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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

We still have time to mess this up!

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

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

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

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

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

He really is that stupid.

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

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

This fight is for everything.

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

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

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

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

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Human rights are not a matter of opinion!

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

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

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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Social Notes Open Thread: What Do the Simple Folk Do?

Social Notes Open Thread: What Do the Simple Folk Do?

by Anne Laurie|  April 15, 20173:05 pm| 261 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Dolt 45, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Trump Crime Cartel, Assholes, Ever Get The Feeling You've Been Cheated?

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Ivanka Trump getting a plate of food before 2017 Passover seder Monday night in Whistler, BC Canada (Source: @J_Insider) pic.twitter.com/jIoXfrhpzh

— Rabbi Jason Miller (@RabbiJason) April 13, 2017

… The couple celebrated Passover at the Four Seasons Whistler in Canada, according to an article and exclusive photo in Jewish Insider…

The Four Seasons Resort is hosting “Pesach on the Mountain,” a 10-day kosher ski vacation, billed as “an exclusive Pesach vacation that offers supreme accommodations” on its website. The 2017 accommodations were sold out. Passover tourism is common, as the holiday requires the observant to remove all leavened products from their homes, use separate dishes that only come out once a year, and deep clean their cooking equipment.

Trump and Kushner are not the first orthodox Jews to serve in an administration. But it’s unclear whether the couple’s travel is in line with previous administration officials, since the couple has a much higher profile. It’s unusual in the first 100 days of an administration, especially as many White House staffers and high-level officials have logged long hours and most weekends…

Here’s hoping ‘Empress Melania’ agreed to give up her weekend, or we’re due for some more headline-making tweets by tomorrow evening.

No Trump senior staff are on Air Force One, and none are meeting him in Florida this Easter weekend, a White House aide tells @jeneps.

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) April 13, 2017

Trump drops #MOAB then flies to Palm Beach on a Thursday afternoon for an extended golf weekend trip to Mar-a-Lago. pic.twitter.com/yyp25YKiYg

— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) April 14, 2017

(The White House Easter Egg Roll isn’t until Monday, and it’s still not clear whether Melania will be there. Most schools take a vacation week, I’m told, so Barron’s schedule shouldn’t be an issue.)

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Reader Interactions

261Comments

  1. 1.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    April 15, 2017 at 3:16 pm

    I want this entire crime family in prison.

  2. 2.

    Barbara

    April 15, 2017 at 3:17 pm

    Having just come back from my own skiing sojourn, the little elitist in me says, “who doesn’t like to ski?”

  3. 3.

    Corner Stone

    April 15, 2017 at 3:17 pm

    Ahhh, Ivanka. Doesn’t she know that hiding on the west coast of Canada isn’t the safest place to be when her daddy pushes NoKo to nuke the west coast of the US?

  4. 4.

    Barbara

    April 15, 2017 at 3:20 pm

    @Corner Stone: Actually, my alternative snarky answer is that Whistler, BC is a great place to arrange play dates with prospective Chinese business partners. Lots of Japanese and Chinese tourists (as well as permanent residents) choose Whistler as a skiing destination. It’s an awesome place.

  5. 5.

    Corner Stone

    April 15, 2017 at 3:20 pm

    @Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: It’s weird because I have come to hate not only the the entire family but every single member of his cabinet as well. Sessions, DeVos, Mnuchin, W Ross and Mulvaney all need to have their selves VDE’d or TenguPhule’d.

  6. 6.

    Jeffro

    April 15, 2017 at 3:22 pm

    @Corner Stone: I move to second this motion

  7. 7.

    Corner Stone

    April 15, 2017 at 3:23 pm

    @Barbara: Sure, I agree. But if Lil’ Kim Jong Il misses Seattle and hits BC…
    Woopsie!

  8. 8.

    Baud

    April 15, 2017 at 3:23 pm

    a 10-day kosher ski vacation,

    How is this different from non-kosher skiing?

  9. 9.

    Corner Stone

    April 15, 2017 at 3:26 pm

    Every time I see that fucking asshole Mulvaney do his “straight talk” bullshit about killing poor people I keep hoping a side door will open with a couple of Southies with bats that proceed to put him under.

  10. 10.

    Corner Stone

    April 15, 2017 at 3:27 pm

    @Baud: The best powder has been kept separate from the gentile’s powder.

  11. 11.

    efgoldman

    April 15, 2017 at 3:28 pm

    @Baud:

    How is this different from non-kosher skiing?

    No ham or bacon on the breakfast buffet

    Did anyone else have trouble accessing BJ for an hour or so this afternoon? And also yesterday, around 800am?

  12. 12.

    lollipopguild

    April 15, 2017 at 3:29 pm

    @Baud: No ham or bacon.

  13. 13.

    Mnemosyne

    April 15, 2017 at 3:30 pm

    I know people try to bleat that Ivanka is spending her own money on this shit and not the government’s money, but Marie Antoinette’s spending didn’t have much to do with the financial troubles of France. That didn’t help her keep her head when the revolution came for her.

  14. 14.

    The Lodger

    April 15, 2017 at 3:32 pm

    @Baud: It depends on how you kill them.
    Sonny Bono? Non-kosher skiing.

  15. 15.

    eclare

    April 15, 2017 at 3:32 pm

    @Jeffro: Thirded.

  16. 16.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    April 15, 2017 at 3:34 pm

    Bradd JaffyVerified account @ BraddJaffy
    President Trump is again at Trump International Golf Club in FL, per pool. It is his 17th golf course trip since taking office 12 weeks ago.

    David Frum‏Verified account @ davidfrum 5h5 hours ago
    Melania took a separate plane. Enjoy Tax Day everybody

    \

  17. 17.

    Suzanne

    April 15, 2017 at 3:34 pm

    Passover tourism is common, as the holiday requires the observant to remove all leavened products from their homes, use separate dishes that only come out once a year, and deep clean their cooking equipment.

    I don’t quite follow. So if you go on a Passover vacation, you don’t have to do all this stuff, because you just leave the house instead? Or do you have to do it before you go on a Passover vacation?

  18. 18.

    Fleeting Expletive

    April 15, 2017 at 3:37 pm

    Have you heard about one of Oklahoma’s special congressmen, Markwayne Mullin? He cancelled a town hall meeting for “security reasons” this week. At his earlier town hall, he got all pissy with the attendees, telling them that he didn’t owe them anything and that his taxes paid more than his salary and so their demanding answers from him was “bullcrap”.

    The town hall was to have been in Tahlequah, a lovely town with a beautiful state college campus, and was to have had security provided by marshals from the Cherokee Nation. Nobody’s gonna mess with Cherokee marshals, seriously.

    He was offended when the attendees silently held up either red or green construction paper cards while he spoke, indicating disapproval or approval.

    He’s already been the subject of congressional ethics inquiry before due to receiving money from his plumbing businesses while in Congress. He’s a real special snowflake, too important for the likes of his Oklahoma constituents. I used to live in that district and this makes me want to kick him in the shins.

  19. 19.

    Barbara

    April 15, 2017 at 3:41 pm

    @Suzanne: The hotel does it for you. All the food is kosher and the dishes are purified or sanctified by whatever process is considered acceptable. Of course, Ivanka and Jared are wealthy enough to hire people to do this for them, but if you like to ski and there is a ski resort that is offering this, why not?

  20. 20.

    AnotherBruce

    April 15, 2017 at 3:41 pm

    @Baud:The slopes are blessed by a Rabbi?

  21. 21.

    Baud

    April 15, 2017 at 3:42 pm

    @efgoldman:
    @lollipopguild:

    Oh wow. Thanks. So separate meals or all the non-Jewish guests have to go without?

  22. 22.

    efgoldman

    April 15, 2017 at 3:43 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    I know people try to bleat that Ivanka is spending her own money on this shit and not the government’s money….

    She’s damned sure not paying for the transportation or however big a protective detail travels with them.

  23. 23.

    Barbara

    April 15, 2017 at 3:44 pm

    @Corner Stone: NK doesn’t have the firepower to hit the U.S. or Canada. They are more likely to go for Seoul (most likely) or Tokyo.

  24. 24.

    Suzanne

    April 15, 2017 at 3:44 pm

    @Barbara: Okay, so you go on Passover vacation so you don’t have to do any of that deep cleaning stuff. Makes sense to me. I am an effort-avoider.

  25. 25.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 3:44 pm

    The only National Security staffer with the President this weekend is KT McFarland. She’ll be on the Sunday show’s tomorrow.

  26. 26.

    brendancalling

    April 15, 2017 at 3:44 pm

    @Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: I want them publicly hanged, displayed for a month, and then dumped in a landfill.

  27. 27.

    Barbara

    April 15, 2017 at 3:46 pm

    @GrandJury: She passes herself off better but she is every bit as opportunistic. In fact, her charade of earnest working woman is exceedingly tiresome to women who actually do work. While Ivanka pretends to empathize with us, her dad is busily doing everything he can to reduce our reproductive rights with nary a peep from the first daughter.

  28. 28.

    Corner Stone

    April 15, 2017 at 3:47 pm

    @Barbara: Sure they don’t. Just like the USSR will not be buying grain this season.

  29. 29.

    Quinerly

    April 15, 2017 at 3:48 pm

    You gotta love the comments in that rabbi’s twitter feed. Brutal, with the exception of the one “with love from Israel.”

  30. 30.

    gene108

    April 15, 2017 at 3:48 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    David Frum‏Verified account @ davidfrum 5h5 hours ago
    Melania took a separate plane. Enjoy Tax Day everybody

    The love shown between Donald and Melania is truly deep and passionate.

    It is like something out of a fairytale. You know, like the original Brother’s Grimm stories, where bad, gory, things happened.

  31. 31.

    rikyrah

    April 15, 2017 at 3:48 pm

    @Barbara:
    Only 20 million people in Seoul.

  32. 32.

    efgoldman

    April 15, 2017 at 3:49 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    The only National Security staffer with the President this weekend is KT McFarland.

    I thought she got dumped. Or is that just from the NSC?

  33. 33.

    Barbara

    April 15, 2017 at 3:49 pm

    @Corner Stone: I’ll let Adam chime in but I believe that has been the consensus view of U.S. intelligence and why push has never come to shove where NK is concerned.

  34. 34.

    Mnemosyne

    April 15, 2017 at 3:49 pm

    @Suzanne:

    IAN Jewish, but I think there’s only one holiday where the deep cleaning of the house is an actual religious duty (Yom Kippur? I know it’s the new year’s holiday.) At Passover, it’s more of a practical necessity to avoid accidentally eating something you shouldn’t, so avoiding it by going on vacation where the work is already done for you is no big deal.

  35. 35.

    Corner Stone

    April 15, 2017 at 3:49 pm

    @brendancalling: Why do you hate rats and crows so much?
    Worms, now. Worms do the Lord’s work.

  36. 36.

    Barbara

    April 15, 2017 at 3:50 pm

    @rikyrah: Hey, I am not unconcerned about this, quite the opposite, but let’s be concerned for Seoul and Tokyo and not BC and Seattle, and consider that before making NK threats part of our Ivanka bashing (which I totally otherwise don’t have a problem with).

  37. 37.

    amk

    April 15, 2017 at 3:51 pm

    @GrandJury: she is the perfect conman’s shill.

  38. 38.

    dance around in your bones

    April 15, 2017 at 3:56 pm

    He trips! He falls! He does a full-on face plant ?? !!
    Adios, rotten orange ? lump ?!!

    Oops…..my fantasy felt so REAL. Shit.

  39. 39.

    Barbara

    April 15, 2017 at 3:56 pm

    @GrandJury: Yes to all those points. But the disruption to South Korea would be horrific. And as I never tire of saying to my husband, what does NK actually want, aside from being left alone? I assume that what is playing out is that the obsession with outside threats is how NK keeps its own people willing to devote so much of their meager resources to the military without questioning the rationale for keeping them in a constant state of penury and hardship, which, in turn, keeps the ruling family in power.

  40. 40.

    efgoldman

    April 15, 2017 at 3:57 pm

    @GrandJury:

    I don’t know why people talk about their BS about firing nukes at the US when they don’t have warheads or missiles to do that.

    Because, apparently, there aren’t enough actual, real, documented threats to fear.

  41. 41.

    Nicole

    April 15, 2017 at 3:57 pm

    NYC schools are all over the place, vacation-wise. The public schools are off until Wednesday (they were off all of last week, too), but a lot of private schools had spring break earlier and are back in session, Monday included.

    Though I imagine Melania won’t bother with an excuse if she doesn’t feel like showing up.

  42. 42.

    Timurid

    April 15, 2017 at 3:58 pm

    @GrandJury:

    They could, if they really tried, shower a few random places on or near the US West Coast with assorted rocket parts and scrap metal.
    Of course they could do a lot worse to South Korea or Japan… or even China, if Little Kim totally decompensates.

  43. 43.

    gene108

    April 15, 2017 at 4:00 pm

    @GrandJury:

    I can pretty much guarantee you they have a barrage of conventional missles aimed at Seoul that will fly as soon as the US drops bombs on them.

    I do not have think South Korea will sit around quietly waiting to get bombed by North Korea.

    South Korea has more people, better infrastructure, better industrial capacity and assuming they can mobilize their resources, should be able to handle North Korea.

    All this assumes China does not get involved on North Korea’s side.

    North Korea has a lot of downside risk in a war. Despite all their bluster, the country is not in a strong position. They are poor, isolated, and can barely feed their people.

  44. 44.

    efgoldman

    April 15, 2017 at 4:00 pm

    @Barbara:

    what is playing out is that the obsession with outside threats is how NK keeps its own people willing to devote so much of their meager resources to the military without questioning the rationale for keeping them in a constant state of penury and hardship, which, in turn, keeps the ruling family in power.

    There you go again, being all “logical” and “sensible” n’shit.

  45. 45.

    Yarrow

    April 15, 2017 at 4:02 pm

    @GrandJury: The only difference in sleaziness between Ivanka and her brothers Eric and Don, Jr. is that she’s female and attractive so people give her more benefit of the doubt. She’s as bad if not worse than them. And she’s up to her eyeballs in the Russia stuff too. She’ll be caught in RICO investigations if she isn’t one of the kids they have on tape talking about criminal acts.

    As for her name–that’s her own business. If she wants to be Trump then that’s her name. If she wants to change her name to her husband’s name, that’s also her business. She’s not Kushner because you or anyone else tell her that’s her name. Her name is what she chooses it to be. It’s not a requirement that women have to change their names when they get married.

  46. 46.

    trollhattan

    April 15, 2017 at 4:05 pm

    @AnotherBruce:
    Mohels have to drive the grooming machines.

    (Here all week, try the whitefish and tip, you bastards.)

  47. 47.

    Brachiator

    April 15, 2017 at 4:05 pm

    @Barbara:

    I assume that what is playing out is that the obsession with outside threats is how NK keeps its own people willing to devote so much of their meager resources to the military without questioning the rationale for keeping them in a constant state of penury and hardship, which, in turn, keeps the ruling family in power

    Actually, obsession with outside threats and a very comfortable lifestyle may motivate some of the elite, but rule by fear and oppression pretty much gets the job done with the masses.

  48. 48.

    debbie

    April 15, 2017 at 4:06 pm

    Wait a minute. Trump dropped MOAB? I thought someone high up in command ordered it.

  49. 49.

    Corner Stone

    April 15, 2017 at 4:06 pm

    @Yarrow: Well, at least we now know who her PR people are.
    Warning, Buzzfeed link:
    “Meet The New York City Democrat Flacking For Ivanka Trump ”

    Like many top New York City flacks, Heller, 37, cut her teeth in Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer’s notoriously scrappy office. She is well-respected, and has a reputation as a hard worker who knows how to maneuver in a challenging environment. Heller is described by reporters and political operatives as sharp, experienced, and one of the most well-informed gossips in the city.

    “She’s one of the toughest and most tenacious people you’ll ever meet,” Schumer said in a statement.

    She’s also beloved by a media Trump has said is his enemy. Two reporters who deal with Heller regularly said that they would call her for advice if they ever found themselves in PR trouble.

    The whole thing reads like the yoogest puff n fluff piece for Heller possible. But it’s a self-reinforcing meme.

  50. 50.

    trollhattan

    April 15, 2017 at 4:07 pm

    @Yarrow:
    She hasn’t exhibited Uday and Qsay’s literal bloodlust for exotic and rare animals, so there’s that.

  51. 51.

    Elizabelle

    April 15, 2017 at 4:08 pm

    Delurking for a moment to share the mother of all editing errors at the Fuck the Fucking New York Times. Frank Bruni’s column on Steve Bannon Was Doomed:

    Bannon is “a guy who works for me,” he said to The Wall Street Journal a day later, lumping the lumpy tactician together with the concierges at Trump Tower, the groundskeepers at Mar-a-Loco and the makers of the meatloaf in the White House kitchen.

    LOL. I wonder if they call it that, in private.

  52. 52.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    April 15, 2017 at 4:09 pm

    I’ll mention this again tomorrow if there’s a Writer’s Thread, but since tomorrow will be the last day….

    Legacy Family Tree has their genealogy webinars on free access this weekend, including their five-part course on using Scrivener.

  53. 53.

    Baud

    April 15, 2017 at 4:11 pm

    @Elizabelle: Why are you only lurking?

  54. 54.

    Roger Moore

    April 15, 2017 at 4:11 pm

    @Suzanne:

    I don’t quite follow. So if you go on a Passover vacation, you don’t have to do all this stuff, because you just leave the house instead?

    I think that’s it. You’re required to do all the cleaning and stuff so you won’t accidentally violate one of the many dietary restrictions. If you aren’t home, you don’t have to worry about that stuff and can count on the people at the resort where you’re staying to do it for you. Or at least that’s the justification. I’m sure it’s just a convenient excuse to take another vacation and piously claim it’s a religious necessity.

  55. 55.

    Mnemosyne

    April 15, 2017 at 4:15 pm

    @Yarrow:

    I just had to send documentation to the Giant Evil Corporation that my husband is actually my husband because he’s on my health insurance. I suspect this is because I kept my own last name after we got married, and that triggered an audit.

  56. 56.

    Yarrow

    April 15, 2017 at 4:16 pm

    @Corner Stone:
    I hope this Risa person understands that Trump destroys everything he comes into contact with.

  57. 57.

    efgoldman

    April 15, 2017 at 4:17 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    If you aren’t home, you don’t have to worry about that stuff and can count on the people at the resort where you’re staying to do it for you.

    Because of course they don’t have any servants at home who actually do the cooking, cleaning, etc.

  58. 58.

    Elizabelle

    April 15, 2017 at 4:22 pm

    @Baud: Hello, Prez in waiting. And waiting.

    I dunno. And, quite honestly, I rarely click on any article about Trump. But that one called to me, because it’s trending (and may Steve Bannon be doomed, mortally and eternally). And then they have had that error up for more than the five minutes it would take us to correct it!

    Have they no editors? Answer: SATSQ. Of course they do. Clinton Derangement Syndrome being a prime occupational requirement.

    But Mar-a-Loco. We are so stealing that!

    PS: Barcelona is divine. Staying in the Raval. Window open; street noise out there, but I walked a lot today, and am hanging around inside with my third vermouth and you sweet jackals.

  59. 59.

    Roger Moore

    April 15, 2017 at 4:23 pm

    @Brachiator:

    rule by fear and oppression pretty much gets the job done with the masses.

    But fear of outsiders is a better motivator than fear of their own leaders; that’s why so many dictators focus on external enemies.

  60. 60.

    Baud

    April 15, 2017 at 4:23 pm

    @Elizabelle: How long are you there for? I’m jealous.

  61. 61.

    John Revolta

    April 15, 2017 at 4:24 pm

    What kills me, these vermin couldn’t at LEAST spend all this money in the US somewhere? Great optics, assholes.

  62. 62.

    Yarrow

    April 15, 2017 at 4:25 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I hope it was just a random audit. Seems like forcing some people to prove they’re married based on names would affect some people more than others. Do gay couples change their last names as frequently when they marry? What about people from cultures where not changing names is the norm?

  63. 63.

    debbie

    April 15, 2017 at 4:25 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Are you sure it wasn’t intentional?

  64. 64.

    trollhattan

    April 15, 2017 at 4:27 pm

    Programming note: today’s This American Life is (ironically) all about Russia. I recommend it bigly.

  65. 65.

    Elizabelle

    April 15, 2017 at 4:30 pm

    @Baud: PS: So have you been on the NCL Epic? I love Norwegian, but that is a bizarrely designed ship. Only one deck they allow the steerage passengers a walking course, and then — they enclosed it with lifeboats. At night, it’s like walking in a Metro tunnel. (There is about 15 feet of unobstructed view of the sea on each side of that deck. Thanks, NCL!)

    And then, after the captain has informed us earlier in the day that we will be passing the strait of Gibraltar that night at 2:30 a.m. (O dark hundred), some of us 4,000+ passengers venture upstairs, to see the sight at night.

    And yes, the deck is covered with hot soapy water. Because of course it is.

    I know, first world problems. Morocco looked pretty at night, with the lights.

  66. 66.

    Elizabelle

    April 15, 2017 at 4:33 pm

    @Baud: To be determined. At least a few weeks. Both push (Trump! and Trump Normalization) and pull (Europe! Spain!) factors at work.

  67. 67.

    Baud

    April 15, 2017 at 4:33 pm

    @Elizabelle: I haven’t been on the Epic. But I’ve noticed on other ships that many of them do cut back on the promenade deck and/or use the same deck as the lifeboats.

  68. 68.

    Baud

    April 15, 2017 at 4:35 pm

    @Elizabelle: When I was in Europe, even though I wasn’t even one place very long, it was interesting that even countries that were supposed to be in dire economic straits seemed to be doing ok. That’s probably more a result of my lack of real information than anything else.

  69. 69.

    ArchTeryx

    April 15, 2017 at 4:36 pm

    Eh, today’s one of my two biggest workdays, but I still have time to spend with my fiancee, play some Wortld of Tanks and chill.

  70. 70.

    Brachiator

    April 15, 2017 at 4:38 pm

    Social Notes Open Thread: What Do the Simple Folk Do?

    I’m almost (but not quite) torn with respect to Ivanka and her family. In other circumstances, I would love it that an Orthodox Jewish family is part of the White House history and traditions, sticking it to bigots.

    And with folks here talking in other threads about scampering in French wine country and traveling around Thailand, any contrast between what “simple folk” do and Ivanka enjoying a swanky Passover in Canada is disingenuous at best.

    But, there is this ugly bubble in which Ivanka tries to live her life. You have Trump’s complicity in insults to Obama, his family, and to black people, immigrants, Muslims. And during Passover, which commemorates slavery, redemption, rescue, Ivanka must also be judged by the company she keeps.

    Among the featured speakers at the Whistler Passover program this year is Ami Horowitz. Horowitz is a frequent Fox News contributor and is credited with sparking President Trump’s controversial remarks in February that Sweden “took in large numbers” of refugees and was “having problems like they never thought possible.” He told those at the rally to “look at what happened last night in Sweden,” leading to a strong reaction from Swedish officials who said no terrorist attack had taken place there the previous day or in recent months.

    I have a particular contempt for people who celebrate their own deliverance from bondage while pushing other people deeper into the mud of oppression.

  71. 71.

    Baud

    April 15, 2017 at 4:42 pm

    @Brachiator:

    And with folks here talking in other threads about scampering in French wine country and traveling around Thailand, any contrast between what “simple folk” do and Ivanka enjoying a swanky Passover in Canada is disingenuous at best.

    Huh? We probably have a broad range of income here, but I doubt few if any of us are in Ivanka territory?

  72. 72.

    Mnemosyne

    April 15, 2017 at 4:46 pm

    @Brachiator:

    And with folks here talking in other threads about scampering in French wine country and traveling around Thailand, any contrast between what “simple folk” do and Ivanka enjoying a swanky Passover in Canada is disingenuous at best.

    Really, anyone here who takes a long-planned vacation is just like Ivanka spending two weeks at the Four Seasons avoiding any actual housework that Passover might require?

  73. 73.

    Fester Addams

    April 15, 2017 at 4:50 pm

    @Baud: on Saturday you have climb up the hill yourself?

  74. 74.

    Elizabelle

    April 15, 2017 at 4:52 pm

    @debbie: Well, maybe.

    @Baud: Hmmm. Have only been on the Breakaway and a Royal Caribbean ship, and we got to roam all over several of the decks, all the way around. Plus up to the front of the ship. I love being around refreshing sea air, and watching the waves and wake. Not on this vessel, though.

    They enclosed the entire front third or quarter of this ship, and all of the decks (save for the very top ones, 15+ stories up, with the swimming pools). It’s hideous. First thought: they privatized too much of the good stuff. All about the bucks. To their credit, this was the only one built in this configuration. NCL had the sense to cancel the other vessel under order.

    Here’s a Fuck the Fucking NY Times story about Norwegian’s Escape. It does mention The Epic, but leaves out that steerage passengers get virtually no outdoor space, except for the very top decks, and not all of those.
    In an Age of Privilege, Not Everyone is on the Same Boat.

  75. 75.

    Yarrow

    April 15, 2017 at 4:53 pm

    @Brachiator:

    And with folks here talking in other threads about scampering in French wine country and traveling around Thailand, any contrast between what “simple folk” do and Ivanka enjoying a swanky Passover in Canada is disingenuous at best.

    We don’t know how those people have ended up those places. Might be a day or two tagged on to a business trip. Might be visiting family. Flights themselves aren’t prohibitive in cost if you plan ahead or get a deal and once on the ground we don’t know how much money people are spending. If they stay with family and friends or are traveling on business, they’re not exactly proving they’re made of money.

    Ivanka’s skiing Passover is on the heels of a week’s skiing vacation a few weeks ago where Jared and Ivanka missed the entire healthcare debate and non-vote. Must be nice to have a job you can leave whenever you want to go on vacation for as long as you want.

  76. 76.

    Ksmiami

    April 15, 2017 at 4:56 pm

    @gene108: I hope Trump gets torn up by werewolves, or thrown into a blaring witch’s fire… A girl can dream.

  77. 77.

    trollhattan

    April 15, 2017 at 4:57 pm

    @Elizabelle:
    I’m wrapping my brain around 4000+ passengers, which must mean what, 1000+ crew members? That’s a lot of humanity to “get away from it all” with. Yoikes.

  78. 78.

    LurkerNoLonger

    April 15, 2017 at 4:59 pm

    I’ve been thinking of writing a short story that begins with Ivanka, after years of sexual abuse by her father, bludgeoning him to death in the Oval Office with the bust of Winston Churchill. The rest of the story would be a Weekend at Bernie’s type hide-the-body farce. Too much?

  79. 79.

    efgoldman

    April 15, 2017 at 5:01 pm

    @Ksmiami:

    I hope Trump gets torn up by werewolves, or thrown into a blaring witch’s fire…

    I’m not that fussy; I’ll settle for resignation out of boredom and/or frustration, or because most of his family/advisors/campaign aides get indicted.
    A stroke or heart attack would also be OK.

  80. 80.

    Corner Stone

    April 15, 2017 at 5:01 pm

    @Brachiator:

    And with folks here talking in other threads about scampering in French wine country and traveling around Thailand, any contrast between what “simple folk” do and Ivanka enjoying a swanky Passover in Canada is disingenuous at best.

    Are you for real right now?

  81. 81.

    kd bart

    April 15, 2017 at 5:02 pm

    My mom’s parents used to go away for Passover week, to the Catskills, as they were kosher for Passover observant and the rest of us weren’t. In this way, a conflict was avoided.

  82. 82.

    Elizabelle

    April 15, 2017 at 5:04 pm

    @trollhattan: Ah, yes.

  83. 83.

    Corner Stone

    April 15, 2017 at 5:07 pm

    Maybe Trump’s plan is to get NoKo to nuke South Korea while Pence is in country so there is no one left to replace him with if they feel like trying to impeach.

  84. 84.

    trollhattan

    April 15, 2017 at 5:07 pm

    @Elizabelle:
    Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t trade places, especially since I’m putting off mowing the lawn.

    Hey, are those goats?!?

  85. 85.

    trollhattan

    April 15, 2017 at 5:09 pm

    @Corner Stone:
    President Ryan. Just great.

  86. 86.

    Yarrow

    April 15, 2017 at 5:09 pm

    @Corner Stone: President Orrin Hatch.

  87. 87.

    Ksmiami

    April 15, 2017 at 5:09 pm

    @efgoldman: But Grimm fairytales have so much fun with the macabre… Imagine the possibilities.

  88. 88.

    JPL

    April 15, 2017 at 5:10 pm

    @LurkerNoLonger: I’d cheer for Ivanka, in her quest to save little Tiffany from a life time of living in her father’s shadow.

  89. 89.

    Roger Moore

    April 15, 2017 at 5:11 pm

    @Yarrow:

    What about people from cultures where not changing names is the norm?

    Cultures are definitely an issue, and professions can also be a huge one. I work in academia, and it’s a pain for somebody with a publication record to change their name because it makes it difficult to track their professional history. It’s interesting, because this is also partly a generational thing. The older generation had stronger social pressure to change names, and they also tended to marry younger, often before they had ever published anything, so they almost all changed their names. Women today are getting married much older and there’s less pressure to change their names, so in academia the expectation seems to be that women will keep their names.

  90. 90.

    Bess

    April 15, 2017 at 5:15 pm

    @Yarrow:

    Flights themselves aren’t prohibitive in cost if you plan ahead or get a deal and once on the ground we don’t know how much money people are spending.

    Flights from San Francisco to Bangkok, next fall, are currently around $700. Two people can easily get by on $50 or less per day (assuming modest alcohol intake). If the budget is tight then $30 a day is enough.

    $700 x 2 + $50 x 14 = $2,100. Budget $200 a month. A trip to Thailand, Ecuador, Cambodia and many other places can be affordable for most people.

  91. 91.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 15, 2017 at 5:17 pm

    Assume everyone here has seen the Kushner Family Haggadah?

  92. 92.

    trollhattan

    April 15, 2017 at 5:18 pm

    @Bess:

    assuming modest alcohol intake

    You do remember where you are, yes? How much does immodesty impact budget?

  93. 93.

    Eric S.

    April 15, 2017 at 5:19 pm

    @Mnemosyne: This proving your family is your family seems to be getting more common. Our corporate overlords required marriage certificates for spouses and birth certificates for children to keep them insured this year.

  94. 94.

    trollhattan

    April 15, 2017 at 5:20 pm

    I see over at LGM that Loomis gained tenure. Good for him and good for anybody concerned about the future of labor.

  95. 95.

    Oatler.

    April 15, 2017 at 5:22 pm

    @Elizabelle: The National Review ship that J Lileks patronizes which protects him from peasant contact and enables him to take pix of buildings without all those awful European PEOPLE.

  96. 96.

    AliceBlue

    April 15, 2017 at 5:24 pm

    What in the heck is she wearing? She’s got a black jacket on top and what looks like a red jacket tied around her waist.

  97. 97.

    rikyrah

    April 15, 2017 at 5:24 pm

    @Barbara:
    Tell that truth!!

  98. 98.

    Yarrow

    April 15, 2017 at 5:25 pm

    @Roger Moore: Yep. It’s a definite issue in academia. Also in other professional fields where changing your last name can impact your career.

    @Bess: Many places, as you’ve illustrated, can be quite affordable to visit. There’s no way to know how much people who travel are spending unless they disclose it in their posts. And an unfair comparison to Ivanka and her high end travel that seems to happen whenever she wants it.

  99. 99.

    schrodingers_cat

    April 15, 2017 at 5:28 pm

    @Yarrow: Many a time more than the money it is the time involved. Husband kitteh’s cousin was getting married last week. At most we could have gone for 10 days, it is too short a time to go to India and back and attend a wedding. So we did not go.

  100. 100.

    trollhattan

    April 15, 2017 at 5:28 pm

    @AliceBlue:
    Was wondering myself and decided it’s her powder suit half off. One speculates what she was just doing in the cloakroom and whether any gymnastics were involved.

    p.s. Jacket from Michael Jackson’s wardrobe.

  101. 101.

    Brachiator

    April 15, 2017 at 5:34 pm

    @Baud:

    @Mnemosyne:

    @Yarrow:

    RE: And with folks here talking in other threads about scampering in French wine country and traveling around Thailand, any contrast between what “simple folk” do and Ivanka enjoying a swanky Passover in Canada is disingenuous at best.

    Huh? We probably have a broad range of income here, but I doubt few if any of us are in Ivanka territory?

    There are people here who have struggled or who are struggling, and others who are clearly very comfortable.

    We have had wealthy presidential families before. And families who were far more honest about their wealth than Trump. As I noted, I don’t care about that. As I noted, I am repulsed by this families active connivance in singling out people for oppression, for falsely accusing people of misdeeds, for not welcoming the vulnerable when they most need a helping hand.

    True story: I have to walk a bit from a bus stop to my job. The other morning I cut through the parking lot of a big post office. A woman who was living in her car saw me, opened the car door a bit, and asked if I wanted a drink of water. She had a bumper sticker on the back of her car. “Nueva Vida.”

    This woman, who had the least, and still was willing to share, is worth more than gold. On a relative scale, I suspect that we are all closer to Ivanka in income than she is.

  102. 102.

    Bess

    April 15, 2017 at 5:35 pm

    @trollhattan:

    How much does immodesty impact budget?

    How severe is your “immodesty” problem and how do you treat it?

    Spend your evenings in tourist bars drinking and travel will cost you a lot more. Just as spending your evenings drinking in bars will bite you in the wallet at home.

    A couple beers in a local restaurant costs little. A big bottle of local Singha is about $2. Or you can pick up a big bottle of Chang for a bit over $1 at a 7-11.

  103. 103.

    Mnemosyne

    April 15, 2017 at 5:41 pm

    @Brachiator:

    This woman, who had the least, and still was willing to share, is worth more than gold. On a relative scale, I suspect that we are all closer to Ivanka in income than she is.

    As are you, which is why your self-righteousness is particularly out of place.

  104. 104.

    schrodingers_cat

    April 15, 2017 at 5:42 pm

    @Brachiator:

    On a relative scale, I suspect that we are all closer to Ivanka in income than she is.

    If you were to actually draw this graph, you will realize that your assertion is flawed.

  105. 105.

    Mark

    April 15, 2017 at 5:44 pm

    Let them eat paint chips.(The Trumps that is)

  106. 106.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    April 15, 2017 at 5:48 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    The only PRETEND National Security staffer with the President this weekend is KT McFarland. She’ll be on the Sunday show’s tomorrow.

    More like it…

  107. 107.

    schrodingers_cat

    April 15, 2017 at 5:50 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: No apostrophe needed for that catastrophe.

  108. 108.

    Quinerly

    April 15, 2017 at 5:51 pm

    Fox News breathlessly reporting that Melania and Barron will be moving into the WH for the summer. She is personally involved in the “arranging of the residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.” Yep, that’s the wording…

  109. 109.

    Brachiator

    April 15, 2017 at 5:54 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    As are you, which is why your self-righteousness is particularly out of place.

    What I wrote: On a relative scale, I suspect that we are all closer to Ivanka in income than she is.

  110. 110.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    April 15, 2017 at 5:55 pm

    @efgoldman:

    A stroke or heart attack would also be OK.

    No no no… nothing that quick, done, and over with… how about a lengthy, humiliating public trial resulting in an absolutely rock solid guilty verdict, followed by years and years in prison?

  111. 111.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    April 15, 2017 at 5:56 pm

    @Quinerly: Does that mean she’s having a dancing pole installed?

  112. 112.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 15, 2017 at 5:57 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Cultures are definitely an issue, and professions can also be a huge one. I work in academia, and it’s a pain for somebody with a publication record to change their name because it makes it difficult to track their professional history.

    I married fairly young (21) and, as was customary in the early 1960s, took my husband’s last name. It was under my married name that I became somewhat (locally) well-known as a radio announcer, so that by the time of my divorce many years later it would have made no sense for me to reclaim my maiden name. In the past 5-10 years I have been using all three names instead of my former First Name-Middle (Maiden) Initial-(Married) Surname pattern.

    If I were doing it all over again today, I’d probably want to have both of us using both names, hyphenated. Or maybe just keep it easy and nobody change anything ;-)

  113. 113.

    germy

    April 15, 2017 at 5:57 pm

    Ivanka Trump is engineering Steve Bannon’s White House downfall: report

    A Saturday New York Times article revealed that President Donald Trump’s eldest daughter Ivanka is the individual most responsible for the diminution of former Breitbart.com CEO Stephen Bannon’s role in the White House.

  114. 114.

    Yarrow

    April 15, 2017 at 5:58 pm

    @Quinerly:

    Melania and Barron will be moving into the WH for the summer.

    Doubtful. Indictments coming. Not sure Melania will want to bother moving.

  115. 115.

    randy khan

    April 15, 2017 at 6:02 pm

    @Baud:

    Nothing keeps the non-Jewish guests from eating kosher food if that’s what’s available. It’s not forbidden to feed we gentiles.

  116. 116.

    WaterGirl

    April 15, 2017 at 6:05 pm

    I’m all for using good grammar and punctuation – I went to catholic school where the nuns were big on both of those things – but I am pretty sure I would start to get cranky if people repeatedly and publicly called me out when I got something wrong.

    Adam has knowledge and a way of looking at some events that most of us do not have, and I care about that a lot more than whether he adds an apostrophe to a word that should be plural and not possessive.

    If there’s someone on BJ who cares about this stuff and you have control over your own schedule, you could always offer to proofread Adam’s posts before they get published. That way everybody wins.

    That could have been me before I got the new gig in November, but it’s not me now. Just trying to be constructive, sorry if this sounds scold-y.

  117. 117.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 15, 2017 at 6:05 pm

    @Bess:

    Surely those figures don’t include accommodations. Just meals, transportation, incidentals, yes?

    (Sorry to have called you “Shirley.”)

  118. 118.

    Elizabelle

    April 15, 2017 at 6:07 pm

    @AliceBlue: I think it’s ski attire. It’s a red coverall of some sort, with the B&W outfit underneath.

    Does make her look like one of the lesser Ronald McDonalds.

  119. 119.

    Yarrow

    April 15, 2017 at 6:07 pm

    Ivanka is as guilty of illegal activity as her brothers and dad. One example:

    German intelligence say Trump's Baku business partner launders money for Iranian military. Ivanka oversaw this deal. #Trumprussia #maddow pic.twitter.com/FSONhT2wNB— Polly Sigh (@dcpoll) March 7, 2017

  120. 120.

    Doug R

    April 15, 2017 at 6:08 pm

    @AnotherBruce: Whistler has over a vertical mile. I’d say that’s blessed. Pretty sweet skiing, at least it seemed so easter 1986 ;)

  121. 121.

    schrodingers_cat

    April 15, 2017 at 6:09 pm

    @WaterGirl: I was just teasing Adam, because I know grammar pedantry irks him. I don’t know why that bothers you.

    ETA: This is the very first time I have done it. I was happy with my own attempt at humor of rhyming catastrophe with apostrophe.

  122. 122.

    schrodingers_cat

    April 15, 2017 at 6:10 pm

    @germy: Garbage NYT is fluffing Ivanka, I wonder why?

  123. 123.

    efgoldman

    April 15, 2017 at 6:10 pm

    @Thru the Looking Glass…:

    nothing that quick, done, and over with…

    I didn’t say “which kills him.”

  124. 124.

    germy

    April 15, 2017 at 6:12 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Garbage NYT is fluffing

    Does it have something to do with their recent hires? Whenever I get one of their subscription offers in the mail I crumple it up into a ball and let the cat play with it. Fun for both of us.

  125. 125.

    WaterGirl

    April 15, 2017 at 6:14 pm

    Philosophical question:

    For someone like me who has a limited amount of money, would it be better to give regularly to a few people like Sherrod Brown and Al Franken or would it be better to contribute to some of the candidates in special elections? Or better yet to give to the Southern Poverty Law Center which is being very vocal in the fight against Dump and the recision and hate they are encouraging?

  126. 126.

    Shana

    April 15, 2017 at 6:18 pm

    @Barbara: Typically, what happens in your house before passover is you sell your non-passover compliant food to a gentile so it technically isn’t yours even if it remains in your house. You do put it away somewhere so you don’t accidentally use it. We put ours in a separate kitchen cabinet and we tie the cabinet handles together so we don’t go into it. Then after passover you buy it back.

  127. 127.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 6:18 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: It irk’s her two.

  128. 128.

    Yarrow

    April 15, 2017 at 6:18 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: It sounds like Ivanka has a top notch PR person who is loved by the NYC media. She probably sweet talked someone working for the NYT.

    But your question of why, if taken as “why now?” is an excellent one. I think she’s trying to protect herself because she’s being positioned as the one who is pushing Bannon out of her dad’s administration. The white supremacists don’t like that so she wants good PR on the record. Plus, she needs to cover her rear because indictments are coming.

  129. 129.

    debbie

    April 15, 2017 at 6:18 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    I agree. Enough already.

  130. 130.

    WaterGirl

    April 15, 2017 at 6:18 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: I wasn’t picking on you in particular – I’m sorry that it came off that way. I have seen that sort of comment about half a dozen times this week from one person or another, and I truly did have the thought that if I were Adam I would start to get cranky at this point. Maybe Adam doesn’t care, but I think I would.

    I am not good with “who” and “whom”, so I usually just reword a sentence so I can avoid that issue altogether, but I’m sure it slips past me sometimes. So I get that a person can be a good or at least decent writer and have a particular thing that they just aren’t good about.

    edit: I did appreciate the catastrophe apostrophe thing and I was remiss in not saying so.

  131. 131.

    SenyorDave

    April 15, 2017 at 6:18 pm

    @brendancalling: I want them publicly hanged, displayed for a month, and then dumped in a landfill.

    Why not go for the green solution? Use them as mulch. They are all so full of shit that they would make great fertilizer. I could actually see shitgibbon’s smiling face on the bag. Maybe a little jingle like “if your plants are sick, a little Trump will do the trick”.

  132. 132.

    WaterGirl

    April 15, 2017 at 6:20 pm

    @Yarrow: I found it so heartening when I read that yesterday! I hope the entire family is taken down. The person that called them a crime family was right. When I saw that there is a RICO investigation, I had the thought that they are no better than any other crime family. Maybe worse! Definitely worse. Way worse.

    edited

  133. 133.

    Gretchen

    April 15, 2017 at 6:22 pm

    @WaterGirl: I usually send money to good people who have a chance but not a sure thing. I’m going to be giving to Clare McCaskill, who is up in 2018. Missouri trends red, and there are already lots of attack ads airing against her.

  134. 134.

    sukabi

    April 15, 2017 at 6:22 pm

    @Mnemosyne: pretty sure they aren’t picking up the tab for the secret service protection or secure travel….

    All these vacations, it’s almost like she doesn’t know how “real jobs” work.

  135. 135.

    debbie

    April 15, 2017 at 6:23 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    The horrible person running against Sherrod Brown (Josh Mandel) has a “dark money” PAC behind him. Mandel has conducted himself despicably in past campaigns, and though I’d like to spread my funds around more, Sherrod may need more help than usual.

  136. 136.

    Yarrow

    April 15, 2017 at 6:25 pm

    @WaterGirl: Yep. And note that the tweet is from March 7. The news and stories have been out there for awhile. Our stupid media won’t report them. Too busy chasing the shiny object of the day or week and aching for a pivot from Trump.

  137. 137.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    April 15, 2017 at 6:27 pm

    @efgoldman: Pardon… I’ll take a closer look and think before replying next time…

    That could move Trump into Hastert Territory… if you close your eyes and squint, it’s easy to imagine that’s Trump in the picture…

  138. 138.

    Bess

    April 15, 2017 at 6:28 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Surely those figures don’t include accommodations. Just meals, transportation, incidentals, yes?

    $50/day will do for two people. Lodging, meals, transportation, entry tickets. It won’t cover “adventure travel” – the sort of stuff like paragliding and jet skis.

    I’m a ‘culture’ traveler. I’ve been traveling for over 40 years in order to see how people live, how they build (and used to build) their buildings. To see their art. To listen to their music. That means that I don’t hang out in the tourist ghettos, go on organized tours and take ‘culture classes’.

    In January I spent a week in a very nice hotel in Hanoi which cost less than $30/night. Breakfast included. I could have saved $10 and still stayed in a clean and comfortable place. Then about a week in Luang Prabang, Laos for $22/night with breakfast.

    Local transportation is cheap, and generally quite good, in many countries. Locals don’t have a lot of money to spend. Thai first class buses are much nicer than Greyhound. A VIP bus from Bangkok to Chiang Mai (about 10 hours) costs from around $12 to $20. You can take a tourist bus and pay 2x to 3x as much.

    One trick to traveling on a limited budget is to not spend too much time in major cities/tourist destinations. Arrive in the city with a list of the things you really want to see, see them, move on. Enjoy your kick back time in a less expensive place. A room that might cost $30 in Bangkok can cost $15 in Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai.

    Eat where the locals eat. You can eat westernized versions of ethnic food back in the US/Europe. Eat with the locals and you get the real stuff. At local prices.

  139. 139.

    columbusqueen

    April 15, 2017 at 6:31 pm

    It looks as though Ivanka is in a one-piece ski suit where she’s peeled the top half off and let it hang at her waist.

  140. 140.

    jl

    April 15, 2017 at 6:32 pm

    Hard to know what is a hoax and what is not these days
    It’s hard to believe all the stories about all the high class shit Trump wants on his visit to UK
    Saw a story via Paul Krugman’s twitter that Drumpf demands (demands!) open golden carriage parade for his arrival.

    Trump Demands Gold Plated Welcome
    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/trump-demands-gold-plated-welcome-xjnffdq32

    Is there a way we tax-paying and voting citizens of the US can petition the UK government to cancel the damned visit and issue an apology for the rudeness of our stink-ass jerk president? I’d sign.

    Edit: even a miserable autocrat like Xi was willing to tamp down the pomp to spare his hosts the expense and inconvenience.

  141. 141.

    Yarrow

    April 15, 2017 at 6:32 pm

    I had missed this news. Anyone from Illinois know more about this?

    Dems in Illinois just unseated a bunch of Republicans in local races—some flipping seats held by the GOP for 100 yrs https://t.co/otWkPkLlal— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 14, 2017

  142. 142.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    April 15, 2017 at 6:35 pm

    @Elizabelle: Or perhaps she borrowed something from Kellyanne Conway…

  143. 143.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 6:36 pm

    @Yarrow: Local races. Good pick ups. Solid work. One of the IL members of Congress has set up a program to train people to run for office as Democrats. This is the first set of results of what she’s set up.

  144. 144.

    sukabi

    April 15, 2017 at 6:38 pm

    @efgoldman: Melania in the Oval Office with a golf club…..

    We are playing Clue aren’t we?

  145. 145.

    Baud

    April 15, 2017 at 6:38 pm

    @Yarrow: Excellent.

  146. 146.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    April 15, 2017 at 6:38 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    One of the IL members of Congress has set up a program to train people to run for office as Democrats. This is the first set of results of what she’s set up.

    She needs to clone it and spread it around…

  147. 147.

    Yarrow

    April 15, 2017 at 6:39 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Interesting. Thanks for the info. These pickups are great news. Some seats GOP for over 100 years. If I were Republicans I’d be getting really nervous.

  148. 148.

    jl

    April 15, 2017 at 6:41 pm

    @sukabi: Don’t give anyone any ideas. The current First Lady looks like is at the point of doing just that. She looks utterly miserable in the pics i have seen of her at official functions. Ready to snap like a dry twig. I have no clue why. She doesn’t seem to have any better perspective on the situation as any of the other members of the Trump family. Probably just hates the shit.

  149. 149.

    Mnemosyne

    April 15, 2017 at 6:43 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Oh, please. You tried to CYA with a heart-tugging story after multiple people called you out for being a sanctimonious dick. Sorry, no sale. If you’re jealous of other people’s travels, that’s on you, and it’s not the same as being annoyed that Ivanka is using taxpayer money to travel to her vacation at the Four Seasons.

  150. 150.

    hueyplong

    April 15, 2017 at 6:43 pm

    Not sure why Melania bothers to make an excuse. The guy she’s not attending things with is Donald Trump. That’s all the explanation I need.

  151. 151.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 15, 2017 at 6:43 pm

    @Yarrow:

    This is where it needs to be done. At the local level — school board, city council, county commission. At the state level — state house, state senate. Then Congress, maybe state AG or SoS or Lieutenant Governor or something. THEN President. Maybe.

    The Presidential race gets 99% of the horse race coverage, and the bulk of the money, but we can make bigger impacts well down the ballot, for a lot cheaper.

  152. 152.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    April 15, 2017 at 6:46 pm

    @Yarrow:

    Must be nice to have a job you can leave whenever you want to go on vacation for as long as you want.

    And have the government pick up the tab, including the cost of a Secret Service detail…

    Of course, we don’t know that the govt paid for it… but w/ this bunch…

  153. 153.

    WaterGirl

    April 15, 2017 at 6:47 pm

    @Yarrow: I’m from Illinois and I know nothing about that. Perhaps it happened around Chicago? If it happened downstate, that would be big news, indeed.

  154. 154.

    sukabi

    April 15, 2017 at 6:48 pm

    @jl: just trying to keep it contained to family.

  155. 155.

    WaterGirl

    April 15, 2017 at 6:48 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Do you have a link? I would love to see whether this was around Chicago or downstate (which is pretty annoyingly red).

  156. 156.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 6:51 pm

    @WaterGirl: @WaterGirl:

    Dems in Illinois just unseated a bunch of Republicans in local races—some flipping seats held by the GOP for 100 yrs https://t.co/otWkPkLlal

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 14, 2017

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/democrats-grassroots-trump-elections_us_58efd21de4b0bb9638e270c1?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067

    WASHINGTON ― In a spate of local elections last week in Illinois, Democrats picked up seats in places they’ve never won before.

    The city of Kankakee elected its first African-American, Democratic mayor. West Deerfield Township will be led entirely by Democrats for the first time. Elgin Township voted for “a complete changeover,” flipping to an all-Democratic board. Normal Township elected Democratic supervisors and trustees to run its board ― the first time in more than 100 years that a single Democrat has held a seat.

    “We had a pretty good day,” said Dan Kovats, executive director of the Illinois Democratic County Chairmen’s Association. “We won in areas we normally would win, but we also won in areas Republicans never expected us to be competitive in. They were caught flat-footed.”

    These may seem like relatively small victories ― we’re talking about municipal races in towns with tens of thousands of people ― but they fit with a broader pattern that should have Republicans on edge ahead of the 2018 elections: Progressive grassroots activism, exploding with energy since President Donald Trump’s win in November, is fueling Democratic gains in GOP strongholds.

    In the case of Illinois, a number of Democrats who just won got a boost from a program launched by Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) called Build The Bench. It’s an all-day boot camp that offers nuts-and-bolts details for running a successful campaign. Bustos came up with the idea last year when she noticed a dearth of new Democratic candidates for Congress, and decided the best way to help build up her party’s ranks was at the local level.

    She’s held two boot camps in her district so far ― The Huffington Post attended one of them in March ― and she’s already seeing tremendous payoff. Twelve Build The Bench alumni ran for local seats in this election cycle, and eight of them won. A ninth alum, Rita Ali, is currently down by one vote in her race for Peoria City Council.

    “I am incredibly proud that the majority of our graduates who were on the ballot in April municipal elections won their races,” said Bustos. “If we want to be successful in the heartland, we need to connect Democratic candidates for office at all levels with the best practices, skills and expertise needed to run winning campaigns.”

    Much more at the link.

  157. 157.

    montanareddog

    April 15, 2017 at 6:54 pm

    that’s a pair of seriously fugly trousers that Mrs Kushner is wearing in the first photo. She clearly puts her heart into her fashion design

  158. 158.

    jl

    April 15, 2017 at 6:55 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Thanks for the link. Great news.

    Cole needs to tell use little about his governor. I know nothing at all about him, but I like his style:

    West Virginia Gov. Vetoes Budget Next To Pile Of ‘Bull-You-Know-What’ (VIDEO)
    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/jim-justice-budget-bill-veto-bull-crap

    My only concern is whether it was really bullshit on the silver platter. Maybe it was only cow flop? Could be a scandal if he misrepresented the crap.

  159. 159.

    montanareddog

    April 15, 2017 at 6:56 pm

    @montanareddog: oh, and her feet remind me of her father’s fingers

  160. 160.

    schrodingers_cat

    April 15, 2017 at 7:01 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: How was Passover? Did you cook?

  161. 161.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 15, 2017 at 7:03 pm

    Remember those reports we saw in earlier threads that Trump was demanding a ride down the Mall in the Queen’s gold Carriage during his planned visit to the U.K. next fall? It was widely reported in some legit news outlets, so true as far as it went.

    But People magazine says no.

    A White House spokeswoman called the report “completely false.”

    “We have not even begun working on details for this trip,” the spokeswoman said.

    Does this White House just routinely toss out over-the-top rumors, which they know will get wide circulation, of things they have no intention of doing — just so they can, with a straight face, later say “Why, no, we NEVER meant that. It’s a liberal left-wing Democrat lie!”? I think it’s just the way they operate. If it’s not flat-out projection, it’s a deke. Fuckem.

  162. 162.

    WaterGirl

    April 15, 2017 at 7:03 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Thank you!

  163. 163.

    debbie

    April 15, 2017 at 7:03 pm

    I zoomed in on the photo to see what she had on her plate. Lots of matzoh and some white fluffy stuff. It looks more like meringue than anything Passover-related.

  164. 164.

    Brachiator

    April 15, 2017 at 7:05 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Does this White House just routinely toss out over-the-top rumors, which they know will get wide circulation, of things they have no intention of doing — just so they can, with a straight face, later say “Why, no, we NEVER meant that.

    Yes.

    Other times they just lie right to your face.

  165. 165.

    Baud

    April 15, 2017 at 7:06 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    “Were they lying then or are they lying now?”

    “Yes.”

  166. 166.

    debbie

    April 15, 2017 at 7:06 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    As pointed out above, this story was on Krugman’s Twitter feed with a link to an article by the Sunday Times.

  167. 167.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 7:07 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: It is ongoing. I was sick most of last week – had a cold. Started feeling bleh on Monday on the way to the seder. We were invited to a friend of the family’s. Tuesday night I actually left the seder I was at and went home because I felt really bad. Slept most of Wednesday and Thursday. Haven’t done much cooking. Did bake a couple of flourless chocolate cakes. I’m finally starting to feel human again and will be looking forward to the holiday being over on Tuesday.

  168. 168.

    Corner Stone

    April 15, 2017 at 7:10 pm

    @Brachiator:

    On a relative scale, I suspect that we are all closer to Ivanka in income than she is.

    If I stand on top of her car I am relatively closer to the moon than she is. In reality, we’re both about the same distance.

  169. 169.

    Corner Stone

    April 15, 2017 at 7:12 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: *backing away slowly, also too*

  170. 170.

    jl

    April 15, 2017 at 7:13 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Every few weeks there is a flurry of stories about bizarre demands Trump has supposedly made for his UK trip. I heard a Brit news reporter a few weeks ago talking about the last batch of rude demands that I heard about, regarding Trump’s demands of all the fanciest stuff and stuffiest protocol perks for his events, all the highest pomp at dinners, and exactly who would be allowed in his presence and who would not. The demands were certainly believed to be real in the UK.

    Maybe Trump is making demands and then backing down when met with stony silence. Times story said Obama went out of his way to make things easier, and even a old autocratic fart like Xi compromised on some stuff. But not a crumbum like Trump.

    I want a US citizen petition asking the UK government to cancel the state visit and we offer an apology on behalf of our federal government.

  171. 171.

    Corner Stone

    April 15, 2017 at 7:13 pm

    Oh, fuck me.

  172. 172.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 7:15 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: It isn’t that. What it is is that there is no central control in the White House. The Chief of Staff is not empowered the way chiefs of staff have been in the past. Neither is the Director of Communication or Press Secretary (two separate people). There are multiple centers of gravity, focused around multiple senior staffers, all of whom have their own agendas, which may or may not be the President’s, and the people around these senior staffers also have their own agendas, which may or may not be the President’s. As a result everyone leaks their own pet ideas or concepts or plans in the hope it will get picked up on either Fox News or twitter or both. That way the President will see it and respond to it. Someone on the White House staff thinks this is a good idea and in the hope of getting traction for it, or to end run whoever has already nixed the idea, is trying to go right for headlines and clickbait to plant the hook with the President. If Fox and Friends picks this up, the President will want it to happen. It also means that absolutely no one can speak authoritatively for the Administration. So even if someone was, sincerely, trying to answer a question honestly it wouldn’t matter.

  173. 173.

    Corner Stone

    April 15, 2017 at 7:15 pm

    C’mon guys. Let’s let these fucking NoKo assholes just save face and back away slowly and let them talk tough for a while.

  174. 174.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 7:15 pm

    @WaterGirl: de nada

  175. 175.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 7:16 pm

    @debbie: Could be gefilte fish. Also known as: spam from the sea!

  176. 176.

    dm

    April 15, 2017 at 7:18 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Dare we hope that the lack of NSC staffers at Mar-a-Loco means the shooting war with North Korea is delayed at least until Monday? Or can we hope that Trump takes Emancipation Day/Patriot’s Day off, too?

  177. 177.

    jl

    April 15, 2017 at 7:19 pm

    @Adam L Silverman that is what I thought. Whipped gefilte fluff?
    Which shows that sea spam is on a slightly higher level than ham spam. You wouldn’t want to try that with ham spam.

  178. 178.

    debbie

    April 15, 2017 at 7:25 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:
    @jl:

    I think it’s far too white for gefilte fish, but I wonder what the fluffing agent is? It can’t be anything dairy. Crisco?

  179. 179.

    Shana

    April 15, 2017 at 7:26 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I hadn’t seen that. Thank you for sending it out.

  180. 180.

    Brachiator

    April 15, 2017 at 7:27 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Oh, please. You tried to CYA with a heart-tugging story after multiple people called you out for being a sanctimonious dick. Sorry, no sale. If you’re jealous of other people’s travels, that’s on you, and it’s not the same as being annoyed that Ivanka is using taxpayer money to travel to her vacation at the Four Seasons.

    Everything that you wrote here is wrong. And it says much more about you than me that you would reduce a human being to “a heart tugging story.”

    Still love you anyway.

  181. 181.

    jl

    April 15, 2017 at 7:29 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Now I am curious. Is whippted gefilte fish a thing? Or is it some bizarre creation someone thought up since they have to serve this stuff they never usually eat, and think they need to do something to fancy it up?

    And that happens with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners thrown by denizens of the urban bowels of this land. People who never roast meat, or very seldom, cook any root vegetable other than white potatoes, or other types of late fall vegetables. And once or twice a year they need to cook this weird stuff. And they do weird things to make it fancy, or what they imagine might make it palatable. So you see roast turkey with cranberry ‘gravy’ on it, or baked brussels sprouts with cheese a bacon bits and god knows what else piled on top, and bizarre sweet potato and candied apple candy casseroles. I look at this stuff and it is like my childhood farm holiday dinners, except on a gallon of cheap gin, LSD and bad speed.

  182. 182.

    Brachiator

    April 15, 2017 at 7:31 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    If I stand on top of her car I am relatively closer to the moon than she is. In reality, we’re both about the same distance.

    Yeah, but like Sarah Palin, you could probably see Russia from where you stood.

  183. 183.

    Shana

    April 15, 2017 at 7:32 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Cheri Bustos holds the seat for the area in which I grew up. Haven’t lived there for decades but gave her some money for her first campaign to help her unseat the idiot GOPer who held the seat. Glad to see she’s not just another back bencher, at least in this case.

  184. 184.

    jl

    April 15, 2017 at 7:32 pm

    @Brachiator: We know that they all can see Russia from where they stand.

  185. 185.

    Shana

    April 15, 2017 at 7:35 pm

    @debbie: Baked meringues would be kosher for passover. Perhaps that was it. Or if not dessert, mashed potatoes.

  186. 186.

    Villago Delenda Est

    April 15, 2017 at 7:36 pm

    @germy: Well. The alt-right is going to be fit to be tied over this. The pseudo-Jewess is responsible for the demise of the Nazi fuck.

  187. 187.

    jl

    April 15, 2017 at 7:37 pm

    @Shana: Probably mashed potatoes. I didn’t know they would be a passover food. I’ve only been invited to a few passover events, but I do like the food (hint hint for next year, open for invites!). But why do mashed potatoes when you have an excuse for potato pancakes?

  188. 188.

    Mnemosyne

    April 15, 2017 at 7:40 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Wevs, dude. Enjoy your sense of moral superiority to the people who dare to travel to visit their adult children in France. Don’t they know that there are homeless people in this very country?!?!

    It’s a bogus comparison when the right wing tells American women that they’re not allowed to complain about sexism because women in Saudi Arabia have it worse, and it’s bogus when you do it, too.

  189. 189.

    Yarrow

    April 15, 2017 at 7:40 pm

    @WaterGirl: FYI, in the tweet I linked about the Illinois races, there was a link in the tweet itself to the HuffPo article. You can click through via the date on the tweet, which is a link to the tweet and from there to the article. Or, you can click on the link itself in the tweet and go directly to the article.

  190. 190.

    debbie

    April 15, 2017 at 7:40 pm

    @jl:

    I’m going with marshmallow fluff. Too white and too whipped to be anything else.

  191. 191.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 7:44 pm

    @dm: Everything that might need to be done could be done via Secure Video Teleconference (SVTC – pronounced sivits) from the SCIF they’ve set up at Mar a Lago.

    What we don’t know is what, if any, standing, contingency orders have been given. It is possible, but I don’t know how probable, that the President has empowered the Secretary of Defense and the National Security Advisor to act if certain conditions are met: 1) the DPRK conducts a nuclear weapons test and/or 2) the DPRK conducts a missile test. And that the authorization is for them to either choose from a range of contingency responses or that the actual contingency response has already been selected.

  192. 192.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 15, 2017 at 7:44 pm

    @debbie:

    Yes, that’s where I first saw it, I think.

  193. 193.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 7:45 pm

    @jl: I’ve seen gefilte fish done in a number of ways. It is possible it is mashed potatoes. Or, if there were some vegetarian options, egg salad. I didn’t look closely because I honestly don’t care.

  194. 194.

    Corner Stone

    April 15, 2017 at 7:47 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    2) the DPRK conducts a missile test. And that the authorization is for them to either choose from a range of contingency responses or that the actual contingency response has already been selected.

    I guess we’ll be finding out then.

  195. 195.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 15, 2017 at 7:47 pm

    <@Adam L Silverman:

    Mister, we could use a Secretary of State again.

  196. 196.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 7:48 pm

    @jl: I’ve seen a variety of gefilte fish preparations. My mother does one with a high end gefilte fish. It comes packaged as a loaf, rather in the normal ovoids in a jar. She takes it out, I think she poaches it, then she coats it in a kosher for Passover duck sauce that she’s added some other seasonings too and then bakes it. Once it’s cool she slices it. It is very good.

  197. 197.

    Villago Delenda Est

    April 15, 2017 at 7:51 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: “Contingency plans? Fuck it, we’ll do it live!”

  198. 198.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 7:53 pm

    @jl: What gets me are people who can’t cook a brisket. This is not that hard. Whether smoking or roasting it is low and slow. Dry rub it and let it sit for a day or so to form a pelicule. For roasting I then wet rub it, bed it down on top of thinly sliced onions, and then cover it with the same, and cook that thing for at least 6 hours (depending on the weight). Then I take the thing out, let it cool, remove the onions on top, remove the brisket, trim all the fat, set it aside, slice the thing thin and against the grain, than replace the sliced brisket back on top of the onions and in the pan juices in the roasting pan, cover it back over with the fat I trimmed off, and then the remainder of the onions. Then it goes in the fridge. The next day I bring it back up to serving heat, which further renders out the fat. Once hot I remove the onions and set aside as a condiment. Remove the fat and set it aside as goodies for the four foots over several days. Then platter the brisket, put the jus in a gravy boat, and serve.

    This is not rocket science!

  199. 199.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 7:53 pm

    @Brachiator: So I can see Russia if I stand on top of Sarah Palin and/or Sarah Palin’s car?

  200. 200.

    Yarrow

    April 15, 2017 at 7:55 pm

    @Shana: @debbie: @jl: All of your guesses are carbs. I thought women of Ivanka’s ilk didn’t eat carbs.

  201. 201.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 7:55 pm

    @jl: It depends on what is being served. I’ve seen roasted new potatoes. I’ve seen sweet potatoes done. I’ve seen potato latkes. I’ve seen attempts to make stuffing using matzoh farfel (blech!!!)

  202. 202.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 7:57 pm

    @Corner Stone: Unlikely the test was unsuccessful.

  203. 203.

    Yarrow

    April 15, 2017 at 7:58 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: That sounds delicious but it also sounds like a multi-day project. It may not be rocket science, but it’s not “toss in the oven and come back in an hour and it’s ready to eat.”

  204. 204.

    jl

    April 15, 2017 at 7:58 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    ” I didn’t look closely because I honestly don’t care. ”

    thank you for information on foods. I do care. I care about all foods that I might like to eat. It is a matter of deep principle with me.
    Also why my set of six-pack abs is always just a few months away. But I have to keep my priorities straight.

  205. 205.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 7:58 pm

    @Corner Stone: This is hysterical though!

    Live video feed of the failed NK missile launch is amazing. pic.twitter.com/9Vcg3ny5hA

    — Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 15, 2017

  206. 206.

    debbie

    April 15, 2017 at 7:59 pm

    @jl:

    If you don’t get an invite for next year, make your own!

  207. 207.

    schrodingers_cat

    April 15, 2017 at 7:59 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I have been feeling a bit under the weather all this week.

  208. 208.

    Corner Stone

    April 15, 2017 at 8:01 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: That’s fine and all. But now we have a baby madman in charge of a country who is liable to do just about anything after this failed test. And who the fuck knows what Kim Jong Un is gonna do to save face after the failure?

  209. 209.

    Villago Delenda Est

    April 15, 2017 at 8:01 pm

    @jl: Are those abs a Friedman Unit away?

  210. 210.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 8:02 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: The good news is that Bill O”Reilly is NOT in the chain of command.

    That’s really all the good news I have right now…

  211. 211.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 8:03 pm

    @Yarrow: You are correct. But it is not hard.

  212. 212.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 8:05 pm

    @jl: Actually you, like everyone else, has a six pack of abs. Yours are just kept securely protected by insulation. As are 99% of the populations.

  213. 213.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 8:05 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: Feel better!

  214. 214.

    Uncle Cosmo

    April 15, 2017 at 8:05 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: The Democratic Party, hell, the future of the nation itself, needs a 4-pronged strategy. Call it the Pitchfork approach:

    1) Energize the base, do everything you can to make them aware of the issues & the stakes & what can be done about them & make sure they know when & how to vote & what they can do to help elect Democrats.

    2) Attack Republican incumbents at every opportunity; make them own the consequences of their votes or decisions. Fight back on anti-Democratic framing in local media.

    3) Expand the base: Challenge voter suppression in the courts, the legislatures, & the media. Throw some cash & resources into getting people registered, including obtaining any documentation needed, well ahead of the election cycle.

    4) Attract fresh faces to run for election as Democrats to whatever offices are available, wherever. Do everything possible to get them up to speed re what’s involved in winning. (Attract, not “recruit”. We need folks who want to invest the time & trouble to run for office, not ones who think they’re doing us a favor, because the latter won’t in general put in the work.)

  215. 215.

    jl

    April 15, 2017 at 8:09 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: Hell with you. Super ninja Silverman says I have one already. ha ha ha.

    @Adam L Silverman: You revving up to be a physical fitness trainer too? Hey, chill out I’m working on my one-legged squats right now, so next time I spar with the Muay Thai teach, I’ll kick him across the room. Just youse guys watch!

  216. 216.

    Another Scott

    April 15, 2017 at 8:10 pm

    @brendancalling: Rick Steves’ show was in Britian and he was talking about Henry the Eighth deciding to cut the Catholic church down to size. He had some big wig at a monastery drawn and quartered and the 4 sections went on 4 separate individual month-long tours of Henry’s domain.

    Henry didn’t mess around…

    :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  217. 217.

    Ohio Mom

    April 15, 2017 at 8:11 pm

    @debbie: I think the white stuff could be sour cream or yogurt, I see what looks like two chunks of yellow cheese on display, making this a dairy meal.

    It’s a rather uninspiring buffet, considering.

  218. 218.

    raven

    April 15, 2017 at 8:12 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Do you do those battle ropes?

  219. 219.

    raven

    April 15, 2017 at 8:13 pm

    @Another Scott: That last episode of Wolf Hall showed that!

  220. 220.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 8:15 pm

    @Another Scott: The traditional penalty for treason to the crown by those not a member of the royal family was:
    1) To be hanged by the neck till nearly dead.
    2) Then to be drawn and quartered by being tied by a rope on each limb attached to four different horses that were then slapped on the rump.
    3) Then to be beheaded.
    4) The head placed on a pike on Traitor’s Gate with the remaining body parts sent to different parts of the Kingdom for display as a warning to others.

  221. 221.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 15, 2017 at 8:16 pm

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    All of this.

    I hope you are active with your local party organization. They need to hear this early and often.

  222. 222.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 15, 2017 at 8:17 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Well, it’s a good start.

  223. 223.

    jl

    April 15, 2017 at 8:17 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Which goes to show that Trump better be careful about pestering the British Crown that he deserves he Royal Treatment.

  224. 224.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 8:17 pm

    @raven: Not too often. I will either use a weighted sledge hammer or a TRX rip trainer (link below) to do sword cuts and/or staff strikes.
    https://www.trxtraining.com/products/trx-rip-trainer-basic-kit

  225. 225.

    raven

    April 15, 2017 at 8:20 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Ah, I don’t know if my 68 year old shoulder could hack any of that.

  226. 226.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 8:22 pm

    @raven: I understand.

  227. 227.

    debbie

    April 15, 2017 at 8:22 pm

    @Ohio Mom:

    Uninspiring, unless there’s herring hiding in the sour cream. ?

  228. 228.

    Yarrow

    April 15, 2017 at 8:25 pm

    @Ohio Mom: I had to take a look after all of this. I’ve zoomed in on the photo and you can see a bowl of what looks like cucumber slices on the left side of the table, what looks like sliced tomatoes on the right side, and what could be sliced red onions in front of that. Between the onions and Ivanka’s bowl are two bowls of white stuff.

    Ivanka’s bowl has what is probably matzoh and some white stuff on the side. The way the white stuff is perched there makes it look like it’s something like cream cheese or sour cream.

    It’s a rather uninspiring buffet, considering.

    It really is. Some of the baskets look empty and the box in the foreground is empty.

    Oh, and she’s definitely wearing some unzipped snowsuit. The fur lined hood is clear once you zoom in.

    I cannot believe I just wasted five minutes looking at that.

  229. 229.

    Mnemosyne

    April 15, 2017 at 8:28 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I have a collection of women’s humor that includes a photo essay of the author’s mother’s recipe for making gefilte fish, which includes riding three buses to get to an obscure fish store down in the ‘hood that still sells live carp, watching the fish swim around in their tank for a while, and then asking the store’s owner if he has any fresher fish for sale.

  230. 230.

    Patricia Kayden

    April 15, 2017 at 8:30 pm

    @Barbara: That’s exactly what will happen and Trump won’t care about any deaths/injuries because those aren’t his people. What exactly does he expect to achieve by sending warships to North Korea anyways?

  231. 231.

    Mnemosyne

    April 15, 2017 at 8:31 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    The last traitors to get anything close to that treatment in England were executed under the Prince Regent (later George IV), and the outcry from the public was so huge that it hasn’t been done since.

    And they didn’t even get the full draw-and-quarter, just disembowelling after hanging.

  232. 232.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 8:32 pm

    Fresh open thread up!

    Read it before the EMP pulse wipes out everyone’s connectivity!!!//

  233. 233.

    jl

    April 15, 2017 at 8:32 pm

    I thought commenters were joking about a failed NK missile test, but news says there was one. NK did missile test and it exploded at launch.

    There isn’t any damn foreign crisis going on with NK, not even clear that they can reliably hit anything with their medium and (now suspected) long range missiles. Only crisis is that created by Trump’s bellicose ignorance.

    So, I guess there is a ‘crisis’, one created by two unfit national leaders. I think better public response to the recent, apparently successful, NK test was standard boilerplate. Serious discussion of more aggressive application of Obama strategy should have been quiet. Something for the ‘quiet back rooms’, a guy like Mitt could have handled it better. Now for the next four years we have Drumpf, of if he is dumped, then Dense. So, Denser and Dense are in charge of our fates for the next four years.

  234. 234.

    lollipopguild

    April 15, 2017 at 8:33 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: It’s trump’s way of waving his dick in the air. He’s a little kid showing off and yelling “Look at me!”

  235. 235.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 8:34 pm

    @Yarrow: A grateful Nation thanks you in these trying times of National extremis.

  236. 236.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    April 15, 2017 at 8:34 pm

    @jl:

    Super ninja Silverman says I have one already. ha ha ha.

    One out of a six-pack? I think that’s just called a cold one.

  237. 237.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 8:35 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Oy vey.

  238. 238.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 8:36 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Spoilsports!

  239. 239.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    April 15, 2017 at 8:36 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    To be hanged by the next till nearly dead.

    I’ll confess, I’m not one of them fancy doctors like you, but what part of the human body is the next?

  240. 240.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 8:37 pm

    @jl: PACOM released a statement that we tracked it. That means it didn’t blow up on the pad. It got enough altitude to be tracked.

  241. 241.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 8:38 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: It is between the first and the last! Good catch.

    I got hanged right!

  242. 242.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    April 15, 2017 at 8:38 pm

    @jl: I think that what was the “Royal Treatment” is that you got to have swordsman from France do the beheading part.

  243. 243.

    Ohio Mom

    April 15, 2017 at 8:42 pm

    @Yarrow: The thing is, I have probably set out the likes of sour cream, sliced tomatos and cucumbers, hard cheese and matzoh at one time or another for a light lunch but I’m not running a high-priced resort. I’m scraping together odds and ends from the fridge.

  244. 244.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 8:45 pm

    @Ohio Mom: The tweet is wrong. I looked at the picture. That is clearly breakfast/brunch not a Seder. Everything is set up for a dairy breakfast brunch with matzoh where you’d normally have bagels or rolls. I’m going with cream cheese. What the real crime is is her being on the phone and not focusing on what she’s doing, which is holding everyone else up.

  245. 245.

    lollipopguild

    April 15, 2017 at 8:47 pm

    @Yarrow: Inspector Yarrow is on the job!

  246. 246.

    Yarrow

    April 15, 2017 at 8:59 pm

    @Ohio Mom: It could be one table of many. There’s clearly a second table in the background–looks like it could be a dessert table with what could be cookies lined up on a tray. I don’t know if those would be allowed on Passover or maybe there’s a version that would work?

    It still looks like a really lame spread.

    @lollipopguild: LOL. I feel so dumb having spent any time looking at that picture.

  247. 247.

    WaterGirl

    April 15, 2017 at 9:05 pm

    @Yarrow: Countertop inspections! :-)

  248. 248.

    Barbara

    April 15, 2017 at 9:05 pm

    @montanareddog: It’s an unzipped ski jumpsuit, with the upper part folded down so that the arms are hanging down below her waist. Or at least, that’s what it looks like to me.

  249. 249.

    lollipopguild

    April 15, 2017 at 9:16 pm

    @Yarrow: You are perfect for Balloon Juice!

  250. 250.

    Adam L Silverman

    April 15, 2017 at 9:18 pm

    @Yarrow: As I indicated in comment 248:

    The tweet is wrong. I looked at the picture. That is clearly breakfast/brunch not a Seder. Everything is set up for a dairy breakfast brunch with matzoh where you’d normally have bagels or rolls. I’m going with cream cheese. What the real crime is is her being on the phone and not focusing on what she’s doing, which is holding everyone else up.

  251. 251.

    brendancalling

    April 15, 2017 at 9:22 pm

    @Corner Stone: rats and crows love eating carrion and garbage.

    That’s why you leave them hanging for a week or so? To feed the birds.

  252. 252.

    eldorado

    April 15, 2017 at 9:24 pm

    the 50 state strategy often left out the difficult but necessary job of getting dems on school boards, county positions, city council, what have you. that’s how we get good candidates to move up the chain. while getting back part of congress is paramount in 2018, building an infrastructure for state parties is needed if we are going to compete long therm

  253. 253.

    brendancalling

    April 15, 2017 at 9:27 pm

    @Another Scott: I have no problem with that either.

  254. 254.

    Corner Stone

    April 15, 2017 at 9:35 pm

    @Ohio Mom:

    The thing is, I have probably set out the likes of sour cream, sliced tomatos and cucumbers, hard cheese and matzoh at one time or another for a light lunch

    What time should I show up? That sounds delish!

  255. 255.

    schrodingers_cat

    April 15, 2017 at 9:39 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: You too. I am not sure whether its allergies or a cold but my sinuses are blocked and I feel extremely tired.

  256. 256.

    Tehanu

    April 15, 2017 at 10:13 pm

    @Yarrow:

    Personally I’m glad Ivanka doesn’t go by Kushner because that was my grandmother’s married name (er — husband #2, married after she divorced my grandfather [a smart move on her part, by the way]). There are lots of Kushners so I don’t think my step-granddad was related, thank goodness. Having said that, I did just read the interview with Jared’s grandmother who survived the Holocaust, and now I’m even less inclined to cut Jared any slack, because her story was utterly horrifying — so you’d think her grandson might have some empathy or understanding of poor and oppressed people. And of course, you’d be wrong.

  257. 257.

    hilts

    April 15, 2017 at 10:14 pm

    @Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho:

    I want this entire crime family in prison.

    I wholeheartedly second this emotion. The entire Trump family is pure, unadulterated scum.

  258. 258.

    Mike G

    April 15, 2017 at 11:25 pm

    @GrandJury:

    I don’t know why people talk about them firing nukes at the US

    The same reason Reagan was scaring us with ooga-booga nightmares of the invincible Soviet Army storming through Western Europe to the English Channel when their military and economy were rotting away toward collapse — paranoia, gullibility and opportunism. Exaggerating threats for fun and profit is an old DC game.

  259. 259.

    workworkwork

    April 16, 2017 at 12:13 am

    @Adam L Silverman: Adam, I’m going to be using your roast leg of lamb recipe tomorrow. I’m kind of nervous but I’ll report in if I can. I’ll certainly be taking pictures.

  260. 260.

    Uncle Cosmo

    April 16, 2017 at 8:34 am

    @SiubhanDuinneThe local Democratic Party is doing just fine without my input.: I live in MD-07; my Representative is Elijah Cummings, my U.S. Senators are Ben Cardin & Chris Van Hollen. They & every other elected official down through Sheriff & Register of Wills are solid Democrats…with the prominent exception of Gov. Larry Hogan. There are rumors that my State Senator may not run in 2018 for personal reasons, which would touch off a modest scramble in the 43rd legislative district, but other than that the only real issue here is who should challenge Hogan, & how to beat him, since he’s been governing as that near-extinct species, a moderate Republican (e.g., supports ban on racking, repudiated Cheeto Benito early & continues to disdain him).

  261. 261.

    Uncle Cosmo

    April 16, 2017 at 8:49 am

    @Uncle Cosmo: Um, fracking, not “racking”.

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