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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

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One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

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

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

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

The revolution will be supervised.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

Let there be snark.

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Everybody saw this coming.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Wilson, you depraved, magnificent bastard

Wilson, you depraved, magnificent bastard

by Betty Cracker|  May 20, 20204:46 pm| 177 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity, Trump Crime Cartel

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The Lincoln Project’s latest:

This is just another example that @realDonaldTrump is the worst manager America has ever seen. Don, you got conned … by your IT guy. pic.twitter.com/ssO5CERqBu

— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) May 20, 2020

It’s gratuitous. It’s trashy. It’s perfect.

Someone on Twitter said she didn’t know who this kind of ad moves the needle for, perhaps thinking it was designed to change voters’ minds. Nope, it’s designed to get Trump to turn on the grifting scumbags who have their feedstraws in his wallet, and lordy, they are legion.

As a sleazy con artist himself, Trump assumes everyone is out to rip him off because that’s the moral universe in which he’s lived his entire fraudulent life. And if there’s one thing a grifter hates, it’s finding out he’s the mark. I hope he blows a gasket.

Open thread!

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Reader Interactions

177Comments

  1. 1.

    cain

    May 20, 2020 at 4:50 pm

    It takes a ratfucker to trump the other fuckers. Aww yeah. You are indeed inglorious Rick Wilson! (pun intended)

  2. 2.

    Mike in NC

    May 20, 2020 at 4:54 pm

    Parscale, Bannon, Kushner and so many others have picked Fat Bastard’s pockets for years and he barely even knows it. Time to double down on the hydroxy stuff.

  3. 3.

    zhena gogolia

    May 20, 2020 at 4:54 pm

    I saw that earlier today — I love these.

  4. 4.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    May 20, 2020 at 4:55 pm

    Nope, it’s designed to get Trump to turn on the grifting scumbags who have their feedstraws in his wallet, and lordy, they are legion.

    But will it though? Wouldn’t Trump just dismiss it given who is airing it?

    ETA: NVM. Apparently, Trump has been complaining about Parscale already. Rooting for injuries!

  5. 5.

    geg6

    May 20, 2020 at 4:56 pm

    Wilson kills me.  I know the awful person he’s been when he’s against us, but I have to give him props for sticking to his own (let us say) unique principles and for turning his guns on his own.  I’ll take his help this time around, with pleasure.  You know the Shitgibbon is going to go crazy about this.  He’s already been complaining about Parscale and this should send him around the bend.

  6. 6.

    HinTN

    May 20, 2020 at 4:57 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): He simply cannot resist the bait.

  7. 7.

    J.

    May 20, 2020 at 4:57 pm

    Bwahahaha

  8. 8.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    May 20, 2020 at 4:58 pm

    This came across my feed this afternoon:
    How Restaurants Reinvented Themselves During COVID-19 & Possibly Forever

  9. 9.

    HumboldtBlue

    May 20, 2020 at 4:58 pm

    Someone on Twitter said she didn’t know who this kind of ad moves the needle for, perhaps thinking it was designed to change voters’ minds.

    None of these ads are aimed at swaying voters, they serve to insult and goad the president, they openly admit so. They spent $5k for an ad on FOX News in order to reach ONE viewer.

    As Betty said, I hope to see a blown gasket.

  10. 10.

    geg6

    May 20, 2020 at 4:58 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    If it’s being shown on FOX News in the DC market like the other ones they’ve done, he’ll watch.  He’ll be screaming about FOX betraying him along with Parscale, as a bonus!

  11. 11.

    Zelma

    May 20, 2020 at 4:59 pm

    I find myself waiting for the next barrage from the Never Trumpers.  I mean, I hate the bastard with a passion, but their hatred has a white hot heat that is a pleasure to watch.

  12. 12.

    Mary G

    May 20, 2020 at 4:59 pm

    All the Lincoln Project ads are for an audience of one, and I imagine this one will get a doozy of a reaction, especially since today’s polls are so good for Biden.

    On a more serious note, this ad (I don’t know whose it is) is equally great – a daughter of a Covid19 victim telling the story of his death intercut with Twitler playing golf and telling lies:

    wow pic.twitter.com/TRJOpJyh2Z— Daniel Uhlfelder (@DWUhlfelderLaw) May 20, 2020

    I’ve been waiting for these and this one is excellent.

  13. 13.

    Yutsano

    May 20, 2020 at 5:00 pm

    I’ve had six X-rays and three MRI tests today. I’m ready for my superpowers now.

    It’s an audience of one. If you don’t get the ad, you’re not the audience. Simple as that.

  14. 14.

    HumboldtBlue

    May 20, 2020 at 5:03 pm

    @Mary G:

    That’s powerful.

  15. 15.

    JPL

    May 20, 2020 at 5:04 pm

    @Yutsano: What happened?

  16. 16.

    Chris Sherbak

    May 20, 2020 at 5:05 pm

    I dunno, doesn’t the campaign pay for all that? So why would Trump care he’s fleecing the campaign? It’s not like it’s any of his own money…

  17. 17.

    geg6

    May 20, 2020 at 5:05 pm

    @Mary G:

    I think that’s a group set up by Eric Swalwell.

  18. 18.

    Bruce K

    May 20, 2020 at 5:07 pm

    @Zelma:  It’s sometimes difficult to remember that Our Gracious Host was in a similar place until the Schiavo case finally pushed him to reject the GOP entirely. I imagine the rage of the Lincoln Project people comes from a similar place.

  19. 19.

    Mary G

    May 20, 2020 at 5:07 pm

    Fox News Dana Perino asked Biden campaign senior adviser Symone Sanders to name one lie from Trump on Covid-19 and she got more than she bargained for pic.twitter.com/Md9PQ9X88n— Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) May 20, 2020

    I like Symone. The contempt just oozes off her, and watching the blond futilely trying to break in is hilarious.

  20. 20.

    geg6

    May 20, 2020 at 5:08 pm

    @Chris Sherbak:

    I am pretty sure he considers all that cash his own.  Plus, the idea of the geeky Parscale swanning around acting like he’s a SUPERSTAR!!!! is the big hit, IMHO.  No one else is allowed to be a star, except maybe Jarvanka.

  21. 21.

    MomSense

    May 20, 2020 at 5:08 pm

    @geg6:

    I’m conflicted about the never trumpers.  We’re in an all hands on deck situation and need their help.  Assuming we get through this though.   Shouldn’t they at least acknowledge their roles in creating the Republican Party they chose such a horrific person as their leader? Most of them act as though Trump is an aberration.

    I’ll never forgive the Max Cleland ad that Wilson did.

  22. 22.

    Mary G

    May 20, 2020 at 5:08 pm

    @Yutsano: Yikes! I hope you’re OK. Is it the hip again?

  23. 23.

    artem1s

    May 20, 2020 at 5:08 pm

    Listen, here’s the thing. If you can’t spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker.

  24. 24.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 20, 2020 at 5:09 pm

    did we ever figure out the German word for “Performance intended for an audience of one”?

    This is the first time I’ve seen it turned against him.

    ETA: except, of course, Nancy Pelosi

  25. 25.

    Yutsano

    May 20, 2020 at 5:11 pm

    @JPL: A possible upcoming back surgery, an examination of my right knee, and checking if there’s further damage on my spinal cord around my neck area. Oh and the X-rays were for other reasons that weren’t well explained to me. It’s probably no wonder I’m more or less wiped out today.

  26. 26.

    Thad Phetteplace

    May 20, 2020 at 5:11 pm

    I picked up Rick Wilson’s book ‘Everything Trump Touches Dies’ on a whim in an indie bookstore while passing through Spring Green, Wisconsin. It was brilliant. I started following him on Twitter… eventually became a supporter of The Lincoln Project, and haven’t regretted it for a moment. Oh, and I highly recommend the podcast he does with Molly Jong-Fast, The New Abnormal.
    https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-new-abnormal-with-molly-jong-fast-rick-wilson/id1508202790?i=1000475060436

  27. 27.

    Mary G

    May 20, 2020 at 5:13 pm

    @MomSense: I’m thinking it’s like Russia in WWII. We need to work together to get rid of Twitler, but once that’s done, we’ll go to war.

  28. 28.

    HumboldtBlue

    May 20, 2020 at 5:14 pm

    @MomSense:

    As has been repeated here on more than one occasion the moment Biden gets sworn in they will be right back to screaming about the deficit and how the Democrats led us into this disaster and are doing nowhere near enough to help and serve the country.

  29. 29.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    May 20, 2020 at 5:14 pm

    James Carville has a hilarious take down of Pascale
    (Video)

  30. 30.

    geg6

    May 20, 2020 at 5:15 pm

    @MomSense:

    Oh, I agree that people like Wilson do not have remorse for what they’ve done in the past.  And he, in particular, probably never will apologize.  But I will take any help we can get right about now and not be too persnickety about it at the moment.  Later, we can discuss whether or not Wilson regrets how his actions sent his party to the clown show.  At least, we may be assured that he won’t support any Trump bootlickers in the future and that may be enough for me.

  31. 31.

    NotMax

    May 20, 2020 at 5:17 pm

    @Yutsano

    Yikes!

    I’m ready for my superpowers now.

    Next time sneak a spider in with you.

  32. 32.

    Mary G

    May 20, 2020 at 5:19 pm

    Heh.

    Nancy Pelosi said President Trump is like a child "with doggy doo on his shoes" and that doctors have asked her, "What is the matter with him?" https://t.co/jZgfeFKUF2 pic.twitter.com/Lh92kELgDc— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 20, 2020

  33. 33.

    JPL

    May 20, 2020 at 5:19 pm

    @Chris Sherbak: You might think that, but that’s how he pays Eric and Jr.

  34. 34.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    May 20, 2020 at 5:19 pm

    @Mary G: I’m thinking it’s like another thing I once heard about the Cold War, that we (via the CIA probably) would plant rumors getting Stalin to doubt his most loyal and competent aides, which would lead him to execute them.

  35. 35.

    sdhays

    May 20, 2020 at 5:19 pm

    @geg6: Yes, this. He absolutely considers it all his money.

  36. 36.

    JPL

    May 20, 2020 at 5:20 pm

    @Yutsano: Geez..

  37. 37.

    The Moar You Know

    May 20, 2020 at 5:21 pm

    First real miss I’ve seen from them.  Trump likes thieves.  What Trump DOES NOT like would be someone saying that Trump would be nothing without Parscale.

    Too bad.  They’ve been doing well, they’ll get back on course.  I hope they keep in mind that we can’t afford many mistakes here.

  38. 38.

    rekoob

    May 20, 2020 at 5:22 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Although Amir Khaled is better with the grammar, how about “Die Einmahligeabsichtsauffuehrung”? That would approximate “unique purpose performance”, which is the gist, I believe.

  39. 39.

    HumboldtBlue

    May 20, 2020 at 5:22 pm

    The U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday blocked a House committee from receiving grand jury material gathered by Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigators, issuing a stay while a legal dispute over the records is on appeal

  40. 40.

    Roger Moore

    May 20, 2020 at 5:22 pm

    @Mary G:

    All the Lincoln Project ads are for an audience of one, and I imagine this one will get a doozy of a reaction, especially since today’s polls are so good for Biden.

    The question for me is what reaction they’re trying to trigger.  Just getting Trump to lose his cool and go on a Twitter rampage isn’t enough, since that’s what he’d probably do anyway.  For these to affect the election, they have to get Trump to do something he might not otherwise do that hurts his election chances.  Otherwise it’s just trolling written large: provoking an action to provoke an action, not with some larger goal in mind.

  41. 41.

    NotMax

    May 20, 2020 at 5:23 pm

    They’re gonna need a bigger tin box.

    :)

  42. 42.

    Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)

    May 20, 2020 at 5:24 pm

    @Mary G: My husband’s from New Jersey.  His father was in a nursing home and died a couple of years ago, right before his birthday.  My husband still struggles with guilt from having put him in there, even though he knows it was necessary.

    My mother was in a nursing home in New York.  She died New Year’s Day.

    My husband and I talk often about how horrible it would be if they were alive in their nursing homes today.  This ad has me in tears.  I don’t think I’ll show it to Mr. Mingobat. 

    it does touch on something nobody’s talked about AFAIK, when right wingers dismiss deaths of the elderly and nursing home residents — the crushing guilt that the families must feel.  They probably have no clue that caring about someone else is even a thing that exists.

  43. 43.

    Mandalay

    May 20, 2020 at 5:25 pm

    @Mary G:

    A good ad, but ironic that the person linking to it is Eric Swalwell, who ordered us back on March 4 to “Stop wearing face masks“.

    He’s hardly the best messenger for highlighting incompetence.

  44. 44.

    Roger Moore

    May 20, 2020 at 5:25 pm

    @Chris Sherbak:

    I dunno, doesn’t the campaign pay for all that? So why would Trump care he’s fleecing the campaign? It’s not like it’s any of his own money…

    That is not how Trump thinks.  It is his money in the sense that he can direct how it is spent with fairly broad discretion, which is the sense that matters to him.  There are all kinds of grifts he can and has used to transfer money from the Trump Campaign to the Trump Organization, e.g. renting his own properties for campaign purposes.  Any money that gets spend elsewhere is money Trump can’t do that with.

  45. 45.

    Woodrow/asim

    May 20, 2020 at 5:26 pm

    @MomSense: 

    Shouldn’t they at least acknowledge their roles in creating the Republican Party they chose such a horrific person as their leader?

    They won’t. They see what they did, as business-as-usual. They ignore that allowing Segregationists/Evangelicals in, then helping them mask their desires (see Lee Atwater), directly led to those forces eroding any sense of decency in the party.

    I mean, look at Michael Steele now, vs when he was supposedly running the RNC. Think, for a moment, how much work it took to hide all the crap the actual folx running the show were doing — all the planning for racist voter suppression, for one — against African-Americans from the damned supposed head of the org!

    I surmise it was actually really easy to be in the middle of the GOP in the 90s and up into early Obama, and not see any of the actual heart of the GOP’s corruption. I know a lot of folx, former friends who still, to this day, insist we’re making up all the racist crap the GOP now openly traffics in.

    And they say that, while insisting they are my friends.

    Part of the major challenge we’ll have, as a country, is if we’re ready to have that reckoning with this perverted strain of American thought, a strain that’s been here ever since a court in colonial VA decided people who looked like me were slaves, but white folx — nah, “just” indentured servants.

    Until we do? We’ll keep having these folx who are eager to ride the line — and we’ll have to keep compromising to avoid them losing what lil’ shit they have.

    That’s the real cost, of a Big Tent Strategy.

  46. 46.

    senyordave

    May 20, 2020 at 5:27 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: I think this signals that the Supreme Court will defer to Trump on every issue, I assume it will be 5-4 on the tax record case.  Or they might just delay until after the election.  Trump could shoot someone on 5th avenue and the Roberts court would find he had probable cause.

  47. 47.

    Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)

    May 20, 2020 at 5:27 pm

    @Roger Moore: I’m guessing they’re trying to drive a wedge between him and his campaign manager, and cause total chaos within his campaign staff (or more than there probably already is, anyway).

  48. 48.

    ThresherK

    May 20, 2020 at 5:27 pm

    I was chided when I said this last night, but: Trump threatens flood funding, lies about Michigan vote-by-mail .

  49. 49.

    sdhays

    May 20, 2020 at 5:28 pm

    @Roger Moore: Dump going on Twitter rampages while there are very clearly things he needs to be doing that affect people right now is cementing the picture of a Twitter President who is completely useless (at best!) in a major crisis. It’s hurting his campaign.

    Of course, it could also eventually goad him into a heart attack, especially if he’s actually on “the hydroxy”.

  50. 50.

    Betty Cracker

    May 20, 2020 at 5:28 pm

    @The Moar You Know: First line of the ad: “Meet Brad Parscale, from dead broke to the man Trump can’t win without…”

  51. 51.

    raven

    May 20, 2020 at 5:29 pm

    Damn, the Y reopened and there is lap swimming available!

  52. 52.

    cain

    May 20, 2020 at 5:29 pm

    @geg6:

    Oh.. apparently he’s been complaining about Pompeo as well. The next one is going to be targeting that guy. Rick and the rest of the Lincoln Project know how to fuck with him good and hard. I’m very pleased. It’s very uniquely Republican because none of us in the Democratic party have this kind of shit in them to do this.

  53. 53.

    HumboldtBlue

    May 20, 2020 at 5:30 pm

    504 Gateway Timeout
    The gateway has timed out.

    It appears Reddit has been compromised in some form or fashion.

    @senyordave:

    Yup.

  54. 54.

    James E Powell

    May 20, 2020 at 5:31 pm

    @HumboldtBlue:

    Elected Democrats – leaders as well as rank & file – need to start screaming that the supreme court is covering up for Trump, that they are abusing the legal system, that they are as corrupt as he is. I’d keep Biden and whoever the VP nominee is out of it, but every solid blue senator and congressperson and governor needs to say this over and over every day until it becomes acknowledged as fact and the members of the court might – stress on might – feel the need to behave themselves

    Our side still needs to work on having everybody say the same thing at the same time. Republicans have this perfected and it’s one reason that their messaging is so effective.

  55. 55.

    bluehill

    May 20, 2020 at 5:31 pm

    @The Moar You Know: If the mob movies I’ve seen are an accurate reflection, they don’t care about stealing from other people, but get pretty violent if you steal from them.

  56. 56.

    mrmoshpotato

    May 20, 2020 at 5:31 pm

    @geg6: Don’t worry.  All of these Never Trumper scumbags will try to bite Biden’s face off come November 4, 2020.

    Fuck them and their monster factory that finally made a monster after 40+ years of trying.

    ETA – I am however cheering for injuries.

  57. 57.

    NotMax

    May 20, 2020 at 5:32 pm

    @raven

    lap swimming

    Also at the Little Mermaid strip club.

    Or so rumor has it.

    ;)

  58. 58.

    MattF

    May 20, 2020 at 5:34 pm

    They’re looking to get inside Trump’s head, set up a ratfucking operation, trigger some feces-throwing. They’re moving towards doing ads against some Trumpy Senators, which is nearing that red line of attacking the Republican Party. Jen Rubin is already there and attacking Republicans, Lincoln Project is still thinking about it, but it’s the next logical step for them.

  59. 59.

    cain

    May 20, 2020 at 5:34 pm

    @Bruce K:

    @Zelma:  It’s sometimes difficult to remember that Our Gracious Host was in a similar place until the Schiavo case finally pushed him to reject the GOP entirely. I imagine the rage of the Lincoln Project people comes from a similar place.

    It’s also interesting how these folks also mix it up with the Democratic partisans. They don’t give a fuck. But you can almost feel a certain amusement and tolerance. I mean Rick’s on podcasts with Democratic people..some crazy shit right there.

  60. 60.

    RepubAnon

    May 20, 2020 at 5:35 pm

    @Roger Moore: I expect all those Trump voters trained to hate “elitists” would be unconsciously annoyed at a “lifestyles of the rich and famous” lifestyle paid for by their campaign donations. Could lower turnout in MAGA land

  61. 61.

    cain

    May 20, 2020 at 5:37 pm

    @MomSense: I think Rick does – I’ve seen say stuff about saving his soul. I think he is honest about his role and why he is completely vicious about going after his party.

    But we do need them because they have the kind of media saavy that we lack. They know how to attack while we tend to play more defense.

  62. 62.

    The Moar You Know

    May 20, 2020 at 5:38 pm

    First line of the ad: “Meet Brad Parscale, from dead broke to the man Trump can’t win without…”

    @Betty Cracker: THAT’S WHY I’M PISSED.  They nailed it going out the gate.  Fucking nailed it.  And then they totally blew the next 27 seconds by focusing on Brad’s money and bagging on him riding on a private jet.  Which Trump absolutely will never give a shit about.

  63. 63.

    cain

    May 20, 2020 at 5:40 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    There is going to be a freak out and a lot of drama – drama that the folks around him don’t need as it makes him even more irrational. By triggering him, they are attacking those around him.

    Just imagine, they are probably already trying to figure out how to deal with his bit about “nobody to protect your potatoes”. The people around him must be exhausted.

  64. 64.

    Miss Bianca

    May 20, 2020 at 5:40 pm

    @geg6: Uncomfortably, I’m there with you. I can’t STAND the bastard. And yet, I find it so schadenfreudelicious to watch him turn his powers for sleaze onto his own kind. And I appreciate the fact that he and the other Never-Trumpers recognize that it’s TRUMP that’s the problem, not Biden or Warren or Harris or anyone else that the Performative Left has deemed Insufficiently Progressive.

    Is it wrong?

  65. 65.

    moops

    May 20, 2020 at 5:42 pm

    @RepubAnon:   I don’t think Trump donors are concerned about their money being wasted like this.   His rich lifestyle is sitgginit.  It is a rags to riches story about a die hard Trump supporter.

    He’s living the dream of every Trump booster.

  66. 66.

    The Moar You Know

    May 20, 2020 at 5:43 pm

    It’s very uniquely Republican because none of us in the Democratic party have this kind of shit in them to do this.

    @cain:  I have written and yelled and ranted about this since  the very early 2000s – “this kind of shit” is how they keep winning and have kept winning since 1980.  And if we can’t either hire these guys, or figure out how to do this ourselves, we will see the complete end of every American safety net, labor laws, voting rights law and all the work done to make America a better and more equal place since FDR.

  67. 67.

    MattF

    May 20, 2020 at 5:43 pm

    @cain: Alexandra Petri has done the ‘guardian of potatoes’ item.

  68. 68.

    sdhays

    May 20, 2020 at 5:44 pm

    @The Moar You Know: He cares about it if it’s his money, and he definitely considers campaign money to be his.

  69. 69.

    Betty Cracker

    May 20, 2020 at 5:44 pm

    @The Moar You Know: Couldn’t disagree more. Every image and line of dialog is micro-targeted at one of Trump’s many insecurities, including the scantily-clad women. Trump doesn’t care if Wilber Ross is rich, but he damn sure will care if a formerly broke underling is hoovering up money that Trump regards as his, and Trump is already pissed about being behind in the polls.

  70. 70.

    Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)

    May 20, 2020 at 5:44 pm

    @RepubAnon: I doubt that.  They’ll probably think the lifestyle triggers the libs, and they’ll love him for it (as long as their dear leader doesn’t publicly complain).

  71. 71.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 20, 2020 at 5:45 pm

    @The Moar You Know: Since you are so brilliant about ad strategy, why don’t you make some?

    You are pissed that they spent their money on an ad that disappoints you?  Oh well.

  72. 72.

    Miss Bianca

    May 20, 2020 at 5:46 pm

    @ThresherK: That’s not what you were chided for.

  73. 73.

    NotMax

    May 20, 2020 at 5:47 pm

    @MattF

    Spudvengers, assemble!

    :)

  74. 74.

    cain

    May 20, 2020 at 5:48 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    @cain:  I have written and yelled and ranted about this since  the very early 2000s – “this kind of shit” is how they keep winning and have kept winning since 1980.  And if we can’t either hire these guys, or figure out how to do this ourselves, we will see the complete end of every American safety net, labor laws, voting rights law and all the work done to make America a better and more equal place since FDR.

    oh yeah.. it’s one of the frustrating things about being in this party. Our illustrious blog host has mentioned many times after his switch to the Democrats that he is more angry at Democrats than when he was a Republican.

    There is a definite sense that Democrats must at all times be “adult” – part of that is from our demographic concern trolling everything and part of it is the media who definitely holds both parties to different standards – one arbitrary (republicans) the other somewhat consistent.

    I think Rick’s pretty much here to stay, I think he’s not going to stop at Trump but is going to burn the Republican party to the ground.

  75. 75.

    MisterForkbeard

    May 20, 2020 at 5:49 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: This is basically how every Trump-related lawsuit is going to go until the election.

    They don’t want to nakedly be partisan, so they won’t shut it down directly. But they’ll limit the damage to Trump in the name of ‘fairness’ and then run out the clock.

    If Biden wins, all of these lawsuits will come back with lots of restrictions on presidential power. If Trump wins, who knows – most of these things won’t matter any more after the election, so the Republican Supremes might not care.

  76. 76.

    Patricia Kayden

    May 20, 2020 at 5:50 pm

    ?????????. PLEASE let this happen. Let’s wake up elated on Nov 4th! The only way, is to stay focused on voting blue down the line. Let’s not get complacent and ease off, every one has got to vote! #BidenForPresident2020 https://t.co/rzE70PSGth— drama queen (@diogenes7774) May 20, 2020

  77. 77.

    Thad Phetteplace

    May 20, 2020 at 5:53 pm

    @geg6: I’ve actually heard Rick Wilson voice some regrets and admit some culpability for helping create the mess that is the current GOP. He does not apologize for being a conservative, but does seem to regret where the winning at all cost philosophy led his party. He has essentially written off the GOP at this point. He is working not just to defeat Trump, but flip the Senate.

  78. 78.

    Baud

    May 20, 2020 at 5:53 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: So which age group are we losing in Florida that it can even be considered close?

  79. 79.

    trollhattan

    May 20, 2020 at 5:53 pm

    @Mary G:

    Can you imagine her in the role of Biden’s Press Secretary, because I sure can! “Hi Fox reporter, can you perhaps restate that? Make it English and logical this time.”

  80. 80.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 20, 2020 at 5:54 pm

    @cain: Do we really want a left wing Lee Atwater or Karl Rove?  I would prefer not to go down that road.   I think we can and should do better.

  81. 81.

    HumboldtBlue

    May 20, 2020 at 5:54 pm

    I think the lawyers are gonna have fun with this one.

    Tulare County Supervisors voted to open businesses under Phase 2 and phase 3 of the state guidelines. But when asked how the board voted for the measure to reopen without it being on the agenda they got this absurd response:

    “County Counsel cannot provide any legal analysis or statement regarding the Board of Supervisors action taken today without breaching attorney-client privilege,” a county representative stated.

    And now the state has threatened to pull $47 million dollars in disaster aid if they continue.

    Hours after supervisors voted Tuesday to defy the state’s public health orders and reopen most of Tulare County’s economy, California officials sent a letter threatening to cut off the county’s disaster relief and $47 million in federal CARES Act funds.
    Tulare County Chief Administrative Officer Jason Britt received the letter around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night and forwarded it to supervisors.
    “It is my understanding Tulare County has taken steps that are inconsistent with the Governor’s Executive Orders and the State Public Health Officer’s directives,” the letter from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services reads in part.
    “These problematic and concerning actions jeopardize public health and safety, not only within the county, but beyond, through community contact and spread.”

  82. 82.

    Baud

    May 20, 2020 at 5:55 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: Worked fine for me just now.

  83. 83.

    Spider-Dan

    May 20, 2020 at 5:56 pm

    @Roger Moore: Yes, it’s intended to provoke a reaction, because his reactions invariably make things worse for himself.

  84. 84.

    trollhattan

    May 20, 2020 at 5:57 pm

    @Thad Phetteplace:

    I do get the impression that Wilson knows what the Overton Window is and how far it has been shoved. Whatever his concept of conservatism may be, nothing like that exists today. I can laud him for not saying “screw it” and cashing in with the rest of the vultures.

  85. 85.

    JAFD

    May 20, 2020 at 5:57 pm

    Greetings from New Jersey !

    Here be word from Dem State Committee on upcoming primary. Don’t know if they’ll ask me to work at one of in-person stations (if you’re registered ‘unaffiliated’, and decide on election day you want to join a party and vote in primary…).

    • All active registered Democrats and Republicans will receive a Vote by Mail ballot that will include prepaid return postage. All you have to do to cast your vote is to fill out your choices on the ballot itself, follow the instructions on the inner envelope including signing your name, place the ballot into the outer envelope and drop it in the mail. As long as your ballot is postmarked before July 7 and is delivered to the County Clerk by the post office by July 14, your vote will be counted.
    • Unaffiliated or inactive voters will receive a Vote by Mail application, and will have the option to declare themselves for one of the major parties and participate in the election by mailing in their application, which will also have prepaid postage. They will then be mailed a ballot for the party of their choice and can follow the same steps above to cast their vote.
    • Each county will have a limited number of secure Ballot Dropboxes where Vote by Mail ballots can be left. Ballot Dropbox locations and procedures will be determined by each County Clerk. Ballots can also be returned in person at each County Clerk’s office, with available hours varying by county.
    • A limited number of polling places will be open on July 7 for voters unable to vote by mail. Anyone who needs to use one of these polling places will have the option to vote via provisional paper ballot. Proper CDC recommendations and social distancing orders will be in effect at polling places. A list of Election Day polling locations will be certified on June 15 and available shortly thereafter. 
    • The deadline to Register to Vote for the Primary Election will remain June 16.
    • A Hotline number will be established by the Secretary of State to report Vote by Mail irregularities.
  86. 86.

    J R in WV

    May 20, 2020 at 5:58 pm

    @raven:

    Damn, the Y reopened and there is lap swimming available!

    Can you wear a mask in a pool? I mean with filters, not a swim mask…               ;-)

  87. 87.

    NotMax

    May 20, 2020 at 5:58 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus

    Yup. No great fan either of instituting a “We had to burn the Village in order to save it” policy.

  88. 88.

    HumboldtBlue

    May 20, 2020 at 5:58 pm

    @MattF:

    She’s killin’ me. Hilarious.

  89. 89.

    HumboldtBlue

    May 20, 2020 at 5:59 pm

    @Baud:

    There was a 10-minute period where it didn’t.

  90. 90.

    Another Scott

    May 20, 2020 at 6:00 pm

    @cain: Dunno.  An excerpt from his book Running Against the Devil, from the Democratic suite in November 2020:

    […]

    You thought your progressive message was universal and that the swing states have the same political polarity as California, New York, or Massachusetts. You believed you could shame Trump and Trump voters into listening to the better angels of their nature by talking about diversity, inclusion, and liberal values. In reality, you were giving the Trump campaign fodder for the weaponized grievance machine that put him in office in the first place.

    Boy (or your preferred gendered interjection), were you ever wrong.

    He loves burning strawmen there, doesn’t he?

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  91. 91.

    Frank Wilhoit

    May 20, 2020 at 6:04 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Einzelhoererauffuehrung — sorry I couldn’t figure out how to do the umlauts

  92. 92.

    trollhattan

    May 20, 2020 at 6:04 pm

    @HumboldtBlue:

    Fun. Also, fun facts: Tulare County is represented by Devin Nunes, Kevin McCarthy and TJ Cox. Cox is part of the Dem’s 2018 House wave, eking out a thousand-vote win over Republican incumbent David Valadao, a formerly safe R seat.

  93. 93.

    Roger Moore

    May 20, 2020 at 6:05 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    And I appreciate the fact that he and the other Never-Trumpers recognize that it’s TRUMP that’s the problem

    I agree that the performative left is awful, but I still don’t trust anyone who focuses exclusively or even primarily on Trump as the problem.  Trump is the symptom.  The problem is the whole Republican party that was more than happy to put him in charge and do whatever he said.  Get rid of Trump without reforming the party, and you’ll just get a Trump clone as the nominee in 2024.

  94. 94.

    trollhattan

    May 20, 2020 at 6:06 pm

    @J R in WV: A blue surgeon’s mask over the tip of a snorkel would be adorable.

  95. 95.

    Martin

    May 20, 2020 at 6:08 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: That violates the state open meeting laws. The County Counsel surely realizes that.

  96. 96.

    trollhattan

    May 20, 2020 at 6:10 pm

    OT Michael Taylor, international man of mystery.

    US authorities have arrested a former special forces soldier and his son for allegedly helping ex-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn flee Japan last December.
    Former Green Beret Michael Taylor, 59, and his son Peter, 26, were detained in Massachusetts on Wednesday.

    Japanese prosecutors issued warrants for their arrest in January.

    Mr Ghosn, who was detained in Japan on charges of financial misconduct in 2018, made a dramatic escape from house arrest last year.

    He denies the charges against him.

    Despite being monitored 24 hours a day, on 29 December he managed to fly to Beirut, Lebanon, via Turkey.

    So glad we’re cranking out spooks and mercenaries for hire, for the rest of the world.

  97. 97.

    Baud

    May 20, 2020 at 6:14 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    We don’t have to trust anyone to enjoy their ads.  When this is all over, we owe Rick Wilson nothing.

  98. 98.

    MattF

    May 20, 2020 at 6:14 pm

    @trollhattan: We’re a service economy, after all.

  99. 99.

    Patricia Kayden

    May 20, 2020 at 6:14 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: Arghhhh.  I know it won’t happen but I wish Democrats would stack the federal courts if Biden wins and the Senate flips.

  100. 100.

    Patricia Kayden

    May 20, 2020 at 6:16 pm

    @Roger Moore: Republican voters still overwhelmingly support Trump so I don’t see any reforms happening in the near future. If Trump loses, the Deplorables will claim that he was cheated and push for harsher voter suppression tactics.

  101. 101.

    ThresherK

    May 20, 2020 at 6:16 pm

    @Miss Bianca: Sorry. I guess I misunderstood.

  102. 102.

    Roger Moore

    May 20, 2020 at 6:17 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Do we really want a left wing Lee Atwater or Karl Rove?

    I don’t want those things.  More importantly, I don’t think that a left wing Atwater or Rove would work the same way the right wing ones did.  The Democratic Party is not nearly as unified as the Republicans, in large part because we’re defined more by being the kinds of people the Republicans hate than by a single, neat set of common interests.  That makes it much harder to motivate the Democratic base with a single message.

  103. 103.

    Gloomyjim

    May 20, 2020 at 6:19 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    Trump likes thieves

     

    While this is true, I do believe his preference is for thieves who steal for him as opposed to from him.

     

    Edited for spelling

  104. 104.

    oatler.

    May 20, 2020 at 6:20 pm

    Has anyone seen the Trumpybear ad? It goes on 3-4 minutes and ends with “God bless America and God bless Trumpybear.”

  105. 105.

    Miss Bianca

    May 20, 2020 at 6:21 pm

    @Thad Phetteplace:

    He does not apologize for being a conservative, but does seem to regret where the winning at all cost philosophy led his party.

    OK, I haven’t seen anything like that from him, but I’d be happy to be proved wrong.

    @Roger Moore:

    You’re not getting any argument from me on that issue. To make my point more specific, I certainly consider Trump a symptom of what’s rotten in the state of Republicanism. But unlike the Performative Left, I don’t consider either Biden or *Democrats* to be equally or inherently corrupt.

  106. 106.

    Amir Khalid

    May 20, 2020 at 6:22 pm

    @rekoob:

    Me, I’d go with Vorstellung für nur einen Zuschauer. (Performance for just one spectator)

    ETA: compound nouns are not always the best, or most easily understood, way to give something a German name.

  107. 107.

    HumboldtBlue

    May 20, 2020 at 6:24 pm

    @Martin:

    Not only that, Martin, THE RESIDENTS OF TULARE COUNTY ARE THE CLIENT, THE SUPES REPRESENT THE CONSTITUENTS, THERE CAN BE NO ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE.

    This wasn’t a personnel issue and though I ain’t a lawyer it seems to me county counsel is blowing serious smoke.

  108. 108.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 20, 2020 at 6:27 pm

    @Yutsano: That sounds rough. BTW how easy would it be to find the tax reports filled by a non-profit?

  109. 109.

    MattF

    May 20, 2020 at 6:28 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: Yeah, but askin’ questions makes you an outside agitator.

  110. 110.

    WaterGirl

    May 20, 2020 at 6:29 pm

    @raven: You’re not actually thinking of doing that, are you?

  111. 111.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    May 20, 2020 at 6:30 pm

    @Frank Wilhoit:

    Einzelhoererauffuehrung — sorry I couldn’t figure out how to do the umlauts

    I tried to say it out loud and sprained my umlaut

  112. 112.

    geg6

    May 20, 2020 at 6:33 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:

    oh, I’m not worried.  I am quite clear on who they are.  And I have no doubt we’ll be back to fighting tooth and nail when this is all over.  And really?  I’m okay with a loyal opposition.  And say what you want, right now they are staying loyal to the best interests of the country.

  113. 113.

    Shana

    May 20, 2020 at 6:33 pm

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: I love how Carville calls him “Blaise Pascal or whatever.”

  114. 114.

    HumboldtBlue

    May 20, 2020 at 6:34 pm

    @MattF:

    On a different note, I actually learned what good government looked like by covering the BoS regularly.

    Politics is one thing, but actual governance at the local level can be fascinating to watch because this is where the rubber meets the road. I remember back in ’11 or so I had a tantrum about the campaign and national Democrats etc. and I checked out of the politics nationally and focused on the people actually governing.

    It was a hell of a lesson. That and my first murder trial.

  115. 115.

    Mai naem mobile

    May 20, 2020 at 6:35 pm

    @MomSense: I heard somebody say treat this situation like a super sick person with multiple medical issues who is bleeding heavily. Do whatever it takes to stop the bleeding first. The Never Trumpers are helping you stop the bleeding right now. Then you can move on.

  116. 116.

    Amir Khalid

    May 20, 2020 at 6:35 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Einzelhöreraufführung. In visual mode, hit the Special Character icon (the second one from the right). A menu of special characters will appear, and you can select the umlauted letter you want.

  117. 117.

    Ruckus

    May 20, 2020 at 6:38 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    It is probably to provoke shitforbrains in such a way as to make some of his supporters change their minds or at least stay home on election day. Like the project itself, the audience is not necessarily who we might think it is.

  118. 118.

    HumboldtBlue

    May 20, 2020 at 6:42 pm

    If nothing else the Lincoln Project os forcing McConnell to spend a lot of money in states like Arizona.

  119. 119.

    Bill Arnold

    May 20, 2020 at 6:43 pm

    Open thread, so this. TL;DR: please consider not being Vitamin D deficient.
    It’s a preprint, but quite interesting and maybe rather important if it’s a good analysis. N=212, but results are(look) statistically significant. I will note the obvious “dark skinned African-(recent-)ancestry populations of the US and UK have median lower-Vitamin-D levels and this might be part of why that cohort (or rather, some genetic subset of it) has a higher rate of severe COVID-19 cases” hypothesis. Might be similar for older people, who also have low Vitamin D levels. (It’s been circulating in paper comment threads but scientists are mostly shy about being called racist; anyone who has visibility in relevant social media spaces please consider this. There are one or two other suggestive COVID-19 studies (plus some for other respiratory infections)  but this is the first COVID-19 study that I’ve seen that looks at vitamin D levels.)
    Also Spain and Italy populations are know to have lowish Vitamin D levels.
    Also, please think seriously about being sure that you have adequate Vitamin D levels. It appears that it might be important for COVID-19. (A highish daily dose for a week then backing off would work for most, probably.)
    Vitamin D Supplementation Could Possibly Improve Clinical Outcomes of Patients Infected with Coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) (9 Apr 2020 Last revised: 7 May 2020, (Mark Alipio, Davao Doctors College; University of Southeastern Philippines)
    (Alt link for full pdf without creating a free ssrn account)
    See table 1 in the full pdf. Basically, Vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency are strongly correllated with ordinary/severe/critical COVID-19 cases, and a decent level of vitamin D is strongly correlated with mild COVID-19 cases. Where classifications are:

    >serum 25(OH)Dlevel: (1) normal -25(OH)D of >30 ng/ml, (2) insufficient-25(OH)D of 21-29ng/ml, and (3) deficient-25(OH)D of < 20 ng/ml. … Using the database of three hospitals in Southern Asian countries, I conducted a retrospective multicentre study of 212 cases with laboratory-confirmed infection of SARS-CoV-2. Data pertaining to clinical features and serum 25(OH)Dlevels were extracted from the medical records. No other patient information was provided to ensure confidentiality. I classified the cases as follows: (1) mild–mild clinical features without pneumonia diagnosis, (2) ordinary –confirmed pneumonia in chest computer tomography with fever and other respiratory symptoms, (3) severe –hypoxia (at most 93% oxygen saturation) and respiratory distressor abnormal blood gas analysis results (PaCO2>50 mm Hg or PaO2< 0mm Hg), and (4) critical –respiratory failure requiring intensive case monitoring.
    …
    A total of 55 (25.9%) cases had normal Vitamin D status, majority of which (85.5%) were identified mild. A total of 80 (37.7%) cases had insufficient Vitamin D status, majority of which (43.8%) were ordinary. Cases identified as Vitamin D-deficient were 77 (36.3%), majority of which were severe(40.3%). Vitamin D status is significantly associated with clinical outcomes (p<0.001).

  120. 120.

    rekoob

    May 20, 2020 at 6:46 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Indeed, yours is a better idea. I’m thinking, however, that people enjoy the compound nouns because of their length and sometimes precise descriptions (Kummerspeck, Backpfifengesicht, Dolchstosslegende).

    Sorry I misspelled your nym.

    Hochachtungsvoll!

  121. 121.

    HumboldtBlue

    May 20, 2020 at 6:46 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    What’s the German for The Reds are back at Melwood!

  122. 122.

    apocalipstick

    May 20, 2020 at 6:48 pm

    @Chris Sherbak: He thinks it’s his money. One of the memorable scenes of Michael Lewis’s The Fifth Risk is Trump screaming that the inauguration is spending “my fucking money!”

  123. 123.

    Elizabelle

    May 20, 2020 at 6:51 pm

    @Amir Khalid:   Lord, that is difficult to pronounce.  This Google translate woman sounds kinda drunk …

  124. 124.

    Bill Arnold

    May 20, 2020 at 6:51 pm

    Nope, it’s designed to get Trump to turn on the grifting scumbags who have their feedstraws in his wallet, and lordy, they are legion.

    I admire this, a lot. Twitterized yet?

  125. 125.

    Elizabelle

    May 20, 2020 at 6:53 pm

    @apocalipstick:   Well then, Trump should have cheered right up that so few Americans actually wanted to attend the “his money” Inauguration.  Should have saved him some bucks.

    Which reminds, has anyone ever traced all the money for that one?  Didn’t a lot of the funds “develop legs,”, as it were?

  126. 126.

    CindyH

    May 20, 2020 at 6:55 pm

    @WaterGirl: Not speaking for Raven, but swimming is supposedly safe – just depends on whether you can social distance getting to/from the lap lanes.

    Pools properly maintained and treated with chlorine and bromine should be effective at killing the virus in the water, experts say.

  127. 127.

    Mandalay

    May 20, 2020 at 6:57 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:

    All of these Never Trumper scumbags will try to bite Biden’s face off come November 4, 2020. Fuck them and their monster factory that finally made a monster after 40+ years of trying.

    This x 1000.

    Wilson is a dirtbag. He was busted deleting his old anti-Biden tweets the other day. George Conway sleeps with the person who has done more lying for Trump than anyone else. Nicole Wallace was still screaming her support for waterboarding in 2014. Steve “man of principle” Schmidt tried to tell us Sarah Palin was qualified to be VP.

    They are all opportunistic and dishonest pieces of shit. It’s not like the nation of short of folks who despise Trump, so we hardly need them. Why are we even giving these vile grifters the time of day?

  128. 128.

    WaterGirl

    May 20, 2020 at 6:58 pm

    @CindyH: My pool uses some sort of salt stuff rather than the chlorine that leaves the residue on your skin

    edit: but there’s no talk of opening yet.  They do have a GoFundMe trying to raise 40k to support their off-season costs that will be an issue if they can’t open this year.

  129. 129.

    Another Scott

    May 20, 2020 at 6:59 pm

    @Patricia Kayden: There’s a lot of doom and gloom about the federal courts and Moscow Mitch ramming judges through, but the reporting really needs to be put in context.

    Brookings:

    […]

    Trump frames judicial confirmations as a contest with his predecessors, consistent with his “presidency-as-reality-television” approach. His two metrics are, first, number of judges appointed. Of recent presidents, at this point he trails only Jimmy Carter. The other metric is the percentage they represent of all statutory judgeships. On that measure, despite his claim that “percentagewise, I blow everybody away except one person . . . George Washington,” he falls in the middle of the pack. As suggested below, he will probably be in the same comparative position on Inauguration Day 2021.

    As a preliminary aside, both metrics depend on factors largely beyond presidential control, namely the availability of vacancies and a compliant Senate. Carter benefitted from a 1978 law creating 152 additional vacancies and substantial Senate majorities at a time that confirmations were routine. Trump inherited 103 vacancies (more than any recent predecessor but President Clinton’s 109) thanks largely to McConnell’s effectively shutting down confirmations in 2015-16 under President Obama. Trump’s Senate majority is slim but exceedingly compliant.

    Table 1 shows Trump’s comparative standing on May 4, ranked by number of appointments.

    […]

    tl;dr – Donnie has appointed roughly 22% of federal judges to date – similar to recent presidents. It’s not clear that he’ll get a lot more.

    But, I agree, Biden and his team need to get as many sensible judges on the bench as they can – and since there are a lot of old Democratic judges looking forward to senior status under a Democratic president, I expect they’ll be able to do just that.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  130. 130.

    rikyrah

    May 20, 2020 at 7:05 pm

    In 2012, many folks made the supposition that folks were around Willard just for the money. They had no love for him, but they knew that his checks would clear.

    It was never on this level. It was never this obvious.

    But, this is who Dolt45 attracts.  This is who they are.

  131. 131.

    HumboldtBlue

    May 20, 2020 at 7:13 pm

    @rikyrah:

    HAHAHAHAHA!

  132. 132.

    debbie

    May 20, 2020 at 7:15 pm

    As much as I love all this boring in on the incompetence and grifting, I wish the Lincoln Project and the Biden campaign would also focus on Trump’s cruelty as a man and as a president.

  133. 133.

    danielx

    May 20, 2020 at 7:17 pm

    @Bill Arnold: 

    I drink your milkshake!

  134. 134.

    debbie

    May 20, 2020 at 7:18 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    There’s research showing that fecal matter can transmit COVID-19. Is this really something that chlorine can eradicate?

  135. 135.

    Omnes Omnibus

    May 20, 2020 at 7:23 pm

    @debbie: Is your vote up for grabs?  Are you unlikely to vote?  I am guessing you are a hard no on both questions.  So am I.  Ads aren’t aimed at us.  What’s more, they shouldn’t be.  We are as irrelevant to the ad producers as the hardcore Trumpies.

  136. 136.

    Gvg

    May 20, 2020 at 7:24 pm

    @cain: project Lincoln they call themselves. I think they intend to survive and “take their party back”. Of course it is their idea of the party not ours or Lincoln. But they are really at war with the rest of the GOP. They were OK with competent racists though.

    i guess I would rather the opposition party wasn’t just morons and if they weren’t racist, I guess they’d be Democrats.

  137. 137.

    CindyH

    May 20, 2020 at 7:25 pm

    @debbie: what I’ve read is that they’ve detected it in fecal matter but haven’t been able to determine if it is transmitted via fecal matter.

  138. 138.

    Another Scott

    May 20, 2020 at 7:27 pm

    @senyordave:

    Simmer down, people.

    This is also a partial win for the House, which had requested precisely that deadline so that DOJ may appeal formally. And so that the Supreme Court may act on it by June 25. https://t.co/ponUhYP6SU

    — Cristian Farias (@cristianafarias) May 20, 2020

    True? Dunno, but maybe!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  139. 139.

    The Moar You Know

    May 20, 2020 at 7:29 pm

    I wish the Lincoln Project and the Biden campaign would also focus on Trump’s cruelty as a man and as a president.

    @debbie:  The Lincoln Project, I get.  It’s not for Dems, hell, it’s not for voters.  Literally an audience of one, as they themselves have said.  It’s to get under President Shitforbrains’ skin and get him to do stupid shit in public by insulting him personally.  It has been very effective.  I’m not sold on the latest ad; I’m very, very sold on the idea.

    Focusing on his cruelty does the exact opposite.  That’s a reward for Trump.  He is IN LOVE with the idea that he is a cruel and hard man.  And it’s also a payoff for his voters; they wanted a hard, cruel man, who would grind their enemies, put migrant kids in cages, and deal out the suffering to those goddamn self-righteous libtards.  And Trump was as close to that ideal as they were ever going to get.

    I’m not sure what focusing on his meanness actually would accomplish.  His voters love it and everyone who isn’t one of his voters is numb with outrage fatigue.  I mean, if there’s an American out there who doesn’t get that he’s a vicious fucker, ads aren’t going to lead that person to the light, because they’re literally in a coma.

  140. 140.

    Quiltingfool

    May 20, 2020 at 7:29 pm

    @Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA):   This.  My mother went in a nursing home March 12, the day Kansas City Mo shut down visitors from nursing homes.  My father and I didn’t know that we couldn’t be with her until the moment the ambulance workers rolled her in.  She died exactly one week later and my father was unable to be with her when she died.  He is consumed with guilt over putting her there, even though she was failing, and he really couldn’t provide the medical care she needed at home.  I am so sad that we couldn’t be with my mother the week she was in the home.

    I didn’t vote for Trump the first go round, and have hated him with the heat of a thousand suns since pretty much the beginning of his term, but now…a million suns.  I blame him unequivocally for the mishandling of the pandemic.  If that shithead had just stepped back and let the professional handle this – in January – maybe, just maybe, there would have been protocols in place by March to at least allow my father to be with her.  I don’t care if my opinion on this is irrational.  I want the worst possible fate to happen to him, and I know I should be better than this, but no.

  141. 141.

    Elizabelle

    May 20, 2020 at 7:35 pm

    @Quiltingfool:   Again, so sorry for your loss.  I hope your father realizes he did the absolute best he could.

    Secondly, I think a lot of families have experienced the tragedy of losing a loved one, really unnecessarily.  It is a sin that our healthcare workers do not have PPE and that Trump has set the states against each other to obtain medical supplies, while the feds are intervening to snag them back.

    Trump is going to lose a lot of support, including from those who drank the Kool Aid at the outset.

    Again, so sorry about your mom.

  142. 142.

    FelonyGovt

    May 20, 2020 at 7:37 pm

    @Quiltingfool: That’s awful. I’m so sorry for your and your father’s loss.

  143. 143.

    debbie

    May 20, 2020 at 7:37 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I just think it has to be loudly pointed out. Cruelty should be a disqualifying factor for a president.

  144. 144.

    debbie

    May 20, 2020 at 7:39 pm

    @CindyH:

    Okay, but don’t you think they ought to confirm that before opening up public pools?

  145. 145.

    senyordave

    May 20, 2020 at 7:40 pm

    @Quiltingfool: I don’t care if my opinion on this is irrational.

    I can only speak for myself, but I see your reaction as completely rational.  Trump not only has blood on his hands, but he is responsible for so much heartbreak and sorrow that DID NOT HAVE TO HAPPEN!  As you said, if he had just stood back and appointed some competent professionals to handle this so much would have been avoided.  If karma is real, and I believe it is, Trump is in for a real bad time some time in the not-too-distant future.  He could only pray that he’ll be pushing a boulder up a hill for eternity – his punishment will be far worse.

  146. 146.

    prostratedragon

    May 20, 2020 at 7:42 pm

    @Chris Sherbak:
    (Maybe it’s already been said, but) He thinks it’s all his money.

  147. 147.

    debbie

    May 20, 2020 at 7:44 pm

    @Mary G:

    Wow. Here’s whose ad it is. I believe the name will ring a bell…

  148. 148.

    Elizabelle

    May 20, 2020 at 7:50 pm

    @Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA):   This is so terrible, but a lot of friends and I have been talking about how we are relieved that our parents and loved elders are gone and not in COVID’s way.

    It would be sheer terror to have a loved one in a care center now.  And can understand the guilt, although often the loved one needs more care than can be obtained at home.

  149. 149.

    Bill Arnold

    May 20, 2020 at 7:51 pm

    @debbie:

    There’s research showing that fecal matter can transmit COVID-19

    There’s research that fecal matter can contain viable SARS-CoV-2. Transmission has yet to be documented (e.g. publicly in a case study). As far as I know.

  150. 150.

    Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)

    May 20, 2020 at 7:58 pm

    @Elizabelle: Same here.  I never dreamed in January that only weeks later I’d be glad my mother died when she did.

  151. 151.

    WaterGirl

    May 20, 2020 at 8:00 pm

    @debbie: Good question.

  152. 152.

    Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)

    May 20, 2020 at 8:01 pm

    @Quiltingfool: I’m so sorry about your mother.

  153. 153.

    WaterGirl

    May 20, 2020 at 8:02 pm

    @Quiltingfool: I am so sorry.

  154. 154.

    debbie

    May 20, 2020 at 8:02 pm

    @Bill Arnold:

    They’re planning on opening pools around here next week. Is it worth the risk even if that can’t be confirmed? I’m thinking it isn’t.

  155. 155.

    WaterGirl

    May 20, 2020 at 8:04 pm

    @debbie: The otherwise intelligent and typically caring people in my extended family appear not to be bothered by the cruelty at all, or at least not bothered enough to not vote for him again.

    I agree with you that cruelty should be disqualifying, but anyone who is willing to see the cruelty, and truly cares about it, already knows he’s a piece of shit and would never vote for him again.

    There are none so blind as those who will not see.

  156. 156.

    WaterGirl

    May 20, 2020 at 8:07 pm

    @debbie: This is what I come back to every time.  I see people even on BJ doing stuff just because the place has opened up again.

    My dentist’s office called me to reschedule my cleaning that was cancelled in April, and I asked for an appointment the first week in July.

    I am clearly on the more cautious end of the spectrum, but just because someone opens a pool does not mean i am going to swim in it this year.

  157. 157.

    Barbara

    May 20, 2020 at 8:08 pm

    @Mary G: Wow. I have chills. And then tears. I am just so angry. I have been immersing myself in binge reading mysteries because I can’t be that angry all the time.

  158. 158.

    WaterGirl

    May 20, 2020 at 8:10 pm

    @debbie: That ad has me in tears.

    edit: I see I am not the only one.

  159. 159.

    debbie

    May 20, 2020 at 8:12 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    I love that it focused on Parscale. What a jerk.

  160. 160.

    cain

    May 20, 2020 at 8:16 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    @cain: Do we really want a left wing Lee Atwater or Karl Rove?  I would prefer not to go down that road.   I think we can and should do better.

    Is that even possible without going extreme left? We just don’t have that kind of character as a group – there are just too many players in this tent. We would fundamentally reject that kind of messaging in any case.

    Given how many times we’ve been punked we have not yet succumbed to doing it. We’ll be fine. We have an extraordinary adversary that is going to take a little more than the usual to beat. Otherwise.. well we’ll keep heading downward till something else happens.

  161. 161.

    sdhays

    May 20, 2020 at 8:22 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: At this point, I think the Republican Senate Majority is done. Barring some miracle (or republic-ending shenanigans), they are going to lose Arizona, Colorado, Maine, and North Carolina. I doubt we hold the Alabama seat, but assuming Biden wins (because while I don’t think it’s “in the bag”, I also think it’s much more likely), that’s enough to flip the Senate.

    But if the bottom falls out (and the way things are going, it’s not unreasonable to consider), the Republicans are in danger in South Carolina, Texas, Kansas, 2 seats in Georgia, Iowa, and Montana. Even Kentucky’s possible when Beshear is getting high approval ratings and McConnell is clamoring for his constituents to be forced to eat shit.

  162. 162.

    Mohagan

    May 20, 2020 at 8:30 pm

    @geg6: I know, I have to keep reminding myself he is a real R, who will most likely go back to trashing Dems when Trump is finally gone. But I loved his book Everything Trump Touches Dies, and he is great on MSNBC and his Twitter feed.

  163. 163.

    Barbara

    May 20, 2020 at 8:32 pm

    @Quiltingfool: I remember your posts about your mother from a couple months ago. I am so sorry for your loss. Losing someone you love knowing that they were alone adds a dimension of guilt to grief that is hard to bear.

    You don’t have to be better. We are essentially powerless to fight against Trump. If anger and ill will help you center your grief, go for it. You don’t owe him a thing and nothing you will ever do during the span of your life on earth could possibly match the harm he is inflicting on us on a daily basis solely for the gratification of his own ego.

    I have said it before: I couldn’t imagine a more apt embodiment of purgatory, to be in such desperate need of coming together to advance the common good, only to find ourselves being ruled by this dull witted narcissist, the stooges who try to curry his favor and his even more dull witted relatives.

  164. 164.

    Chris T.

    May 20, 2020 at 8:35 pm

    @WaterGirl: I was reading up on saltwater vs freshwater pools recently.

    Saltwater pools don’t feel (or taste) salty as the salt level is only about 3,000 ppm (vs about 35,000 ppm for ocean saltwater). But that’s enough to split the sodium and chlorine with an electrolyzer, and then those kill off bad stuff the way chlorine in a freshwater pool would, but with lower overall levels of chlorine.

    It’s an interesting question as to whether viral load might “last longer” in a saltwater pool (with lower chlorination on average) than in a freshwater one (higher average). Both systems will kill off the virus soon, but the freshwater pool might kill it sooner, for the same reason that the chlorine levels hurt your eyes and damage your swimsuit.

    (Useful / relevant link: https://blog.hayward-pool.com/maintenance/how-to-take-care-of-a-salt-water-pool/)

  165. 165.

    WaterGirl

    May 20, 2020 at 8:42 pm

    @Chris T.: Thank you.  Very interesting to finally see how/why the sal works.  I just do not see that getting in a pool any time soon would be safe.

  166. 166.

    laura

    May 20, 2020 at 8:52 pm

    @Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA): Karen – you touched a nerve. I became conservator for my mother and placed her in a care facility when she was unable to live at home with Dad and we we not capable of providing the level of care she needed and deserved. How fortunate it turned out to be in every possible way. She blossomed in feeling safe even as the dementia grew. She received very tender care from underpaid mostly immigrant workers and a damn good administration and care team. And yet the guilt. I am sorry that you and your Mr. are being forced to contemplate the impact this has in your family’s life. I hope that your husband can understand it’s because you love your mother so much that you have to ensure her needs are met even though it breaks your heart. You do this for them, not to them.

    Regarding the Lincoln Project – who besides me thinks there’s going to be a Stormy Daniels video?  Or a video regarding his health, his weight, his hair, his bed shitting, door locking, stripping his bed sheets habits, his daughter fascination, his long, long friendship with Jeffery Epstein. Michael Cohen’s book. The sheer volume and decades of skeezy behavior could create a lot of content. Let a thousand videos bloom.

     

    @ThresherK: I was there and saw your comment last night – and your prediction came true in what seems like the speed of sound. Just as criminal as predicted in a warning that extortors gonna extort by Stanford Law Professor Pam Karlin during the Impeachment proceedings. Shame on you for your prescience ?? but take an atta boy out of the petty cash box for accuracy and speed.

  167. 167.

    Ruckus

    May 20, 2020 at 9:08 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    shitforbrains will be pissed about it. Because as someone up thread said he’s the one that is supposed to profit off all this. After he gets his premium cut, the rest can fight for the scraps. Also this is about Brad being called the only reason shitforbrains can win. That will cut him right to the wallet. It will take more than one hit but all that really has to be done is to get shitforbrains worked up against his help. All the ass kissers are mostly useless for any human endeavor other than sucking up and so they really are of no use to him. This entire thing is a house of cards. The right wind will blow the entire thing down. That’s what the Lincoln Project is about, creating the right wind that will cause shitforbrains to blow down his own house of cards.

  168. 168.

    Mag

    May 20, 2020 at 9:24 pm

    @debbie: …focus on Trump’s cruelty as a man and as a president.

    Trump’s cruelty is a feature, not a bug. His supporters love that. He hates the same people they do.

  169. 169.

    Ruckus

    May 20, 2020 at 9:28 pm

    @Quiltingfool:

    Sorry about your mom. Sorry it couldn’t be better for your dad. It sounds to me like everyone did everything they can. I know that sounds trite but the reality is like my dad was. He didn’t know who anyone was, he was suffering mentally and then physically as well. He didn’t know any one when he passed and he was unconscious through his last day. It was as peaceful for him as possible even though it was debilitating for us kids. I don’t care how prepared you are, it never goes how you think it should or how you hope it can.

  170. 170.

    J R in WV

    May 20, 2020 at 10:05 pm

    @Quiltingfool:

    So sorry for your family’s loss !! I hope your father comes to see none of this is his fault — he did what needed to be done, what normally anyone would have said should be done.

    But of course now things are not normal — President Trump is poking this nation with a sharp stick, and screwing up by the numbers. So now your dad feels guilty, when he should focus his ire on Trump.

    Take care, love on your father. Best wishes!!

  171. 171.

    dopey-o

    May 20, 2020 at 10:08 pm

    @Thad Phetteplace: when you were in Spring Green WI, did you visit the Frank Lloyd Wright place?

    So effing great, I just laughed out loud at a couple of points. The man had many failings, but no shortage of talent.

    If you go back to Spring Green, pick up Steve Schmidt’s “It Was All a Lie.”

  172. 172.

    Bill Arnold

    May 20, 2020 at 10:18 pm

    @debbie:

    They’re planning on opening pools around here next week. Is it worth the risk even if that can’t be confirmed? I’m thinking it isn’t.

    The main known risk is people exhaling, especially if unmasked. Particularly forcefully, by talking loudly, shouting, singing(, coughing, sneezing). And then breathing in those other-peoples’ exhalations. Outside the risk is lower, but the unmasked, outside, could if nearby be more dangerous than the masked, inside. Which is to say, i’m still working out estimates of risks outside. They seem small… not sure. I was in a local park yesterday, NY with universal masks inside public places, and in the park about 1 out of 10 people were masked. I prefer to believe that most of them were Trump voters.

  173. 173.

    Darkrose

    May 20, 2020 at 10:49 pm

    @The Moar You Know: One of the big lines is “Brad’s a star now.” Trump can’t stand it when anyone around him is treated like a star. That’ll leave a mark.

  174. 174.

    Darkrose

    May 20, 2020 at 10:50 pm

    @Quiltingfool: I’m so sorry.

  175. 175.

    brantl

    May 21, 2020 at 2:24 am

    @Mary G: It’s a shame that she didn’t roll out the whole shopping list of his lies about this. There is a long list

  176. 176.

    brantl

    May 21, 2020 at 4:29 am

    @mrmoshpotato: Rayguns, Bush and Shrub weren’t monsters? What drugs have you been doing? If people had done in their personal lives what these assholes did to the public, they’d be up on wife-beating charges.

  177. 177.

    Anathema Device

    May 21, 2020 at 6:55 pm

    @Mary G: She’s absolutely correct, and I love the dig at his enablers also getting shit on them from his habits.

    But what’s with all the “Pelosi is a drunk” shit posting in the comments? How did that start?

    Man, people suck.

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