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Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

I really should read my own blog.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

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

Fight them, without becoming them!

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There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

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

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

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

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You cannot love your country only when you win.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

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Tick tock motherfuckers!

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

You are here: Home / Politics / Goddamned Traitors / The Coup Will Be Televised

The Coup Will Be Televised

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This just in:

President Trump will support a sweeping budget and border compromise and declare a national emergency at the same time, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday.

McConnell has already signaled he’ll support Trump’s move.

Until its members prove otherwise, the Republican Party is all-in on government by executive fiat, better known as a dictatorship. We appear to be at gut-check time for American democracy.

I’m sure I and/or other FPers will be posting more as events advance. I can say for my part I’ve never feared more for our polity.

PS:  Alternate image:

Image: The Downfall of the Dictators is Assured — British propaganda poster betw. 1939 and 1945.

Alternate image: Painting of the USS Dictator — a monitor at war with America’s home-grown traitors in 1864 and 1865

Reader Interactions

189Comments

  1. 1.

    NotMax

    And will sign an executive order renaming President’s Day to Me! Me! Me! Day.

    National emergency = D.O.A.

  3. 3.

    Doug R

    Strange to release this on a Thursday, it’s almost like they wanted a furious reaction.
    Must be another indictment day tomorrow.
    C’mon Don Junior!

  5. 5.

    Gravenstone

    @NotMax: DOA in the House, certainly. We’ll see whether any Republican Senators buck McConnell and his support for this power grab.

  8. 8.

    Matt McIrvin

    Once again, Trump can only get away with this because McConnell would rather be party-loyal than do his job as a leader of a different branch of government.

  10. 10.

    JGabriel

    WaPo via Tom Levenson @ Top:

    President Trump will support a sweeping budget and border compromise and declare a national emergency at the same time, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday.

    I’m glad Trump is setting the precedent for a Democratic administration to declare national emergencies over Anthropogenic Global Climate Change and Foreign Electoral Interference.

  11. 11.

    Bostonian

    I’m looking forward to seeing what the next President will do with the Trump Rule (that if you don’t like something you don’t need legislation but can just decree a National Emergency and spend money however you like).

    Maybe this is how we get the Green New Deal.

  14. 14.

    Chyron HR

    @ruemara:

    If Obama wasn’t a neoliberal corporatist shill, he’d have declared a national emergency to get Medicare 4 All, and mint the trillion-dollar penny also, too.

  15. 15.

    chopper

    figured this would happen. he knows another shutdown is on him, and hill goopers (eww) told him in no uncertain terms would they take another one.

    the fact that he was even willing to signal that he might sign this deal meant that he had other ideas for his stupid fucking wall.

    any now, on to the lawsuits!

  17. 17.

    catclub

    @Sebastian:

    It’s always the black guy’s job to clean up white dude’s shit.

    Gawd, I hate all of this.

    So the only sure way to get another black president.

    Also, the only emergency is that the House is now held by the Democrats. Everything else was the same the past two years, and no need to declare an emergency.

  20. 20.

    JGabriel

    Doug R:

    Must be another indictment day tomorrow. C’mon Don Junior!

    I could be wrong, but I don’t think indictments of anyone in Trump’s family will be announced until Mueller has rounded up everyone he can from outside the family first.

    Announcing the indictment of a Trump family member will lead to instant dismissal of the Special Counsel and a Constitutional Crisis. We all know something like that is coming, but Mueller’s going to do his best to delay that until all his ducks are lined up and he’s documented every other election-related crime that he can.

  21. 21.

    Kent

    So this will set a nice precedent for President Harris to take $50 billion out of the Pentagon Budget or fossil fuel subsidies and devote it to emergency Climate Change initiatives.

    Just saying….

  22. 22.

    Eolirin

    @Bostonian: We don’t have the courts, it won’t work for us. And even if it did, the longer term consequences of that becomes that every time the White House changes hands, the President gets to rewrite whatever laws they want, congress ceases to be relevant, and policy flips back and forth chaotically to the point that our system of government becomes untenable to live under. Anything a President can do by themselves the next President can undo by themselves.

  25. 25.

    feebog

    He’s counting on California and possibly New Mexico to sue. He knows this won’t pass muster at either the District Court level or at the 9th Circuit. I think there is a good possibility SCOTUS would punt and leave the 9th circuit ruling in place.

  26. 26.

    Keith P.

    Horrible strategy. One month shutdown. A pantsing masquerading as a deal. A guaranteed court challenge where the Dems won’t send workers back home if they win. A difficulty in arguing urgency. What’s the point of a declaration *now*?

  27. 27.

    JGabriel

    @Eolirin:

    … the longer term consequences of [declaring national emergencies to bypass Congress] becomes that every time the White House changes hands, the President gets to rewrite whatever laws they want, congress ceases to be relevant, and policy flips back and forth chaotically to the point that our system of government becomes untenable to live under.

    I’m pretty sure we’re already there.

  28. 28.

    chopper

    @catclub:

    once he realizes that he can have his face minted on the front (and sell cheap knock-offs of it to the rubes), he’s gonna jump on that shit.

  29. 29.

    rikyrah

    Now that it has executive precedent, I can’t wait for President Harris to declare a national emergency over:

    • gun violence
    • climate change
    • affordable healthcare
    • voter suppression
    • wealth inequality
    • student loan debt
    • mass incarceration

    — Chris Jackson (@ChrisCJackson) February 14, 2019

  30. 30.

    chopper

    mcconnell must have lined up at least some decent support among his caucus for an emergency declaration in the face of the inevitable resolution passing the house. wonder how he held that together.

  31. 31.

    germy

    Calling a Black POTUS married 25 yrs to 1 wife with 2 children, no mistresses, affairs or scandals, ‘the antichrist’ but a white POTUS married thrice, 5 kids by 3 women, mistresses, affairs & scandals, ‘God‘s anointed,’ proves your religion is white supremacy.

    — Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) February 13, 2019

  34. 34.

    MJS

    Even Ann Coulter gets that there’s no point in declaring the emergency if he signs the bill. And am I reading too much into this, or is the inclusion of a relatively paltry amount for border security a masterstroke on the Dems’ part? Can’t they now argue that the issue of border security has been addressed to Congress’ and the president’s satisfaction, as evidenced by the passage and signing of the bill?

  40. 40.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Keith P.:

    What’s the point of a declaration *now*?

    They are getting the stench of loser on them so resorting to reckless hippie punching in an attempt to keep the base. Even though by all the stuff I read the budget is pretty much a what the consensus on what’s needed for border security the Republicans are claim it’s a total victory for them because, shut up, that’s why.

    Frankly even the Executive Order sounds like BS too. Trump will wave his hands, some work will start, run out of money and be abandoned.

  41. 41.

    Sebastian

    @germy: @chopper:

    Or Kamala or whoever else is qualified. My comment was dripping with bitter sarcasm.

    I am still pissed that the best president of my lifetime was followed by … this.

  43. 43.

    Sebastian

    @Yellowdog:

    It is. See my response above. My comment was commentary on Obama having to clean up the epic mess GWB left us with. This has been discussed plenty of times.

  44. 44.

    Sebastian

    @germy:

    I am not religious anymore but if McConnel gets indicted tomorrow I’ll pay for a new church roof or something.

  46. 46.

    rikyrah

    @bemused:

    I can’t even look at people that I suspect voted R.

    Me either. That’s why I don’t get folks letting people in their house that they know voted for Dolt45, even if they are family. I just can’t get past it, especially since we are still caught up in it. Now, let him be arrested, be thrown in jail, and we get the next Democratic President, along with a Democratic House and Senate….talk to me during the Democratic President’s SECOND term.

    But, right now?

    Nope. In my house?

    Hell muthaphuckin’ no.

  48. 48.

    Ryan

    But what about Obama hiring Steve Rattner to serve as his car czar? So really, both sides are equally to blame.

  50. 50.

    Aleta

    This morning I read an essay from last October that Emma Gonzales published in the NYT. Some of it was about working, breaking down, self-care, how to continue.

    [Writing her first] speech followed a pattern: I had a thought, I wrote a new paragraph, I filled in the gaps, I ranted, and then deleted the rants. I had waves where all I wrote was a kind of scream of consciousness: “How could this have happened? So many people died, so many people died. I can’t do this. How do I do this? How do we do this?”
    …
    None of us wanted to stop working. To stop working was to start thinking. And thinking about anything other than the march and the solutions to gun violence was to have a breakdown.

    One day all of us seemed to have a breakdown around 4 p.m. … I realized that I was having a breakdown, too. I lay in the grass. The sky was spotted with clouds, so when they passed over the sun, it felt too cool, and when the sun was out, it felt too warm. There were trees all around, and I was fully realizing, once more, how miserable we all were. How miserable I felt.
    …
    Suddenly I couldn’t stand being alive. I didn’t want to kill myself — let me make that very clear. I just didn’t want to have a human consciousness. Trees face many difficulties, what with deforestation and pollution, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to be one — to just stop feeling and live.

    I wanted to go back …. But we couldn’t go back. All of us know what it feels like to be Harry Potter now.

    Going up against the country’s largest gun lobby organization was obviously something that needed to be done, but it means that the people we’re arguing against are the ones with the guns. I am personally deathly afraid of them, and I know, from traveling the country during the summer for the Road to Change tour, that many of the people who disagree with us mean it when they [threaten us }


    In the midst of all this, I try to take good care of myself. …

    I also cry a lot.

    But crying is healthy and it feels good — I really don’t know why people are so against it. Maybe because it’s loud.

    Crying is a kind of communication, and communication is awesome. The lack of communication is what keeps us in this situation.

    People say, “I don’t play the politics game, I don’t pay attention to politics.” … You might not be a big fan of politics, but you can still participate. All you need to do is vote for people you believe will work on these issues, and if they don’t work the way they should, then it is your responsibility to call them, organize a town hall and demand that they show up — hold them accountable. It’s their job to make our world better.

    Everything we’ve done and everything we will do is for them. It’s for ourselves. It’s for every person who has gone through anything similar to this, for every person who hasn’t yet, for every person who never will. This isn’t something we are ever going to forget about. This isn’t something we are ever going to give up on.

  53. 53.

    lgerard

    It will be interesting to see which republicans will fan the flames of the Reichstag Fire.

    Whither Mitt Romney?

  54. 54.

    p.a.

    I think #40 is correct: they gotta shore up the support they have left, and when the ploy implodes hippie-punch them (us) to maybe bring some drifters back into the fold.

    Concern for the Constitutional system, the norms of the Republic etc… bwaaaa hahaa haaaaaa

  55. 55.

    PaulWartenberg

    @ruemara:

    for all the times the Far Right accused Obama of pulling this kind of crap, it makes me wanna reach through the ethernet and face-punch Rush and Coulter and Beck and O’Reilly and Hannity a hundred million times.

  56. 56.

    Mike in NC

    The Coup Will Be Televised

    But will Trump’s trial for conspiracy against the United States be televised as well?

  58. 58.

    bemused

    @rikyrah:

    I’ve got a feeling that a couple of long time Republican friends/relatives that haven’t been in touch for awhile may be afraid to see me/us. Not that I have talked politics with them since the election (what the fuck were you thinking?) but they must feel some vibes from me.

  59. 59.

    Redshift

    I’m really annoyed at the email I’m getting from every progressive organization (as well as jokes Trevor Noah, Stephen Colbert, etc.) declaring that the Democrats sold us out and gave Trump money for his wall. The bill says only for fencing and other types of barriers currently in use, which have been in previous appropriations deals without any uproar. I expect this kind of “ignore the fact that there’s a Republican Senate, it’s the Dems fault we didn’t get everything we want” crap from purity ponies, but I expect better from the better organizations I still follow.

    We have plenty of actual defeats; don’t make a defeat out of a relative success.

  60. 60.

    Redshift

    @PaulWartenberg:

    for all the times the Far Right accused Obama of pulling this kind of crap, it makes me wanna reach through the ethernet and face-punch Rush and Coulter and Beck and O’Reilly and Hannity a hundred million times.

    Your all-too-frequent reminder that all conservative outrage is fake.

  62. 62.

    ruemara

    @Redshift: They did it immediately. It’s why I’m mad. It’s fucking 1.5B for border security, like the fucking fence that already exists. It’s not being sold you, you dumb grifting HACKS!

  63. 63.

    schrodingers_cat

    @ruemara: Also, my JS voting friend is an ex-friend. In the end I just couldn’t with the stream of lies. I can’t be friends with some one who prefers in La- La land. It is sad, what fear and paranoia will do to people.

  69. 69.

    Redshift

    @Eolirin: It won’t work for Trump, either. Even if the obviously fake emergency passes muster, the National Emergencies Act doesn’t let a president just reshuffle funds however he wants; he can only draw on certain military funds, and for certain purposes.

    Yes, he’ll try to ignore that, but that will just guarantee that it’ll all be tied up in the courts through 2020.

  74. 74.

    germy

    @zhena gogolia: McConnell interupted Grassley to give the announcement and Grassley erupted in anger. “If you had just given me five more minutes!” etc. “I would hope next time I’m not interrupted!!”

    Men really are too emotional to be in government. They are shrill and prone to excitability.

  75. 75.

    Emerald

    The only thing I’m worried about is the National Butterfly Center. Their wall section was funded last year. Bulldozers are at their gates. Apparently there is language that specifically protects them in the compromise agreement, but they just wrote that an emergency might still threaten them. They observed the contactors cutting down trees on the nearby National Wildlife Refuge yesterday.

    So, my question: Will the courts stop this “emergency” ASAP? Asking for the butterflies (and birds and ocelots, and turtles, and bobcats . . .)

  77. 77.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @zhena gogolia:

    It’s a nothingburger. Grassley was in the middle of a speech, and McConnell made him yield the floor so that McConnell could make the announcement that Trump is signing the bill and also declaring a national emergency.

    ETA: It’s the “You are there!” historical moment.

  78. 78.

    NotMax

    @Redshift

    Reminiscent in a way of the shenanigans of Fred Trump with the former Steeplechase Park land in Coney Island he picked up for a song. Tried first to ignore zoning regulations and then strongarm – unsuccessfully – NYC to alter the designation.

    Ended up selling the property (for a price above the highest valuation) to the city.

    If there is an emergency declaration, it will wither on the vine but you can guarantee some Trump entity will pocket mucho dinero from it.

  80. 80.

    psycholinguist

    Pelosi just said “want to declare an emergency? Today’s the anniversary of Parkland, another manifestation of our epidemic of gun violence. Want to declare an emergency Mr. President, how bout that one? A president with a different set of values would”

    She’s really good at this. Video on the WaPo

  81. 81.

    piratedan

    well, I for one am shocked that the Press has the temerity to press Nancy Pelosi for some kind of response to the kerfuffle that the perpetual outrage machine continues to churn out against Rep. Omar… my God, aren’t they afraid of losing their access?

  82. 82.

    rikyrah

    @schrodingers_cat:

    @rikyrah: My old friend who voted for T is now afraid to come and visit us, after I said that there is no difference between Nazis and Rs when they came to visit last summer

    They put children in cages…THAT is who they voted for….

  84. 84.

    rikyrah

    @psycholinguist:

    Pelosi just said “want to declare an emergency? Today’s the anniversary of Parkland, another manifestation of our epidemic of gun violence. Want to declare an emergency Mr. President, how bout that one? A president with a different set of values would”

    sniff…sniff..sniff…

    I.just.love.NANCY.SMASH.

  87. 87.

    eclare

    @Emerald: They’re taking legal action. Thing is WaPo had an interview with a director there who (of course) voted for Trump because wall was just rhetoric and would never be built. SMDH. Pulling for the butterflies but not this asshole. I wish butterflies had stingers.

  88. 88.

    PaulWartenberg

    @Keith P.:

    What’s the point of a declaration *now*?

    He’s being forced to agree to a funding bill that clearly does not give him his GODDAMN WALL. So he will use the moment to declare an Emergency to force funds away from other agencies (such as FEMA funding for disaster relief in Puerto Rico and Florida (!!!!)) towards his “wall” and then declare victory to Fox Not-News and his next 100 Hate Fests.

  90. 90.

    Aleta

    I couldn’t watch the vid, but here is Pelosi on twitter

    Nancy Pelosi @SpeakerPelosi

    Declaring a national emergency would be a lawless act, a gross abuse of the power of the presidency and a desperate attempt to distract from the fact that @realDonaldTrump broke his core promise to have Mexico pay for his wall.

    It is yet another demonstration of @realDonaldTrump’s naked contempt for the rule of law. This is not an emergency, and the President’s fearmongering doesn’t make it one.

    [DT] couldn’t convince Mexico, the American people or their elected representatives to pay for his ineffective and expensive wall, so now he’s trying an end-run around Congress in a desperate attempt to put taxpayers on the hook for it.

    The Congress will defend our constitutional authorities.

  91. 91.

    bemused

    One of our kitties just jollied me out of my white hot rage. She insisted I pick her up three times, rubbing my face, purring and snuffling in my ear, climbing on my shoulder and refusing to let me put her down and it’s not even cat dinner time yet. I’d almost think she sensed I needed diversion and some kitty snuggles but she’s a cat. Worked though.

  95. 95.

    Emerald

    @eclare: Their legal action may not stop it. The Feds have already trespassed on their property and replaced their gate locks, before taking their land through eminent domain (which the Feds still don’t have).

    Now, the compromise legislation should stop it, but those contractors are ready to start bulldozing their land. If Twitler gets away with his bogus emergency, they may just destroy the sanctuary anyway.

    I know about the idiot director. He’s learned his lesson. I’m just concerned for the butterflies (and birds, and ocelots, and turtles, and bobcats).

  96. 96.

    Ocotillo

    I have concerns about this….. that sounds like something Jeff Flake would say. Seriously though, what is to prevent the a-hole in chief from declaring other emergencies like suspending elections in say 2020. Everyone is snarking about a progressive president declaring an emergency to do needed things but two years is a helluva a lot of time to do damage.

  100. 100.

    Aleta

    Sarah Kendzior @sarahkendzior
    That aspiring autocrats can pre-schedule a “national emergency” is the actual national emergency

  101. 101.

    Michael Cain

    @feebog:

    He’s counting on California and possibly New Mexico to sue. He knows this won’t pass muster at either the District Court level or at the 9th Circuit. I think there is a good possibility SCOTUS would punt and leave the 9th circuit ruling in place.

    I am less confident. I’ll bet on the SCOTUS decision being “Congress has the authority to rescind if they can get enough votes, making it a political question. No one else has standing to challenge the President’s decision in court, so long as his actions after declaring the emergency stay within the rules set out in the National Emergency Act.”

  103. 103.

    Edward Brennan

    No money should be allocated to the executive branch until Trump is removed from office. This is what a dictatorship looks like. This should be an impeachable offense against the oath of office.

    Further no other laws should be passed. Shut down everything, this is what the end of our Republic looks like.

  111. 111.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Hmm It McConnell was the one who announced the Emergency Powers thing. Interesting.

    My take on it is that Trump has is trying to blame McConnell for the Trump’s Wall erectile dysfunction since this started, so McConnell now has the excuse “But Trump told me he would do it anyway” when the finger pointing starts on the Right for the failure to POWN Libertards on this one.

  112. 112.

    delk

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I started my New Year’s diet at 246. This morning I weighed in at 238.8. I’m 6 foot tall.

    I know what 243 looks like, and doesn’t look like what they are claiming.

  114. 114.

    Aleta

    Goes w/o saying here but: abusing presidential powers, or exceeding them, has been defined by Congress as impeachable. (Congress gets to decide what is impeachable.) Pelosi: “Declaring a national emergency would be a lawless act, a gross abuse of the power of the presidency.”

  115. 115.

    The Midnight Lurker

    Attention citizens! THERE IS NO NATIONAL EMERGENCY AT THE BORDER! (There is a humanitarian one, though) THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY IS LOCATED AT 1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVE. THANK YOU!

  117. 117.

    Aleta

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Conley said he performed and supervised the assessment along with a panel of 11 board-certified specialists.

    Then let’s have their names. They don’t get to hide. Or Conley is lying about that too. His medical lic. should be under review at this point.

  120. 120.

    Immanentize

    @NotMax: Justiciability is not so clear at all. The Youngstown case is the closest precedent if they try to use eminent domain to seize any privately held land; although Massachusetts v. EPA may be the more relevant case if a state sues to stop him.

    Congress did not give him the $$ he wanted. He seems to usurp the legislative function of the check book through his upcoming executive order. This puts the case in Type 3 of Justice Jackson’s analysis in Youngstown -; where the President’s power is weakest. And here, it is probably unconstitutional particularly because it is a budget issue (Congress) not a foreign war issue (President). As the law currently stands, President loses. But the current Supreme Court vould always change that balancing test.

  122. 122.

    Aleta

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Yes it’s very ‘interesting.’ Are Rs hoping before the vote to divide the Ds in the House and anger their lw vs center constituents?

    McConnell using the threat/promise of a nat’l emergency should turn into the start of a process to remove him.

  123. 123.

    SFAW

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    His weight is listed as 243.

    Yeah, and he’s now 6-3, and his blood O2 figure is 99 percent. And he’s a BBBillionaire. And his IQ is 250. And he has big hands. And he make John C. Holmes look puny. And so on and so forth.

    His BMI ain’t 30, despite what Ronny Jackson’s replacement-shill says.

  130. 130.

    WaterGirl

    @Emerald: I am so pissed right now. Just watched last night’s Stephen Colbert monologue, and he was mocking the butterfly center. His whole monologue was very both-sides-y, and it usually isn’t. Fuck that.

  131. 131.

    Greg

    @JGabriel: There will be no more Democratic administrations. Or at the least, laws passed by Democrats. Roberts court with stolen seat will make sure of that. Its all over but the shouting.

  132. 132.

    WaterGirl

    @Greg: The number 9 for SC justices is not set in stone. As soon as we have the house, senate and white house, we can increase the number on the court.

  134. 134.

    TS (the original)

    @Immanentize: It would be a massive plus for National Security is someone told the truth about trump. (First time I’ve ever known Reagan’s middle name – I spent the 80s raising family – no time for politics when doing such things)

  137. 137.

    Michael Cain

    @NotMax:

    Yup. The doctrine of justiciability is fairly straightforward about such matters.

    That said, there are a number of other things that can almost certainly be challenged in court. The NEA says the construction has to be in support of the military’s efforts to deal with the emergency, not civilian agencies’ efforts. The NEA doesn’t take away due process in eminent domain proceedings, nor the military’s need to conform to other statutory requirements (eg, certain Army Corps of Engineers projects are delayed for years by the need to do environmental impact statements). At some point DHS will attempt to wave their magic wand and claim that their statutory authority to waive regulatory proceedings (such as EISs) covers a 2,000 mile long wall. I would be very surprised if the courts support that interpretation. Parts of the wall will almost certainly cause violations of interstate and international water compacts — this being the Southwest where pretty much every drop of water that crosses a border is under one or more compacts.

  138. 138.

    pat

    I’m really surprised at his blood pressure. 112? Really? I’m on meds and mine is never that low.

  141. 141.

    WaterGirl

    @debbie: I can’t tell whether that is serious or snark. He was mocking the butterfly center as if the butterflies couldn’t just fly into mexico and do just fine.

  142. 142.

    debbie

    @rikyrah:

    I’m still not speaking to my family. They knocked on my door at Thanksgiving, I guess trying for a reconciliation. I sent them off, telling them nothing had changed and what they did was unforgiveable.

    Still missing my nieces and nephews, though.

  143. 143.

    debbie

    @WaterGirl:

    Not him; what Trump and his base are thinking. Trust me. I listen to Colbert every single night. He’s as outraged by Trump as anyone here.

    ETA: I wasn’t snarking; I think you misread Colbert.

  144. 144.

    Emerald

    @WaterGirl: Thanks for the warning. I won’t watch it.

    He was mocking it? It’s only the major refuge for monarchs on their migration, as well as nearly 200 other species. The entire habitat will be destroyed.

  147. 147.

    WaterGirl

    @debbie: The reason I watch Colbert’s monologue is because he’s so rabidly anti-Trump. The monologue last night felt different to me than usual, and I didn’t catch the butterfly stuff as sarcasm. And his comments about how congress hasn’t gotten anything done really did feel like “both sides” to me – totally out of character.

    By that point I was so pissed that I turned it off.

    I will try again with it later but that’s really how it seemed to me.

  148. 148.

    chris

    @Aleta: I’m a little suspicious that Conley is a DO rather than an MD. Makes me wonder about the others, I’m sure that chiropractors, homeopaths and ear candlers have boards.

  150. 150.

    les

    It’s an Emergency!! We’re being Invaded!! We must immediately begin a 20 year infrastructure program!!!

  152. 152.

    Aleta

    I wish for billboards to be put up in Kentucky and other red states (well, all states) listing some of the powers a president could have under a national emergency. McConnell T and Pence and all Rs should get attacked and despised from all sides for these threats.

    I’m sick of them using this as a threat. After all, it’s the stuff of libertarian and anti-govt paranoia as well. Not that I want to see them get worked up. But how do those mil. ‘units in a state of readiness’ plan to communicate across states if their internet sites and cell phones and radio call #s are blocked.

    Also: ELIZABETH GOITEIN in the Atlantic, What the President Could Do If He Declares a State of Emergency

  154. 154.

    debbie

    @WaterGirl:

    And his comments about how congress hasn’t gotten anything done really did feel like “both sides” to me – totally out of character.

    He called Washington “kabuki” and I’m not sure he’s wrong. Paraphrase: Lots of talk, but nothing’s been done. No infrastructure, no health care, etc.

  156. 156.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??

    @WaterGirl:
    That’s correct.
    @Greg:
    That’s really premature. And besides, do you honestly think that scenario is sustainable long-term? When the majority of the population doesn’t support Rs or their ideology? It’s not.

    I know I get pooh-poohed around here for saying this, but most people wouldn’t stand for that indefinitely. Yes, yes, Americans are super lazy etc. But that can easily change, especially when they see their lives drastically change for the worst in huge and obvious ways. And they’ll know who to blame.

  157. 157.

    debbie

    @Emerald:

    He pointed out that the wall will take up to 70% of the refuge’s land and that federal employees are already tearing up the property and cutting down trees.

  159. 159.

    Ksmiami

    @bemused: as I said before the rt wing white trash had to work very hard to earn this much hatred from normal Democratic ppl but they’ve earned it in spades.

  160. 160.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @bemused: Back in ’96 I ran into a Serb who’d escaped from disintegrating Yugoslavia who told me the best man at his wedding (a Croat) no longer answered his letters. Have we come to this? Cue Leonard Cohen:

    That’s right, it’s come to this,
    Yes it’s come to this,
    And wasn’t it a long way down?
    And wasn’t it a strange way down?

    (Full song here – 1:12 et seq.. Though I prefer the Judy Collins 3rd-person version.)

  164. 164.

    bemused

    @Ksmiami:

    White trash R’s are easily identified and discounted. It’s the people who can’t let go of loyalty to their parent’s R party that have broken my heart. They have to know that party is long gone but don’t want to believe the current party needs to die too.

  165. 165.

    Emerald

    @debbie: They’re cutting down trees on the on the Wildlife Refuge, not on the butterfly sanctuary yet. But they HAVE gone onto the sanctuary’s land and replaced the gate locks, and that is without eminent domain. No question they’re getting ready to bulldoze. I’ve been following this for a couple of weeks.

    Looks like I’ll have to find that monologue and watch it after all.

  166. 166.

    pattonbt

    McConnell supports this because it will cause a monstrous media war between Trump and Pelosi and leave Mitch, as always, hiding in the background. The Senate never gets the publicity Congress does. So why not support Trump? Why not support chaos if it lets you get your agenda through under the radar? For McConnell, this fight weakens all his adversaries – which include Trump.

  167. 167.

    Steeplejack

    @WaterGirl, @debbie:

    Here’s the Colbert segment. The butterflies start at 4:07. Colbert’s initial joke is that the wall wouldn’t stop the butterflies from crossing the border, which is what WaterGirl might have interpreted as mocking. But then he gets into the bigger issue of the butterfly center (at 4:56). I didn’t think that was mocking.

  169. 169.

    debbie

    @Steeplejack:

    Thank you for listening to it.

    I don’t think I’ve ever heard a single word from Colbert that could be interpreted as complimentary to Trump. I’ve half-expected Trump to slap him with some kind of lawsuit for some time now. I’ve read reports that he’s outraged when hearing what Colbert’s said.

  170. 170.

    Steeplejack

    @NotMax:

    It is not. I got embroiled in an extended decluttering/​rearranging process, and I also found that I was liking a reduced diet of TV for a while. (I can still watch things on my tablet or computer.)

    I’m going out of town this weekend but plan to finish the reorg when I get back and finally deploy the TV.

  171. 171.

    Ksmiami

    @bemused: yeah I told my mom that to still be friends with Republicans/trump voters signals a major character flaw- even if you’ve known them a long time…

  173. 173.

    Emerald

    @debbie: No, they do not have eminent domain yet. But they did it anyway. That’s why the director of the butterfly center is panicked about this “emergency.”

  176. 176.

    WaterGirl

    @debbie: A guest on Colbert’s show (in the last 3 weeks, I believe) told Colbert that Colbert is Trump’s second-least favorite person, or 2nd biggest enemy, something to that effect.

    I think Colbert had to have been pleased about that.

  178. 178.

    Amir Khalid

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:
    I remain unconvinced of his good health. In particular, I am no more convinced now that he weighs 243lbs today than I was convinced last year that he weighed 239lbs then. I mean, all that Mickey D’s, all that KFC, sweet FA in the way of exercise, and he gained only five pounds in a year? Come on, man.

  180. 180.

    waratah

    @Emerald: Texas State government is controlled by Republicans and they are not doing anything to stop this. Makes me feel sick to my stomach.

  186. 186.

    bemused

    @Amir Khalid:

    I think you are right even for cats. Maybe she does remember I saved her life. Two kittens we brought home from shelter came down with bug caught there. This kitty was the sickest bringing her to vet 3 times for fluids, feeding her with dropper of liquid food. We thought she wasn’t going to make it but she did and is a fatty, healthy kitty.

  189. 189.

    laura

    @Aleta: This is such a simple, beautiful description of Doing The Work.
    Processing, in real time what must be faced and what must be accepted.
    Not everyone is capable when that time comes, and it comes for each of us.
    These survivors are leaders and theyve reached out to other survivors and leaders.
    My faith in them is strong. Their moral compass is true.

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