Thinking we all might be a little worn out after last night, here’s an absolutely no serious content open thread.
As someone who has worn both high heels and too-tight shapewear, I have an idea what’s going on… https://t.co/yPsBu4deta
— Elizabeth Picciuto (@epicciuto) June 8, 2023
I know some of you guys don’t like to click through to twitter, so I inserted the three pics below.
They really do not stand or like like normal humans.
If they were robots are supposed to pass as human, the engineer would have said “nope” and gone back to the drawing board.
Okay, here’s a better photo of Pence.
It somehow feels wrong to post Rainbow Pence – because I hate when they do crap like that to Biden or Obama or Clinton.Is it wrong, or is that my catholic upbringing nagging at me?
Oh, and not to add fuel to the fire of good-natured mockery of my “Friday” issues, I just caught that I had titled this post “Saturday Open Thread”, so I do apparently recently have a problem with Friday! It’s not just me, right? With the big news yesterday, didn’t last night feel like a Friday night?
Totally open thread.
RaflW
As weird as it seems, I think Pencil and SeSantorum are both trying in their lame ways to stand like Trump. They’re that insecure about themselves that they can’t even stand naturally as themselves
Also, good morning!
Ken
Yeah, I know what you mean. I had the same reaction when that photoshop of Pence in biker gear on a Harley was circulating a couple of weeks ago. I laughed because it was utterly ridiculous, but then I —
I’m sorry, I’m informed that was not a photoshop job, apparently meaning the Pence campaign thought it was a good idea.
bbleh
I think the posing is a combination of imbalance on the lifts and a conscious attempt to look alpha-male for the camera: chest out, slight lean forward, arms out to look bigger.
As to Rainbow Pence, it’s so deserved that it almost can’t be wrong. It’s like the mockery equivalent of Backpfeifengesicht. It almost has to be done.
TBone
@Ken: BWAAAHAHAHAHA
WaterGirl
@Ken: Laughing!
Spanky
Hell, I think that’s one of the better pics of Pence. He should consider going for that look.
Change the shoes though, Sweetheart.
WaterGirl
I just saw this from Leto in thread below.
I hope that my sudden urge to bang my head against the wall will be short-lived. Surely the universe would not do that to us!
glc
Thank god it’s … whatever day it is.
I’m retired anyway.
Plus there are multiple good reasons for not leaving the house at the moment.
OpenAI sued for defamation (not the Onion)
Jerzy Russian
That picture of Desantis was taken just before the alien worm thing burst through his chest. I hope others in the room were not harmed by the subsequent actions of the alien critter has it grew larger and larger.
Spanky
@bbleh: My uninformed guess on that desantis pic is that he’s strapped into his girdle way too tightly.
SiubhanDuinne
They all look unbalanced.
Yes, that is meant to be read both literally and figuratively.
WaterGirl
@Spanky: re: the shoes..
I was surprised at my niece’s graduation party to see all the young girls who were wearing very short, tight dresses wearing high top shoes / boots.
I think that’s a thing now?
WaterGirl
@glc: AI is out of control! Who could have predicted???
Ken
I don’t know, an awful lot of leg-waxing required there….
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: In that case, this might be the most authentic look for these men – ever!
WaterGirl
@Ken: I see a lot of similarities between the defiant look Henry had when he looked at me after I discovered him on the couch and the look Rainbow Pence is displaying in this photo after Mother caught him dressed like that.
It’s uncanny!
Scout211
@WaterGirl: I think we need to wait on that. Or to quote OO, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. In the same article you linked:
Jerzy Russian
Regarding the picture of the former vice president in a dress, I am generally opposed to such pictures because many (most?) people don’t have a firm enough grasp on reality as it is.
That said, I am pointing and laughing along with everyone else.
p.a.
I think they look great for quadrupeds trying to pass as bipeds. I hear it’s hard!
Betty Cracker
Reminds me of an old tweet I did back when the orange fart cloud was our ridiculous president:
BruceFromOhio
The human skins worn by these aliens have been poorly tailored, any one can see that.
Hilbertsubspace
@WaterGirl: Oh for fucks sake.
People say they can ask her to recuse. Don’t ask, force her to recuse or do nothing. There is no try.
Baud
DeSantis looks the worst. Pence (in the dress) the best.
dmsilev
@Betty Cracker: I remember that, and like you, once the idea was in my brain I couldn’t un-see it.
Layer8Problem
For all the MAGA Carol Burnett fans, Trump and Pence always bring down the house with their Mrs. H-Wiggins impressions.
Danielx
@BruceFromOhio:
Waiting for one of them to get caught devouring a live hamster.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I don’t think that’s a thing
Suzanne
The weird thing isn’t the lifts or the shapewear, it’s their arms. Like, whenever people just stand with their arms at their sides, one’s palms face toward one’s legs. Not backwards. It looks vaguely simian.
Delk
You know, if DeSantis could just borrow a cape from somewhere his arms would be covered.
Suzanne
@WaterGirl:
Was a thing when I was a teenager in the 90s (usually Docs or Steve Maddens) and that 90s style is back! It’s so weird.
Jerzy Russian
@Betty Cracker: At this point, I would not be surprised that the “without the hind legs” part is not true and the horse part is actually there and concealed by elaborate cloaking technology.
Jeffro
Pence is saying “DOJ is politicized but ‘no one is above the law’ ” (!)
He’s going to be simply spectacular over the next several months, alternately praising trump and demanding trump be prosecuted and kissing trump’s ring and wondering why trump hasn’t been hauled off to jail already and singing trump’s praises and asking for the maximum possible sentence for trump and listing all the things he loves about trump and and and and
We might need a term for it: “two-faced” doesn’t describe the depth of duplicity well enough, “gaslighting” is over-used and isn’t strong enough.
“Gas-faced?” No, that’s not it…
jonas
@WaterGirl:
Smith et al. *had* to have known this when they brought the indictment in FL. I’m sure they have backups to their backups to their backup plans to deal with anything Cannon does to fuck with the case and put her finger on the scale for Trump. She got her ass handed to her so badly by the appeals court in the first go-round on this case, maybe she’ll actually do her damn job this time and try not to openly be a surrogate counsel for the defense from the bench.
Dangerman
I’ve seen that stance; I think it was at the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln exhibit at Disneyland. Of course, that was cheesy animatronics. This is just cheesy bullshit.
bbleh
@WaterGirl: this is what happens when you have a writers’ strike: you get totally hackneyed plot lines.
Miss Bianca
@Suzanne: Agreed.
cain
Pence looks pretty fab actually. Better than he usually does. I bet he’d get more votes if he went out that way. But Mother would never approve.
DeSantis and Trump both have very poor posture. Losing some weight to take the pressure off the spine might be a good thing. But then again, the crazy seems to give these folks all the support they need.
Wish my wife luck today – it’s her final interview for vice principal at West Linn school system. There is a pretty high chance >90% that she going to get the position. My wife is a rock star educator.
jonas
@Jeffro:
This from a guy who’s administration featured Bill Fucking Barr, who did nothing the entire time but politicize the DOJ. Jesus, the projection from these people is visible from Mars…
Spanky
@Suzanne:
Knuckledraggers will knuckledrag.
brendancalling
I’d bet a few bucks that Meatball Ron is in the closet too.
Redshift
It’s possible the Pence pic is just one where he happens to be standing like that (like if he just got up from a chair), because he usually stands like he’s gone to his happy place in his mind (except when he’s doing what he thinks is a steely gaze.)
But the pattern is too good not to include it.
Baud
WaterGirl
@p.a.: That does sort of capture the look!
Baud
@Suzanne:
cain
@Suzanne: I think we’ve seen a progression of a lot of styles from the 70s to early 2000s. Hip huggers, high rise, jeans – it’s quite cool. I assume kids are pilfering their mom’s old clothes, their grandmother’s clothes – good times. :D
Spanky
@p.a.:
Adam occasionally puts up the picture of the cat in overalls standing on his hind legs saying “What da fuck dey doin’ over der?” That cat stands more like a human than desantis or tfg.
Redshift
@jonas: She’s also extremely inexperienced, with almost no qualifications other than being a wingnut true believer. While that may have been enough to accomplish delay and obfuscation in procedural matters, I can’t imagine it would work out well in an actual trial with a top-notch prosecutor.
cain
@Hilbertsubspace: I’d think she would WANT to recuse given the axiom “anything Trump touches dies” – she already went on a limb once for the man, and got burned, and had a career set back. I think she’s going to look at that mountain of evidence and realize that there are other ways to further her career – but she’s also caught between a rock and a hard place because his supporters are going to be pissed at her, as well as the republican party (performatively)
cain
@glc: The real problem is going to be generative AI – the stable diffusion and what not. Young hormonal males are out there creating nudes of every kind including of famous actresses and so on.
It’s dumb how we always end up going back to sexual arousal when in regards to any kind of new technology. So many other ways to use this to help people, animals, the planet – and we’re just creating boobs.
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: Oh my god, that’s exactly it.
WaterGirl
@BruceFromOhio: Yes. still laughing.
WaterGirl
@Suzanne: I agree that the arms are odd, but that’s just one piece of the oddity.
SiubhanDuinne
@Betty Cracker:
Ha! I remember that! Nice of you to dig it out again for our
edificationamusement.NotMax
WaterGirl
@jonas: I’m sure Jack Smith filed in FL with his eyes wide open. But damn, she could delay the hell out of things, at the very least.
I was hoping that the more “interesting” times might be over!
Spanky
@cain:
So true.
WaterGirl
@bbleh: Yes!
WaterGirl
@cain: Fingers crossed for her.
Tenar Arha
@cain: Best wishes & good luck!
cmorenc
@WaterGirl: The possibility that Aileen Cannon might be assigned the case occurred to me yesterday, but I thought naaah, surely the senior judge of that District wouldn’t let that happen. She could gum up the works simply by slow-walking the progress of the case so no trial occurs prior to the 2024 election, in addition to whatever other motions she may entertain to hamstring the prosecution
We’ll have to hold our breath to find out whether Cannon uses this as a chance to rehabilitate her reputation, by going out of her way to give the appearance of impartiality, or else views this as second chance at the Trump matter as a way to put in her chit for promotion to a higher court, should Trump win the 2024 election.
NotMax
@cain
RadarRange porn never did catch on.
:)
WaterGirl
@cmorenc: I am not going to borrow trouble – what if is an unproductive game. But I will be holding my breath a bit until we find out for sure who this is assigned to.
Delk
Link-huff po
Citizen Alan
@jonas: I’m still completely shocked that she didn’t recuse herself the firsr time, and I’m not optimistic that she will have grown any wiser or more ethical since then. But other than a case in which a party is a family member, I genuinely can’t think of a more obvious conflict of interest than “one of the parties is the president who nominated me to the federal bench to sit in the district where that president lives so that I will invariably be assigned any federal cases involving him.”
NotMax
@Spanky
Ann-Margret’s portrayal of Lady Booby in Joseph Andrews is pitch perfect. And her final line of dialogue at the end is super chef’s kiss.
Spanky
And now for something completely different:
Here’s today’s astronomy picture of the day. Streaks are gravitationally lensed distant galaxies. The “foreground” hazy galaxies are ellipticals – now thought to be the result of multiple galactic mergers.
But it’s galaxies all the way down
ETA Don’t forget to click to embiggen.
kalakal
They’re all standing like poorly built and operated marionettes. The way the torsos look as if they’re a few inches forward of the legs, the stiff, squared shoulders, the free hanging arms with the wrists raised slightly, you can practically see the wires holding those wrists up
The rear facing hands are so the strings can attach to the wrists correctly
NotMax
@kalakal
Gerry Anderson weeps.
:)
kalakal
@NotMax: Thunderbirds was the first thing I thought of when I saw those photos
Dorothy A. Winsor
I’m a little disappointed that the indictment doesn’t mention showing classified information to others. At least as far as we know, it doesn’t. That one really raises the stakes.
Gin & Tonic
As a (very) long-time bicyclist, who often counsels “own the road,” I can’t help but be impressed by this:
Yes, it’s in Ukraine, and that’s a HIMARS battery.
PAM Dirac
@cain:
She already knows that no one in the 11th Circuit will have her back if she makes up privileges for drumpf. She still might do it just for the delay, but it turns out there recently was a highly political case that she ruled on. A former R rep was hit with a 465K fine resulting from a FEC lawsuit. The judge who imposed the fine died of cancer and the case was reassigned to Cannon. The rep asked Cannon to rule the fine was excessive. She turned him down. It may be she is wary of going out on a limb now or it may be that she reserves her special favors for drumpf. I suspect having to go against the “resting executioner’s face” might give her pause. We will see.
SteveinPHX
@Betty Cracker: I just stood up and tried to get into that posture. No can do. Is there some kind of girdle, or other structural garment, that makes this possible? Rhetorical question.
Thanks!
different-church-lady
Generative AI is out of control.
RaflW
@Jeffro: Doonsbury portrayed Bush II as a buttered waffle. So that’s already taken.
jonas
@cain: Reminds me of the epic Class Day speech Conan O’Brien gave at Harvard in 2000 in which he regaled the audience with a list of “predictions” about the future that he pretended to have written while in college in the 80’s: “I believe that one day a high-speed network of interconnected computers will spring up worldwide, so enriching people that they will lose their interest in idle chitchat and pornography.”
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
Trusty and Rowley are benched, and Todd Blanche is now at bat.
Hope the check cleared, buddy.
As a side note, I see that Blanche let himself be photographed in one of those stupid shirts with a ridiculously wide collar, something which always looks unkempt. Dunno why the Brits keep bringing those back into style – the look just plain sucks and I hate them on everybody, me most of all.
Leto
Apparently Trumpov is reshuffling his legal team, yet again. I wonder what parking lot attendant, dog walker, or lawn care service lawyer he’ll find.
zhena gogolia
@Gin & Tonic: Wow.
brantl
@Jerzy Russian: You mean burst out of the robot that let the alien almost imitate a human being that looks like Rhonda Sepsis, don’t you? Pence looks like Lurch, Trump looks like he’s going to fall over, and De Sepsis looks like he’s getting ready to wave away the fart-cloud.
brantl
@Jerzy Russian: You mean burst out of the robot that let the alien almost imitate a human being that looks like Rhonda Sepsis, don’t you? Pence looks like Lurch, Trump looks like he’s going to fall over, and De Sepsis looks like he’s getting ready to wave away the fart-cloud.
Suzanne
LAWL. RedState trying to defend Trump, writing that when he says, “Look, look at this” and you hear paper rustling….. there’s no proof that anyone looked at it.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@SteveinPHX: I think it’s the lifts in their shoes. Trying to balance, women wind up with their breasts thrust forward and their butts thrust back.
Chief Oshkosh
Geeze…Trump really DOES have small hands.
Leto
@SteveinPHX: @Betty Cracker: I’ll simply posit it’s because he has no core muscles. It’s what happened to me after my motorcycle accident; my core was destroyed and I now have a similar posture. I’m working on it because I know the health implications, but he doesn’t give a F.
prostratedragon
Joyce Vance on Judge Cannon:
jonas
@Leto: As I wrote here yesterday, Trump no doubt realizes that he needs serious legal representation now, but the only people qualified will demand (in addition to a massive up-front retainer) that he do exactly as they say and shut his damn pie hole and stop the insane all-caps social media rants, etc. Which he has never been able (or willing) to do, so he’s not going to find a top-notch defense team.
Tinare
@BruceFromOhio: This is always my thought when I see these pics. The Men in Black scenario…
UncleEbeneezer
UncleEbeneezer
@prostratedragon: JINX!!!!
Jackie
@cmorenc: Joyce Vance, former federal prosecutor, said Jack Smith will probably request Cannon be recused or request a change of venue. Vance isn’t concerned, so I’m not going to allow myself to be concerned.
Old School
@jonas:
Good Conan O’Brien line.
Remind me of this one:
Betty Cracker
Hubby is watching CNN in the other room, and I overheard that Trump aide Walt Nauta is also indicted.
Anonymous At Work
@cmorenc: We’ll hold our breath but not for long. Lifetime appointments to unqualified hacks are lifetime appointments and an unqualified hack usually knows their role. What can she do that would get Speaker of the House* McCarthy to impeach her and Senate Majority Leader Schumer to convict?
Juju
It all feels like Monday to me. When I saw that picture of DeSantis my first thought was “Danger Will Robinson, danger, danger!!”
RaflW
So, maybe this is because of venue, but Trusty, Esq. has resigned from defending the Indicted Guy.
Jackie
@Dorothy A. Winsor: One of the charges is co-conspirator so at least ONE OTHER is going to be indicted along with TIFG😁
scav
@SteveinPHX: Oddly enough, I had had a sudden flash of the Gibson Girl S-silhouette found a link to all its underpinnings. That look takes work!
Leto
@jonas: agreed. There’s simply no one qualified left to mount a serious defense. He’s burned through everyone either via not paying or just not listening. Couldn’t have happened to a better POS.
@prostratedragon: @UncleEbeneezer: fingers/toes crossed, and all that.
Jackie
@SteveinPHX: A long stick up one’s ass?
brantl
@Delk: Once in a while, the MittBot 3000 does the right thing, not very often, mind you, but when he does, it can be pretty impressive.
WaterGirl
@Gin & Tonic: Holy shit! I jumped, just watching the video from a million miles away.
Jinchi
Don’t let your Catholic guilt get you, Rainbow Pence is fine.
Now if you sat him on a motorcycle and dressed him like the guy from the Village People … that would be too much.
Jackie
@Betty Cracker:Ahhhh…
The Co-conspirator!!!
Hopefully the first of many!
prostratedragon
@UncleEbeneezer: 😁
I usually look for reasons to avoid pre-worrying.
Leto
OT for our animal lovers: Scientists at Cincinnati Zoo find way to non-surgically sterilize cats in breakthrough study
WaterGirl
@Jinchi: Too late!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Betty Cracker: I almost feel bad for him, but whenever somebody’s loyal to trump, from Mark Meadows to Walt Nauta, there’s an aspect of “you can’t cheat an honest man”. I’m guessing whoever this ‘other MAL employee is”, a guy who was just doing a job and was told to move some boxes and didn’t know he was violating the Espionage Act, is going to be looking for a new lawyer soon (I think I read the other day that he has a trump-paid lawyer?)
@RaflW: I gather he was doing TV hits for trump just a few hours ago? Is this how long it took for him to read this transcript CNN has, or did he see something even more incriminating? Something his client didn’t tell him about
cain
@NotMax: That you know of!
brantl
@Jinchi: He did that, himself!
cain
@jonas: I remember when playboy showed up on the Internet – THAT was what heralded the success of the Internet. It was pretty funny at the time. I remember being excited by it too – mostly because wherever porn goes – that’s where the lemmings will follow.
ETA 111 – binary # baby! yeeha! Happy Friday!
Anoniminous
@Jinchi:Here ya go
In non-biker mode
BC in Illinois
Then there’s this . . .
WaterGirl
@prostratedragon:
Citizen Alan
@Anonymous At Work:
I am still furious and bitter that the last CLE I went to ended with a “meet the judges” panel which introduced the two newest district court judges appointed to mississippi. Both of them were 38 years old and less than 10 years out of law school. and both were confirmed in December of 2020, six weeks after Shitgibbon lost the election and three weeks before the Insurrection. I won’t live long enough to see either of them take senior status let alone leave the bench.
kalakal
@brantl:
I’m sure he’s thinking of making it a double act with leather clad temptress Casey “Biker Babe” DeSantis
Any day now they’ll launch their Rolling Blunder tour
WaterGirl
@WaterGirl:
NotMax
@cain
At long last, stapleless navels!
//
trollhattan
Old thing in English bog proves really, really old.
Scuffletuffle
@Suzanne: Vaguely???
prostratedragon
“Bliss,” Michael Torke; UKansas Wind Ensemble
cain
@Jackie:
Cannon fucked her career up but good. She’s stuck there forever. Don’t do MAGA, people. It’s worse than coke.
Jackie
Flashback Quote of the Day:
“In my administration, I’m going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information. No one will be above the law.”
— Donald Trump, at a campaign rally on August 18, 2016.
From Political Wire
Steve in the ATL
I’m accustomed to middle aged white men watching Fox News on flights, but today is a 20-something looking woman. And to make things even worse she then painted her nails and applied scented lotion, finishing up by eating some malodorous candy. I’d rather be next to a fat guy!
Betty Cracker
@Leto: I read something similar in The Atlantic earlier this week. It’s hugely promising because not only could it reduce the misery of feral cat populations but it could also save the 2.4B birds outdoor cats kill every year. (Yes, that’s billion with a B!)
JoyceH
I just saw on Twitter that the House Ethics Committee has reopened the drug and underage sex investigation of Matt Gaetz. And yesterday, the feds indicted Nathan Paul, that developer in Texas that Ken Paxton was doing all the corruption for. Oh, and James Watt (remember him?) died.
We’ve gotten so many good news items in the past few days, Elie Mistal has a theory. He figures that when Pat Robertson died, it released such a torrent of concentrated evil that it went rushing through the hellmouth that opened in 2016 when the Cubs won the World Series, and slammed it shut again.
WaterGirl
@BC in Illinois: “We are both out of our league, and we know it.”
Scout211
@BC in Illinois:
New attorney
Scout211
@WaterGirl: or Trump fired them for “happy talk?”
WaterGirl
@Steve in the ATL:
I can’t tell you how many times I have been trapped in a car with my sister when she does both of those things. It’s an assault on the senses. I don’t begrudge anyone their candy, though.
*How can candy smell bad?
Geminid
@Leto: I think that Todd Blanche is considered a good defence attorney. Blanche might not last, though. His reputation might not last either. He has thr Client from Hell.
Now that makes me think of a circle in Hell where damned attorneys have to represent Donald Trump. The main character will be there soon enough, in Hell time at least.
Steve in the ATL
@WaterGirl: primarily by not being dark chocolate, but in this case by having a fake fruit scent
MisterForkbeard
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The 11th circuit can take it away from her without her input if the government requests it.
And according to the law, they should. They’re supposed to do it if there’s a public perception that the judge would intervene on behalf of the defendant or the government. Cannon not only did that repeatedly, there was public discussion for months about how she was clearly putting her thumb on the scale… and then the 11th circuit publicly rebuked her and undid her pro-Trump decisions.
ETA: @prostratedragon found it
WaterGirl
@Betty Cracker: First reaction: that’s great!
Second reaction: Will this be used against women without their knowledge / against their will by abusive spouses and/or used against the “wrong kind” of young girls who are sexually active or against women in prison.
See what evil people have done to us?
No One You Know
@Jeffro: He’s not jovial enough to be a gas giant. But if the shoe-lift fits…
WaterGirl
@Scout211: One of the many things we will never know. (or possibly not know until someone puts it in their tell-all book.)
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: Durian flavored.
sdhays
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: I can’t keep track of this parade of clowns. Is this the guy Trump begged to join his team, was forced to pay millions up front to get him to join, and then immediately sidelined because he told Trump to, I guess, return the classified the documents and comply with the law?
Or is this someone they picked up at the bar of the local Denny’s?
Ken
@BC in Illinois: I’m trying to decide if there’s a whiff of “Because he’s GUILTY! GUILTY! GUILTY!” in Trusty and Rowley’s statement. Probably not, attorneys represent guilty clients all the time.
Ruckus
@BruceFromOhio:
The human skins worn by these aliens have been poorly tailored, any one can see that.
Maybe that’s just what they look like. Maybe they really have zero concept of life on this planet. Maybe like their leader they all have IQ scores that anyone could add together with their fingers (no need for thumbs….) Maybe they don’t understand being human, they are after all, the leaders of the conservative movement, which seems so enlightened – look who they are willing to elect – artificial, almost lifelike creatures.
schrodingers_cat
@WaterGirl: How can one paint their nails in a moving car? I have difficulty not smudging the nail polish when I am on terra firma.
UncleEbeneezer
@JoyceH: Has Elie Mystal apologized for constantly smearing Garland/DOJ for the past two years ar explained how he was so profoundly wrong about Trump investigations? Yesterday should’ve proven once and for all that he is an attention-seeking clown who makes his living off bad-faith, doom & gloom, Dem-bashing.
Old Dan and Little Ann
@Betty Cracker: How many times does a bird shit in a day. 2.4 billion times that seems like s lot more to deal with on a daily basis. Heads up!
UncleEbeneezer
Today’s Google Doodle is cool: celebrating Willi Ninja (pioneer of ballroom “vogueing”)
trollhattan
@Scout211: @Geminid: Is Todd from the DeBois Blanches?
schrodingers_cat
@WaterGirl: Women in immigration detention have been sterilized against their will during the Orange Error’s administration.
trollhattan
@Betty Cracker: They remain one of our most damaging invasive species. It’s a thing.
Omnes Omnibus
A good thread about the indictment.
scav
@Ken: I’m trying to remember when they joined the revolving door of representation, because it may be they sense their own need for representation looming. My Attorneys Get Attorneys.
JoyceH
@UncleEbeneezer:
Dunno, but his hellmouth theory sure makes sense, doesn’t it? Man, a LOT of things have been screwed up since 2016, so if that closed, things could be looking up!
And wow, the transcript of Trump’s talk with those ghost writers is devastating! “Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this.”
Omnes Omnibus
@UncleEbeneezer: Actually, he did.
HumboldtBlue
@Spanky:
Screw the definitions, I say we all go a-boobing, just for the hell of it.
Lyrebird
@cain: Rock on, Mrs. Rock Star Educator Cain Spouse!
May I ask the BJ hive mind about another education-related job application? specifically about a DoEd job, they ask if I have “1 year specialized experience equivalent to the GS-13 level in the Federal government”
They list three activities, and I have done more than one year of half of each, like, I have done education policy relevant research that was not experimental, and I have conducted tons of experiments that are not that policy relevant. I have “Experience engaging and collaborating with relevant stakeholders to develop a coherent research agenda and portfolio of potential studies” on information technology, not on educational policy, but part of why I left corporate R&D is because I want to work on educational policy.
ETA: thanks for reading this, if ya did, and fwiw I do have all the education requirements for the GS level and for the specific position.
On this form you have to check yes or no, and I don’t think there’s a cover letter, just a resume and the glorious form. It’ll be a reach, but it really sounds like a dream job for me, so I am going to apply. I think…
Jackie
@Scout211: It’s TIFG’s first stalling attempt. “Your Honor, I need more time to get my new attorneys up to date…”
Then these attorneys will be replaced and repeat delay request. Rinse and repeat as often as necessary, then demand everything be halted due to Election Season.
Suzanne
@Omnes Omnibus: That was fun.
BC in Illinois
Cartoon by Clay Bennett — Judge Aileen Cannon, with MAGA flag in courtroom:
https://twitter.com/BennettCartoons/status/1567284723952623622
Jackie
@Omnes Omnibus: Let me add mine:
😂🤣🤭😂🤣🤭😂🤣🤭
lowtechcyclist
@WaterGirl:
That shouldn’t have been a big deal – we know Mother wears the pants in that family.
RaflW
@cain: I know shamelessness works for politicians (esp of the “R” variety), but at least so far, at least where appellate courts can intervene, it likely doesn’t for judges.
It does seem that Cannon has irreparably marred her own name, and hopefully she’s out of the way shortly — from this case, though I expect she’ll have hold on her lifetime appointment.
Ruckus
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Come on, they need lifts, otherwise they’d be themselves and who wants that?
Kristine
@bbleh: Yea–learned a new word.
Jackie
Hillary’s response to “recent” news:
https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/1667167938141466630
jonas
He also has a tendency to demand his lawyers do things that ultimately get them in trouble, like bring frivolous lawsuits or sign affidavits saying he turned over all the classified material.
MAGA — “Making Attorneys Get Attorneys”.
Matt McIrvin
So apparently Cannon could in principle empanel a jury, issue a “Judgement of Acquittal” asserting insufficient evidence, and Trump would just walk–no appeal (double jeopardy), no need for the jury to decide anything. At least on these counts.
Amir Khalid
@Omnes Omnibus:
You can in fact come to Malaysia (or Thailand, or Indonesia, or Singapore) and buy durian-flavoured chocolates and sweets. But they’re kind of an acquired taste if you’re not southeast Asian.
JML
@Lyrebird: As a former GS-13, I think you’re ok. I think there’s usually an understanding that there’s going to be a little bit of weirdness in translation for experience to federal and a little aggregation should be fine. Surprised there’s no cover letter requirement or option; most fed jobs still ask for it I think. (Much as I hate writing them, it is a good way to explain how your experience is relevant in a narrative form rather than just listing dates and tasks)
You’re not trying to deceive anyone, so frame yourself in the positive light you’re entitled to and go for the job!
Sister Golden Bear
With Trump, it’s definitely a combo of high heel lifts plus too tight shape wear (having worn both while performing, it’s something you have to correct for). May also be a bit of perceived “masculine” stance, e.g. chest out, leaning toward an opponent (akin to what happens just before a physical fight).
I suspect for Pence and DeSantis it’s more a case of imitating Trump.
Jackie
Did this get mentioned yet?
“The House Ethics Committee has restarted an investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), the latest legal problem for the controversial Florida Republican, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.”
snip
“The Ethics Committee announced in April 2021 that it had begun a preliminary probe into Gaetz. Here’s former Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) and the late Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), who were chair and ranking member of the Ethics Committee at that time:
“The Committee is aware of public allegations that Representative Matt Gaetz may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct.”
“But the Ethics Committee later disclosed that it had deferred its investigation at the request of the Justice Department. The panel also noted it wasn’t finished with Gaetz either.”
“Which leads to the current situation. Since DOJ didn’t charge Gaetz and is no longer scrutinizing him, the Ethics Committee is free to conduct its own investigation.”
“Gaetz’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment on Thursday night.”
https://punchbowl.news/archive/6923-punchbowl-news-am/card/12/#group-12
jonas
@Jackie: I thought McCarthy had basically shut the Ethics Committee down so it couldn’t do anything about George Santos. The Freedom Caucus has to be absolutely livid about this.
Leto
@jonas: He’s the gift that keeps on giving. How hard is it to pierce attorney-client privilege? Don’t worry, Trumpov’s your man!
Omnes Omnibus
Greenwald, Grim, and Tracey are all up in arms about the indictment. (No links because fuck em)
different-church-lady
Best infrastructure week EVER!
different-church-lady
@Omnes Omnibus:
Gotta give the writers credit, they’ve come up with some reliably consistent characters.
AM in NC
@cain: Yep, and it’s a big reason why a lot of us would be quite pleased if we only let post-menopausal women run things for the next hundred years or so.
It’s about time we stopped letting people under thrall to their hormones be in power (for both sexual and violence/aggression reasons). Ain’t no 65 year old woman falling for some Russian honeypot and putting our national security at risk! Or rage-warring because they will NOT be seen to have “low-T”.
Leto
@jonas: Republicans in disarray! Republicans in disarray! Republicans in disarray!
Gin & Tonic
@Omnes Omnibus: Quelle surprise.
sdhays
@AM in NC:
Don’t worry, the conservative movement will produce plenty.
Leto
@different-church-lady:
speaking of infrastructure week, each of the green dots represents a public infrastructure project ignited by resources passed by Democrats and Biden to rebuild America.
Alison Rose
@Omnes Omnibus: The Three Splooges
Geminid
@Leto: That’s a great map. Thanks for posting it
I’d like to see one in another year, with an overlay of new AMTRAK routes funded by the Infrastructure bill.
Suzanne
@Sister Golden Bear: High heels and squeezy undergarments always make me stand even more straight so I stay in balance! Suck and tuck!
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
I didn’t need confirmation that the indictment was a good thing, but thanks.
Betty Cracker
It’s a fool’s errand to try to identify the dumbest Repub defense of Trump since new entries are coming in by the nanosecond, but Youngkin, y’all…
Great googly moogly!
Also, the DOJ is holding a press conference this afternoon, according to flypaper-head Mike Pence. That’s gonna be lit!
Ken
Have you forgotten Senator Warren and her Marine “boy toy”, as revealed by intrepid reporters Wohl and Burkman?
Jackie
@jonas: “The Freedom Caucus has absolutely got to be livid”
That gives my heart a warm and fuzzy feeling!
Since Kevin sent them all to their rooms Wed after their temper tantrum on the House floor, we won’t hear anything until next week – if The Indictment doesn’t have them distracted.
Jerzy Russian
@Betty Cracker: That has to be some kind of cut-and-paste error. Nobody can be that stupid, can they?
Betty Cracker
Oooo! Jack Smith to hold a press conference at 3 PM. Fuck my productivity!
ETA: Correction, he’ll make a statement on Trump indictment.
trollhattan
@Betty Cracker: “Parents know”? WTF is VestBoy 2.0 even trying to say here? Triple-wived, proud rapist, failed casino owner Trump is relatable to the state’s parents?
Do go on.
Alison Rose
@Betty Cracker: ……wait, what? “Parents”? Why? Do all of y’all with kids find classified documents under their beds every day or something??
Alison Rose
@Betty Cracker:
Rotating tag.
ETA I think this will be the first time I’ve heard him speak???
trollhattan
@Ken: That thing and her hilarious response made me love Liz even more. Ooh, la-la, y’all.
Betty Cracker
Breaking news according to MSNBC: indictment unsealed.
Lyrebird
@JML:
Ever so much appreciated! My background probably is very weird compared to some of the other candidates. I want to get past the initial screening and over to the people who really know what they’re looking for, and I’ll try to make my other materials as lucid as possible.
I will give it a go!
Thanks again.
Tony Jay
I dunno. I’ve noted before that Pence always looks like he’s just woken from a coma to find a stranger cupping his balls, but in that picture he just looks like he’s an hour into his eighth Meet And Greet of the Iowa State Fair and his aides have told him he’s agreed to present an award to the Tri-State Junior Jive Dancing champions for Heartland News Monthly.
RoDS, as ever, looks like he’s just shat himself and is desperately hoping he can make it off the stage before it slips down the leg of his PVC undershorts.
Geminid
@Betty Cracker: Now I gotta check out L. Louise Lucas’s Twitter feed. The 6′ 5″ Governor is a foot taller than Senator Lucas, but she loves to dunk on him. Sometimes she’ll pants him on the way down.
Alison Rose
From NYT
Ken
@Betty Cracker: Virginia has a lot of parents who steal classified documents, commit espionage, and obstruct the investigation into their crimes? OK, maybe the third, but I’d hope not too many of the others.
Jackie
@Alison Rose: Do Playboy magazines count?🤔😉
Leto
@Betty Cracker: this just in, popcorn sales up 1000%! As well as beverages of all choice!
Old School
@Leto:
That infrastructure map is impressive.
Here’s the original searchable version.
Jeffro
@Betty Cracker: I just Googled that to find out what Smilin’ Glenn said and maaaaaan, fuck that guy.
I was going to be mad all over again, then I realized that he (and the rest of the GOP slime ball officials in this state, I’m sure) are going to completely debase themselves – even at this late indictments-are-dropping-all-over-the-place date! – trying to make pathetic comparisons here, ones that will hopefully stink of their trump-enabling for the rest of their lives.
Actually never mind, I’m mad anyway…
Leto
@Geminid: Amtrak Joe? Acela Joe? They better name a new route after him.
Jackie
@Alison Rose: Yup! And we just got our first live sighting of him two or three days ago!
Baud
Indictment
gov.uscourts.flsd.648653.3.0.pdf (courtlistener.com)
Alison Rose
Complete document from NYT
Betty Cracker
@Tony Jay:
LMAO!
HumboldtBlue
Alison Rose
Jeeez the convo between Trump and others on page 15!!! Maybe this had been printed elsewhere but I never read it. Good lordy.
Leto
@Old School: the very first map you come to, which highlights private v public investment, should forever close the yaps of the dumb dumbs who harp on private investment being the best way. The private map is a few sparse dots, whereas the public map is almost entirely covered. It’s rhetorical conversation here, but man is this illustrative of why we should tax the F out of the rich.
trollhattan
@Jeffro: “Moderate” Republican my aching ass–he’s as nutty as the lot of ’em.
What are you going to do about this guy, Virginia?
Unprecedented charges generally stem from unprecedented crimes, ever consider that, Gov?
Jackie
@Alison Rose: Good thing I had nothing serious planned today – because they wouldn’t get done!
I’m having a hard enough time trying to get one load of laundry into the washer LOL
Baud
Oh lordy, there are pictures.
laura
@Lyrebird: Always apply. Never self select due to slight concerns regarding mq’s! Prepare to ask really good and practical questions in the interview phase that includes where people go to have lunch, what the work culture is like, and engage the hiring panel like it’s a date and that YOU have the decision making power.
Omnes Omnibus
It’s been unsealed.
Alison Rose
Tony Jay
@Betty Cracker:
He does! It’s uncanny.
Keith P.
@Alison Rose: Interesting nuggets in there, like a lot of those boxes were stored on the stage in one of the ballrooms, just out in the open. He also had boxes sitting in his f’n shower!
cmorenc
@Alison Rose: The Trump Indictment is a textbook case of a “speaking” indictment. Spoken softly, but with a big stick.
Jerzy Russian
@Omnes Omnibus: Jack Smith said “pardon me while I whoop this out”?
Alison Rose
Looking at all the “max term of imprisonment” lines and being like COME ON, GOD, GIVE US THIS, PLEASE
Alison Rose
@Keith P.: but Biden had them in his garage with a paper-thin door!!!!!!!!!!
trollhattan
@Alison Rose: “The biggest criming, yuge crimes, and so many of them! Let me tell you, you’ll get so tired of all the criming…” [whisper, whisper] “This is the biggest witch hunt of all witch hunts, and also election theft, believe me!”
Omnes Omnibus
Holy fuck!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Yeah, I can usually suss out what they’re referring to, but this one has me a bit stumped.
Listening to MSNBC, somebody needs to tell Ari Melber to calm the fuck down when grown-up lawyers with actual trial experience are talking
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus: Wait, are you not allowed to do that?
Jerzy Russian
@Alison Rose: I hope God is not still mad at me for quitting church after 7th grade. I would hate to be the reason that all of those nice items you listed are not delivered.
trollhattan
@Keith P.: Shower, huh? I imagine Trump only bathes (every fortnight?) and has to be lowered into an oversize tub like William Taft.
Jeffro
@Jeffro: and as I was typing that, EVEN MORE INFO CAME OUT ABOUT TRUMP’S INDICTMENTS (37!)
Care to comment, Gov?!????
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Tony Jay: @Betty Cracker: or that’s the dream he was having and he’s briefly wondering if he can fall back to sleep and return to it
Alison Rose
@Baud: Gonna put a real wrinkle in your presidency plans, isn’t it?
Jeffro
@trollhattan: I am tweeting and posting my brains about it before I go away for the weekend!
Someone in the media, PLEASE ask Smilin’ Glenn a follow-up question about that “parents” BS!!
trollhattan
@Omnes Omnibus: You have to admit, it’s on-brand for the guy who ripped apart memos and flushed them in the commode.
Leto
@Omnes Omnibus: listen, who here hasn’t suggested before that you simply flush the documents down the toilet? Or throw them in the fireplace? Or simply had someone take them out of the room so you can claim you’ve never seen them? C’mon now! What’s a little light evidence tampering among friends?!?!?
SteveinPHX
Had to run errands.
Lifts in heels = high heeled shoes
Although Jackie @ #100 below has a pretty funny theory!
Keith P.
@trollhattan: Or Baron Harkonnen
Suzanne
@Tony Jay:
If I had a dollar for every time….
Tony Jay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Is it a sin if you just covet your neighbour’s hands?
MazeDancer
37 counts is a good amount.
Nuclear secrets looks bad.
But those Hunter nudie pics gonna even things up right?
ETA: Can’t wait til 3:00 to see Jack Smith for realz.
Tony Jay
@Suzanne:
“Sir, this is a Blue Oyster. You’ll find the local Republican Club across the street.”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Nauta responds, “Good afternoon, Ma’am!” I don’t think he’s texting with Melanie or Tiffany.
“a warrant for Ivanka Trump? No officer, my name is Mrs Kushner”
Ken
I think I heard last year, when they said classified papers were found, that there could be one count per document. Is that where the 31 comes from? If so, they may have decided to focus on the ones with defense information.
jonas
Just got done looking through the indictment posted on TPM. Holy shit, what a read. This guy is in big, big trouble and I don’t think even a judge as corrupt as Cannon can help him out of this one. His new lawyer has his work cut out for him.
Speaking of lawyers, at one point, Trump is trying to get his attorney to just lie and say there are no more boxes because that’s what Hillary’s lawyer said about the 30,000 or whatever emails she had scrubbed from her server and they got away with it, so why not? (Narrator: “That’s not what happened.”) So basically Trump, high on his own supply of Clinton conspiracy bullshit, fucks himself royally thinking he can get away with this.
Alison Rose
@Ken: If you look at the last pages of the indictment, it lists each separate count. Looks like each one is for a different document.
SteveinPHX
@Spanky:
Is this photo from the JWST or the Hubble?
And how far the JWST can see back in time is hard for me to get my brain around. AND what it is finding!
Tony Jay
I’m have to agree with someone on the Twitter thread devoted to laughing at Trumpocalypse. Please, MAGOP, double down and make this flailing loser your nominee. Really, reallllly dig into that oppositional-defiant victimitude your Base loves so much. Make the country chose between the Blue Eyed Grampappy and Jailhouse GOP.
If Smilin’ Joe wins 50 states and Congress by a landslide, 2025 could be a hell of a year.
RaflW
In the world of ridiculous hyperbole, MN’s own embarrassment Tom Emmer, GOP House Whip, said this week “This team was extremely successful and has been for the first five months doing things that people never thought possible.”
The GOP managed to get to work roughly three days a week, maybe 3 weeks a month, and have show hearings that mostly were duds or, occasionally, full backfires.
I admit I didn’t quite think it was possible that the debt limit would be raised without at least a teeny tiny partial default to cause a brief market panic, but other than that?
Name anything outstanding or unusual this Congress has done the past 5 months? (Besides 15 ballots for Squeaker, anyway).
Jackie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Trump family member = Jr or Eric.
Ivanka has pretty much cut ties with daddy dearest.
jonas
@Ken: They appear to all relate to national security secrets. Under the statute he’s being charged with, as I understand it, the crime is intentionally retaining national defense/intelligence secrets; whether the information was classified or not does not matter. That’s why he can’t use the ol’ “I can declassify stuff with my mind” defense. Plus they actually have him on tape saying that he knows the stuff is still classified.
Jerzy Russian
@SteveinPHX: The picture is from JWST. You can tell that from the stars that have six-pointed artifacts caused by the hexagonal support structure for the secondary mirror. The “look-back time” is within a few hundred million years after the Big Bang.
Spanky
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I think the only female member of the Trump clan at Bedminster is Ivana. (And you know where I want this to go, right?)
Anyway
Headed to Happy Hour after work today (it was scheduled a couple of weeks back). Among the attendees are a few Rs and centrists – will try to suppress my glee and refrain from bringing up the indictment too many times…
Alison Rose
@Jackie: But Nauta responded with “Good afternoon Ma’am” so unless he has some kind of weird in-joke with one of the sons…
Lyrebird
@laura: Many thanks!! I needed those reminders!
Dorothy A. Winsor
I’m reading the indictment now. I’m on p. 24. I have to say it’s very clearly written
prostratedragon
The Willi Ninja doodle is indeed cool!
jonas
It looks like this Nauta guy is going to be the next Allan Weisselberg.
Spanky
@SteveinPHX:
JWST. The tell is the six diffraction spikes from the segmented primary mirrors. Hubble has a 4-spike diffraction pattern.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: I guess I’m glad I don’t know what that is.
edit: oh, right, it’s coming back to me. durian is that disgusting fruit that I have only heard about. (and will not seek out!)
WaterGirl
@schrodingers_cat: Her husband driving, we are passengers.
Jerzy Russian
@Spanky: I think the 6 spikes come from diffraction from the three support struts, and not directly from the mirror shape. In any event you are correct, HST has a rather different internal structure, thereby resulting in different diffraction patterns.
Jackie
@Jackie: Added correction: The family member is referred to as “she.” So Melania, Ivanka or Tiffany?
Alison Rose
@Jackie: Highly doubt it was Tiffany, she’s never around him. Maybe Melania, but I’d bet on Ivanka. She’s the only female relative joined at the hip with him for most of this time.
Jackie
@Alison Rose: Caught that and added a correction 🤦🏼♀️
Captain C
@Jeffro:
Pence definitely gets the gas face.
lowtechcyclist
@Gin & Tonic:
As one very long-time cyclist to another, all I can say is, Holy Fucking Shit! I sure woulda yielded, you bet.
Ruckus
@jonas:
A billion dollar up front retainer wouldn’t be worth it. A decent lawyer wants a case that has even a slight chance of being won. And money up front, a lot of money up front. As I’m not a fake billionaire I’d bet one red cent that he doesn’t actually have that.
WaterGirl
@schrodingers_cat: I know, just awful. I know that Jon Ossoff helped expose the situation and get it addressed.
Geminid
@trollhattan: What are we Virginians going to do about Youngkin? Kick his party’s ass in the legislative elections this fall. Then give him the finger when he leaves office January, 2025. He can’t run for reelection.
WaterGirl
@Lyrebird: I wish I could help, but I don’t know anything that would help.
Ruckus
@lowtechcyclist:
Depends on where you were when the rocket was actually fired. If you were too close by then stopping wouldn’t get you anything positive. Also I imagine that if you live in that part of Ukraine you’d likely be somewhat used to the weapons. Having been nearby when missiles and ship’s guns were fired I can say that it looks worse than it is, although my time was long ago so some things more than likely have changed.
WaterGirl
@Matt McIrvin: What makes you think that?
Ruckus
@Lyrebird:
If it’s a job you really want, apply. I’ve done a few different jobs, some that seemed like they’d be great – and were at best OK and some that were there and turned out to be pretty damn good. I worked in the family business for over 1/2 my 60 yrs of working but have had a few regular jobs as well and I had a few not so good and a couple of damn good. And neither of them were the ones I expected to be all that good. If you gotta work to eat and pay for a place to sleep, you should at least like getting up and doing that.
WaterGirl
@Leto: That’s really cool! I will call attention to that in a post next week.
WaterGirl
@Suzanne:
Sounds like the definition of hell to me.
Ruckus
@Spanky:
That cat IS more human than them.
misterpuff
@Betty Cracker: On the unintended side of the consequences ledger: rats, voles and bat populations might see a rise since the feral killer population will be decreased, at least temporarily until they get in balance again.
Maxim
@Lyrebird: Go for it.
Maxim
@Alison Rose: 🤣🤣🤣
Matt McIrvin
@WaterGirl: I thought erroneously that she was the trial judge.
In federal court, there’s such a thing as a “judgment to acquit”, which is supposed to be used in cases where the evidence is farcically poor. The judge can just declare that evidence to convict is insufficient according to any reasonable jury and acquit. So a completely corrupt or hackish judge could just kill the case at that point.
But you actually have to go to trial for that to happen.
munira
@Spanky: Amazing
Ruckus
@Betty Cracker:
That is a great picture. You added the truth, he is a horse’s ass. And he is standing in the perfect pose to prove it.
Tony G
A collection of freaks who are uncomfortable in their own bodies. I’d pity them if they weren’t so adamant about making other people suffer.
WaterGirl
@Alison Rose: I heard him speak in a recording they had on the Jack podcast a few months ago. Maybe episode 5?
kalakal
@Tony Jay:
Slight amendment.
He’s the personification of
“The lights are on but there’s nobody home”
Miss Bianca
@Leto: I’m still trying to get “Republicans in Rout” to happen!
brantl
All three of them look like fat sausages stuffed into skinny suits. All of them leaning forward.
Chris T.
@Ken:
Well, the CIA headquarters is in Langley, Virginia…