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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

All hail the time of the bunny!

Hot air and ill-informed banter

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

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

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

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

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

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You are here: Home / Politics / Activist Judges! / GOP Death Cult Open Thread: Nefarious ACB

GOP Death Cult Open Thread: Nefarious ACB

by Anne Laurie|  October 3, 20206:22 pm| 193 Comments

This post is in: Activist Judges!, C.R.E.A.M., GOP Death Cult, Republican Venality

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U.S. Supreme Court nominee's confirmation hearings on track, McConnell says https://t.co/6WMUTMN3rO pic.twitter.com/UFfgVhUvXW

— Reuters (@Reuters) October 3, 2020

… “Previously-scheduled floor activity will be rescheduled until after October 19th … The important work of the Senate’s committees can and will continue as each committee sees fit,” McConnell said in a statement.

McConnell added that the Republican-controlled Judiciary Committee would start Barrett’s confirmation hearings on Oct. 12 as previously planned. Senators have the option of attending the hearings in person or remotely.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said McConnell’s decision was dangerous and reckless.

“If it’s too dangerous to have the Senate in session it is also too dangerous for committee hearings to continue,” Schumer said in a statement…

McConnell’s announcement, however, could mean that no new coronavirus aid bill will be approved by Congress in the coming days, despite negotiations this week between House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and White House officials…

#MoscowMitch will kill his own teammates as happily as he would Democrats…

NOTE: Senate rules require ALL 12 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee to show up — in person — to advance Barrett's nomination in vote expected Oct. 22 if Democrats boycott. 2 of those senators have tested positive for COVID. https://t.co/0qo8Q94sYM

— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) October 3, 2020



… even his closest Komrades!

GOP Sen. Ron Johnson has become the third Republican senator to test positive for the coronavirus, joining GOP Sens. Mike Lee and Thom Tillis. https://t.co/aEDNi32tuH

— NPR Politics (@nprpolitics) October 3, 2020

All 10 Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee just called on Chairman Lindsey Graham to delay the Amy Coney Barrett hearing, noting that two members of the committee have tested positive and proceeding now would endanger senators' "health and safety": pic.twitter.com/GKKScMhTeK

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) October 3, 2020

Republicans are so desperate to ram through SCOTUS confirmation less than 2 weeks before election day, that they're willing to literally risk lives to vote before CDC says it is safe. That tells you everything you need to know about the profound illegitimacy of their actions.

— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) October 3, 2020

Republicans were hoping they could bluster their way through this by pretending it was all just business as usual and there was nothing to see here. They are full of it. This is a desperate power grab. And now it's laid bare for the world (and their own constituents) to see.

— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) October 3, 2020

The fact that Amy Coney Barrett would go along with this says everything we need to know about her character.

— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) October 3, 2020

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Reader Interactions

193Comments

  1. 1.

    Alison Rose

    October 3, 2020 at 6:27 pm

    So pro-life of them!!!!!!!!!!

  2. 2.

    Parfigliano

    October 3, 2020 at 6:28 pm

    If DEM take Senate and Presidency just impeach her.  Problem solved.

  3. 3.

    hells littlest angel

    October 3, 2020 at 6:31 pm

    Senate rules require ALL 12 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee to show up — in person — to advance Barrett’s nomination in vote expected Oct. 22 if Democrats boycott. 2 of those senators have tested positive for COVID.

     

    Fuck you, Republicans. The card says, “Moops.”

  4. 4.

    Hungry Joe

    October 3, 2020 at 6:31 pm

    If some of the GOP committee members are too ill to attend, can’t McConnell change the quorum rule or remove those senators from the committee and replace them with other GOP senators? I suspect that all he has to is say, “ Make it so,” or maybe sign a piece of paper.

  5. 5.

    frosty

    October 3, 2020 at 6:34 pm

    @Parfigliano: IIRC there have to be 67 Senate votes to convict in any impeachment. Not gonna happen.

  6. 6.

    Jerzy Russian

    October 3, 2020 at 6:34 pm

    My exciting activity for today:  going to Lowe’s to get a replacement gate valve for the garden hose.    The previous valve had a ball joint that is starting to fail.    The sad thing is that it will take me a few hours this evening to settle down from all of the excitement.

  7. 7.

    Jeffro

    October 3, 2020 at 6:34 pm

    I guess I always knew that McConnell would ride this one all the way in…the Russia sellouts too. It’s just weird to see it actually happening in real-time.

    Especially since the more they do, the more obvious it becomes just what they’re doing, and even more obvious that the Dems will be perfectly fine if/when they add four seats to SCOTUS to make up for this madness.

  8. 8.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 3, 2020 at 6:35 pm

    @Hungry Joe: I would be surprised to see the Senate to vote to allow remote voting, maybe as a temporary measure, by Wednesday at noon.

  9. 9.

    Jerzy Russian

    October 3, 2020 at 6:38 pm

    @Hungry Joe:   Barrett will eventually need a majority vote of the whole Senate.  If enough of the GOP senators take ill, then what happens?

  10. 10.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    October 3, 2020 at 6:38 pm

    The Contessa was telling me about contact tracing protocols in NSW (or NZ, I never actually listen well). They traced an outbreak back to a point where one person touched the handle on a dumpster an infected person had just used, and they managed to isolate the entire infection chain.
    The White House is nowhere near as competent. They never thought they should have to think or do it.

  11. 11.

    Geminid

    October 3, 2020 at 6:41 pm

    McConnel will say this nomination is on track, until it’s not.

  12. 12.

    Baud

    October 3, 2020 at 6:42 pm

    @Geminid: Exactly right.

  13. 13.

    sdhays

    October 3, 2020 at 6:42 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: What’s the point of doing all that work when we can just assume Covid Amy is the root carrier and just proceed from that?

  14. 14.

    Baud

    October 3, 2020 at 6:43 pm

    @Jerzy Russian: America is saved.

  15. 15.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 3, 2020 at 6:43 pm

    @Jerzy Russian: google says you need 51 Senators for a quorum, they have 53 in the caucus, right? So assuming Angus King and the ConservaDems would play along, the Rs need at least one of the three known infected to show up, I think. I don’t know if Pence could be counted as a member for a quorum. And Chuck Grassley is 86 and refusing to be tested.

  16. 16.

    Cacti

    October 3, 2020 at 6:45 pm

    21st century version of Martin Niemoller’s “First they came”:

    First Covid came to the blue states, but we didn’t care, because we’re Republicans.

    Then Covid came to our own voters, but we didn’t care, because we’re Republicans.

    Then we got Covid, and everyone laughed and hoped for our deaths.

  17. 17.

    Anoniminous

    October 3, 2020 at 6:46 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    The rule says “Senators” and Pence isn’t.

    AFAIK it’s a Rule, not a Law.  Thus McConnell could change the rule in a majority vote to allow the Veep to be counted towards a quorum.

  18. 18.

    Ken

    October 3, 2020 at 6:47 pm

    @sdhays: I still think the best way to derail the nomination is to convince Trump that Barrett infected him.  He’ll withdraw the nomination and probably order her shot.

  19. 19.

    Cacti

    October 3, 2020 at 6:49 pm

    @Anoniminous:

    The Constitution states explicitly that the VP “shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided”.

  20. 20.

    Anoniminous

    October 3, 2020 at 6:50 pm

    @Cacti:

    Ah, thanks for the correction

  21. 21.

    CCL

    October 3, 2020 at 6:50 pm

    Like others here, I prefer to refer to her as Covid Amy and leave the three initial nomenclature for the honorable RBG. I want nothing that suggests the two are on equal footing.

  22. 22.

    piratedan

    October 3, 2020 at 6:51 pm

    looks like the most recent polling is confirming the Biden trend in Georgia, so far looking better for both Biden and Ossoff and looking much more positive for Warnoff to at least make it to the expected runoff….

     

    Go Team Blue!

  23. 23.

    randy khan

    October 3, 2020 at 6:52 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I understand from a friend who knows these things that the committee can vote remotely, but the full Senate cannot.  To alter rules, if the Republicans who have COVID-19 don’t show up, they need either Murkowski or Collins.  So one of them would have to more or less go back on her word about a vote on Barrett.  If the three who have it and the three who are self-quarantining don’t show up, the Republicans don’t have a majority to change the rules.

    Of course, the 6 could just show up even though they shouldn’t, and then there’d be a majority.

  24. 24.

    Kay

    October 3, 2020 at 6:53 pm

    Steven Dennis
    @StevenTDennis
    NOTE: Senate rules require ALL 12 Republicans on the Judiciary Committee to show up — in person — to advance Barrett’s nomination in vote expected Oct. 22 if Democrats boycott. 2 of those senators have tested positive for COVID.

    At this point you wonder why they even pretend to follow any rules. None of these people think rules apply to them. It’s obvious in everything they do. They all believe they are special, privileged exceptions.
    Rules are for suckers and chumps and little people- like you and me.
    We’ve already been sternly scolded that we aren’t permitted to ask the judge any questions- why bother with the formalities? Just install her by proclamation.
    I hope we kick their ass in November. A brutal, humiliating shellacking. Finally, finally some small measure of accountability for people who are utterly and completely out of control and have gotten a pass every single day of their lives.

  25. 25.

    JoyceH

    October 3, 2020 at 6:53 pm

    Is anyone else taking an unholy glee in the news that Trump is ‘rattled’ and keeps asking people around him if he’s going to die?

  26. 26.

    zhena gogolia

    October 3, 2020 at 6:55 pm

    @JoyceH:

    I hadn’t heard that. I hate myself for feeling an instinctive surge of satisfaction at reading it.

  27. 27.

    Cacti

    October 3, 2020 at 6:56 pm

    Is it too soon to start calling her Amy Covid Barrett?

    Her public introduction seems to have been the mass infection event.

  28. 28.

    Alison Rose

    October 3, 2020 at 6:57 pm

    @randy khan:

    To alter rules, if the Republicans who have COVID-19 don’t show up, they need either Murkowski or Collins.  So one of them would have to more or less go back on her word about a vote on Barrett.

    Collins go back on her word? UNPOSSIBLE!

  29. 29.

    sanjeevs

    October 3, 2020 at 6:58 pm

    Chris Christie is in hospital.

    Getting worried about Biden.

  30. 30.

    zhena gogolia

    October 3, 2020 at 6:59 pm

    @sanjeevs:

    For some reason I’m not too worried about Biden. Christie probably got up close to the monster while he was spewing bile.

  31. 31.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 3, 2020 at 6:59 pm

    @CCL: FDR, JFK, MLK, RFK, LBJ (Fuck LBJ for raven), HRC, and AOC.  I probably missed some.  Is it okay if we save some typing on the blog?

    ETA: Your ‘nym is a bit of a glasshouse, isn’t it?

  32. 32.

    MisterForkbeard

    October 3, 2020 at 7:01 pm

    @Jerzy Russian: They delay the vote until those Senators are “good enough” to vote in person.

    They can lose 4 senators from the vote. Murkowski and Collins have said they won’t vote yes already, so now they’ve can lose two.

    There are three GOP senators with COVID that we know of. They SHOULD be in isolation for the next 3+ weeks, but who knows if they’d pay attention. And they’re entirely capable of showing up sick and putting everyone else in danger to ram this through. Though this might just mean that they vote on Barrett in really late October, only days before the election.

  33. 33.

    Kay

    October 3, 2020 at 7:01 pm

    Sine Barrett already works in a federal court and all federal courts have elaborate rules re: covid and safety I guess I’m wondering why she thought those rules went in, since none of her co-partisans followed any of them at the parties they threw at the White House.

    What does she imagine the rules are about? Why would the court where she works go to all that trouble if the intention was no one has to follow them?  Why would a party at the White House be any different than a courtroom?  Some special virus exception for powerful people that wouldn’t apply to an in-person hearing with ordinary litigants?

  34. 34.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    October 3, 2020 at 7:02 pm

    I propose a new tag for any Balloon Juice post dealing specifically with Mitch McConnell:

    “Gravedigger of American Democracy”

    If the US has someone whom historians will look back on as the gravedigger of American democracy, it is Mitch McConnell. He stoked the hyperpolarization of American politics to make the Obama presidency as dysfunctional and paralyzed as he possibly could. As with parliamentary gridlock in Weimar, congressional gridlock in the US has diminished respect for democratic norms, allowing McConnell to trample them even more. Nowhere is this vicious circle clearer than in the obliteration of traditional precedents concerning judicial appointments. Systematic obstruction of nominations in Obama’s first term provoked Democrats to scrap the filibuster for all but Supreme Court nominations. Then McConnell’s unprecedented blocking of the Merrick Garland nomination required him in turn to scrap the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations in order to complete the “steal” of Antonin Scalia’s seat and confirm Neil Gorsuch.

    h/t https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/10/25/suffocation-of-democracy

  35. 35.

    zhena gogolia

    October 3, 2020 at 7:02 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    It’s normal for presidents. AOC is because her name is too damn long and Spanish. Supreme Court justices are not normally called by their initials. Only Ginsburg. It’s a blatant attempt by the Repugs to equate the two. I find it disgusting. Call her Barrett. Coney is her middle name. Like Rodham, which she was criticized for using.

  36. 36.

    HumboldtBlue

    October 3, 2020 at 7:02 pm

    I saw Proud Boys trending on Reddit yesterday as gay men posted photos of they and their partners celebrating life and now #Proud Boys is trending on Twitter.

  37. 37.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 3, 2020 at 7:05 pm

    @zhena gogolia: RFK, MLK, and HRC were never presidents.

  38. 38.

    hueyplong

    October 3, 2020 at 7:06 pm

    @JoyceH:  It’s the best part.

  39. 39.

    Mousebumples

    October 3, 2020 at 7:07 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: There are three GOP senators with COVID that we know of.

    I believe the count is 4.

    1. Lee (UT)
    2. Tillis (NC)
    3. Johnson (WI)
    4. Scott (SC)

    I wouldn’t be surprised if others are also positive and trying the initial Trump approach of not saying anything and hoping they don’t need treatment that gets out to the public.

    edited because Scott later said he had not tested positive.

  40. 40.

    Ksmiami

    October 3, 2020 at 7:07 pm

    @sanjeevs: Don’t worry too much. Have you seen the Trump debate prep pics? Hicks, Trump, Christie Et al packed into a closet sized area “rehearsing.”

  41. 41.

    CCL

    October 3, 2020 at 7:08 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:   Point.   But I am not adjectivized (as notorious, etc.) and no one would ever “compare me” to RBG.

    Ditto what zhena goglia said.

    Only Ginsburg. It’s a blatant attempt by the Repugs to equate the two. I find it disgusting. Call her Barrett.

    I guess I find it infuriating because I can imagine some smarmy Repug smirking lurking behind its usage, thinking they are oh so cute.  Be interesting to track its first public usage and who “coined” it.

  42. 42.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 3, 2020 at 7:08 pm

    @Mousebumples: Scott from FL was briefly on the list this morning because he didn’t know the difference between positive and negative.  Do you have a source for the SC Scott?

  43. 43.

    Kay

    October 3, 2020 at 7:09 pm

    Nate Cohn
    @Nate_Cohn
    ·7h
    Joe Biden leads Donald Trump in Pennsylvania and Florida, according to new Times/Siena polls taken after the first debate.
    Biden leads in Pennsylvania, 49 to 42 percent among likely voters. He leads in Florida, 47 to 42.

    The days of superspreader social events at the White House are rapidly coming to a close. The public aren’t going to be the only people sacrificing in this pandemic when President Biden takes over. Our political leaders and judges and everyone else on the public payroll are going to start following the same rules we all follow.
    No special exceptions for a privileged few, who then put other innocent people at risk. The grownups will be back in charge.

  44. 44.

    Mai Naem mobile

    October 3, 2020 at 7:09 pm

    We all need to remember that RBG was pretty strategic in the cases she took on with the ACLU Womens Rights Project. There is no reason she would not be just as strategic making her case before god and using her smite button. I,of course, am not wishing ill on anybody. I am just pointing out RBG’s strategery.

  45. 45.

    frosty

    October 3, 2020 at 7:11 pm

    @Jerzy Russian: I, too, had an exciting day. I took a bunch of stuff to the dump, then swept out the garage and contemplated how to hang the garden tools without spending much money.

    I’m beat!! Hope I can make it to SNL!

  46. 46.

    Ken

    October 3, 2020 at 7:12 pm

    @JoyceH: Any report on what they’re telling him?

    I suppose ethics gets in the way of any of the medical staff replying “We’re all going to die, some of us sooner than others.”

  47. 47.

    A Ghost to Most

    October 3, 2020 at 7:12 pm

    Yertle doesn’t give a damn about the rules.

  48. 48.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 3, 2020 at 7:12 pm

    @CCL: I am fine with wanting to avoid the adjective and initials thing that would link the two.  Beyond that, I am dubious.

  49. 49.

    Cacti

    October 3, 2020 at 7:13 pm

    How nice for Chris Christie that he’s able to just “check himself into a hospital.”

    Too bad Republicans don’t want that for anyone else.

  50. 50.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 3, 2020 at 7:14 pm

    @A Ghost to Most: Then why hasn’t he just had a vote already?

  51. 51.

    Mousebumples

    October 3, 2020 at 7:16 pm

     

    @Omnes Omnibus: Scott from FL was briefly on the list this morning because he didn’t know the difference between positive and negative. Do you have a source for the SC Scott?

    Just double checked and you’re right, sorry! I’m trying to keep up here and on Twitter so I must have missed that adjustment to the record. (Too late to edit my above comment, too. ?)

  52. 52.

    Ian R

    October 3, 2020 at 7:18 pm

    It would be pretty funny if the Republicans sacrifice their own lives and any remaining hint of legitimacy to pack the court, only for Covid Amy to promptly die of covid.

  53. 53.

    mrmoshpotato

    October 3, 2020 at 7:19 pm

    Oh look!  The Rethuglican party is still a goddamn fucking pile of shit!

    Hard habit to break after 40+ years I guess!

  54. 54.

    KenK

    October 3, 2020 at 7:19 pm

    @JoyceH: 

    JoyceH, my wife and I ask ourselves the same thing.

  55. 55.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    October 3, 2020 at 7:20 pm

    Well, Trump is on video from Walter Reed. Alive and well. I didn’t want him to die, but I did want him to suffer a little bit like being on a ventilator for a few weeks. Like all of the people he killed through neglect

  56. 56.

    Hoppie

    October 3, 2020 at 7:20 pm

    @Cacti: I call her “Amy Rabbit” for, er, reasons.  But Amy Covid Rabbit works too.

  57. 57.

    Cacti

    October 3, 2020 at 7:21 pm

    @Ian R: My preference would be:

    A bunch of GOPers sacrifice themselves to Covid to make Amy Barrett the 6th Republican vote…

    On a 15 member Court after the Dems take power.

  58. 58.

    Ken

    October 3, 2020 at 7:22 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: You’re reminding me of an old Ellery Queen mystery.  Spoiler ahead, though I doubt it’s even been reprinted since it was in EQMM.

    The mystery was to identify a member of a criminal gang in a list of names. Queen spotted that the gang members used aliases where the first syllables were presidential initials.  For example, Jason Ephriam Kayman, JAY EFF KAY.

  59. 59.

    Starfish

    October 3, 2020 at 7:23 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): He still has a few more days to get sick.

    A lot of people have said this video and the last one look “bad,” but I think he looks almost human with less makeup.

    He said “coronavirus or whatever you want to call it” which is the rare instance where he is not making it racist. He also said something about “almost-bipartisan” as if he is trying to extend his base beyond a single prison white supremacist gang.

  60. 60.

    Kay

    October 3, 2020 at 7:24 pm

    Looking at the photos of the guests mingling and hugging and enjoying themselves at the superspreader White House event, all I could think about was my son’s school. They missed graduation last year. This year, every single one of them wears a mask 6 hours a day with the exception of a half hour for lunch.
    200 kids sacrificed and suffered last year, and this year they ALL wear masks without complaining, every single day.
    And yet this whole group of some of the most privileged and powerful people in the country could not be bothered to sacrifice AT ALL, even to extend of putting on a cloth mask for 2 hours. Too vain, too full of themselves, too much ego to even do that.

  61. 61.

    patrick II

    October 3, 2020 at 7:24 pm

    Why wasn’t McConnell at the Rose Garden ACB event?

  62. 62.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 3, 2020 at 7:25 pm

    @Mousebumples: It’s a wonder we know anything anymore at the speed news comes out these days.

  63. 63.

    mrmoshpotato

    October 3, 2020 at 7:26 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    I hadn’t heard that. I hate myself for feeling an instinctive surge of satisfaction at reading it. 

    If it makes you feel any better, just remember Dump is a mass-murdering Soviet shitpile mobster conman.

  64. 64.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 3, 2020 at 7:27 pm

    @Ken: I am reminding you of an old queen?  Isn’t that more than a bit homophobic?

  65. 65.

    JaySinWA

    October 3, 2020 at 7:28 pm

    @Wyatt Salamanca: Are we trying to GOAD him?

  66. 66.

    CCL

    October 3, 2020 at 7:28 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:  I am probably just touchy about stuff tonight.  Time to get offline and do my bit keeping eyes on the prize.

  67. 67.

    Cacti

    October 3, 2020 at 7:28 pm

    @Kay: I imagine everyone at the Barrett soiree truly believed that because they’re “important”, bad things like infectious disease can’t happen to them.

  68. 68.

    Steeplejack

    October 3, 2020 at 7:31 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    Christie did debate prep with Trump, so he had prolonged close exposure. Biden was 12-15 feet away from Trump for 90 minutes. I like the odds.

    I will admit to a twinge of concern, not so much because of Trump but because you can catch the damn virus anywhere. I hope Biden’s entourage is being extremely careful.

  69. 69.

    Mousebumples

    October 3, 2020 at 7:34 pm

    I’ve seen speculation on Twitter that the recently released Trump video may have been pre taped at the White House before going to Walter Reed. No idea what the interiors look like but it seems plausible – and like something a reality tv president would do.

  70. 70.

    SiubhanDuinne

    October 3, 2020 at 7:35 pm

    @Mousebumples:

    Are you certain about Tim Scott (SC)? I know earlier today Rick Scott (FL) announced he had tested positive, then walked it back an hour or two later saying that he said “positive” when he meant “negative.” If you have a source for the SC Scott, I’d be glad to see it.

  71. 71.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    October 3, 2020 at 7:36 pm

    @Wyatt Salamanca: As with parliamentary gridlock in Weimar

    It is really fucking that hard for everyone to stop pretending Wiemar was some kind of Jeffersonian paradise before Hitler showed up. The reason there was no respect for democratic norms in Germany was because Democracy was imposed on upon German by the Entant with the publicly stated goal  of breaking Germany up.

  72. 72.

    Mousebumples

    October 3, 2020 at 7:36 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: as i posted later, I was out of date with my info. Just too late to edit my post.

  73. 73.

    Brachiator

    October 3, 2020 at 7:38 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    It’s normal for presidents. AOC is because her name is too damn long and Spanish. Supreme Court justices are not normally called by their initials. Only Ginsburg.

    It’s a modern thing and inconsistently applied to presidents. Ginsburg became unexpectedly popular and the riff off of Notorious BIG took hold for RBG.

    ETA: Eisenhower was Ike, but we let Nixon be Nixon. Sometimes Tricky Dick.

  74. 74.

    Kattails

    October 3, 2020 at 7:40 pm

    I need some din-din before the wine hits, but just took a quick look at the Project Lincoln twitter feed:  Rick Wilson is making quite a comment that they’ve received  intel today that is “both remarkable and terrifying”.  this time-lined at 7:28 PM.  “At the WH, the number of infections and potential infections constitutes a national security crisis of the first order.” Leaves it hanging but sounds like more to come.

  75. 75.

    debbie

    October 3, 2020 at 7:40 pm

    @JoyceH:

    I won’t be gleeful now, but I won’t be sad if any of them kick the bucket.

  76. 76.

    debbie

    October 3, 2020 at 7:41 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    He attended debate practice. I’m sure Trump was raging at even having to be there.

  77. 77.

    Steeplejack

    October 3, 2020 at 7:41 pm

    Too lazy to source it right now, but I will repeat from earlier that the first two GOP senators on the Judiciary Committee who tested positive both specifically said they would isolate for 10 days, not the recommended 14, which would theoretically allow them to be present for Barrett’s hearing on October 13.

  78. 78.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 3, 2020 at 7:45 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Woah, I would say that Germany had no respect for democratic norms because it has never developed them in the little kingdoms and principalities that preceded the Empire or during the Empire.  I’d be interested in in seeing links showing that Weimar was imposed by the Entente and that it was with the intention of breaking up Germany.

  79. 79.

    NoraLenderbee

    October 3, 2020 at 7:46 pm

    Amy Bony Carrot.

  80. 80.

    Kattails

    October 3, 2020 at 7:51 pm

    Can’t keep track, has anyone noted a tweet from Gabriel Sherman (retweeted by Steve Schmidt) that Trump had heart palpitations on Friday, a possible negative side effect of the Regeneron treatment, and that his fever reached 103. Someone else is asking Where’s Javanka?

    well.  Dammit, I still need dinner. For all the times I’ve fed my cats you’d think they could bring me a snack at least. Oh wait…

  81. 81.

    sdhays

    October 3, 2020 at 7:55 pm

    @Hoppie: I’m taking to “Covid Amy”, myself.

  82. 82.

    different-church-lady

    October 3, 2020 at 7:55 pm

    @Kattails:

    …and that his fever reached 103

    Which would have gotten him sent home without income from every goddamned freelance job I’ve been able to eek out since this fucking Keyzer Soze of viruses showed up on the scene.

  83. 83.

    sanjeevs

    October 3, 2020 at 7:55 pm

    @Kattails: No one at this Whitehouse was protecting America anyway.

  84. 84.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 3, 2020 at 7:56 pm

    @sdhays: I like that one.

  85. 85.

    Jeffro

    October 3, 2020 at 7:56 pm

    @Kay: Yup.  Something like 80-85% of the American public is fine with wearing masks for however long it takes to get the virus under control, to the point where we can effectively test, trace, and isolate.

    But nope, the idiot rump FREEDUMB!!1! crowd just won’t have it, can’t be bothered.

  86. 86.

    lgerard

    October 3, 2020 at 7:57 pm

    @Kattails:

    Note this from Sherman’s article

    Trump waited to leave for the hospital until the stock market closed on Friday, a source said.

  87. 87.

    Jeffro

    October 3, 2020 at 8:00 pm

    @Kattails: the TCNJs have self-decapitated the government of the U.S. and the weird thing is, it’s the one they were already running(!)

    I know we joke about how they’re so bad and so dedicated that they kneecap themselves, but this is just about as extreme as it gets before we get into Heaven’s Gate territory.

  88. 88.

    A Ghost to Most

    October 3, 2020 at 8:00 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: He thought he could squeeze it in without ruffling too many feathers.

    That plan just went out the window. He’ll ram this through regardless now. Owning the SC, a 40 year journey for these assholes, justifies any means. Any.

  89. 89.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    October 3, 2020 at 8:00 pm

    Um, Texans? When is my brisket done? I’ve had it on the smoke since 10:15 this morning, and it is just at 160 degrees in the point.

    I’ve done baby back ribs, chicken, pulled pork in the past, but this is hard. I trimmed it, have been keeping the fire at 250-275 all damned day. I might be drunk, and have avoided hitting the edibles…

    Am also on Cigar#3.

  90. 90.

    zhena gogolia

    October 3, 2020 at 8:03 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    They were legendary, though. Barrett isn’t.

  91. 91.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    October 3, 2020 at 8:03 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I just saw that proof of life video. I think we have to wait and see how sick he is. I’m interested in what TaMara has to say, but I’ve heard it often gets worse at night.

  92. 92.

    Morzer

    October 3, 2020 at 8:04 pm

    I think we’ve reached peak Jacobin (the Tweet has now been deleted…):

    https://twitter.com/BadEconTakes/status/1312538056201625600/photo/1

  93. 93.

    A Ghost to Most

    October 3, 2020 at 8:05 pm

    Norman Ornstein
    @NormOrnstein
    I want to note that the quorum issue —that the Senate cannot do official business without a quorum of half its members—is a real one. Not that I think it would stop McConnell! But there is a larger point about playing hardball, in the face of a party regularly blowing up norms.
    2:07 PM · Oct 3, 2020

  94. 94.

    Kattails

    October 3, 2020 at 8:06 pm

    @lgerard: aha.  I’m desperately trying to get offline for a few minutes to start the wood stove and eat, so I just grabbed the quick twitter take.  Will need to go look at the article.  Thanks for that.

  95. 95.

    Steeplejack

    October 3, 2020 at 8:07 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Whoa, man!

  96. 96.

    sdhays

    October 3, 2020 at 8:09 pm

    So, even if Covid Amy isn’t the actual person who sprinkled COVID all over the guests at her coming out party, it almost certainly was one of the guests, right? It seems to me that considering the extent of the spread, it wasn’t someone who was quietly serving horderves, it must have been somebody talking and hugging people all over the place.

    I mean, it’s possible it was just “the help”, but the odds are surely against it, right?

  97. 97.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 3, 2020 at 8:09 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Using initials isn’t a hill upon which I am willing to die.  Feel free though.

    @Morzer: Wow.  Reminds me of the leftists who still supported Stalin into the ’50s.

  98. 98.

    zhena gogolia

    October 3, 2020 at 8:10 pm

    @Mousebumples:

    Or Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin.

    This whole thing is reminding me of living in Moscow in the early 90s.

  99. 99.

    JaySinWA

    October 3, 2020 at 8:10 pm

    @zhena gogolia: I heard that Supreme court clerks commonly refer to justices by their initials when talking amongst themselves. I hadn’t heard anyone refer to them publicly that way before RGB though.

  100. 100.

    WaterGirl

    October 3, 2020 at 8:12 pm

    @Steeplejack: It’s not the droplets that worry me as much as the air circulation.

    I do like looking back and remembering that Joe Biden deliberately  almost never faced Trump, at least that’s how it seemed to me when I was watching on Tuesday.

    I am furious that they let the lying cheating president in with no testing when they PROMISED that everyone would be tested.  I bet Joe is furious about the risk too JIll.

    I’ve got money that says Trump deliberately came late to avoid testing for all of them.  At the very least, they should have tested Trump and his entourage, even if the results weren’t available until the debate was over.  Not to have done that is stupid, stupid, stupid.

    I noticed she kept a mask on all the time, so that’s good.

  101. 101.

    WaterGirl

    October 3, 2020 at 8:13 pm

    @Mousebumples: I had a similar thought, right down to the pre-taping AND the reality show president.

  102. 102.

    Steeplejack

    October 3, 2020 at 8:13 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    You’e hit the “brisket stall.” Help here.

  103. 103.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 3, 2020 at 8:13 pm

    @Steeplejack: I am on the front line on this one.

  104. 104.

    WaterGirl

    October 3, 2020 at 8:16 pm

    @Mousebumples: I just did a strikethrough on Scott and made a notation on your post so you won’t have to answer this all night as people read through the post.

    I can undo that if you prefer.  Let me know.

  105. 105.

    Jeffro

    October 3, 2020 at 8:16 pm

    @sdhays: I started hearing this shit earlier today with my crazy-ass dad…”all these WH staff running around without masks”…as if trumpov himself hasn’t been ignoring the need for masks and distancing since, oh, MARCH.

    They really are going to blame it on any and every possible person but the Orange One Himself before he croaks in Walter Reed and/or goes down in flames next month.

  106. 106.

    Morzer

    October 3, 2020 at 8:17 pm

    @Kattails: Vanity Fair has Gabriel Sherman’s article on Plague Rat One’s COVID story:

    corrected link

    After spending months denying the dangers of COVID-19, Trump is expressing an emotion aides have rarely seen: fear. On Friday, Trump grew visibly anxious as his fever spiked to 103 fahrenheit and he was administered oxygen at the White House, according to three Republicans close to the White House. Two sources told me Trump experienced heart palpitations on Friday night—possible side effects of the experimental antibody treatment he received. Trump has wondered aloud if he could defeat the disease. “Am I going out like Stan Chera?” Trump has asked aides, referring to his friend, New York real-estate developer Stan Chera, who died of COVID in April.

  107. 107.

    schrodingers_cat

    October 3, 2020 at 8:19 pm

    @Cacti: I have been calling her that since yesterday. We don’t know when she had it and whether she was infectious during the ? garden event.

  108. 108.

    Suzanne

    October 3, 2020 at 8:21 pm

    Just saw that Johnson took his test, knowing he’d been exposed…. then went to an Oktoberfest fundraising event.

    These people.

    We have been living under what is essentially house arrest for months, at great personal cost, all in an effort to stop this thing. And they are taking this sacrifice and pissing all over it.

  109. 109.

    Steeplejack

    October 3, 2020 at 8:21 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    You’re in the front line of sounding like a Cheeto-stained gamer circa 2005. The rest is the death of copy editing.

    And you can always find a reference to almost anything pre-1900 because illiteracy and bad spelling were more prevalent then.

  110. 110.

    EmanG

    October 3, 2020 at 8:21 pm

    http://www.someguywithawebsite.com/lol/

    I feel this is pretty well said…

  111. 111.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    October 3, 2020 at 8:23 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Crap. I was afraid of that.

  112. 112.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 3, 2020 at 8:24 pm

    @Steeplejack: Fine, I’ll go with sounding like Ted “Theodore” Logan.  Happy now?

  113. 113.

    jl

    October 3, 2020 at 8:24 pm

    @WaterGirl:  Impossible to know since we don’t know the ventilation standards for the hall. If they turned up to exchange air faster than airline or hospital infectious disease ward, might put the aerosol risk low. But so much we don’t know, like how much interaction between GOP and Dem staff. Any close quarters conversations that were no recorded.

    I hope Biden has subbed out any staff that were there or had contact with any who were there. For continuity, those people can Zoom or call in from quarantine. The Biden should have their vital signs monitored and take follow-up tests every day or two for up to two weeks, so I guess a week from next Tuesday.

    That is the IMHO on it.

    Good that Biden tended not to look in Trump’s direction. But, I wonder if he would have done that even if no covid. Biden must have been tempted to the limit not to lose his cool. Looking at something in mid distance probably helped with that. Biden could have pretended the noise was coming from some random chair out in the audience.

  114. 114.

    mrmoshpotato

    October 3, 2020 at 8:27 pm

    @WaterGirl: Ahoy there!

    Tweets in posts aren’t showing up properly for me.  I just get the text and links like it was an embedded tweet in a comment.

    Running Android 9, and I’ve tried Duckduckgo, Firefox and Chrome.

  115. 115.

    Morzer

    October 3, 2020 at 8:28 pm

    https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1312462466983501824

    Trump’s Covid messaging:

    JAN: It’s under control

    FEB: It’s a hoax

    M: Packed churches by Easter

    APRIL: It’s going away

    MAY: Time to open up

    JUNE: Just embers

    JULY: Time to open schools

    AUG: Other countries are worse

    SEPT: Vaccines coming soon!

    OCT: *tweeting from the hospital*

  116. 116.

    Bill Arnold

    October 3, 2020 at 8:29 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    They traced an outbreak back to a point where one person touched the handle on a dumpster an infected person had just used, and they managed to isolate the entire infection chain.

    Is there a case study for that written up? Infection with SARS-CoV-2 via infected surfaces hos not yet been solidly documented, AFAIK.

  117. 117.

    Jack Canuck

    October 3, 2020 at 8:31 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: The Weimar Republic was not imposed by the Entente. The Kaiser abdicated on 9 November 1918, two days before the Armistice was signed (let alone Versailles in summer 1919), and the Provisional Government was led by the socialist SPD in a republican (i.e. non-monarchy) structure. The new constitution was drafted at Weimar starting in January/February 1919, and was officially adopted in August 1919.

    There were some ideas about breaking up Germany amongst the Entente leaders and diplomats, but they had nothing to do with the republican system that the country adopted internally, and they didn’t actually go anywhere – though the country did lose substantial territory in various spots, that was not part of an effort to ‘break up the country’.

  118. 118.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 3, 2020 at 8:32 pm

    @Jack Canuck: That is also my understanding of what happened.

  119. 119.

    Jack Canuck

    October 3, 2020 at 8:34 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I teach this stuff every year to Year 11 and 12 IB students! I’m spending time reading threads here right now instead of marking exam essays…

  120. 120.

    mrmoshpotato

    October 3, 2020 at 8:35 pm

    @EmanG: That’s excellent.  Thank you.

  121. 121.

    zhena gogolia

    October 3, 2020 at 8:38 pm

    @EmanG:

    I am one of 100 million Americans who has surrendered so much for the last six months to try to maintain the levees of the bullshit river, all while these guys were holding a fucking boat parade on it. They gave themselves a disease at the party they threw for the Supreme Court justice they’re going to ram through against the wishes of the American people.

    Meanwhile, I won’t see my family in person this Christmas. I haven’t hugged anyone since April. They have robbed us of our lives for six months. Of our jobs. Of our health. Of our families. Of our joy. And they are telling us not to laugh now? Are you kidding? I am vibrating so hard I cannot be detected by speed cameras.

    Beautiful.

  122. 122.

    tarragon

    October 3, 2020 at 8:38 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    Briskets going to stall at 160 for a long time.  It’s done at 205. https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/beef-and-bison-recipes/smoked-brisket-texas-style.

    You can speed it up with “The Texas Crutch” but you’re still hours out.

  123. 123.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 3, 2020 at 8:39 pm

    @Jack Canuck: You teach IB history?  Cool.  I went to an IB high school and was one of four who went full diploma; we were only the second year of full diploma candidates at the school.  I loved the IB History course.

  124. 124.

    Goku (Amerikan Baka)

    October 3, 2020 at 8:40 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    It is really fucking that hard for everyone to stop pretending Wiemar was some kind of Jeffersonian paradise before Hitler showed up. The reason there was no respect for democratic norms in Germany was because Democracy was imposed on upon German by the Entant with the publicly stated goal  of breaking Germany up

    Democracy was not imposed on Germany after WW1. There was a revolution in Germany as a result of it losing the war so badly

  125. 125.

    Jack Canuck

    October 3, 2020 at 8:43 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Yeah, been doing it for seven years or so now, really enjoy it. Except for the marking. Blech. Back to it now, I suppose, those essays won’t mark themselves.

  126. 126.

    James E Powell

    October 3, 2020 at 8:45 pm

    @Mousebumples:

    One advantage of being on the Left Coast is some of things have been fully worked out by the time I wake up.

  127. 127.

    MomSense

    October 3, 2020 at 8:50 pm

    Bought some really good cider from the farmers’ market today and just warmed it with cinnamon stick and star anise.

  128. 128.

    WaterGirl

    October 3, 2020 at 8:51 pm

    @Morzer: Your link wasn’t working (missing a letter at the end) so I added it.

    I also removed the raw link because it’s so long that it will mess up the formatting for phones and tablets.

  129. 129.

    Kay

    October 3, 2020 at 8:54 pm

    Top aides of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have asked federal law enforcement authorities to investigate allegations of improper influence, abuse of office, bribery and other potential crimes against the state’s top lawyer.
    In a one-page letter to the state agency’s director of human resources, obtained Saturday by the American-Statesman and KVUE-TV, seven executives in the upper tiers of the office said that they are seeking the investigation into Paxton “in his official capacity as the current Attorney General of Texas.”
    The Thursday letter said that each “has knowledge of facts relevant to these potential offenses and has provided statements concerning those facts to the appropriate law enforcement.”

    Co-chair of Lawyers for Trump, so the usual Trump quality.

    These are his own aides. His subordinates reported him.

  130. 130.

    WaterGirl

    October 3, 2020 at 8:55 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: Have you installed anything like Ghostery or done browser updates?  New or updated anything?

    I know Firefox defaults to some social media setting where it doesn’t show tweets.

  131. 131.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 3, 2020 at 8:59 pm

    @Kay: Weren’t they supposed to do that if they saw wrongdoing?

  132. 132.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    October 3, 2020 at 9:00 pm

    @tarragon:

    Only gonna stick with ribs/pulled pork in the future unless this brisket is otherworldly.

    This is insane.

  133. 133.

    mrmoshpotato

    October 3, 2020 at 9:00 pm

    @WaterGirl: Nope.  Haven’t updated any browsers recently.

    ETA – haven’t added any browser extensions either.

  134. 134.

    Lacuna Synechdoche

    October 3, 2020 at 9:00 pm

    @CCL:

    Like others here, I prefer to refer to her as Covid Amy …

    Or perhaps: Amy Covid Barrett?

  135. 135.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    October 3, 2020 at 9:02 pm

    I’ve wrapped it in foil now, jacked up the heat via charcoal and now useless (but expensive) applewood chunks and hit the bourbon bottle again.

  136. 136.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    October 3, 2020 at 9:03 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    If you are at the point of desperate measures, I recommend the “Texas crutch”—wrapping in foil.

    Article.

  137. 137.

    WaterGirl

    October 3, 2020 at 9:03 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: I assume you are on a phone?  Do you have a tablet or computer you could try for a minute to see if the same issue occurs there?

  138. 138.

    mrmoshpotato

    October 3, 2020 at 9:04 pm

    @WaterGirl: Yes.  Lemme boot up my laptop.

  139. 139.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    October 3, 2020 at 9:06 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    I just did. Breaks my heart – the bark was looking GLORIOUS. It’s gonna soften up so damned much.

  140. 140.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    October 3, 2020 at 9:07 pm

    Now I’m wondering if I screwed up by keeping it on the upper deck of the smoker – wondering if I should have kept it lower.

  141. 141.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    October 3, 2020 at 9:10 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    I see you have taken the desperate measures. It may not end up perfect, but it’ll probably still be good. Live and learn.

  142. 142.

    Morzer

    October 3, 2020 at 9:12 pm

    @WaterGirl: Thank’ee kindly, ma’am.

  143. 143.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    October 3, 2020 at 9:14 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    Next time, I put the bastard on at 6 am and wrap it at 6 pm.

  144. 144.

    Lapassionara

    October 3, 2020 at 9:15 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I hope the bourbon is for you.

  145. 145.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    October 3, 2020 at 9:15 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    This is why there are numerous websites with guys publishing Bell Labs-level research in brisketonomy.

  146. 146.

    mrmoshpotato

    October 3, 2020 at 9:19 pm

    @WaterGirl: Tweets in the posts show up properly on Windows 7/Firefox.

    Also, I’ve tried selecting Desktop Site in the browsers on my phone.  No dice.

     

    Mitch, please put a paper bag over your head too!

  147. 147.

    Another Scott

    October 3, 2020 at 9:20 pm

    STATNews:

    The information that could ease American minds, quash conspiracy theories, and slow a rapacious 24/7 news cycle around President Trump’s case of Covid-19 could fit in a few paragraphs that would not fill a single page, several doctors tell STAT.

    So why, they wonder, has none of that information been included in a 15-minute press briefing and three short memos released by the president’s physicians?

    “The fact that it is this vague and unclear at this moment is unacceptable,” said Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown School of Public Health. “Somebody knows, they should just level with the American people.”

    Instead, the press conference on Saturday featured evasion, limited information, and, afterward, a correction about a key, simple point: how long it has been since Trump was diagnosed with the disease. Also unclear: whether he got oxygen, and what his vital signs are. Without that information, it’s simply impossible to know how Trump is doing.

    […]

    They are a cult.

    Grr…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  148. 148.

    Another Scott

    October 3, 2020 at 9:21 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: I was seeing things like that earlier on my phone, but it seems Ok now.

    It might be something to do with Twitter’s servers/mirrors where you are (I’m in NoVA).

    Just a guess.

    Good luck.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  149. 149.

    mrmoshpotato

    October 3, 2020 at 9:23 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone): brisketonomy

    New Blue Oyster Cult song?

  150. 150.

    Mousebumples

    October 3, 2020 at 9:24 pm

    @WaterGirl: i appreciate the edits. ?

    In other news, I’m doing #PostcardsToVoters for the Ohio Supreme Court tonight. If any jackals get postcards from Wisconsin, let me know. ?

  151. 151.

    mrmoshpotato

    October 3, 2020 at 9:25 pm

    @Another Scott: Chicago

  152. 152.

    Uncle Cosmo

    October 3, 2020 at 9:29 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: The reason there was no respect for democratic norms in Germany was because Democracy was imposed on upon German by the Entant with the publicly stated goal of breaking Germany up.

    You are so full of shit it’s hard to know where to start. The Entente imposed nothing on Germany except the existence of a responsible government competent to sign a peace treaty. It was the German Army, specifically its evil genius Erich Ludendorff, that forced out first the Kaiser and then the provisional government under Prince Max of Bavaria to leave the Social Democrats holding the bag, so they could be blamed for signing the Versailles Diktat and justify the Dolchstosslegende, the fairytale in which the Reichsheer had never really been defeated in the Great War but instead had been forced to surrender because it was “stabbed in the back” by the socialists (read: Jews) at home.

  153. 153.

    WaterGirl

    October 3, 2020 at 9:29 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: Can you send me a screen capture from your phone?

    I assume it’s not just that the tweets are filling in late or you would have told me that.  I’m going to add a tweet in the comments – I’d like to know whether you can see that one properly.

  154. 154.

    WaterGirl

    October 3, 2020 at 9:32 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: Here’s a tweet, let me know what you see:

    Response to this video has been absolutely insane! Cannot thank everyone enough! 4.5 Million views on TikTok! #COVID19 #covid #corona pic.twitter.com/8i8F8ktJvD

    — Blake Pavey (@BlakePavey) July 30, 2020

  155. 155.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    October 3, 2020 at 9:34 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Not enough umlauts.

  156. 156.

    mrmoshpotato

    October 3, 2020 at 9:36 pm

    @WaterGirl: I just see the text of the tweet.

    I gotta email the screenshot, right?

  157. 157.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 3, 2020 at 9:36 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone): There never are.

  158. 158.

    WaterGirl

    October 3, 2020 at 9:38 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: Yep.  Unless it looks just like a tweet would look if YOU put it in the comments.  If that’s the case, then you can just confirm that and you don’t need to send the screen cap.

  159. 159.

    mrmoshpotato

    October 3, 2020 at 9:38 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone): Mmmmm omelettes.

  160. 160.

    mrmoshpotato

    October 3, 2020 at 9:40 pm

    @WaterGirl: Yes, it looks like a tweet that one of us jackals would put in the comments.

    Like this!

    I don't think this costume is doing what you think it's doing, @Chewy. Or maybe it's doing exactly what you think it's doing. pic.twitter.com/eaUouhgY8N— The Rude Pundit (@rudepundit) October 2, 2020

  161. 161.

    tarragon

    October 3, 2020 at 9:48 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I start mine before I go to sleep the night before…

  162. 162.

    Nutmeg again

    October 3, 2020 at 9:49 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Every time I see her, or her name, I think of Gollum. “You’ll make him sick, you will, behaving like that.  There’s only ONE way to eat a brace of coneys.”

  163. 163.

    mrmoshpotato

    October 3, 2020 at 9:53 pm

    @tarragon: Mmmmmm breakfast brisket!

  164. 164.

    dirge

    October 3, 2020 at 9:57 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: jacked up the heat

    That can work, but under no circumstances allow your brisket much above 205 or it’ll be good for nothing but making chili (epic chili for sure, but obviously not the desired outcome).  203 is your target.  Get the smoker cooling back down to reasonable temp by the time it crosses 195.

  165. 165.

    tarragon

    October 3, 2020 at 9:59 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: Mmmmmm breakfast brisket!

    Actually that’s the point.  Start it before going to bed for dinner the next day.

  166. 166.

    Sm*t Cl*de

    October 3, 2020 at 10:04 pm

    @Bill Arnold:

     

    Details here.

    https://www.health.govt.nz/news-media/media-releases/no-new-cases-covid-19-50

    While we cannot be certain, our hypothesis is that the virus may have been transmitted to a person (the 23 September result) via the surface of a rubbish bin which was used by another returnee who was likely infectious at the facility (a case from 9 September). This returnee tested positive on day 12 of their stay in managed isolation, however they were likely infectious a few days before testing positive. They tested negative on their day 3 test as they were likely still incubating the virus.

    Public health officials and staff at the Christchurch facility have conducted an extensive investigation, including viewing CCTV footage.

    A rubbish bin has been identified as a common factor.

    This is not dissimilar to the case at the Rydges in Auckland where we believe a maintenance worker may have picked the virus up from a pressing a button on a lift shortly after someone with COVID-19 used it.

    It goes to show how tricky the virus can be and that it can be transmitted via surfaces.

  167. 167.

    Bill Arnold

    October 3, 2020 at 10:07 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:

    FWIW I also just see just tweet text including on the front page posts, both Firefox and Chrome (both over a VPN), both browsers heavy with privacy plugins; both are using Privacy Badger and uBlock Origin.

    If i click on the tweet I see it.

  168. 168.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    October 3, 2020 at 10:10 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I always thought umlaut should have an umlaut. Doesn’t seem right not to.

  169. 169.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    October 3, 2020 at 10:10 pm

    @Another Scott:

    Trump has surrounded himself with people who have utter contempt for facts and for truth.  From top to bottom, everyone who works in this White House is scum. We need to rid ourselves of these assholes in November. Hopefully, the NY Attorney General or the Manhattan District Attorney can build an airtight case against Trump for tax evasion or some other crime and this bastard ends up in prison.

  170. 170.

    WaterGirl

    October 3, 2020 at 10:12 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: Got it!

    Can you let me know tomorrow whether it’s still doing it or if it has resolved itself?

    Cheryl Rofer had something like that happen for maybe an hour or so a few weeks ago, and it righted itself.

    So let’s see what this one does.  Let me know tomorrow?

  171. 171.

    Ken

    October 3, 2020 at 10:12 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Weren’t they supposed to [report their boss, the Texas AG] if they saw wrongdoing?

    That’s such pre-Trump thinking.

  172. 172.

    Bill Arnold

    October 3, 2020 at 10:14 pm

    @Sm*t Cl*de:
    Thank you. Interesting. I wonder how complete the CCTV surveillance was, but they apparently did a good faith investigation. The “button on a lift” case could have been shared exhaled air, from the description. I don’t know if the rubbish bin was inside and the time between the two people, so it might have been shared air with lingering virus laden particles too, if inside.

  173. 173.

    mrmoshpotato

    October 3, 2020 at 10:15 pm

    @WaterGirl: Sure thing!  Thank you!

  174. 174.

    EmanG

    October 3, 2020 at 10:16 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: I thought y’all might like that ;)

  175. 175.

    mrmoshpotato

    October 3, 2020 at 10:16 pm

    @Bill Arnold: I can see the tweet correctly if I click on it too, but that’s madness for tweet-heavy posts like the COVID update. :)

  176. 176.

    Bill Arnold

    October 3, 2020 at 10:18 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Cheryl Rofer had something like that happen for maybe an hour or so a few weeks ago, and it righted itself.

    When I use a VPN, sometimes when I look at a twitter feed, images are replaced with blank placeholders. I assume that twitter is rate limiting because too many people are using the shared VPN endpoint IP address, but not sure. This is not the same as the text-only embedded tweets effect, though.

  177. 177.

    EmanG

    October 3, 2020 at 10:18 pm

    @zhena gogolia: I thought y’all might like that ;)

  178. 178.

    TriassicSands

    October 3, 2020 at 10:20 pm

    Typhoid Mary meet COVID Amy.

  179. 179.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    October 3, 2020 at 10:21 pm

    Fuck Bob Woodward.  How does this guy sleep or look himself in the mirror?

    Isaac Chotiner @IChotiner

    Oct 2

    Bob Woodward just said on CNN that the media is too focused on getting the story of what’s going on with Trump’s health, and that the focus should be on wishing him well and treating him medically.

    Isaac Chotiner @IChotiner

    Oct 2

    “It’d be nice to have briefings & know all kinds of things. I think we can put that on the back shelf for a few mins…If u or I were in that situation, you’d want the energy to go to [medical treatment], & not being overly concerned w/ briefing the media & public.”—Bob Woodward

     

    h/t https://twitter.com/ichotiner/status/1312152304871645185

  180. 180.

    NotMax

    October 3, 2020 at 10:28 pm

    @Steeplejack

    Just started watching a Czech film from 1970. Received my monthly quota of diacritical marks from the opening titles alone.

    ;)

  181. 181.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    October 3, 2020 at 10:28 pm

    Kudos to Jaime Harrison for his resourcefulness and fuck that execrable pissant Lindsay Graham.

    Jaime Harrison brought his own plexiglas divider to his Senate debate with Lindsay Graham.

    h/t https://twitter.com/amysrosenberg/status/1312546192669265922/photo/1

  182. 182.

    Almost Retired

    October 3, 2020 at 10:37 pm

    @Wyatt Salamanca:  Plexiglass divider or cootie shield?

  183. 183.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    October 3, 2020 at 10:40 pm

    Trump’s video; he does sound hoarse, but that might the room he is in acoustics. He did sound weasy and looks really old and haggard.

  184. 184.

    Bill Arnold

    October 3, 2020 at 10:40 pm

    @Wyatt Salamanca:

    Jaime Harrison brought his own plexiglas divider to his Senate debate with Lindsay Graham.

    That’s beautiful. Treating Graham like the member of the Plague Party that he is.

  185. 185.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    October 3, 2020 at 10:43 pm

    @Wyatt Salamanca: Yes, fuck Woodward for harshing out theater of cruelty. I think we should be demanding Trump tell the doctors to go blow and hold more fund raisers with many prominent Republicans as proof he is well.

  186. 186.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    October 3, 2020 at 10:44 pm

    @NotMax:

    Bank ’em! Never know when you’ll need them.

    Also, help me make “Czechia” a thing. Now official and legit. We (mostly) did “Kyiv.” We can do this.

  187. 187.

    Mai Naem mobile

    October 3, 2020 at 10:49 pm

    @Suzanne: well, Johnson did go to a GOP event. If the Wisconsin GOP Supreme Court judges were at the event and he gave them long affectionate hugs, I will consider him a helper. Mr Rogers did say to look for the helpers.

  188. 188.

    NotMax

    October 3, 2020 at 11:05 pm

    @Steeplejack

    Czechia?

    You cancelled the Czech?

    ;)

  189. 189.

    Sm*t Cl*de

    October 3, 2020 at 11:10 pm

    @NotMax:

    Just started watching a Czech film from 1970. Received my monthly quota of diacritical marks from the opening titles alone.

    Let the record show that the name for the main Czech diacritical, ‘haček‘, does indeed include a haček mark. One of many reasons why Czech > German.

  190. 190.

    mrmoshpotato

    October 3, 2020 at 11:12 pm

    @Wyatt Salamanca: “It’d be nice to have briefings & know all kinds of things.”

    Yes it would be nice Bobby because we want to know if we’ll be able to imprison the Soviet shitpile mobster conman after he loses to Biden!

  191. 191.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    October 3, 2020 at 11:22 pm

    @Sm*t Cl*de:

    I like them more already!

  192. 192.

    SFAW

    October 4, 2020 at 12:44 am

    @NotMax:

    Received my monthly quota of diacritical marks from the opening titles alone.

    So you’re saying the film was a dia-critical success?

  193. 193.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    October 4, 2020 at 3:00 am

    @SFAW:

    Well played.

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