Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Even though I know this is a bad idea, I’m off to do it anyway!

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

The US Supreme Court is on the ballot in november.

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

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

The problem people have with Biden’s age is the color of the VPs skin.

Dead end MAGA boomers crying about Talyor Swift being a Dem is my kind of music. Turn it up.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. don’t touch it.”

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

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Sunday Morning Open Thread: Happy News

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From the Washington Post, “In return to competition, Simone Biles looks as if she never left” : [unpaywalled gift link]:

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Throughout Saturday night at the U.S. Classic, Simone Biles offered emphatic reminders that she’s still the world’s best gymnast, even after a two-year break from the sport and the trouble that rattled her in Tokyo. Eventually, she waited at the end of the vault runway for her final test. In the packed arena, with a crowd that shrieked at the sound of her name, she raced toward the apparatus and performed the skill so difficult that most of her peers could never consider an attempt.

Biles’s evening concluded with that Yurchenko double pike, a vault no other woman has ever performed and one Biles had only executed in competition once previously. When she landed with just one step to the side, the crowd roared. Biles beamed with joy, and teammate Jordan Chiles lifted her arms to the crowd, begging for more noise. That vault highlighted a remarkable outing for Biles, who totaled a score of 59.100. She had the meet’s best marks on vault, beam and floor, and her all-around score was more than two points ahead of what it took to win gold at the world championships last year.

And so Biles has returned to this familiar position: at the top of the all-around medal podium with a large gap separating her from the runner-up. She performed like a gymnast who has 32 world and Olympic medals and is ready to earn more this fall. Biles looked relaxed and unaffected by nerves she insists were present…

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What is best in life?…

Reader Interactions

207Comments

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    When we held up a mirror to Elon Musk’s Twitter/X he tried to sue us into silence
    Imran Ahmed

    It started with childish name-calling on Twitter two weeks ago, when Elon Musk called my organisation “evil” and me personally a “rat”. It has since escalated to a lawsuit filed against the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), which I founded and run, in a California court last week.

    The CCDH exists to research online hate and disinformation, and hold social media companies accountable for the erosion of human rights and civil liberties. Our mission is to stem the tide of racism, antisemitism, harms to children, climate denial, anti-LGBTQ+ hate, health misinformation and many other dangers to society.

    Last week, we became the target of an aggressive and cynical intimidation campaign by Musk, the world’s richest person and owner of X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Musk is singling us out because our research has exposed his failings – the suit is designed to silence critics of X Corp/Twitter. But attacking CCDH will not remove the neo-Nazis, white supremacists and disinformation superspreaders he has allowed back. Only Musk can undo his own errors.

    The CCDH has been at the forefront of reporting on the hate proliferating on X/Twitter since Musk completed his takeover in late October 2022.
    ………………..
    Musk didn’t like what he saw in the mirror. But rather than take responsibility and admit the problem, he is trying to sue the mirror.

    There is a great irony in attempts by this self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” – to shut down honest debate and fair, research-backed criticism with legal threats.

    More at the link.

  3. 3.

    Jerzy Russian

    That stupid baseball head guy needs to volunteer for the nearest home run derby.

    Also too:  I love that meme from Conan the Librarian, although I don’t immediately know who Tom Fitton is.

  5. 5.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Good for Simone Biles!

    @OzarkHillbilly: There are mornings when I want to sue the mirror too. In a semi-related event, yesterday a NASCAR team suspended its driver for retweeting a “racially insensitive” tweet. Even NASCAR has higher standards than Musk.

  7. 7.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Blink:

    Even though Florida’s government had told school superintendents that the Advanced Placement Psychology course offered to high school students violated the state’s new law prohibiting instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity, it appears students may be able to take the course after all. In a letter to state superintendents Friday, Florida’s education commissioner Manny Diaz Jr said the state believed the psychology course could be taught “in its entirety”.

    Meanwhile, the College Board that develops Advanced Placement (AP) classes accordingly said it was optimistic that Florida teachers would now be able “to teach the full course, including content on gender and sexual orientation, without fear of punishment in the upcoming school year”.

    Nonetheless, despite the assurances, parents and students were left trying to figure out what to do shortly before many schools start their upcoming academic year.

    Just what every parent wants for their children: Uncertainty.

  9. 9.

    marklar

    @Baud: “It’s ok. The AP Psychology course teaches about the psychology of uncertainty.”

    Psych professor here…you’re closer to the truth than you realize. All my syllabi contain the goal of “Becoming comfortable with ambiguity, and understand that not all questions have straightforward answers (or have answers at all).”

  10. 10.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Anne Laurie: Oh yeah, that guy. He’s the one who is the source of a lot of The Former Guy’s wackier legal theories, like “The Clinton Sock Drawer case means that the Presidential Records Act says I own all the documents.”

    He’s not a lawyer.

  11. 11.

    Jerzy Russian

    @marklar:   Not really a typo.  In high school (back in the 1980s) a bunch of the theater kids staged a play called “Conan the Librarian”, based off of the recent (at that time) movie with a similar name.   I don’t think I have ever seen the movie, but I was certainly aware of its existence.

  12. 12.

    John S.

    And here’s CBS News lending credence to pardoned criminal Bernie Kerik and his “evidence” that Trump is innocent:

    The documents were submitted to Smith on July 23, according to emails reviewed by CBS News. A source close to Kerik’s legal team said at the time that they believed the records, which include sworn affidavits from people raising concerns about the integrity of the 2020 presidential contest, show there was a genuine effort to investigate claims of voter fraud in the last election.

    The very powerful “high on your own supply” defense.

  14. 14.

    eversor

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Every place I have worked for the past several years has warned everyone to watch what they say on social media (twitter, facebook, instagram, ticktock).  Musk can screach about free speech all he wants but most sane/normal people self moderate anyways.

    Happy hours at the office OK, getting drunk at the company Nationals seats OK, getting smashed at the Wizards game OK, hurling invective at people on twitter BAD.

  17. 17.

    Jerzy Russian

    @Anne Laurie:   Thanks for the link.  I think there is a typo (or mistake) on that page, as incredible as that sounds:  Under “occupation”, the page author misspelled “asshole” as “activist”.

  19. 19.

    Betty Cracker

    Fitton looks like a defective animatronic Mitt Romney with a corrupted program that directs the robot to experience a humiliating midlife crisis in public. On Fox News appearances, he wears capped-sleeve polo shirts a size too small and flexes his arms the entire time. It must be exhausting to be that insecure.

  20. 20.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: There are mornings when I want to sue the mirror too.

    Heh. I’ll bet your husband disagrees. I know my wife is still just as beautiful as ever to me, but she says, “Love is blind.”

  21. 21.

    WereBear

    “In return to competition, Simone Biles looks as if she never left”

    No, no, no. No one, not even as tough and talented as she obviously is, can stay at that level constantly. Peaks have troughs. Timing is crucial in more than comedy. It applies to training.

    Fortunately, she’s smart and confident enough to know that. I’m thrilled it is proving to be the right decision for her.

  22. 22.

    Phylllis

    We are off to Charlotte to see the matinee performance of To Kill A Mockingbird with John Boy. I’m not sure hubby is as all-in on the adventure as I am, but he is gamely tagging along.

  23. 23.

    John S.

    @Baud:

    To be fair, CBS News gets around to pointing out the obvious (in paragraph 37), but still manages to fuck it up:

    Kerik served as police commissioner under then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani from 2000 to 2001 and is an ally of former President Donald Trump’s. He and Giuliani worked together on an effort to identify widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Kerik was sentenced to four years in prison in 2010 after pleading guilty to eight felonies involving tax fraud and obstruction, and Trump pardoned him a decade later.

    Just a couple of buddies working together at Four Seasons Landscaping.

  24. 24.

    Mike in NC

    We’ve seen all the ridiculous posters with Fat Bastard’s head on Rambo’s or Rocky’s body (the Stallone family are huge MAGA supporters), so why not Conan’s? Probably just haven’t looked hard enough.

  25. 25.

    SFAW

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Musk didn’t like what he saw in the mirror. But rather than take responsibility and admit the problem, he is trying to sue the mirror.

    Maybe it’s just semantics, or a distinction without a difference, but I think Musk was OK with what the “mirror” showed him (re: content); he just doesn’t like getting caught.

  26. 26.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud: @marklar: Yep, don’t I know it. Personally, I’m comfortable with it, and now that my sons are adults with families of their own I’m getting used to it in their lives. Tho it ain’t easy.

  28. 28.

    Chief Oshkosh

    I wonder how many people caught that right after the lengthy report on CBS Sunday Morning about extreme heat, caused by climate change and which ended with the expert saying that we MUST get a handle on emissions,  the first commercial afterwards was for the Dodge Ram pickup, where the scenes are about a massive pickup truck with huge amounts of power jumping over/through sand dunes and hauling a gigantic power boat and similar and the voice over is all about ‘Murcans and their TOYS!

    It’s almost like someone was trying to make a point, but way too subtly to absorbed by ‘Murcans.

    Le sigh…

  29. 29.

    Baud

    @John S.:

    It’s ridiculous that they would even consult that guy for a story.  It’s just a mini version of the Clinton Cash debacle.

  30. 30.

    Shalimar

    In other news, Trump vomited out that Nancy Pelosi is a vicious woman who is going to HELL because she called him a “scared puppy” and he is not scared.

    I assume this means Pelosi is going to be a witness against him in the insurrection trial, because otherwise why bother?

  31. 31.

    gene108

    on X/Twitter since Musk completed his takeover in late October 2022.

    I am gobsmacked that Musk has owned Twitter/X for less than a year. Seems so much longer.

  34. 34.

    SFAW

    @John S.:

    which include sworn affidavits from people raising concerns about the integrity of the 2020 presidential contest

    So? I would be more than happy to file an affi “raising concerns” that TIFG had been planning an insurrection since before he “won” in 2016.

    That and an inflation-adjusted buck will get Kerik a ride on the subway.

    The balls on these guys.

  35. 35.

    Kay

    But Thomas has never disclosed the fact that the vehicle was financed, in part, by Anthony Welters, a former executive at UnitedHealthCare who worked alongside Thomas in the Reagan administration

    One of the things I think the country as a whole can take from the continuing Clarence Thomas corruption scandal is that Clarence and Ginni Thomas are liars. They lie constantly.
    I believed Anita Hill’s allegations about Thomas at the time- I found (and find) her credible. I’m hoping that now that Thomas has unequivocally been exposed as dishonest in all things large and small the rest of the country realizes he and the conservative “movement” smeared Hill, who was telling the truth.
    We’re stuck with Clarence and Ginni now of course, but we didn’t have to be. He never should have been confirmed.

  37. 37.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    Who among us hasn’t had our vehicles financed by a rich benefactor?

    Let he who is without a sugar daddy cast the first stone.

  39. 39.

    cmorenc

    That twitter thread about biden at the ice cream shop is full of vile baseless allegations biden is a child molester who shouldn’t be allowed near kids in places like an ice cream shop – it’s a meme RWers aim to establish by pure repetition without any actual evidence, which is also a classic Trump go-to tactic throughout his life.

  40. 40.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    It isn’t just that. It’s that Thomas and his wife told this elaborate story for a decade about how they were ordinary RV’ers – deliberately planted that tale with gullible and lazy reporters, cooked it up together and sent it out to trick the public, scold liberals on how conservatives are the salt of the earth and we’re out of touch. These two are world class liars. They’re pros.

    I watched a documentary about Anita Hill and she absolutely exudes integrity. We confirmed the wrong lawyer for that position. The country would have been much better served with Justice Hill.

  41. 41.

    SFAW

    @OzarkHillbilly: ​

    I know my wife is still just as beautiful as ever to me,

    Mine, too. [My wife, not yours, that is, but I’m sure your wife is beautiful.]

    but she says, “Love is blind.”

    Haven’t heard that line in this type of context before. She’s worng, of course, because your judgment and “eyesight” is always excellent.​

  42. 42.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    I’d prefer a Justice Kay, but agree on all points.

    Liberals are the real elitists is a favorite meme of the media.

  43. 43.

    Kirk

    @eversor:

    Well, yes, because unlike the three OK events posting on twitter is putting it in writing that can at least potentially be read by anyone.

    Don’t document your own stupidity. (only partly in jest).

  44. 44.

    Nukular Biskits

    Good mornin’, y’all!

    Gonna be another hot one down here again:  Currently (0831 Central) it’s 86 degrees, with a high expected to be 101 and the corresponding heat index to be somewhere between 115-120.

    Al Gore is REALLY fat.

  45. 45.

    Baud

    @SFAW:

    I’m disappointed in Zuckerberg.  I thought they would move quickly to improve Threads after the stellar launch buzz but they’ve sort of let it languish, from what I’ve read.

  46. 46.

    SFAW

    @Baud:

    I’d prefer a Justice Kay, but agree on all points.

    From your keyboard to FSM’s orrekietty  orchitette  orechitietty noodle-y earlike appendages.

  47. 47.

    Cacti

    USWNT gets bounced by Sweden from the WWC in the first leg of the knockout round.

    Disappointing for them but not surprising given how listless and out of sync they looked in the group stage. And also, the rest of the world has invested more resources in women’s football and gotten better over the last 4 years.

    So, a positive for the women’s game overall.

  48. 48.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I’m hoping that now that Sotomayor has broken ranks with The Guild we can put some ethics rules in. The moat has been breached from the other side.

  49. 49.

    Baud

    @Cacti:

    Agree.  They’ve haven’t looked great.

    Germany didn’t even make it out of the group stage.  It’s a new world.

  51. 51.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    It is languishing and I had hopes for it. I thought it was especially good because it plunked a whole bunch of normies into political social media. We need growth. New people.

    I’m baffled by it. He could have put some money in and really had something.

  54. 54.

    SFAW

    @Baud:

    Were I extremely online (meaning: on TSMFKAT* or Threads or Mastodon or similar), I might be able to respond intelligently re: that.

    Nah, who am I kidding — “respond intelligently”?

    * The Social Media Formerly Known As Twitter

  55. 55.

    smith

    @John S.:  So if there were so many “sworn affidavits” why didn’t they sway any court in the many lawsuits TFG’s people brought (62 times!)? In fact, if I recall correctly, a lot of them weren’t entered into evidence anywhere because they knew they’d then be liable to perjury charges.

  56. 56.

    Kirk

    Only  81F here, but the NWS says we’ll get to 109F today – and the forecasted highs through the rest of the week are above 105F.

    The warehouse floor is going to be less fun than usual.

  61. 61.

    Matt McIrvin

    @marklar:

    All my syllabi contain the goal of “Becoming comfortable with ambiguity, and understand that not all questions have straightforward answers (or have answers at all).”

    Now that has to be a crime in Florida.

  62. 62.

    smith

    @marklar: I’ve always thought that the extreme uncertainty brought on by the pandemic was responsible for the Goobers’ coping with it with denial, rage, and magical thinking. Conservatives really can’t stand uncertainty, are are happy to make up certainties to counter it.

  64. 64.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @cmorenc: That twitter thread about biden at the ice cream shop is full of vile baseless allegations biden is a child molester who shouldn’t be allowed near kids in places like an ice cream shop

    I saw that. All I could think was, “I had no idea Biden was Baptist youth pastor.”

  67. 67.

    Another Scott

    One for Martin – ArsTechnica.com:

    Velotric T1 e-bike review: Slick, barely-an-ebike look hides some real power
    A winning combination of a hidden battery, smooth ride, and slick look.

    […]

    Over weeks of testing, the $1,800 T1 (initially the “Thunder 1” at launch, since renamed by Velotric) has been a fun ride. The bike has a responsive torque-sensing motor and a wide range of power options paired with actual gears. The app is about as reliable as any other Bluetooth-based single-device app (i.e., not wholly), but it provides useful data, configuration, and anti-theft options. Most of the cables, settings, and other obvious parts of an e-bike can’t be seen. You just ride and notch the assist up or down when you want.

    You can’t entirely forget the T1 is an e-bike, as every time you look down while riding, you see a thumbprint sensor. But riding it around on a steady power level and shifting gears—with it looking for all the world like a standard flat-bar bike—you can get most of the benefits of electric assist with very few of its signifiers. It quietly flattens hills and shortens miles.

    […]

    (Emphasis added.)

    The torque-sensing stuff is brilliant and important (and probably more common than I realized). Starting from a stop, you want the motor to help you get going and torque sensing does that (while cadence sending doesn’t).

    I’m really happy that these things are continuing to advance, weights are dropping (this is only 36 (?) pounds), and they’re becoming cheaper (don’t need to spend $5-10k any more).

    I still (at the moment) think that if one really wanted to go that route to replace a car, one would want a light bike for commuting and a giant basket bike for short grocery trips, etc. And a place to put them overnight…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  70. 70.

    Geminid

    @Honus: Last I saw of Larrry Klayman was some video a couple years ago. It was from a deposition of Roger Stone that Klayman took as part of a lawsuit between the two. Klayman was pretty calm, but Stone looked insane.

  71. 71.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @rikyrah: Are they that confident that Trump (or some other R) will win? I guess the polling leaves that possibility open. In my heart of hearts, I can’t believe it, but that’s probably because it’s too frightening to believe.

  72. 72.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    Jesus fuck – he’s trying to talk himself into a gag order and house arrest this morning in such a way that SCOTUS will have no choice but to uphold it 7-2

  75. 75.

    Another Scott

    @Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:

    OTOH…

    Jack E. Smith ⚖️@7Veritas4
    13h

    The best way to shut him up.

    Is to not revoke his conditional release.

    Don’t give him the 1A battle and appeals he is craving. He needs to delay the trial by any means necessary. Hence this show of defiance.

    Don’t martyr him. He’ll use any pre-trial reprimand to appeal for changes in the judge and venue. He will probably not win…but it could cause more delays.

    The best way to shut him up?

    Give him a speedy trial.

    @Teri_Kanefield makes similar points.

    In general, I think they’re right. As much as possible, don’t take the bait and keep moving the trial forward quickly.

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  77. 77.

    marklar

    @smith: “I’ve always thought that the extreme uncertainty brought on by the pandemic was responsible for the Goobers’ coping with it with denial, rage, and magical thinking. Conservatives really can’t stand uncertainty, are are happy to make up certainties to counter it.”

    Most likely. Several years ago some of my students found an inverse relationship between tolerance for ambiguity and superstitious beliefs.  That’s just a hop, skip, and jump away from magical thinking and conspiracy theories. Perhaps some students this semester might be interested in looking into that!

    P.S. This might also be part of Conservatives having difficulty understanding that chromosomes don’t perfectly predict gender identity, and that sex isn’t a binary construct.

  78. 78.

    WaterGirl

    @Kay:  That looks like good news, but I must have missed some news because I have no idea of what you guys are talking about with Kagan .  Can you point me to a good source for whatever it was?

  84. 84.

    Jackie

    I approve the Biden Statue of Liberty!

     

    Simone Biles was awesome (of course!) I caught myself tearing up at her happiness and hope to see much, much more of her! I felt like a proud mom lol

  88. 88.

    Another Scott

    @Baud: Made me look, as all I see is a red and blue blob…

    [ highlight emoji, right click, open image in new tab ]

    Ah!  First class!

    +1

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  89. 89.

    narya

    Since it’s an OT . . . mom has finally agreed to get some help with dad–someone to come in three days a week to help him shower and dress and such. She’s making my brother talk to him, because she doesn’t know how dad will take it, but bro and I (and sis-in-law) have been nagging her to do it for months. She feels guilty, of course–and I acknowledged that it all sucks. Sometimes just having someone acknowledge yeah, this does, in fact, suck, helps; hope it does in this case.

  90. 90.

    Brit in Chicago

    @Shalimar: “I assume this means Pelosi is going to be a witness against him in the insurrection trial, because otherwise why bother?”

    Because she insulted him (by speaking the truth). I don’t think this stuff is thought out; he just reacts (and always from anger or fear or both). That’s one of the things that makes him wholly unfit to be President (or hold any office, or any position of responsibility).

  93. 93.

    sdhays

    @Anne Laurie: Oh! He’s the one who supposedly “advised” Trump that he could blow off the government’s demand for getting those classified documents back, right?

    I hope Trump makes his name “known” by the end of all this.

  94. 94.

    smith

    @Brit in Chicago: I suspect we’re going to see even more outbursts, even with his already high baseline. There’s every indication that Fani Willis will come down hard on him this week, at the same time he’s trying to win a face-off with Judge Chutkan. And, something that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention, Letitia James has set the the start of his civil fraud trial in NY for Oct. 1, and last I heard she’s saying that date is firm. That’s an awful lot for his fragile ego to juggle all at once.

  95. 95.

    Yarrow

    I really appreciate Jamie Raskin sayin the Republican party has become a “cult of authoritarian personality.” I would like most Dems to use that sort of language.

  96. 96.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Trump lawyer Lauro to Chuck Todd : When Trump threatened Raffensburger with criminal charges if he didn’t create more votes, that wasn’t a threat. It was an “aspirational ask.”

    Dear god, we live in ridiculous times.

  101. 101.

    sdhays

    @John S.: How does a news organization fail to mention Kerik being nominated (or was it almost nominated?) for DHS Secretary under W until they discovered he was a corrupt shit-for-brains who couldn’t pass confirmation even in the Republican Senate?

  102. 102.

    Mai Naem mobileI

    @Kay: Welters says the loan was ‘satisfied’ whatever that means? Doesn’t show proof of payment or interest rate or anything,  You damn well know if Thomas did actually pay the loan Welters would show the proof. I wouldn’t be surprised if Harlan Crow didn’t pay the loan off for him. BTW, Thomas really doesn’t know how to live within his means. He alone been making  more than decent money for over 25 years in a job with really good benefits. Ginni’s been paid big $$$ in the wingnut welfare circuit and they still need to be mooching off all these people? Why? They’re not even embarrassed.

  103. 103.

    Juju

    I think someone should point out to Dan McLaughlin if Trump ever road a bicycle he’d probably make  news too.

  104. 104.

    Scout211

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Do attorneys get slapped with gag orders? (IANAL)

    Lauro has been criticized by media legal experts since he started trying Trump’s cases in the court of public opinion. He is not seen as helping his client. But he likely is doing what TIFG wants.

  105. 105.

    gene108

    @rikyrah:

    I know Trump wants to use the DOJ to exact revenge on enemies real or imagined. My bigger concern is how far other Republicans are looking to use the DOJ, should they win in 2028 or 2032, to retaliate against Biden’s “weaponization” of the department.

  106. 106.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    One of the proofs in the eyes of MAGAts that Trump is a super fit manly man while Biden is a frail geezer is that Trump is capable of riding around in a golf cart which he occasionally gets out of to hit a little white ball with near golf pro skill…as if he isn’t rampantly cheating to get those scores.

    Meanwhile Biden crashed on his bike that one time so they take that as evidence that he’s over the hill. But IMO the fact that Biden walked away from that crash without injury is proof that he’s in very good shape for his age. Many, many 80 year olds could not emerge from a bike crash without serious injury. Hell if my mother in law trips and falls while walking it’s a 50-50 proposition she’ll break her wrist.

    I’m pretty sure Trump couldn’t bike down the street without crashing or having a coronary. And if he did crash, I’m highly skeptical he’d emerge unscathed, or be able to just get up, dust himself off and ride away. Just more proof that Trumpers live in a fantasy world where down is up.

  107. 107.

    Kay

    @Mai Naem mobileI:

    Welters says the loan was ‘satisfied’

    These people. Weasels. That could mean anything- it could mean forgiven, in which case it’s a gift. That’s the correct term for that- gift.

    As it turns out Anita Hill was the best person involved in that shit show by a mile. I mean God almighty are they incapable of speaking plainly and truthfully?

  108. 108.

    Yarrow

    Glad to see them doing this.

    Biden is putting his name on economic progress, but will voters just drive right by?

    The Montgomery Locks and Dam near Pittsburgh is in the midst of a $857 million upgrade to ensure water levels in the Upper Ohio River are high enough for large cargo ships to pass through.

    On a grassy roadside nearby, a white sign announces who’s behind the work: “Project funded by President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”

    For Biden, taking credit for an improving economy — including the jobs and growth made possible by the trillion-dollar public works law — has become a political imperative, one that will help determine whether he is reelected to a second term next year. Even as Democrats relish a recent hot streak of positive economic data, they acknowledge it won’t benefit Biden politically unless voters begin to associate him with the improvements.

    The White House office responsible for the infrastructure signage says there will be hundreds of thousands of signs claiming credit for projects made possible by the 2021 law, many of which are just now getting started. The same sign is posted near a road improvement project in Wisconsin and a border crossing in Arizona. Even where the work isn’t obvious, there are signs. At a large empty field in Montana, a sign announces a Superfund site is being cleaned up thanks to the law.

  110. 110.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Scout211:

    Feom the DC Bar’s seldom enforced rules (really, EVERY bar):
    Rule 3.6: Trial Publicity
    A lawyer engaged in a case being tried to a judge or jury shall not make an extrajudicial statement that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know will be disseminated by means of mass public communication and will create a serious and imminent threat of material prejudice to the proceeding.

  112. 112.

    Jackie

    @narya: That’s good news! I bet once your dad gets over the first anger, he’ll be fine and enjoy the assistance. If you have a choice, request a male aide, since showering is involved. Once your dad is used to the help and knows what to expect, he’ll accept a female aide more graciously.

    That’s how it was for my dad, anyway.

  113. 113.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @marklar: ​
      That’s one of the biggest problems in adjusting to law school that many law students have. There usually is no one correct answer to any question.

  115. 115.

    Anyway

    Is Clarence Thomas incapable of paying any of his bills? Guy has a well-paying job and needs sugar daddies to pay for his wheels, mother’s house, nephew’s tuition, vacations…what a lack of integrity.

  116. 116.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Dear god, we live in ridiculous times.

    Not my observation, there’s also the disconnect between asking to delay a court ordered response and then appearing on all the TV shows the day before your homework is due.

  117. 117.

    Juju

    @What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?: Biden fell that time because his foot got stuck in the toe pedal clip. Way back when I rode, my brother put clips on my bicycle, and I came to the conclusion that those things are dangerous. It’s easy to get your shoe stuck in the clip and fall, which I did a number of times. The last time I fell using toe clips I hurt myself so much that it took about a month to recover completely, and I was only 18. I was impressed that Biden could walk away from that fall without considering his age. His age makes it even more impressive.

  118. 118.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Anyway: ​ But he has never, NEVER, let any of that influence his decisions.

    Honestly. Really. Truly. Stop laughing.

  121. 121.

    Mike E

    @Cacti:

    @Baud: 

    The bronze medal in Japan was an overachievement for this squad…the quick exit will allow the Fox scolds to have their tantrum and quickly (hopefully) move on to what looks like an epic finish to the tourney. The game is indeed beautiful!

  122. 122.

    Kay

    @Mai Naem mobileI:

    It’s really important that we not allow conservatives to corrupt and discredit the legal system, as they have done in Israel, Russia, the UK, etc.

    They haven’t destroyed our system. Yet. Unless they’re checked hard and rigorously policed they will, because they have no internal, personal ethical standards. Just look around at other countries. They’re leaving a trail of wreckage everywhere.

  123. 123.

    Jackie

    @Yarrow: That’s cool! I look forward to seeing one of those signs!

    In my red neck county I’m afraid they will be covered with graffiti and/or multiple bullet holes in short order☹️

  124. 124.

    Princess

    @What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?: I am certain Trump could not ride a bike. If he ever oncce knew how to ride one, it was 60 years ago. I don’t even believe he could drive a car. I don’t think he could heat up a frozen meal in a microwave. I don’t think he could reboot a computer. I think there’s no end of things Donald Trump would not be capable of doing..

  125. 125.

    Scout211

    @Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:

    Thank you.

    Since those rules are rarely enforced, I guess it means that it will be up to the prosecutors to file a complaint and the judge to make a ruling on Lauro’s public appearances.

    OTOH, legal experts are pointing out that in his attempt to give alternate reasons and excuses for Trump’s crimes, he is admitting his client was committing crimes.  So maybe the prosecutors will let him keep talking to the media.

  126. 126.

    OzarkHillbilly

    via commentor Charontwo over at OTB comes this tidbit:

    Donald Trump just may lose the right to do business in New York altogether, which would be another shocking development for the former president.

    The fight over whether Trump can even operate the Trump Organization as a non-fraudulent New York business is coming to a head in the next few months as the case heads to a civil fraud trial in October, and the Trump Organization has failed to carefully keep up with its reporting duties.

    Midway through the case, New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron (The NY “Supreme Court” is just their district courts. The top court in New York is the “Court of Appeals”), who is presiding over the case, granted a New York AG’s motion for an emergency injunction and ongoing monitoring by a neutral, independent special master.

    The State of New York doubted that the Trump Organization would comply with court rules to continue to accurately update its financial posture, deals it had made, etc.

    In granting the motion, Engoron appointed retired Judge Barbara Jones to act as a special master and monitor the financial updates sent by the Trump organization for ongoing financial fraud.

    Now, the special master, Judge Jones, issued a pre-trial report and letter to Judge Engoron.

    Jones finds that the Trump Organization’s submitted financial information to the court and lenders to be “incomplete,” that Defendant “Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust,” has not consistently attested to the accuracy of the statements submitted and failed to account for all ongoing business of the organization, specifically its inconsistently reporting depreciation expenses.

    The case is set for trial in October, and the New York Attorney General’s office has filed the proof of its readiness for the trial.

    Clearly, the Trump Organization is not ready. It is not even up to date.

    The Trump Organization must satisfy Judge Jones regarding the extent and accuracy of its compliance, or it is going to be forced to begin the trial with the assumption that the business is already proven to be an ongoing fraud, at least according to Jones’s findings.
    ……………………………..
    The biggest hammer that Engoron has is that the trial will begin with a finding that the Trump Organization is currently operating as a fraudulent ongoing business.

    Such a finding would make it near impossible to recover and win the lawsuit over the state of New York, putting Trump’s entire empire at risk as an ongoing entity able to do business in New York, possibly transferring the company’s assets into receivership and sold off.

    Trump is under severe financial pressure right now and requires whatever income these properties provide. To lose them would be devastating.

    Gee, who’da figured he wouldn’t comply with a court order?

  129. 129.

    gene108

    @Mai Naem mobileI:

    BTW, Thomas really doesn’t know how to live within his means. He alone been making more than decent money for over 25 years in a job with really good benefits. Ginni’s been paid big $$$ in the wingnut welfare circuit and they still need to be mooching off all these people? Why? They’re not even embarrassed.

    Being upper middle class or even upper upper middle class, which the Thomas’s would be with Ginni’s income, still means you have to work for a living until you can save up enough money to retire.

    It’s a far cry from billionaire independently wealthy money, where blowing $140 million on a yacht isn’t a big deal.

    They got a taste of the billionaire lifestyle and aren’t going back to the “barely scraping by” of a couple making a combined income of around $700k+ a year.

  130. 130.

    Nukular Biskits

    A personal request for all of you who are on Twitter (sorry, not sorry, I’m gonna keep calling it that).

    Some abusive sociopathic asshat is impersonating me, using the profile NucularBiscuits, and harassing others, as well as tweeting bigoted, misogynistic and racist stuff.

    If you would be so inclined, please report this jerk.  And if this violates the BJ rules, please allow me to apologize in advance for the request.

    v/r

    The real Nukular Biskits (@BoAlawine)

  133. 133.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Scout211:

    I’m personally filing complaints on Lauro in DC and Florida Monday. Fuck that guy – he’s made material misrepresentations of the law as regards conspiracy.

    I’ve never filed a complaint on another lawyer, but his client tried to erase the votes of me, my kids and my wife, and was ready to call the Army on us if we protested – and Lauro is flat out lying about the law in order to taint the venire rather than getting a handle on his client’s insane rants this morning. That makes it all personal, considering that Trump wants a second round.

  134. 134.

    eversor

    @Anyway:

    Thomas famouly couldn’t land a top tier firm job.   From having worked at a few of those in various tech functions a 250k starting salary, with similar quarterly bonuses, is pretty normal for lawyers.  Then for partners there is keeping a share of the profits.  That’s the legal side.   For a top consulting firm starting at 150+ bonuses is routine and  you will rapidly vomit up past 250k with insane bonuses, partners also profit share.  I work for a consulting firm and I’m low level but I’ve had bonuses via profit sharing that were larger than my and the SO’s salary combined.

    Thomas makes “good money” compared to most but for the DC area with the right schools and education he makes shit money.  The normal way this is dealt with is one person in a marriage works at some do gooder lefty place fighting on issues while the other just slaughters money in the private sector.  That these two job roles are inherently at odds is glossed over constantly.  Thomas went the corrupt way on this rather than working it out.

    He’s constantly complained that affirmative action tainted his degree hence he couldn’t land the paying job.  Liberals did that, so he’s going to crush liberals.  It never hits him that he might just be an asshole and they realized that in the interviews.  Nobody wants to work with an asshole.  And as I’m sure most people here know if you have a technical job if you got the interview they largely know you can do it, they are just making sure you click with everyone else.  I’ve never not gotten an offer after I landed an interview.  In person, I’m rather gregarious and charismatic.  But I know people with chronic foot in mouth issues who, while totally competent, just rub people the wrong way and get turned down all the time.

    Which is like the biggest conservative issue “people don’t like me, especially the people I want to like me, so the problem is them, not me”.  Where no, just try being nice.  It’s not that hard to be a human in an interview and if you notice your coworkers bring in food for the team do that as well.  Scalia and RBG famously got along, drank wine and ate food together.  Thomas doesn’t hit me as someone who’s good and boozing and schmoozing, which like it or not, is part of any job.

  135. 135.

    Kay

    Charles Homans
    @chashomans
    Aug 5
    Two years ago, the Loudoun County VA school district was accused of covering up a sexual assault by a gender-fluid student—a scandal that rocked the state’s governor’s race and the politics of gender nationwide. But was it true?

    Spoiler-it was not true. None of it was true. They got just about every important fact completely wrong.

    But it was endorsed and promoted by the entire “anti woke” ninny choir, Left, Right and Center.

    A giant lie that was ridiculous on its face to anyone who has even attended a public school.

    Youngkin’s career launch was a fraud perpetrated by conservatives and swallowed whole by the entire idiot pundit corps.

  136. 136.

    Jackie

    Someone finally learned their “request” for a three day extension is denied 🤭🤭🤭

    “THERE IS NO WAY I CAN GET A FAIR TRIAL WITH THE JUDGE ‘ASSIGNED’ TO THE RIDICULOUS FREEDOM OF SPEECH/FAIR ELECTIONS CASE. EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS, AND SO DOES SHE!”

  140. 140.

    Kay

    I wonder what will discredit the anti wokes. Literally everything they endorse or promote falls apart under the slightest scrutiny.

    They just finished promoting and endorsing an actual out and proud bigot who loathes black people, Latinos and women and yet they’re still employed at the nations news outlets. They’ll endorse and promote another Nazi, probably within weeks. There’s no critical thinking, well, thinking, going on here at all. They fall for anything.

  141. 141.

    kalakal

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Gee, who’da figured he wouldn’t comply with a court order?

    It’s great. He’s always managed to skate before because he’s always been the one with the power, with the deepest pockets whenever he’s gone to court. Now he’s a minnow facing a whale and is too dumb to realise it.

    Nothing and nobody has deeper pockets than the US government.

    TIFG is in a head butting contest with a rhino and his tactic is to taunt it

  142. 142.

    Kay

    @sab:

    They don’t want us to get to ordinary questions so we get furious, spit-flecked misdirection from Alito, the acting chief justice.

    The Thomas’ are probably in a bit of a bind with this lie, because whatever it was it should have been reported somewhere.

    I think their behavior encourages others to break laws. What would happen if everyone behaved like conservative supreme court justices?

  144. 144.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @eversor: ​Thomas doesn’t hit me as someone who’s good and boozing and schmoozing, which like it or not, is part of any job.

    Ummmm… It was never a part of my job.​

  146. 146.

    Lyrebird

    @OzarkHillbilly: Thank you for shining light on this and for the article about fake “facts” in DeathSantis’ attack on Black history.

    Have you seen this on DKos, about driving Black Americans  out and flooding towns?  I don’t know how true this is, but I  heard tales that some of those Corps of Engineers dams in W MO had the same effect on at least one Black neighborhood.

    Sad stuff, but their history should not be erased twice.

     

    Non sequitur:  You and @SFAW: are giving me hope today!

  150. 150.

    Another Scott

    @Mr. Bemused Senior: That’s a serious trebuchet!

    And it looks seriously dangerous to have people that close (I hope it was camera lens trickery and they were actually farther away than it appeared).

    Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  154. 154.

    piratedan

    with the way that Trump continues to be Trump, there’s a part of me that makes me wonder if most of his act is inspired to play the victim card to continue his grift…. Sure, go ahead and silence me, my minions will speak for me about how capricious and unjust your rulings are and watch the money roll in kinda thing.

    Trump has a weak hand, but his propaganda game is strong (especially so when you have so many sympathetic framers in place).

    Personally, I’d just as soon watch the Judge do what the system suggests and play it straight and not make any accommodations for someone who exclusively deals in such bad faith.

  155. 155.

    patrick II

    @Anne Laurie:

    Tom Fitton is a significant influencer of Trump in the documents case.  Fitton and Judicial Watch sued President Clinton over the President keeping tapes of an interview he had done while president.  President Clinton asserted that, by law, those tapes were his personal property and won the case to keep them.

    Fitton learned that lesson and then somehow equivocated an interview tape with nuclear secrets and advised Trump that he could keep the classified documents by law.  Fitton, the head of Judicial Watch, is not a lawyer and evidently flunked the “which of these is not the same” questions in grade school.

    So, when you hear Trump complain what about Clinton’s tapes in a sock drawer, you can thank Tom Fitton.

  158. 158.

    Jackie

    @NotMax: Lauro is this month’s Joe Tacopinas – TIFG’s attorney in the hush money lawsuit who was everywhere on the tv during Indictment #1.

  159. 159.

    Jeffro

    @Ivan X: that’s awesome!

    I know it’s part of what tipped Virginia blue – college-educated folks settling in the towns where they went to school.

  163. 163.

    Jeffro

    @Kay: I wonder what will discredit the anti wokes. Literally everything they endorse or promote falls apart under the slightest scrutiny.

    Kay, I was thinking of you as I was getting ready to post this!

    (link is free reading for those w/o a subscription)

    How bad is the polling for “the war on woke” if even the NYT is running a piece on its failure, and how conservatives are running away from it?

    The term has become a quick way for candidates to flash their conservative credentials, but battling “woke” may have less political potency than they think. Though conservative voters might be irked at modern liberalism, successive New York Times/Siena College polls of Republican voters nationally and then in Iowa found that candidates were unlikely to win votes by narrowly focusing on rooting out left-wing ideology in schools, media, culture and business.

    Instead, Republican voters are showing a “hands off” libertarian streak in economics, and a clear preference for messages about “law and order” in the nation’s cities and at its borders.

    The findings hint why Mr. DeSantis, who has made his battles with “woke” schools and corporations central to his campaign, is struggling and again show off Mr. Trump’s keen understanding of part of the Republican electorate. Campaigning in Iowa in June, Mr. Trump was blunt: “I don’t like the term ‘woke,’” he said, adding, “It’s just a term they use — half the people can’t even define it, they don’t know what it is.”

    It was clearly a jab at Mr. DeSantis, but the Times’s polls suggest Mr. Trump may be right. Social issues like gay rights and once-obscure jargon like “woke” may not be having the effect many Republicans had hoped

    “Your idea of ‘wokeism’ might be different from mine,” explained Christopher Boyer, a 63-year-old Republican actor in Hagerstown, Md., who retired from a successful career in Hollywood where he said he saw his share of political correctness and liberal group think. Mr. Boyer said he didn’t like holding his tongue about his views on transgender athletes, but, he added, he does not want politicians to intervene. “I am a laissez-faire capitalist: Let the pocketbook decide,” he said.

    Ahhh…they’re all “libertarians” and “laissez-faire” again!  LOL

    I guess most Americans really don’t like MAGA nutbags telling corporations what to do (and abusing the power of government to do it)

    And btw of course we ALL know what they mean by “woke”…THAT’s why it’s backfiring.  Only the most obvious racists want to throw the term around anymore.

    SO…back to “law and order” it is, GOP!

  166. 166.

    Fair Economist

    @Baud:

    I’m disappointed in Zuckerberg. I thought they would move quickly to improve Threads after the stellar launch buzz but they’ve sort of let it languish, from what I’ve read.

    After it took, what, over a year to add legs to Meta avatars, which Second Life did 20 years ago? Yeah, totally shocking.

  167. 167.

    cain

    @Jerzy Russian:
    @marklar:   Not really a typo.  In high school (back in the 1980s) a bunch of the theater kids staged a play called “Conan the Librarian”, based off of the recent (at that time) movie with a similar name.   I don’t think I have ever seen the movie, but I was certainly aware of its existence.

    There was a movie with that reference and that was called UHF with Weird Al Yankovic. In it they had a skit of Conan the Librarian and a reference to the Dewey Decimal System. :) That was in the early 90s though.​
     

    ETA – John S beat me to it! That was a fun film at the time – but cringe today unfortunately. American humor at the time while did make fun of everything and everyone – was definitely had some insensitivity towards our minorities.

  168. 168.

    Jeffro

    @Jeffro:

    In an interview, Mr. Ramaswamy said the evolving views of the electorate were important, and he had adapted to them. “Woke” corporate governance and school systems are a symptom of what he calls “a deeper void” in a society that needs a religious and nationalist renewal. The stickers that read “Stop Wokeism. Vote Vivek” are gone from his campaign stops, he said, replaced by hats that read “Truth.”

    “At the time I came to be focused on this issue, no one knew what the word was,” he said. “Now that they have caught up, the puck has moved. It’s in my rearview mirror as well.”

    Law and order and border security have become stand-ins for “fortitude,” he said, and that is clearly what Republican voters are craving.

    Ah, so that’s what they’re craving – fortitude.

    It’s in Vivek’s rearview mirror, this whole “woke” thing

    LOLOLOLOLOL

  169. 169.

    Ishiyama

    You see, there’s this thing called the Separation of Powers. Inside that Courtroom, the Judge has the authority to sanction misconduct when necessary to enforce her orders, or to maintain decorum. She has both punitive authority over contempt committed to her face, and coercive power to force obedience. She can, for instance, order her bailiffs to take anyone in her Courtroom into custody, and put them in the lock-up – just for a few minutes, or hours, or even indefinitely. And, because of her separate power, she can tell her bailiffs to prevent the Secret Service from interfering, and lock Trump up in isolation. 20 minutes would be enough to show him how he stands (or sits).

  170. 170.

    Brachiator

    @Jeffro:

    Very interesting post.

    The findings hint why Mr. DeSantis, who has made his battles with “woke” schools and corporations central to his campaign, is struggling and again show off Mr. Trump’s keen understanding of part of the Republican electorate. Campaigning in Iowa in June, Mr. Trump was blunt: “I don’t like the term ‘woke,’” he said, adding, “It’s just a term they use — half the people can’t even define it, they don’t know what it is.”

    The notion that Trump is seen to have a keen understanding of anything is frightening.

    But I know what they mean. Trump’s message is simple. A promise of return to good times, and a clear list of people to hate.

  171. 171.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    @Jeffro: Ah, the rear view window. The CEO holds the steering wheel, the salesman has his foot on the accelerator, the manufacturing VP on the brake, and the accountant looking out the rear view window, giving directions.

  173. 173.

    Honus

    @Ivan X: All those quoted in the article are republican operatives, about how bad and sinister the trend is.  Not one democrat. Or student.

  174. 174.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Nukular Biskits: You should get one of those blue check thingies so people know you’re you. I hear those are very carefully vetted.

    sorry, not sorry, I’m gonna keep calling it that

    I have a reflexive response every time I hear “Reagan National Airport”, which I did many times during the breathless reporting on what’s his name being arraigned.

    ”That’s not its name!!!!”

  175. 175.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Brachiator: He’s very generous to imply that half can define it.

    I’d say that “A Face in the Crowd” was prophetic, but it was overly optimistic about a hot mike being damaging to the candidate. He was literally correct about shooting someone on 5th Avenue being a problem to his candidacy.

  176. 176.

    Subsole

     

    @Kay: Oh, at this point, I don’t think they’re falling for anything.

    I think the folks who sign their checks and the shareholders they report to have decided exactly whose side they are on. And it ain’t America.

    There is no innocent explanation for the way they do business. And it isn’t just the opinion page. Look at those stories they ran about the price of eggs, where they quoted some concerned citizen who just happened to be the local GOP chair. How do you not mention that? Repeatedly? How is that not exactly what it looks like?

    Wolf Blitzer got up in front of the country back in 2016 and complained that “Trump played us again”. Wolf, honey, if you keep getting played, after a certain point, you ain’t getting played.

    I was thinking about something you said the other day, about them being nepo hires. It crystallized a thought I have been struggling to articulate a long time.

    What aggravates me above all else about the modern punditocracy is that so very, very many of them behave like people who have no respect for their work because they have never in their lives had to sit across a desk from someone and explain why they should be permitted to keep doing it.

    It is no wonder these useless assholes have rolled over for fascism without a fight. When have they ever had to fight? They don’t know how. 

  177. 177.

    Cacti

    @eversor: Thomas doesn’t make Biglaw equity partner money, but after 33 years on the court, the only way he isn’t a millionaire is if he’s terrible with money.

    Most of them make more than their annual salary from publishing and speechifying, and he’s been milking the wingnut welfare circuit since 1990.

  178. 178.

    narya

    @Mr. Bemused Senior: I went once–but I have a friend who has gone for decades and who has overseen fire stuff there, and they are extremely careful. (Somewhere I have a photo of him with a fire cannon . . . .)

  179. 179.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @Honus: That’s because FTFNYT cares only about the odds, never the stakes.

    What matters is that “woke” may be less effective for the right in their pursuit of power.

    The actual consequences for everyday citizens is beneath them as a concern.

  181. 181.

    Subsole

    @Brachiator:

    Except that ain’t true.

    They know what woke is. They have a very clear and direct and exceedingly simple definition for what is, at its heart, a very very simple concept.

    Even the most plunkheaded redcap can probably articulate the word “Uppity.”

    But the midbrows that staff the party and the pundits who run cover for them really, really don’t want to look at that. So instead we do this ridiculous charade where the Witch Hunters get to define witchcraft.

  182. 182.

    Cacti

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: If you read the first NYT story about Hitler, they assure the reader that his violent, eliminationist antisemitic rhetoric was nothing to worry about, and all of the smartest people were saying so.

    But years later, they learned…absolutely nothing.

  183. 183.

    RevRick

    Calling Fitton whacky or an asshole or a fool or even Trump’s wrongest fanboi doesn’t adequately describe him:

    He’s a God-damned fascist… which is what I say in reply to his posts on X, formerly Twitter.
    Fascists need to be clearly identified as fascists. We shouldn’t mince words.

  184. 184.

    J R in WV

    The structures you see from  Burning Man require extreme levels of excellent engineering to be erected and then ritualisticly destroyed in an inferno.

    There is  nothing amateur about the monumental structures destroyed in the desert. Now, there’s room for individual’s creativity in costumes and camps, a very different theme from the giant to-be-destroyed structures at the center stage.

  187. 187.

    Kay

    @Jeffro:

    I was hoping that was true- that media/Republicans were in their own little anti woke bubble – just made worse by how they have a club on Twitter- and the public at large rejected the panic they tried to gin up.

    The VA story pisses me off though, because assumptions were made and they were made based on bias.  1. They assumed the gender fluid student was predatory, and, 2., they asssumed the public school employees were uncaring and incompetent.

    I’m becoming convinced that we actually DO need wokeness. I think they are proving they operate with irrational, unexamined bias every day.

  188. 188.

    Kay

    Wokeness, DEI trainings, tolerance and diversity discussions, affirmative action- all obviously and desperately needed because half our punditry promoted and endorsed a white supremacist who seeks to curtail civil rights for black people, Latinos and all women.

    We got woke not a moment too soon as far as I can tell. We’ll need it to defend against this mainstream, elite embrace of fascism.

  189. 189.

    Kay

    @Jeffro:

    Media and Republicans are using the woke panic/trans panic to try to pass an Ohio law that guts democratic ballot initiatives by referendum. All the coverage and ads depict it as about wokeness and trans people.

    So on Tuesday we’ll have another measure if the public is buying what they’re selling. I’m betting “no”.

    The anti wokes may lose again Tuesday. It’ll be pure pleasure beating them. Fingers crossed!

  193. 193.

    Citizen Alan

    @OzarkHillbilly: At this point, knowing how big republicans are into projection, I now assume that everyone who accuses Biden of being a child molester abuses their own children on a nightly basis.

  194. 194.

    Citizen Alan

    @Yarrow: I’ve taken to describing the republican party as “what if the manson family had eighty one million people in it?”

  195. 195.

    Citizen Alan

    @Anyway: Your daily reminder that we are in this mess in no small part because Republicans forced Abe Fortas to resign over a matter of $30,000, thereby allowing Nixon to appointed 4 justices, incuding the chief Justice who replaced Earl Warren.

  197. 197.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    The only reason I have the account is to provide feedback (such as it is) to several elected officials and I follow a couple of local/state independent news outlets.

    As for the blue check,  Poe’s Law is in effect:  I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.

    ;>)

  198. 198.

    pluky

    @Alison Rose: I did enough tumbling as a youngster to basically drop my jaw in amazement the first time I saw her stick that vault. Your average Joe can’t even imagine how difficult it is.

  200. 200.

    Ruckus

    @marklar:

    How do people ever get to the idea that everything has one answer or one correct way? Sure some things do but human things, especially what’s considered normal behavior? I mean sure there are limits to what is acceptable but that is almost never absolute.

  201. 201.

    Ruckus

    @Citizen Alan:

    Is the Manson family better or worse? 

    I can never quite tell. And I went to school (and church) with one of the members of that family. Not that I think I or the school are in any way responsible.

  202. 202.

    Dan B

    @Kay:  My feeling is that Youngkin is the most ruthless, most unethical, and most dangerous RWNJ / GOP out there.  He comes across as a nice guy.  That fools the average voter.  But he operates as a monster, a cold, calculating monster.

  204. 204.

    Dan B

    @Mr. Bemused Senior:  We were at early Burning Man where there were air evacuations every hour.  They had to tighten up but there’s still room for improvement.  Part of the allure is pushing the limits.  I only went three times and decided the “crazy” was not my style.  I believe the last time was when our friend ran the workers’ camp.  No one was in.charge of the food so I stepped into the breach and saved the workers from things like the ten pounds of raw tuna in ice at an air temperature of 107°.  Enuf crraaazy for moi!  And food service for 40+ workers was exhausting.

  206. 206.

    Splitting Image

    @Ruckus:

    How do people ever get to the idea that everything has one answer or one correct way? Sure some things do but human things, especially what’s considered normal behavior? I mean sure there are limits to what is acceptable but that is almost never absolute.

    Historically, the answer is probably that we invented monotheism. In ancient polytheism, the gods represented forces that clashed with each other, and serving one almost always meant renouncing another. Order and chaos, sobriety and drunkenness, war and peace. Monotheism streamlined all of that into One True Way to follow the One True God.

    I blame Plato for a lot of it.

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