Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Spilling the end game before they can coat it in frankl luntz-approved dogwhistles.

People are complicated. Love is not.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

He really is that stupid.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

No Justins, No Peace

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

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

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

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

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Pre-Morning Open Thread

Pre-Morning Open Thread

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I’m still marveling at the farcical yet horrifying nature of the attempted authoritarian putsch that occurred…less than three months ago. There’s more whining from the apprehended MAGA clowns (as conveyed by their attorneys) to savor, including the lament of West Va. sandwich Nazi George Tanios [The Post]:

[Defense attorney] Walker said he would appeal the decision to hold Tanios, telling the court that given coronavirus pandemic backlogs, “We won’t have a trial for at least a year, judge. That’s why we’re going to fight, and we’re going to leave no stone unturned to fight for his release. This is going to be hard time for him if he’s not released.”

Boo-fucking-hoo. Florida insurrectionist Graydon Young’s plea for pre-trial release was miles more pathetic:

“The psychological burdens of being detained pending trial are very real for Mr. Young. Since he has no previous experience with the criminal justice system, being detained is taking an extremely high toll on his mental well-being,” the motion stated. “Prior to being detained, Mr. Young was a mentally strong and stable person with no history of mental disorders. His current emotional and psychological state is owing entirely to the fact that he has been detained and is unable to rely upon his normal social support systems. Because he is such a strong family man, locking him up away from his wife and children with the prospect of an extremely long period of time before trial is even scheduled is causing potentially irreparable psychological and emotional damage to Mr. Young.”

Again, boo-to-the-fucking-hoo. Shoulda thought of that before he attempted to overthrow the government. Actually, the Florida dope’s case could get interesting. He’s implicated along with a pair of other Florida nimrods as part of the Oath Keepers’ plot. Young claims he was duped by that organization (into which he also recruited his sister). Maybe the feds will flip them all and go after the Oath Keepers like the domestic terrorism outfit that it always has been. About time!

Last but not least, The Former Guy’s second-kookiest former lawyer, Sidney Powell, is trying to squirm out of the Dominion defamation suit by stating that of course she was babbling outrageous lies that no sane person would believe, so how can that be defamation?

“Indeed, Plaintiffs themselves characterize the statements at issue as ‘wild accusations’ and ‘outlandish claims.’ They are repeatedly labelled ‘inherently improbable’ and even ‘impossible.’ Such characterizations of the allegedly defamatory statements further support Defendants’ position that reasonable people would not accept such statements as fact but view them only as claims that await testing by the courts through the adversary process.”

Good luck with that, Kraken Lady.

Weeks and months later, it’s all still so surreal. Open thread.

Reader Interactions

152Comments

  1. 1.

    Jeffro

    ‘Outlandish’ or not, Dominion has a pretty easy case that making public statements like these, repeatedly, knowing the (RWNJ) media attention they were going to get most certainly impacted their business prospects. Too bad, so sad, Sidney!

  2. 2.

    debbie

    I would be happy getting Sidney Powell (along with Rudy, etc.) to state on the record that the Big Lie is in fact a lie and that Biden won fair and square.

  3. 3.

    Baud

    Speaking of MAGA.

    Meghan McCain apologizes for past use of phrase ‘China virus’
    ….

    In a tweet, McCain condemned recent physical attacks and hate speech incidents targeting Asian Americans, while adding that she wanted to “apologize for any past comments that aided that agenda.”

    “I never would have made those remarks if I knew I would be held accountable,” she said.

    I may have editorialized a bit.

  4. 4.

    Central Planning

    Fuck all of them. None of them are sorry or taking any responsibility for their actions.

  7. 7.

    MJS

    Powell’s statement is…something. “Of course it was outlandish nonsense, which of course had to be tested in a court of law” is not the mic drop someone apparently thinks it is.

  8. 8.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: Maybe she can have a word with her serial plagiarist husband. His garage rag has been pushing the “China virus” bullshit all along.

  10. 10.

    Joe Falco

    As been said on Twitter regarding Powell’s “strategy”: so she’s going for the Tucker Carlson defense.

  14. 14.

    NotMax

    Ah, the Joe Isuzu defense. Should remain acceptable about as long as potato salad in Death Valley.
    //

  15. 15.

    geg6

    @Baud: 
    Fuck her. She’s just saying that now because she’s watching what is happening to another asshole daytime chat host, Sharon Osborne.

  16. 16.

    debbie

    Fucking NPR, interviewing Chad Wolf lying about fully informing Biden about immigration issues as far back as September. Double fuck the reporter for not calling out Wolf’s bullshit.

  20. 20.

    OzarkHillbilly

    This always pisses me off:

    The database defines mass killings as four or more dead, not including the shooter.

    Why is it dependent upon how good a shot the murderer is? So a shooting in which 22 people get hit but only 2 or 3 die doesn’t count as a mass shooting? Stupidity.

  22. 22.

    Spanky

    @debbie: It’s not npr’s job to tell you what is and isn’t bullshit. If you listen to npr, you’re supposed to be sophisticated enough to know.

    Here, have a totebag. It’ll make you feel better.

  23. 23.

    Betty Cracker

    @debbie: They’re going to flog the shit out of the border issue — I’m bracing myself for the long haul on that.

  26. 26.

    WereBear

    @Baud:

    “I never would have made those remarks if I knew I would be held accountable,” she said.

     
    Yes, because her entire life, she’s just done what she wants and never held accountable. Like the rest of Wingnuttia.

  28. 28.

    Punchy

    Lawyers gotta liar. It’s what they bill $200/per for. That West Virgin guy (not a typo) seems especially odious.

  32. 32.

    RSA

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    The database defines mass killings as four or more dead, not including the shooter.

    Why is it dependent upon how good a shot the murderer is? So a shooting in which 22 people get hit but only 2 or 3 die doesn’t count as a mass shooting?

    …which is why some sources use a different term.

  33. 33.

    Juju

    I’m sure Michael Brown or Eric Garner would sympathize if they hadn’t been killed for minor offenses, if they could. I’m pretty sure the young black male who spent two years at Rikers awaiting arraignment for possibly stealing a book bag, would be sympathetic if he hadn’t died in Rikers while waiting, and I only remember his first name was Kalief. It must be hard to have to sit in jail for doing something minor like spraying bear spray at police officers or storming the capitol.

  37. 37.

    germy

    @Juju:

    Kalief Browder? He didn’t die in prison.  He committed suicide at home after he was finally released.

    The abuse he suffered in prison destroyed his life.  I don’t know if anyone was ever held accountable.

  41. 41.

    Immanentize

    @debbie: seriously, I think the mass shooting number was set at four to exclude family murder suicides which, statistically, tend to be fewer when not counting the shooter.

  43. 43.

    Geminid

    @MattF: trump trusted Stone, and the Proud Boys, three per-centers, and others knew this, and trusted Stone. If there was a central coordinator of the January 6 insurrection, reckless fanatic Stone is an obvious candidate for that role.

  45. 45.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I do think it’s outrageous that anyone waits that long for a trial. But these guys participated in a violent attempt to overthrow the government in which people were killed. So my outrage is limited.

  46. 46.

    Peale

    @Baud: “I never would have made those remarks if I knew I would be held accountable?” So when does she segue into whining about “Politically correct cancel culture makes it so hard to make jokes these days”

  48. 48.

    Juju

    @germy: that’s the name. Thank you for the information. I didn’t remember that he got out of Rikers.
    I’m having post second vaccination chills and queasiness. It’s sort of working on my thought processes. I’m waiting for more ibuprofen to kick in.

  49. 49.

    danielx

    Since Sidney Powell is an attorney in good standing in the state of Texas (yeah, yeah, I know), somehow I don’t think her bullshit is going to fly with a judge*. Might be one thing if she was Tucker Carlson or his equivalent, but as I understand it she actually swore to her statements in court filings. If she’s claiming she knew her sworn statements to be false at the time she uttered them, well, as I understand it judges get bent out of shape by things like that. Any input from jackal lawyers?

    *Judges outside the state of Texas, that is. Texas jurisprudence is a mysterious thing – just look at Ken Paxton the state attorney general, who was indicted five years ago on state felony charges of securities fraud and still hasn’t been brought to trial.

  50. 50.

    germy

    @danielx:

    The “Hey, I’m just an entertainer” defense works for Tucker Carlson and Limbaugh and even Jon Stewart, but not for a lawyer who held press conferences with the former guy’s lawyer.

  51. 51.

    Peale

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Its pretty clear to me that all of these bozos are going to be pardoned the next time the GOP wins the presidency, so the best we can hope for is to hold them pre-trial if they are going to have any punishment at all. Yeah, its not how things are supposed to be, but then Roger Stone was out organizing this shit 2 seconds after he was pardoned. Their followers will be the same.

  53. 53.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I do think it’s outrageous that anyone waits that long for a trial.

    In normal times, Yes, but there is a pandemic just now, hence the delays. If they really want to get it over with, they can always enter into a plea bargain. It is an old established practice long used by the govt to coerce convictions from people of color.

  54. 54.

    John S.

    @Peale: It’s hard to keep up with the rules of “cancel culture” because much like Calvinball, the rules are made up for the benefit of the one making the rules and can never be the same twice.

    Openly calling for the elimination of your “enemies” is not cancel culture.

    Openly calling out violent and dangerous rhetoric is cancel culture.

  55. 55.

    Immanentize

    @OzarkHillbilly: Its never worked before.  It won’t work now.  They would be better off spending money on an authentic Native American ceremony to bring rain.  Or the guy who lived near me when I was a kid with his divining rod.

  56. 56.

    germy

    @Juju:

    I had my first pfizer shot yesterday, and then I got worried because I saw my second shot won’t be for another 28 days.  I thought it was supposed to be 21 days.

    I guess the call center operator who scheduled my appointments didn’t know which vaccine I’d be getting, and so their standard practice is to schedule everyone 28 days apart.

    Other than a sore arm and an hour or two of lassitude, no side effects.

  57. 57.

    Elizabelle

    @Peale:

    Its pretty clear to me that all of these bozos are going to be pardoned the next time the GOP wins the presidency

    Stop that shit, Peale.  I am serious.  The defeatism here is nauseating.

  59. 59.

    Elizabelle

    Never forget that this woman, who is now claiming her claims made in court filings are so absurd they should never have been believed, was a favorite of TFG, whose ass never belonged in the White House.

    These are not clowns, and their work product was an effort to undermine democracy.

    I hope a lot of terrible attorneys are disbarred and bankrupted over this garbage.  Enough.  Their clients should come to ruin, too.

  60. 60.

    Geminid

    @Peale: The soonest a Republican President could pardon any of the accused would be January 2025. That’s plenty of time to try these folks, and for them to do prison time. While I have reasons to want many of them jailed until trial, that this will be their only punishment is not one of them.

  63. 63.

    hueyplong

    Odd.  These guys did not spare the tough talk and mortal threats when they were criming.  What happened?

    [Another oddity.  Spell check changed “criming” to “coming” when I typed the above.  Draw your own conclusions.]

  64. 64.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    We actually had dinner with a friend last night. We ate in one of the restaurants in the building where nearly all the residents are vaccinated, though only a few of the staff are. It felt very odd.

    The friend said that if I wanted to get my book out there, I needed to make a tik-tok. That would be hilarious, but not in a good way.

  66. 66.

    CarolDuhart2

    @Peale:  Not so sure about that.  These guys are basically like the contractors in Trump world: disposable since they failed, and he never really knew them anyway.  And the next Republican President  would rather not remind people of such unpleasantness, and there are other folks who didn’t get arrested who could support him anyway. And he/she, mostly likely he, wouldn’t even owe a smidgen to those folks anyway

    And it would interfere with whatever narrative about a post-Trump Republican party the next guy would have to or want to spin.  Weve reformed now! Had nothing to do with that stuff, and we are going into a new direction anyway…

  67. 67.

    Soprano2

    @Juju: I’m pretty sure the young black male who spent two years at Rikers awaiting arraignment for possibly stealing a book bag, would be sympathetic if he hadn’t died in Rikers while waiting, and I only remember his first name was Kalief.

    It’s not any better, but he died by suicide after getting out of prison when, after 2 years, they dropped the charges. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/06/08/412842780/kalief-browder-jailed-for-years-at-rikers-island-without-trial-commits-suicide

  68. 68.

    Geminid

    @OzarkHillbilly: Anyone who wants a pleasant diversion from current events would do well to catch The Rainmaker (1955). Kathryn Hepburn won an Academy Award for her role as Lizzie. Burt Lancaster deserved an Oscar for his role as Starbuck, but his rainmaker conman was probably too subversive for that time.

  69. 69.

    Juju

    @germy: I had my second yesterday. Where I had mine done they are only doing Pfizer, so they knew the schedule date.  I felt queasy about 12 hours after my first vaccination, and that lasted for about 12 hours. Then I was fine. The second vaccination has been a bit more difficult. I felt it in my bones yesterday. I feel it in my muscles today, plus I woke up because my teeth were chattering. I’m under two blankets and flannel sheets and it’s in the 50s here. It’s better than getting Covid, so I think I can cope. ?

  72. 72.

    Delk

    The bridges were burned
    Now it’s your turn, to cry
    Cry me a river (go on and just)
    Cry me a river (go on and just)
    Cry me a river (baby, go on and just)
    Cry me a river

  74. 74.

    germy

    I had tried getting a vaccine appointment through my county, but that wasn’t happening, so I finally registered with my local pharmacy.  They’re only a few blocks right down the street, so I hoped I could just walk there.

    So I had to set up an online account with a password, and receive their spam.  But every time I’d try to schedule an appt., I’d fill out all my personal information, and then get a red warning “system not operational please try again.”

    I tried a hundred times a day to schedule online.  Sometimes it would say “Appointments are available in your area!”  and I’d enter the same personal info I’d already entered a hundred times, and then finally reach the end and the red warning “sorry, not operational”

    Other times it would immediately say “No appointments in your area for the next 3 days please try again” before even entering my info.

    So finally I decided to call.  Last friday was my first call.  I got an operator who didn’t bother taking any info other than my zip code.  Then she said “sorry, no appointments, try again tomorrow.”  But there was something in her tone of voice that suggested to me she really wasn’t checking anything, just humoring me.

    So I tried calling again Saturday morning. This time I got a different operator, and she actually started asking for my info.  Finally she said “There’s an appointment available on Sunday (at the pharmacy about ten miles away).   Wait!  There’s a Monday appointment (at the pharmacy a few blocks away).”

    So all excited I request the Monday appointment.  Another half hour goes by while she fusses with her keyboard, making frustrated sounds into her phone.

    Finally, she apologizes and tells me she “can’t figure out this computer system” — she was able to set the first appointment, but she can’t figure out how to set the second appointment. And if she can’t set a second appointment, I can’t have the first appointment.

    By now I’ve been on the phone for an hour.  She tells me to call back some other time and try again. So I ask her politely if there’s anyone else there who can help her?  A help desk maybe?

    Another fifteen minutes of muffled sound on her end.  Finally she tells me someone in another office is trying.  She asks me how the weather is where I live.  (She had an accent that sounded Texan to me.)

    Finally, she says the other person was able to set the Monday appointment…. and it’s at the pharmacy ten miles away.  I express confusion about the location, and she tells me she can’t see the computer screen of the person at the other office, so she can’t tell me the location.  “Can I speak to that other person?” I ask.  Sorry. Impossible.

    But it all got sorted out, and yesterday I drove to the pharmacy  ten miles away, where they made me give all the personal info that I’d already given in my online attempts AND in my phone attempt.

    And I got my first shot.  And a sticker.

  77. 77.

    Amir Khalid

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    If, say, 50 people were shot and one of them died, you could call it a mass shooting, but I don’t think you could call it a mass killing.

  78. 78.

    jonas

    So instead of pwning the libs by producing scads of ironclad, forensic evidence demonstrating a years-long conspiracy between Dominion voting systems, the CCP and Hugo Chavez’s ghost to steal the election, Powell’s defense is now “I was an insane person just running my mouth and everyone should have known that.” IANAL, but isn’t that basically admitting that you knew it was all bullshit and just didn’t care, i.e. what Dominion is alleging? I suspect that not only is she a terrible lawyer, but that she hires even worse ones. I assume this will be Giuliani’s defense as well.

    Good times.

  79. 79.

    Ken

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: The friend said that if I wanted to get my book out there, I needed to make a tik-tok.

    How will bouncing on one foot while lip-synching to K-Pop help you sell books?

  81. 81.

    MomSense

    @Ken:

    Just reading KPop and I am hearing that one song that goes with the palms up palms down crisscross feet dance.  Tik tok is just bad dance set to ear worms.

  82. 82.

    Juju

    @germy: well that sounds like fun. I’m glad you were scheduled. I hope your second vaccination goes like my 88 year old mother’s. She had a bit of an ache in her arm, but other than that she was fine.

  83. 83.

    jonas

    @germy: ​
     

    Congratulations. And remember, private enterprise can always deliver technology and customer service better than Big Dum Guvmint.

  84. 84.

    germy

    @Elizabelle:

    New York

    It’s how it works when I deal with the private sector. “Wall-Greeeeens”

    If I’d been patient enough to deal with the county, it would have gone smoother probably

     

    And now, for the rest of my life I’ll be receiving email “updates” and “sale announcement” spam from the pharmacy.

  85. 85.

    Just One More Canuck

    @Joe Falco: I worked with a guy who was trying to get out of a traffic ticket by saying that he didn’t see the no left turn sign.  We called that the “Your Honor, Ah’s Stoopid” defense

  88. 88.

    SFAW

    Again, boo-to-the-fucking-hoo. Shoulda thought of that before he attempted to overthrow the government.

    When a United States Senator says that there was no danger, because they were white guys people who love their country, who are YOU to disagree? They were just trying to prevent the Mooslim usurper  Hitlary  Hunter Biden Hunter Biden’s father from being illegally named president, because their dummygod demigod-king actually won all 50 states, and with a total of 375,000,000 votes!

  89. 89.

    Bobby Thomson

    Apropos of nothing:

    Rule 11. Signing Pleadings, Motions, and Other Papers; Representations to the Court; Sanctions

    (a) Signature. Every pleading, written motion, and other paper must be signed by at least one attorney of record in the attorney’s name—or by a party personally if the party is unrepresented. The paper must state the signer’s address, e-mail address, and telephone number. Unless a rule or statute specifically states otherwise, a pleading need not be verified or accompanied by an affidavit. The court must strike an unsigned paper unless the omission is promptly corrected after being called to the attorney’s or party’s attention.

    (b) Representations to the Court. By presenting to the court a pleading, written motion, or other paper—whether by signing, filing, submitting, or later advocating it—an attorney or unrepresented party certifies that to the best of the person’s knowledge, information, and belief, formed after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances:

    (1) it is not being presented for any improper purpose, such as to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase the cost of litigation;

    (2) the claims, defenses, and other legal contentions are warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for extending, modifying, or reversing existing law or for establishing new law;

    (3) the factual contentions have evidentiary support or, if specifically so identified, will likely have evidentiary support after a reasonable opportunity for further investigation or discovery; and

    (4) the denials of factual contentions are warranted on the evidence or, if specifically so identified, are reasonably based on belief or a lack of information.

    (c) Sanctions.

    (1) In General. If, after notice and a reasonable opportunity to respond, the court determines that Rule 11(b) has been violated, the court may impose an appropriate sanction on any attorney, law firm, or party that violated the rule or is responsible for the violation. Absent exceptional circumstances, a law firm must be held jointly responsible for a violation committed by its partner, associate, or employee.

    (2) [omitted].

    (3) On the Court’s Initiative. On its own, the court may order an attorney, law firm, or party to show cause why conduct specifically described in the order has not violated Rule 11(b).

    (4) Nature of a Sanction. A sanction imposed under this rule must be limited to what suffices to deter repetition of the conduct or comparable conduct by others similarly situated. The sanction may include nonmonetary directives; an order to pay a penalty into court; or, if imposed on motion and warranted for effective deterrence, an order directing payment to the movant of part or all of the reasonable attorney’s fees and other expenses directly resulting from the violation.

    (5) [omitted]

    (6) [omitted]

    (d) [omitted]

    A lot of attorneys already are being forced to cough up some cash (for which they no doubt will be reimbursed) as a result of frivolous lawsuits.  Powell is trying to thread a tiny needle here.  The Tucker Carlson defense requires that no reasonable person would have taken the statement as factual, not that someone made a statement reasonably open to dispute that remained to be adjudicated.  (BTW: her filings in court are most likely privileged and can’t support a defamation claim, but her press conferences can.)  Rule 11 prohibits an attorney from filing claims that are legally frivolous or not reasonably subject to factual dispute after a reasonable investigation.  Dominion’s legal fees are less than its total damages, but no doubt quite high.

  91. 91.

    Patricia Kayden

    Look at the growing grotesque inequality in America, our failure to enact gun reform, the growth of voter suppression, the lawlessness of corrupt Republican politicians, sedition… We are in 'nuclear winter' without filibuster reform. Filibuster reform is the only way out. https://t.co/7haK90AeIk— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) March 23, 2021

  94. 94.

    MattF

    @germy: Ugh. I suspect many organizations are gradually getting their acts together but getting a shot right now is mainly a matter of luck and persistence. I just got an email from my main healthcare provider offering an appointment, and I expect to hear from the County any… week…now…. All this about a month after I got an appointment (CVS!) on my own.

  95. 95.

    RSA

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I do think it’s outrageous that anyone waits that long for a trial. But these guys participated in a violent attempt to overthrow the government in which people were killed. So my outrage is limited.

    Ditto. I’m also thinking that judges must have been hearing identical arguments why criminal defendants should be released, for decades: ties to the community, negligible previous record, etc. And conservatives have never cared.  What jumps out to me is that the insurrectionists are discovering that they are not special.

  96. 96.

    geg6

    @Juju:

    Racist bullshit right on air.  Defended Piers Morgan and then, when her Black co-host tried to politely explain why what Morgan said was racist, got her white privilege all in a huff.  She shook her finger in her face and said that if anyone should be insulted, it was her, Sharon Osborne.  The show was put on hiatus, Osborne issued your typical non-apology apology which just escalated the situation.  Which made former co-hosts Holly Robinson Peete and Leah Remini to come out and discuss Osborne’s bigotry toward them, which resulted in them getting fired because she thought they were too “ghetto.”  It’s crazy.

  101. 101.

    Elizabelle

    @germy:   Yeah, I thought you were in NYS.  Which I thought was doing better than that.

    I say call in a tip to Pro Publica.  Maybe they should take a really good look at the [lack of] training given the Walgreens call takers/appointment schedulers.

    No reason to allow the “private sector” to treat clients so shabbily.  It’s not like they’re a telecomm!

  102. 102.

    germy

    @geg6:  which resulted in them getting fired because she thought they were too “ghetto.”

    And then Osbourne said “Well!  I never use the term ‘ghetto’ unless I’m discussing the plight of Jews under Hitler!”

    So someone went and found a clip of Sharon on-air calling Leah and Holly ghetto.

  103. 103.

    Mai Naem mobile

    My sister has a former coworker FB acquaintance who had a MAGAt on her feed. My sister wasn’t paying  attention but she vaguely remembers that the guy was going to DC on 1/5 with other people. She doesn’t remember the guy’s name or anything, just that he was a big Trumper. Anyhow, the guy has disappeared from FB which makes my sister think that he was in the Capitol and is trying to destroy all evidence that he was there.

  104. 104.

    Tenar Arha

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Yes it’s definitely a good idea. Apparently,  BookTok is a thing, at least according to @KBSpangler on Twitter, who’s book was just released & posted a book TikTok article recently (Sorry no link, multitasking on phone rn).

  106. 106.

    SFAW

    @Elizabelle:

    I don’t know how MA is doing recently, but their initial “efforts” were pretty sucky. [I characterized it as a clusterfuck, but my boss called it a shitshow. Opinions vary.]

    I am (theoretically) scheduled to get my second shot this Friday. I hope theory and practice are in concordance. Fortunately, I did not have to go through the MA “website” to get my first shot; I might have uttered various oaths, probably something more forceful than “drat!”

  107. 107.

    leeleeFL

    @Geminid: Oh man!  I fell in love with Lancaster when I saw that film!  I think I was maybe ten or eleven!  Watched every one of his movies after that, many times!  Thanks for the memory!  I can hear him yelling, “Lizzie!”. It gives me goose bumps even now!

    Hepburn was, of course, excellent!

  109. 109.

    Soprano2

    I feel really lucky, once I was eligible the process was super easy. I registered with the state and got a Navigator number, which I used to make an appointment.

  110. 110.

    cmorenc

    @OzarkHillbilly: Another problem with cloud seeding to increase rain/snowfall to address drought in areas with a semi-arid climate to begin with is: wouldn’t seeding clouds to increase rain in the southern California Sierra lower the moisture content in the atmosphere over Arizona and New Mexico?  Or seeding clouds in Colorado lower moisture content available over Kansas and Nebraska?

  111. 111.

    Doc Sardonic

    @MattF: As bad as Florida has been regarding all things COVID, I have to say they are handling some aspects of the vaccination process well. I pre-registered when they dropped the age to my group and within a week they were blowing up my cell phone which is set to shit can unknown callers, had 14 missed calls and 3 voicemails trying to set appointments. Don’t know about their actual vaccination process shot 1 is at CVS this afternoon.

  112. 112.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    The psychological burdens of being detained pending trial are very real for Mr. Young. Since he has no previous experience with the criminal justice system,

    Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.

  113. 113.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @RSA:

    What jumps out to me is that the insurrectionists are discovering that they are not special.

    I said when he was elected, Trump’s biggest appeal and primary message to his base was that they can hurt minorities all they like knowing that the federal government has their backs.  This is only an extension of that.

    From what I’ve heard, the Proud Boys type hard white supremacists are pissed at Trump, because he betrayed them by letting the FBI round them up.  They took it for granted they would all get pardons, medals, or the FBI called off completely.

    For an extra layer, these people really are cosplayers who never believed they would actually get what they wanted until it happened.  They’re too cowardly to face resistance, and would never have broken into the Capitol if it hadn’t been so lightly defended.  They felt like they were being deliberately handed what they were due by right, and only had to have some fun beating the shit out of a few lightly armed guards outnumbered a hundred to one.  They’re cowards whose fantasy world is crumbling around them.

  114. 114.

    Ken

    @germy: I try to follow the old adage about telling the truth, because it’s easier than keeping the lies straight.  I would have thought people who make their living by being recorded would be even more careful about it, but if anything they seem worse.

  115. 115.

    germy

    @Ken:

    Sharon’s father was a showbiz talent manager/mobster who ripped off every client.  Sharon has a history of not paying talent, as well.

    Talentless, dishonest people are often given a platform on the major networks.

  116. 116.

    Ken

    @cmorenc: From what I’ve heard, do not get involved in water rights litigation in the southwest.  I think I heard of a case in Colorado where a guy was sued for using a barrel to collect runoff from his roof gutters — interfering with the existing flow to his down-hill neighbors.

  117. 117.

    Immanentize

    So in Mass., I became eligible yesterday.  That day I received a text from Beth Israel/Leahy Health (where I was a patient for tests) to schedule an appointment at one of a number of sites.  I checked out the most convenient ones first, but it ended up that a nice forty minute drive to Newburyport got me the quickest appt.  So, tomorrow at 12:45, I get my first shot.

    Utterly easy process.  I’m shocked.

  118. 118.

    tokyokie

    @Geminid:

    Anyone who wants a pleasant diversion from current events would do well to catch The Rainmaker (1955). Kathryn Hepburn won an Academy Award for her role as Lizzie. Burt Lancaster deserved an Oscar for his role as Starbuck, but his rainmaker conman was probably too subversive for that time.

    But then Burt Lancaster got his Oscar a few years later for playing an evangelical conman in Elmer Gantry. But in between those roles, he probably should have won an Oscar for playing the odious newspaper columnist J.J. Hunsecker in Sweet Smell of Success, only that role was probably too subversive for that time.

    All of which is to say that Lancaster was a much better actor than he’s usually given credit for being, and he was especially daring in his choice of roles. I can think of no other movie leading man who seemed as unconcerned about sabotaging his perceived screen image as he was, probably because with his large chest and toothy grin, he knew he could always easily reclaim that image.

    Lancaster was also one of the most liberal figures in Hollywood, and an early supporter of the ACLU, so he was an all-around good guy. Even if he was the inspiration for the Walter Matthau character in The Bad News Bears.

    Oh, and Ulzana’s Raid is one of the most criminally underrated movies of all time.

  121. 121.

    Betty Cracker

    @Doc Sardonic: Similar experience with preregistration, but I have not received the promised follow-up email telling me where to go to get the shot on 3/30! I also asked for a text reminder, so maybe they’ll tell me then?

  124. 124.

    Ken

    @Betty Cracker: Maybe Florida saves the screw-up for the last minute, so you’ll get the text message at 9:58 AM telling you to get your shot at a clinic outside Miami at 10:00 AM.

  125. 125.

    PST

    I haven’t read all the comments yet, so sorry if this observation duplicates someone else’s, but there is a giant hole in the argument that in calling Powell’s statements “inherently improbable” or “impossible” Dominion has blown its case by admitting that the statements are not defamatory. Dominion’s assertion is based on facts about how voting hardware and software actually work. This does not mean that a reasonable layperson who is ignorant of this subject (like me) would necessarily reject Powell’s assertions out of hand.

  126. 126.

    Geminid

    @tokyokie: Lancaster took his liberal politics seriously,and is said to have rejected parts where he would play alongside actors whose politics he found odious. I suspect John Wayne was one of these.

  127. 127.

    Ruckus

    @Ken:

    Some people think that they can say anything they want, freedom of speech and all that. No one ever explained to them that freedom of speech is not free from repercussions for saying stupid shit. IOW of course you can/are free to say stupid shit, but there may be a huge cost for being a stupid shit.

  128. 128.

    Another Scott

    @NotMax: The headline for that story is really bad.  The story itself is good and worth a read.

    tl;dr – Having a system that gets people vaccinated efficiently works better than one that says Leeroy Jenkins!! Everyone come right now!! but is poorly run and leads to frustration and disillusionment.

    Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  131. 131.

    Chyron HR

    Prior to being detained, Mr. Young was a mentally strong and stable person with no history of mental disorders who believed that President Trump had killed Tom Hanks and replaced him with a robotic duplicate.

  132. 132.

    Ruckus

    @Immanentize:

    I had a similar experience with the VA. Just getting the number to call for an appointment was work. I had people tell me no you can’t, and others tell me come wait and once we get 6 people we give you a shot. But once I was able to call the appointment desk it worked fine. The big problem was that there was so much conflicting BS from all sides, because few actually knew what was what. The actual people doing the shots, knew. One of my docs, who I talked to yesterday, actually volunteered and worked a shift giving shots.

    I think a lot of the problem is that there are a lot of people between the concept of shots and the needle in an arm, and not a lot of information/process time to get from A to B. When was the last time we did mass public inoculations? In my mind it was almost 70 yrs ago, with the polio vaccine roll out, and that was sugar cubes, not needles.

  133. 133.

    To be Frank

    one of the reader comments in our local paper about the seditionist who smoked a joint in the Senate Chamber was “if even good white people like this are smoking pot it’s time to legalize it.”  What white privilege?

  137. 137.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @Juju:
    Sharon Osborne decided that she just HAD to defend her good friend Piers Morgan when he made comments on Twitter that he thought Meghan Markle was lying when she said she felt suicidal during her pregnancy and son’s early infancy( and was told she could not seek professional help). Sharon Osborne got major push back for basically supporting an asshole. And proceeded to rant about how SHE was the one who was being picked on and how dare anyone call her racist. When her co-host tried to talk reasonable about why she was wrong, she doubled down on the racism, and several people who work with Sharon filed complaints.

  138. 138.

    EmbraceYourInnerCrone

    @Ruckus: Well, that and too many people think the 1st amendment means that EVERYONE has to let them say whatever they want with no consequences, and also owes then a platform to have their say.  Nope.  They also don’t seem to understand the 1st amendment does not apply in other countries(see the Defamation laws in the U.K. or laws against blasphemy in several countries)

  139. 139.

    JWR

    @geg6:

    Racist bullshit right on air.

    It’s funny. I almost never watch daytime television, certainly not programs like The View, but I happened upon it that very day, and my jaw nearly hit the floor. (In fact I commented on it right here.) I never thought much about Sharon Osbourne, but hearing her say that crap out loud was quite a shock.

  142. 142.

    scav

    So the Lock ‘Em UP!! crowd is stunned, simply stunned that being in lock-up isn’t a pleasant experience. Clearly, if they’re not enjoying themselves, it’s no place for the refined and delicate palate of people like them.

    Yup. Still enjoying it.

  143. 143.

    J R in WV

    @germy: ​
     

    Other than a sore arm and an hour or two of lassitude, no side effects.

    After my second Moderna shot Thursday I went to bed early that night, slept til 1 Friday afternoon, went to bed early Friday night, took a long nap Saturday afternoon. Lots of sleep, didn’t feel bad per se, but was tired. Arm sore til yesterday, but no big deal.

    Having some muscle tightness in various places I don’t recall having trouble with before, but I’m prone to muscle spasms, just not where I’m having them right now.

  145. 145.

    J R in WV

    @Ruckus:

    When was the last time we did mass public inoculations? In my mind it was almost 70 yrs ago, with the polio vaccine roll out, and that was sugar cubes, not needles.

    I remember the sugar cubes with the pink Sabin vaccine drop on them, but I also remember before that getting the Salk injection. It was probably more memorable to me than to most people because of my little brother.

    I’ll back up a tiny bit. They did a mass vaccination event at my parent’s place of business, a small town newspaper publisher in southern WV. All the employees, AND all their families, all day long for several hundred people — the health dept nurses did the actual shots. My little brother was a babe in arms, so I was probably 5 or 6.

    It took 4 adults to hold little brother still for his shot, and I’m sure you could hear him out on the street screaming like he was being preped to be the main event dish at a baby back ribs BBQ. I didn’t think it was all that much, I’ve never been averse to shots or needles, and little bro did grow out of it, but holy cow it was funny to me. And I obviously still like telling the story.

    Then a couple of years later we stood in line at a neighborhood elementary school for sugar cubes with the pink drop of Sabin vaccine. No drama, but all four of us together, with hundreds of other people. Was a BIG deal, everyone was afraid of polio, a horrible disease.

  146. 146.

    Burnspbesq

    Getting an appointment for COVID vaccine with CVS or Walmart in Texas is a crapshoot. Getting an appointment with a public agency in any metro area is nigh on impossible.

    I got lucky, and I don’t mind admitting it.

  148. 148.

    JaneE

    @Ruckus: Polio vaccination is actually less than 70 years.  Salk shots were before Sabin sugar cubes.  I and my classmates got the shots in school about 5th grade I think so early-mid 50’s, and bitterly complained when younger sibs got sugar cubes instead.  There was also in-school mass vaccinations for smallpox which involved multiple pokes with what looked like a regular sewing needle that was dipped in the vaccine serum and resulted in the typical smallpox scar us olds have on our upper arms, and I think they gave everyone a round of tetanus shots as well.

  149. 149.

    JaneE

    I guess that means that Sidney would rather be sanctioned for lying to the courts and filing frivolous lawsuits than pay out the big bucks.  Good luck with that defense – not.

  150. 150.

    PST

    @JaneE: And don’t forget the tuberculosis test. It was kind of a scratch on the skin. If it turned red you’d been exposed but didn’t necessarily have TB.

  151. 151.

    Ruckus

    @J R in WV:

    I went with the whole famdamnly and stood in line outside a bank, after normal bank hours, to go inside and eat a sugar cube with one drop of blue liquid on it that a guy sitting at the table with the plate of sugar cubes was putting on each cube. It was 1954, can’t remember if I was still 4 or had turned 5. But I can see it in my mind clearly. It made an impression then, that has never gone away. I do not recall ever getting a polio vaccine shot, but I probably did at some point. As I’ve said here before a girl in my class at school had polio and she wore braces and used crutches until we graduated HS. At our HS 10 yr reunion she walked in the door like she owned the place, no braces, no crutches, I was amazed. I haven’t seen her since, she wasn’t at our 50th reunion. And a woman my age, who lives in the complex I do, grew up about 5 miles from me also with polio and has said that she had the about the same experience. She walked, got married had kids/grandkids and is now in a chair and wears a brace on her one bad leg about half the time. Two of my friends in elementary school, their moms had polio, but it effected their upper bodies and they both had an iron lung in their front rooms which they had to use regular. I have no idea what happened to them but I’d bet it didn’t go as well as people who got it in their legs, and that does not look like fun at all.

  152. 152.

    Ruckus

    @JaneE:

    I was born in 1949 and I remember the smallpox vaccination as well but it didn’t really stand out for me the way the sugar cube did. I just went and checked and while the scar has diminished, it is still visible.

    I just looked it up and both shot and cube polio vaccine came out in 1954. Some of us got the shot, which was a killed virus and some got the sugar cube, which was a weakened live virus. I’m rather sure it was 1954, from the car we still had at the time. And yes I remember the cars we had starting with my mom’s 1947 Ford sedan which was still olive drab, which I’d bet my dad bought army surplus. Three speed on the column, mom was good at that. We always had 2 cars, most of my childhood mom worked. Our next car was a 1951 Ford sedan, next was a 1953 Ford sedan then a 1956 Ford station wagon, with fake wood siding and vinyl upholstery that looked like it had cattle brands burnt into it. I’ll stop here.

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