get a load of this conspiracy word salad Grassley served just now on Fox. How can anyone follow this nonsense?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) July 31, 2025 at 12:03 PM
When all else fails, send out Cranky Granpa to attempt to resurrect an old MAGAt crowd favorite…
NEW: A newly declassified part of the Durham report shows republicans used a Russian-manufactured email as evidence that Hilary Clinton conspired with Russia. ?????? gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/u…
— Mueller, She Wrote (@muellershewrote.com) July 31, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Even the FTFNYTimes… “An annex to a report by the special counsel John H. Durham was the latest in a series of disclosures about the Russia inquiry, as the Trump team seeks to distract from the Jeffrey Epstein files”:
The Trump-era special counsel who scoured the Russia investigation for wrongdoing gathered evidence that undermines a theory pushed by some Republicans that Hillary Clinton’s campaign conspired to frame Donald J. Trump for colluding with Moscow in the 2016 election, information declassified on Thursday shows.
The information, a 29-page annex to the special counsel’s 2023 report, reveals that a foundational document for that theory was most likely stitched together by Russian spies. The document is a purported email from July 27, 2016, that said Mrs. Clinton had approved a campaign proposal to tie Mr. Trump to Russia to distract from the scandal over her use of a private email server.
The release of the annex adds new details to the public’s understanding of a complex trove of 2016 Russian intelligence reports analyzing purported emails that Russian hackers stole from Americans. It also shows how the special counsel, John H. Durham, went to great lengths to try to prove that several of the emails were real, only to ultimately conclude otherwise.
The declassification is the latest disclosure in recent weeks concerning the Russia investigation. The wave has come as the administration is seeking to change the subject from its broken promise to release files related to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein…
… Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, who has a long history of pushing false claims about the Russia investigation, declared on social media that the annex revealed “evidence that the Clinton campaign plotted to frame President Trump and fabricate the Russia collusion hoax.”
In reality, the annex shows the opposite, indicating that a key piece of supposed evidence for the claim that Mrs. Clinton approved a plan to tie Mr. Trump to Russia is not credible: Mr. Durham concluded that the email from July 27, 2016, and a related one dated two days earlier were probably manufactured…
Mr. Durham was never able to prove any Clinton campaign conspiracy to frame Mr. Trump by spreading information that it knew to be false about his ties to Russia, but he nevertheless used court filings and his final report to insinuate such suspicions. He brought charges of false statements against two people involved in outside efforts to scrutinize possible ties between Mr. Trump and Russia, both of which ended in quick acquittals.
Speaking of Mr. Patel…
Kash Patel—a guy who’s definitely seen National Treasure too many times—when he spots a giant portrait of James Comey at the Hoover Building:
“Alright team, let’s see what’s hiding behind this big boy.”— Anna Bower (@annabower.bsky.social) July 30, 2025 at 2:28 PM
===
Kash Patel storming through the FBI library, ripping books off the shelves as he searches for a hidden lever to unlock the secret Russiagate vault.
You just know those librarians hate to see him comin’.— Anna Bower (@annabower.bsky.social) July 30, 2025 at 2:40 PM
===
Kash Patel stares at a vending machine in the Hoover Building, muttering under his breath:
“Snack dispenser by day, secret passage by night.”
As the clock strikes midnight, he punches in R-U-S-S-I-A…and waits.— Anna Bower (@annabower.bsky.social) July 30, 2025 at 3:16 PM
===
But seriously...
Note: A Grassley staffer spent 2015 working with Mike Flynn trapsing around Europe trying to buy Hillary's emails from foreign (Russian) criminals.
— Clean Observer (@hammbear2024.bsky.social) July 31, 2025 at 12:09 PM
===
The guy funding it promptly killed himself when it was all found out.
— Clean Observer (@hammbear2024.bsky.social) July 31, 2025 at 12:11 PM
===
FUN FACT CHUCK
U.K. court orders Donald Trump to pay $741,000 for suing a British spy over salacious U.S.-Russia dossier fortune.com/europe/2025/…— bennythesnitch.bsky.social (@bennythesnitch.bsky.social) July 31, 2025 at 1:19 PM
===
How the anti-Trump dossier came to be
Oct 28, 2017
www.pbs.org/newshour/sho…— bennythesnitch.bsky.social (@bennythesnitch.bsky.social) July 31, 2025 at 1:34 PM
===
DNI Tulsi Gabbard retweets Roger Stone praising her on Alex Jones. (Read that sentence, IC ppl in Five Eyes)
Roger Stone was in direct contact w/the GRU hackers who dropped the Clinton emails, just to be clear. He knows full well whose campaign Russia reached out to. These people are brazen liars.— Renee DiResta (@noupside.bsky.social) July 31, 2025 at 4:41 PM
===
I’m sitting here with 70 pages printed and a highlighter and it feels like a DDOS by random documents. It’s a framing game — toss out a bunch of stuff, make strong claims about treason and Soros, and hope it sticks before other people can get the actual facts out.
— Renee DiResta (@noupside.bsky.social) July 31, 2025 at 10:13 PM
War for Ukraine Day 1,253: The Cost
Old Dan and Little Ann
It never ends. The fuckery.
danielx
As I have said to myself to a daily basis for – since 2016 actually – these fuckin’ people….
mrmoshpotato
For the morning – I am too tired and a bit tipsy.
For you night owls of tonight – MVP Kamala Harris EXTENDED INTERVIEW with Stephen Colbert (30 mins)
SpaceUnit
Everything always points back to Russia and Putin. Including Epstein.
opiejeanne
It’s just too much, and I can’t.
I just fucking can’t.
NotMax
From last evening.
A lady named Harris on a show named Late.
;)
NotMax
mrtipsypotato got there while I was busy watching it.
:)
Aussie Sheila
I watched the Harris interview with Colbert on yt this afternoon. I don’t care who the Dems select as their Presidential candidate for the 2028 election.
But I care very much that the candidate, if successful, appoints an absolute Rottweiler as AG. I don’t need to add ‘competent’ because that is a given. But in this instance, the AG needs to be ‘fast and furious’. No leisurely ‘settling in’, no ‘comity’, nothing but determination to implement a plan that should be ready to go from Day 1.
Every person who has broken the law, defied the Courts, trampled on civil and political rights and otherwise conducted themselves contrary to the law and Constitution needs to be investigated, indicted and tried.
Bring the fire next time.
Tony Jay
Russia spends billions on sending a rocket to the moon where cosmonauts carve the words WE DID IT! into the surface in ten mile high glowing letters. Russian troll-farms send a coordinated message to every computer in the world containing cast-iron evidence of long term anti-Democratic collusion between Trump, the Republican Party and the Russian Government. Putin makes a prime time statement from Red Square with video footage of the private calls he’s had with Trump where Donny calls him ‘Boss’ and is made to sing songs from ‘Cats’, in Russian, while Vlad laughs.
US Media – “Shattering revelations today…”
Trump Spokescreep – “Nuh-Uh. Nuh-Uh. Wasn’t us. It was the Demorats!”
US Media – (Heavy sigh. Lighting lowered. Ominous music) “Dramatic scenes today as President Trump hit back at his enemies, accusing Democrat leaders of treason. Over to independent analyst Roger Stone to answer the burning question, who is telling the truth?”
Aussie sheila
@Tony Jay:
Yes. All of that. But this can be beaten back. If people are interested in bringing a bazooka to a gun fight.
frosty
@Aussie sheila: Well, sorry, I don’t have a bazooka. But I’ll bring a sign to stand with a crowd. If we get up to 11,000,000 (3.5%) regularly the Republican Congress is going to break with MAGA.
Other than donating to WaterGirl’s thermometers, that’s all I got.
prostratedragon
Aussie sheila
@frosty:
Heh! I get it. I’m not referring to rank and file Dems and partisans. I’m referring to electeds at all levels. The quality of those accepting the nomination of Democratic Party members needs to be forensically investigated, before they get the nomination.
Baud
I can’t believe that was published by the NYT. It reads like actual journalism.
Baud
Some people fantasized that Trump would be strong on antitrust.
DMcK
@Baud:
Maybe they’ll hire Alex Jones as a columnist for the sake of consistency.
prostratedragon
They do a mean fish boil up in Door County.
Aussie Sheila
@prostratedragon:
Possession of child porn or suspected child abuse should be a major topic of Democratic oppo research going forward.
Maga creeps are just the absolute fit for such criminality.
And in any case it would be irresponsible not to speculate.
The Unmitigated Gaul
@Aussie Sheila:
“But I care very much that the candidate, if successful, appoints an absolute Rottweiler as AG.”
10,000%
Betty Cracker
@Aussie Sheila: Agree with all of this. I’m also interested in seeing a campaign that emphasizes investigation and, where appropriate, zealous prosecution for public corruption. It’s a problem that long predates Trump, but thanks to him and the many other rich crooks in this administration, public corruption has reached crisis levels that threaten the country’s prosperity. Make thieves fear prosecution again!
Another thing Democrats who aspire to restore democracy need to sort out in the senate primaries: do sitting senators up for reelection and candidates for U.S. Senate seats support nuking the filibuster? That’s a litmus test for me because reform will require bold action on a simple majority vote.
Manchin and Sinema were the turds in the punchbowl last time around, but there were always rumors that other filibuster-phile senators were hiding behind their skirts. I don’t know how accurate that is, but I think we need to find out.
Aussie Sheila
@Betty Cracker:
100% on all those litmus tests.
They need to be applied forensically to every wannabe who fronts a Dem Committee for nomination.
I have been on such committees. They are very, very important. The time for harsh words and forensic investigation is prior to any endorsement. Particularly in a situation where Party discipline is well nigh non existent.
Baud
@Aussie Sheila:
We don’t have committees for nomination. It’s a free for all
ETA: Potential candidates should be run by Balloon Juice.
BellyCat
Comedy gold.
Roger Stone isn’t dead yet, politically or literally? Remarkable.
Betty Cracker
@Baud:
We’re uniquely qualified to separate the wheat from the chaff! The downside is, probably most of the candidates would abandon their political ambitions and emigrate to other countries after running through this buzzsaw.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud:
You might even say a jungle*.
*In selected states.
Aussie Sheila
@Baud:
So you don’t have Democratic Clubs/ groups in Counties? In city electorates? I find that hard to believe. Where there is people there can be organisation.
Ask me how I know.
Allowing a ‘free for all’ after this clusterfuck is democratic malpractice. Absolute madness.
Baud
@Betty Cracker:
“America is unsalvageable. I’m outta here.”
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA:
Good to see you.
Baud
@Aussie Sheila:
We have organizations. We don’t have specific committees for nomination.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: And our organizations can’t tell someone not to run.
Aussie Sheila
@Baud:
Well such committees can be built, even if on an informal basis and organised people can ensure they build such committees and organise to support proper partisan candidates. It’s a nonsense to say that a political Party can only throw up their hands and throw candidate selection to the winds.
Absolute nonsense, and democratic malpractice.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@Aussie Sheila: I mean if Baud wants to run for office, say President, there’s no party organization that can tell him to not run.
Baud
@Aussie Sheila:
Malpractice or no, the number of people who would support a screening committee is approximately zero.
The party isn’t going to impose something people hate.
Aussie Sheila
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA:
No one in my polity can tell someone not to run. No one. As it should be.
But no one, absolutely no one runs on an ALP ticket who hasn’t been endorsed by the appropriate level of Party endorsement for such position. Such endorsements vary of course between say a Senate position, and for example, a position on a local Council.
But in every circumstance, no matter how high or how local, Party endorsement is fundamental to being able to call on resources, meaning people and money. And absent those resources it’s hard to get elected. And our law ensures that no one who isn’t an endorsed candidate of a political Party gets to run as such.
It’s called ‘truth in advertising’.
Any fucker who tried to run as xyz endorsed ALP or LNP endorsed candidate who hadn’t actually received that endorsement would never appear on a ballot. Never.
Aussie Sheila
@Baud:
So are you saying that organisation that ensures a properly partisan Democratic nominee emerges from a bunch of wannabes would be ‘hated’ by Party partisans and supporters?
Are you sure?
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
I hope the next Democratic administration applies the same screws Trump did to Big Law to make them go after all the lawbreakers in this administration pro bono. I hope they go after every Ivy League college that caved. Sick antitrust lawsuits on all the surrender in advance corporations. Take away large chunks of wealth that’s in stocks, and redistribute the shares to the American public. Pass a law that CEOs etc can only be compensated with salaries subject to income tax. No more giving them a pile of stock instead of or in addition to. That’d be a good start as far as economic reforms go.
Baud
@Aussie Sheila:
100%
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@Aussie Sheila: Anyone can file to run as a Democrat(or Republican), party organizations don’t usually endorse candidates in primaries*.
*There are exceptions, the congressional campaign committee will endorse incumbents, since that’s what they were created for.
Betty Cracker
@Aussie Sheila: Baud is right. The DNC and state party orgs are often pilloried for rigging elections because some individuals within the group have a candidate preference, even if there’s no official action that supports the bias charge. People are really hostile to and suspicious of anyone who might put a thumb on the scale.
What we do have — and this may be what you’re getting at — are ways to get clarity on candidate positions.
Aussie Sheila
@Baud:
After the clusterfuck of the last decade I’m not so sure.
I know the term ‘Party discipline’ means the gulags are nigh in the US. But curiously, it only seems to apply to the Democratic Party.
I have noted with interest the alacrity with which the fascist right in the US has seized on this organisational capacity and utilised it to smash large sections of the US Constitution, attack judges, and form internal militias to hunt down otherwise law abiding residents and citizens.
It appears that the gop has grasped something important and turned it against democratic self rule.
How about the US centre left tries something that ensures nothing like this ever happens again?
Baud
@Aussie Sheila:
If Dems had consensus on what to do, we probably wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.
You can just create consensus among millions of diverse people out of thin air, or impose it on people from above.
What the Republicans have achieved is the result of a half century of dedication and perseverance.
BellyCat
Various orgs will offer endorsements of a candidate that is ALREADY running, but they do NOT select who can or should run. Among these, The League of Women Voters is generally a reliable guide, looked to by many.
Aussie Sheila
@Betty Cracker:
Well if that’s the only way you can do it, it needs to be done. What’s wrong with calling Dem Clubs/organisations to ensure that wannabes front every Club/organisation in the relevant electorate to answer questions and defend their past associations and positions? I just don’t get it.
No one should be able to front for a political Party that doesn’t have the confidence of every level of Party organisation appropriate to the position they are seeking.
It’s fucking outrageous, and I suspect that the distrust people feel in the US towards their political institutions is rooted in the fact that you don’t get what you voted for.
Baud
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA:
Party committees or officials will try to recruit candidates, like they did with Cooper in NC.
I don’t know if anyone is running against Cooper in the primary, but I can’t think of a situation where a committee formally endorses a candidate who’s not an incumbent.
prostratedragon
Today’s weather in Chicago.
Fire map.
BellyCat
Unlimited and anonymous donor cash is a core problem.
The GOP delights in changing the rules, regardless of the rules, and monied interests fuel this raging fire for which there is no penalty for violating and immense profits to be had. Meanwhile, Dems wish to follow the rules to change rules the GOP refuse to change.
This cycle will continue until Citizens United is overturned. (Narrator: Which is unlikely for several generations, if ever)
Professor Bigfoot
I pie TWO PEOPLE and suddenly the entire frickin’ thread is desserts.
Christ.
Aussie Sheila
@BellyCat:
I understand the angst re the Citizens United decision.
But the rich always have more money, up till now. But social democratic Parties in other polities have managed to overcome the money deficit with forensic attention to organisation and discipline.
In any case, that decision appears to have less force in a time when small ‘dollar donors’ can be poured into particular races or contests.
Betty Cracker
@Aussie Sheila:
Nothing, and that’s absolutely what happens now here. There are nonpartisan civic organizations like the League of Women Voters, etc., plus a slew of activist groups (environmental, industry, LGBTQ, immigration, etc.) that vet candidates in various ways and inform voters of how they stack up, but these organizations are separate from the Democratic Party.
Anyway
My impression that Cheetolini was out of it and checked out for this term appears to be off the mark. Looks like he bullied Hawley into changing the wording about members of congress stock market dealings. He pushed Texas into changing the redistricting maps. Plus he’s gotta be behind all the tacky gold stuff … sure he has lots of minions but he looks to be more involved than I thought. All that evil chaos isn’t going to just happen. sigh
Aussie Sheila
@Betty Cracker:
I understand. But it’s a pity that the ‘free wheeling’ ‘issue organisations’ don’t appear to think that consolidation under a single Party umbrella yields any policy results.
It’s exactly the opposite here.
Geminid
@Aussie Sheila: Minnesota’s state Democratic Party holds district conventions at the congressional or state legislative level to endorse candidates. These are held a few weeks before primaries but are not binding; registered Democrats choose between all candidates who qualify under state rules, not party rules.
It’s an even looser system in Virginia where I live. We don’t have conventions or even party registration. If a candidate gets the requisite petition signatures and pays the filing fee, they get on the ballot and the voters decide.
In 2024, there were two open congressional races due to retirements. Rep. Jennifer Wexton retired from her 10th CD seat for health reasons and Abigail Spanberger rstired in order to run for governor. In the 10th CD State Senator Suhas Subramanian won out over two other state legislators and assorted others. In the the 7th CD, retired Army colonel Eugene Vindman beat a couple state legislators and a county commissioner from the district’s largest county.
Both men won in November. Subramanyam is more the norm; most new House members have experience and a track record as state legislator or mayor. That was true for 26 out of 31 new members in the Democratic House class of 2022.
I consider both Vindman and Subramanyam to be capable politicians and legislators. Almost all our newly elected Representatives are. That includes the minority who never held elective office, people like Sharice Davids from Kansas and Maxwell Frost from Florida.
But you wouldn’t know this, because while you care enough to express strong opinions about American politics, you do not seem interested in learning more about them. You just ride into here on the same old hobby horse, beating the same old drum.
For various reasons, I became interested in Turkish politics a couple years ago. One thing I’ve come to realize as I learn is how much I have yet to know. I think you do not understand this with regards to American politics.
I suggest you start learning what you do not know. Pick a couple of next year’s Congressional races and study them; maybe the Illinois 9th CD, a safe Democratic district with a seat opened by Rep. Jan Schakowski’s retirement; and maybe the Pennsylvania district held by Republican Rep. Bresnahan.* That’s a swing district that Democrats flipped in 2018 and Republicans flipped back last year.
These primaries will be covered extensively in state and media reporting that can be easily accessed. You could learn a lot about Democratic Party politics in general if you studied them with an open and curious mind.
* That would be the Pennsylvania 9th CD held by Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan
Ed. And please don’t think I’m picking on you in particular. Many Democrats are not very interested in politics at the Congressional district level, but I think that’s where people can learn the most.
Betty
@Anyway: He is involved in a limited number of things that matter to him and his fragile ego. As for governing the country, nah.
For a bracing look at what helps explain the country’s current predicament, I recommend reading the new article published by The American Prospect, Making America Epstein Again. It’s not pretty.
Dorothy A. Winsor
In all of this, it’s “secret room” that my mind snags on. What in god’s name is that? A room the FBI didn’t know was there? How is that possible?
prostratedragon
Tiresome m.f. part 1733:
ETA I actually wouldn’t disregard this attempted rationalization, for now at least.
Librettist
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Loosely translated? They found Patel cowering in his panic room.
The satanic panic bosh doesn’t work from inside the house. That’s a different beat.
Tony Jay
@Betty Cracker:
Sitting in a tiny Turkish airport waiting for a flight to Istanbul, so just spitballing.
Would it be useful for the Democratic Party to come up with an approved online template for making potential candidate manifestos easily accessible for the voting public?
Canvas the various state membership organisations, ask Party members what they think the major issues a candidate needs to be clear on are. They’ll likely be a bit different for each state/district, which in itself provides useful information, they feed into the template where each potential candidate for a Democratic nomination has to give their position on each issue. Plus, the template has extra areas where the potential candidate can explain their position on other issues they feel are important.
Everyone who thinks that maybe they’ve got something to offer has an easy to access place they can make their case. Anyone interested can dip in, shop around, test the quality. People can sign up as ‘interested’ or ‘opposed’, if they like, issue by issue, and provide feedback, again, if they like.
It’ll take work and time, but it gives the Democratic Party a pool of potential candidates for races big and small, and a way to check what issues are important, to who, and who seems to be generating buzz amongst the Party faithful, and who definitely does not.
Pretty soon it’ll devolve into a bear-baiting jackal pit with added merch potential, but in the meantime, useful?
Librettist
Republicans have become Sam Neill in In the Mouth of Madness, but the Democrats are too busy yelling at each other like a lost mom & dad on family vacation to do much about it.
Baud
@Tony Jay:
There are a number of improvements that could be made on basic communications, especially at the state and local level. The apparatus is really outdated.
Frankly, most Democratic organizations really operate like a small business rather than an Amazon or an Apple. I’m not sure why that is, but it is that way.
Tony Jay
@Baud:
Then on your candidate application that can be one of your specific Baudian issues. Along with eliminating the national debt and exploring the feasibility of a national pant ban.
Betty Cracker
@Geminid: That’s an uncharacteristically harsh assessment, IMO. Just about everyone who discusses politics here approaches the subject with a “you’re doing it wrong” lens; it’s just the targets that vary.
It seems like we used to assume more good faith from other commenters than we currently do, but now we more readily revert to subtweets and cliques and ostentatious use of the pie filter to “other” each other.
But I’m getting old, and my memory of the community from a dozen years ago is no doubt infused with unwarranted nostalgia. I mean, I remember the “cudlip” person and the Omnes stalker! So it wasn’t all good… 🤔
Betty Cracker
@Tony Jay: I like that idea! There are venues that serve a similar function — local paper candidate interviews, ballotpedia sites, etc. But as Baud pointed out, they’re disparate. A central clearinghouse might well be useful.
Have fun in Istanbul! I hear it’s marvelous!
Baud
@Tony Jay: I can ask AI to come up with a list of interrogatories for Dem candidates to answer.
@Betty Cracker:
I don’t remember this place ever being pleasant.
Geminid
@Betty Cracker: During last year’s primary contest between Rep. Jamaal Bowman and Westchester County Executive George Latimer, I saw there were Democratic clubs in the various Towns of Westchester County– White Plains, Rye Township etc. They held meetings where they invited candidates to speak, followed by meetings to endorse. I think this is more of a local or regional practice.
One independent organization, VoteVets, was instrumental in Eugene Vindman’s primary win in the Virginia 7th CD last year. This seemed like a fairly singular event, but VoteVets was active in other races as well.
Independent organizations like VoteVets and David Hogg’s PAC will be in the mix when Democrats hold primaries for next year’s midterms. That will be an interesting aspect, especially in the open seat races.
I’m considering starting my own PAC: The Club for Sloth. I might not get around to it though.
Gin & Tonic
Steering away from US politics and pie fights, yesterday RIA Novosti, russian state media, published an article saying “we have no choice, we have to kill everyone in Ukraine.” In case their motivations were not already clear.
Splitting Image
@Betty Cracker:
I started reading during the Obama-Clinton primary campaign. Good faith was the exception rather than the rule even then.
And that was before Twitter began its rise to the top of the news heap. A lot of the time even when a commenter is writing in good faith, the twit they are quoting isn’t.
You need a degree in Kremlinology to follow the news at all these days.
Geminid
@Tony Jay: I saw that New Lines Magazine just put up an article about British politics and the new party launched last month. I haven’t read the article yet but I expect it’s good, like every New Lines article I’ve read so far. I’ll link to it here before too long.
I hope you have a great visit to Istanbul. Please tell us about it when you have the time. I understand that place has changed a lot since Jason and the Argonauts sailed by 3,000 years ago.
Geminid
@Gin & Tonic: I saw that Syria’s Foreign and Defense Ministers visited Moscow yesterday, and that Steve Witkoff will fly on to Moscow when he finishes his visit to Israel and Gaza today.
prostratedragon
@Gin & Tonic: They’ve said that more than once lately, as I recall. And of course Echo over here has said it of the Gazans.
Geminid
@Betty Cracker: I didn’t think it was that harsh, at least not in intent. If you read the one judgemental paragraph in the context of the other thirteen, I think you’ll see I’m trying to help this commenter learn more about a political system different from their own.
I’ve gone ’round and ’round with this commenter on these issues over many threads. I don’t assume bad faith and I’ve defended them on that score. But I can tell there is a knowledge deficit on their part.
This is a common phenomenon: people can care about problems but still not be interested enough to learn more about them.
Soprano2
@Gin & Tonic: Wow, that’s….not as shocking as it should be. It will probably be ignored by most of U.S. media.
BellyCat
This. “Hey Jackals, my bias should be your bias. Let’s ostracize this person, together!”
The pie filter is one of my least favorite aspects of this joint. Sure, some people want to avoid others. But, please to keep this decision to yourself rather than attempting to gin up prejudice against others like some kind of Mean Girls episode.
(Not picking on PBF, specifically, but given his ardent commitment to calling out prejudice, which I appreciate, hopefully he, too, sees the bigger concern.)
espierce
@Geminid:
Now that’s my kind of club, except I don’t want to be a member of any kind of club that would want me for a member!
lowtechcyclist
@Geminid:
I hereby declare this to be a TBG morning:
Istanbul not Constantinople
…after killing Jason off and countless screaming Argonauts…
Geminid
@BellyCat: I’ve never pied anybody, but I have no problem if other people do. What cracks me up is when they threaten to pie somebody. I feel like the guy in the bathtub in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: “If you’re gonna pie, don’t talk– pie!”
hueyplong
@Gin & Tonic: Next they’ll issue a press release saying they’re forced to continue their campaign because nits grow into lice.
Soprano2
@Geminid: The only time I have pied people was last July, for my sanity. I think the couple of people I pied either aren’t here or got banned. I’m like you, I tend not to like that.
Soprano2
@mrmoshpotato: Man, I listened to this and now my heart is breaking more over what we could have had. I saw her last night, but of course this has parts they didn’t air. She said she predicted a lot of what is happening, but didn’t foresee the capitulation by so many.
tobie
My first response on hearing the rightwing spin on the Durham annex was, “Leave Hillary Clinton alone.” She doesn’t need me defending her. She must have nerves of steel. But, my gosh, how much can Republicans and the press harass this woman, who remains in my opinion a brilliant mind in all areas of policy and an honorable public servant.
WaterGirl
@Professor Bigfoot: If you pie someone, all the replies to that person also show up as dessert.
Geminid
@Soprano2: One thing that struck me last July was the upsurge in troll activity here. Some of it seemed coordinated. A few of these people got themselves banned, and the rest seemed to drift away once there was no longer a crisis to exploit.
sab
@Professor Bigfoot: That happens to me all the time.
Miss Bianca
@Geminid: I noticed that too. I had to take a break from this place for months after last July. Just couldn’t hack it.
NotMax
@Geminid
You must have been around for the whole JEB!/Brink’s trucks antics.
satby
@Geminid: Your reply to AS wasn’t harsh at all. The commenter has been told repeatedly how erroneous many of her impressions about how politics in this country “should” work are. You were kind enough to suggest a specific way she could become better informed, which extends way more grace than is probably deserved.
Shalimar
@Geminid: I don’t really get why Steve Witkoff is still doing anything. He’s extremely rich, and it is very clear that he is completely impotent in the job he’s supposed to be doing. He has accomplished nothing. Why is he putting up with the way Israel and Russia both treat him?
Geminid
@NotMax: I wasn’t around for that. I started lurking here in 2019, after I saw an Adam Silverman post about the Justice Democrats chief on a site with the odd name “Balloon Juice.” My first comment was early in 2020, about Stacey Abrams.
I remember it because I misnamed Brian Kemp “Jack Kemp.” Of course the error was quickly pointed out.
Geminid
@Shalimar: I won’t judge Witkoff’s “impotence” until the end of this year. Last January he pushed the first Gaza ceasefire through over Netanyahu’s objections. The problem I thought was that Witkoff took his eye off the ball and let the slippery Netanyah wriggle out of his commitments. That could be because he was juggling the Russia and Iran portfolios also and was spread too thin.
Witkoff’s only qualification for his job is that he has Trump’s confidence. That has worked out well so far in the case of Tom Barrack, Trump’s Ambassador to Turkiye. Barrack is also Special Envoy for Syria and has the Lebanon portfolio for now.
But unlike Witkoff, Barrack has knowledge of the region. That and the fact that the various players in the region know he has Trump’s confidence makes Barrack effective.
This is a very personalized form of diplomacy, and it can be hit or miss as Witkoff demonstrates. But Biden’s team was highly professional in qualifications and they did not do much better.
Snarki, child of Loki
…it seems that the clue that it was a Russian operation to fake up email to Clinton was the “!kremvax!” in the email path.
Gin & Tonic
@Snarki, child of Loki: Boy, you have to be pretty old to get that (I am and I do.)
Tony Jay
@Baud:
By the incandescent rage of Ghandi, please no.
“Welcome, fellow Democrat. Our community wonders if you have any opinions on [THE CRISIS OF URBAN CRIMINALITY] or [HITLER – HOT OR NOT]?”
We have landed, in Istanbul. I want a shower, an Efes beer and a lamb shank, stat.
Tony Jay
@Geminid:
That sounds interesting, I’ll give it a look when I get a moment.
We’re heading to the district of Kadikoy across the water from Fatih, the ‘Old Constantinople’ part of this HUGE city. We were in Fatih a few weeks ago doing the usual tourist thing before heading down to the south coast for the ritual burning and scourging with salt water part of the holiday.
Time for chilled time in cafes, a ride on a ferry, and maybe some shopping.
Quiltingfool
@Aussie sheila: Bazooka? Hell, no. Bring on the Hellfires!
dnfree
@Professor Bigfoot: Eh, just skip the people you don’t want to read. It gets too confusing otherwise.
dnfree
@Betty Cracker: What is sad is that these civic and other organizations do all the work of interviewing candidates and assembling questionnaire replies and holding candidate forums and such, and many voters ignore them completely. Sometimes a candidate who refused to answer the questionnaires or attend the forums wins, because their name sounds attractive or relatable. There was a candidate in Chicago years ago who legally changed his last name to something that sounded Irish.
Matt McIrvin
@Geminid: I remember first hearing of this place as a right-wing blog with an unusually thoughtful proprietor. Jumped in shortly after John flipped.
lurker
@Gin & Tonic: @Snarki, child of Loki:
Agreed. kremvax … what a thought … that one will stay with me for a little while
Mr. Bemused Senior
@lurker: oh the memories! ihnp4 springs to mind
davek319
@Aussie Sheila: Opposition research. Must be a considerable sheeit load of recently out-of-work legal eagle investigative types who would definitely have a fistful of axes to grind. C’mon, DNC! Spend some of those millions you’ve squeezed out of the faithful, put the diggers to work, and get your most fighty forward faces to start the endless barrage! You DO know how to play this goddamn game, right? Right???
Chris T.
@Mr. Bemused Senior: “seismo bangs everybody”