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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Summit 2: The Putinining

Summit 2: The Putinining

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Trump is so pleased with the outcome of the last summit that he’s asking Putin to join him in DC for another:

Assuming the White House doesn’t issue a correction stating that Trump asked Bolton to NOT invite Putin to hole up in the Emoluments Suite of the Trump International Hotel Washington, DC, we Americans will have an opportunity to stage a massive protest to express our displeasure with the foreign autocrat who conspired to install a buffoon in the Oval Office.

The UK activists behind the Trump Baby blimp from the London protests (was that really just last week?!?) have given permission for Americans to make a fleet of the blimps to follow Trump around the US. They’d be ideal for the DC protest. Maybe someone can design a Putin blimp too. Hey, it beats giant puppet heads.

Anyhoo, one wonders what the fuck Trump is thinking. Breaking news reports say the second summit is planned for this fall. Maybe Trump thinks another summit will dissipate the stench from the Helsinki Humiliation before the midterm elections? Maybe it was Putin’s suggestion?

I have no idea. But if the Beltway isn’t a gigantic sea of angry humanity during Putin’s visit, I’ll be disappointed in us.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

228Comments

  2. 2.

    germy

    Isn’t this obstruction of justice?

    Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee have gotten extremely petty in their attempts to stonewall Democrats who are trying to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. After all, those Republicans, led by committee chairman Representative Devin Nunes, ended the House Intel Russia probe in April and cleared the White House of any wrongdoing. But Democrats pledged to continue interviewing witnesses, and now the GOP is making that increasingly difficult.

    Democrats tell CNN that they aren’t allowed into conference rooms to conduct interviews, they’ve been denied funds to pay for witness travel to Washington, D.C., and Nunes is even preventing them from using the House’s transcription services, which costs the committee nothing. As a result, they’ve been left to conduct interviews in the office of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, as they did Wednesday with George Papadopoulos’s wife Simona, who had to pay her own way to D.C.

    Along with these small annoyances, Republicans on the committee are making one big thing difficult: Nunes is blocking Democrats from sharing what they’ve learned in witness interviews with Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, tells CNN that some of the witnesses interviewed by House may have lied and he wants to tell Mueller all about it, but he can’t do so without Nunes’s help.

  3. 3.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I’m sure the video will be all over twitter before I hit post

    Shane Harris @ shaneharris
    Mitchell just broke the news on stage to Coats that, per WH, Putin is coming to Washington. “Say that again?” Coats asked. Audience erupts in laughter. He took a breath. “Ok. That’s gonna be special.”
    1:26 PM – 19 Jul 2018

    Noah Rothmans NoahCRothman
    Dan Coats is the first administration official to conduct an exit interview before resigning.

    We’ll see. Should be. I wouldn’t bet on it.

    ETA: Mad props, Betty, for “Emoluments Suite”

  5. 5.

    Yarrow

    (was that really just last week?!?)

    Everything’s sped up so much this week that I find myself saying, “Was that really just yesterday?” a lot.

    From the article linked about the Trump baby balloons, there’s a GoFundMe to make it happen! Edit: Aww…looks like they’ve stopped donations. For a good reason–they were overrun with them.

  6. 6.

    PaulWartenberg

    just to note, to the protest groups for DC you BETTER get the paperwork in toot-sweet before trump and the GOP try to block ANY protests for that visit.

  8. 8.

    Elizabelle

    I was waiting for my favorite visual to re-appear. Thanks Betty! I think we will get a lot of use out of that photo. Crazy brilliant mashup.

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I have got to see video of that.

    You cannot make this shit up. You just can’t.

  9. 9.

    Teddys Person

    Via Trump Tweet seen at LGF:

    Still obsessing over Hillary Clinton, our so-called president tried to divert attention from his treasonous behavior in Helsinki by posting a video clip of Hillary talking about the desirability of good relations with Russia.

    The video clip was recorded two years before Vladimir Putin became the leader of Russia.

    In a just world, Trump would have a job scrapping gum off the underside of table at TGIF.

  11. 11.

    trollhattan

    Find myself wondering how much belligerent neocon terror/cold-warrior Bolton likes his new role of Putin and all-things-Russia embraser. Does he give pause at all, or is he an all-in Trumpist now? It’s not as though he could sink any lower on my estimation of him as a human being, just surprised at how malleable his purported belief system is proving. Does he now hate all other nations but Russia instead of simply all other nations?

  12. 12.

    Joyce Harmon

    I’m going to need a couple weeks advance notice. I didn’t grow tomatoes this year, so I need some time to buy some from the store – and let them rot.

  13. 13.

    Yarrow

    @PaulWartenberg: Wouldn’t be surprised if the visit time is coordinated with Republican groups who submit paperwork first before it’s announced so people can’t protest.

  14. 14.

    Arclite

    Trump gotta make sure he’s doing enough to keep Vlad from releasing the pee tape. Gotta check in a couple times a year.

  15. 15.

    PaulWartenberg

    trump isn’t even listening to the horrified feedback about that Hellsinking trip he just pulled.

    the worst case possible scenarios of having Putin anywhere NEAR the White House just piles up.

    is this invite going to happen in OCTOBER?! does trump really believe he’s going to win back all the independent voters he’s been losing for the GOP since 2017? does he really think the voter suppression efforts by his Republican buddies are going to stop ALL of us from rushing to the ballot boxes in November and voting this complicit criminal GOP OUT OF POWER?

  17. 17.

    Elizabelle

    Betty: do you have a link for the Trumpenburg illustration? I so want to share it on my FB page.

  19. 19.

    agorabum

    Good, I’m glad he invited Putin and I hope Putin comes. The more he rubs his obsequiousness to a murdering dictator in the face of the American people, the more people get outraged. Even some Republicans had their stomachs turned by the last performance.

    We already know he’s either the biggest useful idiot in history or a traitor, so all such a visit will do is serve as a reminder of that fact on video.

  21. 21.

    NotMax

    OT.

    Betty, IIRC you once mentioned you were a fan of Nordic noir. Dunno if you saw the mention of a series on Netflix which might be up your alley.

  22. 22.

    dmsilev

    The thought of the GO leadership collectively hyperventilating as they consider a Trump Putin summit a couple of weeks before the midterms brings some joy to my afternoon.

  23. 23.

    Joyce Harmon

    Putin’s too smart to come to the US. He knows darn well he wouldn’t be safe. And permits or no permits, the protests over a Putin visit would be ENORMOUS. And probably violent. People are ANGRY.

  24. 24.

    JWL

    Trump is playing his last cards. This invitation to Putin is in fact a test to see which congressional republicans he can extort to blindly support him while the extorting is good, i.e., before November’s’s elections. It’s all good news for him on that front, of course. But it’s also a huge “fuck you, Barack Obama, Bill Cinton, and Jimmy Carter”, a taunting gauntlet thrown at the feet of all three former democratic presidents, a demand to keep their fucking mouths shut about what they’ve undoubtedly deduced about his blatant treason. Sooner or later, they’ll have to call his bluff, too. Or so I still trust.

  28. 28.

    Roger Moore

    Wouldn’t it normally be the Secretary of State who would arrange a visit from a foreign head of state, rather than the National Security Advisor? This just seems incredibly irregular.

  30. 30.

    Mai Naem mobile

    Forget mcfaul I’d like to just hand over Trumpov. Let Putin interrogate him. Trumpov looked like was shitting his pants on Monday standing next to him during the press conference.

  31. 31.

    Brachiator

    Can we petition to include the Trump Baby blimp in the president’s upcoming parade?

    ETA: Also, we gotta have it for the next Pasadena California Doo Dah Parade.

  32. 32.

    NotMax

    Maybe Dolt 45 will try to get him to tag along to one of those rallies, so we can witness yuuge crowds of ‘Murkins cheering the president of Russia. //

  34. 34.

    HinTN

    @PaulWartenberg: It makes Cole money. It just started appearing on my android and I’m already inured to just making it go away (and half the time I fatfinger it to launch, which I assume earns even more for our host).

  35. 35.

    Teddys Person

    Just can’t keep up with responses to Trump’s clusterfuck

    A Microsoft executive today swiftly contradicted Donald Trump’s claim that Russia is not trying to disrupt the 2018 midterms: The company has already worked with the US government to foil Russian hacking attempts on three candidates.

    While refusing to disclose their names for privacy reasons, Tom Burt, Microsoft’s vice president for customer security, told the Aspen Security Forum that the three candidates “were all people who, because of their positions, might have been interesting targets from an espionage standpoint, as well as an election disruption standpoint.”

    source

  38. 38.

    Elizabelle

    @Cheryl Rofer: It’s all a big joke to them.

    Also, it’s an invite. Not a done deal.

    Got to say, Andrea Mitchell looks rather fetching in that dress.

  40. 40.

    hells littlest angel

    Highlight of the fall summit will be when Trump shows of the new tattoo on the small of his back: “VLAD’S”

    … one wonders what the fuck Trump is thinking.

    Yeah, for a few seconds. Then one remembers one values one’s sanity.

  41. 41.

    germy

    @Brachiator: The trumpbaby balloon is such a fine work of art. So much loving detail. The cell phone in one hand, the unpleasant mouth sneer, the little nipples, the belly…

    If it appears in this country I wonder if some MAGAHat will take a potshot at it. Might be alarming to see it flying around backwards before crash landing. But this is what we’ve been watching the actual POTUS do.

  44. 44.

    dmsilev

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Isn’t that supposed to be in November, on Veteran’s Day? I assume by then Trump will have had his daughter design him a special military uniform patterned after all the best Third World dictators. Lots of gold medals.

  50. 50.

    eric

    @Elizabelle: but, if you invite him and he does not come, then you are his bitch. if he does come, then motivate those dem voters.
    ha, well played donald.

  51. 51.

    NotMax

    @dmsilev

    Ivanka: “I want something like what Elvis wore in Vegas. Only gold, and with more glitz. Daddykins will be so proud.”

  53. 53.

    different-church-lady

    @Teddys Person: The part that gets confusing is when he says, “See, I’m acting no differently than this person I’ve been calling horrible and crooked for years!” and somehow thinks that’s a win.

  54. 54.

    jl

    Everyone needs their personal Trump baby blimp. About the size of a backpack (I think you’re supposed to say ‘breadbox’, but I’m too young to remember ever seeing one). Then everyone can drag it around behind them as they tool about town, or across the river and over the hills, for the rural BJ commenters.

    Each one would need some helium. So maybe could make it part of an official Trump program, tie it into infrastructure week, and help with the Trump industrial renaissance.

    Edit: don’t need much helium, since as I think on it, perfectly fine and fitting for them to slowly deflate, and eventually we all just drag them around on the ground behind us.
    But a critical mass of them do need to be inflated enough to half-way float during important events and visits by foreign dignitaries.

  56. 56.

    different-church-lady

    @jl:

    Everyone needs their personal Trump baby blimp.

    Pussy hats are so last year.

  58. 58.

    Leto

    @PaulWartenberg: I continually ask for this. It makes the mobile experience horrid, and dog help you if you’re on a computer that does have an adblock installed.

  59. 59.

    Teddys Person

    Maybe Mark will get some private time with Putin this fall.

    In the days following Donald Trump’s election victory over Hillary Clinton, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg placed a secret, previously unreported call to the president-elect during which, sources told BuzzFeed News, he congratulated the Trump team on its victory and successful campaign, which spent millions of dollars on advertising with Facebook.

    The private call between Zuckerberg and Trump, which was confirmed by three people familiar with the conversation, is just one in a series of private endorsements from Facebook employees of the Trump campaign’s ad efforts on the platform. The company declined to comment on the call. The White House press office did not respond to a request for comment.

    source

  60. 60.

    Marcopolo

    Well, if Putin did come to the US it would be convenient for Mueller. He could whip out that sealed indictment a few minutes after Putyput gets off the plane…

  62. 62.

    jl

    @different-church-lady: Could combine them. A pussy hat and a slowly sinking half-deflated Trump baby blimp probably could be interpreted to mean something or other. I’ll have to think on it some more.

  63. 63.

    Brachiator

    @JWL:

    Trump is playing his last cards. This invitation to Putin is in fact a test to see which congressional republicans he can extort to blindly support him while the extorting is good, i.e., before November’s’s elections. It’s all good news for him on that front, of course. But it’s also a huge “fuck you, Barack Obama, Bill Cinton, and Jimmy Carter”, a taunting gauntlet thrown at the feet of all three former democratic presidents, a demand to keep their fucking mouths shut about what they’ve undoubtedly deduced about his blatant treason.

    Trump is saying “Fuck you to America, and the democracy you rode in one.” No living president, Republican or Democrat, is happy with Trump. And almost all the dead presidents are rolling in their graves like a motherfucker.

    Even the ghost of Benedict Arnold is going, “Damn, Trump, that’s some treasonous shit you’re pulling.”

  67. 67.

    NotMax

    @jl

    Appreciate that the designers went with a cellphone gripped in the hand as opposed to something genitalic.

  68. 68.

    Elizabelle

    @Teddys Person: I think I would attach a little Turtle McConnell at a strategic point on the diaper. Or stick its nose up the rear end.

    “Any crappy Orange yarn.” Ayup.

  69. 69.

    Brachiator

    US President Trump has asked National Security Adviser Bolton to invite Russian President Putin to Washington DC in the fall, per White House spokesperson

    And Bolton didn’t resign immediately?

  71. 71.

    jl

    @Teddys Person: I remember reading that some of the Comstock Lode Silver Kings, the guys who found the silver and founded the Virginia Mining Company, turned out to be idiots. Fabulously wealthy idiots, but idiots all the same. Not sure what brought that to mind right now.

    One of them was saved by his wife, who was smart, and ran everything and made the decisions. Not sure what brought that to my mind right now either.
    I need refresh my memory on the Silver Kings.

  72. 72.

    Frankensteinbeck

    Anyhoo, one wonders what the fuck Trump is thinking.

    Visiting his buddy Putin was so great. Putin has reporters he doesn’t like executed, and does all kinds of great things for Trump. He got to have a private talk and go on stage with the toughest guy ever! And they’re friends, right Vlad? How dare those jerks on TV say that he shouldn’t be friends with Vlad. He’s going to invite his best buddy Vlad over for a sleepover!

    I’m baby-talking it up a bit, but that’s the sentiment.

    @different-church-lady:
    Trump was already an asshat.

  75. 75.

    TenguPhule

    Is it too early to speculate that Trump has invited Putin to allow Russia to help provide security for November?

  77. 77.

    Roger Moore

    @Arclite:

    What are the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Trump needs to hit to get a passing grade?

    1) Ending sanctions
    2) Ending sanctions
    3) Ending sanctions

    Withdrawing from NATO would help, but ending sanctions is really where the action is.

  80. 80.

    jl

    @Cheryl Rofer: Repeat of my request from previous thread:

    @PressSec
    In Helsinki, @POTUS agreed to ongoing working level dialogue between the two security council staffs. President Trump asked @Ambjohnbolton to invite President Putin to Washington in the fall and those discussions are already underway.
    twitter.com/PressSec/status/1020033303351619584

    What exactly does ‘ongoing working level dialogue between the two security council staffs’ mean? Don’t we do that already to try to keep WWIII at bay if somebody is hungover and slumps over onto some missile attack alert panel?

  84. 84.

    jl

    @NotMax: There are work arounds. If everyone has one of their owns, someone will get the signifiers just right. You can bet on it.

  85. 85.

    Teddys Person

    More Facebook bullshit

    In addition to interviews with Trump campaign staffers and former Facebook employees, BuzzFeed News obtained company presentations and memos that show the social media giant viewed Trump’s campaign as an “innovator” of a fast-moving, test-oriented approach to marketing on Facebook.

    These memos and presentations indicate Facebook took the methods it learned from the Trump campaign to further refine a marketing model called “Test, Learn, Adapt” (TLA), which it currently uses to assess its own advertising.

    source

  88. 88.

    jl

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: We have an advanced industrial economy up here in Northern California. We hail our bread and avocado toasts with smart phones.

    Could you post a pic of one of those ‘breadboxes’ you quaint people use down there in SoCal?

  89. 89.

    TriassicSands

    Oh, the inhumanity!!!

    Trump is the synthesis of Fat Man and Little Boy — Fat Boy. Unlike Fat Man and Little Boy, Fat Boy is a dud.

  90. 90.

    TenguPhule

    @PaulWartenberg:

    does he really think the voter suppression efforts by his Republican buddies are going to stop ALL of us from rushing to the ballot boxes in November and voting this complicit criminal GOP OUT OF POWER?

    Yes, yes he does.

    And it doesn’t matter if its just by a single seat, they are bound and determined not to submit to a Democratic majority. Come what may.

  91. 91.

    The Midnight Lurker

    @Roger Moore: This is key. Putin has to get the sanctions lifted before the midterms. He’s got to get his gangster buddies money moving or they’re going to get bored with him. And Putin just ain’t as popular with the folks back home as we are led to believe.
    Know this — they are going to pull out ALL the stops before November. Trump and the GOP will DO ANYTHING to remain in power. They have to. Their very lives depend on it. Anything is possible.

  92. 92.

    TenguPhule

    @Brachiator:

    And Bolton didn’t resign immediately?

    Bolton only wants to go to war with countries not able to have him killed slowly and painfully.

  93. 93.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @jl: I don’t have first-person information on this, but from what I see, only the Defense Department and the Russian MInistry of Defense are in continuing communication. State, NSC, and I do know that scientific interactions have been seriously curtailed, not happening. Defense presumably is keeping track of the misadventures that might result in nuclear war.

    And I would guess that the telephone line between Trump and Putin is still operating, for a last resort.

  96. 96.

    TenguPhule

    @Calouste:

    Specially as there isn’t really any major topic to discuss.

    The final terms of surrender need to be dictated and signed.

  97. 97.

    NotMax

    @jl

    Spent nearly a full minute debating on whether to go with genitalic or vaginistic.

    Retirees got scads of free time, don’tcha know.

    :)

  98. 98.

    Thoughtful David

    @Yarrow: Wouldn’t be much of a protest if a little thing like lack of a permit stopped it. I’ll go get arrested. I hope we can have enough to block all the streets and saturate the paddy wagons.

  99. 99.

    TenguPhule

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    Defense presumably is keeping track of the misadventures that might result in nuclear war.

    Not as comforting as you may have intended that to sound.

  101. 101.

    jl

    @Cheryl Rofer: Thanks. Will be ‘interesting’ to see what this is about.

    Trump is proud of his prowess at setting up cheap real estate deals, so when Congress allocates money to put them up in a refurbished barn out by, say, I dunno, Bethel WV, he’ll probably go along.

  103. 103.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @jl: I don’t have a picture*, but my mother had a breadbox. We were testing rocket engines down here while y’all were tripping on acid up there.

    *You young punks wouldn’t know this, but pictures were expensive and shots were not to be wasted. You had to buy film and then have it developed. You never knew until you got the slides back if you got it right. That could take months.

  106. 106.

    KsSteve

    My money is the visit occurring on or about Nov 10 so Putin can be here for the Dumbass and Thief’s military parade. If so $12 million ain’t going to cut it. Any idea what it would cost to to put an aircraft carrier in the Lincoln Reflecting Pool?

  107. 107.

    Tenar Arha

    @trollhattan: Islamaphobia beats Russophobia bc of white supremacy rules probably have something to do with it. For Bolton, getting a war with Iran seems more important to him, but who knows.

  108. 108.

    Mike in NC

    If somebody markets a smaller version of the Baby Trump balloon, I’ll buy one just to display on the front lawn on national holidays.

  109. 109.

    NotMax

    @Cheryl Rofer

    (translated from the Russian) “Your call is very important to us. Estimated wait time is 88 minutes. Please stay on the line.” (State Anthem of the Russian Federation plays in background)

  111. 111.

    piratedan

    if we’re able to take our country back at the ballot box (hacking and voter suppression willing), my curiosity wonders if the Dem Boy club will allow Nancy Smash to go into full Righteousness mode on these GOP traitors and lock them up in those for profit prisons they love so much and seize all of their assets. They should be allowed to live and watch how the Dems diligently work to unfuck everything that they have done and codify all of the “norms” that we understood and lived by into the law of the land.

  112. 112.

    jl

    @Tenar Arha: For a guy like Bolton, sometimes you have to settle for the war you get, not the war want. Or maybe, all the wars you’ve wished for, is more accurate..

  117. 117.

    jl

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Thanks. Very pretty. Looks like that in regular non space alien light sometimes in Winter, after a heavy frost.

    And BTW, 99 degrees is not ‘hot’ for Central Valley. Just want to make sure you get that FYI.

  118. 118.

    WaterGirl

    @HinTN: There’s enough stress every minute of this presidency – we don’t need obnoxious ads on BJ. Cole should just ask us for money.

  119. 119.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @jl: It’s toasty, but I’ve been in the Central Valley when it’s been hotter. We used to travel though there on our way up north to God’s Country(aka the Pacific Northwest).

  120. 120.

    jl

    What this country needs, in time for the upcoming Putin visit, is a personal sized Trump-Putin balloon package. A Trump baby blimp on a leash, and a Putin evil genius blimp holding the leash.

    I could think of other configurations that might be easier to make and manage, but I’m just throwing the general concept out there for discussion.

    Edit: A Putin burping baby Trump blimp would be nice too. It would be civil, which is a very important point in its favor. Emphasizes the value of family.

  121. 121.

    joel hanes

    @Bnad: @Bnad:

    No US troops would ever fire on US voters

    Tin soldiers and Nixon’s coming
    We’re finally on our own
    This summer I hear the drumming
    Four dead in Ohio

  126. 126.

    jl

    @NotMax: Over a cute little pee stain?

    When will this be available in the BJ gear store? Should I start bugging Cole about with high importance all caps emails yet? It’s been at least 15 minutes and this joint advertises itself as a full service blog.

  127. 127.

    CaseyL

    @Bnad: You’re wrong. Look up “The Bonus March.”

    WWI vets marched on Washington in 1932 to demand the money they had been promised by the US government in 1924 for their military service. It was the Depression years, and many of them had nothing.

    Herbert Hoover called out the police, who shot a few of the veterans to death. Then Hoover called in an Army battalion, led by Douglas MacArthur. They attacked the surviving marchers, who fled.

  128. 128.

    Haroldo

    A@WaterGirl: As has been mentioned, use Adblock Plus (I’m presuming it’s safe) and send John money. That’s what I’ve been doing.

  130. 130.

    TriassicSands

    @KsSteve:

    Perhaps, master negotiator Trump can arrange for a joint Russian and US military parade. That would be a good start to the merging of our forces.

  133. 133.

    jl

    @Jay: I want all of these ideas up in the air for the benefit of the American people. Right now. Can we crowdfund this?

  137. 137.

    jl

    @John Revolta: ‘Would be nice to visit new US administrative unit. Should call it krais or oblast? I have see before decide. Not republic, that would put bad ideas in new subjects’ heads.’

  141. 141.

    TriassicSands

    @John Revolta:

    It’s a bad idea, which is always prima facie evidence pointing to Trump. That may not be the case here. It could be his handler’s idea.

  146. 146.

    hueyplong

    My love for that trump baby hindenburg shot is deeper than the ocean. It will sustain me for at least a day or two.

  149. 149.

    burnspbesq

    @Elizabelle:

    The Y chromosome says Andrea Mitchell has never ever loooked “fetching” at any time or under any circumstances.

  150. 150.

    Brachiator

    @CaseyL:

    Herbert Hoover called out the police, who shot a few of the veterans to death. Then Hoover called in an Army battalion, led by Douglas MacArthur. They attacked the surviving marchers, who fled.

    Two died in the initial march. One veteran was an immigrant from Lithuania. These men were killed by the police, not the army.

    Majors Eisenhower and Patton served under MacArthur during the government reaction to the first Bonus Army. Eisenhower disagreed with MacArthur’s actions, but followed orders.

    There was a second, smaller “Bonus Army” march in 1933. From the Wiki:

    Administration officials, led by presidential confidant Louis Howe, tried to negotiate an end to the protest. Roosevelt arranged for his wife, Eleanor, to visit the site unaccompanied. She lunched with the veterans and listened to them perform songs. She reminisced about her memories of seeing troops off to World War I and welcoming them home. The most that she could offer was a promise of positions in the newly created Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

    One veteran commented, “Hoover sent the army, Roosevelt sent his wife.” In a press conference following her visit, the First Lady described her reception as courteous and praised the marchers, highlighting how comfortable she felt despite critics of the marchers who described them as communists and criminals.

  152. 152.

    Tenar Arha

    @jl: I kinda think the fix was in all the way back when Russia started courting the right wing conservatives with their platform of “hey, at least we’re Christian, but still hate some of the groups you hate, like gay people, feminists, Islam, & anyone darker than buff paper.”

    I mean it’s as good an explanation as any for how we got this video John Bolton’s Curious Appearance In A Russian Gun Rights Video.

  154. 154.

    NotMax

    Whoops-ski. (WaPo link)

    The Russian military has apologized for failing to warn Armenian villagers they were holding war games in their midst.

    During the exercises, Russian forces opened fire Tuesday in a village called Panic…. Source

  156. 156.

    Elizabelle

    @burnspbesq: It’s a beautiful dress, you have to admit.

    And I was hoping you animal lovers would recognize “fetching” as a way to make you think “woof.” Bow wow. Wow.

  162. 162.

    TenguPhule

    @piratedan:

    They should be allowed to live

    objection. They might escape or be pardoned by people who have forgotten the severity of their crimes.

  163. 163.

    NotMax

    Wall Street Journal, so no link for full article.

    The Trump administration expects annual budget deficits to rise nearly $100 billion more than previously forecast in each of the next three years, pushing the federal deficit above $1 trillion starting next year.
    [snip]
    The White House budget office now estimates that the deficit will rise to nearly $1.1 trillion in the fiscal year that begins this October, or 5.1% of gross domestic product, up from $984 billion projected in February’s budget proposal.

  164. 164.

    Baud

    Vox

    The Russian Foreign Ministry just launched a Twitter campaign to free Maria Butina, a woman with ties to the National Rifle Association and prominent Republicans who has been accused of being a Russian spy.

  166. 166.

    hitchhiker

    Good effing god, but this is All So Weird.

    Sec Neilsen has not seen evidence that her boss saw before he was even inaugurated. She has not seen evidence that was in print in the NYT last night. WTF.

    Coats has not been told that our current cyber enemy has been invited to our damn white house for a state visit.

    Bill Clinton once spent 30 min alone with the AG, and it was a crisis beyond all measure in Republican-land … but Trump spends 5 times that long alone with our current cyber enemy, comes out to declare that he just can’t be sure what went on in 2016, and it’s strong leader all the way.

    Speaking of which, how many private meetings has Trump had with world leaders? With Putin, over and over and over. With Kim, once. Anybody else he needs privacy to talk with?

    I’ve so had it. If effing Vladimir really does touch wheels down in our country, we need a general strike. Protest marches won’t do it.

  168. 168.

    TenguPhule

    @NotMax:

    During the exercises, Russian forces opened fire Tuesday in a village called Panic

    What do you mean this wasn’t written by the Onion?!

  169. 169.

    TenguPhule

    @NotMax:

    pushing the federal deficit above $1 trillion starting next year.

    Right in time for the Great Depression of 2019.

    Red Ink as far as the eyes can see going forward.

  170. 170.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @hitchhiker:

    we need a general strike

    Good luck with that, Americans don’t do general strikes, it’s not part of our culture. Closest thing I can think of was “The Day without Mexicans” here in SoCal.

  171. 171.

    TenguPhule

    @Baud:

    The Russian Foreign Ministry just launched a Twitter campaign to free Maria Butina, a woman with ties to the National Rifle Association and prominent Republicans who has been accused of being a Russian spy.

    Bless their hearts.

  172. 172.

    MomSense

    @hitchhiker:

    I’m right there with you. Didn’t we also have the three Russian intelligence chiefs travel to DC to do dog knows what and we only found out about it because it was reported on Russian tv. I even think one of them is a Magnitsky Act persona non grata so he had to be given special approval.

    And now Fucking Vlad? WTAF

  174. 174.

    TenguPhule

    @hitchhiker:

    we need a general strike.

    And your solution for the people who need to work to pay rent and eat? And who can be terminated at will by their employers?

  180. 180.

    jl

    @Ryan: Maybe Mueller could subpoena Putin in time for his visit. That would be fun. Could make a good case he is an important witness to a crime.

  181. 181.

    TenguPhule

    @jl:

    Some parallels universe got the final release, and hate them.

    I understand the second darkest timeline decided even nuclear war was preferable to this neverending shit.

  190. 190.

    Dev Null

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Hey, waitaminnit. I’m 70 (well, 70-ish) and I have yet to see a breadbox.

    Breadboard, that’s a different matter.

    Unless you’re talking about Walker’s Shortbread Cookies, in which case you’ll have to wait until October-ish to see the boxes at Costco. ~drools~

  193. 193.

    Dev Null

    @TenguPhule:

    it doesn’t matter if its just by a single seat, they are bound and determined not to submit to a Democratic majority. Come what may.

    That’s the inference one would take from their behaviors. They’re all in on retaining power.

  196. 196.

    Dev Null

    @Bnad:

    No US troops would ever fire on US voters, but Trump’s new comrades in unmarked green uniforms might.

    Kent State.

    Your confidence rests on a foundation of sand.

  199. 199.

    Dev Null

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    As efg noted, they were Ohio troops. They were not Federalized and were under the command of the Governor.

    This is a meaningless distinction.

    Your confidence rests on a foundation of sand.

    I suspect our differing opinions will be put to the test in the months to come.

    Anyone who thinks that US troops won’t fire on US citizens …

    .. I mean, srsly, LE fires on US citizens all the time. Consider Ferguson. Why do you think this will be different?

    “Rioters dispersed by live bullets, news at 11.”

    I admire your confidence. I wish I could share it.

    And reading to the end of the comment thread before responding to any of the comments is a dead loss, as best I can tell.

    Should you have a better solution, I’m all ears.

  200. 200.

    Dev Null

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Yeah, I grew up in the South, too, and my Mom had a breadbox … I think she dumped it circa 1960, because bread always got stale in the box, and the box always smelled of stale bread.

    Bad vibe.

    “Breadboard” was the term we used at the Really Big Co™ Industrial R&D Lab circa 1980-1990.

  202. 202.

    efgoldman

    @Dev Null:

    Should you have a better solution

    You could get into a fetal ball in the corner; seems to work for you.
    And National Guard troops activated by the governor but not federalized are not federal troops. But I get that actual facts mean nothing to you.

    LE fires on US citizens all the time.

    Police ARE NOT TROOPS even if they think they are.

  203. 203.

    Dev Null

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: And just to say, peaceful DC protesters at Трамп’s inauguration have spent 18 months in legal limbo before charges were dismissed.

    Those protesters weren’t an existential threat to Трамп’s regime.

    Have you been arrested by local LE? They’re not gentle …

    … and that’s for protests that don’t seriously threaten anything.

    Protests with potentially existential implications … there will be blood in the streets, Ah betcha.

  204. 204.

    NotMax

    @efgoldman

    One on the kitchen counter all the time when I was a youngling, up until we moved into a house whose kitchen had a special extra-deep bread drawer, lined with stainless steel (or maybe it was zinc), with a sliding metal lid one could push back once the drawer was opened.

    @Dev Null

    Yeah, that unique aroma, once it materialized, was there forever.

  205. 205.

    Dev Null

    @efgoldman: Sneer all you want, dude. You seem to be good at sneering at peeps who disagree with you because their experience differs from yours.

    I’ve had close relatives arrested multiple times for civil protest.

    But I get that their actual fucking experience means nothing to you, because you’re above it all.

    And by the way, DC protesters, 18 months in legal limbo. That’s a huge price for exercising supposed First Amendment rights.

  206. 206.

    Dev Null

    @efgoldman: You’re what, 70? Your grandmothers had breadboxes, when? 1950s?

    Might I suggest a connotation shift? Which might be regional, of course.

    My family had a breadbox for storing bread.

    Electronics in my lifetime have always been built on breadboards.

    Possible I missed the thread, in which case you’re welcome to drag me through the mud.

    But breadboards were used to roll out bread dough, and breadboards were used to prototype electronic circuits … because they were flat.

    Yeah, sure, prototype electronic systems might have been packaged into “breadboxes” … but not in my 35-year career in electronics.

    Different regions, perhaps different idioms.

    But 3d prototype electronic assemblies called “breadboxes” isn’t anything that resonates with me.

  207. 207.

    Chris Johnson

    From way downthread: as a Vermonter, I’m now convinced Devine has been a Russian agent because I see a pattern in what he’s done and what happened afterward.

    That’d suggest that Joe Lieberman, Al Gore, and John Kerry are also Russia tainted, assuming Devine has been working for the Russians the whole time. Lord knows Lieberman got up to some shit. However, I see other patterns with the other three…

    Gore was Global Warming guy and terrible at campaigning.

    Kerry completely failed. I don’t remember if he cared about anything but he was terrible at campaigning.

    Sanders was Evil Billionaires guy and terrible at campaigning.

    I think I see a pattern arise: Tad Devine wanted nothing more than to glom on to a politician who’s obsessed with their pet issue and no good at campaigning, and all those guys lost or fucked everything up. I think Devine’s a useful idiot specialist.

    This does not mean I think climate change doesn’t exist, or that billionaires aren’t fucking the whole world up and ruining everything: I passionately believe both these issues are urgent and catastrophic. FUNNY THING though, how Devine’s influence managed to deliver enormous setbacks to every single issue that his bosses cared about. Isn’t that a funny coincidence?

  208. 208.

    Dev Null

    @efgoldman:

    Should you have a better solution

    You could get into a fetal ball in the corner; seems to work for you.

    Jesus Christ, dude, read the comment in context. And perhaps you might dial back on the Olympian sneers.

    My point was obvious: I responded to BillinGlendale rather than to you because I saw his comment appeared first, because your comment was further down in the thread.

    I was asking for a better solution to fucking reading comments and responding to them.

    As for “curling up in a fetal ball”, do you have a reading disorder?

    I’ve been out protesting. My close relatives have been out protesting.

    What more do you want?

  209. 209.

    Dev Null

    @efgoldman:

    LE fires on US citizens all the time.

    Police ARE NOT TROOPS even if they think they are.

    You’re just as dead if you’re hit by a local LE bullet as you are if you’re hit by a Federal troop bullet.

    Leading with your chin, dude.

  210. 210.

    TenguPhule

    @Chris Johnson:

    Kerry completely failed. I don’t remember if he cared about anything but he was terrible at campaigning.

    Not true. I was there. Swift Boats was the precurser to “but her emails!” Kerry ran a decent campaign but the media treatment was biased almost beyond belief.

  211. 211.

    NotMax

    @TenguPhule

    Had voting in Ohio not been … questionable, Kerry very well might have won there and that would have been enough to give him the electoral college.

  213. 213.

    Origuy

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I never knew that the CHP had a mounted division, I was rather surprised.

    They didn’t until 1995, when the California State Police, which had responsibility for security at the Capitol, was merged with the CHP.

  215. 215.

    Rand Careaga

    @TenguPhule:

    And your solution for the people who need to work to pay rent and eat? And who can be terminated at will by their employers?

    Can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs. Someone else‘s eggs, for choice.

  216. 216.

    Zinsky

    This thread has deteriorated into some prickly pettiness but I absolutely agree with Betty’s thesis – we should overwhelm DC with protests if Pooty-Poot comes to see Trumpo. In fact, that would be a grand time for a mob to overrun the White House and lynch two autocratic greedy perverts from the same tree!

  217. 217.

    Dev Null

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Actually efg’s comment was first, I even referenced that in my comment.

    Missed that, sorry. I thought you were referring to a subsequent efg comment.

    My bad, and apologies for the misstep.

    I stand corrected on the point.

  218. 218.

    TenguPhule

    @Zinsky:

    In fact, that would be a grand time for a mob to overrun the White House and lynch two autocratic greedy perverts from the same tree!

    Just two?

  219. 219.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @?BillinGlendaleCA, @Lapassionara: Um, yinz are aware that Onkel Adi’s infamous “jig” at the French surrender ceremonies in Compiegne was faked, aintcha?

    Following the war, it was revealed that John Grierson, director of the Canadian information and propaganda departments, had manufactured the clip after noticing that Hitler raised his leg rather high up while stepping backwards. He realized that this moment could be looped repeatedly to create the appearance that Hitler was jumping with joy.

    The film clip served the purpose of provoking popular outrage against Hitler.

    (link)

  223. 223.

    Dev Null

    @Zinsky:

    This thread has deteriorated into some prickly pettiness

    This shall not stand! I DEMAND A RETRACTION!

    The appropriate phrase is petty prickliness!

    [time passes]

    joking, peeps…

    as you were.

    G’night, jackals.

  224. 224.

    J R in WV

    @burnspbesq:

    I have a really sweet pair of lab mix girls who are really, really fetching, dog toys, mostly. Andrea, no… not so much.

  225. 225.

    Bill Arnold

    @Brachiator:

    And Bolton didn’t resign immediately?

    That’s just DJ Trump taking a bite out of Bolton’s soul; a sadistic loyalty check. (Just an ear, or big toe or something else obvious but non-critical.)

  228. 228.

    dianne

    I had the same thought. Putin is coming for the military parade in order to review his troops.

Comments are closed.