Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

The willow is too close to the house.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

I’m more christian than these people and i’m an atheist.

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

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

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

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / Open Thread: I’m Objectively *FOR* Getting Trump Out of the White House

Open Thread: I’m Objectively *FOR* Getting Trump Out of the White House

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Because some of us are capable of as much discrimination as that dog, pundits…

Reader Interactions

207Comments

  3. 3.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Now I want John to make a video of Lily eating watermelon. She would be so dainty, so delicate, so well-behaved.

    Rosie and Thurston, OTOH….

  4. 4.

    TenguPhule

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Democratic candidates for office should do the opposite of what the media advises them to do.

    Running on a convict and imprison Trump platform seems like a winner.

  7. 7.

    Mnemosyne

    The only feelings that will be hurt by bashing Trump are those of people who never would have voted for a Democrat in the first place.

  10. 10.

    geg6

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    My John and I are, as we speak, planning on cutting up some watermelon and trying that with Koda and Lovey. Koda will chomp it down like a pig because that’s how she rolls with food. But if Lovey deigns to eat it, it will be the daintiest thing ever because that is how she rolls with food. Always the daintiest eater. Not with anything else, but finicky and dainty about eating.

  13. 13.

    TenguPhule

    @khead:

    In fact, the senator, up for reelection in a state Trump won by more than 40 points, told POLITICO he isn’t ruling out endorsing Trump for reelection in 2020 — a position practically unheard of for a politician with a “D” next to his name.

    At times, Manchin was the only Democrat who clapped during Trump’s State of the Union address. This spring, Manchin killed liberals’ hopes of blocking Gina Haspel for CIA director by getting behind her early. Manchin supported Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, voted for now-embattled EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and even backed the president’s hard-line immigration proposal.

    “I’m with him sometimes more than other Republican senators are with him,” Manchin said.

    But Manchin has been frustrated that every time he thinks he’s got the president in a moderate place on immigration or background checks for guns, Trump goes to the right.

    He had an infamously chilly relationship with President Barack Obama — he still refuses to talk about who he voted for in 2012 — and now has regrets about supporting Hillary Clinton in 2016.

    Manchin sometimes sounds apologetic for the times he’s gone against Trump. He likes DeVos but said her lack of experience forced his hand.

    And he admits that it would have made his reelection campaign much easier had he voted for the tax reform bill. He spent months trying to work with the GOP on it and received assurances from Trump, who badly wanted a Democrat on board. But Manchin said he couldn’t go along because the legislation killed Obamacare’s individual mandate and cut taxes on the wealthy.

  16. 16.

    Chip Daniels

    When your house is on fire, no one ever scolds you by saying “You need to run TOWARDS something, not just away from fire!”

    Literally, almost any conceivable policy position the Democrats could take, is better than Trump.

  17. 17.

    hitchhiker

    Speaking of Trump voters, can any of you explain what it is they think is going to be in the IG report that’s been promised for next week? I saw a tweet about how there would be multiple indictments of HRC, Obama, Susan Rice, Eric Holder, James Comey, and so on. Is the idea that all these people conspired to illegally force Trump campaign officials to meet with spies?

  19. 19.

    dmsilev

    Of course it’s about Trump. Midterm elections are always about the President, even if they’re not on the ballot. A couple of years ago, I graphed the relationship between Presidential approval and midterm performance. There’s a very clear trend, though there’s enough scatter that making a quantitative prediction isn’t a good idea.

    (details: Polling is Gallup job approval in late October, except for 1974 where it’s an average of Nixon’s last approval poll and Ford’s immediate pre-election approval. Net shift in seats is the change in the partisan balance, i.e. a single seat flipping R->D would be a net shift of 2)

  21. 21.

    dmsilev

    @hitchhiker:

    Speaking of Trump voters, can any of you explain what it is they think

    I believe I’ve spotted the error you made.

  24. 24.

    TenguPhule

    For his part, Abe said Trump “fully understands” the need to bring home at least a dozen Japanese citizens held by North Korea. Trump “is one of the leaders who understands the issue the most, the greatest”, he added.

    Abe is so going to get serious pushback in Japan for this.

  26. 26.

    TenguPhule

    Sounds like a promising Trump inspired business.

    The stories of Americans calling police on people of color who are just going about their daily lives have gone viral multiple times, and prompted a national debate about everyday racism.

    So one has to wonder what a Silicon Valley startup was thinking when it programmed its electric scooters to yell at people: “Unlock me to ride me, or I’ll call the police.”

    A female voice from within Lime’s e-scooters shouts the threat to anyone who tries to fiddle with the rides without downloading the app and paying. The company has also set their rides to blast cartoonish robot noises so loud that heads turn on busy city streets.

    The threat immediately repeats on high volume and is the first and only sound the scooter makes. The words blare after less than a minute of a person standing on and exploring the buttons of the scooters, which Lime has been dumping on sidewalks throughout the US with little warning and without government approval.

    There’s no evidence that the obnoxious feature actually leads to an automated call to police

  29. 29.

    p.a.

    There are issues of governance, and THE ISSUE OF TRUMP. Since the Rethugs are lockstep with trump, this shouldn’t be that hard (and I’m usually a pessimist) Rethugs will try to promote some wiggle room: I spoke against X,Y,Z…
    But they voted…
    Their only option is going full culture war. It’s worked before. A lot.

  31. 31.

    TenguPhule

    @hitchhiker:

    Is the idea that all these people conspired to illegally force Trump campaign officials to meet with spies?

    “Not the Puppet, Not the Puppet, You’re the Puppet” as a Plan of Action.

  33. 33.

    dmsilev

    @MattF: Trump’s approval has never made it out of the low 40s. I think the highest he’s managed is like 44 or so. The other thing, which the graph doesn’t capture, is disapproval rating. With some Presidents, there’s a substantial number of people who have a “no idea” or “mixed opinion” or whatever. With Trump, his disapproval (and also “strong disapproval”) is just about everyone outside of the GOP base.

  34. 34.

    Mnemosyne

    @TenguPhule:

    That reminds me of something that happened when I was in college:

    I was sitting in my university apartment when I kept hearing an electronic voice outside repeating something over and over again. I looked out and a group of kids about 11-12 years old were standing in a circle around a parked car. They all took one step forward, and the car said, “Attention! You are standing too close to this vehicle! Attention!”

    Then the kids all took one big step back, waited for the car to reset itself, and took one big step forward.

    “Attention! You are standing too close to this vehicle! Attention!”

    I bet that guy never figured out why his car battery died. ?????

  36. 36.

    TenguPhule

    House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and other top Democrats are vowing to abide by fiscally hawkish pay-as-you-go rules if they seize the majority next year, rejecting calls from liberals who feel they’d be an impediment to big legislative gains.

    Pelosi, who adopted “pay-go” rules when she held the Speaker’s gavel more than a decade ago, says she’ll push to do it again if the Democrats win the House in November’s midterm elections.

    “Democrats are committed to pay-as-you-go,” Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said Tuesday, affirming the policy would be a 2019 priority.

    Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the minority whip, is also endorsing the notion that a Democratic majority should adopt the budget-neutral rules next year.

    FFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!

    What are you fucking doing, Pelosi?! We’re on the verge of a Trump caused economic crash and you do this NOW of all times?! The GOP just fucking BLED the budget revenues with Tax Cuts, remember!

  37. 37.

    Brachiator

    Wow. I love this shit. Pundit asks a false question, and then proceeds to give a stupid, poorly thought out answer to his own damn question.

    A moment of perfect self-masturbatory emptiness.

  38. 38.

    Amir Khalid

    @p.a.:
    The lady said, “My John and I”, not “my john and I”. I do believe the difference is significant. :)

  39. 39.

    TenguPhule

    @Mnemosyne: This company is so obnoxious and arrogant that Honolulu cracked down on the stupid fuckers by having the cops simply confiscate the scooters under the “no littering” statute.

  40. 40.

    Corner Stone

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Democratic candidates for office should do the opposite of what the media advises them to do.

    I agree. And it makes me furious when D’s, or nominal D’s, start parroting the same talking point BS. I saw former SFO Mayor Willie Brown on MSNBC over the weekend repeating the same garbage for a 15 minute segment. He’s not the only one that seems to be desperate for a spotlight by spouting this same bullshit about D politics.

  41. 41.

    Corner Stone

    No, Michael Steele. The D’s do not need an 8pt or double digit polling lead to make gains in the midterms. FU.

  42. 42.

    zhena gogolia

    @MattF:

    The “Reader’s Picks” comments on that article are so filled with rage. So are the WaPo comments on virtually any story concerning DJT. I keep thinking this kind of rage (which I don’t recall EVER seeing before) has to translate into votes, doesn’t it? Doesn’t it?

    ETA: To be clear, I mean rage against Trump and his supporters.

  43. 43.

    Mnemosyne

    @TenguPhule:

    Sorry, what Democratic legislation did you think Trump was going to sign? When he loses the House, he’s going to be PISSED as only a toxic narcissist can be.

  46. 46.

    MisterForkbeard

    @hitchhiker: IIRC, the IG report is supposed to say bad things about Comey because he went against policy and the explicit recommendations of his superiors to publicly attack Hillary Clinton twice.

    There’s also supposed to be some level of criticism levelled at Loretta Lynch for… talking to Bill Clinton on the tarmac. I guess we can compare this to Trump literally calling in the FBI multiple times and asking for inside information on the investigation into his campaign, or any of his obstruction of justice.

  47. 47.

    Brachiator

    @TenguPhule:

    House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and other top Democrats are vowing to abide by fiscally hawkish pay-as-you-go rules if they seize the majority next year.

    I hope she is selling this to fool the Republicans.

  48. 48.

    dmsilev

    @Mnemosyne: Yeah, this. Even if we take the Senate (a much steeper hill to climb than the House, but not impossible), there’s no chance of anything resembling major legislation passing until 2021.

  50. 50.

    TenguPhule

    @Mnemosyne: Assuming the House tries to pass a federal budget, we start off about six feet to the Right of where we want to be. And that’s before some unexpected but totally predictable disaster suddenly needs federal money. Committing to pay-go ahead of time limits future Democratic options. Its an unforced error which is gonna come back to bite us.

  51. 51.

    TenguPhule

    @dmsilev:

    there’s no chance of anything resembling major legislation passing until 2021.

    I guarantee that should the economy start going south, there is going to be immense pressure on Congress to “DO SOMETHING”.

  52. 52.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    Has anyone asked Pelosi if they win control of the House that they’ll expand the number of seats to what they should be according to current population?

  53. 53.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Brachiator: I can absolutely see this as a “The House is going to take Trump’s proposals and carefully consider them before refusing all of them because they do terrible things financially to everyone.”

    We were seeing some indications from Dems even earlier this week that after Republican budget shenanigans they were feeling much less inclined to worry about the deficit. In this case, I hope they basically give Trump the finger and fail his proposals on this criteria alone, and propose Democratic solutions that also have negative budgetary impacts but use republican magical thinking to make them budget neutral.

  54. 54.

    JPL

    OH my! We are going to war with Canada.. Guess who

    Prime Minister Trudeau is being so indignant, bringing up the relationship that the U.S. and Canada had over the many years and all sorts of other things…but he doesn’t bring up the fact that they charge us up to 300% on dairy — hurting our Farmers, killing our Agriculture!

  55. 55.

    TenguPhule

    @Brachiator:

    I hope she is selling this to fool the Republicans.

    I’m afraid its genuine. Rules of the game have changed, but I don’t see our party adapting to the New Game we’re playing fast enough.

  57. 57.

    TenguPhule

    @JPL:

    Prime Minister Trudeau is being so indignant, bringing up the relationship that the U.S. and Canada had over the many years and all sorts of other things

    Like having our back on every major conflict we’ve been in for the last HUNDRED FUCKING YEARS.

    Trump is going to achieve the impossible, he’s going to make Canada a hostile nation.

  58. 58.

    dmsilev

    @JPL: He’s getting pissy because it’s dawning on him that Mexico and Canada aren’t willing to simply rip up NAFTA Because Donald Says So.

  59. 59.

    Brachiator

    @Mnemosyne:

    Sorry, what Democratic legislation did you think Trump was going to sign? When he loses the House, he’s going to be PISSED as only a toxic narcissist can be.

    I’m hoping he loses the House. I want to see him pissed.

    It would be even better if he lost both houses.

    I want to see a House with a Democratic Party majority introduce a boatload of good legislation. Doesn’t matter if the Republicans blood it or Trump vetoes it. It will be ammunition for 2020. And if some of it passes, that’s even better.

  60. 60.

    Wapiti

    @Mnemosyne: That’s a very good point. So Pelosi will have the ability to do investigation/oversight, and pass baseline spending bills. Depending on Muller’s team’s results, and the willingness of Repubs who survive a blue wave to moderate themselves, she can revisit the pay-go rule.

  61. 61.

    TenguPhule

    @dmsilev:

    And what exact “something” can they do without Trump’s willingness to sign?

    They’ll be immense pressure on the Democrats to make concessions so that Trump signs “anything”. That kind of emotional panic isn’t rational. Remember what the GOP did to President Obama’s bailout programs to get us out of the Great Recession. This time, they’re in a position to make things much worse.

  63. 63.

    dmsilev

    @TenguPhule:

    Trump is going to achieve the impossible, he’s going to make Canada a hostile nation.

    In college, I took a poli-sci course in which the TA argued that the best reason for the US to maintain a nuclear arsenal was to deter the vicious Quebecois from streaming across the border and assimilating half of New England.

    He may, just may, have been less than serious.

  65. 65.

    SRW1

    I’ve been saying forever that in the end it’s going to be 80-90% about Trump.

    With a bigly assist by the Trumpster pre-election. Post-election, he will insist that he wasn’t on the ballot in any way, shape, of form.

  66. 66.

    JPL

    @TenguPhule: You win.. Yes it was Trump and now Canada is our enemy.
    Where is Adam when we need him. He just praised the dictator in North Korea.

  67. 67.

    dmsilev

    @TenguPhule: Trump can’t even articulate what he wants and will sign with a Republican Congress. See: Obamacare repeal, immigration. In any sort of crisis, he’ll be so far scattered all over the map, changing from hour to hour, that nobody will know or care about what sort of concessions he might want.

  68. 68.

    Brachiator

    @TenguPhule:

    I’m afraid its genuine. Rules of the game have changed, but I don’t see our party adapting to the New Game we’re playing fast enough.

    It’s really the same old game. Some people just like to get themselves tied up into knots overcomplicating things.

    These people are elected to govern. Craft effective legislation, get it passed, get it executed.

  70. 70.

    TenguPhule

    @dmsilev: Trump just dropped trousers and took an enormous flaming dump on Canada’s military losses from supporting us as allies and friends. I’m struggling to think of something even more offensive he could have done to them.

  71. 71.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @JPL: Trump has praised Kim Jong Un before. Today he said he’d invite him to the White House if they get along. No sign in what Pompeo said this afternoon that he has the faintest idea of the technical issues involved. Neither Trump nor John Bolton is preparing for the meeting – “It’s a matter of attitude.”

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

  72. 72.

    TenguPhule

    @dmsilev:

    Trump can’t even articulate what he wants and will sign with a Republican Congress. See: Obamacare repeal, immigration. In any sort of crisis, he’ll be so far scattered all over the map, changing from hour to hour, that nobody will know or care about what sort of concessions he might want.

    Economic panic isn’t rational. Not the bullshit economic insecurity, but the real “ohfuckohfuckohfuck” sight of watching trillions in wealth go up in electronic smoke.

  73. 73.

    Wapiti

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??: I was surprised that that is only a law, not a Constitutional Amendment. I can’t imagine that the Senate would approve it*, nor do I think Trump would sign it.

    * States with lower than average population would lose electoral college clout if the House were expanded. So half of the Senate would likely lean towards disapproval, before considering party.

  75. 75.

    TenguPhule

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    No sign in what Pompeo said this afternoon that he has the faintest idea of the technical issues involved.

    No kidding.

    The secretary was asked if the gap between US and North Korea’s definitions of denuclearisation had narrowed. “Yes,” he replied. Could he elaborate? “No.”

    Well, I’m reassured, how about the rest of you? //s

  76. 76.

    JPL

    @Cheryl Rofer: I just hope he is not indignant, cuz there will be tweets

    I read that Trump is hoping to sign a peace treaty, and might even agree to remove U.S. troops.

  77. 77.

    Corner Stone

    I wish that female reporter in Israel had stepped on stage and pulled Rudy right off the stage and threw him to the floor.

  78. 78.

    jl

    If a dog can eat watermelon like a person, we can do something about Trump, darnitall.

  82. 82.

    bemused

    @MattF:

    Excellent piece.

    I don’t think trump can live without fights. He craves fighting and bullying as much as he craves adoration and getting his way on all things. Even if he had that 24/7, he’d still want to fight.

  83. 83.

    TenguPhule

    @Percysowner:

    In particular, the administration is arguing that the ACA’s ban on discrimination based on pre-existing conditions and limits on charging older patients higher premiums are invalid, and they are requesting that the court put a halt to those provisions in January of 2019, when enforcement of the individual mandate is set to be terminated.

    I can’t see this ending well. At all.

  84. 84.

    jl

    I don’t know what to do about the corporate media’s horrible reporting.
    I think is possible to talk about Trump and policy at the same time.
    Because, Trump is bad, and has bad policies. It’s not a reach.
    So Trump is bad, Trump has bad policies, here are some good policies instead. Should be easy to connect them.
    Corporate media won’t report it, so will have to bypass them for general, with door knocking and similar local outreach.

  85. 85.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Corner Stone: I did when i thought we were talking about fries. But I realized that “poutine” is code for something freaky-deaky….

  87. 87.

    Shalimar

    @TenguPhule: Yes, it sucks horribly that Republicans intentionally fuck up the deficit over and over and over, forcing Democrats to fix it. But the economy would be even worse off if it wasn’t fixed, and all of us have to live in that economy, not just Republicans.

  88. 88.

    TenguPhule

    Documents show corporations and trade groups — such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, or NAM — struggling to get their voices heard within a supposedly business-friendly administration and sending increasingly panicked emails to the United States trade representative’s office about its approach to rewriting the pact (NAFTA).

    Throughout last spring and summer, high-level trade negotiators repeatedly canceled meetings with the chamber, instead finally sending a 24-year-old deputy to meet with a delegation that was expected to include representatives from more than 50 of the largest American companies and organizations, including Walmart, U.P.S., the Walt Disney Company, General Electric, General Motors, Caterpillar and Boeing.

    Via FTFNYT.

  90. 90.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Amir Khalid:

    The lady said, “My John and I”, not “my john and I”. I do believe the difference is significant. :)

    Kind of like the difference between Polish and polish, only not nearly as sexxxxy.

  93. 93.

    chris

    @TenguPhule:

    I’m struggling to think of something even more offensive he could have done to them.

    Wait until tomorrow, I’m sure he’ll come up with something. He probably doesn’t know that our special ops people are in Iraq and Syria alongside the US military. Of course we also have people in Ukraine so that may be annoying his boss.

  95. 95.

    M4

    @TenguPhule: leaving aside whatever Pelosi might be thinking:

    1. Paygo is IIRC easily waived
    2. Yes, we are starting in a hole because of the tax cuts—the first move in any major legislation should be repealing them.

  97. 97.

    Peale

    @TenguPhule: none of those “globalist” companies are worth anything to Trump. Appaantly the only industries that matter are rural farmers and coal miners. Basically a trade war over 19th century issues.

  100. 100.

    Mike J

    @dmsilev:

    the best reason for the US to maintain a nuclear arsenal was to deter the vicious Quebecois from streaming across the border and assimilating half of New England.

    Whaddya think the canuck letter was about? WAKE UP SHEEPLE!

  104. 104.

    Shana

    Seems kinda quiet here tonight. Is everyone watching hockey? We’re switching back and forth between that and MSNBC. Of course, we’re in the DC area and my brother lives in Vegas.

  105. 105.

    Ruckus

    @rikyrah:

    We should keep our anger.

    Almost impossible not to keep it. The shit has been bulldozed into the fan every second for the last, well it seems like forever, and at this moment it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop. At some point it will and then it will be clean up. “Massive bullshit spill on the entire USA, all hands man your rubber gloves, gas masks, bleach and paper towels. All republicans are required to get on their hands and knees and clean up every last gram from every nook and cranny. If you get stepped on or kicked, tough noggies.”

  107. 107.

    JPL

    @TenguPhule: lol That is something I had as a child. My youngest son hates mayo on anything, except on frittes. Because of his job, he spent a lot of time in Brussels.. It’s a thing. I blame Trudeau and the EU.

  111. 111.

    M4

    @JPL: mayonnaise is basically made of the three cheapest ingredients. It’s hard to “waste” (though you can certainly waste fine mayo).

  112. 112.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    David Frum @ davidfrum
    Over the first yr of his presidency, room rates at Trump Hotel Vancouver tumbled 48%, one of the steepest declines among Trump-branded properties worldwide … Might this explain the president’s rage at Canada ?

  115. 115.

    Mary G

    @rikyrah: Every time I think my anger is diminishing I read something like this:

    Yesterday DOJ was sending around an opinion in which they managed to deport a woman who was kidnapped by rebels along with her husband, forced to watch as they made her husband dig his own grave and then murder him. They then made her their servant.— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) June 7, 2018

    An immigration judge found that she had an asylum claim and could stay in the US, country but Sessions' DOJ said she was guilty of material support for terrorism because HER FORCED LABOR FOR THE REBELS THAT KIDNAPPED HER AND MURDERED HER HUSBAND COUNTED AS MATERIAL SUPPORT.— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) June 7, 2018

    So she is being sent back to her country where those rebels are now in charge. It’s enough that the administration does such monstrous things, but that they are bragging about it as an accomplishment makes me want to vomit.

  116. 116.

    Corner Stone

    @M4:

    mayonnaise is basically made of the three cheapest ingredients

    Protestations of love from a hooker, a reused hypodermic needle and a CD of Eddie Murphy’s Greatest Music Hits?

  118. 118.

    debbie

    @M4:

    Is this where I wax eloquent over the deliciousness of a peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwich? ?

  120. 120.

    B.B.A.

    News from north of the border: the Canadian Senate just passed cannabis legalization.

    EDIT: and Rob Ford’s brother is the new premier of Ontario so they’re gonna need it.

  121. 121.

    GregB

    Trump is the King of Lies. A year and a half in and the US is treating Canada as an enemy and North Korea as a desired ally.

  123. 123.

    James Powell

    I don’t recall any of these pundits warning the Republicans that they shouldn’t base their 2010 midterm campaign on “OMG! The president is a ni-clang!” when “anger about Obamacare” was polite code for “OMG! The president is a ni-clang!”

  126. 126.

    Mary G

    And the descent into fascism continues:

    NEW: The Justice Department has secretly seized a years’ worth of a New York Times reporter’s phone and email records as part of its investigation into leaks of classified information. https://t.co/uGE2wK4SlI— Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) June 8, 2018

  127. 127.

    Felony Govt (formerly Old Broad in California)

    I’m so sick of articles saying Dem need to “run on something, not just against Trump”. I’ve never seen this kind of fury against a president or against any political figure. Damn right we should harness it.

  128. 128.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    because of course he is

    Kevin Liptak @ Kevinliptakcnn
    White House says Trump to depart G7 early on Saturday, skipping sessions focused on environment, climate and clean oceans.

  129. 129.

    Steve in the ATL

    @JPL: thanks—me too. Uh, #MeToo. Since she can’t lie flat owing to her acute abdominal pain, she can sleep in the chair tonight and I’ll take the bed!

  130. 130.

    raven

    You know what they call a Quarter
    Pounder with Cheese in Paris?
    JULES
    They don’t call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese?
    VINCENT
    No, man, they got the metric system there, they wouldn’t know what the fuck
    A Quarter Pounder is.
    JULES
    What’d they call it?
    VINCENT
    They call it Royale with Cheese.
    JULES (repeating)
    Royale with Cheese. What’d they call a Big Mac?
    VINCENT
    Big Mac’s a Big Mac, but they call it Le Big Mac.
    JULES (repeating)
    Le Big Mac. What do they call a Whopper?
    VINCENT
    I dunno, I didn’t go into a Burger King. You know what they put on french
    Fries in Holland instead of ketchup?
    JULES
    What?
    VINCENT
    Mayonnaise.
    JULES
    Goddamn!
    VINCENT
    I seen ’em do it, man. They fuckin’ drown ’em in this shit.
    JULES
    Uuccch!

  131. 131.

    Steve in the ATL

    @debbie: my stepfather’s go-to sandwich was PBJ&M. It actually tasted good, once you got past the mental block of a PBJ with mayo on it.

  133. 133.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @ Any and all Canadian Juicers, especially Ontarians:

    Have been in contact with many friends and relations today, who live in places from Toronto to Thunder Bay, from Ottawa to Windsor, from Tobermory to Guelph. To a person, they are voting (or have voted); and to a person, they are profoundly unhappy with their choices.

    Would love some BJuicy on-the-ground takes. How didn’t you vote, and why, and what stories should we be following?

  135. 135.

    Mandalay

    @Mary G: That story is really bad, but not quite as Chris Hayes painted it. First, Hayes carefully cherry-picked what he told us, second he provided no link for his “scoop”, and third his claim that “they managed to deport a woman” seems to be false (so far).

    Here are more details from CNN:

    This is about a Salvadoran woman. We don’t’ have her name. First entered the United States illegally in 1991, now facing deportation. A lot of this is about the meaning of the term “material support for terrorism.” Divided court rulings says she did cooking and cleaning for the El Salvadorian guerillas under threat of death, that she was forced to witness the execution of her husband after he was forced to dig his own grave. A dissenting opinion said the woman was essentially a slave to the guerillas acting under duress, under coercion, not voluntarily. But the court also said she received military type weapons training from the guerrillas in their violent opposition to the Salvadorian government, along with the cooking and cleaning, which qualifies as material support for a terrorist organization. A huge disqualifier if you’re trying to get immigration relief to live in the U.S.

    The court ruled that the law does not have an exception allowing special treatment because of duress and that immigrants can be banned, even if the material support was minimal. The concern now is what happens to the woman, especially if she returns to El Salvador. The case has been sent back to a lower court with guidance, but there seems to be a question whether the woman might be tortured if she returns to her home country.

    Ultimately, the decision could rest in the hands of either the attorney general or an appeals court.

    So it is a horrible situation that shouldn’t exist, but the main takeaways seem to be that:
    – She hasn’t been deported yet.
    – This was a court ruling, and it seems that current law is inadequate (not that I expect the Republicans to do anything about that).

  137. 137.

    Gvg

    I wonder if it’s possible to explain the parable of the golden apples to Trump. It’s praiseworthy to gain new allies or make peace with old enemies only if you don’t lose 10 times as many allies as you already had. As pessimistic as I was about Trump, I never dreamed he could make enemies of Canada and a lot of Europe.
    Is it possible he is an agent of multiple enemy countries?
    I want to see his greed head rich backers like the Kochs and Mercers and Murdoch lose tons of money. I wish their was a way to make the Trump little guy morons lose money without screwing the innocent too. Like me. Florida went Trump to my shock and I am sure our tourism is down. I really want to get out of this without too much harm but at the same time I want certain conservative theories thoroughly discredited. It’s obvious lessons of the past have been forgotten. Europe too by the way.

  140. 140.

    Zinsky

    The DNC should be mass-producing t-shirts with the most unflattering picture of Trump on it and one of these three captions on it in massive letters: “Rapist” “Pervert” or “Degenerate”. The Repukes did it to Bill Clinton – we need to take the kid gloves off and relentlessly hammer this deviant with every name and epithet we can throw at this pig.

  142. 142.

    dexwood

    Always late to the party, I am. Every dog I’ve been a servant to over the last 50 years has loved watermelon. Dexter held a slice between his paws and ate it much the same way. That dog had good manners, was never messy.

  143. 143.

    Corner Stone

    @Steve in the ATL:

    my stepfather’s go-to sandwich was PBJ&M. It actually tasted good, once you got past the mental block of a PBJ with mayo on it.

    It’s no wonder you were such an easy mark for Public Enemy #1, the vixen from the Canadiana North.

  144. 144.

    Brachiator

    @Felony Govt (formerly Old Broad in California):

    I’m so sick of articles saying Dem need to “run on something, not just against Trump”. I’ve never seen this kind of fury against a president or against any political figure. Damn right we should harness it.

    Why not both? Reminding me that Trump is a bad man gets you in the door, but you got to follow through with how you are going to solve the problems that Trump and the GOP have created. It is not enough to say “We’re the Democrats. We’re nice people and we shit sunshine.”

    And it should not be hard because the Democrats DO have good ideas.

    Also, advice from pundits is meaningless. I look to them for informed analysis. And since I know they are useless for this purpose, that leaves mockery.

  145. 145.

    cain

    @Mnemosyne:

    Sorry, what Democratic legislation did you think Trump was going to sign? When he loses the House, he’s going to be PISSED as only a toxic narcissist can be.

    Oh yeah.. and he’s going to say the whole house is illegal. He’ll try to use the executive branch against them. Meanwhile, there will be some serious investigations of all things Trump and Pence. In actuality, we should go after Pence first. The Orange Menace will self destruct by himself.

  146. 146.

    Zinsky

    Further, the Democrats should propose legislation, in a very loud, public way, designating 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in D.C. as the residence of a known sex offender!

  147. 147.

    chris

    @SiubhanDuinne: One of my sisters lives in the 905. She’s close to tears, her husband is celebrating. They’ve been together for nearly 40 years, go figure.

    ETA I’m close to tears too.

  148. 148.

    Brachiator

    @Gvg:

    As pessimistic as I was about Trump, I never dreamed he could make enemies of Canada and a lot of Europe.

    Yep. You nailed it. And I would think that the way that Trump has alienated allies would alarm the GOP leadership. But nope.

    It is strange to watch. I can’t imagine that Putin paid very much for their craven capitulation.

  149. 149.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    @Brachiator:
    In fact, that’s all I’ve ever heard from Dems running. They’re running on issues that are actually important to people as well as criticizing Trump. Let the Party of Trump run on culture warrior bullshit like the NFL (not saying that the President bullying a private business to silence its employees isn’t a serious problem; it can be pushed back on as well) as that’s all they’ve got basically. The Democrats will run on education, healthcare, voting rights, and actually giving a shit about our national security as well as being a check on Trump/GOP.

  150. 150.

    Ruckus

    @raven:
    Was walking by a chip stand in Amsterdam and they smelled great. Bought a serving and asked for catsoup. The guy looked at me like I’d called his mother a whore. Pointed to the mayo. When in Rome and all that so I tried it. Haven’t had catsoup since. Had a burger and fries for lunch today, asked for mayo for the fries. 46 yrs I’ve been eating them that way. Sure it’s crap on my health but it does taste good.

  151. 151.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I don’t always love Lawrence O’Donnell, but I do love him in IDGAF mode, like right now when he’s detailing Rudi G’s unsavory personal life and scoffing impolitely at the idea that anybody, Melania first and foremost, doesn’t know trump had a fling with Stormy Daniels.

  152. 152.

    Steeplejack

    @Ruckus:

    Sure it’s crap on my health but it does taste good.

    Right, because ketchup would be so much healthier.

    I will occasionally have mayonnaise on the burger. Yeah, I said it.

  156. 156.

    raven

    @Ruckus: We’re doing one more day of beach life and then back to the South Beach. We’re going to try to kickstart this retirement gig with a heavy dose of fitness!

  157. 157.

    Barbara

    @Steeplejack: Some of my Brazilian au pairs ate mayonnaise on pizza. I couldn’t even watch. Mayonnaise is pure fat. Ketchup is salty but less caloric.

  159. 159.

    Steeplejack

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I like ketchup, too. I just don’t see a condiment as make or break to your health. And it was a joke anyway.

    Thanks for the tip. I will look for Maggi.

  160. 160.

    Ruckus

    @Steeplejack:
    Well to be honest I’ve been a fan of mayo on sandwiches for basically my entire life. Haven’t made one recently but I used to eat avocado and mayo sandwiches. Of course we had a tree in our front yard that produced so many that we’d give away paper shopping bags full almost weekly when it was in season. Damn they were good. What you get in the market is not even close. Why is most everything not as good as when you were a kid? Maybe our memories really are crap.

  161. 161.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Steeplejack: I just don’t see a condiment as make or break to your health.

    yeah, as someone who would cheerfully eat french fries every day, putting mayo or ketchup on them doesn’t strike me as the big nutritional question…

    and isn’t mayonnaise just eggs and vegetable oil? It’s not like it’s one of the those evil refined carbs!

  167. 167.

    Amir Khalid

    @Steeplejack:
    How do you feel about Nestle? Some people disapprove strongly enough to avoid its products, including anything with the Maggi brand.

  168. 168.

    Ruckus

    Speaking of better times, one of the things I’d like to remember is a day that something doesn’t hurt or do weird things like tremor, or cramp or seize or wake up after a full nights sleep feeling worse than when you went to bed. And no one seems to know what it is or what to do about it.
    Fun times.

  169. 169.

    Steeplejack

    @Ruckus:

    Why is most everything not as good as when you were a kid? Maybe our memories really are crap.

    Maybe our taste buds are dying.

  171. 171.

    chris

    I like fries with almost anything but the best were in France. Handcut, fried in lard and served with a side of Bearnaise sauce. Done died and gone to heaven good, heart health be damned.

  172. 172.

    Elizabelle

    @Ruckus: Ah no. I wish they could get a handle on that and fix it.

    Now, about french fries: I like mayo, but Russian dressing is even better. And honey mustard (not the true Slingblade, but close). Catsup is kinda sweet. I bet siracha catsup would be good. Or some wasabi, if it’s not too hot ….

  173. 173.

    raven

    @Ruckus: Fuck man, I did an 8 hr deep sea trip Tuesday and I slept for 12 hrs when I got back. We were in 300ft of water cranking big fish and heavy bottom weights. I still hurt all over (of course I fished from 5am to noon and then 5 to 8:30)!

  176. 176.

    Steeplejack

    @Amir Khalid:

    Nestlé the company? Don’t have any opinion, really. Guess I’m not up on their current or recent atrocities. And I certainly didn’t know that Maggi, which I first heard of tonight, is one of their brands.

  177. 177.

    Brachiator

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I don’t always love Lawrence O’Donnell, but I do love him in IDGAF mode, like right now when he’s detailing Rudi G’s unsavory personal life and scoffing impolitely at the idea that anybody, Melania first and foremost, doesn’t know trump had a fling with Stormy Daniels.

    Here is what is extra disgusting about all this. Melania issued a statement stressing that she has never discussed this with Rudy G and he has no idea what her thoughts on this might be.

    But Rudy G said what a mere woman says doesn’t matter because he believes that Trump would not bang a scuzzy piece of meat like Daniels. So, while pretending to defend Melania’s honor, he demeans and dismisses her. It is wild to watch such blatant anti-woman strutting. It’s like Rudy wants the whole world see him kissing Trump’s ass.

    Link to Rudy’s comments and Melania’s denial.

    https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/07/politics/melania-trump-rudy-giuliani/index.html

  178. 178.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Barbara: @Steeplejack: I cannot imagine a pizza that I would put mayonnaise on

    according to Jeff Ross, trump gets a small dish of mayonnaise to dip his cheeseburgers in

    229 my ass

  183. 183.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @rikyrah: these are two smart people, I hope they’re right about this

    @ thegarance
    This is a gift to Democrats who want to retake the House. Health care remains a top issue.

    Jonathan Cohn @ CitizenCohn
    Two Republicans trying to win contested Senate Seats, Hawley in MO and Morrisey in WV, are co-counsels on the original brief in the case
    Case, though unlikely to succeed, would nuke pre-ex protections.
    Think that will come up in Democratic ads?

    I’ve been watching MSNBC off and on tonight– have any of their hosts brought this up?

  185. 185.

    Ruckus

    @Steeplejack:
    Actually you taste with your nose more than your taste buds. So if your smeller goes, food has very little taste. You taste buds pretty much tell you sweet, salty, sour, bitter. And you get texture. I know this first hand, my smeller has flown the coup.
    Fun times.

  189. 189.

    Ruckus

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    229 is his ass. Just his ass. That’s his physical ass BTW. For all intents and purposes he is all ass. It’s just that he weighs more than his physical ass, which weighs 229 lb.

  192. 192.

    Brachiator

    @Ruckus:

    You taste buds pretty much tell you sweet, salty, sour, bitter.

    Umami, savory, is said by some to be another taste for the buds.

  194. 194.

    Steeplejack

    @Amir Khalid:

    Looks like my Nestlé exposure is slight. I will have to talk to the housecat about her Fancy Feast consumption, however.

  195. 195.

    Gin & Tonic

    @chris: IIRC, you’re in Halifax or something? Take a drive down to Portland, Maine, and eat the fries at a restaurant called Duckfat. You’ll thank me later. And you’ll forget all about France.

  197. 197.

    Barbara

    @Gin & Tonic: Or buy a duck breast and trim some of the fat off the back and render it in a pan and then roast potatoes in the fat while you pan sear the duck breast.

  198. 198.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Amir Khalid: I avoid nestle whenever possible. Along with Chik-fil-a and hobby lobby and Goldman Sachs…I could go on but I’ll stop here.

  203. 203.

    Yutsano

    @Steeplejack: Japanese mayo is…weird. And I hate mayo as a rule. But takoyaki without some Japanese mayo just isn’t.

    I’m also imagining tater tots fried in duck fat now…

  204. 204.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Steeplejack: I haven’t read the Bible in a while, but I’m pretty sure that Tater Tot Poutine was one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

  206. 206.

    J R in WV

    @Steeplejack:

    WE always thought pineapple on ‘Za was right out. Then we went to a pizza place before seeing Gov’t Mule a couple of months ago with neighbors, and between us we ordered 4 flavors of ‘Za. One of them had small pieces of pineapple and two flavors of pork.

    There were 6 pieces, and more pizza than the four of us could eat, so I tried it. It was pretty good, I added some red pepper flakes on it, and enjoyed it. Wouldn’t get the whole pizza that style, but as an odd-ball trial run it was OK.

    Thai curry shrimp style is one o my favorites.

  207. 207.

    J R in WV

    @Steeplejack:

    Nestlé the vast company made a huge effort to sell infant formula all over the world, as it’s hugely profitable. They told women it was healthier for their babies than nursing with mother’s milk. Of course that’s a lie.

    It’s especially not true where powdered formula is mixed with rural water which can contain anything, in Africa, for example. Using the only water available, from streams or wells, to mix formula several times a day, as without electricity and refrigeration, it won’t keep for more than a couple of hours.

    So babies died for Nestlé’s profits. And that’s the story of why people boycott Nestlé products.

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