Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

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

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

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

It’s a doggy dog world.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

Everyone is in a bubble, but some bubbles model reality far better than others!

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

The revolution will be supervised.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Ah, the different things are different argument.

Fani Willis claps back at Trump chihuahua, Jim Jordan.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Unhinged

Unhinged

by | 157 Comments

This post is in: ,

First, you have to go read Trump’s official response to the Select Committee to Investigate Jan 6.  It’s definitely as bad as you would expect it to be, filled with Randomly capitalized Words.  Complete with his stupid little seal.

Unhinged

Second, he actually said one thing I agree with:

We have a two-tier system of Justice in the United States that cannot be allowed to continue.

Third, does anyone thing that any of his attorneys had anything to do with writing his response?

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

157Comments

  1. 1.

    Alison Rose

    Sorry, I am definitely not getting out of the boat on this one. I was hoping that while writing it, he’d get so enraged that his brain would just melt and all this could be over and done with

    (ETA: Since they apparently annoy the absolute shit out of some people on this here blog, I have removed the emojis from my nym. Don’t say I never did anything for you!!!)

  2. 2.

    Mike in NC

    Will always be profoundly disappointed that the Fat Orange Clown and his rotten family didn’t get the Mussolini treatment.

  4. 4.

    Chief Oshkosh

    Yeah, I won’t read it. But I’m going to just assume that what’s really driving him even crazier is that the testimonies are bringing him back to that place in time when he knew, and had admitted to himself and others, that he’d LOST like a bloated orange LOSER BOY.

  6. 6.

    The Moar You Know

    There’s no way he has either the patience or focus to write anything that long.

    And yeah, it’s a grab bag of lunacy, but just about half of all American voters believe it to be true.  I don’t even have the slightest idea how to fix that.

  9. 9.

    Spanky

    @Mike in NC: Mussolini got the Mussolini treatment because his leadership resulted in an invading army sweeping through Italy, laying waste to town and countryside.

    We’re fortunately not there.Yet.

  10. 10.

    Scout211

    @Alison Rose: What? There are bullies here on balloon-juice?

    I say do whatever you want Alison. Add the emojis back in if you like them.

    I’m with you on not reading any screed that TFG posts. It would not be healthy for me to take that deep dive into his crazy talk.

  11. 11.

    WaterGirl

    @Chief Oshkosh: I wonder if he actually watches the hearings. ??

    Knowing that everyone heard that you pleaded with your chief of staff to [somehow] make sure that no one knows you lost the election has got to be humiliation squared.

  13. 13.

    The Moar You Know

    So who do you think wrote that?

    @WaterGirl: either some of his more incompetent lawyers or the IRA out of St. Petersburg.  Or both.  Or some other entity entirely.  It doesn’t really matter.  A guy who won’t read a one-page bulletin will not sit and write one.

  14. 14.

    Ann Marie

    @Mike in NC: Me too, at first, but now I think seeing him in a jumpsuit that matches the color of his face, trapped in a tiny prison cell, no access to a phone or computer, and taking orders from other people (preferably other people of color) for the rest of his life, while he fades into irrelevance, would be just as satisfying.  But I’m not placing any big bets on that happening either.

  15. 15.

    trnc

    @Chief Oshkosh: Yeah, I won’t read it. But I’m going to just assume that what’s really driving him even crazier is that the testimonies are bringing him back to that place in time when he knew, and had admitted to himself and others, that he’d LOST like a bloated orange LOSER BOY.

    And on that note, since his supporters are immune to logic and reason, calling them losers with a losing pissant candidate is probably the most satisfying thing we can do. Try to determine if they’re armed first, though.

  18. 18.

    Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)

    He might not have written it, but I could see him dictating a rant that takes up 12 pages once someone else cleans it up.

    (I haven’t read it myself. I have no interest in anything he has to say.)

  19. 19.

    Martin

    Live hearing in prime time on Fri Oct 28, under oath. Congress will enforce their own subpoena, not leaving it to DOJ. Every other nation would expel someone who attempted a coup, compelling him to testify is the minimum that needs to happen. He’s welcome to plead the 5th nonstop for 3 hours, but that needs to happen on live TV in front of a full congressional committee, not recorded in some conference room, not a set of written answers.

    It is completely madness that this is allowed to continue. Policies aren’t that important. Implementing them is.

  20. 20.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    @The Moar You Know:  I see I’m not the only one with this idea.  For contrast, his lawyers’ submission to the Supreme Court was 294 pages long. Perhaps they are paid by the page.

    Whereas the Court’s response was a single line.  Ahhh.

  21. 21.

    karen marie

    I don’t remember who but this morning someone posted the metadata from Trump’s “PEACEFULLY AND PATRIOTICALLY” letter, and Natalie Harp‘s name is in there.  Whether she drafted the letter, helped to draft it or was only tasked with creating the PDF is anyone’s guess.

  22. 22.

    Leto

    So I clicked the link, saw it was 14 pages, said “F that”, and moved on with my life. I’m sure his “response” is basically the equivalent of a Jackson Pollack painting, if it was done in all fecal matter.

  25. 25.

    trnc

    @The Moar You Know: There’s no way he has either the patience or focus to write anything that long.

    I skimmed it. It’s padded with pictures and a lot of white space, but the dead giveway that someone else wrote it is complete sentences. Including all the long-debunked claims of fraud made by complete psychos was a nice touch, though.

  27. 27.

    Scout211

    So much winning with this guy. Of all the bad things that were publicized yesterday, I think the former White House staff person who admitted they moved boxes of documents at Mar-a-lago after the DOJ demanded that they be returned was a big loss for him. Plus, there is video proof that it happened.

    And then there is Letitia James getting wind of his company trying to move assets to a “new” company in another state.  Oh, and yeah, there’s the rejection by SCOTUS to vacate the 11th circuit decision.

    So much winning.

  30. 30.

    HumboldtBlue

    Seeing as though we’re talking lawyers and legal stuff I’m gonna bang the drum for The Extraordinary Attorney Woo, an absolute gem of a show featuring a young Korean lawyer and Asperger’s genius as she negotiates her way through a society that thinks she’s a moron and unfit for social settings much less a courtroom.

    The lead actor is brilliant, bringing to life a character of immense personality and charm. There are some pat plot lines and the music is pretty terrible, but that’s more than made up for by Woo-Young-Woo, whose charm, smarts and immense and near-perfect memory make for a fun, sad, odd and utterly riveting story.

  31. 31.

    Dangerman

    @Leto: My rationale for not reading it is similar. 14 pages? NFW. Reading anything from TFG is like People Magazine articles; anything that can’t be read during the average toilet visit isn’t getting read.

  32. 32.

    trnc

    @WaterGirl:

    DT won’t build a presidential library, but you can bet someone will create a mock one complete with torn papers all over the place, random screaming and a cafe that only servers burnt hamburgers.

  33. 33.

    Geminid

    @Alison Rose: Emojis don’t bother me. It’s a fairly trivial matter, but I suggest putting them back up, on a general principle of not giving squeaky wheels grease. They’ll just squeak about other things anyway.

  34. 34.

    AnthroBabe

    First page and my academic editor voice came on: I specifically tell students DO NOT WRITE HOW YOU SPEAK unless it is a particular type of writing (I deal in scientific writing)

    Cringeworthy

  35. 35.

    Kropacetic

    @trnc: He already has merch shops run by his cult everywhere. One is a mile from my house and I have to walk by it to get into my favorite Japanese spot. Sigh.

  36. 36.

    WaterGirl

    @trnc: There will be a room set up to mimic the classified documents strewn all over the floor.

    Some grade school kid could surely reproduce the table of cold burgers and fries for that sports team as a science project.

  38. 38.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Alison Rose: ​
     It surprised (and interested) me to learn recently that text-to-voice translation software (for blind and visually impaired users of social media) speaks a description of every emoji in full, each time one appears.

    Actually it’s pretty fabulous that there’s technology to make the the internet more accessible! Alas for the emojis, though – poor little lorn critturs :)

  45. 45.

    trollhattan

    I would listen to Nicola Sturgeon read the Edinburgh phone book, but this is even better.

    Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called for a general election, saying Ms Truss is “unfit to hold the office of prime minister”

    Tick fookin’ tock, Truss lady.

  47. 47.

    Rocks

    I hear a lot of talk about wishing he would die.  Given that he’s responsible for the current crop of Republican senatorial candidates, whose collective lunacy is improving our chances of keeping and expanding our Senate majority, I’m hoping he sticks around to apply his coup de gras anti-Midas touch to the Republican Party.

  48. 48.

    trollhattan

    No Some soup for you!

    One of Van Gogh’s famous Sunflowers paintings has been cleaned and is back on display, after climate activists threw tins of what appeared to be tomato soup over it. London’s National Gallery confirmed it is now back in place, about six hours after the soup incident.

    Footage showed two people in Just Stop Oil T-shirts opening tins and throwing the contents on the masterpiece before gluing their hands to the wall. Two people were arrested.

    The gallery said earlier the painting was covered by glass and therefore not damaged. A statement from the Trafalgar Square venue said: “At just after 11am this morning two people entered Room 43 of the National Gallery.

    “The pair appeared to glue themselves to the wall adjacent to Van Gogh’s Sunflowers (1888). They also threw a red substance – what appears to be tomato soup – over the painting.

    “The room was cleared of visitors and police were called. Officers are now on the scene.

    “There is some minor damage to the frame but the painting is unharmed.”

    Changing opinions, one at a time. Or perhaps not.

  49. 49.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Speaking of whether actions finally having consequences, I’m seeing a fair amount of legal commentary (it’s a great market for legal experts on TV these days) that despite his boasting, Alex Jones is going to be wrung dry monetarily by the billion-dollar judgment. There’s a whole industry of companies that buy judgments (so first of all the plaintiffs do indeed see their money) and then use an army of specialized investigators, lawyers and accountants to find all the places the defendant tried to hide their money.

    George Conway opined that Info Wars is basically dead, because any revenue they ever get again will go into the debt.

  51. 51.

    trollhattan

    One’s faith in the Secret Service is further eroded. Holy fuckballs.

    October 14, 2022 at 4:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard

    “The Jan. 6 Capitol riot investigative committee has obtained records showing that a member of the Secret Service’s protective intelligence division had multiple phone calls in 2020 with members of the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia group,” NBC News reports.

    “The U.S. House committee asked the agency for records of all contacts with the Oath Keepers.”

  55. 55.

    JPL

    Big debate in GA tonight.  My bet is Herschel mentioning god at least thirty times.   Herschel’s what are the names of your children?  Christian, god 1, god 2 and god 3   Herschel how old are they, in order to protect their privacy, I’d rather not say.

  56. 56.

    Leto

    @WaterGirl: there are a lot of pictures after the 5th page and I just laughed. Ofc there will be visual aides. He’s a child.

    @Dangerman: agreed. At least with People, there’s some entertainment. This thing? Might as well flush it with the rest of the memos.

  57. 57.

    Tony G

    @Mike in NC: Well, Mussolini wasn’t killed until the day after Hitler killed himself, less than two weeks before the surrender of Germany.  Until then, he had his supporters, as does Trump.  The Trump cult is the real problem.  They (like the supporters of The Confederate States of America) will be with us, making this country a worse place than it has to be, for a long time.

  58. 58.

    Tony G

    @JPL: I’m still convinced that the Georgia GOP nominated Herschel Walker because he embodies all the worst stereotypes of Black men.

  59. 59.

    Kay

    Tulsi Gabbard and Joe Rogan telling people that there are litter boxes in public schools:

    Ari Drennen 

    Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, telling on herself while using an invented anecdote about students who identify as furries being allowed to use litter boxes to spread fear about schools: “when you don’t believe in truth…there are no boundaries anymore.”

    Dumb and lazy Joe Rogan just shakes his head sadly as she spouts this bullshit, btw, this somehow counts as an “interview”. She spouts nonsense, he agrees with all of it.

  60. 60.

    Kropacetic

    @Tony G: The Trump cult is the real problem.  They (like the supporters of The Confederate States of America) will be with us, making this country a worse place than it has to be, for a long time.

    As though they were different people…

    Even here in the North, the Trumpy folks I know tend to be, at a minimum, Confederate apologists.

  62. 62.

    Leto

    @trollhattan: combine that with the protestors who chained themselves to grocery store (Tesco and Waitrose) milk areas, and these people sure are making their causes sympathetic.

  64. 64.

    ian

    Despite very poor television ratings, the Unselect Committee has perpetuated a
    Show Trial the likes of which this Country has never seen before.

    It was the biggest show trial of all time!  No one watched it!

    I think he spoke into a voice to text application and made some poor 19 year old intern type it, then went through the text and capitalized the things that he wanted.  I don’t believe he took the time to type this himself, but there is no one else on earth that capitalizes shit the way he does.

    Gauging the room here: do we think he has a ghost writer that can do that for him?

  66. 66.

    JanieM

    From the link in WG’s OP:

    This memo is being written to express our anger, disappointment, and complaint…

    “Our”? And signed by only one name. So is that the royal we, the editorial we, or the omnipotent deity’s we?

    I agree that Clickbait can’t possibly have written it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he dictated the gist and a lot of the breathless vocabulary, and some hapless ghostwriter turned his ranting drivel into sentences that he then glanced at and approved.

  67. 67.

    NotMax

    First, you have to go read Trump’s official response to the Select Committee to Investigate Jan 6.

    Going full Bartleby on this request.

  68. 68.

    SpaceUnit

    If TFG ever testifies before the Jan 6th Committee I don’t think I could actually watch.  I’ve heard him talk enough to last a lifetime.  Listening to him just makes you dumber.  It would be pointless.

  69. 69.

    topclimber

    @Kay: Please, tell me that there is some school, somewhere, where a cat-crazed principal allows such things. Otherwise I have to ask, however sadly, WTF is wrong with Tulsi GlibTard?

    ETA: Valid counterpoint: Cats have been grooming humans to do their bidding since the Great Pyramid was a gleam in Khufu’s eye.

  71. 71.

    martha

    @Kay: Every time I read this BS I get angrier. My sister is a retired 2nd grade teacher in the Sacramento area and they put at least 1 waste basket with kitty litter in each classroom after a series of classroom lockdowns where the kiddos were peeing their pants. This was at least 7-8 years ago. And I live in Jefferson County Colorado, a mile or so from Columbine HS. They put them in their classrooms around the same time, for the same reason.

  73. 73.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I read quite a bit about her when she in the D primary because I disliked and distrusted her immediately. She’s always had regressive “social issue” views which she briefly tried to paper over with liberal slogans – backing “Medicare for All”, etc.

    This is who she really is. The former persona was very short lived.

    But Jesus. The litter box bullshit? They both should be embarrassed.

  75. 75.

    JoyceH

    ” does anyone thing that any of his attorneys had anything to do with writing his response?”

    NO lawyer had anything to do with this deranged screed. The competent lawyers still involved have thrown up their hands and said to one another in resignation, “what can you do?” The other type of lawyers would have tried to do an edit to make it sound less like something composed by a lunatic. I doubt if Trump allowed any lawyer to even look at this – it was Trump and at most some devotee who shares his pathologies.

  76. 76.

    WaterGirl

    @JPL: I will be watching and there will be one post – for GA and WI. Debates start at 7pm and 8pm Eastern respectively.  Hoping folks will watch together.  Sometimes that’s the only way I can get through these things – without spontaneously combusting – is watching and reading a BJ thread.

  77. 77.

    WaterGirl

    @Leto:

    there are a lot of pictures after the 5th page and I just laughed. Ofc there will be visual aides. He’s a child.

    I took that as a way to calm Trump down.  Look at all the crowds at your rallies?  Why do we even vote when we an just compare crowd sizes? :-)

  78. 78.

    Kay

    @martha:

    That’s funny you should mention that because some news org just did an elaborate search for how this Right wing conspiracy theory started and they settled on just what you wrote- thata school had some emergency toilet for school shooter lockdowns.

    Joe Rogan and his guests are just standard far Right boilerplate. They mimic exactly what Fox is promoting on any given week.

  81. 81.

    Tony Jay

    @MattF:

    Did the first sentence go –

    “The Oval Office was an hour into Friday night frolics and interns cheered when the stripper dressed as Bannon unbuttoned shirt number three, but the door to the President’s TV room remained stubbornly closed and Rudi was stuck killing time making Pence eat raw chillies while Lindsey held his arms and giggled every time Indiana’s finest sobbed for Mother”?

    Because that’s perfectly understandable.

  82. 82.

    MattF

    @Kay: There are certain RW memes, like Kenyan Obama, that everyone knows is a lie. They are propagated because they infuriate us libtards. My free and probably pointless advice is to let it go.

  83. 83.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Kay: Complete bullshit, of course:

    Here’s a thread of the 20 politicians who’ve falsely claimed this year that schools are accommodating who kids identify as cats, putting litter boxes on campus for them

  86. 86.

    Geminid

    @topclimber: Gabbard is an opportunist. Conservative billionaires will be happy to make a space for an ex-Democrat who might peel off voters from the party. She has the elements of a good third party or independent candidate, and they could use one in 2024.

  88. 88.

    Leto

    @WaterGirl: it’s the equivalent of showing voting maps with all the red all over the country: “Look how much red there is! We’re everywhere!”

  89. 89.

    martha

    @Kay: My poor sister had to use it during one lockdown, even though it was humiliating…a five hour lockdown will do that to you. In her school’s case, it wasn’t ever an active shooter situation in the school, but people with guns, criminals etc. in the neighborhood. That school was one of the old fashioned ones in CA where the hallways were outside, so she and her kids couldn’t even creep to a toilet. ARGH. The local NBC affiliate here reported on this situation post-Columbine several years ago. People got it then and understand the reason for it now, if they aren’t insane assholes.

  90. 90.

    Jeffro

    @Martin:Every other nation would expel someone who attempted a coup

    Every other nation would have fixed this in the early morning hours of January 7th, first with pitchforks and torches, and then with a good length of rope.

    I’m sorry but it’s just true.

  93. 93.

    Kay

    @MattF:

    I get really tired of rich and powerful people like Joe Rogan and Tulsi Gabbard attacking public schools. I’m sick of it. Can’t they find some other US institution to grift off of?

    Or, get a fucking real job. What is it that “Tulsi Gabbard” DOES at this point? I’m mystified how all these Right wing grifters seem to be so fat and happy with no apparent source of income. Where does the money come from?

  95. 95.

    dm

    @Mr. Bemused Senior: It’s only three pages long, followed by a few pages of photographs, followed by cut-and-paste précis of several conspiracy theories (lacking random capitalization, so written by someone else).

    Read the first paragraph.  It could only be improved by being composed in letters cut out of magazines.

  96. 96.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Geminid:

    Oh yeah, she’s Thiel and his ilk’s dream girl. Photogenic, utterly without moral or principle, and always useful to batter Dems.

  98. 98.

    JaneE

    A majority of  people in our country do not say the election was dishonest.  Claiming that is the same as admitting that you only consider Republicans to be people who matter.

    And do those “crowd” pictures look really strange to anyone but me?  I thought I was looking at Christmas trees for a second.

  99. 99.

    Geminid

    @Steeplejack: Yes, that is true. But no one needs to pie this commenter. If obnoxious commenters want to sneak around the filter, they will eventually be pied for good, I think

  104. 104.

    WaterGirl

    @dm:

     It could only be improved by being composed in letters cut out of magazines.

    I actually started to reference a kidnapper’s ransom note with letters cut out of magazines – as the only thing Trump’s letter was missing.

    Obviously he is not allowed to have pointy scissors.

  105. 105.

    Anyway

    @Alison Rose:

    (ETA: Since they apparently annoy the absolute shit out of some people on this here blog, I have removed the emojis from my nym. Don’t say I never did anything for you!!!)

    Aww, I liked your UA emojis. They made me smile.

  108. 108.

    NotMax

    @Kay

    Gabbard family owns a local mini-chain of so-called health food markets selling aisle upon aisle of wildly overpriced goods.. Their version of the fabled banana stand.

  109. 109.

    Suzanne

    @martha: Mr. Suzanne used to work at an elementary school in Scottsdale, in one of the “vintage” (a.k.a. poor) neighborhoods. The campus itself was about 50 years old, with all exterior circulation and separate buildings (and decrepit HVAC, electrical, etc.). Some jackass was brandishing a gun in the park across the street, so the school locked down. None of the kids could go to the bathroom because it would entail going outside, so they were all going in buckets. Which the teachers then had to clean up.

  111. 111.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Kay: Tulsi provides FAP material for angry, white dudes on the Left who hate The Dem Party and love Putin.

  112. 112.

    martha

    @Suzanne: Exactly. The teacher gets to clean up the poor kids, their messes, and try to find them new clothes, all the while trying to keep them calm and not scare them.

  118. 118.

    Geminid

    @Tony G: Thiel might not be attracted to Gabbard, but he can still recognize her attractiveness and its utility. I bet very few people are looking at Tucker Carlson when Cow-eyed Tulsi’s on his show.

    I call her Tulsi, the Tankie Thirst Trap.

  119. 119.

    Suzanne

    @UncleEbeneezer: There’s definitely a subset of dudes on the left who don’t align culturally with the “white working class” MAGA types  (Oakleys and trucks and terrible facial hair!) but who don’t like the Dems, because they really disregard women and minorities.

  120. 120.

    karen marie

    @Kay:   Have you read about why there really are buckets of kitty litter in classrooms?

    For anyone who hasn’t – in the event of a lengthy school lockdown, the kids have somewhere to pee.  Absolutely horrific.  Everyone who says they’re for kids who think they’re cats should be shot straight into the sun without a rocket

    @JPL:   Venue and moderator aren’t going to save Walker from himself.

  128. 128.

    The Lodger

    @ian: Absolutely, he has a Ghost Writer. If you know German,  capitalizing apparently random Words isn’t that much of a Trick.

  131. 131.

    ian

    @The Lodger: I don’t think capitalizing random words is much a trick in English.  Is there something special about the German language where they capitalize random words?

  132. 132.

    Geminid

    @Geminid: A Gabbard item: Representative Ocasio-Cortez was hosting a town hall recently when a loud white guy disrupted it, shouting about the danger of nuclear war caused by her support for Ukraine. He yelled about how Tulsi Gabbard had left the party because of this. Last week a town hall in Westchester County featuring Representatives Bowman  and Jeffries was similarly disrupted.

    One observer said this was a LaRouchie op, and that may not be so far fetched. That organization may have disappeared, but I never thought it went away.

  133. 133.

    Bill Arnold

    @Mr. Bemused Senior:

    do you really think he can write something 12 pages long?

    Only 3 pages, really, but … no. A long rant was transcribed and then rewritten to match the style of a hypothetical Posh Trump.
    I read these things just to maintain an accurate mental model of the FPOTUS.
    I also read shooter manifestos, for similar reasons.

  135. 135.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    @MomSense: ​

    I know there are some people in this world who do not love their fellow human beings and I hate people like that!

    — Tom Lehrer

  136. 136.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Geminid: In 2020 when roughly 3 Million people were running for the Dem nomination, Indivisible asked them all to pledge to support the eventual winner.  Tulsi and Andrew Yang were the only two who refused.

  137. 137.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Geminid: I don’t think you need to even go to Larouche territory.  They could easily be Amnesty or Code Pink people.  Roger Waters has them all pumped with this “this is not a drill” shit and urging US to stop helping Ukraine.

  138. 138.

    thruppence

    @ian: I have read (long ago) that in German, nouns are capitalized, which would look random to non-German speakers. Hopefully someone actually fluent in German can clarify

    Edit:

    Quick search brings up a Wikipedia entry that confirms my limited memory…

  139. 139.

    Bill Arnold

    @ian:

    Gauging the room here: do we think he has a ghost writer that can do that for him?

    I think he dictated it, it was transcribed (maybe speech to text), and then rewritten in “Erudite Trump” style, by someone who I hope is well-compensated for the risk of sanity damage, even if they are a loathsome RWNJ.

  140. 140.

    Geminid

     

     

    @UncleEbeneezer: Gabbard certainly has a natural constituency already among the “anti-hegemonist” left. I just though the suggestion of a LaRouchite connection was interesting. That was a tight knit, dedicated group, and I’ve wondered what they’ve been up to since the old man died.

  142. 142.

    Bill Arnold

    @JanieM:

    “Our”? And signed by only one name. So is that the royal we, the editorial we, or the omnipotent deity’s we?

    Before getting on the plane to MAL (Jan 21 2021) he said “we’ll be back” or similar.
    “They” are the fleshy host body, and the one or more [talentless demons] that consensually timeshare it. Just sayin’

  146. 146.

    AnthroBabe

    @zhena gogolia: HA

    But really, the informality of the rambling sentences that *obviously* would work better in a spoken format (considering the unhinged-ness of the source, they would NOT)

  147. 147.

    Quiltingfool

    Re litter boxes in school bathrooms:  my cousin is a superintendent in a NE Missouri district.  I saw her last week and while we were chatting I mentioned the litter box story.  She said a person made the claim that the schools in the district had placed litter boxes in bathrooms.  She said she visited every school, went in every bathroom, looking for the litter boxes.  There weren’t any.  She made sure everyone knew that.  She also mentioned that they are having to deal with extremely rude folks at board meetings; she said she has had to inform those people that the schools don’t allow students to behave as they were and she wasn’t going to tolerate that behavior in a board meeting.

    My cousin is very friendly and easy-going.  However, if you piss her off, the family temper comes out!

  151. 151.

    sab

    @Scout211: I was a major complainer. Am I a bully? I try hard not to be.  Pie filter protects from bullies ( Alison Rose is not a bully!)  But the filter wasn’t working.

  152. 152.

    sab

    @Geminid: You are wrong here. Sometimes a commenter’s comments are really disturbing for reasons outside of your and their experience. Need to block. Emojis are cute but not necessary.

    Alternative is to leave the site and cancel contribution.

  153. 153.

    Geminid

    @sab: You may be right, but as yet I haven’t seen obnoxious commenters use this trick.

    But I don’t pie anyone anyway, just scroll past. I know others rely on the filter and it’s important to them.

  154. 154.

    sab

    @Geminid: You decide who is obnoxious. Sometimes perfectly innocent commenters can be obnoxious at times.

    I love schrodingers cat, but I block her most election seasons because we disagree on specific candidates and I love her and don’t want to fight

    ETA I use toggle switch a lot.

  155. 155.

    sab

    @Geminid: I am a WASP with family long before the American Revolution, but I also have inlaws (fathers of my nephews)  from China. And I have black grandchildren whose amcestors have been here, unrecognized, as long as mine.

    Political comments piss us off seriously. Well intentioned people disagree with me. Sometimes I don’t want to listen. Often I use the toggle switch to listen to what I have blocked. I just want the choice.

  156. 156.

    sab

    @Geminid: Also too, I don’t like to say who I have blocked.  That’s my issue. It may just be me, but to me it is important. On the other hand, they may just be flaming asssholes on this issue and not others, and they will probably recover.

    That is where I am on the emojis. I don’t want to hear them on this now.

  157. 157.

    HeartlandLiberal

    I honestly tried to read Trump’s written submission, but I could not. The ravings of a mad man. Total illiterate lunacy by someone with the maturity of an eight year old. Random ravings of buzzwords and slogans.
    Anyone who reads this and still supports Trump is a lost cause and a threat to American Democracy.

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