Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

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

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Consistently wrong since 2002

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

Bark louder, little dog.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

“Squeaker” McCarthy

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

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

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

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

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Open Thread: Shadenfreude Silver Lining

Open Thread: Shadenfreude Silver Lining

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At least the Oval Office Squatter is almost as miserable as the rest of us now…

Reader Interactions

228Comments

  1. 1.

    Boudica

    The Dems are trying to win an election in 2020 that they know they cannot legitimately win!

    Always projection!

  5. 5.

    WaterGirl

    @Boudica: This is a democracy and the current President seems to be saying that the opposing party cannot legitimately win the election.

    Think about that for a minute.

    Anyone who thinks there isn’t enough to impeach Trump is not paying attention. I’m not saying that now is there time to actually impeach him, but there is plenty of justification.

  6. 6.

    FlipYrWhig

    REPUBLICANS DEFINITELY NEVER AGGRESSIVELY QUESTIONED CABINET OFFICIALS! AND SUPER DEFINITELY NOT ABOUT BENGHAZI!

  7. 7.

    jacy

    I was thinking how much pale, bald Trump looks like Dick Cheney.

    (As an aside, I attended the University of Wyoming when Dick Cheney was a Wyoming senator, so I met him personally on four occasions. He gave off the vibe of the creepy uncle you wouldn’t leave your kids alone with. He skulked everywhere he went. The only other person I have met personally who is more evil than Dick Cheney is my ex-mother-in-law. Which tells you something about my ex-mother-in-law. And you thought Eva Braun died in the bunker!)

  9. 9.

    Yarrow

    Question for the hive mind: could plug in air fresheners cause allergy problems for people or pets? Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing?

  10. 10.

    dmsilev

    @FlipYrWhig: Hush, you. That was a totally legitimate investigation of an out-of-control Cabinet Secretary, totally different from the totally partisan and totally bogus total witch hunt that the Democrats are undertaking.

    Totally.

  11. 11.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Yikes! I admit I’ve tried to imagine what trump would look like without that thing on his head. I’m trying to figure out who he looks like. Mikhail Gorbachev on Boris Yeltsin’s diet? A wax deathmask of Sidney Greenstreet?

  12. 12.

    Jager

    @jacy:

    A college friend of mine lived in Wyoming. I went to an event with him and met, then congressman Chaney. He was drunk on his ass. So drunk he’d move his lips and the words came out on delay. The event was in Cheyenne and he drove home to where ever the he’ll he lived.

  13. 13.

    Mnemosyne

    @Yarrow:

    They can trigger my asthma, so I can’t use them. (Well, we use a Feliway diffuser, but that’s more to keep Charlotte mellow so she doesn’t try to rip the other cats’ faces off.)

  14. 14.

    Gravenstone

    @Yarrow: Absolutely. The fragrance compounds themselves or the carriers used to aerosolize them can affect sensitive individuals. You can try different fragrances or brands to see if that helps. Or just ditch them entirely for a period to see if symptoms ease or disappear.

  16. 16.

    jacy

    @Jager:

    In those days you could probably drive from end of Wyoming to another drunk off your ass and not have a problem. Unless you hit a cow.

  17. 17.

    Baud

    The Democrats in Congress yesterday were vicious

    Yes! Keep it up, Dems!

    and totally showed their cards for everyone to see.

    Yes they did. Truth, justice, and the American (not Russian) way.

    When the Republicans had the Majority they never acted with such hatred and scorn!

    True. Republican hatred and scorn is directed at good people. Not like what the Dems are doing at all.

    The Dems are trying to win an election in 2020 that they know they cannot legitimately win!

    Whatever it takes to save our country.

  18. 18.

    Jerzy Russian

    Does anyone else have a cat who can purr and eat at the same time? By boy purrs very loudly, and apparently his purr muscle is not connected to his eating muscle, thereby allowing independent operation.

  20. 20.

    Yarrow

    @Mnemosyne: @Gravenstone: Thanks. I can’t stand them but my neighbor uses them. The scent lingers on my clothes and skin. Yuck.

    Was curious because neighbor’s dog has itchy skin issues. I’ve wondered if the plug in fragrance could be a culprit.

  22. 22.

    dmsilev

    @Baud: (looks at scrambled blockquotes) As Nietzsche probably would have said, if Baud gazes long enough into the Trump, the Trump will gaze back into Baud.

  23. 23.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Spanky: Definitely something around the eyes….

    I hope that picture is getting retweeted everywhere. I want him to see it, and to know that other people are seeing it, and laughing at him.
    ETA: Also the shopped-photo makes it look like he’s wearing lipstick in the original

  24. 24.

    Jerzy Russian

    @jacy:

    The noise goes something like this: purrr, crunch, crunch, chomp, purr, purrrrrrr, crunch, purr,….. (he eats only dry food).

  25. 25.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I think he actually looks slightly better in the second pic, with natural skin tone and no ferret-hair. (And he looks god-awful in the pic with natural skin tone and no ferret-hair.)

    It’s the paranoid, cagey, suspicious eyes and the droopy, grim, angry mouth. He just always comes across as the hateful black-hearted person he is, no matter how much Photoshopping is employed.

  30. 30.

    Adam L Silverman

    @WaterGirl: That’s not what he’s saying. He’s starting to set the psycho-social hooks to delegitimize any outcome where he isn’t reelected and/or he’s reelected, but the GOP loses the Senate and the Dems retain the House.

  35. 35.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Yarrow: DVR is already set. I’ve got the second half of Ireland V Scotland to watch, as well as the Wales V Italy match that I recorded today. The first half from Murrayfields was wild! No spoilers for the second please!

  39. 39.

    eemom

    The Democrats in Congress yesterday were vicious and totally showed their cards for everyone to see. When the Republicans had the Majority they never acted with such hatred and scorn!

    Poor irony. Its broken battered corpse has been mummified so long nobody even thinks to mention it anymore.

  40. 40.

    Yarrow

    @Adam L Silverman: Finished Ireland v Scotland but haven’t had time to watch Italy v Wales.

    Edit: I’m always watching them late because of timing and life events so I prefer no spoilers as well.

  41. 41.

    Bill Arnold

    This just sunk in: various people have been pointing out [1] that it is quite plausible and possible that POTUS Donald J. Trump greenlighted[2] the murder of an employee of Jeff Bezos. (Jamal Khashoggi.)

    [1] Not seen in exactly these words though Robert Harrington at palmerreport came close.
    [2] To the extent that he was able; not sure what control he has over MBS (as opposed to vv).

  42. 42.

    Mnemosyne

    @Jerzy Russian:

    It’s very common. Kittens often purr while they nurse, so it starts very young.

    We once fostered a kitten who would meow/howl/growl when she ate. That was a little weird.

  48. 48.

    NotMax

    @Adam L. Silverman

    Not something I ask lightly – what are the chances of you dropping the banhammer on perpetual money scammer jurrasicpork, who has once again repeatedly polluted the place over the last few days?

    See TaMara’s thread two steps downstairs, for example.

  52. 52.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    When the Republicans had the Majority they never acted with such hatred and scorn!

    Yes, 53 Benghazi hearings and around 70 votes to end ACA are the acts of true Christian love. //

  53. 53.

    Jerzy Russian

    @Mnemosyne:

    His sister doesn’t seem to purr when she eats. These are the first cats I have had in about 40 years, so I was wondering if he had some sort of super power, or if it was common in cat culture to be noisy while eating.

  54. 54.

    germy

    Our cat never purred while eating until we decided to treat her every few weeks with broiled chicken.

    We buy chicken breast when it’s on sale, cook it and then run it through a food processor. She purrs while she eats that.

    She likes her canned commercial cat food, but only purrs for her special treat.

  63. 63.

    Jerzy Russian

    @Chetan Murthy:

    Thanks for the link. Now that you mention it, he does purr when inhaling and exhaling. When he was a kitten it was loud and it sounded like he had something loose inside. Now that he is a big boy the purrs are not quite so loud, but still impressive.

  64. 64.

    Aleta

    @Bill Arnold: The WH announced Jared is going to the Mideast
    in Feb. to present the ‘economic portion of his
    ✨Peace ✨Plan✨.’ (But he’s skipping Israel and the Palestinian territories.)

    (The Hill and Politico)
    [Kushner] will for the first time share significant details of the economic portion of the Trump administration’s Middle East peace plan, whose development he has spent nearly two years overseeing.

    “Jared is going to present the economic plan to the region. The economic plan only works if the region supports it,” a senior administration official said Tuesday. “We understand that if the political aspect of it is not solid, the economic aspect is meaningless. But at the same time the political aspect will not succeed without a proper economic plan.”

    The White House is preparing to release a finalized plan for a negotiated solution between Israel and the Palestinians in the coming months, administration officials said. …

    The economic portion of the plan includes a package of public and private-sector investments in all sectors of the Palestinian economy.

    Kushner will travel to Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates beginning later this month. He will be accompanied by Middle East emissary Jason Greenblatt, Special Representative for Iran, Brian Hook, and Deputy Assistant to the President Avi Berkowitz.

    The administration is working to add two additional stops to the trip, but the itinerary will not include Israel or the Palestinian territories, officials said.

  65. 65.

    debit

    @germy: When Dani was a kitten she would growl meow while eating, warning off anyone who might even think about taking her food. It was pretty hysterical, especially when she weighed all of maybe one pound.

  66. 66.

    germy

    @debit: They’re such mysterious little creatures.

    Our cat walks into the room, stares at me, gives me a slow blink, and then continues on her way to a chair. She’s obsessive about observing a schedule. Always wants to do the same thing at the same time every day.

  67. 67.

    The Moar You Know

    Not something I ask lightly – what are the chances of you dropping the banhammer on perpetual money scammer jurrasicpork, who has once again repeatedly polluted the place over the last few days?

    @NotMax: I will co-sign that request. His record as a money scammer is well known to most of the regulars and I’d hate to think that anyone would give their own hard-earned money to someone who despises both this community and the help they’ve received from it over the years. He’s been long overdue for a permanent ban.

  68. 68.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @NotMax:

    Has JP ever once shown up as a commenter simply to share his thoughts? AFAICR, he has only ever stopped by to talk about how dire his straits are and beg for contributions. I have donated to other BJ jackals who have fallen on hard times (or if not in a position to donate, I’ve at least commiserated — having been there), but I always feel I know them a little bit. I don’t know JP at all apart from his periodic begathons. Feel kind of churlish for brushing him off, but if he wants to solicit potential donors he should at least make a tiny effort to engage.

  74. 74.

    Yarrow

    @Aleta: Yeah, I did too but I didn’t find a whole lot about skin problems unless the pets get it on them directly. My neighbor’s dog has itchy skin issues and the vet has suggested things like olive oil and also has prescribed something that works but is kind of expensive. When I go over there the air freshener smell is overpowering so it has occurred to me it could be causing the poor pupster some issues. I wondered if any Juicers had any experiences with it since there are a lot of pet owners here.

  76. 76.

    NotMax

    @Jay

    Each time I see the term AOC I do a double take, as that is the brand of my still nearly new (Xmas present!) second monitor, used primarily for gaming. A monitor which, BTW, I like heaps, both for looks and for performance. Not that the older workhorse Samsung is deficient, just that the AOC is … nicer.

    N.B.: Notice that Walmart sells AOCs. As with anything electronic would be wary as it is not unknown for various brands of electronic products, although they might bear the same brand name, to be designed or built with lesser quality parts (and carry a slightly different model number) specifically for Walmart in order to be sold at a lesser price point.

  78. 78.

    Yarrow

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yes on rare occasion. Usually after he’s told he does nothing but ask for money. Only a few comments, though. Almost always it’s drive-by “give me money or I’ll be living in a van down by the river” comments.

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    @Yarrow: I’m going with “yes” because I am allergic to a lot of scents and I really cannot handle the plug-in air fresheners my sister uses.

  80. 80.

    Bill Arnold

    @germy:

    I’m skeptical of anything I see in the Palmer Report, but that’s just me.

    It’s pretty clearly labeled as speculative (“analysis”). My concern is that it’s plausible, way more than e.g. “Killary ordered Vincent Foster Killed to cover up an affair with Markie Post” (That’s a mashup of a few heterosexual H&B Clinton “rumors”. I think.)
    One of the reasons I loath DJT is that he deliberately makes such thoughts plausible, e.g. by being buddy-buddy with murderous dictators.
    (I enjoy the site; it’s a quick way to catch up on the Trump-related twitterverse, and occasionally they (Bill Palmer notably) spot stuff earlier than others, sometimes way earlier.)

  84. 84.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I seem to recall JP used to post non-begging comments at Eschaton, but that’s going back over a decade

  88. 88.

    Raven

    @Yarrow: Yea just for the hell of it. Arron Murray is the QB for the Atlanta team so there is that. No kickoffs or onside kicks so they are getting our ahead of where the NFL is going to go. They have high visibility coaches and some players and NFL backing so what the hell. If it annoys BJ peeps it’s good by me.

  93. 93.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jay: She did a good job there. Her staff, which she brought from the Justice Dems, and specifically her chief of staff, should be fired. There’s a difference between being a purer than though activist and being on a congressional staff, including running one as chief of staff. These folks aren’t ready for primetime and they’re going to get her into serious trouble.

  96. 96.

    NotMax

    @Siubhan Duinne

    In addition to the begging bowl he used to be a prolific commenter on Aravosis’ AMERICAblog way, way back when that first began (and before it went weird). Originally under a different nym, which I have no reason to remember (so don’t) and later under the current jp moniker.. Vaguely recall one or two non-begging posts from him here in the distant past (probably right at election time), which I interpreted as a way to try to earn cred so people would more readily fall for his shtick.

    It’s also not that he is specifically targeting B-J either. The exact same begging posts show up across a number of blogs, at roughly the same time, so he must be using some sort of bot or automated posting aid.

  98. 98.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Bill Arnold: It wouldn’t be control. Rather it would be “we don’t care what you do to and/or with your citizens and within your borders”.

  104. 104.

    Ella in New Mexico

    Yes, Trump Voters Will Stick With Him Forever

    The ’80s aren’t coming back; the era of white male cultural hegemony is only at 97 percent instead of 100 percent, and there’s no way to change it. Trump voters know this. They know that manufacturing jobs that pay a living wage aren’t coming back. They know that a wall is impractical. They know that terrorism is impossible to stop. When you know the inevitable is coming, when you know that you have to face change or become irrelevant, you either change or you kick and scream and drag every tablecloth and curtain in a temper tantrum on your way out.

    Donald Trump is that temper tantrum.

  105. 105.

    Suzanne

    @Yarrow: Mr. Suzanne finds himself very bothered by air fresheners, candles, or wax warmers. But he is OK with the essential oil diffuser. I just find myself having to turn off the diffuser when we eat, otherwise everything tastes like what oil I’m diffusing. The pets haven’t had any problems with the diffuser, AFAICT.

    I have weird trouble with scented skincare products and have been making my own. Even Burt’s Bees lip balm made my lips go numb.

  106. 106.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @WaterGirl:

    My bad for not following up promptly. My phone has been acting wonky and dies on me at inconvenient moments, so I tend to hold off on making calls that might end up lengthy! But I’ll ask the question when I call him tomorrow afternoon and report back.

  107. 107.

    Raven

    @Steve in the ATL: No but Deal made an administrative error when he appointed 64 people and they are void. Kemp is going to dump Don Leeburn from the BOR and that is quite a big deal.

  108. 108.

    Yarrow

    @Adam L Silverman: Thanks.

    @SiubhanDuinne: Has there been any movement on the ideas about getting him a laptop or tablet so he can comment more easily? People here really wanted to help him get something like that. Maybe you could ask if that might work given his current situation? We are missing his fuckems.

  111. 111.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Aleta: They administration just shut off all aid going from the US to the Gaza Strip. Which will only make things worse. I guarantee that the economic plan involves the Saudis and the Emiratis giving the Palestinians a lot of money to give up their claims of a right to return and possibly to statehood and a threat that the Saudis, Emiratis, and everyone else will cut off aid if the Palestinians don’t.

  114. 114.

    Bill Arnold

    @Aleta:
    This is also interesting. (Perhaps it has been linked previously)
    Trump misses Senate deadline to report on Khashoggi killing – White House declined to meet a Friday deadline to report whether it believed Saudi’s MBS ordered Khashoggi’s murder. (09 Feb 2019)

    A bipartisan group of US Senators triggered the terms of the Global Magnitsky Act on October 10, 2018, which required the president to investigate and determine if a foreign person is responsible for Khashoggi’s death within 120 days. The White House had until Friday to submit their report.

  119. 119.

    NotMax

    @Adam L. Silverman

    Thanks muchly. Don’t quite grok why Mr. Cole is being so generous to someone who has abused the privilege so consistently, but it is his call.

    Also saves threads being cluttered with warning messages about him.

  120. 120.

    Michael Cain

    He even cheats at golf

    As Wodehouse’s Oldest Member says, you can tell everything important about a man’s character by watching him play golf.

  122. 122.

    Raven

    @Steve in the ATL: They who? Deal and Kemp or Deal and Leeburn? The skinny is that Leeburn (the wealthy liquor distributor) was in cahoots with Adams against Dooley and this is payback.

  123. 123.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @rikyrah: another bigly stable genius who clearly understands all the words he uses. Socialism means “big meanies”, I think.

    “The LGBTQ [sic] is a modern day version of the Ku Klux Klan,” Porterfield said, “without wearing hoods with their antics of hate.”
    The Republican’s comments came just days after he used the term “f*ggot” in House session and claimed that an anti-LGBT discrimination bill was “bigoted,” “discriminatory” and would somehow hurt gay people.
    “The LGBT is the most socialist group in this country,” he said during a House session Wednesday. “They do not protect gays. There are many gays they persecute if they do not line up with their social ideology.”

    He seems to be talking about that Milo person in that last paragraph.

  124. 124.

    Brachiator

    @Ella in New Mexico:

    Yes, Trump Voters Will Stick With Him Forever.

    This is old stuff from 2017. Trump’s hard core supporters will stay with him forever, but his base is shrinking, and can be peeled away.

    BTW, on Friday, a co-worker said that he reluctantly concluded that the Democrats needed an older white man to ensure a win in the swing states. I reminded him that a lot of supposed wise pundits didn’t think that Obama would win, until he did. Twice.

    The right wing is straining hard to keep selling Trump. But people are beginning to see through the con. And fortunately, Trump is too stupid and too arrogant to vary his game.

  126. 126.

    Brickley Paiste

    @rikyrah:

    The guy is blind.

    You could possibly take issue with his ignorance and bigotry without making fun of his disability. Maybe.

  128. 128.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    and while looking at Raw Story…

    During the “Overtime” segment of HBO’s Real Time, journalist Natasha Bertrand revealed that Don Trump Jr. is likely to be indicted any day now and that he is already telling his friends that it is coming.
    Asked by host Bill Maher who would be the first member of Donald Trump’s family to be indicted — Don Jr. or Jared Kushner — Bertrand said it wasn’t even close.
    “I think the Don Jr. is in more immediate jeopardy,” Bertrand began. “He has been telling his friends and associates that he expects to be indicted, and he’s been saying that for the last couple of months.”

    all still speculation of course, but Bertrand doesn’t strike me as a reckless attention-seeker

  135. 135.

    Brachiator

    @Aleta:

    The WH announced Jared is going to the Mideast in Feb

    I do not understand why Trump insists on using Young Jared, aka The Man with Sketchy Security Credentials, as a key advisor and roving ambassador.

    Even Young Jared’s work with the crime bill was more about McConnell’s political witchcraft than anything that Kushner did.

  136. 136.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I had to LOL today while listening to NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me. Stacey Abrams was the guest, and very funny and natural and self-deprecating she was, too.

    At one point, one of the panelists, Maz Jobrani, asked her “Have we ever met? ‘Cuz I went to drama camp with like three people named Stacey Abrams.” To which she replied, without missing a beat, “Yeah, probably. And didn’t you come to my Bat Mitzvah?”

  139. 139.

    Yarrow

    @WaterGirl: I don’t know since it’s not by dog but my neighbor is a very responsible pet owner and all the cats and dog get regular vet visits. I’d guess the vet has tested for thyroid but I’ll mention it to my neighbor.

  142. 142.

    ealbert

    @Yarrow: Yes, plug in air scents can most definitely affect people. I react to them and most perfumes/volatile cleaning chemicals by having my lungs hurt halfway down my chest. Not anaphylactic shock (at least not yet) but something I go out of my way to avoid.

  143. 143.

    The Midnight Lurker

    Just got home and I see the Twittler has stuck again! Project much, jackass?

    Going out to old ElPaso to rendezvous with Beto and hopefully the Trump blimp. Gotta get my picture taken with that bad boy!

  144. 144.

    Adam L Silverman

    @SiubhanDuinne: I saw her tweet about it. I can tell you exactly why and how her last name is Abrams. Her enslaved ancestors came through one of the Jewish owned plantations in Caribbean. My maternal grandmother’s people in Britain, where she was born, were Abramses.

  145. 145.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @germy: wasn’t that interesting?

    Matthew Miller @ matthewamiller
    More I think about it, the stranger this is. Pardons are typically handled by the DAG, and don’t go to the AG or his office at all. Really no reason he should be aware of pardon documents in the normal course.

    I think that’s Deputy Atty, Gen, that is our old pal Rosenstein. As I understand this, the discussion of the pardon is kept at a remove from the President’s direct political appointee? So either as acting AG or Sessions’ CoS, this buffoon shouldn’t have been involved

  146. 146.

    Adam L Silverman

    @NotMax: They’d still not be kosher. For meat to be kosher it has to come from animals that chew their cud (four stomachs) and have cloven hooves. Pigs do not chew cud, but they do have cloven hooves. If they were genetically engineered to no longer have cloven hooves they’d still be traife (non-kosher). The question will be if they can be genetically engineered to have four stomaches and therefore to chew their cud.

  149. 149.

    The Midnight Lurker

    And if Jurrasicporkproduct really wants to scam jackals, he should change his nym and post pictures of puppies and/or kittens.

    Or a freakin’ wombat. (shudders)

  153. 153.

    The Midnight Lurker

    @Adam L Silverman: OT Dr. Silverman, but do you have any thoughts on the French recalling their Italian ambassador after a Italian Deputy PM met with a couple of ‘yellow-vests’? Thanks!

  154. 154.

    Brachiator

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    had to LOL today while listening to NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me. Stacey Abrams was the guest, and very funny and natural and self-deprecating she was, too.

    I downloaded the episode but haven’t had a chance to give it a listen. Sounds fun. Thanks for the reminder.

  155. 155.

    Ella in New Mexico

    @Brachiator:

    The right wing is straining hard to keep selling Trump. But people are beginning to see through the con.

    Absolutely agree. The article just gives me insight as to that nasty core still in his Cult.

    Hubby works with a lot of DoD civilians who are Loyal Republicans® therefore Trump supporters-of course they were never Trump cultists but they got on the early bandwagon of his MAGA rhetoric. They know he’s not, and occasionally they talk politics and spar in a friendly fashion but for the most part they all get along well and their mission comes first so they avoid it on the job.

    He’s had three of his closest co-workers confess in the past few months that they’ve had it with him. Hubby thinks the final straw for most of them was Mattis bailing. One is a lifelong Hispanic Republican from El Paso who is one of the nicest guys around and is a devoted father of a beautiful daughter. Hubby told me that when they were talking about how he’s disgusted with Trump he teared up describing his breaking points being Mattis and “the little kids”, meaning, the children separated form their families by ICE. “We want rules, we want laws. Not that. You don’t do that to families, to the little ones.”

    They’re jumping off the Trump train and if he’s still around in 2020 they absolutely will not vote for him. Beyond that, Hubby couldn’t tell me who he thinks they’d vote for but it’s still a good sign.

  159. 159.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Those connections are fascinating. A former colleague — white, privileged, Daughters of the Confederacy type — had the surname “King.” More than once we speculated on whether MLK’s ancestors and those of my friend might have, uh, lived on the same plantation a couple of centuries ago.

  161. 161.

    Adam L Silverman

    @The Midnight Lurker: Justified. While the initial yellow vests protests were internally to France driven and the grievance had some merit, there is ample documentation that neo-nationalists and neo-fascists from outside of France, many tied back to the Russians, are now actively subverting the movement and protests for their own purposes. Which is to bring down the Macron government. Given who is currently in charge in the Italian government and their links back to Putin, the French really had no choice.

  165. 165.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Brachiator:

    Good, I think you’ll enjoy her! Sorry, didn’t intend to post any spoilers (although I don’t think I did, except for one punch line).

  166. 166.

    Amir Khalid

    FYWP has eated two of my comments for mentioning Him With The Begging Bowl. I was saying that that person has outstayed his welcome here, and will not learn his lesson if merely put in time-out; and thus, although it saddens me to say it, should be permanently barred.

  167. 167.

    Adam L Silverman

    @SiubhanDuinne: I went to Jewish day school with a sister and brother named who have a very rare and unusual last name – even for Jews. She was a year ahead of me, her brother was four years behind in my brother’s class. When I was a post-doc at UF I had a student from Brandon, Florida with the same last name. Except she was African-American and Christian. Her ancestors had been brought through the Caribbean. She had no idea there were any other people with that name other than her family in the greater Tampa area. And this is not a common last name even among Jews. Those are the only ones I know. You do the math.

  174. 174.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @NotMax:

    I was just abruptly reminded of a little rhyme my mother used to chant at me when I was learning to eat solid food:

    “For we are the carrots*,
    Yum yummy, yum yummy,
    And we’re all going down
    To visit your tummy!”

    *whatever the food of the moment happened to be.

  176. 176.

    JaySinWA

    @Yarrow: Air fresheners of all kinds can trigger my sneezing, so yes plug in ones are potential problems. probably worse than most. I replied without reading other responses knowing that you probably have dozens of confirmations by now.

  178. 178.

    The Midnight Lurker

    @Adam L Silverman: Thank you, sir.

    If the Trump blimp makes an appearance, I’ll get a snap and send it to you!

    RE: Wombats. Evolutionary cul-de-sac cube shitters, really?

  181. 181.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @The Midnight Lurker: I was just reading a review of a new edition of Captain Cook’s journals, and they included his description of the first kangaroo he saw. I wonder if he got to wombats and platypi.

  182. 182.

    poleaxedbyboatwork

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Yup. They sure do. Which is why, if sumpin is hard to stomach, and the thing in question is a bellies …

    ETA: Might have to duck ye olde banhammer my own self.

  184. 184.

    TS (the original)

    @FlipYrWhig:

    REPUBLICANS DEFINITELY NEVER AGGRESSIVELY QUESTIONED CABINET OFFICIALS! AND SUPER DEFINITELY NOT ABOUT BENGHAZI!

    And they never ever ever asked anyone called Clinton any questions. I hope they drag them all in for 9 hours so they can see what stamina Hillary Clinton has, compared to each and every republican.

  185. 185.

    Rand Careaga

    @NotMax: As to “jurrasicpork,” late December about fifteen years ago I was commuting home from San Francisco on BART, the principal Bay Area rail feed, when a woman came down the aisle weeping bitterly and crying “Please, please help me!” (it was apparent that this was an appeal for funds, and not for physical safety). One year later—to the day—I saw her again, doing the same act.

    Give to the needy, not to grifters. I second the banhammer nomination.

  188. 188.

    smedley the uncertain

    @NotMax: I use an AOC monitor and am quite satisfied with it. Bought it a few years ago on-line. WOOT maybe. As received it was very bright, uncomfortably so. Took a little tweaking to tone it down. Other monitors currently in use are DELL again a few years old and a couple of HP’s. The resident artist is quite happy with the DELL in her studio.

  189. 189.

    thalarctosMaritimus

    @Jerzy Russian: I haven’t looked it up, but I assume his purrbox is connected to his trachea, so it’s independent of the esophagus he’s swallowing food with.

    Now you’ve got me curious about the physiology of purring, like I needed another distraction :) .

  190. 190.

    The Midnight Lurker

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I’m not sure. I have to be careful here, but the implication was that the paperwork for a shitload of pardons for Trump’s confederates are in the works.

    Won’t help a whittle at the State level though.

  191. 191.

    poleaxedbyboatwork

    @Raven:

    Curious, you use a spinning reel or baitcaster (aka level-wind)? Folks who’re good w/a baitcaster are oft *really* good.

    Fisht w/a young man who won the Bassmasters Classic long ago, and he was pin-point accurate. Impressive. (I don’t care for tournament fishing much, but I convinced the publisher of the magazine I’s at that it’d be a swell idea to do a piece on the young fella down in Mexico. Lotta big bass. Was a hoot, tho it ended tragically for the young man, but that’s another story.)

    Course, the other side a that coin is best expressed by a buddy a mine in Fla. who, when asked what a baitcaster was good for, he liked to say it was designed for peeps who enjoy picking snarls and din’t know how to use a spinning reel.

  196. 196.

    Adam L Silverman

    @smedley the uncertain: The Justice Democrats appear to be a cross between a multi-level marketing scam and a group of purity ponies. They’re already on their third set of leadership.

    She’s smart. She did a damn good job in that committee hearing. She didn’t pontificate. She didn’t berate. She asked questions she knew the answers too, but wanted to make sure everyone else did and knew how to ask them in such a way as to get maximum exposure to it. She’s good at strategic communication. She’s clearly high energy. She’ll find the rest of her footing, but that may mean jettisoning some of the people that both helped get her where she is and who she brought with her if they can’t find their footing. It’s one thing to be an outside the tent group trying to move the argument and the voters to where you are. It is another thing to have to legislate and lead. I think she’ll be able to fully make that transition. I don’t know if the Justice Democrats can or, even if they can, are willing to.

  197. 197.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @NotMax:

    Did girls get the “open the hangar, here comes the aeroplane” or was that just a ploy used with boys?

    I don’t know. I’m old. Don’t think we had aeroplanes in my day.

  205. 205.

    Brickley Paiste

    @Honus:

    The guy in the picture is blind, that’s why his eyes look like that.

    If you’re making fun of the appearance of a blind person, check yourself.

  206. 206.

    Jay

    @poleaxedbyboatwork:

    Steelheaders here ususally start with a spinning reel, move up to a baitcaster as they become more skilled, the experts wind up with free spool pin reels.

    It’s not so much about the accuracy, but instead controlling the drift.

  207. 207.

    Tenar Arha

    @Aleta: It’s incredible to me that this is even happening. Because if Jared-nus doesn’t understand that he’s being surveiled and documented 6 ways to Sunday, he’s either stupid or brazen or both. I don’t understand it at all. While simultaneously fearing that I understand too well.

  209. 209.

    joel hanes

    @Yarrow:

    could plug in air fresheners cause allergy problems for people or pets?

    Yes, they sicken me. I can’t stay in the room with one for more than fifteen minutes.

  211. 211.

    Aleta

    @Adam L Silverman: @Brachiator: I wonder about two things. Whether the trip includes private time with MbS, since JK is his pal, “in his pocket,” and rumored to have been somewhere in the loop about the murder. And whether the meetings are developer-oriented and seeking investments. To build private prisons or security buildings for example. (And giving meeting opportunities to some US companies who are campaign donors?) As long as it’s for the ‘peace plan’ US taxes will pay for the good planes.

    Coincidental by timing, they also just announced Ivanka’s Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative. It

    will take the form of a $50 million fund within USAID, and will partner with private companies including UPS (UPS, +0.16%) and Walmart (WMT, -1.18%), the New York Times reports.”

    The admin. has “twice attempted to slash the budget of the U.S. Agency for International Development or USAID by a third. And there’s still talk of redirecting money from foreign aid to a southern border wall.”

    “Yet on Thursday, the White House reveal(ed) [Ivanka’s] new women’s empowerment program that aims to improve economic security for 50 million women around the world by 2025, drawing on funds from USAID, the agency whose budget Trump has targeted.”

    (Quotes from Fortune)

    It all brings up memories of the trip during which Saudis and UAR gave 100 mil to the Ivanka fund, tied in w/the World Bank, and then >10 other countries gave more than twice that, and then huge grants were awarded to development banks. While Trump toyed with cutting US assistance to the IMF and other orgs. I don’t know anything about the financial twists; it just feels fishy.

  212. 212.

    poleaxedbyboatwork

    @Jay:

    Got two beautiful steelhead while trolling offa Cape Ommaney (Cape Ominous) this summer. Rather than sell ’em to the co-op with alla cohos, fileted n portioned n smoked ’em in the Big Chief. Twere excellent.

    Steelhead are my second fave fish to fly fish for, after tarpon. Never used the center-pin reel, but imagine the most enjoyable part would be you gotta direct electrical connex to the fish unencumbered by drag, and palming the reel in lieu of using a reel’s drag adds one more tactile element.

  213. 213.

    smedley the uncertain

    @Adam L Silverman: Thanks, you captured my feelings and concerns. I too think she’ll make the transition. It’s the staff that may mellow with time but I think there is a degree of fanaticism that needs to be overcome. The House has a lot to do in the next two years in the 2020 run up and an all or nothing approach can be deleterious.

  214. 214.

    Dan B

    @Jerzy Russian: We’ve had lots of cats who purr and eat. Some did the chew swallow then purr, repeat. Others just purr nonstop. Talent or nuts? Who knows? Kats – 100%!

  216. 216.

    Sebastian

    @Rand Careaga:

    Thirded.

    I almost fell for it and am really glad I didn’t because I’d rather give to a worthy cause. Please ban this person so nobody falls through that open manhole.

  218. 218.

    afanasia

    @Suzanne: I have the same problem with allergies to scented products (and with Burt’s Bees stuff). I don’t want to make my own, but Dr. Bronner’s unscented magic balm (the blue and white tin) is great. So is Rosebud salve, although it has a scent – rose oil, I think.

  219. 219.

    joel hanes

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Did girls get the “open the hangar, here comes the aeroplane”

    In my family, all children got
    “The bumblebee
    goes around the tree
    bzzzz bzzzz bzzzz”
    and the spoon into the mouth.

    Knee-bouncing is done to the tune “Trot trot to Boston to buy a penny cake”

  221. 221.

    frosty

    @Adam L Silverman: I’m glad to read your take on AOC. I was impressed. I would NEVER have had that confidence and poise at 28. She could be a mover and shaker at the very least.

  223. 223.

    Jay

    @poleaxedbyboatwork:

    I havn’t cast a fly for steelhead in over a decade. The local runs are so pounded down by Global Warming, habitat loss, genetic weakening, water loss and bycatch that they have been hovering on the edge of extinction and the fishery is closed.

    These days, I scratch my fishing itch by walking down the road to the local bug pond with my #4 weights and catch tripoloid Pennasks, Blackwaters, FVS’s and Brookies.

  227. 227.

    J R in WV

    @Brickley Paiste:

    Bricky,

    No one is making fun of his appearance, you are the only person who has mentioned it.

    People are putting down his homophobia and gay hatred, as well as his obvious distortion of what the gay community is striving for, equality before the law. He is a bigot and a hater.

    For all of that, I’m sorry he has had vision problems, I fear for my own vision and see my ophthalmologists very often. I still disrespect his bigotry, he is despicable on that account.

    Also, with regard to scents, my family practice doctor has big red signs in his office. He can’t see any patient wearing any cologne or perfume, he has a violent allergic reaction and has to repair to the ER when exposed. That reaction is a little lessened more recently, yet his patients come without artificial scents. I find room odorizers very distasteful, and would rather smell the cat piss or whatever than other unnatural aromas intended to cover up other smell.

  228. 228.

    J R in WV

    @afanasia:

    I have the same problem with allergies to scented products (and with Burt’s Bees stuff).

    I have an acquaintance who tried a Burt’s Bees chapstick, and his lips swole up like he was a duck… turns out he was pretty allergic to bee stings, and also allergic to beeswax in the chapstick mix. Perhaps that’s why Burt’s products bother you? Be careful around bees and wasps!

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