Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

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

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

Come on, man.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

You cannot shame the shameless.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

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

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

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

You are here: Home / Books / Afternoon Open Thread

Afternoon Open Thread

by | 191 Comments

This post is in: , ,

Looks like we could use a fresh one. I’m tired and lacking ideas for one, though, so… here, have a funny tweet I saw:

I do actually have a question. I’m in a graphic novel book club, and we’d like to do something zeitgeisty for our next read. Anybody got suggestions? Any genre is fine, it just has to be a narrative work in drawn form. If it were a regular book club, and I could get away with suggesting a doorstop, I’d go with Chuck Wendig’s Wanderers, but it is not.

Reader Interactions

191Comments

  1. 1.

    Bruuuuce

    This is not good. White professor claims to be Black for her activism, gets caught and called out:

    Jessica Krug, who specializes in African-American history [at George Washington University], as well as Africa and Latin America, took to Medium on Thursday with a blog post in which she admitted to masquerading as a woman of Black Caribbean heritage.

    …

    Though Krug contended that “intention never matters more than impact,” she said she’s battled “some unaddressed mental health demons for my entire life” which she feels account for her false identity.

    Regardless of the “severe trauma” she says she suffered growing up, Krug said, “Mental health issues can never, will never, neither explain nor justify, neither condone nor excuse … my false identity was crafted entirely from the fabric of Black lives.

    “I am not a culture vulture,” she said. “I am a culture leech.”

  2. 2.

    trollhattan

    I would like to whine that we are predicted to hit 110 Sunday which, if it happens will be the new all-time high for that month. We already set a new August record, so why not! The only improvement being our current horrid air due to many, many fires.
    But a 3-day weekend will be nice, right?

  4. 4.

    dlwchico

    I’m not sure if it matches your request but Jason Lutes Berlin is a quite a graphic novel.  (also a doorstop)

  5. 5.

    trollhattan

    @Bruuuuce:

    Everybody know the Krugs are German. Funnily enough, his winery became Italian-owned when the Mondavis bought it and then when Peter and Robert began fighting over it, Robert left to open his eponymous winery.

    Thus endeth your wine lesson.

  6. 6.

    Capri

    I enjoy the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy and they are based on graphic novels. I heard that they are quite different from the TV version. Gaiman’s Sandman series is a classic.

  7. 7.

    debbie

    Hey, thanks to that tweet, I know Dick King-Smith remains with us. One of my favorite authors of children’s books!

  9. 9.

    Martin

    Here’s why college football is not going to start up, despite the most recent gambit mostly failing:

    Up to 35 percent of Big Ten athletes who had Covid-19 now show signs of inflammation of the heart muscle, a top Penn State doctor says, reigniting the debate over the safety of playing sports during the pandemic.

    Wayne Sebastianelli, Penn State’s director of athletic medicine, revealed that 30 to 35 percent of the cardiac MRI scans conducted on Big Ten athletes who had contracted Covid-19 appeared to show myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle. The announcement came during the State College Area Board of School Directors meeting.
    “When we looked at our COVID-positive athletes, whether they were symptomatic or not, 30 to roughly 35 percent of their heart muscles are inflamed…and we really just don’t know what to do with it right now It’s still very early in the infection. Some of that has led to the Pac-12 and the Big Ten’s decision to sort of put a hiatus on what’s happening.” Sebastianelli said.

    I know Cal’s athletic director is hell-bent on getting students playing again, but between the players concerned for their own sports careers, the fear of a uni president having to deal with the fallout of a player dying on field, and just the general performance of teams in general dealing with lingering health effects from Covid, I don’t see how this happens.

    Undiagnosed myocarditis is usually the cause when some high school football player dies on the field during practice. Sudden heart failure is a real risk.

  15. 15.

    Mary G

    I know nothing about graphic novels, but Google has brought up a best of the year so far page and this one sounds interesting:

    Best Graphic Novels of 2020 (So Far)

    Barking

    Writer/Artist: Lucy Sullivan
    Publisher: Unbound

    Alix Otto is having a very bad day. Easily her worst so far. A year since they fished her friend’s body from the river she finds herself hounded, haunted and driven to the brink. Caught in a situation she can’t explain, Alix is handed over to the professionals, sectioned and left alone in a labyrinthine system with her delusions running wild…

    Why It’s Cool: Barking is a haunting and ethereal journey of a book, one done with hectic and crowded inks that so often bring a singular and telling mood to what’s happening on the page. This is truly a singular vision from creator Lucy Sullivan, who draws from personal experiences with mental health and crisis to deliver this story of a protagonist being chased by a terrifying and oppressive black dog. This book is hard to describe with words, but is easily among the most memorable graphic novel experiences I’ve taken in all year.
    Buy It Now: Barking via Unbound

    May be too intense, but I’ve felt the breath of the black dog down my back all year.

    And I put this tweet thread of a hilarious family saga in the last thread, but I have since finished reading it and laughing, so I’m recommending it again:

    OMG my brother in law, the gift that never stops giving, was tired of being sent to get rice every day so he decided buy in bulk, talked to the shop about it, wires got crossed, now there is a literal TRUCK FILLED WITH RICE outside the house and my sister is losing her shit lmfao— Shiv Ramdas (@nameshiv) September 3, 2020

    Maybe it cracks me up so much because my housemate was obsessed with finding rice during the beginning of the lockdown in March and we have 75+ pounds in the house now.

  17. 17.

    Captain Sunshine

    Midnight Nation, by J. Michael Straczynski.

    Major theme – when people in America “fall through the cracks,” where do they go?

     

    It was a 12-issue mini-series, now collected and – last I checked – still in print.

  19. 19.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    I’d have to recommend DC: The New Frontier. It has absolutely gorgeous artwork and it’s a cool miniseries that bridges the Golden Age of comics with the Silver Age

  21. 21.

    Falling Diphthong

    The Sandwalk Adventures by Jay Hosler. Evolutionary theory as explained in contrast with Darwin’s eyebrow mites’ cosmology.

    I’m not sure if it’s zeitgist, but it’s how I learned eyebrow mites don’t poop which seems very 2020.

  32. 32.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Bruuuuce: Not good that she has been pretending to be something she’s not but as a Black woman, I have so many more pressing issues that I’ll give her a pass now that she has confessed and appears to be acknowledging her problematic conduct.  I felt the same about the Rachel Dolezal situation.

  34. 34.

    Miss Bianca

    @Mary G: I just read that and you’re right, that is fucking hilarious. Who is Shiv Ramdas? Now I guess I have to find some of his other writings.

  38. 38.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    Are you looking for online graphic novels? this is recent (& still unfinished), free, gorgeous, weird & very Chinese:

    https://mangadex.org/title/45628/heaven-official-s-blessing

    if you’re looking for printed books, this should link to a goodreads review of Orion, another example of Buddhist mythological figures duking it out, this time from the Japanese artist Masamune Shirow, more famous for ghost in the shell: :https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1022985.Orion

  42. 42.

    Laura

    Apropos zeitgeistvoll reading, Bishakh Som has created a graphic novel called Apsara English that’s gorgeously illustrated and thematically playful. Another timely book is a graphic novel Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe.

  47. 47.

    lamh36

    @kylegriffin1

    Breaking via The Atlantic: Trump canceled a visit to a U.S. military cemetery in France in 2018 because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain and because he didn’t believe it important to honor American war dead, according to four people.

    In a conversation with senior staff members about the scheduled visit, Trump said, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” In a separate convo, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed.

    https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1301638624061132808?s=20

     

    But this orange menace and his Republican enablers “love the troops” so much…disgusting bastards…SMH

  52. 52.

    Mary G

    I haven’t got a subscription, so I can’t read it, but evidently the Atlantic has a big piece up about how disrespectful of the military Twitler is:

    .@JeffreyGoldberg: After @SenJohnMcCain died, @realDonaldTrump said, "We’re not going to support that loser’s funeral.” He became furious when he saw flags lowered to half-staff. “What the fuck are we doing that for? Guy was a fucking loser” https://t.co/ZvUM2EFcGK— Evan Smith (@evanasmith) September 3, 2020

    And an excerpt about his going to Arlington with John Kelly when he was chief of staff and standing at Kelly’s son’s grave there said “I don’t get it. What was in it for him?”

    This is the sort of thing which should get someone punched in the face. https://t.co/ya9aRuKzwd pic.twitter.com/DhxWrAPmcx— Kyle Baxter (@kbaxter) September 3, 2020

    What a disgrace he is.

  56. 56.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    @Major Major Major Major: if you’re dead set against Marvel then so be it, but, frankly, IMHO Jim Starlin’s Infinity Gauntlet and Rebirth of Thanos are actually amazing. Very different from the movies because they are about death, which of course cannot ever really be the theme of a Disney movie.

  57. 57.

    Elizabelle

    @Patricia Kayden:   How bizarre.  A 90-day appointment (!), to supersede the career official.

    From the WaPost article:

    The rationale behind the temporary appointment, which is for 90 days, remains unclear. The office was being run by another acting inspector general, Diana Shaw, who has experience conducting investigative oversight but also worked closely with the ousted inspector general Steve Linick, whom Pompeo has called a “bad actor.”

    Some State Department officials expressed concern that the appointment would create more disruption at an office in need of stable leadership.

    “It’s not possible to learn a new job like this in 90 days, so what’s the point of making this temporary appointment when you have a career person in the job now,” said a senior State Department official, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.

    …. [Diana] Shaw took over as acting inspector general last month following the unexpected departure of Stephen Akard after three months on the job. Akard was brought in to replace Linick, who had been investigating allegations that Pompeo and his wife, Susan, had improperly used State Department resources. Pompeo has denied those allegations.

    Linick was also examining several other issues, including Pompeo’s decision to expedite arms sales to Saudi Arabia by declaring a national security emergency that defied the objections of Congress.

    Trump and Pompeo are beyond corrupt.  They are destroying our institutions. I hope they both go down, hard. Never to be in a position of leadership, again.

  58. 58.

    trollhattan

    @Patricia Kayden:

    It’s like he has an IG vending machine–the kind with metal spirals that bring your bag of chips forward and drops it to the bottom slot for removal after purchase.

    “Bill, get me G-8. I’ll pay you back next week.”

  59. 59.

    gwangung

    Not sure if this catches the zeitgeist, but Marjorie Liu’s Monstress is a mashup of steampunk, fantasy and Lovecraftian horror.

    Kurt Busiek’s Astro City is a deconstruction with celebration of Silver Age comics, which is sort of an antipode to today’s scene.

  60. 60.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers’

    The president has repeatedly disparaged the intelligence of service members, and asked that wounded veterans be kept out of military parades, multiple sources tell The Atlantic.
    ***
    (link)

    When President Donald Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018, he blamed rain for the last-minute decision, saying that “the helicopter couldn’t fly” and that the Secret Service wouldn’t drive him there. Neither claim was true.

    Trump rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day.

    In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed.

    Belleau Wood is a consequential battle in American history, and the ground on which it was fought is venerated by the Marine Corps. America and its allies stopped the German advance toward Paris there in the spring of 1918. But Trump, on that same trip, asked aides, “Who were the good guys in this war?” He also said that he didn’t understand why the United States would intervene on the side of the Allies.

     

    What’s more disgusting is how Marines John Kelly and Jim Mattis didn’t immediately resign and go public.

  62. 62.

    Benw

    I’ve been reading Image’s Paper Girls and its pretty good.

    If you want timely, there’s always Maus.

    I really liked Are You My Mother?

  63. 63.

    Mary G

    @Major Major Major Major: Can you release my comment in moderation for too many links about the Atlantic article on Twitler and the military that just dropped from the Atlantic? I shouldn’t have put in two tweets, but I couldn’t choose between them.

  69. 69.

    Jacel

    I’d suggest Dave McKean’s “Cages”, parts of which might resonate with being pandemic shut-ins.

    That classic came to mind again when recently reading “Interiorae” by Gabriella Giandelli (translated into English by the late Kim Thompson). Another graphic novel where much takes place within one building.

  71. 71.

    lamh36

    If this don’t make the GWB to come out for Biden (indirectly of course, Laura, the girls, etc)…then nothing else will

    @kylegriffin1 · 1m “On at least two occasions since becoming president, according to three sources with direct knowledge of his views, Trump referred to former President George H. W. Bush as a ‘loser’ for being shot down by the Japanese as a Navy pilot in World War II.” https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1301643678147137536?s=20

  74. 74.

    Martin

    @Major Major Major Major: No, it is garbage food and society needs to understand that. The only thing they retained from authentic mexican cuisine is its ability to give Americans the shits.

    They need to be burned to the ground and replaced with decent mexican food.

  80. 80.

    Badgetoon

    For a graphic novel I’d suggest Perramus by Breccia and Sasturain, graphically it’s probably top ten in the world, storywise I’m finding it hard to read because I did El Salvador solidarity in the late 80s-early 90s and it feels a little to much like that and today combined in a surreal way, I’m literally scared to read it.

  81. 81.

    Brooklyn Dodger

    Regarding your graphic novel bookclub…Parable of the Sower and Kindred by Octavia Butler have both been adapted to graphic novels. Just got Parable, in gorgeous hardcover. Now I see my local bookstore has Kindred too – yay! Our club read its first graphic novel a few months ago – Sabrina, by Nick Drnaso. This book is heart-breakingly spare in its language and visuals. Recall we had a great meeting discussing the story’s (and our) emotions.

    https://www.elliottbaybook.com/search/site/octavia%20butler%20graphic%20novel

  82. 82.

    OldDave

    @Croaker: Argghhhh..  Loved Samurai Cat.  I believe there were at least two books published.  I lost both of them in a plumbing induced flood.

  84. 84.

    MomSense

    I just found out one of our neighborhood garden members died unexpectedly last night.  I can’t believe it.

  85. 85.

    Leto

    @lamh36: I continue to make this vow: I will shit on his grave. There’s not enough security in the world to stop this from happening.

  87. 87.

    Elizabelle

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:

    Four sources, at least, for that Atlantic article.  Author is Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic’s editor. The knives are out, and they’re trying to drive down the military vote.  Good.

    Trump remained fixated on McCain, one of the few prominent Republicans to continue criticizing him after he won the nomination. When McCain died, in August 2018, Trump told his senior staff, according to three sources with direct knowledge of this event, “We’re not going to support that loser’s funeral,” and he became furious, according to witnesses, when he saw flags lowered to half-staff. “What the fuck are we doing that for? Guy was a fucking loser,” the president told aides. Trump was not invited to McCain’s funeral. (These sources, and others quoted in this article, spoke on condition of anonymity.)

    …..   Trump’s understanding of heroism has not evolved since he became president. According to sources with knowledge of the president’s views, he seems to genuinely not understand why Americans treat former prisoners of war with respect. Nor does he understand why pilots who are shot down in combat are honored by the military.  [And then the story of Trump calling GHW Bush a “loser.”]

    ….  On Memorial Day 2017, Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery, a short drive from the White House. He was accompanied on this visit by John Kelly, who was then the secretary of homeland security, and who would, a short time later, be named the White House chief of staff. The two men were set to visit Section 60, the 14-acre area of the cemetery that is the burial ground for those killed in America’s most recent wars. Kelly’s son Robert is buried in Section 60. A first lieutenant in the Marine Corps, Robert Kelly was killed in 2010 in Afghanistan. He was 29. Trump was meant, on this visit, to join John Kelly in paying respects at his son’s grave, and to comfort the families of other fallen service members. But according to sources with knowledge of this visit, Trump, while standing by Robert Kelly’s grave, turned directly to his father and said, “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?” Kelly (who declined to comment for this story) initially believed, people close to him said, that Trump was making a ham-handed reference to the selflessness of America’s all-volunteer force. But later he came to realize that Trump simply does not understand non-transactional life choices.

    “He can’t fathom the idea of doing something for someone other than himself,” one of Kelly’s friends, a retired four-star general, told me. “He just thinks that anyone who does anything when there’s no direct personal gain to be had is a sucker. There’s no money in serving the nation.”

    … [Goldberg asked some “general officers” for comments on Trump’s behavior, and got some very tactful responses that are wholly insufficient — “frustration” and Trump’s not understanding the President’s use of the military.]

    Another explanation is more quotidian, and aligns with a broader understanding of Trump’s material-focused worldview. The president believes that nothing is worth doing without the promise of monetary payback, and that talented people who don’t pursue riches are “losers.” (According to eyewitnesses, after a White House briefing given by the then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joe Dunford, Trump turned to aides and said, “That guy is smart. Why did he join the military?”)

    Again:  “That guy is smart.  Why did he join the military?”  Louder!

  88. 88.

    Baud

     King Maha Vajiralongkorn of Thailand is welcoming his consort back into the royal household, a surprise move that comes as the country is in the throes of an unprecedented protest movement calling for reforms to both government and the monarchy.

     

    The Thai Royal Household said in an official notice that all titles, military ranks and decorations were returned to Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi after she was found “untainted,” implying that she was innocent of previous accusations.

     

    She was accused nearly a year ago of trying to usurp power and prestige from the queen. Sineenat, 35, had previously attempted to obstruct the King’s wife, Queen Suthida Vajiralongkorn Na Ayudhya from being crowned, and had asked to be appointed to the role instead, a royal notice at the time said.

  89. 89.

    lamh36

    @Mary G:

     

    @kylegriffin1

    ·
    6m

    On Memorial Day 2017, Trump visited Arlington’s Section 60 with John Kelly. That’s where Kelly’s son is buried. According to sources with knowledge, Trump, while standing by Robert Kelly’s grave, turned directly to his father and said, “I don’t get it. What was in it for them?”

    https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1301646260890411012?s=20

    SMH…the folks who defended Kelly and Mattis until the very end, should be eating crow right now.

     

    And John Kelly still stayed in the admin long after….FUQ HIM

  92. 92.

    lamh36

    @Elizabelle: here’s Charlie Pierce…this is why Chump has plausible deniablity with this shit…to many fuq’n folks still giving the fuq’er normal parameters

    @CharlesPPierce

    Anyone think this DJT and Belleau Wood story is a little too perfect.

  93. 93.

    Ken

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Inspector Generals should be far more independent than they are. Presidents should not have the ability to appoint them

    Executive, Legislative, Judicial, pick one. I suppose we could amend the Constitution to add a fourth branch that does nothing but monitor the others, but it’s still quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

  95. 95.

    Adam L Silverman

    There are only two possible answers to this question:

    1. https://www.amazon.com/Legion-Super-Heroes-Great-Darkness-Saga-ebook/dp/B00I3OIG9M/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1IO2TVG4SOUF2&dchild=1&keywords=the+great+darkness+saga&qid=1599172119&sprefix=the+great+darkness%27s%2Caps%2C226&sr=8-1
    2. https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Come-Mark-Waid/dp/1401220347/ref=pd_sbs_14_3/146-8457467-6732751?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1401220347&pd_rd_r=69e09b24-ac2e-4073-b591-3a497f426c8d&pd_rd_w=pqUFy&pd_rd_wg=HA89E&pf_rd_p=703f3758-d945-4136-8df6-a43d19d750d1&pf_rd_r=FTQKC7HYPVCY6ZFQR20X&psc=1&refRID=FTQKC7HYPVCY6ZFQR20X

    Long live The Legion!

    Afternoon Open Thread 5

  97. 97.

    Morzer

    I didn’t have much time for John Kelly on my most generous days, but what sort of spineless, despicable creep lets a cowardly thug like Trump mock his son’s death for the country? Adults in the room? No such thing. They were all worthless little toadies.

  100. 100.

    Elizabelle

    @lamh36:  This was when Kelly was Chief of DHS.  This was before he agreed to be Trump’s chief of staff.

    Goldberg on Kelly’s self-delusion, from the article:

    Kelly (who declined to comment for this story) initially believed, people close to him said, that Trump was making a ham-handed reference to the selflessness of America’s all-volunteer force. But later he came to realize that Trump simply does not understand non-transactional life choices.

    A little slow on the uptake, there. He saw what he wanted to see.

    And when has Trump sincerely praised ANYONE for selflessness? Maybe in a speech. But that is not Trump Family values.

  101. 101.

    sdhays

    @lamh36: Has anyone heard from brother “Please clap” recently? Has he weighed in? Or has he figured out no one gives a shit what he thinks anymore?

  103. 103.

    Elizabelle

    @lamh36:   It’s all anonymous sources.

    Granted, article by the magazine’s editor in chief.  But that none of the sources would go on the record … problematic.

    Unless:  Goldberg etc. are going to wheel them out, one after the other, once TrumpWorld starts squealing.

    But, the idea that some of this was a set-up?  Ick.  Not out of the question.

  107. 107.

    MomSense

    @Baud:

    I don’t think so because her husband could be with her at the hospital.  She only retired about a year ago.  They both worked for the local school department.  She is always on the go, working in the gardens and walking.  Earlier this summer we built a small garden/park/meeting space on land donated by several neighbors and she was the clerk of the works for it.  We call it the green. Last week we had a women’s percussion group (another neighbor) perform in the green and she was dancing up a storm.  My guess is this was something sudden like a heart attack or embolism.  Damn.

  110. 110.

    Elizabelle

    @lamh36: The closest Jeffrey Goldberg comes to identifying any source, and conceivably Kelly has more than one friend who is a retired-4 star.

    “He can’t fathom the idea of doing something for someone other than himself,” one of Kelly’s friends, a retired four-star general, told me. “He just thinks that anyone who does anything when there’s no direct personal gain to be had is a sucker. There’s no money in serving the nation.” Kelly’s friend went on to say, “Trump can’t imagine anyone else’s pain. That’s why he would say this to the father of a fallen marine on Memorial Day in the cemetery where he’s buried.”

    But:  Trump will start wondering which of his aides were sources.  Whether they are still working for him.  One source identified as an officer with “firsthand knowledge of Trump’s views.”  Paranoia to set in further.

    Goldberg says Trump figures death and disfigurement.

    The last a weird comment, from someone who paints his face orange and has a hairstyle that pre-prison Phil Spector would have felt comfortable wearing.

  111. 111.

    Yutsano

    Just an FYI: the federal government gets shut down in 27 days. It’s not unusual to have a CR run until after the election so I’m not super concerned yet. And yes it will be last minute because that’s just how things run these days.

  112. 112.

    Elizabelle

    @Bau?:   I think that’s there to protect Kelly against Trump assuming he was one of the anonymous sources.

    Your pal, Elizawho

  117. 117.

    Luciamia

    Got some delivery from a nearby Vietnamese cafe. First time I’ve had pho. My god, it comes in a tub so big I could soak my feet in it!

  119. 119.

    Elizabelle

    I wonder if former DHS head (and rumored John Kelly inamorata) Kirstjen Nielsen is one of the sources …  she would likely know a lot of this stuff, and particularly how Kelly viewed events …

  123. 123.

    Jinchi

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:

    Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed.

    I guess that’s what he thinks of the men who get killed when Putin puts bounties on American soldiers as well.

    And how is it that the sources for this story haven’t stated this publicly? I mean, I really don’t care about Melania’s spats with Ivanka, but this is kind of important.

  127. 127.

    Immanentize

    @lamh36: OK.  IM DONE!

    That pisses me right the fuck off.  Pilot shot down in the Pacific?  I know there are questions about Bush’s action then but damn!  Whatever that 20 year old did bad, he got shot down.  They were children!!

    Fuck.

  128. 128.

    Elizabelle

    OK, so the military heard from today.

    No doubt the intelligence community has some depth charges and heavy artillery planned for soon, too.

    Security professionals who fear a second Trump term.  Welcome to the crowd.

    If he wants to complain about the deep state, give him a lot of incoming to complain about.

  131. 131.

    NotMax

    Why not go back to the progenitor of the form? Will Eisner’s A Contract with God. Or the slightly later The Building or Dropsie Avenue.

    The classics never go out of style.

  132. 132.

    Spanky

    @Baud:

    I’m looking forward to Meghan McCain’s thoughts.

    I’m sure there will be breathless reports in the media if she ever has one.

  134. 134.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    @lamh36: If someone told Charlie that Trump privately said McCain isn’t a war hero because he was captured or that Trump mocked a person with significant disability, he’d say it is too unbelievable to be true.  And yet, here we are.

  137. 137.

    Immanentize

    @lamh36:

    the folks who defended Kelly and Mattis until the very end, should be eating crow right now.

    Forget crow. I sentence them to eat my shit for one year. And Kelly gets his own five year minimum mandatory.

  143. 143.

    rp

    The suggestion that trump’s people cleverly planted this story and duped Goldberg is WAY more far fetched than trump actually saying this stuff.

  144. 144.

    Calouste

    @Elizabelle: I doubt they’re anonymous sources (the writer of the article doesn’t know who they are), more likely that they are not on the record (the writer knows who they are, but has been asked not to disclose their names).  We’ll see if this blows up and what happens then.

  145. 145.

    Jinchi

    @Yutsano: Just an FYI: the federal government gets shut down in 27 days.

    Trump will push for a 35 day extension. Everything will run until November 3rd. Whether it continues to run after that will depend on whether DT is happy on the 4th. (Sort of like his deferred payroll tax).

  154. 154.

    Roger Moore

    @rp:

    The suggestion that trump’s people cleverly planted this story and duped Goldberg is WAY more far fetched than trump actually saying this stuff.

    Agreed. Trump publicly trashed John McCain’s military record by saying he preferred people who weren’t captured.  It’s not exactly a stretch to believe he said something similar in private about people who were killed.

  156. 156.

    Martin

    @lamh36: I take Charlie’s point – it is awfully perfect. Without Trump’s comments on tape regarding McCain, I’d lean that way myself, but Trump revealed himself for who he is very early on in the campaign.

  158. 158.

    Calouste

    @lamh36: Keep in mind that the shitgibbon got less than 50% of the vote in Utah 4 years ago. Third party vote was about 25%. The Romneys wouldn’t be doing what they are doing if they thought there was major pushback from Mormons.

  159. 159.

    Baud

    @Immanentize:

    Not Belle, but the worst possible thing that could happen is that our side gets overly invested in the story and it distracts us or turns out to be exaggerated and makes us look bad.

    I don’t think this will happen, but that’s the worst thing that could happen.

  160. 160.

    Jinchi

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: I care less about his attacks on McCain and Bush. At least they were politicians who were (usually) specifically critical of Trump himself. His reaction is just that of a very thin skinned man.

    He doesn’t even have that pathetic excuse for his slurs against soldiers who died before he was born.

  161. 161.

    Elizabelle

    WaPost:
    Judge orders Kanye West off Virginia ballot

    RICHMOND — A Circuit Court judge ordered state officials to remove independent presidential candidate Kanye West from the Virginia ballot Thursday, granting an emergency order sought by two voters who said they were duped into helping the rapper-entrepreneur qualify for the ballot.

    Lawsuit seeks to kick Kanye West off the ballot in Virginia

    Circuit Court Judge Joi Jeter Taylor made the ruling in a lawsuit filed this week by Matthan Wilson and Bryan Wright, who sued state elections officials for putting West on the ballot but faced their only opposition from West, whose attorney petitioned to intervene in the case.

  165. 165.

    Elizabelle

    @Immanentize:   Hey there.

    Just more fodder for Trump and his moron supporters to point and laugh at “fake news.”  Which is exceedingly tiresome.

    Don’t cross a t properly, and some people will disregard everything. Although:  people like that are probably not reachable.

    I think The Atlantic’s story will give a lot of cover for the military and those who support the military to not vote for its current “Commander in Chief.”

  170. 170.

    Immanentize

    @Elizabelle: My new stardard (which I learned at a friggin management training –spit) is, so what?

    I had a colleague in San Antonio who gave the best advice ever to me. The only two defenses in a criminal case are:
    “SO?!” and
    “Fuck You!”

    This doesn’t even need a defense, unless as Baud says, we overplay it. Let the Trumpies handle the hot potatoes.

  174. 174.

    bmoak

    Graphic novels?  Most of the suggestions here are collections of ongoing series in trade paperback form, so I’ll stick with that.  I’ll also try to to stick to stuff that is still in print.

    Saga, Papergirls, and Y The Last Man are IMHO three of the greatest science fiction comics of all time.  All written by Brian K Vaughan.

    Monstress is an epic steampunk fantasy with gorgeous art.

    Astro City is great storytelling examining the superhero genre, kind of a slice-of-life book examining the lives of the heroes and ordinary citizens of the title city.

     

    On the more literary end of things:

    Stand, by John Lewis.

  176. 176.

    Wapiti

    @Major Major Major Major: Yes, there was a run of about 2 years that came to close. I’ll find the page number. The author/artist decided she had more to tell, so started a second arc.

    In the archive (down on the left side of the page) the arcs are listed as adventure 1 and adventure 2. Adventure 1 finished at page 973, so that might have been a 3 or 4 year run. The artist publishes 4 days a week, with a week or two at chapter breaks, which is serious dedication for a web comic.

  179. 179.

    Mezz

    Enough other folks have recommended similar type material on here, so I don’t feel bad, but if you want zeitgeist and a powerful narrative and something nicely illustrated, the obvious example is the illustrated history book of John Lewis’ struggle for voting and civil rights for African Americans: March. 

     

    All three volumes are terrific, and each has a separate component of Lewis’ struggles. My college used March as part of their College and community book last year, and as one of our historians, I did a bunch of work with it. (We were set to have the illustrator come to campus and then Trump Plague.) Really really good. Each volume tells a different part of the story; I have good notes to help understand the outline, but obviously no need for it here.

    PUBLISHER INFO vol. I

  182. 182.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @PJ:  I’ve read almost no graphic books, fiction or non- … but may I put in a rec for one that’s over 20 years old? Joe Kubert’s Fax from Sarajevo: A Story of Survival. It’s about one of the graphics community who with his family gets trapped in their home town during the siege. Non-fiction and utterly harrowing. I bought it for the title & by the time I finished it I was ready to accept the graphic volume as a valid art form, because I could not imagine the story being told nearly as well in any other form. Read about it here.

  183. 183.

    dnfree

    Older graphic novels—Have you done Maus?  It’s so powerful. First one I ever read, that made me realize the power. Would “March”, three parts, about John Lewis, or George Takei’s about the internment camps be of interest?  There was also a graphic novel of Anne Frank’s dairy.

  184. 184.

    mad citizen

    @rp:  I’ve read both of these this year–Berlin from my local library which has an excellent graphic novel section. Monsters was given to me as a gift–amazing drawings and cool story. Not sure how “zeitgisty” either is–1930s Germany and 1960s Chicago.

  185. 185.

    Emma

    @gwangung: Second the suggestion of Monstress, and I don’t even like horror!

    If you want a finished series, Fables is quite the ride. I still think about certain aspects of the last volume from time to time. There’s also the 2-volume story Sleepless, which is a fantasy romance (no, not based on Sleeping Beauty).

    If you don’t mind yet-to-be-finished stories, I’m following Copperhead (a western in space), Lazarus (psychological action/thriller), and Saga (sci-fi). Hoopla, if your library has it, is a great resource to explore graphic novels, and comics in general.

  186. 186.

    Security Commander Nyder

    For anyone who is interested in the story of Ray Chapman, a Cleveland baseball player killed by a pitched ball during a game 100 years ago last month, I recommend this one. (Non-fiction)

  187. 187.

    NotMax

    @Security Commander Nyder

    Speaking of diamond deaths, the tragedy of Alan Fish also contains a kind’a spooky aftermath.

    Fatal fastballs to the head, meanwhile, aren’t nearly as common as you’d expect. In the past 150 years, only one fan at a major league baseball game has been killed by a foul ball—a 14-year-old in Los Angeles named Alan Fish. The liner that fractured Fish’s skull came off the bat of Dodger pinch-hitting specialist Manny Mota, whose own teenage nephew would be killed 14 years later while playing shortstop in New York […]. Mota’s nephew, a high-schooler, was struck by lightning as he stood in the field, five minutes after the umpire announced he was going to call the game at the end of the inning. Source

  189. 189.

    cactus jack

    For graphic novels, there is one from South Africa you can maybe look into.  It’s called “Rebirth” and it’s by Daniel Browde and Josh Ryba.  The story starts with he founding of Cape Town by the Dutch East India Corporation, who are actually vampires.  It then moves to the modern day vampires living in Johannesburg who are infected with AIDS.  Sounds weird, but it’s actually pretty good and is a can be viewed asa an allegory about colonialism and its impact on modern day Africa.

  190. 190.

    ShadeTail

    To the esteemed author of this article:

    Have you considered the series W.I.T.C.H. for a graphic novel reading? Nobody on this site is in its target demographic (to say the least), but I’ve found it really compelling, if rather cliche and predictable most of the time. It’s a Disney comic that was originally exclusive to Italy and was translated to English some years after the fact. Probably the best thing about it is that it is the very definition of a continuing narrative, where each story doesn’t really end but just leads into the next. The characters are diverse and actually grow and change as the series goes on. So far I’ve only gotten about a third of the way through it, but I just can’t stop reading. It’s been a lot of fun.

  191. 191.

    Rene Gonzales

     

    MARCH By, John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powel.

    I would say MARCH is very much a graphic novel that is Zeitgeisty . If by this you mean something that reflects a current Zeitgeist in culture.

    MARCH recounts the story of recently deceased Civil Rights activist and GA congresman John Lewis and the true life trials and tribulations of fighting against fascism, racism and for civil rights, both along side Martin Luther King and in congress.

    It is an impressive achievement in story telling through art. Give it a try!

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