Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

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

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

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

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

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

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

No one could have predicted…

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

In my day, never was longer.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

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

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

You cannot shame the shameless.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

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

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

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Today in “Not the Onion”

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From my favorite Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter:

So people were pissing on Trump-strips? Good lord. Things will even get stupider, though. I can feel it.

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

128Comments

  4. 4.

    Wag

    @BGinCHI:
    This was in the days before smart phones with built in video cams. You can be sure that if trump were to try and revive the pee/vitamin business model now that a video would be required.

  6. 6.

    stinger

    What is it with Republicans and their love for losers? W, too, failed at pretty much everything he did before becoming President, and was no success at that.

  7. 7.

    Amir Khalid

    It sounds exactly like the kind of business venture Trump would get into: profit for me, no benefit for thee.

  10. 10.

    Jeffro

    Sign me up for the Trumpov Toilet Paper Company’s IPO, though…now THAT is a money-making proposition!

  13. 13.

    Ruckus

    @stinger:

    What is it with Republicans and their love for losers?

    You look in a mirror and all you see is a loser, you might be a republican.
    Also birds of a feather……..

  14. 14.

    Ohio Mom

    Not as many joke possibilities but Trump also had a short-lived eyeglass frame business/licensing agreement.

    Someone should list all of his business forays in one place. He can’t stick to anything.

  16. 16.

    Aardvark Cheeselog

    The first scan on this I read “Trump-branded urine” and thought he was selling “clean” pee so that people could pass drug tests.

  17. 17.

    Ruckus

    @Ohio Mom:
    He really does suck at this business thing. Is there anything he’s been successful at? Other than being born to a racist real estate asshole.

  18. 18.

    Ruckus

    @Aardvark Cheeselog:
    That’s probably an idea that would sell. Only problem of course is that he’d have to have a good source of clean urine. But he wouldn’t have let that bother him so he would have had you send in a sample and then he’d just have returned it to you. Another in a long line of successful failures.

  21. 21.

    rikyrah

    American mainstream rejects Trump’s condemnation of Mueller probe
    04/13/18 10:40 AM
    By Steve Benen

    At a certain level, public-opinion polls on federal criminal investigations seem unimportant. After all, law-enforcement officials are not politicians, and while they serve the public’s interests, they also have a job to do that has little to do with popular will.

    That said, I tend to keep an eye on polling related to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe, not because public attitudes should shape the direction of the investigation, but because I’m interested in whether the Republican campaign to undermine public confidence in the probe is working.

    Donald Trump, for example, has characterized the investigation itself as “illegal” and “corrupt.” His allies in Congress and conservative media have mounted a spirited campaign against Mueller, the FBI, and the Justice Department, which collectively have become a bete noire for the right.

    The American mainstream isn’t buying it.

    A clear majority of Americans support special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and alleged collusion with President Trump’s campaign, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds.

    The results show backing for inquiries into Trump’s orbit on several fronts.

    Nearly 7 in 10 adults say they support Mueller’s focus on possible collusion with Russia. Sixty-four percent say they want the special counsel investigating Trump’s business activities. And a 58 percent majority supports investigating alleged payments by Trump associates to silence women who say they had affairs with him.

  22. 22.

    delk

    My dog Gav is still feeling the effects of the rat poisoning from two years ago and is having exploratory surgery this morning. Hoping it’s nothing serious.

  24. 24.

    Arclite

    @stinger:

    What is it with Republicans and their love for losers? W, too, failed at pretty much everything he did before becoming President, and was no success at that.

    Better a loser than give the blahs free stuff. Also, too: something something strong on defense.

  25. 25.

    rikyrah

    After creating historic deficits, Republicans move to outlaw deficits
    04/13/18 11:23 AM
    By Steve Benen

    They’re sometimes called “messaging votes.” Congressional leaders will bring measures to the floor that they have no intention of passing, purely for symbolic and electoral reasons. These pointless votes are generally a waste of time, though they tend to make assorted partisans feel better.

    Some messaging votes, however, are more offensive than others.

    The House failed on Thursday to advance a constitutional amendment that would require Congress not spend more than the nation collects in revenue. Some conservative lawmakers had hoped a vote on the bill would calm grassroots conservatives who had been fuming about recent high levels of spending.

    On a mostly party line vote, Republicans failed to advance the bill, 233-184. Normally, legislation requires 218 votes to win approval in the House and can be passed with just Republican votes. The balanced budget amendment, however, required bipartisan support with a two-thirds majority vote because it was a constitutional amendment.

    GOP leaders knew, of course, that this constitutional amendment would fail. More to the point, they voted for it despite the fact that they wanted it to fail.

    Indeed, what made yesterday’s vote so exasperating was the backdrop against which it came. It was just a few months ago that Republicans approved massive tax breaks the nation can’t afford, and the Congressional Budget Office reported this week that those tax cuts will wreak havoc on the nation’s finances for many years to come. More recently, Republicans also approved a $1.3 trillion omnibus package that, among other things, increased government spending by hundreds of billions of dollars.

    All of which led up to yesterday’s vote, in which Republicans said they want a constitutional gimmick to stop Republicans from passing the kinds of bills Republicans just voted for. The people who are creating trillion-dollar deficits are the same people who are saying deficits should be outlawed.

    The Washington Post’s Catherine Rampell added last night, “A balanced-budget amendment is pretty much always a stupid idea. But you know when it’s stupidest? When you’ve just blown a multitrillion-dollar hole in the deficit, and also, umm, don’t even really plan to pass a budget.”

  26. 26.

    rikyrah

    Trump says Comey is a ‘slime ball,’ calls for his criminal prosecution
    04/13/18 10:02 AM
    By Steve Benen

    …………………………

    The president doesn’t appear to be taking the news well, as evidenced by a pair of tweets this morning.

    “James Comey is a proven LEAKER & LIAR. Virtually everyone in Washington thought he should be fired for the terrible job he did-until he was, in fact, fired. He leaked CLASSIFIED information, for which he should be prosecuted. He lied to Congress under OATH.

    “He is a weak and untruthful slime ball who was, as time has proven, a terrible Director of the FBI. His handling of the Crooked Hillary Clinton case, and the events surrounding it, will go down as one of the worst ‘botch jobs’ of history. It was my great honor to fire James Comey!”

    If I didn’t know better, I might think Comey has gotten under the president’s skin a bit.

    What I find especially entertaining about Trump’s little tirade, though isn’t just how factually inaccurate it is, but the degree to which his lack of impulse control has upended the White House’s plan.

  27. 27.

    rikyrah

    Coal lobbyist takes over key leadership post at Trump’s EPA
    04/13/18 09:20 AM
    By Steve Benen

    …………………….

    The fossil fuel industry now has yet another ally at the Environmental Protection Agency – one who would almost certainly take over as head of the agency if Scott Pruitt is forced to resign. In a 53-45 vote on Thursday, the Senate confirmed Andrew Wheeler – a coal lobbyist who once worked for DC’s most notorious climate change denier – for the EPA’s second-most powerful position. […]

    As deputy administrator – a powerful, if somewhat low-profile position – Wheeler will be responsible for implementing Pruitt’s vision. Wheeler is likely to have a hand in making appointments, overseeing operations, and working with regional and state agencies.

    I realize that when it comes to this White House’s personnel decisions, we’ve seen a staggering number of tough-to-defend moves, but Wheeler is especially egregious.

  28. 28.

    Elizabelle

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.): Your link is interesting. CBS, from April 2016: Behind the collapse of the “recession-proof” Trump Network

    A CBS News investigation unravels controversy over a Donald Trump business venture. With the Trump Network, the billionaire pitched a “recession-proof” opportunity during the economic downturn in 2009. The Trump Network relied on participants to sell health supplements and other products, person to person.

    The concept wasn’t revolutionary. Companies like Mary Kay have sold products through what’s called multi-level marketing for years. Those at the top tend to reap the most benefits. One person recruits three friends who recruits three friends, and so on down the line.

    … Beginner salespeople were told to buy a $497 “starter kit” of Trump products so they could get in on the soon-to-be billion-dollar business, reports CBS News correspondent Julianna Goldman.

    “We thought it was going to take off,” Eileen Kelley said.

    Eileen and George Kelley are retired college professors who live in Florida.

    “They were selling hope there to a lot of people in the middle of a recession,” George said.

    “I was sold on the product and the message and the testimonials — and then of course Donald Trump coming on,” Eileen said.

    “The Trump Network wants to give millions of people renewed hope and with an exciting plan to opt out of the recession,” Trump said in a promotional video.

    … A reported 20,000 independent sales representatives bought the Trump Network products and tried to recruit others to sell them too. But within two and a half years, the “recession-proof” business collapsed.

    Eileen said they lost $10,000.

    “I hate to see people taken in like that, like we were. I mean we’re educated people, it’s almost embarrassing,” she said.

    Trump was the company’s top recruiter. He traveled the country for two years promoting the scheme, including a 2009 launch in Miami. … A key product was personalized vitamins, supposedly tailored to each customer, after they sent their urine to a lab for analysis.

    CBS News contacted over 30 former sales reps for the Trump Network. Most said they believed in these products. But some told us when they look back at the fees they paid for conferences, trainings and products, they aren’t sure they made any money at all. About half told us they still support Trump[d’oh!], but most said they were kept in the dark about looming problems in the company.

    Trump declined our request for an interview. His attorney said [which attorney, who??] he did not own the company or make the products. He also said Trump never endorsed the merchandise despite a letter signed by Trump saying, “I believe in the Trump Network products.”

    Eileen Kelley said she has delayed her retirement to pay off the debt from the Trump Network. And when she sees candidate Trump talking about how he will change America?

    “I don’t believe for a moment that he’s going to change things. We’ve just went through it with him,” she said.

    Most of the marketers we spoke with blamed the owners for the network’s demise. The three men later filed for bankruptcy and declined our request for an interview, citing confidentiality agreements with the Trump organization.

    The seeds are all there. The predation, the lying, the nondisclosure agreements. The business failure.

  30. 30.

    Brachiator

    At the height of his merchandising empire, @realdonaldtrump sold Trump-branded urine tests, which send back to the Trump laboratory, so you could get custom-made Trump vitamins.

    Wait. So, is this really the “Pee Tape?”

  32. 32.

    rikyrah

    FYI:

    bella2758
    April 13, 2018 at 10:55 am

    President Obama’s niece Leslie Robinson of Princeton was drafted by the WNBA New York Liberty. Leslie is the daughter of Craig Robinson, who is the brother of Michelle Obama.

  35. 35.

    rikyrah

    Update: There is no petition seeking a pardon for Scooter Libby on file with the Justice Department’s Pardon Attorney, a DOJ spokesperson tells me. This means that if it is being considered, it is not going through the normal process.

    — Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) April 13, 2018

  37. 37.

    tobie

    @rikyrah: The three Democratic votes for coal-lobbying Wheeler to the EPA were Donnelly, Heitkamp, and Manchin. Heitkamp and Manchin come from fossil fuel states, so their vote is disappointing but not a surprise. But I don’t get Donnelly’s vote. Does Indiana produce coal or gas?

  39. 39.

    burnspbesq

    @rikyrah:

    And she wasn’t drafted because of her pedigree. Young lady has some game.

    Third-round draft picks don’t often make WNBA rosters, but she has a chance.

  42. 42.

    The Moar You Know

    My dog Gav is still feeling the effects of the rat poisoning from two years ago and is having exploratory surgery this morning. Hoping it’s nothing serious.

    @delk: Surgery is always serious, human or canine. I hope he comes out OK.

  43. 43.

    Brachiator

    @rikyrah:

    The president doesn’t appear to be taking the news well, as evidenced by a pair of tweets this morning.

    “James Comey is a proven LEAKER & LIAR. Virtually everyone in Washington thought he should be fired for the terrible job he did-until he was, in fact, fired. He leaked CLASSIFIED information, for which he should be prosecuted. He lied to Congress under OATH.

    “He is a weak and untruthful slime ball who was, as time has proven, a terrible Director of the FBI. His handling of the Crooked Hillary Clinton case, and the events surrounding it, will go down as one of the worst ‘botch jobs’ of history. It was my great honor to fire James Comey!”

    My, my, my. I do believe that Dear Leader is becoming unhinged.

  45. 45.

    Central Planning

    @Elizabelle:

    The seeds are all there. The predation, the lying, the nondisclosure agreements. The business failure.

    And the need to make a quick buck. The woman said she had to delay retirement to pay back the debt ($10K) from Trump? I know $10k is a decent chuck of change, but if you need to delay retirement because of that, you might have other financial problems.

  46. 46.

    The Moar You Know

    “I hate to see people taken in like that, like we were. I mean we’re educated people, it’s almost embarrassing,” she said.

    @Elizabelle: No “almost” about it. I’d kill myself rather than admit publicly to being taken in by something like that.

    I’m not the smartest guy out there but any sort of “market your way to millions/thousands/tens” thing is obviously a scam.

  49. 49.

    rikyrah

    Confidants Say Trump Will Soon Fire Sessions, Rosenstein
    April 13, 2018 at 10:55 am EDT

    Wall Street Journal: “Two people who spoke to Mr. Trump during the week said they came away thinking both Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who appointed Mr. Mueller, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions would soon be gone, potentially sparking a political and constitutional crisis.”

    Said one: “It’s a matter of when, not if.”

  50. 50.

    low-tech cyclist

    Things will even get stupider, though. I can feel it.

    Easiest prediction of the year.

  52. 52.

    low-tech cyclist

    @rikyrah:

    Update: There is no petition seeking a pardon for Scooter Libby on file with the Justice Department’s Pardon Attorney, a DOJ spokesperson tells me. This means that if it is being considered, it is not going through the normal process.

    — Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) April 13, 2018

    What? Something in the Trump Administration isn’t going through the normal process?

    Knock me over with a feather!

  54. 54.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @rikyrah:

    It was my great honor to fire distance myself by sending my personal bodyguard to FBI HQ with the letter while James Comey was on the other side of the country learning about it on TV!

    ETA: Fixed for cowardice.

  55. 55.

    danielx

    Yet another entry in the you-can’t-make-this-shit-up sweepstakes.

    I’m getting an idea for a tv game show in which contestants try to name the next fucked-up Donald Trump story to hit the news.

  57. 57.

    Ruckus

    @Central Planning:
    Lots of people have to delay retirement because of debt or lack of funds. SS pays very little unless you put in a reasonable sum over the years and we had a major recession not all that long ago. Lots of people lost everything during that or went into debt to survive. If you are at or nearing retirement age now it would be easy to have a money problem that means you may have to work till you drop. I know of a number of people who lost homes, who lost everything and had to start over. Starting over at 60 is not near as easy as starting at 18-25.

  58. 58.

    Leto

    @Elizabelle:

    “I hate to see people taken in like that, like we were. I mean we’re educated people, it’s almost embarrassing,” she said.

    It is embarrassing because you fell for one of the oldest fuc-ing Ponzi schemes. And you’re college professors? FSM help us all…

    @JWR: A fool and his money…

    Edit: where can I find the Balloon Juice podcast?

  61. 61.

    gene108

    @Elizabelle:

    The seeds are all there. The predation, the lying, the nondisclosure agreements. The business failure.

    Yeah, but Hillary Clinton used a private e-mail server to conduct business as SoS…

    When historian look back at the 2016 election, I sure as hell hope kids are taught about how crappy our media was and to demand better media.

  64. 64.

    Ruckus

    @gene108:
    Why should they provide better media? We pay for the crap they provide now, you think they will improve if we pay more?

  66. 66.

    tobie

    @rikyrah: Does anyone know what the process is for appointing interim people to replace Rosenstein and/or Sessions, should the firing happen? There’s some line of succession, I gather, but with so many vacancies in the government, I’m not sure the personnel is there to fill these offices. Gawd, we are so deep in FUBAR territory.

  67. 67.

    JCJ

    @tobie:

    Yes, Indiana is a coal producer. My grandfather was a coal miner in the area a little north of Terre Haute. I remember going on a coal mine tour when I was a kid. They took us to a strip mine near Clinton. Of course, that was almost 50 years ago so I doubt that particular mine (Universal Mine) is still active. I have no idea how much mining there still is, but it is generally in the southwestern part of the state

  68. 68.

    The Moar You Know

    We pay for the crap they provide now, you think they will improve if we pay more?

    @Ruckus: You have just nailed the core problem with America in one sentence. Everything: our shit medical care, our lethal and disgusting food, our blown-out infrastructure, and our lying media…we keep paying! And then they raise the prices over some bullshit excuse and…we keep paying! Why the fuck would anyone change anything when you’ve got the money rolling in and it never stops?

  70. 70.

    MattF

    The good news, such as it is, is that no one believes any statement from the ‘untruthful slime ball’ currently occupying the Oval Office. Everyone knows that every single word he says is a lie. Everyone knows he’s guilty as hell and that he acts, all the time, like he’s guilty as hell.

    Republicans wonder– if he’s innocent– why does he continually act so guilty? The rest of us know the answer.

    Just felt a need to get that off my chest.

  72. 72.

    Central Planning

    @Ruckus: I get it. My point was if you were going to retire with $50k and now have $40k, I don’t think you’ll have much of a retirement and will have to go back to work, regardless of starting at $40k or $50k.

  73. 73.

    catclub

    @MattF:

    Everyone knows that every single word he says is a lie. Everyone knows he’s guilty as hell and that he acts, all the time, like he’s guilty as hell.

    Yeah, right. So THAT was why Hillary got 98% of the vote.

  74. 74.

    scav

    @JCJ: Indiana too! I knew about Iowa and Illinois. Wonder how many others — what a different energy dynamic it must have been with all these distributed sources.

  75. 75.

    FlipYrWhig

    @gene108:

    When historian look back at the 2016 election, I sure as hell hope kids are taught about how crappy our media was and to demand better media.

    More likely is that kids will say “I guess people in the early 21st century were as weird about email as people in the mid 20th century were about swimming pools.”

  76. 76.

    trollhattan

    @rikyrah:
    Why is Scooter Libby back in the news? Last I heard of him would have been circa 2009. Is this a Bolton thing? Because Darth Cheney had wanted a full pardon for the loser and I presume Bolton still regularly burns sacrifices at the Cheney alter.

  78. 78.

    efgoldman

    So:
    Bill Clinton to incoming president W: “Watch out for these Al Qaeda folks and the Bin Laden guy.”
    W: “Fuckem” [tosses reports]
    Obama to incoming Weasel Face: “The Russians hacked the election”
    Weasel Face: “Fuckem” [kisses up to Ruti Patootie]

    Maybe the beginning of a pattern here?

  82. 82.

    Jeffro

    Btw does anyone want to dissect David Brooks David Brooks’ latest column out today, “Renaissance on the Right”. No? Here’s a quick take…

    DID YOU KNOW THAT THE FAILURES OF RYANISM/TRUMPISM ARE SPAWNING A NEW AGE OF FRESH CONSERVATIVE THOUGHT?!? NO?!? ME NEITHER!!! GOP GON’ SAVE US FROM TRIBALISM AND (code word alert) IDENTITY POLITICS!!!

    He uses Jonah Goldberg’s upcoming book as the prime example of this ‘fresh’ thought. Yes really – Mr. “Liberal Fascism” Nothing “tribal” to see here, kiddies, move along…

  83. 83.

    rikyrah

    Pain is the reward: Here’s what pundits keep getting wrong about Trump and his supporters
    Trump’s voters are suffering. They still love him. Mainstream journalists lack any understanding of this pathology
    CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
    04.13.2018•4:00 AM

    Donald Trump is not a real populist. His plans and those of his Republican allies–both already enacted and in the future–will further hollow out the social safety net, give even more money to the rich, damage the environment, reduce public education to ruins, remove corporate regulations and gut the Affordable Care Act. This will hurt most Americans, especially Trump’s most enthusiastic supporters among the so-called “white working class.” Yet these same voters continue to support Trump and the Republican Party.

    This dynamic befuddles many journalists, reporters, pundits and other professional observers of politics. Why? Because they lack political vision and are extremely naive — and overly hopeful — about the true nature of today’s conservative movement.

    Moreover, the truth is simply too frightening for many people to accept: The Republican Party and movement conservatism are now fully sociopathic.

    ……………………..

    Here the Republican Party, its leaders, and media enablers use fear in conjunction with physical, emotional and financial pain to manipulate Republican voters and many independents into supporting policies that cause them harm. Instead of attributing the cause of this distress correctly, Trump’s voters and other members of the American right-wing want to retaliate against and thus hurt those individuals and groups they view as the Other. This is the primary psychological wage that today’s Republican Party and conservative movement pays its supporters.

    In his new book “The Road to Unfreedom,” Timothy Snyder, the Yale historian and bestselling author, describes this feedback loop as sadopopulism:

    Trump was called a “populist.” A populist, however, is someone who proposes policies to increase opportunities for the masses, as opposed to the financial elites. Trump was something else: a sado-populist, whose policies were designed to hurt the most vulnerable part of his electorate.

    Encouraged by presidential racism, such people could understand their own pain as a sign of still greater pain inflicted upon others. … [S]uch a voter is changing the currency of politics from achievement to suffering, from pain to gain, helping a leader of their choice establish a regime of sadopopulism. Such a voter can believe that he or she has chosen who administers their pain, and can fantasize that this leader will hurt enemies still more. … If people who support the government expect their reward to be pain, then a democracy based upon policy competition between parties is endangered.

  84. 84.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Elizabelle:

    Eileen and George Kelley are retired college professors who live in Florida.

    [snip]

    Eileen Kelley said she has delayed her retirement to pay off the debt from the Trump Network. And when she sees candidate Trump talking about how he will change America?

    “I don’t believe for a moment that he’s going to change things. We’ve just went through it with him,” she said.

    :: ~ shudder ~ ::

  87. 87.

    gene108

    @rikyrah:

    bella2758
    April 13, 2018 at 10:55 am

    President Obama’s niece Leslie Robinson of Princeton was drafted by the WNBA New York Liberty. Leslie is the daughter of Craig Robinson, who is the brother of Michelle Obama.

    Daughter of a basketball coach. Wonder, if she’ll go into coaching too.

  88. 88.

    TenguPhule

    @Ohio Mom:

    Someone should list all of his business forays in one place. He can’t stick to anything.

    That would explain why Trump Post-its went out of business.

  89. 89.

    TenguPhule

    @rikyrah: So the solution to our problems is to stop offering carrots to Trump supporters and instead start beating them with bigger sticks like making them pay more taxes?

    Seems legit.

  90. 90.

    TenguPhule

    @efgoldman:

    Obama to incoming Weasel Face: “The Russians hacked the election”
    Weasel Face: “Fuckem” [kisses up to Ruti Patootie] Excuse me, I need to suck Putin’s Dick.

    Corrected for accuracy.

  91. 91.

    Mandalay

    Last week it was libertarian Bill Maher whining that Laura Ingraham was being censored by advertisers who dropped her show.

    This week it’s RWNJ Ted Cruz whining that Facebook has the power to prohibit an offensive video by a Republican candidate:

    @facebook rejects GOP candidate ad as “shocking & offensive,” because ad says he’s “pro-life and pro Second Amendment.” How many Americans do they consider “deplorable”? Why should FB have the power to censor half the country?

    It’s remarkable how those who most embrace the free market don’t have a clue how a free market actually works.

  92. 92.

    Fair Economist

    @TenguPhule:

    That would explain why Trump Post-its went out of business.

    You’re just making that up for the joke, right?

    (googles)

    Oh. My. God…

  93. 93.

    TenguPhule

    @gene108:

    When historian look back at the 2016 election, I sure as hell hope kids are taught about how crappy our media was and to demand better media.

    Optimistically assumes teachers, historians and education exist in the future.

  94. 94.

    efgoldman

    @TenguPhule:

    Optimistically assumes teachers, historians and education exist in the future.

    My granddaughter will be five this summer. My daughter is a journo in DC, and a damned good one. When her daughter asks her, in twenty years. to explain this week, I’m not sure she’ll be able to.

  100. 100.

    trollhattan

    O/T Welp, I just became a Newsom voter.

    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.

  101. 101.

    Ruckus

    @The Moar You Know:
    Very few demand better. We have become accustomed to mediocracy. or worse in the case of our president, out right failure. We have become accustomed to mediocracy because of many reasons but mainly that’s what we keep getting and that becomes our target to shoot for and meets our expectations. We dislike what the MSM considers journalism but we keep buying. Look at cars. Not that long ago we manufactured mediocracy in all measurable ways but other countries did better. We brought those cars in large numbers and our mfg improved (don’t leave out the regulations for safety and emissions and the ability to manufacture better because of better machinery and methods or that many of the companies have to compete worldwide) so that now our cars are worth buying. We got complacent after WWII because we were pretty much all that was left as a whole society. We believed that we were the greatest in all ways. Many want to go back to that, most of whom never experienced it or had seats at the expensive table and didn’t see what it really was like. It sucked.
    JFK was a bright light. He did some things that in hindsight were not the best ways of handling situations but what he did do was encourage us to do better, to strive for better, in all ways. President Obama has a lot of similar qualities, he led by example to do better. He was of course fought at most levels by his opponents because the people who provide us with goods and services want to sell those at the highest price with the lowest costs.
    They are ripping us off, fucking us over, stealing from us as a country. And most of us are so used to this that we think it’s normal. It isn’t. And we pay for it and suffer for it and die for it. All to make a few very wealthy.

  103. 103.

    bemused

    @Ella in New Mexico:

    I think Comey has a deep personal disgust for trump and it shows in his detailed descriptions of trump’s small hands, orange complexion and peculiar hair, all of which we all know and joke about. However, I thought it was strange an FBI Director would insert those gossipy kind of physical details when the rest of the trump/WH story is vastly more important and relevant to the mess this country is in.

  104. 104.

    Brachiator

    @gene108:

    When historian look back at the 2016 election, I sure as hell hope kids are taught about how crappy our media was and to demand better media.

    Most likely, they’l say, “What’s ‘media’ ?”

    And one of the top trending “news” stories over the last 48 hours:

    Women are getting designer nipples to look more like Kendall Jenner

    People pretty much get the media they want. Trivial sensationalism is all the rage.

  105. 105.

    J R in WV

    @efgoldman:

    My granddaughter will be five this summer. My daughter is a journo in DC, and a damned good one. When her daughter asks her, in twenty years. to explain this week, I’m not sure she’ll be able to.

    Hell, EFG, we’re living in it, and we couldn’t explain it as a committee with the intertubes to research it with! Sad and Scary!!!

  108. 108.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @LAO:

    I think we’re fucked, utterly and completely.

    He’s firing Rosenstein today, maybe Sessions too as a prelude to axing Mueller tomorrow. Pardons will issue to Flynn, Manafort and Papawhozits and Gates, maybe today.

    Grassley and Graham and Sasse will make concerned expressions while McConnell rubs one out and guffaws.

    Voter suppression and defiance of court orders will keep the House GOP, even as he launches stupid wars in the Middle East and Asia.

    Hopefully, after the French-German-Chinese conduct their war crimes tribunals of the surviving members of he Washington cabal in 2022, they’ll reconstitute the Nuremberg penalties for top civil and military leaders so that the surviving Americans will learn to never facilitate such leadership again.

    Maybe they’ll even have the trials at Nuremberg again, just as a reminder.

  109. 109.

    Ruckus

    @Central Planning:
    I don’t think you do get it.
    If you are going to retire and all you have is SS, you aren’t going to retire. Retiring with $40-50K is a problem? Try retiring with fucking nothing. A lot of your fellow citizens would kill for $40-50K in any kind of account.
    My plan was to work to 70 and retire with hopefully $150-200K. It didn’t work out because of GWBs, fucking recession. And now we are facing another, possibly far worse, republican recession.
    RECESSION, it’s the only thing the republicans have produced while in office in 40+ yrs. OK that’s not totally true, they aren’t bad at producing totally unnecessary and extremely badly run wars.

  110. 110.

    danielx

    @Jeffro:

    Commented on that in thread earlier. Every time I think Brooks has reached his nadir…he never fails to amaze. Kind of like the wingnut horizon event. I especially liked this:

    His conservatism is missing the bonding sentiments of Edmund Burke, and the idea that the little platoon of the family is nestled in the emotional platoon of the neighborhood and the emotional platoon of the nation.

    Had to work Burke in there somehow, I suppose, even if the bells are missing. More to the point, I’m not interested in nestling up to an emotional platoon of fucking neo-Nazis.

  111. 111.

    Brachiator

    @trollhattan:

    O/T Welp, I just became a Newsom voter.

    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.

    I hear you. Pound for pound, the best candidate is probably John Chiang, who is running at 9 per cent in the recent polls.

    Crazy thing about the California governorship is that the GOP candidate has a better than fighting chance.

  112. 112.

    Aleta

    Did he pass out complementary urine kits in Russia? So unfortunate for him.

    I think this and the Mueller news will bring another outrageous effort to change the subject. Meanwhile appointments of federal judges go on, and god knows what they are doing to management of public lands. (Lizzie “ax-murderer” Cheney recently said she’s “spoken with Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke about the militarization of federal land agencies like the BLM and Forest Service, calling it an issue “he is very focused on.” By militarization she doesn’t mean the guys who prowl around exposing their military weapons in wildlife sanctuaries.

    Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein tells confidants he is prepared to be fired. He’s prepared for “Soon, ” according to sources.

  113. 113.

    sukabi

    @low-tech cyclist: you’re right, much worse. Is there a directory of incompetent lowlife, crooks, frauds and charletans that infect DC that Drumpf has access to? Because he’s sure managing to weed out skilled, educated, competent people from being considered for any position in gov.

  115. 115.

    Aleta

    Charles M. Blow Retweeted Donald J. (and then rewrote him)

    But sir, aren’t you too a proven LEAKER (John Miller) & LIAR (everytime you open your mouth) who revealed CLASSIFIED info to the damned Russians (in the WH of all places) and were once forced to admit under OATH that you had lied 30 times?! Boy, BYE…

  116. 116.

    TenguPhule

    @bemused:

    However, I thought it was strange an FBI Director would insert those gossipy kind of physical details when the rest of the trump/WH story is vastly more important and relevant to the mess this country is in.

    The sole sliver of truth in the GOP’s smears on Comey is that he is indeed just like them, an egotistic asshole.

  117. 117.

    Ruckus

    @sukabi:
    They are called republicans. Easy to spot, not so easy to stop. There are a lot of them and they infest a lot of the country. They feed off of each other, which wouldn’t be a problem if there weren’t too many of them.

  118. 118.

    TenguPhule

    @Ruckus:

    My plan was to work to 70 and retire with hopefully $150-200K.

    Where? I mean, unless you were planning to only survive for a few years in retirement the medical costs alone would eat that up within less then a decade.

  119. 119.

    TenguPhule

    @The Moar You Know:

    Why the fuck would anyone change anything when you’ve got the money rolling in and it never stops?

    And now we see why the lack of violence inherent in the system is a problem.

  120. 120.

    Mnemosyne

    @LAO:

    Major^4 was speculating earlier that this is a Bolton thing. He’s probably right, because I doubt Trump gives a shit about Libby, or even knows who he is.

  121. 121.

    Central Planning

    @Ruckus: I do get it. I get the recession. I’m in my 40s. It took a decent chunk out of my retirement.

    Again, the point, FOR THE WOMAN IN THAT ARTICLE, is that $10K won’t make a fucking bit of difference to her retirement plans.

    ETA: I’m assuming she had more than $0 saved for retirement.

  124. 124.

    marc

    Everyday it looks more and more like the pee tape probably has Trump getting spanked and peed on by children that he’s calling Ivanka and/or Michelle, all while rolling around in a bed of submitted Trump Urine Test strips. It’s either that or there’s something else just as bad. There’s no way Trump is so scared of a standard amateur porn tape with Stormy Daniels. Naw, it’s gotta be all fucked up. And if that pee tape exists you gotta know that just about everybody involved at the scene is probably dead. Is it crazy to extrapolate such things at this point? Holy smokes.

  125. 125.

    Immanentize

    @Mnemosyne: Didn’t republicans have a shit fit when Clinton pardoned Marc Rich because it was outside of the normal process?
    OK, I actually know the answer to that one.

  126. 126.

    SgrAstar

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: the pardons are problematic, for trump. It’s my understanding that if younaccept a pardon, you can be compelled to testify in court. No taking the 5th. Since the pardon is not a safeguard for the preznit, I can’t see a reason for doing that now. Otoh, IAASNAL.

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