Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

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

Innocent people do not delay justice.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Tuesday Morning Open Thread: ‘Executive Time’

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: ‘Executive Time’

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Like those ‘executive toys’ — Trump’s a human fidget spinner. In the Washington Post, “Why ‘executive time’ is a particularly bleak scoop about President Trump”:

… It’s 100 percent true that the Trump presidency can be exhausting, but it’s mostly because of Trump’s penchant for controversy, which he often stokes through his Twitter feed during off-hours. And Trump’s Twitter habit only seems to have increased as a portion of his day in recent weeks.

And the reason Swan’s scoop paints such a bleak picture of Trump is because it suggests he’s not particularly interested in the official duties of being president. Whatever you think about Trump’s policies or his fitness for the job, the job requires one to be fully engaged, to be processing information (preferably from sources other than cable news), and to always be, for lack of a better word, on. The idea that Trump doesn’t take his daily intelligence briefing until 11 a.m. is shocking just by itself. And whoever leaked his official schedules to Swan seems to be concerned that Trump just isn’t up to the job right now…

Unfortunately, the Congressional Republicans protecting Trump, and their donors, feel much the same way — as long as he stages signing ceremonies on demand, the less Donny Dollhands interferes with their plans to loot the Treasury and gut our commonwealth, the better they like it.

Reader Interactions

180Comments

  1. 1.

    Amir Khalid

    “He’s calling people, watching TV, tweeting, and generally taking the same loose, improvisational approach to being president that he took to running the Trump Organization for so many years.”

    f
    If this is how he “worked” at the Trump Org, then obviously he wasn’t running that show either.

  2. 2.

    SRW1

    For what the presidency pays and the kind of income Trump is used to he’s obviously working overtime.

  5. 5.

    Schlemazel

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:
    There was an awful lot of Russian knob polishing to be done & Dump couldn’t trust that to an underling.

    But, as to his hourly rate, The best ones get $5,000 from what I have read.

  6. 6.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    “He’s calling people, watching TV, tweeting, and generally taking the same loose, improvisational approach to being president that he took to running the Trump Organization for so many years.”

    Which led to 6 bankruptcies, the squandering of his inheritance, the shuttering of 3 ca$in0$, the dissolvement of an entire football league, and turning to Russian money laundering to make ends meet.

  8. 8.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Jonathan Merritt‏ @JonathanMerritt

    Surprised at how loud this crowd just booed @realDonaldTrump. You know it’s bad when football fans in the deep South boo a Republican president. ?

    8:22 PM – 8 Jan 2018

    54 replies 210 retweets 840 likes

    Will Saletan‏ @saletan

    Also impressive because usually it takes a war to produce such open contempt at a sporting event. Or at least a recession. Trump has managed to do it with neither.

    8:41 PM – 8 Jan 2018

    9 replies 101 retweets 373 likes

  9. 9.

    Jager

    My old boss is 89, he’s supposed to be retired. He spends more time at his office everyday than trump, Goes in at 8, leaves at 4 everyday and he actually does stuff.

  12. 12.

    SRW1

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I suspect Trump’s claim of how wealthy he is is inflated by an order of magnitude. But even if it were two orders of magnitude, the presidency pays a pittance compared to what Trump is used. Heck, the banks granted him more income in a month ($500k !) when his business empire was in big doodoo than what he gets for presidentering.

  13. 13.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Headline at the Guardian: Don’t listen to Gwyneth Paltrow: keep your coffee well away from your rectum

    Ummm no. I don’t even want to know.

  14. 14.

    ThresherK

    I’m going with “Executive Decision Maker”, the toy from Brazil, instead of a fidget spinner.

    He is not in there fidgeting. He’s making executive decisions!

  17. 17.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Remove Trump Now‏ @KaniJJackson

    Here is a video of Trump ‘singing’ the #NationalAnthem.. He clearly doesn’t know the words, yet he thinks Colin Kaeprnick is “a son of a bitch” for kneeling during that very anthem.

    309 replies 2,099 retweets 4,180 likes

    Even the liberal Jeff Greenfield:

    Jeff Greenfield @greenfield64

    I’m not big on the “imagine if..” approach, but if Obama had done this, it would have been on a Fox News 24 hour video loop.

    244 replies 1,959 retweets 4,532 likes

  21. 21.

    Sherparick

    As long as the digits of his small little hands work, Ryan & McConnell & the rest of the Republicans & the plutocrats they work for will stand by him. Even without legislation, the devestation being unleashed by Homeland Security on immigrants or the destruction of the EPA continues

  25. 25.

    satby

    So I had to submit a background check for my volunteer trip, and the organization suggested Truthfinder. What a load of garbage they produce in between the publicly available correct information. “Potential associates” listing everyone who lived in houses previous to me, every sex offender within miles, and since I don’t have a criminal record, they helpfully provided criminal records (labeled as “unlikely” to be me) of people with similar names but different middle initials and birthdates. A PDF of 141 pages of mostly dreck. I sent it to the organization, and ripped them and Truthfinders a few new orifices before I cancelled the “membership” Truthfinders inflicts on you. What a scam.

  35. 35.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Talk about chutzpah:

    A claim from David Davis in a leaked letter to the prime minister that the EU is discriminating against the UK and damaging its economic interests by preparing for a no-deal scenario in March 2019 has been met with incredulity and accusations of hypocrisy in Brussels.

    It has emerged that the government has taken advice on the legality of EU warnings to businesses that emphasise that Britain will be treated as a “third country” after March 2019. Davis has claimed in a letter, obtained by the Financial Times, that the EU’s warnings could jeopardise existing contracts or even force British companies to move to the continent.
    …..
    Verhofstadt said: “Businesses’ uncertainty has been created, on both sides of the channel, because of the UK government’s decision to check out of the largest single market in the global economy, not because of the EU’s contingency planning. “From the very beginning both Prime Minister May and David Davis have repeatedly stated that no deal is better than a bad deal, so everybody must understand that it is only fair that we plan for this threat.”

  40. 40.

    p.a.

    Well… had to make me work. Anacreontic?

    Anacreon was a Greek lyric poet, notable for his drinking songs and hymns.

    BUT:

    Although it is often described as a “drinking song”, Lichtenwanger states that To Anacreon in Heaven “was not a barroom ballad, a drinking ditty to be chorused with glasses swung in rhythm”, but “convivial, … in a special and stately way”.[9]

  46. 46.

    hueyplong

    @raven: “I’m fine, I was a Dawg yesterday and I’m a Dawg today.”

    I should hope so. Otherwise, what would distinguish you from Lindsey Graham?

    Get ’em next year.

  47. 47.

    NorthLeft12

    Funny/not funny, but the description of what Deadbeat Donald does on a daily basis seems to me to be exactly what Boomers [my generation] and Gen Xers criticize every following generation as doing? Especially Millennials?

  48. 48.

    NorthLeft12

    @OzarkHillbilly: One day, someone is actually going to figure out why Brexit happened. I guess I could say the same thing about Deadbeat Donald being installed as US CEO, but personally I think Brexit is slightly stupider in idea and execution than Trump.
    So much idiocy and self harm and deception wrapped up in one simple vote.

  50. 50.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @NorthLeft12: People have been saying “Kids these days….” for as long as there have been people, and those people have been having children.

  51. 51.

    JGabriel

    Kevin M. Kruse (via Anne Laurie @ Top):

    For comparison, George W. Bush was usually in the Oval by 7am. Obama had a morning workout routine, but he was in there by 8:30-9am according to reports.

    Both worked until 6pm or so. Obama often came back late at night.

    You know, it’s a pretty demanding job. For most people.

    Traitor Donald is just SO efficient that it’s not at all demanding for him – that’s what you get when you hand off all your responsibilities to the leader of a hostile foreign nation. Who’d have thunk a President could become so efficient just by abdicating all responsibility?

  52. 52.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @NorthLeft12: Most Millennials I know work just as hard as I did when I was their age, I guess they have more toys than I did(cell phones weren’t in wide use when I was their age).

    OT: Today’s my Cocker Spaniel Nikki’s 11th b-day. She’s doing what she does best, sleeping.

  55. 55.

    debbie

    @Quinerly:

    I am confused. Article talks about Miller as being part of the anti-Jewish forces in Trump’s administration. But is it not a fact that he is Jewish? Has no one questioned him on this?

  60. 60.

    hueyplong

    @JGabriel: Marechal Petain’s schedule also included lots of executive time, and what time he did work was spent saying that it would be in everyone’s best interests to collaborate with a hostile foreign power.

  61. 61.

    raven

    @satby: Yes, ended up with a $2000+ profit. I made the mistake of having a bunch of people over when they couldn’t get seats in any bars. Just one loudmouth I don’t like anyway came and it didn’t help. It was my fault, I should have just said no.

  65. 65.

    Kay

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    They keep him so carefully insulated that we never see normal people’s reactions to him- people who aren’t at his rallies and aren’t political media or GOP politicians. It’s interesting to see something unfiltered.

    The Dem county chair here thinks Trump’s re-elect will be much different than his elect because the clown show is 4 years old, and tired. He can’t get more outrageous and mean-spirited than he already is every day. What does he do for an encore? Hire actual hooded Klansmen? Grope a teenager onstage? Hold a press conference where he gratefully accepts a bribe?

  69. 69.

    OzarkHillbilly

    McCaskill raises $2.9 million in last quarter of 2017, record $11.8 million for year

    ETA: “McCaskill, D-Mo., had about 107,000 donors, of which about 90,000 had not given before, McCaskill’s campaign reported.”

    I think I will shift my money to some the state lege races. Bigger bang for the buck. And speaking of money and the state lege, I received an email last week notifying me of this:

    Missouri, It Starts Today
    Fund every Democratic nominee for MO State Legislature with a single monthly donation.

  71. 71.

    Kay

    Oprah’s self made, smart, beloved by tens of millions of people, richer than Trump and not (publicly) nasty and mean-spirited. I think the celebrity thing is probably bad for the country but the same media and Republicans who promoted Trump shouldn’t be jeering at the idea of her running.

    They are barred from criticizing on this issue. Democrats can nominate anyone, and I mean anyone.

  74. 74.

    Quinerly

    Spent an hr or so last night trying to get caught up on how we got to the point of the Bundy case being kicked out with prejudice. Personally, I think this is a big deal…but the judge had no other choice. I find it interesting that Roger Stone was running around the country doing rallies and fundraisers for the Bundy klan this summer. NPR just reported that Sessions said at some point that “he could see both sides” of the case. Can’t find the when and where of that quote. And, yes, Adam had a great thread up yesterday.

  76. 76.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Mexican authorities say there’s Russian interference in their election. I’m following the news hoping I find out something – looks like Mexicans will get more information on it than we ever got.

    I don’t know what happened in 2016 and either does anyone else in the public. 2 years later. Maybe we can find out what happened in Mexico and extrapolate?

  77. 77.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Kay:

    The Dem county chair here thinks Trump’s re-elect will be much different than his elect

    Mueller is about to grill the hell out of Trump so I’m hoping that Trump will be out of office long before 2020 but that may just be wishful thinking. In any case, that Dem county chair is correct that Trump’s run in 2020 is going to be rough since we all know him now and he has been a disastrous President in so many ways. The vast majority of Americans can’t stand him. His Democratic opponent has so much to run on.

  79. 79.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay:

    Democrats can nominate anyone, and I mean anyone.

    Yeah, but this DEM has had enough of amateurs in the White House, even if they are nice and well intentioned, unlike the current occupant.

  81. 81.

    Quinerly

    @OzarkHillbilly: Wolff said on LOD that 29 year old, ex model (and widely known for her plumage!?) Hope Hicks is basically running the show. I had not heard it put so bluntly.

  86. 86.

    Quinerly

    @debbie: One of the reasons I try to not link to C&L…a lot of editorializing. Added it because the dialogue was easier to follow than the Twitter. Yes, Miller is Jewish by birth and racist by choice. He is a Sessions disciple. I think in both, all kinds of racism runs deep.

  87. 87.

    Lapassionara

    Did anyone else see the piece suggesting that the US might try a “surgical strike” on NK, and “hope” it doesn’t lead to nuclear war? Here is where having an actual competent, informed, and engaged president might help. Trump will just sign off on whatever harebrained scheme his generals come up with, then when the result doesn’t go as predicted in the rosy scenario, he will be unable to resist escalation.

    Good morning, all.

  88. 88.

    OzarkHillbilly

    We’re #7! We’re #7!

    Cuba, Myanmar – and Missouri? State makes no-go travel list from Fodor’s

    Missouri is in the company of Myanmar and Cuba on a travel guide’s list of places to not visit in 2018. “Fodor’s No List 2018” places Missouri at No. 7 among places to be avoided. Missouri is the only state on the list, which includes places where swarms of tourists have triggered a backlash (Venice, Amsterdam) or done environmental damage (the Galápagos), and destinations with health, safety and ethical issues. Missouri seems to fit in the safety and ethics category, with the travel guide pointing to laws it deems unfair and “startling headlines” about the state.

    A spokesperson for the Missouri Division of Tourism wasn’t available for comment Monday.

    I’ll just bet they weren’t.

    Under a stock image of the Gateway Arch, Fodor’s starts off by pointing out some of the Missouri’s good qualities. It says Missouri is “full of wonders that belong on anyone’s travel bucket list.” It mentions positives such as limestone caves, the Budweiser Clydesdales, Kansas City’s barbecue, jazz and Silver Dollar City.

    But Fodor’s then blasts Missouri as “the place where SB 43 was passed making it more difficult to sue employers for discrimination, a state representative argued that homosexuals weren’t human beings, a tourist who got lost and ran out of gas was later found murdered in his jail cell without ever being put under arrest, and two men were hunted down and shot on suspicion of being Muslim on the outskirts of Kansas City.” (The shooting in the Kansas City area actually took place in Kansas.)

    We don’t call it a state of Misery for nothing.

  89. 89.

    rikyrah

    So, Dolt45 doesn’t know the National Anthem.?

    I will bite…
    WHAT IF 44 had been caught not knowing the Anthem…
    Yeah, I know ??

  90. 90.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Amir Khalid: Which explains all those bankruptcies. He’s lazy and dumb and his ego is out of control. This is what Republicans thought was good for our country. Sigh.

  91. 91.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @Lapassionara:
    Yes, except they are talking about a “bloody nose.” I’ve said a lot about the hypermasculinity of that on Twitter. And I’ve been asked to write a post about it but just don’t have the time right now. Here’s where my long thread starts.

    As something of a tl;dr, I’ll offer this:

  95. 95.

    Patricia Kayden

    @raven: My sentiments exactly.

    @rikyrah: Trump doesn’t appear to know much about anything so not knowing the National Anthem (even while railing against Black protesters) is par for the course. This is a truly dumb man. Look how intelligent the first Black President had to be and then look at Trump. Arghhhhhhh!!!

  97. 97.

    clay

    I don’t think they showed Trump on TV last night after the Anthem. Does anyone know if he actually stayed for the game? Or did he cut out after soaking up the cheers for the military?

  98. 98.

    Kay

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    My son and his wife are talking about moving to Oslo- Oslo because they have spent time there and like it and also because he can work there. I’m surprised by how much it bothers me- I mean, I’m fairly conventional and I knew I was vaguely patriotic but they talk about moving using phrases like “quality of life” and “opportunity for our children, if we have children”. The immigrant creed! Except LEAVING the US.

    I haven’t spent any time at all in other countries – twice, excluding Canada which doesn’t “count” if you live where I live- but they have and they are making real, hard-headed comparisons. I never did that. I never even considered it. They just believe it’s in a state of decline, that quality of life will continue to fall. I feel somewhat responsible for this, like we profoundly let that generation down.

  99. 99.

    Immanentize

    And on the Congressional retirement watch: Ed Royce, CA 39, is retiring. He was a GOPer with solid wins, but his district went Hillary…

    Watch the retirements!

  100. 100.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    . @debbie:

    Article talks about Miller as being part of the anti-Jewish forces in Trump’s administration. But is it not a fact that he is Jewish? Has no one questioned him on this?

    Miller a conservative American Jew so the good kind, unlike those other ones. It’s a bit like how biggest and most viscous gay bashers are conservative gays.

  103. 103.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay: Having a child move away is always hard, having them move across an ocean is even harder.

    like we profoundly let that generation down.

    We did. And as evidenced by the “Raping Our Children’s Future” act, continue to let them down.

  104. 104.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Lapassionara:

    Did anyone else see the piece suggesting that the US might try a “surgical strike” on NK, and “hope” it doesn’t lead to nuclear war? Here is where having an actual competent, informed, and engaged president might help. Trump will just sign off on whatever harebrained scheme his generals come up with, then when the result doesn’t go as predicted in the rosy scenario, he will be unable to resist escalation.

    Someone’s channeling their inner Field Marshal Hötzendorf, that’s basically the lie he told the Austrian-Hungarian emperor so he could invade Serbia and start WWI.

  105. 105.

    JMG

    @Kay: My daughter has lived in France for three years, working for a wine exporting firm in Bordeaux. She has loved France and the French language since she was a little girl, so it wasn’t much of a shock she pursued that dream, albeit surprising when she achieved it (very hard for an American to get a work visa in France, but she did so). It is difficult in many ways to have her that far away, but on the other hand, we visit her once a year and that’s pretty great.
    Norway is wonderful, but I’m not sure if your child is really ready for its winter. They have a winter saying there, “the first Norwegian was an idiot.”

  106. 106.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Immanentize:

    Like Roy Cohn .

    So I’ve heard. My personal experience was a girl friend of mine was a manager at a clothing store in San Francisco and she replaced this gay conservative guy who was demoted to supervisor, because forsaid gay conservative was to busy fucking his boyfriends in the office. The guy would just talk shit to the other gays on the staff constantly about how they were all limp wristed fags. American conservationism for you; special pleading and projection.

  107. 107.

    Elizabelle

    Good morning, all. I think Europe is a lot more liveable and value for your $$$ than the US. Not surprised Kay’s son and others consider emigrating. Won’t be surprised to see the 45 to 65 set take off either. Medical care and insurance is becoming unaffordable, except through an employer.

    Was wandering around Sevilla’s 1992(??) Expo area yesterday. All that hope and pride in science and progress. USA could not host one today, with any credibility. Our president is a moron with an “executive” schedule, and the international scientists and other conferees/visitors could not be assured permission to enter the country.

    Sad!

  109. 109.

    MomSense

    @Kay:

    They should go for it. Oslo is wonderful. I cannot speak to what winter would be like outside of the city but in Oslo it really is manageable because there is so much to do, lots of people, activity, and lights. I probably wouldn’t be able to handle a small town in the winter but the city is absolutely doable. I loved Oslo in wintertime and I’m kicking myself for not moving there when I had the chance.

  110. 110.

    wuzzat

    @Kay: Norway seems like a nice place, but I don’t think I could deal with the 6 hours of daylight thing they’ve got going on right now.

  111. 111.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay: One thing my wife still feels guilty about, and always will, was denying her parents any more than yearly visits (in later years, not even that) with their only grandchild (my wife was also an only child).

  112. 112.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    TPM on Trump being boo’d at a footgame last night

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-college-football-championship

    Sounds like it was mainly the collage kids.

    Trump departed the stadium during halftime as Georgia led Alabama 13-0. Rapper Kendrick Lamar, who has been a critic of the president, performed during the break.

    [snip]

    A few dozen protesters gathered near the stadium before the game, shouting anti-Trump slogans. But more fans seemed upset by the long lines to get into the event amid increased security.

    So not REAL Americans(tm) so doesn’t count.

  113. 113.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Elizabelle: Its only going to get worse if the current crusade against immigrants continues. DHS head Nielsen, a Kelly protege’, has rescinded TPS for 250000 Salvadorans. Go to any science lab at any university and see who is slaving there.

  114. 114.

    raven

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Basically nobody gave a fuck. You know that saying we have down here “football is not life and death, it’s much more important than that”? That’s the name of that tune. I was just really glad they did no FaceTime with him during the game, it was pure bullshit.

  115. 115.

    oldgold

    Played the game. Was a season ticket holder. Traveled to bowl games. In the spring time of my dotage, go to select good weather games. Have sent checks to athletic department and ignored academic matters.

    Last night, watching this wretched money fueled excess, with two malignant narcissists filling my screen, Trump and Saban, could not help but think what the hell is wrong with me? The damn UN recently found third world living conditions in rural Alabama. Turned it off. That will show them!

  116. 116.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Kay: I read somewhere on Twitter by a sixth grader whose parents are on a work visa, who fears being displaced because of the current administration’s policies making even routine extensions difficult.
    Its easy to fit in, its difficult to belong.
    Profound coming from a youngster. I fit in and I thought I belonged but not so sure anymore. Anyway, good luck to your son and his wife.

  119. 119.

    laura

    it suggests he’s not particularly interested in the official duties of being president.

    He made that abundantly clear in the campaign, Pence would do all the presidenting and the shite midas would Nuremberg Rally all over the place making amerikkka great/white again.

    I spent a wee bit of non-executive “going to sleep” time thinking about the let’s attack NK and hope it works out okay plan. I don’t see any scenario in which it works out okay. But now that the CDC has helpfully reminded us of what to expect when your expecting nuclear war, I’ll plan on an extended stay indoors…..

  120. 120.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: That would be tough, to have your child move across an ocean. I worry about that too. If I were my daughter’s age, I’d definitely consider it myself. I’ve always been more of a “stay and fight” type of person, but struggling to counter the racism, stupidity and mammon-worship does seem overwhelming sometimes. Dragging the 1/3rd or so of our fellow citizens who are ignorant, hateful troglodytes into a more egalitarian future is the work of generations. I don’t blame people who say screw that, I’ll find a more sane place to live.

  124. 124.

    rikyrah

    Michael Wolff on LarryO

    Wolff: Trump has probably spent his whole day watching me on TV http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/wolff-trump-has-probably-spent-his-whole-day-watching-me-on-tv-1132441155664

    Michael Wolff: Trump ‘wholly lacking’ in ‘executive function’ http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/michael-wolff-trump-wholly-lacking-in-executive-function-1132452419557

    Michael Wolff on Ivanka Trump: “Does she know who her father is?” http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/michael-wolff-on-ivanka-trump-does-she-know-who-her-father-is-1132449859661

  125. 125.

    Kay

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I read somewhere on Twitter by a sixth grader whose parents are on a work visa, who fears being displaced because of the current administration’s policies making even routine extensions difficult.
    Its easy to fit in, its difficult to belong.

    Sad. How nasty it all is gets to me, wears me down. How ungenerous. It comes from a panicked sense of scarcity, right? That there won’t be “enough” for ‘real’ Americans if immigrants take “some”. Just such a shitty way to look at the universe- zero sum, everyone defending their portion.

    I’ve noticed a certain lowering of expectations. People are comparing the US to these desperately poor or corrupt or war-torn countries and saying “it’s not bad! We’re better than these places!”

    Well, yeah, but was that the standard? That’s a LOW standard. Shouldn’t we be comparing to the countries that are functioning best, offering better quality of life? A decent health care/child care/safety net system is undoable now? That’s impossible?

    We’ll always be operating better than some country. Don’t we have higher standards than that?

  127. 127.

    zhena gogolia

    Wow, I just wrote to Dean Baquet complaining about their appeal to “Trump voters” to write in to tell them what they think. He wrote right back. And I think it was really him, not the 15-year-old intern who answered my previous messages. He says they’re in Manhattan so they have no difficulty hearing from Obama voters.

  129. 129.

    boatboy_srq

    Benen over at Maddowblog skewers Lord Dampnut for this as well, with his own words.

    “This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier.”

    And once again we’re faced with the prejucide of the fascist Reichwing that if a Democrat (especially a Blah person) can do the job, then it can’t possibly be difficult – a misconception quickly disabused once the actual responsibilities become clear. Shrub was, to a lesser extent, guilty of the same failing, though he at least attempted to rise to the challenge. There’s little hope at this point that Lord Dampnut will do the same.

    #NotNormal #NotPatriotic

  130. 130.

    raven

    @Betty Cracker:

    And that belief is what you must hang on to. The pain you feel … that’s how you know it’s working. That’s how you know you still care. We try to remove ourselves from pain, but it’s only through pain that we can find solace. The minute you lose that pain, you’ve lost everything. Hang onto it. You’re going to need it down the line. Someday, it’s going to fall right. Not tonight. But someday. When it happens, you’ll be glad tonight happened. You’ll be glad it hurt.

  131. 131.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    They live in Chicago and they’re high(er) income with no kids so they pay a lot of taxes. But he’s a “fintech” person so (I think) he understands money as “value” rather than a percentage or a figure.

    He’s telling me “okay, I pay +/- 30% and they pay 40 or 50 but what do they get for that? They get a lot.” He wants some parts taken care of- not to have to mess with health insurance and a private vehicle and musing on “I wonder if they’ll destroy all the natural resources”. That IS quality of life- value rather than cost. I have never heard anyone do that analysis, where they’re like “okay, it’s a higher rate but what’s the RETURN?” We’ve been so propagandized to focus on the RATE- even I have, I honestly never considered value. They want a higher bottom and if 40% rather than 30% creates those conditions he’s “in”- he’ll pay it.

  132. 132.

    boatboy_srq

    @Kay: Not a panicked sense of scarcity. Greed, and the certainty that no amount of wealth will make you acceptable to the social niche you aspire.

  133. 133.

    tobie

    @zhena gogolia: Did he just bypass Clinton voters and refer to Obama voters instead? If so, what a telling slip. Is he admitting the 2016 Dem Presidential candidate doesn’t count because she was a woman?

  135. 135.

    bemused

    @Betty Cracker:

    We have a son, dil and couple of grandkids 1,400 miles away on opposite side of the country. That distance is bad enough. Thankfully, facetime happened by the time we became grandparents. I can’t don’t know how we’d cope without FT.

  136. 136.

    tobie

    There’s been a new leak of a memo by Jennifer Palmieri for Center for American Progress urging Dems to vote no on any continuing resolution that does not contain a provision for DREAMERs. The right has worked itself into a lather about this. I actually think the memo misses the vice Dems are in: the GOP may well include DACA in the CR but with so many poison pills that Dems can’t really vote for it, thereby alienating Latino voters. That said it’s amazing to me that a memo written on Jan 8 would be leaked by Jan 9.

  137. 137.

    Patricia Kayden

    @rikyrah: Would anyone be surprised if Brooks came out as a Trump supporter? Anyone? The man has no backbone and no principles. It’s “moderates” like him who have enabled Trump’s rise. They are embarrassed by Trump’s crassness but are okay with his agenda.

  139. 139.

    The Moar You Know

    I haven’t spent any time at all in other countries – twice, excluding Canada which doesn’t “count” if you live where I live- but they have and they are making real, hard-headed comparisons. I never did that. I never even considered it. They just believe it’s in a state of decline, that quality of life will continue to fall. I feel somewhat responsible for this, like we profoundly let that generation down.

    @Kay: My first trip to a place that wasn’t Mexico (which I’ve lived next door to all my life) was a profound and life changing event. Frankfurt, Germany. Even back in the 1990s it was obviously better off and better run than anyplace in America.

    I finally made it to Britain last year and I’m not sure how I’m going to pull it off, because immigration issues (we will be over 50 and that’s a problem) but as soon as my wife retires (about 8 years) we are leaving. No future here.

  141. 141.

    tobie

    @schrodingers_cat: I usually defend the party but it’s amazing to me to see how blind they’ve been to the tricks the Republicans will play. I gather the Dem senators are forcing a vote on Net Neutrality. (You need 30 senators to sign on to do this.) Why don’t they force a vote on a clean DACA bill? If the Dems can’t find 30 senators in their caucus to support such a bill, then anti-immigrant sentiment runs far deeper in the party than I thought.

  142. 142.

    zhena gogolia

    @tobie:

    No, I said in my message that I didn’t recall them asking to hear from Obama voters. But I also asked why they weren’t appealing to the majority who voted for Clinton. He didn’t address that.

  144. 144.

    tobie

    @zhena gogolia: Evidently Kentucky and West Virginia voters only became interesting to the NYT when they voted for a racist populist, as expected. Good for you for writing Baquet. We should keep up the pressure.

  145. 145.

    laura

    @zhena gogolia: He says they’re in Manhattan so they have no difficulty hearing from Obama voters.

    Did you get a sense that he’s aware that Obama did not run against Trump?

  147. 147.

    MomSense

    @Kay:

    It’s absolutely about value. With medical and higher education costs covered, plus highly subsidized arts, public transportation, sports, and recreation it really is a much better quality of life. Food is expensive but you can adapt to that easily.

  148. 148.

    Patricia Kayden

    @zhena gogolia: Haven’t we heard from every Trump supporter by now? Every MSM outlet has sought out Trump supporters from the heartland and “real America”. There is nothing new to be gleaned from talking to them. We’ve exhausted that well.

  150. 150.

    Patricia Kayden

    @tobie: Sounds like a solid plan to me. Democrats have nothing to lose by making demands. There is zero benefit from p*ssyfooting around with Trump. Democrats need to go hard. They may not get what they want since they are in the minority but they should let voters know what they plan to do once they control Congress (and the presidency in 2020).

  151. 151.

    schrodingers_cat

    There is going to be no DACA compromise. Methodically this administration is creating more undocumented people be revoking their work authorizations and their ability to live out of the shadows. DACA and TPS revocations do exactly that. H1-B extensions are the next on the block. Many of the above have US citizen children.

  153. 153.

    bemused

    @Kay:

    I enjoyed reading “The Almost Nearly Perfect People-Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia” by Michael Booth, food and travel writer, informative and funny. Booth, a Brit married a Danish woman, has two children and lives in Denmark. He writes about Denmark and the other Scandinavian countries, their individual cultures, history and socialism/taxes.

    I also like “The Nordic Theory of Everything-In Search of a Better Life” by Anu Partanen. Partanen, a Finn fell in love with an American, moved to US, became American citizen and married her American. Partanen compares US with life in the Nordic regions focusing on parents and children, men and women, employees and employers and government and citizens. She debunks criticisms that Nordic countries are “nanny states”, instead saying Americans are far entrenched in unhealthy dependencies than we realize and Nordic countries allow their people to enjoy more individual freedoms than we do.

  154. 154.

    tobie

    In other news, the Supreme Court will be hearing arguments on whether Ohio’s purging of “inactive voters” from the rolls is legal tomorrow. I know SCOTUSblog live-blogs hearings. Any recommendations for other sites?

  155. 155.

    Denali

    My son accepted a job in Hungary seven years ago, and for some reason I never thought of it as a permanent move. It has turned out to be that, now with a house, partner, and two granddaugters. My husband doesn’t get along with the woman, and for that reason is not excited about visits. Of course we skype, but it is not the same. I am very sad about all this.

    I also never thought I would seriously consider leaving the United States. If we were not old, I would really look into Canada. Life is certainly not predictable.

  156. 156.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @raven:

    That’s beautiful — almost poetry. I don’t care much about most sports, but some of the best writing anywhere, about any subject, is sports writing. I don’t know this Will Leitch. Must make it a point to seek him out. Thanks for sharing that, and sorry about the Dawgs last night.

  157. 157.

    Mnemosyne

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Not sure why she’s selling all this woo to gullible folk instead of entertaining us.

    There’s a lot more money in woo than there ia in acting, especially since Paltrow is at that age where she can only get mom roles.

  158. 158.

    Kay

    @MomSense:

    He’s convinced the US food safety system will go next- ruined by corruption, greed and a lack of enforcement. I’m like “don’t tell me- we have to eat and I don’t want to worry about it”. I live in an agricultural area with lots of processed food companies and there might be something to this. There’s a lot of corner-cutting going on and they say there are fewer inspectors every year.

    Trump just lowered OSHA regs so workplace injuries will go up. There’s only two ways workers in high-risk industries stay alive- regulations or labor unions. If they both go we’ll see a return to the bad old days. I have a son who is an electrician so this worries me also. I’m glad he’s not a lineman. Those cell phone tower deaths are fucking hair-raising. They shouldn’t be falling off of towers – they’re supposed to have safety regs. This is like functioning harnesses and safety scaffolding and lines – it’s 19th century stuff. We know how to keep them alive. WTF? They’re regularly falling to their deaths? It’s greed. Their work and lives have been devalued.

  159. 159.

    Peale

    @schrodingers_cat: Yep. I’m not certain where the backlash on this is going to come from. Eventually they will target the permanent resident holders directly and either alter the terms of that visa so that it cuts off the naturalization process or makes it untenable to achieve or maintain. We saw a hint of this in the Muslim ban where they attempted to revoke the visas of people traveling outside of the US no matter where they have traveled.

    I know the number of naturalization applications is supposedly up this year, but not nearly up to the level where I think that those who have been sitting on the sidelines without an intention of becoming a citizen have started to realize that they are being threatened.

  160. 160.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Peale: I have convinced at least two of my friends to file for naturalization. I sympathize with those fence sitters actually, it is a hard decision to make. Cutting off that final tie can be difficult.

  164. 164.

    trollhattan

    @oldgold:
    Your jib, I like its cut.

    Dramatic game and all, the whipped up spectacle was almost too much to handle and then, a Nick Saban chaser. Ugh. Georgia’s forgetting HOW TO TACKLE in half #2 can wait for another day.

  165. 165.

    Kay

    @MomSense:

    We have the funniest conversations about the generational rip off because he’s smart- he’s ALWAYS ahead of me. We focused on dumping debt after the 2009 crash because interest rates got so low and I no longer trust ANY of these people so he’s smiling “so you DID benefit from the crash”. True. I plead guilty. WTF was I supposed to do? Not refinance? If I’m poor and old I move in with him so he should be grateful. I cop to it- we did a bad job. We left a mess. I take responsibility. I tried. It wasn’t enough or there weren’t enough of us or something.

  166. 166.

    Tazj

    @tobie: Well, she didn’t win so Clinton voters’ opinions automatically became null and void after the election. Clinton voters have nothing new or interesting to say and are only anti-Trump with no ideas or concerns unlike Trump voters who have real problems and a fresh outlook. ;)

    Nate Silver thinks that journalists are doing their penance now for not covering Trump voters enough and not foreseeing the outcome of the election. I don’t agree, I seem to recall plenty of the “people Obama left behind” articles before the election. I think it’s important to cover everyone and get a diverse perspective but it’s just gotten ridiculous, it’s not diverse anymore it’s only about Trump and his voters now.

    @rikyrah: I was wondering when somebody would bring this up. “If you just ignore the tweets, everything’s pretty good.” Nope, never that’s never going to happen. Even though I would like to ignore them and enjoy my life they’re so awful and scary(like when he baits NK) they have to be covered. Trump has done a plenty of horrible things besides the tweets starting with the tax bill and that’s not even getting into his criminal and traitorous administration. Such garbage, sorry Brooks we’re not laying down for this.

  167. 167.

    trollhattan

    @Kay:
    We’ve certainly leveraged the “free” money of the last decade but the ghoulish amounts shed from my retirement accounts and home value are orders of magnitude more. In the other direction. Then there are the furlough days across three years I’ll never get back.

    Never forget what Dubya did to us with his policies, no matter how awful the current resident is.

  168. 168.

    Spanky

    Well, I guess we take our little victories where we can find them:

    Trump-appointed regulators reject plan to rescue coal and nuclear plants

    (In the WaPo. Thanks, Bezos!)

  171. 171.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Kay: No country in the world is perfect. There is more to this one than the current band of cretins and thieves in charge.. I have decided to stay and try and make a difference in any way that I can, to the country that has given me so much . If I were in my 20s who knows what I would have done. So I understand and sympathize with your son’s impulse too.

  172. 172.

    MCA1

    @Kay: There’s more to it than just the individual utilitarian “what do I get out the bargain of my taxes” equation, too. The accessible, high quality health care system without insurance companies to fight; newer and more efficient public transportation available to all; family leave time; wifi everywhere for everyone; affordable higher education – all of these things not only make it more palatable to give up another 10% of your income, but they’re levelers for the entire society. They alleviate the amount of and effects of poverty; they lessen the unfair advantages given to those with inherited wealth; they allow people to pursue vocations that they actually enjoy and for which they have an aptitude, without worrying as much about where it puts them monetarily. Highly intelligent people don’t feel like they need to work in financial services or risk spending their entire lives jealous of the money that their former peers have and being looked down upon. On and on. It’s egalitarian, and the result is populations in places like Scandinavia that consistently are HAPPY. There’s still some racism, there are still pockets of poverty, there’s still some drug use, etc. But all in all it’s not all crab bucket all the time for 99.9% of the country, and a politics that is fully in thrall to the wealthiest of the wealthy. The level of seething resentment, and loathing of their compatriots, that drove us to where we are is just not present in those places. They don’t have separate lines where you can pay to not have to wait with the plebes in every damned place in Canada and Northern Europe. They don’t need them – people don’t need to broadcast their VIP status all the time. They’re just happy where they are. They’re not inundated with messages of money = good constantly.

    There are so many deep, deep problems with our culture and our political system that have been laid bare for me over the last 14 months that I’ve taken what for me previously would have been a totally unthinkable step: I have young kids, and while I’m not necessarily in position to uproot my family, I am fully open to encouraging them to leave if the right opportunity presents itself. Go study in Amsterdam or Toronto or Stockholm or Tokyo and marry someone from there. I’m all for fighting to win the midterms and take back the White House in 2020 and beyond. And I know we’re only barely over a year removed from having a gracious, generous, kind, intelligent, honorable person with gravitas in the White House. But I don’t honestly know how to envision a path to an America that isn’t an IGMFY scratch and claw struggle for 99% of the country while the plutocrats strip mine the economy, where education doesn’t continue on a steep downward path, where we stop segregating ourselves ever further into enclaves of haves and have nots and start to intermingle again, where racial animus and xenophobia are actually overcome. It just feels like the end of the empire and it’s time to think about escape pods for my genetic offspring.

  176. 176.

    Captain C

    @Baud: Based on a cursory Google Translate attempt and Google search, the name would come out as roughly Juliana Piedra. So, if Juliana Piedra is running on the Partido Verde (again, Google Translate) ticket, we’ve found our woman.

  177. 177.

    Ruckus

    @Gin & Tonic:
    That’s OK the current office occupant isn’t an entry level employee. He would of course have to move up the job chain about 30 miles before he’d be qualified as entry level.

  178. 178.

    SgrAstar

    @Kay: Kay, I am so sorry to hear that your son and his wife want to decamp, permanently. I think all of us understand that impulse! I just don’t accept that «we »
    are responsible for today’s frightening, demoralizing situation. So many of us have fought for true American values of equality, tolerance, and justice for all- WE are not to blame. Period.

  179. 179.

    The Lodger

    @bemused: Thanks for the title of the Partanen book. I was talking to a couple of neighbors about Finland this weekend, had read the book last year and couldn’t recommend it because I couldn’t remember the title or author.

  180. 180.

    Ruckus

    @Kay:
    I know someone who moved back to Switzerland and at first he was it’s too expensive, but then he remembered why. You get what you pay for. Here the rich get what the rest of us pay for.

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