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You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / It’s Friday Night. Be Like Steve.

It’s Friday Night. Be Like Steve.

by John Cole|  January 24, 20208:22 pm| 102 Comments

This post is in: John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House"

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Steve sleeps with flair and panache:

It's Friday Night.  Be Like Steve.

If you are wondering why the lighting is all screwy, it’s because that is the coveted pet bed underneath the desk at my feet, and I just have a light strip down there set to a little blueish purple hue. The second most coveted bed in the room is the lounge chair behind me, and the #3 spot is the other dog bed by the armchair. Usually 2-3 are occupied at a time.

Regardless, it is Friday. Be like Steve. Kick a leg up.

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Previous Post: « Justice Done? Or Derided?
Next Post: Friday Night Fights Open Thread: Embracing Joe Rogan »

Reader Interactions

102Comments

  1. 1.

    Jerzy Russian

    January 24, 2020 at 8:29 pm

    Suggested caption:   Zzzzzzzzzz

  2. 2.

    zhena gogolia

    January 24, 2020 at 8:33 pm

    It’s Friday night and Adam Schiff is trying to save the country. Are we paying attention?

  3. 3.

    PaulWartenberg

    January 24, 2020 at 8:36 pm

    It’s Friday night. I survived surgery but my nose looks like it went through 12 rounds against Mike Tyson.

  4. 4.

    Spanky

    January 24, 2020 at 8:38 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Yes, but it depresses me a lot more than the Watergate hearings or Clinton impeachment did.

    Still, gotta do what we gotta do.

  5. 5.

    Baud

    January 24, 2020 at 8:45 pm

    Schiff mentions “head on a pike” to murmurs in the chamber.

  6. 6.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    January 24, 2020 at 8:48 pm

    If you are wondering why the lighting is all screwy…

    No John, we’ve seen your photography skills before.

  7. 7.

    danielx

    January 24, 2020 at 8:51 pm

    As soon as I can find a pic of my man Boris…

  8. 8.

    John Revolta

    January 24, 2020 at 8:52 pm

    Big Electric Cat!

    https://youtu.be/LRQYBwlbSOA

  9. 9.

    stinger

    January 24, 2020 at 8:54 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Rep Schiff’s closing is such that even if we lose, we win.

  10. 10.

    zhena gogolia

    January 24, 2020 at 8:55 pm

    @stinger:

    Yes.

  11. 11.

    Baud

    January 24, 2020 at 8:56 pm

    @stinger: We still have a lot of work left before we win, but he did the country proud.

  12. 12.

    NotMax

    January 24, 2020 at 8:57 pm

    Isn’t blue light supposed to be a no-no?

  13. 13.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 24, 2020 at 9:00 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    I paid close attention. Thought his summation was just extraordinary. Am literally crying from an excess of … this long-forgotten emotion … could it be actual patriotism?

  14. 14.

    stinger

    January 24, 2020 at 9:00 pm

    That was magnificent. Portions of that should be memorized by schoolchildren.

    Whatever the outcome, THAT is the position I want to be associated with.

  15. 15.

    zhena gogolia

    January 24, 2020 at 9:07 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    He has been like this every night! He is a god!

  16. 16.

    zhena gogolia

    January 24, 2020 at 9:08 pm

    @stinger:

    Amen.

  17. 17.

    zhena gogolia

    January 24, 2020 at 9:10 pm

    @zhena gogolia: 
    Steve is a god too, of course.

  18. 18.

    Mary G

    January 24, 2020 at 9:10 pm

    I  waited too long to turn it off and heard the Republican senators being outraged by “the head on a pike” thing. Untrue! Unfair! The contrasts between that amazing speech and the tweets the defendant are spewing are mind boggling.

  19. 19.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 24, 2020 at 9:14 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    Yup! I’ve always liked and admired him, but until this week I had no idea he had such eloquence and passion. He loves the law, and he loves this country, and he’s not afraid to show it. He has been simply magnificent.

  20. 20.

    PsiFighter37

    January 24, 2020 at 9:14 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Probably not. I’m sure Schiff is doing a great job, but it feels like shouting into the void. The Republican behavior is absolutely disgraceful, but it won’t matter one bit.

    I do hope that whoever ends up the Democratic nominee adopts Warren’s plan to prosecute all of the corruption of this day and age, and this includes sitting GOP members of the House and the Senate. They are deplorable in the truest sense of the word.

  21. 21.

    The Dangerman

    January 24, 2020 at 9:18 pm

    @Baud: 

    We still have a lot of work left before we win, but he did the country proud.

    Winning will be in November (by a number larger than cheating distance, hopefully). Donald will be the lamest of lame ducks.

    In the end, whomever decided to make lemonade from the Republicans interested in only forming circles for their jerkfest (but, really, bringing in the squaredance caller for the Do Si Dos might have been a tad over the top) by making this the first night(s) of the Democratic Convention was brilliant.

  22. 22.

    Aleta

    January 24, 2020 at 9:23 pm

    I like that Sherrod Brown followed up by saying Senate Republicans are controlled by their fear of Trump and then pointing out that a trial is without evidence and witnesses is a sham.  Right after Schiff had closed by talking about trials in Russia.   Schiff was wonderful,  including his example of being excellent in the face of possible futility.

  23. 23.

    Roger Moore

    January 24, 2020 at 9:24 pm

    @The Dangerman:

    Donald will be the lamest of lame ducks.

    Even if he is, you can bet he won’t act that way.  He and Moscow Mitch will go into overdrive to fill every open position in the judiciary by hook or by crook.

  24. 24.

    stinger

    January 24, 2020 at 9:24 pm

    @Mary G: I unfortunately caught a bit of “my” senator Joni Ernst <spit> during one of the breaks. More than 2 days of incriminating evidence, and all she could find to whine about was that the DEMOCRATS sucked up to Russia FIRST. Waaaah.

    Way to address the issues at hand, Joni.

  25. 25.

    Jeffro

    January 24, 2020 at 9:25 pm

    Schiff was masterful.  Glad he reminded the GOP Senators that trumpov wouldn’t hesitate for a second to turn on them.  Let them learn the hard way.

    Still having trouble processing that this is the FIRST time many of these GOP Senators are hearing the facts of the case (as opposed to FoxBubble ‘commentary’ 24/7).  But again, let them learn the hard way and pay the price this November.

    Let’s do everything we can to bring on the long overdue GOP civil war.  They are hanging on to power in this country by a thread…we should be the scissors.

    Thanks again, Rep Schiff…you and your compatriots did America an immeasurable service this week.  History won’t forget.

  26. 26.

    Laura Too

    January 24, 2020 at 9:27 pm

    During the dinner break of the trial NPR played some of Mary Louise Kelly’s interview with Pompeo, what an arrogant ass. It is worth a Google as he ended up leaving and then they asked her into his private area alone where he berated her. I would love Adam’s take on this.

  27. 27.

    Jeffro

    January 24, 2020 at 9:27 pm

    @PsiFighter37: I agree wholeheartedly.

    Running on holding these clowns accountable vs ‘looking forward, not back’ would make a huge difference in my book.  The Dems are 95% aligned on most everything else.  Don’t give me someone who shies away from thoroughly, publicly, and completely investigating all of these scandals.

  28. 28.

    Aleta

    January 24, 2020 at 9:27 pm

    I thought Steve, expecting company, had turned his Friday night date light on.

  29. 29.

    Keith P

    January 24, 2020 at 9:33 pm

    @Roger Moore: Right.  It’s just a further evolution of Dems trying to govern by consensus, even after winning handily, vs. the GOP governing as if they have a mandate even after losing of the popular vote.  Turns out all that “consensus”, “want to have a beer with X”, “needs to pivot to the center” only goes one way media narratives.

  30. 30.

    Jerzy Russian

    January 24, 2020 at 9:33 pm

    @Baud:   Any harrumphs?

  31. 31.

    MagdaInBlack

    January 24, 2020 at 9:36 pm

    @Aleta:

    ??

    He IS looking all seductive, isn’t he ?

  32. 32.

    tam1MI

    January 24, 2020 at 9:40 pm

    @Laura Too: I was just coming over here to see if any front pager was covering this!  They really should, it was so refreshing hearing a journalist actually act like a journalist instead of a Republican fluffer.

  33. 33.

    patroclus

    January 24, 2020 at 9:46 pm

    Schiff was at his eloquent best yet again – from Bobby Kennedy on moral courage to Abraham Lincoln to pre-butting all the sham-like arguments we’ll hear tomorrow, he was utterly magnificent.  I had tears welling in my eyes.  It’s very sad that it’s all for naught due to the malevolent evil of the modern Republicans and the Trump cult of personality.  I taped it and, like Ted Kennedy’s “dream shall never die” speech and several Barack Obama speeches (“you know, they said this day would never come”; “yes we can”), will watch it again and again for as long as I shall live.

  34. 34.

    Another Scott

    January 24, 2020 at 9:50 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    Republicans and the White House have made it clear that they don't want the American people to know what happened. When I'm president, I'll order the release of every document related to the impeachment inquiry that they've been hiding so the American people know the full truth.

    pic.twitter.com/wBld15rubk— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) January 24, 2020

    Good, good.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  35. 35.

    Jeffro

    January 24, 2020 at 9:52 pm

    Btw folks, here’s someone to keep an eye on: Scott Jennings, a “former special assistant to President George W. Bush and a former campaign adviser to Sen. Mitch McConnell. He is a partner at RunSwitch Public Relations in Louisville, Kentucky” (per CNN bio)

    Jennings has an op-ed piece up on CNN.com that is a master class in disinformation: Adam Schiff is the One Helping Vladimir Putin.  Yes really.

    “The President’s misconduct cannot be decided at the ballot box, for we cannot be assured that the vote will be fairly won,” Schiff thundered this week, arguing for President Donald Trump’s removal.

    That comment stopped me in my tracks (and rankledmany in the Senate GOP conference) because the conclusion of the US intelligence community was that Russia’s interference in the 2016 election was designed “to undermine public faith in the US democratic process,” an assessment backed up by the Senate Intelligence Committee.
    What could possibly be more fulfilling of Putin’s desire to sow discord and mistrust than for a senior member of Congress to stand in the well of the Senate and declare the 2020 election is already illegitimate before a single ballot has been cast?

    Um, Scott…nobody said the 2020 election is illegitimate…we said that the president* is trying to cheat, again.  Because he’s following Putin’s instructions.

    And so on..

    as Republican Sen. Josh Hawley told Tucker Carlson, if Schiff’s argument is that Trump’s 2016 election isn’t valid — and 2020 is likely to be no different — “and therefore you have to protect democracy by overturning elections… it’s no wonder that they [Schiff and fellow Democrats] don’t actually want to have this trial.”

    Um, they very much wanted to have this trial, thanks!

    …what’s more dangerous? Predicting what Trump may or may not do, or fulfilling Putin’s wish to project a belief that American democracy failed four years ago and is guaranteed to fail again? Putin won’t need a pittance of Facebook ads this time around; he’s got Schiff.
    If I were a vicious commentator, I’d now take the leap of labeling Schiff a Russian operative. But that’s not true, and we ought to take more care not to label our fellow Americans as such.
    He is, however, a “useful idiot” in this case, unwittingly doing Putin’s bidding.

    I think we’re about a light-year beyond “I’m rubber, you’re glue” here…and as usual, it’s designed to get people confused and (at best) equating both sides.

    But here’s the best part, the grand finale:

    Protecting the legitimacy of American democracy means actors in both parties must not reflexively label illegitimate the duly elected leaders of the opposite party when they clearly are not. This is what made Trump’s prior obsession with former President Barack Obama’s birth certificate so wrong.
    Trump eventually admitted that Obama was born in the United States and was, therefore, the legitimately qualified president. Let’s hope Schiff comes around to the same view of Trump’s legitimacy before people start voting this fall.

    Got it, Libs?  trumpov eventually came around on Obama’s birth certificate (coughaftereightyearscough) so quit with this whole “the other side is illegitimate” thing, ok?  Like who could even do such a thing?!??

    Schiff’s not questioning trumpov’s legitimacy, Jennings you dolt.  But nice try at distraction.

    10 months to go…

  36. 36.

    Mnemosyne

    January 24, 2020 at 9:52 pm

    Because I am a bad person, I’m really enjoying the Bros’ hysterical defense of the Sanders campaign bragging that they got an endorsement from Joe Rogan. They are finding out the hard way that it really sucks when your god-king turns out to have feet of clay just like the rest of the candidates. ?

  37. 37.

    John Cole

    January 24, 2020 at 9:52 pm

    @NotMax:  I mix it up depending on my mood.

  38. 38.

    Eljai

    January 24, 2020 at 9:57 pm

    @Aleta: Heehee, I imagine Steve with a chilled bottle of champagne, Lou Rawls singing in the background…

  39. 39.

    Mnemosyne

    January 24, 2020 at 9:58 pm

    @Jeffro:

    Meh, it’s the usual argument that elites make: We can’t let the plebes know how bad things are! It would destroy everything we’ve worked for!

    Problem is, defending the institution above all else means that you end up hollowing out the very institution(s) you claimed to be protecting and end up destroying them after all.

  40. 40.

    Barbara

    January 24, 2020 at 10:02 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I am so ignorant that I don’t even know what that means. This is why I don’t trust myself to make any predictions whatsoever about the outcome of the nomination battle.

    We also have a favored pet bed in our house and “Alpha” kicks “Beta” out of it all the time, though not without a seriously fierce growl of resistance . . . for a chihuahua mix.

    Ice skating, tennis and gymnastics on all in one night.  I am really trying to decompress.

  41. 41.

    Kent

    January 24, 2020 at 10:05 pm

    So apparently Schiff was on fire tonight.  Anyone know where I can stream these speeches and find them organized so that I can zoom in to the good stuff?

  42. 42.

    opiejeanne

    January 24, 2020 at 10:07 pm

    @Eljai: Barry White singing in the background.

  43. 43.

    jl

    January 24, 2020 at 10:08 pm

    Thanks for lovely petpic. And thanks for the explanation of the eerie color. I first feared that the largeness and density of Steve, as with Tunch, was beginning to tear the space-time continuum asunder, which, as with Tunch, produces unexpected results.

    Next mystery to solve is the supernatural attraction between Cole and immense domestic cats.

  44. 44.

    Mary G

    January 24, 2020 at 10:08 pm

    @Barbara: A radio/TV shock jock mentioned in passing on his show that he had decided to vote for Sanders and why. Bernie’s campaign made an ad cheering it only to find out the guy says racist, sexist, homophobic and transphobic  stuff all the time.

  45. 45.

    opiejeanne

    January 24, 2020 at 10:10 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I am actually surprised by the dumbth. Ness. of them all. They really don’t see why making an ad with Rogan is a stupid idea.

  46. 46.

    opiejeanne

    January 24, 2020 at 10:11 pm

    @Mary G: And not just the run-of-the-mill racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic stuff, he really leans into it and covers himself with shit.

  47. 47.

    TS (the original)

    January 24, 2020 at 10:12 pm

    @The Dangerman:

    Winning will be in November (by a number larger than cheating distance, hopefully). Donald will be the lamest of lame ducks.

    He be thieving every last thing he can lay his hands on. The National Archives/Gallery/whoever provides items for the WH need to be in there checking things out.

  48. 48.

    Eljai

    January 24, 2020 at 10:14 pm

    @Jeffro: That is despicable.   WRT Hawley, Josh Marshall has referred to him as fascist-curious Josh Hawley.  You can see why. He is truly odious.

  49. 49.

    Another Scott

    January 24, 2020 at 10:14 pm

    @jl:

    It’s obviously Cerenkov Radiation. Cole isn’t fooling me!!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  50. 50.

    Eljai

    January 24, 2020 at 10:15 pm

    @opiejeanne: Oh, Okay. ?

  51. 51.

    Aleta

    January 24, 2020 at 10:18 pm

    @Eljai:

    You Can Bring Me All Your Heartaches

  52. 52.

    Aleta

    January 24, 2020 at 10:37 pm

    Al Green 

  53. 53.

    zhena gogolia

    January 24, 2020 at 10:38 pm

    @Mary G:

    Oh, so this is going to be the “they said Barron’s name” moment, and the MSM will run with it, right?

  54. 54.

    Jeffro

    January 24, 2020 at 10:40 pm

    @Eljai: Yup.  Hawley is the one who wasn’t afraid to straight-up lie about protecting the health insurance of those with pre-existing conditions WHILE being one of the AGs trying to overturn the ACA(!)  And they’re all like that now, these trumpublicans.  Just say whatever you want or need to in order to get elected and/or stay in power.  Power power power.  Nothing else matters.

    I mean when trumpov of all people is a darling of the Christian right and can with a straight face talk about being a champion of the anti-abortion movement?  LOLOL

    It’s troubling, though.  If trumpov weren’t trumpov, with all of his baggage and tweets and lawsuits and obvious stupidity…we could have a Hawley type in there riding a superficially “good” economy into a second term…and then really using the power of the office and big, dark money to push all kinds of shit through.

  55. 55.

    Jeffro

    January 24, 2020 at 10:42 pm

    @zhena gogolia: The MSM will indeed.

    never mind that it wasn’t Schiff’s quote, it was Schiff reminding them of what trumpov & Co were trying to use to intimidate the senators.

    Murkowski has apparently already walked it back a bit…”I wasn’t happy but it didn’t lose my vote”, something of that nature.

    It doesn’t have a whole lot of legs, reporting-wise, probably because the more they report it, the worse it looks for both trumpov AND the GOP senators.  But for now trumpov’s defenders/enablers will use it to try and score some points after a damaging week.

  56. 56.

    zhena gogolia

    January 24, 2020 at 10:47 pm

    Hilarious tweet on Amash’s twitter (a response to Amash — it’s hilarious to me, but I’m sure the tweeter was serious about it):
    “That closing statement by Adam Schiff was something else. It was very Reagan’esque.”

  57. 57.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    January 24, 2020 at 10:49 pm

    @Aleta:

    Let’s take it down a notch: “God Bless the Child.”

  58. 58.

    hitchhiker

    January 24, 2020 at 10:50 pm

    I’m going to savor the knowledge that there are still people in our government with passion, brains, patience, and righteousness. It feels so good to know that!

    I hadn’t realized how bloody sick I am of people moaning and fretting over how “bad” the Dems are at politics, and how they’re just corporatists, and how they always get rolled, blah blah blah.

    The Dems I saw this week were freaking phenomenal human beings, and I’m proud to be one of ’em.

  59. 59.

    zhena gogolia

    January 24, 2020 at 10:53 pm

    @hitchhiker:

    AMEN

  60. 60.

    hitchhiker

    January 24, 2020 at 10:54 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    Not the first time I’ve seen Reagan’s name invoked about Schiff’s rhetoric … I see it as a very good thing. Whatever they heard from Reagan that they liked escaped me at the time because, you know, he was so happy to exploit racism while he made happy talk about the USA. But if Schiff makes people remember what it was like to see America as at least trying to live up to its own ideals, I’ll take it.

  61. 61.

    Brachiator

    January 24, 2020 at 10:54 pm

    OT. I had not seen this earlier.  Trump steals from everyone and everywhere. Including Star Trek

    A little something about the new Space Force logo:

    However, the logo appears to borrow heavily from the fictional logo of Starfleet from the Star Trek universe.

    Shameless.

  62. 62.

    chris

    January 24, 2020 at 10:54 pm

    …a dish best eaten cold.

    Two Ohio cops who staged a wrongful arrest of Stormy Daniels, allegedly to discredit her criticism of Trump, then lied to internal affairs investigators, have been fired, reports @gettinviggy. https://t.co/F8zEuRDSF3— Nick Confessore (@nickconfessore) 24 January 2020

  63. 63.

    zhena gogolia

    January 24, 2020 at 10:54 pm

    @hitchhiker:

    Not just Schiff, as you say, but every blessed one of them.

    And every blessed one of the GOP Senators is a gutless coward.

  64. 64.

    zhena gogolia

    January 24, 2020 at 10:56 pm

    @hitchhiker:

    I’ve been hanging out a lot at George Conway, Tom Nichols, Jennifer Rubin, and Evan McMullin’s twitter places, because it cheers me up to see so many Republicans who are as pissed off as we are.

  65. 65.

    Brachiator

    January 24, 2020 at 11:03 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    I’ve been hanging out a lot at George Conway, Tom Nichols, Jennifer Rubin, and Evan McMullin’s twitter places, because it cheers me up to see so many Republicans who are as pissed off as we are.

    It’s good to know that not all conservatives are willing to go along with the stooges protecting Trump.

  66. 66.

    Aleta

    January 24, 2020 at 11:07 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone): That’s beautiful.

    So What

  67. 67.

    laura

    January 24, 2020 at 11:16 pm

    Steve has Big Leg Energy!

    Also, unlike other Big ☆ Energy havers, I’d gladly lay down a pet on Steve.

  68. 68.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    January 24, 2020 at 11:22 pm

    Wow, Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report is an idiot

    There are times when American politics resembles Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. You see a political party’s politicians, activists, and base seemingly operating in a parallel reality.

    It’s no secret that in the 1990s many very partisan Republicans and conservatives saw President Clinton, and, for that matter, first lady Hillary Clinton, as crooks. They obsessed over the Whitewater scandal and conspiracy theories abounded (remember Fort Marcy Park off the GW Parkway?). Indeed there were few crimes that someone on the Right had not accused one or both Clintons of committing, up to and including murder. So when the Monica Lewinsky affair broke into the open, these Clinton-haters jumped on the scandal like a duck on a june bug. They had caught Clinton lying under oath about having sexual relations with an intern in a room adjacent to the Oval Office. They finally had him nailed.

    Yet when the GOP-controlled House voted to impeach him for perjury and sent the articles of impeachment to the Republican-controlled Senate for trial, they must have known two things.

    First, few Americans were not appalled by Clinton’s transgression. Indeed, for those of us who had young children at the time, we had to keep the remote control in hand during the evening news, ready to hit the mute button if it sounded like the story was headed towards blue dresses or something like that. It was an awkward time. But the economy was growing, the country was doing reasonably well, and voters were disinclined to rock the boat. Many people felt that impeachment wasn’t an appropriate mechanism for dealing with the situation.

    Second, they knew that the constitutional requirement was that two-thirds of senators who are present and voting are necessary for conviction, that it was impossible, that it was not going to happen, that there was an absolutely zero percent chance of conviction. But they did it anyway.

    That brings us to today. Arriving at a hotel room late Thursday night and switching on the television (my wife says I do that just for company), I saw talking heads on several cable news channels with their hair on fire over new revelations about President Trump and Ukraine. Rudy Giuliani’s cronies allegedly traded text messages that could implicate Trump, perhaps Vice President Mike Pence, and others in the administration. For a lot of people on the Left and in the media, the story was blowing up.

    Had the Constitution been amended to allow Trump’s removal from office with the votes of only 47 senators? Or were 20 Republicans now ready to join the Democrats to convict? Was there a change of heart in public attitudes, that now there was a broad consensus that Trump should be removed from office? Apparently not. In fact, through all of this, there has been virtually no movement in Trump’s numbers or for impeachment. The people who approved of his performance in the first 100 days of his presidency still do, those that didn’t then still don’t now. Support or opposition for impeaching and removing Trump tracks very closely with disapproval and approval ratings, although support for removal trails disapproval by a handful of points.

    Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t to suggest that the president has done nothing wrong or doesn’t deserve it. But it’s not going to happen. In this tribal, hyper-partisan era of American politics, with great pressure on elected officials of both parties not to break ranks no matter what, and particularly with Trump up for reelection in November, there was, is, and will be a zero percent chance of him being removed from office through the process of impeachment.

    We hear the rationalization that Congress has an obligation to pursue impeachment, that not doing so effectively sanctions his actions, making it permissible for future presidents to act likewise. Or maybe the exercise is cathartic for House Democrats. But it is still futile.

    Traveling across the country a great deal over the past year, I heard very little about Robert Mueller, Ukraine, or impeachment. It’s limited to partisans and news junkies. Even in long conversations about politics, it can take a while before the word “impeachment” even comes up.

    It seems hard to reconcile the talk about income inequality and social injustice with a futile obsession that looks more than a little self-indulgent. How are the optics of the Senate spending six days a week in an impeachment trial with a totally predictable outcome? For the man or woman juggling multiple part-time jobs trying to make a living, what are they thinking? Or the college graduate stuck in a job that they are grossly overqualified for, wondering if they will ever get onto the career track they once envisioned? Or the person facing massive health care bills or crushing student-loan debt? Parents worried about their kids’ schools, or a son, daughter, wife, or husband serving in Afghanistan or Iraq or somewhere else in harm’s way—what is their reaction to this obsession about an impeachment that is destined to fail?

    A whole lot of concern trolling in that piece.

    “Oh, those idiotic Demonrats, don’t they realize that by doing their jobs to hold the fascist POTUS accountable as a co-equal branch of government they’re abandoning the Average American?! It’s not like they can do more than one thing at a time! It’s all so futile and it’s just a way to assuage the Dims fee fees.”

    JFC. Apparently this was published in the National Journal, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise. Still, I had no idea Cook was a conservaturd.

    Also, gotta love the BS comparison to the Clinton impeachment. Cook’s hedging about Trump’s wrongdoing doesn’t really work

  69. 69.

    SarahT

    January 24, 2020 at 11:25 pm

    Is Steve sleeping in a grow house?

  70. 70.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 24, 2020 at 11:27 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): First, few Americans were not appalled by Clinton’s transgression.

    Horseshit.  And it doesn’t get any better.

  71. 71.

    patroclus

    January 24, 2020 at 11:49 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): LOL.  Charlie is and always has been a conservative Democrat who worships at the altar of the Savvy.  He is an expert on congressional horse race dynamics, who has out-raised who in funding and what kind of candidate can win elections in what kind of congressional district.  But his feel for actual issues is virtually non-existent as is immediately evident any time he is interviewed.  It’s actually a surprise that he even mentioned issues in this column but not at all surprising that he doesn’t deal whatsoever with proposed solutions because that would mean taking a stand.

    He is right that this exercise is (and always has been) futile.  He’s “savvy” after all.  But he’s abysmally wrong about people being outraged over Clinton being a Hound Dog – most were amused by the whole thing and his approval ratings shot up with every development in the story.

  72. 72.

    Jerry

    January 24, 2020 at 11:52 pm

    I enjoyed tonight’s NHL All Star weekend events. The highlights were Jaccob Slavin winning the accuracy shot competition and the women’s 3 on 3 game. I wanted more of the women’s game

  73. 73.

    Jay

    January 24, 2020 at 11:53 pm

    @Brachiator:

    alluded to this earlier today.

    Looks like the United States Space Force’s first battle is going to be with the United Federation of Planets and the Trekkie Army,

    But it is to be expected when The Administration has only the best nepotism hires.

  74. 74.

    Jay

    January 24, 2020 at 11:58 pm

    That Bernie Bro’s think that Joe Rogan’s “endorsement” is of any value, really does speak to their white nationalist mysogeny.

  75. 75.

    Jay

    January 25, 2020 at 12:02 am

    National @7News / Emerson College Poll:Will you support the Democratic nominee even if it is not your candidate?

    72% yes

    13% no

    15% depends on nominee

    Broken down by candidate’s supporters:t.co/e8BNMNZ0tb pic.twitter.com/86jDR7B2l9— Emerson College Polling (@EmersonPolling) January 24, 2020

  76. 76.

    Jay

    January 25, 2020 at 12:12 am

    The man who singlehandedly built a neo-Nazi terror group in order to set off a white supremacist insurgency in America may be living in Russia.

    https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.vice.com/amp/en_ca/article/4agxe3/members-of-the-base-us-neo-nazi-terror-group-believed-their-leader-was-in-russia-for-years

  77. 77.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    January 25, 2020 at 12:19 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    It’s truly amazing how it doesn’t. I couldn’t decide what to include in the blockquote it was all so mind-numbingly stupid

    @patroclus:

    It’s weird how somebody can have a feel for what kind of candidate can win elections and yet be so stupid when it comes to individual issues

  78. 78.

    The Pale Scot

    January 25, 2020 at 12:21 am

    What’s with the lights? Is Steve plugged in to Kitty Charger?

  79. 79.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    January 25, 2020 at 12:22 am

    @Jay:

    I have no idea why Joe Rogan’s podcast is so popular. He’s a transphobe in addition to being a misogynist. I also find it disturbing how apparently popular Ben Shapiro’s podcast apparently is on CastBox too judging by search rankings

  80. 80.

    dww44

    January 25, 2020 at 12:23 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Cook has always been a conservative, notwithstanding his supposed journalistic objective bona fides.

  81. 81.

    Jay

    January 25, 2020 at 12:24 am

    @The Pale Scot:

    Steve is radiant.

  82. 82.

    Matt McIrvin

    January 25, 2020 at 12:27 am

    @Mnemosyne: It makes me very sad. Some of the Twitter Bernie supporters I follow are people I respect and enjoy reading for other reasons. And it feels like with some of them… their minds are just breaking right now. They’re in agony. Or they’re convincing themselves that up is down.

    I also have a really uneasy feeling that this is going to be the moment that a big chunk of the white left (not those people) flips full Nazi MAGA. And then we’re really doomed.

  83. 83.

    Jay

    January 25, 2020 at 12:28 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Joe was a comic, a late host of The Man Show, and a mysoginist douchebag, so he has a podcast because he killed his comedy career, and his podcast is “popular” for the same reason Lobster Boy and Stephan can build careers around shitposting and being “edgy”.

  84. 84.

    Aleta

    January 25, 2020 at 12:28 am

    @Jay: Purple radiant

  85. 85.

    Matt McIrvin

    January 25, 2020 at 12:29 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    I have no idea why Joe Rogan’s podcast is so popular. He’s a transphobe in addition to being a misogynist.

    I think you answered your own question.

  86. 86.

    PsiFighter37

    January 25, 2020 at 12:38 am

    @Jay: Who the fuck is Joe Rogan? Serious question.

    Also, fuck Bernie.

    PF37 +5. Still up because my daughter is sick, my wife got sick because of my daughter, and I am just making sure the kiddo is down for the count before going to sleep. I hate having deep sleep interrupted.

  87. 87.

    Jay

    January 25, 2020 at 12:41 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Twitter ain’t the “real world”. Twitteratti are a tiny, but loud, percentage of any “group”.

    In 2016 less than 12% of self identified Berniers voted for Dolt 45, less than 1% went for Stein or another cantidate, less than 6% did not vote, 81% voted for Madam Secretary of State, the Honorable Hillary Clinton.

    In contrast, in 2008, less than 74% of self identified PUMAs voted for President Barak Obama.

    Us “Lefties” always piss, moan, dis, some make “threats”, from leaving to not voteing, but in the end, the vast majority of us pull the lever for the “lesser of two evils”.

  88. 88.

    Matt McIrvin

    January 25, 2020 at 12:42 am

    @PsiFighter37: Rogan is a comedian and TV actor (he was on NewsRadio, remember that show?) turned radio host. He’s a racist, misogynistic crank with a huge following. He basically is his NewsRadio character. Believes the moon landings were faked, and every piece of conspiracy crap like that. I first heard about his show because he was fighting with astronomers over the moon landings.

  89. 89.

    PsiFighter37

    January 25, 2020 at 12:46 am

    @Matt McIrvin: Sounds like a perfect fit for someone who went white flight to Vermont and never looked back.

  90. 90.

    Jay

    January 25, 2020 at 12:49 am

    @PsiFighter37:

    Joe’s a Gen X former comic who now does podcasts because he destroyed his own career and is popular with the “kool kids” for basically “shit posting”. He’s an Andrew Dice Clay for people who are too young to have known Andrew Dice Clay, and far less talented at his peak than Sam Kinneson,(sp?).

    He basically interviews the “Internet Famous” du jour for his “Internet show” and lives off clicks turning into cash via ads.

  91. 91.

    Jay

    January 25, 2020 at 12:50 am

    @PsiFighter37:

    flu?  cold?

  92. 92.

    Mnemosyne

    January 25, 2020 at 1:14 am

    @Jay:

    Even worse — they’ve tangled with entertainment lawyers, probably the worst and most litigious bunch on the planet. Ambulance chasers are less shameless.

  93. 93.

    Jay

    January 25, 2020 at 1:27 am

    @Mnemosyne:

    donnow, Trekkies can be much more violent than Entertainment Lawyers.

    I blame both Picard premiering and Ivanka’s “tendency” to rip off others designs.

  94. 94.

    rikyrah

    January 25, 2020 at 1:58 am

    @zhena gogolia: text

    I am. Doing the right thing, the Democrats have done.

  95. 95.

    rikyrah

    January 25, 2020 at 1:58 am

    Steve looks adorable ???

  96. 96.

    rikyrah

    January 25, 2020 at 2:00 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    ?????

  97. 97.

    WaterGirl

    January 25, 2020 at 9:35 am

    @PaulWartenberg:  This comment went into spam, so it didn’t show up until i released it just now. I do not know what pushed it into spam.

  98. 98.

    WaterGirl

    January 25, 2020 at 10:28 am

    Al Green.  Barry White.  I have finally stumbled upon one of the fabled balloon juice after dark threads!

    All the talk of Adam Schiff kinda breaks the mood, but it’s worth it.  Move over, Jimmy Stewart.  You were awesome, but now we have the real thing.

  99. 99.

    laura

    January 25, 2020 at 10:48 am

    @Jay:  He’s an Andrew Dice Clay for people who are too young to have known Andrew Dice Clay, and far less talented at his peak than Sam Kinneson,(sp?).

    Fun fact, Andrew Dice Clay mc’s brother the younger’s bachelor party back in the late 80’s. They’re still pals.

  100. 100.

    J R in WV

    January 25, 2020 at 11:29 am

    @PaulWartenberg:

    I survived surgery but my nose looks like it went through 12 rounds against Mike Tyson.

    Well, glad to hear it, that means you’re awake and can see that your nose looks strange. That’s because they used it to get into the bottom of your brain, and passed an entire surgery’s worth of tools through it.

    Very Glad to hear from you, though! Best of luck on the recovery, also, too.

  101. 101.

    J R in WV

    January 25, 2020 at 11:44 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    Believes the moon landings were faked, and every piece of conspiracy crap like that. I first heard about his show because he was fighting with astronomers over the moon landings.

    That’s enough proof that he’s an ass right there. There are instruments that were placed by the Apollo astronauts during their time on the Moon that can still be used by astronomers on Earth.

    Unless he suspects that astronomers can use instruments that were placed on a sound stage from observatories on mountain tops in South America…

  102. 102.

    Alice Mead

    January 25, 2020 at 4:39 pm

    Steve is great and all, and I heartily approve of the sentiment, but wtf, Cole. We haven’t seen Thurston in ages. How do we know you didn’t just conk him on the head and bury him in the yard? Or is he on a permanent pic ban cause he likes it too much? :)

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