Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

This really is a full service blog.

He really is that stupid.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

This fight is for everything.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Bark louder, little dog.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

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

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

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

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Friday Morning Open Thread: Speaker Pelosi Does Not Negotiate with Terrorists

Friday Morning Open Thread: Speaker Pelosi Does Not Negotiate with Terrorists

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… such as #MoscowMitch McConnell

… McConnell has his own problems. The denizens of Bedlam want a piece, too. And they have a fan at the other end of The Avenue.

It is an open secret that, as useful as they find them at times, Senate Republicans generally look at their House colleagues as bad seeds. That this split could open up here should come as no surprise, because the denizens of Bedlam don’t owe McConnell and his leadership team a damn thing…

The longer Pelosi holds the articles, the more we see how closely every single Republican is tied to the president*, and the lengths to which they all would go to protect him from any kind of oversight and from the faintest consequences. I don’t think this can go on forever, but there is one thing I am sure of: If McConnell goes ahead with the trial on his own, his days as a Majority Leader are numbered.

And she has the support of the best people in Congress, against the worst people in Congress.



Really, the absolute worst people…

… who are trying to wag the dog skunk.

Trump Loses at Tic Tac Toe - Drew Sheneman

Drew Sheneman via GoComics.com

Reader Interactions

143Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    A media that was shocked when a congressional witness made a play on Baron Trump’s name remain perfectly blasé when they hear the Republican slander that we support terrorism or mourn Soleimani.

    I expect David Brooks will preach to me about civility right now.

  2. 2.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Steyer surging!

    Fox Poll — Nevada — Jan 8th

    Biden……..23%
    Wilmer……17%
    Steyer…….12%
    Warren…..12%
    Pete…………6%

    Fox Poll — South Carolina — Jan 8th

    Biden……..36%
    Steyer…….15%
    Wilmer……14%
    Warren…..10%
    Pete…………4%

    This is too funny.  It must be driving Wilmer and Bloomberg nuts.  I saw a Bloomberg supporter on MSNBC complain about Steyer spending money.  Talk about no self awareness.

  4. 4.

    Balconesfault

    Everyone who rightfully thanks God that Dems retook the House majority in 2018 should double down on that thanks for the mini-insurrection by AOC, Tlaib, Rose et al right after the polls closed being summarily squelched.

    I can’t imagine anyone else having steered the Dems so deftly. RBG and AOC are cult figures while Nancy simply gets shit done as liberal pissants continue to nip at her heels

  9. 9.

    Butter Emails

    @Betty Cracker:

    I think that they only work in the sense that the anyone but Trump, but please not Biden or Bernie voters gets chased away every time the media targets their current favorite candidate. Then they go seeking for another Trump slayer. There was Harris, then Warren, then Buttigieg. They saw some good adds promoting Steyer while trashing Trump over the holidays so they’ve now boarded the Steyer express.

  11. 11.

    TS (the original)

    How long before the media stops quoting GOP lies – I fear never. This was how the GOP won the house in 2010 – media quoting non-stop GOP lies.

  12. 12.

    Amir Khalid

    But it’s not about how bad they are. It’s about how good we are.

    For too many in the current Republican party, that second sentence simply does not compute.

  16. 16.

    satby

    @Baud: yeah, he had the shitgibbon’s number immediately and went to war with him early on. I wish he hadn’t entered the race though, but if he takes out Bloomberg, win.

  17. 17.

    Melusine

    Pelosi represents everything Drumpf despises/fears: age, femaleness, hard work, patience, courage, conviction, the willingness to put the greater good ahead of one’s own interests and reputation…the fact that she is probably the most effective person in standing up to and breaking him is deeply inspiring. No hero is without flaws, but the fact that one of our biggest heroes against the rapey neo-nazi is an 80 yr old Italian grandmother is…perfect.

  19. 19.

    Quinerly

    Good Morning from me, now tribe of one!
    There is no way for me to describe how the outpouring of love from you guys about Poco means to me. I have caught a lot of your comments on dead threads and have done a lot of crying when I read them.
    Please indulge me. I made a little list…
    This dog did some traveling in less than 6 years!
    How many South St Louis City Street Dogs do you know who have seen the Grand Canyon, Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Capital Reef NP, Canyonlands NP, Arches NP, Monument Valley, Valley of the Gods, and Canyon de Chelly?
    Romped on the beaches at Lake Powell, Lake Abiquiu, and on the Outer Banks and in pink sand dunes in Utah and in the white gypsum of White Sands NP?
    Sniffed around Shiprock at sunrise?
    Rode out a hurricane with his mother who was drinking gin the entire time with her ex boyfriend’s best friend? ?
    Spent Christmases in 3 different states, including NC, Missouri, and Arkansas.
    Stayed at a motel above a Navajo trading post for a week and ate complimentary fry bread everyday, served while lounging about?
    Ridden on a boat to Cape Lookout, NC?
    Eaten left overs from Morehead City’s Cox’s Family Restaurant and hush puppies from Pine Knoll Shores’ Clamdigger? (inside joke) ????
    Sniffed a Clydesdale?
    Chased and caught ghost crabs on Bogue Banks, NC?
    Walked where Georgia O’Keefe walked her beloved Chow Chows in Abiquiu and at Ghost Ranch and happily pissed all over Georgia’s “White Place”?
    Pranced on Canyon Road in Santa Fe while looking for Robert Redford? (OK, that may have been his mom prancing and looking)
    Been petted and kissed by Ali Macgraw at a flea market?
    Met Mrs. Richie Furay at the Grand Canyon?
    Waited patiently in HIS Escape while his mom had a full on panic attack when the ranger turned off the lights in Carlsbad Caverns (yes, unknown to no one until now)
    Hung out on wine patios in the January sun in Las Cruces and in Corrales, New Mexico?
    Barked at a Llama?
    Hung out and made friends at winery and pistachio farm in Alamogordo?
    Stayed in “romantic” cabins in Sam Baker SP, Missouri; Chama, NM; Torrey, Bluff, and Escalante, UT; and Cloudcroft, NM?
    Been to Mardi Gras in Cloudcroft, New Mexico?
    Attempted to eat the Border Patrol dude when he wanted to search HIS Ford Escape outside of Las Cruces, New Mexico?
    Played with young girls at Zia Pueblo?
    Stood on THE corner in Winslow, AZ?
    Pissed from one end to the other of the Petrified Forest? (no rules broken)
    Drank beer with some bikers in Jemez Springs, NM on his mom’s birthday?
    Ate tacos with a contestant from “The Voice” in Corrales, NM?
    Was wary when his mom agreed to follow an ancient Navajo man from a gas station in Ganado, AZ to see his goats?
    Put up with his mom’s obsessions with Northern NM Spanish cemeteries and back road roadside alters (and knew not to piss on anything)?
    Humored his mom (but was cautious) while she walked arm and arm with an ancient green eyed stranger of Spanish descent thru the dusty streets of a Northern NM village while he explained the “way it used to be.” (Poco’s mom needs to look at her diary, outside of Chama. Think Tierra Amarillo, he was close to 90, had those beautiful Churro Sheep?)
    Drove around Tucumcari in an old Subaru, windows down, while your mom blasted Little Feat?
    Sniffed your way to the top of the Cross of the Martyrs in Santa Fe on every trip just to indulge your creature of habit Agnostic mom?
    Put up with your mom listening to THAT same Al Kooper song, 6 times in a row?
    Ate leftovers from 4 star restaurants and burped White Castles?
    Barked at the “goblins” in Goblin Valley SP?
    Slept in the FDR Room at La Posada?
    Stayed up all night watching trains in Winslow from the FDR Room with a separate door to the room your mother booked so you could watch trains all night on her birthday?
    Snuggled, snuggled, and snuggled with your mom?
    Ridden elevators in 3 star hotels?
    Protected your mom in Motel6s?
    AND ….. Met 5 Balloon Juicers, including Dr. Cheryl Rofer, campaigned for the Baud/Poco 2020 ticket by licking babies, sniffing the crotches of sorority sisters, and taking illegal dumps in the sand dunes….. and would like to think a 7,500 road trip in Feb/March of 2017 helped inspire BJ’s On the Road threads? ???
    Poco, I was so hoping you had one more New Mexico trip in you. Not to be.
    Lots of living in the less than 6 years when you took over my life. I have been very lucky to have chauffeured you close to 60,000 miles. RIP, my sweet boy. You had a good run.

  38. 38.

    Quinerly

    @debbie: my dogs have always been well traveled. Poco really took to it, though, with zeal. It’s going to be very strange when I leave on 1/19  and no big head poking up in the “Poco compartment.” He loved his traveling bed in the back of his Subaru and now Escape.

  43. 43.

    Quinerly

    @Betty Cracker: this 140 year old house is strange without a pet. Moved here 27 years ago with a kitty. Over the years, I think at the most I have gone without a dog here has been 2 weeks. Poco was trying to hold on longer but real change in him from Sunday to Monday. The vet said it was all over him once we found that hard knot in his lymph node. It was time to say goodbye. Thank you for your kind words.

  45. 45.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Prosecutors drop abuse charge against Marionville teacher a day after filing

    It has been a roller-coaster week for the state of Missouri versus 42-year-old Kimberly Daniels.

    Daniels had been charged back in September with abuse of a child and hindering the prosecution of a felony in connection with the June encounter with the 4-year-old.
    Both of those charges were dismissed Monday by Judge Robert George following a preliminary hearing in Lawrence County.
    The next day, Tuesday, prosecutors filed a new child abuse charge against Daniels for the same incident.
    And then on Wednesday morning, prosecutors dropped that new charge.
    ……………………………
    Daniels was placed on paid administrative leave following a June incident where she took a 4-year-old boy by the arm and led him away from a kickball game.

    Prosecutors had alleged Daniels’ behavior was abusive and that she injured the boy. Bilyeu argued that Daniels was following her training and fulfilling her duties to take the defiant child away from a situation where he could have harmed himself or others.

    During Monday’s hearing, Bilyeu pointed out the alleged victim told authorities Daniels had done nothing to him, several teachers who witnessed the incident did not report any wrongdoing, and a Children’s Division employee who thoroughly investigated the case found that allegations of abuse against Daniels were “unsubstantiated.”

    In her closing arguments Monday, Bilyeu called the criminal case a “farce.”
    ………………………….
    Bilyeu said Wednesday she did not want to speculate as to why Lawrence County prosecutors chose to charge her client again after a judge had just dismissed the case, only to drop the charges the very next day.

    Here’s an idea: Because they’re dicks?

  47. 47.

    Dog Mom

    @Quinerly: Oh, Quinerly – I am so glad to have seen this tribute to Poco – such a lucky pup.  I saw your condolences from a few days ago, but have not had time or energy to properly memorialize my sweet Dottie.  Thank you.  May these great memories bring a smile to your lips, faster than tears to your eyes!

  48. 48.

    Baud

    Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York on Wednesday threw her support behind Pelosi’s campaign to be speaker in the next Congress.

     

    In a series of tweets Wednesday afternoon, Ocasio-Cortez, a rising star in the party, said that “so long as Leader Pelosi remains the most progressive candidate for Speaker, she can count on my support.”

     

    “I agree that our party should, and must, evolve our leadership,” tweeted Ocasio-Cortez. “But changed leadership should reflect an actual, evolved mission; namely, an increased commitment to the middle + working class electorate that put us here. Otherwise it’s a just new figure with the same problems.”

  49. 49.

    Quinerly

    @Matt McIrvin: listening to Morning Joe. Lots of Bloomberg talk and about how he has hired 800 people. All of it just sickens me. I guess I was a Harris supporter. All seems so unfair.

  51. 51.

    Quinerly

    @Dog Mom: oh, I was so hoping to catch you on a “live” thread. Your Dottie was also diagnosed Christmas Eve? So sorry. What kind of dog was Dottie? (love the name)

  56. 56.

    Ultralurker

    @Quinerly: That list is touching.  Thank you.  I know what you mean about the strangeness of a pet less house after so many years.

  57. 57.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    So, the RWA mess pulled in Chuck Tingle a while ago. He responded with his usual “Hey, i wrote a book about this!”

    Now he’s added one of his patented “why didn’t they buy that URL?” sites.

    Be sure to follow the “apply to the board” link.

    ????

  58. 58.

    cleek

    If McConnell goes ahead with the trial on his own, his days as a Majority Leader are numbered.

    LOL. The GOP base will murder anyone who defects.

  59. 59.

    Quinerly

    @OzarkHillbilly: The Espanola Humane Society has been a strong presence in my Book of Faces feed since I first started going out there in 2011. Since Christmas Eve and when I learned how this was all going to end, I changed some things in order to prevent me from jumping into a commitment too quickly. After I leave the doggie friendly casita in Santa Fe I rented for us back in August, I move on to 3 nights in Gallup and 7 nights up north in Farmington. Changed the accommodations to just a bedroom for each in shared houses,  with no yards. No doggies allowed. All through AirBnB and incredibly cheap (less than $30 a night). Have used AirBnB before but never for just a room situation. Actually, kinda excited to try it out. I think both places are full. My “roommates” are visiting nurses… Plus a midwife in Farmington. I think it all can be interesting and fun. With that said, I am purposefully putting myself in a situation that I don’t come home with a Blue Heeler pueblo puppy mix. Dodged that bullet when my Leo died at the front end of the 2014 trip and little girls were literally shoving boxes of puppies at me everywhere I went.

  62. 62.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Quinerly: I don’t think Bloomberg is going anywhere. Comparing those Steyer numbers with previous ones it looks like he mostly pulled supporters from Biden. But who knows if it will hold up?

  63. 63.

    Ken

    The Drew Sheneman comic’s a bit ridiculous.  Not that the chicken couldn’t beat Trump, but that he’d react like that instead of, oh, throwing the pen across the room, kicking the chicken, and telling everyone he won the game sixteen times running.

  64. 64.

    frosty

    @Quinerly: What an amazing set of adventures you gave Poco! And he was the dog to take them and run with them. BTW you’re right that Poco inspired the On The Road feature. I was traveling at the same time, following your trip reports and thinking that a series devoted to all our trips would be a fun thing to read.
    RIP Poco, a good boy and Road Trip companion.

  65. 65.

    Quinerly

    @frosty: I remember your travels that year! South? In a camper/RV? I actually have been thinking about one of those Ford Transit vans and getting a friend to make it “liveable” for me. Need 4 wheel drive, though. Waiting for Ford to make a 4 wheel drive one before I get serious. I just don’t think I’m cut out to tow anything and don’t need anything large like a RV.

  66. 66.

    NotMax

    92-year-old landlady really wanted to go to a cooking class at the county’s senior center, near town, Thursday. The weather was so weird she asked if I would drive her (which I don’t mind doing).

    When I say weird, it was alternating between bright and sunny and drenching rains about every 15 minutes, all with blustery winds. Been a long time since I’ve driven in ‘can’t make out the lane lines in the daytime’ rain, accompanied by winds gusting above 40 mph. All the old reflexes kicked in though, and made it without incident. Real time reminder of how other people seem to lose all memory of how to navigate in parking lots in very inclement weather.

    While she was occupied (and getting a free lunch with it) I decided to try to satisfy this craving have had for weeks now for barley, and trucked into the big new supermarket in town. Nope. Second market, nope. Even Whole Foods, nope. Still want to make curried barley and then some hearty beef-barley soup later on, both in the Instant Pot. May have to resort to ordering pearl barley online – the quick variety just won’t do for those dishes (/First World problem).

  67. 67.

    Betty Cracker

    @cleek: I’ve greatly enjoyed seeing the MAGA chuds turn on Matt Gaetz for voting with the Dems on the war powers resolution. Arguably no one has humped Trump’s leg harder than Gaetz, but now they’re ready to ride him out of town on a rail. Gaetz went on the Tucker Carlson White Power Hour to explain that he did it to save Trump from being framed as a warmonger by Nancy Pelosi. No, really.

  68. 68.

    Melusine

    @Quinerly: He was a very lucky dog to have such a wonderful human. You gave him so much joy and love! Thank you for taking us along on your adventures over the years. Many hugs to you. ?

  69. 69.

    OzarkHillbilly

    “This airplane is designed by clowns who in turn are supervised by monkeys,” one unnamed employee wrote.

    3 guesses as to which company this unnamed employee works for and the first 2 don’t count.

  70. 70.

    Betty Cracker

    @NotMax: Got an Instant Pot beef barley soup recipe you can share? I don’t think I’ve ever eaten that type of soup in my life, but the mister expressed a nostalgic desire for it recently, so I’m willing to give it a whirl during the next cold snap.

  71. 71.

    Dog Mom

    @Quinerly: Dottie was a tricolor beagle – would have been 13 years old tomorrow. She had well controlled Addison’s disease dx’ed 6 years ago, mostly healthy with the occasional ear infection and UTI.  She was asymptomatic for the UTI, but ‘off’ so I took her in the week before, blood work was good, suspected the UTI, but she just was getting lethargic and inappetent – not something beagles do. Vets were stumped – they did a ‘mini-ultrasound’ and saw something on her spleen. They got her perked up with some IV fluids.  I got a full US on Christmas eve – Cancer on the spleen, a spot on her liver – it wasn’t a hemangiosarcoma, just some cancer that had spread already, and like a good reasonable vet they said it was inoperable.  She ate a good meal on Christmas, and picky for a few days after.  I felt terrible to syringe baby food into her to get her meds down and I was just aiming to get her through the last week of antibiotics for the UTI to see if that was the cause of inappetence.  She was ready to go even if I wasn’t. Third dog gone since May. Her sister, Lulu and my Weimaraner, Skye.

  74. 74.

    Quinerly

    Meanwhile.. .  “US. President Donald Trump asked South Korea to deliver a birthday message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in the latest exchange of personal greetings between the two leaders whose countries have been adversaries for decades.”

  77. 77.

    Immanentize

    @Quinerly: You give Poco a well-deserved wake in my Czech family style — some tears, but mostly great memories and bawdy humor.  With adult beverages!

    Thank you.

  79. 79.

    satby

    Good morning again, I dozed off ?

    @OzarkHillbilly: my last account before I got laid off by giant IT Corp was the Boeing one for a mercifully short time. Surly, unhappy people always aggrieved about something in every meeting. I was delighted when I got my layoff notice a month later, though had I known that at 59 I wouldn’t land another good job my joy would have been dampened. But not by much.

  81. 81.

    Quinerly

    @Dog Mom: the cancer on the spleen is one of the most common cancers in dogs, I am told. I didn’t go as far as the ultrasound with Poco, but the x rays at the pet emergency center in the middle of Sat  night after we got back from NC showed a shadow on his liver. My Leo, who died on my 2014 trip to NM, had an undiagnosed tumor on his spleen when whe started that trip. Collapsed in the middle of the night and was hemorrhaging internally when I had to have him put to sleep. You did the right thing and we never know if we have the timing exactly right. By the time I got Poco in Monday, he had perked up and loved the car ride. That adrenal rush they get. He was unable to jump in though, so only time he has ever ridden in backseat. I briefly left him in the car before taking him in. In those few minutes, he climbed behind the wheel and was sitting up like he was driving?. I almost moved him aside and went back home thinking “not time.” But by the time I got him in, he collapsed and was throwing up. So sorry about Dottie… Do love that name.

  84. 84.

    satby

    @Quinerly: Poco had a great life with you! I’ve been eyeballing used Transit vans for the same reason, they’d make nifty campers for 1.

    @Dog Mom: if I didn’t send condolences before, I am so sorry for your multiple losses this year. I know that even if you accept that it’s their time it’s a painful thing. It’s never easier with practice.

    All my critters were older or middle aged when I moved here. I lost the three oldest in 2019: Wookie cat and Hershey and Rosie, my two labs. I did the math, after moving to this house with 10 pets I’ve lost 6 and added 2, both cats. And it seems very empty around here.

  86. 86.

    Spanky

    @satby:

    Starting to Google “Transit van camper”, it autocompletes with that as 4th or 5th choice. So they’re out there, apparently popular.

  87. 87.

    Spanky

    It has been my observation that nature abhors a pet void in certain people. They just have a way of showing up, so never say never, nor even “not yet”. I was “not yet” a couple of years ago after losing 3 cast in a row – until I suddenly wasn’t.

  88. 88.

    Melusine

    Baud:

    Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
    ✔
    @AOC

    All the challenges to Leader Pelosi are coming from her right, in an apparent effort to make the party even more conservative and bent toward corporate interests.

    Hard pass. So long as Leader Pelosi remains the most progressive candidate for Speaker, she can count on my support.

    She is learning fast. I don’t agree with everything she says, like anyone, but she’s a knowledgeable and determined questioner in hearings, and she was willing to distance herself from her manager when he was shit-stirring among dems.

    I can’t really blame her for endorsing Wilmer – she doesn’t need his stans turrning on her right now. And by endorsing Pelosi, she seems more interested in being effective in her role than being popular. There’s a difference between endorsing a candidate you have a history with and don’t want to be at war with when there’s a crowded field, and stepping up for a leader who doesn’t have any challengers, and who a lot of your supporters hate.

    Her endorsement of Wilmer didn’t change anything. It was expected. Endorsing Pelosi is making a statement.

  91. 91.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @satby: As you know, my wife lost her 30 yr career at the age of 60. Put in 7 apps for every interview she got, and dozens of interviews before she finally landed a job at a small, smalltown tech company for half the pay. After 2 months there she was told she was going to be the on site the system support for a major contract they were expecting to land. They had major problems with their hardware and were working on expanding their business rather than dealing with their problems. One month later, 90 days exactly, they laid her off because she “didn’t fit the company culture”. Yeah, they didn’t get the contract.

    Months later she finally took a job at walmart, stocking shelves from 4 AM to 1 PM. Having been at a desk for the past 30 years, I knew it was going to tear her body up and it did. But she stuck with it and kept applying and going to interviews.

    6 weeks later she finally landed another tech job for again, half the pay she had been making at her 30 yr job, BUT really good benefits, just 20 mins away from home and 1/4 the stress she used to work with.

    Our house is paid for. The vehicles are ours. The money was nice but it’s much nicer to have my wife relatively migraine free, and at home instead of on I-44 for 2 1/2 hours of every work day. At our age, that’s a hell of a lot more important.

  93. 93.

    satby

    @OzarkHillbilly: I agree, and I’m glad she found another job she is relatively happy with. I found other jobs too, but at just over minimum wage with no benefits. Once I could start drawing SS at 62 it was just easier to give up the job hunt and stick with my hobby business. And that was thanks to Obamacare, because at least I had health insurance. It’s life-changing not to have to go uncovered that late in life, just when age is beginning to show you’re not invincible.

  96. 96.

    Quinerly

    @Cheryl Rofer: really looking forward to seeing more of you, especially since I’m back in SF for the 30 days. I think the year we met, I had changed it up a bit and was either in Cerrillos area or in Albuquerque. I’m excited to be back in the Railyard District. Will be messaging you after 1/27 once I’m settled in. I’m also going to do a day trip to Los Alamos on this trip. Only there in 2011 and it was cut short because of snow and ice. Have a great day. See you soon!

  98. 98.

    Quinerly

    @Spanky: I agree. I just don’t want to jump in anything too quickly. I would like a dog the next time a little less needy. It would have been impossible to board Poco or for him to have a pet sitter. Way too devoted to me. My other dogs have been a Chow mix and I really like that streak of independence in them. Once Poco came home from Stray Rescue he never wanted me out of his sight. Even when he was so sick at the end and he could hardly walk. I’m going to be a little selfish and do at least one kind of trip with no dog. Looking into those all inclusive train packages across the Canadian Rockies. Curious if anyone has done one. Just started seriously looking at them yesterday.

  99. 99.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Quinerly:

    Once Poco came home from Stray Rescue he never wanted me out of his sight.

    Just like Percy. If I go outside without his knowing he will run all over the house looking for me until he finally ends up whimpering at the door. When my wife lets him out he runs around with his nose to the ground until he finds me.

    It’s hilarious to watch him and Woof vie for the Daddy spot on the couch.

  100. 100.

    Jay

    @Quinerly:

    thank you for giving Poco such a wonderful life, and telling us about some of it.

    I am so sorry you lost your best friend and companion.

  102. 102.

    NotMax

    @Betty Cracker

    Haven’t made it in the IP before. Do have 2 different recipes I downloaded which look interesting. Will gladly share them here if you wish but cannot vouch for them – yet.

    Neither of them fits exactly the usual stove top play it by ear concoction, which, regardless of what other stuff I have on hand to toss in, includes chunks of flank steak plus beefy bones (short ribs cut with a cleaver if packaged bones cannot be found). The bones impart extra body and help it thicken up more each day which passes from the time it is made.

  103. 103.

    OzarkHillbilly

    The long read
    How the US helped create El Salvador’s bloody gang war

    The story of El Salvador’s gang problem is a study in shortsighted thinking – and Donald Trump’s policies threaten to make a bad situation even worse. By William Wheeler

    Israel Ticas is racing down the highway, drumming his hands on the wheel of “The Beast”, a tall, boxy police truck that he aims at the small, bustling town of San Luis Talpa, about 25 miles south of El Salvador’s capital, San Salvador.

    A decades-long veteran of the security forces, Ticas’s first job was as an artist in the counter-terrorism unit, sketching suspected guerillas during the country’s 1979–1992 civil war. The experience left him equally as distrustful of the rightwing generals he had served as of the guerrilla commanders who would join them among the political elite at war’s end. In most ways, the country has never quite recovered since. In 2015, homicides in El Salvador rivalled the most violent peak of the civil war, and it ranks consistently among the world’s most violent nations. Before long, Ticas spots a body by the roadside. “It’s fresh,” he observes. “With clothes on.” It hasn’t been stripped or dismembered. The victim, he says, was likely shot at that spot during the night.

    Ticas calls himself a “lawyer for the dead”. A self-taught forensic criminologist, he locates and digs up the bodies of victims of gang killings, and in so doing, he documents the crimes of the country’s notorious maras, or gangs. On this hot March morning in 2018, his finger is wrapped thick with gauze – a few days earlier, he pricked it on a thorn covered in fluids from decomposing bodies. His belt is adorned with a skull-and-crossbones pattern. As always, he carries a pistol in a handbag at his side.

    But we aren’t here for the body by the roadside. Instead, we stop outside a two-storey concrete building where men in blue-and-white camouflage uniforms armed with assault rifles are milling about. Our security detail piles into a Toyota Hilux, and we follow them zig-zagging out of town and into the surrounding sugar cane fields, the convoy kicking up a bright cloud of swirling dust. Our destination is a site used by members of the local MS-13 gang to rape, torture and execute people. The victims include civilians, rivals from the Barrio 18 gang, and their own members who break internal codes of discipline. After a few minutes, the convoy stops at a parched basin beside the fields, a spot where a river runs during the wetter months.

    As the river rises and falls in the jungle terrain, Ticas explains, the land swells and crumbles. So the topography has changed since the site was in use, several years ago, and his informant has struggled to remember where all the bodies are buried. Still, Ticas has managed to find 11 of the 21 bodies his informant says are buried here. The attorney general gave Ticas three months to work the location, and today is the deadline. He thinks he can find one more before his time is up and he has brought the informant here to help.

    It gets pretty gruesome, so if you haven’t eaten breakfast yet you may want to wait, but it’s well worth the time to read it all.

    ETA the full documentary about Israel Ticas is on Youtube. Maybe later today I can watch it.

  104. 104.

    Quinerly

    @OzarkHillbilly: I have said to our friend, Red, probably 100’s of times: “I don’t want to be loved this much.” Our Red understands. Hopefully never again. Poco was literally clutching me when he took his last breath. Even the vet teared up and commented on it. Strangest street dog, ever.

  105. 105.

    Jay

    @Quinerly:

    I’m sorry that my condolences are short, and I’m sorry that I don’t comment on every great loss, as they are all great losses, but it’s hard you know?

    You get all these great loves over time, and then you lose them, they add up, and then somebody else later loses their buddy or buddies, and the tears come back, the feelings of loss come back, then the flood of memories.

    Verklempt, ya know.

  107. 107.

    NotMax

    @NotMax

    Oh by the way if you do want to see the recipes found online, Betty, it might be a while as am fixing to attempt a jaunt to slumberland. Or you can e-mail me (Adam and Anne Laurie each have my contact info).

  109. 109.

    rekoob

    @Quinerly: Such a wonderful tribute! As a former denizen of Santa Fe, I have enjoyed reading all your travels through the Great Southwest and Poco’s escapades. I had hoped for a BJ meetup there one fine February day. My Northern New Mexico mix (27 pounds of rippling passion) is now pushing 17, and I treasure all the trips I’ve taken with him. Poco rests in power, forever grateful for your devotion.

  110. 110.

    FelonyGovt

    @Quinerly: Late to this thread here on the West Coast, but what a beautiful tribute to your friend. I’m so sorry you lost him but what a wonderful life you gave him, and what great memories. Hugs.

  112. 112.

    Quinerly

    @rekoob: would love to meet you sometime. Please feel free to get my email address from either Cheryl or Adam. Thank you for your sweet words. Hugs to your puppy?

  115. 115.

    WaterGirl

    @Quinerly:

    :: sobbing ::

    Why are my dogs suddenly packing their bags and waiting by the door?  Leaving me, because they haven’t had the life of adventure they just heard about?  Or hopeful that we are about to start a journey?

  117. 117.

    laura

    @Quinerly: Well, you showed Poco the world and you showered him with love and affection and you made him a part of a jackal pack and you face his last days with caring, compassion, comfort and you refused to allow suffering and pain. You maximized joy and you minimized suffering and you shared so many pictures of Poco travelling that were just a delight to see and to look forward to. So light a candle and raise a glass to a diamond in the rough, a true winner of the lottery – and have a gentle {{{{{abrazo}}}}} from me as you mourn the passing of your sweet boon companion.

  118. 118.

    Josie

    @Quinerly:

    I’m never on when you are, but I think of you and Poco often.  I’m so sorry for your loss and grateful for your lovely tribute.  It brought back memories of wonderful companions from my past.

  119. 119.

    satby

    OT but our rescue group just won a grant for$2500! Just got a message over Messenger. That’s almost 100 spay neuters we can fund! We’re thrilled.

  121. 121.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: I am perplexed, so I must have missed some news that would allow this to make sense.

    Why are we talking about something AOC did in 2018 as if it were something that is happening now?

  124. 124.

    balconesfault

    I know when I’m wrong – went back and looked at the roll call right after the election, and both Tlaib and AOC were in the “pro-Nancy” column.

    I thought I’d recalled them calling out for younger leadership … glad to see I was wrong.

  126. 126.

    Aleta

    @Quinerly: The tears in my eyes all through your list are still there.  May I say a thing that was added in my mind by the end?

    Nearly six years with Quinerly as his pack mate.  By his side on every travel (or in the lead at the wheel!);  the way life is naturally supposed to be in a dog’s belief system.  Ranging here and there looking and smelling things together.  Following dog law, living inside the proper order, togetherness.

    Same happiness given to Dottie, Lulu and Skye in life with @Dog Mom:

    same happiness  @satby: gave Hershey and Rosie (and prob Wookie cat).

    (My dog had to teach me about this.   And how to be in a pack.)

  127. 127.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @balconesfault: I can’t speak to Tlaib, but AOC has done quite of bit of trolling of Nancy Pelosi.

    OTOH, I think the bulk of the mini-rebellion was from “centrists”, though they were fairly incoherent about why they objected to her– Ryan Moulton, IIRC an ex-Republican from Long Island whose name escapes me.

  133. 133.

    Another Scott

    @NotMax:

    Barley for beer, and that’s about it.

    American farmers have grown barley for centuries, mostly for livestock feed but also for human consumption and for malt in beer. Yet a steep decline in its use for feed drove annual production down by 75 percent from where it was more than three decades ago.

    In the mid-1980s, farmers produced more than 600 million bushels — or 28.8 billion pounds — of barley annually, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

    That number plummeted to 153 million bushels — or 7.3 billion pounds — in the most recent year ending in May.

    Among the hardest hit areas between 2007 and 2017 were Kansas, Washington and North Dakota, according to the USDA’s Census of Agriculture, which is conducted every five years.

    Almost all of what is produced now goes toward beer.

    “Our No. 1 thing is, no barley, no beer,” said Doyle Lentz, who is on the North Dakota Barley Council board of directors.

    […]

    Nearly all barley acres in the United States are contracted now, experts say, making them of greater value. What once was an open market for barley is no longer.

    “In areas that they grow malting barley, it’s probably one of their better crops as far as income goes,” Heisel said. “Malting barley is a good crop for them to grow.”

    For Lentz, barley accounts for some 15 percent of his acres. He also grows spring wheat, canola and soybeans.

    “If you would’ve told me 20 years ago that one-third of my farm was going to be soybean,” Lentz said, “I would have laughed at you.”

    But many barley growers have stopped planting the crop entirely. Technological advancements have made it possible for barley farmers to grow crops like corn and soybeans instead, so they made the switch.

    […]

    Hmmm…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  134. 134.

    Kathleen

    @Quinerly: Late as always but I wanted to offer my deepest sympathy to you. Your recounting of his adventures was masterful story telling. I would love to see a book about Poco in including pictures and sketches. Best part was the sniffing of the Clyvesdale’s butt!

  136. 136.

    tam1MI

    @Quinerly: Long time lurker here coming out of lurkdom to Express my sincerest condolences on the loss of your Poco. You have him a great life. Always remember that.

  141. 141.

    Robby-D

    Here’s what I don’t get – why doesn’t Pelosi re-open the House impeachment investigation, subpoena Bolton and Pompeo and the rest, and tell McConnell that if he isn’t willing to follow the constitution and do his dang job, she’ll do it for him?  And then if those refuse to testify, charge them with obstruction of justice, and hammer on about how if Trump hasn’t done anything wrong, what are they afraid of?  They’ve proven quite adroitly that they’re not drawing this out unfairly, unlike the Benghazi hearings… and therefore they can’t claim “distraction” or “unfair process” or anything like that and have any credibility whatsoever.

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