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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Petty moves from a petty man.

I really should read my own blog.

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

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

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

75% of people clapping liked the show!

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

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

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

The snowflake in chief appeared visibly frustrated when questioned by a reporter about egg prices.

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You cannot love your country only when you win.

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Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Russiagate Open Thread: Michael Cohen Makes A Move

Russiagate Open Thread: Michael Cohen Makes A Move

by Anne Laurie|  June 20, 20186:02 pm| 233 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Dolt 45, Open Threads, Russiagate, Trump Crime Cartel, Ever Get The Feeling You've Been Cheated?

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Michael Cohen resigns from as deputy finance chair of RNC…..apparently suggesting it's partly on principle over family separation. https://t.co/J7xDlOoK1a

— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) June 20, 2018

… In his resignation letter to Ronna McDaniel, the RNC chair, Cohen cited the ongoing special counsel investigation as one reason for his departure. ABC News has reviewed the email…

Cohen also criticized the administration’s policy of separating migrant children from their parents at the southern border, the first time he’s distanced himself from the president.

“As the son of a Polish holocaust survivor, the images and sounds of this family separation policy is heart wrenching,” Cohen wrote. “While I strongly support measures that will secure our porous borders, children should never be used as bargaining chips.”

Cohen on Tuesday hired New York lawyer Guy Petrillo to represent him in a federal investigation headed up by the Southern District of New York.

I drafted the post below just last night. Nothing is ever certain in Trumpworld, but it sounds like the Hoarse Whisperer’s tweets at the end might be relevant; if Cohen’s decided that Donald is not really his friend, then the next logical step would be discovering a moral compass…

This is gonna end like Reservoir Dogs isn’t it. https://t.co/EKxCXol5Z2

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) June 20, 2018

It’d be some kind of poetic justice if Trump’s notorious parsimony (to phrase it nicely) with the people who work for him turns out to be what brings him down. From CNN:

Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen has signaled to friends that he is “willing to give” investigators information on the President if that’s what they are looking for, and is planning on hiring a new lawyer to handle a possible indictment from federal prosecutors.

“He knows a lot of things about the President and he’s not averse to talking in the right situation,” one of Cohen’s New York friends who is in touch with him told CNN. “If they want information on Trump, he’s willing to give it.”…

The shift in legal strategy and signals of potential cooperation with investigators come as Cohen feels increasingly isolated from the President, whom he has been famously loyal to for more than a decade. Last week, CNN reported Cohen has indicated a willingness to cooperate to alleviate pressure on himself and his family…

Several defense lawyers say that if Cohen is ultimately indicted, they don’t expect him to be charged with any wrongdoing until the government completes its review of the evidence seized in the raid. The court-appointed special master overseeing the review of material for attorney-client privileged information said it could be completed as soon as June 25…

Cohen complaints about Trump not paying his legal fees are all the more striking because 1) Trump campaign paid $230K of his Russia legal fees + 2) Trump family paid for doc review process after the April raid (as first reported by NYT). https://t.co/l8fr1aVYQH

— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) June 20, 2018

From The Hill:

The Wall Street Journal reports that Cohen has “frequently” complained that the mounting costs of his legal fees are “bankrupting” him, according to one source, and that he is frustrated that the president, whom he feels owes Cohen for years service, hasn’t offered to cover the fees.

Trump told reporters last week that he hasn’t spoken to his former attorney in months, adding that Cohen no longer does any business with him.

“I always liked Michael Cohen,” he said Friday. “I haven’t spoken to Michael in a long time.”…

Afterwards, they’re hurt, shocked and incredulous.

How could they have done this to me after everything I’ve done?!

Then they’re just hurt.

Then they look for comfort in people who have been wronged by the narc as well…

…and those people usually weren’t as loyal.

2/

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) June 19, 2018

Michael Cohen is well on his way to that point…

…and once he gets there and opens the spigot, there will be no holding back what he gives up.

The first turn is the hardest.

Then comes the flood.

Trump is in big, big trouble here.

<end>

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) June 19, 2018

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Reader Interactions

233Comments

  1. 1.

    jl

    June 20, 2018 at 6:08 pm

    Is saw an interview where Avenatti has said he would welcome Cohen’s cooperation, if it were genuine, and help him if he turned a new leaf in life. That is the IANAL gist. There was legal talk and provisos involved that I did not understand.

  2. 2.

    efgoldman

    June 20, 2018 at 6:08 pm

    The rats are bailing.
    It will be ironic if Weasel Face is brought down because he stiffed his own lawyers and “friends.”

  3. 3.

    Elizabelle

    June 20, 2018 at 6:11 pm

    The worm is turning. Stay tuned.

  4. 4.

    TenguPhule

    June 20, 2018 at 6:13 pm

    @efgoldman:

    The rats are bailing.

    Unfortunately they seem to have a never ending supply of new ones to take their place.

    Cohen better get into protective custody fast. Or else he’s going to commit suicide.

  5. 5.

    debbie

    June 20, 2018 at 6:14 pm

    Like he gives a shit about family separation!

  6. 6.

    Tony Jay

    June 20, 2018 at 6:14 pm

    If Trump’s mobbed-up bagman turns snitch about all the money laundering and bribery and sex-trafficking and treason his former client has been involved in…. Yeah, I see the problem.

    Good.

  7. 7.

    Villago Delenda Est

    June 20, 2018 at 6:16 pm

    If you pitched this story to a network for a series, you’d be tossed out on your ass for trying to sell utter fantasy as “realistic”.

  8. 8.

    Mnemosyne

    June 20, 2018 at 6:16 pm

    The Hoarse Whisperer knows whereof s/he speaks when it comes to narcissists. Everything s/he says matches up with what I’ve read about narcissists and with my personal experiences.

    Once the narc’s spell over an enabler breaks, that’s when things get truly interesting.

  9. 9.

    trollhattan

    June 20, 2018 at 6:17 pm

    Trump represents an ambulatory sunk cost. Do business with even once and you’ve booked a loss. It’s up to you how much deeper a hole to dig, Cohen, as we’ve come to know, is rather thick and hung in there a long damn time waiting for that Big Payday. Hope you’re happy now, Mikie.

    I’m unaware of one person happy, whole and wealthy today from having done (legitimate) business with Donald Trump. New Yorkers have known this 30+ years.

  10. 10.

    zhena gogolia

    June 20, 2018 at 6:19 pm

    @debbie:

    Inorite

  11. 11.

    Mnemosyne

    June 20, 2018 at 6:20 pm

    @debbie:

    He actually might. Everyone has their breaking point, and it can be surprising to see where a particular person’s is.

    Remember, the worst thing you can be in a maximum security prison is someone who was convicted of hurting a child, because even stone-cold gang murderers who killed other adults without blinking an eye are going to hate your guts for that and want to make you pay.

  12. 12.

    Patricia Kayden

    June 20, 2018 at 6:21 pm

    Why is Cohen surprised that Trump isn’t paying his legal fees and has pretty much disowned him? How long has he known Donald? I don’t even have a relationship with Trump and know that this is the kind of thing he’d pull. He has no loyalty to anyone except Donald J. Trump. He’ll probably disown the fruit of his loins to keep himself out of the slammer with the exception of his one true love — Ivanka, of course.

  13. 13.

    jacy

    June 20, 2018 at 6:23 pm

    One of the federal attorneys that on all the shows — seems like a smart guy, Goldman, maybe? — said that the fact that Trump wasn’t paying Cohen’s fees indicated that Trump wasn’t worried about what Cohen could give up on him. For a normal mob guy, that might be true, but for a narcissist, that calculation doesn’t come up. The reason that Trump cut Cohen loose isn’t because he’s not worried what Cohen has, it’s because that’s what you do to somebody after you’ve used them up and they can’t give you anything else. You dispose of them, they cease to be any calculation to you. I don’t think Trump can actually even process what Cohen could say about him. He doesn’t understand how anything normal works.

    I hope that Cohen wakes up. I don’t really have any sympathy for him, but he’s certainly utterly, utterly pathetic.

  14. 14.

    TenguPhule

    June 20, 2018 at 6:24 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    He’ll probably disown the fruit of his loins to keep himself out of the slammer with the exception of his one true love — Ivanka, of course.

    He’ll disown her too. After she’s fucked him to try to save herself. Its who they both are.

  15. 15.

    Elizabelle

    June 20, 2018 at 6:25 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    Unfortunately they seem to have a never ending supply of new ones [rats] to take their place.

    No they don’t. Stop making up shit so you can enjoy your gloom porn. I mean it.

  16. 16.

    Mnemosyne

    June 20, 2018 at 6:25 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Every enabler thinks that they’re special and different until they get cut off. Then they either realize the truth and get mad, or they go crawling back to the narcissist and beg to be taken back.

  17. 17.

    TenguPhule

    June 20, 2018 at 6:25 pm

    @jacy:

    said that the fact that Trump wasn’t paying Cohen’s fees indicated that Trump wasn’t worried about what Cohen could give up on him. For a normal mob guy, that might be true, but for a narcissist, that calculation doesn’t come up. The reason that Trump cut Cohen loose isn’t because he’s not worried what Cohen has, it’s because that’s what you do to somebody after you’ve used them up and they can’t give you anything else. You dispose of them, they cease to be any calculation to you.

    Trump seems to be confident that Cohen isn’t going to be a problem for much longer.

    Cohen really should be aware of what he’s eating and drinking. And who is watching him.

  18. 18.

    TenguPhule

    June 20, 2018 at 6:26 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    No they don’t.

    /Silently points at the National Republican Party

  19. 19.

    Betty Cracker

    June 20, 2018 at 6:26 pm

    News from the Trump rally in Duluth:

    Lock the doors from the outside and shut off the water. It’s a win for everybody….

    — Todd Bolus (@ToddBolusPLLC) June 20, 2018

    ?

  20. 20.

    TenguPhule

    June 20, 2018 at 6:27 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    If you pitched this story to a network for a series, you’d be tossed out on your ass for trying to sell utter fantasy as “realistic”.

    Fiction is hampered by the requirement to make sense.

  21. 21.

    Frankensteinbeck

    June 20, 2018 at 6:27 pm

    The Trump family feels like it’s being shaken down.

    Because that is the only framework in which they can see the world. Someone is ripping off someone else.

  22. 22.

    ruemara

    June 20, 2018 at 6:27 pm

    1. I hope protective custody is on the table. For all his family.
    2. If he fully flips, I think the consequences are going to be huge for than just the Trumps.

  23. 23.

    TenguPhule

    June 20, 2018 at 6:28 pm

    @Betty Cracker: 18 months ago that tweet would probably have aroused some condemnation around these parts.

    How far we’ve come.

  24. 24.

    Mnemosyne

    June 20, 2018 at 6:28 pm

    @jacy:

    Yep. Trump is like a dog that hasn’t developed object permanence. Once Cohen was no longer useful, Trump stopped thinking about him. He assumes that he will always be smarter than Cohen and that Cohen can’t possibly damage him, because Trump’s a narc.

    Speaking of which, how did your family court thing go?

  25. 25.

    Elizabelle

    June 20, 2018 at 6:29 pm

    @TenguPhule: What do you think are their absolute numbers?

    Because when I hear that even more Republicans approve of Trump, I think that means it’s a shrinking pool and the turds comprise a bigger and bigger share.

    Stop thinking the GOP is the default position, and they are superhumanly strong. They are not.

    it’s why they have to cheat and lie and steal.

  26. 26.

    NotMax

    June 20, 2018 at 6:29 pm

    Couple of Russia related stories at McClatchy more than worth taking the time to peruse in full.

    1) Buyers tied to Russia, former Soviet republics paid $109 million cash for Trump properties

    2) Exclusive: ‘Little Russian media project’ tries to turn America against itself

  27. 27.

    A Ghost To Most

    June 20, 2018 at 6:29 pm

    Leopards, faces.

    At least we can derive some black joy from the fatalities.

  28. 28.

    jacy

    June 20, 2018 at 6:30 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    Believe me when I say that Trump may not even really remember who Cohen is or what he did in a normal sense. He is not in Trump’s immediate vicinity so he ceases to really exist in any meaningful way. It’s a kind of object impermanence that severe narcissists experience. Until you have experienced it, it seems utterly alien and impossible for anybody to be like that, but it it’s true.

  29. 29.

    Teddys Person

    June 20, 2018 at 6:31 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: Every Adolf needs his Eva.

  30. 30.

    Mnemosyne

    June 20, 2018 at 6:31 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    Trump seems to be confident that Cohen isn’t going to be a problem for much longer.

    Trump is idiotically confident about everything, because he’s a narcissist. Everything will work out in his favor, and if it doesn’t, it’s someone else’s fault. Rinse and repeat.

  31. 31.

    Elizabelle

    June 20, 2018 at 6:33 pm

    Someone is going to get a great movie or series out of this once it’s through. Although it’s so crazy-assed it requires suspending disbelief.

    Barbarians INSIDE the Gate, and Barbarians: The Reckoning.

  32. 32.

    JMG

    June 20, 2018 at 6:34 pm

    @jacy: Then comes that grim cold Monday morning when Cohen takes the stand in DC District Court, or in front of the House Judiciary Committee, and all of a sudden, Trump remembers,

  33. 33.

    Gravenstone

    June 20, 2018 at 6:34 pm

    @debbie: dunno. If he is the child of Holocaust survivors, that may have hit a nerve he didn’t even know he had.

    Or, it could be a convenient knife to twist in Trump’s belly now the Cohen has toured the underside of the bus.

  34. 34.

    Thoughtful David

    June 20, 2018 at 6:35 pm

    Wouldn’t Trump’s paying Cohen’s legal fees be construed as a part of a cover up, and lead to more charges? And worse than that, since I suspect part of what Cohen’s done for Trump is going to state charges, that would add cover up to state charges he cant pardon himself out of. I would think that both of them are totally screwed at this point. Cohen’s best bet would be to flip, and get into the witness protection program.

  35. 35.

    rikyrah

    June 20, 2018 at 6:35 pm

    All these tweets cracked me up

  36. 36.

    Patricia Kayden

    June 20, 2018 at 6:36 pm

    This thread discusses a lawsuit claiming that migrant children have been injected with “powerful psychiatric drugs”. Huge sigh. Democrats should demand an investigation into what is happening with these children. I don’t trust HHS or DHS to give us a proper accounting.

  37. 37.

    Frankensteinbeck

    June 20, 2018 at 6:36 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    Trump seems to be confident that Cohen isn’t going to be a problem for much longer.

    You’ve missed the point. Narcissists don’t think like that. Not useful anymore = Garbage to be thrown away. It’s not calculated. It’s a raw, gut ‘What will you do for me tomorrow?’ thing. He calls it being ‘transactional’. Merely greedy people calculate dangers. Narcissists have a more simple, shuttered view of the world, where they’re the only actual people in it.

  38. 38.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    June 20, 2018 at 6:36 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    His suicide method will be spectacular – he’ll stab himself in the back 18 times, shoot himself in the back of the head with a .22 – twice – and hurl himself off a high rise balcony owned by a quiet businessman within a stone’s throw of Brighton Beach after a lovely snack of bliny.

    Best part will be when nobody is able to find the gun or knife, and cops notice that his explanatory letter is titled “Cuicide Note”

  39. 39.

    dmsilev

    June 20, 2018 at 6:37 pm

    @Elizabelle: Future generations won’t believe it. Hell, even living through it, I’m not sure I believe what’s happening.

  40. 40.

    Dave

    June 20, 2018 at 6:37 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: I have trouble believing it but I’ve heard Trump can be personally charasmatic or compelling or what have you. So Cohen, being the dumbass he is, buys into the Trump those other losers deserved it but you are my guy for life thing and is now finally catching a clue.

  41. 41.

    jacy

    June 20, 2018 at 6:37 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Funny how we made almost the same comment at the same time. Not funny — I guess sort of horrifying.

    As for the evil ex — it was a meeting between he and I and our youngest child and the child’s therapist, so that Nick could make his wishes known. (The ex lied about what Nick said to everyone, probably even to himself, so we had to have Nick say in front of someone who could testify in court.) I went in very prepared with facts and figures, while the ex muttered and hugged himself and couldn’t make eye contact with anybody. I told that if he wants to go back to court, we will go all the way to trial and he will sit up on the stand and have to talk and everyone will watch him, and watch his older children testify in court against him. He has not replied, and wanted a month to “pray” about it. I’m in the process of getting a lawyer to file paperwork first, and we’ll see if he withdraws. If figure it’s 50/50. But sitting there and watching him hug himself (just like Trump does) I finally saw how small and hollow he was. I got over the PTSD I’ve felt from dealing with the narcissism. He doesn’t scare me any more. So I’ll still probably end up going to court one final time, but it will be on my terms and not his.

  42. 42.

    Mnemosyne

    June 20, 2018 at 6:38 pm

    @jacy:

    Yep. Once you’ve dealt with one, you’re surprised at how alike narcissists are (I’ve seen people online like, Is there some kind of narcissist’s handbook that makes them all do the same shit?) but until you’ve seen one in action, it’s hard to believe than anyone could possibly, oh, I don’t know, leave their children alone 2 days after their father dies because they have a chance to go to NYC with their boyfriend.

  43. 43.

    Doug R

    June 20, 2018 at 6:40 pm

    Cohen could be telegraphing he wants a pardon or else, showing some wobble but not singing yet.

  44. 44.

    trollhattan

    June 20, 2018 at 6:40 pm

    @Betty Cracker:
    Heh. How many tiny air conditioners will Donny have at the dais so he can keep his nasty blue suit on?

    I still remember Skeletor’s debate fan. Thought maybe that stunt would be enough for him to lose, silly me.

  45. 45.

    Thoughtful David

    June 20, 2018 at 6:40 pm

    If you want to see how fucked up Republicans are, go back and read that again: Cohen was deputy chair of the RNC Finance Committee until today.

  46. 46.

    debbie

    June 20, 2018 at 6:41 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    You give him far too much credit. I can’t remember who the person was, but I heard a recording of a phone call between the person and Cohen. He was just as threatening as John Giotti and Vinny the Horse. A person who can speak that threateningly doesn’t have the kind of a heart that has room for small, frightened immigrant children.

  47. 47.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    June 20, 2018 at 6:42 pm

    “I always liked Michael Cohen,” he said Friday.

    Past tense… I hope Cohen notices that…lol!

  48. 48.

    JPL

    June 20, 2018 at 6:42 pm

    @Betty Cracker: lol Please stay that way.

  49. 49.

    Elizabelle

    June 20, 2018 at 6:43 pm

    Another email from FTF NY Times:

    BREAKING NEWS
    Despite President Trump’s retreat on family separation, 2,300 children already taken from their parents will not be immediately reunited

    Wednesday, June 20, 2018 6:25 PM EST

    Justice Department officials said it was not clear whether the practice of separating families could resume after 20 days if a federal judge refuses to give the government the authority it wants to hold families together for a longer period.

    And a Health and Human Services official said that more than 2,300 children who have already been separated from their parents under the president’s “zero tolerance” policy will not be immediately reunited with their families while the adults remain in federal custody during their immigration proceedings.

    Will read the rest of the story for details.

  50. 50.

    jacy

    June 20, 2018 at 6:44 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Oh, and the funniest thing. This is literally how the ex started his statement to the therapist. “And since everybody is against me, they’ll just call me a narcissist because I want what I want even if nobody else wants it. But it’s what I want.” I almost burst out laughing, but I restrained myself.

  51. 51.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    June 20, 2018 at 6:45 pm

    I remember seeing Donnie Deutch on MJ the other day (he is a close friend of Cohen) and he said in the end Michael will do what is best for him and his family, eventually the loyalty he feels for Trump will be secondary to the loyalty to his family. I think we are getting to that point now. Cohen reminds me of Trumps many wives, and many other wives of serial adulterers (I count myself as one in my first marriage, although I was never the mistress). They have an affair with a married man and said married man then divorces wife and marries them. They are then SHOCKED SHOCKED that said serial adulterer would cheat on THEM, divorce them and get a younger model. It is funny if it wasn’t so damn tragic how many women fall for it.

    BTW I played the Maddow vid for my darling husband this evening. My darling loud and proud former USMC husband. He was furious “Why isn’t Congress doing anything?” Anyway after about a 10 minute rant that I must say was quite righteous he ended with “if this shit doesn’t stop I am becoming a British Citizen”, which is something I NEVER thought I would hear him say.

  52. 52.

    Elizabelle

    June 20, 2018 at 6:45 pm

    @Thoughtful David: That amazed me. Absolutely amazed me. I figured he’d stepped down when the Stormy Daniels case first brought Cohen to national notoriety (beyond his laughable cable interviews). But no.

    That would have been a constant question, were Mr. Cohen a Democrat. Different rules for different fools.

  53. 53.

    MomSense

    June 20, 2018 at 6:46 pm

    Fuck Fucking trump.

    I drove like a crazy person to Portland because oldest kid has two gigs tonight. First just finished and it was beautiful. I’m going to walk around Portland for a couple hours and then go listen to the next performance.

    There are so many beautiful, young people and they are going to win. Don’t lose hope.

  54. 54.

    NotMax

    June 20, 2018 at 6:46 pm

    FYI. (WaPo link)

    Senate rejects billions in Trump spending cuts as two Republicans vote ‘no’

  55. 55.

    Gravenstone

    June 20, 2018 at 6:47 pm

    @Elizabelle: To the surprise of basically no one. And confirmation that this EO was designed to push back on Flores with intent of overturning. They are who we thought they were.

  56. 56.

    trollhattan

    June 20, 2018 at 6:50 pm

    @NotMax:
    Well color me surprised. Collins always folds and Burr? Must be worried about NC going blue.

    A win is a win, so good!

  57. 57.

    Mnemosyne

    June 20, 2018 at 6:51 pm

    @jacy:

    Yay! As I said before, I’m sure that he’s going to continue to pull shit over the next four years, but just keep reminding yourself that he’s doing it because he knows that he will lose in the end.

    My older niece graduated from high school on 6/8 and has already moved into her college dorm to start summer classes at her university next Monday 6/25. She doesn’t even turn 18 until July.

    Have I mentioned lately that she is a very smart young woman who clearly knows how to protect her mental health? ?

  58. 58.

    geg6

    June 20, 2018 at 6:52 pm

    @debbie:

    I’ve heard some of those recordings, too, and must disagree. He sounded more like a caricature of mobsters he’s heard around Granddad’s restaurant, in Martin Scorsese films and the Sopranos. I think he’s a wannabe, the Fredo. He’s not that tough, really. He’s quite pitiful to me.

  59. 59.

    germy

    June 20, 2018 at 6:52 pm

    The Soul Fire Farm in upstate NY. They are heroes.

    http://wnyt.com/news/farm-donates-produce-to-refugees/4956154/

    Black-owned farm providing free produce for refugees who live in a food desert.

  60. 60.

    jc

    June 20, 2018 at 6:54 pm

    So Cohen is “willing to give” investigators information on the President … “in the right situation.”

    How about the situation where we throw your ass in jail until you start talking.

  61. 61.

    germy

    June 20, 2018 at 6:54 pm

    Here is the Soul Fire Farm website:

    http://www.soulfirefarm.org

  62. 62.

    TenguPhule

    June 20, 2018 at 6:55 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Stop thinking the GOP is the default position, and they are superhumanly strong. They are not.

    Didn’t say they are.

    But I’ve been hearing the “rats are bailing from the ship” for almost a year now.

    I’m not celebrating until the major assholes get what’s coming to them. And get it good and hard.

  63. 63.

    Shana

    June 20, 2018 at 6:55 pm

    @debbie: Well I think he cares that he’s no longer considered part of the Trump family.

  64. 64.

    Kay

    June 20, 2018 at 6:55 pm

    If the Trump Family are innocent, why were they paying Cohen’s legal bills? Do they pay all their former employees legal bills? Why would anyone who wasn’t involved in the crime do that?

  65. 65.

    trollhattan

    June 20, 2018 at 6:56 pm

    @geg6:
    Must remember that he was threatening a reporter and at the time had legitimate power and influence, even if he was putting on a Paulie Walnuts imitation.

  66. 66.

    Luthe

    June 20, 2018 at 6:56 pm

    @debbie: He does when it means he will be separated from his family (by jail bars).

  67. 67.

    jacy

    June 20, 2018 at 6:57 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Good for her! Loch starts at LSU in the fall, and he’ll live at home at least for a bit. The day he graduated high school, he got his stuff from his dad’s and brought it home. Didn’t make a scene. Didn’t go in for any drama. Even went back for Father’s Day. Three years of therapy has helped, but he’s realized that he’s not going to change him and the best thing to do is just be absolutely neutral with him. (Sort of the grey rock strategy). I was worried the boys would have more problems than they do, but they seem to be coming out of it okay. I just have to remember to not let him push my buttons and I think we’ll be fine.

  68. 68.

    Ella in New Mexico

    June 20, 2018 at 6:58 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    @TenguPhule:

    Unfortunately they seem to have a never ending supply of new ones [rats] to take their place.

    No they don’t. Stop making up shit so you can enjoy your gloom porn. I mean it.

    Doom Porn shaming might NOT be the best use of all of our time right now ;-)

  69. 69.

    Brachiator

    June 20, 2018 at 6:59 pm

    The Wall Street Journal reports that Cohen has “frequently” complained that the mounting costs of his legal fees are “bankrupting” him, according to one source, and that he is frustrated that the president, whom he feels owes Cohen for years service, hasn’t offered to cover the fees.

    Trump told reporters last week that he hasn’t spoken to his former attorney in months, adding that Cohen no longer does any business with him.

    “I always liked Michael Cohen,” he said Friday. “I haven’t spoken to Michael in a long time.”…

    Trump is rigid and stubborn. And it will be interesting to see if this is his undoing.

    Trump demands loyalty, but is not good about repaying it. He is cheap and never wants to pay anything. He enjoys dangling the new toy he has at his disposal, the power to pardon, because pardons don’t cost anything. Except honor, and Trump ain’t got none of that.

    At this point, anybody loyal to Trump have got to know that they are on their own if things go bad.

  70. 70.

    Duane

    June 20, 2018 at 7:00 pm

    Cohen’s another RNC finance committee member to go down. The republican party really is a mob operation.

  71. 71.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    June 20, 2018 at 7:01 pm

    Strangely, some people feel more endeared to a person who treats them like crap, in general, because they feel they’ve “gotten through” to a difficult person. There’s some cognitive dissonance that can be resolved by “He’s rough on everyone, but deep down he likes me, because I’m strong enough to take his jibes” .

    For people like this, it can take a long time to realize that the crapper-in-chief never really did care, but when they do suss it out, the sense of betrayal is especially sharp. All of those little slights, all of the times they bounced back and gave more, those all get remembered.

    Starr spent a lot of time trying to flip people on Clinton. He didn’t get anyone to flip, whether due to lack of anything to flip on, or loyalty. I used to joke “but I don’t think Trump inspires that loyalty. For Trump, flipping might be “I want a guaranteed one day off my sentence – more, if I help you a lot, I want the going rate, okay, but to rat out my bud, I demand one day MINIMUM. And… one of those doughnuts. No, the chocolate creme… okay, I’m ready to talk.”

    If Cohen is having that kind of “but he really likes me” dissonance, he might skip the day, the doughnut, or both, once it sinks in. (And it wouldn’t happen to a nicer crapper-in-chief.)

  72. 72.

    TS (the original)

    June 20, 2018 at 7:02 pm

    I just read this – linked on an earlier thread
    Senate rejects spending package

    Burr voted against the legislation because it included $16 million in cuts to the Land Water Conservation Fund, one of his top priorities, according to an aide.

    He didn’t mind all the other things losing some funding – children’s health insurance, affordable housing investments, infrastructure, rural development and innovative energy programs.

    Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, also struggled with her vote. As she headed to the floor, she told CNN, “I don’t support any of this.”

    She didn’t like it – but she voted for it.

    My best one is this comment – there is no doubt that ALL media supports the GOP

    But for politicians, especially fiscally-conscious Republicans up for re-election, a vote in favor of the spending reductions, is something worth talking about on the campaign trail.

    There are NO fiscally-conscious republicans – they gave billions of govt revenue to a few of their friends with their wonderful new tax legislation.

  73. 73.

    Mnemosyne

    June 20, 2018 at 7:03 pm

    @debbie:

    You’d be surprised — there are a lot of hardened criminals who have no empathy for adults but do have it for kids, especially if they have kids of their own. It’s not something I would be able to rationalize in my own head, but they do manage it.

  74. 74.

    trollhattan

    June 20, 2018 at 7:04 pm

    Pennsylvania District 5 will be sending a woman to congress, but which one? Hard to believe the state has no women in congress.

  75. 75.

    Betty Cracker

    June 20, 2018 at 7:06 pm

    @jacy: You sound strong and focused. Good! ?

  76. 76.

    trnc

    June 20, 2018 at 7:07 pm

    @TenguPhule: The replacements have to be trained in all of the money laundering, graft, etc to be effective, and that training is, to say the least, difficult without leaving clues.

  77. 77.

    Kay

    June 20, 2018 at 7:07 pm

    @IvankaTrump
    Follow Follow @IvankaTrump
    More
    Thank you @POTUS for taking critical action ending family separation at our border. Congress must now act + find a lasting solution that is consistent with our shared values;the same values that so many come here seeking as they endeavor to create a better life for their families

    Ivanka thinks we should all thank daddy because daddy stopping incarcerating 6 year olds.

    We’ve all been hijacked into this fucked up family, where they all thank him for ceasing to do whatever horrible thing he was doing.

    I didn’t sign up to be in an abusive relationship. I don’t want to be in their family. It’s poison.

  78. 78.

    JPL

    June 20, 2018 at 7:09 pm

    Good news about Michael Cohen. My dream is for the state of NY to charge Trump with crimes the same day Mueller delivers his report to the house. It won’t happen, but it’s a nice dream.
    My morning routine is the NYTimes puzzle, emails and then the news. The Maddow video broke my heart, so I spent hours weeping and eating junk food. I now know the meaning of sick and tired, because I have both.
    Thank you to AP for their reporting

  79. 79.

    jacy

    June 20, 2018 at 7:09 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    I had a little dark period there for a while — I went right back to the place I was in before — but I feel better. Still working out of it, and the last couple of days of national news hasn’t helped. I didn’t sleep at all last night fretting about the children on the border. Just have to remember one day at a time and we do what we can do, for all of us.

  80. 80.

    Mnemosyne

    June 20, 2018 at 7:10 pm

    @jacy:

    Yep. That’s a narc to the core. I’m not a narcissist, I just want to get my own way! You’re the narcissist for being selfish and not letting me have what I want! ?

  81. 81.

    MomSense

    June 20, 2018 at 7:11 pm

    @jacy:

    You’ve got this. You are free now no matter what happens. I am rooting for you!!

  82. 82.

    Elizabelle

    June 20, 2018 at 7:12 pm

    @Kay: “our shared values.”

    Yea, right.

  83. 83.

    NotMax

    June 20, 2018 at 7:15 pm

    @Mnemosyne

    Courtesy of operetta-ist Victor Herbert, I Want What I Want When I Want It.

  84. 84.

    MomSense

    June 20, 2018 at 7:17 pm

    @Kay:

    Daddy created the fucking crisis in the first place. I’m so furious we’ve been dragged into this dysfunctional family drama I could spit.

  85. 85.

    Dorothy Winsor

    June 20, 2018 at 7:17 pm

    Jacy, we’re cheering for you, even those of us doing it silently.

  86. 86.

    Mike in NC

    June 20, 2018 at 7:17 pm

    Hopefully Michael Cohen Esq. will turn out to be quite a songbird.

  87. 87.

    Mandalay

    June 20, 2018 at 7:18 pm

    There’s too much big news happening for this to make the top tier, but it has become blindingly obvious that Wilbur Ross is a crook. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much much bullshit and so many lies squeezed into four paragraphs:

    Mr. Ross, 80, said he had been in the process of divesting his holdings in Navigator when he discovered shares he did not know he had in an account set up by the company. He said because the shares were in “electronic form” he could not access them right away.

    “I decided to continue selling those shares, but since I did not have physical possession of them in order to make delivery in the required time period, I technically sold them short,” he said, adding that later, when he obtained the share certificates, he delivered them to the broker to close out the transaction.

    “Therefore,” Mr. Ross said, “it made no economic difference to me whether the shares went up or down between the sale date and the date I delivered them.”

    It is not clear how a short sale would have accomplished Mr. Ross’s objective of divestment. Theodore Kassinger, a lawyer for Mr. Ross, said Mr. Ross thought a short sale would “eliminate the idea that he still held the shares” before he was able to dispose of them.

    So Ross was personally controlling his investments while acting as our Commerce Secretary? But wait, there’s more!…

    Ross spent most of 2017 in office while maintaining partial ownership of, among other things:

    – Chinese state-owned enterprises
    – A shipping company tied to Russian oligarchs
    – A Cypriot bank that’s involved in Robert Mueller’s investigation
    – A major player in the auto parts industry with a direct stake in Commerce’s trade policy decisions

    Ross makes Scott Pruitt look like an amateur.

  88. 88.

    WereBear

    June 20, 2018 at 7:18 pm

    @jacy: Sounds like you have all your ducks in a row, and some of them have advanced degrees. I’m glad.

  89. 89.

    Immanentize

    June 20, 2018 at 7:20 pm

    @jacy: Yes.

    You are on the right track. Stay strong and protect your child(ren). The willingness of the older kids to speak up is so critical. I am sending what meager support I can across the astral plane.

  90. 90.

    aimai

    June 20, 2018 at 7:21 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I take it the Hoarse Whisper is female and lurks or posts on Dealing with the in laws and family of origin (DWIL) because they are the only ones who talk about enablers, narcissists and flying monkeys all in the same breath–though as I understand it flying monkeys are enablers but all enablers aren’t flying monkeys.

  91. 91.

    Elizabelle

    June 20, 2018 at 7:22 pm

    @Mandalay: In any other administration, that would be huge. And disruptive.

    As you say, it barely breaks the surface.

    Thanks, Comey and especially you, FTF NYTimes and all your masturbating about emails, emails, emails.

  92. 92.

    JPL

    June 20, 2018 at 7:22 pm

    @jacy: You are one brave soul. You go girl.
    The best thing that happened to me was my ex called it quits and asked for divorce so he could move to WV on 50 acres. He tried to appeal to my youngest son during the divorce and started crying. It broke my son up, and he said doesn’t that bother you, and I said no because I saw it first after your brother was born. My son was almost thirty at the time, and yeah he doesn’t really see his dad. His own lawyer after the divorce wouldn’t return his calls.
    edit sorry to the lawyers but you know the guy was ass when a lawyer will no longer take your calls.

  93. 93.

    Ella in New Mexico

    June 20, 2018 at 7:24 pm

    @jacy:
    @Mnemosyne:

    Is there some kind of narcissist’s handbook that makes them all do the same shit?

    Most neuro/bio/psychology folks will tell you that all the Personality Disorders are at least 50%-many think it could be closer to 75-80%%–hardwired personality traits and cognitive processing patterns in the brain. That’s why they all have the same MO for how they deal. Some have a lighter dose of the disorder, some a more complete expression of it, checking off of all it’s features in the DSM. Childhood environments that reinforce the traits and consequences of these disorders make them particularly fully expressed.

    Trump’s father clearly was a narcissist with antisocial personality traits. Trump had a love-hate relationship with him: his acolyte on one hand and the target of his abusive, cold rejection on the other. It shaped all that he is today. The healthy part of Trump tried to please his father by doing what he did but even better. It’s what we see in Trump’s egocentric braggadocio and his disrespect for the female, his broken and transactional relationships with everyone he has ever been close to, his willingness to associate with criminal elements and the mob, his ability to stone cold lie and then lie again and say he never lied the first time.

    I remember when I used to work with spouse abusers way back when that I really thought we needed to add a category for them, too, to the DSM. They all did the exact same things in the exact same order in their struggle to control their partners and avoid any responsibility, regardless of race, gender, socio-economic status. And while family history was usually a factor, some had perfectly healthy and non-violent upbringings. They literally were just the way they were from the time they were little.

  94. 94.

    TenguPhule

    June 20, 2018 at 7:24 pm

    At the hearing, senators questioned the national security rationale of imposing high tariffs on friendly countries.

    “I wish we would stop invoking national security because that’s not what this is about,” Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.) said. “This is about economic nationalism.”

    Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a member of GOP leadership, told Ross, “This thing seems to be escalating out of control fairly quickly.”

    Yet despite the concerns, Republican senators declined to take what was likely their best chance to intervene when leaders blocked a vote on a bill by Toomey and Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) to give Congress veto power over tariffs invoked in the name of national security. Instead, many Republicans have said they believe their best chance of influencing administration policy is in trying to persuade Trump to back off his protectionist impulses.

    Meanwhile, on the economic front, Ostriches in the GOP ensure that things are going to get ugly on trade.

  95. 95.

    The Dangerman

    June 20, 2018 at 7:24 pm

    I’m sure Team Mueller (Go Team Go, Rah Rah Rah) knows their stuff, but I wouldn’t trust Cohen further than I could piss him. If he were pissable.

  96. 96.

    RSA

    June 20, 2018 at 7:24 pm

    This is gonna end like Reservoir Dogs isn’t it.

    Yeah, but the torture scene is ongoing in America.

    (It took me a long time to learn to like Michael Madsen after that movie.)

  97. 97.

    sukabi

    June 20, 2018 at 7:25 pm

    @TenguPhule: unfortunately for Drumpf Ivanka has kept a very low profile…tits on a boor useful. If she had been more publicly present he’d toss her under the bus faster than you could say feckless c….

  98. 98.

    JPL

    June 20, 2018 at 7:26 pm

    @sukabi: Ivanka protecting the brand.

  99. 99.

    TenguPhule

    June 20, 2018 at 7:26 pm

    @Mandalay:

    Ross makes Scott Pruitt look like an amateur.

    Scott Pruitt is better at hiding his major transgressions.

    i shit you not, the stuff out right now on him is child’s play. He didn’t get that soundproof booth just to order Chinese Takeout.

  100. 100.

    Elizabelle

    June 20, 2018 at 7:27 pm

    @RSA: Stuck in the middle with Trump.

    I haz a sad.

  101. 101.

    Mary G

    June 20, 2018 at 7:27 pm

    @jacy: Congratulations! That moment when you see you don’t have to give that person any power over you and see clearly what they are, which is sad, is so satisfying. Sounds like you won to me, but what do I know.

  102. 102.

    TenguPhule

    June 20, 2018 at 7:29 pm

    @trnc:

    The replacements have to be trained in all of the money laundering, graft, etc to be effective, and that training is, to say the least, difficult without leaving clues.

    And this is one of the few bright spots.

  103. 103.

    Fair Economist

    June 20, 2018 at 7:29 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Unfortunately they seem to have a never ending supply of new ones [rats] to take their place.

    No they don’t. Stop making up shit so you can enjoy your gloom porn. I mean it.

    They really aren’t getting new rats. I saw a few days ago that they can’t get interns for the White House even from the Fox News true believers. The only ones they can get now are from fundy degree mills, and they can’t get enough even for that.

  104. 104.

    Mnemosyne

    June 20, 2018 at 7:30 pm

    @aimai:

    She could also be familiar with Reddit’s Raised By Narcissists board — that’s where I picked up a lot of the lingo when I was trying to figure out WTF was broken in the Devil Woman.

    (I also eventually decided that my other sister-in-law probably has BPD rather than NPD — she just has slightly too much empathy and self-awareness to be a true narcissist.)

  105. 105.

    MomSense

    June 20, 2018 at 7:31 pm

    @JPL:

    Botox bitch is the spokesmodel for the trump crime family.

  106. 106.

    Deep Southerner

    June 20, 2018 at 7:31 pm

    I’m changing my posting name. Was formerly Dolly Llama, though I lurk mostly. This is just to get in moderation so maybe FYWP will recognize me eventually, when I’ve got something to add to the conversation.

  107. 107.

    WereBear

    June 20, 2018 at 7:32 pm

    @Ella in New Mexico: I’ve known lovely families where all the children were fine people; except that one who never did anything but con them and break their hearts, one way or another.

    Like some other bird laid an egg in their nest.

  108. 108.

    TenguPhule

    June 20, 2018 at 7:32 pm

    The White House on Thursday plans to unveil a long-awaited plan to reorganize federal agencies by shrinking some and augmenting the missions of others as it moves to remake a bureaucracy Trump considers too big and bloated, administration officials said.

    The reorganization will be the result of a directive last year to federal leaders from Mick Mulvaney, head of the Office of Management and Budget, who asked them to come up with ideas to merge overlapping, duplicative offices and programs and eliminate those the administration views as unnecessary.

    The plan is expected to include major changes to the way the federal government provides benefits for low-income Americans, an area that conservatives have long targeted as excessive.

    It also is likely to revamp the Office of Personnel Management to shrink its role as the department responsible for employee background checks, retirement claims, benefits and federal workforce policy, two sources with knowledge of the proposal said.

    Via Wapo. Feels like a Friday news dumpster and its only Wednesday.

  109. 109.

    NotMax

    June 20, 2018 at 7:33 pm

    Lest we forget, more shoes dropping than from a millipede at a nudist colony. Excerpts of a CNN piece talking with Marc Owens, the former director of the exempt organizations division of the Internal Revenue Service.

    Cillizza: Let’s start simple: How odd is the way the Trump Foundation operates when compared to other similar-sized foundations?

    Owens: Whether the Trump Foundation is compared to similar-sized, i.e. small, family foundations or it is compared to foundations of any size and type, my answer is the same: the Trump Foundation may be unique in the variety and scope of its transgressions of state and federal law, as well as the visibility of the transgressions.
    [snip]
    In fact, while my years at the IRS brought me into contact with many charities and foundations that had violated federal tax law, few approached the variety of the Trump Foundation’s transgressions.
    [snip]
    Cillizza: What’s the Trump defense?

    Owens: In my opinion, there are no effective defenses that Donald Trump and/or his foundation can deploy to either the attorney general’s petition or to federal tax charges. About the best he can do is plead ignorance of the law (generally ineffective with the sort of allegations being made) and to try to shift the blame to his accountants and attorneys (which will be factually difficult given Trump’s personal involvement in many of the actions. It’s unlikely, for example, that one of Trump’s attorneys or accountants said that it is fine to contribute to the Florida attorney general’s PAC or to buy a painting of himself and hang it in one of his clubs.) Source

  110. 110.

    Fair Economist

    June 20, 2018 at 7:35 pm

    @Mandalay:

    So Ross was personally controlling his investments while acting as our Commerce Secretary? But wait, there’s more!…

    Ross spent most of 2017 in office while maintaining partial ownership of, among other things:

    – Chinese state-owned enterprises
    – A shipping company tied to Russian oligarchs
    – A Cypriot bank that’s involved in Robert Mueller’s investigation
    – A major player in the auto parts industry with a direct stake in Commerce’s trade policy decisions

    Ross makes Scott Pruitt look like an amateur.

    That reads like an Onion article or a setup for a SNL skit.

    I was amused by his reaction when a reporter called him about a business he was working with illegally. After he got the call, he shorted the stock.

    Too ludicrous for a cartoon villain.

  111. 111.

    TenguPhule

    June 20, 2018 at 7:35 pm

    Long one of Trump’s most ardent defenders, the evangelist Franklin Graham voiced strenuous dissent this week about the practice of separating families at the border, even calling it “disgraceful.” His comments, along with other criticism from the evangelical community, raised the possibility that the president’s support from conservative Christians might erode as outrage mounted over the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy.

    But if evangelical leaders were pained by the sight of children being taken from their parents, they did not directly fault Mr. Trump.

    Instead, many blamed Congress and past administrations, Republican and Democrat, and emphasized that Mr. Trump called family separation “horrible” in a tweet and that he wanted a legislative fix for immigration. And though it is too early to know the electoral consequences of the policy, few conservative Christian political leaders have been concerned that Mr. Trump will lose support among their ranks, which represent one of his most important voting blocs.

    “This is not the administration’s fault,” Mr. Graham said in an interview on Monday, while reiterating his stance against family separation. “I don’t point the finger at Trump.’’

    Via the FTFNYT.

    The Religious Right Stand with him. Fuck em.

  112. 112.

    GregB

    June 20, 2018 at 7:36 pm

    Do you think it may be dawning of Ivanka and a few others that their lives might not be so great in the future as their family becomes the American version of the Somozas?

  113. 113.

    Elizabelle

    June 20, 2018 at 7:36 pm

    @Fair Economist: Yeah, no kidding.

    Did anyone see any followup to last Friday’s job fair for White House and administration job openings, pitched to conservative youngs?

    They might have had an easier time getting conservatards to ship out to Iraq, when they were attempting to remake that country.

  114. 114.

    sukabi

    June 20, 2018 at 7:37 pm

    @JPL: I know that’s her primary job…put a pretty face on the predation…

    Speaking of brands this made me giggle

    A new petition is trying to get the city of Washington, DC to revoke the liquor license for the Trump International Hotel on the basis that owner President Donald Trump lacks moral character.

    As the Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold reports, the complaint filed with the D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Commission notes that the city’s laws on liquor licenses clearly state that anyone who receives such a license should be “of good character.”

    Because of the multitude of scandals surrounding Trump, his administration, his businesses and his family, the complaint asserts, he does not meet the “good character” qualification and should thus have his hotel’s liquor license revoked.

    “Donald Trump, the true and actual owner of the Trump International Hotel, is not a person of good character,” the complaint bluntly states. “The Board owes it to the public to investigate the owner’s lack of good character now.”

    The complaint goes on to make multiple claims that demonstrate Trump’s poor character, including his serial lying, his bad faith in dealing with others, his continued associations with “known criminals,” and the multiple sexual assault allegations leveled against him.

    The complaint has been signed by several priests and rabbis who work in Washington DC, including Rev. William Lamar IV, the Senior Pastor at the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church; Rev. Jennifer Butler, the founding Executive Director of Faith in Public Life; Rev. Dr. Timothy Tee Boddie, a Baptist preacher who serves as the General Secretary and Chief Administrative Officer of the Progressive National Baptist Convention; Rabbi Jack Moline, who has served as Executive Director and President of Interfaith Alliance; and Rabbi Aaron Potek, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi who has worked with institutions such as the Nesiya Institute in Israel, Impact and Genesis in Boston, and Moriah College in Sydney.

  115. 115.

    Duane

    June 20, 2018 at 7:38 pm

    @trnc: The downside for others to continue as republicans currently are needs to become a risk no body wants to take. Like becoming a criminal. Oh.

  116. 116.

    Paula

    June 20, 2018 at 7:38 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Stop thinking the GOP is the default position, and they are superhumanly strong. They are not.

    it’s why they have to cheat and lie and steal.

    Exactly!

  117. 117.

    Mnemosyne

    June 20, 2018 at 7:40 pm

    @WereBear:

    My other SIL (the one that I’m convinced has Borderline Personality Disorder) is like that. She’s been like that since she was little, and she probably will always be like that.

    Interestingly, her sole aunt on the paternal side was also an extreme personality whose husband felt compelled to return to Belize with their only child, leaving no forwarding address, and her mother lied about that daughter’s age on that daughter’s tombstone to make herself seem younger. She also had multiple drivers’ licenses with progressively younger birth years.

    So, yeah, there’s something odd that kicks up in that family when two X chromosomes get together. G and his brother are both normal.

    There’s a reason so many cultures have a concept like that of the changeling, where a normal child is switched at birth with something unearthly.

  118. 118.

    NotMax

    June 20, 2018 at 7:40 pm

    @Elizabelle

    “Exciting opportunities to eat of the fruit from the poisoned tree” ain’t much of a come-on.

    :)

  119. 119.

    Chris T.

    June 20, 2018 at 7:43 pm

    @Mandalay: Shorting shares that you own is called “shorting against the box”. It used to be used to manipulate taxes, but no longer has any real function. So that part’s not that bad – the bad part is not divesting or blind-trusting in the first place.

  120. 120.

    TenguPhule

    June 20, 2018 at 7:43 pm

    @NotMax:

    “Exciting opportunities to eat of the fruit from the poisoned tree”

    Where do I even begin to start with pointing out how completely wrong that use of the phrase is?

    Bad Notmax!

  121. 121.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    June 20, 2018 at 7:44 pm

    @Brachiator:

    I know my timeline is probably off because everything in Trumpworld is “timey wimey” (ahhhh David Tennant as the Doctor how I miss him so) but wasn’t Donny Dollhands on Air Force One telling reporters that they would have to speak to his lawyer (Cohen) about the Stormy Daniels thing recently? Like last month or so? So all of a sudden we are supposed to believe that he hasn’t spoken to him for months? I know that Trump likes to conveniently forget shit (Manafort was on the campaign for 49 days when in fact it was 150 days or something), but really? Never mind, we are supposed to forget that Monday he said his hands were tied on the immigrant babies thing because of the Democrats and today he signs an executive order. Never mind. I am lost in my own timey wimey stuff.

  122. 122.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 20, 2018 at 7:45 pm

    @NotMax: I spent some time working with a minuscule 501(c)3-qualified organization headquartered in NY. Not in a financial capacity, although I was good friends with the finance officer. When I say “minuscule” I mean we’d fit into a Trump Foundation rounding error. We were scrupulously above-board, although a couple of aspects of our accounting were moderately complex. In the span of six years we were audited twice, once by the IRS and once by the NYS agency that deals with charitable and non-profit orgs. The interactions were professional, but boy those auditors have no sense of humor *at all.* The finance officer was close to shitting her pants after one. What flummoxes me is that for the years (decades?) this grift has been running, they didn’t go through something similar?

  123. 123.

    Tazj

    June 20, 2018 at 7:47 pm

    I know you all we be shocked, but the Trump administration shut down a pilot program that would have kept immigrant families together and out of detention centers. This is a article from the Christian Science Monitor form last year that Chris Hayes has on his twitter feed. It’s not like we needed more proof of Trump’s malice and cruelty but here it is. My link didn’t work, sorry.

  124. 124.

    Mary G

    June 20, 2018 at 7:47 pm

    Just got back with my 14-year-old “employee” and his friend. Still don’t feel like doing the book and Christmas decoration purge I had in mind, so I was going to take them to the Discovery Science Cube in Anaheim. She was excited, but he had been on a field trip before and it was not his cup of tea, and reading the Yelp reviews indicated that it’s sorely lacking in maintenance and lots of the hands-on stuff is broken.

    So I found the Hilbert Museum in old town Orange. It’s free to get in and has a lot of rotating exhibits and a permanent collection of California art. Also it’s small so you can see it all before you get tired of looking. They had a big collection of paintings done for Westways, the Auto Club magazine, going back to the 1900s, a collection of art by Eyvind Earle, who designed the backgrounds for Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, Star Wars art commissioned by George Lucas, with his stupid rubber-stamped approvals on the mats, and other stuff. More illustration than fine art, but excellent stuff. Fun and time spent not looking at politics and Twitter. It was fun and when they got tired of looking after 20 minutes, I told them to sit on a bench and play with their phones quietly and took my time looking as long as I wanted.

  125. 125.

    TenguPhule

    June 20, 2018 at 7:48 pm

    [A] Health and Human Services official said that more than 2,300 children who have already been separated from their parents under Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy will not be immediately reunited with their families while the adults remain in federal custody during their immigration proceedings.

    “There will not be a grandfathering of existing cases,” said Kenneth Wolfe, a spokesman for the Administration for Children and Families, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services.

    The atrocities will continue.

  126. 126.

    Fair Economist

    June 20, 2018 at 7:48 pm

    @Chris T.: At least once (and probably many, many more times) Wilbur Ross was shorting on inside information. I’m going to bet he bought some washing machine manufacturer stock back in January, too.

  127. 127.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 20, 2018 at 7:50 pm

    @jacy:

    He doesn’t scare me any more.

    Good for you!

  128. 128.

    TenguPhule

    June 20, 2018 at 7:50 pm

    Immigrant children forcibly injected with drugs, lawsuit claims

    Children held at Shiloh Treatment Center, a government contractor south of Houston that houses immigrant minors, described being held down and injected, according to the federal court filings. The lawsuit alleges that children were told they would not be released or see their parents unless they took medication and that they only were receiving vitamins.

    Parents and the children themselves told attorneys the drugs rendered them unable to walk, afraid of people and wanting to sleep constantly, according to affidavits filed April 23 in U.S. District Court in California.

  129. 129.

    CarolDuhart2

    June 20, 2018 at 7:51 pm

    For a long time I worked with someone who had some issues-she was an old friend of an old friend, also her counselor. She was also an activist type. She convinced me that by working endlessly on her projects she would help me get my act together. She held out that there was someone who worked with her that ended up in a professional capacity and did quite well. I ended up working essentially a second job to the point that one night I lost my keys because I was so tired and distracted. I would walk her dog, ended up boarding her elderly cat (miss the cat) and did things that had little to do with the greater good. There were two other assistants who literally died. At the end when we were moved out of a library taken over as an office, I ended up storing a lot of furniture in my unit. The last straws came as a matter of first doubt that the person she talked about ever existed, by wanting to paint said unit, and wanting nights to myself for once. I moved out the furniture, dared her to take back my kitty, and began even having nights off when working.

    So I know a little about how Cohen feels. That carrot of both acceptance and a future payoff can be hard to let go of at times.

    Also, I too spent money I didn’t really have and time I didn’t really have to spend too.

  130. 130.

    TenguPhule

    June 20, 2018 at 7:51 pm

    Katie Rogers
    ✔
    @katierogers
    Common theme: A Trump supporter in Duluth, one of many waiting in a long line outside tonight’s rally location, just told me she has compassion for separated families but ultimately believes that the detainment center photos and videos are fake and photoshopped.

    7:33 AM – Jun 20, 2018

  131. 131.

    Ella in New Mexico

    June 20, 2018 at 7:52 pm

    @WereBear:

    Like some other bird laid an egg in their nest.

    OMG exactly. Exactly.

  132. 132.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 20, 2018 at 7:53 pm

    @Mary G:

    So I found the Hilbert Museum in old town Orange.

    Looked at the link. What a let-down. I was expecting a museum devoted to David Hilbert, and then I’d be sitting here applauding you for going.

  133. 133.

    Mnemosyne

    June 20, 2018 at 7:54 pm

    @Mary G:

    How big was the Eyvind Earle portion? I’m wondering if it was the traveling show that was in San Francisco at the Walt Disney Family Museum (and at the Forest Lawn Museum before that), or if it was just the 8 paintings that the museum now owns.

  134. 134.

    Immanentize

    June 20, 2018 at 7:57 pm

    OT. Totally OT.
    I find myself headed to Scotland next Friday with my son the Immp. I will be in Edinburg next weekend for events. Then? Five days of jackal advice?

  135. 135.

    JPL

    June 20, 2018 at 7:57 pm

    @TenguPhule: My hope is that the media will pay attention. CBS News has done an excellent job, and hopefully they continue.

  136. 136.

    magurakurin

    June 20, 2018 at 7:58 pm

    @Ella in New Mexico:

    Doom Porn shaming might NOT be the best use of all of our time right now ;-)

    especially since I think we all are ping ponging back forth between “the world’s going to end” and “they will all die in prison” a dozen times a day. The range of emotions I am experiencing in any single day is astounding, and I figure others are going through it. We should all give each other a lot of slack, I reckon.

  137. 137.

    NotMax

    June 20, 2018 at 7:59 pm

    @Mary G

    Sounds fun. Little, off the beaten path museums can be gems.

    Back in the 1970s, there was a Museum of Holography tucked away in a garret in a marginal neighborhood way, way downtown in Manhattan. One could take in the entirety of exhibits in about the time it takes to read half a Tbogg unit of comments here, but it was fascinating.

  138. 138.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 20, 2018 at 8:00 pm

    @Immanentize: I’ve been planning a trip to Scotland in my head for a while now, with visits to Islay and Jura – primarily to sample the local products, of which I am pretty fond. But probably inappropriate for your son.

  139. 139.

    Ella in New Mexico

    June 20, 2018 at 8:02 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    @TenguPhule: What do you think are their absolute numbers?

    Because when I hear that even more Republicans approve of Trump, I think that means it’s a shrinking pool and the turds comprise a bigger and bigger share.

    I really think this is a key issue that needs to be expanded on to get the fucking media to stop reporting these polls they way they do.

    The conventional wisdom is that we’re still roughly equal numbers in this country–but the real #’s for the Republican Party show it is no longer a true major party in America–the majority of people are identifying as Democrats or those calling themselves “independent” or aligning with some small third party.

    When we hear that 80% of Republicans approve of Trump I’m guessing it means 80% of maybe 33% of the American electorate. And from what I can see, the older declared Republicans get, the more their numbers are dwindling. That’s definitely a good sign for the future, or so I implore my millennial young adults who are feeling pretty hopeless these days. :-)

  140. 140.

    zhena gogolia

    June 20, 2018 at 8:04 pm

    @magurakurin:

    I notice that the days of right-wing trolls showing up here to bait us are pretty much over — I guess Vladimir Vladimirovich quit cutting their checks when he got his guy in the White House. So everyone here is on the same side, really. And we have to avoid sniping at each other as much as we can, even if we’re all filled with rage and terror. It should be pointed in the right direction.

  141. 141.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    June 20, 2018 at 8:05 pm

    What a feckless tool Chris Matthews is. At the end of one of his blocks a little while ago, he paused to acknowledge one of his executive producers who’s leaving the show after 18 years. Matthews showed a photograph of himself with two other guys—but never managed to mention which of them was the producer—even though he took time to point out the Stanley Cup that he (Matthews) was holding.

  142. 142.

    Ella in New Mexico

    June 20, 2018 at 8:06 pm

    @TenguPhule: Another example of how distilled and concentrated and isolated Trump supporters are becoming. Seriously, who the hell else would be standing in line to listen to the same fucking schtick he’s repeated over and over again?

    Reminds me of those people who used to get dressed in costume and go see the Rocky Horror Picture Show 1000 times so that they could stand on the stage and sing along to “Sweet Transvestite”. Without the lighthearted fun.

  143. 143.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 20, 2018 at 8:06 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: I thought so too. Courant and Hilbert’s text is a classic.

  144. 144.

    TenguPhule

    June 20, 2018 at 8:09 pm

    @JPL:

    CBS News has done an excellent job, and hopefully they continue.

    Seconded. Its not close to over yet. Where are the girls?

  145. 145.

    Peale

    June 20, 2018 at 8:09 pm

    @TenguPhule: they are such fucking cowards. Jesus.

  146. 146.

    Ella in New Mexico

    June 20, 2018 at 8:09 pm

    @magurakurin:

    The range of emotions I am experiencing in any single day is astounding, and I figure others are going through it. We should all give each other a lot of slack, I reckon.

    Right? Of course I’m susceptible to Doom Porn myself and have a history of being shamed for it here, so maybe I’m not that objective on the subject. ;-)

  147. 147.

    Ruckus

    June 20, 2018 at 8:10 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:
    Yep.
    They only see the world in the way they operate. They rip off everyone as to them everyone is trying to rip them off. All they are doing is getting their just rewards. Let’s hope they do get them. dumpf likes orange, I wonder if he likes jumpsuits. I don’t care if he likes them mind you, just wondering.

  148. 148.

    Elizabelle

    June 20, 2018 at 8:11 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Eh, they’ll be back when we get indictments, or closer to midterms election day.

  149. 149.

    magurakurin

    June 20, 2018 at 8:11 pm

    @Ella in New Mexico:

    God is giving them a wee little sample of Hell…cause that’s where they are all going.
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    Thousands of people have packed into the arena, filling the floor in front of the stage and seats. Before they were let in hundreds of people were in the dark in what was described as excruciating heat in the Northwest Passage section of the skywalk as they waited in line this afternoon to get into the rally.

    The passage has no air conditioning and some estimated the temperature inside at more than 100 degrees.
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  150. 150.

    NotMax

    June 20, 2018 at 8:14 pm

    @Immanentize

    May not be your (or his) thing, but here’s a link to some fragrant possibilities.

  151. 151.

    Peale

    June 20, 2018 at 8:14 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: because your org didn’t donate money to candidates. Seriously, it’s kind of time we found some honest people to run the show in New York for a bit.

  152. 152.

    Ken B

    June 20, 2018 at 8:16 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    I guess that’s why they’re holding White House Job Fairs, which no other administration has ever had to do?

    I agree that Cohen better watch his back, though.

  153. 153.

    NotMax

    June 20, 2018 at 8:16 pm

    @magurakurin

    So the temperature exceeded the average I.Q. of the crowd?

    ;)

  154. 154.

    efgoldman

    June 20, 2018 at 8:16 pm

    @magurakurin:

    Thousands of people have packed into the arena, filling the floor in front of the stage and seats

    There are that many racist flying monkey assholes in that part of Minnesota? Shame!

  155. 155.

    Chet Murthy

    June 20, 2018 at 8:17 pm

    @Immanentize: (1) 25yr ago, when I was … 25, I went with a group of grad students up to Arthur’s Seat. Old volcanic crown above Edinburgh. Lovely view. A serious walk.

    (2) we got a tour of “Mary King’s Close” — a street that got walled-off back during the Black Plague. Really interesting.

  156. 156.

    NotMax

    June 20, 2018 at 8:21 pm

    @efgoldman

    Generally speaking, the jib of those from Minnesota’s Iron Range has a decidedly different cut.

  157. 157.

    japa21

    June 20, 2018 at 8:23 pm

    @efgoldman: And Wisconsin.

  158. 158.

    Redshift

    June 20, 2018 at 8:23 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    The reorganization will be the result of a directive last year to federal leaders from Mick Mulvaney, head of the Office of Management and Budget, who asked them to come up with ideas to merge overlapping, duplicative offices and programs and eliminate those the administration views as unnecessary.

    Well, that’s one area in which they’re actually running together like a business. Specifically, like when a new CEO comes in who doesn’t understand anything about what the company actually does, but has “management skills,” finds programs that sound like they do the same thing (to someone who doesn’t understand the business) and insists they be combined to “cut costs.”

    (And yes, I get that that’s still far from the worst statement in that except.)

  159. 159.

    Ruckus

    June 20, 2018 at 8:23 pm

    @Doug R:
    He’d probably like a pardon, but he won’t get one. drumpf giving him a pardon gets drumpf nothing. First MC would have to talk, he loses his 5th amendment rights with a pardon, so he’ll end up singing anyway. Might as well cut a deal, really at the end of the day, at his level it’s 6 of one, 1/2 doz other. Second, drumpf has figured, right or wrong, and I’m going with the sure bet, wrong. that MC is no longer the loyal little puppy who will do whatever drumpf says so he for sure isn’t going to give him one of the few actual power things he has.
    Don’t make the mistake about drumpf’s thinking process. There is no normal logic. There is drumpf thinking, there is classical narcissistic thinking, that’s the extent of it.

  160. 160.

    Elizabelle

    June 20, 2018 at 8:24 pm

    Poor Britain and Queen Elizabeth are being subjected to a Trump visit on July 13 — it’s a “working visit”, not a state visit, so less pomp, but a lot of Britons are still not happy.

    Trump Will Meet Queen Elizabeth II Next Month, His Ambassador Says

    I am laughing at the last paragraph in this story in the FTF NYTimes. Can you imagine them having to add them for the Obama visit?

    So far, the queen has been largely immune from criticism. Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, she meets with foreign leaders frequently at the behest of her ministers. She has greeted numerous presidents over the years who were later condemned for corruption or violence against their own citizens, including Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Nicolae Ceausescu of Romania, Robert G. Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire and Suharto of Indonesia.

    Now she can add Trump to the list. He’s right there, in the company of other kleptocrats including the buff and beloved Vladimir.

    Also note that it’s the US ambassador relaying the news, not Buckingham Palace. Photo is of a not-amused QE2 riding in an open carriage. Bet Trump gets to see that face. Kind of long suffering and let’s get this over with.

  161. 161.

    japa21

    June 20, 2018 at 8:25 pm

    @NotMax: And a high percentage of them benefit from government programs, and 99% of them have never seen anybody from Mexico or further south but are convinced those Messicans are coming to rape their women.

  162. 162.

    Ella in New Mexico

    June 20, 2018 at 8:26 pm

    @magurakurin: I feel guilty for feeling a little happy about that. Because really, I feel truly sorry for all the nurses in that town who will have to take care of those heat-stroking rhabdomyolysis suffering assholes in the ED and ICU :-D

  163. 163.

    Roger Moore

    June 20, 2018 at 8:26 pm

    @Thoughtful David:

    If you want to see how fucked up Republicans are, go back and read that again: Cohen was deputy chair of the RNC Finance Committee until today.

    If they throw out all the crooks, where will their money come from? That’s their basic calculus.

  164. 164.

    rikyrah

    June 20, 2018 at 8:26 pm

    @Immanentize:
    You and Little Imma have a great trip ??

  165. 165.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 20, 2018 at 8:27 pm

    @japa21: Douglas County tends to be Dem.

  166. 166.

    MisterForkbeard

    June 20, 2018 at 8:28 pm

    @TenguPhule: …weren’t those pictures released by the Feds? Christ, these fucking idiots.

  167. 167.

    japa21

    June 20, 2018 at 8:30 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I know it does, but a little further south and east it can get pretty conservative, Have relatives in Hayward who are Trumpsters all the way. Also racist as hell. Also gun lovers par excellence. Also, for the most part (there are a couple exceptions) complete assholes.

  168. 168.

    frosty

    June 20, 2018 at 8:32 pm

    @Immanentize: I was in Edinburgh many many years ago and took a day trip to Dunbar (birthplace of John Muir) on the coast, on the advice of my guidebook. Glad I went, even though it was pouring rain the whole time.

  169. 169.

    mapaghimagsik

    June 20, 2018 at 8:33 pm

    @Elizabelle: They could barely get bands to play the inauguration.

  170. 170.

    Redshift

    June 20, 2018 at 8:34 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    No they don’t. Stop making up shit so you can enjoy your gloom porn. I mean it.

    And even when they can find more rats, each crop is less capable than the one before. Their press shop is the most obvious example, but generally the adminstration started last year with a couple of tiers below the best in the GOP (who mostly wouldn’t work for them), and as there are more and more stories of how horrible it is to work there, the new hires are either utterly evil, or dumb enough to think they can turn it to their advantage.

    For example, check out the DHS spokesman on Twitter. Whoever is running the account apparently thinks behaving like a YouTube comment section troll is an effective PR strategy.

  171. 171.

    Ruckus

    June 20, 2018 at 8:35 pm

    @debbie:
    Murderers and rapists in jail often have that one soft spot for kids. They often do remember their childhood and how being treated like shit felt. No, it’s not universal but it’s there often enough to notice. Of course you also have those that enjoy treating everyone else the way they were treated. For example, drumpf. That’s not an excuse, unless you have mental growth issues, by the time you become an adult you should have figured it out better. I’ve seen people mad at their parents for decades into adulthood and I’ve asked myself, why can’t they take charge of their own lives and stop being pissed because their parents didn’t like something they said when they were 40. Enjoy your parents approval but it’s your life, not theirs nor the rest of your family. They gave you life, they don’t own nor owe you.

  172. 172.

    NotMax

    June 20, 2018 at 8:36 pm

    @Immanentize

    Unless things have changed, there are deals on rail passes which one can get only by purchasing them before arriving in the U.K.

  173. 173.

    Origuy

    June 20, 2018 at 8:38 pm

    @Immanentize: Take the tour of underground Edinburgh. Mary King’s Close is part of that. Edinburgh Castle is a must, of course, especially with a kid. If you have car and can get out of the city, Roslyn Chapel is pretty amazing and not far. Further away, Sterling Castle is probably the best restored castle other than those still lived in. Holyrood House is the Queen’s official residence in Edinburgh, but I don’t think she really stays there. Lots of history there. Balmoral Castle is probably too far for a day trip.

  174. 174.

    Redshift

    June 20, 2018 at 8:38 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:

    weren’t those pictures released by the Feds? Christ, these fucking idiots.

    Apparently there was one picture posted at some point that was actually from a protest and not from a detention center, so now wingnuts are sure they’re all fake.

  175. 175.

    Mary G

    June 20, 2018 at 8:39 pm

    @Mnemosyne: More than eight, but not a lot more. His were the best and since Guillermo del Toro started collecting, getting expensive. They were my favorites – lots of color and a style he described as Gothic/Japanese/Egyptian/Persian. A lot of it was on loan from his family/estate/collectors, none was actually done for Disney.

    There are also a few Christmas cards from a company he started after he left Disney. Meh.

    On a completely different topic:

    JUST IN: Permit granted for a "white civil rights" rally on the National Mall. The organizer is the same man who organized last year's white supremacist rally that turned deadly in #Charlottesville— Michelle Marsh (@ABC7MichelleM) June 20, 2018

    The dates are August 11-12 and I imagine there will again be masses of counterprotesters, although perhaps it would be better to let them stew in the heat and humidity of DC in summer.

  176. 176.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    June 20, 2018 at 8:39 pm

    @Immanentize: A) First thing each morning purchase a day bus pass, they cost 4 pounds and mean you can get on and off any bus in the city for 24 hours. B) Wear really comfortable shoes, Edinburgh is a walking friendly city but it is also a walking intense city, so be prepared. C) Take advantage of the free stuff, Edinburgh can be expensive to visit the “paid” attractions but there are lots of things you can do for free, St. Giles Cathedral (on the Royal Mile) is free to go in (they ask for a small donation) and is dedicated to the Saint who saved his pet deer from an arrow (will be a favourite of Balloon Juicers I am sure). There are two indoor markets that are also free to enter, one in an old church at the bottom of the Royal Mile and one at the edge of the Castle Esplanade dedicated to tartan which has a working tartan mill inside it, very interesting. Check out the times of the sunset and make sure to be by the Waverly station exit closest to the Scott Memorial at sunset because that is the best place to get a great shot of the sun setting over the castle. Arthur’s Seat is also free and gives you great views over Hollyrood (where Mary Queen of Scots murdered her husband). Also hop on a bus on Princes Street and go and see the Royal Yacht, it costs to get on the yacht but there is no charge to look at it from the attached shopping center. D) Don’t go to the high end restaurants, eat in pubs outside of the center, they are cheap, friendly and even the lowliest of ones serve great food and for the Scotch enthusiasts they serve about 27 million different varieties. E) Get lost (no I am not kidding) the great thing about Edinburgh is you can hop on a bus, go to all sorts of weird places and eventually get on another bus and end up back on Princes Street, just about every bus goes to Princes Street (the middle of everything), the bus drivers are absolute gems and will put you right even if you have no idea where you are going. Have fun!

  177. 177.

    JPL

    June 20, 2018 at 8:40 pm

    @Immanentize: You might post again in the morning when our Brit friends are awake.

    edit .. littlebrit is still up.. so that’s good

  178. 178.

    frosty

    June 20, 2018 at 8:40 pm

    @Origuy: I did my day trips by bus or train. There was NO WAY I was going to try to drive on the wrong side of the road!

  179. 179.

    benused

    June 20, 2018 at 8:45 pm

    @NotMax:

    We’ve definitely got our share of trumper cultists up here who are the usual loud, obnoxious deplorables but a ton of normal, rational folks too. I have no doubt that the trumpers in Duluth to see trump came from all over the northern/central part of state.

  180. 180.

    Brachiator

    June 20, 2018 at 8:46 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    I know my timeline is probably off because everything in Trumpworld is “timey wimey” (ahhhh David Tennant as the Doctor how I miss him so) but wasn’t Donny Dollhands on Air Force One telling reporters that they would have to speak to his lawyer (Cohen) about the Stormy Daniels thing recently?

    I never pay attention to anything that Trump says if I want logic or consistency. He lies all the time.

    ETA. Matt Smith’s Doctor was more about the “timey wimey.” A superior Doctor compared to Tennant, too. ;)

    Actually, I like all the Doctors and am looking forward to the new Lady Doctor.

  181. 181.

    MomSense

    June 20, 2018 at 8:47 pm

    @Immanentize:

    I only know badass knitters there. May not be what you and Immp are looking for. Have so much fun!!

  182. 182.

    benused

    June 20, 2018 at 8:47 pm

    @japa21:

    Exactly! I know a lot of these people rarely travel from their own communities apart from sports events in Mpls or gambling in Vegas.

  183. 183.

    Platonailedit

    June 20, 2018 at 8:49 pm

    The ever asskissing courtier maggie is aiming to replace cohen as the traitorous thug’s consigliere?

    It’s the traitor and his ‘family’ that is shaking down the whole world maggie, you pos.

  184. 184.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    June 20, 2018 at 8:49 pm

    @NotMax:

    I went to that museum!

  185. 185.

    Elizabelle

    June 20, 2018 at 8:49 pm

    @Mary G: Glad to hear about the Hilbert Museum. Sounds wonderful. Thanks.

  186. 186.

    Elizabelle

    June 20, 2018 at 8:51 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: What great suggestions.

    Have fun, Imm and Immp!

  187. 187.

    NotMax

    June 20, 2018 at 8:52 pm

    @bemused

    “When told the name of the big lake there, the president replied,’So they named it for me?'”

    Film at 11 (10 in Central Time Zone).

    ;)

  188. 188.

    benused

    June 20, 2018 at 8:57 pm

    @NotMax:

    Ha.

    I just watched a clip of someone escorted out who was holding a photo of trump and Jeffrey Epstein with caption I think, Who is Jeffrey Epstein?

  189. 189.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    June 20, 2018 at 8:57 pm

    @Brachiator: I could be wrong but I thought the first “timey wimey” quote was in “Weeping Angels” when the doctor is trying to communicate through video eggs to the people in the future (past) who the hell knows I could be completely mistaken.

  190. 190.

    Origuy

    June 20, 2018 at 8:59 pm

    @frosty: Generally that’s a good idea, especially in the cities. I had a car because I was going in the country, Speyside in my first visit and the Highlands in my second. Not a lot of public transportation. In Edinburgh, I mostly left the car parked, except to Roslyn. They probably run buses out there, too. I went there before The Da Vinci Code made it world famous. I’m sure the train goes to Sterling.
    Driving on the left isn’t hard to get used to, especially on the motorways. It gets trickiest pulling out of car parks, where your habit is to move into the wrong lane. Single tracks are scary, too.
    ETA Greyfriers Kirk is pretty interesting, too. Especially the cemetary. And you can see the statue of Greyfriers Bobby.

  191. 191.

    Original Lee

    June 20, 2018 at 9:00 pm

    @GregB: If they knew who the Somozas were, I would still not give them credit for recognizing the similarities. Their whole attitude reeks of “I’m the top of the food chain.”

  192. 192.

    TenguPhule

    June 20, 2018 at 9:00 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    I could be wrong but I thought the first “timey wimey” quote was in “Weeping Angels” when the doctor is trying to communicate through video eggs to the people in the future (past) who the hell knows I could be completely mistaken.

    You’re not wrong.

  193. 193.

    TenguPhule

    June 20, 2018 at 9:00 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Matt Smith’s Doctor was more about the “timey wimey.” A superior Doctor compared to Tennant, too.

    Them’s fighting words.

  194. 194.

    Platonailedit

    June 20, 2018 at 9:02 pm

    Facebook is rejecting a @Reveal story as "political content." It's about children at detention centers allegedly being drugged.

    Share it.

    https://t.co/AJdSzLEIUv https://t.co/lI7fZyhAWq

    — ProPublica (@ProPublica) June 20, 2018

  195. 195.

    Lyrebird

    June 20, 2018 at 9:05 pm

    @ruemara: Seconded (or fourthed or whatever) … and I don’t care whether this sticking point for the fixer is logical to anyone else.

    If the one remaining scruple in a dyed in the wool crook is what makes him turn in evidence on the monsters he’s been helping, I am thankful for that scruple.

  196. 196.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    June 20, 2018 at 9:06 pm

    @TenguPhule: Lets you and me take him on :)

  197. 197.

    Steeplejack (tablet)

    June 20, 2018 at 9:06 pm

    @Ella in New Mexico:

    Ruth Marcus discussed this at the end of Chris Matthews’s show tonight. She cited some recent poll showing that self-identified Republicans have recently (she didn’t say over what period) shrunk from 32% to 28% of the electorate. She also noted that, much like a sauce, the reduced base is much more concentrated and hard-core.

  198. 198.

    Elizabelle

    June 20, 2018 at 9:18 pm

    @Steeplejack (tablet): 28%. Damn close to that infernal number.

    And that sauce is sour, sour, sour.

  199. 199.

    J R in WV

    June 20, 2018 at 9:19 pm

    @jacy:

    As for the evil ex — ….

    I’ll still probably end up going to court one final time, but it will be on my terms and not his.

    That sounds pretty good. If you’ve got all the kids together, that’s pretty strong. And on your terms, too.

    Best of luck!!

  200. 200.

    arrieve

    June 20, 2018 at 9:19 pm

    @Immanentize: Lucky you! Get to the Highlands if you can. Rabbie’s has numerous tours out of Edinburgh that are pretty reasonable. I did a four-day Highland/Isle of Skye tour with them, and it was great fun.

  201. 201.

    NotMax

    June 20, 2018 at 9:19 pm

    @Steeplejack

    to 28%

    1% still to go.

  202. 202.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    June 20, 2018 at 9:21 pm

    @Origuy: There are a bunch of things that you can do in Edinburgh but the timeline is the thing. Five days is relatively short to see it all. I lived up there (across the water in Dunfirmline) for two years and I STILL never got to see every thing that I wanted to see. I went back last November which is why my comments were about my most recent visit. When I lived there (88-90) I was able to see so many things that have since been totally ruined by commercialism. A prime example is Camera Obscura, when I lived there it was a brilliant attraction, which focused on the camera and a wonderful display of pinhole photographs and such and the wonderful views that you got at the top of the tower through the camera. Now it has been taken over by the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not company and is a total shithole as far as I can see. It is also incredibly expensive even for someone with a healthy budget, the entrance fees are just outrageous, which is why I was recommending the free stuff. I am a cheap skate, so sue me :)

  203. 203.

    Brachiator

    June 20, 2018 at 9:21 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    I could be wrong but I thought the first “timey wimey” quote was in “Weeping Angels” when the doctor is trying to communicate through video eggs to the people in the future (past) who the hell knows I could be completely mistaken.

    No, I think you are right on the money. This was a Stephen Moffat thing, that was used with the Weeping Angels and throughout Matt Smith’s run as the Doctor.

    Cohen should get plenty of jail time wimey.

  204. 204.

    Brachiator

    June 20, 2018 at 9:29 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    Matt Smith’s Doctor was more about the “timey wimey.” A superior Doctor compared to Tennant, too.

    Them’s fighting words.

    I really liked Smith and Capaldi, but as a rule I say that the best Doctor is the current Doctor.

  205. 205.

    geg6

    June 20, 2018 at 9:31 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Having known actual mobsters from Youngstown (and by proximity with them, some counterparts from Pittsburgh), I was less frightened by that call after hearing it. His whole demeanor screams Fredo.

  206. 206.

    J R in WV

    June 20, 2018 at 9:32 pm

    @Ella in New Mexico:

    Wife’s mother was a stone cold narcissist, from head to toe. Didn’t relate to any of her children…

    So glad she can’t push wife’s buttons any more. And since the siblings blame wife for mother’s insane relationships, they have all shut wife down, so they can’t push her buttons either. Much better for both of us. Glad we never had children, she never had a parent to model child rearing after.

    Her mom hated dogs and cats. We have plenty of both.

  207. 207.

    Steve in the ATL

    June 20, 2018 at 9:44 pm

    @Immanentize: drunken, angry brawling

  208. 208.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 20, 2018 at 9:45 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: So, Balloon Juice After Dark?

  209. 209.

    seaboogie

    June 20, 2018 at 9:46 pm

    @germy: Thank you – we need stories of the good that people are doing out of compassion and generous, thoughtful intention right now.

  210. 210.

    Ella in New Mexico

    June 20, 2018 at 9:46 pm

    @J R in WV: I’m so glad your wife has found that place of peace–it’s such a hard task for those of us who survive dysfunctional childhoods, but it can be done. And i firmly believe that if you’re lucky, you find a fantastic loving person to share your life with who can be there for you when it gets tough. The most important thing loving life partners do for each other is to help each other heal and find resolution for our childhood wounds. Sounds like you and she were a match made in the stars. And being a parent to pups and kitties is a perfect way to extend that and make the world a better place. :-)

  211. 211.

    Origuy

    June 20, 2018 at 9:49 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: I know, there’s so much, you can’t see it all. I was in Edinburgh in August, so I did the Tattoo and a lot of the Fringe. It takes longer to get places in Scotland that I would expect, coming from California. The motorways aren’t as direct and the speeds are lower on the A roads, never mind the B roads. Sorry to hear about the Camera Obscura. I would have liked to have seen that. There’s one in San Francisco, and I still haven’t been there after 30 years.

  212. 212.

    Mandarama

    June 20, 2018 at 9:50 pm

    @Immanentize: No good advice, but what a fantastic opportunity! Have a great time.

  213. 213.

    No Drought No More

    June 20, 2018 at 9:51 pm

    Come the day that Trump is finally imprisoned- maybe while he awaits execution for high treason- I propose he be forced to wear an adult-sized replica of the military school uniform he wore when his parents concluded they wanted him gone and shipped the little bastard there.

    They obviously tried, at least, back then. They obviously gave it one last shot. They obviously knew he was a monster. They must certainly have considered their decision to ship him out a win-win, too: the little shit would be out of their hair for months at a time, and, who knows? He might even get straightened out in the process.

  214. 214.

    J R in WV

    June 20, 2018 at 10:04 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    I believe that the trolls and tools of Vladimir Vladimirovich will return before November’s election. Wait til the primaries are over and see how many show back up, or new ones appear.

    I’ve been wrong before, but just once! I kid!!! ;-)

  215. 215.

    Jack Canuck

    June 20, 2018 at 10:11 pm

    @Origuy: Funny connection, my wife worked as a weaver on restoring/recreating the medieval tapestries that hang at Stirling Castle. Very much worth going to see the whole site, and it’s close to Edinburgh to easy to get to.

  216. 216.

    J R in WV

    June 20, 2018 at 10:28 pm

    @benused:

    I just watched a clip of someone escorted out who was holding a photo of trump and Jeffrey Epstein with caption I think, Who is Jeffrey Epstein?

    Epstein is a famous wealthy pederast, who flew friends to the islands to have sex with underaged girls. Convicted, not sure why he isn’t still in prison. He and Donald may have been friends…

  217. 217.

    Lyrebird

    June 20, 2018 at 10:34 pm

    @Immanentize: I can recommend the GNER train to/towards London from Ed. if you and the kid like that sort of thing. Good food, nice views.

  218. 218.

    J R in WV

    June 20, 2018 at 10:37 pm

    @Ella in New Mexico:

    Thank you Ella. We’re doing pretty well, a little travel, a hermitage up the hollow in the green, green woods.

  219. 219.

    japa21

    June 20, 2018 at 10:41 pm

    Lynn Sweet’s column in the Chicago Sun Times tomorrow tells it like it should be told.

    Trump caves: Using kids as pawns, triggered crisis of his own making

    Under Trump, youths caught in situations not of their making become pawns.

    Trump’s move to deport “Dreamers” – youths brought to the U.S. illegally through no fault of their own – and stockpiling migrant kids – turned out not to be a shortcut to get Congress to swiftly fund his border wall. The one Mexico was supposed to pay for.

    With midterms ahead, this Trump-manufactured crisis threatened Republican control of the House and Senate because people, no matter their politics, realized that yanking babies and little kids away from parents – even if they crossed the border illegally or were seeking asylum – should not have become a Trump administration priority.

    And Trump’s own executive order shows – despite what he has been saying, despite what Department of Homeland Security Kirsten Nielsen, Vice President Pence and White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders have been saying, incorrectly, that only Congress can keep families together – Trump had the power to reverse his own policy.

  220. 220.

    Platonailedit

    June 20, 2018 at 10:50 pm

    Big scoop from @maddow tonight: "The Justice Department has requested that the Pentagon send active duty JAGs, active duty U-S military lawyers to Texas, Arizona and New Mexico to work special, unprecedented, 6-month shifts as quote, 'special assistant U-S attorneys.'"— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 21, 2018

    putting active duty JAG lawyers on duty in civilian court on US soil is a violation of the Possee Comitatus Act, passed to limit the federal government’s use of military personnel to enforce domestic policy within the United States.— Nobody (@shredderfeeder) June 21, 2018

  221. 221.

    Elizabelle

    June 20, 2018 at 10:56 pm

    @japa21: Link for the Lynn Sweet column: https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/trump-caves-using-kids-as-pawns-triggered-crisis-of-his-own-making/

  222. 222.

    Vhh

    June 20, 2018 at 11:04 pm

    @Ella in New Mexico: 27%. Crazification factor.

  223. 223.

    Obvious Russian Troll

    June 20, 2018 at 11:12 pm

    @Redshift: Youtube comment trolls were the only people to send in their resumes.

  224. 224.

    Kay

    June 20, 2018 at 11:32 pm

    @Platonailedit:

    They’re being drugged. The owner, Clay Deal Hill, has a 15 year history. The company was called “Daystar” before it was Shiloh. They had 4 deaths at Daystar.

  225. 225.

    sgrAstar

    June 21, 2018 at 12:50 am

    @jacy: well, Rebecca Ballhaus (wsj) said that trump has already paid $100s of thousands for Cohen’s legal expenses. I’d be more worried that Cohen could have one of those unfortunate accidents that so many Russians experienced, when they outlived their usefulness.

  226. 226.

    Ruckus

    June 21, 2018 at 1:42 am

    @No Drought No More:
    Look up Fred, his dad. He was a stone asshole. He may have shipped off little drumpf to military school but it wasn’t to make him better. It was because little drumpf was and is a stone asshole just like dear old dad and two stone assholes in one family is two too many.

  227. 227.

    sukabi

    June 21, 2018 at 2:37 am

    @TenguPhule: they have no intention of retrieving those kids, they’re hoping we’ll forget.

    They’ve got 12000 kids they are holding.p

  228. 228.

    Robert Sneddon

    June 21, 2018 at 2:42 am

    @Immanentize: Come to Edinburgh, not Edinburg — that’s a town somewhere in the US IIRC.

    As for spending time here, hmmm — the Castle is a regular tourist spot but the esplanade is closed while they put up the Meccano (ObUS: Erector set) for the Tattoo watchers to sit in. Go out West past the airport to see the three bridges over the Forth, all built in different centuries and all still in use. The New Town and the old town areas are an interesting contrast, the modern structures built in the 1700s and 1800s look a lot better than the ramshackle original structures. Holyrood Palace and the park below Arthur’s Seat (the other big dormant volcano in the middle of the city) are nice to visit too if the weather’s good. Saying that next week the temps are supposed to be in the 22-24 deg C region. The Botanic Gardens north of Princes street are also worth a visit, not up to Kew Gardens standards but still decent. Plenty of museums in or near the city centre, most have free entry for the regular galleries.

    A lot of the city centre including Princes Street is a tourist trap full of tartan tat shops blaring pseudo-Scottish music and selling mass-produced stuff AT DISCOUNT PRICES! There are a few shops that are more traditionally oriented but it can take a bit of time to spot them.

    I live in Edinburgh, I don’t do the tourist “thing” here so I’m maybe not the best one to give advice though.

  229. 229.

    Robert Sneddon

    June 21, 2018 at 2:58 am

    @Litlebritdifrnt: The four pound day ticket for Lothian buses also covers using the city’s tram line although going to and from the airport on the tram costs more (the last stop on the line). The tram line runs through the city centre, past my front door and then out west through the countryside towards Ingliston and the Royal Highland showground near the airport. The Royal Highland Show is being held there this weekend, when the country comes to the city but I think Imm and Immp will miss that which is a shame.

    Note that the “day ticket” doesn’t cover the First bus service (blue buses), just the ones marked Lothian (maroon colour). It doesn’t cover the tour buses, airport buses and other coach services that operate through the town. Lothian buses is the biggest bus service in town and goes pretty much everywhere though. They even have electric buses now in service (the number 6 service to Holyrood and the Scottish Parliament is using electric buses at the moment). The buses are clean, modern and prompt in service — sometimes they arrive at a stop too early and have to wait for a minute or two to maintain their posted schedule. If you use buses without a day ticket or a pass they only take cash and don’t give change — currently the adult ticket price is one pound 70 pence IIRC.

  230. 230.

    David

    June 21, 2018 at 7:57 am

    Probably OT but to me Eggleston is still the best Dr Who. Most likely because I had just got back from a year in Iraq and the part seemed familiar somehow

  231. 231.

    glaukopis

    June 21, 2018 at 9:02 am

    Thanks to all for the information about Edinburgh here. I’m going there myself for a week in August, during the Arts Festival, but hope to also see as much of the city as I can.

  232. 232.

    Geeno

    June 21, 2018 at 11:45 am

    @TenguPhule: Those would be the ones they lost. Number sounds right.

  233. 233.

    Robert Sneddon

    June 21, 2018 at 12:03 pm

    @glaukopis:

    I’m going there [Edinburgh] myself for a week in August, during the Arts Festival,

    You and 750,000 other visitors. Me, I’ll be under my bed for the duration pretending I’m not there. Bye.

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