Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Bogus polls are all they’ve got left. Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls a year from now.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

The US Supreme Court is on the ballot in november.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

Biden: Oh no. We’ve upset Big Pharma again.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Let’s show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Joe Biden can go out like FDR, not by dying in office, but by crushing the fascists.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

American History and Black History can not be separated.

Fuck that bum, let’s go Joe!

“They not like us!” (that’s for sure!)

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

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

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

It could be worse. Vance could have said “post-menopausal sows.” Waiting for that audiotape to surface.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

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Nothing to see here…

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Hillary Clinton responds to a very good question from Citizens for Ethics researcher Robert Maguire:

To its credit, The New York Times uncovered the Trump family tax scam that led to Trump’s sister “retiring” to end an inquiry into her role in the tax cheating scheme. It would have been nice if they’d busted out that scoop on, say, November 1, 2016, which was the day they instead published a front-page story entitled, “Investigating Donald Trump, FBI sees no clear link to Russia.” But hey, nobody’s perfect.

Still, isn’t it weird that they published the story about Trump’s sister resigning in disgrace over a scam in which her brother — the sitting president! — was involved on page A23? I mean, it was their scoop that kicked off the inquiry — wouldn’t journalistic bragging rights alone warrant more prominent placement?

I know “Trump and his entire family are unbelievably corrupt crooks” is kinda “dog-bites-man” at this point. But really, this kind of thing makes me think the folks who accuse The Times of being part of a Republican-plutocrat alliance to prevent us from having nice things are onto something.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

126Comments

  2. 2.

    PaulWartenberg

    if trump wipes out a busload of nuns the NYT will declare a “meh” and put the story on the second section, like page A-23 or something.

    I remember reading a Kurt Eichenwald twitter thread about his first run-in with trump as a self-promoting lying sack of sh-t back in the 1980s, and rushing to his editor with the scoop only to have his editor tell him “eh, it’s old news everybody knows that.” The Times has been complacent to the point of complicity in trump’s empire of lies and they are not able to confront him with any direct diligence. They’ll nibble around the edges, but never attack the man himself.

    It’s almost horrifying to watch.

  5. 5.

    ruemara

    It’s fucking unbelievable that resigning could actually end an investigation into violating your oath of office a judge and decades of corruption. This is fucking horrible.

  6. 6.

    rikyrah

    @ruemara:

    It’s fucking unbelievable that resigning could actually end an investigation into violating your oath of office a judge and decades of corruption. This is fucking horrible.

    It really is. How does one resigning close the investigation. That makes no phucking sense.

  7. 7.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Am I correct that while Judge Trump Berry is no longer subject to judicial sanctions, she may still be subject to criminal charges (say, from SDNY)?

  8. 8.

    Gin & Tonic

    @ruemara: From what I’ve read (and IANAL) this ends a judicial ethics investigation, but it does not preclude criminal charges.

  10. 10.

    goblue72

    You’ll join the DSA as a card carrying member yet. Just give it a little more time. The Potemkin village that is the Rule by the Plutes has been obvious forever.

    Or, if ever in DC during a weekday, I’d recommend a visit to the Cannon Office Building (aka the Old Housing Office Building). Its easy to get to as its cross the street from the Capitol South Metro station. Room 229 on 2nd floor. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez. There’s quite an inspiring wall of colored post-it notes on the wall outside her Hill office – voices from across America thanking her & inspired by her. And a theme amongst the names on those notes – beyond their overwhelming positivity – is how many are obviously from women of color. Clearly, the “Democratic Socialist” in Congress isn’t scaring away the future of this country – but rather the opposite.

    And then after that, and turn around 180 degrees and you see the nameless office of the “Ninth District of North Carolina” currently serving what appears to be excess furniture storage.

  12. 12.

    Ruckus

    I’ve often wondered how many rich fucks, or even those who want you to think they are rich are neck deep into tax scams. They’ve paid a lot of money for the ability to be rid of paying any taxes, let alone their fair share and I bet they feel entitled to scam the tax man. That would include those in the media. Like say the owner of the FTFNYT.

  14. 14.

    Mandalay

    Cops under internal investigation in the UK used to routinely resign to close the investigation until their betters came up with a very cunning but highly effective plan: cops under investigation would still be investigated even if they resigned:

    The central intention of the new amendment regulations is to enable police officers to be pursued for gross misconduct even after they have retired or resigned. This is to deal with the previous lacuna whereby former officers were beyond the reach of misconduct proceedings.

    Why can’t New York (and every other state?) do the same thing to their judges?

    p.s. This is just salt in the wound: the crook retires on full salary for the rest of her life:

    In retirement, Judge Barry is entitled to receive annually the salary she earned when she last met certain workload requirements. Though the exact figure was not immediately available, it appears to be between $184,500 and $217,600.

  16. 16.

    Tenar Arha

    Editing choices at the FTFNYT is a fustercluck of gigantic proportions.

    I know no one management method is a panacea. I also cannot help thinking if news organizations did real after action reports, every time they missed a decade changing scoop right under their noses, there would be considerably better reporting in the present.

    So I hold a grudge, particularly against the NYT, because if they’d really examined how they got suckered into lying us into the Iraq War, maybe we wouldn’t be here. Adding the refusal to address how bad they did in 2016 is entirely too much journalistic malpractice to be a coincidence.

    Basically, NYT editors/owners don’t get the benefit of the doubt anymore, even if they still have decent investigative reporting.

    ETA typo & paragraph

  17. 17.

    SenyorDave

    How about the good old New York State AG looking into this matter? Wouldn’t NY have jurisdiction if they avoided state taxes?

  19. 19.

    Mary G

    @Ruckus: They’ve been paying a lot of politicians, possibly mostly Republicans, to gut the IRS for decades now. Been a great investment for them.

  20. 20.

    goblue72

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:
    …………………./´¯/)
    ………………..,/¯../
    ………………./…./
    …………./´¯/’…’/´¯¯`·¸
    ………./’/…/…./……./¨¯\
    ……..(‘(…´…´…. ¯~/’…’)
    ………\……………..’…../
    ……….”…\………. _.·´
    …………\…………..(
    …………..\………….\…

  21. 21.

    debbie

    @Mike in NC:

    Not just the Times. Back in the day, his brazenness made him the darling of NYC. Liz Smith and Sue Simmons used to slobber all over him.

  22. 22.

    Mandalay

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    while Judge Trump Berry is no longer subject to judicial sanctions, she may still be subject to criminal charges

    Maybe so, but that won’t impact her pension, which is full salary for the rest of her life. I’m guessing that judicial sanctions might have addressed that.

  23. 23.

    Sebastian

    And they broke it on A17. What was on the front page you ask? Why, it was that Liberals on Twitter don’t represent the Democratic party of course.

  26. 26.

    Jeffro

    trumpov gets away with it because he’s literally the world’s worst person in every category, and that’s what his supporters want. As long as he proudly and loudly carries the banner of white nationalism, they will continue to overlook, downplay, or dismiss every single thing he does. He’s one of THEM. He makes them feel good by his being horrible. He’s their voiiiiice (he said so himself at the RNC, and it made me laugh at the time, but now it’s not quite so funny)

  27. 27.

    Gelfling 545

    @rikyrah: It’s no longer relevant to her position and the limitation on criminal prosecution has expired from what I have read. This was not a criminal investigation but a professional ethics complaint.

  28. 28.

    Betty Cracker

    OMFG, y’all — this Isaac Chotiner interview of Bret Easton Ellis in the New Yorker! I’ve never read such a brutal take-down of an interviewee by an interviewer! Frost-Nixon is Hannity lofting helium-filled beach balls at Trump by comparison…

  29. 29.

    Tenar Arha

    @SiubhanDuinne: @Gin & Tonic: Tax scams have a statute of limitations.

    It’s why rebuilding the IRS & redirecting it to focus on the richest tax cheats is important. Because I suspect that if we changed just the time limits for prosecution of this white collar crime, the low income people who have the hardest time maintaining their personal records safely would suffer more.

  30. 30.

    J R in WV

    The NY Times has always loved them some fascists:

    First in 1922, they wrote about Mr. Hitler in Bavaria.

    Then in 1938 they wrote about Mr Hitler in the clouds of his alpine country home.

    They also wrote about more home grown fascists, meeting in the old Madison Square Garden. This was in 1939, and while not really bold support, their coverage was quite respectful.

    And then there’s the recent modern coverage of Der Trumpenfuhrer, wherein they helped Donald Trump become President. Because the EMails!!!

  31. 31.

    sempronia

    It may be on page A23 of the physical paper, but the headline about Trump’s sister is on the main page of their online site. Just below the headlines about Michael Avenatti getting indicted and the suspected church arsonist getting arrested.

  34. 34.

    Betty Cracker

    @goblue72: Meh. Maybe the DSA isn’t completely overrun by insufferable mansplaining dickwads, but it’s been my bad luck to run into that portion of its membership more often than not.

  35. 35.

    mary s

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    The criminal charges are timed out due to to the statute of limitations. But somebody was clever enough to realize that there is no statute of limitations on judicial ethics investigations. So they filed a complaint. And then the judge was alert enough to retire only a few days after the complaint was given “full attention.” (I got all this from Vox/Yglesias, btw.)

    As for the NYT, it is making money off of Trump scandals but it’s careful not to connect too many dots. Compare that to the NYT’s treatment of the Clintons over the past few decades (or maybe don’t — it’s too aggravating).

  37. 37.

    Marcopolo

    @<a href="#comment-7253535″>Tenar Arha: Don’t forget, the most heavily audited county in the US is Humphreys county in the Mississippi Delta.

    Median household income of $26,000.

    Using an iPhone with big fingers so the link is a little off spatially (was supposed to be the text) but it still should work.

  38. 38.

    TomatoQueen

    @BillinGlendaleCA: NO.NO.NO. Federal district courts are NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT part of the Department of Justice. DoJ is a part of the Executive Branch. Federal District Courts are part of the Judiciary Branch. So any court with a D in its name, SDNY, is a federal court. It is not an outpost of the Dept of Justice. Three Co-Equal Branches, Executive, Legislative, Judicial. See graphic on this page: https://www.usa.gov/branches-of-government./
    former employee rant off

  39. 39.

    Bobby Thomson

    I have pretty high tolerance for perfidy from red state elected Democrats, but Manchin endorsing Susan Fucking Collins is a hair shy of voting for McConnell to run the Senate.
    Christ what an asshole.

  40. 40.

    rikyrah

    I love her.

    Black Maternal Health Matters. The U.S. has the worst maternal mortality rate in the developed world, and it’s unacceptable. Women, especially women of color, shouldn’t have to risk death to bring life into this world. So we’re fighting back. https://t.co/d3UXKd5rdE

    — Lauren Underwood (@LaurenUnderwood) April 9, 2019

  41. 41.

    Bobby Thomson

    @TomatoQueen: pretty sure Bill was using that as a shorthand for the US Attorney’s office in the SDNY, which is definitely part of the DOJ.

  42. 42.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??

    I used to wonder what Trump’s older sister thought of him, being a federal judge. Turns out, she is just as corrupt as he is. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tiffany Trump is a POS too. We just haven’t heard anything bad about her yet

  43. 43.

    Betty Cracker

    @debbie: Right? Can’t stand that twit, and I almost didn’t read the interview because I don’t give a shit about anything Ellis has to say about any topic, ever. But I’m so glad I clicked, otherwise, I would have missed that delightful evisceration!

  45. 45.

    geg6

    Yes we can.

    BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Every time I think I couldn’t love and admire her more, something like this pops up.

  46. 46.

    JimV

    There have been a lot of calls, over the years, for progressive people to cancel their NYT subscriptions. Perversely, maybe now their readership is mainly non-progressive, and they cater to those readers more than ever.

    Or not, but what if a few million of us got NYT subscriptions citing a few good articles, and then threatened to cancel them over bad articles (and 10% of us did, and then another 10% the next time). Would that get the editors’/publishers’ attention? If that could get organized, I would be in. (It would have to be based on credible issues, with some people like Dean Baker and Bruce Bartlett making the decisions.) If things got better, more of us would subscribe.

    I’ve never had a newspaper subscription, and probably wouldn’t start reading one, but would be happy to see some of my money going to support good journalism.

    Probably never happen, but if some of the energy that goes into all the useless surveys and petitions and other junk mail I get went into efforts like that I think the time and money would be better spent.

  48. 48.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??

    @goblue72:

    Making and friends and influencing people I see! How much time did you waste on making that?

  49. 49.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @goblue72: No thanks – I’m a card carrying Democrat.

    AOC seems great, as do many other Democrats. No need to split up the party – we need to join together to defeat the fascist Republicans.

    GO DEMOCRATS!

  53. 53.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??

    @debbie:

    Even that was probably more out trying to keep herself from getting fucked over by him. I’m sure there’s no love lost between them.

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Actually, since she prevented him from getting full control over Fred Trump’s estate, the DOJ might go after her…

  56. 56.

    stinger

    @Betty Cracker: Wow. I have three brothers, and they’ve never talked about pussy grabbing. Certainly not in front of me, and probably not at all anywhere ever. This Ellis guy is a lying, twisty weasel — no wonder he doesn’t like it when people criticize Trump. He’s looking in a mirror.

  57. 57.

    Betty Cracker

    @debbie: I don’t disagree. Meanwhile, plenty of excellent American writers toiled away in the shadows while that bunch got all the limelight.

  59. 59.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??

    @Bobby Thomson:

    Good luck, Suzzie Q, you’re gonna need it. That Dem nominee fund for 2020 already had over $3 million dollars back in October

  60. 60.

    TomatoQueen

    @BillinGlendaleCA: And the judge who does the deciding is a Judiciary employee, and a lifer. AUSAs are officers of the court, but they re not the Court–the judge is.

  61. 61.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @debbie: She is the one who caught him trying to get their father’s Will rewritten so he alone had control over all of it. But yeah, rotten fruit does not fall far from the tree.

    IIRC the old man was starting to slip, but what Donnie was doing struck him as crooked so he called in Maryanne. Imagine being so crooked Fred Trump thought you were crooked.

    ETA: I see Dwight’s back, wearing his principled leftist costume this month.

  63. 63.

    Tenar Arha

    @Marcopolo: Yeah I saw that reporting & the map. The money & time wasted targeting poor people is infuriating. Among the many ways I’ve used the favorite button on Twitter is to put aside things “I want to read later bc my blood pressure can’t take reading this article right now, & I don’t know if I want to bookmark this yet.”

  68. 68.

    ??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I like how he took the time to make that middle finger with characters. He could have copy and pasted it from somewhere, but, honestly, what an asshole to come here to belligerently troll everyone here just because you had some disagreements in the past. What a loser.

  72. 72.

    rikyrah

    Worked for the federal government for 30 years; have been a federal retiree for 20 years. No agency is as efficient as the Office of Personnel Management. OPM is responsible for a good part of the management of SECURITY CLEARANCES, so I’m guessing trump’s disrupting that. AGAIN.

    — @joboomr44 (@joboomr44) April 11, 2019

  73. 73.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    there are times when I think Biden might just pull it off, and I’m okay with that, then I see shit like this…

    Matt Viser @ mviser
    “You were a hell of a governor,” Joe Biden says to Jeb Bush, as the two appear together on a panel on opioid addiction at the University of Pennsylvania.

    … and wonder if Uncle Joe was Turtle Waxing the TransAm when Jebbie said Obama had made America less safe, divided Americans against each other, cost us our standing in the world, etc. etc. etc. Also, too, Michael Schiavo might want a word.

  74. 74.

    rikyrah

    Georgetown students want to create a reparations fund for the descendants of 272 slaves sold by the school in 1838.

    They’re voting to add a $27.20 fee/semester to undergraduate tuition.

    If the school accepts, it would be the first major college with a reparations policy. pic.twitter.com/gDdAnB1zOO

    — AJ+ (@ajplus) April 10, 2019

  77. 77.

    rikyrah

    ANIMALS.DEMONS.
    They need to be brought up on charges:

    “The “staff must at all times be physically able to run, jump, lunge, twist, push, pull, apply approved restraint techniques and otherwise manage or coerce the full weight of an INFANT or adolescent.”
    “The guide defines restraints as either the application of physical force or a drug administered to manage a child’s behavior.”
    https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/homestead-child-migrant-detention-center-job-ad-says-workers-must-physically-restrain-children-11139268

  79. 79.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Betty Cracker: there were Republicans surprised by McConnell et al’s success in enforcing the blockade. I always say Judd Gregg is one of the most under discussed stories of Obama’s early days, and the O’Bros have been saying of late that Lindsey Graham was camped out in Rahm (RAHM!) Emmanuel’s office in the first few weeks after the inauguration, eager to get Gold Stars for bipartisanship from Vice Principal Broder. Arlen Specter left the party. I’m sure there are other examples.

    And I strongly suspect to this day Biden thinks that he could break the fever where Obama couldn’t.

  81. 81.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    And I strongly suspect to this day Biden thinks that he could break the fever where Obama couldn’t.

    Ah, to have the o’erweening hubris of the mediocre white man. Sigh.

  82. 82.

    SiubhanDuinne

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

    OTOH, I don’t think I have ever once heard Trump so much as even mention any of his three surviving siblings. From what I’ve read about the family, I never got much sense of closeness among any of them.

  83. 83.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @SiubhanDuinne: His brother Robert (I think) and his wife used to chase cameras as hard as The Beast. I’ve read that they’re estranged, maybe they took too much of his limelight.

  84. 84.

    Betty Cracker

    @SiubhanDuinne: Trump has THREE surviving siblings? I didn’t know that. The only time I ever heard him mention his sister was while bragging about his genes. He mentioned that his uncle was an MIT professor, his sister a judge, etc., as if their professional achievements had anything to do with his trifling ass.

  85. 85.

    Baud

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I hate it too but I have to admit that there are a lot of people out there who think that there must be a way for Democrats to work with Republicans, so they have an obligation to make the effort. I don’t know what to do about those people.

  86. 86.

    Captain C

    @PaulWartenberg:

    if trump wipes out a busload of nuns the NYT will declare a “meh” and put the story on the second section, like page A-23 or something.

    And then publish a prominent opinion piece (probably from a guest, but possibly by Bobo) declaring that the nuns really had it coming.

  89. 89.

    lamh36

    @thehill
    Question: “Would you call yourself an Obama Democrat?”

    Sen. Kamala Harris: “I call myself Kamala.”

    954
    3:23 PM – Apr 11, 2019
    https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1116436743455150087

    good for Kamala Harris.

    they think they slick.

    Kamala was ready for ’em

    They better sure as hell be asking Pete or Bernie or Beto or the other non-POC folks if they consider themselves “Obama Democrats”.

    Oh, and ICYMI:

    @Fran_Neena20409
    Kamala Harris – Between the Scenes Guest Edition | The Daily Show https://youtu.be/pDpf7P-r1L4 via @YouTube

    3:31 PM – Apr 11, 2019
    https://twitter.com/Fran_Neena20409/status/1116438690056822785

  90. 90.

    Nicole

    @Betty Cracker: Holy cow. I read Less Than Zero and American Psycho back when I was in my early 20s. Now I see why both books left me totally cold. The author of them is an idiot. And willfully so.

    Note: I do very much like the Bangles’ cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Hazy Shade of Winter” that they did for the film of Less Than Zero.

  92. 92.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: True, it’s a tricky balance. But like Bubba before him, Biden always seems so preoccupied with winning over whatever room he’s in, and the people in it, that he says some flattering things to and about bad people. Instead of saying he was a great governor, talk about how he agrees with Jeb about immigration, or how he’s glad John Kasich agrees with him, and Obama, and the ACA about Medicaid expansion. Remind your old friend Lindsey of the days when he used to believe in climate change and the need to address it. Reminisce about how much John McCain hated Putin, and trump. Don’t say you ‘understand’ trump voters, say they voted for trump cause he lied to them about expanding health care and raising taxes on rich people (“my friends are very angry with me”). Think of your/our agenda instead of trying to make a new friend.

  93. 93.

    The Moar You Know

    No agency is as efficient as the Office of Personnel Management.

    @rikyrah: Sorry. I deal with OPM on a weekly basis. In addition to a universal staggering lack of competence and professionalism, they leaked the PII (addresses past and present, phone numbers past and present, SS numbers, income, passport scans, medical histories, etc) of EVERY SINGLE PERSON WITH A US SECURITY CLEARANCE.

    Lest you blame this on Trump (which I’m fine with, blame him for everything) this took place in 2015.

    The person you are quoting has never dealt with OPM in any official capacity whatsoever and is utterly full of shit. That OPM is in charge of clearances and is allowed to keep PII ought to be a fucking felony.

  96. 96.

    zhena gogolia

    @lamh36:

    I kicked in another contribution for her. The other ones just aren’t getting me. I hope it’s her.

  97. 97.

    Brachiator

    Hillary Clinton responds to a very good question from Citizens for Ethics researcher Robert Maguire

    So once again we get the straight scoop from Clinton and nonsense and word salad from the Trump Mal-administration.

  99. 99.

    Ruckus

    @Baud:
    I’d bet most of the people who say that are olds who remember a time when they thought that Democrats and republicans did work somewhat together to get things sorted of done. I also think they don’t know that republican politicians actually want to burn it all down, not work together on anything.

  102. 102.

    Keith P.

    I can also appreciate that Donald Trump’s sister is named Marion BarryMaryanne Berry.

  103. 103.

    trnc

    @stinger:

    This Ellis guy is a lying, twisty weasel — no wonder he doesn’t like it when people criticize Trump. He’s looking in a mirror.

    Based solely on the interview, my take is that Ellis is just another asshole who follows this pattern:
    – make snap judgement
    – form solid opinions based on that snap judgements
    – dig in when confronted with the flimsiness of his opinion
    – declare that he doesn’t care about X when his hypocrisy and double standards are pointed out, where X is politics or a person that he has already talked about quite a bit, despite “not caring”
    – Runs away at top speed from the idea that, maybe he should consider how he so easily forms opinions based on bullshit

    Feel free to fill in any steps I may have missed

  104. 104.

    MomSense

    @lamh36:

    I’ve been making my very small donations. I was contacted by an organizer so I will probably start making calls into NH. I was thinking of holding a house party. The campaign doesn’t have a video yet so I may need to ask one of my kids to make one for me.

  106. 106.

    trnc

    @Betty Cracker: I heard about a brother in a story about how DT tried to rewrite Pop’s will to basically cut everyone else out. Juuuuuuuust might explain the lack of closeness between the sibs.

  107. 107.

    lamh36

    @MomSense: I’m gonna start doing a recurring donation after my Paris trip in November or at least not until after this London trip in May.

    I’ve haven’t signed up to the campaign just yet…again cause of my trip, but I need to do that soon

  109. 109.

    JustRuss

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    @Baud: …. Remind your old friend Lindsey of the days when he used to believe in climate change and the need to address it. Reminisce about how much John McCain hated Putin, and trump. Don’t say you ‘understand’ trump voters, say they voted for trump cause he lied to them about expanding health care and raising taxes on rich people (“my friends are very angry with me”). Think of your/our agenda instead of trying to make a new friend

    Dammit, did Baud announce his candidacy and I missed it? Tanned rested, and ready?

  111. 111.

    MomSense

    @lamh36:

    I’m so envious about your Paris trip. I bet all my old haunts have changed or are no longer there. It’s a marvelous city and I hope you really soak t all in.

  112. 112.

    joel hanes

    @debbie:

    That whole group — Ellis, McInnerney, Jamowitz — heralded the crappening of American literature.

    Have never read any of them.

    Richard Powers is still writing. Read _Gain_ first.
    John Crowley is still writing, but has gotten a bit weirder. Read either _Little_Big_ or _The_Solitudes_ first.

  116. 116.

    debbie

    @joel hanes:

    They were among the up-and-coming writers known as the “Brat Pack Authors.” They were big in the 1980s. A couple of them were good; most of them were media whores. Even worse, they spawned Jonathan Franzen.

  117. 117.

    Betty Cracker

    @debbie: Well, here we part company. Franzen has his (huge! glaring!) flaws, but he can write circles around any of those hacks, IMO.

    @Nicole: LOVE that song!

  121. 121.

    James E Powell

    @trnc:

    I would respectfully add that he takes a position that is undeniably awful because he thinks it makes him a cool contrarian. He is quite clearly an a hole from the word go.

  122. 122.

    Chris Johnson

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Ya know, you may not like the B-52s. I do. Maybe you don’t.

    But if you do like the B-52s, it’s worth considering that they LOVE Yoko and in fact the wacky female vocals are directly patterned on Yokoisms and wouldn’t exist without her. You may well say ‘but if Yoko had done Rock Lobster, things would be different and that’d be worth liking’ and that’d be fair too: I don’t sit around listening to Yoko’s own music. But she done good, by inspiring the B-52s. And once you know that, you can’t unhear it and it’s obvious and you never quite think of Yoko the same way.

  124. 124.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @Betty Cracker:

    but he can write circles around any of those hacks, IMO.

    Which is quite a low bar. And he is a brass plated asshole who has a history of trashing dead rivals that goes back to junior high school.

  125. 125.

    EthylEster

    @sempronia: And I am thinking a lot more folks read online now. I scan it every day. It is still the paper of record.

    Also too Noam Chomsky did the epic NYT take down 25 years ago in Manufacturing Consent. Good documentary film of the book BTW.

  126. 126.

    jc

    I found it astonishing to see Trump say today: “I won the Mueller Report.” Isn’t he really saying: I got away with it all, I beat the rap (?) How brazen is that?

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