Valued commenter Sanjeevs flagged some news that deserves its own thread:
CNN — Former President Donald Trump said in a social media post that he’s been informed by special counsel Jack Smith that he is a target of the criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
“Deranged Jack Smith, the prosecutor with Joe Biden’s DOJ, sent a letter (again, it was Sunday night!) stating that I am a TARGET of the January 6th Grand Jury investigation, and giving me a very short 4 days to report to the Grand Jury, which almost always means an Arrest and Indictment,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Trump also received a target letter earlier this year from Smith before he was indicted in the investigation into the mishandling of classified documents.
Why is he shouting about Sunday night? Anyhoo, I’m short on time at the moment, but please feel free to discuss this or anything else — open thread!
Ramalama
Trump is a Target? Hoping their aim is steady (and true).
And now I’ve got the song Alison running through my head.
UncleEbeneezer
“No person is above the law in this country” — Merrick Garland (pretty much from the moment he was sworn in)
japa21
@UncleEbeneezer: Sure, but Garland was just saying it, he didn’t really mean it. And the fact that Trump isn’t already in Guantanamo is proof of that. Target, schmarget, means nothing.
At least a sizable contingent of people, including a few here, truly believe that.
Jackie
Sorry, this is off-topic, but too good not to share. Jesse Watters’ mom (a Dem!) called in live to Watters’ debut replacing Tucker’s hour on Faux News:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fox-news-jesse-watters-mother_n_64b65e13e4b038c60cc685c6
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Ramalama:
A large [dare I say, huge?] target.
OzarkHillbilly
Because he is a good and faithful Christian who holds the Sabbath holy.
Jackie
Maybe TIFG gets his indictment notice this Fri!
What happens if he doesn’t “report to duty” within the four days as stipulated in the Target Letter?
Omnes Omnibus
Feckless crypto-Republicans.
UncleEbeneezer
@japa21: I don’t mind people who were in the wait-and-see camp initially. I think that’s totally fair. It’s the ones who hand-waved away EVERY indication by DOJ activity seen in court filings over the past 2.5 years, that this was where things were ultimately heading. Or even worse, the ones that are still in denial. Actually there aren’t that many of them here. Over at LawyersGuns&Money on the other hand…
FlyingToaster
@Jackie: Then the US Secret Service accompanies him when the US Marshall Service comes to fetch him.
He’ll show, because the very last thing he wants on video is the Marshalls coming to fetch him from Bedminster or Mar-a-Lago.
WereBear
I honestly don’t know if he can hold it together in real court facing real time.
Not like suing someone trying to get paid, which is what he’s used to.
bbleh
@OzarkHillbilly: same reason he’s whining about “a very short 4 days” to appear before the GJ if he wants: almost anything will push the buttons of his cultists. A letter on a Sunday?!? It’s an OUTRAGE!! Only 4 days to appear and testify (as though any prep were needed)? It’s an OUTRAGE!!
I wonder if his flop-sweat is orange too ..
@Jackie: @FlyingToaster: my understanding is that the 4 days is merely the time limit on an invitation to appear before the Grand Jury to give his side of things before prosecutors ask them to hand up an indictment. Pretty sure they have to issue such an invitation, and in any case defendants almost always decline it because it’s more likely to get them in more trouble than to help them.
Almost Retired
…and a Washington DC jury pool, where he got 5 percent of the vote. People who saw the destruction and its aftermath firsthand.
dmsilev
So, taking Trump at his word (I know, I know), four days from Sunday is GJ Day. Mark your calendars everyone; day after tomorrow is going to be fun.
p.a.
@WereBear:
In some of his depositions made public he’s come off as stupid but muted, not manic. But in public court I could see him going off, and if there is live broadcast… 🫨
I could also see multiple threats of contempt of court if he doesn’t shut up. The key members of his defense teams will be the docs, to keep his drug cocktail effective.
Baud
I’m looking forward to seeing the allegations. I assume DOJ has collected a lot of information that the public isn’t aware of yet.
Old School
Trump doesn’t have time for a trial about trying to overturn the 2020 election. He’s busy setting the groundwork to try to overturn the 2024 election.
bbleh
@dmsilev: no lawyer here, but that they’re giving him ’til Thursday suggests to me they’re planning to start presenting a case for indictment next week, which would mean no indictment handed up ’til probably late next week at the earliest.
Gonna have to drool over those Smithmas presents a while longer.
CaseyL
Eh. He said he was being indicted on such-and-such a date in one of the other cases (NY or GA, can’t remember which) and that was a lie.
I don’t care what he says, tbh. It’s all lies, projection, and grift.
That being said: of course he’s a target. If DoJ is seriously investigating the “false-electors; pressure-Pence; refuse to certify the election results” campaign, how could Trump not be a target? it was all at his behest, instigation, encouragement, and all for his benefit.
Arm The Homeless
Just a reminder that all of the witnesses involved are Republicans, many of which worked for the bloated orange slob
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I picture him at the defendant’s table (because my experience with criminal trials comes from the TeeVee), doing that arms-folded, rocking chair-dance he does when he’s mad and defensive
Lapassionara
So do we declare today, July 18, as Trump Target Day, or should it be July 16? And how soon can it become a national holiday? Or is it too soon after July 4th, and should we wait for Trump Indictment Day?
and what should be the traditional celebratory meal? Crow? humble Pie?
patrick II
@Jackie:
It’s good to know he has a mother. I had seen no evidence up until now.
Jackie
@FlyingToaster: Good! Although seeing him dragged into court by Marshalls would be TV GOLD!
Ken
I hope everyone is taking notes, in case you are ever target of an investigation. Remember, they can’t send you any legal documents on a Sunday, and if you’re to be arrested or arraigned you get more than four days to prepare. Also, once the trial process starts, if you don’t have a lawyer they have to delay indefinitely until you get one.
Baud
I wonder who else got target letters.
dmsilev
Also worth noting, his bid to get the Georgia probe dismissed was shot down yesterday by a unanimous opinion from the Georgia Supreme Court.
dmsilev
@Baud: I get letters from Target regularly, usually advertising what’s on sale this week.
Baud
The best part will be almost all of the Republicans opposing Trump in the primary will defend him to high heavens.
Chris Christie should have some fun with that in his way to losing.
Wapiti
@WereBear: Roy Cohn taught him good courtroom manners. Don’t say nothing. Let your lawyer speak. Take the fifth. Make them prove it.
Baud
I remember the freakout when people thought Fani Willis would move more quickly than DOJ.
Never trust the Internet.
OzarkHillbilly
Well sure, he has to rehearse the 7,341 different ways to say, “On the advice of my lawyer I will claim my 5th Amendment privilege and decline to answer the question.”
WaterGirl
@Ken: now that we know all the rules, I guess we can cancel the Legal zoom with Imm that’s scheduled for tonight, huh?
If anyone missed the notice yesterday and wants to join us, send me email!
sdhays
@dmsilev: In the comedy version of this, Trump, too lazy to read any of the words, saw the Target logo and jumped to conclusions.
Immanentize
Well, at least I will have even more to cover this evening on our zoom!
If you want to join me and a cast of jackals, email watergirl for the link.
7p.m. EDT
And yes, I hope those DOJ naysayers just start to Fade Away and Radiate.
Blondie from Parallel Lines
Immanentize
@Baud: Rudy did NOT get a target letter.
“They call him Flipper, Flipper!”
Baud
I’ll admit, I was a little worried DOJ wouldn’t have the evidence to connect the dots between Trump and J6. Sounds like they feel that they do.
hueyplong
@Immanentize: I think I just had an “accident.”
Baud
@Immanentize:
Haha. Him, Mark Meadows, who else? Is Ivanka too much to hope for?
tobie
Will Nicolle Wallace, Rachel Maddow, Joy Reid, Andrew Weissman, Ari Melber and all the other MSNBC hosts or analysts who have been attacking Garland for two years issue an apology? Jack Smith has worked at lightening speed but he didn’t start from Ground Zero. A DoJ investigation was already happening and laid the foundation. Fani Willis has been investigating Trump longer than anyone else and still hasn’t indicted. I’m not blaming her. Prosecutions are hard. But I am noting the differential treatment of Willis and Garland in the media.
DFH
Why shout about “Sunday night”?
Because the shitgibbon tries to keep that time holy.
zhena gogolia
@Jackie: Wow, how did such a sane, kind person produce HIM??? This is why I never had children. (Not really, but it does make me somewhat relieved.)
Brachiator
OT. Quick reaction to an earlier item.
WTF? This guy has no shame. I’m surprised he didn’t take the Resolute Desk with him.
Trump in cunning survival mode. He just shrugs off potential indictments, at least for public consumption. At this point, I expect a show of defiance even if he is convicted and imprisoned.
And he would display those Israeli artifacts in his jail cell.
END
satby
I used to enjoy the Smirking Chimp. Didn’t realize until this year that was Jeff Tiedrich. He’s pretty funny about Trump’s tantrum today.
rikyrah
Will repeat…
The 1/6 indictments will read like a John Grisham novel
dm
@Jackie: This has been brought up on DKos, but right below the article you linked is one about how Dark Brandon took a Marjorie Taylor Greene speech this weekend and turned it into a campaign ad (well, campaign tweet, anyway — DKos has links to a Lincoln Project ad along the same lines):
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/marjorie-taylor-greene-white-house-flips_n_64b62656e4b038c60cc64be1
rikyrah
@Immanentize: 😂😂😂😂😂
Jim, Foolish Literalist
My podcast lawyers and would-be lawyers are telling me that Meadows is almost certainly cooperating somehow. I’m trying to not fall into a well of wish-casting. That way lies madness.
zhena gogolia
@tobie: I’d also like some apologies to Mueller.
Geminid
@Baud: I thought the freakout over Fani Willis preceding the DOJ also implied a condescending view of the Fulton County prosecutor. Like she was some sort of minor leaguer who might embarrass the real pros, instead of their peer.
Immanentize
@Baud: yes to Meadows, but he has been too clever by half and may also be in trouble. The Ivanka world has been oddly quiet, although the paid-for Harvard brat has had some troubles lately. I imagine a huge bidding war for Ivanka
DOJ: You plead guilty to conspiracy and we recommend three years.
Daddy: I’ll give you and your husband, what’s his name, these priceless Israeli antiquities?
MattF
The indictment itself will be newsworthy, I’m sure. Also, it’s possible that the R politicians who are tiptoeing around him will get weary of the constant drama.
KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))
My birthday is next Wednesday, 7/26. Fingers crossed, there’s an indictment gift-wrapped and waiting for me on that day… ;-)
geg6
@UncleEbeneezer:
Yep. The comments have become unreadable over there. Certain front pagers (they know who they are) are insufferable about this and other things, but the commenters are just awful there. Too many with a ridiculously high opinion of themselves and an absolute disdain for Garland. I quit reading the comments there almost 3 years ago and don’t regret it.
Immanentize
@MattF: we all must accept that the indictments might be the most satisfying part of this prosecution — especially if Trump wins next year. So enjoy them (probably next week).
Brighter note? It will be indicted in D.C.
sab
@Jackie: I always thought a lot of current Republicanism was parent issues.
JPL
@Lapassionara: haha I call it a nice birthday present
sab
@Almost Retired: Because they were all voting in other states where their parents live. More Republicans in DC than voting polls show.
sdhays
@Immanentize: I’m resigned that I won’t get this, but I want Meadows to go to prison for voting in North Carolina when he was a voting resident of Virginia.
KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Anonymous At Work
Re: Sunday Night
It’s a double dog-whistle. First, as Ozarkhillbilly pointed out earlier, Trump “keeps the Sabbath holy.”
Second, and this is the BIGGER dog-whistle, is that it doubles-down on the rumor that Trump started about Jack Smith being “one of them”, who changed his name to hide his “real allegiance” to Soros and that conspiracy crap. Because “their” Sabbath isn’t MAGA’s Sabbath.
If you’ll excuse me, the eye-roll I did when typing the first part resulted in both my eyeballs falling out of my head…
Redshift
@Jackie:
From what I’ve read, the deadline is for an invitation to testify before the grand jury considers charges. He’s not required to appear or testify (and probably won’t.)
So no getting dragged into court this time. (Actual lawyers can correct me if I’m wrong.)
Kelly
Moving up from below:
In other news the Russians piled up an asphalt ramp and civilian passenger cars are driving over the more intact segment of the recently blown up Kerch Bridge. The blast only shifted it 3 feet to one side and a foot or 2 down.
https://nitter.net/Gerashchenko_en/status/1681243581678333952
Geminid
@sdhays: Did Meadows actually vote in North Carolina? I thought his wife voted, but he only registered and did not vote.
Jackie
@Immanentize: Thanks for the 👂🪱!🤦🏼♀️
Mr. Bemused Senior
@WaterGirl:
Timing is everything.
sab
@Anonymous At Work: Pick those eyeballs up, pop them back in your head and keep typibg. We need you.
Immanentize
@sdhays: A republican is on trial in Illinois for TWICE voting TWICE (2022 and 2022 i think) in Il and FL.
He said it was an accident.
oatler
“It’s so hot here because Jack Smith has subpoenaed The Devil.”
Solidarity to Colbert’s writing staff!
Anonymous At Work
@Kelly: It works for civies but not for the heavy vehicles needed either to advance to Crimea from Kerch or during a retreat. Only the rail line can handle that. And those trains run every hour at HIMARS O’Clock!
lowtechcyclist
@Omnes Omnibus:
The Republicans who stick with regular currency are pretty feckless too.
UncleEbeneezer
@geg6: You and me both. Sad, because I used to really enjoy that place.
narya
@Baud: This week’s “Talking Feds” podcast talked a bit about how to make this a manageable and winnable case. I do think that it’s going to need to be to the point, rather than sprawling, but I’d say the Pool Shed Papers indictment showed how Smith does that.
Omnes Omnibus
@Redshift:
Exactly, he is being given a chance to tell his side of the story before the GJ make its decision. He is under no obligation to do so.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Immanentize:
I’m still thinking that one of the things that can dampen his campaigning is a true gag order and geofence. He has demonstrated – repeatedly – that he has no self-discipline. Given the misinformational behavior that will be central to the indictment,
Were I on the bench, I could easily say “you will not talk about this case, you will not advocate your case in public fora, on social media or in print anywhere but inside this courtroom due to potentially tainting the jury pool, and because you are likely to violate these terms, you will be subject to monitored house arrest at your home in Florida pending trial, which will be held expeditiously – please step before the clerk to coordinate calendars.
Next case, please….”
Jackie
@zhena gogolia: I begrudgingly give Watters credit for accepting her call live – having a pretty solid idea of what she’d say.
FastEdD
They will get the Fat Bastard on this one, if we don’t run out of time. I’m frustrated about the venue of the docs case and I’m rooting for Jack Smith to get a 3 pointer at the buzzer in FL, but if there is a fair trial in DC, TFG will be wearing a jumpsuit that matches his fake tan.
Now to go shopping for another Indictment Cake. The big question is; traditional chocolate or a carrot cake?
Cameron
I don’t get it. I thought Target was a company that was all, y’know, LGBTQCRTMarxoDemonrat groomer that made white kids feel bad. What does Trump have to do with that (OK, Ron DeSantis accuses him of same, but whatevs)?
laura
@rikyrah: I’m going to need a fresh highlighter pen- and I hope that the indictment/s read like a sprawling, epic summer bestseller chock full of characters who run the gamut of criminality and stupidity that covers state and local idjits deep in the find outs. I’m imagining a Larry McMurtry/ Silverado Savings/Watergate/Pelican Brief/Godfather/Untouchables type thing.
sab
@Immanentize: Ohio has one too. IRS tax attorney. He accidentally had to drive down to Florida to vote in his third house when the absentee ballot didn’t come to his second house in DC.
Secretaries of State are cancelling ERIC because the only fraudulent double voters they are catching are Republican snow birds.
Geminid
@UncleEbeneezer: Maybe that threaded comment format messed up their minds. It sure messes up mine.
Immanentize
@Redshift: You are correct.
Target notices are given in most cases and they include an “invitation” to testify (under oath without your attorney in the room, mind you) before the GJ before any final action is taken. They are not given in secret or sealed indictment cases related to things like money laundering, drug conspiracies, international arms trading, etc. in order to not tip off the target who might flee.
In Trump’s case, the DOJ really HAS to go by the book and issue the notice and the invite. DOJ won’t go public about target letters; most defendants won’t either because it looks really bad, no?
But Trump is … Different.
Sure Lurkalot
@tobie:
Not really the media but a front pager over at Emptywheel pretty much characterizes Fani Willis as a know nothing show boat every chance they get. Generally pretty insufferable in all their comments, they really wield special vitriol for Willis.
Jeffro
Great. Just great. I’m already at work, and there’s going to be a run on champagne before I can get to the grocery store this evening.
Baud
@Geminid:
Threaded comments lead to shredded intellects.
lowtechcyclist
@patrick II:
Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for February 23, 1972 – GoComics
Jackie
@satby: He must be related to our BettyCracker!😂
And the meme of Melania’s reaction is perfect! 🤣
UncleEbeneezer
@narya: So is this weeks Jack podcast which had Norm Eisen discussing the prosecution memo he helped write for JustSecurity.
Redshift
@sab:
Huh? Are you talking about college students? That may shift it a bit, but not a lot.
In any case, it doesn’t matter, because jurors are largely chosen from voter registration lists. (For the DC federal court, also drivers licenses and local income tax filers.)
Immanentize
@Jackie: 🐬 🐬!
Lives in world full of wonder!
Betty Cracker
@Jackie: She sounds genuinely nice, poor thing! The shame!
Ken
I can easily imagine him wanting to get up there like Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men, to overawe the prosecution and the judge with his alpha masculinity and bestly righteousness, forcing them to drop the case entirely and tearfully apologize.
(Please, no one remind him of what happened to Nicholson’s character.)
Kelly
@Anonymous At Work: Decisions, decisions. Drive home via the damaged bridge that’s probably still a high priority target or the 400 km trip along the sea of Azov just beyond the edge of the fighting, passing many logistics targets.
Jackie
@dm: Cable news is having a field day with MTG’s public endorsement to re-elect President Biden so he can finish the job!
Immanentize
@Cameron: stealing.
PaulWartenberg
I don’t think trump is under obligation to testify to the grand jury. he could ignore the summons and the grand jury would go from there. If he is compelled to show, he can plead the Fifth like he hypocrite he is.
No matter what, this target letter signals that Smith’s special counsel is pretty much done. trump is the last fish that needed to get reeled in, and so the next expectation is waiting to see if trump’s War Room handlers – Bannon and Stone, right? – along with his other insurrection plotters get hit with serious charges like seditious conspiracy and financial fraud (re: the fundraising trump et al. committed to “raise money” for legal defense that actually went into trump’s political PAC instead).
lowtechcyclist
@Immanentize:
Just looked it up – next September will be the 60th anniversary of that show’s debut. Just in case you weren’t feeling old.
sab
@Redshift: Most of Trump’s staff were voting elsewhere although they owned houses around DC.
Baud
@dm:
Excellent, but that video is 3x longer than it needs to be to highlight a tweet.
Betty Cracker
@satby: Wow, the news excerpts didn’t do Trump’s rant justice. That’s real, right? Good lord!
Cameron
If anybody is inclined to do a drinking game for today’s 4:00 Tapper-DeSantis confab, may I make a suggestion? If you propose drinking a shot every time DeSantis says ‘woke,’ make sure you specify the shot is no stronger than light beer. Otherwise, you’ll be in the ER before the first commercial break.
Almost Retired
There is no limit to this larcenous clown’s depravity:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/israel-struggling-recover-ancient-artifacts-130445035.html
Baud
I hope Hunter Biden lives in DC and is eligible for jury duty.
KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))
Juries come from voter rolls though, so when it comes to who will be on TFG’s jury, it doesn’t matter how many Repubs actually live in DC, only how many vote there.
Immanentize
@lowtechcyclist: reruns on WPIX, Channel 11 every day after school.
But even that was mumfa, smurtly years ago.
Also, too, one must know their audience! Sure there are kids in this joint, but the regulars are in the demographic.
Leto
I guess Jessie Waters has a new show over on Faux News, replacing Tuckems, and his mom called in on the first night. Hilarity. Good on ya, mom.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
OT, good economic news: Goldman Sachs cuts odds of a U.S. recession in the next year
sab
@KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager)): Excellent point.
Jackie
@KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager)): I’m sure you wouldn’t be too upset if Jack Smith gives you an early BD present!😉
MattF
@Betty Cracker: I think the professionals call it ‘decompensation’.
laura
@Almost Retired: im sure that he explained to the lenders that he has an “article 2” that let’s him do anything he wants (extreme eye roll).
Immanentize
@Betty Cracker: saying the rant is “real” is sorta stretching the language, no?
Geminid
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Republicans to Jerome Powell:
YOU HAD ONE JOB!
Baud
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Thank you, Taylor Swift.
Jeffro
@satby: omg that’s awesome – love Tiedrich!
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@dm:
Imagine thinking this is some kind of attack on Biden. Somebody should remind Greene that we have FDR and LBJ to thank for things like Social Security and Medicare
cain
@tobie: It’s not just that – but they have to get this right the first time. There is also the fact that he is the head of America’s largest cult, and the promise of violence and insurrection can be high. There are a lot of variables.
These folks don’t understand all the dimensions. I’m happy with how things are going.
Also, there are a leftists who want Dems to be defeated and use the lack of progress on the DOJ investigation to ferment negative feelings against the Dems.
Hangö Kex
Meanwhile in Finland: YLE* has a story about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (in Finnish). Quite, um, a character, which I’m sure you knew already. Anyways, this has to do with his insinuating that the COVID-19 pandemic was a result of a conspiracy where the SARS-CoV-2 virus was designed to target Blacks and Caucasians and to affect Chinese and Ashkenazi Jews the least. In a recent tweet he has added us Finns to the list of the least affected and implied co-conspirators.
I’m at a loss as to what to make of this (needless to say, really, I’d presume).
* the Finnish equivalent of the BBC
Captain C
@Immanentize:
Fixed, possibly.
Jackie
@Immanentize: I must say that show was one of my favorites growing up! And Gentle Ben.
Soprano2
@Baud: I thought the exact same thing! Surely more people are targets.
Baud
@Jackie:
Not enough shows featuring animal protagonists these days.
Captain C
@Ken:
Trump (with deranged spittle flying): YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!
Smith: Is this why you keep pleading the 5th to every question?
Ken
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
The Goldman-Sachs analyst continued, “Our first clue — and one must be a highly-trained economic analyst to spot these subtle indicators — is that the June inflation rate came in at 3%, and reducing it to that point did not require a recession.”
scav
@Immanentize: Priceless antiquities? Old Freebies, says so right there!!
catclub
@Ramalama:
I miss my wife,…. but my aim is improving.
Immanentize
@Jackie: Flipper was like Johnny Quest but in Betty Cracker’s back yard.
[Now that is a sentence perhaps never before composed.]
way2blue
On my birthday no less! Fun present that hopefully will keep on giving…
cain
@Almost Retired: I find it hilarious that he took those artifacts. I’m curious to know what the right wing messaging is going to be about that. It also puts Israel’s PM Bibi in an embarrassing situation. (it honestly puts us in an embarrassing situation as well but since Bibi tried so hard to interfere in our elections… )
Immanentize
@Captain C: “Someone took the cold diet cokes from the canteen! And I dont know anything about the mess boys drinking diet cokes.”
Baud
@way2blue:
Happy birthday!
cain
@Hangö Kex: wow.. ok – our loons are going global. :/
Immanentize
@cain: imagine if Biden can get back the missing priceless items from Trump for Herzog and Bibi.
MisterForkbeard
@Baud: Trump was screaming about the Insurrection Act a day or two ago. Probably related – some commentators noted that Trump tends to go ballistic on particular laws after he’s informed that he’s likely to suffer consequences for them.
KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))
Did you watch the clip of her speech? She thinks Social Security & Medicare are communism! She thinks they should be abolished! This is today’s Republicanism.
Ken
@Hangö Kex: The Finns. That’s the final piece of the puzzle. Now it all makes sense.
Snark, of course. Less snarkily, I wonder if he’s getting funding from an unnamed large nation that borders Finland, and which “requested” he include them.
Baud
@Ken:
Damn those Swedes! Never should have let them into NATO.
Soprano2
@Immanentize: Seriously, he’s trying to sell the idea that he voted twice in the same election and it was an accident? Wow…
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
LOL, I heard that story about Swift’s tour helping out the economy. Hey when tickets are so crazy expensive sometimes, I can see why
@Geminid:
Ha!
Immanentize
@Soprano2: remember — first rule of criminal law: most people who commit crimes are not evil masterminds, they are big honking idiots.
Cameron
@Immanentize: Probably too late. Why do you think the Saudis gave Jared the big $$$?
Jackie
@Soprano2: Since he’s a Repug, that excuse will be accepted. Only Dems go to jail for accidentally voting twice or thrice.
Immanentize
@Cameron: i really dont know, there are so many possibilities from just buying influence to buying specific intelligence that Trump grabbed or knew or just to help buy the PGA. It was a pittance.
Now i gotta head put.
Jackie
@Immanentize: Yup. First introduction to air boats for all us non-Floridians.
I believe Gentle Ben was also in Florida?
Eunicecycle
@Almost Retired: my husband suggests sending in the Mossad to retrieve them.
Cameron
@Eunicecycle: It would be perfect if they could spirit him back to Israel for trial for theft while they’re recovering stolen property. Secret Service would probably be spoilsports, though.
Jeffro
The news that a former president has received a target letter from the Special Counsel indicating that said ex-prez is about to be indicted for his unprecedented and criminal efforts to overtun the election he lost…
…is the THIRD-listed story on Fox News dot com right now.
Guess what’s #1? (no peeking!)
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Eunicecycle: I understand there’s a tunnel they can use.
Almost Retired
@Eunicecycle: That would be awesome. Mar-a-Lago is a softer target for MOSSAD than…oh, say..Argentina?!
Eunicecycle
@Cameron: with the current SS, I put my money on Mossad.
Geminid
@Eunicecycle: Mossad: “Dammit! We told you to send fakes!”
Eunicecycle
@Mr. Bemused Senior: that would make it easier!
Soprano2
OK, way OT but I just had an OMG moment. There’s a viral video on TikTok of a young woman discovering that a Subway store was open but completely void of people – no customers and no employees at all! In watching the video, I was almost sure it was the Subway right next to my Jazzercize studio. Sure enough, she did another video later where she said the street it was on, and it matches! Holy crap, evidently an employee clocked out and left everything open like that!
Eunicecycle
@Geminid: LOL they really should have!
Eunicecycle
@Soprano2: did she make her own sandwich?
Soprano2
@Immanentize: Yeah I know, but that’s a stupid argument even for an idiot. “Your Honor, I voted in this election on November 2nd, then forgot about that and voted again on November 4th”. Unless you have proof of having a memory problem good luck selling that defense.
Jeffro
DeSantis on trump and J6 just now: “He should have come out more forcefully” (to stop his supporters’ violent attack on the Capitol)
Ooooo good one, Ron (eye roll)
They want Democrats to do literally ALL of the lifting here. Not one of them can come out and call trump an insurrectionist who got people killed.
Soprano2
@Jeffro: Something about Hunter Biden?
Jackie
“Donald Trump demanded Republican lawmakers bail him out of his mounting legal troubles, which appears to include a third indictment for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.”
“The former president responded to a post from conservative influencer “Catturd,” who claimed attorney general Merrick Garland was “arresting political opponents” and called on Republicans to impeach him and President Joe Biden, with a pair of statements on his Truth Social website.“
Lots more at the link. Sorry it’s RawStory, but I won’t open TIFG’s social media!
https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-incitement-2662296033/
suzanne
OT: I know a lot of us love that music that falls under the generic term “Americana”. There’s a great piece in the New Yorker about the current state of Nashville politics in the industry.
I got to see Adeem the Artist perform (opening for Josh Ritter) a few weeks back. Fantastic artist. Give a listen.
Soprano2
@Eunicecycle: I don’t think so; she called the store manager after they confirmed that no one was hurt or dead in there. It would be scary to go into a place like that and find it completely deserted.
KCSteve
MisterForkbeard
@Jeffro: Definitely Hunter Biden’s Laptop, right? And probably…. democratic persecution of the One True Democrat Robert F Kennedy?
Betty Cracker
More good news: a creep who did time for his part in the tiki torch mob in Charlottesville, Tyler Bradley Dykes, was arrested for storming the Capitol Building on J6. He had his face covered, so he probably figured he got away with it.
Someone turned him in, and the FBI was able to verify it was him. Seems like a large percentage of the J6 rabble were ratted out by family, friends and acquaintances. Maybe they should ponder that during their incarceration.
Speaking of insurrectionist scum, Audrey Southard-Rumsey, a 50-something woman who was apparently a respected local piano teacher, singer and vocal coach in the county south of mine, recently got six years in prison for her activities on J6.
She’s another dummy who posted video of herself committing crimes, including threatening lawmakers. She was unrepentant during sentencing:
For reasons I can’t comprehend, the bailiffs didn’t haul her ass off to jail immediately to begin serving her sentence; according to CBS News, she “will be permitted to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons in the coming months to serve the six-year prison sentence.”
Hangö Kex
@Ken:
That (kind of) makes sense (then again the whole thing hardly does).
Eunicecycle
@Soprano2: you would wonder if the employees were tied up somewhere.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Betty Cracker:
She’s definitely someone who refuses to accept responsibility for her actions and is deluding herself
catclub
I could do that.
Ken
CHORUS: “It would be unprecedented!”
SKEPTIC: “So is a president who steals antiquities!”
Brachiator
@Soprano2:
Probably one of the many reasons that Subway is struggling.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
Not enough shows featuring animal protagonists these days.
Is “Pinky and the Brain” still on?
And “Phineas and Ferb” has Perry the Platypus as the protagonist in all the Doofenshmirtz subplots.
different-church-lady
Gee, it sounds like he’s had some experience with this.
lowtechcyclist
@KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager)):
Hey, Goldwater felt the same way. But regardless, that sort of stance isn’t going to be a big hit with the Faux News demographic.
lowtechcyclist
@Jeffro:
That’s tough! It could be something something woke, or rumble mumble trans, or that old favorite, something Hunter Biden.
Jeffro
@Soprano2:
@MisterForkbeard:
yes BUT…we have now moved on to the US soldier detained by North Korea. Hunter is, sadly, #2. for now.
FlyingToaster
@bbleh: You’re right, this is an invitation, not a supoena.
So when the indictment drops next week, we’ll see a Surrender 2, Electric Boogaloo in DC this time.
And, with any luck, round 3 in Georgia.
With 4 simlutaneous court proceedings (Fraud in NY, Dox in FL, Insurrection in DC, and Electoral Interference in GA), how can he possibly have time to run for office? /snark
scav
@Betty Cracker: Eeehh, the drama queen’s looking for her close-up and persecuted moment in the spotlight. A roll of the eyes and call of “Next!” as the mills of justice roll on without even pausing will irk.
smith
This has been the stance of the GQP for a long time. Somehow the Faux News demographic still hasn’t heard about it.
Jackie
@lowtechcyclist: Especially as the Biden administration election team will play the loop as a PSA repeatedly for the next 16 months! 🤭
patrick II
@tobie:
In fairness to Fani, she was ready to indict this spring but found that the defendant’s lawyer(s) (paid for by Trump) had not passed on plea deals to their clients, and asked the judge to remove the lawyer(s) and redo the last part of the process with theiir new lawyers.
lowtechcyclist
@Soprano2:
IF it wasn’t anywhere near closing time, maybe the employee hadn’t been trained in how to close up shop, had no idea what to do, and there was no supervisor around to ask.
I’ve been in stores a few times during the past few years where there was only one employee in the whole store. If that person’s in the back somewhere, it can be pretty eerie.
Jeffro
Nikki Haley just now on trump and his impending J6 indictment: “We can’t keep dealing with this drama”
L to the OL
Y’all have an out, Nikki…you just need to find the courage to take it.
Jackie
@smith: Being that the conference was probably aired live on GQP broadcasts, the GQP audience saw it at least once😂
Hangö Kex
@KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager)):
That sounds like endorsing communism i.e. no communism is why you can’t have nice things.
RobertDSC-iPhone 8
I hope they put him into custody this time. He does not deserve to be on the street at all.
oatler
@lowtechcyclist:
Sunday night Fox shows its talking animals toon as part of their years-long campaign to have any cartoon hit besides Bob’s Burgers.
Cheryl from Maryland
@Lapassionara: Target Day should be my birthday, July 19th. That would be the bestest present ever!
dww44
@MattF: I’m not sure about that. My anecdotal experiences with all those GOP voters in my world is that they never get tired of the spiteful mean behavior which they also seem to get great joy from. Honestly, it’s just too many years of being exposed to the conservative media world. They’ve lost their entire sense and support of good “governance” which does not bode well for the country.
catclub
They will not care.
By rights. old people who benefit from Medicare should vote for Democrats. They don’t very much.
catclub
@oatler:
The Simpson’s would like a word.
narya
@UncleEbeneezer: Oh, that explains it; Eisen was one of the people on Talking Feds.
ETA: I hadn’t gotten to Jack yet, though I will.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@catclub:
Yeah, but the Simpsons have rarely been funny in the last 20 years
tobie
@patrick II: Willis has said indictments are imminent for many months but they haven’t come yet. I’m not faulting her for this. My point is that many MSNBC hosts and commentators have scapegoated Garland. He’s an easy target because he’s sworn to secrecy and he’s a white male. Reid’s moniker for him “Merrick, the Meek” is offensive and frankly reeks of the anti-semitic taunt Feigling. It’s struck me for a long time that the DoJ was doing a lot. Ditto for Willis.
Jeffro
Jamie Raskin weighing in like a BOSS: “hundreds of cases against other defendants in the Jan 6 insurrection have been completed. Why should trump be treated differently?”
WHY INDEED???
Geminid
@Jeffro: Sounds like Haley and DeSantis sense Trump’s vulnerability. These prospective indictments might be a good issue in more capable hands.
Baud
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Someone is watching it.
Brachiator
@catclub:
They think that GOP talk about eliminating Medicare is just talk. They would be shocked if they lost this game of political chicken.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
I have no idea who, though. I guess people who have it on as background noise?
Soprano2
@Eunicecycle: I think she was afraid they had been abducted or killed. It would be scary to find that.
Soprano2
@lowtechcyclist: In the video it’s evident that the sun is still up, so not after closing hours. I mean, if it had been me I would have called the manager and asked what to do, not just left and not locked the door!
Geminid
I saw a good news story out of Sweden. Police and journalists gathered outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm on Saturday to watch a man who had announced he would burn a Torah and a Bible, to protest a Quran-burning a couple weeks ago. Bound by a previous court decision, authorities had granted the man a permit to stage this provocative act.
But the man threw his lighter on the ground and said he never intended to burn the holy books. “I am a Muslim, we don’t burn books. I want to show that we have to respect each other.”
Jackie
In what would otherwise be a main talking subject today, does anyone know what time the Pow Wow with Judge Aileen is scheduled today?
oatler
@catclub:
The Simpsons is now an opening act for Bob’s Burgers, but that doesn’t compare to Fox’s keelhauling the schedule to make way for sports.
patrick II
@tobie:
It seems that, while you are accusing others of unfairly scapegoating Garland, so you, in turn, will unfairly scapegoat Fani. If your point was we shouldn’t scapegoat, it is not well made.
I am one of the ones who thought Garland has been too slow, and I won’t rehash those arguments here. Now that, under Jack Smith, things seem to be moving along expertly and with reasonable urgency it seems that those of us who have said it had been too slow have been proved wrong. I beg to differ. It has taken too long.
Old School
@oatler:
TV ratings 23-24 (7-day average)
The Simpsons : #98 (All Viewers), #48 (Adults 18-49)
Bob’s Burgers : #105 (All Viewers), #76 (Adults 18-49)
catclub
@Baud:
Jackie
TIFG has a Town Hall with Sean Hannity TONIGHT! This might be Must See TV! I hope nobody reminds him that anything he says tonight could be held against him!🤭🤞🏻
“Former President Donald Trump is doing another cable news town hall, this time for Fox News and with Sean Hannity in Cedar Rapids, IA.”
“The hourlong event, slated for Tuesday July 18, will be pre-taped earlier in the day at Alliant Energy Powerhouse Arena.”
https://deadline.com/2023/07/donald-trump-fox-news-sean-hannity-1235435064/amp/
Baud
@catclub:
Those damn young people again!
Ruckus
@sab:
I always thought a lot of current Republicanism was parent issues.
Not a bad thought. Not at all.
My feeling is that a lot of the concepts of conservatives is that they want things to be one way, they want to control a lot of the thought and actions of everyone, to make the world one that makes sense to them and screw everyone else. SFB is the personification of that concept, he really wants everything to go his way because he is the greatest human ever. It doesn’t matter what he thinks, says or does he is the greatest human of all time. Just ask him. He is the type of human whose entire world is a mirror in which only he appears. It isn’t rational, it isn’t real, it isn’t in any way true but in this case he was elected to the highest office in the land and that justifies every asinine concept he’s ever had about himself.
tobie
@patrick II: Where have I criticized Fani Willis? I haven’t once in this entire thread. I said prosecutions take time and it’s been clear to me that both the DOJ and the Fulton County DA have been very busy for quite some time on complicated cases.
Your post by the way kind of proves my point. Glad to know Garland in your opinion hasn’t operated with due urgency in spite of one indictment filed and another one coming soon, whereas Willis has. Go figure.
Warblewarble
Aaaaand, right on cue Quevin Mac Flop finds a camera he can debase himself in front of. All of them are all in with this shit.
cain
lol – conservatives are angry about wokeness now with Disney doing a revamped version of Snow White without dwarves and a latina as snow white. I’m all good for that. You know, we don’t have to rehash old children tales – we can create new stories with different perspectives. I mean nobody seemed to be all bent out of shape for the myriad versions of “Taming of the Shrew” – (probably because the story is still somewhat inherently patriarchal)
It reminds me of a french play of the Mahabharata where they replaced everyone with a global cast of characters. It was a deeply spiritual play – that really distilled the messages from the Mahabharata. Even though Ganesha was a balding white man, and Karna was a young black man – they and the rest of the characters channeled their characters so well that I forgot about their physical appearance and to me the characters became them. Sadly, my fellow Indians are too caught up on the superficial physical appearance.
I think Islam has it right with not having idols – but humans will just deflect to some other form of idolatry. :-)
Subsole
@Ramalama:
And now I have lyrics in my head:
“I got a name,
I got a number,
I got a job to do.”
Jackie
From Political Wire:
“House Republicans stood behind former President Donald Trump Tuesday after he said he was told he is a target in the Justice Department’s probe of the January 6 Capitol riots,” The Messenger reports.”
“Said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA): “It’s interesting that it happens more and more as Trump rises in the polls and Biden falls in the polls. That’s an unfortunate part of this and an unequal application of Justice.”
“Said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA): “This is absolute bullshit. This is weaponized government. Democrats can’t win an election so they have to arrest their political opponents.”
“Greene later called Special Counsel Jack Smith “a weak little bitch for the Democrats.””
“Weak little bitch” seems to be MTG’s favorite insult.
The Lodger
@Jackie: I’ve forgotten the original source for this, but Trump has always had the right to avoid self-incrimination. He just doesn’t have the ability.
Subsole
@rikyrah:
Oh yes.
I am not even really in it to see Trump go down, anymore. That’d be nice, if unexpected.
I want to see the other Republicans who get implicated. Because you know Mitch McConnel’s ass is wrapped ALL the way up in this. Paul Ryan? Donors and luminaries of the alt-right?
They are ALL complicit. I want to see them get aired entirely out.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Jackie:
Where has she been for the last year? I know, know she’s a lying liar who lies, but come on. Practically everywhere competitive, Dems have won elections.
Republicans aren’t popular. Greene herself is not popular outside of her bubble. She was kicked out of the House “Freedom” Caucus for that kind of language. Cut the bullshit, Marge
Shalimar
@Baud: It’s been all downhill since Manimal was canceled.
Betty Cracker
@tobie: I can see how “Merrick the Meek” is offensive if you’re invested in defending AG Garland’s honor, but how is it antisemitic? (I’m not saying you’re wrong; I just don’t see the connection myself…)
Soprano2
@Ruckus: They want a world where they are totally comfortable, where they never have to encounter anything that makes them uncomfortable or that challenges anything they believe. My mother was uncomfortable with the changes in the world, especially when it came to gay people. I think she wanted them to go back in the closet so she didn’t have to see or think about them anymore. I’ve also had people comment to me about how many not-white people are in commercials now; it seems to make them uncomfortable. It doesn’t reflect their reality, so they think it’s wrong.
cain
@Jackie: lol – their performative bullshit is lovely. Can’t wait when they finally have to disavow him.
Stuff like the Israeli artifacts being taken to Mar-a-Lago will embarass them – it will be interesting what the House GOP is going to do to defend that!
So far, it doesn’t seem like the beltway press has taken it up. I suppose they’ll use it to ask Biden since it will always be Dems who have to do something about it.
Citizen Alan
@Shalimar: I thought that show was awesome … when I was 9. I was also heartbroken when Misfits of Science got cancelled, mainly because back then, I thought it was the closest I would ever get to seeing a live action X-Men.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Ruckus
It must be galling for him to know there are those of us who think him unworthy of respect.
Sister Golden Bear
@cain:
Which of course turned out to be fake outrage bait.
Jackie
@The Lodger: I think that advice has been said by multiple attorneys and media pundits – TIFG chooses to ignore them all.
He “knows better than ANYONE!”
tobie
@Betty Cracker: One of the Nazi’s favorite taunts for Jews was Feigling, which means weak, cowardly, meek. Maybe I’ve read too much about 1930s Germany but the moniker “Merrick, the Meek” has always bothered me
ETA: The taunt’s included on page 6 in this glossary: https://global.ajc.org/files/ajc/upload/AJC_Glossary.pdf
Brachiator
@cain:
All live action Disney recreations suck. That said, it’s funny how some idiots try to defend their stupidity by claiming that the Disney version is somehow the original and should not be tampered with.
Others insist that Snow White should be, well snowy white, because the story is adapted from a German fairy tale. Never mind that in Europe alone there are numerous variants of the folk tale in various countries, and the protagonist is not always snowy and white.
This is a play, and variations in staging is understood as acceptable practice. Nobody tries to always adhere to the rules of Elizabethan theater. Also, “Taming of the Shrew” and “Merchant of Venice” are problematic because times have changed, and because history has altered how we view the plays. They are rarely performed as straight comedies.
zhena gogolia
@tobie: I think you’re right.
Burnspbesq
@Ramalama:
Trump is a target-rich environment, all by his ownself.
Jackie
This isn’t good:
“The United States deployed a nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea on Tuesday for the first time in four decades, as the allies warned North Korea that any use of the North’s nuclear weapons in combat would result in the end of its regime,” the AP reports.“
Is this unrelated to one of our military being captured by N Korea for stupidly crossing the border?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-korea-us-national-american-crosses-border-demilitarized-zone-dmz-tour/
Tony Jay
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
No, they haven’t*! Fake News. Your ‘proof’ is partisan propaganda. Owned.
See? It’s that easy. Cletus will not be made to doubt his place in the world.
* And if they have that just proves that Democrats have been stealing elections through voter fraud and Washington corruption.
Burnspbesq
@Lapassionara:
I had Hagen-Dazs last time. Might go for Ben & Jerry’s this time
cain
@Sister Golden Bear: It’s always performative.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Tony Jay: “Owned”.
Please, should be “pwned.”
ETA zOMG11!1
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Brachiator:
My all-time favorite “Taming of the Shrew” film adaptation is “Ten Things I Hate About You”, and it translates very nicely and seamlessly to southern California.
cain
@Brachiator:
There is a slavic version of something like Cinderella but includes Baba Yaga. Great stuff! Love these old tales.
Brachiator
@Ruckus:
A lot of truth to this, but this mindset is not limited to conservatives.
Trump is not a conservative. I doubt that he has any consistent political convictions. But he and some right wing types share the same resentments, and Trump has been able to capitalize on this to work out his warped psychological problems.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@catclub:
Hey, looking back at my original comment, sorry if I came across too strong. It’s alright if you like the Simpsons. It was just my personal opinion that the show hasn’t been funny in awhile. I guess social media also distorts perceptions of what’s popular and what’s not.
I remember when articles on GoT after the disaster of season 8 talked about how it culturally fell off the map because no one apparently talked about it anymore, when in reality it was one of the most streamed shows in 2020
Old Dan and Little Ann
I watched the original Snow White a few years ago with the little one. It is a terrible movie. There’s zero chance I’ll ever watch it again. The remake on the other hand might be worth a look.
Brachiator
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
Yep. Yep. Yep. Wonderful comedy with Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger. The fictional Padua High School was in the Seattle area, where the film was shot.
Subsole
@Betty Cracker:
“Because people have different politics…”
Yeah. You tried to shut the book on 250 years of American democracy. You tried to steal our birthright. And you’re the victim, because someone had the temerity to fight back.
I just…how do people go through life this entitled? How do you get this spoiled??
Captain C
@patrick II:
IANAL but wouldn’t this be grounds for a malpractice suit by the clients, if not outright disbarment?
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I haven’t watched it regularly in years but have caught a few recent episodes over the past couple of seasons that were pretty amusing. Vulture seems to agree.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Tony Jay:
Spot on Tony Jay! Those people are endlessly frustrating
JaneE
Only Trump is stupid enough to have not seen this coming.
Nettoyeur
@Jeffro: Hunter Biden? WH cocaine?
Betty Cracker
@tobie: Okay, thanks for explaining! FWIW, I don’t think Joy Reid would consciously use an antisemitic taunt to attack Garland.
Paul in KY
@suzanne: I’ve seen Maren Morris & Kacey Musgraves perform and both are soooo good. If you can ever see them, please do!
Paul in KY
@Betty Cracker: I just wish I could have been there to laugh at her.
Brachiator
@cain:
I took a few courses in college dealing with folk tales and fairy tales. A lot of absolutely fascinating material.
I learned about Baba Yaga from John Wick.
Anyway
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
RIP Heath Ledger
zhena gogolia
@Betty Cracker: Unconscious bias works with anti-Semitism too.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
Is this really unconscious bias, especially given that Garland isn’t Jewish. Seems more like ignorance over the history of a term.
Lots of people online have called Dems feckless, but my guess is most of them don’t know how the Nazis used a similar slur.
Martin
@Soprano2: Apparently Subway hosts a website where workers get their shifts, and either a large franchise or the whole chain, had that break for quite a few days. Managers could post schedules and employees could see schedules, but the schedules weren’t updating. That could have been as simple as nobody from the next shift saw their schedule so they didn’t show up, and nobody from the previous shift knew how to lock up, so they didn’t.
A McDonalds will usually have a dozen or more workers, so there’s always a manager and a lot of communication but Subway is designed to work off of as few as 2 and from what I understand are pretty challenging to keep properly staffed.
zhena gogolia
@Baud:
Wikipedia:
His mother Shirley (née Horwitz; 1925–2016)[4] was a director of volunteer services at Chicago’s Council for Jewish Elderly (now called CJE SeniorLife). His father, Cyril Garland (1915–2000),[5] headed Garland Advertising, a small business run out of the family home.[3][6][7] Garland was raised in Conservative Judaism; the family name had been changed from Garfinkel several generations earlier. His grandparents left the Pale of Settlement in the western Russian Empire in the early 20th century, fleeing antisemitic pogroms in what is now Ukraine and Poland, and seeking a better life for their children in the United States.
Brachiator
@Baud:
Garland is Jewish. I didn’t know this or anything about his background until I looked at his bio.
I have never been interested in criticsm of Garland. But I guess this kind of thing is an Internet tradition.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
Oh, for some reason, I thought he was Catholic.
ETA: Still, my original point stands.
Martin
@Brachiator: John Wick is the definitive resource for Baba Yaga research.
geg6
@tobie:
I will no longer watch her show because of that. I replaced her with HGTV and the local news.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@tobie: I’ve never heard that but on one of the rare occasions I left the TV on after the Nicolle Wallace program (which is bordering on unwatchable when the topic of these prosecutions is featured), I saw Ari Melber leave aside his cloying, smirking rap lyrics long enough to try to sound like a big boy lawyer to castigate Garland for not moving fast enough, based on his (so twitter told me in the following days) not quite five years experience of actually practicing law.
Garland talked about his family’s history and the anti-semitism they faced in his initial speech at DoJ after his confirmation, IIRC, but that name does sound like it came from a Wharton novel, or Prescott Bush’s wedding party
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Do you think it’s honest, or is cable chasing the Twitter crowd?
geg6
@Jackie:
Hilarious. All the polls I’ve seen lately (not that they matter much this early) have had Biden ahead of both Cheetolini and Puddin’ Boy. They really do live in their own world.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud: I think the genuine frustration, which I share, leads to looking for someone to blame– it doesn’t make sense that trump has, so far, more or less gotten away with it, so somebody must be fucking up. I think it’s similar to the frustration that leads to Green Lanternism and what we used to call Fire-baggery, and we’ve seen where that leads.
There’s also more than a bit of determined confirmation bias in the selection of guests. Things have gotten pretty tense on the Wallace show when Harry Littman pushes back on her criticisms, and the phlegmatic and cautious Chuck Rosenberg, who tends to warn against the idea that all these cases are slam dunks if we just get on with it, has been all but disappeared from MSNBC
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Thanks.
Geminid
@geg6: Scalise is echoing Trump about the polling. Those House Republicans are really scared of the guy. I guess they think he can make them or break them politically. They may be right, too.
Betty Cracker
@zhena gogolia: I can understand people thinking Reid is wrong and unreasonably critical of Garland, but accusing her of antisemitism for such an obscure reference seems like a real stretch to me. YMMV.
zhena gogolia
@Betty Cracker: “Merrick the Meek” sounds anti-semitic to me.
Kayla Rudbek
@Jeffro:
@Brachiator: and Snow White was NOT a blonde in the first place, even in the original German. “Skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair dark as ebony” is what her description translates to in English.
MisterForkbeard
@Brachiator: Snow White is the ONE disney movie I’d say they should have kept the race of the MC the same. If just because that’s literally her name, and if I remember right it was supposed to be because she was such a pale skinned/english rose type.
Still doesn’t bother me and it doesn’t matter for the story (key: Snow White has to be pretty for the plot to work, race doesn’t matter) but yeah, okay.
slightly_peeved
@lowtechcyclist: The biggest kid’s show in the world today is Bluey, an Australian show about a family of Blue Heelers: https://www.vulture.com/2021/05/bluey-best-kids-tv-show.html
Ottercliff
@OzarkHillbilly: And a devoted family man who was spending the evening playing games and singing show tunes with Melanie and Barron after making them dinner.
Paul in KY
@slightly_peeved: My 6 year old son adores that show.