Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Let’s finish the job.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

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

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Infrastructure week. at last.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Wednesday Afternoon Open Thread: Prepping Hell

Wednesday Afternoon Open Thread: Prepping Hell

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Aaaand the ‘Joyous Season’ begins, with the holiday that requires all good American consumers to spend the day overeating in the company of people we only see once a year, if we’re lucky. (I kid — mostly.)

Since I’m much better at eating than cooking (also, I loathe turkey), our contribution to the traditional Boggie Bloat is a group-approved pre-cooked spiral-sliced ham… plus the peach-blueberry pies from a local orchard that the Spousal Unit likes, despite the fact that several of the dozen-plus other Bloat people planning to attend are dedicated pie-makers. Himself has been on vacation for most of the last two weeks (except when he’s answering ‘just one or two urgent emails’), so we already picked up the pies. But he’s gonna have to hit the grocery store for whipping cream … which will happen as late as possible this evening… and then he’ll be OUTRAGED that (a) the shelves are all picked over, and (b) all the other last-minute shoppers are frantic & careless & very, very RUDE…

Yeah, but think of the beleaguered security people already tasked with working the holiday…

President Donald Trump is back in his comfort zone at the “winter White House”: Mar-a-Lago, where women in furs and men in diamond jewelry and monogrammed slippers mingle with Sylvester Stallone and Fabio at New Year’s Eve celebrations and Don King rubs elbows with Cabinet members, could-be ambassadors and the “MyPillow” guy at dinner.

All presidents have had their favorite retreats: George H.W. Bush’s family had a compound in Kennebunkport, Maine; George W. Bush loved his ranch in Crawford, Texas; and Barack Obama savored winter getaways to his home state of Hawaii. But none has drawn the fascination — or raised the ethical issues — of Mar-a-Lago, where Trump spends his time mixing work, business and pleasure in the company of dues-paying members.

It’s one of the many ways in which Trump has transformed the presidency and managed to hold onto the life he had before taking office.

“His visits to Mar-a-Lago are part of the original sins of his presidency, and the fact that he’s returning there shows that he has not learned his lesson,” said former White House ethics lawyer Norman Eisen. He described the club as “a place where, for sky-high admissions fees, business executives who have strong interests before the government can literally engage in purchasing access to the president. Those fees also seem to be down payments on ambassadorships.”…

Former administration officials described the lengths to which aides have gone to try to run interference: scanning daily guest lists, reserving the dinner table next to Trump’s to keep as close an eye on him as possible and keeping tabs on the people who approach him to make sure none raises alarms…

During last year’s Thanksgiving stay, Trump visited both of his nearby golf properties, playing with champions including Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Jack Nicklaus and Nicklaus’ pro-golfer son, Gary.

This year, the forecast is calling for intermittent rain.

So, everybody brace for some really cranky TOTUS tweets!

Reader Interactions

184Comments

  1. 1.

    TenguPhule

    But those who do make the trip are on alert, wary of club members and invited guests who buttonhole the president in dining rooms and other club spaces where they have near-unimpeded access.

    So if someone was looking to get rid of an annoying orange freak, the best place to do so is his own freaking club?

    /jots down some notes.

  5. 5.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @TenguPhule:
    The idea that companies are inserting their products into autocomplete/correct is interesting and plausible. Who has access to which systems becomes a question.

  6. 6.

    JMG

    I’d love to know (and I bet the CIA and FBI would too) how many Mar-a-Lago members are directly or indirectly in the service of various foreign intelligence agencies. I mean, Trump’s got a loud voice. All you’d have to do is get a table near him at lunch. Hell, he probably buttonholes members and bores them comatose with descriptions of his mighty deeds.

  8. 8.

    TenguPhule

    @JMG:

    All you’d have to do is get a table near him at lunch.

    His minions are aware of this and now book up all the tables surrounding him, according to the report.

  10. 10.

    Gin & Tonic

    We will be hosting all of our children with significant others and the two grandchildren. Good liberals all (well, not sure about grandson, he’s only one and a half) and I could not be happier. We plan to eat a lot, drink lots of wine and not argue about anything.

  11. 11.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Think of all the troops kicking rocks along the border waiting for the caravan to arrive, as part of Donald’s pathetic attempt to stop a blue wave from taking over the House.

  17. 17.

    TenguPhule

    “We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges,” John G. Roberts Jr. said in an unusual statement. “What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them”

    Someone is worried that Trump is ignoring the dog whistles in favor of open confessions.

  18. 18.

    TenguPhule

    “This was an Obama judge. And I’ll tell you what, it’s not going to happen like this anymore,” Trump said. “It means an automatic loss no matter what you do… People should not be allowed to immediately run to this very friendly circuit and file their case.”

    He added that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which also previously blocked his executive order banning immigration from several Muslim-majority countries, was a “disgrace.”

    “Every case that gets filed in the Ninth Circuit, we get beaten. And then we end up having to go to the Supreme Court, like the travel ban, and we won,” Trump said.

    Now we get to find out if Roberts is all hat and no cattle.

  20. 20.

    Jay

    So some ‘Merican Megachurch God Botherer thot he would have “a bit of an adventure”, by travelling to the Adaman Islands and converting the Natives to Christianity.

    So his bodys now lying on the beach and the Indian Police have charged the 7 fishermen who took him out to the islands with murder.

  21. 21.

    JoyceH

    @JMG:

    I’d love to know (and I bet the CIA and FBI would too) how many Mar-a-Lago members are directly or indirectly in the service of various foreign intelligence agencies.

    Or on staff. A lot cheaper; you don’t have to provide your assets with all the trappings that go with the Mar-a-Lago lifestyle. If a foreign intelligence service sent someone to apply for employment there, do you honestly think any background check would find out? Look at all the stuff the media has uncovered about Whittaker – simply through GOOGLE!

  23. 23.

    FelonyGovt

    We are doing NOTHING for Thanksgiving (well, we have a pumpkin pie and I may go buy some cornbread stuffing). Daughter is out of town with her girlfriend and we saw in-laws last night. It feels wonderful and decadent.

  25. 25.

    eric

    Just throwing this out there because I am bored. Were I recruiting for a spy service of a country other than the US (or even if i was a Mercer or a Koch with money and an agenda), i would look for someone that might need her (and her son’s) lifestyle maintained financially were she to ever want a divorce from someone with a (purportedly) iron-clad pre-nup. Just saying. Be Best!

  27. 27.

    Chip Daniels

    @Villago Delenda Est:
    Mar a Lago sounds like one of those old jokes about underground Communist Party meetings where it turned out most of them were agents of various police and intelligence agencies.

    Where else could a nation get unimpeded access to the inner circle of American strategic planning so cheaply?

  28. 28.

    jl

    @Tim C.: It was in the Sentinelese islands, a region of the Andaman Islands inhabited by a native people who continue to resist contact with the outside world, usually violently. They only tolerate short contacts, if you are very careful. India had a program to try to establish contact, but they gave it up, it was making no progress. Sounds like a Sci Fi movie pitch, but it’s real. The story is already up on wiki, with references to news articles.

    Sentinelese
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentinelese

    The NYT story sums it up: American Is Killed by Bow and Arrow on Remote Indian Island, link in the wiki article.
    The fisherman are charged with murder because they took him out to the islands against Indian law, and left him in a place where, if you are not very careful, the natives will shoot you with bows and arrows, with arrow heads, and kill you. Which is what happened to this missionary, who looks like couldn’t be bothered to look up the place on the wiki.

  29. 29.

    Doug R

    Tale of two provinces-British Columbia announces all light trucks and cars sold to be zero emission by 2040:

    All new cars and trucks sold in B.C. in the year 2040 will have to be zero-emission vehicles, the premier promised Tuesday.

    John Horgan said the government is planning to introduce legislation in the spring to gradually phase in targets for the sale of electric cars and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and will take steps to make those vehicles cheaper.

    “If we want British Columbians to be part of the solution for reducing air pollution, we need to make clean energy vehicles more affordable, available and convenient,” Horgan said in a news release.

    The proposed legislation would require 10 per cent of all new light-duty vehicles sold by 2025 to produce zero emissions. That percentage would jump to 30 per cent by 2030 and then 100 per cent by 2040.

    As part of the plan, the government says it’s boosting the provincial incentive program for new car buyers by $20 million this year and will look at expanding the program over time. Right now, anyone who buys an electric car is eligible for up to $5,000 in incentives; people who buy hydrogen fuel cell vehicles can receive up to $6,000.

    The province is also planning to more than double the number of electric charging stations to 151.

    Right now, 12,000 clean energy vehicles are registered in B.C., which the province says is the highest adoption rate in the country.

    Source

    Meanwhile Doug Ford’s Conservative government in Ontario announces it is freezing the minimum wage at $14 until 2020, cancelling the previous Liberal government’s raise to $15 next year.

    The Ontario government has passed sweeping labour reform legislation that rolls back many changes brought in by the previous Liberal regime.

    The law freezes the minimum wage at $14 an hour until 2020 and cuts two paid personal leave days for workers, among other things.

    The governing Progressive Conservatives have said the changes made by their predecessors imposed significant costs on businesses and argued the new legislation would ease that burden.

    The measures were applauded by some in the business community but condemned by anti-poverty activists, union leaders and opposition parties, who say the changes will make life harder for average people.

    Source

    Elections have consequences.

  30. 30.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Jay:
    I wish no one death, only being removed from where they can hurt people. That said, this guy seems to have committed suicide. He walked into a place where he was told he would be killed, on the most jackass arrogant mission imaginable. I guess he thought God would protect him so he could bring these poor brown sinners to Jayzus.

    It is sad when Darwin strikes, but boy howdy is that what happened here.

  31. 31.

    trollhattan

    Segment of family unit detached and is currently in Venice Beach, as the kid tours colleges before heading to a soccer tournament at some hellhole in greater suburban Ontario. They get two days of touristing before that and up north I hold down the fort and the dog (“stay!”) watching fall’s first rain slowly coax the AQI below 100. Hasn’t done that since before the Camp Fire. Breathe deep, my fellow Californians, and be thankful you have your home and your life.

  33. 33.

    jl

    @Frankensteinbeck: Indian government found that if you are very polite and careful, approach gradually making clear you are unarmed and friendly, and make clear you are bringing them gifts, they’ll let you stay a short while before they warn you to go away, and you have a chance of getting out alive.

    So, India’s attempts to make contact kind of stalled at state of affairs, and then they gave up.

  34. 34.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @jl:
    None of that is compatible with being a Christian missionary, of course. Especially an evangelical missionary, although I don’t see indications here of what branch of Christianity he’s from. Regardless, these are people who explicitly kill you for telling them they live their life incorrectly.

  35. 35.

    JPL

    @FelonyGovt: My SIL is coming and she is a vegetarian, but does eat fish. I’m preparing salmon with lots of sides. I’ll miss the stuffing/dressing though.

  36. 36.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Frankensteinbeck: Those indigenous tribes are protected. Why couldn’t this jackass leave them alone.

    ETA: Andaman’s cellular jail was where the Brits used to send their worst political prisoners to die, many times in isolation. Those islands are literally in the middle of nowhere. Far away from the mainland.

  37. 37.

    humboldtblue

    Women in California dominated the midterms.

    Though not every race has been called, it appears 54 women were elected at the state and federal level across California this year. That includes 28 members of the Legislature and 19 members of Congress, as well as three statewide constitutional officers—Lt. Gov.-elect Eleni Kounalakis, Treasurer-elect Fiona Ma and state Controller Betty Yee.

    That’s a higher number than any other election this century. It’s also a record-high rate: one-in-three winning candidates this year were women. Or, to put it another way, men hit a record-low, winning a measly two-thirds of all state and federal races across the state.

  39. 39.

    Martin

    @TenguPhule: Well, Roberts was free to opine about this matter before Kavanaugh was seated, and even when Garland was being snubbed. Convenient of him to object now that he’s got the court he wants and there’s fuck-all going to happen about it.

  40. 40.

    JGabriel

    @TenguPhule:

    Major Major Major Major:

    (‘Han’? Wtf autocorrect)

    FYWP is now controlled by Disney. And the Mouse wants you to buy more stuff.

    Or, the mouse wants him to shoot first.

  41. 41.

    jl

    @Frankensteinbeck: Hell, they kill you for staying on their islands a few hours longer than they want you on their beach, even if you shower them with gifts. Interesting that wiki says that they have a monotheistic religion, just not Christianity. Maybe their god is a jealous god too.

    I’d like to go to the Maldives before they disappear, or Seychelles before their beautiful shoreline becomes severely damaged, or becomes so infested with Trumpsters plotting crime that it becomes a dangerous place to go. So, I found about about the Sentinelese Islands a few months ago while researching places to visit there. I crossed them off my bucket list after reading the wiki article and references.

  42. 42.

    Martin

    @humboldtblue: California sent 19 women to Congress. The GOP has sent 13 to Congress from all 50 states combined. Seriously everyone, get the fuck out of our way – we’re on this.

  43. 43.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @schrodingers_cat:
    From my experience, because they are so convinced that they are right that it warps their perception of everything. It is an assholish, arrogant attitude that holds the rest of the world in contempt, although often friendly ‘Aren’t I being such a good person tolerating you’ contempt. As a Jew, I’ve had to deal with it directly and openly. There is no possibility in their head that they’re not representing the truth and correct way of living and only religion. From that kind of deranged beginning, all you have to do is tell people about Christianity and whether that person is good or evil decides the reaction.

  45. 45.

    jl

    The most recent news on how horrible and dangerous Trump is, really makes another milestone in how to agree to disagree with the Trumpsters. I’m thinking what kind of simple English to use here. Something like:

    Trump asked the US Justice Department to go investigate Hillary Clinton and James Comey and charge them with a crime. And the White House lawyer and the Justice Department asked why they should do that. And Trump said because I said so. And then they told Trump, well no, we a need a good reason to do that, see? And Trump said, well I told you to and that is a good reason. And so they said well, no, you could get in big trouble for that because we’re not supposed to do that unless you have a reason, do you understand? And they wrote him some memos trying to explain that, and he can’t understand it or he doesn’t care. So, probably that means Trump is not the greatest president ever. Can you follow me here? On why he’s bad?

    I’ll try that next time I head to Trumpster kin down in SW San Joaquin Valley. They may be in such a state that they’ve decided they don’t want contact with outsiders anymore, and chase me out of their driveway, even if I approach very slowly, smiling, with my hands out in front holding lots of presents.

  46. 46.

    Gravenstone

    @Martin: A friend posted the article about Roberts’ response to Trump’s rhetoric elsewhere. My response was basically that Roberts needed to watch his own back against the pair of “Trump judges” with whom he now shares chambers. Their knives might just be out for him, should he fail to be sufficiently loyal to the cause.

  48. 48.

    JPL

    @jl: They will say he has the authority as president to do what he wants. Trumpians belong to a sick cult and must be treated the same way you would cult members.

  49. 49.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    We are going to the Farm Shop tomorrow to buy DH a T-bone steak the size of a small child for his Thanksgiving Dinner. He will eat about half of it with a twice baked potato, some green beans and bread. The leftovers will be turned into a beef panini and the bone and remaining beef bits on it will be given to my Mum’s dog Fran when she comes to stay with us on Friday.

  50. 50.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    “Former administration officials described the lengths to which aides have gone to try to run interference: scanning daily guest lists, reserving the dinner table next to Trump’s to keep as close an eye on him as possible and keeping tabs on the people who approach him to make sure none raises alarms…”

    So what is protecting Trump from his worst impulses are a bunch of Conservatarded madras brats and even the most blind by the Right get Trump is way over the line? ROFL

  51. 51.

    gene108

    Since most of the staff Mar-a-Lago are foreigners on temp work visas, I wonder how many are spies working for other countries?

    I wonder how many listening devices are planted throughout the place?

    And how much confidential information has fallen into the hands of other countries, because Trump is bad at his job?

  53. 53.

    H.E.Wolf

    @humboldtblue:
    From your linked article:

    one-in-three winning candidates this year [in CA] were women. Or, to put it another way, men hit a record-low, winning a measly two-thirds of all state and federal races across the state

    That one-third/two-thirds share is an interesting one. That’s often when the majority group starts feeling “outnumbered” by the half-as-many people in the minority group. [Hat tip to the book “Whistling Vivaldi” for documenting this phenomenon.]

  56. 56.

    gene108

    @TenguPhule:

    Now we get to find out if Roberts is all hat and no cattle.

    Roberts is a partisan Movement Conservative hack, just like the rest of the conservatives on the Supreme Court.

    Only Movement Conservative hacks have a shot at a Republican politician appointing them to judgeships

  57. 57.

    jl

    Brian Higgins deals, has got whatever he wanted.

    Another Anti-Pelosi Dem Lines Up Behind Her Speakership Bid
    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/another-anti-pelosi-dem-lines-up-behind-her-speakership-bid

    Higgins’ signature was on the new anti-Pelosi letter released a day or so ago.
    I get a chuckle out of these stories, because no one, neither reporter nor politician, will even mention that Tim Ryan has offered himself as an alternative for Speaker.
    I guess that the very idea of it is just so ridiculous that no one wants to bring it up. But Tim Ryan is the only announced alternative candidate still standing, or wandering around lost in the dark, or something like that.

  58. 58.

    Cermet

    Built a remote shed for my aux. generator. Just finished wiring a remote battery (that’s in the warm garage) to the generator since it has a starter/key. The winter will be bad I bet and even in a good winter we lose power two or three times for between 6-8 hours to even a day; so, this will make my life easier – the unit weighs about 200 lbs so isn’t easy to move.

    Doubt Mueller releases anything with that new acting AG. That is why I think he rushed to seal a massive number. So, he didn’t require direct approve by that low life AG.

  59. 59.

    Steve in the ATL

    @humboldtblue: good. White men have proven ourselves unworthy of rule. All hail our new female overlords! Or overladies. This is going to require some vocabulary work.

  60. 60.

    JMG

    @gene108: Roberts is now a Movement Conservative hack with life tenure. He has no reason to be afraid of Trump, nor do the other four conservative justices. They can’t be primaried. They can rule against women’s rights, voter’s rights, labor rights and consumer rights and still have no problem screwing Trump if they decide he’s bad for the Movement. More to the point, what reason would they have to rule against their own powers in favor of the executive? What if the executive becomes a Democrat?

  61. 61.

    Mnemosyne

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    It’s not that uncommon for religious people who are suicidal to seek out religious opportunities that are likely to lead to their deaths so they don’t go to hell for committing suicide. I would not be surprised if that was the case here.

    IIRC, the classic suicide bomber has usually been someone who was already suicidal who was talked into the bombing by telling them that it was not “real” suicide since it would be an act of jihad, so they wouldn’t have to fear going to hell.

  62. 62.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @jl:

    I’ll try that next time I head to Trumpster kin down in SW San Joaquin Valley.

    I regret to tell you this one won’t work. They believe implicitly that Obama and Hillary and Comey all did something illegal, so Trump is right here and the DoJ people must be corrupt.

    @jl:
    Here, on the other hand, I am taking great glee in watching the rebels one by one bend the knee to the true queen of the Democratic Party.

    Tim Ryan is the only announced alternative candidate still standing

    Wait, is he still trying? I thought he gave up! None of his so-called allies ever mention him as a possibility.

  63. 63.

    Mnemosyne

    @gene108:

    Since most of the staff Mar-a-Lago are foreigners on temp work visas, I wonder how many are spies working for other countries?

    All of them, Katie.

  64. 64.

    Barbara

    @jl: I assume that Nancy Pelosi has a file for every member of her delegation including the new ones and she knows what they probably really want from her. Tim Ryan made a tremendous, impassioned speech against the Iraq War but his constituents are in the heart of the rust belt and I guess he has a hard time wrapping his ahead around the idea of female leadership. I honestly thought he was going to run in the Ohio governor election one or two cycles ago, but he seems to be a House Rep for life.

  65. 65.

    BCHS Class of 1980

    Wanted to mention the “Bored of the Rings” reference so that at least one jackal saw what you did there.

  66. 66.

    jl

    @Barbara: Other commenters who say they follow finance, say Tim Ryan has undergone an odd evolution towards corporate and big donor funded centrism over time. I need to read up more on that when I have time. I do know in terms of policy, he is not nearly as progressive, or even liberal, or even center-left as he was years ago. He’s been moving steadily to the right.

    From AL’s post last night, seems like Moulton has done some very good things in the past, but that Moulton apparently is in the past now.

    I am very cynical about their motives. Maybe a little too harsh on them, since it is possible that they cannot admit to themselves what they have become.

  67. 67.

    PsiFighter37

    Reading up on the MS-Sen debate – it sounds like Cindy Hyde-Smith read overtly from a cheat sheet the entire debate and got the election date wrong. Sounds like a stupider Southern version of Palin…

  68. 68.

    James E Powell

    @Gravenstone:

    Roberts is just mouthing bullshit and he knows it’s bullshit. His whole career was built on the fact that RW presidents appoint RW judges & justices who rule in favor of RW policies and against Democratic policies. That is the Federalist Society’s reason for being.

    Again, the only difference between Trump and every other Republican is that he says things out loud.

  69. 69.

    LuciaMia

    For the first time going out to a restaurant for Turkey Day. I love to cook but definitely looking forward to it!

  70. 70.

    cmorenc

    Meanwhile, Faux News is portraying the opioid epidemic in this country as due in major part to illegals smuggling Mexican cartel-produced heroin across the Mexican border, rather than from over-prescription and diversion of oxycontin aka “hillbilly heroin” produced by American drug companies. Accompanying the reports with video images of dark-skinned hispanic-looking folks down in Mexico getting ready to mule it over the border, as well as some more dark-skinned hispanic folks under arrest just inside the US border.

    No working-class Appalachian pill-popping white folks anywhere in the images, nor American drug companies, etc. Though they don’t show any even darker-skinned urban ghetto types as end-users, Fox is happy to let viewers make the easy presumptive leap that’s where the end-users of the heroin aka opioid epidemic are. And not suburban folks who get hooked on prescription opioids and try to keep that good feeling going by whatever means possible…

  71. 71.

    geg6

    Thankfully, of the fourteen family members who will be together tomorrow, not a single one is a Trumper or even a GOPer. Everyone there agrees that we hate him and everyone and everything he stands for. I’m bringing the veggies: my world famous honey and sea salt roasted carrots and a Brussels sprout gratin. Tonight, it’s leftover prime rib sandwiches on baguettes with provolone, carmelized onions, arugula and a horseradish cream sauce. Probably fries on the side.

  72. 72.

    tokyokie

    @James E Powell: Roberts’ problem now, as I see it, is that although the Federalist Society has larded the Supreme Court with right-wing hatchet men, with the exception of Roberts himself, the others are all knuckle-draggers without the intellectual heft to write an opinion that will stand the test of time. All the reasoning and literary skills on the court are with the justices appointed by Democrats.

  73. 73.

    jl

    @Frankensteinbeck: Maybe Ryan has taken himself out of the running but doesn’t want to make a public announcement in hope that people will forget about it. Higgins implicitly described Ryan’s standing when he said “we don’t even have a semblance of a viable alternative at this point.” That is cold, stone cold.

    Ir maybe I missed the news that Ryan… What’s the point in even worrying about it. These people are just making fools of themselves in public now. They make false statements, that could be evidence they are liars, except their other demonstrations of complete clulessness argues that they are incapable of putting enough thought into anything that is needed to lie.

  74. 74.

    Doug R

    @Cermet:

    Built a remote shed for my aux. generator.

    I’m pretty sure it’s remote enough, but it’s a good idea to have a CO sensor in the house in case the wind takes a weird turn and/or you have any gas appliances and/or the car is parked anywhere near the house.

  76. 76.

    James E Powell

    @PsiFighter37:

    Reading up on the MS-Sen debate – it sounds like Cindy Hyde-Smith read overtly from a cheat sheet the entire debate and got the election date wrong. Sounds like a stupider Southern version of Palin…

    . . . who will nevertheless be elected because racists gotta have a racist and they don’t care about anything else.

  78. 78.

    laura

    @trollhattan: the air smells of rich, earthy, dirt, and it is wonderful.
    If you’re bored tomorrow morning, bike on over to the Towe Auto Museum parking lot for the annual appetite enhancement ride. Bring cash for the raffle or direct donation to the Butte folks. Shhhhh, it’s a secret while everyone else is running for the hungry.

  79. 79.

    cmorenc

    @JMG:

    @gene108: Roberts is now a Movement Conservative hack with life tenure. He has no reason to be afraid of Trump, nor do the other four conservative justices. They can’t be primaried. They can rule against women’s rights, voter’s rights, labor rights and consumer rights and still have no problem screwing Trump if they decide he’s bad for the Movement. More to the point, what reason would they have to rule against their own powers in favor of the executive? What if the executive becomes a Democrat?

    A couple of the justices within the conservative block may just decide that the best thing for the longer-term interests of the conservative movement might just be to let Mueller provide such strong grounds to remove Trump and Pence that even a GOP-controlled Senate cannot say no to impeachment of Trump and Pence – leaving the un-elected Nancy Pelosi (as now Speaker of the House) to be the next in line to take over the Presidency for the remainder of Trump’s term, with a GOP-controlled Senate to block anything but minimally essential routine legislation, e.g. military funding. Meanwhile, the ill-effects of Trump’s tariff tantrums + a mild recession unfold under Nancy Smash’s watch, compounded by her thin status as an unelected President (by anyone but the SF bay area and the Dem house caucus) – making her doubly vulnerable to skeptical resentment among enough of the electorate to put her or whomever else the Dems might run in 2020 at a defensive disadvantage. With the end result that in another year and a half, a more conventional business-friendly GOP candidate wins (also carrying out the RW’s social agenda) – but free of the baggage of Trump.

    That actually is a plausible long-game for Roberts to play, and Kavanaugh may even see the benefit to his credibility as a SCOTUS justice to help pave the way for his nominator to get kicked hard in the ass and out the door.

  82. 82.

    jl

    @cmorenc: I don’t understand how that would work. Impeachment, trial, conviction and removal from office is Congress’ business. What role would the SCOTUS play? The GOP will be afraid to do anything even if the SCOTUS does everything it can the ease the way, because the GOP primary voter bloc consists of nothing but nutcases that will vote them out in the primaries if they even utter a sentence of criticism of Trump.

    Or maybe the SOP Senate has become such a cowardly, corrupt and worthless bunch of gutless wonders, that they’ll just find a way to surrender the Senate trial power to SCOTUS?

  83. 83.

    TenguPhule

    @gene108:

    Since most of the staff Mar-a-Lago are foreigners on temp work visas, I wonder how many are spies working for other countries?

    All of em, Katie.

  85. 85.

    TenguPhule

    @JMG:

    Roberts is now a Movement Conservative hack with life tenure. He has no reason to be afraid of Trump,

    Life can be unexpectedly cut short.

  86. 86.

    Brachiator

    @cmorenc:

    A couple of the justices within the conservative block may just decide that the best thing for the longer-term interests of the conservative movement might just be to let Mueller provide such strong grounds to remove Trump and Pence that even a GOP-controlled Senate cannot say no to impeachment of Trump and Pence – leaving the un-elected Nancy Pelosi (as now Speaker of the House) to be the next in line to take over the Presidency for the remainder of Trump’s term, with a GOP-controlled Senate to block anything but minimally essential routine legislation, e.g. military funding.

    I would accept this. Still, it is little more than an idle fantasy.

    It would make a cool movie. Hollywood would probably cast Tea Leoni as the Speaker of the House who becomes president after a scandal and impeachment.

  88. 88.

    Doug R

    @jl: If the cowards in the Senate refuse to do their jobs, the Supreme Court could suddenly find that a sitting president can indeed be indicted and charged.

  89. 89.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @JPL: Its a great plan! Or the only one I have right now. I cant cook him a pumpkin pie because I can’t get the packed pumpkin can that I would normally use to make it, there are somethings I just can’t do here in the UK.

  90. 90.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @cmorenc: But succession goes to the Speaker of the House only if both Trump and Pence go away at once. If Trump goes, Pence becomes president and nominates a VP that has to be approved by both houses of congress. If Pence goes, Trump does the nominating.

  91. 91.

    The Moar You Know

    A couple of the justices within the conservative block may

    @cmorenc: That “may” is doing more heavy lifting than a construction crane in that fantasy you’ve so blithely spun.

  92. 92.

    Yutsano

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: As I recall from the last time this happened, that’s when we got Gerald Ford. Because he was the VP Nixon selected. And now with everything else I wonder if the pardons were part of the condition of selecting him.

  93. 93.

    jl

    @Doug R: Thanks. Trump will try some surreal schemes to foil that. Pardon himself, appoint himself acting president right before he resigns? Or get the SCOTUS to uphold his abuse of the appointment power and make Jared the acting president right before he resigns. It will be interesting.

  94. 94.

    Mnemosyne

    @LuciaMia:

    We did that last year, because my brother and his wife opted to go visit her family in IN and my aunt and uncle also went out of state. It was very nice to sit down to a delicious dinner that we did not have to clean up. ?

  95. 95.

    Jay

    “
    To sum up: like so many of his right-wing fellow travelers, Matthew Whitaker set up a phony non-profit to commit tax fraud while enriching himself. This is exactly the kind of thing the IRS is supposed to prosecute, but of course it can’t because “targeting” people who commit tax fraud is a form of discrimination against Republicans.

    He then got paid upwards of a million dollars of right wing dark money for doing basically nothing. (What sort of “value” did Whitaker add to the right wing scream machine by getting quoted in 17 of the eleventy zillion stories about EMAILSBENGHAZICLINTONCASHPODESTA?)

    He then became Attorney General of the United States (acting).

    I’m leaving out all the stuff about toilets for especially masculine men and time-travel-based cryptocurrencies and building landing strips for gay Martians because frankly I can’t even.”

    http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2018/11/griftonomics

  96. 96.

    Immanentize

    @jl:
    The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is the presiding judge at any impeachment trial of a president in the Senate. Chief Justice Rhenquist even had a newly designed robe for the Clinton trial.
    Thumb meet scale.

  98. 98.

    randy khan

    @Yutsano:

    As long as the phone understands Han shot first. Then we cool.

    Of course he did. Otherwise he would have been dead.

    This is one of those things where I have a hard time understanding how it even started. Han is a good guy in the context of the movies, but he’s part of the underworld of the planet. Of course he’s going to shoot first; at point blank range you don’t get any credit for waiting for the other guy to kill you before you shoot. But it’s still funny.

  99. 99.

    cain

    @Frankensteinbeck:
    Also you need to declare to the Indian govt if you are going to proselytize. There is a specific visa for that. He was likely in violation of his Visa. Basically an arrogant asshole got killed.

  100. 100.

    tobie

    @Jay: Does FINCEN have the capacity to indict someone for tax fraud or do all federal indictments need to go through the DOJ? I ask because we seem to be finding ourselves once again in an all but unprecedented situation* where the chief law enforcement officer is himself a crook. Who has standing to indict and how would such a case be prosecuted? This is a general question…for any lawyers on this thread.

    *Nixon’s AG John Mitchell was a crook. I don’t recall if he stepped down before he was tried or if he was tried while in office.

  101. 101.

    JPL

    @Doug R: hahaha Roberts is trying to protect his legacy with words, but will continue to side with the conservatives to protect trump.

  102. 102.

    Cheryl Rofer

    And Trump shoots back at Roberts! This will not end well.

    Sorry Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have “Obama judges,” and they have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country. It would be great if the 9th Circuit was indeed an “independent judiciary,” but if it is why……

    ….are so many opposing view (on Border and Safety) cases filed there, and why are a vast number of those cases overturned. Please study the numbers, they are shocking. We need protection and security – these rulings are making our country unsafe! Very dangerous and unwise!

  103. 103.

    Immanentize

    OMG. I just read that the federal judge who blocked the Trump order violating asylum law is the son of a friend and long time colleague. Ha! I have many a story I could tell about his Dad!

  106. 106.

    TenguPhule

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    We need protection and security – these rulings are making our country unsafe!

    Its fortunate that Trump can’t spell Reichstag. So far.

  109. 109.

    Cheryl Rofer

    As a resident of a border state and sanctuary city, and, for that matter, a latecomer to a part of the United States where brown people lived long before, I find the fear in those Trump tweets baffling. “The safety of our country,” “protection and security” – it’s like he wants to be huddled in a little ball, the way he hugs himself sometimes when speaking from one of his praise sessions with his cabinet.

  110. 110.

    TenguPhule

    @Steve in the ATL:

    his legacy died with Bush v. Gore and won’t be rehabilitated.

    You mean the Court’s legacy? I’m pretty sure Citizens United was Roberts own kiss of death to his historical record.

  111. 111.

    TenguPhule

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    I find the fear in those Trump tweets baffling. “The safety of our country,” “protection and security”

    He’s using Hitler’s playbook. This shit is right out of the brownshirt movement.

  112. 112.

    Mnemosyne

    @Immanentize:

    I had a further question for you in Betty’s morning open thread about the state law vs federal law thing. It’s mostly to satisfy some writerly curiousity.

  115. 115.

    Brachiator

    @LuciaMia:

    For the first time going out to a restaurant for Turkey Day. I love to cook but definitely looking forward to it!

    I’ve gradually come to the opinion that this is one of the best ways to do Thanksgiving. This or having it catered. That way everyone can relax and enjoy themselves.

    Also, throwing this out there, from Gizmodo: Popeyes’ Cajun turkey is tastier than whatever you’re roasting this Thanksgiving

    Primarily known for its top-notch fried chicken and biscuits, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen offers a 10-12 pound turkey each holiday season pre-rubbed with Cajun spicing (it’s available through December for $40). Most attractive is that this flash-fried turkey arrives frozen but pre-cooked, and after thawing in your fridge, only requires 90 minutes in the oven for the bird to heat through….

    The interior breast meat was incomparably juicy, a moistness usually only accomplished via brining.

    Everyone, have a happy..

  116. 116.

    Immanentize

    @tobie: Only DOJ has the authority to prosecute. Specifically, that power resides in the Attorney General. That said, the AG generally delegates a huge amount of charging authority to the local US Attorneys. They then delegate some of their powers as need be to AUSAs, although those indictments are always in the name of the US ATttorney and on some places, by practice, the AG as well. All the folks who want a prosecution — DEA, IRS, FBI, etc. — must go through the DOJ. With the exception of the military which has it’s own prosecutorial system under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

  117. 117.

    Mnemosyne

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    A lot of Republicans think they’re going to be able to immunize themselves from the Trump virus infecting the Republican Party.

    They are all wrong. Roberts is talking big now, but he’s going to cave to Trump, because he has no other choice. What’s he going to do, become a liberal?

  119. 119.

    TenguPhule

    @Cheryl Rofer: Justice Roberts is shocked, shocked to find that a leopard is planning to eat his face. He is supposed to be a member in good standing with the leopard eating people’s faces party, after all.

  121. 121.

    Jay

    @tobie:

    There are a large array of Branches of State and Federal Government that can investigate and prosecute a broad array of financial crimes, as significant tax cheating, for example often involves many other crimes.

    As wealthy, politically connected Individuals and Corporations, ( PAC’s are Corporations of a sort),

    There is little incentive to investigate and prosecute financial crimes other than say, a Georgia single mother of 3 underdeclaring her tips.

    It’s part and parcel of The West adopting neoliberal economics. In Canada for example, the Auditor General’s Audit discovered that the Canada Revinue Agency was significantly more likely to go after the poor, than the wealthy and Corporations.

  122. 122.

    Barbara

    @Cheryl Rofer: You could reasonably conclude that everything Trump does is from fear — fear of immigrants and people with dark skin, fear of being exposed by Russia, fear of not having enough assets to pay debts. He’s never done anything brave in his entire life.

  124. 124.

    Barbara

    @Mnemosyne: He doesn’t have to become a liberal. Decisions interpreting aspects of the Constitution as giving more or less deference or latitude to the executive are not liberal or conservative stances per se, though it often seems that way depending on which president’s power is being interpreted.

  125. 125.

    Cheryl Rofer

    He’s really getting into it.

    There are a lot of CRIMINALS in the Caravan. We will stop them. Catch and Detain! Judicial Activism, by people who know nothing about security and the safety of our citizens, is putting our country in great danger. Not good!

  129. 129.

    TenguPhule

    The Los Angeles County district attorney is declining to bring criminal charges against lawyer Michael Avenatti over domestic violence allegations.

  132. 132.

    tobie

    @Immanentize: As always, I’m grateful to you for your expertise. I just hate that we’re constantly finding ourselves in situations that only Kafka could have imagined with this criminal administration. Who enforces the law in the case of possible tax violations by the chief law enforcement office? I guess it would be up to the Senate to pursue this, which they won’t.

  133. 133.

    TenguPhule

    Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
    ✔
    @Ocasio2018
    · 1h
    All the challenges to Leader Pelosi are coming from her right, in an apparent effort to make the party even more conservative and bent toward corporate interests.

    Hard pass. So long as Leader Pelosi remains the most progressive candidate for Speaker, she can count on my support.

    Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
    ✔
    @Ocasio2018
    I agree that our party should, and must, evolve our leadership.

    But changed leadership should reflect an actual, evolved mission; namely, an increased commitment to the middle + working class electorate that put us here.

    Otherwise it’s a just new figure with the same problems.

    3,824
    10:04 AM – Nov 21, 2018

    AOC is marching to the same drummer as Pelosi. Good enough for me.

  134. 134.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @germy: And his daughter’s email issues distracted from his complete capitulation to Mohammed bin Salman.

    I think that he picks new fights to get past old ones by distraction, but the scary thing is that he has to ratchet up the noise and potential dangers as more and more stuff from his previous adventures in distraction and general criminality piles up. Don’t forget – he has control of 7000 or so nuclear warheads.

  135. 135.

    Mnemosyne

    @Barbara:

    That’s how it’s supposed to be but, let’s face it, Roberts didn’t vote to gut the Voting Rights Act because he thought it was a bad law. He voted to gut it so the Republican Party could consolidate its power. Same with Citizens United.

    If he’s now having second thoughts about his partisan actions, it sucks to be him, but the damage he caused is already done. Actions have consequences, and his own actions backed him into this corner. And I doubt he has the courage to get out of it. He’ll remain the same partisan lapdog with maybe one or two lame interviews complaining about it.

  136. 136.

    Corner Stone

    @germy: Between Khashoggi/SA apologism and picking a fight with SCOTUS, there’s no breathing room for Ivanka’s many crimes.

  137. 137.

    TenguPhule

    Giuliani spoke to the Hill after it was reported that Donald Trump wanted to order the Department of Justice to prosecute Clinton, his opponent in the 2016 election, and former FBI director James Comey.

    “Of course she should be investigated,” Giuliani said, charging “there is plenty of evidence that Hillary obstructed justice by destroying evidence in a gross and massive way.”

    He was referring to her deletion of 30,000 emails from a personal server.

    Even as he attacked Clinton, Giuliani brushed off concerns about first daughter Ivanka Trump’s own use of personal email for official business.

    “It’s so stupid!” he said. “So [Ivanka] used her personal email. The thing wrong with Hillary is not that she used her personal email. It’s that she didn’t maintain it. She destroyed it. She destroyed the emails. Somebody used a sledgehammer. Jesus!”

    He said there was nothing wrong with Trump’s aborted attempt to order a prosecution.

    “I don’t see how a president is prevented from saying someone should be investigated when there is public, probable cause that they committed a crime,” he said.

    Rudy is back in the news and saying stuff. I missed his silence.

  140. 140.

    TenguPhule

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    I think that he picks new fights to get past old ones by distraction, but the scary thing is that he has to ratchet up the noise and potential dangers as more and more stuff from his previous adventures in distraction and general criminality piles up

    The High Crimes version of a Ponzi scheme?

  141. 141.

    Brachiator

    @TenguPhule:

    I find the fear in those Trump tweets baffling. “The safety of our country,” “protection and security”

    He’s using Hitler’s playbook. This shit is right out of the brownshirt movement.

    Sometimes you gotta go with the old fascist standards.

    It is not just frightening, but sad, to see how eagerly True Trumpers eat this stuff up. It’s as though they have been waiting all their life for someone to tell them that their stupidity, fear and bigotry is perfectly acceptable, and who would encourage their basest instincts.

  143. 143.

    MisterForkbeard

    @TenguPhule:

    “It’s so stupid!” he said. “So [Ivanka] used her personal email. The thing wrong with Hillary is not that she used her personal email. It’s that she didn’t maintain it. She destroyed it. She destroyed the emails. Somebody used a sledgehammer. Jesus!”

    Wait, did Ivanka turn over her entire server and personal mails to the government? Otherwise she’s doing the exact same thing as they’re claiming Hillary did. What a bunch of chumps.

  144. 144.

    Dan B

    @jl: If your relatives are dressed like the Andaman isolationist I’d say that’s a pretty clear sign to turn tail.
    (If my memory is correct..)

  146. 146.

    Mnemosyne

    @MisterForkbeard:

    I’m kind of amazed that Rudy thinks you can destroy emails with a sledgehammer. That explains a lot about him. And he touts himself as a “cybersecurity expert”!

  147. 147.

    Immanentize

    @tobie: The Senate is the place, most likely. But I have said many times that I believe a President can be indicted during his/her tenure (preserving the statute of limitations), especially for crimes committed before s/he was President, but that s/he may not be actively prosecuted during that tenure (only afterwards)

  148. 148.

    TenguPhule

    Tulsi Gabbard
    ✔
    @TulsiGabbard
    Hey @realdonaldtrump: being Saudi Arabia’s bitch is not “America First.”

    51.1K
    7:01 AM – Nov 21, 2018

    Still don’t like her, but she has her moments.

  149. 149.

    Immanentize

    @Mnemosyne: I liked the scenario. Did you know you cannot be prosecuted for posession of CGI childhood porn?

    ETA I originally wrote “distribution” instead of possession. But you can be prosecuted for distribution of CGI childhood porn.

  151. 151.

    TenguPhule

    In an interview with the BBC, Cindy McCain, the widow of John McCain, said she wasn’t sure if she could vote for Donald Trump in 2020.

    I have no fucking words that wouldn’t cross a line somewhere.

  157. 157.

    Brachiator

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    @TenguPhule:

    And Trump shoots back at Roberts! This will not end well.

    Rooting for casualties here.

    The ultimate casualties will be America and democracy. Trump can’t help himself. Or he doesn’t care. He thinks he is tossing zingers at his enemies. And I keep seeing his dopey admirers thinking that this is fun, a tv situation comedy.

    But Trump keeps hitting home with the point that the only generals who matter are those who are loyal to him. The only judges who matter are those who are loyal to him. And slowly and deliberately, he looks to replace anyone who might stand up to him.

    We’re starting to see more stories about how people around him had to prevent him from trying to prosecute HRC or doing other stupid stuff. How many of those people are still in the White House? How many will still be around a few months from now?

  159. 159.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    The house is unusually quiet as we shipped the hyperactive puppy off for a couple days. And our Thanksgiving is local this year, our daughters hosting. We’ve been dismissed from any food prep or contribution, so nothing to do but show up tomorrow afternoon and eat.

    Just downloaded the audio version of Michelle’s book (already got the hardback) in her own voice and we’re listening to it. So lovely to hear that voice again.

    So we’re having a lovely, peaceful evening.

  161. 161.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @cmorenc: The problem in that cunning plan is by the time the Impeachment starts it’s 2020 and it would be better to leave to an election.

  162. 162.

    Mnemosyne

    @Immanentize:

    Like I said, it was mostly idle curiosity since I primarily write historical romance and not crime fiction. Could make an interesting plot line for someone’s mystery or thriller novel, though.

  165. 165.

    Bill Arnold

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    Catch and Detain! Judicial Activism, by people who know nothing about security and the safety of our citizens, is putting our country in great danger. Not good!

    In that sequence, DJT was openly calling the Chief Justice of the SCOTUS ignorant about judicial partisanship.
    Between DJT’s insults (damaging to the reputation of the judiciary, and perhaps to the judiciary itself) and Kanvanaugh’s angry partisanship, I could easily see Roberts feeling a strong (and correct) need to thread the needle in non-Republican-hacky-ways in a few high-profile cases to improve the (his!) court’s reputation.

    The “AMERICA FIRST!” and “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” tweets earlier today, sigh.

  166. 166.

    Mary G

    The only candidate I knew nothing about was the only one to announce early, John Delaney. I looked at his Twitter feed and started following. Then I found a column by George Will promoting him and almost wrote him off again:

    Solidly built and impeccably tailored, Delaney, 55, is a Democrat who believes in what he has lived: upward mobility, with assistance. He recognizes the obvious, that globalization has been “extraordinarily positive” for billions more people than it has injured, but its American casualties are real and deserve government help. He speaks with the calm confidence of one who understands, as the man he hopes to displace does not, that the lungs are not the seat of wisdom. He checks various boxes that might mollify all but the most fastidious progressives: He likes early-childhood education, a carbon tax, a $15 minimum wage and extending the Social Security tax to higher incomes. He dislikes the National Rifle Association, the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, high interest rates on student loans and “outrageous” drug prices. He would achieve “universal” health care by offering Medicaid for all, and for those who choose to opt for private programs, as he thinks most people would, there would be federal subsidies for those who need them.

    Not too bad, actually.

  167. 167.

    Brachiator

    @Mnemosyne:

    Roberts is talking big now, but he’s going to cave to Trump, because he has no other choice. What’s he going to do, become a liberal?

    Of course Roberts has other choices, as do other Republicans. It’s funny. I was thinking about this the other day, and now see this little gem:

    In an interview with the BBC, Cindy McCain, the widow of John McCain, said she wasn’t sure if she could vote for Donald Trump in 2020.

    Given the way that Trump continually insulted McCain, I seriously wonder how his wife and daughter can continue to be loyal Republicans. And Trump, who is vile but not stupid, exploits dumb tribal loyalties and plays on the tendency of some conservatives to see liberals and Democrats as utterly unacceptable, as unpatriotic and un-American.

    The GOP was stupid in ever letting Trump into their primaries. Obviously, they think that Trump has been good for them, getting victories they might not have achieved with a more conventional politician. And so far, they have not had to pay a price for their folly. But if their luck runs out on them, the results could be disastrous.

  168. 168.

    J R in WV

    @Aleta:

    He babbles about “the Marshall of the Supreme Court” which to the best of my knowledge is a position that actually does NOT exist in our judiciary, at all.

    So, nope. All is ill-informed blather.

  169. 169.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Steve in the ATL:

    @Immanentize: I hated Rehnquist even more than I hate opera.

    No offense, Subaru Diane.

    I was (seriously) going to offer you a pair of comps to La Traviata.

    Fuck that, I guess, eh?

  172. 172.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @MisterForkbeard:

    The thing wrong with Hillary is not that she used her personal email. It’s that she didn’t maintain it. She destroyed it. She destroyed the emails. Somebody used a sledgehammer. Jesus!”

    I keep hearing and seeing this claim, that somebody actually, literally took an honest-to-god sledgehammer to Hillary’s private server. I’ve always dismissed it as the most ridiculous hyperbole, but it’s such a pervasive
    claim at this point that I’m wondering if there’s even a tiny kernel of truth in it. Anyone know where this started or what it’s based on?

  173. 173.

    Jay

    @TenguPhule:

    Not surprised at all.

    TMZ was conveniently “there”,

    Then Wohl claimed credit,

    Then when the announced the name of the accuser, I googled her, first hit was an empty IMBD with only her roles in movies I had never heard of.

    2nd hit was another almost empty Entertainment promotion site, for Entertainers to promote themselves, that was “unclaimed”,

    8th was a Foot Fetish site.

    No Linked In, no Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram, no Imagur, no social media at all.

    Super weird for an actor/actress.

    Then when they

  175. 175.

    Bill Arnold

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Anyone know where this started or what it’s based on?

    Dunno, but I used to occasionally destroy old (often very old) hard drives with a ball-peen hammer at work rather than try to resurrect the hardware needed to properly wipe them.
    It was just the most available tool, but it was obvious.
    Here’s the current (I believe) NSA guide: NSA/CSS STORAGE DEVICE SANITIZATION MANUAL (2014)
    For those who want to do it properly.

    And yeah, Rudy probably made it up. Generally one wipes the drives by overwriting them.

  176. 176.

    stinger

    @Brachiator:

    Hollywood would probably cast Tea Leoni as the Speaker of the House who becomes president after a scandal and impeachment.

    I’m so old I can remember when Hollywood cast Geena Davis as the first female president. Good show, that was.

  178. 178.

    Jacel

    @PsiFighter37: Every time I see Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, I think she must be Amy Sedaris recycling her Jerri Blank character. Though Jerri took more responsibility for her words and actions in “Strangers With Candy”.

  179. 179.

    Spaniel

    Speaking of D’Souza, he is causing his typical waves on NRO with the Judge Roberts retort to President Trump’s comments of judges selected by Democratic presidents. Did he, as well as Cheeto Benito, not notice that there are also judges selected by both Bush and Trump that are not falling inline with the nationalistic arguments of this administration? I am amazed D’Souza still has a job writing political/social thoughts.

  180. 180.

    Yarrow

    @J R in WV:

    He babbles about “the Marshall of the Supreme Court” which to the best of my knowledge is a position that actually does NOT exist in our judiciary, at all.

    I know people like to laugh about the Marshal of the Supreme Court (one “L” in Marshal, not two) but it is a real position:

    The Marshal of the United States Supreme Court is the person, similar to a bailiff, who attends the Supreme Court of the United States. The Marshal of the United States Supreme Court controls the United States Supreme Court Police, a security police service answerable to the court itself rather than to the president or attorney general. It handles security for the Supreme Court building and for the justices personally.

    The current Marshal of the Supreme Court is Pamela Talkin. Link to official Supreme Court website where she is listed under Court Officers.

  181. 181.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @Frankensteinbeck: It is indeed the belief that god protects.

    Some yrs ago some missionaries went to a tribe. Several, including lead pastor, were killed. His wife and some others survived. Later the leader of those who killed the missionaries became a christian. A book, a play, a movie was made of the story. The leader of the preacher’s killers and the widow of the preacher toured christian groups together as a joint winess of god’s forgiveness and redemption.

    It was a big deal in OK Evangelical circles.

  184. 184.

    Bill Arnold

    @Aleta:
    Well that’s a rabbit-hole. :-) I was unable to confirm (with search tools) LM’s (I presume) report that this happened on May 19 2017 (reported a few days later):

    Marshal Talkin was not deterred. Sources report she ordered her escort to drive her straight to Andrews Air Force base. She met Trump on the tarmac, and delivered the message of the Chief Justice. Multiple sources, from law enforcement, to those linked to the intelligence community, sources linked to the military, and those linked to various different parts of the Justice Department and of the judicial system, report that Marshal Talkin informed Trump that if he were not to preserve and protect evidence,

    (That day also has personal meaning. “Ooops” )
    The whole DJT trip to Saudi Arabia was fairly weird.

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