I’m of the opinion that establishment media doth protest too much about its powerlessness in the face of Trump and the right-wing echo chamber. Atrios:
Those of us with long memories remember how, at best, you would find one lonely Clinton defender against 3 or more rabid antagonists during Monica Madness (at best, as often that lonely defender was basically saying, “Well, I’m not sure why should actually have him executed…”). Remember, of course, that the public was against impeachment and Clinton was popular during this time. Or during the Iraq war, when there was a similar dynamic. Or during the Bush administration, when the Republicans/Conservatives were over represented on the Sunday shows because they ran the government, and then during the Obama administration they were over represented because they didn’t.
I don’t think it’s the case that Trump gets good press… I mean, even that would be an effort too far… But there have been about 15 events which for a Democratic president would have inspired a return to Monica Madness (including, as keeps being hinted at, Trump’s own Monica, about which I know nothing and I don’t really care but who reporters keep dropping clues about), an OJ-level feeding frenzy of endless coverage from which the only conclusion allowed would be “he must be resign.”
For several months in 1998, we were told, by “straight” journalists, wingers, and even-the-liberals alike that Bill Clinton needed to resign because he lied about getting a blow job from an intern. That happened.
Has even one person on cable tv said that Trump needed to resign for firing Comey, tweeting about firing Mueller, lying about a million different things, etc. etc. etc.?
No, and they never will. Not even if they find a tape of him agreeing to lift sanctions on Russia if Putin agrees to not to drop the pee pee tape.
lollipopguild
Trump could give Alaska back to the Russians as a “gift” to his best friend Vlad and certain people would applaud and cheer. Winning! and MAGA!
Miss Bianca
I see what you did there, Doug.
BBA
@lollipopguild: Two fewer safe Republican seats in the Senate, I count that as a win…no wait, Putin would get the seats too, wouldn’t he.
…eh, the United Russia Party still isn’t quite as bad as the GOP.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Josh Marshall said years ago that Washington is wired for Republicans. There are a lot of factors to it, but Russia-trump is some kind of wild metastasizing of the problem. Just compare it to the way they were able to blow up Benghazi in a way that would’ve been comical if it weren’t so sick. From the “President didn’t call it terrorism” to a year later none other than St McCain tried to argue that calling it “an act of terror” was different than calling it terrorism. Then it was Susan Rice and the talking points, then it was Hillary Clinton and email, then it was Hillary Clinton and Sidney Blumenthal, then it was Hillary Clinton and email again, and something about a movie running all the way through it. “UNANSWERED QUESTIONS! SHADOWS CAST! PERSISTENT DOUBTS!”. Now we have the president’s three top advisors seeking to collude with Russia, and we’re supposed to move on and let the process work itself out(even while they brag about Romney calling out Russia five years ago)
Doug!
@Miss Bianca:
Always loved that song. Glad somebody caught the reference.
BubbaDave
I’d applaud. Two fewer Republican senators and the impeachment threshold drops from 67 to 66. Now, if we can trick Vlad into taking Wyoming and West Virginia and Alabama…
ArchTeryx
@Miss Bianca: I smell smoke in the auditorium?
zhena gogolia
I see everything through the lens of Trump now. We were just watching some cool cats dancing to Gene Vincent in Hot Rod Gang, and I said, “They’re white America getting ready for Trump to MAGA.” Gaaah! Why can’t I even enjoy a 1958 John Ashley movie?
James Powell
It’s been clear since the early days of the campaign that the press/media would never treat anything that Trump did or said with the frenzy that they would fly into for a Democrat. The Pearl Harbor treatment they gave to Comey’s letter shows this is so.
Kevin Drum has called it a hack gap, but the reality is that every significant source of information about American politics is either Republican or fanatical right wing Republican. There is nothing we can do about this unless and until someone else owns the NYT or CNN.
Yarrow
Since the thread tag is “Assholes,” this might be appropriate:
“A little time off.” Is that what they call pre-resignation these days?
rikyrah
Yashar Ali
✔
@yashar
News: Ivanka Trump has retained a criminal defense attorney, same as her husband…Abbe Lowell
Jay S
Hey now, giving Alaska to Russia would take their high health care costs off the ledger. Winning!
Doug!
@ArchTeryx:
Devil with a blue dress.
rikyrah
@Yarrow:
1. He was never the Secretary of State.
2. He is the Secretary of Exxon.
3. His only reason for taking the job was to get the sanctions on Russia dropped. That’s why Vlad chose him.
4. Oh, to be an unqualified mediocre White Man.
5. He ain’t done shyt. How can he be tired?
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
-Jello Biafra
ArchTeryx
@Doug!: Great song! Thanks for introducing me to it.
So appropriate considering how the media treated Hillary Clinton as you said in your OP.
zhena gogolia
@ArchTeryx:
Why’s everybody always picking on me?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Nate Silver:
ArchTeryx
@zhena gogolia: Shoulda known it wasn’t the Coasters song. That one was just plain fun, and one of the better doo-wop songs to come out of the 50s.
Yarrow
@rikyrah: He’s got to be scared because he hasn’t delivered dropping sanctions for his good buddy Vlad. Or maybe he’s defecting to Russia. Going to his dacha on his vacation?
Omnes Omnibus
@rikyrah: I agree with most of what you are saying, but he is officially the SoS.
Jeffro
First 24/7 news channel to play “Flip It’ not only wins my eyeballs for advertisers, but they can have my babies, too.
What’s “Flip It”, you might ask? It’s where the channel shows something that the GOP does – like holding a health care bill vote on a health care bill that no one knows what’s in – and says, “ok, ‘Flip It’! What would be the Republican reaction if the Dems pulled this kind of crazy shit?”
Or, the channel just runs a clip of the president* firing the FBI Director for refusing to halt an investigation into that president’s* campaign, advisors, and financing from a hostile foreign power. ‘Flip It!’ What would the GOP do if Hillary not only got in power with the assistance of Chinese intelligence but tried to STAY in power by firing the FBI Director for continuing to let investigators look into those links to China?
The great thing is, you can play “Flip It!” with non-governmental officials too! Just picture a left-wing radio talk show host getting his listeners so riled up about nonsense that they actually. believed. Donald Trump and Reince Priebus were running some sort of child abusing ring out of the basement of a DC falafel shop? Think that host might be up on FCC charges, picketing protestors, full-on advertiser boycotts, the works?
“Flip It!” Unfortunately, it’s NOT sweeping the nation…yet…
Flip It!
GregB
Tillerson is going to spend some time scraping shit off of his heels.
Mnemosyne
I decided to do a little retail therapy after work today to take the edge off my blinding rage. I was able to buy enough school supplies for 6 primary schoolers for about $50. Staples is THE shiznit when it comes to school supply sales. They have some amazing deals.
I’m still pissed off, but at least some local kids will be able to have school supplies.
Villago Delenda Est
I will never forget, or forgive, Sam Donaldson’s glee that “Clinton must resign!” in the wake of the Monica explosion.
He needs to die an agonizing death for that.
khead
I’ve been on an Internet rampage all evening. I finally settled down with a drink and my kittehs.
So, have a kitteh pic.
Villago Delenda Est
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: My nym. Again and again.
Wipe them out. All of them.
Mnemosyne
@Villago Delenda Est:
I had no idea Sam Donaldson was still alive. I thought he died a decade ago. Too bad.
Donaldson was the driving force behind the Travelgate “scandal” during the Clinton years. He insisted that an admitted embezzler be re-instated as the head of the White House travel department because Donaldson liked the cushy arrangements the guy made for him. What’s a little theft of federal money between friends, amirite?
Mike J
With a Democrat in the White House who acted like Trump, NBC, ABC, and CBS would all have started running hour long impeachment watch newscasts in the 11:30 slot a la the hostage crisis.
Not that anybody under 85 would care what NBC, ABC, and CBS did, but the media would feel very self righteous.
Villago Delenda Est
@Mnemosyne: 83 and still alive in El Paso. I read some time back that he has a sheep ranch that benefits from government subsidies.
khead
@Mnemosyne:
He’s been dead for awhile. It’s only his eyebrows that are still alive.
gbbalto
If this is real, we may just be headed towards Radio Rwanda…
ETA maybe not that bad yet, but this is incitement for violence
Yarrow
@Mnemosyne: Good for you for helping the kids. But even that is maddening. We live in a very wealthy country. We shouldn’t have so many families that can’t afford school supplies for their kids. Hoping enough kind strangers step up to donate school supplies in a large enough amount so that every kid has them is just a terrible indictment of our country.
burnspbesq
@rikyrah:
That’s hard to believe. The conflicts of interest are insoluble. You don’t even have to reach the question of whether either of them is capable of making a knowing and intelligent waiver.
Mnemosyne
@Yarrow:
I live in a large urban area, so the poor will always be with us. The Giant Evil Corporation I work for does a ton of charitable work every year and gives us incentives to volunteer and donate.
I love buying school supplies anyway, so I always go a little nuts. The kid who gets the backpack I filled for her will probably throw her back out, but all of the other kids will be jealous of her haul. ?
Villago Delenda Est
@burnspbesq: These are Trumps. They’re idiots.
Omnes Omnibus
@burnspbesq: Lowell won’t take both without a knowing waiver.
ThresherK
@Mnemosyne: “Fast-talking slow thinking Beltway Inbred Mohair Sam”?
(I know, it’s not a Coasters song, but isn’t fiscally prudent Sam Donaldson still running his mohair subsidy to $250k a year?)
sharl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Ah, I was hoping someone had posted Nate Silver’s mini-rant over here. Well done, Sir.
burnspbesq
@Villago Delenda Est:
Lowell is not. It’s inevitable that someday he will have to counsel one or the other of them about the advantages of rolling over on the other. At that point, the rules are clear: you have to resign from both representations. So why gamble with your professional reputation when you don’t need the money?
burnspbesq
@Omnes Omnibus:
The rule says knowing and intelligent.
Barbara
@burnspbesq: It is okay at first when you are mostly responding to document requests but later when they ask which spouse wants to volunteer to be the one to do time, then generally, separate counsel is a must.
Mnemosyne
@ThresherK:
I wouldn’t know, I’m allergic to mohair. ?
Yarrow
@Mnemosyne: That sounds awesome for the kid who gets your backpack. I wonder if a country like Finland that values its teachers and pays them high wages also has to have people donate school supplies. I have a Finnish acquaintance. Maybe I’ll ask her. She is horrified by the public school options here for her son.
burnspbesq
You knew this wascoming.
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/343826-house-to-vote-on-proposals-taking-aim-at-cbo
Mnemosyne
@Yarrow:
I doubt that even Finland has managed to completely eliminate the need for charity. There’s always something special that somebody needs.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@burnspbesq:
What a fucking liar. They’re fascists trying to tear anything that stands in their way down. Without the CBO, Its unlikely they would have faced as much pushback on their ACA repeal efforts
I’m reminded of pre-ACW efforts by southern congressmen to silence their anti-slavery opposition with procedural tricks like the gag rule. They haven’t changed at all in 160+ years
seaboogie
@Mnemosyne: Good for you! One of my most favorite ever commercials was the one Staples did for Back To School with parents joyfully riding shopping carts ? to the tune of “Its the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”, while sad children followed behind, slowly and mournfully. Not a parent, but I empathize.
Mnemosyne
@seaboogie:
I loved that commercial! I assume we were supposed to think the parents were excited that the kids were going back to school and not that they were excited about the school supplies, but I always read it differently. ?
I’m pretty much a straight-up stationery addict, so it really is the most wonderful time of the year for me even though I don’t have kids.
Yarrow
@Mnemosyne: Oh, sure. But buying something special vs buying basic supplies because people can’t afford to buy them for their kids isn’t the same thing. It makes me sad to see all the stores begging people to buy school supplies for needy kids. There shouldn’t be so many needy kids!
Felonius Monk
@Mnemosyne:
I share your addiction. Next month I’ll be shopping for the 10 cent comp books, erasers, more pens, etc. Just can’t help it. I never looked at it as an addiction, but I think you are right. It is. :)
Mnemosyne
@Felonius Monk:
Start looking in the stores now — in this area, we have some year-round schools, so the good sales have already started. Staples has spiral notebooks for 25 cents and composition notebooks for 50 cents, and that’s just the start.
@Yarrow:
I get what you’re saying, but I can’t let thoughts like that stop me from doing my bit. I can walk and chew gum at the same time, so I can work to make things more equitable in the future while taking care of urgent current needs.
Steeplejack
@Mnemosyne:
Stationery addict here, somewhat stunted by being left-handed, so all those beautiful fountain pens were problematic. Also, trying to write in notebooks left-handed.
Mnemosyne
@Steeplejack:
I’m left-handed, too, which is why I love composition books so much — no annoying spirals. And when I was in college top-bound spiral notebooks started becoming more common, which made my notetaking life a lot easier.
I discovered Uniball gel pens recently and LOVE THEM. No more ink smudges on the side of my hand. They really do dry that fast.
seaboogie
@Steeplejack: I enjoyed eight years of slyly commenting “This country has come so far that we’ve even elected a left-handed President!”.
My boss is left-handed and has the most beautiful handwriting, but pen and ink/anything with a nib not possible for her.
Steeplejack
@Mnemosyne:
Yeah, gel pens have been a godsend. Any Pilot G-2 is good too.
Writing on pads is still hard. A right hand is braced on the page and pulls the pen across the line, whereas a left hand starts off the edge in space and is pushing the pain across the line.
Steeplejack
@Mnemosyne:
Also, eagerly awaiting delivery of my Asus Flip on Friday. Got a pretty good deal on the 4G/32G model from CDW.
Mnemosyne
@Steeplejack:
My one complaint about it is that it’s pretty heavy for its small size — it weighs about the same as my MacBook (3 lbs). But it’s built to be as indestructible as possible, so it’s heavy.
And the trackpad can be a little wonky, but if it starts to bug me too much, I’ll plug in a mouse.
Steeplejack
@seaboogie:
Yeah, that’s why I was an early adopter of typing. And the advent of computers was a great help too.
Now I hardly have to write anything beyond my signature and occasional illegible notes to myself, although I do keep a paper Week-at-a-Glance calendar instead of doing it on my computer or tablet. And I’ve always got various Moleskines and other little notebooks lying around. Can’t seem to resist them. And pens. Mmm, JetPens.
Steeplejack
@Mnemosyne:
How do you like the keyboard after using it for a while?
Mnemosyne
@Steeplejack:
It’s not as bad as I feared. It’s still not quite as good as a full-size keyboard would be, but it’s definitely useable. I went to a write-in with my RWA group last Sunday and wrote 1,500 words on it in about an hour without much trouble.
And I just found out the hard way that it seems fairly impervious to cat vomit. ? I took the hardshell cover off, wiped the unit down with rubbing alcohol and a cotton pad, and all seems fine. The flip screen hinge came in handy for getting it completely cleaned up.
Steeplejack
@Mnemosyne:
Cool. I don’t expect the greatest keyboard ever, just something to spare me from thumb-typing or voice-to-text editing.
WaterGirl
@burnspbesq: For what it’s worth I had read earlier today, either on BJ or through a link on a BJ thread, that she hired an attorney but that she was not using the same attorney as her husband. For obvious reasons.
WaterGirl
@Mnemosyne: Damn you! I didn’t even know what wash tape was until I clicked your link, and now I have 3 sets in my cart on amazon waiting until I get paid on the 1st.
I, um, might have resembled a surprising number of the items on the list.