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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

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Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

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

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

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

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

“They all knew.”

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

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

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It’s the corruption, stupid.

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

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Friday Morning Open Thread: Trump Take… Everything

Friday Morning Open Thread: Trump Take… Everything

by Anne Laurie|  September 12, 20255:40 am| 258 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Show Us on the Doll Where the Invisible Hand Touched You, Trump Crime Cartel

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Inflation moved higher last month as the price of gas, groceries, hotel rooms and airfare rose, along with the cost of clothes and used cars.
[image or embed]

— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) September 11, 2025 at 8:52 AM

===

Inflation jumps as Trump and Powell confront a weakening labor market.
[image or embed]

— Politico (@politico.com) September 11, 2025 at 11:55 AM

… Until recently, Powell and most other central bankers have been reluctant to lower short-term borrowing costs out of fear that it might further stoke inflation. Powell’s unwillingness to bend has enraged Trump and top White House officials, who’ve since launched investigations into the Fed chair’s oversight of a costly renovation of the central bank’s headquarters and attempted to fire Fed Gov. Lisa Cook over allegations of mortgage fraud.

But Trump’s tariffs have added hundreds of billions of dollars in costs for domestic companies that rely on imported goods. Most companies have either absorbed the tariffs or relied on pre-tariff inventories. Yet there’s a broad expectation among economists — which was bolstered by Thursday’s inflation report — that those costs will be reflected in higher consumer prices, which may mean even more inflation in the year to come.

“We witnessed a widening breadth of inflation pressures in August and saw upticks in some trade-exposed sectors for the first time (new motor vehicles) — setting a concerning precedent for the inflation trajectory in the months ahead,” said Carrie Freestone, a U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets.

That could create challenges for Trump and Republicans as they prepare for the 2026 midterms. Voters are highly sensitive to rising prices — particularly since pandemic-era inflation — and the August CPI report found that the cost of household staples is growing rapidly…

“President Trump promised to lower costs on ‘day one,’ but instead his chaotic tariffs and disastrous economic agenda are driving prices higher,” said Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee.

===

JPMORGAN: “.. inflation is set to have far exceeded the 2% target for five straight years. .. In each year of the expansion, J.P. Morgan and central banks have projected inflation to fall in the coming year, and each year inflation has overshot.”

[image or embed]

— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) September 9, 2025 at 2:31 PM

===

Talked to 23 people who suddenly have to pay huge tariffs or otherwise cannot get chainmail from Pakistan, yarn from France, retro computers from Japan, metal music from the Netherlands, DVDs from Germany, cosplay supplies, sunscreen, etc.
www.404media.co/its-just-a-m…

[image or embed]

— Jason Koebler (@jasonkoebler.bsky.social) September 9, 2025 at 10:12 AM

===

Liars lying as fast as they can move their lips…

Lutnick: "I would say the first quarter of next year will be the best quarter of construction jobs this country has ever seen, and that's gonna roll all the way through '26. So I think you're gonna see GDP growth next year over 4%."

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) September 11, 2025 at 10:24 AM

===

Wait, we were told that the tariffs were bringing in trillions of zillions of dollars. Could that, possibly, have been a lie?

[image or embed]

— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@mrsbettybowers.bsky.social) September 11, 2025 at 5:45 PM

===

The ‘obvious’ solution:

The Trump administration has asked an appeals court to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors by Monday, before the central bank’s next vote on interest rates.
[image or embed]

— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) September 11, 2025 at 4:01 PM

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    258Comments

    1. 1.

      Shalimar

      September 12, 2025 at 5:54 am

      It would be hilarious in a depressingly horrible way if Cook was a vote to lower interest rates but Trump successfully gets her removed and appoints some idiot like Marco Rubio who then votes no.

      Reply
    2. 2.

      p.a.

      September 12, 2025 at 6:05 am

      The Incompetence Wheel Of Misfortune spins this week and lands on… Kash Patel, come on down!

      RFJ Jr. breathes a sigh of relief and chugs a tumbler of sewer water.

      Who will be next?  It’s hard to read the names, there’s so many, and the pie wedges on the wheel are so narrow.
      Just rest assured, there will be no accountability.

      Reply
    3. 3.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 6:10 am

      Lutnick: “I would say the first quarter of next year will be the best quarter of construction jobs this country has ever seen, and that’s gonna roll all the way through ’26. So I think you’re gonna see GDP growth next year over 4%.”

      Always be closing.

      Reply
    4. 4.

      Wilson Heath

      September 12, 2025 at 6:11 am

      Clearly, when the asshole trying to fire her was convicted of felony mortgage fraud, the American people have let it be known that mortgage fraud is not disqualifying for any office of trust in the United States.  Hell, it would probably help a a candidate in a GOP senate primary.

      Reply
    5. 5.

      MagdaInBlack

      September 12, 2025 at 6:12 am

      I flip back and forth between marveling at the complete absurdity of these people and horror at what they are doing to this country.

      Currently I’m in the horror phase

      p.s.  I’ve had my eye on a gorgeous cotton velvet robe on etsy, and it finally fell to a price I was willing to pay. BUT, it comes from India, and I have no idea what it would cost me in the end. So, no robe for me, no sale for them. Nice work, trump.

      Reply
    6. 6.

      Deputinize America

      September 12, 2025 at 6:14 am

      @Baud:

      Lutnick is like the 16 year old boy who swears “I’ll pull out – I promise”.

      The check is always in the mail with that asshole.

      Reply
    7. 7.

      Betty Cracker

      September 12, 2025 at 6:16 am

      Re: Nutlick’s claims about next year’s GDP, as Steve M said on Bluesky, “Every financial con man tells you that the big payoff is right around the corner.” Yep.

      Reply
    8. 8.

      suzanne

      September 12, 2025 at 6:18 am

      I would say the first quarter of next year will be the best quarter of construction jobs this country has ever seen, and that’s gonna roll all the way through ’26.

      I wish I knew what goddamn wizards and dragons fantasy novel Lutnick was reading here. Because, uhhhh, this is not what industry data projects.

      Reply
    9. 9.

      Deputinize America

      September 12, 2025 at 6:18 am

      @MagdaInBlack:

      My horror is with the feckless assholes who believe the declarations of Trump and Lutnick.

      If I had a Time Machine to arrange ONE trip to change a single event, I’d use it to set a breakfast meeting between Trump and Lutnick at Cantor Fitzgerald in the WTC at 8:30 AM on 9/11/2001.

      Reply
    10. 10.

      Geminid

      September 12, 2025 at 6:19 am

      Trump take BlueSky posts

      Ed. But now the post are showing. Annie Laurie take ’em back!

      Reply
    11. 11.

      Shalimar

      September 12, 2025 at 6:21 am

      Senior Russian officials encourage Americans to blame leftists and Ukraine supporters for conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s murder — Meduza

      Another reason to despise Kirk.  Russia considered him an ally.

      Reply
    12. 12.

      lowtechcyclist

      September 12, 2025 at 6:29 am

      The last time we had stagflation, during the Nixon/Ford/Carter years, it was due to external circumstances: the Arab and Iranian oil embargos of 1973-74 and 1979-80.

      This time, it’s entirely due to Trump. Thank you, MAGAts, you’re doing this to yourselves -and unfortunately to all the rest of us as well.

      Reply
    13. 13.

      prostratedragon

      September 12, 2025 at 6:29 am

      @Deputinize America:  Wonder if he’s in Bloomberg’s cache of emails.

      Reply
    14. 14.

      prostratedragon

      September 12, 2025 at 6:30 am

      @suzanne:  Beware the conditional.

      Reply
    15. 15.

      Shalimar

      September 12, 2025 at 6:30 am

      I won’t look for the story this early in the morning, but whenever the jobs report came out (last week?), there was an article in I think the Washington Post credulously repeating some administration official saying that an interest rate cut would help with the jobs and at least inflation is completely under control.  The article then cited intentionally misleading statistics to “prove” it.  Not sure who they were trying to fool, because every single thing I have to buy is getting more expensive.

      Reply
    16. 16.

      prostratedragon

      September 12, 2025 at 6:34 am

      This protest sign in South Korea says everything about US efforts to lure foreign manufacturing investment. 🤡

      @apnews.com

      Reply
    17. 17.

      Jeffg166

      September 12, 2025 at 6:34 am

      @p.a.:

      Stealing  that.

      Reply
    18. 18.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 6:41 am

      @Shalimar:

      No reporter wants to receive the Matthew Dowd treatment.

      Reply
    19. 19.

      Geminid

      September 12, 2025 at 6:42 am

      @Shalimar: One reason the administration wants lower interests rates is to lower borrowing costs, which in turn would lower the federal deficit. Trump’s big ugly bill entails close to $2 trillions deficits per year. This is a real sore point for conservative Republicans and a potential weakness for the party in next year’s midterms.

      Reply
    20. 20.

      Shalimar

      September 12, 2025 at 6:45 am

      Stephen King is getting insults from Ted Cruz for accurately imo summarizing this statement by Kirk:

      x.com/patriottakes/status/1800678317030564306

      Reply
    21. 21.

      Ned F.

      September 12, 2025 at 6:46 am

      https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/health/usaid-contraceptives-destroyed-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.lU8.J3z8.qtPlx2SH2XI7&smid=url-share

      Russel Voight Still fighting waste fraud and abuse.

      Reply
    22. 22.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 6:48 am

      @Shalimar:

      There’s few badges of honor greater than being attacked by Ted Cruz.

      Reply
    23. 23.

      prostratedragon

      September 12, 2025 at 6:55 am

      Sun-Times:

      As the federal attacks on immigrant communities in Chicago intensify ahead of the Mexican Independence Day celebrations, people have taken to social media to call on others to bring out their flags and drive to the Trump Tower in protest.

      trib.al/xYGkk7X

      Reply
    24. 24.

      Betty Cracker

      September 12, 2025 at 6:56 am

      @Baud: I got blocked by Mike Huckabee and Dan Bongino when I was still on Twitter. Gotta make a note in my will to direct the executors to include that in my obituary! ;-}

      Reply
    25. 25.

      J.

      September 12, 2025 at 7:00 am

      Every day, I think I can’t get more depressed by the news/Republicans, and every day I’ve been proven wrong.

      The so-called financial geniuses Trump has surrounded himself with, as well as the sycophantic CEOs, will only possibly turn on Trump when the stock market crashes. They don’t care about non-multimillionaires.

      On a related note, I feel bad for hobbyists and people who sell crafts/their work on etsy. The tariffs are killing them.

      Reply
    26. 26.

      mrmoshpotato

      September 12, 2025 at 7:05 am

      @p.a.:

      The Incompetence Wheel Of Misfortune spins this week and lands on… Kash Patel, come on down! 

      How dare you not include Jeopardy and Martin Short’s new version of Match Game into this?  And were you even thinking of Family Feud?  For shame!

      Reply
    27. 27.

      matt

      September 12, 2025 at 7:11 am

      @Baud: if Tesla sells 10 million humanoid robots per year it could easily become an $8.5 trillion company.

      Reply
    28. 28.

      MagdaInBlack

      September 12, 2025 at 7:11 am

      @mrmoshpotato: trump folk all belong on The Gong Show.

      Reply
    29. 29.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 7:13 am

      @matt:

      It’s our fault for not having faith.

      Reply
    30. 30.

      New Deal democrat

      September 12, 2025 at 7:13 am

      @Geminid:

      One reason the administration wants lower interests rates is to lower borrowing costs, which in turn would lower the federal deficit.

      The fly in that ointment is that, in between the lowering of interest rates and the increase in things like construction, there is a recession. And if global investors don’t trust your fundamental economic soundness, they drive your long term interest rates *up*, not down (and that generally includes mortgage rates). Higher long term rates also mean higher rates financing the deficit.

      In that regard, the gyrations of the bond market have been interesting. The longest maturities have been trending higher for several years. In the last week they nose-dived, but that is all about the succession of weak reports from the employment sector.

      Reply
    31. 31.

      matt

      September 12, 2025 at 7:14 am

      @Shalimar: I think it’s funny that all these insane Republican women have taken Cruz out of the national spotlight. He rarely makes news any more.

      Reply
    32. 32.

      mrmoshpotato

      September 12, 2025 at 7:15 am

      @Shalimar: Can you share Cancun Cruz’s stupid battle with one of our nation’s greatest novelists?

      Reply
    33. 33.

      mrmoshpotato

      September 12, 2025 at 7:18 am

      @MagdaInBlack: Hahaha!  True!

      Reply
    34. 34.

      New Deal democrat

      September 12, 2025 at 7:19 am

      Tariffs actually *are* bringing $billions (not trillions!) to the Treasury.

      From the Treasury Department’s daily fiscal updates:

      • July 2025 vs. July 2024: $29.6 B vs. $8.7 B (+$20.9 B)
      • August 2025 vs. August 2024: $31.4 B vs. $8.9 B (+$22.5 B)

      The problems, of course, are that (1) it is coming out of domestic sellers’ and consumers’ pockets; and (2) 10* that amount is flying out the door to billionaires’ pockets via the Big Bad Bustout Bill.

      Reply
    35. 35.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 7:23 am

      @New Deal democrat:

      That’s the goal. Put the tax burden on regular folks and lower marginal income tax rates for the rich.

      Reply
    36. 36.

      Geminid

      September 12, 2025 at 7:25 am

      According to this morning’s Politico Playbook, Trump is scheduled to appear on Fox News this morning, in the 8am hour.

      He’ll head to New York City later. One item on the agenda: Trump, Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff will meet with Qatar’s Prime Minister. They’ll try to sooth hard feelings over the Israeli strike at Hamas officials in Doha.

      And there is a report on Texas Senate primary polling by Texas Public Opinion Research, of 800+ registered voters. On the Republican side: Senator John Cornyn 35%, Attorney General Ken Paxton 26%, Undecided 29%.

      In a hypothetical Democratic primary, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke led with 27%, with current Rep. Jasmine Crockett close behind at 26%. As of now, neither has entered the race. The two announced candidates, former Rep. Colin Allred and Texas state Senator James Talerico, got 13 and 7 percent respectively.

      Reply
    37. 37.

      rikyrah

      September 12, 2025 at 7:27 am

      Good Morning, Everyone😊😊😊

      Reply
    38. 38.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 7:29 am

      @rikyrah:

      Good morning.

      Reply
    39. 39.

      p.a

      September 12, 2025 at 7:29 am

      @New Deal democrat:

       

      @New Deal democrat:

       

      Well we can’t rely on the “independent” branches of gubmint or the “watchdog” MSM to counteract tRumpism, so bring on the economic fall motivation to penetrate real ‘Murcans’ skulls and maybe get some semblance of democracy back.

      Reply
    40. 40.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 7:33 am

      @Geminid:

      I wonder if his face will still be melting.

      Reply
    41. 41.

      Quantum man

      September 12, 2025 at 7:34 am

      Watched the video of the alleged shooter of Kirk in which the person dropping from the building is seen. Most obvious thing to me is he does not have a rifle but instead is loosely holding a jacket. Where is the rifle if he is the one? How did the rifle get in the woods?

      Reply
    42. 42.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 7:34 am

      No, Charlie Kirk Was Not Practicing Politics the Right Way

      His assassination deserves full condemnation; his full impact should not be sidestepped.

       

      David Corn

      Reply
    43. 43.

      Betty Cracker

      September 12, 2025 at 7:40 am

      @Geminid: It’ll be interesting to see how the TX Dem US Senate primary shakes out. Haven’t seen any indication Crockett is interested in running, have you? Don’t think Beto will run for a senate seat again, but who knows?

      I suspect Talarico is lagging behind Allred mostly due to lack of name recognition as the former has not yet run a statewide race. I think Talarico’s fame is mostly online at this point. I’m an old fart who is too online, but I hadn’t heard of him until recently, mostly because I don’t do TikTok or listen to Joe Rogan.

      The question is, can Talarico break through? From what I’ve seen of him, I think he can.

      Reply
    44. 44.

      Betty Cracker

      September 12, 2025 at 7:42 am

      @Quantum man: I read that the cops found a screwdriver in the woods with the gun, which could indicate the shooter disassembled the gun to make it fit in the backpack.

      Reply
    45. 45.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 7:45 am

      @Betty Cracker:

      Interesting. I wonder how long it takes to disassemble a gun with a screwdriver. After shooting someone, I’d be pretty anxious to get the hell out of there.

      Reply
    46. 46.

      lowtechcyclist

      September 12, 2025 at 7:53 am

      @Baud: ​

      I wonder if his face will still be melting.

      I’m ready for the rest of him to catch up with his face.

      Reply
    47. 47.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 7:54 am

      Maybe Trump’s face is sagging from having Putin’s member in his cheek for too long

      Poland rejects Trump’s suggestion that Russia’s drone raid “could have been a mistake”

      Reply
    48. 48.

      mappy!

      September 12, 2025 at 7:55 am

      Epstein files?

      Reply
    49. 49.

      snoey

      September 12, 2025 at 7:58 am

      @Baud: A typical bolt action rifle doesn’t easily disassemble and in addition to that we are to believe that the shooter re-assembled it prior to ditching it?

      Reply
    50. 50.

      kirbster

      September 12, 2025 at 7:58 am

      If the plan was to ditch the rifle anyway, why bother to remove it from the roof?

      Reply
    51. 51.

      Geo Wilcox

      September 12, 2025 at 7:58 am

      @J.: A pal of mine who supplies crafters with gems and silver sold part of her 401K to buy supplies ahead of the tariffs. she is selling everything like hot cakes at a county fair. She can barely keep up with it and hopes those de minimus tariffs are gone sooner than later for her own sanity.

      Reply
    52. 52.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 7:59 am

      @snoey:

      Another good point.

      Curiouser and curiouser.

      Reply
    53. 53.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 7:59 am

      @kirbster:

       
      And another.

      Reply
    54. 54.

      Geminid

      September 12, 2025 at 7:59 am

      @Betty Cracker: I don’t know about Crockett, but I have hunch O’Rourke runs, perhaps encouraged by this poll and the divisive Republican primary.

      It will have been 6 years since O’Rourke’s failed run in the Democratic presidential primary. I think that really set him back in state politics

      Ed. I think one sticking point for Talerico is: he’s not married. It shouldn’t be, but I think it will be.

      Reply
    55. 55.

      Betty Cracker

      September 12, 2025 at 8:06 am

      @kirbster: Yeah, you’re right — that doesn’t make much sense either. I guess it’s possible the shooter had planned to conceal or destroy the gun but then got spooked for some reason and ditched it in the woods.

      The larger concern is can we trust anything the ideologues who are personally overseeing the investigations tell us?

      Reply
    56. 56.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 8:06 am

      I like Crockett, but it’s hard to believe that after three decades Texas will finally come to its senses with a vocal black woman.

      Reply
    57. 57.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 8:08 am

      @Betty Cracker:

      Absolutely not. Everything they say should be tripled checked and verified.

      The worst outcome is them railroading an innocent person.

      Reply
    58. 58.

      Betty Cracker

      September 12, 2025 at 8:10 am

      @Geminid: I hadn’t thought of the marriage angle. Don’t know if that’s a sticking point or not. Shouldn’t be! But lots of things that shouldn’t be are.

      Reply
    59. 59.

      Jeffro

      September 12, 2025 at 8:14 am

      Talked to 23 people who suddenly have to pay huge tariffs or otherwise cannot get chainmail from Pakistan, yarn from France, retro computers from Japan, metal music from the Netherlands, DVDs from Germany, cosplay supplies, sunscreen, etc.

      “Alexa, what happens when a 19th-century mindset runs smack into a 21st-century global economy?”

      Reply
    60. 60.

      Jeffro

      September 12, 2025 at 8:17 am

      @Baud:Lutnick: “I would say the first quarter of next year will be the best quarter of construction jobs this country has ever seen, and that’s gonna roll all the way through ’26. So I think you’re gonna see GDP growth next year over 4%.”

      meanwhile, Lutnick is mentally thinking, “I gotta sell off everything but my short positions, and SOON…whew…”

      Reply
    61. 61.

      Librettist

      September 12, 2025 at 8:17 am

      @Baud:

      More like two centuries.

      Reply
    62. 62.

      bbleh

      September 12, 2025 at 8:17 am

      @Baud: CNN now reporting Orange Guy sez they have the suspect in custody.  And definitely concur about railroading someone — they’d do that in a heartbeat.

      Reply
    63. 63.

      frosty

      September 12, 2025 at 8:18 am

      @prostratedragon: I “would” say. Nice catch on the conditional. You would, huh? When and where would you say that since you’re not saying “I will say” right now.

      Plus, best construction in US history, ever. Give me a break. Better than the 50s when we were building interstates? Better than the 30s when skyscrapers were going up everywhere? Better than the 1800s when railroads took off? Asshole.

      Reply
    64. 64.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 8:19 am

      @bbleh:

      They’ve had people in custody before. Maybe third time’s the charm.

      Reply
    65. 65.

      Dorothy A. Winsor

      September 12, 2025 at 8:20 am

      @Baud: Didn’t something like that happen in the hunt for Eric Rudolph after the Olympic bombing?

      Reply
    66. 66.

      JML

      September 12, 2025 at 8:20 am

      I like how the grifters in the administration are trying to get themselves at least 6 more months of cover before having to produce any results for people. They really do think everyone are suckers.

      Of course the Deeply Concerned DC Insider Media will take it all at face value while they collect anecdotes and stories and try to get a book deal nailed down before the midterms.

      Mr “Fix It On Day One” apparently needs over a year to get any positive results (all of which are only for gazillionaires).

      Reply
    67. 67.

      Scout211

      September 12, 2025 at 8:21 am

      @bbleh:

      NBC   Trump announced in an interview on Fox News this morning that law enforcement have the suspect in the Kirk shooting in custody.

      “I think, with a high degree of certainty, we have him — in custody … everyone did a great job we worked with the local police, the governor, everybody did a great job,” he said.

      “I hope that he was going to be found guilty, I would imagine, and I hope he gets the death penalty. What he did, Charlie Kirk, was the finest person but he didn’t deserve this. He worked so hard and so well. Everybody liked him. I’ve been watching even the left is having a hard time.”

      The person has not been named and law enforcement officials have yet to formally announce any arrest.

      High degree of certainty?  Uh huh.

      Announces this on Fox News? Uh huh.

      Law enforcement hasn’t announced this, even Kash Patel? Uh huh.

      Reply
    68. 68.

      Dorothy A. Winsor

      September 12, 2025 at 8:21 am

      Trump on Fox & Friends: “One thing I say is we have to have quick trials. I called it quick trial. ‘Cause in China they do have quick trials, you know? … They should have a trial the following day.”

      Reply
    69. 69.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 8:23 am

      @Dorothy A. Winsor:

      Yes, but this time the pressure will be coming from the Oval Office.

      Reply
    70. 70.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 8:24 am

      @Dorothy A. Winsor:

      God. I wish people would stop dumping on Garland already.

      Reply
    71. 71.

      Jeffro

      September 12, 2025 at 8:24 am

      @Geminid:In a hypothetical Democratic primary, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke led with 27%, with current Rep. Jasmine Crockett close behind at 26%. As of now, neither has entered the race. The two announced candidates, former Rep. Colin Allred and Texas state Senator James Talerico, got 13 and 7 percent respectively.

      Voting essentially is about name recognition, isn’t it?  So sad.

      Of course in this case, TPOR could only ask about *declared* candidates, but where’s the fun in that?

      Reply
    72. 72.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 8:25 am

      @Jeffro:

      Often, but it’s also really early.

      Reply
    73. 73.

      mrmoshpotato

      September 12, 2025 at 8:25 am

      @Quantum man:

      Watched the video of the alleged shooter of Kirk in which the person dropping from the building is seen. Most obvious thing to me is he does not have a rifle but instead is loosely holding a jacket. Where is the rifle if he is the one? How did the rifle get in the woods? 

      Woke?  DEI?  The Loch Ness monster?  Lesbian mermaids that are also seagulls somehow?  The site forgetting my nym and email because it’s hosted on a loser server, SAD! ?

      Reply
    74. 74.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 8:28 am

      Heh

      Reply
    75. 75.

      oldgold

      September 12, 2025 at 8:29 am

      @Scout211: The orange malignant narcissist has to be “the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding and the baby at every christening.”

      Reply
    76. 76.

      Jeffro

      September 12, 2025 at 8:29 am

      @Dorothy A. Winsor: here’s a couple follow-up questions that will never happen (certainly not on Fox and probably not even on MSNBC):

      “Sir, are you saying that America should model its courts after the Chinese system?”

      “Sir, are there any downsides or risks to having a trial the day after a suspect is arrested?  Any additional costs?”

      “Sir, if you were an old drunk at the end of a bar and threw this kind of BS out there, how many people would even give you the time of day?”

      Reply
    77. 77.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 8:31 am

      Truth

      Reply
    78. 78.

      mappy!

      September 12, 2025 at 8:32 am

      Melissa Hortman.

      Reply
    79. 79.

      frosty

      September 12, 2025 at 8:34 am

      @Scout211: “I think”. “I hope.” “I would imagine”. Every time he opens his piehole weasel words come out. He says everything with confidence but when you listen closely he’s always got qualifiers in there so that none of it means anything.

      Reply
    80. 80.

      UncleEbeneezer

      September 12, 2025 at 8:36 am

      Found out that a co-worker of mine is not only MAGA (which I suspected already) but thinks RFK Jr. is right about everything…ugh…  He’s a really nice guy that I can coexist with in a work setting but damn it’s gonna be tough now.  My goal is to low-key influence his kids (who I coach) to be a bit smarter than him with little efforts here and there, when I can.

      Reply
    81. 81.

      lee

      September 12, 2025 at 8:39 am

      From reddit:

      Kirk’s coffin gets full honor guard.

      IIRC Trump didn’t lower the flags when the democratic lawmaker was killed in her home.

      Reply
    82. 82.

      Betty Cracker

      September 12, 2025 at 8:41 am

      According to Trump, the suspected shooter’s minister ratted him out:

      “Essentially somebody that was very close to him turned him in,” Trump said on “Fox and Friends” Friday morning.

      “That happens when you have some of those good shots,” said the president, referring to clearer photos of the suspect released Thursday by the FBI.

      Trump said the tipster was a “person involved with law enforcement, but was a person of faith. A minister.”

      The father of the person taken into custody cooperated with investigators, Trump said.

      The president acknowledged he received only a short briefing prior to the interview, and said, “I’m always subject to correction, but I’m just giving you based on what I’m hearing.”

      I hope these clowns don’t railroad an innocent person.

      Reply
    83. 83.

      UncleEbeneezer

      September 12, 2025 at 8:44 am

      One thing that has been really dominating my thinking about the whole reaction to the Charlie Kirk thing is how damn performative and virtue-signaling everyone has been.  Everyone scolding everyone else for celebrating, not-celebrating, for having empathy, for not-having empathy, for focussing on him as a person, for focussing on the larger issue of political violence etc., with everyone convinced that their reaction/feelings/perspective is the only right way.  It’s all so stupid.  I understand people celebrating or feeling schadenfreude.  I also understand people having empathy for his kids (who are innocent victims) and choosing not to celebrate.  I understand focussing on his hatred/toxicity.  I understand focussing on political/gun violence.  All of these reactions are perfectly fine, imo.  It’s the arrogant notion that there’s only one correct way to feel/act and judgement levied at anyone who does it wrong, that really bugs the shit out of me.

      Reply
    84. 84.

      Elizabelle

      September 12, 2025 at 8:45 am

      @Betty Cracker:  Nutlick is a beyond perfect descriptor of that con man.

      Trump has a Cabinet full of nutlickers.

      Reply
    85. 85.

      mrmoshpotato

      September 12, 2025 at 8:47 am

      @lowtechcyclist: Do you doubt the quickness of the pit crew?

      Reply
    86. 86.

      zhena gogolia

      September 12, 2025 at 8:49 am

      @UncleEbeneezer: Yeah.

      My first reaction to the shooting was nausea, as it was to the attempt on Trump last summer. I don’t expect that this is how everyone reacts.

      Reply
    87. 87.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 8:49 am

      @lee: reposting my comment from earlier

      Good reminder

      This year three US soldier’s passed in Lithuania. Lithuania honored them with a full parade to the jet that brought them home. When those soldiers arrived they were met with an empty landing strip and a president that was to busy golfing to say a word, and still hasn’t today.

      But an influencer who built his entire brand and career on vitriol gets this.

      Reply
    88. 88.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 8:51 am

      @Betty Cracker:

      Dude should have been Catholic.

      Reply
    89. 89.

      mrmoshpotato

      September 12, 2025 at 8:52 am

      @Scout211: In two weeks!

      Reply
    90. 90.

      Scout211

      September 12, 2025 at 8:52 am

      @Betty Cracker: I hope these clowns don’t railroad an innocent person.

      And if this person in custody turns out to really be the shooter, did Trump just make it harder to prosecute him? Are all those details really things that he should be announcing? Is there a jury that won’t have heard the president announce all these details? Ugh.

      Trump take “innocent until proven guilty.”

      Trump take “before a jury of your peers.”

      Reply
    91. 91.

      Another Scott

      September 12, 2025 at 8:53 am

      @suzanne: ChatGPT will hang sheet rock and install shingles, right?

      Right??

      [ groucho-roll-eyes.gif ]

      Best wishes,
      Scott.

      Reply
    92. 92.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 8:53 am

      @UncleEbeneezer:

      That’s everyday life these days.

      Reply
    93. 93.

      JML

      September 12, 2025 at 8:54 am

      Basically every time someone does the “he didn’t deserve this” (in whatever context), I’ve been throwing in the Unforgiven quote: “Deserve’s got nothing to do with it.”

      Reply
    94. 94.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 8:54 am

      @JML:

      Yep. Almost all the victims of right wing governments don’t deserve it either.

      Reply
    95. 95.

      mrmoshpotato

      September 12, 2025 at 8:55 am

      @oldgold:

      The orange malignant narcissist has to be “the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding and the baby at every christening.” 

      And the fatberg clogging every sewer pipe.

      Reply
    96. 96.

      UncleEbeneezer

      September 12, 2025 at 8:56 am

      @Baud: It is.  Social Media certainly amplifies it, but I think it’s mostly human nature.

      Reply
    97. 97.

      mrmoshpotato

      September 12, 2025 at 8:58 am

      @Jeffro: “Sir, what do you think about the court system in the USSR, specifically when Stalin was alive?”

      “Sir, are you a fan of Nazi Germany’s court system?”

      Reply
    98. 98.

      SFAW

      September 12, 2025 at 9:00 am

      @Baud: ​
       
      The Boston Glob apparently has an editorial saying the country needs more politicos like Kirk, because he wasn’t afraid to argue/fight with opposing viewpoints.
      Disclaimer: I didn’t read it, just the 15-word blurb in their daily e-mail, because the Glob has become Boston Herald-lite, and am trying to follow efgoldman’s advice

      Reply
    99. 99.

      Another Scott

      September 12, 2025 at 9:00 am

      @snoey: +1

      And what about the kerning, anyway??

      :-/

      Eyes on the prizes.  We’ve got elections to win.

      Thanks.

      Best wishes,
      Scott.

      Reply
    100. 100.

      Paul in KY

      September 12, 2025 at 9:00 am

      @Betty Cracker: First paragraph stuff there!

      Reply
    101. 101.

      Paul in KY

      September 12, 2025 at 9:02 am

      @Quantum man: I guess the rifle is concealed in the jacket?

      Reply
    102. 102.

      Paul in KY

      September 12, 2025 at 9:03 am

      @kirbster: It was a pretty nice rifle. He struggled with leaving it.

      Reply
    103. 103.

      RevRick

      September 12, 2025 at 9:06 am

      @J.: My wife watches a YouTube series of a woman who operates a sheep farm outside Guelph Ontario. Eighty percent of her wool business is with American crafters, and with the end of de minimus the tariffs will kill her business. It’s not just Americans who will suffer from Trump’s stupidity.

      Reply
    104. 104.

      matt

      September 12, 2025 at 9:06 am

      @SFAW: They must really love Sam Seder then, lol.

      Reply
    105. 105.

      brendancalling

      September 12, 2025 at 9:11 am

      Couple observations related to the economy, and maybe one or two related to Dead Charlie.

      I think I mentioned the other day that rye bread was up substantially: nearly $5.00 for a loaf that cost $3.50-$3.85 two weeks ago. I did a little research, and we are a major rye IMPORTER, with most of it coming from Canada (25% tariff), as well as Germany and Italy, which are also highly tariffed. However, it seemed all bread prices had spiked so I’m not sure how much is due to tariffs, how much is inflation, and how much is “because we can.”

      Hershey has also announced a major price increase, due to a cocoa shortage, of 20-26%. This is not due to tariffs, I checked it out. But still, this is under Trump’s watch.

      I think I also mentioned that I was in Canada earlier this summer. I know that major tariffs are hitting the shoe and sneaker industry. I bought a new pair of running shoes in advance this summer in the US, but I was checking prices up there. Well, first of all it appears Canada doesn’t tariff running shoes, while we throw on a HUGE tariff. Second, even pre-tariff (I don’t think they’ve hit the industry yet), running shoes and athletic wear were a bit cheaper. I used a currency converter to check. SO, if you have access to Canada, go do your holiday shopping there!

      I forget what I was going to say about Dead Chuck. Oh well, it must have not been very important in the long run–kind of like Chuckles himself.

      Reply
    106. 106.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 9:16 am

      @SFAW: I addressed that argument yesterday.

      balloon-juice.com/2025/09/11/thursday-morning-open-thread-70/#comment-9707191

      balloon-juice.com/2025/09/11/thursday-morning-open-thread-70/#comment-9707184

      Reply
    107. 107.

      mrmoshpotato

      September 12, 2025 at 9:17 am

      FACT: The "violent left" aren't the ones who wear these stupid fucking pins.[image or embed]— Middle Age Riot (@middleageriot.bsky.social) September 11, 2025 at 6:35 PM

      Reply
    108. 108.

      Scout211

      September 12, 2025 at 9:18 am

      NBC   The suspect arrested and accused of killing Charlie Kirk has been identified as Tyler Robinson, five senior law enforcement officials briefed on the matter told NBC News.

      Robinson, 22, is from Utah.

      Commence the viral social media “investigation.”

      Reply
    109. 109.

      narya

      September 12, 2025 at 9:20 am

      @JML: @Baud: I go with Gandalf, but yes, same sentiment.

      Reply
    110. 110.

      jonas

      September 12, 2025 at 9:21 am

      @suzanne: We’re in Baghdad Bob levels of delusion here. But it doesn’t matter. Trump and his people know they can say whatever they want and 1. the interviewer/reporter will mostly go “Huh. That’s an interesting take,” and move on to the next question and 2. MAGA will call the economy awesome no matter what, even if they’ve been laid off and their house has been foreclosed and their pickup reposessed.

      Reply
    111. 111.

      LurkerNoLonger

      September 12, 2025 at 9:28 am

      @Scout211: “From Utah”. Definitely a hot bed of leftist activity. My guess is he got mad at Kirk because he backed off on calling for a release of the Epstein files. Wild guess.

      Reply
    112. 112.

      RevRick

      September 12, 2025 at 9:30 am

      @Baud: Always be closing!
      Everything about Trump’s economic policies tells us it’s the exact opposite of achieving a 4% increase in GDP next year.
      — The hits to healthcare will affect the number one growing sector.

      — The gutting of climate change legislation will wallop the construction industry.
      — The transfer of income from the bottom 50% to the top 1% will cause a drop in consumer spending.

      — The explosion of the deficit will put upward pressure on interest rates, no matter what the Fed does.
      — The dumb ass tariffs will impact the bottom 50% hardest, further damaging their ability to keep spending.

      Lutnick’s claim falls into the category of the old English adage:

      If wishes were horses, even beggars would ride.

      Reply
    113. 113.

      jonas

      September 12, 2025 at 9:31 am

      @brendancalling:  I did a little research, and we are a major rye IMPORTER, with most of it coming from Canada (25% tariff), as well as Germany and Italy, which are also highly tariffed.

      Dammit. Rye is my brown liquor of choice. I haven’t noticed any big price changes in my brands lately, but I presume they’re coming.

      Reply
    114. 114.

      cmorenc

      September 12, 2025 at 9:32 am

      @Dorothy A. Winsor:

      @Baud: Didn’t something like that happen in the hunt for Eric Rudolph after the Olympic bombing?

      Rudolph (now @Supermax in Colorado) managed to successfully stay on the run for seven years after the 1996 Olympic Park Bombing in Atlanta, successfully hiding out in the Nantahalan National Forest in western NC until he finally caught when by chance a local policeman in Murphy, NC came across him at night trying to rummage through a dumpster.  Meanwhile, back in 1996 the FBI mistakenly claimed they had the perp and falsely prosecuted Richard Jewell, an Olympic Park employee.

      That’s the sort of scenario that could easily play out here – the FBI under Patel will be eager to pin this on someone supportively associated with the local LBGT community who might have said something critical about Kirk in the weeks leading up to the assasination.

      Reply
    115. 115.

      Scout211

      September 12, 2025 at 9:34 am

      “The White House defends Kash Patel’s  handling of the Kirk investigation” is the least surprising thing about any of this.  But apparrently this is news to the media.

      Reply
    116. 116.

      jonas

      September 12, 2025 at 9:34 am

      @RevRick: I think we can add to this that all these policies/impacts will also have the effect of hammering the value of the dollar. I’m convinced Trump intends to basically destroy the dollar as the world’s reserve currency because he thinks everyone will shift into crypto. And what’s his family’s main business now?

      Reply
    117. 117.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 9:34 am

      @SFAW:

      @Baud:

      I’ll add that I don’t necessarily disagree with the Boston Globe in the sense that our side definitely suffers from a hack deficit.

      Reply
    118. 118.

      tobie

      September 12, 2025 at 9:34 am

      @jonas: i get my rye flour from Germany for baking bread. It’s a low glycemic index flour. Rumor has it wine prices have shot through the roof. Hard to imagine life without bread and wine.

      Reply
    119. 119.

      p.a.

      September 12, 2025 at 9:37 am

      The Onion strikes again

      Trump: “Political Violence Has No Place In My Inner Circle”

      Reply
    120. 120.

      piratedan

      September 12, 2025 at 9:38 am

      @Scout211: guessing is that the FBI had no idea on who this guy was until his local clergy turned him in?

      I could be wrong, because that is taking what DJT is claiming is accurate, so I hate feeling like a conspiracy theorist but I have so little trust in who is control of our institutions.

      Reply
    121. 121.

      p.a.

      September 12, 2025 at 9:40 am

      Roman Empire: Bread and Circuses

      tRumpmerica: Wonderbread and Clownshows

      Reply
    122. 122.

      Betty Cracker

      September 12, 2025 at 9:40 am

      @UncleEbeneezer: I agree. The only thing that’s really pissing me off about MSM reactions is when they whitewash Kirk’s history. I don’t expect them to point out that Kirk was a shit-posting edge-lord in a piece about his death. But some pundits are now pretending Kirk engaged opponents in good faith and was a positive force in U.S. politics. They don’t have to lie about the dude because he’s dead.

      Reply
    123. 123.

      p.a.

      September 12, 2025 at 9:42 am

      @piratedan: … but I have so little trust in who is control of our institutions.

       

       

      Hanna Arendt: autocrat the lies aren’t meant (just) to deceive, but to instill the idea in the general population that truth is unknowable (paraphrased)

      Reply
    124. 124.

      Scout211

      September 12, 2025 at 9:42 am

      @piratedan: guessing is that the FBI had no idea on who this guy was until his local clergy turned him in?

      The news is reporting that his family turned him in.

      And yes, it sounds like the FBI found out when the family called.  The enhanced photo from last night was what caused the family to recognize him.

      Reply
    125. 125.

      Shalimar

      September 12, 2025 at 9:45 am

      @Jeffro: If I were Texan, I would order them Crockett, Talerico, O’Rourke, Allred.  But I also think all 4 belong in public office and it would be a shame if they all wasted a cycle on the chance to be an underdog in the general for the same job.

      Reply
    126. 126.

      p.a.

      September 12, 2025 at 9:46 am

      @Betty Cracker: 🤞🏻 that the cray-cray is so deep in this admin that despite Fox etc by next week this is ancient history.  The modern world’s pace of change increases, and under these nutjobs we’re in a Formula1 timeline.

      Reply
    127. 127.

      Deputinize America

      September 12, 2025 at 9:48 am

      @cmorenc:

      Rudolph had multiple aiders and abettors in western NC for years after the crime. I wanted to see them shamed and brought to justice, but the Regent and Liberty U appointees at the Bush GOP gratuitously took the needle (which he deserved) off the table so there was no leverage for the names.

      Reply
    128. 128.

      Deputinize America

      September 12, 2025 at 9:50 am

      @Scout211:

      I can’t say that I’m disappointed that the bullshit of clergy privilege may be going out the window here. I’ve always hated it.

      Reply
    129. 129.

      Ohio Mom

      September 12, 2025 at 9:51 am

      @jonas: Stock up then, it’ll keep.

      Reply
    130. 130.

      gene108

      September 12, 2025 at 9:51 am

      @Betty Cracker:

      But some pundits are now pretending Kirk engaged opponents in good faith and was a positive force in U.S. politics. They don’t have to lie about the dude because he’s dead.

      I think this is what a large section of the MSM genuinely believe. These folks are not deep thinkers. They take Kirk’s debating people on college campuses at face value. They ignore so many of his other comments and history.

      Reply
    131. 131.

      Shalimar

      September 12, 2025 at 9:54 am

      @mrmoshpotato: ‘Stephen King is a bitter man’: Horror icon faces lawsuit threat over Charlie Kirk comment

      A summary of rightwing reactions to King’s comment after Kirk’s death.  Cruz’s insult is last, followed by a link to what Kirk actually said.  I’m gonna trust the professional writer’s interpretation over all the Kirk fans who think he should be sued for defamation.

      Reply
    132. 132.

      Geminid

      September 12, 2025 at 9:55 am

      @Shalimar: I don’t think losing a primary would hurt Talerico or Crockett in the long run; they’re both fairly new on the scene.

      It could hurt Allred and O’Rourke though. It would be O’Rourke’s third loss in a statewide race, and Alfred’s second.

      Ed. But Crockett may take O’Rourke’s and Alfred’s historids into account. Both men gave up safe House seats to run for Senate.

      Allred won his seat when he flipped a suburban Dallas district in 2018, while O’Rourke won his El Paso-based seat in 2012, when he knocked out the Democratic incumbent in a primary. Now, O’Rourke ally Veronica Escobar holds it..

      Reply
    133. 133.

      Geminid

      September 12, 2025 at 10:00 am

      @Deputinize America: Clergy privilege would not have applied in this case.

      Reply
    134. 134.

      sixthdoctor

      September 12, 2025 at 10:00 am

      @Shalimar: But…but…King just repeated Charlie Kirk’s words.

      *shrug* If they want to sue a multi-multi-millionaire who’d be happy to fight back, whatever.

      OT, but The Long Walk blew my mind as a teenager and can’t wait to see it in the theater…

      Reply
    135. 135.

      artem1s

      September 12, 2025 at 10:01 am

      People Explain How Tariffs Have Suddenly Ruined Their Hobby

      Of course the MSM focuses on WWP. This is the stupid shit that makes the lower and middle class engage in hate voting just for the sake of lashing out. I’ve got friends who are blaming the USPS and FedEx for the shipping costs of vinyl they are ordering from overseas labels. They haven’t connected the dots yet to the tariffs.

      It would nice if the MSM took the to explain that the cost of doing business every day is the problem. For instance every business that uses computers (yes that’s redundant) is facing having to replace equipment that is still using Windows 10 or earlier cannot run Windows 11. That’s hundreds of laptops at my institution – and we’re already facing higher costs for all kinds of everyday items.
      During COVID because of supply chain problems, it took months to get new laptops. Now it’s gonna be the same delays AND cost 2X as much to get new computers. The increase in everyday disposables is going to mean layoffs and put smaller companies out of business. The cost of keeping government offices running is going to cost the country more than any tariffs could ever bring in. We’re already gutting staff in central departments. And it’s causing delays in every department they touch – which is the whole institution. The local Staples central supply depot just closed it’s doors and fired over 100 people yesterday.
      It won’t matter now if TACO reverses course on tariff. He’s still gonna keep reversing course just so he and his lackeys’ can short the market. Even if the agencies hire back every laid off or fired worker – even if the fed holds fast and waits another 6 months or until the eventual market crash to cut interest rates – The cascade can’t be reversed now. Because the only ‘solution’ these grifters know is to pump money (our SS; Medicaid; Medicare; VA benefits; government pensions) into the market and keep the bubble from bursting for as long as they can. That will only make it worse when the financial institutions experience the inevitable rapid unscheduled disassembly they had in 2008.
      No one is going to be whinging about not being able to buy their furry suits or vintage Atari Pong in a couple of months. Talk about whitewashing the failures of Oranganmadius’ BEST PEOPLE.

      Reply
    136. 136.

      eclare

      September 12, 2025 at 10:08 am

      Fuck.  FFOTUS says he’s sending the National Guard to Memphis.

      Reply
    137. 137.

      brendancalling

      September 12, 2025 at 10:08 am

      @tobie: Wine is spiking in PA, seen it at my grocery.

      Oh well…

      Reply
    138. 138.

      RevRick

      September 12, 2025 at 10:09 am

      @jonas: I wouldn’t be surprised if these policies tank the dollar. It’s already lost value since January 1st. But given Trump’s incredible stupidity, I don’t see how that could benefit the crypto market. The more likely beneficiary would be the Euro.

      Reply
    139. 139.

      Shalimar

      September 12, 2025 at 10:09 am

      @artem1s: Even if the agencies hire back every laid off or fired worker

      They couldn’t hire back the laid off and fired workers even if they wanted to, because I think an actual study would show the vast majority of them were like the Salt Lake City FBI head, women and minorities.  And their philosophy is those people were all unqualified and incompetent to begin with because they aren’t white guys.

      Reply
    140. 140.

      evodevo

      September 12, 2025 at 10:15 am

      @piratedan: Yes…he confessed to his father, and the stake president (see: Mormon hierarchy) – also in LE – turned him in.  Fibbies had nothing to do with it.

      Reply
    141. 141.

      Booger

      September 12, 2025 at 10:16 am

      @brendancalling: This made me laugh, recalling a paper I worked on discussing Poland (??IIRC) being both a major importer and exporter of barley. Turns out they export six-row to the U.S. for American brewing and to elsewhere as animal feed, and import two-row, which they can’t produce enough of to supply their own brewing industry.

       

      Two-row barley and six-row barley have remarkably different qualities for brewing, and that’s a whole nother rabbit hole to go down.

      Reply
    142. 142.

      Old Man Shadow

      September 12, 2025 at 10:19 am

      It seems like we’re paying more attention and caring more about one semi-famous person’s violent death as a nation than we did to classrooms of kids being turned into hamburger.

      Reply
    143. 143.

      Booger

      September 12, 2025 at 10:26 am

      @gene108: I am so delighted that Kirk lived long enough for a young woman to thoroughly mop the floor with him at Cambridge (just last month).

      Both Kirk and Ben Shapiro are the right’s idea of intellectuals with rigorous and deep thought processes, yet Kirk was and Shapiro is utterly superficial, shallow thinkers. Without billionaire backers, they’d be nobodies nowhere…as they should have been.

      Reply
    144. 144.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 10:26 am

      @eclare:

      I assume the majority of your state government will be giddy.

      Reply
    145. 145.

      Jackie

      September 12, 2025 at 10:28 am

      @Old Man Shadow: We?

      I hope you meant They.

      Reply
    146. 146.

      JPL

      September 12, 2025 at 10:29 am

      @eclare: Maybe they will resod all your parks.   I’m told that the president knows all about grass.

      Reply
    147. 147.

      LurkerNoLonger

      September 12, 2025 at 10:30 am

      @Old Man Shadow: If only all elementary schools were filled with Charlie Kirks, maybe we could get Republicans to finally care about gun violence.

      Reply
    148. 148.

      Eric

      September 12, 2025 at 10:39 am

      @Betty Cracker: by some pundits I assume you mean Ezra Klein…

      Reply
    149. 149.

      Scout211

      September 12, 2025 at 10:40 am

      @eclare: FFOTUS says he’s sending the National Guard to Memphis.

      Oh no.  I assume that means your Governor is on board? Ugh.

      Reply
    150. 150.

      Fair Economist

      September 12, 2025 at 10:41 am

      @Baud:

      Lutnick: “I would say the first quarter of next year will be the best quarter of construction jobs this country has ever seen, and that’s gonna roll all the way through ’26. So I think you’re gonna see GDP growth next year over 4%.”

      Six months off. It’s the Iraq War all over again.

      Reply
    151. 151.

      Dorothy A. Winsor

      September 12, 2025 at 10:43 am

      @eclare: So is Chicago off the hook?

      Reply
    152. 152.

      Lily

      September 12, 2025 at 10:44 am

      Recently, musicians perform in Paris street, Bohemian Rhapsody (flashmob):

      youtube.com/watch?v=rfUEstWJUkA&list=RDrfUEstWJUkA&start_radio=1

      Reply
    153. 153.

      eclare

      September 12, 2025 at 10:45 am

      @Dorothy A. Winsor:

      At least for now.  We have a Republican governor.

      Reply
    154. 154.

      me

      September 12, 2025 at 10:47 am

      So there was writing on the bullets and it’s internet meme nonsense.

      If you read this, you are gay LMAO
      Notices bulge, OWO, what’s this.
      Hey fascist, Catch, up right down down down
      o Bella ciao

      Reply
    155. 155.

      Dorothy A. Winsor

      September 12, 2025 at 10:48 am

      @me: That’s supposedly on the bullets? How big are these bullets?

      Reply
    156. 156.

      JCJ

      September 12, 2025 at 10:50 am

      @MagdaInBlack: How dare you insult The Gong Show like that!

      Reply
    157. 157.

      Fair Economist

      September 12, 2025 at 10:51 am

      @Quantum man:

      Watched the video of the alleged shooter of Kirk in which the person dropping from the building is seen. Most obvious thing to me is he does not have a rifle but instead is loosely holding a jacket. Where is the rifle if he is the one? How did the rifle get in the woods?

      Certainly seems plausible that a bystander might jump off a building and run after hearing gunshots.

      The picture circulating of the alleged shooter doesn’t seem to show him carrying a rifle. I’m wondering now if that is the guy.

      (And gettting a little more suspicious about this really being a hit by Trump for Reichstag reasons.)

      Reply
    158. 158.

      me

      September 12, 2025 at 10:53 am

      Also the “fascist catch” is a quote and button presses is from Helldivers 2 so it’s not necessarily a political statement.

      Reply
    159. 159.

      rikyrah

      September 12, 2025 at 10:54 am

      FROM UTAH

      HOMEGROWN

      I am sure that we will find out everything about the parents who raised this killer….. Right, MSM?

      OR, IS THIS JUST ANOTHER LONE WOLF.

      Question 1: how does a 22 year old afford that kind of weapon?
      Question 2: how does a 22 year old gain that kind of technical expertise?

      Reply
    160. 160.

      hueyplong

      September 12, 2025 at 10:54 am

      @Dorothy A. Winsor: JFC, Trump calling for summary “justice” and execution doesn’t in any way call to mind his approach to the Central Park Five. Not at all.

      The one, solid, inviolate rule is that if something is driving Trump’s numbers down, some foundational, national rules must immediately be disregarded.

      Reply
    161. 161.

      Fair Economist

      September 12, 2025 at 10:59 am

      @UncleEbeneezer:

      It’s the arrogant notion that there’s only one correct way to feel/act and judgement levied at anyone who does it wrong, that really bugs the shit out of me.

      Amen.

      Reply
    162. 162.

      Geminid

      September 12, 2025 at 10:59 am

      @Dorothy A. Winsor: I think what happened was the cartridge bases were engraved with “TRN,” which are the initials of the Turkish ammunition manufacturer. Some idiot saw the report and thought– or said they thought– that was short for Transgender.

      Reply
    163. 163.

      CaseyL

      September 12, 2025 at 11:01 am

      One thing we can count on from Trump’s DOJ: They will lie. About everything.

      I trust not one syllable from them.

      ETA: This is true of the Trump Government in general.  Trust nothing they do or say.

      Reply
    164. 164.

      Matt McIrvin

      September 12, 2025 at 11:04 am

      @Old Man Shadow: They’re already born kids, therefore disposable.

      Reply
    165. 165.

      Ishiyama

      September 12, 2025 at 11:05 am

      @rikyrah: Question 1: how does a 22 year old afford that kind of weapon?
      Question 2: how does a 22 year old gain that kind of technical expertise?

      Evidently he used a common hunting rifle with a telescopic sight. No expense or technical expertise required. His aim was off by several inches, at least. He was aiming either for the head, or the chest, not the neck.

      Reply
    166. 166.

      hueyplong

      September 12, 2025 at 11:06 am

      @Fair Economist: Or Hoover talking about Prosperity being just around the corner.

      Reply
    167. 167.

      sixthdoctor

      September 12, 2025 at 11:07 am

      I haven’t smoked since 2005, but after hearing this, I need a cigarette.

      Lurie Daniel Favors

      ‪@luriedanielfavors.bsky.social‬

      Yesterday, Adam from South Dakota called my SiriusXM show to say Charlie Kirk was unalived b/c people on the left use words like racism or facism to describe folks like Charlie. That call did not end the way he thought it would. #TrollSlay: Words Hold Power youtu.be/BEcoVzaEOP4

      bsky.app/profile/luriedanielfavors.bsky.social/post/3lyn2w5divs27

      Reply
    168. 168.

      YY_Sima Qian

      September 12, 2025 at 11:09 am

      Interesting contrast in headlines:

      Chinese EVs Could Soon Flood Into Canada To Help Its Farmers
      Canada is considering lowering or dropping its 100% tariff on Chinese EVs to help its farmers.
      By: Andrei Nedelea
      Sep 11, at 1:10pm ET

      • Canada’s 100% import tariff for Chinese electric cars is keeping cheap EVs out of the country, but that could change.
      • China imposed retaliatory tariffs on Canadian agricultural exports, which are affecting the country.
      • The Canadian government is reportedly considering lowering or eliminating the tariffs completely to help its farmers, but it would also potentially open the floodgates for Chinese EVs.

      …

      Mexico to raise tariffs on cars from China to 50% in major overhaul

      By Ana Isabel Martinez and Adriana Barrera
      September 12, 20254:40 AM GMT+8Updated 18 hours ago

      Summary

      • Mexico to raise China auto tariffs to maximum level
      • New tariffs affect $52 billion in imports from countries without trade deals
      • Minister says measure will protect local jobs
      • Move seen as response to U.S. pressure

      …

      The new Mexican tariff on imported auto is not just aimed at those from the PRC, but effectively from all Asian manufacturers. Not sure how reducing diversification of economic partnerships will serve Mexico’s interests in the long run. However, the new tariffs are not scheduled to be levied until end of ’26, & could still be delayed further, so perhaps Scheinbaum is playing for time, & using the threat of tariffs to encourage more localization of auto manufacturing. They are also designed to stay w/in the letter of WTO rules, so there is that.

      Reply
    169. 169.

      Shalimar

      September 12, 2025 at 11:12 am

      @me: It’s trolling nonsense.  Where you play a role to piss other people off and don’t necessarily believe anything you say.  It sounds like he mostly trolls rightwing sites but isn’t political since he has never voted.  We will see when more details come out.

      Reply
    170. 170.

      jonas

      September 12, 2025 at 11:13 am

      @Booger:  Kirk was and Shapiro is utterly superficial, shallow thinkers. Without billionaire backers, they’d be nobodies nowhere…as they should have been.

      Their whole schtick isn’t to convince liberals they’re wrong about this or that idea or policy, it’s to reassure (equally obtuse, shallow-thinking) conservatives that they’re actually right and that their bigotries and prejudices are valid. It’s fascist apologetics, not serious intellectual inquiry. See too, PraegerU.

      Reply
    171. 171.

      NutmegAgain

      September 12, 2025 at 11:14 am

      Chainmail?? What subset of the population needs chainmail from Pakistan?

      “… people who suddenly have to pay huge tariffs or otherwise cannot get chainmail from Pakistan, yarn from France, retro computers from Japan, metal music from the Netherlands, DVDs from Germany,  …”

      Reply
    172. 172.

      MagdaInBlack

      September 12, 2025 at 11:17 am

      @JCJ: I loved The Gong Show, but you surely have to admit they would be appropriate guests to be *GONGED

      Reply
    173. 173.

      Geminid

      September 12, 2025 at 11:17 am

      @NutmegAgain:

      Soldier: Trump take chain mail.

      Nomad: Trump not take arrow.

      Thwack!

      Reply
    174. 174.

      Matt McIrvin

      September 12, 2025 at 11:18 am

      @sixthdoctor: Charlie Kirk liked to go on about the genetic inferiority of Black people. If that’s not racism nothing is. I mean, it’s pretty definitional. I guess racists could insist, as they do, that it’s not racism if it’s true, but really they’re just advocating racism.

      Reply
    175. 175.

      Eric

      September 12, 2025 at 11:19 am

      @sixthdoctor: thanks for sharing this, it was great to listen to.

      Reply
    176. 176.

      Matt McIrvin

      September 12, 2025 at 11:23 am

      @NutmegAgain: cosplayers, Ren Faire and Society for Creative Anachronism types.

      Reply
    177. 177.

      eclare

      September 12, 2025 at 11:23 am

      @NutmegAgain:

      My cousin was in one of those SCA type groups.  He wore chainmail, not sure where it came from.

      Reply
    178. 178.

      WereBear

      September 12, 2025 at 11:24 am

      I have never seen a supposed-professional like Patel on camera with his face unable to stay still like he’s a toddler.

      I WANT professionals. How many are left in the FBI when it’s nothing but MAGA white guys? Who are not known for areas of competence, let’s say.

      Reply
    179. 179.

      Geminid

      September 12, 2025 at 11:24 am

      I was checking out Barak Ravid’s twitter feed and saw he has a new article in Axios. It’s about Trump’s responses to Putin’s big attack on Ukraine and Netanyahu’s strike in Qatar. I might excerpt some this evening.

      But what really grabbed my attention was a picture of Trump’s face that accompanied another item. It was taken from the right side. I thought, Holy cow, he really did have a stroke!

      Reply
    180. 180.

      zhena gogolia

      September 12, 2025 at 11:24 am

      @sixthdoctor: OMGOMGOMGOMG I love her! Can we make her POTUS right now, please?

      Reply
    181. 181.

      EmbraceYourInnerCrone

      September 12, 2025 at 11:25 am

      @rikyrah: he used an older 30-06 which is a common hunting rifle. He used a telescopic sight , if he had practiced at the shooting range or someplace and if he had experience hunting it’s probably well within the bounds of possibility.

      Reply
    182. 182.

      WereBear

      September 12, 2025 at 11:26 am

      @EmbraceYourInnerCrone: He’s a Utah Mormon who got his first gun at eight or so. This wasn’t trained sniper shooting. It was good deer shooting.

      Reply
    183. 183.

      They Call Me Noni

      September 12, 2025 at 11:27 am

      @Lily: Phenomenal!!

      Reply
    184. 184.

      BellyCat

      September 12, 2025 at 11:29 am

      From Aaron Parnas’ Substack

      • Casings at the Charlie Kirk murder scene had messages including “Hey Fascist! Catch!”, arrow symbols (↑, →, ↓↓↓), and “If you read this you are Gay, LMAO.” There is no evidence of “antifascist or trans ideology” as previously reported by the Wall Street Journal.

      Not sure how you get to “no antifascist ideology” with a bullet inscribed with “Hey Fascist! Catch!”, but O.K.

      Notably, shooter wore a Trump Halloween costume in 2017. He would have been 16 or 17. Not a registered voter. I suspect he’s a disenfranchised former MAGA supporter in the “I can’t believe I was lied to” category?

      Reply
    185. 185.

      Ned F.

      September 12, 2025 at 11:29 am

      @NutmegAgain: October Renaissance fairs are coming up. lotsa knight costumes to put together

      Reply
    186. 186.

      me

      September 12, 2025 at 11:30 am

      @BellyCat:

      Not sure how you get to “no antifascist ideology” with a bullet inscribed with “Hey Fascist! Catch!”, but O.K.

      Again, this is from Helldivers 2. The arrows are the button presses to drop a bomb from orbit.

      Reply
    187. 187.

      Grover Gardner

      September 12, 2025 at 11:31 am

      I have a little side hobby/business of restoring/building  replicas of vintage vacuum tube amplifiers.  With the exception of some custom transformers I order from a company in Michigan, NOTHING else I need is made in the US.  Metal chassis, tube sockets, tubes, printed circuit boards, resistors, capacitors, nuts and bolts–you name it, it’s all made in China, Mexico, Russia or Canada.  The electronics supply companies now list the added tariffs on their web pages, and a lot of suppliers located in Canada or elsewhere have simply stopped selling to US customers.  I’m terrified to buy anything on eBay for fear it wil arrive with a whopping shipping/brokerage fee.  It’s absurd.  I was kind of hoping to turn this into a retirement business, but if this keeps up that’s out of the question.

      In addition, I paid $9 for a pound of hamburger last night.

      Reply
    188. 188.

      Paul in KY

      September 12, 2025 at 11:32 am

      @sixthdoctor: I don’t think Steve is very worried. He has his own phalanx of lawyers.

      Reply
    189. 189.

      iKropoclast

      September 12, 2025 at 11:32 am

      @Scout211: “I hope that he was going to be found guilty, I would imagine, and I hope he gets the death penalty. What he did, Charlie Kirk, was the finest person but he didn’t deserve this. He worked so hard and so well. Everybody liked him. I’ve been watching even the left is having a hard time.”

      None of this is ok in terms of a criminal investigation.

      Reply
    190. 190.

      iKropoclast

      September 12, 2025 at 11:33 am

      Duplicate.

      Reply
    191. 191.

      MazeDancer

      September 12, 2025 at 11:33 am

      Well, there’s a good way to get Kirk murder off the news.

      Arrest a white, Mormon, gun loving kid for the crime.

      Father is a sheriff. And the FBI did nothing to find him. His family turned him in.

      Reply
    192. 192.

      Paul in KY

      September 12, 2025 at 11:34 am

      @Dorothy A. Winsor: 30 06. Pretty big as rounds go.

      Reply
    193. 193.

      Paul in KY

      September 12, 2025 at 11:35 am

      @rikyrah: Sounds like it is a rifle that would be appropriate for deer hunting. He could have practiced with it all through his teens.

      Reply
    194. 194.

      Dave

      September 12, 2025 at 11:35 am

      @me: Yeah sounds like a online poisoned young white dude. Which are currently legion.

      Too early to really say but I doubt there is coherent ideology that doesn’t devolve into dimestore nihilism.

      Which, not to be cute, generally benefits the insatiable maw that masquerades as our right.

      Reply
    195. 195.

      Geminid

      September 12, 2025 at 11:37 am

      @MazeDancer: The FBI did put out the pictures of the suspect, but Utah law enforcement would have anyway.

      Reply
    196. 196.

      WaterGirl

      September 12, 2025 at 11:37 am

      @gene108:

      But some pundits are now pretending Kirk engaged opponents in good faith and was a positive force in U.S. politics.

      Not just pundits.  Even Gavin Newsom made comments along those lines.  Ugh.

      Reply
    197. 197.

      Paul in KY

      September 12, 2025 at 11:37 am

      @NutmegAgain: Renaissance Fair reenactors or patriots ready to resist the gubment who are several centuries behind the times.

      Reply
    198. 198.

      Trivia Man

      September 12, 2025 at 11:38 am

      @sixthdoctor: Fan-Fucking-Tastic

      Textbook hosting. Don’t let the caller interrupt and talk over your point, let him say his piece then mute him snd rebut at your own pace. A good counter to the gish gallop while taking questions.

      Reply
    199. 199.

      WaterGirl

      September 12, 2025 at 11:38 am

      @eclare: Oh, eclare, I’m sorry.

      Whose National Guard?  It seems like he’s trying to pit the red states against the blue states, but that doesn’t really fit with TN.

      Reply
    200. 200.

      mali muso

      September 12, 2025 at 11:39 am

      @sixthdoctor: ​
       That was a great listen!

      Reply
    201. 201.

      iKropoclast

      September 12, 2025 at 11:40 am

      @MazeDancer: Well, there’s a good way to get Kirk murder off the news.

      Arrest a white, Mormon, gun loving kid for the crime.

      Father is a sheriff. And the FBI did nothing to find him. His family turned him in.

      Good for his family. I’ll leave the questions to them regarding what in his life made him feel he could do this.

      FBI may not have been much help catching the murderer, not surprising considering that Trump is appropriating a huge chunk of the agency for immigration enforcement abuse and has got rid of any leadership that is suspiciously not white or male.

      But on the plus side, I bet they got excellent profiling data on local activist groups, poor communities, rabble rousers…

      Reply
    202. 202.

      Paul in KY

      September 12, 2025 at 11:41 am

      @WaterGirl: I gotta think Gavin was worried that he might be a potential target for revenge shooting and decided to say what he said to hopefully take the crosshairs off him.

      I’m pretty sure he hates the kind of crap Mr. Kirk peddled.

      Reply
    203. 203.

      schrodingers_cat

      September 12, 2025 at 11:42 am

      White people of BJ explain to me how Charlie Kirk became an icon for white America? Are his beliefs mainstream among white people.

      Reply
    204. 204.

      Geminid

      September 12, 2025 at 11:42 am

      @Paul in KY: That could be. But my take Newsom is he has no ballast and blows with the wind.

      Reply
    205. 205.

      iKropoclast

      September 12, 2025 at 11:45 am

      @schrodingers_cat: Cruel white people seek constant validation for their cruelty. There will always be a Charlie Kirk in some form.

      You know this and didn’t need a white person to explain it, so was this maybe a pretext to put white people on blast? You don’t need that either, have at it.

      Reply
    206. 206.

      Trivia Man

      September 12, 2025 at 11:45 am

      @NutmegAgain: I just took it as an eye catching item to illustrate how broad the impact is. Ive seen it described as a huge impact on “hobbyists” because every niche hobby depends on specialty items with very limited sources.

      Reply
    207. 207.

      Geminid

      September 12, 2025 at 11:48 am

      @schrodingers_cat: Kirk appealed to young white people, particularly college students. TPUSA had over 800 chapters on college campuses, and that’s a lot. He’d been running this show from age 18, with backing from big donors like Foster Friess and the Uhlen family. I think Kirk moght have been more influential than all but a few Republican members of Congress

      Reply
    208. 208.

      CaseyL

      September 12, 2025 at 11:48 am

      If his family turned him in, I’m curious about the family dynamics behind that decision. Was it “Murder is wrong!” or was it “You picked the wrong target!”?

      If I was the family, I’d be torn between doing the legally correct thing (i.e., turn him in) and worrying what will happen to him in custody.

      Be really nuts if he winds up being recruited/drafted into ICE.

      Reply
    209. 209.

      Trivia Man

      September 12, 2025 at 11:49 am

      @schrodingers_cat: short answer: yes

      longer answer: not all white people but a very large number

      Reply
    210. 210.

      Kelly

      September 12, 2025 at 11:50 am

      @Dorothy A. Winsor: Messages were on the casings. Brass is about 2.5 inches long. Fat end of the tapered cylinder is 0.41 inch. About as much area as an address label.

      Reply
    211. 211.

      Paul in KY

      September 12, 2025 at 11:50 am

      @WaterGirl: Memphis has a very large minority population. Got to crap on/fuck with our Black brothers & sisters.

      Reply
    212. 212.

      Trivia Man

      September 12, 2025 at 11:51 am

      @Geminid: I think of him like Grover Norquist – unelected and punching way above his weight with a quiet assist from billionaires and the real power players who amplify the message and help pretend it is “common sense truth”

      Reply
    213. 213.

      Jackie

      September 12, 2025 at 11:52 am

      @MazeDancer:

      Well, there’s a good way to get Kirk murder off the news.

      Arrest a white, Mormon, gun loving kid for the crime.

      Father is a sheriff. And the FBI did nothing to find him. His family turned him in.

      It’ll be interesting to see how FFOTUS and MAGA and Mike Lee handle this going forward!

      @Geminid:  True. They had no recourse BUT to.

      Reply
    214. 214.

      Paul in KY

      September 12, 2025 at 11:52 am

      @schrodingers_cat: Probably ‘mainstream’ among white assholes, of which we seem to have alot.

      Reply
    215. 215.

      Geminid

      September 12, 2025 at 11:52 am

      @CaseyL: The family might have figured authorities would track the son down regardless. They didn’t want him killed.

      Reply
    216. 216.

      zhena gogolia

      September 12, 2025 at 11:55 am

      @schrodingers_cat: Not the ones I associate with.

      Reply
    217. 217.

      Jeffro

      September 12, 2025 at 11:56 am

      @iKropoclast: thank you

      Reply
    218. 218.

      CaseyL

      September 12, 2025 at 11:56 am

      @Geminid: ​
       

      Good point. Though they must at least flirted with the idea of doing an Eric Rudolph.

      Reply
    219. 219.

      Shalimar

      September 12, 2025 at 11:56 am

      @schrodingers_cat: Before 2009 I would have said Kirk is an outlier.  I think it’s safe now to say the majority of white people, especially the young white males Kirk appealed to, are extremely racist and sexist.

      Reply
    220. 220.

      Jackie

      September 12, 2025 at 11:59 am

      @Paul in KY:

      @WaterGirl: I gotta think Gavin was worried that he might be a potential target for revenge shooting and decided to say what he said to hopefully take the crosshairs off him.

      I’m pretty sure he hates the kind of crap Mr. Kirk peddled.

      Agreed. See Matthew Dowd. And, I’ve read that others who simply repeated KIRK’s OWN WORDS have been fired or put on administrative leave. This isn’t right, but it’s what happens when the country is being controlled by a fascist leaning president.

      Reply
    221. 221.

      sab

      September 12, 2025 at 12:00 pm

      @Geminid: Do you think the FBI will actually pay them the hundred grand it promised? Could be useful for legal fees.

      Reply
    222. 222.

      Paul in KY

      September 12, 2025 at 12:01 pm

      @CaseyL: You always turn in your relative who blew some asshole’s neck off with a 30 06. That is murder in some form and if they killed him, they can kill again, etc.

      Reply
    223. 223.

      MazeDancer

      September 12, 2025 at 12:06 pm

      @CaseyL: Apparently, Tyler Robinson confessed to his father the sheriff.

      They’re also Mormons.

      It was going to come out, anyway, eventually. If his family didn’t turn him in, their entire lives would have been a lie.

      Of course, we do not know what caused this kid to become a murderer. But lots of pics of “happy home life” from his mom’s facebook.  And guns.

      Reply
    224. 224.

      schrodingers_cat

      September 12, 2025 at 12:09 pm

      Thanks for the responses to my question at 203. The gushy NYT op-ed pieces, the flowery tributes from people who are not political, the Yankees tribute. Points to mainstream popularity. Hence my question.

      Reply
    225. 225.

      Geminid

      September 12, 2025 at 12:12 pm

      @sab: Dunno about the ransom. It would be useful for attorney’s fees

       

      @MazeDancer: Hey, I’m hoping it turns out Charlie Kirk screwed Tyler Robisonn’s girlfriend. He might have, too.

      Reply
    226. 226.

      Kathleen

      September 12, 2025 at 12:12 pm

      @SFAW: That’s the new script today judging from what I saw in WaPo and Editor & Publisher, who considers Kirk a “real journalist” who was “silenced and this is terrible for all journalists”. The other main theme I’m seeing from Substack crowd (Acosta for example) something something important to continue “the debate” about his philosophy.

      The mainstream acceptance and lionizing of him and what he espoused (not racism but “openness to debate other viewpoints”) is appalling. The racism of the mainstream media has entered the national chat using outside voice.

      Reply
    227. 227.

      WaterGirl

      September 12, 2025 at 12:13 pm

      @Paul in KY: That makes sense for the motivation.  If you are a sick, racist bastard, anyway.

      Reply
    228. 228.

      danielx

      September 12, 2025 at 12:15 pm

      @rikyrah:

      Question 1: I looked it up. If what I’ve read is true, the rifle is a Mauser 30.06 bolt action. Price from roughly 650 to 1000 depending on caliber and bells and whistles. Say another 400-500 for a good quality riflescope. So outside maybe 1500 – expensive for 22 year old, but not impossible.

      Question 2: The Army and Marine Corps have been training 18 year old kids to be at least decent quality rifle shots in a matter of months for, oh, a hundred years or so. If the person has a gift for shooting, and some do, he could have started shooting at 14 or something and be a reasonably expert shooter by the age of 18.

      Not mansplaining, you did ask.

      Reply
    229. 229.

      Ramalama

      September 12, 2025 at 12:18 pm

      @schrodingers_cat: ​
       
      One of my wife’s nephews – dumb and on steroids and is serving as a policeman somewhere in Canada – posted on one of the social medias a mournful RIP to Charlie Kirk when the news first broke he got killed.

      Nephew is white but has a black half-brother, and black cousins in Canada. Plus his aunts are lesbos. Perfect targets for Kirk and his Ilk (should be a death metal band name).

      It’s in Canada, this white people as victims shite. Got to be rife throughout ‘Merica.

      Reply
    230. 230.

      Kathleen

      September 12, 2025 at 12:19 pm

      @Betty Cracker: Agree! That’s what’s bothering me the most.

      Reply
    231. 231.

      Ruckus

      September 12, 2025 at 12:22 pm

      @suzanne:

      When one is playing life instead of actually living it, it becomes very easy to say whatever the hell one wants. Doesn’t have to be true, real or in any way positive. Whatever comes out is fine. Whatever results is fine. I mean sure winning is better than losing but if you are just playing that game, you can always start over with a full bank account and try again.

      It’s this reality bit that causes trouble. Especially if the person speaking/playing the game has zero idea what reality is. Which seems to be rather common…

      Reply
    232. 232.

      schrodingers_cat

      September 12, 2025 at 12:24 pm

      @Kathleen: The rush to embrace him by the MSM and many celebrites, sanitizing his actual statements has been eye opening.

      Reply
    233. 233.

      Kathleen

      September 12, 2025 at 12:30 pm

      @schrodingers_cat:  Oh, yes. Though I’ve suspected it for a long time it’s still a bit jarring to see it in action. And people I somewhat respected are on my list (though the constant Dem bashing by every one of them already had me on edge). I’ve unsubscribed/cancelled/unfollowed almost everyone I had subscribed to. I’m not subsidizing people who have adopted the Grandpa Grifter Play Book for their business model.

      Reply
    234. 234.

      eclare

      September 12, 2025 at 12:32 pm

      @WaterGirl:

      No idea where the troops will be from.  There is a guard unit posted about twenty miles out of town, but sending those troops makes too much sense for this idiot.

      Reply
    235. 235.

      eclare

      September 12, 2025 at 12:34 pm

      @Paul in KY:

      Memphis is majority minority.

      Reply
    236. 236.

      Ruckus

      September 12, 2025 at 12:34 pm

      @RevRick:

      Given Trump’s incredible stupidity, and pompous arrogance, one can’t tell if they work together or not, you know adding up the whatever to double the dumb and stupid result. But given the results we see……

      Reply
    237. 237.

      WereBear

      September 12, 2025 at 12:36 pm

      @BellyCat: disenfranchised former MAGA supporter

      I did some calculations for organizations with authoritairan leanings. I’m confident predicting one million potential psychopaths in the MAGA.

      Each time Fox assures viewers they are a DEI Democrat. But they have not been. It’s their own disappointed cult members that are the most likely to do this.

      The first thing to go through R minds on the Hill was, “I have to get more personal security!”

      This is the dreaded Planet of Non-Professionals.

      Reply
    238. 238.

      Matt McIrvin

      September 12, 2025 at 12:43 pm

      @jonas: So, just like modern Christian apologetics (basically a grift designed to convince evangelicals that they have logical arguments that will convince any atheist to convert–atheists are not the actual audience).

      Reply
    239. 239.

      Matt McIrvin

      September 12, 2025 at 12:47 pm

      (Though there are also the ones whose writing IS aimed at influencing liberals– those are the ostensibly centrist intellectuals like Conor Friedersdorf. The key with them is not to huff and puff about the perfidy of liberals but to offer gentle suggestions about how they’re doing liberalism wrong, always aimed at steering them rightward.)

      Reply
    240. 240.

      BellyCat

      September 12, 2025 at 12:49 pm

      @WereBear: Yup.  Out of curiosity, what are the variables and formula you used?

      I’ve got a gun totin’ MAGA friend who is gonna be PISSED when/if he ever realizes he’s been lied to. So that’s one of your possible results.

      Reply
    241. 241.

      Baud

      September 12, 2025 at 12:50 pm

      @Matt McIrvin:

      The propaganda network covers all the bases.

      Reply
    242. 242.

      Origuy

      September 12, 2025 at 12:50 pm

      I’m glad I bought some orienteering shoes before the tariffs hit. INOV8 isn’t shipping them to the US; I bought mine from Amazon shipped from Poland. I also got a pair of Scottish Country Dance ghillies from Scotland. None of this stuff is made in the USA.

      Reply
    243. 243.

      Matt McIrvin

      September 12, 2025 at 12:51 pm

      @schrodingers_cat: He was super racist, so there’s that “He’s saying what I’m thinking and am afraid to express!” angle.

      But I think most white people don’t even know who he is unless they are really down the political rabbit hole.

      Reply
    244. 244.

      zhena gogolia

      September 12, 2025 at 12:52 pm

      @Matt McIrvin: Unfortunately, now they know and they think he was a hero, thanks to the MSM.

      Reply
    245. 245.

      Matt McIrvin

      September 12, 2025 at 12:52 pm

      @WereBear: One million sounds low to me but I’ve probably been stewing in this too long.

      Reply
    246. 246.

      Deputinize America

      September 12, 2025 at 1:05 pm

      @Jackie:

      “But shadow banning and censorship!”

      – every wingnut influencer in the wake of J6 and COVID

      Reply
    247. 247.

      Craig

      September 12, 2025 at 1:30 pm

      @Baud: who will be the Richard Jewell of Utah?

      Reply
    248. 248.

      UncleEbeneezer

      September 12, 2025 at 1:42 pm

      @Betty Cracker: Totally agree.  His bigotry and involvement in Insurrection-stoking are central to his identity and prominence.  Journalists should be citing those as simple facts relevant to any discussion about him.

      Reply
    249. 249.

      JoyceH

      September 12, 2025 at 1:45 pm

      Now that they’ve got the guy, this sounds more like the shooting of John Lennon than a political hit. Expect the right to start yammering about mental health now, without actually calling for the mental health funds that got slashed to be restored.

      What strikes me about Kirk is that I’ve never heard of anything he said that sounded inspirational, the sort of thing you’d run after the guy’s name on a monument or memorial page. You can come up with a quote from just about everyone, heck you’d probably be able to find something that Trump read off a teleprompter that sounds good. But with Kirk? I got nuthin.

      Reply
    250. 250.

      NutmegAgain

      September 12, 2025 at 1:45 pm

      Thank you to all who told me that RenFair people may need chainmail!

      Reply
    251. 251.

      JoyceH

      September 12, 2025 at 1:53 pm

      Okay. Think I’m going to have to take back the comment I just made about the shooting being non-political. Just found an article explaining that the slogans on the shell casings are Groyper slogans. I’d heard the term before but had to look up Groyper, which turns out to be a white nationalist far right group that targets “mainstream” conservative groups for not being right and white enough. And their primary target is Turning Point USA. !!!  So sounds like Kirk was assassinated from the RIGHT!

      Reply
    252. 252.

      jonas

      September 12, 2025 at 2:10 pm

      @Matt McIrvin: Exactly.

      Reply
    253. 253.

      rikyrah

      September 12, 2025 at 2:27 pm

      @MazeDancer:

      Nothing to find him?

      They fired the qualified people that could have found him😒😒

      Reply
    254. 254.

      Jackie

      September 12, 2025 at 2:28 pm

      @JoyceH:

      but had to look up Groyper, which turns out to be a white nationalist far right group that targets “mainstream” conservative groups for not being right and white enough. And their primary target is Turning Point USA. !!!  So sounds like Kirk was assassinated from the RIGHT!

      If that is true, it’s gonna be crazy talk from FFOTUS supporters going forward!

      They might even release the unredacted Epstein files by tonight! LOL

      Reply
    255. 255.

      rikyrah

      September 12, 2025 at 2:28 pm

      @schrodingers_cat:

      Like their President, he got to say the things that they want to say.

      They wanna party like it’s 1925

      Reply
    256. 256.

      Paul in KY

      September 12, 2025 at 2:47 pm

      @Jackie: They’ll just lie lie lie. Groyper will be an ultra-Left Antifa group, dontchaknow?

      Reply
    257. 257.

      dnfree

      September 12, 2025 at 9:08 pm

      @schrodingers_cat: It would be interesting to know how many white people like Charlie Kirk, how many dislike him, and how many never even heard of him until he was killed.

      Reply
    258. 258.

      YY_Sima Qian

      September 14, 2025 at 11:15 am

      Still more fallout from the ICE raid primarily targeting South Korean engineers & specialists at the Hyundai/LG factory in Georgia:

      Raphael Rashid @koryodynasty

      1/ A repatriated Korean worker from the Hyundai-LG battery factory secretly wrote a detention diary about their 7-day experience in ICE custody in Georgia. The worker says ICE officers mocked them with words like as “North Korea” and “Rocket Man” despite holding a business visa.

      2/ The worker held a B1 visa for a 2-month work meetings and training trip. They were body-searched while wearing hard hat and safety boots at 10am on 4 September. ICE gave arrest warrant forms at 1:20pm with no explanation and no Miranda rights were read.

      3/ “The workers thought that completing the forms would lead to release,” the worker wrote, which was shared with Yonhap News. Red wristbands were placed on workers after they submitted forms. They secretly messaged his family saying “contact might be cut off”.

      4/ Workers were handcuffed with cable ties, and some were chained at the waist, legs, and wrists. Transport vehicles had toilets inside with a strong urine odour, and there was no air conditioning provided during the journey to the detention facility.

      5/ Workers were initially housed in a 72-person room with bunks, 4 shared toilets and 2 urinals. There were no clocks or outside view. Mattresses had mould on them. The provided water smelled bad. No basic supplies were initially provided to the detainees.

      6/ It was so cold that some detainees heated towels in the microwave to warm themselves. The worker secretly obtained a pen and paper on day 4 to begin writing his detention diary. The formal intake process was only completed on day 4.

      7/ During their 6 September ICE interview, officers asked if they were from “South Korea”. When they confirmed, “the officers smirked and mentioned North Korea and Rocket Man”. The worker wrote being angry but restrained themselves.

      8/ When they asked why they were arrested despite legal B1 entry, the ICE officer replied: “I don’t know either, but the people above think it’s illegal.” Some ICE officers admitted to other detainees that ICE had made mistakes, according to the diary.

      9/ On 7 September, 4 officials from the Korean Consulate General and Foreign Ministry met the detainees. The consulate reportedly told workers: “Getting home first is the most important thing. Sign whatever they ask you to sign unconditionally.”

      10/ The Korean officials warned that disputes could mean detention for anything from 4 months to several years. They informed detainees that signing would mean forced removal, visa cancellation, and a charter flight home. More ministry officials visited on 8 September.

      11/ The worker wrote: “I was angry that they seemed unable to understand why B-1 visa entry was considered illegal” and was frustrated at their focus on “sending us out.” Workers were told to sign “voluntary departure” documents filled with language about being “illegal”.

      12/ Release came on 11 September at 1am when buses departed for Atlanta airport, leaving what Yonhap described as a “hell-like detention facility.”

      Reply

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