Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Prediction: the GOP will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

The willow is too close to the house.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself.

Republicans don’t trust women.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

After roe, women are no longer free.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

The revolution will be supervised.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Everybody saw this coming.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Monday Morning Open Thread: Set Your Recording Devices

Monday Morning Open Thread: Set Your Recording Devices

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Per the Washington Post:

With his new monthly Netflix talk show, David Letterman is returning to the limelight — and bringing former president Barack Obama with him.

Obama will be the first guest on “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman,” set to begin Jan. 12, Netflix announced Friday. The interview will be among the few Obama has given since leaving office early last year…

In addition to Obama, other guests on the show include George Clooney, Malala Yousafzai, Tina Fey, Jay-Z and Howard Stern. In each hour-long episode Letterman will have a long-form conversation with the guest across a range of topics.

“You never know when you might learn something,” Letterman said of his new show. “And that’s what this is about for me. These are people that I admire.”…

.

What else do we have to look forward to, at the start of a new week?

***********


.

Dana Milbank, “And the Trumpie for Best Actor in A Misleading Role… “:

… After Trump boasted about the largeness and functionality of his “nuclear button” this week, a few reporters pointed out that the only button on his desk in the Oval Office is for him to order a Diet Coke. Maybe Trump thinks he is ordering a nuclear strike each time he presses that button and that he is then being rewarded with a Diet Coke?

Reader Interactions

184Comments

  3. 3.

    Schlemazel

    Interesting that Letterman, who was a really lousy interviewer, would have a show of just interviews.

  6. 6.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Axios reports that Trump isn’t starting his actual-work day until 11 am

    He’s busy watching The Gorilla Channel’s morning shows.

  10. 10.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    From @Quinerly‘s link:

    Grand jury takes sworn testimony in Burlington College case

    By Jasper Craven

    Editor’s note: This story has been updated with a quote from Jeff Weaver, a spokesman for the Sanders family.

    The federal probe into a 2010 land deal orchestrated by former Burlington College president Jane Sanders, wife of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has deepened. VTDigger has confirmed that a grand jury has compelled sworn witness testimony in the case.

    The Vermont U.S. Attorney’s office has interviewed at least one witness before the grand jury to determine whether indictments should be handed down.

    Former Burlington College board member Robin Lloyd says she testified for about an hour on Oct. 26 before a grand jury at the federal courthouse in Burlington.

    Uh-oh

  11. 11.

    AnneWith

    Why are people hyperventilating over who we’re going to run for President in 2020? Why is it so necessary that we thrash this out now and not wait until 2019?

  15. 15.

    Quinerly

    And Morning Joe leads with ragging on❤ Stephen Miller….Michael Wolff up soon for first cable interview.

  24. 24.

    magurakurin

    @AnneWith: it’s mostly the berniecrats, red roses and other “progressives” that are getting all excited about it, because they fear St. Bernard will have competition…and he will. I think the vast majority of Democrats are more focused on this November and are willing to take a look at whoever the field might be in 2020 when the time comes.

  36. 36.

    AnneWith

    @magurakurin: I’ve seen a Hillaryite getting hot & bothered about it, too. I just don’t get it. It’s like worrying about Christmas in June. :/

    Also, Newsweek is the latest trying to make a Joe Biden 2020 run happen, to which I say, spare me. IMHO, the next Democratic nominee should (a) be younger than me (53), & (b) have been elected to public office as a Democrat.

  38. 38.

    Quinerly

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: NY Times reporter is telling me this AM that “this is not sustainable.” “The dam is going to break.” Comforting??? This aside, Jonathan Swan of Axios is talking about Trump’s schedule. He’s the same reporter that just a few months ago was insisting Trump would be reelected.

  39. 39.

    Frankensteinbeck

    Is it bad that my first reaction was another surge of anger at John Stewart’s “There is still gridlock in Washington so you’re a liar who didn’t fulfill your campaign promises” Obama interview? I can’t believe I’m still resentful. It’s been years. I guess it was traumatic.

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:
    Who’ll stop it?

  42. 42.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Last week Yamiche Alcindor said she spoke with Wilmer’s wife and she confirmed that they plan to run in 2020. At 79, the acknowledge Wilmer’s age will be an issue so they said they plan to sell Wilmer as the next….. prepare yourself… as the next Nelson Mandela. Not kidding.

    Talk about tone deaf, incompetent, and insulting. Mandala spent 28 long years in prison to win freedom. Wilmer spent 28 long years in Washington becoming a millionaire.

    This is worst than Dan Quayle saying he was just like John F Kennedy because they had similar length of service in congress. It’s just one bumbling thing after another.

  44. 44.

    magurakurin

    @AnneWith: I agree with your qualification demands. Especially the younger part. I’m thinking Kamala Harris, born in 1964, is the upper age limit. Biden…puhleaze. No way, Joe. He can run if he wants to, but he won’t get my vote. I think most of the non-berniecrats that are in a tizzy are mostly of the “never Bernie” variety. I don’t care if he runs or not. It’s a certainty that if he runs he won’t get the nomination.

  46. 46.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @AnneWith:

    the next Democratic nominee should (a) be younger than me (53), & (b) have been elected to public office as a Democrat.

    You won’t get any arguments on either point around here.

  48. 48.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @AnneWith:
    The news media is going to obsess over the 2020 presidential election because it’s their favorite horse race. Yes, it’s stupid. Democrats have no power to stop them. Heaven knows our leaders have tried to focus on policy and the eternal high schoolers of the punditariat have zero interest.

  53. 53.

    magurakurin

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: If nothing else, I’m guessing they will all release years of tax returns and demand Sanders do the same. I can see Booker and Harris just hammering Sanders.

  60. 60.

    TS

    @Quinerly: He still had to get his dig in “We thought it was bad when President Obama worked 9- 6pm”

    Someone needs to tell Joe – President Obama was up early – staying fit and then reading so much. His obligation to his family was breakfast & dinner together. After dinner he worked late into the night. MJ – always has to have a dig at the Obamas and the Clintons – he cannot accept how much good they have done for the people of the USA.

  62. 62.

    mai naem mobile

    I think Biden is too old but putting the upper limit is 53 is a little low.I want somebody with a shit load of experience especially governmental experience. Same goes for the VP pick. Hell,you’re going to need it after all the damage Dolt45 is going to do. My upper limit is early 60s and basically healthy with no major chronic health issues and no history of major acute health issues.

  65. 65.

    magurakurin

    @Frankensteinbeck: the sun’s gravity affects the oceans, too. Spring tides when the sun and moon are in conjunction and neap tides when they are in opposition. Local topography of the land and sea floor also affect the tides. It’s a complex science to be sure.

  67. 67.

    magurakurin

    @mai naem mobile: I like the idea of Harris, because I think we’re gonna need a prosecutor when this is all said and done. But, the country has to survive 2018. If the Democrats don’t flip at least one house…and really both…we’re fucked. 2020 will be too late in that case. Gotta win the House and Senate. Just gotta.

  71. 71.

    AnneWith

    @mai naem mobile: 53 now. I’ll be 56 in 2020, if that helps (born in 1964).

    I know we can’t stop the media from speculating on 2020, but dear God what a bore the perpetual campaign is! Maybe I will pledge Baud 2020. Baud dear, you won’t wear us out, will you?

  72. 72.

    debbie

    Letterman has always been the best interviewer on television. Nice that he can now have guests who aren’t pimping movies or books — that he’ll get to speak with people he’s genuinely interested in.

  74. 74.

    magurakurin

    @AnneWith:

    Baud dear, you won’t wear us out, will you?

    you’re kidding, right? After the Baud 2020 we’ll all be more worn out than Penn Station

  75. 75.

    debbie

    @mai naem mobile:

    Agreed. This thinking that neophytes — regardless of their age — are the answer is ridiculous. I don’t see this kind of thinking going on in business or in the military.

  76. 76.

    germy

    I have a question about the stephen miller jake tapper interview.

    I notice miller was wearing an earpiece.

    I thought only interviewers and other villagers wore those. The director communicates with them, tells them how much time is left, etc.?

    I’ve never seen a guest wearing an earpiece.

    Can someone explain?

  77. 77.

    magurakurin

    @Frankensteinbeck: Sanders will go down in flames. He won’t get the sympathy from many that he got last time around. Only the deadenders will be with him. Rational folks will be looking elsewhere.

  80. 80.

    Boatboy_srq

    @Quinerly: This could legally continue for seven more years. It shouldn’t, and we should all strive to ensure it doesn’t, but it could.

  82. 82.

    magurakurin

    @Boatboy_srq:

    This could legally continue for seven more years.

    a horrifying fact. simply horrifying. I don’t think he will actually live that long, but, a horrifying fact nevertheless.

  83. 83.

    JPL

    If Trump dies in office due to health issues, I expect congress to name airports after him. They will make him out to be a hero, who saved us.

  87. 87.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    I can’t believe this shit show fail parade. I mean, I can believe it, but I can’t believe it if you know what I mean. I just can’t see this situation lumbering along, lurching this way and that and with three flat tires, forever. I guess it could, and maybe it will, but it’s hard to see how. The one thing I can’t work out is what’s going to happen when Republicans awaken to the awful truth that Tяump is a terrible threat to their own careers. I don’t know what they’re going to do then. These aren’t people who are good at standing up to authority they trust.

  96. 96.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    @JPL:

    I expect congress to name airports after him.

    but it’ll only be airports in the Bermuda Triangle.

  97. 97.

    Brachiator

    Has there been a discussion yet about Trump’s “consensual” presidency and pundit Goodwin’s kiss to Trump? From CNN

    Trump initially misquoted conservative columnist Michael Goodwin with two tweets citing Goodwin as saying:

    “‘His is turning out to be an enormously consensual presidency. So much so that … there has never been a day that I wished Hillary Clinton were President. Not one. Indeed, as Trump’s accomplishments accumulate, the mere thought of Clinton in the W.H., doubling down on Obama’s … failed policies, washes away any doubts that America made the right choice. This was truly a change election, and the changes Trump is bringing are far-reaching and necessary.’ Thank you Michael Goodwin!

    Naked link from my mobile browser here.

    http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/08/politics/trump-consensual-twitter-typo/index.html

  101. 101.

    Lapassionara

    @Quinerly: That should be worth a tweet storm.

    About the age thing, I think there is such an issue as too old, but I also think people in their 60’s are, if healthy, ok. It should depend on qualifications and policies.

  105. 105.

    Adria McDowell

    @rikyrah: Well, tbf, he cant tout himself as the next Cesar Chavez, since he’s not a fan of folks of Latin persuasion and stuff.

  107. 107.

    tokyocali (formerly tokyo expat)

    Don’t know if the thread is still going, but CNBC is reporting fire crews are responding to a fire in Trump Tower. Could not find it reported elsewhere.

  108. 108.

    Baud

    @rikyrah: Hindsight. She obviously thought people would come together after the primary was over. Many of us thought that. Lesson learned.

  109. 109.

    Quinerly

    Wolff interview on MJ quite good. Barnicle asked what I wanted to know….”Was Bannon drunk in any of the interviews?” He was not and turned down at least one drink when offered. KAC also instrumental along with Bannon, and, of course, Trump in bringing Wolff in…(and parking him on the sofa where he was from inauguration until Bannon was fired…sofa aspect still fascinates me…Wolff was there for all to see, including outside press, etc)

  116. 116.

    tokyocali (formerly tokyo expat)

    Ha! And Baud beat me to it! Should’ve finished the thread first.

  125. 125.

    TriassicSands

    @Quinerly:

    And if he truly has gained 100lbs.

    He certainly looks like he’s gained weight, but nowhere near 100 pounds. Where did that number come from?

  127. 127.

    Kay

    @JaneMayerNYer
    Source: Mercer split w/Bannon began long before Wolff book. Real cause? Mercers vs. Bannon’s proposed tax hike on millionaires.

    Hah! Have you noticed the long, convoluted ‘palace intrigue’ Trump stories always come down to “more money for rich people”? The end goal and end result is always the same. Whatever happens we know this- Trump’s Presidency will ALWAYS hugely benefit rich people. It’s the only constant.

  129. 129.

    Quinerly

    @Baud: Actually hr to hr. Last week I was warming up to Sloppy Steve and regretting all those post cards I filled out at a coffee shop right after the inauguration asking that he be kept out of the WH….realized that there might not be a Wolff book without Bannon. Then Sloppy Steve turned into Supine Steve yesterday…everything changed again.

  133. 133.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Kay:

    Trump’s Presidency will ALWAYS hugely benefit rich people. It’s the only constant.

    But Trump said that this tax bill would cost him a fortune and his friends don’t like it cause they’ll take a big hit. Trump wouldn’t lie to us.

  134. 134.

    Baud

    @Kay: The Mercers are right. When has the GOP ever paid a political price for cutting taxes on rich people?

  136. 136.

    Peale

    @Kay: nope. Not buying it or letting the Mercer’s off the hook for supporting Bannon and his racist causes. Once again, the journalists are jumping at anything, anything, anything they can to make rich people who support Trump into shrewd businemen just trying to protect their assets. Nope.

  141. 141.

    TriassicSands

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Compared to trump, W was a dream president.

    Trump probably should not be compared with other presidents. He’s an aberration. Trump has no attributes, qualities, or skills that make him even minimally qualified to be president. He has no relevant experience. Intellectually he isn’t even close to presidential material. Ethically and morally he comes up empty. Psychologically and temperamentally he’s an unmitigated disaster.

    However, there is no universe in which George Bush was a dream president. That’s my opinion, anyway. Bush was minimally qualified. Barely. But he was a terrible president, if for no other reason than he was a Republican.

  143. 143.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @TriassicSands: I read it a few days ago, IIRC in a reporters tweet quoting inside sources that was embedded in a story about Wolff’s book. Specifically it was in reference to trump’s fondness for fast food. No idea of the validity of it. I avoid looking at trump for any longer than it takes to “change the channel” much less long enough to gauge his weight gain. Even the thought of contemplating that subject has me gagging.

  144. 144.

    Kay

    @Peale:

    I don’t think it’s letting them off the hook at all. They supported Bannon and his racist causes right up until it ran into their personal self interest. Bannon is still a racist. He’s just a racist who sees that the fake populism is essential to selling the racist agenda. The Mercers disagree- they think they can get racism without the economic populism now that the campaign is over. It’s not new, Bannon’s approach. It’s literally the Nazi playbook.

    If you’re looking for some thread of consistency in Trump policy, you can bet that whatever else happens, rich people will be rewarded. Always.

  145. 145.

    Quinerly

    @OzarkHillbilly: And according to my new best friend, Nicole Wallace, GWB is”a voracious reader.” She must have said it 15 times last week. This aside, I used to hate her…now I try to catch her show…she loathes Trump as much as I do. (more up is down and down is up moments for me). Very embarrassed that her parents supported him.

  148. 148.

    TriassicSands

    @Quinerly:

    Thanks. I find that hard to believe. That would put him at something like 350+ pounds.

    When they reported his weight in 2016, they had to add an inch to his height to keep him from being classified as obese. If he weighs 350, they’ll have to claim he’s 7’7″!
    I guess that’s an announcement for Kellyanne.

  151. 151.

    Mike in DC

    @Quinerly:
    They want to try to submit an affadavit in lieu of an interview? Lol x infinity. They’re terrified of submitting Trump to be interviewed for any meaningful period of time. He will lie, intentionally or otherwise, about everything material to the criminal investigation.

  152. 152.

    Quinerly

    @satby: Her show is quite good. I started cutting her some slack when all the inside baseball stuff came out about her work on McCain/Palin….that she admitted NOT VOTING for the ticket that employed her. Worth something to me.

  154. 154.

    Kay

    I don’t really like canvassing. Listening to people is hard work and they often don’t bother to learn the first thing about anyone they vote for, but I’m kind of looking forward to it in ’18 because I feel like we’re drowning in bullshit and I need some actual information, anecdotal as it may be. No one talks about Trump locally anymore. He won with 70% of this county so most of the people I encounter voted for him but I don’t hear a word about him other than if I bring it up and then I’m likely to get some eye-rolling response to his Twitter antics, which doesn’t really make sense because, again, 70%. It’s weird. He so dominates on tv but I never hear any normal people weighing in on him. They had REALLY strong opinions on Bush (supported here) and Obama (opposed here) but they’re eerily quiet on Trump. I don’t know what it is. Exhaustion? Embarrassment?

  155. 155.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @TriassicSands:

    Trump probably should not be compared with other presidents.

    trump is president. It is the ONLY comparison. He may be as dumb as a box of rocks but boxes of rocks can’t fling nuclear weapons, or cut taxes on the rich, or throw Dreamers out of the country. They can’t even tweet. Other than that you are absolutely correct about trump.

    When it comes to W, yes, he was a horrible president. But he wasn’t racist. (not that it mattered when so many of his policies were) He wasn’t a complete coward. And he recognized that he wasn’t an expert in all fields. The fact that he was a Republican so he chose other Republicans (including some truly vile people) (think Cheney) led him to make some truly horrendous decisions, but he is still far better than trump, and trump is still no better than W’s dumps.

  156. 156.

    Quinerly

    @TriassicSands: I’m, like, a really tall stable genius.” Trump

    “He’s 7’7″. It’s obvious that he is that tall. The President has to be that tall to support his big brain. Height like that gives the President’s big brain stability. Next question.” Sarah Huckabee Sanders

  157. 157.

    Marcopolo

    @Kay: Good morning folks.

    I’d rather take a larger view: Republicans are the party of wealth/wealthy; Democrats are the party of work/workers. Who knows, it might even work in a pithy bumper sticker slogan kind of way.

  158. 158.

    Immanentize

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    The one thing I can’t work out is what’s going to happen when Republicans awaken to the awful truth that Tяump is a terrible threat to their own careers

    They will retire from Congress. To his is already happening and it will accelerate toward the end of spring when primaries generally happen. There are going to be a LOT of GOP retirements. One wants to go out as a winner, after all.

    ETA. Cochran from Mississippi will likely be one of them, although not really a big pick up opportunity….

    ETA to my ETA — And when the Democrats take over the house? You will see a huge number of GOP either jump party or jump ship. They will simply not be able to handle being in the minority with it’s huge loss of perques and power.

  159. 159.

    Kay

    I did a 501 (3)(c) app for a local non profit right before Christmas and I had to meet with them to tell the rules – no politics is one of the rules- and I thought “well, this will be interesting because Trump supporters are supposedly so loyal they’ll pipe up and I’ll hear SOMETHING” but it was just..nothing. Some awkward scraping of chairs as people shifted around uncomfortably. It’s like bringing up sex or something. Like it’s something “nice people” don’t talk about. The lack of chatter is just…odd. Are they ashamed? Hoping he’ll shut the fuck up? Silently thrilled and supportive? I don’t know.

  160. 160.

    Matt McIrvin

    @AnneWith: We are all mortally terrified that something, anything, might happen that will cause Donald Trump to be reelected, like every one of the last three Presidents. It’s the horror looming over everything.

  161. 161.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay:

    they’re eerily quiet on Trump. I don’t know what it is. Exhaustion? Embarrassment?

    C: Both.

  163. 163.

    Tenar Arha

    @Peale: Yep. Money’s their excuse but it’s not their only reason, or they wouldn’t have spent so much for so little return sometimes. Of course, they also hit the jackpot with Dolt 45.

  166. 166.

    TriassicSands

    @Quinerly:

    Gee, and I was thinking he’s more like 7’4″ or 7’5″. I stand corrected.

    In addition to being the smartest, most accomplished president, he’s now our tallest. Who says Trump hasn’t grown in office?

    Maybe he’ll dunk for us at the SOTU address. Oh, wait, it will have to be a two-handed slam. There’s no way his tiny hands can palm a basketball!

  169. 169.

    Marcopolo

    @OzarkHillbilly: Yeah, no. Comparisons like this are like trying to divide by zero. Bush was a disaster. Wars in Iraq & Afghanistan (and the subsequent destabilization of thevME), Katrina, the financial meltdown & Great Recession. The man was directly responsible for the death of a shit ton of people & destroying the financial security of a vast swath of America. The only nice thing I’ll say about him is in regards to our African AIDS outreach under his presidency.

  170. 170.

    Tenar Arha

    @Kay: I think it’s like what if we’d had access to the WH tapes during Nxon’s Presidency? Would the people who were vocal about supporting him until about Dean’s testimony or the Saturday Night Massacre have been able to handle his unvarnished comments to his staff, or his late night drunken monologues? I wasn’t old enough to understand other than the adults around me were all “mad,” but I wonder if that was the sign that things changed. If you can no longer argue your position because it’s now obvious you’ve made the wrong choice, but you don’t want to draw attention to it….

    ETA ? When did my past-GOP relatives stop arguing with my past-Democratic relatives?

  171. 171.

    Immanentize

    This stuff is reminding me of the Jules Pfiefer written, Alan Arkin directed, Elliot Gould acted movie — “Little Murders.”. Somehow society has collapsed like that, not in specifics but in spirit.

    There is a moment in the film when Gould’s character explains he answers the phone, “Fuck Hoover!” Because he knows the FBI was listening.

    “Fuck Sessions!”

  177. 177.

    satby

    @O. Felix Culpa: you at least have the excuse of living in a later time zone. I’m in EST, but getting to sleep in until 6:30 lately. After dog potties and coffee brewing, by the time I get here it’s hours old.

  178. 178.

    rikyrah

    @Quinerly:

    And according to my new best friend, Nicole Wallace, GWB is”a voracious reader.” She must have said it 15 times last week. This aside, I used to hate her…now I try to catch her show…she loathes Trump as much as I do. (more up is down and down is up moments for me). Very embarrassed that her parents supported him.

    I don’t believe her. Do I believe that W read some? Yeah.
    But, voracious?
    No.
    Laura is the voracious reader in that family.

  179. 179.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    They had REALLY strong opinions on Bush (supported here) and Obama (opposed here) but they’re eerily quiet on Trump. I don’t know what it is. Exhaustion? Embarrassment?

    You’ve said from the beginning that the economic anxiety argument is bull.
    Economy going gangbusters where you are.
    So, they voted for Dolt45, because of racism.
    And now, their vessel for White Supremacy is an international embarrassment.

  182. 182.

    No Drought No More

    Letterman is not the guy I would pick to interview Obama in 2018. Which is likely why he was granted the interview.

  183. 183.

    Turgidson

    @magurakurin:

    Sherrod Brown for POTUS. He is such an obvious candidate to me that it blows my mind he’s only occasionally mentioned. As progressive as almost anyone in the D caucus, consistently wins working class votes in Ohio. Would at least partially cancel out Hair Furor’s unexplainable strength with WWC voters. Has a bit of a folksy affect, which shouldn’t matter but could help him with the nitwits in the media who perpetually wonder how a Democrat could possibly appeal to “real Americans.”

    Any of booker, klobuchar, Gillibrand, deval Patrick, Julian Castro, really any solidly liberal, young heir apparent for VP.

    Kamala Harris for AG. She would stay in the mix for a presidential run at some point too. And is as qualified as anyone to clean up the gargantuan shit heap Hair Furor and his racist Keebler Elf minion are creating at DOJ.

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