Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

How stupid are these people?

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

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

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

Giving in to doom is how we fail to fight for ourselves & one another.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

You are here: Home / Jan 6: Hearings / Jan 6 Hearing – Day 8 on Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern

Reader Interactions

266Comments

  6. 6.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Yay! Well done, all! WG, totally ignore my email.

    ETA: Wow. I was totally expecting that first post-merge comment would go into moderation, but here we are.

  9. 9.

    Geminid

    Happy Thor’s Day everyone! Can’t wait for the J6 Commitee to drop the Hammer on the Orange Churl.

    I just realized that Adam Kinzinger and Elaine Luria, slated to take leading roles tonight, are the two military veterans on the J6 Commitee. I hear that “Dereliction of Duty” will be a theme.

  10. 10.

    CaseyL

    Yay!  We’re up!  And just in time, too.

    @Juju:  Yeah!  I’m like, did I ever have a password? Was it when I first started coming here? That was more than 15 years ago!  I can’t possibly remember it!

    (Poor WaterGirl; I sent her an email asking if the log in was a new thing, an old thing, or a “just ignore it” thing.)

    FANTASTIC WORK, JOHN, WATERGIRL, and EVERYONE ELSE who worked on this.

  12. 12.

    Ohio Mom

    @Mike in NC: That was Kafkaesque, trying to log in, wasn’t it?

    Tried not to be miffed when I wasn’t recognized. Told myself not to worry, WaterGirl would fix everything.

  15. 15.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @CaseyL:

    (Poor WaterGirl; I sent her an email asking if the log in was a new thing, an old thing, or a “just ignore it” thing.)

    She got something similar from me, complete with a couple of illustrative screen grabs. Hence my “ignore email message” to her at comment #6.

  18. 18.

    TS

    @Mike in NC:

    I had to delete my bj cookies and then it all came back. Thought I might miss all the hearing feedback. I don’t think I have a WP account.

    I enjoy the prime time – it is 10am in my world – usually these hearings are 2-3am – despite being a night owl – past my bedtime.

  20. 20.

    Jackie

    I’m not sure how I maneuvered my way here. I started in 2018, clicked on war in Ukraine which didn’t get me where I expected to go, then clicked on HOME and olé! I’m exhausted. And glad to get here without a password I didn’t have!

    PS: Don’t see a remember me box to click.

  21. 21.

    TaMara

    Testing.

    Yup, looks like we are a working blog again. And even cooler – all 1063 of my posts are back in the archives.

  22. 22.

    NotMax

    “Join us for the Zoom on Wed 5/18 at 7:30” in right-hand column.

    Off to Amazon to search for bargains on time machines.

    :)

  24. 24.

    CaseyL

    @SiubhanDuinne: I said the same thing in the previous post, the status announcement one.  I think there are a lot of emails WaterGirl will be able to ignore now :)

  25. 25.

    steppy

    I was going to reply with the Simpsons “Tappa tappa tappa” meme but failed to do so. Please consider it as posted.

  26. 26.

    NotMax

    In case any haven’t heard, committee chair Thompson scheduled to appear via remote after testing positive for COVID.

  29. 29.

    WaterGirl

    @Mike in NC: While i was testing the merged server, we made it so that only front-pagers (who have WordPress logins) could get in.

    Once I determined where things stood then I opened it up to everyone without a login and password.

  35. 35.

    WaterGirl

    @Jackie: There wasn’t a remember me checkbox on Balloon Juice, but there was one of new-old Balloon Juice.

    When we designed the site, I said we didn’t want a box, we just wanted it to fucking remember us.  When the new-old BJ site had the checkbox, I didn’t bug them about it because I knew we would get back to this eventually and they had a lot on their plate.

  36. 36.

    WaterGirl

    @NotMax: Yeah, I have to change all that stuff manually.  It’s like a little buried time capsule.

    But I was sure you guys didn’t want to be locked out while I did the fine-tuning.

  40. 40.

    Jerzy Russian

    Talk about withdrawal symptoms.  It was like quitting smoking, drinking, and caffeine all at once.

    I am glad the actual time of the hearing was moved to 8:00 EST.  That works out better for me.

  41. 41.

    geg6

    @Alison Rose 💙🌻💛:

    I have poured myself a big glass of wine (and am about to eat dinner).  It smooths all the crazy out quite a bit and helps me see some humor in it all.  Just the thought of the Cheeto melting down is, with a big glass of wine, quite hilarious and satisfying.  Maybe he’ll have a myocardial infarction.

  43. 43.

    Old School

    @WaterGirl:

    While i was testing the merged server, we made it so that only front-pagers (who have WordPress logins) could get in.

    That’s good.  I was worried a setting was wrong and everything wouldn’t come back up today.

  45. 45.

    MisterForkbeard

    Oh look, we’re back! And just in time for the Jan6th event.

    I’ve been jonesing for this site all day. Where else am I supposed to get news? I can’t go to Cole’s twitter, he’s just talking about his colonscopy and fingernails all day.

  48. 48.

    Anne Laurie

    @NotMax: A parting gift from MbS?

    Per the Forward, some Jews are worrying that President Biden should not have been so decent and friendly around Holocaust survivors and Israeli politicians.  Covid is on an upspring in Israel, at the moment.

  49. 49.

    Jackie

    @WaterGirl: It’s been a long, confusing last few months – what’s new was old and back to new-old!

    I just got into the habit of automatically clicking into it every time I posted. I WON’T miss doing that!!!😁

  50. 50.

    sukabi

    well lookie here…. all back and working…

     

    good job all. 👏👏👏👏👍

  51. 51.

    geg6

    @Old Dan and Little Ann:

    I was just puzzled because I didn’t remember ever using a password here.  I did try one of my oldest PWs, just in case, because that was my PW for years at work and what I would probably have used way back in the Dark Ages when I started lurking and then commenting at BJ.  Dang, that was a long time ago!  Pre-Cole conversion!

  52. 52.

    JWR

    @Baud: Oh boy! I hope it’s the one where good ol’ “Barn” comes by the show and demonstrates the art of self-defense to his old pal Andy!

  53. 53.

    WaterGirl

    Today was another 2-chocolate cupcake day.  I told john I had just eaten a medicinal chocolate cupcake, and he thought I meant marijuana.  No, just chocolate for comfort and calm.

  54. 54.

    Jim Appleton

    WaterGirl, you are the best.

    John, you need to pay her or at least respect her as much as you do a jar of mustard.

  59. 59.

    J R in WV

    I was so in agony with withdrawal symptoms all afternoon. Wife had a PT session, and I had to sit in the waiting (Earl?) who worked with her. Hard to merge big data sets, I’ve been there and done that, agony!!

    But now everything is back to normal, except for John G Cole’s prep for his you-know-what.\

    Looking forward to the committee hearing just a few moments away. You all take care!!!!!

  60. 60.

    Scout211

    Hey! We’re (mostly) back! Thanks WaterGirl and all the behind-the-scenes techs working on the merger.

  64. 64.

    piratedan

    catching it on MSNBC and they keep talking about how this is “the end?” and there are STILL so many things to know as of yet…

     

    1. who paid for this?
    2. who aided and abetted the President within the DOJ, Capital Police, and the Military
    3. What did Coup Club do and who were the actual members within the MoC
    4. How did the coordination for this unfold, to put the RW domestic terrorists to coordinate with the WH
    5. why the fuck didn’t anyone rat out the coup with the FBI
    6. How the hell were the FBI and the Homeland people left flat-footed, we’re they also co-opted?
    7. was Pence right to be afraid that the Secret Service were compromised?
  66. 66.

    Joy in FL

    So glad to see the site up in time for the hearing.

    Thanks to those who made that happen.

  69. 69.

    Scout211

    I guess we are going to see the outtakes of Trump trying to make his video address on the 7th(?) but wouldn’t actually say that election was over and Biden won.

  74. 74.

    Jim Appleton

    OT, in anticipation of what’s about to happen:

    A day or so ago David [all those noise stuff] Koch commented that iDJT doesn’t want to be president again.

    I agree in some qualified respects.

    But it’s clear that he wants the trappings of presidency, and not just to avoid facing charges.  I’d argue he wants it because it scratches his most formative itch.

    Being the focus of attention, even for a handful who he sees as massive crowds, gives him the satisfaction he requires.

    Presidency is the very best highchair.

  78. 78.

    Scout211

    So will Ziegler call this witness a “Ho” or “thot” like he did Cassidy Hutchinson?

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    I am just answering all the email messages with a copy & paste explanation.  Not meaning to be unfriendly, there were just a ton of messages and I am just trying to get the word out.

  80. 80.

    zhena gogolia

    @CaseyL:

    (Poor WaterGirl; I sent her an email asking if the log in was a new thing, an old thing, or a “just ignore it” thing.)

    FANTASTIC WORK, JOHN, WATERGIRL, and EVERYONE ELSE who worked on this.

    Same here!

  82. 82.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: Yes!

    I did not like the font and the boldness of the font in the nyms on new-old BJ, so I am happy to have these back. :-)

    Also, too, I don’t have an emoji smiley face.  yay!

  83. 83.

    Amir Khalid

    Upon reflection, it wouldn’t have been Balloon Juice if the site merge had gone off without a hitch.

  91. 91.

    mrmoshpotato

    Wait, Orange Shitstain Jr and Kremlin Barbie wanted Dump to call off the mob?  Seriously?

  106. 106.

    Anne Laurie

    @mrmoshpotato: Wait, Orange Shitstain Jr and Kremlin Barbie wanted Dump to call off the mob? Seriously?

    Yup.  Crossing the streams, but I made the mistake of reading the NYTimes’ story on Ivana’s funeral — those kids were abused, and they’ve got the self-protective reactions to displays of adult anger / violence still.

    Doesn’t mean they aren’t sh*tty human beings who deserve to be in jail, but there’s some reasons behind their general lack of human worth.

  114. 114.

    EmanG

    The usage of that McConnell clip was brutal. LC comes back and says, “see how right he was?” and moves on.

  115. 115.

    Jackie

    @piratedan: Through out the day on MSNBC, Committee members have strongly hinted this is the finale of SEASON ONE. They’re still processing and interviewing, PLUS trying to get/find the “lost” Secret Service texts and emails.

  118. 118.

    piratedan

    @James E Powell: ty for the Wilford Brimley scene steal of the century moment there.

    I suspect that J6 Committee wants to have more than a few asses in their collective briefcases

  119. 119.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    @Baud: ​
      thanks to the vaccines he’s not being medevac-ed out to a M*A*S*H unit Walter Reed.

  122. 122.

    piratedan

    @Jackie: aye Jackie, we’re gonna get a new season in September, maybe by that time, the DOJ can get off their ass in the interim.

  125. 125.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Alison Rose 💙🌻💛:

    “Liz Cheney has that way of speaking very calmly while also sounding like she’s about to stab a motherfucker in the gut”

    Heh. That’s very true, and well put!

  129. 129.

    Immanentize

    @Baud:

    There’s no eye for an eye, there’s no tooth for a tooth
    I saw Judas Iscariot carrying John Wilkes Booth

  137. 137.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    All the networks are carrying the hearing, as is PBS, CSPAN, BBC, CNN, and MSNBC.

    The lone hold out is Fox “News” which is currently showing failed California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder selling drugs snake oil promising to increase energy in seniors suckers.

  138. 138.

    Mike in NC

    Pottenger is proud of Fat Bastard’s nonexistent foreign policy accomplishments.

  142. 142.

    TS

    @zhena gogolia:

    President Trump’s foreign policy “accomplishments”

    Wiped out most of the post WWII international agreements that the US was part of – quite some accomplishment

  144. 144.

    piratedan

    the fact that this is GOP on GOP violence is telling, but geez, how is it that all of these GOP loyalists were never on anyone’s speed dial to dish on the insanity within…

    while I appreciate the fact that they are testifying now, how the fuck did our media just let this go?  I mean we have a million stories about gas prices and HRC’s e-mail but no one digging into the latest attempted coup in US history?

  154. 154.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    the lunges in the SUV circulated widely among the Secret Service… by text, maybe?

  155. 155.

    Spanky

    The SS is going to come out of this so fucking dirty. Gonna need a serious disinfecting.

  156. 156.

    Scout211

    No record of what he did in the dining room. I think it has to do with hamberders.

  157. 157.

    piratedan

    @Ben Cisco: i hear ya Ben, I guess its never easy giving up the illusion that there is someone in the media who would be brave enough to not only discover the truth but publish it.

  159. 159.

    Anotherlurker

    @Mike in NC: I’m glad these Magats who worked in the White House are testifying but omg! what a Buch of fascist assholes they are. If they can still say they are proud of their time spent in the WH then they are beyond redemption.  I hope their testimony is damning.

    These vacuous fascist blonds really turn my stomach.

  163. 163.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Geminid: I swear I remember a story from a few weeks ago about how widespread support for the insurrection was among SS agents,including references to texts, but I can’t remember where I saw it, and I can’t believe the specifics haven’t come up again in the last week. I don’t/ think I was hallucinating.

  166. 166.

    mrmoshpotato

    It’s so disgusting repeatedly hearing the Kremlin’s orange fascist shitstain referred to by that title.

  168. 168.

    Gvg

    I have been brooding lately. Trump was making “joking” comments about a third term before he won the first election. He always clearly had no respect for the limits of the Constitution and frankly all voters of all parties should have considered him unfit for any office because of that attitude. It upset me then, especially because few other people seemed to notice. It was a screaming red flag warning.

  174. 174.

    zhena gogolia

    Not surprising that Dershowitz had to defend him in the 2nd impeachment. Cipollone wasn’t about to do it.

  175. 175.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Gvg: It was obvious when he wanted to have Hillary Clinton arrested for nothing.  Fascist trash.

    (Just adding, not refuting)

  177. 177.

    Anotherlurker

    @raven: I guess I never did expect that they would turn out to be good people but OMG what evil bastards they all are.

    I will never forgive them for totally turning me off to blond women.  I view blond and blue eyed  as being a Nazi co-morbidity.

  179. 179.

    dww44

    @Mike E: Also they want to assure other Republicans they are still committed Republicans. Self serving.  I think if I were in the same position I hope I wouldn’t feel the need to assure everyone I was still a faithful party member. It’s like he’s reassuring Trump he’s still on his team.
     

  185. 185.

    Geminid

    I think the man questioning Cippolone is Commitee investigator Tim Heaphy, former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia under President Obama.

  187. 187.

    Scout211

    Ha ha. They were worried about what the President would say in an unscripted news conference. 😂

  189. 189.

    raven

    Matthews, who had previously been supportive of the Trump administration’s work during the former president’s term, took to Twitter in January to comment on the one-year anniversary of the insurrection, calling it “one of the darkest days in American history.”

    “Make no mistake, the events on the 6th were a coup attempt, a term we’d use had they happened in any other country, and former President Trump failed to meet the moment,” Matthews wrote in a Twitter thread.

  190. 190.

    Layer8Problem

    @Omnes Omnibus:  I know next to nothing about the legal realm, but is it normal for a federal employee to need private representation regarding investigation of the execution of their duties?

  200. 200.

    Mike E

    @dww44: no doubt, they are quick to proclaim their allegiance, but I am liking this dual format (for contrast in case one of them wavers) and that they both have to sit there during the full extent of the committee’s careful explanations/set up. Fuggem, they can brag all they want but at the end of the day the sound bites and headlines won’t contain any of that crap.

  201. 201.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Layer8Problem: IMO anyone who is asked to testify in front of this Committee would be insane not to have private legal counsel.  Even if everything they personally did was legit.

  202. 202.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Mallard Filmore:
    Richard M. Nixon @dick_nixon 14m
    The situation at the Secret Service is bad enough I think someone will personally retain counsel and blow it up. A lot are guilty but someone won’t want to go down the drain with them.

    Murray was promoted to trump by Ornato, and I think the other guy in the infamous SUV was named Engel (sp?). That’s three guys, just for starters, each wondering what the other two have said and to whom.

  213. 213.

    zhena gogolia

    @Baud: You so funny

    ETA: “the good things he had done for the country”

    Like what, Cassidy? What? What?

  214. 214.

    JWR

    Boy, I’m really gonna have to watch this hearing again, probably tonight on PBSWorld. Too much information!

  223. 223.

    Layer8Problem

    @Omnes Omnibus:  On reflection that actually sounds painfully obvious, recalling all the advice I’ve heard to say nothing to police without a lawyer present, or go ahead, talk, and expect to have a bad time.

  228. 228.

    TS

    Why is he not under arrest?   He may yet regret not being impeached the first time around.

  231. 231.

    Scout211

    Hawley. Ugh. And then he “fled.”  He runs fast through the Capitol. LOL Standing tall.

  240. 240.

    Anotherlurker

    @Omnes Omnibus: No problem!  She is probably a very intelligent, caring woman who wouldn’t touch me with a 10′ pole.

    I prefer women over 55, anyway.

  244. 244.

    Tony G

    Well done.  You folks were able to perform this maneuver flawlessly, yet the Secret Service can’t manage to “find” their deleted texts.  Something ain’t right.

  252. 252.

    HumboldtBlue

    Kind of amazing Water Girl can merge three different iterations of a website and all its attendant data and detail, and we can’t recover the texts sent by USSS (I refuse to use SS) agents on Jan. 6.

    @raven:

    And by all the mass shootings, hell, the Uvalde police officer got a text from his dying wife!

  256. 256.

    Almost Retired

    @Baud:  I have to assume that Pottinger didn’t just walk out to his car after his resignation on January 6, so he’ll  be able to talk about what happened thereafter?  At least I hope so, or he would have been excused at the break?

  258. 258.

    Ken

    @Baud: Matlock rerun.

    I don’t think the committee is going for Matlock’s trademark “I just have to give the jury a reason to doubt” defense.

  260. 260.

    eachother

    Perhaps the Committee expects to have the Secret Service communication transcripts by September.
    Perhaps sooner.?

  261. 261.

    Anotherlurker

    I am seeing great restraint by the police.  My guess is if there were black people involved, the cops would revert back to their trigger happy selves.

    I guess the violent mob is enjoying their white privilege.

  262. 262.

    Gvg

    You know, I don’t think individual secret service members would be able to hide their texts. I am thinking it has to be senior management doing it.

    I also wonder if any of them have personal phones and had government phones as separate items…and if they sent texts to non SS places, then those aren’t lost. The revelation that Pences detail was sending last messages to their families got me thinking. There are two ends to any text. Either end can provide a copy.

    site is not saving my nym all the time

  263. 263.

    WaterGirl

    @Gvg: Do you clear your cookies?  Or have settings that don’t save cookies?  Use private browsing?

    Those are two reasons why it won’t remember a nym.

Comments are closed.