In Saudi Arabia, men and women usually can’t mix in public. But at the nation's first Comic Con, they mingled https://t.co/WZxNFJtVEr pic.twitter.com/h9rXlnIp6e
— CNN International (@cnni) February 20, 2017
From the Washington Post, “For decades they hid Jefferson’s relationship with her. Now Monticello is making room for Sally Hemings“:
CHARLOTTESVILLE — The room where historians believe Sally Hemings slept was just steps away from Thomas Jefferson’s bedroom. But in 1941, the caretakers of Monticello turned it into a restroom.
The floor tiles and bathroom stalls covered over the story of the enslaved woman, who was owned by Jefferson and had a long-term relationship with him. Their involvement was a scandal during his life and was denied for decades by his descendants. But many historians now believe the third president of the United States was the father of her six children.
Time, and perhaps shame, erased all physical evidence of her presence at Jefferson’s home here, a building so famous that it is depicted on the back of the nickel.
Now the floor tiles have been pulled up and the room is under restoration — and Hemings’s life is poised to become a larger part of the story told at Monticello.
When the long-hidden space opens to the public next year, it will mark a dramatic shift in the way one of the nation’s most revered Founding Fathers is portrayed to the more than 440,000 visitors who tour this landmark annually.
It’s part of a $35 million restoration project that will bolster Monticello’s infrastructure but also reconstruct and showcase buildings where enslaved people lived and worked. The man who wrote the words “all men are created equal” in 1776 was master of a 5,000-acre working plantation who over the course of his life owned 607 slaves.
“Visitors will come up here and understand that there was no place on this mountaintop that slavery wasn’t,” said Christa Dierksheide, a Monticello historian. “Thomas Jefferson was surrounded by people, and the vast majority of those people were enslaved.”…
To pinpoint that room, historians relied on a description provided long ago by a Jefferson grandson, who placed it in the home’s south wing. Archaeologists are now peeling back layers in the 14 foot, 8 inch-by-13 foot, 2 inch room to reveal its original brick floor and plaster walls.
We don’t know how Hemings regarded her involvement with her owner. Historians do not know exactly how old she was when she lived there; and no portraits or photographs of her exist. But step into the brick room, the floor still covered in red dirt, and it is not hard to imagine her sitting in a chair, warming herself in front of the fireplace…
Monticello historians hope the restored room will humanize the image of Hemings, beyond the gossipy old accounts of Jefferson’s so-called “concubine.”
“Sally Hemings was better traveled than most Americans, so we want to tell a story about her that doesn’t limit her to Jefferson’s property,” said Gary Sandling, a vice president of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which owns and runs Monticello as a museum…
Much more at the link. Whatever the hard truths of Sally’s relationship with Mr. Jefferson, it’s good to know that she did have the minor luxury of a room of her own.
***********
What’s on the agenda for the new day?
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone???
Mustang Bobby
@rikyrah: Good morning to you, Friend.
Short week here… I had yesterday off and will be off on Friday (going to Ocala, Florida, for a national antique car show on Saturday. If you’re in the area, stop in, it’s free), so I know my boss will try to cram five days’ work into three. Yip yah.
satby
@rikyrah: @Mustang Bobby: Good morning! It’s going to be unseasonably warm for the next two days, as it has been the last two. Then another cold front will move in. So I’m going to try to work outside today and tomorrow, figuring out where to plant my arbor.org trees that are coming.
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
Immanentize
Hello All. Surgery for me today. I would rather be heading to Florida for the car show!
Schlemazel
It is amazing how much slave history people just wipe away. I saw Lee’s place in Alexandria about ’64 or ’65 and there were no slave cabins “they are being restored” I was told. Visited again in ’70, must have been one heck of a restoration as they still where no open as they were being restored. Went again about 10 years later and . . . you guessed it, still not open. I have no idea if they are open now. I thought when open they should include an informational sign about the time Lee paid a guy to whip a slave woman because the guy that was doing it was not hitting her hard enough.
Schlemazel
@Immanentize:
Wish you all the best luck. Waiting for it is the hardest part
satby
@Immanentize: Good luck and a swift recovery to you!
p.a.
@Immanentize: best wishes, fast recovery.
Baud
@Immanentize: Good luck.
Hey, Alain. Mobile site is borked on Android. Constantly freezing on me when I try to put in text and hit publish.
Immanentize
@Schlemazel: agreed. Until they start the meds.
Lee’s story contrasts with Sam Houston who wasn’t necessarily anti-slavery but was certainly against brutality against slaves. Story goes he came across a road crew and the boss was whipping the men working on building the road. Houston got off his horse, asked the overseer for his whip and started whipping him. That story gets told….
satby
@Schlemazel: I took the exchange daughters to the Hermitage especially because it had a slave quarters tour, with two cabins that you could go in. The tour guide was pretty detailed about the brutality of the work, and it was a better tour than I expected.
Baud
Glad to see Monticello is going to get a little less Trumpian.
OzarkHillbilly
@Schlemazel: The Whitney Plantation in Louisiana is set up to specifically tell the story of slavery. It had just been purchased and they were hard at work on it when we were down there so I was unable to see it, but it is open now. From Reuters: Harsh world of slavery focus of Louisiana plantation museum When next we visit my son, we will be spending a day there.
Baud
Test
Baud
Test 2
Sab
I read Annette Gordon Reed’s book “The Hemings of Monticello” a couple of years back. Remarkable book. The Hemings as a family seem impressive. Abigail Adams not so much, since perfectly happy to push to have 15 year old Sally Hemingway returned to America by herself on a 2 month trip in a shipboard of horny sailors, rather than leave her living in Paris with her owner and brother-in-law who might be interested in her because she resembled her late half sister. She could have emancipated herself in Paris because they had abolished slavery, but she chose to come home to her family. Jefferson seemed to be sort of a self-involved genius (Aspergers).
Baud
Test 3
Baud
It appears that hitting publish causes about a 4-10 second delay before the comment is published on the mobile site.
Alain the site fixer
@Baud: ugh. I’m redoing it today so expect it to go wonky then work.
Mustang Bobby
@Immanentize: Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Baud
@Alain the site fixer: Thanks. I also still get the problem where the mobile site is randomly unreachable for about 10 minutes.
OzarkHillbilly
@OzarkHillbilly: My memory ain’t so good:
NotMax
Tempus doth relentlessly fugit.
David Cassidy has dementia
rikyrah
@Immanentize:
Good luck. Sending you positive thoughts.
satby
@NotMax: Not a fan of his, but that’s too bad. 66 is pretty young for dementia to start.
rikyrah
Hemings hidden?
Really.
For those Hemings doubters, I have this:
She.came.back.from.Paris. PREGNANT.
Come on, now ????
Iowa Old Lady
@Immanentize: Hope the surgery goes well.
Elizabelle
Good morning, all.
@Sab: sounds like a good book.
As a kid in the 1960s, Mount Vernon was the first historic site I recall having slave cabins. And they were actually pretty nice ones, since right up near the main house.
Elizabelle
@Immanentize: Best wishes. Hope you stay comfy, and you can recuperate with your fellow jackals.
rikyrah
@Baud:
Hey Baud ??
Elizabelle
From the overnight thread: tweet re a photo of Bannon and Preibus, calling them the “Oscar and Felix of fascism” was spot on. LOL.
Kay
I knew there was insane rage at the black President golfing and flying around on airplanes– obviously he should be taking a Greyhound bus, as is his proper station- but I didn’t know this was such a central theme on the Right:
Imagine if Obama had announced he was establishing a “Chicago White House” at his house in Chicago. He should have, even if he never went there. It would have been fun to watch.
debbie
@Immanentize:
Good luck, hope you recover quickly.
Mike J
rikyrah
@Kay:
Anytime the previous First Family did anything resembling a vacation, there were those ready with the calculator. Funny how they are nowhere to be found now.
Hmmmmm????
Sab
@satby: Wow. As a caretaker member of a family with a history of dementia I sympathise.
gene108
@Immanentize:
Good luck. The pre-surgery routine can be quite trying too.
Hopes for a speedy recovery.
Patricia Kayden
@Kay: And yet Hannity and other Rightwingers have peep to say about Trump skipping daily intelligence briefings and golfing all the time and taking taxpayer-funded trips to N.Y. and Florida. They also have nothing to say about the costs to taxpayers from covering security for the Trump children — including when they take business trips to exotic locations like Uruguay. The hypocrisy is real.
Sab
Annette Gordon Reed’s is a national treasure. I wish you guys realized that.
Baud
@Kay: I think Obama could have gotten away with it if he were more vocal about demonizing minorities. In some ways, it’s his own fault.
Patricia Kayden
@Immanentize: Sending positive thoughts your way for your surgery.
Kay
@rikyrah:
I think it’s important because it’s such extreme asshole behavior, politics aside. The whole time Trump was saying that Trump knew that he himself golfs twice a week and has for decades.
My husband plays tennis. A lot. He plays a lot of tennis. In the spring, summer and fall he leaves work early on Friday and plays tennis. What he doesn’t do is attack other people for playing games! It isn’t the golf. It’s the fact that they’re assholes. Their default setting is “asshole”. They say these things knowing they do these things.
gene108
@Patricia Kayden:
It is not hypocrisy. Hannity et. al. serve a revolutionary movement, which looks to overthrow American civil society, as we know it.
All statements are made with the goal of furthering the revolution. There can be no lies and no hypocrisy, as long as the interests of the revolution are served.
OzarkHillbilly
@rikyrah: IOKIYAR. But we already knew that, didn’t we? Remember all the outrage over W’s frequent “vacations”**? Neither do I.
** Obama once said, “The President is never on vacation.” but that was before Trump who seems to be somewhere else, some time else, everyday, whether he’s in the White House or not. It must get lonely in that empty head of his.
OzarkHillbilly
Drop in teenage suicide attempts linked to legalisation of same-sex marriage
Duh.
Baud
For the record, I welcome maximum vacationing by this administration. Their work product is poor.
danielx
Because it’s good to start the day with dogs and kittehs….
Guests at Chez X this week, including LD. LD is a basset-beagle mix, and an absolute charmer. LD has decided she likes it here and may stay a while. Humans are okay with this because LD is irresistible. Zoey, on the other hand, detests interlopers of any description and dogs are totally beyond the pale. She has already bopped LD a good one (yelp!) and cordially despises LD and all her works. Yes, she does
@rikyrah:
And a good morning to you!
Sab
@satby: why not a Fan? He was Pop but pretty good at it
op but pretty good at it.
danielx
@Kay:
I’m of two minds about it. Yes, the presidency is a 24/7/365 job, which is something the current incumbent seems not to grasp. On the other hand, the more time lord shortfingers spends on golf courses the less time he’s spending on sending the country to perdition. Anything that accomplishes that end must be seen as positive.
JMG
It is actually my belief, and has been for a long time before Trump or even before Obama, that the President should as much as is possible given events, try to have “normal” weekends where leisure comes first. It’d be better for their mental and physical health and improve decision making. Please note: A “normal” weekend does include deranged speeches to supporters, fund raising dinners, etc.
Elizabelle
@OzarkHillbilly: Actually, I do remember people grousing about W and his trips to Crawford, TX.
But no one ever suggested he should fly commercial. Crap like that was directed at Obama, since protecting his life was less valuable, in the whingers’ view.
I think we are glad that W has devoted himself to painting, and keeping his mouth closed. The more time Trump spends non-presidenting, the better.
Amir Khalid
@satby:
That is a harsh thing to happen when you’re only 66. But then, is there ever a right time in life for the onset of dementia?
I had a maiden aunt, basically the extended family’s crazy cat lady, who had dementia at about the same age as David Cassidy. My cousin, whose family she was living with, must have (understandably) been at his wits’ end with her; after attending my mother’s funeral he (not so understandably) just left her behind when he went home. He could not be persuaded to take her back. I had a pretty harrowing couple of weeks being all alone in the house, and having to deal with both my mum’s death and my aunt’s unexpected presence. (We eventually found a nursing home for her.) Needless to say, I haven’t had much to do with that cousin since then.
rikyrah
@Elizabelle:
Was it Crawford, or the enormous amount of time he spent on vacation?
Elizabelle
@rikyrah: could be both. But I remember the complaining. The vacays were noticed.
Amir Khalid
@Immanentize:
The waiting is indeed the hardest part when it comes to surgery. But you’ll sleep right through the operation itself — or you should, anyway — and then the worst of it will be over.
efgoldman
@Schlemazel:
Last time we were at Colonial Williamsburg, December 2012, I spent some time with one of the young men in costume when the rest of our group went upstairs (I was closer to my stroke and didn’t do stairs.) I asked about slavery, which was basically unacknowledged in the exhibits. He was a history major, and told me they were working on it. Since I haven’t been back, I don’t know what they’ve done with it.
Immanentize
Thank you all for the kind thoughts. As mentioned above, I’ll be back with you jackels in short order. If only to read about Quinerly’s trip and Ozark’s insults re: same. Stay frosty gang!
Elizabelle
@efgoldman: Yup. My parents took us to Williamsburg one cold day in the 1960s, and I don’t recall any exhibits about slaves, although they were mentioned.
Just hot gingerbread (yum) and running through a boxwood maze. In dresses and coats, and it was chilly.
OzarkHillbilly
@Elizabelle:
By people on the Right?
Msb
Nice to hear Hemings will be more visible at Monticello. She should be.
NotMax
@Elizabelle
Hazy general recollections of visits to Williamsburg. Somewhat better ones of preferring Old Sturbridge Village.,
Woodrowfan
@Schlemazel: Alexandria or Arlington? The Arlington House does have exhibits and quarters for those enslaved there.
NotMax
@Amir Khalid
How’s the local media handling the death of Kim?
Woodrowfan
@efgoldman: my wife and I were in Williamsburg in 1990 and went on a very good slavery tour lead by a knowledgeable black male docent. I do know they had trouble with showing re-enactors playing whites transporting slaves because visitors would try to attack them. …
PaulW
when my family went to Colonial Williamsburg back in 1975-76, I didn’t recall much about slavery. the tours mostly focused on the day-to-day living back in the 1700s. I don’t even recall a lot of blacks in colonial cosplay either. :/ Then again, I was six-ish and more interested in the toys at the gift shops…
Amir Khalid
@NotMax:
They’re concentrating on the diplomatic row that has developed between Malaysia and North Korea over the remains. NK wants the body back but won’t offer DNA samples or other medical evidence to allow a formal confirmation of the deceased’s identity. And of course, being North Korea, they have been less than entirely diplomatic about it, accusing the Malaysian authorities of botching the investigation, covering something up, etc. etc. Our side is understandably miffed.
Bruuuuce
@efgoldman: We were in Williamsburg in February 2016, and while restoration of slavery to the history there had begun in 2015, according to their information, we didn’t get to see any noticeable amount of it because a number of things were closed. I hope to get back there in the next few years to see the complete story.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@PaulW:
I lived in Williamsburg from 73-75. They didn’t go into any detail back then regarding slavery.
More recently at Montpelier:
They’ve gone to great pains to bring out the slavery on the plantation. Plus they demolished the additions the DuPonts stuck onto the original house. Well worth the visit.
Even better, out at the entrance they have the original train station restored and it includes “separate but definitely not equal” accommodations for blacks and whites.
Kay
@danielx:
I feel like there was a double standard with Obama that was race-based. The whole “outrage that he’s entering Air Force One!” was huge on the Right. Mitt Romney used it. It was ABOUT that President not belonging on that plane.
I’ve noticed something else. No one in political media expects Trump to “reach out”. They demanded that Obama meet with his political adversaries. Trump is completely excused from that expectation.
Black men (and all women) have to “reach out”. White men do not. White men can tell everyone to fuck off. This is what people mean when they say “privilege”. That’s what privilege is. Trump is literally given more room. They boxed Obama in and said “he should” or “he needs to” or “he must”. Trump? He can do anything he wants.
OzarkHillbilly
Anybody know Anne Laurie’s actual email addy? Don’t tell me to go to the quick links, I can’t get her actual address that way all I get is an email form that says Anne Laurie. I have pics from the parade for you all but her old addy is apparently borked.
Aleta
@Immanentize: Wishing you a speedy and peaceful recovery.
Baud
@Kay: I’m sure Halperin is going to send a tweet about Trump’s failure to lead any second now.
Kay
@Baud:
Republicans are drafting a health care plan. What happened to the obligation to “reach across the aisle”?
Obama held meetings with R Senators. Trump hasn’t done jack shit.
This health care plan is for the whole country! Where is the outrage at the lack of leadership?
Trump and the GOP are held to lower standards.
SiubhanDuinne
@Immanentize:
Hope everything goes smoothly. Please check in with us when the anæsthesia wears off.
scav
@Kay: I first really noticed bipartisanship being redefined to “doing what Republicans want” under the error of W. It certainly warped into overdrive under Obama and spread into overt general use against all non-merkans then (with the flip from the “I have a 51% mandate” to the “Why aren’t you catering to meeeee” flavor). Now it’s beyond overt, it’s the marker of True Patriotism, True Masculinity and True ChristianityBrandUS. They do little cute end-zone dances after insulting others.
Sab
Done with you guys. Bored. Following nothings.
SenyorDave
@Kay: Trump and the GOP are held to lower standards.
They are held to NO standards, and they can’t even meet that level. I keep on thinking that it cannot get any more surreal, but it does every day.
Aleta
@danielx: I had a Zoey-cat; that picture shows perfectly that deep inner I take no shit from dogs wisdom.
gene108
@scav:
Makes sense, in a way. Republicans are the party that predominantly attracts the support of white men.
And in our society white men are by default the most important people in the room, whose whims must be accommodated.
Listening to the interests of white men is required to reach a consensus for what is good for America.
Listening to the concerns of non-white men is irrelevant. And Democrats, as the Party, of non-white men can be safely ignored.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: He needs a reporter who knows them to set up a meeting.
satby
@Sab: No reason other than when he was popular I was more into acid rock than pop.
OzarkHillbilly
@OzarkHillbilly: Never mind. I finally got it to go. No idea why it wouldn’t the first 3 times…. Sigh, I hate computers.
gvg
@Kay: I am sure there is some double standard, but I have to say their is also a contempt in everyone knowing Trump won’t, that he is in fact very racist and anyone that had to meet with him would have to put up with insults. He is hopeless and we know it. That right there is a put down. Expecting him to be decent is like expecting a convicted murderer to be decent. People who have to meet with him are to be pitied.
The rest of the Republican “leadership” isn’t actually much better.
Am I overstating it?
satby
@Amir Khalid: That’s terrible Amir! I don’t blame you for cutting off that cousin, and I’m glad you eventually found a nursing home for your aunt. But a horrible time for you.
Early dementia is an awful thing. The victims are often still physically in decent shape, so are harder to manage if they get combative or have a paranoid episode. My mother was in fairly early dementia when she passed away, but she was already in her 80s when it became obvious. Still difficult, but advanced age itself had her dozing off after especially bad moments. Kind of a twisted blessing, I guess.
SiubhanDuinne
@OzarkHillbilly:
AnneLaurie (at) Verizon (dot) net
tBone
@Kay:
Yeah, liberals are held to different standards. We’re expected to always be the adults in the room and never, ever get angry or upset, even when the toddlers are smearing their shit all over the walls. And if the toddlers get their hands on a book of matches and start the house on fire, it’s more important to acknowledge their feelings and make sure we don’t make them feel bad about their choice than it is to put out the flames.
O. Felix Culpa
Good morning, all! Today is my first day as Queen – no, make that Chair – of our Democratic Party Ward. Feel free to genuflect in my general direction./
I won the election (my first since junior high student council) by popular acclaim. In other words, no one else was foolish enough to run for that position. We had over 35 people turn out last night for the Ward elections in our rural, farflung district, compared to 3 last time. Something happened in the interim to get people engaged and we plan to channel that energy towards productive local activism.
satby
@gvg: way back, the doctor I work for again had a convicted murderer as a patient, along with his second wife. He was a pretty nice guy as I remember, though I only knew him superficially. But he was a more decent person in public than the kleptocrat in chief is able to manage.
satby
@O. Felix Culpa: Congratulations!! You’re just the person to do it too. Bet NM Will be solid blue in the future.
OzarkHillbilly
@SiubhanDuinne: Thanx, that’s the one it wouldn’t go to the first 3 times. Chances are the problem was at my end (it usually is, I’m usually the problem) have no idea what it was but it finally got sent.
amk
@O. Felix Culpa: Congrats. Dem party is better off with people like you.
OzarkHillbilly
@O. Felix Culpa: Congrats. I think.
scav
@O. Felix Culpa: First we get down on our knees, work for better primaries, Bow our heads with great respect and Genuflect Genuflect Genuflect!
Elizabelle
@O. Felix Culpa: Fabulous! Please keep us posted on your activities. Keep New Mexico Blue!
bemused senior
@OzarkHillbilly: I visited the Whitney Plantation on my road trip from CA to VA two years ago. It was the highlight of the trip, even though I wasn’t able to see thehouse itself, as it had been rented to Disney to film some movie.
bjacques
I’m still waiting for my “independent” friends to express concern that the Legislative Branch isn’t controlled by a different party from the one that holds the White House. Maybe because the current occupant is a maverick and not conducting politics as usual it doesn’t really apply in this case.
OzarkHillbilly
@scav: Love Tom Lehrer.
O. Felix Culpa
@satby: @amk: Thank you! Now that I’ve won, I’ve started feeling nervous about actually getting things done. Maybe that’s how 45 feels deep down in the abyss that passes for his heart – Holy Shit! Now there are performance expectations. But, I’m fortunate to have a great, highly motivated team and I think we can make a difference. Stronger Together, and all that.
We’ll definitely need to tackle the State Party Rules. Byzantine doesn’t even begin to capture their opacity and complexity. There may be something to the Wilmer supporters’ claims of the system being “rigged” in that you have to be an insider to know and understand the rules, and therefore be able to capitalize on them. Intentionally or not, they are a barrier if one is not willing to be persistent.
O. Felix Culpa
@OzarkHillbilly: @scav:
Co-signed! With enthusiasm.
tobie
@scav: I saw a poll recently that said that 71% of Americans want Democrats to work with Republicans. I noted that they never ask the opposite question: how many Americans want Republicans to work with Democrats. I don’t know how it happened but Republicans so dominate the media (or have so entered the psyche of reporters and pollsters) that they determine how every political issue is framed.
Remember Elaine Quijano earnestly asking about the deficit during the VP debate? Funny how that concern has now completely fallen by the wayside.
SiubhanDuinne
@O. Felix Culpa:
Congratulations! Look forward to many first-hand reports from you!
aimai
I’m sitting here reading about torture, refugees, and social work. Fascinating, sad, horrifying. Social work is so intimately intwined with everything the Clintons, Barack Obama and now Trump have tried to do with government assistance and international treaties–for good or ill–that every single thing I read is always on point for what is happening today. It makes it even more painful–to read anything at all about international efforts to mitigate human suffering (the clinton foundation, barack obamas presidency) and then to realize that every single good thing is going to be stripped by Trumplethinskin, the Mango Mussolini, is just enraging. No wonder I also have a raging stomach ache!
tobie
@O. Felix Culpa: Congratulations! You are the future of the party. In all seriousness, though, I’m really glad you stepped up to the plate. We so need this.
rikyrah
@Kay:
True, but people are pointing out the privilege.
And, they are bringing 8 years of receipts.
Nobody is playing with them.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Baud:
Maybe Halperin can call Trump’s behavior out and say that he’s being kind of a dick.
rikyrah
@tBone:
I think that’s why the media is in shock at the reaction to this election.
They really thought that we would ‘ get over it’.
They really thought that they could ‘ demand respect for the office’, when they didn’t say SHYT to the GOP during the years of 44.
Now, folks are pushing back, telling them, ‘ stop writing those phucking articles about why we should ‘ understand’ voters for Dolt45. We are NEVER going to understand, let alone sympathize with them.’
They really are stunned.
rikyrah
@O. Felix Culpa:
Congratulations, and thanks for being on the ground floor. We need more like you.
Aleta
@O. Felix Culpa: Wonderful news.
MomSense
@OzarkHillbilly:
Her name plus at verizon dot net.
Gin & Tonic
Reports from Austria that not only has their court ruled that Dmitriy Firtash must be extradited to the US, but he is apparently in custody of the court at this moment.
amk
@Gin & Tonic: And the racist AG is gonna do something about it? Doubtful.
rikyrah
Quick Takes: Mad Dog Mattis Attempts to Walk Back Another Potential War Crime
by Nancy LeTourneau
February 20, 2017 5:00 PM
Apparently the guy Trump likes to refer to as “Mad Dog” Mattis (otherwise known as the Secretary of Defense) had to reassure our allies that the president wouldn’t commit a war crime.
Before arriving in Baghdad, Mr. Mattis was asked by reporters about Mr. Trump’s remarks during a visit to C.I.A. headquarters last month that the United States should have “kept” Iraq’s oil after the American-led invasion, and might still have a chance to do so.
“We’re not in Iraq to seize anybody’s oil,” Mr. Mattis said during a stop in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
This is not the first time that Mattis has had to deal with a suggestion that the president is considering committing a war crime. He was successful in talking Trump out of using torture.
ET
I see Milo’s book deal was cancelled. What surprises me is that no one at CPAC or the publisher seems to really understand who this pile of human excrement really is or doesn’t care that this is not someone you want to hitch your wagon to. The who love affair with him in conservative circles just demonstrates how far away from being the part of family values they drifted (of course that was only something that they bragged about and used as a cudgel, not something they actually were).
scav
There’s essentially the same transformation here: “Political Correctness” is simply bog-standard garden politeness to people they don’t want to be nice to.
HeleninEire
My last full day in NY. I fly out tomorrow night. My only obligation for the day is dinner tonight with my friend Debbie and her two beautiful girls, Megan and Devon. So I’ve kept the daytime free to just roam around the city.
Coming back has made me realize that I do miss NY. Not nearly enough to come back, but more than I thought I would.
Barbara
@Schlemazel: There are multiple Lee houses, but Robert E. Lee’s boyhood home was sold to a private family within the last 10 years. The only Lee house that is still open to the public is the Lee Fendall house, and it is on a lot that probably isn’t large enough for out buildings. Some of these historic sites have not done much of anything because they don’t have the money. Arlington House, where Lee lived as an adult with his family, is on the site of Arlington National Cemetery.
rikyrah
Trump’s SoHo Project, the Mob, and Russian Intelligence
by Martin Longman
February 20, 2017 2:34 PM
Donald Trump keeps saying that he has nothing to do with the Russians. Most recently, he made this claim in his White House press conference last week: “I can tell you, speaking for myself, I own nothing in Russia. I have no loans in Russia. I don’t have any deals in Russia.” He said it at a press conference in early January, too.
Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA – NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 11, 2017
He also made the denial in one of the debates with Hillary Clinton.
Given that Trump is pretty consistent in how he words these denials, it could be that he’s carefully parsing. After all, if he has business interests in Azerbaijan, which he does, that’s a former Soviet Socialist Republic that is no longer part of the same nation-state as “Russia.”
Whether Trump is being too clever by half or simply lying is something that reporters, the Intelligence Community, Congress, and maybe the Treasury Department need to figure out. What’s clear for now, though, is that Trump has plenty of connections to Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union.
Hopefully, you’ve already seen the New York Times piece from this weekend detailing how Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen took a dossier to Michael Flynn that had been provided to him by a pro-Russian Ukrainian politician named Andrii V. Artemenko and a Russian mob-connected former employee of the Trump Organization named Felix Sater.
tBone
@rikyrah:
Yeah, between liberals failing to follow the Beltway Pundit Rules of Etiquette and Trumpkins doubling down on “journalists are enemies of the state” stuff, it’s been a confusing time for our esteemed media. Thankfully, there are at least a few of them who seem to have broken out of the reflexive “see? both sides do it!” bullshit and remembered what their job is actually supposed to be.
Barbara
@efgoldman: Williamsburg has at times held mock slave auctions, as well as other activities focusing on slave life. Most of Williamsburg is just walking around and visiting sites and taking tours, so I am not sure whether these kinds of activities are part of the regular routine, or just done for summers or on holidays. The last few times I have been in the area have been during winter, so not many people wandering around.
rikyrah
Republicans Love Trump. Independents? Not So Much
by Nancy LeTourneau
February 20, 2017 9:20 AM
Gallup looked at Trump’s one-month job approval ratings and found that he is 21 points below the average for recent presidents. As of mid to late February of the first year in office, the average job approval for the last 10 presidents has been 61 percent. Trump is currently at 40 percent.
But what is actually more informative is to look at those numbers by party breakdown.
When it comes to Republicans, 87 percent approve of the job Trump is doing. That is better than any of the other Republicans, except George W. Bush — who was at 91 percent with Republicans at this point in his first year. In other words, partisan Republicans love this president.
On the other end of the spectrum, Democrats almost universally disapprove of Trump. Only 8 percent approve of the job he’s doing, whereas for previous Republican presidents, those numbers have been above 30 percent.
But check out the Independents. Only 35 percent approve of the job Trump is doing. That is 23 percentage points lower than the average.
raven
@rikyrah: His nickname came from the press.
rikyrah
Democratic Comeback Will Depend on Inclusion, Not Exclusion
by Nancy LeTourneau
February 21, 2017 8:13 AM
As we near the election of the new DNC chair this weekend, it is important to think about how the party develops a successful path forward. While modeling a movement based on the Tea Party can sound attractive, that it is a short-term strategy based on exclusion rather than inclusion, and should therefore be rejected.
As an example of the exclusionary forces at work in the Democratic Party, I would point to the “We Will Replace You” efforts launched by a group of mostly Sanders supporters. Their aim is to target Democrats who have not sufficiently resisted Donald Trump and mount primary challenges against them. Their message to Democrats is: “Do everything you can to Resist Trump, or we will replace you with someone who will.” High on the list of people to target are Senators like Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota.
While both of these Senators leave much to be desired when it comes to progressive policies that go way beyond their lack of resistance to some Trump nominees, let’s be clear about something. Donald Trump won West Virginia by 42 percent (the largest margin in the country) and North Dakota by 36 percent. These are two deeply red states that just so happen to have Democratic Senators. Targeting them for a primary could very well result in having two additional Republican Senators who will vote with Trump 100 percent of the time rather than occasionally work with him.
Barbara
@ET: The CPAC creed is that only some people deserve to be abused and tormented. Memo to CPAC: any person who draws energy from the act of tormenting others is eventually going to start tormenting someone you actually care about. So it turns out that Milo might be an equal opportunity tormenter and as we all know, that is not what CPAC is about at all. CPAC limits its love of abuse and torment to people who are different from them.
rikyrah
Bookmark for up to four years: the 33 questions (so far) that need answering about Trump, his associates and Russia.
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) February 21, 2017
hovercraft
@Immanentize:
I’m probably too late, but best of luck with your surgery.
rikyrah
Malcolm X was killed on this day, 52 years ago, in New York City.
— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 21, 2017
rikyrah
ICE raided a football practice for 7yr olds yesterday in LA. They took my friend’s undocumented cousin– leaving her 7yr old son at practice
— Isaac Webster (@IsaacWebster) February 20, 2017
rikyrah
New Republican health care blueprint falls far short
02/21/17 10:00 AM
By Steve Benen
Congressional Republicans have been working on a health care reform plan – behind closed doors, away from public scrutiny – for more than seven years. Periodically, GOP leaders assure everyone that their alternative to “Obamacare” is nearly complete, and its unveiling is imminent, only to quietly change the subject soon after.
As lawmakers left Congress late last week for a week-long break, the Republican placement for the ACA still doesn’t exist, but House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) didn’t want to send his members home empty-handed – especially knowing that they’d face concerned constituents, fearing what GOP lawmakers might do to their families’ health security – so Republicans left DC armed with an outline of some vague ideas about where the majority party is headed.
That’s the good news. We’re a long way from having a real, detailed GOP plan to consider, but we can at least take a closer look at what Ryan & Co. have come up with thus far, which is better than literally nothing.
The bad news is, you’re really not going to like the Republican outline. A New York Times editorial yesterday summarized the key provisions nicely:
hovercraft
@Kay:
Twitler was one of his biggest critics on that front, bitching about the vacations and the golf, but if you ask him about it now, you are engaging in “fake news”. They even bitched about the secret service having to protect Malia when she went to Mexico on a school trip, fucking hypocrites.
Presidenting while black is hard, and not enough people gave him credit for it, he unlike some people was able to ignore the jackals and do his fucking job with grace and competence without whining.
rikyrah
Disgusted by Donald Trump’s antics, CIA veteran resigns
02/21/17 08:00 AM—UPDATED 02/21/17 09:53 AM
By Steve Benen
To hear Donald Trump tell it, he and the intelligence community get along swimmingly. The Republican president, who’s repeatedly questioned intelligence professionals’ integrity and professionalism, told the CIA on his first full day in office that the media “sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community.” The truth, he added, is “exactly the opposite.”
A few days later, reflecting on his reception at the agency, Trump added, “I got a standing ovation. In fact, they said it was the biggest standing ovation since Peyton Manning had won the Super Bowl and they said it was equal. I got a standing ovation. It lasted for a long period of time.”
But while the president was clearly delighted with himself, some intelligence professionals had a very different reaction. The Washington Post published a piece overnight from Edward Price, a former CIA analyst and spokesperson for the National Security Council, who intended to spend the rest of his career at the CIA, where he’s worked for over a decade. But his plans changed last week after Price, who worked for presidents from both parties, “reluctantly concluded” that he simply couldn’t be part of Donald Trump’s team. [Update: Price is scheduled to talk to Rachel about his perspective and experiences on tonight’s show.]
Mnemosyne
@Sab:
A Hemings/Jefferson descendant was the first Black congressman from California back in the early 1900s. IIRC, he was a great-grandson.
scav
@hovercraft: He knew it was all about the task at hand and not a mere vanity ego-trip.
rikyrah
White House forced to reverse course on Trump’s golfing
02/20/17 04:43 PM
By Steve Benen
For the third consecutive weekend, Donald Trump has headed south, spending time at his private club in South Florida, where the president appears to enjoy golfing. And while that ordinarily wouldn’t be especially notable – just about every modern president has enjoyed hitting the links – with Trump, nothing is ever easy.
Because Trump complained bitterly for years about President Obama’s golfing, the Republican’s aides are a little touchy about the subject, to the point that they’ve begun shading the truth a bit. Politico reported this afternoon:
I’ll gladly concede that this White House’s falsehoods are so numerous, giving deceptive information about the president’s golf game hardly registers. For that matter, the president’s own lies are often so serious, it’s hard to get too worked up about this latest misstep.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@rikyrah: If you’re poor, don’t get sick and if you do, die quickly.
rikyrah
Betsy DeVos hasn’t changed her mind about education
02/20/17 11:00 AM—UPDATED 02/20/17 03:58 PM
By Steve Benen
Betsy DeVos’ nomination to lead the Department of Education was one of the most contentious confirmation fights Americans have seen in a while, but despite bipartisan opposition, she was narrowly confirmed anyway – thanks to a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence.
Her brief tenure thus far hasn’t been much smoother. DeVos has faced a variety of protests since taking over as the nation’s Education Secretary, and like much of the Trump administration, the Michigan Republican believes it’s best to dismiss her critics as being part of a conspiracy against her. “I don’t think most of those are spontaneous, genuine protests,” DeVos told a conservative website last week. “I think they’re all being sponsored and very carefully planned.”
She’s offered no evidence, only her assumptions.
At the same time, DeVos is also sticking to her far-right views on education policy, despite her new job. Axios asked the megadonor/cabinet secretary last week if, in her ideal world, the federal government would have any role in education. She replied:
………………………….
In the same interview, she conceded that federal policymakers have, in the past, played a constructive role in protecting students, but when Axios asked if there any remaining issues on which the federal government should intervene, DeVos had a fairly straightforward answer.
“I can’t think of any now,” she replied.
Gin & Tonic
File under “things I didn’t know.” Dave Brubeck’s bass player at Newport in 1956 was named Norman Bates.
satby
@HeleninEire: There are things to love about almost everywhere, I’ve found (for myself, but then I’m pretty easygoing). It’s nice to visit places from your past, but it’s nice to go home too. And you’re clearly “home” in Ireland.
Edited because Kindle keeps changing too to to.
rikyrah
As the budget takes shape, Team Trump pushes highly dubious math
02/20/17 10:32 AM—UPDATED 02/20/17 10:46 AM
By Steve Benen
Donald Trump’s White House hasn’t yet released its first budget blueprint, but the New York Times reported over the weekend on a draft’s “hit list” of programs the president and his team intends to eliminate, including “longstanding conservative targets like the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Legal Services Corporation, AmeriCorps and the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities.” More surprising is Team Trump also targeting the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy.
For all of the president’s rhetoric about tackling the opioid crisis, eliminating the ONDCP would be a giant step backwards.
But while we wait for the official document, and Congress’ reaction to it, the Wall Street Journal published a fascinating scoop on how Trump World is approaching budget math.
Got that? Trump’s team has started with the growth forecast that it likes – which also happens to be consistent with what the Republican president said during the campaign – and wants to work backwards to justify the numbers chosen in advance.
rikyrah
GOP leader warns Trump critics ‘are putting Californians at risk’
02/20/17 10:00 AM
By Steve Benen
At this point, there are only a handful of states in which Democrats dominate, but it’s safe to say California is one of them. Not only do Dem officials control much of the state government and statewide offices, but in 2016, Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump in the Golden State by 30 points.
But California is nevertheless a massive and diverse place, and there are plenty of Republican-friendly areas in the state. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), for example, represents Bakersfield in the single “reddest” congressional district on the West Coast.
And according to the New York Times, the GOP leader has a suggestion for his fellow Californians: it’s time to start being nicer to Donald Trump.
McCarthy told the Times that he will, of course, represent his district and state, “but what they are doing, they are playing with fire. Donald Trump is not going out in any way or form to attack California. They are the ones who are attacking California right now. They are the ones who are putting Californians at risk in every shape and form. And they are doing it to make a political point, which is wrong.”
Ian G.
So it took me less than 5 minutes on the magic Google machine to come up with the following:
Malmo, Sweden: Population 342k, 12 homicides in 2016 (that was a big increase, too)
El Paso, TX, generally known as the safest big city in the US, and, oh yeah, 81% Hispanic, Population 681k, 18 homicides in 2016
And, just for comparison sake, Birmingham, AL, largest city in the home state of our illustrious Attorney General, population 212k, 102 homicides in 2016.
Yeah, there’s one city above where violent crime is out of control and needs addressing, but it ain’t the city in Sweden.
Barbara
@rikyrah: When those farms go bust McCarthy won’t have a district to represent. Asshole.
Smedley the uncertain
@O. Felix Culpa: ” Doin’ the Vatican Rag.”
hovercraft
@rikyrah:
Given what we know about the “independent” voters who vote republican, his approval numbers with them is or should be a glaring red sign for him.
Spanky
Hey! Look who’s come out with a timely (not) message!
So glad to see he’s so proactive on this stuff.
Peale
@hovercraft: unfortunately, that may mean they disapprove because he hasn’t started lynchings yet.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@rikyrah:
Fuck that shit.
hovercraft
@O. Felix Culpa:
Congrats, now lets see what you can do about replacing Susana Martinez with a democrat, preferably one who doesn’t have drunken encounters with the cops in hotel rooms.
hovercraft
@BillinGlendaleCA:
When did you change your name from Grayson, and move to California?
HeleninEire
@satby: Yes. I even call it “home” now.
Sab
@Kay: Wasn’t Obama care the Republicans plan modified so that Democrats could stand to vote for It? The reason that they don’t have a plan is because we compromised and voted for their plan , so now they have to disown it because some of our guys voted for it. We wanted single payer.
Brachiator
@Sab:
To be clear, Sally Hemings was said to strongly resemble her white half-sister, Martha Jefferson, Thomas’ beloved wife.
Jefferson as far as is known loved Martha greatly, and promised his dying wife that he would never remarry, which adds all kinds of irony on his ongoing relationship with Sally.
Sab
@Sab: Sorry guys. I AM cranky in thebmorning.
hovercraft
@Peale:
It wouldn’t surprise me, as the survey said they are more dogmatic, than those who still identify with the party. Not to start a food fight, but just looking at the dynamic with our side, many of the people who call themselves “progressive” refuse to be part of the democratic party because they see them as sellouts and corporates stooges. I can see the vast majority of independents being purity ponies who refuse to be tainted by the parties. The thing is unlike Obama who was dealing with a big tent and had to bring in the conservadems, Twitler has unanimity on his policies, especially domestically, so any independents pinning for more extreme policies is a straight up fascist. Any dissatisfaction can be turned to our advantage if we just get out and fucking vote, there was a link in the link to a Cook Political Report analysis showing that even when RMoney won independents he lost, and the Cooch won them by double digits in VA, but McCauliffe won, when we turn out, we win, period.
They may want lynching’s, but even the White House had to put out a statement about the anti-Semitism, and he just gave an impromptu speech at the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture. They are feeling the heat, so maybe they will piss off some of the extremists, who will then stay home.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@hovercraft: I was going to put into quotes and attribute, but I was too lazy to use teh Google. So I did a Biden.
rikyrah
@Brachiator:
Think on that. He went with her SISTER, who looked like his DEAD WIFE, except for with a tan.
All sorts of psychological papers could be written on that.
Miss Bianca
@Kay: It’s liberals in general that are always asked, always expected, to “reach out” to white conservative Christian maledom. And don’t get me started on “identity politics” . Pro-tip for Democrats who are now starting to say, “we should tone down the identity politics if we want to be competitive”: White, rural, and Christian is ALSO “identity politics!” GAAAH!!
ETA: I don’t mind them saying that we need to focus on gun-lovers to be competitive. It’s just this expectation that white, rural, and Christian isn’t as much an “identity” as “woman” or “Hispanic”. It’s just that it’s the default, expected to be the default. Makes me grind my teeth even worse than usual.
hovercraft
@BillinGlendaleCA:
How about people will be nice to him when he starts respecting his detractors, when he starts respecting our right to criticize and mock him, respects facts and figures, respects science, respects the truth, and starts doing his actual goddamn job, not watching right wing news all day, but actually starts reading up on shit, and listening to the daily briefings, and starts respecting the fact that at least half the people in the country have functioning brains, and find his lies patently stupid and obvious. When he starts doing all of those things then we can talk about people being “nice” to him, because in this case nice means not calling him on his bullshit, and that won’t happen till he stops shoveling it.
Miss Bianca
@O. Felix Culpa: Congrats! Meanwhile, we had a candidate for the state Democratic Party chairmanship drive all the way to our county yesterday, and a grand total of five people, including petite moi, there to meet with him. Sometimes I wonder if I’m in the wrong place…
Brachiator
@hovercraft:
There is only the tiniest bit of evidence that this will ever happen. It is not who Trump is. It is not who he has ever been.
Pundits have been predicting that Trump will turn some corner and become more “presidential” since the primaries. Instead he is transforming his administration into another tacky Trump production.
And keep in mind that his supporters love him all the more for his refusal to be anything other than Trump.
The evidence that Trump might change a bit? His selection of McMaster as National Security Advisor, especially if he lets the guy choose his own team.
Barbara
@hovercraft: Seriously, McCarthy sounds like a priest counseling the abused wife to start being nicer to her husband. It utterly normalizes Trump’s highly abnormal behavior of, you know, targeting people and states just because they don’t agree with him.
sukabi
@rikyrah: that is beyond despicable. WTF is wrong with these assholes? Terrorizing and kidnapping kids. Is this drumpfs version of making America great?
J R in WV
@Alain the site fixer:
Since you’re working on things… in the past I have been able to enter wwwDOTballoon-juiceDOTcom (or even just balloon-juiceDOTcom) and get the site no problem. Yesterday without adding [https://…] in front of the address we were getting a time out error message, even on a link that worked very recently.
After a test, it is still like that today:
quakerinabasement
Hemings was probably 15 years old when her “relationship” with Jefferson began.
J R in WV
@Baud:
Well yeah, And he could have decided to DO something about that Kenyan complexion, too!!
Michael Jackson did, and look how successful he was!!! Oh, wait a minute…
dies at 51 or so… addicted to anesthetic drug… never mind.
sukabi
@quakerinabasement: isn’t that a quaint way of describing rape?
Mnemosyne
@quakerinabasement:
In the time period, 15 or 16 years old was not an unusual age at which to get married or enter into your first a long-term relationship. It’s more notable that Jefferson was 45 at the time, because even in Ye Olden Days there was rarely that much of an age gap.
O. Felix Culpa
@hovercraft:
That’s a given on our agenda. She terms out in 2018 and we’ve already started gearing up to win the governorship and retain control of the Roundhouse.
J R in WV
@Sab:
OK! See ya! Have fun out there.