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“Why isn’t this Snickers bar only a nickel?”

President Biden is doing good where he can, and getting it done.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

In after Baud. Damn.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

The current Supreme Court is a rogue court. Very dangerous.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

It’s a new day. Light all those Biden polls of young people on fire and throw away the ashes.

Donald Trump, welcome to your everything, everywhere, all at once.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Pelosi: “He either is stupid, or he thinks the rest of us are.” Why not both?

We won’t go back.

Fani Willis claps back at Trump chihuahua, Jim Jordan.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Trump’s legal defense is going to be a dumpster fire inside a clown car on a derailing train.

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You are here: Home / Politics / Holy Fuck!

Holy Fuck!

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Holy fuck!

Trevian Kutti to Ruby Freeman:  “You are a loose end for a party that needs to tidy up.”

S/he must be some kind of political fixer?

I hope that this Trevian Kutti is about to go through some things.

Open thread.

 

 

Reader Interactions

369Comments

  4. 4.

    smith

    What was done to Ruby Freeman was appalling. What they were attempting was not at all unlike the coerced confessions and show trials from Soviet Russia. I hope nobody involved in this will be allowed to plead out without prison time.

  7. 7.

    WaterGirl

    May all these awful people rot in hell.  That’s the kindest thing I can think of to say at the moment.  Once I got past holy fuck! at least.

  9. 9.

    Scout211

    @Shalimar: So much for getting a black guy to pressure her because she’ll trust his shady ass.

    But Trevian is the one doing the threatening, albeit in a quiet, calm voice.  Trevian is a female. The guy sits and watches.

  11. 11.

    waspuppet

    @smith:

    I mean, they DO openly and explicitly prefer Russia to this country. And I’d venture that anyone who was of age in the 70s or 80s had at least one conversation with a conservative who said “I WILL say ONE thing for the Soviet Union” followed by about five minutes of unstinting praise for the Soviet Union. I know I had several.

    As for Ruby Freeman,

    The only (dark) LOL in the Ruby Freeman case is that the SOOPERGENIUS Trevian Kutti went to continue her shakedown at the police station and does not seem to have ever considered that she might be on video.

    In conclusion, only the best people.

  12. 12.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    From TPM, via Digby:

    Kutti is a publicist and head of Trevian Worldwide, a PR firm. As of 2018 she is also the “Director of Operations” for Kanye West, a friend and political ally of Trump. (Just before signing on with West Kutti had been PR Director for R Kelly. But she quit that job as sex trafficking and assault accusations piled up.) She was there as West’s employee but only identified herself as the emissary of a “high profile” individual with an urgent message and an offer of help.

    Only the best people, indeed…

  13. 13.

    hueyplong

    Not disagreeing with any of the negative things said here about the msm, but it won’t take too many of these type stories for them to begin a feeding frenzy that we’ll appreciate.

  14. 14.

    smith

    One particularly odious aspect of this was that they thought all they had to do to get her to go along was to get some Black people to do the dirty work. The idea that all that was needed was to get someone with the right skin color is first cousin to the idea that they all look alike.

  16. 16.

    West of the Rockies

    Nice little election booth ya got here… be a shame if something happened to it…

  18. 18.

    wjca

    @WaterGirl:

    May all these awful people rot in hell.  That’s the kindest thing I can think of to say at the moment.

    I find myself hoping for a version of hell ala Dante, with multiple levels.  So they can get sent to one of the most serious ones.  No mere “isolated from God” white collar criminal facility.

    But then, I may be biased by having been an election poll worker myself for the last couple decades.

  19. 19.

    martha

    @TaMara: She’ll get enough local whackjobs to cover at least a month or two of her lawyers’ fees. A year or more? One can only hope karma comes calling, finally.

    She was forced to admit that she lied to the Colorado courts about the election…wonder how that will affect her in GA.

  22. 22.

    WaterGirl

    @waspuppet:

    the SOOPERGENIUS Trevian Kutti went to continue her shakedown at the police station and does not seem to have ever considered that she might be on video.

    I am not familiar with that piece of the story, can you explain?

  23. 23.

    trollhattan

    Because I have zero context WRT who these mooks are, this.

    “Everything Donald Trump/or whatever he’s calling himself today touches, turns to shit. And if they BOTH touched it….”

  24. 24.

    StringOnAStick

    @TaMara: Any money they send to keep Ellis out of jail is money not going to the increasingly insane CO rethuglican party.  Too bad, so sad.

    Maybe we’re about to reach such saturation of grifting R’s that there will be far too little $ left to fund R efforts to buy enough string and chewing gum to hold their state parties together.  One can hope, while also planning to do everything we can to win against these people.

  27. 27.

    cope

    All this stuff about Trevian Kutti and the quotes attributed to her came out quite some time ago, well over a year or so past.  I remember being smacked in the gob reading about it at the time and then it disappeared under the water, probably pushed to the back burner by all the other brouhaha coming out at the time, mostly as a result of the J6 committee investigations.

  30. 30.

    smith

    So it looks like Fani Willis has asked for a March 4 trial date. That’s clearly inspirational, but if if gives TFG even a little extra heartburn, I’ll take it.

  31. 31.

    Betty Cracker

    @smith: DeSantis has raised that technique to an art form in FL. Practically all of the people involved in coming up with the shitty new black history standards are POC. The state’s crappy education commissioner is Latino. When DeSantis fired state attorney Monique Worrell, a black woman, he replaced her with a black Federalist Society stooge.

    They almost pull off the look of a multiracial fascist government down here, but sometimes they run short of POC to serve as the face of their corrupt schemes. For example, one member of the state’s toothless ethics watchdog group was also appointed to DeSantis’s Disney World district board ($400K annual salary!), creating a conflict of interest. Oops!

  32. 32.

    Eolirin

    What’s striking to me is that even with 18 co-defendants, the GA case still isn’t casting a wide enough net to get anything close to everyone involved.

    I hope we can do something about that. It’s really important we decommission the entirety of the networks and especially the funding that allowed this to happen.

  33. 33.

    The Pale Scot

    Such a shame that Hurricane Hilary is a Pacific storm. In a just universe it run up the east coast of FL and stall over the Turd’s property for 72 hours and wash it out to sea.

  34. 34.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    @Eolirin: it will be interesting to see whether Kutti’s White House contacts can be traced. The TPM article is very detailed and gives tantalizing hints.

  35. 35.

    smith

    @Eolirin: I really don’t think that Jack Smith or the DOJ are done yet. They’ve gone after the J6 rioters, the foot soldiers at the bottom, and the big cheese and the cabal at the top (who I am sure will get their own special indictments eventually), but there are a fair few middlemen yet to be dealt with. Why would they let them off the hook? And if DOJ has enough prosecutors to try 1000+ rioters, I’m sure they can come up with enough to try a few dozen more.

  38. 38.

    hueyplong

    @StringOnAStick: Agree. I’m totally ok with the rubes’ disposable income being set on fire, because giving it to Jenna is just about the least politically effective use to which it could be put.

  39. 39.

    Barbara

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: ​ She worked for R Kelly. Oh that explains quite a bit about how she honed her “technique” for intimidating blameless people trying to live their lives without caving in to the demands of predatory monsters.

    Doesn’t it strike you as — I don’t know — astonishing that these people all seem to find each other and operate in the same way?

  40. 40.

    rikyrah

    I hope that this Trevian Kutti is about to go through some things.

     

    All skinfolk ain’t kinfolk.

    And, for what she did, I hope DA Willis and her team prosecute her to the fullest extent of the law.

    So, the next folks thinking that they are gonna shuck and jive will think twice.

  42. 42.

    Jess

    From TPM:

    Can I remind people that no president in history has ever acted MORE STEREOTYPICALLY LIKE A GANGSTER than Trump?  He owned casinos.  He has deep connections in the New York City construction industry.  His son-in-law’s father did time for extortion.  He calls people who inform on him “rats.”  He bullies.  He threatens to expose people’s private shame to obtain endorsements.  He filled his administration with pro wrestling magnates and failed movie producers.  His campaign manager’s family made their money building jai alai frontons in Connecticut.  One of his top advisors was Felix Sater, an alleged organized crime figure who has done time for stabbing a guy in the face.  His former personal attorney got his start hanging out at a Russian gangster social club.

    Do I need to go on?  If Trump wants to suggest the law wasn’t intended for men like him, then perhaps he should try acting like a normal politician or businessman rather than a crime lord from a movie

  43. 43.

    Leto

    I remember when this video was originally released shortly after the election. It was fucking disgusting then, still just as disgusting. Jail time isn’t enough for these people.

  44. 44.

    trollhattan

    While this is unsurprising, the gall and chutzpah rank a 10. Now imagine how much power your gas utility wields in Texas.

    At first glance, a September 2019 meeting before the California Public Utilities Commission in Los Angeles looked like democracy in action.

    Speakers lined up before the state’s powerful utility regulator to debate the merits of natural gas. One by one, climate activists supported powering buildings with zero-emission appliances running on clean electricity. Burning gas in homes and businesses currently emits a quarter of the state’s carbon pollution that is worsening climate change. More than a dozen business owners followed suit, arguing instead for the preservation of gas. Their activism, however, was far from grassroots. A concealed contract showed that the nation’s largest gas utility had paid a leading Los Angeles business association to recruit speakers against electrification, and drive them to the meeting using ratepayer money.

    Speaker Sassan Rahimzadeh, owner of a San Diego dry cleaning company, was recruited to attend. He told The Sacramento Bee he was troubled to learn that the arrangement was charged to customers of SoCalGas. “As a ratepayer,” he said, “that would concern me big time.”

    Billing customers for anything other than providing safe and reliable gas service — such as political activities — is a violation of state and federal law. Yet when it comes to SoCalGas using ratepayer dollars to pay for political lobbying, this case is merely one of many since 2019. After reviewing public documents, The Bee has determined that SoCalGas booked at least $36 million to ratepayers for political lobbying to undermine California policies aimed at addressing the climate crisis since 2019.

    That figure is merely the “tip of the iceberg,” according to a 404-page legal filing Monday by the PUC’s Public Advocate’s Office. The independent state watchdog called on the commission to slash the utility’s request for rate hikes by $80 million, citing “the utility’s ongoing and historic misuse of ratepayer funds for political activities.” SoCalGas was fined $10 million for the same behavior last year. In addition, the independent state watchdog is recommending another $233 million in fines because of SoCalGas’ refusal to open its books to investigators. +

    The Sacramento Bee’s investigation found numerous previously unreported examples of instances that critics contend are a misuse of customer funds to derail electrification. SoCalGas sought to bill customers $732,000 for undefined legal work in 2022 from the Redwood City law firm Reichman Jorgensen, which represented the California Restaurant Association in a lawsuit against Berkeley’s first-in-the-nation gas ban.

    After receiving questions from The Bee, the company rescinded the charge. This was in addition to $1.1 million to the firm that the utility called an accounting error and said it would charge instead to its corporate account. Customers were charged $744,000 by SoCalGas for legal fees to another firm, Holland & Knight, that has launched a series of lawsuits against California climate policies and heavily lobbied against building electrification. SoCalGas denies that money was spent on lobbying but refused to provide spending details, citing attorney-client privilege.

    -SoCalGas billed ratepayers $191,789 to defend itself against a California Attorney General investigation into marketing claims that violated state and federal law because the company stated natural gas is a “renewable” energy source.

    -The company agreed on Monday to make a “corrective” statement online and pay $175,000 in penalties. SoCalGas billed ratepayers $790,000 for a lawsuit filed in 2020 against the California Energy Commission, claiming the agency was unfairly biased against natural gas. The lawsuit was dropped in 2021.

    And so forth….

    https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article277266828.html#storylink=cpy

    “Thurr gonna take mah stove and mah grill!” is not as grass-rootsy as one might think. BTW, the State PUC are generally industry lapdogs so when they actually smack a utility’s corporate wrist, they had to have done something really, really bad.

  46. 46.

    smith

    @Mr. Bemused Senior: Along the same lines, apparently when Smith finally prevailed on Xitter to hand over TFG’s data, there were DMs to be had. There had been speculation that TFG, who famously says he doesn’t use emails, doesn’t do direct messaging either, but in fact he does (or his staff does from his account). Could be very interesting.

    On the other hand, emptywheel has a post in which she implies that Elmo may have used the delay in complying with the subpoena to remove data that might implicate Elmo himself. It’s just speculation, but as long as we’re wishing for unicorns, and actually getting some, why not that as well?

  48. 48.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @smith: Jesus.

    I have a suspicion that kind of stunned shock is something I’m going to be feeling a lot over the next coming months as we find out all the details Fani Willis, Jack Smith et al have uncovered in their investigations.

    However bad we think it is right now based on what’s in the indictments, it is much much worse.

  49. 49.

    rikyrah

    @StringOnAStick:

    Any money they send to keep Ellis out of jail is money not going to the increasingly insane CO rethuglican party.  Too bad, so sad.

    I still think that these are the small donation people that are sending their monies to the grifters, and have nothing left over for actual GOP candidates.

  50. 50.

    Daoud bin Daoud

    “You are a loose end for a party that needs to tidy up.”  Nope,  doesn’t sound at all like a death threat!

  51. 51.

    Alison Rose

    Sure, you do that, Ronnie: Defend Trump and ‘Hammer’ Ramaswamy: DeSantis Allies Reveal Debate Strategy

    Ron DeSantis needs “to take a sledgehammer” to Vivek Ramaswamy, the political newcomer who is rising in the polls. He should “defend Donald Trump” when Chris Christie inevitably attacks the former president. And he needs to “attack Joe Biden and the media” no less than three to five times.

    A firm associated with the super PAC that has effectively taken over Mr. DeSantis’s presidential campaign posted online hundreds of pages of blunt advice, research memos and internal polling in early nominating states to guide the Florida governor ahead of the high-stakes Republican presidential debate next Wednesday in Milwaukee.

    The trove of documents provides an extraordinary glimpse into the thinking of the DeSantis operation about a debate the candidate’s advisers see as crucial.

    “There are four basic must-dos,” one of the memos urges Mr. DeSantis, whom the document refers to as “GRD.”

    “1. Attack Joe Biden and the media 3-5 times. 2. State GRD’s positive vision 2-3 times. 3. Hammer Vivek Ramaswamy in a response. 4. Defend Donald Trump in absentia in response to a Chris Christie attack.”

    I love that they refer to him as something you’d pronounce as “GIRD”. Pretty fitting! Also, what “positive vision” does he have??? Everything he says is just doom doom doom all the time.

  52. 52.

    Betty Cracker

    Speaking of what the fuck, does anyone know why Fulton County officials could not change the rule about releasing the names of the grand jurors? Maybe it’s a state thing and the statehouse wouldn’t go along with it? It’s so unfair to expose ordinary people who served on that jury (or anyone unlucky enough to share the same name) to Trump’s deranged mob. What’s happening now was 100% predictable.

  53. 53.

    MattF

    CATO Institute is not the place I’d normally go for a take on TFG’s chances at trial. But this looks to me like an informed opinion (via TPM).

  54. 54.

    Alison Rose

    @Alison Rose: LOL gotta add this too:

    The strategy memo also highlights one of Mr. DeSantis’s long-running political vulnerabilities, his reputation for awkwardness or aloofness on the campaign trail, by suggesting that he “invoke a personal anecdote story about family, kids, Casey, showing emotion.”

    Jiminy crickets.

  57. 57.

    laura

    Miss Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss have endured horrendous abuse, threats, intimidation, financial and reputational harm for being election workers- an honorable, truly patriotic endeavor. They are the embodiment of the crimes committed in Georgia and to voters everywhere. We owe them a debt of gratitude and respect. They deserve every speck of recompense that can be marshaled. When the new Voting Rights Act is passed, they best be looking over President Biden’s shoulder at the signing ceremony.

  59. 59.

    rikyrah

    @Alison Rose:

    The strategy memo also highlights one of Mr. DeSantis’s long-running political vulnerabilities, his reputation for awkwardness or aloofness on the campaign trail, by suggesting that he “invoke a personal anecdote story about family, kids, Casey, showing emotion.”

     

    BWA HA HA AH HA AH AH AH AH AH AHH A

  60. 60.

    Jess

    @trollhattan: Here in Massachusetts, I’ve been trying to find out how to use the federal matching funds to swap out my gas stove for electric, but can seem to find that info anywhere. Then I found out MassSave, which is the main administrator for this sort of thing, is run entirely by the utility companies…

  61. 61.

    trollhattan

    Is Nitter browser extension for reading “Twitter” threads working for anybody ATM? It has been borked for me since yesterday but  you know…paranoia. And viewing a “Twitter” account in a plain browser works but is not chron-sorted, just random posts plucked from several years.

    Nice work, Elmo. Feeling the warm glow from your cash fire.

  63. 63.

    Tom Levenson

    @TaMara: last time I looked she’d raised ~$35,000. Run of the mill criminal attorneys in Colorado run $250-500 an hour. Assuming she’ll need at least a lead lawyer and an associate, she’s looking at a $750/hr run rate without getting top talent. She’d run through her current stash in three weeks. Maybe a month. She’s heading into second mortgage territory, and pretty fast.

  65. 65.

    Betty Cracker

    @Alison Rose: #2 is a nonstarter since “GIRD” doesn’t have a positive vision. We probably won’t find out if he’s dumb enough to take on Christie in response to an attack on Trump since Christie will likely thrash DeSantis right out of the gate and recite every shitty thing Trump has said about DeSantis. I might have to tune in to see that circus.

  68. 68.

    p.a.

    Apologies if already posted:  ETA: goddamnit who’s the competent lawyer over there!🤬

    Former President Donald Trump’s promised press conference to refute the allegations in the indictment handed up by the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office is now very much in doubt, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.

    Sources tell ABC News that Trump’s legal advisers have told him that holding such a press conference with dubious claims of voter fraud will only complicate his legal problems and some of his attorneys have advised him to cancel it.

  71. 71.

    Eunicecycle

    @Alison Rose: Didn’t Trump have some kind of handwritten note (that could be read by the cameras) that told him to look sad when he was meeting with some gun violence victims?

  72. 72.

    oatler

    @The Pale Scot:

    I can’t wish bad weather on baddies anymore. There are too many bad weather “incidents” like the firecane in Hawaii. Because we’ve got a Jupiter climate now.

  74. 74.

    trollhattan

    @p.a.: Not to worry, Donny. The networks will go live with shots of the empty dais with the giant Trump sign, in front of 100 US flags, probably keep it there and chat for two hours.

  75. 75.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Alison Rose: (Holds up index card and reads in a monotone)

    “This reminds me of an amusing anecdote involving family, kids, and Casey showing emotion. I will now go off script and tell the story spurious… sporadic… (I can’t read your writing, what’s this word? Oh)… sorry, spontaneously. Laugh warmly and make eye contact with crowd.”

  77. 77.

    Gravenstone

    @TaMara: The chef’s kiss of this is because she said nice things about DeSantis, Trump has turned his back on her and won’t offer a dime to help.

  78. 78.

    scav

    @Alison Rose: Could they (the PAC) also be trying to rescue their collective reputation by posting this online, I mean “Look, we’re telling him to close his unhinged jaw and remember to breathe, but . . .  It’s not our fault!”

  79. 79.

    Baud

    Christie should tell a joke that’ll make DeSantis laugh.  That’ll horrify the audience and destroy DeSantis’s campaign once and for all.

  80. 80.

    trollhattan

    @laura: Thanks, it’s annoying as hell but helps to know that others have the same issue (so I can stop trying to make it work, for starters).

    Does Musk think the way to make more money with a restaurant begins with blocking the doors? Literally cannot see his end game here.

  82. 82.

    Ohio Mom

    @MattF: That’s a good link. Explains in clear language all that Trump’s legal teams are up against. I found it reassuring, too.

  83. 83.

    Geminid

    @Jess: Trump’s descriptions of his phone calls to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and Geogia Secretary of State Raffensperger as “perfect” fit his gangster mentality. What he really meant was that he went right up to the line of illegality but was shrewd enough not to cross it.

    A friend who carefully studied the transcript of the Raffernsperger call was struck by how Trump seemed to know exactly how far he could go. It was a careful performance by a cunning career criminal. I could not say if my friend’s assessment was correct, but in this case there are plenty of other corrupt actions that cast a harsher light on Trump’s “perfect” phone call.

  87. 87.

    dmsilev

    @Alison Rose:

    The strategy memo also highlights one of Mr. DeSantis’s long-running political vulnerabilities, his reputation for awkwardness or aloofness on the campaign trail, by suggesting that he “invoke a personal anecdote story about family, kids, Casey, showing emotion.”

    This is like some really bad 1980s movie about a robot trying to become human.

    Or Mitt Romney’s similar struggles in the 2012 race.

  88. 88.

    Shalimar

    @Alison Rose: I absolutely loathe giving public speeches, and even I remember that is basic intro advice in Public Speaking 101.  How could anyone ever get elected to public office without knowing it already?

  89. 89.

    trollhattan

    “Texas woman” enters the discussion.

    A Texas woman has been charged with threatening to kill a judge who is overseeing a criminal case against former US President Donald Trump.

    Abigail Jo Shry, 43, allegedly phoned the court in Washington DC on 5 August and used a racial slur in her message for US District Judge Tanya Chutkan. Ms Shry also allegedly threatened to kill a Democratic member of Congress.

    She admitted making the call after investigators traced her phone number, according to a court document.

    In the call, Ms Shry allegedly told the judge, who is overseeing an election conspiracy case against Mr Trump: “You are in our sights, we want to kill you.”

    Prosecutors say Ms Shry added: “If Trump doesn’t get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you.”

    The caller also threatened all Democrats in Washington DC and the LGBT community, according to the court filing. She allegedly also threatened to kill congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a black Texas Democrat who is running for mayor of Houston.

    When federal agents visited Ms Shry’s home in the Houston suburb of Alvin three days later she said she had harboured no intention of going to Washington DC to carry out her threats, according to the court filing.

    But she allegedly added that “if Sheila Jackson Lee comes to Alvin, then we need to worry”.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66529579

    Now where do you suppose she got those crazy ideas?

  90. 90.

    smith

    I just noticed that Ruby Freeman has a Gofundme page. She’s doing pretty well, but I’m sure she has legal bills to pay (and I doubt she’ll ever squeeze a penny out of Rudy), so I made a donation. I’d do it even if she had raised millions, just on principle.

  95. 95.

    Ruckus

    @smith:

    The idea that all that was needed was to get someone with the right skin color is first cousin to the idea that they all look alike.

    I think first cousin is too far removed.

  97. 97.

    smith

    I’m not sure Ellis is going to do too well on fundraising — TFG and his flying monkeys are attacking her because she has endorsed DeSantis, so she’s not going to be able to count on grubby Goober dollars.

    She shouldn’t feel too bad, though. Rudy has been ever-loyal, but the boss is stiffing him too, and doing it to his face after Rudy made a pilgrimage to MAL to plead his case.

  98. 98.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @WaterGirl: Parts is parts.

    Just FTR, in that “part” of the world where my folks grew up (& I spent “parts” of many childhood summers) – i.e., north central WV to southwestern corner of PA –  “Parts” is the name of the MLB team that plays home games in Pittsburgh, e.g.,

    Hey thar Jim Bob, yew lissen at that there Parts game last night?

    These are the same good ol’ boys what go feeshing down the crick…

  102. 102.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Tom Levenson:

    She’d run through her current stash in three weeks. Maybe a month. She’s heading into second mortgage territory, and pretty fast.

    Well, she could sing. That’s what a lot of people do when they are thrown under the bus by those they crimed for.

  103. 103.

    Betty Cracker

    During a recent NBC interview, Tacky O vouched for her spouse’s alleged humanity by describing how he helped out when she was battling breast cancer:

    “He was there to go pick up my kids when I couldn’t,” Casey says as she holds back tears. “And he did it with humility, and he did it with love, and I’ll tell you what. You can’t ask for a better husband than that.”

    He probably even babysits sometimes too!

  105. 105.

    laura

    I keep thinking about that statement- you are a loose end for a party that needs to clear up that sounds like something you’d hear just before you’re taken to the “second location.”

  107. 107.

    Ruckus

    @StringOnAStick:

    A few of our billionaires are rethuglicans. Not few enough.

    They don’t need to spend what they consider a lot and it will still be, a lot. Now the only thing that tells me this might not work for them now is that a number of normally (un)reasonably financed rethuglican state entities seem to be rather short on funds. That means their normal money launders seem to be stepping back. Which would also mean they-republican entities, likely have gone too far, and become/gone way past normal conservative, into the idiot mafia.

  109. 109.

    wjca

    @smith:

    I just noticed that Ruby Freeman has a Gofundme page.

    If I’m reading the page correctly, it has raised $300,000 against a $30,000 goal.  And the money is still rolling in.  Gives one faith in the world.

  110. 110.

    Big Mango

    UNDERSTANDING THE GA INDICTMENT: PENNSYLVANIA CHAPTER

    Trump Campaign filed 18 lawsuits in PA

    Eighteen of those lawsuits were filed in Pennsylvania, and most focused on mail-in and absentee voting, extended pre-election deadlines, or technically deficient ballots.

    His three legal victories, all in Pennsylvania, threw out 270 provisional ballots lacking signatures, separated Election Day provisional ballots from those cast afterward, and moved back Pa.’s deadline for absentee voters to present voter ID by three days.

    https://www.witf.org/2022/09/01/these-republicans-did-a-deep-dive-into-2020-election-lawsuits-including-in-pa-heres-why-most-of-them-failed/

    Act 6: November 21, 2020 Meadows texts Rep Scott Perry (who later askes for a pardon) for numbers for leaders of Pennsylvania Legislature.  “POTUS want to chat with them”

    ACT 8: November 25,2020 Rudy G and Jenna Ellis attend meeting with PA legislators and push fake electors.  DJT joined the meeting by phone.

    ACT 10: November 26, 2020 Rudy G and Jenna Ellis call Speaker of PA House imploring him to unlawfully appoint electors.

    ACT 11: November 26 Rudy G calls President Pro Tem of PA Senate asking him to unlawfully appoint electors.

    ACT 12: November 27, 2020 Rudy G and Jenna E leave a voice mail for call Speaker of PA House asking him to unlawfully appoint electors.

    ACT 13: November 27, 2020 Rudy G and Jenna E call President Pro Tem of PA Senate asking him to unlawfully appoint electors.

    ACT 14: November 27, 2020 DJT calls  President Pro Tem of PA Senate asking him to unlawfully appoint electors.

    ACT 15: November 28, 2020 Rudy G leaves a voicemail for Speaker of PA House asking him to unlawfully appoint electors.

    ACT 16: November 29, 2020 Rudy G leaves a voicemail for Speaker of PA House asking him to unlawfully appoint electors.

    ACT 28:   December 3, 2020 DJT met with PA House of Rep Bran Cutler to discuss a special session of the legislature.

    ACT 44: December 8, 2020 DJT John Eastman call RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel asking for help to gather fake electors.

    ACT 46 December 9, 2020 Kenneth Chesebro writes a memo about the specific state-specific staturory requirements for GA, AZ, MI, NV,PA, WI. Plan for the fake electors would cast fake electoral votes for DJT on December 14, 2020

    “On Dec. 14, the fake electors met in the offices of Quantum Communications — Gerow’s Harrisburg-based public affairs firm — to cast their votes for Trump. Pennsylvania law requires that the electors meet in the state capital. Biden’s electors also met in Harrisburg to cast their votes on this day… Unlike in other states, Pennsylvania’s fake electors added an important caveat to the certificate that likely shielded them from the consequences faced by their counterparts in Michigan.

    PA ELECTORS TAKE STEPS TO LIMIT LEGAL LIABILITY

    “On Dec. 14, the fake electors met in the offices of Quantum Communications — Gerow’s Harrisburg-based public affairs firm — to cast their votes for Trump. Pennsylvania law requires that the electors meet in the state capital. Biden’s electors also met in Harrisburg to cast their votes on this day… Unlike in other states, Pennsylvania’s fake electors added an important caveat to the certificate that likely shielded them from the consequences faced by their counterparts in Michigan. …

    Pennsylvania’s certificate said the votes they were casting should only be counted if a court found that they were the “duly elected and qualified Electors.”  

    https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2023/07/pennsylvania-trump-fake-electors-jan-6-committee-charges-explainer/

     

     

     

    PA REP SCOTT PERRY ASKS FOR A PARDON

    According to testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, former aide to Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, multiple Republican U.S. House members asked for a pardon, including Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Mo Brooks (R-AL), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and Louie Gohmert (R-TX).

    The last name she mentioned in her testimony was Pennsylvania U.S. House Rep. Scott Perry.

    https://www.wesa.fm/politics-government/2022-06-24/pennsylvania-congressman-scott-perry-pardon-capitol-insurrection

    What reasonable person would conclude this was all on the up and up?

  112. 112.

    rikyrah

    I love his TikTok account. My mother taught adult literacy for years, so him being so honest about his journey has been amazing.
    The video he did about that learning how to read more, has opened him up to thinking about things in the world that he never considered..was damn deep.

    colorfullstory (@colorfullstory) posted at 8:55 PM on Wed, Aug 16, 2023:
    I constantly reference the study that came out about the avg American adult reading on the 6th grade level. This gentleman has been showing the vulnerability of learning to read as an adult. He says he should know this but he should’ve been taught please send him encouragement https://t.co/WW51BUzuN9
    (https://twitter.com/colorfullstory/status/1691992155428970973?t=_8km5PQaAeW5Bs69SuQefg&s=03)

  113. 113.

    MattF

    @laura: Or… maybe the person watching this live on video puts a short note in the log file. “Openly threatening behavior on cam three.”

  114. 114.

    wjca

    @Big Mango:

    According to testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, former aide to Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, multiple Republican U.S. House members asked for a pardon, including Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Mo Brooks (R-AL), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and Louie Gohmert (R-TX).

    I am trying, totally without success, to come up with a reason, any reason, to ask for a pardon if you’ve done nothing illegal.  Not just wrong, but flat illegal.

  117. 117.

    trollhattan

    @Betty Cracker: ​
    “He did it with humility” can only mean Ron was humiliated finding himself at the wheel of a minivan. “Don’t I have people to do this?”

    DeSantis. Humility. cannot coexist in a book, much less the same paragraph or so help us, sentence.

  121. 121.

    wjca

    @MattF:

    maybe the person watching this live on video puts a short note in the log file. “Openly threatening behavior on cam three.”

    Followed by “No worries.  We’ll fix it in post.”  Too bad the prosecutors have access to the dailies.

  123. 123.

    cain

    @Betty Cracker: Yeah, opening their private lives up to harassment. Jurors should be wary and record and all interactions – and then give it to the FBI.

    I mean – might as well hand out some more indictments for those who care to fuck around.

  126. 126.

    Ruckus

    @smith:

    There is always a middle and it usually is the last to go down because the bottom almost always goes too far, because that’s it’s only voice and the top tries very hard to stay out of the light because they know the light that will shine on them will be very big and bright, like a searchlight. The mafia always had goons to do the dirty work because that kept them at arms length.

  127. 127.

    wjca

    @trollhattan:

    Can Lord-President Trump pardon future criming

    I’d guess they believed him when he claimed he could.  They’re really just more of the rubes that he’s been conning all his life.

  129. 129.

    Ruckus

    @rikyrah:

    All skinfolk ain’t kinfolk.

    And, for what she did, I hope DA Willis and her team prosecute her to the fullest extent of the law.

    So, the next folks thinking that they are gonna shuck and jive will think twice.

    This needs repeating.

  131. 131.

    misterpuff

    @Daoud bin Daoud:

    Yes, but in their projecting minds, the threat is from the Democratic party, and Biden’s hitmen will take her out, now that she has done their vote changing skullduggery.

    “Hey look Sister, Imma just tryin to help you out of bind.”

    The Trumpies really believe we are The Evil Ones. And therefore, any actions they take are justified and sanctified.

    Remember, Trevian Kuti was recruited by some white preacher up north who tried to contact the victim at her house, to council her but was rebuffed.

  132. 132.

    rikyrah

    @wjca:

    According to testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, former aide to Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, multiple Republican U.S. House members asked for a pardon, including Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Mo Brooks (R-AL), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and Louie Gohmert (R-TX)

     

    Yeah, this list. Why did they need pardons?

  133. 133.

    cain

    @Betty Cracker: WTAF “he picked up HER kids and he did it with humility”

    While holding back tears – wtf is this? That’s just the bare minimum he’s supposed to do as a spouse?

  135. 135.

    Anoniminous

    @MattF: ​
     
    I wouldn’t trust the little fuck with a red hot stove so I’ll only note other people’s mileage differs.

  139. 139.

    Barbara

    If someone can explain this to me, great, but I don’t necessarily expect any answer. When you vote in a presidential election, technically, you are voting for a candidate’s slate of electors. But when I read about the “fake elector” schemes, they all seem to involve recruiting people who are willing to go along with this scheme but who were not actually on the ballot as electors for Trump, who had a complete slate of electors. Stupid question, but even if these fake electors were put forward, how could anyone say that they represented the will of any voters anywhere? Is the idea that they are appointed by the state legislature? Because as far as I can tell, they are basically just self-appointed.

    I know that it was the merest fig leaf — but it still strikes me as completely bonkers that they thought they could get away with this. Thank heavens at least two of these states are no longer candidates for this insane gambit.

  140. 140.

    Cameron

    @Betty Cracker: I think pretty much anybody could thrash Pudding Boy in a debate format.  He’s more accustomed to using state power to hit back at people who say mean things about him.

  143. 143.

    Eunicecycle

    @Barbara: I wondered the same thing. Why would these states not just put forward the slate of electors assembled before the election? Maybe they did but it seems like they were new ones recruited especially for this deception.

  144. 144.

    Ruckus

    @trollhattan:

    Literally cannot see his end game here.

    You don’t think he knows do you?

    Ever watched him do one of his commercials? Hear him speak? He’s far more awkward than I’d be trying to walk on an I beam 40 stories up on a skyscraper being built.

  146. 146.

    cain

    @TaMara: Hope the maga world continues to shell out money such that there is nothing for candidates or for the local GOP GOTV.

    Hopefully the whole thing is so uninteresting because of no Trump that even teh gerrymandered districts are going to be in trouble causing them to spend even more money.

    May our adveraries find themselves bankrupt.

  148. 148.

    Scout211

    @Barbara: AFAIK, it all hinged on the election being declared fraudulent in some way or another. If they were successful in finding all those votes that they claim went to Biden fraudulently, they then could turn them into Trump votes. Then the fake electors (that were chosen to be part of the conspiracy) could step up and replace the Biden electors and magically become un-fake electors.

    But I could be way off in my meager understanding of the criminal conspiracy.

  150. 150.

    rikyrah

    @Bex:

    @Alison Rose: Gossip is that “screaming arguments” between Ronnie and Casey have been heard lately.

     

    She is SOOO gonna ditch him, and find someone else who can help her fulfill her TackyO fantasies.

  151. 151.

    OverTwistWillie

    @cain:

    It was an attempted campaign resurrection using a modern spin on the “Checkers speech”. Except he is so bad at communications they had her try it, and.. oh boy.

    She blew past empathetic, went straight through soy boy, and landed him on cuck.

  153. 153.

    wjca

    @Eunicecycle:

    Why would these states not just put forward the slate of electors assembled before the election? Maybe they did but it seems like they were new ones recruited especially for this deception.

    At least in some cases, e.g. Pennsylvania, there were electors who declined to participate in the fake elector scam.  So recruiting new dupes became a necessity.

  155. 155.

    Tim Curtin

    Before she worked for Kanye, she worked for R Kelly.  My mind keeps coming back to Ghislaine Maxwell…

  156. 156.

    Matt McIrvin

    @trollhattan: One of Newt Gingrich’s many terrible ideas was the idea that you could send people out with preemptive pardons in hand as licenses to commit war crimes. Actual legal experts don’t seem to think highly of this.

  157. 157.

    Scout211

    @wjca: So recruiting new dupes co-conspirators became a necessity.

    Fixed it for you. Let’s go ahead and call them what they are now.

  158. 158.

    Shalimar

    @trollhattan: Her cancer was in 2021 and early 2022.  There is no way a sitting governor of a major state ever picked his kids up from elementary school.   Just the security detail would make it a lot easier to send someone else to do it.  She’s lying.

  159. 159.

    Barbara

    @wjca: ​

    At least in some cases, e.g. Pennsylvania, there were electors who declined to participate in the fake elector scam. So recruiting new dupes became a necessity.

    Right, I assumed as much, but it doesn’t really answer the question. When you claim to represent the will of the voters that means someone besides yourself chose you. More than anyone else, almost, I want these fake electors to go to jail. It’s like they were trying to prove their bona fides for gang membership by volunteering to pull off the next execution.

  163. 163.

    Eolirin

    @gwangung: If it’s starting from nothing sure, but I think if Twitter under the old management tried something like this, albeit by slowly and gradually expanding features instead of trying to remake the app, that it might have had a chance of succeeding at growing Twitter and would have provided much needed alternative revenue streams to advertisement.

    I can’t see this working with Musk involved though.

  165. 165.

    H.E.Wolf

    @OverTwistWillie: ​
     Can’t see any reason for us to adopt the loathsome and sexist tropes of right-wingers. It accepts their misogynist premise that female = bad.

  166. 166.

    wjca

    @Scout211:

    Fixed it for you. Let’s go ahead and call them what they are now.

    When you are looking to recruit them, they are dupes.  Only after they buy your con and become involved do they achieve co-conspirator status.

  168. 168.

    Ruckus

    @Scout211:

    By George I think he’s got it!

    One of the reasons a lot of crooks get caught is that they don’t really think they might be caught because they did such a good job of criming – in their minds anyway. It’s like SFB, he thinks he’s so good that his shit doesn’t stink. But we all know it does because we’ve been exposed to it – everything he does/says is shit, because he doesn’t know better. And of course he got rich. Of course if he was at all smart he could have been far richer by not being himself and thinking how smart he supposedly is. He stole/inherited $400 million. Putting that in most any investment fund would have made him about 8 times more money than anything he could/did accomplish.

  169. 169.

    smith

    @wjca: At least in some cases, e.g. Pennsylvania, there were electors who declined to participate in the fake elector scam.  So recruiting new dupes became a necessity.

    I think that was true in some states, but, according to this, in PA they were the duly designated TFG electors. In all cases, though, what made them fake is that they actually gathered, voted and prepared a certification to send to Congress representing their vote as legal.

    In PA, they made that certification conditional on TFG winning his court cases:

    Unlike in other states, Pennsylvania’s fake electors added an important caveat to the certificate that likely shielded them from the consequences faced by their counterparts in Michigan.

    Pennsylvania’s certificate said the votes they were casting should only be counted if a court found that they were the “duly elected and qualified Electors.”

  171. 171.

    gwangung

    @Eolirin: I dunno. That assumes a lot to hope to become a player in a crowded market that almost has to appeal to fascist elements to make money. Constantly looking at a product that is in a monopoly market is just not comparing apples to apple.

    But, as said, irrelevant when dealing a Musk demolition.

  172. 172.

    MattF

    Jen Rubin notes that the threat of violence was an integral part of the attempted coup. And it’s not only the threatened election workers (although that’s bad enough), it’s the Eastmans, the Clarks, and those state-level bureaucrats— including the fake electors— who accepted the notion that violence  to keep Trump in power was OK.

  175. 175.

    David Fud

    @martha: ​
    @martha: ​

    @martha: ​
     

    …wonder how that will affect her in GA.

    Considering that GA can pull in any and all things from other states, not very well. It will undermine almost any argument that she might have in her defense, I would think.

  177. 177.

    smith

    @MattF: By Jan 6, the threat of violence was really all they had left. Pence wasn’t playing, the courts had already shown clearly that they weren’t buying TFG’s nonsense, the military had signaled they wouldn’t go along with installing TFG as president-for-life, and they had only 147 votes in Congress, not nearly enough to throw the election. All the centers of institutional power they would need to make the coup stick weren’t there for them. The violence on Jan 6 was a Hail Mary with which they hoped to create enough chaos to ram the plot through. I believe it also crucially depended on mob executions of key players who stood in the way.

  181. 181.

    StringOnAStick

    @smith: I think you’ve summarized the whole mess accurately.  It only fell apart AND became something that would be prosecuted because they were flailing around wildly by the time it hit Hail Mary level.  By then they got extremely sloppy.  We will likely never see an investigation into Jared’s $2 billion “investment” from the Saudi’s because they weren’t under immense time pressure to cover their tracks.

    I’m just wishing hard that the R’s who asked for pardons after J6 didn’t work out for them are identified publicly, and especially that charges are brought against every one of them.

  182. 182.

    UncleEbeneezer

    So my wife’s Dad died yesterday in only his second day in hospice.  It’s a bummer but nothing like her Mom passing (in April) who she was much closer with.  We knew her Dad likely only had a couple weeks to a month at best but it happened really fast.  More than anything we are just relieved that he didn’t have to suffer long and that now we can finally go back to concentrating on OUR lives after putting everything on hold for the past 18 months.

    I got a bonus for working so many Summer tennis camps so we decided to add a couple days to our annual Fall Foliage trip to the E. Sierra with a couple nights in a cabin at Convict Lake.  Already looking forward to the cool, dry weather, fall color and killer restaurant :)

  184. 184.

    trollhattan

    @UncleEbeneezer: ​
    My sympathies to you and especially your wife. What a hell year for her.

    Eastern Sierra fall colors won’t be far off. Also, too, creeks typically dry by now will be still running. I hope you have a lovely trip.

  186. 186.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Betty Cracker:

    “He was there to go pick up my kids when I couldn’t,” Casey says as she holds back tears.

    ”MY” kids? Wouldn’t “our kids” or even “the kids” be more in keeping with the family-friendly image she’s trying to convey here? JFC, she’s every bit as robotic and detached as he is.

    Also too, “hold[ing] back tears.” LOL. Give me a fucking break.

     

    ETA: Scrolling belatedly through the comments, I see that the “MY kids” thing also jumped out at several other jackals!

  187. 187.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @UncleEbeneezer: Condolences.  I know the feeling, my dad was deteriorating and it was so sad to see…he was a state champion basketball team member in his teens, quite athletic, but towards the end he was constantly losing his balance, falling down, just pathetic.

  188. 188.

    trollhattan

    @Steeplejack: For whatever reason, yesterday was the day it done gone broked on me, but I expect there are alterations that don’t necessarily promulgate in real time.

  189. 189.

    trollhattan

    @SiubhanDuinne: ​
    Tacky O’s tears are real, triggered by the realization that Ron will never lift her to queendom and she now has to start over, with newer fresher manmeat.

  190. 190.

    StringOnAStick

    @UncleEbeneezer: I’m sorry for what you’ve both had to go through with your wife’s parents.  It is a good thing to be in the other side of that though I’m sure there’s plenty of complex emotions to work through.  Peace to both of you.

  191. 191.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @trollhattan: We’ll be there the second week of October so there should definitely be color in the Sierra by then.  We went to Convict Lake last Fall and loved it.  It will be nice to finally take a vacation without having multiple calls a day to ICU’s to check in on family.

  192. 192.

    Bill Arnold

    @Daoud bin Daoud:

    Nope, doesn’t sound at all like a death threat!

    It doesn’t just sound like a death threat. It was a death threat. People delivering death threats, and those that sent them, should themselves be treated as mortal threats.

  193. 193.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Anoniminous:

    Vaught is mostly a Musk fan, as he’s interested in Musk’s electric cars and space developments. He said that this experience with X hasn’t tainted his opinion of Musk or his relationship too much with X as a platform. He’s holding out hope that Musk has a long-term plan for where Musk is taking X, but like many users, he’s struggling to adjust to the rebranding. Vaught still refers to the platform by its original name.

    “Twitter’s not dead to me at this point,” Vaught told Ars, even if “it’s a super huge bummer” to lose the @music account. “Sixteen years is a long time to invest in something and then just have it ripped out from underneath you,” Vaught said.

    What a doormat. But hey, he turned off Twitter Blue!

  194. 194.

    smith

    @StringOnAStick: I think if there hadn’t been violence, and Biden had been declared the winner with 147 opposing votes, the whole episode would have been written off as just more Republican ratfuckery, like stealing SCOTUS seats. There would not have been any investigation, and the whole extent of the planning and widespread participation in the conspiracy would never have been uncovered. In fact, even with the violence I think lot of people wanted to write it off as just one of those stunts that got out of control. The idea of a serious coup attempt in America was just too anxiety-provoking.

  195. 195.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @StringOnAStick: One upside of the whole last two years is that all of this helped us connect with a lifelong friend of my wife’s Dad who lives in Kingston, NY.  We’ve been wanting to move to Hudson Valley so now we have a place we can stay if we want to visit to scout everything out before making a huge decision to actually move.

  197. 197.

    rikyrah

    @smith:

    The violence on Jan 6 was a Hail Mary with which they hoped to create enough chaos to ram the plot through.

     

    Truth, and why I am happy that the counter-protestors stayed home.

     

    I believe it also crucially depended on mob executions of key players who stood in the way.

    They would have killed Pence, Pelosi for absolute sure.

  203. 203.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    My sympathies to you and especially your wife on this second loss. I’m glad for you both that you can resume your life now after such a long and disruptive hiatus. Have a lovely vacation.

  204. 204.

    The Pale Scot

    @trollhattan:

    Mr. Shry believes that Defendant is a non-violent alcoholic. He testified that she sits on her couch daily watching the news while drinking too many beers. She then becomes agitated by the news and starts calling people and threatening them,” the court recounted Mark Shry’s testimony.

    So your average Fox Lies watcher

  210. 210.

    JWR

    Has anyone heard anything from Mike Lindell and how he fits into all of this crap? I mean aside from selling his MyPillow™ as MyPillow2.0™ these days. Seems he should at least be on Jack Smith’s radar.

    And one regrettable “benefit” of the Writer’s Guild strike is seeing all of Seth Meyers’ A Closer Look segments again, one of which mentioned Lindell’s role in the criming.

  211. 211.

    brantl

    @Betty Cracker:  “He was there to go pick up my kids when I couldn’t,” Casey says as she holds back tears. “And he did it with humility, and he did it with love, and I’ll tell you what. You can’t ask for a better husband than that.”

    I was a better husband than that, even when I was asleep.

  212. 212.

    brantl

    @MattF:CATO Institute is not the place I’d normally go for a take on TFG’s chances at trial. But this looks to me like an informed opinion (via TPM).

    Those dicks got something right? I’ll be jiggered.

  214. 214.

    hedgehog mobile

    Am listening to Ali Velshi read the indictment (only partway through Part 1).  I did not think I could despise these fucks any more than I already did.  I was wrong.  Rocket ship into the sun with all of them.

  215. 215.

    trollhattan

    @brantl: I was a better husband than that, even when I was asleep.

    Which, TBF, made those morning drives to drop the kids off, a lot more entertaining.

  221. 221.

    TriassicSands

    Trump has taught his followers that threatening people is acceptable. And, until now, virtually nothing has been done about it. Better still, see Governor Greg “Bodyslam” Gianforte of Montana. He attacked and punched a reporter after “bodyslamming” him to the floor. Gianforte was charged and pleaded guilty to “misdemeanor assault.” He received a sentence of “…40 hours of community service, 20 hours of anger management therapy, a 180-day deferred sentence, and a $300 fine along with an $85 court fee.”

    This thug is now Montana’s governor. Republicans are such nice people

    “…he’s my kind guy,” said Donald Trump referring to Gianforte

    As if Tubby Ten Burgers could bodyslam Twiggy.

  222. 222.

    Barbara

    @UncleEbeneezer: ​Condolences to you and your wife both. It’s a good thing you were able to assist your in laws in their hour of need and spend time with them at the end.​
    ​
    ​

  223. 223.

    trollhattan

    @Steeplejack: Same. I’ve never owned an account and never posted, but there are valuable resources that if they exist elsewhere, it’s Facebook, which you can’t access w/o an account. Would Sierra Foothill residents like to be able to access the CAL FIRE Nevada-Yuba-Paacer Unit account, for example? How about the CalTrans and CHP regional office accounts? The Weather and Forest Services?

    There’s not yet a like-for-like substitute and it’s been a decade and a half building to what is now being destroyed in a scant few months.

  224. 224.

    JWR

    I hadn’t heard of this woman before. Or had I? Jeebus, there are so many KKKrazies out there! (From NPR)

    A Houston area woman was detained on Wednesday and charged with threatening the federal judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s election interference case.

    Abigail Jo Shry, 43, of Alvin, Texas, allegedly called the chambers for U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan and left a voicemail message on Aug. 5, promising to “kill anyone who went after former President Trump,” according to an affidavit.

    “You are in our sights, we want to kill you,” Shry allegedly said. “Trump doesn’t get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you, so tread lightly, b****.”

    “You will be targeted personally, publicly, your family, all of it,” the voicemail continued.

    The affidavit said Shry used both the N-word and “slave” to address Chutkan, who was born in Jamaica.

  226. 226.

    wjca

    @brantl:

    Those dicks [the Cato Institute] got something right? I’ll be jiggered.

    I believe the stock phrase is

    “Even a blind pig gets an acorn now and then.”

  227. 227.

    C Stars

    @Betty: I read that too and was incensed!

    First, more pretzel logic to bothsides DeSantis’s collapse. And second, I’m hella awkward and I have no fellow feeling toward that goon. Awkward isn’t synonymous with awful.

  230. 230.

    wjca

    @trollhattan:

    I’ve never owned an account and never posted, but there are valuable resources that if they exist elsewhere, it’s Facebook, which you can’t access w/o an account.

    I got a Facebook account years ago for exactly that reason.  I’ve never posted anything.  I’ve never “friended” (if that’s even the right term) anyone.  Totally an inactive account.  Just a way to look at stuff, typically because someone linked to it.

  233. 233.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Leto: Very cool. We visited an Anthropology Museum in Nice, France, that had a big Neanderthal exhibit. I’m used to thinking of these kinds of sites as in faraway lands, so it was kind of fun to read on the museum plaques, “these artifacts are from the Neanderthal settlement that was about 200 meters that way -> along the shore”

  234. 234.

    hotshoe

    @UncleEbeneezer: ​

    Which restaurant do you have in mind?
    I’ve been east of the Sierras a couple of times in this century, but only passing through … never camped out, stopped once at the Whoa Nellie Deli because we’d already been on the road all day without a break.
    Will be a good year for fall colors if no wildfire smoke.

  235. 235.

    JWR

    @trollhattan:

    I’ve never owned an account and never posted

    Back in the early teens I tried to open a Twitter account, but once it was time to log back in, nothing. They kept telling me “user already exists, choose a different username”, or something like that. I tried a few more times, but soon gave up and never looked back.

    But like you, I miss the accounts I followed using bookmarks, which are all in my handy dandy Twitter folder

    ETA that Nitter no longer works for me.

  236. 236.

    TriassicSands

    How long before Trump calls for nationwide insurrection to combat the “witch hunt?

    Sorry, “aspirational nationwide insurrection.”

  238. 238.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Great and optimistic thread by Magdi Jacobs (link to ThreadReader, not Xhitter). And I agree. I also feel like there’s something happening here…to quote a great song:

    I have a suspicion. Not a prediction. Or maybe it’s a prediction but I won’t frame it as such, because I like to be cautious. The basic fundamentals of American political life have shifted and will continue to shift into 2024. All in the Democrats’ favor.

    It’s Roe. It’s the clear lunacy of the GOP. It’s the conservative court making multiple anti-left decisions at once, thus tying these same decisions to the conservatives who appointed them. It’s also climate. And then Generation Z. And how Gen Z interacts with all of the above.

    I’ll write more about this later, but I think those who follow me do know I try to be cautious. I am still being cautious & I have felt this way for a while. The feeling becomes stronger. I believe I am right. The fundamentals are changing & it’s of descriptive benefit to say so

    I almost think it has to do less w/ Trump indictments than it does w/ these interconnected things: 1. Dobbs, 2. climate change, 3. Generation Z’s investment in both. And, for the first time in my lifetime, SCOTUS linking itself so incontrovertibly against several issues at once

    I’m not sure how else to say this, but I do not think that disaffected youth voting will be as it has been in other elections, like 2000 or 2016. No matter how “old” Joe Biden is. It’s not going to be the same.

    Again, no real predictions. We all must vote. No complacency. But can’t we feel, for a moment, not complacent, but power? Can we not recognize the objective state of the other sides’ weakness while also committing to action? I think we can. They are weak. We are strong.

    …

  239. 239.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @TriassicSands: Watched a clip of a Trump rally in Iowa where Matt Gaetz was warming up the crowd with statements like “the only way to win is by force”. (I don’t remember the exact quote but “by force” was definitely part of it)

    How many ways are there to interpret that?

  240. 240.

    Steeplejack

    Quick question: I have acquired an iPad Pro (details to follow), and I wonder which browser you Apple peeps prefer?

  242. 242.

    Ken

    I haven’t read all the comments, so sorry if this has already been said, but:

    If you’re someone caught saying “You are a loose end for a party that needs to tidy up” on video, you might suddenly become a loose end that same party needs to tidy up.

  244. 244.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @hotshoe: Convict Lake Resort (where we will be staying) has a world-class restaurant.  Went there a few years ago and it was a meal that truly blew our minds.  It probably deserves a Michelin star, if it doesn’t already have one.  I had the beef Wellington and Kelly had the trout.  And bananas Foster for dessert.  Everything was absolutely perfect.

  245. 245.

    BeautifulPlumage

    I read the GA indictment. It felt like a churchy call-and-reponse with the repetition of “This [speech/meeting/etc] was an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.” repeated in every paragraph.

    It was also fun to read “… despite the fact the DONALD JOHN TRUMP lost the Nov 3, 2020, presidential election…” over and over again.

  246. 246.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Leto: I’m a little vague on the history of this part of the world. (I’m a little vague on the history of ALL parts of the world, to be honest). Who were the builders of this site? Was this the Celts? Same people who were in England till the Saxons took over, if i have that right?

  247. 247.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Sure Lurkalot: Thanks.  We definitely will.  We always have a lovely time in the Sierra in the Fall, and this time, we are gonna not rush things.  We often drive up (5-6 hours) spend 2-3 nights and then have to drive home, regretting how quick the time went, but this time we are gonna do 5 nights so we’ll have some real time to relax.

  248. 248.

    MattF

    @Steeplejack: I use Safari. This means the browser on my iPad communicates easily and shares its state with the Safari browsers on my iPhone and Mac. I keep Chrome and Firefox handy everywhere in case something goes wonky. Also, downloading PDFs from Vanguard requires Chrome.

  250. 250.

    Steeplejack

    @MattF:

    Thanks. Android phone and Win11 computer here, so connectivity is not an issue, but I know people have differing opinions on browser convenience and functionality.

    ETA: I use Firefox on my computer, so maybe I will start there.

  251. 251.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @UncleEbeneezer: Most of my travels have been in the fall. Having had no children helped that scheduling. Cooler weather, less crowded, foliage, recently harvested vegetables…it’s a great time to tool around.

  256. 256.

    Doc Sardonic

    @Steeplejack: I use the native Safari app with Adblock and private relay turned on for most stuff, but I also use Firefox as well because it has good private browsing and some sites do not work well with Safari and private relay.

     

    ETA: I don’t use Google Chrome because I don’t like it, and have used/tried it on mobile and desktop/laptop since it inception.

  257. 257.

    Frank West

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    So sorry for all you’ve been through.   My father passed in his second day at hospic, too (’08).  Mom checked out two days later.

    A vacation in nature sounds like a wonderful thing to be able to focus on soon

    Oops… put my actual name up instead of West of the Rockies.   Can’t seem to undo it.

  258. 258.

    Lapassionara

    @Leto: Wow. I’ve visited that area. It was June, and we nearly froze to death. Very windy and cool. But the site was amazing. How wonderful that you get to work there.

  260. 260.

    Rebel’s Dad

    @smith: Most whites aren’t familiar with “not all skin folk are kinfolk”.

    Then again, white privilege is not having to think about things like that.

  261. 261.

    rikyrah

    @UncleEbeneezer:

     

    I almost think it has to do less w/ Trump indictments than it does w/ these interconnected things: 1. Dobbs, 2. climate change, 3. Generation Z’s investment in both. And, for the first time in my lifetime, SCOTUS linking itself so incontrovertibly against several issues at once

     

    I read this thread earlier today, and I do think Gen Z is the key.

    Never has it been more clear.

    You want nice things – never vote Republican.

    It’s the series of nice things, lined up, one by one.

    And on the side opposing said nice things are Republicans.

    I do think that folks haven’t had their Dobbs reckoning yet.

    You take away my body autonomy, and I’m supposed to vote GOP because of tax cuts?

    No.

  262. 262.

    Rebel’s Dad

    I think Trevian watched too many episodes of Scandal. There’s only one Olivia Pope.

  264. 264.

    MattF

    @Steeplejack: One thing I’d recommend is having some sort of file-sharing mechanism. The iPad doesn’t have a visible file system, so things downloaded to the iPad are only visible by poking through folders in the ‘Files’ app. Apple’s iCloud service is visible everywhere for me, so I can move files from the ‘On My iPad’ folder to the ‘iCloud’ folder and from there to my Mac desktop. I’d assume something similar works on your setup.

  265. 265.

    No One You Know

    @laura: I think they should hit a list for a public honor. At least invite them to Congress for a public recognition. They served as much as police officers did, in the same cause, a cause higher than any individual, but which requires that individuals risk themselves. And that wasn’t even part of the job, unlike police.

  266. 266.

    Rebel’s Dad

    @rikyrah: Many people expected Millennials to be the ones to turn things around. I was skeptical (I’m an Xennial) because we all grew up in The Before Times, when things still seemed somewhat decent, and we could have a bright future ahead of us. To paraphrase Maury, that was a lie that disillusioned/demoralized most of us.

     

    Unfortunately, Gen Z has never really had it good. 9/11 really did change everything; climate change chaos is all they know, then the hundreds of school shootings and Trump’s rise cemented our rapid descent into hell. I’m proud of these kids because they said OH HELL NO, NOT ON MY WATCH.

  268. 268.

    smith

    @Villago Delenda Est: I once had a friend who was a criminal defense lawyer. He used to say something similar — a lot of his clients were law-abiding citizens until they found a gun in their hands.

  269. 269.

    Doc Sardonic

    Definitely second MattF on using a file sharing app or 3, because the Files app needs a little refinement. iCloud is great but unless you speed some cash to upgrade your storage space it can fill up rapidly. Personally, I use iCloud, Box and Dropbox and can find whatever file or photo I want on all my devices.

  271. 271.

    smith

    @West of the Rockies: Well, I can’t say I look at every white person as a friend or simpatico.

    But a surprising number of white racists do assume you’re simpatico if your skin is sufficiently light.

  272. 272.

    trollhattan

    @Rebel’s Dad: ​
    It’s the white trash capital of Texas.

    Is there an annual battle to claim that crown, ’cause I’m betting the competition is fierce.

  273. 273.

    No One You Know

    @dmsilev: I find it easy to think of DeSantis as a pilot project for Gen AI, The Human. Except he apparently can’t even read the room, let alone the web.

  276. 276.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @rikyrah: Agreed.  While some voters will become more conservative as they age, Gen Z is voting for Dems at %’s that are unheard of, for this country.  So even with some of them turning into Republicans in time, it won’t be nearly enough to counter the vast majority who will stay Dems/Progressives.

  277. 277.

    Rebel’s Dad

    @trollhattan: Yes. It used to be highly competitive statewide, but lately the crown (heh) shifts every year between Alvin and Cut-and-Shoot. Every now and then Cleveland and Dayton will pull off a win, too.

  278. 278.

    Captain C

    @Betty Cracker:

    “He was there to go pick up my kids when I couldn’t,” Casey says as she holds back tears. “And he did it with humility, and he did it with love, and I’ll tell you what. You can’t ask for a better husband than that.”

    She either has extremely low expectations or she’s lying through her teeth.

  279. 279.

    Captain C

    @hedgehog mobile:

    Rocket ship into the sun with all of them.

    Send them out of the solar system, never to come back.  It takes about half the delta-V to do so.  I want to get rid of them too, but no sense wasting perfectly good propellant.

  281. 281.

    wjca

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    I have a suspicion. Not a prediction. Or maybe it’s a prediction but I won’t frame it as such, because I like to be cautious. The basic fundamentals of American political life have shifted and will continue to shift into 2024. All in the Democrats’ favor.

    All of the points you list are right wing talking whispering** points.  And the reasons behind their increasing desperation.

    They know their positions aren’t popular, however loudly they proclaim otherwise.  They know that demographics are against them  — thus their positions are going to get less popular.  And the chances of reversing any of those are minimal at best. “Desperate” and “dispair” have the same root for a reason.

    ** Can’t call them “talking points” because they can’t be said in public.  Racism, sexism, etc., etc. — all OK to shout from the rooftops, thanks to their Dear Leader.  But not this stuff.

  282. 282.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @smith: More to the point, white people need to know how to recognize when a black person spewing Republican talking points is being manipulated by their white puppet master.

  283. 283.

    japa21

    Just had a thought. To be fair, I think Casey DeSantis may be referring to the actual act of picking up and holding in her arms her children. Most mothers will tell you how difficult it is when you can’t hold your kids in order to, for example, comfort them when they are crying. I know Mrs. Japa, after she broke her wrist 4 years ago, was devastated she couldn’t pick up her youngest grandsons for a while.

    Still awkwardly said.

  284. 284.

    trollhattan

    Shut up, stupid woman. Trying to boff-sides Tuberville-Biden is the “cake, or death?” bit as performed by a quarter-wit.

    August 17, 2023 at 3:04 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard

    Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) is calling on both the Biden administration and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) to soften their positions and find a “middle ground” on a Pentagon policy involving abortion in order to end the Republican’s monthslong blockade of hundreds of military promotions, NBC News reports.

  286. 286.

    Ruckus

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    So sorry for your wife and her parents.

    My dad lived for years with Alzheimers, died with my arm around him in a hospital. Can’t say I endorse this example but it was after over a decade with the disease and he hadn’t been able to speak for about 6 yrs.

    It is no comfort that this is life, this is the way that it often works, parents get to see us born and grow up and we sometimes get to say goodby one last time.

  287. 287.

    JWR

    @trollhattan: And I must apologize for bigfooting your post about Alvin, TX.

    Whenever I see a few hundred comments already up when I jump in, I usually do a quick word search to see if it’s already been mentioned. Didn’t work out so well this time around, did it. ;)

  288. 288.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @trollhattan

    Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) is calling on both the Biden administration and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) to soften their positions and find a “middle ground” on a Pentagon policy involving abortion in order to end the Republican’s monthslong blockade of hundreds of military promotions, NBC News reports.

    You do it Krysten. You find a middle ground between a policy your entire caucus supports and the one person who thinks they can hold up the entire military over it. You’re a fucking Senator for Chrissake.  This is your job.

  289. 289.

    Tony Jay

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    Way pre-Celtic. I think I’m right in saying the Celts are believed to have crossed over to the British Isles around 1500/1200 BCE, rather forcibly displacing the previous culture of megalithic builders with their astronomical rituals and stone circles.

    One thing I heard that made my jaw drop. The religion/culture that drove Britain’s Neolithic/very early Bronze Age people to build stone monuments started, not in the fertile south, but way up north, probably Orkney itself. Those stone cities in the article are thought to be the mature expression of a religion/culture that had been there for millennia before it’s southern spread culminated in the construction of Stonehenge.

    Isn’t that mental? An entire megalithic culture building incredible ritualised cities in stone, with complicated maths and astronomical systems that lasted thousands of years – and it all started on a windswept, North Atlantic island about as far from the ‘Cradle of Civilisation’ as you can get without falling off the map.

  291. 291.

    Steeplejack

    @MattF:

    I have OneDrive on my computer. I think there’s a way to interface with iCloud, so I’ll look into that.

  292. 292.

    Ruckus

    @MattF:

    It does work the same. It is one of the advantages of Apple. iCloud and files. I delete emails on my phone they are also gone on an Apple computer.

  294. 294.

    EthylEster

    @Steeplejack: I have Safari and Chrome installed. I find Chrome easier to use because I am already familiar with it from Windows desktop. But be forewarned, some things are wonky on an iPad. Like PDFs.

  296. 296.

    Steeplejack

    @Tony Jay:

    “[. . .] about as far from the ‘Cradle of Civilisation’ as you can get without falling off the map.”

    Harrumph. Fewer distractions and temptations!

  298. 298.

    Lyrebird

    @The Thin Black Duke: ​
     

    I do not want to take any agency away from Ms. Kutti, who I hope will have an excellent lawyer and will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for being part of threatening and endangering those poll workers. I hope those two, mother and daughter, are protected for the rest of their lives!

    Since you’re a writer and thinker, I was wondering if you have read Pam Colorado’s poem, What Every Indian Knows. (included on this page)


    Survivors know
    the oven door stands wide
    and some like the mouse
    cat crazed and frenzied
    turn
    and run into the jaws

  299. 299.

    Scout211

    Come on, Aileen . . .

    (Music by Dexys Midnight Runners, of course!)

     

    CNN  US District Judge Aileen Cannon has canceled tentative plans to hold a hearing on August 25 on a protective order for classified evidence in the Mar-a-Lago documents case against former President Donald Trump.

    She said in an order Thursday that the proceeding will take place under seal at a different time “and place to discuss sensitive, security-related issues concerning classified discovery.”

    Cannon gave the newest co-defendant in the case, Carlos De Oliveira, until August 22 to submit any briefing he wants to offer on the proposed protective order, which will set the rules for how classified evidence is handled in discovery.

  300. 300.

    JPL

    Definitely OT
    What does the trump fear most when turning himself in,  the mug shot or the height and weight?

    I’m with number 2

  302. 302.

    sab

    @Tony Jay: We tend to forget what a busy place the North Atlantic was when the most efficient way to travel was by boat rather than airplane.

  305. 305.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @JPL:

    Assuming he has been lying about them, which I admit is likely, he fears the second much more.  They are concrete numbers, external proofs, which are critical to a narcissist’s ego.  He needs to have numbers saying how impressive he is.

    He should be more worried about the mug shot, if a photo I saw of him once really was what he looks like without makeup.  He looked hideous, pallid, unhealthy, his real age and maybe then some.

  307. 307.

    NotMax

    @Scout211

    What possible need does De Oliveira have to gain access to classified material? He is not charged with retention or dissemination of classified documents. He (as well as Nauta) should not be a consideration in the CIPA hearings(s).

    Cannon way out over her skis on this.

  310. 310.

    smith

    @NotMax: I think Cannon’s going to find she’s been too clever by half. In her zeal to push the documents trial off as long as possible, she’s just made it feasible for the J6 and GA RICO trials to go first. By the time she gets to him TFG may very well be toast anyway.

  311. 311.

    Tony Jay

    @Steeplejack:

    Absolutely. We simply could not expect the Orcadian proto-druids to work in those crowded conditions. Off to the Islands!

    @sab:

    That’s the puzzlement. As far as I know there’s not much evidence of a Maritime culture up there at the time. They had boats, sure, but more coracles than anything of any scale. Great civilisations with architectural legacies tend to hark from (comparatively) dense population regions because they need scale to allow for specialisation. Orkney… isn’t one of those regions, at all.

    Burns me there’s no record of what they actually thought. No writing, no real descriptive art to go on. Historians are basically guessing (in an educated way) when they talk about ‘Neolithic Orkney’. I’d dearly love to know why they built what they did where they did, and what it really meant to them.

  312. 312.

    BeautifulPlumage

    Well poop. Just heard back from a company I really wanted to work for & had 2 interviews with, and they’ve decided to hold off on expansion for now.

    I answered the ad in mid July, had a zoom interview, then had to wait 2 weeks for an in-person interview. That was on 8/8. I slowed down my job search because I knew I was a great candidate. Now I’m a month behind and need employment soon.

  315. 315.

    UncleEbeneezer

    WARDLAW, Circuit Judge:

    In March 2020, Idaho enacted the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, Idaho Code §§ 33-6201⁠–06 (2020) (the “Act”), a first-of-its-kind categorical ban on the participation of transgender women and girls in women’s student athletics. At the time, Idaho had no history of transgender women and girls participating in competitive student athletics, even though Idaho’s interscholastic athletics organization allowed transgender girls to compete on female athletic teams under certain specified conditions. Elite athletic regulatory bodies, including the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), also had policies allowing transgender women athletes to compete if they met certain criteria. The Act, however, bars all transgender girls and women from participating in, or even trying out for, public school female sports teams at every age, from primary school through college, and at every level of competition, from intramural to elite teams. See Idaho Code § 33-6203(1)–(2). The Act also provides a sex dispute verification process whereby any individual can “dispute” the sex of any female student athlete in the state of Idaho and require her to undergo intrusive medical procedures to verify her sex, including gynecological exams. See Idaho Code § 33-6203(3). Male student athletes in Idaho are not subject to a similar dispute process.

    Today, we decide only the question of whether the federal district court for the District of Idaho abused its discretion in August 2020 when it preliminarily enjoined the Act, holding that it likely violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

    Because the Act subjects only women and girls who wish to participate in public school athletic competitions to an intrusive sex verification process and categorically bans transgender girls and women at all levels from competing on “female[], women, or girls” teams, Idaho Code § 33-6203(2), and because the State of Idaho failed to adduce any evidence demonstrating that the Act is substantially related to its asserted interests in sex equality and opportunity for women athletes, we affirm the district court’s grant of preliminary injunctive relief.

  317. 317.

    wjca

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    Because the Act subjects only women and girls who wish to participate in public school athletic competitions to an intrusive sex verification process and categorically bans transgender girls and women at all levels from competing on “female[], women, or girls” teams, Idaho Code § 33-6203(2), and because the State of Idaho failed to adduce any evidence demonstrating that the Act is substantially related to its asserted interests in sex equality and opportunity for women athletes, we affirm the district court’s grant of preliminary injunctive relief.

    How frustrating it must be for Idaho to be part of the 9th Circuit.

  318. 318.

    trollhattan

    @UncleEbeneezer: ​
    Good. Baby steps, but good. Now then, about keeping those trans [checks one last time with news director] chess players sneaking into the wimmin’s locker room.

    The International Chess Federation (FIDE) says it is temporarily banning transgender women from competing in its women’s events.

    The FIDE said individual cases would require “further analysis” and that a decision could take up to two years. The move has been criticised by some players and enthusiasts.

    Many sports governing bodies have been working on policies towards transgender athletes, but chess does not involve comparable levels of physical activity. However the FIDE told the BBC it wanted to analyse the impact of these policies and did not want to rush this process.

    “The transgender legislation is rapidly developing in many countries and many sport bodies are adopting their own policies,” it said. “FIDE will be monitoring these developments and see how we can apply them to the world of chess. Two years is a scope of sight that seemed reasonable for the thorough analyses of such developments.”

    It added that transgender players could still compete in the open section of its tournaments.

    Yosha Iglesias, a trans woman professional chess player with the FIDE rank of chess master, said the policy would lead to “unnecessary harm” for trans players and women. “This appalling situation will lead to depression and suicide attempts,” Iglesias said.

    Woman Grandmaster and two-time US Women’s Champion Jennifer Shahade also criticised the FIDE decision, saying the policy was “ridiculous and dangerous”.

    Whee, woke chess!

  320. 320.

    RevRick

    Has anyone seen the latest Fox News poll? It has Biden beating all the GOP candidates by anywhere from from three (vs. Trump) to six % (vs. Haley and Scott). But Trump’s 41% is likely his ceiling (indies presently split 29/29). And the others face the problem that a chunk of MAGA is Trump or bust and won’t vote for another R.

  323. 323.

    misterpuff

    @trollhattan: Does Sinema have any core values at all (other than the value of a dollar from her corporate friends)?

    Another member of the Green (cash) Party.

  324. 324.

    Yarrow

    @Rebel’s Dad:

    It used to be highly competitive statewide, but lately the crown (heh) shifts every year between Alvin and Cut-and-Shoot. Every now and then Cleveland and Dayton will pull off a win, too.

    Dude. You ain’t white trashed in Texas until you’ve been to Lindale. Or Frankston. Let alone any place near Jasper.

  328. 328.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @trollhattan: It’ll be interesting to see where the TERF’s fall on this one*.  In order to exclude Transgender Women from chess they have to co-sign the assumption that people assigned-Male-at-birth have some sort of intellectual advantage.  Which, to my understanding, is maybe not the most Feminist thing to believe in.

    * Actually it won’t.  We know damn well they’ll be absolutely fine with this because it punishes Transgender Women and reinforces the myth of the Gender Binary.

  329. 329.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @hotshoe: I was curious, too, and googled “Convict Lake” and there is a Convict Lake Resort with a fine dining restaurant (and the posted menu looked good).

  330. 330.

    RevRick

    @trollhattan: Fox News polls are pretty decent, even given the house bias. Which is why this is such bad news for Biden. It leaves the GOP with a huge predicament: ride with Trump and get routed in the suburbs or go with someone else and have weaker turnout in the rurals.

  332. 332.

    hueyplong

    This Sinema “proposal” tells me only that GOPers are hearing it from military people and are looking for a way plausibly to blame Biden for further delay. Fox needs a talking point, pronto.

    Attributing any role to Sinema other than that of cat’s paw gives her credit she doesn’t have coming.

  333. 333.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Yarrow: In tribute to my recently deceased FIL, I nominate Sanger TX.  Absolute shithole, MAGA, BlueLivesMatter-infested town, where my in-laws were sadly trapped for 20 years.  So glad we will never have to visit that dump again.  The only upside was that Denton (which is cool) was just down the road.

  335. 335.

    MattF

    @trollhattan: This simply makes no sense. At all. My guess is that some FIDE troglodytes have been let out of a back room and are now blinking and gasping in the light of day. “What is that large glowing yellow object in the sky… up there…”.

  337. 337.

    smith

    @UncleEbeneezer: That whole “TERF” terminology really irks me.They have no right to either the R or the F. They are retrogressive, not radical, and no one who argues for strict assignment of identity based solely on your personal plumbing at birth has any right to call themselves feminist.  That “personal plumbing reigns supreme” dogma has been the root of oppression of women since forever. Why not just call them transphobes and be done with it?

  338. 338.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @JPL: Oh man, I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to the mug shot and height/weight info. Please, please, please !!

  340. 340.

    Roberto el oso

    @Alison Rose: that last bit, about ‘showing emotion’, could backfire in nightmarish fashion. If his weeping is as peculiar and terrifying as his attempts at laughter!

  343. 343.

    kalakal

    I can hear his whiny voice …

    “As I stand hear before you, looking at you all gives me a warm feeling, knowing we share common beliefs, I haven’t felt so happy since the time Casey and I took our little boy to get his first hood. And for those who’d like to know more about our family values I’d like to share this song about our favourite family weekend hobby

  347. 347.

    Calouste

    @MattF: The president of FIDE is a former vice prime minister of Russia. I don’t think any further explanations are necessary.

  348. 348.

    smith

    @Frankensteinbeck: At least “Teabagger” sounds ridiculous. TERF gives them credibility they don’t deserve. Maybe refer to them as “TERF transphobes”? It may be redundant, but it gets it out in front who they really are.

  349. 349.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Yarrow: Have you been there?  Babe’s fried chicken is pretty great, I’ll give ’em that.  But otherwise it’s just so damn depressing.  Doesn’t even have the cool architecture/charm of Ponder, Decatur or Gainesboro.

  350. 350.

    cain

    @rikyrah:

    You take away my body autonomy, and I’m supposed to vote GOP because of tax cuts?

    For every medical horror story – you peel more families away from the GOP. Especially if it results in a completely preventable death and both die. Leaving the husband bereft or going to jail because you had a miscarriage – leaving the family bereft of a mother and the child. The more it happens in those states the more those stories spread and there will eventually be a reckoning. The GOP will have to give up one of its prized culture war pieces – abortion.

    They can thank the Supreme Court for that.

  351. 351.

    wjca

    @scav: And the whole thing had such a trivial beginning.  From the local paper:

    THE arrests mark the end of an investigation that started in early 2022, when a tipster informed the FBI and Contra Costa District Attorney that a group of East Contra Costa County cops were cheating on college tests to obtain education incentive pay bumps. The scope of the investigation later widened to include alleged violent crimes and drug trafficking, and precipitated a cascade of scandals that has transformed the Antioch Police Department into one of the most scrutinized law enforcement agencies in California. [Emphasis added]

    Also this:

    Ironically, the wire fraud charges carry a higher penalty than the alleged civil rights violations. The defendants face up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted of fraud, up to 10 years if convicted of civil rights violations, and up to 20 years for the alleged destruction of evidence.

    And then there the charge of “interfering with an ongoing homicide and attempted murder investigation”  These guys didn’t do things by halves.

  352. 352.

    Yarrow

    @UncleEbeneezer: I’ve been through it. Can’t say as I’ve stopped there but may have. Been awhile. Denton is cool, though. But seriously, I’d take Sanger over Lindale any day.

  354. 354.

    BeautifulPlumage

    @A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan): thank you. The discussion on Tuesday about resumes and not listing my whole 40+ work history. It was already skill based but removing specific years may help.

    I had already picked up the search and sent out a couple replies yesterday. It’s been 12 years since I lasted looked and so much is different now.

  355. 355.

    Calouste

    @Miss Bianca: There are women’s national and international championships in chess, but almost all other competitions are open to both men and women (including the “men’s” world championship).

  356. 356.

    Dan B

    @UncleEbeneezer:  It’s good that you’re planning a treat for yourselves.  I had a couple years of my mother’s progressive dementia while she lived in my house.  I felt like she died a bit every day.  Wrenching.

  357. 357.

    sab

    @BeautifulPlumage: I don’t know if this would apply to you. Advice from my hairdresser 15 years ago when I was last job hunting. If you need to disguise gray hair, try low lights. Those are like blonde hi-lights but the same color as your younger hair. It does not get rid of all the gray but it reduces a lot of it and can knock about ten years off your apparent age.

    And after you get the new job you can just let thinks grow back to normal without having to go through the abrupt roots showing phase.

  358. 358.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Dan B: Ugh, that’s hard.  MIL’s situation dragged out for a year and that seemed like a horrible eternity.  At least FIL’s happened fast and he wanted his body donated to UTSW medical research, so much less to do than planning a service etc.

  361. 361.

    Ruckus

    @Steeplejack:

    Safari works best – but.

    The security of Apple is pretty good but it can get a bit obnoxious once in a while, taking a while to load a site. If you believe that some other sites don’t have your back as well as they could then Safari/Apple might suit you better. I put up with Apple security because it does seem to take that extra step.

  362. 362.

    El Muneco

    @trollhattan: FIDE has a big footprint in trans-regressive parts of the world. Of all the major federations, they’re the one I’m least surprised would, at minimum, punt a decision down the road.

  364. 364.

    Steeplejack

    @Ruckus:

    Thanks for the input. I’m using Safari so far because it was what I could find! (Guess I’ll have to download Chrome.)

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