Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Good Morning All,
On The Road and In Your Backyard is a weekday feature spotlighting reader submissions. From the exotic to the familiar, please share your part of the world, whether you’re traveling or just in your locality. Share some photos and a narrative, let us see through your pictures and words. We’re so lucky each and every day to see and appreciate the world around us!
Submissions from commenters are welcome at tools.balloon-juice.com
Warren: Here’s my policy to hold corporations accountable
Klobuchar: Here’s mine on infrastructure
Harris: Here’s mine on teacher pay
GMA: OMG! Mayor Pete can say ‘good morning’ in, like, a million ways!
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) April 4, 2019
Before y’all flame me…
1) I’m teasing the media not Buttigieg
2) Knowing multiple languages: great
3) Valuing other cultures enough to want to know them: great
4) Showing candidates’ personalities: great
5) Celebrity crowding out policy: IMHO, not great
6) Repeat Item #1— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) April 4, 2019
And on this topic, re-upping (for the millionth time) this Dec 2017 article by me and ex-CIA @john_sipher and @alexzfinley on why national security isn't about the criminal code https://t.co/RWLYsSSAbO
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) April 4, 2019
I’m not sure “the President and his inner circle are just incurious dopes who were easily dogwalked by foreign agents” is really all that exonerating.
I mean, if they’re dumb enough to get catfished by spies, maybe we oughta not have them run the country.
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) April 5, 2019
In his heart I’ll bet Trump would rather be seen as a cool conspirator than a useful idiot. https://t.co/ZruHQWDhpV
— Schooley (@Rschooley) April 4, 2019
If Pelosi just started casually saying Russia doesn’t think Trump is smart enough to be a coconspirator he’ll confess in a day.
— Schooley (@Rschooley) April 4, 2019
(Worth a try, Madame Speaker!)
it rules that the twilight of american empire is incarnated in the antics of one sundowning muppet
— Patrick Blanchfield (@PatBlanchfield) January 25, 2019
Friday Morning Open Thread: The Way We Live NowPost + Comments (131)
Morning Joe put together a montage highlighting the similarity between comments Trump and Bernie Sanders have made about releasing their tax returns ?? pic.twitter.com/p6Tij7BJlu
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 4, 2019
Enough with the excuses, @helaineolen says. It’s time for Bernie Sanders to release his tax returns. https://t.co/QNoVkex3ja
— Washington Post Opinions (@PostOpinions) April 4, 2019
Bernie Sanders said nearly 40 days ago he would realize his taxes “soon.” Asked by @tedbarrettcnn for an update today, Sanders was evasive and his aides stepped in front of him and tried to prevent Sanders from being questioned further https://t.co/Dp6gy5r1RK
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 5, 2019
.
TA-DAAAH!
.@BernieSanders sets a date for releasing his tax returns: "April 15 is coming. That will be the 10th year, and we will make them all public." https://t.co/mqz90MVg9p
— Hanna Trudo (@HCTrudo) April 5, 2019
Tenth year of what?...
And why April 15th?…
Bernie Sanders to appear in Fox News town hall meeting https://t.co/wl16BIBgsL
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) April 3, 2019
Swear to Murphy, Sanders believes he can peel off enough Repubs who find Trump distasteful to monkeywrench his way into the Democratic nomination. A Dem we can *work* with! One who *appreciates* the hard-working white salt of the earth!
And given this degraded timeline, bastid could be correct!
You'll note how much more comfortable he'll be in a studio teaming with MAGA than one full of black people
Curious to see if he'll call out fox news' undeniably bigoted broadcasts or stand up for black/brown lives, repro rights rtc https://t.co/P4wolonbge
— T. Fisher King (@T_FisherKing) April 4, 2019
It's also completely in character for him. This is the same guy who gave a speech in 2015 at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University* w/ mandatory attendance by students, who went on Lou Dobbs' show to bash immigrants, and who supported an amendment favoring the Minutemen vigilantes.
— Anna Maltese (@MalteseAnna) April 3, 2019
Cold Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: I’ll Believe It When It HappensPost + Comments (35)
Looks like he’s announcing war with Canada. My God.
— Richard M. Nixon (@dick_nixon) April 4, 2019
Oh, it makes sense. It’s just stupidly phrased.
— Richard M. Nixon (@dick_nixon) April 4, 2019
It’s not everyone who announces the beginning and ending of their campaign in the same speech
— Darrell Bratz (@DarrellBratz) April 4, 2019
Seems like Ryan might have some rationale for this attempt… especially since, IIRC, he was Seth Moulton’s wingman in the attempt to unseat Speaker Pelosi:
Given Ohio's probable loss of another House seat, poor growth trends in eastern Ohio, and the general reddening of the Mahoning Valley, I wonder how much of Tim Ryan's seeming presidential bid is about finding some kind of escape hatch in advance of the 2022 congressional map
— Kyle Kondik (@kkondik) April 4, 2019
These other guys, well, ‘mediocre white guy with money syndrome’ is real:
I realize now, only too late, that the proper response to Howard Schultz was not to mock him, but to quietly sign on as his consultant and milk this scorching dumbass for millions https://t.co/rDgqXnOon1
— Simon Maloy (@SimonMaloy) April 5, 2019
Poll in the field in Iowa testing Tom Steyer's level of support in the Iowa Caucus https://t.co/s9FVFY7HrG
— Iowa Starting Line (@IAStartingLine) April 4, 2019
Even Repubs are catching the fever, sorta…
BREAKING: Florida Republican MATT GAETZ, a top Trump loyalist, eyes Senate bid in … Alabama.
He’s been discussing the idea of moving across the state line to run for the Senate in 2020 https://t.co/8svBvHofod
— Scott Wong (@scottwongDC) April 4, 2019
Like Hemingway’s bankrupt, the Squatter-in-Chief is losing even Fox News:
John Roberts: "This hour we've got to do your favorite emoji, ¯\_(?)_/¯, because we're not exactly sure what the president is talking about." pic.twitter.com/4355NZoeGs
— Lis Power (@LisPower1) April 4, 2019
Not saying Trump would never ignore the terms of a deal, but it seems like relevant context
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 4, 2019
Which makes the still-to-be-rleased Mueller Report that much more dangerous…
"it is with some sadness that I say, Barr did absolutely the wrong thing, in the wrong way, and one can certainly infer bad reasons in his handling so far of the special counsel's report." https://t.co/7yycTnX0cK
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) April 4, 2019
Oh, you say that the Trump campaign didn't collude with Russia because that implies they knew what they were doing and weren't witless hacks? That sounds… familiar. https://t.co/6EhTlIxi9K https://t.co/qgG2srIc0D
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) April 4, 2019
If I understand the reporting, Barr’s excuse for not releasing the Mueller team’s own summaries—written expressly for public release—is that these somehow remained so riddled with classified or grand jury information that this was impossible. That is not credible.
— Julian Sanchez (@normative) April 4, 2019
It also makes the need for review & redaction, which I’d accepted as legitimate in theory, sound like a stall tactic. How long would it have taken to review the summaries? If we still can’t see those, why should we think we ever get to see anything substantial?
— Julian Sanchez (@normative) April 4, 2019
Et tu, Check?
I support release of the Mueller report
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) April 4, 2019
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: @pourmecoffee’s responses to Trump tweets are ?? pic.twitter.com/0M9ryEr68N
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) April 4, 2019
Open Thread: <em>Gradually, and Then Suddenly</em>Post + Comments (154)
Scout loves using her Bixby as her personal pillow
Bixby had another bout of a bacterial gastric event that he had last year. I’ll try not to get too graphic, but blood in his vomit and bowels sent us to the emergency vet, as my vet had two surgeries he couldn’t’ reschedule. Turns out that’s not uncommon with an inflamed gut.
I was thinking we were going to get away with a few meds and be on our way. His blood work was perfect, his heart and BP were in the safe zone. And then they brought him out to me. He couldn’t stand, kept falling over and was confused and lethargic.
The emergency vet sent him home anyway, despite my concerns – the least being how I was going to lug around a woozy 160 lb Dane. They said to watch him and bring him back if he got worse. We won’t discuss the words I used both in my head and in person.
By late afternoon, he was no longer able to walk and a return to the vet was not possible. Our best guess is that he either had a serve allergic reaction to the anti-nausea shot or they hit/pinched a nerve in back. He has not been able to walk since.
He’s eating, drinking, etc and on the mend that way, so we are 1/2 way there, I guess. My vet has kind of thrown up his hands and left us on our own.
I’ve now put in a call to a DVM that is also certified in chiropractic and acupuncture, hoping she’ll make a home visit and help evaluate him. If he’s just jammed his neck or shoulder when he kept falling, she should be able to help. Worst case scenario is when they did the subcutaneous fluids, he might have suffered a spinal stroke which would be a devastating diagnosis.
While we wait for some resolution, we could use your good thoughts, good energy and prayers (if that’s your thing).
I’m on day three of little sleep and can’t even imagine what might come next. Basically I just breathe in and breathe out and lay on the floor next to the big guy.
This video is from one of my favorite science blogs, Deep Sea News. They have a lot of great photos of sea animals, including a few bit players in this one. They dropped an alligator in the Gulf of Mexico to see which animals showed up to eat it. The giant isopods are relatives of roly-polys, pillbugs, wood lice, whatever you care to call them.
Open Thread!