“Let’s support Trump, purely as men,” Russian TV host rushes to defend Trump against Stormy Daniels’ description of his nether regions… https://t.co/F231HdBGE9
— Amie Ferris-Rotman (@Amie_FR) September 24, 2018
#Russia's state TV is defending Trump with gusto, down to the size of his unmentionables. The Kremlin's top propagandist, Dmitry Kiselyov, claims Trump is being "bullied" and Stormy's expectations are unreasonably high, in light of her occupation. Sorry, trying to keep it PG-13. pic.twitter.com/Z6Ypd8v4Ad
— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) September 23, 2018
Different country, same misogyny…
Assange and Russia, sitting in a tree, part 3,496. https://t.co/8OvvuX2ZyH
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) September 22, 2018
While previous reports discussed the FBI's possession of the hard drives, they don't appear to have revealed that the drives belonged to Julian Assange. If #WikiLeaks' recent claims were correct, it would mean that #Assange was the ultimate source for both the FBI and the AP. 2/2
— Emma Best (ᴜ//ғᴏᴜᴏ) ?️? (@NatSecGeek) September 24, 2018
Anybody had a chance yet to read Jane Mayer’s latest?
Meanwhile, @JaneMayerNYer has another amazing story in the magazine. https://t.co/lbVmeCeCsN
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) September 24, 2018
Elizabelle
It’s all so depressing. Guess you have to pull down the rotted old structure, though, to get to the new.
Jeffro
Yeah, I saw the Mayer article…hot on the heels of The Apprentice book, which was hot on the heels of Woodward’s book, which I dunno, was that before or after Trumpov was gonna declassify Carter Page’s 3/4-times-approved FISA warrant?
The whole thing is already. out. there. Everybody knows, as Leonard Cohen would say. The problem is that the GOP House and Senate are just fine with it all and/or Trumpov has already put them on notice: if I go down, I’m taking you all with me.
So…let’s go beat the crap out of them in November, and then let’s keep beating on them but good with investigations and subpoenas and asking them why they continue to support Cranky Fox Man in the White House. Let the evidence mount, let the investigations roll, and let’s crush them in 2020, too.
SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal
How do you write “mushroom” in Cyrillic?
lamh36
HumboldtBlue
Good thing there’s a puppy next door.
Major Major Major Major
@lamh36: yikes.
Jeffro
Meanwhile, Rampell pointing out that the Elephant Has No Clothes: The GOP’s Top Two Priorities Are Duds, So What Does the Party Even Stand For?
Other than, she asks, “Trumpov is good” (or is it that “Trumpov is God”)?
Lying, in other words.
Meanwhile, on the tax front…voters say “BS!”
Gee, ya don’t hear much about THAT in the news, do ya? What’s that Chris Rock quote again? “If Poor People Knew How Rich Rich People Are, There Would Be Riots In The Streets” Uh-HUH…
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Seems more like trolling to me. “You all stop talking about how small trump’s porn star mistress says his button-mushroom penis is!” trump is Putin’s puppet and chew toy, and these guys are making jokes for Putin’s benefit.
It’s the same kind of dominance politics trump practices, turning his former critics into courtiers: Perry, Graham, Christie, Ryan, Cruz, soon to feature Mitt Romney, I’d bet. But trump is too stupid to know Putin’s laughing at him.
Gin & Tonic
Haven’t read that Jane Mayer article yet, but the Russians should turn some of their electoral efforts inward. The regional elections of Sep 9 held some unpleasant surprises for United Russia, including some outright losses.
Gin & Tonic
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal: I’ll probably get moderated, but it’s “гриб.”
Gin & Tonic
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal: I responded, but FYWP no longer lets me enter Cyrillic text. Maybe if AL frees up the comment you’ll see it.
Amir Khalid
I don’t know how any decent man can support Trump against Stormy Daniels, who has a very legitimate beef with him. I don’t see the point of defending the handsomeness of what’s inside Trump’s underpants.
Tinare
Since this is an open thread — My 11ish year old Lab has been having nose bleeds since a Friday morning. He’s at the vet overnight tonight and going to have a CT Scan and rhinoscopy tomorrow. Any dog owners been though anything similar? I’m hoping for the best and trying hard not imagine the worst. Just thought I’d see if anyone had any experience or advice. Thanks!
Amir Khalid
@Amir Khalid:
Except maybe as a way of mocking him.
guachi
So how many people think the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee will successfully weasel out of questioning Dr. Blasey Ford and instead foist all questions onto some female staffer?
satby
@Tinare: never been through that, but hoping the best for your old boy.
Frankensteinbeck
@guachi:
I doubt it. Clearly some of them can see there’s a public perception trap here, but they’re fighting their belief that they’re smarter and more important than any woman can possibly be.
Mary G
@Tinare: No expertise on dogs, but I hope it’s minor and they can fix it. So awful having to wait.
Chetan Murthy
@Amir Khalid: They’re producing sound-bites and video clips denigrating Stormy Daniels, for use in social media campaigns, perhaps? Running her down is the -same- as pumping him up, yes?
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal:
XEP
(I think G&T will get it, no Cyrillic letters were used in the writing of this comment)
Tinare
@satby: Thanks. Appreciate the good thoughts.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Gin & Tonic: I told the kid about your rec for the tour of the opera house, she had it already scheduled for yesterday afternoon.
Another Scott
@Amir Khalid: It further’s Putin’s goal of weakening the USA (by keeping Donnie in the news) and consequently making Putin and Russia appear stronger by comparison.
Grrr….
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
Noah Brand
Here’s what’s bothering me. Let’s say (knock wood) that we get that blue wave in November, and the GOP loses the House, maybe the Senate too. My fear is that it’s a long, long, long time from November 6th to January 20th.
Realistically, what are the limits of insane behavior we should be braced for? Trump will say the results are fake on Twitter, we can assume, but what kind of legal challenges will the higher-functioning members of the party be able to muster?
Once they get past the denial phase, what levels of self-destructive insanity should we be prepared for? I think it’s a realistic possibility that Trump may try to gin up a military coup, but I don’t think the generals will listen to him. He might also unilaterally order an invasion of someplace, likely Venezuela, which is more likely to work. I assume the GOP will try to force through some kind of psychotically evil legislation, if only to give the next Congress an insoluble mess to work with. What form is that likely to take?
Basically, this has been worrying me a lot lately, but I just don’t know enough about the legal powers involved to speculate with too high a degree of confidence. Anyone more knowledgeable have any thoughts?
Tinare
@Mary G: @satby: Thanks. Appreciate the good thoughts!
lamh36
https://twitter.com/samstein/status/1044409812946223104?s=21
J R in WV
Sorry about your Lab dawg, hope they can diagnose and repair whatever it is soonest! They are so kind and loving to us, we do our best for them too. Best of luck!!
JR
feebog
@Tinare:
Long time dog owner/lover here. Never experienced anything like that. Hopefully just a leaky caplllary that can be plugged or cauterized.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
Does anybody here know enough about Ecuador to know why they’ve let this shitstain crash on their sofa for six fucking years? What on Earth reason could they have to be doing this? This has mystified me ever since I heard of this guy.
Jay
@Noah Brand:
The model is that with the Democratic Party holding the House and Senate, and all the Chairs, every Committee starts holding hearings on every Trumpist and Enabler.
So it’s all corruption, looting, Russians, moneylaundering, pay for play, mismanagement, sexual assault, harassment, all the time.
Hundred’s of ReThugs and Trumpers join the cast of Orange Is The New Black Reality TV Edition.
As the tumbrels start to stage up outside the House, Senate, Government offices, ReThug math say’s Kill Ceasar, try to Save Pence, and hope that’s enough to return to the “old ways” and pretend Treason Tribble never existed.
What the White Supremacy House does or does not do, won’t matter.
feebog
@Noah Brand:
The new congress will be sworn in the first week in January. Still plenty of time for Republican mischief.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@lamh36: “The White House” can’t mean anything but trump. “TeeVee fixes everything. Go on Fox, I’ll talk to Rupert, it’ll be terrific, everyone will love it”. I despise Kellyanne Conway, but she would’ve been smart enough to send him to CBS*, where an Ailes protege is in charge and people like Major Garrett would’ve been just as sympathetic without the tribal stain.
* I think one of O’Donnell’s guests said that an interview like this actually violates Senate committee rules, but as so often is the case nowadays: Who’s going to enforce the rule?
Another Scott
@Noah Brand: None of that is going to happen. Donnie isn’t king.
Use your nervous energy on something productive. Help to make the wave bigger in November, any way you can.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
dexwood
Yes, with a big old goofy Bouvier. Canine discoid lupus was the diagnosis. Reduced exposure to sunlight and daily doses of vitamin E worked wonders for a year or two, but eventually prednisone became the go to drug to control it. Dry, lumpy skin around the nose was one of the symptoms. Hope you get an answer and a treatment plan.
Humdog
@Tinare: when my dog had a sneeze attack that continued with bloody sneezes, the emergency vet found a foxtail grass seed head up her nose. The doc said it would not have been good if it kept traveling up her nose. Your dog is where he can get help now.
Best of luck!
Jay
@Another Scott:
The Russian’s understanding of modern Western Mores on sex and sexuality, are horribly flawed, INCEL quality.
They are making Russia look silly to anyone outside of being a Trumpist.
PaulWartenberg
Oh hell no.
the Democratic candidate in my district had a heart attack?!
April Freeman is dead???
Oh Christ. I am so sorry. :(
dexwood
@dexwood: Sorry, in answer to @Tinare:
Patricia Kayden
The last story about the 80,000 + votes that pushed Trump over the top is interesting. Trump is an illegitimate President and he knows it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
oh man, the cilps O’Donnell has of BK robotically repeating talking points are brutal, he looks like a moron
Patricia Kayden
@PaulWartenberg: And so young. Just awful.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Tinare: One of our previous pack got a foxtail in his nose and was sneezing blood everywhere, the vet was able to remove it.
Mary G
@Noah Brand: Deal with that when it happens. No use worrying if we don’t win enough seats. Like North Carolina, I’m sure they’ll try lots of stuff, but unlikely they can get away with much. A lot of Republicans must be sick to death of Twitler representing them and fucking up the country, even if they’ll never admit it. They are much happier being the opposition.
zhena gogolia
@PaulWartenberg:
Oh, horrible. I’m so sorry!
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Jeffro:
Oh! Me! Me!
Gin & Tonic
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Thanks for letting me know. I hope she enjoyed it.
khead
@lamh36:
Which Superman comics are they and how much does he want for them?
YetAnotherJay formerly (Jay S)
@lamh36: I wondered if this was a second interview, with Trump as the primary audience. Reassurance that he could hold up or perhaps demonstrate that he wasn’t what Trump thought he was. Performing for an audience of one.
Gin & Tonic
@zhena gogolia: Silly me, I gave her the word for mushroom, not “mushroom”.
Elizabelle
@Noah Brand: Find something better to worry about. Really. Or take up writing fiction, or jogging. Walk dogs and pet cats at your local shelter.
Have you heard of our pie filter?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Gin & Tonic: Only saw a few pics, she took lots of pics at the Chinese garden and the aquarium. It looks like today it’s off to the Blue Mountains.
Jay
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
188 years of military, economic, political and fiscal interference by the US and the West, leaves a big enough grudge to offer a couch in the livingroom to a “Transparency Activist” that pisses off the West.
Then, untortunately, when the house guest turns out to be a rapist, Russian Asset and rotten houseguest, the mooch on the couch,
Like the ReThug Party is starting to find out, it’s difficult to get rid of the guest when cops with warrants are waiting outside.
Kay
The yearbook is bad for him. I have no idea why he just went on FOX and told a bunch of lies about drinking and having sex in high school- he wouldn’t be in this mess if the allegation was “you drank and had sex in high school” – is that what he thinks it’s about?
It bothers me that he’s even going in that direction as a defense – it’s too close to how women had to be virgins when they made allegations or they were discredited. Why is he conflating consensual sex with assault as if they;re one and the same?
PsiFighter37
@Noah Brand: Lucky for you, you only have to worry until January 3rd, as the new Congress is sworn in on the calendar year. January 20th is only for presidential inaugurations.
Elizabelle
@Tinare: I hope all works out with your doggy. Please keep us posted.
Jay
@Kay:
Sociopathic serial gang rapist trying his case in the Fiendish Faux News Bubble trying to regain his Basketball Dad crafted cover.
khead
@Kay:
I still have my yearbooks. 7th grade to 12th grade. There’s some cringe inducing stuff in there. But there sure as shit ain’t a thing about code words that my friends and I used to talk about someone we all got it on with.
Mnemosyne
@Kay:
Since one of Trump’s obsessions is how much he hates drunks like his late brother, I wouldn’t be surprised if Kavanaugh did the interview primarily to reassure his boss that the stories about him being a drunk are all lies concocted by the Democrats.
Another Scott
@PaulWartenberg: Oh no. :-( Condolences to her family, and everyone who wanted her to represent them.
Best wishes,
Scott.
M. Bouffant
@Elizabelle: Nihilism, baby!!
Kay
I feel bad for the woman who signed the letter and then found out K and his gross friends used her as some horrible inside joke in the yearbook. She went all this time without knowing that and now she knows.
How did the GOP find these people anyway? Jesus. She didn’t even go to his school. They hunted up casual acquaintances from 35 years ago to endorse him? Bet they wish they hadn’t opened up that can o worms right about now.
SFAW
@khead:
I offered him a cool $175 for Action #1. I think that’s a fair price. Still waiting to hear back.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Jay:
Yeah, but they tried to give this piece of shit a “diplomatic post” as late as 2017, when everyone who wasn’t deranged suspected Assuage was a Russian asset. All of the years the US has fucked over Ecuador isn’t justification enough for their recklessness and rank irresponsibility. Russia is a dangerous, fascist rouge state that is exacerbating the global political climate at a time in history when we can least afford it as a species. We need world cooperation on climate change. What do you think of that, government of Ecuador, you fuckers?
They’d probably just call me a naive goody-two-shoes or something else inane.
Another Scott
Just now:
Donald J. Trump Verified account @realDonaldTrump
1 minute ago
The Democrats are working hard to destroy a wonderful man, and a man who has the potential to be one of our greatest Supreme Court Justices ever, with an array of False Accusations the likes of which have never been seen before!
539 replies 891 retweets 2,378 likes
Donald J. Trump Verified account @realDonaldTrump
12 minutes ago
REMEMBER THE MIDTERMS!
4,155 replies 4,129 retweets 13,173 likes
He’s worried. And he should be…
Cheers,
Scott.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Another Scott:
Remember remember the 6th of November
Barbara
@Kay: Let’s say he was a virgin. Not only does that not exclude the possibility of a physical assault that did not result in a completed rape, but the woman or girl on the receiving end would have had no idea whether he was a virgin. It infuriates me that he is pleading chastity as a defense to rape. Next thing he’ll be pleading that there could not have been an assault because the girl was a slut.
Elizabelle
@Kay: There is so much ugliness and cruelty at the root of this. I feel for that woman who did not know she was an open joke at Georgetown Prep.
What entitled douchebags. I am a little surprised we haven’t seen GPrep doing op eds — “I say now, all of our male graduates are not blackout drunks and louches.”
Gin & Tonic
@?BillinGlendaleCA: The Royal Botanic Garden is really nice too. It’s springtime, so tons of stuff will be in bloom.
khead
@Kay:
I don’t feel bad for any of them.
Barbara
@Elizabelle: I find it astounding that the school appears to have exercised zero effort to prohibit the worst of this, like making rude references to actual people.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Gin & Tonic: I think she said that was on her list before she left. Of course the skydiving and bungee jumping to do as well. She cray-cray.
Gin & Tonic
@khead: Funny story. I have most of my high school yearbooks. Somewhere. But not my senior year one – I was part of the editorial crew, and we, um, had some issues. When the administration finally saw what we intended to publish, they cancelled the yearbook.
Tinare
@dexwood: @Humdog: @?BillinGlendaleCA: Thanks! Hoping they find something easily removed or manageable. Good to hear your experiences.
Kay
@Barbara:
He must have missed the last 30 years of jurisprudence and process where we don’t conflate consensual sex with assaults – one has no bearing on the other. In a JUDGE it’s a tad alarming, I must say, how he’s so muddled up on these issues. I was told repeatedly that he’s a brilliant jurist. Now Republicans will follow his lead and ask the alleged victim if she was a virgin.
Jeffro
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: Procreation as an annual formality?!? Are you out of your Vulcan mind?
lol
japa21
@Gin & Tonic: based on your history here, I can imagine.
Aleta
@Kay: If he’s politically maniputive (as his record seems to show), maybe he’s talking virginity to keep the rw Christians on his side? Since among conservative Trump supporters, they might be the ones most offended by the stories?
He knows that if Rs start believing they might lose evangelical support because of him, are worried they wouldn’t turn out to vote, his backers will make him withdraw? So he’s out there talking to them, not us. And rehearsing for the hearings.
Rs must be hoping that if people hear the same sentences repeated over and over, and then again in a few days, they’ll go away convinced. Like election ads.
Mandalay
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
The previous president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa was a pseudo-left wing populist who appeared to be genuinely sympathetic to what WikiLeaks was trying to do, and personally supported Assange for years. That all changed earlier this year when Correa stepped down and his underling Lenín Moreno took over. I don’t think anyone knows the details of why (yet), but the bottom line is that he told Assange to pack his bags and leave the embassy at his earliest convenience.
I suspect that the real story is that the Trump Administration has used a combination of carrot and stick on Moreno to get him to understand his place in the scheme of things. Correa was more of an uppity honey badger, and happily told the US to go fuck itself when they threatened him.
Jeffro
@Another Scott: He can yell down the well all he wants, the Blue Wave is real. We’re coming for you, Twitler…
Gin & Tonic
@japa21: Uh, excuse me?
Jay
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
They tried to give Assange a fake diplomatic post for the sole reason of getting him off their couch, and onto Vlads. It didn’t fly because the Brit’s used the Treaty of Vienna to point out it was a fake post and Assange would be arrested the moment he left the Embassy.
Equador really wants Assange off their couch, but the political costs in domestic politics isn’t worth handing him over to the Brits.
So, as a youth, by now you are probably pretty pissed that the reason you can’t have nice things is because the Billionaire Boy’s Club and their Enabler’s have rigged the system to move all the money to the 1%.
Ecuador is a poor country and racially charged, not because they don’t have resources, but because 188 years of Western looting and rigging the systems have ensured Ecuadoreans remain poor.
Millard Filmore
@Noah Brand:
Maybe he will declare his income tax information Top Secret, Eyes Only and cannot be released for court-trial use.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Another Scott: and that’s a corrected tweety, he originally put out “False Acquisitions”
Kay
@Elizabelle:
The dean or headmaster or whatever wrote a letter. It doesn;t mention Special K- it’s all about how great they are despite Special K.
John Roberts private school has a crazy kind of shrine set up with his handwritten letter asking for admission to the school in it. I have seen it. I looked at it for the longest time when I was there- I think it’s unseemly- too worshipful :)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Another Scott:
khead
@Gin & Tonic:
So, all of the bad shit in my yearbooks are from people signing them with crazy stuff. No one actually codified their asshole-ish-ness in the actual yearbook like Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh is probably wishing his school had been like yours and just canceled it.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Jeffro:
“Procreation as an annual formality” sounds a lot like the RW Christian “principle” that marriage and sex is only for procreation, don’t it? And they do seem to be driven by hatred a lot of the time. That O’Brien quote sounds like something an autocrat like Putin could only dream of.
Kay
@Aleta:
Oh, I agree. Absolutely. It’s just a no-no to put virginity forth in this context. No one does that anymore. The whole frame is different and I’m not talking about in wildly progressive or exalted legal circles. This has been true for 30 years. Standard. We don’t go to sexual history – it;’s the wrong way to think about it. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the whole issue.
Aleta
Rs call him brilliant with an incisive legal mind, but his brain doesn’t look so hot. His capacity for independent thought is a no show. Does he seem like a high functioning alcohol abuser or is it just wooden nervousness? His speech reminds me a little of the former, but not enough to say for real.
B.B.A.
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: more like REMEMBER THE MAINE, which it turned out the Spanish were framed for…not that we un-conquered Puerto Rico or the Philippines after that came out.
Mike J
Anybody watching the intros to the Scorsese movies on TCM where it’s him talking about 20 setups per day on a 24 day schedule?
Mandalay
@Jay:
The good news is that it is no longer the case. The bad news is that it is now the Chinese doing the looting and rigging the systems instead.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Jay:
Not that I’m unsympathetic, but that won’t matter if the world is ruled by autocrats and fascists all the while much of the planet is warming to the point of being uninhabitable.
Handing over Assuage to the UK is transferring a wanted fugitive to justice. He’s a rapist and a man who helped facilitate Russian fuckery that is threatening global stability. He’s not someone to protect just because it pisses off your historical oppressors. That’s shortsighted and foolish.
Adam L Silverman
@Jeffro: Exhibit A:
Gin & Tonic
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
I know you’re young and idealistic, but news flash here: lots of political leaders are shortsighted and foolish.
Adam L Silverman
My power is back on!
Kay
@Aleta:
Well, he is brilliant. Tiger Mom said so and she’s also brilliant and a super-duper judge of character. They all are. If they say “good man” you can just take that to the bank. His whole resume is one big appeal to authority.
Adam L Silverman
@Tinare: I’ve only had lab mixes and that’s one I’ve not heard before. Me and the two current lab mixes are keeping good thoughts.
MoCA Ace
@Noah Brand:
You’re funny!
All of it Katie!
SATSQ
Adam L Silverman
@guachi: It was reported today that they’re in talks with former GOP Senator Kelly Ayotte to have her do the questioning for the GOP majority on the committee.
PJ
@SFAW: Ha!
khead
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Just how old are you? I’ve never asked.
Mandalay
@Barbara:
Or the Brock Turner defense: “there was no attempted rape because she was drunk and passed out, and I still had some clothes on when those guys turned up and stopped me”.
If it sounds like I’m exaggerating the lawyer’s arguments a bit….I’m not. And that wasn’t back in 1979 – it was two months ago!
Amir Khalid
@SFAW:
Isn’t Action #1 the most expensivest comic book evah? I seem to recall a mint-condition copy goes for a seven-figure sum.
Jay
@Mandalay:
They are taking over the systems created by the West, as economic, military and political power shifts.
It’s actually quite funny how Communist Capitalism can seamlessly out compete Unrestrained Capitalism in the markets.
Tinare
@Adam L Silverman: Thanks!@Elizabelle: Will do!
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Gin & Tonic:
I’m well aware. I’m just criticizing Ecuador’s actions because they’re ones being discussed. Putin is a short-sighted asshole. So was Hitler and Mussolini before him and on and on. They were people who believed that might made right and the ends always justified the means.
I can understand that nature of power itself often forcing good people to make bad decisions. But there’s no excuse for this other than selfishness and spite.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@khead:
23
Amir Khalid
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
In case it slipped your attention, the rape charge was dropped. The Met Police still want him for jumping bail. He’s afraid that if the Met Police arrest him, he’ll wind up being handed over to the Yanks.
Jay
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
When Equador took him in to “piss off their historical oppressors” he was a Transparency Activist, and for some people, he still is.
And the reason they can’t kick him out now, is because they will lose the next election if they do.
It’s the same domestic political quandry the ReThugs face with Trump.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Jay:
Would they try interfering like the West traditionally has done in the internal politics of Western democracies to make us more like them, ideologically?
Steve in the ATL
@Amir Khalid: better then being handed over to the Mets.
Jay
@Amir Khalid:
Yeah, but Judge is probably a little hard of for cash.
Amir Khalid
@Adam L Silverman:
With great power comes great responsibility. Use it wisely.
Mary G
I was reading another blog, and my favorite commenter, Anna, said the new Gucci campaign is “a deluge of fuckery,” and I told her I was stealing it, because that’s today in a nutshell.
Mike J
(video at link) https://twitter.com/SmashRacismDC/status/1044408830564683776
PJ
If I hadn’t already been convinced that Kavanaugh had done all of these things he’s accused of by his own unctuous and creepy actions, and everything the Republicans have done over the past two weeks to “ram him through” (in McConnell’s words), the fact that he used his wife, who has no personal knowledge of the matters at hand, as a shield in his Fox interview removed any doubt that he is guilty, guilty, guilty.
Mandalay
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
You might want to do some additional research on that topic.
Adam L Silverman
@Noah Brand: The Senate will still function like the Senate. The Democrats will be able to block most everything in the lame duck session between the election and the next Congress in January. The House will basically do nothing. Other than nominations in the Senate, which the Democrats can’t stop and the need to pass a proper appropriations bill by December 7th, not much will get done.
Adam L Silverman
@lamh36: I was at the gym and part of the time I was doing cardio this was on the TV tuned to Fox News. His wife looked like she was in a hostage video.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Amir Khalid:
So what if the charge was dropped? Kavanaugh’s never been legally charged with attempted rape but everybody knows he did it. It’s the same with Assuage with my mind
That’s an acceptable outcome
@Jay:
Doing the ethical and right thing is often difficult. If the Ecuadorian people would vote against the ruling party for doing the right thing, then there’s something morally wrong with them, like there’s something wrong with Trump supporters.
Jay
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
China?
Not at this time. They seem to be using their soverign wealth and technologies to acquire assets and influence.
They have a small and quiet Military Assistence footprint, which is mostly low level, often UNSC.
And they so far haven’t gotten involved in other nations politics.
They seem to be avoiding all the “bad” aspects of Western Interference, like coups, wars, looting.
Aleta
@Kay: I think I see what you mean. It is very weird.
The consultants reframed the issue for him: young male hormones…and if he crossed a line at with a hand in the wrong place… well, who hasn’t made mistakes at 17?
But apparently he has some different identity than that to uphold. But then, the whole scene is pretty fucking weird. High schoolers whose goal was to paralyze and prey on unprotected women and move on to the next, in a local Catholic culture that denounced abortion but didn’t bother to protect teenagers from assault and alcoholism (or even yearbook slander). So one becomes an anti-liberal anti-abortion writer who celebrates his past sociopathy, and the other one’s life dream is to be a deciding anti-abortion vote for the whole country.
chopper
@Barbara:
why give him the benefit of the doubt?
Adam L Silverman
@Kay:
Adam L Silverman
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: The diplomatic post was just a way to get him to Russia and off their hands and out of their hair. It was one of two attempts, the other by Russia to smuggle him out in a diplomatic car to a diplomatic jet, to exfiltrate an asset caught behind enemy lines.
Mary G
@Mike J: I liked the “Beto is way hotter than you, dude” in there with the chanting.
Adam L Silverman
@Another Scott: This was the original one, which he deleted:
B.B.A.
@Mandalay: If you think the Swedish prosecution authorities are a tool of American imperialist foreign policy, I don’t know what to say to you.
Amir Khalid
@Jay:
I think you take too sanguine a view of China and its doings. Its territorial claims re the Spratly Islands are not what I would consider “a small and quiet Military Assistence footprint, which is mostly low level”.
Jay
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
In Latin American politics, due to Western Interference, “lefty” governments are often extremely limited in the “lefty” things they can do, and are often highly compromised by the system. Like the toxic Harvard system and allumi.
Often, all they can do, is symbolic acts of being “lefties”.
Because of that, little things, have huge impacts.
There are enough Leftier than Thou Equadorians to bring down a “Leftie” Government, allied with the Conservatives, ( Billionaires Boys Club) over turning over Assange,
So, that’s the math. Turn over Assange and watch the Conservative Parties win, bring back even more rampant corruption, looting, Corporate Scams, lost human rights, murders and death squads.
They are Equadorian, they are gonna do what’s best for Equador.
Duane
@Barbara: That virgin story is as laughable as the calendar excuse or mistaken identity. As was noted before, doesn’t say much for Calendar Boy’s judgment.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
the sun has gone down, right?
stay home, Ann, stay home, draw the shades, open up a new crate of pinot, get a couple cartons of Marlboros and spend the day binge watching HUAC committee recordings on youtube
Amir Khalid
@Adam L Silverman:
Yore Presnit needs to lern hisself sum English.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Adam L Silverman: @Adam L Silverman:
Yeah, but it still would have resulted in Assunge being sent to Russia and out of reach of US authorities for possible questioning in his role as an asset of the Russian Federation.
Mandalay
@PJ: I have a lot of sympathy with your argument. Even if you believe that he is innocent of the sexual assault, surely Kavanaugh’s behavior in the past couple of weeks must give his supporters some cause for concern over whether he is SCOTUS material.
While he is certainly in a stressful situation right now, he comes across as an overly defensive, nasty, self-centered asshole who isn’t especially bright. His refusal to openly call for an FBI investigation to clear his good name is especially damning.
Barbara
@chopper: The point is that it doesn’t matter.
Jay
@Amir Khalid:
That’s a border issue. Countries tend to push hard on unresolved Border and EEZ issues. Bigger countries have more weight to throw around but everybody in the South China Sea with a claim has island bases of varying quality.
I was speaking to China’s replacement of the West in Africa, South and Central America, the ‘Stans.
Adam L Silverman
@Amir Khalid: I pulled into my neighborhood/subdivision coming back from the gym and the power was off. Got to my house and the power was off. Called a neighbor who informed me it went down around 7:30 PM and the power company indicated/estimated they’d have it back up by 11:15 PM. So I drove over to the Malaysian restaurant about 7 miles away and got dinner. Came home, let the dogs out of their crates, got the candles and lanterns out, got the windows up for a bit of airflow, and waited. At 11:15 PM the power came back on. I’ll give them credit, they’re punctual!
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Jay:
When put that way, I guess I can understand why Ecuador is doing what it’s doing. But that’s still not what’s best for the world as a whole.
Mandalay
@B.B.A.:
And if you want to put words in my mouth I never came remotely close to saying then I don’t know what to say to you – except GFY.
Or more succinctly: fuck off liar.
Adam L Silverman
@Mike J: Great, there’s Cruz’s next batch of attack ads focusing on Beto. Let people eat their dinners in peace.
B.B.A.
@Mandalay: I love you too.
Amir Khalid
@Jay:
It’s not merely a border issue. If it were, would US foreign policymakers be concerned about it? They’re building up a military base there on an island chain strategically located in the middle of the South China Sea. This is straight-up superpower up-to-no-goodness at work here.
Adam L Silverman
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: Did you have a lot of caffeine and sugar this evening?
Adam L Silverman
@Jay: China’s behavior has begun to change, especially in Africa, as one belt, one road expands. They’ve started doing joint, multinational military exercises. They’ve started having their one belt, one road (junior) partners come to Beijing for conferences that are less diplomatic meetings and more patron/client meetings.
Adam L Silverman
Shiny new open thread is up.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Adam L Silverman:
Nope. Just a little passionate and kind of mad Assunge isn’t in a cell yet for being an asset to a fascist rouge state.
Amir Khalid
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
I hope that’s autocorrect and not you.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Amir Khalid:
Lol autocorrect. My kingdom for an edit button
Adam L Silverman
@Amir Khalid: We’ve replaced Goku’s regular coffee with decaf. Let’s see if he notices…
Jay
@Amir Khalid:
The US Plan for containing China was to use Naval and Airpower to cut China off from the Sea, where most of their imports and exports come from, so that China would starve.
China’s been securing it’s transit routes, mostly with Corporate Investments in ports and canals, now a Red Sea Base, and by militarizing some of the disputed “islands” in the South China Sea, just like it’s neighbors have done.
They are a rising Economic power who are quite rationally positioning themselves for the possibility that a “compeditor” will try to use their lead in military power, to prevent China’s rise.
FlipYrWhig
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Did Kavanaugh and Coulter work with Ken Starr together?
Adam L Silverman
@FlipYrWhig: Coulter was one of the “elves” working on the Arkansas project and Paula Jones stuff. As was then Kellyanne Ftizpatrick. Kavanaugh was the primary leaker from Starr’s team to the “elves”.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Adam L Silverman:
I will never be silenced!
Adam L Silverman
@FlipYrWhig: Also, for the ick and eww factor, this is how KellyAnne and her husband met. George Conway was working behind the scenes and officially off the case and books on the Paula Jones litigation, specifically the filings and briefs. So he was coordinating with the “elves” and through them with Starr’s people. Conway was originally pursuing Anne Coulter. They dated a bit, but she eventually broke it off as he’s sort of short and dumpy. So he then started dating KellyAnne Fitzpatrick, who he then married. KellyAnne Fitzpatrick – the less attractive Anne Coulter.
Adam L Silverman
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: You keep thinking that cupcake.
Jay
@Adam L Silverman:
Yup, but they havn’t invaded on a bs excuse, toppled their government, set up a puppet, rewrote the Constitution, looted the country, installed their Corporations, loaded the country with bs debt at usury rates, and left behind death squads and a compliant military to make sure it always remains a client state. Yet.
When your Banker calls, you answer.
A bunch of the Chinese Advise Assist Missions in Africa, are UNSC programs that the West “abandoned”. Many of them are as a result of the never ending War of Terror, spreading terrorists at a frightening pace, leaving Western Militaries stretched too thin.
Adam L Silverman
@Jay: Yet.
I’m very aware of what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. I also think that what we’ve observed of how they’ve interacted with their belt and road partners up until this year is likely to not be what we observe going forward.
Jay
@Adam L Silverman:
China’s playing the long game. I’m pretty sure that their behaviour will change with time.
Probably not until after they come a lot closer to military parity,
Probably not until Climate Change impacts bite harder, but they are better positioned than most.
And probably not until after Generational Leadership changes make them believe that wars are winnable and low cost, and what’s the use of this big shiny military if you can’t use it?
Maybe the Chinese will learn some history lessons instead.
Dan B
@Noah Brand: I’m not more knowledgeable but I’ve been thinking about this. I believe it helps to plan for being able to respond if things get ugly.
1. Lawsuits contesting the vslidity of the election and/or Trump fan violent protests. If it goes to the Supremes remember that Roberts was at the Brooks Brothers riot.
2. Rogue CIA / Netanyahu operation in middle east. Iran blamed for attack on Navy ship?
3. Arrest of a few dozen FBI agents – Deep State crisis lockdown of Congress?
4. Rogue National Guard units take over Wash Post offices and/or arrest Mueller team. (wild paranoid, but dramatic!, fantasy- or – Shirley UwJest)
Anything with a chance of success would need to be mived and resolved in a few days or set up a big bureaucratic chaos and/or court fight.
frosty
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: rogue not rouge.
//spelling pendant
Dan B
@Jay: Much more clear than my fantasies. I forgot about Russians with overstuffed “diplomatic” bags…
frosty
@Dan B: Won’t be #4. National Guard is under the governor’s control, and I don’t know if DC even has one, since it’s not a state. MD and VA would certainly not activate the guard for that reason.
Dan B
@Adam L Silverman: I hope you’re right that they don’t start behaving like cornered animals. Your analysis is rarely off the mark… errr… I can’t cite a time you’ve been anything but correct. It still feels like there’s a better than 10 percent chance of somebody(s) setting off a cascading crisis. That said I feel the military, intelligence, and some billionaires could put a damper on mischief.