Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

As long as McCarthy is Speaker, the House will never be in order.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Innocent people don’t delay justice.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

This blog will pay for itself.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Everybody saw this coming.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Let there be snark.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Impatiently Waiting

Impatiently Waiting

by | 112 Comments

This post is in: 

I am here at the Amtrak station in Chicago, waiting for my train to return home.  It’s been 4 hours since my train from Michigan brought me here.  So I’m impatiently waiting for my train, and I have mixed emotions re: the upcoming announcement of the Jan 6 indictment of the orange one.

I REALLY want it to be today, but I also really want to be here when it happens, and connectivity on the train is really spotty.  So I loaded up some recent BJ posts and loaded up some of the people I still follow on twitter – so at least I can read all of that if the internet connection doesn’t work on the train (again).

Anyway, wondering what all I missed this week.

Had a wonderful time here in Michigan with my Australian cousins, and I came really close to tears saying goodbye.

I hope to be hope by 6:30, but it’s the train, so who knows?  I think my being gone has been hard on my little Henry.  I think I mentioned that the friend who comes at dark and stays overnight with Henry described him as “being simultaneously giddy when I arrive and inconsolable that you are not here.”

Henry apparently keeps going to the door, hoping that I will be there.

So I am not the only one impatiently waiting!

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

112Comments

  1. 1.

    Maxim

    Poor Henry. Doggos do not understand that we will be back, especially those of us who work at home. I left my dogs for a few hours two days running last week, and they were very not okay with it. He will be so ecstatic to see you!

    Also frist.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    Do they announce indictments on Fridays?

    You are, like all great women, over-prepared.

  3. 3.

    indianbadger

    If you have time, go to Lou Mitchell’s nearby. It is an old timey diner from the days when Route 66 began around there.

  4. 4.

    Benw

    Hudson is never okay when I leave, but if the kids are there he’s happier, at least. Safe travels, WG!

  6. 6.

    RepubAnon

    My cats miss me when I’m gone. However, being cats, when I return, they run up to the door, then snub me and sit next to my roommate for 10 minutes or so… then come and allow me t beg for forgiveness.

  7. 7.

    Butch

    Our longtime pet sitter retired a few months ago and we haven’t been able to find a replacement; we both work at home so doggos and kitties are accustomed to our company.  I’m not sure how they’ll react when we’re finally able to travel again.

    Safe travels!

  10. 10.

    Fake Irishman

    Ah, the Amtrak Wolverine. I wrote two dissertation chapters on that train. There was a conductor who was a nice African American lady with a droll sense of humor about delays caused by Metra and an impeccably maintained Afro from which her conductor’s cap never fell. I have no idea how she managed that feat. (Strategically deployed hair clips? Adhesive spray? Really good balance from a past modeling career or ballet lessons?)

  12. 12.

    Dangerman

    I want it to be like Oprah (and you get an indictment, and you get an indictment, and, you, too, get an …)

    Plus, I want cake.

  14. 14.

    Yarrow

    @Butch:  A friend mostly works from home but takes their dog to doggie daycare one day a week. When they travel they board the dog with the doggie daycare. Their dog loves doggie daycare and is fine being boarded there. The dog’s behavior is also improved since she get socialization with other dogs during the day she’s there every week.

  15. 15.

    cope

    For reasons, I just don’t think today will be the day. However, as I am wrong more often than right, maybe this bodes well for your hopes and dreams.

    Fingers crossed.

  18. 18.

    Butch

    @Yarrow: We live out in the woods in the Upper Peninsula, so doggie daycare isn’t an option.  Also beside the doggies we have kitties, parakeets, finches, and chickens so an in-home sitter is really a requirement.  We had hoped our old sitter would help us but she’s completely dropped from view.

    HOWEVER – I don’t want to sound like I don’t appreciate your input, because I do.

  19. 19.

    BeautifulPlumage

    OT: my good news from the past few weeks

    I signed my lease so can keep the trailer here and stay in it!

    I went to my bank for a new debit card after getting scammed. She suggested I use a credit card but I pointed out that I owed $30K from a home equity loan & the place was foreclosed. She asked around and, apparently, the debt was written off and no longer on their records!

    Just across the street is a farm animal rescue. I had a great visit and I may volunteer for a weekly three hour shift,

    I did a zoom interview for a job I’m very excited about and it went well and I have an in-person interview scheduled 8/8,

    And, the bar on the corner serves craft beer for $4 a pint all day Wednesday!

    Aaaaand I took myself to see Barbie on Tuesday and loved it. First theater visit in years!

  20. 20.

    Burnspbesq

    I suppose it’s possible that they would delay an announcement until after the markets close (4:30 Eastern), but more likely it’s not happening today.

  21. 21.

    Almost Retired

    It’s great that you take the train!   Carbon footprint and all.  When my youngest son was in school in San Luis Obispo, I’d park at the Van Nuys station and take the train.  The first part of the journey was mostly suburban tract home suckage, but after Ventura it was magical.

    Not so sure about the Chicago-to-Champaign scenery, but trains have fully-stocked bars.  So there’s that.

  25. 25.

    bbleh

    @Baud: thinking maybe it’s a bit of a Friday-news-dump thing, not so much to get lost in the shuffle as to minimize the impact, eg on the markets.  I also dunno what kind of processing follows a GJ vote before an indictment is filed and announced.

    Further speculation may ameliorate some symptoms of indictment-craving.

  29. 29.

    BeautifulPlumage

    @Baud: thanks, and I will thank Biden : )

    The banker also put in for the scam to be refunded so now all but $5 has been returned! I guess I should buy a lottery ticket soon.

  30. 30.

    HypersphericalCow

    Close to a decade ago, Union Station was my train destination. Starting in Buffalo, NY. On Dec 27.

    in a snowstorm.

    To the woman frantically trying to handle hundreds of cancelled flights, I asked, “I need to get back to Chicago. How soon can that happen? I’ll pay whatever?”

    ”Wednesday.”

    it was Sunday.

    my parents were snowed in. Buses were, of course, effed. What options did I have left?

    i “displayed adaptability”, got on an Amtrak, and made it home a day later.

    in short, captain Americ, sorry, Amtrak saved my life. That is all.

  31. 31.

    bbleh

    @Baud: well, I’d say the markets care most about what they think individually that their counterparts think collectively, but I’d also say sure, there’s a significant probability that some would think it might cause a sell-off, leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy, so best to wait until they close.

    They can behave like panicky herd animals.  Best not to spook them.

  33. 33.

    Burnspbesq

    Judge Mehta just issued an order blowing away Navarro’s bullshit defenses, so he’s going down for contempt of Congress.

    WTF is “entrapment by estoppel,” anyway?

  34. 34.

    Redshift

    @Jackie:

    I thought TIFG’s MAL indictment was on a Friday?

    It was announced on a Thursday, and unsealed and made public on Friday, if I remember correctly.

  35. 35.

    Tom Q

    @Redshift: ​
     Yes. Smith scheduled a Friday press conference, after Trump blasted the news out to the press on Thursday night.

  37. 37.

    MattF

    @bbleh: The J6 stage and cast of characters are huge, an indictment could be a multi-volume set— smaller than the shelf holding a printed edition of the OED, but not by all that much. DoJ management has to decide if they can do it. One possible alternative is a small number of tightly focused accusations with overwhelming evidence. That won’t satisfy all the haters— but we shall see…

  38. 38.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    It is now 5PM Eastern Daylight Time – the Friday Night News Dump is now in session.

  41. 41.

    Ken

    @Burnspbesq: WTF is “entrapment by estoppel,” anyway?

    Estoppel means you can’t make an argument or assertion if it contradicts something you previously argued or asserted. So I guess entrapment would be… hmm… putting someone in a position where they had absolutely no choice but to lie in court?  “If you hadn’t called me to testify, I wouldn’t have contradicted my previous testimony, so you trapped me!”

  42. 42.

    Old School

    Justice Alito tells the @WSJ that Congress has no business policing SCOTUS. "I know this is a con­tro­ver­sial view, but I’m will­ing to say it… No pro­vi­sion in the Con­sti­tu­tion gives them the au­thor­ity to reg­u­late the Supreme Court—pe­riod." https://t.co/tor4akmv75— Nate Raymond (@nateraymond) July 28, 2023

  46. 46.

    Butch

    @Yarrow: If you can find a good map of Nowhere – draw a line from Escanaba to Iron Mountain and another one from Marinette to Marquette; we’re right about where the two lines cross.  It’s not the most scenic part of the UP but it’s closest to services, which is important since we both own small businesses.

  48. 48.

    WaterGirl

    @Old School: fuck Alito. Nowhere in the constitution does it say that Supreme Court justices are above the law OR that they have no checks and balances on them.

  50. 50.

    laura

    @Old School: the next Strict Scrutiny podcast is gonna be lit! MU Professor Leah Litman has been en fuego on the WSJ article. What a thin skinned pinch faced intellectually/morally bankrupt shite-bag Alito is, and WSJ just can’t quit giving a soap box to “writers” who have past/current/pending SC cases. Don’t get me started on Janus v AFSCME or I will throw a chair. Grrr

  53. 53.

    Yarrow

    @Old School:  He would only say that if he’s getting nervous Congress is thinking about policing them.

    @Butch:  It sounds nice. I once was tempted by a job in the UP. They seemed desperate. Is it hard to get people to move there? I thought it was too far away from where I needed to be so I didn’t pursue it.

  54. 54.

    Ken

    @Old School: Do I understand that Alito is saying the Supreme Court justices are outside the protection of the law?

    It’s somewhat radical to return to the original meaning of “outlaw”, but perhaps to be expected from someone who peppers their opinions with approving quotes from 15th-century witchfinders.

  56. 56.

    Fake Irishman

    @laura: Janus was a horrible decision with a horrible cynical path to the Supreme Court. Then  Kennedy retired two hours later and made things more awful.

  57. 57.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @WaterGirl: The Constitution also doesn’t give them the power to decide what’s Constitutional either. John Marshall just asserted that power and everyone has gone along with it ever since, So nothing in the Constitution or anywhere else makes SCOTUS the boss of anyone.

  59. 59.

    Suzanne

    I am in the early stages of a freakout….. SuzMom had been recovering well from her hip surgery in April, had been doing PT, but then she started experiencing some pretty severe pain that couldn’t be explained. Mr. Suzanne made her a doctor appointment yesterday, and I too, her. The doctor saw her and ordered a follow-up X-ray. So she got the X-ray yesterday. Doctor called back and said she has vascular necrosis around the area where her hip broke. So now she has OxyContin and a follow-up appointment with the orthopedist on Wednesday.

    But Mr. Suzanne and I are supposed to leave with the kids on Sunday morning for a week. It’s our summer vacation. They have been promised beach time, Froot Loops for breakfast, ice cream in the afternoon, movies, and I am gonna be six hours away from home, and she’ll be by herself. Arrrrrrgh.

  60. 60.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Ken: But as Dylan sang, “to live outside the law, you must be honest.”  I think you see the problem.

  62. 62.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @Almost Retired: I’m sure about the scenery… it’s surreally flat all the way.

     

    @raven: Ah yes the Esquire. I darkened their door a time or two when I lived in Champaign for a couple years. Frequented the Brass Rail a block or so away more regularly but went to Esquire often enough too.

  63. 63.

    patrick II

    Largest School District in Texas Eliminates Libraries, Converts Them to Disciplinary CentersY
    Yahoo news (and I imagine other places) has a story about the Houston school district eliminating libraries and librarians in 28 schools and converting many of them to “disciplinary centers”. Governor Abbot has evidently appointed a new, not elected by Houston residents, Mike Miles who has evidently decided to remove complaints about discriminatory book banning by banning them all.

  67. 67.

    Lyrebird

    @Suzanne: Good thoughts to SuzMom, and I hope you get to have a true vacation!  Glad y’all have what sounds like responsive docs!

  68. 68.

    Yarrow

    @Suzanne:  Oh, no. Can you move the follow up to after you get back? Is there someone else you trust who can take her to her appointment and you can Zoom in? Could someone stay with her at your house while you’re gone? That all sounds awful.

  69. 69.

    Madeleine

    Spouse and I just took Amtrak from NYC to Boston and back ( meeting friends to go to Maine). Amtrak now has business class—reserved seats & more space. We thought it was worth the extra $$. (And Maine with friends was great.)

  70. 70.

    Suzanne

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Yeah, I don’t know what to do. It’s been a really hard year for my kids — they already lost one grandparent this year — and I will not break my promise to them to have some chill time. But I am gonna be filled with panic the whole week. I don’t know what is wise. Ahhhhhh.

  71. 71.

    Jay

    @Burnspbesq:

    Entrapment by estoppel applies when an official tells a defendant that certain conduct is legal and the defendant believes that official. This defense applies even in cases of strict liability, because entrapment does not negate the intent element of an offense, it relies on the principle of fairness.

  72. 72.

    Redshift

    @Old School:

    Justice Alito tells the @WSJ that Congress has no business policing SCOTUS. “I know this is a con­tro­ver­sial view, but I’m will­ing to say it… No pro­vi­sion in the Con­sti­tu­tion gives them the au­thor­ity to reg­u­late the Supreme Court—pe­riod.”

    These assholes establish “doctrine are constitutional s” that let them decide cases like Bruen and Dobbs based on whatever archaic law they can dig up to declare that only laws that are “deeply rooted” are constitutional (despite there being nothing in the Constitution that says you can’t pass laws that change anything from the way it was in the 18th or 19th century. But they’ll just ignore that Congress regulating the Court was commonplace back then and the current hands-off tradition is fairly recent.

    Almost like they have no principles at all other than “we’re going to do whatever we want, here’s a bullshit justification as a fig leaf, sucks to be you!”

  74. 74.

    Baud

    Even assuming we couldn’t regulate Supreme Court justices, we sure as hell can regulate all the rich people that want to give them gifts. Or does regulating a justice’s entourage violate separation of powers too?

  76. 76.

    hotshoe

    @Anoniminous: ​
     
    “Pat Metheny – Last Train Home”

    Honestly, that gave me goosebumps.
    Not exactly a train fan — but love the emotion of catching a train home … anticipation … getting closer … there is such a lovely sense of movement/achieving progress on a train …

    Turns out this fan-made video is a great match between visuals of the trains with Metheny’s sentimental music.
    The translation of Julio’s caption turns out to be emotional, too, just as I imagine the journey to be.
    Good practice for the upcoming Spanish lessons ;)

  77. 77.

    WaterGirl

    @Madeleine: I always do business class. For this trip2 trains each way, so 4 trains. Only 2 had business class cars – even though I paid for it .

    I am very much not happy about that, and I will be requesting a refund for business class on those 2 legs of the trip.

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    @Suzanne: that’s when it feels like my head is going to explode. Two important things that I feel like I have to do, and they are in conflict. I’m sorry you are in that place. It feels impossible.

  81. 81.

    Steeplejack

    @Burnspbesq:

    “Entrapment by estoppel”? I think that’s what the pulling guard does at the beginning of the Green Bay sweep. Jerry Kramer was a master.

  82. 82.

    Butch

    @Yarrow: Believe it or not a private group called UPNorth has been so successful in luring high-tech industries here that there’s actually a housing shortage in parts of the UP.  Lots of IT and one company that specializes in “electrospray propulsion technology for nanosattelites” in Houghton, which actually runs a yearly contest in most interesting way to travel to work (canoe, snowmobile, dogsled, ATV, whatever….)  We have an upholstery shop and a contract technical editor business that are actually doing pretty well.

  85. 85.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    There were barricades set up around the courthouse in Georgia, so I keep hoping that even if Jack Smith is waiting until next week, Fani Willis will indict.

  94. 94.

    Suzanne

    @Yarrow: The appointment is pretty important for her to get to….. I’m going to call in and be on speaker so I can talk to the doctor. My mom is the the point that she gets, as she describes it, “jumbled”, and she doesn’t relay information in a linear fashion. And she can’t absorb information reliably, either. So she likes me to accompany her to medical appointments and “translate” doctor-speak for her.

    We don’t have family nearby, but I’ve asked my neighbor to check in on her, and I called my uncle (her brother) in Florida and asked him to be in touch with her daily while we’re gone.

  96. 96.

    Yarrow

    @Suzanne:  How will she get to the appointment? Can she drive? It’s good you are able to call in. Ask the doctor for complete notes if possible. Hopefully they’ll be experienced in dealing with the older population.

    Elder care is definitely a challenge. I find it’s often choosing between this sucky option and this other sucky option with a third even worse option. You do your best to choose the least worst option and it’s hard to know which one that is.

    It’s good you have neighbors who can check on her. That’ll be good to have eyes on her. Hopefully she’ll be okay on the oxy.

  99. 99.

    Suzanne

    @Yarrow: We have pre-booked an Uber to get her there. She doesn’t drive, but she can get around.

    UGHHHHH. I have no siblings. My aunt, her older sister, is never helpful in these moments. She just barks orders at people, tells everyone how they’ve fucked up, but never actually shows up to assist. She says things like, “What can I do? I’m 300 miles away.” I always want to remind her that planes cross the country every day. Multiple times, even.

  103. 103.

    Yarrow

    @Suzanne:  I feel you. It’s so hard when it’s only you.

    Uber sounds like a good plan. Thank goodness for that. Also, you can hire caregivers even for just one day to accompany her to/from appointments if necessary. Not ideal but can do in a pinch.

    Of course you have an aunt who won’t do anything but just yells everyone telling them what they did wrong. Of course. It is always the way. Some people just suck.

  105. 105.

    Suzanne

    @Manyakitty: Do I trust her medical professionals? Yes, I think her care has been good. My mom is….. sometimes tough to manage. She alternates between refusing to take opiate painkillers but then drinks too much, tries to tough shit out instead of asking for help, and she gets disoriented easily when outside her typical environs.

  106. 106.

    Suzanne

    @Yarrow: Even years ago when my grandparents were sick and SuzMom was caring for them, my aunt was worse than useless. One time, SuzMom called my aunt (who is retired now, but was a longtime geriatric nurse) with a medical question. My aunt just said, “Well, how should I know what to do? I’m across the country”, and left SuzMom to figure it out. Like, BIH, THESE ARE ALSO YOUR PARENTS, can you fucking be of any assistance at all? SuzMom had some mental health challenges a few years ago and I had to have her involuntarily admitted to a behavioral health hospital. SuzAunt’s recommendation was to have her get an MRI to find out what was wrong (suicidal depression, it was not a mystery) because she said that “an MRI could read her mind and tell us what she’s been thinking”. (Side note: it cannot.)

  109. 109.

    Yarrow

    @Manyakitty:  Good suggestion.

    @Suzanne:  Oh, boy. She sounds worse than useless. It always seems to be the way that care falls on one person. I’m sorry you don’t have any family to help.

    I don’t know if you’re involved in a church or other religious organization but sometimes they have elder services where they can have someone come sit with the person or maybe even drive them to doctor’s appointments. Just a thought.

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