Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

I really should read my own blog.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Elections aren’t won by handwringing, cowering, and/or bashing your own candidates.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Everybody saw this coming.

This fight is for everything.

The choice is between normal and crazy.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

Come on, man.

This country desperately needs a functioning Fourth Estate.

Fight them, without becoming them!

The US Supreme Court is on the ballot in november.

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Insurrection Open Thread: Some Notes

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  1. 1.

    Baud

    Where did the idea that nothing is worth doing uunles immediate success is assured come from?

    It’s a disastrously  cynical philosophy.

  3. 3.

    Jeffro

    Per that Rothman tweet…looks like he gets it, that the House impeachment managers are not trying to tiptoe around the GQP Senators’ culpability here.  Good.

    They’ve been subtle, but they’ve also been pretty straight-up about it.

  4. 4.

    Jeffro

    And per than Johnson tweet…YES.  Republicans need to understand, they’re not the only ones who get angry in this world.

  6. 6.

    dmsilev

    The Republican fig-leaf excuse of “oh, it’s not Constitutional to hold this trial after January 20th, so I must vote to acquit but that doesn’t mean I approve” isn’t going to hold water with anyone except the hard-core right. It’s a weasel answer, and most people don’t like weasels.

  8. 8.

    Emerald

    The Democrats know they can’t convict tRump. They can, however, convict Republicans.

    I have little doubt that’s why Nancy decided to go ahead with the impeachment. Come next election time, some portion of R support is going to slide away.

  10. 10.

    Kent

    We definitely need more righteous anger from Democrats.

    This is where Democrats need to say:  “Fuckit.  The GOP is no longer a party subject to reason or bipartisanship”.   One more reason to kill the filibuster and blue slips and all that other crap.  At least for insurrectionist Senators.

  11. 11.

    dmsilev

    When you scrape the bottom of the barrel, drill all the way through the barrel and the foundation of the building, and then excavate a mile-deep hole under the barrel.

    The Sicknick “Truth Movement” Takes Flight on the Right

    But the death of Officer Brian Sicknick has loomed over the events of the January 6th like no other. While others were bludgeoned or attacked and could have died of their injuries the fact that Sicknick did die added a gravity to the events of January 6th it would not, for better or worse, otherwise have had.

    Because of this, a new ‘truth movement’ has begun to crop up on the right suggesting Sicknick’s death was unrelated to the insurrection and may even be part of a cover-up to tarnish the reputation of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement. It’s ugly and utterly predictable.

    This first came to my attention when I read this article by Andrew McCarthy in The National Review.
    […]
    McCarthy uses a mix of innuendo and ‘just asking questions’ style reasoning to suggest that in fact Sicknick died of natural causes on the day of the insurrection. Only a rush to judgement and a desire to impugn the the reputation of Republicans led people to claim that pro-Trump insurrectionists were responsible for it.

  13. 13.

    trollhattan

    Whew, lots to digest. The Sheldon Whitehorse accusation is startling, but believable because Republican senators. What is QRF? (last tweet)

  14. 14.

    LurkerNoLonger

    if the mob had torn pence and/or romney apart and trump had tweeted “too bad, so sad,” there still wouldn’t be 67 votes to convict

    I’ve thought this same thing. Republicans are beyond hope.

  16. 16.

    Roger Moore

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Trump didn’t change republicans, he freed them. the GOP was always going to end this way.

    I disagree.  They could have gone in a different direction, and making it sound inevitable is just another case of treating them as if they lack agency.  At every step along the way, they had an opportunity to turn around, and at every step they chose to keep going forward.  Ending up here was a choice, not an inevitability.

  17. 17.

    WaterGirl

    @Emerald:

    I have little doubt that’s why Nancy decided to go ahead with the impeachment.

    Well, that and the deterrence factor.  I do think this helped keep him from being even more horrible in the final days before Jan 20.

  21. 21.

    Benw

    Ohhh he’s going to try a full Big Lie finished off by a Reverse Nuremberg…

    The difficulty for that is off the charts, Reg. 9.6 of 10!

    Indeed, here he goes…

    Did he stick the landing, Reg?

    Ohhh no, he fell right on his big fat fucking face…

    Wow, Reg, what a buffoon. What did the judges give him?

    Er, 10/10 it seems. And permission to try it again in four years…

    Fucking Republicans, Reg

  23. 23.

    hueyplong

    @Roger Moore: I read her as saying they were shits all along and Trump gave them cover to do what they wanted to do.

    It’s not a case of lacking agency but is instead a case of someone freeing them from the shackles of middle class morality.

  24. 24.

    Brachiator

    Republicans know Trump controlled the mob because they begged him to stop them. This isn’t hard.
    — Amanda Carpenter

    This pretty much nails it.

  30. 30.

    Steve in the ATL

    I missed most of the morning thread because I was busy crushing the hopes and dreams of a union in [name of shithole town in shithole state redacted], but from what I saw it looks like about 90% of the posters at B-J have law degrees.  We are an impressive group indeed!

  31. 31.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: Ah.  I thought you might have an opinion in terms of witnesses making it harder to acquit, for example, or “no, they should wrap it up ASAP” because their case was so strong.  For example.

    Can you think of an area that would be more powerful with a witness?  I think they should call all the peeps who were with T**** that afternoon.

  34. 34.

    Baud

    @WaterGirl:

    If the witness has significant new information, or is compelling that it would drastically shift public opinion to be even more in favor of conviction, then definitely call them. On the other hand, drawing things out will just cause us to lose public sentiment.  It’s not an easy call.

    ETA: If they could get an insider to testify about specific damning actions Trump took, that would be worth it.

  35. 35.

    WaterGirl

    I have been watching the NBC versions of Jen Psaki’s press briefings on YouTube.  I really like that Biden is having signers for everything, but I find some of them so distracting.  There must be a real art  to this, because some are very expressive without being in your face, and others are just distracting.

  38. 38.

    gene108

    @Jeffro:

    A lot of us are angry and far more active in politics, then before Trump.

    Despite this, in 2020, Republicans gained seats in the House, protected their control of state legislatures, and realize about 12k votes in GA, 12k in AZ, and 20K in WI, and they would have won those states. Those margins are nothing some added voter suppression can’t fix.

    They are the political party version of Jason Voorhees, who cannot be killed, and always comes back no matter how hopeful you are that this time is the time he dies for sure.

  39. 39.

    John S.

    @Kent:

    We definitely need more righteous anger from Democrats.

    Absolutely. We need to have at least the same amount of legitimate outrage for a President inciting death and destruction on the Capitol that Republicans had manufactured outrage over Benghazi.

    And from what I’m seeing, the outrage is there. I think it’s going to increase after the inevitable acquittal, and will be used in political ads like crazy in 2022.

  40. 40.

    WaterGirl

    I am watching Jen Psaki’s press briefing today, and I happened to notice the first comment:

    It seems that if these reporters, maybe watched future conferences, they might not have to ask the same questions over and over.

    It’s so true.  In her briefing yesterday, she let more petulance into her voice whenever they asked the same stupid questions.  Which I kind of admired.

  41. 41.

    Baud

    @gene108:

    The GOP won’t die anytime soon, just like the Civil War didn’t destroy the Democratic party.  But it’s baseless to assume that all bad trends will continue indefinitely, but all good trends will did an quick and ignominious death.

     

    ETA: and a whole lot of our people were not sufficiently angry at the GOP in 2016.

  43. 43.

    The Moar You Know

    I’m thinking of Moses Wright testifying against the killers of Emmett Till, knowing that if he pointed them out in court in what anyone would and did acknowledge was a worthless effort if the goal was to extract some justice for Emmett, that the best result for him would be that he and his entire family were going to have to flee for their lives that day with whatever they could carry, and pray they could could get across the Mason-Dixon line in time and not be recognized, because otherwise they’d all be murdered, every last one of them.

    And, of course, he did it.

    These Republicans are in no realistic danger of their lives.  The most they have to lose is a job – and for not very long at that.  They are wealthy, powerful people who can move at the drop of a hat and can live in places where they never have to fear anyone.  At worst, they and their families would suffer some inconvenience.

    But they won’t do what Moses Wright, who had everything to lose and frankly nothing to gain, did.  Stood up and pointed.  Said “thar he”.  Indicted every Southern racist murderer with two words and one gesture.  Put those fuckers on notice that here was one man who would fight back even if the effort were wholly in vain.

    Emmett Till’s murder happened decades before I was born, and yet I have never forgotten the story of Moses Wright.  Who will remember any of these Senators names fifty years from now?  No one.  But what people will remember is this; Republican Senators let a murderer and insurrectionist walk away with no consequences.

    Because we all remember Moses Wright.  But who can name one juror from the Bryant/Milam trial?

  47. 47.

    Pete Downunder

    As a trial lawyer witnesses are always a worry – you never really know what some one will say even after extensive pre-trial prep. That said a couple of the injured police officers would be powerful and I would expect them to be experienced at testifying. They would personalize the horror and make it more uncomfortable for the Rs to acquit.

  49. 49.

    The Moar You Know

    If the witness has significant new information, or is compelling that it would drastically shift public opinion to be even more in favor of conviction, then definitely call them. On the other hand, drawing things out will just cause us to lose public sentiment.  It’s not an easy call.

    @Baud: It is and you just laid out the conditions.  We need Trump out of the news cycle ASAP.  I’m really not happy the turd has been put back in the pool.  It’s distracting from what OUR people are doing, and after four long years finally doing well, and that’s where the nation’s attention needs to be refocused as soon as possible.  So, if they have dynamite, let’s break it out and see what gets blown up, but if they don’t, we need to wrap this shit up, take the verdict and get on with our lives.

  51. 51.

    Starboard Tack

    @Roger Moore:

    “People don’t change, they just reveal.”

    When people tell you who they are, believe them. The Ratpublicans have been using threats directly and by proxy for decades. What happened 6 January may have been the result of choice, not character, but many of those choices were made long ago. The GQP has been circling on the edge of the whirlpool for a long time and they finally fell in.

  53. 53.

    japa21

    Just about the only argument that the defense could legitimately make (well semi-legitimately) is that there was no reason for Trump to think that his words would be taken so literally or anybody would think he really thought there could be violence.

    The managers did an effective job of countering that with their recounting of Trump’s history with condoning and, yes, advising violence to his supporters.  But there is another counter-argument.  Trump calls himself the bestest negotiator who knows all the best words.  He has bragged about his ability to manipulate people and knows exactly what he is saying and what result to expect. To use the “How could he know” defense would be to admit that Trump is a) a liar, b) stupider than a rock and c) that he is totally incompetent.  Of course, not that it would make any difference to the GQP senators.

    I do think the House team gets to give a closing argument after the defense rests and I would like to see them point this out.  Again, not because it would convince the jury, but for public opinion.

    A second comment.  I didn’t get to watch the trial yesterday but did catch a lot of the video later.  If we go back to January 6, here on BJ, there were a lot of people lashing out at the police, both the Capital police and the DC cops. I think it is now pretty obvious that the only reason we have a functioning government right now is because of those very people that were being condemned back then.  And on a personal point, any person that uses the ACAB acronym from now on gets thrown in the pie filter.

  54. 54.

    JoyceH

    @Emerald: ​
     

    The Democrats know they can’t convict tRump. They can, however, convict Republicans.

    It baffles me that the Republicans can’t see this. Look, if what we already know is bad enough, it’s only going to get worse. Stuff is going to come out about Trump, it always does, and whatever comes out is never good, it’s always bad.

    Their vote to acquit will look bad enough from the moment they cast it, but in the weeks, months, and years to come, it’s only going to get worse. And worse. And worse. By the time they’re writing the history books, the acquittal voters are going to figure as such incomprehensible mixtures of villainy and stupidity – and their grandkids will read those books in school.

  55. 55.

    Ruckus

    @Roger Moore:

    They are the kid that keeps doing what the parents tell them not to do, that the kid knows is wrong and dangerous and then wonders why they got in trouble.

    In this case a lot of them probably think they respect shitforbrains, likely because the opposition has zero respect for him, and it’s because they think he has money and power and hates the same people they do. (I think it’s rather well proven that they aren’t too smart.) After all he beat the rest of the field in 2016 and then won the presidency and he’s as racist as they are. What’s not to like?

  56. 56.

    Princess

    If I were calling witnesses, I’d call cabinet members who resigned after the 6th and ask them why they quit. Because if they did not blame Trump, they had no reason to quit.

  58. 58.

    laura

    What Republicans represent and insist on and absolutely will not ever talk about is their demand for power without accountability. The sheer gall of these shite bags.

  60. 60.

    gene108

    @Baud:

    I do not think bad things continue forever.

    Despite our rage against Trump, and Republicans, they did not suffer irreversible losses in 2020, and made some gains.

    We are angry, which Republicans underestimate because we are not violent. I just think right now there clear limits to what our anger or passion or whatever you want to call it can achieve electorally.

    I wish saying our new found intensity will make a world of difference, and totally shock Republicans, but I think there are limits in translating it into actual Democratic votes.

    I agree with the sentiment of the Tweet in the OP. I am a bit doubtful about how much of a threat it is to Republicans

  62. 62.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud: Trump brought the crazies out of the woodwork, I don’t see another candidate doing that as effectively.  Trump signaled the direction of the Republican Party, but his election was a black swan event in many respects.

     

  64. 64.

    Matt

    Let’s be clear: if the mob had actually reached Representatives or Senators, the Republicans would be the first ones to point out where the most important Democrats are.

  65. 65.

    Pete Downunder

    @Princess: I understand the feeling but never ever call a witness when you don’t know what they will say. Unless you have them committed to a sworn statement (like a deposition) or have video that is unambiguous- just don’t.

  67. 67.

    Steve in the ATL

    @different-church-lady: is +2 glasses or bottles, so I know what number to put on my post?

    Friend found a 34-year old bottle of Spottswood in his wine cellar which we drank earlier. Still tasty even though the cork was crumbly!

  68. 68.

    different-church-lady

    It occurs to me that Republicans acting so blasé throughout this trial may have seriously underestimated how angry Democrats are about what Trump tried to do.

    SO-CI-O-PATHS!!!

    Sen Graham: “The legal theory they have is absurd. That somehow that Trump’s a secret member of the Proud Boys”

    IT’S NOT A SECRET, YOU GODDAMNED SOCIOPATH!!!

  71. 71.

    JaySinWA

    @japa21: They are currently floating the “How do you incite a riot that was already planned? ” defence pretty hard on twitter. Jim Jordan has run with it.

    Part of the laying down of Trump’s ramp up of incitement is to minimize that defence.

  74. 74.

    Ruckus

    @gene108:

    What if 5% of them stay home in 2022?

    In American politics that’s what’s known as a rout. Sure some of them will still win, but a lot of them won’t. And remember those 4 republican senators who are not running in the next election. That is possibly 4 getable seats as of now. How much worse is it going to be for them?

  77. 77.

    Ksmiami

    @gene108: again, Rt now the process held; rickety institutions held- but the second they don’t, don’t expect the non violent stance to continue. Since Republicans consider us the enemy, we now need to see them as the threat they really represent

  78. 78.

    gene108

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    IMO, they only gained seats because Trump was at the top of the ticket

    From what I’ve read that is very likely true. Trump has been a huge turnout engine for them.

    Republican turnout in 2020 was proportionately higher than Democratic turnout, versus the 2018 turnout.

    I found this to be a good explanation of this line of thinking https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2020/12/21/why-did-house-democrats-underperform-compared-to-joe-biden/

  80. 80.

    debbie

    Is there any indication that Trump’s cultists feel like they’re being made the fall guys? I wonder whether they’d turn away from him if so.

  81. 81.

    Steve in the ATL

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: which is why 90+%* of the posters here have you pied!

    *I’ve been negotiating a union contract for the last two weeks, so I’m in the habit of just making up numbers with no basis in reality.

    But please don’t mention that to the union!  At least not until after the contract is ratified.

  82. 82.

    Brachiator

    @different-church-lady:

    I DON’T WANT CHICK COREA TO BE DEAD!!!

    Just seeing the news now.

    Chick Corea, a Grammy award winning jazz musician has died at the age of 79, a statement on his website confirmed.

    The American musician’s career spanned more than five decades. His last album was released in 2020.

    Corea is the fourth most nominated artist in the Grammy awards’ history with 65 nominations, winning 23 times.

    One of my favorite artists.

    Great musician.

     

     

  84. 84.

    Amir Khalid

    @JoyceH: ​
     It strikes me that the Republican party clinging to Trump is like a drowning man clinging to an anvil. Does it want the kind of leader so toxic that he cost them both houses of Congress and the White House? The kind of help that sank Loeffler and Perdue in the Georgia Senate runoffs? A rational person would not, yet the Republican party does.

  86. 86.

    coin operated

    coin is +3 (makers mark, baby), wife has her world famous (well…maybe county famous) meatloaf in the oven, and the Vegas Golden Nights are about to make another batch of Duck Soup out of Anaheim.

    Bring the injured Capitol Police in to testify.  It won’t secure a conviction, but we get to hang their injuries and testimony around the Blue Lives Matter crowd like a cast iron albatross.   I’ve already been using it against the few wingers I still meet with in meat space, and it shuts them up right quick.

  87. 87.

    Princess

    @Pete Downunder: oh sure, and that’s why I said,”If I were…” not “They should…” I trust them to make the right call and the people whose honest testimony could be helpful are all Trump sycophants and liars.

  88. 88.

    glory b

    @The Moar You Know: Of course the Wright family knew what was going to happen.

    I’ve mentioned this before about the terror black people have lived with in the US. Two of my grandparents, one from my mother’s side, one from my father’s, both had the same “sundowning” moments in their old age. Both believed that groups of white men were heading to the neighborhood, and we had to run or hide. Their terror was upsetting and horrifying to their grandchildren.

    Today, I saw a PBS “American Masters” program on Maya Angelou. She describes hiding her uncle under bins of potatoes and onions when the white men went out on patrol.

    I grew up with people who believed that white people were erratic, violent and not to be trusted. It’s hard to think this might be a full circle.

  90. 90.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Baud:

    I overheard a co-worker express this a few days ago; somebody who doesn’t follow politics. “We just need to move on. What’s the point? This is no different than with Clinton.

    “Well, for starters, getting a blow job is a little different than inciting a riot to overthrow the government. This needs to happen so Trump can be held accountable. ”

    Co-worker: (while laughing nervously) “They all get away with stuff.”

    I walked away at this point

  95. 95.

    JMG

    Their violence will escalate, because as the Capitol videos showed, these people do not believe they will ever suffer consequences for their actions. It’s very unlikely the violence would be one-sided. People can only be pushed so far.

  97. 97.

    gene108

    @Ruckus:

    Our side has been more likely to stay home during midterms, in 2 of the last 3 midterms.

    2018’s turnout favored Democrats, unlike 2010 and 2014.

    That’s the million dollar question, I think Republicans are grappling with. Will midterm turnout revert back to what it was in 2010 and 2014, or is 2018 the new normal or a one-off event? I’m guess they are assuming the latter.

    2010 and 2014 have made me skeptical that we can maintain the 2018 level of turnout without Trump.

    Hopefully, I am being too doom and gloom and 01/06/2021 will galvanize us for the next election. I just have my doubts.

  100. 100.

    Starboard Tack

    @glory b:

    When I was in high school in the 60’s we had a white student teacher from Philadelphia. He used to talk about black folks in Philly (he didn’t say black folks) and about the tradition he and his friends and neighbors had of a car full of them riding through black sections at night with shotguns sticking out the windows. He said they had to do that to “keep them in their place”. Most white folks, even the most liberal of us, have put up with that kind of racism for a long time. Tolerance of evil is evil. Time to stop.

  101. 101.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @gene108:

    A counterpoint to that would be the fact that Republicans deliberately sabotaged the economic recovery following the 2008 recession. Democrats have already demonstrated they’re not going to let that happen again. If we pass that $1.9 trillion relief package, tangibly improve people’s lives, pass voting rights protections, run on our achievements instead of running away from them, and focus on massive GOTV efforts like Stacey Abrams, I think Dems will have a fighting chance

  104. 104.

    frosty

    @Steve in the ATL: ​
      Proud 10 Percenter here!! Law, schmaw. Without civil engineers you’d have no way to get to work to crush a union, no building to work in, no water to flush your toilet, and no wastewater plant to clean it up before it hits the river … upstream of the next town’s water intake!

  105. 105.

    Bill Arnold

    @trollhattan:

    The Sheldon Whitehouse accusation is startling, but believable because Republican senators.

    @Zeddary is correct, it was an obvious narrative about a possible motive. (Mentioned here by at least one Master of the Obvious several weeks ago.)
    Cruz’s line of argument about incitement is pathetic. The crowd was groomed by Trump’s autocoup disinformation operation for months. It was summoned by Trump. Members were carrying Trump flags and wearing Trump hats. It was incited by Trump, and then it moved from the rally area to the Capital.
    The Republicans do not respect the anger of Democrats. This is fine; it is often better to be underestimated by one’s opponents. Republican acquittal for incitement of a cop-killing, cop-beating mob will do significant damage to the Republican party, perhaps more than conviction. I see that their is a denial disinformation operation in progress re the death Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick. Fuck ’em. They can be psychopaths and try and run with that – it’s not a good look, and the other beatings and injuries of police officers are also well documented.

  106. 106.

    Geminid

    @Amir Khalid: And there is reporting that trump hatchet man Roger Stone was initiated into the Proud Boys. Stone was in DC on January 6th. ABC and others have video of Stone outside a hotel that morning, talking with some Oathkeepers. One asks him,”So, we’re goint to get this today, right?” Stone replied, “We shall see.” A careful reply from a totally ruthless man. Stone was careful enough to catch a plane out of Dulles that afternoon.

  109. 109.

    lowtechcyclist

    @M31: ​
     

    “I was only ordering followers!”

    That’s fucking awesome. You win the Internets for the day.

  111. 111.

    Jeffro

    @gene108:

    A lot of us are angry and far more active in politics, then before Trump.  Despite this, in 2020, Republicans gained seats in the House, protected their control of state legislatures, and realize about 12k votes in GA, 12k in AZ, and 20K in WI, and they would have won those states. Those margins are nothing some added voter suppression can’t fix.

    I hear you, but…alternatively…consider…this may have been their absolute high-water mark.

    They couldn’t have had a candidate with greater name recognition.  They couldn’t have fooled with the election machinery much more than they did (voter roll purges, screwing up the mail, etc).  They couldn’t have had their religious-right-racist base more fired up.  They turned out in record numbers…and we turned out with even more.

    Biden & Co restored the ‘blue wall’.  Biden & Co won in AZ and GA(!).  The Senate runoff elections…in GA(!)…won us two more Senate seats and (technically) complete control of the government.

    2 and 4 and 6 and 8 years from now, this country will be less white, less religious, more progressive, and (fingers crossed) even better informed about all of the criming that trumpov & Co (to include GQP Senators) were doing, both in terms of sheer grift and in terms of working for Putin, the Saudis, etc.

    I like our chances.

  112. 112.

    Geminid

    @Geminid: Roger Stone played a central role in another of trump’s criminal conpiracies, the collusion with Russia to subvert the 2016 election. Robert Muellar’s team developed much damning evidence, but could not close the circle because Stone would not break. He was convicted for his role, but then pardoned. If Stone was an author and organizer of this insurrection, he should face a felony murder charge.

  116. 116.

    Jeffro

    @Matt:Let’s be clear: if the mob had actually reached Representatives or Senators, the Republicans would be the first ones to point out where the most important Democrats are.

    Yes (unfortunately)

    This country very narrowly avoided having Reps and Sens flat-out executed in their chambers, or hung on the lawn in front of the Capitol.  The videos that the House managers showed during the trial really brought that home this week.

  117. 117.

    Bill Arnold

    @gene108:

    Hopefully, I am being too doom and gloom and 01/06/2021 will galvanize us for the next election. I just have my doubts.

    Georgia made it clear that partisan (Democratic) turnout can do what people thought to be politically impossible.

  118. 118.

    Jeffro

    @Roger Moore: I don’t think we’re going to deprogram too many of them…unless we beg them “PLEASE don’t deprogram yourselves!”.

    The only thing they care about is the opposite of whatever they think Democrats want, updated hourly/whenever Tucker tells them/etc.

  120. 120.

    Lapassionara

    @The Moar You Know: oh my. I did not know that story, and bad on me. I still remember the front page of the newspaper with Emmet Till’s body in the coffin. Please tell me how to know more about this.

    please.

  121. 121.

    Bill Arnold

    @Starboard Tack:

    Pepper spray, tasers, rubber bullets, etc. aren’t nonlethal, they are LESS lethal.

    Yeah; insurrectionists were assaulting police officers with a “LESS lethal” weapons.

  122. 122.

    Jinchi

    “I just can’t believe that we could lose the Capitol like that. I got mad. I mean these police officers had every right to use deadly force, they should have used it”

    Lindsay Graham wishes the Capitol police had gunned down more Proud Boys on January 6th. An act that would have escalated the violence and, considering a lot of the mob came armed, risked a massacre on both sides.
    But he really wishes we’d leave poor Donny alone.​

  123. 123.

    LurkerNoLonger

    @Steve in the ATL:

    from what I saw it looks like about 90% of the posters at B-J have law degrees.  We are an impressive group indeed!

    As for me, I watched Matlock in a bar once. The sound wasn’t on, but I think I got the gist of it.

  124. 124.

    Brachiator

    @LurkerNoLonger:

    As for me, I watched Matlock in a bar once. The sound wasn’t on, but I think I got the gist of it.

    A co-worker and I used to go to a lunch place that had Judge Judy on.

  126. 126.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @WaterGirl: ​I really like that Biden is having signers for everything, but I find some of them so distracting.

    So it’s not just me. Frankly I find all of them distracting – their presence shrinks the main screen and the motion makes it hard to concentrate on the actual scene.

    At one point I was going to suggest closed-captioning as an alternative to the signers – since the viewer can turn that off – but IIUC most of the non-hearing community has a tough time with the written word**, so that wouldn’t work.

    Be nice if the tech types could develop & implement a feature for vids to make signing accompaniment a viewer choice like closed captioning.

    ** Which BTW is a damn shame in itself – I suppose it has something to do with how hearing folks “sound off” viewed words in their minds whereas the non-hearing don’t have an equivalent “translation” connection. Sounds :^D like something worth some serious research.

  127. 127.

    J R in WV

    @glory b:

    I grew up with people who believed that [SOME] white people were erratic, violent and not to be trusted.

    I would agree with you with the addition of the one word [some] in there. You could even go with [many] in some places, and [a few] in other places. And I’m an old white guy.

    ETA: I’m sorry you and yours had to live with that worry, especially sorry for your elders who have had a legitimate fear of actual riotous white bigots.

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