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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Friday Night Open Thread

Friday Night Open Thread

by John Cole|  July 26, 20199:26 pm| 31 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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New stickers for the grocery getter:

Pearl is such a lovely duck.

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Previous Post: « Respite Open Thread: So I Hear You Want Ducks
Next Post: Late Night Open Thread: The Trump / A$AP Rocky Conundrum »

Reader Interactions

31Comments

  1. 1.

    trollhattan

    July 26, 2019 at 9:28 pm

    Cunning stunt. ;-)

  2. 2.

    geg6

    July 26, 2019 at 9:38 pm

    LOL! I’m with you on the Pearl thing.

  3. 3.

    A Ghost To Most

    July 26, 2019 at 9:43 pm

    @trollhattan:
    He was a cunning linguist
    A master of many tongues

  4. 4.

    MomSense

    July 26, 2019 at 9:45 pm

    @geg6:
    #TeamPearl

  5. 5.

    zhena gogolia

    July 26, 2019 at 9:47 pm

    I have Kamala on mine. I don’t like to sully my vehicle with any references to Cheeto Benito.

  6. 6.

    Mike in NC

    July 26, 2019 at 9:55 pm

    “Moldy Potato 2020!”

  7. 7.

    Quinerly

    July 26, 2019 at 9:57 pm

    @A Ghost To Most: I’m so old I remember the first time I heard that. Young and confused. ?

  8. 8.

    Miss Bianca

    July 26, 2019 at 10:09 pm

    @A Ghost To Most:

    Does he wish to snatch a kiss?

    OK, that’s it for me on that theme.

  9. 9.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 26, 2019 at 10:20 pm

    @Miss Bianca: Gotta keep the groundlings amused too.

  10. 10.

    Jeffro

    July 26, 2019 at 10:28 pm

    Nothing but clear messages here, so I’ll wait until there’s a Dem nominee and then step on the gas knocking doors in my neighborhood and others, with my donations, my op-eds, and of course the blessed social media posts.

    Bumper stickers are so yellow ribbon magnet (and half the time, they just get your car vandalized)

  11. 11.

    Dan B

    July 26, 2019 at 10:31 pm

    @Miss Bianca: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

    Overdose x 10. (My honey is a dedicated punster. Doesn’ttake much for an O.D.) And no, that is not spelled p*rnst*r…

  12. 12.

    debbie

    July 26, 2019 at 10:34 pm

    @MomSense:

    There’s always Penelope Pearl. After all, she’s practically shaped like a freshwater pearl.

  13. 13.

    Jeffro

    July 26, 2019 at 10:38 pm

    Meanwhile, at least some of our DC media iz learning: Mitch McConnell Is a Russian Asset

    …McConnell has blocked all such attempts [at thwarting Russia], including:

    A bipartisan bill requiring Facebook, Google and other Internet companies to disclose purchasers of political ads, to identify foreign influence.

    A bipartisan bill to ease cooperation between state election officials and federal intelligence agencies.

    A bipartisan bill imposing sanctions on any entity that attacks a U.S. election.

    A bipartisan bill with severe new sanctions on Russia for its cybercrimes.

    McConnell has prevented them all from being considered — over and over again. This is the same McConnell who, in the summer of 2016, when briefed by the CIA along with other congressional leaders on Russia’s electoral attacks, questioned the validity of the intelligence and forced a watering down of a warning letter to state officials about the threat, omitting any mention of Russia.

    No amount of alarms sounded by U.S. authorities — even Republicans, even Trump appointees — moves McConnell.

    On Tuesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray — Trump’s FBI director — told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the Russians “haven’t been deterred enough” and are “absolutely intent on trying to interfere with our elections.”

    This year, National Intelligence Director Daniel Coats — Trump’s intelligence director — told the Senate Intelligence Committee that “foreign actors will view the 2020 U.S. elections as an opportunity to advance their interests. We expect them to refine their capabilities and add new tactics.”

    And on Thursday, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a bipartisan report finding that “Russian activities demand renewed attention to vulnerabilities in U.S. voting infrastructure.”

    The committee concluded that “urgent steps” are needed “to replace outdated and vulnerable voting systems.” (The $380 million offered since 2016 is a pittance compared with the need.) “Despite the expense, cybersecurity needs to become a higher priority for election-related infrastructure,” the report concluded.

    But one man blocks it all — while offering no alternative of his own.

    Presumably he thinks whatever influence Russia exerts over U.S. elections will benefit him (he’s up for reelection in 2020) and his party.

    “Shame on him,” Schumer said on the Senate floor this week.

    But McConnell has no shame. He is aiding and abetting Putin’s dismantling of Americans’ self-governance. A leader who won’t protect our country from attack is no patriot.

    GO with this Dems, go, Go, GO!

  14. 14.

    Miss Bianca

    July 26, 2019 at 10:40 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Ha! Nice one! : )

    How you? I am procrastinating like mad on an article that I should have finished days ago, and then on to a profile of one of the Democratic candidates for Senator here, Dan Baer. I should ask Adam about him – he worked for the government in some sort of nat-sec capacity. All in all is kind of like Pete Buttigieg in general affect – Harvard/Oxford educated, well-spoken, moderate yet passionate…heck, he even mentioned his husband!

  15. 15.

    Quinerly

    July 26, 2019 at 10:43 pm

    OT
    Met my first dyed in the wool, flag waving Vietnam Vet, always a Repug, occasionally a racist and mysoginist,?Bernie loving in the primaries, now Trump supportering voter. Loves him some Trump, BUT if Bernie is the nominee, he will reconsider his support of Trump and probably vote for Bernie. .
    Talk amongst yourselves.

  16. 16.

    Mary G

    July 26, 2019 at 10:46 pm

    I bought a robot vacuum on Prime Day and the cats are not amused. It picked up a huge wad of pet hair.

  17. 17.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 26, 2019 at 10:50 pm

    @Miss Bianca: Doing well. Went to American Players Theater last weekend and saw Twelfth Night. Got home on Monday and discovered through the miracle of Facebook that a friend from high school was watching the same play at the same time except she was in Griffith Park.

  18. 18.

    Miss Bianca

    July 26, 2019 at 10:55 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: We just got done with our Shakespeare in the Sangres Festival here – I was in both plays, so on top of my other work, it was a lot of rehearsal. Hamlet and The importance of Being Earnest. Both pretty damn fabulous productions, if I say so myself as a theater snob. I have worked with Dan (the director) for three years now, and so blown away this year particularly by his ability to mold an ensemble from professionals down to complete never-been-on-stage-before amateurs.

    Twelfth Night is one of my fave raves.

  19. 19.

    Jeffro

    July 26, 2019 at 11:03 pm

    So a big yawn on MItch/Russia then, ok…

  20. 20.

    Aleta

    July 26, 2019 at 11:04 pm

    Penelope is loyal. Faithful to her one Bixby.

    Long ago I moved in with a round cat named Pearl. She was a hunter-gatherer and she had a cat door. We’d leave for the weekend and come back into the house in the dark, and the floor would crunch underfoot. Layers of dry leaves. They were her only prey now that she was old and had found you could catch a lot more of them with less effort.

  21. 21.

    AndoChronic

    July 26, 2019 at 11:07 pm

    This is going opposite of a Steal Your Face sticker off my rear MN. plate on my ’98 Civic. Parking right next to that Impala at HQ with that ‘Trump Train’ sticker at my AF base. ‘Ha, my car is more ‘Mercan than yours!

  22. 22.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 26, 2019 at 11:08 pm

    @Miss Bianca: A couple of years ago APT did Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in the same season. Everyone kept the same parts. I imagine it was fun for the actors.

    ETA: Have a good evening. Netflix is calling my name.

  23. 23.

    Miss Bianca

    July 26, 2019 at 11:09 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: We thought about doing that, but figured Stoppard might be still a bit outre for central Colorado.

  24. 24.

    Steeplejack

    July 26, 2019 at 11:14 pm

    @Quinerly:

    Maybe ask him how many times he got dusted with Agent Orange. There may be a correlation.

  25. 25.

    Steeplejack

    July 26, 2019 at 11:15 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Huh. Moderation. Didn’t see that coming.

  26. 26.

    Steeplejack

    July 26, 2019 at 11:16 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Are all of my comments going into moderation?

    ETA: Okay, not this one. Hmm . . .

  27. 27.

    Another Scott

    July 26, 2019 at 11:18 pm

    @Jeffro: What can we say?

    It’s like arguing about whether someone is a racist. Since we can’t know someone’s true thoughts or what’s in their heart, Jay Smooth’s famous advice is apt.

    :-/

    Whatever his motivation, McConnell is a monster. He’s destroying the country.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  28. 28.

    Aleta

    July 26, 2019 at 11:20 pm

    @Miss Bianca: Was it hard going back and forth between the two?

    The summer theater I’m related to did Hamlet last weekend too, and will again tomorrow and continue a few more weekends. Monmouth When you come back to Maine you will fit right in. : )

  29. 29.

    Bill Arnold

    July 26, 2019 at 11:52 pm

    @Jeffro:
    Good piece. Mitch McConnell looks close to being worm food in the photo in that piece. How is his health?
    I didn’t post this yet, related:
    Another Republican added to the list of Kremlin puppets:
    Mueller made one thing clear: Republicans are a national security threat – How did Republicans react to Robert Mueller’s testimony? By lying, deflecting and blocking election security bills (Sophia Tesfaye, July 26, 2019)

    “The Russians are absolutely intent on trying to interfere with our elections,” FBI Director Christopher Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.
    The next day, only hours after Mueller testified to the same effect, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, a Republican, blocked two election-security bills and a measure regarding cybersecurity for Senate staff.

    GOP blocks election security bills after Mueller testimony (July 24, 2019, Jordain Carney)

    Hyde-Smith, in a tweet on Thursday, accused Democrats of trying to pass “partisan” bills that had previously been blocked on the Senate floor.
    “Senate Democrats try to push partisan election bills without going through regular order right after the House hearings w/Mueller. Coincidence? Nope. Just more political theater instead of working together to secure US elections,” she tweeted.

    By “partisan”, she means helping Democrats by blocking Russian[0] electoral interference intended to support Republicans. While technically true, it unequivocally means that she supports Russian electoral interference in support of the Republican party.
    [0] Note that the interference does not need to be Russian or directly in support of the Republican party; it could be blatantly obvious and in support of either party, and intended to support a move by the ruling party to cancel election results.

  30. 30.

    joel hanes

    July 26, 2019 at 11:57 pm

    @Jeffro:

    Amazing that this comes from Dana Milbank. Amazing.
    These are the days of miracle and wonder

  31. 31.

    Miss Bianca

    July 27, 2019 at 9:55 am

    @Aleta: Dead thread, I know, but Monmouth is where I saw my very first production of Hamlet, when I was 12! Psyched to hear that it’s still going!

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