Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

No one could have predicted…

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

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

After roe, women are no longer free.

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

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

In my day, never was longer.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

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

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

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

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

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

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: One By One

Open Thread: One By One

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What the hell are they smoking in the 2020 writers’ room?

As I said in a previous thread:

It looks like the nomination ceremony for Judge Barrett was the epicenter. It’s almost if God said, “nope, nah, thou shall not take away women’s rights to choose and healthcare from millions.”

I mean if you’re the kind of person who believes God sends huricanes, earthquakes and tornados to punish people you don’t like.

Open thread

Reader Interactions

164Comments

  2. 2.

    lamh36

    Been saying since hearing about Amy Barnett’s COVID “recovery”

    Kellyanne was also one of the debate preppers for Chump! I’m telling ya, my gut tells me that this is all going to come back to Amy Barnett. Like I said before I have no kwowledge of any evidence that having “recovered” from the virus means you are a)immune to being re-infected or b)not still shedding the virus as a carrier to others, c)her “recovery” could have been her just feeling fine and a false negative report.

    Said on twitter, Baby…RBG dying wish they ignored.

    RBG put that gris gris on them with her dying wish and they shoulda taken heed

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4fc4eaf441885eb6de225ebbd81e2aec35b99d1401bffec7c42a9d6fbd06083a.gi

     

    RBG had a conversaton with the karma gods on her way up to higher ground. All these official including Chump, Melanoma, and 7 others tested positive for COVID were all at that SCOTUS annoucement event at the WH for Ruth Bader Gingsburg’s seat before RBG had even been buried!!!

  5. 5.

    JoyceH

    @lamh36: I’m telling ya, my gut tells me that this is all going to come back to Amy Barnett.

    The doctor on 11th Hour was saying that sometimes people can recover from the virus but still be a carrier. Dang, if Barnett was the carrier, wouldn’t that be almost implausibly delicious?

  8. 8.

    lamh36

    @JoyceH: I mean they said she had COVID and “recovered” from it in the summer…uh…the event was Sep 21 or something…the summer literally barely JUST ended…so unless she had it in the beginning of the summer, then “the summer” she had it literally was only weeks before the annoucement.

    She damn sure could have still been a carrier.

  9. 9.

    Luciamia

    Very Twilight-zonish..

    What is SNL gonna do tomorrow? Anything before today is old news. Jokes about Trump being sick…bad taste?

  16. 16.

    Ken

    @Martin: Thanks.  Do you also know anything about Kentucky law?  I’m wondering if it’s one of those states where if a Senator dies, the governor appoints a replacement until the next general election.  Also if the governor has to appoint someone from the same party.

  18. 18.

    Amir Khalid

    I haven’t seen the October Surprise done this way before: Trump and his administration seem to be carpet-bombing themselves with October Surprises.

  19. 19.

    debbie

    I picked a bad night to fall asleep at 8 p.m. Guess I’ve missed witnessing the practically live superspreader event tonight.

    I’m confused on the timeline. Is there any indication that Trump knew about Hicks at the debate? I know he wasn’t tested and found positive until last night, but did he realize she was sick and there was a possibility of it spreading to him when he was making fun of Biden for wearing the biggest mask he’d ever seen?

  23. 23.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    Trump has the dumbest goddamn supporters I’ve ever seen. You can’t make this stuff up.

    Ghanem Nuseibeh  @gnuseibeh

    If Biden was a gentleman, regardless of what the law says, he should offer to postpone the elections by a year.

  28. 28.

    Benw

    I feel like we can all learn an important lesson here:

    Ramming a conservative nutter onto the Supreme Court in the middle of a pandemic is bad news.

  33. 33.

    Martin

    I’m not buying the timeline either.

    But if Trump was given an experimental drug, it suggests he’s sicker than they’re letting on. Good lord.

  34. 34.

    James E Powell

    @Martin:

    They could be held accountable, but no one in the press/media thought it was important.

    Kasie Hunt of NBA quotes Andrea Mitchell saying any other administration would have a doctor or other authority in the briefing room talking to White House correspondents about what is going on.

    This is true, of course, but they didn’t want that administration. They wanted this one. They made this mess. I’d bet that Mrs. Greenspan and all of them are still proud & happy they kept Hillary Clinton out of the White House.

  36. 36.

    RaflW

    Wasn’t October 2nd the day in 2016 that Trump mocked Hillary for her pneumonia? Mother nature might just enjoy serving her revenge with a nice, chilled four year old white wine.

  38. 38.

    Ken

    @Benw: When the Democrats introduce the bill to make Supreme Court terms 13 years, replacing one member each year (did I mention it also increases the number of justices?), I would love to see them make the argument that this is a precaution against further Wrath of God caused by human arrogance.

  46. 46.

    RaflW

    New update from McNinny’s twitter feed. A bargain basement looking PDF on the WH Osteopath’s letterhead, saying Trump doesn’t currently need supplemental oxygen.

    So, assume they’ve got a cannula on him and the system is dialed up.
    Also, no live press avail from a Walter Reed doctor? Huh!

    eta: Not slagging D.O.s
    But I am slagging the notoriously lie-filled WH.

  47. 47.

    Ken

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I’m sure the new, expanded court will find in favor of Congress.

    Seriously, I’ve seen people circulating ways this could be done by moving justices to an “emeritus” status where they were still on the court and could advise, but not vote.  I think something similar is already done for the circuit courts?

  50. 50.

    Jeffro

    I still can’t decide if this is good writing or bad writing…ACB potentially being the latent super-spreader, Melanoma getting sick just as she’s also getting nailed for ‘F the kids, F Christmas’, many in the Senate GOP caucus testing positive/getting sick (and possibly derailing ACB’s hearing/confirmation), Kellyanne also testing positive…

    …it’s just beyond my capacity to understand here, other that that lazy and also true all-purpose explanation: K.A.R.M.A.

    You reap what you sow, orange man, you reap what you sow.

  53. 53.

    hueyplong

    Barr is on video talking (up close) to Kellyanne Conway at the SCOTUS superspreader. McConnell wasn’t in that short clip but surely he attended.

  54. 54.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    one by one and one more….

    Sudeep Reddy @Reddy · 5m
    NEW: Trump’s 2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien has tested positive for Covid-19. One month from Election Day, the president, the chair of the RNC and the head of Trump’s campaign are all hobbled to varying degrees by the coronavirus.

  55. 55.

    Jeffro

    breaking now: (4th) trumpov campaign manager Bill Stepien has also tested positive for Covid-19

  56. 56.

    Mary G

    ??? Another one bites the dust:

    NEW: Trump’s 2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien has tested positive for Covid-19. One month from Election Day, the president, the chair of the RNC and the head of Trump’s campaign are all hobbled to varying degrees by the coronavirus. https://t.co/OLE5mYtzJB— Sudeep Reddy (@Reddy) October 3, 2020

    Tots and prayers, Bridgegate Boy!

  57. 57.

    Ken

    @lamh36: Sounds like Parscale dodged a bullet by getting fired.  Well, that and being white when those cops showed up at his house.

  59. 59.

    Morzer

    @Ken: 

    I have a suspicion that Parscale screwed up the targeting system on his “Death Star” before they threw him out.

  60. 60.

    RaflW

    @lamh36: Least surprising news of the day, really. It would seem that the ACB garden party was a fete accompli.

    [I’ll show myself out]

  62. 62.

    RaflW

    @lamh36: He is the POTUS, throw stuff at him to get him ‘well’ asap. Unless there are serious side effect risks, this actually doesn’t surprise me too much. But we have a WH that lies by the baker’s dozen, so who the flunk knows.

    eta: Looking at Gilead’s web page, I take the above paragraph back. It sounds like Remdesivir is in trails for people with ‘severe Covid-19’.

    Ruh-roh.

  64. 64.

    Mary G

    So Trump is receiving Regeneron’s polyclonal antibody cocktail coming from the same genetically modified humanized mice I had once used in my own research that got me subpoenaed by Congress and isn’t taking hydroxychloroquine that his Demon Semen doctors push for the rest of us.— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) October 2, 2020

  65. 65.

    BR

    @Martin: 

    I don’t buy that the experimental antibodies are a sign of anything. The (limited) data indicates it’s best used early in an infection. And I can imagine that they are taking a kitchen sink approach in the hopes of knocking it out early. It may not be a bad idea given the high risk category.

  69. 69.

    Barbara

    @lamh36: I thought the optimal window was more than mild but less than critical — needs oxygen but not a ventilator. But that was just a limited sample study, and the main benefit was shorter hospital stay, not reduced mortality. Nobody really knows.

  71. 71.

    Morzer

    I can’t help wondering how long it will be before the Half-Dud Prince Jared decides to “restore order” and seize the Presidency for himself.

  75. 75.

    Sab

    OT watching my favorite cat. I am so glad that I do not need to bathe by licking between my toes with my tongue.

  80. 80.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @lamh36: There’s Barr. In that outdoor pic, he was in the front row and nobody in that row has been reported positive yet.

    But in this one he’s schmoozing right behind Melania, and plenty of opportunity to breathe some nice infected air.

    Yes, I’m rooting for Barr to get it. I don’t wish death, but being bedridden or in an induced coma for the next 2-3 months would go a long way toward helping us survive the transition period.

  81. 81.

    Peale

    @Morzer: You know, Joe was not my first choice in the primary, but I do like him and would have gladly gone to the streets if Trump tried to steal the election from the Dems. I can’t imagine who would turn out to keep Jared in power. I mean, yeah, they’d come, sure. But they would be the least enthused rioters ever.

  83. 83.

    Gravenstone

    @Martin: Or he screamed and cried and gibbered DO SOMETHING long enough and loud enough that they relented with something that is at least unlikely to cause harm.

  85. 85.

    guachi

    Welp, news that Cal Cunningham, D candidate in NC, was cheating on his wife if texts between him and another woman are to be believed.

  88. 88.

    lamh36

    @lamh36:Well shit someone mentioned Chris Christy possibly being positive. Guess I’ll can wait until this last 2 Golden Girls episodes are over…

  93. 93.

    Gravenstone

    @lamh36: And of course there’s been zero opportunity to study potential interactions between therapies. You wouldn’t necessarily expect adverse responses, but only one way to find out.

  94. 94.

    Geoduck

    @Mary G: I’m sure he wrote that. No way anyone else’s thumbs could banged that out.

    Counterpoint- it tells people to love, something the Shiatgibbon would never do or say.

  95. 95.

    HumboldtBlue

    Bob Gibson has died.

    Hall of Famer Bob Gibson, the dominating St. Louis Cardinals pitcher who won a record seven consecutive World Series starts and set a modern standard for excellence when he finished the 1968 season with a 1.12 ERA, died Friday. He was 84.

  99. 99.

    Mai Naem mobile

    Bill Stepien – come on down, it is your turn to be on the Price is RightWing where the hourly jackpot prize is COVID19.

  100. 100.

    RaflW

    Maybe not news to all here, but this math is particularly stunning.

    Lisa Desjardins
    @LisaDNews

    23 POSITIVE COVID TESTS:

    1+2. President & Melania Trump
    3. Bill Stepien, Trump campaign mgr
    4. Hope Hicks
    5. Kellyanne Conway
    6. Sen. Mike Lee
    7. Sen. Thom Tillis
    8. Ronna McDaniel
    9. Notre Dame Pres. Jenkins
    10-12. Three WH reporters
    13-23. Eleven staffers from Cleveland debate

  104. 104.

    dmsilev

    @Cheryl Rofer: No hydroxychloroquine? Why, weren’t we informed by a certain Very Stable Genius, a guy who really gets this medical stuff the doctors are all amazed, that that was a wonder drug that makes Covid just give up and go away?

  105. 105.

    piratedan

    @guachi: supposedly the contexts of the texts are along the lines of “I would really like to kiss you”, which depending on the other language around it could be firmly placed on a range between awkward human male attraction to you’ve made me happy and I want to express it like so…

    in other words, the vibe I’m getting is that this isn’t penthouse letters territory at first glance…

  107. 107.

    JanieM

    @debbie:

    Jesus, “Love”???

    I know, right? If the universe made any sense, he would have shriveled up like the Wicked Witch of the West when he even tried to type that word.

  109. 109.

    jl

    <a href=”#comment-7884804″>@lamh36</a>:&nbsp;

    In this case, maybe they are throwing the kitchen sink at it, just to be safe. But just to be safe, you also want to limit adverse reactions. (Edit: internet says remdesivir has some serious ones, especially for older person with maybe chronic conditions, obese, etc.)

    from Massachusetts General General Hospital covid-19 treatment guidance

    ” Treatment of moderate COVID-19 with remdesivir may be considered on a case-by-case basis but should not be done routinely ”

    Maybe clinical people can chime in

    Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) COVID-19 Treatment Guidance
    Sep 23, 2020
    https://www.massgeneral.org/assets/MGH/pdf/news/coronavirus/mass-general-COVID-19-treatment-guidance.pdf

  111. 111.

    RaflW

    @HumboldtBlue: I think that was Duluth — where IRRC seeing it was 46 degrees or so. A local MN reporter joked that it was half as long as his previous Duluth speech because of the cold temps. Feverish, dunno.

    That said, I’m still pissed that he went after it was known Hope was ill. I have dear friends in Duluth. They’d not be caught within miles of that rally, but the idiot MAGAs go to stores and generally just do careless crap.

  113. 113.

    Ken

    @Gravenstone: Imagine Barr’s surprise at coming off sedation in a few months and being handed an indictment by the Biden DOJ.

    Or waking up in the prison hospital and being told that the Supreme Court ruled, 9 to 6, that he had adequate representation.

  116. 116.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Jeffro: I am waiting for the last episode where they show Hillary Clinton getting out of the shower in the WH master bedroom and telling Bill she had the craziest dream/ nightmare in the shower about Orange DBag winning the election.

  117. 117.

    Shalimar

    @lamh36: Christie has been suspiciously silent all day.  He announced on one of the morning shows that he was negative on Tuesday and was waiting for the results of a test he had just taken.  That was 16 hours ago.

  119. 119.

    frosty

    @Mary G: “Going well, I think!” There’s one of the tells I look for that indicate he’s lying. Of course, for any medical issue, one never knows exactly how well one is doing, so it could be aboveboard.

  122. 122.

    Ken

    @Shalimar: Does Christie have enough pull to get the good testing?  If not, he’ll get the same turnaround time as all us other peons, five to seven days.

  125. 125.

    Morzer

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Why couldn’t Cal Cunningham have kept his goddamned impulses under control until after the election?  What is it about these people that makes them think that playing with fire is just fine and dandy?

  127. 127.

    Shalimar

    @Ken: Conway got her results back this morning.  Christie was helping Trump 3 days ago, so he has to have as much pull as she does.

  130. 130.

    James E Powell

    @Sab:

    He was one of my first baseball heroes. Beat the FTFNYY in 64, the first World Series I followed.

    RIP to one of the meanest men to ever take the mound.

    Obligatory story: Catcher Tim McCarver goes out to the mound to talk to Gibson who says, “What are you doing here? Just give me the ball. The only thing you know about pitching is that it is hard to hit.”

  131. 131.

    Ken

    @Shalimar: I was kidding, mostly.  But with Trump out of the way, Jared may be moving to pay back some old family debts.

    Aw, who am I kidding – the whole fetid bunch are sharpening their daggers and waiting for the others to turn their backs.

  133. 133.

    Poe Larity

    For your evangelical relatives:

    And then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
    —2 Thessalonians 2:8–12

  134. 134.

    frosty

    @James E Powell: Great story, I LOL’d.

    ETA: The first World Series I followed was 1960 when the Pirates beat the FTFY with Mazeroski’s homer in the 9th inning of the 7th game, IIRC. Our (male) elementary school teacher had the series on the radio during class. Very rare to have a male elementary teacher back then.

  136. 136.

    oclib

    @Ken:

    in the next couple of days, I envision Barr taking a limo over to Walter Reed, with a list of pardons (with him at the top) needing a signature…..

  138. 138.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    As Trump’s conditioned worsened, he and his team made the decision to send him to Walter Reed before he deteriorated further — and while he could still walk to Marine One on his own. Our latest on the White House Coronavirus Crisis. https://t.co/H05J3Ndljc

    — Ashley Parker (@AshleyRParker) October 3, 2020

  140. 140.

    Morzer

    @debbie: In the interests of gender justice, I think we could remember that the married woman who was his prospective paramour didn’t exactly demonstrate self-restraint either.

  142. 142.

    Ken

    @debbie: Goddammit, can men not control themselves for even one minute???

    I see Jennifer Rubin also asks rhetorical questions: “If i go to sleep and wake up at 7 how many new cases will there be?”

    From what I’ve heard of these superspreader events, the answer could be “As many people as were in the Rose Garden that Saturday.”

  145. 145.

    Gravenstone

    @Shalimar: It’d be less about his pull and more of a matter that he was close to Trump for extended periods of time recently. They have to be testing anyone who fits that description.

  147. 147.

    LeftCoastYankee

    Christie was a brief phone in guest with George S. on ABC early this afternoon (Pacific time), and said he had a negative test, but no one from the WH had notified him of Hick’s or the Trumps’ positive tests, and he’d heard it through the news.

    Shortly after on MSNBC their resident doctor-correspondent pointed out that the most reliable testing after an exposure is in the 3-5 day window, a next day negative test is essentially meaningless without follow-up testing.

    I’m just keeping my fingers crossed for the unsuspecting debate attendees getting through to early next week w/o positive tests or symptoms.

  148. 148.

    danielx

    @Morzer:

    Uh…it’s a guy thing?

    eta: obligatory comment from a female acquaintance – no wonder men are so stupid, they keep their brains in such a small space.

  152. 152.

    Citizen Alan

    @guachi: I swear to God, if we lose a Senate seat because yet again a Democrat couldn’t keep his god-damned pants zipped up …!

  153. 153.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @LeftCoastYankee:

    Christie was a brief phone in guest with George S. on ABC early this afternoon (Pacific time), and said he had a negative test, but no one from the WH had notified him of Hick’s or the Trumps’ positive tests, and he’d heard it through the news.

    interesting, Christie’s been walking a fine line with trump, staying on the outside but staying loyal without having to vote on things or implement policy, Jared’s grudge may have preserved his political future, but it would be interesting if he reached his limit with them, or if he decided he could have a future if he dumped (on) trump

  154. 154.

    jl

    @prostratedragon: Saw a youtube clip with a historian who wrote a book on 1918 pandemic, I think on Sam Seder show. He said Wilson, Keynes, many of those bigshots, probably got the pandemic flu at Versailles talks. They convalesced on the rooftop of the palace. Wilson, and others, may have been seriously addled for a while after they recovered. I have to wonder if that played a role in the treaty being so messed up.

    So, more things change the more they stay the same. Except they didn’t know much at all about what it was or how to prevent spread. I don’t think masks worked nearly as well against that flu as it does for covid-19. I’ve read some flues are almost as contagious as measles.

    But, one difference, the Trumpsters should have known to do something and what to do. They didn’t do anything.

  156. 156.

    frosty

    @jl: From one of the books I read, the Anti-Mask League in San Francisco was a cause of the big second wave there. Nothing changes.

  157. 157.

    prostratedragon

    @jl:  Interesting. Don’t think I’ve heard the flu offered as a reason for the stubborn and rather woodenheaded, as Tuchman would say, stances that led to the Treaty, but no case I’ve had did anything for my patience.

  158. 158.

    phdesmond

    @James E Powell:   the author’s bio:

    Patrick Howley is a seasoned reporter responsible for revealing the VA scandal, exposing Ralph Northam’s racist college photos, and revealing the financial links between the Pelosi family and Ukraine. Howley is currently focusing on the possible politicization of Child Protective Services. Follow Patrick on Twitter @HowleyReporter.

  161. 161.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:  @frosty:

    I had a male elementary school teacher in 4th grade – 1968, rural Connecticut. That fucker made all the girls use male first names (think Cornelius instead of Colette), refused to use our real names, told us daily that “boys are better than girls,” sent us to the principal if we wore pants instead of skirts on snow days, and spent nearly 100% of class time teaching us to sing “old-timey American” songs like Camptown Races and Jimmy Crack Corn and Oh! Susanna.

    I was traumatized and massively fearful when my son had a male teacher in 4th grade, but luckily he was a wonderful, kind man and a great role model.

    This has been your pointless but cathartic rant of the night.

  162. 162.

    evodevo

    @Morzer: With a lot of these guys it’s the same CEO Type A behavior that compels them to run for office in the first place – for some reason those genes make them believe they’re able to get away with stuff like that…look at Bill Clinton or any of the other sex scandal politicos/corporate heads/hollywood types for examples.   I suppose it could be labeled unbridled arrogance.  And amazingly, there are decent guys like Biden who are in the field, too, and get elected.  Makes no sense to me…

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