Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

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

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

đŸŽ¶ Those boots were made for mockin’ đŸŽ”

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

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

After roe, women are no longer free.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.

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

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

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

All your base are belong to Tunch.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

A Senator Walker would also be an insult to reason, rationality, and decency.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

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

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Reports of his demise…

Reports of his demise…

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Via TPM, here’s a crazy story out of Ukraine about a Russian journalist (and Kremlin critic) who was reported killed yesterday:

Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko turned up at a news conference in the Ukrainian capital Wednesday less than 24 hours after police reported he had been shot and killed at his Kiev apartment building. The country’s security services said Babchenko’s death was faked to foil a plot to take his life.

Ukrainian police said Tuesday that Babchenko, a strong critic of the Kremlin, was shot multiple times in the back Tuesday and found bleeding there by his wife. Authorities said they suspected he was killed because of his work.

Vasyl Gritsak, head of the Ukrainian Security Service, announced at a news conference Wednesday that the security agency and the police had solved Babchenko’s slaying. He then startled everyone there by inviting the 41-year-old reporter into the room.

To the applause and gasps of the press, Babchenko took the floor and apologized to the friends and family who mourned for him and were unaware of the plan.

“I’m still alive,” he said.

Ukrainian investigators detected an assassination plot and faked the journalist’s death to foil it, then arrested the conspirators. Maybe all countries targeted by Russia need to get more creative to keep Putin’s henchmen from acting with impunity.

Reader Interactions

153Comments

  3. 3.

    rikyrah

    Cohen’s not having a good day:

    At Michael Cohen hearing, Judge Wood tells defense lawyers to pick up the pace on privilege review, threatens to turn review over to DOJ “taint team” https://t.co/ibBG1xZv91

    — Alison Frankel (@AlisonFrankel) May 30, 2018

  4. 4.

    Jeffro

    This is just getting weirder by the day. To the aliens or extra-dimensional creatures for which we are providing entertainment, could you please change the channel? Kthxbai

  6. 6.

    Gin & Tonic

    Most people in Ukraine are lauding this as a genius move. A lot of people outside Ukraine are saying it is boneheaded because it undermines the very nature of reporting and truth.

  7. 7.

    Elizabelle

    @rikyrah: Yes. It’s sounding like a Patricia Cornwell novel. (She started losing me with that plot twist many novels back. Now she is unreadable, IMHO. Bring on the Michael Connelly. Who, like most novelists, cannot make up such a farflung plot as has become our real life these days.)

  8. 8.

    Jeffro

    Btw speaking of weirdness, did not think of this but yeah, I guess sports books could lose millions on this *cough* Cinderella story: Golden Knights Could Cost Las Vegas Millions if They Win The Stanley Cup

    At the time, Nick Bogdanovich thought he was actually giving the Vegas Golden Knights pretty favorable odds. Bogdanovich’s William Hill sportsbook listed the city’s new hockey team as 250-to-1 long shots to win the Stanley Cup in their first year of existence. The true odds before the season, he said, should’ve been closer to 2,500 to 1.

    “Every expert had them finishing dead last or maybe next to last in the Western Conference,” said Bogdanovich, William Hill’s chief oddsmaker.

    With the Golden Knights holding a one-game advantage heading into Game 2 Wednesday night, William Hill could be three Vegas wins away from losing close to $2 million. One bettor is in for $1,000 on a 50-1 ticket. Another has $200 at 200-1. And there are many smaller bets that were placed at 250-1.

    Let’s do what we can to help out the good oddsmakers of Vegas tonight, shall we Caps???

  10. 10.

    trollhattan

    In a shocking twist, Trump finally makes statement about Roseanne, but that’s actually about Trump.

    “Bob Iger of ABC called Valerie Jarrett to let her know that ‘ABC does not tolerate comments like those’ made by Roseanne Barr,” Trump wrote. “Gee, he never called President Donald J. Trump to apologize for the HORRIBLE statements made and said about me on ABC. Maybe I just didn’t get the call?”

  11. 11.

    Humdog

    @Gin & Tonic: how can it undermine reporting and truth? The truth came out quickly and the death was reported as an assassination, which it was in that it was attempted

  12. 12.

    rikyrah

    These coons, just like Marc Lamont Hill, must NEVER BE ABLE TO REWRITE WHAT THEY DID IN 2016.

    They must be called out for their treachery. Will make it easier for us to nail the ratphuckers in 2018.

    Inside the Pro-Trump Effort to Keep Black Voters From the Polls
    Breitbart staffer recruited Sanders activist Bruce Carter to get African Americans to support the Republican—or stay home

    Breitbart News landed an election scoop that went viral in August 2016: “Exclusive: ‘Black Men for Bernie’ Founder to End Democrat ‘Political Slavery’ of Minority Voters
 by Campaigning for Trump.”

    If the splashy, counterintuitive story, which circulated on such conservative websites as Truthfeed and Infowars, wasn’t exactly fake news, it was carefully orchestrated.

    The story’s writer—an employee of the conservative website run by Steve Bannon before he took over Donald Trump’s campaign—spent weeks courting activist Bruce Carter to join Trump’s cause. He approached Carter under the guise of interviewing him. The writer eventually dropped the pretense altogether, signing Carter up for a 10-week blitz aimed at convincing black voters in key states to support the Republican real estate mogul, or simply sit out the election. Trump’s narrow path to victory tightened further if Hillary Clinton could attract a Barack Obama-level turnout.

    …………………………

    “If you can’t stomach Trump, just don’t vote for the other people and don’t vote at all,” Carter, 47, recalls telling black voters. It’s the message he says the Trump campaign wanted him to deliver. “That’s what they wanted, that’s what they got.”

    The work Carter says he did, and the funds he was given to do it, also raise questions as to whether campaign finance laws were broken.

    The group Carter founded, Trump for Urban Communities, never disclosed its spending to the Federal Election Commission—a possible violation of election law. In hindsight, Carter says, he believed he was working for the campaign so he wouldn’t have been responsible for reporting the spending.

  13. 13.

    trollhattan

    @A Ghost To Most:
    Heh. There’s taking a rock to the face, then there’s TAKING A ROCK TO THE FACE. At some point they’ll find Acme Boulders etched on it. #LeanIn

  14. 14.

    rikyrah

    @Jeffro:

    Someone on another blog wrote that the Las Vegas team was akin to ‘ The Island of Misfit Toys’, and that’s why they hoped they won it all..LOL

  15. 15.

    Jeffro

    Also speaking of weirdness: Ambien’s maker, Sanofi, is tweeting that “racism is not a known side effect” of the drug. 21st century social media skillz, they haz them…=)

  16. 16.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Humdog: Next Kremlin critic that’s reported to be assassinated, Sputnik and RT will say “he’s not really dead, he’s in hiding because of some attempted sting.” That’s the view of the critics of this operation, I haven’t decided how I feel about it yet.

  17. 17.

    Jeffro

    @trollhattan: I wonder which specific ‘HORRIBLE’ statements Orangemandias is referring to? Let’s give them some airtime and parse them all day long, shall we US media?

  18. 18.

    trollhattan

    @Jeffro:
    Love it!

    I’m oddly addicted to the machine gun delivery contraindications statements at the end of teevee prescription drug ads. My absolute favorite is “uncontrolled gambling.” Surprisingly frequent is the single word: “death.”

  19. 19.

    The Other Chuck

    When one fakes their own death, doesn’t one usually, yunno, at least temporarily leave the locality that’s swarming with people trying to kill them? Jus’ sayin’

  22. 22.

    JPL

    @trollhattan: It’s doubtful that anyone won the what will Trump tweet contest.
    This is the same asshole that accused Nancy Pelosi of loving MS-13

  24. 24.

    SiubhanDuinne

    O/T, and I know we’ve picked over the Roseanne story beyond TBogg Units, but holy crap:

    Bob Iger of ABC called Valerie Jarrett to let her know that “ABC does not tolerate comments like those” made by Roseanne Barr. Gee, he never called President Donald J. Trump to apologize for the HORRIBLE statements made and said about me on ABC. Maybe I just didn’t get the call?
    28 minutes ago

    EDIT: Oops, apologies to trollhattan @ #10.

  26. 26.

    Adam L Silverman

  27. 27.

    eclare

    @Elizabelle: Patricia Cornwell lost me a long time ago, after I really enjoyed her first several books. Can’t go wrong with Connelly…still sad over the alphabet for Sue Grafton ending at “Y”.

  29. 29.

    Peale

    @The Other Chuck: Yeah. Maybe they arrested everyone in Ukraine who might possibly commit murders and assassinations for money? Like in general it is a peaceful place and there were these three hitmen who had a monopoly.

  32. 32.

    Aleta

    Great news.

    Also:

    San ofi, who makes Am bien, tweeted a response (about Barr) Wednesday morning: “While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any San ofi medication.

  34. 34.

    eclare

    @SiubhanDuinne: ABC has another tweeting scandal on its hands: one of the leading contenders for the Bachelorette to choose has been unmasked liking racist, bigoted stuff on IG. It will be interesting to see how ABC proceeds since there is a lot of secrecy while the season is shown on tv, and the season premiere was on Memorial Day. And yes, I’ve just confessed to watching The Bachelorette!

    Link

  36. 36.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    They are so corrupt over there that they are even fraudulent about murdering someone to get them out of their way.

    President Spanky tweeted in on the Rosanne Racism scandal and declared himself the real victim in it.

  37. 37.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Peale: Last night on Hayes’ and Reid’s special on racism in the US, one of the guests, a criminology professor, Dr. Goff, who does a lot of work training law enforcement on best practices in policing related a conversation he had with the Salt Lake City Police Chief. He said the chief told him that he tells Salt Lake City citizens all the time that if they don’t want or need an armed response, not to call the police. That his police are highly trained in armed response – it’s what they’re good at. So if you don’t want that, don’t call them. My immediate thought was: “did they move Salt Lake City to Syria?” How much violent crime requiring a significant armed response is their in Salt Lake City? Are there armed gangs roaming Tabernacle Square and collecting tributes from tourists at gun point?

  38. 38.

    ruemara

    Christ, we’re in a spy movie written by Michael Bay & Seth Rogin.

    @Adam L Silverman: There’ might be random brown person
 aggressively standing.

    I confess to avoiding that show like the plague.

    @rikyrah: Yeah, I posted that yesterday. That man deserves to be shunned. Bastard. Ignorant bastard.

  40. 40.

    MomSense

    Another weird situation is the whereabouts of Melania Trump. It’s been 19 days now since anyone outside the White House has seen her. Anyone else find this odd?

  41. 41.

    Humdog

    @Gin & Tonic: Sputnik and RT are disinformation sources covering for Putin. That they are unhappy is good. That they will use this for further disinformation is a given.

  45. 45.

    Fair Economist

    @MomSense: There was speculation she was really (or at least also) having cosmetic surgery and the kidney surgery was a cover. Extended recovery from cosmetic surgery is not unusual.

  47. 47.

    ericblair

    @schrodingers_cat:

    What stops Putin from getting him the next time, now that it is known that he is alive?

    From my understanding, the assassin either had been caught or flipped, and the whole op was to convince the people who ordered the hit that it was done so they would pay up and the Ukrainians could trace the money. I guess we’ll see what they caught.

  48. 48.

    Elizabelle

    @eclare: I know. Y is for “Why was she taken so young?” Object lesson, like “don’t spend much time worrying about what happens after she gets to Z”, no?

    Here’s an excerpt from forthcoming Michael Connelly novel, Dark Sacred Night. Generous; it’s several chapters. Book out on October 30. You will see that he does a lot of explaining for readers new to the series.

    Harry Bosch teams with newish character, Detective Rene Ballard, to solve a cold case. I think it’s fascinating how Connelly mapped out the series, or had a good idea of its arc (at least its initial arc), way before writing the series of novels. He is solving a problem here: what do you do when your lead character, star of your series, is going to age out of his line of work within the next 5-10 years? Harry’s already retired a few times, and a 70 year old detective is 70 years old.

    Connelly’s also got Harry’s daughter, now at college, as a potential future character.

  50. 50.

    Brownian

    @Adam L Silverman:

    That his police are highly trained in armed response – it’s what they’re good at.

    Much in the same way that my IBS makes me good at pooping, if ‘good at’ means ‘does so often, unpredictably and without much conscious control’?

  52. 52.

    Aleta

    @MomSense:
    Feeling concerned /s, I looked up ‘recovery time face lift,’ and saw it was around 2 weeks for bruises to disappear, much longer for puffiness. Or maybe the issue is detox/recovery or other mental health issue, so she’s still in treatment?

  53. 53.

    eclare

    @Elizabelle: I know, I’ve read all of his books in chronological order, and the imagination behind the series is incredible. And like you said, he must have gamed out a very, very long arc before even writing his first book. Thanks for the link!

  54. 54.

    Adam L Silverman

    @ruemara: This was a MSNBC special they hosted on the topic. They did a very good job considering that they only had an hour. But Goff’s remark was interesting to say the least.

  55. 55.

    dmsilev

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Are there armed gangs roaming Tabernacle Square and collecting tributes from tourists at gun point?

    Ever since the Mormon Tabernacle Choir went feral, the whole area has been a no-go zone.

  56. 56.

    Elizabelle

    @eclare: I’ve started back reading them again. Just finished The Black Echo and Black Ice. In both cases, had remembered a lot of the story, but not all of it.

    It’s fun to see the police without cell phones (as was Kinsey Milhone, and ever will be). Definitely changes the plotting.

  57. 57.

    Adam L Silverman

    @eric: If he had been quoting the Clearwater Police Chief then I might buy that your suggestion is correct.

  59. 59.

    Adam L Silverman

    @MomSense: The official White House response is she was in the hospital for a week and has spent the past week recovering at home at the White House and is very private and doesn’t appreciate all the press inquiries.

    In any other administration having the First Lady essentially disappear for two weeks would be a huge scandal.

    In this one? Who knows.

  62. 62.

    Wapiti

    @Adam L Silverman: So when faced with an emergency/situation/crime in Salt Lake City, civilians on site should be ready to tell the 911 operator what assets to send? smh

  66. 66.

    Jeffro

    @MomSense: Which is 18 1/2 more days than a Dem First Lady would be able to disappear without it being a full-blown media sensation…the double standards are more like quintuple standards these days…

  68. 68.

    catclub

    @Jeffro:

    Ambien’s maker, Sanofi, is tweeting that “racism is not a known side effect” of the drug.

    unlike your standard cocaine black helicopter paranoia

  69. 69.

    ruemara

    @Adam L Silverman: I know. But it’s largely preaching to the converted. The ones who need to watch, won’t. And if you’re like me, you’re a little too heartbroken at humanity to do this pain parade thing, hoping that this time, people will get it.

  71. 71.

    Jeffro

    @catclub: Hey now, that actually was on the warning label of the last 8-ball that…oh…nevermind…nothing to see here, folks.

  72. 72.

    zhena gogolia

    OT, Cole tweeted the cutest picture of Lily and Steve I’ve ever seen.

  75. 75.

    Amir Khalid

    @Adam L Silverman:
    If the only dispute resolution tool that SLCPD officers know how to use is a gun, there is an obvious deficiency in their selection and training. I wonder if this thought has occurred to the Chief.

  76. 76.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Adam L Silverman: I’m sure if Hillary Clinton had disappeared from public view in 1998 the press would say it was most appropriate to keep a respectful distance.

  78. 78.

    Adam L Silverman

    @eclare: I just watched the Angel’s Flight arc on the Amazon Prime series. They did an excellent job.

  82. 82.

    rikyrah

    @ruemara:

    @rikyrah: Yeah, I posted that yesterday. That man deserves to be shunned. Bastard. Ignorant bastard.

    I know that folks posted it, but I wanted to again, just to remind folks what we need to look out for in 2018, and we should go on the offensive. We should have no reticence in accusing folks of being ratphuckers. MAKE THEM PROVE that they’re not.

    Beginning with those muthaphuckas at Our Revolution.

  84. 84.

    rikyrah

    @MomSense:

    Another weird situation is the whereabouts of Melania Trump. It’s been 19 days now since anyone outside the White House has seen her. Anyone else find this odd?

    Not really. After all, she couldn’t be bothered to be First Lady the first 6 months he was in office.
    But, I do know what the reaction would have been with any other First Lady.

    They just should have admitted that she was having ‘ work done’.

  85. 85.

    RemindsMeOfThatMovie

    You (and TPM) buried the lede.

    “Before ushering Babchenko into the room, Gritsak said investigators had identified a Ukrainian citizen who had been recruited and paid $40,000 by the Russian security service to organize and carry out the killing. The unidentified Ukrainian man in turn hired an acquaintance who had fought in the separatist war in eastern Ukraine as the gunman.”

  86. 86.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Amir Khalid: That was pretty much my question too. Goff’s remark included prefacing that the chief said that while they could respond to call outs for mental health concerns and other similar things, what they’re really there for is armed response. Which is a really whacked view of policing.

  87. 87.

    dmsilev

    @trollhattan:

    Best HBO series pitch of the year. Make it so!

    “Tabernapocalypse!”

    Tabernapocalypse Now, the story about a choir director gone rogue upstate and the team sent up the wilds of Interstate 15 to take him out …by any means necessary.

  89. 89.

    Adam L Silverman

    @FlipYrWhig: The right wing news media/social media ecosystem has spent the past two days, when not responding to the Roseanne crap, has been pushing a story that appears to start at InfoWars that Secretary Clinton is wearing a back brace because something, something health conspiracy, something her coat looked bulky and ill fitting in a picture from last week.

  90. 90.

    Adam L Silverman

    @eclare: I’ve been very impressed with the series, but they did excellent casting and Connelly himself is involved.

  93. 93.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Adam L Silverman: I thought it was a point chiefly for rhetorical effect: that when you call out the police, you’re beginning a process that may well involve armed response, so if you don’t want that, don’t call the police, do something else. Because so much of the rest of the forum was about how if there’s a person minding their own business sitting in a coffee place or barbecuing, ask yourself whether this is a situation that benefits from the addition of cops with guns. I hadn’t thought about it in quite that way before, so I had a more positive response than I guess you and others did.

  96. 96.

    Adam L Silverman

    @FlipYrWhig: I’ve taught and trained a lot of law enforcement – municipal, state, and Federal. So that is likely the reason I heard it differently than you did.

  98. 98.

    Elizabelle

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: You would like the books. Connelly scouts out his scenes and has a lot to say about the evolution of LA as a city, and of policing. Used to cover crime for The Los Angeles Times before turning to fiction.

  99. 99.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Villago Delenda Est: That has been some of the speculation. I have trouble believing that could have been kept under wraps at Bethesda despite it being a military hospital.

  100. 100.

    Ruckus

    @Amir Khalid:
    The rot starts at the top.
    The chief doesn’t see any other thing that his department is supposed to do. Draw and shoot. Done.
    He’s not the only chief to think this way.

  103. 103.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Jeffro:

    Look, I’m not trying to make excuses for anyone, but the last time I took Ambien I annexed Poland— Andy Richter (@AndyRichter) May 30, 2018

  105. 105.

    MisterForkbeard

    @JPL: I just read about that. What a gigantic asshole. I really, really hope someone just up and punches Trump in the mouth one day.

    I’d settle for washing his mouth out with soap. What a racist fucking blowhard.

  106. 106.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    DRUG-TO-SOCIAL-ILL CONVERSION CHART
    Ambien – Racism
    Prozac – Sexual Harassment
    Xanax – Climate Change
    Atavin – Income Inequality
    Nexium – Crumbling Infrastructure
    Lipitor – Third World Debt
    Meth – Meth
    — God (@TheTweetOfGod) May 30, 2018

  107. 107.

    TenguPhule

    @RemindsMeOfThatMovie:

    Gritsak said investigators had identified a Ukrainian citizen who had been recruited and paid $40,000 by the Russian security service to organize and carry out the killing. The unidentified Ukrainian man in turn hired an acquaintance who had fought in the separatist war in eastern Ukraine as the gunman.”

    Subcontracting the important stuff never ends well.

  108. 108.

    Elizabelle

    @Ruckus: I’m wondering if we’ll see the SLC police chief with pushback against Dr. Goff, claiming he was misquoted. In which case, I hope it’s on tape or notes … although sounds like a private conversation.

  111. 111.

    TenguPhule

    @FlipYrWhig:

    I thought it was a point chiefly for rhetorical effect: that when you call out the police, you’re beginning a process that may well involve armed response, so if you don’t want that, don’t call the police, do something else.

    Its Utah, they don’t get a presumption of good faith. They’re Mormons.

  115. 115.

    sukabi

    @Aleta: I’m thinking she’s got several more weeks until her cast is off, her bruises should be healed by now.

    And yes, I think the old cheeto could easily break her arm.

  118. 118.

    rikyrah

    Abramovich cannot work in UK if he arrives on Israeli passport, No 10 says

    
Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea football club, who has faced difficulties obtaining a new UK visa, will not be allowed to work in Britain if he travels here on his new Israeli passport, Downing Street has said.

    It emerged on Monday that the formerly Russian-based billionaire, a regular presence in Britain since he bought Chelsea in 2003, had been granted Israeli citizenship and was moving to Tel Aviv.

    Abramovich, who had reportedly faced delays in renewing his UK visa, will be allowed to visit the UK visa-free for up to six months at a time with his Israeli passport, but cannot work in the country, Theresa May’s spokesman said.

    While stressing he could not comment on individual cases, the spokesman outlined the general situation, saying: “Those with Israeli passports are non-visa nationals, which means they do not need a visa to come to the UK as a visitor for a maximum period of six months.”

    He added: “Israelis are required to obtain a visa if they want to live, work or study in the UK.”

    The spokesman said it was up to immigration authorities to monitor how these conditions were adhered to, and the Home Office would have more details on what could constitute work in such instances. The Home Office was contacted for details.

    Israel’s interior ministry confirmed the offer of citizenship on Monday. “Roman Abramovich arrived at the Israeli embassy in Moscow like any other person,” an Israeli government spokesperson said. “He filed a request to receive an immigration permit, his documents were checked according to the law of return, and he was indeed found eligible.”

    Abramovich has not commented on recent developments. However, it is believed he could have been asked to explain the source of his wealth before he could be granted a new UK visa.

    His previous tier-1 visa, which allows anyone who invests more than ÂŁ2m in the British economy to stay for 40 months, was granted before tighter regulations were introduced in April 2015.

    Last week Downing Street said that while it could not comment on individual cases, it was the “logical conclusion” that some wealthy individuals who had applied under the investment visa route before the changes would no longer be eligible.

    The government launched a further crackdown on wealthy investors coming to the UK after the Salisbury poisoning, increasing tensions between Britain and Russia.

  119. 119.

    VeniceRiley

    I have a bunch of Mormon relatives in Utah and they’re straight up racists.
    I have one liberal sister there living in sin with her Jewish boyfriend. SLC is okay. They keep electing competent lesbians and stuff to dunk on the rest of the state. Aces! Oh, and my sister’s company is participating in Pride this weekend. yay!

  120. 120.

    The Moar You Know

    Another weird situation is the whereabouts of Melania Trump. It’s been 19 days now since anyone outside the White House has seen her. Anyone else find this odd?

    @MomSense: Seen a couple of minor stories in the MSM about it starting today. People are starting to ask.

    Me, I know facelifts take a while to heal, so not worried.

  121. 121.

    Amir Khalid

    @FlipYrWhig:
    Consider the question the SLC police chief wants you to ponder:

    The cops always go in with guns blazing. Should I call them now, and risk them causing needless bloodshed?

    Is this how the public should think of the police?

  125. 125.

    The Moar You Know

    Is this how the public should think of the police?

    @Amir Khalid: I’m going with “yes”, because in America if you think of the police any differently, you or someone else could easily die.

    I gotta be honest, there have been a couple of times this last year where I’ve thought about calling the cops on what are obviously some extremely mentally disturbed individuals down at the dog park near me, but then I think “what’s going to happen to this guy when some roided up screaming asshole shows up with a gun?” (this is not an inaccurate or exaggerated example of your typical San Diego police officer) The answer is something that frankly I don’t want on my conscience. So I haven’t, even though I think these guys in the park present a chance of danger to others.

  127. 127.

    sukabi

    @The Moar You Know: gee if only there was an organization with folks who were trained to deal with situations that required a calm demeanor, could de-escalate tense situations, were trained to subdue without the use of tasers and or bullets…

  128. 128.

    zhena gogolia

    @rikyrah:

    I see that Steeplejack responded, but just for future reference, you can see John’s tweets if you look to the right of the BJ website and click on his name at the top of his tweets there. There’s a lot of funny stuff there. (I’m not on Twitter, but I enjoying reading John’s tweets and sometimes the stuff he links to.)

  129. 129.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Amir Khalid: I agree with The Moar You Know. It’s something that should cross your mind. I suppose there’s a slippery slope from thinking “cops shoot first, I should ease up” to thinking “snitches get stitches, I’ll mind my own business” but I still think it’s a useful other voice to have in the back of your head when you’re thinking about calling the cops in the absence of imminent danger.

  131. 131.

    Amir Khalid

    @The Moar You Know:
    @FlipYrWhig:
    Is it a desirable reality that the public think of the police not as protectors but as dangerous, easily provoked people with guns? Clearly not; as you note, that defeats the purpose of a police force. Yet I suspect that the SLCPD chief actively encourages people to think this way, not only the public but also his officers.

  132. 132.

    Miss Bianca

    @Adam L Silverman: SLC is a *hotbed* of activity for that LDS-13 gang we’ve been hearing so much about. No wonder the SLC police go about armed and trigger-happy. Animals, all of them. Buh-LEEEVE me!

  139. 139.

    Mnemosyne

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Running a sting operation to catch the plotters in these kinds of murder-for-hire cases is actually pretty common. What’s unusual is that they took it so far as to actually stage the murder.

    I’ll bet that they did it in part to intercept the electronic communications back to the FSB to report the killer’s success. If you’re going to start an international incident over something like this, you’d better have all of your ducks lined up first.

  143. 143.

    HeleninEire

    @Elizabelle: Very late to the thread but yes this. I loved Patricia Cornwell until that stupid twist. I stopped reading her.

  144. 144.

    HeleninEire

    @eclare: Sue Grafton’s death broke my heart. If you want a really great detective series try Armand Gamache. The prose is beautiful.

  145. 145.

    artem1s

    @Peale: All the Very Serious People agree he should have done another fluff piece on what regular guys all of Putin’s assasins are.

  146. 146.

    Elizabelle

    @HeleninEire: Lucky for you. I was treated to werewolves swimming around in the Seine before wising up.

    With that book: it ended so abruptly. I swear, Fedex was at the door and she was just writing it to fulfill her multimillion dollar contract. An object lesson there, in killing a series through too much money and not enough editing.

  150. 150.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @zhena gogolia:

    Cole’s Twitter feed doesn’t appear on the mobile BJ site. But people can search for his Twitter nym, Johngcole (if they can remember it).

    Search on the Twitter site, duh.

  151. 151.

    Captain C

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Are there armed gangs roaming Tabernacle Square and collecting tributes from tourists at gun point?

    Tithes. The armed gangs are collecting tithes. And spending the proceeds on Pepsi.

  153. 153.

    J R in WV

    Lots of people wear appliances to help their backs. Most all warehouse workers, lumber yard workers, etc. They’re really weak people who can’t stand up to the pace and difficulty fo their work, right>? Right!

    Wrong. There’s nothing odd about someone wearing a back brace. There’s nothing odd about someone being targeted with hatred wearing body armor, either. I’m sure it helps the Secret Service team cope with protecting someone under 20/7 attack by vicious right-wing monsters. There’s a stressful job!!

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