Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

When they say they are pro-life, they do not mean yours.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

The willow is too close to the house.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

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

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

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

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

This chaos was totally avoidable.

All hail the time of the bunny!

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Not Even Baby Ducks Are Safe When the Repubs Are in Town

Wednesday Evening Open Thread: Not Even Baby Ducks Are Safe When the Repubs Are in Town

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Because we’re living in the Doonesbury archives, these days. It *would* be a Repub from North Carolina; I guess he’s cranky that he’s not allowed to beat up pregnant women and transgender kids outside his Republic of Gilead:

Political turmoil rocked the nation’s capital again on Tuesday evening as politicians from both parties responded to President Trump’s — you know what, never mind. This is a story about ducks.

Ducklings, to be precise. Ducklings walking up a ramp and stepping off it into the waters of the Capitol Reflecting Pool, which can be difficult for them to do unassisted because they are very small.

The two ramps at the reflecting pool are a new feature whose arrival Monday attracted attention (from humans, at least) only after a congressman voiced his displeasure. This is happening in Washington, after all, so it may not surprise you to hear that the duck ramps were controversial…

In a statement posted online on Monday, Erin Courtney, a spokeswoman for the architect’s office, said that the ramps were needed because getting into and out of the reflecting pool, just west of the Capitol, often posed a problem for the ducklings. Four families of mallards have “made the pool their home,” she said…

Anne Lewis, the president of City Wildlife, said a ramp could be the difference between life and death for the ducklings. “Ducklings get into the water — often helped there by visitors — and then can’t get out because of the high curb at the water’s edge,” she said in an email. “They will drown from exhaustion or die of starvation unless they have a way to get out of the water.”

Your modern GOP: People angry that “mooching” baby ducks aren’t literally dying in front of them.

Reader Interactions

159Comments

  3. 3.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    TWO fucking ramps?

    TWO????

    What’s a new fucking aircraft carrier cost?

    And what did Ross say about Drumpf’s $100MM plus Cruise missile attack on Syria?

    “After-dinner entertainment?”

    There is no circle of Hell hot enough for assholes like this to roast in…

  6. 6.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    boyish squealing…

    There’s a new Star Trek Discovery show on CBS this fall. Trailer on YouTube. It looks very promising!

  7. 7.

    dmsilev

    Republicans are literally attacking cute little ducklings. What’s next, a screed against apple pie?

  8. 8.

    Mnemosyne

    @Baud:

    Didn’t the more conservative guy in the NYC mayor’s race a few years ago lose in part because he bitched about the Transit Authority halting the subway to rescue some kittens?

    Don’t mess with the baby animals, people. It’s the one big thing that crosses party lines.

  10. 10.

    lamh36

    Evening folks…

    @ananavarro
    Email from Mexican friend:

    “Tell ur Republican friends, we won’t pay for Trump’s Wall, but we’ll pitch-in for his impeachment proceedings!”

  11. 11.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @Major Major Major Major: Ducks are very cool… they have personality… ever been up to Sac River Valley in the wintertime when MILLIONS and MILLIONS of ducks and geese winter there?

  14. 14.

    dmsilev

    Also, that Congressman should consider seeing his (paid for with tax dollars) optometrist. That ramp doesn’t really look all that much like a duck, and it’s not walking at all.

  17. 17.

    lamh36

    @yashar
    CNN’s @LauraAJarrett is reporting that AG Jeff Sessions was informed AFTER Deputy AG Rosenstein signed the Special Counsel order.

  20. 20.

    dmsilev

    I think we can state with some assurance that Republicans are objectively pro-clubbing-baby-seals.

  21. 21.

    chopper

    and how much is the f-35 costing us? but oh yeah, here’s a five dollar fucking duck ramp.

  26. 26.

    lamh36

    Republicans on tv talking about they wanted an independent investigation…like they aint’ been stalling since Jan!

    I wish one reporter would call them on the lies.

  28. 28.

    Jay Noble

    What would it cost to change the locks on the White House while Trump is outta town?

  31. 31.

    hovercraft

    I swear every one of these fuckers tore the wings off of insects as kids and I;m sure they are cruel to their pets. These people are sociopaths, how much fucking money are these fuckers wasting to fly home to their districts every five minutes to attend to constituent services, and then refuse to meet their fucking constituents?

  34. 34.

    Mary G

    Rep. Dana Rohrabacher responds to WaPo story on McCarthy saying that Putin pays Rohrabacher/Trump, gets on dinosaur farts tangent pic.twitter.com/I4YFtvv8Uo— Tim Mak (@timkmak) May 17, 2017

    He never actually answered the question. Corrupt AND stupid is no way to go through life, son.

  37. 37.

    TenguPhule

    @Mary G:

    gets on dinosaur farts tangent

    And that sound you just heard was the Onion jumping off a ledge.

  38. 38.

    ThresherK

    a congressman voiced his displeasure. This is happening in Washington, after all, so it may not surprise you to hear that the duck ramps were controversial…

    I’m surprised that the NYT managed to identify the politician who doesn’t like ducklings as a Republcan in the first four paragraphs.

  46. 46.

    Patricia Kayden

    @lamh36: They’ll soon tell you that they love the ACA and it was actually all their idea. And when Trump leaves office, they’ll ask “Trump who?” Republicans really are a mess.

  48. 48.

    Major Major Major Major

    PSA, for the tweeters out there, Twitter has a new privacy and data policy that you’ll want to opt out of. They should give you a little pop-up the next time you visit the site; click the tiny link at the bottom to get to all the boxes you’ll want to uncheck, or just go here.

  49. 49.

    Corner Stone

    @Cheryl Rofer: Trump is going to pull a Spicer-Pence-McMaster switcheroo. He will undercut this bullshit statement, by his own words, either in a tweet or interview soundbyte in 24 hours or less.

  50. 50.

    lamh36

    @Patricia Kayden: and of course already they are back to saying “this is too soon for impeachment” talk…as I said in previous thread this gets them a breather, but as some have pointed out…this is a essentially looking for criminal activity at this point…the idea that ANYTHING will get done by this Pres until this special counsel is done…

    The Dems better NOT be making ANY deals until it is all all done.

  51. 51.

    Ladyraxterinok

    Hasn’t everyone read the kid’s book Make Way for Ducklings (1941)?? It’s a classic!! GOP is INSANE

  52. 52.

    lamh36

    @AlGiordano 30m30 minutes ago
    More
    Al Giordano Retweeted Twitter Moments
    Mueller is a high school classmate of John Kerry, and a good friend of Leon Panetta. This should be interesting…

  53. 53.

    TenguPhule

    @Patricia Kayden:

    This from the party that okayed hunting hibernating bears.

    In all fairness to them, hunting an active bear would probably end up with the bear eating them.

  54. 54.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @bemused senior: There’s more than one up there… it’s a complex w/ five refuges total in it… Colusa is one of them…

    There’s also Gray Lodge which is managed by the St of CA…

  56. 56.

    JDM

    Trust me, in the mid-terms some Republican will do an ad showing him stomping ducklings and his base voters (pun intended) will love him for it.

  59. 59.

    Patricia Kayden

    @lamh36:

    The Dems better NOT be making ANY deals until it is all all done.

    I get the feeling that the Democrats are up for the fight and know that they have absolutely nothing to lose by standing firm against Trump. There is zero reason for them to help Republicans pass any legislation or anything else at this point.

    Let Trump continue to drag the entire Republican Party down and don’t throw them any lifelines.

  62. 62.

    Corner Stone

    Somebody locate Cheryl and Adam’s physical location and setup coffee and/or energy drink IV’s STAT!!

  63. 63.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Let Trump continue to drag the entire Republican Party down and don’t throw them any lifelines.

    I say we tie Trump around their collective necks like an anchor and push ’em all overboard…

    In DEEP water…

  65. 65.

    lamh36

    Someone pondered, can the Special Counsel advice Cheeto NOT to leave?

    @EricBoehlert
    Trump’s foreign trip may double as farewell tour?

  67. 67.

    Immanentize

    On post point. At my undergrad college, SUNY Binghamton, they created new ramps so that little lizards that fell into the road in the nature preserve could get out without getting squashed or fry.

  68. 68.

    TenguPhule

    @efgoldman: Giving bears a taste for human flesh doesn’t strike me as a good idea.

    They are bigger and faster then we are, after all.

  71. 71.

    Roger Moore

    @Jay Noble:

    What would it cost to change the locks on the White House while Trump is outta town?

    It would be cheaper just not to fly him back. That way we’d save on fuel, too.

  72. 72.

    Barbara

    Once when I was on the way to work, driving down Constitution Avenue, a family of ducks decided to cross the street just like in Make Way For Ducklings. It was right around this location. I wish I had gotten a picture but the whole family made it across safely because every vehicle stopped to let them cross. I thought helping baby animals was one of the last bipartisan activities left in DC.

  79. 79.

    trollhattan

    @lamh36:
    Just herd 5 minutes of John Ashcroft(!) on NPR practically elevating Muller to sainthood, so it would appear the usual attacks may not work. Adroit choice on Justice’s part, perhaps.

  81. 81.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @Ladyraxterinok: Story does take place in Boston, that notorious hot bed of rebellion. So I guess it makes sense that GOP has come out against ducklings!

  86. 86.

    JWR

    @lamh36:

    @Patricia Kayden: and of course already they are back to saying “this is too soon for impeachment”

    On my local CBS affiliate, reporter asks Jake friggin’ Tapper about the I word. Tapper says, almost to the word, that it’s too soon for impeachment. Grr.

  87. 87.

    germy

    @mdblanche:

    WATCH: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell makes no comment after Robert Mueller appointed special counsel by DOJ

    Thank you for the link. Seeing that video went a long way to brighten my mood.

    He looks a bit scared behind the tight little smile.

  93. 93.

    Another Scott

    But what about the alligator snapping turtles? Do they get ramps, too?

    An individual was captured from the Reflecting Pool, in the Mall area of Washington, D.C., in August 1994 (Katz, 1994).

    […]

    Katz, C. 1994. Mall safari bags snapping turtle. The Washington Times 1994(8 August):C4

    IIRC, the turtle was eating goslings…

    Perhaps the good Representative is willing to give up his GFE cell phone and the like, to help reduce the spending that he’s so concerned about…

    (groucho-roll-eyes.gif)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  96. 96.

    NR

    @TS:

    And the special counsel comes the day after Wilmer said it wasn’t needed.

    Source on that? Because this is from last week.

    On Wednesday, Sanders renewed his concern about Comey’s firing, calling for a special counsel to look into what the Trump administration might be hiding and why it may have wanted to stop Comey’s investigation.

  97. 97.

    germy

    @Roger Moore: Are there restrictions on the special prosecutor? Can he go wherever the evidence takes him (like Ken Starr did) or is he limited?

  98. 98.

    TenguPhule

    @Roger Moore:

    It all boils down to whether Republicans taste different from Democrats…

    Fairly certain bears aren’t that picky when it comes to flavor.

  99. 99.

    Gravenstone

    @lamh36: Well, Sessions *is* supposed to be recused from all things related to the Russian affair. So no need to let him know ahead of time.

  105. 105.

    Another Scott

    @germy: Horse’s mouth:

    Department of Justice
    Office of Public Affairs
    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    Wednesday, May 17, 2017
    Appointment of Special Counsel

    Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein today announced the appointment of former Department of Justice official and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III to serve as Special Counsel to oversee the previously-confirmed FBI investigation of Russian government efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election and related matters.

    “In my capacity as acting Attorney General, I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authority and appoint a Special Counsel to assume responsibility for this matter,” said Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein. “My decision is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination. What I have determined is that based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command.”

    Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein added, “Each year, the career professionals of the U.S. Department of Justice conduct tens of thousands of criminal investigations and handle countless other matters without regard to partisan political considerations. I have great confidence in the independence and integrity of our people and our processes. Considering the unique circumstances of this matter, however, I determined that a Special Counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome. Our nation is grounded on the rule of law, and the public must be assured that government officials administer the law fairly. Special Counsel Mueller will have all appropriate resources to conduct a thorough and complete investigation, and I am confident that he will follow the facts, apply the law and reach a just result.”

    Special Counsel Mueller has agreed to resign from his private law firm in order to avoid any conflicts of interest with firm clients or attorneys.

    A copy of the order is attached.

    The order says:

    […]

    The Special Counsel is authorized to conduct the investigation confirmed by then-FBI Director James 8. Corney in testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on March 20, 2017, including:

    (i) any links and/or coordination bet ween the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump; and

    (ii) any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation; and

    (iii) any other matters within the scope of 28 C.F.R. § 600.4(a).

    (c) If the Special Counsel believes it is necessary and appropriate, the Special Counsel is authorized to prosecute federal crimes arising from the investigation of these matters.

    (d) Sections 600.4 through 600. l 0 of Title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations are applicable to the Special Counsel.

    It seems pretty broad, with the potential to become broader, but I’m no expert, and IANAL.

    HTH.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  106. 106.

    NR

    @trollhattan: He was a former FBI director for 12 years under W Bush and Obama. He has a reputation as a straight shooter. I hope it’s accurate.

  107. 107.

    Fair Economist

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    If McConnell is implicated, all Hell will be out for noon.

    McConnell is certainly in on this somehow – he was told about the evidence for interfence in the fall and chose to help cover it up. The question is why is he in on it, and is there proof? (Proof to a legal standard, that is.)

  109. 109.

    boatboy_srq

    Member of Congress going after, like, the best $20 the government spends just supported an $883 billion tax cut called AHCA.

    I believe the [cough cough] distinguished gentleman [cough cough] would say that he was interested in supporting only the good, healthy ducklings who didn’t need ADA-mandated accommodations.

    /s

  113. 113.

    lamh36

    @brianstelter 18m18 minutes ago
    More
    Whoa. @TuckerCarlson says White House offered him an interview with @KellyannePolls tonight, then “they cancelled it” right before airtime

  114. 114.

    germy

    @debbie:

    Has his little smile ever not been tight?

    What I noticed is how his smile fades as he walks past the reporter. His expression changes to anxiety.

  115. 115.

    p.a.

    Duncan Black is a cynic. I hate that they’re often right.

    Lawyer Up
    I have no idea if Robert Mueller, SPECIAL COUNSEL, will do what needs to be done, but he will at least have to pretend to, and the way to pretend to is to go after the little people. Anyone working for Trump needs to hire a lawyer and get the fuck out of there as soon as possible.
    by Atrios at 18:46

  117. 117.

    Roger Moore

    @Fair Economist:
    Remember that McConnell’s wife is Secretary of Transportation. Unfortunately, proving the appointment was a payment for services rendered would require documentary evidence that is probably lacking.

  119. 119.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Hooray for baby ducks! Nice relief from a little goose tragedy I may have witnessed last week (somehow as I age I seem to be more aware of the less peaceful side of nature around our pleasant human parks and suburbs).

    Came into work and saw two adult geese with two little yellow fuzzballs wandering the parking lot (there’s a pond nearby). “Aha”, I thought, “it’s that time of year again. Cute little guys, must have just hatched in the last couple days. Funny that there only two of them though…”

    Came out at the end of the day and found one little fuzzball wandering the parking lot alone. No other geese in sight anywhere.

    What happened? Did some predator eat the rest of the family? Or perhaps attack the adults and they had to flee, abandoning the chicks? I’ll never know.

    And then as I drove home I saw the main flock, which is YUUUGE (and boy do those things poop). So it’s not like this little tragedy is going to impact the local population much.

  120. 120.

    lamh36

    @CBSNews
    As special counsel, Mueller will be given civil service protections; won’t be able to be removed by the president, @stevenportnoy reports.

  123. 123.

    lamh36

    @matthewamiller
    Just wait until Trump finds out the regs allowing a special counsel to be appointed were drafted by @EricHolder.

  128. 128.

    Another Scott

    @lamh36: Putin and Russia aren’t going to suddenly give up their machinations now. They’re going to do as much damage as possible, as quickly as possible, while they think they’ve got the upper hand. Putin’s desperate to take advantage while he can, because he knows it’a all down-hill (in the USA and in Europe, and likely elsewhere) from here.

    I hope American voters are smart enough, and cool-headed enough, to look at the big picture when it comes to this propaganda. We need to stop letting our lizard brains control our reactions and our national policies…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  129. 129.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Origuy: The best part is mentioned several responses down – that this was a planned thing to return Uranium stolen from Russia and caught in a sting. Which wikileaks conveniently left out.

  130. 130.

    TenguPhule

    @Another Scott:

    I hope American voters are smart enough, and cool-headed enough, to look at the big picture when it comes to this propaganda.

    I hope for a unicorn that farts gold dust.

    I think we’ll find the unicorn first.

  131. 131.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    @germy:

    He looks a bit scared behind the tight little smile.

    Why… why… YES… he does look scared!

  133. 133.

    Felonius Monk

    @TS:

    And the special counsel comes the day after Wilmer said it wasn’t needed.

    That’s our boy Wilmer, alright. A day late and a dollar short and full of shit to boot.

  134. 134.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Another Scott:

    I live in a townhouse, in a fairly large apartment complex, and my front door faces a little lagoon, which is nicely stocked with ducks, geese, and turtles.

    I love the geese, even when they delay me (as a family did, last Saturday, making me late to the cinema for the Met Opera’s final HD transmission of the season) and even when they shit everywhere, as they are wont to do. The adults are gorgeous, and the babies are just too cute.

    The first year I lived here — 2005 or thereabouts — I used to walk around the lagoon and admired the hundreds of turtles treading water and sunning thrmselves, when I witnessed a true “Nature red in tooth and claw” moment: a whole family of ducks (mother, father, perhaps nine or ten ducklings) were testing the waters when a turtle SNAP!! lurched up out of the lake, grabbed one of the babies, and it was history before the parents figured out how to count the remainder. It all happened literally in a few seconds, and actually wasn’t particularly sad — I mean, the turtles have to eat, too, right? — but it brought home that even in quiet suburbia there are issues of raw life and death.

    BTW, as a child (and secretly to this day) I always called them “dumplings and goblins.”

  135. 135.

    Anne Laurie

    @NR: Last night, Sanders said on CNN that he “wasn’t ready” to approve a special investigator.

    Today, the winds shifted, and St. Bernie hurried to get on the right — I mean, true progressive — side of history.

    “The people have spoken! As their leader, I must hurry to get in front of them!”

  140. 140.

    Felonius Monk

    @Anne Laurie:

    “The people have spoken! As their leader, I must hurry to get in front of them!”

    No. More like “Whoops, I stepped in my own shit again. Well, on to the next revolution.”

  144. 144.

    NotMax

    @p.a.

    Story says it’s disappeared.

    My guess is it is heading as fast as possible to get out of the state.

  149. 149.

    Fair Economist

    @MisterForkbeard:

    The best part is mentioned several responses down – that this was a planned thing to return Uranium stolen from Russia and caught in a sting. Which wikileaks conveniently left out.

    Ruskileaks has really gotten blatant that they’re just a Russian propaganda outfit.

  150. 150.

    David ?I hope U can let this go? Koch

    @Anne Laurie: Not only that, last week on CNN he said Richard Burr was trustworthy and then he admonished Democrats not make the investigation partition and called on Democrats to reach out to Republicans. (oy vey).

    He really thinks he can win over the working class racists if he’s soft on Trump.

  151. 151.

    Anne Laurie

    @amk: It’s a quote from Walt Kelly, mocking (IIRC) George Wallace c1971. I believe Kelly took it from another would-be caudillo — Franco, maybe?

  158. 158.

    NR

    @Felonius Monk:

    That’s our boy Wilmer, alright. A day late and a dollar short and full of shit to boot.

    Except it never happened. TS never gave a source for his claim, and Sanders has made plenty of public statements supporting a special counsel.

    Sad to see BJ embracing fake news.

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