Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

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

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

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

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

T R E 4 5 O N

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

“woke” is the new caravan.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

“Squeaker” McCarthy

I really should read my own blog.

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Reader Interactions

162Comments

  2. 2.

    cope

    Nor do I.  Whenever I see a percentage sign in a story or press release or in an email subject line, I turn on my heel and head for the hills (not literally, there being no actual hills here in Central Florida).

  3. 3.

    Betty Cracker

    @lahke: Basically, yes. I haven’t looked at the cross-tabs, etc., but the Crist-Fried number seems wildly out of whack. We’ll know more in a week!

  4. 4.

    Baud

    Happy happy joy joy.

    .

    .

    Looking at the cross tabs though, it appears the poll was limited to Betty Cracker’s husband and dogs.

  5. 5.

    Ken

    I’m not sure any polls are believable since caller ID became common, or since communications diversified across a myriad of platforms.

  6. 6.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Baud:

    Looking at the cross tabs though, it appears the poll was limited to Betty Cracker’s husband and dogs. 

    And swamp gators.

  9. 9.

    Geminid

    @Ken: I think polls have relative value. At least when it comes to trend in the same poll, week over week or month over month.

    Polls of the Crist-Fried race showed Crist ahead throughout the spring. Some said that was because Crist had better name recognition, and this may have been the case. I think they’re both potentially strong candidates, just in different ways.

  10. 10.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    Lil’ Marco may or may not be behind, but the fact that a two term incumbent isnt way ahead and is under 50% in all but one poll must have his campaign desperately reaching for water.

  12. 12.

    hueyplong

    None of us wants to whammy anything, but it’s not impossible for a wave to form in opposition to the gawdawful sequence of GOP outrages (abortion) and crimes (Trump).

    So i spent a few seconds getting comfortable with what it would be like if that Rubio polling were correct. It’s gone now, but I’d welcome the return of that feeling.

    Maybe we shouldn’t underestimate the potentially large number of awkward moments for sniveling Trump supporters if they appear/comment in public a bunch of times as the SS Trump suffers a series of explosions and then slips beneath the waves.

  15. 15.

    Betty Cracker

    Rubio is among UF’s least distinguished alums, so sadly, he and I are both Gators. He and I got in before the school tightened its admission standards. But DeSantis is corrupting the state university system to such an extent that soon, UF will be admitting dummies like Rubio and me again. Le sigh.

  20. 20.

    Betty Cracker

    @Geminid: I think you’re right that either Crist or Fried could be strong candidates — in very different ways. Fried’s main pitch is “try something new,” which resonates in a state Republicans have run into the ground since the late 90s. Crist’s pitch is basically what Biden’s pitch to the nation was in 2020, i.e., let a non-scary guy you already know make the crazy go away.

  23. 23.

    Percysowner

    Crist Fried I have no feelings about. Val Demmings has been telling me for weeks that the numbers are close, so one poll showing her up isn’t a shock. It does mean I’ll throw a little more money her way, since she has a chance.

  24. 24.

    MattF

    My own entirely personal take is that Trump is poison and it’s become clear Rubio has swallowed the grift. It took a while, e.g., for people in NYC to really see that, but now everyone there despises him. Except the NYT, needless to say.

  25. 25.

    Kropacetic

    If the Crist/Fried primary results are close to these poll numbers, will that raise your trust in the Demings/Rubio poll?

  26. 26.

    Geminid

    @Betty Cracker: If, in an alternate universe,  you could run Crist and Fried against DeSantis I think one of the two might run two points ahead of the other, and that could make the difference in a close race. But which one?

  28. 28.

    Baud

    @hueyplong:

    I don’t know what will happen in November, but it wasn’t all that long ago that a Republican wave was deemed historically inevitable.

  30. 30.

    p.a.

    The Christofascist churches are their always-reliable voters, they always turn out and I’d be surprised if they’re not under orders to fuck with any polls they might get.

  31. 31.

    Kropacetic

    @Baud:I don’t know what will happen in November, but it wasn’t all that long ago that a Republican wave was deemed historically inevitable.

    Something about declaring a political outcome as inevitable tends to raise the evitability of said outcome.

  32. 32.

    dww44

    @Betty Cracker: At least your governor didn’t appoint a former governor to be the head of the state’s university system just because that unqualified pol wanted one more position to grift and to make sure that conservatives get their rightful respect in academia.

  33. 33.

    nevsky42

    @Percysowner:   The nice thing about Fetterman starting to pull away is that more resources may go to Barnes, Beasley, and Demings as pickup attempts (I know I’m putting my money there now).

    Of course, it’s a long time until November, but even if Fetterman does something that the media tries to pump up as a “gaffe”, Oz is such a weak candidate that I doubt he’d be able to capitalize the way, say, Webb did on George Allen…

  34. 34.

    Geminid

    @Baud: I think Republicans believed the notion that they’d be riding a red wave. That overconfidence may account for the way newcomers like Vance and Oz are floundering now.

    In related news, reports are that the Gazpacho Police raided Dr. Oz’s home last night and seized his crudite’ ingredients. He’s being investigated for impersonation of a Senate candidate.

  36. 36.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    The New York Times reported over the weekend that a person close to Trump reached out to a DOJ official to convey a message from the former president on Thursday.

    “The country is on fire. What can I do to reduce the heat?” stated the message Trump wanted conveyed to the attorney general, the Times reported.

    Shit just got real. Usually he either bribes someone or attacks them with his flying monkeys. He never goes hat in hand and begs for a break.

  37. 37.

    Spanky

    @Betsy: First, good on ya for acknowledging that it’s a thing. Because it’s a thing.

    Second, I’m not sure that a drunk would find good advice about stopping drinking at his local bar, so maybe you want to also ask someone offline?

    I’m no one to ask advice of, but shutting down a couple of hours before bed and occupying your hands until bedtime might help.

    Got a hobby like knitting or woodcarving? Even something like baking.

  38. 38.

    Spanky

    @Kropacetic:

    Something about declaring a political outcome as inevitable tends to raise the evitability of said outcome.

    See also all the articles about the coming recession.

  39. 39.

    JPL

    @Geminid: I’m surprised that he hasn’t released a new ad with him shopping for ingredients for a charcuterie board.  Maybe Oz is learning.

  40. 40.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: This is an August poll. Here’s an article about it.

    @Kropacetic: It would. Two recent polls have Demings tied with Rubio, so that number doesn’t seem so far-fetched. The bad news in the poll we’re discussing is that it shows DeSantis beating either Fried or Crist. I’m not giving up on that race, though. The CW is that DeSantis will win handily, but some cumulative shit is coming down the pike that could change things. We’ll see.

  42. 42.

    narya

    All you former and current administrators of various stripes in the jackaltariat, spare some thoughts for me today and tomorrow, as a site visit team (virtually) pours through a mountain of documents and conducts a bunch of interviews. My team and (especially I) pulled a lot of it together, but the performers are senior leadership.

  47. 47.

    Kropacetic

    @David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: “The country is on fire. What can I do to reduce the heat?” stated the message Trump wanted conveyed to the attorney general, the Times reported.

    Confess to everything.  Give up your co-conspirators. Reveal every avenue of corruption you’re aware of.

    @Betty Cracker: The bad news in the poll we’re discussing is that it shows DeSantis beating either Fried or Crist. I’m not giving up on that race, though.

    How badly? Numbers may shift after the primary, too.  Having a firm idea of who the candidate is will focus some people as well as letting go of any intra-partisan bitterness.

    Also, what bad news do you see coming down the pike for DeSatan?

  48. 48.

    Brit in Chicago

    I’d love to see Demmings in the US Senate. Florida has disappointed me so many times (sometimes with the help of hte USSC)—but wouldn’t it be great if she were elected?

  52. 52.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    Laura Ingraham usually a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, said a conflict-weary nation might be ready to move on from the former president.

    And she indicated it could be time to start looking for someone who has Trump’s politics, but not the baggage, should he decide to run again in 2024.

    “The country, I think, is so exhausted,” she told podcaster Lisa Boothe, per The Hill. “They’re exhausted by the battle, the constant battle, that they may believe that, well, maybe it’s time to turn the page if we can get someone who has all Trump’s policies, who’s not Trump.”

    She got high on her own supply and spent all week defending Dump and attacking the liberal F.B.I. only to have nuclear secrets blow up in her face.

    Humliated, she wants to break-up and start seeing other Nazis.

  53. 53.

    The Golux

    @dww44:

    At least your governor didn’t appoint a former governor to be the head of the state’s university system…

    I feel like I should know who that is, but can’t put my finger on it.

  57. 57.

    MomSense

    @Betsy:

    I ended up crashing at my kid’s place last night and I didn’t have my phone charger.  I didn’t use my sleep time to scroll but I also didn’t sleep.  Ugh.

  58. 58.

    Kropacetic

    @The Golux: I seem to recall hearing that story, I think it was North Carolina but not sure.  No, not Googling.

    @David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: maybe it’s time to turn the page if we can get someone who has all Trump’s policies, who’s not Trump. (Ingraham)

    Haha, policies…

    Unless she means the policy of lying about everything and abusing Americans she doesn’t like.

  59. 59.

    germy shoemangler

    in STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997) the use of combat veterans as school teachers is how the movie signals its society has become irredeemably broken and cartoonishly fascist https://t.co/6QUnxpBnbJ

    — Anthony Oliveira (@meakoopa) August 15, 2022

    .@GovDeSantis on recruiting veterans to the teaching field: "Our veterans have a wealth of knowledge and experience they can bring to bear in the classroom. […] For too long, the requirements to be a teacher have been too rigid." https://t.co/qgM3g485JT pic.twitter.com/iuXi4ZCZu3

    — The Hill (@thehill) August 14, 2022

  60. 60.

    Starfish

    @JPL: There was another ad. It was really bad.

    Basically, while Fetterman was sick, he couldn’t go TOO negative on Fetterman. He has a negative ad, and it is goofy as hell with Bernie and AOC living inside Fetterman’s head.

  64. 64.

    Soprano2

    @Baud: Much of the press is still talking that up. I know NPR is, and they do everything they can to run stories that emphasize how much more expensive everything is now, and how much of a hardship that is for people. I swear, EVERY SINGLE DAY there is at least one story like that on Morning Edition or All Things Considered. I know it’s an issue people are talking about, but what they do seems excessive. Plus, I’ve noticed that all the stories about the high price of gasoline have disappeared, and their place has not been taken by obsessive stories about the price dropping a lot in the past month.  They have talked about that, but not like they talked about the price going up. What are they going to do when inflation eases? I’m convinced that the press wants a Republican takeover of at least one house of Congress, because they think that would be more interesting that what we have now.

  66. 66.

    Geminid

    @satby: It’s a threat alright, but it seems like an empty one so far. The country’s not on fire. Aside from the uproar in the political pundit world, I have seen talk but little action; just a few small demonstrations and outliers like that guy in Cincinnati last week.

  68. 68.

    Baud

    @Geminid:

    Agree.  But there’s always a chance some innocent person will be killed in a terrorist attack.  It’s a fear liberals have that the MAGAs and the media will play up.

  71. 71.

    Kropacetic

    @germy shoemangler: in STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997) the use of combat veterans as school teachers is how the movie signals its society has become irredeemably broken and cartoonishly fascist

    I would say there’s nothing inherently wrong with a combat veteran teaching children, but the more salient point would be that nothing about being a combat veteran inherently qualifies someone to teach children.

    DeSantis’s education policies handed him lemons and he’s up there trying to make orange juice.

  72. 72.

    WaterGirl

    Two scheduled posts this morning didn’t publish – On the Road and David Anderson’s post.  I just published both of them, one right after the other.

  73. 73.

    Ken

    @Baud: @OzarkHillbilly: Thanks, guys, I’ve just worked out my retirement plan. I’m going to set up a GoFundMe to raise money to buy TFG a ticket to North Korea, and keep anything over the actual cost. I figure I’ll have a few million within a week.

  78. 78.

    Soprano2

    @Betty Cracker: I think the situation there with teachers should be an issue in the election. IMHO the Democrat should talk about how DeSantis is destroying your child’s local school with his crazy laws that make teacher’s jobs impossible. As Kay says, most people like their local school and don’t like it when people mess with it.

  81. 81.

    Another Scott

    Go Team D!

    It’s a day ending in “y” so time for another big ammo dump explosion in Crimea…

    The scale of attack on Russian military base in Dzhankoy, Crimea, is very impressive. pic.twitter.com/0ewDKQaaDk

    — Churchill 🇬🇧🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@WarAgainstPutin) August 16, 2022

    (via Oryx)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  83. 83.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @different-church-lady: I see it as a threat too. Three of his followers have attacked or been caught planning to attack the FBI. The implication is that he could make that go away or make it worse.

  85. 85.

    satby

    @Geminid: I think it wasn’t completely empty at the time, but the revelation that TS/nuclear documents were seized, plus that TFG had ignored a subpoena for them since June, took the wind out of some supporters. His fans don’t trust the government when it’s not run by their team, but they know he’s a liar. They’re in “Norman, coordinate” territory.

  88. 88.

    steppy

    @David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: I halfway read that as Tubby feeling the AG out for a bribe. Lord knows Tubby isn’t going to offer to do anything helpful to anyone other than himself and he’s certainly gotten out of other jams this way.

    So maybe the best thing to do would be to take care of that right here, in Brainerd.

  90. 90.

    Ohio Mom

    @Betsy: Are you surfing news and politics, if so, try a different topic.

    To distract myself, I look at decorating sites and also some blogs by parents of autistics that I’ve been following forever. Gets me out of the doom-and-gloom panic and rage cycle too much news can get me. Both sets of sites tend to be very predictable and the sameness is calming.

    Of course your distractions will be based on your interests and it might take a while to find where you want to go.

    For awhile, Ohio Dad was watching highway driving YouTubes. Freeway Jim was one of them. A view of endless road with varying landscapes passing by. And overpasses. Freeway Jim lives when there are layers of two or more overpasses cross-crossing.

    Thankfully, OD was wearing earphones so I did not hear the commentary but I could tell it was lowering his blood pressure.

  91. 91.

    mrmoshpotato

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Moving to North Korea would be a help. 

    Why do you wish the Kremlin’s orange fascist shitstain upon the people of North Korea?

    Now, him throwing his orange bitchass into the Sun…

  93. 93.

    Soprano2

    “The country is on fire. What can I do to reduce the heat?” stated the message Trump wanted conveyed to the attorney general, the Times reported.

    Quit saying the election was stolen. Tell all of your supporters that Joe Biden is the president, and to quit threatening to start a civil war. Confess to all of your crimes, and cooperate with the investigations. Might as well ask a leopard to change its spots.

  97. 97.

    Immanentize

    @different-church-lady: It was a threat — of the mob kind. Things are bad, everyone is telling me it’s an awful powderkeg out there, it’s going to be wild, what can I — as the only person in control of this mob — do to calm things down? And what will you do for me in return?

    Strictly extortion transactional, not humble at all.

  99. 99.

    Another Scott

    @satby: “Only I can fix it.” also too.

    He’s telling Garland to call off the dogs or very bad things will happen.

    He’s comic book monster, but dangerous.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  101. 101.

    lowtechcyclist

    @WaterGirl:

    Two scheduled posts this morning didn’t publish – On the Road and David Anderson’s post.  I just published both of them, one right after the other.

    Well, Betty C did advertise this thread as being squishable.  And boy howdy, was it ever squished!

  102. 102.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @different-church-lady: Trump is implying that he could turn down the heat in exchange for the FBI backing off. Otherwise, he will keep sicking his followers on FBI agents. He can’t say that directly, obviously. He just needs to make it clear that he has control of how they behave

    EDIT: I see bunch made that point already.

  106. 106.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kropacetic: People are pissed about the homeowners’ insurance crisis, rising rent, failing schools, etc., and DeSantis is vulnerable to charges that he’s been AWOL because he’s running for president of MAGA. Maybe that’s wishful thinking on my part that they’ll blame DeSantis, but the anger is real.

  107. 107.

    Soprano2

    @Kropacetic: I think he’s favoring veterans as a way to signal that he cares more about having “order” in the classroom than about what’s actually learned there. It’s a talking point on the right that kids in classrooms today are out of control because there is no discipline.

  109. 109.

    Ken

    @different-church-lady: You’re thinking normally. Switch to toxic narcissist mode, and you’ll see other possibilities — like, the AG agreeing to drop all charges and arrange for a full blanket pardon.

  110. 110.

    different-church-lady

    @satby: Still not making any sense — why make a unilateral offer to dial things down?

    I think the confusion might be in that Trump is so deluded he thinks he’s in a position to bargain, and at most he’s offering to open negotiations. He thinks he has a bargaining chip he doesn’t have, and that’s tripping people up.

  113. 113.

    Ken

    @Betty Cracker: “Dear, I hadn’t realized before we moved here that Democrat mismanagement had gotten Florida into such a terrible state. We need to vote a straight Republican ticket so that nice Mr. DeSantis can fix everything without raising our taxes.” — breakfast conversation in a thousand retirement communities across Florida.

  115. 115.

    Soprano2

    @Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: I don’t think the average voter will respond positively to people attacking the FBI. I think this kind of rhetoric backfires when they use it. Only the real MAGA’s will love it, and they aren’t even 25% of the electorate. The way to stiffen the spine of someone like Garland is to threaten him, you’d think TFG would know that and that his attorneys would discourage it. Although with the quality of attorneys he can hire I can’t say I’m surprised.

  116. 116.

    sdhays

    @Geminid: I don’t think it’s an empty threat, exactly, since a guy already showed up at an FBI office with an AR-15 (and a nail gun!). But Trump is driving this train less and less by the day (and he was never as much in the driver’s seat as he or the media wanted to believe).

    The right-wing noise machine and fever swamps will not be calmed by any deal the DOJ might come to with Trump because they need to inflame the crazy in order to make it through November. The only way to turn down the heat is to make inflaming the crazies an impediment to power rather than an asset.

  119. 119.

    Geminid

    More inflation related news last night: Reuters reported that crude oil prices took a tumble on news that the JCPOA talks aimed at limiting Iran’s nuclear program are closer to a resolution. Iranian oil wpuld increase supply. Also, China may be moving into a recession and that could reduce  demand for oil.

    Last week the EU delegates to the talks made what they described as a final offer. Yesterday Iran’s security council met to discuss it. Last night Iran announced that they still had concerns, but they may just require some window dressing.

  121. 121.

    Kropacetic

    @Soprano2: It’s a talking point on the right that kids in classrooms today are out of control because there is no discipline.

    A perennial observation of young people since the dawn of time.

    After 2016 caused irreparable damage to my high school friend group, I went and found some new friends; all significantly younger.  Not school age, granted, but early to mid 20s.  They’re all hard workers and they’re all far more kind and respectful about people’s differences than 90 percent of older folk I know, from my peer group and beyond.

    I think it’s the sense of mutual respect (vs. respect for authority) that the Republicans want to destroy.

  127. 127.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @Soprano2: I don’t think that threat will work against Garland the way it seems to work against other Republicans and some members of the press. I’m not surprised he made it anyway.

  128. 128.

    Geminid

    @Baud: The JCPOA was a very good agreement in 2015. Iran has expanded its centrifuge program so much since trump walked away from the JCPOA that the agreement is not as valuable now. Still, Iran will be required to give up some of their stocks of enriched uranium (to Russia) and IAEA inspectors will have greater access to Iran’s nuclear facilities.

    The agreement will expire in 2025, the original date, so this will kick the can down the road a few years at best. It’s better than nothing though.

  130. 130.

    jonas

    @David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:  a person close to Trump reached out to a DOJ official to convey a message from the former president on Thursday.

    I’m old enough to remember when someone *adjacent* to someone being investigated by the DOJ having a casual chat with the AG on an airport tarmac, much less issuing a veiled, “shame if something happened to your store here”-like threat, caused a category 5 meltdown in the media.

  133. 133.

    jonas

    @Geminid: Wow, if this pans out, great news for Biden. God, Trump fucked up so much stuff, I’m glad to see there was still something salvageable there.

  134. 134.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Betty Cracker:

    People are pissed about the homeowners’ insurance crisis, rising rent, failing schools, etc.,

    We know what DeSantis has been doing to the schools.  As governor, has he made any efforts to address the problems with homeowners’ insurance or rising rents?  Y’know, actually trying to solve problems that ordinary Floridians face?

    I know my wife’s Plant City relatives have had recurring problems in getting homeowners’ insurance.  And while PC faces the same problems as the rest of Florida, it’s well inland and ~130 feet above sea level, so it doesn’t face the issues that coastal Florida residents face.  So I assume that, no matter where you live in Florida, getting homeowners’ insurance is a struggle.

    And you’d think that’s the sort of thing a normal governor in normal times might try to do something about.  So I’m curious about this, because if DeSantis is just ignoring issues like this in favor of persecuting gay and trans kids, and making their teachers’ lives impossible, you’d think there’d be a major campaign issue here.

  135. 135.

    hueyplong

    Unconditional surrender is the only way to go, so it’s nice that Trump sent such a transparently bogus message to remind Garland of that fact.

  136. 136.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for US?

    @Soprano2: The thing is not everything is getting more expensive. We adopted a kid from South Africa – he’s 8 so school age – and I’ve been shopping cargo e-bikes that are capable of carrying a passenger to get him to and from school because I don’t want to drive because hydrocarbons. Plus we only have one car and this is a much better alternative than a second car – much cheaper and less impact on the environment.

    Anywhoo, I did some research and settled on the KBO Ranger and I saw one in a park and when the owner came back to it with his two kids (8 and 6, small for their age but both can fit on the back at the same time) I asked him how he liked it. He said it was great and I mentioned that it was currently $100 off the $1,599 price tag with a discount code. He said he paid $1,800 for his a year or so back so…e-bikes, at least some, are getting less rather than more expensive.

  137. 137.

    Geminid

    @Geminid: Also, a new JCPOA would open up the possibility of direct talks between the U.S. and Iran on other issues. From the outset of these negotiations Iran insisted it would not talk to the U.S. negotiators since we were the ones who broached the agreement first. So the Chinese, Russian and the three EU teams would meet with the Iranian team in the morning at one Vienna hotel, and then go to another hotel and meet the Americans. I bet everone ate well, though!

  138. 138.

    Leto

    @Another Scott: Russia base destroyed after epic photo fail
    A rookie error in a photo by a Russia journalist allowed Ukraine’s forces to locate a base occupied by a shadowy mercenary group.

    Ukraine said on Monday that it successfully struck the headquarters of the Wagner Group, the elite Russian paramilitary organisation fighting on behalf of the Kremlin, just days after photos posted online mistakenly revealed its location.

    Governor of Luhansk in Ukraine, Serhiy Hayday, announced the country’s forces struck the group’s main operation in the eastern city of Popasna, according to the BBC.

    Haha, get fucked.

  139. 139.

    PAM Dirac

    @different-church-lady:

     

    Still not making any sense — why make a unilateral offer to dial things down?

    I’m not sure what the entire message to the DOJ was, but on FOX he is ranting that people are angry at all the scams and steals and all the same old BS he’s been lying about forever to justify violence, so taken together it is nowhere near a unilateral offer.

  140. 140.

    Miss Bianca

    @Betty Cracker: I dunno about Rubio (editor: Yeah, I do, actually), but you ain’t no dummy.

    That said, I ain’t either, and I doubt I’d be able to get into the University of Michigan (my alma mater) these days. Admission standards at state universities are as absurdly high these days as the Ivies.

  141. 141.

    lowtechcyclist

    @What Have the Romans Ever Done for US?:

    Interesting!  The thought of buying an e-bike has crossed my mind every now and then.  A lot of my errands involve driving just a few miles, but the local hills make it strenuous to run those errands on a bicycle.  I think they might be in an e-bike’s sweet spot, though.

  142. 142.

    Betty Cracker

    @lowtechcyclist: DeSantis called a special session a while back after the regular session did nothing but approve DeSantis’s crooked redistricting maps and enact legislation on culture war bullshit. The result was they’ll drop a couple of billion on the insurance companies — nothing for homeowners. The fact that he felt the need to pretend to address it via special session tells me they understand the danger the issue poses to their political prospects. But they did nothing useful for homeowners.

  143. 143.

    jonas

    @Geminid: ​
     

    I bet everone ate well, though!

    Vienna’s a very diverse and cosmopolitan city with lots of dining options, but it would still kind of suck if you couldn’t eat pork, beer, or wine.

  144. 144.

    Heidi Mom

    @Kropacetic: I saw that yesterday at the library.  We have two study rooms that patrons can occupy for 2 hours at a time; if no one wants your room after 2 hours, you can stay there.  A young white woman asked for a room, and since the sign-up sheet showed that no one was there, I signed her up. But someone was in the room–a young black man.  He said “No problem, I’ve been here practically all day,” and started packing up.  She said “Are you sure?  Because I don’t want to kick you out.”  They exchanged a few more thanks and apologies, as peers do; he left the room and she went in;  and I was left wishing they were running the world.

  146. 146.

    Geminid

    @jonas: The Iranians probably ate at the hotel with the  kitchen accommodating their preferences. I doubt if they went out much. Maybe they went sightseeing on off days, but I bet they had to stick together.

  149. 149.

    artem1s

    @different-church-lady: ​
     
    I think the confusion might be in that Trump is so deluded he thinks he’s in a position to bargain still the President.
    And has something to say about how the DOJ conducts their investigations.

  150. 150.

    Kropacetic

    @artem1s: I think the confusion might be in that Trump is so deluded he thinks he’s still the President.

    Once a king or queen in Narnia, always a king or queen…

  152. 152.

    Chris Johnson

    @David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: As far as the ‘the country is on fire, how can I help?’ message?

    I think it’s probably just Maggie Haberman making it up in the belief that Trump OUGHT to have an attitude like that. I don’t believe for a second that he actually does.

    Plausible that it’s actually a threat, but he’s not sophisticated. I think it’s made up.

    Another darker interpretation is that along with the stuff out of Bannon insisting that government is going to assassinate Trump, this is another arm of a propaganda campaign laying groundwork for turning him into a martyr: the intended outcome being that they fake him being conciliatory when he is not, and then Russian hit men kill him, and then the propagandists insist it was the US Government who did it. Part of this would definitely involve faking that Trump turned unaccountably nice, which is flatly impossible.

    The sheer chaos of it all would be another intended outcome.

    The only thing truly impossible was that Trump saw the country was ‘on fire’ and earnestly wanted to help (even to save his ass). No, asshole. You are on fire. The country is doing a lot better these days.

  153. 153.

    Paul in KY

    @Soprano2: More like he’s coming up with these crazy policies just for his own ambitions for President. He cares nothing for your kids or the teachers or the policies he’s declaring by fiat!

  154. 154.

    Paul in KY

    @Ken: See your point, but just wonder how anyone who looks at DeSatanis could call him ‘nice’. I think his happiest expression would be described as a ‘glower’ or maybe a ‘sneer’.

  156. 156.

    Origuy

    @Leto: It looks like the people who ran the Wagner Group’s Telegram channel were killed in the attack. If I understand the tweets, about 200 of the mercenaries were killed.

     

    The Wagner Russian mercenaries, who ran the “Grey Zone” Telegram channel, with 268,000 followers, have no updates since August 13.

    My friend, Ukrainian journalist Denis Kazansky, reports that it’s probable that it’s editors were wiped out during the HIMARS strike on Popasna. pic.twitter.com/VkvGqeupNt
    — Jason Jay Smart (@officejjsmart) August 16, 2022

  158. 158.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @Betsy: switch over to Ravelry (knitting website) in dark mode is what I do, and then start playing either soothing music or an audiobook where I know the story, and fall asleep to that

  159. 159.

    VOR

    @Kropacetic: I’m going to defend Starship Troopers. The society in the novel made the right to vote contingent on completion of a term of public service. It didn’t have to be the military, but they were always hiring and didn’t require advanced degrees, so it was a popular choice.

    One specific class in the school had to be taught by a combat veteran. It was a debate oriented class about civics and public responsibility. The author clearly used this class as a device to air viewpoints on said topics.

    There was a war ongoing in the novel vs. an alien race known as The Bugs. They have often been suggested to be a stand-in for communism. And yes, the name was a way to de-humanize the completely alien race.

    I’m not saying the novel doesn’t have fascist elements, but the 1997 movie adaptation dialed it up to 11. The director famously never finished reading the novel so parts of the movie are quite different from the novel. The director intentionally made it a parody of fascism where I would argue the novel was intended to be a discussion.

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