Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Hot air and ill-informed banter

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Shut up, hissy kitty!

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Saturday Morning #PopCulture Open Thread

Saturday Morning #PopCulture Open Thread

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(h/t Adam)

If you ever saw Gene Rodenberry speak, you probably heard him describe how the Paramount suits demanded, after watching the Star Trek pilot, that he drop either the female second-in-command or the alien science officer. “So I married the woman and kept Mr. Spock,” he would finish, gleefully, “… because in California, it was illegal to do it the other way around!”

Forty years later…

Also, the new Wonder Woman movie is already drawing raves, so one Texas-based movie chain had a brilliant marketing idea. As described by a (male!) critic at Film School Rejects:

A few days ago, the Alamo Drafthouse did what the Alamo Drafthouse does best: announce a special event themed to one of its upcoming releases. In celebration of Wonder Woman, the first female-driven superhero movie in the current wave of Marvel and DC productions, Alamo announced that they would be holding a special women-only screening on Tuesday, June 6 at their downtown location in Austin. If you identify as a woman, you could spend a night at Alamo’s very own Themyscira and enjoy the film with an all-female audience and staff.

Almost immediately, the company was inundated with both positive and negative responses. The Drafthouse’s initial Facebook post became ground zero for both the worst and best responses to the event; some fans celebrated the fact that Drafthouse was using Wonder Woman as an opportunity to celebrate intersectional feminism, while others decried the event as just another example of liberal snowflakes and their need for safe spaces…

On paper, it’s hard for anyone to defend why they’re upset with the two special screenings of Wonder Woman. There are an additional 31 screenings (three-one) of Wonder Woman in Austin that same Tuesday; that doesn’t even include non-Drafthouse locations, an extra level of math I have no interest in doing. Hell, there’s even one additional late screening of the film at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz for those who really want to see the film in the heart of downtown Austin…

But I personally hope that those who click for the controversy will stay for the affirmation. For every person who has expressed outrage at the screenings, another has expressed excitement at the opportunity for a bunch of women to gather together and watch a kick-ass movie that celebrates women. I’ve seen people discussing sponsoring tickets for non-profit organizations focused on women and women’s health, making plans to drive down to Austin with a close sibling or parent, or simply cheering on those who will attend the screening even if it’s not targeted to them…

Alamo Drafthouse, of course, takes full advantage:

And, finally, happy news about a no-longer-nearly-as-popular “culture”:

What else is on the agenda as we start the holiday weekend?

Reader Interactions

135Comments

  3. 3.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Repost from the dead thread:

    In December, the Osage Nation tribe in Oklahoma wrote two checks to the secretive nonprofit organization set up by Missouri Gov.-elect Eric Greitens to fund his inauguration. The first was the largest. On Dec. 15, the Osage Nation Executive Branch gave $50,000 to Committee for A New Missouri Inc. Public records kept by Osage Nation refer to the check, approved by Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear, as a political donation. The next day, Osage Nation wrote another check, for $2,700.

    The donations had a purpose. “That was me trying to establish a good relationship with the governor of Missouri,” Chief Standing Bear told me last week in an interview. “We thought we would show him respect.” The Osage Nation chief hopes that respect ultimately leads to a ca$ino in Missouri, possibly in Cuba, fronting Interstate 44, about 80 miles southwest of St. Louis.

    Ah yes, respect, that’s what they’re showing. Give Standing Bear and the Osage credit where credit is due, unlike Greitens they are right upfront about what they are doing and why.

  6. 6.

    Central Planning

    We usually wait for superhero flicks to come to Amazon/Netflix/Redbox, but I think we’ll have to go to WW (and that new ST when it’s out) just to help drive the racists/misogynists crazy.

    And to all the *ists: “You’re the snowflake!”

  9. 9.

    amk

    Obama is in Berlin speaking about human rights, Clinton is at Wellesley empowering women, and Trump is at Brussels shoving people.— Sophie Vershbow (@svershbow) May 26, 2017

    #maga’ing is so fricken hard.

  10. 10.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Even the liberal Jack Shafer:

    We’re talking about a guy who isn’t particularly bright or hard-working, doesn’t actually know anything, has bought his way into everything ever (with money he got from his criminal father), who is deeply insecure and obsessed with fame (you don’t buy the New York Observer, marry Ivanka Trump, or constantly talk about the phone calls you get from celebrities if it’s in your nature to ‘shun the spotlight’), and who is basically a shithead.

  11. 11.

    danielx

    Breitbart is facing an “unusually steep” decline in traffic https://t.co/00OvQsh8aq

    — Will Sommer (@willsommer) May 26, 2017

    Yeah, I can see where defending the indefensible would get tiresome in a hurry.

  12. 12.

    Kay

    NYT Politics‏Verified account @nytpolitics 9h9 hours ago
    More
    The idea behind the secret channel was for Russian military officials to brief Michael Flynn about the Syrian war

    The NYTimes was told. By three people who planted the story to protect Kushner.

    They’re horrible at Trump coverage. It’s a replay of when they printed that planted story about how the FBI had found no Trump/Russia connection the week before the election which was almost immediately contradicted by every other news outlet.

  13. 13.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Even the liberal CIA:

    Nada Bakos‏ @nadabakos

    At the CIA, if I arranged comms w/ Russia outside official channels & set up secret meeting in a 3rd country, I would be tried for espionage

    193 replies 6,474 retweets 12,110 likes

  14. 14.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: You reading the same politico article I am? I loved this from his father:

    “I believe that God and my parents in heaven forgive me for what I did, which was wrong,” Charles Kushner told an interviewer years later. “I don’t believe God and my parents will ever forgive my brother and sister for instigating a criminal investigation and being cheerleaders for the government and putting their brother in jail because of jealousy, hatred and spite.”

  15. 15.

    bemused

    We need a label other than back channels to differentiate what Jared and others such as Erik Prince (allegedly) were doing from non-treasonous intelligence back channels. Something like Fuck America First Funnels comes to mind.

  16. 16.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    John Weaver‏ @JWGOP

    Nothing Trump has done has surprised me. Nothing. But this Kushner news is breathtaking in his audacity & stupidity. #AmericaFirstMyAss

    40 replies 349 retweets 1,038 likes

    Not to be a pedantic, but Weaver misspelled treason.

  18. 18.

    Geoduck

    @Central Planning: Be aware that if you live in the US, to see the new Star Trek series you’ll have to pay for CBS online, or whatever it’s called. I personally wasn’t that impressed with the trailer for the show, and not because the lead is a non-white. It all just seemed.. flat and sort of tired somehow.

  21. 21.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    @Kay: Kushner is one of Haberman/Thrush’s sources. So the gossip page is doing their source a solid.

  22. 22.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Even the liberal Mormons:

    Evan McMullin‏ @Evan_McMullin

    Don’t believe for a second that this is about wanting better, benign relations with Moscow. This is about hiding deep disloyalty to America.

    354 replies 4,674 retweets 9,575 likes

  24. 24.

    bemused

    @amk:

    Ha, the word “illegal” doesn’t seem to have much punch anymore nor gets much notice when 99.9% republicans are doing it.

  25. 25.

    Raven

    Between trips to the ATL and Albany, it’s taken me over a week to change the water pump and fan clutch in my truck. I got it all back together yesterday eve but I have a ground problem and it won’t start. My local hardware store bailed for the weekend so it’s off to big box for a damn bold and star washer.

    I’m also battling whether or not to go out to our Nam vets campout this weekend. Most of the dudes are dumb ass Trump fucks so I may just stay home.

  30. 30.

    Fester Addams

    @bemused:

    We need a label other than back channels

    Pretty sure the correct term of art is “covert” (the art being espionage).

  33. 33.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    @Baud: You need to trademark that phrase. The guy who trademarked “Catholics vs Convicts” made a cool half million dollars.

  35. 35.

    Baud

    @WereBear:

    I believe someone explained to us during the campaign that Trump was Putin’s puppet. But it was more important to people that she be treated like a lying bitch. So here we are.

  36. 36.

    JPL

    Trump and Kushner are going to find it difficult to deliver on their promises to Putin, and at some point Putin will do the leaking. We might see those golden shower tapes.

    @OzarkHillbilly: He seems nice.

  38. 38.

    Emma

    @Kay: It’s not an excuse. If fact, it makes it even worse. No matter the reason, it is still treasonous to set up your own internal policy and diplomatic channels to bypass the government, ESPECIALLY if you’re the President.

  39. 39.

    gene108

    @Yoda Dog:

    The DC comic book flicks, despite sneaking into a PG-13 rating, have been pretty dark and violent.

    If I was under-10 years old “Dawn of Justice” would’ve given me nightmares.

  40. 40.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Greg Miller @gregpmiller

    Former Deputy CIA director McLaughlin on Kushner: if an agency officer had done anything like this we’d be trying them for espionage

    218 replies 6,502 retweets 11,468 likes

    #Witch-hunt

  41. 41.

    Yoda Dog

    @gene108: Yea I know, she’s very young and won’t be seeing it for awhile..

    I’m just anxious to take her and do all the things with her RIGHT NOW. Especially ‘girl-power’ type stuff.. Her and her brother are keeping me sane while the world around us is going absolutely apeshit.

  42. 42.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Yet another book for the “must read” list:

    Two years ago, researching another novel entirely, I found a rare account of a righteous German. Willi Ahrem was from a liberal merchant family; both well travelled and well read, he regarded the Nazis’ rise to power with a mixture of disdain and dismay. Unable to countenance fighting for Hitler, Ahrem managed to avoid military action by transferring to the construction corps and being stationed behind the lines in Nemirow, a small town in newly occupied Ukraine, where he was to oversee the building of a road.

    He had done all he could to minimise his involvement in the war. Yet only weeks after his posting, he awoke to the sound of the Jews of Nemirow being rounded up. I put aside the novel I was writing; I knew I had to write a story like Ahrem’s instead, it chimed so precisely with my preoccupations. What do you do when you have tried so hard to do the right thing, and yet you find yourself in the midst of such a great wrong?

    Fiction distils. I have taken characters in extremis – at the moment the Holocaust began in earnest – and imagined how their paths might cross, how they might respond. For most of us, such questions are less dramatic, more prosaic. But the principle remains the same: it is about how we respond when a principle is at stake.

    My great-grandfather, Amfi’s father, voted for Hitler in 1933. He found the Nazis distasteful but thought the communists a far worse prospect. An affluent man, he was fearful for his fortune and the fate of his class, so he told the family, Pöbel muss man mit Pöbel vertreiben: one rabble can only be chased away by another. He did not anticipate his fellow citizens being rounded up and deported; he voted in self-interest, not for the war or for the “final solution”, but he still helped to bring these events about.

    There is a reflex to want to hold all this at arm’s length; I am aware of it in myself. For all my research and writing, the Holocaust still has me reeling. But I know it wasn’t evil, it was people who made it happen.

    So I took the complicated love I have for my German family and wrote the story Ahrem inspired. I called him Otto, like my grandfather, and made him less a righteous German than a man who tries his best at the worst of all imaginable moments. The events which unfold over the three days of my novel remain faithful to wartime accounts of the winter of 1941 from across Ukraine. Crucially, all too few of those I encountered in my research – Jewish, Ukrainian or German – saw the disaster approaching; not until it was upon them.

  43. 43.

    gene108

    @gene108:

    A more detailed review of “Dawn of Justice”, which I liked:

    Holy shit.

    Yeah. But there’s something else I find even more baffling, if not exactly unexpected. When I was watching BvS, a mother had brought her 7-year-old kid to see the film. By about 45 minutes—45 minutes of darkness and grimness and an almost total absence of superheroes—the poor kid had enough and started screaming because he was so scared. Zack Snyder has made a movie about the two greatest, most popular superheroes in the entire world that children should not be allowed to see.

    But it’s PG-13…

    But it’s still been marketed to children; look at the Batman and Superman merchandise flooding any department store. But also Marvel’s movies are all PG-13 and they don’t have this problem, nor do parents expect them to. And that’s why Marvel/Hasbro/Disney sells toys based on Captain America and Avengers and all that other shit to kids, because they want kids to be interested in Marvel characters. WB/DC wants the same, they just failed to make a movie that they can watch without having nightmares or being bored to tears. You can blame the MPAA’s outdated rating system, the superhero movie industry, or modern society, but I guarantee that this poor woman was not the only adult who had to take their kid out of BvS this weekend.

    Woof.

    By the way, when the kid was taken out screaming? We hadn’t even gotten to the scene where Superman fails to stop a terrorist from blowing up the capitol building and he stands there like a dope in a room full of flames and charred bodies.

    Jesus.

    Welcome to DC’s Murderverse, my friend. Hope you survive the experience! (You won’t. Batman will murder you.)

    http://io9.gizmodo.com/batman-v-superman-spoiler-faq-of-justice-1767720335

  45. 45.

    gene108

    @Yoda Dog:

    If it is a Marvel/Disney film, it should be O.K. for kids under ten. They have jokes and the gore is pretty easily understood as fake.

    The D.C. films are as the review above states a “Murderverse”.

  47. 47.

    Lapassionara

    re, the Russian back channel, follow the money, or at least the promise of loans and financing.

  48. 48.

    gene108

    @danielx:

    I wonder how Fox News ratings are doing? They are working very hard to polish the Trump and GOP turd.

    Watching Fox News, versus CNN or MSNBC, is like stepping into an alternate reality, wherein Trump is truly the most persecuted political figure in history.

  52. 52.

    debbie

    @WereBear:

    The most upsetting thing I ever heard Glenn Beck say was, “Diversity and tolerance are destroying the Constitution.” This was at least five years ago and I can still hear that horrible voice.

  53. 53.

    Fair Economist

    If Wonder Women is good, it will be the first of the current DC crop. Man of Steel was bad – shallow characters, disrespect for human life, and pointlessly extended fight sequences. It made me appreciate Superman Returns, which I thought was meh at the time but which at least has characters with motivation and internal life (I’ve actually come around to think it’s pretty good). When I saw the reviews for Batman vs Superman and Suicide Squad were *much* worse I didn’t even bother to see them. This one sounds worth seeing.

  54. 54.

    Currants

    @OzarkHillbilly: Thanks for that–always looking for good reading recommendations.

    ETA: Added it to my GoodReads list. I used to keep track of these on Amazon, but GoodReads works better for me.

  55. 55.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    I think the new Trek project looks very intriguing. The mixed cast appears attractive and balanced. Warp factor three, Mr. Sulu!

    Also, I hope I can take my daughter to WW. She is 15 and fierce.

  56. 56.

    WereBear

    Was just at the Atlantic and saw this:

    Bob Woodward Tells the Media to Calm Down

    “It serves no one, the media or Trump, to have an almost thermonuclear war with each other.”

    He can shut up.

  57. 57.

    bemused

    @gene108:

    My husband went to get takeout for dinner and sat at the bar having a beer and he said of course Fox was on the tvs. It was quiet there for a Friday evening so he could hear the tv. He was just shaking his head at the alternate world he hearing. He also laughed at Tucker Carlson who was listening to Krauthammer talk. He said Tucker looked like a complete dope sitting there like a statue, not moving a muscle for the whole time with his mouth slightly open. At first my husband thought it was a still picture of Tucker but nope, live.

  59. 59.

    ThresherK

    I read a couple books about Classic Trek and/or Roddenberry, and never heard that bon mot.

    I have read that Roddenberry wrote some atrocious lyrics to Alexander Courage’s theme for Star Trek simply so he could claim half the royalties. Atrocious, as in the infamous Bonanza song is better, and if you want to here Roddenberry’s bit, you can look it up yourself.

  61. 61.

    debbie

    @WereBear:

    I listen because I still believe it’s important to “know thy enemy.” Usually it’s laugh out loud material, but sometimes it’s just enraging. Yesterday, Beck and O’Reilly were discussing The Democrat Plot to Destroy the Country Via Seth Rich. I lasted maybe two minutes, turned it off, and cleansed my brain with a Vivaldi CD.

  62. 62.

    ThresherK

    @OzarkHillbilly: I don’t know the lay of the land in Missouri. Is there any way that that corner of the state is not overpopulated with gaming palaces already?

    There is work to get another gaming palace in Hartford/Springfield area (N. CT, W. MA). This is the suburban Northeast. Whether or not it would be good for the local economy (and it really won’t) and carry social problems with it that don’t need to be concentrated in one place (and it probably will), there are big questions about whether there is a need for another place like this so close to the others.

  64. 64.

    Ken

    @ThresherK: In SimCity, I always know I’ve screwed up when I get the offer to build a casino. On the bright side, at least I’m doing well enough that they aren’t offering the toxic waste factory.

  66. 66.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @debbie: In Missouri, bribery of public officials is perfectly legal. I.am.not.shitting.you. Our campaign finance laws are a joke. Greitens got a million dollar donation to his PAC during last years run and nobody outside of his campaign knows who gave it. There were many other large donations in the $100,000-$500,000 range. He campaigned on making the process far more transparent but now refuses to disclose* any info on his donors. Greitens makes corruption look good. (he also literally runs from reporters, really brave for former a Navy SEAL)

    And just think, some in the GOP think he will be President some day. You can thank Citizens United.

    **just looked it up, no he did not release his tax returns.

  68. 68.

    mai naem mobile

    I clicked on FOX right now. I don’t know if this is some kind of Freudian thing or what. They have a summer grilling piece with the segue music being Glenn Frey’s’The Heat Is On’ from Beverly Hills Cop. Also, the host in studio is Abby Huntsman who looks like all Foxbot women with tons of make up on.

  70. 70.

    gene108

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    But Greitens can fire a great big machine gun, in TV commercial, so it all evens out.

    Also, too the current Republican bar for being President is not being as fucked up as Donald Trump, which is a low, low, low bar to clear.

    “I only take bribes from American interests, therefore I am a patriot, unlike the Domald Trump wing of the Party”.

    And that’s the bar they have to clear, not taking bribes from Russia or Turkey or Saudi Arabia.

  71. 71.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @ThresherK:

    Is there any way that that corner of the state is not overpopulated with gaming palaces already?

    There are no ca$inos in southwest MO, (there had been talk of such for Tablerock Lake but it fell thru) they are all on either the Missouri or Mississippi rivers. The Cuba location does not make much sense to me. I just don’t see the traffic sustaining one there.

    hmph went into moderation for some reason, could it be the link?

    ETA: yes it was.

  72. 72.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @debbie: Sadly, Greitens is young, fit, good looking, a jaw of stone, and the spine of a squid. Perfect for today’s GOP.

    @gene108: Greitens can’t clear that bar. He is on record praising trump on several occasions and has been to DC to see him a couple of times.

  73. 73.

    J R in WV

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    And so Charles Kushner said “putting their brother in jail because of jealousy, hatred and spite” – COMPLETELY IGNORING the fact that Charles needed to commit a crime in order to get put in jail. So discerning, so, so… stupid.

    Charley, if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime! Then they can’t be “putting their brother in jail” which the justice department did, not his brother. So dumb!

  74. 74.

    WereBear

    @gene108: I love that review so much.

    It encapsulates exactly what I dislike about that particular comic book trend. Geez, just make a broody nihilist French New Wave film out of your obsessions and leave the rest of us alone.

  75. 75.

    Another Scott

    He’s Twittering again this AM:

    Donald J. Trump‏ Verified account @realDonaldTrump 58 minutes ago

    I will make my final decision on the Paris Accord next week!

    WooHoo!!11 Doggies!!11 . I wonder what he’ll decide!!11

    :-/

    Donald J. Trump‏ Verified account @realDonaldTrump 3 hours ago

    Many NATO countries have agreed to step up payments considerably, as they should. Money is beginning to pour in- NATO will be much stronger.

    WooHoo!!11 Money Money Money!!11

    He’s such a moran.

    NATO countries slowly spending more money on defense over time doesn’t mean the USA gets more. They’re not “payments” and they’re not “pouring in”. He’s been told that multiple times, but he still thinks that he’s “negotiating” and imposing his will on others and getting boatloads of money in the process. He’s too brain-damaged to recognize reality.

    Idiot.

    Clown.

    Traitor.

    And he’s lying to people that continue to trust him.

    He’s destroying our country.

    Grr…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  76. 76.

    Shalimar

    @WereBear: More like the hill they want to pee their pants on and then run away to another hill. Several of the messages to Alamo Drafthouse that I saw made it very clear the writers would continue to watch all their movies there but were very disappointed in this WW thing. Quacks don’t do death threats like they used to.

  77. 77.

    hovercraft

    @Kay:

    The idea behind the secret channel was for Russian military officials to brief Michael Flynn about the Syrian war

    IC sources are saying that this is “laughable”, that makes absolutely “no sense”. They can throw all the life vests they want, but this TRussia shit is an anvil that will sink this White House. Dean Baquet may want to save Twitler, but the investigative reporters are not going to stop, they’ve all been dreaming about becoming the next W & B, and now they finally have their chance, add to that the IC will not stop until they rid themselves of this traitorous nest of vipers.
    I’m torn about the behavior of the IC, they should not be able to leak with impunity, but I think that what they are doing is in the nations best interests, the calls are coming from inside the house so they feel the need to speak up. I do wonder though, is this revenge or would they still be doing this if he had respected them.

  79. 79.

    Flanders' Former Neighbor

    I think this particular librul snowflake is going to spend the next three days working on my old motorcycle, riding it, grilling out and doing stuff with/for the family. Un-American stuff through and through.

  81. 81.

    Shalimar

    @Another Scott: He’s lying, because his base doesn’t understand how this NATO thing works except to know they’re against them. Trump is a complete moron, but he has advisors constantly telling him the difference so he has no excuse if he still doesn’t get it.

    If I were E.U. countries, I would be considering jointly withdrawing ambassadors from the U.S. until Congress impeaches Trump and replaces him with a president who isn’t openly anti-Europe. That unfortunately is the only diplomacy that still gets through to the GOP.

  84. 84.

    Gin & Tonic

    @hovercraft: Whoever it is at the Trump org who gets these risible Javanka stories planted at the NYT must give the world’s best blowjobs to get that crap in.

  85. 85.

    Spanky

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Crucially, all too few of those I encountered in my research – Jewish, Ukrainian or German – saw the disaster approaching; not until it was upon them.

    A thread common to most every disaster. And while some see a disaster’s approach, will it be enough?

  86. 86.

    hovercraft

    @Baud:

    someone explained to us during the campaign that Trump was Putin’s puppet

    No you’re the puppet!
    Have you had secret meetings with Kisliyak? Can we be sure that Putin has not penetrated the vaunted BAUD! campaign?

  88. 88.

    Shalimar

    @hovercraft: I give the IC the benefit of the doubt and assume they are leaking to take down the administration because the administration is incompetent on a heretofore unimagined level and it is destroying our standing in the world, with possibly catastrophic results. If Trump were competent, and not so intentionally and unintentionally destructive, I don’t think they would do anything with what they know.

    Of course, if Trump were even remotely competent, the idiot wouldn’t have spent so much time and effort disrespecting the IC, so it is in some sense a chicken and egg problem.

  90. 90.

    Spanky

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    … young, fit, good looking, a jaw of stone, and the spine of a squid. Perfect for today’s GOP.

    Another candidate for the rotating tags!

  91. 91.

    hovercraft

    @Jeffro:
    Technically it is, IMHO, but at this point I see it as patriotic, they know that this man is dangerous and totally in over his head, and is surrounded by people who are as bad as he is. I respect what they are doing, and am grateful for it.
    @Gin & Tonic:
    At this point planting the fluff pieces is like trying to bail the boat with a thimble. They are fatally wounded, no one is going to see them as the glam power couple they want to be seen as, they will be viewed with suspicion, and part of the stench that surrounds Twittler.

  92. 92.

    Raoul

    Breitbart is facing an “unusually steep” decline in traffic

    Fox is not doing so great either. It seems that gleeful shouting about them damn lie-berals is a lot less fun for the audience when even in their low-info bubble, they know what Speaker Boehner knows: Trump is a complete disaster. And since neither site is actually news/journalism, they can’t grasp how to cover said disaster. Sad!

  93. 93.

    Barbara

    @J R in WV: It also says something that Kushner thought that his siblings should join the conspiracy rather than assist the prosecutors.

  94. 94.

    WereBear

    @Shalimar: I give the IC the benefit of the doubt and assume they are leaking to take down the administration because the administration is incompetent on a heretofore unimagined level and it is destroying our standing in the world, with possibly catastrophic results.

    Likewise.

    Opposing Trump & his administration in all possible ways IS an act of patriotism. And simple humanity.

  96. 96.

    Raoul

    @OzarkHillbilly: This is a question my partner and I wrestle with on a recurring basis. How bad is this? What do we do to shift it, what’s the moment when (if need be) we shift from organizing & resisting to leaving and bringing as many with us as we can. We don’t know. It’s really difficult to keep at it. The emotional energy is huge.

  97. 97.

    Corner Stone

    @Another Scott:

    They’re not “payments” and they’re not “pouring in”.

    He imagines there is a big wooden chest marked MAGA somewhere with vassals emptying large buckets of gold doubloons into it.

  98. 98.

    Corner Stone

    @hovercraft:

    IC sources are saying that this is “laughable”, that makes absolutely “no sense”.

    You mean so Russia could let Flynn in on all the war crimes they were committing in Syria, on the down low? It was a way to brief the United States NSA on our adversary Russia‘s actions in a third party nation?
    If they had been planning this channel for months now, wouldn’t they have figured out a cover for why they might need it?

  101. 101.

    gene108

    @Shalimar:

    If I were E.U. countries, I would be considering jointly withdrawing ambassadors from the U.S. until Congress impeaches Trump and replaces him with a president who isn’t openly anti-Europe. That unfortunately is the only diplomacy that still gets through to the GOP.

    It would backfire spectacularly and pave the way for China and maybe Russia to become superpowers.

    There is a strong contingent of Republicans, who would love for us to get out of the UN and wave our dicks around unhindered by international treaty obligations.

    The “get us out of the UN” sentiment was very strong, when Bush, Jr ran for President in 2000. I think a year or two earlier Sen. Jesse Helms temporarily blocked our payments to the UN because he wanted some sort of contrition from them.

    Bush, Jr’s disdain of using the UN to back his war in Iraq and contempt for international cooperation has strong roots among conservatives.

    Trump is not an aberration, with his desire to blow up the international order. Republicans have long buckled, at what they feel, is an international order holding the USA back from exerting our will on the world stage.

    He’s just upfront and open about what conservatives have long believed.

  103. 103.

    Corner Stone

    Nance used to be in the Navy. I wonder how difficult it is for him to not start cursing on real time air when discussing this J Kush stuff.

  106. 106.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Raoul: Moving is not an option for my wife and I. For better or worse this is where our roots have taken hold.

  107. 107.

    hovercraft

    @Raoul:
    I think that Russia is hurting them, trying to pretend that there’s nothing to see here with all of these revelations is hard. Fear and hatred of the Russian’s is ingrained, the Red Menace has been with them their entire lives, they overlooked the Putin love when he was dissing Obambi, but they are still uncomfortable with him.

  108. 108.

    Jinchi

    Breitbart is facing an “unusually steep” decline in traffic https://t.co/00OvQsh8aq

    — Will Sommer (@willsommer) May 26, 2017

    That cliff’s edge dropoff looks unnatural. It’s as though millions of Russian bots cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

  110. 110.

    rikyrah

    @hovercraft:
    This isn’t about respect.
    The IC believes that the President of the United States and others close to him are assets of a hostile foreign power. They, above all else, have never forgotten Vlad’s former job as head of the KGB.

  112. 112.

    Gin & Tonic

    My 93 y.o. mother in law watching the news just now: “I just hope I live long enough to see him thrown out.”

  114. 114.

    amk

    McMaster: "In Brussels the president confirmed America’s unbreakable commitment to our allies and article 5"— Tara Palmeri (@tarapalmeri) May 27, 2017

    so, mcmaster has become master of blatant lying.

  116. 116.

    randy khan

    @Kay:

    I’m not really sure that’s exculpatory, even if it came from 3 Kushner friends. The nicest interpretation was that they wanted to get the Russian perspective on why what they’re doing in Syria is hunky dory, which is not particularly good.

  117. 117.

    debbie

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Nice! My mom died 12 years ago and was a Fox follower. I’d bet she’d have defended Trump up until the GOP healthcare plan raising her premium by 850%. Even her rabidity had its limits.

    Bet Jared’s actually observing Sabbath this weekend, for a change. Bet he’d like to see the Sabbath silence extended far into the future.

  119. 119.

    Shalimar

    @gene108: Sure, it would backfire as far as putting any pressure on the GOP. It would probably lead to Trump being in power longer. But, if Europe were to coordinate with China on replacing the dollar as the default international currency with Euros and Yens, are they strong enough right now to make their move? It would help China more than them, but it could still work to isolate the US and Russia.

    Obviously, there are a lot of variables and I haven’t thought through most of them. Just spitballing.

  121. 121.

    randy khan

    @Shalimar:

    If Trump were competent, and not so intentionally and unintentionally destructive, I don’t think they would do anything with what they know.

    If that was the case, there wouldn’t be nearly so much to leak.

  122. 122.

    BruceFromOhio

    We heard your complaints have taken swift & decisive action. Another women-only #WonderWoman show on sale now!

    This has multiple levels of awesome, not the least of which gives the haterz a taste of their own medicine.

    “Oh, you don’t like (fill in the blank)? Well, then, here’s *more* (fill in the blank)!”

  123. 123.

    Jinchi

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Crucially, all too few of those I encountered in my research – Jewish, Ukrainian or German – saw the disaster approaching; not until it was upon them.

    That gives me hope, because everybody can see the Trump disaster coming.

  125. 125.

    Tazj

    James Fallows has a nice thread on his Twitter feed that’s critical of the NYT
    James Fallows @James Fallows-13h

    8. NYT coverage of emails, and of Trump/Russia, seems worthy of the kind of honest “what happened?” inquiry it did after Iraq WMD reports

    Nothing that everybody here hasn’t been saying for more than a year, but nice to see them being called out by another journalist.

  127. 127.

    Immanentize

    @hovercraft: Russia’s goal is to do as much discord and confusion as possible. They really have no interest in helping Trump. I saw their offer to release their notes of the Oval Office meeting as a threat. And almost immediately after that, lo and behold, ‘someone’ releases our transcript of the discussion. It is Trump’s idiocy and boreishness that are Russia’s greatest allies

  128. 128.

    Immanentize

    @Jinchi: Yes we see disaster coming — but what exact shape will it take? That is what will cause the moral dilemma — the specific first seemingly wrong but not horrible first step.

  129. 129.

    WereBear

    @OzarkHillbilly: I also, (while understanding that other people are more endangered than I and might need to take a different tack) do not want to give up MY country and MY ideals.

    If I am in a bit more protected position because of my whiteness, it is up to me to leverage that for those less privileged.

  130. 130.

    Corner Stone

    @lamh36:

    So according to McMaster’s defenders what exactly is he doing with this…hmm???

    But McMaster is an honorable man! And so are they all, all honorable men.

  134. 134.

    NorthLeft12

    The Portland Mercury has an excellent follow up story on the white supremacist [Jeremy Christian] who allegedly murdered two and severely injured another who were attempting to stop him from abusing two [apparently] Muslim women.
    Doug Brown, the Mercury reporter, noted that in an earlier incident where he saw the assailant that police officers did not feel threatened by Mr. Christian, and were aware of his history. Of course they weren’t! He is not threat to them at all. POC, liberals, any other minorities? Not the same case.

  135. 135.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @hovercraft:

    I’m torn about the behavior of the IC, they should not be able to leak with impunity, but I think that what they are doing is in the nations best interests…

    It reminds me of the Turkish armed forces’ “un-coup” that removed Islamist Necmeettin Erbakan & his Refah (“Welfare”) Party from power 20 years ago.

    The army (until Erdogan’s purges in recent years) always considered itself the guardian of the secular Turkey founded by Ataturk & until then would occasionally (& with great reluctance) take over the government when (in its opinion) the politicians went off the deep end, hang a few of the (in its opinion) worst actors, & hand back power (with the admonition to “play nice”) as soon as they thought the politicos could handle it.

    That didn’t happen in 1996 when Refah managed to place its leader as Prime Minister. Instead the army convened a series of meetings with Turkey’s secular “opinion makers/thought leaders” to “inform” them about where Erbakan & Cie. were planning (or maybe plotting, or maybe both) to take the nation & urging them to put a stop to it. In essence Dad was saying, Don’t make me come in there. And gradually the secular parties reasserted themselves.

    I wonder if our current situation isn’t the FBI/CIA/NSA saying to Congress,

    Live up to the “Make America Great Again” on your baseball caps & clean this bunch of traitors & grifters out. Don’t make us do it for you. Because none of us will like the result.

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