Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

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

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

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

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

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

Second rate reporter says what?

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Saturday Morning Open Thread: Let’s Just Turn It All Over to the Racoons

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Let’s Just Turn It All Over to the Racoons

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Because, well…

… At around 5pm on Thursday, authorities say a man walked into the room while filming with a phone in his hand and “asked for everyone’s attention and a pre-recorded message emitted from a speaker on his jacket.” Video from the livestream (which has been taken down by YouTube), shows people running from the room after hearing the recording stating “C4 has been successfully activated, bomb detonation countdown successfully started,” followed by beeping and audio of screaming.

In a statement, University of Washington Police said, “The investigation revealed this was a prank and there was no device on him or left in the room.” Police confirmed the livestreamer was arrested on “charges of making a bomb threat,” but have not released his name.

Previous uploads show Andy regularly used his livestream to profit off such “pranks,” soliciting donations as low as $3 via paid commenting systems to play messages of a viewer’s choice in public places. For $20, he offered to “Scream Allahu Akbar.” Yesterday’s fake bomb threat appears to have cost a viewer just $4.20…

In footage from his arrest (which, again, he livestreamed) it’s unclear Andy understands the gravity of what he’s involved in, telling police at the time, “I didn’t do nothing. That was TTS. That was a donation,” and repeatedly referring to the arresting officer as “bro.”…

Reader Interactions

368Comments

  3. 3.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    Being that I’m alum of UW, I was wondering what building he gave his “performance”, turns out it’s the building I took most of my classes in grad school. Savery Hall, where the Econ Dept is located.

  4. 4.

    m.j.

    Is there a God I can pray to who will allow me to live a comfortable life while I watch humanity eat itself?

  6. 6.

    Citizen Alan

    repeatedly referring to the arresting officer as “bro.”…

    Him they could have tazed.

  7. 7.

    TriassicSands

    @Quinerly:

    from the article: “Further, the specter of the president taking time off from his critically important duties to defend himself from possible loss of liberty is also problematic.”

    Gee, do you think Trump could postpone his “critically important” Twitter career long enough to “defend” himself?

  11. 11.

    NotMax

    @satby

    Seems to track well with the increase in use and popularity of bottled water. In plastic bottles.

    Don’t go near the stuff myself.

  14. 14.

    NotMax

    C4 has been successfully activated

    Certainly am no expert but that is a nonsense phrase. C-4 isn’t activated. It is stable until a properly connected detonator is set off, at which point there is no waiting, the stuff goes kaboom.

  16. 16.

    satby

    @NotMax: isn’t that a bit of a chicken-egg conundrum? Most bottled water is just regular old municipal water, so if you’re paying for what you can get for basically free aren’t you already a bit dim?

    @rikyrah: Good morning rikyrah ?!

  18. 18.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @satby:

    No, before the Internet village idiots were confined to their own villages. Now they go viral, as the yoots say.

  19. 19.

    NotMax

    @satby

    I don’t trust that the plastic doesn’t leach into the water. Any bottled ones have ever sampled taste ‘off’ to me.

  21. 21.

    satby

    @Steeplejack (phone): they don’t mention it in the excerpt, but those YouTube viral videos make those kids A LOT of money. So an entire generation’s gone from seeking their 15 minutes of fame to seeking just 5 trending minutes that reward them very well. Our incentives are all messed up.

  26. 26.

    Amir Khalid

    This story is in Bahasa Malaysia, but American readers will not fail to notice the names John Ashcroft and David Boies. The former Official One Najib has hired them to represent him in the US agaimst any charges filed there, and has hired Ashcroft’s lobbying shop as well. He has also hired former New York AG Matthew Schwartz, who prosecuted Bernie Madoff.

  27. 27.

    Quinerly

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I’ve been traveling so internet and tv spotty. Would like to know if the seal indictment theory is getting any press. It’s the ultimate when talking “deadman’s switch.” My practice has only been civil. Would love for some criminal attys to weigh in.

  29. 29.

    NotMax

    Actions have consequences. Tough (and stupid) way to finally learn it, bro.

    Also too, TV dramatics aren’t real.

  32. 32.

    PsiFighter37

    I can’t believe the North Koreans gave Trump a letter in a cartoon-sized envelope – and then got pictured with it. What a fucking hilarious image to wake up to…and so sad.

  33. 33.

    NotMax

    @OzarkHillbilly

    Dolt 45 will get around to promoting lead mining. And won’t stop there. One carcinogen/toxic substance at a time.

    “Past time to reopen the Asbestos Mines. MAGA.”

  34. 34.

    NotMax

    @PsiFighter

    What with the pop-ups, connect the dots puzzles and Where’s Ivanka? illustrations, wouldn’t fit in a standard envelope.

  35. 35.

    Sab

    @Amir Khalid: I agree about raccoon intelligence. Question is: Is it eating the abacus because it sees no use for arithmatic in its life, or is it eating it because wood is fun to chew on.

    My late lamented German Shepherd chewewd on many things because it was fun. She also was not much into math.

    Bright as she was, she couldn’t hold a candle to raccoons. I think this raccoon could use an abacus, but it’s more fun to gnaw on it when he can do the math in his head anyway.

  40. 40.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @NotMax: One of 7 essential vitamins and minerals! Works wonders in the garden! A sprinkle on my morning Cheerios gives me all day energy!

  47. 47.

    Immanentize

    @Quinerly: I’ve been talking about sealed indictments for months. My position is that anyone can be indicted, but as a policy, you should not indict a president for crimes committed while President in his official capacity (I think the obstruction might even fit this definition) as impeachment is the appropriate remedy. But you can indict the president for crimes committed before he was President or not done in his official capacity (like killing his spouse, just as an example). Depending on the nature of those crimes, the indictments could issued and be sealed. Or in extreme cases (like murdering your spouse) just openly indicted.

    In the end, I expect Mueller, who is very conservative prosecution-wise, to indict a large number of people around the President, and name him specifically as an unindicted co-conspirator in the indictments of the others — like Don Jr. on the obstruction attempts. My 2cents. I also expect sealed indictments.

  51. 51.

    Matt McIrvin

    @satby: Half the kids I went to college with in the eighties would have done that if they had the technology.

  54. 54.

    NotMax

    @Immanentize

    Granted that it was a state indictment, but ahem. Nature and severity of the particular crime is, of course, germane but what applies to the vice president should also apply to the president. The precedent exists, even though the indictment was withdrawn on a fine technical geographic interpretation.

    And the solicitor general’s finding that a sitting vice president could be federally indicted (in the case of Agnew) is also on the books.

  60. 60.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Hmmmmm… Betty’s doubts about Melania’s reappearance seem well placed:

    The White House said on Friday that Melania Trump would not be joining her husband at the Camp David presidential retreat this weekend. Donald Trump was scheduled to head to Maryland on Friday afternoon, but officials said his wife would not be boarding the presidential helicopter with him. Her absence will mark 22 straight days without a public appearance by the first lady following a recent hospitalization. The first lady was last seen on 10 May, when she and the president welcomed home three Americans who had been released from detention in North Korea.

    The White House announced four days later that Melania Trump had been hospitalised to treat a kidney condition. She stayed five days before returning to the White House.

    On Thursday night, she tweeted: “I’m here at the White House with my family, feeling great, & working hard on behalf of children & the American people!” It remains unclear when her next public appearance will be.

    Questioned recently about his wife’s health, Donald Trump told reporters: “She’s doing great.” The president pointed up at a window and said: “Right there. She’s doing great. Just looking at us, right there.”

    Melania Trump did not appear, intensifying speculation.

    Duhduh…..

  63. 63.

    different-church-lady

    In retrospect, allowing stupid people to have high tech was a poor decision for our society.

  64. 64.

    Puddinhead

    @OzarkHillbilly: at this point, I want her boobs to be 3-4 cup sizes bigger when she finally appears, just so I can watch the village idiots tie themselves in knots talking about how glad they are her kidney surgery went well. Fox and Friends would be particularly delicious to watch.

  71. 71.

    Peale

    @OzarkHillbilly: people think she’s had plastic surgery and needs time to heal. Maybe it’s someone else whose had the surgery…someone they are altering to be the replacement First Lady. Has anyone seen Michelle Bachman lately?

  72. 72.

    Cermet

    Well, at least this youboob monkey didn’t have his girlfriend shoot him while he held a book as a shield.

  75. 75.

    gene108

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    After every flight, Qantas Airlines pilots fill out a form called a gripe sheet, which conveys to the mechanics problems encountered with the aircraft during the flight that need repair or correction. The mechanics read and correct the problem, and then respond in writing on the lower half of the form what remedial action was taken, and the pilot reviews the gripe sheets before the next flight. Never let it be said that ground crews and engineers lack a sense of humor.

    SNIP

    (P = The problem logged by the pilot.)
    (S = The solution and action taken by the engineers.)

    P: Left inside main tyre almost needs replacement.
    S: Almost replaced left inside main tyre.

    P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
    S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

    P: Something loose in cockpit.
    S: Something tightened in cockpit.

    Read the whole thing

  76. 76.

    Immanentize

    Isn’t speculation that Melania had plastic surgery — especially breast augmentation surgery — just a very sexist thing to do? Has she had cosmetic surgery before? Is she Joan Rivers? Why this idea?

  78. 78.

    Immanentize

    @NotMax: I think that rather proves my point. (Agnew was indicted too for crimes not committed while VP).

    By the by, I had a number of friends who went to Hamilton College and, at least back then, the all-kazoo marching band used to reenact the dual every homecoming day.

  79. 79.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @gene108: Too funny. I can see me doing that.

    P: Suspected crack in windshield.
    S: Suspect you’re right.

    P: Number 3 engine missing.
    S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

    P: Aircraft handles funny.
    S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.

    P: Target radar hums.
    S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

    P: Mouse in cockpit.
    S: Cat installed.

    P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
    S: Took hammer away from midget.

  80. 80.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @gene108: Speaking of airplanes, a young Asian female student pilot ran into trouble either taking off or landing at Orange County’s John Wayne Airport; she managed to land the plane on a street during rush hour without hitting any power lines or even scratching the plane.

  82. 82.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Immanentize: I have read that she had her rear molars removed to accent that gaunt high cheekbone look. Also that she got some bolt-ons. (which would be just about due for an overhaul) Have not seen any before or after photos but when talking about professional models it is generally considered just the cost of doing business.

    It may be idle salacious speculation but not without reason.

  89. 89.

    Immanentize

    @OzarkHillbilly: But why would she now? It seems crazy to do that while living under the most intense scrutiny. That’s why it doesn’t make sense. She’s 48. If she were going to have her molars removed for fashion, she would have done it at 18 or younger like all models do.

    Occam’s razor — plastic surgery while FLOTUS? Or serious, maybe cancer? Of the kidneys or ovaries, etc.? Remember, Trump had no idea was HPV was….

  92. 92.

    Immanentize

    @OzarkHillbilly: It really is starting to seem like life in Australia is just more fun, no?

    Which is the better sports chant? (The fun loving)
    AUSSIE, AUSSIE, OY OY OY!
    or (the moronic death march of)
    USA, USA, USA
    Did I put my thumb on that one?

  93. 93.

    Schlemazel

    @Quinerly: I saw a story about it yesterday but as with all things aboth that guy I will only get excited when I see it happen to him.

    Fingers crossed

  95. 95.

    OzarkHillbilly

    The GOP has killed irony. It is dead dead dead DEAD.

    JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Hours before he was to leave office, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens on Friday signed into law a measure that makes it a crime to try to blackmail a person using a private sexual image — the same allegation that led to his downfall.

    The new “revenge porn” law makes it a felony to threaten the nonconsensual dissemination of such an image by coercing another person to refrain from an action.The governor has been accused of taking a nonconsensual photo of a partially nude woman with whom he had an affair in 2015 and warning her he would distribute it if she ever spoke of their encounter.

    He has acknowledged having the affair but denied criminal wrongdoing and refused to directly answer questions about whether he took the photo.

    He’s not out of the woods yet, not by a long shot.

    Oh and Parsons looks to be a real jewel:

    “In my career, I’ve had the opportunities to handle tough situations,” Parson said. “At least I have the experience to draw on and frankly the wisdom to draw on.”

    Parson kept a low profile as scandals grew around the governor following the January revelation that Greitens had engaged in an affair in which a woman alleged he restrained, slapped, shoved and belittled her. As the governor denied any violence, Parson shied away from joining some other top Republicans who called on Greitens to resign. Instead, Parson emphasized the need for unity.

    Just a very humble party apparatchik.

  98. 98.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Immanentize: I said, “I have read that she had her rear molars removed…” as in decades ago. As for the breasts, it is known that bolt-ons have a limited life time and quite often need removal/replacement 20 or so years in the future.

    I really don’t care. To me it is not much different from Sylvester Stallone’s daily workout (and no doubt plastic surgery) or a college education. It’s an investment in one’s career, and in her case a very short career at that (how many 40 yr old models are there? about the same number as 40 yr old pro football players)

  99. 99.

    Schlemazel

    @Immanentize:
    Not a lawyer, didn’t even stay at a second rate hotel last night BUT
    Are you saying that if hair furor literally shot Robert Mueller on live TV in the middle of the capitol rotunda the only punishment he would suffer was impeachment?

    It that is true I realize I made a terrible mistake by not every running for POTUS!

  100. 100.

    Quinerly

    @Immanentize: Poco watched his ps and qs on this trip. No unauthorized poops, no bikini crotch sniffing. He has learned how to catch moving ghost crabs, flip them in the air and bite them into when they are coming down. He was praised for his prowess ? by a “turtle nest watcher.” Ghost crabs are the # 1 enemy of baby turtle eggs and two nests were laid on Poco’s beach while we were there. We are hoping to have the environmentalists on board with his new maneuver. He also campaigned with the over 50 crowd and made some new fans beach and pool side. We might have the Pine Knoll Shores, NC beach vote sealed up. POCO/BAUD 2020!

  103. 103.

    Schlemazel

    @Puddinhead:
    Word is the staff has her boob on a diet as his weight was getting worse so he probably won’t get 3 sizes bigger

  104. 104.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Immanentize: Everyone I’ve ever known who visited Australia fell in love with it. Even though everything there can kill you.

    Back in 1990 I was working on a Navy ship that was Persian Gulf bound. These were still the all-male crew days. One day the admiral held a meeting to announce that the battle group would not, as previously planned, stop in Australia en route. There were some pretty upset sailors. Apparently Australia was the best place in the world for shore leave.

    I think we have some Navy vets here, maybe one of them can explain what was so outstanding. I was a civvie and just concerned with getting our damned equipment working so I could go home.

    Still Australia and/or NZ are definitely on my bucket list.

  107. 107.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Immanentize: One other thing too. Some breast implants just flat out fail and when they do, it is an emergency.

    As I said, this is all just idle speculation with more than a hint of salaciousness on the part of some. Generally harmless and to be expected by someone in Melania’s position.

  108. 108.

    JPL

    @OzarkHillbilly: My Melania guess is that there was an episode of domestic violence. Trump is known for his temper. That would explain why Barron did not go with his sibling to Camp David. She might be protecting Barron. Supposedly a CNBC reporter saw her walking with her aides on the 29th. Melania’s mom was walking on the White House lawn yesterday according to reports.

  110. 110.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Quinerly: She’s obviously fine since she issued an “I am fine and my marriage is wonderful” tweet. Why it’s absolutely impossible anyone else could have typed those words and published them on her account.

    I haven’t gone that far in my speculation, mostly speculating that he beat her up and they’re waiting for the bruises to fade. 3 weeks is getting kind of longish though go.

    And that weird unconvincing tweet has me starting to think that best case she’s stopped cooperating with putting up any front (hence the ghost-tweeter taking over) and worst case she’s in a coma.

    We’re going to start seeing blurry long-range photos of stunt doubles soon, aren’t we?

  112. 112.

    Quinerly

    @JPL: I was kidding a bit up thread but I have wondered what would happen if there was some violence between BOTH of them and both Secret Service details rush in in the middle of it. It would be irresponsible not to speculate.

  118. 118.

    Bruce K

    Can’t find the link at the moment, but I think Martha Stewart has said that she won’t accept a pardon from Twitler.

  119. 119.

    debbie

    @Immanentize:

    Melania is plenty pulled tight in the face. Plastic surgery only lasts so long, hence she needed a tune-up. Just wait, it will soon be Ivanka’s turn to disappear for a while.

  124. 124.

    Wapiti

    @Immanentize: If we’re speculating – because she stayed 4-5 days in the hospital ostensibly for some procedure that didn’t require that long of a stay – my wild-ass guess would be that the actual malady is mental, not physical.

  126. 126.

    Schlemazel

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:
    Later comments made me guess that (though I have to admit originally I had visions of Malaria dominating him with her ‘bolt on’). I guess I never heard of them refered to that way

  129. 129.

    Immanentize

    @Schlemazel:
    No, I am saying that if he shot Mueller, he would be indicted and tried for it. That would be outside his official capacity as Pres.

    What I am less confident about is the obstruction charge. This one is actually kinda hard because he is actually the boss of the AG and all the executive functions. In short, the President is the head prosecutor of the country just like he is the CIC of the military. In this country, we allow prosecutors huge discretion to charge or not to charge. In many other countries, the law requires the prosecution of every crime if possible (this is the European standard) referred to as “a duty to prosecute.” Not in the US. Prosecutors can pick and choose based on crime de jour pressures –DUI! No, Heroin! No, Crack! No, Opiods! No, Fake Cult Mass Child Satan Torture! — or just mundane issues like cost.

    So, as head prosecutor, the President might be exercising his Presidential powers even when he is trying to stop an investigation focussed on him. What if he determines it is a waste of executive money or time? We say there should be a barrier between DOJ and the President, but there isn’t any legal barrier. And he is not a lawyer so he has no professional ethical duty to recuse because conflicted (and the President is probably not bound by any ethical ‘rules’). It is a very thin edge, but I think impeachment is probably the right path for the obstruction charges.

    But as I said, that leaves Hope Hicks, McGahn, Don Jr., Steve Miller, Jared, Sessions? and many others subject to Indictment for conspiracy to obstruct. In that case, those charges would be filed and Trump would be named as “an un-indicyed co-conspirator” which would set up the potential political impeachment.

  130. 130.

    PsiFighter37

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: I have only visited Sydney so far, but compared to New Zealand…NZ is where I will go if I want to disappear for a while.

    I am looking forward to visiting Australia later this year – spending almost a week split between Tasmania and Melbourne. Really excited about the former.

  132. 132.

    JPL

    @Quinerly: It is odd that we actually don’t know anything. We were told she went to Walter Reed on Monday for a minor kidney problem. It’s possible that she went on Sunday, because the only information that we receive is from a White House aide that lies.

  136. 136.

    MomSense

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    She had very large implants and they do not last forever. They are more prone to rupture. This was actually my guess when they announced she was having surgery and staying in the hospital for a week.

    I hope she went with a smaller size this time.

  137. 137.

    Immanentize

    @Bruce K: It doesn’t matter whether you want to accept a pardon or not. If the President (or a Governor) pardons you, you are pardoned. I wonder if Martha Stewert saying she wouldn’t accept his pardon is a strategy to get the pardon?

  140. 140.

    Steeplejack

    Let Windows 10 update to version 1803 last night. So far so good, but eyes peeled for problems.

  142. 142.

    Quinerly

    @rikyrah: Tail wags, soft meows, and waves back! Our little tribe of 3 (RIP Little Ivan, still strange not to be greeted by that little guy) was reunited yesterday. John Lennon didn’t stop “talking” until his meows were hoarse. Lots of head bumping with former kitty chasing, ex street dog Poco. All is well in the House of Quinerly. Have a great day.

  143. 143.

    Steeplejack

    @Immanentize:

    I thought you did have to accept a pardon, because doesn’t that mean admitting your guilt? What if someone is an adamant, diehard “I’m innocent!” type?

  148. 148.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Steeplejack: I only have one problem on this machine, I think it may be a graphics driver problem. I had one other machine(Intel Compute Stick) that had a problem with freezing but the last update fixed that.

  149. 149.

    NotMax

    Reading in history about the 19th century prisons on Tasmania is harrowing in extremis. Remember particularly some of the descriptions in The Fatal Shore. Good book.

    The history also has moments of relative levity, to wit

    Few attempted escape and even fewer succeeded. A fellow named George ‘Billy’ Hunt disguised himself using a kangaroo hide and tried to make a hop for freedom, but the half-starved guards on duty decided to shoot him for food. Hunt threw off his ‘roo’ disguise and surrendered, receiving 150 lashes for his troubles. Today, the Port Arthur Historic Site harbours a trove of these stories and offers regular tours of the grounds and buildings. You can even look up your own convict roots in the study centre. Source

  150. 150.

    Immanentize

    @Steeplejack: You are then an innocent pardoned person. People have tried to litigate their convictions after being pardoned, but courts do not want to get involved in that. Look at Arpaio. That is what is still going on with him. His criminal contempt of court conviction was pardoned, but the fact of his conviction has not (yet?) been expunged (erased).

  151. 151.

    Schlemazel

    @Quinerly:
    it popped into my head unbidden
    I will admit though it sort of made me smile to think of Melanoma doing to him what he is doing the the county

  157. 157.

    Kay

    Rep. Trey Gowdy has been a pitbull investigator for Republicans for years. Now, he’s is in President Donald Trump’s doghouse for daring to challenge the president’s unsupported claim that Democrats and their sympathizers in the FBI embedded a spy in his 2016 campaign.
    Trump allies have been pummeling Gowdy in recent days, branding him a gullible or clueless backer of the intelligence community. Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, labeled him “uninformed.” Another Trump-tied attorney, Victoria Toensing, said Gowdy “doesn’t know diddly-squat” about the particulars of federal investigations. And Fox News host Lou Dobbs tagged him a “RINO” — a term for a fake Republican.

    They’ve gone from lying a lot to actively pro-lying. Lying is a career requirement.

    FOX is funny, though. About once a month they send Shepard Smith out to say that everything they told viewers the previous month was a lie – it’s almost like a disclaimer. You wonder who it’s for- other media people? So then they can say “well, they do air that monthly round up Shep Smith disclaimer so it’s not like people don’t know they’re lying”.

  159. 159.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Quinerly:

    I think you might be thinking of No Way Out, a Kevin Costner-Sean Young vehicle. The Wikipedia article has a plot synopsis (which is, needless to say, full of spoilers). Gene Hackman played Secretary of Defense, though, not Prez.

  161. 161.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Immanentize:

    I am saying that if he shot Mueller, he would be indicted and tried for it. That would be outside his official capacity as Pres.

    As CiC could he not say he was taking a unilateral military action against an enemy of the constitution? ////

  164. 164.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @JPL:

    the only information that we receive is from a White House aide that lies.

    Which one is that?
    All of them Katie, all of them.

  167. 167.

    Quinerly

    @Baud: and would you like to share with your potential voters how you have such personal knowledge. Poco/Rikyrah 2020!

  169. 169.

    Immanentize

    @JPL: Today, but hopefully not true next January.
    But I agree that Trump will probably never be impeached. But I probably would have said the same about Nixon. Nixon resigned in August just before the midterms. Maybe history will again rhyme?

    But at some point, probably just after the next Congress is sworn in, it will be just too close to the 2020 Presidential cycle for politicians to want to spend that time and effort. (Clinton was impeached by the House just after the mid-terms of ’98 by a lame duck Congress, but the trial in the Senate happened very early in the following Congress in 1999 and was over by February).

  172. 172.

    Steeplejack

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    President Gene Hackman was a murderer in Absolute Power (1997), starring Clint Eastwood as (I think) a burglar who accidentally witnessed the crime.

    President (Ronny Cox) also committed murder in Murder at 1600 (1997), starring Wesley Snipes.

    Apparently presidential murder was a big thing in 1997.

  174. 174.

    Immanentize

    @OzarkHillbilly: you really should join his defense team. That’s more coherent than most of their stuff.

    On second hand, please don’t give him any ideas: “I today ordered General Kelly to take Robert Mueller into custody and send him to Guantanamo….”

  176. 176.

    rikyrah

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    Is the movie you are thinking about stars Wesley Snipes, Diane Lane and Alan Alda as the bad guy? Wasn’t the name -1600? I do think that the President’s mistress is killed in that one.

  177. 177.

    Groucho48

    @Quinerly:

    You may be thinking of No Way Out, but, Hackman was Sec of Defense. It was an entertaining movie to watch, but, one of those movies that, afterwards, you realize how absurd a lot of the plot twists are.

  178. 178.

    MomSense

    @Immanentize:

    The weak link with our constitution is that it assumes good faith. Impeachment is political and the current GOP controlled Congress is so craven, and probably so compromised, that they will never do the right thing.

    The only hope we have is electoral. We have to elect enough Democrats to control the House. At least that way the investigation will be earnest and we the people may finally gain access to the scope of the crimes.

    My big concern now is that we are not adequately preparing to defend our election from Russian meddling. There have been stories about replacement voting machines being just as vulnerable, yuuge volume of Russian bots, etc.

    I’m also wondering to what extent the end of net neutrality rules will be a factor.

    Where I end up is that in every contest, the democratic candidate needs to win by a sufficient margin to offset the GOP suppression and Russian fuckery. So a 2 point win is actually a 7 point win. That’s my best guess about what needs to happen.

  180. 180.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @danielx: I remember some years back a young lady got seriously injured/killed in STL due to such a prank.

  181. 181.

    Schlemazel

    @Immanentize:
    Revelations predicted the beast would rule for 42 months

    Revelation 13:5
    The beast was given a mouth to speak arrogant and blasphemous words, and authority to act for forty-two months.

  182. 182.

    Immanentize

    I wish the movie makers were daring. It would be a great movie a la The Great Santini to make a pic about an abusive (unto murder?) President. Maybe a Burning Bed ending?

  184. 184.

    Immanentize

    @Schlemazel: Ugh. That’s a long time.

    And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
    Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

  185. 185.

    Amir Khalid

    @rikyrah:
    Oh, I’m sure he does. That there RM110 million was probably just his walking-around money. His real “retirement fund” was probably already being laundered in offshore financial centres abroad.

  187. 187.

    Kay

    Glenn Thrush was riding high last summer. The New York Times’s White House reporter scored many insider scoops about President Trump’s White House and was so distinctive (goatee, glasses, fedora) that “Saturday Night Live” parodied him in its Sean Spicer sketches. Better yet, Random House signed Thrush and his Times colleague Maggie Haberman to a fat book contract, reportedly with a six-figure advance for each.
    But that was then. In December, after Thrush was accused of workplace misconduct by a former colleague at Politico, the Times suspended him for two months and moved him off the White House beat. Random House dropped Thrush from the project.
    And that big advance? Thrush has kept it.
    Under terms of the contract with Haberman and Thrush, Random House’s unilateral decision to deep-six Thrush meant he was free to keep the cash he had received for agreeing to write the book.
    Thrush isn’t saying much now about what has turned out to be an easy payday. In several conversations, he offered only one on-the-record comment: “I’ve moved on.”
    Haberman, meanwhile, still intends to write a book for the publishing house. The only thing left to be determined is . . . just about everything — especially when and with whom she’ll collaborate on a Trump book. She declined to speak about it on the record. Random House editor Andy Ward didn’t return requests for comment.

    They’re negotiating these book deals while they’re covering campaigns, and compiling information for the books while they’re writing and printing stories on the same events and candidates the books will cover. How much does this affect their coverage? It’s a lot of money.

    Should people just price this in when reading the coverage during campaigns- “well, keep in mind, he/she is really writing and marketing their book”? It’s like owning a piece of a company and then covering that company. They have a personal stake in our horrible campaign industry sector. The lengthier and more obscenely expensive and ridiculous it is the better they do.

  188. 188.

    MomSense

    @rikyrah:

    Greitens was a Pence protégée. I feel like that little tidbit is going to get lost down the memory hole.

  192. 192.

    Baud

    @Kay: They were initially contemplating that their books would be hit pieces against President Hillary. I guarantee it.

  193. 193.

    Immanentize

    @Kay: I was involved in some litigation in the Betty Lou Beets case in Texas (death row inmate) whose attorney took book rights instead of cash. It was friggin outrageous! But the 5th circuit decided, under their ‘warm body’ rule, that it didn’t amount to ineffective assistance per session because Betty Lou knew about the deal (and therefore waived the conflict?)

    But the point of this is people shod know this when reading their stuff. It is definitely a conflict! It should be made plain up front.

  194. 194.

    MomSense

    @Schlemazel:

    Somehow that seems right. WTF I already feel like the fact that I’ve agreed with a couple of Joe Walsh tweets is a sign of the end of days.

  197. 197.

    debbie

    @Immanentize:

    First, Trump will never quit. That isn’t in his nature. Second, the impeachment process can be dragged out, which the GOP will in fact do, if only to give them time to push through all of their hateful agenda.

    The quickest way to get rid of Trump is to vote him out. The best start to doing that is to decimate the GOP in the midterms.

  198. 198.

    NotMax

    @OzarkHillbilly

    Slouched towards Bethlehem, ended up in Allentown.

    “I should have taken that left at Emmaus.”

    /Pennsylvania regional humor lite

  199. 199.

    Gelfling 545

    @Puddinhead: I doubt it will be that dramatic. Probly just a bit of tightening up strategic areas. I feel sure that her prenup requires it.

  200. 200.

    Steeplejack

    @Kay:

    As a former professional journalist, I can say that this is a gross conflict of interest, because her book contract (and fat advance) absolutely depends on maintaining access in the West Wing. She cannot report critically—or even objectively—on her beat for fear of pissing off someone who could cut off that access.

    Also, her whole motivation as a “reporter” changes, because it’s no longer about what is, or should be, news today but rather about what will play to best effect in her tell-all book three(?) years from now. Her Times stories become mere place-holders while her real work goes on behind the scenes.

  202. 202.

    Brachiator

    @Quinerly: Interesting article about sealed indictments, etc.

    But it seems to me that the idea that a president is above the law and too important to be prevented from doing his job is fundamentally absurd. A president could be actively committing crimes or be the head of a criminal enterprise, and what, thumb his nose at authorities? Ya know, like Trump is doing.

    And of course, the crimes could themselves prevent a president from being able to do his job effectively.

    The easy remedy is impeachment, conviction and removal. But now you have the collateral problem of what to do if a Congress refuses to acknowledge or act on clear evidence of crimes being committed. Or a Congress with members involved in the criminal enterprise.

    Which again, is where we are now.

  204. 204.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Immanentize: There is something wrong with you. My little sister still refuses to admit that I am her brother, and everybody already knows I am.

    @NotMax: Ouch.

  207. 207.

    Schlemazel

    @Immanentize:
    I grew up going to bible study every week for 6 years. In my teens I decided to read to bible cover to cover one summer. I was hoping for a revelation of my own but the one I got was not the one I expected. I tried talking to my minister about the problems in there and got a lot of hand waving so I read it again & have never believed since though I pretended for a while. One result is I am more familiar with the book than most people who profess to take it as the literal word of God. I remember bits and pieces and can find them when needed. I have used this a lot recently as I have run into a lot of morons who believe hair furor was sent by God. Fortunately most of them refuse to talk to me anymore and the ones that do have stopped with that particular line of bullshit.

  208. 208.

    Baud

    @Steeplejack:

    As a former professional journalist, I can say that this is a gross conflict of interest,

    And that’s why you’re are former journalist.

  210. 210.

    Kay

    @MomSense:

    My big concern now is that we are not adequately preparing to defend our election from Russian meddling.

    I know you’re talking about election systems, not the propaganda campaigns, but we have some info on the propaganda campaigns as far as Congressional elections because they interfered to help Republicans win House races in 2016.

    We just don’t know what it consists of, because no one told us anything other than “Russians interfered in congressional elections”. We’d have sort of a fighting chance if we knew what, specifically, they did. Was it different than what they did in the presidential election? More locally targeted? Did it also focus on racism and anti-immigrant themes like it did for Trump?

    It seems to be coming clear too that it wasn’t just Russia.

    Mueller’s interest in Gerson is another sign that he is examining connections between the UAE and Trump associates. Counterintelligence investigators have been scrutinizing UAE influence in the Trump campaign since before Mueller was appointed as special counsel, and the probe has continued in coordination with Mueller’s team, according to two people briefed on the investigation.

    Mueller is investigating whether the Seychelles meeting with Erik Prince was an effort to set up a backchannel between the incoming Trump administration and the Russian government. He’s also looked into the Four Seasons meeting, which the Obama White House only later learned about because the UAE had broken protocol by not informing the outgoing administration that MBZ was in the U.S.

    So were they part of the election interference/propaganda in addition to acting as a conduit to Russia for Trump’s sleazy associates? People don’t even know the outlines of this- they don’t know what “election interference” would look like. There were campaign people in the House races who were aware that there was interference. Why haven’t we heard from them? They could at least tell us “this is what this one Democratic House campaign experienced” so we might know it looks like.

  211. 211.

    MagdaInBlack

    @satby:
    I’m late to the show, but….funny you should mention that. I was on a minor rant yesterday about the deluge of stupid I’ve been seeing.
    Maybe we are just old! im 60…..but I dont think thats all of it ?

  212. 212.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @danielx: I liken it to Candid Camera, with meanness. IIRC CC always got permission from the subjects of their pranks to air the episodes.

  215. 215.

    Schlemazel

    @NotMax:
    Love that kind of stupid joke!
    MN version:
    If you take Emily on an Outing
    you will for sure to to Aitkin (pronounced in MN as ‘achin’)
    before you get to Remmer because you are a long way from Climax

  217. 217.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @NotMax: Finally off the crutches about 3 weeks ago. Back at work in a sitdown position (still can’t stand for long periods w/o pain), so slow but sure progress.

  218. 218.

    schrodingers_cat

    The theory that the president can’t be indicted flies in the face of the idea of the rule of law, that we are all equal before the law, at least in theory.

  219. 219.

    Steeplejack

    @Kay:

    Really wish you would at least mention the sources of your quoted stuff, in case people want to read further.

  220. 220.

    Brachiator

    @JPL:

    My Melania guess is that there was an episode of domestic violence. Trump is known for his temper.

    This might make the Secret Service complicit in a case of criminal assault. Even if agents did not observe any actual assault, they might be able to make conclusions about what happened.

    Also, if Melania called for assistance, the agents would have to intervene. As another poster noted, a battle between teams of agents protecting POTUS and FLOTUS would be crazy.

  222. 222.

    MomSense

    @Kay:

    I share your concerns. I don’t think it was just Russia but the info on who else and what happened is so spotty. I’m not just talking about election systems. Propaganda is highly effective especially if you don’t know the source is a hostile foreign power. The other issue that is rarely discussed is the advantage a campaign has if it knows in advance what the other campaign is planning to do. Then there’s the online harassment that makes supporters silent which makes it appear that there is no momentum or enthusiasm for a particular candidate. Being part of the cool, winning team is very important. This was a big problem for the Clinton campaign and it was absolutely a consequence of Russian active measures.

  223. 223.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Time to go. Got some weed pulling to do and then a wedding. Y’all play nice now, ya heah?

  225. 225.

    Kay

    @Steeplejack:

    It seems to me different than the “Spotlight” genre because investigative reporters don’t have an interest in “The Catholic Church” or “Enron” or “Theranos”. Those entities would and do exist apart from them. Campaign reporters are part of the campaign apparatus. They’re essential to this awful system we’ve created. They’re players in the game they cover. They have a vested interest in it being as long and dumb and choked with huge gobs of cash as possible. The truth is they’re thrilled with Trump. He’s the best thing that ever happened to them. Their interests no longer align with ours.

  229. 229.

    charluckles

    @PsiFighter37:

    I would move to Tasmania if my family would go along. The national parks are unbelievable, but what is really burned into my brain is the night we stayed in a small country inn in the interior of the island. The food was outstanding and then we had too many pints with some really welcoming locals in the pub. One of the top nights of my life.

  230. 230.

    Kay

    @Steeplejack:

    Sure. Here’s the Thrush/Haberman story.

    Which probably should have been in the NYTimes. But wasn’t. If you knew Amy Chozick was writing a book premised on the tragic fall of Hillary Clinton at the same time she was covering that campaign and what that means for Amy Chozick would you have read her campaign coverage differently?

  231. 231.

    JPL

    @Brachiator: When Trump’s term is up, I assume that there will be books. Her prenup prevents her from writing a tell all, but it won’t stop someone else. imo

    My other guess is that the Camp David powwow with other family members is to figure out what to do with Melania.

  232. 232.

    Doug R

    @Quinerly: As long as your statute of limitations is 3 years or more, a Democratic Congress could extend them in January 2019. This could be what Pelosi means, don’t worry about ¡IMPEACHMENT! right away but let Mueller do his job, release indictments and let it play out from there. Maybe trump will flee to Russia, as long as he’s not “in charge”, I’m fine with it. And once January 2019 rolls around, I am not afraid of *President Pence, because once the indictments start flying, he’s in it up to his albino eyebrows.

    *Briefly President between the time trump indicted and fleeing to Russia and declared unfit to serve in absentia and his own indictment.

  233. 233.

    jeffreyw

    ok, that seemed to work, on my phone I requsted desktop and was able to enter my info and check the box, I quit BJ and then started the site again (in mobile) and it remembered my name

  234. 234.

    Platonailedit

    @Brachiator: All those much touted checks and balances ain’t worth the paper they are written on. The whole system is hollow and corrupt and the traitorous thugs just exploited it.

  237. 237.

    Brachiator

    @Steeplejack:

    As a former professional journalist, I can say that this is a gross conflict of interest, because her book contract (and fat advance) absolutely depends on maintaining access in the West Wing.

    Yep. And any advance she received and prospects of future profits effectively makes her a free agent, independent of her editors and employer, the NY Times.

    The whole thing stinks.

    ETA. I didn’t know that Thrush had been pulled off White House duty. More money for Haberman.

  238. 238.

    Quinerly

    Have a great day everyone! I’m off for an entire day of live music. I have so missed my beloved St. Louis music scene. (Ozark….Seeing our Red at 4 today. She did amazing mosaic work while I was gone on the kitchen in my soon to be Air BnB rental, “Salle Roche”). With that said, curious as to anyone’s thoughts on this Joy Reid mess. She’s a favorite of mine. As I said up thread, I’m playing catch up. Disturbing.

  240. 240.

    Kay

    I’m going to a high school graduation party at a fundie church. Not in the church but in the basement but it’s for their members who are graduating. My son is invited not as a member but as a guest and he does know the kids who are in the church. They asked him to bring his guitar. I hope they know I have no editorial power over his artistic decisions. We could be in a “smoky eye” situation at this thing, there’s just no telling what he’ll play. I suggested “non-controversial folk standards with a chorus that people know and can sing” but I suggest that for every occasion.

  243. 243.

    germy

    @MomSense:

    Greitens was a Pence protégée.

    Amazing how many shady characters that good, pious man finds himself connected to.

  245. 245.

    dlwchico

    “I didn’t do nothing. That was TTS. That was a donation,”

    Right now some of Trump’s lawyers are trying that one on for size.

  248. 248.

    Schlemazel

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    It took me 2 years to fully recover from fracturing my pelvis. Only about 3 months to get back to a daily grind but I did not feel ‘right’ for more than a year and a half after that. It is very good news that he is improving, hang in there it will get better and better. It just takes time.

  250. 250.

    Platonailedit

    Donald Trump didn’t go to Sante Fe, Texas today to meet with the families and victims of the school shooting.

    He went to Houston for a $5,000 a plate fundraiser and made the families of the victims meet him at the airport.

    Sickening.— Michael Skolnik (@MichaelSkolnik) June 1, 2018

  251. 251.

    Ruemara

    @Quinerly: white guys want to get joy fired for decades old blog posts. This time for trutherism. Meanwhile, she does journalism & Laura Ingram continues on.

  252. 252.

    Schlemazel

    @delk:
    That would make a lot of sense!
    I am not much for all these conspiracy theories but that one sounds reasonable

  253. 253.

    Brachiator

    @JPL:

    When Trump’s term is up, I assume that there will be books. Her prenup prevents her from writing a tell all, but it won’t stop someone else. imo

    She would make a boatload of money from a tell-all. Would not have to worry about a prenup.

    My other guess is that the Camp David powwow with other family members is to figure out what to do with Melania.

    You should be writing a screenplay.

  258. 258.

    Quinerly

    @JPL: are you referring to what to do with her body? I have it on good authority that people can tweet in other people’s names.? Perhaps that tweet was a ruse to throw us off.?

  262. 262.

    Brachiator

    @germy: Had no idea who Woodbury was. He’s still alive and kicking.

    Woodbury continues to perform standup comedy, mostly in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, area, his home base for many years.

    ETA. I do remember the Kerwood Derby from Rocky and Bullwinkle.

  264. 264.

    germy

    @Brachiator: The Kerwood Derby was one of the few puns I got when I was a little kid watching Rocky & Bullwinkle, because I was familiar with Mr. Kirby. “Boris Badenov” went right over my head.

  265. 265.

    Ruemara

    @germy: yep & he’s using these fuckknuckles to do it.

    Also, for those of you wondering how YouTube viral videos make money, you can monetize them with ads that play & pop-up or, if you are disallowed because of your content, you still & link to your patreon, GoFundMe, pay.me, PayPal, etc., for donations. There’s a very good if quite chilling episode of Insanity Check from MTR Network on every podcast platform, where about 15-20 minutes in, Darth & his guest talk about the flourishing alt-right YouTube culture & the increasing radicalization algorithm that is feeding worse & worse content to people. Like your kids. They’re not being dealt with by Google & where they are left alone, evil is doing quite well in recruiting all those “lone wolf” white male teens that suddenly get urges to shoot up the school & the girls who they can’t get. Check it out to learn more. Plus, they discuss some nerd culture but I really recommend the discussion done in every day human language. It can help you teach your friends about this ahead of time.

  266. 266.

    Doug R

    @Puddinhead:

    at this point, I want her boobs to be 3-4 cup sizes bigger when she finally appears, just so I can watch the village idiots tie themselves in knots talking about how glad they are her kidney surgery went well.

    Here’s why we haven’t seen Melania for the past 23 days….or so my speculation goes….

  269. 269.

    germy

    He’s been doing this for months. It’s his go-to subject whenever Mueller uncovers something inconvenient.

    “It’s just a joke," said an MSNBC employee about the network's refusal to address Joy Reid's hacking story. It is a joke – a sad one – but it happened because many liberals and MSNBC decided it doesn't matter if one of their journalists fabricates a tale https://t.co/pbB31uSkiw pic.twitter.com/o6hbwBtExs— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 1, 2018

  270. 270.

    Schlemazel

    @germy:
    Odd, how does getting Joy off the air benefit Russia?

    Side note. Not sure how many of you remember the work of General JC Christian (11 on a manly scale of 1-10)
    His web site was hilarious and he did great work poking the GOP in the early days of this century (like brendon calling, really inventive tweeksing elected official’s noses) Anyway, he quit blogging & indicated he was mentally exhausted & unable to cope. I ran into him on twitter a couple of weeks ago & was excited to follow him. Turns out he is a GG loving, Hillary hating Bernie bro. 2 weeks of anti HRC garbage (most from GG and undying love for Bernie BS tweets & I unfollowed him. Guess he never recovered mentally

  272. 272.

    germy

    @Brachiator:

    No. The founders never considered that a scoundrel might be elected president.

    But they did. “The electoral college will prevent it!” they said.

  273. 273.

    Steeplejack

    @jeffreyw:

    Huh, might give that a try myself.

    ETA: It worked! (Chrome on Android.) Thank you, sir.

    I also opened another BJ thread to see if the nym persisted, and it did. This is a big Biden deal!

    I didn’t even have to close BJ. I just switched fromt he desktop version back to the mobile version.

  274. 274.

    Baud

    @germy:

    At some point, we’re going to have to learn to enforce our own standards and not care about what the people who hate us think.

  275. 275.

    FlyingToaster

    @Quinerly: Hackman was the Secretary of Defense. Costner was the Navy Officer and the other boyfriend; Will Patton was the SecDef’s fixer and eventual fall guy for the murder and russian spying. Costner’s character was the actual Russian Spy; Hackman’s actually murdered the woman.

    No Way Out, 1987

  276. 276.

    Brachiator

    @germy:

    The Kerwood Derby was one of the few puns I got when I was a little kid watching Rocky & Bullwinkle, because I was familiar with Mr. Kirby. “Boris Badenov” went right over my head.

    Yep. Same here. As a teen watching reruns, I finally got the twist on “Boris Bad Enough,” but it wasn’t until college that I got the nod to “Boris Godunov.”

  277. 277.

    Steeplejack

    @Steeplejack:

    Okay, closed all tabs, closed Chrome, restarted it, and my nym and e-mail address persisted (on the mobile version of the site). Good fix, jeffreyw!

  278. 278.

    JPL

    @germy: Trump will do something outrageous and the Joy news will soon be forgotten. Since it has been uncovered that Trump has tweeted the C and called a reporter the C word, I assume that Samantha Bee will be okay also.

  280. 280.

    Schlemazel

    @Brachiator:
    I caught ‘bad enough’ as well as several others but had no knowledge of Godunov till much much later. The worst puns though came from “fractured Fairy Tales”. Not just great puns but often subversive twists on old parables. And I love Edward Everett Horton’s voice.

  281. 281.

    Argiope

    @Doug R: I keep hoping she’s in the federal witness protection program. She and Barron have assumed new identities and are now living in Kansas. She’s doing Mary Kay parties or something to keep busy until the trial.

  282. 282.

    Brachiator

    @germy:

    No. The founders never considered that a scoundrel might be elected president.

    But they did. “The electoral college will prevent it!” they said.

    The founders were a little more concerned about a cabal influencing the election.

    Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 68 laid out what he believed were the key advantages to the Electoral College. The electors come directly from the people and them alone for that purpose only, and for that time only. This avoided a party-run legislature, or a permanent body that could be influenced by foreign interests before each election.

    Oh, the irony!

  283. 283.

    Schlemazel

    @JPL:
    You show too much faith in people on the right being reasonable. Hope you’re right but don’t expect it

  286. 286.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Argiope: Somebody on twitter said she and Barron are hiding in the engine room of a tramp steamer bound for Trieste, with a suitcase full of cash and jewelry.

    I have no sympathy for her, I just like the imagery. And as an Ockham’s Razor guy, I think she hates her husband and hates the public life he tripped her into, and is refusing to play the part. As far as I’m willing to go with conspiracies for the moment is that she’s living with her parents and the kid in that suburban house I’ve heard about

  287. 287.

    Jager

    Talking to a old broadcasting friend of mine this morning, he told me a story I hadn’t heard. He is a good friend of Randy Bachman of the Guess Who and BTO fame. When the Guess Who was getting started in Winnipeg, they were invited to play on a CBC radio network show, a Top of the Pops thing like the BBC had been doing. Local bands playing other bands songs and a few of their own.The shows director told Randy, “we supply the sheet music and you play it, you can all sight read, right?” Button Cummings could read music since he’d taken years of classical piano. Randy could read a little from taking childhood violin lessons, the rest of the band all played by ear. The band figured they were out of luck, they knew they couldn’t just go in, sit down and play off sheet music. The solution, they found out a girl they knew worked at the CBC, she got the music list for them in advance, the Guess Who bought the records, learned the songs. They walked into the studio, set up the sheet music and played the entire show perfectly. When they finished the show the director said, “you boys are the best sight readers we’ve ever had on the show.”

  288. 288.

    Brachiator

    @Schlemazel:

    The worst puns though came from “fractured Fairy Tales”. Not just great puns but often subversive twists on old parables. And I love Edward Everett Horton’s voice.

    Yep. The puns stimulated my love of word play in literature. And I later enjoyed seeing Horton show up in old classic film comedies.

    ETA Took me a while to catch on to the nod off the Waybac Machine to early computers.

  290. 290.

    catclub

    @Kay:

    I suggested “non-controversial folk standards with a chorus that people know and can sing” but I suggest that for every occasion.

    all the good verses to this land is your land.

  293. 293.

    chris

    @Jager: Gawd i’m old. Wiki tells me the radio show was The Swingers and Let’s Go on TV. Couldn’t remember the names but I watched Let’s Go on a B&W TV with a folded matchbook jammed behind the channel dial. Thanks for the memories.

  294. 294.

    EBT

    @satby: I watched a small time streamer get two 5,000 dollar tips from the same (notorious) donator last week for playing Final Doom: The Plutonia Experiments.

  296. 296.

    Jager

    @chris: My old radio pal was in an early Winnipeg rock band called the “Jury”, they were just before the Guess Who and, Neil Young. He said everybody wanted Neil to play lead guitar in their band, they just didn’t want him to sing. My buddy Geo sold his 59 Fender Strat to Randy a few years ago. He went to a show Randy played in Fort Lauderdale, he said hearing “American Woman” and “You Ain’t Seen Nothin Yet” played on his old guitar was incredible. He added, “it sounded like that when I played the damn thing.”

  297. 297.

    Doug R

    @germy:

    Greenwald has practically launched a campaign against her. He really wants her fired and disgraced.

    Something about her…..something about this straight black woman is setting GG off…What could it be?

  302. 302.

    KithKanan

    @Immanentize: Has Burdick v. United States, 236 U.S. 79 (1915) been overruled? It appears to hold that a pardon may be rejected by the recipient.

  305. 305.

    jeffreyw

    @Steeplejack:

    Okay, closed all tabs, closed Chrome, restarted it, and my nym and e-mail address persisted (on the mobile version of the site). Good fix, jeffreyw!

    Dammit, it works better for you than it did for me. I quit chrome and was back to square one.

  306. 306.

    trnc

    @Immanentize: If the concern is that indicting a sitting president distracts him or her, isn’t that possibly one reason we have a clear line of succession? Isn’t it more important to uphold justice than to make one person indispensable?

  310. 310.

    chris

    @Jager: Haha! Connections: I was five when we moved to a house just outside Toronto. Neil Young’s family had moved from the block a few months before we arrived. My brush with greatness…

  312. 312.

    NotMax

    @trnc

    The distraction argument is specious. As if the special counsel investigation is not a distraction.

  314. 314.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @jeffreyw:

    I just closed Chrome and restarted it, and now the nym is gone. Damn you, you jinxed me!

    I wonder if Alain is tinkering around under the hood this morning.

    Will give it all another go.

  316. 316.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    I seemed to have triggered a Glibertarian on a Fallout message board. We were talking why the wingnut love for Fallout (the forms can be a real cess pit) and I was mentioning it’s likely because Reason magazine claimed Fallout of as the Libertarian Game, though why it eluded me considering the themes in the game. So one Winger started ranting in reply how about London was the child murder capital of the world so apparently that’s why we need school shooting, to stop knife welding child murders…

  317. 317.

    Kelly

    @NotMax: This week our municipal water went from trustworthy to not. Algae toxins from a bloom in an upstream reservoir. Fortunately my brother has good well water only a few miles from us.

  319. 319.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @jeffreyw:

    How is the Adblock browser in general? Do you use it just on BJ or as a full-time replacement for Chrome? (I guess the former, if you’re still wrestling with Chrome.)

  320. 320.

    germy

    a group of crows is a murder

    a group of crows spaced evenly between two margins is a justified murder

    — Rinzy ? @ FWA (@RinzyArt) May 30, 2018

  326. 326.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @jeffreyw:

    Went through the whole deal again, nym didn’t persist. Bummer. That was a fleeting fix! My autocomplete also suggests nym and e-mail after a few letters, but it has been doing that the whole time (since this problem came up).

  329. 329.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Kelly: .

    In the spirit of the Magnitsky Act, Canada and the western allies come together to collectively pressure the only pain point that matters to this President: his family and their assets. This could take the form of special taxation on their current operations, freezing of assets, or even sanctions against senior staff. Canada could add a tax to Trump properties equal to any tariff unilaterally imposed by Washington. The European Union could revoke any travel visas for senior staff in the Trump organization. And the United Kingdom could temporarily close his golf course.

    I don’t know Scott Gilmore or the laws in the UK, the EU, etc, but it is thrilling to see the President of the United States discussed in the same terms as the Russian oligarchs and corrupt dictators like Marcos

    I have been surprised that trump’s Scotland and Ireland properties haven’t been the target of more protests
    ETA: And I thought trump’s one Canadian “deal” had fallen through, a hotel in Toronto?

  332. 332.

    Kelly

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I have only vague notions of where all Trump’s businesses are. Trump only thinks about how things hit him so it seems the like a good idea to go for him as personally as possible. I’m not a lawyer let alone an international layer but it would be hilarious if it started happening.

  334. 334.

    bemused

    @Platonailedit:

    Ha! That explains my suspicion there was something peculiar about trump meeting with parents of slain students. Not a thing he would do willingly or at all and I couldn’t figure out why he did it.

  336. 336.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @bemused: @Platonailedit: He went to Houston for a $5,000 a plate fundraiser and made the families of the victims meet him at the airport.

    good god– once again, can you imagine if Obama….

  337. 337.

    bemused

    @germy:

    I wondered why some gay guys hate women so much and then I realized it’s usually strong women they attack so viciously.

  340. 340.

    germy

    @bemused: I think it’s more that Joy was somewhat critical of GG in the past.

    He’ll hate anyone with the heat of a thousand suns if they’re critical of him in any way.

  341. 341.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    I’ve done what I can to help advance the TBogg unit. The housecat had me up at 5:00 this morning, so it looks like it might be a day for an early siesta.

  343. 343.

    Immanentize

    Wow, this thread is still open?

    @KithKanan:
    Burdick has pretty much been overruled by evolution of the law. That was a very specific pre-indictment case. Wilson pardoned Burdick to take away his 5th amendment right to remain silent. Now, prosecutors are just alliwed to grant immunity to defear a 5th amendment claim. In the case of Martha Stewart, she has been convicted, so there is no confusion about innocence in her case, so, I am pretty sure courts would say she cannot reject the pardon. There are similar state cases out there that day as much as it is a constitutional power of the Presidency not an offer and acceptance concept. For crimes where conviction has occurred.

    @trnc: @NotMax: @schrodingers_cat:
    I really wish you guys had some power to allow your failure to be persuaded to have some effect. In Jones v.inyon, the court said that defending a civil case was not overly burdensome because the defendant (President) didn’t need to go to court, could schedule depositions as convenient, and only was facing loss of property. They made a big distinction between a civil lawsuit and a criminal trial because the criminal defendant must appear in court when demanded, is subject to pre-trial detention, bail, release conditions, and is not fighting about property but about personal liberty.

    You may not find those distinctions meaningful, but judges seem to. So too, in fact, do criminal defendants.

  347. 347.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: @germy: From the Misty Corners of the Blogosphere, I summon the Thread Littering Demons, I call forth the Obsessive Typing Furies of the True Left, I hearby speak The Name of the One Who Was Chosen, let the Bat Signal of Crazy burn bright, I say Be….

    /ack gackle carpfftttttzzzzzzzz/

  348. 348.

    KithKanan

    @Immanentize: Makes sense. It will still be interesting to see if she actually tries to challenge it if she’s granted one, even if that challenge is extremely unlikely to succeed.

  349. 349.

    Platonailedit

    About the login issues, no problem in firefox after first login and ticking the remember box.

  351. 351.

    Platonailedit

    In mobile browsers, I think the issue is Save my name blah, blah box does not appear and hence blank logins every time.

  352. 352.

    NotMax

    @KithKanan

    One would think that if she did not seek a pardon nor have others do so on her behalf with her knowledge of same, that would carry significant weight.

  354. 354.

    KithKanan

    @NotMax: One would think, but we’re talking about Trump here. He might decide to pardon her specifically because she tells him not to.

  359. 359.

    Ruckus

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:
    Been to NZ, not to AUS. I’d move to NZ in a minute if they’d let me. It’s gorgeous, the people were fantastic and I had a smile on my face that I couldn’t get off for weeks after I got home.
    You asked about ports that sailors liked. We liked most any place that wasn’t a ship. We liked some places far more than others. I disliked Naples because a couple of guys tried to rob us at knife point and there was always a group of kids trying to steal your watch/wallet as you walked through the gate off the pier. I enjoyed Athens, sitting at a sidewalk cafe and looking at ruins lots of hundreds of yrs old was quite different than anywhere else. Most every place was interesting in some way.

  360. 360.

    J R in WV

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    The foliage in the second photo seems a little yellowish on the left side of the photo… But of course I never saw the foliage myself, and even when you-the-photographer work on your own photo, you don’t have the scene in front of you to compare with your work on the photo. I tweak my photos until they look the best, while remaining at least very believable looking.

    Recollection is a weak tool, also too.

  361. 361.

    J R in WV

    My only liberty off my ship was most excellent:

    We did training in the Gulf of Mexico, and ended up being piloted my the Mississippi to New Orleans for a formal courtesy call on the widow of the WW II hero the ship was named for, a Medal of Honor winner. For Mardi Gras.

    We did it two years running. Amazing party, great music, the only thing I didn’t like was the extreme drunkeness of much of the crowd. No one likes seeing/hearing puking.

    Then the ship was in the yards, then sent to Sardinia for the rest of its life as a USN vessel. So no more courtesy calls on the widow… she may have died, actually, would obviously been elderly by the 1970s.

    Wife and I have been to NOLA several times since, once while I was still in the USN in the MS yards, then on vacation, for a bowl game, then a couple of times for EPA sponsored conferences. Life was tough!

  362. 362.

    Ruckus

    @J R in WV:
    I left out liberties in the US. And a few in northern Europe.
    The US ones didn’t have the same atmosphere as yours or any of the European ones. No one would leave the ship in Baltimore, the ship seemed better. Gitmo was underwhelming to say the least, I walked a hundred yards or so, saw the high fences, barbed wire and guard shacks, went back to the ship. St Thomas/St Croix were amazing, the water was so clear you could read the occasional beer cans on the bottom. Did a walking tour with a 70 yr old man in a suit, hat and cane around Antwerp, Belgium, we ended at the Rubens museum.
    Liberty was fun. Most of the time.

  364. 364.

    Ruckus

    @Yutsano:
    A sub boomer or an age boomer?
    If he was a sub boomer then I’d agree, the places they get liberty are all pretty good. And if you are on a ship for that long………
    OTOH a lot depends on the ship and the duty/areas of ops. I was on a DDG, we did 1/2 a med cruse and 2 NATO cruses, along with training and local stuff out of Charleston, SC. J R in WV was on a sub tender and really didn’t go very far. The two of us are going to have completely different liberty memories. At the very end of my enlistment I was stationed on an LPH for about 5-6 weeks and most of that the ship was in the shipyard. So liberty was going home every night. Not a bad port, as those things go. But if I didn’t live reasonably close, it would have sucked donkey balls.

  366. 366.

    Yutsano

    @Ruckus: Sub boomer. So any chance of getting fresh air/stretched legs was always welcome. Hell he was even happy about Diego Garcia!

  368. 368.

    J R in WV

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    The European Union could revoke any travel visas for senior staff in the Trump organization. And the United Kingdom could temporarily close his golf course.

    They could use 2,4,D brush killer and spray the whole course. Turn it brown, brown, gonna be brown. Call it an emergency infestation of American type-lice. Or something like that.

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