• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you don’t.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Trump makes a mockery of the legal system and cowardly judges just sit back and let him.

The willow is too close to the house.

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

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

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

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself. We’re allowed to grow past that.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

I’m more Christian than these people and I’m an atheist.

Mobile Menu

  • Four Directions Montana
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2024 Elections
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Horrorshow Open Thread: He’s Talking to the WH Portraits, and They’ve Started to Talk Back

Horrorshow Open Thread: He’s Talking to the WH Portraits, and They’ve Started to Talk Back

by Anne Laurie|  January 5, 20194:00 pm| 163 Comments

This post is in: Dolt 45, Open Threads, Republicans in Disarray!, #notintendedtobeafactualstatement, All Too Normal, Let A Thousand Watergates Bloom

FacebookTweetEmail

There are four living ex-presidents. President Trump says "some of them" have told him we should have built a border wall in the past. pic.twitter.com/ReFDDlmKmp

— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) January 4, 2019

If you’re old & cynical like me, you remember the Watergate-era rumors about a drunken Nixon talking to the presidential portraits in a darkened Oval Office. Donald Trump doesn’t even drink, but apparently he’s taken the paranoia to the next level…

Trump claims other presidents told him they wanted a wall. Even Reagan didn't want a wall. Cannot fathom who he is talking about. @realDonaldTrump

— Brian J. Karem (@BrianKarem) January 4, 2019

With so many of them, it'll be tough to nail this down https://t.co/WmUStYVWvk

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 4, 2019

Vladimir Putin and the ghost of Andrew Jackson. https://t.co/Aual5UmbqF

— Schooley (@Rschooley) January 4, 2019

$50 says if he’s ever pressed about this Trump will name George H.W. Bush because since he died he can’t rebut it anymore. https://t.co/AEIp3ot63G

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) January 4, 2019

Srsly, GOP dudes, this is Not A Good Lewk…

Top Trump aides tell the Post that the president is irritated by reports of GOP offers and knows Dems see the offers as a sign of weakness. So, the stalemate continues even as the VP huddles. https://t.co/6EBhJtBies

— Robert Costa (@costareports) January 5, 2019

It really feels like Pelosi should cut out the middle-man and open direct negotiations with the cast of Fox & Friends to find out what kind of face-saving “border security” fudge they’d go for.

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) January 5, 2019

Donald Trump lost the popular vote in 2016, lost the House in 2018, and his big idea now is to double down on an unpopular policy by forcing an extended government shutdown.

There's this belief out there that Trump's political instincts are gold. They're not.

— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) January 4, 2019

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Hello, 911? Hello…I’d Like To Report A Murder
Next Post: It’s A House Party: Trish Zornio For U.S. Senate and Open Thread »

Reader Interactions

163Comments

  1. 1.

    Mary G

    January 5, 2019 at 4:04 pm

    I’m not sure if this is a victory lap or the opening for a presidential campaign, but it’s very well done, even if, as he tends to do, it goes on way too long:

    Thank you, California. pic.twitter.com/csf00Acbf5— Jerry Brown (@JerryBrownGov) January 4, 2019

    A Twitler vs Moonbeam deathmatch is strangely appealing, but he is just too old.

  2. 2.

    rikyrah

    January 5, 2019 at 4:07 pm

    There are 4 former Presidents.
    3 are Democrats.

    ????

  3. 3.

    Van Buren

    January 5, 2019 at 4:09 pm

    Trump would have to name the time and place Bush Sr. told him that he should have built a wall.
    The idea that 42% of Americans still support this psychopath ought to alarm the rest of the world.

  4. 4.

    Frankensteinbeck

    January 5, 2019 at 4:12 pm

    Trump has already corrected and said he didn’t mean American presidents.

  5. 5.

    Brachiator

    January 5, 2019 at 4:12 pm

    Trump is a liar, a fraud and a cowardly con man. One of his go to moves when criticized is either to deny responsibility or to falsely claim that other people agree with him.

    He has been working this shit overtime with respect to the wall and the shutdown.

  6. 6.

    Mike in DC

    January 5, 2019 at 4:13 pm

    At some point sheer political panic is going to push Republicans to pass a clean CR. The shutdown is going to cause increasing pain with each passing week. At some point it will be their voters ox getting gored. And as a matter of principle, you certainly don’t pay the ransom for the hostage while getting nothing in return.
    Dems should stick to their guns for up to 3 months, then offer 2 billion in generic border security in exchange for a DACA extension (and no family separation) that stretches to the end of 45’s first term.

  7. 7.

    clay

    January 5, 2019 at 4:13 pm

    @rikyrah: And the fourth is a Republican who, for all his many faults, tried to make his party more open to non-white, non-Christian people.

    Funny how the people who actually live near the border are less likely to wet their pants over the scary brown horde.

  8. 8.

    patrick II

    January 5, 2019 at 4:16 pm

    Presidents Putin, Kim, and Erdoğan all agree.

  9. 9.

    Ruckus

    January 5, 2019 at 4:17 pm

    There’s this belief out there that Trump’s political instincts are gold. They’re not.

    It’s like every other thing that’s gold about him, it’s spray paint from the dollar store. But spray painting his political instincts has back fired upon him, because huffing cheap spray paint has turned his tiny, malfunctioning brain into even less effective mush. And it won’t get any better.

  10. 10.

    hells littlest angel

    January 5, 2019 at 4:20 pm

    A Grand Dragon is like a president, almost.

  11. 11.

    MisterForkbeard

    January 5, 2019 at 4:25 pm

    There’s this belief out there that Trump’s political instincts are gold. They’re not.

    I mean, the sum total of Trump’s political instincts are “be racist”, “own libs”, and “never apologize for anything ever”. That’s great for Republicans, but is pretty limited with everyone else.

  12. 12.

    Brachiator

    January 5, 2019 at 4:26 pm

    @Mary G:

    I’m not sure if this is a victory lap or the opening for a presidential campaign, but it’s very well done, even if, as he tends to do, it goes on way too long

    Jerry Brown, and his family, have devoted their lives to making California a state of promise and opportunity.

    And Brown has had a hell of a second act in politics. He leaves a hell of a legacy, and I applaud him for all that he has done.

    I don’t know if he is going to retire from all politics, but he has certainly earned a rest.

  13. 13.

    dmsilev

    January 5, 2019 at 4:26 pm

    From that Post story,

    Trump’s hard line has been bolstered by his view of Friday’s meeting at the White House with congressional leaders and his subsequent rambling and lengthy remarks in the Rose Garden.

    Trump exasperated members of both parties during the meeting in the Situation Room, but Trump spent Friday evening boasting to friends that he was in a strong negotiating position because he was able to capture the attention of the political world and make a flurry of points that he feels his core voters appreciate, White House officials said.

    Trump could “capture the attention of the political world” by entering into a fugue state, stripping naked, and going for a walk down Pennsylvania Avenue while reciting a soliloquy from Macbeth, but few beyond drama critics with very perverse fetishes would describe that as “a win”. In terms of who actually has the stronger negotiating position, I will simply note that there are Republicans (in both the House and the Senate) who are publicly in favor of the Democrats’ position, but there don’t seem to be any people in the reverse position.

  14. 14.

    Corner Stone

    January 5, 2019 at 4:28 pm

    Just wanted to say that I have no idea how the news did it, but 90% of the furloughed govt workers they have interviewed all said some variation of, “Well, if it wasn’t hurting me specifically, I would be all for the wall. But since it’s going to touch me or my family then Congress needs to find a way to settle this now.”

  15. 15.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    January 5, 2019 at 4:29 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:
    Vlad: “Donald, you should build that wall. It totally won’t cause internal political strife or bankrupt your great country. It will show off your manliness.”

    Trump: “Oh Vlady baby, you always know what to say to me.”

  16. 16.

    Brachiator

    January 5, 2019 at 4:29 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:

    I mean, the sum total of Trump’s political instincts are “be racist”, “own libs”, and “never apologize for anything ever”. That’s great for Republicans, but is pretty limited with everyone else

    Trump has been a Democrat, an Independent, and a Republican. He has always been an asshole.

  17. 17.

    chris

    January 5, 2019 at 4:30 pm

    Is there an economic formula that shows how many people are directly or indirectly affected by the loss of 800,000 government paycheques? It’s got to be at least ten, ie. 8,000,000 people, and maybe as high as 50-100. That’s a big hole in the employment numbers and the ballyhooed GDP.

  18. 18.

    sukabi

    January 5, 2019 at 4:30 pm

    Drumpf says he doesn’t drink. Drumpf lies about EVERYTHING.

    It’s only a matter of time till he’s stumbling around the WH lawn in his underwear ranting about his fucking wall.

  19. 19.

    trollhattan

    January 5, 2019 at 4:30 pm

    @Brachiator:
    Jerry will continue supporting his key issues (climate especially) while scrupulously staying out of Gav’s way. He now has time and doubtless feels encouraged to poke at Donny, which we can all agree will be awesome.

    But, imagine how great California would be if only Meg Whitman had won?

  20. 20.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    January 5, 2019 at 4:34 pm

    @Brachiator:

    He has always been an asshole.

    At his core, I think he has always been an authoritarian as well; he can’t stand when he doesn’t get his way and attempts to go after those he sees as opposing him, with bullying, abusive rhetoric. Of course, most authoritarians tend to be assholes, anyway.

  21. 21.

    sukabi

    January 5, 2019 at 4:34 pm

    @Corner Stone: they’re either paid actors, the speed dial nazis they’ve interviewed endlessly over the last 2 years or some WH interns that have been promised a huge off book payday to play furloughed govt. employees.

  22. 22.

    Capri

    January 5, 2019 at 4:35 pm

    If Trump really did hear from an ex-president, it would be the first time he wasn’t lying through his teeth. The fact anyone in the media is spending a second on speculating who it might be rather than immediately dismissing the statement is disturbing.

  23. 23.

    Ken

    January 5, 2019 at 4:35 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: I’m old enough to remember when Republicans criticized presidents for listening to the opinions of foreigners. Of course so’s my five-year-old niece.

  24. 24.

    trollhattan

    January 5, 2019 at 4:35 pm

    @sukabi:
    Snorting Adder all is technically not drinking.

    p.s. Add that drug to the FyWP naughty not nice list. Fuckers.

  25. 25.

    A Ghost To Most

    January 5, 2019 at 4:36 pm

    Presidents of the NRA, Liberty U., Southern Baptist Convention, …

    Impeach the motherfucker already.

  26. 26.

    Mary G

    January 5, 2019 at 4:36 pm

    @Brachiator: That video had me weepy by the end. When you put it all together from how much danger the state faced in 2009, through all the laws and vetos and sheer hard work he put in persuading people, to where he’s saying that if Twitler takes down the weather satellites, California will put up their own damn satellites, it is impressive as fuck.

  27. 27.

    Brachiator

    January 5, 2019 at 4:38 pm

    @dmsilev:

    Trump spent Friday evening boasting to friends that he was in a strong negotiating position because he was able to capture the attention of the political world and make a flurry of points that he feels his core voters appreciate, White House officials said.

    Trump’s powers of denial are central to his psychological sell-image.

    I will simply note that there are Republicans (in both the House and the Senate) who are publicly in favor of the Democrats’ position, but there don’t seem to be any people in the reverse position.

    Very true. But the Republican leadership is demanding that everyone stay on message and support Trump.

    The dilemma for the GOP is to find a compromise that also soothes Trump’s fragile ego.

  28. 28.

    chris

    January 5, 2019 at 4:39 pm

    Pro tip: Stock up on snacks and beverages, beanball is over. Thompson’s, um… blunt letter attached to tweet.

    NEW: DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is about to go under the microscope. House Homeland Security Chair Bennie Thompson tells her in a letter this evening she is “long overdue” for an oversight hearing, having appeared just once when the panel was under GOP control. pic.twitter.com/UVtTYXSM00— Laura Litvan (@LauraLitvan) 5 January 2019

  29. 29.

    RepubAnon

    January 5, 2019 at 4:42 pm

    Satire, or prediction?

    Pelosi Says She Will Skip Trump and Negotiate Directly with Putin
    WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In a bold gambit to end the government shutdown, the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, said on Saturday that she would bypass Donald J. Trump and negotiate directly with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin.

    “I owe it to the American people to bring this shutdown to the swiftest possible conclusion, and so I’m avoiding the middleman,” she said.

    Pelosi, who is scheduled to board a plane to Moscow Saturday night, said that she had not informed Trump of her plans to deal directly with Putin. “Whatever,” she said.

    In an official statement, Putin said that he welcomed Pelosi’s overture and shared her desire to end the shutdown. “At some point, I’d like to visit Yellowstone,” he said.

  30. 30.

    FlipYrWhig

    January 5, 2019 at 4:42 pm

    @dmsilev: There’s something profoundly broken about a guy who takes this much pride in the proposition that people who already like him… continue to like him. But it’s just like his rally fixation. He appears to genuinely believe that if the carefully-selected people he sees like and cheer for him that everyone (who matters) likes and cheers for him.

  31. 31.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    January 5, 2019 at 4:44 pm

    @Corner Stone:
    It’s almost like it’s deliberate, isn’t it? Why can’t the President, who’s fault this is, be the one to be demanded to compromise?

    After all, 69% of Americans don’t believe the border wall is a priority

    While talks of a wall between the U.S. and Mexico border have led to televised shouting matches between national leaders, the rest of America is less divided. More than two-thirds of Americans don’t think the wall should be a priority, according to a new poll by NPR, PBS News Hour and Marist.

    Only 28% of those polled answered that the border wall should be an immediate priority, while 19% replied it shouldn’t be an immediate priority, and 50% said it shouldn’t be a priority at all.

    Over 50% of those surveyed don’t even think that the border wall should be a priority at all. So the pressure to end the shutdown should be all on Trump. He, and McConnell, are the real blocks to progress.

  32. 32.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    January 5, 2019 at 4:45 pm

    @chris: IMHO, Nielsen belongs at the Hague.

  33. 33.

    evodevo

    January 5, 2019 at 4:49 pm

    @Mike in DC: Sounds like a good strategy to me … be nice if the Dems could do this…

  34. 34.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    January 5, 2019 at 4:49 pm

    So now it is Bloomberg, doing stories about the Trump voter and it is rural Clay County Kentucky, where there are large numbers of residents on food stamps. And how the shutdown will kick that backside. Maybe Jeeeeezzzzzuuuss will fly down and spew golden fairy dust on the Rubes and Boobs.

  35. 35.

    Cowboy Diva

    January 5, 2019 at 4:53 pm

    @dmsilev:

    Trump could “capture the attention of the political world” by entering into a fugue state, stripping naked, and going for a walk down Pennsylvania Avenue while reciting a soliloquy from Macbeth, but few beyond drama critics with very perverse fetishes would describe that as “a win”.

    You win today’s internet.

  36. 36.

    khead

    January 5, 2019 at 4:53 pm

    @sukabi:

    Nah, they are legit. You’d be surprised how many of these people there are working for Uncle Sam. In my office it’s wannabe Tech Bros and other (mostly older) white guys.

  37. 37.

    Yarrow

    January 5, 2019 at 4:53 pm

    Related to Trump’s personality “issues,” this is a good thread on Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

    Until congress, the media, & the public understand NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder) we'll never be able to predict or deal with Trump.

    Some of the best info on narcissism doesn't come doctors, but from the children of narcissists.
    I think you'll be surprised…
    Thread
    — Troll Huntress- make US GOOD again (@trollhuntress) January 3, 2019

  38. 38.

    Burnspbesq

    January 5, 2019 at 4:54 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Dick Cheney did Nielsen a solid by ensuring that the Senate never got to vote on ratifying the Rome Statute.

  39. 39.

    Burnspbesq

    January 5, 2019 at 4:57 pm

    @Mary G:

    MSNBC should give Jerry an hour once a week. That would be appointment teevee.

  40. 40.

    Kathleen

    January 5, 2019 at 5:01 pm

    @Mr Stagger Lee: I’m sure Mitch McConnell will get right on that.

  41. 41.

    Patricia Kayden

    January 5, 2019 at 5:04 pm

    Ezra Klein:

    There’s this belief out there that Trump’s political instincts are gold. They’re not.

    Only his deplorables believe that Trump’s political instincts are gold. We need to stop speaking as if they represent a majority of Americans.

  42. 42.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    January 5, 2019 at 5:04 pm

    @Burnspbesq:
    Don’t forget the Invasion of the Hague Act of 2002. That should be repealed pronto the next time Dems get unified control over the government.

  43. 43.

    Kathleen

    January 5, 2019 at 5:04 pm

    I’m sure Mitch McConnell will jump right on that.

  44. 44.

    Aleta

    January 5, 2019 at 5:08 pm

    Two days ago a request was delivered to the DOJ to investigate Ivanka’s involvement in a program that benefits Kushner. Yesterday Mueller’s federal grand jury was extended instead of expiring this weekend — 6 more months to investigate and potentially indict.

    Years of shutdown, commandeering the DOD–Trump doesn’t gaf what he says. I hope he’s seeing the walls of Attica closing in whenever he tries to sleep.

  45. 45.

    raven

    January 5, 2019 at 5:11 pm

    @Aleta: Attica means, FIGHT BACK!

  46. 46.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    January 5, 2019 at 5:14 pm

    @raven:
    Yup, even if it means destroying the country in a flailing effort to avoid facing consequences for the first time in his life.

  47. 47.

    Baud

    January 5, 2019 at 5:16 pm

    That’s funny. All the ex- presidents have told me that they think the Wall is stupid and Trump is a poopooh head.

    I wonder who’s lying.

  48. 48.

    tobie

    January 5, 2019 at 5:18 pm

    @Burnspbesq: Agreed. I heard Jerry Brown the other night talking about what he would do to tackle climate change and immediately thought he should run for President. A regular TV show is a potential compromise.

    In 1992 friends and I in Berkeley tried to form a Draft Brown movement. It didn’t get off the ground but we had tons of fun taking famous Presidential speeches and modifying them to convince Brown to run in letters.

  49. 49.

    James E Powell

    January 5, 2019 at 5:22 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Only his deplorables believe that Trump’s political instincts are gold.

    It’s not just his cult members, an fairly large portion of the press/media have been going all Revelations 13:4 since Nov 2016.

  50. 50.

    Gex

    January 5, 2019 at 5:24 pm

    @Corner Stone: They use the same rolodex they use to find all the white nationalists we’re supposed to sympathize with and the farmers who seem not to mind their crops rotting in silos.

  51. 51.

    Mary G

    January 5, 2019 at 5:30 pm

    @Burnspbesq: I’d pay to see that. @tobie: The part in the video where he’s talking to people mostly off-scene and starts yelling “I’m not here about some cockamamie legacy that people talk about! This isn’t for me! I’ll be dead! It’s for you, and it’s damn real” got me cheering. I’m still wondering about the purpose of that video. He isn’t the type to take victory laps.

  52. 52.

    Bill Arnold

    January 5, 2019 at 5:30 pm

    @Baud:

    All the ex- presidents have told me that they think the Wall is stupid and Trump is a poopooh head.

    I’m fairly sure that some of the voices in DJT’s head are not voicing approval.

    @Yarrow:
    That trollhuntress twitter thread (about NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder)) is quite good, thanks. The comments were also interesting.

  53. 53.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 5, 2019 at 5:32 pm

    Yesterday’s Snooze Hour’s Shields and Brooks segment was even worse than usual. Mark Shields who is supposedly there to give a Dem POV, was trying to give credit to Rs for the civil rights legislation, and called Ds the party of special interests. I was going to throw something at the TV. Why is the fat jowly bastard even there? Isn’t one liar (Brooks) in the service of Rs enough? WTF PBS.

  54. 54.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    January 5, 2019 at 5:33 pm

    @Gex:

    farmers who seem not to mind their crops rotting in silos.

    I’d like to see some investigative journalism on these farmers. At least some of them have to actually be heads of major ag corps instead of small-time farmers, who can absorb the losses.

  55. 55.

    Corner Stone

    January 5, 2019 at 5:35 pm

    @Gex:

    and the farmers who seem not to mind their crops rotting in silos.

    The many I have seen so far all look to be paycheck types, and not fancy hipster nazis – which the media love. I just wrote it off as the ” Screw them there gay type losers! Oh…my daughter is gay, going to be fired and have to live here again? To the walls for rights for gays!”
    Nothing matters until it hits them in the face.
    The farmers, on the other hand. Those fucking people. It costs more to plant than you can get back, no subsidies coming, and a market in China that took two+ decades to open is now all gone gone.

  56. 56.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    January 5, 2019 at 5:38 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:
    I couldn’t stand watching the Snooze Hour when I tried 5 years ago. On top of then being R-lite it was incredibly boring.

    was trying to give credit to Rs for the civil rights legislation

    What civil rights legislation was he giving them credit for? The ones that the GOP has been dismantling, like the VRA? And “special interests” is just another term for “identity politics”. Complete horseshit.

  57. 57.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 5:43 pm

    @Mike in DC: DHS still hasn’t spent about 90% of what they appropriated for border security for the last fiscal year.

  58. 58.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    January 5, 2019 at 5:44 pm

    @Corner Stone: I don’t know what the percentages are, but in Iowa, a lot of farmers sign contracts with distributors in the spring before they plant. The contract says the distributor will buy the crops at a certain price. So this year, those farmers are protected but the distributors are losing their shirts. Next year is a different and uncertain world.

  59. 59.

    Bill Arnold

    January 5, 2019 at 5:46 pm

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??:

    I couldn’t stand watching the Snooze Hour when I tried 5 years ago.

    My father used to watch it. (Also had a daily cover-to-cover NYTimes habit.) Better than FoxNN, a lot better.
    I would have had to intervene (with mysterious tech glitches) if he had started watching FoxNN.
    The GOP is not the party of civil rights. Never has been, though honorable mention for Lincoln.

  60. 60.

    trollhattan

    January 5, 2019 at 5:50 pm

    @Corner Stone:
    At this point they’re effectively wholly owned subsidiaries of Cargill, ADM, Monsanto-Bayer, Tyson, John Deere, et al. They’re clamped at the balls and led by the nose, and their opinions are whatever they’ve been told this week.

  61. 61.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 5:51 pm

    I’ll just leave this here:

    Trump’s advisers came up with the “Wall” as a memory device to keep him from forgetting immigration in his campaign speeches. Now it is boxing in his entire presidency. ⁦@juliehdavis⁩ ⁦@peterbakernyt⁩ https://t.co/BUTGxgroOX

    — Mark Landler (@MarkLandler) January 5, 2019

  62. 62.

    gene108

    January 5, 2019 at 5:51 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:

    Trump’s political instincts trumped the Beltway chattering classes idea of what it takes to win the Republican Presidential nomination, even though every poll from just after his announcement and from Iowa and New Hampshire onwards showed he had the largest plurality of support in the primaries, therefore Trump is a super genius, with the best brain and best words.

    I mean, if the chattering classes just believed the polls their employers ran, they might’ve taken Trump mores seriously.

  63. 63.

    Bill Arnold

    January 5, 2019 at 5:52 pm

    Since we’re talking about a narcissist’s pathetic attempts at self-reflection, Vox piece on self-awareness/meta-cognition/etc from a different standpoint, intellectual humility:
    Intellectual humility: the importance of knowing you might be wrong – Why it’s so hard to see our own ignorance, and what to do about it. (Brian Resnick Jan 4, 2019)
    Bereft of any helpful technique though. My father (RIP) taught me as a sprout to assign probabilities to all beliefs. That’s a good first step. Just don’t bother much (except for entertainment) with any possibilities that are lower than the possibility of being crazy. (“I know you’re not allowed to assign probability zero to anything, but a rule of thumb I use is to ignore anything that has a lower chance than me being crazy.“ And yeah, there’s a few jokes there. Also, “Fair Betting, and Glitches in the Matrix”. )

  64. 64.

    tobie

    January 5, 2019 at 5:52 pm

    @Mary G: True. Brown is a no nonsense kind of guy, so it is a bit unusual to see him honk his horn. Then again when he took over the state, Republicans nationwide were laughing about California. They sure aren’t any longer.

  65. 65.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 5:52 pm

    @sukabi:

    my favorite way to listen to the president is slowed down to 1/2 speed because it reveals how often times his logic is indistinguishable from that of a drunk person: pic.twitter.com/EJPy3t6Axv

    — Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) January 4, 2019

  66. 66.

    Corner Stone

    January 5, 2019 at 5:52 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I know a lot of them do a kind of re-insurance but not sure not an Act of God/Nature is going to cover this. As you mention, guess we’ll see. IMO, hard to buy stock when you know 60% of you’re market isn’t coming back.

  67. 67.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 5:59 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: What did the people in the Hague ever do to you?

  68. 68.

    sukabi

    January 5, 2019 at 5:59 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: so a drunk on addera11, checks out✔

    ???

  69. 69.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    January 5, 2019 at 5:59 pm

    @Bill Arnold:

    Also had a daily cover-to-cover NYTimes habit.

    That paper is super thick, even the non-Sunday editions; thicker than most daily newspapers.

    Lincoln wouldn’t even be able to get elected the governor of a red state as a Republican.

  70. 70.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 6:01 pm

    Ouch!

    Home State newspaper begs Bernie Sanders to put “principle above ego” and “Don't run” https://t.co/7NY1qjEY48 via @timesargus

    — Jane Mayer (@JaneMayerNYer) January 5, 2019

  71. 71.

    zhena gogolia

    January 5, 2019 at 6:02 pm

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??:

    It’s extremely thin and flimsy (both physically and intellectually) now. I can remember when it was thick. And I drool when I see the extra-wide newspapers in old movies. Now they’re like a letter-sized piece of paper.

  72. 72.

    Bill Arnold

    January 5, 2019 at 6:04 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Trump’s advisers came up with the “Wall” as a memory device to keep him from forgetting immigration in his campaign speeches.

    Holy [redacted]. That wins the thread. How to best exploit it?

    https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-rome/hadrians-wall (hey we/US did invade Mexico :-)

  73. 73.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 5, 2019 at 6:06 pm

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??: As a percentage of their caucus more Rs voted for civil rights legislation than Ds, he said.

  74. 74.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 6:08 pm

    @Bill Arnold: This isn’t news. Sam Nunberg and that guy with no chin who had an affair during the campaign and has now gone scorched earth in court against the woman he impregnated in order to get their son and prevent her from ever seeing him again have both been blathering about it forever.

  75. 75.

    sukabi

    January 5, 2019 at 6:10 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: jason miller of the face camo goatee? Nasty piece of work.

  76. 76.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    January 5, 2019 at 6:12 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Trump’s advisers came up with the “Wall” as a memory device to keep him from forgetting immigration in his campaign speeches. Now it is boxing in his entire presidency.

    Disturbingly plausible. He keeps progressively deteriorating before our eyes and the GOP resolutely stands by him. All this shutdown will accomplish is further making the US look ridiculous, as well as bankrupting federal employees, not to mention the economic impact of this. I bet nowhere else in the world do countries have government shutdowns due to political disagreements except the US.

  77. 77.

    trollhattan

    January 5, 2019 at 6:12 pm

    @Bill Arnold:
    Is that why Nielsen “want wall”? Weirdest public appearance by somebody not named Trump all year.

  78. 78.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 5, 2019 at 6:14 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I think it was Joshua Green in Devil’s Bargain– which I didn’t read but I heard him interviewed about it– said trump thought wall was stupid but it started getting applause at his rallies and that, of course, hooked him

  79. 79.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 6:15 pm

    @sukabi: That’s him.

  80. 80.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 6:16 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’ve seen both Nunberg and Miller say that during interviews as well.

  81. 81.

    Ladyraxterinok

    January 5, 2019 at 6:17 pm

    @dmsilev: @schrodingers_cat: I think it was after the 88 election that Shields on PBS did a ‘meditation’ on the media’s stories on the election. He said that he now thought that there had been way too much focus on the horse race and not near enuff attention to policy questions.

    I just screamed st the TV–you were part of the media. So what were YOU doing?

    He was all ‘the media’ did xyz. NOT we–let alone I–did NOT do xyz.

    As always media people take no responsibility for their actions or non actions.

  82. 82.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 6:20 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: True, but meaningless given how small the Republican caucuses were at the time. And that there were no southern Republicans at that time. And Goldwater, a southwestern Republican, voted against the bill and he was the most recent Republican presidential nominee. All the Democrats that voted against were from the south.

  83. 83.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    January 5, 2019 at 6:21 pm

    @zhena gogolia:
    Really? I could have sworn it was still thick. I guess compared to other newspapers I sometimes see on the racks at work, it is.

    I’ve always really enjoyed looking at glossy magazines, so I know how you feel.

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Did he give a time period? Perhaps R’s did many years ago when there was a strong progressive wing, but that obviously no longer exits today. These guys need to stop fantasizing about moderate Northeast R’s who voted for the Civil Rights Act in 1964. Susan Collins is a fake and always has been. The GOP has become a far-right authoritarian party, hostile to liberal democracy.

  84. 84.

    zhena gogolia

    January 5, 2019 at 6:21 pm

    If anyone wants an amusing distraction, I’ve been laughing to tears about this thread I stumbled on via L. M. Miranda’s twitter.

    https://twitter.com/_roryturnbull/status/1080183740637241344

    It’s all the cliches in movies, starting with the professor who only gets to the main point of the lecture at the end of class as the students are leaving, and then yells out to them the next assignment as they depart. I’d love to see a montage of all the movie scenes in which a college professor is giving a class. My favorite is Woody Harrelson in Indecent Proposal, where he’s giving an architecture lecture that consists of flashing slides and shouting out “Frank Lloyd Wright! Louis Kahn!” as the students nod sagely.

  85. 85.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 5, 2019 at 6:21 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Exactly my point. Why trot out that meaningless statistic to muddy the waters about what is happening right now.

  86. 86.

    zhena gogolia

    January 5, 2019 at 6:23 pm

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??:

    It’s THIN compared to what it used to be. Granted, a lot of the difference is ads, but the articles, especially in Arts, have become really minimal.

  87. 87.

    Brachiator

    January 5, 2019 at 6:24 pm

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??:

    . I bet nowhere else in the world do countries have government shutdowns due to political disagreements except the US.

    Belgium’s government has collapsed over the issue of immigration. Previously, they went 589 days before they could cobble together a stable coalition government.

    The Republicans have introduced an unfortunate degree of obstruction and instability into the US government. Previously, foreign governments were worse.

  88. 88.

    Ladyraxterinok

    January 5, 2019 at 6:28 pm

    @Bill Arnold: Possibly talking about dems opposition to the CivilRights Act of the 60s and that most GOP senators supported it.

    The GOP ‘historians’ carefully omit the fact that those dems became Republicans shortly thereafter.

    The same ‘historians’ love to ‘shock’ with the fact that the governor of Arkansas who worked to block the integration of the Little Rock HS was a Democrat. Also move to the GOP.

  89. 89.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 5, 2019 at 6:31 pm

    Jake Tapper Retweeted George Conway
    Wherein George Conway responds to a tweet about the president by quoting the diagnostic criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

    George Conway @ gtconway3d
    “1. Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements).”

  90. 90.

    Brachiator

    January 5, 2019 at 6:32 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Yesterday’s Snooze Hour’s Shields and Brooks segment was even worse than usual.

    I don’t think I’ve watched more than a handful of complete episodes of the News Hour in my entire life. There was something about the set and the lighting that reminded me of a funeral parlor; and the hosts and guests seemed like the dullest people in the world, determined to bore viewers into submission.

  91. 91.

    Burnspbesq

    January 5, 2019 at 6:32 pm

    Interesting: Bethany College is starting a women’s lacrosse team this year.

    Maybe Cole could volunteer as an assistant coach.

  92. 92.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 6:35 pm

    @Burnspbesq: Cole’s Misadventures With Title IX: An Ongoing Balloon Juice Series…

  93. 93.

    PPCLI

    January 5, 2019 at 6:36 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Yes, that’s an infuriating factoid, beloved of Dinesh D’Sousa that Shields is moronically recycling.

    Among the ways it distorts the situation is the one you indicated: If you subdivide the Congress into two culturally somewhat homogeneous subsets (Southerners and non-Southerners), in both subsets a larger percentage of Democrats than Republicans voted for the Civil Rights Act. (This is an instance of what statisticians call the Simpson Paradox.)

  94. 94.

    Ken

    January 5, 2019 at 6:39 pm

    @Burnspbesq: “Oh go on Cole, ride the bicycle.” “Why not try coaching women’s lacrosse?” “Plant the willow tree next to the house, it will look nicer.” “I heard llamas make wonderful pets and are good with dogs.”

    Sometimes I fear that not all of us have Cole’s best interests at heart.

  95. 95.

    Another Scott

    January 5, 2019 at 6:39 pm

    @Mary G: Thanks for that.

    I wish that the whole country would watch that short video.

    We know how to solve the problems with our politics. We know how to address and make real progress on climate change, on infrastructure, on economic issues, on immigration, on education, on retirement security, on affordable quality health care for everyone, and more.

    All we have to do is elect sensible people to office. That’s it. We don’t have to invent transparent aluminum or cold fusion or mass drivers or confiscate the means of production. We just need sensible policies enacted by sensible people.

    (sigh)

    Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  96. 96.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 5, 2019 at 6:40 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: @PPCLI: Shields is a hard core Catholic and I’m sure there are aspects of today’s Democratic Party that… trouble him. I suspect “interest groups” is his way of saying “identity politics”. I’m kind of surprised he’s still on the TeeVee, and googling him, kind of surprised to see he’s only 81

  97. 97.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    January 5, 2019 at 6:41 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: For some reason, Nielsen appalls me in a cold, vengeful way. Eva Braun springs to mind.

  98. 98.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    January 5, 2019 at 6:41 pm

    @zhena gogolia:
    I’d say that’s too bad, but the NYT has always been a pretty crappy paper. I remember seeing stories that presented Hitler in a good light published by them.

  99. 99.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 5, 2019 at 6:41 pm

    @Brachiator: They have newer shinier set now. I used to watch it, because network news was too superficial.

  100. 100.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 6:43 pm

    @PPCLI:

  101. 101.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 6:43 pm

    @Ken:

    Sometimes I fear that not all of us have Cole’s best interests at heart.

    Ya think?

  102. 102.

    LuciaMia

    January 5, 2019 at 6:45 pm

    Yup, four former Presidents agree with him, just like all those unpaid federal workers agree with him. Must be nice to have so many imaginary friends.

    Lordy, when is this guy gonna be dragged out of the White house in a straight jacket?

  103. 103.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    January 5, 2019 at 6:46 pm

    @Brachiator:
    Didn’t know that. Still, aren’t presidential systems like ours, historically prevalent in Central and South America, prone to devolving into dictatorships? And that’s why don’t export our form of government and set up parliamentary democracies?

  104. 104.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 6:46 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I have it on good, first hand authority that she has been both highly unqualified for every political appointee job she’s had in both the Bush 43 and the current administration, and that she’s completely amoral – she’ll say or do anything to advance herself.

  105. 105.

    azlib

    January 5, 2019 at 6:46 pm

    @clay:

    Funny how the people who actually live near the border are less likely to wet their pants over the scary brown horde.

    That is because the scary brown horde are their customers.

  106. 106.

    sukabi

    January 5, 2019 at 6:46 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: pretty sure he was 81 back in the 70’s when he was on bleating about Nixon.

    Same old fossils have been spewing the same old bullshit for the last40+ years. When one of them kicks they’ve got another one lined up.

  107. 107.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 6:49 pm

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??: It was a really strange headline for their reporting too:
    Pencil Mustaches: Best Mustache for This Season or Best Mustache Ever?

  108. 108.

    Mary G

    January 5, 2019 at 6:49 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: She seems like a real monster.

  109. 109.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    January 5, 2019 at 6:50 pm

    @Another Scott:
    By the way, thanks for your investing advice from last night. It helped point me in the right direction. However, I think I’ll wait a year or so before doing any CDs or index funds like the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF until I get my actual career started. All of that stuff will still be there. Hopefully. Unless Trump starts a nuclear war.

  110. 110.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 6:51 pm

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??: We set up parliamentary democracies because they tend to be more stable over time. Because any time you have at least two factions or parties, it is almost impossible to maintain a separation of powers congressional system without having, as we have now with the congressional Republican caucuses, one party evolve into a parliamentary party, which breaks the legislative branch.

  111. 111.

    Barb 2

    January 5, 2019 at 6:53 pm

    @Yarrow:

    So true about how living with family members with this disorder gives you insight and the ability to explain mental health issues to others. The Trump type of crazies are living in their own reality. He really doesn’t understand how you can’t see his “logic”. I wouldn’t be surprised if he isn’t hearing voices.

    One professor was interviewed on Rawstory. He stated a fact – the sicker these folks are means it is unlikely that they can recognize that they are bat sh*t crazy. How much more harm will the GOP get away with?

    Is GOPness a mental disorder?

  112. 112.

    MomSense

    January 5, 2019 at 6:56 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    And then the gallows.

  113. 113.

    jl

    January 5, 2019 at 6:57 pm

    Why don’t people just go with the simplest and by far most likely explanation: Trump is lying again.

    I don’t see where it’s noted in post or comments above, but Bill Clinton GW Bush and Obama all said that they never said any such thing, and all added that they haven’t spoken with the vile crook since the inauguration.

    And news reports I’ve heard say, in agreement with one tweet in the post, that talks aren’t going anywhere because House Dems can’t get a firm commitment from WH on terms for a deal and ending the shut down. So, the WH position is, ‘let’s make an agreement, and we’ll let you know later if we like enough to keep it.” What BS. Maybe if the shutdown situation gets bad enough, we can impeach the dishonest idiot over this.

  114. 114.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 5, 2019 at 7:00 pm

    @Ken:

    “Oh go on Cole, ride the bicycle.” “Why not try coaching women’s lacrosse?” “Plant the willow tree next to the house, it will look nicer.” “I heard llamas make wonderful pets and are good with dogs.”

    You forgot one from earlier today (but destined to be a classic): “Propose to Claudia.”

  115. 115.

    Bill Arnold

    January 5, 2019 at 7:02 pm

    Just for fun, for all you NYTimes haters, Noam Chomsky (2018/12) :-)
    Noam Chomsky: Social media outlets have ‘become major forces for undermining democracy’

    Al Jazeera concluded its interview with Chomsky by asking him where, in 2018, he usually gets his news. Chomsky responded that he consumes everything from the Washington Post to “the foreign press” to Democracy Now. And he praised the New York Times, saying that “with all of its flaws….it still has the broadest and most comprehensive coverage of, I think, any newspaper in the world.”

    (bold mine) Best to avoid articles about things that you know more about than the writer, though.

  116. 116.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 5, 2019 at 7:02 pm

    Remember when “national security” types on the right liked to accuse Dems of “hollowing out the military”?

    HansNichols @ HansNichols
    JUST IN: Pentagon Chief of Staff has resigned. “After two years in the Pentagon, I’ve decided the time is right to return to the private sector. It has been an honor to serve again alongside the men and women of the Department of Defense,” said Rear Adm Kevin Sweeney, USN (Ret.)

  117. 117.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    January 5, 2019 at 7:02 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:
    Why didn’t the Founders do a parliamentary system? Anglophobia?

    Also, what do you mean by the GOP evolving into a parliamentary party? And what are the Dems in comparison?

  118. 118.

    Amir Khalid

    January 5, 2019 at 7:05 pm

    I’m not sure why everyone is assuming that the former POTUS who allegedly told Trump that they too wanted to build Wall was alive when they said it. I wouldn’t put that kind of delusion past him.

  119. 119.

    Brachiator

    January 5, 2019 at 7:05 pm

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??:

    Didn’t know that. Still, aren’t presidential systems like ours, historically prevalent in Central and South America, prone to devolving into dictatorships? And that’s why don’t export our form of government and set up parliamentary democracies?

    No. It’s much more complicated than that.

    Many South American countries deliberately tried to give power to the church, the military and European elites, no matter what kind of democracy they formed. And while the US system has its problems, there is nothing superior about parliamentary systems.

  120. 120.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 5, 2019 at 7:07 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Nixon got drunk and talked to Lincoln’s portrait. trump snorts adder all (leaving that as in case of word press block) and talks to Andrew Johnson because he thinks it’s Andrew Jackson.

  121. 121.

    MomSense

    January 5, 2019 at 7:08 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    What’s so fucked up is I had to stop and think if it was Joshua Green or that RNC guy Broidy.

  122. 122.

    sukabi

    January 5, 2019 at 7:10 pm

    @jl: of course he’s lying. ‘News’ orgs not bluntly stating that are still working to maintain their access, and are ‘smoothing his rough edges’. They did the same thing with W, cleaning up his more incoherent ramblings. I think they (the media owners) view the government as a wealth extraction tool and if they cover it in a way to maintain the status quo their world won’t change.

  123. 123.

    Brachiator

    January 5, 2019 at 7:11 pm

    @jl:

    Why don’t people just go with the simplest and by far most likely explanation: Trump is lying again.

    That’s what I said. Trump has admitted that he lies his ass off. He thinks it is a successful negotiating tactic. He also uses lies as a psychological crutch.

    He also understands that as president and he facto leader of the Republican Party, he has people at his disposal whose job is to lie for him and to support his lies. This is paradise for someone as psychologically damaged as Trump.

  124. 124.

    jl

    January 5, 2019 at 7:12 pm

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??: ” Why didn’t the Founders do a parliamentary system? Anglophobia? ”
    The current form of parliamentary democracy in the UK emerged in the 1830s and 1840s. Until then, the monarchy retained a lot of actual power, though the boundaries were being fought out. The power of parliament to appoint its prime minister was not established, for example.

    So, there was no modern parliamentary system, not tainted with too much power in hereditary monarchy, to copy or adapt.

    Edit: IIRC, after decades of sometimes violent social turmoil, there was an act in the 1840s that finally produced more or less the parliamentary system we see in the UK today. And IIRC, it let in so much riff raff into Parliament, that the Duke of Wellington resigned in disgust. He wouldn’t lower his dignity by trying to legislate among such common rabble.

  125. 125.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    January 5, 2019 at 7:13 pm

    @Brachiator:
    @jl:

    Thanks for the info! I learn a lot around here : )

    Though in retrospect, I feel like I should have been aware of at least some of this.

  126. 126.

    joel hanes

    January 5, 2019 at 7:17 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    begs Wilmer to put “principle above ego”

    He will find this puzzling, because the main principle he has is “Wilmer’s ego must be fed”
    I’m putting the odds at 3-to-1 that he’ll run.

  127. 127.

    Wild Cat

    January 5, 2019 at 7:19 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: People still watch that shit? Seriously?

  128. 128.

    Mnemosyne

    January 5, 2019 at 7:19 pm

    @jl:

    Yep. It really is as uncomplicated as that. Part of the power of being a narcissist is lying to people’s faces and watching them struggle to comprehend that you just lied about something simple and easy to disprove. The lying is a manipulation in and of itself, and that’s why the actual truth doesn’t matter to them.

    When caught in a lie, the narcissist will just tell another lie, or a different lie, because they have no sense of objective “truth.” It’s all about how to get what they want.

  129. 129.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    January 5, 2019 at 7:20 pm

    @jl:

    And IIRC, it let in so much riff raff into Parliament, that the Duke of Wellington resigned in disgust. He wouldn’t lower his dignity by trying to legislate among such common rabble.

    The first Duke of Wellington? It just so happens he was a Tory, so that makes sense.

  130. 130.

    Yarrow

    January 5, 2019 at 7:21 pm

    @Bill Arnold: It is a really good thread. Lots of stuff I didn’t know and like you said the comments are really informative.

    @Barb 2: That’s a good question. I’ve said for years now that a lack of empathy is a key characteristic of Republicans. It seems also to be a key characteristic of people with NPD. So….

  131. 131.

    debbie

    January 5, 2019 at 7:22 pm

    Pretty stupid to care only about your core supporters, when there aren’t enough of them to win you an election.

  132. 132.

    Mnemosyne

    January 5, 2019 at 7:24 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    If Trump was using a stimulant, he would be a lot calmer and more coherent. I think the problem is more that he’s stopped taking his ADHD meds and nobody can coax him into re-starting them.

    Plus the increasing dementia, of course. One wonders if Republicans are going to be able to prop him up as successfully as they did Reagan.

  133. 133.

    debbie

    January 5, 2019 at 7:28 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    The day I mastered the M-fold and so could read the paper on a city bus!

  134. 134.

    jl

    January 5, 2019 at 7:29 pm

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??: I checked wiki, and not sure he ever resigned over the Reform Acts, which were in the 1830s, not 1840s. , maybe he just griped about them endlessly. Wellington got so conservative compared to popular mood, he became very unpopular and focus of protests. Wiki bio says

    Wellington was never reconciled to the change; when Parliament first met after the first election under the widened franchise, Wellington is reported to have said “I never saw so many shocking bad hats in my life”.

    I should check wiki before I type stuff, but usually don’t.

  135. 135.

    Mary G

    January 5, 2019 at 7:31 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I remain convinced that the State of the Union is going to be awful, because it starts at 9 p.m. Kind of doubt the handlers can find the right mix of meds to keep him coherent.

  136. 136.

    Yarrow

    January 5, 2019 at 7:31 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Did you see the thread on NPD I linked above? It’s got some info I hadn’t really seen before.

  137. 137.

    jl

    January 5, 2019 at 7:32 pm

    Don’t know why this blog randomly swallows comments. Try again.

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??: I checked wiki, and not sure he ever resigned over the Reform Acts, which were in the 1830s, not 1840s, maybe he just griped about them endlessly. Wellington got so conservative compared to popular mood, he became very unpopular and focus of protests. Wiki bio says

    Wellington was never reconciled to the change; when Parliament first met after the first election under the widened franchise, Wellington is reported to have said “I never saw so many shocking bad hats in my life”.

    I should check wiki before I type stuff, but usually don’t.

  138. 138.

    J R in WV

    January 5, 2019 at 7:32 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    For some reason, Nielsen appalls me in a cold, vengeful way. Eva Braun springs to mind.

    Neilsen is worse, Eva Braun never held an office in the SS nor the administration of the death camps. Neilsen is head of our concentration camp management! She needs tried for those kidnappings of children, the deaths of children, the organized concentration camps, all of that.

  139. 139.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    January 5, 2019 at 7:33 pm

    @debbie:
    Well, it is Trump. And I doubt he’s going to be able to win the same exact way last time via the EC. I hope he goes down in 2020, not just because he’s an evil would-be autocrat, but because I want to see the meltdown he’ll go through when he loses.

    He’ll be carted off in a vest, Hannibal Lector-style, from the White House.

  140. 140.

    jl

    January 5, 2019 at 7:35 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I think the add_er_all habit rumor got going again after someone who used to work with him on Apprentice show said that you can tell when he’s taken a shitload of it: he starts snuffling.

    I guess we’ll have to go an a Trump ‘shuffle watch’ and compare his behavior with and without constant snuffling.

  141. 141.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??

    January 5, 2019 at 7:37 pm

    @jl:
    What’s really bad is the dude was Anglo-Irish and the Irish Potato Famine was going on while he was alive. But wealth and privelidge inoculate.

  142. 142.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 7:38 pm

    @??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)  ??: The founders basically tried to replicate the system they knew, but with safeguards. This was not the modern parliamentary system that evolved in the the mid 19th century, but rather its predecessor where the monarch still wielded vast powers as head of both state and government despite having a parliament with a prime (first) minister of government. So the presidency, for all their protestations, is essentially the monarchy incorporating both head of state and head of government functions. The House of Representatives is basically the House of Commons and the Senate the House of Lords. The Supreme Court are the Law Lords separated out from the House of Lords. They changed the name of the parts of government, built in tensions, competing, and balancing powers, and naively decried factions and parties as they went about establishing them. They also distributed a lot of power, or, at least, left a lot of power ambiguous, so that states would claim it and serve as a further check and balance. Finally, most of the framers, including Jefferson who was among the most radical, never expected the structure and constitution they established to last more than a few generations before it became necessary to make major reforms to both to account for changes over a 45 to 65 year period. Some things they simply couldn’t envision, such as life expectancies well into the 70s and for those best off often the 80s or 90s when they designed positions that came with lifetime tenure.

    As for the current Republican caucuses in both chambers of Congress having evolved into parliamentary parties, what I mean is that they are largely coherent and homogenous legislative caucuses. And they share almost nothing in common in regards to ideology, political, and/or economic goals with the Democratic caucuses, which are far more diverse. The result is that when the GOP is in the majority in both chambers, it functions as if it has absolute control and can do whatever it wants because it has the majority. This started in the House with the Gingrich revolution and has been far harder to replicate in the Senate. McConnell, however, has found a way to do so largely by bending and/or breaking every rule, tradition, and/or norm of the Senate as he sees fit.

  143. 143.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 7:41 pm

    @joel hanes: He’ll run. And when it becomes very clear very quickly that he won’t be the nominee, there will be incredible pressure from his supporters for him to run as an independent. I’m not sure how to handicap that, but I think there’s a good chance he would do so. And if he doesn’t, I fully expect Nina Turner to shiv him in the back and do so herself. With Konst, Zogby, and his other merry band of mischief makers cheering her on the entire way.

  144. 144.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 7:43 pm

    @debbie: There are enough, distributed in the necessary states, to win in the electoral college though. Especially if you wind up with one or more candidates running as independents who will wind up functioning as spoilers producing a back to back overwhelming Democratic popular vote win and a narrow electoral college majority reelection for the President.

  145. 145.

    John Revolta

    January 5, 2019 at 7:44 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Trump has admitted that he lies his ass off. He thinks it is a successful negotiating tactic

    Well, you have to admit he’s done pretty good with it………………………

  146. 146.

    Mnemosyne

    January 5, 2019 at 7:44 pm

    @Yarrow:

    I saw it a couple of days ago when it was first posted. I think I came across that Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers site when I first started researching this stuff in 2015 because that’s exactly the situation my nieces are stuck in.

  147. 147.

    zhena gogolia

    January 5, 2019 at 7:44 pm

    @J R in WV:

    I think they’re confusing Eva Braun with Ilse Koch.

  148. 148.

    kindness

    January 5, 2019 at 7:44 pm

    Trump didn’t say if they were American ex-Presidents. He just said former President. Could be anybody.

  149. 149.

    BR

    January 5, 2019 at 7:47 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    This is quite concerning. What would be a path or set of possible paths that avoid this outcome?

  150. 150.

    debbie

    January 5, 2019 at 7:51 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    He’s not going to get the same number of votes this time. A significant chunk of his numbers in 2016 were from anti-Hillary, not pro-Trump, voters.

  151. 151.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    January 5, 2019 at 8:04 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Some things they simply couldn’t envision, such as life expectancies well into the 70s and for those best off often the 80s or 90s when they designed positions that came with lifetime tenure.

    Kind of funny since Jefferson lived to be 83 and Adams 90, both passing the same day, July 4, 1826.

  152. 152.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 8:05 pm

    @BR: Having a strategy ready to go to neutralize what the political news reporters have already started doing with Senator Warren, which is what they’ll do to each Democrat in turn. This needs to be combined with being forewarned that this is still a possibility and having a strategy in place to minimize the potential damage. Jill Stein is going to run again. I expect at least one, if not two or three more independents who would potential pull votes from the Democratic nominee much more than from the President. A voter mobilization strategy that seeks to activate the nearly half the eligible potential voters who never actually vote will also be necessary. And, of course, given all of these realities, candidate quality matters.

  153. 153.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 8:05 pm

    @debbie: We shall see. And time will tell.

  154. 154.

    Adam L Silverman

    January 5, 2019 at 8:07 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: They were the elite of the elite. But the average Federal judge served somewhere between 12 and 18 years, not 35 or more.

  155. 155.

    Ruckus

    January 5, 2019 at 8:23 pm

    @kindness:
    Wasn’t individual 1 the president of one of his bankrupt companies?
    American – unfortunately, check.
    President – also unfortunately, check.
    Talks to the voices in his head, check.
    Listens to the voices in his head, also unfortunately, check.

  156. 156.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    January 5, 2019 at 9:09 pm

    I’d almost say GW said yes in some vague “yes, we talked about the wall went I was president” kind of wayll just get Trump off the phone at midnight but knowing Trump, that’s more lies from him.

  157. 157.

    Steeplejack

    January 5, 2019 at 9:13 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    Thanks for that. That thread is hilarious! And I noted Dorothy Winsor’s contribution.

  158. 158.

    Procopius

    January 5, 2019 at 9:57 pm

    @Corner Stone: When I was in about the third or fourth grade, my school had some event which attracted a reporter from the Akron Beacon Journal. I was really excited to read the paper to see what they said. I did not recognize the event at all from the story. Not one single fact that I knew about the event was reported accurately. Since then I have tried to be skeptical about anything important that was reported in the media. In my opinion, the last 40 years has been even worse, but looking at old newspapers it wasn’t really any better in Benjamin Franklin’s day.

  159. 159.

    zhena gogolia

    January 5, 2019 at 9:57 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Oh, I didn’t see her! I don’t know how to find it.

  160. 160.

    Procopius

    January 5, 2019 at 10:22 pm

    @Bill Arnold: I greatly admire Lincoln, but he was not concerned with Civil Rights. We’ll never be able to know what he would have done if it had not been for the treasonous bastards in South Carolina, but he did say clearly that he would accept slavery in some states and not in others if that would help restore the Union. He was the victim of events outside his control. It was the traitors who made it impossible for slavery to continue. Maybe we should celebrate Jeff Davis for destroying the “peculiar institution.” I think Lincoln’s biggest mistake was not bringing at least Jeff Davis and Bobby Lee before Congress, giving them a fair trial, and then hanging them. When I’m in a bad mood I think that’s what he should have done with every Confederate officer who broke his oath to the Constitution down to the rank of lieutenant.

  161. 161.

    Procopius

    January 5, 2019 at 10:44 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: She makes me think more of Ilse Koch, although that’s probably because I was seven or eight when Life magazine ran it’s collection of photos from Buchenwald. Wonder what Nielson’s hobbies are. Then again, I always felt Eva Braun was the stereotypical dumb blond and got a bad rap for loving Hitler.

  162. 162.

    Steeplejack

    January 5, 2019 at 10:53 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    She has two in that thread:

    “Hello, I’m a professor in a movie. I have a secretary and an office with a fireplace.”

    “Hello, I’m an Assistant Professor in a movie and I murdered another Assistant Professor because I wanted a tenured job and my department hired more tenure track people than it has tenured slots.”

    That second one sounds a little close to home.

  163. 163.

    hugely

    January 6, 2019 at 8:56 am

    @Adam L Silverman: adam this is worth a post because i am not sure i understand this and i would like to. I just think that the GOP is so bereft of good faith that is the main reason leg branch is broken. If there is something more structural i would love hear about it

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Comments

  • lgerard on Wednesday News Roundup, A Little Late (Apr 18, 2024 @ 3:40am)
  • mrmoshpotato on Late Night ‘Should Be Always’ Open Thread: Librarians, Doing Civilization’s Work (Apr 18, 2024 @ 3:40am)
  • Jay on Wednesday News Roundup, A Little Late (Apr 18, 2024 @ 3:31am)
  • Martin on Wednesday News Roundup, A Little Late (Apr 18, 2024 @ 3:26am)
  • VFX Lurker on Wednesday News Roundup, A Little Late (Apr 18, 2024 @ 3:13am)

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Balloon Juice Meetups!

All Meetups
Talk of Meetups – Meetup Planning
Proposed BJ meetups list from frosty

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8
Virginia House Races
Four Directions – Montana
Worker Power AZ
Four Directions – Arizona
Four Directions – Nevada

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
Positive Climate News
War in Ukraine
Cole’s “Stories from the Road”
Classified Documents Primer

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Political Action 2024

Postcard Writing Information

Balloon Juice for Four Directions AZ

Donate

Balloon Juice for Four Directions NV

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2024 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!