Here’s Trump saying he has “compromising” information on an “aggressive” Democratic senator in response to a question about Kavanaugh’s travails:
Trump suggested that a he's seen a Democratic senator in a "compromising" situation while answering questions about Brett Kavanaugh https://t.co/C8boXFhejF pic.twitter.com/vwFcuEPfwG
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) October 1, 2018
It’s hard to overstate just how sleazy and gross this is. I mean, I’ve been following politics closely for a couple of decades now, so I’ve seen some tawdry-ass shit. But Trump takes it to new depths.
So, this is how Supreme Court picks happen now — a belligerent, hyper-partisan president picks a kindred spirit for the court, and if that person doesn’t sail through the nomination process, both the president and the nominee issue threats of vengeance like wanna-be mob bosses.
Talk about the degradation of institutions! It’s honestly hard to see how we return to any sense of “normal” after this shit-show. The SCOTUS never was the apolitical temple of legal scholarship we were sold in grade school. Bush vs. Gore exploded that myth thoroughly for me, to the extent I ever believed it, and Citizens United atomized the debris.
But now they’re on the cusp of seating a sneering partisan hack, who was bellowing “what comes around goes around” last week while telling blatant lies. And his oafish benefactor is muttering threats to the body charged with providing advice and consent. I guess that qualifies as a new low. It feels like time is running out to turn this thing around.
Martin
This is why Trump has so many corrupt assholes in his administration. He seeks out people he has dirt on so that he can use that to hold people loyal. By definition, they need to have something embarrassing or some wrongdoing to be considered.
I don’t think he knows how to function in any other way.
Corner Stone
Trump lying and bald faced threatening Senators/politicians with some vague damning info was the highlight of that presser.
Gozer
So this is like the tapes he supposedly had on Comey.
debit
I’m willing to bet it’s Harris. There’s some sort of wingnut talking point about her sleeping her way into a job when in reality she simply had a relationship with a guy who had no influence whatsoever on anything.
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
Not garbage, failed in every possible way.
Corner Stone
I’m not sure I ever had much reverence for the “Supreme” Court, but what little I did went to Smithereenville with Bush v Gore. None of those fuckers should have been allowed out in polite society without being hounded back into their cars to race away.
(((CassandraLeo)))
I just want to point out that this, on its own, would probably be considered impeachable if there were any semblance of normalcy left.
MoxieM
What a puppet! I’m just waiting on the Mueller team, for “compromising” information about this galactic-sized asshole.
But yeah, what a disgusting weakening of the model of public discourse. Every time I think he can’t get worse, he gets worse. What vile sack of skin.
Are/should Democrats fight back with “info about compromising information” about their colleagues? Never happen.
boatboy_srq
This maladministration is Capone’s Revenge.
kindness
Trump might well drive the US to an actual Civil War. Putin will be overjoyed.
debit
@debit: This is what happens when our government uses Infowars and Fox News to inform them about current events. This is another part of why we’re so exhausted; having to track and refute every crazy ass conspiracy theory because our elected officials are giving them the weight of legitimacy.
trollhattan
Monday of a new Infrastructure Week–I feel fresh and invigorated!
So much winning.
Juju
I figured he had to have something on Senator Graham, that’s the easiest way to explain the rapid transformation from rabid anti Trump to Trumpist. What could he possibly have on the Democratic senators. In the judicial committee? That Hirono is too nice and Booker has saved too many dogs and children from fires?
Corner Stone
@Martin:
It’s why he was “joking” today about having a bad report on everyone in the room – except Pence. He made a point of saying how clean Mikey was, just so he knew he had him nailed anytime he wanted to, if needed.
Thoughtful David
If the Democrats take the House and especially If they take the Senate too, it is going to go a lot lower, 4 or 5 circles of hell lower. Between election day and January 1 you will see the world’s largest smash-and-grab. They’ll make huge tax cuts and try to damage blue states, ram through gutting of regulations, and voter suppression laws. And it won’t stop there. For the next two years it will be more of the same. They’re cornered rats. It’s not going to start turning around for four or five years, if we can stick it out that long.
SFAW
I, for one, am glad that Speaker Ryan and Majority Leader McConnell, being the “adults in the room,” will “rein in” Shitgibbon’s worst excesses.
I, for one, am hoping also to encounter — preferably while I’m holding a Louisville Slugger — someone who still believes the preceding statement.
Fucking traitors, all of them.
Kelly
At the time I thought Bush v Gore was as good an outcome as any to an election too close to call. I really thought the close outcome would lead to centrist policy as Bush 2 tried to broaden his base. It took the run up to Iraq 2 to blow up my belief that the Republicans were a reasonable alternative to the Democrats. Once my bubble was burst I saw all the evil back to at least the Southern Strategy and all the evil since.
Ninedragonspot
I’ve been dismayed to find some rabid Trump supporters in the Taiwanese provinces. Thought I might get a little break from them here. So far as I can tell, they’re old-guard KMT, but needs further investigation. (The KMT, I understand, has long cultivated the GOP. I ran into Mike Huckabee at a hotel in Taipei once. His “security detail” was filled with assholes.)
hueyplong
Mueller owes me two Fridays worth of good news on Oct 5.
MisterForkbeard
So… Trump is trying to blackmail Democratic Senators?
Somebody ask if “Blackmail” is an impeachable offense. That seems like a pertinent question.
boatboy_srq
@MoxieM: We should expect nothing else from a multiple-instance-bankrupt serially-adulterous grifting slumlord con artist.
Daoud bin Daoud
Goddess help us all.
James E Powell
And, no doubt, the press/media are all fine with this. They are dying to publish/broadcast whatever dirt he has or claims to have.
Mary G
This sounds like “Gillibrand was on her knees asking me for money,” again.
(((CassandraLeo)))
@MisterForkbeard: Blackmail is such an ugly word.
goblue72
@debit: Willie Brown isn’t just some guy. He’s one of the most powerful politicians in California state history. At the time they started dating (1994), she was 29, he was 60 – so it was a thing the media noticed at the time – esp since Brown was the long time, powerful Speaker of the California Assembly. And at which time he got her a appointed to a couple of state commissions that paid some nice coin for little work, which marked her initial entry into politics. They’d break up not to long after when he went on to be mayor of SF, as Willie can’t keep his Willie from wandering – and Harris had bigger goals than just to be Willie’s GF.
So its not any secret, and in the long view, its a minor footnote of California political lore, but it also doesn’t serve anyone well by pretending it didn’t happen.
Hildebrand
@James E Powell: I don’t know. I think many in the press will just let this pitch sail right by, as even they know now that this is the kind of crap Trump flings at the wall when he is feeling really sulky and resentful. This has the same feel as the ‘Obama tapped my phone lines’ knavery from last year. Its too obviously nonsense. Yes, the right-wing propaganda machine while lurch into action, but they do that on every day ending in ‘y’.
PPCLI
This is only halfway relevant, but I’ve been staying away from commenting recently for the sake of my sanity, and there was something I wonder about.
In all the talk about “Kavanaugh was justified in flipping out because people were accusing him of awful things!” talk from the Republicans, has anyone pointed out that nobody has accused Kavanaugh, with zero real evidence, of murdering a close friend and conspiring to make it look like a suicide. But Kavanaugh has done that to someone. So it must be OK by his lights.
rikyrah
Bring it, muthaphucka.
Bring it.
TenguPhule
Welcome to another week of being me.
LAO
Damn, but this has been a long week already.
TenguPhule
@(((CassandraLeo))):
“Is that it? Did we get him?”
“No, nothing matters anymore.”
dr. bloor
Trump seems to have decided he’s going to be his own Roy Cohn. The Master is no doubt nodding approvingly from his special level of hell.
TenguPhule
@MisterForkbeard:
The crime you are thinking of is Extortion.
Tehanu
@Thoughtful David:
Possibly only the world’s second largest — after their role models, those “fine people” in Nazi Germany. The Holocaust wasn’t just mass murder; it was theft on a scale even Mammon, the god of greed, never envisioned.
TenguPhule
@SFAW:
I’d be willing to settle for a dark alley and no witnesses.
TenguPhule
@Thoughtful David:
You seem to think any remaining trace of rule of law would survive that long.
TenguPhule
@kindness:
i remember when people here used to call this crazy talk.
TaMara (HFG)
Garbage people saying garbage things. Or as I like to call it in the trump century, Monday.
TenguPhule
@TaMara (HFG):
FTFY.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
Every fucking day I just get floored by how appallingly awful this guy is. He’s some kind of a force of nature. I don’t know any other way to explain it. He’s a force of nature.
debit
@goblue72: 1994. Really? For fuck’s sake, this is why I get so angry.
germy
He shouldn’t be president. He should be writing a gossip column for the NY Post.
germy
A spewnomi.
Citizen_X
Five dollars says the “Senator” “on the other side” is somebody like Bill Clinton or Ted Kennedy or Eliot Spitzer–somebody dead or not in the Senate at all.
lollipopguild
@germy: He should be cleaning restrooms in a local bus station.
TenguPhule
Hundreds of Children Rot in the Desert. End Trump’s Draconian Policies.
Seems like somebody at the FTFNYT board had a crisis of faith.
So we have finally found the standard too far even for the FTFNYT. Concentration camps for Children.
Really low bar, but still better then expected.
TenguPhule
@lollipopguild:
Fuck you. Some of us have to use those restrooms.
germy
TenguPhule
@TenguPhule: @lollipopguild: And I apologize if I come off a little harsh there. I had to use one this morning and it was not fun at all.
Elizabelle
You guys: don’t bring yourselves down by discussing this. I’m serious.
Keep your motivation, call Senators’ offices — I think we CAN stop Kavanaugh — he’s a liar. We can stop them from ramming someone else through so close to the midterms or just after, too. Voters are watching and women, especially, are furious. As are Democratic men.
What you can do for local and national campaigns? Voter registration, write postcards. Going door to door is both energizing and great exercise.
Talking about how awful the Republicans are … solves nothing. It just depresses everyone. I’m serious. They’ll be just as awful after election day. With hard work and luck, though, there will be a lot LESS of them.
germy
@lollipopguild:
“Next year, they’re gonna let me use a brush!”
(old Monty Python sketch)
TenguPhule
@Elizabelle:
So FEMA camps are a go then?
A Ghost To Most
@Kelly: Yup. I haven’t voted for a Ruspublican since 2003.
TenguPhule
@A Ghost To Most:
Special election?
germy
Her reply to his insult was “Excuse me?” but he just laughed it off.
I want to live long enough to see this all as just a shit-stained smudge on the history books.
WaterGirl
@germy: Un-fucking believable. Even for him. Hubris! He thinks he can get away with anything. We have to prove him wrong.
MisterForkbeard
@TenguPhule: Is it? “Do something I want or I publicize bad information about you” could be extortion or blackmail, I suppose. Though I suppose ‘blackmail’ would be a lot less public.
@goblue72: If we’re going to go with “Harris dated a powerful state democrat and was also on some commissions”, I find myself thoroughly underwhelmed. But then, that’s the exact sort of thing Republicans like to talk about. “Thought she had some native american ancestry and talked about it a couple of times” becomes “Ruthlessly lied about being an Indian for personal and professional gain”.
Peale
@Citizen_X: meh. You never know who looks like a family man who wouldn’t miss Sunday dinner but who’s corsorting with prostiutes while in DC. I do believe my party is cleaner than theirs, but with so many in the party, someone will be texting their pen!s.
WaterGirl
@germy: Every single one of the reporters present, male or female, needs to write about that disgusting comment from Trump.
Gravenstone
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
So is an earthquake, hurricane, tornado …, take your pick.
kindness
@TenguPhule: – Well it wouldn’t be a long war. The crazies here have most the guns. Some on our side have them, but not as many.
R-Jud
@LAO: Word.
MisterForkbeard
@germy: There are days when I’d be glad to see a reporter finally lose it and just deck Trump/McConnell/Ryan. Or something worse. They certainly deserve it.
And then I remember that instead of being covered fairly, it would be an example of why Trump Was Right All Along, etc.
A Ghost To Most
@TenguPhule:
I didn’t know Hawaii was big enough to require rest rooms.
A Ghost To Most
@A Ghost To Most: Rest stops.
JWL
“But Trump takes it to new depths”.
The republican party of Bush-Cheney plotted and launched a ground war in the mideast. The republican party shields Trump, a dog who has betrayed our country and continues to commit his treason to this day; Trump is a traitor; Bush-Cheney are war criminals.
Same delths, new faces.
MisterForkbeard
@WaterGirl: Only if it’s “Trump says misogynistic, sexist insult to female reporter asking a normal question” is the headline, instead of “In his trademark style, Trump talked down to a reporter today. Critics say this could be construed as sexist” BS that we normally see.
I saw something this morning from NPR where the headline was “Trump says the FBI can interview whoever they want” while failing to note that he was actively blocking interviews and proscribing what could be talked about in those interviews.
TenguPhule
I.R.S. Tax Fraud Cases Plummet After Budget Cuts
FTFNYT has decided to do actual reporting. Baby steps.
A Ghost To Most
@kindness:
It’s not the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.
RedDirtGirl
@germy: It was actually two different interactions with female reporters.
rikyrah
Looks like the criticism might be working. The NYT reports that the White House has now authorized the FBI to expand the investigation of Kavanaugh to interview anyone it deems necessary:https://t.co/SXK2Ah2iM4 https://t.co/ov2RSqqd0d
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) October 1, 2018
rikyrah
Texas breaks voter registration record ahead of midterm election #BetoForTexas #ExpectUs https://t.co/bHS6yBHOW3
— Propane Jane™ (@docrocktex26) October 1, 2018
WaterGirl
@rikyrah: Unfortunately, they provide no information as to who is registering, democrats or republicans. I suppose if one knew the makeup of the counties you could make a guess.
Luthe
@germy: Even the Post demands their columns have a grasp of written English.
@MisterForkbeard:
And the hilarious part is the GOP could give a caterpillar’s shit about Native Americans.
TenguPhule
@kindness:
A few commonly found chemicals mixed in the proper proportions are a lot more effective then bullets. Hell, even all purpose flour can be deadly under the right circumstances.
Unlike video games, there’s no marker telling the crazies who’s the right person to shoot and they have to eat, drink and use the bathroom like everyone else.
Betty Cracker
@MisterForkbeard: Sadly, it’s not just Republicans who play that game.
TenguPhule
@A Ghost To Most:
We have bus stop centers with restrooms at certain key stops. For passengers and the drivers.
Kelly
@rikyrah: I first read that as Texas has broken voter registration ahead of midterm election. I currently expect R states to have registration available on from noon to one on alternate weekdays
Brachiator
Jesus H Christ! Racist idiots used to complain that some trivial act by Obama diminished the “dignity” of the White House.
But here we have the Great White Dope crawling from under a rock and peddling sleaze with what, staffers and GOP grandees happily going along with every slimy little thing he says.
Fuck these people.
And damn, it’s only Monday.
Gravenstone
@TenguPhule:
For example, I really wanted to see someone dust the tiki torch brigade with a nice cloud of aerosolized flour or powdered sugar. And mayhem would ensue…
Doug
@Ninedragonspot: ” I ran into Mike Huckabee at a hotel in Taipei once. His ‘security detail’ was filled with assholes.”
That seems, if anything, overdetermined.
jc
What do you mean, “wanna-be mob bosses.” Seems pretty much like the real deal to me.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@TenguPhule:
Look on bright side; we’ll get to see what will happen when a nuclear-armed state descends into civil war and if those nukes are used in combat
Mnemosyne
@debit:
Plus it’s equating Harris’s consensual dating relationship with Brown to Kavanaugh and Judge trying to rape Christine Blasey. It’s all sex so it’s all the same thing, amirite? Don’t try to Google about Harris and Brown because the right-wing swamp is convinced that they had anal sex at some point during their relationship and that proves that Harris is evil because reasons. It’s extremely gross.
I would kind of love for Harris to call a press conference and say something like, So apparently the President of the United States has decided it’s important to the future of our country to investigate my dating life. Here’s a summary for you so we can move on.
Jeffro
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
He actually does have this atheist, yours truly, wondering about Satan and Revelations perhaps being a little truth-y…perhaps a lot truth-y…
Then I come back to my senses and realize this is just what the worst of humanity looks like, no demonic forces required.
Tenar Arha
@germy: If I had super powers all the men in that video would likely be like the guy in the hat in this comic.
goblue72
@debit: That I agree with – that’s it very much making a mountain out of a molehill. The situation was certainly icky – 60 year old most powerful politician in the state of California has affair with 29 year old and then lines her up for some no-show gigs. All a bit squicky – but in the great of squick that is Willie Brown, its not even a flash in the pan. And it was at this point a long time ago.
And more importantly, its not some vast Democratic secret conspiracy. The whole Willie Brown’s ex-GF thing gets resuscitated every time she runs for a new office. Including by progressive Democrat (and at the time incumbent San Francisco DA) Terry Hallinan when Harris ran against him for DA (and won).
I find it less infuriating then laughable. Its like when right wing schmoes bring up the Clinton-Lewinsky. “OH, but did you know DEMOCRAT Bill Clinton got a BJ from an intern? Bet you didn’t know THAT!”
WaterGirl
@Mnemosyne: I would pay to watch that.
I saw an article that provided a bit more context to the dumpster’s remark. Sounded to me like he had seen a D. senator drinking “aggressively”. Pretty sure Trump doesn’t want to go there, even if he thinks he does.
Keith P.
Speaking of compromising positions…
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Brachiator:
Infrastructure Week is getting off to a great start.
Corner Stone
@WaterGirl:
I don’t have the underlying data either but can tell you that more is Beto. We were pretty much Republican’ed out due to voter suppression so I can only take this as encouraging. Now to only get them out come vote time.
WaterGirl
@Keith P.: There should be a trigger warning with that. Early Trump in a bathrobe in a “come hither” pose. Ugh.
Jacel
This Spring Trump threatened Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana) with revealing dirt (or bluffing that he had dirt). This sort of blackmail is nothing new for Trump’s public actions. But that should have been grounds for impeachment by itself.
WaterGirl
@Corner Stone: Beto has charisma, which helps a lot. What a relief to have that in a Democrat of substance instead of a soulless republican.
schrodingers_cat
What a sleazebag.
Jacel
@goblue72: Harris’s initial connection with Brown made me wary of her at first. But at each public position she’s reached since then, Harris has totally delivered on the responsibilities.
Walker
I used to be very reluctant to back pack-the-court arguments. But this whole incident shows the Supreme Court is a farce, so why the hell not?
germy
associated press:
JPL
@Juju: Trump mentioned Senators (plural) and one being a democrat. One is definitely Lindsay, but I want to know who is providing Trump with the information.
Sorry if this has been mentioned dozens of times. I just signed on
Tokyokie
@WaterGirl:
Historically, the group with the highest percentage of unregistered voters in Texas is Hispanics, especially those in South Texas. So any significant gains in voter registrations would likely come largely from those folks, who, I’m thinking, just might be a bit put out by the Trump administration slinging fellow Latinos, especially the children, into concentration camps. And the population numbers are such that a huge increase in Hispanic registrations and turnout, if they were to overwhelmingly favor the Democrats, could turn Texas California Blue. Trump’s border policies may have the same effect as Proposition 187 in California.
PAM Dirac
@Keith P.: Kind of looks like the Son of Sam killer.
hueyplong
@germy: That’s just Trump bragging that he can be a Class A prick without resorting to performance enhancers.
SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal
O/T. Will repost in an early evening open thread, but I know lots of people have been asking.
Good news, Jackals! I talked with efgoldman for 15-20 minutes this afternoon.
He is, as you would guess, an intensely private person, but he has authorised me to share the following:
He has been in hospital for a couple of weeks now, having had major surgery on both feet. He was lucky enough to find a vascular surgeon who specialises in saving limbs rather than removing them — so while he’s looking at months of healing and rehab, he still has his feet and all his toes, I gather.
He’s not sure just when he’ll be walking again; expects to be in hospital probably at least until Thanksgiving, but may be home for Christmas. He did say all his vital signs are surprisingly good; I told him he’s probably the only one of us whose blood pressure is normal and who’s sleeping well these days!
Unfortunately, he will not be on line for the duration, but is more than grateful that so many Balloon Juicers miss him, love him, and have been asking about him. I hope in the next day or two I can share his IRL name (it is not efg!) as well as hospital address, room number, direct phone, etc. (Thought I had the latter from the incoming call data, but it turns out to be a dummy number, so I’ll have to track him down through patient info.)
At any rate, he said he would love to hear from and even see Juicers, so as soon as I — or, more likely, a front-pager — posts the relevant information, do think about sending him a card, giving him a call, or paying him a visit if you’re in the Boston area.
I plan to talk with him once a week or so and will share news and jokes and curmudgeonliness.
Will refresh this post with name/addy/room/phone as soon as I can — later today if possible.
#fuckem
FlipYrWhig
I assumed the “compromising” whatever was Trump’s awareness of rumors that Cory Bookér is gay.
Emma
@kindness: Really? I don’t plan to lay down and die unless I’m taking an honor guard to hell. And there’s more of us than of them.
Brachiator
@PPCLI:
OOOOH. Nice burn on Kavanaugh!
Excellent points.
debit
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal: Thank you thank you thank you for the update!!
Ksmiami
@TenguPhule: as I’ve said before- we have the technology to win. First wipe out their communication tools, next drone their infrastructure into oblivion. Remember the North won the civil war because of the technology advantage- not their actual battle field prowess
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal: Wait his real name isn’t efGoldman? Now you’re going to tell me your real name isn’t Subaru Diane. Good to hear efg found a good doc and is improving. We jackals worry.
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal: Thank you so much for sharing the information with us, and I hope he recovers soon. We should all send cards.
Kelly
@Emma: More of the R’s are old and fat as well. It’s not a warrior manpower pool.
chopper
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal:
oh thank god for that, i know how important christmas is to him.
TenguPhule
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Not against each other. The thing about civil war is that both sides forces are in the kill zones.
Mnemosyne
@germy:
Huh. I wonder if everyone pointing out that Kavanaugh was raging like a drunk on a bender is penetrating Trump’s concrete skull. Though, since his brother was an alcoholic, Trump may recognize the signs from life.
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal: Thank you! We can mailbomb dear efg.
Find out if there are any particular kinds of books he likes, etc.
schrodingers_cat
@?BillinGlendaleCA: But I am really a cat with claws.
Radiumgirl
@Thoughtful David: You’re optimistic that it will ever turn around.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal: Relieved to hear that efg is alive and well, or at least alive and doing way better than he might have been with a different surgeon!
love to efg and family.
Suburu Diane, I’m not sure it’s safe to put all that info in the blog, but I don’t see any other way to share it.
Barbara
@Brachiator: Indeed. My understanding is that he insisted on getting DNA from one or more of Foster’s children to enable him to investigate some wild eyed theory about their parentage. Nothing that has happened to him comes close to matching the kind of personal trauma he inflicted on Vince Foster’s family.
Mnemosyne
@chopper:
He has two grandkids now, so Christmas is more of a big deal (and IIRC Mrs. efgoldman is a shiksa, so I thnk they do celebrate Christmas).
When G used to work for a home infusion pharmacy, the day that EVERYONE wanted to be released from the hospital for was Thanksgiving since that cuts across cultural/religious lines.
TenguPhule
@schrodingers_cat:
But the only way to be sure is to open the box.
schrodingers_cat
OT: I found this new trailer of the upcoming Aamir Khan and Amitabh starrer, Thugs of Hindostan. Looks like good campy fun with a mustache twirling British redcoat as a villain.
The Lodger
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal: Thanks for passing on the news about efg. Pass on our best wishes for a thorough recovery. (I would say speedy too, but he probably only gets to pick one of the two.)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
A hearty “fuck’em” to trump, Kavanaugh and their kind in honor of efgoldman
Mnemosyne
@Barbara:
Interesting that a dude who seems to be concealing nasty crimes in his past spent a big chunk of his career running around accusing the Clintons of concealing nasty crimes in their pasts. Conservative projection is real, y’all.
SFAW
@TenguPhule:
I’m old and really out of shape. If I remedy the second part of that, I might follow your lead.
If I remedy the first part, then I’ll probably end up rich enough to hire the help.
Tokyokie
@Mnemosyne:
For Trump to recognize the signs of anything in somebody else would require him to believe a world exists beyond his asshole.
JPL
@WaterGirl: I wonder if there’s another way, i.e. a frontpager could give it to recognizable posters. That’s asking a lot of a front pager though.
Another idea would be to have a post dedicated to efg and Badass can print it out and send it to him.
danielx
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
“Force of nature” gives him entirely too much credit. He’s a miserable, lying, sleazy bastard with a gift for bullshit.
Mary G
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal: Brava!
SFAW
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal:
Thanks very much for the update. I was worried
On the others-I-haven’t-seen-recently front: Have we heard from Yarrow? I think Adam was going to try to reach him, but I was incommunicado for a couple of days.
schrodingers_cat
FPer pls to halp, I ar in moderation.
debit
@JPL:
I like this. And perhaps the information could be emailed out on a per request basis, and only to known posters.
Mnemosyne
@Tokyokie:
Trump would notice when his brother showed up to family events drunk or got drunk in public, because it’s something that would affect him and make “the family” (ie himself) look bad. If he’s noticed that Kavanaugh appears to be an active alcoholic, those are the terms on which Trump would notice — This guy might reflect badly on me!
ed_finnerty
@Tehanu: 2008 was bigger – but it was banks not the government stealing
Mel
@Elizabelle: Thank you for that. I agree.
Teens and young adults were handing out “Vote!!” postcards in my neighborhood.
They hand made them, hand wrote the messages, and included a note about the Democratic candidate’s desire to make sure that everyone has access to truly affordable and comprehensive health care.
If these kids can get out there and fight for us, then we can’t give up fighting either. The time when it matters most is when things look most grim. That’s when it is expected that people will just become so worn out, feel so disenfranchised and fearful that we will start to weaken and crumble.
We can’t. We just can’t. This is the most important time to bring the pressure to bear: write opinion letters, knock on doors, call your representatives, htlp with a voter registration drive if you are able to do so, find a phone bank opportunity.
Even if you can make one call a day, or even two calls week, or send one postcard, or help one person register, or write one letter to your local paper, it WILL count.
If every BJ reader made just 10 outreach phone calls between now and midterms, or helped register 5 people to vote, think about the larger impact it could have, looked at cumulatively.
SFAW
@TenguPhule:
OK, if we slightly modify the terms (see above), are you OK with it? It has the added benefit of Shitgibbon getting closer (geographically) to his master’s domain.
cope
Since this is ostensibly an OT…come on, Cubs, rally and bring the tiniest bit of joy to this old man’s heart.
Elizabelle
@debit: That seems like a good way to go.
Do not put those five spurned ex-wives onto efg’s trail!
Tokyokie
@Mnemosyne: Agreed. But he wouldn’t notice anything amiss with Kavanaugh, just that whatever the hell he was doing was making his own glorious self look bad.
Mary G
DQ’d:
John Revolta
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal: Thanks for the update.
@Keith P.: Thanks for the nightmares. AAARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH
RedDirtGirl
@Mnemosyne: Sad to say, but Kavanaugh (and too many others) does not see what he did to Dr. Ford as criminal.
sdhays
@germy:
That’s…oddly self-aware.
Jeffro
@Brachiator: I’m still confused about how we can put a 1) lying, 2) extremely partisan, 3) shadow-financed person who is 4) credibly accused of sexual assault on the Supreme Court.
Or in simpler terms, this is a guy who lied about his drinking when asked in his job interview when asked about a likely sexual assault…and THEN asked one of the hiring panel members about her drinking. Uh uh, no way.
Brachiator
@goblue72:
Good points and good historical (and political) perspective on this.
Jeffro
@germy: @sdhays: Remember, he absolutely REVELS in being a ‘wrestling heel’, which is why he’s such a perfect instrument for the GOP’s ruinous agenda. He can do all these horrible things with a smirk and some catchy insult and never think twice about it. Just playin’ a role, after all…
gwangung
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal: Hurrah! Tell him to heal quickly and come on back!
raven
Back from the doc. I turns out it’s not vertigo, it’s an issue with seeing double with my peripheral vision. Headed to a neuro in the am for further diagnoses.
Mary G
Jeffro
@Mary G: DQ’d for this and other reasons…fresh faces plz Democrats!
dexwood
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal:
Thank you.
debit
@raven: Oh cripes.
Tokyokie
@cope: Well Joan’s kid just had a helluva an at-bat.
MoxieM
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal: A ray of goodness in all this squalor! Thank you!
TenguPhule
@SFAW: Acceptable compromise.
Tokyokie
@raven: Best of luck. Hope it isn’t as bad as it first sounds.
cope
Fuck…
trollhattan
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal:
Wow, thanks. That’s a whole lot of medical “fuckem” for one guy but sounds like he’s lined up with the right docs. Here’s hoping he’s up and literally kicking!
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@TenguPhule:
I imagine using at least tactical nuclear weapons in a civil war would be tempting. Could state governments seize these weapons? I can see it now:
Brachiator
@Jeffro:
Strictly speaking, it’s not “we,” it’s the Republicans.
Funny thing is, I bet some Republican senators are not too hot for Felonious K, and have other Federalist Society approved candidates ready to go. But they are furious that the Democrats would dare to defy them, and much like Kavanaugh himself, the GOP is not going to take “No” for an answer.
TenguPhule
Trump adds to confusion over scope of FBI investigation of Kavanaugh accusations
Is it a day ending in day?
TenguPhule
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
You mean the ones who’s maximum range is less then their kill radius?
This isn’t science fiction and we’re not fighting in outer space.
Chetan Murthy
@Mary G: So funny that he thinks the problem is Dr. Hill’s opinion of him (which also matters) rather than the opinion of his country[wo]men. He’s still Ol’ Handsome Joe Biden, but hell, he ain’t gonna be President.
trollhattan
@sdhays:
My thought as well. There’s at least a sliver of kabuki in Public Trump.
MisterForkbeard
@TenguPhule: Is this in the same article that parrots Trump’s “Republican Senators have treated Ford’s allegations very successfully” without any pushback? :)
trollhattan
@Mary G:
Adorbs!
Gravenstone
@sdhays: I was torn between it being actual self awareness, Or the latest in a long line of upsmanship that Trump engages in reflexively.
Luthe
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal: Perhaps you could have his family set up a PO Box for him. That way Juicers can send things, but neither his real name or address will be disclosed.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Chetan Murthy: VP Biden, Uncle Joe, Handsome Joe, Firebird Joe…. he ought to happily occupy the beloved elder statesman role. They are all much more likable personae than his actual Senate career.
Seeing a lot of RWers whining about Clarence Thomas in the twitters. I was thinking that the only Senators still in office from that era are Hatch, Grassley and Leahy. Am I missing anybody?
Dorothy A. Winsor
@raven: Good you got it checked out then. Hope it turns out to be trivial.
WaterGirl
@JPL: Both are excellent ideas!
TenguPhule
@MisterForkbeard:
They are very confused as to what Trump was saying about the FBI investigation.
Luthe
@Gravenstone: It’s neither. His brother was a drunk whose addiction did him in, so the Grandstanding Pumpkin became a teetotaler in response. He probably bases his assessment on what he would be like on his brother’s example.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@TenguPhule:
All I’m saying is it takes is one deranged, paranoid leader (Trump) to issue the orders.
And no comment on the chinese quoted? I put moderate amounts of effort into that!
Kay
Trump lies all the time. Odds are he’s lying.
If he isn’t lying (slim chance) he should say what he saw or shut up.
Remember when he said he had proof of the birth certificate? Or would release his tax returns? Those were both lies. Why is this different?
Gravenstone
@cope: You’re a Cubs fan, the cynicism should be baked in. I learned that very early in my fandom, watching them drop three straight to the Padres in ’84. Not that it really mattered because the Tigers were going to steamroll whoever came out of the NL that season.
RedDirtGirl
@Mary G: Boo Hoo, Uncle Joe!
Mnemosyne
@RedDirtGirl:
He doesn’t see it as criminal, but he is aware that other people think it’s criminal, or at least a bad thing to have done, so that’s why he’s telling a million ridiculous lies a minute to try and conceal the truth. It’s not because he feels guilty, it’s because he’s trying to avoid punishment. And that’s why he assumed that the Clintons were doing the same thing he is — conspiring with his friends to conceal the truth. After all, everyone (ie he and his friends) does it, so the Clintons had to be guilty, too.
Jeffro
@Brachiator: Good point about it not being “we” – I often call people on that myself, so it is fitting that it came back and bit me. =)
I have used the “go get another wingnut” argument with folks and it’s almost like they’d like to do that…but I guess their authoritarian mindset doesn’t allow them to defy their orange king, much less think for themselves. Hey, as long as those are the rules we’re all gonna play by going forward, that’s good to know. Justices Legend, Griffin, and Milano aren’t even close to being the left’s equivalent of Kavanaugh but it’ll still be a hoot to pack the court with them and then just keep on going. (As a practical matter, we probably ought to stop at 25-27 hard-left SCOTUS judges…the group pic starts getting out of hand at that point)
A Ghost To Most
@Luthe: Send it to Cole for remailing. I’m sure he’d be cool with it, especially if you address it IN ALL CAPS.
raven
@Gravenstone: The year I left Illinois, actually I watched them pitch to Garvey with 1st base open in a motel on the way to Georgia.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
cross your fingers, or spit through them, knock on wood, throw salt over your left shoulder, whatever you do for continued good luck
I think in most mid-term models, LV screens would favor Rs
raven
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Thanks, you pushed me over the edge on the decision!
Mandalay
Well there are a few possibilities:
– Dems take the House and Senate in November, and skewer Trump.
– Mueller already has the goods on Trump.
– Manafort, Cohen et al squeal about Trump to save themselves.
– Trump runs in 2020 and gets landslided.
– Support for Trump falls to a level where Republicans turn on him.
Each of those events is unlikely individually, but at least one of them coming true is far from improbable. And each of them would be a repudiation of Trump, and the the shit he has hurled in every direction.
smintheus
I did feel that Kavanaugh went too far when he threatened to burn down Senator Whitehouse’s crops once he’s installed on the Supreme Court. But on the other hand anyone would be angry if they were accused of doing something.
I’m hoping Brett will rethink his plan to raze Little Compton to the ground.
Mnemosyne
@Chetan Murthy:
There’s a reason that everyone’s favorite Biden quality was his recognition that Barack Obama was a far better man than he would ever be. Biden without that constant good influence is kind of a dick.
WaterGirl
@Mary G: Two immediate conflicting repossess from me.
1. oh, Joe, why did you have to go and say something that makes me think less of you.
2. I don’t see any names attached to those stories of things Joe ostensibly said, and it makes me wonder if someone is trying to eliminate the competition.
And I’ll had #3, I have always liked Joe Biden, but 75 is too old, And this would not be the year for you in any case because of #MeToo, even though I don’t think for a minute that joe has a lecherous bone in his body.
satby
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal: how wonderful that the news is good! Thanks so much, looking forward to sending a card!
JPL
@raven: Are you still having problems today? I hope that whatever is causing the problem is minor.
WaterGirl
@sdhays: He doesn’t believe that; what he said was his attempt at fake modesty.
Ruckus
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal:
Thank You!!
Have been worried about him, he’s not usually away for long. Glad things are doing better and looking up for efg.
cope
@Gravenstone: I am, it is. I’ve been a fan over 50+ years so it’s all good. I was just hoping for a tiny respite from the stew of sewage in which I find myself hopelessly foundering.
raven
@JPL: It’s the same, maybe less concerning because I have it isolated to peripheral vision as opposed to a vertigo that was not responding to the usual treatment.
schrodingers_cat
Yay is out of moderation at 123!
Ruckus
@raven:
Ahhh. Join the club. Not that you wanted to.
Good luck with the neuro dr,
raven
@Ruckus: So you got/had this?
WaterGirl
@raven: hoping ruckus just meant seeing a neuro doc.
Ladyraxterinok
@Mary G: ?!?!? Accept responsability for your actions, Joe. I’ve thought he had seen the light and that was one of the reasons he wrote/pushed the Violence Against Women Act!!
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
From you?
You know that shitgibbon doesn’t recognize anything from real life. Only the shit that floats around in his head and I’d bet that the inside of that orange melon looks like a smoldering caldron of bullshit and mirrors.
Aleta
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal: thanks !
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Juju:
Fiensten was seen a gay bay as Mayor of SF.
Mnemosyne
@Ruckus:
He recognizes a drunk in his orbit as someone who makes him look bad and must be shunned lest they damage his public image. Not at all the same thing as a normal person realizing that someone close to them has a drinking problem and needs help.
MomSense
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal:
Thank you so much!!
Mnemosyne
@Ruckus:
And, yes, narcissists are usually very good at identifying who in their life is a threat to them/their image (same thing) that must be eliminated.
feebog
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal:
Thanks for the update. And I think a “get well soon” post would be really amazing. Bet we could get over 500 comments in about three hours.
Ruckus
@raven:
It sounds like some of my vision issues, which may go along with several other neuro issues. They can be separate issues, the eyes sometimes do this kind of thing on their own or it can be connected to other neuro issues. I just got glasses that actual aren’t very strong but do help with the vision, sort of like aligning everything up. Haven’t worn glasses other than readers for what 25 yrs.
However. The current neuro guy at the VA is, what’s that word, fucking useless. He tells me there is nothing wrong with me, come back in 4 months so he can tell me the same thing again. I have no idea where to go from here because the other neuro doc I sometimes saw no longer works at the VA and the useless dude is now in charge of LA area neuro.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Oh, so this transparent bluff is Trump’s lame way of admitting there isn’t the votes?
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
I know.
But.
The caldron of bullshit and mirrors had popped into my head and I thought you might appreciate it. Only sees himself……..
raven
@Ruckus: Dang, I had my annual eye exam a week ago and all seemed well. I had shingles in my left eye 20+ years ago but I don’t thing that is related. I’ll just have to see what she says.
Ruckus
@raven:
I have other issues which I thought were all neuro but which may be related to my cancer treatment. They aren’t normal reactions to that but they do seem to happen occasionally.
And as I’m really not all that normal…….
Besides, what is normal anyway?
Ben Cisco
@Ruckus: Normal is a setting on a dryer. That’s it.
Miss Bianca
@germy: It’s so disconcerting when Trump shows something like the faintest glimmer of self-awareness.
Juju
@JPL: my guess is Fox News.
J R in WV
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal:
I figured he was in hospital, glad it’s for reconstructive surgery, hoping hard he will do well post-op and in rehab soon. Will send paper mail to him as soon as an address is available.
Will take up the task of setting out Fuck ‘Em as necessary, it just feels right!!
debbie
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal:
Thank you for sharing. I’ve missed his cranky posts more and more these days.
Miss Bianca
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal: Thank you, SDBJ, for this update! I think a special efg “get well from all the jackals” post would be awesome!
Uncle Cosmo
@Jeffro: Bingo.
I find myself wanting to buttonhole the next fundie who comes down the street & say to him/her, If the Antichrist were to show up on Earth oe day & not do a thing to disguise his personality or behavior, wouldn’t he act exactly like Trump? But I guess hey’d be OK with it since it’d be bringing along the End Times – & it would never occur to them that their MAGA hats won’t get them into Heaven anymore…
Mandalay
@WaterGirl:
Agreed. And if he ran and won he’d be 78 when he became president!
No thank you.
debbie
@JPL:
He doesn’t care about Lindsay. He’s blackmailing someone to try and get their vote. It would have to be someone who’s already said no or is known to be wavering or sitting on the fence.
This president is fucking BLACKMAILING an elected official. All Putin ass kissing aside, this is the real collusion/obstruction.
Someone (Senator Schiff, Harris, etc.) step up and challenge him on this STAT.
debbie
@raven:
Glad you got it checked and a referral. Be sure to tell them how fucking hot it was at the game.
J R in WV
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal:
I like the idea of a post office box for E. F. Goldman, PO Box nnnnn, and then someone sends his real llfe family a box of mail. Books, letters, scathing FUs to republicans, etc. etc.
J R in WV
@Mary G:
Later in that twit thread was a GIF of a cat on a guy’s fridge, pouncing him on the head rapidly with one paw, no claws. We used to have a black cat we named Jezabel who most mornings would jump up onto the fridge and whoever was first into the kitchen would get pounced on the head from the top of the fridge. No claws, just a big pounce, then dive behind the fridge.
She was a wonderful cat, our first of so many great cats. Pounced hard!!!
Manyakitty
@Ruckus: Can/will they refer you to a neuro-ophthalmologist?
minachica
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal: Oh thanks for checking. As a chronic worrier, I was imagining the worst. And I so want efg to be able to enjoy his grandkids for as long as possible.
And even though I’m such an infrequent commenter that lurker might be a better descriptor for me, I would like the chance to send him well wishes if possible.
Bobby Thomson
@Citizen_X: raise you five that it was pulled completely out of his ass like the proof that Obama’s birth certificate was fake.
Bobby Thomson
@debbie: Adam Schiff is a representative (CA-26).
Bobby Thomson
@WaterGirl: Joe is notoriously handsy. And he continues not to get it. If he runs he won’t make it past South Carolina, if that far.
WaterGirl
@Bobby Thomson: I disagree with handsy as in icky. He’s a toucher and a hugger by nature and doesn’t seem to change his ways, even now.
But elder statesman is a much better way to follow his excellent vice presidency – much better for the history books, too, than failed presidential candidate, again.
Amir Khalid
@SiubhanDuinne, Badass Jackal:
Glad to know efg is recovering. I’m not surprised that he’s not really an efgoldman; after all, jackals like me who comment under their real names are the exception.
Ruckus
@Ben Cisco:
First laugh of the week!
Ruckus
@Manyakitty:
The eye people are very good. They have helped and due to the rate of change they examine me every yr and have been for 3 yrs now. What the neuro side is willing to do is basically nothing. We are now going through testing for heavy metals, which it turns out aren’t there. I’ve now been back to the same neuro doc for a year and a half and he says there is nothing wrong with me, come back in 4-5 months. Why come back if there is nothing? I really don’t feel like it’s worth going any more.
BTW if anyone wonders how the government is doing, if the VA is any indication, it’s not fucking good. My primary retired over 6 months ago, and there is no replacement. A primary is the first person you see if you have an issue other than an emergency. The primary is who sends you to clinics, like cardio or neuro. You get assigned to a primary and if you don’t have one you have to show up and just wait for an open time. One can wait all day without being seen, you aren’t the only patient. I understand that there are nationwide about 40,000 open jobs at the VA alone that are not being filled. This didn’t start with the shitgibbon, but I’ve had employees tell me that the VA changed dramatically for the better starting in 2009-2010 and I’ve noticed that it was becoming a lot more professional since. I don’t see that continuing, I see it sliding backwards. Maybe I’m biased but this is how conservatives do this. They fuck up all levels, workers leave and aren’t replaced, workers that stay get discouraged, there is more to do than can be done and service gets far worse. I’d bet it’s not just the VA, but every service provider in the government, except ICE, which they fund by stealing from other departments.
This is all our government. Conservatives don’t own it, and don’t get to make money off of acting like it. Or at least they shouldn’t.