Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

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

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

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

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Reader Interactions

97Comments

  1. 1.

    TenguPhule

    As Caravan Advances, Pentagon Prepares to Use Two Bases for Migrant Detention

    The Pentagon expects to soon receive a long-delayed formal request from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to host detention facilities for thousands of migrant families, The Daily Beast has learned.

    Discussions are ongoing between the two departments, already collaborating with each other on a massive military mobilization at the southern border, officials said. It’s an effort that has prompted outrage and fears of troops firing on unarmed asylum seekers. Under discussion are the terms under which two military bases in Texas, the Army’s Fort Bliss and Goodfellow Air Force Base, will become detention sites for thousands of families.

    The request is said to be imminent. But it’s unclear if it will come Friday, a source told The Daily Beast on condition of anonymity. At the Pentagon, a spokesman, Navy Capt. Bill Speaks, said, “We’ve still not received a request” from DHS

  2. 2.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Since this is an open thread, I tweeted out a pre-election story in which a woman bewitches her Etsy account and uses it to humiliate Trump. I had trouble posting the tweets in order, but they’re numbered. If you go to @dorothywinsor, my tweets are listed with the most recent one first. Scroll down and find #1. The story made me laugh to write. I needed that.

  7. 7.

    WaterGirl

    Hi, sweet Lily! Hey Steve, you handsome devil.

    I just finished posting the on the dead thread a minute ago, so I’ll say it again here:

    I have been sending good thoughts to Leto and Avelune every single day, but now that it’s the 1st of the month, I was able to do more than that.

    I wanted to post this as a reminder for anyone who had the same plan but might have slept since then.

    https://www.gofundme.com/support-michael-barnwell

    There have been 30 donations totaling about 1,800 since Cole posted the GoFundMe 4 days ago. I don’t know how many of that 30 are from Balloon Juice, but many of them obviously are.

    I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who has overextended on political donations, but if you can see your way to help, I’m sure it would be greatly appreciated.

  8. 8.

    BC in Illinois

    I just found out today that Randolph County, Illinois (where I lived for 20 years, when BC in Illinois was, you know, in Illinois) has a ballot initiative to declare itself a Sanctuary County:

    Shall Randolph County become a sanctuary county for law abiding gun owners to protect them from unconstitutional gun laws passed by the Illinois General assembly?
    Yes ___
    No ___

    While I may shake my head at the legal battles ahead, if Randolph County asserts its right to nullify the laws of the State of Illinois, I am at least encouraged by the idea that they are fearful enough of the possibility that the legislature might pass background checks, etc., that they would propose this gesture.

    I look forward to the day when the legislature of Missouri might move in a positive direction. As it is now, the “Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America” people are happy when they block guns-in-preschools, guns-in-bars, guns-in-classrooms, guns-everywhere bills.

    There is an undercurrent of restrained hopefulness about the possibility of electing even more “Gun Sense” candidates next week. The Moms Demand people figure that they have become as powerful and present a lobby in the halls of Jefferson City as the NRA. They just opened a new chapter — the 18th in the state — in Rolla. Candidates are happy to have their picture taken with people wearing red “Moms Demand Action” t-shirts. Not a lot of pro-NRA posturing. Things are changing. (Or at least, not getting worse.)

    It will take a while before the winds of change reach Randolph County IL.

  11. 11.

    TenguPhule

    Sigh, Chalk up another you can’t do while black: Render aid as a medical professional.

    Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford was on a Delta flight from Indianapolis to Boston on Tuesday when she noticed the woman next to her showing signs of distress. So Dr. Stanford did what she was trained to do in more than a decade of experience as a doctor — she began to assist her.

    But Dr. Stanford, who is black, said she had just started to help the passenger when a flight attendant approached and asked if she was a doctor. Dr. Stanford said yes and, without being asked, she took out her medical license, which says she is a physician registered in Massachusetts and has the letters “M.D.” after her name.

    “I know I don’t look the part,” Dr. Stanford, 39, said in an interview on Thursday. “So I just carry it with my driver’s license at all times.”

    The flight attendant glanced at it and walked away, she said. As Dr. Stanford continued to try to calm the passenger, another flight attendant approached and asked to see the license. She, too, looked at it and walked away. Then the two flight attendants returned together and began another series of questions.

    “Are you a head doctor?” one of them asked. When Dr. Stanford said she did not understand the question, the flight attendant asked, “Are you actually an M.D.?”

    Then the second flight attendant spoke: “Is this your license?” When the doctor asked what she meant, the flight attendant repeated the question. “Why would I carry someone else’s medical license?” Dr. Stanford said she replied.

    sigh.

  12. 12.

    JPL

    You know what really sucks, thunderstorms are forecast for GA on election day Waiting in lines for hours is difficult enough without having to worry about being hit by lightening. fk

  18. 18.

    Jay

    @TenguPhule:

    “Few people actually join the military to travel to distant lands to kill people. Fewer still join to help run concentration camps. Under both US and international law, military personnel have a moral and legal obligation to refuse to comply with any order that involves collaboration with these camps, but unfortunately few are aware of this fact.”

    https://couragetoresist.org

  19. 19.

    SFBayAreaGal

    Help. What is the name of the group that endorses judges. I’m looking at the CA ballot for the CA Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. Knowing that I will vote the opposite of what they recommend.

  20. 20.

    WaterGirl

    @Mnemosyne: That is great. Just so you know, though, there was about 5k in the kitty from Leto’s work people, etc. when Cole posted it on Balloon Juice 4 days ago. The total was at 6,700 something when I posted my comment. Glad to hear it’s going up!

  22. 22.

    germy

    Pres Obama as protesters heckle him in Miami: "Why is it that the folks who won the election are so mad all the time? … Like when I won the presidency, at least my side felt pretty good. It tells you something interesting, that even the folks that are in charge are still mad."
    — Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) November 2, 2018

  24. 24.

    Ohio Mom

    @SFBayAreaGal: Here in the Buckeye state, I just check the Democratic party’s website and sample ballot.

    I know that isn’t in-depth research but I figure the worse Democratic-endorsed judge has to be better than the best Republican-endorsed judge.

  25. 25.

    Emerald

    @SFBayAreaGal: I just googled all the names. Mostly you can tell by who appointed them, but some results actually identify a party. During that search I turned up somebody recommending “yes” on Prop 6 that also had judicial recommendations, so I voted the opposite. I was pleased to see that my previous searches matched that.

  30. 30.

    NotMax

    Off the front pages but far from forgotten.

    Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was strangled as soon as the journalist entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul as part of a premeditated killing, and he was dismembered before being disposed of, a top Turkish prosecutor said Wednesday.

    A statement from chief Istanbul prosecutor Irfan Fidan’s office also said that discussions with Saudi chief prosecutor Saud al-Mojeb have yielded no “concrete results” despite “good-willed efforts” by Turkey to uncover the truth.

    The statement is the first public confirmation by a Turkish official that Khashoggi was strangled and dismembered after he entered the consulate on Oct. 2 to collect paperwork needed to marry his Turkish fiancée. It also points to a lack of co-operation from Saudi officials in the investigation of the slaying.
    [snip]
    The prosecutor’s statement that Khashoggi was killed immediately conflicts with a report by pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak earlier this month, which cited what it described as an audio recording of Khashoggi being tortured before being killed. The newspaper claimed that his fingers were cut off and that he was killed by being beheaded. Source

  31. 31.

    Josie

    @jeffreyw:

    Homer looks as if he is up to no good. Love that face.

    ETA: Sorry about the double post. The first one didn’t show up at first. FYWP.

  33. 33.

    pk

    My daughter and I discussing Trump today and were saying that he doesn’t really care about anyone, even his supporters. Her observation was that he loves them because of how they make him feel. Then I said that if someone said to Trump they’d give him a billion dollars, but the price would be that all his supporters go to the gas chambers, he would agree in a heartbeat. My daughter paused for a couple of seconds and then said “yeah, I agree”.
    It says something about where we’re at in my family that there is complete agreement that Trump would not hesitate in carrying out genocide if he could profit from it.
    Am I being too pessimistic?

  35. 35.

    NotMax

    Reading the tea leaves.

    …to return to Mueller, there’s another intriguing story line, one that has to do with the still-unresolved question of whether the president will answer his questions and whether he will be forced to issue a subpoena to get that cooperation. Nelson Cunningham, a former prosecutor and Clinton administration official, examines a series of recent, unusual legal filings related to a conflict between Mueller and Trump’s attorneys over a grand jury subpoena, in which the person being subpoenaed is not identified. Cunningham makes a good case that the pattern of filings and rulings suggests that the question being argued over is whether the president will have to appear before the grand jury, which would mean that Mueller has already subpoenaed Trump. It’s a little complicated, but here’s the summary:

    “We cannot know, from the brief docket entries that are available to us in this sealed case, that the matter involves President Donald Trump. But we do know from Politico’s reporting that it involves the special counsel and that the action here was filed the day after [Trump lawyer Rudy] Giuliani noted publicly, “[W]e’re pretty much finished with our memorandum opposing a subpoena.” We know that the district court had ruled in favour of the special counsel and against the witness; that the losing witness has moved with alacrity and with authority; and that the judges have responded with accelerated rulings and briefing schedules. We know that Judge [Gregory] Katsas, Trump’s former counsel and nominee, has recused himself. And we know that this sealed legal matter will come to a head in the weeks just after the midterm elections.” Source

  36. 36.

    hueyplong

    @pk: You’re probably being too optimistic. He’d send them to the gas chambers for less than that.

  37. 37.

    TenguPhule

    Supreme Court refuses to delay case alleging an improper political motive in decision to add citizenship question to census

    In an upcoming trial, a number of states and civil rights organizations allege that there was an improper motive in Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’s decision to add the question to the 2020 Census.

    The trial is scheduled for next week in New York. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch would have granted the Trump administration’s request to delay the trial.

    Of course they did.

  39. 39.

    trollhattan

    @NotMax:
    Erdogan has now stated directly the Saudi government was responsible and earlier today someone in the Turkish government floated the theory he was dissolved in acid.

    “Breaking Bad” lives.

  41. 41.

    TenguPhule

    @NotMax: And now the gruesome speculation from Turkey is that as a final insult to deny him any hope of a Muslim burial, they used corrosives to render his dismembered body….uncollectable.

  42. 42.

    NotMax

    Wouldn’t bother mentioning it except it stands as a demonstration of how Dolt 45 fills his days (and it ain’t attending to things presidential).

    Alec Baldwin Released From Police Custody After Arrest for Punching Someone
    [snip]
    President Trump has weighed in on Baldwin’s arrest. Source

  45. 45.

    jl

    @NotMax: I Trump wants to waste a day trying to rile his base over Alec Baldwin, I won’t complain.

    And if Baldwin is in the clink will give McKinnon a chance to give a shot at a Trump impersonation.

    Might be a win win.

  48. 48.

    WaterGirl

    @RAVEN: Maybe you’re right about that, but I hope you are not.

    With Leto not being able to work and Avelune taking a leave of absence to be with Leto in the hospital, it seems to me that 5,000 is a drop in the bucket compared to what they will need.

  49. 49.

    Mart

    My wife and I absentee voted straight Dem this afternoon in STL CO MO. Only had a 45 minute wait in line – looked worse pulling up. In MN on Tuesday so glad to get it over with. Wish I could be voting for a Carnahan instead of a McCaskill, but you gotta go with the cards dealt to you. The snotty brat Hawley running against McCaskill has constant ads about how he will protect preexisting conditions, and how it is time to fix this mess once and for all; while at the same time he is one of the state R – AG’s in court trying to gut preexisting as unconstitutional. Fucking Fucktard will probably win…

  52. 52.

    Ella in New Mexico

    I’m happy to report all four of my adult kids (ages 21-33) proudly voted. They don’t even need me to remind them to send me the “I Voted” sticker as proof anymore, they just do it.

    All voted straight Democratic ticket for state and Federal offices, and got their SO’s and majority of their friends to do the same– because they realize that the only way to save their healthcare and public service student loan forgiveness and get children out of tent cities at the border and eventually get rid of the Crazy Orange Menace is to put a check in place in Congress.

    I continue to believe that the only chance our country has in coming back around rests in the hands of the millennials, and that they WILL do it. The majority are good, kind, hard-working kids who grew up politically with guy like Barack Obama as their President and example as a leader, and it matters. They liked liking their President.

    I know, I know there are the Tomi Lahrens and Jacob Wohls and their bitter young cohorts out there, but from where I sit, they’re a HUGE minority.

  53. 53.

    Catherine D.

    Stressful day over. Weird plumbing problem resolved successfully, and Jeeves the 14 yo cat passed his old fart checkup with flying colors. The vet said he’s years younger than his actual age.

  54. 54.

    lamh36

    Folks did all this complaining bout PBO not helping Dems in the trail. But he’s out doing the best damn campaigning he can for the candidates who ask for him in the stump.

    Right…and no matter who he stumps for, he knows his words are being reported all over the country…so he makes a point of talking about voting not just or the candidate he’s stumping for.

    Next up… Atlanta.

  56. 56.

    WaterGirl

    @lamh36:

    Folks did all this complaining bout PBO not helping Dems in the trail.

    Who was complaining? People at Balloon Juice? I must have missed that.

  61. 61.

    JPL

    @pk: Not at all. Although I haven’t heard it, a friend said trump was talking about democrats wanting to liquidate people at the border. He then corrected it, but who uses that word. I assume those who want to liquidate.
    He supports dictators who kill.

  62. 62.

    lamh36

    @markknoller
    Follow Follow @markknoller
    More
    Pres Trump says he listened to Pres Obama’s campaign speech for Florida Democrats today. “I was in the plane. I had nothing else to do,” said @POTUS. “He had a very small crowd. They dont tell you that.” he said of the press.

    3:58 PM – 2 Nov 2018

    PBO all up in his head! Boy they betta keep that phone away from him tonight!

  64. 64.

    zhena gogolia

    Unfortunately the people I had lunch with informed me that CT is going to have a Trumpanzee governor. I haven’t been able to peek through my fingers at the polls. Lamont is such a lame candidate.

  66. 66.

    NotMax

    FYI (WaPo link).

    ‘Welcome to the white man’s world,’ cop told Latino teens after allegedly beating them
    [snip]
    [Officer] Bigda has been accused 24 times of misconduct since 2000. He has been accused of holding a civilian’s leg against a police cruiser’s hot tailpipe, breaking the jaw of a mentally disabled person and striking a pregnant woman in front of children, according to the lawsuit. He has denied all wrongdoing.

    None of the 24 complaints were upheld, which the lawsuit claims is the result of a systemic problem within the police department. Since 2006, the city has settled 25 police misconduct lawsuits, the Globe reported.

    Bigda was suspended for 60 days when footage of his interrogations came to light in 2016, the Republican reported.

    In a statement, Ryan Walsh, a spokesman for the Springfield Police Department, said Bigda has been suspended without pay indefinitely. Source

  67. 67.

    Mnemosyne

    @trollhattan:

    I did not know that there was an Elizabeth Warren running for office as a Democrat down San Diego way. I couldn’t tell if it was a state legislature seat or a Congressional seat from my phone.

  69. 69.

    Steeplejack

    @lamh36:

    Where is Omarosa? She disappeared right quick.

    (Asking in a “just curious” way, not in a “want her back” way.)

  72. 72.

    Marcopolo

    @Mart: Thanks for getting out to vote. Were you at the main site or a satellite location? Also, a 45 minute wait sounds positive. A lot more D than R votes in StL County.

    And Keep in mind that the arguments in that trial wrapped up weeks ago. The conservative judge hearing the case has been sitting on his decision. My guess is because he’s planning to rule against the ACA & doesn’t want to give voters tangible proof that R candidates are lying their @sses off. Including Hawley.

    As for McCaskill vs the Carnahans, I’d obviously take Mel over just about anyone—if he were alive. But I can’t say I was overly impressed with Russ (he was my congresscritter for his short tenure) and Robin, while I guess was competent as SoS did not do anything to indicate she wouldn’t pretty much have been a twin to McCaskill on most issues.

  73. 73.

    NotMax

    Fitting suit without alterations.

    A federal judge Friday ruled against President Donald Trump in an emoluments lawsuit brought by the District of Columbia and state of Maryland.
    [snip]
    [Judge] Messitte bench-slapped an argument from the president’s attorneys defining “emolument” as direct payments to Trump in exchange for specific services or policies.

    Calling it a “dubious proposition, the judge wrote that “by every reasonable metric, this appears to describe what is tantamount to a bribe, so above all else the President’s definition of the term “emolument” is exceedingly strained.”

    Messitte, in addressing whether information and document requests would be too burdensome on the president, took a moment to chastise Trump.

    “It bears noting that the President himself appears to have had little reluctance to pursue personal litigation despite the supposed distractions it imposes upon his office,” the judge wrote, before citing multiple cases where Trump either threatened defamation lawsuits (including one against Steve Bannon) and his ongoing suit with Stormy Daniels. Source

  74. 74.

    Marcopolo

    @lamh36: Don’t remember anyone here complaining. I wish our other super duper campaign weapon was out—Michelle—but it’s not for me to tell folks in private life how they should spend their time.

    On a different note, apparently no D candidates want to be seen with Bill anymore. Not that I blame them.

  79. 79.

    Mart

    @Marcopolo: I was thinking of old man Carnahan not the spawn. Seems to me you will never get an R to vote for you because of a couple stupid votes. Will always be better off energizing your base by voting on your convictions. We voted at the Chesterfield satellite, so pretty sure we were well outnumbered. At least no MAGA hats present. I said I drove by at lunch and the line looked worse, man said they had been running an hour or better all day. But we are West County, we are white, and we have privilege dambit.

  82. 82.

    Catherine D.

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    @Catherine D.: I trust the plumbing problem was with your house and not the cat or you.

    Ha! Yes, I needed to get the house line snaked. There was a clog and a weird vacuum making things go backward.

  85. 85.

    trollhattan

    @Steeplejack:
    If you don’t have a book coming out you don’t get booked and if you don’t get booked you stop mattering.

    Not that I’m complaining. She’s well beyond minute fifteen.

  86. 86.

    Marcopolo

    @JoeyJoeJoe: Race has closed a lot in the last week. A lot. I was a little shocked to see the reporting. Now whether that reporting/polling is accurate…shrugs shoulders. The claim was Lamont has gone hard negative & as a result indies have broken hard against him.

    Anyways, I live a long way away from CT so can’t say I have any insight into the race. Though I did give to Jahana Hayes, who I expect to become the first AA woman US House Rep from the state.

  92. 92.

    Matt McIrvin

    @jl: I’ve thought for a long time that Baldwin is so good at playing that kind of asshole because fundamentally he is that kind of asshole, and he knows it.

  93. 93.

    Avalune

    Mood

    I didn’t really notice fall last year – probably because I was working two jobs and one of those was in retail.

    @WaterGirl: Thanks so much for continuing to think of us. The goal on there was arbitrary – something his work set up. I really have no idea how much we’re going to need. He’s out of work for months at minimum, may even be medically retired. I’m out for at least one pay check – I’ll probably have to go back to work after that. We’ll need a retainer for the lawyer. Bills will start coming in while we’re waiting to get everything settled. It’s really hard to say how all this will play out on that end of things.

    They found another fracture – this one in his shoulder. Thankfully, his left knee, does not have the fracture I feared it might after it continued to be swollen for days. They are moving him to his acute PT digs this evening. 3 hours of physical therapy. He’s game but I know today was a rough one and his shoulder is hindering him and slowing him down a bit.

  95. 95.

    Vicki Harrison

    Just got the confirmation that my ballot has been counted.
    I hate being as paranoid as I am. Especially in a state like Colorado where we have all of the best safe guards for voting….but.

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