Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.

Republicans don’t trust women.

We still have time to mess this up!

He really is that stupid.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

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

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Consistently wrong since 2002

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Russiagate Open Thread: The FBI Posts A Receipt?

Russiagate Open Thread: The FBI Posts A Receipt?

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Not an expert, obviously, but this seems like the FBI’s branch of the much-discussed “Intelligence Community” taking an overt position…

In response — was this the intended result? — the Oval Office Occupant goes for straight-up bullshit:


 
And “his” political party — seconded by the Media Village Idiots — chooses to follow Dear Leader…

Reader Interactions

157Comments

  1. 1.

    Corner Stone

    Well, if you are Rod Rosenstein you have to get a real thrill when you hear Trump’s attorney Emmett Flood attends both these classified meetings you agreed to.

  2. 2.

    Corner Stone

    “We’re calling it SPYGATE, and you (jabs stubby fingers at press) are calling it SPYGATE.”

  4. 4.

    Corner Stone

    Large dollars were paid to the Spy, far beyond normal.

    What’s the normal amount for a Spy to be implanted into a political campaign? Asking for a friend.

  6. 6.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Corner Stone: stepping back from the toxic attacks on the American polity, it’s almost funny that this cheap little pseudo-billionaire is scandalized by the (imagined) expense of his fantasies of persecution.

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    All this leads to the conclusion (using their always used projection as a touchstone) that the Trump campaign willfully (whether successfully or not) sent people to seek employment within the Clinton campaign.

  11. 11.

    Major Major Major Major

    As usual, I am out of evens to just can’t with these people.

    Anybody else had success getting their comment details to stick around on mobile? Otherwise I’m going to be reduced to commenting as M4.

  13. 13.

    randy khan

    @BGinCHI:

    You used to be able to get really large dollar bills at novelty stores. I think they were about a quarter each.

  15. 15.

    randy khan

    @JPL:

    I’ll make a note to say the same thing the next time a Republican implies that the election of a Democrat is illegtimate.

  17. 17.

    Jeffro

    @JPL: they’re determined to throw our very words back at us (except as complete lies)

    We know they’re traitors…they call us the traitors

    We know they committed treason…they say the “deep state” committed treason (seriously – those scumbag GOP congressmen did just that earlier this week)

    We know they are dangerous to democracy…they say WE are, and so on. Anything to fling mud, blur the lines, make it into “both sides”

  20. 20.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @JPL: I have no memory of old George Romney, but if half of what pundits say about him is true, his family is in steady generational decline.

  21. 21.

    Yutsano

    @AxelFoley: Still say votes got changed. There is NO WAY to explain how Pennsylvania went for a huge Democratic sweep EXCEPT US Senate and President any other way. And the way the system is set up it can’t be proven. But 80K votes in three counties in three states? I could see that happening.

  22. 22.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Very classy though. Not like the loser checks that they have for cripples. //

  24. 24.

    Elizabelle

    Watching how they cover this will separate the real journalists from the Villagers.

  25. 25.

    Corner Stone

    @Yutsano: If it ever actually gets looked into I think the obvious existence of vote tampering will be factual. Now, if they decide to tell us or not…doubtful.

  26. 26.

    Anotherlurker

    @Corner Stone: According to Boris Badenov, business agent of Local 12 VTSU (Villens, Thieves and Scoudrels Union, rates are adjusted for the degree of experience posessed by the spy and his network. For example: an Apprentice might start at $23.00/hr, A Journeyman would see $38.50/hr and a Master at $50.00/hr or more.
    There would be extra pay for a kit fee (wiretapping gear, lockpicking kit, shivs, guns, explosives, etc) .
    Wet work rates are not available for public disclosure but are revealed to clients on a need to know basis.

  27. 27.

    Chet Murthy

    @NotMax: ISTR that the DNC had a housecleaning operation after the 2016 debacle, specifically to clean out those deemed as possible spies (of both Rs and Russians).

  28. 28.

    Elizabelle

    I wonder what it’s like to be Obama, knowing that Russia chose your successor, and the traitors in the opposing party are going to try to cover the whole thing up.

    Maybe Clapper is the first strike of the intelligence community on this one. There is a story there, and it’s bigger than anything about Harvey Weinstein or a natural disaster.

    I hope it takes some hits on the Vichy Times, too.

  31. 31.

    MomSense

    I’ve been pretty groggy since my surgery Wednesday. I woke up to hear Ari Melber saying that Flood and Kelly went into the meeting. Infuriating.

    Back to resting. Typing in my nym and this short comment is it for me today.

  32. 32.

    NotMax

    @BGinCHI

    Or were paid in pre-1929 dollars, the year they were shrunken to the same size as at present. (Was a plan floated not long ago to reduce the size again, from 6.14 inches in length to an even 6. Doesn’t seem to have gained any traction.)

    :)

  37. 37.

    NotMax

    @Major Major Major Major

    On the contrary, it is so diligently (and intentionally) neutered that the reply function does nothing.

    In actuality, most times end up copying and pasting nyms into replies. CTRL-C and CTRL-V are reliable old friends.

  40. 40.

    chris

    @Corner Stone: There’s a table on the Spy’s Wiki page that says about $200,000 a year. When I asked a couple of days ago Adam said that Spy worked at a DOD think tank. Of course it’s been weaponised.

  41. 41.

    NotMax

    @JPL

    Also the first presidential candidate to release tax returns and call for others to follow suit.

  44. 44.

    Corner Stone

    @MomSense:

    I woke up to hear Ari Melber saying that Flood and Kelly went into the meeting. Infuriating.

    OUTRAGE!
    There, I hope I spread a little energy out there so you don’t have to. I have been waiting literally all day to scream at something about this. It was completely foreseeable. You give Trump any space and the next thing you know you’re wearing knee pads working his personal lawyer.

  45. 45.

    YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)

    Yep desktop has save check mark. Of course I borked my nym. But it did save. Talking to m4 BTW.

  46. 46.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JPL:

    RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel: Claiming Russia Helped Trump is ‘Dangerous For Our Democracy’

    This is the kind of thing that makes me bugfuck crazy. The fact that Russia helped Trump is just fine; it’s the claim that Russia helped Trump that’s the real threat to our democracy.

    Just like accusing someone of being a racist is much worse than their racist language or actions. Just like leaking about White House dysfunction is terrible, but the dysfunction itself is nothing to be concerned about.

  47. 47.

    Major Major Major Major

    @NotMax: I know–complaining about lack of access made it sound like you were aiming for pity :P

    @YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S): I thought I got it to save my info on Safari mobile, but then it stopped. The checkbox isn’t there for the mobile site, but it is there for the mobile/responsive view into the desktop site. Regardless of what I do, it’s not saving for me, on iOS Safari.

  49. 49.

    Yarrow

    Also fun:

    New: Emails Roger Stone did not turn over to congressional investigators obtained by @WSJ. "Please ask Assange for any State or [Hillary Clinton] e-mail from August 10 to August 30–particularly on August 20, 2011," reads one message. https://t.co/5dbmymzfR7— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) May 24, 2018

  50. 50.

    Steeplejack

    @Major Major Major Major:

    No luck here. I rebooted phone and Chrome, deleted cookies, no luck.

    Alain said this morning that he has a ticket in with the people who did the mobile-site module.

    Did you see my question about whether if I switch from mobile to desktop on my phone I might not be able to go back?

  53. 53.

    Corner Stone

    @Yarrow: There’s no issue there. He’s just asking for “dirt” on Hillary. Pretty straightforward.

  54. 54.

    Villago Delenda Est

    The GOP needs to be eradicated. Much like the NSDAP was in post war Germany.

    They are evil. To the core.

  55. 55.

    satby

    @NotMax: at least I get to choose my nym and other info when I type a few characters in.

    @MomSense: but yeah, I’m done for the night too, especially since I opened my big yap to huge misunderstanding in the last thread. Feel better soon sweetie!

  56. 56.

    Corner Stone

    @Steeplejack:

    Did you see my question about whether if I switch from mobile to desktop on my phone I might not be able to go back?

    You know what they say…

  57. 57.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @NotMax:

    from 6.14 inches in length to an even 6. Doesn’t seem to have gained any traction

    I read that as “Doesn’t seem to have gained any fraction, which is also twue.

  59. 59.

    YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)

    @Steeplejack: I just switched back to the mobile version by searching for “mobile” and going to the last reference, there is a button for the mobile version.

  60. 60.

    TenguPhule

    @Jeffro:

    We know they’re traitors…they call us the traitors

    We know they committed treason…they say the “deep state” committed treason (seriously – those scumbag GOP congressmen did just that earlier this week)

    We know they are dangerous to democracy…they say WE are, and so on. Anything to fling mud, blur the lines, make it into “both sides”

    We know the penalty for treason, they call for us to be killed….

  62. 62.

    Doug R

    Here’s what I got when I tried to comment

    This page isn’t working
    If the problem continues, contact the site owner.
    HTTP ERROR 405

  64. 64.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Anotherlurker:

    You’d better pack your shine box, buddy. The Guild of Calamitous Intent is coming, and it’s not going to be pretty for you.

  67. 67.

    Corner Stone

    Not that I really care, but am just curious. Where is Melania? Does Barron even exist anymore?

  70. 70.

    VeniceRiley

    @Corner Stone:

    Not that I really care, but am just curious. Where is Melania? Does Barron even exist anymore?

    My theory is they’re together digging tunnels and causing sinkholes outside the White House, and now MaGaLago, in a bid to escape to New York.

  71. 71.

    Ohio Mom

    So the purpose of our Intelligence Community is to watch security and other breaches passively from the sidelines and never even issue any reporting? Nice work if you can get it, I suppose.

  72. 72.

    Steeplejack

    @YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S), @Major Major Major Major:

    I see that I didn’t make myself clear. I know about the switch at the bottom of the page; thanks for pointing it out again. What I was asking about is that at one point in the past—at least on Android—the switch was a one-way door, because if you went from M > D or D > M (I can’t remember which) the “new” version did not have the switch at the bottom, so you couldn’t go back.

    . . . Oh, hell, just figured it out. My tablet (also Android) is big enough to use the desktop version of the site on it, and it does not have the mobile switch at the bottom. So if I switched to the desktop version on my phone, I would not be able to (easily) get back if I didn’t like it.

    I guess this problem is specific to Android, since you don’t seem to be seeing it.

  73. 73.

    Chyron HR

    @Corner Stone:

    Not that I really care, but am just curious. Where is Melania?

    The actual one or the android they replaced her with last week?

  74. 74.

    Chet Murthy

    @VeniceRiley: Per recent reporting, they’re both with Melania’s parents, near Barron’s school. Where they both ought to stay.

  77. 77.

    japa21

    @Yarrow: And ironically two things are involved.

    1. Trump’s letter talked about Kim’s belligerent language, despite the fact that there has been none issued by Kim. The only belligerent language has come from Trump, Pence and Bolton.

    2. NK has already come out and said they are ready to talk and are sorry that Trump feels the way he does.

    Somebody on MSNBC this morning described them as two 13 year olds. I disagree. Trump is acting like a 13 year old. Kim is more like 17.

  78. 78.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Doug R:

    This page isn’t working
    If the problem continues, contact the site owner.
    HTTP ERROR 405

    405? That’s better than 404, right?

  79. 79.

    Steeplejack

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I think you can always manually go to the mobile URL [. . .].

    On my phone the mobile URL shows up simply as https://www.balloon-juice.com—the same as the desktop version.

  80. 80.

    YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)

    @Steeplejack: I am sorry, I did exactly that on my android phone using Chrome (not Internet) the button was there and I switched back. I suppose I can dig out my large tablet and see if it behaves differently.
    ETA I just did the switch back and forth on the phone and it works fine button on the bottom in both modes.

  81. 81.

    TenguPhule

    @Ohio Mom:

    So the purpose of our Intelligence Community is to watch security and other breaches passively from the sidelines and never even issue any reporting? Nice work if you can get it, I suppose.

    I know right, the movies have lied to us. Our intelligence agencies are neither intelligent or capable of agency.

  84. 84.

    Corner Stone

    @Ohio Mom:

    So the purpose of our Intelligence Community is to watch security and other breaches passively from the sidelines and never even issue any reporting? Nice work if you can get it, I suppose.

    My God. Please do not get me started on this.

  85. 85.

    Steeplejack

    @Steeplejack:

    Moved to the big computer and noticed that there is no “go to mobile” switch at the bottom of the page (desktop site, Win10, Firefox). Absolutely no need for one, of course, but it looks like something was deleted from, or didn’t get added to, the Android version a few upgrades ago. (I remember noticing this problem sometime last year and reported it to Alain.)

  86. 86.

    Corner Stone

    @VeniceRiley:

    and now MaGaLago, in a bid to escape to New York.

    I think Barron makes a bad Snake Plissken but I can absolutely see Melania in an eye patch and leather.

  90. 90.

    Steeplejack

    @YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S):

    Well, that’s a poser, because I’m staring fixedly at the bottom of the page on my tablet (desktop site) and not seeing a switch. There is a black band with “This work is licensed,” etc., on the left and “Read privacy policy” and copyright notice on the right. That’s it.

    ETA: FYWP!

  92. 92.

    YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)

    @Steeplejack: Yep, I fired up my 10″ tablet and I see the same thing. There is a toggle for desktop in the hamburger menu on both the phone and the tablet. It switches content on both, although the phone page renders differently on the hamburger toggle than it does with the page button toggle. Both are Android 6 machines. ETA I mean I see no screen buttons on the tablet, as you said, but my phone behaves differently than my tablet. In either case it isn’t one way, unless the tablet rendered the screen buttons once upon a time

  93. 93.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Steeplejack: Ah, it must be handled at the template-rendering level then. Makes sense, cuz WordPress.

    @TenguPhule:

    405? That’s better than 404, right?

    The difference between lost in the wilderness and stuck in a traffic jam on the 101.

    Only if you’re driving on the wrong side of the highway.

  94. 94.

    Yarrow

    @Ohio Mom: Why do you think they’re not reporting. Just because it’s not happening publicly doesn’t mean it’s not happening.

  97. 97.

    Mai naem mobile

    I hope the IC gave new false info to Nunes and old nothing new to see info to the bipartisan meeting.

  98. 98.

    Mai naem mobile

    Good lord,I am going to have to fill the nym info every single time? This is going to be a pain in the ass.

  100. 100.

    YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)

    @Steeplejack: Sorry, my phone is 7.0 and tablet is 7.1.1 I haven’t updated chrome in a while on the tablet. doing that now.

  102. 102.

    Steeplejack

    @YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S):

    Okay, your ETA is confusing me. “I mean I see no screen buttons on the tablet, as you said.” Does that mean you’re not seeing the Desktop/​Mobile buttons at the bottom, or something else?

    And what do you mean by “hamburger menu”? It seems to be something other than the Desktop/​Mobile buttons at the bottom, because you say “the phone page renders differently on the hamburger toggle than it does with the page button toggle.”

  104. 104.

    patrick II

    @JPL:

    RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel: Claiming Russia Helped Trump is ‘Dangerous For Our Democracy’

    What’s even more dangerous for Democracy is having Russia help Trump and then the RNC chair say to keep silent.

  105. 105.

    YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)

    @Steeplejack: The three bars or dots to the right top to the screen (looks a bit like a hamburger in windows) has additional menu options for the browser, On Android you may have to drag the screen down a bit to see it to the right of the URL window.
    ETA forgot to answer first question, yes I do not see the buttons on the tablet only on the phone.

  106. 106.

    Corner Stone

    @debbie: When you have the WH CoS and also Trump’s lawyer in the meetings then Nunes’ only use is to go on Fox and gaslight. So I guess maybe 5 minutes after?

  107. 107.

    YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)

    @Corner Stone: It appears that COS and Lawyer were only there at the start to deliver a message. This was still inappropriate, but not there for the briefing.

  108. 108.

    Platonailedit

    IC publicizing this treason/collusion/conspiracy ‘secret’ is two years too late.

  110. 110.

    randy khan

    Since it’s an open thread, I just got off the phone with a pollster. (I like to hear what the questions are, so I answer when I have time.)

    It was sponsored by Nick Frietas, who frankly I’d never heard of before the poll, but who is one of the Republicans running for Senate in Virginia. It was largely message testing – would I like Tim Kaine less if I knew he supported earmarks (please, please, let’s get earmarks back), voted for the budget bill, and was the Evil One’s running mate, and would I like Frietas better if I knew he was a Green Beret (with a hard “t”), wanted to stop wasteful spending, and thought there should be more oversight of the Federal Reserve. The timing was kind of funny for that kind of poll, since the primary is in less than three weeks.

  111. 111.

    Miss Bianca

    @JPL: Of course, “claiming” Russia threw our election is the real threat to democracy. Not, you know, the actual deed…just “claiming” it is the threat. Just like calling someone a racist is the real racism, and calling someone sexist is the real sexism.

    ETA: I see I’m not the first to make that point. I just hope others make it repeatedly in other media, not just an Upper 10,000 blog.

  113. 113.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @JPL:

    All this worry about the “disrespecting” of the choice of the fewer voters who won the election using an archaic, institutionally gerrymandered body would be mitigated had the “victor” party not chosen to govern as if it had a broad public mandate to remake society.

    They could accomplish roughly 70% of their agenda just by going quiet and slow, and maintained some large measure of civil pride and order. Trump would have had a better than even chance of reelection.

  114. 114.

    Platonailedit

    Apparently, javankas got their security clearances back. Bet uday and qusay are not too far off. More deals for the family.

  115. 115.

    JPL

    @Platonailedit: When Trump signed the law increasing security clearances, he added a signing order stating he could decide. Voila both Jared and Ivanka had their clearances the next day.

  116. 116.

    TenguPhule

    In his new book, he goes on to say: “To conclude otherwise stretches logic, common sense, & credulity to the breaking point. Less than 80K votes in 3 key states swung the election. I have no doubt that more votes than that were influenced by this massive effort by the Russians.”

    I would respect Clapper if that git had bothered to scream this to the media LAST FUCKING YEAR instead of waiting for his fucking book.

  117. 117.

    TenguPhule

    Congressional Budget Office finds higher deficits under Trump budget than administration projects

    By 2028, the administration projects a $445 billion deficit if the White House budget were adopted, whereas the CBO says the deficit would top $1 trillion.

    /Wapo

    Republicans understating their fuckups by half a trillion. Color me surprised.

  119. 119.

    TenguPhule

    @Platonailedit:

    magats are rushing to buy the shit coin.

    Good, we can use it as automatic proof of guilt when its time to round them up for the Camps.

  120. 120.

    James Powell

    @Corner Stone:

    If it ever actually gets looked into I think the obvious existence of vote tampering will be factual. Now, if they decide to tell us or not…doubtful.

    We could have video of Russians actually changing vote totals. FOX would never run it, but would have guests on to call it fake. 40-45% of Americans would refuse to believe it. 10% would be undecided.

  122. 122.

    Steeplejack

    @YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S):

    If you can’t see the buttons on the tablet, how are you able to switch between desktop and mobile?

    Stepping away for a few to eat, plus this is starting to feel like tech support circa 1997.

  123. 123.

    Platonailedit

    There must be a the site is working so well, let’s see how we can fuck it up award. BJ will win it hands down. Every fucking time.

  124. 124.

    Corner Stone

    @Steeplejack:

    plus this is starting to feel like tech support circa 1997.

    “I understand your computer isn’t operating correctly. Sorry about that. Have you loaded any new software recently?”
    “No, nothing at all.”
    “Ok, great. Sometimes even a small change can introduce a conflict. Maybe you clicked on an ad somewhere?”
    “No! I’d never do that!”
    “Gotcha, thanks. We need to eliminate those options first, so thank you. Any chance a friend pointed you to something they thought was helpful?”
    “Well, I did install a new Recipe thingie that was going around my cooking group…….”

  125. 125.

    TenguPhule

    Inside the White House residence, the first alarm sounded about 10 p.m. Wednesday when national security adviser John Bolton told Trump about North Korea’s public statement threatening a “nuclear-to-nuclear showdown” and mocking Vice President Pence as a “political dummy.”

    Trump was dismayed by Pyongyang’s bellicose rhetoric, the same theatrics Trump often deploys against his adversaries. Bolton advised that the threatening language was a very bad sign, and Trump told advisers he was concerned Kim was maneuvering to back out of the summit and make Americans look like desperate suitors, according to a person familiar with the conversations.

    So Trump called it off first.

    A tragedy of farce in one act.

    /Wapo

  127. 127.

    TenguPhule

    This behind-the-scenes account of Trump’s decision to cancel the Singapore summit is based on interviews with seven administration officials, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss a sensitive matter.

    Trump’s move caught South Korea and other allies off guard — in part by design, aides said. Trumpt feared the news would leak out if foreign counterparts were alerted, though some in the White House were concerned about insulting allies.

    Foreign diplomats got word that the summit was off at the same time as the general public, shortly before 10 a.m., when the White House sent a copy of Trump’s letter to reporters.

    I need a freaking drink.

  130. 130.

    Jay S

    @Corner Stone: That was consistent with what Adam Schiff said, although not explicitly. He was at both meetings. I would have expected to hear more from him if this isn’t true.

  131. 131.

    Sab

    OT:

    This is going to be long, but I am excited.

    I just went to an Ohio Democratic Party phone bank event tonight (in May!) About 30 people ( mostly white olds and middle-aged) in a suburb in a city in NE Ohio. I have worked (very sporadically) on campaigns since I was in high school in 1970. The others who turned up had always voted, but never worked on campaigns. They didn’t even know how. They were scared. An hour later they were calling and chatting away.

    The calling list was Democrats, but they weren’t the usual “I vote for you, why are you bothering me during dinner?” I got one who is so active in the community that she has no time, but she wants “Voldemart gone from the Whitehouse.”

    Also, it wasn’t about one candidate (although one candidate seems to be financing the pros.)

    This is how it used to be when I was a kid. You work for the party, not some particular candidate you love, because your party has basic values you believe in.

    I am actually excited about this summer and fall. I hope I wake up early enough to share with Kay. I trooped off to this out of duty. Now I am excited. There is a grassroots that someone is watering. My duty as grass is to help the other grass grow.

    Whoo-hoo. I am psyched.

    You youngsters also have to get involved.

    Also, give to Sherrod Brown. He is actually funding grass roots organizing, and not just pissing away money on ads.

  132. 132.

    Mary G

    Hoocoodanode: The Hill says Trump admin gets lowest-ever ethics ratings in Gallup poll

    Thirty-seven percent of Americans rate the Trump administration as having good or excellent ethical standards, according to a Gallup poll released Thursday, the lowest rating given to a White House since the poll started asking the question during the Reagan administration.

    Fifty-nine percent of Americans said in the poll that Trump administration officials’ ethics are poor or not good.

    The majority of Americans have largely given past administrations positive ethics ratings.

    The previous low was during the Clinton administration, when only 43 percent of Americans said White House officials’ ethics were excellent or good.

    Gallup noted that the rating was given in January 1994, amid the Whitewater real estate scandal. That rating rose to 57 percent just a few months later.

    So more of our fellow citizens see what’s happening than I thought. It’s interesting – his job approval rating and the generic vote are tighter, but he’s still down 14.7% on favorability.

  134. 134.

    Steeplejack

    @Corner Stone:

    You’re triggering my PTSD.

    Me: “All right, now click on that button.”

    User: “Okay.”

    Extremely long pause.

    Me: “What happened?”

    User: “Well, an error message came up.”

    Me: “Okay, what does it say?”

    User: “I don’t know. I clicked past it.”

  135. 135.

    Jay S

    @Steeplejack: I can switch on the tablet by using the Chrome menu (hamburger) to request “desktop site”. The screen repaints when ever you check or uncheck the box. I haven’t verified that it is actually different. Both versions show a checkbox with “Save my name,” after the name box, so it might not actually be different for the tablet. It is definitely different on the phone.

    Using the Chrome menu “Desktop site” on the phone gives me a version that has the “save” checkbox but no screen buttons to change back. Plus the text is tiny and the sidebar is to the right. Turning off the Chrome menu gets back to the mobile version with the Mobile Desktop buttons on the bottom of the screen. When I use the Desktop button I get a “save” check box with larger type and the sidebar items are displayed separately towards the bottom. I has a link a the bottom (not a button) with “switch to Mobile version” that brings me back to the original screen. So the phone has three different rendering modes for BJ.
    ETA the Chrome dropdown menu is long, you may not see the end of it in landscape mode. The “desktop site” checkbox is one of last items in the list. You can scroll down the list in landscape to see it.

  136. 136.

    Corner Stone

    @Steeplejack: The Rule of Three. Nobody admits a damned thing until you ask them the same question three different ways. It’s not so helpful for relationships….

  137. 137.

    DanR2

    I saw clapper on Anderson Cooper last night and he was a pathetic wimp. Said it was “regrettable” that trump called me a dummy. Sniff. Didn’t like to use the word “spy” but used it a hundred times. Jezus.

    Cooper ran a 45 minute long segment showing all the rightwing puke funnel folks pushing the “spy” bullshit and apparently didn’t get the fact that he was amplifying their stupid narrative. MSM need to brush up on basic propaganda. smh

  138. 138.

    Corner Stone

    @Jay S: I could be wrong but I don’t believe Schiff was at both meetings. But Flood was. In any event, it doesn’t matter. Flood and J Kelly put an imprimatur on the whole fucking she-bang.

  139. 139.

    Mary G

    Things I never thought I would see in the Orange County Register:

    National Association of Realtors withdrew its political endorsement of U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher this week because he opposes the extension of fair housing protections to gays and lesbians.

    The Orange County congressman’s stance, the 1.3-million-member trade group said, is contrary to NAR’s code of ethics, which bans discrimination on the basis of “sexual orientation or gender identity.”

    and

    Congressional Republicans are anything but fiscally responsible:

    For all of their limited government and fiscally conservative rhetoric, the Republican-controlled Congress has, to date, been anything but fiscally responsible. They have on the whole been revealed to be merely tax-cut-and-spend Republicans who want to take credit for reducing federal revenues with tax cuts while doing nothing to contain spending on the other side of things.

    With the CBO projecting deficits as high as $1.5 trillion a year over the next decade, even after assuming continued economic growth, it should be apparent to anyone with an elementary understanding of how math and finance works that something has to be done to alter this trajectory.

    Something’s starting to change.

  140. 140.

    The Pale Scot

    @VeniceRiley:

    digging tunnels and causing sinkholes …. MaGaLago, in a bid to escape to New York.

    Water table is too high at the waterside compound. She’s looking for a Otto Skorzeny type to parachute in and fly her away in Cessna

  141. 141.

    Jay S

    @Corner Stone:

    Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, attended a 12 p.m. ET briefing at the Justice Department originally planned as a private briefing for leading House Republicans on classified information they have been seeking about the FBI’s investigation into Trump’s presidential campaign. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had received the invitation to attend, but sent Schiff instead, she told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday

    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/democrat-schiff-added-justice-department-briefing-russia-probe-sources-n877111

  142. 142.

    J R in WV

    @Yarrow:

    @Ohio Mom: Why do you think they’re not reporting. Just because it’s not happening publicly doesn’t mean it’s not happening.

    Yeah, they don’t report to the citizenry, they report to the President, Trump, the victor to whom belong the spoils. Like their reports to Trump are meaningful, he can’t read them, he already knows the Russians own him.

  143. 143.

    Corner Stone

    @Jay S: I am going to wait a bit to go with an answer here. First reports are almost never completely accurate.

  144. 144.

    danielx

    Goddamnit.

    I try not fall into fits of silent but frothing rage, because it makes me hard(er) to live with. And I try not to grind my teeth, with which I have enough trouble already. But the constant bombardment of Trumpian bullshit does get to me periodically, and this is one of those times.

    There hasn’t been a president in my lifetime, or since I was old enough to vote, who hasn’t been a disappointment one way or another. But Trump has reached depths to which I never thought an occupant of the Oval Office could sink, and goes deeper every day. How can anyone “normalize” this, much less view it favorably? Those who can are true believers, and true believers are fanatics – the sort of people who know exactly what God (however he, she or they are perceived) would do, if only all the “facts” were in his possession. Republicans in Congress are in some ways worse, because they know a fool and would-be tyrant is in charge and they are unwilling to do anything about it as long as their policy priorities (tax cuts and opportunities for looting) are making progress.

    Goddamn these people.

    PS – this checkbox you have to click to save your name and addy to comment more than once is REALLY fucking annoying. I admit part of the annoyance is likely due to the fact that I am more or less in a constant state of low grade irritability, and have been since January 2017.

  145. 145.

    Steeplejack

    @Jay S:

    Thanks for the input. After I understood what “hamburger menu” means (WTF?), I see that my phone and tablet both have a selection for “Desktop Site” in that menu. (Still no buttons at the bottom of the page.) It’s unchecked on both, but on the phone I have the mobile site active and on the tablet I have the desktop site active. Go figure.

    Based on what you and others have said, I’m going to leave things as they are. The desktop site on the 8" tablet is fine, although I have to do a little finger-spreading to embiggen the text. And your comment jibes with my memory that the desktop site on a phone has unreadably small text. So I’ll stick with mobile there. I have grudgingly gotten used to entering my nym and e-mail for every comment, and Chrome has started autofilling after a few letters.

    My main gripe with the desktop site on the tablet is that I don’t have an ad blocker installed (Chrome browser on Android), so every time I refresh a page I have to kill the universally reviled Taboola autoplay ad and now the equally reviled Connatix autoplay ad. I thought Adblock Plus had an add-on, but it appears the Android version is actually a whole browser. Not sure I want to go that route. Feel free to recommend something.

    Finally, because this whole thing has been enormously frustrating, I will indulge myself in a bit of a rant. Every goddamn Balloon Juice “upgrade” is two steps forward, on step back, at best. Sometimes it feels like one step forward, two steps back. E.g., various “forbidden” words have been winking in and out of permissibility on no set schedule and without rhyme or reason.

    I know Alain has a thankless job doing maintenance, but how is it a good idea to drop major new changes on the live blog at midday with a ¯_(ツ)_/¯ and “Shit happens”?! Surely we could have a little test site where things could be examined before being unleashed on the whole blog. I know we’ve got enough techno-weenies, pedants, obsessive-compulsives and general nitpickers to do some testing. Grr!

    Okay, rant over. I’ll get on with my life now.

  146. 146.

    Jay S

    @Steeplejack: I almost never use my phone for BJ and my tablet is semi-retired, so I don’t have good recommendations for that. The phone desktop button on the page seemed okay (text size seemed the same as the mobile version, the text from Chrome menu “desktop site” was crap) at a brief glance and switching back was fairly painless so you might want to give it a try. At no point did I get locked in to one mode or the other. The latest versions of chrome are supposed to kill automatic audio play, and I haven’t heard any taboola ads in my tests. So if you haven’t updated chrome in a while you might try that. I think I tried one of the ad blocker apps at one time but gave up for some reason, maybe because they were laggy in their app updates.

  147. 147.

    Steeplejack

    @Jay S:

    The phone desktop button on the page seemed okay [. . .] at a brief glance and switching back was fairly painless so you might want to give it a try.

    I don’t have the desktop/​mobile buttons on my phone!

    The latest versions of chrome are supposed to kill automatic audio play, and I haven’t heard any Taboola ads in my tests.

    I don’t hear the Taboola or Connatix ads, but they slow down general browser performance (because they’re playing, even if silently), and the Connatix one makes the page take forever to finish loading.

  150. 150.

    Jay S

    I don’t have the desktop/​mobile buttons on my phone!

    @okay I must not be reading this comment right Steeplejack I thought you had them on the phone and not the tablet. I wonder if they have a different version of Chrome for Android 5? or you have some setting that is mucking with the site? Screen size might be an issue in the rendering, my phone is 1280×720 where my tablet is 1024 x 768 (XGA)
    : @Steeplejack: As to the ad slowdown, I agree and the screen repaints are a pain. There used to be a “data saver” setting for a host based rendering and data reduction. I see it doesn’t support https, naturally so no joy there. Sorry I can’t be more help.

  153. 153.

    Steeplejack

    @Jay S:

    Oops! Yes, on the phone I do have the desktop/​mobile buttons at the bottom.

    ETA: As I said above, I am choosing to leave things the way they are and curse the darkness.

  155. 155.

    Bupalos

    I’m kind of shocked that everyone seems shocked that trump plants went to the meeting. This shock is frightening me more than the fact that they went. Of course they went. Name me 1 reason they wouldnt. They are Nazis. They will do whatever they physically can do. It’s not a metaphor or rhetoric. They. Are. Fucking. Nazis.

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