Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Bark louder, little dog.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

People are weird.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

No one could have predicted…

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

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

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2018 / Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Good News for Democrats!

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Good News for Democrats!

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And while Ms. Abrams continues her battle against the voices of disenfranchisement…

One factor of the investigation announcements by prominent Democrats, right now, is to encourage what are politely called ‘wavering’ Repubs — those whose future chances don’t rest on applauding Trump’s every verbal bowel movement, not to mention those with a skeleton or seventeen in their personal closets — to consider whether it might be wiser to join forces and call for ‘bipartisanship’ rather than pin their hopes on the not-looking-so-Teflon Donald.

From the company paper, in the town where national politics is the monopoly industry:

…[M]ultiple Democrats who will be chairing committees in the new Congress made clear that they already have a clear idea of the matters they’ll be investigating and they’re ready to use their subpoena powers if the administration refuses to cooperate. You can be sure that when all this begins, Republicans will portray it as madness, a chaotic eruption of politically motivated probes with no legitimate purpose. The truth, however, is that Democrats seem to know exactly what they’re doing…

When Republicans inevitably begin whining that Democrats are being too aggressive in all this oversight, remember how they be-clowned themselves through the Obama years, trying to gin up one phony scandal after another, including mounting seven, yes, seven separate investigations of Benghazi. We can and should have vigorous debates about what is being uncovered, how to understand it and what should be done about it. But the last thing we should do is waste our time arguing about whether there are too many investigations.

If the Trump administration is a bastion of integrity and public-spiritedness, that’s what the investigations will reveal. And if the president himself has displayed nothing but the highest ethical standards and respect for law throughout his career, that’s what we’ll learn. The sense of dread spreading over the White House and the Republican Party right now isn’t because they think House Democrats will waste everyone’s time with these investigations; it’s because they know there’s so much misbehavior to be uncovered. The public deserves to see and understand all of it, and if that winds up hurting Republicans, they have only themselves to blame.

Reader Interactions

177Comments

  2. 2.

    CarolDuhart2

    i think we will find all of the neglected and abused parts of the government even worse than that.

    I’m looking forward to all of the Republican resignations from the House.

  10. 10.

    MazeDancer

    Runoffs! Got to support our Dems.

    Write PostCards for Mike Espy to win the Senate in MS. (Opponent is the “front-row seat to a public hanging” racist.) Nov 27th runoff.

    And Gwen Collins-Greenup for Secretary of State in Louisiana. She and the incumbent both got about 20% in a crowded field. The incumbent was an interim appointed because the first SoS resigned due to sexual harassment charges.

    Gwen ran on a $1600 budget. SoS is key to the election future. Dec 8th runoff.

    Turnout is what will make all the difference in a runoff.

    You can do a few, you know you can. Let’s support our Dems all the way.

    PostCardPatriots.com

    Click “Write for Runoffs”

  11. 11.

    OzarkHillbilly

    remember how they be-clowned themselves through the Obama years, trying to gin up one phony scandal after another, including mounting seven, yes, seven separate investigations of Benghazi.

    QFT.

  15. 15.

    Xboxershorts

    @CarolDuhart2:

    I am personally hopeful that the agency’s we’ve established to protect Americans from the abuses of Corporate America can be taken back and made to work for the people. Regulatory Capture has been very, very bad for the average American.

  16. 16.

    OzarkHillbilly

    The US citizens bypassing university to protect their parents from Ice

    In June of 2017, Erica enrolled in a Florida community college. With its breezy hallways, swaying palm trees and well-lit classrooms, the campus was a far cry from the factory that employs both her and her mother – a place where undocumented migrants continually fear Ice raids.

    The factory was a dead end, a place of desperation; campus promised a brighter future. But the exhilaration Erica felt when she walked the campus turned to despair as she filled out her Free Application for Federal Student Aid (Fafsa).

    To receive financial aid, she would have to include information about her parents on the form. While Erica – who, like all sources interviewed for this article, requested to be identified by only her first name– is a US citizen, her parents are undocumented immigrants from Mexico. Her mother had long been anxious living without papers, but it all got much worse when Ice picked up Erica’s older brother on their mother’s birthday a decade ago just as he walked out of a local grocery store, cake in hand.

    Erica is one of the countless US citizens who face a catch-22 when they apply for federal financial aid: on the one hand, they must provide information about their parents on forms; on the other, they fear that doing so will alert authorities to their parents’ immigration status.

    It’s a choice between, as some students put it, “ratting out” their family or giving up on higher education.

    Michelle Lapointe, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, explains that under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (Ferpa) there are “strict rules that protect the privacy of students’ information”. As she tells it, it would be a violation of the law for school officials to share information with immigration enforcement.

    But many students like Erica aren’t aware of this. Even those who do know about Ferpa still fear putting their faith in a government that is increasingly hostile towards both immigrants and their children, even those who are US born.

    In Erica’s case, her brother’s absence amplifies her fear.

  18. 18.

    JGabriel

    Paul Waldman @ WaPo via Anne Laurie @ Top:

    If the Trump administration is a bastion of integrity and public-spiritedness, that’s what the investigations will reveal. And if the president himself has displayed nothing but the highest ethical standards and respect for law throughout his career, that’s what we’ll learn.

    Sound like someone ate their bowl of Snark-Fortified Cheerios‍™ this morning.
    _______________________

    P.S. Really getting sick of having to type in my info every. damn. time. I post a comment.

    The “Save my name, etc.” checkbox doesn’t seem to be working at all. If it helps with troubleshooting, I’m on Google Chrome Version 70.0.3538.102 (Official Build) (64-bit).

  19. 19.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @RedDirtGirl: Thanks, it’s got one problem; I’m using some new software and I’ll see how to fix it. If you look carefully in back of the pavilion at the back of the lake you can see an earth mover. They’re expanding the garden.

  21. 21.

    Another Scott

    @JGabriel: Well known problem. Upgrades are coming to fix these problems (were delayed until after the elections). Dunno if Major^4’s recent move has delayed them further.

    tl;dr – patience, grasshopper.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  22. 22.

    JPL

    Trump is up and tweeting

    Emmanuel Macron suggests building its own army to protect Europe against the U.S., China and Russia. But it was Germany in World Wars One & Two – How did that work out for France? They were starting to learn German in Paris before the U.S. came along. Pay for NATO or not!

  26. 26.

    boatboy_srq

    whether it might be wiser to join forces and call for ‘bipartisanship’

    You will recall that “bipartisanship” to the GOTea translates as “Democrats doing what we want.”

  36. 36.

    Frankensteinbeck

    I had a thought. One of the big questions has been when the Republican Party will turn against Trump. The question means the elected officials, not the base. I think the point where it might change is if McConnell loses his position for any reason. Trump is not the head of the party. McConnell calls the shots for the Senate, and the Republican leadership in the House follows McConnell’s lead. McConnell went bugfuck ‘burn it all down’ nuts when Obama was elected. McConnell could rein in Trump with a snap of his fingers. Instead he fanatically covers for Trump. There is no reason to expect him to stop as long as he leads the Senate Republicans. If he goes, which there is no reason to expect soon, then there is a chance of a shakeup. Not until then.

    Evidence of this theory, although not conclusive either way, would be significant numbers of defectors in House votes under Pelosi. That would suggest the apparent fanaticism of House Republicans is a deck stacked by Boehner and Ryan.

  40. 40.

    Baud

    Vox

    When it comes to labor policy, House Democrats say the top priority is to raise wages and create more jobs. In February, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi released details of their official policy agenda, called A Better Deal, which focuses on strengthening labor unions, investing in apprenticeship programs, providing workers with paid leave and spending on infrastructure projects.

    But House Democratic aides involved in labor policy discussions say there are two specific issues near the top of the list: raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour with the next few years, and expanding overtime pay to millions more workers.

  41. 41.

    Aleta

    Kevin M. Kruse @KevinMKruse
    Is this a Going Out of Business Sale?
    Or as entrepreneur Donald Trump called them, an Everyday Sale?

    GOP @GOP
    TODAY until 11:59 pm: Get 40% off storewide at the Official Trump Store.
    Use code: HONOR

  42. 42.

    Baud

    (CNN) — President Donald Trump could ask Kirstjen Nielsen, his secretary of Homeland Security, to resign in the coming days, multiple officials familiar with the matter predicted, describing the President’s continued frustration at her handling of his signature issue: immigration and border security.

  43. 43.

    Aleta

    Quinn Cummings @quinncy Retweeted Lorenzo The Cat
    Cat’s all, “Today sucked. I shall allow you to carry me.”

    Lorenzo The Cat. @LorenzoTheCat
    Another hero— reporter @Carlos_Saucedo came upon this fire fighter rescuing a cat in Paradise, California. #CampFire

  44. 44.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @JPL:
    But not someone with more control. The only ‘worse’ direction is incompetence or personal criminal sin. McConnell is a fanatic partisan with a lust for hurting the US people. I cannot sufficiently stress how much he and a Boehner got us here, and Boehner followed McConnell’s lead. Republican voters are deranged, many of their elected officials equally so, but the unified partisan nihilism was forged by McConnell when Obama was elected, and all of its most insane moments have been McConnell and Boehner’s work.

  45. 45.

    Baud

    LONDON (Reuters) – Britain and the European Union are on the cusp of a Brexit deal which could be clinched in the next 24 to 48 hours, Prime Minister Theresa May’s de facto deputy said on Tuesday.

  47. 47.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    would be significant numbers of defectors in House votes under Pelosi.

    You can expect Repubs to become even more extreme in their bugnutfuckall crazy. The sane ones left. The semi sane ones lost their re-election bids. What is left?

  51. 51.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    and all of its most insane moments have been McConnell and Boehner’s work.

    Boehner was forced out by the Freedom caucus because he wasn’t insane enough to suit them.

  53. 53.

    JDM

    I’d like to be beyond the time where we can be surprised and happy that a judge has ruled that votes in an election be counted.

  55. 55.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Baud: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. This Congress is going to pass one hell of a lot of bills, great ones. And McConnell thinks he’ll be the place where bills go to die, but I think that enough Senators will feel the heat of public opinion and the threat of 2020, that there will be some big-time caving.

    Helped out by the celebrations of Indict-mas.

  56. 56.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    No, he wasn’t. Boehner quit when he felt like it, and at that had to hunt to find his own successor because no one else could offer one. The freedom caucus would have been a laughable rump without Boehner enforcing an absolutely insane distilled version of the Hastert Rule that no one, including Hastert, used before. Even used it precisely because everyone knew there were enough defectors to easily pass Democratic legislation. The freedom caucus were a pain in the ass to their best friend, but they never had the numbers to replace him. If they forced him out, it was only by being so irritating he didn’t want the job anymore.

  57. 57.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Speaking of Indict-mas, does anyone have some reasonably knowledgeable tea-leaf reading on what it means about Fox and Wikileaks going dark on Twitter and Drudge deleting his entire history? Especially the latter. Is Drudge being indicted for criminal tweets or something?

    I know nobody knows till Mueller chooses to let us know, but we have some good legal minds here who could do a decent job of intelligence analysis. Hell we may have some actual intel analysts.

  61. 61.

    gvg

    @Frankensteinbeck: I slightly disagree. I don’t think anyone can rein in Trump. He isn’t smart enough to believe in consequences and has no real long term plans or strategies. I think he used to be smarter, but I am not sure. No matter what, he will keep doing stupid malicious stuff.
    Now, I do think that the house and senate both could have stopped a bunch of stuff from actually being implemented, but not all, and Trump would keep trying.
    When the house prevents him from getting his way on something he really wants, he is going to turn his attention to them and declare war. It’s going to be worse than the most negative campaign you have ever heard of. this will somewhat distract him from pounding us, unless someone clever explains how he can take some of us hostage to force the house to do some things (dreamers while it was Obama)

  63. 63.

    cain

    Just label every investigation into Republicans as some form of Benghazi follow-up. Apparently we can have unlimited number of Benghazi hesrongs.

  64. 64.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Boehner quit when he felt like it,

    House Speaker John Boehner has had enough. And on Friday at a closed meeting with his Republican members, he told them he plans to retire from Congress and resign his seat effective Oct. 30.
    …………………………
    Almost since his first day in office, Boehner has struggled to reign in his right flank. This wasn’t the speakership he’d envisioned. As a young member in the 1990s, Boehner’s sole portrait in his office was of Nicholas Longworth, the last speaker from Ohio. As I wrote in our TIME cover story on Boehner at the beginning of his speakership, he idolized Longworth, who was known for his pragmatism and deal making. But with his hands tied by the Tea Party, there were no deals Boehner could make; His attempts to pass sweeping legislation—a Grand Bargain to reduce long-term deficits, immigration reform, even tax reform—all fell victim to his party’s internal strife.

    Boehner, 65, seemed like a man relieved of an enormous burden. He entered the press conference, and exited it, singing “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.” He talked candidly about having wanted to retire at the end of 2014, he finally admitted publicly for the first time after years of denying rumors. He’d bought a condo in Florida in February 2014, only to see his heir apparent, Majority Leader Eric Cantor lose his seat, another Tea Party casualty, forcing Boehner to soldier on. He then said, he’d only planned to stay till the end of 2015, a plan he was going to announce on his birthday. Nov. 17, but that circumstances had prompted him to move up that timeline. He told his wife and staff this morning. And, he said, he had to tell Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy five times before their scheduled meeting with members Friday morning before McCarthy would believe him.
    Boehner was facing a no confidence challenge to his leadership from the 40+ members of the conservative Freedom Caucus, who’ve been increasingly frustrated at Boehner’s inability to block President Obama’s second-term agenda, everything from the Iran deal to making a dent in Obamacare. Such a vote would’ve forced Boehner into the arms of Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats in order to survive, a move Boehner was apparently unwilling to make. So, he resigned.

    So ummmm, no.

  65. 65.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    Remember the discussions Balloon Juice had at the time. That Boehner waited until he got his personal ambition, a papal visit. That Boehner couldn’t quit because there was no one who could please both sides. That it was so bad there was a slight chance Nancy would get the gavel. That there was a delay past when he announced he was quitting until Boehner, personally, found Ryan, convinced Ryan to run, and convinced everyone else to vote for him. Boehner wasn’t fired. He quit.

    And remember the many, many bills where we agreed they would pass easily if brought to the floor. Boehner refused to let it happen.

  66. 66.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Time to go to yet another funeral and burial at JB. Hope y’all have a better day than I.

  67. 67.

    Platonailedit

    EU court: Cheese it.

    The taste of a food cannot be protected by copyright, the EU’s highest legal authority has ruled in a case involving a Dutch cheese.

    The European Court of Justice said the taste of food was too “subjective and variable” for it to meet the requirements for copyright protection.

    The court was asked to rule in the case of a spreadable cream cheese and herb dip, Heksenkaas, produced by Levola.

    Levola argued another cheese, Witte Wievenkaas, infringed its copyright.

    The firm claimed that Heksenkaas was a work protected by copyright; it asked the Dutch courts to insist Smilde, the producers of Witte Wievenkaas, cease the production and sale of its cheese.

  72. 72.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Starfish: I heard that. It strikes me as a weak cover story and not a very plausible one. It especially doesn’t explain Drudge to me.

  73. 73.

    Jeffro

    @JGabriel: I’m starting to think that Dana Milbank’s desk must be near Paul Waldman’s…Donald Trumpov Knows The True Meaning of Sacrifice

    …Some say Trump doesn’t know the meaning of sacrifice, particularly because he resisted lowering flags after the death of John “Not a War Hero” McCain. But as Trump himself told one Gold Star family, “I’ve made a lot of sacrifices.” And the Paris voyage highlighted Trump’s powers of self-abnegation, coming after he abandoned a $100-million military parade he ordered to honor himself.

    He endured French President Emmanuel Macron’s “very insulting” proposal that Europe build up its own military. He endured a topless woman disrupting his motorcade with the words “fake peacemaker” on her chest. He endured mockery in the French press for confusing the Balkans with the Baltics. He endured Macron’s speech declaring that “nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism.” And he endured the obvious impression that other leaders didn’t want him at their “Peace Forum,” which began as Trump left.

    Through it all, Trump kept his powder dry — and his hair. In the end, his sacrifice was rewarded.

    It was still raining Sunday afternoon when Trump went by motorcade to Suresnes. But this time Trump did not retreat. He heroically cast aside his umbrella and spoke — for 10 moist minutes.

    He recalled the sacrifice of Americans in the Great War (“through rain, hail, snow, mud, poisonous gas, bullets and mortar, they held the line”). And he invoked his own sacrifice, telling a group under a tent: “You look so comfortable up there, under shelter as we’re getting drenched.”

    The lectern dripped. His overcoat glistened. And yet his hair, under protective lacquer, held firm — like the burning bush that was not consumed.

    The valiant polymers that fell defending his hair from the rain seeped into the soil at Suresnes. Now it truly can be said, as the poem goes, that there’s some corner of a foreign field that is forever Trump.

    ouuuuuuuuch!

  74. 74.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Platonailedit:
    ‘Bullied by’ maybe, but not ‘forced.’ He chose unprecedented obstruction. Nancy would have let him keep his seat if he’d been reasonable, and the lunatics were barely enough to force a vote if they ever got off their asses and did it. And he was following McConnell’s lead in that obstruction, although if he was following McConnell’s orders is only my speculation.

  76. 76.

    Quinerly

    @captnkurt: I’m smiling. Found my old View Master on one of these last NC trips, in my old bedroom closet, top shelf box, house I grew up in. Still loaded with a slide of “Dark Shadows.” The ones for “The Wild, Wild West” and “The Monkees” were close by in the same box. ?? I guess I’m really dating myself.

  81. 81.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @JPL: Sure sounds like SOMEBODY wants conflict (war???) between France and Germany! What an absolutely horrible statement for someone like Trump who was born in the shadow of WWII to make!!

  84. 84.

    MomSense

    It’s another cold and rainy day. The dog has taken her place by the fire and appears to have decided to sleep through the bad weather. I’m leaving the door to the shower open just in case.

  87. 87.

    Platonailedit

    A federal judge has ordered election officials to review thousands of provisional ballots that haven't been counted in Georgia's governor race and calls for a hotline for voters to check if their provisional ballots were counted, AJC reports. https://t.co/9cfg2ZyUxZ— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) November 13, 2018

  90. 90.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Spanky: I reached my limits on Eeyorism, that’s all. I’ve decided to have a little enjoyment of our electoral wins and not go straight into doom and gloom before the new fricken Congress even meets.

    But you enjoy your pessimism. Just vote Dem when elections come up, ok?

  91. 91.

    p.a.

    Whatever shit the investigations expose will overwhelm our capacity to process. Hell, the massive corruption and venality now, with Rethugs providing cover, is impossible to keep in order (Josh Marshall has to sleep sometime. I guess.)
    But that doesn’t matter: death by a thousand cuts. Creating the zeitgeist of corruption/racism/incompetence is what will happen, with a collusion/conspiracy cherry on top probably. Might even impact some of the 40 +/- percent.

  92. 92.

    Elizabelle

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    This Congress is going to pass one hell of a lot of bills, great ones. And McConnell thinks he’ll be the place where bills go to die, but I think that enough Senators will feel the heat of public opinion and the threat of 2020, that there will be some big-time caving.

    Helped out by the celebrations of Indict-mas.

    I agree with you. Yea Ceci!

  93. 93.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I’m glad. They have to focus. I was in the car this morning and I heard NPR going on and on about Trump, Trump, Trump. It was supposedly analysis of what the Democrats might do but it was all about their favorite subject- Donald Trump.

    Democratic policy is more popular than conservative policy. I know you say people like Democratic ideas but hate Democrats and that is probably true, so they need to stick to their midterm approach which was about promoting popular policy. The Trump obsessives in media will try to pull them off task and focus on Trump- they have to resist. Voting rights, health care, wage increases, all of these issues won big at the referendum level even in red states They’re popular. Trump’s policies are unpopular.

    I think they should hammer Trump on not coming thru on infrastructure. Infrastructure is popular. He’ll offer some garbage bill but they should ignore it and just repeat over and over that he failed on infrastructure. They could take that away from him. Refuse to pass his garbage and then blame him for not getting it done.

  96. 96.

    Haroldo

    @Kay:

    This is the truth. You’ve outlined the illness and the cure.

    P.S. NPR sends me into a rage, to such an extent that I can’t (and won’t) listen to it. The BBC, ABC, and CBC all have their problems, but I can get a much clearer picture of what’s going on by listening to their streaming services.

    I’m glad. They have to focus. I was in the car this morning and I heard NPR going on and on about Trump, Trump, Trump. It was supposedly analysis of what the Democrats might do but it was all about their favorite subject- Donald Trump.

    Democratic policy is more popular than conservative policy. I know you say people like Democratic ideas but hate Democrats and that is probably true, so they need to stick to their midterm approach which was about promoting popular policy. The Trump obsessives in media will try to pull them off task and focus on Trump- they have to resist. Voting rights, health care, wage increases, all of these issues won big at the referendum level even in red states They’re popular. Trump’s policies are unpopular.

  97. 97.

    Platonailedit

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Yup. The self fulfilling prophecy of some around here that regardless of the wins the dems score against all odds that dems will lose, by parroting/referencing msm/rethug/loony left lines/framing, is turning out to be a turn-off.

  98. 98.

    SFAW

    @rikyrah:

    The Fox news Twitter feed has gone dark, as have other right wing places.

    As Schwenk says on his twitter thread, holy shitballs. There were a lot of “dark” sites, including Drudge, Dr Jill Vladimirovna Stein, Ghouliani; Kim Dotcom, and a host of others. Schwenk is trying to guess/predict what’s up. It’s pretty interesting.

  99. 99.

    Kay

    @Haroldo:

    I don’t care enough about NPR to get sent into rage – I just find them incredibly annoying. The piece was billed as “Democrats plans” but instead it was that bullshit they do where they make it all about Trump- “will they try to IMPEACH our leader?” . I’m sick of Trump and I’m sick of them obsessing over him, too.

    But I’m hopeful because Democrats resisted the caravan bullshit and all the other 5000 Trump distractions in their campaigns- they have an actual voter mandate for their policy. They got elected on it.

  101. 101.

    Gin & Tonic

    @schrodingers_cat: Kim Dotcom is a guy who’s been convicted, IIRC, of some Internet “piracy” charges related to a site he ran called MegaUploads. He’s a NZ resident, and I think he ran for political office there. He is fighting extradition to the US (he is German, I think)

  102. 102.

    Platonailedit

    @Kay:

    they have an actual voter mandate for their policy. They got elected on it.

    Yup. All the totus thug’s and the msm’s third rate scare tactics didn’t work at all.

  104. 104.

    geg6

    @rikyrah:

    That’s a fascinating thread. No idea who the guy is, but it does explain a few things though a bit too much wild eyed speculation there. However, here’s hoping he’s right.

  105. 105.

    AlienRadio

    @schrodingers_cat: Kim Dotcom, was involved in running megaupload I think??? (memory hazy) but it was essentially a haven for piracy. even from a hacktivist point of view he was dodgy ’cause he was profiting off it via advertising rather than just making everything freely available. wound up moving to new zealand at some point. how he’s linked to this network of actors I’m not sure.

  107. 107.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @SFAW: I read some of the Schwenk thread. He’s speculating that the twitter shutdowns are by a court order to avoid tainting the jury pool in advance of some big-time indictments coming down. And he admits that would raise some serious First Amendment issues (for once the right wing would be on at least debatable ground to scream “First Amendment”) but says that prior speech can be restricted on those kinds of narrow grounds.

    I dunno. And I’m not sure it explains Drudge deleting his twitter history. That just smells of blind panic to me, but panic about what?

    Also, lots of people are mentioning a mysterious Murdoch-McConnell meeting (ooh, alliteration!) that might have been the actual precipitating event. Though again nobody has any solid guesses as to what could have happened in that meeting that would have led to this result.

    At any rate, I think these are clearly signs that Trump is about to get some very, very bad news of some kind. Wouldn’t it be cool if the state propaganda outlets like Fox got slapped down too?

  111. 111.

    rikyrah

    I don’t know what indictments will or will not be coming from Bobby Three Sticks…
    but, here’s the thing..
    There is NO SUCH THING as a PERJURY TRAP.
    Either you tell the truth..
    Or you LIE….
    And, If you tell the truth, then you don’t have to worry about lying. ….
    But, I do admit.. I might go buy myself a scotch if Roger Stone gets indicted. Just linger over it, as I think of all the lives he has tried to destroy over the years..

  112. 112.

    The Moar You Know

    The permanent underclass enters its second generation.

    @boatboy_srq: Depends where you live. Here in Southern California, they’re on the fifth or sixth.

  113. 113.

    tokyokie

    @zhena gogolia:

    Oh, how I wish I had my View Master. (Mine had Debra Paget and Rhonda Fleming.)

    You had Hollywood babes? We just had national parks and Bugs Bunny. Still, it’d be cool if I still had that stuff.

  114. 114.

    germy

    (Associated Press) – CNN is suing the Trump administration, demanding that correspondent Jim Acosta’s press credentials to cover the White House be returned.

    The administration revoked them last week following President Trump’s contentious news conference, where Acosta refused to give up a microphone when the president said he didn’t want to hear anything more from him.

    The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Washington, D.C., District Court. CNN claims the revocation of Acosta’s press pass violates the constitutional rights to freedom on the press and due process. CNN is asking for an immediate restraining order to return Acosta to the White House.

    There was no immediate comment from the administration.

  116. 116.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Platonailedit:

    All the totus thug’s and the msm’s third rate scare tactics didn’t work at all.

    I think they worked very well. Republican turnout was unusually strong. Our turnout was stronger. Democrats are motivated in a way no one has seen in more than a generation.

  117. 117.

    Aleta

    U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin and three supporters sued Maine’s secretary of state on Tuesday to stop an ongoing ranked-choice count in the 2nd Congressional District between Poliquin and Assistant Maine House Majority Leader Jared Golden.

    The 25-page complaint in U.S. District Court from Poliquin, a two-term Republican, claims that Maine’s ranked-choice voting system — enshrined by voters in 2016 — is unconstitutional and a violation of the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

    Bangor Daily News

  122. 122.

    The Moar You Know

    (Associated Press) – CNN is suing the Trump administration, demanding that correspondent Jim Acosta’s press credentials to cover the White House be returned.

    The administration revoked them last week following President Trump’s contentious news conference, where Acosta refused to give up a microphone when the president said he didn’t want to hear anything more from him.

    The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Washington, D.C., District Court. CNN claims the revocation of Acosta’s press pass violates the constitutional rights to freedom on the press and due process. CNN is asking for an immediate restraining order to return Acosta to the White House.

    There was no immediate comment from the administration.

    @germy: I hope CNN loses. I really do, because I want a precedent that allows the next Dem president to ban Fox News entirely from the White House grounds.

    They were never a news organization in the first place and don’t belong there.

  123. 123.

    SFAW

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    At any rate, I think these are clearly signs that Trump is about to get some very, very bad news of some kind. Wouldn’t it be cool if the state propaganda outlets like Fox got slapped down too?

    From your lips/keyboard to FSM’s orechiety orrocchhetti arachniety ears

  124. 124.

    gwangung

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Michelle Lapointe, an attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center, explains that under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (Ferpa) there are “strict rules that protect the privacy of students’ information”.

    Well, this administration shows no respect for rules of privacy.

    And past administrations, like the Roosevelt administration, have ratted out minorities to be rounded up.

    Combine those two facts and you get justifiable fear.

  125. 125.

    Yarrow

    @SFAW: It seems unlikely that Jill Stein would go dark on Twitter to protest some treatment of Tucker Carlson. That excuse has always seemed made up to me.

  127. 127.

    SFAW

    @Aleta:

    I hope Poliquin is told to go fuck himself by any Court he’s lucky enough to come before.

    Seriously:

    “Mr. Poliquin, since it seems clear that Rethuglicans have a tough time winning without an ‘activist judge’ helping them out, here’s MY activist ruling: Go forth from this courtroom and go fuck yourself. With a rusty pitchfork. Repeatedly.”

  129. 129.

    SFAW

    @Yarrow:

    It seems unlikely that Jill Stein would go dark on Twitter to protest some treatment of Tucker Carlson. That excuse has always seemed made up to me.

    I agree. On the other hand, if you changed that name to “Julian Assange” or “Vladimir Putin,” I could see it.

  131. 131.

    SFAW

    @Elizabelle:

    I’d treat you to that Scotch. Top shelf!

    Count me in. (For treating rikyrah, that is, although I wouldn’t refuse some nice single-malt myself.)

  132. 132.

    Yarrow

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: i’ve also read speculation that those organizations’ and people’s lawyers have instructed them to stop tweeting because of some preservation of evidence orders or something like that.

  134. 134.

    Yarrow

    @germy: Her last tweet was Nov 9. All those accounts stopped tweeting or in the case of Matt Drudge deleted his tweets on November 8 or 9. The Fox News on stopped after Rupert Murdoch visited McConnell.

  136. 136.

    khead

    @Kay:

    I think they should hammer Trump on not coming thru on infrastructure. Infrastructure is popular. He’ll offer some garbage bill but they should ignore it and just repeat over and over that he failed on infrastructure. They could take that away from him. Refuse to pass his garbage and then blame him for not getting it done.

    Too late. That “ship done sailed” when the Dems were in the minority. Dems are responsible for those bills now. If you want the House to continually pass infrastructure bills that have no chance of passing the Senate? Hey, that would be great. But it also runs the risk of giving Trump a “bipartisan victory” on infrastructure if one actually gets through. So I am guessing we are stuck with the alternative of bridges falling down.

  138. 138.

    germy

    @Yarrow:

    people’s lawyers have instructed them to stop tweeting because of some preservation of evidence orders or something like that.

    And Drudge responds by deleting all his tweets?

    I guess once they're gone, they're gone forever.

  139. 139.

    Waldo

    @Yarrow:

    i’ve also read speculation that those organizations’ and people’s lawyers have instructed them to stop tweeting

    All very intriguing. I guess we’ll find out soon enough. In the meantime, I guess we should enjoy the silence.

  140. 140.

    boatboy_srq

    @The Moar You Know: Referring specifically to citizen students sacrificing their education (and thereby careers) to protect their undocumented parents.

    Of course it goes on multiple generations. That’s the Reichwing plan. Du Vois would never have been appointed SecEd otherwise, for example.

  141. 141.

    germy

    According to “Business Insider” Fox News is boycotting twitter because of the incident at Tucker’s house.

    https://www.businessinsider.com/tucker-carlson-broke-fox-twitter-blackout-to-post-about-assault-allegations-2018-11

    A Fox News source cited by Tribune Media’s Scott Gustin reportedly said the decision came from “the highest level” of the company and was a form of protest after Twitter did not immediately delete tweets containing Carlson’s home address.

  142. 142.

    Yarrow

    @germy: LOL. Dumbest excuse ever. As I said above, I’m sure Jill Stein didn’t stop tweeting at the same time because of something happening to Tucker Carlson.

  144. 144.

    Kay

    @germy:

    I think the “Russian agent” theme gives her too much credit. She’s a grifter on the Left. The Right has grifters and the Left does too, except the Left’s are less powerful and numerous because mainstream liberals and Democrats didn’t embrace them, and mainstream conservatives and Republicans DID embrace theirs.

    If Jill Stein was on the Right she would have a FOX show and be making ten million dollars a year. She’s not, so she does these other things.

  147. 147.

    Kay

    @germy:

    Ed Schultz. He rode the Left gravy train as long as he could and then when he became fringe he went to the Russians because there was no where else to make a living at Left-grifting. There’s just limited opportunities for them in mainstream Democratic and liberal circles, unlike on the Right where it’s like winning the fucking lottery. It’s markets! They have a better market environment for grifters in the Right, hence, there are more of them and they’re richer.

  148. 148.

    gvg

    @gwangung: the FAFSA is processed by the federal government and then is sent to the schools. if a student applies, then the government has the info before the schools. The schools can’t protect the data. On the other hand some of the data comes from tax info pulled from the IRS, so it seems to me, they already have most of it.
    Dreamers and non citizens aren’t eligible to even apply on the FAFSA. People without SS#’s also can’t fill it out, and that isn’t new. I honestly don’t think this is really new, it’s just that Trumps attacks have made other people notice. Its also likely that students in this scenario feel they can’t ask for advice on alternative funding sources.

  149. 149.

    Kay

    @germy:

    We had the funniest case here. It was about “human trafficking”. These two nutjobs decided this local woman had been “trafficked” as a child and they just happened to hit on youtube right as the Trump loonies were taking off on the Q bulllshit. It’s fascinating to see it up close. You can have an actual job as a conspiracy theorist. Like, local! You can be a small-market conspiracy theorist. They were like the bottom feeders of the far Right. There’s enough profit to throw some off to the 3rd or 4th tier.

  150. 150.

    Yarrow

    @Kay: Stein is a Russian asset not an agent. Russia fundss her to further increase fractures on the left in the US. She’s been very useful to them.

  151. 151.

    Kay

    Okay who’s waiting for indictments? I am! You know who you are :)

    My son and I call these “indictment days”. It’s becoming a cherished family tradition.

  152. 152.

    Kay

    @Yarrow:

    She’s not among these, but you wonder about principled Lefties defending Putin’s Russia. They know it’s not “Left”, right? They must have picked that up by now, that it’s a Right wing authoritarian state that is also deeply corrupt and run by oligarchs. They’re weirdly sentimental about it.

  154. 154.

    Mike in DC

    @Kay: It’s a convoluted thing. One part ussr nostalgia, one part “America is a force for evil in the world so we should support anyone who opposes them”, and one part swallowing RT propaganda hook, line and sinker. That there are Americans who are ostensibly “left” who think that Bashir al Assad is unfairly maligned distresses me to no end.

  155. 155.

    bluefoot

    @Kay: I am hoping for an Oprah-like indictment day – “You get an indictment, and you get an indictment and….”

  156. 156.

    Princess

    Things that make me say hmmm:

    Brad Parscale has been booted from Twitter. He’s a jerk, but I don’t recall him doing anything ban-worthy, given the people who they do allow on there.

  159. 159.

    Elizabelle

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Whee!

    Indictments, please. Although: I am good with waiting until the Democratic House deals with them. Who knows what these off the scales GOP obstructionist/criminals will do?

  160. 160.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @JPL:

    Trump is up and tweeting

    And…? Did you read the bit that Trump is merely another Glen Beck 2.0; nothing more than a rodeo clown?

  162. 162.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Frankensteinbeck: One would think that the GOP senate went from “it’s a sure bet we pick up 6 seats because of the math”, to “maybe we might get one seat” be enough toss Turtle. But then covering up failing old white men is a Republican policy.

  163. 163.

    Platonailedit

    John Kelly, mired in conflicts with a widening array of officials from the National Security Council to the office of the first lady, may soon depart the Trump admin, according to seven people familiar with the discussions. https://t.co/ZBUBm2CSV6— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) November 13, 2018

    The wall dominoes have started crumbling?

  164. 164.

    Kay

    Here’s an indictment for ya:

    Trump’s southeast regional EPA administrator indicted on Alabama ethics charges

    If they start indicting on ethics charges the entire Trump Administration have to leave.

  165. 165.

    sdhays

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: One thing that gets missed in all the talk about McConnell is that he’s not running things. Boehner wasn’t running things either. They all have the same masters calling the shots.

    No one is going to blame McConnell for this pathetic performance. It’s definitely not McConnell’s fault that Ted Cruz almost lost his seat, for example. If they feel the need to blame anyone, Spankee’s the one that those people can agree on, even if they’re careful not to say it out loud — or at least only anonymously.

  167. 167.

    Another Scott

    @Kay: Of course, the recent SCOTUS case involving former governor Bob McDonnell means that there is No Corruption unless there is audio and video of a direct quote along the lines of “Thank you for giving me money to do what you want in knowing direct violation of my oath”…

    (sigh)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  168. 168.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    If Jill Stein was on the Right she would have a FOX show and be making ten million dollars a year. She’s not, so she does these other things.

    Instead, she fleeced the rubes to the tunes of millions in 2016….which she’s never accounted for.

    But, Kay, she is a Russian stooge.
    I don’t believe in coincidences. I simply don’t.

  170. 170.

    Mike in DC

    @Platonailedit: Maddow’s gonna need a wide shot with a whole bank of monitors showing the complete list of departures to date. Gonna be close to 2 out of 3 by the end of the year.

  171. 171.

    PJ

    @Kay: @Mike in DC: The “America is bad, and if it looks like America might have done something good, it’s just a coverup for something bad” people will support any actor who is against American power, policy, or a healthy, functional democracy here. If this means helping Republicans gain or keep power, so be it, as long as it weakens the US.

  173. 173.

    Kay

    @PJ:

    I actually think the US Right wing alliance with the Right wing in Russia is fascinating. It makes so much sense that they would align. I don’t know why it took so long. Of course Trump loves them- he absolutely shares their values.

  174. 174.

    Immannetize

    If Trump really wants to fire Kirstjen Nielsen, who is going to actually do it? Kelly won’t — for reasons….

  176. 176.

    Dan B

    Speculation here. Trump admin makes overtures to new Brazilian president to invade Venezuela.
    Seems like a long shot but… easier than Iran because less likely to rapidly expand to full tilt regional war, and beyond.
    Assumes logical planners in WH not in evidence.

  177. 177.

    Scamp Dog

    @Baud:

    The big question is whether the public actually likes grownups

    Truth

    The real question is whether the media village actually likes grownups. Short answer: No.

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