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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Excellent Links / Open Thread: G.O.P. – Gutless On Principle

Open Thread: G.O.P. – Gutless On Principle

by Anne Laurie|  August 27, 20172:11 pm| 134 Comments

This post is in: Excellent Links, Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Ever Get The Feeling You've Been Cheated?, I'm Too Big To Cry/Hurts Too Much To Laugh

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The sacrifices that Gary Cohn has made … https://t.co/uZzRGJfyC5 pic.twitter.com/fJnrRMteDz

— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) August 25, 2017

Gary Cohn is a shonda fur die Hamptons. https://t.co/AHKjyZKYYy

— Robert Mickey (@robmickey) August 25, 2017

"I am announcing that I am resigned. Not from the Trump administration, though. To it." https://t.co/h3iM9a4iLb

— Carlos Lozada (@CarlosLozadaWP) August 25, 2017

The Washington Post‘s Alexandra Petri is a very funny, and wise, woman:

… I can say it in no uncertain terms: Everything this administration does makes me sick.

I am absolutely disgusted with everything going on the White House right now. Several times daily, I must run out of a meeting of the National Economic Council to vomit into a wastepaper basket. (Sometimes, weeks later, I am chagrined to discover one of these papers being presented as a policy proposal.) This cannot go on any longer.

Everyone has told me that I should resign. Random members of the media. My wife. People whom I did not even realize knew my name.

I am under tremendous pressure. I have done everything I can. I have privately described myself off the record as sickened and appalled. What more do you want from me? An actual letter of resignation? Well, I have certainly drafted one. I can draft another. Really I can do anything with a letter of resignation other than send one…

How can anyone weigh these things? On the one hand, the president continually equates the KKK, white supremacists and neo-Nazis with those who protest against them. This is harmful and outrageous, and I have already denounced it in no uncertain terms, on background, to members of the media, through third parties!

But then, on the other hand, there is the theoretical possibility of passing tax reforms that might lower the base tax rate for corporations. They say, you can’t stand by while they attack your people and President Trump defends them. I say: Corporations are my people, too…

There is a reason I have let every media outlet know — secondhand — that I am “disgusted” and “frantically unhappy” and, at this moment, drafting a stern and strongly worded letter of resignation. Because I intend to do nothing. Also, I love drafting letters and never sending them. It is very cathartic. You get to feel as though you’ve made a beautifully worded statement of moral principle, but then in actual reality you haven’t…

At least Cohn can take solace in knowing he’s far from alone:

We asked 146 GOP officials about Trump's Charlottesville response. Just 7 were critical. My story w/ @elainejgodfrey https://t.co/1S7sZCUlok

— McKay Coppins (@mckaycoppins) August 24, 2017

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Reader Interactions

134Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    August 27, 2017 at 2:13 pm

    I thought Cohn was a Dem. That’s why he’s getting pressure.

  2. 2.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    August 27, 2017 at 2:14 pm

    As Ron Weasley said, “Heart of a lion, that one….”

  3. 3.

    trollhattan

    August 27, 2017 at 2:15 pm

    Seven of 146, I can practically smell the pivot from here.

    Republicans always fall in line.

  4. 4.

    JGabriel

    August 27, 2017 at 2:17 pm

    McKay Coppins via Anne Laurie @ Top:

    We asked 146 GOP officials about Trump’s Charlottesville response. Just 7 were critical.

    Republicans are who we thought they are – at least 139 of them, anyway.

  5. 5.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    August 27, 2017 at 2:17 pm

    @Baud:

    There should be a new party, the IFM’s: In It For Me.

  6. 6.

    Baud

    August 27, 2017 at 2:18 pm

    @West of the Rockies (been a while): How would that be different from the GOP?

  7. 7.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    August 27, 2017 at 2:18 pm

    @JGabriel:

    Yup. When someone shows you who they are, believe them.

  8. 8.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    August 27, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    @Baud:

    Pretty much the same thing, minus the overt racism.

  9. 9.

    clay

    August 27, 2017 at 2:25 pm

    @West of the Rockies (been a while): So, the GOP pre-2015?

  10. 10.

    Chet Murthy

    August 27, 2017 at 2:27 pm

    @clay:

    So, the GOP pre-20151980?

    FTFY. [tho maybe that should be 1972?]

  11. 11.

    Frankensteinbeck

    August 27, 2017 at 2:28 pm

    @trollhattan:
    Until they don’t, and the ACA fails to be repealed. It is far from impossible that they flip, because while the base will stick to Trump, the base won’t stop voting Republican and they may see Trump making everyone else turn out to vote against Republicans in greater numbers. They also really, really fucking hate him. I think what is currently keeping Trump in power is that elected Republicans are desperate to maintain the pretense of legitimacy.

  12. 12.

    Frankensteinbeck

    August 27, 2017 at 2:30 pm

    @Chet Murthy:
    1980 was when, instead of changing their racist policies, they convinced the vast majority of white people that nothing counted as racist unless you specifically said you hate black people.

  13. 13.

    Baud

    August 27, 2017 at 2:32 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: Right. It depends on how much weight you give to “overt.”

  14. 14.

    Jeffro

    August 27, 2017 at 2:33 pm

    @trollhattan: they may not like it but the GOP is the party of trump now… if they had any principles they would join the Democrats or start their own party

    There are worse things, Republicans. Like that one tweeter said: she may be wearing a $10 dress but at least she doesn’t have to fuck Steve Mnunchin. Toadying up to Trumpov is the same thing

  15. 15.

    lamh36

    August 27, 2017 at 2:33 pm

    @KHOU 48m48 minutes ago
    More
    JUST IN: Ben Taub hospital is being evacuated http://on.khou.com/2wSHlhT

  16. 16.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 27, 2017 at 2:36 pm

    Profiles in courage….

    @Frankensteinbeck: There is the McCaskill/ Akins scenario.

  17. 17.

    ? Martin

    August 27, 2017 at 2:38 pm

    While the elected officials deserve all the condemnation they get, let’s not overlook that fact that they’re just making a political calculation here. There are just enough GOP voters that support Trumps statements to primary them out. Their problem is that Trump created a massive, bright line wedge issue against his own party. He’s forcing his own party to make a clear declaration for or against institutional racism, which should be a no-brainer, except that 27% of the electorate is enough to knock you out of office – and they know that.

    If we want less racist elected officials, we need to get less racist voters.

  18. 18.

    Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)

    August 27, 2017 at 2:39 pm

    @West of the Rockies (been a while): If I know my zoology correctly lions actually have fairly weak hearts, thus the terrible stamina.

  19. 19.

    lamh36

    August 27, 2017 at 2:41 pm

    @abc13houston
    20-25 residents of La Vita Bella nursing home were safely evacuated from the rising water in Dickinson, according to @GalvestonOEM.
    1:17 PM – Aug 27, 2017
    https://twitter.com/abc13houston/status/901871286661644288

    Thank goodness they were able to get help. It was interesting folks rather believe it was fake than realization that yes alot of time the elderly are the last to get help. There was almost as many responses calling the pic photoshopped or trying to prove it was fake…as folk retweeting for someone to help

    Many of these nursing homes are no more than storage warehouse for the elderly.

    Before my mom had her heart attack, she working in a number of nursing homes and some of those places were doozies..

  20. 20.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 27, 2017 at 2:43 pm

    @Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD): That is correct and why they generally hunt at night when temps are cooler.

  21. 21.

    germy

    August 27, 2017 at 2:44 pm

    Susan Bro, Heather Heyer's mom, will present the 'Best Fight Against the System' award at the MTV VMAs tonight. https://t.co/bGg4m0lQva— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 27, 2017

  22. 22.

    germy

    August 27, 2017 at 2:45 pm

    Paul Ryan "does not agree with the decision" to pardon Arpaio. https://t.co/cy7qO7Tcr4— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 26, 2017

  23. 23.

    Smiling Mortician

    August 27, 2017 at 2:48 pm

    OT, just dropping in to say my first round of chemo (or, as my hip Seattle doctors call it, “infusion,” probably because it sounds like coffee) went well yesterday. I’m home and feeling fine so far. Not trying to threadjack — just wanted to update all of you who have been so kind in asking how I’m doing and sending me positive thoughts.

  24. 24.

    germy

    August 27, 2017 at 2:50 pm

    @Smiling Mortician: good news.

  25. 25.

    Kay

    August 27, 2017 at 2:50 pm

    In shocking news, Ivanka Trump’s business partner is a crook:

    Trump’s relationship with Lax and the mountain of legal and financial troubles—reported here for the first time based on dozens of interviews and public records—raise serious questions about the first daughter’s judgment, even as she continues to serve as a powerful White House adviser. In response to detailed questions sent to the White House and the Trump Organization, White House spokesman Josh Raffel requested more information about this article but did not provide comment.

    Apparently no one bothered to vet the President’s daughter when they gave her the job in the administration. Imagine if we started looking at Trump’s business partners! That would be amazing.

  26. 26.

    germy

    August 27, 2017 at 2:52 pm

    SEIU, one of the country's biggest unions, will spend millions in 2018 to retake the midwest from Republicans. https://t.co/QmCaGCQJXr— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 27, 2017

  27. 27.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    August 27, 2017 at 2:52 pm

    @Smiling Mortician:

    Positive wishes for health and comfort coming your way through cyberspace.

  28. 28.

    Kay

    August 27, 2017 at 2:53 pm

    Imagine if Michelle Obama had had a crook for a business partner. We would hear about nothing else.

  29. 29.

    trollhattan

    August 27, 2017 at 2:54 pm

    @Kay:
    Good thing I’m sitting while reading that. Whew, that was close!

    For everything the Russians have on the Trump mob, I wonder what the Chinese have on Ivanka?

  30. 30.

    SFAW

    August 27, 2017 at 2:55 pm

    @Smiling Mortician:

    Glad to hear it went well. Looking forward to your “The chemo got it all” (or similar) post.

  31. 31.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 27, 2017 at 2:57 pm

    @Kay: Imagine if Malia and Sasha rolled their eyes at the traditional pardoning of a turkey.

  32. 32.

    zhena gogolia

    August 27, 2017 at 2:57 pm

    @Smiling Mortician:

    Sent prayers your way in church this morning. No matter what you believe, it can’t hurt!

  33. 33.

    SFAW

    August 27, 2017 at 2:57 pm

    @Kay:

    Imagine if we started looking at Trump’s business partners!

    Well, if the Malevolent KKKeebler Elf is “leading” the investigation, it will be “Nothing to see here! Move along, folks!”

  34. 34.

    SFAW

    August 27, 2017 at 2:59 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Imagine if Malia and Sasha rolled their eyes at the traditional pardoning of a turkey.

    I would be able to hear the screams of the RWNJs from my window (in the heart of Blue Massachusetts).

  35. 35.

    trollhattan

    August 27, 2017 at 3:00 pm

    @Smiling Mortician:
    Thanks for the update and continued best wishes to you! And yeah, hipster Seattle doctors. :-)

  36. 36.

    Gin & Tonic

    August 27, 2017 at 3:04 pm

    @germy: Imagine if this Paul Ryan guy were in charge of a co-equal branch of government. Then he could actually do something other than disagree.

  37. 37.

    Amir Khalid

    August 27, 2017 at 3:06 pm

    @Smiling Mortician:
    It’s good to hear that you have a positive feeling about your chemotherapy. Yes, do let us know how it’s going. We’re a caring bunch of jackals.

  38. 38.

    germy

    August 27, 2017 at 3:08 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Imagine if this Paul Ryan guy were in charge of a co-equal branch of government. Then he could actually do something other than disagree.

    Sadly, there’s nothing he can do.

  39. 39.

    Brachiator

    August 27, 2017 at 3:12 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    That is correct and why they generally hunt at night when temps are cooler.

    Lions are nocturnal, bordering on crepuscular. They pretty much do everything at night.

  40. 40.

    Mnemosyne

    August 27, 2017 at 3:12 pm

    I would get so much more done on the weekend if our cat Charlotte didn’t think I was the world’s most comfortable pillow. There are few things more difficult than dragging oneself out from under a purring cat. ?

  41. 41.

    Brachiator

    August 27, 2017 at 3:13 pm

    @Smiling Mortician: Great news! My best wishes to you.

  42. 42.

    TriassicSands

    August 27, 2017 at 3:15 pm

    @Smiling Mortician:

    That’s good news. I hope you continue to feel OK.

    (Where are you being treated?)

  43. 43.

    The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion

    August 27, 2017 at 3:15 pm

    @Smiling Mortician: You are in my prayers. (Hey, they can’t hurt!)

  44. 44.

    JGabriel

    August 27, 2017 at 3:17 pm

    After years of TV, cable, and newspaper pundits asking “Will (insert pseudo-scandal made up by Republicans) be Obama’s Katrina?” I can’t help but wonder why I’m not seeing anyone ask, “Will Harvey be Trump’s Katrina?”

    Is it happening and I just missed it?

  45. 45.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 27, 2017 at 3:18 pm

    @Brachiator: And their hearts are not strong enough to withstand the rigors and heat of daytime hunting because of it.

    ETA

    They pretty much do everything at night.

    Except sleep. They save the daytime hours for that.

  46. 46.

    Patricia Kayden

    August 27, 2017 at 3:18 pm

    @Smiling Mortician: So glad to hear this good news. Wishing you all the best.

  47. 47.

    Patricia Kayden

    August 27, 2017 at 3:20 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: Or President Obama wore a tan suit!!!

  48. 48.

    Chet Murthy

    August 27, 2017 at 3:21 pm

    @JGabriel: PBHO having a “Katrina” would have been a dog-bites-man moment. Newsworthy. Putinfluffer is his *own* Katrina. dog-bites-man. Nothing newsworthy about it, uh, unless you care about the fate of our nation, humanity, etc. In which case, Debbie Downer!

  49. 49.

    Amir Khalid

    August 27, 2017 at 3:25 pm

    @JGabriel:
    Does a Katrina-level event really need to happen to expose Trump’s administration as remote, uncaring, and inept? People already know that, surely.

  50. 50.

    MattF

    August 27, 2017 at 3:27 pm

    See, Trump believes that he can do evil and has no doubt that he will get away with it. After all, he thinks, who could successfully punish the Donald? Republicans? Ha ha. Democrats? Ha ha. It’s inconceiveable. He believes he’s invulnerable.

    I’ll add, for the record, and so I won’t be misunderstood, that in the real world, the world is what it is, and no one is invulnerable. And Trump’s ‘competence’ is a mirage that takes very special breakfast cereal super-glasses to perceive. And I believe that DJT will eventually encounter that truth. And I suspect that when that happens, the outcome won’t be pretty.

  51. 51.

    Brachiator

    August 27, 2017 at 3:30 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    And their hearts are not strong enough to withstand the rigors and heat of daytime hunting because of it.

    Why would anyone, except maybe dumbass humans, hunt in the daytime if they didn’t have to?

  52. 52.

    efgoldman

    August 27, 2017 at 3:31 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    their hearts are not strong enough to withstand the rigors and heat of daytime hunting because of it.

    So the cliche phrase “heart of a lion” is not only bad, lazy writing but totally 180 degrees wrong.
    And the king yclept “Richard Lionheart” probably would have preferred another nickname

  53. 53.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 27, 2017 at 3:32 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: SAY WHAT???!?!?!?!?!!!!????

  54. 54.

    JGabriel

    August 27, 2017 at 3:33 pm

    Amir Khalid:

    Does a Katrina-level event really need to happen to expose Trump’s administration as remote, uncaring, and inept? People already know that, surely.

    Obviously, we know that. I just want to make sure Trump is treated by the media with the same level of malevolence and second-guessing that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama experienced.

    Of course, it’s possible that even if Trump were treated that way, we wouldn’t notice because it would be deserved and accurate in his case, rather than seeming to be grotesquely unfair.

  55. 55.

    donnah

    August 27, 2017 at 3:35 pm

    Who coulda knowed that the Republicans would knowingly embrace the KKK and celebrate the gleeful devotion of their base? Trump has forced their hand, and they can no longer hide their racism. If Charlottesville wasn’t enough, then the pardon of Arpaio seals it.

    personally, it makes me want to throw up.

  56. 56.

    Just One More Canuck

    August 27, 2017 at 3:38 pm

    @Smiling Mortician: that’s excellent

  57. 57.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 27, 2017 at 3:39 pm

    @Brachiator: Cheetahs and leopards do, but me? Under the African savanna sun? I’ll lie down with the lions in the shade of an acacia tree thank you very much.

  58. 58.

    mai naem mobile

    August 27, 2017 at 3:42 pm

    Gary Cohn is a POS Goldman Sachs pig who wants his tax cuts, reversing the volcker rule and loosening the Frank Dodd rules. If I were the Democrats I would be running away from cohn because whatever disaster happens after will be blamed on Democrats because coh is a Democrat.

  59. 59.

    Schlemazel

    August 27, 2017 at 3:44 pm

    @Smiling Mortician:
    Thanks for keeping us up to date. I sure hope your ‘infusions’ are not too hard on you but kick the shit out of the cancer

  60. 60.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 27, 2017 at 3:46 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: One doesn’t really think of you as a lamb.

  61. 61.

    Schlemazel

    August 27, 2017 at 3:47 pm

    @JGabriel:
    Dolt45 doesn’t need a Katrina in order to show himself as an incompetent uncaring boob. But, no, nobody is mentioning that

  62. 62.

    Major Major Major Major

    August 27, 2017 at 3:47 pm

    Vancouver update: they’re filming Deadpool downtown, so random comic book things keep popping up. A huge militaryesque vehicle just took a police-led trip down the street. I’m off to the museum of anthropology, with a couple friends in tow so a cab is feasible, which will save many hours (1.2 of them). And really that’s what money is for. Reminds me of the Vonnegut quote, about the government: why should we throw money at problems? Because that is what money is for.

    picture of Deadpool vehicle

  63. 63.

    Suzanne

    August 27, 2017 at 3:55 pm

    @Smiling Mortician: Good to hear! Thanks for the update. Hang in there—and please don’t hesitate to come here to take a mental load off.

    In other news, Belen Sisa was just on MSNBC discussing the possible end of DACA. My fair city was in the background. The end of DACA would be devastating to Phoenix. Sigh.

  64. 64.

    Kathleen

    August 27, 2017 at 3:57 pm

    @Smiling Mortician: {{{{{Smiling Mortician}}}}}}. Glad to hear the good news.

  65. 65.

    Brachiator

    August 27, 2017 at 3:57 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    .Vancouver update: they’re filming Deadpool downtown, so random comic book things keep popping up. A huge militaryesque vehicle just took a police-led trip down the street.

    Very cool. A while back, on my commute, I realized that vehicles from the in production Dark Knight Rises were tucked away in a downtown LA parking lot. Got a couple of nice photos.

  66. 66.

    Major Major Major Major

    August 27, 2017 at 3:57 pm

    @Smiling Mortician: thanks for keeping us posted during such a busy and stressful time! As Suzanne said you’re always welcome to come and kvetch.

  67. 67.

    Zinsky

    August 27, 2017 at 3:58 pm

    When are people going to realize that the modern GOP is not a political party? It is a cult! Check out this list of cult characteristics and see how many apply: http://www.apologeticsindex.org/268-characteristics-of-cults

  68. 68.

    Kathleen

    August 27, 2017 at 4:01 pm

    @JGabriel: On the contrary, I’m sure some of our favorite pundits are poised to proclaim “Pivot” at the slightest provocation.

  69. 69.

    Brachiator

    August 27, 2017 at 4:02 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Cheetahs are diurnal, hunting in early morning and late afternoon. They still try to avoid max heat.

    I’ll lie down with the lions in the shade of an acacia tree thank you very much.

    Agreed!!

  70. 70.

    d58826

    August 27, 2017 at 4:03 pm

    Will Der Fuhrer thank Mexico if this is true

    Mexican Marines ARE helping rescue people in Texas right now
    Nasty in California added,
    Jesse BerneyVerified account @jesseberney
    Mexico sent people to help after Katrina.

    I remember Mexico helping after Katrina, along with a number of other countries. I think Cuba even offered to send medical teams

    https://twitter.com/CarlsbadDreamin/status/901895228021280768

  71. 71.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 27, 2017 at 4:06 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Baaaaahhhh.

    You here the one about the Vet who could understand animal speak?

    Farmer John called the vet to his farm to help with a few minor issues with his animals. The vet heads out to the field where the dairy cow is. He leans over the cows head and says, “How are things with you.” Appearing to listen intently he nods his head a few times and then turns to the farmer.

    “Bessie says that the hay is moldy and she would really appreciate it if you’d warm your hands before milking her on these cold winter mornings.”

    “She said that?”

    The vet nods his head and heads for the chickens scratching in the yard. Getting on his knees he goes thru the same process. After a bit he stands up and says, “They are all fairly happy but they would appreciate it if you freshened their water a little more often and would allow them to lay their eggs in privacy.”

    “They said all that?” the farmer asked incredulously.

    The vet nods and looking around he spots some sheep behind the barn and says, “Ah, let’s go see what they have to say…”

    Farmer John says, “Now hold on a minute, dem sheep lie!”

  72. 72.

    Just One More Canuck

    August 27, 2017 at 4:06 pm

    @d58826: I guess Mexico really does send their best, after all

  73. 73.

    Joy in FL

    August 27, 2017 at 4:06 pm

    @Smiling Mortician: Glad you’re doing ok after the “infusion.” Please keep us posted.

  74. 74.

    trollhattan

    August 27, 2017 at 4:07 pm

    Meanwhile in Moscow, Vlad shows yet again why Donny {hearts} him so very much and wants to be just like him when he grows up to be a real president.

    Several people have reportedly been detained in Moscow at a sanctioned demonstration in support of internet freedom. One demonstrator was detained on Saturday while wearing a T-shirt reading, “Putin is worse than Hitler,” referring to President Vladimir Putin.

    Several other demonstrators were detained while wearing symbols supporting equal rights for the LGBT community. Some at the rally, which had been approved by local officials, shouted, “Russia will be free,” and “Russia without censorship.”

  75. 75.

    d58826

    August 27, 2017 at 4:08 pm

    @Just One More Canuck: They can offset the expenses being incurred against the bill for the wall (snark)

  76. 76.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 27, 2017 at 4:10 pm

    @Brachiator: Yeah, and after I posted that I got to thinking, leopards will hunt at night too. They’re really pretty opportunistic and not so easily categorized.

  77. 77.

    sukabi

    August 27, 2017 at 4:13 pm

    @Kay: birds of a feather, grifters gonna grift, I’m shocked, ECT, ECT, ECT.

    Why is this surprising to anyone?

    Pretty(ish) blonde women can’t be evil?

  78. 78.

    Major Major Major Major

    August 27, 2017 at 4:15 pm

    @Brachiator: some years back after a particularly excellent party in Potrero Hill, I crashed in the host’s spare bedroom. When I woke up the streets were trashed and people were walking around in biohazard gear. Turned out they were filming Contagion, but that was quite the thing to see with a hangover and before my coffee.

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    August 27, 2017 at 4:26 pm

    @Amir Khalid: People who are willing to know it, already know it. As for the unwilling, I’m not sure they will ever see it.

  80. 80.

    trollhattan

    August 27, 2017 at 4:27 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:
    Returning home from the Napa wine country very late I drove past this, which was lit up like day and seemed utterly illusory. “Cajun Sushi?!?” Turned up as a scene in “Howard the Duck” a year or two later.

  81. 81.

    SFAW

    August 27, 2017 at 4:31 pm

    @germy:

    Sadly, there’s nothing he can do.

    Oh, bullshit.

    If he were sincere, for starters, he could call either Lindsey Graham or John McCain, and ask them for tip and techniques on furrowing his brow ever-so-deeply. And don’t get me going on him learning how to write a strongly-worded letter!

  82. 82.

    WaterGirl

    August 27, 2017 at 4:31 pm

    @Smiling Mortician: I am glad to hear you made it through the first treatment and are doing well. Thanks so much for the report!

  83. 83.

    WaterGirl

    August 27, 2017 at 4:33 pm

    @d58826: Half price on the wall if you help with the hurricane!

  84. 84.

    SFBayAreaGal

    August 27, 2017 at 4:34 pm

    @lamh36: One of many jobs my mom worked throughout her life was in a senior care facility. She stated she did not want to end up in one. We promised it wouldn’t happen and we were able to keep our promise.

  85. 85.

    WaterGirl

    August 27, 2017 at 4:37 pm

    @SFAW: Why, oh why, do these majority leaders of the House and Senate spend so much time telling us how helpless and impotent they are??? Do they not listen even to themselves?

  86. 86.

    Fair Economist

    August 27, 2017 at 4:40 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Why, oh why, do these majority leaders of the House and Senate spend so much time telling us how helpless and impotent they are??? Do they not listen even to themselves?

    Does anybody else listen to them either?

  87. 87.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    August 27, 2017 at 4:44 pm

    @d58826:

    But, but I thought Mexico wasn’t sending their best people?!? However is a Trump supporter supposed to assimilate such news?

  88. 88.

    MisterForkbeard

    August 27, 2017 at 4:45 pm

    @trollhattan: That stuff exists out here. In Santa Rosa there’s a tex-mex sushi joint. Which is… honestly a pretty good place to take out of towners that don’t like sushi.

    But it’s weird. Very weird.

  89. 89.

    Brachiator

    August 27, 2017 at 4:47 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    .Turned out they were filming Contagion, but that was quite the thing to see with a hangover and before my coffee.

    Great story. I’ve bumped into film shoots, but nothing so initially disorienting.

  90. 90.

    sukabi

    August 27, 2017 at 4:47 pm

    Mass resignations on Friday among top state department officials.

  91. 91.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    August 27, 2017 at 4:48 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Kind of maudlin, but in younger years I would regard the horrible people of the world and take comfort in knowing I’d likely live to see their deaths: Reagan, Limbaugh, Gingrich, the Ayatollah…

    I hope I see Putin croak.

  92. 92.

    sacrablue

    August 27, 2017 at 4:51 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: Is it that crappy Guy Fieri restaurant?

  93. 93.

    Mnemosyne

    August 27, 2017 at 4:54 pm

    @Smiling Mortician:

    Hooray! I’ve been told that chemo gets tougher as time goes on, but at least you live in a state where you can use marijuana to mitigate some of the side effects and not worry about being arrested. ?

  94. 94.

    Smiling Mortician

    August 27, 2017 at 4:56 pm

    @TriassicSands: I’m at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, which is affiliated with the University of Washington Medical Center. They are the best.

    And all y’all jackals are a huge part of why I’m feeling happy right now. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

  95. 95.

    Insane Clown POTUS

    August 27, 2017 at 5:04 pm

    @Brachiator:
    I recently woke up to scattered gunshots, which turned to sustained automatic gunfire. Then there was a loud explosion. I was a little alarmed until I remembered seeing a notice announcing a Lethal Weapon (TV) shoot at the church across the street. That’s life in LA.

  96. 96.

    sacrablue

    August 27, 2017 at 5:07 pm

    @Smiling Mortician: Yeah, you! Glad you are handling your “infusion” so well. Keep smiling!

  97. 97.

    rikyrah

    August 27, 2017 at 5:09 pm

    EVERY FREEWAY IN HOUSTON IS UNDER WATER!

  98. 98.

    Geeno

    August 27, 2017 at 5:16 pm

    @Brachiator: I had read that they were mainly dawn/dusk active and otherwise getting their 20 hours of sleep per day.

  99. 99.

    d58826

    August 27, 2017 at 5:18 pm

    FFS the WH has announced Der Fuhrer is going to visit TX on Tuesday to review recovery efforts. It’s still supposed to be raining cats and dogs on Tuesday. Where is he going to land (fill in joke here)? The two airports in Houston are underwater, which means once the water subsides all of the underground electrical work has to be replaced. The last thing people need is the pomp and congestion of a presidential visit. Let things dry out for a few days.

    But Der Fuhrer can’t stand playing second fiddle to anything including a rain storm.

  100. 100.

    rikyrah

    August 27, 2017 at 5:19 pm

    Peter Daou
    ✔
    @peterdaou

    PURE GUILT: No coincidence the worse Trump’s presidency gets, the more indignantly Sanders/Stein diehards lash out. They know what they did.
    11:01 AM – Aug 27, 2017

  101. 101.

    d58826

    August 27, 2017 at 5:20 pm

    @Geeno: And the king of the Jungle lets the ladies do all of the hunting. They just show up for dinner and sex.

    Will leave that hanging curve for (in)appropriate comments :-)

  102. 102.

    rikyrah

    August 27, 2017 at 5:24 pm

    @Smiling Mortician:

    Sending you positive thoughts.

  103. 103.

    Geeno

    August 27, 2017 at 5:26 pm

    @d58826: On the other hand, the male lion isn’t there to hunt, he’s there to keep other lions from intruding on his pride’s hunting grounds. He doesn’t attack prey; he attacks predator.
    But that, of course, is not really applicable to primate behavior.
    Also, lions are savanna creatures, not jungle creatures. Solitary males will try to hunt from the cover of the brush, but lions don’t live in the jungle proper. Tigers do —- in Asia.

  104. 104.

    d58826

    August 27, 2017 at 5:28 pm

    Scale Response Katrina 40,000 NG/20,000 Fed Troops,HQ @FirstArmy HQ @82ABN 245 Helicopters 20Ships @FEMA_Brock @TomBossert45 @cnn @FoxNews

    Russel L. Honore’

    @ltgrusselhonore
    https://twitter.com/ltgrusselhonore

    Not sure what the Harvey response has been. Any federal troops involved?

  105. 105.

    d58826

    August 27, 2017 at 5:28 pm

    @Geeno: true but as long as no other male tries to poach in his territory it’s a pretty good life. sayith the male chauvinist pig :-)

  106. 106.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 27, 2017 at 5:30 pm

    @d58826:

    FFS the WH has announced Der Fuhrer is going to visit TX on Tuesday to review recovery efforts hand out Play-Doh.

    Fixed for likely accuracy

  107. 107.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 27, 2017 at 5:32 pm

    @Smiling Mortician:

    Late to comment on this thread, but I’m very glad your first infusion went well and especially that you’re in good spirits. Have been thinking about you. Thank you for keeping us updated.

  108. 108.

    Smiling Mortician

    August 27, 2017 at 5:35 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Not too late, though. Thank you.

  109. 109.

    SFAW

    August 27, 2017 at 5:46 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Do they not listen even to themselves?

    You’re assuming they care, or have any sense of shame. As the TV lawyers say, “Assumes facts not in evidence.”

  110. 110.

    Quinerly

    August 27, 2017 at 5:52 pm

    @Smiling Mortician:
    Sending positive thoughts.

  111. 111.

    Baud

    August 27, 2017 at 5:54 pm

    @Smiling Mortician: Am I too late to wish you speedy healing?

  112. 112.

    Kathleen

    August 27, 2017 at 5:57 pm

    Looks like another storm is brewing on Atlantic coast and it appears it could affect coastal areas of Georgia, South Carolina and North Caroline. Stay safe, Juicers who are in affected areas.

    http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at5.shtml?cone#contents

  113. 113.

    Quinerly

    August 27, 2017 at 6:06 pm

    First piece I’ve seen on Mrs. Gorka: http://crooksandliars.com/2017/08/other-hatemonger-named-gorka-still-has-her

  114. 114.

    trollhattan

    August 27, 2017 at 6:09 pm

    @Quinerly:
    [Eyeroll] When Gorka brayed “The alpha males are in charge” was he including the little lady in that cohort? These people, I swear….

  115. 115.

    Marguerite

    August 27, 2017 at 6:10 pm

    @Smiling Mortician: Wishing you well, sending positive thoughts your way, and hoping your remaining treatments enable a complete recovery.

  116. 116.

    Millard Filmore

    August 27, 2017 at 6:16 pm

    @West of the Rockies (been a while):

    Kind of maudlin, but in younger years I would regard the horrible people of the world and take comfort in knowing I’d likely live to see their deaths: Reagan, Limbaugh, Gingrich, the Ayatollah…

    I hope I see Putin croak.

    One of the items on my bucket list is to get arrested for pissing on Dolt45’s grave.

  117. 117.

    J R in WV

    August 27, 2017 at 6:19 pm

    @lamh36:

    Wow, that’s bad news. Anytime they need to empty a major urban hospital, way bad news.

    That’s down where M D Anderson, the Children’s Hospital, U Texas medical center, all the major TX medical centers of Houston are. Bad news. They need to do something about being able to start evacuation and get folks out with 2 days warning. There’s an elevated interstate running NW from downtown.

    Seems to be a cluster-fq to not be able get people out before the Noah Flood starts. I hope those guys coming in with bass boats are able to do some good before it gets too high where they put in. Five feet of rain, on a flat piece of real estate… hard to imagine. I guess we won’t need to imagine it pretty soon.

  118. 118.

    Brachiator

    August 27, 2017 at 6:24 pm

    @Millard Filmore:

    One of the items on my bucket list is to get arrested for pissing on Dolt45’s grave.

    The crowd may be so large and continuos that it might be a long time before you get there.

    Besides the orange shitgibbon will probably be buried in a gold plated crypt.

    ..

  119. 119.

    Marguerite

    August 27, 2017 at 6:24 pm

    @JGabriel</aof No, you didn't miss it. This turd of torpidity just sits on his gold-plated toilet and tweets vacuous non sequiturs again and again. It's heartbreaking to see a replay of Katrina especially since Houston was so heroic in 2005. Lives lost yet 45* expresses not one word of compassion. He makes me sick!

  120. 120.

    Brachiator

    August 27, 2017 at 6:37 pm

    @Geeno:

    I had read that they were mainly dawn/dusk active and otherwise getting their 20 hours of sleep per day.

    Great story about how science works here. I suppose some scientists knew the truth, but the conventional wisdom was that lady lions would hunt all day while lazy males slept and cat napped.

    This was in part because stupid humans would observe lions in the daytime, when it was safe and convenient for them.

    A husband and wife team, the Jouberts, devised some cameras that could be used to observe lions at night.

    Because lions are nocturnal.

    Different freaking world. Some great National Geographic specials highlight this work.

    Males protect against other predators, including hyenas. Males also protect the youngest Cubs from rough housing adolescents. Rough play could break a young lions back.

    Lots of activity at night. Imagine early humans at night listening to lions making noise at night. The roars, the rustle through the savanna. The sounds of kills. And not being able to see the lions.

    And lions sleep in the day, often in the open except for shade, because there are few things they need to fear.

    ..

  121. 121.

    Brachiator

    August 27, 2017 at 6:43 pm

    @J R in WV: A response to an earlier note in an old thread about the source of US Navy problems and the connection with accidents….

    thanks much.

    I also appreciate the bit about your brother, who has opinions without having actual military experience.

    There is, I think, a brilliant book about British naval history, Command of the Ocean, which deals not just with battles, but with issues of operations, staffing, training, etc. Similar issues in the Age of Sail as you note now.

  122. 122.

    Brachiator

    August 27, 2017 at 6:49 pm

    @sukabi:

    Mass resignations on Friday among top state department officials.

    Conservatives and libertarians are seeing their deepest dreams come true. They insist that the government is too big, and that you need to run the government like a business. We will see what happens when you gut agencies and lose knowledgeable staff..

    Lean and mean, or weakened and ineffectual?

  123. 123.

    Smiling Mortician

    August 27, 2017 at 7:13 pm

    @Baud: Baud 2020: He’s never too late!

    ETA: although, looking at time stamps, looks like maybe I am :-)

  124. 124.

    Quinerly

    August 27, 2017 at 7:29 pm

    I know this thread is dying. This must be shared/read. I’m close to speechless. If this is being leaked, then it has to be absolutely insane in the Oval Office: https://www.axios.com/exclusive-trump-vents-in-oval-office-i-want-tariffs-bring-me-some-tariffs-2478121273.html

  125. 125.

    Quinerly

    August 27, 2017 at 7:33 pm

    Tillerson is out by October 1, I bet. Probably sooner: https://www.axios.com/scoop-trump-frustration-with-tillerson-rising-fast-2478123564.html

  126. 126.

    NorthLeft12

    August 27, 2017 at 7:37 pm

    My son-in-law works for GE, and he was telling me that the GE CEO on the council was getting a lot of questions from employees asking WTF GE was doing on this council and how GE squared that with their stated policy of inclusion, co-operation, and diversity.
    After Deadbeat Donald dissolved the council, the GE CEO claimed that he had resigned from the council before the dissolution.

    “YOU CAN”T FIRE ME!! I QUIT!!1!” Hokay.

  127. 127.

    Baud

    August 27, 2017 at 8:01 pm

    @Smiling Mortician: Nope. Like the deep state, I am always watching.

  128. 128.

    Smiling Mortician

    August 27, 2017 at 8:23 pm

    @Baud: You have got my vote locked up. Locked down. Whatever. It’s yours.

  129. 129.

    Mnemosyne

    August 27, 2017 at 8:49 pm

    @Insane Clown POTUS:

    My favorite was when a TV commercial filming in our old neighborhood was required to post a notice letting us know that they would be using a (trained) mountain lion on their location. Sadly, we were out of town for that weekend and missing seeing the ginormous kitty.

  130. 130.

    J R in WV

    August 27, 2017 at 9:05 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Thanks, I’ve ordered it from an Amazon seller. Interesting, I got one for $22.00, but one was available for $350.00 !!!

  131. 131.

    J R in WV

    August 27, 2017 at 9:44 pm

    I’m always the last person posting on a thread that died 2 hours ago. LGM has a post on Houston drowning with several good pictures, and a link to a great set of NOAA products showing training bands of heavy rain passing lengthwise over downtown Houston.

    The Boatus.com site has a hurricane tracker page for Harvey, and shows the “spaghetti” model, a map with all the different model paths for a storm. All but one path goes back out over the Gulf to pick up more energy and water before passing directly over Houston.

    The actual storm has never reached Houston yet. So much worse to come. Damm.

  132. 132.

    No One You Know

    August 27, 2017 at 10:52 pm

    @Smiling Mortician: This is wonderful to hear!

  133. 133.

    No One You Know

    August 27, 2017 at 11:01 pm

    @Geeno: I took my son, then 17, to see the Big Cats Preservation “ranch” in southern Oregon. We went on the tour with some other parents, and mostly younger kids.

    My son’s hair is a natural “semi-afro.” When the lion keeper explained that the male lion lying against the fence slept 20 hours a day and lived to defend cubs, kill hyenas, and grow out his mane, one eight-year-old glanced at the silent teenager, moved closer to his mom, and took her hand.

    I smothered a smile.

  134. 134.

    Ruckus

    August 27, 2017 at 11:28 pm

    @Brachiator:
    All the urine will wash off the gold spray paint.

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