Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

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

Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

In my day, never was longer.

People are weird.

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

The revolution will be supervised.

You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Friday Morning Open Thread: Skipping Town Before the Deadline

Friday Morning Open Thread: Skipping Town Before the Deadline

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Friday the 13th fell on a Thursday this month, but there’s still plenty unfinished stories awaiting the Friday News Dump…

Some people aren’t gonna let him off lightly…

 
Speaking of deadlines, remember — Sharing is caring:

Reader Interactions

257Comments

  1. 1.

    OzarkHillbilly

    All I want for Xmas is a gov shutdown,
    a gov shutdown,
    a gov shutdown,
    Gee, if I could only have my gov shutdown
    Then I could wish you, “BAH HUMBUG”!

  5. 5.

    SFAW

    In case it hasn’t already been noted: Bob Bryan has passed away at age 87.

    Mr. Bryan, along with Marshall Dodge, created “Bert and I,” back in 1958.

    I hope there’s a Heaven, so that he and Marshall can tell some more stories together.

    Blech.

  6. 6.

    J R in WV

    Ozark:

    Bletch! And Good Morning to all~!!~ I’ve got the insomnia this morning, woke up around 4, after a little while I tried to go back to sleep, I usually can. But not today. Darn!

    Will work on the tractor, I’ve had trouble with the 3-point hitch all summer, now I need to get the scraper blade mounted for snow season. I found that most of the trouble is a bent lower bar, which I can get straightened by a neighbor welder/blacksmith/mechanic.

    Also need to go to town for shopping errands. Bletch!

  7. 7.

    Platonailedit

    On cnn International, words like trump lied, he lied repeatedly, he violated campaign finance laws, foreign funds for inauguration are actually bribed, sleaziness etc. being told repeatedly. Finally, some sunlight from the fucking media.

  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @SiubhanDuinne: Blech back atcha.

    @Aleta: Percy has fit in, still has a few residual issues from the bad old days, still no belly rubs but he doesn’t tuck his tail as deeply as he used to when ever I bend over to scratch his head. Is now quite happy to go for rides with Daddy and Woof, has decided the couch belongs to him, and no matter where who sits however, he has to attach himself to my hip. Likes to take off on long jaunts thru the woods with his old running buddy Missy who now resides on the other side of the holler but spends most of her days over here at our place. My wife worries when he’s gone too long but they have a great time.

    She spoils the both of them rotten with treats and bones but Percy has some rather discerning tastes. The other day she gave him a bite of jerky and after a few seconds he spat it out, then looked at her like “Got anything else?” So I picked it up and offered it to him again. This time he took it and ate it. So now, when ever he is not cooperating with her, I say, “Here, let me try.” at which point I get daggers from her eyes and a hearty “Fuck you.”

    Sometime in the next week or 2 I figure to send Anne a few pics to show how he is fitting in here at the Bear Water Hollow homestead.

  10. 10.

    TS (the original)

    @Platonailedit:

    Finally, some sunlight from the fucking media.

    Much of it after Nancy Pelosi told trump he didn’t know what he was talking about. Shame the media hasn’t listened to her for the past 2 years. Elections sure have consequences – 2016 ripped the country apart and is doing horrendous damage to the rule of law – 2018 is more than the end of the beginning, it is the beginning of the end of trump.

  11. 11.

    Tony Jay

    Open Thread? Right, here’s your latest Merry Brexitmas update.

    After limping, wounded and weaponless, from the scene of her very phyrric No-Confidence vote ‘victory’, Teresa May has spent time in Brussels getting the polite but firm brush-off from every single EU leader that was so universal even the magical parasite concealed under the hair at the back of the Austrian Chancellor’s shiny head was heard to mutter “Weggehen, Frau” during a torch-lit supper to honour veterans of the War of Allied Aggression. So annoyingly needy has she been that the EU has actually taken some conciliatory language – out – of the draft agreement and told her in no uncertain terms that when asked “What, exactly, do you want us to do?” the answer “Brexit means Brexit!”, is a bit too vague. So she’s going to have to return to Britain with nothing achieved and less assurances about the Irish Backstop than she had before she left.

    Meanwhile back in Westminster the Tory Civil-War is brewing up nicely. The Brextremists now know that at least 1/3 of the Parliamentary Party is dead-set against the smouldering remnants of May’s Withdrawal Deal. The Loyalists know the Deal is dead but they’re strapped to the gurney with its rotting corpse as it trundles down the dark corridor towards the hospital crematorium. The DUP have built a fort out of orange cushions from a nearby IKEA and are barricaded in the little patch of House of Commons seats that will be forever Ulster, drinking their own sweat and singing songs about “Nay Surrendah Tay Th’ Pappasts!” So no change there, then.

    Labour is inching slowly and stealthily towards a No Confidence vote in the Government and the inevitable call for a 2nd Referendum, freezing motionless like a tiny, Dik Dik every time a TV camera or a microphone turns in their direction. With about 1/3 of Labour’s electorate having gone for Leave in the Referendum the last thing they want is for the BBC and the Press to get their Christmas wish of being able to run endless headlines on “Labour in Disarray!” and “Corbyn vs The 17.5 million!” as cover for the Tories. Slow and steady, thick socks on outside the shoes, waiting for the right moment. At least, that’s what I think they’re doing. We’ll see.

    And finally, I can report that 3/4 of ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ is very good indeed and that Carla Gugino is still one of the most beautiful women ever to grace a screen. Even dead she rocks those nightgowns.

  13. 13.

    SFAW

    @TS (the original):

    Much of it after Nancy Pelosi told trump he didn’t know what he was talking about. Shame the media hasn’t listened to her for the past 2 years.

    Why would they? She’s a shrieking harpy, just like that castrating know-it-all b***h Hitlary, and they both need men to explain things to them, slowly, using small words, so that their purty li’l heads don’t get all jumbled up.

    Thank FSM the “voters” elected the most alpha-est male on the planet, so that he can put them in their place.

    And, of course, the neat thing is that probably 30-plus percent of the men in this country believe that bullshit. And by “neat,” I mean “fucked up.”

  15. 15.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    On another fun note, Falwell Junior is still on radio silence aside from the occasional retweet of some specific school-related event, each of which get swarmed with gleeful poolboy tweets. The Liberty University feed is now a train wreck as well.

  16. 16.

    J R in WV

    And here it is again, A Friday Data Dump day, maybe?

    It’s been a very busy week for news… wife is totally frustrated to not be a news hound any more. If she was in a little better shape she would be wanting to go to various court houses to freelance this news stuff, but isn’t really ready for that kind of effort.

    She had a terrible chest cold the past couple of weeks and will be a little while getting back into things. But she has the innertubes filled with data, can stream Rachel Maddow, etc, so that helps.

    I wonder if we will see any real news today after so much already dropped this week. So much good news. I still hope to hear of Turtle McConnell taking a legal hit, along with Mike Dence. Those two need to go before Dumpf goes in my opinion, lest they be able to do a last gasp of terrible stuff as Drumpf fades into the prison system. But so far I still trust R. Mueller III to take care of scheduling things, it seems smooth thus far.

    I think I’ll take another swing at sleep after a few.

    You all enjoy the day.

  19. 19.

    Immanentize

    @Tony Jay: Thank you so much for this update. It’s funny, I heard some Conservative MP on NPR saying that after May’s success of the confidence vote that “The E.U. must renegotiate and give Britain what it wants.” I laughed out loud. The EU doesn’t need to give anything. The Brexiters still seem to think England is the most important country in the Union.

    Have all the finance companies left the City yet?

  22. 22.

    Tony Jay

    @Immanentize:

    Have all the finance companies left the City yet?

    They can’t. Turns out all of the removal companies were staffed by cheap, EU labour so they’re stuck until they can negotiate a price with ‘V. White Van Ltd’, which is three times as expensive, doesn’t work weekends and is already closed for Christmas and New Year “‘Cos we’re English an’ we know our rights! Roight?!?”

    Just another day in Broken Britain. Thanks, Mr Cameron.

  23. 23.

    SFAW

    @Immanentize:

    “The E.U. must renegotiate and give Britain what it wants.”

    It was just a cut-and-paste gone awry. [The original being: “The Dems must renegotiate and give Trump what it wants.” Yes, the “it” is intentional.]

  27. 27.

    SFAW

    @Immanentize:

    Oops, I forgot to put the link to the Walt Kelly, Pogo Christmas Carol in my comment above.

    Not to worry. Some of us old farts know the first verse/stanza/whatever by heart

  28. 28.

    SFAW

    @Immanentize:

    Kelly should not be messed with!

    Agreed. I don’t know if he qualified as a “genius” — I mean, to me he was, but to others? — but Pogo was all kinds of awesome in so many ways.

  29. 29.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    My internets have been pretty unstable the past couple of weeks and getting worse, so I finally called Spectrum and they tried a few things online, but decided to send a tech out anyway. My connection’s hardware was pretty fucked up, he replaced stuff on the pole, under the house and replaced the modem as well. Seems to be rock solid now.

    Madame, I and the girls(aka dogs) went to Red Rock on Tuesday night for star gazing. I’d never seen a sky where you couldn’t see a dark portion, it was all filled with stars. The winter Milky Way was visible(though no galactic core, so no pics). I had two objectives, the Orion Nebula and Andromeda. I tried the skytracker but got too much startrailing with long exposures, so I went with multiple short exposures(80-240). Here’s a detail of the Orion Nebula(s).

  31. 31.

    Barbara

    @Tony Jay: It is unfathomable, and yet, somehow it totally validates the tale of the emperor’s new clothes. She can’t and won’t say that this has been a two year detour in stupidity and pointlessness that has diverted them from trying to come up with actual solutions to address real problems. She is still pretending the unicorn is out there and it is the will of the British people for her to keep searching for it.

  34. 34.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @SFAW:

    Giancarlo appears to be a very masculine and handsome young man. Dunno if he was playing with Jerry or if the sainted missus enjoys a nice spit-roast, but something is definitely up.

    I’m thinking that more stories will emerge, followed by a tearful resignation or leave of absence.

  42. 42.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @SFAW:

    Not to worry. Some of us old farts know the first verse/stanza/whatever by heart

    [Raises hand]

    Also, “Good King Sauerkraut stood up / On his feets uneven.” Also too, “On a Thursday of crispness, McTruloff Centipede / A parsnip in a pantry.”

  43. 43.

    A Ghost To Most

    @SFAW:

    Hot-blooded bible thumping cash on the barrel honey
    Private jets and drunk CEOs
    From pentecostal denim to highfalutin linens
    Empty pockets line the deepest egos
    It’s a tricky navigation from the wanting to the having
    All the needs of a kinky hypocrite
    The greatest separators of fools from their money
    Party harder than they like to admit

    “Kinky Hypocrites”

  44. 44.

    SFAW

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    You’re better than I am, kid. I can only remember up to “alley garoo.” [Yeah, I realize you were quoting other “carols,” not “Deck US All.”]

  45. 45.

    Tony Jay

    @Barbara:

    She is still pretending the unicorn is out there and it is the will of the British people for her to keep searching for it.

    The only public opinion she’s interested in is the opinion of Tory voters, and since the overwhelming majority of them are hardcore Quitters who think Reality is a scary brown man in a puffa jacket that they treat accordingly, she’ll keep on hunting that Unicorn until the clock runs out.

  46. 46.

    Tony Jay

    @Bobby Thomson:

    I was not led to believe Mrs. Falwell was involved.

    Possibly they focus-tested “I swear to Jeebus I thought I was sticking it in my wife!” and it polled well.

    If you know what I mean.

  47. 47.

    Immanentize

    @SFAW: Nora’s freezing on the trolley, swaller dollar califlower alley garoo.

    From memory and therefore probably a bit wrong. You and KickAss made me think my friend and I should print off lyrics and go to the Boston Commons next Wednesday (we have a lunch date) and get a crowd to sing the whole song…. We’ll see about this.

  52. 52.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @TS (the original): I was thinking about that Oval Office meeting. Trump claims “we caught 10 terrorists” trying to enter the country and nobody reacts. Not in the room, not in the press in subsequent days. Everybody knows he was lying. Nobody even pretends otherwise.

  53. 53.

    HinTN

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Bear Water Hollow

    Y’all don’t have Hollers there in Ar Kansas?

    My place is in the head of Roarks Cove (I’ve seen the gravestone of Sadie Roark), above which is Shakerag Hollow.

  54. 54.

    MomSense

    @Immanentize:

    Especially when they are panic deleted because they have something to do with a guy who is going to have a sentencing hearing the next day.

  58. 58.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @HinTN: I guess you missed it:

    Likes to take off on long jaunts thru the woods with his old running buddy Missy who now resides on the other side of the holler but spends most of her days over here at our place.

    When referring to a location on a map however, I tend to use the words the USGS does. 30+ years of caving has done that to me.

  62. 62.

    Betty Cracker

    @Tony Jay: That was a splendid description of the Brexit omnishambles, and I thank you for delivering the first hearty chuckle of the day.

  63. 63.

    Platonailedit

    But Trump with exec power is different from Trump as civilian. Power will make him more paranoid, insular and cruel. Like all authoritarians— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) December 28, 2016

    She was and still is one brave soul in Casandra wilderness when the overpaid hacks in print and tv media were being and are still being craven corrupt cowards to the totus thug.

  64. 64.

    A Ghost To Most

    George Conway
    ‏
    @gtconway3d

    I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, except where nobody gets killed or robbed.

    @samstein
    “Nobody got killed, nobody got robbed… This was not a big crime,” Giuliani told The Daily Beast, re alleged violations of campaign finance law. https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-jared-kushner-replaced-michael-cohen-as-trumps-national-enquirer-connection?ref=home …
    4:01 AM – 14 Dec 2018

  66. 66.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Tony Jay: So in all that is there a path to anti-Brexit people coming back into power or a “we didn’t mean it” referendum being put to the people?

    Good morning, BJ!

  68. 68.

    Platonailedit

    California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, who was a registered Republican, just gave up her Republican registration, blaming it on the Kavanaugh Senate hearing.

    Can we see more of this please?— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) December 14, 2018

  70. 70.

    SFAW

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Oh yeah. I’m sure Pelosi loved having Lord Smallbrains explain how voting in Congress worked.

    She is a better and much more tolerant person than I, that’s for sure. My response to the Traitor-in-Chief would have been less … tactful

  71. 71.

    Haroldo

    @Tony Jay:

    Thanks for the reportage & analysis. I, too, hope you’re correct vis a vis Labour. It’s very grim otherwise.

    Labour is inching slowly and stealthily towards a No Confidence vote in the Government and the inevitable call for a 2nd Referendum, freezing motionless like a tiny, Dik Dik every time a TV camera or a microphone turns in their direction. With about 1/3 of Labour’s electorate having gone for Leave in the Referendum the last thing they want is for the BBC and the Press to get their Christmas wish of being able to run endless headlines on “Labour in Disarray!” and “Corbyn vs The 17.5 million!” as cover for the Tories. Slow and steady, thick socks on outside the shoes, waiting for the right moment. At least, that’s what I think they’re doing. We’ll see.

  72. 72.

    Tony Jay

    @Betty Cracker:

    High praise from the doyen of jackaldom.

    I’m off to complete Phase 663b of Operation Christmas Shopping. The time of year when membership of a large and many branched Irish Catholic family tree leads me to conclude that Julian the Apostate was a misunderstood genius and Henry the VIII a lazy shirker.

  75. 75.

    Steeplejack

    If anyone wants to take time out from soft-focus fantasizing about the Falwells cavorting with the pool boy, here’s an actual story from Inquisitr: “Jerry Falwell Jr. Pool Boy Tweet Was Based on Misreading of a 7-Month-Old Story.”

    The tweet in question was posted December 8 by someone named Krishan Patel:

    Famous evangelical Christian leader Jerry Falwell Jr. and his wife together had a tryst with a 21-year-old pool boy in Florida. Michael Cohen then used this information to blackmail Jerry Falwell Jr. into endorsing Donald Trump's campaign for President.https://t.co/3gmKYray4V

    — Krishan Patel (@IAmKrishanPatel) December 9, 2018

    It quickly went viral, and a lot of sites (e.g., Daily Kos, Monday) jumped on the tweet with leering click-bait articles

    Even LGBTQ Nation, in their own “wink, wink” story, adds at the very bottom:

    After news of the lawsuit went viral on social media over the weekend, users speculated on what had spawned the curious relationship between the religious right power couple and the attractive young pool boy. Despite Internet chatter, the lawsuit does not allege that the Falwells had a sexual relationship with Granda.

    Not saying there was no bunga-bunga, but the story is pretty weak at this point.

  76. 76.

    Another Scott

    @Tony Jay: Thanks for the report.

    I’m not surprised she “won” the confidence vote – my impression is that the Tories don’t want a fresh election. But it seems like Labour doesn’t either. They seem to prefer letting May and the Tories stew in their mess, but seem to have little appetite for actually helping to pull the UK out of the goo.

    :-/

    From here in NoVA, it looks like the trainwreck is going to continue until the last possible moment, and then either there will be some sort of extension to the deadline (more can kicking) – which supposedly is impossible – or a no-deal Brexit – which supposedly is too horrible to contemplate – or a no-Brexit – which supposedly is tyrannical and so anti-democratic as to destroy the (unwritten) constitution. Door #3 is the obvious solution but it seems that no leader or party has enough power – yet – to point that out and get enough votes for it.

    So, more kibitzing and hand wringing until March 29, 2019? Or is something actually going to happen before then?

    :-/

    Maybe Mueller’s team will find and release evidence of Vlad’s hands pulling Farage’s strings…

    Here’s hoping that your countrymen and women (and leaders) come to their senses.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  78. 78.

    debbie

    @Tony Jay:

    And finally, I can report that 3/4 of ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ is very good indeed and that Carla Gugino is still one of the most beautiful women ever to grace a screen. Even dead she rocks those nightgowns.

    Nothing will ever be better than the original version with Claire Bloom et al.

  79. 79.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Steeplejack:

    Who among us hasn’t flown a handsome 21 year old poolboy (that we met on vacation) around in our private jet while providing a sizable pile of seed dollars to him based on our perception of his great business acumen?

    There was bunga bunga somewhere in this equation.

    I don’t begrudge the bunga bunga, and people like what they like. However, when your living and your temporal political power is all about you casting scorn on everybody else’s idea of bunga bunga, then I have a problem….

  80. 80.

    Tony Jay

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    Well, the Withdrawal Deal as stands can’t pass Parliament, and the EU has made it plain it ain’t gonna change.

    So that’s out.

    No-Deal is opposed by every sentient being in Westminster with a heart a soul and/or a brain, which is more or less a majority.

    So that’s out.

    There is, or could be, a majority for another Referendum to put the question back to the electorate, but that relies upon enough Tory MPs getting their piggy little snouts rubbed hard against the reality of “Which shit sandwich do you want to have to explain to your voters back home? The one where the shops are empty and they’ve got you suspended over a roaring fire chanting “Meat! Meat! Meat! or the one where you sadly conclude that they should have a Final Say on how Britain proceeds?“.

    So that could work. Cowardice and self-preservation are hallmarks of the successful career politician, all it takes is time and the narrowing of options. The Government’s deadline for getting the Commons to vote on May’s deal is January 21st, but efforts are being made to try and get that pushed to before Christmas. Either way, once that vote is held and the Deal fails to pass, things will move very fast indeed.

  85. 85.

    Tony Jay

    @debbie:

    Nothing will ever be better than the original version with Claire Bloom et al.

    I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen that version. This one is more of a re-interpretation and I swear some scenes, especially in the early episodes, had me getting the cold-sweat prickle as my lizard-brain screamed “Danger! Fear! Hide!” so loud that I made involuntary mooooing noises. Then there’s parts that are just heartbreaking. Then there’s Gugino.

  86. 86.

    Betty Cracker

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Fabulous!

    I’m kinda pissed off about the weather because it’s ruining my chance to see the Geminid meteor shower. Now that we live in the howling wilderness, I can see layers upon layers of stars — unless clouds are parked over me, which they will be for the next 48 hours. [Old woman yells at clouds.]

  87. 87.

    Elizabelle

    @Tony Jay: It’s appalling they haven’t allowed another referendum already. So obvious the last one was influenced by liars and other bad actors, and there are some terrible consequences to going through with it.

    Theresa May and her party are abhorrent. All this tribulation and pain to try to hold onto their careers. They do not put their country first.

  91. 91.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Betty Cracker: Thanks, we could see quite a few meteors on our trip out to Red Rock. It was well timed for that. If it clears in your neck of the woods before Sunday, there’s comet 46P/Wirtanen in the southern sky(moving from the east to the west).

  95. 95.

    Peale

    @Emma: nope. Nope. Nope. As a gay man, I’m not going to read more into this story than a business scam by a charlatan heterosexual preacher gone bad. I’m not interested in having yet another holy roller who is secretly not only gay, but pervy, story to deal with. Us gays have closets packed full of those types already and we can’t fit in one more. Shouldn’t the fact that he’s a business scammer be enough to discredit him?

  97. 97.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Peale:

    Shouldn’t the fact that he’s a business scammer be enough to discredit him?

    Not with the evangelicals. Standard business practice for them.

  98. 98.

    BoomerGal

    @rikyrah: Good Morning, rikyrah! Saw this few minutes ago. I’ve missed that voice for awhile. RIP. And I’M HOMESICK!!! Miss y’all!!

  101. 101.

    Barbara

    @Tony Jay: As proof of your point, when I read the live feed a few days ago from the Guardian I wanted to gag as I read about Theresa May stuffing envelopes for Tory candidates as a teenager and having been a loyal foot soldier and on and on.

  102. 102.

    Barbara

    @Tony Jay: I think May’s strategy at this point is to delay, delay delay, and then scream that because there is no time for any alternative the only way to avert disaster is to vote for the deal she negotiated. That seems to be one reason less radical members of her own party who nonetheless oppose her deal were so angry when she delayed the vote. She might be stalwart but she isn’t subtle.

  104. 104.

    Kay

    Jennifer Jacobs
    ‏Verified account
    @JenniferJJacobs
    14h14 hours ago
    More Jennifer Jacobs Retweeted Nicole Hong
    Sarah Huckabee Sanders to gaggle at WH: “On the inaugural committee: that doesn’t have anything to do with the president or 1st lady. … The president was focused on the transition during that time and not on any of the planning for the inaugural.”Jennifer Jacobs added,

    Or 1st Lady

    Add her to the list. Keeps getting longer.

  105. 105.

    Emma

    I@Peale: Not to his followers. But I wasn’t thinking of the gay angle. I was thinking of the “wife was also involved” angle.

    I am getting more ruthless and destructive in my old age.

  106. 106.

    Betty Cracker

    @JPL: That’s a good news/terrible news story: my dogs are happy here — plenty of room to roam, an elevated porch from which to survey their domain, etc.

    But my chickens up and died on me. :(

    No predators got them. I saw no signs of disease or distress. They just died off, one by one. They were getting somewhat elderly for chickens, and we lost a couple before the move. But the demise of the rest of the flock within two months has to be related to commotion surrounding the relocation in some way, I’m thinking.

    I feel awful about it. It’s not as traumatic as losing a dog, but still, they were my cranky, ill-tempered, entertaining pets, and they had a lot of character. I do miss them.

  107. 107.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @JPL:

    I think that somebody hid his phone underneath a couch on the solid hunch that the man won’t bend over to look for it.

  110. 110.

    Spanky

    @A Ghost To Most: Here we have Rivers that are little more than drowned creeks. Hell, the Chesapeake Bay is nothing more than the lower Susquehanna River. And by “lower” I mean under water.

    Our whammy is now doubled. Sinking tectonic plate meets rising sea water from melting polar water.

  111. 111.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:
    Largest payment from the slush fund went to Birther Trophy Wife’s party planner…

    To the tune of $26 million.

    WTF did she do for $26 million???

  114. 114.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    I don’t know. I didn’t look at the 990’s myself and maybe it’s not an apples to apples comparison, but Trump hired the same production company for his party as Obama did for HIS party but Obama paid 5 million and Trump paid 25 million.

    He’s a great dealmaker :)

    How does someone who runs tacky resorts get ripped off on event contracting? Imagine the skim on that shitshow. Every GOP grifter got a piece, along with their otherwise unemployable adult children. 20 million dollar difference.

  115. 115.

    Spanky

    @Betty Cracker: Meteor showers don’t turn on and shut off like a light switch. It’ll peter out over a week or 2. And Geminids are nice and bright. Very rewarding.

    Rewarding enough that I and a few other classmates would camp out in a plowed cornfield in central Pennsylvania just before finals to observe them. Note that “camp out” for Geminid watching involved sleeping bags and parkas and frozen ground. Ah, to be an undergraduate ….

  117. 117.

    Joey Maloney

    @OzarkHillbilly: I learned the hard way, if a business has the Ichthus or other Xtian iconography splashed all over their signage and branding, grab your wallet and back away slowly.

  118. 118.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    Before I head to the sleep chamber, here’s one more. This is M31(and occasional Balloon Juice commenter) aka the Andromeda galaxy. You can also see it’s child galaxy just to it’s right(sort of like the Milky Way’s Magellanic Clouds). If you look very carefully at the left side of the pic, about 40% down from the top you’ll see a smugy “star”, that’s the Triagluum galaxy.

    One more thing about the Orion nebula pic, there are actually 3 nebulas in the pic: the main Orion nebula, the one right above it, and the one by the star at the top(it looks kinda brown).

  120. 120.

    Spanky

    @Emma:

    I am getting more ruthless and destructive in my old age.

    I keep replaying the Emperor in my head: “Good! Good! Let the hate flow through you!” and thinking “Is that so bad?”

  123. 123.

    Kay

    Evan Sutton
    ‏@3vanSutton
    2h2 hours ago
    More
    Just a small sampling of covers the National Enquirer ran while it was buying up and killing negative stories about Trump. Ask yourself what it’s worth to have these in millions of grocery lines for 18 months straight.

    The most interesting part of this small slice of Trumpworld corruption is how the NE went after Trump’s opponents in the primary.

    So, given what we’ve found out so far the next question is “what’s the Russian connection with the NE?” Because so far every single crook intersects with Russia.

  126. 126.

    Platonailedit

    "The grievous minimization of serious campaign finance violations by members of Trump's political party further corrode our commitment to our age-old ideal of being a 'government of laws, and not of men.'" https://t.co/JH3DJoPB09— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 14, 2018

    Rethugs doing their best to make murkkka a shithole country. All with their white voters base’s blessing.

  127. 127.

    Platonailedit

    "The campaign finance violations here are among the most important ever in the history of this nation — given the razor-thin win by Trump and the timing of the crimes, they very well may have swung a presidential election." https://t.co/JH3DJoPB09— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 14, 2018

  128. 128.

    Elizabelle

    @Platonailedit:

    Yes. Which is why I am sick of the lockstep repetition that a sitting President cannot be indicted. That is a DOJ guideline, it would seem.

    Rachel Maddow repeats this constantly. I do not think that is a service to truth.

    Particularly when this particular president is very likely illegitimate, and no one wants to go there. Yet.

  129. 129.

    Kay

    René
    ‏@DaMountainManCO
    2h2 hours ago
    More
    Replying to @mj_lee @jmartNYT
    Trump supporters: Cohen lied to the FBI so everything he said is a lie.

    But they knew it was a lie when he said it, and they know what he’s saying now is true for the same reason they knew the prior statements were lies- they have other evidence. If they didn’t they wouldn’t have known he was lying.

  132. 132.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Joey Maloney: Lately Christian bail bondsmen have been popping up on billboards around here. I took a pic of one that says,

    CRIMINALS, DRUG ADDICTS/DEALERS,
    ALCOHOLICS, ADULTERERS, PROSTITUTES,
    THIEVES, LIARS, SUICIDAL AND PROFESSIONALS

    All welcomed by JESUS CHRIST,
    who shed his blood to SET YOU FREE.

    Brechanna “Christine” Bell BELL BAIL BONDS

    ETA: drag does not equal drug

  134. 134.

    Tony Jay

    @Another Scott:

    @Haroldo:

    Someone, somewhere pointed out that, because they’re The Opposition, Labour don’t have a secret Big Red Button marked ‘STOP BREXIT!’, they just don’t. Plus they have a lot of people, especially in northern areas, who voted Labour in the last General Election after voting Leave in the Referendum, and a lot of MPs who are scared stiff of losing their Leave-supporting constituencies if they have to campaign on a Stop Brexit manifesto. It’s easy enough to say that any losses there can be offset by gaining Remain-supporting voters and constituencies in other areas, but that’s not guaranteed at all. All this against the familiar backdrop of a deeply anti-Corbyn media that would love nothing more than to put every iota of blame for everything to do with Brexit on his shoulders and bury him, the new look Labour Party and any politics to the Left of, say, Tony Blair for good.

    Personally I’d really like it if Labour was the out-and-out Party of Remain and was pounding the drum every single day for tossing Brexit aside and staying within the EU, but that’s just because it would please me and suit my beliefs. The people running Labour these days have to win elections, though, and you don’t do that by splitting the Party into feuding factions and handing the other side the biggest issue in British politics with which to smash what’s left into the ground.

    Slow and steady, don’t interrupt your enemy when they’re making a mistake, and above all, don’t mistake posturing for policy. Or to quote a certain popular Democratic lady, “Just win, baby.”

  135. 135.

    Spanky

    @Elizabelle: Every time the DOJ has opined that a sitting President can not be indicted, it was during a period where the President (head of their branch of govt) was in danger of being indicted.

    Wish that was pointed out more often. Pretty obvious thumb on the scale, if you ask me.

  137. 137.

    A Ghost To Most

    @Spanky: Yep. We lived in Fredneck County, MD for 26 years, and had a nice creek in our backyard. Our nearest real creek now is Clear (fka Cannonball) Creek, the source of water for Coors Beer.

  143. 143.

    Kay

    My youngest plays guitar in a band. They let them play at the high school sometimes. The school invited Head Start classes to come in and see their show. The boys in the band made a video and showed me last night- they panned out to the little kids at one point- they’re 3 and 4 year olds- every single one of them had their hands over their ears. Too loud!

    You know what they would like? A nice easy folk song they could sing to. This band is all about the players :)

  145. 145.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Great article in the Atlantic about the ideological corruption of conservatism and the R party.

    There are a ton of quotes I could choose. Here’s a couple.

    The fact that no plausible election outcome can check the abuse of power is what makes political corruption so dangerous. It strikes at the heart of democracy. It destroys the compact between the people and the government. In rendering voters voiceless, it pushes everyone closer to the use of undemocratic means.

    Even after Gingrich was driven from power, the victim of his own guillotine, he regularly churned out books that warned of imminent doom—unless America turned to a leader like him (he once called himself “teacher of the rules of civilization,” among other exalted epithets). Unlike Goldwater and Reagan, Gingrich never had any deeply felt ideology. It was hard to say exactly what “American civilization” meant to him. What he wanted was power, and what he most obviously enjoyed was smashing things to pieces in its pursuit. His insurgency started the conservative movement on the path to nihilism.

  146. 146.

    Miss Bianca

    @Tony Jay: I think I wanna marry this comment. Or have it front-paged. I have so appreciated our British jackals keeping us up to speed on the Brexit crisis.

  147. 147.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Maybe there is a God after all:

    As special counsel Robert Mueller has investigated Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin, the inquiry has sucked in dozens of witnesses and targets ranging from obscure conspiracy theorists to top White House aides, members of the Trump family and key campaign figures.

    But as a political battle royale rages over the implications of the Mueller inquiry as it has moved closer to Trump, his inner circle and family, there is one group of people who have emerged as clear winners: the lawyers raking in millions of dollars in fees. And one group of potential losers: the GOP donors and others paying for them.

    Welcome to the wild sprawling legal battlefield spawned by the 18-month Mueller investigation, and related congressional inquiries, and the huge costs associated with getting caught up in them. A few highlights so far:

  148. 148.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @Tony Jay:

    Cowardice and self-preservation are hallmarks of the successful career politician, all it takes is time and the narrowing of options.

    I think there’s hope for this effect working in our favor among Republicans in the Senate, after we impeach that foul traitor DJT for his crimes against our great country and its Constitution.

    Hope, not confidence. But the Republicans who aren’t named Trump, or related to a Trump, are going to need to part ways with the Trumps sooner or later (an inevitable “Trumpxit”, so to speak…). So I believe we’ll start to see more knives out for Trump among R’s over the coming months. At least among the ones who don’t want to go to jail!

  152. 152.

    Immanentize

    @Kay: That is why Fred Zanes went from the Del Fuegos to his children’s music group. Kids love songs that are mellow and singable. The Fred Zanes songs are still some of my son’s favorites as a crusty 17 year old (Red Bird, especially)

  156. 156.

    Tony Jay

    @Elizabelle:

    It’s appalling they haven’t allowed another referendum already.

    Human nature.

    Most people didn’t expect Leave to win, and that includes most Leavers, but once they did have that ever so precious win in their pocket they and their supporters in the Press were never going to let it go without a fight. Leave successfully redirected every single focus of public anger and resentment caused by decades of centre-right economics and post-Crash austerity into somehow being the fault of the EU and Immigration/The Establishment and the status-quo. May’s Government doubled down on that by completely shutting the opinions of 16 million plus Remainers out of the national conversation and basing every policy around the demands and biases of the Brexiteers.

    We’ve had two years in which the fact that we weren’t actually leaving until 2019 allowed everyone involved to dismiss the idea that the Referendum was, as you say, won by lies and dark money, as nothing more than sour grapes. It’s only with the deadline looming and reality starting to tap its toes, at first gently, but with increasing pace and force, upon the nutsacks of those in power that the conversation is beginning to change. A month ago a 2nd Referendum was a pipe-dream, this week it’s looking politically inevitable.

  158. 158.

    satby

    Sorry to hear about your chickens Betty. I don’t think too many chickens manage to live long enough to get elderly, so you gave them a good life.

  159. 159.

    The Moar You Know

    CRIMINALS, DRAG ADDICTS/DEALERS,
    ALCOHOLICS, ADULTERERS, PROSTITUTES,
    THIEVES, LIARS, SUICIDAL AND PROFESSIONALS

    @OzarkHillbilly: That’s a very interesting…grouping of folks.

  161. 161.

    Betty Cracker

    @Amir Khalid: Probably not — there are many more predators out here, so that was a constant worry, and my husband doesn’t plan to do nearly as much gardening (he’s exchanged that hobby for fishing), so he doesn’t need the poop! I’ll probably stick with dogs and wild birds from here on out.

  163. 163.

    Tony Jay

    @Barbara:

    Yes, that’s exactly it. Before the 2017 Election they were all but declaring her the reincarnation of Boudicca, Florence Nightingale and Thatcher combined, and even since the kicking she received during and after that contest they’ve always been willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and act as PR outreach for her political choices.

    That’s why the recent swing by the BBC’s deeply pro-Conservative Political Editor into “Oh Teresa, what – have – you done” territory is so ominous for her. When the survival of the Tory Party as an institution comes up against the political career of any individual Conservative, however highly placed, there’s only ever going to be one winner in that contest.

  164. 164.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Elizabelle: @Immanentize: There is a reason impeachment is considered by some as the only proper way to remove a President, even one who blatantly breaks the law.

    Any conversation on the removal of a president is at it’s most basic level about overturning an election. An election in which (normally) the president received the most votes or, as in this case, the most electoral votes. This is at best a dicey proposition and sure to anger a fair percentage of voters. It is an inherently political action and can be a dangerous undertaking for any democracy. As such, the political act of impeachment is viewed by some as the proper vehicle for the removal of a president and the 2/3s vote level for conviction fairly well ensures that any conviction will be bi-partisan, thereby removing the taint of political retribution from that result. If things get so bad that 20 or more GOP Senators can no longer stomach the stench emanating from the WH it should make it easier for GOP voters to accept the removal of their Lord and Savior, as opposed to a coup engineered by the Deep State..

    One may or may not agree, but it is an argument with merit.

  167. 167.

    Elizabelle

    @Betty Cracker: Was wondering about the chickens. They had good little lives with you.

    Moar bird photos, of course. And it’s probably wise to focus your guard duties on Badger and Daisy (?); more predators in their environment too.

  168. 168.

    Jeffro

    And for those who could use a good (inside-baseball-y) political laff: Future Headlines About Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

    EXCLUSIVE: So-Called “Working-Class” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Has Not Once Pressed Her Face Against the Window of a Bakery on a Frigid Christmas Eve, Longing for a Loaf of Bread

    CLUELESS: Democratic Darling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Just Misstated the Effective Tax Rate for High-Earning Married Couples Filing Jointly

    …and more!

  171. 171.

    Platonailedit

    @OzarkHillbilly: That argument holds merit only if the rethug voters and their party show some basic commitment to upholding laws, which they not done clearly recently. If anything, they are doubling down on the criminality and hand waving it away since it keeps them in power illegally.

    eta: Also, too, fuck their feelings. Their own mantra.

  173. 173.

    Tony Jay

    @Yarrow:

    No problem. If you can’t laugh about it you start setting traps for small animals and getting the pliers out… and we all know where that leads.*

    *A career in Film production, obviously.

  174. 174.

    different-church-lady

    I find it utterly mind-boggling that Boston Dynamics does not understand how terrifying and creepy people think their videos are.

    It’s like a bunch of millennials found a stash of 50s dystopian sci-fi novels and said, “Yeah, let’s totally DO that!”

  176. 176.

    randy khan

    I just called Nancy Pelosi’s office to urge that the new majority conduct hearings on what happened to that 7-year old girl who died in ICE’s custody and on how ICE treats children in general.

    She’s at (202) 225-4965, and you should call, too. But the real reason I’m posting this is to say that they answer the phone with “Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi’s office,” which is quite lovely to hear.

  179. 179.

    different-church-lady

    @Tony Jay:

    And finally, I can report that 3/4 of ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ is very good indeed…

    Prepare to be disappointed and annoyed by the last 1/10th.

  180. 180.

    danielx

    Nancy Pelosi on Trump being willing to do a shutdown: “Perhaps he doesn’t understand people need their paychecks. Perhaps that’s not the life he leads.”

    — Natalie Andrews (@nataliewsj) December 13, 2018

    I loves me some nancy SMASH!

  181. 181.

    Tony Jay

    @Miss Bianca:

    Believe me, however ridiculous I make it sound, it’s nothing compared to the reality.

    These are deeply, deeply weird people. And they’re INSIDE THE HOUSE!!!! 8-)

  182. 182.

    Kay

    @Immanentize:

    They all play in the school’s music programs in addition to their band so they can read music and between them they can play a lot of instruments. They could learn one of those sing-along folks songs cold in two hours. Instead they’ll slave away at something alt and complex they found online and then play it poorly. The music director lets them play at school (I think) because he wants them to remain in the school music groups – marching band and orchestra – and not drift away, which is thoughtful, but they really do need direction. Last summer my son somehow finagled his way into playing with a bar band at Lake Michigan and the “real” guitarist told him wearily “all they want to hear is Bob Seger”, which is probably true :)

    Give the people what they want.

  186. 186.

    Miss Bianca

    @Tony Jay: I feel your pain, TJ, I really do.

    The absolute only positive in this Brexit shambles for us across the briny (apart from the deep hilarity of your descriptions) is the knowledge that we are not the only nation that has lost its damn collective mind as a result of racist, Russian-backed ratfuckery. Not so much a “positive” as a “Misery loves company” kind of thing, really.

  188. 188.

    catclub

    @Tony Jay:

    A month ago a 2nd Referendum was a pipe-dream, this week it’s looking politically inevitable.

    If there is another referendum can I get a bet on ‘very close’ as the outcome.

  189. 189.

    JPL

    @Luciamia: I only saw the first segment and felt that there was little new information. Everyone assumed that there was someone else to corroborate Cohen’s testimony.

  191. 191.

    catclub

    @Kay:

    They could learn one of those sing-along folks songs cold in two hours.

    I have realized that when I grow up [ ;) ], I want Pete Seeger’s job – getting large numbers of people to sing.
    I am otherwise unsuited to this ambition.

  192. 192.

    Immanentize

    @OzarkHillbilly: I actually agree completely on the removal question. Absolutely. I just think a President CAN be indicted while in office, but not necessarily TRIED while in office.

    That position would necessarily impact impeachment, perhaps, but not abdicate its purpose.

  193. 193.

    Tony Jay

    @Miss Bianca:

    When all this is done and the smoke clears, Vladimir Putin is going to appear dressed in a tuxedo, drop to one knee and sing out “The Aristocrats!”

  197. 197.

    germy

    I have realized that when I grow up [ ;) ], I want Pete Seeger’s job – getting large numbers of people to sing.

    That seems to be trump’s job. He’s certainly gotten large numbers of people to sing. And flip.

  202. 202.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Immanentize:

    They would keep charges secret during the Presidency.

    I get that part. What I don’t get is how a sealed indictment gets around the no indictment bar in DOJ regs.

  203. 203.

    Spanky

    @Immanentize:

    I’m a sealed indictment fan. They would keep charges secret during the Presidency. Which might be good or bad

    IANAL, but how could that be good? I would be OK with indictment, trial, and imprisonment if necessary. Let the political process proceed separately from the criminal. The Republican Senate has shown the flaw in the purely political remedy.

  205. 205.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Immanentize: By the way, before I go ice my shoulder I wanted to relay 2 more things on the potica dough:

    first, watch out for the dough remaining too thick in the middle. Every year I am reminded of this problem just before it’s too late to do anything about it, much easier to be aware from the beginning.

    Second, there are times when the easiest way to pull the dough is by putting your hand underneath, spreading your fingers and pull your hand towards you, followed by doing the same with your other hand, and again and again and again working your way around it. Best done where dough is thicker and unlikely to have a finger poke thru.

    I had potica for breakfast this morn. It was horrible, I feel nobody should have to eat such food so I will make the great sacrifice of eating it all myself. The things I do for humanity.

  207. 207.

    Platonailedit

    Congress leaves DC today. These useless Republicans won’t be back:

    -Paul Ryan: Worst. Speaker. Ever.
    -Orrin Hatch: Demented.
    -Jeff Flake: Spineless.
    -Bob Corker: Gutless.
    -Dana Rohrabacher: Putin’s Rep.
    -Trey Gowdy: Obsessed with Hillary.

    Good riddance to all of these traitors.— Scott Dworkin (@funder) December 14, 2018

    Good riddance, indeed.

  208. 208.

    Amir Khalid

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    The DoJ policy against putting POTUS on trial has never actually been tested. And the current circumstances seem to have been unanticipated: POTUS facing imminent indictment on serious criminal charges, a Senate held by his party unwilling to impeach and remove him. If the House votes to impeach Trump, and Senate majority leader McConnell then refuses, thus preventing/delaying a criminal prosecution against Trump, isn’t McConnell obstructing justice? And would the DoJ then be justified in waiving the policy and taking Trump to court?

  209. 209.

    Brachiator

    @catclub:

    if there is a hard, no deal Brexit, doesn’t that mean there will be (or should be)
    a hard border in the Irish Island?

    A hard (British) border in Ireland potentially contravenes not only EU rules, but also the Good Friday agreement, and would unravel hard-won peace accords. This would be a potential nightmare.

    Also, the BREXIT mess, and the insistence of some conservatives for a “no deal” exit, could bite everyone in the ass, depending on how Scotland reacts to events.

    ETA: My favorite joke, from an Irish comedian on the BBC satirical program, The News Quiz. “There’s all this talk about a UK hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. You know what the Irish call the border? The beach…”

  210. 210.

    Spanky

    Now at MSN.com:

    A former top official at the Justice Department argues that President Trump can yet be indicted for campaign finance violations as part of a possible decision to delay his trial until after he leaves office.

    Neal Katyal, a former deputy and acting solicitor general under President Obama, told the Yahoo News podcast “Skullduggery” that Trump allegedly directing payoffs to two women to silence them during the 2016 campaign was “very serious.” He said the payments could be grounds to challenge department legal opinions that conclude presidents cannot be indicted while in office.

    “I think it’s a bad constitutional argument to say, ‘I’m the president. I get immunity from prosecution while I’m a sitting president,’” Katyal said. If Trump were reelected in 2020, he wouldn’t leave office until after the statute of limitations on the alleged crimes had run out.

    “That is literally putting the president above the law,” Katyal said. “That cannot possibly be the Constitution of the United States, which is built entirely on a rebellion against King George’s powers in this respect.”

  211. 211.

    Haroldo

    @Tony Jay:

    Yerp – my reading and listening (only somewhat – FTFBBC) has intimated what motivates Labour’s inaction, but, but, and but…..I truly fear a No Deal Brexit, in spite of that being prima facie insane; history points to quite a few instances of that not stopping governments (or electorates) in the past.

  212. 212.

    japa21

    @debbie: Without a doubt my favorite “horror” movie of all time. It is psychologically devastating. As you say, only one special effect in the whole movie, and that somewhat minor.
    @Spanky: As I understand it, a sealed indictment removes any issues regarding statute of limitations issues. And I think the whole, “can a sitting President be indicted ” issue is somewhat ridiculous. The argument is, I believe, that a sitting President has too many obligations to spend the time defending him/herself. That is what a VP is for. If, for example, Trump suffered a heart attack which prevented him from handling the duties of President for a limited amount of time, the VP temporarily assumes the role. Same could happen in this case. The other argument is the Constitution only says impeachment can be used to remove a President from office. True, but neither an indictment nor a conviction necessarily removes a President from office. In theory, a President can still function while in a jail cell.

  213. 213.

    J R in WV

    @Steeplejack:

    Regarding the Falwells and the pool boy, they made a $4,500,000 investment with him in a very sleazy hostel in Miama, FL, where it appears sex and drugs are the main attraction. Now, why exactly would a right-wing religious nut and his wife invest 4.5 million dollars with a Cuban pool boy?

    I’m thinking there is more to that than just met him and prayed with him, and gave him nearly 5 million dollars painfully squeezed from the pockets of his cult followers. Maybe that’s just me.

    And on a more important point, I read a column in the Washington Post, by J Rubin. It was entitled “The President’s No Good, Very Bad, Terrible Week Just got Worse” and it was a pretty good piece. One bit she mentioned got me to thinking.

    “Revelations that Jared Kushner advised MBS [aka Mohammed bin Salman, aka Muhammed bone Saw], as the crown prince is known, during the cover-up phase of the murder of Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi didn’t help matters.”

    So, according to common knowledge, the President’s son-in-law and advisor and perhaps his Chief of Staff to be is helping his good friend and source of financial well being deal with the cover-up of his murder of a writer for the Post. There’s a word for that… what was that word?

    Oh, yes, accomplice after the fact. Some places it’s called accessory after the fact, when you help your bestie after he blew up the hotel cooking meth, or killed his wife’s boyfriend. So where I’m going here is Jared Kushner might well be indicted for murder as well as all those financial and political crimes he seems to be associated with. Because anyone involved with a murder, even just talking about how to deal with the aftermath, is guilty of the whole felony.

    I wonder if anyone at the Washington Post has thought about this concept of one being an accomplice after the fact?

    I wonder if anyone at the SCO has had that thought yet?

    First? Yay!

  214. 214.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Amir Khalid:

    The DoJ policy against putting POTUS on trial has never actually been tested.

    Yes.

    And the current circumstances seem to have been unanticipated: POTUS facing imminent indictment on serious criminal charges,

    Nixon was facing Obstruction of Justice charges when he was persuaded to resign..

    a Senate held by his party unwilling to impeach and remove him.

    His party was unwilling to vote for impeachment until it was. (GOP Sens Goldwater and Scott and Rep Rhodes told him he was toast)

    If the House votes to impeach Trump, and Senate majority leader McConnell then refuses, thus preventing/delaying a criminal prosecution against Trump, isn’t McConnell obstructing justice?

    No. Impeachment is the political act of removing a person from office. It has no bearing on criminal proceedings (outside of the narrow one of statute of limitations for the President, which may or may not make a difference)

    And would the DoJ then be justified in waiving the policy and taking Trump to court?

    Again, it’s never been tested in court and that is the venue for deciding it’s legitimacy. IIRC it is not even a policy, just a legal opinion written up during the Watergate investigation. (so BAD Hillbilly, BAD! for referring to it earlier as a justice dept regulation)

  215. 215.

    germy

    Not every meal needs to be elegant. Sometimes you just make a chicken and then stand over the stove picking at it like seagulls in a parking lot.

    — Elizabeth Hackett (@LizHackett) December 8, 2018

  216. 216.

    Citizen Alan

    I just had an epiphany. The reason popular culture is so afraid of robots running amok and killing us all is simple. Evil killer robots, like zombies and alien invaders, would not be able to distinguish between whites and non whites in their killing sprees.

  219. 219.

    randy khan

    @japa21:

    The legal/Constitutional argument against prosecution of a sitting President is that the Constitution specifies the remedy for Presidential wrongdoing – impeachment and conviction – and the penalty – removal from office and, if Congress so chooses, barring the President from any federal office for life (which isn’t always done – Alcee Hastings was impeached and convicted when he was a federal judge, and later elected to Congress). In addition, there’s an argument that, since the prosecutorial power is vested in the Executive, the Executive can’t prosecute itself. The stuff about the President’s time, etc., in addition to being laughable when it comes to Trump, is more a prudential point than an actual legal argument.

  224. 224.

    japa21

    @randy khan: Actually it just states that the President shall be removed from office, etc. It does not state the President may only be prosecuted through impeachment. It is murky at best.

  227. 227.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @germy: and “already senses diminishing respect” from donors, lawmakers
    hee hee…. he still thinks they respected him

  228. 228.

    germy

    People at the Weekly Standard have been told to clear out their offices by 5 pm today, in case you were wondering what Clarity Media is like.

    — John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) December 14, 2018

    “Womp womp”

  230. 230.

    J R in WV

    @rikyrah:

    @Kay:
    Largest payment from the slush fund went to Birther Trophy Wife’s party planner…

    To the tune of $26 million.

    WTF did she do for $26 million?

    She gave the passcode and routing numbers to Melania, that’s what she did for $26,000,000… what did you think she did?

  235. 235.

    J R in WV

    @A Ghost To Most:

    Our nearest real creek now is Clear (fka Cannonball) Creek, the source of water for Coors Beer.

    We have a good friend, an engineer who worked for the Army Corps of Engineers in Colorado on water quality issues. There are a ton of superfund sites with horrific environmental damage from abandoned gold and silver and lead mines up in the Rocky Mountains.

    Larry won’t drink Coors because it’s made from Rocky Mountain Spring water, aka mine drainage. Also because it’s weak, but mostly because of the heavy metals he believes is in there.

  236. 236.

    trollhattan

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:
    Having a “Bad Hombre” t-shirt makes me a terrorist in Trumpland, so find nine others and boom, “ten terrorists leaping” (“nine ninos sneaking, eight hombres creeping…”)

  237. 237.

    different-church-lady

    @Spanky: My guess is the real reason he’s disliked is because he dislikes everyone else. (But some people are slow to catch on to that.)

  238. 238.

    Elizabelle

    @J R in WV:

    There will be records, of some sort.

    I wonder if Team Mueller will still be investigating this long after Trump and Pence have been pantsed out of office, and we have President Pelosi ably caretaking until the 2020 election.

    So much criminality.

  240. 240.

    trollhattan

    @Elizabelle:
    I do NOT want a repeat of letting Reagan slide because we were still rattled from Nixon, or whatever their reasoning was. He must be pursued, exposed and punished accordingly, squalling all the way, since “Donny always wins!”

  242. 242.

    J R in WV

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I get that part. What I don’t get is how a sealed indictment gets around the no indictment bar in DOJ regs.

    It isn’t a regulation!

    It’s a policy document with exceptions already written in to it. That’s why people are so upset with the presentation of it being a law or in the Constitution that you can’t indict a sitting President. Not So!!!

  243. 243.

    Elizabelle

    @trollhattan: And W slid because “we” were traumatized by the misuse of impeachment against Clinton.

    I don’t see how we survive as a country if we don’t nail these fuckers to the wall. I really don’t. Clean house.

    People should do long prison terms, and some should be brought up on capital charges for treason, if it can be proven.

    Got to break up the rightwing media complex too, and break up the big media companies. We cannot afford the current system.

  244. 244.

    Another Scott

    @Platonailedit: Goodlatte is leaving, too.

    He played a huge part in killing the bi-partisan Senate immigration bill in 2013 (and since). As well as a bunch of other horrible things.

    Bu-bye.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  245. 245.

    Brachiator

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Any conversation on the removal of a president is at it’s most basic level about overturning an election. An election in which (normally) the president received the most votes or, as in this case, the most electoral votes. This is at best a dicey proposition and sure to anger a fair percentage of voters. It is an inherently political action and can be a dangerous undertaking for any democracy. As such, the political act of impeachment is viewed by some as the proper vehicle for the removal of a president and the 2/3s vote level for conviction fairly well ensures that any conviction will be bi-partisan, thereby removing the taint of political retribution from that result. If things get so bad that 20 or more GOP Senators can no longer stomach the stench emanating from the WH it should make it easier for GOP voters to accept the removal of their Lord and Savior, as opposed to a coup engineered by the Deep State..

    Excellent observations!

    I agree that impeachment is a political act. But the requirement of a 2/3 vote for conviction and removal makes impeachment a legitimate political act, and not just the act of a small or narrow faction.

    One wild card. If nothing is done within Trump’s first term, and he wins re-election by a comfortable margin, he could argue that the people clearly want him to remain in office, and that any attempt to impeach him (baring new evidence of malfeasance) would be invalid.

  246. 246.

    Gravenstone

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Orion was a constant companion during my tenure as observatory lab assistant in college. Mostly because the most consistently clear nights were in the late fall and winter. Even now when I spy him in the sky I’ll greet him with a hearty, “hello Orion, my old friend!”.

  247. 247.

    PJ

    @trollhattan: Don’t you know, the American public is too fragile to withstand the loss of faith in their government that an impeachment would entail, as opposed to the loss of faith engendered by treasonous conspiracy with foreign governments that 1) would extend the Vietnam War another 7 years (Nixon); 2) would fund supporters of a brutal dictatorship by shipping arms to a country which had been holding Americans hostage (Reagan); 3) was used to directly interfere with US elections and enrich the President (Trump.)

  248. 248.

    chopper

    @Amir Khalid:

    the DOJ’s stance isn’t based on the constitution or any actual law. the constitution provides impeachment as an option for removing a president, vice president, and officers of the federal government aka appointees and federal judges. all of the latter categories have at one point or another been charged/indicted/convicted of federal crimes while in office. the constitution does not make any exception for the president.

    the solicitor’s office IIRC during the nixon years made the argument that a sitting president can’t be indicted because it would muck up the executive’s ability to function, but that just them making up a reason.

  250. 250.

    Amir Khalid

    @chopper:
    Standing trial might well muck up POTUS’ ability to function*, but that’s why there is a VPOTUS; and the rest of the executive branch would presumably also remain unaffected. When I first heard of this policy, I thought its justification sounded pretty lame.
    *With the caveat that what this POTUS has never had can’t be mucked up.

  251. 251.

    Brachiator

    @Citizen Alan:

    I just had an epiphany. The reason popular culture is so afraid of robots running amok and killing us all is simple. Evil killer robots, like zombies and alien invaders, would not be able to distinguish between whites and non whites in their killing sprees.

    A wild SF story would involve robots analyzing history and coming to the conclusion that all white people are evil and deserve to be exterminated.

  254. 254.

    Chris Johnson

    Speaking of singing…
    Don’t we know archaic barrel o/`
    Come on, Okefenokee Glee N Perloo Society! We can finish this carol and all gather around a giant pot of perloo :)

  255. 255.

    Mnemosyne

    @PJ:

    Don’t you know, the American public is too fragile to withstand the loss of faith in their government that an impeachment would entail ….

    … unless it’s a Democratic president being impeached for lying about a blowjob. Then it’s A-OK! ?

  256. 256.

    jl

    Wow. Pelosi has really ujpped her communications game. That was one of my concerns with her, saying tone deaf things that are not in touch with mood of most voters, or sometimes things that just seemed bafflegab that didn’t mean anything to me.
    But since the elections, she has been batting near a thousand, IMHO.

    As I and a couple of other commenters mentioned yesterday, a little surprising that so many of the GOP Congresscritterrs just can’t be bothered to lift a finger do their cushy job after learning the voters decided to choose another representative. For the most part, OK, since made lame duck sabotage harder. but now we have shutdown looming.

  257. 257.

    dopey-o

    @A Ghost To Most:

    @Spanky: Yep. We lived in Fredneck County, MD for 26 years, and had a nice creek in our backyard. Our nearest real creek now is Clear (fka Cannonball) Creek, the source of water for Coors Beer.

    Or as the Budweiser salesman said to the Coors salesman:
    “Bears don’t piss in our beer!”

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