FLUORIDE! pic.twitter.com/eI7VXQt6Nq
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) May 10, 2020
New: Some of Trump’s advisers described him as glum and shell-shocked by his declining popularity. He has struggled to process…believing he was on a glide path to reelection to realizing that he is losing. Via ?@jdawsey1? ??et al https://t.co/RuYDF6k4nM
— David Nakamura (@DavidNakamura) May 9, 2020
The important thing is Trump angry and frustrated about people blaming him for this thing that is definitely his fault.
— Schooley (@Rschooley) May 10, 2020
The Lincoln Project ad "Mourning in America" that so enraged Trump? The group only spent $5,000 to run it on Fox News in Washington, DC. It didn't air elsewhere. "We were trying to reach one person. It was $5,000 well spent," operative says. https://t.co/HlTpcJ2Jwp
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) May 8, 2020
— Jacob Windrix (@JacobWindrix) May 5, 2020
republicans must getting so mad imagining how much they could be stigmatizing useless idiot government employees right now if they weren’t in charge
— local jack please ban the nazis person (@pleizar) May 10, 2020
Medium Cool with BGinCHI – Discussion of “A Tree Grows in Longmont”, by Mustang Bobby
japa21
OBAMAGATE!!!!
The guy is obsessed.
Also juvenile.
Also an idiot.
Also ad infinitum.
germy
germy
Ryan
Has Donald Trump kept YOU safe?
https://morningconsult.com/2016/02/17/poll-voters-split-on-whether-bush-kept-us-safe/
Wolf
Customers Pack Restaurant on Mother’s Day Defying State Orders
Freedom! (Snark)
It makes you wonder as a species if we truly deserve to continue.
Ryan
If there isn’t a time to whip out the ole’ cherubic, I don’t know when it will be.
Baud
“I’ve got it in the bag. All I have to do is not kill tens of thousands of Americans for 10 more months. I can do this.”
bbleh
I saw in one or another of the articles a quote from an (of course) unnamed WH aide saying that there could be no rallies — even outdoor ones — until August at earliest.
And even HE has to know that one single picture of him playing golf would be political plutonium.
He’s gonna be cooped up inside for at least THREE MORE MONTHS.
If you think he’s losing it now, just wait.
I’m panic-buying popcorn.
Ryan
Is Obamagate because Obama failed to leave him tests for a virus that didn’t exist when we was preznit, or did I miss a story?
West of the Rockies
Oh, man that’s a McConnell quality throat sack there! Very becoming.
JPL
A few days ago when it became apparent that Barr and Trump were going after Obama, I was distressed, now no more.. Bring it on suckers. We are ready.
West of the Rockies
@Ryan:
Whatever it is, don’t give it any traction.
HumboldtBlue
Folks in Castle Rock Colorado flock to a local eatery on mother’s day.
LuciaMia
So whats Obama supposed to have done…besides just exist?
JPL
@LuciaMia: Isn’t exist enough?
TaMara (HFG)
@Wolf: Meanwhile, just down the road they needed a refrigerator semi-trailer to handle the dead.
https://www.9news.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/morgan-county-uses-trailer-to-store-bodies-as-mortuaries-exceed-capacity/73-ee228f0d-a046-4033-b01a-07b089834154
germy
NotMax
Bet ya anything he’s stress eating.
“Jared, order a larger desk chair!”
germy
Is this why he’s so nervous?
bbleh
@LuciaMia: It was his scandalous insistence on deliberately remaining visibly, willingly Black.
The Thin Black Duke
Somewhere, Philip K. Dick is saying to himself, “Christ, what an imagination I got!”
dmsilev
@Ryan: It has something to do with Michael Flynn. I’m not sure what, exactly, but that’s the alleged “gate”.
Duane
@LuciaMia: You just know the dumb SOB still has people looking for Obama’s birth certificate. The ‘Obamagate’ grift is gonna be big money.
MisterForkbeard
@LuciaMia: I was asking the same question. There are apparently rumors that Barr just got a bunch of surprise anonymous papers showing that Obama directed “spygate”.
I thinks the same thing as before – where Obama was saying he wanted to make sure that the FBI was treating the various trump CI stuff seriously and making sure everything g was documented.
James E Powell
When I mentioned in an earlier thread that I had seen #Obamagate trending on twitter, I had no idea it would go all the way up to the White House. We are dealing with serious stuff here, friends.
dmsilev
@NotMax: He’s almost definitely stressing out every time a report comes out that someone who has been within 100 feet of him has tested positive for the virus.
Schadenfreude.
West of the Rockies
@NotMax:
He’s a sedentary septuagenariun with a shit diet, high stress, and rage issues. I hope actuarial likelihood occur.
James E Powell
@germy:
I have put a bunch of bets out that there is no way the supreme court will rule on that before the election. If Trump loses, they will find a way not to decide, send it back for more argument on some issue. If he wins, they will rule that he doesn’t have to turn anything over.
We are never going to see Trump’s tax returns or financial information.
mrmoshpotato
@germy: Jeff regularly points that out.
Baud
@MisterForkbeard:
The
WhiteySpygate tape.bbleh
@West of the Rockies: And by many accounts a bad stimulant habit.
I’m sure his BP is kept under control. But I swear he must be a prime candidate for a stroke.
Baud
@mrmoshpotato:
Even that is overstating it. IIRC, those weren’t her emails.
HumboldtBlue
@mrmoshpotato:
Yeah, he’s excellent.
germy
mrmoshpotato
@Ryan: Ugh.
The only positive thing Dump deserves credit for was calling JEB! (Please clap.) a lying sack of shit to his fucking face.
lamh36
This can’t be surprising to anyone. And if Chump or Pence EVER tested positive, does anyone beleive they wouldn’t lie and say they tested negative?
senyorDave
@West of the Rockies: I hope actuarial likelihood occur.
I don’t want this piece of shit to die in office, the media will make him into a martyr. Lose and be hounded by investigations into an early grave, that would be fine. Get Covid-19 and end up on a faulty ventilator that a Jared Kushner shell company procure, that would be cool too.
germy
Baud
@germy: Heh.
mrmoshpotato
@dmsilev: @Ryan: Seriously, you two, don’t stress over it. We’re talking about the dipshits that said Obama tappped their phones.
dmsilev
@germy: I’m sure Stephen Miller will understand perfectly when Trump has his wife dragged out back the White House and shot to keep from distracting from the messaging.
Miller would do the same if he were in Trump’s shoes, after all.
rikyrah
Enhanced Voting Techniques
How about the last 100 years; what else matches a 100,000 unnecessary deaths? Even the Wilson admin had the excuse with Spanish Flue of the WWI.
rikyrah
I had to help Peanut with a class assignment.
Has anyone seen Three Identical Strangers?
When it first began, I totally thought that I knew where the documentary was going, and I thought that it would be a good lesson for Peanut to understand that life isn’t a Disney movie,.and when you dealing with human beings, ‘Happily Ever After’ rarely comes.
I was prepared for that.
What I was not prepared for was the turn left that the movie took about a third of the way through.
It had my grown azz face going like this:
????
And, just when I had settled myself for the turn left…
It turned left again ??
It was excellently done, but profoundly disturbing.
It’s free on HULU
mrmoshpotato
@Baud: I updated it to a more relevant tweet, but yes.
rikyrah
Another Scott
This is my shocked, shocked face.
Cheers,
Scott.
rikyrah
rikyrah
mrmoshpotato
Well shit. Let me try to will things into existence.
Damn, still gotta exercise and Hillary hasn’t been President for the past 3+ years.
RSA
@MisterForkbeard:
That sounds true and would be unsurprising. With clever redactions and combinations, though, anything is possible (even without a deep fake). Entertaining illustration:
https://youtu.be/IeT6Aeof4Ok
Dorothy A. Winsor
@lamh36: Given his wife’s positive test, Stephen Miller is a good guess.
schrodingers_cat
@Dorothy A. Winsor: It could also be Pence. Miller’s wife was the VP’s spokesperson.
Elizabelle
We need to put all this ugliness and rudeness back in the box. Under the rock. The people in this story probably took their cue from the Open Up movement, and other entitled types. WaPost link.
A Cape Cod ice cream shop reopened — and faced harassment so bad one staffer quit, owner says
TS (the original)
@rikyrah:
I am hearing Pence will not quarantine & will be at the White House on Monday. Is there an ulterior motive here?
rikyrah
HumboldtBlue
@rikyrah:
I don’t know how I will ever be able to repay you but thanks so much for Shuler King. “Girl gonna be doing hair in the kitchen.” I died.
He’s brilliant.
West of the Rockies
@rikyrah:
But not Steve King? Dammit!
mrmoshpotato
@rikyrah: Sounds interesting, but I think my soul needs some Bob’s Burgers.
rikyrah
Adam L Silverman
@germy: I actually know Lionel. Not well. My dad knew him better than I did. At one point in time he was a practicing attorney and quite progressive in his worldview and politics.
rikyrah
@HumboldtBlue:
He is so funny.
And, I just found out this week what his day job is….
Mortician ???
He is a licensed and working funeral home director.
rikyrah
mrmoshpotato
@Another Scott: Silly LOL.
The “failure” was by design.
You don’t destroy Obama/Biden’s pandemic respond team and ignore reports of the virus for 7 weeks because of a giant “Oopsy!”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@lamh36:
Oh, I might pray. I don’t think it would be the prayer they’re looking for….
rikyrah
Thread
debbie
@Another Scott:
He’s been a colossal failure at everything he has ever touched.
Adam L Silverman
@Ryan: No. They think the recently declassified and released House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Committee transcripts from their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections, combined with whatever it is that AG Barr ordered turned over to LTG (ret) Flynn’s attorney prove that President Obama and VP Biden, working in conjunction with Secretary Clinton and her campaign, AG Lynch, DNI Clapper, FBI Director Comey, DCI Brennan, FBI Director Mueller, and dozens of others all created a fake CI investigation to destroy the President’s campaign and keep him from becoming president. And when that failed, they doubled down in January 2017 prior to the inauguration to create the counterintelligence investigation that turned into the Special Counsel’s investigation to bring down the President and his administration. It’s all garbage. But it seems that coordinated talking, posting, and writing points were circulated to the usual suspects at Breitbart, Gateway Pundit, OANN, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Daily Caller, the Federalist, the Epoch Times, the President’s surrogates, his campaign, etc.
Patricia Kayden
Adam L Silverman
@germy: That’s part of it. The other part is that the CDC is leaking like a sieve to protect itself on how badly the President and his key advisors and staff are messing up the response to SARS-CoV2/COVID-19.
Adam L Silverman
@Baud: I know Larry. He is that nuts.
HumboldtBlue
@rikyrah:
That’s awesome.
And I’ve been following South Dakota too, that’s going to be worth watching.
Adam L Silverman
@bbleh: With his size, I guarantee he has sleep apnea. And I would put good money down that he doesn’t use a CPAP, APAP, or BIPAP.
Ruckus
@Ryan:
No, it’s just that a black man who was respected, liked, admired, good at his job, actually got things done, wasn’t a jackass, who actually treated him well in trying to have a smooth turnover, is an actual human being who his wife and children like and who many consider one of the five best presidents in our history, makes him look like dust bin leftovers at best and a complete and utter failure as president and as a human being. And because shitforbrains is a massive racist/narcissist/moron, all this makes this is a somewhat uncomfortable time for him.
Adam L Silverman
@lamh36: Can’t be Stephen Miller, unless in your professional estimation as a biologist, it can jump to a species other than humans and bats.
mrmoshpotato
@Elizabelle: It’s not so much the rudeness as it’s a bunch of adults needing to grow the fuck up.
“Waaaahhhhh!!!!! The ice cream shop says I have to call in my order! I’m being oppressed!”
Buncha whiny ass titty babies.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@rikyrah:
I wonder if Fauci has heard her say these things. And if he’s repeated them to… somebody… like a well-sourced and well-respected reporter.
Adam L Silverman
@germy: Oliver is a genius and very talented at this stuff. Unfortunately there are people who will read his tweets and not understand he’s making fun of them. They’ll take it as actual confirmation of their conspiracy theories.
Aleta
People working near T and P are being tested daily? They say that the nose swab done properly is uncomfortable, even painful. A small pleasure to think of happening to the Republican on-site syndicate . On the other hand, it’s one more hardship for the workers who keep the place clean and organized and provide food. (They’re the ones whose books I’d like to buy. If only a good lawyer could break their nondisclosure agreements.)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Adam L Silverman:
What about a humanoid who can turn into a bat?
Adam L Silverman
@dmsilev: It has been reported that Stephen Miller used to introduce himself to people he just met by saying “I’m from Los Angeles and I like guns”. And no, I’m not kidding.
mrmoshpotato
@HumboldtBlue:
@rikyrah: Oh shit. There’s more!
Thank you both!
Adam L Silverman
@rikyrah: Thoughts and prayers!
The Thin Black Duke
@Adam L Silverman: The longer this pandemic goes on, the less people are going to give a fuck about this bullshit.
Adam L Silverman
@TS (the original): Can’t look weak and give the President an excuse to remove him from the 2020 ticket.
Citizen Alan
@Ryan:
I think “Obamagate” is “something something Michael Flynn something deep state.”
Citizen Alan
@dmsilev:
These are the idiots who probably think the scandal involving the Watergate Hotel was called Watergategate.
Adam L Silverman
@The Thin Black Duke: They are trying to continually message and reinforce the false sense of grievance and victimization of those that will continue to pay attention to it. It is a base engagement influence strategy. And I honestly can no longer say that I’d be surprised to find out that they’re trying to message to someone who will take matters into their own hands and try to harm one of these enemies of the President, America, and the forgotten men and women of America.
Elizabelle
Watching the embedded TV report on the Polar Cave Ice Cream shop: the owner:
Seems to have a British accent, or is that a local variant?
mrmoshpotato
@Citizen Alan: Watergategategate 3-D
“As you know, gategategate means friendship.”
mrmoshpotato
@Elizabelle: New English accent?
Look at that! It’s time for a walk!
lgerard
@Adam L Silverman:
Michael Wolff reported that the two words of endearment that trump used to describe Miller were “sweaty” and “autistic”
He may actually have something there
Elizabelle
@mrmoshpotato: Yeah. I was not sure. Maybe even north of England.
mrmoshpotato
Good on them! Seriously.
Mary G
Gin & Tonic
@Elizabelle: That’s a weird accent. There are parts that are very Mass/Cape Cod, but some of it doesn’t fit. I blame the mask (I also not that the TC reporter was wearing her mask under her nose, which is kind of pointless.)
SiubhanDuinne
@rikyrah:
? <——- enlarged for detail
Brachiator
This is good and there needs to be more of it. Hit at Trump on his home ground. Goad him into responding and making himself look more foolish. He loves to brag about how much he likes to counter-punch, but he is so easily enraged that he will happily punch himself in the face.
If he hands his enemies the stick, his thin skinned defensiveness, they might as well hit him over the head with it.
The Thin Black Duke
@Adam L Silverman: Oh great, just what we need, another Timonthy McVeigh.
Feathers
Kind of a strange accent. Some New England, some old England.
Ha! Found his LinkedIn page. Lists his high school – Hereford, UK.
So, yeah, UK accent with 35 years in Mashpee (the underarm of Cape Cod).
mad citizen
Skimming through the threads for the last day (thanks again Anne for the daily virus roundup!), seems to me what is really needed in the White House is a 15 idiot test. I would be glad to administer one.
Also thanks for the Castle Rock coffee shop story–our best friends live there. Not surprising.
Jeffro
I’m tempted to drop $5K on a video of me giving trumpov the finger, but I haven’t the video skills to make it interesting.
Then again, does it need to be interesting? It’s what the majority of the country wants to tell him.
The Moar You Know
@Baud: I thought he had better than even odds of doing so.
Not now. Sadly, I think he still has a chance; my fellow Americans are giving me yet another eye-opening insight into just how fucking stupid they are – but I really don’t think he’s going to be able to pull it off.
SiubhanDuinne
@rikyrah:
We had a dear family friend, a Mr. McCreery, who was a funeral director.
When his son was a little boy, he asked his dad to tie his tie for him. “Sure,” said Mac. “Lie down.”
Jeffro
@LuciaMia:
@JPL: I thought Obama’s whole ‘crime’ was not just existing but existing as a successful president while also being black and beloved.
Jeffro
@germy: Omg, those are comedy gold.
And will also be retweeted by the TCNJs as “evidence” in 3, 2, 1…
Elizabelle
@Feathers: Thank you! Great research.
@Gin & Tonic: Yeah, noticed that about the exposed nose. Le sigh.
Now I want some ice cream. And do not have any in-house.
Matt McIrvin
@The Moar You Know: If the state polls are systematically off to the same extent and in the same direction they were in 2016, he has a better than even chance of reelection.
So far, the coronavirus crisis has helped him slightly, not hurt him. I think because his bullshit about defying quarantine orders has created a new tribal rallying point.
Brachiator
@Adam L Silverman:
The CDC cannot just play the political game to try to protect itself. Previously, polls showed that people trusted the CDC more than they trusted the presidency.
Trump may try to shut them down, hide reports and recommendations, but the worst thing he could do would be to fall back on his common trick of trying to discredit them and their work.
Could Congress do anything to protect the agency and its mission from deep assaults on its integrity by the president? Yeah, there are all kinds of separation of powers issues here, and the GOP seems intent on driving off the cliff along with the president, and a good chunk of the electorate is bog stupid.
But to allow the CDC to be crippled? Or if Trump himself attacked Fauci? You would need some seriously deranged “patriot Christian white Americans will never need a vaccine” bullshit for this to go down easily for even Trump chumps.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Adam L Silverman: The phrase you are looking for Adam is “quote mining” they are going to go threw those records for sentences they can take out of context they can wave at the uninformed to claim this supports their conspiracy theory. This is an old Creationist Trick.
You really should look into the history of Creationism in the country, that’s were the Right got it’s play book from.
SiubhanDuinne
@Adam L Silverman:
LOL
catclub
@Ryan: Maybe the Obamagate scandal is that there was no scandal!
Jeffro
@The Moar You Know: Unfortunately, the landslide won’t be as landslide-ish as it should be. But yeah, it’s hard to see how Sir Flails-A-Lot, I-Mean-A-LOT pulls this one out.
It’s all about containing the damage he does on the way out, from now until November and then January. Would LOVE to see some ads and members of the Democratic Justice League stepping up publicly to say – similar to that Biden/Warren op-ed last week – “we WILL hold you accountable for what you did these past three years and most especially during this crisis & run-up to the election”
Gravenstone
@Aleta: Apparently they’re getting rapid antibody tests. Which is like closing the barn door after the horse has fled – but not before you toss a lighted torch inside. Handy for knowing who’s been exposed but doesn’t speak to whether they may be actively ill or contagious.
schrodingers_cat
What other political blogs do people follow? Any suggestions?
Jeffro
@catclub: that’s the strongest evidence that it was in fact the biggest scandal in the history of the world!
Patricia Kayden
catclub
@Patricia Kayden: Also, everybody anywhere near Trump gets tested every day. Why? Because they are essential. But is anybody else essential enough to get that treatment? Or are there tests for all the other essential workers ? press needs to ask trump about those.
Jeffro
Meanwhile, here’s Joe Lockhart, stealing my* idea from WAY back: why aren’t editorial boards screaming that trumpov has to go?
*ok in fairness probably not the only person calling for this ;)
NotMax
@schrodingers_cat
Check out the blogroll at the bottom of every B-J page. You’re bound to find something(s) among those choices which meshes with your sensibilities.
catclub
@The Thin Black Duke: next we’ll get Tim-biweekly McVeigh
catclub
@Jeffro: exactly!
HumboldtBlue
@SiubhanDuinne:
Shuler King had this to say three days ago.
The bubbas seem to ignore that fact there is a modern cohort of young black and brown men and women who have the background, education and skill to make a difference that could not have happened in the 1960s but has now flowered because of that seeding.
Jeffro
Ugh moderators, what did I do back at #119?
Joe Lockhart calling for trumpov to resign somehow tripped the filters?
Gin & Tonic
@Elizabelle: You can probably get some closer than Mashpee.
James E Powell
@rikyrah:
Know what? (Not talking about you rikyrah.) I’m done with “sources” and “an official” and “hearing on good authority” (April Ryan today). I’m just done with the savvy insider stuff. Apart from the entertainment element, they have no value to the general public.
Go on the record or shut up. If we don’t have a name, we cannot assess credibility or value. And neither can anyone else. So whatever it is can be easily countered or ignored by those who need to hear it the most.
Patricia Kayden
satby
@James E Powell: agree. Reporters need to stop enabling the bullshit.
Juju
@Adam L Silverman: I Thought that since Miller was part bat he’d have some immunity to COVID19.
Jeffro
I was just scanning an NYT article about how the airline business is taking a beating during the pandemic…when it hit me…
It doesn’t necessarily have to be the blessed ‘Lincoln Project’ that coughs up $5K for another viral, trumpov-needling ad. But SOMEONE sure has hell ought to put together an ad, and soon, that speaks directly to the g-d dark-money donors in this country, reminding them that maybe NEXT TIME THEY SHOULD PUT THEIR BUCKS BEHIND THE SMART CANDIDATE/PARTY, AND LEARN TO LEAVE THEIR RANDIAN MOTU FANTASIES BEHIND.
Just do it, already. “Hey American Airlines CEO…hey Applebees CEO…hey Major League Baseball owners…NEXT TIME REMEMBER: INCOMPETENCE KILLS (your business)”
Ohio Mom
Igeralg @92: Can we please not use “autistic” as a synonym for ”sociopath”?
They are two very different conditions. People with autism face enough prejudice as it is without heaping all the characteristics of psychopathy — remoreslessnees, amoralness, etc. — on top.
Thank you,
An autism mom
hueyplong
@Ohio Mom: And, weirdly enough, sociopaths seem to face no bias at all in the US. The characteristic seems to make them popular.
sdhays
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: I don’t know enough about the time to know how much the Spanish Flu was a part of this (I know the US entrance into WWI was controversial and Wilson was practically dead for a significant part of the last year of his second term), but the Democrats didn’t control any part of the national government after Wilson until the Great Depression hit.
So even having WWI as “an excuse” didn’t help all that much.
James E Powell
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
That and tobacco company advertising and PR.
Adam L Silverman
@The Thin Black Duke: We’ve had a whole bunch try. We’ve just been fortunate that no one has yet gotten to his kill count yet.
debbie
@Elizabelle:
Local news just ran that interview. Angry Boston accent can be close to a British accent.
rikyrah
What Michael Jackson did for Little Richard
Adam L Silverman
@Brachiator:
This is why Scavino retweets the conspiracy stuff about Fauci on the President’s personal account. The intention is to message to someone who will try to make a run at Fauci.
Adam L Silverman
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
I have a masters in comparative religion and the guy who supervised the political science side of my PhD is the father of the study of religion and politics.
Ohio Mom
Hueyplong @132: LoL, you are right.
Schroedinger’s Cat @115: For national politics, I like Josh Marshall’s Twitter feed, and following the links. I also look at (but don’t necessarily choose to read) the posts at Lawyers Guns and Money. Sometimes Charlie Pierce at Esquire.
At Not Max’s suggestion, I scrolled downwards and looked for/found the blogtoll. It’s woefully out of date. If you go that route, don’t be surprised if you hit a lot of dead ends.
Elizabelle
I think police and sheriffs’ departments might have to have a hotline for local business owners, particularly in the food and beverage sector, for rapid response to “customers out of control” problems during the reopen.
We pay taxes for public safety, and clearly too many among us are emboldened to act selfish and dreadful.
Cannot even imagine dealing with lunatic customers who are packing heat. Or carrying openly, to intimidate.
Adam L Silverman
@Aleta: @Gravenstone: The rapid tests have very high levels of providing false negatives.
Villago Delenda Est
Donald’s “glide path” is pretty much something resembling Wile E. Coyote’s.
The Moar You Know
@Jeffro: you left out the money quote:
But really, is anyone surprised?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Matt McIrvin:
Bullshit
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@schrodingers_cat:
Sometimes LGM. Why do you ask?
Matt McIrvin
@James E Powell: Tobacco/cancer denialism was the model for climate denialism. And climate denialism (“Climategate”) provided the model for the obsession with Hillary’s emails.
Matt McIrvin
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I’m looking at the job-approval polls. Trump’s crisis spike is over but it’s returned to a floor that is fractionally above where he was in January-February.
jonas
@Adam L Silverman: Holeee Shyte. That’s some serious deepstatin’. Cheers, mate!
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Matt McIrvin:
Oh come on! Is that all? Polls don’t matter this far out anyway. He can’t hide 100s of thousands of dead bodies. We don’t know what the world is going to look like by November, so stop fretting so much
rikyrah
Jeffro
@The Moar You Know: Yeah, good point.
Some things never change.
We’re still going to kick trumpov’s ass right the hell to the curb (assuming he’s still in the country six months from now)
jonas
@Matt McIrvin: Yep. 40% is convinced this is all a hoax and that they should definitely go out and lick doorknobs to pwn the libs. I wish them well…
dmsilev
@Elizabelle:
So, about that
Far-right militia groups at work.
Adam L Silverman
@James E Powell: An official source close to James E Powell has informed me, based on good authority, that Mr. Powell is exceedingly displeased with having to read, see, and/or hear reporting that relies on “sources”, one or more “officials”, who, supposedly have whatever is being reported on good authority. It is unclear at this time whether Mr. Powell will be tweeting about his displeasure, though he is tentatively booked to call into Fox’s A Blonde With Two Boobs On a Sofa morning show tomorrow at 7:15 AM. Please check back as this is a developing story.
Adam L Silverman
@Matt McIrvin: And the hack of the climate scientists was most likely done by the GRU.
HumboldtBlue
It’s still Mother’s Day if anyone needs a hug.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@sdhays: Yes, the virus certainly puts another spin on why the League of Nations was rejected right after the Spanish Flue “This is that lethal idiot Wilson’s idea, so it must be poison” .
But still, I can see “the are Americans dying over in the War, they need our help right now!” would make it difficult to do social distancing. There is nothing like that now.
Anything else, the Great Depression? The Republicans certainly made the Depression worse by starting a trade war during it.
Elizabelle
@dmsilev: We have to beat them back under their rocks. So much work to do, on so many fronts.
And WTF, Washington authorities. Learn to redact, for dog’s sake. From the LA Times article:
And a word that is new to me (but probably not Adam, and many of you): accelerationist.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
What pray tell are REAL Doctors, as opposed to doctors with epidemiology degrees and 500 years of history of epidemics to draw on? How do they think people survived the Black Death.
Adam L Silverman
@Elizabelle: You would be correct.
Brachiator
@Adam L Silverman:
Trump can’t help himself, he uses this against his real and imagined political enemies; but to essentially use it against a virus is delusional. It is strange to see that these people cannot stop. They don’t have any sense that their political games can hurt the country, and hurt themselves as well.
Adam L Silverman
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
This lunatic.
Elizabelle
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: The moron quoted has a view straight out of “Plandemic.”
Which was so misleading and dangerous to public health that Facebook removed it.
You know: wearing masks spreads COVID. It’s all a plot by Big Pharma to make millions on treating it. Somehow, Anthony Fauci is in on it, and a bad guy.
These are tin foil cranks, but they are armed, and aggrieved.
And, FYI, the Washington state report, including info on those turning in businesses was requested by a Republican party type, who then turned it over to rightwing militia type groups.
I hope the state AG is watching this closely and ready to bring charges for using the list to harrass and intimidate.
Elizabelle
@Adam L Silverman: Would it be so hard for these headline writers to use “discredited” rather than “controversial”? It’s even fewer letters.
Because it is factual, and “controversial” leads some readers to think “he said, she said, who can tell?”
I have a real bone to pick with headline writers, because sometimes the headline is all that a reader sees, and if it’s clear as mud …
Adam L Silverman
@Brachiator: It goes beyond that though. While I’d like to believe that Barr isn’t so far gone as to do something so stupid, belief is not knowing. And, as a result, I’m in general agreement with Burbach and Murphy:
Elizabelle
@Adam L Silverman: What’s TL? Timeline?
frosty
@Adam L Silverman: From LA and likes guns. So Miller is straight outa Compton?
Adam L Silverman
@Elizabelle: Yes, timeline.
Adam L Silverman
@frosty: From the mean quadrangles of Santa Monica High School.
Sab
@Ohio Mom: Thank you for saying that. Autistic’s grandmother.
The Pale Scot
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
That and viewing all social interactions throughout the lens of “Spiritual Warfare”
The Pale Scot
@schrodingers_cat:
You might like Mike the Mad Biologist, a mostly sciencey article aggregator with some politics
“Helping idiots who desperately need my assistance by calling them fucking morons since 2004”
dmsilev
@Adam L Silverman: From time to time, I get crank emails from people convinced that they’ve discovered that Einstein Was Wrong and that they’ve discovered the Secrets of the Universe. One of my favorites of the genre came from someone who described himself as “the best rap artist to come out of Santa Barbara”.
Low bar to clear dude, low bar to clear.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Prayer.
joel hanes
@Elizabelle:
Now he’s hit the big time
In the USA
And if he could only hear me …
frosty
@schrodingers_cat: Josh Marshall at TPM. Wonkette when I need a break. That’s about it. I started all this years ago with TPM and GOS and gave up on the latter. I get my Fake News from the Grauniad and hold my nose when they’re fluffing Bernie and the left.
Honestly, with the front pagers here, I feel like I get good coverage of the news. And some expertise as well. Thank FSM for Anne Laurie, I don’t know how she finds enough hours in the day.
TS (the original)
@Elizabelle:
Any reason why they can’t use the trump admin option & just say no – you can’t have it?
frosty
@schrodingers_cat: Plus the commenters. I would know nothing about India without you; Malaysia without Amir; Ohio without Kay (thanks for coming back!); Misery without Ozark, etc etc etc.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@frosty: Miller’s from the West Side, I doubt he’s ever even traveled through Compton(even on the 91).
The Pale Scot
@Jeffro: Too many links I think, usually more than 3 will trip a filter anywhere
Kent
Your dissertation advisor was Thucydides ?
Anya
@germy: The conservative majority SCOTUS will probably twist themselves into pretzel to justify why the congress shouldn’t have access to Trump’s taxes then they’ll declare this decision only applies to this case and should not be seen as a precedence.
Regarding the The Lincoln Project ad, the fact that the group only spent $5,000 to run it on Fox News in Washington, DC. tells me everything I need to know about this group. They want to be seen as anti-Trump without actually inflicting any damage. If they’re serious, they would’ve run the ad in the battle grounds.
frosty
@James E Powell:
As am I. All of that jumped out at me today more than usual. Name names or go home.
Elizabelle
@Anya: I think their point was to get it in front of Trump. Worked smashingly.
James E Powell
@Elizabelle:
Because their first choice, Helter Skelter, had already been used.
Elizabelle
@TS (the original): I suspect Washington State is going to tighten up what it releases after that one. Akin to releasing info on battered spouses/domestic violence vics. Some information needs to stay private.
The state believes in responsive government. Unlike our felon in chief.
The Pale Scot
@schrodingers_cat:
http://www.stonekettle.com
http://alicublog.blogspot.com
https://first-draft.com
https://driftglass.blogspot.com
http://freethoughtblogs.com
Adam L Silverman
@dmsilev: When I was a post-doc at UF, I had an undergrad take one of my classes that was auditioning for Gainesville, FL’s version of Gainesville’s most wanted. This kid was so white, he made Cole look ethnic!
Adam L Silverman
@frosty: She’s actually an AI that Alain and Tynan created.//
Adam L Silverman
Nice new diversionary new post is up!
Anya
@Elizabelle: I get that getting under Trump’s skin is fun but if they’re serious about defeating him, they should spend serious money and drop these ads in the states that will decide this election. I feel like they just want to make some noise and troll Trump. Again, it’s fun to watch but it has no reward unless it’s his defeat.
Adam L Silverman
@TS (the original): Let me guess, the same state legislator who is running his own militia through his church and who the state authorities are trying to figure out how to get out of the legislature and, if possible, charged, tried, and convicted.
Adam L Silverman
@Kent: Thucydides was an Athenian general exiled for failure. Ken Wald is a 5’5 inch tall Nebraskan with a Jewfro.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Elizabelle:
Ringo get’s no respect, “Back off Boogaloo” was on his 1974 “Goodnight Vienna” album.
Another Scott
@Anya: It’s still very early, in election campaign terms.
”From a marketing point of view, you don’t introduce new products in August.”
Cheers,
Scott.
CaseyL
This really isn’t OT, though it probably seems to be:
The Fall of Roman Britain
This amazing video is one episode in a series called “The Fall of Civilizations.” Paul MM Cooper is the Brit who does the series, and he’s wonderful! I may throw some money at his Patreon, he’s that good. The other episodes in the series cover all eras and cultures, from Bronze Age to Aztecs; I happened onto the one about the fall of Roman Britain. As someone who: a) loves history in general; b) particularly loves ancient history; and c) is an absolute nut about English/British history, finding this episode was pure catnip.
For something done on what must be a limited budget, it’s bloody excellent. You can’t tell the story about the fall of Roman Britain without also telling the story of the Fall of Imperial Rome, so there is a fair bit about what was going on there and how it impacted Britain. There are re-enactments, views of actual Roman ruins in Rome, England and Scotland, filmed traipses through other ruins standing in for “Londinium.”
Just delightful – and the reason I mention it is because I very much fear the US is on an inexorable downward slide. 40-odd years of GOP plotting against the US has found its apotheosis in the Trump Admin and the GOP Senate. They have looted and sacked every nook and cranny of the federal government, and corrupted the bureaucracies and courts so completely I don’t know how we can repair them.
Even if we take the entire federal government – Presidency, House, Senate – the rot is so deep, I think reversing it would require a series of shock treatments. Confiscatory tax policies, prosecution and imprisonment of the rich and powerful, wholesale impeachment and replacement of federal judges… the list goes on and on. I love me some Joe Biden, but I doubt he has the appetite for anything like this; I’m not sure the Democratic Caucus as a whole does, either. (And the firebrands within the Democratic Party who are willing don’t know how and would likely make things worse.)
The Fall of Roman Britain was a process that took 400 years, with successive cycles of breakdown and rebuilding. Each breakdown was worse than the one before. Each rebuild resulted in a lesser, poorer, less stable status quo. Until… there wasn’t anything left to rebuild, and no one capable of or interested in trying.
The parallels are hard to miss, and hard to think about.
frosty
@?BillinGlendaleCA: What’s the 91? I commuted on 7 (Long Beach Freeway) 605 (San Gabriel Freeway) 405 (San Diego Freeway) 57 (Pomona Freeway?). Those are all N-S. I’m drawing a blank on 91. E-W south of 10 (Santa Monica/San Berdoo)?
JaySinWA
@schrodingers_cat:
This is the Lord, your Blog, you will have no other Blogs before us.
The Pale Scot
@Adam L Silverman: I had my daily dose of extreme frustration debunking that to family members this weekend.
“Why are you so angry? I’m only asking a question.
This Doctor synopsizes the zeitgeist quite well
dimmsdale
@schrodingers_cat: I’ve been following Teri Kanefield on Twits, and her blog is terrific. Lawyer married to someone who survived Pinochet, very sober (but funny) and reality-based (one reason I esteem her so much is that when peoples’ hair catches on fire, she tends to have a much more rational and measured view, and believe me, I value ‘rational and measured’ a lot these days). Just a really clear thinker and very effective logically and from a legal standpoint against Active Measures-fueled hysteria. http://terikanefield-blog.com
Adam L Silverman
@CaseyL: I highly recommend the Bettany Hughes hosted and narrated Eight Days That Made Rome. Specifically the episodes “The Spartacus Revolt” and “Crossing the Rubicon”. The parallels she draws in the series will be clear to what you’re describing.
https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/shows/eight-days-that-made-rome/1005670
?BillinGlendaleCA
@frosty: Yup, the 91(aka the Artesia Freeway) is E-W south of the 105 which is south of the 10. It runs from Gardenia to Riverside.
rikyrah
@JPL:
Bring it, Muthaphucka.
Bring it??
you talk about folks being willing to crawl over broken glass?
you ain’t seen nothing yet if they try to go after 44??
James E Powell
@frosty:
The 91 runs from the South Bay to Riverside. It is roughly parallel to the 10 and the 60. The stretch through Santa Ana Canyon is the most godawful jam every day. I pay the toll to do Fastrak aka Slow-trak so I can average 20 mph driving past the five mile long parking lot. And that’s if nothing goes wrong. A fender bender or god forbid some rain, and you add an hour to the commute.
Adam L Silverman
@CaseyL:
Two words for you: Kamala Harris.
dimmsdale
@Adam L Silverman: Which reminds me, slightly OT perhaps, but do you have a brief take on how law enforcement responded to the armed takeover of the state house recently? (I expect there to be a lot more of that, esp. if Biden is elected: they’ll test the boundaries and push push push public and law-enforcement tolerance till someone gets shot, is my guess.)
Adam L Silverman
@dimmsdale: I’ll try to do a post answering your question sometime by Tuesday. I’ve got a tasker I’ve got to put to bed between now and Tuesday afternoon. So I’ll probably get to this Tuesday evening. The short answer is that what I saw from the video from Michigan looked professional, but it also clearly demonstrates the disparities between how aggressive, threatening, offensive, armed white people, specifically white men, are treated by law enforcement versus how everyone else is treated.
James E Powell
@JaySinWA:
Back in the Golden Age of Blogs – Bush/Cheney Junta – I read at least fifteen blogs a day. And in the course of a week covered more than that. My home page was theleftcoaster and I used that blog roll. I gravitated toward the GOS during the 2004 campaign.
I don’t recall when I first came here, but it was the conversations about food, dogs, and not-politics that made me a regular. Over time my list of political sites shrunk down to this place. I usually don’t read any other blogs unless somebody here links to one to refer to an article or something worth seeing. Every once in a while I check out the GOS to see how things are going, drop a comment or two, then leave before I start trying eliminate wrong thinking from the internet.
Kent
Arguably it was the fall of Rome and the failure of any subsequent empire to replace it (in the western world) that led to the renaissance, industrial revolution, scientific revolution, and dominance of western European culture over the past 200 years. Of course there was a lot of bloodshed in-between. But empires tend to ossify and stifle innovation. Whether Rome, China, or the Ottomans. You get innovation and creativity exploding in smaller competing city states like Renaissance Italy and the American colonies.
But from the point of view of a lot of our neighbors, as well as a lot of our citizens, the loss of American hegemony is not necessarily a bad thing. After all, you are talking about the country that, when climate change became an irrefutable scientific inevitability, decided to double-down on suburban sprawl, mcmansions, and giant SUVs for the past two decades. And set the middle east on fire for Iraqi oil.
Bill Arnold
@Adam L Silverman:
I am fairly sure that the Fleshy Vessel hosting the Thing known publicly as “Stephen Miller” has entirely human DNA., and can be infected with SARS-CoV-2.
dimmsdale
@Adam L Silverman: Thanks. Was hoping you’d weigh in with something a bit more long-form on the subject at some point. Also, if you have recommendations for additional reading on the subject I’d be grateful.
platonicspoof
@schrodingers_cat: You’d probably appreciate the perspective and links in the articles at https://www.tomdispatch.com/ (if you don’t already), just as I appreciate your bringing to our attention events in India, immigration, etc.
frosty
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Riverside Freeway maybe towards the east? OK, I think I was on that commuting from Upland to Irvine. Missed the Compton section fortunately.
Apologies for using names and avoiding “the”. I mean, really, what a SoCal affectation! //
PS when did “Cali” become a thing?
Adam L Silverman
@dimmsdale: I’d start with that new Reuters long form reporting on qualified immunity for law enforcement.
Kent
@frosty: Up here in the Pacific Northwest we can always spot the recent CA immigrants in a heartbeat because they are always talking about “the 5” or “the 205” which no one here ever does.
As for Cali? Isn’t that a drug cartel? And “Frisco” is a suburb of Dallas not a city in CA.
Brachiator
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Actually, a good chunk of them didn’t survive at all.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@frosty: Yeah, it’s the Riverside freeway east of the 5(one of the reasons we use “the #”). Most folk that say “cali” ain’t from here.
GaryK
@TaMara (HFG): Thanks for that link, really, but from it I learn the horrifying news that the retirement home where I played piano for my aunt’s 90th birthday a couple of years back has seen 12 Covid-19 deaths.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Brachiator: The Power of Prayer.
CaseyL
@Adam L Silverman: First, thanks much for the Bettany Hughes link: I’ll definitely check her out.
Second, Re Senator Harris: From your mouth to FSM’s ear! I would love, purely LOVE, to see Kamala turned loose on the Oligarchs!! I thought she has said she doesn’t want the AG job, though she could very well spearhead a government-spanning endeavor as Veep. That seems to be what modern Veeps do: devote themselves to long-term, ongoing projects that the President just doesn’t have the bandwidth for. In Biden’s case, when he was Veep, his long time in DC power circles was invaluable as he knew everyone. It’ll be interesting to see someone who doesn’t yet have that institutional web of connections takes on a government-wide task.
@Kent: Let me say: That is true, and I know enough about history to know how often better things come out of the ashes of the old. From a long-term historical perspective, I expect/hope that will happen now as well. The new world won’t resemble this one very much, what with global epidemics, cultural and other genocides, economic contraction, and climate change over the next century. Humanity might not dig out for at least another century after that.
That’s the historical perspective, the one that can take a hopeful long view, and wish she could be around to see the next New Age.
But there is also the personal perspective, where I am and will be living through an era of collapse and ruination, along with everyone I know and love, and not having a good time at all.
Brachiator
Thing is, these idiots don’t understand science, or reality, and foolishly believe that white people are magically immune to the virus and that non-white people are singularly vulnerable. They have been drinking too much bleach moonshine, and it has addled their wits.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@CaseyL: It’s good series, but worth keeping in mind the Crises of the Third Century lasted almost 100 years and the Romans managed to keep it together. As it was Justinian almost pulled a Rome 2 until the plague wrecked his plans.
Brachiator
@Kent:
I don’t know about this. Empires are often defeated by rivals, overtaken by upstarts, or drizzle away through irrelevance as other powers and geographic regions become more powerful.
I might agree that America ain’t “all that,” but I don’t see, for example, that a pre-eminent China would be a shining beacon on the hill.
Anya
@Another Scott: In 2012 Priorities USA ran their ads against Romney super early. They began creating in the minds of the voters Romeny’s identity right after it was clear he was the nominee.
Anyway, there are bigger things to get worked up about than these guys. I just have to remind myself that they’re not on our side. And as I said, trolling Trump is fun.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Jeffro:
Too many links.
dimmsdale
@Adam L Silverman: On it, thanks!
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Major killer pandemic is started because the population is forced to eat high risk animals an’t a very inspiring alternative to the US.
Socialized Europe still leads the US on total deaths and deaths per capita, Russia, Brazil and Mexico seem to be in a competition with Trump over who can be King Death. The alternatives are thin.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
I’m not aware of any evidence for being “forced” eat these animals. Some animals are eaten for medicinal purposes.
frosty
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Thanks for the confirmation of both my statements. “Cali” grates on my ears every time I hear it.
SFBayAreaGal
@Kent: “the” 5 or “the” whatever is strictly So. California.
Us Northerners do not use “the”
Yutsano
@CaseyL: @Kent: Calling it right now: if somehow Herr Drumpf wins Cascadia gets created.
Uncle Cosmo
@Wolf: I see soon-to-be-dead people….
(Said this before till I was blue in the face) I am poisonally convinced that over the last two generations the Global Oligarchy Project has cleverly insinuated its minions into positions responsible for crafting headlines & chyrons, so that the folks who pay little or no attention to news have the Far Wrong’s messaging burned into their brains. Those hacks deserve a convoy of tumbrels all by themselves.
evodevo
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Yes. This. Very familiar with the “Gish Gallop” technique in debating, since I taught biology for 30 years. You throw out such a pile of horseshit talking points that the opposition can’t possibly refute them in the time allotted…and of course your target audience wouldn’t listen anyway…
Booger
@SiubhanDuinne: That’s the funniest damn thing I’ve heard in ages. Thanks for sharing!
evodevo
@hueyplong: That’s because it’s a defining characteristic among successful CEOs….https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackmccullough/2019/12/09/the-psychopathic-ceo/#505b499f791e
evodevo
@CaseyL: Yes. and the takeover by the Saxons and the Danes didn’t help…there are always more belligerent cultures out there who will be happy to aid in your demise…
J R in WV
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Oh, please! Oh, Please! Is that the prayer you’re thinking of? Yeah, me too!!!
J R in WV
@Jeffro:
Interesting paragraphs of text, which also included 8 or 9 links, when IIRC the new expanded enlarged limit is either 5 or 7….
That’s what I’m thinkin’ anyways.
J R in WV
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I used to spend nearly as much time at LGM as I did here, but for a couple of reasons I don’t anymore.
First, too much downer, not enough uplift. Everything is a fatal error, no hope, doomed to fail, deserve to fail.
Second, not the same social pattern of mutual respect and friendship. Balloon Juice is, for me, acting as the social outlet we no longer have due to the dangers of social mixing. I used to love going to town, meeting people at the little shops and chatting with the folks who run the Wine and Cheese shop, the seafood shop, etc, etc. No more.
Now going shopping feels like playing Russian Roulette without knowing how many rounds are in the revolver. And without being drunk ass on vodka. No fun at all ~!!!~
So I chat here with friends, and excoriate RWNJ trolls before throwing them into the pie safe.
Safe fun social interaction, with up lifting stories like LAMH finishing up a MS degree while traveling all over the world. Never gonna see that at LGM, unfortunately.
J R in WV
@Kent:
OK, Kent,, this is the funniest thing anyone has ever said about Adam S, ever. Thanks for sharing that short, pithy, question!!!
J R in WV
@Bill Arnold:
So you think Cthulhu has a human genome? Interesting… explains the RWNJ conspiracy-mongers pretty well.
Maybe same as human, but twisted the opposite direction?
J R in WV
Trigger warning, gross description below!
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Saw a really “interesting” while disgusting video shot in a “wet market” in SE Asia somewhere.
Grinning young man buys a big live frog from a fish and etc vendor in huge well lit, clean looking market space, and eats it standing there, while it kicks and thrashes trying to escape his teeth.
Disgusting, despicable, etc, etc.
ETA: No wonder they get exotic diseases !!! I couldn’t believe my eyes…
WaterGirl
@Ohio Mom:
Hey Ohio Mom, I read that and went to check the blogroll. I clicked every link and only found 2 out of 92 that were dead ends. Plus Andrea Chalupa, where the site was up but I couldn’t find anything to read.
What am I missing?