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You are here: Home / Organizing & Resistance / Don't Agonize - Organize / Monday Morning Open Thread: Really Absolutely Mundanely 2020, Now

Monday Morning Open Thread: Really Absolutely Mundanely 2020, Now

by Anne Laurie|  January 6, 20204:54 am| 60 Comments

This post is in: Don't Agonize - Organize, Election 2020, Foreign Affairs, NANCY SMASH!, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat

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Carol Burnett Award winner Ellen DeGeneres is joined by Carol Burnett herself to talk about why the #GoldenGlobes is the best party of the year. pic.twitter.com/vI9koEJ56Q

— Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) January 6, 2020

Parties are over, back to the real-as-we-know-it world…

I really wish the first four Dem primaries/caucuses (Iowa, NH, Nevada and SC) were on the same day. It would cover every region of the country and include a heavily Hispanic state and a heavily black one. There is no reason that Iowa alone should have so much power in the process

— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) January 4, 2020

NEW: Pelosi sends letter to colleagues: “This week, the House will introduce and vote on a War Powers Resolution to limit the President’s military actions regarding Iran.”

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 6, 2020

Elissa Slotkin, a freshman Dem in a swing MI district who also is a former CIA and DOD analyst, will lead the effort. Pelosi again reiterated that killing of Soleimani “endangered our servicemembers, diplomats and others by risking a serious escalation of tensions with Iran.”

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 6, 2020

I’m convinced that the desire not to seem wacky prevents journalists from describing what is happening accurately. It is legitimately difficult to not sound a bit crazed in describing what Donald Trump is doing to the country.

— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) January 5, 2020

STOP. JUST STOP!

There is NEVER a grand strategy! He’s an impulsive narcissistic ignoramus in cognitive decline. The option was put in front of him by gobsmackingly stupid DoD people, like handing a Glock to a toddler. And he was afraid the embassy attack made him look weak https://t.co/HRAwSKYRun

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) January 6, 2020

I boiled down everything you need to know about the president's foreign policy process in one handy flowchart. pic.twitter.com/Qo9bF1QBEU

— Starfish Considering Taking Up Day Drinking (@IRHotTakes) January 6, 2020

If you want to live in a fantasy world governed by a complicated set of rules which can be understood and mastered, play D&D.

— Starfish Considering Taking Up Day Drinking (@IRHotTakes) January 6, 2020

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60Comments

  1. 1.

    Shalimar

    January 6, 2020 at 5:15 am

    On a positive note, Trump has finally gotten us out of Iraq.  All it took was openly murdering Iraqi citizens and threatening to murder more.

  2. 2.

    satby

    January 6, 2020 at 5:23 am

    Good morning everyone! Our city adventure ended up taking 13 hours start to finish, easily a couple hours longer than I expected. I rode with the family, which has its hair-raising moments as dad learned about how to maneuver multilane intersections with trains running in the center of the street (welcome to Chicago’s South Side). And he’s a school bus driver, so he rigidly drove even slower than I do, and I drive like a grandma because I am.

    But the museum was a hit, the Chicago deep dish pizza a huge hit, and a good time was had by all. Plus, the kids were tutoring me in Pennsylvania Dutch on the ride home, with very limited success, but it was interesting. Mom was already asking me about which zoo is better to see ?

  3. 3.

    Baud

    January 6, 2020 at 6:26 am

    @Shalimar:

    “We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that’s there. It cost billions of dollars to build,” Trump said on Air Force One as he returned to Washington from Florida on Sunday.

     

    “We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it,” he said, apparently in reference to Ain al-Asad, a base originally built under Saddam Hussein’s government, but later extended by the United States.

  4. 4.

    JPL

    January 6, 2020 at 6:29 am

    @satby: Good Morning.   I’m glad that you enjoyed your day as a tour guide.

  5. 5.

    Eural Joiner

    January 6, 2020 at 6:30 am

    @satby: My daughter just recently moved to Chicago and we took a first-timer trip to visit this past summer. Loooooved the city and the deep dish pizza – but I couldn’t see eating it on a regular basis, it was just so heavy. I made it through one piece and was done!

  6. 6.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 6, 2020 at 6:31 am

    @satby: When has a day at the Museum of Science and Industry ever not been good? I haven’t been since the ’60s and it is still one of my fondest memories. Happy you are able to share such a fond memory with others for whom it might never have been were it not for you.

  7. 7.

    satby

    January 6, 2020 at 6:47 am

    @Eural Joiner: it’s a great city, and with a bit of advance notice I’m happy to be a tour guide to you and your family next time you visit. I love my city.

    But I’m driving, if driving will be required. No more turns into incoming traffic for me ??

  8. 8.

    rikyrah

    January 6, 2020 at 6:48 am

    @satby:

    Sounds like a good day, satby ?

  9. 9.

    rikyrah

    January 6, 2020 at 6:49 am

    Good Morning, Everyone ? ??

  10. 10.

    satby

    January 6, 2020 at 6:50 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: The mom did tell me they wouldn’t have gotten there if I hadn’t come along, which was sweet. There were a few things that jostled their worldview a bit, which is always good for people to experience.

  11. 11.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    January 6, 2020 at 6:52 am

    @Baud: “Officer, I’m not leaving this apartment until she gives me the watch a prior boyfriend bought for her.”

     

    Anyways, Iraq should do what every lessor does in this situation:  turn off the power and water.

  12. 12.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 6, 2020 at 6:58 am

    @satby: I hate driving in strange cities. The unspoken rules are always different.

  13. 13.

    JPL

    January 6, 2020 at 6:59 am

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Every democratic candidate should show trump’s video saying that President Obama will start a war in order to win reelection.    The current president is crazy and it’s time to say it loud at every opportunity.   .

  14. 14.

    debbie

    January 6, 2020 at 7:01 am

    @Baud:

    Extortion?

  15. 15.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 6, 2020 at 7:01 am

    @Baud: “We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it,”

    “Sure asshole. As soon as you pay us back for every thing you fucking broke since 2003..”

  16. 16.

    Patricia Kayden

    January 6, 2020 at 7:02 am

    I spent 2019 hearing people ask how we’d pay for Medicare for All.Thus far in 2020, I have not heard any of those people ask how we would pay for a war in Iran.— Anand Giridharadas (@AnandWrites) January 5, 2020

  17. 17.

    satby

    January 6, 2020 at 7:02 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning ?!

    Thanks, it was.

  18. 18.

    NotMax

    January 6, 2020 at 7:02 am

    Sneaked out to do some mowing yesterday and the mower would not start. Le sigh.

    Have a gut feeling it’s just a build up of gunkage from the ethanol in the gas. My days of futzing with things like that are behind me; gonna call the service company on Monday and make an appointment for them to swing by.

  19. 19.

    debbie

    January 6, 2020 at 7:04 am

    @satby:

    Oh, boy. Drivers. What can you do?

    Glad it was a fun day. We have a Center of Science and Industry here and it’s great. They moved to a larger location maybe 15 years ago and didn’t transfer some of the things I liked (Town of Yesteryear, for one) in the interest of modernization. I trust Chicago has been smarter.

  20. 20.

    satby

    January 6, 2020 at 7:08 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: he was too worried about where he was going to look at where he was. And it’s a patriarchy, so it was hard for him to take directions from me, until I told him to just turn Google off and let me tell him the way. He did, but he still had a map on the dash to see the roads, though it didn’t give him directions. But granted, it’s easier to drive where you’re familiar with the territory. And having to turn right around a train line in the middle of the street isn’t an everyday occurrence.

  21. 21.

    satby

    January 6, 2020 at 7:13 am

    @debbie: funny you should mention that. Yesterday’s Main Street at the museum was empty and my crew wasn’t interested in going down it either. I won’t be surprised if that exhibit is swapped out for something else in the next few years. Shame, really.

  22. 22.

    Baud

    January 6, 2020 at 7:15 am

    @rikyrah: Good morning.

  23. 23.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    January 6, 2020 at 7:19 am

    Apparently Pompero has already blaming Obama for the attack. Sounds like it’s starting to sink it to the Trump admit what they just did.

  24. 24.

    Baud

    January 6, 2020 at 7:22 am

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    “It was a perfect assassination. It saved American lives. I blame Obama.”

  25. 25.

    debbie

    January 6, 2020 at 8:05 am

    Small miracles. He seems to be sleeping in today.

  26. 26.

    rikyrah

    January 6, 2020 at 8:05 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I know that’s right. Science and Industry has always been my favorite ?

  27. 27.

    evodevo

    January 6, 2020 at 8:05 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Try driving in downtown Naples Italy…we found out real quick that cars making a left turn HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY LOL

  28. 28.

    Jinchi

    January 6, 2020 at 8:06 am

    @Baud: “We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it,”

    Yesterday we were all worried that Trump was starting a war with Iran. Now it looks like he’s also planning to rerun the Iraq war, but in reverse.

  29. 29.

    JPL

    January 6, 2020 at 8:07 am

    @debbie: Good.   Maybe it’s time to spike his coke with sleeping pills.

  30. 30.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 6, 2020 at 8:11 am

    I got 502ed for awhile there.

    @evodevo: You should try driving in Mexico. The person who has right of way is the one who fucking takes it.

    ETA: Pro tip: If somebody turns their right turn signal on, it DOES NOT MEN THEY ARE TAKING A RIGHT TURN. They are preparing to turn left. If they turn their left turn signal on, they are telling you it is safe to pass them.

  31. 31.

    Ken

    January 6, 2020 at 8:12 am

    @Baud: Learning from this incident, the Baud administration will blame its blunders on presidents McKinley and Polk, on the grounds that they have no defenders (and for that matter few who could identify them).

  32. 32.

    Jinchi

    January 6, 2020 at 8:15 am

    The option was put in front of him by gobsmackingly stupid DoD people

    It’s hard to believe they were actually this stupid. Trump has surrounded himself with Iran war-mongers and they know how to push his buttons. Graham and Pompeo have been comparing Baghdad to Benghazi constantly over the last week.

  33. 33.

    Immanentize

    January 6, 2020 at 8:17 am

    @JPL: My theory about his trip to the hospital, which would even fit the Doctors’ obviously incomplete press statement, was drug overdose/interaction issues.

  34. 34.

    chopper

    January 6, 2020 at 8:18 am

    @Baud:

    so we invade their country illegally, build an airbase and demand that they pay for it. jesus, this guy can’t not be committing extortion.

  35. 35.

    Immanentize

    January 6, 2020 at 8:18 am

    @Ken: I blame Thomas Edward Lawrence  — Not without reason!!!

  36. 36.

    JPL

    January 6, 2020 at 8:20 am

    @Immanentize: hmmm   Intentional or not?    His closest aides including his daughter and son-in-law must be tempted at times.   I imagine that Melania would just use a pillow.

  37. 37.

    chopper

    January 6, 2020 at 8:21 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    i mean we paved over part of the ruins of babylon for fuck’s sake, and we’re asking them to pay us?

  38. 38.

    Ken

    January 6, 2020 at 8:22 am

    @Patricia Kayden:

    how we would pay for a war in Iran.

    Tax cuts, the same way we paid for the war in Iraq.

    I would love to see one of the candidates propose paying for Medicare for All with tax cuts, but it won’t happen. There are downsides to belonging to the sane party.

  39. 39.

    raven

    January 6, 2020 at 8:22 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Driving through Saigon was exciting, then it got MORE exciting heading into the Delta.

  40. 40.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 6, 2020 at 8:25 am

    @JPL:

    I imagine that Melania would just use a pillow.

    Never happen. She’d have to get in bed with him first.

  41. 41.

    Immanentize

    January 6, 2020 at 8:25 am

    @raven: I suspect there weren’t many solid rules of the road there.

  42. 42.

    Baud

    January 6, 2020 at 8:25 am

    @chopper:

    Don’t worry. If Iraq doesn’t pay for it, Mexico will.

  43. 43.

    Shalimar

    January 6, 2020 at 8:27 am

    @Baud: So you’re saying he fucks up all positive things?

    Seems right.

  44. 44.

    Immanentize

    January 6, 2020 at 8:27 am

    You know what I am really going to hate?  All the insider tell-all books describing how really insane Trump was — published after he leaves office.

  45. 45.

    Ken

    January 6, 2020 at 8:29 am

    @JPL: Sounds like a theme for a murder mystery party.  So many of Trump’s circle are already stock characters anyway – “You are the Son-in-Law. Your secret is that you desperately need money to pay off mob debt.”

  46. 46.

    different-church-lady

    January 6, 2020 at 8:29 am

    @Baud: The new Pottery Barn Doctrine: “I break it, you buy it.”

  47. 47.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 6, 2020 at 8:35 am

    @raven: Driving in the mountains is a nightmare. The paved roads are traveled by buses who have 2 drivers, One to drive, and the other to watch the road ahead for oncoming traffic so that if they get stuck behind say a cane truck, the one can tell the other when it is safe to pass on a blind curve. They are actually pretty good at it because they are watching 3 or 4 twists in the road ahead. Every now and again tho…

    One of the scariest things one can do is get behind a bus and stay on their tail. It’s pretty safe but I would never want to be the 3rd or 4th vehicle in that crack the whip game because the really good ones are able to time the upcoming traffic they spotted a few turns back and while they have time, and the vehicle right behind them will, one is pushing the envelope 4 cars back.

    The unpaved mountain roads… Probably pretty similar to being on a goat trail in Vietnam.

  48. 48.

    different-church-lady

    January 6, 2020 at 8:42 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Meanwhile here we’re working on busses that have zero drivers.

  49. 49.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    January 6, 2020 at 8:43 am

    @satby: Comments are posting now? Good.

    You earned a day off, Satby.

  50. 50.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 6, 2020 at 8:45 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Probably pretty similar to being on a goat trail in Vietnam.

    Minus the bullets and bombs of course, but still the possibility of bandidos.

  51. 51.

    OzarkHillbilly

    January 6, 2020 at 9:38 am

    502ed again.

     

    ETA, looks like I wasn’t alone.

  52. 52.

    satby

    January 6, 2020 at 9:46 am

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I suggest everyone take a day away from being online because it’s a real brain refresher. And you’re inspiring me to start a puzzle ?

    I’m taking today as my lazy day since yesterday was so hectic. It’s chilly, but the sun is brilliant so a good day to get outside.

  53. 53.

    satby

    January 6, 2020 at 9:48 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I just had trouble getting on a number of sites, not just this one. Don’t know if I should blame my isp equipment or just the internet in general.

  54. 54.

    Quinerly

    January 6, 2020 at 10:43 am

    Poco is not doing well this AM. I don’t think he is any pain. Just seems to be confused. I have left a message for the vet.

  55. 55.

    Kattails

    January 6, 2020 at 10:48 am

    @NotMax: You need something called “Ethanol Shield”, add just a bit to the gas can for your small engines.  I have a mower, snowblower, and chain saw, so definitely worth it.

  56. 56.

    Kattails

    January 6, 2020 at 10:52 am

    @Quinerly: Oh no. Big hug to both of you.

  57. 57.

    J R in WV

    January 6, 2020 at 11:41 am

    @Quinerly:

     

    So sorry to hear this. Best wishes…

  58. 58.

    Origuy

    January 6, 2020 at 12:28 pm

    @satby: Take them to the Field Museum to see Sue the T-Rex next. You might want to wait awhile before going to the Art Institute; there are a lot of naked ladies there. Glad it went well.

  59. 59.

    Ruckus

    January 6, 2020 at 4:27 pm

    @evodevo:

    My road story about Naples is riding in the front seat of a cab, driving on a 4 lane road under 4 lane overpass, with a red light at the other side. So of course he drives down the train track in the middle, with a tram coming at us on the other side of the red light and being the first in the intersection because he never slowed down and cutting in front of the rest of the traffic back into the far left lane, just before the head on with the tram. He knew the light would change because of the approaching tram. I didn’t know that the tram wouldn’t stop and that the light would change because that’s not how it works here. At least the ride was cheap.

  60. 60.

    m.j.

    January 6, 2020 at 6:06 pm

    I think Trump assassinated Suleimani just to have something to bludgeon Joe Biden with.

    It has been reported that Biden counseled Obama not to storm Bin laden’s compound. Biden denies this. Trump is desperate to be the tough guy who will pull the trigger and he wants to to say that if Biden was President Bin laden would still be alive.

    I think it’s just that simple and insane.

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