This:
There is nothing to add; perfection needs no sauce.
Open thread, y’all.
Reader Interactions
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.
I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.
The worst democrat is better than the best republican.
Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.
Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.
How stupid are these people?
At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.
Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.
Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.
One way or another, he’s a liar.
This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.
How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.
Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.
People are complicated. Love is not.
Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?
American history and black history cannot be separated.
Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.
The gop is a fucking disgrace.
Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.
Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.
Technically true, but collectively nonsense
Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!
Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!
My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.
Kenneth Kohl
I believe that about says it all…
The Dangerman
Given Trump just gave the Kiss of Death to Sessions, I’m guessing his scene is over by Wednesday. SNL mourns.
MomSense
That is the best thing ever. Of course now I will be singing that song all day.
OldDave
Astronaut John W. Young, with flights on Gemini, Apollo, and the STS, has passed at age 87. He flew the first Gemini mission with Gus Grissom, walked on the Moon, and commanded the first Shuttle flight. Six times in space. Requiescat in pace, Sir.
RepubAnon
“And I know more of tactics than a novice in a nunnery…”
– Wiley Donny: Suuuuuper Genius
JPL
@The Dangerman: What happened now?
danielx
Well played.
@The Dangerman:
What, did he say Sessions has his complete confidence?
aimai
So, as I pointed out below thread, the entire weekend at camp david is basically obstruction of justice? They are going to fire sessions and then replace him with a new AG, aren’ they?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
let it be retweeted throughout the Land
@The Dangerman: Oh, I really hope SNL is new tonight. One of the most unexpected (personal) effects of the trump era: I look forward to SNL in a way I haven’t since I had to sneak past my parents’ room to watch it in the basement with Belushi, Murray and Radner
danielx
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
samurai special counsel!
germy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Have you seen the Presidential Fitness Test?
The Dangerman
@aimai:
Yup. They looked how far down the bench they’d have to go after firing Rosenstein (to get to Mueller) and have decided to fire above him.
Luckily for all of us, Ivanka doesn’t have a JD.
Starfish
The second verse was also good, Tom.
germy
Villago Delenda Est
@Starfish: This is NOT “I’m Henery the Eighth I am I am”, either! :D
frosty
@germy:
The actor playing Trump is good. Too good, I can’t watch it. :-(
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@germy: that’s fantastic– I keep meaning to look for that show, but Comedy Central (that’s where it is, right?) always seems to rebroadcast everything except what I want to watch
dmsilev
Donnie probably thinks a hypotenuse is one of those large animals his sons kill for shits and giggles.
p.a.
Om smot.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Am in the People’s Democratic Soc!alist Republic of Vietnam. Went to a really nice airport, had easy entry by polite, nonbarking border types (no customs inspection happened), then was whisked along a great modern road (the construction of which did not profit already exceedingly wealthy people as God has intended), across a modern bridge (where was the profit for some wealthy cretin) and into the old part of Hanoi. I saw people of all ages gathered in front of tiny businesses, bars and restaurants – all operating with the apparent connivance of beetle browned commissars in Mao suits who want to create the illusion of happiness, which, as we know, only happens when hyperbillionaires hire ass wipers. Saw a huge open air nighttime flower market which was packed, and apparently sees its biggest traffic at 3 am every day, as the people here apparently supplement the drabness of soc!alistical life with daily fresh flowers.
Right now, I’m in the same hotel where Jane Fonda betrayed ‘Murka worse than it was ever betrayed by anybody ever…
JPL
@frosty: I made the mistake and watched. It wasn’t amusing because it was entirely possible.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
MisterForkbeard
@germy: To be fair, in a normal administration you wouldn’t invite the AG to plan legislative action, because that’s not his job.
Obvious caveat: This is not a normal administration.
John Revolta
@aimai: I hear that Zinke wants the job. Yippee.
Major Major Major Major
@danielx: he said that right before Sessions recused himself last year, I remember because I thought it was the kiss of death at the time.
Peale
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: he’s going to win this one and if he does we need them to start fearing us.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
That bit of sarcasm now done, I found myself seething over what we did to these lovely folks.
Major Major Major Major
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
I see you’re unfamiliar with the widespread corruption and cronyism of the communist party.
No Drought No More
Trump is fucking Fredo on steroids.
NYCMT
I am the very model of a very stable genius
I disbelieve the warming truth established by Arrhenius
The classics ranked upon my shelf are infinitely numerous
My cogitating mind consumes the picayune and numinous!
In dark of night I speak my words which then appear so luminous
My anecdotes are very best, transcendentally so humorous
The strata of my favorite meal are ruminant and graminous
whose masticate is fluidized by saccharrine sialagogues
oatler.
My favorite post title so far.
raven
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: She didn’t do it in a hotel, she did it on an anti-aircraft gun.
tobie
@MisterForkbeard: In a normal administration you also wouldn’t invite the Director of the CIA to a summit to discuss the legislative agenda. What is Mike Pompeo doing there?
raven
I am not going to let this motherfucker spoil the National Championship Game.
John Revolta
hyperbillionaires hire ass wipers
A pithy turn of phrase, worthy of E. Costello himself!
germy
Boatboy_srq
Walter Schaub’s couplet is equally delicious: “I know the kings of England and I quote the fights historical / from Bowling Green to Waterloo in order categorical”
oldgold
✔
@robreiner
The only true stable genius has to be Mr. Ed., who talks in more complex sentences than the current occupier of the Whitehouse.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I try to keep calm and not give into fear- and/or conspiracy-mongering, but with this crew very little is beyond imagination. I don’t think they’ll hit Iran or NORK, but a couple of beautiful missiles aimed at Syria to get Van Jones and Brian Willaims too excited to cover the Sessions firing? I can imagine it. Especially now that Putin might help them pick a target (I exaggerate very slightly)
Kathleen
@Major Major Major Major:
danielx
@Major Major Major Major:
Usually the translation is “start cleaning out your desk and take down your i-love-me wall”.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@raven:
Wasn’t it on top of the hotel?
justawriter
Meanwhile, North Dakota State leads James Madison at halftime of the real Division 1 Championship Game.
MisterForkbeard
@tobie: There are reports that Pompeo gives Trump his daily briefing instead if a normal staffer. Pompeo is more of a servant than a department head.
germy
@oldgold:
Was it peanut butter or hidden wires enabling him?
tobie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I probably should not post today. Am feeling a bit too on edge. Let cooler heads prevail.
patrick II
To restate the obvious, the Republican leadership meeting with Trump this weekend are criminals . They are conspiring to obstruct justice by stopping or gelding the Mueller investigation of a possible (and I would say certain) crime.
The Dangerman
@raven:
You going? Pass along a particularly hearty double barreled bird for me.
Tom Levenson
@Starfish: Indeed!
tobie
@MisterForkbeard: Thanks for this measured take.
raven
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Nah but your point is well taken. I have to say that, as much as this is all really important to me, I had never seen the footage where she said shot down pilots should be executed.
aimai
@NYCMT: Brava! Bravo! Whatever! Whomever!
germy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
they accused bill clinton of “wagging the dog”
Every accusation a potential confession.
aimai
I’m imagining that the scene at Camp David is going to be like something from the last days of Caligula–with senators and congressmen who have been comfortable in the conviction that someone else will stop Trump if necessary being brought face to face with the reality as he offers them “legislative priorities” they want in exchange for making a new horses’s ass into AG.
Noncarborundum
@OldDave: if you’re addressing him, it’s requiescas (“may you rest”).
/ Latin pedantry from someone whose nym is fake Latin
raven
@The Dangerman: I’ve been back and forth, I sold one and then listed and deleted the other three times. This morning I got a parking offer from the University that puts me pretty close to the stadium so at least I can just hang in my car pre-game. Also the called off the really bad weather alert.
geg6
Think I’ll watch a couple more episodes of Game of Thrones. Still not liking it much but it less absurd and frightening than current reality.
Adam L Silverman
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I’ve deleted the extra two versions of this you had sitting in moderation. It was a good comment, but I think posting it once is sufficient.
germy
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@aimai: of his immediate family, I think Jared’s the only one with a law degree, though I think Tiffany is L-2. I’m probably better informed than trump on that last one.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Adam L Silverman:
It was the s word that fywp mistakes as male enhancement med.
Major Major Major Major
@germy: maybe they should give trump some peanut butter. His dentures will fall off and he’ll be laughed out of the room.
Yarrow
@tobie: There’s not much any of us can do anyway. Maybe call our Congress folks and let them know they need to DO SOMETHING because Trump is unstable. It probably doesn’t make that much difference, but a large number of calls from constituents might break through.
Adam L Silverman
@tobie: DCI Pompeo delivers the presidential daily brief. It was reported some months ago that the President prefers to have Pompeo deliver the PDB and that he does. This is unusual. The reporting also indicated that Pompeo spends far more time at the White House than previous DCIs because the President trusts him or likes him or something.
p.a.
@aimai: “This meeting will begin with 30 minutes discussing the wonderfuless of me.”
*snaps tiny fingers*
“Where’s my press clippings?”
bemused
@germy:
Seriously?
germy
tonight’s SNL is a rerun.
Host Chance the Rapper; Eminem performs.
Adam L Silverman
@tobie: Go do something fun. Or something productive. Or both. Or just veg.
The Dangerman
@raven:
Enjoy if you go even if the Orange Genius is there. I was never that impressed by Clemson, they were living off last year and Watson, and Bama is living off the last decade or so. They are way overrated. Could be UGA’s year.
germy
@bemused:
Apparently.
Nice escapist entertainment to take the boss’s mind off things.
Mike J
@germy:
They’ve given up. How do they compete?
Msb
Brilliant.
p.a.
Honest to dog if the US can survive this (or re-emerge from this) as a functioning democracy and world leader is there anything that can threaten us beside the Yellowstone caldera?
bemused
@germy:
You can’t make this shit up.
Ian G.
I’m not sure whether the best metaphor for Trump is Caligula, Charles II of Spain, or Turkmenbashi. There’s a little of each in him. I’m waiting for the executive order renaming Tuesday “Ivankaday”.
tobie
@Adam L Silverman: Yes, I shall brave the cold and stack the remaining half-cord of wood I have lying in a corner of my driveway! Thanks, all, for the information and soothing words.
Adam L Silverman
@tobie: Stay warm.
raven
@The Dangerman: The Econ prof in front of us at the Rose Bowl said “we’re playing with house money”. My bride wasn’t sure what that meant.
germy
@bemused: @Mike J:
C-Span is now the #1 rated comedy channel.
Origuy
@OldDave: I was at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago last week. They have the Gemini 12 capsule, along with a lot of Jim Lovell’s gear. That thing was tiny.
danielx
@Ian G.:
The Madness of King Donald?
Sorry, couldn’t help myself.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Do they know they’re helping him lead with his chins?
He almost hallucinated a law degree or an MBA there. and of course, “billions and billions…” Show us the returns, Donnie
Petorado
Well, turning a fully functional federal government into the Augean Stables in less than a year does take a certain type of genius.
Yarrow
Ugh. I think I may be getting the cold that’s going around. Not sure yet. Throat’s been a little funny. Slight bit more congestion. Could be the weather, but I’m also very tired and that often signals the start of me getting sick. I’m loading up on Vitamin C and zinc.
The weekend is stupidly busy with several things each day. I just want to curl up on the sofa.
zhena gogolia
@germy:
So is this when they do “Come Back, Barack”? I’ll have to watch if so.
germy
@zhena gogolia: Yes, that’s the episode. It’s also immortalized on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkPSbp3zTfo
Yarrow
@danielx: @Ian G.: Probably a bit of King Lear in there as well. The narcissism. Childlike behavior. Toxic relationship with daughters and family in general.
zhena gogolia
@germy:
You don’t have to tell me, I’ve watched it 1000 times. It’s even better if you first watch the video for “Tell Me It’s Real” by K-Ci and Jo-Jo, which I learned from the YouTube comments (I know, I know) is one of the sources of the parody. That makes it even more hilarious. But it’s a really good song in its own right! I just thought it would be a thrill to see it on broadcast teevee.
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 1/5/18
Republicans, compliant FBI make progress undermining Russia probe
Rachel Maddow looks at how Republican interest in investigating Russia’s intrusion in the 2016 election has turned over the course of the past year to an interest in undermining that investigation, and how the FBI has become more compliant as Trump and Republicans have stepped up attacks.
rikyrah
Since the moment Dolt45 was ‘elected’
They were desperate to make it about anything other than race.
Economic Anxiety, remember?
Well, Archie Bunker voted for Hillary Clinton.
It was Archie’s BOSS and his WHITE WIFE that voted for Dolt45.
As I’ve said for awhile..
What burns them is that their vessel for White Supremacy is not just a national, but INTERNATIONAL embarrassment.
What burns them is that non-Whites REFUSE to take any responsibility for this.
AND…that we have ‘ the audacity’, at every turn, to purse our lips and remind THEM that WE didn’t do this.
They were so desperate to prove that the Black Man in the White House wasn’t all that good, that they turned around and voted in this imbecile, whose every step only accentuates just how fabulous 44 was.
The MSM was desperate because they wanted to paper over their professional malpractice in 2016..but, a) we keep on coming with receipts, b) we have no intention of ‘ turning the page’, and c) their desperation for the ‘pivot’, which would prove that their malpractice wasn’t all that bad.
I’ve said for awhile..
This isn’t 2000.
This isn’t even 2004, after Shrub lied us into two wars.
This is on a whole other level, and our side isn’t interested in forgiveness or understanding.
The TREASON is what makes this different.
rikyrah
@Yarrow:
gargle with Original Listerine . A lot.
Starfish
@rikyrah: My Republican Senator was very mad because of whatever the hell Jeff Sessions is doing about marijuana, and I did not even believe him because he surely did not care about what his constituents thought of health care. He surely did not care about deficits when it came to passing the odious tax bill. Then I heard him on the radio and thought, “Oh, he does sound mad about this.” He made his own bed though.
germy
Tehanu
@frosty:, @Jim, Foolish Literalist: That’s Anthony Atamanuik and the guy playing Pence is Peter Grosz. This is the most brilliant parody show I have EVER seen so you should make every effort to catch up with it. The one where Deepak Chopra told “Trump” that everyone would be really relieved if he had an MRI and it showed he was “normal” was particularly wonderful.
rikyrah
From March 2017 through July 2017, Ivanka Trump made between $1 million and $5 million from her business, per her federal filing, VF reports. https://t.co/NWUrYm8FAc
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 6, 2018
germy
@Tehanu: I don’t particularly care for the SNL version of trump. From what I understand, Atamanuik sent in an audition tape. SNL turned him down, but shared the tape with Baldwin.
The writing on Atamanuik’s show is more subtle and genuinely funny, IMO.
He also showed up as trump on Tracey Ullman’s new show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rMo87P-nDc
Boatboy_srq
@germy: No doubt to distract from the sensation that rode a vision to become a worldwide spectacle…
WaterGirl
MomSense, are you around? I saw on an earlier thread that you were about to start listening to Preet’s podcast with Maggie H from a couple of days ago.
I was really surprised (and disappointed) that he was having her on and that he seemed to have some respect for her work. I don’t read her so I don’t know, but I was surprised that Bj and Preet would be so far apart on that.
Sometimes people say that people have punchable faces – I took an instant dislike to her voice and her smug tone in the interview. What did you think of the interview?
P.S. The week before he had Tina Brown on! I know I had an exceedingly bad impression of her when she left the Daily Beast. It’s all confusing!
edit: still fighting this bug so I am off to take a nap, but I will check back when I get up from my nap.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@germy: I agree, but I think the fact that it’s Baldwin on SNL, two fixtures of Manhattan as trump sees (and resents) it, that really gets under trump’s pelt
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 1/5/18
New Trump US attorney appointments raise questions
Matt Alexrod, former senior Justice Department official, talks with Rachel Maddow about the peculiarities in the way the Trump administration has appointed some replacement U.S. attorneys.
HeleninEire
I start my new job on Monday. Spent the day pressing clothes; matching shirts to skirts & pants & shoes & jewelry. Also, too, tights. Cuz it’s so cold here, colored tights are big. It’s exhausting being a girl! But I have a month of outfits! Most of which I dragged here in only 2 36 inch canvas rolling bags. WOO HOO!
And the cherry on the cake of my day was that I found a pair of brown flats. Been looking forever. It’s the small things!
trollhattan
@germy:
Shorter Twitter: “Cancel this guy? Have you seen the fooking traffic he brings?”
rikyrah
@HeleninEire:
good luck on the new job :)
RobertDSC-Mac Mini
Seems to me the Orange Atrocity is the real Fredo:
He is a tiny man with tiny hands trying to play big. Tired of his act.
HeleninEire
@rikyrah: Thanks. Very excited but nervous too. The first day/week is so stressful cuz you don’t even know how to work the photocopier or where the bathroom is. I am confident that I’ll be fine in, say, week 3. But I gotta get there. Thanks again.
mai naem mobile
@John Revolta: that’s because Zinke is a good pal of Donnie Jrs. I don’t think he’s a lawyer.
Major Major Major Major
@HeleninEire: woohoo indeed. Knock em dead!
TS
@germy: Every person in this picture should hide their head in shame. Toadies – every last one of them
a very stable genius
@Jordanfabian
From earlier: President Trump speaks at Camp David alongside GOP leaders and Cabinet officials
geg6
@Tehanu:
I love that show! The Pence Guy is brilliant. So is the Uday guy.
rikyrah
The wheels are coming off the bus, day 4 – Never go full Fredo
This is a combination self-care thread and “OH MY GOD WHAT DID TRUMP DO NOW??”
As we all know by now, Donald Trump went full Fredo this morning, tweeting out that not only was he smart, but a “stable genius”. Of course, as of this writing, “Fredo” is trending on Twitter.
The Michael Wolff tome has savaged Trump and his self-image. Say what you want about Wolff, but what he did was brilliant. He told regime members, including Trump, what they wanted to hear in order to gain access, and then destroyed them. He turned their ridiculous self-regard back on themselves. And he has reduced Trump to doing a pathetic Fredo Corleone impersonation on Twitter do defend his nous. As we all know, his claim to fame was his alpha-male image. Nothing punctures that more than pathetic whining.
justawriter
And the North Dakota State Bison deflect a pass in the end zone to preserve a four point win over the James Madison Dukes to be the champions of Division 1 College football for the sixth time in seven years, A satisfying ending to the college football season although I do understand that there is a SEC exhibition game on Monday.
raven
@HeleninEire: Smoke em!
germy
Was Nunberg drunk during this segment of AM Joy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbAsSbQjOMI
satby
@HeleninEire: you’re going to do great!
raven
@justawriter: Well fuck, I was watching it on about 5 minute delay.
Sab
@HeleninEire: Good luck. I am extremely envious.
HeleninEire
@Major Major Major Major: @raven: Thanks boys.
geg6
@justawriter:
Good. I despise James Madison (the higher education institution, that is). Not only is it a hotbed of Randism and trickle down worship but the two worst staffers we’ve ever hired at my campus attended and worked there. Idiots, the both of them.
justawriter
@raven: Whoops. Sorry. Should have put a spoilers warning.
Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)
@HeleninEire: Congratulations on the new job! I know they’re going to love having you there.
satby
Josh Marshal has this right: Is the President Mentally Ill
HeleninEire
@satby: @Sab: @Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA): Thanks to you all. I am sure this is the job for me. I just gotta remember to say Euros and not Dollars and to write the date Day, Month, Year. Other than that, I’m good. As soon as I figure out where the bathroom is….. NO NO NO, it’s called the toilet (cuz there’s no bath) or the loo. ;)
justawriter
@geg6: I won’t claim that NDSU is a great bastion of progressivism, but they have produced quite a few prominent local liberals over the years. (At least historically if not recently) The institution tends to be functionally liberal as they realize how many of their programs are dependent on government funding as the teabaggers in the state legislature keep looking to impoverish the entire state.
Jeffro
@geg6: oh bullshit on “hotbed of Randism”
A fine, fine institution! ?
raven
@justawriter: Nah, it was just casual watching! I’m headed to that exhibition game Monday night.
sukabi
@No Drought No More: ewww…both too much information, and not a picture I want in my head.
bemused
@satby:
Is it this month that trump is having his physical and said he’d reveal the results? I’ll be shocked if he reveals anything about his physical. He’ll write his own report again.
JPL
@bemused: He’ll release the information as soon as he can, maybe two weeks.
Frankensteinbeck
@The Dangerman:
This is the hundredth time I have been told Trump is about to fire Sessions and end the Mueller investigation. I guess it could happen, but I have long since stopped jumping every time it looks like it might.
Tenar Arha
OMG, when truthiness is actual truth…
the “Bloodsport” anecdote about Trump having his son fast forward to the fight scenes was from a real 1997 article in the New Yorker.
h/t @oneunderscore_ via Twitter
laura
@HeleninEire: I’ve always enjoyed your tales of a gal abroad -and the family ties that bind. Now, we’re going to enjoy being regaled with the adventures of a gal on the just right job.
I hope it’s satisfying, challenging and good compensation.
HeleninEire
@laura: OMG thank you. That makes me cry-ish. So glad you are enjoying it. I should write a book!
Baud
@Frankensteinbeck: This.
@HeleninEire:
Fire and Fury: An American Jackel in Eire.
KS in MA
@HeleninEire: Good luck in your new job, Helen. Be sure to let us know how it goes!
Mnemosyne
@raven:
She wasn’t the only celebrity at the time to get caught up in the romance of supporting a revolution, but she was one of the dumber ones, and she just kept digging herself in deeper.
raven
@Mnemosyne: I’m sorry, saying shot down pilots should be executed in inexcusable. I was as deep as anyone in the anti-war movement but that was fucked up.
MomSense
@WaterGirl:
I can see her point that the style ofninterview she does where she lets him just talk has produced some of the most revealing information. I guess the problem is that it’s hard to separate that from what the NYT as a whole has done to normalize him and couch his behaviors in a positive light.
It also pisses me off that they let him get away with such a low standard. If they asked him the simplest follow up question, he wouldn’t be able to answer-and wouldn’t that also be revealing?
HeleninEire
@Baud: Don’t you dare dare me. Cuz I’ll do it.
Baud
@HeleninEire: If you’ll do it, I triple dog dare you.
Baud
@MomSense:
That’s a good example of a simple follow up question that is revealing.
HeleninEire
@HeleninEire: And include you all in it!
DissidentFish
@geg6: Also I graduated from JMU (please, never James Madison). Only took 10 years (with job elsewhere in the mix), 1 overnight in the Harrisonburg Jail, and a trip to detox.
Gelfling 545
Just in case anybody from warmer climes can’t imagine what our below 0 temps are like, here’s what’s up at Niagara Falls -about a half hour drive from me.
http://galleries.buffalonews.com/default.aspx?id=9784#/5
HeleninEire
@KS in MA: Thank you hun. So nice to see you here. Say Hi to Gayle for me. She is the best.
Aleta
@HeleninEire: Also telly is not short for tellyphone.
Boatboy_srq
@HeleninEire: Congrats! Irishness will come – probably easier than you think. A good dose of Pogues/Clannad/Van Morrison never hurst, though.
And I feel you on the clothes thing. NoVA is freezing. Cold enough for four layers. I’m FINALLY getting the winter I moved here for.
MomSense
@HeleninEire:
Good luck and try to have some fun!
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@justawriter: I know two people who taught at NDSU, though they both just left and went to a university in Canada. If they’re typical, there are liberal faculty anyway.
Mnemosyne
@raven:
She was the Susan Sarandon of her time. Absolutely no understanding that what she was doing was actively harming real people.
HeleninEire
@Baud: @HeleninEire: I accept your triple dog dare and double it. This book is gonna be the schizzle. Find a lawyer Baud. One to sue me for sure. Discovery, oh yeah.
Baud
@HeleninEire: My cease and desist letter is already in the mail!
HeleninEire
@Baud: Oh international mail? Good luck with that. Try to find an O’Neill; this one; in Ireland.
James E. Powell
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Mueller is making Trump look ridiculous and a man in his position cannot afford to be made to look ridiculous!
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
Gotta agree with raven here. And you as well.
I’d never heard of the kill the captive pilots line though. But that is a bridge way too far. It was a time of taking sides and many of us who served were or became anti war. But that isn’t what we signed up for. There were other paths but the cost of those was high and wouldn’t have changed a thing. All Jane did was show herself to be an idiot and against many who quite possibly might have been on her side. She went too far and it wasn’t difficult to see that even then. And having said that, many in and out of government here were rabid war freaks, with no reason. They were if not worse, as bad as she was, just the other side of the toast. It was and remains a fucked up time in our history, not that we haven’t had a few others of those. Like right now.
Mnemosyne
@Ruckus:
Raven and I are violently agreeing, as usual. ?
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
Oh I know that. But my $.02 is worth something. Isn’t it?
Mnemosyne
@Ruckus:
Always! ?
James E. Powell
@raven:
I never heard that one before. And I thought I heard them all.
Kathleen
Deleted
Kathleen
@HeleninEire: Are you an O’Neill?
MisterForkbeard
@rikyrah: How does that compare to previous years?
HeleninEire
@Kathleen: Yup on my mother’s side.
Scamp Dog
@raven: I headed over to Snopes.com, and it confirmed my memory that she just got photographed on an AA gun, they didn’t let her operate it. The bit about executing captured American pilots wasn’t specifically addressed in the Snopes article, but her comments made on North Vietnamese media were asking the pilots to stop bombing, not asking for anyone to do things to them. Sooo…not that what she did over there was any good, but I hate to see complete nonsense being spewed around.
cosima
We don’t often watch the news (BBC or other) here, but tonight it came up after a show that we were watching, and it was left on. One of the first things that they ran was the ‘extraordinary’ (and not in a good way, was the impression given) statement given by the orange fart cloud from Camp David, about his genius, intelligence, etc. The takeaway from it, in my opinion, was that they were astonished by the statement, the situation, and as such, felt no need to add any discussion — they showed the clip, said a few words, and let it speak for itself.
Not that it will make any difference to the functioning of the US or its administration, but I would have to say, based on what I saw on the news, that the UK can be counted as not really being willing to give any credence to anything that issues from that ugly gob. There appears to be a feeling here of not much point in news outlets trying to put lipstick on the pig that is the orange fart cloud. Incredulity. Shock. Appalled. Really, what could a news outlet (we were watching BBC) have to add to something like that trainwreck of a statement?
So, that’s my take on what the major news outlet of the UK is thinking about this particular dumpster fire.
WaterGirl
@HeleninEire: On your first day, be sure to let them know the interesting fact that you just heard this week – they say that on the first day of a new job, a person retains approximately 25% of what they are told.
Excited for you for your new job – but don’t be too hard on yourself if some things go in one ear and out the other.
Gvg
@Ruckus: l don’t think that happened. I have never heard about that and I have heard about Hanoi Jane from my Veitnam Vet Uncle forever. If that happened it would be on the net too and I can’t find it. There are some links to people publishing “excerpt” of her speeches who are clearly nutso. She is someone a certain type seem to love to hate, there are already other false stories about her. What she did do was stupid enough.
I could not find a debunking, but I couldn’t find ANYTHING supporting it and she is too famous. If she had really said that, confirmation would be all over the place. It must be a new false story, why now I can’t say.
Ruckus
@Gvg:
Yeah, as I said I hadn’t heard this before and I’ve been thinking about it. Like you I think if she had said it, it would have been broadcast around the world. But back then I didn’t pay too much attention to Jane. I figured that her heart was in a reasonable place, end the war, but her brain must have fallen about half way down to the ground because she was thinking with her butt. She didn’t win any friends from a lot of people she could have, that’s for sure. And she made a lot of enemies along the way.
J R in WV
@rikyrah:
Nope. I agree with everything else you say about our political situation, the racism in our leadership, etc. But Ethel Bunker didn’t vote for Dump, and Archie did. Archie never had a thought, couldn’t be handed a thought by anyone. In the Bunker househole, the only vote for Dump was Archie, and everyone else voted for Hillary.
Maybe you’re too young to have watched all those old TV shows, but we watched them because it was the best TV available broadcast in our area. No cable or sat dishes back then. We’ve never had cable, by the time it was common in town we had moved so far out into the country there isn’t any offered.
Archie voted for Dump, everyone else voted for Hillary. Trust me on this.
Julia Grey
@J R in WV
I agree that she would have voted for Hillary, but Mrs. Bunker’s name was EDITH.
Maybe you’re thinking of Ethel Mertz? ?