Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

This country desperately needs a functioning Fourth Estate.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Be a traveling stable for those who can’t find room at the inn.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

When the time comes to make an endorsement, the pain of NYT editors will be palpable as they reluctantly whisper “Biden.”

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

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

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

I’m more Christian than these people and I’m an atheist.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

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

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

We won’t go back.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Wednesday Afternoon Open Thread

Wednesday Afternoon Open Thread

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So, this happened a short time ago at the White House press briefing:

Honestly, sometimes I wonder if the press shouldn’t just stop participating in these farcical briefings, which exist in this administration solely to disseminate lies and embarrassingly ham-handed propaganda. The U.S. government is a serious thing, even when it is run by incompetent clowns, so I can understand the impulse to attend.

But has Sanders ever broken any actual news, as in announced something significant we didn’t already know about? Even if she hasn’t, an administration’s reaction to events has traditionally warranted coverage, positive or negative.

That doesn’t seem to be true anymore — it’s all too stupid and petty to be taken seriously with this garbage crew. Maybe it’s time to let that ridiculous woman perform in front of tumbleweeds and equally brainless Fox News correspondents, with her vile boss leering at her antics in his office down the hall.

Anyhoo, open thread.

Reader Interactions

226Comments

  1. 1.

    trollhattan

    Possum Queen reminds me of a nasty neighborhood kid who you tolerated because the family had a great rec room and mom always passed out donuts. She adds nothing to my understanding of administration policy or actions; she’s a paid pugilist and quite shitty at it, while sneering condescendingly. Bet she got that way by virtue of being the governor’s kid in that miserable state.

  4. 4.

    Immanentize

    “This is the operative statement. The others are inoperative.”

    The whole of the Trump experience is just Roger Stone’s “What-If” fantasy.

  5. 5.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    Yes, they should either boycott them or ask more hard-hitting follow up questions.

    Also, the “Fake News Awards”? Why? Just why?

  8. 8.

    Chyron HR

    “Did your family ever let you murder any housepets, or was that considered ‘Men’s Work’?”

  11. 11.

    Jager

    Sanders has never mentioned the fire, rain and mudslides in Southern California. Billions in damages, people killed and injured and a major highway closed off for the foreseeable future. No big deal, nothing to see, not worth mentioning.

  13. 13.

    donnah

    I can’t stand to watch her or hear her voice. She is unpleasant and snotty no matter whom she’s speaking to and she seems uncomfortable and awkward when she’s pressured for answers. It’s a dirty job, to be sure, but she lacks the grace, poise, and dignity to pull it off.

    Just like everyone in this administration: liars, thieves, and cheats who don’t know how to do their jobs. She fits right in.

  14. 14.

    ruemara

    @Cheryl Rofer: I read some of it. And I’m using it to help lose more weight. *shudder*.

    Here is a photo of a beautiful bearded dragon, helping teach how to handle & examine them in a low stress environment. I really wanted my boss to do an exotic animal behaviour and care series.

  15. 15.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Cheryl Rofer: What could be news from a Trump interview? He’s sexist, racist, vulgar and an all-round terrible person? We’ve all seen that on TV for decades, nobody cared. He’s incoherent and raving, barely has any command of the English language and probably well into dementia? We’ve seen that already, it’s down the memory hole.

    Maybe he unzips the badly fitting human suit and we see the alien from Men in Black? I suppose that would be good for a news cycle, but the NY Times would still be able to find plenty of “Trump supporters still support Trump” to interview.

  17. 17.

    rikyrah

    @trollhattan:

    Possum Queen reminds me of a nasty neighborhood kid who you tolerated because the family had a great rec room and mom always passed out donuts.

    BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

  18. 18.

    MattF

    Unfortunately, ‘getting lied to’ is part of the job for a WH journalist. Trump and his minions do it more, do it faster, and do it utterly shamelessly– and I agree that they are qualitatively worse than their predecessors. But I don’t see any of the White House journalists doing anything about that.

  19. 19.

    rikyrah

    @Jager:

    Sanders has never mentioned the fire, rain and mudslides in Southern California. Billions in damages, people killed and injured and a major highway closed off for the foreseeable future. No big deal, nothing to see, not worth mentioning.

    uh huh

    uh huh

  20. 20.

    Immanentize

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    He’s sexist, racist, vulgar and an all-round terrible person?

    Right now, we need any and all information that supports and extends those ideas. People’s view of him is still moving negative. So anything that gives more weight to that impression is a win for the regular, not paying attention much, voter.

  21. 21.

    Mnemosyne

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    Maybe he unzips the badly fitting human suit and we see the alien from “Men in Black”?

    You have to admit, it would explain how he could be that fat and only weigh 239 on the scale. ?

  22. 22.

    rikyrah

    @donnah:

    I can’t stand to watch her or hear her voice. She is unpleasant and snotty no matter whom she’s speaking to and she seems uncomfortable and awkward when she’s pressured for answers. It’s a dirty job, to be sure, but she lacks the grace, poise, and dignity to pull it off.

    You expressed my opinion of her exactly. Come sit by me.

  25. 25.

    tobie

    @rikyrah: I’m sure they’ll find some way to blame Democrats for the mudslides. Whenever I talk to my Trump-voting neighbors, I get an earful of what’s being said in conservative media these days. Fires in CA–well, the state didn’t keep up with clear cutting and that’s why the fire spread so fast; devastation in Puerto Rico–well, the island didn’t maintain its infrastructure and now they’re paying the price. Really, there’s not a thing they won’t blame on liberals and brown people. It’s crazy-making. Hence I’ve become a virtual recluse in my neighborhood.

  29. 29.

    trnc

    But has Sanders ever broken any actual news, as in announced something significant we didn’t already know about?

    That’s an excellent point. I don’t subject myself to the “briefings” (thanks to all who do so I don’t have to), but my guess is that any new information the press learns from her during it would have to be unlearned or reported with multiple asterisks. In fact, most of the stories are about the briefing itself, particularly what lies she delivers while trying to deflect.

    But access is a powerful drug.

  30. 30.

    HeleninEire

    So, weird doings. Y’all know that I started a new job last Monday at Dublin City University. What I do is manage research grant finances. Even in NYC, which has some of the largest research institutions in the country, the community is small, especially at the administration level. We all know each other.

    So, DCU is hosting a conference in March. And damned if I don’t know the keynote speaker. I worked with her in NY at the New York Academy of Medicine.

    It is a small, small world.

  31. 31.

    The Moar You Know

    They could walk out, but Trump has been a gold mine for the media, as I will continue to point out.

    If they walked out this “presidency” would be over in a week. Trump would resign and go home. He’s solely in this for the attention.

    That they do not tells you on whose side they are on. Hint: It’s not ours.

  32. 32.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @ruemara:

    Your link is borked. Would love to see the beautiful Bearded Dragon. Can you please check link and repost? Thanks!

  34. 34.

    trnc

    @trollhattan:

    Possum Queen reminds me of a nasty neighborhood kid who you tolerated because the family had a great rec room and mom always passed out donuts.

    Or because Boss Huck had a lock on everything that happened in town, and most likely mom was always just passed out.

  35. 35.

    dmsilev

    @tobie: And, of course, they’d be happy to pay the taxes needed to fund that infrastructure maintenance?

    I kid, I kid.

  36. 36.

    No One You Know

    Big winners? For what values of “big?”

    “Winners,” also, too.

    I guess the press briefing has always been a part of the Presidential Reality TV–gin up the “other” audience, the one that isn’t going to rallies to get their fix of white supremacist hatred, fire-fueled ignorance, and general cruelty.

    IMHO.

  37. 37.

    Kay

    EXCLUSIVE on @foxandfriends: @Dennis_Kucinich entering Ohio governor’s race

    Dennis is on the payroll over there, hence the “exclusive”. I told you he is horrible.

  38. 38.

    JMG

    The WH press briefing serves on very important purpose for the media that has nothing to do with information. It’s self-promotion. It’s airtime for correspondents, particularly TV and cable TV correspondents. They’d never give that up under any circumstances.

  39. 39.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @HeleninEire:

    That is so cool! I love stories like that, and have had similar things happen to me both personally and professionally over the years.

    Are you fully recovered from your health scare last week? Any follow-up issues? Have been thinking of you and hoping all is back to normal.

  40. 40.

    Mnemosyne

    @tobie:

    Your neighbors had better hope they don’t need sterile saline or other pharmaceuticals anytime soon. All of that stuff got made in Puerto Rico and the mainland is now facing critical shortages.

  41. 41.

    The Moar You Know

    An interview in which Stormy Daniels “tells all” to be published on Friday.

    @Cheryl Rofer: America waits breathlessly for the question we all want answered: Anal with Donald. Bareback or no?

  48. 48.

    Kay

    Chris Christie repeatedly vetoed automatic voter registration. Now, incoming @GovMurphy plans to prioritize it

    Good job.

  49. 49.

    tobie

    @dmsilev: They want to take all the infrastructure money for themselves and then claim they’ve never received a dime of federal or state money. Maryland actually pays for septic systems on houses near the Chesapeake Bay. All of my neighbors got their new septic systems worth $50,000 for free and none recognizes that they are the recipients of what they call hand-outs and what we’d prefer to call government at work.

  52. 52.

    gene108

    A press boycott wouldn’t work.

    Trump didn’t want to do daily press briefings, when he took office. The media put pressure on him to have them and not break with tradition.

    If you will recall there was a kerfuffle over the fact the early press briefings were not being televised for the first time in decades.

    As much of a sham as these press briefings are they are one of the tools we have to keep a check on the gaslighting of America by these shitgibbons. If they didn’t have to do this, they would just cook up any damn lie and release it as an official White House press release and declare it the new reality and no reporter would get to ask any questions to anybody in this Administration to challenge it. I mean that’s what they wanted to do from the get go and were forced into having press briefings.

  54. 54.

    HeleninEire

    @SiubhanDuinne: I feel fine, thanks for asking. I am going on the assumption that it will happen every 15 years as that is the time gap between the two instances. Can’t really do anything else since they don’t have a clue what caused it.

  57. 57.

    AM in NC

    @Immanentize: Exactly – like Dutch reporters did with Ambassador Pete Hoekstra, calling him on his lies regarding “no go zones” in Europe, and Muslim violence against Dutch politicians. It was amazing. The first reporter asked if he would renounce his earlier false statements, and the rest all started yelling “answer the question” when he tried to evade. One even said “this is the Netherlands; you have to answer questions here,” as opposed to, oh, say, the US? It was what a press corps should be doing – trying to get to the truth, rather than trying to burnish their own individual egos.

  58. 58.

    Mnemosyne

    @ruemara:

    I was going to say that Ireland usually wants you to have at least one Irish grandparent in order to immigrate, but a quick Google says that it’s totally plausible that you could have one given your country of origin. Second largest ethnic group, with a lot of intermarriage.

  61. 61.

    tobie

    RawStory is up with an article saying Bannon hinted that the Trump campaign colluded with Russian intelligence at the House Intelligence hearing today:

    Former Trump political strategist Steve Bannon reportedly hinted that the Trump campaign was willing to collude with Russian intelligence officials during his testimony before the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday.

    Sources tell Axios that Bannon “made one conspicuous slip up” during his testimony this week where he “admitted that he’d had conversations with Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer and legal spokesman Mark Corallo about Don Junior’s infamous meeting with the Russians in Trump Tower in June 2016.”

    Apologies if someone’s linked to this already.

  62. 62.

    Aleta

    Seems like she’s promoting the fake awards that T announced to kick off his genius! promotion of very unfair! treatment by the lying …

    No question they should boycott, since it’s an arranged stunt for Faux News; and highly corrupt.

    Imo, by now the press should boycott anything that isn’t preceded by a description of what will be covered + how many minutes for questions. If the admin won’t adhere, the coverage should become: once again they’ve messed up advance planning. Alt: deceived the public yet again.

    Need constant stories about their mistakes and deceptions. This is objective reporting.

  69. 69.

    HeleninEire

    @ruemara: @Mnemosyne: The girls were talking in work today about how Ireland let’s you buy your way in, but the minimum you need in the bank is €150,000. And that goes up depending on your education level (inversely related). But it’s news to me that they allow it. I’m pretty sure that’s new.

  70. 70.

    MomSense

    It’s like narcissism to the nth degree. I’m so grossed out about that whole horrible family.

  72. 72.

    Chyron HR

    @debbie:

    They’re not trying to win, it’s poisoning the well against the Democratic candidate in the general election an issues campaign.

  74. 74.

    Roger Moore

    @MomSense:

    Now that you are already grossed out, I just read that Stormy Daniels says trump told her she was just like his daughter.

    This is gross, but also completely predictable. He’s been unusually open about his sexual attraction to Ivanka, so nobody should be surprised if he does something about it.

  75. 75.

    Raoul

    @Betty

    Honestly, sometimes I wonder if the press shouldn’t just stop participating in these farcical briefings

    I think it’s Jay Rosen who says each major org should send one very junior intern, just in case actual news happens. Let Huckabuck Sanders make her absurd statements, the interns nod, and get up a leave.

    That’s all this kabuki deserves.

  77. 77.

    VeniceRiley

    Why do I have a sinking feeling that these media mooks actually want the attention of winning a “Fakie?”
    This is just going to depress me.

  79. 79.

    Yutsano

    @HeleninEire: That’s actually cheaper than most countries. For Canada you have to have at least $250,000 invested in a province but it’s almost automatic citizenship.

  80. 80.

    Gravenstone

    @Calouste: Guess that will depend on whether the media outlet doing the interview is sympathetic to Trump or not. I’d laugh if it was something like Teen Vogue, which has proven to be a nigh intractable critic of his.

  81. 81.

    trnc

    @MomSense: So the next obvious question is, when did Ivanka get the implants? I don’t suppose it was within a year or so after Stormy made the scene? As if we aren’t already way into “ewwwwwwwww” territory.

  82. 82.

    cain

    @manyakitty:

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: I still harbor a secret hope that Andy Kaufman will leap out of the orange douchebag suit

    I prefer an illegal kenyan immigrant.

  83. 83.

    Mnemosyne

    @VeniceRiley:

    I’m kind of hoping he goes on a public tirade against Michael Wolff. Wolff is exactly the kind of ink-stained wretch you do not want to take on, because he knows exactly where you buried those bodies even if you think he doesn’t.

  84. 84.

    Aleta

    I saw this am that the WH put out an anon sourced story that the SIC had broken a pre-arranged deal: no questions about the transition or Bannon’s time in the WH. Funny they waited til this am to mention it…

    Wondering if some issue did catch them unprepared (lawyers competing to protect clients can’t be pretty). But also seems they’re relying on Bannon’s willingness to stall, and defy some orders, in exchange for promise of pardon. They must be desperate to discover more about what Mueller knows before they commit to certain testimony.

  85. 85.

    The Moar You Know

    Now that you are already grossed out, I just read that Stormy Daniels says trump told her she was just like his daughter.

    @MomSense: Fuck, I thought I’d hit bottom with my post. Well, the evangelicals will love that. They’re always doing that sick “Daddy/Daughter Date Night” shit.

  95. 95.

    Roger Moore

    @WaterGirl:

    I find myself wondering if some attorney told her that her NDA isn’t valid so she doesn’t have to honor it?

    It’s either that or somebody else offered her more to talk.

  99. 99.

    Boatboy_srq

    @MomSense: So, outside the eew/ick factor, what’s the clinical definition of horning on one’s daughter? Electra Complex goes the other way.

  101. 101.

    Timurid

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    There’s been endless debate here about the piss tape and other Trump sex tapes allegedly held by foreign intelligence services… whether they really exist, whether they are authentic, what exactly might be on them… but the Daniels story and other accounts of affairs with porn actresses make it quite likely there are Trump sex tapes owned by private citizens in this country.

  102. 102.

    mai naem mobile

    @tobie: Reince,McGahn and Bannon all have the same lawyer. Supposedly McGahn or Bannon only have the same lawyer for campaign and transition and not the presidency. Why wold you have a different lawyer for different periods? Also how can three big people have the same lawyer relating to the same issues. And you have McGahn as WH counsel. BTW, I think Reince is cooperating. He just looks like a weasel weasel who would narc on people to get himself out of trouble.

  104. 104.

    WaterGirl

    @Roger Moore: Right, wasn’t there some rich guy out there who offered to make the payments if anyone with a NDA was willing to come forward? I think there was. I wonder if that’s what happened.

  105. 105.

    J R in WV

    @HeleninEire:

    Back while I was still working I attended a state-sponsored IT conference, with lots of vendors hosting small presentations to edumacate us state worker bees as to how the expensive vendors preferred to draw funding from software development shops, uh, er, the more modern methods of developing software…

    Which our shop was in the forefront of, to pat me and my co-workers on the back. We slid from COBOL on a mainframe to windows and then to web based development in like 5 or 6 years.

    Anyway, the head of IT at Marshall University, who in the long ago wayback taught me exactly one course, Comp Sci 100, IIRC, came up, shook my hand and remembered me from 20 years ago. I was a returning adult student, and slightly stand out in the crowd, but still… felt good. We had a nice chat.

    So those things do happen, and often they are quite nice. Enjoy your conference when it happens.

  106. 106.

    Yutsano

    @HeleninEire: It might be province specific. I’ll ask my dad again. He was looking into retiring into BC and didn’t want to do the three years in Quebec first.

    EDIT: Still thinking about jetting to Europe. I could make a really decent living doing American taxes for expats plus I might get a quick law degree before I leave and do some tax advocacy also. Or get a CPA/CA cert.

  107. 107.

    WaterGirl

    @manyakitty: Interesting. So FOX (or some other group) that buried the story then is willing to air it now? Interesting.

    edit: or what japa said up thread.

  108. 108.

    Jeffro

    It’s going to be a half-dozen lame tweets and that’s it, I’m tellin’ y’all…

    In other news (and since this is an Open Thread): I don’t know why this didn’t occur to me earlier with all the comics fans here on BJ, but…over the holidays, Fro Jr and I went through the extensive home comics collection and picked out a couple dozen collected editions to donate to his school library.

    HOWEVER, in addition to those donations…I have about a dozen “DC Archives Editions” (mostly Golden Age stuff like this…or this…) that I don’t know will be all that appealing to ‘kids these days’.

    SO…if anyone here is interested in a really good deal on these books, please ask one of the mods to email me. Thanks!

  111. 111.

    zhena gogolia

    @Mnemosyne:

    I have long thought of Michael Wolff as a waste of space, so I’m glad he finally started serving some useful purpose.

  112. 112.

    cain

    @DissidentFish:

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Please avoid using the words “Trump” and “unzip” in the same sentence…my brain can’t handle it

    So if I told you to re-read what you just wrote.. what happens then? :)

  113. 113.

    The Moar You Know

    And all these years we’ve been told that liberals are the ones with no values.

    @MomSense: I’d like to respond to the next one who accuses me of that “you put the second coming of Elagabalus in the White House, don’t you dare lecture me about anything ever again” but they would have no idea of who Elagabalus was.

  114. 114.

    Mnemosyne

    @zhena gogolia:

    He’s a good old-fashioned reputation destroyer. You don’t want him anywhere near your life or the lives of people you admire, but it’s fun to watch him savage your enemies.

    Now I’m tempted to get his Rupert Murdoch book, which was equally scathing towards its subject.

  115. 115.

    mai naem mobile

    @manyakitty: I heard the NDA is done with her screen name not her real name so supposedly she can do what she wants using her real name. Would the Dolt45 lawyers be that stupid? That sounds like such a rookie error and,that’s coming from lawyers who’ve been dealing in the teevee/entertainment world where’s there’s got to be a bunch of NDAS they’ve done with people who have two different names.

  116. 116.

    tobie

    @mai naem mobile: Yeah, I don’t get the shared lawyer business at all. How can you operate in the best interest of one client if you’re simultaneously looking out for the interests of another client in the same matter?

    What I’m wondering from this tease of an article is when Bannon discussed the Trump Tower meeting with Veselnitskaya in June 2016 with Priebus and Spicer. Bannon didn’t join the campaign till August, and Priebus didn’t join till November. What was the context for the discussion? Was it the Comey firing? Or did it happen when Priebus was still head of the RNC. If so, hoo boy…the RNC could be in the midst of the whole collusion investigation.

  117. 117.

    Nicole

    Since it’s an open thread- I came home to a letter from Chuck Schumer, thanking me for contacting to express my opposition to ACA repeal (I sent a lot of faxes via the Resist app). I’m sure it’s a form letter sent to a lot of people, but it was still nice.

    He didn’t even ask for money!

  118. 118.

    Mart

    @trollhattan: Little late to the party, but bet Chelsea Clinton “got that way by virtue of being the governor’s kid in that miserable state”. All things in AR are not miserable. Visit the awesome Devils Den State Park in Arkansas’ Boston Mountains. Late fall, early spring – after/before the summer’s heat and humidity. A short drive from Devil’s Den to Fayetteville, home of the University of Arkansas. Lots of very good restaurants for a college town. (I am not an Arkansas homey.)

  119. 119.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @The Moar You Know: @Cheryl Rofer: America waits breathlessly for the question we all want answered: Anal with Donald. Bareback or no?

    Jesus, dude…. and I’ve been holding back on mentioning him chasing her around the bedroom wearing only his tightie-whities, which would look even worse than this! (I am not responsible for any reactions to the linked picture)

  120. 120.

    HeleninEire

    @J R in WV: Thanks. I worked with her 15 years ago. I had a different name so if she sees my name anywhere she won’t know it’s me. And she surely doesn’t know I moved to Dublin. Looking forward to surprising her.

  122. 122.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    MSNBC reporting that Bannon “slipped up” by discussing the trump tower meeting with the Russians with Priebus, Spicey, and the lawyer who resigned to get away from an obstruction of justice plot after the memo trump drafted about said meeting.

    Yes, I’m sure it was a slip-up, and not slipping the knife between the ribs of the people who abandoned him.

  123. 123.

    HeleninEire

    @Yutsano: You will do well here doing expats taxes. I’m stressing about it. I was good for 2016, no Irish income, so I filed the regular forms plus the “how much do you have in a foreign bank account” form. 2017, no income except from dividends which will be less than the $10K. But 2018 is gonna be a nightmare. COME VISIT!

  125. 125.

    bystander

    Paul Butler on Nicole Wallace, generally, with regard to Steve Bannon’s testimony. “It’s a different law that’s broken when you lie to a grand jury than when you lie to the FBI, but you go to the same jail.”

    Made me LOL.

  126. 126.

    Yutsano

    @tobie:

    Or did it happen when Priebus was still head of the RNC. If so, hoo boy…the RNC could be in the midst of the whole collusion investigation.

    This tells me two things:

    A) Why Reince has been quiet as a church mouse. He knows stuff. And other people knows he knows stuff.
    B) He’s singing to Mueller like a canary.

  127. 127.

    chris

    I suspect this is the interview everyone is talking about.

    In Touch has an explosive first-person interview with the adult entertainer that was conducted in 2011, in which she details her affair with the then-star of NBC’s The Apprentice.

    Link

  129. 129.

    Spanky

    WaPo headline tells me Bob Dole was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. I’m not sure I knew he was still alive.

  130. 130.

    clay

    @Jeffro: I donated my entire, not-insignificant, comics collection to a local children’s home. If you don’t get an offer on them, you might want to look into doing something like that. You’d be surprised what “kids these days” will latch onto!

  135. 135.

    Another Scott

    A good list of speakers for Saturday’s Women’s March / March on the Polls in DC:

    Daryl Davis, Musician/Actor/Author/Lecturer/Race Relations Consultant
    Tim Kaine, U.S. Senator
    Brittany Oliver, Founding Director, Not Without Black Women
    Kings Floyd, Co-chair for DC Metro ADAPT
    Toni Van Pelt, President, National Organization for Women
    Joanna Lohman, Professional Soccer Player, Washington Spirit
    Chris Carson, President, League of Women Voters
    Kamala Lopez, Director of the documentary film Equal Means Equal
    Marcela Howell, Director of In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda
    Nuchhi Currier, President of the Woman’s National Democratic Club
    Eleanor Smeal, President and Co-Founder, Feminist Majority Foundation
    Greisa Martinez Rosas, Advocacy & Policy Director for United We Dream
    Muthoni Wambu Kraal, VP for Outreach and Training, EMILY’s List
    Music provided by SongRise

    More at https://www.MarchDC.com

    I plan to be there…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  139. 139.

    low-tech cyclist

    Just found out about #FightClub. It’s a group of Senators that have pledged not to vote for continued funding for the government, unless it includes:

    1) A clean DACA law
    2) A clean CHIP extension
    3) Relief for Puerto Rico

    I’m gonna lean on my Senators (Cardin and Van Hollen) to join up. A list of who’s already in #FightClub, and who isn’t, is here.

    Right now, we have Baldwin, Bennet, Booker, Casey, Durbin, Feinstein, Harris, Leahy, Markey, Merkley, and Warren. If they’re your Senator(s), I urge you to call them up to thank them. If your Senator(s) aren’t on the list, call them up to ask them to join.

    Oh yeah: the first rule about that other Fight Club doesn’t apply here. ;-)

  140. 140.

    Tenar Arha

    @gene108: There were a few political commentators who figured out early on that they’d get little or nothing from the daily press briefings. IIRC they suggested that the news organizations start sending interns/stringers, have the senior WHC’s set them up with questions, but they should stop wasting time sitting around the briefing room dancing attendance on the WH. I have no idea if that would work, or if it would continue the feedback loop that makes the daily briefings ever more irrelevant. But if no one can stand watching, or listening they’re already irrelevant, so…maybe it’s worth it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

  141. 141.

    germy

    We watched the premiere of Black Lightning last night and wow! Solid writing, great acting, excellent story.

    Middle-aged high school principal who retired from crime fighting for nine years. Comes back when he can’t take any more bullshit.

  143. 143.

    Frankensteinbeck

    Le sigh. The Lefties on my Twitter feed are all in on ‘Democrats not wanting Chelsea Manning to run means they’re hypocrites who don’t care about minorities.’ I don’t particularly have anything against Chelsea, but she’s being used by the people who want to destroy the Democratic Party from the inside.

  146. 146.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @low-tech cyclist: huh, Bennet and Casey are somewhat surprising. Pleasantly so, but surprising.

    I saw an item earlier that, bravado and bluster aside, the White House is very worried that they’ll get blamed for a shutdown.

  147. 147.

    Millard Filmore

    @Dmbeaster:

    I wonder if Trump commenting as to the facts covered by the agreement nullifies the protection.

    I don’t know … Scientology submitted a forged affidavit – declaration and got upset when the name’s True Owner (under a NDA) told the court “that’s not from me.”

  153. 153.

    H.E.Wolf

    @The Moar You Know:
    I know who Elagabalus was! :) It’s just that I know him by his other name, thanks to the old higgledy-piggeldy rhyme about him:

    Higgledy-Piggledy
    Heliogabalus
    Lurched through the Forum, his
    Bottom a-wag.

    Vainly pretending to
    Gynecological
    Matters beneath his
    Imperial drag.

  154. 154.

    thalarctosMaritimus

    @Yutsano: Is there a site where all that information is compiled by country for easy comparison? My Google-fu is letting me down, alas.

  155. 155.

    Spanky

    @Steve in the ATL: I think you can get one pretty quick online.

    ETA – No one said anything about passing the bar, did they?
    (Sorry, all jokes involving Ireland and “passing the bar” have already been written.)

  156. 156.

    Heywood J.

    There’s no maybe about it, the press needs to boycott her nonsense, full stop. The day Baghdad Barb walks into the briefing room and sees nothing but a couple Fox stringers and Alex Jones wannabes will be a national holiday.

  157. 157.

    Dmbeaster

    @tobie:

    Yeah, I don’t get the shared lawyer business at all. How can you operate in the best interest of one client if you’re simultaneously looking out for the interests of another client in the same matter?

    It can be done provided there are proper written disclosures and conflict waivers, and is commonly done. The assumption is that they are pulling the same oar on the same boat, and conflicts are just potential, not actual. My favorite remark in trying to encourage people similarly situated is that it does not work to argue that there is a hole on your side of the boat. Problem is what you do if actual conflicts start to brew (prosecutor suggests a deal for one to testify against another). Plus conflicts rarely just pop up fully formed, but start out as tentative and grow in seriousness over time. So when do you pull the plug? Because the conflict waiver is only good as to potential ones, not actual ones once they develop, even if only potential when the waiver was signed..

  158. 158.

    laura

    @Frankensteinbeck: I wish Chelsea Manning would run for a local office and work her way up to regional and state offices. But I guess she’s been advised by someone who has no problem with splitting a race like in Wisconsin and Maine with Walker and LePage. And whoever that person is is NOT interested in gaining majorities in the House or the Senate.
    I smell a ratfucker.

  159. 159.

    eemom

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    It’s gonna get worse. King Glenn the Insufferable, Leader of the Sarandon Brigade, from his pious perch in lovely Brazil — far from the reach of consequences — has made fucking us out of a Democratic Senate seat his new cause celebre.

    I so despise that little shit.

  163. 163.

    tobie

    @Frankensteinbeck: I join you in the sigh. I’m surprised at the über-left’s embrace of Manning. She’s a vanity candidate with no experience, no documented knowledge of policy, and a conviction for leaking reams of classified information to Wikileaks. What qualifies her for Senate is beyond me. Cardin actually voted against the FISA reauthorization bill, so she can’t claim she alone is against spying on Americans. It’s terrifying to see how the “anti-establishment” left is willing to do anything to destroy the one organization (namely, the Dems) that can effectively resist Trump’s agenda. It’s like bad agitprop theater with horrifying real life consequences.

  164. 164.

    Steve in the ATL

    @eemom: I forget why GG fled to Brazil, but it makes sense since it’s a seriously sketchy country, even by South American standards.

  165. 165.

    Timurid

    @germy:

    Is it ever explained why his costume… looks the way it does?
    The trailer looked like a dark, gritty superhero story in the same vein as Daredevil, Luke Cage etc. And then there’s the guy dressed up like a random villain from the Adam West Batman series…

  166. 166.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Spanky: He was one of the first establishment Rs to embrace T. Rs are all aboard Trumptanic or Ttanic for short and heading straight for the iceberg. We all need to get to the lifeboats before they kill us all.

  168. 168.

    Gin & Tonic

    @schrodingers_cat: My son’s GF (Mexican) has some kind of NAFTA-related visa that lets her work in NYC. She has to renew it every year, though. I’ve explicitly not probed as to details.

  169. 169.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Gin & Tonic: I am not sure whether USCIS handles it or the state dept does but I have seen a bunch of Canadians complain about the onerous paperwork needed under T. They have done it for all visas, btw from travel visas to long term visas like student and work visas.

  171. 171.

    WaterGirl

    @germy: I recorded Black Lightning without much hope that it would be good. Started watching the first episode thinking I may as well watch it early so I could ditch my season pass if it was lame. I only watched until he got pissed at the cop and something happened to his fingers, but I was super impressed! Saved it for later so I could really watch it.

    Shorter me: I completely agree with what you wrote.

  172. 172.

    Yutsano

    @Steve in the ATL: A couple of online schools promise 18-24 months. But that’s constant work from what I understand. Plus getting an MS/MBA in accounting is shorter. And cheaper thanks to the feds.

    @MomSense: Oh no doubt. Reince had to know how much of a shit show this was long before he agreed to become CoS. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he’s singing mezzo.

  173. 173.

    Mnemosyne

    @tobie:

    I’m guessing that she’s still all-in for Wikileaks despite the fact that they were happy to let her take all of the consequences for what they talked her into. Her mom should have warned her about “friends” like that years ago.

  175. 175.

    Gin & Tonic

    @schrodingers_cat: She goes back to Mexico City every year to renew the visa, says it’s easier there for some reason. Gives her a chance to visit with family and friends anyway.

  176. 176.

    trollhattan

    @Mart:
    Perhaps. What I know is Tyson Foods, Walmart and 90% of my Trump-voting inlaws are there. ‘Nuf said.

  179. 179.

    Bill Arnold

    @Mnemosyne:

    You have to admit, it would explain how he could be that fat and only weigh 239 on the scale.

    I do not believe those results. The height/weight look utterly implausible (visually, and speaking as a male of similar actual height (73 inches) and struggling with weight), and as people have noted, just barely (suspiciously so) shy of a BMI obese score. And I tried the Montreal Cognitive Assessment(convenience link) test (solo, so winged a few questions with mental gymnastics) and there is no way IMO that he completed it with a 30/30 score without multiple mulligans or some other sort of assistance(speculations running wild), unless he’s a profoundly talented actor playing dumb.
    It’s disappointing; it won’t take long for people to find multiple photos which make it possible to measure height relative to knowns, at which point the reputations of the military doctors involved may (depending on photo analysis results) suffer, badly.

  180. 180.

    germy

    @danielx: I can’t stand Baldwin’s trump. It’s just slimy.

    Anthony Atamanuik would be better, but they won’t cast him. I assume this thing will be a drama, not a farce. Should make for some grotesque TV.

    The real thing is a farce.

  182. 182.

    DissidentFish

    @eric: She could have run for Congress — against Andy Harris in Maryland, Barbara Comstock or Robb Wittman in Virginia. Her running against Cardin — that just seems like ridiculously clumsy and transparent Russian sponsorship.

    Like everyone else, trans people can be dupes. Like everyone else, trans people can be jackasses. Don’t know which she is but if she is responsible for getting a Republican senator from Maryland elected, those are really the only two choices.

  183. 183.

    WaterGirl

    @danielx: I found the comment from OzarkHillbilly in the morning thread. How awful.

    Gonna be out of pocket for a few days. Heading down to NOLA. My youngest got runover (details are sketchy). Presumably he is still alive (have not heard from his wife since last night). He has displaced fractures in both legs. Hopefully, they can save them. I have no idea of what other injuries he has.

    Right now I am in emotional lock down. I feel nothing. I suppose that will change when I see him.

    edit: I am afraid to look up displaced fractures.

  184. 184.

    Roger Moore

    @Frankensteinbeck:
    Anyone who sees the Democrats preferring the incumbent Senator with a good voting record over a carpetbagger with a criminal record as anything but good political sense is just looking for a reason to vote against the Democrats.

  185. 185.

    Steve in the ATL

    @chris: “I’m so rich! I’m so smart! I’m so stable! I’m so healthy! I’m so competent!”

    Psych 101 students would find him too much of a caricature to be a serious case study.

  186. 186.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @tobie:

    What qualifies her for Senate is beyond me.

    In their eyes, she went to prison for doing the right thing. She’s a hero that represents moral defiance of government overreach. And she’s trans, so bonus points and that MUST be the reason Democrats don’t like her.

  189. 189.

    Matt McIrvin

    With everything that’s been going on, Trump’s job approval has been rising, slightly. In the 538 and HuffPo averages he’s at 40-41% and has made back all the ground he’s lost since about May. I was thinking it might just have been inattention to politics over the Christmas break, but I think conservatives have decided to rally around him to some degree, and stuff like the Wolff book and “shithole countries” and Stormy Daniels are just making them more loyal. Hard to tell whether these things are trends that will continue or if they top off at some point.

  204. 204.

    eemom

    @Steve in the ATL:

    He ostensibly moved there in the pre-Obergefell days because his husband is Brazilian and couldn’t get US citizenship. But it’s now going on 3 years since SSM has been legal here, so I guess he likes it there.

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Good question. I hope you are right.

    Perhaps I’m overreacting because I have a particularly pro-Manning FB friend who annoys the crap out of me in general, but shares a lot of mutual friends, and I know she is going to be all over the GiGi type shit, so that I will have to refrain from starting a flame war with her, which I probably won’t be able to do. #firstworldFBproblems

  205. 205.

    Roger Moore

    @germy:

    Michael Wolff’s ‘Fire and Fury’ to Become TV Series

    It’s called The Daily Presidential Press Briefing.

  206. 206.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Shana: neither of my senators is on the fight club list, but one of them made the “attended the meeting, heard what trump said, and lied about it” list

  207. 207.

    WaterGirl

    @Raven: I found a more hopeful comment from Ozark about an hour after the first one, and I posted both at the top of the thread that comes right after this one.

  218. 218.

    Gelfling 545

    @germy: Just finished reading it last night. The ending is disappointing. The villain was not dragged away in chains with mourning and gnashing of teeth!

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