Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Let’s finish the job.

White supremacy is terrorism.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

You cannot shame the shameless.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Not all heroes wear capes.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

He really is that stupid.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2018 / Friday Morning Open Thread: Shrike

Friday Morning Open Thread: Shrike

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Not just Mr. Pierce’s blog, either. Gonna be a long weekend, and not just because the Repub miscreants get to scamper away for an extra Monday…


 
Everybody buckle in, buckle down…

Reader Interactions

150Comments

  6. 6.

    OzarkHillbilly

    San Francisco police exclusively targeted black residents during undercover drug arrests as part of a pattern of racial profiling, according to a new lawsuit.

    Police in the California city, where only 6% of the population is black, worked with federal authorities to arrest 37 people, all of whom were black, for selling small amounts of drugs, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California said in a complaint announced Thursday. During the operations, one undercover officer was caught on camera declining to buy drugs from an Asian woman and waiting to buy from a black woman, who was later prosecuted.
    …………………
    A federal public defender representing some of the accused people later argued in court that the police department had singled out black people, leading a district judge to conclude there was “substantial evidence suggestive of racially selective enforcement”.

    By then, however, many of the defendants had already pleaded guilty.

    The federal prosecutors, who were pursuing charges with one-year mandatory minimum sentences and potentially stiffer sentences, opposed attorneys’ efforts to uncover further evidence about the operations and eventually dismissed the remaining cases.

  9. 9.

    Cermet

    Love the new “Animal Spirit” for the blog; however, do we now refer to everyone as an angry bird, now? Or is Jackal still ok?

  10. 10.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Beetlejuice mocks ‘Shortseller Enrichment Commission’ after SEC settlement

    Tesla’s CEO mocked the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, hours after a federal judge ordered him and the regulator to justify their settlement of securities fraud charges.

    “Just want to that the Shortseller Enrichment Commission is doing incredible work,” Beetlejuice, a frequent critic of investors betting against the electric car company, wrote on Twitter. “And the name change is so on point!“

    Shares of Tesla closed down 4.4% at $281.83, and fell another 2.2% after market hours following Beetlejuice’s tweet.

    The settlement last Saturday was intended to resolve charges that Beetlejuice misled investors in tweets on 7 August, including that there was “funding secured” to take his Palo Alto, California-based company private at $420 a share. Beetlejuice agreed to pay a $20m fine and step aside as Tesla’s chairman for three years. Tesla also accepted a $20m fine, despite not being charged with fraud.

    Beetlejuice’s latest tweet came less than four hours after the US district judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan ordered him and the SEC to explain by 11 October in a joint letter why their settlement was fair and reasonable and would not hurt the public interest. The judge said it was her regular practice to request such letters.

    Nathan “may want to know why Tesla is paying a fine because the CEO doesn’t know when to shut up”, said Adam Pritchard, a University of Michigan law professor and former SEC lawyer.

    For somebody who despises shortsellers so much, he sure seems to be doing everything he can to fill their pockets.

  11. 11.

    Amir Khalid

    The bird is not propelling itself through the air by the force of its anger.* It is of course merely resting briefly between wingstrokes, to conserve energy during flight as many birds do.

    *Nice story, though.

  12. 12.

    OzarkHillbilly

    A Pakistani ice-cream salesman who lives in a slum is facing meltdown after he learned that for more than a year he was the unwitting owner of a bank account containing 2.3bn rupees (£14m). Officials from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) brought Muhammad Abdul Qadir in for questioning about the fortune last month as they investigated a massive money-laundering scam involving dozens of fake bank accounts.

    “I am the most unlucky man in the world,” the 52-year-old said in a television interview. “When I came to know about [the huge sum], it was no longer there.” Outside his tiny home in the Organi slum of the port city of Karachi, Qadir told the Guardian that becoming a “penniless billionaire” had turned his life upside down.
    ………………….
    The FIA came to accept that Qadir was not involved after he repeatedly told them that, although the account was set up using a valid copy of his identity card, he had no idea of its existence and could not have signed the 2.3bn rupee transaction for one simple reason: he is unable to write. Brought in for a second interview on 19 September, the distraught vendor invited sceptical officials to inspect the condition of his home. “Why would I be spending this miserable life if I have billions in my account?” he said.

    The affair has only further impoverished Qadir. While he used to make £3 per day selling ice-cream, the father of two has been unable to return to work since his story spread through the neighbourhood. “People started taunting me by saying, ‘Look a billionaire is selling falooda [an ice-cream topped desert].’” His mother feared rumours of fabulous wealth might incite kidnappers and advised him to stay at home, he added to the Guardian, on the verge of tears.

    “I wish my friend had left his cart behind and become a billionaire for real,” said Shaheryar, who sells chickpeas nearby. “Alas it is not the case.”

    Some people have all the luck.

  13. 13.

    Platonailedit

    In a slap in the face to the totus thug of a rapist and his rapists party, Nobel peace prize goes to anti-rape activists.

  18. 18.

    p.a.

    Aren’t shrikes the bird that impales its catch on thorns, barbed wire etc for later consumption? Totally believe it’s powered by anger…

  20. 20.

    SFAW

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    They say great minds think alike. But mine’s only mediocre.

    Which explains you and me.

    On those days when my mind is “punching WAAAAY above its weight.”

  22. 22.

    SFAW

    @p.a.:

    Aren’t shrikes the bird that impales its catch on thorns, barbed wire etc for later consumption?

    The Shrike is its own set of thorns and barbed wire

  24. 24.

    Matt McIrvin

    @OzarkHillbilly: The guy is well on his way to the stage of letting his fingernails grow out, wearing Kleenex boxes on his feet and watching “Ice Station Zebra” over and over.

  28. 28.

    Anne Laurie

    @p.a.:

    Aren’t shrikes the bird that impales its catch on thorns, barbed wire etc for later consumption? Totally believe it’s powered by anger…

    Yeppers! They kill their prey by striking them in the head, then “because they lack the powerful talons of other carnivorous birds”, impale their victims so they can tear them apart. An inspiration for Democrats who, lacking the general GOP lack of ethics, need to find other methods of taking those preverts out?

  30. 30.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Hmmm… Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf resort suffers disappointing profits

    Donald Trump’s luxury golf resort at Turnberry in Scotland earned much less than forecast last year, suggesting the repeated controversies about his conduct may have dented its popularity.

    Trump Turnberry’s last accounts show the luxury hotel and golf resort in Ayrshire had an income of £15.2m in 2017 because its takings jumped after he spent more than £100m refurbishing its buildings and courses, and with rooms available at a steep discount.

    In January last year, Turnberry’s general manager, Ralph Porciani, told the Guardian he expected 2017 to be the best-performing in the hotel’s history – more than a century – by beating its previous record takings of £16.2m in 2007 by 15% to 20%.

    Standard trump business result, right? But then there is this little mackerel buried in the article:

    Its sales grew by 70% chiefly because it was not affected by any closures during 2017 from the remodelling of its golf courses and refurbishment of the hotel.
    …………………..
    The SLC Turnberry accounts for 2017 also show that resort still owes President Trump’s trust in New York £107m in loans for its major overhaul and refurbishment, which included the construction of an ornate ballroom at the hotel.

    Its losses, which included claims that the value of its buildings and assets fell by £2.3m last year, meant it got a tax rebate of £96,000.

    So they invested £107M but their assets are now worth £2.3M less? Stinks of some pretty Creative Accounting to me.

  33. 33.

    magurakurin

    @Matt McIrvin: that’s what I think, too. Elon’s not gonna make it long enough to see his glorious Mars Base. He’s gonna be in the padded room sooner than later.

  35. 35.

    Thoughtful David

    @satby:
    After the FTFNYT article on Trump’s tax fraud, I was wondering if other countries are going to start checking him closely. In which case they’ll find all kinds of fraud. In fact, I wonder why they aren’t already doing it? Or maybe they have, and now he’s being blackmailed by not only the Russians but also every other country where he’s ever done business?

  38. 38.

    Kay

    Our candidate for state senate called me yesterday to complain about a local Dem activist. I don’t like the activist but I don’t like the candidate that much either – I haven’t paid any attention to her race because there’s a candidate for the lower chamber of the statehouse in this district who is genuinely talented and that’s just much more interesting. So the Dem activist went to some kind of forum where the candidate and the incumbent (her opponent) were speaking on issues. The activist filmed the event on his phone and then sent the candidate the video. She thought he was too aggressive and obtrusive at the event. Almost immediately after she called he showed up at the office so he must have known she would complain about him- maybe she told him. By the time he arrived to tell his side he had sent the video to the local newspaper, along with suggestions on which parts to pull out and highlight and he’s one of those “Democrats don’t know how to fight” people so I got to hear about that again. I may well be reading this into the dispute because I’ve been thinking a lot about men and women and control and power, but my sense talking to her was that’s the subtext- he doesn’t know she resents this because she sees it as controlling. Or she just doesn’t like him. The activist and I have a mutual friend so I may call him and ask him to back off the overenthusiastic volunteer, because it will be taken better coming from a friend. Maybe.

  40. 40.

    donnah

    Upon seeing the video of Trump boarding AF One with toilet paper stuck to his heel, Dan Savage tweeted, “That’s not toilet paper, that’s the Constitution”.

  45. 45.

    satby

    @Kay: a friend who wasn’t otherwise involved? No, it probably won’t be taken better that way. I think sharing your insight about the male-female control issues might be more helpful, since they both came to you to tell their stories. They involved you, so you have standing.

  48. 48.

    Elizabelle

    Good morning. Put this up on the previous thread, but it fits here too:

    Has it occurred to you guys that the second purpose of Kavanaugh’s WJS op ed is saving his day job? Do you think the DC Court of Appeals relishes having someone of Kavanaugh Kaliber — partisan, sneering, dismissive, dissembling, dishonest — as one of their judges?

    I don’t think McConnell has the votes. I think women and other resisters are flooding all the Senators’ offices with contact. I think some of them realize the tiger they were trying to ride is actually a hornet’s nest that a more decent class of people would have had the sense not to kick.

  49. 49.

    Elizabelle

    I don’t watch cable news.

    Have you all been informed that there is a 24/7 Peoples Filibuster taking place on the U.S. Capitol lawn, side that faces the Supreme Court?

    Walked into it last night. Bernie Sanders was just finishing his speech (I shook his hand and thanked him as he walked past). Then Jeff Merkley. Then Richard Blumenthal. Then Elizabeth Warren. Then the woman who leads NARAL. And more speakers from the womens’ rights sector. And a great young woman emceed; she works for Brian Fannon and quipped in introducing him that he could tell them how many times she brought up “beer” during her job interview.

    Is cable reporting on that? Because it was marvelous. And there were a lot of TV cameras there. Off to check if C-Span put up a feed…

    ETA: Yea for the edit button! Welcome, esteemed button.

  50. 50.

    Jeffro

    Hey, this deserves to ‘go viral’, as the kids say: I Am An Independent, Impartial Scorpion

    And I promise I won’t sting that frog, either!

    I was deeply honored to stand on the river bank July 9 with my scorpion wife to explain to you our plan to travel by frog to the other side of the river.

    That night, I told all frogs who I am and what I believe. I talked about my 28-year career as a scorpion, almost all of which have been more or less stinger-free, frogwise. I talked about my 12 years on this side of the river, often called the second most important side in the whole river, and my five years living in a desert burrow, eating spiders and lizards but never amphibians. I talked about my long record of not eating frogs—a majority of the frogs on this side of the river are uneaten—and, after a clarifying discussion of what, if anything, it said in the rulebook about scorpions, as a longtime coach of girls’ basketball teams.

    As I explained that night, a good scorpion must be a passenger—a neutral and impartial rider who abstains from injecting a fatal dose of neurotoxins into anyone else who is helping him or her keep from drowning. Scorpions do not sting frogs to reach a preferred result. Scorpions sting frogs because their nature compels them to. (Except when that scorpion is me, I assure you.) Over the past 12 years, I have sometimes stung flies and sometimes stung spiders, sometimes stung lizards and sometimes stung owls, sometimes stung mice and sometimes stung cats. One time I stung a toddler! In each case, I have made my own decisions, rather than obeying the unceasing demands of my unchangable scorpion nature. I do not decide whether or not to sting things based on personal or policy preferences. I am not a pro-scorpion scorpion or pro-frog scorpion. I am a pro-crossing-the-river scorpion.

    Petri-worthy!

  51. 51.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I don’t mind people who say you have to fight. I agree with that, for several reasons. But if you’re going to be that person then you can’t get mad when you fight and lose because this is endless- there’s no defined end point- so “they didn’t fight” turns into an excuse for losing. I’ve actually started to question all the fighting/war/sports team comparisons. I’m sick of those. I want new comparisons.

  54. 54.

    Baud

    @Kay: IMHO, almost everyone who says we have to fight says it precisely so they can attack Dems for losing (“You didn’t fight hard enough!”). As a corollary to that, if the Dems fight and win, then the fight immediately goes down the memory hole, and Dems return to their feckless status quo.

  55. 55.

    Baud

    @Elizabelle: I don’t usually watch cable news either. Today show covered the protest in the Senate office building, but I didn’t see reporting about the rally.

  56. 56.

    Kay

    @Jeffro:

    I’m pleased people are making fun of him. It’s a kind of justice for Ford – they’re laughing at him.

    If he gets away with this it will really be a new low. Unfuckingbelievable. He gave the defining speech of his career – his chance to present his case, not a moment of anger but a prepared speech with a whole fucking team assisting him- and now wants to RETRACT it. Demands we pretend we didn’t hear it and instead substitute this other speech, the one he didn’t give. He gets both- the campaign speech to rile up and his base AND the “I’m actually a judge” speech. And he gets them in the order he needs them- rile up the base and then appeal to normal people. They could teach this in school under “privilege, special favors”

  57. 57.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    Except they end up fighting each other instead of the other side. “Let us damage ourselves and save you the trouble, sirs.”

  58. 58.

    Jeffro

    @Elizabelle:

    I think women and other resisters are flooding all the Senators’ offices with contact. I think some of them realize the tiger they were trying to ride is actually a hornet’s nest that a more decent class of people would have had the sense not to kick.

    so. very. THIS

    Contrary to some of the media spin, I think it’s the GOP that blew it here – they tried to turn it into a partisan food fight, a ‘both-sides’ thing, but there are just too many angry folks on our side getting even angrier, for all the right reasons.

    Heitkamp is a hero, too.

  59. 59.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay:

    But if you’re going to be that person then you can’t get mad when you fight and lose

    What I dislike, and most of us have been at least a little guilty of this at some point in time, is the retort that somebody “didn’t fight the right way”, you know, “the way I would have fought if I had been doing the fighting as I should have been and I would have told them how to fight if they’d only asked me and this is what they did wrong as I could have told them before they did it and totally would have if only they’d asked but I didn’t say anything before because…. reasons.”

    ETA: and all too often they think their way was the right way without any evidence that it would have been anymore successful

  62. 62.

    Jeffro

    @Kay:

    He gave the defining speech of his career – his chance to present his case, not a moment of anger but a prepared speech with a whole fucking team assisting him- and now wants to RETRACT it. Demands we pretend we didn’t hear it and instead substitute this other speech, the one he didn’t give. He gets both- the campaign speech to rile up and his base AND the “I’m actually a judge” speech. And he gets them in the order he needs them- rile up the base and then appeal to normal people. They could teach this in school under “privilege, special favors”

    Spot-on, Kay. An outrage on top on an outrage, with a side order of outrage. “BK: a case study in how privilege works…and works…and works.”

  63. 63.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Open thread so whining about unrelated matter: Amazon has a preposterously long delivery time for the ppb version of The Wind Reader–1-2 months. I swear they don’t want to sell books. Or at least not those from small presses. My editor says if people order direction from them (Inspired Quill), the book will be delivered in under 2 weeks and IQ is in the UK. It makes me crazy.

  65. 65.

    Kay

    @satby:

    Thanks- I usually wait a bit and then act because my first idea is often… not good. Which is part of why I have so little sympathy for Kavanaugh. I get caught up in my work. I get invested. So what I have learned is I draft and then wait a day and revisit and I almost always revise, tone it down. But I do it BEFORE. I don’t deliver the fucking tirade and then ask for a do-over. Because I have to live with my mistakes.

  68. 68.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @debbie: No kidding. Plus, I have Prime so I don’t pay shipping if I get a book from there, but I do if I order from a publisher. The publishers like it though. They have to pay Amazon a cut, which they get to keep if you order from them.

  71. 71.

    FlipYrWhig

    @Kay:

    But if you’re going to be that person then you can’t get mad when you fight and lose because this is endless- there’s no defined end point- so “they didn’t fight” turns into an excuse for losing.

    I feel like these people have massive overlap with people who “like to argue.” Frankly I think the whole thing is an exercise in non-jock male ego. The subtext is “we should be kicking ass wicked hard WITH WORDS.” And you can “win” an argument in life and still get zero of what you want, because there’s no judge to declare you the victor and compliment your toughness. Fake-tough is one of the worst kinds of performatively tough.

  72. 72.

    chopper

    If Repubs really believe:

    A. Oppo to Kavanaugh is getting their base angry & ready to vote, &

    B. They have the votes to confirm him,

    …he wouldn’t be pleading in the WSJ, & they’d wait until the week before the election to confirm

    there is a third option; there’s some more shit in kavvy’s background that could come out in those weeks that would be even worse. or a fourth option D, there’s a decision coming up right now that the GOP wants him on the court for today.

    personally, i do think the GOP is full of shit on A.

  73. 73.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay:

    Because I have to live with my mistakes.

    And that’s what sets us apart from our financial betters.

  74. 74.

    germy

    Every Lindsey “Stinkball” Graham profile goes back to him giving debasing performances for the benefit of drunks in childhood to try to explain what the hell he’s doing now.
    — Schooley (@Rschooley) October 5, 2018

  75. 75.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    The sociopaths haven’t changed. The pushback has. We have

    I can’t argue against that. The GOP leadership seems desperate and confused and trying to hide it with all the bluster.

    Something to add to the list, apparently a recession has due to the housing bumbled collapsing, again, has started but will only show up with the rest of us 2019 according to a friend of my who does economic analyst for a bank. So the GOP is looking at a repeat of the 2006-7, except this time with Donald the idiot as their front man.

  76. 76.

    Tony Jay

    @Jeffro:

    It’s suddenly occured to me after reading some of the comments here that it’s – entirely – possible that a fairly large number of Republican Senators, while happy to say they are firm Yes votes and vote that way right up until it actually matters – really, really, really do not want Rapey-K on the Supreme Court.

    They know they can get another Federal Society loon on the Court who’ll do everything their donors demand without all of this completely self-mutilating drama. Manchin and the others would barrel their way through a parade full of protestors for that opportunity. But here they are, slicing the masks from their shiny, white faces with blunt knives, all to preserve and protect an entitled dimwit because he’s promised the worst president in American history that he’ll defend him from treason charges.

    They all know which way the winds are blowing, and what voting through rapey-K would mean for them and their Party in the long term. Is it so hard to believe that McConnell is having difficulty getting to 50 because he’s really having difficulty getting much more than 40 solid Yes votes as various GOP Senators duck and dive and douse themselves in slippery butter, all the better to avoid being the guy or gal who gets left holding the bag of moist elephant turds when the music stops?

  78. 78.

    germy

    Paul Tweedy’s shrike tweet is amusing, but have you look at the rest of his tweets? He seems to be a real Hillary hating asshole.

  79. 79.

    Steve in the ATL

    @debbie:

    Even two weeks seems too long. What happened to the Just in Time Principle?

    It’s alive and well and called the “Kindle”

  80. 80.

    Steve in the ATL

    @A Ghost To Most: in defense of the very few actual Christians I know, those people are better described as Christianists as they call themselves Christians not do not follow the teachings of the Christ.

  81. 81.

    Jeffro

    @Tony Jay:

    [Republican Senators] know they can get another Federal Society loon on the Court who’ll do everything their donors demand without all of this completely self-mutilating drama. Manchin and the others would barrel their way through a parade full of protestors for that opportunity. But here they are, slicing the masks from their shiny, white faces with blunt knives, all to preserve and protect an entitled dimwit because he’s promised the worst president in American history that he’ll defend him from treason charges.

    Exactly! This is why it’s important to call these clowns and ask them…and/or ask the media to ask them…why not just #NominateAnotherWingnut? Is it THAT hard to drop the lying, hyper-partisan, sexual assault artist? Just go get crazy Amy Coney Barrett or whatever her name is…Hardiman or whomever…but Kavanaugh is so radioactive that the GOP majority can’t even get behind him. I don’t want to see Barrett or Hardiman up there on SCOTUS, but hey, it’s their WH and their Senate majority…they can put up whomever they can live with. BK, they can’t even live with, apparently.

  82. 82.

    ixnay

    @Amir Khalid: tOf course, but how many birds look as po’d as that shrike while doing it? Gives a whole new dimension to “resting b**ch face.”

  83. 83.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Kay:

    I’ve actually started to question all the fighting/war/sports team comparisons. I’m sick of those. I want new comparisons.

    Suzette Haden Elgin (author, Ozark native, and Ph.D. in Linguistics) was a proponent of using carpentry metaphors instead of combat metaphors:

    “hammering out an agreement”
    “building a stronger case”
    “on the square and on the level” [h/t Alain]

    She noted that carpentry metaphors allow for a language of collaboration.

    Google has a bunch of links, including a reference to one of her books: How to Disagree Without Being Disagreeable.

  84. 84.

    H.E.Wolf

    @A Ghost To Most:

    Fuck christian fascists.

    This, by contrast, is a rape metaphor.

    “Fuck”, as an imperative verb, implies a lack of choice for the recipient of the action.

    ETA: Joining in the chorus of thanks for the return of the edit function!

  85. 85.

    Tony Jay

    @Jeffro:

    I can sort of see the pickle they’ve dropped themselves in here, though I don’t have an ounce of sympathy. By going all in to defend Rapey-K they’ve wrapped themselves in the bloody red banner of MRA/Incel/Men’sLivesMatter victimhood and that is definitely – not – a good look.

    The MSM are doing their best to frame this for them as a purely ‘partisan’ issue, but an inch beneath the surface of that coverage lies the reality of what the issue is that the Parties are divided on. Briefly, one Party supports the right of women not to be attacked, abused, degraded, ignored, and generally treated as the property of any passing white male, while the other Party stands athwart history with its flies open, beer bottle in hand, yelling “Respect The Cock!”

    That’s not a sustainable political model. IMHO

  86. 86.

    Elizabelle

    @Jeffro: I don’t want to see another Trump nominee to the Supreme Court before the Mueller case makes it way completely through our courts.

    Trump is welcome to nominate Merrick Garland. Otherwise, no more Trump “justices.”

    Trump did not win the popular vote. The Senators who voted approve Gorsuch’s nomination received over 20 million fewer votes than did the lesser number of Senators who opposed Gorsuch.

    This is tyranny of the minority. It has to stop.

    Another reason to allow no further Trump USSC justices: very soon, we need to deal with the implications of the Electoral College. It needs to go.

    Kavanaugh’s confirmation would actually dangerously destablize the Supreme Court as an institution. Do you think most of the current USSC justices are rooting for Kavanaugh? I do not.

  87. 87.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Jeffro:

    Is it THAT hard to drop the lying, hyper-partisan, sexual assault artist?

    I suggest you think about this from a different context. Suppose that instead of a devious political mastermind, McConnell is a cranky old racist asshole much like his voters. Add in that not only was a black man elected president, but that black man repeatedly defeated McConnell in contests of wit and will. I believe you will find that much of the last ten years makes more sense. In this case, it is unacceptably offensive to have Democrats win, not push through whoever McConnell wants simply because he can, be shown up by a woman, and see a good man be denied his birthright because of a trivial pecadillo like rape.

  88. 88.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Elizabelle:

    Do you think most of the current USSC justices are rooting for Kavanaugh?

    Pretty sure Roberts is piling prayer upon prayer that BK doesn’t make it. He is very much concerned with how his precious institution is viewed by the masses.

  90. 90.

    Brachiator

    November 6th is our day

    I’m not sure when voter registration ends, but it’s officially Voting Time.

    In California and other states, mail in voting starts Monday. Every day between now and November is time to fire people up.

    E

  91. 91.

    satby

    @Kay: most of us can be hot right off the presses, so a cool off and reassess is always good. But both came to you, that tells me they want you on their side, or at least your approval for their actions. I think your insight about control as it’s experienced by females when males aggressively push their view is really relevant here, and considering the larger environment, timely. You can deliver that better than someone who didn’t have that insight into the dynamics.

  92. 92.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Elizabelle: Gorsuch, Alito, and Thomas are, because they are unapologetic partisan operatives like Kavanaugh. Roberts is too, but he’s Chief Justice and he still fantasizes that his court won’t be viewed by history as one of the reasons that that the USA collapsed (along with Reagan, Gingrich, and McConnell).

  94. 94.

    Amir Khalid

    @ixnay:
    Birds of prey always look pissed off. It scares the crap out of their prey so they can’t put up a fight.

  95. 95.

    terraformert

    “Nov. 6 is our day”

    Yes, assuming the election isn’t stolen (again). While we already know that a takeover of the House and/or (pray FSM) the Senate will be blamed on Chinese interference or whatever, what are we going to do if that Blue Wave doesn’t happen?

    I know I keep posting about this in various threads, and I hope I’m wrong. But damn, they’ve stolen at least 2 national elections in the past 18 years, and who knows how many state-level elections. And we still don’t have any verifiable election results trail to scrutinize. I’m worried about this, as all these old, white, misanthropic men know their base is declining, and they’ve already shown they’ll go to any length to maintain power.

  96. 96.

    Jeffro

    @Tony Jay:

    The MSM are doing their best to frame this for them as a purely ‘partisan’ issue, but an inch beneath the surface of that coverage lies the reality of what the issue is that the Parties are divided on.

    Yup. Would love to see some more stories about why several GOP Senators are so conflicted – if it’s just a partisan food fight, why are a half-dozen folks on their side so angsty about BK. Well, MSM, it’s ’cause the guy is a pretty slimy, hyper-partisan, liar. Why aren’t MORE of the GOP Senators conflicted? There’s another story right there…

  97. 97.

    hueyplong

    @Amir Khalid: Sort of like what Grassley and Graham are doing (poorly), hoping their vein-popping tirades keep Dems and wavering GOPers from putting up a fight.

    In a way, I’m glad Graham has decided to go out in a manner that more accurately portrays his career narrative.

  98. 98.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Amir Khalid:
    Certain facial traits, for example binocular, focused eyes with a heavy brow to ward off sun glare, are common in predators because they’re good for hunting. Humans tend to arrange our faces in that style when we perform violence, to pick up some of the advantages. Therefor, because of convergent evolution, most predators look pissed off to humans, especially when they’re hunting.

    (I am totally bullshitting, but I’d put at least 50/50 what I just said is true because behavioral evolution so commonly works like that.)

  100. 100.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Elizabelle: Maybe if a Senator calls them. They try to distance themselves as much as possible from the politics of the moment.

    @Steve in the ATL: He is very much a slave to perception and plausible deniability, but credit where credit is due: He upheld the ACA citing a constitutional clause that wasn’t even argued.

  101. 101.

    Shakti

    @Elizabelle: Not sure.

    The only justices who might root for Kavanaugh as a person are Thomas, because Kavanaugh makes him look like a well tempered angel, and Gorsuch, because they went to the same prep school within two years of each other.

    I don’t see “unlikely aisle crossing friendships” happening with this guy, for obvious reasons. [Scalia and RGB went on vacation together.]

    The conservative judges probably would welcome someone else who’d rule on cases like they would.

  102. 102.

    Jeffro

    @Elizabelle: I do agree with you. When I say #NominateAnotherWingnut, that’s my argument to the various RWNJs in my life and on social media: why not just get some Federalist Society nut without the sexual assault history, hyper-partisanship, and lying. It’s not what I actually want to happen. It’s me trying to cause them some cognitive dissonance. Sorry for not making that very clear. But I’m totally with you on ‘Garland or bust’ (perhaps ‘Garland or someone even left-er’ =)

    As for the Electoral College, I completely agree, it absolutely must go. I’m actually ok with the Senate going as well, or at least no longer voting on legislation, and being required (by constitutional amendment if need be) to give presidential nominations a hearing within X days of the nomination and an up-or-down floor vote within Y days after that. Expand and un-gerrymander the House as well. It’s all part of a package and I hope the Dems fight like hell to get it all accomplished a.s.a.p.

  105. 105.

    Spanky

    You would maybe think that Senators might pay attention to this:

    Retired Justice Stevens calls Kavanaugh’s hearing performance disqualifying

    Sadly, no!

    (EAT ETA: And I can edit! Neener, neener.)

  108. 108.

    Gin & Tonic

    Well, I lied about the edit. Sometimes it’s there for my comments, sometimes it’s there for somebody else’s, sometimes it’s not there at all.

  109. 109.

    Tony Jay

    @Jeffro:

    Why aren’t MORE of the GOP Senators conflicted? There’s another story right there…

    Because the savvy boys and girls of the MSM already know the answer. The GOP runs on hate, resentment and victimhood with funding by greed, corruption and entitlement, so neither their Base nor their Funders give a single solitary shit about Rapey-K’s guilt except insofar as it gives them jollies to see Liberals so angry about it.

    And IOKIYAR, always and forever.

  115. 115.

    bemused

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Right. Kav was not smart enough and exhibited no self-control. He had to go openly blab his far right partisanship. He was supposed to exude a pretense of calm, judicious temperament and fairness in judging cases before the SC.

  117. 117.

    Leto

    Mitch McConnel speaking. Can’t even begin to put into words how much I hate him. I hope his headstone is forever spray painted with, “Merrick. Fucking. Garland.” Any time it is replaced, mark it again. From here till the end of time. An unmarked paupers grave would be better, but put the truth on his headstone. Fucking turtle.

  118. 118.

    Dirk Reinecke

    If you look up devil’s triangle on the urban dictionary, most of the top entries are making fun of Kavanaugh

  119. 119.

    mali muso

    Still obsessing over the disaster zone that was my childhood stomping grounds (Palu, Indonesia). One week since the earthquake and tsunami, and the government still hasn’t really kicked the aid effort into high gear. It took them several days to decide to let international groups in to assist. In the meantime, anyone who was trapped in rubble is beyond saving, clean water is scarce and it sounds like people on the ground are getting desperate.

    On a purely geeky note, this set of info graphics and before/after maps really help you understand what happened. It’s eerie to see on a map how the earth actually shifted several meters. Mother nature does not mess around.

    For anyone wanting to help the victims, this is a pretty good round-up of organizations involved who could use support.

  123. 123.

    David Evans

    @debbie: I don’t wish to minimise the photographer’s achievement – just getting a bird like that in the frame is hard enough – but many cameras will now let you take a movie clip and extract the best frame as a still picture. Panasonic calls it the “4K photo” mode.

  124. 124.

    LAO

    BIG: Lisa Murkowski is a NO on cloture for Kavanaugh. All it takes is one more Republican to potentially sink the nomination. However Jeff Flake votes yes.— Paul McLeod (@pdmcleod) October 5, 2018

  125. 125.

    janesays

    Collins is a yes on cloture vote, and will announce her decision about final vote this afternoon at 3pm ET. Worth noting – McCain voted yes on cloture for Obamacare repeal last year.

  127. 127.

    germy

    “Senators have been muzzled. So I will now say three things that committee staff has explained are permissible to say without violating committee rules. … One: This was not a full and fair investigation. It was sharply limited in scope and did not explore the relevant confirming facts. Two: The available documents do not exonerate Mr. Kavanaugh.

    And three: the available documents contradict statements Mr. Kavanaugh made under oath. I would like to back up these points with explicit statements from the FBI documents — explicit statements that should be available for the American people to see. But the Republicans have locked the documents behind closed doors.”

    – Elizabeth Warren

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/10/05/elizabeth-warrens-new-tantalizing-claim-about-kavanaugh-shows-what-utter-madness-this-is/?utm_term=.d032a2dab470

  128. 128.

    Elizabelle

    @janesays: Exactly. Cloture and confirmation are two separate votes.

    Although I would love to see cloture fail, and thus more debate on Kavanaugh. Sunlight is not his friend.

  131. 131.

    Elizabelle

    @LAO: May they not get that tally for confirmation.

    I do not think they will. Perhaps Manchin will never have to declare.

  133. 133.

    hueyplong

    @LAO: “It did not fail. 51-49, final tally.”

    What are you calliing “it”? I hope “it” is not the confirmation itself.

  134. 134.

    janesays

    @Elizabelle: If Collins declares “no” this afternoon, it all falls to Manchin (unless Flake also declares “no”, which I don’t expect).

  136. 136.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @LAO: straight party line vote? Manchin voted against cloture?

    I can’t watch, I should unplugging altogether for a few hours

  139. 139.

    janesays

    It bears repeating – John McCain voted “yes” on cloture for Obamacare repeal last year. A “yes” today does not automatically mean a “yes” tomorrow.

  141. 141.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @LAO: Murkowski vote nay.

    Yowza. My view from afar has always been that of the alleged “pro-choice moderates” (scare quotes cause I don’t think either one is meaningfully either one), Collins is the less conservative but more opportunistic because she loves the media attention she gets for her schtick.

  142. 142.

    Schlemazel

    We might need to set up a fund for Manchin like they did for Collins. “Vote aye & all this money will go to your primary opponent”

  144. 144.

    Just Chuck

    I don’t agree with the premise of HoarseWhisperer’s tweet: I can remember a time when the Republican party was at least above treason.

  146. 146.

    Rommie

    So, if Murkowski’s no on cloture is a tell, it’s on Pence’s shoulders barring another change. And I can still hope he’s not thrilled about that anchor if he thinks the Big Chair is his sometime soon. A little arm-twisting from him so it’s not 50-50 may help get NO vote 51.

    It’s hard for me to fathom that Manchin would willingly be vote 50 in 50-50 YES, as he might as well switch parties then. He’s either a NO or vote 51+ YES that doesn’t matter, although he’ll still (rightly) get a lot of heat for that.

  148. 148.

    Spanky

    It’s a Friday in October and the Dow is down another 150. A bit of deja vu to add to the Senate shenanigans.

    Not real concerning, given the bounces the market (NOT the economy) has been doing the past few weeks. Just that I realized it’s a Friday, and it’s October, and the ungulate herd that buys and sells keeps these things in mind.

  149. 149.

    J R in WV

    I’ll remind folks that today’s cloture vote isn’t really the confirmation vote, it’s just a procedural vote to allow debate and the actual final vote. So these folks may well be voting for cloture just a cover, “We want to have the traditional Senatorial debate, which will allow us to learn more and share our opinions and new facts.” kind of thing.

    Which is my way of hoping that the final vote is different by at least a couple of votes.

    ETA: edit works for me right now.

  150. 150.

    debbie

    @Spanky:

    Twenty minutes later, it’s down 200. I have nothing in the market anymore, but I keep MarketWatch on at work. It’s been a real education watching the twitches and panics.

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