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You are here: Home / Politics / America / Breaking: Israel Attacks Iran In Syria As It Prepares For War

Breaking: Israel Attacks Iran In Syria As It Prepares For War

by Adam L Silverman|  May 8, 20184:16 pm| 205 Comments

This post is in: America, Domestic Politics, Election 2016, Foreign Affairs, Military, Open Threads, Politics, Popular Culture, Post-racial America, Silverman on Security, Not Normal

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Netanyahu has decided to wag the dog!

BREAKING: Israeli fighter jets strike Syria army position south of Damascus, Assad ally says https://t.co/E8kQM5ne56

— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) May 8, 2018

Its going great so far, thanks for asking. #Breaking: Explosions Heard Near Damascus as Israeli Military Believes Iran is Planning Imminent Attack https://t.co/U1IXPc3lCA

— Noga Tarnopolsky (@NTarnopolsky) May 8, 2018

From Haaretz:

Explosions were reported south of Damascus on Tuesday, shortly after the Israeli army announced it believes Iran is planning to carry out an imminent strike from Syria. Reports in Syria said Israeli jets entered the country’s airspace.

The reports come on the heels of U.S. President Donald Trump’s dramatic withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.

Also Tuesday, the Israeli ordered communities in the northern Golan Heights, near the Israel-Syria border, to open shelters to the public after identifying “unusual movements” of Iranian forces in Syria, the military said in a statement.

The Israeli army believes Iran is making efforts to carry out an imminent retaliation against Israel. Intelligence officers and other specialized forces have been called up, though reserve combat units have not been drafted.

CNN reported that Pentagon officials are concerned about signs that Iran might be preparing a military strike against Israel from Syria.

Israeli military bases were preparing for a possible Iranian attack.

Israel believes Iran is determined to retaliate for the April 9 airstrike on Syria’s T4 airbase, which killed seven Iranian military advisers and members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Iran blames Israel for this attack.

The military said any Iranian strike against Israel will be met with a severe response, even as the working assumption is that Iran is has limited capabilities to engage in conflict with Israel.

The State Department has issued a travel alert for US personnel.

#GolanHeights Security Alert: Due to the recent tensions in the region, U.S. gov't employees are required to obtain advance approval if they wish to travel to the Golan Heights until further notice. Consider carefully travel to the Golan Heights until the situation stabilizes. pic.twitter.com/GRrT3s1hdW

— Travel – State Dept (@TravelGov) May 8, 2018

From the reporting, Israel appears to be mobilizing for war.

#breaking: Israel opens air raid shelters on the Golan Heights

— Noga Tarnopolsky (@NTarnopolsky) May 8, 2018

#Breaking: Israel drafts reserve soldiers from military intelligence, home front & air defence commands. pic.twitter.com/NVHftp1Htx

— Noga Tarnopolsky (@NTarnopolsky) May 8, 2018

#Breaking: Israel’s education ministry cancels all school trips scheduled to go to the Golan Heights tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/JKsq4kQfXz

— Noga Tarnopolsky (@NTarnopolsky) May 8, 2018

Now that the President and Prime Minister Netanyahu have decided to destabilize the limited stability left within the entire region in the name of actually stabilizing it, this is going to move fast. More specifically, the Israelis are going to try to move fast and break things in the hope that they can draw the Iranians into a direct response or via its proxy Hezbullah. My professional impression of Netanyahu is that he is not a good strategist, though he is a decent tactician. However, he has little self control. The Iranians have, perhaps, the best strategist from within the region commanding their forces in Syria.

Depending on what the responses are to the Israeli’s opening move, this could either pass quickly or quickly spiral out of hand. I have no way to handicap it with the information we have, though my professional estimation is that the Iranians have enough restraint to let cooler heads prevail. Expect the reporting on this to move and change rapidly.

Stay frosty!

Open thread.

 

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Reader Interactions

205Comments

  1. 1.

    Corner Stone

    May 8, 2018 at 4:21 pm

    This is fine.

  2. 2.

    Yutsano

    May 8, 2018 at 4:21 pm

    This worries me. I have a friend who has lives in the US for years but could be subject to recall because he’s still an Israeli citizen. He’s been using English so long his Hebrew is fading. This would not be good.

  3. 3.

    ET

    May 8, 2018 at 4:22 pm

    This is all going to even very, very badly. And it goes without saying that OF COURSE this was timed with the tRump announcement…..

  4. 4.

    TenguPhule

    May 8, 2018 at 4:22 pm

    Depending on what the responses are to the Israeli’s opening move, this could either pass quickly or quickly spiral out of hand.

    i’m gonna go with option B.

  5. 5.

    Corner Stone

    May 8, 2018 at 4:22 pm

    My professional impression of Netanyahu is that he is not a good strategist, though he is a decent tactician.

    Just as a SWAG, I have never seen Bibi display all that much skill as a tactician either. He’s ham handed and looks to domestic politics first. If those are tactics then I guess I agree.
    Fucking south of Damascus.

  6. 6.

    TenguPhule

    May 8, 2018 at 4:23 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    This is fine.

    Everything is fine. //

  7. 7.

    TenguPhule

    May 8, 2018 at 4:24 pm

    The Iranians have, perhaps, the best strategist from within the region commanding their forces in Syria.

    Iranian Sun Tzu vs Dumb and Dumber.

  8. 8.

    Bonnie

    May 8, 2018 at 4:24 pm

    Every new day of this administration makes me extremely glad I never had any children. It has given me a new outlook on my life, which has more past than future. With any luck, I will die before Trump blows up the world.

  9. 9.

    Corner Stone

    May 8, 2018 at 4:24 pm

    IMO, I don’t see Iran falling into any stupid, blatant moves to escalate as Bibi wants them to. For God only knows why. He’s going to get his ass handed to him if Iran gets serious.

  10. 10.

    JPL

    May 8, 2018 at 4:26 pm

    @Corner Stone: Actually I said just f,,k.

  11. 11.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    May 8, 2018 at 4:26 pm

    Since this is an open thread…

    My mother left me a 1960 Triumph Tr-10. She was the only owner before she left it to me. She had it fully restored in 1997, but it’s sat for the last eight or ten years, so it’ll need some work. I want to sell it. I’m in northern Virginia. If anybody knows anybody who might want this for $4000 or so, set me know at whittock(at)bista(dot)org.

  12. 12.

    Corner Stone

    May 8, 2018 at 4:27 pm

    Both Obama and now John Kerry are out volubly against this stupid decision. I bet Trump and Bolton are absolutely salivating at that development.
    Speaking of…where in the world is Gen J Kelly in all this?

  13. 13.

    Major Major Major Major

    May 8, 2018 at 4:27 pm

    Good thing we didn’t elect that nasty warmonger.

  14. 14.

    TenguPhule

    May 8, 2018 at 4:28 pm

    @Bonnie:

    With any luck, I will die before Trump blows up the world.

    It has given me the determination to live long enough to piss on his grave.

  15. 15.

    Sab

    May 8, 2018 at 4:29 pm

    @Bonnie: Yeah. I have stepkids and stepgrandkids I love, but at least I am not responsible for bringing them into this world we have created.

  16. 16.

    TenguPhule

    May 8, 2018 at 4:29 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Good thing we didn’t elect that nasty warmonger.

    We were told that if we voted for Hillary the US would be locked in endless unwinnable wars.

    So we voted for Hillary and it came to pass.

  17. 17.

    Corner Stone

    May 8, 2018 at 4:30 pm

    I wonder if Trump came out with this announcement several days before he had to because he thinks Iran is going to cave in the interim and give him big concessions?

  18. 18.

    Frankensteinbeck

    May 8, 2018 at 4:32 pm

    Bibi is expecting Trump to back him up.

    Bibi is about to learn the phrase, “But what have you done for me lately?” Trump doesn’t do shit for nobody who isn’t putting money in his pocket at that moment.

  19. 19.

    oatler.

    May 8, 2018 at 4:33 pm

    The Middle East War of But Her Emails.

  20. 20.

    Dread

    May 8, 2018 at 4:33 pm

    So, assuming war results, which is almost a certain thing now… we’re going to lose ships, gas and oil prices will skyrocket (which will help Mother Russia), the Saudis will be the dominant bullies of the region, and we’ll end up in huge debt as we end up in yet another quagmire.

    But America, fuck yeah! right?

  21. 21.

    Frankensteinbeck

    May 8, 2018 at 4:35 pm

    which is almost a certain thing now

    Not even close to certain. I admit Bibi’s assholery here is the only thing that makes it even plausible, but the world is littered with people who thought they had a deal with Trump.

  22. 22.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 8, 2018 at 4:35 pm

    My idiot mother doesn’t understand the significance of any of this. “It will work itself out. You can’t change the world by yourself.” As if I didn’t know that already! I’m more worried about my friend who’s graduating this month. He was in Army ROTC and I’m afraid he’ll be sent into some hypothetical Iranian war to die for nothing. She couldn’t grasp that and continued to downplay my concerns. “He knew what he signed up for.” Yeah, I know. That still doesn’t make me less worried.

    I brought up that Iran controls the Persian gulf, which could cripple us economically. She then said that we should be more self-suficient and that it would “teach us”. I can’t even. I couldn’t even begin describe how silly that was. It would take time and money to make us more energy efficient, a goal that the current powers-that-be have no interest in pursuing.

    I hope all of Trump’s voters burn for whatever is going to come from this. What a bunch of stupid fucks. If this thing goes hot, they’re murderers by proxy, too.

  23. 23.

    Archon

    May 8, 2018 at 4:37 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    You’re joking right? The U.S unilaterally abrogating an agreement has made us isolated politically in the world, Trump and his party are staring at massive loses back home in November and the U.S Military has pretty much came out and said a war with Iran isn’t feasible.

    Considering all that why in the world would Iran make any concessions to Trump???

  24. 24.

    TenguPhule

    May 8, 2018 at 4:38 pm

    @Dread:

    the Saudis will be the dominant bullies of the region,

    You spelled Iranians wrong.

  25. 25.

    TenguPhule

    May 8, 2018 at 4:39 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    I wonder if Trump came out with this announcement several days before he had to because he thinks Iran is going to cave in the interim and give him big concessions?

    I have little doubt that is true.

  26. 26.

    Parfigliano

    May 8, 2018 at 4:40 pm

    @Corner Stone: I hope so.

  27. 27.

    TenguPhule

    May 8, 2018 at 4:40 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:

    “He knew what he signed up for.”

    Nobody signed up to die for bullshit.

  28. 28.

    Eural Joiner

    May 8, 2018 at 4:40 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
    At least there’s that – my mom will just start quoting Scripture and looking pleased as peaches that we are just following “God’s Plan.” And, yes, she’s an elderly, white Baptist from the South who voted for Trump.

  29. 29.

    Major Major Major Major

    May 8, 2018 at 4:41 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:

    My idiot mother

    That’s kinda mean.

  30. 30.

    TenguPhule

    May 8, 2018 at 4:43 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:

    It will work itself out.

    You could tell her that Hitler’s final solution worked itself out too.

  31. 31.

    Archon

    May 8, 2018 at 4:43 pm

    All this does make me wonder. What if Trump thinks his only play is for us to be in the middle of a war when the Mueller findings come out? In that universe maybe Trump thinks he can call Mueller unpatriotic for trying to bring him down when American servicemen are risking their lives? Lord knows Republicans and a big chunk of the media would eat it up.

    Scary times ahead…

  32. 32.

    TenguPhule

    May 8, 2018 at 4:44 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    but the world is littered with people who thought they had a deal with Trump.

    Iran is going to have to make a strategic decision based on the fact that Trump is a fucking asshole.

    This is sub-optimal.

  33. 33.

    Corner Stone

    May 8, 2018 at 4:45 pm

    @Archon:

    Considering all that why in the world would Iran make any concessions to Trump?

    Because he is a very good negotiator and this is an aspect of maximum pressure that has caused the peace breakthrough between NK and South Korea. Why wouldn’t it work in Iran just as well? Push the limit ahead of time, sit back and let them come to him groveling for an extension or new concessions.

  34. 34.

    Major Major Major Major

    May 8, 2018 at 4:46 pm

    @Archon: everybody stop with the assuming that trump thinks anything at all.

  35. 35.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 8, 2018 at 4:46 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:
    I was pissed because I felt she was patronizing me on the one hand and was blissfully ignorant of the significance of this on the other. I know she’s busy but for fuck’s sake try to pay attention even if it is complicated/depressing. The reason the world is like this because far too many people don’t care and many are willing to tear down everything that has truly made this country/world great to enrich themselves and destroy groups of people they don’t see as human.

  36. 36.

    Mayur

    May 8, 2018 at 4:47 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    It has given me the determination to live long enough to piss on his grave.

    He’d like that too much.

  37. 37.

    Archon

    May 8, 2018 at 4:48 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Besides the Trump is “a very good negotiator” trope you still haven’t explained why Iran would come groveling to Trump with new concessions.

  38. 38.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 8, 2018 at 4:50 pm

    @Archon:
    I don’t think the rally-around-the-flag effect is going to work so well this time. If things go tits-up badly enough, look for riots and mass protests the media won’t be able to just handwave it away like they did in 2003. Watch gas prices streak up into the sky like the Saturn V.

  39. 39.

    CarolDuhart2

    May 8, 2018 at 4:50 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Your idiot mother will learn when gas is $7 a gallon and nobody can go anywhere because they can’t afford it and its rationed anyway.

  40. 40.

    japa21

    May 8, 2018 at 4:51 pm

    @Corner Stone: You forgot the snark tags. Some people might believe you were being serious.

  41. 41.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 8, 2018 at 4:53 pm

    @oatler.:

    Betty Cracker has created Butter Lambs annually for the last few years.

    I think she should now turn her attention to sculpting Butter Emails.

  42. 42.

    The Moar You Know

    May 8, 2018 at 4:53 pm

    That’s kinda mean.

    @Major Major Major Major: I doubt it. Kids are usually pretty honest about their parent’s failings.

    I love my mother, because she is my mother and did a pretty good job raising me, but she has become a vicious, mean, horrible person who only experiences joy in life when she is causing others misery. And that’s just simply true. She’d probably agree with most of that.

  43. 43.

    Ohio Mom

    May 8, 2018 at 4:53 pm

    I stop paying attention to the news for a couple of days and war breaks out.

    Clearly this is like the nervous flyer who keeps the airplane aloft by obsessing on it crashing or the person who keeps it from raining by carrying an umbrella.

    I promise not to let my mind wander again.

  44. 44.

    TenguPhule

    May 8, 2018 at 4:56 pm

    So on top of everything else, the coal miner murderer CEO is surging in WV GOP primary.

    Today officially sucks.

  45. 45.

    YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)

    May 8, 2018 at 4:56 pm

    @japa21:

    Some people might believe you were being serious

    I believe somebody already has (@Archon:)

  46. 46.

    Dread

    May 8, 2018 at 4:59 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: The fact that he has surrounded himself with people who have been pushing for war with Iran for years makes the probability of war now very high, in my opinion, because there will be no other options.

    Iran, if it is at all rational, will start to view nuclear weapons as essential to the survival of their government and begin research and reproduction immediately.

    The only factor that might keep us out of war with Iran now is the fickleness of Donald Trump.

  47. 47.

    Shana

    May 8, 2018 at 5:01 pm

    I see Jared’s done a great job on Mideast Peace. /snark/ in case it wasn’t obvious, you never can tell….

  48. 48.

    CarolDuhart2

    May 8, 2018 at 5:02 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: It’s not going to work now. Right now. Back in 2002-2003 people were still stunned and angry over 911, and Bush, for his many flaws, wasn’t so determined to alienate as many Americans as Trump. Also, I think the anti-war movement has learned a few things since then-like we need to get ahead of this and protest right now!

  49. 49.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 8, 2018 at 5:02 pm

    @The Moar You Know:
    @Major Major Major Major:

    Don’t get me wrong I love my mother. She’s very nice to me and has done a lot for me. She probably didn’t even see herself as being patronizing. But she can come out with some pretty awful shit largely out of ignorance. For one, she doesn’t seem to care about DACA recipients who have served in our military getting deported to countries that are foreign to them. But she usually hates Trump. I think she’s like a lot of Americans: very politically muddled (to us).

  50. 50.

    Raven Onthill

    May 8, 2018 at 5:05 pm

    Do you think the USA will back an Israeli attack on Iran with troops?

    How long will it take Iran to build a nuclear bomb?

  51. 51.

    CarolDuhart2

    May 8, 2018 at 5:06 pm

    There will be no bipartisan cover either, Back in 2003 many Democrats were afraid that if they voted against the war, there would be a quick victory like 1991 and they would be pilloried for opposition. Not only that, but the echoes of being told they were unpatriotic for decades still held sway.

  52. 52.

    VeniceRiley

    May 8, 2018 at 5:06 pm

    I was mad yesterday. I’m raging mad today.

  53. 53.

    Mnemosyne

    May 8, 2018 at 5:07 pm

    You know you’re in deep shit when you need to hope that a repressive, theocratic state will act calmly and rationally in the face of provocation from a US ally.

    Fuck.

  54. 54.

    Corner Stone

    May 8, 2018 at 5:08 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    So on top of everything else, the coal miner murderer CEO is surging in WV GOP primary.

    He’s Trumpier than Trump. Long Live King Coal!

  55. 55.

    efgoldman

    May 8, 2018 at 5:08 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Bibi is expecting Trump to back him up.

    Jews don’t believe in an afterlife; nevertheless, there is no circle of hell deep enough, hot enough, or punishing enough for Netenyahu

  56. 56.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 8, 2018 at 5:08 pm

    What exactly is Israel hoping to achieve?

  57. 57.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 8, 2018 at 5:10 pm

    @efgoldman: Neither do Hindus. To paraphrase Seinfeld, hell is other people.

  58. 58.

    Sab

    May 8, 2018 at 5:10 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Hope you voted yes for issue one.

    Your mom is okay because she raised you, but she is also why I hate being in your congressional district. Jeez, you guys sent Trafficant to Washington for how many years? And now we are in the same district.

    We sent Seiberling, who opposed the Vietnam war, and then was instrumental in getting the Cuyahoga Valley National Park established. The National Park Service hated the idea, and now it’s one of the most heavily visited parks in their system.

    I can’t see Tim Ryan having that much vision.

  59. 59.

    EBT

    May 8, 2018 at 5:10 pm

    Israel expels head of Human Rights Watch. https://twitter.com/joedyke/status/993904419480752129?s=19

  60. 60.

    Mnemosyne

    May 8, 2018 at 5:10 pm

    @Dread:

    Iran, if it is at all rational, will start to view nuclear weapons as essential to the survival of their government and begin research and reproduction immediately.

    They’re probably better off appealing to the remaining signatories of the JCPOA since the only country that would back Israel in this is the US.

  61. 61.

    Yarrow

    May 8, 2018 at 5:12 pm

    @TenguPhule: Tweet from yesterday.

    One GOP source tracking #WVSEN said they’ve seen three outside polls in last week: One showing Jenkins up, one showing Morrisey up, one showing Blankenship up.Buckle up. Tomorrow’s going to be a wild primary night.— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) May 7, 2018

  62. 62.

    efgoldman

    May 8, 2018 at 5:14 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    That’s kinda mean

    If the foo shits….

  63. 63.

    TenguPhule

    May 8, 2018 at 5:15 pm

    @Raven Onthill:

    Do you think the USA will back an Israeli attack on Iran with troops?

    No.

    Trump is too chickenshit to order army troops into the field. Plus we have no troops to spare.

    It’ll be airstrikes.

  64. 64.

    Stuart Frasier

    May 8, 2018 at 5:15 pm

    As awful as he is, Blankenship probably represents the best chance of the Dems retaining the WV senate seat. If he won in the fall, he would vote exactly like a generic R and would be a thorn in the side of Cocaine Mitch.

  65. 65.

    TenguPhule

    May 8, 2018 at 5:16 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    What exactly is Israel hoping to achieve?

    The leader is hoping to avoid prison for corruption.

  66. 66.

    Ohio Mom

    May 8, 2018 at 5:16 pm

    @Yutsano: I suspect he will have plenty of company, Israel has had a big brain drain for a long time now.

  67. 67.

    CarolDuhart2

    May 8, 2018 at 5:17 pm

    10 Things You Need To Know About Iran’s Military

  68. 68.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    May 8, 2018 at 5:17 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    Iranian Sun Tzu vs Dumb and Dumber.

    Yes but the smart stratagy is to simply let the Israelis lob missiles at things until Israel makes itself a pariah state.

  69. 69.

    EBT

    May 8, 2018 at 5:17 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: So is his mother.

  70. 70.

    efgoldman

    May 8, 2018 at 5:19 pm

    @Ohio Mom:

    I stop paying attention to the news for a couple of days and war breaks out.

    Deja vu
    Deja vu
    We came home from my brother’s high school graduation in 1967 and turned on the TV to find what became the six day war raging.

  71. 71.

    dmsilev

    May 8, 2018 at 5:21 pm

    @Raven Onthill: Troops, no. I could imagine Trump ordering cruise missile strikes or similar; I’m sure he’s got people telling him that a strike would be easy quick and effective.

    Sigh.

  72. 72.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    May 8, 2018 at 5:21 pm

    @Corner Stone:Might as well have R. Kelley as his Chief of Staff.

  73. 73.

    mainmata

    May 8, 2018 at 5:21 pm

    I think Iran understands that a full-scale attack on Israel would not only overstretch their supply lines but leave them wide open to U.S. air assault so I don’t think that’s going to happen despite Bibi’s endless warmongering. At most I can see Iranian forces logistically supporting a Hizbullah foray (or series of forays) despite a history showing that’s never worked well for Syria (or Lebanon) before.

  74. 74.

    japa21

    May 8, 2018 at 5:22 pm

    @CarolDuhart2: Number 7 on that list:

    The United States could destroy all key elements of Iranian military power in virtually any scenario in a matter of weeks, if Washington had the support of Iran’s neighbours. It could inflict devastating damage in a matter of days.

    I have serious doubts on that. Fortunately, Trump probably believes it. Also, no way we have the support of Iran’s neighbors.

  75. 75.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    May 8, 2018 at 5:22 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck

    : Bibi is about to learn the phrase, “But what have you done for me lately?” Trump doesn’t do shit for nobody who isn’t putting money in his pocket at that moment.

    That’s what I am wondering; is this a repeat of Korea and Trump will simply bone Isreal as badly as he did South Korea and Isreal will be forced to negociate with Iran while Trump pats himself on the crotch for being the master negociator.

  76. 76.

    efgoldman

    May 8, 2018 at 5:24 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    Today officially sucks.

    Why? Manchin should beat him easily.
    And don’t give me any shit that Manchin is the wrong Dem. Who else, better, can get elected in WVa?
    [Spoiler: No fucking body]

  77. 77.

    Mary G

    May 8, 2018 at 5:26 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: You can’t change her. You are right and she is an idiot, but that is what it is. Concentrate on the people who will listen and learn from you. The most valuable thing you can do for the world and America is register people in your state – Ohio is such a crucial one – and drag them to the polls if you have to, for every election.

  78. 78.

    efgoldman

    May 8, 2018 at 5:27 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    What exactly is Israel hoping to achieve?

    Burying Bibi’s legal troubles.

  79. 79.

    Kay

    May 8, 2018 at 5:28 pm

    That’s upsetting. I just feel that is absolutely inevitable that Trump gets us into another war. The idea that anyone gave him an army is insane to me. I know he will use it.

    I feel as if the whole country knows it, on some level. That the big risk of making such a reckless decision and hiring him is always out there, over our heads.

  80. 80.

    Sherparick

    May 8, 2018 at 5:30 pm

    @TenguPhule: For gallows humor, that’s pretty good.

  81. 81.

    Corner Stone

    May 8, 2018 at 5:32 pm

    @Mr Stagger Lee:

    Might as well have R. Kelley as his Chief of Staff.

    Ummm, that would actually be a pretty good fit.
    NSFW (probably)
    Piss on you (Chapelle video)

  82. 82.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 8, 2018 at 5:33 pm

    @Sab:
    I did vote yes for Issue 1. I’m convinced it’s better than rhe status quo and a step in the right direction. Also voted for Cordray and said yes for all the local tax levies, including the emergency tax levy for our school district. Mailed in my ballot nearly a week ago. Vote by mail really is convenient :).

    Left the US House race with Tim Ryan blank. They were all idiots; one of them was apparently crazy too, some guy who had all of his three names listed. I’ll vote for Ryan in the fall, as he’ll win the primary, but that’s only because he’s better than a Republican.

    Traficant was an embarrassment and was emblematic of the local Democratic party around here. They candidates are often Republican-lite even in the primaries. Despite being a Democratic stronghold, we’re still not California.

  83. 83.

    No Drought No More

    May 8, 2018 at 5:34 pm

    “Take what you have gathered from experience”.. and observation, too.

    R.O.T. means Russia Owns Trump. Trump is a traitor to the United States of America.

    Pompeo landing in N. Korea is akin to GW landing on the aircraft carrier;

    That Israel chose to attack today is no coincidence;

    it would be far easier for congressional democrats to call what has happened today the plot to war it is, were it not for their radio silence concerning the Bush-Cheney plot to war since 2003.

  84. 84.

    Kay

    May 8, 2018 at 5:34 pm

    John Harwood
    @JohnJHarwood
    Follow Follow @JohnJHarwood
    More
    Jeff Flake says “overwhelming advice” of Trump’s military and diplomatic advisers was to stay in Iran nuclear deal

    But the President is a petty, small vindictive person so it was much more important he repudiate Obama.

    He won! Everyone else loses, but in the nasty, mean-spirited Trump Administration they can put this one up on the “win” board, so who gives a shit about anyone else?

  85. 85.

    trollhattan

    May 8, 2018 at 5:35 pm

    @Corner Stone:
    China people can rejoice!

  86. 86.

    Yutsano

    May 8, 2018 at 5:36 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: They’re trying to provoke the US into attacking Iran for them.

  87. 87.

    Brachiator

    May 8, 2018 at 5:36 pm

    @Archon:

    All this does make me wonder. What if Trump thinks his only play is for us to be in the middle of a war when the Mueller findings come out?

    Trump generally doesn’t think. At all. He certainly does not think ahead or strategically. At best, Trump either believes that there will not be a war or that the US will win any war quickly. I don’t think he ever thought that a Mueller would be investigating him.

  88. 88.

    Major Major Major Major

    May 8, 2018 at 5:38 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    To paraphrase Seinfeld, hell is other people.

    …Seinfeld?

  89. 89.

    Sab

    May 8, 2018 at 5:38 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Yay you. Thanks for voting and thanks for responding to me.

    How is your mom re your grandfather. She must be having a difficult year.

  90. 90.

    Jack the Second

    May 8, 2018 at 5:43 pm

    My only hope is that, because everything Trump touches turns to shit, whatever “war” he starts with Iran is just going to be an embarrassing affair with lots of talk and bluster and very little action (like the reported one with Stormy Daniels), and such an embarrassment that even future warmongers want nothing to do with Iran in the future.

    Of course, after we finally have our war with Iran, I’m worried that the hawks are going to have nothing left to get hard about but China.

  91. 91.

    rikyrah

    May 8, 2018 at 5:44 pm

    @TenguPhule:
    He is the perfect GOP candidate ??

  92. 92.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 8, 2018 at 5:44 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I remember a character on that show, probably Elaine, expressing similar sentiments.

  93. 93.

    Elizabelle

    May 8, 2018 at 5:45 pm

    I don’t see us getting into a war. Aside from Fox World, the American people truly does not want this.

    Donald Trump should not be allowed to park cars at a resort, much less lead our country into war.

    We can stop this.

    @No Drought No More:

    it would be far easier for congressional democrats to call what has happened today the plot to war it is, were it not for their radio silence concerning the Bush-Cheney plot to war since 2003.

    Because nothing changes in 15 years, and no one ever learns. FALSE.

    You guys are making me want to vomit, seriously.

    On the brighter side, I am attending a screening of Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange tonight. Will be less disturbing than anything found in the mediasphere tonight.

  94. 94.

    Baud

    May 8, 2018 at 5:45 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Why? Manchin should beat him easily.

    I don’t know about that. But I think Manchin would have an equally tough time with any of the GOP candidates. I don’t understand why our side cares so much about Blankenship.

  95. 95.

    rikyrah

    May 8, 2018 at 5:46 pm

    @VeniceRiley:
    Come sit by me. We can be pissed together.??

  96. 96.

    Baud

    May 8, 2018 at 5:46 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    The Rudy Gulianis of the Left will always be Noun – Verb – 9/11 2002 AUMF Vote. Ignore them.

  97. 97.

    Chris

    May 8, 2018 at 5:48 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    IMO, I don’t see Iran falling into any stupid, blatant moves to escalate as Bibi wants them to. For God only knows why. He’s going to get his ass handed to him if Iran gets serious.

    All things being equal, I agree with you. The fly in the ointment is what happens if Israel eventually goes so far that the Iranians have no choice but to retaliate (for public opinion if nothing else). If things remain limited to Syria, they probably won’t, but…

  98. 98.

    Gin & Tonic

    May 8, 2018 at 5:48 pm

    @CarolDuhart2: I’m in Sweden right now. Gas is about $7 a gallon and has been for a while. People drive everywhere anyway, they just don’t drive moron trucks and SUV’s that get 12 miles a gallon.

  99. 99.

    rikyrah

    May 8, 2018 at 5:48 pm

    @Kay:
    We knew, Kay.
    And , it’s why there will be no Forgiveness for those who put us in this position.
    NONE ???

  100. 100.

    trollhattan

    May 8, 2018 at 5:49 pm

    @Elizabelle:
    An interesting film to vid with a group. Hopefully they’ll set up a Korova Milk Bar in the lobby.

    Went to a “Big Lebowski” screening last year and the white Russian concession had a yuge line.

  101. 101.

    Elizabelle

    May 8, 2018 at 5:50 pm

    @Baud: Good advice. I have had enough of the Eeyorism today.

  102. 102.

    Major Major Major Major

    May 8, 2018 at 5:50 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: it’s originally from Sartre.

  103. 103.

    rikyrah

    May 8, 2018 at 5:51 pm

    @Baud:
    He killed 29 people. That’s what distinguishes him .

  104. 104.

    Baud

    May 8, 2018 at 5:52 pm

    @Chris: At this point, it’s up to Europe to have some balls. Maybe they can help us out for a few years until we deal with the mess at home.

  105. 105.

    Elizabelle

    May 8, 2018 at 5:52 pm

    @trollhattan: I will know what a Korova Milk Bar is after the movie, I guess.

    And yeah, White Russians. Who knew the Big Lebowski was going to be such a cult classic? Suspect it’s screened annually here, and just about any place that has a cinema series.

  106. 106.

    Baud

    May 8, 2018 at 5:53 pm

    @rikyrah: I get that. But why do we care if Republican voters pick him over any other Republican in the Republican primary? Do we think their party still has some dignity left to lose?

  107. 107.

    Quinerly

    May 8, 2018 at 5:54 pm

    OT… Haven’t read too many comments today. Anybody post this Page 6 piece about Don Jr’s soon to be ex dating a gang member when she was 15.?This divorce could get ugly. https://pagesix.com/2018/05/08/vanessa-trumps-first-love-was-member-of-violent-street-gang/?utm_source=twitter_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site buttons&utm_campaign=site buttons

  108. 108.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 8, 2018 at 5:54 pm

    @Sab:
    She’s doing much better now. The first month or two was tough but she doesn’t talk about it anymore and has moved on. We know he’s no longer suffering. Thank you for asking!

  109. 109.

    trollhattan

    May 8, 2018 at 5:55 pm

    @Elizabelle:
    The book comes with a much needed glossary, just hang in there with the slang. It’s…intense. Not a date flick then or today.

  110. 110.

    Brachiator

    May 8, 2018 at 5:56 pm

    @Baud:

    At this point, it’s up to Europe to have some balls.

    Theresa May ain’t got no balls.

    Angela Merkel, on the other hand…

  111. 111.

    Jeffro

    May 8, 2018 at 5:57 pm

    You know I meant to throw this out there earlier but who the fuck goes on field trips to the Golan Heights?

  112. 112.

    Corner Stone

    May 8, 2018 at 5:58 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    On the brighter side, I am attending a screening of Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange tonight. Will be less disturbing than anything found in the mediasphere tonight.

    “On the brighter side”? Either you haven’t ever seen the movie….or shit is a lot more fucked than I am picking up on.

  113. 113.

    Stuart Frasier

    May 8, 2018 at 5:58 pm

    @Baud:
    While we should care who Republicans nominate for President, individual R senators are essentially interchangeable. We should root for whoever is easiest to beat, like Todd Akin and Roy Moore. Blankenship is clearly the candidate most likely to blow it for the Republicans.

  114. 114.

    Platonailedit

    May 8, 2018 at 5:58 pm

    Well, NOW the twitler deserves that danged Nobel, surely?

  115. 115.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 8, 2018 at 5:59 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    People drive everywhere anyway, they just don’t drive moron trucks and SUV’s that get 12 miles a gallon.

    Did you hear about Ford ceasing all domestic sales of cars aside from trucks and SUVs?

  116. 116.

    rikyrah

    May 8, 2018 at 5:59 pm

    ICYMI

    Hope all those MAGA voters in Louisiana have a room set up for Grandma and Grandpa now that Medicaid was gutted and 30,000 are being kicked out of the nursing homes.??

    https://twitter.com/SarahConnor2017/status/993696166159306752?s=19

  117. 117.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 8, 2018 at 5:59 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: There’s a reason I bought a Prius just after Trump came into office.

    ETA: The kid is thinking of getting a new car soon, I’ve told here “Get a hybrid”.

  118. 118.

    rikyrah

    May 8, 2018 at 6:00 pm

    @Baud: ok, now I understand your point.to me, he would just be further proof of who they are.

  119. 119.

    ruemara

    May 8, 2018 at 6:01 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: If she is, she is. Thank Minerva my Christian mother is black and has no truck with this foolishness.

    The timing of this is so coincidental.

  120. 120.

    Baud

    May 8, 2018 at 6:01 pm

    @Stuart Frasier: I guess. Frankly, I’d just like to keep the focus on our side. They’ll do what they do.

  121. 121.

    rikyrah

    May 8, 2018 at 6:02 pm

    @Quinerly:
    It can get ugly, and he isn’t smart enough to know that he should just sign the papers.

  122. 122.

    CarolDuhart2

    May 8, 2018 at 6:02 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: European nations have invested millions in mass transit. So $7 a gallon gas is no real hardship. And they are also pretty compact as well, with few places that can’t be connected easily if need be.

    Here in the states? Sprawling suburbs with noy a single transit line in sight. States where towns are separated with miles of farmland, prairie, and little else.

  123. 123.

    Captain C

    May 8, 2018 at 6:04 pm

    @Corner Stone: You speak really good wingnut.

  124. 124.

    Elizabelle

    May 8, 2018 at 6:04 pm

    @Corner Stone: Have not seen the movie, and trollhattan has me wondering if I should sneak in something flasklike. No ingredients for White Russians, alas.

    ETA: Know “Orange” was considered shocking in 1960s, and probably still is. Next week is Barry Lyndon.

  125. 125.

    Steve in the ATL

    May 8, 2018 at 6:07 pm

    @Quinerly: dating a gang member isn’t half as bad as working for Donald fucking trump

  126. 126.

    TheDr

    May 8, 2018 at 6:08 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.): Sounds compelling (no free cash or garage space for me though). If it was restored to working order, you’re looking at some expenses to clean out and replace as needed the fuel system, other fluids,etc., but if it’s otherwise in good shape someone could have a fun little run-about for $5500 all in. Might be worth checking out bringatrailer.com to see if your price is in the right ballpark. Good luck finding it a new home.

  127. 127.

    Frankensteinbeck

    May 8, 2018 at 6:08 pm

    Putin does not want the US to go to war with Iran, and Putin has Trump’s balls in a vice.

  128. 128.

    Brachiator

    May 8, 2018 at 6:09 pm

    @Quinerly:

    OT… Haven’t read too many comments today. Anybody post this Page 6 piece about Don Jr’s soon to be ex dating a gang member when she was 15.?This divorce could get ugly.

    This is the Trumpette involved in a divorce? OK. I guess going back to a gang member might be considered a step up, compared to the piece of shit that is Don Jr.

  129. 129.

    Baud

    May 8, 2018 at 6:10 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: Maybe Putin should get the Nobel Peace Prize.

  130. 130.

    debbie

    May 8, 2018 at 6:13 pm

    I’ve had NPR on all day and I heard nothing about this attack.

  131. 131.

    Stuart Frasier

    May 8, 2018 at 6:13 pm

    @Baud:
    Bad candidates have cost the Republicans some very winnable senate seats in the recent past.

  132. 132.

    Corner Stone

    May 8, 2018 at 6:13 pm

    @Elizabelle: You’re in for a treat.

  133. 133.

    Baud

    May 8, 2018 at 6:13 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    This is for you. TPM

    Our new Secretary of State thinks Kim Jong Un is referred to as “Chairman Un”.

    Today what we’re hoping to do is – there have been discussions between that day to now, and we’ve continued to develop both administratively and sort of begin to put some outlines around the substance of the agenda for the summit between the President and Chairman Un. And today we’re hoping to nail some of those down to say – to put in place a framework for a successful summit between the two presidents.

  134. 134.

    Baud

    May 8, 2018 at 6:14 pm

    @Stuart Frasier: I hope it happens again.

  135. 135.

    Corner Stone

    May 8, 2018 at 6:15 pm

    @Quinerly: I am unsure how this becomes a problem?

  136. 136.

    debbie

    May 8, 2018 at 6:15 pm

    My professional impression of Netanyahu is that he is not a good strategist, though he is a decent tactician. However, he has little self control.

    He is a rabid dog and he will get a lot of us killed.

  137. 137.

    Brachiator

    May 8, 2018 at 6:15 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    ETA: Know “Orange” was considered shocking in 1960s, and probably still is. Next week is Barry Lyndon.

    Barry Lyndon and Ridley Scott’s The Duellists have some of the best lighting and cinematography that I’ve ever seen in any movies. Interesting stories also.

    Ah, here we go, a great video short, How Kubrick Achieved the Beautiful Cinematography of Barry Lyndon.

  138. 138.

    Sloane Ranger

    May 8, 2018 at 6:16 pm

    I wonder where the Intel that Iran was about to attack Israel came from?

    It wouldn’t surprise me if Mossad planted it in order to justify this as a pre-emptive strike. Bibi hopes to draw Iran into some sort of counter strike he can use to get the Armageddonists and neo Cons to push Trump into war.

    Trump’s speech was written by Bolton IMO. To paraphrase part of it, an invasion of Iran will be a cakewalk, the poor Iranian people are the victims of an evil tyranny and we will be greeted as liberators, with young girls throwing off their Hijabs and scattering rose petals before our soldiers marching feet – just like Iraq/

  139. 139.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    May 8, 2018 at 6:16 pm

    Crude futures in New York topped $70 a barrel for the first time since November 2014 as traders brace for a re-imposition of U.S. sanctions on Iran that risks disrupting exports from OPEC’s third-largest producer. Oil has rallied 16 percent in the past four months as OPEC and allied producers crimp a global glut and geopolitical risks multiply in the Mideast region that’s home to almost half the world’s crude.

    Oil was at $45 on election day 2016.

    Luckily the $1.50 tax cut will offset the spike in gas prices.

  140. 140.

    NotMax

    May 8, 2018 at 6:17 pm

    Add this to the mix.

    Now Iraq is regularly bombing Syria . . . to Blast ISIL Remnants

  141. 141.

    debbie

    May 8, 2018 at 6:18 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    I second CS. Clockwork Orange is brilliant but very disturbing. There are parallels to today, especially with the old Ultra V.

  142. 142.

    AliceBlue

    May 8, 2018 at 6:20 pm

    @rikyrah:
    They’ll just blame the Democratic governor.

  143. 143.

    trollhattan

    May 8, 2018 at 6:20 pm

    @Elizabelle: @Brachiator:
    Yeah, Barry Lyndon is sumptuous, a visual feast.

  144. 144.

    SiubhanDuinne

    May 8, 2018 at 6:20 pm

    @Baud:

    Oh Jesus. I can’t EVEN.

  145. 145.

    Steve in the ATL

    May 8, 2018 at 6:22 pm

    @Sloane Ranger:

    with young girls throwing off their Hijabs

    Dude, Balloon Juice After Dark doesn’t start until 10 pm!

  146. 146.

    Brachiator

    May 8, 2018 at 6:22 pm

    For anyone feeling down by the events of the day, this video will lift your spirits.

    Guaranteed!

    Céline Dion – Ashes (from the Deadpool 2 Motion Picture Soundtrack)

    Trust me.

    You’re welcome.

  147. 147.

    Frankensteinbeck

    May 8, 2018 at 6:22 pm

    @Elizabelle:
    If you want to be shocked, when you watch the movie remember that in the book, the women were 10 year old girls.

    Truthfully, I shouldn’t say much about the book. I didn’t get very far. I wasn’t enjoying it enough to wade through the dialect.

  148. 148.

    Cermet

    May 8, 2018 at 6:25 pm

    The ass-wipe israeli leader wants a proxy fight, eh? All the ones the israelis have fought in the past, they have lost. Can’t happen to a worse bunch of shit-head people – that is, the religious far right and their ass-wipe leader. Too bad so many good people on both sides may suffer if this occurs. Of course, the Iranian’s may decide the loss in life is not worth it. Guess we will see. As the famous line says: “and the center did not hold.” Me thinks it is approaching (fortuitously, very slowly so we can still mitigate some of it; the main battle is lost: AGW (2 C at least) and running out of cheap, non-coal based energy with no quick replacement is now unavoidable. But we still have time to take steps that will help.)

  149. 149.

    Bill Arnold

    May 8, 2018 at 6:28 pm

    @Jeffro:

    You know I meant to throw this out there earlier but who the fuck goes on field trips to the Golan Heights?

    It’s a common field trip on Israel tourist tours. (mine fields to the left and right, in a 4WD vehicle; that sort of thing.) Also Mount Hermon. There’s probably more.

  150. 150.

    Cermet

    May 8, 2018 at 6:29 pm

    @debbie: You want parallels to our unfolding future, maybe? Look no further then Soylent Green – got AGW, destruction of our eco-system, over population with resource depletion, and even the gun culture mostly correct.

  151. 151.

    NotMax

    May 8, 2018 at 6:35 pm

    @trollhattan

    Beautiful to look at, excruciating to sit through.

  152. 152.

    Gravenstone

    May 8, 2018 at 6:35 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: and the Mustang.

  153. 153.

    Sloane Ranger

    May 8, 2018 at 6:35 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: That’s OK then. It’s 11.35pm here in the UK :-)

  154. 154.

    Bill Arnold

    May 8, 2018 at 6:36 pm

    @Sloane Ranger:

    Trump’s speech was written by Bolton IMO.

    I’m wondering, though that’s a good guess. Whoever it was, I would not mind if they suffered an aneurysm or stroke or heart attack. In my very-irritated opinion.
    (Anyone have any suggestions for stylometry tools? e.g. http://blog.revolutionanalytics.com/2016/12/stylometry.html )

  155. 155.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 8, 2018 at 6:39 pm

    @Gravenstone:
    Yeah, that too. The high-end cars will always sell well. Are car sales in the US that bad?

  156. 156.

    B.B.A.

    May 8, 2018 at 6:39 pm

    @Bill Arnold: I visited, in my past life as a Zionist, for which I’ll be atoning for the rest of my days.

    The Golan is in Syria, by the way. Israel has been illegally occupying it for 51 years. Just for the record.

  157. 157.

    Sab

    May 8, 2018 at 6:49 pm

    @debbie: I am so old that I remember when Israel had elections it took them weeks to cobble together a government.

    Since the monster Netanyahu started running, they elect his government right off the bat.

    It’s deeply disturbing. They aren’t making themselves safer. They are just making themselves more unpleasant internationally.

    They are a tiny country with a population about the size of Scotland, substantially smaller than LA. They really need to start thinking about how others view them. Right now, I don’t think anyone is rooting for them except evangelical Rapture nuts and elderly Jewish Americans.

  158. 158.

    Elizabelle

    May 8, 2018 at 6:50 pm

    @Brachiator: Thank you! I’m excited about seeing it on a big screen. Will check out your link later.

    Series has been mostly featuring war movies, so I have not seen a lot of the Kubrick. And they did not include Dr. Strangelove. Or 2001. Or Lolita. For whatever reasons, film programmers got stuck on a lot of war and gangster movies this spring ….

  159. 159.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 8, 2018 at 6:50 pm

    @Baud: Chairman Un, Chairman Mao, you ain’t gonna make with anyone anyhow.

  160. 160.

    Elizabelle

    May 8, 2018 at 6:51 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: Hmmm. Think I will read the book later. Anthony Burgess, I believe. Think I own a copy but have never cracked it …

  161. 161.

    trollhattan

    May 8, 2018 at 6:56 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
    “Light trucks” (pickups, SUVs, vans) are now 65% of the US market. I most often drive a car, one that sits pretty low, and usually feel as though I’m in a canyon driving in traffic. Trump and Pruitt effectively want to push that % to 80.

  162. 162.

    Timurid

    May 8, 2018 at 6:58 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    The Israelis should be bombing West Virginia.

  163. 163.

    Quinerly

    May 8, 2018 at 7:00 pm

    @Corner Stone: I read that the divorce had become acrimonious. Page 6 has always been Trump friendly. This kind of stuff wasn’t in the news pre divorce. I could really care less. We can put it in “the can’t make this shit up” basket. I was looking for gossip to take my mind off of today’s seriousness.

  164. 164.

    Bill Arnold

    May 8, 2018 at 7:00 pm

    @B.B.A.:

    I visited, in my past life as a Zionist, for which I’ll be atoning for the rest of my days.

    I visited too, if that wasn’t clear, with an American (reform) Jewish tour group. Parts of the trip were fine, regular people and places, parts, like the Golan Heights day, were near-pure propaganda. (Caught a flu with fever that day.) Was told that the mine-field warning signs were stacked several deep so that the tourists could steal them.

  165. 165.

    Quinerly

    May 8, 2018 at 7:01 pm

    @Brachiator: The piece is a rollicking read. Pictures and all. She took him to the prom after he served a year plus in the pokey.

  166. 166.

    gbbalto

    May 8, 2018 at 7:02 pm

    @trollhattan: One reason I got the six speed stick shift Civic sI – enough power/acceleration to avoid those fools.
    ETA: with some decent gas mileage.

  167. 167.

    Quinerly

    May 8, 2018 at 7:03 pm

    @rikyrah: some prom dress. I got a kick out of the pics. Leonardo De Caprio dodged a bullet. ?

  168. 168.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    May 8, 2018 at 7:05 pm

    So does Cohen make it to June 1 without falling from a balcony?

  169. 169.

    mozzerb

    May 8, 2018 at 7:09 pm

    @Brachiator: Even Theresa May has more sense than to get involved in this one.

    I hope.

  170. 170.

    Quinerly

    May 8, 2018 at 7:09 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I guess you, too, are watching the breaking news. This is really big if true.

  171. 171.

    Quinerly

    May 8, 2018 at 7:11 pm

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/michael-cohen-took-cash-from-russian-oligarch-after-election

  172. 172.

    JPL

    May 8, 2018 at 7:14 pm

    @Quinerly: ATT confirmed that they paid him for insight about the president.. hahahahaha

  173. 173.

    Brachiator

    May 8, 2018 at 7:14 pm

    @Quinerly:

    The piece is a rollicking read. Pictures and all. She took him to the prom after he served a year plus in the pokey.

    Took a look at it. Yep. A fun read.

  174. 174.

    trollhattan

    May 8, 2018 at 7:18 pm

    @gbbalto:
    Bet you climb out with a shit-eating grin after every drive. Civic SI and Golf GTI always guarantee entertainment.

  175. 175.

    Corner Stone

    May 8, 2018 at 7:21 pm

    @Quinerly: I am sure DJT JR wants either more money than he is entitled to, or wants to use these allegations as threats to reduce/change child care payments. But not sure how the decisions of a minor are going to outweigh 5 kids and several years of lawful marriage between adults. He’s had at least one publicized affair for goodness sakes. I guess we’ll see.

  176. 176.

    debbie

    May 8, 2018 at 7:23 pm

    @Sab:

    Don’t leave out the Jewish Trump supporters! I got a few of them in my family. :/

  177. 177.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 8, 2018 at 7:24 pm

    @trollhattan:
    Yeah, well where does that leave people like me who don’t want to drive a gas-guzzling monstrosity?

  178. 178.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 8, 2018 at 7:30 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Don’t buy American.

  179. 179.

    Sab

    May 8, 2018 at 7:30 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: We US car drivers are driving Hondas, assembled in Ohio.

  180. 180.

    Quinerly

    May 8, 2018 at 7:35 pm

    @Corner Stone: TPM has picked it up.

  181. 181.

    Sab

    May 8, 2018 at 7:36 pm

    @debbie: Yikes!

  182. 182.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    May 8, 2018 at 7:37 pm

    @TenguPhule: I blame Cocaine Mitch

  183. 183.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 8, 2018 at 7:41 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    @Sab:
    I have a Honda Civic now, but I really wanted to drive a Ford Fiesta sedan

  184. 184.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 8, 2018 at 7:42 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Buy used.

    ETA: I’d opt for the hatchback.

  185. 185.

    Sab

    May 8, 2018 at 7:46 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Maybe that’s one of the surviving two models.

    Honda FITs are phun.

  186. 186.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 8, 2018 at 7:52 pm

    @Sab:

    Maybe that’s one of the surviving two models.

    Nope. One is the Mustang and the other one is a soon to be introduced Focus crossover that is supposed to be similar to the Subaru Crosstrek.

  187. 187.

    rikyrah

    May 8, 2018 at 7:52 pm

    Did you see this about Cohen and AT&T?

    THREAD

    https://twitter.com/renato_mariotti/status/993995739805208576?s=20

  188. 188.

    Corner Stone

    May 8, 2018 at 7:55 pm

    @Quinerly: Vanessa T sounds exactly like the kind of attention seeking lowlife scumbag I expected her to be. Maybe their kids don’t deserve their parents but at this point I’m thinking sterilization makes sense.

  189. 189.

    Quinerly

    May 8, 2018 at 7:57 pm

    Greg Pence has won the Republican primary for an Indiana congressional seat. TPM reporting.

  190. 190.

    rikyrah

    May 8, 2018 at 7:57 pm

    Dolt45 just cost Boeing $ 20 billion

    https://twitter.com/MikeDorning/status/993959164216037376?s=20

  191. 191.

    Corner Stone

    May 8, 2018 at 7:58 pm

    @rikyrah: Cohen is such the weak sister in this knot of a relationship. He’s either singing or dead here pretty shortly.

  192. 192.

    TenguPhule

    May 8, 2018 at 7:59 pm

    @rikyrah: Airbus will be toasting Donald Trump tonight.

  193. 193.

    Quinerly

    May 8, 2018 at 7:59 pm

    @rikyrah: MSNBC has been on it for a couple of hrs. Big piece in The Daily Beast. Stormy’s atty to be on LOD tonight.

  194. 194.

    ruemara

    May 8, 2018 at 8:09 pm

    @Sab: I love mine. And lately, so do people who want to run into me. Yesterday, it was a bicyclist. (yes, she ran into me. I was exiting a parking lot but stationary, checking traffic)

    Plus side, they’re very durable.

  195. 195.

    rikyrah

    May 8, 2018 at 8:13 pm

    Breaking down the Cohen/ AT&T payment like a fraction

    https://twitter.com/HoarseWisperer/status/993989186930794497?s=20

  196. 196.

    EBT

    May 8, 2018 at 8:18 pm

    @TenguPhule: Airbus had their license pulled too~ 40 billion not entering the economy.

  197. 197.

    Aleta

    May 8, 2018 at 8:20 pm

    @Quinerly: There’s another one?

  198. 198.

    B.B.A.

    May 8, 2018 at 8:30 pm

    @EBT: Airbus is European though. I thought Europe was sticking with the deal.

  199. 199.

    Quinerly

    May 8, 2018 at 8:31 pm

    @Aleta: and he looks like PWee Herman.

  200. 200.

    Matt McIrvin

    May 8, 2018 at 8:33 pm

    @Archon:

    Considering all that why in the world would Iran make any concessions to Trump???

    Now imagine you’re working through this reasoning while having the mindset of a crooked New York real-estate guy, who’s used to being able to pay pennies on the dollar by first shaking hands on a deal and then having a screaming fit full of threats and blandishments out of the blue.

  201. 201.

    Brachiator

    May 8, 2018 at 8:38 pm

    @B.B.A.:

    Airbus is European though. I thought Europe was sticking with the deal.

    Still a problem.

    IranAir had ordered 200 passenger aircraft: 100 from Airbus SE (AIR.PA), 80 from Boeing and 20 from Franco-Italian turboprop maker ATR. All the deals are dependent on U.S. licenses because of the heavy use of American parts in commercial planes.

  202. 202.

    EBT

    May 8, 2018 at 8:39 pm

    @B.B.A.: >10% of airbus components are made in the USA, so they have to comply.

  203. 203.

    Calouste

    May 8, 2018 at 8:45 pm

    @EBT: What percentage of Tupolevs is made in the USA?

  204. 204.

    Jay

    May 8, 2018 at 8:58 pm

    @EBT:

    Were made in the USA for now. Now the parts for those contracted sales are no longer needed. Soon, the parts probably wont be made or sourced from the US.

    China’s 25% of all Airbus sales.

  205. 205.

    J R in WV

    May 8, 2018 at 9:22 pm

    @Timurid:

    The Israelis should be bombing West Virginia.

    Really? Do you know where this blog you’re fucking with is home based?

    Fuck you with a farm rake, you pied scum sucker!~! I will never read another word of nonsense you have to contribute.

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