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You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Trump Crime Cartel / Be Like Steve

Be Like Steve

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Looking at the pictures of the mob yesterday and watching some of the unhinged nonsense they posted on tiktok and elsewhere, I once again would like to restate that we have an unchecked mental health crisis in this nation. People are stigmatized and afraid to talk about it, and even if they did we have not devoted the resources to help them. It’s a nightmare.

In other news, I would like everyone to remember that the madness is almost over, and soon we will have a new President and Congress and the hard work begins to rebuild the nation. We can make it. Until then, be like Steve:

Be Like Steve

Steve is calm, cool, collected, and fucking magnificent.

Reader Interactions

327Comments

  1. 1.

    Elizabelle

    Mike Pence would not dare leave Steve on hold for 20 minutes plus. Not with those paws.

    (As he did to Pelosi and Schumer. Who then took to their podiums.)

  4. 4.

    Jeffro

    I sure would like to know what broke about 25% of the country’s brains across the past decade or so, to the point where ‘Q’ nonsense exists anywhere outside of lunatic asylums.

    I think having folks’ fear buttons pushed 24/7 by *bong*BREAKING NEWS*bong* on RWNJ propaganda channels pushed many of them beyond any sense of rationality.

  5. 5.

    narya

    John? Thanks again for this blog. I am grateful to have this community. Even when folks are WRONG, it still feels like a good place to be.

  16. 16.

    Raoul Paste

    When I saw the title of this post I had to laugh even before I saw the picture .   Thanks John

  17. 17.

    Ten Bears

    Of late I’ve been reminded of, and it took a while to remember the title, a short by Heinlein from the early fifties, his middle years as it were, <i>Year of the Jackpot</i>. I can’t begin to do it justice in a blog comment, I encourage you to look it up.

  19. 19.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    States ranked from most seditious to least seditious based on reps/senators who voted to overthrow democracy divided by state electors. Where does your state rank?

    1. Alabama 77.78%
    2. Oklahoma 71.43%
    3. Kansas 66.67%
    3. Mississippi 66.67%
    5. Tennessee 63.64%
    6. Louisiana 62.5%
    7. Missouri 60%
    8. South Carolina 55.56%
    9. North Carolina 46.67%
    10. Florida 44.83%
    11. Texas 44.74%
    12. Pennsylvania 40%
    12. West Virginia 40%
    14. Georgia 37.5%
    15. Arizona 36.36%
    15. Indiana 36.36%
    17. Montana 33.33%
    17. Utah 33.33%
    17. Wyoming 33.33%
    20. Virginia 30.77%
    21. Ohio 27.78%
    22. Idaho 25%
    23. Colorado 22.22%
    24. Minnesota 20%
    24. Nebraska 20%
    24. New Mexico 20%
    24. Wisconsin 20%
    28. Michigan 18.75%
    29. Arkansas 16.67%
    30. Oregon 14.29%
    31. New York 13.79%
    32. California 12.73%
    33. Kentucky 12.5%
    34. Illinois 10%
    34. Maryland 10%
    36. New Jersey 7.14%
    37. Alaska 0%
    37. Connecticut 0%
    37. Delaware 0%
    37. Hawaii 0%
    37. Iowa 0%
    37. Maine 0%
    37. Massachusetts 0%
    37. Nevada 0%
    37. New Hampshire 0%
    37. North Dakota 0%
    37. Rhode Island 0%
    37. South Dakota 0%
    37. Vermont 0%
    37. Washington 0%

  20. 20.

    dmsilev

    Post headline:
    “Trump awards Medals of Freedom to three golfers on morning after riot at Capitol”
    Not much else needs to be added.

  25. 25.

    Leto

    So does everyone remember the goon from yesterday who was in the buffalo headdress/fur getup? basically that and just a pair of pants? Not only did CNN ID him, but my friend sent me his official resume from the http://www.backstage.com website. His profile has already been pulled down, but it gives his location/stats (heigh/weight/build/eye&hair color)… basically everything the FBI is looking for. A group of fucking rando’s on the internet can find these fucks, but the FBI is like “halp!” As Baud asked, shouldn’t the FBI ask for help? Yes, but this shit has been out there for a looooong while. No excuses.

  26. 26.

    Elizabelle

    @MattF:  From the NY Times story, by Mike Schmidt and Maggs Haberman.  Informative; it’s very worth a click.  And– you can comment on it!  They’ve just opened reader comments.

    … A self-pardon would complicate the already fraught question for the Biden Justice Department about whether to investigate and ultimately prosecute Mr. Trump. Democrats and former Justice Department officials contend that if the president pardons himself and the Justice Department declines to prosecute Mr. Trump, it will send a troubling message to Americans about the rule of law and to future presidents about their ability to flout the law.
    “The Biden Justice Department will not want to acquiesce in a Trump self-pardon, which implies that the president is literally above federal law,” said Jack Goldsmith, a Harvard law professor and former top Justice Department official in the George W. Bush administration.
    A self-pardon would align with Mr. Trump’s unprecedented use of the pardon power. The framers of the Constitution gave the president almost total authority to grant clemency for federal crimes, positioning the head of the executive branch as a check on the judicial branch and as someone who could dip into the justice system to show grace and mercy on the downtrodden.

    But Mr. Trump has eschewed the formal Justice Department process set up to ensure pardons are handed out fairly. Instead, he has used his pardon power unlike any other president to help allies, undermine rivals and push his own political agenda. Of the 94 pardons and commutations Mr. Trump has granted, 89 percent were issued to people who had a personal tie to Mr. Trump, helped him politically or whose case resonated with him, according to a tabulation by Mr. Goldsmith.
    The only president to receive a pardon was Richard M. Nixon. A month after Nixon left office, his former vice president, President Gerald R. Ford, pardoned him for all crimes he committed in office. The move was widely criticized at the time as allowing the presidency to hover above the law. Ford supporters later blamed the pardon for his election loss two years later, though ultimately the pardon came to be seen as a move that helped the country move on from Watergate.  [Says who, NY Times??]
    ….

    Legal scholars are less certain about Mr. Trump’s declaration that he has an “absolute right” to pardon himself.
    The Justice Department said in a short August 1974 opinion, just four days before Mr. Nixon resigned, that “it would seem” that presidents cannot pardon themselves “under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case.”
    But the president is not bound by those opinions, and there is nothing stopping Mr. Trump from signing a pardon for himself. The questions would be whether the Justice Department under another president would honor the pardon and set aside any potential prosecution of Mr. Trump and, if he were prosecuted, whether the judicial system would ultimately decide whether the pardon insulates Mr. Trump from facing charges.

    “Only a court can invalidate a self-pardon, and it can only do so if the Biden administration brings a case against Trump,” Mr. Goldsmith said. “A Trump self-pardon would thus make it more likely the Biden team prosecutes Trump for crimes committed in office.”

  27. 27.

    debbie

    Hope Adam sees this: Malcolm Nance was interviewed on NPR this afternoon, and he was on fire about the Capitol Police and the lack of protection. He pretty much laid it at Trump’s tiny feet.

  28. 28.

    Calouste

    @Leto: The FBI needs to find thousands of these insurrectionists, not just a couple that had their mugs out in the open.

  31. 31.

    Leto

    @Calouste:  they will, but this information has been out in the open for a LOOONG time. They’re not being shy about it. This is shit that should’ve been headed off a while ago. It’s just more shit we have to clean up.

  34. 34.

    Elizabelle

    Other tidbits from the NY Times story:

    Mr. Trump has shown signs that his level of interest in pardoning himself goes beyond idle musings. He has long maintained he has the power to pardon himself, and his polling of aides’ views is typically a sign that he is preparing to follow through on his aims. He has also become increasingly convinced that his perceived enemies will use the levers of law enforcement to target him after he leaves office.

    Mr. Trump has considered a range of pre-emptive pardons for family, including his three oldest children — Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump — for Ms. Trump’s husband, the senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, and for close associates like the president’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani. The president has expressed concerns to advisers that a Biden Justice Department might investigate all of them.

    …. The discussions between Mr. Trump and his aides about a self-pardon came before his pressure over the weekend on Georgia officials to help him try to overturn the election results or his incitement of the riots at the Capitol. Trump allies believe that both episodes increased Mr. Trump’s criminal exposure.

    As aides urged Mr. Trump to issue a strong condemnation on Wednesday and he rejected that advice, the White House counsel, Pat A. Cipollone, warned Mr. Trump that he could face legal exposure for the riot given that he had urged his supporters to march to the Capitol and “fight” beforehand, according to people briefed on the discussion. The president had appeared to White House aides to be enjoying watching the scenes play out on television.

  35. 35.

    Kristine

    Surprised by Alaska and the Dakotas. And Washington, tbh.

    Disappointed in Illinois. Both reps who supported the objection were downstaters, though, so no real surprise.

  36. 36.

    laura

    Steve’s massive mitts give him self confidence and brio! Just one glorious cat in full.

    The president had appeared to White House aides to be enjoying watching the scenes play out on television. 

    Rage Boner Alert!

  37. 37.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    I dunno, Cole. Steve looks a little concerned. Like Susan Collins level concerned.

  38. 38.

    worn

    He sure the fuck is, John. An ex-GF had a Maine Coon as well; a cat’s cat they are.

    And good advice. Got a call from my oldest friend this morning (we met in 1978). He’s an ex-Army right winger and basically first thing out of his mouth was that he wasn’t concerned about what happened at the Capitol. And with that I told I just couldn’t and ended the call.

    I suppose I need a Steve pill.

  43. 43.

    hueyplong

    Our King Henry is part Maine Coon and part tabby.  A more delicate, prettier but less imposing figure than Steve, he hides and darts out to attack us when we walk by his lair (defined as basically anything he can hide behind or under).  Tags us on the back of the knee with a paw and scrambles away.  He has given the spousal unit joy each and every day of this pandemic.

  44. 44.

    craigie

    I don’t know about “fucking magnificent”, but I was cool, calm, and collected yesterday, as I am most days. My wife on the other hand…

  46. 46.

    NotMax

    the madness is almost over

    Shambling toward syllogistics. The oasis gets closer every day.

  47. 47.

    Ken

    I sometimes manage to get a nice zen state where I’m not thinking about the past or future, or indeed anything at all. It’s pleasant but it doesn’t last. I imagine that’s how cats and dogs live almost their entire lives.

  48. 48.

    West of the Rockies

    The sad reality is that in this nation and this world, there are millions of terrible people: racists, misogynists, homophobes, those who take machetes to those of another town or tribe, those who lynch, throw acid, torture animals, beat their partners and children, deny science, shit on the environment…

    Thankfully,  we do outnumber them.

  49. 49.

    patrick II

    I am wondering if Trump is going golfing this week.  It would be wildly inappropriate, but every day he spends golfing would be a good thing at this point.

  50. 50.

    Comrade Colette

    Chipotle cat rolled over and stretched out for a tummy rub this morning, and when I obliged, he curled up fast as a flash of lightning and bit me.

    Be like Chipotle.

  52. 52.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Jeffro: A quarter of this country were always bigoted, fascist bastards. What changed is that the rest of us used to be more willing to put up with their shit for the sake of comity and now we’re a little less so, and they are feeling it. It makes them fantastically angry and causes them to believe in baroque conspiracies.

    But a lot of them already did, anyway. A lot of QAnon is just the old Blood Libel revived, for instance.

  54. 54.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    I don’t know why, but tonight when I saw mention made of Steve, there was a voice in the back of my head saying “Hey-ooo!”

  59. 59.

    Mary G

    That picture looks like an old master painting of the pking on the throne. “I rule the world.” It was  nice to see Lily yesterday, too.

  63. 63.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Jeffro:I sure would like to know what broke about 25% of the country’s brains across the past decade or so, to the point where ‘Q’ nonsense exists anywhere outside of lunatic asylums.

    Opioids and Antidepressants.

  65. 65.

    Immanentize

    John, do you have to petition Steve for use of the Bark-a-lounger?  Like three hours in advance?  Or do you rent time from Steve on a sublet basis?

  68. 68.

    Chris

    @Jeffro:

    I’m less interested in the 25% than I am in the next 25/30% mass of “moderates” and “centrists,” so-called, who manage to look at shit like this and then look at the left and wail “both parties are just as bad!”

  74. 74.

    Misterpuff

    @Jeffro:

    I sure would like to know what broke about 25% of the country’s brains across the past decade or so, to the point where ‘Q’ nonsense exists anywhere outside of lunatic asylums.

    I think having folks’ fear buttons pushed 24/7 by *bong*BREAKING NEWS*bong* on RWNJ propaganda channels pushed many of them beyond any sense of rationality.

     

    Fear of a Black President

    Fear of Diversity and Equality

    Fear of diminished influence due to diminished brainpower.

    Posted immediately so probably echoing many other responses.

  77. 77.

    japa21

    @zhena gogolia: Better, still some breathing issues but not as bad. No real stamina. Mentally much better with out the Covid diagnosis hanging over me. Thank you for asking.

  78. 78.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @LuciaMia: Surprised Trump hasn’t given the Medal of Freedom to the Burger King King. Prolly trying to shake him down for free burgers.

  79. 79.

    marcopolo

    @Jeffro:  I don’t have time to flesh out a good response to your questions but:

    1. Changing demographics: the US is ever less white & this terrifies a lot of bigoted people & increases their insecurity about their place in the social/cultural pecking order
    2. Changing economics:  it’s a lot more difficult to live decently on a H.S. education; it is expensive to get the college degree (which may or may not lead to better economic/vocations; workers have a shit-ton less power/control over their jobs (wages, conditions, etc)
    3. Shredded social programs: most folks in the US are one personal/family disaster away from economic ruin–over the past 40-50 years our politics has personalized risk for the kinds of bad things that happen to individuals & families while having society assume the risks for things like banks making bad decisions.
    4. 40-50 years of our cultural/information/social infrastructure fracturing and fracturing again with the help of new technologies (cable, then the internet) to the point that folks live in their own personally constructed bubble of tribal news/information

    There’s a lot more but the bottom line gist is social cohesion is at an all time low, most folks feel a lot of insecurity (health, job, personal safety), we have a tech/info/communications infrastructure that makes it really easy to appeals to people’s fears & manipulate them

    Edited to add that unlike J Cole I do not think the madness is almost over.  I think we are almost to the point where we will no longer have a madman running things but the 27% (or whatever the real number is) of US citizens who are batshit crazy disconnected from reality easily manipulated by bad people aren’t going anywhere & I don’t know how to correctly address this issue.  I have a friend who say governments should just put downers directly in our drinking water–I used to laugh at him a lot more than I do now.

  82. 82.

    Martin

    Well, they’re organizing a new action on inauguration day, so the FBI may get a 2nd shot at some of these guys if they don’t track them down by then.

  83. 83.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Misterpuff: Believing that the micro space lizards who pilot world leaders around like the jeweler in Men in Black are breaking into one’s house at night to steal one’s left socks is bit more than racism.

  84. 84.

    MisterForkbeard

    Question: I’m starting to see “Al-Maga” to describe these terrorists. What do we think of that? Could it be pithier? :)

  85. 85.

    Aleta

    Mona Eltahawy @monaeltahawy

    Of course white supremacists are misogynists.

    NYT photo:  Cabinets that displayed books about women in politics were destroyed during the riot

  86. 86.

    marcopolo

    @Martin:   Oh yeah, the action where they are explicitly telling folks to bring their weapons.  Sounds great.  So glad the Biden folks have been telling people not to come to DC to celebrate the inauguration.

  88. 88.

    debbie

    @Jeffro:

    I think it began when they started hybridizing marijuana to increase the THC or whatever it is that makes people loco.

  90. 90.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Trump posthumously awards Medal of Freedom to Hermann Göring for his contributions to art collection and remodeling London and Coventry.

  93. 93.

    Jeffro

    @Matt McIrvin:the rest of us used to be more willing to put up with their shit for the sake of comity and now we’re a little less so, and they are feeling it.

    I think that’s close.  The rest of us used to have to put up with their shit, ‘cause they were the ones in power, and now they’re less so…so now we don’t have to put up with it, etc etc.  But yeah, they are totally feeling it.  Also, fuck their feelings ;)

  94. 94.

    Elizabelle

    Brave General John Kelly says he would vote for the 25th Amendment.

    If he was in the Cabinet.  Which he is not.  He enabled Trump throughout his tenure.

  95. 95.

    Quinerly

    John Kelly now saying he would invoke 25th now if he was still in the Cabinet. Talk amongst yourselves….

  97. 97.

    no comment

    @Jeffro:

    When I was at my lowest point of clinical depression (then untreated), I came close to believing some really crazy things. I also teased my poor cat at the time by annoying or startling him, & got enjoyment out of that. When I look back on that time, it’s hard for me to believe that I did & thought those things.

    I don’t think untreated depression can account for everything, but I can definitely see it playing a factor. Combine it with the constant lies of the rightwing media, and a society that favors money & power over compassion for others, and you have a toxic breeding ground for these kind of actions.

  100. 100.

    Calouste

    @Jeffro: I don’t see much of a difference between the Q nonsense and taking the Bible (flood, a talking burning bush, someone survives being eaten by a whale, people living to 900, etc, etc, and etc) literally. I suspect the Venn diagram is fairly close to a circle. Either you have critical thinking skills and you use them, or you don’t. In other words, these people were always there ( and the percentage was higher in earlier times), they are just focused differently.

  101. 101.

    Jeffro

    @Chris: that’s what sent me over the edge with my brother yesterday.  to paraphrase: “BLM broke a window, sometime, somewhere; therefore, it’s not a huge deal if hundreds of violent domestic terrorists take over the Capitol.”  UGH!!

    He’s a Reagan baby/”libertarian”/nihilist and he actually makes me madder than my supremely ignorant dad (but only by a hair).

  102. 102.

    Elizabelle

    Miles Taylor, “Anonymous”:  “The American people have voted to remove Donald Trump.

    All that we are asking is that his Cabinet remove him sooner. ”

    That’s a good point.  He says Pence is not courageous, but does believe in the Constitution; wouldn’t go for the 25th A unless it was brought to him “organically” and had the votes.

  103. 103.

    Martin

    @Jeffro: White christians fell into the minority in the US for the first time in 400 years sometime during the Obama admin. For a long time it was just one group of white christians voting against a different group of white christians for a bunch of white christians.

    Obama both broke that dynamic as a candidate and then also demographically broke the increasingly consolidated white christian voting bloc that had all congealed in the GOP as Dems gave up white labor class voters for black and latino voters.

    That leaves the GOP with three options:

    1. Share power with some non-white or non-Christian demographic, or
    2. Lie about the situation, or
    3. Cheat

    They chose 2 and 3, and each election they need to crank that up because the problem gets worse each election. Trump walked right into a perfect situation, and the GOP welcomed him in because he could tell the big lie that they needed him to tell.

    The next chapter of the GOP is going to be fucking shitshow.

  105. 105.

    Elizabelle

    @Quinerly:   Yes.  Listening.  Hello there to you and my bud JoJo.

    (I like Miles Taylors’ backdrop.  He’s got a typewriter.)

  107. 107.

    catclub

    @Elizabelle: Brave General John Kelly says he would vote for the 25th Amendment.

    If he came out in favor of voting to impeach in January of 2020, I did not remember it.  I suspect he made the principled (yeah, right) decision to stay silent.

  108. 108.

    Martin

    @MisterForkbeard: From what I’m reading, the FBI saw this coming as did some other agencies, but nobody was willing to put up a show of force against Trump supporters and get fired.

  114. 114.

    Immanentize

    @Quinerly: I saw in the thread below that there is going to be some investigation into whether Congressional staffers were also involved with the insurrection.  Makes sense.  I’ve met a few of the assholes there.

  115. 115.

    cain

    @marcopolo:

    Also, lot of other social constructs like families are rapidly changing as well. Even the pronouns are changing. There is a lot of stuff happening culturally that can be hard. The white male is in the cross hairs of every other group given their long stint as the overdog.

  118. 118.

    Quinerly

    @Elizabelle: JoJo is full of snacks. He is doing cheese farts and snoring like an old man. Did you catch Nicole’s mention of the video with  Trump et al in that tent, watching videos of the crowds, and Laura Brannigan playing? First mention of that video I have heard in the MSM. It really should get some coverage… Airtime.

  120. 120.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    Press is now trying to rewrite history to erase their complicity.   They carried water for him the past 10 years, they wrote endless “pivot” articles the last 5 years and today, they’re now saying they foresaw this end all along.

    Fuckers should all be lined up against the wall.

  121. 121.

    catclub

    I think it is REALLY crazy that stocks are up today.  They seem to have a whole lot more faith in the system working things out than any of the politicians.  usually markets will go down in the face of  ‘uncertainty’

    You would think having 25% of the population being utterly deluded, angry and armed, might cause concern.

  122. 122.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Martin: Sounds about right. Special treatment for conservatives again.

    Seriously, I can’t imagine that people were so scared that they couldn’t even say something like “we expect there to be a lot of Trump supporters and a lot of Biden supporters, so we’re putting in extra security just in case”.

    There were Trump-friendly ways to put additional security there. They didn’t do it because they didn’t want to, not because they were scared for their jobs.

  124. 124.

    MisterForkbeard

    @catclub: I’m not surprised at all.

    What we do know: Democrats will be in charge, and Republicans will do their best to sabotage. That’s STILL better than 4 more years of Republican rule.

  127. 127.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Elizabelle:

    ultimately the pardon came to be seen as a move that helped the country move on from Watergate.

    Goddamn motherfucking bastard passive voice.

  128. 128.

    gvg

    I read over the short version of the 25th and it struck me that Pence would be in a huge dangerous fight if he tried to invoke it, like it doesn’t spell out how he could be protected from the presidents crazy supporters, not to mention the rest of the cabinet leaders. We are talking about a huge division of loyalties for all the security forces when its an involuntary removal. I think the amendment only pictured accidents like the President getting shot or having a stroke. Not a real nutcase. Which to be fair, more of the American people should have realized before they voted for him. The second problem is he appoints all the people who have to judge him.
    The amendment has worked well for things like surgery and basically competent Presidents. It doesn’t seem adequate to this one and blaming Pence for not having courage is missing a point. I am sure Trump didn’t pick him for courage but I can see some problems with the actual amendment too.

  129. 129.

    Immanentize

    @catclub: The market is imagining the economy six months from now.  Biden is President, vaccine distribution ramping up, summer travel?  It always looks ahead not at the moment and things are very likely to get better.

  130. 130.

    PenAndKey

    “People are stigmatized and afraid to talk about it, and even if they did we have not devoted the resources to help them”

    I’m sure some of you noticed that I have gone large stretches of absences lately. (Or not, not really sure how much of an impact I have here to be honest.) Why have I done so? One, my wife had a baby in April so… yeah. The other reason? I’ve had multiple high stress near panic attack level anxiety events over the last few months keeping up with the pandemic and federal politics. For my own health I disconnected, hunkered down with my wife, kids, and hobbies, and pretended to live in simpler times until I felt I could engage without, literally, damaging my heart.

    Other than my wife you all are the only ones I will likely ever tell that to and, to be frank, none of you could pick me out of a line-up if you wanted to. I know I’m not alone if feeling this overwhelmed this year. Just as I know I’m not alone in feeling uncomfortable revealing just how much psychological strain and stress I’ve endured largely alone since I can’t physically meet up with any of my friends except my wife. I have no doubt that the amount of lasting psychological and physical damage we have all gone through will be studied for generations, because this whole “grin and bear it, this too shall pass” thing many of us are doing? It’s not healthy.

  134. 134.

    Quinerly

    @Just Some Fuckhead: I really love that middle aged fat White, bald guy in the Trump hat with the black sweatshirt that said “MAGA Civil War January 6,2021.” Here’s really a skinny, 25 yo Black dude with dreadlocks, card carrying member of BLM. ?

  135. 135.

    Elizabelle

    @Quinerly:   Did hear her say that!  And then the internet connection cut out.

    But wow

    ETA:  I watch MSNBC (and CNN) online via this website.  It cuts out after a certain period of time. https://livenewschat.eu/politics/

    Learned about this website through a jackal, and always appreciate that during breaking news.  On the overly cluttered home page:  top headlines at the top takes you to CNN.  Politics goes to Rockin Rooster’s politics and MSNBC.

  136. 136.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @germy:

    Capitol police held the door open for them as they walked out

    Did you hear Scarborough this morning? “You held the fucking DOOR open for them!”

  138. 138.

    MisterForkbeard

    @PenAndKey: I’ve been there. I had a couple of very-near-to-panic attacks in the last few months, but I’d absolutely gone into stress induced depression a few times. And we’re not alone – I know lots of people that have gone there, and the long term effects are really awful. I even had to let someone go who worked for me, because she just… stopped communicating. Wouldn’t respond to e-mails or texts but was doing her job and meeting her deliverables. Clearly super depressed but we couldn’t get her to engage and couldn’t even get her to say she had a problem.

    I can’t do much for you here, but you’re not alone and the BJ commentariat is always available if you need to talk about something.

  140. 140.

    NotMax

    @catclub

    That 25% does not have the funds to put in or pull out of the market, so for all intents and purposes isn’t worth notice.

  144. 144.

    hueyplong

    Shouldn’t people be going on RWNJ sites ID’ing the supposed antifa plants within the Patriots?

    Hey, I’m pretty sure I heard Billy Bob pronouncing Kamala Harris’ name correctly.

  146. 146.

    Elizabelle

    @debbie:   I am guessing the market is ebullient that Trump is leaving.  Maybe even more so today.

    I would be ebullient if Trump left.  This very minute!

    ETA:  Marketplace touched on that briefly last night.  Whoever was opining thought it was because economy more likely to see stimulus spending by Biden.  The COVID relief checks.

  149. 149.

    MisterForkbeard

    @hueyplong: They’re trying! Last I saw, they’d identified the “Q Shaman” guy dressed in furs as secret antifa, because he showed up to prior BLM protests.

    And forgot that he was there as a counter protestor and has a loud and public history of being a Trump/QAnon supporter.

  150. 150.

    Immanentize

    Justice Dept. Says one person arrested yesterday had eleven! molotov cocktails ready to go….  More soon.

  152. 152.

    Jeffro

    @marcopolo:unlike J Cole I do not think the madness is almost over.  I think we are almost to the point where we will no longer have a madman running things but the 27% (or whatever the real number is) of US citizens who are batshit crazy disconnected from reality easily manipulated by bad people aren’t going anywhere & I don’t know how to correctly address this issue.

    I don’t think it is, either, but I think we’re about to see them fight it out amongst themselves on the right (FSM please make it so)

  153. 153.

    Feathers

    Who are these people – crazy, kind of useless, but can afford this sort of thing?, came up on one of the downstairs threads. Here are two links I really recommend. Came across them on the recommend of Anne Helen Peterson’s newsletter: .

    American Gentry
    Bro Culture, Fitness, Chivalry, and American Identity

    Patrick Wyman grew up in Eastern Washington and then went on to get a PhD in History, studying late antiquity, AKA the end of the Roman era. Needless to say, his background gives him an interesting perspective on empire and current US culture. He had a podcast Fall of Rome, and now a new one, Tides of History, which covers other historical periods. I’ve been listening to Tides of History and really enjoying it. He has a great voice and there is lots of information, well presented and fucking edited. That he has a PhD and is very at home outside of academia are both evident. Listened to the two parter on the War of the Roses. My mom was a history major with a big thing for Shakespeare and the Tudors, so I’ve had an interest in the War of the Roses for a long time. And this podcast had things in it that I didn’t know and made me realize some of the things I knew were kind of jumbled.

    TLDR: Here’s his interview with Anne Helen Petersen: Bro Culture and Empire in Decline

  154. 154.

    HumboldtBlue

    Seeing as though I haven’t shaved in two weeks I sure am looking like Steve in the hair department.

  156. 156.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    I’ll try to pull off calm, cool and collected but nobody has ever called me magnificent, or even magnificent adjacent, so I’ll leave that to Steve.

  159. 159.

    cain

    @gvg:  I think the amendment only pictured accidents like the President getting shot or having a stroke. Not a real nutcase. Which to be fair, more of the American people should have realized before they voted for him. The second problem is he appoints all the people who have to judge him.

    The irony is – that’s what the electoral college was designed to prevent. Instead it helps the crazy GOP hold power and encourage nutcases to win.

  161. 161.

    marcopolo

    So Missouri’s Republican eminence grise, former Senator Danforth dropped a couple of interviews today admitting that sponsoring Josh Hawley’s entry into MO politics was the worst decision he ever made. Apparently he no longer remembers sponsoring Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court or supporting disgraced former governor Eric Greitens.

    JACK DANFORTH to @tonymess, in an interview today about his endorsements of Josh Hawley: “Supporting Josh and trying so hard to get him elected to the Senate was the worst mistake I ever made in my life.” https://t.co/TtVwZLuZvw pic.twitter.com/IpUyDCuC6V— Eli Yokley (@eyokley) January 7, 2021

    As for Greiten’s, who spent all of last year trying to rehabilitate himself (I guess so he can get back into politics), another disgraced former MO politician, Jeff Smith, says he’s been getting lots of texts over the past day asking if Greitens could beat Hawley in a senate race matchup:

    You know people are desperate when you’re getting texts from MO politicos of both parties asking, “You think Greitens could beat Hawley?”— Jeff Smith (@JeffSmithMO) January 7, 2021

    For anyone wondering, having to chose between voting for Hawley or Greiten’s for any political office is the equivalent of whether to put arsenic or cyanide on your breakfast just before you eat it.

  162. 162.

    prostratedragon

    “Steve is calm, cool, collected, and fucking magnificent.”
    And in complete, dare I say compleat, rulership over someone who will gladly give him food and water, cuddles, hairbrushings, … These things help one’s sense of equipoise greatly.

  164. 164.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    @debbie: It rose on news of the Georgia victories ensuring needed robust stimulus, instead of McConnell’s economic sabotage.

  165. 165.

    Quinerly

    I have no idea what I will do with all this spare time now that Lin Wood has been permanently banned from Twitter. He was suspended yesterday. Then bragged about going to post from a second acct. That got him permanently banned. Woman who was shot yesterday had just retweeted him before she broke into the Capitol.

  167. 167.

    Mike in NC

    New op-ed on the Washington Post website: “Trump has blood on his hands” by one Marc Thiessen (!)

  168. 168.

    marcopolo

    @mrmoshpotato:  The two elected out of the deep red part of the state.  Yes, southern IL, which has a lot of coal country in it, is full of dumb/ignorant white folks.  Without Chicago, IL would look a lot more like IN.  Anyways, Good luck trying to dislodge them.

  170. 170.

    West of the Rockies

    @PenAndKey:

    You have my genuine sympathy.  These are frightening times, but there is reason to be optimistic.

    I know nothing about you, but feel free to email me if you want another contact point in your life, a cyber/phone friend.

  171. 171.

    Jeffro

    @Mike in NC: Wow!

    Let’s be clear about what happened Wednesday: The president of the United States invited a crowd of his supporters to Washington, ginned them up with lies about a stolen election, attacked members of Congress for being complicit in that theft and then sent them to the U.S. Capitol…It was one of the darkest moments in the history of our democracy. And Trump is responsible for it. 

    Ugh, great, now I’m applauding Marc “the GOP hack’s hack” Thiessen

  173. 173.

    Geminid

    @no comment: An interesting take. Moderate depression is not uncommon, and deep or “clinical” depression affects a fair amount of people. I’ve experienced it, and I’ve also seen how obsession will sometimes mask depression and provide relief, at least for a while.

  174. 174.

    Jeffro

    @Jeffro: of course, he goes on to blame the media and to dismiss the Russia investigation, so never mind – fuck Marc Thiessen.

  177. 177.

    NotMax

    @PenAndKey

    because this whole “grin and bear it, this too shall pass” thing many of us are doing

    Not sure I’ve seen much of that here.

    Dejection is warranted, despair is not.

    (My tuppence.)

  178. 178.

    Ms. Deranged in AZ

    Awww, Steve is such a chonky floofy monkey….what a handsome boy!!!!

    I’ve come to the conclusion that I like cats more than most people. Especially after yesterday’s shenanigans.

  179. 179.

    Leto

    @Ken: and you know what happened a year later? The Business  Plot. You can draw a straight line from that to Nixon to Reagan, W, to yesterday.

  180. 180.

    Patricia Kayden

    I'm trying to assemble 500 Muslim men of color, preferably with beards, to peacefully assemble near the US Capitol. We will speak in Arabic, Urdu, Punjabi, English and Turkish about the need for gun control. We will say Allahu Akbar a lot. Most of us will get shot by cops.— Wajahat "Wears a Mask Because of a Pandemic" Ali (@WajahatAli) January 7, 2021

  181. 181.

    marcopolo

    I need to go attend to the physical world now but before I head off, DKos folks are keeping a spreadsheet of D congresspeople who have come out in support of impeachment–up to 100 already!

    Here’s a link to it.

    If you are represented by a D congresscritter please check on the list to see if they’ve made an announcement & if they haven’t please consider calling their office and telling them you want Trump impeached.  Cori Bush, my rep came out for impeachment yesterday.

    Here’s a link with information for contacting Reps & Sens, including the Capitol Hill switchboard.

  182. 182.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Two faced Donny is already claiming that it was Antifa who attacked Congress yesterday,  but everyone saw that one coming.

  185. 185.

    Elizabelle

    The House leaders were calling nearby governors for assistance during the insurrection.

    WaPost:

    Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D):  [He ended a press conference early and returned to his office in the Capitol.   His chief of staff got a call from DC Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office saying] saying the Defense Department was refusing to activate the District’s National Guard. The mayor wanted Northam to send in Virginia’s, as well as state police.  Both requests were granted ASAP.

    “She said they needed help,” the governor recounted, and “I told her, ‘As always, we stand ready and willing to help any way we can.’ ”

    COS Mercer’s phone kept ringing with calls from staff for Virginia Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine asking for help. Northam’s own phone lit up about 3:15 p.m. The caller ID read: “Nancy Pelosi.”

    Northam had spoken with Pelosi “on a couple of occasions,” but those calls had been arranged through staff. He and Pelosi had exchanged direct numbers at some point, as leaders sometimes do, without really expecting to use them.

    “She was really concerned,” Northam said. “She said they needed help, and I assured her that we had deployed the Guard and we’d sent the Virginia State Police. She said: ‘Ralph there’s glass being broken around me. I’ve heard there’s been gunfire. We’re just very, very concerned right now.’ ”

    Pelosi and others apparently had been sequestered somewhere in the Capitol complex when she called. Virginia guardsmen gathered in Manassas [Northern VA]  by that evening and were on the ground at the Capitol on Thursday morning, Northam said, praising their quick action.

    But Northam also noted a glaring contrast between the Trump administration’s attitude toward deploying the guard in the summer against protesters demanding racial justice and the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol.

    “Back when the Black Lives Matter march was going on in Washington, the president — his secretary of defense — called and requested that we send our National Guard. And he said it was for the protection of the Capitol,” Northam said. “And that was a peaceful protest, in contrast to what happened yesterday.”

    Northam said the Trump administration’s resistance to using the guard this time is telling.

    “If anybody doesn’t believe in White privilege, they need to go back and review some of the footage of the Black Lives Matter march and what happened yesterday,” the governor said. “I would just say if African Americans or Muslims had been scaling the side of the nation’s Capitol or barging through barricades or marching through checkpoints, it would have been a very different picture.

  186. 186.

    piratedan

    @MisterForkbeard: and I try to say okay… IF there were ANTIFA stealth-ninja-agitators embedded amongst the peaceful Trump faithful, why didn’t those patriotic peaceful demonstrators take them aside and inform them that storming the Capitol wasn’t cool?  Right?  They were instigating, why not subdue them and turn them over to the police to expose them for who they are and thus exposing the whole Radical Left-Wing Communist/Socialist agenda?

    I’ve seen the BLM people video and log the Buggaloo Boys for destroying property during their protests, are these guys simply not savvy enough to protect their movement… the mind boggles at all of these missed opportunities. ////////

  187. 187.

    zhena gogolia

    BREAKING NEWS: @cnn @Acosta reports GOP sources close to White House say Trump “unstable, ranting and raving” and “bent on destruction in his final days.” We cannot take the nuclear codes away from him. We must take him away from the nuclear codes – before it is too late. pic.twitter.com/u2Czj7bUyA— Joe Cirincione (@Cirincione) January 7, 2021

  191. 191.

    Mike in NC

    More Cabinet picks:

    President-elect Joe Biden intends to name Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) to be his secretary of commerce. And he has picked Boston Mayor Marty Walsh (D), a self-described “lifelong champion of working people,” to be the next secretary of labor.

  192. 192.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @hueyplong: No, since everyone is saying the attack is bad, Donny is saying that it wasn’t his supporters but evil Antifa. Presumably Soros had leading members of Al-Maga cloned, or crises actors or  some other such horse shit.

  193. 193.

    Ruckus

    @Immanentize:

    Silly boy. John bought that bark-a-lounger for Steve. To avoid further physical damage and bleeding to death. That’s Steve’s chair and anyone/any animal who thinks of occupying it is shredded in seconds. Just thinking about it is dangerous.

  194. 194.

    Elizabelle

    @Leto:   If you or Quinerly find video of Jason Johnson, please share.  I was not watching, and would enjoy seeing it.

  195. 195.

    Calouste

    @Immanentize: Maybe not at Nuremberg, but William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw) was tried and executed after the war in the UK, for broadcasting propaganda in aid of the enemy.

  198. 198.

    Aleta

     

    William Turton @WilliamTurton

    Pretty chill vibe here in this hotel lobby, as Trump supporters decompress from today’s events. All are violating local mask rules, despite multiple massive signs about the mask rule.

    (video clip)

    Sharon Weinberger @weinbergersa

    In what other country can you violently storm the Capitol, and then retire for the evening to the Grand Hyatt for a nightcap and a good night’s sleep?

    I do keep thinking about the all night stand-off with DC police on Swann St., when @rahdubey  sheltered dozens of peaceful protestors in house. Their only crime was breaking curfew.

  199. 199.

    Elizabelle

    The National Guard leadership really dragged their feet on permitting Maryland to dispatch its National Guard.

    Yet another topic for Biden and DC to look into.

    WaPost:    Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) offered new details Thursday about the delayed response to assist law enforcement at the Capitol, saying the Maryland National Guard was ready to help but was “repeatedly” told they did not have the authorization needed to join the effort. Hogan received a panicked call from House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md)., who pleaded with him to send in troops from Maryland, the governor said. Hoyer told him that he was calling from a secure location with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).

    ….

    Hogan said Maj. Gen. Timothy Gowen, the adjutant general of the Maryland National Guard, was repeatedly rebuffed by the head of the National Guard at the federal level.

    Gowen “kept running it up the flagpole, and we don’t have authorization,” Hogan said. “We don’t have authorization.”
    ….  [90 minutes later the Secretary of the Army called, and the MD National Guard was finally dispatched.]
    … A source familiar with the effort said [Maryland] state troopers with riot gear were in place quickly, leaving Maryland around 2:45 p.m. The [Maryland National] guardsman were more than an hour behind them, the source said. Not all of the 500 guardsmen who were assigned arrived on Wednesday, the source said, but most were in place on Thursday morning at 6 a.m.

  204. 204.

    PAM Dirac

    @MattF:

     

    I was unsurprised to see my rep (Jamie Ruskin!!!) on the side of the angels.

    Yup. I’ve only met him a few times, but he has always been impressive and the people I know who know him well are even more impressed. He is very smart, very committed, and very willing to do the thankless grunt work that doesn’t get big attention, but slowly moves things in the direction you want. He campaigned for state legislators in our very red district even though they had very little chance of winning, but their efforts moved a 65R-35D to 58R-42D and hopefully the next group can keep it moving and Raskin recognizes how important those efforts are. I hope I don’t get moved out of his district when the next re-districting happens.

  205. 205.

    debbie

    @scav:

    Props to the buffalo-horned anti-Fascist who cleverly disguised himself as a well-known member of QAnon. //

  207. 207.

    sherparick

    @germy: That is actually a cat’s friendly look.

    In other sad news, one of the great chroniclers of the Vietnam War  has passed, Neal Sheehan, author of “Bright Shining Lie.” Time wise we are now almost as far away from the events of that war as we were in the 1960s from the Great War. But at least for the U.S. we seem forever locked in our de facto Cold Civil War that erupted over the Vietnam War & Civil Rights Revolution.

  208. 208.

    Another Scott

    ICYMI, BlueVirginia.US:

    Sen. Mark Warner spoke earlier this afternoon with reporters (see video, below), saying it would be “one of the most sobering conversations” he’s had in his “time in public office.” Sen. Warner said he’d just spent 20-30 minutes walking through the halls of the Capitol, “where windows are broken, debris is on the floor, thugs by the 100s or 1000s came in yesterday and desecrated the floor or the House…and the Senate…60 law enforcement officials were injured…4 deaths.” Sen. Warner said “there are a whole host of questions,” such as why the FBI and others weren’t prepared – even though they’d reassured him repeatedly that they would be – leading up to yesterday. According to Sen. Warner, “they were flat wrong…yesterday was an embarrassment in terms of the response.” The question is, “why were we not better prepared?” Sen. Warner said it was “outrageous” and “absolutely requires us to have a thorough and full investigation.” Sen. Warner also wondered what the response would have been if this had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesters as opposed to “this Trump mob.” See below the video for a few more highlights…

    […]

    Sen. Warner continued: “My message to Facebook, YouTube, Twitter – the blood and destruction that took place in our Capitol yesterday, at least part of that responsibility is on your hands, and I’m committed from my position as now Chairman of the Intelligence Committee to go after these firms with a new set of policies to make sure that this kind of fomenting of violence will not continue.” He said we need to “come down hard on the social media companies who turned a blind eye to the preaching of hate and white supremacy…”

    […]

    Much more at the link.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  210. 210.

    Ohio Mom

    PenAndKey:

    Give this two weeks — until Biden is sworn in — and if you are still too anxious, please, please, please call your primary care physician for some temporary “better living through chemistry.”

    There is some evidence that chronic anxiety can damage the brain, setting off endless cycles.

    Also, your little one deserves a happy parent! Do it for the baby.

    As Cole observes, mental health issues are stigmatized in our country. Don’t internalize that stigma, advocate for yourself and get the medication help you so clearly need.

    Keep us posted, we care.

  212. 212.

    debbie

    @Elizabelle:

    His chief of staff got a call from DC Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office saying] saying the Defense Department was refusing to activate the District’s National Guard. The mayor wanted Northam to send in Virginia’s, as well as state police.

    This is why the District of Columbia needs to be freed from the Feds.

  213. 213.

    Chyron HR

    @marcopolo:

    I think we are almost to the point where we will no longer have a madman running things but the 27% (or whatever the real number is) of US citizens who are batshit crazy disconnected from reality easily manipulated by bad people aren’t going anywhere & I don’t know how to correctly address this issue.

    My understanding is that once Trump is out of the picture these noble members of the white working class proletariat will flock to their rightful leader, Bernie Sanders.

  214. 214.

    Elizabelle

    Meanwhile:  in addition to the female Q Anon loon/USAF veteran shot and killed by Capitol Police as she was breaching a window (very near the Speaker’s office, if memory serves) —

    the needlessly dead in yesterday’s insurrection/Trump festivities are:  (per WaPost)

    Police said Rosanne Boyland, 34, of Kennesaw, Ga.; Kevin Greeson, 55, of Athens, Ala.; and Benjamin Phillips, 50, of Ringtown, Pa., suffered medical emergencies.

    Greeson had a history of high blood pressure and died of a heart attack.

    Phillips died of a stroke.  He was “a computer programmer and an ardent supporter of President Trump. …. He used his expertise in computer programming to make several pro-Trump websites, including “The Scummy Democrats” and “Trumparoo.”

    No news in this article on what happened to the 34-year woman old straight outta Georgia.

  217. 217.

    no comment

    @Geminid:

    Clinical depression is a chemical imbalance. It doesn’t refer to the severity. Mine is usually mild, but was pretty severe at the time I mentioned in my earlier post. You can also have depression due to traumatic and/or major changes in your life. That depression might be natural, but it becomes a problem if you don’t have a good support system or healthy coping skills.

    I was a smart kid, and was encouraged to read and have critical thinking skills. I was also encouraged to treat other people fairly & be kind to others. I always loved animals, and I would consider myself relatively intelligent. But when the depression hit me hardest, it was like I was a different person.

    It took me years to admit I needed help. I can see how others with a different upbringing or background might never crawl out of that hole, especially if they’re commiserating with others that just pull them right back in.

  218. 218.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Jeffro: He’s blaming Trump entirely and not any of the Republicans who echoed him.

    Fuck, even Loeffler and Purdue, two supposedly “moderate” Republican Senators were in on it until they lost their races and the assault happened. It’s on all them. And Marc Thiessen, too.

  222. 222.

    japa21

    Regarding the Illinois GOP rep from down state.  She is in  a lot of trouble.  She made acomment that hasn’t gone over very well.

    Speaking at the rally prior to the invasion, she said

    “Hitler was right on one thing,” referring to influencing youths

    She later said it waqs meant to be a condemnation of the left.

  223. 223.

    Calouste

    @Martin: If something happens on Inauguration Day that’s anywhere near what happened yesterday, it will be Secret  Service snipers that are taking the 2nd shots at the insurrectionists, not the FBI.

    I’m sure the shitgibbon won’t attend the inauguration. He’s just too much of a coward to even think about there being a riot targeted at an area where he would be.  He’ll try to whip up his cult on Parler for a repeat though.

  226. 226.

    Ruckus

    @gvg:

    It is what it is. The 25th is all there is. This country decided to have an elected king and that’s what we’ve ended up with, an elected king with a start and end date rather than a lifetime appointment. If we weren’t such a divided country politically, with 2 parties, rational and irrational, we could even likely fix this by adjusting/making law. As it stands this is what there is, the party that brung em has to dance with em, and change his diaper when he shits himself.

    It may not be the ideal solution.

    Difficult to type that last line with tongue so firmly in cheek.

  227. 227.

    trollhattan

    @Elizabelle:

    I just don’t know what to make of any of this. Heather Heyer was murdered, martyred I suppose not through her actions but because her beliefs caused her to and confront fascism. She threatened nobody. These folks were doing something far, far different.

  228. 228.

    pat

    Has no one else realized that Steve’s alert expression says “I hear a can opener!!

    In another second he is off that couch…

  234. 234.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @zhena gogolia:

    Trump was told that yesterday Pence would overturn the election, or Hawley would overturn the election, or delaying past midnight would overturn the election.  He even got a rabid mob to attack his political enemies, like he has always wanted to do.  Then he woke up this morning and Biden was confirmed after all.  All the bullshit posturing meant nothing.

    This was his last chance.  The only other option the nuts he listens to think will work is a military coup, and the military already told him to fuck off.

    He’s pretty upset, yes.  I’m sure a whole lot of his followers had the same “But we won!” reality-to-face experience, but they haven’t personally had the military tell them a coup ain’t happening.  They have that emotional cushion left.

  237. 237.

    Quinerly

    Simon & Schuster canceling the publication of an upcoming book by Senator Josh Hawley.

    I guess that’s something.

  242. 242.

    hueyplong

    @debbie: Saw something a few minutes ago that speculated that Trump will leave before Jan 20 so that he can do so on Air Force 1.

    But who knows?  A lot of melting down/degrading will happen between now and then.

    I hope he shoots himself like his hero did in Berlin.  It’s the romantic in me.

  243. 243.

    Charluckles

    @PenAndKey:

    Have you considered finding a therapist to talk to?

    I grew up in a house with stoic Midwestern parents who didn’t talk about mental health.  My wife came from a completely opposite background. Her insistence that we both go to her therapist together saved our marriage.

  244. 244.

    Ruckus

    @trollhattan:

    There are people who are sick and there are people who are massively misguided about the world and reality. That will always be the case, it is the nature of, nature. We can, as animals with the ability to communicate over generations, work to fix some of this and many, many people have over centuries. Except that many have worked in exactly the opposite direction, since the first human walked the earth.  We can and should work to fix as much of this as possible but we have to be aware that there are a lot of people who will work to format exactly the opposite concepts, for many reasons, none of them good. It is what it is, it takes a lot of effort and work to change it, attempt to fix it, live with what there is when change doesn’t work.

    Personally I think we are at a major crossroads in humanity. There are a lot more of us than there were when I was born, over 7 decades ago. The old ways of hate, racism, sexism, they never really worked but they really, really don’t work now, and we have to find ways to get the world to and at least most of it’s inhabitants to have some understanding of the nature of ability to live the old ways, the new ways and that it will only get better when we make it better.

  245. 245.

    catclub

    @mrmoshpotato: I see the attempted violent overthrow of the US government wasn’t as peaceful as she thought it would be.

     

    I thought this should refer to the woman caught on camera complaining “They teargassed us!” “What were you doing?”   “Its a revolution”

  246. 246.

    debbie

    @Quinerly:

    It is something; however, I’d bet Regnery or some similar conservative publisher will pick it up. If so, it’d be great if employees objected en masse.

  249. 249.

    dmsilev

    @Quinerly: Hit him in his pocketbook. Certainly hurts him more than people calling him mean names on Twitter, so there’s that.

    Here’s CNN’s report:

    This just in: @SimonSchuster "has decided to cancel publication of Senator Josh Hawley’s forthcoming book, THE TYRANNY OF BIG TECH." pic.twitter.com/MoUplvqo9n— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 7, 2021

    S&S says "it will always be our mission to amplify a variety of voices and viewpoints; at the same time we take seriously our larger public responsibility as citizens, and cannot support Senator Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat to our democracy and freedom"— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 7, 2021

  251. 251.

    patrick II

    @marcopolo:

    Danforth was Thomas’s sponsor for the Supreme Court, so whether it’s his worst sponsorship is a  closer call than you might guess.

  252. 252.

    catclub

    @Ruckus: The old ways of hate, racism, sexism, they never really worked but they really, really don’t work now,

     

    or… the last 70-80 years were an aberration of enlightenment and science. Ask Hungary and Poland. Also Phillipines and Brazil

  253. 253.

    bluehill

    Saw some tweets that showed some of the invaders breaking in and later carrying zip ties into the chamber. Speculated by the way they conducted themselves that they were ex-military or law enforcement and that one of their aims was to take hostages.

  254. 254.

    debbie

    @PenAndKey:

    Other than my wife you all are the only ones I will likely ever tell that to

    You should never be ashamed to share. I would bet there are many resources in your area that could provide referral to professionals trained to help people dealing with similar issues. You ought to look into the possibilities.

  255. 255.

    dmsilev

    People being considered for pardons on January 19, per Bloomberg:— Donald Trump— Mark Meadows— Stephen Miller— John McEntee— Dan Scavino— Ivanka Trump— Jared Kushner — Rudy Giuliani— Kimberly Guilfoyle— Albert Pirro— Lil Wayne— Kodak Blackhttps://t.co/4yT4JYmuEf— Gabe Fleisher (@WakeUp2Politics) January 7, 2021

    I guess the question needs to be asked: What has Lil Wayne done?

  256. 256.

    catclub

    @Calouste: It will be picked up by Regnery before the day is out.

     

    If it was going to be published by S&S it probably will have to be edited down for regnery readers. Does regnery do any non-bulk-purchase publications?

  258. 258.

    Quinerly

    POS Texas atty fired from his general counsel position. Outed himself on social media when he was teargased yesterday.

    Link

  259. 259.

    The Moar You Know

    It will be picked up by Regnery before the day is out.

    @Calouste: Yep, but S&S would have made him a millionaire.  Regnery will not charge him for printing it but that’s about all.  He’ll make some money, but losing a S&S deal is a big fucking hit in the pocketbook.

  260. 260.

    Matt McIrvin

    @hueyplong: There’s a tradition of giving the outgoing President one last flight on one of the planes (there are two, currently) to the location of his choosing, though for that purpose it is technically not Air Force One because the President is not on board.

    Of course, that assumes something like a regular transition.

    Richard Nixon actually took off in Air Force One before Gerald Ford was sworn in, so the plane stopped being Air Force One in mid-flight and had to request a change of call sign.

  264. 264.

    germy

    This woman was walking home. She lives on Hill St., two blocks away from LA City Hall where a “Stop the Steal” Rally was taking place.

    A mob of at least 20 Trump supporters circled her, beat her and maced her. It took two bystanders to pull her out. No arrests were made. pic.twitter.com/kHkFAMlf2v

    — Raquel Natalicchio (@RaquelNPhoto) January 7, 2021

  265. 265.

    Elizabelle

    @PenAndKey:  Good to see you here.  Sounds like you chose some excellent ways to detox, and wish you all the best.  Hope the panic attacks subside/depart.  What a year this has been.

  268. 268.

    Elizabelle

    Evening open thread?

    This one is getting to be a bear for people scrolling through on their phones.

    There must have been some news today …

  272. 272.

    Ruckus

    @Charluckles:

    Always good advice. Especially with something like the situation we are in now which is/can get to the most stoic of humans. Most of us are not able to go long time spans of isolation and little to nothing to do. I for example would really like to retire, before I turn 72 yrs whatever. And that’s coming up fairly soon as these things go. I only work 3 days a week and that is enough but I’m torn about retirement in that I’d be basically shut in not 4 days a week, but 7. At some time of course the point is irrelevant, but still it’s there.

  284. 284.

    Calouste

    @The Moar You Know: Good :) Hopefully there is more of this kind of fallout for the seditionists in Congress. I don’t think that fundraising problems will mean much for Republican Representatives in gerrymandered districts, but if major companies boycott the Seven Seditious Senators, it could have an effect on their races.

  286. 286.

    debbie

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    Anya shared an interview with another clown yesterday. He was from NJ, and he actually said that he was storming the Capitol and tearing down the barriers when he heard gunshots. “I don’t know why they were doing that.”

    They’re all idiots.

  287. 287.

    The Moar You Know

    What has Lil Wayne done?

    @dmsilev:  Just pled guilty in December to being a prior felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.  Federal charge, that was.  Facing ten years.  The prior felony was also…illegal possession of a firearm.  What the fuck are people who do this shit thinking?  He can hire some guards, for fucks sake.

    I notice Uday and Qusay didn’t make the cut.  That’s fucking cold.

  288. 288.

    NotMax

    @Jeffro

    Correlation is not causation. But it tracks nearly parallel with increase in consumption of bottled water.

    Just sayin’.

    ;)

  289. 289.

    Elizabelle

    @Leto:   Thank you.  I am liking Dr. Jason Johnson.

    During this summer’s BLM protests at the Robert E Lee Monument in Richmond, a small plane circled and circled and circled overhead.  It appeared on many occasions.   I would see it at night.  Several protesters told me it was for law enforcement, recording our cell phone information.

    Oh well.

  290. 290.

    marcopolo

    @patrick II:

    Danforth was Thomas’s sponsor for the Supreme Court, so whether it’s his worst sponsorship is a  closer call than you might guess.

    Nothing personal, but do you typically only read one sentence of a comment before replying, cause this was the second sentence of that comment:

    Apparently he no longer remembers sponsoring Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court or supporting disgraced former governor Eric Greitens.

  293. 293.

    germy

    Suspect is black: “at least 50,000 black people fit the description, so let’s arrest them all.”

    Suspect is white: “Don’t know how we’re going to find these people with full body tattoos who wore their work IDs to a coup.”

    — Kashana (@kashanacauley) January 7, 2021

  294. 294.

    marcopolo

    So much for the MAGAts supporting the police & Back the Blue:

    A US Capitol Police officer has died from events stemming from yesterday’s riots at the Capitol, three sources confirm to CNN. pic.twitter.com/S0XJMwEn5Q— Vaughn Sterling (@vplus) January 7, 2021

    Also, too, we are now up to 128 Representatives calling for Trump’s impeachment.  Ninety to go.  Check out the spreadsheet at the link and if you have a D congressperson listed who is not yet in support give them call.

  297. 297.

    germy

    @The Moar You Know:  He’ll make some money, but losing a S&S deal is a big fucking hit in the pocketbook.

    I thought those books were bought in bulk by the RNC and pushed right up to the top of the best seller list?

  301. 301.

    The Moar You Know

    Anya shared an interview with another clown yesterday. He was from NJ, and he actually said that he was storming the Capitol and tearing down the barriers when he heard gunshots. “I don’t know why they were doing that.”

    @debbie: It’s an utter mystery.

    America needs a better class of idiot.  At least in most nations that are poor, shitty, and the rule of law tenuous at best, if one signs up to be part of a coup, they expect to get shot at if not actually shot and killed.

    Only in America and possibly the UK could you find someone so fucking stupid that they’d show up and try to overthrow the government, kidnap and murder half the politicians, and think that getting shot at is outside the realm of possibility.

  304. 304.

    The Moar You Know

    I thought those books were bought in bulk by the RNC and pushed right up to the top of the best seller list?

    @germy:  They are.  Who do you think is getting the money from the sales?  Ain’t the author.

  305. 305.

    BaffleGab

    Ran across this video from ITV, in which the narrator and the camera actually join the mob as they enter the Capitol building. It’s like a ‘Wild Kingdom’ episode interviewing the indigenous peoples . Got to hand it to the balding, middle-aged Brit reporter- he has more cojones than I would have.

  312. 312.

    Leto

    @Elizabelle: I would say they’re wrong as that’s probably the least effective way of collecting that info. Law enforcement already works with cell providers on signal location as it’s the cell towers that provide your location. Don’t know why the plane was there, but it’s not that.

  314. 314.

    burnspbesq

    @Quinerly:

    Saw that Business Insider article earlier today on Le Livre des Visages.

    Somebody sure as shit caused the Capitol Police to be woefully unprepared.

  316. 316.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @debbie:

    He was thinking that the government and law enforcement exist to represent the interests of him and his people and no one else.  It is the whole point of Republicanism and from his viewpoint he had been allowed in to remove a few parasites that were defiling the system.

  318. 318.

    jonas

    @Elizabelle: Exactly right. Kelly knew what Trump was. He went along with it, particularly the child separation policy. Fuck him with a rusty pitchfork. There is no redemption.

  319. 319.

    Chetan Murthy

    @jonas:

    Kelly knew what Trump was. He went along with it, particularly the child separation policy.

    Hannah Arendt taught us that Fascism is just the methods of Imperialism, but brought home to the metropole.  Kelly is -fine- with the methods of Imperialism, applied to them dusky furriners [and I’m sure he’d be OK with stretching a point, to include *me* in that description].  What he’s not OK with, is applying those methods in his hometown.  And as much as I shudder to say this, we need to embrace him for at least the next 16 days.  B/c fuuuuck, these are dark times.  I’ll say a kind word for him in the House of Commons, even if he’d be OK with them herding me onto a railroad car.  Priorities, people.

  320. 320.

    Dan B

    1. @marcopolo: My former Rep Pramila Jayapal and my current Rep Adam Smith are on the list with strong statements.  Jayapal was hiding in the gallery yesterday.
  321. 321.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Dan B:

    Jayapal was hiding in the gallery yesterday.

    I can only imagine the fear she must have felt as these white supremacists invaded her workplace.  It fills me with rage to imagine it.

  322. 322.

    Misterpuff

    @dmsilev: 

    Current Wikipedia entry for Gary Player : Gary Player DMS, OIG (born 1 November 1935) is a South African white supremacist and a retired professional golfer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers ever.[1]

    Gary should have remembered ETTD.

  325. 325.

    Ruckus

    @debbie: 
    Thinking?

    Really? They are all too stupid to think. They are followers. Even the military doesn’t like people who just follow and don’t think. You’d imagine they would like that but you end up with a group of people who can’t find the bathroom with their legs crossed.

  326. 326.

    J R in WV

    @Elizabelle:

    Regarding Trump’s use of a “self pardon” to protect himself just before leaving office, that doesn’t worry me that much.

    Does anyone think Trump will magically become a law-abiding good citizen on January 20th at noon? No. So by the end of the day on January 21st he will have committed new felonies. I may exaggerate a little bit, it may take a week or two, but a close watch would catch him in a felony, and then that pardon could be shredded by the lawyers as the product of a continuing pattern of illegal conspiracy.

    And can a president pardon himself (herself) from the guilt of having attempted to overthrow the democratic process itself?  I don’t think so. The pardon will be part of the conspiracy to overthrow the democratic process, the insurrection he ignited personally over the past year.

    I still hope to see Mr Trump in the dock for violent insurrection, conspiracy to commit sedition, and murder for the deaths that occurred in our national seat of government. Along with everyone else working in the White House with any leading responsibility. Like Stephan Miller, Don Jr, Eric, Jarvanka, all of those ringleaders of this horrific and illegal conspiracy to overturn our government.

    ETA: I still firmly believe that eventually, everyone in the capitol building illegally should and will be indicted for a wide variety of violent crimes, including felony murder of all those who died in this unbelievable violent revolutionary insurrection. When someone dies in the course of a felony, that’s a murder at the hands of those committing the felonies.

    If a driver outside the bank can be prosecuted for the murder inside the bank during the robbery, surely these people may be prosecuted for the wide variety of deaths caused by their joint operation!

  327. 327.

    J R in WV

    @japa21:

    I am not a cat person. But Steve almost makes me change my mind.

    My dad always said he didn’t like cats. He was mildly allergic, in fact. But when we visited with our cat for an extended period of time while I was away in the US Navy, he would sit with her, petting her, until he literally had a red blotch where she was sitting against his chest.

    Fortunately a little creme would prevent any serious outbreak. My dad was a really nice person, and responded to an affectionate kitty so very much. This was in the early 1970s, so in the long ago now.

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