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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

No Kings: Americans standing in the way of bad history saying “Oh, Fuck No!”

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

They don’t have outfits that big. nor codpieces that small.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

“A king is only a king if we bow down.” – Rev. William Barber

Let me file that under fuck it.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

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

Also, are you sure you want people to rate your comments?

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

75% of people clapping liked the show!

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

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

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

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

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Unhinged

Unhinged

by WaterGirl|  October 14, 20224:43 pm| 157 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics

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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.

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Reader Interactions

157Comments

  1. 1.

    Alison Rose

    October 14, 2022 at 4:47 pm

    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

    October 14, 2022 at 4:49 pm

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

  3. 3.

    Spanky

    October 14, 2022 at 4:50 pm

    Crazypants. Also, mostly recycled horseshit.

  4. 4.

    Chief Oshkosh

    October 14, 2022 at 4:50 pm

    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.

  5. 5.

    Steeplejack

    October 14, 2022 at 4:51 pm

    @Alison Rose:

    All the better to pie you now, my dear! [cackle]

  6. 6.

    The Moar You Know

    October 14, 2022 at 4:51 pm

    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.

  7. 7.

    hueyplong

    October 14, 2022 at 4:52 pm

    @Mike in NC: Cheer up. Until he dies of something else, the Mussolini ending won’t be eliminated as a possibility, however remote.

  8. 8.

    WaterGirl

    October 14, 2022 at 4:52 pm

    @The Moar You Know: So who do you think wrote that?

  9. 9.

    Spanky

    October 14, 2022 at 4:54 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 4:54 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 4:55 pm

    @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.

  12. 12.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    October 14, 2022 at 4:55 pm

    @Alison Rose:  I’m not going to read it, but I have to ask, do you really think he can write something 12 pages long?

  13. 13.

    The Moar You Know

    October 14, 2022 at 4:55 pm

    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

    October 14, 2022 at 4:56 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 4:57 pm

    @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.

  16. 16.

    MattF

    October 14, 2022 at 4:58 pm

    Saw that, read the first sentence. Flat-out impossible to read any more.

  17. 17.

    Steve in the ATL

    October 14, 2022 at 4:58 pm

    @Spanky: I’m still keep my eye on those Canadians

  18. 18.

    Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)

    October 14, 2022 at 5:00 pm

    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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:00 pm

    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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:00 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:01 pm

    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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:01 pm

    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.

  23. 23.

    trollhattan

    October 14, 2022 at 5:01 pm

    @Mike in NC: We have gas stations aplenty, and they all still walk/shamble the earth.

  24. 24.

    WaterGirl

    October 14, 2022 at 5:02 pm

    This is so laughable, it should be in a museum somewhere.

    Unhinged 1

  25. 25.

    trnc

    October 14, 2022 at 5:03 pm

    @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.

  26. 26.

    dr. luba

    October 14, 2022 at 5:04 pm

    @Mike in NC: I’d settle for Ceaușescu treatment.

  27. 27.

    Scout211

    October 14, 2022 at 5:04 pm

    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.

  28. 28.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 14, 2022 at 5:05 pm

    @Scout211: Who said anything about bullies?

  29. 29.

    WaterGirl

    October 14, 2022 at 5:05 pm

    @Leto: I stopped at the one paragraph on page 4 that was followed by his signature.  I hadn’t even seen the 10-page appendix!

  30. 30.

    HumboldtBlue

    October 14, 2022 at 5:06 pm

    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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:06 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:06 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:07 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:08 pm

    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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:08 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:09 pm

    @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.

  37. 37.

    zhena gogolia

    October 14, 2022 at 5:09 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: I loved that Flynn-Stones video you posted earlier.

  38. 38.

    H.E.Wolf

    October 14, 2022 at 5:09 pm

    @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 :)

  39. 39.

    topclimber

    October 14, 2022 at 5:09 pm

    @Alison Rose: Thanks😉

  40. 40.

    trollhattan

    October 14, 2022 at 5:10 pm

    @WaterGirl: Okay, for the last time, was it rigged or was it stolen? Pick one, damnit!

  41. 41.

    zhena gogolia

    October 14, 2022 at 5:10 pm

    @AnthroBabe: You mean you don’t encourage them to use the word “incredibly” to modify each adjective?

  42. 42.

    Jinchi

    October 14, 2022 at 5:10 pm

    If it’s not written in Sharpee, someone else definitely wrote it.

  43. 43.

    Doug R

    October 14, 2022 at 5:12 pm

    @Mike in NC: There’s still time. Maybe a loved one of somebody he sold out.

  44. 44.

    Doug R

    October 14, 2022 at 5:13 pm

    @The Moar You Know: It’s whatever percent of 27%. Not half.

  45. 45.

    trollhattan

    October 14, 2022 at 5:15 pm

    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.

  46. 46.

    Cameron

    October 14, 2022 at 5:15 pm

    @trnc: I thought it was supposed to be in the porn store near Four Seasons Total Landscaping.

  47. 47.

    Rocks

    October 14, 2022 at 5:17 pm

    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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:17 pm

    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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:18 pm

    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.

  50. 50.

    HumboldtBlue

    October 14, 2022 at 5:20 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    That’s a good one, and whoever wrote the lyrics deserves an award. Perfectly done.

  51. 51.

    trollhattan

    October 14, 2022 at 5:20 pm

    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.”

  52. 52.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    October 14, 2022 at 5:20 pm

    @trnc: Pro tip: Do NOT order the steak in the cafe.

  53. 53.

    Jinchi

    October 14, 2022 at 5:23 pm

    @Alison Rose: I like the emojis. They add color and personality.

  54. 54.

    GregMulka

    October 14, 2022 at 5:25 pm

    Look at it from TFG’s perspective. He actually owns this document.

  55. 55.

    JPL

    October 14, 2022 at 5:26 pm

    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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:26 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:26 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:28 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:28 pm

    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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:30 pm

    @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.

  61. 61.

    Baud

    October 14, 2022 at 5:30 pm

    @Kay:

    I can’t understand why she felt she didn’t fit in with Democrats anymore.

  62. 62.

    Leto

    October 14, 2022 at 5:30 pm

    @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.

  63. 63.

    JPL

    October 14, 2022 at 5:32 pm

    @Tony G: Warnock is the opposite.   My concern is letting Walker pick the venue and moderator.   It’s a local Fox station.

  64. 64.

    ian

    October 14, 2022 at 5:32 pm

    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?

  65. 65.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    October 14, 2022 at 5:32 pm

    @WaterGirl: So, I thought I’d read that for laughs, since it’s only one paragraph plus three lines. But my eyes just bounced off it. Can’t do it.

  66. 66.

    JanieM

    October 14, 2022 at 5:32 pm

    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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:34 pm

    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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:34 pm

    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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:36 pm

    @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.

  70. 70.

    MattF

    October 14, 2022 at 5:37 pm

    The Capitalization, all by Itself, is Exhausting.

  71. 71.

    martha

    October 14, 2022 at 5:38 pm

    @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.

  72. 72.

    Kropacetic

    October 14, 2022 at 5:38 pm

    @topclimber: Well, for starters, didn’t she start life in a homophobic cult courtesy her parents?

  73. 73.

    Kay

    October 14, 2022 at 5:39 pm

    @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.

  74. 74.

    WaterGirl

    October 14, 2022 at 5:40 pm

    @trollhattan: Hopefully that one SS agent is just the tip of the iceberg, and it all gets exposed.

  75. 75.

    JoyceH

    October 14, 2022 at 5:41 pm

    ” 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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:42 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:43 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:43 pm

    @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.

  79. 79.

    Martin

    October 14, 2022 at 5:43 pm

    @trollhattan: Reminder that Biden replaced his Secret Service team back in 2020 because they suspected they were compromised.

    Pence too thought they were compromised. I think it’s fair to say that they are compromised, as are large swaths of the FBI. Time to clean house.

  80. 80.

    BenCisco 🇺🇸🎖️🖥️♦️

    October 14, 2022 at 5:43 pm

    @Tony G: TREA45ON pushed him, but yes, for exactly those reasons.

    I find it personally offensive in the extreme.

  81. 81.

    Tony Jay

    October 14, 2022 at 5:44 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:44 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:45 pm

    @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

  84. 84.

    HumboldtBlue

    October 14, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    LET’S GO PHILLIES!!! FUCK THE COBB COUNTY CRACKERS, 6-0!!!!!

  85. 85.

    zhena gogolia

    October 14, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    @SpaceUnit: I cannot listen to him or Putler at all any more.

  86. 86.

    Geminid

    October 14, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    @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.

  87. 87.

    UncleEbeneezer

    October 14, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    @topclimber: Of course there isn’t.

  88. 88.

    Leto

    October 14, 2022 at 5:48 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:48 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:49 pm

    @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.

  91. 91.

    Steeplejack

    October 14, 2022 at 5:49 pm

    @Geminid:

    The nontrivial reason is that emojis in a nym prevent the pie filter from working.

  92. 92.

    WaterGirl

    October 14, 2022 at 5:49 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: It was kind of like his greatest hits all in the first sentence!

  93. 93.

    Kay

    October 14, 2022 at 5:49 pm

    @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?

  94. 94.

    WaterGirl

    October 14, 2022 at 5:50 pm

    @SpaceUnit: They would have to have him meet on camera with the committee – having him talk live would just be like a rally for him.

  95. 95.

    dm

    October 14, 2022 at 5:51 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:51 pm

    @Geminid:

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

  97. 97.

    topclimber

    October 14, 2022 at 5:51 pm

    @Geminid: As usual, you have a well reasoned argument.

    But you do not piss off the cat lover vote in America and prosper.

  98. 98.

    JaneE

    October 14, 2022 at 5:52 pm

    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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:53 pm

    @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

  100. 100.

    topclimber

    October 14, 2022 at 5:53 pm

    @martha: Clearly, the answer is a diaper for every student and teacher. Not gun control.

  101. 101.

    WaterGirl

    October 14, 2022 at 5:54 pm

    @Leto: Yep.  And the maps, as I recall, are labelled “DumbFuckistan.”

  102. 102.

    BigJimSlade

    October 14, 2022 at 5:54 pm

    @trnc: He’ll have the DJT Presidential Gold Bathroom Magazine Rack.

  103. 103.

    topclimber

    October 14, 2022 at 5:55 pm

    @Steeplejack: ​So, we ban emojis rather than banning assholes? Ah, the emoji-nity!

  104. 104.

    WaterGirl

    October 14, 2022 at 5:56 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 5:57 pm

    @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.

  106. 106.

    Steeplejack

    October 14, 2022 at 5:57 pm

    @Tony G:

    Mussolini died two days before Hitler.

  107. 107.

    Tony G

    October 14, 2022 at 5:59 pm

    @HumboldtBlue: Peter Thiel is gay, so I’m not sure that Gabbard’s superficial physical attractiveness has an influence on him.  But who knows?

  108. 108.

    NotMax

    October 14, 2022 at 6:04 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 6:04 pm

    @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.

  110. 110.

    HumboldtBlue

    October 14, 2022 at 6:05 pm

    @Tony G:

    Politically, not personally.

    She’s exactly who they want.

  111. 111.

    UncleEbeneezer

    October 14, 2022 at 6:07 pm

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

  112. 112.

    martha

    October 14, 2022 at 6:08 pm

    @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.

  113. 113.

    Steve in the ATL

    October 14, 2022 at 6:09 pm

    @JPL: I used to coach a soccer team with Fox 5 anchorman Russ Spencer.  Want me to make a call?

  114. 114.

    hueyplong

    October 14, 2022 at 6:11 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Guess I’m the only one who first read that as “fox force 5.”

  115. 115.

    Steve in the ATL

    October 14, 2022 at 6:14 pm

    @Tony Jay: that’s awesome

    @HumboldtBlue: Pie. Filter.

  116. 116.

    Alison Rose

    October 14, 2022 at 6:20 pm

    @Scout211: Eh, I’m not married to ’em. And this way if I annoy people, they can pie me :P

  117. 117.

    Alison Rose

    October 14, 2022 at 6:21 pm

    @H.E.Wolf: Yeah, that was something pointed out to me elsewhere and I was like……oooh, that would get super irritating.

  118. 118.

    Geminid

    October 14, 2022 at 6:22 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 6:23 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 6:26 pm

    @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.

  121. 121.

    HumboldtBlue

    October 14, 2022 at 6:30 pm

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Hah!

    YOU CAN’T HANDLE THEN TRUTH! GO PHIGHTINS!!!

  122. 122.

    H-Bob

    October 14, 2022 at 6:32 pm

    @JanieM: It’s the fat-ass “we”!

  123. 123.

    MomSense

    October 14, 2022 at 6:34 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    Probably the Calamari guy.

  124. 124.

    Burnspbesq

    October 14, 2022 at 6:35 pm

    (In my best George Takei voice), “Oh, my.”

  125. 125.

    MomSense

    October 14, 2022 at 6:36 pm

    @karen marie:

    I’d also like to shoot all the politicians and gun fetishists who keep us hostage to guns.

  126. 126.

    Booger

    October 14, 2022 at 6:38 pm

    @NotMax: No need to go all Melville on us, man.

  127. 127.

    Omnes Omnibus

    October 14, 2022 at 6:39 pm

    @WaterGirl: The children are right to laugh at you.

  128. 128.

    The Lodger

    October 14, 2022 at 6:40 pm

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

  129. 129.

    Sure Lurkalot

    October 14, 2022 at 6:41 pm

    @WaterGirl: And thank you for setting up the threads that make bearing witness bearable and often entertaining too boot.

  130. 130.

    The Lodger

    October 14, 2022 at 6:42 pm

    @Geminid: I just call her Tulski. Wastes less of my time and imagination.

  131. 131.

    ian

    October 14, 2022 at 6:42 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 6:43 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 6:45 pm

    @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.

  134. 134.

    Suzanne

    October 14, 2022 at 6:45 pm

    I want to watch this debate on my TELEVISION and I am annoyed.

  135. 135.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    October 14, 2022 at 6:45 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 6:50 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 6:55 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 7:00 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 7:06 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 7:08 pm

     

     

    @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.

  141. 141.

    Steve in the ATL

    October 14, 2022 at 7:14 pm

    @hueyplong: probably not!

    And I always addressed him that way.  So “good morning, Fox 5 anchorman Russ Spencer!”

  142. 142.

    Bill Arnold

    October 14, 2022 at 7:14 pm

    @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’

  143. 143.

    trollhattan

    October 14, 2022 at 7:14 pm

    @thruppence: True. One must, for example, always capitalize Fϋhrer in the middle of a sentence.

  144. 144.

    BenCisco 🇺🇸🎖️🖥️♦️

    October 14, 2022 at 7:18 pm

    @Geminid:

    Cow-eyed Tulsi

    Can’t unsee it

  145. 145.

    Geminid

    October 14, 2022 at 7:31 pm

    @BenCisco 🇺🇸🎖️🖥️♦️: Sorry, that was just a play off of Homer’s “Cow-eyed Hera,” but I think it fits.

  146. 146.

    AnthroBabe

    October 14, 2022 at 7:46 pm

    @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

    October 14, 2022 at 8:20 pm

    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!

  148. 148.

    sab

    October 15, 2022 at 4:48 am

    Thanks.

  149. 149.

    sab

    October 15, 2022 at 5:01 am

    @Steeplejack: All pies have a toggle switch.

  150. 150.

    sab

    October 15, 2022 at 5:03 am

    @Anyway: I liked them too. Issue was pie filter, not specific to Alison Rose.

  151. 151.

    sab

    October 15, 2022 at 5:07 am

    @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

    October 15, 2022 at 5:11 am

    @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

    October 15, 2022 at 5:27 am

    @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

    October 15, 2022 at 5:34 am

    @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

    October 15, 2022 at 5:44 am

    @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

    October 15, 2022 at 5:50 am

    @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

    October 15, 2022 at 6:44 am

    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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