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You are here: Home / Open Threads / It’s Like Groundhog Day, All Over Again

It’s Like Groundhog Day, All Over Again

by | 168 Comments

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So this week, Trump was “indicated” and is being arraigned again.

I wonder if it’s a “If it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgium” kind of thing, where he gets confused about whether this is NY or GA or DC and whether it’s Jack Smith or Fani Willis or Alvin Bragg.

With all these charges, I can only imagine the kind of stress a normal person would be under.  So I guess my only question is how drugged up is Donald Trump these days?  He wouldn’t say “Not Guilty” at one of these; he made his attorney say it. I wonder if he’s worried that his voice would break.  Mine surely would!

If there’s a live stream, someone post it, please.  I’m not sure anyone can top the “Law and Order” promo with Alvin Bragg, Fani Willis, Jack Smith, etc, but I hope people are trying!  Does anyone have the link to that?

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

168Comments

  5. 5.

    Jerry

    Indicated and arranged. I don’t think he’s spelled it as “arranged” but give him time

  7. 7.

    WaterGirl

    I just saw this as the first hit when I googled “video Trump indictment today”

    It's Like Groundhog Day, All Over Again

    And I wondered what person in their right mind would want to watch that.

  14. 14.

    Roger Moore

    He wouldn’t say “Not Guilty” at one of these; he made his attorney say it. I wonder if he’s worried that his voice would break.

    My guess is he’s thinking politically.  He doesn’t want to say “Not Guilty” because it could, and would, be used endlessly in Joe Biden’s ads.  It’s probably also embarrassing as hell, so he wants to make the lawyer do it.

  16. 16.

    JoyceH

    Got the tv on and it dawns on me that this must be incredibly stressful on Trump – because he has to be there on time!

  20. 20.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    My recollection is that we don’t allow kiddie porn people unfettered access to the internet pending trial on their charges.  Just sayin’….

  21. 21.

    LAO

    Stupid side note, but in my experience, the lawyer always enters the not guilty plea. Defendants don’t speak at arraignment.

  22. 22.

    NotMax

    Saw where the sheriff of Fulton county made a statement that if Dolt 45 is indicted in the Georgia case, he will be “treated like anyone else” — mugshots and fingerprints.

  28. 28.

    West of the Rockies

    I often wonder about Trump and stress.  77, 40 lbs overweight, crap diet, minimal cardio, 8 metric tons of weapons-grade stress… and the best health care available.   What does it add up to?

  29. 29.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    I had CNN on for a while, but decided I had better things to do. I am so tired of this man. Even knowing he’s being “arranged” couldn’t keep me watching.

  30. 30.

    Elizabelle

    @JoyceH:  And other people are in charge of whether and when he can open his piehole.  It must burn.

    Moar of this, please.

  35. 35.

    WaterGirl

    Since this is an open thread…

    Is anyone interested in having some number of soccer threads in the sidebar for the soccer version of “sweet sixteen”, the group of eight, the “final four” and the finals?

  36. 36.

    Fair Economist

    Trump has seemed for a while to have some senility/ early dementia mental issues (e.g. word salad) so I’d expect that he is starting to have trouble keeping up with all his legal trouble.

  37. 37.

    Wyatt Salmanca

    @West of the Rockies:

    I often wonder about Trump and stress.  77, 40 lbs overweight, crap diet, minimal cardio, 8 metric tons of weapons-grade stress… and the best health care available.   What does it add up to?

    If Trump were ever sent to prison, I bet he’d be dead within 3 years.

  38. 38.

    Scout211

    @WaterGirl: Is anyone interested in having some number of soccer threads in the sidebar for the soccer version of “sweet sixteen”, the group of eight, the “final four” and the finals?

     

    Yes. That would be very much appreciated. One for each round would work. Or any way you see fit. Thanks.

  39. 39.

    cain

    The funny thing is that he’s probably really enjoying the attention. The guy is nuts.

    As I was saying down post – the day the verdict comes out – and if that’s televised – it will be the most watched thing in the history of watched things – and the man will milk it for all its worth including asking for money.

  40. 40.

    delphinium

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I am so tired of this man.

    So am I-haven’t been watching any of the news about him. Just go the fuck away already. And take all of your America-hating, slavering sycophants with you.

  41. 41.

    WaterGirl

    @Scout211:  Can you explain what you mean by this?

    One for each round would work.

    It's Like Groundhog Day, All Over Again 1

    Do you mean 8 for the column on the left?  Or do you mean one post for all 8 matches in the “sweet 16”?

    It seems like all 7 of the matches in the 3 columns on the right deserver their own post.  I could do that, but it wouldn’t be filled with soccer-y info, and I would make them ahead of time and put them in the sidebar so you guys could have them at the appropriate times.

  45. 45.

    different-church-lady

    Just realized the reason Trump keeps his mouth shut in a courtroom is because he knows who he can bully and who he can’t.

  50. 50.

    LAO

    @Burnspbesq: Personally, I think there needs to be transparency. I don’t know if that means a television feed or an audio feed.

    What are your thoughts?

  52. 52.

    WaterGirl

    @WaterGirl: Petty WG:

    Love that they ran late and made him sit and wait.

    Love hearing that he was fidgety.

    Love that he wasn’t “Former President”, just “Mr.”

    Good for office Hodges showing up.

    Really loved that Jack Smith talking about the defenders of the capital, and called them defenders of democracy, when he announced the indictment.

  53. 53.

    Marcopolo

    Am listening to the C-Span call in show whilst watching footage from outside as the courtroom drama unfolds in DC. OMFG!!!  Every other caller is absolutely deranged, ignorant, and pretty much out of touch with reality (at least the one I inhabit).  I know this is the way it’s been since at least 2016 but coming face to face (or rather ear to ear) w/ it is so freaking disheartening.  Infuriating as well, but it’s where we are so best to just work to make sure those folks lose as many elections as possible.  I don’t think the majority of them are redeemable/deprogrammable.

  55. 55.

    Yarrow

    There’s a T flag in the crowd outside the courthouse that says “Finish the Wall.” Is that still a thing? Does he still talk about that?

  56. 56.

    NotMax

    Just thinkin’ it would be too, too sweet if Dolt 45’s plane was parked at Gate 46.
    ;)

  60. 60.

    Ishiyama

    I used to practice before a federal judge who boasted of having the shortest time, on average, between arraignment & trial. Trump has no idea; the trial could start November 6.

  62. 62.

    Scout211

    @WaterGirl:Do you mean 8 for the column on the left?  Or do you mean one post for all 8 matches in the “sweet 16”?

    One post each, for round of 16, round of 8, round of 4 and finals, I think would be enough. But others may want more.

  65. 65.

    JWR

    Scott MacFarland noted that TFG used his own voice, and not that of one of his mouthpieces, to utter the words, “not guilty”.

    Another thing, the crowd shots from outside the courthouse aren’t a sea of red hats, tee shirts and banners. Looks more like a bunch of tourists who don’t know what’s going on. Weird.

  66. 66.

    Dangerman

    Instead, the former president will be released on very minimal conditions of release, which include not being allowed to communicate with anyone known to be a witness in the case unless through an attorney.

    “No, Melania, you cannot be a witness; sit down.”

  67. 67.

    Yarrow

    I agree with this. The whole party is full of low quality people.

    What Donald Trump understood is the Republican Party was run by weak men and women of little character who would allow him to humiliate them personally and make a mockery of their professed “values” if he helped them acquire and keep power. https://t.co/uiobK48pBi— Stuart Stevens (@stuartpstevens) August 3, 2023

  69. 69.

    cope

    @LAO: One of the better scenes in “My Cousin Vinny” is Vinny struggling to enter the pleas for his clients without multiple prompts from Judge Chamberlain Haller.

  71. 71.

    pajaro

    @LAO:

    Remember the OJ case?  I do.  It did nothing for the rule of law to have the case televised, to put it mildly.

    there is simply too much temptation for Trump and his attorneys to play for the cameras, particularly if they believe they are going to lose, and that’s something I doubt the Judge is going to want to encourage.  Also, the court should do everything it can to treat it as a criminal case, consistent with the way criminal cases are treated in the federal courts in the district.   The public has a right of access, but the federal courts have consistently permitted that access to be achieved by press coverage, not TV.  IMO, if they compromise on a radio feed it’s OK with me, because it’s not as if the public at large has enough patience to actually listen in.

  74. 74.

    trollhattan

    @Burnspbesq:

    I envision is thus:

    “Being found guilty of these charges, I sentence you to prison for life [pause] or twenty years [longer pause] as IF!” Bangs gavel “Bailiff, remove the prisoner, court dismissed.”

  76. 76.

    moops

    I think there are going to be more indictments for Trump yet to come.  Hope this month Georgia comes forward with their charges.   I also suspect Smith is going to file charges for the Bedminster stories of misused classified documents.     I hope Trump’s lawyers are exhausted and stumbling through all these cases and start committing more errors.

  78. 78.

    different-church-lady

    @Yarrow: Like I said, he knows who he can bully. But he also knows who he can tempt. Those things are related.

  80. 80.

    Alison Rose

    Andrew Weissman saying he’s never heard a judge tell a defendant not to commit more crimes and not to tamper with a juror while awaiting hearings. Iiiiiiiiinteresting.

  81. 81.

    different-church-lady

    @moops: “There’s going to be so much finding out, you’re going to be sick of all the finding out.”

  82. 82.

    raven

    @CarolPW: Yea, they want to do bloodwork in the morning so I’ll take him in. We’re talking about how bad it got with our two down the stretch and know we just have to be supportive.

  84. 84.

    Old School

    Since there seems to be a number of fans here:

    A set of stamps celebrating the 40th anniversary of Sir Terry Pratchett’s first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, has been published.

    The author, who lived in Wiltshire, wrote 41 books in the Discworld series, the last of which was released after his death in 2015.

    The set of eight stamps will go on general sale on 10 August.

  90. 90.

    HumboldtBlue

    @LAO:

    I am pro-camera all day, but I would settle for audio, anything that brings the proceedings to the wider world.

  92. 92.

    geg6

    Soooooo…

    I’m seeing reports that they are closing the road in front of the Fulton County Courthouse next week.  Maybe WG will finally have time to make an indictment cake by then.

  93. 93.

    JWR

    From NBC:

    4m ago / 2:03 PM PDT
    Other federal judges sat in the courtroom for Trump’s appearance
    Garrett Haake

    Multiple federal judges who serve on the District Court for the District of Columbia attended Trump’s arrangement today, though they are not involved in the case. Among them were Chief Judge James Boasberg, Judge Amy Berman Jackson and Judge Randy Moss.

    Their appearance was first reported by Politico.

  95. 95.

    bbleh

    @NotMax: oh you KNOW that he — and to a much greater extent and more overtly — his cultists are gonna be all over her for being a Black woman doing what is properly a White man’s job.

    I just wish the comedy shows were still rolling.  Think of the skits.  “The Court finds that the Defendant dressing as he did when he was in office may subconsciously sway the jury.  Accordingly when in the presence of the jury he will wear one of the three fetching pastel-colored ensembles being displayed by the Bailiff.  Oh, and one of our jurors is allergic, so no hair product in the courtroom.

    @Jay: he’s going to have to take liberties with the size of the courtroom in order to fit in a suitably large cross

    @JWR: “Seated behind Trump, they were out of his view, and so he couldn’t see them sticking their thumbs in their ears and waggling their fingers.”

  98. 98.

    zhena gogolia

    Whew, I just finished reading the indictment. I knew most of it from the J6 hearings, but to read it again — how did we get enslaved to this worthless piece of shit?

  99. 99.

    cain

    @NotMax: Oh fox will definitely cover it – they’ll have their own take. They’ll cut away when something is uncomfortable. ;)

  101. 101.

    trollhattan

    @WaterGirl:

    +1 for a single thread for each round. If you’re unfamiliar, we’re into single-elimination now, unlike the group stages where a loss did not automatically eject you from the tournament.

    There are from this point no draws: every match goes until there is a winner and I’ll be darned if I’m going to try explaining overtime and PK shootout rules. (Will just note that with 10+ minute stoppage time/half like I’m seeing so far, a match leading to a shootout will mean an astonishing 140 minutes of field time, with a maximum of six substitutions.)

  102. 102.

    WaterGirl

    @geg6: Yes!  I am over the hump of the impossible amount of work. 30 hours in 3 days this week.  So there will definitely be cake or pie or something awesome for GA!

  103. 103.

    Yarrow

    @Wyatt Salmanca:  ABC carried them. They were short. He talked about how D.C. looks terrible since he was there – broken windows and graffiti. And then said it was a political prosecution. If you can’t beat someone, prosecute them.

    As usual with him and these creeps, every accusation is a confession.

  104. 104.

    moops

    At this point Trump has nothing to lose going all in on witness tampering and juror intimidation.    They can charge him with those extra crimes but he is basically looking a “dying in jail” if he doesn’t get elected President and pardon himself.  So far no judge or prosecutor has come after Trump throwing sand in the gears of justice.

  108. 108.

    Yarrow

    @zhena gogolia:

    how did we get enslaved to this worthless piece of shit?

    Because Republicans are weak and all about attaining and keeping power. See the tweet I posted above. They are bad people.

  109. 109.

    trollhattan

    @Jay: ​
    As the defendant’s manly chest finally overwhelmed the suit’s attempts at containing it, strewing buttons across the courtroom, gasps could be heard from the distaff portion of the jury. Jesus and Thomas Jefferson briefly appear in the gallery, holding a lamb and the Constitution, respectively.

    Pics like that?

  111. 111.

    Alison Rose

    @Jay: Agreed. One of my favorite food-memories is from the now-closed Saturn Cafe in Santa Cruz, their ollalieberry* pie, heated up, with a scoop of vanilla. Fucking delicious.

    (*sort of a cross between a couple types of blackberries and raspberry)

  113. 113.

    Sure Lurkalot

    Related…good read from Rude Pundit

    If the election was all kinds of fucked with cheating and machine hacks and shady workers, if Republican area ballots were stolen or Democratic area ballots were illegally cast multiple times, then that’s the case you make. You’d say all of it was fucked, including local races, including ballot initiatives, the whole damn thing. Toss it out and do it again.
    Snip
    Yeah, the easiest fucking thing would have been for Trump to say the whole election was fucked and that he was standing up for everyone, every single candidate, every single voter. But Trump’s poisonous narcissism would not allow that. It was about him and only him and fuck everyone else. The only votes that mattered were the ones for him. All other votes were worthless.

    https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2023/08/new-trump-indictment-trump-didnt-give.html

  114. 114.

    different-church-lady

    @trollhattan: ​
     

    Jesus and Thomas Jefferson briefly appear in the gallery, holding a lamb and the Constitution

    No kink shaming, please.

  115. 115.

    cain

    @Elizabelle: I don’t want to see him rot in jail. Instead, I would be willing to give the guy a in-home isolation provided that he gave up every fucking GOP politician and their shady shit.

    It will a) destroy Trump’s brand b) destroy GOP’s brand c) root out all the assholes out and force the party to actually address the cult in the room.

    I want systemic erasure of the GOP and the fucked up evangelical assholes that feed them.

  116. 116.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Alison Rose: Would’ve been great if the judge then required to acknowledge the order, stating that he comprehends it and will abide by it. If Trump balked, “I find the defendant in contempt. Bailiff, please shackle and transport the prisoner to …”

  118. 118.

    Jay

    @Alison Rose:

    here it’s called bumbleberry,

    but my go to is blackberry/gravenstein apple pie, (warm) with real vanilla ice cream, on a short bread crust.

  121. 121.

    bbleh

    @cain: I’m afraid about all we can hope for is that the bigoted assholes who have had their bigoted assholery validated by Trump are gonna see him lose again and again AND gonna realize that, no matter how “unfair” it is, all their assholery has got any of them is some jail time, and they’re gonna slink back under their rocks.  But they’re not gonna go away: they’ve been with us since the 1850s and unfortunately they haven’t gone anywhere.

  123. 123.

    VFX Lurker

    @Old School: Thank you for posting that. I’m listening to the recent Penguin audiobook adaptations of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, and they’re just magnificent.

  124. 124.

    Burnspbesq

    @LAO:

    I’d be happy with C-SPAN having one camera in the back with no commentary or chyron. IMO, that satisfies the need for transparency without turning it into a circus

  125. 125.

    Bill Arnold

    Poking through the indictment (all day meeting so only during breaks), noticed that it makes a causality assertion about speech; that D.J. Trump caused death threats.

    42. On November 11, 2020 , the Defendant publicly maligned a
    Philadelphia City Commissioner for stating on the news that there was
    no evidence of widespread fraud in Philadelphia. As a result, the
    Philadelphia City Commissioner and his family received death
    threats.

    This is good to see

    DJT’s constant repetition of lies even after being told that they are falsehoods by staffers reminds me of what Sister Golden Bear said recently (couple of typos cleaned up):

    Narcissists also have a personal reality distortion field — which is one reason they’re maddening to deal with — reality is whatever they want it to be at the moment, even if that’s 180 degrees from their reality a minute ago.

  126. 126.

    eversor

    @bbleh:

    They’ve been with us since they sailed over here to establish their theocracy.  The racism and rich people issues came later.   The Christianity came first.  It still hasn’t been purged, and even people here will religiously (pun intended) defend it to the hilt and claim it’s everything but that.

  128. 128.

    Roger Moore

    @Jay:

    A local place gets a few of crates of gravensteins every year and makes a few pies every day until they run out.  I always have to try to get some, because it really is great.  I don’t know if they’re the absolute best apple for making pie, but they’re way up there.

  129. 129.

    Roger Moore

    @bbleh:

    But they’re not gonna go away: they’ve been with us since the 1850s and unfortunately they haven’t gone anywhere.

    They haven’t gone away, but they aren’t the cultural and political force they used to be.  We’re going to need to keep fighting them for the foreseeable future, but they can be beaten, and beating them will get easier and easier each time we do it.

  130. 130.

    Jay

    @Roger Moore:

    the problem with Gravenstein’s, is if you have a hot spell, then a wet spell, they tend to crack, then get turned into cider, so they are often hard to come by.

    To my taste buds, raw or cooked, they have the deepest most “apple” flavour.

    But they are a “heritage” varietal, and are often hard to come by.

  131. 131.

    OzarkHillbilly

    He wouldn’t say “Not Guilty” at one of these; he made his attorney say it.

    His attorneys have a gag order on him.

  134. 134.

    Dan B

    I’m here in the house with the Blue Angels rattling the windows and the last pass shook the heavily upholstered chair.  We’re on the flight path from Boeing Field so we get the start and the end.  They turn south to the southern end of Lake Washington.  Glorifying militarism doesn’t work with us or the critters.

  135. 135.

    Roger Moore

    @Jay:

    My impression is that gravensteins also don’t travel well, so they’re rarely seen in stores.  My grandfather owned an orchard way back when, and I remember the packing plant focusing on juice and sauce, not on whole apples.  You’ll only get gravenstein pie in places that grow them, like the region around Sebastopol CA, and a handful of places like the one I mentioned that specifically import them.

  137. 137.

    Jay

    @Jay:

    the second best IMHO pie apple, is a slightly green Malus domestica Brunswick, (Golden Delicious Brunswick varietal), of which back in the 1980’s, I had the only known tree in the world.

    When we bought the house in the 80’s it was a mature VF5, sadly neglected with black rot and pretty much everything else.

    I pruned, treated, blossom picked, root pruned, fertilized, bottom watered, and the next year, we got 40lbs of apples. the year after that, 350lbs.

    I sent a samples to the UBC Apple Project, and we traced it’s roots back to a Victoria tree, that was imported in 1920 from West Virginia. Because they are a “seed” varietal, they don’t breed true, so UBC took cuttings to clone the tree, which you can now buy as a VF5, locally adapted Golden Delicious.

  138. 138.

    Jay

    @Roger Moore:

    there are some orchards on the Gulf Islands and in the Okanagan that grow them, but they are tricky. Hot followed by wet causes them to crack, so few are interested in buying them, except for cider plants.

    When we lived in the hills above Kamloops, there was an orchard that would, cracked on not, save me 4 cases of them, knowing I would trim around the cracks, slice and freeze them. They would call me when they were ready.

  139. 139.

    TriassicSands

    As a cult leader, Trump doesn’t have to be drugged to withstand the stress, because he benefits from every new charge. It means more money, more adulation, more support, more apologists, and in the end, this will probably drag on until after the election. Should he win, that will end the accountability issue for all time. There has always been a time issue involved, and the Florida case probably won’t be tried until after the current May 2024 date set by Trumpist corrupt Judge Cannon.

    The best thing that has happened recently is the assignment of the D.C. judge. She’s obviously not a cult member. She may feel compelled to bend over backward to show that she is not “anti-Trump,” since she will undoubtedly be taking constant criticism from the delusional Right. My expectation is that Trump stands a far better chance of getting a “fair” trial from her, than from Cannon, whom I expect to do everything possible to get Trump either acquitted or delay things until it no longer matters.

    Biden may turn out to be a textbook case of being a reasonably good president (I don’t think our system allows anyone to be a great president anymore) who succumbs electorally to an abysmal electorate and conditions that are essentially beyond his control and for which he is not responsible. I would expect, in keeping with the basic concept of injustice,  the recent downgrading of the US credit rating to be a potentially huge negative for Biden. Our inability to tax appropriately to support necessary and important programs, which are already often inadequate, rests squarely on the shoulders of the GOP. The fact that they are the problem will not matter to millions of ignorant Americans. In the end, turnout next year may determine the future of this country. We know the Republicans will turn out. History tells us that people who should be voting for Democrats often have something better to do.

    Low turnout is common in mid-term elections, but voter turnout was lower in 2022 than in 2018, despite all that had happened to make voting more important than ever. Worst of all, Republicans received more votes in 2022 than did Democrats. I think it is unquestionable that there are many more eligible Americans who should be voting for Democrats than Republicans, but we lose many elections because of their failure to vote or their choice to vote irrationally. We’ll see next year.

  141. 141.

    M31

    @Jay: that is awesome!

    love me some rare apple varietals, and haunt the farmer’s markets in the fall for Roxbury Russets and the like

  142. 142.

    mrmoshpotato

    I think you’re erroneously comparing the orange shitstain to a normal person, ie. someone with a sense of shame.

  143. 143.

    M31

    speaking of DC graffiti, some here must remember the overpass on 495 that had “SURRENDER DOROTHY” on it in huge letters, that was my favorite, though it’s gone now :-(

  144. 144.

    Jay

    @M31:

    Got ruined by growing up in the Maritimes. Old half dead orchards in abandoned fields hemmed in by stone walls, free for the picking. Some going back to 1783.

    Amazing apples if you trimmed around the cracks, warts and all.

    And then, in the store, bland flavourless “Red Delicious” apples, bleah.

  145. 145.

    artem1s

    @LAO:

    Personally, I think there needs to be transparency

    I think the witnesses and jurors are going to end up getting death threats, possibly for the rest of their lives. TV isn’t going to make it more transparent. It’s just going to make it more of a media circus.

  147. 147.

    Dan B

    @Jay:  My favorites for pie are a very early green apple my mother loved.  The pie was very wonderfully fragrant.  They’re very rare since they’re very tart and don’t store.  Next favorite is Lodi, similar to the early tart green apple.  It also cooks down to tender but not mushy.  And it’s very difficult to find.

  148. 148.

    dnfree

    @Jay: Bumbleberry as I know it involves rhubarb and several kinds  of berries, for instance raspberries, strawberries, blueberries.  But the rhubarb is essential to add the tartness.  Some recipes include apples, but to me they’re just filler in that combination.  I make bumbleberry crisp once a year, in the spring when rhubarb is available.

  149. 149.

    Bill Arnold

    @dnfree:

    Bumbleberry as I know it involves rhubarb and several kinds of berries, for instance raspberries, strawberries, blueberries.

    Rhubarb/Blueberry pie is sometimes called Bluebarb pie.

  151. 151.

    Jay

    @Dan B:

    Yeah, one thing about apples is that as cultivation spread, varietals adapted to local conditions and climates and pretty much covered the earth.

    They were grown for flavour, or storage, not “pretty”.

    We have lost so many of them to the “commercial” varieties.

    When we lived in Maple Ridge, a next door neighbor started pollarding his apple trees. I stopped him, and asked him what he was doing. He didn’t want them anymore, (too much work, really?).

    So I offered to take them.

    I got a free, established HoneyCrisp, Orange Cox Pippin and a WineCrisp, which after 2 years were going well.

    Root prune, prune in the fall, spray, feed, water, no big time suck, add in the deflowering and the Japanese bag trick, less work than a peony.

  152. 152.

    Matt McIrvin

    @TriassicSands: The best economic argument for voting Republican is the gangster’s argument: nice economy you have, shame if something happened to it. Vote Republican or else Republican politicians and their allies will do their best to make sure everyone suffers.

  153. 153.

    Jay

    @dnfree:

    bumbleberry here is a blackberry, raspberry hybrid, not a mix of fruit. It’s a hybrid between an everbearing raspberry and a Himalayan Blackberry, (an invasive species, found all over here in thick thickets, sweeter than the natural ground blackberries here).

    You can’t farm Himalayan blackberries here, as they form dense, impassible hedges, but crossed with the everbearing raspberries, the bumble berry stays in neat orderly row’s and won’t swallow up your house, shed, barn, tractor.

  155. 155.

    Bex

    @Jay:  She’s too old for him.  If I were her, I’d go after Rupert Murdoch.  He’s 90 something and a multi billionaire who recently dumped his latest fiance.

  156. 156.

    Jay

    @Bex:

    She’s too gross for him, : )

    but the photo’s of her trying to devour him with her presence, are en flique.

  159. 159.

    Sheila in nc

    @M31: Surrender Dorothy!

    But you have to include the context. The graffito was on a bridge over the Beltway, coming down a long hill with a great view of: the Mormon temple. (Visual stand in for the Emerald City)

  160. 160.

    bbleh

    @TriassicSands: well never hurts to avoid foolish optimism, but (1) approximately nobody cares about the Fitch downgrade right now (even the markets are returning to normal after just 2 days) and come 2024 they will be an order of magnitude fewer, and (2) blah blah NYTimes (or was it WaPo?) turnout whatever, 2022 was NOT a good midterm election for Republicans, eg what they ended up with in the House.

    Turnout IS important, but that’s what local organizations are for, and between Dobbs and the almost lunatic atavism of the Republicans — do they know the First Rule of Holes? — I am not at all pessimistic about Dems’ chances for motivating voters, including Dem-leaners who historically don’t vote.

  162. 162.

    frosty

    @M31: I remember it well. I went looking for picture of it from the 80s could only find one bad one. I saved the pic but not the link.

    SURRENDER DOROTHY was the high point of my commute from College Park to Dulles.

    WaPonir Wikipedia had a good backstory. If you search.

  163. 163.

    Ironcity

    @bbleh: It is at least a local landmark for the traffic reports…”…backup on the inner loop by the temple …”, and one of the few local ones left after Dave Thomas Circle has recently become a street damaged by improvements.    As DC graffiti goes it is almost as iconic as “Cool Disco Dan”, which is all but gone, alas.

  166. 166.

    Tony G

    @Roger Moore: A short explanation is that Trump is a lifelong coward.  He’s freaking out because, on some level, he cannot deny that these indictments are very serious and very bad for him.  So he’s afraid to even speak.  (That’s my Psychology 101 analysis anyway.)

  168. 168.

    Chris T.

    @frosty:

    SURRENDER DOROTHY was the high point of my commute from College Park to Dulles.

    I used to drive that route (technically to Reston not Dulles) pretty often myself. We had a carpool and if we could get four, which was rare, we’d use the Dulles access road…

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