It’s so important he couldn’t inform the American public when he learned about it so he put it in a book and then waited months for it come out so that we have to pay to find out about it.
— Kranti Pally (@krantipally) November 7, 2021
Republicans have a playbook, shared by Orwell’s Ministry and the late Soviets: When one of their presidents gets too far outside Consensus Respectability, some anodyne placeholder is slapped into his slot, and all narratives about the offender are re-tailored to place him safely outside The Party. Nixon was replaced by Jerry Ford; Reagan’s Iran-Contra minions skittered away under the benign no-oversight of Bush the First.
Today, the Permanent GOP Party would very much like the rest of us to understand that Trump was never *really* a Republican — just some crazy performance artist who slipped under the radar, probably because of CRT, or promiscuous use of the term ‘deplorable’. And guess who’s being groomed for the Figurehead Replacement role!
New – @jonkarl says there are photos of @Mike_Pence in hiding on 1/6 that Pence doesn’t want the public to see… but, Karl believes @January6thCmte has seen them…. https://t.co/gXqvAlOmmD
— Jamie Gangel (@jamiegangel) November 9, 2021
Yes, Karl’s got a book to sell, but his book-tour presentation is a much more polished performance than most of the Behind the Kkklown Klaxon tell-alls to date. After all, he’s not just a Young Republicans alum, he’s a high-level media presence. So, first there’s an excerpt in Vanity Fair, assuring us that the notorious Tulsa Superspreader Rally was every bit as horrible as we knew all along…
NEW from @jonkarl: the night before Trump’s Tulsa rally, staff stayed up partying. The next morning, COVID started to spread:
“We were trying to figure out who’s testing positive because we were all thinking, shit. Was I near that person?” https://t.co/ggwRJNaIXQ via @VanityFair
— Claire Landsbaum (@landsbaumshell) November 11, 2021
Then, a Very Serious extract in the Very Serious Atlantic, fearlessly exposing a literal coat-holder turned ideology gatekeeper, while somehow overlooking all the high-ranking GOP officials who also happened to be hanging around Trump’s White House…
New this morning in the Atlantic — my essay based on “Betrayal”about the man who made January 6th possible. https://t.co/KGiGA2EGui
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) November 9, 2021
Here’s the memo, never before made public, that Johnnie McEntee's Presidential Personnel Office wrote making the case for firing Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. Written on 10/19/20, it’s a remarkable window inside the thinking of the Trump White House. #Betrayal pic.twitter.com/BQneokFmbT
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) November 10, 2021
And now, the SHOCKER: Donald Trump is probably crazy, possibly senile, and certainly not a good person… unlike the much-put-upon Mike Pence…
When I interviewed Trump for "Betrayal" and asked him about his supporters chanting "Hang Mike Pence", he didn't condemn them, he defended them. Here's a clip from the interview. More audio from the genuinely shocking interview will air Sunday on @ThisWeekABC pic.twitter.com/MlnhTgw8Cu
— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) November 12, 2021
Transcript, per the Washington Post:
KARL: Were you worried about him during that siege? Were you worried about his safety?
TRUMP: No, I thought he was well-protected, and I had heard that he was in good shape. No. Because I had heard he was in very good shape. But, but, no, I think —
KARL: Because you heard those chants. That was terrible. I mean —
TRUMP: He could have — well, the people were very angry.
KARL: They were saying, “Hang Mike Pence.”
TRUMP: Because — it’s common sense, Jon. It’s common sense that you’re supposed to protect. How can you — if you know a vote is fraudulent, right — how can you pass on a fraudulent vote to Congress? How can you do that? And I’m telling you: 50/50, it’s right down the middle for the top constitutional scholars when I speak to them. Anybody I spoke to — almost all of them at least pretty much agree, and some very much agree with me — because he’s passing on a vote that he knows is fraudulent. How can you pass a vote that you know is fraudulent?…
Isn’t it a good thing that Mike Pence is a very sensible, sane person who doesn’t hold grudges, unlike *some* people? Blessed!
Not clear to me whether Karl and his fellow professionals can successfully whitewash Mike Dense back into close proximity to the Oval Office, but give them due credit for the slickness of the attempt…
Tucker: The 1/6 rioters were a false flag operation designed to make Trump look bad.
Trump: But they made some very good points that I agree with!
— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) November 13, 2021
when you're putting in context the president's discussions about hanging the vice president https://t.co/rD0fqAYvoG
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) November 12, 2021
jnfr
Very well put together. Thank you.
Chetan Murthy
Some old people, like elephants, have long memories. I remarked upon “John Karl” (noted GrOPer operative from back during the Chimperor’s reign) and thought “gee, I’m gonna trust that asshat”. Glad to see others remember, too.
Chetan Murthy
Everything that Karl puts out, purporting to absolve Fat Termite Pence, just makes me think he’s even more craven, b/c he had the chance to take out the bastard that day, and didn’t.
RaflW
Over the next year or so I just hope the internecine fighting gets worse. Everyone over there door-matting for TFG is not good.
Now, I’ve been wrong about a lot in politics, and maybe a bunch of suburban white women will like the pasteurized process Christian cheeze spread otherwise branded as Mike Pence. Boring but conventionally far-right may be the ticket, though lack of charisma (and the MAGA base hating him something fierce) seems like challenges to me.
Jackie
Hasn’t Pence, himself, downplayed the danger he was in as “just a day in January?”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Chetan Murthy:
zhena gogolia
I hate to say it, but I agree with Philip Klein, whoever he is, at least about the audio. TFG is already ranting when Karl kind of whispers, “Hang Mike Pence,” and he doesn’t even hear that.
NotMax
Touting Mike Pence as the savior who rides into town to save the party?
Comedy gold, Jerry. Comedy feckin’ gold.
MagdaInBlack
@zhena gogolia: Well, I agree. I don’t think he’s responding to that at all. He didn’t hear it, he was off on his rant.
HumboldtBlue
Here’s an adorable dog.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
have we found out what the big secret Luntz teased is ?
NotMax
@Jim, Foolish Literalist
Jared sleeps with a nightlight.
//
Ruckus
@HumboldtBlue:
Notice the bird on the chair/sofa past the dog? And that there is another animal walking behind the dog?
I’m thinking this is a house that humans are the guests and/or the help….
HalfAssedHomesteader
“I’ve got this thing. And it’s gold! I’m not gonna just fuckin’ give it away!”
— Rod Blagojevich
— also Jon Karl
HumboldtBlue
@Ruckus:
And we willingly submit to our servant status.
brettvk
The thing with Pence is, he’s not very charismatic, and he might deserve the nickname Mike Dense. These are not absolute barriers to world leadership, but he has to win over a base that wanted to kill him ten months ago; a base formed and nurtured on Trump’s red meat, who knows that Pence’s cowardice in the face of the Constitution denied their orange god his rightful office. Maybe Karl’s handlers think Pence can be rehabbed for a newer, more smoothly authoritarian GOP. I don’t think enough of Trump’s base will die off from covid before 2024, despite the best efforts of leadership.
Lyrebird
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Indeed. And Marc Thiessen worked for the same paper, they may have overlapped but I am not sure. Glad to know, and by “glad” I mean “nauseous”, what they were devoted to. Thought it was just stirring the manure pile and hating on minorities at the time, and also too practicing to become disingenuous FedSoc members or something.
Ken
@NotMax: His kind don’t sleep, they lie in a catatonic state on their native soil.
NotMax
@Ken
Blandsylvania?
MagdaInBlack
@NotMax: ??
Major Major Major Major
I am having the absolute worst day. Feels like I might be getting depressed. Great!
phdesmond
Yes, very nicely put together, Anne. A gripping read.
HumboldtBlue
@Major Major Major Major:
Is there a state other than depressed? Cuz I’d like to get back there.
How about a joke?
What’s the best thing about Switzerland?
I don’t know, but the flag is a big plus.
Major Major Major Major
@HumboldtBlue: hehe I forgot that one!
eclare
@HumboldtBlue: Awwww….
BethanAnne
I lurk more than I post, but fuck. My brother just died of Covid. Been on ECMO for 5 months. His wife is a nurse, but they were evangelicals who “didn’t want to be government guinea pigs”. Fuck. I wanna reroll, this timeline sucks.
westyny
@Major Major Major Major: Hang in there.
mrmoshpotato
@HalfAssedHomesteader: FUCK BLAGO! AND FUCK KARL TOO!
eclare
@Major Major Major Major: What happened?
BethanyAnne
Damn typos. In moderation
Fair Economist
@Major Major Major Major: Ooh, sorry to hear. Objectively awful or just feeling down?
Ohio Mom
@Major Major Major Major: Yuck. Depression stinks. Crossing my fingers that all you need is a good nights sleep and a hearty breakfast and brisk walk tomorrow.
Keep us posted.
Omnes Omnibus
Wow, Taylor Swift is doing the 10 minute version.
Ms. Deranged in AZ
@Major Major Major Major: I’ve been wrestling depression for a couple of years now. I can’t focus at work any more and my teeth grinding at night is causing some TMJ issues. Come sit by me and let’s be goofy together. Laughing is far better than crying.
Chetan Murthy
@Ms. Deranged in AZ: Me three. Since the 80s, off-and-on. Only figured it out (b/c a friend told me) in the noughties. Sigh. Only thing that helps is lots of exercise.
BethanyAnne
I managed to typo my nym on this new phone, and landed in moderation. Anyways, mostly I lurk. I don’t even know if it’s a thing to talk about. My older brother just died of Covid. He’s been on ECMO for 5 months, and all we could hear was that he was improving a little. Looks like his wife was telling us more her hopes.
Omnes Omnibus
@BethanyAnne: I am so sorry.
eclare
@Ms. Deranged in AZ: I am not depressed but I hear you on the teeth grinding. Sometimes I wake up and my mouth is sealed shut, my tongue glued to the roof.
I really need to see a dentist, it’s been about three years. But I’m scared.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@BethanyAnne: I’m sorry for your loss.
eclare
@BethanyAnne: Oh I’m so sorry. My condolences.
ETA> absolutely everything is a thing to talk about.
HumboldtBlue
@BethanyAnne:
Have some love for you and your family.
BethanyAnne
Thanks y’all. I’m at work as it turns out, so I will be off and on at my phone.
Chetan Murthy
@eclare:
I went a week ago last Thu. It’d been about 3yr, too. I check beforehand on their vaccination status (they were all vaxxed) and made sure to carefully read the covid protocol page. It was fine. I had to, y’know, get a tooth filled, b/c I cracked it (incisor) from, y’know, grinding my teeth. Sigh.
We’re all really stressed these days, it seems. Really, really stressed.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@BethanyAnne:
I’m so sorry for your loss
BethanyAnne
Same age as when dad died, 61. We just had lunch in May and he was talking about retirement plans.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
MarketWatch: `The inflation genie is out of the bottle’ as consumer sentiment takes a hit and Californians pay $12 for a regular burrito
Thoughts?
eclare
@Chetan Murthy: Thank you. I need to just pick up the phone. Hopefully they’ll give me gas as soon as I walk in.
eclare
@BethanyAnne: How heartbreaking…
Chetan Murthy
@BethanyAnne: I’m so sorry for your and your family’s loss.
eclare
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Who the fuck is paying $90 for a bottle of wine?
Whoever wrote that article had an agenda. Ignore it.
SFBayAreaGal
@BethanyAnne: My condolences on the loss of your brother.
Chetan Murthy
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): For a long time, the Fed has treated the 2% inflation target as a ceiling, not a median. A little inflation isn’t so awful right now. Also, both Krugthulhu and Delong think this is just the rubber burning, as the economy gets back up to speed. I don’t know if they’re right, but I do believe them that inflation above 2% for a while isn’t a bad thing right now. We should remember that for the longest time, the Fed was unable (or unwilling) to get the economy to credibly expect more inflation.
An economy at the zero lower bound (where the Fed has to keep its rates near zero) is a bad thing: it makes active intervention in the economy much, much more difficult. So that’s another reason for wanting a bit more inflation.
Of course, investors hate inflation. And these are investors talking.
Gretchen
@Ms. Deranged in AZ: would a bite guard help the grinding? My dentist had to rebuild my front teeth because I ground them so badly. She ordered me a custom plastic mouth guard that was rather expensive but keeps me from grinding. Target sells inexpensive non-custom ones. Dentist says she’s treated about 10 times as much tooth grinding since the pandemic as before. I never had the problem before last year.
Omnes Omnibus
@eclare: I have spent more than that on occasion.
Gretchen
@BethanyAnne: Im so sorry, and of course it’s something to talk about here. That’s rough.
eclare
@Omnes Omnibus: And I am sure it was worth every penny! But to use that as an example of inflation is beyond ridiculous.
Last time I was at Kroger, boxed wine, not Franzia, was $10 off per box. No inflation here.
Gretchen
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): maybe they should interview someone besides bond traders. This ordinary American bought a bottle of wine for $8 this week at Trader Joe’s and it was quite good. I will probably splurge $25-30 for Thanksgiving but I’m not even sure if my wine store stocks $90 bottles, in an affluent area. Maybe a few locked up in the back.
MagdaInBlack
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I’m not worried yet. There are some people who want us to worry. (republicans and the media)
Eta: My local Butera had milk for $1.99/ gallon , if you buy two. Just sayin’
HumboldtBlue
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
If you live in California and you pay $12 for a fucking burrito, a real Cal-Mex Burrito, you’re getting robbed.
BethanyAnne
I’m from a Brady bunch family. Dad had older brother and sister from first marriage. Mom had me from hers. They married and Dad adopted me. I was 3, and James and Donna were 13 and 11. James was my hero growing up. Always had time for a hyperactive bundle of trouble. Was patient when he had every incentive to ditch me. We used to windsurf on the long abandoned streets of Texas City on our skateboards with plastic sheets.
HumboldtBlue
Oh, and the website has gone back to loading about as quickly as cold molasses pours.
Gretchen
@BethanyAnne: he sounds wonderful.
Major Major Major Major
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): the Fed’s in a tricky spot. Most of the inflation right now has nothing to do with the money supply (which also makes it hard to measure with our normal yardstick). That doesn’t mean it won’t stick around if we don’t play our cards right.
(BBB will not affect inflation, but “inflation concerns” might scuttle BBB.)
Soprano2
@BethanyAnne: I’m so sorry for your loss. ??
HumboldtBlue
@BethanyAnne:
Here’s a toast to you and to your big brother, James.
I lost one too, so here’s a toast to my Jim as well.
Major Major Major Major
@BethanyAnne: oh no, I’m so sorry ?
Gretchen
@Major Major Major Major: some analyses say BBB will fight inflation by making things like childcare affordable.
BethanyAnne
@HumboldtBlue: sorry for your loss. /toast
HumboldtBlue
@BethanyAnne:
Mine’s not so recent, but the sentiment remains, here’s to James!
Major Major Major Major
@Gretchen: maybe over ten years but it won’t affect what we’re currently experiencing. (I have also seen an analysis saying that it will increase childcare expenses for the non-subsidized because of the new regulations on caregiver certifications ??♂️.)
Soprano2
@Chetan Murthy: I’ve come to the belief that most of us have some form of PTSD now. For a year we have lived with the idea that anyone could expose us to a deadly disease. Our lives changed, a lot for some people. The asymptomatic nature of so many Covid infections made it impossible for most of us to completely avoid exposure, and many people didn’t have the option to isolate anyway. Living like that for so long is incredibly stressful, and it’s still not over, although the vaccines allow you to protect yourself from the worst consequences. Add in the financial stress on many people, and all the Trump shit, and it’s no wonder so many people are on edge. Our receptionist at my city job says more people are angrier when they call than used to be, and she’s ready to quit every Friday. It’s a bad situation all the way around.
Major Major Major Major
@eclare: I once went… more than… three… years and it was fine. (Don’t do this lol, but don’t be too scared! Being scared just made me delay going even more.)
Soprano2
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Stagflation is high inflation coupled with high unemployment. No way we have that. Too much inflation too fast is bad, though.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Major Major Major Major:
At this point, I’m more concerned about this inflation sticking around and scuttling the Dems’ shot at keeping Congress next year and the White House in 2024. All I hear about anymore is people complaining about high gas prices and the cost of groceries
If we lose, we’re probably never getting back into power short of a violent revolution against the GOP
MagdaInBlack
@Soprano2: I’ve been finding this true with my customers, and I’ve reached the same conclusion.
Soprano2
@Chetan Murthy: Most people hate too much inflation. When your paycheck didn’t go up much, like the people I work with at the city, and it costs double what you paid last year to fill your tank and buy groceries, you aren’t happy. They don’t care that some inflation might be good for the economy.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@eclare:
@Gretchen:
Admittedly, those examples are ridiculous, but I’m not sure the entire article can be dismissed so easily. It’s a fact that inflation is fairly high right now. And I haven’t seen anybody in this thread address the worries that the inflation is starting to come from more permanent sources meaning this might not be transitory
CaseyL
My concern about “papering over the insurrection” – well, one of them – is that most Americans don’t think much about politics, don’t want to think much about politics, and resent being made to think about politics. They’ll be perfectly happy with GQP revisionism.
The Democrats need to deliver, big time, on the economic agenda – and then shout it from the rooftops, tout it from the skies, and make goddamn sure the public knows a GOP majority means losing all those economic gains.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Chetan Murthy:
I hope you and Krugthulu and DeLong are right. Then again, as Adam has said, perception is reality
Soprano2
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Ditto, except I’m not as down on our future chances.
NotMax
@Soprano2
Hypothesis is that most everything was in stasis for almost two years (or in the case of gasoline, in deflation). Market pressure building up over that period has thrown open the floodgates and what would have been perceived as incremental inflation sort of has been released in one large wave.
trollhattan
What if Devin Nunes’ cow voted Democrat?
Early days, but ya just never know.
Villago Delenda Est
Annihilating the GQp isn’t enough. The Village, too, must be purged of GQp sympathizers like Karl. And Mrs. Greenspan. Chuckles the Toddler. Lester Holt. Chris Cillizza. Stephanopolus. The entire Vichy Times political stenographer team. Most of their oped writers. This applies to Pravda on the Potomac, Tiger Beat on the Potomac, The Hill, the lot of them. They’re a huge part of the problem. Oh yes, and their billionaire parasite paymasters.
Soprano2
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I’m not sure much can be done about inflation as long as the supply chain is so fucked up. The car market is messed up because of a chip shortage, so the only thing that will fix it is an ample supply of chips. Who knows when we’ll have that. What can the Fed do about that? Same way with all these weird shortages. I figure it’ll be sometime next year before these things are close to normal again.
Mary G
Jon Karl hasn’t whacked out as far as the current champ Brit Hume, but he’ll get there.
dopey-o
A-fvkkin-men! From your comments, I know you live in one of the most backward corners of Mizery.
eclare
@Major Major Major Major: Thank you! I will call this week. My teeth don’t hurt, but they have shifted.
Geminid
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): “Thoughts?”
Any analysis of inflation that discusses $100 to $200 concert tickets and $90 bottles of wine is unserious and not worth thinking about.
Soprano2
@dopey-o: Yep, except I do live in the 3rd largest city in Misery, so not as bad as the more rural areas.
CaseyL
@Soprano2: I agree- but it’s been longer than 2 years; for a lot of us, it’s been since January 2017.
My blood pressure had been inching up and up over the past few years (never high enough for medical concern, but my normal BP was quite, quite low). I thought it was part of the aging process. Since Biden’s inauguration, my BP has gone back down to pre-Trump levels.
trollhattan
Worthless sack of traitor flesh says what?
And when “god” turns out to be named Donny Trump, he’ll declare it “even better!”
Soprano2
@CaseyL: I half jokingly told my doc that if Trump lost I might be able to go off the high blood pressure medication. Didn’t try it, though. So yeah, that’s right for some people.
Major Major Major Major
@Soprano2: what the fed does have some control over is demand, but they’re smart enough to know that this requires intentional immiseration and that things running slightly hot is preferable.
idk. Things have been weird for a while. Who knows.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Geminid:
Just looked MarketWatch up. It’s owned by NewsCorp so I’m thinking you and others are right about it
NotMax
@Soprano2
One dilemma with chips for cars is that automakers tend to installing proven chip tech that is one, two or even three generations behind, and the manufacturers are under pressure (both monetarily and in some cases maybe contractually) to manufacture the latest tech for other impatient customers.
smike
@BethanyAnne:
Not sure that sounds like a Brady Bunch grouping there…
eclare
@trollhattan: I don’t even understand what that means.. so Judaism?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Soprano2:
I’m inclined to think that things will be better next year, as well
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Soprano2:
I’m inclined to think that things will be better next year, as well
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@NotMax:
I think the other problem is that we outsourced our ability to manufacture computer chips overseas as well
NotMax
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Well, there’s all those empty, cobweb laden Foxconn buildings slowly mouldering in Wisconsin.
//
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@NotMax:
Heh. Funny you should mention Foxconn, but they just recently bought Lordstown Motors for $250 million
Geminid
@trollhattan: California loses a district next year because of reapportionment. That may acount for the shift in Nunes’ district. The results of next year’s Congressional races in California will be important for Democratic control of the House. Several seats in the LA area have flipped back and forth the lasttwo cycles, and it would be good if Democrats can reclaim them.
The district I live in, the VA 5th, will be a pickup opportunity. Republicans drew it as a safe seat in 2011, but the odious Bob Good won by only 5 points last November. The new Redistricting Commission can’t seem to get out of it’s own way, so there is not yet a new map. There will be before too long, and 5th District Democrats will work hard to send Good back to Liberty University where he belongs.
Major Major Major Major
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): everyone did and it will take a hot minute to undo.
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): this is just what market reporting sounds like.
NotMax
@Major Major Major Major
Obligatory?
:)
BethanyAnne
@smike: two children from his first marriage. They became my older brother and sister.
opiejeanne
@Geminid: Amen. This is not a serious article. $12 for a burrito in California? Where the heck are they eating?
Gas at Costco in Kirkland, WA is $3.59 for regular, not much different from last year, but food prices started going up in 2020, not long after the pandemic was recognized by the sane people. I don’t know why most people didn’t notice, but I did one day when I checked the price of a bunch of carrots and realized that other things had gone up.
Villago Delenda Est
@opiejeanne: Avocado toast burritos, obviously!
opiejeanne
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Good luck to them. Lordstown Motors keeps putting off its launch date, but I’m sure FoxConn will figure it out.//
opiejeanne
@Villago Delenda Est: Hahaha! My husband introduced our kids to avocado toast when they were wee tots; they’re in their late 30s to 50 now. And avocados here are like gold, but not as good as. They only ever offer one variety: Hass. It’s like they’ve never heard of Fuerte or any of the other varieties. We had avocado trees in our yards in SoCal, and the fruit was almost year-round.
opiejeanne
@Villago Delenda Est: That sounds like a John Scalzi burrito, except for the lack of something incongruent, like maple syrup.
JMG
FWIW, I was at a cafe in Bordeaux earlier this week and two old guys who looked like extras from a Jean Gabin heist flick were housing orders of avocado toast. More seriously, inflation is happening all over Europe and in China, too. Gas is $8 a gallon here in France, for instance. It’s not just us, but most Americans don’t really believe the rest of the world exists. There isn’t much the Fed can do about price hikes in China.
satby
@BethanAnne: So sorry!
satby
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I think you can post a link instead of lots of paragraphs. And that’s about what I would expect out of market watch, which is a trade rag for Wall Street.
germy
Thread:
Cermet
I’m up a bit earlier than I expected; I woke up about 5:10 AM, realized my bedroom door was open, so I got up and shut it. Except for my Saint Bernard, I’m alone tonight since my girlfriend is away. Still in bed, ten minutes later I realized that there is now light coming in through the side cracks of the door. Confused, I open it only to discover the adjacent room now has a desk light on (requires a rotating switch) – WTF! I’m alone in the house, the room was dark when I closed the bedroom door and ten minutes later it is now on!? Uh, I can’t explain this and well, this is very, very strange. This is beyond spooky.
germy
@Cermet:
mrmoshpotato
@opiejeanne:
Just maple syrup? Scalzi would definitely add French toast to that avocado burrito.
mrmoshpotato
@Cermet: Explanation
Shakti
@BethanAnne: I’m so sorry for the loss of your big brother James </3
Chris T.
@germy: Less “fall of Rome” symbology, but helping him earn the nickname “Mike Dense”: putting his hands all over the stuff marked “do not touch”. https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-pence-nasa/true-claim-mike-pence-touched-nasa-hardware-with-a-sign-that-said-do-not-touch-idUSKBN20Q28H
Betty
The idea that Bush the First was benign is evidence of a great snow job or the willing suspension of disbelief. Ask the Panamanians for one. CIA head. Out of the loop on Iran Contra. It goes on.
Chief Oshkosh
@Chetan Murthy: Yep. I remember the first time I saw him on ABC News and I thought “…and everyone in the business knows he’s a trained operative and everyone in the business will pretend he’s not…”
It all comes back to all that money that needs to go somewhere. I can’t say that I wouldn’t do the same thing if I was a billionaire. Entire armies of entire careers created and paid for by a relative handful of families, and its worldwide. But instead of the “Illuminati,” we just get warmed-over Jay Gould: “I can hire one-half of the people to kill the other half.”
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Major Major Major Major: I’m so sorry to hear that. Hope you feel better after some sleep
Dorothy A. Winsor
@BethanAnne: I’m sorry for your loss. Peace and strength to you
Chief Oshkosh
@BethanAnne: I am so sorry to hear of it, BethanAnne.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@trollhattan: Sorry, Mike Flynn. The Constitution says otherwise
Betty
@Cermet: Ghosts are known to cause these things. Have you recently lost someone close or had them on your mind?
Chief Oshkosh
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): MarketWatch is the Jonathan Karl of financial rags. It’s owned by News Corp and its first chief was Jim Kramer — not as notorious as it’s sister rags, the WSJ and Barrons. Those two tidbits alone tell me all I need to know.
Chief Oshkosh
@Mary G: Karl was trained in being what he is: a smooth operative. Hume devolved into what he became. It was largely his id taking over, live on the nightly news, so there were rough edges. Karl went through bootcamp and then years of molding by the machine before he was inserted into the MSM.
He is way more dangerous.
WaterGirl
@BethanAnne: I am so sorry. The senseless death of someone you love, that’s so hard.
Grief and anger are both hard to process, but it’s even more complicated when you are understandingly experiencing both emotions at the same time.
Kalakal
@BethanAnne: Sorry to hear about your brother. I just don’t get how medical professionals can be anti-vax, really sucks
Kalakal
@Major Major Major Major: Sorry to hear that. The only thing I’ve ever found to work is to force myself to fo stuff. I go for a walk, weed the garden, whatever. After the initial blech it seems to help
lowtechcyclist
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
What attempt we’re going to make to address global warming in the next couple of years is in BBB. If it doesn’t pass, we do nothing, and the odds are all too good that we don’t get another chance.
If BBB passes, then as long as Biden is President, the Executive branch can implement it. And whatever happens in 2022, Biden’s got good odds of winning in 2024: I don’t think the GOP has a version of Glenn Youngkin that can play at the national level.
I’m far from certain that what’s currently ‘in’ BBB is enough, but it’s better than nothing.
And if the GOP turns the U.S. into an authoritarian regime, eventually that will pass, and there are still plenty of other countries out there that they can’t fuck up.
But if we don’t do what it takes to limit global warming, and soon, then ultimately everybody‘s screwed.
zhena gogolia
@BethanyAnne: I’m so sorry. That is horrible.
Kalakal
@Soprano2: Couldn’t agree more. Even before covid Trump had me stressed out. I used to think I hated Thatcher/Reagan, now I know that what I felt was mild dislike. The very sound of his voice did terrible things to my pulse rate. Add in Covid… I can’t believe how angry I feel at all the assorted Pals’o’the Plague. So much unneccessary grief and suffering, all to feed the greed of grifters and the lust for power of a collection of sociopaths.
Kalakal
@trollhattan: Pastafarianism gets my vote.
Geminid
@lowtechcyclist: There are good climate measures in the infrastructure bill. I think there will be a signing ceremony tomorrow. Amid the general discussion here, the question of whether or not that bill has substantial climate friendly provisions will probably be discussed. The infrastructure bill’s funding for improvements to improvements to the nation’s electrical grid is just one of them.
Josie
Somewhere in the recesses of my memory is the idea that Nixon was set up to fail by some powers that be due to a decision he made that displeased them. Could this be happening to Trump in order to move him out of the way for someone more malleable? Of course, I hope his fall is long and hard, but I’m wondering who is waiting in the wings.
Josie
@BethanAnne:
I’m so sorry for your loss. Big brothers are special.
brantl
@BethanAnne: Sorry to hear that.
Geminid
@Josie: You may be thinking of the thesis advanced by reporters Len Kolodney and Robert Gettlin in their book* about Watergate. They say that Nixon’s attempts to concentrate control of national security intelligenc operations in the White House alarmed the Pentagon and the CIA. The authors contended that the CIA gave Nixon enough rope to hang himself by letting Liddy’s plumbers be staffed with ex-CIA employees, some whom, the authors say, were not exactly “ex-CIA.”
* Kolodney and Gettlin’s book, Silent Coup: the Downfall of an American President (1991), was pretty interesting, not withstanding the sensational title. There was some controversy when it came out. One reason may have been the authors’ contention that Lieutenant Robert Woodward, USN(R), was not exactly “ex-” Naval Intelligence.
Geminid
@Josie: Conservative elites never liked trump even when he was useful to them. Now he is in their way, and they probably hope for a stroke.
As to who is waiting in the wings, I’d say Mike Pompeo and Ron DeSantis are two of them. They are hoping they can ride the radical wave among Republican voters to create a Trumpism-without-Trump.
If Pomeo runs, he will not lack for money. When Pompeo left the Army, Koch Industries help finance the purchase of a Wichita, Kansas aircraft parts manufacturer by Pompeo and a couple partners. Pompeo then became Congressman from Wichita. I think of him as the Kochs’ Blue Eyed Boy. And the way Pompeo has slimmed down since his stint as Secretary of State tells me he will run; Pompeo now has that “lean and hungry look.”
Pompeo tends to low-rated as a politician by some here. He certainly is an asshole. But the question for his party now is not whether someone is too big an asshole, but whether he is a big enough asshole.
Josie
@Geminid: Interesting. I always look for your comments – you are so well informed and incisive.Also, I am not convinced that Pence is the one they are going to be pushing. I won’t be reading Karl’s book, but, from the excepts here, Pence doesn’t look all that great.
ETA: Pompeo or DeSantis? Both are nightmares, but that is where we are.
Josie
@Geminid:
Wow! You are right about the weight loss. I googled him and saw some clips from Fox News. He looks like a completely different person.
Another Scott
ObNonRespite, …
We’ll have to see the details, but good, good. Lots of old business is finally being addressed with Democrats in charge.
(via nycsouthpaw)
Cheers,
Scott.
Miss Bianca
@BethanyAnne: Late to the thread, just wanted to say that I am sorry to hear about your loss.
Another Scott
@NotMax: Lots of things going on with the wild price swings we’re seeing, even beyond the Pandemic.
I blame the heavy boot of Big Gubmint on the necks of the jerb creators, myself.
:-/
(via nycsouthpaw)
Cheers,
Scott.
SFAW
@BethanyAnne:
Sorry to hear of the loss of your brother. Sounds like he was a good big brother.
Ohio Mom
@BethanyAnne: I hope I’m not too late (it’s eleven hours after your post) to extend to you my deepest sympathy. Five months is an eternity to be limbo and this is certainly not the resolution you and your family had looked forward to.
Maybe there is some comfort in knowing the medical staff did all they could?
Be very kind to yourself, you’ve had close to half a year of high anxiety and now grief to slog through. Please keep letting us know how you are doing. I’ll be looking out for your nym.
BethanyAnne
Hey everyone. Thanks! I mean it, I really appreciate y’all. He was so good to me for so long, it was a real blessing. And it took me years to understand that when he stopped speaking to me, it was more about his being closeted than about me being queer. He agreed to do lunch with the family in May, and I thought we had a real chance at having some communication again. A month later – sedation for Covid treatment. We haven’t even known what hospital he was at. It was a game of telephone from his wife to her son to my sister, to Mom and me. Anyway, thanks again everyone.
Bill Arnold
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Also, mediabiasfactcheck MarketWatch report:
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/marketwatch/
“RIGHT-CENTER BIAS”, mostly factual.
As you note, News Corp. means that it should be assume to have a right wing political BIAS and that it may deliberately attempt to damage Democrats politically.
I am sure that least two Americans of average(not median :) income have recently bought a $90 of wine. 330 million Americans (I don’t know how many Americans are age 21 or older.)
Same for gas; there is often some place that offers fuel for sale in town for a very high markup for whatever reason.
J R in WV
@BethanyAnne:
Very sorry for your loss, and the family difficulties that have made it hard to know how he was doing. Take care, and keep in touch as you can.
J R in WV
Regarding Jon Karl, who we saw on an MSNBC report, where he quoted Trump as saying “I heard that Pence was in very good shape, very good!” my very next thought was “Why didn’t Karl ask Trump who told him that, why he would believe it if that person wasn’t actually with Pence in the Capitol basement?!?!”
Of course the answer to my question is because Karl is a RW fascist working underground to destroy Democracy in America, just like all the other RW fascists.