What will it take for Republican Senators to turn on Trump?
Electoral pain. Not one of them will stray until someone loses a seat in an election and polling says it is because Trump is toxic.
Donor pain. No one will stray until the big money boys have had enough.
The end.
piratedan
We keep waiting for there to be some kind of political Rubicon for the GOP in regards to the behavior and defiance of the law exhibited by 45 and I’m beginning to wonder if its simply more a case of Political Fight Club and the fact that the overwhelming majority of them really are corrupt pieces of filth. This would imply that Vlad has the receipts for financial and sexual perfidy on a majority of the GOP, in the House and the Senate. IIRC, the GOP got hacked too and I suspect, considering how adept these guys are at governing; that there was a cornucopia of insider trading and dick pics and kiddy porn to be gleaned from wherein which has been used to keep everyone in lockstep. Just an observation, but I am beginning to suspect that these guys will burn it all down because essentially that’s the only way thru as they see it, hope that they can somehow brazen it out.
Cameron
What will it take? I don’t have the faintest idea.Not one single Republican will lose office for supporting Trump. He’s the symptom, not the disease. If you can’t get rid of Senator Turtle, no difference who’s in the Oval Office.
lamh36
OT!
It was a damn heart attack.
anyone not a Bernie-bro coulda told ya that
https://twitter.com/petermaer/status/1180250833298034690
Ruckus
Have said it before, republicans are in it only for themselves. Whatever profit they think they can get is what they are aiming for. And they found out that if they all worked together their total IQ was in the 90s. So they did. And we end up with them not giving two shits about the country that they swore to defend and preserve. If and only if they see that they will be far worse off staying, they will bail. Not a second before.
NotMax
Yes, they’re pricks.
However all it takes is a single prick to burst the balloon.
DCrefugee
I’ve been one to advocate a go-slow approach, with House impeachment hearings continuing through the GOP convention next summer, and engineering a Senate vote around next Halloween. Fck ’em…
But I don’t think we can wait that long.
Mart
To my conservative aquantices, Trump openly being a mob boss and wimpy dems pretending to impeach him for his finally doing the Presidency rightly – the tough way; are all features of a great leader, not bugs.
Mary G
Democrats gave a lot of administration officials a hard deadline of today to cough up information. On the way out the door today, they served Mick Mulvaney with a subpoena. Good.
MisterForkbeard
@lamh36: Ah. I’m not surprised, though even as a solid Harris stan I was willing to believe it COULD have been something minor. Bernie really should take the opportunity to announce that he’s leaving the race IN the next debate and make a splash with it – do some good by pushing a signature policy and possible handing off his support to someone else.
He could do a lot for leftist politics by endorsing Warren, full stop. God help us if he tried to hand off his people to Gabbard, though.
Martin
They don’t have a clue HOW to turn on Trump. They have no message.
If they go out solo, they risk being caught out against whatever message does develop. If they aren’t careful, they risk burning more GOP that are caught up in this with the wrong message. And because Trump is Trump, they can’t trust the Wh to go along with the message they do come up with. Trump is likely to turn on them.
They’re just fucked, so in that case, why do anything?
NotMax
@DCrefugee
Congress recesses for the weeks just prior to the election.
As I posited here (months and months ago), impeachment in early to mid-October, letting that cloud hang through the election; Senate action in the lame duck post-election session.
debbie
The donors will have to abandon them before they think about doing anything. The looniest of them (looking at you, Gym) will remain faithful until the end, but most others, remembering the idyllic days of Bush/Cheney, will begin to fall away.
Elizabelle
@lamh36: I wonder if the heart attack might be a graceful way for a non-graceful candidate to bow out. His polling is collapsing, and this is not 2016.
Go out on top, but go dog go!
JPL
Only the shadow knows… bu until then every dem on TV needs to say they are cowards who are afraid of the twittler in chief. My goodness imagine being afraid of a tweet, but it appears the repubs are.
Sister Golden Bear
@Martin: Prisoners’ Dilemma writ large.
MisterForkbeard
@Martin: The dumb thing is, if 15 or even 10 senators REALLY wanted to make a splash, they could just announce that while they support Trump and his policies in general, there really is some concerning shit here and it might be impeachable.
They can even backtrack on that later! Do the Collins thing where they pretend to be considering to do the right thing and then Lucy the football. Instant media credit.
debbie
@NotMax:
I say we complete the inquiries, write up a Declaration of Independence sort of document with lots of whereases listing his offenses, and then hold a vote to censure Trump. Use it for the 2020 campaigns.
Mike in DC
Public support for removal at 55+ percent, and Trump approval below 35 percent would likely push them pretty hard.
JPL
I’m not afraid of the twittler.. are you?
zhena gogolia
@MisterForkbeard:
If he does that, we’ll know he’s being paid by Putin.
lollipopguild
Trump is a mob boss/cult leader. It can be tough to leave if you feel that trump will come after you. The fact that most of these people are spineless cowards also keeps them under his thumb.
Skepticat
I only WISH it were the end.
Richard Guhl
With the Neo-Confederate party it’s always rule or ruin. They seek nothing less than the restoration of what they believe is a natural hierarchy of sex, race, and class, with wealthy white men at the top of the heap. Trump’s trashing of norms and customs serves their ultimate goal.
Omnes Omnibus
@Cameron:
Bullshit. And horseshit.
Steve in the ATL
@MisterForkbeard: Jill Stein is tanned, rested, and Russian.
hilts
Maybe, if it turned out that Ivanka had gotten an abortion after getting impregnated by Daddy. Other than this scenario, I can’t imagine any other event that would turn the spineless Republicans in Congress against Trumpenstein.
Ocotillo
Even if those slugs are defeated, we still have so many people in this country that are brainwashed. How do you get them out of the cult. My Foxbook feed is full of friends howling about the injustice of the Dems attacking Trump, until we somehow have an intervention with 27% (I think it has grown to 35%) of the country, we are in for ongoing misery.
joel hanes
@lamh36:
If it’s over for Sanders, we must extend the hand of comity to his supporters, quietly burying or forgiving grievances, so that we can link arms against the Republicans.
Because need to win, incontestably, in many places.
karensky
Ditto
trollhattan
@hilts: Somehow they would Old-Testament that into a positive. The “unpublished verses of Deuteronomy” or somesuch.
rikyrah
They are all compromised, Cole.
All of them.
They will never break away.
Blackmailed Traitors, ALL??
Elizabelle
We are just going to have to wait it out and see. These Republicans are not patriots, or courageous people. They’re in it for themselves. They will dump Trump once they are afraid of getting dumped themselves.
I rather hope people will start yelling at them in restaurants and on the street. Make their lives as uncomfortable as possible, once they leave their gilded cages.
Could you have scripted any of this timeline? There has not yet been a bottom for Republicans; they just keep digging and scraping.
Ocotillo
@hilts: I doubt that would shake his support. John Fugelsang has it right, maybe if he starts wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt.
B.B.A.
Is there a single Republican politician in America who is more popular than Trump within their constituency?
Didn’t think so. Il Douche has them all by the balls. None of them will turn on him until he’s six feet under.
hells littlest angel
You mean like in 2018? No, it’s going to take more than that. To paraphrase Boss Jim Gettys, You’re the greatest fool I’ve ever known, GOP. If it was anybody else, I’d say what’s going to happen to you would be a lesson to you. Only you’re going to need more than one lesson. And you’re going to get more than one lesson.
joel hanes
@Mart:
To my conservative aquaintances
We outnumber them.
Aziz, light!
Most of them will never budge, in fear of losing votes by Trump’s mob of troglodytes.
Omnes Omnibus
@hilts: @trollhattan: Genesis 19:33.
Elizabelle
Headline and blurb up at top center of Washington Post right now:
Mary G
More pearl clutchers appear:
Resign, cough up paperwork like Volker, and testify for nine hours or STFU. It’s way too late for anonymous op-eds.
lamh36
Aides were sooo worried but ain’t say shit…bunch of cowards and traitors just like their boss
Yarrow
They’ll turn when it becomes personally important to them to do so. Perhaps that’s a political issue–they’re way behind in the polls and/or losing donors. Or perhaps it’s something else–kompromat style.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steve in the ATL: Where’s she Russian? What’s the hurry?
Elizabelle
Jennifer Rubin in the WaPost: Dear cowering Republicans: What are you waiting for?
Illustrated with photos of Susan Collins and Rand Paul. Take that!
azlib
Most politicians are chickens at heart. The Republicans will start to break only when the polling among Republican voters gets worse for Trump and their own relection is in jeopardy. Facts do not matter in thse polarized times.
Steve in the ATL
@?BillinGlendaleCA: you’re going to have to do better than that to challenge NotMax for the title
hilts
@Elizabelle:
Joni Ernst, just another useless horse’s ass taking up space in the Senate.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Don’t worry about Bernie. He won’t let a little thing like a heart attack stop him.
Why he’ll be back on his feet, screaming and wagging his finger in no time.
Elizabelle
@hilts: Her’s up for re-election this year. Hope she ends up a one-termer.
Steve in the ATL
@azlib: how’s the weather out there? When my dogs and I were dying (not literally) in the 101 degree heat, it occurred to me that it was 18 degrees cooler than the day we dropped off our daughter at U of A.
James Powell
They aren’t going to turn. They aren’t going to lose power by staying with Trump. They have the majority of white people and the vast majority of the money. They will never believe they can lose. Temporary setbacks, but they will never lose.
Aleta
It’s gonna take money.
A whole lot of precious time. It’s gonna take patience and time.
The problem is they are all for sale. I’ve come to believe outbidding and higher status is the only way you’d get them to change. The other thing is that most decent people who love their work for reasons other than money don’t want to spend their life on this kind of politics.
Of course the other ways to drain the compensation Republicans get — bankrupt the NRA, restrict lobbyists, expose and criminalize dark money, Mercers and Kochs — are possible I hope. A truth commission supervising the political ad agencies? Require our airwaves to give equal ad time to candidates, and forbid sale of election ads? Investigate public office holders and federal contractors for lying to the public who pay them?
Steve in the ATL
@Aleta: which of the two videos are you referring to here?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steve in the ATL: It’s a dry heat out in AZ.
Steve in the ATL
@?BillinGlendaleCA: that ceases to matter after 103 or so
hilts
@Elizabelle:
At this point, the Republicans in the House and the Senate are nothing more than a bunch of bed wetters and nail biters. They can all go fuck themselves!.
PS Fuck those goddamn motherfucking NY Yankees and let’s go Minnesota Twins!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Aleta:
Heh.
Geo True
The independents living in Red districts have not been lighting up Repub phones, they are only hearing from the base in the last few weeks. Once the indys make their voice heard, the Rs will shift instead of face electoral defeat.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steve in the ATL: Wimp.
ETA: Could a front pager please take my reply to Aleta out of moderation hell.
Steve in the ATL
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I’m just thinking about the children. Won’t anyone think about the children?!!!!
piratedan
@Steve in the ATL: well stop by and say Hi the next time you’re in the Old Pueblo…..
joel hanes
@Aleta:
the other ways to drain the compensation Republicans get
Please add “reinstate the limits on media ownership” to your excellent list.
And stepwise movement toward actual enforcement of the anti-trust and labor laws already on the books could be a big help — if we can get those actions past the McConnell-polluted courts.
Elizabelle
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Come back baud!
Do you have any insight as to whether baud will come back and hang with us jackals any time soon? He iz missed.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steve in the ATL: Sounds like these kids need some character building. When I was that young, we’d play out in the 110° out here Southern CA. Though these days the heat does make the onion on my belt go south pretty quick.
Trifling Gnome
Aleta: Thanks for the Harrison earworm. :D
Aleta
@Steve in the ATL: I think this is your internationally known wit, but I stupidly don’t get it. Or you mean the song? Just one song. But I’m sure you know that.
By the way, William Eggleston broke open my world (of only classic b/w) the first time I went to see a show (MOMA). I still have vivid memories of those photos. Then many times after that, including some movies at Hampshire as well as encountering prints all over the place. The ones of Los Alamos too. Life changing work.
MisterForkbeard
@Elizabelle: I could have sworn I saw him here after his argument with Adam.
And agreed, he’s missed.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Elizabelle: Baud did comment a day or so after the comments with Adam, but he’s been saying he was not overly happy here. He’s at least taking a break, or may well be gone.
Elizabelle
@Aleta: I like all the suggestions in your final paragraph. They have to happen, if we are to maintain a democracy.
Elizabelle
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I hope it’s just a break. And I can understand the need for one.
Steve in the ATL
@Aleta: there were two videos for that song, back when the MTV showed music videos. One featured George and a bunch of silly props, and the other an overly sexual teenage girl.
Did you find the MOMA show to be perfectly banal? Perfectly boring, certainly? (From an infamous review of that show. I troll him with it at holiday dinners and he is still mad about it. “How is the turkey, Bill? I find it perfectly banal…”)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I hope Steyer has hired, and listens to, good people
and I hope Baud comes back
zhena gogolia
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
What did he and Adam disagree on?
Aleta
@Steve in the ATL:
OK I think you mean versions ? Like James Ray... I didn’t know about it!!! S’incredible. Thanks!
NotMax
OT.
Goliath season three now on Prime. First season was watchable enough, second season held together better (although detoured into some thematically unnecessary cul de sacs before returning to the main road) and generally more engaging.
Steve in the ATL
@Aleta: the George Harrison version had two different videos, for reasons that remain unclear.
I’ve got so many Uncle Bill stories that I won’t post online, but if we ever meet in person….
Millard Filmore
@rikyrah:
Their calculations are not based on polls, or getting re-elected. They will do what it takes to minimize their time in prison.
Omnes Omnibus
@NotMax: Related OT: Season 5 of Peaky Blinders is now available on Netflix.
James Powell
@Elizabelle:
The problem with Rubin’s analysis is that her recollection misses the fact that Watergate & Nixon’s resignation in disgrace was a temporary setback for Republicans. Six years later they took over and they’ve pretty much been running everything ever since. They completely took over the Beltway, the states and the press/media. She was part of that and got wealth from it.
Elizabelle
@zhena gogolia:
I doubt it was just whatever with Adam. Baud has seemed very down in the mouth for a while.
It is hard to be a decent person, waiting and hoping, and the bad guys get another inning, and another inning, and another …
Some people here catastrophize, and a lot of the threads are about ugly topics, let’s face it. Maybe it’s not that great to do so many threads about Steve King (not the talented writer and good guy).
Baud’s really a really noticeable absence, but a lot of folks aren’t here as much.
ETA: Although some may have decided to be happy in their personal lives or do something else. We all have to decide how we survive. Maybe they’re working on campaigns or issues instead of chatting it up on blogs.
Steve in the ATL
Since so many jackals called and emailed me about this earlier*, the Frank Family Pinot noir was parfait with the grilled lamb this evening.
*combined total of approximately -zero-
Ohio Mom
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I missed that thread. Now I am off to google to see if I can find the spat.
A Ghost To Most
Based on a sample size of two, I believe they would cheer on nuclear war before they would admit being wrong to a libturd.
Tazj
I wish those people who used to stand behind Marco Rubio holding a spine would start following him around again. He’s so obnoxious. Well, they all are. Today he said Trump was just joking around when he was talking about China and we shouldn’t rush to judgement about him.
I guess he’s saying what most of his constituents want to hear and doesn’t care about anything else.
Yarrow
Man this new WaPo story about Trump’s calls with foreign leaders is just…wow.
And no surprise, he didn’t get along with leaders who were women.
scott (the other one)
@piratedan: As I have said before, Putin is reputed to be the wealthiest person in the entire world, worth somewhere around $200 billion. If he’s “only” worth even 1% of that, I find it very hard to believe he couldn’t get kompromat on nearly the entire GOP structure for, say, 1% of that 1%—a small enough sum that he’d not even notice it was gone, and what a staggering ROI. And I can’t figure out why he wouldn’t. And the behavior of virtually member of the GOP establishment doesn’t make it seem less likely to me.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
leak leak leaked-y leak….
“He was like, “Oh my gosh…”? I’m willing to bet trump has never in his life uttered the word “gosh”. Hope Hicks? Somebody on twitter said everything you need to understand about how Hopey got from Greenwich to trump-world is that she went to Southern Methodist U. I don’t know that school well enough to interpret that, the only guy I knew who went there was a wannabe-jock from HS who probably wound up as a wing nut.
Jethrene The Possum Queen is a possibility, but I don’t see her as leaking
hilts
@Aleta:
I’ve always been of the opinion that each candidate should get 2 30 minute blocks in primetime across ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, and FNC to explain their policy proposals.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
nothing surprising, much of it known, but good to see it all in one place as the rats get skittish
dmsilev
FTNYT:
I hope that happens and both officers (presumably) testify directly to Congress (in closed session most likely).
NotMax
@NotMax
While he may not hold the monopoly, Billy Bob Thornton has solid squatter’s rights when it comes to playing wry.
dmsilev
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
OK, someone managed to sneak a clever bit into that story. Well done.
jonas
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
“When said aides were asked if they would ever quit and speak out on the record about the President’s outrageous behavior, they quietly turned away, pretended not to hear the question, and shuffled off with their hands in their pockets….”
Ohio Mom
@Elizabelle: Thank you, that explanation about Baud makes sense to me. Count me among those who miss him, his wit, and his insight.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@jonas: I wonder if that leak came from that Wall St banker who was supposed to be one of the grown-ups (Dina Powell, I made a google– and she worked at fucking Goldman Sachs because of course she did)
zhena gogolia
@Ohio Mom:
Oh, I love Baud! I thought I had seen him here very recently.
NotMax
@jonas
Wile whistling Henry Rollins’ Liar.
;)
Amir Khalid
@joel hanes:
This strikes me as overoptimistic. I would not regard the Wilmeristas’ ongoing effort at hostile takeover in the name of their saint as any sign of regard for the Democratic party.
NotMax
@NotMax
While, not wile.
Steve in the ATL
@zhena gogolia:
Go home zhena gogolia, you’re drunk!
Elizabelle
@Ohio Mom:
@zhena gogolia:
I know. I hope Baud comes back. He actually serves a really important function. He lightens the place up with some very funny, self-deprecating quips. The levity is needed.
Aleta
@Steve in the ATL: @Steve in the ATL:That would be a treat. He changed my world by surprise through my eyes in one moment, no lie. Though I stayed with b/w for a long time.
zhena gogolia
All you people who hate Twitter — how about these two?
zhena gogolia
@Steve in the ATL:
Sadly, I’m not.
Mary G
@Elizabelle: Hasn’t Baud taken a couple of time-outs before? Count me among those who miss him, but support self-care when needed.
Amir Khalid
@Steve in the ATL:
Have you seen my reply to you at the bottom of the previous thread, re a generalisation you made about Muslims?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Amir Khalid: polls have consistently shown that Sanders voters second choice was Biden. I think that’s changed a bit as Warren has gotten stronger, but I don’t ‘think most of his 18-20% were full-blown “If I can’t have Bernie, burn it all down”. I suspect there’s enough of those true believers to cause trouble, I hope he won’t pull the same kind of destructive crap he has been since January 2016, but what are the odds…
mrmoshpotato
@Steve in the ATL:
But it was a very large quantity of zero.
NotMax
@zhena gogolia
Ho hum.
raven
Here’s is what here”
Enjoy porch performances from dozens of local bands as you wander through four of Athens’ hippest historic in-town neighborhoods.
67 bands. 67 houses. 4 historic neighborhoods. One rocking afternoon.
Aleta
@?BillinGlendaleCA: He’s taken a trip always around this time for a few years running.
Steve in the ATL
@Amir Khalid: yes, but you have apparently not seen my response
Amir Khalid
@Mary G:
A while back I took a break from commenting here, and you guys sent Subaru Diane the mob enforcer to drag me back in.
MisterForkbeard
@Steve in the ATL: So like… 20 people for the first and negative 20 for the second?
Starfish
@Mary G: He is just depressed because there are too many candidates in the Presidential field for anyone to notice his candidacy.
I am still here waiting for Peak WingNut to happen. At this rate, the rapture is going to come first.
Steve in the ATL
@mrmoshpotato: a robust zero with earthy overtones and hints of oak
@MisterForkbeard: it actually involves irrational and only theoretical numbers, but that’s a pretty good dumbed down version. One could also say “zero plus zero”.
@raven: Athens is a great town.
Amir Khalid
@Steve in the ATL:
I have now.
Steve in the ATL
@zhena gogolia: unforced error. I recommend you correct it with a nice Pinot noir.
@Starfish: Peak Wingnut is a lie.
Millard Filmore
@mrmoshpotato:
Don’t say zero, it is such a small number. Say “almost one.”
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Elizabelle: …and, of course, “the New York Times is garbage”.
Starfish
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I went to a Barn Storming event for Warren in a place that had a ton of Sanders voters, and a lot of Sanders voters were there to support Warren. It made me a little more optimistic that a lot of Sanders voters were not necessarily Sanders Dead Enders who were going to take their toys home if they could not have their candidate.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
piratedan
@Steve in the ATL: and speaking to last night’s discussion, I’ve seen the argument made that the Beatles are essentially the founders of Power Pop in and of itself, and that the 70’s bands that we’ve discussed are more their musical heirs than anything else, but that’s certainly a worthy discussion topic over a couple of quality beverages, perhaps next time you’re in Tucson…
Aleta
@zhena gogolia: Middler also confessed to being the whistleblower. Brave member of the thicket. (maquis)
Steve in the ATL
Question for the group regarding the premise behind “The Purge”: stupid, or moronic?
mrmoshpotato
@Tazj:
Is there video because that sounds hilarious?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Amir Khalid: Her reach is far and wide.
zzyzx
I think it’s easy to sink into the despair.
I was never a fan of impeachment because without a smoking gun, it was all just useless. It felt like unwarranted optimism that it could work.
Turns out that having the actual smoking gun (and why I supported this one… it reached the point where we just had to) doesn’t change that calculus. You just have to spin any lie and get people to repeat it. It’s so frustrating.
Thank the thing up high for my cats.
joel hanes
@Amir Khalid:
any sign of regard for the Democratic party.
I don’t think most of them have much regard for the Democratic Party.
And some of them will probably be … um … less than gracious, no matter what.
Nevertheless, we need every vote, and Airing of Grievances followed by Circular Firing Squad during the runup to the election will, in my estimation, not advance the main goal of removing Republicans from power. I can silently absorb a _lot_ of verbal guff and other affronts in service of that outcome. I can even limit my comments about uncomfortable allies to positive statements, and reserve my angry words for the common enemy.
mrmoshpotato
@Yarrow: As I said yesterday, “Alexa! Do all the crimes!”
Steve in the ATL
@piratedan: indeed! And you have long been on my selective list of posters whose musical opinions I will read and consider (including but not limited to Omnes, Steeplejack, and Mike J, and conditionally Immanentize, who is still on probation for liking a Yoko Ono song).
raven
@Steve in the ATL: And here is the “Pets of Boulevard Calendar” that we borrowed from BJ as a fundraiser for the Boolebark Pet Parade. Note that the cover pup is 20 years old! We also have a snake and two chickens.
cokane
Many of them aren’t just failing to turn on Trump. They are saying what Trump is doing with foreign leaders is good, even necessary to fight “corruption”.
Even *if* they turn on Trump that won’t be the end. The democratic culture of the USA has fundamentally changed. And it’s not going back to what it was any time soon.
NotMax
@zzyzx
“Thank you, Thing.”
– Gomez Addams
;)
Mike in DC
@Steve in the ATL: Highly implausible, but the underlying theme is that people’s true nature emerges under extraordinary circumstances. I guess you might call it “urban horror”(although one film is set in the suburbs).
trollhattan
@Steve in the ATL:
Frank Family is a good one and pinot with lamb is never wrong.
Now I want lamb.
zhena gogolia
@zzyzx:
I don’t really think it’s working this time. We’ll see.
sdhays
@Amir Khalid: How about we extend the hand of “you’re a grown-ass adult aware of the stakes, so if you can’t be assed to vote for the Democrat, whoever she may be, go fuck yourself”?
Steve in the ATL
@trollhattan: we have some left over. How far are you from Eatonton, Georgia? I’ll save some garlic green beans for you as well.
trollhattan
@Amir Khalid:
That’s how she do.
piratedan
@Steve in the ATL:
just for fun…. check this out…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYwzlz60jGY
Steve in the ATL
@raven: nice! Hope the weather prediction for tomorrow is accurate, though pretty hot again Sunday before we head back to the ATL. Should be cooler on Tuesday when I get to Syracuse!
NotMax
@trollhattan
Ask and ye shall receive.
:)
mrmoshpotato
@Starfish:
Good luck. Do you have enough food and water for the long, long, long, long, long haul?
trollhattan
@Steve in the ATL:
Uhhh torture. Much closer to the winery than Georgia.
I can grill a rack tomorrow, the idea is planted now
Amir Khalid
@joel hanes:
I think the hard core of Wilmeristas, the kind that voted for Stein rather than vote for that woman Hillary, are actively hostile toward the Democratic party and not interested in joining hands. The vaguely-aware-of-politics people who merely like the sound of what Wilmer’s saying might be more persuadable.
Raven
@Steve in the ATL: The heat has been fouling up my retirement. I’ve got lots of stuff to do outside so maybe next week!
Great win BTW.
mrmoshpotato
@Millard Filmore: Half corpse from Return of the Living Dead?
brantl
It will take both, and both will have to be obvious to a 3-year-old for these dopes to believe it. They are now just that stupid.
NotMax
@trolhattan
Grilled butterflied leg of lamb is da bomb.
Another Scott
One for Adam… Twitter:
Heh. :-)
(via Popehat)
Cheers,
Scott.
Steve in the ATL
@piratedan: good stuff! And here is some traditional Scottish music from 1996
trollhattan
@NotMax:
I remember her! Made some quirky movies and videos.
I would share some pinot.
piratedan
@Steve in the ATL: that was understatedly awesome, first time I’ve ever heard them and that was great clean sound.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax:
Naturally you kill your cheating husband with it before butterflying.
Steve in the ATL
@piratedan: love the lead guitar on it. Their catalog is great for people with short attention spans. Who can focus on one song for more than two minutes?
mrmoshpotato
@Another Scott: Isn’t Hungarian Nazi Trash selling fish oil pills these days?
joel hanes
@Amir Khalid:
[some] are actively hostile
Agreed. I don’t have to like them, but if they’re unreachable, I see no upside in poking them with a stick, either.
Kent
Anyone know how late the GOP could replace Trump on the ballot?
Like what would actually happen if in October 2020 during the debate with Elizabeth Warren he actually collapsed on stage on live TV and was incapable of continuing? What could the GOP do, if anything, to replace him? Would a vote for Trump just become a vote for Pence?
There are different ballot deadlines in different states and people will have already started voting by mail in some states.
The man is not healthy. It could happen.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Kent: I think the RNC would choose a new candidate, it depends on the party rules.
Brachiator
Perhaps. That means strap on tight, because we are headed for 2020 and beyond.
The money boys and girls love Trump more than do the evangelicals. They can’t turn him loose, cause if they do they will lose their minds. From the latest reports.
cain
@rikrah
Steve in the ATL
@cain: “Chianti with filet mignon” tells you all you need to know about that opinion.
Tazj
It was Greenpeace that followed him(Marco Rubio)around. I didn’t really remember who did it before I commented, but I knew someone did, and it was funny at the time. I don’t know if there’s video but there are plenty of pictures. My link didn’t work.
sdhays
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I don’t see how they could logistically choose anyone other than the VP candidate.
Kent
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
SMU is the school for rich Texan spawn who aren’t smart or ambitious enough to get into the Ivy’s or the southern Ivy’s like Duke and Vanderbilt. Think Laura Bush.
Aleta
@Steve in the ATL: Crisp Celtic dancing predates the highland fling
sdhays
@Brachiator: The donors want corruption and they’re getting what they paid for.
Kent
@?BillinGlendaleCA: but there is no national process. It is 50 different state elections run by local governments. The RNC has no role in any of that.
Steve in the ATL
@Kent: my sister in law has a BA in Drama from there. Tri-Delt forever, y’all!!!!!
Sebastian
@Brachiator:
How much of that is Russian, Saudi, and UAE money funneled through “small donors”?
Another Scott
@Kent: I still don’t think that Donnie will debate the Democratic candidate. Remember, he ran away from Megyn Kelly. He’ll try to have some stupid bigly rally instead.
Cheers,
Scott.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Kent: thanks, I never thought it was a particularly religious school, which that line about Hope Hicks seemed to suggest
?BillinGlendaleCA
@sdhays: Depends on the party rules, but my understanding is they can choose anyone. It get really weird, if a vacancy occurs after the election.
Kent
@sdhays: it would fucking serve the whole GOP right if they stick with Trump and then are stuck without a candidate at the last minute basically defaulting the election to the Dems because they didn’t have the integrity to choose a different candidate.
We can only dream.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Kent: Not true, while the mechanics of the election is in the hands of the states, the nominee is a function of the party.
Steve in the ATL
@Aleta: in addition to the music, you have to be impressed that they managed to find four people in Edinburgh without red hair!
joel hanes
@Another Scott:
Donnie … debate
Given the events of the last two weeks, I don’t think he’ll be the candidate.
People in the executive branch are finally caving, and Trump grows more unhinged by the day.
Another month of this kind of acceleration, and something will break.
I have no idea how things will play out.
cain
@MisterForkbeard:
I wish they would, it would cause McConnell to really fucking lose his shit – because he would then refuse to put impeachment to a vote. He’ll probably pull the same shit – “Let the people speak” or some other nonsense. I want McConnell’s balls basted in ghost pepper hot sauce with honey that attract a lot of bitey insects.
Kent
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Not religious at all. I mean on paper it is but not in practice. More of a rich Ivy wannabe more like say USC. If you want religion you send your kids to Baylor.
JR
Kent
@?BillinGlendaleCA: so they would have to have some sort of ad hoc mini convention and pick a new candidate and get him or her on the ballot in all 50 states. That would be a fucking shit show. Who else could they pick but Pence?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Kent: U$C was also affiliated with the Methodists(they severed their ties with the Methodists in 1952),
NotMax
@JR
Hell, I do that daily.
(Well, using the most forgiving definition of “sleep.”)
:)
J R in WV
How would Baud ever win the presidency without Balloon-Juice?
I think he’s down Mexico way…
Our new puppies are gone again, chasing a deer into the woods. I’m determined to assume they will be back when they want to come back. I’ve left bowls of puppy chow on the front porch.
They don’t appear to bark when they come around, and so may have come around several times while AWOL. They don’t know about barking to come in, because on the Goat Dairy they were outside working dogs, intended to protect the goats.
ETA: @Amir Khalid:
We are aware that the Wahabis are not typical Muslims, and that that is who does the evangalistic thing is the Islamic world.
azlib
@Steve in the ATL:
Finally cooled off a bit. Only in the 90s today. Was in the 80s last week. Summer was brutal with little in the way fo rain even for a desert.
Aleta
@Steve in the ATL: I’m not sure I saw version 1 before now. I guess it comes down to the sax in #1 vs the squirrel playing the Liverpool briar. *
* (just a guess)
lamh36
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Kent: Pence would be the smart choice, but they could choose anybody. No mini-convention, just the RNC. While it was the VP nomination and earlier in the process, look at the process used to replace Tom Eagleton on the ticket in 1972.
Aleta
@azlib: 44 here now with a wind like a the edge of a knife, cold off the water
Shana
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Got a text from a Steyer staffer here in Virginia tonight asking if I’d consider supporting him in the primary. I replied “no f*%king way”.
Kent
@?BillinGlendaleCA: the RNC chair is Ronna McDaniel who is Mitch Romney’s niece. That would be interesting.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Steve in the ATL:
Moronic. The vast majority of people would not put up with such a government that has a “purge”. People would band together and protect their communities
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Kent: The RNC is composed of each state’s State Chair, National Committeeman, and National Committeewoman, they would actually vote for the replacement nominee.
Here’s the info on RNC Rule 9.
“Number 9, Number 9, Number 9…”
patrick II
What will it take?
A total change in the mythology of the right. They believe economics is a natural system that overrules democracy. Their particular economic ethos emphasizes the rightness of acting for yourself and the futility of community action — which only interferes with the efficiency of the market. It is reinforced and integrated with prosperity religion to add an extra layer of righteousness which justifies any amount of dishonesty, most exemplified by:
They don’t believe in democracy, they believe in winner take all. The only thing that will change their mind is the failure of their party, the failure of the country, or the failure of civilization (working from bottom to top).
Amir Khalid
@J R in WV:
If one means Wahabis specifically rather than Muslims in general, one should mention that.
ET
The GOP party establishment has spent 30+ years breeding and inculcating its members to be sheep. Move with the herd, don’t think for yourself, let the strong white man tell you what to do and believe. Most of them thought they were the strong white man. Now they are in the position of realizing they weren’t what they thought they were. They don’t know how to act and have gotten subsumed by the tRump machine and bullied by a con man and most of them know it. They themselves destroyed both themselves
and undermined the tools (oversight and democratic norms) for their own purposes, and have left them and us, less to fight back with. Enough of them aren’t so stupid they don’t understand, but they want to stay in the Senate and because they aren’t as brave as they thought they were, I don’t suspect many will do much.
Kent
@?BillinGlendaleCA: thanks. Very informative link.
rikyrah
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Hayes is right about the ads
Steve in the ATL
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: seriously. No way my HOA would let that shit go down!
Steve in the ATL
@azlib: weirdly, that’s not much different from our summer, except probably the humidity. And the high quality college football
waratah
@Steve in the ATL: I wonder what part of the lamb did you grill? My nephew grilled a great shoulder roast on the grill when I was in Sydney in April. The first night my sister had lamb cutlets, I remembered how lamb was suppose to taste.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Steve in the ATL:
?
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
@Amir Khalid: Of course we did. It was awful to have you missing.
@Steve in the ATL: I’m off the list now?
Steve in the ATL
@waratah: rib roast rack. From Australia, no less!
@Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: you’re a permanent member of the list, but you’ve been so busy lately!
mrmoshpotato
@patrick II: Sounds like Lloyd Blankfein needs a swift kick in the groin.
waratah
@Steve in the ATL: I was raised on Australian lamb, my mother always flirted with butchers and got the best deals. Seriously I think we ate mostly lamb as it was inexpensive and plenty of it during that time. My husband decided to gift me with some lamb in beef country and fattened one up like a cow. I was used to grass fed free range young lamb and I could not eat it. Something changed the taste, it was the grain or not butchered correctly we did not try again.
cain
@Elizabelle:
I can do that! I even juggle!
Steve in the ATL
@waratah: I got an up charge after I tried to flirt with the butcher. Apparently I’m not as young and pretty as I used to be. [sad face emoji]
cain
@Steve in the ATL:
Speak for yourself! I still get free drinks at bars. :) I don’t even ask, they just give it to me. Walked into a bar in Austin during SXSW, and the bartender (whose been drinking and smoking in a non-smoking bar) points at me saying “you’re getting free drinks!” – My reaction was “Of course, I am!” :D
PJ
@Steve in the ATL: 1996? Sounds like 1965, in the best way. If your song is longer than 2 minutes, you’ve got too many words or too many notes.
TomatoQueen
@cain: At last, a purpose for fire ants.
Aleta
@PJ: Forgive me
(This Song’s Just) Six Words Long
PJ
@Aleta: I was going to put that one into my personal Academie Chansonaise, but unfortunately that song is 3:42 long, and Al ends up using a lot more than 6 words. But his heart was in the right place.