Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

I really should read my own blog.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

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

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

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

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Some Of Our Government Still Works For Us

Some Of Our Government Still Works For Us

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The National Archives has an exhibit on suffrage and women’s protests. A big photo of the Women’s March greets visitors. But some things are missing. Criticism of Trump is blurred out. References to women’s anatomy (OMG vagina!) are blurred out.

Let’s hear from the reporter.

Historians and museum curators have been unanimous in saying that the National Archives should not be in the business of altering documents. Most of us can recognize that, just from that sentence.

The National Archives listened!

Kudos to the National Archives!

And open thread!

Reader Interactions

194Comments

  1. 1.

    Another Scott

    +1 Excellent.

    As the WaPo motto says, “Democracy Dies in Darkness”. People have to speak up.

    In other news…

    Just left the border. We were able to get a young girl with a heart defect and Down’s Syndrome allowed into the United States with her family while their asylum claim is considered.She had been denied yesterday. #DemsAtTheBorder— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) January 17, 2020

    (via @RepDonBeyer)

    All the stuff that Donnie’s minions is doing isn’t normal and it’s not right. We have to keep speaking up, and vote the monsters out.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  2. 2.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Good for the National Archives! They made an awful mistake, but remedied it quickly and appropriately, along with a real apology. Good for them!

     

    i was very moved and informed by Darkrose’s comments here and on her Twitter last night. Good stuff, DR.

  4. 4.

    japa21

    Kudos indeed.  It seems the right always talks about how the left is into censorship.  Seems to be the opposite.  Remember, anytime anybody on the right accuses something being don on the left, it means it is something they themselves are doing or want to be able to do.

     

    GOP: The masters of projection.

  5. 5.

    New Deal democrat

    @RobNYNY: 

    Agreed. They will be brought to heel just as the National Weather Service in Birmingham was re: Trump’s sharpie hurricane forecast.

  6. 6.

    Aleta

    Also important : “We made a mistake.”

     

    eta “We apologize, and will immediately start a thorough review of our exhibit policies and procedures so that this does not happen again.”  is in the same vein, but gov’t and companies seem to say this so regularly that it’s hard to trust it will happen.

  9. 9.

    Jinchi

    @SiubhanDuinne: Good for the National Archives! They made an awful mistake, but remedied it quickly and appropriately, along with a real apology. Good for them!

    Was it a mistake though? Someone had to actively change the photograph and they did it in fine detail. (“God Hates Trump” became “God Hates ~~~~~”, etc.) . It’s good that they admitted and corrected the problem after they got caught, but what did they replace the modified photo with? Because it sounds like they found a completely different photo to fill the gap, and I’d guess it’s a photo without criticism of Trump.

  10. 10.

    japa21

    @Jinchi:

    They said they are going to replace it with an unaltered version of the same photo. They also claim that this photo was loaned to them for the exhibit. The implication is that this is how it was when they received it.

  11. 11.

    Jinchi

    @Aleta: Also important : “We made a mistake.”

    Well, at least in one instance, they did go out of their way to point out who made the mistake.

    The Archives said the decision to obscure the words was made as the exhibit was being developed by agency managers and museum staff members. It said David S. Ferriero, the archivist of the United States who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2009, participated in talks regarding the exhibit and supports the decision to edit the photo.

  13. 13.

    Jinchi

    @japa21: The implication is that this is how it was when they received it.

    No they did it themselves.

    “As a non-partisan, non-political federal agency, we blurred references to the President’s name on some posters, so as not to engage in current political controversy,”

  14. 14.

    debbie

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Disagree. They knew what they were doing and they had to know they would be found out, but they did it anyway. This is the disinformation Cheryl posts about.

  17. 17.

    MattF

    There were a number of things amiss in the situation— a government agency should not be altering photographs of historic events, archivists should not be altering photographs, the past is not mutable. It’s good that the situation was corrected. Would have been edifying to be a fly on the wall at the meeting where this was discussed.

  18. 18.

    WaterGirl

    This story, and the whistleblower story, just shout to me that

    ONE PERSON CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

  19. 19.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Jinchi:

    Are they seriously going to try to claim that they blurred references to Trump out of the photo to remain “non-partisan”?

    Sorry, history isn’t “non-partisan”.

    The most charitable interpretation of this is that they’re craven spineless cowards afraid of a man who can’t even walk 300 feet without getting winded

    The National Archives is just another institution that has given in to a carnival barker

  21. 21.

    scav

    I’d certainly distrust them all as professional historians going forward.  Especially as the action of altering the image was exactly and actively engaging in politics.  Their basic logic is flawed.

  22. 22.

    Another Scott

    @WaterGirl:

    Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

    Margaret Mead

    “I’m Spartacus!!”

    :-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  23. 23.

    Redshift

    @japa21:

    Remember, anytime anybody on the right accuses something being don on the left, it means it is something they themselves are doing or want to be able to do.

    I was thinking of that just the other day. Some wingnut congressman was responding to the GAO ruling that Trump broke the law by insisting that is because GAO is full of Democrats and Obama people. It was infuriating because it was another round of undermining the idea that anyone making rulings is actually doing their job rather than being a partisan hack, but then I realized ohhh, it’s because that’s what they’d do if they could, and they think everyone is just as corrupt as they are.

  25. 25.

    MattF

    Anyone want to wager on what will happen to the visible ‘FUCK TRUMP’ signs? I’m undecided.

  26. 26.

    Mnemosyne

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I missed that, but I should have known that the B-J Librarian Squad would be on it ASAP.

    I threw my back out and in a fit of desperation bought an air mattress to sleep on temporarily until my back heals up more. At the moment, I am laying on my old, crappy mattress because Keaton has of course taken over the new one and I can’t dislodge him when he’s looking so comfy and adorable. ?

  29. 29.

    West of the Rockies

    @mrmoshpotato:

    I concur.  No careers in politics or the halls of power for any Trumps, Kushners, Pompeos, etc.  Make them own and face their corruption for the remainder of their days.

  31. 31.

    bbleh

    @RobNYNY:  Right.  Or at the very least, now that this has made news, Trump will have some soulless minion move in to “clean house.”

    They’ll only “work for us” as long as it takes for Trump to make sure they work for him.  That’s how he thinks the government is supposed to run.

  32. 32.

    scav

    @debbie: The mechanics — and context — certainly rhyme.  I do rather hope there are professional consequences (of some sort) for those actively  involved.  It’s a fundamental baseline error: they absolutely should have known better.

  34. 34.

    The Dangerman

    So, THAT’S how the billions of Folks at my inauguration (biggest ever!) disappeared. Sad!!

    /Donald

  36. 36.

    joel hanes

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Of all the Trump-era crimes and misdemeanors for which I want to see justice rendered, this one ranks nearly lowest on the list.

    Let’s see thirty or forty Trumpies and other GOP prosecuted first.

  39. 39.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @zhena gogolia:

    Heard from him just this afternoon in response to my email. His message in its entirety:

    I’m alive! Was traveling—Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, sub I-20 Alabama. Will send more details soon.

    So [literally mops brow] we can all stop worrying!

     

  50. 50.

    zhena gogolia

    @Sebastian: 

    The Commissar Vanishes: The Falsification of Photographs and Art in Stalin’s Russia is a 1997 book by David King about the censoring of photographs and fraudulent creation of “photographs” in Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union through silent alteration via airbrushing and other techniques.

  52. 52.

    WaterGirl

    @zhena gogolia:

    In other words, Another Scott is correct.

    Isn’t he always?

    I believe you, but I hear it clear as day in my head as I. Am. Spartacus!  Those foolish actors… they are doing it wrong. :-)

  53. 53.

    zhena gogolia

    @WaterGirl:

    OT — are contributions still needed for the site redesign? I don’t use Paypal, but I asked for an address to send a check and never got an answer.

  54. 54.

    John Revolta

    japa21:
    Remember, anytime anybody on the right accuses something being don on the left, it means it is something they themselves are doing or want to be able to do.

    Here’s another lovely example:

    Sources said Johnson did not want ministers arranging media appearances or lunches with journalists. One senior government insider explained: “It is very frustrating when they deal with their own paranoia by deciding they must go on this or that TV show, when the PM wants them just to do the job.”

     

    Boris Johnson of all people wants his ministers to shut up and quit “touring TV studios” or face the sack. Fun times ahead.

  55. 55.

    joel hanes

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Let me sharpen my point:

    Too often, we prosecute the underlings and the elite malefactors go unscathed:

    viz:  Abu Ghraib  — peon Lyndie England was prosecuted, but Major General Geoffrey Miller, who specifically said he would “Gitmo-ize” Abu Ghraib, was not.

    Let’s turn that around, and put most of Trump’s cabinet in jail, and terminate the careers of their political-appointee Vichy deputies.   With prejudice.

    Because a sense of moral proportion would demand that happen first.   I don’t want to see Barr and Pompeo and Mnuchin skate while the archivist gets burned.

    The original decision by the National Archive was wrong and bad, but it’s not in the same moral universe as deliberately breaking up families seeking asylum and putting them in concentration camps.   Or rigging elections.  etc.

  57. 57.

    Sebastian

    @zhena gogolia:

     

    Thank you. I was about to write “This is Stalinesque” but deleted it as not to appear hyperbole but this is exactly what came to mind. We are becoming North Korea.

  58. 58.

    WaterGirl

    @zhena gogolia: Thanks for asking.   Contributions will always be helpful even if we get enough to cover the new site, because hosting is most definitely not cheap.

  66. 66.

    WaterGirl

    @zhena gogolia: I think John likes to send that information out personally by email.  Maybe give him a day or two and then send him email?

    May I suggest a subject line of something like “need address in order to send you money”?  He could probably answer that no matter how busy he is.  :-)

  67. 67.

    ThresherK

    @zhena gogolia: It was in a different movie, set in the Middle Ages, when Curtis forgot to de-Brooklynize the line reading, and it’s my go-to remark for anachronistic accents:

    “Yondah lies da castle of my fadduh.”

  68. 68.

    Gin & Tonic

    @WaterGirl: Different device. Now that I’m out of the habit of typing my nym a hundred times a day, it slipped my mind. So it’s your fault, actually.

  75. 75.

    TS (the original)

    @RobNYNY: My first thought  also – Government folks got to be nice to dear leader or they become unemp;oyed with no pension.

  76. 76.

    debbie

    @zhena gogolia:

    I’ll never find it on Google, but I remember selling a book (back in the 1980s) that was filled with photographs of disgraced officials and people removed from photographs. I think it was just about the Chinese government both current and historical, but I could be misremembering. This was long before Photoshop, and the side-by-side comparisons were really pretty impressive.

  81. 81.

    WaterGirl

    @zhena gogolia: Why do you think he is mad at you?  Something from the “everybody settle down, this means nothing” thread?

    John does not hold grudges, so if it’s from that, I suspect you are fine.

  82. 82.

    divF

    @zhena gogolia: I became aware of him from seeing Gosford Park. Then I started noticing the UK music award named after him, and found out what an important figure he was in early 20th-century popular music.

  83. 83.

    moonbat

    How in the world did they think they could “depoliticize” the Women’s March? All those women didn’t just decide to get up and go marching one day. That occurred within a political and social context. Might as well not have an exhibit at all of you want to “depoliticize” it.

  86. 86.

    Ruckus

    @Mnemosyne:

    I have to sleep on a solid surface or my back will be almost unusable. Which is of course not a good situation for a human to be in.

    So I sleep on a very solid bed made out of 3/4 plywood with an inch of stiff foam and an inch of gel foam. Comfortable and enough support that my back no longer makes me want to harm myself so that I won’t notice my back is killing me. Yes I herniated my back lifting something at work one day… It effects more people than I would have thought, been told that herniating between L4-L5 is very common.

  88. 88.

    Another Scott

    @moonbat: It sounds like it was “just” the promotional picture in the hallway that was changed.  Presumably the actual exhibit had genuine, unaltered pictures.

    Still, they shouldn’t have done it.  If they’re gun-shy about making such changes in the future, then that’s a very good thing.

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  90. 90.

    divF

    @WaterGirl: Yup. GUIs should work like cars – you don’t need a manual, you just get in, aim it and drive. The new BJ one runs quite smoothly, TYVM.

  92. 92.

    Another Scott

    @Another Scott:

    Another reply in the YouTube comments:

    Factoid: Kirk Douglas’s son, Eric, tried his hand at stand up. He completely bombed, to the point of being heckled by some jerk. Finally he snapped and shouted at the heckler “You can’t heckle me! I am Kirk Douglas’ son!”. The heckler stood up and shouted back “No! I am Kirk Douglas’ son!” Then the guy sitting next to the heckler stood up. And then this exact situation ensued.

    That’s too perfect to be real. rofl. :-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  96. 96.

    patrick II

    It is not so much this particular incident that bothers me, but that it is emblematic of what is going on in government right now.  Too many people in government know that, like the person who in the Brussels embassy who “liked” a Chelsea Clinton tweet, or the people in the weather service in Alabama, you have to be looking over your shoulder constantly in fear of offending Trump.

    It is similar to how society works in many dictatorships.  There are many laws, most of which are not enforced, but can be on a whim.  It keeps the people in line and looking over their shoulder.  Being a government employee is like that now.

  97. 97.

    Gin & Tonic

    @debbie: Probably not what you’re talking about, but I’ve recommended this book here more than once. I own it, and it is excellent. But no, I’m not going to look for it right now to verify your hunch [mumbling something inaudible about a surfeit of books.]

  98. 98.

    jl

    The words they blurred out were much more offensive, corrupting of our precious youth, and a danger to public morality than mentions of lady private parts. But, horrors, criticism of Boss Trump!

    But, like, really, Trump is ever going to be the slightest teeny bit aware of anything in a history museum? The TV ratings of the suffrage movement were in the toilet, it was a total loser in the ratings. Very bad ratings.  The worst!

    This is like Trump’s staff frantically searching for the reddest county presidential election map in US history ever. 2016 wasn’t read enough. But they had more reason. Trump would notice all that blue in, of all places Alaska, and go apeshit.

  99. 99.

    Another Scott

    ObOpenThread – Reuters:

    INDIANOLA, Iowa (Reuters) – Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden accused rival Bernie Sanders’s campaign on Saturday of disseminating a “doctored” video which falsely shows Biden supporting the privatization of Social Security, and called on the Sanders campaign to disown it.

    […]

    Bernie’s people are seemingly using scorched Earth tactics to try to bring the Democratic candidates down. I hope it backfires.

    Grrr…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  100. 100.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    Re impeachment, this is a good point:

    POTUS chose loathsome MAGA TV clowns as his “legal” team because he wants them to preemptively fight against impeachment.

    TV news has responded by giving them infinite free time to make their case.

    For more information, see “how trump got elected with free media coverage.”

    — Molly McKew (@MollyMcKew) January 18, 2020

  101. 101.

    jharp

    “Kudos to the National Archives!“

    I do not see it the same way.

    The took it down only after getting caught.

    Fuck them.

    Somebody needs to be fired.

  102. 102.

    Baud

    @Another Scott:

     

    What seems clear from a video of the speech is that Biden was actually mocking Ryan for the proposal. He leans into the microphone and says in a deep, menacing stage whisper: “Social Security and Medicare.” Biden then goes on to say – in remarks not disseminated by the Sanders campaign – that the tax code needs to be reformed so enough revenue is raised to save Social Security and Medicare.

    PolitiFact rated the Sanders newsletter as false. Reuters asked the Sanders campaign to respond to Biden’s allegation, but there was no initial response.

    Good on Biden for calling that disinformation out.

  104. 104.

    Patricia Kayden

    Good on NA for apologizing.

    America-we are in deep trouble. When the US Archivist is willing to tamper with documents to avoid the ire of President Trump, we have crossed a red line in protecting the Constitution. What happens to the First Amendment if @POTUS doesn’t like what you are saying?— Jackie Speier (@RepSpeier) January 18, 2020

  105. 105.

    jl

    @Another Scott: I think the Warren-Sanders spat was really about similar garbage the Sanders campaign used against Warren: putting out grass roots campaign talking points that she appealed to upper income voters.

    Sanders’ campaign issued excuses, which did not indicate it would stop. So Warren decided to let Sanders know that she was not afraid to fight fire with fire.

    I read someplace that Warren has been stewing over Sanders’ comments at that private meeting where he said ‘some things’ ever since shortly after it happened. And she talked about it shortly after the meeting at an off the record briefing with journalists. Apparently was a pretty ambiguous exchange, since reporters disagreed with each other about what Sanders was saying.

    Anyway, after I read that, my guess is that is the real story behind the Warren accusation. She’s been stewing over it, and chewing on that perceived slight for about year. Why make it public now? I think to let the Sanders’ campaign to know that measures will produce countermeasures for sure.

    I think that if Biden isn’t willing to do the same as Warren, it won’t stop.

  106. 106.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @WaterGirl:

    “Because that’s the kind of guy I’m.” – Sid Caesar in the Your Show of Shows spoof of From Here to Eternity.

  108. 108.

    Mary G

    Every time I open up the WaPo, there is a little box on the page thanking me for being a subscriber. It isn’t a coincidence that it was one of their reporters that noticed and investigated this travesty. Contrast the stenographers at you know where. My dollars are going to the right place. Kudos Marty Baron.

    Also, it makes me feel so old that AutoCorrect refuses to recognize “stenographers.”

  111. 111.

    jl

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:  I think Sanders and Warren campaigns have shown, in different ways, that they can fight back, though I don’t like the look of either the Sanders or the Warren stunts. But, both campaigns can punch.

    I think the Biden campaign has developed the most effective argument against Trump, but we’ll see if he can punch back in real time against BS.

    I don’t worry about a few incidents of this stuff causing long term damage to Democrats. The candidates and their campaigns get caught up in the competition and do stupid stuff. Both the Sanders crap talking points that imply Warren is elitist will be forgotten (if Warren campaign can get is stopped) and Warren’s charge, if these are isolated incidents, will be long forgotten by the general election.

    One reason I still prefer Warren is that I think she is best at making her case and critiquing opponents that is most effective and most constructive. I don’t like Sanders yelling that someone’s history makes them ‘electable’ . I think that is BS. And I don’t like Biden answering solid progressive proposals with ‘Malarkey!’ and ‘Nonsense!’ often backed up by little more than slightly laundered GOP talking points. IMHO.

    Sometimes the way Biden handles criticism, I fear a general election debate with Trump yelling ‘Loser!’ and Biden yelling ‘Malarkey’ back and forth.

  112. 112.

    Jinchi

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): The most charitable interpretation of this is that they’re craven spineless cowards afraid of a man who can’t even walk 300 feet without getting winded

    The really crazy thing is that there is zero chance Donald Trump would ever see the exhibit. So they’re afraid that some lackey might see it and then run back to tell him about it.

    My guess would be Kellyanne Conway.

  113. 113.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @ThresherK:

    “Yondah lies da castle of my fadduh.”

    That’s also one of my go-to lines! Always nice to find someone else who appreciates the real classics.

    Can’t remember the name of a cheesy old film about the Third Crusade, nor the actor who played Richard the Lionheart, but never-to-be-forgotten is Virginia Mayo hammering her dainty fists against his armour and proclaiming, à la Scarlett O’Hara: “War, war, war! That’s all you ever talk about, Dickie Plantagenet!”

  114. 114.

    Emma from FL

    Could you get off the moral high horse and realize that they were probably trying to protect their own existence? Anybody want to bet that they’re in for the defunding fight of their lives? Republicans already hate LoC and NA with the burning fire of a thousand suns. It was a cowardly thing to do, but the fear is real.

  118. 118.

    Another Scott

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I’d almost be willing to say that Bernie and his professional campaign people aren’t behind this dishonest Biden tape.

    But then I remember 2016, and what happened with Warren recently, and …

    Either he man’s up and quickly and tells his campaign and hangers-ons that this crap isn’t helpful, is actually harmful, and to cut it out, or it shows that he is fine with it.

    Like he was in 2016…

    Vlad just loves, loves, loves this stuff.

    Grrr…

    Cheers,

    Scott.

  119. 119.

    zhena gogolia

    @Another Scott:

    Either he man’s up and quickly and tells his campaign and hangers-ons that this crap isn’t helpful, is actually harmful, and to cut it out, or it shows that he is fine with it.

    He’s fine with it. He’s going to continue to do it. That’s his assignment.

  120. 120.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @jl:

    I don’t worry about a few incidents of this stuff causing long term damage to Democrats.

    I worry about that because Trump did it in 2016.  He picked up some of the rhetoric that was used by Bernie in the primary against Hillary in the general.  If it come from a “democrat” then Trump can used it more effectively.

  123. 123.

    jl

    @Emma from FL:I think the story is important, and doesn’t need to be criticism of the National Archives. The bigger issue that deserves emphasis is the deep corruption of Trump, and GOP’s devotion to Trumpism.

  124. 124.

    Martin

    I read this as likely less than the National Archive drawing Trump ire, than them not wanting feral Trumpers going in and shooting the place up,

  126. 126.

    WaterGirl

    @Another Scott: I think that’s the reason Bernie does it.  His job is to kneecap Democrats and make sure the thing in the white house gets another term.

    @Baud: And of course you got there first!

  128. 128.

    jl

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:  But that thing is going to happen in a primary. The candidates are ambitious, their staff is devoted, and also realize that losing means hitting the streets for a new gig in a few months.

    I thing wrong to blame all of it on Sanders. I think Biden, Buttigieg and Klobuchar have all used, as I put it above, slightly laundered GOP talking points to slam good Warren and Sanders proposals. I think that kind of thing can be just as damaging in general as Sanders’ BS.

    Edit: one of the eventual nominee’s jobs is figure out how to counter crap generated during the primary. We need to pick someone who knows that is part of the job of running in the general. Sanders isn’t the worst. Look at Gabbard, for example. No one control that except the candidate, we all know crap is gong to be broadcast. I don’t see the point of complaining about it. Better to support that candidate who you think is best to deal with that kind of thing by being a very good electoral politician.

    And I hope Gabbard mischief will solve itself quickly as she disappears from view. And I hope if she runs third party, her efforts to pander to Trumpsters will mean she takes more votes from Trump than from the Dems.

  130. 130.

    Jinchi

    @Baud: Let’s dispel with this fiction that Bernie Sanders doesn’t know what he’s doing. He knows exactly what he’s doing.

    Wow, a callback to Marco Rubio. That’s pretty hardcore.

  131. 131.

    Baud

    It’s a calculated attack by the Wilmerites.  Looks to have been initiated by The Intercept five days ago.

    Fact Check: Joe Biden Has Advocated Cutting Social Security for 40 Years

  132. 132.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @chris:

    Sub I-20 Alabama:  Steve in the ATL is a white frat guy. He’ll be taken for a member of the local gentry. As long as he keeps his politics to himself.

    – Steep (former resident)

  134. 134.

    Baud

    @Baud:

    Jacobin, around 5 days ago.

    Social Security and Medicare Are Not Safe With Joe Biden

    Truth Dig

    Bernie Sanders Is Right About Biden’s Record on Social Security

    Politico

    Bernie Sanders’ first major tangle with Joe Biden — over a 2010 deal that Biden struck with Republicans that liberals believed threatened Social Security — helped fuel his national rise.
    Now Sanders is set to reprise that clash Tuesday night on the debate stage, where the Vermont senator is preparing to lay into Biden over his record on Social Security.

  135. 135.

    Patricia Kayden

    UPDATE: The House's formal trial argument calls on the Seante to remove Trump from office and permanently bar him from federal office, calling him an ongoing national security threat. The president's initial argument called the House's process invalid.https://t.co/TLRLQINXCA— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) January 18, 2020

  136. 136.

    WaterGirl

    OT, but I had to replace my HP printer today.  What does one do with a dead printer these days?

    edit: And the winner is JanieM, first in with the answer of Best Buy!

  137. 137.

    mrmoshpotato

    @zhena gogolia: Yup.  Someone who didn’t fuck off in May 2016 and tell his supporters to vote for Hillary when he was mathematically eliminated doesn’t give a damn.  He’s not a Democrat.  He doesn’t care about the party.  He’s a ratfucking POS.

  138. 138.

    scav

    There are ways they could have downplayed the specifically anti-trump aspect of the march without resorting to altering an image.  Choose a shot from further away, blah blah, blah.  They choose to act in a way antithetical to to some fundamental principles of their profession.  They apparently held on to those principles for the interior exhibit so if the baboons are going to go after “their very existence!’ there’s still plenty of ammunition. It was a dumb move.

  141. 141.

    Ruckus

    @Another Scott:

    Maybe even BS knows he’s running out of time to get the fame and glory of being named president, a rather exclusive club that isn’t tainted by allowing women. I would imagine that if your ego was bigger than all outdoors, as is the current office holder’s, that getting named to it could be the highlight of a mediocre or even far lesser career.

  152. 152.

    J R in WV

    @Another Scott:

    But Bernie shouldn’t be doing this to Democrats. He enables Donnie when he does crap like this (and he know this from 2016).

    That’s why he’s doing it — Sanders is NOT a Democrat!!

  155. 155.

    WaterGirl

    @JanieM: Thank you!!!  The google tells me that all Best Buy stores, including Puerto Rico, accept recycling equipment drop-offs.

    Yay!

  158. 158.

    The Dangerman

    @WaterGirl:

    What does one do with a dead printer these days?

    If no recycling center, I propose attic, so someday your children or grandchildren will look at it and wonder “what the hell is that thing”? Put it in the same box as some old dial up modems to really mess with their heads.

    Alternatively, know anyone into Skeet shooting? Pull!

  159. 159.

    Ruckus

    @WaterGirl:

    You can drop it off at Best Buy they will recycle it. Or google is your friend. Around where I live there are about 5 places within 5 miles to drop it off, including the city offices where I live. Home Depot and or Lowes might also have something, I’ve dropped off batteries at them.

  160. 160.

    WaterGirl

    @The Dangerman: No attic.  No basement. No children.  No grandchildren.

    But I do have a Best Buy!  Which Janie M and the Google tell me will take my old printer, even without a purchase.  Yay!

  164. 164.

    FelonyGovt

    @WaterGirl: We replaced our Epson printer recently. Epson has a program that allowed us to send our old printer back to them for recycling at no charge. I wonder if HP has a similar program.

  167. 167.

    Aleta

    @WaterGirl:

    Or a Good Will-type org,  with the Vienna Convention Universal “Dead Printer” Symbol affixed, so they will direct it to  recycling or to electronics repair students

  172. 172.

    Elizabelle

    @WaterGirl:   Hi WaterGirl!  Hello from Key Largo.

    Thinking of TaMara today.  Saw two normal-sized people driving a tiny bright red smartcar.  With a large black and white spotted Great Dane in the back, with its head sticking out the top like Dino.

  173. 173.

    Steeplejack

    @chris:

    [. . .] one of those places where one might be caught in random crossfire.

    Oh, you mean “anywhere in contemporary America.” Got it.

    No place is only the sum of its clichés. I lived in L.A. (lower Alabama) for seven years a long time ago. Would I choose to move back there? No. But it’s not a hellhole. There were a lot of good things, too.

    Valued commenter Ben Sisco moved back to Alabama within the last year, I believe. Although I think he did stay above I-20. ?

  174. 174.

    zhena gogolia

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I was a concert when he conducted the Kansas City Youth Symphony. He was pretty good! His father of course was a legendary conductor

    ETA: Of course it was Werner who was conducing the KC Youth Symphony, not his famous father Otto.

  178. 178.

    WaterGirl

    @mrmoshpotato: That was awesome!  Very gratifying to watch.

    There was a printer in the 90s that my tech group threatened to throw down the elevator shaft.  Only tech problem I was faced with in 30 years that I was unable to solve.  And it was a stupid fucking printer.

    Now I am regretting that I never watched Office Space.

  183. 183.

    Steeplejack

    @WaterGirl:

    Don’t you live in (or near) Champaign-Urbana? I see a fair number of possibilities on the Google, e.g., Mack’s Twin City Recycling, 2808 N. Lincoln Ave., Urbana.

    Other (non-TV) possibilities here and here.

    If that’s not your area, try a Google search for “[your location] printer recycling.”

  184. 184.

    Elizabelle

    @Aleta:   Thank you!  Darkrose comments infrequently, but usually has something really interesting to say, so will read this.

  186. 186.

    Steeplejack

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    My city does it too, but because I live like 200' feet outside the technical city limit they wouldn’t take my dead TV unless I paid $40. But I found out that the county would take it for free. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

  188. 188.

    sab

    • @WaterGirl: I put an office chair on the elevator late one night in tax season, and then brought my own into work the next day. The abandoned chair wobbled a lot and had been throwing backs out for years. They kept moving it on to lowest ranking employee. So one night after spending a day in the damn thing I rolled it into the elevator and went home. The next day I came in early with my own home office chair. We never saw that clunker again.
  190. 190.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @WaterGirl: You might just be “old enough to remember Hogan’s Heroes” but apparently you don’t remember it well enough to know that I know nussink! Nussink! was the signature line of, not Werner Klemperer’s Colonel Klink (note spelling BTW) but Sergeant Schultz.

    (Fun fact: The Klemperers were Jews. Must have been a strange feeling to put that uniform on, even for a consummate professional.)

  191. 191.

    NotMax

    @Uncle Cosmo
    In his own words:

    Reached by phone at his Manhattan home, Klemperer said he liked his character and was proud to have played it.

    “The monocle and riding crop were my idea,” Klemperer said. “To a degree, I based Klink on the crown prince of Kaiser Wilhelm. He was a very pompous, aristocratic stock-type personality.”

    For years after “Hogan’s Heroes’ ” international success, it was not allowed on German TV. But not because of Klemperer’s campy portrayal of the Kaiser’s son. No, the issue of a comedy set in a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp kept the show off the air. That concern surfaced in the States too.

    “It’s interesting,” said Klemperer. “When I arrived to read the material with the producers, I was stunned. Somehow the creative people had failed to inform me that the show was a comedy.

    “But I had no reservations. I thought I saw the show for what it was: a satirical comedy.” Source

  193. 193.

    Darkrose

    @SiubhanDuinne: Thank you! My grad school days are recent enough that I remember what I learned, and I’m absolutely passionate about the information professions, so this hit all my buttons.

  194. 194.

    AxelFoley

     

    @mrmoshpotato: @Another Scott: And then we need to charge and try the monsters.  None of Obama’s let’s-move-on-from-the-Bush-war-crimes crap.

     

    Ah, you’re one of those fools who think a sitting President should go after their predecessor.  Cool, don’t act surprised when Republicans gin up bullshit charges against their Democratic predecessors then.

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