If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it must be government waste. pic.twitter.com/JKgabZ47O5
— Rep. Mark Walker (@RepMarkWalker) May 15, 2017
Member of Congress going after, like, the best $20 the government spends just supported an $883 billion tax cut called AHCA.
Very principle https://t.co/OBjwgRALsD
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) May 16, 2017
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.
Duckling update: Ramp in Use! pic.twitter.com/34E6oJOkCF
— U.S. Capitol (@uscapitol) May 16, 2017
Baud
This might anger more people than the treason thing.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
I keep waiting for Republicans to just give in to their deepest wishes and bring up a bill outlawing the A.S.P.C.A. and the Humane Society. After that, they can vote to outlaw all charity altogether.
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…
Major Major Major Major
I used to have two ducks. They were named Bernard and The Archduke.
TenguPhule
@Baud: Sad but true.
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!
dmsilev
Republicans are literally attacking cute little ducklings. What’s next, a screed against apple pie?
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.
TenguPhule
If it looks like an ass and smells like an ass, its Mark Walter.
lamh36
Evening folks…
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?
TenguPhule
@dmsilev:
Baseball first, I think.
ruemara
They literally cannot help themselves in being stupid.
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.
Baud
@lamh36: I bet even Mexico would pay for that!
p.a.
Rethugs to backtrack on the ramps: those aren’t Black Ducks.
lamh36
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@Thru the Looking Glass…:
We need those tax dollars for more MOABs! Oh, and presidential trips to Grope-a-Lago.
lamh36
Bwhahaha…so not only will there be twitter rants about the special counsel, but ya’ll KNOW he’s gonna have something to say bout Ryan and McCarthy joking bout him…
http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/tumblr_ljh0puClWT1qfkt17.gif
dmsilev
I think we can state with some assurance that Republicans are objectively pro-clubbing-baby-seals.
chopper
and how much is the f-35 costing us? but oh yeah, here’s a five dollar fucking duck ramp.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@lamh36:
Oh, burrrrn!
Thru the Looking Glass...
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): Hell, I’m waiting for them to decide it’s time to resume commercial whaling…
Chattel slavery won’t be far behind… perhaps they’ll be satisfied w/ indentured servitude…
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
Alexandra Petri, National Treasure.
Major Major Major Major
@Thru the Looking Glass…: I’ve tooled around the valley in the winter but never noticed lots of ducks and geese. Mostly noticed the traffic because I was trying to get through the valley.
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.
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh36:
This day just keeps getting better and better.
Jay Noble
What would it cost to change the locks on the White House while Trump is outta town?
TenguPhule
@chopper: Eight dollars.
Cheryl Rofer
Today is an anniversary!
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?
lamh36
Yeah…Cheeto…That’s not how this works…
Cheryl Rofer
Mary G
He never actually answered the question. Corrupt AND stupid is no way to go through life, son.
Baud
@Cheryl Rofer: Hahahaha. That’s so not Trump. Trump would actually be offended by that. Can’t wait for him to tweet.
lamh36
Yeah…Cheeto…that’s not how this works…
https://media.giphy.com/media/2fs2I4ujlBf20/giphy-downsized-large.gif
TenguPhule
@Mary G:
And that sound you just heard was the Onion jumping off a ledge.
ThresherK
I’m surprised that the NYT managed to identify the politician who doesn’t like ducklings as a Republcan in the first four paragraphs.
lamh36
Yeah that’s not how this works.
https://media.giphy.com/media/2fs2I4ujlBf20/giphy-downsized-large.gif
Thru the Looking Glass...
@Major Major Major Major: Ya gotta go to the right refuges…
Birds taking off from Colusa Nat Wildlife Refuge
At just the right moment, it’s spectacular… 1st thing in the morning, when they’re off to forage, or right before sunset when they come back to roost for the night…
The sandhill cranes all go to Consumnes…
(I’m a very big fan of birds…)
Patricia Kayden
This from the party that okayed hunting hibernating bears. I swear that Republicans hate everyone and everything but 1%-ers.
lamh36
ok…why am I in moderation?
not how this works…
lamh36
https://media.giphy.com/media/2fs2I4ujlBf20/giphy-downsized-large.gif
lamh36
@Cheryl Rofer:smh… That’s not how this works…Cheeto…smh
Major Major Major Major
@Thru the Looking Glass…: Oh, wow, cool. And here I think I’m spoiled because I work right by a heronry.
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.
bemused senior
@Thru the Looking Glass…: Sacramento national wildlife preserve ftw.
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.
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.
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.
Ladyraxterinok
Hasn’t everyone read the kid’s book Make Way for Ducklings (1941)?? It’s a classic!! GOP is INSANE
lamh36
TenguPhule
@Patricia Kayden:
In all fairness to them, hunting an active bear would probably end up with the bear eating them.
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…
TenguPhule
@lamh36: And we now know how FOX is gonna play it.
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.
Thru the Looking Glass...
@Major Major Major Major: Blue herons?
They’re really cool… they look so prehistoric…
Major Major Major Major
@lamh36:
DRAIN THE SWAMP
Patricia Kayden
@lamh36:
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.
Baud
@Patricia Kayden: Impeachment is ON the table.
Thru the Looking Glass...
@West of the Rockies (been a while): Well… in all honesty, baby ducks can’t blow anything up…
Corner Stone
Somebody locate Cheryl and Adam’s physical location and setup coffee and/or energy drink IV’s STAT!!
Thru the Looking Glass...
@Patricia Kayden:
I say we tie Trump around their collective necks like an anchor and push ’em all overboard…
In DEEP water…
lamh36
@Patricia Kayden: they better…I have more trust in Pelosi than Schumer but I do think they know better for sure
lamh36
Someone pondered, can the Special Counsel advice Cheeto NOT to leave?
efgoldman
@TenguPhule:
Yes, and?
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.
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.
mdblanche
TenguPhule
@Thru the Looking Glass…: Gonna need a bigger rope.
Roger Moore
@Jay Noble:
It would be cheaper just not to fly him back. That way we’d save on fuel, too.
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.
SiubhanDuinne
@Cheryl Rofer:
Well now there’s a curious coinkydink.
MomSense
@Immanentize:
We’ve had salmon ladders next to our dams forevah.
lamh36
WHAT DA FUCK!!!
Baud
@lamh36: Peter Thiel will fix it!
SiubhanDuinne
@mdblanche:
He’s in it up to his necks.
dmsilev
@Roger Moore: Not much fuel savings. We’d still want the plane back; it was expensive.
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.
TS
And the special counsel comes the day after Wilmer said it wasn’t needed.
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!
TenguPhule
@dmsilev: They don’t need to land, just kick him out at 30,000 feet and fly home.
Baud
@TS: Cite?
Roger Moore
@TenguPhule:
Not if they were in a helicopter, which they definitely like doing.
NotMax
Surprised he didn’t insist they pull themselves up by their palmate straps.
JWR
@lamh36:
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.
germy
@mdblanche:
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.
Doug R
@lamh36: Good Riddance I say.
Roger Moore
@TenguPhule:
It all boils down to whether Republicans taste different from Democrats…
mdblanche
@germy:
I thought so too.
Roger Moore
@Barbara:
If Democrats want to help baby ducklings, Cleek’s Law says Republicans must want them dead.
NotMax
@Roger Moore
Can only eat a few bites at a time.
Too rich.
Another Scott
But what about the alligator snapping turtles? Do they get ramps, too?
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.
Roger Moore
@germy:
He ought to be frightened; he’s in up to the top of his shell with trump.
Major Major Major Major
We have stairs coming out of the water feature at work for endangered salamanders.
NR
@TS:
Source on that? Because this is from last week.
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?
TenguPhule
@Roger Moore:
Fairly certain bears aren’t that picky when it comes to flavor.
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.
TenguPhule
@Another Scott: Well now we know what Murtle Mcconnell was doing on his lunch breaks.
Frankensteinbeck
@mdblanche:
If McConnell is implicated, all Hell will be out for noon. Twitler is a figurehead. McConnell is the real mastermind murdering our democracy.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@NR:
oh look – Wilmer’s old man jock sniffer showed up.
Here’s some more FAKE NEWS for you.
Gravenstone
@efgoldman: Which is the greater act of animal abuse, shooting a defenseless bear or feeding Republicans to them?
Fair Economist
@TenguPhule:
The Argentine Junta solution.
Another Scott
@germy: Horse’s mouth:
The order says:
It seems pretty broad, with the potential to become broader, but I’m no expert, and IANAL.
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
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.
Fair Economist
@Frankensteinbeck:
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.)
germy
@Another Scott: thank you.
boatboy_srq
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
debbie
Ramps are for sissies!
bemused senior
@Thru the Looking Glass…: been there, but not for a couple of years.
debbie
@Roger Moore:
Has his little smile ever not been tight?
lamh36
germy
@debbie:
What I noticed is how his smile fades as he walks past the reporter. His expression changes to anxiety.
p.a.
Duncan Black is a cynic. I hate that they’re often right.
debbie
@Baud:
If you’re right, they better not screw this up.
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.
lamh36
https://twitter.com/JoyAnnReid/status/865001115074437120
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.
lamh36
TenguPhule
@NR: So did Comey. So forgive me for being more then a little gunshy here.
Thru the Looking Glass...
@TenguPhule: And longer too…
lamh36
Thru the Looking Glass...
@efgoldman: It’d probably make the poor bears sick…
TenguPhule
@Frankensteinbeck:
For Mcconnell’s fall, I’d be out at dawn.
Origuy
RusskiLeaks is already on the case.
Thru the Looking Glass...
@Major Major Major Major: Tiger salamanders?
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.
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.
TenguPhule
@Another Scott:
I hope for a unicorn that farts gold dust.
I think we’ll find the unicorn first.
Thru the Looking Glass...
@germy:
Why… why… YES… he does look scared!
amk
@Cheryl Rofer: his real official statements are/will be on twitter.
Felonius Monk
@TS:
That’s our boy Wilmer, alright. A day late and a dollar short and full of shit to boot.
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.”
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!”
amk
@TS: Guess bs is afraid his own russian connections might come out.
Kathleen
@Roger Moore: Rethuglicans taste like chicken.
NotMax
Meanwhile, for the overflowing Floriduh file:
Florida man tries to kiss rattlesnake; gets bitten
amk
Felonius Monk
@Anne Laurie:
No. More like “Whoops, I stepped in my own shit again. Well, on to the next revolution.”
p.a.
@NotMax: did the rattlesnake survive?
amk
@Anne Laurie:
lol. mean girl.
amk
jeez.
NotMax
@p.a.
Story says it’s disappeared.
My guess is it is heading as fast as possible to get out of the state.
Omnes Omnibus
@NotMax: Heading to a vet.
Major Major Major Major
@Thru the Looking Glass…: you know it.
David ?I hope U can let this go? Koch
DuckGate just pissed off Oregon.
amk
has twitler invited mueller for dinner yet?
Fair Economist
@MisterForkbeard:
Ruskileaks has really gotten blatant that they’re just a Russian propaganda outfit.
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.
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?
BruceJ
@Immanentize: Here in Baja Arizona they’ve built a number of wildlife bridges They’re working too..
amk
@Anne Laurie: whatever its provenance, love it.
Gvg
@NotMax: bet the guy was drunk. A lot of snake bites involve alcohol.
Miss Bianca
@Anne Laurie: and here I’ve heard that quote attributed to Gandhi…
Omnes Omnibus
@Gvg:
Of course.
NotMax
@Omnes Omnibus
I always keep a supply of stimulant handy in case I see a snake – which I also keep handy.
― W. C. Fields
NR
@Felonius Monk:
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.
NR
@Anne Laurie: Do you even read your own links? Sanders was talking about impeachment, not a special counsel. Those are different things.