? NEW VIDEO
The White House is the Hate House. #VoteOutHate pic.twitter.com/9yIAU4343x
— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) May 31, 2020
Mr. Malamud is a Soviet immigrant…
Occupying force? https://t.co/zu7RL0k0OZ pic.twitter.com/Y2tqgVZquQ
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) June 1, 2020
Always check in with the head office before rolling out the new campaign:
The Kremlin has confirmed Pres Trump and Putin spoke today, per @Reuters
— Jesse Rodriguez (@JesseRodriguez) June 1, 2020
After the Putin-Trump call today, keep thinking of those calls Putin made to Yanukovych and Kuchma, when they were facing protests, advising them to open fire. Not to say Putin triggered Trump’s actions, but we know his attitude to such a situation.
— Ben Judah (@b_judah) June 2, 2020
#BunkerBoy is #PutinsPuppy
The ‘conservatives’ are skeptical!
Senior military officer on Trump statement: "So we're going to tell our soldiers that we're redeploying them from the Middle East to the midwest? What do we think they're going to say, 'yeah, sure, no problem?' Guess again."
— Mark Perry (@markperrydc) June 2, 2020
Even Mr. Megan McArgleBargle:
Truly, Trump's decision to tear gas peaceful protestors so he can stage a 90 second photo-op in which he pretends to know how to hold a book will go down in history as the absolute dumbest moment American politics saw between 6:45 and 7:20 p.m. eastern on June 1, 2020.
— Peter Suderman (@petersuderman) June 2, 2020
PJ
I don’t know what this country is going to look like two weeks from now – I don’t know what it’s going to look like by the weekend. But for the next five months, the Democrats have to wrap Trump’s cowardly, corrupt, moronic, incompetent, treasonous shit around his neck like an anchor and dump his maggot-ridden political carcass into the ocean like a jumbo-sized Bin Laden.
ETA: And tie every one of his Republican supporters to that chain, so they go down with him.
SFAW
WTF does Suderman’s tweet even mean? Is he being oh-so-kewl and ironic by saying the it was the dumbest political moment in that specific 35-minute period? To me, it reads like he’s trying to pwn the libtard snowflakes who got their knickers in a twist over the Coward-in-Chief’s antics. If that’s not it, then he should learn how to construct a proper, unambiguous English sentence.
TS (the original)
One tweet in response to the Putin tweet says it all
NotMax
Putin to Dolt 45:
“No! By Lenin’s ghost, don’t take off your shirt for the photographers!”
//
HumboldtBlue
This is not good and this is all on the motherfucking GOP and their spineless indifference to the harm they are abetting.
We could have this everywhere across the country as we see cop after cop recognize they are part of the community and stand with protestors.
Instead we get a fucking Klan takeover.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
SFAW
@TS (the original):
Yes, you moron. Have you not been paying attention for the last four years?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Adam L Silverman
@TS (the original): And those are the calls with Putin we know about because they’re officially scheduled. It doesn’t include the ones he makes from his unsecured cell phone from the residence late at night or early in the morning.
PJ
I think “accelerationism” is an incredibly stupid and cruel idea, from the standpoint of living, breathing human beings whose lives will be made much more difficult by it, or even snuffed out by it, but Trump has accelerated the Republican ideal like no one before, and brought us to an inflection point that I think would have taken us much longer to reach if, say, Mitt Romney, or even, Gods Help Us, Ted Cruz had become President in January 2017. The depravity cannot be hidden. I am not entirely confident that the right side will prevail in November, but you can’t say no one had any idea what they were voting for. (This was true in 2016 as well, but the media did their best to obscure Trump’s crimes and faults and to fabricate those of Clinton – that hasn’t worked so far, despite their best efforts, against Biden.)
TS (the original)
@SFAW:
It sure didn’t need the ?
Kay
@SFAW:
Agreed. It’s awful. There is nothing I am so sick of like I am sick of this ultra-sophisticated cleverness.
The President and his awful entourage gassed and beat innocent people. It’s appalling and disgusting. It’s not “dumb” and it’s not a “political moment”. This DISTANCE they affect to events is cowardice. They can’t really look at the thing – they’re too scared- so they minimize it.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
TS (the original)
@Adam L Silverman:
From the other side of the world, what is happening is truly unbelievable – except we can see it in real time. I’m posting rarely & reading little because from here it is impossible to understand how a democratic country could reach this stage, with support from so many of its people. It truly seems like Nazi Germany repeating itself.
After 70 years of friendship it seems like the relationship is broken beyond repair – by one person & his sycophant abusive followers.
Kay
It kills me that he was too chickenshit to come out of the bunker alone. He had to bring that collection of oddball, freakish scumbag relatives with him. What goddamn adult does this? Who brings their extended family to cover their fat ass in a crisis they’re supposed to be addressing?
mrmoshpotato
@PJ: All of this traitorous Trump trash should be dumped in the ocean next to Osama.
trollhattan
Anybody know what occurred tonight in Buffalo? Somebody appears to have run cops over with an SUV.
Villago Delenda Est
The military is not obligated to obey illegal orders.
Donald has yet to realize this.
Villago Delenda Est
@PJ: The scum of the Vichy Times are still beating a drum for Tara Reade.
MisterForkbeard
@Villago Delenda Est: If he invokes the insurrection act, he can legally deploy them to put down riots and so on. :/
Miss Bianca
@Kay: What I can’t figure out is how someone so emotionally *needy* – so the opposite of the strong, silent, self-reliant ideal that the conservatives and white supremacists fap themselves over – manages to sell himself to the masses as a tough guy. He sneers and threatens and then crumples like old tissue paper when he’s actually challenged.
I mean, even Ronald Reagan could fucking *act* the part.
Adam L Silverman
@TS (the original): There’s still fight left in the Republic. We’re not done yet.
Kay
A new low for them.
Incidentally, Trump’s storm troopers gassed and beat a cameraman at this event the NYTimes is celebrating. So much for solidarity.
Villago Delenda Est
@MisterForkbeard: Actually, the insurrection act enables states to call for federal military assistance.
You know, when the state militia cannot handle some slave uprising.
Not the other way around.
Once again, he’s getting bad advice from his asscrack legal team.
trollhattan
@TS (the original):
Our next Secretary of State had better bring his/her A-game, because there will be a lot of cleanup. I believe the smart, calm people overseas (and next door) understand this is correctable and that we will need their considerable help in doing just that.
Eric U.
@Villago Delenda Est: I have no faith at all in the military not to obey Trump’s illegal orders. I would love to be surprised about that.
Kay
@Miss Bianca:
Because it was all bullshit. That’s not what they admire. They admire this small, petty coward. They’re not stupid or uneducated. They’re bad. Trump isn’t an intelligence test, he’s a character test. They’re all failing it.
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
Yup. Recalibrating, not necessarily regressing.
Eric S.
Minor Edit
Omnes Omnibus
@Villago Delenda Est: Technically, it can be used by the Feds against the will of the states to enforce the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment (like Ike did with the Little Rock Nine). But for the most part you are right.
Mary G
Thread of very accurate truth bombs against the so-called president:
?
Martin
@trollhattan: Someone apparently didn’t want total domination of their street.
HumboldtBlue
@trollhattan:
Oh no. Oh no.
Cheryl Rofer
This is important. When one unit does it, others will follow.
Mary G
@Mary G:
Kay
@Eric U.:
There’s not a shred of evidence that any of these people have the balls to stand up to him. Mostly they seem to be eagerly following his orders, even escalating! I don’t know- maybe the principled individual appears at some point but it’s not looking good.
SiubhanDuinne
The Episcopal Bishop of Washington is on MSNBC and she is righteously pissed.
Cheryl Rofer
Steve Biegun is a decent human being.
Villago Delenda Est
@Eric U.: You may well be surprised. Donald has been pissing off the officer corps of all the services for months now. That stunt with the captain of the TR and his interference with the military legal system have incentivized them to not do his bidding, if the bidding is illegal.
Miss Bianca
@Cheryl Rofer: Oh, thank you, sweet little baby Jesus. That gives me some hope.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
Dolt 45: “Change the channel. She’s not hot.”
//
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Kay: someone tweeted in response to Nichols’ column on trump’s smallness, neediness, etc, that a wealthy, Harvard-educated friend told her he envied how trump just gets away with everything.
Adam L Silverman
@Cheryl Rofer: I know the TN NG’s Deputy Adjutant General and the Chief of Staff for the Army component. Both are excellent officers.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Me, I’m waiting on the Great Pumpkin. I like my odds better.
best reply:
HumboldtBlue
TBogg:
This reboot of Reservoir Dogs looks pretty shitty.
NotMax
@Jim, Foolish Literalist
MadSlightly Miffed Dog.Jim, Foolish Literalist
@NotMax: The Warrior Monk has taken a vow of silence, except to rag on Obama
danielx
So totally OT, but the best laugh I have had in many weeks…setting the scene, had family over this evening, first visitors in three months – sister in law and three of her kids. Spousal unit loans out to her this stuff I had purchased called Liquid Fence Deer and Rabbit Repellent, which comes with its own sprayer. Not as bad as skunk, but it’s pretty rancid: primary active ingredient is “putrescent whole egg solids”. I got it because we planted a bunch of hostas and the local rabbit population regarded them as a smorgasbord – “ooh, here’s some Minuteman, that’s Planter’s Hat over there?”
Anyway, stuff works like a charm, haven’t seen the toothy little bastards around since I sprayed it and the new plants don’t have any more bites. Anyhow, spousal unit sez, she’s loaned it out and I growl that I want it back soon, it’s gonna rain. About half an hour ago she gets a call from the sister in law. They were driving home, her and her three adult children – niece who is home from California for the first time in five months and her brothers who live locally, with sister in law driving her her Mazda CX-5. They had put the rabbit repellent stuff in the back end and hadn’t secured it – not a mistake i would have made, I can tell you. Anyway, they hear a thump as it falls over rounding a turn. Didn’t think about until they smelled this overpowering and truly disgusting odor coming from the back of the vehicle. So it’s all windows down and the three kids hanging their heads out the window until they get home, which takes about twenty minutes and after which they have to scrub down the whole back end of the vehicle. Note: I’m hearing this on the speakerphone and my stomach is hurting and I have tears coming out of my eyes at this point, as do the spousal and daughter units. She says she has no doubt it will keep the rabbits away from her petunias. I hadn’t the heart to tell her she has a visit to an auto detailer in her future, because that odor will never ever go away without professional assistance.
Mary G
bluehill
@HumboldtBlue: Which Nazi party leader is Barr?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
two priests who were working outside St John’s, passing out water to marchers in La Fayette Park. They weren’t there for trump’s photo-op because they got driven off by the tear gas (facebook post at link)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@bluehill: Göring
LongHairedWeirdo
I think that’s a really good point; much, much better than saying “tear gassing people who have assembled peaceably is a violation of their 1st Amendment rights, yet it was ordered by the man who’s sworn to *UPHOLD* the Constitution.”
I mean, I do grant that you can’t project “dumbest moment” out very far when dealing with Trump; but, come on, a 35 minute window? If you’re going to bust on the man, at least try to disturb some dust motes, if you’re not going to try to leave a mark.
Tazj
@trollhattan: I heard the mayor of the city of Buffalo speak on the local news tonight. One Buffalo police officer and 1 state trooper were seriously injured when they were hit by a car. It looked like the police were following a group of protesters on the east side of Buffalo on Bailey Avenue when there was some confrontation and then you see a car drive through and hit the officers. I think before that the reporter said there was pepper spray and shots fired? Even though the car sped off, I think the mayor said the two people in the car were shot and taken into custody. The mayor said he didn’t know what precipitated the incident.
It’s very sad, this afternoon there were peaceful protests in the city with families holding hands walking down the street. Now at night this happens. Just before it started you see all the police and the military vehicles and gear and police dogs and I wonder if this just made things worse. As if putting overwhelming force there just escalated everything. I don’t know.
I know there are other commenters here from the area, like HRA for one and they might have more information about what happened.
Mary G
Don’t fuck with Episcopalian
Now they’re in trouble. Episcopalian priests who happen to be women mean business.
Amir Khalid
@danielx:
Oh dear. Oh dearohdearohdear. (Giggle.) At least your sister-in-law can be confident it’s going to work.
lige
@danielx: Gruesome! I spent a summer spraying that stuff that on newly planted trees on a Forest Service contract. After a couple of weeks of being covered in it you barely smell it!
LongHairedWeirdo
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: you might enjoy what I consider to be the best Robot Chicken short ever.
I’m sure most people wouldn’t find it quite as hilarious as I do, but one of the key reasons I love it so much is that the problem is solved in canon… for there are darker forces than ever you realized in the Peanuts’ neighborhood.
CarolDuhart2
@MisterForkbeard: Their clueless fucks don’t understand. Nobody cares about Tara Reide. And will never do so again. Compared to Trump this week, it’s nothing. Playtime is over NYT.
Martin
@Tazj: From the two videos I’ve seen, the police and what looks like national guard (some had dogs) charged protesters and then held a position at the intersection. Teargas was fired down the street. One officer is seen throwing something (which is odd) and then an SUV comes charging through.
Police were pretty aggressive. Hard to believe the SUV got away given how many police cars were down the street the SUV headed.
Amir Khalid
@lige:
Yeah, but everyone can smell you.
Redshift
@Kay:
I recall one of the experts on authoritarianism, early in the Trump regime, pointing out that one of the features of authoritarian followers seems to be that they like their leaders to be somewhat ridiculous. (Can’t remember who it was, I’m afraid.)
Tazj
@Martin: Now I’m reading the people in the SUV were shot before by other people and weren’t targeting the police. It’s crazy. The story is changing so quickly.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@danielx:
Reading your comment, the same thing happened to me.
Redshift
@CarolDuhart2: I know FTFNYT earns special ire, but the WaPo today featured an article asking Ryan Grim what he thinks about the Tara Reade story now. Don’t know for sure if it was in the front page, but since it was in the handful of stories in their morning email, I’m guessing it was.
(Hell, no, I didn’t click through.)
NotMax
@Amir Khalid
You know it’s bad when your dog shoots you a “Phew! What the hell did you roll in?” look and promptly bolts from the room.
:)
Martin
@Tazj: Could be. When people in vehicles panic, they often floor it and just aim ‘out’. If you’re driving toward that incident, and the police are running toward protesters who are then fleeing, and teargas and maybe flash-bangs fired, you might find yourself suddenly in the middle of something not knowing where the threat is coming from. A flash-bang going off under your car would scare the fuck out of anyone. Or protesters setting off fireworks, etc.
People panic which leads to unexpected results. Police in riot gear aren’t easy to see at night, and there was a fair bit of teargas on that street that might have affected visibility.
Fair Economist
@trollhattan: The issue is not what the next Secretary of State will do, but whether other countries can trust the US not to elect another nutcase in 4-8 years. What will matter to foreign countries will be electoral/media/judicial reform within the US.
Darkrose
@Eric U.: Keep in mind that much of our military is made up of people of color who are well aware that out of uniform, they could be George Floyd or Brianna Taylor.
Cheryl Rofer
And that’s it for me tonight. We’ll get through this, but it’s going to be ugly for a while.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@LongHairedWeirdo: I do like that, I missed most adult swim in real time, but I like what I’ve seen
Princess Leia
Don’t know if this was posted yet, but it looks like Trump is going to church again- this time to a Catholic shrine owned by the Knights of Columbus. Doubt there will be any statements from the bishops.
“Looking again to secure his Evangelical/white Catholic base, POTUS to make Tuesday AM visit to DC’s National Shrine of St JPII (a @KofC -owned entity) crowd of 100 expected.
bluehill
@Princess Leia:
Someone tweeted that quote: “When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”
gwangung
@LongHairedWeirdo: I like this formulation as well:
““Just remember, Trump is willing to use force and enter a church if it suits his purpose.””
Martin
@Princess Leia: He’s losing the Karens.
Matt McIrvin
Sarah Kendzior now claiming she was right about everything. Did I miss the part where Nancy Pelosi refused to impeach because of her Russian paymasters?
BBA
I see how this ends, a “silent majority” is impressed by Il Douche’s impotent posturing and hands him another razor-thin victory in November.
Fuckemall.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Himmiler, decent administrator but total nut job.
oatler.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/31/donald-trump-coronavirus-pandemic-george-floyd-minneapolis-tweets
bluehill
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: I’m not familiar with them all, but Himmler seems like a good match. Now I’m wondering about Tom Cotton. All I’m coming up with is Neidermeyer from Animal House.
TS (the original)
@Adam L Silverman:
That hope is all we can wish for at the minute.
BigJimSlade
Putin must’ve offered his troops that have been in Ukraine, and Trump thought it sounded great.
Yutsano
Alexandra Petri still remains a national treasure.
Mary G
@Princess Leia: He knows he fucked up going to the Episcopalian church, like the Pale Scot said. Evangelicals and god-botherers like Rod Dreher hate them.
This snippet from the photo op says it all:
Someone out of frame, I assume a reporter, shouts
“Is that your Bible?”
Twitler replies:
It’s A Bible.
He doesn’t own one himself, I guess.
NotMax
@Mary G
I guess because I’m perverse the image of him holding it up immediately brought to mind the resultant scene near the beginning of The War of the Worlds.
Bill Arnold
Ordering a forceful dispersal of a peaceful protest (as it appeared to be on video) using riot-control weapons is a blatant violation of the First Amendment right to peaceable assembly, and therefore a violation by D.J. Trump of his oath of office, yes?
Tear gas into a crowd, where some of the individuals may be infected and start coughing is also blatant public health threat. Statistically, the tear gas used across the country almost certainly caused some SARS-CoV-2 spread, and perhaps one or more superspreader events. Outside, so reduced risk, but still very reasonably arguably criminally negligent.
Amir Khalid
Right now, I am fighting the urge to go on a binge and finish off my last two bags of Cobs Natural Cheddar Cheese Popcorn. I think it would be better to go cuddle with Bianca instead.
Villago Delenda Est
@Mary G: Robert Goulet: (just arrived at airport) “Are you from the casino?”
Bart: “I’m from a casino.”
James E Powell
@Amir Khalid:
I’m trying recall if Bianca is an SO, a pet, or a guitar.
ballerat
@Omnes Omnibus: Then that practically guarantees Trump will use the Insurrection act in that way, for it is the opposite purpose of what Ike used it for. That won’t be lost on his racist base.
Trump doesn’t know history, but Miller does. It’s another racist white grievance to settle scores on.
ballerat
@bluehill: Tom Cotton -> Reinhard Heydrich.
Aleta
Spread fear, then show yourself making protesters run. Appear immovable on single issues to capture R voters fixated on christ, guns or abortion to the exclusion of all else. Use props — like a big plane, a church — and story lines and light yourself like reality TV. Allow the people you depend on to take advantage and cheat.
Ruckus
@TS (the original):
They are in a weird cult after all. It has almost nothing to do with reality, certainly nothing to do with humanity, it lowers them to belong to it, to believe in it. It proves that they don’t care about life, only the appearance of superiority, which they fail at completely. The cult doesn’t care about them in the least, they don’t own enough to grift money from so they get used, like bad toilet paper in the stadium restroom, only because it/they are there and useful at a time when there is nothing else.
cwmoss
@bluehill: think that was either Mencken or Sinclair, but not sure and don’t feel like looking it up right now…
Gvg
@TS (the original): Isn’t it obvious.? This president has so much capacity for dumb actions, that he will do something even worse next and leave this example in the rear view mirror. It’s like he says to himself, “hold my beer” and then again a and again and again…..
NotMax
@<a href=”https://balloon-juice.com/2020/06/01/late-night-horrorshow-open-thread-7/#comment-7725225″>cwmoss</a>
Sinclair Lewis.
Mencken penned numerous memorable bon mots but unfortunately was a real stinker of a person.
Ruckus
@danielx:
Bought a used van once. About a month later it started to, let’s say smell a bit. Like dead fish. Now this van was a commercial truck from the San Francisco peninsula so it is extremely possible that it had been a fish delivery van. Took everything out and cleaned with bleach solution. Smells OK. A month later, not so much. Everything out again, scrub every square inch, again. Never smelled again. Owned it for nine years, the first 2 months though….. BTW did get a good price on it.
Ruckus
@Gvg:
Maybe that’s the problem, he never has anyone hold his beer. Maybe if he did that he wouldn’t fail at everything he’s ever done.
Sm*t Cl*de
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:
condign punishment
I never expected to see George Feckin Will borrowing the language of John Kenneth Galbraith.
https://books.google.co.nz/books/about/The_Anatomy_of_Power.html?id=Ql64AAAAIAAJ
Sm*t Cl*de
@ballerat:
Check your car carefully, Tom.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Anthropoid
yellowdog
@NotMax: That is one of my favorite scenes in American film. I am a bad person.
evodevo
@lige: Yes. This. Having a skunked dog in the house in February is very similar…NOTHING touches that smell. In the case of skunk, it will eventually evaporate, but you might as well throw the clothes away lol. I was a TA at UK at the time, and when I would walk down the hall to my lab classroom, people’s heads would turn…I thought I had gotten rid of the odor…
evodevo
@NotMax: Actually, they can’t attribute it to anyone in particular…Sinclair Lewis voiced similar sentiments, but not an exact quote
Dmbeaster
Hans Frank.
Feathers
@Redshift: It’s because they want a leader that is all theirs, who the “elites” hate. Con men do the same thing, early on they do something so ridiculous that any sane person sees through it. It’s sort of the evil twin of mortgage qualification. Con men (AKA Trump) want to be sure the marks are too stupid to be able to fight back.