Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

If rights aren’t universal, they are privilege, not rights.

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

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

Republicans in disarray!

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Consistently wrong since 2002

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Tuesday Evening Open Thread: ‘Aspirational Asks’ and Related KKKlownery

Tuesday Evening Open Thread: ‘Aspirational Asks’ and Related KKKlownery

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'Ap - STOCKPILE

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Every little Repub legal mind wants a turn in the spotlight, for some reason…



Mr. Charles Pierce, at Esquire, “John Eastman Is a Clear and Present Danger”:

John Eastman would like you to know that he’s not just some guy with a law degree and a cowboy hat, and no idea what to do with either one. No, he’s a true patriot who has brought his watering can to the tree of liberty, and who is now planning to order a sweet tea from Starbucks and throw it into Boston Harbor. Josh Kovensky of TPM flagged this extended exercise in Bunker Hill cosplay from Eastman to an interviewer from the Claremont Institute (Motto: Heritage’s Bargain Bin.) And can we please now stop hearing from everyone who drank from the same kegs as Eastman when they were all in law school about what a good guy he once was. It doesn’t matter any more. He’s the guy who tried to overthrow the government, and he’s not shy about saying so. From TPM:

Klingenstein asked Eastman whether he would have acted in the same way in 1960 as he did in 2020, referencing the belief on the right that John F. Kennedy stole that year’s election from Richard Nixon. Eastman replied no, and added that the stakes of 2020 represented an “existential threat to the very survivability, not just of our nation, but of the example that our nation, properly understood, provides to the world.” The Trump 2020 lawyer went on to reference the Declaration of Independence, saying that “our founders lay this case out.” “There’s actually a provision in the Declaration of Independence that a people will suffer abuses while they remain sufferable, tolerable while they remain tolerable,” he said. “At some point abuses become so intolerable that it becomes not only their right but their duty to alter or abolish the existing government.”

Because Donald Fcking Trump lost an election? Some gears have slipped upstairs, I’m thinking…

I seem to remember something in the Declaration about “light and transient causes.” Josh Marshall reminds us that the Declaration of Independence is not a legal document. The Constitution is. And he lines up Abraham Lincoln to explain the difference between a constitutional right and a revolutionary one. In his first inaugural address, Lincoln said, “This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.” In any case, John Eastman is a clear and present danger. Hunter’s laptop is a light and transient cause. Also a herring so red you can see it from the moon.

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Reader Interactions

106Comments

  3. 3.

    Burnspbesq

    Hearing on motion for protective order set for 10:00 a.m. Friday.

    Trump apparently is going to have to learn the hard way that it’s foolish to play dominance games with a United States District Judge.

  4. 4.

    schrodingers_cat

    News update from India. Violence in the Indian state of Manipur continues unabated. A coalition of opposition parties has filed a no-confidence motion against the BJP.

  5. 5.

    RaflW

    Eastman: “the very survivability, not just of our nation, but of the example that our nation, properly understood, provides to the world”

    I think only men like Orban, Bolsonaro (pre-defeat), and Putin would “properly understand” what Eastman means there.

  9. 9.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Burnspbesq:

    play dominance games

    Damn, that didn’t occur to me.  Yes, this isn’t just a ‘delay delay delay’ thing.  He’s pulling his same ‘stand behind her’ bullshit he did on Hillary.

    @schrodingers_cat:

    A coalition of opposition parties has filed a no-confidence motion against the BJP.

    Yikes.  It does sound necessary, from everything you’ve said.  Keep us posted.

  13. 13.

    LAO

    If Eastman (1) isn’t indicted by the special counsel and (2) isn’t disbarred by California, I will resign from the NYS bar. I find the fact that he is still a licensed lawyer untenable.

  14. 14.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    @schrodingers_cat: personally I’m happy with my wired Bose QC25 noise cancelling headphones but I realize that’s not what you’re looking for. They are getting a bit old I admit.

  15. 15.

    Burnspbesq

    @LAO:

    Did you miss the part where he asked Cal Bar to indefinitely continue his disbarment proceedings because he’s likely to be indicted?

    Eight pounds of chutzpah in a five-pound bag.

  18. 18.

    narya

    @schrodingers_cat: I need headphones that loop over my ears (earbuds fall out); I have some from Koss that I like. The BT232i are the ones I have, and they’re on sale right now. I also like the FitClips, though those have a wire.

  19. 19.

    waspuppet

    @Frankensteinbeck: Oh that’s exactly right. Dominance—it’s all he knows how to do, or try to do. If you’re ever stumped about what Trump is going to do next, just think about what a domestic abuser would do. Never fails.

    And I can’t have been the only one to hear “aspirational ask” and think “Attempted murder, now honestly, what IS that? Did they ever give anyone a Nobel Prize for attempted chemistry?”

  20. 20.

    Pete Downunder

    @Burnspbesq: As a now inactive member of the CA state bar, I have some memory that we had to report any conviction and that those that involved “moral turpitude “ were grounds for disbarment. I may have that wrong as it’s been a while since I practiced there, but I don’t see a pending indictment is grounds to pause a disbarment hearing. It should be grounds to accelerate it.

  21. 21.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    @waspuppet: someone else brought that one up. Now you remind me of the 2000 year old man. “Did you practice adultery?” “We didn’t practice it, we was perfect at it “

  22. 22.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @waspuppet:

    If you’re ever stumped about what Trump is going to do next, just think about what a domestic abuser would do. Never fails.

    A really, really stupid domestic abuser, but yes.  Absolutely true.  I have been under the thumb of such and know the signs well, and I remember many women here saying how obvious and repugnant the signals were every time they saw him.

  24. 24.

    Captain C

    @waspuppet:

    If you’re ever stumped about what Trump is going to do next, just think about what a domestic abuser would do. Never fails.

    This is an excellent rule of thumb.  And in the rare event this guideline fails, just think of what a mid-level mobster would do (like the main characters from Goodfellas).

  26. 26.

    brendancalling

    Just a few weeks back, Little Ben “DAP” Shabibo was saying that Trump’s theft of documents wasn’t nefarious. It’s just that when he sees something he wants, he takes it for himself. That’s all.

    These people are fucking shameless. There’s no bottom.

  27. 27.

    OzarkHillbilly

    If putting trump in his place is their goal, they need to make trump look small. They should talk to NancyP, she is a master at it.

  30. 30.

    Brachiator

    Trump attorney John Lauro on Trump pressing VP Pence to reject state-certified electoral results on Jan. 6: “What President Trump didn’t do is direct Vice President Pence to do anything. He asked him in an aspirational way,”

    Because Trump, of course, is an asp-hole.

  32. 32.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    @LAO: there’s something really wrong with these people. Jeff Clark in the news, so I went back and read Richard Donoghue’s Jan. 6 committee testimony. (I watched it in real time). It’s even more chilling now.

  33. 33.

    MattF

    The Josh Marshall piece is excellent. Marshall quotes Lincoln:

    This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.

    See that? Lincoln distinguished between a ‘revolutionary’ right and a ‘constitutional’ right. Smart guy.

  34. 34.

    RaflW

    His entire ouvre is “They let you do it.” The three, soon likely four, indictments (plus E Jean Carroll’s round II) are — we fervently hope — the end of decades of the bully being given undue deference.

  35. 35.

    Mai Naem mobileI

    I know this doesn’t help with the SCOTUS but it’s nice to see Mitch McConnell being heckled in Kentucky by his own people. Chickenshit Mitch could have gotten TFG impeached the second time around and at least gotten rid of that problem. So much for Master Senate Tactician. He couldn’t foresee TFG running again?  I can’t wait to see TFG boasting about striking down Roe v Wade. Bet Mitch didn’t see that one coming either. Karma’s a bitch. Enjoy your tax cuts Mitch because that’s all you’re going to get.

  36. 36.

    LAO

    @Brachiator: I’m having a very stupid lawyer moment here because I’ve spent the last hour trying to imagine how Lauro’s request to charge (the jury instructions) is going to capture the novel legal concept of “an aspirational request” versus a conspiratorial request to commit a crime. Very geeky of me. However, It’s easy to imagine Judge Chutkan’s reaction.

  37. 37.

    Roger Moore

    @narya: ​
     

    I need headphones that loop over my ears (earbuds fall out)

    I would love a recommendation of earbuds that don’t go into the ear canal. My ear canals are apparently very small, so every earbud I’ve tried is uncomfortable. Over the ear headphones work well when I’m at my desk, but not so well if I’m out and about. The best alternative I’ve used are bone conduction headphones.

  39. 39.

    Frankensteinbeck

    Among many other ways conservatives are dumbass is how they compare the current situation to the revolutionary war.  The founding fathers didn’t rebel from England because they were being taxed, or weren’t getting the laws they liked.  Those were details.  They rebelled because they couldn’t vote.  Not that Americans were getting outvoted, but that they had no say in British government at all.

    That quote they love about the ‘tree of liberty’ is from a scathingly sarcastic letter by Thomas Jefferson about the tiny rebellions against the American government since its founding, and the dumbass motherfuckers who thought having to contribute to the public good was the same as being oppressed.  The founding fathers would have nothing but contempt for these whiny dipshits.  Boo hoo, you get outvoted?  Having a say in the system doesn’t mean getting what you want.

  41. 41.

    narya

    @schrodingers_cat: Avoid Aukey earbuds, however–I got a pair, and, while they sometimes work, they can be super fiddly, sometimes they don’t work well, and they make beeps and do random things but the “documentation” is terrible and doesn’t enable you to figure out what’s going on or how to change it.

  42. 42.

    Omnes Omnibus

    I am trying to remember when Turley tipped over the edge from slightly contrarian fright guy to tenured troll.  Was it Obama’s election?

  43. 43.

    narya

    @Roger Moore: The Koss ones I mentioned above are pretty comfortable–they come with three different sizes of the in-ear part, and you really do not need to jam them in to hear; the small tips might work for you. Same with the Fit Clips from Koss–multiple tips come with them.

    ETA: I have used the Koss headphones for running and walking, so they definitely work while out and about. Also, they’re not very expensive.

  44. 44.

    Roger Moore

    @OzarkHillbilly: ​
     

    If putting trump in his place is their goal, they need to make trump look small.

    Trump makes himself look small. The trick is needling him with minor slights that make him act out without it looking like you’ve done anything. What nobody has figured out yet is how to get his cultists to see just how small he is.

  45. 45.

    Brachiator

    @LAO:

    I find it shocking how many Trump defenders excuse his behavior by claiming, eh he’s basically a toddler. Crazy.

    Interesting point. I think that Trump is malicious and dangerous because his behavior is so selfishly infantile.

    But yeah, it’s crazy that the MAGA crowd want to claim that Trump is a great man, but then endorse his sullen child antics.

  47. 47.

    different-church-lady

    technically the constitution doesn’t let you be a dictator

    THOMAS [TO ALITO]: “You want this one, or should I take it?”

  49. 49.

    piratedan

    @Omnes Omnibus: I think you have the right of it.  He moved from principled objections and making sure that that all legal norms must be observed to a not so thinly veiled fear of “the law being used as a means to improve life for people who aren’t white dudes”.

  50. 50.

    Roger Moore

    @narya: ​
     
    I have tried earbud brands with different size tips, and even the smallest ones were uncomfortable. I sometimes use foam earplugs, and I have a hard time getting them to fit, and they are uncomfortable if I can get them to go in. I’ve mostly resigned myself to never using earbuds.

  52. 52.

    Mike in NC

    I was out all day and heard upon returning home that Meatball Ron DeSantis had fired his campaign manager. Who could possibly see anything desperate happening there? Maybe he’ll try to hire Steve Bannon or Paul Manafort.

  54. 54.

    Brachiator

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Hive mind I need suggestions for blue tooth headphones/earbuds with a microphone.

    I have recently been using the Soundcore Space A40 earbuds. They are inexpensive, fit well and have long battery life. The microphone works well and phone conversations have been pleasant for both me and the people I am speaking with.

    I previously had good experiences with Jabra earbuds.

  56. 56.

    Jeffro

    @brendancalling:

    @LAO:

    It won’t move 99.9% of the trump enablers, but someone really needs to put out a piece addressed to them called “Do Y’all Remember Back in 2016, When You Were CERTAIN That Holding Your Nose And Voting For Trump Wasn’t Going to Cost You Much of Anything?”

    Or just “We Told You So And Now Look Where You Are”

  58. 58.

    Alison Rose

    LOL these fucking trashbuckets

    Wow — in response to Keith Kellogg endorsing Trump and saying Pence is “unworthy of the presidency,” fellow former Pence staffer Marc Short produces an email Kellogg sent him on J6 showing that Kellogg was opposed to Trump’s coup attempt before he learned to love it pic.twitter.com/9EJgX0L9Pb
    — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 8, 2023

  59. 59.

    Subsole

    @schrodingers_cat:

    How likely is that to succeed?

    Is it a situation where there is a solid bloc opposing BJP, like we have over here?

    Or is it closer to Israel, where they could vote them out, but wouldn’t be able to form a gov afterward

    ETA: saw your post abt chance of success. Are they just outnumbered, or what? What’s the state of the opposition?

  60. 60.

    Bill Arnold

    @Mr. Bemused Senior:

    Jeff Clark in the news

    In June 2022 I tagged him on twitter with this: “Frankly, in a just world you should be spending the rest of your life in prison. If Trumpists had succeeded in overturning democracy, a civil war would have resulted, initially non-violent but quickly turning violent and very destructive of lives, property and institutions.”
    Seems correct in retrospect.

  63. 63.

    Jackie

    Heh, just saw Pence say to a reporter “I sincerely hope TIFG has the courage to attend the debate,” in his most earnest voice.

    Pence is very aware TIFG can’t handle having his courage challenged 🤭

  65. 65.

    Nukular Biskits

    Anyway, back to the topic:

    My approach to considering any Republican for public office is whether he/she

     

    Supports Donald Trump
    Claims the 2020 election was “stolen
    Promotes COVID conspiracy theories
    Claims to be “pro-life”.

    Anyone one of those is an automatic disqualifier in my book.

  66. 66.

    Subsole

    @brendancalling:

    If I saw Ben Shapiro eating fries, I would walk up and take his fries.

    All of them. Right off his plate. I would stand there, in front of him, eating his  my fries. One by one.

    Because I want them. And he cannot stop me.

    Juvenile, yes. But these are juvenile people playing juvenile games trying to collapse the flame of democracy on Earth in service to the idea that they and they alone should never he required to grow up.

    I am ready to watch them start having to live in the cold, grasping, miserable world they keep forcing on the rest of us. Because I know their coalition. And I know our coalition.

    And they ain’t got the horsepower for that life. At all.

  68. 68.

    Subsole

    @LAO:

    It’s why they love him so much. He gets to be a child forever. A cruel, spoiled, selfish child. Veruca Salt without the charm.

  72. 72.

    Citizen Alan

    @different-church-lady:

    Primaries are in Mississippi today, and various RWNJs have been sending me texts asking me to vote for various other RWNJs. I have been responding that I would rather die than vote Republican before I block them.

  75. 75.

    Jackie

    @Baud: I think all the candidates who are eligible for the debate should say words along the same lines.

    Challenge TIFG’s courage to debate. Good chance he’d take the bait. It’s in his DNA!

  78. 78.

    Dan B

    @LAO:  The mega donor behind DeSantos is now supporting Youngkin who seems far more dangerous than any other.  He has a genial manner but is criminal and ruthless.

  79. 79.

    eversor

    @Burnspbesq:

    There are no true high resolution bluetooth audio items at all.  The few that can claim this in quasi reality, only do it over a wire when plugged in.  The bandwidth, latency, and more just aren’t there.  And AirPods, even the Pro and Max, are an utter joke for audio quality.  They still use dynamic drivers, which are the McDonalds three days old of drivers.  And even then, they get slaughtered by other dyanmic drivers.  Then there are the issues with their DAC and AMP systems.  Which are always going to exist for wireless items.  It’s a raw space and power issue.  But dyanmic drivers are still sad!  It’s just sort of great for the delivery system and company behind it, but I wouldn’t even feed it to the dog.

    If you want bluetooth give up on highres or high quality anything.  Not happening.  Instead get what has the best features for your device.  AirPods anything are outright crap for their price, and for price ranges lower, for audio quality.  But for the iOS features they cannot be touched.  They hit it out of the park there.

    For a laptop/desktop if you want video conference stuff look at Jabra.  For a phone, get the one that matches the brand of the phone.  Just be aware none of these are good, let alone, great, audio.  You’re paying for features and compatibility and that does a lot of leg work.

    There are good companies that sell balanced driver or even planar dynamic driver “bluetooth highres” headphones but they fully admit that the quality only counts on wired, goes down on wireless, and is sort of “lol fooled you” if you go bluetooth.

  81. 81.

    Dr. Fungus

    @skerry: Second the Aftershox recommendation. My wired, custom IEMs sound better, but in a gym or sidewalk setting the difference is nominal, while the bone conductors are safer and easier to manage.

  82. 82.

    Brachiator

    @Nukular Biskits:

    My approach to considering any Republican for public office is whether he/she

    Supports Donald Trump

    Claims the 2020 election was “stolen

    Promotes COVID conspiracy theories

    Claims to be “pro-life”.

    Agree with you on the automatic disqualifiers

  83. 83.

    Miss Bianca

    @LAO: So, if I hand a bank clerk a note telling them to give me all the cash in their drawer, that’s not a “demand” in service of a “robbery”, that’s an “aspirational ask” right? I think I’ve got that right.

    ETA: Asking for a friend, *of course*…

  85. 85.

    Steeplejack

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Dunno what your uses will be, but for phone calls, podcasts and lo-fi music listening I like my Shokz “bone conduction” headphones. (This is the successor model to the one I have.) I also have some “real” headphones, but I turn to these quite often. Much better than the Jabra and Plantronic earbuds I used before. Plus you can hear ambient noise when you’re out and about.

    Recommended to me by valued commenter PST.

  86. 86.

    gene108

    @Subsole:

    BJP has a majority in parliament. Unless the BJP fractures, which seems unlikely, the opposition doesn’t have enough votes to carry the no confidence motion.

  88. 88.

    trollhattan

    @Steeplejack: ​
    Have a pair and agree they work great. Fend off sweat, too.

    Can get them with integrated mic, but I’m not much of a phone talkie person so don’t need that.

  89. 89.

    Jackie

    @Dan B: We’ve come to know the Real Youngkin. He’s no “Mr Rogers” in his fleece vests. If he was able to re-run for gov, I think he’d lose.

    Unless he had a weak Dem opponent (again.)

  90. 90.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @waspuppet: When they say aspirational ask it’s a variation of “alternative facts” meaning they just get to spout BS and people are just supposed to buy it.

  92. 92.

    Sister Golden Bear

    As the semi-official Trans Spokes-poster, I get to post some happy news for a change. Trump-appointed judge in Ohio denies a “Right To Trans-Free Bathrooms” — it’s the latest in a series of court wins.

    The judge also ruled against other parts of lawsuit, seeking to burn remove all LGBTQ+ materials from schools,

    [Plaintiffs] arguing that an LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum violated their religious liberties and rights. Such legal challenges have become increasingly common but are rarely successful—a similar such lawsuit is underway in Montgomery County, Maryland, regarding LGBTQ+-inclusive curriculum standards.

    In this case in Ohio, the judge dismissed the plaintiffs’ claim, citing a Ninth Circuit opinion that stated accommodating the varying “personal, moral, or religious concerns of every parent” would be “impossible” for public schools. The opinion noted that different parents might often, as in this case, desire conflicting outcomes.

  93. 93.

    Jeffro

    @Nukular Biskits

    My approach to considering any Republican for public office is whether he/she

     

    Supports Donald Trump
    Claims the 2020 election was “stolen
    Promotes COVID conspiracy theories
    Claims to be “pro-life”.

    Anyone one of those is an automatic disqualifier in my book.

    This would be outstanding Dem campaign material

    trumpov, abortion rights, climate change.  It ain’t rocket surgery, DNC!

  94. 94.

    eversor

    @Dan B:

    Depending on your budget you can get custom IEMs, and then ruin them by attaching them to a bluetooth necklace style headset that has a mic and fix the pain issue.  For less, you can get custom tips for IEMs which will fix this.  For even less things that have moldable tips, such as https://custom.ultimateears.com/products/ue-fits.

    Even if you want universal IEMs there are probably thousands of companies that make tips.  For me I don’t like the flanges, or the silicones, I love the foams!

    At the end of the day someone makes something that will fit you or make what you want fit you.

  98. 98.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Baud:

    As someone who has ran under the Democratic banner, twice, and generally voted that way for over 30 years, I’m willing to consider a Republican candidate … but lately I haven’t come across one who didn’t check at least one of those boxes.

  104. 104.

    Ken

    @WaterGirl: Is that the Trump attorney that had the crazy weird unprofessional ad?

    I’m not sure that there’s such a thing as “unprofessional” when it comes to lawyers’ ads. One’s been running in my area where a very intense man talks about how the judge screwed him over in the divorce, but his lawyer — who’s dedicated to fighting for men’s rights — took the ex-wife back to court and got the guy supervised visits with his kids.

    Which, I get it, that’s the lawyer’s specialty, and maybe someone has to do it, but if I were a lawyer in that state I would ask if the bar was really protecting my reputation.

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