When I heard TFG was tearing up government documents this is what I visualized. pic.twitter.com/p5SX7KGEwd
— Whiskey Tango Foxtrot America (@RayCavemanH3) February 2, 2022
This article is getting a lot of social media circulation — for whatever reason, the NYTimes decides to short-sell their Trump stock:
News Analysis: New remarks by Donald Trump and new disclosures about his actions have stripped away any pretense that the events of Jan. 6, 2021, were anything but the culmination of his pursuit of retaining power, Shane Goldmacher writes. https://t.co/Ds3H7ucZA4
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 2, 2022
From the Washington Post, the invaluable Alexandra Petri — “Relax, the coup people weren’t very good at it and won’t try again until 2024”:
Don’t worry! We keep learning unpleasant things about the tail end of the Trump administration, but the most important thing is that they are all in the past, where nothing can hurt us. (That is why we are so keen to purge all the history books!)…
Yes, when we reached the coup stage of “ask Giuliani for his opinion about whether the military can seize voting machines,” Giuliani did exactly what he was supposed to do and spontaneously decided he did not want to overturn the election. That is the robust protection the Founders built into the system! There was never any doubt Giuliani would for no clear reason determine he did want to support the rule of law and oppose having the military seize voting machines!
All the other people Trump leaned on ignored and disregarded him or pretended not to understand what he was tacitly asking. And it is fine, because those people are still in control of the elections — ah, what? They’re being hounded out? They fear for their safety, and the people who are trying to replace them have a much different attitude to election legitimacy?
Well, again, it’s probably fine. This was all in the past, where we keep everything about America that is bad…
All kinds of election-traducing plans, in short, were circulating within the Trump White House like flies in the Oval Office — but without Reince Priebus to swat them. But it’s fine because Trump is gone (now), and he is not being made to face any consequences — because he learned his lesson! And he will definitely pick Pence as his running mate in the future, out of respect for his display of sterling character, so we don’t need to worry about the Electoral Count Act at all.
As long as we don’t read about the attempted coup or ask anyone questions about it when we invite them on the television, it’s nothing to worry our little heads over. It’s one of those bygones that we have to let be a bygone. Our system is foolproof, for the specified degree of fool that has tried, once, to overturn it so far!
jan. 6, that date jumps out at me for some reason https://t.co/9LYLmGiXIk
— Gerry Doyle (@mgerrydoyle) February 3, 2022
Lapassionara
everyone who thought Hillary was a rampant lawbreaker because she used a private email server should now be extremely upset and irate about Trump tearing up Presidential records. Right? Right?
SiubhanDuinne
Will no one rid us of this turbulent beast?
Chief Oshkosh
It’s worrisome that Schiff surmises that DOJ isn’t pursuing Donny (if I understand correctly from the live blogging Tuesday evening).
MisterForkbeard
@Lapassionara: It was reported very early on in his presidency, too. He was told not to do it because it’s illegal. He didn’t care, and other people kept having to tape the documents back together so that they and Trump couldn’t be prosecuted.
So Trump did what he always does: Break the law, and then make someone else clean up after him or take the consequences for him.
J R in WV
I hope this is an open thread, didn’t notice.
ETA: Oops, sorry to be so far off topic, but weather update is when it happens…
The ice storm is here in SW West Virginia, started less than an hour ago, Car was barely openable when I ran out to get last of provisions I bought the other day, Dog food, fresh bread, tonic water, chips. Dogs went out with me, they love to walk outdoors with their people. No idea how much snow/freezing precip we will get. Power blinked off and back on a couple of times last night, I know because the stereo quits when that happens.
We listen to mostly peaceful music at night, helps with tinnitus and overcoming snoring. Thumb drive full of gentle classical music, other thumb drive full of Cuban big band music, and Lucinda Williams, Texan singer hard to categorize. Also Emmy Lou Harris, Bonnie Raitt.
Hope the ice storm doesn’t last too long, although I don’t plan to go back to town til the middle of next week, now that I’ve got nearly 50 lbs of DF on hand. Tho 3 big dogs can go thru it fast.
Stay warm, all, and be safe!
Omnes Omnibus
The Coup Next Time. Isn’t that a rejected Outkast album title?
Lapassionara
@MisterForkbeard: And it just didn’t matter to the same people that made Hillary into a monster. I’m looking at you, NYT.
brantl
@SiubhanDuinne: Will no one rid us of this troublesome snotrag, more like.
Scout211
Thank you Anne Laurie for posting that Nick Anderson cartoon. It made me laugh and I needed that. His caricature of the orange one is *chef’s kiss*.
MisterForkbeard
@Lapassionara: As well as when several important officials with access to state secrets (Jared, Ivanka, and others) were all caught using private e-mail servers.
Important to remember that most media criticisms of Democrats are ludicrously bad faith. They need to display some ‘balance’ and they go after minor issues with Democrats and ignore the major issues with Republicans.
J R in WV
@Chief Oshkosh:
Well, under AG Garland, the DOJ has ceased leaking details about internal workings of investigations prior to indictments being handed up. Or guilty plea being accepted. So Honorable Mr Schiff may not be aware of what exactly the DOJ intentions are with regard to TFG, SFB.
I’m hoping so, really hard, because if Trump isn’t prosecuted, and done well, with prison time involved, we’ll face this same situation the very next time an honor-free President seizes office with the aid of a hostile foreign power… in other words, next Republican scumbag wins an election.
And now I return to reading fiction to avoid thinking about the real future. Elves and dragons, oh my, fighting evil Republican warlords.
kindness
I have gotten a lot better at seeing Alexandra Petri’s work as parody. Either that or her writing has changed a little. There was a time when her pieces were less snarky and if one looked at them sideways, one might think she supported what she was making fun of. I never thought she did, mind you because I understood what her Op-eds were but it took me a bit.
zhena gogolia
@J R in WV: He seemed to think that if the DOJ were pursuing the call to Raffensberger in GA, there would be some inevitable info coming out from grand juries, etc. I hope Schiff is wrong but who am I to say?
zhena gogolia
I got an almost 100% score on the NYT news quiz just now. The one question I missed? How many fucking Super Bowls did fucking Tom Brady play in? Why the fuck should I care?
Ancient Atheist
All over America “news” people are peering out from under their beds. “Is there a coup coming?”. “Which side should I be on?”. “Both sides do it!”. “Actually, America is a provisional democracy.”. “Are Jewish people a race?”?
Ten Bears
I keep telling folks beware the rise of “reasonable”, “responsible”, “re-habilitated” republicans.
Nobody listens …
The Dangerman
Fox (Channel) guarding the Chicken Coup?
UncleEbeneezer
@Chief Oshkosh: Very worrisome. I wonder if DoJ’s position will change as more and more people are publicly calling for investigation:
“1 The key element of a conspiracy charge is the agreement. If (a big if) there’s sufficient admissible evidence to prove a conspiracy, that’s bingo. But there are other complicated issues: What was the objective of the conspiracy? Did a defendant withdraw?
2 Prosecutors must prove (not just suspect) what the defendants in a conspiracy agreed to. Was it limited? Getting voting machines & appointing a special counsel? Or is there evidence to prove a larger overarching conspiracy to do anything possible to interfere with the election?
3 From what we see publicly, there is strong evidence that DOJ should be investigating full force. A former president’s efforts to interfere with an election shouldn’t be left up to a county prosecutor, who has far fewer resources, to handle.”
Omnes Omnibus
@zhena gogolia: You seem to be in a pissy mood. How is your arm?
UncleEbeneezer
@J R in WV: It’s also good to remember that Garland managed to indict Timothy McVeigh without any leaks from the grand jury.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Maybe, it certainly seems like the smart ones like Bill Barr ran for cover when the serious shit started, so there is something to be said about prosecuting the shit out Trump’s enablers.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
On a political basis they don’t want to prosecute Dump. It would engulf every news cycle for 2 years. It would be the OJ trial/fiasco on steroids. No rational administration would want the air sucked out the room for a trial that would hinge on a unanimous verdict, where not one sleeper juror exercises nullification.</p>
Moreover, progressives have long scuffed at the notion of deterrence. When the reactionaries say the death penalty deters murder or draconian drug laws deters drug use, progressives rightfully laugh. Case in point, while Nixon was pardoned, most members of his administration went to jail for Watergate. Yet that didn’t deter the Iran/Contra crimes 10 short years later.
Miss Bianca
I didn’t even realize this post was here till I looked at “recent comments”, because there were no arrows pointing to it from David Anderson’s post. And then I refreshed the page and still no arrows. Huh! Using Safari.
Anyone else noticing this or is it just me? It’s not world-shattering as a tech issue, just noting it for the record.
Leto
@Miss Bianca: having the same issue.
Baud
@Miss Bianca:
You are correct.
zhena gogolia
@Omnes Omnibus: It’s slowly coming back, with a lot of work. I started teaching this week and that was okay. But yesterday they tried to saddle me with a splint again. I have rebelled. My P/T guy doesn’t think I need it (I like that opinion, but then I also overheard him telling another patient that Joe Rogan is a genius). The doc has agreed to let me hold off on it for a while. But I’m not getting any exercise (other than arm exercises), because the streets are too slippery for me to go for walks. So maybe that puts me in a bad mood.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
I hope things improve soon.
geg6
@J R in WV:
We had rain starting Wednesday evening and then sleet starting late night and all day yesterday and then started getting freezing rain around 5 pm last night and it didn’t stop until around 6 am when it turned into snow. Hopefully, you won’t get the snow. In the last 24 hours, we’ve gotten 9.7 inches of mixed rain/ice and then snow on top. We’re slated to get another inch or so of snow. This sucks so bad. Nothing worse than snow on top of ice. We lost electricity for a couple hours last night because of ice on the power lines taking them down. And we have some branches down from our giant oak in the back yard. They did close campus yesterday and today, so I’m just WFH. Internet has been spotty, though.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: Things were going pretty well until I laid eyes on the “Dyna-Splint.” You’re supposed to sleep in it (you look like Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein) and it gently P/Ts you as you sleep. Except you can’t sleep, of course.
I’ll use it if I’m desperate, but my therapists don’t think I am yet.
zhena gogolia
@geg6: Ugh, the worst.
It used to do that in Moscow (probably still does, but luckily I’m not there). You’d think you were stepping into fluffy snow, but there was a thick glassy sheet of ice at the bottom and your feet would go whoosh out from under you.
We’re getting freezing rain today but I can stay home.
oatler
@SiubhanDuinne:
Thumbs up for ‘turbulent beast’
Brachiator
@J R in WV:
It will be tough to prosecute Trump for anything, but either way it is unlikely that he will ever see prison time. It would be very difficult for many to accept the idea of a former president going to prison. Consider the wrangling to allow Nixon to escape punishment for Watergate.
Also think about this: where could you imprison a former president and insure his safety? Are you also going to send a Secret Service detail with him (or her)?
Still, I think that the idea of sending a former president to prison would be a political and psychological hurdle for a lot of folk, especially the political class.
That said, I would love to see the Great Orange Asswipe in an Orange Prison Jumpsuit.
Sure Lurkalot
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:
Mr. Schiff made this point at the book club meeting. Indicting a sitting or former president is unprecedented (the threat prompted Nixon’s resignation) and fraught with hazard in the public forum.
When people say they are not giving up our democracy without a fight, that fight may be the shitshow Mr. Schiff fears Merrick Garland may be trying to avoid.
SiubhanDuinne
@brantl:
Yours is more accurate, but mine is better wordplay.
:-)
gene108
@Chief Oshkosh:
My understanding is there’s a lot of low hanging fruit, like the GA call, to prosecute Trump on. We don’t know why that’s not being done. It’s worrisome and is eroding public confidence that there seems to be no action against Trump from the DOJ.
trollhattan
Such an elegant way to write “drooling asshole.” :-)
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@Ten Bears: I’m holding out for re-fried, myself.
trollhattan
@Sure Lurkalot: At the end of the day I suppose the difference between Trump and Nixon is the latter’s willingness to accept the jig was up, although he didn’t resign until having a deal in his pocket for the pardon from Ford.
IIUC Reagan wasn’t impeached for Iran-Contra because it was “too soon” after Nixon. That, for me, was a bigger sin than not prosecuting Nixon because it cemented the hands-off rule that shouldn’t be a rule when a Trump reanimates “the imperial presidency.”
schrodingers_cat
IANAL but politically speaking you don’t want to make the Orange person a martyr. The case against him has to be airtight and without any whiff of partisanship.
Even if he goes to prison, which I hope he does that is not going to rid us of Trumpism which the Republican party ideology now. We have a long battle in front of us.
Baud
@gene108:
While I have no idea what’s going on inside the DOJ, I’m confident that if DOJ prosecuted Trump tomorrow for the GA call, people would complain about DOJ ignoring the coup attempt.
I don’t know if DOJ will prosecute Trump at all, but I’m sure they can only do it once.
Miss Bianca
@Leto:
@Baud: Linky problem seems to be fixed, yay BJ team!!
Cacti
Which is why, thus far, Garland appears to be the wrong man at the wrong moment.
He’s taken great care thus far to bring no charges against any fellow member of the ruling class.
tokyokie
@Brachiator:
@Brachiator: I, too, want to see tfg in an orange prison jumpsuit, but without lifts in his shoes, his thick layer of makeup, and his high-tech combover. A bald, fat, and gray-skinned tfg would seem a lot less powerful.
germy
“They already think they’re dictators.”
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: The goalposts are always moving and Biden administration gets credit for nothing.
mrmoshpotato
Ms. Petri, you national treasure.
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat: Right.
Chief Oshkosh
@Brachiator:
Way down the list of things to worry about, IMO. But here goes:
1. Where? Super Max, in solitary confinement if you’re really serious about safety. But how much should we care about that? How safe is Mar-A-Lago or Bedminster or any of his other properties? It’s not like those are hardened installations.
2. SS detail? Not a problem. There’s a whole bunch of those wankers who got caught with prostitutes and doing other unsavory things. A lot got fired, but some got reprimands and are still on the payroll. Being but on the Trump detail would probably be something they like.
danielx
@Ten Bears:
recycled? no, wait….
mrmoshpotato
Fixed. Assholes.
Leto
@Brachiator:
Just spitballing here, but GITMO. It’s where we send the worst of the worst, correct? The “true threats” to America? Maybe he can take up crayon art, continuing the great artistic traditions of past disgraced presidents. Yes this might be a Napoleon banished to Elba similarity, but most conservatives won’t recognize that because they probably already burned that book.
Baud
@Brachiator:
I would reopen Alcatraz and hike up the prices for tours.
ETA:
Alternatively, I would build a cell in Hillary’s basement next to her email server.
mrmoshpotato
@SiubhanDuinne:
Time. And then the pissing begins.
The Moar You Know
@Brachiator: Supermax in Colorado.
That being said, I agree with your post. He ain’t going to jail.
J R in WV
That’s just how stealthy Grand Jury work is.
If you blog about it, the blog is invisible!!!
See how simple that was?!!
mrmoshpotato
@Brachiator:
The Sun. Next question.
SFAW
@SiubhanDuinne:
I truly appreciated the wordplay. The problem I have is that you’re parallel-structuring the Traitor with a saint.
mrmoshpotato
@zhena gogolia: How many balls should that ball-deflating bastard be kicked in?
zhena gogolia
@mrmoshpotato: That question would have been better.
sdhays
That’s at least part of the reason we’re where we are. A nation that can’t apply the law to its leaders isn’t strong.
Not arguing with your analysis, just that the whole “official history” that it was a “good thing” for Ford to “sacrifice himself for the sake of the country” is bullshit and our political elite need to get past it (although I’m not holding my breath).
HinTN
@J R in WV:
I would categorize her as GREAT! She writes poignant (personal) songs, political songs, well crafted songs, and she has a kick-ass band.
Cannot get enough of Car Wheels on a Gravel Road!
Brachiator
@SiubhanDuinne:
Very good, although the allusion to Thomas Becket is a bit … ominous.
Fair Economist
I figure the DOJ careerists are full of America-hating MAGATs, just like most other field of law enforcement. They are likely sabotaging any prosecutions of other America-haters as fast and as hard as they can.
Geminid
@gene108: Trump’s call to Raffensberger does look like low hanging fruit. My Atlanta friend is skeptical, though. He rally hates Trump, and fears a comeback, but he’s followed the Fulton County investigation closely and questions whether a crime can be proven. The Fulton County DA will indict him if she can. The Justice Department can always try to indict Trump for these actions under federal law I assume.
In a seperate area, I hope the Justice Department would not shrink from indicting Trump if he can be shown to be in on the planning for the “hard coup”- that is, the attack on the Capitol and the Congress. I feel certain he was. But I am reminded that Trump is a career criminal who learned early on to restrict criminal exposure by working carefully through trusted henchmen.
My crude and arbitrary diagram of participants in the Insurrection would have five levels: Level (1) would be those who are being prosecuted for trespassing etc, Level (2) would be those being prosecuted for violence against the police (these categories includes those not yet caught).
Level (3) would be mid level organizers such as Oathkeeper chief Stewart Rhodes. These “middle managers” are being charged with sedition among other charges, and more may be charged similarly.
Level (1) would be Trump, and level (2) would be those who communicated to the “middle managers” on Trump’s behalf. That could be very few; I think Roger Stone was one of them. There may also be also people who had second hand knowledge before or after the event- level (4) adjacent, so to speak.
If he was careful enough, and if his henchmen stay loyal, the Justice Department may find it tough to break through level (4) to get to Trump. There seems to be an element of improvisation in this whole affair, so it’s possible it’s perpetrators were sloppy with their communications or otherwise. In any event, I think Garland’s people will work to level (4) and past it if they can.
prostratedragon
Music for lunch? This particular recording has some introductory remarks on the biography of Florence Price. Many beautiful performances of it on ytube.
MazeDancer
NYT is hoping if they take a realistic stance on Trumo, they can lure back us lovers of Democracy with a Wordle subscription.
trollhattan
@HinTN: Lucinda was our first concert following the horror of November 2016. While she didn’t directly address Trump’s election, through her set and emphasis on certain lyrics, she sent a clear and powerful message that we must fight and that we will survive.
Queen.
Benw
What’s the call of the orange-throated, tiny-handed manbaby?
Coup coup!
Chris
@sdhays:
Honestly, the entire post-Watergate narrative’s been the death knell of the political system. Once Republicans were done crying about Nixon, they realized they had a universally applicable One Weird Trick to justify anything and everything.
Can’t put Nixon in jail: it would only harm the country, at a time when the country needs healing. (From the wounds Nixon/Ford and their backers inflicted unilaterally).
Can’t prosecute Reagan: it would only harm the country, at a time when the country needs healing.
Can’t investigate Dubya: it would only harm the country, at a time when the country needs healing.
… And it’s such a wonder that, once Trump rolls around, we suddenly find we can’t do anything at all. (Up to and including coup-proofing against the next 1/6 attempt, according to Sinemanchin).
jnfr
@Lapassionara:
That we hear so little outrage about the Trump administration’s absolute lack of security shows just how fake the constant outrage over Hillary’s emails really was.
The Dangerman
I agree indicting Trump would lead to a year(s) long shit show where nothing would get done…
…but remind me of what is going to get done for a couple of years if one or both of the chambers flip (and the House appears a forgone conclusion)? If the House flips, Biden probably gets impeached for they don’t care why, they are just gonna do it.
A Trump trial would hurt, no doubt, but the alternative is so much worse. If Trump is nominated in 2024, he won’t lose (in his mind, the minds of his voters, or the minds of those that might steal the thing). That has to be prevented at all costs.
Cameron
@Brachiator: I mentioned to a friend of mine yesterday that I hope he gets convicted in GA. I would for sure make a road trip from Florida just to see him and the rest of the crew out there cleaning up the junk and vegetation beside the highway.
Brachiator
@sdhays:
Trump should have been impeached, convicted and removed from office long ago. The GOP leadership is responsible for this.
They seem to think that they can still use him to bolster their political prospects and still kick him to the curb in 2024. They are fools playing with fire.
Meanwhile, Trump is very happy to hide behind the esteem bestowed on former presidents, while going on the road with his crybaby act over losing the election.
Geminid
@The Dangerman: The House being flipped is not at all a foregone conclusion. Personally, I like our chances there, especially with the way redistricting is playing out.
Chief Oshkosh
@Chris:
Which is a counterpoint to the concern that DOJ going after Trump will be hard and has lots of challenges.
vigilhorn
@Brachiator: There’s always Gitmo.
Brachiator
@Benw:
Ha! Love it.
Kalakal
Here’s a brilliant take on ‘Britain Trump’ as TFG said we called him (so it must be true) illuminating some of the worst UKUS political parallells
Jonathan Pie telling Americans why Brits are so f*cked off with Boris Johnson is fabulously done – The Poke https://www.thepoke.co.uk/2022/02/04/jonathan-pie-explaining-boris-johnson-to-americans/
The Johnathan Pie character videos are hilarious and well worth watching
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: Huh. I saw that comment from Zhena as righteous irritation that the NYT would consider a Tom Brady Super Bowl question an indicator of how well you keep up with the news.
raven
@WaterGirl: Like it takes something around here to be irritated.
WaterGirl
@Miss Bianca: @Leto: @Baud:
Given how close together this post and David Anderson’s post are… I would venture to guess that one went up, another went up immediately after that, and someone changed the publication time in response to that.
When that happens, the cache in your browser may hang on to the original order for awhile.
If this happens again, here’s how you can tell whether it’s because of a situation such as the one I just described, or if it’s a problem that I should be made aware of.
Look for this just above the the comment box:
If you click the link, it clears your cache. Then see if the missing fly-out is there. If it’s there, it was a cache issue. If the fly-out is still missing, but you know there’s another post because you can see it on the front page, then definitely let me know about the issue.
Kalakal
@Brachiator: Book a room at Four Seasons total landscaping? That or the basement of Comet Ping Pong.
More seriously there has to be a penalty paid by Trump for his attempt to overthtow the gov’t, it’s the most extreme example of moral hazard
Baud
@raven: I’m irritated you said that.
Feathers
@Chris: This. A huge part of why we are in the mess we are in is the fact that the US system is just not set up to prosecute corporate AKA white collar crime. If we had a history of finding CEOs and their underlings guilty and society accepting it, we’d have room to move in this situation. Also, TBH, Trump would have been in jail long ago. And so would many of the right wing hooligans working on taking over the country.
One example is wage theft. We are allegedly undergoing a retail crime wave, but wage theft is many, many multiples of that. With today’s cell phone data, text messages and emails, security cameras, and electronic scheduling systems, wage theft cases should be reasonably easy to prosecute, but we don’t even try.
Question: Is anyone else having trouble with the internet? It feels like AWS AKA Amazon is down, but I’m not getting through to to Twitter either.
Baud
@Feathers: I have had no internet difficulties.
Benw
@Brachiator: HA! Edge of Seventeen… years in jail!?
WaterGirl
@MazeDancer: Just knowing that bought Wordle has spoiled Wordle for me. I don’t think I have even done one since I heard the news.
Feathers
@Baud: Thanks. Must be me.
The Dangerman
@Geminid: Perhaps, and pardon my gloominess, but the out party always does well in the midterms.
WaterGirl
@raven: Some days we all arrive pre-irritated.
WaterGirl
@Baud: BJ conversation on a bad day:
“Fuck you!”
“No, fuck you!”
“Full all of you people!”
UncleEbeneezer
@Geminid: The #SistersInLaw podcast did a great rundown on the Fulton County case and they noted that one of the biggest challenges is that if Trump did legitimately think the election was close enough that he might have won Georgia, then it makes it much harder to prove an obstruction charge beyond a reasonable doubt to 12 jurors.
In almost every case, what looks like a slam-dunk crime/conviction becomes much more difficult once you start digging into the actual Fed/State statutes, what is required to prove all elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt etc.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
Good thing the Adam Schiff events were on good days.
Paul in KY
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: Death penalty does not deter murderers. They generally never think they’ll be caught. For the ones who are objectively guilty of 1st degree murder, it is the appropriate punishment, IMO.
VeniceRiley
@WaterGirl: Free forever this way …
https://gizmodo.com/how-to-play-the-original-wordle-offline-1848463004
Van Buren
FWIW Dept.:
I just had a chat with a colleague who is from Kiev. She says everything is completely normal in Ukraine and this saber rattling by Biden for no apparent reason other than…
To cover up Hunter’s business criming.
WhatsMyNym
@Feathers: For general internet outages check http://www.thousandeyes.com/outages/ and livemap.pingdom.com/
Baud
@Van Buren: Some individuals deserve to be invaded.
Unfortunately, it’s the innocent who end up caught in the cross fire.
Soprano2
@geg6: We got lucky here, the ice was slight, but we did get about 9 inches of snow. The sun is out today, but it’s still below freezing. I hope the sun melts enough of this crap that I can get my car out tomorrow. I made a strategic parking error with my car on Wednesday – I parked it in such a way that I had to try to drive it up a slight incline. If I had parked it so I could just back into the street I would have been out yesterday!
Mike in NC
It’s almost as if with each passing day we learn about some fresh horror done by That Fucking Guy…
Paul in KY
@HinTN: I have seen her twice. Once years ago she opened for BB King and then she played at the 1st Railbird fest at Keeneland. Great roots/blues singer/songwriter.
trollhattan
@Van Buren: Vlad’s little propaganda machine is humming along nicely, I see.
Soprano2
@schrodingers_cat: I listened to the 1A “news in the week” hours today. They didn’t even mention the jobs report! At all! But they made sure to spend 10 minutes of the “domestic news” hour talking about the raid on the ISIS leader and Ukraine (then they spent the first 10 minutes of the international hour talking about the same thing). I posted multiple comments on their Facebook topic asking if they were ever going to talk about the jobs report, and got nothing. The press has decided that their narrative is “Biden is a failing president”, and they don’t want to report anything that messes it up.
catclub
@The Dangerman:
almost always, 1998 and 2002 are recent exceptions
Paul in KY
@The Dangerman: If he did criminal stuff, he needs to be indicted. End of story.
WaterGirl
I just finished shoveling off my screened-in porch. I have to say that I have never had do do that before!
Soprano2
@sdhays: I agree, I have always thought the Nixon pardon was a big mistake. Instead of getting us past what happened, it made it fester under the skin like an infected wound. People don’t like it when they feel like a criminal got away with it scot-free.
Starboard Tack
@Ten Bears: I can’t watch Michael Steele or Rick Wilson on the cable. Wilson’s still a dirt bag and I can’t believe Steele was as naive about the Repub. party as he pretends.
Kathleen
@schrodingers_cat: I agree.
Geminid
@The Dangerman: The out party historically does well in midterms, at least in the House, more often than not. One exception that I think about is 1998 when Democrats picked up 5 seats. There was a strong economy that year, probably the strongest until this year’s.
The state of the Republican party is an unknown variable. While it’s nothing to count on, they have real problems that may lead to some of their voters staying home. On the other hand, Democrats seem to me to be relatively united and motivated.
Soprano2
@UncleEbeneezer: I tell people that there’s a difference between what you think happened and what you can actually prove. People want prosecutions on what they believe happened, but you can’t do that.
Ben Cisco, MSCIS Padawan
@Soprano2: Same as it ever was.
Dems need to get sorted with regard to facts:
That’s just the facts of it.
Ixnay
@J R in WV: Linde Consort. Hans-Martin Linde. JS Bach, Brandenburgs and the Musical Offering. One of my favorite recordings. If you can find it. Original instruments, tempi choices are great.
Ruckus
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:
Yes, This.
My take is that SFB is guilty as it’s possible to be, mainly because there seems to be more than enough public evidence and much more coming out in the meantime.
But. And it is a BIG, flobby butt known as SFB. Does anyone here think he’d spend one day in jail or actually suffer? You can’t even embarrass his dumb ass, because he’s that dumb and if he isn’t embarrassed by his entire life, there is nothing that is going to change that. His life seemingly can’t go on that much longer, as he’s such a paragon of health. I’d think that by the time any kind of trial is over he’d be taking his natural succumbed to dirt nap. (A boy can dream can’t he?) Now you are going to be asking me “You don’t think he deserves a trial, that the country deserves a trial – and a sentence?” And yes, yes I do. Don’t I think it is far more than worth it to the country? Again, yes, yes I do. But practically, what’s the point? Shaming him? Get real. Shaming his followers? Get real. Does anyone think he’d spend one day in jail? Or that the not so supreme court would uphold the result? Yea, what’s the point? We are a divided country, freedom and effort on one side, stupidity, ignorance, hate, overt racism, money grubbing, tax evasion on the other.
We also have a lot of important things to do, partially to get over SFB, but he is the culmination of the problem, not the actual problem. The problem is enough people think that his way is better, the hate, the racism, the theft of prosperity of the nation and it’s people, the concept that governing is too hard and the results don’t profit them inordinately. That’s a lot of mind shit to change and a political party that knows that changing it will ruin them and their grift.
catclub
I bet Roger Stone does not qualify as ‘people’
BlueGuitarist
@WaterGirl: have said it before and will say it again
love all y’all
Cacti
@Chris: Ford’s pardon of Nixon is one of the worst actions ever taken by a POTUS in the history of the Republic.
As you mentioned, it established a precedent for all time that the rule of law is for the little people only.
Ancient Atheist
After the Republican Mid-terms are complete. What is that July 2022? So, in August or September 2022 Trump will announce he is running of office. What office? Speaker of the House of Representatives. That’s crazy!… you say. Well, no it’s not. Trump becomes an official candidate, and he stays out of court. The DOJ is hamstrung. He assumes a leadership mantle that will give the Republican Party the Congress and the Senate. And, as Speaker of the House he can impeach President Biden, VO Harris and the Jan 6th Committee. And, whom ever else he wishes. Then President Trump will run again in 2024 and be re-elected in a landslide.
Geminid
@UncleEbeneezer: My Atlanta friend thought that the way Trump phrased his request to the Board of Elections(?) chief may have skated inside the law. I did not examine this closely, but it may be an example of a career criminal’s low cunning. Or my friend could be wrong.
UncleEbeneezer
@Soprano2: Exactly. And AG/DoJ/Prosecutors take an oath to only bring charges if they are confident they can get a conviction that will hold up under appeals. That said, they can certainly investigate all kinds of stuff before moving ahead with charges.
WaterGirl
@VeniceRiley: Wow! thank you. i think i will try that.
Geminid
@Ancient Atheist: I think the January 6 Committee intends to wrap up it’s work by the end of this Congress, which is a few days into January, 2023.
Old School
@Ancient Atheist:
The election? I believe that will be in November.
And the reason for that is?
Paul in KY
@Ruckus: To set a precedent that a former President sleazebag can be held on criminal charges for objectively criminal behavior.
Cacti
@Old School: They can f**k around with DOJ’s funding.
BlueGuitarist
@Geminid:
@catclub:
thanks for making this point
1998 D gain also sometimes attributed to R overreach
2002 R gain, partly thru Redistricting.
Even more R overreach now.
Redistricting might not be as harmful to Ds as expected.
catclub
@Cacti: that would be NEXT year’s funding, so a GOP majority comes in in January 2023 and could mess with DOJ funding that starts in october 2023.
Bill Arnold
@Cacti:
No, they cannot. Excepting a total government shutdown. A Democratic POTUS would still have the veto over targeted defunding (of law and order!), and control of the Justice Department.
West of the Rockies
The infected boil that is Trump will not be vertical forever. I know this may smack of wishful thinking, but he turns 76 this June. His mental acuity is diminished. He has a shit diet, gets little exercise, is filled with rage and stress and, I’d wager, serious inflammation. Maybe he’ll linger to 90, but I don’t think so. Trumpism will live on, but it needs a very specific vessel. I don’t see a viable candidate. Not DeSantis or Pompeo or Junior or Cruz or Hawley or MTG. They all lack the bizarre national appeal that the pig-man himself has.
Anyway, that’s my thinking.
Cacti
@Bill Arnold: It’s sweet that you think that would stop them.
schrodingers_cat
@Geminid: In 2002 Republicans added seats. A few data points is not a trend. And a trend is not an immutable law. MSM peddles pro R talking points there is no need for us to amplify their innumerate BS
Republicans also gained seats in the Senate that year.
lowtechcyclist
@trollhattan:
Wouldn’t have been so bad if Bush the Elder hadn’t pardoned the entire Iran-Contra gang over Christmas 1992. He should have been impeached for that, even if he was just weeks away from the end of his term. (And he was the least horrible of the last five Republicans to be elected President.)
James E Powell
@Starboard Tack:
Steele’s naivete is a form of Upton Sinclair’s “It’s difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it” rule.
I’m sure he genuinely believed that there was a new wave in the Republican party and that he was one of its leaders.
jeffreyw
@WaterGirl:
As long as we are discussing site problems, would it be possible,in the next overhaul, to put the refresh button for a post at the bottom of the last comment? So a refresh would only refresh the comments that haven’t yet been loaded instead of the post and comments that have? Because a heavily tweet laden post causes serial jumps in page location making it difficult to read.
BlueGuitarist
@Feathers:
Thanks for mentioning wage theft.
We should raise this issue more often!
A useful resource from the Economic Policy Institute
https://www.epi.org/publication/wage-theft-2021/
trollhattan
@West of the Rockies:
On one hand I agree the corpulent slob seems one cheeseburger away from that final dirt nap but OTOH he survived advanced Covid (so not as fragile as one might presume) and also, Chuck Grassley. We could have Trump another decade. A very, very long decade.
The Dangerman
@West of the Rockies: I can see Jr if he ever decides that things don’t always go better with Coke.
ETA: Also, if he ever decides to NOT run for the WH, Kimberly is so outta there.
trollhattan
@lowtechcyclist: Agree with everything you write. Republicans have been nothing if not adroit at sweeping their every crime under what must be a yuge rug. And they ALL do it.
Dems specialize in opening their own veins and criticizing the blood flowing forth.
Leto
@trollhattan: part of the reason he survived Covid is due to how much his office had influence in being able to secure advanced treatments ahead of anyone else. All the reporting out of that is how they pulled all the strings to secure all sorts of experimental treatments. Now? I don’t think he’d be to secure the same treatments. He’ll still be way above par versus your average citizen, but he won’t be able to get HHS to get him that new Iverpissbleachmen treatment. Also he’s supposedly vaxxed, but it doesn’t mean I don’t hope he catches another round of it. Fuck’em.
James E Powell
@Ben Cisco, MSCIS Padawan:
One thing – not a magic bullet thing – that Democrats need to do is saturate social media with consistent, unified messages. And I’m ducking already because no one wants to read another word about messaging.
My brother in law is a winger, so I’m comparing his experience with my own and friends who are solid D voters. Every day there is an outrage or two that is smoking hot. They can be about big deals or small, but even the trivial matters, like Governor Newsome not wearing a mask at a football game, are raised to the level of a crisis. The outrages vary, but the message is always the same: “Democrats are evil and they hate you, Jesus, America, and the troops!” Because it’s social media, those people are getting that message five to twenty-five times a day.
Our side’s messages for the last six months have been about Manchin & Sinema, completely missing the important point that nothing is getting done because Republicans want everyone to suffer. The only other large portion of Democratic social media is Democratic voters complaining about Democrats not doing enough or selling us out or the like.
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: They shoehorned a reference to Wordle into their own mini-puzzle yesterday. Gross.
zhena gogolia
@Van Buren: Is she an ethnic Ukrainian?
trollhattan
@Leto: You’re right–he had every tool in the toolshed deployed in saving his pasty ass and I suspect was much, much closer to death than they let on (that ego thing, again). Given the state of the covid treatment arts at the time it’s still a minor miracle he lived.
We need better miracles.
Starboard Tack
@James E Powell:
I’d be more inclined to respect him if he’d ever admitted he was wrong. I’ve heard him criticise Trump but not the party.
Jeffro
RNC just took the vote to censure Cheney and Kinzinger, calling 1/6 an “act of legitimate political discourse” WOW WOW WOW
If this isn’t the story – the descent into sheer madness by one of America’s two political parties, all in a last-ditch defense of our most corrupt president* ever – round the clock for the rest of the year, then there’s no point in having a free press.
Cacti
@Jeffro: If Republicans regain any form of power in the political branches, they will be completely unconstrained by the law, the constitution, history, tradition, norms of civility, or common decency.
The bomb is ticking.
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: Buying Wordle just makes me hate them more.
lowtechcyclist
Two out of the last six is a pretty high proportion of exceptions. And 1990 was basically a wash, with Dems picking up 1 Senate seat and 7 House seats. So going back further doesn’t really strengthen the case as much as one would think. (In 1962, for instance, the Dems picked up 4 Senate seats and lost only one House seat.)
The problem for the Dems, of course, is that they really can’t afford any losses at all, and need to pick up a Senate seat or three for their control to be meaningful.
Geminid
@Jeffro: I read that this move will allow the RNC to put manpower and money behind Harriet Hagedorn(sp?), the Trump-endorsed challenger to Liz Cheney (R-WY). Hagedorn’s campaign has been lagging badly in fundraising.
Ancient Atheist
@Old School: Republican Primaries for the Mid-term Elections. Thanks! Garland is not going to indict a former President and current candidate for national office. Trump and the Republicans will make Speaker a national office, easy peasy.
Captain C
@BlueGuitarist: In 1998, IIRC, people were sick of the impeachment nonsense being pushed by Newtie and his gang of incipient criminals, ‘overreach’ as you say.
In 2002, it was soon after 9/11 and the Rethugs were doing their best to get everyone all het up over Iraq attacking us.*
(*Narrator: Iraq did not, in fact, attack us)
Captain C
@West of the Rockies:
Fucker Carlson might fit the bill. Assuming they don’t find his basement full of chained-up children before the election.
(Of all the conservative commentators and bullshitters, I see Fucker as most likely to have some deep and horrible secrets buried or locked in his basement or yard.)
J R in WV
Actually, I must confess, I don’t care about post-conviction safety of TFG, SFB.
GITMO solitary would be OK, Florence CO general population would also be OK. He should get exactly the care and protection all the other criminals receive. No more, no less.
He’s earned everything he has coming to him.
Frozen precipitation has stopped here for now. Car looks like a snowball, glad I retrieved dog food, etc before it froze together hard. Furnace appears to be fully functional for now. I’m going to see about a new unit. This one started out in 1994, has had new blower motor twice. Now a controller card has an intermittent fault, I’m done with it.
hueyplong
@trollhattan: That would be some slow-ass Alzheimers.
Feathers
@BlueGuitarist: And unpaid internships. I remember somewhere reading about the amount lost to Social Security and Medicare through the wages lost. One of the proposals was to make unpaid internships at for profit companies reportable to the IRS. That would leave a mechanism for enforcement. It’s just straight up wage theft, because no one is following the rules for internships. There is so much lawbreaking by “law-abiding” citizens and it needs to stop.
Geminid
@Captain C: I think the strong economy was the biggest factor in 1998.
Captain C
@Geminid: That definitely was a factor as well. I do recall a lot of people being sick and tired of Newt’s proto-Tea Partiers, well, humping the impeachment of Clinton for all it was worth to the exclusion of all else. Of course, two years later Shrubya got close enough that they could install him via the Supreme Court (and having his brother in charge of the state where the most electoral flummery happened)…
Jay
Yellowdoggranny had a good one today,
image of a half full whiskey glass,
the pessimist says “ it’s half empty, “
the optimist says “it’s half full”
2022 say’s “it’s piss, isn’t it?”
Jay
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/republican-party-calls-jan-6-attack-legitimate-political-discourse-1.6339875
Jeffro
@Cacti: ticking, tocking, and starting to vibrate…ugh
They have completely thrown in with obvious corruption and domestic terrorism. Has to be THE story for everyone, every news outlet, all the time.
I told my RWNJ dad six years ago that if he and the GOP didn’t draw some bright lines, they’d just keep following trumpov down the spiral endlessly, and find themselves in a place they never could have imagined in 2015.
Well, we’re here. For now, that is. The next turn of the spiral beckons…
Jeffro
@Geminid: I guess?
I thought the RNC was debating whether or not to keep paying trumpov’s legal bills. I bet that went by the wayside…
Ben Cisco, MSCIS Padawan
@James E Powell: Excellent point
Gravenstone
@Ancient Atheist: Have you always been a dumbfuck, or is today just a bad day for you?
Gravenstone
@lowtechcyclist: A useful reminder that those pardons were laser targeted by one William Barr, Attorney General in that particularly evil timeline. Fucker’s been obstructing justice for decades.
Gravenstone
Through the heroic intervention of likely half the staff of that hospital. They threw every kitchen sink in the place at him to keep him upright and ambulatory. More’s the pity.
Ruckus
@sdhays:
In a true democracy would there be a political elite, especially in the current manor of political elite?
Ruckus
@Paul in KY:
I don’t disagree with you one iota. I’d be as happy as it’s possible to be if he was tried and convicted. And I think it’s the right thing to do. But then I look at the not currently supreme court and go – What’s the point? I look at how the law applies to the rest of us and how it seems to apply to rethuglican party leaders (and a number of lessor members) and my expectations plummet. I hope that I’m wrong but if I am I expect that our politics will get even worse. We are at a political crossroads here and it is for all intents, unprecedented. I think we have to protect the ideals of this government, and get back to actually having the democracy that we were told/lied to about over 200 yrs ago. There need to be some changes in the way it works, because it really isn’t a democracy if people like TFG get away with trying to overthrow an election.
Ruckus
@West of the Rockies:
Agreed.
All these decades of not saying the shit out loud was a smoke screen for being shit all these decades.