Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Everybody saw this coming.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

People are complicated. Love is not.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

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

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

In my day, never was longer.

Bark louder, little dog.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

Fight them, without becoming them!

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Not all heroes wear capes.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Just Absolutely Jizzing Themselves, Repeatedly

Just Absolutely Jizzing Themselves, Repeatedly

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Just Absolutely Jizzing Themselves, Repeatedly
Washington Post Front Page a few minutes ago.

Looking over the unrestrained joy on display in the DC press’ reaction to the Hur Hur Hur report puts into focus the excitement they feel when they are given implicit permission to chew over some gossip.  Hur opened the door to them speculating about Biden’s mental fitness, and they ran through screaming like a bunch of five-year-olds getting free ice cream.  The Post even trotted out “fact checker” Glenn Kessler, who defines a “fact” as something that fits into his narrow, conservative, parochial DC press fossil worldview.  (I didn’t read his piece since I didn’t want to puke up lunch.)

When your “impartiality” is really “acting like a credulous idiot,” having some a document that basically attaches the DoJ’s imprimatur to gossipy speculation is manna from heaven.  There’s no complicated policy to understand (i.e., work to do), and no need to worry about staining your shorts because a right winger with a platform threatens you because you wrote something they didn’t like.  You can act dumb and wave that fucking report in the face of anyone who questions why you’re spending so much time on what’s really a non-issue.  (And it really is a non-issue:  as Kevin Drum points out, nobody, Democrat or Republican, has ever said that Biden has a problem with his mentation.)

Even Biden getting pissed at the press was a story for just a few hours.  This story is going to last for days or weeks, because it’s what they wanted, and when they get what they want, they just can’t let go.

Reader Interactions

202Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    Sounds about right. Reminds me a little of when Hillary got sick at the 9/11 memorial service.

    ETA: Interesting that she’s still going strong after being on death’s door all of 2016.

  2. 2.

    Alison Rose

    they ran through screaming like a bunch of five-year-olds getting free ice cream

    Great way to put it. When the report first came out, I was like, oh God…the press is probably squealing and clapping and kicking their little feet in the air with glee over this.

  6. 6.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Baud:

    Sounds about right. Reminds me a little of when Hillary got sick at the 9/11 memorial service.

    ETA: Interesting that she’s still going strong after being on death’s door all of 2016.

    LOL!

  7. 7.

    Librarian

    It’s the same thing when they get a poll or anything that’s bad for Biden- they latch onto it and milk it for everything it’s worth, because it tells them exactly what they want to hear.

  8. 8.

    rikyrah

     

    BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) posted at 0:27 PM on Sat, Feb 10, 2024:

    Every parent’s worst fear, no matter your political affiliation, is to bury your own child.

    President Biden wears the pain of that loss on his sleeve daily.

    I truly wish people would STOP weaponizing the loss of his son, Beau Biden.

    There are plenty of other issues you can attack him on. Be decent, and leave this one alone, FFS.
    (https://x.com/mmpadellan/status/1756384433379090588?s=02)

  9. 9.

    delphinium

    @rikyrah:

    I truly wish people would STOP weaponizing the loss of his son, Beau Biden.

    So sad that this even needs to be said. Just so many vile, vulgar people around. I still think about that jackass reporter who shouted across the cemetery at Biden.

  10. 10.

    Alison Rose

    @rikyrah: Yes. My niece, my brother’s youngest child, was killed at 18 years old (five years ago, which…seems impossible). It absolutely destroyed him, and I’m sure a part of him remains so to this day and always will. Using this as some political football against Biden is atrocious beyond words.

  11. 11.

    Tazj

    James Fallows on X/ Twitter, says that on CNN they are declaring Biden’s memory the defining theme of the campaign. The correspondent gives an example of a Biden gaffe, “he can’t remember when his son was born.” Which is a mistake, because it was reported Biden couldn’t remember the year his son died. I don’t think either example means anything anyway because every time my husband makes out a form he asks me if he got our kid’s birth year correct.

    Meanwhile, Trump gives speeches in which he says incredibly crazy and horrific things and it’s ignored.
    It doesn’t matter what those narcissists say I’m still not watching them on tv or paying to read their articles.

  12. 12.

    Princess

    The reporters want a close race because it will be good for their careers. Their bosses (and some of them) want a Trump  victory because they want tax cuts. It’s a toxic combination for the rest of us.

  13. 13.

    smith

    @Tazj: TFG just today stated that he wouldn’t defend our NATO allies and would invite Putin to attack Europe as he wished. How much coverage do you think that will get compared to Biden is OOOOLD?

  15. 15.

    ArchTeryx

    I think it’s as simple as “They want a Trump victory because it’s good for THEIR business.” So they’re going to neg on Biden as much as possible. The Radical Online Leftists (i.e. the “Nacht Hitler, uns” crowd) are gonna throw peanuts from the peanut gallery as they always do. This whole thing was an exercise in negating Trump’s theft of classified documents as “both sides,” and that Merrick Garland played into their hands is inexplicable. If there was ONE thing that convinced me finally to join the anti-Garland gadflies, it’s that.

  16. 16.

    Dan B

    @smith: And in the same speech TFG asked where Nikki Haley’s husband is.  He’s serving overseas in the American Military.

    Where’s TFG’s family?

  18. 18.

    prostratedragon

    @Dan B:  Even more than his contempt for the military, that is probably why he said that. Projection is his most reliable mode.

  20. 20.

    smith

    @Princess: Such utterly venal motivations for cheerfully colluding in the destruction of US democracy. And such profound hubris to think they won’t be impacted by it. As Rachel Bitecofer says:

    If you’re reporting about Biden’s mental health and not ALSO reporting on Donald Trump’s mental health, I hope you enjoy the last year of the free press

  21. 21.

    prostratedragon

    Meanwhile,

    Trump told NRA Friday his mass deportation program would begin “within moments” of taking office. To do at scale would likely require 150-200k law enforcement officers, including a private army of red state ntl guard he’d deploy into blue states

  25. 25.

    Ilieitz

    I agree. My oldest daughter died(at 40) of a stroke in 2016 and I think about it every day and it still feels like it just happened

  26. 26.

    Lapassionara

    Marcy Wheeler has a long (TL, DR) explanation of the fallacy that Hur’s conclusion rests on, and Kevin Drum does a great job of summarizing the essential facts. I am a noob, so can’t provide a link to Kevin’s blog, but it is well worth reading.

  27. 27.

    zhena gogolia

    Did they spend anywhere near this much time on Trump spending several minutes mixing up Nikki Haley with Nancy Pelosi? Which we all saw with our own eyes, as opposed to taking the word of a partisan prosecutor?

  31. 31.

    Another Scott

    Scott Detrow of NPR just said that the report was a “bombshell”.

    It’s just amazing what these hacks will do to hype nothingburgers against Democrats.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  32. 32.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @Another Scott:

    Scott Detrow of NPR just said that the report was a “bombshell”.

    Totebagger Radio knows their audience:

    (N)ice, (P)olite, (Republicans).

    The daily reason I stopped giving money to them 20 years ago and stopped listening to them 10-11 years ago.

  33. 33.

    John Revolta

    I got nothing to add to this fabulous takedown other than that “Just Absolutely Jizzing Themselves, Repeatedly” definitely needs to be a rotating tag

  35. 35.

    West of the Rockies

    This story broke pretty early, so Team Blue has months to push back and for persuadables to choose wisely.  We will have months of Trump criminal activity to pick over.

  36. 36.

    Mat

    Meanwhile, Kevin Drum actually read Hur’s report. If you had any doubt that Hur is a partisan hack trying his best to damage Biden in any way he can, read this.

    ETA: Once again, I messed up my nym. I’m MattF.

  41. 41.

    oldgold

    From Hur’s Report:

    Mr. Biden’s memory also appeared to have significant limitations-both at the time he spoke to Zwonitzer in 2017, as evidenced by their recorded conversations, and today, as evidenced by his recorded interview with our office. Mr. Biden’s recorded conversations with Zwonitzer from 2017 are often painfully slow, with Mr. Biden struggling to remember events and straining at times to read and relay his own notebook entries.”

    Given Hur was demonstrably wrong concerning what the 2017 tapes reflect as to Biden’s cognitive ability, as established by Biden’s 2020 campaign performance, where, for instance, there was a consensus Biden out debated Trump in each of the 3 Presidential debates, why would anyone, other than for partisan politics, give any credence to Hur’s amateurish take on Biden’s current cognitive ability.

  46. 46.

    John S.

    @ArchTeryx:

    And yet, there was quite the vociferous pushback here yesterday that Garland actually did nothing wrong.

    But Garland did fuck up and we need to find a way to move on because the media sure as hell doesn’t want to. And should Biden get re-elected despite the media’s best attempts to put Trump back in office, I think it’s safe to say that Garland will not be part of a second administration.

    But it’s not about Garland or that piece of shit Hur anymore. What’s done is done and they played their parts. It’s now about neutralizing the media and finding a way to combat this endless drumbeat of “Biden is old”.

  48. 48.

    Kay

    @oldgold:

    Because it fits the narrative they already set up. They especialy like this, because they had to do absolutely no work. They just recite damaging parts of a report over and over, like how they cribbed their entire “Hillary Clinton coverage” from Clinton Cash.

    They deserve to be unemployed. There’s no effort or value add at all. Other than breathless speculation have the added one thing of value to viewers or readers past the text of the report? No. You would be better informed with just a copy of the report, along with a biography of the investigator.

    This is not original work. No one should pay for it- not because it’s hackish garbage but because none of them did any work at all on it.

  49. 49.

    Geminid

    @rikyrah: EU Parliament member (and former Belgium PM) Guy Verhofstadt commented on the Carlson interview, saying “America tomorrow will have spreading lies unchallenged and unfiltered,” adding that “Democracy dies with lies.”

    A Turkish commenter responded:

       A very accurate observation. Look, names don’t matter here, the important thing is this determination: democracy dies with lies.

    This is what is happening in our country. There are no ethics left in the media, they are killing democracy with lies hidden in democratic discourse.

  50. 50.

    piratedan

    as someone on bluesky noted…. the report on Pence came out the same day.  No charges and somehow completely free of the personal insinuations and speculation.

    Hoping that Garland has learned multiple lessons:

     

    1. all Republicans with the slightest amount of power and authority are not actors in good faith (i.e. was he fucking asleep during the Barr administration of his department?)
    2. because of number one, you should fucking well vette their press releases before you allow them to make a mockery of the very institutions credibility that you’re attempting to restore.

    The press is always going to look for the peanuts in the shit pile when it suits their agenda, just like they give a free pass to the constant idiocy that comes out from the GOP side.

  51. 51.

    smith

    @Scout211: I’ve been tearing my hair out all afternoon about it, and have found nothing. Unless I’m missing something, he has to either appeal/ask for a stay, or hand that investigation report over to TFG.  He can’t do nothing. But no one seems to be reporting on it.

  52. 52.

    Another Scott

    @Scout211: All I’ve found is this:

    ( Cut and paste from nitter.1d4.us )

    @MuellerSheWrote: 4 h

    I’m a little surprised Jack Smith hasn’t filed for reconsideration and a stay to stop the sealed ex parte exhibit from going to trump’s team in the Mar a Lago documents case. It’s due to be turned over to him today.

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  55. 55.

    Kay

    @John S.:

    Politico sez Biden has had it with Garland too. They blame him for the slowness of the Trump investigations, how Hunter’s case took forever, and for this- the moronic hiring of a low quality Trump hire to investigate Biden.

    BJ may be the last bastion of Garland fandom.

    I want them to win so I find Biden’s frustration with Garland encouraging. I get worried when they seem delusional or out of touch. They also apolologized for their absolutely tone deaf and horriblly cold and unsympathetic approach to Palestinian civilian deaths. I have no idea who was advising on that but I hope they’re down the road. It realy takes talent to make Joe Biden sound like a monster.

  56. 56.

    Mousebumples

    OT, but Rep Mike Gallagher (one of the R no votes on the Mayorkas impeachment) has indicated he doesn’t plan to run for reelection.

    Gerrymandered seat (though there is a Wisconsin Supreme Court challenge pending review), but I figure as the incumbent, he’d still have a good shot at winning. An open seat in a Blue Wave? Seems potentially flippable.

    I still think he has designs on Sen. RoJo’s seat whenever he retires, but who knows

    Eta – link

  58. 58.

    zhena gogolia

    @Baud: Yes, I will.

    I think the solution is at least to avoid threads that are specifically about this. I’m hoping they’ll dry up in a few days.

  59. 59.

    Tony Jay

    @Another Scott:

    ‘The Report’ is a bombshell? Really, Mr Detrow? The report that says Biden did nothing much wrong, followed the rules, did the right thing?

    Oh, no, you don’t mean ‘The Report’, do you? You mean the bitchy coda tagged onto the report by a MAGAt functionary so pissed off he couldn’t find anything to attack Biden with that he made shit up in order to explain away his own failure?

    But you’ll say ‘The Report’, because that’s how Corporate Media hitjobs like this work. You quietly scoop out the actual findings of ‘The Report’, because they don’t support your narrative, and replace them with all the high-pitched yapping about Hur’s snide bitterness, because they do. Sleight of hand? Bait and switch? Nah, chum. Just straight up disinformation.

    There used to be a time when ‘sucking tour own dick in public’ was restricted to initiation rites at elitist private schools. Now it’s a global industry. 

  63. 63.

    Dan B

    @rikyrah: Kenny puts almost every Biden / Harris achievement in line.  It’s quite amazing.  And he puts the racism and sexism on notice.  Thanks for posting!

  64. 64.

    oldgold

    @John S.:  Well, Biden is old. There no debating or changing that.

    The question is whether Biden is materially cognitively compromised. I recommend hitting this head-on.  Schedule a thorough neurological exam with a team of highly recognized experts and release the results.

    If there is a problem, he does not run. Otherwise, run at full throttle, while challenging Trump to submit to the same testing.

  65. 65.

    Baud

    @Math Guy:

    I look forward to it.  The media will have to portray Biden as an agile debater with a sharp mind in order to set appropriate expectations.

  68. 68.

    Lapassionara

    @zhena gogolia: read the link posted at comment 36 before you go. It is very helpful, and points out the key assumption that Hur got wrong and on which all of his conclusions rest.

  69. 69.

    eclare

    @oldgold:

    No.  That is taking the bait.  Do the normal physical exam releases like in years’ past, but no more.

    Taking the challenge of a physical (in her case genetic) exam proved how bad of a politician Elizabeth Warren is.

    Deprive the fire of oxygen.

  71. 71.

    Kay

    @Geminid:

    Or Kamala Harris, who also called them out on it. She’s out and about more than Biden- she was seeing how it landed (badly). I’d just cringe when he’d speak because he was making it worse with every comment. They compare what he says about Israeli losses with what he says about Palestinian losses, because of course they do. It has to sound like he values their lives the same. It didn’t.

  72. 72.

    Lapassionara

    @Mat: Thank you for the link. This information needs to get more widely circulated. Hur just basically made something up out of 8 words that he took out of context.

  73. 73.

    Mike S. (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)

    Reposted from the dying thread since it fits her

    I’d love to have a reporter ask Hur to interview TFG for 5 hours about something that happened over 10 years ago and ask him for his honest medical judgement of the orange shitstain after that!

    ETA: and a radio new story I heard today said “Biden sounded angry and defensive” as though that’s a bad thing compared to TFG blowing off his big mistakes as “sarcasm”. Nikki Haley was in charge of the Capitol security on Jan. 6th anyone!

  74. 74.

    Kay

    There’s some reason for hope as far as media influence. Recall that they all basically stumped for the GOP in 2022, excitedly predicting Red Waves and such and the public all but completely ignored them.

    Media also predicted that women wouldn’t mind losing fundamental rights at all. 100% wrong on that.

    They fuck up a lot. Honestly they only hit about half the time.

  76. 76.

    NotMax

    @oldgold

    Assign weighty credence solely to an opinion from someone with zero training or expertise in (or even near) the field?

    Nope.

  78. 78.

    Geminid

    @Mousebumples: Mike Gallagher will be only 43 years old when Ron Johnson’s seat comes up in 2028. He was going to run in 2022 if Johnson didn’t. Now he gets to step away from his horrible caucus for a few years and watch the trainwreck from a distance.

    I think Gallagher will try a comeback, but retiring Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers (WA) is probably gone for good. She’s 54, and rose fairly high in leadership. Some other senior Republicans are calling it quits also, including Kay Granger (TX).

  80. 80.

    PJ

    @oldgold: Taking a cognitive exam wouldn’t make one bit of difference in helping Biden in the race, and would be political malpractice.  Trump would never submit to one, to begin with, and whatever the results of Biden’s exam, no matter if he scored 100%, it would be spun by the press and Republicans that he was impaired (they had to grade him on a curve, it wasn’t the right test, he needs to take a battery of tests, etc.)  The mere fact that he felt (or his handlers felt) that he had to take the test is a sign that he or they knew something was off, even if the test didn’t show it.

  83. 83.

    catclub

    @Tazj: Meanwhile, Trump gives speeches in which he says incredibly crazy and horrific things and it’s ignored.

    Not completely:  CNN did a report about Trump flat out lying about nancy pelosi being responsible for Jan 06, and also flat out lying that he cooperated on his stolen documents case, more than Biden.

  85. 85.

    Kay

    @Mike S. (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!):

    What is wrng with the Department of Justice and the FBI that they feel free to do this opinionating? Why are they all so undisciplined? Say whether there should be a grand jury or not and then STFU.  Who told these people to start writing novels and holding dramatic press conferences?

    They need some kind of training on what their jobs are. They have narrow jobs. It’s pure grandiosity and ego that they cannot just do the narrow job.

  88. 88.

    Mousebumples

    @Geminid: yeah, I think that’s accurate – other than I don’t trust RoJo to not run again. 🙄

    But safeish incumbents retiring? What are the internals like? Or is it only about the lack of money on the GOP side (that isn’t going to pay for Trump lawyers)? Or wanting out of the House GOP shitshow?

  91. 91.

    sab

    @piratedan: All Republicans with hopes of higher appointments -or elections know their rules. It is not “Do your damn job.” It is “Use what leverage you have to score political talking points for our side.”

    It used to be that Hur’s behavior would be career ending. See Bork. Now the opposite is true. If he had done his job properly, every future advancement opportunity would be blocked. We just have to start reciprocating: assume Republicans have bad intentions and block them until they prove otherwise.

  92. 92.

    MattF

    @PJ: Trump would claim that any cognitive test he doesn’t control is rigged. A useless exercise, beyond the usual footnote that any Trump accusation is a confession.

  94. 94.

    John S.

    @catclub:

    Until they run breathlessly with some giant whopper Trump made framed as a negative for several weeks straight, an anodyne fact check that barely lasts a news cycle doesn’t really cut it.

  95. 95.

    Jackie

    @Dan B: Where’s Melania? Other than stiffly standing near him AT MAL when he announced he was running for President to stay out of prison, TIFG’s wife has been 100% absent from his campaign rallies and court appearances. She definitely does NOT stand by her man.

  97. 97.

    Kay

    @sab:

    I still think he has a blind spot – he cannot seem to say that civilians are dying – I don’t know, maybe Democrats are uncomfortable with it so can’t just say that in a normal human way? In his last comments he said “famine” and something like “bad things” were happening to them. The bad thing that is happening to them is Israeli bombs are killing them. It makes me think less of him as a person, this blind spot. I wonder about it. He was a big war on terror guy, back in the day. Maybe there’s some anti Arab bias there.

    But I’m glad they apologized and will now stop deliberately omitting mention of the dead. It was hurting his chances in MI.

    So transactional. Sad but true.

  98. 98.

    sab

    @Kay: I plan to stop by the Humane Society Thrift Store. Last stop I found a porpoise night light, which I had not known I needed.

    Two of my donated artichoke plates were still there, at the outrageously high price of $4 each. The others were gone, thus proving they hadn’t overpriced them.

  99. 99.

    Princess

    @John S.: Exactly. 7opinion pieces in the NYT alone on Biden. 7. They’re clowns.

    But I think things are different from 2016, because we’re different. We’re not shocked by this; we’re angry. We push back now, hard.

  100. 100.

    Kathleen

    @zhena gogolia: I know. I am still shaking with rage. Good thing I had a kickboxing class this morning. I visualized punching the Soulless Ghouls of the White House Press Corpse.

  102. 102.

    PJ

    @Kay: The problem with Republican special counsel like Hur is that they are only on contract to the DoJ and don’t give a rat’s ass about what happens after they hand in their report, since they’ve already been paid, and, because they did their job (smear the Democrat), they know they’ll be hired in a heartbeat by any Republican administration.  There’s no downside to their bad behavior.

  105. 105.

    Chris

    The problem underlying all of this isn’t even that the media is 100% in the tank for Trump. It’s that most of the public, despite decades and fucking decades of their most blatant propagandistic bullshit, continues to believe the media is liberally biased. If it was widely understood and agreed that they were a right wing country club, stories at this would at least be getting released into the heads of people who understand “well, maybe it’s true or maybe it isn’t, but they want to say it regardless.” Instead, it’s processed as “even the liberal press is saying it so it must be bad!”

    I have no idea at all WTF to do about it. People used to similarly believe the court system was liberally biased, and Dobbs seems to have finally broken through there, so it’s not impossible. But it really makes me wonder just what it’s going to take for people to wake the fuck up. (I don’t ever expect Republicans to, but far too many unaffiliated and even Democrats have no such excuse).

  107. 107.

    smith

    @Jackie: Melania is absent, but campaign funds still paid her stylist $370k last year. Of course, being part of the Trump family I’m sure she gets a hefty kickback from that.

  111. 111.

    Chris

    @Kay:

    I don’t know about the DOJ, but the FBI in particular is a Republican frat and always has been. They’ve literally never had a Democratic director, ever. Hoover claimed to have no party, but identified in private as a conservative Republican. His successors didn’t even bother with the first part.

  112. 112.

    catclub

    @Kay: I would really like to know what instructions he was given by Garland when hired. It should have been “indict or not decision, any report to me.”

  115. 115.

    Mousebumples

    @smith: the Dems didn’t have a candidate in 2022. I voted for the Libertarian.

    There are 3 Dem Women (including an area ob/gyn) that are exploring a run. The Fox Valley/Brown County area (Appleton, Oshkosh, Green Bay) went big for Justice Protasewicz. No idea what this fall will be like, but I like the Wisdems ground game.

    And, like Kay has said a few times, while there are still some Trump True Believers, a lot are no longer as dedicated or supportive as they once were…

  116. 116.

    Geminid

    @Mousebumples: Mike Gallagher would likely cruise to reelection, but I think he knows he’d be serving with a very frustrated and angry Minority next term. Those folks hate each other already.

    Gallagher has managed to make a name for himself in national defence circles, so he will land on his feet. And Gallagher will have time to speak at all the Wisconsin Republican county picnics he wants. That guy’s gonna eat a lot of bratwurst.

  117. 117.

    jonas

    @Tazj:  The correspondent gives an example of a Biden gaffe, “he can’t remember when his son was born.

    JFC. Look, I’m a bit more than half Biden’s age and I have three kids who I take regularly to various medical appointments, or for whom I pick up Rx’s. The receptionist always — as we know — asks for the DOB. Swear to dog, I have to cycle through about two or three dates before I land on the correct one, often mixing up the month, day or year in the process. The kids are always busting my chops about it: “Ha ha! Dad thought my birthday was [older sibling’s]!” Am I a dementia-addled idiot who needs to be put out on an ice floe now before innocent people are killed by my bad driving? Only the WaPo or CNN can tell me!

  118. 118.

    Jackie

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    It’s hard for me to believe Trump will agree to debate.

    Currently TIFG claims he wants to debate Biden, multiple times even.

    We all laugh, because the moment Biden takes him up on his challenge, several roadblocks will magically appear as to why TIFG can’t/won’t debate Biden.

    Meanwhile Nikki Haley wants to know why TIFG won’t debate her!

  119. 119.

    Another Scott

    @Baud: Some woman at the SC primary was on the radio machine in an interview.

    “I’m voting for TIFG because my 401k was higher when he was in office, and it will be higher when he’s back in office.  That’s a fact!!1”

    Maybe her 401k was invested in toilet paper futures and WeWork??

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  120. 120.

    Chris

    @Baud:

    Christ. That might be even worse.

    The last time Republicans left the economy in better shape when they left the White House than when they entered it was Dwight fucking Eisenhower. That’s literally older than Doctor Who. There is no excuse for people believing this shit.

  121. 121.

    eclare

    @jonas:

    I believe it, I worked for someone like that.  He just could not remember personal dates.

    I have a phone number that uses a lot of the same numbers, and I constantly check myself to make sure that I have them in the right order.  Is it xyyz?  Or zyyx?

  122. 122.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @piratedan:

    Hoping that Garland has learned multiple lessons:

    You missed the most important lesson: Know thyself.

    He’s been badly played at least twice (giving him the benefit of the doubt that he’s just a slow learner vs malfeasance).

    He needs to resign.

    No doubt an unpopular opinion here, but take a cold hard look at outcomes under his watch. His mouthwash just ain’t cuttin’ it.

  123. 123.

    sab

    @Kay: Biden was at the bottom of my list of acceptable candidates in 2020 purely on the basis of his blind support for Israel no matter what. Bibi has been running the place and ruining the place for 25 years. Wake up and smell the coffee.

    I let my guard down for a while. It’s back up again.

  124. 124.

    Mousebumples

    @Geminid: As I’m catching up on reading this afternoon, apparently he’s being threatened with a primary challenge. I don’t blame him for saying peace out from here. (isn’t it 5 or 6 years to qualify for the House pension?

    ETA – to clarify, I don’t blame him/am happy to see him ceding this as an open seat this fall.

  125. 125.

    Jackie

    @pat:

    Not sure if I should admit this, but I have had to stop reading the Ukraine threads.

    I read Adam’s posts, but I haven’t read the replies in well over a year. Too ugly.

  126. 126.

    TBone

    @TBone: this is about as on topic as it gets. It’s about President Biden, super-agers, his acuity and ability, and the hyenas in the press.  I should have picked a quote to display.

  127. 127.

    oldgold

    @Dan B: One of the very few times I have ever laughed along with the Republicans was after Ted Kennedy led a chant at the Democratic  convention of “Where was George?”

    The GOP response: “Home, dry and sober.”

  128. 128.

    Mousebumples

    @Jackie: Same. I’m usually late to the threads, anyhow – usually read them in the morning.

    I appreciate Adam’s posts and insight, but I don’t have time for the comments in the am.

  130. 130.

    Elizabelle

    In news of far smarter and better people than those who jizz: Taylor touching down in about a minute at LAX.  About to fly over SoFi stadium, which she knows well.

  132. 132.

    Geminid

    @Mousebumples: When Don Bacon crossed Trump and voted for the Infrastructure bill, Trump backed a primary challenger and Bacon beat him easily. I don’t think it would be any different for Gallagher. My guess is that most district Republicans aren’t going to care about the Mayorkas impeachment. If you asked them about it, I bet a lot of them would say, “Who’s Mayorkas?”

  133. 133.

    gene108

    The media will try to “but her emails” Hur’s comment about Biden’s mental acuity. I hope it doesn’t work.

  134. 134.

    Jackie

    @smith: But the point was TIFG’s audacity of questioning why Nikki Haley’s husband was absent from her rallies.
    Her husband is in the military and currently deployed overseas.

    I was pointing out TIFG’s hypocrisy – as Melania is 100% AWOL.

  139. 139.

    Mousebumples

    @Geminid: I think you’re right. Gallagher could (probably would) win a primary challenge. But to win that, to face a (probably) well funded Democratic candidate, and even if he wins, he’s still got to deal with the crazy pants GOP House members.

    I know I’m a Dem, but you couldn’t pay me enough to take that job. Even if no effort was required.

    I wonder if retired Speaker Paul Ryan has told Gallagher how much $$$ he can make on the wingnut welfare circuit.

  144. 144.

    Another Scott

    @jonas: I can remember a few birthdays (don’t have any kids), but I usually have to do the subtraction to figure out how old I am.  It’s just not a number I feel the need to keep in my head.

    My autistic brother used to be able to remember and cite really obscure facts about the weather 30 years after the fact.  “Remember when we had that tornado warning in August 12, 1973??”  [Not intended to be a factual statement – just an example.]

    People remember things differently.  It’s not a sign of brain damage.

    As the takedown in JustSecurity notes, whether Biden could instantly remember the details about a box of documents from 6+ years earlier isn’t relevant. What matters is there was no evidence of intent to break the law, and he instantly returned them when he was notified that he had them.

    The Special Counsel Robert Hur report has been grossly mischaracterized by the press. The report finds that the evidence of a knowing, willful violation of the criminal laws is wanting. Indeed, the report, on page 6, notes that there are “innocent explanations” that Hur “cannot refute.” That is but one of myriad examples we outline in great detail below of the report repeatedly finding a lack of proof. And those findings mean, in DOJ-speak, there is simply no case. Unrefuted innocent explanations is the sine qua non of not just a case that does not meet the standard for criminal prosecution – it means innocence. Or as former Attorney General Bill Barr and his former boss would have put it, a total vindication (but here, for real).

    But even without the prompting of a misleading “summary” by Barr, the press has gotten the lede wrong. This may be because of a poorly worded (we’re being charitable) thesis sentence on page 1 of Hur’s executive summary. Hur writes at the outset: “Our investigation uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen.” You have to wait for the later statements that what the report actually says is there is insufficient evidence of criminality, innocent explanations for the conduct, and affirmative evidence that Biden did not willfully withhold classified documents. Put another way, that same sentence about “our investigation uncovered evidence” could equally apply to Mike Pence, who had classified documents at his home, which is similarly some “evidence” of a crime, but also plainly insufficient to remotely establish criminality.

    […]

    Hur knows that almost nobody in the press will read beyond the Executive Summary, so apparently made it as warped as possible.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  146. 146.

    Jackie

    @Geminid: My thought is Gallagher is just fed up with all the MAGA bull💩, re the Border bill, etc, and given his young age, hopes TIFG and the majority of his sycophants are in the rear view mirror after a few more election cycles – as we ALL hope!

  147. 147.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Kathleen:

    Good thing I had a kickboxing class this morning.

    I do kickboxing classes too (video at home) and I find it excellent for focusing anger and angst. I have beaten the crap out of Trump if only in my own mind in my basement.

  148. 148.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Kay:

    They need some kind of training on what their jobs are. They have narrow jobs. It’s pure grandiosity and ego that they cannot just do the narrow job.

    This is all true. But they will continue act on their inclinations and motivations until they are told, hard and good, what the rules are.

    That sort of edumacation meeting usually comes from the boss.

  151. 151.

    Another Scott

    @Jackie: He apparently ran as a supporter of term limits and made noises like that in his announcement.

    Here’s hoping that the Democrats have a good plan to fight to take the seat.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  153. 153.

    TBone

    Apparently Mike Lee distinguished himself for four hours in a row today.  And by distinguished, I meant ‘should have been extinguished.’ He’s one of my bugabois. 😡

  156. 156.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @TBone: Apologies to whoever may watch CNN but why the hell. When DougJ can’t touch this with a ten foot pole, it’s patent proof They Are All Beyond Parody.

    I can’t even watch MSNBC anymore for all the Republicans they air with their vaunted self-regard. If I wanted to hear from Mona Charen or Charlie Sykes, I’d…I’d…probably take myself out.

  157. 157.

    Elizabelle

    @Alison Rose: the top reader comments disparage the FTF NYT for that.  As did the WaPost readers.

    We can see you, jizzers.  And it ain’t pretty.

    Fuck the fucking Sulzbergers.  They are not worthy.

  158. 158.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    Big media has been ratfucking Democrats in almost all elections and has been doing so at the behest of their conservative editors. Al Gore, Hillary Clinton and many more all have been screwed over by the negative bullshit that the press buried them in. Big media is no friend of Democrats and we need to keep that in mind at all times. They are the Tonya Harding press; they try to kneecap Democrats at every chance they get. There is no being fair here or talking about the good stuff that has been accomplished by the Democrats. Nope, it’s just an endless stream of low-effort reporting that is comprised of bullshit that is handed to them.

    The fucking NY Times used their rag to give a big assist in taking down the Harvard president and then tried to play innocent about it. I want the White House and Democrats to call the media out for their crap. Republicans have whined endlessly about any story about them that angers them and the press complies by not reporting on things that piss them off.

    It’s long past time for Democrats to do the same thing. Pound the press to death, tell them what a lousy job they do and that freedom of the press is wasted on idiots like themselves.

  159. 159.

    Alison Rose

    @Elizabelle: Yeah, I was glad to see some pushback, although some of the comments are hand-wringy and silly.

    And like, the opening paragraph:

    Donald J. Trump has praised Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, for his leadership of Turkey, and confused Nikki Haley and Nancy Pelosi. President Biden has named dead former European leaders when describing his contemporary peers, and referred to Egypt as Mexico.

    Mm-hmm. You know what I”m more concerned about than Trump mixing up Haley and Pelosi? THE FACT THAT HE LED AN INSURRECTION AND WANTS TO BE A DICTATOR AND WILL DESTROY MILLIONS OF LIVES IN THE US AND AROUND THE WORLD. If Trump were the sweetest, most progressive little angel, I wouldn’t give a shit if he mixed people up. What I care about is that you can’t even call him the spawn of Satan because Satan would sue you for slander.

  162. 162.

    Another Scott

    @Kay:

    ICYMI, Reuters.com:

    WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday suggested that Israel’s military response in Gaza has been “over the top” and said he is seeking a “sustained pause in the fighting” to help ailing Palestinian civilians.

    “I’m of the view, as you know, that the conduct of the response in the Gaza Strip has been over the top,” Biden told reporters at the White House.

    He added that he has been pushing for a deal to normalize Saudi Arabia-Israel relations, increased humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians and a temporary pause in fighting to allow the release of hostages taken by Hamas.

    “I’m pushing very hard now to deal with this hostage ceasefire,” Biden said. “There are a lot of innocent people who are starving, a lot of innocent people who are in trouble and dying, and it’s gotta stop.”

    The remarks, some of Biden’s sharpest public criticism to date of the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, come as the Democratic president has come under increasing domestic pressure to press Israel to stop fighting.

    […]

    (Emphasis added.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  163. 163.

    Jackie

    @Jackie: TIFG made those stupid comments about Haley’s husband’s absence in SC, which I believe has a large military population. His idiotic comments might actually bite him in his ass with military voters.

    Here’s Nikki’s response to TIFG:

    “Michael is deployed serving our country, something you know nothing about. Someone who continually disrespects the sacrifices of military families has no business being commander in chief.”

  165. 165.

    Baud

    @Jackie:

    Someone who continually disrespects the sacrifices of military families has no business being commander in chief.”

     
    LOL. Unless he’s facing Biden in the general election.

  168. 168.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, …

    Andrew Desiderio
    @AndrewDesiderio
    1h

    Senate adjourns until noon tomorrow. Cloture vote at 1pm.

    Schumer: “We still hope our Republican colleagues can work with us to reach an agreement on a reasonable list of amendments so we can speed this process up.”

    Feb 10, 2024 · 10:43 PM UTC

    (This is about the Supplemental for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.)

    Politics is slow.

    (via MuellerSheWrote)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  169. 169.

    Baud

    Media freakout about bullshit is why liberals end up freaking out about everything. Especially after 2016, we need to accept that bullshit may be the reason we lose to the detriment of many innocent people. Dwelling on that reality only harms our ability to overcome it.

  170. 170.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @gwangung:

    Yup. If it boosts conservative causes and/or hurts Democrats, the New York Time has led the way.

    Someone needs to hold a pillow over the face of the gray lady and not let up.

  171. 171.

    Citizen Alan

    @rikyrah:  I genuinely don’t consider Republicans to be fully human anymore.  And I’m to the point of telling them that to their faces.

  174. 174.

    cain

    @Baud: It’s just crazy – I can’t believe they had the balls to compare the two like they were equal.

    They just can’t help themselves.

  177. 177.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Citizen Alan:

    They are only too human, as in of the basest sort of human. They uniformly lack empathy, even among themselves. They wake up and hate until they go to sleep, where they dream of the hateful things that they would do to those they hate if they were allowed to. They are emotionally crippled people who cling to their guns, hatred and god because they have nothing else to emotionally sustain them.

    They are human and we should not think otherwise as that is the path that they walk.

  186. 186.

    Jeffro

    @TBone:

    @Baud:

    @frosty:

    Fantasy cable news chyron: “Are We Responsible For This Ridiculous Imbalance In Coverage of Biden and Trump?  Probably.”

    Where’s that hacker collective when we need them?

  191. 191.

    Bill Arnold

    @Alison Rose:
    This, from the BBC, is funny:
    In Egypt, locals have long referred to Mr Al Sisi as “El Miksiki” – the Mexican – to avoid government censors.
    The long-running moniker originated from a years-old meme that was popular in Egypt, prompting one user to write that its citizens “memed this to reality”. Another explained that Egyptians who are against the regime sometimes refer to it as being under “Mexican occupation”.
    “You can’t criticise the president freely so Egyptians started calling him ‘El Miksiki’ (‘the Mexican’ in Arabic) because it sounds like ‘al-Sisi’ so they can avoid censorship and criticise him freely,” one user explained on X.
    IMO, better than even odds that this was mentioned to J. Biden during a briefing or by a staffer, and he rightly thought it was pretty funny in a how-people-function-in-a-dictatorship-way, but it resulted in this gaffe.

  192. 192.

    TBone

    @Sure Lurkalot: I can’t watch CNN at all anymore, and I change the channel if MSNBC gets jerky (pretty often).  But I frequently learn a lot that I’d otherwise have missed and they also platform a lot of good people.  Andrea Mitchell tho – my husband yells at her “Get it out, Andrea!” Neither of us can stand a minute of that.

  196. 196.

    El Muneco

    @Tazj: It would take me at least 10 seconds to authoritatively remember the year I moved into my apartment, the year my mother died, the years in which I changed jobs, the year my best feline friend died (I still cry about being away at college and not being able to be there for him, once every few months)…

    Yeah, I expect that Biden doesn’t have as much distance from Beau’s death, but the exact details of all of our life experiences do fade into the past.

  197. 197.

    Quadrillipede

    @John S.: And yet, there was quite the vociferous pushback here yesterday that Garland actually did nothing wrong.

    I actually read some reporting today that — on balance — a second Biden term might be a good time for a new AG. (I kind of was surprised at the time that Doug Jones wasn’t suggested in 2020, so maybe he might have another opportunity?).

    I now think someone with an attitude slightly less deferential to institutions in the face of bad-faith inside operatives might be a better choice, but I didn’t know that in 2020, and Garland needs to remain in place until after the election in any case.

  199. 199.

    Austin Loomis

    @Kathleen:

    Good thing I had a kickboxing class this morning. I visualized punching the Soulless Ghouls of the White House Press Corpse.

    Maybe that’s the exercise program I need, only with the faces of various Repugnican solons as the imagined targets of my attacks. Except that the things I’ve talked about wanting to do to them go beyond punching and kicking (except for the other night when I said, much to the cha-cringe of my kindly gray-haired mother who deserves better, that I wanted to strike “Balls and Strikes” Roberts’ balls so hard they shot out his nostrils).

  200. 200.

    Death Panel Truck

    @Princess: Their bosses (and some of them) want a Trump  victory because they want tax cuts.

    That’s it. All of it. They want what Biden will never give them.

  201. 201.

    AM in NC

    @gene108:  Yeah, I hope so too.  I also think we should all be working the refs by getting in touch with editors and reporters to let them know WE SEE how they are driving the narrative on this.

    I tell them I expect to see a story on Trump’s age/ confusion/speech gaffes for every one they present about Biden.  THAT’S actual balance and giving consumers information about the relative mental fitness for the job of each of the two candidates.

    Them giving us “Biden is old” stories because they need to balance out “Trump is a 91 times indicted felon who is saying out loud he wants to end representative democracy in the US” stories massively privileges the old guy who is also indicted 91 times.

    I know you know all this, I just feel like if we all propose and take active measures to effect pressure where we can (even with just an email, letter, or call) maybe the refs can be pushed a little in our direction.  Even with the biased ownership.  At least, I have to hope so for my own mental health.

  202. 202.

    Attempted Chemistry

    Clearly, “Biden is old” is like, 42% of what is wrong with Biden, while “Trump tried to overthrow the government” is like, 21% of what is wrong with Trump, so the press must cover Biden’s age twice as much as Trump’s coup. It’s math, people.

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