Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

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

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

75% of people clapping liked the show!

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

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

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

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

Books are my comfort food!

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

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

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Wednesday Morning Open Thread: We’re On Our Own

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: We’re On Our Own

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Almost missed this grace note — from Boston magazine, “Michelle Obama Is Not Running for President”

It’s simple, really: Michelle Obama does not want to be president, and so she is not running for president.

During a moderated conversation at Simmons College’s 39th annual leadership conference on Thursday, the former first lady discussed a litany of topics ranging from diversity to the state of American democracy—and put to rest any notion that her name will be on the ballot in 2020.

“I have never had the passion for politics,” Obama said. “I just happened to be married to somebody who has the passion for politics, and he drug me kicking and screaming into this arena. Just because I gave a good speech, and I’m smart and intelligent, doesn’t mean that I should be the next president.”

Obama emphasized the need to encourage qualified women with political drive to pursue higher office, rather than homing in on inspiring people like herself and Oprah who may have other aspirations…

Reader Interactions

99Comments

  1. 1.

    Viva BrisVegas

    Has Hannity apologised for 8 years of demeaning and mocking Michelle Obama yet?

    He was certainly quick off the mark in defending poor Melania.

  2. 2.

    David Evans

    “Just because I gave a good speech, and I’m smart and intelligent, doesn’t mean that I should be the next president.”

    No, but it wouldn’t hurt.

    “When affirmative action means color, it’s deemed to be problematic,” Obama said. “I have a problem with that, because affirmative action exists everywhere throughout society. It’s called privilege.”

    Don’t you long for a president who can speak in clear, simple, true sentences?

  3. 3.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    The White House then announced that Trump would be canceling his trip to Latin America for the 8th Summit of the Americas. The White House claimed it was to monitor the situation in Syria.

    Sure. Has nothing to do with FBI seizing Cohen’s records.

  5. 5.

    Patricia Kayden

    Why would anyone think that Mrs. Obama would subject herself to the denigration and insult which her husband endured for eight full years? Even now, I hear some on the left attack President Obama because he didn’t do everything they wanted him to do as if he was a Magic Negro with a wand.

    I’m glad they’re out of office and enjoying themselves.

  7. 7.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Trump signs executive order pushing work requirements for the poor – CNNMoney

    Peter Morley
    ‏ @morethanmySLE
    8h8 hours ago

    Peter Morley Retweeted Red T Raccoon

    In yet ANOTHER, Executive Order: Work requirements will lead to MILLIONS of people losing crucial assistance.

    Putting in place such mandates doesn’t take into account barriers to employment, such as medical conditions, child care and transportation. ?

    17 replies 179 retweets 176 likes

    This is why the Granny Starvers won’t do anything about Drumpf. They can’t get their “entitlement reform” through congress, so instead they just have their empty suit sign an executive order.

    Also too: all those idiot Wilmer supporters who said Drumpf would be better than Clinton should be forced to eat in soup kitchens and have their health care stripped away.

  10. 10.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    “The likelihood that Michael Cohen will be indicted is high”

    Preet Bharara

  13. 13.

    bystander

    Who among us hasn’t enjoyed seeing twitler red-faced and sputtering? The report is that he heard about the raid on Cohen’s office and residence as it was happening. Does he think Sessions knew beforehand yet didn’t warn him? Or is Sessions so tainted that he was not told in advance either? (The excuse would be that Sesions had recused himself, so only Rosenstein had to know.)

  16. 16.

    Immanentize

    @satby: Indictment high, Conviction high probabilities. Except when Thornburgh was AG at the height of the crack/drug craze, the government has never gone after attorneys unless they were seriously mobbed up and deeply involved in criminal behavior. And even the Thornburgh move was by Grand Jury subpoena, not search warrant.

    Cohen was on TV yesterday being a sweet, kind person explaining how professional and polite the FBI agents were when rifling through his life. His goose is cooked and he knows it. Flip potential very high. Or, suicide in a bathtub.

  18. 18.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    While it maybe good for CNN for Michael Cohen to be speaking to Don Lemon, it is moronic under the [current] circumstances.

    I mean any experience attorney would tell a client not to be speaking to the press the day after the FBI executes three search warrants on your homes and your offices. I mean this is just crazy, it’s ludicrous. When I heard that he actually spoke to Don Lemon, I didn’t believe it, until I saw Don’s report. It’s beyond stupid.

    Michael Avenatti

    Drumpf only hires the best people

  20. 20.

    satby

    Exciting day planned here: it’s going to be the start of a span of 60°or higher days with overnight lows above frost level. I now have the two crab apple trees, a dwarf burning bush, a magnolia, and three raspberry bareroots to plant. The raspberries are going into barrels to try to contain their invasive tendencies. There will be frost ahead, but for the next few days the garden prep can commence. Yay!

  24. 24.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    @satby: Each time a member of the Drumpf Crime Family is indicted an angel gets its wings.

  25. 25.

    Kay

    Ohio Democrat Richard Cordray is hoping former President Barack Obama still resonates with voters in the Buckeye State.
    The gubernatorial candidate is featuring Obama in his first television ad, using clips of the then president announcing his support for Cordray as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
    Obama won Ohio in both of his presidential campaigns and has been an issue in this year’s Democratic gubernatorial primary. Cordray’s top Democratic opponent, former Rep. Dennis Kucinich, was one of Obama’s strongest critics on the left, even calling his approval of airstrikes in Libya an impeachable offense in 2011.
    The ad, released almost exactly one month before Ohio’s May 8 primary, will air statewide.

    Cordray was the first “big” Ohio Democrat to endorse Obama (other than the big-city mayors, who IMO were essential for Obama) so I’m not surprised at all. I wonder if Kucinich’s anti-Obama stance will hurt him. Democrats cannot win in Ohio without really strong support from AA voters. It’s not optional- there will be no Democratic statewide wins w/out strong support and big turnout of AA voters. If Kucinich wins the primary his GOP opponent can use Kucinich’s attacks on Obama against him and he will.

  27. 27.

    Balconesfault

    I’ve just been wondering for days how many low-level politicians and city/County bureaucrats, like code enforcers and building inspectors, have been quaking in their boots since Cohen’s office was raided. I suspect there’s a lot of possibility for some interesting records of various payoffs to fast-track or protect Trump properties around the country.

    Not to mention Trump’s likely liability under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977

  29. 29.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @bystander:

    Who among us hasn’t enjoyed seeing twitler red-faced and sputtering?

    Me. I avoid his visage like the plague upon mankind that he is.

  30. 30.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    @Immanentize:

    Cohen was on TV yesterday being a sweet, kind person

    Hahhahahhahahahahaha

    It never fails: when bullies get their comeuppance, they break down. (like the ending of Shawshank Redemption)

  35. 35.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Original Lee: No problem. Remember “extraordinary rendition”? Wasn’t that a Republican policy?

    They could even use a comfy limo for the snatch off the streets of Syria.

  36. 36.

    Kay

    The FBI is investigating the lavish lifestyle of Ohio House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, from his worldwide travel to his use of a luxury condo in downtown Columbus owned by a GOP donor, several people briefed on the investigation told The Enquirer.

    One trip that is of interest to the FBI: In August, Rosenberger joined five GOP leaders from other states on a four-day trip to London, paid for by the conservative GOPAC Education Fund’s Institute for Leadership Development. Also on the trip: Rep. Nathan Manning, R-North Ridgeville, who attended as a guest of Rosenberger, GOPAC Executive Director Jessica Curtis said.
    The trip, documented in Facebook photos, included a chance to meet Celia Sandys, the granddaughter of the late British prime minister Winston Churchill.
    Lobbyist Steve Dimon is pictured in a Facebook postBuy Photo
    Lobbyist Steve Dimon is pictured in a Facebook post at a London bar with Celia Sandys, the granddaughter of the late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Ohio Speaker Cliff Rosenberger went for free on the trip with lobbyists and other lawmakers from around the country. Dimon (Photo: The Enquirer / Chrissie Thompson)
    It also included an opportunity for lobbyists to rub shoulders with lawmakers. Two lobbyists for title lender LoanMax, Ohio’s Steve Dimon and South Carolina’s Leslie Gaines, are pictured in Facebook photos from the trip.
    Title and payday lenders have been trying to stall legislation that would restrict that industry. Dimon declined to comment on whether he discussed the legislation with Rosenberger on the trip.

    Payday lenders have been fighting regulation for 15 years. Ohio passed a law “regulating” them to a lot of fanfare, but a consumer tried to use the law and payday lenders fought him all the way to the state supreme court. There’s a famous opinion out of that case where one of the justices realized there is no payday lender in the state this law actually applies to because they wrote so many exceptions into it it was essentially fake regulation.

    This is why we need Cordray. You have to be smart and experienced in state law and state players. They’re sneaky bastards. You have to watch them like a hawk. You can’t be a Fox News personality and wing it.

  38. 38.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    Kay, have the GOP primary ads started in your area? I’ve seen maybe five so far for different candidates. They’re all embracing Trump and they’re all using the word “Conservative” multiple times (“Vote for a Conservative veteran”). My favorite so far is Larry Householder who spends all of his ad in hunting camo (not a good look for someone his size), shooting his rifle at invisible targets.

  39. 39.

    danielx

    CNN. headline this morning:

    Trump feels persecuted and Washington is scared

    Donald Trump is acting like he feels the walls are closing in.

    The President perceives a marauding special counsel, an FBI plot to persecute him and a conspiracy within his own government to unfairly pry deep into his personal confidences held by a cherished confidant and personal attorney.

    Aides say he believes he has the right to fire Robert Mueller, is sizing up Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and is fuming behind closed doors while groping for a way out.

    There’s never been a problem he couldn’t make go away by firing somebody or fending off his perceived opponent(s) with lawyers and lawsuits. Neither of those is a good or even possible solution (in the latter case) this time, and it is driving him crazy. He can’t get any good lawyers and he can’t do what I’m sure he would prefer, to have all his perceived enemies arrested and thrown in cells.

  40. 40.

    Matt McIrvin

    For what it’s worth, Seth Abramson thinks Rosenstein and Mueller will be gone by the weekend (“ending the rule of law in America”) and is freaking out about it.

  41. 41.

    Mustang Bobby

    @Kay: Here in Florida we have AMSCOT, which is a payday lender that advertises heavily on cable channels targeting middle class workers who just need a few bucks to tide them over because of an unexpected expense. I have a friend who worked for one of the outlets — they’re as common as Starbucks — and he said it was soul-crushing to see these people come in and basically sign over their life. They’re loan sharks in polo shirts.

  43. 43.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    I do but I don’t make predictions anymore. IMO there are two really essential factors in a Democrat winning in Ohio- AA voters and labor. Ohio still has powerful labor unions, they’re not powerful in raw numbers but they’re incredibly active and plugged in as far as the Democratic Party and organizing. They just know a lot- they know a lot of people and they are everywhere- in rural counties too- no one else has that kind of 88 county coverage. The “labor council” here is bigger and better-attended than the county D Party leadership. I treat them like they’re more important than the county Party leaders because IMO they are. It’s subtle but it’s essentially two groups- the D people identify first as D’s and the labor people identify first as labor people. I think Cordray has labor people, mostly. A third but less important group is white suburban “moderate” Democrats. Not necessarily high income- “suburban” can mean lower middle class and often does in Ohio. Generally the candidate brings them in after the primary and Cordray will be acceptable to them.

  46. 46.

    satby

    @WereBear: most of this is replacing stuff that failed last year, or stuff I had lovingly planted and cared for in my last house that I can’t enjoy now that it’s old enough to be in its prime.
    With luck, I’ll get to actually see and enjoy these.

  48. 48.

    germy

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Seth Abramson thinks Rosenstein and Mueller will be gone by the weekend (“ending the rule of law in America”) and is freaking out about it.

    Him and the “Palmer Report” I had to give up. For the sake of my blood pressure.

  51. 51.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    One thing national media misses in Ohio is the nature of the relationship of AA’s and the Democratic Party in Ohio. How the thing works. There are of course AA voters but that’s not the essential piece. It’s the AA Democratic Party leaders in urban areas that make them essential. They are power brokers in their own right. It’s always portrayed as white Democratic politician “reaching out” to AA VOTERS but that isn’t really the dynamic. It’s white politicians reaching out to AA Democratic Party leaders in urban counties and cities. National media sort of disappears the AA Party leadership.

    If I go to a Cleveland Democratic women gathering the Dem leaders there will be 70-80% AA women. They have their own power base. It’s not white politician reaching down to AA voters. It’s white politician reaching across to their political equal within the black political power structure. Obama understood that.

  53. 53.

    satby

    @Baud: it is stupid, but I imagine the reality that his party of enablers will shield Drumpf rather than fulfill their Constitutional duties to remove him kind of freaks out a lot of the Villagers.

  55. 55.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Trump tweets oddly specific denial of ‘phony story’ about Ukraine speech payment — and possibly admits to obstruction

    ***

    The president continued complaining about the Mueller investigation and coverage of his administration in a series of early morning tweets, including one where he describes obstruction of justice as “fighting back.”

    “No Collusion or Obstruction (other than I fight back), so now they do the Unthinkable, and RAID a lawyers office for information! BAD!” Trump tweeted.

    Obstructing is now “fighting back”

  56. 56.

    Another Scott

    @satby: Yup.

    Donald J. Trump Verified account

    @realDonaldTrump 34 minutes ago

    Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!

    Who was it that said he had a “secret plan” to defeat Daesh but wouldn’t tell us because he didn’t want to give them any ideas about what was coming? Who was that guy??

    I assume Raytheon’s stock has gone up in anticipation… :-/

    (sigh)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  57. 57.

    Baud

    @satby: True. At the end of the day, there’s no substitute to giving Dems control of government, which freaks the Village out even more.

  58. 58.

    Peale

    @Baud: yep. Since they’ve convinced themselves that the Dems are the party of hysterical women and rude teenagers who boycott advertisers, they’ll fall in line.

  59. 59.

    germy

    Less frequently heard than stories of alert and loyal watchdogs are the stories of faithful and observant watchcats. However, an arrest in Maryland appears to owe something to feline vigilance.

    It was about 1 a.m. on Monday in the eastern shore city of Salisbury when a man woke from his sleep after his cat became agitated at something outside the window, according to the Wicomico County, Md., sheriff’s office.

    The man peered out, and saw someone inside his vehicle, taking things, the sheriff’s office said deputies arrived and saw a man inside the car of a nearby resident.

    The man fled and a chase ensued.

    A man was taken into custody.

    Officials said their investigation found that items had been removed from four cars in the vicinity of the home of the alert cat.

    The items were recovered, the sheriff’s office said.

    (link)

  60. 60.

    Balconesfault

    @satby: maybe some of them are finally realizing they should have been freaking out a couple years ago when Mitch McConnell decided to give a big FU to the rule of law and refused to have any hearings on Obama’s Supreme Court nominee.

    Trump is just a symptom, and these guys have been feeding the disease for years.

  61. 61.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    I think this deliberate not seeing of AA political power comes out of the fact that so many political reporters are white and they have incorporated the GOP idea of AA’s role within the Democratic Party, that it’s “pandering” to AA VOTERS, but it’s a basic misunderstanding to portray them as an “interest group”- that misses that they are insiders. Power brokers in their own right. It’s not “pandering”- which implies that AA’s are an “outside” group- it’s a negotiation – white Dem leaders and AA Dem leaders. That’s the principals in this coalition. It’s a weird thing, how they’re invisible.

  62. 62.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    @Another Scott: That was hilarious. He went around for a couple months saying he had a big secret plan. Then he said he was disappointed no one in the government or the military ever called to ask what his plan was. hahahhahaha

    Of course he was dying to show everyone how “smart” he was so he revealed his big secret and it was…. wait for it… “take the oil”.

    Buffoon.

    Sad

  63. 63.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    so many political reporters are white and they have incorporated the GOP idea of AA’s role within the Democratic Party everything

    Fixed

  65. 65.

    Kay

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    Unthinkable to him, apparently. What all Trump’s defenders miss is how every single day he behaves exactly like someone who is hiding huge corruption and illegality. His lawyer didn’t want to be raided by the FBI. He couldn’t cooperate because if he did this sleaze would be revealed. At this point you have to be a fucking moron not to see it. I don’t know what it is and I don’t pretend to but these people are hiding something.

  67. 67.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Because you can’t sign on to the idea that Democrats are “keeping them on the plantation” if they’re running the Party in the most populous parts of the state. So they just ignore the AA Party leaders and pretend they don’t exist.

  68. 68.

    Lapassionara

    @Baud: I plan to march if Mueller goes, per the previously issued “plan.” What I would like is for the people planning the “Mueller is fired now march” event to plan for a march sooner than the Mueller firing. I think we should head to the streets if T fires Rosenstein, or even sooner. Here in St L, we could have a group outside Roy Blunt’s office once a month, demanding that he protect Mueller.

    I am relatively new to the area, so I do not know who to make these suggestions to here. So I make calls to Blunt’s office instead.

  69. 69.

    Baud

    @Kay: I never quite understood the mechanism by which Dems were holding AA voters hostage. I guess it’s one of those accusations that is self evident and doesn’t need proof.

  73. 73.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    It’s incredibly patronizing and insulting right? I mean the mayor of Cleveland may be a black person but they are primarily the mayor of Cleveland and a political power in their own right. This frame could only exist within certain assumptions about the nature of power and who holds it because it isn’t true, and it’s obvious it isn’t true.

  75. 75.

    MJS

    @Another Scott: I have owned some gas producing animals, but I’ve never heard of gas killing animals. Might have to look into getting one, especially as I get older.

  77. 77.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:
    The book wasn’t titled Invisible Man for nothing, Kay.

    After all this time, the unwillingness to see that Black voters vote THEIR interests just like everyone else.

  78. 78.

    Lapassionara

    @Baud: Just revisited the site I mentioned, and it now says there will be coordinated demonstrations if Trump fires Rosenstein. I am a luddite, so cannot link, but there is a plan, probably started by moveon. That is so we can get our Soros checks when we show up. ?

  83. 83.

    Chyron HR

    @Another Scott:

    I, for one, am proud to live in a country where the government never kills its own citizens with gas.

    And if they ever did, they definitely wouldn’t act in an extremely self-satisfied manner about it.

  84. 84.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    I’ve just had it with the cable news pundit crowd. Our last governor had a show on Fox and was promoted by Murdoch. I think these politicians who head to that part of the campaign industrial complex are cynical, dishonest and making millions off duping voters and ginning up bullshit.

    If Kucinich wants to be a Fox news celebrity he can’t also be the governor of Ohio. There’s actual merit and qualifications involved in these jobs.

  85. 85.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    What does he know about state law and state issues anyway? He’s been in Congress for a hundred years. It isn’t 1990.

    It’s just all about THEM. Their stupid fucking careers and ambitions and bank accounts.

  88. 88.

    schrodingers_cat

    @rikyrah: Any one who votes D is fucking invisible to the national media. Hillary even won the white male demographic in the commonwealth but I have never ever seen a story about that in the national media. Nazi Times had several stories on tiny red enclaves in northern California and how disenfranchised they feel, those poor babies.

  91. 91.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Quinerly:

    Wow… Paul Ryan retiring!

    Yup. Just saw the news alert. Brave Sir Ryan ran away, ran away…. To cash in at the wingnut trough, most likely.

  93. 93.

    Kathleen

    @Kay: Thanks for that analysis, Kay. I learned a lot. I need to find out more about labor union’s power in Cincinnati, which I don’t believe is hospitable to labor or unions.

  94. 94.

    Kathleen

    @Kay: You are hitting it out of the park today. Thanks again for brilliant insight. I do recall that in 2008 then Cincy mayor Mark Mallory was I belive the first Ohio big city mayor to endorse Obama in primary (he is AA).

  95. 95.

    burnspbesq

    @Immanentize:

    Or, suicide in a bathtub.

    Cohen has never struck me as the Frank Pietrangeli type. He’s more likely to follow the example of Donald Segretti: do his time, wait out his five years, apply for reinstatement, and carve out a low-key practice in Westchester doing estate planning for rich Republicans.

  97. 97.

    Arclite

    Just because I gave a good speech, and I’m smart and intelligent, doesn’t mean that I should be the next president.”

    Actually it means you *should* be the next president. That speech will get her elected, and those smarts will make her a great prez.

  98. 98.

    jl

    So, Barack Obama wasn’t joking when he joked that there was a special Secret Service detail to keep Michelle from running off the WH grounds and not coming back.

  99. 99.

    debbie

    @Kathleen:

    I know you’re long gone, but yes! I also love that DeWine says Mary Taylor is a slacker. If Ohio wasn’t so firmly GOP, the primary would be lots of fun to watch.

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