Prepare your popcorn:
Donald Trump. Friday night. At a rally. In Alabama. Hours after having one of his biggest priorities foiled by John McCain. Again. Enjoy!
— Matt Viser (@mviser) September 22, 2017
To be clear, the latest Trumpcare zombie is only MOSTLY dead. But regardless, McCain’s “disloyalty” has gotta stick in Trump’s craw, particularly since this is the second time McCain has played obstacle to a Trump “win,” and Trump is no doubt incensed in a generic way by the fact that McCain is held in higher regard than himself.
Meanwhile, Sarah Palin is running around Alabama campaigning for loony-tunes Roy Moore at the same time Trump is holding a rally in the state to pump up Luther Strange. Wouldn’t be too surprising if these intolerable insults to Trump’s massive ego caused him to blast the shit out of the 2008 GOP ticket from the rally stage.
Open thread.
Davebo
“I’m leaning against the bill,” Collins said Friday at a Portland, Maine, event, according to The Portland Press Herald.
Leaning against it? WTF Susan! Grow a spine already!
Scott
Everybody is doing a happy dance right now. I’m not. And I won’t until 1 Oct. Don’t trust the MFs. I will still be calling and writing. Maybe with an encouragement for bipartisan “warm and fuzzy working together for the betterment of all” type words.
Baud
@Davebo: What’s in it for her to do that?
sherparick
I gotta buy more poporn:-)
Baud
@sylvania: Ego stroking is a small price to pay for saving lives.
rikyrah
Call your senators NOW. Ask if they’ll join with John McCain and reject this bill. If you’re in Arizona, call and express your gratitude. https://t.co/wi0cHWsqT8
— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) September 22, 2017
McCain’s statement opens door for more Rs to vote No. It shows how hideously irresponsible voting Yes would be:https://t.co/hA8aSB3QPG pic.twitter.com/pEE5W3LHvm
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) September 22, 2017
Just One More Canuck
Have fun storming the castle!
Betty Cracker
Good advice:
TenguPhule
Inspector general to investigate Price’s travel on private charter planes
Speaking of good news.
Shameless and stupid.
jl
Trump has no priorities, other than adulation right now every day.
For Trump, they could pass a bill that is just a swell title, containing nothing else, and he’d be over joyed.
The BS GOP Congressional health care effort is just grease for their huge ginormous tax cut plans, nothing else.
And the people they need to please are the billionaire GOP donors, who are on a billionaire GOP donor strike until they get it done.
If Collins and Alexander had a shred of self-respect (I know, GOP pols.. so… of course not) they would be all over TV saying they are blanket no votes on all this BS, which would be the least they could do after McConnell killed their respectable bipartisan efforts for a real health bill And McConnell killed them off for spending slashes for tax cuts disguised as health care policy.
TenguPhule
@Davebo:
We all know what she is, she’s just dickering over the price.
TenguPhule
@Just One More Canuck:
Why didn’t you tell me we had a wheelbarrow?!
Felonius Monk
Fuck Roy Moore. Fuck Sarah Palin.
Fuck Luther Strange. Fuck Donald Trump.
May they all eat bad clams!
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@Felonius Monk: Poetry to my ears.
Major Major Major Major
I feel like McCain is doing this one, because he hates trump, and therefore the leadership that’s licking his boots (even though he’s done his share); and two, he’s very sensitive to the coda in his obituary.
jl
@sylvania: Doesn’t make any difference. Some issues, like DACA and health care, are too important to worry about motives, as long as people like McCain do what they say they will do. Need to contact Murkowski and Collins and anyone not committed on the whip count for G-C.
Republicans’ Obamacare repeal is in real trouble now (WaPo’s ongoing whip count page)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/politics/cassidy-graham-whip-count/?utm_term=.89d1eddb400f
JCJ
@Felonius Monk:
And may they for eternity walk barefoot through rooms full of Legos!
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@sylvania:
Trump the Russian tratior mocked McCain for being a POW in a war McCain saw himself as fighting the Russians. Think about that in terms of what is going on.
Wag
@Baud:
This.
Baud
@sylvania: I like to think we influence the influencers.
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major: As long as he stays that way.
We can always slag on him after he’s dead.
SFAW
@sylvania:
Oh, isn’t that precious. “shomi” has a new nym/nom.
TenguPhule
@Baud:
Baud 2020: Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men? Obviously, I do!
rikyrah
Puerto Rico dam bursts in wake of Hurricane Maria
A dam has failed and caused “extremely dangerous” flooding on Puerto Rico’s Guajataca river in the wake of Hurricane Maria, authorities say.
The National Weather Service (NWS) said buses were “currently evacuating people from the area as quickly as they can”.
At least 13 people have died on the US territory since Maria ripped through Puerto Rico, devastating homes and knocking out the island’s electricity.
The island’s governor has called it the worst storm in a century.
Operators of the Guajataca Dam said the dam, located at the northern end of Lake Guajataca in northwest Puerto Rico, failed at 14:10 local time (18:10 GMT).
It sparked a flash flood emergency for Isabela and Quebradillas municipalities, the NWS said in a series of tweets.
The agency urged residents in the area to “move to higher ground now” in an alert posted on its website.
“This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation. Do not attempt to travel unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order,” the alert said.
NorthLeft12
@TenguPhule: Yes, those rules were put in place to protect the government from those spendthrift Democrats. But now that the Republicans are in the WH those rules are outmoded, difficult, and inefficient. And of course the stalwart Repubs in Congress, the dedicated defenders of the public purse, are too busy trying to bring Hillary to justice to be bothered with such small issues as this.
rikyrah
@Scott:
That’s right!!
TenguPhule
And after Oct 1, gird your loins for the next battle, folks.
The Lying Liars intend to lie again.
SatanicPanic
@sylvania: I’m not going to poop on the guy on a day he does something right, that’s just crazy.
Davebo
@Baud: She wants to be Governor of Maine.
Yutsano
@JCJ: Broken Legos. I want spikes.
Davebo
@sylvania: That’s very true however I’m pretty sure facing your imminent mortality might have an impact.
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
@JCJ: And wake up one morning in a pool of their own pissed-out muscle tissue and kidneys.
TenguPhule
@Yutsano:
Barbed spikes tipped with Bullet Ant venom.
Baud
@Davebo: I repeat the question. Do you think people will care that she didn’t speak up sooner?
Major Major Major Major
At this point Alain should just add ‘ball juice’ to the spam filter.
lgerard
@Major Major Major Major:
McCain also loathes McConnell, so that’s an added bonus for him
Where;s the love for Rand Paul though, he opposed this from day one
Davebo
@Baud: I think people will care if she doesn’t vote no. I’m fairly certain it’s close if not as unpopular in Maine as it is nationwide.
I don’t know, voters like decisive leaders?
TenguPhule
@Major Major Major Major: But that would make soccer threads boring.
jl
The list of individuals and groups that Trump has not insulted is very short. He’s even insulted his own base at rallies.
He insults his own wife in different ways in public on a regular basis.
So, hard to impute motives on that score.
We can lecture the likes of McCain and Collins on their failings after the G-C vote is over.
Everyone has to call. Think of all the wonderful extra benefits that a total GOP legislative fail on everything might bring.
What if the big billionaire GOP donors carry on with their strike and decide to flush this whole crew of GOP Congressjokers down the toilet?
They have a very long time horizon and could be willing to do that.
That would be delicious to watch.
Dream about that scenario before you call or fax or email.
Baud
@lgerard: I don’t think anyone believes he would have not caved if it came down to his vote.
catclub
@TenguPhule:
Check out the comments at zerohedge. They are not waiting.
jonas
@TenguPhule: This is getting covered, to be sure, but can you imagine the total media and political Armageddon that would attend a Democratic cabinet member running up a six-figure tab on luxury jet travel barely a year into the president’s first term? Fox & Friends and Morning Joe would have to be cancelled after all their hosts simply collapsed from outrage-induced aneurysms.
SFAW
@lgerard:
I think he “opposed” the last iteration, too, didn’t he? Until he didn’t, that is.
Davebo
@Baud: Then again two words make me realize I haven’t a fuck what Maine voters think.
Paul LePage
Baud
@Davebo: Yes, people will care about her vote. Not her cowardice before the vote. And frankly, only Democrats care about the show their leaders put on. She obviously knows how to win statewide in Maine.
rikyrah
@Davebo:
Folks have forgotten..
Maine is phucking tired of their insane Governor, so they collected enough signatures to put Medicaid expansion ON THE BALLOT.
How you gonna vote for something that KILLS Medicaid, when your state is about to vote on Medicaid Expansion?
clay
@Davebo: If she had a spine, she wouldn’t need to lean, the poor dear.
geg6
@Baud:
Yup. Absolutely.
Mike J
Trump and Palin stumping in the Moore-Strange race.
Sums up the current climate.
Frankensteinbeck
@TenguPhule:
They need 60 votes for that. They ain’t gettin’ them. The ACA is the big showdown, and yeah, we’ll need to keep calling until they officially close the session on the 30th.
Davebo
Judging on the comments from the story on Bangor Daily News I’d say it’s 50/50 how maine residents (Mainers?) feel about her voting no.
Captain C
@Felonius Monk: I’ve had bad clams. That’s a hell of a curse. And they all deserve it.
Baud
@Davebo: That’s good. Newspaper comment sections are usually cesspools.
Major Major Major Major
@Davebo: probably shouldn’t use comment sections to gauge the political sentiment of a state.
Davebo
@clay: You are a clever one. What are you doing here?
TenguPhule
@Frankensteinbeck:
They’re planning on using the 2018 reconciliation for it.
But they’re working on building the support to get it through right now. I realize keeping them from dismantling the ACA comes first, but this one is also coming up faster then expected. And unfortunately, its a lot harder to split Republican votes on tax cuts because they’re all fucking zombies about it.
Davebo
@Major Major Major Major:
It’s SCIENCE!
Gravenstone
@Baud: Was going to point out that “Sylvania” is merely the latest incarnation of Derf (or maybe Shomi, I have trouble keeping those clowns separate). But I see the moron outed itself with one if its patented catch phrases not a few posts down.
Baud
@TenguPhule: I thought they needed to pass a budget to use reconciliation.
CaseyL
I’ve called McCain to thank him; have also called Murkowski because she’s apparently welcoming calls from anywhere, not just Alaskans.
What about Collins? Has her office said whether they’ll take notice of calls from people outside Maine?
OzarkHillbilly
@TenguPhule:
When it comes to tax cuts, when have they not?
Gin & Tonic
@catclub:
Life is way too short as it is.
Baud
@Gravenstone: Thanks. I missed that the first time.
MCA1
I know it’s become tiresome for some, the “what if this was a Democrat” rhetoricals, but can you imagine how completely “Dems in Disarray!!!” would own the media focus right now if Obama and Rahm had gotten into a proxy war over a Senate race in Illinois less than a month after Emmanuel left the White House?
Trump is backing one guy, and Bannon, Gorka and other assorted villains and fools are backing another in a primary fight to see who can be the most unhinged wingnut in all of Alabama.
Here’s what I want to happen: 1. Trump bashes Sarah Palin, who’s backing Moore, and explicitly ties her to McCain. 2. McCain takes another dump on the latest repeal effort, and says “I prefer presidents who don’t get impeached, OK?”
Also, the fact that ROY FUCKING MOORE, a man so ridiculous, so cartoonish he has to be either performance art or the reanimated corpse of Jessie Helms, is a leading contender in a U.S. Senate race tells us everything we need to know about the state of the country. Roy Moore!
Gravenstone
@Yutsano: Screw it. Let’s just go for caltrops.
efgoldman
@Baud:
If she votes yes, it greatly complicates her run for governor of Maine, where significant numbers of people are medicaid recipients.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Major Major Major Major:
You beat me to it.
Baud
@MCA1:
To be fair, Dems would in fact schism over something like this, while Republican voters are committed to their party. It somewhat explains the difference.
Gravenstone
@lgerard: I don’t think anyone is buying Paul’s “No” promise because he’s really only pissed the Bill isn’t draconian enough.
d58826
Listening to the discussion about Trumpcare. McCain wants to have a bi-partisan regular order approach. Fine sounds good. On the other hand even if they go the McCain route why in heavens sake do we have to scrap Obamacare and start from square one? The industry has invested millions (billions?) in retooling the system to adhere to Obamacare. They have overcome problems and identified shortcomings. So lets do this all over again, throw away all of that money and learning curve just because the 1% can’t stand a law with that black guy’s name on it.
Baud
@efgoldman: Right. The question was whether her waffling beforehand makes a difference.
Mike in NC
Dotard rally in Alabama tonight? I can already picture his knuckledraggers chanting “Lock her up” and “Nuke rocketman”.
Suspect Trump will then zip over to Mar-A-Lago to golf tomorrow as he tries to forget he had another shitty week.
Baud
@d58826: They were working on a bipartisan approach that wouldn’t completely scrap Obamacare before this push happened.
Elizabelle
I think McCain is voting no also because he believes in a return to Regular Order. He gave a speech on that around the time of the last repeal vote. He is likely even more sick of the deadenders in the Freedumb Caucus than we are. (FWIW, he was forced to put the Wasillabilly on his ticket as a sop to the ultraright.)
I also think Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski are nos, and will vote that way. Why on earth would they vote yes?
If we are sick of hearing of the rightwingers’ antics, imagine how Senators who take the Senate seriously — and that includes these three — feel?
I also hope folks are calling Manchin’s office and thanking him for being a principled “no” on this.
Major Major Major Major
@Elizabelle:
Horseshit.
d58826
@Baud: Yes I know.
Gin & Tonic
@Mike in NC: If Trump hadn’t become President I don’t think I’d have ever learned the word “dotard.”
randy khan
@Just One More Canuck:
To steal from Charles Pierce, it’s *always* a good day for Princess Bride references.
trollhattan
@Felonius Monk:
Was expecting it to end with “Burma Shave” but it’s fine as written.
catclub
@MCA1:
Injuries all around to the GOP candidates, the Democrat to win the seat.
Also a pony.
Mike J
@Gin & Tonic: Perhaps once you were into your dotage you would have.
jl
@Gin & Tonic: With the age of the mostly very ancient millionaire old white geezers who largely run the US Senate, doesn’t everyone know what ‘dotard’ means?
NotMax
Enough toxic derp flowing there today to have the state immediately declared a priority, quarantined superfund site.
catclub
@jl: polka dotted leotard
Elizabelle
@Major Major Major Major: Was that not the case? I’d thought he wanted Lieberman or something like that.
Haven’t kept up, because my interest in the Tundra Twit is quite limited. Trump strength limited.
Repatriated
@Major Major Major Major: IIRC, he wanted Sen. Lieberman as his running mate.
ETA: Elizabelle beat me to it.
jl
@catclub: need a new word for the old geezers in the Senate. How about ‘doltard’?
TenguPhule
@Baud:
They seem to think they can.
clay
@Elizabelle: M^4 was likely objecting to the word ‘forced’.
TenguPhule
@MCA1:
Why not both?
Mnemosyne
@sylvania:
Today, I am grateful for McCain’s assholishness and hope it will continue to be directed at Trump and the rest of Trump’s GOP enablers for as long as McCain lives.
Mnemosyne
@Gin & Tonic:
G asked me yesterday if that was a real word, and I was able to assure him that it was.
JaneSays
@TenguPhule: Collins had voted “no” on every Trumpcare proposal put forth so far, and I have no reason to believe this time will be any different. McCain was the one who was the most uncertain of the three who killed the last bill, and we got him. It ain’t over until they make it official and of course we should keep calling until they do, but I have great faith that we are going to win this battle.
NotMax
@catclub
Busted.
(scrambles to find denser tape to slap over webcam lens)
:)
geg6
@lgerard:
While I’m glad he seems to be standing firm as a NO, he gets no props from me. He only opposes for two reasons. 1) He says it doesn’t cut health care enough. 2) And he is only taking this “principled” stand because he knows that the people of KY need the health care and he doesn’t want to be the one vote that takes it away from them.
geg6
@d58826:
From what I was reading at TPM (I think), he really wants the bipartisan fix to O-care.
NotMax
@geg6
Difference is that Paul doesn’t oppose it because it promises a bad outcome, he opposes it because it doesn’t promise enough bad outcomes.
Elizabelle
@geg6: I would not trust Rand Paul on a vote until he’s cast it. Good point, though, about Kynect (Obamacare in a brown paper wrapper).
Barbara
@rikyrah: I venture that McCain is a proxy vote here and that his putative no vote means others don’t have to.
Ridnik Chrome
@Major Major Major Major: No, really. McCain supposedly wanted to name Holy Joe Lieberman as his running mate, and it was only the intervention of the party leadership that kept him from doing it. Frankly I don’t blame them. Can you imagine how the election would have gone if McCain had gotten his wishes? It would have been the purest comedy gold ever. A ticket both parties would have loathed. They would have lost all fifty states.
ETA: Elizabelle and multiple others beat me to it.
Spaniel
With regards to tax cuts and such, I thought the sequestration rules were still effect and to get to $1.5T would have had the Rd cutting their favorite programs too.
Miss Bianca
@Mnemosyne: odd, because that’s a word I feel like I’ve known since forever. Maybe it’s the type of novels I read. ; )
Brachiator
@sylvania:
As long as he votes against this monstrosity of a GOP bill, McCain can be as petty and vindictive as he wants to be.
Miss Bianca
@Elizabelle:
Surely you mean a *white* paper wrapper?
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Gin & Tonic:
[comment deleted by request]
Barbara
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: I don’t think you should talk like that. I am not trying to censor you but it marks you (and sort of marks the rest of us) as being dangerous in the wrong way. Seriously, this is a counterfactual that you should avoid.
NotMax
@Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe)
There you go again. Please, please cut that sh*t out.
Inside voice and all that.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Barbara:
On second thought, I probably wouldn’t have. I happen to like not only living, but living relatively free. Besides, doing so would have only delayed Putin’s plans and maybe not even then.
IOW: it wouldn’t have made that much of a difference in the long run.
eemom
@JaneSays:
I would have thought so too, but I frankly find it disturbing that she would only say she is “LEANING against voting for it,” considering that it is even worse than its predecessors which she adamantly opposed. There really is no such thing as a “principled” republican.
That said, who gives a shit WHY any of them vote no, as long as enough of them do?
Barbara
@Ridnik Chrome: I think McCain has always been malleable on a lot of issues, which is why he became more conservative right along with the Republican Party. However, to whatever extent his wish for bipartisanship is in any way real, I think that it could be helpful. If enough people refuse to go along without bipartisan consensus, then nothing can get done without it, which would be a moderating influence. I think he is trying to beat back the tide but I can’t say his instincts are wrong here.
Elizabelle
@Miss Bianca: I was thinking of adding “white cotton hood” but that seemed gratuitous, and Kynect’s father, former Governor Steve Beshear (term limited Democrat) had his heart in the right place.
schrodingers_cat
@Barbara: @NotMax: Thanks!
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: Keep your violent fantasies off of Balloon Juice. Once again I request you. Thanks.
Percysowner
@rikyrah: I sent a fax to Rob Portman (I don’t even TRY to call him anymore, he never answers and a fax lets me say what I want) urging him to join McCain in rejecting the bill and working with Democrats. I have no idea if it will work, but I’m doing my bit.
I’m also going to canvas this weekend for the Democrats. We have local offices to be voted on and 2 ballot issues. I might as well get working for the Democratic Party now, so I’ll be in the swing for 2018 and beyond.
Barbara
@eemom: She didn’t announce very far in advance her no vote on the earlier version. She’s very annoying that way.
Elizabelle
@eemom: My guess on the “leaning” language: she’s a no.
But she’s running statewide for governor, if rumors are true, and so she doesn’t want to close her door to Maine constituents who are enthralled with the Graham-Cassidy abomination. Wants to still sound like she’s listening to her phone lines.
She’ll be a no when it counts.
efgoldman
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
No, you wouldn’t have.
You and Tangled can (and should) both take your Reds guerrilla cosplay fantasies and go find an MRA group to play with.
NotMax
@Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe)
Word for the day: circumspect.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@schrodingers_cat:
Yeah, rereading it now, I crossed the line a bit.
Barbara
@Elizabelle: No, she will not be elected governor if she votes yes for any ACA repeal proposal. Every proposal that has advanced to a vote basically obliterates the ability of people between the ages of 55 and 65 to obtain insurance. Maine has a lot of people in that age band — if it is not the oldest state, it is no lower than second or third. And those are her voters, especially the women. I think she is very well aware of that.
Barbara
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: Maybe an FPer can remove it. Seriously, the secret service could visit people for saying things like that.
Davebo
@MCA1:
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@efgoldman:
What do Men’s Rights Activists have to do with it?
And yeah, I acknowledged I wouldn’t have.
gene108
As much fun as watching GOP infighting goes, per this article, they are saying we have a chance. Link
Would be sweet to pull off a win in Alabama. Go Doug Jones! Go!
jl
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: I think putting that kind violent fantasy on this blog is worth banning you if you keep that up. Please never type anything like again here. Seriously.
efgoldman
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
They’re the types most likely to do Reds type cosplay – fake guerrilla militia types, armchair keyboard kommandos.
Gin & Tonic
@gene108: When is the general election? November?
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Barbara:
Just sent a message to Betty asking her to.
kindness
I too won’t breath a sigh of relief until 10/1. I mean with all the slush they are willing to pack into the bill as it stands for Alaska, Montana, Hawaii (? really? They expect the Democrats from Hawaii to break ranks?) and Wisconsin it is obvious bribery is now not only legal but Federal policy.
catclub
@Miss Bianca:
Both Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy have a fondness for ‘croker sack’
NotMax
@efgoldman
Red Dawn.
Ohio Mom
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: Young Goku, don’t go there. Please and thank you.
ETA: I see lots of others got there first. Good on you for listening to your elders, Hope of the Universe.
schrodingers_cat
@gene108: Math prof by day, Balloon Juice FPer by night, when did DougJ get time to run in Alabama.
Go DougJ!
catclub
@gene108:
I agree the Democrat winning would be sweet, but I suspect adherents of either GOP guy are saying in the poll that they prefer the Democrat rather than their GOP opponent for tactical reasons – but most will go back to whoever is the GOP candidate.
Ridnik Chrome
@Barbara: I don’t know about McCain, but for Lieberman “bipartisanship” always seemed to involve screwing the left wing of the Democratic party as much as he possibly could. And then being sanctimonious about it. But I agree with you that Republicans actually working with Democrats to pass laws that actually benefit regular people would be a good thing, for both the country and the Republicans. FWIW, I don’t think the country’s going to get better until the Republicans get better…
NotMax
@NotMax – @efgoldman
Reds was Warren Beatty’s gift to film stock manufacturers.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@gene108:
Maybe DougJ could put up a fundraising thread for him?
jl
@kindness: I think that the Hawaii slush is just a very small dry and shriveled fig leaf for ‘bipartisanship’. They’ve explicitly prohibited other states fromr experimenting in the Hawaii direction, which I think is evidence for my opinion.
J R in WV
@Felonius Monk:
What a great curse!
I once got a bad clam on a trip to New England, after a lifetime of loving clams. I was so sick, I spent our first night sitting on the toilet with a plastic wastebasket between my knees, while the little clams giggled at me from between my toes.
Yes, I know the giggling clams were probably either minor hallucinations from the toxins my body was fighting or my fertile imagination, but still, that’s how I remember it. Fortunately I was mostly over it by midnight and got a good night’s sleep and was able to slowly participate in the next day’s activity at a long-abandoned quarry in the Maine woods.
I haven’t eaten a clam since, it’s been years now!
@Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) :
Llighten up Hope of the Universe. No need to express your outrage quite so vividly. We all understand your rage at the events of the past year, mostly we share your feelings. But still.
Just chill, bro, things will work out. Mueller III has this now.
Elizabelle
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: You’ve been taken to the woodshed enough, and I see you’ve deleted the comment.
My two cents: you can still think it. Maybe even get a graphic novel out of it.
Also: events of the past year have made me wonder on why we don’t have a Red Brigades of our own here.
Elizabelle, who disapproves of your comment, but understands …
NotMax
@Elizabelle
Also too, butterfly effect.
Just One More Canuck
@TenguPhule:it would take a miracle
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
@Elizabelle:
I’ve had story ideas floating around my head for awhile. I don’t have the time. And even when I do, I’ve found I’m very good at concepts and broad plotlines, but not the nitty gritty of writing fiction (characterization, doing research, the nuance needed to write really well, etc)
TenguPhule
@Just One More Canuck: Beat it or I’ll call the Brute Squad.
Origuy
“Away with the dotard, to the gaol with him!” — The Taming of the Shrew Act V, Scene I
There are three other appearances, but they don’t really fit the situation.
J R in WV
@d58826:
Remember, the name of the health care bill is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the PPACA. Not long after the Affordable Care Act was looking like it would take effect, some members of Congress started calling it the Obamacare Act.
I thought at the time that was a pretty stupid move on the part of Republican pols. What were they gonna do once that law started saving lives of family members? Too late now bastards, Obamacare it is, and nearly 80% of Americans support it.
Suck on this, Fascist baby-killers. Social Security, Medicare, SCHIP, and Obamacare are the strong legs of the American social safety net.
jl
@Origuy:
Olde dotard shrewe.- Chaucer, Wife of Bath’s Tale, OED’s first citation.
debbie
Twitter’s telling me there’s news of Russian attempts to hack into 2016 elections in Wisconsin and Washington State. Could this be the news dump?
trollhattan
HST’s ghost appeared before me to remind “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” Today’s professional, Ben Carson.
Mah luggage!
Kathleen
@Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD): Preferably on a street corner sitting in a pool of their pee and drool.
GregB
Herpy-derp on tbe Ben Carson news.
Does performing brain surgey cause brain damage for the surgeon?
Because that man’s brains seem mushier than a sack of shit in the summer sun.
Gravenstone
@debbie: Would help explain the continued employment of Sen Johnson in addition to the Trumpnado.
Elizabelle
@debbie: I think Trump is a wholly illegitimate president. Fruit of a poisoned vote.
I think Obama and everyone else were too quick to validate the results, because they respected the system. Which has been corrupted.
tobie
@debbie: This wouldn’t surprise me in the least. We really need a full election audit, especially before the midterms in 2018.
ETA: I completely agree with Elizabelle one comment up (#155). Pennsylvania has a republican majority in the legislature but a Democratic governor. Would there be any way for him to commission an audit?
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
Story of my life
dmsilev
@J R in WV:
I think they started to believe their own propaganda about how it was unpossible for this law to actually do any good and that the American people would reject it. And of course, right now Barack Obama is probably twice as popular as Donald Trump.
Just One More Canuck
@TenguPhule: I’m on the Brute Squad
A Ghost to Most
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady):
It’s interesting listening to writers describe how a story comes together.
As a sculptor (mostly wood), I often have no idea what’s next until I pick up a piece of driftwood or snag, and the wood tells me what to do.
Kathleen
@Elizabelle: You know what’s really sad? Even if PBO had said or done anything the media and Rethugs would have pummeled him. The story would have completely gotten lost, never to be resurrected. Even if Hillary had won the Electoral College, any effort on her part to investigate would have met the same fate. It would have been treated as “both sides but particularly Hillary and Democrats nothing to see hear move along”. I really believe there was a coup and the media scripts were orchestrated. I also believe Sanders was engaged as the Dem vote sucker. Sorry, but it’s very obvious to me.
Kathleen
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): Me thinks you are being too modest, My Dear! I so envy your discipline and focus, along with all of the other writers here.
les
@trollhattan: It figures Carson would go with the worst of the worst.
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@A Ghost to Most: It’s true that I don’t know what my story is really about until I’ve done at least one draft and often more, and then the story reveals itself to me.
J R in WV
@Kathleen:
All seems just too likely to me as well. I suspect that’s why we are all so outraged at the NYTimes. We are used to them being good journalists, and now they are beholden to the purchaser. Putin and his minions. The media would have to be part of any political plot to damage the US election systems, after all.
You would have to be stupid not to think of that, and as venal as Putin is, he isn’t stupid. Just a malformed personality from his experiences growing up in the USSR/Russia.
Elizabelle
@Kathleen:
@J R in WV:
I don’t think that sounds farfetched. A longtime reader of the NY Times can see what shit it has become. It has been co-opted. “Views on Democrats, from the Right and the Left” — because they want to normalize radicals at every turn.
I appreciate the NY Times more for its non-employees — the op ed contributors — than its semen-swallowing political staff. All they do is polish GOP knobs, and serve as Republican whisperers. Yes, they report some stuff accurately and it will favor Democrats (whom they don’t mention much, except as “Democrats in Disarray” )because there is overwhelmingly factual evidence that the Dems are not huffing glue.
Training myself to read the NY Times a lot less. Keeping the sub for when Mueller’s shit hits the fan, which it will.
I suspect it has been a coup, by Russian and far-right American interests. I’d like to see the Mercers in prison for this, too.
Mnemosyne
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady):
I once went to a workshop with the screenwriter of Dead Poets Society. He didn’t come up with the “carpe diem” scene until the SEVENTH draft.
Weaselone
@Elizabelle:
I’m still waiting for the alternate history graphic novel where Hillary is as bloodthirsty and ruthless as Republicans say she is.
Bonnie
I hate Donald Trump; and, I hate every American who voted for him and gave America this horrible, horrible, sexual harasser, impolite, stupid scumbag for president. Just saying . . .
Mnemosyne
@? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
I’ve been dabbling in The Snowflake Method of plotting. The plot for the first half of my novel is solid, but the second half is skimpy, so I’m writing a treatment version of it right now as per his advice. It seems to be chugging along.
His method seems particularly good for beginning writers because you start small and expand out in slow stages.
Kathleen
@J R in WV: @Elizabelle: Oh, I think the American Fascists outsourced the coup to the Russians, like hiring a hit man. They’ve been wanting to gut the middle class and the poor people for a long, long time.
Ian G.
Can I just say we worked with Stalin to stop Nazi Germany, so none of us should give a fuck about what shortcomings McCain or Rand Paul have if they’re willing to work with us to stop this horror.
normal liberal
@Mnemosyne:
As Miss Bianca suggested, it probably stems from reading habits. I spent my adolescence in the 19th century via English novelists, to the point where people I work with complain that they need a dictionary to read my emails. From your descriptions of your novel, I’m guessing you did the same somewhere along the line.
Unkindly, I did enjoy Laurence O’Donnell repeatedly mispronouncing it last night, and have to correct himself on air. (I learned to snark from Austen and George Meredith. I am not a nice person.)
I do wonder where Kim’s propagandists are getting this turns of phrase – I wouldn’t guess that they or the boss are the types to spend spare time curled up with Chaucer and a nice cup of cocoa.
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@Mnemosyne: That’s comforting.
Mnemosyne
@Weaselone:
This is my current favorite Hillary meme.
Elizabelle
@Mnemosyne: re your Snowflake Method
I like this guy. Thank you.
J R in WV
@normal liberal:
I saw somewhere today that Kim’s actual words were a Korean saying, something like “aged crazed menace” or some such in Korean, and the official translator came up with the English “dotard” as a perfect match for the meaning of the Korean saying.
Can we all agree, what an educated and intelligent piece of work by the anonymous translator?!
I browse fast and deep, and sometimes I forget where I got what.
Baud
@Weaselone: I would subscribe to HBO if they made a show out of it.
Game of Emails.
A Ghost to Most
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady):
That makes sense to me as a long time programmer. After the first cut, you see the flaws, and see better ways of doing things.
Elizabelle
@Mnemosyne: Like it.
I bought Hillary’s book last weekend. Looks great on a skim in the bookstore. Have not had the heart to start it yet, though, because I think I will be screaming.
Someone should frontpage James Fallows’ take on her book. He thinks the big media — especially the Fuck the Fucking New York Times — bears a huge responsibility for fucking up the election. EMAILS overwhelming, while Trump got his message — shabby as it was — out.
Why Hillary Clinton’s Book Is Actually Worth Reading
It’s the rare interesting work by a politician—and it offers an important critique of the press.
normal liberal
@J R in WV:
Major props to their erudite official translator, although the rough translation of “aged crazed menace” has the virtue of clarity and accuracy.
sukabi
No Friday bombshells? How about Russian oligarchs picking up drumpfs legal fees?
ColoradoGuy
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
McCain’s airplane was brought down by a Russian-made missile, so yes, the Russian connection is kind of personal for him.
Elizabelle
@J R in WV: I think “dotard” might be the word of the year. It’s my new favorite.
Mnemosyne
@normal liberal:
I do sometimes have to restrain myself from using Regency slang at work. ?
Kathleen
@Elizabelle: @Elizabelle: I read on the plane to and from Minneapolis last weekend. I’m almost finished. I feel like she’s having a casual conversation with her readers, and moves easily from personal/family matters to political issues and the campaign. I really am enjoying the book. A young woman across the aisle on the flight to Cincinnati must have been observing me reading the book because after the plane landed and we were waiting to deplane she leaned over to me with a somewhat sad expression and asked, “How is it?” I was touched.
Later I ended up in the ER (long story and I’m fine) and the young man who administered my EKG asked me how I liked it. He also said he was at Barnes & Noble earlier and thought about buying Bernie’s book but decided not to. I told him how much I enjoyed the book and that even if he didn’t support her politics she had a great story to tell about her life.
I thought it was so interesting that 2 young people were moved to comment on me reading the book. You may make some new friends!
Mnemosyne
@J R in WV:
IIRC, “dotard” is basically the noun that conveys the same idea as the adjective “senile” does.
Barbara
@Ridnik Chrome:
That’s probably true, and the most expeditious way for that to happen is to go after gerrymandering.
Elizabelle
@Kathleen: Glad you are in better shape after the ER visit, and it is good to hear of younger people interested in Hillary’s book.
FWIW, there were not very many copies out at the Barnes & Noble in Virginia Beach. Hoping that means they were selling well, and not that the managers didn’t expect a big audience for it.
frosty fred
This many comments and no Tolkien readers? “Dotard! What is the house of Eorl but a thatched barn where brigands drink in the reek, and their brats roll upon the floor among the dogs?” (From memory, so may not be word perfect, but close. Saruman, addressed to Theoden.)
Alain the site fixer
@Mnemosyne: yeah. One Masonic obligation requires us to not make a man a Mason if he is “in his dotage”, and this will now be much more understood by younger Masons!
Gelfling 545
@normal liberal: People who learn foreign languages, if not by being in a place where it is spoken, tend to acqure a lot of it through literature once past the basic stage so there is a somewhat stilted formality to their usage as I can testify ( Oh, that junior year Proust seminar!) Hence, I suppose, the instructions on my made in I forget where in Asia toilet to circumvolve the bolt.
O. Felix Culpa
I just met Congressman Keith Ellison. He’s the featured speaker at tonight’s fundraising dinner for the state party. (I’m some of the volunteer help.) He seems like a nice guy. A little shorter than I expected.
dmsilev
@frosty fred: I remembered that quote but was too lazy to look up the exact wording. I don’t really see Kim as much of a reader, but maybe he watched the Peter Jackson version of The Two Towers recently?
Gelfling 545
@trollhattan: Though I suspect that a lot of people who hear of Carson’s endorsement will say “Ben who?”
Jim Parish
@Mnemosyne: It may be worth noting that “senile” and “Senate” come from the same root.
frosty fred
@dmsilev: Or the translator did?
NotMax
@Gelfling 545
Wooden storage case for the telescope of Japanese origin acquired 50-mumble mumble years ago has pasted inside the lid a huge sticker with tips, instructions and such. First thing printed on the sticker, in extra extra extra large type, complete with multiple exclamations, is this:
NTOE!!
The Lodger
@Mike J: Moore-Strange than one can imagine…
Hkedi
@kindness: The Hawaii thing has been making me scratch my head too. Honestly we are to the left of California on a couple things.
frosty
@Mnemosyne: The Snowflake Method looks like a good way to avoid writing yourself into a box, which is what happened to the only novel I ever attempted.
His steps match journalism’s Pyramid Lead, too. First sentence is the story, first paragraph is the story.
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@Barbara: Unfortunately gerrymandering is built into the Senate.
WaterGirl
@Mnemosyne: She looks better in a leather jacket than former half-term governor Sarah Palin did.
Litany
@Kathleen: How do you figure that Sanders was a plant to siphon Dem votes? To those of us in the reality-based community it sounds an awful lot like an Alex Jonesism without any evidence besides “it’s obvious.”
If we’re going to start blaming people for the media’s love affair of Trump, Hillary and her team have to be mentioned on the list of those responsible. Here’s her team’s memo to the DNC about the narrative they should be pushing through their media connections regarding the RNC field of candidates:
“The variety of candidates is a positive here, and many of the lesser known can serve as a cudgel to move the more established candidates further to the right. In this scenario, we don’t want to marginalize the more extreme candidates, but make them more ‘Pied Piper’ candidates who actually represent the mainstream of the Republican Party…We need to be elevating the Pied Piper candidates so that they are leaders of the pack and tell the press to [take] them seriously.”
It was marching orders from the top down that the press should hype up the more extreme factions of the GOP simply because Hillary thought that these “pied pipers” would be easier to run against. She miscalculated, and now the rest of us have to actually deal with Trump while she remains deeply insulated from the fallout by her own privilege.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@Just One More Canuck:
You are the brute squad!
workworkwork
@rikyrah: Thanks! Just faxed Cory Gardner from ResistBot.