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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Cloud-Shouting (Open Thread)

Cloud-Shouting (Open Thread)

by Betty Cracker|  August 30, 202212:48 pm| 211 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Trumpery

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Sounds like the defeated ex-president is going apeshit on his tumbleweed-choked Twitter knock-off this morning. Insider:

In the weeks since the FBI’s unprecedented search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, the former president’s allies have pleaded with him to stop publicly commenting on the raid and fight the Justice Department’s investigation in the courts. Trump isn’t listening.

On Tuesday morning alone, Trump has taken to his Truth Social platform over four dozen times to share memes and posts attacking his political enemies. Some posts are memes attacking President Joe Biden or other Democrats, while others are baseless election fraud claims or attempts to delegitimize the FBI.

One post in particular from Tuesday morning shows a photo of Trump with the false caption, “TRUMP WON,” in reference to the 2020 presidential election. The former president then reposted the photo and wrote that the “FBI has advanced this fact even further.”

I won’t subject y’all to the lunatic screenshots others are sharing on Twitter, but the cavalcade of crazy includes a retweet (“ReTruth,” as the tens of users on Trump’s platform call it) of an obviously fake Ivanka tweet (“truth”) by someone who’s peddling a DIY medicine book to vaccine avoiders. Earlier, he demanded to be either reinstalled as POTUS or to have an immediate 2020 election do-over. It’s 2022.

What will he do when the creditors pull the plug on his shitty fake Twitter site? I mean, he’s already crashing weddings at his properties to whine about being mistreated. Will he leap out of his shitty resort’s golf cart barn and heap abuse on Liz Cheney to startled golfers in the tee box?

Will he float around like a fat Tang turd in the pool yelling at passing swimmers about the FBI? Will he burst through the tablecloths at the evening buffet and screech about the perfect phone call? It’s getting more absurd by the day, and I thought we’d passed absurd years ago.

Speaking of dumb things part-time Florida residents say, the other day, my hubby and I helped an elderly relative move some heavy furniture in a town near The Villages. To reward ourselves for being such saints, we stopped at a diner for breakfast after.

As we rounded the corner to the front of the building, we saw an elderly gent on his back on the sidewalk, with his wife (I assume) trying but failing to pull him to his feet. A cane was lying next to him.

My husband rushed to help the man (because my husband really is a good person — whereas I just pretend to be some of the time), asking gently if help was needed, and, upon hearing the affirmative, inquiring what would be the best way to help. As the two men were working that out, another woman rounded the corner and spied the scene.

She marched over to the man who had fallen and said, “You really should try a walker.”

Who does that? Could she really have believed she was being helpful at that moment? JFC! The man, now on his feet, told her he does have a walker and would bring it next time.

That lady was lucky I wasn’t the one being dusted off after a tumble. I’d have told her to mind her own goddamn business. Three days later and I’m still shaking my head over it.

Open thread!

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Previous Post: « Tuesday Morning Open Thread: Repub Lamentations Well Up
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Reader Interactions

211Comments

  1. 1.

    kindness

    August 30, 2022 at 12:53 pm

    Seems as if the Illuminati running the Republican meme sets have decided riots in the streets would be better headlines than the one’s Republicans are getting now.

  2. 2.

    Mike E

    August 30, 2022 at 12:54 pm

    That lady is just a physical manifestation of the internet… just think, of all the times you wanted to deck some smart ass online, there was your chance! Heh.

    ETA 2nd! Wow!

  3. 3.

    waspuppet

    August 30, 2022 at 12:55 pm

    The man, now on his feet, told her he does have a walker and would bring it next time.

    I guarantee she walked away convinced she helped by inspiring him to say that.

    As for TFG, I don’t know what to say. Except that he will still be covered like a totally normal presidential candidate, and his “policy proposals” will be looked at like they are serious plans that reasonable people can disagree on. Not only his outwardly fascist plans, but his plan of “Fight inflation by telling it ‘You’re Fired'” will inspire the pundit class to stroke their chins and go “Interesting plan, and the Republicans say it’ll work, so who knows?”

  4. 4.

    Kropacetic

    August 30, 2022 at 12:55 pm

    One post in particular from Tuesday morning shows a photo of Trump with the false caption, “TRUMP WON,” in reference to the 2020 presidential election. The former president then reposted the photo and wrote that the “FBI has advanced this fact even further.”

    Fuckin’ logic, how does that work?

  5. 5.

    MattF

    August 30, 2022 at 12:57 pm

    Decompensation and perseveration. Both bad signs.

  6. 6.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 30, 2022 at 12:58 pm

    In the weeks since the FBI’s unprecedented search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, the former president’s allies have pleaded with him to stop publicly commenting on the raid and fight the Justice Department’s investigation in the courts. Trump isn’t listening.

    The Soviet shitpile mobster manbaby’s actions are hurting himself?

    Scream louder, Soviet shitpile mobster manbaby!

  7. 7.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 30, 2022 at 1:00 pm

    @MattF: Also, bad to be a manbaby shitstain who fell fat, orange, fascist face first into the Presidency.

  8. 8.

    Albatrossity

    August 30, 2022 at 1:01 pm

    Love the walker story! Lots of empathy on display there…

  9. 9.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 30, 2022 at 1:01 pm

    Not quite OT, this is nice and succinct:

    Adam Parkhomenko @AdamParkhomenko Aug 29

    Lindsey Graham got caught trying to have Black votes thrown out. After getting caught he is now threatening violence against the United States. Keep reminding everyone of this.

  10. 10.

    Ocotillo

    August 30, 2022 at 1:01 pm

    Open thread?  Mrs. O used to teach in Uvalde about 30 years back.  We drove out there this past weekend and I must confess, seeing and hearing things on the TV and online are a lot different from seeing them in person.  Down across from the courthouse are the makeshift memorials and so many have photos of the kids and it really punched me in the gut in a different way.  I guess we get numb to the mass murder in this country that we aren’t fully aware of.

  11. 11.

    Spanky

    August 30, 2022 at 1:02 pm

    @MattF: Bad for whom?

  12. 12.

    Kropacetic

    August 30, 2022 at 1:02 pm

    Will he leap out of his shitty resort’s golf cart barn and heap abuse on Liz Cheney to startled golfers in the tee box?

    I just choked on my lunch reading that.  Worth it.

  13. 13.

    Benw

    August 30, 2022 at 1:04 pm

    Will he burst through the tablecloths at the evening buffet…

    TFG’s drunk so much Kool Aid he’s about to burst through the wall and shout OH YEAH

  14. 14.

    MattF

    August 30, 2022 at 1:04 pm

    @Spanky: I’m not suggesting empathy.

  15. 15.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 30, 2022 at 1:05 pm

    Apparently Ann Coulter has declared that trump is done, and certain corners of the internet are very excited. And speaking of relics from teh 90s you’d forgotten were out there:

    Tim Miller @Timodc

    When people ask me how I think the media should treat Trump, I have an answer many find unexpected. Like  @DRUDGE does. Look at today’s banner. He treats him like he would any other politician.

    If you remember Drudge, it’s an interesting flashback. Kind of. I read a while back that Drudge has been a never-trumper.

  16. 16.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 30, 2022 at 1:06 pm

    @Kropacetic:

    Will he float around like a fat Tang turd in the pool yelling at passing swimmers about the FBI? Will he burst through the tablecloths at the evening buffet and screech about the perfect phone call?

    Gross! but LOL!

  17. 17.

    Soprano2

    August 30, 2022 at 1:06 pm

    On Sunday we were at the bar when I overheard a young woman (20’s, probably) opining that we really don’t need the government. There was an older man with her who was talking to her about it, I think trying to talk some sense into her. I just would have told her “Ok fine, then quit using anything built or supported by the government, see how far you get”. People can be so dumb about stuff like that.

  18. 18.

    eddie blake

    August 30, 2022 at 1:06 pm

    hey, so i just tested positive for the covid. nasty-ass headache.
    i’m usually VERY careful, rock a N-99 pretty much everywhere,
    BUT not in the park at the meetup. and the park was CROWDED.

    anybody who was at the meetup in bryant park should get tested, plz.

    anyway. carry on…

  19. 19.

    Alison Rose 💙🌻💛

    August 30, 2022 at 1:08 pm

    I honestly don’t think there is a more pathetic excuse for a human being than Trump. Like, my God. What an absolute baby. How on Earth can anyone think that this whining, crying, sniveling, tantrum-throwing, foot-stomping, screeching little child is “a real man” as I’ve heard some of his dipshit groupies say? And I say this as someone who hates the whole concept of “manly” and “masculine” and whatever because they are bullshit made-up ideas, but speaking within the context of a society that accepts them…what the fuck is manly about Trump?

  20. 20.

    Alison Rose 💙🌻💛

    August 30, 2022 at 1:08 pm

    @eddie blake: Oh no! Hope your symptoms are mild and over with quickly <3

  21. 21.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 30, 2022 at 1:08 pm

    @Soprano2: Oh good grief.  Was she plastered, or just an idiot?

  22. 22.

    Alison Rose 💙🌻💛

    August 30, 2022 at 1:09 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: Porque no los dos?

  23. 23.

    livewyre

    August 30, 2022 at 1:10 pm

    @Alison Rose 💙🌻💛: Impunity.

  24. 24.

    Spanky

    August 30, 2022 at 1:11 pm

    @eddie blake: Awww shit. Take care of yourself. I know you’re quadruple shot ’cause you’re a jackal, so you’ve got that going for you.

  25. 25.

    Benw

    August 30, 2022 at 1:11 pm

    @eddie blake: feel better soon!

  26. 26.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 30, 2022 at 1:12 pm

    @Soprano2: also overheard in a bar a couple weeks ago (a steakhouse in a hotel near O’Hare): to my left, two strangers who started out talking about connecting flights and soon agreed that this country went crazy with Covid restrictions (ETA: one of them was Canadian, FWIW), to my right, two friends one of whom said, “What trump oughta do is run for Senate, and let DeSantis be president”

  27. 27.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 30, 2022 at 1:12 pm

    @eddie blake: Hope you feel better soon.  One of my friends caught COVID from a recent business trip, and had bad muscle aches all yesterday (and 19 hours of sleep).

    Added – he says he feels better today.

  28. 28.

    Elizabelle

    August 30, 2022 at 1:13 pm

    yelling at passing swimmers about the FBI?

    LOL.  I can see that.  I hope he does not stroke himself out before legal justice is meted out to him.

    And, wouldn’t it be great if he said something actionable in his social media rants?  He sounds frantic.

  29. 29.

    Joe Falco

    August 30, 2022 at 1:13 pm

    @waspuppet:

    Not only his outwardly fascist plans, but his plan of “Fight inflation by telling it ‘You’re Fired’”

    Maybe pass out buttons that say “Whip Inflation Now”? A tried-and-true Republican measure!

  30. 30.

    StringOnAStick

    August 30, 2022 at 1:14 pm

    Slightly OT, but since it involves a gunAmerican I guess it fits here.  The attempted mass shooting here in Bend, OR this last Sunday was by a 20 year old who had been posting online about shooting up a school in the prior weeks, but school doesn’t start here until after Labor day.  I guess he didn’t want to wait so he went after a Safeway, killing a mid 80’s shopper and the 66 year old employee in the produce section who tried to disarm him before he decided to shoot himself, saving us the expense of a trial.  Not an AR-15, but what they are calling a gun “patterned after the AR-15”. One more crazed young man with a gun who removed himself from the gene pool and unfortunately took two other decent guys with him.

  31. 31.

    Elizabelle

    August 30, 2022 at 1:16 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:   The latest installment of “mooks out drinking.”  Ugh.

    Second comment shows a great misunderstanding of Trump’s personality.  Would he deign to be one of 100, in a chamber that rewards seniority?  Would never have the patience or interest.

  32. 32.

    Baud

    August 30, 2022 at 1:16 pm

    You really should try a walker

    Nominated!

  33. 33.

    frosty

    August 30, 2022 at 1:16 pm

    @eddie blake: Sorry  to hear that. Bummer that you got it outside, since I’ve been assuming that’s safe now and only wearing the N95 to the grocery and hardware stores.

    Hope you get well soon without any lingering effects.

  34. 34.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 30, 2022 at 1:17 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    to my right, two friends one of whom said, “What trump oughta do is run for Senate, and let DeSantis be president” 

    John Oliver needs to start a Punchable Dumbass magazine.

  35. 35.

    Betty Cracker

    August 30, 2022 at 1:19 pm

    @StringOnAStick: Jesus. One hideous thing about our current moment is the impulse to be grateful the body count wasn’t higher.

  36. 36.

    Amir Khalid

    August 30, 2022 at 1:19 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I didn’t know Ann Coulter was still writing, or that anyone was still reading her. What publications/sites must I avoid to continue my Coulter-free existence?

  37. 37.

    Salty Sam

    August 30, 2022 at 1:19 pm

    …a fat Tang turd in the pool…

    goddammit Betty, I can’t get the image out of my head!

  38. 38.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 30, 2022 at 1:22 pm

    @Amir Khalid: I gather Substack, the great Silo-er

  39. 39.

    Andrew Abshier

    August 30, 2022 at 1:24 pm

    Walker lady probably wonders why her children never call or visit.

  40. 40.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 30, 2022 at 1:24 pm

    @Salty Sam: Dump as a pile of shit

  41. 41.

    Frankensteinbeck

    August 30, 2022 at 1:25 pm

    @Alison Rose 💙🌻💛: ​

    How on Earth can anyone think that this whining, crying, sniveling, tantrum-throwing, foot-stomping, screeching little child is “a real man”

    Because he’s mean. Trump is a god of toxic masculinity. That includes the whininess, the narcissistic claims that he’s never wrong, the chickenshit bravado, all of it. But mostly, he’s mean, and to a big swathe of America that’s manliness.

  42. 42.

    Andrew Abshier

    August 30, 2022 at 1:25 pm

    @Salty Sam: Poo Tang Clan?

  43. 43.

    Shalimar

    August 30, 2022 at 1:26 pm

    I have seen Mar-a-Lago referred to as a golf resort in at least 3 media stories this week.  Mar-a-Lago does not have a golf course.  The Palm Beach course Trump owns is 4 1/2 miles away.

  44. 44.

    The Thin Black Duke

    August 30, 2022 at 1:28 pm

    @eddie blake: Feel better, dude.

  45. 45.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 30, 2022 at 1:29 pm

    @Shalimar: yup. I heard it referred to yesterday (on NPR, maybe?) as trump’s “seaside estate”. It’s a supper club.

  46. 46.

    Tony G

    August 30, 2022 at 1:29 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: 1) When did Anne Coulter stop kissing Trump’s ass?  I’m afraid to look into that question.   2) I wonder whether anyone younger than 45 would have any idea who Anne Coulter is? She’s like an obscure rock band that had one hit in 1972.

  47. 47.

    eddie blake

    August 30, 2022 at 1:31 pm

    @Alison Rose 💙🌻💛:

    thanks. so far the headache is the worst part.

  48. 48.

    MattF

    August 30, 2022 at 1:32 pm

    @Tony G: Coulter turned on Trump a couple of years ago when she decided he’d turned soft on immigrants.

  49. 49.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 30, 2022 at 1:32 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    It’s a supper club. 

    LOL!  And what crappy food they must have!

  50. 50.

    Geminid

    August 30, 2022 at 1:32 pm

     

     

    @Tony G: Coulter got off the trump train at least three years ago.

  51. 51.

    Kropacetic

    August 30, 2022 at 1:32 pm

    @Tony G: I wonder whether anyone younger than 45 would have any idea who Anne Coulter is? She’s like an obscure rock band that had one hit in 1972.-

    I’m 39.  I became politically active in the early aughts and she was one of the bigger names then.  I used to read her blog for the “other” point of view.  Made one post and was immediately banned.  Not even aggressive, just questioning the notion of the “minutemen” dumbshit they had going on at the time.

  52. 52.

    Geoduck

    August 30, 2022 at 1:32 pm

    It’s great he got banned from Twitter, but sigh, every time he posts it immediately gets plastered there as well.

  53. 53.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 30, 2022 at 1:32 pm

    @Tony G:

    She’s like an obscure rock band that had one hit in 1972.

    TURN UP THE BAY CITY ROLLERS!

    Coulter turned on trump over Teh Wall, when he couldn’t get it up.

  54. 54.

    eddie blake

    August 30, 2022 at 1:34 pm

    @frosty:

    @mrmoshpotato:

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    thanks, guys. much obliged. yeah. i pretty much go EVERYWHERE with a N-99 that has a rubber gasket around the sides of the mask-

    buuuuut i was careless at the meetup, went maskless, and the park was packed.

  55. 55.

    Kropacetic

    August 30, 2022 at 1:34 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Coulter turned on trump over Teh Wall, when he couldn’t get it up.

    Check that came with the NDA must not have cleared.  She should have checked with Stormy Daniels first.

  56. 56.

    Bupalos

    August 30, 2022 at 1:37 pm

    This is how Trump needs to be covered. His whole schtick is just throwing up whatever off the wall shit he can think of or find, and counting on the media to present it in all it’s entertaining, insane detail and thus amplifying his voice. That creates a confusing cacophony of “fact-checking” that does nothing but spread the weird entertaining rumor while undermining the idea of basic established, agreed-upon truth.

    In contrast, this is the right way to cover it. “Trump is freaking out again for some reason, and posting a mishmash of whacky, lunatic crap.” I even like that it’s kind of categorized- some is lashing out at enemies, some is promoting Q-anon loons, some is delegitimizing the FBI, some is trying to cast doubt on the election…” It would be even better framed if they did volumetric analysis, like “19% of the tweets were attempts to create hatred of the FBI…”

    Zero amplification and 100% reporting the actual news, which is that Trump is just suddenly going berserk with this crap. Reporting the actual thing that is happening as opposed to amplifying the noise.

  57. 57.

    Mallard Filmore

    August 30, 2022 at 1:38 pm

    There is a posting over at DailyKos (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/8/29/2119642/-Macron-kompromat-in-the-safe-with-Colonel-Mustard-So-much-national-enquiring-by-previous-guy) that has calmed me down somewhat about all those super secret documents that SFB stole.  Trump is a crime lord, he collected kompromat and leverage.  And good Lord, he had all the USA intelligence agencies to gather it for him.

    When news of the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago broke, everyone was panicked about nuclear secrets, as they should be.  But I think Trump’s real treasure was all the dirt he collected on Big Names throughout the world.

    This all started as a Nuclear Secrets story, with a document about Macron as a footnote.  But every rabbit hole and footnote is just so damn productive with Trump.  It may be most of what SFB stole was dirt on Macron and others, with some “Oh, sure, take that too.” as filler.

    Imagine . . .

    what they found in Trump’s safe?
    Should be a long thread.

    Start with Roy Cohn & Donald. Way back.
    Promises made. Secrets kept.
    Roger Stone. The KGB. David Pecker. Epstein, Barr, Kennedy…

    Trump had a history of secretly recording calls https://t.co/EN1Z3ZJqll

    — — • 𝗖 𝗛 𝗘 𝗘 𝗞 𝗬 • — (@andreagail_k) August 25, 2022

  58. 58.

    Betty Cracker

    August 30, 2022 at 1:41 pm

    @Geoduck: True, but maybe there’s an upside to that — Republicans do not want to be talking about that clown right now, and yet his antics are taking up oxygen. [Politico]

    Some top Republicans acknowledge the growing angst and concern, as it’s become clearer that Trump may have been warehousing some of America’s most sensitive secrets in an unsecured basement — and even refused to turn them over when the National Archives and Justice Department tried to recover them. One top Republican fundraiser asked to describe the mood among donors, said, “There is enormous frustration.”

    “The question is, is there willingness to express that frustration,” the fundraiser added. “I don’t know the answer to that. But there is real frustration, and with the exception of people who are too stupid to understand the need to be frustrated, it is nearly universal.”

    Strained defenses and private frustrations are familiar emotions for some Republicans during the Trump era. But the stakes are particularly high this fall, with projections of a red wave in the House getting dimmed to a smaller GOP majority and as Sen. Chuck Schumer appears potentially poised to remain in control of the Senate.

    Ha! Keep decompensating, shitgibbon!

  59. 59.

    MattF

    August 30, 2022 at 1:43 pm

    @Mallard Filmore: This is what I’ve been thinking. Getting dirt on his enemies might not be the only motivation, but it’s primary. And it’s how Putin operates, so there’s a precedent.

  60. 60.

    Roger Moore

    August 30, 2022 at 1:45 pm

    In the weeks since the FBI’s unprecedented search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, the former president’s allies have pleaded with him to stop publicly commenting on the raid and fight the Justice Department’s investigation in the courts. Trump isn’t listening.

    I think his instincts are right for him personally.  He’s been caught red handed, and if he tries fighting this in the court of law he’s going to prison.  His only hope is to fight in the court of public opinion, make a stink, threaten violence, and generally scare people into thinking they have to let him get away with it to avoid something worse.  His allies are trying to convince him to shut up because they think his big public fight will hurt them.

  61. 61.

    geg6

    August 30, 2022 at 1:46 pm

    @Mallard Filmore:

    Rolling Stone has an article in the same vein.

  62. 62.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 30, 2022 at 1:47 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: the recent news that trump has been giggling with is paying guests that he’s got a secret! about Emmanuel Macron reminds me of this reflection on trump’s macho, “blue-collar billionaire” appeal:

    “He wears bronzer, loves gold and gossip, is obsessed with his physical appearance, whines constantly, can’t control his emotions, watches daytime television, enjoys parades and interior decorating, and used to sell perfume.”

    I thought it was Tom Nichols, but it’s Nichols quoting Windor Mann, who I think is another never-trumper. I guess teh hair is covered by “obsessed with his appearance”, but that mess deserves its own paragraph.

  63. 63.

    NoraLenderbee

    August 30, 2022 at 1:48 pm

    @Alison Rose 💙🌻💛: It’s not “manliness”–it’s “being a grown-up” that he fails at.

  64. 64.

    geg6

    August 30, 2022 at 1:49 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Exactly.  They are crazier than him if they think he’ll do anything other than what he sees as the best option for himself.  He doesn’t give a single shit about the party.

  65. 65.

    Kropacetic

    August 30, 2022 at 1:53 pm

    @NoraLenderbee: It’s not “manliness”–it’s “being a grown-up” that he fails at.

    Por que no los dos?

    He’s like the worst stereotypes of a high school mean girl in a shlumpy man body, Regina George as played by John Candy.

  66. 66.

    🐾BillinGlendaleCA

    August 30, 2022 at 1:54 pm

    She marched over to the man who had fallen and said, “You really should try a walker.”

    I was attempting to assist a customer with a question by looking at my work phone.  I’m near sighted and wear contacts, so I use reading glasses to see my phone.  The customer says you should get laser surgery for your eyes, it’s really great.  I, of course, thanked him for his suggestion; but noted that I really couldn’t afford that.  Keep in mind, I was working part time and making $16/hr.  Some people are a bit oblivious.

  67. 67.

    Gravenstone

    August 30, 2022 at 1:56 pm

    re. the OP: a good thing about canes is they make decent close quarters cudgels. If one feels the need to put the random busy body critic in their place. “Walker this! ya useless POS”.

  68. 68.

    JWR

    August 30, 2022 at 1:56 pm

    I just Googled “Truth Social”, and after reading about how “the app lacks effective systems for moderating user-generated content”, I saw this now deleted “Truth”, generated by its main user:

    Trump is spending his morning on Truth Social directly posting 4chan and Q messages, a day after calling to be reinstated as president. He’s doing explicitly what he used to try to shade or use coded language for. pic.twitter.com/ksCMJnJ8KW
    — Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) August 30, 2022

  69. 69.

    trollhattan

    August 30, 2022 at 1:57 pm

    @StringOnAStick: “patterned after the AR-15”

    It had a clip and not a magazine, then?

    I wonder if the walker lady owned “Walkers 4 Less” down the highway a bit? Seems like an excellent bidnez for Florida, generally, and especially near “The Villages” (which doesn’t sound creepy as all fvck).

    Stupid thing sighted Sunday was a woman on the popular river parkway bike trail on one of those fat tire electric bikes, with one hand on the bar and the other clutching an infant to her chest. Both had helmets, so I guess it was totally cool.

  70. 70.

    Kropacetic

    August 30, 2022 at 1:59 pm

    In other news, early in-person voting started in Massachusetts last Saturday.  I’ll be heading to town hall today to submit my first virtually all female ballot, that includes every statewide race.

  71. 71.

    ian

    August 30, 2022 at 2:01 pm

    @MattF:

    Coulter turned on Trump a couple of years ago when she decided he’d turned soft on immigrants.

    When running a policy explicitly aimed at separating immigrant families and incarcerating those children without access to their loved ones is too soft on immigration…

  72. 72.

    misterpuff

    August 30, 2022 at 2:04 pm

    Will he burst through the tablecloths at the evening buffet and screech about the perfect phone call? It’s getting more absurd by the day, and I thought we’d passed absurd years ago.

    Will he burst through the walls ala Kool-Aid Man? Crash , It’s Pitcher of Tang Man!

  73. 73.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 30, 2022 at 2:04 pm

    @Alison Rose 💙🌻💛: There is a group of people who find bluster and bullying manly.  Essentially, they are personifying the Rodomomte character from Renaissance poetry and drama (Orlando Furiouso by Ludovico Ariosto par example).  Normal people can see through the pretense.

  74. 74.

    Suzanne

    August 30, 2022 at 2:04 pm

    fat Tang turd

    Win.

  75. 75.

    Betty Cracker

    August 30, 2022 at 2:05 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: It really does deserve a paragraph of its own since it’s a multidimensional combover. I’m not even sure how that works unless maybe you spray the base layer down with Aqua Net and then comb the outer layer over it at a different angle. And then there’s that…hair visor thing. What’s the anchor that enables the cantilever effect? It’s a mystery.

  76. 76.

    JMG

    August 30, 2022 at 2:05 pm

    @Kropacetic: Just voted! I was the only person there except for four poll workers. It’s 91 with humidity to match, so I wasn’t surprised people weren’t turning out in the midday sun.

  77. 77.

    Charluckles

    August 30, 2022 at 2:05 pm

    My pops has been dead for years and I still harbor some resentment about his refusal to use a walker.  It became representative of his refusal to acknowledge his limitations and my mom subsequently being expected to pick up the pieces when things inevitably went wrong.  Not to get into the weeds defending busy bodies.

  78. 78.

    different-church-lady

    August 30, 2022 at 2:05 pm

    So sick of crazy people.

    Soooooooo… sick… of… crazy… people…………..

  79. 79.

    lowtechcyclist

    August 30, 2022 at 2:06 pm

    @MattF:

    Getting dirt on his enemies might not be the only motivation, but it’s primary. And it’s how Putin operates, so there’s a precedent.

    Trump is probably jealous that Putin can have his enemies poisoned and stuff, but he can’t.

  80. 80.

    Baud

    August 30, 2022 at 2:07 pm

    @different-church-lady: I will miss you.

  81. 81.

    Kropacetic

    August 30, 2022 at 2:08 pm

    @JMG: It’s 91 with humidity to match, so I wasn’t surprised people weren’t turning out in the midday sun.

    I don’t have AC.  I was thinking of using this as an excuse to loiter in the town offices.

  82. 82.

    Roger Moore

    August 30, 2022 at 2:10 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    It’s a shared lie.  There are a lot of men who are much closer to Trump than to our cultural ideal of manliness, even the toxic version.  They can’t reject Trump as unmanly without rejecting their own manliness, so they agree to let him pass.

  83. 83.

    Frankensteinbeck

    August 30, 2022 at 2:11 pm

    @Mallard Filmore: ​

    It may be most of what SFB stole was dirt on Macron and others, with some “Oh, sure, take that too.” as filler.

    I doubt it. He’d be doing something with them, and the only people licking his mushroom these days are the kind of Republicans who would have anyway, and the Saudis. And I can’t imagine that MBS would care about any documents Trump has.

    @geg6: ​

    what he sees as the best option for himself.

    Admittedly, ‘what he sees’ does a lot of heavy lifting here. I guarantee that keeping yet more documents once the FBI knew he had them was not best for himself. But having been born on third base, whining and lashing out and throwing sand in the gears is an effective tactic. He doesn’t have to be smart. He just has to outlast his victims. Trump really is the poster boy for how this isn’t a meritocracy and being rich gives you vast layers of insulation from your own incompetence.

  84. 84.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 30, 2022 at 2:12 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Wow! Drudge is still around.

    Speaking of Coulter, here’s her getting severely roasted, something that is always good for the soul.

  85. 85.

    Jager

    August 30, 2022 at 2:13 pm

    @Andrew Abshier:

    Going through the MSP Airport a couple of years ago we watched an older woman turn around and yell at her husband in his walker, “Hurry up, hurry up, why are you so slow?”

  86. 86.

    JWR

    August 30, 2022 at 2:16 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Lindsey Graham got caught trying to have Black votes thrown out. After getting caught he is now threatening violence against the United States. Keep reminding everyone of this.

    But yesterday on the Snooze Hour, Tamara Keith assured me that he wasn’t making a threat, but a prediction. As if that would be any better. I really wonder about that woman.

  87. 87.

    Origuy

    August 30, 2022 at 2:17 pm

    Google has barred Truth Social from its Play Store. You can probably still install it by sideloading it, but Google won’t make it easy.

  88. 88.

    Gravenstone

    August 30, 2022 at 2:17 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Hey, they Bay City Rollers actually managed to get a (short lived) variety show on the back of their hit!

  89. 89.

    livewyre

    August 30, 2022 at 2:18 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I’d generalize from that, actually. The way I see it, there’s a concept of manliness, a normative masculine ideal, that excuses anything about someone – anything – as long as he gets away with it. Nurture or nature; came by or started with; doesn’t matter. It may be outdated and receding but its institutional adherents control a lot of opinion.

    That’s what I think others see in him – he can ruin anything, emit and cover himself in any volume of slop, and yet not be touched. Like a man of true nobility. It would be easy to underestimate the breadth of that appeal and how far how many will go to defend it, even (hopefully) this close to its end. Concentration of money may be the only reason such an ailing trend has lasted this long.

  90. 90.

    Kropacetic

    August 30, 2022 at 2:18 pm

    @JWR: I wonder if reporters confronted with Republicans predicting violence from their supporters ever ask anything to the effect of “would they be justified?”

  91. 91.

    different-church-lady

    August 30, 2022 at 2:19 pm

    @JWR: ​
      “I predict that I will shoot you in the head” is one hell of a “prediction”.

  92. 92.

    Amir Khalid

    August 30, 2022 at 2:21 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    There are super-duper-hold hairsprays (I think they’called) that can do amazing things. I once saw a picture of an extreme-sports dude who used such a spray to turn his long hair into a three-foot stalagmite coming out the top of his head.

  93. 93.

    Roger Moore

    August 30, 2022 at 2:22 pm

    @StringOnAStick:

    Not an AR-15, but what they are calling a gun “patterned after the AR-15”.

    This is persnickety but correct.  Most of the “AR-15s” you read about in the news are actually AR-15 pattern rifles.  They’re made by some third party that based its design on the long-expired patents for the AR-15 rather than “true” descendants that licensed the design from Armalite or Colt.

  94. 94.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 30, 2022 at 2:23 pm

    @Betty Cracker: apparently, before 2016, Ivanka used to keep the bright young things of the Hamptons and Upper East Side in stitches with her account of the daily ritual.

  95. 95.

    Bugboy

    August 30, 2022 at 2:26 pm

    I’m willing to bet before this is over, he’ll be sneaking away from the WH tours…

  96. 96.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    August 30, 2022 at 2:26 pm

    OT but just swooping in with the news that I do not have to have chemo as my Oncologist thinks that the cancer is so small and growing so slowly over 3 years that the treatment would be worse than the disease.  They are going to keep doing CT scans every 3 months and monitor it but other than that she said to keep doing what I’m doing and not worry about it.  So basically don’t worry about it until she tells me there is something to worry about.  Yay!  So with that advice I am now going to plan my next trip which is to Liverpool to check out the Doctor Who exhibition in the Museum and then go to the British Music Hall of Fame :)

    PS) The lawyers I follow on Twitter are basically saying at this point TFG is going for an insanity defense, there can be no other reason for him demanding to be reinstated or having a new election.

  97. 97.

    lefthanded compliment

    August 30, 2022 at 2:26 pm

    I’m sure it’s nothing resembling a strategy (TFG isn’t capable of that), but his constant screeching about having won the election does allow his addled acolytes to say, “See! He didn’t steal anything!! He’s still the prez, and those docs are his!!1!”

  98. 98.

    Madeleine

    August 30, 2022 at 2:28 pm

    @eddie blake:

    Thanks for letting us know. I hope you have a very mild case and recover completely and quickly.

    We have a stash of tests. Finally, a reason to use some.

  99. 99.

    Baud

    August 30, 2022 at 2:28 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    👍

  100. 100.

    Lyrebird

    August 30, 2022 at 2:29 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck: Can’t argue with or add to what you said.

    I am glad there are men in the world like the Gloucester men who put up this Strong Men Don’t Bully sign, a long time ago now.  And men in the world like Cole and so many other folks here.

  101. 101.

    VOR

    August 30, 2022 at 2:32 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: That’s an interesting defection. Coulter literally wrote a book titled “In Trump We Trust“. Apparently she has become a Trumpism without Trump person.  The Wikipedia article on the book says:

    By the end of Trump’s term in office, Coulter’s endorsement of Trump had turned upside down. While refusing to acknowledge that she was misguided in boosting Trump’s candidacy in 2016, Coulter in 2021 said, “Trump betrayed his own supporters at every turn … I hate him. He’s a betrayer.”

  102. 102.

    different-church-lady

    August 30, 2022 at 2:33 pm

    @VOR: ​
      Outrage-monger tries to mong us what?

  103. 103.

    Steeplejack

    August 30, 2022 at 2:34 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    Good news indeed! 👍

  104. 104.

    Mike in Pasadena

    August 30, 2022 at 2:35 pm

    I have a serious question concerning mental health of the country. What factors are any of you consider to determine when it is time to leave the US for another country? Ever since the 11th grade I have always kept my passport current, but now I’m considering other measures for leaving in a hurry. Does one wait for widespread acts of terrorism and violence across the country?  Wait until you see local terrorism and violence in your your own city, county, or state? Or wait until you are caught in a terrorist event yourself? Does one wait until your neighborhood experiences AR15 bullets sprayed across homes from a drive by shooter? The last one is the one I suspect will be the first in my area when two people from an inland California county decide it’s time to show those arrogant librul coastal elites they are serious. I don’t want to be like the people who waited too long in the 1930’s thinking, “Nothing terrible will happen. My fellow Germans are good people and terrible things are unthinkable.”

  105. 105.

    zhena gogolia

    August 30, 2022 at 2:36 pm

    @Albatrossity: Yes. I know that kind of person. I would react like BC.

  106. 106.

    zhena gogolia

    August 30, 2022 at 2:40 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Great, I was thinking about you. Wonderful news.

  107. 107.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 30, 2022 at 2:41 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    Great news

  108. 108.

    catclub

    August 30, 2022 at 2:41 pm

    @Amir Khalid: There are super-duper-hold hairsprays (I think they’called) that can do amazing things.

     

    Fuel for a potato cannon is one of those things.

  109. 109.

    Ruckus

    August 30, 2022 at 2:42 pm

    @Kropacetic:

    “Fuckin’ logic, how does that work?”

    The person least able to answer that question is SFB. His concept of logic is rusty at best, far more likely long forgotten by him as it is likely less than 3 words and completely incorrect in any case.

  110. 110.

    Betty Cracker

    August 30, 2022 at 2:44 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Good to hear. Was wondering how you were the other day.

  111. 111.

    JWR

    August 30, 2022 at 2:44 pm

    @Soprano2:

    On Sunday we were at the bar when I overheard a young woman (20’s, probably) opining that we really don’t need the government.

    Yeah, I remember thinking the same thing, probably in my early twenties, and for a very short time. But then I grew up. And as I really want to tell some of my GOP family members, if you don’t need or want the government, then we don’t need you, because WE ARE that damn government, dammit!

  112. 112.

    The Moar You Know

    August 30, 2022 at 2:45 pm

    What factors are any of you consider to determine when it is time to leave the US for another country?

    @Mike in Pasadena: The election of a proto-fascist national leader, which we have recently experienced.

    I am too old and too poor to emigrate, or I would have in 2017.  If you can go, you should go.  You’ve gotten all the warning you should need.

  113. 113.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 30, 2022 at 2:45 pm

    @lowtechcyclist: ​ 

    Trump is probably jealous that Putin can have his enemies poisoned and stuff, but he can’t.

    Guaranteed

  114. 114.

    Tom Q

    August 30, 2022 at 2:47 pm

    @Madeleine: Just a suggestion (from someone who’s had COVID): sometimes the home tests show a negative result that a PCR test would contradict.  Especially if you show any symptoms, I’d recommend getting the latter.  The ones on the street in NY usually give you a result in 24-36 hours.

    I was sorry to have to miss the NY meet-up last week — I’d been to two previous ones — but I can’t say I regret missing the anxiety this will produce.

  115. 115.

    gwangung

    August 30, 2022 at 2:48 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: News like that is NEVER off topic.

    Woo hoo!

  116. 116.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 30, 2022 at 2:50 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    Oh LBD, that is such great news! I mean, quarterly CT scans are kind of a nuisance, but vastly much better than the various alternatives. I’m really happy for you. Have a whole lot of wonderful vacations!

  117. 117.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    August 30, 2022 at 2:51 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Good news!

  118. 118.

    CaseyL

    August 30, 2022 at 2:51 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: ​
     

    That is great news! Enjoy your trip – the first of many, I hope!

  119. 119.

    trollhattan

    August 30, 2022 at 2:54 pm

    @Tom Q: +1 based on what I’ve read–the rapid test shows a detection at a fairly high viral load so not a good indicator of an infection’s early stages nor of when the virus count is very low, following infection.

    IIUC the distinction was less of an issue with the earlier, less-communicable Covid strains.

  120. 120.

    Ruckus

    August 30, 2022 at 2:57 pm

    @frosty:

    People carry and distribute the disease in the air. If you are near people and you are exposed there is a risk, indoors or out. This is the same for any airborne particles be they deadly or not. Too many people are never going to wear a mask, it is beneath them, or taking their freedumbs from them or some other such bullshit.

    The only real difference indoors or out is that it’s easier to distance yourself from someone outdoors. Unless it isn’t, as in a crowd.

  121. 121.

    Elizabelle

    August 30, 2022 at 2:57 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt:   Excellent news!

    And:  I do wonder if Trump will sneak out with “diminished capacity.”  It is worrisome, but …

  122. 122.

    Bupalos

    August 30, 2022 at 2:57 pm

    @Mallard Filmore: That would seem to just be a vague assessment that since Trump uses personal information against people, that must be what it is.

    I have no doubt that’s a thing Trump would do. I also have no doubt that Trump would do something much worse and would be worth billions to the Saudis or Russians. More than anything else, Trump wants to be in that global authoritarian oligarch’s club. I doubt there’s really anything he wouldn’t justify in his mind in order to join.

    Really. It’s always worse than you think with this guy. He keeps showing us that that’s the reality and we keep insisting on denying it.

  123. 123.

    Cameron

    August 30, 2022 at 2:57 pm

    @Betty Cracker: So what he was doing wasn’t criminal – it wasn’t even wrong.  It was frustrating.  Christ.

  124. 124.

    Dangerman

    August 30, 2022 at 2:59 pm

    I assume all his shouting is because Uncle Andy and Aunt Millie send him a few bucks if he can get their attention; since he can no longer go to the Bank of Saudi Arabia or Vladdy Daddy for his income, Andy and Millie gotta come through for him. When will the Rubes realize they are being duped?

  125. 125.

    cope

    August 30, 2022 at 3:00 pm

    @Ocotillo: I has a very similar and visceral response the day my wife and I unexpectedly drove past Pulse nightclub right around the first anniversary of the massacre there. I still get chills remembering that experience. The building still taped off, makeshift memorials and oh, so many flowers and photos…

  126. 126.

    Kropacetic

    August 30, 2022 at 3:01 pm

    @Ruckus: Because of thing I’m misrepresenting, completely unrelated conclusion. Genius!

    ETA: It actually is genius.  He isn’t appealing to the logical mind.  He’s systematically hitting all the pleasure-grievance centers for the persecution fetishists.

  127. 127.

    eddie blake

    August 30, 2022 at 3:03 pm

    @Madeleine: yeah, hope you guys are in the clear.

  128. 128.

    Roger Moore

    August 30, 2022 at 3:04 pm

    @Mike in Pasadena:

    What factors are any of you consider to determine when it is time to leave the US for another country?

    An important question, maybe the most important question, is if you want to leave or to stay and fight.  That’s a question each person will have to answer for themself. But if you’ve decided you’re OK with leaving, you should do it when you think things have gotten too hot for you to stay.  That might be because you feel personally at risk or because you’re worried things are progressing to the point you won’t be allowed to leave if you stay any longer.

    I’m reminded of my Grandfather’s family.  He left Germany in February 1933, while the rest of the family stayed.  I used to think this was because he was smarter than the rest of the family. Now I see at least part of it was he was a young unmarried man and it was easier for him to leave than for someone older with more ties to the community.  They chose to stick it out because they didn’t want to give up what they had over a momentary panic.  A couple of years later when they made their own decision it was time to leave, it was good for them they had a family member safely set up in another country who could help them.

  129. 129.

    Sister Golden Bear

    August 30, 2022 at 3:06 pm

    Betty, I just wanted to thank you for yesterday’s post on DeSantis’ attack on healthcare for trans kids — and trans adults as well. It’s truly horrific.

    As for the “why don’t people just move” argument, we already are seeing refugees parents moving to other states to protect their trans kids. I’ve contributed to a number GoFundMes to help families who couldn’t already afford to.

  130. 130.

    Ruckus

    August 30, 2022 at 3:10 pm

    @🐾BillinGlendaleCA:

    I had laser eye surgery about 25 or so yrs ago. It meant that after 35 yrs of glasses and/or contacts I didn’t need far distance lenses. About 10 yrs later I had to start wearing glasses to read. And now I wear close distance and short distance glasses. I might suggest laser surgery for some things but it wasn’t worth it for me in the long run.

  131. 131.

    geg6

    August 30, 2022 at 3:11 pm

    @JWR: ​
     
    I will never understand why you or anyone else watches or listens to their drivel. Why torture yourself with that garbage?

    I quit with NPR and the Snooze Hour a decade ago because it’s been shit at least twice that long. I quit most tv “news” during the pandemic (except about 30 minutes of local news per day, mainly for the weather forecase). My quality of life has increased by at least 200%.

  132. 132.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    August 30, 2022 at 3:13 pm

    @Ruckus: I’d add that I’m having cataract surgery next month, and my doc told me the lasik surgery I had 20 years ago complicates this surgery. Two kinds of lens were ruled out for me.

  133. 133.

    West of the Rockies

    August 30, 2022 at 3:13 pm

    I really must say [jumping and skipping across the floor], I’m loving the obvious fact that Toad Trump is clearly in misery.   Four dozen “Truths” in one morning?  Cry harder, creep.

  134. 134.

    Mike in Pasadena

    August 30, 2022 at 3:14 pm

    @The Moar You Know: Thank you, excellent answer. Helpful.

  135. 135.

    Bupalos

    August 30, 2022 at 3:14 pm

    @Roger Moore: I won’t leave. If the U.S. falls into a true Russia-style controlled information authoritarian kleptocracy, I don’t actually believe there is anywhere to go. Without the United States at least marginally on it’s side, Europe doesn’t hold, Canada doesn’t hold, Australia doesn’t hold… I’ll stay and fight in whatever way I can.

    I think Americans are peculiarity susceptible to the idea that you can always run away when things get ruined, there’s always a frontier of freedom and the future somewhere “out there.” Might be partly from the long westward colonization of the United States or from our privileged position in the world for so long. This authoritarian moment is a global phenomena.

  136. 136.

    Elizabelle

    August 30, 2022 at 3:14 pm

    @geg6:   Me too.  Prefer to read than watch/listen to news, anyway.

    Used to love the network newscasts as a teenager.  Had a passion for current events. Better ways to gain information — and more truthful and important news — now.

  137. 137.

    West of the Rockies

    August 30, 2022 at 3:15 pm

    @Tony G:

    Ann Coulter is Ruby Red Dress.

  138. 138.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 30, 2022 at 3:15 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Great news, but we all want know if you saw Nessie or if she was in Tuscany?

  139. 139.

    Matt McIrvin

    August 30, 2022 at 3:15 pm

    @Roger Moore: Hell, I personally am closer to Trump than to our cultural ideal of manliness. Do I care? I do not care. Certainly doesn’t make me want to give a pass to Trump.

  140. 140.

    Paul in KY

    August 30, 2022 at 3:16 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Sounds so very ‘arch’, IMO. Guess that’s why your average blue-collar ‘projecting’ jerk loves him.

  141. 141.

    Elizabelle

    August 30, 2022 at 3:16 pm

    @Ruckus:   It’s been interesting to me that I don’t know of any attorneys who have gone for Lasik.

    Just cannot take a chance on diminishing the ability to read.

  142. 142.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 30, 2022 at 3:16 pm

    @Mike in Pasadena: I am not going anywhere.

  143. 143.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 30, 2022 at 3:17 pm

    I’ll give anyone who can decipher this argle-bargle a dollar.

    As has been pointed out, the people behind Walker don’t love him. They don’t even like him.

  144. 144.

    Betty Cracker

    August 30, 2022 at 3:17 pm

    @Cameron: As someone mentioned upthread, they’re all reacting in terms of self interest — the GOP donors and pols want Trump to clam up so they can shriek about socialism and antifa. Trump wants roil the base (and inspire lone-wolf terrorist attacks, which we saw immediately and have remarkably stopped discussing!) to cow the DOJ. Not one thought about the country among them. Not a whit of patriotism in any of them.

  145. 145.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 30, 2022 at 3:19 pm

    @Ruckus:

    Same with me. I had about four or five years of not having to wear glasses after my LASIK surgery (in around 2004 or so) but of course, as eyeballs do, mine continued to change shape. It was an interesting experience, but now I’m sorry I spent the money on the surgery. I don’t think it was worth it for just a few years.

  146. 146.

    prostratedragon

    August 30, 2022 at 3:19 pm

    Lately I’ve thought that we might see a live example of spontaneous human combustion.  At first thought it was a race with Rudy, but  now looks like TFG’s lead is insurmountable.

  147. 147.

    JanieM

    August 30, 2022 at 3:20 pm

    @Bupalos:

    I think Americans are peculiarity susceptible to the idea that you can always run away when things get ruined, there’s always a frontier of freedom and the future somewhere “out there.” Might be partly from the long westward colonization of the United States or from our privileged position in the world for so long.

    I would add: great numbers of Americans are here because our ancestors thought there might be “freedom and a future somewhere ‘out there’.” And for a lot of them, including some of my own ancestors, if they were “running away” it was from oppression and poverty.

  148. 148.

    Mike in Pasadena

    August 30, 2022 at 3:21 pm

    @Dangerman:

     

    @Roger Moore: excellent way of thinking this through. Thank you.

  149. 149.

    Betty Cracker

    August 30, 2022 at 3:21 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear: Thanks. It’s absolutely appalling what’s happening down here — surreal too. I have an adult queer kid who fled the state, with our blessing and assistance. Bless you for helping others leave who might otherwise be unable to afford it.

  150. 150.

    Mike in Pasadena

    August 30, 2022 at 3:23 pm

    @Bupalos: i fear you are right.

  151. 151.

    Captain C

    August 30, 2022 at 3:23 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: Try the TFG-style steak:  overcooked  boot sole slathered in off-brand ketchup.

  152. 152.

    Elizabelle

    August 30, 2022 at 3:23 pm

    It’s good to hear that Trump is so miserable, with the constant messaging.

    One wonders what is driving his anxiety to such a fervor.  It can only be good for us.

  153. 153.

    Paul in KY

    August 30, 2022 at 3:24 pm

    @trollhattan: Probably means it was a cheapo copy or had some AR-15 features.

  154. 154.

    Gravenstone

    August 30, 2022 at 3:26 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: A shame that diminished capacity is largely being trotted out there after he decided to do all the crimes. Good luck with that presumptive defense there, folks.

  155. 155.

    Nelle

    August 30, 2022 at 3:26 pm

    @Sister Golden Bear: Read Fernanda Santos’ column in yesterday’s WaPo.  She left Phoenix for NY City to protect her child.

  156. 156.

    frosty

    August 30, 2022 at 3:27 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Great news for you! What a relief that must be!!

  157. 157.

    MattF

    August 30, 2022 at 3:27 pm

    @Ruckus: Surgery worked for me, but I was having problems that were not correctable with glasses, e.g., corneal lesions. If it’s ‘just’ cataracts or correctable with glasses, it’s fine to be cautious.

  158. 158.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    August 30, 2022 at 3:28 pm

    trump retweeted “retruthed” an image of him as Orwell’s Big Brother because 1) he’s never read the book and didn’t get the reference and 2) he saw his own image and fell in

  159. 159.

    Matt McIrvin

    August 30, 2022 at 3:29 pm

    @Bupalos: This is my fucking country, as much as it belongs to those ghouls. I do feel as if running from fascist America would just be buying time while the same thing happens somewhere else.

    Instead of the dream of flight I get the other American fantasy, the “shoot a dozen Bad Guys and die in a bloody last stand” one, just like a right-wing gun nut. I don’t think it’s rational and I don’t actually want anything to do with guns. But I’m getting old and having a long peaceful remainder of my life is less valuable than it was. Got to be some better way to fight if I consider my life expendable.

  160. 160.

    Paul in KY

    August 30, 2022 at 3:29 pm

    @Gravenstone: They are a very successful band, in the pantheon of all bands that have ever had any commercial success.

  161. 161.

    taumaturgo

    August 30, 2022 at 3:30 pm

    That lady was lucky I wasn’t the one being dusted off after a tumble. I’d have told her to mind her own goddamn business. Three days later and I’m still shaking my head over it.

    This is the existential question of our times, whatever happened to the idea of minding our own business?

  162. 162.

    CaseyL

    August 30, 2022 at 3:31 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: That I did not know, but it makes sense since lasik carves up the cornea.

    @Ruckus:  I had Lasik back in 1999-ish, and even though I now need reading glasses, it’s still the best thing I’ve ever done.  Maybe it depends on how bad your vision was originally: I was extremely myopic and astigmatic.  One of those stereotypical “need my glasses to find my glasses” people.  Being able to see clearly the moment I open my eyes in the morning was and is AMAZING.

    YMMV, of course.

  163. 163.

    prostratedragon

    August 30, 2022 at 3:32 pm

    @Mallard Filmore:  But he also had SAP and SCI type stuff, which would likely be more than just gossip.

  164. 164.

    Paul in KY

    August 30, 2022 at 3:35 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: That sounds like great news! Yay!

  165. 165.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 30, 2022 at 3:36 pm

    @Mike in Pasadena: I may be Little Mary Sunshine, but I think we are pushing back and starting to win against the forces of the right.  The reason we are seeing such craziness on the right is that they see that they have effectively lost the culture wars.  Obviously, many people disagree with me.

  166. 166.

    Ken

    August 30, 2022 at 3:37 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: @Elizabelle: @Gravenstone: I’m OK with diminished capacity if it means he spends the rest of his life in a straightjacket under sedation. Given the national security aspects, it should be someplace like Leavenworth.

  167. 167.

    Paul in KY

    August 30, 2022 at 3:37 pm

    @Mike in Pasadena: I think that if you’ve come to that point, then for your own peace of mind, you should head out.  Best wishes.

  168. 168.

    Nelle

    August 30, 2022 at 3:40 pm

    @Mike in Pasadena: We left the country in 2005.  My husband’s consulting business as a hydrogeologist was drying up because, as one client bluntly told him, with Bush’s re-election, environmental enforcement wouldn’t be a priority.

    We were lucky to find jobs in New Xealand and the govt waived immigration age requirements to get my husband to come.  We loved it there and became citizens.

    We came back to the States, we thought, for a few years so that he could fly instruments, which as a private pilot he could not do there.

    What we didn’t plan on was tge effect of grandchildren, combined with possibly needing more help as we age.

    Covid really sobered us up as we were used to being able to travel back and forth.  It is quite normal, among our Kiwi circle to have family scattered across the globe.  And they just could not get to each other, reminding us of the finality of early migration.

    Still,  it is nice to know we have an option if the world doesn’t shut down again.

  169. 169.

    geg6

    August 30, 2022 at 3:40 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    This is wonderful news!

    My younger sister is on the low dose chemo regimen for the next twelve weeks for her very aggressive breast cancer.  She was diagnosed earlier this summer and had the lumpectomy immediately after diagnosis.  They found nothing in any other tissues other than the original lump, but because of the type of cancer, they went big on the first round of chemo, using something called “the Red Devil”:

    https://www.drugs.com/medical-answers/chemo-drug-called-red-devil-3564237/

    She got through that with only loss of hair on her head and very few other side effects other than a little pink urine and much, much, much fatigue.  No other side effects, especially, she was thrilled to find out, no nausea.

    Now, after a 3 week pause during which she continued to get immunotherapy, she’s on this less toxic chemo for another 12 weeks.

    It’s a tough battle, but it can be won.  Will keep you in my thoughts.

  170. 170.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 30, 2022 at 3:42 pm

    @taumaturgo: Minding your own business is a Neoliberal construct.

  171. 171.

    jonas

    August 30, 2022 at 3:42 pm

    @Shalimar: I notice that a lot too. I think people just assume all Trump’s properties are golf courses, but MAL is basically a glorified supper club and event venue for nouveau-riche idiots in Palm Beach (and the occasional foreign agent) who like to take lots of stupid thumbs-up selfies with Trump.

  172. 172.

    zhena gogolia

    August 30, 2022 at 3:44 pm

    @jonas: The depiction of a fictionalized MAL in Carl Hiassen’s Squeeze Me is really funny. Although it does have a golf course, but the emphasis in the plot is on these “special events,” at one of which a socialite gets squeezed to death by a python (this happens early on).

  173. 173.

    Paul in KY

    August 30, 2022 at 3:47 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: He would get a woody for Big Brother.

  174. 174.

    different-church-lady

    August 30, 2022 at 3:49 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: ​
      3) There’s a strong chance he thinks the message is exactly right!

  175. 175.

    Elizabelle

    August 30, 2022 at 3:49 pm

    @zhena gogolia:   That was a finely observed book.

    But particularly, the collection of old, old geezers with too much money, made generations before them.  The social ills that brings on.

    And.  Pythons!

  176. 176.

    Brachiator

    August 30, 2022 at 3:50 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    Great news!

  177. 177.

    Elizabelle

    August 30, 2022 at 3:51 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:  I agree with you.  They’re losing.  Despite all their billionaires.  And media.  (I repeat myself.)

  178. 178.

    Ruckus

    August 30, 2022 at 3:53 pm

    @Dangerman:

    “When will the Rubes realize they are being duped?”

    I’d say the 12th of never. They are called rubes for a reason and the only way for them to realize anything is for them to no longer relish being a rube. Except they can’t make that decision, being rubes and all.

  179. 179.

    zhena gogolia

    August 30, 2022 at 3:53 pm

    @Elizabelle: Yeah, the way he mentions the source of their money every time he introduces a character — hilarious.

  180. 180.

    Captain C

    August 30, 2022 at 3:53 pm

    @ian: I’ll never understand how she was/is/claimed to be a Grateful Dead fan. It’s like she took from the music and the fandom the exact opposite message than pretty much everyone else involved did. I’m pretty sure ‘be selfish and greedy and hate everyone different’ is not the ethos of the vast majority of Deadheads.

  181. 181.

    jackmac

    August 30, 2022 at 3:53 pm

    @waspuppet: Policy proposals?  He’ll keep it simple by pushing “more of the same.”  That should please the MAGAts.

  182. 182.

    Madeleine

    August 30, 2022 at 3:53 pm

    @Tom Q: Thanks to you and trollhattan for the information. I didn’t know that the home tests are less effective in IDing recent Covid strains.

  183. 183.

    Mart

    August 30, 2022 at 3:54 pm

    I thought TFG crashed weddings so his filthy paws can grab some bridal side boob.

  184. 184.

    Elizabelle

    August 30, 2022 at 3:55 pm

    @Ruckus:   LOL.  Love the last line.  Being rubes and all.

  185. 185.

    pluky

    August 30, 2022 at 3:56 pm

    @trollhattan:  No, no, totally not cool. If she wipes out, and falls on the infant, she’ll crush the little thing.

  186. 186.

    Elizabelle

    August 30, 2022 at 3:59 pm

    President Biden speaking now.  New thread about it.  Here’s the c-span link.   https://www.c-span.org/video/?522544-1/president-biden-delivers-remarks-reducing-gun-violence&live

    “More children die from guns than police and military combined. … A mass shooting every day. … the psychological damage it’s doing to our kids.  Weapons of war.”

    Excellent speech.

    The Uvalde parents having to supply DNA for identification.

    Joe is shouting.

  187. 187.

    Ruckus

    August 30, 2022 at 4:01 pm

    @Kropacetic:

    Bingo!!!!!

    There isn’t any logic to SFB. He isn’t capable of logic thought, he is only capable of very basic toddler thought, at least less than average 2 yr old logic. He wants what he wants, has zero understanding when he doesn’t get that, you do know he was president don’t you, and nothing is going to change that. He’s been shit for his entire life, he was taught to be shit by his old man and he learned badly. Notice that I used his concept of communication at one point here, never let the important points go unsaid and in his case that point is always, always about him.

  188. 188.

    Mo MacArbie

    August 30, 2022 at 4:01 pm

    I’m not going anywhere, but I did read something that gave me pause. There was an article on Ozzy Osbourne in the Grauniad where he said that he was going to return to England from LA because the US was getting too crazy with the guns and whatnot. So we’re too crazy for Ozzy now. All Aboooooooaaaaard!

  189. 189.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    August 30, 2022 at 4:02 pm

    @Captain C: Like in most large groups of humans, there are plenty of awful GD fans.

  190. 190.

    Elizabelle

    August 30, 2022 at 4:03 pm

    @Mo MacArbie:   Good for Ozzie for saying that.

    He is not wrong.

  191. 191.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    August 30, 2022 at 4:04 pm

    @Mo MacArbie: we’re too crazy for Ozzy now

    Damn

  192. 192.

    Elizabelle

    August 30, 2022 at 4:09 pm

    You guys are going to have to watch Biden’s speech, whenever you can.

    NFLTG.  Blunt as can be.  Calling out the MAGA Republicans.

  193. 193.

    Ruckus

    August 30, 2022 at 4:10 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Thank you for saying what I was trying to figure out how to say.

    I’ve traveled to many parts of the world and moved at one point to a different state. I now live 4 or 5 miles from where I grew up. The new state had nothing for me other than a job. When I left that, there was no reason to stay. For me I found many other places that seem like they would be great places to live. But life is where you park your butt, and if it isn’t good, I see nothing wrong with looking for better. However, better is often just different and wears away when one gets used to the different. For me I have found that parking my butt and making the best of it is as good as it gets. Even in this fucked up world. And because there really isn’t a nirvana. Now there are places that will never even be considered nirvana by any living human. Those one should avoid.

  194. 194.

    Betty Cracker

    August 30, 2022 at 4:11 pm

    I’m not ready to give up on America — hell, I haven’t even given up on Florida! Plus, if white Christian nationalism sweeps America, nowhere on earth will be safe. I hate guns, but I can deploy gators on my enemies. They (both enemies and gators) will rue the fucking day, lemme tell you!

  195. 195.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    August 30, 2022 at 4:13 pm

    @lowtechcyclist: I expect he asked Putin to borrow his operatives, but balked when told he’d have to pay.

  196. 196.

    Ruckus

    August 30, 2022 at 4:15 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I have cataracts, but it’s too soon to do anything. I understand I have to wait till it’s difficult to see. I have never been told that my lasik surgery complicates things but then I imagine it really depends on how and what was needed in any particular lasik session.

  197. 197.

    Ruckus

    August 30, 2022 at 4:23 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    I’ve never had any issue with reading after lasik. Yes I wear reading goggles but according to my eye docs there is no connection, lasik to reading. I get a very through eye exam every year and no one has ever said that lasik has had in any way a negative. I mean examined by microscope and checked for prescription changes.

  198. 198.

    Kropacetic

    August 30, 2022 at 4:29 pm

    @Ruckus: you do know he was president don’t you, and nothing is going to change that.

    Once a King or Queen in Narnia, always a King or Queen.

  199. 199.

    Ruckus

    August 30, 2022 at 4:36 pm

    @Matt McIrvin:

    This.

    This is the American way. Once you are no longer productive you are a burden on everyone else. And you should be out of sight out of mind. It’s like throwing away that used Kleenex. And yes, I’m in my early 70s and retired. My productivity days are gone. My adding to the wealth of the controlling  “owners” of this country is over. And I don’t care. Fuck those overly wealthy assholes who don’t get a bite of my ass any more. I will however fight for a better taxation scheme so that they pay a bit more, their fair share, just enough to make it hurt about the same as it hurt you or me when we did work and pay in to the country.

  200. 200.

    Ruckus

    August 30, 2022 at 4:42 pm

    @CaseyL:

    At the time I got mine done one of my fellow employees, who had what might be termed shitty vision, coke bottle lens level, got it done shortly after me. He was amazed at the difference in sight. For me it just meant that I didn’t have to wear glasses or contacts. I mean I could find my way to the bathroom in the middle of the night before the surgery, without glasses, I don’t think he could.

    It has also been about 1/4 of a century since the surgery and the thing they never told us about lasik is that your eyes still age, like every thing else.

  201. 201.

    RaflW

    August 30, 2022 at 4:47 pm

    @Roger Moore: My partner and I have talked at least in broad terms about what our obligation is if we leave (as a gay couple, it could become necessary, though for now we feel like MN & CO will be safer than many states for some time…).

    Do we try to figure out where other family & friends could join us and land with some safety? Bring them with us in the moment? Help them financially so they are as back-stopped as possible for staying?

    This is al predicated on the idea that our comfortable nest-egg isn’t lost due to markets tanking (or corrupt/evil fascists just plain stealing our gay money because they could make up reasons).

    All of the above may be moot. But things do feel pretty edgy these days!

  202. 202.

    Ruckus

    August 30, 2022 at 4:49 pm

    @Kropacetic:

    I know  I am one!

    I’m leaving it up to your imagination…..

  203. 203.

    Roger Moore

    August 30, 2022 at 4:52 pm

    @Captain C:

    I’ll never understand how she was/is/claimed to be a Grateful Dead fan.

    Lots of people don’t pay careful attention to the lyrics, or pay attention only to lyrics that agree with them.  I can’t think of any other way Paul Ryan could be a Rage Against the Machine fan.

  204. 204.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    August 30, 2022 at 5:03 pm

    Speaking of orange-colored meltdowns, if you can handle pure TFG-flavored Schadenfreude, this was a pretty good few minutes by Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC. Every Day Is Worse Than The Day Before.

    And that’s from a week ago, before things REALLY heated up.

  205. 205.

    Geminid

    August 30, 2022 at 5:17 pm

    @Roger Moore: PaulRyan may have said he’s a fan of Rage Against the Machine just to look hip and youthful.

    Ryan’s a facile guy. He used to say Ayn Rand was a big intellectual influence. Then an opponent ran a campaign ad linking Ryan to Rand, with tape of Rand bragging that she was an atheist. After that, Ryan would name Saint Augustine when asked about his biggest intellectual influence. Hip

  206. 206.

    Tony Jay

    August 30, 2022 at 5:17 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    That’s some top quality news!

    Also, too, I took my boy to that Dr Who exhibit few months ago. It’s small enough but we spent a couple of very happy hours geeking out, including ten very loud minutes getting borderline obscene with the Dalek voice simulator.

    If you’re eating out, we recently tried Madre’s (Mexican posh street food) at the Albert Dock and were mucho happy.

  207. 207.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    August 30, 2022 at 5:25 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:  I’m composing an on the road post to show you all the pics so wait and see!

  208. 208.

    Ksmiami

    August 30, 2022 at 6:01 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: drone programming- we are smarter than Maga and we can fight them by first destroying their communications, their technology, their food and water supply etc. I’ll fight but I’ll fight in a way that Won’t break a nail.

  209. 209.

    catclub

    August 30, 2022 at 6:09 pm

    @Nelle: ​
     

    business as a hydrogeologist was drying up

    pun intended.

  210. 210.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 30, 2022 at 6:52 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Cool.

  211. 211.

    Paul in KY

    August 31, 2022 at 9:09 am

    @Roger Moore: He’s not.  He just a lying little shitweasel who thinks people will think he’s edgy for liking Rage.

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