Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

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

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

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Can we lighten up on the doomsday scenarios?

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Even though I know this is a bad idea, I’m off to do it anyway!

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Republicans would impeach Biden if he bit into a whole Kit Kat rather than breaking the sections apart.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

Let there be snark.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

The revolution will be supervised.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Let’s finish the job.

Every day Vance writes another chapter in the book called “Worst VP Pick Ever”.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

I really should read my own blog.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Too Much Noise!

Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Too Much Noise!

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Speaking of ugly noises…

Then there’s this, FWIW:

Reader Interactions

157Comments

  5. 5.

    NotMax

    The great and powerful Woz has spoken: Poor? Tough titties.

    Wozniak’s solution […] is one that has admittedly been floated before: Just let everyone pay for their privacy. Source

  7. 7.

    Betty Cracker

    From Michelle Goldberg’s NYT column, “Jeffrey Epstein Is the Ultimate Symbol of Plutocratic Rot:”

    After Epstein served his time, he had to register as a sex offender. Inexplicably, the Manhattan district attorney’s office, under Democrat Cyrus Vance Jr., asked a judge to downgrade Epstein’s sex offender status from Level 3, the most serious, to Level 1, the least. The judge, stunned, refused. “I am a little overwhelmed because I have never seen a prosecutor’s office do anything like this,” she said.

    The same Cyrus Vance Jr. who declined to prosecute Harvey Weinstein for sexual assault and Ivanka and Don Jr. for fraud.

  8. 8.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Cillizza, like Todd, is a vector of the most insidious disease that infects American “journalism”…Broderism. The disease needs to be eradicated.

  9. 9.

    Chyron HR

    At least we know Bernie fans will take it well if he gets ~10% raw vote and ~1% final vote in Iowa

    What is he implying? Our great messiah Bernie divinely decreed that caucus results directly represent the will of the people, much more so than a direct vote.

  11. 11.

    Baud

    @Betty Cracker:

    The judge, stunned, refused. “I am a little overwhelmed because I have never seen a prosecutor’s office do anything like this,” she said.

    No wonder the plan didn’t work.

  13. 13.

    Baud

    @Chyron HR:

    They are revolutionaries fighting against the Establishment’s corrupt commitment to the elite privilege of numerical superiority.

  16. 16.

    Betty Cracker

    @NotMax: It was fun! Kept the menu simple in the end (fruit, charcuterie and cheese plates, caprese salad, etc.) and farmed out a couple of dishes to attendees, but I collected many recipe suggestions for future events.

  17. 17.

    JPL

    My fear is that information about democratic politicians will be leaked, and the republican politicians involved with Epstein will have evidence go up in smoke. In the age of trump why not.

  18. 18.

    OzarkHillbilly

    In February 2018, Devon Beccera started working at the Tesla Giga factory in Sparks, Nevada. A few months into her employment she was promoted to supervisor , making about $25 an hour. She found out in July that year that she was pregnant, and informed management she planned on taking maternity leave in February, 2019, once she became eligible.

    Instead, on 14 December 2018, Beccera was fired.

    “Nevada is a right-to-work state, so they didn’t need any sort of reason for firing me, but it was very convenient to fire me two weeks before Christmas, and about 50 days before my maternity leave started,” she said.

    It meant that 28 weeks into her pregnancy, Beccera lost her medical insurance and only source of income, as her husband was a stay-at-home dad. They later struggled to pay for diapers and other essentials for their newborn.

    A Tesla spokesperson said Beccera’s termination was due to performance issues.

    Jennifer Peercy worked at Tesla as a customer care agent in Las Vegas, Nevada, since August 2018. A mother of four and more than five months into her pregnancy, her colleagues offered her their own time off to help with childcare. But Tesla management told her the time wasn’t transferable between employees. She stopped taking it, but was fired two weeks later for doing so.

    “If I knew that, I never would have taken it,” Peercy said. “I’m 22 weeks pregnant without a job or income and four girls to care for.”

    She’s currently applying for unemployment and looking for jobs while still hoping to return to Tesla . Peercy provided the Guardian with her termination letter and an email she sent the chief executive officer, Elon Musk, which resulted in another follow-up from an HR staffer who reaffirmed her termination.

    Can you say Stockholm Syndrome?

    Maggie Aranda worked at Tesla’s Fremont plant for 19 months before she was fired on 11 June.

    “I had permission from my supervisor to use my phone to help my husband and myself. My husband was very sick at that time. My supervisor then told me two hours into a shift to clock out and go home. They did an ‘investigation’ and then fired me for cellphone usage,” Aranda said.

    She noted her husband, Carlos Aranda, who also worked at Tesla but had been on medical leave, submitted a letter of resignation from Tesla on 24 June but received a response from Tesla human resources that he, too, was involuntarily terminated on 26 June. Aranda said they are now currently homeless due to losing their jobs, still suffering from injuries sustained on the job, and are trying to raise money via GoFundMe to help get back on their feet.

    “With only me working we got behind,” Aranda added. “The landlord worked with us for a while but it got to be too much and when I lost my job we had nothing, so we had to leave.”

    A Tesla spokesperson claimed Maggie Aranda’s termination was due to cellphone usage at work, and Carlos Aranda was terminated over a tweet that violated Tesla standards.

    It was just a coincidence that the tweet came to light the same day they decided to terminate his wife.

    Tesla declined to comment on record about their attendance policy or why it was recently revised, though a spokesperson denied their attendance policy penalized workers for use of paid time off.

  21. 21.

    satby

    @NotMax: I used my Instant Pot on the keep warm setting to sous vide a beef shoulder roast yesterday. 9 1/2 hours, probably could have let it go another hour. But I wanted it tender without being shredable. Worked great, and knew I had to tell you ?

  27. 27.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: Someone on Twitter said, “If the president can be orange, the Little Mermaid can be black.”

  31. 31.

    satby

    @rikyrah: whatever you’re cooking has to be vacuum sealed into a plastic bag and cooked at lower temperatures over hours. Vegetables would be goo. I was going for a tender cut of meat that was able to be sliced. Today I’ll broil it for a few minutes to crisp up the outside, and then make veggies to go with.
    @?BillinGlendaleCA: to sous vide (?), because I’ve had the pot for a while. My kid just won’t give back my Anova.
    @NotMax: dinner will be at 6 ?

  35. 35.

    satby

    @JR: yes. The temp at the keep warm setting is between 145-172°, according to the manual. Which is a touch hot for true sous vide, but still lower than slow cooking, which is 180-190°. I balanced out the hotter temps with shorter cooking time.

  36. 36.

    Betty Cracker

    @satby:

    That Americans vs. registered voters shows why they fight so hard to suppress people from registering and voting. It works.

    Yep. It’s important to go all-in on fighting suppression so that people who want to vote can do so and also to drag folks off the sidelines. Apathy is as deadly an enemy as voter ID laws, etc., and possibly even harder to overcome.

  38. 38.

    mrmoshpotato

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Welcome fellow cultist

    The only problem we have is not everyone has an Instant Pot! And this is because of income inequality! *shakes finger in your face vigorously*

  40. 40.

    Betty Cracker

    Amy McGrath is taking on Mitch McConnell!

    It’s KY, so, a heavy lift, obviously. But everyone hates the fucking turtle. It would be brilliant if she wins!

  43. 43.

    Betty Cracker

    @debbie: From everything I’ve read about the census question, I get the impression it’ll come down to how John Roberts calculates the partisan benefits vs. the possible damage to his reputation if he swallows whatever lie Barr concocts. It could go either way.

  44. 44.

    Betty Cracker

    @satby: It was smart to splice in video of McConnell in the Senate in the 80s into her intro ad. I hope she keeps that theme up because it seems to be really effective with low-info voters. The vile cretin Rick Scott used that strategy in his campaign ads against Bill Nelson for the FL US Senate seat, and I’m certain it was a decisive factor in the close election. Scott repeatedly ran an ad showing Nelson in a plaid suit with an awful 70s haircut, and people were like why the fuck is that old bastard still in DC? Even though Scott was a two-term governor, he successfully ran as a fresh face in Washington. It worked.

  46. 46.

    low-tech cyclist

    Two thoughts:

    1) If Cillizza disappeared from public life forever, it would be a big improvement.

    2) Don’t have the cite handy right now, but general election polls >300 days out have no predictive value. None, zip, nada. So

    New Post/ABC poll:

    All the Dems lead Trump among all Americans:

    Biden 55-41
    Sanders 51-45
    Warren 51-44
    Harris 51-43
    Buttigieg 48-44

    But it’s closer among registered voters:

    is crap. Just ignore it.

  48. 48.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @debbie: He probably doesn’t have one yet but he has to say something that sounds authoritative while he reaches ever deeper up his own ass in search of a legal argument.

  51. 51.

    satby

    @Betty Cracker: it is effective. As is the glimpses of Kentucky citizens who have written and not gotten responses. I just sent that to my son in Kentucky.I know he and his gf are already in the bag for McGrath or anyone who runs against traitor turtle.

  54. 54.

    low-tech cyclist

    @

    Inexplicably, the Manhattan district attorney’s office, under Democrat Cyrus Vance Jr., asked a judge to downgrade Epstein’s sex offender status from Level 3, the most serious, to Level 1, the least. The judge, stunned, refused. “I am a little overwhelmed because I have never seen a prosecutor’s office do anything like this,” she said.

    The same Cyrus Vance Jr. who declined to prosecute Harvey Weinstein for sexual assault and Ivanka and Don Jr. for fraud.Thank you for refreshing my recollection of the rest of Cy Vance’s scumbaggery – or what we know of it anyway; I’m willing to bet there’s more.

    When I saw his name, I could remember that this was far from the only time he’d let some big shot off the hook, but I couldn’t remember the specifics. But it reminds me of the words of the fictional Auric Goldfinger: once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, but the third time is enemy action. Sounds like how we should view Mr. Vance.

  55. 55.

    Kay

    My oldest and his wife move to Denmark Wednesday. She’s Danish and speaks the language but he doesn’t. They sold their Chicago apartment and sold (me) their car. They’re taking their dog and cat. He has a five year contract to work for a Danish company upgrading their computer systems. He went for 2 weeks in May to meet everyone he’ll be working with and find housing. He’ll be under the work rules of the Danish version of a union, which is new to him. One of the union protections is limiting the time he’s “on call”. He said he has been “on call” since he was 22 years old and he is really looking forward to leaving work at work. I had no idea he had to be available almost constantly for his (huge) US employer- he never complained about it- although I did notice one Thanksgiving he was getting work messages constantly.

    I’m excited for them but sad about it. I’ll miss seeing them.

  59. 59.

    Another Scott

    @rikyrah: SpeakerPelosi:

    Nancy Pelosi Verified account @SpeakerPelosi

    .@SecretaryAcosta must step down. As US Attorney, he engaged in an unconscionable agreement w/ Jeffrey Epstein kept secret from courageous, young victims preventing them from seeking justice. This was known by @POTUS when he appointed him to the cabinet. #AcostaResign

    8:08 PM – 8 Jul 2019

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  60. 60.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:
    Kay,

    I know that you are sad ☹️, but you will have.a place to stay in Europe, and it probably means that you will be getting grandchildren,sooner than later. ??

    PS- please remind your son that just cause he is overseas, he can still vote.. Just get that FPCA Application into the Chicago Board of Elections come January 2020.

  64. 64.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Betty Cracker: Yes it would. Though at this point, I’d vote for an actual turtle over the turtle-faced fascist fucker if I lived in KY.

  65. 65.

    joel hanes

    This “Politics is a game! Like sports!” BS is part of the reason we’re living in this hellworld right now.

    Chris Cillizza is a big part of the reason we’re living in this hellworld right now.

    This is Kaliyua, buddy, the Iron Age. Anyone without an ulcer’s a goddamned spy. — _Franny_And_Zooey_

  68. 68.

    JPL

    @debbie: The reason for the question is political. Roberts already said that is okay in the gerrymandering case.

  70. 70.

    Immanentize

    @Kay:
    Does this mean you will have more time to devote to your other son’s girlfriend’s son? ?

  71. 71.

    Another Scott

    RollCall:

    Democrats on the Senate Appropriations Committee are asking the Government Accountability Office to investigate the costs of President Donald Trump’s Independence Day celebration and examine whether the spending is legal.

    Appropriations ranking member Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, Tom Udall of New Mexico, and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland want GAO to provide a comprehensive cost estimate for all the events, including Trump’s “Salute to America,” which was the subject of criticism for its incorporation of military equipment, potential high cost and the possibility for an apolitical holiday event to be politicized.

    The Fourth of July celebration in Washington, D.C., also included the National Independence Day Parade, A Capitol Fourth concert and the National Park Service fireworks display, all of which have taken place in the past. The lawmakers want separate accounting for each of the four events.

    The letter was sent on July 5 to Gene Dodaro, GAO’s comptroller general. The Senators said that the decision for the National Park Service to divert almost $2.5 million in entrance and recreation fees to help pay for the Independence Day celebration is of concern to them.

    “Congress did not specifically provide funds to cover the costs of the President’s expanded Fourth of July events, and we are very concerned by the impacts and the precedent of diverting limited Federal resources—including the use of military personnel, equipment and aircraft as well as other appropriations or visitor fees paid to improve national parks—to organize and execute unbudgeted events,” the senators wrote in their letter.

    Leading up to the Fourth of July, the Senators wrote to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt asking for information about the added costs to put on this years’ Fourth of July celebration, but he did not respond to the letter by the June 28 deadline, according to the Democrats’ release.

    In addition to Leahy’s position as vice chairman of the full committee, Udall is the ranking member on the Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, and Van Hollen serves on that same subcommittee.

    “Further, we are troubled by reports that preferential access to the National Mall was organized by political entities such as the Republican National Committee, which furthers the appearance that taxpayer funds were used to accomplish political objectives,” they wrote.

    Tickets closest to the Lincoln Memorial, where Trump gave his speech on the Fourth of July, were distributed by the White House to Republican donors and political appointees.

    Good, good. More investigations, please.

    Drip, drip… Or is it tick, tock?

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  73. 73.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    They’ll live in Odense. He rides a bike to work in Chicago so he’ll do the same in Denmark. His Denmark commute is “4 minutes shorter” which is the kind of useless detail he tells me, when I want to know what it’s LIKE there :)
    I used to ask him if he “liked” his teacher in say 4th grade and he would literally describe her. “Older lady, grey hair…” Jesus. Just the wrong information. You have told me NOTHING.
    I’ll have to go see to get the… aura of the place. I think I will love it- I love those chilly, watery places where everyone wears sweaters. That’s how I picture it. People in fisherman caps.

  74. 74.

    JPL

    @Kay: When my youngest was a consultant, he spent months in Denmark. His girlfriend and now wife visited him there. They both love the country and plan on returning.

  75. 75.

    Chyron HR

    @rikyrah:

    If there was a daily White House Briefing, the Trump White House would have to explain

    …No? They wouldn’t have explained shit either way.

  76. 76.

    rikyrah

    @JPL:
    But, the dead man’s hard drives reveal that the intention is RACIAL, which is not acceptable. That’s why the discovery is so important

  78. 78.

    Immanentize

    @Kay:

    . “Older lady, grey hair…” Jesus. Just the wrong information.

    Ha! It’s very clear why he is in tech.

  80. 80.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Another Scott: It’s “Lock him up! Lock them all up!”

    No, seriously, after Dump is out of office, arrest a bunch of fuckers and jail them awaiting trial. You know damn well they’d try to flee the country.

  82. 82.

    Another Scott

    @JPL: It’s kinda strange, though, that he didn’t use that reasoning in this case, isn’t it – I mean if he were going to?

    As I understand it, and IANAL, Roberts held in the gerrymandering case that the federal courts couldn’t address them because they’re political questions. This case about the Census is different. It’s about whether the rules and the laws were followed, whether the stated reason is the actual reason, whether the question and the use of the data will so break the Census as to be unconstitutional, etc.

    “We can’t rule about Census questions because it’s political” doesn’t seem to fit at all.

    We’ll see, but if Roberts accepts Donnie’s and the Teabaggers lies about this then they know that the federal courts will be broken. Anything goes then. The courts have to have the truth presented to them, and not accept lies, or they can’t do their jobs.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  83. 83.

    MomSense

    @Kay:

    Congrats to Kay’s eldest! It’s hard when they leave but Denmark is a wonderful place to visit. He is going to have so many opportunities and advantages living there.

    I remember talking to a woman from Sweden at a local coffee shop who was visiting her mother in law and taking a break while her husband ran some errands. When she said she married and was living in the US I sort of commiserated with her about leaving. She said that everyone else she met in the US actually asked her if she was grateful to be able to move to the US. From Sweden?! People here have no idea that there are better places to live for quality of life. They don’t realize we are only number 1 in incarceration rates and amount of garbage generated per person.
    Unions, health care, free college, efficient public transportation, parental leave – so many ways in which life is easier for working people.

  85. 85.

    Quinerly

    @Baud: Poco sez, “Spellcheck, please. The ‘C’ is nowhere near the ‘P’ on Mom’s keyboard.”

  86. 86.

    Immanentize

    @rikyrah:
    I really think this is why Roberts had to punt. If it ended up being a racial based plan, then their rush to judgment (bypassing normal order) would have looked like the ultimate race based cover up. So, he had to switch at the last minute and allow the record to develop. Remember, the district court in this case previously found NO racial animus and is already feeling completely burned by Commerce and DOJ.

    Of course, the courts below could find no race based link after discovery. But if any court does — either the district or appellate court — it will be game over for the question.

  88. 88.

    MomSense

    @Immanentize:

    I’m pretty sure that’s how most of the world sees us. I’m back in the job market and my mom is telling me I have to color my hair again. Ugh.

  90. 90.

    Immanentize

    @Another Scott:

    We can’t rule about Census questions because it’s political” doesn’t seem to fit at all.

    Add in the fact that the census is clearly an Article I power (Congress) whereas gerrymandering is (at least currently) a State question which implicates the 10th amendment power of the States.

  91. 91.

    zhena gogolia

    Don’t have time to read whole thread, but AMY MCGRATH IS RUNNING AGAINST MCCONNELL

    DONATE NOW!!!!

  97. 97.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Kay: @Baud: I’m on the plane in Copenhagen right now, about to return home. Had a fantastic time in Sweden and Denmark. Both are lovely in different ways. Denmark is much more expensive than Sweden, and I’m told Norway is even costlier. All of these countries have better worker protections than the US though. Taxes are high, but you won’t go bankrupt from medical costs.

  98. 98.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Baud:

    I’m going to Denmark for the first time this fall.

    Baud 2020! “We solicit help from foreign allies.

  100. 100.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Kay: Odense is nice. It’s on the island of Fyn, which is a beautiful vacation destination.

  102. 102.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @O. Felix Culpa: There’s a big IKEA (redundant, I know) in Odensr, so it’ll be just like home. ? Seriously, though, it’s a beautiful place, with lots of good hiking and biking options. You’re never more than 50 km water in Denmark, so lots of water activities and fish available.

  103. 103.

    Gin & Tonic

    Maybe I’m just being unduly optimistic this morning, but somehow this Epstein thing, this time, feels different. Like maybe there will actually be some consequences.

  105. 105.

    Betty Cracker

    @Gin & Tonic: I hope you’re right. It makes me sick that the pervert was freed to ruin more lives after the feds had enough to put him away a dozen years ago.

  108. 108.

    dr. bloor

    @Gin & Tonic: Probably something you ate. Take a couple of Alka-Seltzer, and you’ll remember that this will go down the rabbit hole in two or three news cycles like every other sociopathic scandal that’s broken over the past four years.

  110. 110.

    rikyrah

    @Kay:

    Ok Kay,

    You got me curious, so I googled the city.
    Average temperature in August is 70 DEGREES???
    Lord have mercy.
    That’s my kind of place.

  112. 112.

    donnah

    @Another Scott:

    I’m glad someone is following up on the cost of Trump’s vanity show. I’m sick of his ridiculous demands going unchecked and unchallenged. No, it’s not as serious as other crimes he and his administration commit, but it’s my money and I want this egomaniac held accountable.

  114. 114.

    rikyrah

    @Immanentize:
    I fully believe that Roberts was ready to sign off on the Census Question until the dead man’s drives were found. That the DOJ didn’t want them entered into the record is very telling. The drives prove the case against the question. And, I can’t wait for discovery to get ALL that info into the public record.

  117. 117.

    Betty Cracker

    @rikyrah: You are indisputably correct about Roberts’ intent, which is clear in the ruling. He affirmed the right to include the question but called the rationale “contrived” — had to since everyone who’s paying attention knows the real purpose is to consolidate white Republican political power.

    Roberts is probably angry at the Trump idiots for fucking up what should have been a simple job. The theft of electoral power would have gone through the court slicker than goose shit in the hands of more competent white supremacists. Basically, the only thing that is saving the country at this point is that white supremacists — from Trump on down — are bumbling idiots. It’s a thin reed to hang our hopes on!

  120. 120.

    rikyrah

    Tom Steyer is a clown. Vanity candidacy.
    What’s his schtick?
    ‘ I’m for impeachment’

    And? So?
    So are all the other top Democratic Candidates.
    Outside of that..what does he have?
    Nothing.
    Like I said yesterday, the Democratic base IS NOT the GOP base.
    Shiny objects aren’t our thing.

  123. 123.

    rikyrah

    The original indictment against Epstein was FIFTY-THREE PAGES LONG.
    FIFTY-THREE PAGES.

    BEFORE he got his sweetheart deal from Acosta.

  125. 125.

    bjacques

    @Kay: After I moved abroad, Texas allowed me to vote in state and local elections for about 10 years, but I think it’s 5 now. If Illinois allows local and state voting for a few years, please encourage the young’un to do so for as long as they’ll let him.

  126. 126.

    Cacti

    The bad news is, everyone but Biden is within the “close enough to steal it again” range.

    The good news is, all of them but Wilmer still have upside potential.

  127. 127.

    Betty Cracker

    @rikyrah: Steyer’s announcement is even more clownish, if you can believe it. He didn’t mention impeachment at all but says he’s against corporate control of politics. Okay, so am I. But Steyer vows to spend $100M to combat corporate control, thus demonstrating that he’s fine with corporate control — as long as it’s HIS corporation. Fucking poser.

  129. 129.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Maybe I’m just being unduly optimistic this morning, but somehow this Epstein thing, this time, feels different. Like maybe there will actually be some consequences.

    I wouldn’t be surprised to see Epstein have a sudden and unexpected fatal heart attack, à la Enron’s Ken Lay, before too much damaging info comes out.

    But I may be cynical.

  131. 131.

    Leto

    @Kay: @Kay: Kay if you’d like a picture of what it’s like to live there I’d recommend reading this: The Year of Living Danishly. The workplace environment of the Danish really surprised me: they expect you to go home, on time! Very novel concept.

  132. 132.

    rikyrah

    Was listening to Joy Reid in for Maddow…
    Acosta met with Epstein’s attorney FOR OFF SITE MEETINGS?
    DA PHUQ?
    DA ENTIRE PHUQ???

  134. 134.

    rikyrah

    @Steve in the ATL:

    I wouldn’t be surprised to see Epstein have a sudden and unexpected fatal heart attack, à la Enron’s Ken Lay, before too much damaging info comes out.

    But I may be cynical.

    Yeah, but it’s a healthy cynicism.

  135. 135.

    rikyrah

    Jeffrey Epstein Is Out of Luck
    Great wealth insulates people from consequences, but not always, absolutely, or forever.
    6:30 AM ET
    Ken White

    Jeffrey Epstein is accustomed to having an entourage meet his private jet at the airport; he’s just not used to it being made up of FBI agents. Last Saturday, the billionaire and registered sex offender returned from a trip to Paris only to be arrested. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, famously aggressive in pursuing high-profile prosecutions, charged Epstein last week with child sex trafficking in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1591. These new charges represent the Department of Justice’s attempt to redeem a reputation soiled by the extremely questionable plea deal it gave Epstein in 2008.

    In 2006 and 2007, Epstein—once a reliable companion of the well connected—faced extensive, detailed allegations that he paid multiple minors for sexual contact and for their services in procuring other minors. Most people, hammered with that kind of evidence, would spend the rest of their lives in prison. But Epstein could afford the lavish attention of a defense team staffed by legal luminaries such as Alan Dershowitz and Kenneth Starr. Most of us hope an attorney will defend us competently at trial, but the superrich can afford to go on the offense. Epstein’s lawyers hounded the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, which was considering federal charges, based on reports that Epstein had procured underage girls across state lines. Former U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta—now President Donald Trump’s secretary of labor—characterized the tactic as a “year-long assault on the prosecution and prosecutors,” and complained that Epstein’s team investigated prosecutors and their families, “looking for personal peccadilloes that may provide a basis for disqualification.”

    The strategy worked. Epstein’s team secured the deal of the millennium, one utterly unlike anything else I’ve seen in 25 years of practicing federal criminal law. Epstein agreed to plead guilty to state charges, register as a sex offender, and spend 13 months in county jail, during which time he was allowed to spend 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, out of the jail on “work release.” In exchange, the Southern District of Florida abandoned its criminal investigation of Epstein’s conduct, agreed not to prosecute him federally, and—incredibly—agreed not to prosecute anyone else who helped him procure underage girls for sex. This is not normal; it is astounding.

    Why did the Department of Justice cut such a deal? Acosta claimed that the U.S. Attorney’s Office worried it would have trouble proving federal charges against Epstein. With all respect to Acosta—who, in full disclosure, was a law-school classmate—that explanation is not credible. Federal prosecutors are famously reluctant to bring hard-to-prove cases, unlike district attorneys, who are generally eager to roll the dice. But no federal prosecutor would hesitate to pursue allegations of pervasive, organized child-sex abuse, backed by firsthand witnesses. It is more plausible that Epstein successfully wielded his nearly incomprehensible money and power to influence the decision at the highest levels. The personal attacks on the prosecution likely helped too: Federal prosecutors aren’t used to being on the defensive. I once prosecuted a defendant with the resources to hire a famed Kennedy-assassination conspiracy theorist to spin elaborate tales about me; it was unsettling and made the case extremely difficult.

  137. 137.

    Leto

    @MomSense: I have a number of military friends who chose to retire overseas rather than return for the simple reason that QoL there was far superior to anything here. Yeah, they make a bit less but their QoL is so much better that it was worth it.

  138. 138.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @rikyrah:

    In 2006 and 2007, Epstein—once a reliable companion of the well connected—faced extensive, detailed allegations that he paid multiple minors for sexual contact and for their services in procuring other minors. Most people, hammered with that kind of evidence, would spend the rest of their lives in prison. But Epstein could afford the lavish attention of a defense team staffed by legal luminaries such as Alan Dershowitz and Kenneth Starr. Most of us hope an attorney will defend us competently at trial, but the superrich can afford to go on the offense.

    I’m so old I remember when Kellyanne Fitzpatrick (as was) would go on the nascent MSNBC and Bill Maher’s show and tell me “Judge Starr”, who sang hymns while jogging, was devoted to the rule of law, etc.
    I believe Acosta was a Bush WH lawyer before being named US Atty. I wonder how many pieces of red yard we’d need to connect him to Starr’s “elves”, like say… George Conway? Ann Coulter? Bret Kavanagh?

  141. 141.

    Another Scott

    @rikyrah: Glad to help! You do us all a great service with your daily news excerpts and links. So, thank you!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  143. 143.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Tata:

    Postcards To Voters is running a campaign to register Floridians to vote by mail. Anyone can join and write postcards….

    Thank you for mentioning this!

    PostcardsToVoters.org has detailed information.

  145. 145.

    rikyrah

    Why Republicans are going after Kansas’ Kobach with a vengeance
    07/09/19 09:20 AM
    By Steve Benen

    When Sen. Pat Roberts (R) announced on Jan. 4 that he wouldn’t seek a fourth term in Kansas in 2020, the conventional wisdom was that Republicans would have little trouble holding onto the seat. After all, Kansans haven’t elected a Democratic U.S. senator since 1932.

    But a slight chill ran through GOP spines a few hours after Roberts declared his intentions. Outgoing Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R), fresh off his failed gubernatorial campaign, told the New York Times that he was “considering” running for the seat.

    Yesterday, he made it official, though as the Wichita Eagle reported, the right-wing Kansan seemed to stumble into the contest, misspelling his own name in his campaign paperwork.

  147. 147.

    rikyrah

    On his environmental record, Trump turns to ‘greenhouse gaslighting’
    07/09/19 08:43 AM
    By Steve Benen

    After the White House announced plans for a presidential speech on the environment, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said in a statement, “Donald Trump is resorting to greenhouse gaslighting the public to try and cover-up the fact that he is the worst president in history for the environment, climate and public health.”

    That’s a good line. It also happens to be true.

    Before we talk about what Trump said on the subject, part of what made yesterday interesting was the fact that the Republican delivered remarks on the subject at all. The New York Times had an interesting behind-the-scenes report:

    Reviewing new polling data, consultants working for President Trump’s 2020 campaign discovered an unsurprising obstacle to winning support from two key demographic groups, millennials and suburban women. And that was his record on the environment.

    But they also saw an opportunity. While the numbers showed that Mr. Trump was “never going to get” the type of voter who feels passionately about tackling climate change, a senior administration official who reviewed the polling said, there were moderate voters who liked the president’s economic policies and “just want to know that he’s being responsible” on environmental issues.

    So for nearly an hour in the East Room on Monday afternoon, Mr. Trump sought to recast his administration’s record by describing what he called “America’s environmental leadership” under his command.

  148. 148.

    Leto

    @MomSense: Avalune and I had jobs lined up but then Trumpov happened. We’re keeping our eyes/ears open for return possibilities.

  149. 149.

    Kay

    @bjacques:

    I will. Part of what I will miss is our political discussions. He loved Al Gore so started following politics in high school. It was a little bit of a challenge because this is a very conservative area. He was one of two “liberals” in his high school government class. You remember the Bush years. What they were like. Mean and ugly.
    He’s like…Standard Democrat, if there were such a thing, so too far Left for his hometown but Right wing in his Chicago precinct. Right in the middle, nationally though. I think he’ll continue to vote.

  150. 150.

    laura

    @rikyrah: But Epstein could afford the lavish attention of a defense team staffed by legal luminaries such as Alan Dershowitz and Kenneth Starr.
    But Epstein could afford the professional panty-sniffers Alan Dershovitz and Kenneth Starr to use their political capital to protect and obfuscate their amoral client.

  151. 151.

    satby

    @Kay: my former Danish exchange student was from Odense and lives there with her own family now. It’s on my bucket list to get back to Denmark and visit with her. Her 10 year old daughter is the image of her.

  152. 152.

    Peale

    @Cacti: The bad news, really, is that were the election held today, we’d lose since we are barely treading water with “registered voters” and we know our “likely voters” don’t always show up when they are most needed.

  153. 153.

    James E Powell

    @Steve in the ATL:

    I wouldn’t be surprised to see Epstein have a sudden and unexpected fatal heart attack, à la Enron’s Ken Lay, before too much damaging info comes out.

    I don’t believe one can be too cynical in this place & time. One of my favorite conspiracy theories is that Ken Lay is still alive. I don’t seriously believe it, but if he turned up somewhere would we really be that surprised?

  154. 154.

    Emerald

    @debbie: Really, barring a SCOTUS ruling ought to take Barr out. Where is the Virginia Bar (or whichever bar he steps right up to), which ought to deBarr him?

    (I know. I know.)

    I take some heart that if we eventually win, he won’t be the first AG to go to jail.

  155. 155.

    Another Scott

    @Peale: Eh? “If my grandma had wheels…”

    The election isn’t being held today.

    Before the election, there will be many more debates, many contests with winners and losers, a political convention, and all the rest. We would have had months of general election campaigning, and maybe even some debates between Donnie and the Democratic nominee (though I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Donnie chickens out (unless he knows the questions beforehand)).

    It’s summertime. The real world isn’t paying much attention to politics now.

    Don’t pay attention to the polls now. They don’t say anything about what the real world will be like come November 2020.

    My $0.02.

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (“Who also hates this question in polling, for the same reason.”)

  157. 157.

    Quaker in a Basement

    I starting to think that this year’s vast and disorderly field of contenders serves Democrats well. In 2016, Bernie was the only place for the not-Hillary vote to go. This year, if you’re not in favor of Biden, there’s Harris, there’s Warren, there’s Castro, there’s Buttigeg, and yes, there’s Sanders too.

    When we end up with a nominee, there will be a diminished likelihood that supporters of defeated contenders will feel so much bitterness and resentment to the eventual winner. Maybe it will be easier for our team to unite behind the winner.

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