Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Everybody saw this coming.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Our messy unity will be our strength.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

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

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

The lights are all blinking red.

Not all heroes wear capes.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

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

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Second rate reporter says what?

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Reader Interactions

194Comments

  5. 5.

    MisterForkbeard

    So THIS is a big deal: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/china-sanctions-ex-trump-admin-officials-including-pompeo-bannon-within-minutes-of-inauguration

    China issued a near-PNG on a huge portion of the Trump admin officials. It includes their family members and organizations, who are no longer allowed to conduct business with China.

    Yeah. Would love to see what Adam and Cheryl have to say about this, but if I had to guess it’s not going to be the last country to start issuing sanctions and so forth on Trumpers.

  6. 6.

    SoupCatcher

    I hear Biden’s inaugural address with the following lens, to mix a metaphor.

    We will stand up to what is wrong.  We will fight you.  But, once we’ve knocked you down, we will reach out our hand and help you to your feet.

    More generally, we’ve spent four years knowing that when Republicans won power, they would try to kill us.

    Biden is telling Republicans, it’s okay to lose power, we won’t try to kill you.

  9. 9.

    Poe Larity

    QAnon must be even more disappoint than the Mr. Robot finale. But what if China really had a time machine, they could go back in time and…

  13. 13.

    Mary G

    I guess Chris Wallace has decided that since Fox fired the election caller and is going full wingnut all day, he has NFLTG:

    Chris Wallace just told the Fox News audience of President Biden’s speech: “I have been listening to these inaugural addresses since 1961, John F. Kennedy’s ‘Ask not.’ I thought this was the best inaugural address I ever heard.”
    — Willie Geist (@WillieGeist) January 20, 2021

    Fox News’ Sandra Smith wonders if Biden signing executive orders on his first day will show he’s not for unity, asking “what message does this send.”

    Chris Wallace: “It says that he won. It’s as simple as that.” pic.twitter.com/y1zGSBubtV
    — Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) January 20, 2021

    Might as well tell the truth while I’m still here.

  14. 14.

    Ken

    @MisterForkbeard: The surprising part of that story is that the Trump administration sanctioned China for their actions against the Uyghurs.  How did they stumble into doing something decent?

  16. 16.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Baud: I don’t think we’re allowed to do that to our own citizens :)

    Really though, I could see a number of countries doing something similar after they wind through some court cases. They can impose significant penalties on Trump Admin officials if they want to, because the US is actually pretty constrained here. We almost certainly won’t get federal criminal indictments of a lot of these folks who nevertheless did detestable things.

  17. 17.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I was only half-listening to the speeches from the other room, but I wondered who was addressing our new Executive branch in a smarmy and patronizing tone Apparently it was Kevin Fucking McCarthy

    Jake Tapper@jaketapper· 17m
    .@GOPLeader McCarthy congratulates Biden and Harris, says he’s proud of them. No acknowledgement that he pushed the Big Lie they didn’t win, joined that mendacious TX AG lawsuit, voted to disenfranchise AZ and PA voters based on lies AFTER the terrorist siege.

  18. 18.

    Marcelo

    My wife came in to ask me something while I was playing this video and finished with “okay, go listen to your Taylor Swift”

  19. 19.

    Ken

    @Mary G: Fox News’ Sandra Smith wonders if Biden signing executive orders on his first day will show he’s not for unity

    And Chris Wallace rips open his shirt, revealing that T-shirt someone posted the other day:

    2017: WE WON GET OVER IT

    2018: F*CK YOUR FEELINGS

    2019: I DRINK SWEET LIBERAL TEARS

    2020: SUCK IT LIBTARDS

    2021: All we want is unity

  21. 21.

    Roger Moore

    @Ken:

    I assume they sanctioned China over their treatment of the Uighurs because it was a publicly acceptable justification, not because they really care that much about them.

  22. 22.

    Gin & Tonic

    Apparently the Biden administration has requested, and received, the resignation of Michael Pack, the scumbag who was put in at US Agency for Global Media and proceeded to disembowel RFE/RL. It will take time to rebuild, but this is a very promising step.

  23. 23.

    Immanentize

    This is my favorite beat.  This and retiring Republican Congress Critters.

    Every federal judge in active service (1) who is at least 65; and (2) whose age + time-in-service is at least 80 may take "senior" status, which opens up a seat for President Biden to fill.Judge Roberts is the first to announce such a move, but she certainly won't be the last. https://t.co/Mvj4G0PXtn— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) January 20, 2021

  24. 24.

    Kent

    @MisterForkbeard:

    So THIS is a big deal: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/china-sanctions-ex-trump-admin-officials-including-pompeo-bannon-within-minutes-of-inauguration

    China issued a near-PNG on a huge portion of the Trump admin officials. It includes their family members and organizations, who are no longer allowed to conduct business with China.

    Yeah. Would love to see what Adam and Cheryl have to say about this, but if I had to guess it’s not going to be the last country to start issuing sanctions and so forth on Trumpers.

    HA!!

    Are they going to cancel all of Ivanka’s Chinese copyrights and patents or whatever those were?

  25. 25.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Ken: Basically, malicious incompetence.

    The right time to do this would have been years ago. They did not because they don’t know how to do their jobs or weren’t willing. However, Pompeo decided to declare it on his last day in office, because he’s trying to drop a diplomatic bomb in Biden’s lap. Which he did.

  26. 26.

    West of the Rockies

    I would LOVE seeing vids of Trumpsters being dragged by the scruff of the neck from their desks and offices, in particular any who delayed the transition.

  30. 30.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Mary G: Ha! Just the right length, a good if somewhat benign impersonation.

    I think it was Darrell Hammond who did an SNL version of Tweety that made him look about five times smarter than he was, with punctuating HA!, and Tweety pretended to be rueful about replaying it

  31. 31.

    Ken

    @Immanentize: opens up a seat for President Biden to fill. Judge Roberts is the first to announce such a move,

    Hallelujah!  A miracle!  Joy!

    but she

    Damn. Not that Roberts.

  32. 32.

    NotMax

    Time was had a whole lotta obscure trivia about inaugural firsts ready to share at a moment’s notice. Most of that has faded from memory over the decades but do yet remember one tidbit.

    John Quincy Adams was the first president to be sworn in while wearing long pants.

    Now can bookend that with Kamala Harris being the first vice president to be sworn in while not wearing pants.

    ;)

  33. 33.

    Elizabelle

    @Gin & Tonic:   Good to hear.

    I hope Pack faces charges — he was criminally awful — and has to repay some of the $2 million plus he used on vendettas, etc.

  34. 34.

    lamh36

    It was freezing like the dark side of hell for Chump’s inauguration…today for Joe and Kamala, it’s cold, but but a frozen tundra of a day. The sun is out…not rain…cold but beautiful day!!!

     

  42. 42.

    Roger Moore

    @Kent:

    Are they going to cancel all of Ivanka’s Chinese copyrights and patents or whatever those were?

    IIRC they were trademarks, and the article doesn’t mention Ivanka or anyone whose last name is Trump.  The people they mention are mostly members of Trump’s foreign policy team, which makes sense since this is nominally about the US sanctioning them over the treatment of Uighurs.

  43. 43.

    Ken

    @MisterForkbeard: Pompeo decided to declare it on his last day in office, because he’s trying to drop a diplomatic bomb in Biden’s lap. Which he did.

    It sounds like the Chinese are well aware of that, and are directing their reaction at those responsible.  Which seems like it would reduce Biden’s incentive to remove the sanctions on China, though IANAD(iplomat).

  48. 48.

    Immanentize

    @Ken: Ha ha.  Word is that a LOT of judges — both Republican and Democratic appointed — have delayed their taking senior status until Trump left office.  Balance can be restored.

  52. 52.

    M31

    damn I love Portal! Stupid Apple’s new OS killed it so will keep an old computer around for as long as I can.

    “You just keep trying till you run out of cake”

  57. 57.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Today was trash day in our neighborhood so I’ll always associate this transfer of power with taking out the trash.

  59. 59.

    jl

    @Kent: Thanks. After reading that article, hard to tell what the motives of the Chinese government are. The pretext is their standard BS about any criticism of their thuggish approach to their neighbors and of their domestic human rights violations, which doesn’t smell good to me.

    OTOH, they may be using that pretext to slam the door on an administration that used extremely sleazy and corrupt tactics in dealing with them.

    There may be three kinds of foreign reactions to the Trump departure. The authoritarians will be sad that US won’t be joining them and this particular grift is over. Our more respectable allies will grind through the slow wheels of justice. Others will find any way they can to make trouble for the Trump gang for being total assholes.

    I’d also like to hear Adam’s or Cheryl’s take on i

    Edit: I should have read other commenters takes on it first. I gave the Chinese too much credit. Their top brass probably is more in the authoritarian goon world, and want to punish the officials who said things the Chinese deemed offensive to their thuggish dignity, while exempting the Trumpster gang itself, whose methods they feel comfortable with.

  61. 61.

    Haroldo

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Apparently the Biden administration has requested, and received, the resignation of Michael Pack, the scumbag who was put in at US Agency for Global Media and proceeded to disembowel RFE/RL. It will take time to rebuild, but this is a very promising step.

    Yep. Was so glad to see this happen so quickly.

  64. 64.

    Ken

    @Roger Moore: @Immanentize: Now that you mention it, I recall that (senior status for the Supreme Court) being discussed back when Barrett was being pushed through.

    IIRC, it was one of the proposals for getting some predictability in the process.  Create senior status, mandate that justices take it after 18 years, set up a staggered schedule for those currently serving; viola, a new justice every two years.

    I think it was claimed that it could all be done by statute, with no Constitutional complications?  Though not by this Congress, of course.

  65. 65.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Ken: When Republicans win, it’s a clear Republican mandate. When Democrats win, America wants bipartisanship.

  67. 67.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @NotMax: Respectfully disagree. Smudging is an honorable Native American ceremony and our next Secretary of the Interior is culturally appropriate for the task.

  70. 70.

    Ken

    @M31: Stupid Apple’s new OS killed it so will keep an old computer around for as long as I can.

    I had the same problem with Lemmings back in the 1980s.

  71. 71.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Watching the Arlington ceremony.

    Going to watch the parade.

    Will watch just about anything anyone wants to air about Biden being President today. 2 hours of watching him sign executive orders? I’m in.

    Not going to get much done today.

  73. 73.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Time to codify some our traditions into law. For instance, the outgoing president is required to attend the inauguration of his or her successor. In the case of a treasonous bastard who called for an insurrection on our Capitol, wheeled in strapped to an appliance dolly wearing a Hannibal mask.

  74. 74.

    Kent

    @jl: Probably mostly an olive branch to the Biden Administration.  They are trying to paint the disintegration of Chinese-American relations as being the fault of Trump Administration corruption and bad actors, and not any sort of systemic differences between the two countries.

    I doubt Biden will be fooled by it.  But it is a smart move on the part of the Chinese.

  78. 78.

    jl

    @Kent: I jumped to conclusions about what camp to put the Chinese into. Probably a smart move on the Chinese’ part, but also a signal that on the areas where they are very bad, Biden can expect the same crap from them.

    I am not by nature a China basher. I admire the researchers and medical people who did the best they could in the face of the pandemic. Getting the genetic sequence out asap to the world was absolutely critical to getting good tests and work on the vaccines going immediately. Edit: and not their fault the corrupt and incompetent US Trumpster government blew everything on its end to the maximum extent possible.

    But that was due to regular small fry people, who never know when they’ll be punished for doing the right thing. The Chinese leadership is an entirely different bunch.

  81. 81.

    Elizabelle

    @Just Some Fuckhead:   No.  That inauguration benefited greatly from Biden’s predecessor’s absence.

    I guess impeached presidents don’t always attend their successor’s inaugurations.  Bill Clinton was the exception there, and his impeachment was laughable.

    Twice impeached “presidents”?  To hell with them, all the faster.

  82. 82.

    Roger Moore

    @M31:

    damn I love Portal! Stupid Apple’s new OS killed it so will keep an old computer around for as long as I can.

    That’s the problem with Apple: they don’t give a damn about backward compatibility.  I can run Portal just fine on my Linux box, but you can’t on a Mac.

  83. 83.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Immanentize: A partial list:

    Former NSA Robert O’Brien, Former SoS Mike Pompeo, Former HHS Alex Azar, former adviser Peter Navarro, former NSA John Bolton,  former deputy NSA Matthew Pottinger, former Ambassador Kelly Craft, assistant SoS David Stilwell, undersecretary of State Keith Krach, former advisor Steve Bannon.

    Can’t find the full list, though. Azar was a little bit of a surprise, but I’m guessing it’s because he was willing to put up with the “blame china for everything” narrative they were trying to sell.

  85. 85.

    Baud

    @Matt McIrvin: LOD said earlier that Budget actually doesn’t have that much responsibility over the budget.  The more powerful committees are Appropriations and Finance.

  87. 87.

    eponymous

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    I have been wanting a good mockery name for CosplayShaman Boy, since shaman is an honorable title in some cultures, and he is nothing but ridiculous.

  88. 88.

    Ken

    @NotMax: Motorcade just shown running a stop sign at Arlington.

    Reminds me of the old puzzle: Four vehicles approaching along the roads of a four-way intersection: fire truck, police car, ambulance (all three with flashers and siren on), and post office truck.  Which has right-of-way?

    Answer: Post office truck, it’s a federal vehicle.

    (I have no idea if this is still valid, or indeed ever was. I can easily imagine the argument turning into a variation of the Trolley Puzzle; which vehicle will save the most lives?)

  89. 89.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Ken: Biden’s not going to immediately revoke Chinese sanctions, because this is all about trying to make Biden do stuff that Republicans can claim mean he’s in hock to China.

    They’re looking for the media to repeat things like “This buttresses republican claims that Biden is beholden to China in the same way Democrats claimed Trump was beholden to Russia.”

    So this is all about ratcheting up the pressure and trying to cause problems so they can make Biden look bad when he has to de-escalate. China knows this too – they’ve got Biden in a bad position here and can extract concessions because Republicans both handled the last four years extremely poorly and because Republicans are trying to pounce on Biden for doing correct policy if they can make him look bad.

  90. 90.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: I am flint-hearted but this Arlington visit is powerful.

    I only wish the Carters were there. Hell, I wish Poppy and Bar were there. As a rebuke to the one I’m glad isn’t.

  91. 91.

    Immanentize

    @Delk: he will be harder to move out.  He is appointed by the independent USPS Board which has been captured by the Republicans.

  93. 93.

    Punchy

    @MisterForkbeard:  Azar was a little bit of a surprise, but I’m guessing it’s because he was willing to put up with the “blame china for everything” narrative they were trying to sell.

    Ding ding ding!  Exactly this.  Expect Scott Atlas to be added, perhaps the ex-GA Senators, etc.   Everyone who ever uttered “Wuhan flu” is going to be sanctioned, I expect.

  94. 94.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I was just saying the same thing. No fan of Bush I but his bipartisan and gracious dedication to the rituals of power is sorely needed on the Republican side. I don’t feel the same way about Bush II. I’m not ready to rehabilitate that criminally incompetent lout, no matter how bad each subsequent Republican president is.

  96. 96.

    jl

    @Baud: I think the Budget committee is more about setting agendas and vision. Sanders can make a lot of noise there, which will keep the progressives happy, and he can line up possibilities for the various little deals he’s supposed to be famous for to insiders along the lines of his history of amendments to bring odd coalitions on board. Edit: I don’t know if that last is true, I just know what I read about it in the news.

    I  think a good place for him to make himself useful, without causing too much trouble.

  97. 97.

    Mallard Filmore

    @NotMax:

     

    Now can bookend that with Kamala Harris being the first vice president to be sworn in while not wearing pants.

    Kamala didn’t wear pants. Baud has an issue with pants. There are dots here that need to be connected.

  99. 99.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Baud: Did he happen to mention about a hundred times, in passing, of course, not really germane, that he used to work for that committee?

  100. 100.

    Mary G

    Katie Porter’s sister:

    One of my favorite and most gratifying procedures to perform is incision & drainage of a huge abscess that has been festering and causing someone a lot of pain. Today was that. Only better. The pus is out. And now the healing begins.— Emily Porter, M.D. (@dremilyportermd) January 20, 2021

    I bet their childhood dinner table was a blast.

  102. 102.

    Ken

    @Punchy: So are these sanctions limited to doing business with China, or is there an implied “and be careful with international travel or you may wake up in a Chinese prison”?

  107. 107.

    Brachiator

    I keep forgetting where the VP lives. It’s a big ass Victorian house, Number One Observatory Circle. It has been refurbished a number of times. I don’t think I have ever seen a TV segment about it.

  109. 109.

    jl

    Josh Marshall claims the stories on Congresscrooks seeking pardon imply that the most likely are Reps Biggs and Gosar.

    @joshtpm

    What’s the most specific report about Reps Biggs and Gosar seeking pardons for their roles in the insurrection? This CNN article repeatedly implies it without actually saying so directly.

    https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/1351908699091165187

    Maybe I should respond to one of those remote shindigs Gosar is inviting me to over my cell phone. Don’t know why my number landed on his list, but I’ll try to mole my way in. I want a a little espionage action on my resume to spice it up.

  111. 111.

    Ken

    @mali muso: So adding up the crowds, and allowing that people may be unable or unwilling to travel far, Trump’s next rally might see, oh, 35 people?

  113. 113.

    NotMax

    I don’t know from such things but on camera those look like some mighty uncomfortable shoes that Harris is wearing.

  114. 114.

    jl

    @Ken: Trump needs to get on starting his new fan club political party asap quick like a bunny. I want to see if it can split off enough percent of GOP vote to put them in real trouble.

    Edit:  I hope the Trumpsters have the marketing grift machine for that set up to go, A gear shop and some Trump prayer cloths and special Trump blockchain currency will really  bring in the base.

  116. 116.

    Ken

    @Brachiator: During the Bush II administration, Cheney managed to get the VP’s residence blurred on all the satellite views. I have no idea what he was trying to accomplish.

  118. 118.

    Immanentize

    @Elizabelle: Agreed.  I get migraines, but my pattern is that I get them only after periods of great stress.  I kinda feel one coming on.  But I’ll take it!

  119. 119.

    SFBayAreaGal

    I am so looking forward to seeing President Biden’s picture hanging in the San Francisco VA Medical Center.

  123. 123.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    not for nothing but, as with yesterday’s ceremony at the reflecting pool, somebody’s watching this with quivering-eyed rage that none of his people thought of him doing this

    If Mark Meadows has started his new job as butler at Mar-A-Loco, he’s dodging cheap knock-offs of Marjorie Merriweather Post’s vases and book-ends

  129. 129.

    Punchy

    @Ken: I dont know.  I wouldn’t think the Chinese could plane-jack them while connecting at Schiphol on a red-eye to Irkutsk.  I would think this is more of a “you and your filthy lucre need to stay the fuck out of our borders” shot across the bow declaration.

  133. 133.

    Brachiator

    @NotMax:

    Old enough to remember the brouhaha about the modernistic, mink-covered designer bed Rockefeller had installed there?

    I wasn’t paying attention back then.  According to the Wiki, Rockefeller only used the place for entertaining, and Mondale was the first VP to actually live in the place.

  136. 136.

    Ksmiami

    @Kent: eh the reality is we need to be on decent terms with the most populous nation in the world so if there’s an opportunity for a reset, that’s a good thing in the long run.

  138. 138.

    jl

    Surgeon General Adams is only Trumpster official I can think of who did a good job, and sorry to see him go out this way. OTOH, he was brought in by Pence, so his provenance is better than others.

    Fauci, Messonnaire and Adams only ones I saw who did a consistently good job, inside a horrible administration that punished competence in dealing with the pandemic. All three made mistakes and bad missteps, but that is to be expected in a once in a century crisis.

    Surgeon General Adams Releases Resignation Statement Amid Biden’s Call To Step Down

    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/live-blog/trump-scurries-off-to-florida-ahead-of-biden-inauguration?entry=1355515

  143. 143.

    mali muso

    Awww, fuck. Just got an update from a friend whose dad has been battling COVID for 40+ days.  He passed early this morning.  None of this had to happen this way.  I will never forgive anyone who voted for Trump; I don’t care what excuses they come up with.

  144. 144.

    Ken

    @germy: Trump’s children start to cry after he mentions Space Force

    Tears of joy, at how well the hearing to have him declared incompetent will go.

  146. 146.

    zhena gogolia

    @NotMax:

    She stumbled on the steps inside the Capitol — it was a little scary. Those steep marble steps are not made for stilettos.

  147. 147.

    jl

    @jl: IMHO, the piece on Adams implies that he was somehow deficient in paying attention to non-covid health issues.

    Well, as someone whose job includes monitoring pandemic performance of other countries and reviewing their policies, Adams was right to do so.

    The best practice countries that have managed to minimize excess mortality so far, paid a lot, and I mean a lot, of attention, had whole separate task forces, to maintain non-covid care through shut downs. Adams was correct to pay attention to boring stuff like hypertension (which remember is a major  risk factor for serious covid outcomes). Ignorant crappy attitude in that blog piece.

    Edit: like Fauci and Messonaire, it showed a deeper understanding of epidemic management than people appreciate. /semi-rant ended.

  150. 150.

    Elizabelle

    I wonder if President Biden will host a dinner with former Presidents Obama and Bush.  Maybe they could phone President Carter.

    But no contact whatsoever with Individual 1.

    I wonder how Robert Mueller is doing these days.

  154. 154.

    WaterGirl

    @zhena gogolia:

    Those steep marble steps are not made for stilettos.

    I held my breath as both Kamala and Jill were walking down those steps.  Not made for stilettos.  I think Kamala could have taken of her shoes and bopped down the steps, then put them back on at the bottom.

  155. 155.

    NotMax

    May have misconstrued what was only slightly audible but earlier when TV was showing a military band marching outside the Capitol, the music ended, instruments were duly moved to their resting position and I could swear I heard a “Masks.On!” order being barked in crisp military fashion, the band in unison then doing so.

  156. 156.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Michael Beschloss unloading on the trumps denuding of the Rose Garden. Every time I think he’s shaken the last fuck out of his bag…

  157. 157.

    Immanentize

    @Suzanne: Do you recall when Trump lied about the sun coming out when he stated speaking at his inauguration?  But actually it just kept raining?

    It seems God did.

  158. 158.

    Splitting Image

    My mood is “numb with relief”.

    I’ve been praying for this day for years and hotly anticipating it for months. It’s finally here and I want to take a nap. Actually, I’ve de-stressed a lot since Twitter banned the Orange Thing, since I’ve been able to turn on the internet without seeing that pig-faced pile of shit telling the world how great he is and how unfairly he’s being treated. Now that he is officially gone, gone, gone, I can relax a bit more.

    Somebody quoted Sam Gamgee from my favourite chapter of the Lord of the Rings: “It’s not over until we clean up the mess.” That’s very true. I’m taking a short break to untoxify, then back to work.

  159. 159.

    Cacti

    The librul media is at it again, sallying forth to the defense of:

    Lauren Boebert (R-Qanon nutter).

    The Denver Post editorial board say it’s mean and elitist to point out that she’s a high school dropout with a prior criminal history.

    So, why is it not mean and elitist for every employer on earth to ask about both of those things from every job applicant?  Including (I’m sure) the Denver Post.

  160. 160.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Beschloss is a national treasure. He needs to let this boring historian thing go and become a television pundit.

  161. 161.

    Jay

    Shit day yesterday. Never been so tired and fatigued in my life, and had the close, which is a shit shift. Came home, had one beer, went to sleep.

    Have today off, skimmed the threads, cried some.

    Y’all absolutely killed “work from home” productivity in Canada today. SWMBO and all here 135 coworkers, were glued until after noon, EST and we are on PST here.

    And realizing that y’all did it. Fundraising, postcards, letters, emails, GOTV, canvassing and organizing.

    Jackals helped save the Union, and y’all should take a bow.

  163. 163.

    zhena gogolia

    @Jay:

    Today is so sweet. I work from home and I have just officially given myself the day off. I’ll make up for it over the weekend.

  165. 165.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @lamh36: and then Beschloss pulls a “some people have said” to point out the trump tennis pavilion looks like a scale model the Clampett mansion

  166. 166.

    Cacti

    @Just Some Fuckhead: No.

    The reason we ended up with a turd like Trump was because of high standards for Dems, no standards for Repukes.

    Healing begins with accountability for the wrongdoers.

    Boebert was live Tweeting Nancy Pelosi’s location to the insurrectionists.

  168. 168.

    sdhays

    @Splitting Image: It can’t be said enough how astonishingly better things got when Twitter shut that f*cker’s account down for good. It was like he became mute. If they had done it in the years before he ran for President, the whole debacle would have been avoided.

    It’s disturbing how a single platform can have so much influence. It’s definitely one of the most pressing problems of our time.

  173. 173.

    lurker

    @Ken: There is not really the same type of senior status on the supreme Court currently.  However, supreme court justices regularly take senior status.  Once on senior status, the judges can choose whether to accept assignments or remain available to fulfill requests for help from various courts.  Souter is known to help out in the First Circuit.  Earl Warren famously took senior status and spent most of his time fishing.

     

    What it would take to allow for participation by senior status justices (or judges?!?) on the Supreme Court is far beyond my knowledge.  I suspect you could do most or all of the various proposed changes by statute though, as the Constitution says little more than that SCOTUS must exist and that judges get lifetime tenure without decreases in pay.

  175. 175.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @lurker: I believe O’Connor heard cases for a while, too. Don’t know about John Paul Stephens

    ETA: Judge Maryann Trump Barry had to give up senior status when her complicity in her family’s tax frauds was exposed by the NYT, with a little help from her niece

  176. 176.

    MisterForkbeard

    @zhena gogolia: I’m going with an inauguration t-shirt and two Kamala Harris buttons: One “Madame Vice President” and a “The First But Not The Last”.

  178. 178.

    jl

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    From what I’ve read, throughout most of US history, it was understood that real people had to live in the WH. So, presidential families planted whatnot around the place that would make our serious prissy and posturing pundits of today shit their pants. Ponies and donkeys and cows wandering around, funky WH gardens and orchards of various sorts. Pet birds flying through parts of the place.

    I don’t see the point of slagging on the Trumps for doing the same. Slagging on their weird tastes is certainly OK, though. Why not slag on the horror film Holiday decorations that Melania and Ivanka threw up? I think it was their right to do that if they  wanted, but our right to say it was criminally insane interior decoration shit.

    Edit: point being if Beschloss said he personally didn’t like it that is OK, but no pompous comments on how he thinks it reflects on the country and suchlike crap.

    Big Biden Deal Joe is in charge now, and if he wants to tinker with muscle cars someplace on the grounds, damn fine and great with me, dammitall.

  180. 180.

    NotMax

    Cameras have been taking pains to not show them but a couple of times images have sneaked in showing snipers stationed on rooftops.

    Also I’m mildly curious about what’s kept in the trunk of the limo.

  182. 182.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @NotMax: Also I’m mildly curious about what’s kept in the trunk of the limo.

    Guessing a bound and gagged Bernie Sanders.

  184. 184.

    NotMax

    @Matt McIrvin

    Story told about when LBJ was about to travel by helicopter.

    Marine aide: “That’s yours over there, Mr. President.”

    LBJ: “Son, they’re all mine.”

    ;)

    (waves to raven)

  185. 185.

    jonas

    @Ken: He also had some extra-secure, cabinet-sized safe or something installed in his office. For, you know, those sooper-special secret documents or whatever. He was evil. But also a bit weird.

  186. 186.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @jonas: The “man-sized safe”. I remember that.

    Watching the virtual parade. I’m not a big one for parades, but this is really wonderfully done. Like the roll call during the Dem convention.

    Dems know how to use video.

  187. 187.

    catclub

    @mali muso:&nbsp

    ;Growing collection of photos of pathetic 1-2 person pro-Trump protests at state capitols. LOL.

    I seem to remember that 4 years ago – less a weekend – there were HUGE demontrations – with pussy hats.

  188. 188.

    J R in WV

    @Immanentize:

    @Delk:  he [Dejoy]  will be harder to move out.  He is appointed by the independent USPS Board which has been captured by the Republicans.

    How about after he’s indicted for deliberately interfering with the delivery of the mail? I’m thinking that’s a federal crime? Perhaps the USPS board could contemplate such indictments?

    I’m done with being easy to get along with here. When these guys tear stuff up, that’s illegal, put them away, fine him the maximum amount for every piece of mail delivered late because of his interference! See how long his estate can handle that kind of fine!!

  189. 189.

    Feathers

    Someone should grab the Dancing in the Streets video from the Parade Across America for the front page when it becomes available. Wonderful!

  192. 192.

    sab

    @J R in WV: Late to the thread but I agree with you on DeJoy. One of my dad’s pension checks used to arrive on about the second or third of the month. Last few months it has been arriving after the twelvth. He needs that money to live on. He has dementia, so transferring it to direct deposit will be difficult.

  194. 194.

    Bill Arnold

    @Roger Moore:

    I assume they sanctioned China over their treatment of the Uighurs because it was a publicly acceptable justification, not because they really care that much about them.

    No, the mistreatment of the Uighurs has been a thing on the right for a few years. It is after all the Chinese being bad. It has been something for me to agree with when talking with Wingnuts at parties or to bring up before they do.
    The real asshole move was Pompeo waiting one day before the inauguration to do the declaration, rather than doing it 6 months ago and dealing with the consequences himself.
    The Chinese recognized (not hard, since Pompeo is an arrogant asshole) that this was a asshole move, though.

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