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You are here: Home / Nature & Respite / Birdwatching / Disturbing the Peace (Open Thread)

Disturbing the Peace (Open Thread)

by Betty Cracker|  January 18, 201910:06 am| 174 Comments

This post is in: Birdwatching, Domestic Politics, Foreign Affairs, Immigration, Open Threads, Politics, Trump Crime Cartel, Trump-Russia, Assholes, General Stupidity

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Last night, the mister and I took a sunset cruise in our little swamp boat and annoyed this innocent anhinga:

The bird is clearly saying “FUCK YOU!!” at the 24-second mark.

Anhingas are also called “snake birds” because they swim with their heads sticking out of the water, resembling a snake. After swimming, they roost in trees or on snags to dry their wings. Cormorants do the same and closely resemble anhingas, only cormorants have a curved beak. Here’s one we saw on the same excursion:

Got any big plans for the weekend? Is anyone participating in one of the Women’s Marches taking place nationwide? I was just reading a depressing account of the national Women’s March org — Women’s March Inc. Sounds like they’ve managed to fuck up the whole thing. Le sigh.

We’ll probably hang out at home, maybe go annoy some more swamp critters. You?

Trump is on Twitter fomenting anti-immigrant hatred. Maybe he’s trying to change the subject from the revelation that he committed a felony by directing an underling to lie to Congress, or maybe he’s trying to distract the media from the snowballing effects of the Trump shutdown. Or both. Maybe neither.

He’s claiming that ranchers are finding “prayer rugs” on the border — likely he’s narrating some Fox News reportage, which intersperses clips of interviews with American crackpots and shots of correspondents yelling “CARAVAN” at random pedestrians in Central America.

Rugs, though. That’s some scary stuff. Why, just yesterday, I tripped on a rug with an upturned corner and very nearly stubbed my toe on a coffee table leg.

Anyhoo, open thread.

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Reader Interactions

174Comments

  1. 1.

    rikyrah

    January 18, 2019 at 10:13 am

    Kay,

    This one is for you. Because, you have brought up this point repeatedly.??

    no_cut_card (@no_cut_card) Tweeted:
    they was chilling in the shadows committing felonies and getting rich for decades but this dude just had to run for the Oval and he made the block HOT

    https://twitter.com/no_cut_card/status/1086261746648653824?s=17

  2. 2.

    MattF

    January 18, 2019 at 10:13 am

    The whole idea of Moooslims prayin’… it’s just not right.

  3. 3.

    different-church-lady

    January 18, 2019 at 10:14 am

    “Hey, I’m just about to enter America! I guess I don’t need this stupid prayer rug anymore!”

  4. 4.

    rikyrah

    January 18, 2019 at 10:14 am

    Something has gnawed at me about the Women’s March. Something is hanky about the entire situation

  5. 5.

    Kay

    January 18, 2019 at 10:15 am

    I haven’t had any uneventful weekends since Thanksgiving since people came at all different times for “the holidays” and my husband is away skiing this weekend so I’m not doing anything. Not one thing :)

  6. 6.

    Quinerly

    January 18, 2019 at 10:16 am

    6th AM tweet from Trump

    Donald J. Trump

    @realDonaldTrump
    “Don’t forget, Michael Cohen has already been convicted of perjury and fraud, and as recently as this week, the Wall Street Journal has suggested that he may have stolen tens of thousands of dollars….” Lying to reduce his jail time! Watch father-in-law!

  7. 7.

    Nicole

    January 18, 2019 at 10:17 am

    Prayer rugs? Belonging to people coming from Central America? To the Google!

    The majority of Latin Americans are Christians (90%),[2] mostly Roman Catholics.

    (Wikipedia)

    So, how dumb does he think Americans are? Oh wait, he’s talking to his base. Never mind. They’re every bit that dumb.

  8. 8.

    Yarrow

    January 18, 2019 at 10:18 am

    Got any big plans for the weekend?

    I’m planning to go to Costco. On a Saturday. Wish me luck.

  9. 9.

    JR

    January 18, 2019 at 10:19 am

    @rikyrah: I don’t like “leaderless” movements generally. Movements don’t exist without leaders. If they don’t reveal themselves then they’re probably hiding something.

  10. 10.

    MattF

    January 18, 2019 at 10:19 am

    @Yarrow: On a Saturday before a big snowstorm? You’re not getting out alive.

  11. 11.

    Yarrow

    January 18, 2019 at 10:20 am

    @rikyrah: They invited Michael Moore to speak at their first march. I did not understand it then. It makes more sense now looking at how things have gone.

  12. 12.

    different-church-lady

    January 18, 2019 at 10:20 am

    @Nicole: Don’t forget: Trump doesn’t talk to his base, he listens to his base and then regurgitates the crazy-ass shit he hears. He doesn’t lead his base, he’s one of them.

  13. 13.

    PPCLI

    January 18, 2019 at 10:21 am

    @Quinerly: Once again he threatens Cohen by threatening an investigation of his father-in-law. Isn’t this already obstruction of justice? I’m no lawyer, but this certainly appears to be a threat aimed at getting a witness to shut up.

    ETA: or perhaps it’s not, or not just, the threat of an investigation but also a threat to reveal incriminating information, given Trump’s enthusiasm for stockpiling potential blackmail material. (Witness the events around Schneiderman’s resignation, and Trump’s much earlier twitter hints about the facts that brought him down. And Cohen’s involvement in that.)

  14. 14.

    different-church-lady

    January 18, 2019 at 10:22 am

    @JR: Nonsense! Look at all the power Occupy still has over our political… oh, wait…

  15. 15.

    Kay

    January 18, 2019 at 10:23 am

    @Nicole:

    Everything else aside about the low quality Trump hires, it’s bizarre that they START selling their dumb-ass policy AFTER they request funding. They’re not just bad at the individual components of their jobs, they don’t understand the basic sequence, 1 2, 3.

    Everyone knows they don’t actually own the property they’re putting that wall on, right? They skipped 1 and went to 137.

  16. 16.

    Just One More Canuck

    January 18, 2019 at 10:27 am

    @Yarrow: may God have mercy on your soul

  17. 17.

    Kay

    January 18, 2019 at 10:27 am

    I wonder if it’s dawning on Donald Trump and his low quality hires yet that the (supposed) justification for his presidency, his ability to “make deals” and “build things” is completely contradicted by his inability to build a wall.

    It’s not even something complicated like a highway or a bridge. They can’t put up a fucking WALL.

    I picture them in that horrible, backbiting bunker of a workplace every day, knowing they have to produce a wall or the whole scam comes crumbling down.

  18. 18.

    rikyrah

    January 18, 2019 at 10:27 am

    ????
    Nothing but a phucking lie…..trying to change the narrative.

    (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) Tweeted:
    To Trump and this border rancher we Muslims leave our prayer rugs behind to mark the territory. Or maybe we do it to claim the land as our own. In any event if someone was so religiously devout they brought a prayer rug they wouldn’t leave it behind since need it 5 times a day.

  19. 19.

    laura

    January 18, 2019 at 10:29 am

    I’ll be sporting my P-hat on Saturday while pushing the vacuum and climbing laundry mountain. But totally stoked for the MLK Day march in Sacramento.
    Say his name: Stephon Clark!

  20. 20.

    Quinerly

    January 18, 2019 at 10:29 am

    Looks like Nancy was going to fly commercial but Trump et al leaked those plans. Statement from her COS:

    “The United States Congress is a co-equal branch of government in our system of checks and balances.  The Congress has a constitutional responsibility to conduct oversight in the war zone where our men and women in uniform are risking their lives every day,” Hammill said.  “After President Trump revoked the use of military aircraft to travel to Afghanistan, the delegation was prepared to fly commercially to proceed with this vital trip to meet with our commanders and troops on the front lines.”

    “In the middle of the night, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service provided an updated threat assessment detailing that the President announcing this sensitive travel had significantly increased the danger to the delegation and to the troops, security, and other officials supporting the trip,” continued Hammill.  “This morning, we learned that the Administration had leaked the commercial travel plans as well.”

    “In light of the grave threats caused by the President’s action, the delegation has decided to postpone the trip so as not to further endanger our troops and security personnel, or the other travelers on the flights,” said Hammill.  “Whether here or abroad, the Speaker always thanks our troops, diplomats and intelligence community for their heroism and service.  The Speaker commends her colleagues on the delegation, who personally and officially have dedicated their lives to protect and defend the American people.”

  21. 21.

    Nicole

    January 18, 2019 at 10:30 am

    @different-church-lady:

    Don’t forget: Trump doesn’t talk to his base, he listens to his base and then regurgitates the crazy-ass shit he hears. He doesn’t lead his base, he’s one of them.

    Excellent point. What I should have said was “HE’S every bit that dumb.”

  22. 22.

    mad citizen

    January 18, 2019 at 10:31 am

    Well said Kay. I’d like to see the Democrats point out Republican incompetence at every opportunity and run and, first, a basic desire and competetency of operating the gigantic G part of our economy.

    Snowstorm on Satuday in central Indiana, so I imagine it will be crazy at Costco today here.

  23. 23.

    rikyrah

    January 18, 2019 at 10:31 am

    @Kay:

    Kay,

    I’m going to throw your own words back at you….
    It’s so precise…so on point..the Democrats need to adopt it as their own and repeat it everytime they get on tv…

    Kay says:
    January 17, 2019 at 8:14 am

    Trump wants you to fund a wall where he doesn’t know how long it is, he doesn’t know what it will cost, and he doesn’t own the property he wants to put it on. He wants an unlimited slush fund for “general building: TBD” – it’s insane.

  24. 24.

    Jerzy Russian

    January 18, 2019 at 10:31 am

    If the discovery of “prayer rugs” is not shocking enough for you, I heard that the owners of these rugs were all known as “Sandy” at some point in their youth. The Deep State is trying its best to hide this from you, but the truth will come out!

  25. 25.

    Kay

    January 18, 2019 at 10:31 am

    This could literally consume the rest of his presidency. Even if they open the government they still have to either actually or pretend to focus on this wall. The lack of their wall. That they said they’d build.

    And they did to themselves. They not only allowed this vanity monument to Donald Trump to consume his presidency, they INSISTED that it consume his presidency.

  26. 26.

    rikyrah

    January 18, 2019 at 10:32 am

    @Quinerly:

    Looks like Nancy was going to fly commercial but Trump et al leaked those plans.

    LarryO last night went into why the Speaker of the House no longer rides commercial. All wrapped up in the aftermath of 9/11.

  27. 27.

    Nicole

    January 18, 2019 at 10:33 am

    @Kay:

    Everything else aside about the low quality Trump hires, it’s bizarre that they START selling their dumb-ass policy AFTER they request funding.

    Why, it’s almost like experience in government is a positive for people who want to actually get policy accomplished, right? But that can’t be true; I’ve spent almost my whole life being told by the media that the best people in government are the outsiders!

    To this instance, I think there were plans to hoover up the money into personal pockets, so the amount was quoted without even the most basic attempts to estimate an actual cost, since the money was never actually going to be used to build anything.

  28. 28.

    different-church-lady

    January 18, 2019 at 10:34 am

    @Kay:

    This could literally consume the rest of his presidency.

    He’d probably like that. He’d get joy from throwing a tantrum every day.

  29. 29.

    Quinerly

    January 18, 2019 at 10:35 am

    From the new Politico piece on the prayer rugs allegedly found at the border:
    “In a video accompanying the article, the rancher — who was granted anonymity “for fear of retaliation by cartels who move the individuals” — said that though she doesn’t “have any proof” of her claims and has “never seen any Middle Easterners” near the border herself, she says she has been told by trusted Border Patrol agents and has seen what she said were prayer rugs.”
    https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/18/trump-prayer-rugs-border-wall-1111213

  30. 30.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 18, 2019 at 10:37 am

    The prayer rugs are actually someone’s dirty undies.

  31. 31.

    Quinerly

    January 18, 2019 at 10:37 am

    @rikyrah: read the COS statement. He referenced commercial plans shelved b/c of WH leak. Her COS is pretty clear. I listened to Larry O last night, too. Maybe the delegation was going to fly commercial without Nancy?

  32. 32.

    Kay

    January 18, 2019 at 10:37 am

    @rikyrah:

    Democrats and the public are supposed to make this endless and unspecified commitment because Ann Coulter threatened Donald Trump and Trump, the coward, panicked.

    Hey, can we call this wall “Trump’s Katrina” yet? They pulled it out for Obama every 20 minutes.

    This is a debacle. The deal maker can’t make a deal and the builder can’t put anything up. He’s publicly and spectacularly failing on both of his supposed talents.

  33. 33.

    Catherine D.

    January 18, 2019 at 10:38 am

    Prayer rugs? Serapes or Navajo blankets, maybe.

  34. 34.

    Jerzy Russian

    January 18, 2019 at 10:39 am

    @Quinerly:

    Assuming such items were indeed found, maybe they were blankets? It gets cold at night in the desert, especially at this time of the year.

  35. 35.

    Quinerly

    January 18, 2019 at 10:39 am

    @Jerzy Russian: The “prayer rugs” are actually used to dance on. ?

  36. 36.

    SFAW

    January 18, 2019 at 10:39 am

    He’s claiming that ranchers are finding “prayer rugs” on the border — likely he’s narrating some Fox News reportage, which intersperses clips of interviews with American crackpots and shots of correspondents yelling “CARAVAN” at random pedestrians in Central America.

    I think it was Lenny Bruce (maybe) who once did a bit about how some ancient note was found somewhere near Jerusalem, which read something like:
    “Yeah, that’s right, we killed Jesus.
    (signed)
    The Jews”

    Sounds like the “border rancher” has been ingesting certain types of mushrooms.

  37. 37.

    Kraux Pas

    January 18, 2019 at 10:41 am

    Reposted here because last thread is dead:

    It’s very frustrating for me because my whole instinct is: Let’s find a way to get this solved. But so far anyway, his idea of negotiating is to say ‘here’s what I want, I’ll give you nothing,’” said Sen. Angus King (I-Maine)

    This is what the media CONSTANTLY misses. Regardless of who’s in charge of each decision point, what is actually happening during every single shutdown? Republicans are always demanding some major policy change and will only concede to let the government operate, and only until the next artificial deadline, if it passes. No further concessions to the other side will be made.

    Then the media asks why the Democrats won’t compromise. Bothsiderism is a hell of a drug.

  38. 38.

    raven

    January 18, 2019 at 10:41 am

    @Catherine D.: Or a bong

  39. 39.

    Kay

    January 18, 2019 at 10:42 am

    @Nicole:

    The wall is a lawsuit generator. The property owners will sue and the contractors will sue when these crooks stiff them. That’s assuming that they hire actual contractors. It’s just as likely they hire some low quality crony who THEY’LL have to sue.

    The only people who will benefit from this wall are lawyers.

  40. 40.

    PPCLI

    January 18, 2019 at 10:42 am

    @Kay: Trump is Trumps Katrina.

    ETA: The constant repeating of “Obama’s Katrina” came because the GOP and scandal-hungry journalists were desperate for there to be one. But it never got traction because none of the “scandals” were actually concerns to anyone outside Foxworld.

    Trump does something impeachable every day. Can you imagine what would have happened if Obama had repeatedly threatened a witness?

  41. 41.

    Jerzy Russian

    January 18, 2019 at 10:44 am

    @Quinerly: Hmm, I should have thought about the dancing part. I guess I am not cut out to be a writer for the Onion after all.

  42. 42.

    Amir Khalid

    January 18, 2019 at 10:45 am

    @Nicole:
    The stuff about prayer rugs is obviously false. Muslims are very rare in Latin America. One devout enough to bring his prayer rug along on the caravan — now there’s a word with a Middle Eastern association — is not going to throw it away en route absent some emergency. But is it a lie (Trump made it up to deceive the credulous and bigoted) or bullshit (he’s indifferent to whether it’s true or false)? The question may seem triial, but I am curious about Trump’s mental state.

  43. 43.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 18, 2019 at 10:47 am

    @rikyrah:

    Something has gnawed at me about the Women’s March. Something is hanky about the entire situation

    I agree with you, rikyrah. It feels somehow contrived. Manipulated.

  44. 44.

    dww44

    January 18, 2019 at 10:48 am

    @rikyrah: CBS Morning Show had Linda Sarsour on this a.m. to address the anti-semitism issues that are plaguing this year’s marches. She was very measured, positive, and reaffimed the “big tent” makeup of the Women’s movement. One wonders sometimes if the divisiveness that’s being highlighted is ginned up by those entities and folks who aren’t supportive of liberals and progressives and whose primary purpose is to tear us down and divide us.

    Just a few minutes ago my SO scrolled by the Fox Business Channel and Maria Bartiroma was conversing about Democrats being as divided now as they were during Barack Obama’s Presidency. How the far left was in COMPLETE control of the Democratic party. The chyron on the screen while she was saying this was “Alexandra Octavio-Cortez” Speech on the House Floor shown on C-Span Most Widely Viewed since………………. or ever or something.

  45. 45.

    Kraux Pas

    January 18, 2019 at 10:49 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    But is it a lie (Trump made it up to deceive the credulous and bigoted) or bullshit (he’s indifferent to whether it’s true or false)?

    Yes.

    The question may seem trivial, but I am curious about Trump’s mental state.

    Speculating about someone’s motivations is difficult under the best of circumstances but, if you’re curious about Trump’s mental state, I’d go with “barely functional.”

  46. 46.

    Bruuuuce

    January 18, 2019 at 10:54 am

    Mrs. B. is planning, the weather here in NYC willing, to march in the alternative march (the one that was independently organized last year and which has been co-opted by the national leadership) with her sister Bryn Mawr alumnae. Unfortunately, we may well see all kinds of water from the sky and on the ground, so attendance, even combined with the official one, is likely to be way down. I expect to ear Faux crowing over that on Monday.

  47. 47.

    Betty Cracker

    January 18, 2019 at 10:55 am

    @Yarrow & @rikyrah: They invited Moore, and they pointedly did not invite Hillary Clinton, the first woman nominated by a major party. She’s a feminist icon whether they like it or not. And now it turns out at least two of the four board members attended a Farrakhan event — yeah, no.

  48. 48.

    Ajabu

    January 18, 2019 at 10:55 am

    @Nicole:
    Pay attention. They fly from the Middle East to Guatemala and then walk 1000 miles to the border to leave a prayer rug to frighten real Muricans.

  49. 49.

    Amir Khalid

    January 18, 2019 at 10:56 am

    @Catherine D.:
    Years ago, I think during W’s presidency, some genius found an Arsenal FC shirt in the desert (with the famous football club’s badge on the front and an adidas label in the collar) and mistook it for a Muslim prayer rug. So if anything has indeed been found by a rancher, which of course is not certain, what was it?

  50. 50.

    danielx

    January 18, 2019 at 10:58 am

    Le sigh indeed….expecting five to eight inches of snow tomorrow, so another weekend inside mostly.

    I do not generally expose my personal issues in BJ posts, but I’m kind of fucked up right now. My best friend died by suicide this past Monday and there’s a hole in the world. I knew him for better than forty years as a good man and a good friend. A soshulist, a businessman who did well, a social justice warrior who believed passionately and was highly active in local and state politics, a family guy devoted to kids and grandkids, one of ten siblings in an Irish catholic family. A drinking buddy of long standing, although less in recent times – both getting too old for it, and him with a collapsing spine that kept him in agony with every movement with no treatment or medication left that would help. We had discussed in the abstract the alternatives when it got to be too much to bear, but abstraction is different from reality. I’ll never condemn anyone for taking their own way out under such circumstances, but I’m still kind of pissed, what with no chances left for a final talk about anything. Which was what we always discussed; literally anything and everything – politics, relationships, women, praising friends and slagging enemies, cars, home improvement – the kind of friend who you might not see for weeks or months but when you did, it was like you were just resuming a conversation interrupted a few minutes previously.

    I’ll miss him a lot.

  51. 51.

    dww44

    January 18, 2019 at 10:58 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Also, I don’t know if you are referring to the Women’s Marches in 2017, but I was very much inspired by them, As one who attended the Atlanta one it was spontaneous and uplifting and positive. I’ll never forget the Uber driver who took a friend and me into the march area that extraordinarily wet morning saying, just before we rounded the cornerthat revealed a suprisingly large crowd of women, their children, and a not insignificant number of gay guys, saying “No one in Atlanta is going to show up to march in a rain like this”. He, a retired airline pilot from California, and we were blown away by the number of people gathering in the pouring rain. He never said another word. Nice guy, though.

    The organizers in Atlanta, primarily African American women with John Lewis being one of the featured speakers, were obviously themselves gobsmacked by the size of the crowd which continued to grow. By the end 60 thousand people, mostly women, a goodly number with their families, marched from the area around the Coca-Cola Museum ( I don’t know Atlanta that well) all the way down to the Capitol. One of the very best experiences of my life, ever. It never felt as if it were contrived.

  52. 52.

    Kraux Pas

    January 18, 2019 at 10:58 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    So if anything has indeed been found by a rancher, which of course is not certain, what was it?

    Perhaps an ordinary blanket for sleeping on? Tourist litter?

  53. 53.

    Fair Economist

    January 18, 2019 at 10:58 am

    @Kay: As you pointed out this is not about building a wall because they have no plan for that. It’s about embezzlement. I note there have already been surveys and some clearance in the affected areas before money was allocated so likely somebody borrowed money expecting to embezzle it back and now they have to or they will be in deep financial trouble. I suspect it’s Trump himself because not many would be that stupid.

  54. 54.

    low-tech cyclist

    January 18, 2019 at 10:58 am

    What, the rancher didn’t have a pic of the Muslim prayer rugs?

    There’s an xkcd for that: https://xkcd.com/1235/

  55. 55.

    cope

    January 18, 2019 at 10:58 am

    No concrete plans. Picked out a new grill at a box store, free assembly but can’t fit the assembled one in my car. Stilll trying to sort that out. I need to go out for groceries, may even spring for some large, Earth-destroying rib eyes as a special treat for making it thorough one more week in Trumpworld. LIverpool plays tomorrow morning so there’s that.

    I already made a net profit in each of my fantasy football leagues so I not longer need to pay attention to any NFL stuff (Bears and Broncos fan here so those hopes have been dashed, in the case of Denver, long ago).

    I put together a small desk that is now in front of a window and has two shallow drawers…my new office. That plus a Logitech wireless keyboard for my iPad and I almost feel like a productive member of society again.

    Rugs at the border? If they are expensive Persian rugs and there are enough of them, maybe a potential source of revenue to build the wall? Just spit ballin’…

  56. 56.

    Splitting Image

    January 18, 2019 at 11:00 am

    We’ve been through this before. Breitbart claimed that an Arsenal Gunners jacket was a prayer rug.

  57. 57.

    Fair Economist

    January 18, 2019 at 11:02 am

    @danielx: I am so sorry to hear about your friend.

  58. 58.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 18, 2019 at 11:04 am

    @Kraux Pas:

    I’d go with “barely functional.”

    I’d go with able to be propped up long enough to pull the strings so his arms and mouth move in an animated fashion.”

  59. 59.

    trollhattan

    January 18, 2019 at 11:05 am

    @Kay:

    I wonder if it’s dawning on Donald Trump and his low quality hires

    Let me stop you right there.

  60. 60.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 18, 2019 at 11:05 am

    @dww44:

    No, no, I’m talking about the recent schism. And it’s really just an uneasy feeling. I agree fully, the 2017 Women’s Marches were uplifting, affirming, and inspiring in every way.

  61. 61.

    Kraux Pas

    January 18, 2019 at 11:06 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I’d go with able to be propped up long enough to pull the strings so his arms and mouth move in an animated fashion.”

    Increasingly low-energy, however.

  62. 62.

    trollhattan

    January 18, 2019 at 11:07 am

    @Splitting Image:
    Classic. What if it had had the Arsenal cannon? “Napoleon era jihadists moving north!”

  63. 63.

    different-church-lady

    January 18, 2019 at 11:07 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    The question may seem triial, but I am curious about Trump’s mental state.

    Insane. Next question.

  64. 64.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 18, 2019 at 11:09 am

    @cope:

    No concrete plans.

    How about steel slat plans?

  65. 65.

    different-church-lady

    January 18, 2019 at 11:10 am

    @dww44:

    The chyron on the screen while she was saying this was “Alexandra Octavio-Cortez” Speech on the House Floor shown on C-Span Most Widely Viewed since………………. or ever or something.

    Probably mostly by wingnuts hate-watching.

  66. 66.

    Ruckus

    January 18, 2019 at 11:11 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    but I am curious about Trump’s mental state.

    moronic, senile, demented

  67. 67.

    different-church-lady

    January 18, 2019 at 11:12 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    The question may seem triial, but I am curious about Trump’s mental state.

    Insane. Next question.

  68. 68.

    jonas

    January 18, 2019 at 11:13 am

    He’s claiming that ranchers are finding “prayer rugs” on the border — likely he’s narrating some Fox News reportage, which intersperses clips of interviews with American crackpots and shots of correspondents yelling “CARAVAN” at random pedestrians in Central America.

    Prayer rugs. Right. I recall last year or so there was this conspiracy theory crackpot running around the Arizona desert and finding remains of overnight camps possibly used by illegals and claiming they were evidence of a massive sex trafficking ring or something. He would literally find a blanket or sleeping bag or something and claim it was evidence of hordes of sex slaves being driven through the desert.

  69. 69.

    PaulWartenberg

    January 18, 2019 at 11:13 am

    I will be on the City float for the Bartow Martin Luther King parade on Monday

  70. 70.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 18, 2019 at 11:13 am

    @danielx: Very sorry to hear this, it’s never easy.

  71. 71.

    different-church-lady

    January 18, 2019 at 11:13 am

    @danielx: Ouch. Hugs (which ain’t enough, obviously, but…)

  72. 72.

    Gelfling 545

    January 18, 2019 at 11:22 am

    We’re supposed to have snowstorms and really low temps here tomorrow so I probably won’t get to march. Also, my marching partner is leaving for PR again to do legal aid work so I’d be going alone which I’m shy of doing in bad weather. My other likely partner, granddaughter, has to go back to college tomorrow as she has a 730 am shift at her on campus job. Sigh.

  73. 73.

    The Dangerman

    January 18, 2019 at 11:23 am

    @PPCLI:

    Can you imagine what would have happened if Obama had repeatedly threatened a witness?

    FTFY. No repeatedly about it; he would have been impeached at 1.

  74. 74.

    rikyrah

    January 18, 2019 at 11:23 am

    @danielx:

    So sorry for your loss :( :(

  75. 75.

    scuffletuffle

    January 18, 2019 at 11:24 am

    I will be at the Northampton MA march. Have gone every year and will continue to do so. My feeling is that we need to continue to demonstrate non-support of the Trump agenda as often and as visibly as possible. YMMV.

  76. 76.

    Betty Cracker

    January 18, 2019 at 11:25 am

    @danielx: That is terrible news. I’m so sorry. :(

  77. 77.

    Quinerly

    January 18, 2019 at 11:25 am

    A year ago right now, Poco and I were in a Motel 6 in Hobbs NM. We were on our yearly trip but took an entirely different southern route to spend 10 plus days before making our way to Albuquerque and Santa Fe by way of Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, Las Cruces, Hatch, and Truth or Consequences. I’m reminded today how Trump loving this part of the state was a year ago. Anyhow, took a day trip at some point from Las Cruces to visit Deming and to commune with the area where many of the grapes are grown for NM wine. ? Everybody I ran into in the Deming area (near the border) were overt Trump supporters who tried to engage me in a debate because of my bumper stickers. Mostly people were nice, though. A very long story short… when I tried to engage about Trump’s border wall they mostly would clam up. Those who would discuss this with me a year ago were adamently against the wall. Some even laughed about needing their workers to be able to easily cross the border for work. All said a wall would never be built… that it was just “campaign stuff.” I had wanted to drive down to the border on that trip but there were random border checks on some of these back roads as far as 60 plus miles from the border. I was stopped 3 times for checks and actually pulled out of line outside of Las Cruces when heading south to Deming the morning I started my little side trip to the grapes. Poco was adament about wanting to eat the border patrol guys from the backseat. I didn’t want to push my luck and be one of those people whose dog gets shot so 16 miles from the border was as close as I got. I wish I had thought to ask someone about those prayer rugs?. That story has been around awhile.

  78. 78.

    Immanentize

    January 18, 2019 at 11:27 am

    Does anyone remember Reverend Ike?

    My friend and I once sent in $10 on his blessing Plan, anticipating the Cadillac which would be in my driveway the very next Saturday!
    All we got was a prayer rug — a 2″ X 3″ piece of cheap indoor/outdoor. We were instructed to kneel with one knee on it and pray for the Cadillac (or for Rev. Ike, I can’t remember).

  79. 79.

    Felanius Kootea

    January 18, 2019 at 11:27 am

    @rikyrah: This. Very much this.

    Mitch McConnell is a disgrace of a human being.

  80. 80.

    sdhays

    January 18, 2019 at 11:28 am

    @Ruckus:
    @different-church-lady:
    Don’t forget just all around stupid.

  81. 81.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 18, 2019 at 11:29 am

    @danielx:

    How devastating for you. I’m so sorry.

  82. 82.

    Immanentize

    January 18, 2019 at 11:29 am

    @danielx: That is hard indeed — especially the no chance for a last chat. Hang in there, though, you at least have this less-than perfect lot to hang out with.

  83. 83.

    germy

    January 18, 2019 at 11:32 am

    A Deutsche Bank spokesman said: “Deutsche Bank takes its legal obligations seriously and remains committed to cooperating with authorized investigations. Our recent record of cooperating with such investigations has been widely recognized by regulators. We intend to keep working in this spirit.”

    The Financial Services Committee, chaired by Democrat Maxine Waters, has the broadest power to look into Trump’s relationship with Deutsche.

    When the Republicans still controlled the House, Waters tried in 2017 to request documents from the bank on its dealings with Trump and his businesses, as well as information about potential Russian money laundering through the bank.

    But the bank told Congress that privacy laws prevented it from handing over such information without a formal subpoena. Committee Republicans ignored Waters’ request. As chairwoman, Waters can now issue subpoenas herself.

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-deutsche-bank/trump-deutsche-bank-links-in-sights-of-u-s-house-investigators-idUSKCN1PC123

  84. 84.

    Betty Cracker

    January 18, 2019 at 11:34 am

    @scuffletuffle: It’s definitely a good thing to demonstrate against the Trump agenda! My guess is most people don’t have a clue about the controversy anyway, and some state and local-level marches have already dissolved ties with the national organization. Maybe that’s for the best. National organizations that grow out of grass roots movements can become too obsessed with branding and moneymaking anyway — might be a good thing for marches to be organized and led by local people.

  85. 85.

    Immanentize

    January 18, 2019 at 11:34 am

    @Kraux Pas:

    Perhaps an ordinary blanket for sleeping on? Tourist litter?

    This. When I lived in San Antonio, a neighbor/friend had a family ranch on the Nueces River in South Texas. A lot of migrants moved up that river and he would find all sorts of detritus on the property. Blankets being a big item included in the trash abandoned — also bottles and jugs. There was even a fairly well developed and decorated shrine a bit off the riverside which he left as he figured it was a meeting point, or just a point for inspiration, along the journey. Many south Texans have a live and let live attitude about the migration.

  86. 86.

    West of the Rockies

    January 18, 2019 at 11:38 am

    That was a fairly long article, BC. I skipped over some of the financial part. Was Mallory part of the Toronto BLM? She has been a vitriolic, divisive figure for several years. The anti-Semitic and LGBTQ phobia aspect is concerning.

    I’ve marched in the last two events here in Chico, CA. The first was especially electric and inspiring.

  87. 87.

    Ruckus

    January 18, 2019 at 11:39 am

    @sdhays:
    I thought the moronic bit covered that. Isn’t moronic lower than stupid? And besides moronic is a constant state, stupid can be fixed with education and training, moronic is forever, as proved by drumpf and friends.

  88. 88.

    dww44

    January 18, 2019 at 11:39 am

    @danielx: So sorry you longtime friend had to go this way and completely understand your unexpected loss .

    A few years ago my husband’s Uncle, totally worn out by repeated trips to the hospital for one affliction or another, convinced the younger of his 2 sons to lend him his pistol and promptly went into his basement and blew his brains out. The two sons now barely speak to each other and are engaged in a protracted legal fight over the care of their Mom, who’s got old age dementia issues.

  89. 89.

    WereBear

    January 18, 2019 at 11:41 am

    @MattF: Whole PALLETS of TP!

    (For some reason, this is the item people snowstorm-panic over in my area. Men, especially. Me, I think of FOOD :)

  90. 90.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    January 18, 2019 at 11:42 am

    @Quinerly: This confirms for me that one of the things gnawing at him is Cohen’s upcoming congressional testimony on Feb 7.

    I hope it’s televised. Because if it is, it’s likely to get bigger ratings than anything he ever did. That would just add a lovely extra sauce to the Schadenfreude.

  91. 91.

    Quinerly

    January 18, 2019 at 11:44 am

    @danielx: so sorry. Have no words except my heart breaks for you.

  92. 92.

    Kay

    January 18, 2019 at 11:49 am

    Ken Dilanian
    ‏Verified account
    @KenDilanianNBC
    57m57 minutes ago
    More
    According to the NYT story last fall, one of the written questions to Trump from Mueller was, “What communication did you have with Michael D. Cohen, Felix Sater, and others, including foreign nationals, about Russian real estate developments during the campaign?”

    Those written answers will trip him up. Remember, the Trump’s are used to bullying and sleazing their way out of civil lawsuits thru privilege and hometown corruption and connections – this is a different game.

  93. 93.

    Ruckus

    January 18, 2019 at 11:51 am

    @Betty Cracker:
    I tried to go to the first march. Lots of people in LA couldn’t get to the march, none of us at the Metro station could get on the train to take us there, it was way past standing room only, looked like a Japanese subway at rush hour. Met some nice people though.

    might be a good thing for marches to be organized and led by local people.

    Would seem to me to almost have to be, it’s got to be different in any major city to secure permits, who to talk to, who not to…..etc. A national headquarters is at best going to maybe know a few cities but no where near enough to make a difference. Other than an ideal what can, maybe other than suggestions, a national organization actually do? (I worked for a national national organization that put on events in a lot of places, 90 a year, each location is different in some way. And those differences are/can be some of the most important bits to get right.) ETA Forgot to add that we worked through local people for each and every event, it was the only way.

  94. 94.

    mad citizen

    January 18, 2019 at 11:51 am

    @danielx: Also very sorry for your loss.

  95. 95.

    Felanius Kootea

    January 18, 2019 at 11:52 am

    @danielx: Sorry to hear that he was in so much pain. My condolences on your loss.

  96. 96.

    debbie

    January 18, 2019 at 11:52 am

    @Quinerly:

    Nyah, nyah, nyah. Takes one to know one!

    (We’re in the Sandbox of Hell.)

  97. 97.

    debbie

    January 18, 2019 at 11:55 am

    I was just reading a depressing account of the national Women’s March org — Women’s March Inc. Sounds like they’ve managed to fuck up the whole thing. Le sigh.

    I would bet, look under the closest rock, and you’ll find a GOOPer fomenting this strife. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Israel was involved in some way.

  98. 98.

    Immanentize

    January 18, 2019 at 11:55 am

    @Kay: Mueller clearly has evidence regarding Cohen and Slater — that’s part of the 80% he already knows. The “and others” might include stuff Mueller doesn’t (or didn’t then) know. I love how good prosecutors work (Unless it is my client in the crosshairs.)

  99. 99.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 18, 2019 at 11:58 am

    @germy:

    I hope that tugging at the Deutsche Bank threads will ultimately expose that whole sketchy business with Justice Kennedy’s abrupt retirement from the SCOTUS last summer, his DB son who loaned Trump something like $10 million when no other bank would lend him a dime, and pushing through Kavanaugh to replace him on the bench. It still reeks, all these months later, and I hope Chairman Waters is able to shed some light on this murky situation.

  100. 100.

    eemom

    January 18, 2019 at 11:58 am

    @rikyrah:

    Something has gnawed at me about the Women’s March. Something is hanky about the entire situation

    Don’t have time to look for it now, but there’s been a ton written recently about the dysfunction of the so called national leadership (Mallory, Sarsour, Bland, Perez) with respect to (1) well founded concerns about antiSemitism (including but not limited to the refusal to denounce Farrakhan, who Mallory once called the GOAT (greatest of all time)), and (2) financial mismanagement and refusal to account for the millions of $$ the movement has raised, none of which goes to local chapters.

    Some of the original organizers who were pushed out and/or repulsed by those 4 are working to take back the movement, even fighting over the trademark rights.

  101. 101.

    Albatrossity

    January 18, 2019 at 11:59 am

    Nice Anhinga video!

    But the bird in your second picture is a Double-crested Cormorant, not an Anhinga, based on the coloration and the hooked bill.

  102. 102.

    bemused

    January 18, 2019 at 11:59 am

    Something I didn’t want to read or think about today: David Jolly tweeted last night “Congressional Republicans salivating tonight over the prospects of a President Pence”.

  103. 103.

    Frankensteinbeck

    January 18, 2019 at 11:59 am

    @Fair Economist:

    As you pointed out this is not about building a wall because they have no plan for that.

    There doesn’t have to be a plan for that. Folks, it’s normal for people to not act rationally. Yes, people in the executive branch usually have plans, but it’s well established these people are not like that. The wall is about ego and spite. Nothing else. NOTHING else. At all. Any embezzlement that will happen (and is quite likely to happen) will be a side effect as the process moves forward. Do you think Trump is the only idiot asshole in his administration? They’re all spiteful. The lesson of ‘economic anxiety’ is do not mistake for greed what can be explained by malice, and it applies at every social and economic level. Maybe more as you go higher up.

    McConnell is another matter. God only knows what’s going on in McConnell’s head. Spite will be a huge heaping helping, but he’s at least smart enough to have a plan. It may be a bad plan that already backfired, since he’s not as smart as he looks and got his reputation doing the easy shit nobody else was a big enough asshole to consider.

  104. 104.

    eemom

    January 18, 2019 at 12:00 pm

    @debbie:

    I don’t think that’s true at all. Those 4 women did, in fact, fuck it all up.

    And I can’t believe you said that about Israel….are you serious?

  105. 105.

    Doug R

    January 18, 2019 at 12:00 pm

    @Yarrow:

    I’m planning to go to Costco. On a Saturday. Wish me luck.

    Remember they open at 9:30 on Saturdays. I find if I get there at 9:25 by the time I finish parking the line has cleared and it’s relatively uncrowded. Or show up after 5 pm- they close at 6ish on Saturdays.

  106. 106.

    Immanentize

    January 18, 2019 at 12:00 pm

    @debbie: Whenever there are complaints about the completely marginalized Farrakhan, there inevitably are reasonable suspicions that Israel is in the picture somewhere. I get that he is anti-Semitic and an often horrible person, and not one to truck with, but the reaction to him way outpaces his actual thought-influence. The problem is that the entire Black American Nation of Islam gets slammed because of Louis. Or more accurately, black people get criticized for their religious choices because of a bigot among them. Imagine if we did that with Christians!

  107. 107.

    debbie

    January 18, 2019 at 12:00 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    He’s using the lie about prayer rugs to bolster his contention (stated from the beginning of all this) that Moooslim terrorists were hiding inside the caravans.

  108. 108.

    eric

    January 18, 2019 at 12:01 pm

    Here is Cillizza (not a favorite) getting it….Not about Cohen, but Mueller’s real soruces

  109. 109.

    Ruckus

    January 18, 2019 at 12:02 pm

    @Immanentize:
    Was on a jury that we were wondering about the level of evidence presented and the amount of it. Easily enough to convict but obviously not everything. After the verdict the judge told us what prosecutor/defendant’s lawyer agreed upon not to be shown at trial. And why. An eye opener for sure if you’ve never been involved in that before.

  110. 110.

    spudgun

    January 18, 2019 at 12:02 pm

    @danielx: Delurking to say I’ve been on both sides (obvs since still here, was fortunate enough to get through the very, VERY worst moment on the cliff’s edge), so I share your pain. One of the few times I can say, “I know how you feel.”

    I am so very sorry for your loss and I’m glad you can share with the jackals – they’re a good bunch. I hope, in time, you can find some peace and the pain eases a little.

  111. 111.

    debbie

    January 18, 2019 at 12:03 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I agree. There’s an invisible puppet master at work here. Problem is that there are so many right now, it’s hard to tell which.

  112. 112.

    Quinerly

    January 18, 2019 at 12:03 pm

    I’m reminiscing about last year’s NM trip (mostly b/c couldn’t fit the trip in my schedule this year. First time I have missed 6 weeks out there this time of year since 2010). If ever in the Deming area, a must (even if it was full of border patrol and Trump lovers last year) is the Adobe Deli. It’s on a gravel road, near a creepy pioneer cemetery in the middle of nowhere, 16 miles from the border. Incredible food, believe it or not. You just have to take a peek at the online menus and videos. Crazy history. I visited and toured the place (it’s huge an old school that’s been added on to over the years) for several hrs with the original owner’s granddaughter, until this 70 plus year old self proclaimed second largest landowner in NM(pro Trump, anti wall) took an interest and wanted to continue to show me around the place. The place is full of oddities and weird stuff. If you want to hear about the oddest thing I saw, feel free to ask. ?http://www.adobedeli.com

  113. 113.

    arrieve

    January 18, 2019 at 12:04 pm

    @danielx: I am so sorry for what you’re going through. My best friend died far too young and I still miss her constantly. One of the side effects of living to middle age and beyond is having to learn to weather all kinds of loss, but there’s nothing quite as hard as losing the person to whom you could tell anything.

  114. 114.

    Betty Cracker

    January 18, 2019 at 12:05 pm

    @debbie: I would encourage you to read the article linked in the OP if you’re at all interested. It’s long but detailed and well documented. The original founder of the march, a woman who lives in Hawaii who came up with the idea of a march on DC on the Pantsuit Nation FB page after the election, has called on the current leaders to resign. Pretty sure she’s not a Republican operative. I don’t doubt Republicans are capitalizing on the controversy, but the ties to the misogynist, anti-Semitic Nation of Islam are legitimately disturbing, IMO.

  115. 115.

    debbie

    January 18, 2019 at 12:05 pm

    @danielx:

    I am so sorry.

  116. 116.

    Doug R

    January 18, 2019 at 12:06 pm

    @Quinerly:

    read the COS statement. He referenced commercial plans shelved b/c of WH leak. Her COS is pretty clear. I listened to Larry O last night, too. Maybe the delegation was going to fly commercial without Nancy?

    I would think commercial would be fairly safe to Europe-once they’re in Europe, couldn’t they fly to Afghanistan in a NATO plane flown by say Canada? Wouldn’t be the first time Canada held things together in Afghanistan while Americans were busy elsewhere.

  117. 117.

    rikyrah

    January 18, 2019 at 12:06 pm

    About the wall

    Something the Democrats have brought up, though they should bring it up more. They (the Democrats) asked for actual plans from the White House and GOP…AND GOT NOTHING.

    They just want 5 billion…JUST CAUSE…with no explanation as to HOW it will be spent.

    The GOP had control of everything for 2 phucking years, and couldn’t throw on Nancy Pelosi’s desk —THE PLAN for the wall. They didn’t even assign it to a phucking intern – a bullshyt plan and outline for THE WALL.

  118. 118.

    Matt McIrvin

    January 18, 2019 at 12:07 pm

    @dww44:

    “Alexandra Octavio-Cortez”

    Her friends call her Alex. Her enemies… call her Doctor Octopus.

  119. 119.

    JMG

    January 18, 2019 at 12:07 pm

    The prayer rug thing originated as a scene in one of the Sicario movies, I think “Sicario: Son of Soldado.” It’s an example of people being unable to distinguish fiction from reality. Too bad one of them is President.

  120. 120.

    rikyrah

    January 18, 2019 at 12:08 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I hope that tugging at the Deutsche Bank threads will ultimately expose that whole sketchy business with Justice Kennedy’s abrupt retirement from the SCOTUS last summer, his DB son who loaned Trump something like $10 million when no other bank would lend him a dime, and pushing through Kavanaugh to replace him on the bench. It still reeks, all these months later, and I hope Chairman Waters is able to shed some light on this murky situation.

    I thought it was more along the lines of several hundred million to Dolt45…but, I, too, would like further investigation on this matter.

  121. 121.

    Immanentize

    January 18, 2019 at 12:08 pm

    @Ruckus: I am not a big fan of Judges (or prosecutors) doing that after trial, but it suggests that everyone really is guilty and evidence is being hidden. I hope you convicted before the Judge talked to you…. Because otherwise, it’s just a way to suggest that defendants cheat, which is usually the opposite of who really gets to cheat. Ugh, I could say so much about this — but I gotta go to class!

  122. 122.

    debbie

    January 18, 2019 at 12:08 pm

    @Immanentize:

    Exactly!

  123. 123.

    Betty Cracker

    January 18, 2019 at 12:08 pm

    @Albatrossity: Yep — the bird in the still photo is a cormorant. Sorry if that wasn’t clear in the preceding paragraph.

  124. 124.

    Frankensteinbeck

    January 18, 2019 at 12:09 pm

    @Doug R:
    Speaker of the House, especially Nancy Pelosi, is a giant terrorism target. She doesn’t have to be anywhere near a war zone. If terrorists of any stripe know when and what plane she’s going to be on ahead of time, they are uncomfortably likely to try something.

  125. 125.

    Ohio Mom

    January 18, 2019 at 12:13 pm

    @danielx: So sorry. I always think sudden deaths are the hardest to deal with.

    I hope your memories of the wonderful times you had together are a comfort, eventually, after the shock wears off.

    Take good care of yourself.

  126. 126.

    Betty Cracker

    January 18, 2019 at 12:14 pm

    @West of the Rockies: My sister, daughter and I went to the original Women’s March in Washington, DC. It gave us hope when we really needed it.

  127. 127.

    debbie

    January 18, 2019 at 12:15 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Okay, this bothers me:

    It was there that, as the women were opening up about their backgrounds and personal investments in creating a resistance movement to Trump, Perez and Mallory allegedly first asserted that Jewish people bore a special collective responsibility as exploiters of black and brown people—and even, according to a close secondhand source, claimed that Jews were proven to have been leaders of the American slave trade.

    But I don’t think it’s any less reprehensible than the claim that even the slightest criticism of Israel (or its leaders) is proof positive of anti-Semitism.

    Both are wrong.

  128. 128.

    The Moar You Know

    January 18, 2019 at 12:17 pm

    The stuff about prayer rugs is obviously false. Muslims are very rare in Latin America. One devout enough to bring his prayer rug along on the caravan — now there’s a word with a Middle Eastern association — is not going to throw it away en route absent some emergency. But is it a lie (Trump made it up to deceive the credulous and bigoted) or bullshit (he’s indifferent to whether it’s true or false)? The question may seem triial, but I am curious about Trump’s mental state.

    @Amir Khalid: I live about 30 miles from the border. I’ve been hearing this “abandoned prayer rugs from Muslims” trope – the two pics I’ve seen so far have been a soccer jersey and a typical Mexican blanket – since before 9/11. The GOP and especially FOX have been trying to make this a “thing” for over 20 years. Maybe Trump will finally make it a thing.

    Outside of some very nice, liberal parts of Mexico City, a Muslim that was not hiding their identity would be in serious, serious jeopardy from anyone they met.

  129. 129.

    Ruff the dog

    January 18, 2019 at 12:20 pm

    Anyone else get an ad next to this post showing a fine assortment of rugs?

  130. 130.

    Anotherlurker

    January 18, 2019 at 12:23 pm

    @danielx: I am so sorry that you have lost your lifelong friend. Remember the reasons why your friendship flourished the way it did. Remember the times that brought you closer. Remember the youthful antics you and he engaged in. Cry or smile, or both, at these memories.
    As someone who, on 2 occasions, contemplated the same course as your friend, I have some insight on his decision. Said decision is complicated and tailored to the individual’s perception and needs.
    Time is your friend in this healing process. Let the smiles and the tears run their course during this process.
    Be happy that he was your friend.

  131. 131.

    trollhattan

    January 18, 2019 at 12:24 pm

    We like snow. Wednesday, the CA snowpack was 90% of average for the date. Not bad. Today it’s 113%. Good!

  132. 132.

    Quinerly

    January 18, 2019 at 12:25 pm

    They are like a bunch of dumb, petty frat boys trying to put a smart girl who wouldn’t date them “in her place.”
    “White House officials – including Mick Mulvaney, the acting chief of staff – had been irked by Ms. Pelosi’s invocation of security concerns as her premise for urging Mr. Trump to move his speech, and sought to put her in her place after she had emphasized that she represented a coequal branch in governing, according to aides who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.

    Depriving Ms. Pelosi of an aircraft was the easiest way to remind her, they said. So Mr. Trump made a play for dominance and one-upmanship…. White House aides were tickled by the move, even as some acknowledged that Republican House members might fear for their own trips going forward.”
    http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trump-white-house-reportedly-sought-put-pelosi-her-place?cid=sm_npd_ms_tw_ma

  133. 133.

    Josie

    January 18, 2019 at 12:26 pm

    @Immanentize:

    This is very true. At one time we owned a small piece of ranch property in Duval County in South Texas. We were told not to bother to lock the mobile home we put on the property and to leave jugs of water and some canned goods on the counters. We never saw any migrants, but the water and canned goods were used, and they even cleaned up after themselves.

  134. 134.

    WaterGirl

    January 18, 2019 at 12:26 pm

    @Quinerly:

    “This morning, we learned that the Administration had leaked the commercial travel plans as well.”

    Un-fucking-believable. He is (figuratively) standing on 5th avenue, committing impeachable offenses, and daring anyone to do anything about it.

    oh my god

  135. 135.

    trollhattan

    January 18, 2019 at 12:26 pm

    @Ruff the dog:
    Heh! The only thing that could be more perfecter is if it were Michael Cohen’s rugs, for sale to pay for his legal defense team.

  136. 136.

    Quinerly

    January 18, 2019 at 12:26 pm

    @Ruff the dog: yep. That esalerug site. Very good looking rugs. Always on sale. I may get distracted. ?

  137. 137.

    opiejeanne

    January 18, 2019 at 12:27 pm

    @WereBear: We were snowed in for a week once, and the toilet paper ran low because it was the one thing we didn’t pick up at the grocery store. We had advance warning of the snowstorm and picked up fresh fruit and vegetables that evening on the way home from Seattle. It was snowing already but it wasn’t a heavy snow yet and the parking lot was mostly empty. We were pretty smug about our shopping trip until we realized near the end of the week that we were down to one roll. We slithered our car down our driveway and crept down our hill in the tracks of the only other vehicle to brave the ice and snow all week, that morning. We didn’t have our roads plowed until near the end of that last day because all of our county’s snowplows were busy all week in Seattle.

  138. 138.

    trollhattan

    January 18, 2019 at 12:28 pm

    @WaterGirl:
    It was described on the radio as “travel information leaked by several members of the White House staff.” I don’t know how that is not felonious.

  139. 139.

    Brachiator

    January 18, 2019 at 12:29 pm

    Trump is on Twitter fomenting anti-immigrant hatred. Maybe he’s trying to change the subject from the revelation that he committed a felony by directing an underling to lie to Congress, or maybe he’s trying to distract the media from the snowballing effects of the Trump shutdown. Or both. Maybe neither.

    I don’t think that this distraction thing works, especially for Trump. Also, he is weirdly tactical, but not cagey. His Tweet fits seem to come from his inner rage.

    He’s claiming that ranchers are finding “prayer rugs” on the border — likely he’s narrating some Fox News reportage

    There is something seriously, seriously, seriously wrong with Trump.

    .

  140. 140.

    Frankensteinbeck

    January 18, 2019 at 12:29 pm

    @different-church-lady:

    Trump doesn’t talk to his base, he listens to his base and then regurgitates the crazy-ass shit he hears.

    I’ve been saying this since before day one. It’s not just Trump. Republican propaganda is bottom up more than it’s top down. Hell, that’s why it’s so vulnerable to Russian interference. Fox gets most of its talking points from batshit right wing radio. Right wing radio gets it from the ‘I heard’ racist rants that Your Racist Uncle passes around. And more and more, Republican officials are people who came out of this fever swamp. They are their base. Hell, McConnell is the base, he’s just the smarter section that knows how to make a blame-the-victim rant based on lies sound rational. He’s still carrying on the fine tradition of corrupt, racist assholes elected by corrupt, racist assholes.

  141. 141.

    Steve in the ATL

    January 18, 2019 at 12:30 pm

    @Kay:

    The only people who will benefit from this wall are lawyers.

    Apropos of nothing, I am suddenly strongly in favor of the wall

  142. 142.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 18, 2019 at 12:30 pm

    @rikyrah:

    You’re probably right about the size of the loan.

  143. 143.

    West of the Rockies

    January 18, 2019 at 12:31 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    I would have LOVED to be at the original DC march! It looked super inspiring (regardless of any internal management strife).

  144. 144.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 18, 2019 at 12:35 pm

    @Brachiator:

    There is something seriously, seriously, seriously wrong with Trump.

    Yes. Seriously pathological.

  145. 145.

    eemom

    January 18, 2019 at 12:36 pm

    @debbie:

    But I don’t think it’s any less reprehensible than the claim that even the slightest criticism of Israel (or its leaders) is proof positive of anti-Semitism.

    God, I am so tired of that straw man. Yeah, sure, right wingers who everybody knows are assholes anyway might “claim” that. And of course there is plenty to criticize about Israel, especially its current government and the scumbag who leads it.

    But there is a whole shit ton of so called “criticism of Israel” on the left that does cross the line into antiSemitism. Nobody who’s paid attention to what’s been going on in the UK, France, other parts of Europe, and here in the good old USA the last few years can honestly deny that.

  146. 146.

    WaterGirl

    January 18, 2019 at 12:37 pm

    @trollhattan: I am so angry that I am nearly speechless. It’s all so wrong, and the institutions with power simply shrug.

  147. 147.

    Paul T

    January 18, 2019 at 12:38 pm

    On Sunday night there is a total lunar eclipse. Check your local listings for showtimes. (Goes from around 7 ish to 11ish here in the west.)

    I will also go out and Spot the Station. The brighter space station passes are easy to see and this NASA page gives you a quick primer on how to see it. Amaze your friends by showing them people in space flying over their heads.

    https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/sightings/view.cfm?city=Los_Angeles&country=United_States&region=California

  148. 148.

    Brachiator

    January 18, 2019 at 12:40 pm

    @Quinerly:

    Depriving Ms. Pelosi of an aircraft was the easiest way to remind her, they said. So Mr. Trump made a play for dominance and one-upmanship…. White House aides were tickled by the move, even as some acknowledged that Republican House members might fear for their own trips going forward.”

    One of the creepiest aspects about this whole thing was Trump’s saying that Pelosi should stay in Washington until the shutdown was resolved.

  149. 149.

    opiejeanne

    January 18, 2019 at 12:40 pm

    @Ruff the dog: Yes, but that rug ad has been there for me for about a week now.

  150. 150.

    eemom

    January 18, 2019 at 12:42 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    I am so angry that I am nearly speechless. It’s all so wrong, and the institutions with power simply shrug.

    How about the trending headline that Dump “directed” Cohen to lie to Congress?

    I agree with you. It’s fucking surreal.

  151. 151.

    WereBear

    January 18, 2019 at 12:42 pm

    @danielx: It’s never easy to lose a friend, but this sounds particularly tough. My condolences.

  152. 152.

    Citizen Scientist

    January 18, 2019 at 12:45 pm

    @danielx: My condolences and empathy go to you dx. Best of luck getting through this.

  153. 153.

    CarolDuhart2

    January 18, 2019 at 12:47 pm

    I have a term for this whole wall mess, borrowed from tech. Vaporware. There is not even a paper to throw at anyone. Nothing. No blueprints, no proposal, no models. There isn’t even a website to track progress, nothing. Even time-share people have pictures of what they want you to buy into, models on the table, something. These mooks can’t even put up drawings. Needless to say, that’s another reason they can’t get to yes on any of this. There’s nothing to say yes to.

  154. 154.

    WaterGirl

    January 18, 2019 at 12:51 pm

    @danielx: I am moved to tears by your description of your friend. The loss of your friendship is an enormous one, and I am so sorry.

    No one should have to endure living in agony with no treatment and no end in sight, so I can’t fault your friend for his choice, and I’m sure you can’t either. Perhaps the idea of having what he would know to be your final conversation together was too much for him to bear. Perhaps he feared that he would lose what he had determined was his only acceptable option if he shared his decision and his ahead of time. Or perhaps he wanted to save those he loved from feeling like they were responsible if he shared his plans and you were unable to stop him. Or perhaps the abstract discussion of that option was him telling you in the only way he could handle.

    The only thing I am sure of after reading about your friend is that he was not a selfish person, and he surely tried to do what he felt he must in a way that would cause the least amount of pain to those he loved. I am so very sorry about the loss of your dear friend.

  155. 155.

    WaterGirl

    January 18, 2019 at 12:54 pm

    @eemom:Sometimes at night I can hardly believe that what we are living through can really be happening. It truly is surreal.

  156. 156.

    WaterGirl

    January 18, 2019 at 12:56 pm

    @CarolDuhart2: Vaporware is perfect.

  157. 157.

    H.E.Wolf

    January 18, 2019 at 12:57 pm

    @scuffletuffle:

    I will be at the Northampton MA march. Have gone every year and will continue to do so. My feeling is that we need to continue to demonstrate non-support of the Trump agenda as often and as visibly as possible. YMMV.

    In my opinion, this is a strong point in favor of attending a local march. Thank you for stating it so cogently.

    Our household is planning to attend the Women’s March tomorrow and the Martin Luther King, Jr., Day March on Monday, in solidarity with our neighbors here and throughout the country.

    As in 2017: if you can’t march, send your name, and we’ll carry it with us.

  158. 158.

    debbie

    January 18, 2019 at 1:00 pm

    @eemom:

    I know anti-Semitism from personal experience. That is not what I am talking about. What I am talking about is this:

    S 1, the very first bill the new US Senate considered in 2019, had nothing to do with ending the partial shutdown and reopening the government. It was instead a grab bag of different proposals related to the Middle East, and a controversial one at that. Most of the debate centered on Title 4 of the bill, a provision that would give states a legal blessing to punish companies that choose not to do business with Israel or Israeli-owned enterprises, a key demand of the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

    Twenty-six states have adopted laws that punish companies that choose to boycott Israel.

    The very first bill out of the GOP-run Senate. Twenty-six states.

  159. 159.

    Brachiator

    January 18, 2019 at 1:00 pm

    @danielx: I can only say that I am sorry for your loss. But I was really moved by the way you described your friend, and hope that your kindness and affection can help sustain you and his family and friends.

  160. 160.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    January 18, 2019 at 1:00 pm

    @danielx: I’m so sorry. What a tragedy.

  161. 161.

    Sherparick

    January 18, 2019 at 1:01 pm

    By the way, if you want read something besides Trump that will leave you spitting mad and wanting to set up Madame Guillotine on Wall Street, read this account of the Sackler and how Opiod crisis became one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Read Pradden Keefe’s twitter feed on the on recently filed court case in Massachusetts.

    https://twitter.com/praddenkeefe/status/1085959572886560768

  162. 162.

    Peale

    January 18, 2019 at 1:07 pm

    @Quinerly: So in the Obama administration, we had all of these bad things happening at the border that government officials couldn’t report on because Obama was a whimpy, politically correct spoony who put gag orders on those border patrol agents and didn’t respect their union. So who’s the PC spoony in the Trump admin? Is the union gagging itself?

  163. 163.

    Albatrossity

    January 18, 2019 at 1:10 pm

    @Betty Cracker: Ooops! Yes, it is perfectly clear! I just need to put on my reading glasses before I comment here next time!

  164. 164.

    Ruckus

    January 18, 2019 at 1:12 pm

    @rikyrah:
    As we all know, there is no “wall.” Wall is code for drumpf’s massive ego. He wants 5 billion so he’ll for the first time in his life actually have 5 billion. Or at least he’ll think he has 5 billion. He has no concept of what he is or where he’s at as in with any relation to reality. He thinks he’s king of the world and he wants someone to pay him for being that. He thinks that if he gets his 5 billion, it will actually be his, to do with as he pleases. It would’t amaze me at all to find out that he’s at least 4 billion in debt to, well everyone. And that he thinks if he can get this 5 billion, he’ll actually have some cash and not owe anyone anything.
    I’d say never give much credit to drumpf’s motives, because he sure only has one motive, enrich himself. And he’s as bad at that as everything else he’s ever tried.

  165. 165.

    Ruckus

    January 18, 2019 at 1:20 pm

    @Immanentize:
    It was after everything else was done. We didn’t actually get to see the other evidence but some of the jurors had questions and the judge was doing the normal thanks for your service thing.
    I thought the all the court officers including the defendant’s lawyer’s did a good job. What they were trying to do was to keep any potential jurors from having a meltdown over what this guy had actually done. Which they accomplished in good fashion. The defense was really trying to minimize the damage, outright acquittal was not in the cards and he knew it.

  166. 166.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    January 18, 2019 at 1:26 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    Late to the thread, but I don’t think anyone has covered this. Trump did not make up the “prayer rugs” thing per se. He took it from an article Wednesday in the Washington Examiner that was pretty thoroughly debunked even before Trump mentioned it this morning.

    More from Erik Wemple of the Post today.

  167. 167.

    Immannetize

    January 18, 2019 at 1:29 pm

    @Ruckus: That is a reasonable way to do stuff. But too many times, I have seen prosecutors talk to jurors after an acquittal with the “If you knew the whole tale, you would have convicted” and then tell jurors about suppressed evidence, hearsay, prior convictions that had nothing to do with the case, etc. just to try to excuse their bad prosecution. And, taint the jurors forevermore.

  168. 168.

    Ruckus

    January 18, 2019 at 1:39 pm

    @Brachiator:

    There is something seriously, seriously, seriously wrong with Trump.

    More than something, there are a lot of things wrong with him. First is where he is and what he can do. Second is what he has already done. Third is that he’s still there doing more damage by the second. Those are the public things, the personal things are piled high and getting higher by the second as well.

  169. 169.

    J R in WV

    January 18, 2019 at 1:58 pm

    @danielx:

    I’m sorry for your loss, and want to thank you for sharing it with us. Shared loss is always a lighter load than one you try to carry alone.

  170. 170.

    Aleta

    January 18, 2019 at 2:58 pm

    @danielx: Much sympathy to you.

  171. 171.

    NY Robbin

    January 18, 2019 at 3:24 pm

    @danielx:

    I’m so sorry!

  172. 172.

    dww44

    January 18, 2019 at 3:41 pm

    @debbie: I said the same thing up thread, but you said it better.

  173. 173.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    January 18, 2019 at 5:56 pm

    @danielx: My heart breaks for you. I found out Wednesday that I lost an old friend to suicide. Like many he hid his depression well at work but when the day came that he was too exhausted by it all, he died. I wish I’d found out in time to offer condolences to his widow, whom I knew less well, but I wish I could have told her how much I cared for him too.

    I’m so sorry.

  174. 174.

    Debbie(Aussie)

    January 19, 2019 at 1:01 am

    @danielx:
    Daniel, I am so very sorry. I am having trouble finding the words to express the fact that your friend no longer being in pain, has left you (and many others, I’m sure his being a SJW) in pain, so please excuse my clumsiness. Know that you and your friend are in my thoughts. Treat yourself kindly.

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