Condoleezza Rice is unequivocal that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. election. #MarchForTruthhttps://t.co/5bd6nNdwyA pic.twitter.com/pzMUOdMfRY
— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) May 7, 2017
Who could have known? Politico, last night:
…After the White House’s biggest legislative victory yet with the House’s narrow passage Thursday of the American Health Care Act, momentum will slow as the Senate settles in to rework the bill — potentially from scratch. The White House is also heading for a political buzzsaw as Russia’s election interference takes center stage in congressional hearings.
Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates heads to Capitol Hill on Monday to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s conversations with the Russian ambassador and her efforts to warn the Trump administration about Flynn’s changing story. The ex-adviser was already in the headlines after The Washington Post and Associated Press reported Friday that Flynn had been warned by transition officials about speaking to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Meanwhile, the health care bill that the White House spent the weekend celebrating appears destined for the trash can on the other side of the Capitol…
I came across Oliver Wendell Holmes’ 1858 poem when I was nine or ten, reading a leftover late-1940s high school textbook. Per Wikipedia:
… In the poem, a fictional deacon crafts the titular wonderful one-hoss shay in such a logical way that it could not break down. The shay is constructed from the very best of materials so that each part is as strong as every other part. In Holmes’ humorous, yet “logical”, twist, the shay endures for a hundred years (amazingly to the precise moment of the 100th anniversary of the Lisbon earthquake shock) then it “went to pieces all at once, and nothing first, — just as bubbles do when they burst”. It was built in such a “logical way” that it ran for exactly one hundred years to the day.
In economics, the term “one-hoss shay” is used, following the scenario in Holmes’ poem, to describe a model of depreciation, in which a durable product delivers the same services throughout its lifetime before failing with zero scrap value…
In his cunning grasp of every bad American get-rich-quick scheme, the President-Asterisk seems to have constructed a 21st-century One-Horses-Arse Shay, a fractal creation where every bolt and join is forged in equal strength from lies, BS, and bad faith. May it collapse as abruptly and thoroughly as the two-wheeled conveyance in the original story…
***********
What’s on the agenda, as we start another week?
.
Once again, Eric Trump says the quiet part out loud. https://t.co/L5bB8U7n6o
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) May 7, 2017
Eric Trump on how the Trump Organization got capital to finance its golf courses https://t.co/u5eDdOH8K5 pic.twitter.com/4o9tXO1lUS
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) May 7, 2017
and if Eric's admission was that summer, also about when MH17 was shot down. Which Trump has given Putin the benefit of the doubt on.
— Amateur Intel Pr0n (@ZeddRebel) May 7, 2017
bystander
Just caught Joe and Meeka criticizing Hillary for the parenthetical in her tweet. “(But the media says I can’t talk about that)”. They and Katty Kay all agreed she should have stopped before then.
I had to turn to “Soap” on Logo since the lack of self-awareness is embarrassing.
Mustang Bobby
Joe and Mika are the new edition of James Carville and Mary Matalin without the charm.
ETA The theatrical version would be David Spade and Adam Sandler touring with a road company of “The Odd Couple.”
Baud
@bystander: That was a good show.
Elizabelle
@Mustang Bobby: Without the charm, and without the competence.
They just run their mouths and try to implant fake consensus.
raven
@Elizabelle: At least they showed the SNL skit!
Betty Cracker
What a useless piece of shit Condoleezza Rice is. She knows Trump is unfit. She knows Putin sleazed Trump into office. She knows Russia will meddle in our elections again. But apparently dithering and posturing are the only acceptable responses. What bullshit.
Joyce H
@Mustang Bobby:
If you had to ask me for a list of words that did NOT apply to Mary Matalin, ‘charm’ would be way up near the top.
rikyrah
Morning Everyone???
Baud
@rikyrah: Morning.
SFAW
@Betty Cracker:
Oh, come ON! Condi’s just trying to make sure that Shitgibbon displaces her “husband” as the Worst President Since the
Civil WarWar of Northern Aggression. (If he gets impeached or 25th-ed out too early, then Bush will still be “in the lead.”)SFAW
@Joyce H:
Oh, you’re just saying that because MM is a Right Wing Asshole.
rikyrah
Hillary is out of phucks to give, and I say BRAVO?
JPL
@Betty Cracker: Condi is peddling her book, and wants to appeal to both sides.
CSPAN has Yates testimony starting at 2:30. Is that correct?
CarolDuhart2
Morning, Morning 2x
http://www.aquariusmoon.info/0-IMG_20170416_020950%5B1%5D.jpg
My kitty.
This is why they hate HIllary-she or Bill won’t give them the satisfaction of shutting up and letting their narrative go unchallenged.
Go Hillary! Be the elder stateswoman we need.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mustang Bobby:
@Elizabelle: Glad I cut the cord on those fuckers.
CarolDuhart2
I never get the editing window when I try to edit. Why is that?
Baud
@rikyrah: Agree. Also good for figuring out who we can count on and who suffers from untreatable CDS.
Kay
@bystander:
They could talk about how they plan to cover the hacking that will occur in the 2018 elections. They know Democratic congressional campaigns were hacked in 2016 so they should assume that will happen again, since no one has done anything about it.
They have some choices to make because obviously it’s not a level playing field if only one Party is affected by this. Do they plan on selecting stolen emails and adopting the most malicious interpretation again? There was nothing nefarious about the Clinton campaign communications but since they were the only communications stolen and then given blanket coverage it appeared that there was. Voters had nothing from the Trump campaign to compare with and elections are comparisons between two candidates.
You and I both know it will happen again. If they’re given some trove of emails from a Democrat’s Senate race they’ll do the same thing again and it literally does not matter what the emails say- it will be covered as a scandal for the Democrat.
J R in WV
@rikyrah:
Good morning, rikyrah! I’m not often up at this time of day, but we’re off the the airport soon to escape for a week with old friends.
You keep them straight here on the AM blogs!!
OzarkHillbilly
Speaks for itself.
Patricia Kayden
@Kay:
I would hope that Democrats are protecting against this and possibly taking a page out of Macron’s playbook on how to deal with hackers. This cannot become a thing. One problem I have with Democrats is that we talk about the same problems over and over and do nothing to head them off. Now that we know Russians will interfere with future elections to help Republicans, what are we doing to address hacking?
Patricia Kayden
@OzarkHillbilly: To be honest, that’s how Israel has been operating all along so no real surprise there. They are just now stating the obvious.
Quinerly
@Joyce H: @Mustang Bobby:
My parents loathed Mary Matalin (my mom adored Carville in 1992, my dad not so much…and we are born and bred Southerners). My father used to say “That woman has the laziest lips.” We would laugh everytime he said it back in the 1990’s. He had a head injury in 2001 at age 79. Dementia really set in about two years later. He would still say the lazy lips part when she came on tv. At that point he didn’t have a clue who she was and each time was like the first time seeing her. He also added, “that’s the ugliest woman I have ever seen. Why would they put her on tv?” When Carville was on my mother would try to explain to my dad that they were married, he would say, “Ugly found ugly. There’s somebody for everybody.” It was so cute with his slow Southern drawl and twinkling blue eyes.
Felonius Monk
@Betty Cracker: Amen!
SFAW
@Kay:
That’s because Dems and their
voterssupporters are not Real ‘Muricans. (“Voters” crossed out because, if the Party of Traitors has their way, Dem supporters will get disenfranchised in time for the midterms. Again, because they’re not Real “Muricans.)SiubhanDuinne
@J R in WV:
Safe and happy travels! Will you be reporting in from the road?
J R in WV
@CarolDuhart2:
Pretty kitty!
Kay
@Patricia Kayden:
I disagree. They should use security but Democrat’s don’t control how hacked information is covered. Macron benefited from the French election rule that declares a black-out immediately prior to the election and editorial decisions on how to cover the hacks. A blackout would be unconstitutional in the US but media make editorial choices- they do and we all know they do. They didn’t even report the congressional race hacking until after the election.
Covering the Clinton hacks as if her campaign was some kind of criminal enterprise when they were ordinary campaign bullshit was a choice.
satby
@rikyrah: Morning to you and all the morning crew!
For those who don’t get to see every thread, AL posted a plea for help in finding homes for greennotGreen’s last two dogs here.
After what happened with my aggressive girl last month, I have a very testy crew, so it’s not safe for me to even foster a small dog right now. But if we all put feelers out something may come through.
J R in WV
@SiubhanDuinne:
Hope to, will have a tablet, if I don’t blow up the voltage converter equipment. If I can figure out how to send photos with it. So many ifs…
Italy for 6 days. Chianti area and Florence. With old friends, flying Air France, should be interesting.
debbie
@Betty Cracker:
She’s got a 2-part interview on NPR today. Still won’t say the Bush Administration was wrong to invade Iraq.
satby
@J R in WV: safe travels and enjoy your reunion with your friends!
debbie
@Kay:
Have you seen John Husted’s video announcing he was running for governor? In a single sentence, he claimed that he was one of those gun lovers dismissed by Obama and that he and his family fit firmly in Hillary’s basket of deplorables.
Cheryl Rofer
Condoleezza Rice, who actually is a Russia expert, recommended the incompetent Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State. Every interviewer should ask her about that.
ETA: She has also consulted for Exxon, but I’m sure that has nothing to do with it.
Baud
@debbie:
So he admits he’s a bigot. Interesting.
NotMax
Trivia:
Shay is an Americanization of the French word chaise.
debbie
@Baud:
Yes. And he’s the “establishment” wing of the Ohio GOP. I expect this race (with about five candidates already) will be a real race to the slimy bottom of the bucket.
Kay
@Patricia Kayden:
I feel like “Democrats should fix this” has gone too far. I hear the same thing on voting rights. Apparently Democrats have to set up a private civil rights protection division so people can vote and if there’s voter suppression, well, it’s up to campaigns to handle that by creating a sort of quasi-state private apparatus to protect basic civil rights.
Media have a choice. They can cover the upcoming hacks as if Democrats running campaigns is itself a crime or they can make better editorial decisions. There’s no excuse next time. They went into 2018 knowing what was likely to happen.
Kay
@debbie:
It’s so funny how he’s gone from “reasonable moderate” to spit-flecked Trumpster. He’s an ordinary money-loving Republican. He’s no more a Trumpster than I am.
So that’s two who are going the Trump route. We’ll see what they rest do. I hope it’s a bad bet.
Lounger
@Betty Cracker: And she had the nerve to say the Tillerson is doing an “amazing” @Cheryl Rofer: Saw and interview transcript yesterday where Rice said Tillerson is doing an amazing job.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: Proud of it too.
Baud
@Kay: The media are giving the people what they want.
Cheryl Rofer
@Lounger: OMG. I don’t watch the Sunday shows and missed that transcript. Just a personal observation, but if I were a State Department employee hearing his speech last week, I would be buckling down for a long hard ride or looking for another job.
ETA: I guess you could call it amazing. In all the wrong ways.
NotMax
@Lounger
Can’t deny it’s amazing how totally inept he is.
(But then, Condi and ept were never in the same room together, either.)
Kay
@debbie:
I like Connie Pillich just because she’s such a trooper. I went to an event where she was the speaker. I got there late and parked and I saw someone moving around in the back of a tiny car and it was her- she was changing clothes. She was the only one still campaigning that year, it seemed. She worked right up until the end.
That job sucks.
debbie
@Kay:
/wringing hands in despair/ I just don’t know how Josh Mandel can top Husted’s line.
Patricia Kayden
@Kay: My frustration is that Democrats pretty much know that certain things are going to happen and should take as many steps as they can to thwart the negative impact. I understand that the MSM spins news stories in ways to hurt Democrats but that is not something that we can control.
We already know that hacking will take place next year and that it will be spun against Democrats. What can we do about that?
We already know that voter suppression laws will be enacted in red states. What can we do about that?
There has to be a way of fighting back more effectively with whatever means is in our control. The media and Republicans aren’t going to change.
debbie
@Kay:
She’ll need to be a trooper to stand against the she-devil Mary Taylor.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay:
I understand that you are tired of hearing people say this but in truth, DEMs do have to fix *it*. Nobody else will.
**where “it” changes depending upon the subject at hand, from voter suppression to campaign hacking to PACs to ad infinitum
NotMax
OT question –
Saw a movie from 2013 the other day. At the end of the closing credits was a notice along the lines of “The making of this film provided employment to 2000 people.”
As I don’t attend movie theaters here (medical reasons), is this now a commonplace declaration?
Baud
@NotMax: I’ve seen that in several movies. It started shortly after the recession, I think.
James E Powell
If Trump’s healthcare bill isn’t going to pass the senate, how is passing the house a victory? The house has been doing useless votes for years.
Kay
@debbie:
There’s something unflappable about Pillich- she seems trustworthy. Centered. I don’t know what Mary Taylor will run on now that “lying about Obamacare” is beaten to death.
Kasich said the GOP plan for high risk pools is “ridiculous” :)
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: isn’t there just as good of an argument for “the citizens of this country” fixing it? If the Indivisible movement continues and gains strength it has a fair chance of improving a few of the issues, like countering voter suppression.
Baud
@James E Powell: Dude, just look at Trump’s electoral college map and accept that we are tired of winning.
Lurking Canadian
@NotMax: They do it to try to shame people into not pirating the product
satby
@James E Powell: It gave the middle finger to Obama and the Dems, and fooled their idiot base into thinking that they finally made good on all those ridiculous votes.
Kay
@OzarkHillbilly:
I don’t know- for Democrats to “fix” voter suppression you’re talking about hiring an army. I feel as if I am due the same state protections that Republicans are due. I shouldn’t have to create an alt-DOJ staffed with private lawyers.
Where does this end? How big does this campaign apparatus get? Now we need a cyber security division? It’s like an arms race.
amk
msm will continue be dem bashers because they know the dem base is easily swayed. otherwise, the worstest possible rethugs could not have become prezs.
OzarkHillbilly
@James E Powell: All hat, no cattle. All bark, no bite. All show, no go. Politics as entertainment.
Baud
@amk: Agree. Except it’s not the Dem base, but the fringe Dem voter that’s easily swayed.
JPL
Well in other news that makes you want to say wtf, George Will is joining MSNBC.
Baud
@JPL: Hahahaha. MSNBC’s journey to the dark side is nearly complete.
NotMax
@JPL
Presume he’ll get Pat Buchanan’s old office (which should have had the stench aired out sufficiently by now).
Kay
@James E Powell:
I think there’s a recognition that if it passes the House it will probably pass the Senate (in some bullshit form, one that protects GOP Senators). Even with that though I agree with you that “triumph!” was over-played.
My sense here (admittedly anecdotal) was the failure to pass anything was accruing to the GOP Congress – the GOP base were blaming them, not Trump. In that situation they had to act, so they did. The Senate, of course is different because they have to run statewide.
Kay
@Baud:
Cable news is a wasteland. I figure it implodes at some point – those giant paychecks at the top and employing every pundit and grifter – it doesn’t seem like a sustainable business model.
NotMax
@Kay
Rule 1: Content is secondary to eyeballs.
Baud
@Kay: Supposedly, the ratings for Rachel and Chris Hayes are up after Trump’s election, so expect them to be canceled soon.
Baud
@NotMax: How many eyeballs are seeking out George Will?
amk
@Baud: It’s an accepted factoid the rethug base starts at 40%, even without all that gotv brouhaha. Can’t say that about the dems. The declining piss poor voting percentages in the last few cycles confirm it.
Baud
@amk: I don’t see how you can say our base doesn’t also start at 40%. Our problem is the geographic distribution of our voters and getting our voters out for the mid-terms.
Cheryl Rofer
I’m reminded by a Chris Cilizza post at CNN that Sally Yates will be testifying today. I’m not linking because the post overhypes what is likely to happen and engages in the usual Cilizza both-siderism.
But it’s worth paying attention to what Yates will say. It is unlikely to be determinative, probably just that she warned that pack of idiots that Michael Flynn was playing with fire in his Russia contacts. The good stuff either is classified or lies elsewhere. I suspect the latter.
In one way, the constant return of the Russia story will continue to chip away at the Trump administration, as the EMAIL story did at Clinton. In another, people will become inured to the constant surfacing of tiny facts. Some of us are collecting those tiny facts, though, and one of these days they will add up to a real story.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: Sure, but most of the citizens of this country are too busy working and can’t even be bothered to vote in off year election. When it comes to Indivisable, my bet is most of those people are DEMs so, to me, this is the democratic party (small ‘d’ for a reason, the lines blur)
@Kay: I agree Kay, but that is not a choice open to us. Republicans are actively using the state to remove those protections from people of color, LGBT, any religion not Christian. If anyone thinks the GOP is going to come riding to our rescue, they’ve got a long wait ahead of them. We don’t have any choice, sitting back and doing nothing other than complain about this stuff is a sure fire way to be in the same place we are now in 2 years and 4 years and 6 years….
Kay
@OzarkHillbilly:
My objection to “Democrats should fix this” is it’s reactive and defensive. They need to switch it up somehow. “Play their own game” as coaches say. I have heard that coach’s say this. Third hand :)
It’s true though. You can’t let your opponent direct your actions. Obama’s genius was he had his own thing. No matter what happened around him he was focused on his win on his terms.
amk
@Baud: State level and federal level election results do not show the dems floor is 40%.
Van Buren
@NotMax: If he checks the desk drawers, he’s likely to find a few SS ribbons.
Baud
@amk: Where do you get that at the federal level? I’m less certain about the states since so many of those elections are off-year.
NotMax
@Baud
That remains to be, um, seen. But you can’t deny his name comes with a certain degree of cachet, dated (and woeful) as it may be.
It may be a case of “Let’s sign him before our competitors do.”
Never underestimate the short sightedness of any network’s execs.
Meanwhile, word is that Greta what’s-her-face’s ratings would have to be hydraulically raised to be in the toilet.
OzarkHillbilly
@Cheryl Rofer:
Not so sure. I said the same thing about emails. Comey proved me wrong.
mai naem mobile
This is a pretty funny take on the French election a la ‘Why did Dolt 45 voters for Dolt 45 ?’
http://www.newstatesman.com/world/europe/2017/05/deep-macron-country?amp
Baud
@mai naem mobile: Heh. Perfect.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay:
I would say that DEMs need to fix this by switching it up somehow because the GOP has “fixed” it as one would fix a fight.
Tripod
@debbie:
Re-running the last campaign is always a mugs bet. They’re even dusting off FOX NEWS leftist Dennis Kucinich to do the leftier than thou bit.
Kay
@Cheryl Rofer:
The Trump Administration seem to me to be scared not of the Russia story but of the aura of corruption and sleaze around them. They respond to those stories.
Trump spent 2 years claiming all politicians were corrupt and self-serving. That resonated with his fans. If the Kushner/Ivanka shit keeps piling up the stink will be hard to wash off. Trump himself responds to the stories about all the public money he’s spending with his really lavish lifestyle. He’s right too. That’s the sort of thing low info voters respond to- the legendary Clinton haircut on the tarmac type shit. He can’t distance himself from his daughter and her husband.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Cheryl Rofer:
The major difference is that there is a there there.
amk
@Baud: congress & senate majorities, state leges and governors. dog catchers. take your pick. heck ‘deep blue’ massholes have been electing rethug govs like mittbot, whasshisname charlie. off-year elections is such a lame excuse.
?BillinGlendaleCA
The kid visited this weekend and I got to see the results of her surgery, turned out quite nice. We, the kid, her mom and I, were supposed to go hiking but we got rained out.
OzarkHillbilly
@mai naem mobile: Heh:
germy
Baud
@amk: House and Senate are based on geographic issues. Anyway, I said we start with a 40% base. The base alone is not enough to win elections.
Honus
@SFAW: war of northern aggression is incorrect. The confederacy attacked first, and later invaded the North. I prefer the southern matron’s more bucolic “recent unpleasantness between the states”
Kay
@Tripod:
He’s adopted public education as his issue this time out. I wish he wouldn’t. I wish he would pick something I don’t care about. It’s a mainstream Democratic Party issue now in Ohio. I feel he sort of discredits it and he’s a divider. He’ll position himself to the Left of Democrats on it and use it as a weapon not against Republicans but against Democrats. He fancies himself a “maverick”, the “conscience” of Democrats.
It’s smart though. Democrats won state races in Louisiana and Pennsylvania focusing on public education. Kucinich was always smart, just not in a useful or practical way.
Honus
@SFAW: also, as history of the actual tactics shows, the Civil War was hardly civil.
tobie
@Patricia Kayden:
I also wonder what the Democrats are doing to protect the integrity of the balloting process. A bipartisan campaign, headlined by Obama and George W Bush, to require paper balloting in every precinct might help.
OzarkHillbilly
@Honus:
Fake News!
Kay
@Tripod:
He was fucking unbearable at the ’08 Democratic Convention. He hung out at the hotel where the Ohio delegates were and was treated as some kind of hero by delegates from other states- young people from California. I was on a balcony and he came out with a BBC reporter for an interview. Just insufferable. The Last Honest Man.
I chatted with him after. He’s off-putting and tense one on one. Almost unpleasant. I was actually surprised at how uncomfortable he was talking to me.
greennotGreen
@satby: Thank you, satby. So far, we have noticed that with three dogs out of the house, our house training issues have diminished considerably. Rocket and Pine have been really good about going out when escorted and not deciding to wing it whenever they feel like it. Which is good since my sister has enough to do without extra mopping. And which is also a warning to those who foster dogs not to get carried away with the numbers.
I’m having a very hard time writing this comment – I’m having a hard time focusing. We just increased my oxygen to 1.5%. I couldn’t get comfortable this morning, and now I keep drifting off. The hospice nurse said I had done so well for so long because I had such good reserves, but once they were gone, they were gone. I think that’s where I am. Expect to see more updates co-written by my sister or nephew…or more comments with a lot more misspelled words.
Another Scott
Either the editing on that Rice interview excerpt is horrible (I haven’t watched the clip), or there are some weird things going on in her thought processes. Putin interfered, but don’t let him think he has undermined confidence?!?!
Derp?
Yeah, she has a book to sell.
(sigh)
I hope Obama’s memoir blows the lid off of the Basket of Unspeakables that the professional GOP refuses to acknowledge. I really, really do.
Cheers,
Scott.
Patricia Kayden
@OzarkHillbilly:
Amen. Either Democrats come up with innovative ways to fix problems they face every election season or nothing changes. The MSM and Republicans aren’t going to fix those problems for us. By now, I would have hoped that Democrats would have set up websites where folks like myself could go and donate money to voter ID acquisition efforts or something along that vein.
@tobie: Democrats need to be more proactive in addressing problems. Your suggestion is a good one. Hopefully, some are brainstorming so that we don’t find ourselves talking about hacking and voter ID as obstacles in 2018 in the same way we’re talking about those issues now.
Patricia Kayden
@greennotGreen: It’s always lovely to hear from you, greennotGreen.
Another Scott
@greennotGreen: I’m glad your pooches are feeling less piddle-y in the house. That has to be easier on everyone – including them! :-)
I always enjoy your posts. You give us so much to think about.
Take it easy, and have a good week. We’ll be thinking of you and sending you good thoughts.
Best wishes,
Scott.
amk
@Baud: You can claim dem base is even 60%. It means jacksquat if they don’t turn out. There was a reason Obama had to use his famed ‘bully pulpit’ at every public meeting asking people to turn out.
FlipYrWhig
@Kay:
I take it there’s a type. ;) :/ :P :(
bystander
@Kay: Andrea Mitchell pointed out that there were no examples of quid pro quo between CF donors and the State Dept found in the leaked memos, but as soon as they find examples they’ll be covering them. Not verbatim, but the essence was, “She’s so dishonest and we all know it, so it’s just a matter of time.”
That’s why I’m watching “Go into Your Dance” with Al Jolson and Ruby “Two Left Hooves” Keeler. Songs by Warren and Dubin, so you shut your eyes when it’s Keeler.
Baud
@amk: It’s the fringe voter that’s real hard to get on our side.
Taylor
@Kay: The story I heard was that his campaign for the nomination was basically a scheme to pick up babes.
Cheryl Rofer
@OzarkHillbilly: I think that if something big surfaces at the right time, as did the Comey emails, it will get attention. I am disturbed by the general acceptance of so many ties by so many high officials to Russia. The number is really extraordinary. Also by Republican refusal to see anything at all questionable there. But, as others have pointed out, the Republicans were all on Nixon’s side in Watergate until they weren’t. That kind of ending comes fast.
@Kay: I think it’s the corruption and sleaze that will eventually be at the center of the Russian story. Most likely money laundering, and most likely that Trump just drifted into it because it looked like more money for him in his general lack of any moral sense.
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I agree, but we still don’t know for sure what it is.
Another Scott
@Kay: Donnie is worried about Sally:
Nothing is ever Donnie’s responsibility. He’s perfect you know!
“The story here isn’t that I had Russian spies for my closest advisers, it’s that someone talked about it!!11”
(sigh)
Cheers,
Scott.
tobie
@greennotGreen: Thank you for checking in and conserve your strength. I think all of us are asking our friends, family and neighbors about adopting Rocket and Pine. Something will work out. Don’t fret about this.
Sab
@Kay: My basic problem with Kucinich is I remember his race-baiting mayoral campaign back when I was a teenager, and I have never been able to get over that.
Also I agree with your comment about his subsequent career.
satby
@greennotGreen: Yes, we who foster often think we can squeeze in one more, but we’re often wrong. I’m glad that the two left are less stressed by crowds, it’s very hard to get five dogs all in the same schedule. Be comfortable, your family and we will find safe havens for your last two fur babies. {{{gnG}}}
ruemara
@satby: Doesn’t castigate the Democratic Party enough, adding to the feeling for non-participants that both sides are fools and not worth voting for.
satby
@ruemara: I’d LOL but it’s true.
But we need to push for people to become more engaged citizens and for the news media to inform, not opine. That shouldn’t be just a Dem party job, though it will end up that way.
Chris
@Betty Cracker:
She, Colin Powell and John McCain can start a Concerned Moderates club. Concerned moderates that you know are concerned, and moderate, because they go on air, where pundits introduce them as moderate and concerned, to wring their hands about what the GOP is doing, but who somehow are never concerned enough to actually do anything out of line with straight-ticket party-line Republicans.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Kay:
Trump sold out to Russia cheap for a loan to build a golf course goes along with corruption and sleaze.
SFAW
@Honus:
You’re right, if it’s uncapitalized. But the “War of Northern Aggression” is correct. You do realize there are large segments of the population who agree with that name, right? If not, then you might consider expanding your political horizons a little.
Tenar Arha
@Baud: Well I eventually read it because I clicked on the WaPo link without checking the author. But I’m guessing a lot of liberals and old school lefties from the aughts probably had to read it because he’s saying what was being said about 15-20 years ago. (Sort of seeing is believing). Then they all probably went into their archives and eviserated it, I hope.
ETA e.g. pretty sure driftglass did, because he talked about not feting him for saying now what should have been said then.
SFAW
@greennotGreen:
Loving thoughts heading your way.
Chris
@Kay:
Unfortunately, at this point, the Democratic Party is basically a domestic version of Great Britain circa 1940-1941. Every other major player in the game is either part of the extreme right, conquered by it, allied itself with it, out to lunch, or some combination thereof. All we can do is “hold until relieved.”
Elizabelle
@greennotGreen: love you, greennotGreen.
Tenar Arha
@Kay: You’re absolutely right about how we keep adding to the lists of “the Democrats should fix this” stuff, but we’re going to have to do the heavy lifting there too.
Your comment made me think though. Maybe local Indivisible groups focused on local/national media pressure? Like groups just dedicated to “we want you to cover this stuff better.” Go to local news outlets & say “What are your plans for the next time Russia hacks only the Democratic candidate?” etc.
germy
@Sab:
Steve in the ATL
@J R in WV:
In my experience, prepare yourself for better food and more attractive flight attendants as compared to Delta, and complimentary wine the whole flight.
Good luck and Godspeed.
Just One More Canuck
@Honus: why not call it what it was – the War of Southern Treason
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@greennotGreen:
Glad to see you here this morning – your in my thoughts and heart every day.
Davis X. Machina
Had exactly the same experience, right down to the age. My dad brought home a ton of desk copies and publishers’ samples of all sorts of textbooks. I devoured all the high school English basal text ones I could find.
Still have vivid memories of a lot of poetry once considered classic, now devalued or forgotten, like “Spoon River Anthology” and Vachel Lindsay (“Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan”) and Stephen Vincent Benét (“John Brown’s Body”).
Tenar Arha
@Lounger: @Betty Cracker: @Cheryl Rofer:
Every time I read the state department or foreign policy news lately I keep thinking “there goes 70 years of postwar diplomacy down the tubes.” It’s depressing and infuriating how bad this stuff they’re not doing or doing wrong really is, and how little most people understand what’s actually happening to us now will take years, maybe decades to repair.
Chris
@mai naem mobile:
This is hilarious, but this
Is kind of spot on. I’d have voted for anyone against Le Pen, but if there was any reason I picked Macron in the first round, it was because it was a breath of fresh air to see a politician, especially one who’s not from the major parties, by unapologetically pro-EU. I say this as someone who has all kinds of beef with it, but who doesn’t want it gone.
ruemara
@greennotGreen: sending you love & light, Green. Keeping you in my thoughts during your hospice.
Elizabelle
@J R in WV: Happy jet trails.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steve in the ATL: We’ve had pretty shitty Air France flights. The flight to Tahiti was a red eye and the flight attendants decided to sleep through most of the flight and our landing in Paris was so hard that parts fell of the cabin.
rikyrah
@Kay: . keep on nailing them, Kay.
rikyrah
@Patricia Kayden:
ICAM
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
@Kay: See ESPN, for a different variety of the same problem.
You need very deep pockets indeed to keep at it, which is why Fox has survived for so long.
ruemara
Sitting here in Philly on the edge of this IKEA bed. Have to admit, the hosts have turned a normally dismal basement in the tenement into very clever hotel rooms. I feel like I’m in a hotel, I have a room key and I have a private bath. I don’t think I’d stay here in the dead of winter and one building has the fridge & microwave, the other has laundry facilities, but, despite reminding me of the room the most ravaged victim of Jack the Ripper was found, it’s quite cozy. Plus there’s an electric kettle for tea. I’m going to visit Rodin museum after i mail my car keys to a friend. I’m parked in front of her house and the city decided they needed to work there in 2 days.
Later i set up the booth for the next 3 days at conference.
Tenar Arha
@mai naem mobile: that’s so good
rikyrah
@Kay:
OhioMom says that Portman doesn’t do Townhall meetings. Ohio Dems need to stick Trumpcare to Portman, and every GOPer in Ohio. They need to stick it to Husted, demanding to know if he is going to seek the waiver on pre-existing conditions and basic services. Put them on the run and don’t let up.
The GOP wants to steal your healthcare in order to give rich people tax cuts.
Say it, Dems.
Don’t ever stop saying it.
rikyrah
@Kay:
You saw the story of Kushner and family using Dolt45 for Chinese investment?
rikyrah
@greennotGreen:
Thanks for checking in ?
montanareddog
@Kay:
The Montanareddog style guide classifies this as a redundancy
zhena gogolia
@mai naem mobile:
Great piece!
Cheryl Rofer
The hearing at which Sally Yates will be testifying will be streamed here.
2:30 pm Eastern time.
SiubhanDuinne
@mai naem mobile:
That is hilarious!
SiubhanDuinne
@greennotGreen:
I for one welcome every update, no matter who may co-write it and no matter how many misspellings. Hope you can get more comfortable. Gentle hugs to you {{{{{gnG}}}}}
LurkerNoLonger
@James E Powell:
This is what I’ve been asking myself since Thursday. The conclusion I’ve come to is, Republicans are so far up their own ass that they think this is what their “base” wants.
chopper
@greennotGreen:
it’s good to hear from you. sending hopes for comfort and no pain your way.
chopper
@James E Powell:
yep. but think about it, the GOP, in spite of having the white house and both houses of congress, barely passed a bill that’s been a centerpiece of their policy for about 8 years. apparently that’s a huge accomplishment, like when your 4 year old manages not to pee the bed.
schrodingers_cat
@chopper: More like your 4 year old pees on the bed and wants to be praised for it.
Barbara
@Kay: Kucinich comes from the same place Bernie Sanders does. I sometimes think that he became such an annoying scold because women stood up to him and told him what’s what on the issue of abortion. He changed his stance publicly but I think he resented having to do it to have any chance of higher office, especially since it didn’t matter.
Uncle Ebeneezer
@Baud: Careful Baud, you’re alienating potential voters for 2020!
hovercraft
@debbie:
Why would she, she was his National Security Advisor, so she’s just as culpable as the rest of the crew, so she’ll go to her grave swearing up and down that it was the right decision.
She is and has always been a partisan hack, the honest republicans, who are few and far between, admit that everything about the Shitgibbon and his cabinet is a disaster, they are clueless and incompetent, they are an embarrassment. Powell still won’t go all the way, but at least he’s been more honest that her.
Tillerson is a bigger stain because he’s the international face of the nation, if you think that the anyone can see past Twitler himself, and Lucretia and Rasputin, but Rex’s ignorance and incoherence is the perfect manifestation of their incompetence and hubris to the world. I’d feel sorry for Rex if he wasn’t just as evil and arrogant as his boss.
satby
@Barbara: yes he does, and that place is white male privilege. THEY’RE the smartest people in the room, doncha know; and those who don’t recognize that are worse enemies than anyone who actually opposes them on issues.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@greennotGreen:
Wishing you comfort, smiles, and peace. You are loved!
The Moar You Know
@Tenar Arha: i think we’re going to find that most of it is not repairable. We are not the country we were back then when those agreements and arrangements were formalized.
hovercraft
@Kay:
While he may not have been spit-feckled, he has been a favorite of the Tea Party because of his drive to suppress the vote of minorities. If I remember correctly, he was one of the authors of the “papers please” law in Arizona. Beyond that, the republicans have always been wiling to sell their souls for power, remember when trickle down was Voodoo economics before it became gospel, when the Tea Party were the the extremists before they became the core /base of the party, these people will follow and or adopt anything is if it will give them more power. When people say that these people aren’t the extremists they claim to be I say bullshit, they govern as if they believe it, which is all that counts. Husted was the asshole caught by The AP back in January walking out of Trump Tower with a plan on how to further suppress the vote.
hovercraft
@greennotGreen:
Thanks for making the effort to comment at all, we appreciate anything you want to share with us, know that we are rooting for you to have as comfortable and peaceful journey as possible. {{{{{}}}}} to you and your family, you are in my thought and prayers.
Cheryl Rofer
@The Moar You Know and Tenar Arha: I am slightly more optimistic. If the Democrats can get the right candidate, America can come back. That depends on how badly the Trumpies mess things up in the next 1300-something days.
Also on the Democrats getting the right candidate for president.
SFAW
@Cheryl Rofer:
Is THAT what you call being “slightly more optimistic”? I’d hate to see you pessimistic.
For me, “optimistic” would put it at 130 days (for the entire Maladministration).
sukabi
@James E Powell: it’s a “victory” in that Drumpf gets to crow about killing Obamacare, if even for a couple of days. The black hole that is his ego needs to be fed.
sukabi
@Another Scott: Drumpf should go back and check hos own Twitter feed…he (Or one of the idiots in his orbit) is more than likely the leaker…
And then he should learn how to keep his tiny fingers off his phone, and his gaping maw closed.
SgrAstar
@Patricia Kayden: we have VoteRiders, who are focused on helping people acquire the documents they need to vote. Worthy and essential!
Tenar Arha
@Cheryl Rofer: Well that’s the hope isn’t it? If we can keep career people from giving up due to malice or simple attrition, and keep the Dolt to one term followed by a Democrat who plans to mend fences, we may be okay.
(Pretty sure I’m just repeating things you’ve already considered).