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You are here: Home / Politics / Activist Judges! / Repub Venality Open Thread: Hey, Remember That ‘Judge Kavanaugh’ Guy?…

Repub Venality Open Thread: Hey, Remember That ‘Judge Kavanaugh’ Guy?…

by Anne Laurie|  July 17, 201810:57 pm| 94 Comments

This post is in: Activist Judges!, C.R.E.A.M., Domestic Politics, Open Threads, Republican Venality, Vagina Outrage

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This is a big deal! Public doesn't support Kavanaugh out of the gate. The more we talk to people about his dangerous record, the more Senators hear they have to vote NO. Remember, Harriet Miers was not confirmed. This is possible! Share and organize! #scotusnominee #roevswade https://t.co/lZ8Tm41Ida

— ilyse hogue (@ilyseh) July 17, 2018

Of course the Repubs are just a leeeetle bit busy at this point in time, what with trying to avoid getting further caught up in the exposure of their Dear Leaders’ foreign-affairs scandals. But never doubt they’re still working behind the scenes to put Brett ‘Dismemberment by Orca Is Just Another Job Risk’ Kavanaugh on the only SCOTUS we’ve got…

Brett Kavanaugh's father was a DC lobbyist who made $13 million in 2005 repping corporate interests. As a Supreme Court judge, Kavanaugh would "likely achieve for industry incomparably more than all his father’s years of lobbying"https://t.co/6zL1gI2TVK

— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) July 14, 2018

Progressives are told they should get over the shameful treatment of #MerrickGarland. But conservatives have been reliving Robert Bork's defeat for 31 years. And unlike Garland, Bork got a hearing and a vote.
My column: Hypocrites for #Kavanaughhttps://t.co/GTHrItRwBR

— EJ Dionne (@EJDionne) July 12, 2018

the problem with this argument is that Kavanaugh’s first act as a nominee was to tell a fawning, obvious lie in praise of Trump https://t.co/oeBJoWrRcU

— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) July 13, 2018

This. I’m not a legal wonk, I’d never heard of Kavanaugh before last week. My introduction was him flat-out lying to please Trump. Not a good first impression. https://t.co/IYWzxQWjJ1

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) July 13, 2018

On abortion and other issues, Kavanaugh’s heroes are more conservative than Kennedy via @scotusreporter @amarimow https://t.co/VIKiwyrUVO

— Matea Gold (@mateagold) July 15, 2018

The "original intent" of the Constitution was to limit power to wealthy male land owners. It is thanks to those who understand it is a living document that we began to open up freedom to all Americans. So-called originalists like Kavanaugh seek to undo that.

— Oliver Willis (@owillis) July 15, 2018


 
In related news, chickenshit Repubs hope to evade future responsibility…

know what America really needs right now? ….blacklists compiled by political addicts https://t.co/1yb9EDrnIN

— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) July 13, 2018

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Previous Post: « Russiagate Open Thread: The ‘President’ Finds A Staunch Defender
Next Post: Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Split Screen »

Reader Interactions

94Comments

  1. 1.

    NotMax

    July 17, 2018 at 11:02 pm

    I guess someone needs to start a #Kavanot thingie on that Twit place.

  2. 2.

    Yarrow

    July 17, 2018 at 11:05 pm

    Posted about this earlier today. Something called the “Judicial Crisis Network” is running a lot of commercials telling people to call their Senators and tell them to confirm Kavanaugh. All it’s making me do is remember to call and tell them not to confirm him. Every judicial appointment by this traitor should be halted immediately and previous ones should be questioned.

    Wonder if his support isn’t very strong. Why are they running ads so soon?

  3. 3.

    Mary

    July 17, 2018 at 11:06 pm

    Anyone who is actually decent and fair-minded would reject the nomination until Merrick Garland is seated.

  4. 4.

    B.B.A.

    July 17, 2018 at 11:07 pm

    I think W.L. Garrison said it better: the original intent of the Constitution was “a covenant with death and an agreement with hell.”

  5. 5.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    July 17, 2018 at 11:22 pm

    Okay, George Will’s an asshole, but this is on the mark

    Conor Friedersdorf @ conor64
    “Trump has a weak man’s banal fascination with strong men whose disdain for him is evidently unimaginable to him.”—George Will

    I think it was Lawrence O’Donnell who said last night that Putin forgot himself, or words to that effect, when he admitted he had wanted trump to win. I think he knew exactly what he was doing, mocking trump, who’s a fucking moron so he thought he was getting praise from his hero, and mocking the United States, taunting “Russia hawks” like McCain and Ben Sasse* who are (largely by their own choice) impotent in the face of Putin’s success.

    * just to be somewhat on topic, and since Sasse is a garden variety midwest Republican I’ll guess he would be a “Russia hawk” but for trump

  6. 6.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    July 17, 2018 at 11:23 pm

    know what America really needs right now? ….blacklists compiled by political addicts

    Right, because conservatives have never done that. I fail to see the controversy, honestly. He’s proposing that people unamendable to liberal (and American) interests shouldn’t be allowed to serve in future Democratic administrations. We have the right to decide who serves in our admins at the political level.

    And “political addicts”? Buddy, you’re a politician. You don’t have much room to talk. So typical of a Republican to denigrate concerned American citizens doing their civic duty.

  7. 7.

    Eljai

    July 17, 2018 at 11:27 pm

    I did not know Kavanaugh’s dad was a lobbyist, but I am not at all shocked.

  8. 8.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 17, 2018 at 11:32 pm

    Open thread? Here’s a couple fun pictures of Samwise from this afternoon. https://imgur.com/a/qZmWAWS

  9. 9.

    trollhattan

    July 17, 2018 at 11:34 pm

    @Eljai:
    Gorsuch’s mom was Reagan’s EPA chief who had to leave the office under a cloud of scandal. Didn’t mean squat.

  10. 10.

    Kay

    July 17, 2018 at 11:35 pm

    I can’t stand him just because all those awful people came out and said they knew him personally and they like him, as if we all say “oh, well you carpooled with him? “Nuff said!”

    This is just illegitimate. It has to stop. That isn’t how this works. I don’t have to know these people personally, which is good, because I don’t. Number one, it’s impossible for all of us to carpool with him, and even if we did his carpool manners have nothing to do with his judicial record. I mean I would hope he’s not an asshole every day, but that’s a REALLY low bar and it doesn’t matter, at all.

  11. 11.

    tobie

    July 17, 2018 at 11:35 pm

    It may have been mentioned in an earlier thread but both The Guardian and CNN are reporting that the massive Facebook data set provided to Prof. Kogan at Cambridge was accessed by computers in Russia:

    Damian Collins, the Conservative MP leading a British parliamentary investigation into online disinformation, told CNN that a British investigation found evidence that the data, collected by Professor Aleksandr Kogan on behalf of Cambridge Analytica, had been accessed from Russia and other countries.

    I guess this makes Cambridge Analytica a front for the GRU.

  12. 12.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 17, 2018 at 11:39 pm

    @Yarrow: It’s all one network, run and controlled with no transparency by Leonard Leo of the Federalist Society. Here’s an excellent article all about it by my old friend (we went to elementary and middle school together) Jay Michaelson:
    https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-secrets-of-leonard-leo-the-man-behind-trumps-supreme-court-pick

  13. 13.

    Kay

    July 17, 2018 at 11:41 pm

    I want Merrick Garland. I see no reason why I have to accept a lesser, second best Merrick Garland when Merrick Garland himself is available. Alternately, I’ll take a trade. Alito steps down and then we can have Garland the Better and Garland the Lesser, aka Kavanaugh. I get the top candidate and they get second best of the two, too. I am nothing if not reasonable.

  14. 14.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 17, 2018 at 11:42 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Samwise is gorgeous. His fur looks like velvet, only more so.

  15. 15.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 17, 2018 at 11:42 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: This bit is good too!
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/this-sad-embarrassing-wreck-of-a-man/2018/07/17/d06de8ea-89e8-11e8-a345-a1bf7847b375_story.html?utm_term=.73cab3d9ed56

    Precision is not part of Trump’s repertoire: He speaks English as though it is a second language that he learned from someone who learned English last week.

  16. 16.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    July 17, 2018 at 11:47 pm

    Can someone talk me down about the recent news about the voting machines being compromised? I could really use that.

  17. 17.

    Kay

    July 17, 2018 at 11:48 pm

    Maybe, just maybe, he’s not popular because people don’t like having a far Right court shoved down their throat thru trickery and legislative brinksmanship. Maybe conservatives should follow the fucking rules and accede to the will of the majority instead of foisting these hard Right judges on us when their views don’t in any way represent a majority.

    Maybe they went too far. Kennedy and Trump and the GOP Congress were too clever by half and people are sick of it, sick of their games and their ridiculous reality show nominations that make a mockery of the whole process. Taint. He’s tainted. He’s not even seated and there’s a stench around him.

  18. 18.

    Platonailedit

    July 17, 2018 at 11:49 pm

    EU’s tariff retaliation?

    Google will learn if it faces a record fine over its Android operating system in the coming hours.

    The European Commission has claimed the US tech giant’s mobile device strategy unfairly strengthened its dominance of search.

    The regulator can fine the firm up to 10% of its annual revenue – which amounts to $11.1bn (£8.5bn).

    It could also force Google to unbundle Android from its Chrome browser and other services.

    Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has previously ordered the firm to pay a 2.4bn euro ($2.8bn; £2.1bn) fine over its shopping comparison service – a ruling Google is in the process of appealing against.

    In addition, her investigators are probing the practices of its advert-placing business AdSense as part of a separate inquiry.

  19. 19.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 17, 2018 at 11:50 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: I’ve not heard of this, link?

  20. 20.

    Kay

    July 17, 2018 at 11:53 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:

    Just be really careful with it. There’s almost a cottage industry around worrying about voting machines. A lot of the information is bad.

    That isn’t how they suppress voting. They suppress voting thru shitty state law and judges like Kavanaugh, who rubber stamp that same shitty state law and don’t care about civil rights. They do it legally.

    Volunteer as a poll worker. It’s a lot less mysterious than it may appear. Think of it as a state recording process, because that’s what it is. Paper ballots as backup were always a good idea and they’re still a good idea. Those you want.

  21. 21.

    Yarrow

    July 17, 2018 at 11:53 pm

    @tobie:

    I guess this makes Cambridge Analytica a front for the GRU.

    Didn’t we already know that?

    @Adam L Silverman: Thanks. I clicked through to that article the other day but hadn’t read it. The Judicial Crisis Network sounds like a really awful group.

  22. 22.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    July 17, 2018 at 11:54 pm

    @Kay: I still think Bob Casey showed “red state Dems” the way to oppose Kavanaugh if they want to. He’s the nominee for the big banks, big business, big money and people who think corporations are people, my friend! And as the ObamaBros pointed out, it’s a pretty safe bet there are very few actual voters who would vote for Hietkamp, Donnelly or Manchin, but change their minds based on Kavanaugh.

    I hope, and assume, the Judiciary Committee Dems are strategizing about how to expose his full record

  23. 23.

    Brachiator

    July 17, 2018 at 11:56 pm

    @Yarrow:

    Posted about this earlier today. Something called the “Judicial Crisis Network” is running a lot of commercials telling people to call their Senators and tell them to confirm Kavanaugh

    I saw a pro-Kavanaugh commercial on CNN yesterday. I think this is the first time I ever saw a TV commercial for a Supreme Court nominee.

    ETA. Some of the Twitter posts are about Harriet Miers. Some of the most intense opposition to her nomination came from Republican politicians and conservative pundits who felt that she was not qualified for the Court. George Will wrote some of the angriest columns. These conservatives have been purged or neutralized.

  24. 24.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 17, 2018 at 11:56 pm

    @tobie: I’ve been saying that for how long now?

  25. 25.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 17, 2018 at 11:59 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: We don’t know that they were compromised. What we now know/have confirmation of is that they are able to be compromised because they’ve been built with external network access.

  26. 26.

    Kay

    July 18, 2018 at 12:00 am

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:

    In Ohio you can observe at the county bd of elections if you want. You have to “enter” with an oath and you have to be a “qualified elector” (voter) but it’s not difficult. You’ll see that it’s all pretty mundane and work a day and not at all woo woo.

    The trick for us is to get them voted, as pollworkers say, and in some of these suppressive states that’s a big enough job all by itself. You can’t run the whole process. Just do your end.

    I think everyone should check their registration. Theoretically they could fuck with that. Deregister people, probably with Republicans in statehouses giving them a hand with crap law and bad election management.

  27. 27.

    Platonailedit

    July 18, 2018 at 12:01 am

    Is this true? If yes, this is how you take a stand, john effing kelly.

    BREAKING: 4 Individuals on the Homeland Security advisory council have just resigned in protest!!

    The resignations come after what they claim were “morally repugnant” practices by the Trump Administration in separating children from parents at our southern border!

    HELL YEAH!

    — Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) July 17, 2018

  28. 28.

    gene108

    July 18, 2018 at 12:04 am

    @Kay:

    I mean I would hope he’s not an asshole every day, but that’s a REALLY low bar and it doesn’t matter, at all.

    The Republicans have a President, who is an asshole in every minute of everyday. The Press Secretary is scowling and dishonest in all her public appearances. Top White House officials like Stephen Miller and ex-staffer Steve Bannon are assholes, and come across that way on T.V. I could go on with different Republicans, but being an asshole, in public at least, seems come with the territory.

    They need to point out one of their own isn’t an asshole, because it is so rare.

  29. 29.

    Kay

    July 18, 2018 at 12:05 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I didn’t see that. It is good. True, too. He’ll be as bad as Roberts with the corporate ass kissing. John Roberts never met a “little guy” he liked. They always lose with him. Always.

    I think conservatives want regular people out of courts completely. I genuinely believe their ideal justice system bars everyone except wealthy people, business interests and Right wing lobbying orgs. They loathe us. We’re not in the carpool.

  30. 30.

    Peale

    July 18, 2018 at 12:09 am

    @Adam L Silverman: what do you think the chances are that were we to look into the Mercer’s hedge fund that always outperforms and is always growing, we would find that it’s also really a way for the Russians to move cash around. The asset management and alternative investment industries seem a little ripe for that.

  31. 31.

    Kay

    July 18, 2018 at 12:10 am

    @gene108:

    It’s amusing though, Trump’s subservience to Putin. They love assholes because they think that’s a measure of “toughness” because they lack good character so don’t know the difference.

    Trump was like a little kitten, gazing at Vlad adoringly. Ugh. Very awkward. I’m convinced that’s why media were so uncomfortable with it-not the bizarre lack of patriotism or the idiotic words but the WEAKNESS. That rattled them.

    We know he’s weak so we weren’t as shocked.

  32. 32.

    Yarrow

    July 18, 2018 at 12:11 am

    @Kay: Read the article Adam linked above. You are right that they want regular people out of the justice system for sure. From the article, about Leonard Leo:

    “He figured out twenty years ago that conservatives had lost the culture war. Abortion, gay rights, contraception—conservatives didn’t have a chance if public opinion prevailed. So they needed to stack the courts.”

    I think Suzanne has made this same observation. They’ve lost the culture war so they’re doing everything they can to turn back the clock.

  33. 33.

    gene108

    July 18, 2018 at 12:12 am

    @Brachiator:

    I saw pro-Gorsuck ads. I think from the same outfit

  34. 34.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    July 18, 2018 at 12:13 am

    @Kay: Casey announced his opposition to trump’s nominee even before BK was named

    Senator Bob Casey @ SenBobCasey
    -In a nation with over 700 sitting federal judges, many of whom were appointed by Republican presidents, it is outrageous that President Trump will nominate from a list of just 25 dictated to him by the Heritage Foundation.
    –This list is the bidding of corporate special interests hell-bent on handing health care over to insurance companies, crushing unions that represent working men and women, and promoting policies that will leave the middle-class further behind.
    -Any judge on this list is fruit of a corrupt process straight from the D.C. swamp.
    -Heritage, which is an extreme Right organization, just released a new proposal to end protections for people with pre-existing conditions and gut Medicaid for seniors, people with disabilities, and children.
    -They recently hosted a press conference for Republican attorneys general who are trying to eliminate those protections through the courts. In Pennsylvania, there are more than 5.3 million people (including 643,000 children) who have pre-existing conditions.
    -Heritage has also called labor unions – who helped build the middle class – “cartels.”

  35. 35.

    Adam L Silverman

    July 18, 2018 at 12:14 am

    @Peale: Wouldn’t surprise me.

  36. 36.

    sukabi

    July 18, 2018 at 12:15 am

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: click on over and read the thread…whole bunch of “interesting” walkaway bots, and “Hitler was a socialist” nonsense.

  37. 37.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    July 18, 2018 at 12:16 am

    @Kay: I genuinely believe their ideal justice system bars everyone except wealthy people, business interests and Right wing lobbying orgs.

    whether it’s atheistic Randian nuttiness or the prosperity gospel gone wild, the tie that binds the right– the powerful ones who dupe the rubes into voting for them– is the belief that the rich are rich because they deserve to be rich, and the poor are poor for the same reason.

  38. 38.

    sukabi

    July 18, 2018 at 12:19 am

    @tobie: when it’s all said and done it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if FB directly sold our info to several Russian entities.

  39. 39.

    tobie

    July 18, 2018 at 12:20 am

    @Yarrow: I think we’ve all been saying this but it wasn’t yet shown whether or how Russia accessed the data set. And I believe there was some discussion of how much infrastructure and expertise you would need to do the kind of data mining, analysis and micro-targeted messaging that Cambridge Analytica claimed to do. I always thought it was a bit fishy that the Director of Research for the firm didn’t have a college degree, and I don’t buy Brad Parscale’s autodidact shtick either. Some of these folks may be super-bright but analyzing and manipulating big data requires both big machines and big teams.

  40. 40.

    sukabi

    July 18, 2018 at 12:21 am

    @Adam L Silverman: he learned his English from Ivana and then Melania…so yeah.

  41. 41.

    tobie

    July 18, 2018 at 12:22 am

    @sukabi: Me neither.

  42. 42.

    eemom

    July 18, 2018 at 12:22 am

    The elitism at Yale is really sickening. Somehow it took me 34 years after graduation to realize just how sickening, but I always have been a late bloomer.

  43. 43.

    frosty

    July 18, 2018 at 12:27 am

    @Kay:

    Volunteer as a poll worker. It’s a lot less mysterious than it may appear. Think of it as a state recording process, because that’s what it is. Paper ballots as backup were always a good idea and they’re still a good idea. Those you want.

    We have shitty Sequoia machines here in my part of South PA, with no paper trail. The Gov has ordered them all to be replaced by 2020, which is a good thing. As for your other suggestion, I’ve been a poll watcher for a few elections now, and it gives me a lot of confidence. The election judge and the poll workers are as fair and unbiased as you would want. Goku should try it. He’ll be the youngest person in the room. :-)

  44. 44.

    sukabi

    July 18, 2018 at 12:29 am

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: paper ballots counted by hand at the precinct level in public.

    Folks have been raising the alarm about electronic vote machines since they were pushed into wider use after 2000. They have been proven to be hackable numerous times. Additionally the machines are “proprietary” so the companies that sell them control the code and service and updates.

  45. 45.

    Millard Filmore

    July 18, 2018 at 12:33 am

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: The machines have a remote access program installed on them. I never use Microsoft (a whole nother set of security problems right there) so do not know if this program is on a default installation. Back when I HAD to use Microsoft this program had to be started manually in order to run, but no doubt a modified registry setting can crank it up at boot time.

    There is no proof yet that this program has been used to access these machines. And these machines are not the actual voting devices. They are used in some other critical role.

  46. 46.

    Peale

    July 18, 2018 at 12:35 am

    @Kay: yep. I would say we do need to investate whether voter rolls were tampered with. What we don’t have good statistics on is how many people were turned away. I’m not even certain we can find out how many provisional ballots were issued and counted and trends over time. In the end though, the bigger vote suppression are these very blantant but minor on the surface administrative burdens placed on voters to reregister again and again. Or to show up with paperwork. Or that make voter registration drives cumbersome

  47. 47.

    Amir Khalid

    July 18, 2018 at 12:39 am

    I think we could all do with more stories like this.

  48. 48.

    frosty

    July 18, 2018 at 12:39 am

    @Kay:

    They loathe us. We’re not in the carpool.

    Just wanted to say I look forward to your comments, Kay. You have a good perspective and a great voice (see blockquote above).

  49. 49.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    July 18, 2018 at 12:42 am

    part of the idea trump called very interesting that came up in their private meeting

    Michael McFaul @ McFaul
    -TASS– an official agency of the Russian government– has stated that the Russian authorities are seeking to arrest several US government officials in connection with alleged Browder money laundering scheme to help Clinton campaign. Sorry, but that is a very serious accusation.
    -Absolutely crazy: “The Russian agency’s official spokesman, Alexander Kurennoi, told the news agency Interfax on Tuesday that McFaul is one of the Americans suspected of involvement in Browder’s illegal activities.”
    Russian officials want to question former Ambassador Michael McFaul and other U.S. officials in their investigation of Bill Browder —
    -I am not an “associate” of Bill Browder. I am the former US ambassador to Russia. Putin is seeking to arrest a former Ambassador. Please understand how outrageous this act is, discussed no less between our two presidents

  50. 50.

    frosty

    July 18, 2018 at 12:44 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Holy Cow!! I kinda thought Casey was a squishy moderate “name’s the same” candidate when he ran for the first time. Really happy to see the positions he’s taken in the last few years.

  51. 51.

    Yarrow

    July 18, 2018 at 12:50 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Well, that’s scary.

  52. 52.

    Aleta

    July 18, 2018 at 12:50 am

    @Peale: Did you see this?

    Wisconsin Elections has a graphic that lists acceptable forms of ID. “College ID with proof of enrollment” is listed as one .
    But VoteRiders says that isn’t true for most Wisconsin colleges’ IDs.

    VoteRiders @VoteRiders
    VoteRiders Retweeted Wisconsin Elections
    NOTE: Most regular WI college student IDs including University of Wisconsin-Madison are *not* valid for voting. Students should check with their enrollment office to get a special ID for voting that includes a date of issuance, signature and 2-year validity period.

    Wisconsin Elections @WI_Elections
    Your photo ID doesn’t need your current address. What ID will you use for the August Partisan Primary?
    www dot bringit dot wi.gov 

    (The misleading graphic is here.)

  53. 53.

    frosty

    July 18, 2018 at 12:51 am

    @Peale:

    the bigger vote suppression are these very blantant but minor on the surface administrative burdens placed on voters to reregister again and again. Or to show up with paperwork. Or that make voter registration drives cumbersome

    Or to deliberately use fewer machines in Democratic precincts, thus creating lines that take so long that working people can’t stay to vote.

  54. 54.

    trollhattan

    July 18, 2018 at 12:51 am

    @Amir Khalid:
    Wow, gobsmacked, and in the South to boot. Many thanks.

  55. 55.

    piratedan

    July 18, 2018 at 12:54 am

    seeing that Sasse tweet brings me back to Merrick Garland, and how McConnell essentially blacklisted every damn judicial appointment he could of Obama’s and the principled Ben Sasse voted along party lines every single fucking time. I think he can sit back and take a long pull of stfu. The left didn’t invent partisan politics of the last two decades but the GOP sure as shit perfected it and the fact that these asshats are starting to come to the realization that it might just be possible to change the game that they’ve rigged, they’re prematurely squawking already.

    I really don’t mind that they express themselves about disagreeing with liberal or even centrist policies, but it would be a welcome change if they weren’t such enormous hypocritical bastards about everything. One might be able to take them seriously once more……. nah… they ain’t changing their stripes….

  56. 56.

    Jay

    July 18, 2018 at 12:59 am

    @tobie:

    Nope, Cambridge IQ got all the algorythms they needed, from Cambridge U. The “white” stuff from the Brits, the “black stuff” from Dr. Spectre’s work with the Russians.

    To start from scratch would have required a brain trust and massive computing power, but they didn’t start from scratch.

    Through Dr. Spectre, they got stolen Cambridge U. datasets and FB profiles, “white” algorythms, “black” algorthyms,

    Through Mercer, they got access to a network that not only was one of the first to start algorythmic trading, but also one that made billions, lasted and grew,

    Through the Book of Faces, they got to leverage a couple hundred thousand profiles into several million,

    Through the Russian RT, Spudnik, Repthus, Macedonian and other clickbaits, plus the MSM, they got 1,000 pieces of targettable free agitprop every day, plus and army of trolls and bots to amplify it and add new targets,

    Through the Rethugs, the NRA, the Russian FSO and GRU, they got constant impact monitoring and precise targetting info for their “fake news” ratfucking.

  57. 57.

    sukabi

    July 18, 2018 at 1:00 am

    @Platonailedit: it could be that they’ve suddenly become aware of the conditions the kids are being held in.

  58. 58.

    Mary G

    July 18, 2018 at 1:04 am

    Honestly, the Onion has just taken over the Republican Party:

    An Arizona Senate candidate says he's pro-gun because he once fended off a gunman with a gun kept under his bed. Turns out the "attacker" was his mom, and he shot her dead; he was charged with murdering her and his sister, but not convicted. https://t.co/JizGxZaNaE— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) July 17, 2018

  59. 59.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 18, 2018 at 1:06 am

    I have returned from my visit to the capital of the land of fruits and nuts. I had a great time, took lots of photos, got a free feel up from the TSA(twice), and had a great lunch with some great jackals.

  60. 60.

    Aleta

    July 18, 2018 at 1:11 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Lying about Browder money laundering to help HRC’s campaign. Lying that others worked with him. Lying that MvFaul also worked with Browder so is subject to questioning or arrest.

    Putin’s pretend “equivalence” in response the DOJ’s action to indict 12 Russians, when he already wants to destroy Browder and threaten McFaul. Like you say, Putin prob. made this demand to Trump already, in their private meeting. McFaul is demanding that Trump and Huntsman push back and say absolutely not. Sadistic bullies are in power.

  61. 61.

    Chetan Murthy

    July 18, 2018 at 1:12 am

    @Mary G: It’s, uh, stomach-churning to read the rest of the article about this …. moral imbecile. But instructive, I guess. TL;DR I think he killed his family and got away with it. Yeah, it’s that bad.

  62. 62.

    Chetan Murthy

    July 18, 2018 at 1:14 am

    @Aleta: Right. It’s only what we expect from Putin — he’s an evil man, and we can’t expect decency from him. [we have to remind others of this basic fact, though] But Shitlord? Huntsman [especially] ? Yeah, they need to push back and vigorously. Not like Putinfluffer will, but at least, Huntsman needs to resign (as his brother’s paper editorialized).

  63. 63.

    Aleta

    July 18, 2018 at 1:17 am

    @Mary G: I do believe the gun nuts view the deaths in these stories as collateral damage, unfortunate but not as important as their fight for “freedom.”

  64. 64.

    Aleta

    July 18, 2018 at 1:30 am

    @Chetan Murthy: I’ve long believed that the “perfect crime” may be easier than we acknowledge. Seems like every year in the northeast, there’s at least one accidental shooting by someone who went hunting with his father-in-law, brother, friend, business partner. Who knows. These days prosecutors spend a little more time looking at it than they used to, but lately the NRA also quickly jumps in to influence public opinion.

  65. 65.

    Platonailedit

    July 18, 2018 at 1:33 am

    @Mary G:

    Jeebus, and this murderer is running as a rethug candidate? WTF was the loacl gop thinking?

  66. 66.

    Chetan Murthy

    July 18, 2018 at 1:33 am

    @Aleta: I fear this one’s simpler. The prosecutors dropped the ball really badly, and this guy was an excellent manipulator (post-crime). And now he’s continuing to manipulate, using his own crime to buff his credentials as a RWNJ.

  67. 67.

    Elizabelle

    July 18, 2018 at 1:37 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Great to hear! Look forward to your pics. Action-packed trip.

  68. 68.

    Chetan Murthy

    July 18, 2018 at 1:45 am

    @Platonailedit:

    WTF was the loacl gop thinking?

    Uh … “He’s quick-thinking” … “He’s an excellent bullshitter!” …. “Just the sort of man we need to go on FOX News segments!”

    Seriously, I don’t think, given that he skated, and is white, that they give a damn. Why would they?

  69. 69.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 18, 2018 at 1:51 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    When do we get to see the photographic proof?

  70. 70.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 18, 2018 at 1:57 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: After I can get some sleep. I only got 3 1/2 hours last night and it was a loooong day with lots of walking in the SacTown heat.

    ETA: I also got some pics of the CHMP(California Hightway Mounted Police) (aka, CHP officers on horses).

  71. 71.

    jl

    July 18, 2018 at 2:10 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Hope your trip to God’s Country is going well. I look forward to the pix.
    Except, Sacramento is never hot. There is always a refreshing delta breeze.

  72. 72.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 18, 2018 at 2:20 am

    @jl: My trip is over and I’ve returned to God’s home in the Southland. Your comment about the delta breeze…try walking from the Capitol to the river and back.

    ETA: Hope you enjoyed the “water” I brought back.

  73. 73.

    Jay

    July 18, 2018 at 2:21 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Ponch and horsie?

  74. 74.

    Elizabelle

    July 18, 2018 at 2:23 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Yeah. I remember that. Driving up from Long Beach, which is temperate, for a jazz festival in Sacramento. And I love to walk and be outside, but it was so hot and humid. The American River was so beautiful, but wouldn’t be out there until the sun was on its way down. Sacramento is its own type of hot.

    Long Beach had a marine temperature, with fog (ETA: more accurately, heavy cloud cover; June gloom, etc.) and breeze. Drive half an hour inland, and it was a different story.

    I miss Long Beach. Would love to move back.

  75. 75.

    jl

    July 18, 2018 at 2:26 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Glad you trip went well. And, yes, I’ve done that walk many times. Great walk.
    Thanks for the water. We have the most advanced industrial economy in Northern California, and your generous donation (aka very small gesture in return for all the water you people steal from us every year) will be appropriately processed before it gets to me.

    thanks in advance for the soon to come pix.

  76. 76.

    Mike G

    July 18, 2018 at 2:29 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    CHMP(California Highway Mounted Police)

    CHiMPs?

  77. 77.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 18, 2018 at 2:39 am

    @Mike G: I ain’t touching that. There were also some CHiPie’s on bicycle as well.

    @jl:

    And, yes, I’ve done that walk many times. Great walk.

    They had a high of 99°F.

  78. 78.

    Platonailedit

    July 18, 2018 at 2:51 am

    The father of three Australian children killed when a Malaysia Airlines jet was shot down has delivered a scathing attack on Donald Trump over his attitude to Russia.

    Anthony Maslin’s children were among 298 people who died when flight MH17 was downed over Ukraine in 2014.

    Investigators found that Russia was responsible for the missile used in the strike – a conclusion denied by Moscow.

    Mr Maslin has taken aim at the US president over Russia’s “lie”.

    “That passenger flight MH17 was shot out of the sky and 298 innocent people were murdered is an irrefutable fact,” he wrote alongside a photo of his children Mo, Evie and Otis.

    “That the plane was hit by a Russian missile has been proven to be an irrefutable fact.

    “That this killed our 3 beautiful children and their grandfather, and destroyed our life and many other lives in the process, is an irrefutable fact.”

    He added: “That the man whose arse you’ve just been kissing did this, and continues to lie about it, is an irrefutable fact.”

  79. 79.

    jl

    July 18, 2018 at 2:56 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: ” They had a high of 99°F.”

    I thought you said it was hot. 99? We talking 99? Hot?

    Glad you survived the grueling journey into the Central Valley helllscape.

  80. 80.

    frosty

    July 18, 2018 at 2:56 am

    @Elizabelle: Lived in Belmont Shores and Huntington Beach among other places in SoCal. I agree on the mornings, but it was definitely fog. After awhile it got old and I moved back to the foothills.

    Fog story: commuting on the Long Beach Freeway, visibility was fine looking forward but you could barely see the buildings to the side. Traffic drilled a tunnel through the fog.

  81. 81.

    Platonailedit

    July 18, 2018 at 3:14 am

    The petty games these nutjobs play.

    “When he shakes hands, Donald Trump normally extends an open palm to trick his opponent into believing he is open for contact. Then he drags his opponent’s hand towards him to put them off balance.

    “But in Helsinki he shook Putin’s hand quite normally, without any cunning moves. It reflects the results of the meeting and what has happened over the last year: Trump has failed to dominate Putin.”

  82. 82.

    J R in WV

    July 18, 2018 at 3:37 am

    @Mary G:

    An Arizona Senate candidate says he’s pro-gun because he once fended off a gunman with a gun kept under his bed….. https://t.co/JizGxZaNaE— Nicholas Kristof (@NickKristof) July 17, 2018

    Holy cow — when you link to the story and read it you learn that he became an orphan, too!! Because he shot his mother dead!!! Now, really, he didn’t claim that, and the fatality of his mother was in Nick Kristol’s post. But the Repug could post it like that, and will as soon as he thinks of it.

  83. 83.

    Elizabelle

    July 18, 2018 at 3:42 am

    @frosty: Belmont Shore! Belmont Brewing Company. I used to bike along the waterfront to the Queen Mary every other morning or so. Magical place. Loved HB too. Would bike to Newport Beach and back.

  84. 84.

    Amir Khalid

    July 18, 2018 at 3:44 am

    @Platonailedit:
    Trump is too afraid of Putin to play the usual petty dominance games with him. POTUS, being an adult, has no business playing petty dominance games with anyone. POTUS, being a national leader, also has no business being afraid of another national leader for any reason.

  85. 85.

    Platonailedit

    July 18, 2018 at 3:49 am

    How dare you mock me. Asshole.

    Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk has apologised to a British cave diver he called a “pedo guy” in a row over the cave rescue in Thailand.

    He said he had “spoken in anger” after Vern Unsworth ridiculed a mini-submarine he had commissioned for the rescue effort as a “PR stunt”.

    Mr Unsworth told reporters on Monday he was considering legal action.

    “His actions against me do not justify my actions against him, and for that I apologise,” Mr Musk said.

  86. 86.

    Amir Khalid

    July 18, 2018 at 4:25 am

    @Platonailedit:
    “His actions against me” ? All Unsworth did was describe, accurately, Elon’s attention-seeking in front of people who had urgent work to do.

  87. 87.

    sukabi

    July 18, 2018 at 5:19 am

    @J R in WV: from the original articles on the guy…he got away with a double murder, that he confessed to at the time.

    The story he’s telling now has zero relationship to reports of what happened at the time.

  88. 88.

    Anne Laurie

    July 18, 2018 at 5:21 am

    @Chetan Murthy:

    TL;DR I think he killed his family and got away with it.

    “Yeah, but it was just a couple women (his aging hillbilly mother and his teenage sister) so it’s not like anyone important was lost to the world.”

    Kind of a miracle nobody’s checked out the crawlspaces in all those places dude’s wandered through over the last few decades…

  89. 89.

    Central Planning

    July 18, 2018 at 5:51 am

    @Kay: before I was registered as a Democrat, I asked if I could be a poll worker. Here in NY you have to be a registered D or R to work the polls. I’m 48 now and would probably be the youngest of the people there

  90. 90.

    Platonailedit

    July 18, 2018 at 5:58 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    If he had just stopped with shipping his ridiculous ‘rocket boat’ and not waded in (literally) inside the cave, probably not many would have seen it as showboating. Then the asshole had to open his foul mouth. Asshole.

  91. 91.

    Aimai

    July 18, 2018 at 6:41 am

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: should be a redlist. Republicans are russians now.

  92. 92.

    Thoughtful David

    July 18, 2018 at 8:06 am

    @Kay:
    The report I saw was about “elections management” software. This is not stuff that runs on voting machines. A lot of what elections management software does doesn’t have anything to do with actual votes. Where it does, it’s mainly to do with reporting totals. In large cities with hundreds of precincts and maybe 10 races in each one, in various combinations, just reporting who won the precincts is a big job (100×10=1000 entries). Elections management software is supposed to help with that (as part of what it does).
    But any messing with the numbers being reported at this point would likely be caught. There are enough checks and balances and paper trails that it will likely be noticed.
    Keep in mind that election night results are unofficial, anyway.
    So, this report about the elections management software is not good thing, but it’s not the end.

  93. 93.

    Thoughtful David

    July 18, 2018 at 8:27 am

    @sukabi:
    Paper ballots counted by hand isn’t the solution either. In a large precinct, say 4000 voters and a ballot with 10 races plus a handful of ballot issues, it would take a counting team of 8 people days or weeks of counting, recounting, re-recounting etc. to come up with the same numbers twice. Humans are fallible too. There are a lot of studies showing that paper ballot scanners are way more accurate, not to mention faster.
    What we do need though are post-election audits of paper ballots, where a sample of votes is recounted. If the audit indicates some chance of an incorrect result being reported, say 1 in 20, there should be an automatic full recount. Demand your state take this up.
    Note that I’m assuming all paper ballots. Voting machines without paper ballots are a fucking bad idea.

  94. 94.

    jayjaybear

    July 18, 2018 at 1:58 pm

    Sasse is an ass. Like most of the “principled Republicans”, he’s willing to say disapproving things about Trump but unwilling to actually vote against him on legislation.

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