Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

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

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

Come on, man.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

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

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Consistently wrong since 2002

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

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

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

He really is that stupid.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

“Squeaker” McCarthy

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

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Speaking of Pet Photos (Open Thread)

Speaking of Pet Photos (Open Thread)

by | 192 Comments

This post is in: 

As promised, here’s a photo of Badger in his winter wear:

Speaking of Pet Photos (Open Thread)

It’s 43 degrees F right now, which is sweater weather for the Boston-by-way-of-Miramar terrier. I posted a similar pic on Twitter with the following caption: “I am Badger La Boeuf McMurtry, humiliated descendent of wolves, and I will have my vengeance in this life or the next.”

But the truth is, he seems okay with the sweater since it’s cold. Before I let him outside, I asked him to sit, which he did, and he did not try to wriggle away as I put the sweater on him. Our old Daisy seems disgusted by the whole thing. There’s no way she’d sit still for a sweater! But she’s got a layer of blubber that her younger companion lacks.

In political news, the madman whose lease on the White House is expiring in 50 days retweeted notable election expert “@catturd2” on Twitter. Multiple times.

Speaking of Pet Photos (Open Thread) 1

I look forward to having a president who doesn’t retweet Twitter accounts named after turds (and isn’t himself a gross, stinky lump of feces). Just 50 days. We can make it, right?

Open thread!

 

Reader Interactions

192Comments

  2. 2.

    dmsilev

    I guess it’s true about sequels rarely living up to their predecessors; catturd2 is a pale imitation of the original catturd.

  6. 6.

    MattF

    Trump, Giuliani, ‘mountain of evidence’, and catturd2 in the same tweet. And yet, people complain about Twitter.

  8. 8.

    geg6

    OMG, Badger is too adorable for words.

    Here in Western PA, we are having our first snow storm of the year.  By end of day, they expect 3-5 inches, so not that big of one.  Definitely ushering in winter here though.  Guess I’ll change the wreath on the front door to the Christmas one and set the small artificial tree in the bay window and turn on the lights.  That’s my extent of holiday decorating, though I may feel up to actually putting ornaments on the tree this year.  I am also considering gifting my mother’s Lenox nativity scene to my younger niece.  I don’t put it out anymore and she’ll really appreciate it.  She has many fewer of my mother’s things than her older cousin does and really feels that lack.  I think it will make her happy.

    And the catturd2 thing is just insane.

  9. 9.

    Kristine

    Counting the days.

    So, I guess someone needs to explain to catturd2 et al the difference between “evidence” and facts that pass muster in a court of law. Not that they’d care. Anything that emerges from an orifice of one of their chosen is golden. Just like the toilets they drop into.

    I have so had it with Trump. I read that so far he’s raised $110 million to fight the election battles. That’s only about 10% what he owes, so he has a way to go. So much grifting, so little time

    Badger looks very spiff.

  10. 10.

    D Gardner

    Fascinating that there was a “catturd” or “catturd1” user, so this clever person had to go for the sequel.

  13. 13.

    Betty Cracker

    One thing I’m enjoying about the cold snap: the lack of humidity defrizzes my hair. But the downside is it also reveals what a crap job my husband did of cutting it! I’ve got all these random longer strands…  :)

  14. 14.

    Nicole

    @geg6: My sister-in-law, just outside P’burgh, posted photos of the snow.  So pretty!

    We just got lots of rain here in NYC yesterday.

    I plugged in a 12-inch ceramic light-up tree that belonged to my grandparents.  I think that may be the limit of my decorating this year.  Man, I love 1950s-1960s plug-in things with the dial on-off switch in the middle of the  cord.

  16. 16.

    Jeffro

    I’m having trouble processing just how insane this all is/has been/continues to be.

    The president* is rage-retweeting “catturd” and calling for various GOP governors to ‘cancel the election’…four weeks after the election.  Meanwhile, America is busy shopping its brains out online and/or inhaling Covid at astounding rates.

    I dunno…as a species, we are not exactly overachieving these days…

  19. 19.

    TaMara (HFG)

    @Betty Cracker: Okay, that made me laugh.

    My friend/business partner found a great hairstylist (and since in her younger days, she, herself was a hairstylist, the bar is high) and shared the contact information just in time for us to go back into to “stay at home” mode.  So I’m about at shaggy dog.

    Badger is adorable in his stylish little knit.

  20. 20.

    Yarrow

    Reposting again here since I didn’t see this new thread:
    I miss Kay. Has she commented since that post where people were pie-ing her? I think WaterGirl said she contacted her but I don’t know if she heard back.

  25. 25.

    Betty Cracker

    @Yarrow: Wait, what? I missed that. Kay is one of the most level-headed, incisive and sensible people on this blog. Can’t imagine why anyone would pie her…

  26. 26.

    Nicole

    @TaMara (HFG): I just got all of mine cut off last week in anticipation of another lockdown.  I brought in a picture of what  I wanted to my stylist, who took one look and said, “No.”  Ha!  So I said, fine, just do what you think best, as long as it’s short enough I don’t have to fret about getting another haircut until summer.  She did good; it’s cute.

  29. 29.

    Nicole

    @Yarrow:

    @Betty Cracker:

    I missed it, too.  She’s one of my favorite commenters.  I hope everything is okay and she’s just busy.

    (Also Badger is super cute in his sweater, Betty.  I saw him on Twitter this AM and it was a nice way to start the day).

  32. 32.

    zhena gogolia

    Thank you! Badger is the handsomest! My husband said, “It goes perfectly with his fur!”

  33. 33.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Betty Cracker: there was a kerfuffle, and a lot of vitriol directed at her opinion that the Democratic Party or some related entity should have helped the Michigan voters whose ballots were challenged.

    The vitriol was mild, though, perhaps for the reasons that you cite about her posts. She is widely respected and liked among the jackaltariat (spelling? Not in my dictionary…yet!) and I, a poster who is neither respected nor liked, love to read her posts.  Always insightful and we stated.

  35. 35.

    rikyrah

    @Yarrow:

     

    Not Kay.

     

    I just thought she was enjoying the holidays. I think she had to be tested before her daughter would let her near the grandbaby.

    Come back, Kay

  36. 36.

    BR

    @Betty Cracker:

    People were being unfair to Kay maybe a week back.  She was rightly making the point that Dems need to take local organizing seriously and need to make their presence and connection to local communities felt.  (Something like that.)

  38. 38.

    Kathleen

    @laura: His nibs! My grandma used to say that so thank you for that gentle memory. Also loved your post yesterday about your vision of the country you wanted. Great stuff.

  39. 39.

    Eunicecycle

    @Yarrow: yes I would love Kay’s take on an idiot R member of our legislature in Ohio filing articles of impeachment against our R governor. In extremely hysterical language. Because of Covid restrictions.

  41. 41.

    zhena gogolia

    @Betty Cracker:

    I’m just a bystander on this, but my impression was that her anger and dire predictions were upsetting people already suffering with anxiety, so they said they felt they had to pie her despite their great respect for her, just because her comments were causing unbearable anxiety.

  45. 45.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Question about the Georgia runoff.

    I may have completely misunderstood, but don’t Loeffler’s and Perdue’s terms end on January 3 when the new Congress is sworn in? So is GA without senators until whenever the runoff is decided?

  46. 46.

    Kathleen

    @Eunicecycle: That coupled with Rethug passing legislation to prevent DeWine from enacting any restrictive measures and FREEDUMMZ.  I really have to admire him for his continued efforts to be responsible.

  49. 49.

    scav

    @zhena gogolia: I also think 2020 had also gotten to her and she wasn’t expressing her point well. I wasn’t around for any full on vitriol I think but did see people disagreeing with her, with some valid points too.  Everyone is beyond frazzled.

  51. 51.

    piratedan

    @BR:  pretty sure that she was upset that there wasn’t a more visible grass-roots uprising from all locally invested pols in decrying what was going on, how the issue isn’t just the GOP screwing about at the national level and its impacts but how this fucks over everyone who put themselves on a ballot and was involved in the process.

    Which is entirely valid, but I also recognize that when it comes to the 4th estate, those said same folks could have been setting themselves on fire and the media could have just as easily ignored them because of how they’re wired. I understand her frustration and share it but I seemingly can’t make the people who report on the “news” share my opinion on what actually Is the news and determine what the focus should be.

  52. 52.

    jonas

    @Kristine:   I read that so far he’s raised $110 million to fight the election battles

    JFC Americans are easy marks. I wonder how many of them were really torn between sending money to Trump, versus the Gulfstream fleet-owning shitweasel televangelist who normally fleeces them.

  56. 56.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Yarrow: Sorry to hear that anyone would pie Kay for any reason. Hope she’s doing okay. She had a lot of interesting analyses of Ohio politics.

  57. 57.

    raven

    @zhena gogolia: It’s always hard. There are so many little things like you never realize how often someone says “A little bit” until it remolds you of her. Then getting out coats and jackets has me finding the special little treats she had to have because of her many conditions.  And the there is the Facebook “memories” function. Today is a picture of us and friends at the beach seven years ago and it’s one of the best pictures of her that exists. I’m getting to the smile across my lips before a tear comes to my eye slowly but surely.

  61. 61.

    Goku (Amerikan Baka)

    @Eunicecycle:

    @Kathleen:

    I still don’t understand what these people are thinking. Aren’t the state’s hospitals, the American Medical Association/Nurses Association, screaming at them through their lobbyists? I just saw that two local hospitals where I live are approaching capacity because of COVID-19 and these fucks want to do away with pandemic restrictions because Freedumb

  64. 64.

    cope

    We took in a shelter dog who came here to Central Florida from St. Croix this past weekend.  She is a terrier mix and her coat is less than lush so she is not enjoying this cold spell either.  Jesse is our first small dog after almost 40 years of big dogs.  There is a learning curve for us but it is not too steeply inclined.

  67. 67.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Michael S. Schmidt @nytmike · 1h
    BREAKING: Trump and Rudy Giuliani have been talking about a pardon for Giuliani. Discussions happened as recently as last week and came as Giuliani has become the most vocal and visible Trump ally pushing specious claims of election fraud. w/@maggieNYT https://nytimes.com/live/2020/12/01/us/joe-biden-trump/giuliani-is-said-to-have-discussed-a-possible-pardon-with-trump

  68. 68.

    Goku (Amerikan Baka)

    @Spanky:

    I mean, sure, but medical facilities are usually major employers with a lot of money/clout behind them too. And if the healthcare system collapses then a lot of people will die, even non-Covid patients

  76. 76.

    zhena gogolia

    Wow, this David Levine drawing of Trump from 1988 is amazingly prescient.

    'The Apprentice' fooled viewers [including me] into thinking you were a successful businessman, but by that time you'd already experienced a series of bigly financial setbacks.David Levine, Original art, Donald Trump, 1988. He knew you were back then.Expand #DiaperDon pic.twitter.com/A6v8tJa7xZ— Sally Deal ?? Pro-Science/Media Sources Matter (@SallyDeal4) November 30, 2020

  77. 77.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @JPL: I’d bet twenty bucks that he will insist on including “witch hunt” in the text of the pardon. Only twenty, though, cause they might be able to convince him it doesn’t have the rhetorical heft of the “wherefore” and “hereby” kind of words he thinks are classy like glided mirrors.

  78. 78.

    Goku (Amerikan Baka)

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Yeah. What has the Ghoul done that he needs a pardon for? And a pardon can only be for crimes that a person has already been convicted of, not future ones he might be

  80. 80.

    p.a.

    Certainly hope Kay is just holiday-busy, always thought her takes were insightful.  This 4 year shitstorm capping off w covid has everyone off kilter.

  82. 82.

    CaseyL

    Badger looks very British in his threads. Adorable!

    I see dogs in coats pretty frequently, and also booties on dogs who are out frequently in icy snow (it can cut their pads).  Seldom see woolly hats, though.  You’d think their heads would get cold – but I guess the logistics of creating a warm hat that stays on, goes around the ears, and doesn’t risk being too tight around the neck is a tad complicated.

  84. 84.

    zhena gogolia

    BTW, I finally picked up Mary Trump’s book last night and started reading it. It is gripping! I thought I couldn’t stomach reading any more about DJT, but she is a very insightful writer. I’m hoping it doesn’t end up making me have sympathy for him. But as a window into a truly horrible family, it is akin to passages in great works of literature.

  85. 85.

    Jeffro

    @Goku (Amerikan Baka): We’ve explored every other bit of full-on insanity from this maladministration (with corresponding enabling of same from the GOP) – why not pre-emptive, blanket pardons for the family, friends, and criminal associates of the outgoing president*?

    It’s unbelievable.

    “Well, he had to do it, or those horrible Democrats would just keep investigating him for the crimes he committed ahem “policy decisions” while in office, and um also before he was in office.”

  86. 86.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Jake Sherman @JakeSherman
    Good morning — PLAYBOOK this AM THERE HAS BEEN DISCUSSION in the W.H. of excluding the following Hill Republicans from the W.H. Christmas party this year:@SenatorCollins , @MittRomney @lisamurkowskiand @BenSasse and Reps. @RepKinzinger (Ill.) and @Liz_Cheney CHENEY (Wyo.).

    Every one of these people, with an asterisk for Romney’s impeachment vote, repeatedly violated their oaths to the Constitution– made with their hands on a Bible, no doubt– to protect Donald Trump

    We’re told this has been reversed — that they may get an invite — but this has dominated West Wing chatter in the last few days.

    Days when the national death toll from Covid was at or near 2,000/day, and infection rates were spreading like wildfire.

  87. 87.

    Mike in NC

    Rudy will forever be remembered for appearing in a Borat movie as a dirty old man with his hand down his pants as he awaits a hookup with a teen prostitute in a hotel room. How fitting that he was Trump’s “personal lawyer”.

  89. 89.

    Punchy

    And a pardon can only be for crimes that a person has already been convicted of, not future ones he might be

    Haha!  This is sooooooo October 2020 thinking!  At this point, it’s not a matter of IF he’ll issue himself a pardon, it will be whether it will apply to past transgressions or BOTH past and future crimes.   I’ll bet a sawbuck it’s for the latter, and at least 3 SCOTUSers will vote in the affirmative.

  90. 90.

    scav

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Oooooo, and all the cool kids in middle-school are alllllll aflutter about just who is and who isn’t invited to the party and Why and did you see his mascara? and you won’t believe who snogged who under the bleachers!

    Thus administration and the culture that begat it.

  91. 91.

    Miss Bianca

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: A pardon for Giuliani? Wait, is this an admission that Rudy may actually have done some crimin’ for his boss? Say it ain’t so!!

    ETA: I see that others have speculated before me. Is it irresponsible of us to speculate? Or is it irresponsible not to?

  92. 92.

    Barbara

    @Goku (Amerikan Baka): One thing you learn if you work on the business side of the health industry as I do, is that the perception of many people is stuck somewhere around 1970, whereas the reality has zoomed through generations of business and legal developments.  The mismatch of perception versus reality usually emerges when a local provider decides to shut its doors forever because it can no longer pay its employees.  People are dumbstruck.

    There should be NO MYSTERY why this is, and among other things, the happy ignorance prevents the development of alternative rational models that would allow rural health care providers to survive more systematically to provide emergency or required local primary services through alternative types of arrangements (e.g., sophisticated mobile units that don’t necessarily require transport to a facility to receive reimbursement), and so on.  But no, we just keep carrying forward that nostalgia about rural providers doing miracles on a shoestring or less.  Even as we expect more — one reason people often overlook for the decline of rural facilities is that even people living in rural areas are willing to travel further if they think they can get higher quality elsewhere.  And of course, there is the refusal to accept Medicaid expansion dollars, which all by itself has probably resulted in facility closures.

  93. 93.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Spanky: Good thing you don’t want to know what I do when I’m there.

    Thing is, what Rudy does when he’s in Kyiv may be skeezy as hell, and the people he hangs with are as crooked as a 3-dollar bill, but I’m not confident what is subject to US Federal jurisdiction. FARA violations? IANAL, so I’m really in the dark.

  94. 94.

    Miss Bianca

    @zhena gogolia: I have started reading my own Trump-psychoanalysis book, Authoritarian Nightmare by John Dean and Robert Altemeyer, of The Authoritarians fame. I can only take a couple pages at a time (it’s my bathroom book – don’t ask!), but it is gripping reading.

  95. 95.

    Ken

    Maybe the text of Rudy’s pardon will give some clue as to the crimes.  Like, “for any and all financial transactions involving the government of Ukraine.”  Or “for any and all crimes associated with the sixteen dead prostitutes whose left ring fingers are in Mr. Giuliani’s freezer.”

  96. 96.

    WaterGirl

    @Yarrow: I wrote to Kay last week and she replied; i was just waiting for a good time to update.

    Kay is stepping back for a bit – she feels she is in different place from where some other people are, and it’s not constructive to have those conversations when everyone is so stressed.

    She’s not mad or upset and I don’t at all get the feeling that Kay is gone for good.

  99. 99.

    Betty Cracker

    @zhena gogolia: I hope someday she writes a best-selling sequel called “Downfall” that describes her cousins turning on each other with screeching fury as their brand becomes increasingly toxic and the debt comes due.

  100. 100.

    CaseyL

    Hey everyone – if you’re interested, Joe Biden is scheduled to announce his economic team in a few minutes.  It’s on YouTube.

  102. 102.

    Benw

    @Goku (Amerikan Baka): I’m bored so I looked up the Federal pardons wiki. As you say, normally “the crime must have been committed” is part of the definition, and accepting a pardon is kinda sorta an admission of guilt. Some people have refused a pardon for this reason! Also, normal pardons aren’t even requested (regular crooks have to ask for one) until 5 years after the *sentence* has been completed! They’re mostly intended to be an expression of ceremonial forgiveness, not a get out of jail free card. I think the disastrous pardon for Nixon gave a lot of people (including me) a very wrong idea of pardons!

    Also, too, as part of the president’s pardon powers, he can grant a remission of fines. If Trump had half a brain, he’d include a blanket remission of all past and future fines, like the $70M one the IRS is about to nail him with, in his blanket pardon-tweet!

  103. 103.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Do you like Duelingo in general? I’ve been thinking of scrubbing the rust off my thirty year old German lessons in preparation for a post-Covid travel binge. Or trying to dredge that one semester of Italian from dark recesses of my brain

  104. 104.

    JoyceH

    @Spanky:

    “WHO IS CATTURD NUMBER ONE!!!”

    /Patrick McGoohan voice

    The fact that you posted this and the fact that I got it… that means we’re pretty old, doesn’t it?

    (I’m not sure about anything today – I’ve got guys here replacing my decrepit old front steps, and the front door is cracked so they can get to an electrical outlet, so I put Jazzy in her crate. What with the drilling sounds coming from the front of the house and the dog whining coming from the back of the house, concentration is sub-optimal.)

  106. 106.

    JoyceH

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I was faced with having to write.

    If you’re looking for an excuse to procrastinate, you could always post about an already published book over on John Scalzi’s blog – he’s doing his annual gift-giving guide. Today is non-trad-pub:

    https://whatever.scalzi.com/2020/12/01/whatever-holiday-gift-guide-2020-day-two-non-traditionally-published-books/#comments

    (Unless you’re traditionally published, then go post on yesterday’s thread.)

  107. 107.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    @Kristine: That’s one of the biggest traps the right wing uses. Rudy hasn’t presented *any* evidence. You should never accept the premise of a statement made by people who argue in bad faith; they *want* you to think there’s evidence, they want you to think that the not-entirely-informed might have seen evidence.

    Rudy the Goof has made wild assertions, pointed to things that might be suspicious, and, as you mention, failed to bring up any damning facts.

    It’s like, imagine this fellow with an important dad was hired by a company. His dad pushes to fire a prosecutor, so a new prosecutor can investigate the company the fellow started working for. Is this “evidence” of wrongdoing? No. *Could* it be evidence of wrongdoing? No. It might be part of a chain of evidence showing that he had a motive or means, but only if there’s actual wrongdoing that can be pointed to.

    Something real, not something like “he was helping out a hedge fund, which got a big investment, which hedge funds do; that’s kind of why they’re hedge funds.”

    Never let right wingers pollute the language and the brainscape by gilding their turds in fancy plumage, much like the Norwegian Blue. Rudy has blustered and babbled and acted like Trump (when Trump has to work – so, lots of complaining and whining). But not only has he provided no facts, he also hasn’t provided evidence.

  109. 109.

    Betty Cracker

    Badger sweater update: my husband took the day off, and out of the blue, he alleged that Badger is depressed because of the sweater. He (Badger) was laying around on the couch with a glum expression, but he lays around all the time, and he has a resting glum face due to morphology. Anyway, I took the sweater off, and Badger ran around the house like a madman, so now my husband is convinced Badger finds the sweater oppressive. [rolling eyes emoji]

  110. 110.

    Gravenstone

    @WaterGirl: She’s stepped back before when tensions flared. Everyone should just give her the space she wants and let time do what it will. As others have noted, we’re all plenty stressed with life these days and somethings things get fraught.

  111. 111.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @geg6: Here in Western PA, we are having our first snow storm of the year.

    *Looks out at Eastern PA mud from yesterday’s rain*

    *Looks at weather forecast in the 40s-50s next couple weeks*

    *Heavy sigh*

    I’m still a kid where snow is concerned. I need to see it in winter. They used to tell me I wouldn’t love it so much when I grew up and had to shovel it or drive in it, but they were wrong.

    I don’t even do winter sports. I just like snow.

  115. 115.

    sab

    Last Spring I threw out the cocker spaniel’s sweater after he rolled in burdock burrs while wearing it (while on a leash held by my husband grrr.)

    I halfway knit a new sweater. A couple of inches of snow today and he won’t go down the steps into the backyard without a sweater.

    I better get clicking and finish the replacement.

  116. 116.

    Ken

    @JoyceH: The fact that you posted this and the fact that I got it… that means we’re pretty old, doesn’t it?

    Not necessarily.  I first saw it in the 1990s, in reruns.  It’s probably in reruns right now, somewhere on the thousands of cable and streaming channels.

  117. 117.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers was fidelio

    @Goku (Amerikan Baka): The people who fight this the hardest cannot imagine the consequences. They take access to healthcare, and adequacy of healthcare for granted. They take the system that provides hospital beds, laboratory testing, special tests and therapies, the whole complex of what’s needed for surgery, medical supplies, special equipment—every blessed thing you can imagine—entirely for granted. Not having it is unimaginable to them. They can’t believe it won’t be there if they need it for any reason.

  118. 118.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @LongHairedWeirdo: But not only has he provided no facts, he also hasn’t provided evidence.

    Haven’t judges been blasting him for not even having allegations of something wrong, let alone evidence for them?

  120. 120.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    @Goku (Amerikan Baka): That’s not correct. There’s some misreporting regarding this, but a pardon can be granted prior to indictment – for example, Ford’s pardon of Nixon.

    I’m not sure I quite understand how people say that accepting a pardon is like pleading guilty, given this fact, but, as I said, there’s misreporting over pardon power.

  121. 121.

    Matt McIrvin

    @LongHairedWeirdo:

    Rudy the Goof has made wild assertions, pointed to things that might be suspicious, and, as you mention, failed to bring up any damning facts.

    The pattern is to insist in press events and tweets, where they are not under oath, that they’ve got slam-dunk evidence of millions of fraudulent votes, then when they actually get in court, present nothing coherent and back off from even asserting fraud at all under the slightest pushback. Then insist publicly that the courts and the state governments are all corrupted against them, and repeat.

  124. 124.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    @Benw: He can probably forgive fines, but not taxes and interest due. As I understand it, the IRS is auditing him over a claimed tax credit, and if the audit doesn’t go his way, the credit must be repaid, since it’s taxes owed.

    He could prevent himself from being in legal jeopardy, but he couldn’t avoid paying the back taxes.

  125. 125.

    Matt McIrvin

    @LongHairedWeirdo: Ford’s pardon of Nixon was for crimes that he may not have been indicted for, but that had putatively already happened. Can you pardon someone for something they haven’t even done yet? That seems more like a license to commit crimes than a pardon.

  126. 126.

    Bex

    @zhena gogolia: Mary Trump will have a new book out in July 2021 called The Reckoning.  It “will examine America’s national trauma rooted in our history, but exacerbated by the impact of current events and the Trump administration’s corrupt and immoral policies.”

  127. 127.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Ken:

    The Prisoner is on the Folk network now, late at night on Friday or Saturday. And I am sure you can stream it somewhere.

  129. 129.

    laura

    @Kathleen: Thank you Kathleen- my Grama and my mom both used “his nibs” on an occasion when they were tickled with one of their many darling boys – and so keeping their memories alive.

    To Yarrow and Steve in the ATL – you were missed when you went walk about, just as Mnem is missed and now Kay. The Kay kerfuffle was painful – everyone was overly tired. The thread turned nasty over extreme hair splitting and much fur was rubbed the wrong way. Kay is a very thoughtful, insightful woman who’s comments illuminate politics, the law and “stuff.” I hope she returns soon.

    Yarrow – I missed your Tick Tock Motherfucker and suspect I was not the only one.

    Steve in the ATL – you were missed. I’m currently obsessed with Biden’s choice for Labor and hoping “my man” Richard Griffen is selected -i’d love your thoughts on Griffen and his ambitious, strategic cases as Chief Counsel on joint employer and misclassification (David Weill had a large role in enforcement here).

    To the rest of the jackal pack – we’re in for rough sledding with the ‘Rona, were still dealing with “the thing that would not leave” and the holidays have left many of us reduced to a bundle of frayed nerves. Time to tighten up the pack, look after each other with extra forbearance and kindness and reconsider a cutting remark even if the zing is so tempting. I wish for the best for each of you, your family and friends and know that we’ll get through these hard times together, by getting through together. I hope this doesn’t come accross as Pollyannaish or trite – or as a glass of ice water to the face. A gentle abrazo from me to all of you all.

  132. 132.

    Betty Cracker

    Interesting COVID anecdata: I recently found out that two older ladies of my acquaintance had asymptomatic cases of coronavirus. Both are in their 80s but in good health. Neither knew she had it until tests turned up antibodies. It makes me feel better about my mother-in-law, who is 81 and in great health. I’ve worried for her more than anyone else because of her age. I figured if she got it, she would be in for a bad time. But apparently even people in their 80s can have asymptomatic cases.

  133. 133.

    Jay C

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    OK, first the rote “I Am Not An Election-Law Expert” disclaimer….

    The way I think it works is that yes, the State of Georgia will be missing at least one Senator when the new Congressional session starts Jan. 3.

    Perdue was elected in 2014, so his term is expired, and the “A” seat will be vacant until the winner of the runoff race is certified.

    The “B” seat MAY be a different matter: Loeffler was appointed to fill the retired Sen. Iskason’s seat for the remainder of his term (til 2022): so the seat may NOT (depending on how the laws/Senate rules are interpreted) be *technically* “vacant” until the results of THAT runoff election are certified.

    Of course, the GOP is involved, so who knows….?

  134. 134.

    Ramiah Ariya

    Trump and his media allies are couching his bid to overthrow election results as “fighting” – as if he is on a noble quest. The term “fighting” has also been adopted by NYT and WaPo in a few places and it gives the impression that it is a legitimate effort.

    I have noticed that Melania and others around Trump frequently use this term to suggest that Trump is a victim who is a noble warrior against injustices against himself. Melania has said that he is a person who punches back harder.

    However, this is a deliberate choice of words – in reality Trump attacks people in disgusting terms. Nobody asked him to call Elizabeth Warren racist names; or mimic a disabled reporter. He is an aggressive bully, but the term “fighting” has enabled these people to couch his attempted coup in a more legitimate manner.

    Similarly all this talk about Trump de-legitimizing Biden’s election has no meaning – Biden is not waiting for Trump to come and legitimize him. Presenting Republican voters’ deliberate denial of his election as somehow de-legitmizing is wrong – it gives too much power to bad faith Republican voters.

    Republican voters are in lock-step with wanting their guy in even if this means no more elections. I do not see why they should have any say in the legitimacy of Biden’s election.

  136. 136.

    sab

    @geg6: I am so glad I was able to retire last year. No more two hour (minimum, both ways) commute. Some days it was three hours. With snowstorm it could be five or more, all white-knuckle driving.

  137. 137.

    Benw

    @LongHairedWeirdo: that’s a good point, if they fine him for misusing the exemption he could remit that, but not the back taxes.

    As I mentioned above, I think the misreporting comes largely from Nixon’s pardon which was extremely unusual and extremely famous (but which also only pardoned criming done over a certain period in the past). The majority of pardons are ceremonial and granted long after a person completes their sentence.

  138. 138.

    sdhays

    @Benw: I’m a broken record, but I really can’t wrap my mind around how the Nixon pardon wasn’t just laughed at. A blanket pardon shouldn’t be a thing. And if Donnie does self-pardon, that’s either another untested dangerous precedent that gets accepted as something a President can do, or something that will get tested in a very Dump-friendly Supreme Court and could establish the pardon power as absolute.

    Of course, as Kent has said, the reason Dump will self-pardon is that it will tie up the courts for years and by the time its settled, he’s likely to be finally dead, brain or otherwise, and won’t care. That’s something that I, as someone outside the legal profession, can’t really understand – how unjust the ability of rich and powerful people to delay delay delay is.

  141. 141.

    Roger Moore

    @Gin & Tonic:

    What crimes has he committed that he wants a pardon for?

    He hasn’t committed any crimes, but he wants protection from overzealous Democrat prosecutors coming after him in the future. /wingnut

  143. 143.

    Benw

    @sdhays: every single frikken time we “look forward not back for the good of the nation” the next Republican president gets more crimey!

    Seriously, if I get a parking ticket, I’d better have my check mailed or my ass in traffic court in 15 days. Trump’s like 10 years out from pretty obviously scamming the IRS out of $70M. Come on!

  144. 144.

    JoyceH

    @Jeffro: 

    I think Perdue has an ad up that says – yes, really – he is TOTALLY EXONERATED.

    Like, in the ad

    The new “I’m not a witch”?

  145. 145.

    sdhays

    @Ramiah Ariya: There was an interesting statistic I saw a week ago or so – maybe here. Going all the way back to 2008, over 50% of Republicans have refused to believe Democrats win legitimately. They didn’t believe Obama actually won in 2008. They didn’t believe Obama was legitimately reelected in 2012. They wouldn’t have believed Clinton won fairly in 2016 if it had turned out that way.

    Part of that is probably just gaming the polls, but most of it is that they just don’t accept that Democrats should be allowed to win elections at all. They are anti-democratic fascists, and if you want to be glass half-full, they’ve been with us all along, so Dump isn’t making the Republican party worse than it was. He’s just revealing how horrible it already was.

  147. 147.

    cain

    @Yarrow: 

    I miss Kay. Has she commented since that post where people were pie-ing her? I think WaterGirl said she contacted her but I don’t know if she heard back.

    I think the fact that people were going to pie her probably really must have been a slap in the face for a long time (and frequently valuable) commentator. If you’re going to pie someone just do it, you don’t need to announce it.

  150. 150.

    Ruckus

    I will be ordering both, and giving one for xmas to a friend and his wife, who I’ve known for over 45 years, just over half my life, at least it feels like it after the last month. They have always had a couple of cats, the two they have now are getting way up there and they’ve had a couple of scares in the last couple of years.

  152. 152.

    J R in WV

    @Steve in the ATL:

    She [Kay] is widely respected and liked among the jackaltariat (spelling? Not in my dictionary…yet!) and I, a poster who is neither respected nor liked, love to read her posts.

    Aw, Steve, don’t say that. Many of us like you just fine. You provide witty repartee around legal issues, and have many opinions you share with all.

  153. 153.

    StringOnAStick

    I saw some science reporting that differences in expression of certain proteins by our bodies has something significant to do with how badly you are impacted by Covid 19; I don’t have my PC yet and doing links is a PITA on a kindle or I would link to it.  I think I saw it in this morning’s Covid post.

    I wanted to tell Kay about the email Adam Schiff sent out a couple of days ago that was him saying everything Kay says about needing local campaign infrastructure built for 365/24/7 always, not just a few months before every election when young people who can afford an unpaid internship parachute in to tell the locals how to do it, though he didn’t add that last part but I felt it was implied.  So somebody important understands the issue and is in position to do something about it.  It goes without saying that we all need to support that effort.

  156. 156.

    Heywood J.

    I like how Catturd has TM’d his moniker, in order to thwart all pretenders and perpetrators. Accept no substitutes, ‘murkin patriots, only the gin-you-whine Catturd™ will do!

    The fact that his nonsense got 100k likes (and yes, a retweet from Commander Babyfingers) is further proof that this nation is swirling the drain with increasing speed.

  157. 157.

    Barbara

    @LongHairedWeirdo: But that was never challenged or construed by the Supreme Court.  Basically, the way it would work is — let’s say — the DOJ decided to indict Flynn for unspecified crimes and Flynn tried to challenge on the basis of the pardon.  DOJ would argue that pardon was defective as to crimes that had not been alleged with sufficient specificity to receive a pardon.  And the issue would be joined.  Ford pardoned Nixon at a point when he held the levers to keep that from happening.  By the time he was gone, Nixon had had all kinds of health issues so it seemed pointless.

  158. 158.

    J R in WV

    @Suzanne:

    I love Kay. I hope she comes back.

    Me too. I hated it when she dropped of the Front Page, she has such broad experience to share!!I was glad that she then started commenting more often.

    She was upset, though. I’ve been there too, over the past few years.

  159. 159.

    J R in WV

    @Goku (Amerikan Baka):

    And a pardon can only be for crimes that a person has already been convicted of, not future ones he might be

    This is clearly and obviously wrong and incorrect in every way.

    I call your attention to Ford’s pardon of Tricky Dick Nixon, which was a broad blanket pardon for everything Nixon did or might have done while in office. No indictment, no criminal investigation other than the congressional Impeachment investigation, which never came to fruition.

  165. 165.

    Miss Bianca

    @Betty Cracker: Badger may be like my Watson, who stalls completely when you put something on him. Like, even a sock draped over his back (should have named him “Dobby” because of his ears and all, but socks in this case wouldn’t make him free, but rather chain him to the bed). Hilarity ensued the first day we ever had to put a Cone of Shame on him.

    He got over that one when he tore his shoulder open a few weeks back and had to go in to surgery and wear the cone for a week till he had his stitches out. He was able to negotiate jumping up on the couch or the bed or going through doors pretty well after a couple days, and seemed resigned to the fact that he was apparently never going to be able to lick himself all over ever again.

    But he did prance around like a little madman when he got it off, finally!

  166. 166.

    Quiltingfool

    @WaterGirl: Thank you for the update on Kay.  I do hope she comes back;  she shares so many valuable insights.  Lord, I love smart people!  Shoot, I’d be happy to bribe her with a quilt to get her to come back ASAP!  I really miss her.

  167. 167.

    Miss Bianca

    @laura: Nice!

    And I wanted to say that I read your comment about what you wanted from a Democratic Party on a thread that’s long since dead, but wanted to say kudos anyway, it was a masterful statement.

  169. 169.

    J R in WV

    @sab:

    I am so glad I was able to retire last year. No more two hour (minimum, both ways) commute. Some days it was three hours. With snowstorm it could be five or more, all white-knuckle driving.

    Yes, retirement is bliss in many ways.

    I will never forget driving to school, I was in my 30s and going for a difficult degree at a U 90 minutes away. One morning I got out early because of an ice storm. Had 4 wheel drive, doesn’t matter much on ice.

    Even tho I left home early, I missed my first early class, which was no big deal, I was cruising in that one. Got on campus, went up to the door of the classroom building — it was locked~!!!~ I was furious. They never did that before.

    All’s well that ends well, I drove home slowly, after waiting to give DoT time to treat the hills.

  170. 170.

    Nicole

    @cain:

    If you’re going to pie someone just do it, you don’t need to announce it.

    Yeah, I agree.  The whole point of the pie function is so you don’t have to engage with someone anymore.  Telling them you’re doing it is just trying to get in one last punch, for no reason other than to try to hurt the other person’s feelings.

    I have pied a couple of commenters here in my time, but I just  did it; I didn’t  announce it.  And now… I can’t remember why I pied them… or even who they were.  Which means probably whatever set me off wasn’t really that big a deal in the first place.

  171. 171.

    sab

    @J R in WV: I changed a flat tire, drove an hour in a snowstorm, and walked into a class five minutes late, and got lectured by the instructor about if you can’t get here on time don’t come.

    I told him that if you can’t control your class with occassional late arrivals you aren’t competent to teach. Then I went to the dean to ask why was I paying tuition for this twerp in a mandatory class.

    He calmed down.

  172. 172.

    J R in WV

    @sab:

    @J R in WV: When Steve was gone was he gone or just lurking?

    Who knows? The Steve knows, no one else does… I don’t think I could do that with any success. Once I realized that I could comment, after quite a while reading others comments, that was that, I was going to comment.

  173. 173.

    sab

    @Nicole: That is my experience. Pie them quietly if they annoy you and you can’t help responding. Then unpie them or not later.

    I have only announced once when I pied, because I really respected the commenter, who was being almost trollish on virulence. Commenter went on being virulent so still in pie.

    Watergirl: I really love the toggle pie.

  174. 174.

    J R in WV

    Back when Nixon gave his famous “I Am Not a Crook” speech, my dad was a member of the AP Managing Editors, and was in that crowd for that speech. He may have even believed it… I was never sure and didn’t really want to know. I knew Nixon was a crook in high school, if dad didn’t know it, I didn’t want to know dad wasn’t sure about it. If that isn’t too complicated.

    So this isn’t the first time we’ve had corruption in the Oval Office. Nixon may have even been worse, he really did conspire to fix his re-election, and then won. Not as greedy, perhaps, but every bit as corrupt!

  175. 175.

    Nicole

    @sab:

    Pie them quietly if they annoy you and you can’t help responding.

    So well put!  Especially the “you can’t help responding,” part.  Sometimes (many times!) it’s me who needs the cooling-off period and making it so I can’t see the person’s comments is just the time-out I need.

  176. 176.

    LuciaMia

    Trump, Giuliani, ‘mountain of evidence’,

    Even Team Trump understands the difference between going on about your evidence at a press conference or a Fox interview and stating it under oath in front of a judge.

  177. 177.

    J R in WV

    @sab:

    i have quite a few trolls in my pie filter list. When I pie a regular commenter, it’s usually just for a few days. When I find I’m toggling a lot, that’s when they come back out.

    Most of the trolls I’ve pied never bother to come back, they had one issue they wanted to beat like a rug, then they go away. Too late, already pied!

  178. 178.

    Elizabelle

    Believe some of you were discussing language training, duolingo, etc.

    Have been wanting to tell you:  I am working with forever fluent app, which puts together picture flashcards for vocabulary.  Its designer does not want you just writing down the word.

    There are suggestions of photos/pictures, suggested by the app users.  About six pop up with each new word.

    And, for new vocabulary term “relations sexuelles”  (!!!) …

    up pops a photo of Trump and Putin.

    Way better than a photo of two Easter bunnies, or two people sitting in a field.  Makes me laugh every time.

  180. 180.

    sab

    @J R in WV: I had a temp accounting job. I lived cross town. Another guy was commuting from other end of next county. Boss canceled office hours and never told us. I wimped out and called in. Guy from next county struggled in and ripped out his oil pan in the unplowed office parking lot.

    Special place in Hell for bosses like that. Just tell us not to come in. Cheap telephone call.

    Boss died at 42 when shovelling snow with birth defect that said that was bad idea.

    Former employees were giddy with happiness. What a legacy.

  183. 183.

    sab

    @J R in WV: Years ago I had you pied for six months because you were rude to me when I was a complete flaming a**hole to Helen in Eire when she was in Eire. Pie  is probably useful for not burning more bridges. You responded, as I remember, as ” Huh.? I got pied? Whatever.”

  184. 184.

    Roger Moore

    @sdhays:

    A blanket pardon shouldn’t be a thing.

    I will mildly disagree.  I think a pardon for all offenses is a bit much, but I can definitely see pardoning someone for all charges related to a specific event, even ones they haven’t been charged or convicted of.  That would be particularly the case if you think the prosecutor was overzealous.  If you pardoned someone for only the things they were charged with, the overzealous prosecutor could come up with a new theory of the case and charge them for something peripheral that they considered too minor or too hard to prove in the initial prosecution.

    The Michael Flynn case is a good example of this.  Flynn was clearly prosecuted for only a tiny fraction of his actual offenses, at least in part because he was cutting a deal.  If Trump were to pardon him only for the things he admitted to, the prosecution could come back during the Biden Administration and bring up additional charges that were ignored in the first prosecution.  It’s still wrong for Trump to pardon him, but that’s because the pardon itself is corrupt, not because it’s procedurally wrong to pardon him for things he wasn’t formally charge with.

  186. 186.

    Roger Moore

    @cain:

    If you’re going to pie someone just do it, you don’t need to announce it.

    I think there are a couple of good reasons for announcing you’re pieing someone.  One is as as a public signal to others to do the same thing, which makes sense if the person you’re pieing is seriously derailing a discussion.  Another is to make a threat to pie someone temporarily if they’re normally a good poster but they have gone crazy on some particular issue.  I think that’s part of what happened in Kay’s case; people were trying to tell Kay she was going overboard.

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