Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL

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

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Republicans don’t trust women.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

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

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

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

No Justins, No Peace

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

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

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

DeSantis transforms Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

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

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Whole Lotta “Nothing” Goin’ On

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Whole Lotta “Nothing” Goin’ On

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  2. 2.

    Patricia Kayden

    Rachel Maddows talked about speculation that Sondland would plead the Fifth.  That wouldn’t prevent him from being indicted and thrown into prison though.  He should just tell the truth today and stop trying to protect Trump.

  3. 3.

    Baud

    The special f’ing envoy to Ukraine says Trump’s claims about Biden and the DNC are “conspiracy theories that have been circulated by the Ukrainians” and “not things we should be pursuing” 

    The NYT will never be silenced!

  4. 4.

    Betty Cracker

    This statement from White House physician Sean Conley regarding Trump’s weekend visit to Walter Reed sounds like the product of a legal briefing:

    “Despite some of the speculation, the President has not had any chest pain, nor was he evaluated or treated for any urgent or acute issues. Specifically, he did not undergo any specialized cardiac or neurologic evaluations.”
    Define “urgent or acute.” Also define “specialized.” The official explanation is preposterous. Something is up.
  8. 8.

    OzarkHillbilly

    While waiting for my wife to come out of the bank yesterday, I turned on NPR and they were broadcasting the hearings. The first bit I heard was some Republican asking a question with a lead that was so baseless I clicked off before he even got to the question. When I came back it was a DEM preening for the cameras by pointing out all the ribbons on Vindman’s chest and segueing into the recent pardons for US war criminals… click.

    I don’t have the stomach. I am very grateful for those who do because they can tell me the highlights and the lowlights without inflicting all the senseless bullshit on me.

  11. 11.

    Lapassionara

    @Betty Cracker: “urgent” and “acute” are med-speak for conditions that are not “chronic,” or basically manageable but not curable, like diabetes. So he could have been seen for any number of conditions, my guess is anxiety, given what we have heard about his temper outbursts.

  14. 14.

    David ??Booooooo?? Koch

    S H O C K  P O L L

     

    New Hampshire — Saint Anselm College  — Nov 18 (link)

     

    Pete………………25%

    Biden…………….15%

    Warren………….15%

    Wilmer…………….9%

    Amy…………………6%

     

     

    Everyone wants to focus on Pete being ahead by nearly 10 pts in both Iowa and NH.

     

    My take away is Wilmer polling at a single digit — HA!

  16. 16.

    satby

    @OzarkHillbilly: ? I’m with you.

    @rikyrah: Good morning ?

    @Lapassionara: heard some speculation about mini-strokes. Much as I want him to suffer the indignity of prison with the rest of his rancid family, anything that takes him out works for me. Cancer needs to be removed, and Pence won’t have the same cult following.

  17. 17.

    Baud

    @David ??Booooooo?? Koch:

     

    Pete’s on an impressive run. Tonight’s debate will be interesting.

    Also happy about Bernie’s numbers. If he didn’t have a big ego, he’d realize that he’s splitting the progressive vote at a time when it can’t afford to be split, and would drop out.

  18. 18.

    WereBear

    @Baud: I’m always up for what official channels say about cats, thanks!

     

    And really, genetically, they aren’t that domesticated. As all Cat Appreciators know :)

  21. 21.

    satby

    @Baud: it’s a blech time in our country. Sometimes I think the worst thing we could do to any of our Democratic candidates would be to actually elect them to clean up this disaster.

  22. 22.

    Baud

    @satby: As expected. I’m don’t follow lefty Twitter so I don’t see any of that garbage.

     

    @satby: Word.  I fear a repeat of the Obama and Clinton dynamic, where our side grows bored with the fight very quickly. But we have no choice but to try.

  23. 23.

    JPL

    @OzarkHillbilly: The democrat felt the need to point out that Vindman was a decorated hero, because the republicans tried to paint him as a traitor.   It’s a sad day for America when one has to defend a 20 year vet and decorated hero, but that is where we are at.

  25. 25.

    Marci Kesserich

    @Betty Cracker: Based on Josh Marshall’s iteration of Trump’s Law, I suppose it’s also possible that Trump, nutcase germaphobe that he is, had a bit of a cough and insisted on some extensive workup.

     

    Alternately, maybe the Steak-Of-The-Month that Putin signed him up for started to taste a little polonium-y…

  26. 26.

    satby

    @Baud: I don’t follow lefty Twitter either, but it (or it’s bots) bleed over into what I do follow. And I see the same dynamic starting in this race that happened in 2016. Divisive blather about whomever is the front-runner of the day, along with declarations that that person will never get their vote. We’re months from the first primary voted cast and people are already undercutting each other. Ugly.

  27. 27.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: Right after Sanders’ heart attack, I thought there was maybe a 1-9% chance he would GTFO so as to give the progressive cause its best chance to prevail, but nah. On the bright side, this is almost surely Sanders’ last presidential campaign, right? Or will he run again at age 82, primarying a Democratic president if necessary?

  28. 28.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Raven:

    I read of his testimony on it, that he wasn’t wounded nearly as bad as some of the others in his vehicle, and that he returned to duty the next day and finished his combat tour. Repubs will no doubt make light of his Purple Heart, like somebody gets to pick how badly they get wounded.

  29. 29.

    Zinsky

    It’s good to know that Donald Trump can multi-task! We know in 2016 that he was very busy paying hush money to a porn star and an ex-Playboy bunny with whom he had extramarital affairs AND he was paying $25 million to the people he defrauded through Trump University. But, according to Gym Jordan, Trump is pure as the driven snow!

  31. 31.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @JPL:

      I don’t think that is what this DEM was doing, because the trump pardoning of convicted war criminals has absolutely nothing to do with the facts under investigation in the impeachment proceedings. Admittedly, I didn’t listen to the finish of wherever he was going because he went off into left field.

  32. 32.

    J R in WV

    I mostly see twitter thru the Balloon Juice filter, which is marvelous. For all I can tell Twit is all full of cats and dogs licking each other, and funny quotes about Trump.

     

    Must fill out paperwork for new doctor (ortho surgeon) today for tomorrow’s appointment, also new mattress coming today, after new fridge last week. But first, Did major shopping trip thing yesterday.

     

    First stop was with little box turtle the dogs had dug up from his hibernation burial and were carrying around. He was a little scratched up, left hind leg a little injured, I can’t currently walk into deep woods, dogs would follow me anyway. So took cute little hardshell guy, wm.ho was pretty active once he warmed up a little on the floor of the car, to our Vet clinic.

     

    Founding Vet, WV Vet of the Year a couple of years ago was there, delighted to see little hardshell guy. Said he had lots of turtles show around his back yard to wife’s compost pile, would take charge of little guy whom he evaluated as in pretty good shape despite dog abuse. So Hurray!! He’s been our go to vet for more than 30 years, getting up in years now, so has recruited half a dozen younger younger local vets to share the practice.

     

    Then got fresh baked bread  at local bakery, swordfiish, oysters & scallops at fish shop, bubbly wine at wine and cheese shop, then Krogers, home just after dark, pooped. Simmered swordfish in Korma sauce, with curry rice, Yu

     

    Now back to bed after hydration …

  34. 34.

    Baud

    @satby: The primary is not a fun one. I actually enjoyed the 2016 primary more, at least pre-bird.

     

     

     

    @Betty Cracker: He might run as 82 if it’s lucrative enough.

     

     

     

    @Raven: My thought as well. They were never punished for that, so why should they think twice about doing it again.

  35. 35.

    JWR

    Speaking of Bernie, I hadn’t read this story until the other day, when BJ’s resident Bernie supporter showed up and I went looking for a 2016 story about how Bernie wouldn’t support the Dem nominee even if that nominee weren’t him, and I found this Chait story from earlier this year:

    June 26, 2019:

    MSNBC: If it’s clear you aren’t going to be the nominee, will you concede before the convention?

    SANDERS: I intend to be the Dem nominee

    M: But if you’re not. You stayed in last time

    SANDERS: Some people say that maybe if the system wasn’t rigged against me, I would’ve beat Trump

    (Tweet embedded at the link.)

    He’s pulling the same sh*t again! (Why am I not surprised? Because it’s !@#$%$^ Bernie!)

  36. 36.

    Betty Cracker

    @satby: Same, and I’ve muted a slew of people I used to enjoy following on Twitter for the duration of the primary — even people who support the same candidate I’m backing! I can’t with all the fucking whining and threats to sit the election out. I hope Twitter is just amplifying that particular brand of stupidity and it doesn’t reflect thinking outside that bubble.

  38. 38.

    NotMax

    Interesting. Promo billboard from CBSN up on Roku home screen for watching impeachment inquiry hearings. They wouldn’t place that as a banner ad if they didn’t see it as clickbait.

  40. 40.

    OzarkHillbilly

    From the Guardian:

    His father was “deeply worried” about his son’s testimony before Congress on matters related to the president of the United States, Vindman explained. Having spent the first 37 years of his life in Ukraine when it was still under the thumb of the Soviet Union, Vindman said his father reflexively understood that in some parts of the world such an act would carry the “ultimate risk”.

    Why, then, do you have the confidence to “tell your dad not to worry?” Maloney asked.

    “Congressman, because this is America,” he replied without hesitating. “This is the country I have served and defended, that all of my brothers have served. And here, right matters.”

    From the back of the Longworth hearing room, members of the public broke into spontaneous applause. It seemed, if only for a fleeting moment, that Vindman was right.

    But beyond these columned walls – in American living rooms and TV green rooms, online and on social media, where his “truth” was being condensed and repackaged, analyzed and distorted, memed and mocked – there was little agreement over what was right – and even less agreement over whether it mattered.

  43. 43.

    Bobby Thomson

    @Baud: If he didn’t have a big ego, he’d realize that he’s splitting the progressive vote at a time when it can’t afford to be split, and would drop out.

    And if humans had gills, they could breathe underwater.

  44. 44.

    NotMax

    In a baking mood yesterday and instead of making the old reliable chocolate sour cream pudding cake decided to switch it up.

    Yellow cake with sour cream and pistachio pudding mix in the batter. Experiment successful.

    (Whoever came up with the silicone Bundt pan continues to receive my eternal thanks.)

  46. 46.

    debbie

    @Baud:

     

    Someone needs to come up with descriptors to differentiate the corrupt old Ukrainians from the current ones. I have no suggestions, but it might help with messaging.

  47. 47.

    satby

    @Betty Cracker:

    Same, and I’ve muted a slew of people I used to enjoy following on Twitter for the duration of the primary — even people who support the same candidate I’m backing! I can’t with all the fucking whining and threats to sit the election out.

    I haven’t muted them yet, but I probably will. Including the people supporting the candidates I do. Half of what they say they don’t like about someone is just hearsay from our disgusting media, not based on any policy positions held by any of the candidates. And except for a few (Bern, Gabbard, and billionaire boys club excluded) all our candidates are light years better than what we have now. All of them.

  50. 50.

    satby

    @NotMax: my favorite cake to make is a bundt cake with a cream cheese filling. 1/2 the cake batter in first, then the filling, then the rest of the batter. Baked according to the cake timing.

    Easy, delicious, and people think it’s harder than it is.

  51. 51.

    SFAW

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    “Dems “preening for the camera” is about right. I was in a similar situation (waiting for my wife, etc.) and turned off the radio multiple times, because I can’t stand the bullshit. And then Traitor Nunes with his “drug deal” bullshit; he can’t be thrown in Lubyanka (if it still exists) soon enough for me.

     

    And fucking Volker with his “thread the needle” revision of his revised revised revised testimonies.

  52. 52.

    SFAW

    @Betty Cracker:

    There was a scene in “NewsRadio,” where Phil Hartman (I think) is trying to quit smoking, and ends up collapsing. When they open his shirt, they find about 50 nicotine patches all over his upper body. Maybe the Liar-in-Chief did that with certain ADHD meds?

  53. 53.

    debbie

    @Lapassionara:

     

    I agree with anxiety, and I’d bet it was caused by someone trusted telling him things weren’t going well and his puppets were not serving him well.

  54. 54.

    Aleta

    (NYT) A former employee of Britain’s consulate in Hong Kong said on Wednesday that the Chinese secret police tortured and beat him, deprived him of sleep and hung him in a spread-eagled pose for hours as they sought information about what they alleged was foreign interference in the protests that have convulsed the city.

    In a statement posted on Facebook, Simon Cheng spoke out publicly for the first time since he was detained in early August at the end of a business trip from Hong Kong to mainland China. When he was released after 15 days, the Chinese authorities said Mr. Cheng had confessed to unlawful activities.

    “I deny the arbitrary accusations against me made by the authorities which were obtained through an illegal process, including using torture, threats and coercion,” Mr. Cheng, 29, said in his statement. “I speak out now because the case is relevant to the public interest on knowing the flawed judicial process in mainland China.”

    The British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, said he had summoned the Chinese ambassador in London to express outrage at what he called “the brutal and disgraceful treatment of Simon in violation of China’s international obligations.”

    “Simon Cheng was a valued member of our team,” Mr. Raab said, according to the Foreign Office. “We were shocked and appalled by the mistreatment he suffered while in Chinese detention, which amounts to torture.”
    …
    …
    Mr. Cheng’s account also pointed to a deep belief among Chinese officials that the protests have been organized and backed by foreign powers as part of a broader effort to undermine the Chinese Communist Party. Mr. Cheng worked on the consulate’s business-development team.

    There has been no concrete evidence of direct foreign interference in the protests. But the Chinese authorities have latched onto statements of support from politicians as evidence of a wider conspiracy. That view received a boost on Tuesday when the United States Senate passed a bill that could authorize Washington to impose sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials responsible for human rights abuses in the territory.

    Mr. Cheng’s account of his experience in mainland police custody could not be independently verified, but his description closely mirrors similar cases in which activists have been pressured to make confessions for propaganda purposes.

    “Rather than finding the truth,” he wrote, “the interrogations are more likely to fulfill and prove their pre-written play by filling in the information they want from the detainees.”

    According to Mr. Cheng’s account, the British consulate general instructed staff earlier in the summer to gather information about the protests, including by joining social media groups and talking to protesters, to evaluate travel alerts and to learn more about the involvement of British citizens.

    Mr. Cheng said he personally supported the movement and had joined several demonstrations, but insisted he did “nothing illegal or illegitimate.” He added that he knew several mainland Chinese protesters and had previously tried to organize a discussion group on topics including Chinese society.

    On Aug. 8, Mr. Cheng traveled to Shenzhen for a business conference. He was detained by uniformed Chinese police officers as he was crossing the border to return to Hong Kong. He said that he was carrying money given to him by the parents of a mainland Chinese protester to pay for legal bills.
    …
    When he realized torture was a possibility, Mr. Cheng wrote, he told the officers, “I will confess whatever you want, torture is not necessary.”
    “They said it is not torture but ‘training’,” he added.
    …
    After the police saw the extent of his physical injuries, Mr. Cheng wrote, the physical torture gave way to solitary confinement. He said he also saw other prisoners whom he thought were protesters.

    Mr. Cheng said he gave the police information under intense pressure, including internal emails from the British Consulate and the names of some protesters. He was also videotaped expressing remorse for soliciting prostitution and betraying the motherland.

    But he said he had refused to confess what the officers wanted: that Britain had helped instigate the riots, that he had been involved in the violence and that he had used his consulate salary to bail out detained mainland Chinese protesters.

    At dawn on Aug. 24, the police escorted Mr. Cheng to the Hong Kong border. He was debriefed by consular officials, who granted him extended paid leave. Mr. Cheng said he has since fled Hong Kong to an undisclosed place and is hoping to obtain asylum.
    …

  55. 55.

    trnc

    @Betty Cracker: Define “urgent or acute.” Also define “specialized.” The official explanation is preposterous. Something is up.

    Better yet: “OK, what did he go through? Because no one gets half a physical.”

  56. 56.

    debbie

    @Aleta:

     

    This was just on NPR. What I don’t get is why there isn’t more talk about China breaking the terms of the treaty — that Hong Kong would not be “brought into the fold” for 50 years.

  59. 59.

    Princess

    Don’t discount the possibility that there is something seriously wrong with Trump (I know, I know). Remember the WH has its own medical facility , capable of dealing with trauma or emergencies. They could easily deal with a panic attack or imaginary chest pains  (and with much worse) and in most cases it is easier to bring a specialist to the WH that to take Trump to a hospital. The series of small strokes story is interesting — I’ve always said the reason he went to WR was for some kind of scan they don’t have the equipment for at the WH.

     

    Also, that NH poll thinks 75% of the primary voters will have a college education. Hmm.

  60. 60.

    Steeplejack

    I’m running Win10, Firefox, AdBlock Plus (currently turned off for Balloon Juice). Someone please tell me what I need to turn on/​turn off/​whatever to let the full glory of front-pagers’ tweets come through in posts. They show up on my phone. Here they come through in “commenter” mode—plain text with a hyperlink.

  64. 64.

    Baud

    Today show covering this story.

    The Navy will review whether an officer who was convicted of posing with the corpse of an ISIS captive before President Donald Trump intervened should be allowed to remain in the elite SEAL corps, along with three of his supervising officers, a defense official told NBC News on Tuesday night.

  65. 65.

    NotMax

    Meanwhile, partial government shutdown looming by the end of the week. House passed a short term CR (with 192 voting nay) on Tuesday.

  66. 66.

    Aleta

    I’m guessing he needed an MRI in a hurry.  (Of the kind that isn’t termed “specialized” like a surgical MRI would be.)  So then, an MRI to check for possible stroke, and they’re denying it was  ‘acute’ because a few hours had already passed?  Or an MRI to check for a heart attack,  but they’re denying it was acute because not an acute heart attack.  “Only” the acute stress/anxiety  symptoms others have mentioned. ??

    +

    What kind of health announcement twists around to announce what didn’t happen while refusing to say what did?  (Answ:  The fcked up kind, from people used to lying about the dishonest world where they live hoping for profit no matter the cost.)

  67. 67.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Surprise, surprise surprise!

    Georgia has become infamous for election security breaches in the past few years. But in a somewhat ironic twist, Georgia secretary of state’s office has now decided to investigate allegations that three vocal critics of the state’s controversial new voting machines interfered at a polling place during this year’s 5 November election.

    I think somebody has a somewhat different definition of irony than I do.

    The investigation, opened on 5 November, occurred after the office received notifications about election integrity advocates Rhonda Martin; Marilyn Marks, executive director of the Coalition for Good Governance, a not-for-profit that’s one of the plaintiffs in an ongoing lawsuit⁠ over the state’s voting machines; and Richard DeMillo, a Georgia Tech computing professor and cybersecurity expert.

    The complaint – which the secretary of state’s office initiated after hearing from “more than one person”, says office spokesman Walter Jones – states that the three were observed “inside the enclosed space, without authorization, at a Paulding county polling location” for more than an hour and a half.

    You can just feel the integrity and dedication to free and fair elections emanating from the SoS office, can’t you?

    DeMillo, who was at the polling location to research the effectiveness of the new machines, says he has not been contacted by the state to know exactly what he’s accused of, but denies breaking state law. He said he followed all standard regulations – “I introduce[d] myself to the poll manager, told them, ‘I’m not associated with any political party, and I’m here for the public to observe the election. Where can I stand to do that?’” – and was escorted by the poll manager to where he was supposed to be, including to the room containing the new voting machines.

    “I’m sure the secretary of state’s office knows that I’m likely to be called as a witness in front of the federal court. And I think they’re getting very close to the line of witness intimidation,” DeMillo said.

    Obviously a fake poll watcher, he’s got New Black Panther Party written all over him. Yeah yeah, he’s a middle aged white college professor, I mean race traitor.

    “Clearly, they’re trying to discredit us,” said Marks, who also denies being inside the enclosed space or taking photographs – another violation of state code. “It is just really disappointing, given all the problems of this election and this pilot, that the way the secretary of state is dealing with these problems is to try and shoot the messenger.”

    But not in the least surprising, not surprising at all.

  68. 68.

    Cheryl Rofer

    With Jim Sciutto, I don’t see a way for Sondland to thread the needle either. Unfortunately, I’ve got other things going on and will not be able to watch his testimony continuously.

    I’ve seen legal arguments that Sondland can’t plead the Fifth in hearings like this, although other witnesses have had their lawyers stop them and say they can’t answer a question without referring to the Fifth. Can’t see how that would be good for him, though. If any of our legal eagles are around, please jump in.

  71. 71.

    Aleta

    @debbie: Yeah, really.  I didn’t realize until I looked at a news map that a Chinese military garrison is located very close to the polytech university.  I’m starting to feel like much of the US press is also intimidated.  (That may be unfair;   I’ve been too preoccupied to read all the Hong Kong coverage.)

  73. 73.

    Elizabelle

    WaPost ombudsman Margaret Sullivan, great column:
    ‘I don’t know what to believe’ is an unpatriotic cop-out. Do better, Americans.
    First, her list of things to do, as in read/subscribe to a national newspaper, read your own local newspaper, watch the nightly news broadcasts, listen to the PBS News Hour recap and NPR.  And then she goes there.  As she must:

     

    I would also offer this small list of things to stop doing: Stop getting your news and opinions from social media. Stop watching Fox News, especially the prime-time shows, which are increasingly untethered to reality.

     

    … If every American gave 30 minutes a day to an earnest and open-minded effort to stay on top of the news, we might actually find our way out of this crisis.

     

    … Americans must dedicate themselves to ensuring, Lincoln urged in the Gettysburg Address, “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

    So, too, in this historic moment.

    After all, authoritarianism loves nothing more than a know-nothing vacuum: people who throw up their hands and say they can’t tell facts from lies.  [Are you hearing this comment from rightwing friends on Facebook?  I sure am.  Of course, they are also referring to Shitty Schiff… as they’ve been taught, by their media bubble.]
    And democracy needs news consumers — let’s call them patriotic citizens — who stay informed and act accordingly.
    Flag-waving is fine. But truth-seeking is what really matters.

     

     

    I know jackal cynics are going to jump in with “30 minutes a day?  Who has the time?”  And that’s true, although almost every American has some discretionary time to spend relaxing and regrouping and just wasting time.

     

    I would say:  would you give 30 minutes if you could keep our military veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan from having to endure the horrors and injuries and PTSD?  Do you not have that 30 minutes?  (I think Afghanistan was a just war, but could have been targeted narrowly and ended way earlier but for the completely elective attack on Iraq.)  And so many other examples.  The constant shootings and gun deaths and injuries.  Climate change’s effects.  We could do something about ALL of this if we had less polarized (on purpose) and actually informed voters.

     

    One thing that Margaret completely steered clear of:  watching Stephen Colbert, or the other late night comedians.  Because they are a better window of truth than the rightwing programming, and often the corporate-centric mainstream news.  (I shudder a bit at the “watch the nightly news” advice, because I find it …. quite superficial and incomplete.  There, it’s the stories they don’t cover.  At all.)

     

    Anyway, it was a good column.  Preaching to the choir, since you’re already reading a national newspaper to see it.  But no less important.

  76. 76.

    NotMax

    This close to a major spit take just now from a documentary running in background.

    Dialogue: …the Silver Bank, first called Abrojos…
    Closed caption: …the Silver Bank, first called the bro hos…

  77. 77.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Baud: Bernie’s fans have always argued it’s Warren who is splitting the progressive vote.

    I actually suspect they’re not splitting anything: there is no progressive vote. Warren is competing for the “elect a woman” vote with Harris and Klobuchar; Sanders is splitting the “elect a man” vote with a bunch of other people.

  80. 80.

    TS (the original)

    begad – watching CBSN & their pundits are saying non stop

     

    What the president did was wrong – but it is not impeachable.  What on earth do they think IS impeachable

     

    So much for the liberal media

  81. 81.

    Baud

    @Matt McIrvin:

     

    That would be valid argument if Bernie were leading Warren at this late stage. What they want is first mover cred.

    But I actually suspect you’re correct that their constituencies don’t overlap as much as one would think, except perhaps for young ideologues.

  84. 84.

    trnc

    @JWR: He’s pulling the same sh*t again! (Why am I not surprised? Because it’s !@#$%$^ Bernie!)

    So the DNC is STILL not requiring candidates for the dem nomination to be actual, declared democrats?

     

    YEEEEEAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGH!!!!!!!!!!!

  85. 85.

    catclub

    @satby:  Yeah, I’m sure that Nicolas Maduro’s dictatorship is NOTHING like Hugo Chavez’

    Cancer needs to be removed, and Pence won’t have the same cult following.

  86. 86.

    Steve in the ATL

    @OzarkHillbilly: one thing I like about arbitrations versus courtroom trials is that I can, and do, lead the shit out of my witnesses.  Sometimes it feels like I’m testifying myself!

     

    That’s enough lawyer talk for today. Blech!

  88. 88.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @satby: I worry about that too.  The yield curve has inverted twice, meaning a recession is coming.  A lot of people base their feelings about a party and a president on what life was like for them during that administration.  For this amazing expansion to be under Trump (purely through luck and Obama’s good stewardship) to be followed by a Democrat with a new recession disturbs me.  Its not worth Trump having 4 more years in office to do more damage to this country, but it is something I think about.  It makes me so angry that this good economy wasn’t under a Hillary presidency.

  90. 90.

    Just Chuck

    @Steeplejack: It’s Firefox’s built-in tracking protection blocking them.  Click the shield icon to the left of the address bar and turn off tracking protection for the site and the images should show up again.

     

    EDIT: weird, I spun up FF and tried it myself and no workie.  Something else is askew, and believe me it’s not just you.

  91. 91.

    Just Chuck

    @Steeplejack: FYWP won’t let me edit my post, so … just tried my own advice in FF myself (I usually use Chrome) and hm, no workie.  Was positive that would do the trick.  You’re not the only one seeing the problem (or not seeing, as the case may be); it seems to be biting a lot of people.

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