Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

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

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

We still have time to mess this up!

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

He really is that stupid.

Joe Lieberman disappointingly reemerged to remind us that he’s still alive.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

“woke” is the new caravan.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

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

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Second rate reporter says what?

You are here: Home / Organizing & Resistance / Don't Agonize - Organize / Wednesday Morning Open Thread: DUMP TRUMP

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: DUMP TRUMP

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It’s the theme of the day! From the Washington Post:

… Protesters in the dark of a snowy New England evening chanted “Dump Trump,” while those marching in the warmth of southern Florida brandished signs reading “Impeach Putin’s Puppet.” In Republican-dominated Kansas, they repeated a mantra: “Country over party.” In Texas, they fretted that despite the House’s vote, Trump will get away with it all.

Organizers said that there were more than 600 protests nationwide — from Hawaii to Maine — with the goal of demonstrating “to our lawmakers that their constituents are behind them to defend the Constitution.”

In many places, the rallies functioned less as a chance to vent about Trump’s Ukraine dealings — the matter for which he faces impeachment — than as an opportunity for collective catharsis over the entire track record of a president disapproved of by slightly more than half the country…

The House hearings are due to start around 9am EST; actual voting is expected “around” 6:30-7:30pm, depending on the Repubs’ performative stamina, or any ‘surprises’ from the Oval Office squatters.

Reader Interactions

137Comments

  3. 3.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Biden hit Dump yesterday with another hard ad (video)

    He’s the only one running ads kicking Dump right in the face.

  6. 6.

    Another Scott

    ‘ morning.

    RollCall:

    The full House will debate and vote separately on two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump on Wednesday, under a process set up by the House Rules Committee on Tuesday night after a contentious hearing that spanned more than 10 hours.

    The Rules panel adopted a closed rule in a 9-4 party-line vote just after 9 p.m., which means no amendments to the articles will be considered on the House floor.

    Under that rule, the House will take up the abuse of power and obstruction of Congress charges against Trump in two votes, allowing members to vote for or against each article. Rep. Jared Golden, a freshman Democrat from Maine, is the only lawmaker who has announced so far that he will vote differently on each article.

    The rule provides for six hours of debate on the articles, equally divided between Republicans and Democrats, and waives all points of order against consideration of the articles.

    The panel rejected, 9-4, an amendment from Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Ga., that would have allowed a point of order related to Republicans’ objection that they were not permitted to have a separate minority hearing day as a part of the impeachment inquiry.

    The rule also provides that after adoption of the articles, the House will consider the appointment and authorization of managers for the impeachment trial in the Senate.

    […]

    The process is marching on.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  7. 7.

    Kay

    Natasha Bertrand
    @NatashaBertrand
    · 10h
    A WH official told us Trump’s letter, replete w/ grammatical errors and odd capitalizations, is his way of “trolling” Pelosi.
    “We watched for a year and everybody said, ‘Oh she‘s so powerful now, she‘s so brilliant.‘ Show me one power move she‘s made.”

    “Power move”. Ugh. Horrible people. It’s like living in a bad 1980’s movie.

    In other news, we have a county commissioner candidate! Ta da!
    She’s good. We haven’t had a D county commissioner here for almost 30 years so wish us luck. This one could actually win. Her petition signatures to get on the ballot are due today but she should be fine. The general rule is you get twice as many as you need in case they’re challenged and she has 4x what she needs.

  11. 11.

    Betty Cracker

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: I wish Bloomberg wasn’t running as a Democrat, and most of his ads sing his own praises instead of kicking Trump in the nuts, which is a waste of money, IMO. That said, Bloomberg’s recent school shooting ad was a powerful exception.

    It may be a more effective ad strategy to pick an issue and point out Trump’s massive failures on that issue rather than to run ads about how Trump sucks in general. Trump is terrible, it’s true, but he’s also been disastrous on policies that people care about.

  12. 12.

    Kay

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: 

    In an email that was recently obtained by the Washington Post and dated Dec. 7, 2013, Kushner wrote to former Port Authority official David Wildstein, “Just wanted you to know that I am thinking of you and wishing the best. For what it’s worth, I thought the move you pulled was kind of bad*ss.”

    The kids stuck in school buses for 4 hours was ‘badass’.
    The county commissioners are all men and they meet on the 4th floor of the courthouse. I sometimes ride in the elevator with the leader (a Trumpist) and although he is a “badass” who makes a lot of “power moves” he’s too scared to make eye contact with me when we’re alone on the elevator. I knew his mother. She would be ashamed of him.

  15. 15.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Reluctantly, King Arthur fights the Black Knight and, after a short battle, the Knight’s left arm is severed, which squirts out copious amounts of blood.

    Even at this, the Knight refuses to stand aside, insisting “Tis but a scratch” and that he has “had worse”, and fights on while holding his sword with his other arm. Next, his right arm is cut off, but the Knight still does not concede. As the Knight is literally disarmed, Arthur assumes the fight is over and kneels to pray. The Black Knight interrupts Arthur’s prayer of thanks by kicking him in the side of the head and accusing him of cowardice. When Arthur points out the Black Knight’s injuries, the Knight insists, “It’s just a flesh wound.”

  16. 16.

    satby

    @Sherparick: so, why do you think that proves they matter?

    I’ve been a protester since the Viet Nam days, and I used to think they mattered. Not sure they do any more. Votes matter more.

  17. 17.

    NotMax

    Hmm, must be failing memory. Sure don’t recall ordering the deluxe buy one get one free package of leg cramps. Well, at least there is symmetry.

  20. 20.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: Your local government sounds as awful as mine: all white Republican men, most of whom hide their cowardice under a veneer of bravado. Some are more overtly terrible than others, but that’s really the only difference between them.

  22. 22.

    WereBear

    @satby: Protests do matter.

    It makes denial even tougher for the delusional, and that’s always a good thing. Not that it will make them change their mind. But because it can make them shut up.

  23. 23.

    Kay

    For me, I just have to accept that some institutions and people will hold up better than others- are more resilient. Because it is challenging and some will just fail. Failure actually is an option and they’re not all the same. The cracks will show in some and less in others. State department held up better than DOJ. Success/failure. Better/worse.

    I read this thing on Twitter yesterday where the complaint was journalists rewriting Trump’s letter to cover it as news improved how it’s presented to the public. They rewrite it in a way that adds seriousness and gravity to the letter- the letter itself is deranged and low quality. That is a challenge. They’ll have to do things differently to meet it. I don’t know how to do it. It’s difficult. Some will meet the challenge and some will fail. The NYTimes failed.

  25. 25.

    WereBear

    @Kay:  At least we have some, like you said.

    I’ve been down and out with this stupid virus thing since Thanksgiving. Finally getting on top of it.

    I blame it on slacking off on the self-care I have to do. So I’ve learned my lesson :) I just have to remember I’ve learned it!

  26. 26.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    I really could have hugged the candidate when she announced. They walk around the courthouse like they own the place. They often run unopposed. They’re smug and arrogant.

    It’s not easy running as a D! She’s a 4-H person and they meet a ton of people. She’ll have the underground 4-H network of support out in the boonies :)

  27. 27.

    Betty Cracker

    @WereBear: It also allows participants to feel less alone and more motivated to fight back. My sister, daughter and I went to the Women’s March in DC on 1/21/2017, and we all remarked on how we felt hope rather than despair for the first time in months.

  33. 33.

    debbie

    That Times Square photo is the best! I just wish they could have gotten a permit to march to Trump Tower.

  34. 34.

    Amir Khalid

    @Kay:

    As I recall, State had the benefit of being led by Obama’s SecStates Hillary and John Kerry, who worked hard to repair the neglect and marginalisation it suffered under George Walker Bush.

  36. 36.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    We hired her at the board of elections and she was really competent. It was difficult to hire her- that’s a clique too. The people who thought they should get the job were mad. Anyway, she stayed for two years and left because she got a higher paying job at a bank but she comes to D meetings and had her petition with her last night. County commissioners have a lot of power. Sherrod Brown says it’s the hardest job in local government. They allocate all the funding. The signatures have to be validated which one does by looking them up on the sec of state list of registered voters. Ours have to be D ‘s or independents. I saw her busily looking up the signer as people signed on her phone and I thought “good! pre-validating!”

    I’ve never seen anyone do that before, but it makes sense. Usually they just get a ton of signatures, dump them at the BOE and hope for the best.

  37. 37.

    Betty Cracker

    Here’s some news I missed in yesterday’s hubbub:

    It sucks that we lost Rep. Cummings, and it’s a disgrace that Hill was driven out of politics by sexist goons. But these reps seem like fine choices to fill the gaps. I’m more familiar with Porter and LOVE to watch her fillet malfactors in hearings.

  43. 43.

    Kay

    I learned this last night too- the D candidates for President are organizing by having their supporters call their own phone list. The list you have on your phone of people you know. Everyone probably knows this but I haven’t seen that before. The Bernie people told me last night. I know Obama didn’t do that. I wonder if their friends hate it. I wouldn’t mind it, but that’s me.

  45. 45.

    Kay

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    4-H is really small-d democratic. They vote on everything. The meetings are crazy-making. It’s an endless round of 8 to 17 year olds voting on slips of paper. It makes you yearn for the authoritarian scouting groups. “Is anyone IN CHARGE, or is this opinionated 8 year old running this thing?”

  46. 46.

    rikyrah

    Some day, we will have to discuss how the GOP radicalized Norm Ornstein. I remember when he was just your milquetoast tv pundit. Now, he is a truth firebrand.??

    Ken Starr is simply a despicable person. From his role as independent counsel to his shameful performance at Baylor to his sleazy work for Jeffrey Epstein to his utter hyporcisy now. Despicable. https://t.co/jAWiMHSFX4— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) December 18, 2019

  47. 47.

    Kay

    @Baud: 

    They’re getting ready for the Ohio delegate caucus, which is Jan 7. They have to register by 12/31. The delegate caucus will have all the candidates so they were talking to one another last night. They’re all doing it.

  48. 48.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    The union thugs at USPS are really bustin’ ass this holiday season. I heard some noise outside my door a little while ago, and it was a package being delivered shortly after 7:00 a.m.

  51. 51.

    Princess

    Loudest boos last night in a very cold Chicago were for Mitch McConnell, followed by and spontaneous chants of “MoscowMitch.” I used to think Biden was a shoe-in for Illinois’s delegates but I’m not sure his “Trump’s a problem but the GOP is just fine and we’ll all be friends again” line is going to help him here.

  52. 52.

    mrmoshpotato

    depending on the Repubs’ performative stamina

    So what’s being said is the Russthuglicans might not have the stamina to be in government?

  54. 54.

    Kathleen

    @Kay: In Hamilton County Rethugs held commissioner slots for 100 years. A very popular city Dem councilman beloved by local Rethugs broke the barrier because people were so furious about Bengals stadium bill crafted by a Rethug commissioner. Now we have all 3 slots which include first African American commissioner. Sadly our first Dem is dying from cancer and resigned. Connie Pillich is going to run.

  55. 55.

    Betty Cracker

    More news: Susan Collins announced her desire to dither and express surprise and disappointment at totally predictable events on behalf of Maine for another six years.

  59. 59.

    rikyrah

     

    As the vote on impeachment ? is taken, let’s be reminded:

    Maxine Waters was right?
    Al Green was right?

    They were telling the truth all along ??

  61. 61.

    Tata

    @Kay: I knew his mother. She would be ashamed of him.

    Why not just say that to the elevator captive? “I knew your mother. She would be ashamed of you.” That’d leave a dent.

  62. 62.

    Another Scott

    @Betty Cracker: Wasn’t there some speculation earlier that she was thinking of running for Governor?  Any thoughts on whether this shows that she thinks that would be a heavier lift, and is thus maybe a good sign that she’s beatable in the Senate race?  (IOW, she’s going to have to fight to keep her seat?)

    Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  69. 69.

    Kay

    @Kathleen: 

    Connie Pillich is going to run.

    I like her a lot. I once came upon her changing her clothes in her car in the parking lot prior to an event in Toledo. Kasich’s re-elect year, which was a very bad year for Democrats. You know how you recognize that “car changing clothes” maneuver”? I walked by very discrete, like I didn’t know what she was doing. Running for office is horrible.

  70. 70.

    Beth from Florida

    @Betty Cracker: same. I was at a local protest yesterday and the community group therapy value of protest and knowing you’re not alone is immense. A municipal bus was one of many vehicles to honk. Protests bring hope and that brings actions like voting.

  74. 74.

    schrodingers_cat

    @satby: They do. Those who protest, mobilize and vote.
    I will give my own example.
    I went for one of the sister marches organized by the Parkland kids and that’s how I got to know many of town Ds and now I am in the town D committee. I have helped canvass for some local elections and done some work with registering unregistered voters as well.
    These marches gave me an opportunity to see that I was not alone. Marches alone are not enough but they do matter. YMMV.

  75. 75.

    Kay

    A New Drug Scourge: Deaths Involving Meth Are Rising Fast
    Today’s meth is far more potent than earlier versions,

    Meth isn’t new but it is back with a vengeance. People have commented that opiates in rural areas (white people) were treated differently than other drug issues in urban areas (black people) and that’s true, but meth was always huge in rural areas and it never got the attention opiates got- I wonder if opiates were a prescription (initially) so were therefore more “middle class” and “respectable”. There’s tiers even among rural white people. Meth is the bottom.

  76. 76.

    schrodingers_cat

    Speaking of marches there are protest marches organized all over India for the 19th. There is one to be held at August Kranti (Revolution) Maidan in Mumbai. It was the venue of the historic call for the Quit India Movement in 1942.

  77. 77.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Betty Cracker:  We had that too in our county, since about the last ice age.

    In 2018 we got our first Democrats. In 2019 we went 100% Democrat. No Repubs left. Zero.

  78. 78.

    SFAW

    @Betty:

    And the brave Boston Globe calls for censure instead. Shame on them.

    I get a daily e-mail listing their top stories; I saw that, and was not surprised, although definitely disappointed.

    The Glob turned rightward about 3-5 years ago, after John Henry bought them. They’re not as RW as the Herald, nor the WSJ, but they’re no longer liberal/left. When Scot Lehigh is their most liberal op-ed columnist, it’s pretty clear they’re no longer the Globe of David Nyhan. [I like Lehigh, but he’s not a liberal.] And they have The Always Clueless Joan Vennochi as their designated “woman who writes disparagingly about strong women” columnist. [She’s been doing that schtick since at least 2002, when Shannon O’Brien ran against Tower of Courage with the Backbone of a Bed of Kelp, Mitt Romney.]

  80. 80.

    Melusine

    @satby: They matter in providing a strong visual signal that people aren’t happy and are willing to take action, and generate news coverage to that effect. They also serve to encourage engagement and let people know they’re not alone.

    The Women’s Marches after the inauguration didn’t change things on their own, but they made it damn clear that a whole lot of women (and men) were pissed as hell. It also created networking and volunteer opportunites for people who may never have been politically active before. And I’m ceryaun the strong showing bolstered the women who ran in 2018, and the recent crop of presidential candidates.

    They don’t solve things on their own, but participating reminds me that there are other local folks who care, and gives me hope.

    It’s also a great oppotunity to vent and shout the things you can’t always say at holiday dinners.

    A physical presence standing up against injust still matters.

  81. 81.

    schrodingers_cat

    Troll Update: The troll that showed up to demonize Muslims and dominate the comments to my post of two days ago, has also been commenting on Richard Spencer’s website.

  83. 83.

    CarolDuhart2

    @WereBear: Protests also are good for networking, for letting people know there’s others out there that feel the way they do,. for getting into the press.  Visibility, baby!

    Also, if protests are so ineffective, why is the right so eager to discourage them?  Protests, and the activity surrounding them led to the advances we have to day-politicians know there’s a passionate and active group behind a cause-enough to sway a few-and also more than a few who aren’t at the marches.

  84. 84.

    Baud

    In fairness to satby, a lot of protests do fizzle because, I think, the protests are seen as an end in themselves.

  85. 85.

    Kay

    Federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson took several minutes during her sentencing of top Mueller cooperator Rick Gates on Tuesday to comment on the Russia investigation, the significance of Gates’ choice to cooperate and the gravity of the facts that investigators found regarding Gates’ and Paul Manafort’s crimes and Russian’s interaction with the Trump campaign.
    At times, Jackson appeared to be commenting implicitly on Attorney General William Barr and the President’s criticism of the early Russian investigation, and especially the President’s broadsides against the facts of the matter.
    Outside of the executive branch, Jackson is one of the few people to have seen more details about Mueller’s investigation, especially regarding Manafort, than the general public and witnesses themselves.
    In addition to Gates, she has presided over Manafort’s case and Roger Stone’s, among others resulting from Mueller’s investigation.

    So everyone goes thru what they go thru ‘in these times’ – we’re outsiders looking in, we don’t know the whole truth, but about 6 months ago I realized it’s worse than even we think – just sure of that.
    That’s what Judge Berman is telling us here. It’s worse than we think.

    I just hope we can have a (relatively) free and fair election, given corruption in the AG, so therefore in the DOJ and God knows where else. I’m not as confident as I would like in just the mechanism, the process let alone flawed candidates, political media, all the rest. I don’t know that the machinery is functioning.

  86. 86.

    jonas

    @Baud:  I suspect most of the other candidates — aside from Warren and Buttgeig — don’t have enough money or staff at this point to be canvassing in Iowa and New Hampshire, *and* cutting high production-value ads attacking Trump at the same time.

  87. 87.

    JMG

    @Kay:  Opiods kill more users, but what meth leaves is human wrecks. A strung-out junkie bears more resemblance to a person than does a strung out meth head.

  89. 89.

    Kay

    “Mr. Gates provided information — not hearsay, but information — based on his personal knowledge, meetings he attended, conversations in which he was a participant and information that was verified with contemporaneous records of numerous, undeniable contacts and communications between individuals associated with the presidential campaign, primarily but not only Manafort, and individuals associated with Russia and Ukraine.”
    “One cannot possibly maintain that this was all exculpatory information. It included firsthand information about confidential campaign polling data being transmitted at the direction of the head of the campaign to one of those individuals to be shared with Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs.
    FISA court slams FBI conduct in Carter Page surveillance warrant applications
    FISA court slams FBI conduct in Carter Page surveillance warrant applications
    “It included firsthand information about a meeting within the campaign concerning attending a meeting with Russians for the sole stated purpose of providing information that could be used against Hillary Clinton. And it included firsthand information about claims made by an individual close to the campaign to be in contact with WikiLeaks concerning the release of emails obtained when the DNC computers were hacked.”

    Do any of you doubt they’ll do it again? I mean, OF COURSE they will. So there will be a day coming up when there will be a theft and a release of information on whoever the D candidate is, and then what happens? Odds are we go thru this again. I don’t know how to fix it or what to do about it. It’s what happens when the Watergate break-in succeeds. What happens after that. That’s what we’re in.

  90. 90.

    Kathleen

    @WereBear: I swear by Hylands Leg Cramps. It’s homeopathic remedy but I swear by it especially after runs. I get it at Kroger but you can order it online. CVS or Walgreens may carry it as well if they are on the island.

  91. 91.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Kay: 

    I don’t think it’s difficult at all for the press to correctly cover Trump. All they need to do is look back over how they covered Hillary, and then go do that. They won’t, but let’s not all pretend that they don’t know how to go after someone ruthlessly.

  92. 92.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Baud:  Agreed they are the first step not an end in itself. Sustained protests did bring Romanian dictator Ceausescu down.
    Right now in India where Modi has intimidated the press, and cowed down most of the political opposition parties the brave protesters are showing that yes there will be resistance. They know that the odds are stacked against them and yet they protest.

  94. 94.

    Kay

    What I sort of love about it how Wikileaks essentially closed up shop. Not even an attempt to appear to be what they said they were. Task completed, shut it down.
    They all have such contempt for us. I mean, you hope it’s “pride goeth before a fall” but maybe it’s not- maybe it’s “pride goeth before a successful coup” :)
    “Failure isn’t an option”. Sure it is. They’re failing all over the place. Definitely an option.

  95. 95.

    satby

    @Baud:  plus, they haven’t been very big since the Women’s March. They have to be massive to be counted as significant. I really wish I could still believe they matter, because I pretty much go to all of them.

  96. 96.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Baud:  I vehemently disagree that protests are seen as an end in themselves, at least not these days. That’s a canard thrown at the first Women’s March (in part, because women), which led to tremendous organizing and results. 2018 anyone?

  97. 97.

    Kay

    @Chief Oshkosh: 

    I disagree because I struggle with this in my work. Liars are really difficult to deal with, and often, OFTEN, they succeed by lying. I have had witnesses where I was showing them the document and they were denying its existence. I got reprimanded for putting it too close to her face. That’s how maddening it is.
    I wish it weren’t true but it is. It’s not just a matter of calling them out. They fucking suck HALF of any group of people in. You’re amazed they’re going along, but they are.
    They are corrupting. That’s the power. Not just them as individuals but what they do to other people.

  98. 98.

    SFAW

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    I imagine Baud’s sentiment is a holdover from Occupy Wall Street, which did not appear (to me, at least) to have any significant follow-on activity. Considering how publicized it was, that seems to have been a lost opportunity.

  99. 99.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @satby:  They do. If nothing else, they let good people in small towns in red states know that they are not alone. In bigger communities, I can say that I have never met anyone who hasn’t come back from a march or rally more fired up and ready to work hard than they were before they went.

  100. 100.

    satby

    @Kay: part of my (very short career) as a private investigator was to testify in court that the person shown on videotape committing a crime was in fact the accused now denying that was them in the tape. The tape alone wasn’t enough, we had to verify that it was that defendant we had taped. Because they always lied.

    it was a pretty demoralizing job.

  107. 107.

    Kathleen

    @WereBear: I swear by Hylands Leg Cramps. It’s homeopathic remedy but I swear by it especially after runs. I get it at Kroger but you can order it online. CVS or Walgreens may carry it as well if they are on the island.

     

    @satby: I had temp jobs at USPS. Some of the coolest people I’ve ever worked with. I have  a lot of respect for them.

  110. 110.

    Kathleen

    @Kay: I like her too. Alicia Reese who is currently in legislature is running also so there will be a primary. I’ll have to think about that vote. Todd Portune, who is retiring, was truly loved and respected by Dems and Rethugs. He’s been sick for years and needed a Walker but still showed up and marched in parades. Very brave and unique pol. I worked on his campaign in 2008.

  111. 111.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @Baud: Thank you for that clarification. Your use of present tense suggested otherwise, but I agree that in the past many behaved as if demonstrations were sufficient action. My experience shows that a lot of people have learned since 2016 that more is required.

  112. 112.

    Immanentize

    @Kay: 
    Meth is a really ugly addiction. And dangerous to self produce. But

    Today’s meth is far more potent than earlier versions

    I don’t understand this statement — just as a matter of chemistry.

  113. 113.

    satby

    @Omnes Omnibus: I thought I made it fairly clear that I think they can help if they’re massive. And I should probably add sustained. Some of the most egregious anti-democratic and crimes against humanity conduct ever seen in this country has happened over the last 3 years and the demonstrations against it haven’t been all that since the Women’s March.  Maybe my disappointment has more to do with the fact that after 3 years of this we don’t have millions of people demonstrating, not just thousands.

  114. 114.

    geg6

    @Kay:

    read this thing on Twitter yesterday where the complaint was journalists rewriting Trump’s letter to cover it as news improved how it’s presented to the public. They rewrite it in a way that adds seriousness and gravity to the letter- the letter itself is deranged and low quality. That is a challenge. They’ll have to do things differently to meet it. I don’t know how to do it. It’s difficult. Some will meet the challenge and some will fail. The NYTimes failed.

    Sorry but this is completely wrong.  Why would ethical reporters try to change an exact quote from a written missive?  What is the reason for that?  That is putting a huge thumb or more like a whole hand on the scale.  What journalists need to do differently is their fucking jobs.  My mother was a journalist and she’d rip you to pieces for saying journalists should somehow do anything other than report the facts, the who, what, where and when of what happened.  And if you have the actual text as written, then you report on that, not your interpretation of what might be less stupid or self-serving or untruthful or unhinged.  That is not the job, regardless of how many supposed “journalists” at the NYT or anywhere else see it.  They are incompetent and should be fired.  And held up for ridicule and as examples of exactly what not to do.  They are a disgrace to a profession they claim but do not fulfill.  Quit cutting them this kind of slack.  They don’t deserve it.

  116. 116.

    geg6

    @Kay:

    You’re an attorney.  Your relationship with your clients is not in any way comparable to the relationship between journalists and the subjects of their reporting.  Not comparable at all.  If they are, they are doing journalism wrong.

  117. 117.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @satby:  What I see is people doing the grassroots organizing to run for office and get out the vote. Many were galvanized by the Women’s Marches and the March for our Lives. That work is at least as important as demonstrations. Actually, I think it’s more important over the long haul, but we need both forms of activism.

  118. 118.

    geg6

    @satby:

    She may have thought she was criticizing them.  But she actually is providing their rationale for why they are so incompetent (and even more so when comparing it to her job as an advocate) and basically shrugging it off and saying it’s hard.  It’s not even a little bit hard.  Not a bit.  You report the facts.  That’s it.

  119. 119.

    schrodingers_cat

    Protests are not effective that’s why Bharat Jalao Party (Jalao == Burn) is trying to stop the one tomorrow in Uttar Pradesh where they are in power at the state level. That’s why China is trying to suppress them in Hong Kong.

  120. 120.

    sab

    @Kay: I live in Ohio and I think I have guessed where you live. I will send a contribution. Almost all my political contributions are local now. In Akron we have a promising young state rep who will be term limited out soon. I send her periodic contributions in hopes that she has a war chest if she aspires to higher office.

    Duck Tom Steyer on term limits. We used to have competent, experienced people in the statehouse. Now we mostly have idiots galloping after professional lobby guys.

  121. 121.

    schrodingers_cat

    Looking at the protests happening in India, Students and ordinary folk, marginalized Muslims are coming out in huge numbers to show the government and the people who voted for the BJP that they exist and it is their country too. I for one applaud their courage.

  124. 124.

    Zinsky

    I rallied in downtown Minneapolis in 12 degree cold. Crowd was probably 200+ despite the frigid temperatures. My sign said “Most Corrupt President Ever”.

  127. 127.

    Kathleen

    @sab: Thank you! I decided to focus more locally as well. Do you get emails from David Pepper? They’re pretty informative.

  129. 129.

    Bill Arnold

    @schrodingers_cat:

    has also been commenting on Richard Spencer’s website.

    They didn’t respond to my mention of the links between white supremacists and Hindu nationalists (and other such nationalists). The lack of response was interesting.
    (I assume “he” but will keep it gender neutral for now.)
    Timeline on the Richard Spencer website comments?

  132. 132.

    SFAW

    @Betty Cracker:

    I don’t know Maine politics, but I’m hoping Collins will feel she has to atone for the Kavanaugh vote by voting to remove Trump.

    Atoning will have nothing to do with it. I’m reasonably sure she felt/feels no guilt or shame for her Kavanaugh vote. The only reason she would vote to convict the Traitor-in-Chief is if Moscow Mitch tells her to do so, as part of a plan to get her re-elected. Neither a “convict” not “acquit” vote from her would surprise me. I would also not be surprised if Traitor Turtle lets her make some stupid-ass, mealy-mouthed speech, ostensibly to give her cover for her campaign.

     

    She’s as cynical as Moscow Mitch, but at least he’s honest about it.

  134. 134.

    J R in WV

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Troll Update: The troll that showed up to demonize Muslims and dominate the comments to my post of two days ago, has also been commenting on Richard Spencer’s website.

    Aww, isn’t that sweet! I’m sure he will feel much more at home in his natural environment with the genuine NAZIS!

  136. 136.

    J R in WV

    @geg6:

    @Kay:

    You’re an attorney.  Your relationship with your clients is not in any way comparable to the relationship between journalists and the subjects of their reporting.  Not comparable at all.  If they are, they are doing journalism wrong.

    Kay wasn’t talking about her clients at all. She was talking about witnesses, sworn to tell the truth, lying on the witness stand in open court.

    She was perhaps, to a degree, making a comparison to those same liars willing to lie on the witness stand in open court also being willing to lie to a reporter. Reporters who don’t have a huge chunk of cynicism in their nature can easily be taken advantage of by lying sources like everyone in Trump’s administration.

    If you don’t think reporters shouldn’t be aware of the possibility that their sources are lying to them, you don’t know any real reporters.

  137. 137.

    eachother

    @NotMax: I hope you get this.  Odd idea, yes.  It worked for me the on the one occasion so far that I have used it.

    The lip area under the nose, thumb inside the lip, index finger on the outside flesh.  Now squeeze with enough pressure not to injure but to trigger whatever solution it initiates for cramp resolution.  Squeeze for enough time to effect the nerves or brain or cramp location.  I think it will be known when it is enough.

    Read about this somewhere.  Needed it and it worked

    Also eat a banana too

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