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You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Hail to the Hairpiece / Lazy Late Friday Open “Tech” Thread: Move Fast, Break the Wrong Stuff…

Lazy Late Friday Open “Tech” Thread: Move Fast, Break the Wrong Stuff…

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Shoved aside, amid all this week’s affray. It’s all about noisy displays of public dominance, innit? The NYTimes:

…Timothy D. Cook of Apple, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Satya Nadella of Microsoft and Eric Schmidt of Alphabet were among 18 tech executives and investors — many of whom have criticized the Trump administration — who attended the four-hour afternoon session to discuss cloud computing and procurement systems run by government agencies.

For many, it was the second group meeting with Mr. Trump since the election — and another demonstration of the administration’s ability to summon top business executives, even amid controversy.

“Government needs to catch up with the technology revolution,” said Mr. Trump, who strolled in at the end of the meeting to greet the tech titans. “We’re going to change that with the help of great American businesses like the people assembled.”

He later said, drawing laughter, “We have approximately $3.5 trillion of market value in this room — but that’s almost the exact number that we’ve created since my election.”

Few technology specialists from the White House attended. The administration has not filled several major science and technology positions. But the business and economics team closest to the president attended, including Gary D. Cohn, director of the National Economic Council, and Dina Powell, senior counselor for economic initiatives…

As described by NYMag‘s Select/All blog, “Tech Leaders Cucked by God-Emperor Trump”:

The White House is hosting leaders and CEOs from leading technology companies this week, hoping to get the best in the biz to figure out why the government sucks so bad at technology. The summit was the first meeting of the American Technology Council, which the administration established in May, led by Jared Kushner. Big boy Jared even made a speech, and presumably received an extra scoop of Cheez-Its at snack time for doing so…

Kushner suggested shifting government data to the cloud. “Federal agencies collectively operate 6,100 data centers,” he noted, “the vast majority of which can be consolidated and migrated to the cloud” (a little fun fact for you tech-heads out there: Remote data centers are what comprise “the cloud”). He also spoke about how the Department of Defense still uses floppy disks (not sure how that matters to the average American, but fair point), and that it takes months to update any government website (in part because the “move fast, break things” ethos doesn’t work for enormous populations of more than 300 million people).

The meeting appears to be fulfilling its implied purpose: making the president look good. Breitbart, to highlight one example, is celebrating how these feeble lefty tech CEOs are bowing before their new god, citing quotes like Eric Schmidt’s: “I’m absolutely convinced that during your administration there is going to be a huge explosion of new opportunities because of the platforms that are getting built in our industry.” (In January, Schmidt told an audience of Googlers that Trump would do “evil things,” citing the president’s stance on immigration.) Jeff Bezos said that Trump could be the “innovation administration,” while Tim Cook pressed the president on immigration and requiring coding classes in public schools…

What odds Trump vaguely assuming putting all this government stuff “in the cloud” would make it too heavy to hang over his head suspiciously any more?

In other news…

(Backstory)

Reader Interactions

196Comments

  1. 1.

    SiubhanDuinne

    What odds Trump vaguely assuming putting all this government stuff “in the cloud” would make it too heavy to hang over his head suspiciously any more?

    I don’t think Trump understands “the cloud” any better than he understands “the cybers.” But now that Barron is on site 24/7, it shouldn’t be a problem.

  3. 3.

    Brachiator

    Also in Other News (from the Guardian and Gizmodo)

    Claiming that evolution is “debatable, controversial, and too complicated for students,” Turkey’s board of education has decided to stop teaching Darwinian natural selection in its schools. The move has infuriated the country’s secular opposition, but it could embolden other countries to do the same.

    The Guardian reports that Turkey’s senior education official, Alpaslan Durmuş, says the chapter on evolution will be removed from grade nine biology textbooks, and the subject will be avoided until students reach the university level. “We believe that these subjects are beyond [the] comprehension [of students],” he explained in a video posted to the education ministry’s website….

    In addition to removing evolution from the curriculum, students will spend less time studying the country’s secular legacy, and shorter shrift will be paid to the nation’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who instilled secular traditions and norms in the country. More emphasis will be placed on the teaching of religion, and the contributions of various Turkish and Muslim scientists. As a whole, schools will be moving away from a “Eurocentric” approach. The final version of the curriculum is expected next week at the conclusion of Ramadan.

    I’m betting that some US school districts will be following this sterling example very soon.

    Ignorance now. Ignorance tomorrow! Ignorance forever!

  5. 5.

    trollhattan

    “Uber Technologies Inc is an eight-year old taxi company based in San Francisco.”

    Comedy gold, Jerry!

  6. 6.

    Major Major Major Major

    “Federal agencies collectively operate 6,100 data centers,” he noted, “the vast majority of which can be consolidated and migrated to the cloud” (a little fun fact for you tech-heads out there: Remote data centers are what comprise “the cloud”).

    It’s not like these people have let little things like facts get in the way of rapacious (actual!) neoliberal privatization before, why start now? Although usually they’re smart enough to actually be able to detect the lies they’re telling, these putzes don’t even know what real clouds are, not to mention digital ones.

  7. 7.

    eclare

    For the life of me I cannot figure out why anyone meets with this POS. Everything he touches turns to shit, everything. Cheers to the CBC for saying no, we’re not coming over for your photo-op.

  9. 9.

    NoraLenderbee

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Putting it in “the cloud” means it will all be cost-free. You know how Google and Shutterfly let you store photos for free? Just like that, only bigger. And then the backups and security will all be taken care of magically.

    *holds head*

  10. 10.

    Brachiator

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    But now that Barron is on site 24/7, it shouldn’t be a problem.

    I wonder if Barron might be the kid that Trump claims might have been sitting in his bedroom hacking the US elections.

  11. 11.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    Rats, I was hoping that a tech thread would have something to do with the amazing disappearing pie filter.

  13. 13.

    LurkerNoLonger

    God, look at that picture. They all look miserable, except for Trump. It’s like he’s some kind of joy-sucking vampire/The Blob creature. .

  14. 14.

    Mike J

    @Major Major Major Major: If you don’t already run 6,100 datacenters, moving to the cloud can be a good idea. Hell, you’re probably already on it. The cloud just means, “someone else’s computer”.

    If you do have 6,100 datacenters, there’s probably a good argument to be made that you could dedicate a few of those to running the same sort of server management tools AWS or google use and move a lot of sites to those farms. I have no doubt that most federal sites are over provisioned, If you ever look at https://analytics.usa.gov/ you’ll see that moving into the top 20 most used federal web sites only requires a few hundred users, something desktop machines could handle fine.

  16. 16.

    different-church-lady

    Money quote:

    “Uber has not shown that it can profitably produce better taxi service under competitive conditions,” says Hubert Horan, a transportation expert who has written extensively about the company at nakedcapitalism.com. “A battle between fragmented, poorly capitalized incumbents and Silicon Valley billionaires supplying billions in predatory subsidies is not neutral market competition.”

    They’re part of the “smash and grab” tech economy. They’re Napster for cabs. Eventually someone tells them “No, we don’t care how much you try to hide behind ‘new paradigms’, you have to play by the rules.” And by then the damage they’ve done lingers on.

  18. 18.

    Ben from Virginia

    So Heller has come about against the healthcare bill which means it doesn’t pass (for now).

    Rubio is also deeply concerned…deeply…you know, in his deep concerned way. Which means the spineless jellyfish should be falling in line in about forty-eight hours. I don’t think there’s a more craven United States Senator than one Marco Rubio.

  19. 19.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Mike J:

    I have no doubt that most federal sites are over provisioned, If you ever look at https://analytics.usa.gov/ you’ll see that moving into the top 20 most used federal web sites only requires a few hundred users, something desktop machines could handle fine.

    Could well be, but a lot of those data centers are probably warehousing & stuff like the NSA.

    ETA: And most likely abusing the term ‘data center’ in order to get to a big number.

  20. 20.

    Ohio Mom

    I was an art major and I am not at all “good at the cyber,” but I’d bet that the reason “the government sucks at technology” is that we never give any department enough money to be good at it. Except for the military, needless to say.

  21. 21.

    FlipYrWhig

    Eric Schmidt’s: “I’m absolutely convinced that during your administration there is going to be a huge explosion of new opportunities because of the platforms that are getting built in our industry.”

    Note that he’s saying _during_, not _because of_.

  23. 23.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @Major Major Major Major: It’s gone bye-bye on the mobile version of the site. If I ask for the desktop version, I’ll sometimes get it, sometimes not. I initially assumed a bug in NoScript for Firefox Android, but the same thing is happening in the vanilla Samsung browser.

  27. 27.

    Ohio Mom

    My niece worked at the Department of Labor for a while, in “the cyber.” As I understood it, her job was to make sure that all the far-flung offices were collecting and storing their data securely. To get the job, she had to get a security clearance. It was a just-out-of-graduate-school job, hardly high-level.

    Again, I am not a techie but I am having trouble with the idea that the mythical cloud is the right place for all sorts of sensitive information.

  29. 29.

    debbie

    @Mike J:

    Not totally false:

    So it’s clear that Mitch McConnell did indeed receive significant help — primarily in the form of physical therapy and physical therapy training for his mother — from the polio rehabilitation center established by Roosevelt at Warm Springs, Georgia.

    Someone was there to help him, unlike what he’s setting up for today’s kids..

  30. 30.

    Mnemosyne

    I guess Cook at least attempted to get his issues heard, unlike the ass kissers. But I don’t have a full transcript, just this:

    Tim Cook pressed the president on immigration and requiring coding classes in public schools…

  31. 31.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Ohio Mom:

    I am not a techie but I am having trouble with the idea that the mythical cloud is the right place for all sorts of sensitive information.

    In my experience, non-techies are the only ones who think that it’s a good idea, so you’re ahead of the curve!
    @debbie:

    Yeah, but as the article notes right after, it wasn’t government-funded.

  33. 33.

    Yutsano

    @Ben from Virginia: Marco gave up his balls to Dolt45 already. He’ll fall in line. I’m sure he’s as “concerned” as Queen Susan of the North is.

    Heller is a dead man walking. His only concern right now is that he has to go back to live in Nevada after he loses in 2018.

  35. 35.

    debbie

    @Ohio Mom:

    I too was an art major, and I know without being told that the cloud isn’t secure enough for the kind of information Trump thinks he wants put on it.

    It’s safest to assume there is no security anywhere.

  36. 36.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Major Major Major Major:
    PLEASE don’t use the word ‘neoliberal.’ Yes, you’re using it correctly, but it’s driving me up the wall how the leftier-than-thou act like it means regular Democrats support that awful shit. They’ve managed to convince a too-large chunk of the merely ‘young and idealistic’.

  38. 38.

    Mike J

    @debbie:

    However, neither this particular center nor the care given to McConnell were government-funded.

    McConnell is all in favor of pickle jars at the 7-11.

  39. 39.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Breitbart, to highlight one example, is celebrating how these feeble lefty tech CEOs are bowing before their new god,

    Someone else who confuses the word libertarian with liberal.

    citing quotes like Eric Schmidt’s: “I’m absolutely convinced that during your administration there is going to be a huge explosion of new opportunities because of the platforms that are getting built in our industry.”

    Translating Schmidt “Obviously, who’se president make no differance in how we will invist in R&D,..”

  40. 40.

    Peale

    I hope they added in Watson. It’s always good to say that you’ll be using Watson. To do whatever you think it can do.

  41. 41.

    efgoldman

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Although usually they’re smart enough to actually be able to detect the lies they’re telling, these putzes don’t even know what real clouds are, not to mention digital ones.

    But all of those tech guys? Many of whom are actually richer than the Family Grifters could ever dream of being, all certainly know better. Why don’t they laugh and mock Kushkie right out of the room?

  43. 43.

    Ben from Virginia

    @Yutsano:

    I could see Paul and Cruz sticking to their guns, though. Whatever you want to say about Ted Cruz, he really doesn’t give a shit about being unpopular and enjoys sticking it to people he hates (which includes McConnell).

  44. 44.

    debbie

    Well, Ray Tensing, that Confederacy-T-shirt-wearing cop, got off again today, thanks to another hung jury. The prosecutor is considering a third trial. Is there a limit to the number of times he can be tried?

  46. 46.

    different-church-lady

    @Mike J: Does the kind of security required for government work not require additional computing power?

  47. 47.

    trollhattan

    Delaware State Senator Brian Pettyjohn faces a felony charge for accidentally carrying a weapon into an airport on Thursday morning, Delaware State News reports. Pettyjohn was detained in the Salisbury Regional Airport Thursday morning when Transportation Security Administration agents found a loaded handgun in his carry-on bag. The senator said that he accidentally left the firearm in his laptop case.

    Gosh, I wonder what party he belongs to. Ha-ha-ha, I crack myself up. Also, too, there are no gun “accidents.”

  48. 48.

    Mike J

    @different-church-lady: Not really. The department of agriculture’s public facing sites don’t need any more than balloon-juice does. The stuff that needs security isn’t on the internet, but does fill a lot of those datacenters.

  51. 51.

    efgoldman

    @Major Major Major Major:

    It’s the new thinking outside the box, disrupting some paradigms

    I’m pretty sure that neither Kushkie nor Coral Chancre can spell or define “paradigm”

    I’ve thought since the campaign that I couldn’t respect them less. Then the next thing happens, and the next words fall out their mouths, and the thing after that happens, and someone says something else unbelievably ignorant, and….
    There is no fucking floor. It’s like that movie with Mickey Rourke with the elevator that keeps going down… and down… and down…..

  52. 52.

    BBA

    Infotrode: Cloud-based, disruptive platforms. Disrupting the cloud through–I said cloud twice, shit. Making the world a better place through cross-platform business facing cloud, there’s that shit! There’s that cloud again! Infotrode, Infotrode!? What the fuck is Infotrode? What is that? It’s all just fucking meaningless words!

  53. 53.

    Baud

    @Brachiator:

    Claiming that evolution is “debatable, controversial, and too complicated for students,” Turkey’s board of education has decided to stop teaching Darwinian natural selection in its schools.

    I thought we were supposed to teach the controversy.

  54. 54.

    Yutsano

    @Ben from Virginia: Wherever Cruz goes Mike Lee will surely follow. Haven’t seen a brain sharing trust like that since Scalia/Thomas. But Yertle is nothing if not clever. He’ll get his 50.

    @Mike J:

    The stuff that needs security isn’t on the internet, but does fill a lot of those datacenters.

    My pay, for one.

    Fun fact: only four agencies can write cheques for the government.

  55. 55.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Mnemosyne:

    Tim Cook pressed the president on immigration and requiring coding classes in public schools…

    Hahaha, silly Tim Cook! Look at him assuming there will even be public schools!!

  56. 56.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Ben from Virginia: But he caved in and supported Trump after Trump made denigrating comments about Mrs. Cruz’ looks. Don’t you remember the kerfuffle which occurred when Cruz refused to endorse Trump during the Republican Convention? He quickly caved when threatened that he wouldn’t get the RNC’s support if he ran in 2020 or thereafter.

    I beg to differ on any claims that Cruz is a man known to stand his ground.

  57. 57.

    efgoldman

    Somebody’s paying attention. CBS is leading with the story of Carrier and Ford sending jobs outside the country no matter what Citron Shithead said.

  58. 58.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Brachiator:

    Claiming that evolution is “debatable, controversial, and too complicated for students,” Turkey’s board of education has decided to stop teaching Darwinian natural selection in its schools.

    I had totally forgotten that Erdogan is from Mississippi

  59. 59.

    Baud

    If you’re looking for a disruptive platform, just wait until you see what Baud! 2020! has in store!

  60. 60.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @efgoldman:
    From the reports of Kushner’s business practices, he shows up, mouths MBA gibberish, and leaves. That’s how he runs a business. All signs suggest he thinks he’s being brilliant, when actually he doesn’t understand the words coming out of his mouth, just likes how they sound. I see no reason to believe this will ever change.

  61. 61.

    Mike in NC

    @Yutsano: Rubio’s entire political career has been bankrolled by right wing Florida billionaires. He’s now Trump’s lapdog as a result of backtracking on improving relations with Cuba.

  63. 63.

    rikyrah

    Rylo Ken‏ @Kennymack1971

    Once again you can be mad all you want that PBO didn’t do more to save you from yourselves but we know the truth: You didn’t give a shit.

    Rylo Ken‏ @Kennymack1971

    Deep down a lot of you know you just didn’t care. You believed all of Bernie’s cynical bullshit, WikiLeaks ratfucking and Cable News folks.

    Rylo Ken‏ @Kennymack1971

    The specter of the most blazingly unfit for POTUS actually winning didn’t really bother you….until it happened & then you discovered..

    Rylo Ken‏ @Kennymack1971

    And now instead of admitting you fucked up you want someone to blame so….why not Obama?

    Maurice Hawkins, Jr.‏ @HawkDiesel1906
    Replying to @Kennymack1971

    @BarackObama meet w/ House & Senate leadership to release a united response & McConnell said no. He viewed the Russia intel w/ skepticism.

    Maurice Hawkins, Jr.‏ @HawkDiesel1906
    Replying to @HawkDiesel1906 @Kennymack1971 @BarackObama

    @BarackObama wanted to ensure that American people viewed our electoral was fair & impartial. Despite the Russian attacks.

    Maurice Hawkins, Jr.‏ @HawkDiesel1906
    Replying to @HawkDiesel1906 @Kennymack1971 @BarackObama

    If @BarackObama had acted unilaterally & been more robust in releasing Russia intel the #GOP would have cried foul.

    Maurice Hawkins, Jr.‏ @HawkDiesel1906
    Replying to @HawkDiesel1906 @Kennymack1971 @BarackObama

    The craven hatred of @HillaryClinton by the #GOP & the Dude Bros made America vulnerable to this kind of ongoing cyber Warfare.

  65. 65.

    Baud

    @rikyrah:

    And now instead of admitting you fucked up you want someone to blame so….why not Obama?

    To be fair, that’s been a thing since forever.

  67. 67.

    Immanentize

    @rikyrah:Look, my friend, anyone with a Sig “Rylo Ken” cannot be taken seriously.

    Leave the bad white boys in their self-made swamp?

  70. 70.

    Immanentize

    @trollhattan: I mentioned this the other day. This is one of my big fat beefs with Josh Marshal. He uses language then he won’t climb down. Bitch slap was one. But the worst was his several post defense that every gun non-intentional killing was an “accidental shooting.”

  71. 71.

    ruemara

    @Major Major Major Major: minor quibble. many of these charities started under the auspices of government who sorta kicked it off and then rolled it into a private institution. A bit like one of those reptile births where you lay the egg and walk away just around hatching time.

  72. 72.

    Immanentize

    @Major Major Major Major: M4 Funny, I read it differently. I see what you mean. But sometimes people’s critiques involve too much savaging before the inevitable snarky denouement. All people really see is the savaging.

    ETA I do feel like Obama should have had his hair on fire about this, but he was scared off by potential bad impressions which might lead to — what? Trump would win?. He knew the LBJ (fuck him) precedent. They all just were so sanguine that Hillary would win…. And acted accordingly rather than like, SHIT! we were just attacked!

  73. 73.

    Patricia Kayden

    @rikyrah: And all those tweets point out that there was nothing that President Obama could have done differently that would have changed the outcome of the elections. Clinton Derangement Syndrome is real and has infected American politics for the last 30+ years. Doesn’t mean that Russian interference shouldn’t be investigated vigorously. Just means that had Obama revealed evidence of this interference, Republicans would have pushed back and nothing would have been accomplished.

  74. 74.

    debbie

    @efgoldman:

    NPR had a couple interviews today and yesterday with Carrier workers. They are not happy with Trump. Hopefully, this will turn into something.

  75. 75.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Baud: You mean that Union members should have chucked him out because he was toxic. That’s the logic of some on the Left now.

  76. 76.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @Major Major Major Major: There are two different desktop templates: one that looks like the page as rendered in my desktop browser, which I can sometimes get to by requesting the desktop version, and one that formats the comments like the desktop but moves the right sidebar under the comment box, accessible from the Mobile/Desktop buttons at the bottom of the mobile template. The second is the one with the appearing/disappearing pie filter. And of course now that I have the WebIDE connection running, I can’t replicate it. It’s been doing it off and on all day.

    The only thing in the console right now is a mild bitching about the pie jpg being http instead of https.

  77. 77.

    Mnemosyne

    @efgoldman:

    It’s like that movie with Mickey Rourke with the elevator that keeps going down… and down… and down…..

    That elevator does stop in Angel Heart … when the elevator reaches the character’s final destination in Hell.

  78. 78.

    Yutsano

    @Patricia Kayden: This could also get interesting if Erdogan gets too far into religious territory and hasn’t packed enough generals on his side to fight a coup. The Ataturk history has long been a sense of pride in the Turkish people and especially in the military. If Erdogan isn’t careful he’ll push things too far and a much more successful military coup could happen.

  79. 79.

    efgoldman

    @Baud:

    The Union Chief should have resigned since he was attacked by a Republican

    I’m trying to think of how he could commit ritual seppuku in an air conditioner plant.

  81. 81.

    trollhattan

    LA Times has a pretty long article on Mueller and his team, who have experience going back to Enron.

    Samuel Buell, who worked on the Enron task force with Weissmann, said he typifies the relentless, hard-core prosecutors bred in the U.S. attorney’s offices in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

    “It’s not swagger,” said Buell, now a law professor at Duke University. “It’s a confidence that after six or eight or 10 years, ‘I’m not going to see a problem I can’t handle. There’s no case that’s going to be over my head.’”

    Buell said Mueller’s first hires should not be viewed as a road map for where he will take his investigation. He said Mueller appears focused on hiring talented lawyers whom he knows and trusts. Still, the hires suggest a legal strategy that was key to prosecutions of the Enron fraud and the mob families in New York. In both cases, convictions depended in large part on witnesses who agreed to testify to escape long prison terms. No one has been charged in the Russia case. But lower-level figures ultimately may face pressure to cooperate with Mueller’s team, especially if it will lead to higher-ups.

    “You don’t get all dressed up for some special counsel party and just come out of it with a well-thumbed report,” said Turley, the legal scholar. “Weissmann is trained to find a weak link and break it.”

    Dan Cogdell, a Houston defense lawyer who had a cooperating client in the Enron case, said Weissmann may be the most aggressive prosecutor he ever faced in a white-collar criminal case.

    “Once he believes he understands the facts, he is very difficult to move either way,” said Cogdell. “He’s very self-righteous in his belief system. He is Trump’s worst nightmare if we believe that Trump, or anyone else, has done anything wrong,” he said. “He’s the very last guy you want coming at you.”

    Drip, drip, drip.

  82. 82.

    Brachiator

    @Steve in the ATL:

    RE: Claiming that evolution is “debatable, controversial, and too complicated for students,” Turkey’s board of education has decided to stop teaching Darwinian natural selection in its schools.

    I had totally forgotten that Erdogan is from Mississippi

    It’s amazing how similar the world views are.

  83. 83.

    efgoldman

    @debbie:

    They are not happy with Trump. Hopefully, this will turn into something.

    I doubt that it will turn into IN’s EVs going Dem next time (one way or another, I don’t think Tangerine Tumor will be on the ballot). Maybe it can flip a house seat – I don’t know much about IN politics, and of course Doghouse Riley is long gone.

  90. 90.

    hovercraft

    CNN is reporting that a pro Twitler superpac is planning a seven figure AD by in Nevada next week against Dean Heller because of his opposition to Trumpcare.

  91. 91.

    efgoldman

    @Mnemosyne:

    We don’t know exactly what McConnell threatened to do.

    In real life, there’s not a hell of a lot he CAN do.
    Take away a committee/subcommittee chairmanship?
    Does he control any serious fund raising?
    Since they’re not appropriating any public works/infrastructure money, he can’t take that away.
    There are a bajillion military bases in Nevada, but he has no real control over that.
    What can he threaten with?

  92. 92.

    japa21

    @debbie: I really should have heeded your warning.

    @hovercraft: Interestingly enough, the one thing that might save Heller in the next election is voting against the bill. Voting for it is a kiss of death.

  93. 93.

    Immanentize

    @Mnemosyne: Fair enough. But even if McConnell only told him he would publicly disagree with the intelligence assessment and go crazy that it was all a partisan scam, I must admit that everything I know about Obama tells me that would be enough for him to delay — to think it through. That is one of his greatest qualities, but also a leverage point. And delay was fatal to the information’s impact/relevance because by then, it was all partisan — perhaps colludingly so.

    I had a great boss once who told this story about her Catholic grade school. Every day, the kids would get a white square of cardboard for doing something good — getting an A on a test, remembering some required scripture, etc. They would also receive a black square for doing something “bad” including talking out of turn, etc. B. told me that at the end of every week, she was so proud to have the most of both. I do not think Obama — who I LOVE — was ever that person.

  94. 94.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Here’s a thread with some Obama administration thinking from Colin Kahl, who was in the Obama administration. Don’t know if he was directly involved in these decisions, though.

  95. 95.

    different-church-lady

    @rikyrah:

    Rylo Ken‏ @Kennymack1971

    And now instead of admitting you fucked up you want someone to blame so….why not Obama?

    Hell, most of the people he’s talking about were already blaming Obama for everything. This is just a continuation.

  96. 96.

    delk

    I went to art school as well. I thought tech thread was some sort of space age polymer. :-)

  97. 97.

    hovercraft

    @japa21:
    Exactly, the pundits have been saying for the last two days that McConnell is going to give him one of the free passes to vote against this piece of shit, because he’s the most vulnerable member of his caucus. So for these morans to spend that type of money to try to force him to vote for this is beyond stupid. Maybe someone will reach out to them and tell them to stand down.

  98. 98.

    Jeffro

    @Immanentize:

    every gun non-intentional killing was an “accidental shooting.”

    Yup. Would be great if everyone used “negligent shooting” instead.

  99. 99.

    Mike J

    @hovercraft:

    CNN is reporting that a pro Twitler superpac is planning a seven figure AD by in Nevada next week against Dean Heller because of his opposition to Trumpcare.

    They’ll cut some shit together throw it on the web, and every network will show it during the evening news. then they’ll never spend one dime on an actual ad buy, because they already got it done with a cpm of 0.

  100. 100.

    Jeffro

    @debbie:

    NPR had a couple interviews today and yesterday with Carrier workers. They are not happy with Trump. Hopefully, this will turn into something.

    at long last, GENUINE “economic anxiety” rears its head…and starts to figure out it’s been had by a con man…

  105. 105.

    Mnemosyne

    @efgoldman:

    I have a feeling we’re talking about two separate things? I’m talking about what McConnell told Obama in the 2016 meeting. We know in a general way that he probably threatened to go to the press and say that Obama was trying to throw the election to Hillary, but we don’t know for sure. I’m not sure what Nevada has to do with anything.

  106. 106.

    Fleeting Expletive

    BBC has a story about 8 UAE princesses being found guilty of servant abuse/human trafficking in a European court. I checked Google news, seems the only other media carrying the story is RT. This seems like the kind of thing we should pay attention to as to important developments outside of our endless other stories.

  107. 107.

    kd bart

    Judging from my Twitter TL, it didn’t take long for the Purity Testing of Randy Bryce to take place.

  108. 108.

    rikyrah

    Maggie Haberman‏Verified account @maggieNYT

    AMERICA FIRST POLICIES, the pro-Trump/Pence outside group that Pence has been raising for, is preparing a seven-figure ad buy against HELLER

  112. 112.

    rikyrah

    Ragnarok Lobster‏ @eclecticbrotha

    Democrats: Trump colluded with Russia and the AHCA is really a tax cut for billionaires
    Villager media: Democrats need better messaging

  113. 113.

    Mnemosyne

    @different-church-lady:

    Yup. I understand the urge to get pissed at Obama since he’s always supposed to be the adult in the room and save us from this bullshit, but he’s human, too, and there could have been additional considerations we don’t know about, like protecting intelligence sources.

    The fact that a bunch of high-level people in Russia got arrested and disappeared shortly after Twitter got elected (or inaugurated — can’t remember which) says to me that that may have been one of the original considerations.

  114. 114.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    In an interview today, he said he voted for him in the primary, supported the candidate, and was a Clinton elector.

  115. 115.

    kd bart

    @Baud: They found some old tweets where he profess some adoration for Louise Mensch. Was he being sarcastic or not? Their support depends on it.

  116. 116.

    germy

    @Baud:

    I thought he was a Wilmer guy.

    I just heard a good interview with him. He was a Sanders surrogate during the primary, but he campaigned for Hillary Clinton in the general election and would have been an elector for her had she won.

    EDIT: as Debbie said above.

  117. 117.

    Mnemosyne

    @rikyrah:

    I think a great message from Democrats should be, Trump and the Republicans lied to you. What are you gonna do about it?

    But it probably wouldn’t be as effective as I’d like. My fellow white people seem to have an almost limitless capacity for being lied to, as long as it’s a rich white guy lying to them.

  118. 118.

    jl

    @different-church-lady: Find a way to blame Obama, and then Pelosi, and after that, any other convenient Democrat, is SOP. I think Sanders is not at the front of the list because he is popular, so blaming him is reserved for special situations. Obama is almost as popular as Sanders, but, well, the demographics are a bit different, if you know what I mean. Hillary also has a special blame niche, probably related to how closely it pushes emailBghazzi buttons.

    The GOP and alt-right probably have a flow chart worked out.

    Edit: Pelosi, Hillary and Warren have some special misogyny handling exceptions. Kamala Harris is still being researched, and probably we see pilot studies in how she gets special handling as a woman of color in the Senate. The order of Kamala Harris in blame flowchart will become clear soon.

  119. 119.

    MomSense

    @delk:

    I was thinking it might be the thread you can sew into mittens and gloves so you can use your smart phone!

  121. 121.

    Bago

    Cloud programming is nifty. You write scaling specs for parts of a program, loosely couple them through redundant services, and route them as you will. It’s like making something out of Legos connected with really stretchy rubber bands.

  122. 122.

    germy

    @Baud:

    The Bros are anti-Mensch?

    GG took a swipe at her on twitter. He retweeted one of her comments and replied something like “Ladies and gentlemen, the ‘resistance'”.

  123. 123.

    japa21

    @jl: Not sure Sanders is as popular as you, and the media, think he is. If anything, I think his popularity has gone down since the primaries and definitely since the election.

  124. 124.

    germy

    The White House banned cameras from press briefings, so CNN sent in a courtroom sketch artist.

    Just let that sink in for a moment.

    I saw the Spicer sketches on CBS Evening News.

    He should have had a black horizontal rectangle over his eyes as well.

  126. 126.

    rikyrah

    Bradd Jaffy‏Verified account @BraddJaffy

    NBC News: Trump White House has taken little action to stop Russian hacking, leaking and disruption in next election

  129. 129.

    hovercraft

    @Fleeting Expletive:
    Sadly this is of a piece with the treatment of migrant labor in Qatar. The subject got some attention when the World Cup was being awarded, the abuse of workers is horrific, the living and working conditions are so bad that many are dying. They are virtual prisoners, the employers take away their passports, so they don;t even have the option of running away. This is a problem all over the world though. I know many people form Zimbabwe right here bring servants with them from home, it’s cheaper and they like the fact that their children are being raised within their own culture and get to eat familiar food. I know of at least a couple of cases where the maids have ended up running away because they were being abused, in one case the maid contacted a fellow maid and with her help melted into the undocumented population, the other one went to the embassy and reported the abuse. Given the conditions back home, for many of these women the benefit of being here sadly outweighs the bad stuff.

  130. 130.

    kd bart

    @Baud: You’ll be glad to hear that he also took a jab at Jacobin for not paying their writers decently.

  131. 131.

    jl

    @hovercraft:

    ” CNN is reporting that a pro Twitler superpac is planning a seven figure AD by in Nevada next week against Dean Heller because of his opposition to Trumpcare. ”

    Well, OK, then. I’ve been predicting the GOP moderates would cave, but if the GIO brass and Trump are going to threaten them all with electoral suicide as soon as they try any bargaining over the miserable stinker of a bill at all, maybe the usual game plan will change.

  133. 133.

    Steve in the ATL

    @jl:

    Find a way to blame Obama, and then Pelosi, and after that, any other convenient Democrat, is SOP. I think Sanders is not at the front of the list because he is popular

    Sanders is not at the front of the list because he trashes democrats

  135. 135.

    efgoldman

    @Jeffro:

    Would be great if everyone used “negligent shooting” instead.

    Maybe we ought to redefine manslaughter by firearm as “Fucking Stupid Intentional Homicide”

  142. 142.

    jl

    @japa21: Please check various poll aggregators. Look for other politicians with approval ratings above 50%. Or even near 50% from below.

  144. 144.

    Jeffro

    @Baud: I did qualify it with “starts”…sounds like those Carrier folks thought Orangemandias had their jobs locked. down. and all.

    But yeah, not exactly ‘data’ at this point…

  147. 147.

    efgoldman

    @Bago:

    It’s like making something out of Legos connected with really stretchy rubber bands.

    Ooh. Gotta’ find some of those for my granddaughter.

  148. 148.

    jl

    @rikyrah: That is scary.

    BTW, did you see this mess of a story?
    Off-duty black police officer responds to incident. White officers arriving at the scene order him to the ground, he complies, they recognize him and ask him to walk over to them, he complies. Arriving white police officer shoots black officer in the arm.

    St. Louis officer mistakenly shoots off-duty cop responding to gunfight
    http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/st-louis-officer-shoots-off-duty-responding-gunfight-article-1.3270781

  149. 149.

    efgoldman

    @japa21:

    Not sure Sanders is as popular as you, and the media, think he is.

    Berniebots keep pointing to polls allegedly showing him as the most popular politician.
    Of course, there’s no election – he isn’t running for anything. Popularity polls for non-candidates when there aren’t any elections don’t mean shit.

  150. 150.

    mapaghimagsik

    @Brachiator: I played a game that took place in the resurgence of the dark ages, despite the presence space faring technology. It always bugged me because, at the time, it seemed so implausible to slide back so far.

    Now, I’ll be happy if we stop at the dark ages.

  151. 151.

    Jeffro

    @efgoldman:

    Maybe we ought to redefine manslaughter by firearm as “Fucking Stupid Intentional Homicide”

    I’m good with that…or maybe a charge of “so fucking stupid with a firearm that it may as well be 3rd degree homicide”?

    Either way, it is kind of mind-boggling that the NRA and other groups can’t weigh in on the ‘responsibility’ side of the ‘right’ to bear arms once in a while. Most hunters I know – all of them NRA members – will nearly kick a friend’s or relative’s ass if the friend or relative is being stupid with a weapon, “stupid” being defined in multiple ways that I agree with.

  152. 152.

    Chyron HR

    @jl:

    If the senator from Vermont is so popular, why does he need to keep sending you guys over here to demand that we love him?

  153. 153.

    mai naem mobile

    I don’t know why all these tech execs look so glum. Dolt is going to give them nice big fat tax cuts , Tim Cook and his Apple will get a nice big fat reward for not paying their taxes and Dolt will let them become even bigger companies because Dolt ain’t going to care about anti trust…as long as he gets a small ‘fee’ for services rendered.

  154. 154.

    jl

    God damn it. If I mention Sanders in any other context than to damn him I get flack from the anti-Sanders squad.
    If i mention Hillary Clinton, sooner or later a pro-Sanders troll will show up to make a stink about that.
    Can’t even put their names in a damned joke.

    Some of you people have lost your damned minds over the Hillary/Sanders. feud.

  157. 157.

    jl

    @Chyron HR: ” he need to keep sending you guys ” Really?

    I’m out again for awhile. Some of the childishness on this blog is very hard to swallow.

  158. 158.

    Mnemosyne

    @hovercraft:

    There was an article in the Atlantic a month or two ago by a guy whose parents brought a servant over from the Philippines who was basically the family’s slave for her whole life. The best he felt he could do was start paying her an actual salary when he “inherited” her after his mother’s death. It still happens.

  160. 160.

    efgoldman

    @jl:

    Some of the childishness on this blog is very hard to swallow.

    Is not. Neener neener

  162. 162.

    Jeffro

    @jl:

    Some of you people have lost your damned minds over the Hillary/Sanders. feud.

    There’s a feud?

    I hadn’t noticed. I’m too busy pounding on Republicans to notice, or care much. Plus I only get into it if it’s a feud between two actual Dems. ;)

  163. 163.

    artem1s

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    ETA: Also, I’d pay good money to hear Trump explain what “the cloud” is.

    is this the meme that finally supplants Senator Steven’s ‘series of tubes’

  166. 166.

    Kathleen

    @debbie: And the skies wept copiously over Cincinnati today. The cosmos made its statement.

    The Du Bose family attorney has some questions about a prosecution witness (police officer who investigated Du Bose’s murder) turning into defense witness during her testimony. He has submitted a letter to Cincinnati police chief with a list of questions about how Cincinnati Police handled its investigation. I’ve heard prosecutor has option for third trial.

    I’m sick and outraged but sadly not surprised. That combined with Rethugs’ launch of DeathCare v.ad nauseam.66 and arrest of people in wheel chairs plus Adam’s earlier thread has tilted my rage meter to eleventy.

  167. 167.

    Steeplejack

    @jl:

    Just to pile on: If you’re getting criticism, you’re taking flak. A flack is a P.R. person.

  168. 168.

    magurakurin

    @jl:

    Some of you people have lost your damned minds over the Hillary/Sanders. feud.

    life comes at you fast…need to update this…it’s the Pelosi/Sanders feud this week.

    America: Fucked Country
    Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate

  169. 169.

    Kathleen

    @efgoldman: It sounds like CBS is only major broadcast network that is covering shit, like the DeathCare bill and the protest yesterday. Even with Scott Pelley gone. Didn’t CBS lead the way with Watergate also? I seem to think it did but that was 40 years ago.

  171. 171.

    efgoldman

    @Mnemosyne:

    Freddie de Boer writes for Jacobin.

    Oh, are we calling that “writing” now?
    The definition has certainly expanded.

  172. 172.

    Kathleen

    @rikyrah: This a thousand times. Also, too, Bravo! for your post on Adam’s thread. I was too late to comment there. Also, kudos to Cheryl, Adam, Steve from Atl, and Patricia Kayden for their insights, along with the usual suspects. One of the best BJ threads I’ve read. Except for the Attack of the WouldaStalkers.

  173. 173.

    Mike J

    @Davebo:

    True but I’m fairly certain the contributions were tax deductible.

    Health care expenses are tax deductible too[1], surely you don’t call that federal funding of health care?

    [1] over a certain amount, etc, etc.

  175. 175.

    Kathleen

    @ruemara:

    A bit like one of those reptile births where you lay the egg and walk away just around hatching time.

    So that explains McConnell’s behavior?

  178. 178.

    efgoldman

    @Kathleen:

    Didn’t CBS lead the way with Watergate also? I seem to think it did but that was 40 years ago.

    All of the networks (TV and radio) covered the hearings wall to wall.
    Cronkite was the first national broadcast reporter to tell the truth (meaning, effectively, coming out against) the Vietnam war. When he did that, it encouraged the reporters on the ground, mostly Morley Safer to report the truth.
    Dan rather was the first reporter actually to confront Tricksie Dicksie “Mr President, are you a crook”? By then, most if the investigating was done, the two committees beavered away, and Judge Sirica was throwing people in the clink.

  179. 179.

    RedDirtGirl

    New York area Balloon Juicers: in observance of my birthday week I’m throwing myself a surprise party!
    It’s at Sunny’s Bar in Redhook (link below). The weekly bluegrass jam starts at 9pm and it’s beautiful space. So…
    You are invited to my
    Surprise*
    Potluck**
    52nd Birthday
    Party
    this Saturday,
    the 24th
    at sunnysredhook.com.

    * I’ll be there for the weekly bluegrass jam that starts at 9pm. If you are in the tri-state area/general vicinity, please come by!

    ** bring a SMALL, shareable treat.

    Now don’t spoil the surprise by RSVPing!

  180. 180.

    Kathleen

    @Mnemosyne: Evidently Heller, a Rethug Senator from Nevada, has announced he opposes Death.Care V.666 and will be hit with negative ads.

  184. 184.

    Mnemosyne

    @Kathleen:

    We got it straightened out — we were talking about different things.

    Nevada is rapidly turning blue, so Heller is running scared since he’s up for re-election in 2018.

  190. 190.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @efgoldman:

    I had only recently become the host of the afternoon concert classical music program on WUSF, and I can remember being both thoroughly pissed off that the Watergate Hearings were obliterating my air time, and simultaneously riveted at the disclosures from and analysis of the day’s news. Fascinating times.

  191. 191.

    efgoldman

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I can remember being both thoroughly pissed off that the Watergate Hearings were obliterating my air time, and simultaneously riveted at the disclosures from and analysis of the day’s news. Fascinating times.

    I was still in the record business (I didn’t get back on the radio until the winter of ’76-’77), I had a tuner and system in my office, and when I didn’t have to be listening to test pressings or tapes, I had the hearings on.
    The Brown U station ran them wall to wall

  192. 192.

    Mike G

    “Government needs to catch up with the technology revolution,” said Mr. Trump…

    …who knows jack-shit about technology.

  195. 195.

    Amir Khalid

    @debbie:
    The photo proves that
    — Trump sucks at tennis (that follow-through looks like he just messed up a lob)
    — Trump has no room under his clothes for a bulletproof vest

Comments are closed.