Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Dear legacy media: you are not here to influence outcomes and policies you find desirable.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

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

You cannot love your country only when you win.

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

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

I did not have this on my fuck 2025 bingo card.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Bark louder, little dog.

They spent the last eight months firing professionals and replacing them with ideologues.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

People identifying as christian while ignoring christ and his teachings is a strange thing indeed.

Human rights are not a matter of opinion!

Let there be snark.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

When we show up, we win.

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Thursday Night Open Thread

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Spent another day on the tractor cutting, and man I am fried. It never got over 75 and I used sun screen, but I am burnt to a crisp, regardless. Oh well.

A very weird and awful piece of legislation passed the NC Senate, and it is a doozy:

The North Carolina Senate voted along party lines Wednesday to ban anyone from wearing masks in public for health reasons, following an emotional debate about the wisdom of the proposal.

Republican supporters of the ban said it would help police crack down on protesters who wear masks — which some lawmakers called a growing concern, saying demonstrators are abusing Covid-19 pandemic-era norms to wear masks that hide their identities.

I suppose the message is that if you are immune compromised or don’t want to get sick in NC, the Senate Republicans are saying “get fucked.”

Not to be outdone, Texas Governor Abbott had this present for the country:

Daniel Perry, a former US Army sergeant who was convicted of murdering a protester at a Black Lives Matter rally in 2020, was released from prison Thursday after he was pardoned by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

Abbott’s decision comes after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted unanimously Thursday to recommend a full pardon and the restoration of firearm rights for Perry, who was sentenced last year to 25 years in prison. Shortly after he was pardoned, Perry was released from Texas Department of Criminal Justice custody, a spokesperson for the agency told CNN.

Abbott asked the board to conduct an investigation in April 2023, and in a statement on Thursday, the board said its “investigative efforts encompassed a meticulous review of pertinent documents, from police reports to court records, witness statements, and interviews with individuals linked to the case.”

I hate the fact that these people exist, I really do.

***

In other news, meet Rocky:  (from Indycat32)

Thursday Night Open Thread 9

This is Rocky. Just look at that face! He showed up at my house in February. I don’t know where he came from, but he was friendly and determined to come inside. He is a very sweet boy and needs a forever home. In addition to being a handsome young kitty (about one year old per the vet), he is a very good boy. While waiting for the vet he lay with his head on my arm and calmly watched the birds outside the window and purred so loudly during his exam she had trouble hearing his heartbeat. He is vaccinated, neutered, Bravecto and Profender-treated, and the vet gave him a clean bill of health. He weighs 11 pounds, likes hugs, and gets along with the other outdoor cats. He spends a lot of time hanging around the back door, hoping I’ll relent and let him in, (or maybe waiting for food). I live in Indianapolis but can travel. How can you say no to that face?!

Thursday Night Open Thread 10

If anyone is interesting in adopting Rocky, speak up in the comments!

That’s it for me- I am fried.

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Thursday Evening Open Thread: Baltimore Key Bridge Updates

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Per the BBC, “Crew trapped on Baltimore ship, seven weeks after bridge collapse”:

As a controlled explosion rocked the Dali on Monday, nearly two dozen sailors remained on board, below deck in the massive ship’s hull…

Authorities – and the crew – hope that the demolition will mark the beginning of the end of a long process that has left the 21 men on board trapped and cut off from the world, thousands of miles from their homes.

But for now, it remains unclear when they will be able to return home…

The crew, made up of 20 Indians and a Sri Lankan national, has been unable to disembark because of visa restrictions, a lack of required shore passes and parallel ongoing investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and FBI.

On Monday, the crew remained on board even as authorities used small explosive charges to deliberately “cut” an expanse of the bridge lying on the ship’s bow.

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Crime & Time (Open Thread)

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Crime & Time (Open Thread)

Overly be-shirted Trump goon Steve Bannon will probably be compelled to report to prison soon for a four-month sentence for two contempt of Congress violations:

In Tuesday’s court filing, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia told Nichols that because Bannon’s appeal was rejected “on all grounds … consequently, there is no longer a ‘substantial question of law that is likely to result in a reversal or an order for a new trial.’”

“Under these circumstances … the stay of the sentence must be lifted,” prosecutors wrote.

In a footnote, prosecutors wrote that a federal district court in D.C. and the appeals court rejected a similar request by another former Trump aide, Peter Navarro, to stay a four-month jail sentence for contempt of Congress.

I hope whichever minimum security lockup Bannon lands in has an enormous supply of industrial-strength Febreze. It won’t be enough, but several cases of a strongly scented odor-fighting product might help. Jails should be humane!

According to TPM, Bannon probably won’t get a special visit by a greasy member of the Trump clan such as Don Jr. while in the hoosegow, as was granted to Peter Navarro, who’s about two months in to his own four-month stretch for contempt of Congress. That’s because Trump doesn’t really like Bannon.

While they remain supporters of one another’s work, Trump and Bannon have been at odds since Bannon exited the White House. Bannon left primarily because he couldn’t get along with Jared Kushner, but Trump also reportedly blamed Bannon for information getting leaked to the media. He also reportedly got tired of Bannon claiming too much credit for Trump’s electoral victory in 2016.

Navarro finds his four-month confinement so horrific that he keeps petitioning the judge to cut the sentence. The judge will not:

Last week, Navarro asked district Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, DC, to allow him to cut 30 days off his prison sentence in exchange for 30 days of supervised release, citing the First Step Act. Mehta said no.

“In sum, a four-month prison term without supervised release was warranted at the time of Defendant’s sentencing, and it remains warranted now,” the judge wrote.

Navarro reported to a federal prison in Florida on March 19 after other appeals were rejected by the Supreme Court.

Heh. Rot in jail, you skeezy fuck!

The truth is, I relish every prison sentence handed down to Trump creeps, even if the sentences are too short. It’s especially humorous that Bannon was ensnared because in an unrelated case, he received a presidential pardon for a fraud crime that could have sent him away for years. And yet he couldn’t appreciate his luck and just stop criming! I hope the same fate befalls Roger Stone.

Open thread.

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Copping to the Con (Open Thread)

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I believe the story of U.S. politics in the Trump era is partly a tale of marks refusing to believe they’ve been conned. An example: my sister recently had a conversation with a MAGA relative who expressed a belief so incandescently stupid that I was momentarily taken aback.

In response to my sister’s query, our relative said he trusted Trump as president to put the country’s interests above his own in a national emergency. At least more than any other option, including Biden.

I’ll understand completely if you assume the person who said this is a blithering idiot, but I know otherwise. The thing is he’s prideful, and he refuses to admit he’s been conned.

Despite copious evidence to the contrary, he chooses to believe every other politician in the country is an even more rapacious crook than Donald Trump rather than accepting what’s glaringly obvious at this point — that Trump supporters have been taken in.

It’s a goddamn irritating dynamic. But apparently sometimes even poor judges of character and insight-free propaganda consumers wake up all on their own without a liberal blood relative beating some sense into their fucking heads.

Here’s an example in the form of a newly enlightened far-right school board member who ran on an anti-woke platform and then discovered who the real manipulators are. Most of the folks commenting here understood what the oligarchs were up to way back in 1999, but better late than never? (Texas Tribune)

When Courtney Gore ran for a seat on her local school board in 2021, she warned about a movement to indoctrinate children with “leftist” ideology. After 2 1/2 years on the board, Gore said she believes a much different scheme is unfolding: an effort by wealthy conservative donors to undermine public education in Texas and install a voucher system in which public money flows to private and religious schools.

Why did Gore run to overturn an indoctrination scheme that she later discovered didn’t really exist? It sounds like she genuinely believed the bullshit about children being exposed to Marxist and anti-Christian propaganda. That’s a sharp contrast to the cynical Republican political operatives who found Moms for Liberty-type groups — they know they’re lying to gain political power.

Anyhoo, here’s to waking up, however late the hour.

Open thread!

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Trump’s NY Criminal Trial, Day 18 (Michael Cohen Cross)

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 It’s Day 18 of the trial.

Is it still possible that the prosecution could rest as soon as today?  Stay tuned!

Michael Cohen cross continues today!

Best sources of live blogging that I have found.  It looks like some of them are only live blogging for the “big” witnesses, but I think the Michael Cohen cross qualifies as a big witness.  Stormy Daniels had her Wednesday off last week, and she was able to come back and be even better as she handled the cross from the defense.

Hoping the defense didn’t use their Wednesday to improve their performance from Tuesday!  Wondering if they are going to have Bove do the cross, which would not be as good for our side.

Josh Kovensky (TPM)   live blogging

Mark Sumner (Daily Kos)  live blogging

Tyler McBrien (Lawfare) on twitter

Anna Bower (Lawfare) on twitter

Adam Klasfeld on twitter.

AP Live blogging

NBC live blogging

Still loving this awesome image.

But I may need to find a new one for when the defense puts on their case.

Open thread.

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Thursday Morning Open Thread: We Have *Debates*!

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Caring is sharing:

… THE DETAILS:
Trump and Biden have agreed to two debates. The first will held at 9 pm. Eastern time on June 27 at CNN’s studios in Atlanta, in a critical battleground state. “To ensure candidates may maximize the time allotted in the debate, no audience will be present,” CNN said in a statement. To qualify, candidates must receive at least 15% in four national polls of registered or likely voters that meet CNN’s standards.

Anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash would moderate the debate, CNN said.

The second debate will take place on Sept. 10 and will be hosted by ABC. While ABC has yet to detail where that debate will take place or the format, it set the same 15% polling threshold as CNN. Anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis will moderate that debate, the network said…

THE TIMING
The first debate will play out in a jam-packed and unsettled political calendar, before either candidate becomes his party’s official nominee at the summer conventions — scheduled to begin July 15 for Republicans and Aug. 19 for Democrats.

The June 27 match-up will come after the expected conclusion of Trump’s criminal hush money trial in New York, foreign trips by Biden in mid-June to France and Italy, and the end of the Supreme Court’s term. That term will include a ruling on whether Trump is immune from federal prosecution for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. The debate will also come before the expected start of two criminal trials on opposite coasts for the president’s son, Hunter.

The second debate would take place before most states begin early voting — though some overseas and military ballots may already be in the mail…

WHAT ABOUT OTHER NETWORKS?
The debates will be the first televised general election match-ups to be hosted by an individual news organization. The 1960 debates, which helped show the power of the medium to influence public opinion, were hosted jointly by the leading networks of the day, ABC, CBS and NBC. The presidential debates of 1976, 1980 and 1984 were organized by the League of Women Voters, and every debate since has been hosted by the Commission on Presidential Debates.

Traditionally the debates are simulcast across all networks and other streaming outlets to reach the widest possible viewing audience. It was not yet clear whether the 2024 matchups would be shared similarly…

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On The Road – Prescott Cactus – Brisbane

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Prescott Cactus

In January of 2023, at a combined age of 138, the bride and I sold the car and gave away most of our belongings. We now have a suitcase and carry on for each of us. Nothing left behind and no storage unit stuffed to the gills.

We pick big cities with competent public transportation and stay one to three months. Ideally in the downtown area in a fairly new category of lodging called apartment hotels. Fully furnished with kitchens and laundry appliances.

Like any worthwhile journey, our adventure needed a name. The bride remembered a Hemingway novel called “A Movable Feast” and we were set. Almost. I looked it up and discovered there was another book with the same name by Anthony Bourdain. Notwithstanding the untimely manner of both mens early demise, we kept it. And like the suds in a beer mug, these are the days of our lives. . .

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On The Road - Prescott Cactus - Brisbane 6

Welcome to the capitol of Queensland, Brisbane, aka Brizzy and BrisVegas. It’s Australia’s 3rd largest city and about a 9 1/2 hour drive north of Sydney. It’s a port town located 12 miles away from the Coral Sea by river.

This is probably the best photo I have ever taken. I woke up a bit too early and thought that high-rise was on fire. I grabbed my phone and realized this was not the case. The wind was blowing left to right and the heat of the Sun caused the building to release it’s exterior moisture, which was likely the previous nights rain or condensation. That’s my story, anyway.