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if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Come on, man.

I was promised a recession.

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I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

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Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Repub Venality Open Thread: Willing Patsies for Putin

Repub Venality Open Thread: Willing Patsies for Putin

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Once-proud Republican, hardcore conservative Nichols:

If we can’t prevent these GOP traitors from selling us all out to the highest bidder, we can at least point out exactly how cheaply they can be bought…

Republican lawmakers who went to Russia seeking a thaw in relations received an icy reception from Democrats and Kremlin watchers for spending the Fourth of July in a country that interfered in the U.S. presidential election and continues to deny it.

“Cannot believe GOP, once the party that stood strong against Soviets & only a decade ago sought to democratize the Middle East, is now surrendering so foolishly to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and the Kremlin’s kleptocracy — only two years ­after Russia interfered in U.S. election,” tweeted Clint Watts, an information warfare specialist at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and frequent featured expert before congressional panels examining Russian influence operations…

Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) led the eight-member delegation on a multiday tour of St. Petersburg and Moscow, a trip that included meetings with Russia’s foreign minister and parliamentarians. It did not include a session that senators had been hoping for: a meeting with Putin, whom President Trump is scheduled to meet at a summit this month.

Joining Shelby were Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), John Thune (R-S.D.) and Rep. Kay Granger (R-Tex.).

Members of the delegation set off on their trip late last week promising to be tough with Russian officials ahead of the president’s visit, especially on matters of election interference. But they struck a conciliatory tone once there: The point of their visit, Shelby stressed to the Duma leader, was to “strive for a better relationship” with Moscow, not “accuse Russia of this or that or so forth.”…

“We heard things we’d heard before, and I think our guests heard rather clearly and distinctly an answer that they already knew — we don’t interfere in American elections,” said Sergey Kislyak, the former Russian ambassador to the United States and now a member of Russia’s upper house of parliament.

On Russian state television, presenters and guests mocked the U.S. congressional delegation for appearing to put a weak foot forward, noting how the message of tough talk they promised in Washington “changed a bit” by the time they got to Moscow.

“We need to look down at them and say: You came because you needed to, not because we did,” Igor Korotchenko, a Russian military expert, said on a talk show on state-run television.

The congressional GOP’s prominent foreign policy voices have remained quiet about the trip, declining to comment about the visit’s significance….


Also at the Washington Post, Dana Milbank:

“What does July 4th mean to me? Freedom,” Sen. Ron Johnson chirruped on Twitter on Independence Day.

For the Wisconsin Republican, it meant, specifically, the freedom to spend July 4 in Moscow with seven other Republican lawmakers posing for propaganda photos with Russian officials. On the same day it was reported in Britain that two more people had been poisoned by a Russian nerve agent British officials say came from Vladimir Putin’s regime. On the day after the Senate Intelligence Committee affirmed the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in the election to help Donald Trump.

Johnson and his colleagues apparently exercised their freedom not to meet with opposition or civil society figures (those whom the Putin regime has not imprisoned or killed), avoiding the risk of offending their hosts. They also exercised their freedom to soft-pedal their criticism of the Russian government, leading Russian politicians and state media to mock them as supplicants.

Yet despite this lavish display of the freedom to kowtow, they didn’t get the meeting they hoped for with Putin himself. He was busy, the Kremlin said…

So, what do we call these Red Square Republicans? My interlocutors on Twitter suggest “Moscow Mules.” Or, given the position they put themselves in before our masters in Moscow, perhaps they should be called the Prostrate Eight…

One can hardly wait to see the lawmakers’ next codel: meeting with wounded Taliban fighters on Veterans Day? A Memorial Day wreath-laying for fallen members of Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard? Flag Day at a street protest in Tehran?

Soon they’ll be meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and praising him as talented, honest and trustworthy. Oh, wait…

Reader Interactions

136Comments

  2. 2.

    Schlemazel

    @svdale : And the Sarandon wing of liberals feel that America has done some bad things over the last 400 years so we should not complain now

  3. 3.

    Gravenstone

    ‘coming capitulation’?!?

    That ship done sailed Mr. Nichols. Do please try to keep up.

  4. 4.

    Brachiator

    Thank God we have a smart president who knows how to make tough deals with the commies.

    Oh, wait….

    Oh, shit.

  6. 6.

    efgoldman

    @Schlemazel:

    the Sarandon wing of liberals feel that America has done some bad things

    Who
    the Fuck
    Gives a flying fuck?
    How many actual votes does she move? (Spoiler: zero)
    How many people who pay attention to the clueless fuck would actually vote for Dems? (Spoiler: zero)

    IGNORE HER!

    Fuckem

    ETA: Obviously this is true of Dr Grift, Glennie Fuckwald, and all the other leftier than thous

  7. 7.

    NotMax

    AL, asked several times if you received the e-mail sent on Thursday with possible date and location for a NYC meet-up.. Should I resend it? I practically never use e-mail, so entirely possible I screwed something up.

  9. 9.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    I feel like I want to say something about this, I know I should say something about this, this is our country these creeps are selling out after all, but I just don’t feel like I have anything left to say. I know this is what they’re hoping for, that we’ll all be so fucking worn down by these unending outrages that we just give up, and I know that we can’t let that happen. But it’s all so routine now. All of this shit. Over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over, they sell out the country, and two fifths of us cheer right along. This shit is getting old. Fuck. It was old even when it was only beginning. Well, how about that, I said I had nothing left to say, and I found something to say all the same…

  11. 11.

    Schlemazel

    @efgoldman:
    Except the same pudits that are too polite to mention the Republican hypocrisy will cite her as a reliable liberal weathervane. so you see the GOP is OK because this is all just politics & even some liberals agree it is OK

  14. 14.

    Mary G

    @rikyrah: Ditto. And it’s disgusting how long it took the WaPo to get around to noticing. They reprinted the AP story, then ignored it, possibly because they wanted to go to Martha’s Vineyard or whatever, but no real coverage until liberal Twitter made a big stink.

  16. 16.

    jharp

    Trump is a Russian asset and so are a whole lot of other Republicans.

    There is no other plausible explanation for what has bee happening.

  17. 17.

    Pete Mack

    “…not accuse Russia of this or that or so forth”
    -Republican Shelby Foote
    Let’s not bicker and hargue about ‘oo killed ‘oo.
    -Monty Python

  19. 19.

    Aleta

    On Russian state television, presenters and guests mocked the U.S. congressional delegation. … “We need to look down at them and say: You came because you needed to, not because we did,” Igor Korotchenko, a Russian military expert, said on a talk show on state-run television.

    It’s almost like automatic writing from Republicans, producing ads for their opposition.

  20. 20.

    MisterForkbeard

    Off-topic (even for an open thread), but I just had the most infuriating conversation with someone about Star Wars. I want to vent about it. Are we to the point where I can spoil things yet? :P

    EDIT: This would be about spoiling The Last Jedi, not Solo.

  22. 22.

    efgoldman

    @Pete Mack:

    “…not accuse Russia of this or that or so forth”
    -Republican Shelby Foote

    Did you mean Richard Shelby, oleaginous senator from Ala-fuckin’-bama?

    ETA: Foote was the Traitor apologist historian featured on Ken Burns’ Civil War series. He’s passed on to the Battle of the Beyond.

  28. 28.

    Elizabelle

    @jharp: Lovely to see you here again.

    Rescue underway imminently for Thai soccer team trapped in cave. In our thoughts and in the light. May it come off perfectly.

  30. 30.

    Elizabelle

    WaPost item in full:

    Rescue operation for a Thai soccer team trapped in a cave begins
    By Shibani Mahtani
    July 7 at 11:45 PM

    MAE SAI, Thailand — Thai authorities said early Sunday that they would begin an hours-long process of extracting a group of boys and their soccer coach more than two weeks after the group became trapped in a flooded cave in northern Thailand. The boys and the coach will dive out of the cave one at a time, each accompanied by members of a team of international and Thai divers, officials said.

    Divers were assigned at 10 a.m. local time, and the rescue will start as soon as possible and will likely be complete by 9 p.m. Sunday, officials said.

    Fingers and toes crossed. Rescue them all, with no casualties.

  35. 35.

    NotMax

    @Adam L. Silverman

    Just your name listed there for me; don’t see an address. And the form doesn’t work for me anyway.

    You can send it to me at

    That’s a tertiary alternate (throwaway) address I maintain but almost never bother checking except in just such a situation.

  40. 40.

    Elizabelle

    @Adam L Silverman: Yes. Tragic. Ran out of oxygen as he was placing oxygen canisters along the rescue route.

    And this morning, we were discussing your theory that John Boehner has the shiv out for Jim Jordan. And may that shiv do its work. JJ is such a cretin.

  41. 41.

    Gretchen

    7 of the 8 were elected in 2016, in an election involving Russian interference. And what the Russians got in the RNC hack has never been revealeed. Are they being blackmailed or are they thanking the Russians for their help?

  42. 42.

    Adam L Silverman

    @rikyrah: While I’ve determined that my social life is a lot like World Cup soccer games – a lot of effort expended with very little scoring – when I do feel like being involved with someone, I prefer that she has a pulse.

  47. 47.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Adam L Silverman: Nah, this wasn’t even about MRA/alt-right people. This was just stupidity. And a refusal to acknowledge anything, even when you’re directly and obviously wrong… which I suppose is a lot like arguing with an alt-right troll.

    Him: The fact that Luke tried to kill Ben Solo is what makes The Last Jedi the worst star wars movie ever. Rian Johnson doesn’t understand Luke at all.

    Me: Luke didn’t actually try to kill Ben. He knew that Ben was going to kill trillions and for a moment considered killing Ben… and then couldn’t bring himself to do it, because it was wrong. The whole scene is tragic, because Kylo’s fall is caused by a misunderstanding. He THINKS Luke is going to kill him, but Luke wasn’t going to.

    Him: Luke would never even think about killing a family member. Rian Johnson undid everything Luke ever was and made him a murdering cowards.

    Me: Luke almost killed his father in a fit of rage. But he stopped and realized he couldn’t and wouldn’t do it. If anything, having a similar moment of weakness with Ben shows continuity of character rather than a misunderstanding of his character.

    Him: Luke doesn’t have any character development! He’s exactly the same as he was in ROTJ, which makes Rian’s writing horrible.

    Me: No, it shows Luke made a mistake and struggles with being an ideal person. Honestly, if your argument is that TLJ is the worst movie ever because Luke isn’t preternaturally perfect, I think you’ve lost me.

    Him: Pivoted onto another tangent without acknowledging anything

    The sad thing is that this person wasn’t trying to troll. He’s just genuinely that stupid and stubborn.

  48. 48.

    B.B.A.

    Since it’s considered “trolling” to not be all sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows, I’m going to try to think of something positive or hopeful to say…

    …

    …yeah, I got nothing.

  49. 49.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Adam L Silverman:
    Vanity Fair had a very interesting article, some years back, on this Living Doll industry and designer.
    ” Interesting” has so many meanings….

  54. 54.

    Adam L Silverman

    @MagdaInBlack: We’re dealing with humans, and in this case men. This was always going to happen. The question is whether we wind up with this…

    “Toasters with great legs.”

  56. 56.

    Mike in NC

    GOP Red State traitors. Trump will be unhappy that he gets sloppy seconds with Vlad.

  57. 57.

    H.E.Wolf

    @B.B.A.:
    Well… you can be glad you’re not a sex robot. Bad hours and worse working conditions.

    [going to log off for the evening now, before I get any sillier]

  58. 58.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Adam L Silverman: That was basically all I needed – had to whine about it to someone.

    In other news, the GOP continues to be Russian tools. Who wants to talk about that? :)

  59. 59.

    Adam L Silverman

    @RepubAnon: There isn’t anything to trade. It isn’t like we’re going to send in a Corps with a couple of Divisions and a dozen Brigade Combat Teams to clean the Russians out of Crimea and the Donbass. What they’re going to do is stop objecting to it and let the sanctions lapse. And they’ll do it in exchange for nothing. Or at least nothing that will be visible above the water line and to anyone who isn’t working counterintelligence operations against the Russians.

    ETA: They know where there base is. That it is now made up of aging white baby boomers, whites in rural areas, significant chunks of the most politicized white evangelicals, and outright white nationalists and supremacists. All marinating in a toxic stew of Fox, talk radio, Alex Jones, Breitbart, the Federalist, and alt-right and extremist white nationalist social media. All reinforced with social media being run by Russian Intelligence. And the message that is being transmitted through all of those forums to all of those groups is that Russia is the last, pure bastion of western civilization (white Christendom) and Putin as its leader is fighting to preserve it against the degeneracy of Europe, everywhere in the US within 100 miles of the coast (which is where about 72% of all Americans live), and the degenerate and mongrel hordes of the Arab and Muslim world, as well as Central and South America.

  67. 67.

    MagdaInBlack

    @NotMax:
    I’m of the opinion that if thats what a certain type of man really want in a “woman” then good, let them have it. This way they won’t be inflicting their “issues” on the rest of us.
    Unfortunately I think the incel types etc want a real person to control, so my plan might not work so well.

  68. 68.

    NotMax

    @Adam L. Silverman

    Then there’s this.

    (Great show. The original one in Swedish (well, the final season went a bit overboard, violence-wise). Even very elderly Mom, no SF fan, was hooked. The English remake, bleargh.)

  69. 69.

    Yarrow

    Watched the first episode of “A Very English Scandal.” Enjoyed it a lot. Hugh Grant is very good in it, as I expected. Looking forward to watching the rest of it.

  72. 72.

    Brachiator

    @MisterForkbeard:

    No, it shows Luke made a mistake and struggles with being an ideal person. Honestly, if your argument is that TLJ is the worst movie ever because Luke isn’t preternaturally perfect, I think you’ve lost me.

    A lot of fans wanted to see Perfect Luke or Luke at the peak of his powers.

    I agree with your take, but I think the writing was flabby. I was really looking forward to seeing what Johnson would do, but I don’t think that he served any of the characters well.

  73. 73.

    Gravenstone

    @Gretchen: my money is on Johnson at least offering his thanks. If not for the one two punch of Russian intervention and Republican sanctioned voter suppression, that would now be Sen. Feingold (redux) as the junior Senator from Wisconsin.

  78. 78.

    Adam L Silverman

    @NotMax: I was involved with a woman who had lymphoma. Long time ago. Now completely cured. So I’ve been there and done that.

  79. 79.

    Brachiator

    @NotMax:
    RE: Based on this clip, I have to say that I prefer the new version of the show.

    Is the entire Swedish version available somewhere?

  80. 80.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Brachiator: I think we can agree to disagree on that – I think he basically did the only real interesting thing with Luke he could have after TFA’s setup, which frankly wasn’t too great. And I liked that the Luke’s went out saving the Rebellion and inspiring the whole galaxy through a pacifistic act.

    Some other characters… I don’t know. I liked that the film repeatedly made the point that failure is the best teacher, and that we all fail. Heroics don’t always succeed, and in Finn/Rose’s case they actively made things worse. It resonated with me, but I suppose I can see why others have such a hard time with that. Rey’s big issue is the same as TFA – she’s a Force Prodigy and is instantly awesome at jedi things for no apparent good reason, but otherwise she’s handled pretty well, especially in her interactions with Kylo. And speaking of him, they did a great job with Kylo – I left TFA thinking he was a stupid spoiled child, and I left TLJ thinking he was a tortured but interesting villain.

    The thing that DOES bug me is that the movie ends like… 10 days after TFA or something, and that the “whoops, we forgot to fuel the capital ships” thing drives the central tension of the movie. And that there’s about 20 rebels left, plus some missing pilots and support personnel. They’re going to have to have a hell of a time jump for the next movie. Here’s hoping the rumors that Billy Dee Williams is coming back for Ep IX are true.

    @Adam L Silverman: He’s allowed to repeat himself. I think he does it regularly in his sundowning rants.

  83. 83.

    Brachiator

    @Adam L Silverman:

    And the message that is being transmitted through all of those forums to all of those groups is that Russia is the last, pure bastion of western civilization

    Huh? Really? But isn’t Putin supporting Iran and Syria?

    You may be right, but then this would make Trump the most stupid Stooge ever. Russia is at best a second rate power that is slowly sinking into irrelevancy, despite Putin’s machinations.

  84. 84.

    NotMax

    @Brachiator

    It was darn hard to find for quite a while, then much easier for a while. Now? Dunno.

    Look for either “Real Humans” or the title in Swedish, “Äkta människor.”

    Went through multitudinous hoops several years ago to find and download all the available episodes at that time (just season one), and had to then track down 3rd party-made English subtitle files to match with each one in order to watch them on the computer (thank you, VLC media player, for making the integration of the subtitle files so painless).

  85. 85.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Brachiator: And also, I agree that most fans just wanted to see Awesome Luke Be Awesome. Which is fine, and I would’ve enjoyed it. But for those who let that ruin their enjoyment of the entire series, it just baffles me.

    @B.B.A.: The difference is that Dems actually hold their leaders accountable when they fuck up. Republicans by definition don’t, because the leaders can’t be allowed to screw up.

  86. 86.

    J R in WV

    @H.E.Wolf:

    Creeps me too!

    On the other hand, we have a spare bedroom… maybe a retirement job?

    Ha ha ha ha ha ha… Just no. ;-)

  88. 88.

    westyny

    @efgoldman: I actually have a student who voted for Dr. Stein. He knows he did wrong, but he actually bought it back 2016.

  91. 91.

    Adam L Silverman

    @B.B.A.: He’s going to try. I think it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better. It is also going to suck all the little oxygen left in the House of Representatives out. I fully expect that when Supervisory Special Agent in Charge (SSAC) Strzok testifies next week that when Jordan tries to do his usual bully routine, that Strzok will simply reply with some variant of “unlike you sir, I’ve not been involved in a two decades long cover up of sexual assault”. He’s wounded. Wounded animals are very dangerous. But if the wound is serious enough, it’ll take him down.

  94. 94.

    efgoldman

    @B.B.A.:

    Jordan is gonna brazen it out

    He’ll try, but it will become more difficult as more wrestlers come forward. One or two is sour grapes; seven, eight, ten, a dozen gets to critical mass, especially if any of the incidents are still prosecutable and there’s an Ohio prosecutor who will take it on.

  95. 95.

    Raoul

    Three NYT reporters firmly up Alan Dershowitz’ bum, covering the horrors of social snubbing.
    But dig into the ugly guts of the GOP’s Russian hat-in-hand trip, nope!

    I despise Trump with the heat of 1000 suns. But he is back-assly correct that the NYT is failing.

  96. 96.

    Yarrow

    @Adam L Silverman: It’s going to get ugly for Jordan. More wrestlers will come out with their stories to back up the ones who have done so already. It’ll be a drip-drip of bad news and, as you said, suck all the oxygen out of the House of Representatives. It won’t go well for him in the end.

  97. 97.

    J R in WV

    @B.B.A.:

    I don’t think brazen it out works for having defended a pervert in his locker room!

    He’s gonna try, but that won’t fly! That’s my take on the scandal this time.

  98. 98.

    sukabi

    @MisterForkbeard: he’s already done that…he’ll double down and specifically call out the 7 by name and call them liars and losers.

    Then when photos surface that prove the allegations he’ll deny he knows Jordan, deny he ever said what he said and change the subject by tweeting some ridiculous nonsense.

  99. 99.

    Mary G

    So sad, students for gun rights protests planned since April draw sparse crowds. (WaPo link)

    Some of Saturday’s organizers found one another on Instagram and Facebook and decided to speak out against what they saw as an attack on gun ownership. They expected a modest turnout on Saturday, but far fewer people showed up than organizers had hoped.
    In Chicago, organizers planned for about 125 people, but the rally drew approximately 35. The group gathered in a corner of Millennium Park, not on the Great Lawn, because organizers did not secure a permit and park security forced them to leave.

    Earlier in the morning in the same city, hundreds of protesters shut down 10 blocks of the Dan Ryan Expressway, one of the busiest interstates in the United States. Their march along the highway was in protest of gun violence and gun-related deaths in Chicago, and the disruption drew widespread attention — and some scorn, from groups including the National Rifle Association.

    ETA: more snark goodness

    In Palm Beach, Fla., about 100 people were expected to rally at a park; 13 came, including organizer Ashley Johnson, three speakers and the parents of two of the speakers.

  100. 100.

    efgoldman

    @efgoldman: [Too late to edit]
    If a person as widely admired and respected as Bill Cosby can be convicted, a flaming asshole like Jordan, who everybody hates to start with. will go down.

  102. 102.

    Brachiator

    @MisterForkbeard:

    I think he basically did the only real interesting thing with Luke he could have after TFA’s setup, which frankly wasn’t too great. And I liked that the Luke’s went out saving the Rebellion and inspiring the whole galaxy through a pacifistic act.

    I agree that these are interesting themes, but I don’t think they were dramatized well. I also don’t think it was really shown that Luke inspired anyone.

    Some other characters… I don’t know. I liked that the film repeatedly made the point that failure is the best teacher, and that we all fail

    I hear this a lot from people who liked the film, but I didn’t like this, nor do I think it true, nor was it presented in a way that resonated with me. I didn’t see that everyone had to fail. All of this ground the narrative to a halt. I also think that the mutiny should have led to some executions or heavy imprisonment.

    Also, I don’t know that I need to see Billy Dee Williams in the next movie. I didn’t need to see Yoda in Jedi. I even have mixed feelings about Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.

  104. 104.

    NotMax

    Will most likely repeat this in the morning.

    As there are some who are into outer space and things celestial, a shout out to friends’ radio show today. Normally about computers and tech, they once in a while have Dr. J.D. Arrmstrong, astronomer and teacher on as a guest. That was the case today and they devoted the show to space discussion.

    Audio (podcasts, or whatever they’re called) accessible on this page. Also on iTunes and on Audible.

    Dr. Armstrong, among other good things, runs a program which provides precious (and valuable) time on the 2-meter Faulkes telescope atop the volcano on Maui to high school and college students. (Also too, regular head honcho show host was absent today. Hope all is copacetic with him, it’s rare for him to miss a broadcast.)

  105. 105.

    The Lodger

    @Gretchen: I was wondering when someone was going to point that out. We heard none of the senators was running this year, but it’s rarely, if ever, mentioned six out of seven were on the ballot with Trump in 2016. Maybe some of those guys might have been able to get into the Senate on the strength of their own personalities… who am I kidding? The Russians helped Trump, and Trump had coattails. Even if some of them never talked to the Russians, they all got lots of help. This was the Spasibo Tour 2018.

  108. 108.

    Brachiator

    @NotMax:
    RE: Damn! I wish it had subtitles. There may be one episode on the Tubes. I will check it out. Then it’s back to catching up with episodes of Have Gun–Will Travel. “The Teacher” resonated with current events.

  109. 109.

    NotMax

    @Brachiator

    Very fast search turns up that season one only (10 episodes) is available on Hulu, but only with a subscription. Don’t know if that covers any free trial Hulu may have, never been there or used it.

  110. 110.

    piratedan

    i guess the part that absolutely galls me is how many times the minutiae of optics that were discussed and whether this action or that statement would have unforeseen repercussions regarding what went down whilst examining the Obama Presidency and the Clinton Candidacy, i.e. The Tan Suit and calling Trump supporters “Deplorables” and here we are, on THE National Fucking Holiday and we have 7 GOP members of our country meeting in Russia while all of this shit about the last election are being revealed, the Mueller investigation is in full swing and our collective media is busy examining the lint in their navels.

    Makes me want to take a baseball bat to some newsrooms and some editors/program directors kneecaps to help bring these issues into “focus”.

  111. 111.

    Platonailedit

    @Gretchen: You win the cigar. Yup, it was payback time for these traitorous thugs aided and abetted by fifth columnist msm.

  115. 115.

    Raoul

    I realize it’s a mistake to call it the failing NYT. I don’t want to credit orangemandias even that tiny bit.

    Henceforth, I will endeavor to call it Baquet’s stunningly arrogant NYT.

    With that, I bid you all a good night and whatever sweetness of dreams may be possible in these unsettling days.

  116. 116.

    Doug R

    @NotMax: Loved the Swedish version so much, I happily watched it with subtitles. English version was good, but not quite the casual edge of the Swedish version.

  117. 117.

    NotMax

    @Doug R

    Close to the same way I felt about Wallander (except the edge in the Swedish original coudln’t rightly be described as casual). Kenneth Branagh (in the English version) can act but tends to be a screen hog.

  118. 118.

    Mnemosyne

    Just got back from a screening of Sorry To Bother You. It’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea because it’s a surreal near-future movie with some really unexpected twists, but G and I both thought it was brilliant. The closest comparison I can think of is Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, where a world that seems somewhat familiar at first becomes more and more surreal as the movie goes on.

  119. 119.

    Suzanne

    I am ignoring politics and instead following the boys in Thailand. I am crossing everything I can cross for them.

  124. 124.

    low-tech cyclist

    Anyone remember South Ossetia? It was a fairly big issue for awhile in the 2008 campaign. Republicans claimed to be ready to go to war to defend Georgia against what was effectively Russian expansion into that part of Georgia.

    That was just ten years ago next month.

    And it’s been just a few years since they basically called Obama a wimp for what they called his weak response to Russia’s expansionism in Ukraine.

    Suddenly, it’s a different world, and Vlad’s our buddy. “Republicans fall in line,” the old saying goes. Trump has led, and his party has followed.

  125. 125.

    Ken

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I fully expect that when Supervisory Special Agent in Charge (SSAC) Strzok testifies next week that when Jordan tries to do his usual bully routine, that Strzok will simply reply with some variant of “unlike you sir, I’ve not been involved in a two decades long cover up of sexual assault”.

    Seriously? I could imagine a more oblique version, but not a direct reference like that.

  126. 126.

    Gvg

    For all ya’lls complaints of media coverage, I have actually seen quite a few stories on it. I don’t agree that it’s being ignored. My main media read is the Washington Post.
    And the site has lost my nym after a whole day keeping it.

  127. 127.

    Bex

    Site has been unreadable for me for the last two days. I can read it this morning when I pause the two auto play ads, but I still have no info in the name/address slots and click-to-edit and request-deletion after someone else’s comment (right now Ken @125). I would not have been able to type this yesterday because the error notices were popping up every three minutes or so. Comcast was out here for hours last night, and I thought things might get better, but only pausing the ads seems to stop the website error messages. Help? Anyone? Buehler?

  129. 129.

    dr. luba

    @efgoldman:

    How many actual votes does she move? (Spoiler: zero)

    The Stein voted (aka Sarandon wing) was about the same as the Trump margin of victory in the three battleground states that mattered.

    And let us not forget who the “Sarandon wing” pushed in 2000–Nader.

  130. 130.

    nymofnyms

    @Brachiator: I agree with Adam’s take. Years ago an acquaintance’s daughter adopted a Russian baby. I thought it was a great thing to do, but then I started getting this creepy vibe, that somehow this was couched in an environment of Russia being the Western savior for white supremacists. Christianity (the creepy white kind) was making its first big splash in Russia, and there were all of these connections that seemed to be rumbling just below the surface. I actually thought that it would make a good novel. Sadly, it may be a better subject for a documentary or a nonfiction book.

    I wonder if any of these thumbsuckers know the history here, how the Russians were considered to be tainted as mongrel Slavs by actual Western Europe?

    Nah, too much nuance.

  131. 131.

    nymofnyms

    @Mary G:

    … and the parents of two of the speakers.

    Someone had to hold the binkies while the toddlers whined.

  132. 132.

    Zinsky

    The treachery of the modern Republican Party is astonishing. Dwight Eisenhower or even Ronald Reagan would never have used the personal interaction with a speciously elected Russian dictator to feather their own nests or to score political points against their opponents. The word “traitorous” doesn’t seem to capture the shameless recklessness and malfeasance of this wretched political party.

  133. 133.

    Miss Bianca

    @The Lodger: Way late to the thread, but *this* angle is one I want to see pursued – what was the margin of victory – or “victory”, as the case may be – for all these fine, fine, upstanding Senators? Is there any credible suspicion of ratfuckery in their vote totals? In the case of Johnson, I’d be willing to bet there was – but what about the others?

  134. 134.

    Brachiator

    @nymofnyms:

    …that somehow this was couched in an environment of Russia being the Western savior for white supremacists.

    OK. I’m seeing more how this is a thing. Maybe this should be covered more, talked about more by sane people, including the Democratic Party leadership. Clearly, there are people trying to subvert this country, and some European nations as well.

    And yeah, these dopes should have a better grasp of history.

  135. 135.

    Waynski

    @MisterForkbeard: I haven’t seen it, but I’ll spoil it for everyone. The good guys either win or live to fight another day. It’s not (actual) rocket science.

  136. 136.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @B.B.A.: …and are held accountable for shit by the media. “IOIYAR” only applies to Rs.

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