Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Bark louder, little dog.

John Fetterman: Too Manly for Pennsylvania.  Paid for by the Oz for Senator campaign.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

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

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Let there be snark.

I really should read my own blog.

“But what about the lurkers?”

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

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

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Why did Dr. Oz lose? well, according to the exit polls, it’s because Fetterman won.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Shove Actually (Open Thread)

Shove Actually (Open Thread)

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So, in a series of tweets today, Trump went and demonstrated for all the world that the UK Ambassador to the United States was being kind when he merely called Trump inept, incompetent and insecure:

The wacky Ambassador that the U.K. foisted upon the United States is not someone we are thrilled with, a very stupid guy. He should speak to his country, and Prime Minister May, about their failed Brexit negotiation, and not be upset with my criticism of how badly it was..

…handled. I told @theresa_may how to do that deal, but she went her own foolish way-was unable to get it done. A disaster! I don’t know the Ambassador but have been told he is a pompous fool. Tell him the USA now has the best Economy & Military anywhere in the World, by far…

….and they are both only getting bigger, better and stronger…..Thank you, Mr. President!

The message here — from Trump’s own fat thumbs, unless he dictates these inane and childish burblings — is far more damaging than anything said in the leaked cables. It is that the President of the United States is a clown, a bully and a raging narcissist who won’t hesitate to shit on his “friends,” so there’s not really much point in kissing his fat orange ass like PM May did. I hope she didn’t have to twist too many arms to arrange the state visit.

None of this is new information, of course, but it’s yet another national embarrassment.

Although I assume that Tories who are in the running for May’s job are uniformly odious wank-monsters, this reply from Jeremy Hunt seemed on point:

1/2 @realDonaldTrump friends speak frankly so I will: these comments are disrespectful and wrong to our Prime Minister and my country. Your diplomats give their private opinions to @SecPompeo and so do ours! You said the UK/US alliance was the greatest in history and I agree…

2/2…but allies need to treat each other with respect as @theresa_may has always done with you. Ambassadors are appointed by the UK government and if I become PM our Ambassador stays.

So far, it looks like Boris Johnson is bravely keeping mum. Haven’t heard about reactions from any others gunning for May’s job.

How is this playing across the pond, UK and UK media-following jackals? I seem to recall an entire Hugh Grant rom-com with the premise of a PM standing up to a bullying American president. Could Trump’s oafishness create an opportunity for a candidate willing to stand up to him, either Hunt or preferably someone who’s not right-wing douche-canoe?

Otherwise, open thread!

Reader Interactions

198Comments

  2. 2.

    rikyrah

    Hmmph

    American Airlines Accused of Policing Black Passenger’s Curves After Deeming Her Romper ‘Inappropriate’

    Anne Branigin
    Today 10:30am

    A Houston-based doctor says she was removed from an American Airlines flight and humiliated in front of her son because her outfit—a colorful romper—was deemed “inappropriate” for the flight.

    Dr. Latisha “Tisha” Rowe, who was flying with her 8-year-old son on June 30 from Kingston, Jamaica (hot) to Miami (also hot!), described the incident on Twitter and posted a photo of the offending romper.

    That, my friends, is what you call a regular, standard-issue romper—the kind you see on every sidewalk, brunch table, and cookout across the country from now until September. If that’s too much, then how is anyone supposed to have a hot girl summer?

    According to Rowe, she and her child were told to deplane and were not allowed to go back onboard until she wrapped blanket around herself. Despite knowing she had done nothing wrong, Rowe told Business Insider she complied because she saw the effect the incident was having on her son:

  4. 4.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    2020 Presidential Poll — PPP — July 3 thur 8

    If the candidates for President next year were
    Democrat Megan Rapinoe and Republican
    Donald Trump, who would you vote for?

    Megan Rapinoe ……………42%

    Donald Trump ………………41%

  7. 7.

    Gin & Tonic

    or preferably someone who’s not right-wing douche-canoe?

    I don’t think there are any of those on offer.

  9. 9.

    rikyrah

    Stay Angry
    by Trevor LaFauci

    ……………………………

    This is your Republican Party. It is not Donald Trump. It is not Stephen Miller. It is not Jeffrey Epstein. It is all of them. They are all complicit.

    This is a party that has no morals and they make no apologies for it. They support their White supremacist Congressman from Iowa. They support their Alabama senate nominee who was a known sexual predator. They support the nomination of an unethical man to the highest court in the land. Ethics be damned with the modern Republican Party. All that matters in staying in power.
    ……………………………………..

    Because make no mistake. The Republican Party will go lower. Their evil knows no bounds. They continue to protect their own and target who they perceive to be as the weak. It’s a slow march toward genocide that can only be stopped by us, the people. And it can only be stopped if we stay angry, pissed off, and motivated over the next 16 months. There are more sick fucks like Jeffrey Epstein out there, being protected by Republicans. We may or may not hear about them. But unless we remove this administration in 2020, we sure as hell won’t be able to shine the sunlight on them to disinfect them from the American political landscape. Remember how you’re feeling today, July 9th, and channel that anger into positive energy these next 16 months. Because that anger you feel today will be magnified exponentially on November 3rd, 2020 if this administration is allowed to continue in office for another 4 years.

  10. 10.

    laura

    @rikyrah: in that sweetheart deal, prosecutor Acosta accepted that defendant Epstein be allowed to plead to a lesser charge, and essentially recast the child victims as prostitutes. This prosecutorial discretion ought to be wired around Acosta’s neck whether he resigns in disgrace or not.
    Decent people everywhere ought to spit in his general direction till he’s dead, and then neatly line up to piss in his grave IMHO.

  11. 11.

    Brachiator

    It is that the President of the United States is a clown, a bully and a raging narcissist who won’t hesitate to shit on his “friends,” so there’s not really much point in kissing his fat orange ass like PM May did. I hope she didn’t have to twist too many arms to arrange the state visit.

    The UK is a few weeks away from likely electing their own orange hair clown as Prime Minister, so it’s difficult for them to slam Trump too hard.

    Meanwhile, BREXIT Jester and Night Monkey, Nigel Farage is running around suggesting that he would make a right proper ambassador, particularly since he and Trump are such great mates.

  13. 13.

    Gin & Tonic

    @schrodingers_cat: I don’t actually know. I’m pretty sure it was just a rejection. She was shocked at the rudeness of the person who was reviewing the application. But they will be getting married at the end of August, so it’s kind of moot (except for flushing the lawyer’s fees down the toilet.) Since they are leaving the US for about a year starting in November, which will void her TN-1, they’d need a way for her to return with him at the end of this fellowship. I think they wanted to get married next year and not on such short notice, but there are practical factors at play.

  14. 14.

    Plato

    Via bbc, boris, the kissass coward.

    “I have got a good relationship with the White House and I have no embarrassment in saying that.”

    “I think it’s very important that we have a strong relationship with our most important ally.

    “The United States is, has been, will be and for the foreseeable future our number one political military friend.”

  16. 16.

    trollhattan

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
    Heh :-)

    BBC interviewed John Major (remember him?) yesterday and he’s wholeheartedly on the remain side. It does make one wonder whether the Tories caught our Republican’s prion disease (thank you Charlie Pierce). If Boris and Trump are ever in a room together it may trigger the End Times.

    My kid not only correctly ID’d Brandi Chastain on her flight home from Germany, she and her buddies got to pose with her at the SFO terminal. Said she’s super nice. How cool is that? She then collected an enormous bag of soccer balls at the carousel; guessing she ran a clinic as part of WWC festivities. #PlayerForLife

  18. 18.

    Plato

    And Mur-Rena go into the next round at Wimbledon mixed doubles. More interesting than the needy amin and his 24×7 whines.

  20. 20.

    Zinsky

    Cheeto Mussolini is a rosacea-mottled, brain-damaged embarrassment – a leper pariah on the international stage. The sooner we can get this overstuffed bag of pig shit off the world’s TV screens, the better off the entire planet will be!

  21. 21.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Surely the ambassador has to be recalled. He was accurate and right, but he must have lost all effectiveness in the job.

    And good for Hunt. I understand he’s a weasel, but this time, he did well.

  22. 22.

    Mandalay

    Unless Trump pardons him, shit just got a lot worse for Traitor Flynn…

    Michael Flynn will not testify against his former business partner at a trial starting in Alexandria federal court next week because prosecutors no longer believe his version of events, according to recently unsealed court filings.

    “The government does not plan to call Flynn as a witness,” prosecutors wrote in a motion filed last week and unsealed Tuesday.

    Flynn, President Trump’s onetime national security adviser, had been expected to be a key witness in the trial of Bijan Rafiekian, with whom he ran a consulting business. Flynn’s sentencing in his own criminal case has been on hold pending that cooperation.

    An unsealed response from defense attorneys includes an email which prosecutors ended by saying they “do not necessarily agree” with Flynn’s “characterizations” of how he came to make an inaccurate filing under the Foreign Agent Registration Act for an influence campaign that benefited the Turkish government. According to the email, Flynn says he did not provide false information to his attorneys at the time, did not read the FARA filing before signing it and was not aware that it contained falsehoods.

    In their filing, lawyers for Rafiekian say they “interpreted the email’s final sentence as a euphemism for, ‘we’ve concluded [Flynn] is lying.’”

    The decision by prosecutors could imperil Flynn’s ability to avoid incarceration for lying to the FBI unless he is pardoned by Trump.

  25. 25.

    Chip Daniels

    I am old enough to remember when Obama supposedly replaced the bust of Churchill in the Oval Office, the righties screamed blue murder about the “Special Relationship”.

  26. 26.

    rikyrah

    @laura:

    @rikyrah: in that sweetheart deal, prosecutor Acosta accepted that defendant Epstein be allowed to plead to a lesser charge, and essentially recast the child victims as prostitutes. This prosecutorial discretion ought to be wired around Acosta’s neck whether he resigns in disgrace or not.

    Found out watching Joy Reid last night that Acosta met with Epstein’s attorney OFF SITE
    MULTIPLE TIMES.

  27. 27.

    Betty Cracker

    @Brachiator: According to The Guardian, yellow-fanged shitegoblin Farage demurs on the ambassador question but wants to “advise” whoever gets the job:

    Nigel Farage modestly ruled himself out as the next US ambassador, but suggested he could work as adviser to the UK government on intelligence, security and trade relations, a job description that would leave the role of the ambassador somewhat circumscribed.

    The leakers sure have put the UK government in a tight spot.

  28. 28.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Brachiator:

    Meanwhile, BREXIT Jester and Night Monkey, Nigel Farage is running around suggesting that he would make a right proper ambassador, particularly since he and Trump are such great mates horses’ asses in human costumes.

    F-i-x-e-d.

  29. 29.

    trollhattan

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:
    It amazes me how she and that team remain so in our collective memories from that iconic year (end of decade/century/millennium). Everybody remembers Brandi and the cup-winning goal and celebration. Some even remember Scurry’s save that made the moment possible. I could not for the life of me name the champion of our Three Big Sports from that year. To save anybody else the bother: Broncos, Spurs, Yankees.

    They’re still heroes.

  30. 30.

    rikyrah

    Vanity Fair heavily edited an Epstein Article:

    Graydon deleted thoroughly reported facts from some of my stories when subjects called him to complain. Believe @VickyPJWard. https://t.co/PAXpOmoH6d

    — Kim Masters (@kimmasters) July 9, 2019

  32. 32.

    Betty Cracker

    @Mandalay: Saw that coming when he fired his legal team a while back. Flynn is definitely angling for a pardon, and Trump has telegraphed that he may get one. They are lawless shit-bags, every single one of them.

  33. 33.

    CaseyL

    @Plato: Post-Brexit, the US will be their only significant trading partner, so you betcha Boris is going to eat as many shit sandwiches as D45 feels like feeding him.

  37. 37.

    RedDirtGirl

    As I like to say: How’s electing a pu$$y-grabbing narcissist working out so far?

  39. 39.

    catclub

    @CaseyL: In that case, Trump will actually be acting in the US interest by putting the screws to UK.
    Idiots don’t deserve to keep their money. Trump knows this.

  40. 40.

    trollhattan

    @catclub:
    My assumption has always been that Starr has a hanky-panky filled past because of the way he went after Clinton’s dalliances, after evidence of actual crime never appeared. Accusation=confession and all.

  41. 41.

    cmorenc

    @trollhattan:

    Some even remember Scurry’s save that made the moment possible.

    Which, if the US’s ’99 championship had being played under the same WC laws-of-the-game directives the 2019 WC referees were operating under, would have resulted in a re-kick for China, because Scurry was off her line way-early a good two or three steps forward at the moment the Chinese player took her kick, dramatically improving the GK’s angle. IIRC the result of a group-stage game in the 2019 WWC was dramatically altered to the benefit of the favored team, because an apparent save by the GK was disallowed for a much smaller early off-the-line violation than Scurry’s rather blatant one. Can’t recall off-hand which 2019 group game it was.

  42. 42.

    Mandalay

    When you read an article that starts out with “I support current laws which prohibit minors from smoking, but…” you immediately know that the author is a shill for some part of the tobacco industry.

    Little Marco doesn’t disappoint. It’s touching to see him fight to defend the cigar industry rather than spending all his time defending the NRA, removing access to health care and caging brown children.

  43. 43.

    catclub

    @RedDirtGirl: A whole hell of a lot better than for nearly a million dead Iraqis. Trump (may in future) but has not
    been able to change the economic path the US was on when he was elected. Not breaking things is a good quality – ask GW Bush about that.

  44. 44.

    trollhattan

    Why am I just now learning Britain once had a PM named Bonar Law (1922-23)? This is my Beavis and Butthead moment of zen.

  46. 46.

    mdblanche

    Johnson and Hunt are the only remaining candidates left for PM and Johnson is the prohibitive favorite. So don’t expect a happy movie ending. In fact, expect the opposite since this is an election where only Conservative Party members get to vote. It’s the equivalent of a race where whoever wins a closed Republican primary with extra low turnout is given the job automatically while everyone else can only watch.

    The British media seem to think this was a leak by Brexit supporters to kneecap an ambassador they didn’t like to make sure he’s replaced by one of their own. He was doing his job the way he was supposed to but now through no fault of his own he can no longer be effective and will have to quit, preferably after a decent interval so it doesn’t look like a total cave. Meanwhile other British diplomats are on notice: do the Brexiteers’ bidding or suffer the same fate. Britain’s own crew of vandals have just done lasting damage to their foreign service.

  48. 48.

    Betty Cracker

    @CaseyL: Yeah, but what good will it do? Trump’s erratic and childish behavior demonstrates there’s nothing to be gained from kissing his ass. May tried and got a steaming load of shit dumped on her head for her trouble.

  49. 49.

    cmorenc

    @catclub:

    Not breaking things is a good quality – ask GW Bush about that.

    Not defending or excusing GW here, but toward the end of his Administration, he seemed to finally realize how badly he’d been (rather willingly) advised and misled by Dick Cheney and the pack of lying hawks Cheney influenced him to bring into his Admin earlier-on. For example, he refused Cheney’s pleading to pardon Scooter Libby. Of course, a fundamental reason GW was so easily mis-leadable was that his real talent was being a genially charismatic, friendly frat-boy of the sort too many voters would rather have a beer with rather than any sort of deep thinker, coupled with a self-image as a swashbuckling macho Texas cowboy that Cheney and company played off of like a fiddle.

  50. 50.

    Peale

    Question for, I guess middle class workers with kids. How much time do you actually spend in August and September “Getting Ready for School?”. I’ve been told at work that I can’t schedule a fly-in meeting the entire month of august and until late september because co-workers are too busy “getting ready for school” to travel. I’ve had this come up before. Because I have no kids and don’t remember it being round the clock shopping and teacher meeting, I’m trying to figure out why there’s the 6 week hole that is deeper and more sacred than thanksgiving-new year that must not be touched.

  51. 51.

    raven

    This is fun

    After his victory speech, Cruz settled down to watching Fox News on his campaign bus. Alberta writes that he was initially pleased to see his photograph on the screen – an unusual bonus given blanket coverage of Trump by all main TV stations.

    But then Sean Hannity, the unashamedly partisan and extreme rightwing Fox News host, interjected by pointing out Trump’s strong standing in upcoming primaries in New York, the north-east, Indiana and West Virginia. At that point, the author says, the Texan blew.

    “What the fuck?” he shouted, leaping from his seat and startling staff who had never seen him quite as agitated.

  52. 52.

    trnc

    @catclub:

    Trump (may in future) but has not
    been able to change the economic path the US was on when he was elected. Not breaking things is a good quality – ask GW Bush about that.

    It took W about 4 years. I won’t hold my breath for a better outcome under DT.

  57. 57.

    NotMax

    wacky
    a very stupid guy
    a pompous fool

    There’s that projection again. from the pusillanimous pulsar.

  60. 60.

    Jay

    @CaseyL:

    Post Brexit, UK trade goes to WTO rules. ( A Hard Brexit is certain).

    Even with the US, because the UK roes not have a trade deal with the US, the UK does.

    And any post Brexit trade deal between the US and the UK is going to take at least 5 years to negotiate, and the UK’s gonna get screwed so had that chlorinated rotten chicken’s going to be the least of it.

    Still, the Disaster Capitalists are going to make out like bandits.

  61. 61.

    TenguPhule

    @Baud:

    May should come out swinging in response. But she won’t.

    Robots can’t violate the first law.

  62. 62.

    mdblanche

    @Betty Cracker: This would be a very good point if Britain had any better options, but…

    One interesting possibility I heard mentioned was if it’s 1/20/21, Britain still has no trade deal with the US, and President Harris is not interested in meeting with an ambassador selected to be Trump’s buddy.

  64. 64.

    Leto

    Megan Rapinoe will be on Maddow tonight.

    @lamh36: Sen Harris will be on Maddow Thursday night. I’ve seen a few interviews where she explains her stance on truancy laws and it’s a very good thing: kids who aren’t in school fall behind. The longer they’re out, the harder it is for them to catch up. We need them in school.

  65. 65.

    TenguPhule

    @laura:

    Decent people everywhere ought to spit in his general direction till he’s dead,

    Drowning from spittle is a rather horrible way to go. I approve.

  67. 67.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Tell him the USA now has the best Economy & Military anywhere in the World, by far…

    Which basically is an admission that Trump doesn’t really believe that.

  69. 69.

    TenguPhule

    @Betty Cracker:

    The leakers sure have put the UK government in a tight spot.

    Since the current UK government is pisspoor incompetent and completely insane, this can only improve matters.

  71. 71.

    TomatoQueen

    @Peale: The simple answer is, summer school and summer camp are over and done with. Parents with younger and/or special needs children are scrambling during these weeks to find child care. Sometimes it’s a day-to-day thing, and sometimes parents have to take time from work because there is no child care at all, not for love or money. Do not schedule meetings during these weeks.

  72. 72.

    Mary G

    @lamh36: Kamala seems much more joyful in all her appearances than any other candidates. It’s one of.my favorite qualities in her.

  74. 74.

    TenguPhule

    Justice Dept. Watchdog Is Preparing to Deliver Verdict on the Russia Investigation

    FTFNYT

    Inside a London office building in early June, three investigators for the Justice Department’s inspector general took a crucial step toward clearing the political fallout from the Russia investigation: They spent two days interviewing Christopher Steele, the former British spy whose now-infamous dossier of purported links between Trump associates and Russia ended up in the hands of the F.B.I. ahead of the 2016 election.

    The investigators pored over Mr. Steele’s old memos and his contemporaneous notes from meetings with F.B.I. agents in the fall of 2016, according to a person familiar with the investigation. They asked Mr. Steele to explain in detail how he had validated his sources inside Russia, how he communicated with them, and how he decided which of their claims to include in his reports. They spoke at length about Mr. Steele’s work with the F.B.I. on other Russia-related investigations and his contacts with a senior Justice Department official.

    The interview was a key step in the investigation by the inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, into the facts underlying a bitter partisan feud: Did F.B.I. officials do anything wrong in 2016 when they sought to understand the Trump campaign’s links to Russia — including how they used information from Mr. Steele?

    Despite the claims to Mr. Horowitz’s impartiality by the Times, I have no such confidence given the unbroken string of claims that have been proven to be wrong so far.

    And this is why.

    But the primary focus of the inspector general’s inquiry is the role that Mr. Steele’s information played in investigators’ effort to obtain court permission to wiretap Carter Page, a Trump campaign foreign policy adviser. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved the application on Oct. 21, 2016, about a month after Mr. Page had left the campaign, and the wiretap order — one of 1,559 the court issued that year — was renewed three times in 2017, including twice by Trump-era Justice Department officials.

  75. 75.

    Brachiator

    @Baud:

    May should come out swinging in response. But she won’t.

    May strongly defended the ambassador and predictably Trump insulted her.

    Trump also banned the ambassador from an upcoming diplomatic dinner. State Department officials insist that this is a one-time thing. But Trump seems intent on establishing himself as God Emperor of the West.

    Some UK pundits are predicting that Boris Johnson is looking forward to being subservient to Trump.

  77. 77.

    JustRuss

    I’m imagining the unending stream of Republican outrage we’d have been subjected to if Obama had ended a tweet (if he tweeted) with “Thank you, Mr. President!”

  78. 78.

    TenguPhule

    House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has appeared to rule out Congress investigating or impeaching Alexander Acosta.

    Shortly after Donald Trump stood by his labor secretary, Pelosi told reporters on Capitol Hill:

    “It’s up to the president, it’s his cabinet. We have a great deal of work to do here for the good of the American people and we have to focus on that.”

    This is shit optics. No legislation is passing Congress unless Mitch McConnell approves of it.

  79. 79.

    Jay

    “I had sexual intercourse with Dershowitz at least six times, the first time was when I was about 16, early on in my servitude to Epstein.’’ – Virginia Roberts wrote in a 2015 court affidavit

  80. 80.

    chris

    @JustRuss: I only remembered today that there was a time when Repubs were counting the number of times that Obama said “I” in his speeches. They said he was a narcissist. Then, of course, they elected one.

  81. 81.

    TenguPhule

    Immigrant Asylum-Seekers May Get Less Time To Prepare Their Cases Under A New Trump Administration Rule

    Another day, another way for Trump to make people’s lives worse.

    The Trump administration is attempting to speed up initial screenings of immigrants seeking asylum, a move that advocates say will give immigrants less time to prepare for their interviews or recover from dangerous journeys.

    Asylum officers have had to wait at least 48 hours after an immigrant has been detained for crossing into the US to interview them and hear their case. However, under a new directive implemented by US Citizenship and Immigration Services Acting Director Ken Cuccinelli, that window has been reduced to one calendar day, according to a policy change released to staffers on Monday and obtained by BuzzFeed News.

    The policy is also the latest in a string of maneuvers pushed by the Trump administration — and Cuccinelli — that advocates believe is aimed at restricting asylum.

    “This is another way to limit the process — that will lead to fewer positive credible fear interviews, more deportations,” said Ur Jaddou, a former chief counsel at USCIS. “This goes right along with his mistaken view that he is there to limit the number of people that obtain a benefit and remove people beyond his authority.”

    Agency officials, however, said the new policy was an attempt to reduce a significant portion of the processing timeline and make the system move more efficiently as the administration deals with record numbers of families crossing the border.

  82. 82.

    TenguPhule

    This could have gone better.

    Two Republican-appointed judges on the appeals panel today suggested that they might side with a lower court judge who said last year that the whole Obamacare law should be struck down.

    Keep in mind: This is a three-judge panel, meaning two of the judges will control the ruling.

    About the two sides: Lawyers from the Trump administration and a group of Republican states squared off against attorneys from a coalition of Democratic states and the House of Representatives.

    And about the judges: Three 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals judges — one nominated by President Donald Trump, one by George W. Bush and one by Jimmy Carter — heard the arguments. Because the case is before one of the most conservative appellate courts in the country, it is almost guaranteed to wind up in the Supreme Court.

    How bad was it?

    Judge Carolyn Dineen King, an appointee of President Jimmy Carter, asked no questions during today’s hearing.

    The questions came from the two GOP appointees: Judge Jennifer Elrod, a George W. Bush appointee, and Judge Kurt Engelhardt, a Donald Trump appointee.

  83. 83.

    satby

    ? former front page poster Hillary Rettig has lost her beloved Billy Dawg. He was a rescue they got six years ago, when he was about 10.

    Rest in peace sweet Billy. You were a vivid soul who knew his own mind; and, despite your determined efforts to play the tough guy, you were relentlessly adorable. We were privileged to share your love and company for six years; and I wish, with all my heart, that it could have been longer.
    Hillary

  84. 84.

    greenergood

    @Brachiator: Please remember Scotland – the majority of us are trying to escape from this Brexit scenario. We watch in horror the ‘debate’ between the two Tory candidates who will ‘rule’ the UK

  85. 85.

    TenguPhule

    A crying boy begged his father not to call the police on a black man. The father did it anyway

    Michel encountered the father and son on Independence Day as he says he was waiting on a friend at an apartment building in San Francisco. The video begins as the man asks Michel to identify the person he is there to see and to “please call your friend on the call box and have them come down and get you.”
    Michel declines.
    “They don’t have to do that. You can just walk away,” Michel responds.
    The man, who appears to be holding open the door to the building during the conversation, tells Michel he’s going to call the police.
    “Daddy don’t!” the child says as the man pulls out his cell phone.

    Michel welcomes the call and reminds the man that he is being recorded.
    “You’re just gonna be the next person on TV, just remember that and you have your son with you,” Michel tells the man.
    The man calls the police and tells them that Michel is a “trespasser,” who “tailgated” into the building, walking in as he was walking out.
    As the man talks to police, his son begins pleading with him to leave and to not call police.
    “Dad, don’t. Please go,” the boy says. “Daddy go. It’s the better; I agree with him, daddy.”
    The boy begins to cry as his father describes Michel to police.
    “Daddy, I don’t like this. Let’s go,” he says.
    “Listen to your son, walk away,” Michel says. “I will stop this. I will stop the recording.”
    Michel’s friend walks up as the man is on the phone with police. The friend appears to come from outside the building.
    “Told you. Let’s go now,” the young boy says and begins pulling his dad. “Daddy, look what you’ve gotten us into. Let’s go!”
    The man asks for confirmation that the resident is Michel’s friend and ends his call with police after telling them that Michel is “actually here with a resident.” Police do not appear to respond to the scene.
    The man asks Michel to stop recording, but he continues anyway.
    “Now you’re online forever,” Michel said.

    I feel bad for the son.

  86. 86.

    zhena gogolia

    Love Actually, although the president in question is a Bill Clintonesque character played by Billy Bob Thornton. Billy Bob chews the scenery a bit, but Hugh does a great job in the scene.

  87. 87.

    Brachiator

    @cmorenc:

    Of course, a fundamental reason GW was so easily mis-leadable was that his real talent was being a genially charismatic, friendly frat-boy of the sort too many voters would rather have a beer with rather than any sort of deep thinker

    In his frat boy days, Bush was a member of DKE and later Skull and Bones, fairly exclusive clubs. Bush wasn’t having beers with the average guy. But he was quite a naughty cut-up.

    In 1967, The New York Times reported on “frat-branding”, the alleged use of a hot branding iron to make a “D” shaped scar on new fraternity members. The fraternity’s then-president George W. Bush stated that they were “only cigarette burns.”

    Ah, school days!

  88. 88.

    FelonyGovt

    Among the many awful things about Trump’s tweets quoted above is the rank misogyny. “I told @theresa_may how to do that deal, but she went her own foolish way-was unable to get it done.” I don’t have a lot of sympathy for Theresa May, but I suspect there would not have been that patronizing tone if she were male.

  90. 90.

    JustRuss

    @chris: I’d forgotten about that! I do remember the word “arrogant” getting thrown around a lot.

  93. 93.

    ericblair

    From what I’ve seen, this leak seems to be pretty politically clumsy. It doesn’t do the Brexiteers a lot of good to fuck up the US trading relationship, since they’ve been relying on Great Deals! with the rest of the world to make up for completely screwing up their ties with the EU. It doesn’t do anybody else a lot of good domestically. So, the wags are thinking that this is foreign meddling again, probably from our buddy to the East, just because they can.

  95. 95.

    catclub

    @Baud:

    Wait…did you vote for Trump in 2016?

    of course not.

    But if you look at facts on the ground in … Iraq. Trump is about a million dead iraqis better than GWBush.
    If you look at where the economy is now, it is not broken, it is certainly no worse than when he took office,
    and probably better, on the same path of growth it was when he was elected..
    on the ‘passing tax cuts that will lead to trillion dollar changes (for the worse) in the national debt’,
    that is a tie between him and GWBush.

    I think those are facts, whether or not I voted against him.

  96. 96.

    MattF

    Jen Rubin notes that Trump associates with abusers:

    Republicans officials have enabled Trump every step of the way and mount zero opposition to his renomination. These Republicans, therefore, in the eyes of millions of women, become indistinguishable from Trump. And women will have the last say — at the ballot box. That might be the political death trap that Republicans so richly deserve.

  97. 97.

    Baud

    @catclub:

    But who cares whether Trump is the worst or the second worst? That wasn’t the original question. He has still been really awful for this country even if his awfulness hasn’t manifested itself in major wars or immediate economic collapse. A lot more awful than if enough Americans had overcome the legion of doom that went after Hillary.

  98. 98.

    TenguPhule

    @catclub:

    If you look at where the economy is now, it is not broken, it is certainly no worse than when he took office,
    and probably better,

    This is not only wrong, it is completely utterly fucking batshit insane wrong.

    We are in fucking trade wars with essentially every other first and most of the second world countries. Trump is pumping up shit industries like coal, oil and steel production while letting our solar lunch get eaten by China, our crop exports taken over by Mexico and Brazil and essentially fucked over all of our domestic car production.

    The DOW is not the economy.

  99. 99.

    cain

    @lamh36:

    ohh… I wanted to see Zoe’s side eye expression :P I knew a cat named Zoe wouldnt let anybody near her except her precious. eyes would get all big and it would be attack.. since then hte name Zoe always reminds me of that cat, and my attempts to befriend her.. :D

  100. 100.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Raven:

    What an awful movie.

    @zhena gogolia:

    I LOVE IT

    LOL. I’ve never yet met a man IRL who could abide Love, Actually, and I’ve never met a woman (me included) who didn’t love it.

  101. 101.

    TenguPhule

    McConnell compares himself to Obama as a fellow descendant of slave owners

    I…can’t even. This timeline. Daleks take it all already.

  102. 102.

    C Stars

    @TomatoQueen: Yep, it’s the mid-August summer camp hustle. Why do all the local camps end two weeks before the district school year officially begins? Tis a mystery….

  104. 104.

    Raven

    @catclub: I know you are itching for a fight on this because it’s the second time you’ve posted it but a million is bullshit.

  105. 105.

    cain

    @Jay:

    Hey, finally Britain will be able to go on their own steam as they demanded they should.. oh.. you mean not that generation, but the next generation? oops.

  106. 106.

    MJS

    @SiubhanDuinne: (Sheepishly raises hand as a man who, while not LOVING the entire movie, finds parts of it enjoyable, and will frequently stop flipping around to watch those parts).

  109. 109.

    prostratedragon

    @TenguPhule: We descendants of slaveowners should have a big jamboree and invite McConnell to be a featured guest. That old Southern hypocrisy is quite the blind spot here.

  110. 110.

    Brachiator

    @Betty Cracker:

    Nigel Farage modestly ruled himself out as the next US ambassador, but suggested he could work as adviser to the UK government on intelligence…

    It’s comical that Farage believes that he could contribute to anything related to intelligence.

    This leak thing is a mess, but curiously there was recently a more UK centric mess involving two anonymous senior civil servants who suggested to the Times that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was too frail to remain leader. There’s a bunch of nasty little struggles going on behind the scenes as the UK gets closer to electing a new prime minister. I, Claudius level shit.

  112. 112.

    Jay

    @ericblair:

    The Brexit Leak basically “tars and feathers” Civil Service Diplomats.

    This gives cover to Bad bad Boris and Natasha appointing a suck up Brexiteer like Banks or Farange to what is arguably Britains most important Foreign Diplomatic Post, rather than a professional.

    It also sends a message to the Foreign Office that honesty in communications with the Government is not appreciated, so either STFU or get with the program and regurgitate the talking points.

  113. 113.

    C Stars

    Woman here, not a fan of Love, Actually, actually. But About A Boy gets me right in the solar plexus every time.

  114. 114.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Baud:

    A lot more awful than if enough Americans had overcome the legion of doom that went after Hillary.

    Or pulled their fucking heads out of their asses and went “Hmmmm….racist, misogynist, fascist, Soviet shitpile, mobster conman or a highly qualified woman who will look out for the poor and middle class though I might disagree with some of her decisions over the next four years? Not even a question.” *marks ballot for Clinton/Kaine*

  116. 116.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Baud: The Orange Stable Genius is worse for the national fabric and the lives of immigrants than W ever was. catclub must not be an immigrant or have any immigrants in his/her life to make the comment he did.
    # of immigrant children dead under Orange = 6
    # of immigrant children dead under Bush = none AFAIK.

  118. 118.

    Jay

    We don’t even know where to start with the rabbit hole that journalist Michael Isikoff sent us down with his newly released investigation of the REAL origin of the Seth Rich murder conspiracy theory, except to say that it was the Russians. It was all the Russians. The big fake story Fox News breathlessly pushed, based on questionable sources, seems to have come from the Russians.

    https://www.wonkette.com/sounds-like-sean-hannitys-seth-rich-source-was-russian-spies

  119. 119.

    catclub

    @TenguPhule:

    We are in fucking trade wars with essentially every other first and most of the second world countries.

    How would I be able to tell if I were not a political junkie? Is unemployment going up? Are prices going up?
    I have heard that soybean farmers are losing money, but I don’t know any farmers, they are 1% of the population.
    I also heard that Trump is paying them reparations for his trade wars.
    I admit that when tariffs actually hit and the price of imported ( which is all of it) olive oil doubles, I will notice that.
    I have also noticed that many of those punishing tariffs always seem to get delayed.

    The question was how are things going so far.

    So how do I look around the economy TODAY and see the damage. Trump was saying that foreign companies were eating our lunch in 2015 and I did not believe him. Why should I believe you?

  122. 122.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @C Stars:

    Oh yes, I love that one as well.

    I may, however, be one of the few female people of my acquaintance who doesn’t like Notting Hill — but that’s likely because I can’t stand Julia Roberts.

  123. 123.

    Betty Cracker

    @SiubhanDuinne: I love parts of it, including Nighy as the aging rocker and his sidekick and the cute porno couple. I’d listen to Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman or Colin Firth read a phone book, so I enjoy their screen time. I like the doofus who goes to America and finds that his accent wildly improves his romantic prospects (that actually works, Brits — I have witnessed it!). The Keira Knightley-Andrew Lincoln story line always leaves me cold, even though I suppose that’s meant to be the emotional heart of the movie? Not sure why.

  126. 126.

    zhena gogolia

    @rikyrah:

    Maybe, but he lecherously eyes Grant’s assistant and even maybe pinches her, I think, so that’s more Clinton (or GHWB, but I don’t think it’s him at all).

  127. 127.

    Brachiator

    @C Stars:

    Woman here, not a fan of Love, Actually, actually. But About A Boy gets me right in the solar plexus every time.

    I’m a guy who enjoys both movies.

    I had forgotten that Nicholas Hoult plays the son in About a Boy. He’s grown up to be quite an actor. Most recently he was in Mad Max, Fury Road and The Favourite.

  129. 129.

    FelonyGovt

    @Betty Cracker: I love the movie and I had forgotten that Keira Knightley was even in it, maybe because I’m not a fan of hers. She has this kind of wan-frail thing going that irritates me.

  130. 130.

    Betty Cracker

    @SiubhanDuinne: I like Julia Roberts, but her character is such an ass in that movie! He should have stuck with his first decision and dumped her. However, the Welsh roommate almost salvages the whole thing!

  132. 132.

    zhena gogolia

    @Betty Cracker:

    I thought Hugh Grant and Liam Neeson (and his kid, little Sangster) were supposed to be the emotional heart of the movie. Keira’s part is the weakest, for sure. The man in the “cute porno couple” is Martin Freeman, I’ll have you know!

  134. 134.

    Quaker in a Basement

    Remember when the entire GOP was aghast that Obama moved the Churchill bust to another room? How dare he disrespect our bestest ally!

  136. 136.

    MisterForkbeard

    @SiubhanDuinne: Weirdly enough, I (mostly) love Love Actually while my wife hates it.

    The “mostly” is that I really don’t like Alan Rickman’s storyline.

  137. 137.

    Brachiator

    @TenguPhule:

    The DOW is not the economy.

    This is true, but GDP is up, unemployment is down, even wages are higher, and consumer confidence is positive. You have to admit that this works for Trump, no matter how much we may despise him.

    I think that Trump’s meddling in the economy, his stupid insistence on tariffs as a “negotiating” tactic, and his general ignorance about how economies work will be bad in the long term. Very bad. But his tax cuts probably helps cushion the effect of his worst decisions.

  138. 138.

    C Stars

    @RAVEN: What about Withnail & I? Any of the Mike Leigh films?

    I haven’t seen Pirate Radio. Will have to check it out per your, ahem, recommendation. We watched the first episode of Gentlemen Jack and weren’t enraptured, but I’d watch the series if I was down with a cold or something.

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yes, I haven’t seen any of them multiple times (other than About A Boy) but I’m pretty sure I liked Notting Hill well enough. Julia R. is one of those love it or hate it kind of actors, I think.

    My guilty London pleasure is the the Paddington movies. They’re so twee but I love them, stoned or straight. Probably also a symptom of having a five year old.

  139. 139.

    Steve in the ATL

    @TenguPhule: do “acting” directors and secretaries and whatnot have less authority than senate-confirmed ones? Where are the lines?

  146. 146.

    C Stars

    @raven: Laura Linney is absolutely grating in the new TOTC. I know it’s an intentional part of her character but it’s just too irritating to watch.

  147. 147.

    TenguPhule

    @Steve in the ATL:

    do “acting” directors and secretaries and whatnot have less authority than senate-confirmed ones?

    Apparently not.

    Where are the lines?

    Fuck if I know, nobody has been following the norms and rules for the last 3 years, I doubt they plan to start now.

  148. 148.

    Jay

    The President of the United States who has a massive online platform, essentially his own TV network, and an army of online bots and trolls willing to amplify his message and attack anyone who questions it is going to have a summit on why social media is so mean to him. Pathetic.— It's Going Down (@IGD_News) July 9, 2019

  149. 149.

    TenguPhule

    @catclub:

    So how do I look around the economy TODAY and see the damage. Trump was saying that foreign companies were eating our lunch in 2015 and I did not believe him. Why should I believe you?

    Try buying or renovating your House. Try ordering a really expensive piece of equipment for your business.

    You’ll start to see where the damage is accumulating.

  156. 156.

    Immanentize

    WELL!
    Perhaps NPR has given up the narrative in the Epstein re-indictment. During their news summary this evening, the guy with the deep news reading voice described Epstein as person who had contacts with many powerful people, both Republican and Democrat, including former President Clinton.”
    Any mention of Trump? No.
    Any mention in the news brief about Acosta? No.

    And all of this is coming true at the same time that the Steel dossier is again in the news. American. meet the Barr version of the Stasi.

    But I apologize if this distracts from hating on Pelosi.

  157. 157.

    Immanetize

    @MisterForkbeard: I like the Alan Rickman storyline. It was the only thing real in the whole movie. Marriage is, as I tell every engaged couple I meet, tricky business.

  158. 158.

    Jay

    In a study published on Saturday, economists from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Princeton University and Columbia University found that tariffs imposed last year by Trump on products ranging from washing machines and steel to some $250 billion in Chinese imports were costing U.S. companies and consumers $3 billion a month in additional tax costs and companies a further $1.4 billion in deadweight losses. They also were causing the diversion of $165 billion a year in trade leading to significant costs for companies having to reorganize supply chains.

    https://time.com/5543384/trump-trade-war-taxes/

  160. 160.

    WhatsMyNym

    @Immanentize:

    Perhaps NPR has given up the narrative in the Epstein re-indictment.

    What did you expect from the “Nice Polite Republicans”? I amazed folks still bother to listen, they’ve sucked for decades. Kind of like TFNYT.

  166. 166.

    Jay

    Tommy Robinson: EDL founder begs Trump to grant him political asylum in US

    ‘I beg Donald Trump, I beg the American government, to look at my case,’ says activist following contempt of court conviction

  167. 167.

    Immanetize

    @TenguPhule:
    They both have the same authority, but traditionally, “Acting” secretaries are not given the leeway to change policies that actually confirmed secretaries have. Both by courts and by, perhaps more importantly, career members of the agency unless they are pretty certain the person will be confirmed.

    This has added a whole new level of instability in the Trump admin.

  168. 168.

    Sloane Ranger

    Alan Duncan, the Foreign Office Minister, gave a strong defence of our man in Washington to a generally supportive House of Commons yesterday and really slammed down Tory Brexiteer Bill Cash’s attempt to portray Trump as the victim and Sir Kim’s motivations being some complex pro EU game.

    They’ve set up a Cabinet Office enquiry into the leak and the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee has written to the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police calling for a criminal investigation. FWIW Alan Duncan said that the evidence so far is that it was an internal leak with no foreign involvement but it was still early days.

    Speculation is rife here about the motive for the leak with all sorts of convoluted conspiracies being mooted. My money is this came from someone in BoJo’s camp, either with or without his knowledge, the intention being to replace Sir Kim with someone totally sympatico to the Trump administration. If so, the investigation had better do its work quickly or it will be shut down as soon as BoJo moves into No.10.

    I agree with Dorothy A. Windsor, they’ll probably leave it a month and then Sir Kim will be out.

  173. 173.

    Jay

    “Catfight” is the sexist term Republicans use when two adult women happen to disagree with each other.The reason they find it so novel &exciting is bc the GOP haven’t elected enough women themselves to see that it can, in fact, be a normal occurrence in a functioning democracy. https://t.co/s6eMMmvzrd— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 9, 2019

    .@KellyannePolls oh hi Distraction Becky. Remember that time your boss tore babies from their mothers’ arms and threw them in cages? Yeah take a seat and keep my name out of your lying mouth. https://t.co/dS8saIssX8— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) July 9, 2019

  176. 176.

    Jay

    Talking of Russia…Lord Ashcroft's yacht has now left Novorossisyk & is cruising through the Kerch strait, a militarily sensitive area next to Crimea. I mean I'm sure it's just a jolly hols, but it's surely worth a question? He *literally* pays Oakeshott's salary pic.twitter.com/7XK4dE9llw— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) July 9, 2019

  182. 182.

    Immanetize

    @Jay: It looks like Pressley finally borrowed some of AOC’s twitter handlers. She is 100% NOT a “get your name out of my mouth” politician

  184. 184.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Betty Cracker:

    I like the doofus who goes to America and finds that his accent wildly improves his romantic prospects (that actually works, Brits — I have witnessed it!).

    That part is completely unbelievable. There is no way a bar in Milwaukee would have that many Budweiser signs.

  185. 185.

    Jay

    And Hitler Youth badges are available,….

    one thing that doesn't receive enough attention: CBP has its own youth organization, whose members "participate in leadership opportunities, training and demonstrations, drills and ceremonies, physical fitness, marksmanship and community outreach" pic.twitter.com/IAZaGCkK7F— isi litke (@isilitke) July 8, 2019

  186. 186.

    James E Powell

    @catclub:

    Before you give Trump a “better than Bush” award, what’s your best guess as to what Trump & his cronies would have done if a 9/11 sized terrorist attack had occurred in the first year of his administration?

  187. 187.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    @rikyrah: Two things can be true at the same time:

    (1) Policing of women’s bodies and especially black women’s bodies is sexist, racist bullshit and needs to stop, and American Airlines has no business telling an adult what to wear on their airplanes as long as their clothing doesn’t smell offensive or expose their private parts.

    (2) That romper is tacky-ass crap and not appropriate for any grown person to wear anywhere not immediately beach-adjacent.

    Obviously, (1) is WAY more important than, completely supersedes, and is not even in the same universe of things worth taking action on as (2). But I’m still inwardly side-eyeing rompers on grown-ass women. (Or men. I’ve seen ’em.)

    @Adam L Silverman: AAAAACCKK!!! Cooties all up in the air circulation system!

  189. 189.

    Miss Bianca

    @C Stars: I love “Pirate Radio”. I hate “Notting Hill”. Got no opinion on “Gentleman Jack”, sounds intriguing from what I’ve heard. I’ll have to wait till it comes out on DVD to watch it.

  193. 193.

    A Streeter

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I’ve never yet met a man IRL who could abide Love, Actually

    You met me at a DC meetup, oh, 6 or 7 years ago. I rather enjoy L,A every time my daughters play it.

  194. 194.

    Tehanu

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    Word is Putin likes them really young too.

    So, another Lavrenti Beria, eh? Sounds about right for an ex-KGB guy.

    And btw, what about Four Weddings and a Funeral, for Pete’s sake?

  196. 196.

    J R in WV

    @catclub:

    …when tariffs actually hit and the price of imported ( which is all of it) olive oil doubles, I will notice that.

    Well, I hate to say it, but this sentence shows how little you know. A lot of great olive oil comes from olives grown in California. Not nearly enough to make up the damage caused by the Trumpian trade wars, but way more than none.

  198. 198.

    VOR

    @Tehanu: In 4WAAF, he should have gone with Kristin Scott Thomas, not Andie MacDowell. Not even a question.

    Yes, I thought the US President in LA was intended to be a GWB analog, not Clinton. And yeah, Milwaukee has their own beer, they don’t need Budweiser.

Comments are closed.