Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. don’t touch it.”

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Bark louder, little dog.

Let’s finish the job.

Everybody saw this coming.

It’s easier to kill a dangerous animal than a man who just happens to have different thoughts/values than one’s own.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

No one could have predicted…

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

We still have time to mess this up!

Fight them, without becoming them!

The revolution will be supervised.

Come on, man.

with the Kraken taking a plea, the Cheese stands alone.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you don’t.

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

You cannot shame the shameless.

Ah, the different things are different argument.

DeSantis transforms Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / So Crude and Feckless

So Crude and Feckless

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Rudy Giuliani has been notified that he’s a target of the criminal investigation into election tampering in Georgia. In related news, Lindsey Graham’s attempt to quash a subpoena for him to testify in Georgia was denied by a federal judge. I’m sure Lindsey will try to appeal that. Who knows what Rudy will do – I don’t know if he has enough money left to pay lawyers.

In completely unrelated news, if you missed Jim Acosta going after Andrew Yang’s vacuous stupidity, do yourself a favor and watch this clip. The guy can’t be pinned down on any of the positions of his party, and he thinks that the Forward candidate won’t be a 2024 spoiler because a free market fairy’s invisible hand will mandate ranked-choice voting. I never really paid much attention to Yang, but he looks like a puppy getting yelled at for peeing on the carpet by the time this clip is done.

Reader Interactions

197Comments

  1. 1.

    randy khan

    I think that if you understand the Forward Party as a way for people to hand Yang a bunch of money, not as an actual political actor, it makes much more sense.

  3. 3.

    Baud

    I’m actually intrigued by RCV partly to prevent spoilers, but no chance it’s in place nationwide by 2024.

  4. 4.

    JPL

    Rudy is supposed to testify on Friday and expect him to flip faster than a pancake in a diner.    There is the possibility that trump secretly pardoned him, just like he secretly declassified all his papers.

  8. 8.

    Baud

    The guy can’t be pinned down on any of the positions of his party,

    To be fair, they don’t have any.

  11. 11.

    Anonymous At Work

    Graham’s only hope is that the 11th Circuit stays the District Court order and schedules his appeal hearing for sometime next year.  Basically https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHKwnUa3txo

    11th Circuit is the second most-conservative stacked hothouse-flower “Federalist” heavy Circuit Court.  Remains to be seen if they slow-walk or just rule against the non-white, non-male DA as a matter of course.

  14. 14.

    New Deal democrat

    “Lindsey Graham’s attempt to quash a subpoena for him to testify in Georgia was denied by a federal judge. I’m sure Lindsey will try to appeal that.“

    January 2025, 6-3 opinion by the Supreme Court, authored by Kavanaugh:

    “LOL no. Reversed.”

  21. 21.

    Kropacetic

    62 percent of Americans want an alternative

    As a member of that 62 percent, this is the farthest thing from what I want.

    Acosta: Biden’s trying to work in a bipartisan way

    Yang: But we need this party because the Republicans aren’t so something something both sides

    Telling

    We need common sense solutions that Americans want and basically agree to but aren’t getting like [the Democrats’ position on every named issue]

    Hey, Andrew, there’s already a party for those positions.

  22. 22.

    Hilbertsubspace

    Rudy is the target of a criminal investigation.   Only one?  This seems like a “guess how many jellybeans in the jar” situation.

    Unrelated:  Composers create and/or dedicate works to important people, so I propose..

    The Treacher.  A Concerto for Short Fingers and Brass.

    I am taking suggestions on what the Short Fingers should sound like, also other instrumentation advice welcome.  Nails on chalkboard has been considered and rejected.

  28. 28.

    Frank Wilhoit

    The meh news is that Andrew Yang is a lightweight.  The really bad news is that that fact does not to any degree differentiate him.  Today there are nothing but lightweights in politics, because politics is such a self-evidently invalid pursuit.  We support people whose hearts are in the right place; we do not expect them to display any craft, and even situational awareness is gravy.

  30. 30.

    MattF

    OT. Michael Clayton is on Netflix until the the end of this month. Tilda Swinton won an Oscar for her performance in the movie and deserved it.

  33. 33.

    Andrew Abshier

    DVM and former animal trainer here.  You should never yell at your puppy for urinating or defecating on the carpet.  That will only encourage them to do one or both in some hidden area.

    All that said, Yang getting read off is overdue.  Hope to see more of it.

  35. 35.

    JoyceH

    I saw that interview live and at first I was irked at Acosta for giving Yang the air time, but … dang!

  36. 36.

    Barbara

    @Betty Cracker: ​You can just imagine the debate
    — Yeah, but if we showed him buying milk, eggs and bread no one would think that is authentically him.
    — Okay, so we should show him buying champagne and caviar?
    — Well, dude, you can’t actually buy wine in PA from a normal grocery store so we need something that people have at least seen.
    — Ok, let’s do something healthy like veggies.
    People looking at finished product:
    — WTF are crudites?

  38. 38.

    Gravenstone

    Rudy Giuliani has been notified that he’s a target of the criminal investigation into election tampering in Georgia.

    Great, now do Lindsey.

    /phrasing

  41. 41.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Frank Wilhoit: Gotta disagree, sport.  Biden, Pelosi, Schumer, and a bunch of other Democrats have been rising to the occasion quite well.  Not playing with cheap cynicism as we head into an election.

  42. 42.

    RedDirtGirl

    @Andrew Abshier: Before I got my dog, one of the training books I read said that when your pup makes a mistake, roll up a magazine and give yourself a boop on the nose for letting it happen.

  44. 44.

    lee

    Honestly just tag his party as ‘The New Grift’  or ‘MAGA 2.0’ and be done with it.

    Does anyone want to wager that if Trump wanted to run as their nominee  they would welcome him with open arms and wallets?

  45. 45.

    trollhattan

    Now we get a rude and a reckless
    To be seen lookin’ cool an’ speckless
    And drinking brew for breakfast
    Rudie can’t fail (no, no, no)

    I went to the market to realize my soul
    ‘Cause what I need I just don’t have
    First they curse, then they press me ’til I hurt
    Rudie can’t fail

  46. 46.

    scav

    Why are we so apparently blessed as to possibly have another week just like last week — and in a row no less?  Somebody else must have been very very very good.

  47. 47.

    Kropacetic

    @Baud: That’s the central lesson the Forward party took from Republicans. Once you articulate a policy, you’re responsible for defending it. So don’t. Just lie about the competition then do whatever you want if.you win power.

  48. 48.

    Baud

    It occurred to me that most Americans probably know what hors d’oeuvres are but an equal number probably can’t spell it.

    (Including me).

  51. 51.

    RaflW

    “Common sense solutions” is the sort of turn of phrase that really gets the blood pumping, too. Incredibly differentiating from … every other nationbuilder campaign site ever thrown together.
    Forward!

  52. 52.

    Kropacetic

    @Omnes Omnibus: Gotta disagree, sport.  Biden, Pelosi, Schumer, and a bunch of other Democrats have been rising to the occasion quite well.

    Bears repeating. I would even venture to say “most Democrats.”

  54. 54.

    trollhattan

    @Betty Cracker:

    Man pops head out of bespoke designer hole, sees own shadow, disappears back into hole but not before complaining that President Shadow is responsible for this outrage.

    Oz clip has an air of HW Bush being boggled by the checkout scanner.

  59. 59.

    RaflW

    @Central Planning: You may be on to something. I think the Luddités are folks who want their haute cuisine prepared à la steampunk – bespoke and without fussy things like electricity (and don’t be telling me crudités are already raw. The best know that vegetables like asparagus and carrots should be just ever so lightly blanched and then plunge-bathed in ice water for exquisite al dente texture).

  60. 60.

    scav

    @Baud: Well, gee, ain’t they just nibbles in a brothel?  Though why their cook’s always named Derve is a bit of a mystery to mr.

  62. 62.

    Kropacetic

    @RaflW: “Common sense solutions” is the sort of turn of phrase that really gets the blood pumping, too. Incredibly differentiating from … every other nationbuilder campaign site ever thrown together.

    The art of saying nothing and letting others imbue it with meaning…

    R candidate: I support freedom and personal responsibility and everyday Amercians.

    R Voter: I support all those things.

    R: Good, just never look at my voting record or think through the consequences of my actions.

    R Voter: Deal.

  66. 66.

    Gravenstone

    @HumboldtBlue: Yeah, but I want Linds to get the “target” designation, rather than just watching him squirm during a deposition regarding Trump’s actions.

  67. 67.

    Cacti

    @Geminid: I honestly think Herschel Walker has an IQ of about 70 from CTE.

    Has anyone ever heard him speak a coherent sentence during his candidacy?

  68. 68.

    Cacti

    @Geminid: I honestly think Herschel Walker has an IQ of about 70 from CTE.

    Has anyone ever heard him speak a coherent sentence during his candidacy?

  69. 69.

    RaflW

    @sdhays: My recollection was that Linds claims he’s a witness, not a subject of the investigation. Now, IANAL, so the next part escapes me: why it is that witnesses can’t be compelled to testify. Was this something in his very special JAG ‘training’ that he got?

    (If I’m not being clear: he is a disgrace to the trade of lawyering.)

  72. 72.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    @Frank Wilhoit: Gotta disagree, sport.  Biden, Pelosi, Schumer, and a bunch of other Democrats have been rising to the occasion quite well.  Not playing with cheap cynicism as we head into an election.

    Yeppers to this.

    @Kropacetic:

    Bears repeating. I would even venture to say “most Democrats.”

    And yeppers to this too.  I could get used to this.

  73. 73.

    Turgidson

    @Kropacetic:

    Yang, if he was being honest: “Well sure, but that party did not immediately crown me emperor for life when I ran for president as a first time candidate or NYC mayor as a one-time loser, so, basically I was “canceled” and had no choice but to found a useless third party for nihilists.”

  74. 74.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @HinTN: The best thing is that he said it was for a crudité not crudités.  He used a pretentious term unnecessarily and said it wrong.

  75. 75.

    RaflW

    @trollhattan: So I looked into that Bush-scanner thing this morning, having had a similar thought, and at least according to WaPo, the entire flap was actually something manufactured from the imaginings of … wait for it … the FTFNYT.

    Perhaps this is just sibling rivalry, but knowing what I do now, I can well imagine some fabulizer at The Times (the paper of record!) just making up details from whole cloth because the two paragraph wire story was too thin.

  76. 76.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Scoop: Former Trump White House lawyer Eric Herschmann has received a grand jury subpoena as part of the Jan. 6 probe. Story to come

  77. 77.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Turgidson:

    More like “Well sure, but that party did not immediately crown me emperor for life when I ran for president as a first time candidate or NYC mayor as a one-time loser, so I needed to come up with a new excuse for people to shovel money in my direction.”

  80. 80.

    Jackie

    @RepubAnon: I read somewhere recently, that the Forward Party only plans to target State elections to start. They know they haven’t the funding for federal seats.

    Pulling anti-MAGA from the GQP at local and state level seats in order to dampen Q qrazy fanatics is a good idea – if they can do it.

  81. 81.

    Gin & Tonic

    Wasn’t there ranked choice voting when Yang ran for NYC mayor? And didn’t NY-ers rank him as a loser?

  82. 82.

    Turgidson

    @lowtechcyclist:

    I think it’s some of both.  There’s a huge stench of “petulantly taking the ball and going home when not picked first”, but an equally odious aroma of shameless grifting.

  83. 83.

    Betty Cracker

    @Cacti: It’s truly pathetic, and if there were someone in Walker’s life who loved him as a human being instead of an ATM, they would have talked him out of this. Luckily for us, there wasn’t.

  86. 86.

    trollhattan

    @Betty Cracker:

    I understand I’m supposed to feel empathy for the guy, but what if he’s elected? That damaged pate will then be hellbent on damaging us all.

  88. 88.

    catclub

    @sdhays: Isn’t Lindsey’s argument essentially “Don’t you know who I am??”?

     

    and shouldn’t the Judge be asking,”why does a senator presume to be above a subpoena that normal people are subject to?”

     

    There is a speech and debate clause that is clearly NOT related to phone calls in the middle of the night.

  89. 89.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @HumboldtBlue:

    “We will go as far as we need to go and do whatever needs to be done to make sure that people like me can do their jobs without fear of some county prosecutor coming after you,” Graham said.

    “Some county prosecutor”? What an arrogant little prick he is.

  91. 91.

    West of the Rockies

    Yang is a charmless nothing.  Oz looks weak and frail.  What a pair of soulless grifters.

  92. 92.

    Anyway

    Aw, c’mon everyone knows crudites and charcuterie. Instagram is full of people showing off their elaborate snack trays…

  94. 94.

    WaterGirl

    @Alison Rose 💙🌻💛: You haven’t lived until you’ve eaten RAW asparagus smothered in store-bought guacamole.  (shudder)

    I’ll just go on record saying that if you have to pretend that you’re a normal person who goes to the grocery store, you have no business running for office.

    What the fuck is wrong with these people?

  97. 97.

    Betty Cracker

    Exclusive from WaPo:

    A team of computer experts directed by lawyers allied with President Donald Trump copied sensitive data from election systems in Georgia as part of a secretive, multistate effort to access voting equipment that was broader, more organized and more successful than previously reported, according to emails and other records obtained by The Washington Post.

    As they worked to overturn Trump’s 2020 election defeat, the lawyers asked a forensic data firm to access county election systems in at least three battleground states, according to the documents and interviews. The firm charged an upfront retainer fee for each job, which in one case was $26,000.

    Well, that was a smart forensic data firm to get their money up front, but maybe copying the files was a no-no? Sounds like it!

  99. 99.

    JoyceH

    @WaterGirl: ​
     

    I’ll just go on record saying that if you have to pretend that you’re a normal person who goes to the grocery store, you have no business running for office.

    We have all these weird little rituals involved in running for public office. Like eating the local delicacy correctly, for some reason. Remember Kerry and the Philly cheesesteak?

  100. 100.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Betty Cracker: crudités and…. tequila? did they tell him to pretend he was getting chips and guac and his brain went back to “crudités”?

  102. 102.

    catclub

    @WaterGirl: I’ll just go on record saying that if you have to pretend that you’re a normal person who goes to the grocery store, you have no business running for office.

     

    I will give Trump credit for being smarter than most pols in this regard. he skipped one-to-one campaigning and just did big venues where he could rant. he does have an instinct for avoiding ‘makes me look weak’

    Worked for him.

  103. 103.

    WaterGirl

    @UncleEbeneezer:  Wait!  Herschmann was interviewed by the committee several times.  Why would they subpoena him?

    Please don’t let him be a bad guy.  He’s been my favorite “insider” witness so far.

    I think of him fondly as the “what the fuck were you thinking?” guy.

  104. 104.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Cacti:

    If he didn’t have a frightening number of fanatical zealots supporting him, I’d actually feel sorry for the guy. But he does, so I can’t and I won’t.

  105. 105.

    sdhays

    @SiubhanDuinne: Ah, that’s the quote, or something like it, that I was remembering. He “has work to do”, unlike just about anyone else called before a grand jury.

    I wonder how many times he’s going to have to take the 5th once they finally get him in front of the jury.

  107. 107.

    Baud

    @Betty Cracker:

    Political parties get access to certain voter information, so I think if that’s what this was, it may not be illegal in itself.  But it could be evidence of a broader scheme to overturn the election.  The excerpt is a little cagey about what “election systems” were accessed.

  108. 108.

    Spanky

    If they wanted Oz to look like a real Pennsylvanian, they’d show him driving through a beer distributor and picking up a couple of cases of Iron City Yuengling’s.

  110. 110.

    Ken

    @Betty Cracker: The only explanation that makes sense is that Oz’s marketing team hates his guts.

    If Oz weren’t in the ad, one might almost think it’s a Democratic attack ad. All it needs is a closing “Keep Clueless in New Jersey” tag.

    (Though I hesitate to suggest this, after the arguments about the DCCC’s strategy in characterizing one of the Republican candidates as a Trumpist.)

  113. 113.

    Soprano2

    OMG, I’m listening to the Yang/Acosta interview. It exposes Yang and the Forward Party as a substanceless way to make money for the people who are in it. He’s completely clueless about how politics works. That wasn’t really a hard interview, it only sounded bad because Yang has no answers to any of the questions.

  115. 115.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    “We will go as far as we need to go and do whatever needs to be done to make sure that people like me can do their jobs without fear of some county prosecutor coming after you,” Graham said.

    Where in his job description of “Senator from South Carolina” does he see harassing Georgia state election officials?

  117. 117.

    Barbara

    @sdhays: I once had to testify to a grand jury, about which I will say nothing else except that it was not really a big deal.  It was a few hours of prep plus a day of my time to travel there and back.  I mean, it’s not ordinary but it’s hardly unusual and it’s the way we do things. But of course he knows that.

  119. 119.

    Dan B

    @WaterGirl: Does Oz have any clue about what you want to dip raw veggies into?  Carrots with salsa and/or guacamole?  Why not just smear them with cold soft Margarine and lemon juice?  It would taste better.

    Side note: HW would be revolted by the broccoli since he had the condition that made it smell like sulfur to him.

  121. 121.

    catclub

    @WaterGirl: Why would they subpoena him?

     

    The Jan 6 committee is not running any grand jury. That would be some DOJ or state investigation.

  122. 122.

    JoyceH

    @WaterGirl: ​
     

    @UncleEbeneezer: Wait! Herschmann was interviewed by the committee several times. Why would they subpoena him?

    This isn’t the committee, this is the grand jury. The committee seems to start with invite, and then moves to subpoena if you don’t respond to the invite, but grand juries just go ahead and subpoena the people they want to talk to.

    And BTW, just how many grand juries does Garland have running? There’s the fake electors one, the stolen documents one, and also a J6 one?

  123. 123.

    JaySinWA

    @Baud: There are straight forward processes for that for the parties, no need to skulk around, so probably not that kind of data. On the other hand these clowns were not election experts, so maybe they stole stuff they could have had outright for a modestly exorbitant fee.

  124. 124.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Reminds me of the time some high mucky-mucks were visiting from Canada. We were all at an elegant breakfast; the server approached one high-ranking official and asked “Would you care for some grits?” He waved her away politely, explaining “I had a grit once. Didn’t care for it.”

  128. 128.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @RaflW: I think it’s more of an attention fetish, combined with a lack of substance and knack for grifting.

  132. 132.

    cckids

    @Betty Cracker:

     

    @Barbara:

    Lol at all this. He also apparently doesn’t understand that produce like asparagus & broccoli are sold/priced by the pound, so that chunk o’broccoli he picked up needs to be weighed. And Jesus, a five-pound bag of carrots for 4 bucks is not a bad price, but it is way, way too many carrots for a crude veggie platter.

  134. 134.

    Ken

    @Barbara: Hypothetically, if TFG has a foreign passport with info claiming he’s a citizen of that country, would that retroactively make him ineligible as President, voiding his term of office including all judicial appointments?

  135. 135.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @SiubhanDuinne: I can sympathize.  I have also had and not cared for a grit in the past.  I mean why not just have Cream of Wheat like a normal person?  Or oatmeal?*

    *I never really grokked the South if you can’t tell.

  137. 137.

    Kent

    @Soprano2:OMG, I’m listening to the Yang/Acosta interview. It exposes Yang and the Forward Party as a substanceless way to make money for the people who are in it. He’s completely clueless about how politics works. That wasn’t really a hard interview, it only sounded bad because Yang has no answers to any of the questions.

    Yang is absolutely the worst kind of douchbag.

    He continues to advance the ridiculous trope that it is partisanship that causes gridlock in DC and that we just need more “centrism”

    When in actual point of fact it is ALWAYS the centrists in both the GOP and Democratic party who block legislation from happening.  In the current Congress it is mostly Manchin/Sinema and the “problem solvers” over in the House.  in previous eras it was uber-douches like Lieberman.

    The same exact thing happens with the GOP.  It was “centrist Maverick” McCain who pulled the plug on Trump’s only legislative initiative that didn’t involve tax cuts, the repeal of the ACA.   And “centrist” cold feet from the likes of Olympia Snow and other GOP moderates is what upended Bush’s privatization of Social Security two decades or so ago.

    In fact one could make a compelling argument that centrists are the biggest obstacle to getting any damn thing done in Congress.

    Of course the fact that Yang couldn’t articulate a single damn position where he differed from the Democratic party was telling.  Because he can’t.

  138. 138.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @WaterGirl:

    That’s the “you’d better lawyer up pretty fucking fast” guy, with the zoom background of a panda and some wall decorations that look like bathtub fixtures, right? I like him too.

  139. 139.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Spanky:

    Can’t stand the fact that Yuenglings is primary beer sponsor for the Phillies. The owner is a major asshole and Trump donor.

  141. 141.

    Gravenstone

    @Soprano2: If he becomes enough of an embarrassment, they’ll just turf him out and continue the grift as an even more “former Republican” thing than it already is. Seriously, he’s nearly the sole token “former Democrat”.

  144. 144.

    zhena gogolia

    @WaterGirl: He’s charming but don’t kid yourself, he’s not a good person. Liz C. (or was it Kinzinger? can’t remember) gave him the iceberg treatment when he said that on 1/6 “everyone was just drained” so they gave up on trying to do anything, as the mob was still raging through the Capitol. That was a moment that really revealed him.

  146. 146.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I know a former FBI agent who has two passports. One is the normal one, and the other is one friend was issued for some sort of official government travel. That one is no longer valid since friend is no longer with the agency.

    ETA: Sounds like they think he’s a flight risk.

  147. 147.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @MP: Now it’s stuck in my head. But what the heck, it’s a great song:

    https://youtu.be/D6ONesFHXWE
    Stop your messing around;
    Better think of your future,
    Time to straighten right out,
    Creating problems in town.
    Rudy,
    A message to you, Rudy.
    A message to you.
    Stop your fooling around,
    Time to straighten right out.
    Better think of your future
    Else you’ll wind up in jail.
    Rudy,
    A message to you you, Rudy,
    A message to you.
    Stop your messing around,
    Better think of your future.
    Time to straighten right out,
    Creating problems in town.
    Rudy,
    A message to you, Rudy.
    A message to you, Rudy.
    A message to you, Rudy.
    A message to you, Rudy.
    A message to you, Rudy.
    A message to you, Rudy.
    A message to you, Rudy.

  148. 148.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JPL:

    According to trump, his passports were taken during the search.

    Will that really be a problem for KSA?

  149. 149.

    ian

    @JPL:

    According to trump, his passports were taken during the search

    Didn’t we (as in the entire world minus republicans) learn not to trust a single word this man or his spokespeople say a long time ago?  I don’t care what Trump says was stolen.  Mar-a-lago has security cameras, let him release those to prove anything stolen or planted.

  153. 153.

    Kent

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:I know a former FBI agent who has two passports. One is the normal one, and the other is one friend was issued for some sort of official government travel. That one is no longer valid since friend is no longer with the agency

    That is the case for anyone who travels on US government business.

    When I was in the Peace Corps decades ago we were issued separate no-fee passports to use for Peace Corps service and a lot of volunteers had two passports, the Peace Corps one and their personal one.  I think the Peace Corps one had 3-year expiration dates to account for the typical term of service plus training and give you a few spare months to travel and get home.  If you needed more time you had to go to the US embassy in whatever country you were serving and get it extended.

  158. 158.

    Calouste

    @Baud: Apparently it’s not uncommon to have multiple passports if you travel a lot, including to countries that have visa requirements. The idea is that you travel on one passport while the other is at a consulate being processed for a visa for your next trip.

  159. 159.

    mali muso

    @Kent: ​
     Was just about to chime in with basically the same thing. As a Peace Corps volunteer, we had a government service issued passport. If you happened to have a personal one prior, you could keep it as well, but the government service passport expired at the end of your term.

  161. 161.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Kropacetic:

    SOOOOO good!! Was very popular in the ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s, but since then it hasn’t always been easy to find.

    ETA: There was a dry cereal version, Shredded Ralston, but that never did it for me. I like(d) the hot gruel variety.

  162. 162.

    persistentillusion

    @Barbara: When I renewed my passport a couple of years ago, they issued the standard booklet form as well as a passport card which is apparently good for entry into Canada and Mexico IIRC.

    ETA: so I technically have two passports.

  163. 163.

    Doc Sardonic

    @Omnes Omnibus: Cream of Wheat can now be purchased for takeout at Lowe’s, Home Depot, Menard’s as well as many local hardware stores. You find it with the wallpaper supplies.

  167. 167.

    Kropacetic

    @Doc Sardonic: Cream of Wheat can now be purchased for takeout at Lowe’s, Home Depot, Menard’s as well as many local hardware stores. You find it with the wallpaper supplies.

    I love cream of wheat, but that’s hilarious. Pro-tip: rinse your bowl before putting it in the washer if you want the vestiges of your breakfast to ever come off

    @SiubhanDuinne: SOOOOO good!! Was very popular in the ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s, but since then it hasn’t always been easy to find.

    Come to think of it, when was the last time I saw Farina or Maypo?

  168. 168.

    Kropacetic

    @eclare: And I don’t think I’ve ever had Cream of Wheat.

    Much smoother texture than oatmeal or grits if prepared correctly. Turns into a hardened mass if not.

    That’s why I’ve mostly given up on flavoring my own and usually buy pre-flavored.

  169. 169.

    tybee

    I’ve never heard of “Ralston” as a breakfast item but I have purchased Ralston-Purina products but never ate them personally.

    grits are groceries.

  171. 171.

    sdhays

    @Barbara: To be fair, and I’m making an assumption here, it’s not that big a deal if you weren’t directly involved in committing/facilitating a crime that they’ll be asking you about.

  172. 172.

    Doc Sardonic

    @Kropacetic: I think that’s why I have never appreciated Cream of Wheat. Every time I have been offered the stuff it comes out in a bowl looking like a gelatinous alien species or the results of a recipe from one of the old snake oil remedy books for colon blocker for the relief of diaree

  173. 173.

    Hoodie

    @Omnes Omnibus: More corn than wheat in the south.   Grits are  more a bulk carbohydrate and flavor carrier than intrinsically flavorful. They take on the taste of whatever you put with them.   Most popular grits dishes involve lots of fat and salt, e.g., bacon, butter, etc.  That said, there are differences in quality and poor preparation can make them inedible.

  174. 174.

    Another Scott

    @Kent: I’ve heard it said that the “Official” brown US passports are know as the “Kill Me First” passports (e.g. in an airline hijacking).

    :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  175. 175.

    Doc Sardonic

    @Hoodie: Definitely need salt, it absolutely must be added to the boiling water before you add the grits, otherwise you will have a bowl of bland, inedible textured spackle substitute, cause after they have cooked they won’t take salt.

  176. 176.

    J R in WV

    @WaterGirl: ​
     

    Wait! Herschmann was interviewed by the committee several times. Why would they subpoena him?

    This subpoena is apparently from a Grand Jury, not the Jan 6th select committee. More serious DoJ — will be secret, not for TV work.

  177. 177.

    Ukai

    I’ve made grits mixed with quinoa. It’s a pretty good combination and versatile for add-ons; I throw in grated cheddar cheese with sauteed onions and peppers.

  180. 180.

    jonas

    I’m sure Lindsey will try to appeal that.

    Can one of our stalwart legal jackals explain how it is that you can basically appeal everything until the end of time? My understanding is that you have to identify a major procedural or legal mistake that has been made. Is it simply possible to *always* find a claim like that in just about any ruling, so everything is appealable? Or is he just trying to flail around until he finds a Trumpy enough judge to throw the case out?

  181. 181.

    geg6

    @JoyceH:

    True.  But in Oz’s case, he didn’t even go to the right Philly steak place.  If you’re from PA, you don’t go to Pat’s or Geno’s.  You go to Tony Luke’s or to any of the joints in the Reading Terminal Market.

  182. 182.

    jonas

    @WaterGirl: What the fuck is wrong with these people?

    Hey, at least he’s not putting whole grain mustard on his sandwich or something. *That* would be real snobby elitism. Croo-dee-teh’s with guac is just folks!

  183. 183.

    jonas

    @Betty Cracker: A team of computer experts directed by lawyers allied with President Donald Trump copied sensitive data from election systems in Georgia as part of a secretive, multistate effort to access voting equipment

    Holy shit. Every accusation is a confession with these people. Every. Damn. Time. If Trump isn’t indicted for conspiracy to commit election fraud, nothing matters anymore.

  184. 184.

    Origuy

    I met a guy who claimed to be a military attaché at the embassy in Vienna. He carried three passports, his civilian one, a military one, and a diplomatic one. We were in the departure lounge at JFK. I didn’t see his passports, but  I saw him go up to the gate agent and get an upgrade to First Class with his diplomatic passport.

    Some people who travel in the Middle East have two passports, one for travel to Israel and one to go to certain Islamic countries that would turn away people with a stamp in their passport from Israel. I don’t know if that is still done.

  188. 188.

    Barbara

    @jonas: ​ You have a right of appeal from a United States District Court to the United States Court of Appeals for whatever circuit you are in.

  189. 189.

    Geminid

    @Origuy: That is still probably done for many Middle Eastern countries. Israel used to have formal relations with only Egypt and Jordan. Now Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco also have friendly diplomatic relations with Israel. Saudi Arabia is warming up it’s relationship also.

    Turkiye’s had diplomatic relations with Israel since that country’s founding.

  191. 191.

    H-Bob

    Don’t forget that Yang got that important endorsement from Marianne Williamson (the Woo Lady)!

  193. 193.

    Nettoyeur

    @Kropacetic: Don’t. My father made me eat that before early morning duck hunts. Awful. Of course I loath Cream of Wheat and hot Oatmeal also (unless flavored with a lot of fruit etc).

  195. 195.

    planetjanet

    And the Washington Post is on the case with the Oz ad. “Namely, the salsa has dropped — from $5.99 to $4.99. As Philip explains, you can see the prices at Redner’s website: broccoli, asparagus, carrots, guacamole and salsa. He chose to price the products at the Bensalem store because it is closest to the New Jersey border. Ahem.”
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/15/biden-inflation-act-trump-search/#link-C2QB4WCRXJGAHAIJZ4IGNXKVHA

  196. 196.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @Kent: That isn’t entirely true. The GOP have gotten some things passed with moderate Dem votes, and infrastructure needed GOP cross over votes from politicians who were less right wing than many of their colleagues. Bold, transformative legislation gets blocked by moderates. However, things there SHOULD be broad agreement on will get blocked by the more extreme members of either party.

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