Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

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

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

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

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

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

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

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

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. Do not congratulate. This is not business as usual.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

The arc of the moral universe doesn’t bend itself. it’s up to us.

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Reader Interactions

214Comments

  2. 2.

    MisterForkbeard

    I know people who keep this one bookmarked purely so they can deploy it whenever a conservative tries to claim Liberals Hate America Because They Said Something Was Bad.

    There should be an another name for that. LHABTSSWB isn’t too good.

  3. 3.

    Baud

    I feel like having to retype my nym all the time infringes my First Amendment rights.

  6. 6.

    Baud

    BTW, the First Amendment protects more than simply not getting arrested. But the rest is accurate.

  8. 8.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Baud:

    My Android phone has started helping me out if I give it a few letters to start with. Even gives me “phone” as the suggested next word after I’ve got “Steeplejack.” But I have to manually put in the parentheses. Sad!

  9. 9.

    dm

    The rollover text on that one is pretty good, too, but hard to quote on this device

  10. 10.

    TenguPhule

    @Baud:

    I feel like having to retype my nym all the time infringes my First Amendment rights.

    I feel your feelings infringe on my Constitutional rights.

  11. 11.

    MomSense

    I’m cheering on the inside for the Roseanne cancellation and the Greitens resignation but too tired to celebrate on the outside.

    I’m hoping I can wait until 7pm before going to bed.

  15. 15.

    TenguPhule

    @Baud:

    BTW, the First Amendment protects more than simply not getting arrested.

    Apparently it also protects the right of corporations to be complete religious assholes to their employees, as so interpreted by 5 traitors on the SC.

  16. 16.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @MisterForkbeard:
    Conservatives are pissed that their boycotts don’t work very well. Interesting that the only industries more worried about pushback from conservatives than liberals are the news and the NFL, isn’t it? One might suspect their motivations aren’t economic after all.

  17. 17.

    Waldo

    This may be a long shot but … Can we get Disney to buy the president and then fire him as soon as he says something stupid and/or racist?

  18. 18.

    Michael Bersin

    Missouri Governor Eric Greitens (r) announced at around 4:20 p.m. today that he would resign his office effective Friday, June 1st at 5:00 p.m. Lieutenant Governor Mike Parson (r) will be sworn in as governor.

    Today’s Missouri House Special Investigative Committee on Oversight hearing had a full day of testimony on Greitens’ campaign finance issues from an individual who worked for him early in his campaign.

    Missouri House Special Investigative Committee on Oversight – Michael Hafner – afternoon

    One of the money quotes:

    “You don’t expect someone with a degree in ethics to acquire a [501c(3) charity donor] list by other than lawful means.”

    Uh, yep.

  19. 19.

    opiejeanne

    So, tomorrow is my cataract surgery andI broke my glasses yesterday*. My timing is hilariously good.

    * I had an old pair with the same frame and they just traded out the left temple on that pair for the broken one on my good pair.

  20. 20.

    Corner Stone

    @opiejeanne: When Baud brings his complaints, he’s not bringing his best. He’s bringing whinges, whines and caterwauling. And some, I assume, are fine issues.

  21. 21.

    Yarrow

    @dm:
    The rollover text for the xkcd above:

    I can’t remember where I heard this, but someone once said that defending a position by citing free speech is sort of the ultimate concession; you’re saying that the most compelling thing you can say for your position is that it’s not literally illegal to express.

  23. 23.

    NotMax

    Interesting factoids gleaned from the documentary about Rose Marie were about her lengthy professional connection to the mob, including “Uncle Al” Capone and Bugsy Siegel, among others.

    Aware Alain is fiddling with it but must mention the desktop site is on again, off again behaving as if it is in its death throes.

  24. 24.

    JPL

    Why is Fox throwing Roseanne under the bridge? The only thing I can think of is that Roseanne’s language is similar to the asshole in chief, and they don’t want anyone to connect the dots. They want the story to go away so they can talk about scary brown people once again.

  25. 25.

    rikyrah

    Grocery Store Cashier Shames Woman on WIC, Won’t Allow Customer to Help Pay: ‘They Keep Getting Handouts’
    Yesha Callahan
    Today 7:30am

    A woman at an Albertsons store in Gresham, Ore., attempted to help out a fellow shopper when she came up short at the register. But according to Jacki Carroll, a white woman, the cashier refused to let her help the African-American woman who was using WIC (federal food stamp benefits specifically earmarked for women, infants and children) to pay for her items, and said the cashier made some pretty racist comments in the process.

    “[I] said, ‘I will pay,’ and she said, ‘No!’ Very abruptly,” Carroll said in an interview with KATU. “Literally, she raised her voice and said, ‘No, you don’t need to do that.’”

    Carroll was only offering to pay the $12 the unidentified woman was short, but she said the cashier, identified only as Debbie, went classist and racist at the same time.

    “I go, ‘Well I don’t mind, just let her have her stuff,’” Carroll said she told the white female cashier, who then responded, “‘No! You’re not going to do that. She has WIC. She gets her free stuff.’”

    Eventually, the woman left the grocery store with only the items she could afford, and when Carroll continued her conversation with the cashier, she wouldn’t let up on her stank racist attitude.

    https://www.theroot.com/grocery-store-cashier-shames-woman-on-wic-wont-allow-c-1826381401

  27. 27.

    rikyrah

    THey do not want

    Freedom of Speech

    They have FREEDOM OF SPEECH

    what they want is FREEDOM FROM CONSEQUENCES OF SAID SPEECH.

    They wanna party like it’s 1948.

    And nobody has time for that.

  28. 28.

    Roger Moore

    @MisterForkbeard:

    There should be an another name for that. LHABTSSWB isn’t too good.

    I would go with “Criticizing me violates the 1st Amendment”, which you could shorten to CMV1A. It’s short, punchy, and makes the essential point.

  29. 29.

    TS (the original)

    Good to see a tweet has brought down a bigoted TV show, I wait in anticipation it will do the same to a presidency.

  30. 30.

    Kay

    They actually teach this in 7th grade. It’s the introductory paragraph to the 1st amendment lesson, that it only applies as and to state action. Just crucial info, or there will be A LOT of dumb questions. Have to get that first. Clearly they have to repeat it for some of the class who are not keeping up. Remedial work.

  31. 31.

    rikyrah

    Jonathan Capehart
    ‏Verified account @CapehartJ

    BREAKING: Source close to Valerie Jarrett tells me she will address the Roseanne issue at the 9pm @MSNBC town hall on #EverydayRacism .
    12:34 PM – 29 May 2018

    ………..

    Valerie is too classy, because I would go all kinds of OKOP on Roseanne..

    Something like…
    “While her ancestors were dirt farming wherever the hell they are from, mine was being the first Black to graduate from MIT. I guess that’s what apes can do.”

  32. 32.

    oatler.

    @rikyrah: I remember my Grants Pass OR Albertsons going out of business; don’t remember any racist incidents except that majority-population geezers chose Wal-Mart.

  33. 33.

    Corner Stone

    @rikyrah: Bull to the shit. If I want to pay for everything on the belt in front of my order that’s on me. They either take my money or we’re going to have a randomly ugly experience, involving about six layers of management. All of which don’t get paid enough to deal with this garbage.

  34. 34.

    rikyrah

    The Matt McNeil Show
    ‏ @MattMcNeilShow

    A lot of people have already said it, but it’s so true:

    @therealroseanne Barr wanted to put forward a realistic portrayal of a #Trump supporter. In the end, she absolutely nailed it.
    11:30 AM – 29 May 2018

  35. 35.

    Jerrt

    The irony being that, in this case, “the government” would *support* what she said, not censor it.

    Prediction: Sanders: “The White House had NO involvement in the Justice Department’s stance that Roseanne’s show must be produced and aired as a condition of the Disney/Fox merger, and any claims to the contrary are fake news.”

  36. 36.

    opiejeanne

    While we’ve been righteously angry about Roseanne’s bs,and the anger is justified and righteous, this other story is kind of being missed and I think it’s pretty important. One headline elsewhere called it illegal and that it was roiling the WH today, but what day is the WH not roiled.

    Voter Suppression scheme

  37. 37.

    Roger Moore

    @opiejeanne:

    I wonder what changed, after his repeated claims that he wouldn’t resign.

    IIRC, he was forced to turn over some files related to his fundraising. There’s something really damaging in those files.

  40. 40.

    Miss Bianca

    @rikyrah: you know, I would accept karma bitchiness in this case as that cashier getting fired, having to go on food stamps because no one will hire her racist ass, and then getting abused in the check-out line.

  42. 42.

    Mandalay

    @Michael Bersin: This is good news for Claire McCaskill. At least it should be. If she loses now she really will have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

  44. 44.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @JPL:

    Why is Fox throwing Roseanne under the bridge?

    Disney is trying to buy Fox and Fox sees Disney won’t touch anything that drives away customers.

  45. 45.

    Elizabelle

    @MomSense: All the best. How is Nurse Korra holding up?

    Did it hurt to bellylaugh today when you heard the Roseanne news?

  47. 47.

    Brachiator

    @rikyrah:

    Grocery Store Cashier Shames Woman on WIC, Won’t Allow Customer to Help Pay: ‘They Keep Getting Handouts’

    I remember when charity was a Christian duty. And a lot of these goobers insist that they are Christians, trying to keep the country Christian. Or something.

  48. 48.

    Duane

    It’s a great day! Roseanne Barr and Missouri Governor Greitens are both out on their sociopathic ass. Keep the line moving, folks!

  49. 49.

    opiejeanne

    @rikyrah: I don’t know why she (the white lady) didn’t call the manager over while she was still in the store and raise a stink. “I want to buy these items and your cashier is refusing to let me pay for them, and what I do with them after I’ve paid for them is none of your damned business!” I probably would have asked the WIC lady to just hang on a minute while I sorted it out with them.
    I don’t buy the story that the manager can’t fire the checker.

    Read this about four hours ago and I’m still pretty damned mad, can you tell?

  51. 51.

    encephalopath

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Conservatives are pissed that their boycotts don’t work very well.

    I think their biggest problem is that they don’t understand the Spocko Method. By and large the Left doesn’t do boycotts anymore because they aren’t actually effective. Consumer choice doesn’t mean all that much to the big picture. Instead, they go visit the advertisers. Show the advertisers what the crazies on the right are up to and ask, “Is this what you want your brand to be associated with?”

    When they look at what the crazies on the right are actually saying the answer is often NO.

  52. 52.

    TenguPhule

    @Duane:

    Roseanne Barr and Missouri Governor Greitens are both out on their sociopathic ass. Keep the line moving, folks!

    2 down, 62 million more to go.

  57. 57.

    Gelfling 545

    @Corner Stone: I can’t even imagine that management wouldn’t prefer to have items paid for by no matter whom. Their objective is to get the money in and the goods out after all.

  58. 58.

    Elizabelle

    Requesting a moment to think of a far better person than Roseanne or Greitens:

    RIP to “Eddison “Eddie” Hermond, a National Guard sergeant who went missing after he tried to rescue a woman trapped by the rapidly rising water on Sunday.” Maryland National Guardsman, aged 39. WaPost story on the flooding; not much on Sgt. Hermond.

    He was swept away and drowned in Sunday’s catastrophic Ellicott City floods (near Baltimore). Tried to assist a woman in danger (she survived, was never in the water) and was carried away.

    Selfless and gentle man, too soon gone. His last act was on behalf of someone else.

  59. 59.

    opiejeanne

    @rikyrah: You were up earlier than I was I think, but I did spot it first thing and then it disappeared, absolutely swamped by the Roseanne outrage. Took me a while to locate the story again.

  60. 60.

    MisterForkbeard

    @rikyrah: That was my take, too.

    This is who Trump supporters are. I’m sure they’re more outraged that Barr is being ‘attacked’ than being upset about the certifiable comments she made.

  62. 62.

    Mandalay

    @Brachiator:

    I remember when charity was a Christian duty.

    It’s not the case any more apparently.

    Last week Pew published the results of a poll which asked whether the United States has a responsibility to accept refugees. Among all demographics the category with the lowest support for that idea was Evangelicals – only 25% agreed!

  63. 63.

    opiejeanne

    @debbie: If you read the article she did call the store and complain to the manager, who says firing is not within his power.

  64. 64.

    opiejeanne

    @Corner Stone: (I’ve never had a beef with you, except for your harsh comments to Mnemosyne last week. I don’t know what that’s about and don’t care because I like her a lot)

  65. 65.

    rikyrah

    Jarrett Hill
    ✔
    @JarrettHill

    For mad conservatives who feel like Roseanne should be able to tweet what she wants and keep her show “because: first amendment”…

    Where were you when Black men wanted to be able to take a knee and not be reprimanded for it by the NFL?

    I’ll hold for how “this is different…”
    1:25 PM – May 29, 2018

  67. 67.

    debbie

    @debbie:

    Hmm.

    “When I got up to the cashier,” Carroll said, “I said, ‘Well, were you trying to protect me from someone who is a usual customer who abuses the system?’ She goes, ‘No, she gets a free handout. She gets her groceries for free, she doesn’t need anyone else supporting her.’ I said, ‘That’s very judgemental of you. That’s not OK. You know, you need to have more compassion for people.'”

    But it didn’t stop there, Carrol said.

    “(The cashier) piped in with, ‘That’s whye they have babies, so they’re getting all the free stuff.’ And that’s when I said for the second time, ‘That’s very judgemental.'”

    When she got home she called the manager at Albertson’s, who was very nice.

    “He was very, I think, genuine in his concern and he said he will talk to her. I actually did a follow-up call with him yesterday and he said he did talk with her.”

    I don’t know Albertsons, but they’re pretty mealy mouthed.

  68. 68.

    MomSense

    @Elizabelle:

    She’s so sweet. Earlier today she was playing fetch with herself. Now we are sitting on the deck listening to the birds and enjoying the breeze through the sprinkler.

  71. 71.

    Marcopolo

    I’ve been having to focus on preparing the FIRST fresh wild AK salmon of the season (ginger/lemon/garlic) but let me take one minute to say everybody (not just those of us in MO) find some way to celebrate today’s small victories. Back to the midterm election trenches tomorrow.

    Have a goodnight all!

  72. 72.

    zhena gogolia

    @debbie:

    I believe it. We have Stop & Shop, and my impression the manager can’t do j–k s–t unless somebody in Amsterdam approves it first.

  75. 75.

    MomSense

    @Mary G:

    Thanks. I felt better and then I think I did too much. So far the trend is up but I need to be more patient.

  76. 76.

    p.a.

    Hell, beside the obvious human decency/store gets some $ angle, letting the next customer do the decent thing would move the fucking line along !!!

  77. 77.

    Elizabelle

    The Baltimore Sun had more on Sgt. Hermond:

    On Friday morning, Sgt. Eddison A. Hermond, “Eddie,” to his friends, wrote what would be one of his last Facebook posts.

    “Okay kiddos, it’s Friday and the start of Memorial Day weekend,” he began. “Let’s get the hate out of our hearts. Focus on the positives and let’s all, for once, enjoy life as it’s meant to be enjoyed. Whatever your pleasure is … just be happy. We’re free because people gave their lives for us to live this way.”

    His friends loved it so much, one asked if he would make the post “public,” so that she could share it with her friends, too. Another friend commented to thank Hermond for his service.

    “Wrong holiday,” he corrected her. Sure, he was a veteran and member of the Maryland National Guard, but Memorial Day was for fallen heroes, not him. Not yet.

    Two days later, a massive flood hit historic Ellicott City. Local shop owner Kate Bowman was stranded. She told The Baltimore Sun that Hermond, 39, tried to rescue her.

    “I could barely see anything and I could barely hear anything” because the waters were so loud, the 41-year-old Bowman said through tears Monday night. “He stepped over the ledge to try to get to me, and he was washed away.”

    He was a hero, she said.

    … Hermond joined the Maryland Army National Guard in 2009 … He enlisted in the Air Force in 1996 and served more than a decade on active duty.

    ….Hermond was one of the original employees of Victoria Gastro Pub when the Columbia restaurant opened 11 years ago. [The owner] said Hermond worked in his restaurants when he wasn’t on active duty, and worked his way up from server to bartender to manager.

    … “He died like he lived, as an example of selflessness. We should all be so brave,” said [another friend] James Hammond. “I think that for those of us who know him, we feel that if he was here right now and the circumstances were the same, that he would do it all over again. He is a selfless kind of guy, as most heroes are.”

    Gathered with some of Hermond’s friends at Victoria Gastro Pub on Monday, Beth Czyryca said she knew Hermond for a decade.

    “He’s the nicest person in the world,” she said. “He always has a great big smile on his face. …

    “I’m not surprised that he would be acting as a hero and jump right in to help.”

  78. 78.

    rikyrah

    Zerlina Maxwell
    ‏Verified account @ZerlinaMaxwell
    5h5 hours ago

    If you are a white journalist and you are using “racially charged” to describe an incident where a white woman called a black woman an ape you should probably seek out a new profession. Words aren’t your thing.
    113 replies 2,520 retweets 10,870 likes

    Zerlina Maxwell
    ‏Verified account @ZerlinaMaxwell

    I sometimes wonder what white people would consider racism because we’re always told [insert description of the incident] isn’t racist and that Black people are overreacting.
    10:21 AM – 29 May 2018

  79. 79.

    MisterForkbeard

    @debbie: Having worked in corporate before, it’s more likely that the manager can’t do anything directly but CAN refer the problem to HR/Legal and let them take care of it. In general, large corporations don’t want managers taking unilateral action on potentially hot-button issues. If the manager says “I don’t think this was acceptable, and I’ve told the franchise about it” that’s pretty decent behavior.

  80. 80.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @rikyrah:

    (Repeated from the thread below.)

    Valerie Jarrett is a class act:

    Valerie Jarrett, former adviser to President Barack Obama, responded to actress Roseanne Barr’s comment referring to her as an “ape” on Tuesday, saying ABC made the right decision in canceling its hit sitcom starring the actress.

    “First of all, I think we have to turn it into a teaching moment. I’m fine. I’m worried about all the people out there who don’t have a circle of friends and followers coming to their defense,” Jarrett said during a town hall on MSNBC called “Everyday Racism in America.”

    When asked if ABC made the right call in canceling the sitcom “Roseanne,” Jarrett said that the network did and that Bob Iger, the chief executive officer of Disney, had called her before the announcement.
    Iger apologized, Jarrett said, adding that he told her there would be zero tolerance for those types of comments.

    “He wanted me to know before he made it public that he was canceling the show,” she said.

  81. 81.

    debbie

    @MomSense:

    I need to be more patient

    The hardest part of any recovery! Glad it’s at least heading in the right direction.

  83. 83.

    Steeplejack

    @NotMax:

    Missed the doc, at least partly because, I have to admit, I saw a lengthy interview with Rose Marie some years ago where she was almost monomaniacal on the point that she and (to a much lesser extent) Morey Amsterdam were the real stars of The Dick Van Dyke Show. WTF? I chalked it up to an old performer sort of stewing in memories of her heyday. But still.

    Not to take away anything from her great talent and contributions to the show, but that was trippy, to say the least.

  86. 86.

    Cckids

    @rikyrah:
    People. What a bunch of bastards.

    Speaking as a part-time cashier at a grocery store, people really feel free to show their ass-ness there. Our store devotes about 2 hours of training on how vital WIC and EBT is to the bottom line, and how important it is to treat people well. The process for dealing with WIC in WA is a pain, but that’s not the customer’s fault.
    In this horrible story, the woman using WIC may have just wanted to get out, and been unwilling to continue the confrontation. In my experience, most people using WIC try to come in during non-busy times, let people ahead of them in line, etc. They try to not draw attention. It’s obvious they feel like second-class citizens, and it’s just infuriating.

    Moving food stamps/EBT to a debit card was the best thing to avoid the shaming from busybodies. WIC needs to go that way too.

  87. 87.

    rikyrah

    Jeff Gauvin
    ‏ @JeffersonObama

    I’ve been on Twitter since 2009 and Republicans have Tweeted Gorilla Michelle Obama pictures thousands of times. These vile pics are meant to denigrate successful black people and boost the unremarkable lives of racists.
    2:35 PM – 29 May 2018

  88. 88.

    JPL

    @debbie: This is years ago, but once when I was shopping at Kroger’s one of their stockers was yucking it up with another person about blacks getting killed at a concert in Atlanta. I went to the front desk and told my story to the manager. Just by happenstance the next time I was in the store I heard a cashier and a bag boy mention something about the man getting fired. The bag boy said he was a real jerk anyway. Some stores take action.

  92. 92.

    NotMax

    @Steeplejack

    That was addressed. Suffice it to say that she and Carl Reiner held different conceptions as to what the focus of the show was (and what she thought was implied when she signed on), but not in a nasty acrimonious way. And once America went gaga over Mary Tyler Moore’s capri pants, the matter became moot.

    Good comprehensive documentary; too dang many commercials on MeTV, though. Strange choice to run it as a premiere at 11 p.m.

  93. 93.

    Elizabelle

    How strange. Just heard an NPR top of the hour recap. Not a word about Greitens impending resignation or Roseanne. News was heavy on foreign and business stuff. Very strange.

  95. 95.

    J R in WV

    A repost of a very late comment on our very first Roseanne thread… here:

    The minute I woke up and saw Betty Cracker’s post about Roseanne Barr, I instantly went to ABC.com’s contact page and sent them a message that I would only be watching their programming in order to select advertisers to boycott. Before I could post my comment on Betty’s post, the B-J squirrels went on strike and the DB error started.

    But I’m taking credit for the quickest, most effective activist boycott in the history of modern political thought!!! Sent to ABC, and ABC called Roseanne and fired that bigot cold. Awesome!

    I bet I wasn’t the first boycott promise they got, either. ‘Cause we sleep late sometimes. I was up really late last night, went to bed at 12 after the news and such. Got back up at 1:30 and spent a couple of hours surfing and reading, had a snack, went back to bed, laid there restlessly until probably 4. So I did my boycott message as soon as I could. Won’t look for her racist tweet, don’t need it will take Betty’s word for it.

    I wish I had a copy of my message to ABC, they have a limit on the length of messages, so I had to deletd an adjective here to add information there, it kept me succinct, if you know what I mean. Lean AND mean! But polite and professional.

    Plus:
    @Michael Bersin:

    Missouri Governor Eric Greitens (r) announced at around 4:20 p.m. today that he would resign his office effective Friday, June 1st at 5:00 p.m. Lieutenant Governor Mike Parson (r) will be sworn in as governor.

    Today’s Missouri House Special Investigative Committee on Oversight hearing had a full day of testimony on Greitens’ campaign finance issues from an individual who worked for him early in his campaign.

    Missouri House Special Investigative Committee on Oversight – Michael Hafner – afternoon

    One of the money quotes:

    “You don’t expect someone with a degree in ethics to acquire a [501c(3) charity donor] list by other than lawful means.”

    I saw him talking on the evening news, and there was no trace of apology in him… he was full of self justification, refused to admit he had done anything wrong, was full of the vast left wing conspiracy against his family. In other words, he hasn’t learned anything from his situation whatsoever! Still a dirty bird!! But will never hold office again, so there’s that. Perhaps unemployable as well.

    I guess if you have no self respect there’s always the right wing grift career, right?

  96. 96.

    Alain the site fixer

    Folks,
    I’m doing a little performance analysis to see if I can make the site a bit less memory-intensive. I won’t be making changes tonight, just running some analytics and planning. Sorry for any bumps.

  98. 98.

    khead

    I’ve been really busy and now I’m too tired to go through three threads of comments. So here’s my Roseanne take. Apologies to whoever got there before me…..

    Wow. Roseanne sure does have a lot of economic anxiety for a person worth 50+ million dollars. In related news, Sara Gilbert, Whitney Cummings and Wanda Sykes are shocked – SHOCKED – to find that gambling is going on in here.

  100. 100.

    trollhattan

    @encephalopath:
    Better than boycotting goods is going after advertisers and corporations directly. Ask the NRA and Fox how effective the Stoneman Douglas kids have been.

  101. 101.

    Shell

    VConservatives are pissed that their boycotts don’t work very well.

    Actually they work great; just the opposite in what they intended.

  103. 103.

    coin operated

    @rikyrah:

    “‘No! You’re not going to do that. She has WIC. She gets her free stuff.’”

    Anecdotal. Back in the 80s I got stationed at Ft Polk. I was a scrawny beanpole as were my kids…so much so that some jackhole reported my ex and I to Louisiana child welfare services for being potential child abusers with undernourished kids. The investigator took one look at our family photo album and knew there wasn’t a case, but from there on out we were ordered to participate in WIC as protection against another report.

    phuck that cashier.

    Edited for brevity

  104. 104.

    RSA

    I think the comic is accurate as far as our system goes. For what it’s worth, conservatives have posted the same comic in connection with Colin Kaepernick’s actions. It’s the content of the speech that makes the difference in our judgment of right or wrong, I think.

  105. 105.

    Corner Stone

    @coin operated:

    The investigator took one look at our family photo album and knew there wasn’t a case,

    Good thing they didn’t look behind that one false brick on the fireplace mantle and find the real album…

  108. 108.

    Corner Stone

    Bob Costa looks creepy after losing all that weight. I hope he is well.

  109. 109.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @Mary G: I am just tired of all of us having to call Congress and beg them not to kill us.

  114. 114.

    Roger Moore

    @Gelfling 545:

    I can’t even imagine that management wouldn’t prefer to have items paid for by no matter whom. Their objective is to get the money in and the goods out after all.

    And part of that “get the money in and the goods out” is having the line move, which also wasn’t happening while the cashier was engaged in her racist rant. It’s just a fail any way you look at it.

  115. 115.

    TenguPhule

    @Baud:

    I thought they were out of reconciliations for the year.

    We thought that about CHIP funding too.

    They found a way to work around it.

  116. 116.

    MomSense

    @JPL:
    Ha! That is one of the scariest books/films especially if you live in Maine or know Maine well. I can think of about a dozen women who could easily be the model for that character.

  118. 118.

    TenguPhule

    @Baud: Trump killed Chip funding by not actually spending the money, then submitted to Congress an amended spending plan saying that Chip funding should be removed from the budget because he didn’t allow the agency to spend it. This allows Republicans to repeal the funding on a simple majority vote.

  119. 119.

    Mary G

    @Cheryl Rofer: I know, it is so wearying. But it seems like a major mistake on their part. The more we talked about losing Medicaid, and the disabled ADAPT people were shown being hauled of our the halls of Congress, the better the Democrats were doing. This is our issue. Let them bring it up again at their peril.

    The Freedumb Caucus seems completely unable to keep its members from going on the TV and saying things that Republicans used to not say out loud, and I really believe with the rate increases already baked in to come out right before midterms, they are putting their feet in the mouths and need to be encouraged to bite them right off.

  120. 120.

    Corner Stone

    Along with being an access “journalist” extraodinaire, apparently Jonathan Swan of Axios is a full on nutjob as well. Tweety, of all people, just pinned him down on reporting on conspiracy theories out of the WH.

  122. 122.

    imonlylurking

    I have just discovered a very dangerous thing. There is an organization called Friends of Pine Ridge. (Yes, THAT Pine Ridge!) I just spent a whole lot of money buying shoes and socks and bedding for some of their drives, and I didn’t even notice the book drives! I can see where my donation money will be going for a while.

  123. 123.

    YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)

    @Baud: I thought that was for FY 2018 and it will be open season on the Budget for FY 2019 soon, but I don’t know. I doubt that the proposers are parliamentary experts either or may just be shooting for “we would have passed it but for those meddlesome Dems” ads for the midterms.

  125. 125.

    TenguPhule

    @Baud:

    You can’t repeal Obamacare through that process either.

    But they can keep chipping away at its foundations.

  126. 126.

    Matt McIrvin

    @RSA: The NFL firing protesters may not be a First Amendment violation, but it’s worth noting that they’re dependent on a whole lot of support from governmental entities. If Trump is going to exert pressure on them in one direction, it might be interesting for the governments that fund public stadiums to exert a different kind of pressure.

  128. 128.

    mattH

    This isn’t the first time Bob Iger has had to deal with fallout from Roseanne; he was the head of ABC’s Entertainment division in 1990 when the original run had barely started:

    Robert A. Iger, the president of the ABC entertainment division, said in an interview on Monday that he was not concerned about the future of the show or about reports of difficulties dealing with Ms. Barr’s demands, which included a request to fire a producer and to alter the personality of her character.
    […]

    ”I think my concern is not as strong as the press thinks it should be,” Mr. Iger said. ”I’ve met with Roseanne, and she expressed to me in a very effective way that she cares deeply about the show.”

    […]

    ABC’s concerns about Ms. Barr are tied to many well-publicized incidents, including most recently the breakup of both her marriage and her engagement to a writer of the show. There were several instances in which she supposedly dropped her pants in public. One ABC executve[sic] said the network had received mail about the so-called mooning incidents, incidents Ms. Barr has neither confirmed nor denied. But Mr. Iger said, ”A little too much has been said and written about Roseanne.” He added, ”I haven’t been mooned.”

    He knew what he was getting into, I just think it finally blew up in his face with so many of the staff leaving or preparing to leave, and he didn’t have as much leeway after having to put out fires for one short season already.

  131. 131.

    Duane

    @TenguPhule: 62 million? Tumbrels won’t be enough. Trains and semi- trucks will work better.
    Sadly, Barr and Greitens will be on the wingnut tour tomorrow. They have no morals left. Greitens, with a degree in ethics from Duke. HA!

  134. 134.

    hilts

    @Elizabelle:

    Did NPR mention the Harvard study concerning the death toll from Hurricane maria in Puerto Rico?

    Roseanne Barr is a racist asshole and I’m glad ABC cancelled her show, but the lead story of the day should be the actual death toll from Hurricane Maria.

    Because we live in the cult of celebrity, today it’s wall to wall coverage of Roseanne and this important Harvard study will register barely a footnote.

  135. 135.

    Elizabelle

    @hilts: I am not sure they did, in that broadcast. But I think I did hear that at some point.

    Didn’t spend much time with NPR today. I listen for the music (jazz now) and classical other times.

  139. 139.

    JPL

    I watched a few minutes of the asshole and the dems are taking away the 2nd amendment and Ms 13. It might be me but he seems more unhinged than he normally is.

    @Steve in the SFO: Is your real name Carmen Sandiego?

  141. 141.

    Ohio Mom

    @Cheryl Rofer: I was just thinking earlier today that this summer is shaping up to be much nicer than last summer, when I started most weekdays with angry calls to my two Republican Congressmen, and then stewed in a bad mood for the rest of the morning.

    It’s sounding like deja vue all over again.

  142. 142.

    Mike in NC

    Left Tampa this morning with a rental car and made stops in Ocala and Palatka before arriving in St Augustine, where it suddenly is raining like mad. Will take the Old Town Trolley Tour in the morning no matter the weather forecast. First time visiting Florida where there was next to no sunshine all week.

    Savoring the report about Roseanne tonight.

  144. 144.

    JPL

    @chris: Thank you for mentioning that since I could only listen for a few minutes. After I closed down cbsn the asshole attacked McCain.

  149. 149.

    Peale

    It’s Tuesday, so you know somewhere in a D.C. watering hole, a three-star general, who made a career out of ways to get weapons to nebulous rebels in far off countries that elected governments who were thinking of confiscating the property of US MNCs, is meeting with the 30-year head of the secretive justice department branch that is responsible for infiltrating environmentalist groups, and their friend, The head of Procucement at the NSA, the same as they’ve done every Tuesday for 20 years…and tonight they’re wondering in awe at the kinds of power the Missouri Deep State has that they don’t have.

  150. 150.

    JPL

    @Cheryl Rofer: From my two minutes of watching, he does appear to be more confused. The folks behind him didn’t appear to react to some of his rants. As I said it was only two minutes.

  153. 153.

    Platonailedit

    The nutjob ranting again at his TN rednecks rally. I can’t even take it after a minute. How the deplorables stand it for hours beats me.

  154. 154.

    JPL

    Okay I put on CBSN and he is bragging about only spending 400,000 on the embassy in Jerusalem and the folks like that. It has the finest marble and jewels and all that.
    Now onto Iran

  156. 156.

    hilts

    @The Lodger:

    Glad to hear that NPR covered that story. It sucks that Trump won’t be held accountable by the media for Hurricane Maria in light of the Harvard study because they’re too fucking busy talking about Roseanne Barr.

  159. 159.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Duane: @JPL: that one’s on Alain. Phone says “ATL” at the moment.

    This weekend though I will be Steve at Lake Oconee. Dry enough to golf? TBD!

  160. 160.

    TenguPhule

    Locked and loaded for the Lord: A tale of family, theology and the AR-15

    Really, Wapo? You have to troll us with this on your front page now?

  163. 163.

    chris

    What happened to those psychiatrists and their “duty to report?” The man’s obviously off his rocker.

  167. 167.

    TenguPhule

    Palestinians in Gaza launch biggest rocket barrage in years, then claim they have agreed to cease-fire

    Sirens rang in southern Israeli cities and towns throughout Tuesday as a continuous barrage of mortars and rockets was launched from the Gaza Strip — followed by an announcement by Palestinian militants that they had agreed to a cease-fire.

    The assault was believed to be the biggest of its kind in four years.

    Israeli police said that militants from the Islamic Jihad group fired 130 projectiles, apparently in retaliation for Israel’s killing of three guerrillas on Sunday. The Israeli military gave a lower figure of 70.

    The three guerrillas were killed after a bomb was planted on the border fence between Gaza and Israel, the site of weeks of Palestinian protest.

    Round and round we go on the hamster wheel of insanity.

  168. 168.

    Patricia Kayden

    @TS (the original): What racists need to realize is that they can’t copy Trump. Trump can get away with nonsense which has serious consequences for his chump followers in the real world. Roseanne (and her cast mates) have just learned that lesson all too well.

  169. 169.

    raven

    My bride had her first official day of retirement and we’re packing up for the beach. We were going to go yesterday but, luckily, we rent a house from friends so they gracefully let us delay to miss Alberto. It will be more crowded than we like but I have’t fished since November so I’m happy.

  173. 173.

    JPL

    @raven: Enjoy. If you have more fish than you can devour, stop by and leave some with me on your return trip.

  174. 174.

    some guy

    @Mike in NC:

    Barnacle Bill’s is an amazing and affordable seafood restaurant, up the street from Ripley’s. Osteen’s (205 Anastasia Blvd, St Augustine) is AMAZING but expect a wait. Cap’s is on the tidal river on the north side beach, Vilano, which is worth a visit for classic Florida cracker food in a great setting. The surf is best at Vilano and at the Pier. The small museum in the Govt House is cool, as is the art museum across the street at Flagler College. A1A Brwqhouse , across from Bridge of Lions is also very good. Though it might seem cheesy, the Alligator Farm is fun for kids of all ages. Have fun.

  177. 177.

    Corner Stone

    @rikyrah: I agree. I thought he looked more, I don’t know what the word is, forceful(?) with 25 more pounds on him. But he, IMO, does not look as healthy right now. That’s why I am hoping he’s cutting weight for some reason of his own, and not a health issue. Even though I don’t know him I do find him to be more direct and less shady than a few others.

  178. 178.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Mary G: Imagine being so intent on taking away affordable healthcare from millions of your fellow citizens. They are sick people.

  179. 179.

    TenguPhule

    @some guy:

    Though it might seem cheesy, the Alligator Farm is fun for kids of all ages.

    I take it you don’t like kids for some reason?

  182. 182.

    some guy

    @TenguPhule:

    I have two. I was married on the beach at Augustine, and we visit 10-15 times a year. It’s where my son and daughter learned to surf, and where the official 4th grade field trip is held.

  185. 185.

    Elizabelle

    @raven: I appreciated your telling me about American Beach. Have been there twice now, and was touched by its beauty and history.

    Happy fishing trip! Look out fish.

  186. 186.

    raven

    @Mike in NC: Read fast

    American Beach was founded in 1935 by Florida’s first black millionaire, Abraham Lincoln Lewis, and his Afro-American Life Insurance Company.[4] The plan was for his employees to have a place to vacation and own homes for their families by the shore.[3] Throughout the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, summers at American Beach were busy with families, churches and children. It was a place where African Americans could enjoy “Recreation and Relaxation Without Humiliation”. The beach included hotels, restaurants, and nightclubs as well as homes and other businesses.[5]

    American Beach played host to numerous celebrities during this period, including: folklorist Zora Neale Hurston, singer Billie Daniels, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Billy Eckstein, Hank Aaron, Joe Louis, actor Ossie Davis, and Sherman Hemsley . James Brown was actually turned away from performing outside Evans’ Rendezvous, a nightclub on the beach. In 1964, American Beach was hit hard by Hurricane Dora, and many homes and buildings were destroyed. The passage of the Civil Rights Act that same year desegregated the beaches of Florida, and American Beach became a less and less popular vacation destination as more African American Jacksonvillians turned to locations nearer their homes.[6]

  189. 189.

    Corner Stone

    @TenguPhule: I feel a similar way about alligators as I do about lava flows. It’s all fun and games until one gets behind you.

  190. 190.

    some guy

    the surfing at American is really good. it is still predominantly AA community, but in Augustine there is also lots of AA history. The houses Dr. King hid in when he was leading the struggle in the city iare still pointed out by the tour guides on the trolley tours. and Frank Butler Beach is Augustine’s version of American. if you head north towards American t be sure to also check out Little Talbot Island, a bit further north, but its is one of our natural gems here in the “Sunshine” state.

  193. 193.

    L85NJGT

    Co-showrunner Whitney Cummings bailed last week. I’m guessing this wasn’t a surprise to the cast and crew, or anyone at Disney. Either she had been warned and ignored it, and\or the pattern of behavior was so egregious, that this outcome was self-evident.

  194. 194.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @raven:

    Perhaps I should go back and read the thread (long phone conversation with The Brother I Hardly Ever Talk To), but when do you leave for your fishing trip?

  196. 196.

    some guy

    @Corner Stone:

    Love/hate. a 10 and a 11 year old. kids. would die for mine, sometimes want to kill mine. fortunately the former always outweighs the latter

  197. 197.

    Anotherlurker

    @raven: Get ready for a great Red Snapper season. I’ve got a couple of local ARS trip book, in June. My last offshore trip, I boated and live-released a 25lb+ Red Snapper.

  199. 199.

    raven

    @Anotherlurker: Yea, I kind of wanted to go on AJ and Red Snapper trips but they are telling me no one want to go on an AJ trip the last day of the season this Thursday. Last year when I went not much was in season but a dude snagged a snapper that looked to be about 30 but all we had was the head after a big ass shark wacked it! Where do you go out of,I’m going to Destin.

  202. 202.

    Aleta

    This is about the murder of Babchenko, but also about T’s rally tonight.

    In March of this year, Babchenko was in NYC at an anti-Putin meeting called PutinCon. He spoke along with others at one session. Program description of that session:

    How did Putin take a democratic country and turn it into a dictatorship with a cult of personality? This session will cover how Russia went from being a “friend” of the free world to a “designated enemy.” It will focus on Putin’s consolidation of power and how Russia lost its way, including an overview of the 1999 apartment bombings in Moscow, the Chechen War, the destruction of independent media, and the destruction of independent business. Finally, the session’s speakers will discuss the free world’s lack of action while this transition to authoritarianism occurred.

    Some coverage of the meeting is here.

    The security at the New World Stages theater in midtown Manhattan on Friday was quite heavy, but you would expect that for a gathering of enemies of one of the world’s most dangerous men: Russian President Vladimir Putin. Sponsored by the Human Rights Foundation, PutinCon was the first event of its kind — a meeting of dissidents and journalists; of people who’ve been robbed by the Kremlin; of former soldiers who’ve seen too much; of prosecutors and politicians who know too —much; of Russians and Europeans and Americans (North and South) who had enough of Putin’s interference and violence.

    To be American is to have the luxury of not having to know how Putin turns people into “others.” This is one of the most important pieces of what Putin’s enemies had to explain, and it was best articulated by Arkady Babchenko, a renowned Russian journalist who fought in the second Chechen War.

    (Description of how Putin came to power after bombs were blamed on Chechen separatists, in 1999.)

    Once in office, Putin set about (—) dehumanizing the Chechens. Babchenko (when he was in the army) was told the Chechens were evil, that any Chechen ages 10 to 60 was a threat to “kill, kill, kill.” “Putin’s main weapon is propaganda,” Babchenko said. “He knows how to make people into zombies.” He did it in Georgia in 2008, and he did it in Ukraine in 2014.

    “Today, Russians hate you,” said Babchenko, referring to Americans. Putin, running out of Russian money to steal and people to blame for it, has turned his great propaganda machine on the US. That is why he is our (Americans’) problem now.

    An American journalist named David Satter was on the ground in 1999 at the time the four bombs went off (different times, killing hundreds). As the government blamed Chechen separatists, the independent press — then still active — told a different story.

    The bombs were planted by Russia’s security force, the FSB. Yeltsin had appointed Putin head of the FSB in 1998. This was painfully clear when the fifth bomb mercifully did not detonate. The FSB, whose fingerprints were all over the situation, tried to tell people that the bomb was a test, a drill.

    Satter said (that was) the moment we should’ve known Putin had to be stopped. But in 1999, Yeltsin was so weak, and it looked as if the Communists might return to power. And so we, the free world, turned a blind eye to state-sponsored domestic terrorism.

    It was, Satter said, an affirmation of the idea that, to Putin, “the individual counts for nothing.”

  203. 203.

    different-church-lady

    Be excellent to each other….

    At this point just being decent is taking up most of my energy.

  204. 204.

    Anotherlurker

    @raven: I sail out of Tarpon Springs, on the GulfStar. They are very pricy, but they limit the load on most multi-day trips to 10 to 19 Anglers, depending on the trip and the boat. . All food, bait (live and dead), non-alcoholic beverages are included. I cut my teeth in LI Sound and Montauk. I love deepwater fishing. The deepwater trips can be amazing. Tilefish, Snappers Grouper are all targets. I will do a Pully Ridge trip in August/Sept. Pully Ridge is another storied fishing ground that I need to add to my “has fished” list. I’ve fished New England, The Canyons East of Montauk, North Carolina, Florida, Gulf of Alaska, San Diego long range. I’m 66. My life was destroyed by Superstorm Sandy. I will indulge myself with these trips every other month, or so. You only live once. Eh?
    (On the multi trips, you keep 2 to 3 day limits, depending on the trip. Plenty of good eating.)
    Have fun however you fish. I expect reports from you, Sir.

  205. 205.

    Aleta

    @Aleta:
    Around April 5th, from website of Mikhail Khodorkovsky:

    The Primorsky Regional Court dismissed an appeal against the arrest of Dmitry Tretyakov, who has been accused of inciting extremism after reposting a public message by the journalist Arkady Babchenko on popular Russian messaging app Telegram.

    The court is attempting to prosecute Tretyakov under Article 280 of the Russian Criminal Code, an increasingly common legal instrument used to prosecute and sometimes imprison opposition activists who are involved in public demonstrations. Tretyakov, a 31-year-old practicing lawyer and supporter of Alexey Navalny, was initially put under arrest for two months on March 16 by the Frunzensky District Court in Vladivostok on suspicion of “inciting extremism.”(—)

    On June 13 2017 Dmitry Tretyakov reposted a message in a Telegram chat channel (—) which the court considered “a public space accessible by an unlimited number of people” and therefore was deemed by ‘experts’ to be an “incitement to extremist activity”.

    The court’s team of ‘psychological-linguistic experts’ established that the message had been reposted from the Telegram channel of the well-known journalist Arkady Babchenko on June 13 2017. According to the court ‘experts’, the message contained “signs that suggest an appeal to violent and destructive actions,” in particular the court underlined that this could take the form of a “protest demonstration”.

    Russian security services have put heavy pressure on the owners of independent messaging applications in recent months to surrender their privacy and encryption keys in the name of fighting terrorism. Telegram has warned of multiple attempts by the FSB and Roskomnadzor (the Russian communications watchdog) to force Telegram to hand over its users’ data and chat history in the interest of public safety.

  207. 207.

    Mike in NC

    @raven: This sounds very much like Atlantic Beach, a predominantly African-American beach area close to Myrtle Beach, SC. People (whites, that is) still loudly complain about Black Biker Week every year but not so much about other biker events that happen each summer. Go figure.

  208. 208.

    jk

    @Elizabelle:

    Thanks, I’d like to see someone ask Sarah Huckabee Sanders about this study. Our Ratfucker in Chief needs to be held accountable for his pathetic response to this tragedy.

  209. 209.

    TS (the original)

    @raven: Enjoy every minute of the beach – and the retirement. I find it the only time of life when – occasionally – your own life is the main act :)

  210. 210.

    TS (the original)

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Trump can get away with nonsense which has serious consequences for his chump followers

    Which was just discussed on Lawrence’s show. Why could trump attack President Obama with racism while retaining his show on NBC.

    Was/Is he really that powerful? or just a con man.

  212. 212.

    Aleta

    In Feb 2017, Babchenko wrote in the Guardian about the government-coordinated propaganda and harrassment that convinced him to leave Russia for Ukraine. He’s been a dissident for many years, but the harassment campaign he describes started after a facebook post he had written at the end of Dec 2016.

    (He had returned and was living in Kiev when murdered. I had read that his life was in danger and he had protections in place. And he wore a bulletproof vest most of the time.)

    I can tell you what political harassment feels like in Putin’s Russia. Like many dissidents I am used to abuse, but a recent campaign against me was so personal, so scary, that I was forced to flee.

    Two months ago, a Russian plane transporting the world-famous military choir Alexandrov Ensemble crashed into the Black Sea en route to Syria. They were travelling to perform for pilots involved in Russia’s air campaign on Aleppo.

    I wrote a post about this on Facebook. I didn’t call for anything or insult anyone. I just reminded my readers that Russia was indiscriminately bombing Aleppo, without recognising that dozens of children were dying in those bombs, their photographs making their way around the world. I also called Russia an aggressor.

    Then he describes the timeline of harassment from different, coordinated sources.

  213. 213.

    Aleta

    @Aleta:

    Hari Kunzru @harikunzru

    Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko was shot dead today.
    Americans in particular should be chilled by this account of the government-directed hate campaign that forced him to flee.
    Every element is now present in the US, just less developed.

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