To keep him hobbled. I have no idea what is going on with Kelly. Never met him. Never did anything with SOUTHCOM. I have a friend and former colleague that knows him well and has served with him and he doesn’t get it either.
Ruckus
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
His aim can’t be good, look how he pissed all over the tent the last time.
Ruckus
Adam.
Got one in the box. Must be something I said.
Kay
@Adam L Silverman:
That makes me feel better about him, because that’s the thing, right? They needed to tell people this was going on.
I don’t know if it would have made a difference but that’s not for them to decide.
Elie
@Mnemosyne:
Yeah but it says to me he is distancing himself from Trump which may be due to shit he is seeing. So I take it more as a tell than a measure of his integrity
Adam L Silverman
@Mnemosyne: @amk: And if subsequent reporting by Newsweek or other reporters confirms this? I don’t mean to be rude, but sometimes reality doesn’t conform to preconceived notions. And a tremendous amount goes on in both Federal law enforcement and the IC that almost no one sees. Including many of us that are involved in pieces of it. If further reporting confirms and supports this it would not surprise me in the least. It is fully consistent with his understanding of himself and his reputation and how he acts as a result. I’ve explained all of that, in depth, multiple times but you’ve decided he’s evil incarnate.
efgoldman
@Elie:
No
No
SATSQ
The Tangelo Tumor and what passes for a maladministration doesn’t “know” anything, and are both incapable and uninterested in learning.
That’s what happens when you hire the smartest guy in the country, and HE hires the smartest guy in the country – just ask them.
MomSense
@Mnemosyne:
Glad to hear your Mom is improving.
Adam L Silverman
@sukabi: Anything is possible at this point. It is clear he’s made complete hash of everything.
Adam L Silverman
@Ruckus: I freed it.
Steeplejack (phone)
What is Doris Kearns Goodwin smoking?!
She was on MSNBC with Brian Williams, talking about how she hopes that Trump is going to reflect upon his recent defeat, get better people to advise him, make better decisions, etc., etc., etc. Jesus.
Adam L Silverman
@Kay: As I’ve written here repeatedly: Comey believes he’s the last honest person in DC. And he tends to act that way, which often comes off as smarmy. But it makes him predictable. Which, in the case of the Weiner-Abedin laptop made it easy for the knuckleheads at the NY Field Office to manipulate him. Understanding this doesn’t make what he did right. It doesn’t make what he did better. It doesn’t make it go away. But understanding how things happened is important.
Это курам на смех
Given what happened last year, yes, we do.
Adam L Silverman
@Steeplejack (phone): Whatever it is she plagiarized it.
rikyrah
@Lizzy L:
Sending him positive thoughts and prayers.
Yarrow
@Adam L Silverman: Do you think that the Trump crew understands all that? That they’re relationships, communications and so forth are known? I don’t get the impression they understand how this stuff works.
Ruckus
@Adam L Silverman:
Thanks.
workworkwork
@Gin & Tonic: Ditto on that. I had surgery last fall (my first). It took me a long time to completely recover.
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
He thought the Russia story was so urgent that he wanted to … write an op-ed about it. Woo.
And then he decided to throw his lot in with Trump by claiming there was a whole new investigation into Hillary’s emails two weeks before the election — an investigation that fizzled into nothing. Nobody in the Obama administration forced Comey to do that. He chose to tank Hiilary’s campaign.
Comey put his thumb on the scales to get Trump elected. If he’s having second thoughts about facilitating the election of a guy who’s neck-deep with the Russians, that’s too fucking bad. He should have thought of that sooner.
Elie
@Adam L Silverman:
I guess the question for him is how long to hang on. Things are only going to get worse and more entangled. Without staff he has his hands tied. If he is a patriot, his resignation might do more to help than helping this admin limp along as it gets deeper in trouble.
efgoldman
@Adam L Silverman:
Nope. Just a self-righteous prig who thinks he’s the last person in DC with any integritude.
I wish he was evil; it would be easier to understand and deal with.
ETA: Which is what you said a few comments down.
BlueDWarrior
Rachel was sounding rather shrill about the Russian not-quite conspiracy to destroy the West as we understand it.
I’m sure Putin and his fellow travellers would love the US and the other major powers to fall in infighting at best, or collapsing into sundry component parts.
What frightens me is the overheated white populism/nativisim in said Western powers may give him an not insignificant shot tho pull it off.
Ruckus
@Yarrow:
I get the impression that among the entire group there may be a glimmer of a very small bit of understanding of a number of things. None of which have anything to do with the jobs they hold. None of which is held by any one person in any way which allows any competency. None of which is the slightest bit useful to anyone other than themselves.
rikyrah
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
Well, we do have Bob Casey.
Adam L Silverman
@Yarrow: Your guess is as good as mine.
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
Give him a break. It’s difficult to shovel when you are neck deep in a river of shit.
frosty
@Baud: The World Baseball Classic is like the soccer World Cup: a series where the players play for their home country, regardless of what MLB team they’re on or if they’re in the majors at all. So no immigrants on the US team, all US natives (citizens?). The Dominican Republic kicks ass in this one. Having the US beat them is a fairly big deal.
joel hanes
@Ian G.:
I wonder if there’s a single baseball stadium where Trump wouldn’t be booed to all hell.
I’m thinking it’s a blessing that Trump bowed out of this.
Baseball crowd. Trump appears, Booing, some cheers. Fights.
amk
@Adam L Silverman:
With the kinda stunts comey has pulled over the last few months, his I am the honestest man in DC shtick doesn’t stick. YMMV.
NotMax
How the man manages to stand upright with a backbone made of custard remains a puzzlement.
rikyrah
@Adam L Silverman:
You did read about the bitchassness of Kelly in the meeting in Michigan?
The bullshyt he spewed forth as to why they can’t tell us who the border people are stopping?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Steeplejack (phone): she seems like a nice person, with all the perspicacity of a meatloaf
Wapiti
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
A better answer would have been be: “Pro-life? Tim Kaine’s a committed Catholic and seriously pro-life. He was the Democratic Party’s VP candidate. The Democratic Party is already there,”
Bill Arnold
@efgoldman:
Is there anything in plan to prevent Verizon/Comcast/etc from selling this information to the government?
TriassicSands
Late, late to the thread.
It’s a nice glove, but it looks like it would be a little big for Little Donnie Trump.
Mnemosyne
@amk:
I’ll go even further — a guy who realizes that he got played and made a grave mistake doesn’t leak self-justifying stories to the press about how he wanted to do the right thing but the ol’ meanies in the Obama administration wouldn’t let him.
Comey still thinks he did the right thing by sabotaging Hillary’s campaign. Fuck him..
Millard Filmore
@Bill Arnold: Do a Google search for FREE DNS SERVER. I have not tried this yet but will soon find out if a DNS server in Europe will work.
efgoldman
@Bill Arnold:
Someone, somehow would have to appropriate the money. And it wouldn’t be cheap.
amk
lol. petty minded petty thief.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: Why not both? Clinton was going to win, so weaken her, and now blame the Obama for not letting him do the “right thing”.
lgerard
@patroclus:
When Bush threw out the first pitch in St Louis in 2004 they blasted canned applause through the PA system to drown out the boos……maybe they would do that for trumpp
amk
winning bigly.
Mike J
@Millard Filmore: What will changing DNS get you? Your isp gets your packets first. they know the destination ip. They don’t need your DNS requests to know where your packets are going or coming from, they’re the ones sending them.
amk
amk
yeah, mad dog will be that voice of reason.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@amk: I’ll be surprised
One stat I heard is that he/they/we will need double the historic turn out among 18-30 yo to win
efgoldman
@amk:
Stockman!
One of the loudest, assholiest of the RWNJ loud assholes.
Always projection.
Federal charges, too, which means he won’t get some buddy elected state/local judge to throw it out for a big “campaign contribution”
amk
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: This will be the new DNC head’s first and probably most important trial. Let’s see if he can do it.
Millard Filmore
@Mike J: The next step is to get a TOR browser or purchase an account with an anonymiser.
TenguPhule
@Mnemosyne:
Comey is a dead man no matter which side wins the Civil War/Constitutional Crisis.
He knows too much.
And he’s a traitor.
Dead man walking.
Betsy
@Adam L Silverman: Can’t wait for your next.
Brendan in NC
@Lyrebird: She sure did. And depending upon how the redistricting/gerrymandering lawsuits work out; he might not be so lucky next time.