Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Let there be snark.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Not all heroes wear capes.

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

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

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

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

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

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

You are here: Home / Politics / America / Life As Metaphor: The Wall Goes Down!

Life As Metaphor: The Wall Goes Down!

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A fitting metaphor for Infrastructure Week. It is always Infrastructure Week…

Open thread!

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126Comments

  2. 2.

    trollhattan

    Ironically, after getting his brain thoroughly smooshed against his skull he’ll wake even more of a Trump supporter.

  3. 3.

    The Moar You Know

    Rod Salka wore “America 1st” and a wall pattern on his trunks against Mexican fighter Francisco Vargas, and ended up getting his ass kicked

    GOOD.

    I was just down in Mexico City again, and everyone (as always) was incredibly nice to me. This may sound weird. They’re pissed about Trump but also, deeply, deeply hurt by his election and his (and the GOP’s) constant Mexican bashing. All I could do was apologize but it wasn’t nearly enough. They want to know why Americans hate them so much. I tried to explain that the vast majority of Americans don’t but they weren’t buying that. Shit, for all I know maybe most Americans DO hate Mexicans. Personally, I’m starting to like them far more than most Americans. At least their rich jerks are honest about it.

  9. 9.

    Kay

    Hello!
    I have two KUCINICH FOR GOVERNOR yard signs if anyone wants one.

    I feel she sent me this just to annoy me. “Anyone” – like I’m supposed to find takers?

  10. 10.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Corner Stone: Vargas has always done good body work. I’m a big believer in body work. There are few true effective head hunters out there.

  12. 12.

    LAO

    I have a super bad feeling about today. That’s it. Just thought I shared my heightened level of anxiety.

  13. 13.

    But her emails!!!

    Rod Salka wore “America 1st” and a wall pattern on his trunks

    Asshat also has a cross on his back.

  14. 14.

    Corner Stone

    Welp.
    Newsweek link through Yahoo!
    Trump Tax Plan: 80 Percent of Economic Gains Will End Up Going to Foreigners, CBO Says
    “President Donald Trump touted the economic growth triggered by his tax cuts in a speech Thursday afternoon, pointing out the projected growth of gross domestic product (GDP) over the next 10 years had increased because of the plan.

    But 80 percent of the economic growth generated by the Republican tax cuts will eventually go abroad and benefit foreigners, according to a new report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.”

  18. 18.

    danielx

    @LAO:

    Today?

    I wake up that way every morning and believe me, it’s not doing me much good. But you are correct, I’ve got a seriously uneasy feeling. More so than usual.

  20. 20.

    Corner Stone

    @Adam L Silverman: I remember one of the Mike Tyson KO’s where hit the guy with a left hook to the ribs and the fighter just collapsed. I thought he had killed the guy. I looked for the clip but just found a few mash-ups.

  25. 25.

    Adam L Silverman

    @The Moar You Know: Next time you’re there and asked, try explaining it like this: A loudly vocal minority in the US is currently acting out. They really don’t care about Mexicans as Mexicans. In fact most of them don’t even know any Mexicans. They care about Mexicans because you are something tangible they can point at and direct their anger at. Tell them that if Mexicans didn’t exist, these people would invent them in order to do this. It isn’t about Mexicans, it’s about having someone to hate.

  27. 27.

    MattF

    So, an idiot turns out to be an idiot, and not much of a boxer. Satisfying, I guess, but really just librul clickbait.

  34. 34.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @The Moar You Know:
    Best I can offer is to explain that America is a country split in half right now, like two different countries smashed into one spot that hate each other and agree on nothing. One of those halves are mean-spirited racists throwing a fit that white people might not completely control everything anymore.

  36. 36.

    trollhattan

    @Kay:
    Needs to read “Must rid self of two Kucinich yard signs. Will pay five dollars each for you to take them.”

    Since this is your territory, I repost from downstairs that Villaraigosa just DQd himself as a CA governor candidate.

    Wealthy charter school supporters are pouring millions of dollars into the battle to succeed Gov. Jerry Brown, throwing their money into an independent committee to push former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa ahead in a crowded field of candidates.

    Netflix CEO Reed Hastings on Wednesday gave $7 million to the committee run by the California Charter Schools Association, an increasingly powerful player in state politics. On Thursday, Los Angeles philanthropist and developer Eli Broad contributed $1.5 million to the effort.

  39. 39.

    Ohio Mom

    @Kay: Something that really concerns me is that last week, at my neighborhood Democratic club meeting, the cochairs were tsk-tsking Cordray for not being anti-gun.

    They thought we needed to look at other candidates because in their estimation, someone without a strong gun control record is currently unelectable.

    Nearly tore my hair out. Yeah, if you keep loudly obsessing on this, you will make him into a bad candidate.

  42. 42.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @JPL:
    I don’t know. Bear in mind Trump’s cowardice. It seems odd he would announce ahead of time. He’s twisted himself in knots to never have to deal with the possibility of confronting someone he’s fired so far.

  44. 44.

    LAO

    @Baud: I have no idea, but eventually the administration would get to someone in the DOJ willing to fire Mueller.

  46. 46.

    Corner Stone

    @Waratah: My son and I had each other in tears recently talking about all the inside jokes and scenes in Airplane! . So it will be a good feeling to hold on to that memory as the blast wave envelopes us.

  47. 47.

    Brachiator

    @TaMara (HFG):

    White House says there will be breaking news on Deputy AG #Rosenstein between 2pm and 4pm EST today.

    Trump can’t bomb Syria, yet, so he needs something else to make himself happy.

  48. 48.

    tobie

    @LAO: This report has always had me worried because it sounds like the person writing has no sense of the political motivations of the task he was given. From everything I can tell IG Horowitz has the same preening self-regard that Comey did and is convinced that he’s just calling things as he sees them, as if he wasn’t sent on this mission in the first place to delegitimize the FBI.

  54. 54.

    TenguPhule

    @Baud:

    Hillary would have pardoned Scooter twice as hard.

    After his summary execution for uncovering Vince Foster.

  59. 59.

    TenguPhule

    @LAO:

    I feel sick. Shit.

    I appear to be coming down with a cold.

    Could today possibly get any worse?

  61. 61.

    James E. Powell

    @Kay:

    Do you have any read on how well Kucinich is doing on his old home turf, Cleveland’s west side? They do, after all, know him best. I wonder whether he will draw off any Republican voters. Dennis always attracted some of the angry white guys who listen to talk radio all day.

  66. 66.

    MattF

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: There aren’t many people who have the authority to fire Mueller. Not Trump. Not Sessions. Pretty much only Rosenstein. I think you’d need a new Deputy AG first, and then, I guess, maybe, the new DAG could fire Mueller.

  67. 67.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    @Elizabelle:
    Definitely. He should explain that he has always acted out of duty; to follow the rule of law and the highest expectations of professionalism. He should make clear that Trump is a danger to democracy.

    BTW: I was referring to Mueller.

  68. 68.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Baud: His Deputy takes over all his normal duties. The Solicitor General picks up oversight of the Special Counsel’s Office.

  70. 70.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    @MattF:
    Does a DAG need Senate confirmation? Would the Senate’s refusal to confirm an AG extend to a DAG?

  71. 71.

    lgerard

    @Baud:

    Who would take over if Rosenstein goes? Sessions is still recused.

    The question is will Sessions go as well, either resigning or being “resigned”

  72. 72.

    Elizabelle

    @Baud: We are speaking of Rosenstein, or Mueller?

    Lot of career professionals at DOJ. I don’t see them letting Rosenstein get fired. Because, why not any one of them, next?

    (And yes, there are some Pat Robertson Law School grads, still burrowed in there. But I’d expect they’re the minority …)

    This makes me wonder why Paul Ryan chose this particular week to make it clear he is getting out of office. (Running away. He is no Will Kane. — Like that nice James Comey [snark])

  73. 73.

    Corner Stone

    @Baud:

    It may finally be time for the Schneiderman.

    Schneiderman! Schneiderman! Does whatever a Schneider can!
    Which, come to think of it, wasn’t a whole lot. He was not much of a handyman.

  74. 74.

    TenguPhule

    @Baud:

    Sessions is still recused.

    If he unrecuses himself, it wouldn’t be a surprise at this point.

    None of the other checks and balances of the system are working.

    As Kay has noted, the safety nets have all been cut.

  76. 76.

    Ms. D. Ranged in AZ

    @Waratah: I know what you mean. Have been waiting for the “other shoe to drop” for the last couple of Fridays.

    And WTF is going on with these Friday news dumps. I know why they do them typically but what is it about Trump? Is it because he can flee to Mar A Lago and somewhat isolate himself from media?

  77. 77.

    EveryDayIHaveTheBlues

    @Ohio Mom: Hi Ohio Mom! Quick question: how does the primary work in Ohio? I’m obviously voting for Cordray, but can I also vote for one of the ReThugs? If so, who should I pick? I see Ads by parties supporting both Taylor and DeWine here in Loveland, and they both seem equally vile. But if you think one of them deserves to win the primary only to have a better chance of losing in the General to Cordray, then please let me know.

    This is my first “state” election, as well as my first primary, so I don’t know how the ballot works. Any advice would be deeply appreciated.

  78. 78.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Corner Stone: Feature, not bug, for these fuckheads. Remember the end-state they’re busy constructing:

    Capital moves at the speed of light.
    Oligarchs move at the speed of sound. Their flunkies move with them at the oligarchs’ whim.
    No one else moves at all.

  79. 79.

    Adam L Silverman

    @TaMara (HFG): If Rosenstein goes it won’t change anything right away. His deputy takes over his duties and the Solicitor General picks up oversight of Mueller’s operations. Mueller will keep doing his thing.

    The real news this week is the Cohen tapes. Or potential for Cohen tapes. Now we know what that raid was about. Determining if, as rumored, Cohen had been taping all his phone calls for several years. This is what Mueller really wanted out of that raid. Cohen on the phone with the President, with other people in the Trump Organization and/or Trump Campaign, other people he was doing business with on behalf of the President, etc. That’s the real news. And that’s the holy grail. And that’s all in the hands of Federal investigators and prosecutors right now. This is why the President sent real lawyers to court this morning in Manhattan to try to intervene.

  81. 81.

    MattF

    My recollection is that Robert Bork was Solicitor General when Nixon ordered him to fire Archibald Cox. And Bork did. But the bottom line is that it’s not so simple. My guess is that Trump doesn’t have the credibility that Nixon had. Sigh. Did I really just write that?

  91. 91.

    rikyrah

    Kanye shrug

    A man with white supremacist literature in his home accidentally killed himself while building bombs so powerful, authorities decided to burn down his entire apartment building rather than let people reenter: https://t.co/BQ4Eor77Cy

    — Kelly Weill (@KELLYWEILL) April 13, 2018

  93. 93.

    Yutsano

    @Adam L Silverman: So we’re back to is he or isn’t he his attorney? Or is this: he’s Dolt45’s attorney when it’s in his favour and not his attorney when it’s negative.

    ….

    I CRACKED THE CODE!!!

  94. 94.

    MattF

    @rikyrah: Well obviously, Beaver Dam Wisconsin is the place where you would go for that kind of thing. Well-known central locus of radical activity.

  95. 95.

    trollhattan

    @TaMara (HFG):
    For what “inside scoop” may be worth.

    President Donald Trump is reportedly angrier than he ever has been during his tenure in the White House, as he’s beset by former FBI Director James Comey’s new book, the FBI raid of his longtime lawyer, and special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.

    Via CNN’s Jason Morrell, a source close to Trump has told CNN’s Gloria Borger that the president is “pissed, flailing and upset” and that his anger right now is “beyond what anyone can imagine.”

    Another source similarly told Borger that Trump’s anger has become “unmanageable” and that he was currently in “lash out” mode.

    Interesting to ponder the possibility we’ve been living under Trump’s “good side” all this time.

  103. 103.

    TaMara (HFG)

    @rikyrah: WTF – the police said that just because he was making bombs and had white supremacist literature did not mean he was a white supremacist?? Imagine had this been someone of color, it would be all the news could talk about and for sure he’d be a terrorist.

    And his family…he was religious..he wasn’t a bomb maker. HE. FUCKING. DIED. MAKING. A. BOMB you morons.

  105. 105.

    eclare

    @Baud: I’m early voting in our county primary tomorrow…every little bit helps (Shelby County TN, home of Memphis). And if it does happen, I will be calling Alexander and Corker on Monday. Don’t need to worry about my rep.

  106. 106.

    Immanentize

    @Adam L Silverman: Added — which explains why it was a warrant and not just a subpoena to the Grand Jury. The feds did not want the “tapes” destroyed. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if they were actually, you know, cassettes and not computer files?

  109. 109.

    The Moar You Know

    Wow. The video at this linked tweet is from Professor Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. of Princeton. It’s well worth the few seconds it takes to watch it.

    @The Ancient Randonneur: Good, but he’s got the wrong “B-list” actor as the symptom of America’s power slide into irrelevance.

    Reagan was the weird chest lump, Trump is the agonal breathing of the death of America as a serious world power.

  110. 110.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Yutsano: He never really did legal work for the President other than these NDAs to cover up affairs. He worked doing business deals for the Trump Organization while also doing them for his own businesses. Cohen has extensive real estate holdings of his own in NY, FL, etc. What Cohen’s job was was to be the loud and foul mouthed fixer for the President. If you consider the President’s business to be an organized crime organization, then it makes much more sense.

  111. 111.

    MattF

    Time to lock the guy with nuclear football into the janitor’s closet and throw away the key. Died for his country.

  113. 113.

    Immanentize

    @rikyrah: Yes. That position is a political, confirmed position. But the acting DAG can work, unconfirmed, during the period before someone is confirmed.

  116. 116.

    Jeffro

    By the way, this is just about the funniest f-in thing I’ve read all week, by Geoffrey Kabaservice in the FTFNYT: The Dream of a Republican New Deal

    Yes really – the salvation of the GOP is at hand!

    Many Republican officeholders would like to distance themselves from Mr. Trump, yet they can’t as long as his approval rating from their voters remains sky-high. But these legislators have an alternative: They can rally around Mr. Trump’s 2016 vision of a Republican Party no longer bound by unpopular conservative dogma. They could even support a Trump New Deal.

    Despite Mr. Trump’s considerable flaws as a presidential candidate, he effectively diagnosed the reasons the Republican Party is widely disliked, even by its own voters. It has become the party of the white working class — six out of 10 Republicans are now whites without a college degree — but it has done next to nothing to address the terrible problems that disproportionately affect that class.

    I wonder why that is? Could it be that a half dozen Randian billionaires don’t want to spend the chump change, relatively speaking, that it would take to help out their fellow Americans?

    Mr. Trump also recognized that the principal reason for this disconnection is that the party’s penchant for tax-cutting has devolved from a policy preference into a sacred cult, unconnected to reality or anything resembling fiscal conservatism. Revenue-draining cuts inevitably starve the public services that the aging and economically insecure white working class increasingly depends on. Popular support for the teachers’ strikes in Arizona, Kentucky, Oklahoma and West Virginia in recent weeks indicates that even solidly Republican states are turning against this kind of anti-government economic doctrine.

    WRONG. Trumpov recognized that as long as the scam was going on, the blessed white working class sure as hell needed someone to blame, or they were going to turn on their uber-rich masters.

    Mr. Ryan, who served as Mr. Brownback’s legislative director when Mr. Brownback was a senator, was the Republican Party’s most prominent cheerleader for the Ayn Rand-inspired idea that society’s “makers” should be lavished with tax cuts while its “takers” should be deprived of a social safety net. The downfall of Ryanism, and the rise of Trumpism, indicates that the decades-long domination of the Republican Party by ideological conservatism is finally giving way to an outlook that, for good or ill, better reflects the party’s changed base.

    The white working class clearly wants to protect and build upon the public sector, not destroy it.

    Oh please – can we drill down just a bit there, Mr. Kabaservice? The working class, period, effectively hasn’t had a raise in almost 40 years. The white working class is ok with that, as long as they still get a decent safety net and the chance to sock it to the browns.

    But here is the truly amazing mind-blowing GALLING part:

    …the [GOP] should approach the elections under the banner of an ambitious program to bring economic revival to the working class. The starting point for such a program would be Mr. Trump’s campaign-trail commitment to rebuild our decaying national infrastructure — including the roads, schools, hospitals and other civic assets that have been squeezed by conservative cutbacks.

    A Trump New Deal could also include other elements with strong appeal to working-class voters, such as vigorous support for universal entitlements like Social Security and Medicare (as opposed to means-tested programs that benefit only the poor), robust wage subsidies, a generous child care tax credit and high-skilled apprenticeship programs linked to specific jobs. Republicans might also consider a national version of a California proposal to make housing more affordable.

    A Republican campaigning on the back of a Trump New Deal could sell himself or herself as someone who shares the values of voters in the economically ravaged American heartland but who also has a real program to address their problems. It would be a lot more persuasive than just touting the magic of tax cuts.

    Rebuild infrastructure and ‘civic assets’ that have been ‘squeezed by conservative cutbacks’?
    Propose universal entitlements? Wage subsidies? Generous child-care tax credits?
    Consider a national version of a California proposal to make housing more affordable?

    Geoffrey, my man: there is a much simpler answer here, one that’s staring you in the face, one that’s far more rooted in reality than expecting ANY Republican politician to embrace increased entitlement spending and a…a…bwahHahHAH!…California affordable housing proposal.

    It’s called Vote. For. The. Democrat.
    Period. You’ll get all those things plus we’ll stay out of your private life, keep your water clean, and educate your kids, too!

    I swear, the lengths these ‘moderate’ wingers will go to to avoid joining the dirty hippies just astounds me. “A Trump New Deal” – yeeeeeah buddy!

  118. 118.

    MattF

    @Jeffro: Note that although the teacher’s strikes in red states are alluded to, the word “UNION” never sullies Mr Kabaservice’s prose.

  123. 123.

    Adam L Silverman

    @MattF: Given he allegedly shared (some of) them with the President, he has some of them on portable devices.

  126. 126.

    Gelfling 545

    @Corner Stone: Every November I watch that movie on my late brother’s birthday. Makes me feel like I’m sharing a good time with him again. It was one of his favorites. You’d only have to refer to a scene to crack him up.

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