every once in awhile, i manage to be shocked out of my general disgust into visceral rage at this stupid, wealthy, racist asshole who should be a fringe pariah, if only one of our political parties weren't utterly amoral, craven toxic fucking waste. https://t.co/jb7yrquB6Y
— golikehellmachine (@golikehellmachi) May 11, 2020
PROFLIGATE! https://t.co/iqdeBTXnHo
— Schooley (@Rschooley) May 11, 2020
Trump going after Obama seems insanely stupid but we end up doing best when his attention is too divided by meaningless outrage for him to fuck up in any significant way, so blame game whack-a-mole is good actually
— Gorilla Warfare (@MenshevikM) May 10, 2020
The only reason he’s president is because he made himself the Birther King. https://t.co/J0abZB9nVF
— Tentin Quarantino (@agraybee) May 11, 2020
Really hope none of these people are asymptomatic carriers is all I’m saying here. https://t.co/Cnhoo12CyW
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) May 10, 2020
Going to be a hell of a thing when Donald gets Coronavirus then panickedly tweets out an "EXECTAVE ORDAR" on Twitter forbidding anyone from going outside ever again.
— Starfish Who Had Fun For An Hour (@IRHotTakes) May 11, 2020
I hope Trump is making McConnell come to the White House every day
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) May 11, 2020
Now as secure as my local Safeway, two months in https://t.co/AEQRyFnShp
— Paul Musgrave?? (@profmusgrave) May 11, 2020
*rocks back in forth in the corner, with 7 different cable news channels all playing at the same time*
EVERYONE BUT ME IS LOSING THEIR MINDS!!!!! https://t.co/OMFRw2IyJx— Centrism Fan Acct ?? (@Wilson__Valdez) May 9, 2020
debbie
IKR? Who would have ever thought he would win???
RepubAnon
What Donny needs is to go out and have lots of rallies with his devoted fans. Real close. Lots of handshakes and hugs – even if they’re coughing and running a fever.
Sloane Ranger
CNN is outraged by Trump’s treatment of the Chinese American journalist. They’ve even used the R word to describe it.
Of course, they’ll be giving him the benefit of the doubt again by tomorrow morning.
Elizabelle
I’ll bring this forward, cuz I thought this was fabulous.
from top of WaPost website just now:
Scuttled by the factory. Trump was fine with virus-spreading and work-interrupting if the staged visit made him look like a wartime president. Moar of this, please.
Braskem is the company John Cole highlighted a few weeks back, for their self-sacrifice. They’ve suggested Trump come back after the pandemic. LOL.
Earlier story was entitled
They lived in a factory for 28 days to make millions of pounds of raw PPE materials to help fight coronavirus.
And Trump wanted to put them all at risk, for a photo op. Of his orange WAR PRESIDENT face without a mask. I hope this episode strengthens West Point’s spine. Just say no to a June graduation so Trump can parade around.
Baud
To be fair, the other party supports black people, so both sides.
RSA
On the Axios video, I just have to write this: WHAT A FUCKING ASSHOLE.
laura
That vile filth and all of his syncophants can just all die in a tire fire, but if I must, I could settle for finding out exactly how big of a broke-ass joke he actually is. He’s broke and desperate that the details be kept unknown or the world would point and laugh and laugh and laugh. Couldn’t we all use a good long gut busting lung clearing laugh at the expense of this sad sagging ass joke of a broke down grifting tertiary syphilis raging sociopath?
laura
@Sloane Ranger: Nope. CNN will just ring up every Republican panelist from their too deep bench to come tittle tattle over “remarks that some people from both sides may find offensive.”
jeffreyw
Went to an eye dr appt this morning. Mask to enter, aide at the door pointed to hand sanitizer and said do that first thing. Then did temp scan, asked the questions about being around any positive cases, feel okay, using any temp reducing meds, any coughing, etc. Directed to a chair in the lobby where 2 out of every 3 chairs was turned over to get spacing. Staff were masked and used sanitizer every time they turned around. I was in and out fairly quickly. Mrs J waited in the car. Good thing she drove because the eye dilation made seeing a problem even with sunglasses on.
Side note: New kitteh will be known as Gracie. Mrs J has spoke.
Roger Moore
I don’t know if he can compel McConnell to come to the White House every day, but he certainly can demand Elaine Chao to do so.
Emma
This is a real bummer, since Fred Meyer is where I do most of my grocery shopping: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/local-business/supermarket-chains-begin-terminating-hero-pay-to-workers-during-pandemic/ The fact that the QFCs and Fred Meyers here (Seattle suburbs) were also the slowest to put up any kind of social distancing signs and crowd control policy that they still barely follow makes this decision even more ridiculous. (Also, ughhh on calling it “hero pay,” what was wrong with plain old hazard pay).
One way to register your disappointment is with this Teamsters angry email template: https://teamster.org/news/2020/05/tell-kroger-dont-cut-hazard-pay-essential-workers
Elizabelle
Laughing at that Axios video. Because: those reporters pantsed Trump. They really did.
Women reporters in masks. They stood up for themselves and each other. Trump just ended the press conference rather than tangle with them further.
Trump’s go to response of “Ask China” is already not going over well. This time, he directed it to an Asian ancestry reporter, who asked him right back why he had directed that particular comment at her.
raven
@jeffreyw: New prescription? I don’t have to tell you glasses and hearing aids are free for you from the VA?
theturtlemoves
@Emma: That move is particularly disappointing to me as my daughter works at a Fred Meyer here in Oregon. They are doing ok keeping her safe and she’s careful but I’m sure she liked the extra cash despite currently being back at home for now.
raven
@theturtlemoves: They are all doing it. At least many are.
theturtlemoves
@raven: If Safeway stops, that’ll be both my kids working in places with potentially lots of idiots and not getting anything extra for it, so… awesome.
raven
@theturtlemoves: Oh it sucks for sure. I’m tipping the shit out of the Intsacart people.
Betty Cracker
@laura: Yes. Yes, we could all use exactly that.
Emma
@theturtlemoves: hope your daughter stays safe when she returns to work :( glad to hear that her branch was more responsible than mine, at least. Is she in a union? My local FM has a union, but I don’t know it’s only for that branch, or only for FM employees, or if it extends to all Kroger grocery employees. I also don’t know if the FM union is relatively toothless, since at one point I saw my branch with signs praising itself for having a unionized workforce. Call me cynical, but successful unions piss off the higher-ups, not engender happy posters on the supermarket doors.
Frankensteinbeck
Reluctantly, I watched the video. I will sum up for those who don’t want to subject themselves to Trump.
An Asian woman reporter asks him why he’s comparing testing to other countries. He tells her, with an out-of-nowhere rush of audible anger, to ask China. He tries to get another question. The original reporter asks him why he told her specifically that. He gave a non-answer about telling anyone that which again sounded angry at China. Another woman holds up her hand. Trump tells her that she had her chance. She said she was giving her time to the colleague. There is a few seconds of talking over each other about whether she gets to ask a question, and Trump declares the press conference is over and walks off.
He’s such a fucking toddler.
EDIT – During the ‘I would tell anybody’ part he did call it a ‘nasty question’. She’d phrased it in a bland way. It was a total softball.
CCL
@jeffreyw: Our elder is a Gracie. Because she’s graced our lives and is, incidentally, grey.
I got screened out of my doc appointment – when the office was calling back all the cancelled appointments to reschedule. Got through every thing until the screening question “Have you had a fever in the last couple of days?” Had to answer yes as I had woken soaked in perspiration the night previous as I sometimes do. So they wouldn’t make the appointment – very nice about it, but firm. Weird that it was somehow comforting to know that they were checking. I was quite grateful actually.
Emma
@theturtlemoves: reps from other supermarket chains, including Safeway, did say in the article that they’ll continue hazard pay without a specified end date, so one child is OK! But also makes Kroger look even more the fool.
Brachiator
In the same vein, here is British comedian Matt Lucas mocking the shit out UK prime minster Boris Johnson’s recent inconsistent lockdown rules.
Elizabelle
The WaPost already has a story up on the Axios clip — above.
Blurb on front page is “Trump walks out of his own news conference after heated exchange with two reporters.”
Would have been even more points if Post had specified “women reporters.” And they’re nasty! He said that. In its glory:
PsiFighter37
@Elizabelle: Asshole and racist. Dude’s going to get single digits of the Asian-American vote due to his pandemic (and racism) if he’s lucky.
BBA
I can’t even. I just can’t even. In fact, not only can’t I even, I’m running out of even to can’t.
theturtlemoves
@Emma: Not sure but given that they contractually have to give her a minimum number of hours a week, etc., I’m assuming they are unionized. She didn’t mention it explicitly, though. My son’s Safeway is unionized for sure. He’s much, much more political so it was something he paid more attention to.
Elizabelle
@PsiFighter37: Thank dog for the podium. Those women reporters can see that he has no clothes.
Frankensteinbeck
@Elizabelle:
It’s especially pathetic because I, having no experience with press conferences, not having seen anything else about the press conference, and knowing jack shit about the subject, could spin a plausible pablum answer: Comparing the US’s performance to other countries is the only way to describe how we’re doing compared to what’s possible. There, done, sounds reasonable, doesn’t have to mean anything. The question was as easy as you get that’s not “Why are you so great?”
He sounded MAD when he mentioned China, too. Either he absolutely hates her for being Chinese, or he personally and strongly blames China for COVID and the whole mess. Way beyond it happening to start there.
debbie
@Frankensteinbeck:
Thanks for watching and reporting back. I love his use of “nasty” as a pejorative, especially considering the venom in many off his remarks, tweets, etc. Pussy.
Roger Moore
@Frankensteinbeck:
She may have asked it in a bland way, but it’s not a softball question. The underlying point is that there’s no good reason for making the comparison the way Trump makes it, and asking the question is putting him on the spot, trying to force him to explain something without a good explanation. He isn’t good enough at bullshitting to come up with an answer that would get him off the hook, so he resorted to attacking.
Jeffro
Six more looooooooooong months of this, GOP.
Won’t someone draw the short straw and have the ‘exit talk’ with Orangemandias? Anyone? Bueller, Bueller? LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
Did I mention six loooooooooong months? =)
jeffreyw
@raven: A one year follow up after cataract surgery.
Brachiator
@Sloane Ranger:
Similarly, I see that while BBC news coverage of the pandemic in the UK is very good, their political reporters have their heads so far up Boris Johnson’s ass that they are offering guided tours of various nooks and crannies.
The more overtly conservative media, as always, are utterly useless.
It is sad to see formerly exemplary democracies, the US and UK, descending into ludicrous autocratic chaos.
Another Scott
ICYMI, Things commigirl1’s mother taught her:
A taste:
Lots of wisdom there.
Cheers,
Scott.
hitchhiker
I don’t agree that this was a polite or a bland, softball question. Jiang was challenging him to explain why he’s focused on trying to WIN an imaginary global competition over who’s the greatest while the virus is still spreading all over the place and Americans are still dying in unimaginably big numbers, alone in hospital rooms without even a chance to say goodbye to their families, unless there’s a kind nurse willing to hold up a cell phone for one last facetime.
I suppose she could have added, “What the fuck is wrong with you?” but it was pretty clear that — like most of us — she wanted to get him to fucking focus. And even if he’s too dumb to know how to focus or what to do with this utterly catastrophic mess, he knows when he’s being made a fool of.
He has no answer, except to say he doesn’t like the question. Of course he doesn’t like the question! But it’s still the right question, and the sort that they should ask every time. Why does it matter that “everyone who wants one can get a test” if the virus is still infecting people by the tens of thousands every hour of the day? Focus!
ETA: I see that others are ahead of me on this take.
qu
@Frankensteinbeck:
Not sure what he believes. There is no solid case for blaming China, and there is a much much much more solid case, i.e. public record, for correctly asserting that he pissed away 2 months of pandemic time, treating COVID-19 as a PR problem and/or belittling it. Lockdowns started a week or two earlier would have meant 10s of thousands fewer American deaths. And his behavior since then encouraging dangerous threatening-to-others behavior by his supporters is also unforgivable.
Elizabelle
@Roger Moore:
I thought there was a real moral center to Ms. Jiang’s question. Asked after Trump was braying about prevailed, prevailed, prevailed early in the press conference.
Trump pointed out that people were dying all over the world and then grabbed his
binkie“Ask China” go to response.Aside from the Asian-bashing, she made it very clear he has no empathy. It’s all a competition for him.
ETA: Hitchhiker got there first. And props to Ms. Jiang.
Bill Arnold
@Frankensteinbeck:
Not sure what he believes. There is no solid case for blaming China, and there is a much much much more solid case, i.e. public record, for correctly asserting that he pissed away 2 months of pandemic time, treating COVID-19 as a PR problem and/or belittling it. Lockdowns started a week or two earlier would have meant 10s of thousands fewer American deaths. And his behavior since then encouraging dangerous threatening-to-others behavior by his supporters is also unforgivable.
RedDirtGirl
@jeffreyw: Ooh, new kitty alert! My sister just got a little one and I’m afraid she’ll be a catolescent before I get to meet her.
Elizabelle
@Bill Arnold: I love how Andrew Cuomo reminds — a lot — that Trump shut down travel from China and the virus arrived in NYC — from Europe.
Trump did nothing. Actually, he sabotaged a government response. And gaslighting is not going to combat the virus.
Frankensteinbeck
@Bill Arnold:
I don’t know, but twice when he mentioned China he went from sleepy and depressed to barely contained rage, then back down to petulance, over the course of a few seconds. It was bizarre. He has strong feelings about China here.
Calouste
@Brachiator:
Neither the US or the UK have ever been exemplary democracies.
Brachiator
@Frankensteinbeck:
Trump has a deep need to demonstrate that “something” is not his fault, even when there is no accusation, and such a charge is unnecessary. Nothing must touch him, and he must only be praised.
So, he blames Obama for leaving him nothing. And promises to punish CHI-na for making him have to pretend to do something about the pandemic.
And Trump is willing to poison future US-Chinese relations over nothing. He cannot help himself. He needs a designated scapegoat.
Meanwhile, his own efforts are the best or most ever.
I don’t know whether he hates the reporter for being Chinese. But he is dismissive of her because she is non-white and because she is a woman who asks a question that he can interpret as an affront to his leadership.
We keep seeing this time and time again.
What is slightly disconcerting here is that he cannot modify his behavior even when there is a clear national emergency.
His own ego needs comes before the needs of the country.
trollhattan
@Bill Arnold:
They may believe it or not, but his acolytes are grabbing hold like it’s a life ring validating their continued support of I, Trump. That’s all that matters and besides, blaming it on Bill Gates simply is not working. IIRC he was also uttering “Chi Nuh virus” two months ago.
mrmoshpotato
@debbie: Given how stupid, selfish and racist enough of the electorate is combined with all of the networks having an orgasm over Dump bullshit… Looking at you, Empty Podium CNN and Morning Joe Blows!
Feathers
Just saw this video which should be of great interest to the Jackaltariat: Consumer Reports on how to launder clothes covered in pet hair
Note that the video is at the bottom of a 10 Cleaning Myths page. Basically, they say to remove the pet hair before laundering, because it can mess up your washer. Helpfully, they then let you know that putting your hairy clothes in the dryer for 10 minutes will loosen up the pet hair, catching a lot of it in the lint filter.
trollhattan
@jeffreyw:
A good and proper name, I hope she wears it proudly. ?
Bill Arnold
@Frankensteinbeck:
Interesting. I suppose I should study what his meme-feeds are feeding him. (100 percent of what I’ve seen so far is purified essence of bullshit, in many different flavors, some contradictory.)
Another Scott
@Roger Moore: On the BBC news tonight, they were talking about it. (I always mute their coverage of him…) What I noticed were 2 giant banners off the sides of the stage saying something like “America Leads the World In Testing!!”
They’re trying to spin the fact that there’s far too little testing in the US by comparing raw numbers of tests. Trying to gloss over the fact we have the 3rd largest population in the world, so of course we have (and need) more testing than Tuvalu…
They’re so incompetent. At everything.
Grr…
Cheers,
Scott.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@jeffreyw:
Gracie is a great name.
Another Scott
@Jeffro: “Donnie, we need you to cut, and cut cleanly…”
One really has to wonder how much worse things are going to get. Is there really nothing that would cause the GOP to abandon him? I mean, yeah, we think and say that they’re are immoral monsters, but even monsters have an ethos, don’t they??!
Cheers,
Scott.
Roger Moore
@Frankensteinbeck:
He’s obviously a xenophobe, and his behavior with respect to the pandemic has shown that he treats it like a foreign contagion. Someone pointed out that his travel restrictions related to China were limited to foreign visitors from China; American citizens and legal permanent residents were allowed to return from China without any restrictions, even sensible things like quarantining them. At the same time, he ignored travel from Europe, even as it was clear there was a very serious outbreak there. It’s as though he saw the virus as being specifically Chinese, so that it was sufficient to keep Chinese people out.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@hitchhiker: Softball or not, the answer is easy “Thank you for asking that, the comparison is a useful metric to help us measure the performance of our anti-virus measures. A sanity check if you will. I am quite pleased with how the American public has responded to this crises.” The problem this wasn’t in Cumo’s conference today that Trump is just copying from.
SiubhanDuinne
@theturtlemoves:
Fun fact: Cheryl Rofer and Steve in the ATL pronounce “unionized” completely differently :-)
CaseyL
So Safeway is continuing the extra pay for its workers? As much as I dislike Safeway (they carry practically no local brands) I may have to start shopping there instead of Fred Meyer.
Lapassionara
@Brachiator: more than slightly disconcerting, I think.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
❄️️
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Another Scott: On the other hand Cumo himself says we both need more testing and it’s almost impossible to do it.
tokyokie
@PsiFighter37:
And he guaranteed himself single digits with black voters and Hispanic voters a long time ago.
Calouste
@Another Scott: Well, the United States might lead the world in the number of tests, but considering they test the White House staff and dog knows how many others at least daily, they might not be leading in the number of people tested.
Roger Moore
@Another Scott:
They try to drop him the moment they’re sure he’s lost. Unfortunately for them, they’ve lashed themselves to him so thoroughly they will have a very hard time cutting themselves loose.
debbie
@tokyokie:
He only got 9.71% in 2016 in Manhattan.
Brachiator
@Another Scott:
There are a couple of short stories or novels that hazily come to mind, but I can’t quite grab the titles. But the idea is that the ethos of monsters are consistent with who they are, and are of no help to their victims.
The GOP believe that they are getting exactly what they want from Trump. They are not about to let him go. Even if the country is damaged, they believe that any recovery will be in their favor.
I also think that many of the plutocrats who are big GOP donors care even less about the country than the GOP. They are convinced that they can use the Republicans and Trump for their own ends, and that if things fell apart, they would simply pack up their families and flee to a safe haven.
NickM
@Emma: Speaking as a longtime union lawyer, the signs on the door indicate a more powerful union, not less. Those signs are negotiated, not freely given, and a sign that the union has power there, especially to delivery and trades people who might need to know that. It also reminds management every day that the union has power there. Companies hate signs like those.
Another Scott
@Brachiator: I think it’s more than that.
Donnie wanted to crush China with the tariffs and win the “easy to win” trade war. He wanted to force China to rein in Kim, or at least go around Xi to rein in Kim himself and get his Noble [sic] Peace Prize. (His bigly one, better than Obama’s.) He wanted to crush China’s lead in solar and coal and steel and steam catapults. And on and on.
He wanted to bend Xi to his will, and of course also not be blackmailed by his dependence on China (c.f. Steele Dossier).
None of it worked.
And then COVID-19 happened. And the US response as been the worst in the western world. And he needs to blame someone, so it’s back to blaming China.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
Kathleen
@Baud: I’m sure thread is dead but I have to tell you I want to embroider that comment on a sampler and hang it in my office.
H.E.Wolf
You are Awe.Some! :-)
RedDirtGirl
@Brachiator: yikes. I read that as “the reporters having their heads so far up Boris’s Johnson…”
bluehill
@Brachiator: Most of the repubs with some morals or ethics have probably left Congress, so what’s left are the true believers, nihilists and the cynics. I would expect this group is sticking with Trump until the end.
Plus after everything that’s happened what could he do that would be considered the “final straw”? I think Susan Collins is a good example of someone that was perceived as a “moderate” and as a check on Trump’s excesses, but for whatever reason she fell in line. She’s not changing until she’s voted out of office. She’s “pot committed” as poker players apparently say.
TS (the original)
Just read some updates in the Washington Post – It is ALWAYS the women reporters who stand up to trump. The guys are too interested in their access and playing the game.
Edited: to add the link
Kathleen
@Emma: Here’s a link to article in the Cincinnati Business Courier about the negotiations:
https://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/news/2020/05/10/kroger-negotiating-with-unions-about-end-date-for.html?ana=e_me_set1&j=90507892&t=Morning&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWWpobU9UVXhNREV5TXpsayIsInQiOiJNRG9Mazd3cVNFZ3pBTmFHR2VrZlwvY1BE
Mike in NC
This is one of Fat Bastard’s weirdest formulations. Like something a demented five year old would say.
Eric S.
If the WH offices are half as crowded as I have been lead to believe not requiring masks while sitting at their desks tell me they still don’t understand.
TS (the original)
@Eric S.:
Maybe not so much under trump – few want to work there.
Jeffro
“Don’t you UNDERSTAND?!?”
“These ‘press conferences’ are just temporary substitutes for my beautiful, beautiful rallies! You know, where people actually applaud me for humping an American flag, and lying non-stop, and acting out in ways that would get a McDonald’s fry cook fired!”
“YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ASKING ME ANYTHING BUT GREAT QUESTIONS!!! ONES THAT MAKE ME LOOK GOOD! NOT TALKING ABOUT ‘PEOPLE DYING’ AND THINGS LIKE THAT!!”
CaseyL
@Emma: Rather than fill out the Teamster form, I tried calling Kroger directly, and spoke to two different people, both of whom claimed to know nothing about any hazard pay at all, much less whether it’s being discontinued.
They each said to call my local store. I knew that was bullshit, but tried anyway. The person in HR I spoke to said the best way to get Kroger’s attention is by filling out the customer survey that the store receipt has a link to. Without the receipt information, you can’t access the survey. I was debating whether to make another store run, and now it looks like I might have to in order to get a receipt!
I love my local Fred Meyer, but cutting off the extra pay when the pandemic hasn’t ended is bullshit.
Jeffro
@tokyokie: Not with Hispanic voters, at least not at present, unfortunately.
VeniceRiley
@Roger Moore: I’m predicting they don’t even then. There will be a mad scrabble to get every trinket, dollar, and judge. Pardons galore, and everything not nailed down will be chugging out the door on the world’s most spectacular grift train during the lame duck session.
Redshift
@Brachiator:
It’s worse than that – the needs of the country don’t come second, they’re not on the list at all. They only come into play when doing something for the country is good for him or his reelection, and when then, only when it’s not too hard and just lying about having done it instead doesn’t seem to be working.
Redshift
@TS (the original):
I’m betting “a reporter in the back” was the woman from OAN.
Dorothy A. Winsor
My evening was just brightened by seeing a FB post from my kindergarten-teacher DIL. She went out early this morning and drove to each of her students’ houses to put up a little yard sign that said “My teacher is proud of me.” And then there’s a little cartoon of her saying “Be good.” Her FB post is pictures of her kids having their pictures taken by the signs. It’s so cute. They look so pleased.
Kathleen
@CaseyL: I replied to Emma with a link to article in Cincinnati Business Courier in Comment #72. It may answer some of your questions.
Brachiator
@Another Scott:
Trump wants praise and a Nobel Prize, but he is mainly just playing at being president with his foreign policy. His supposed desire to “crush” China is bizarre. It is meaningless in any practical terms. And if you go back and look at various stories, a common theme is that the Chinese are willing to negotiate and to compromise on some issues, but have no idea what Trump wants.
Also, since tariffs are really taxes on Americans, the idea that they would “crush” China is ridiculous. And it certainly does not bring manufacturing back to the US. At best, the supply chain shifts to Vietnam and India. And China is still the regional superpower.
There has never been the slightest indication that Kim pays attention to China. The conventional wisdom is that China tolerates Kim because they would never want to see millions of refugees flee to China if North Korea collapses.
Bottom line. Trump doesn’t have much of a record in bending anyone to his will.
And more often, as with his threat to take away contributions to the UN or WHO, there is no clear policy issue at play, only the desire to hurt an organization that is dependent on the US.
Again, Trump’s blaming of China stirs up his base, but is otherwise superfluous rage. And it’s not as though the rest of the international community back him on this. To the contrary, they do everything they can to indicate, “hey, we are not with this guy.”
Trump has an ego need to punish China, but again, there is no real point to this. Even if Trump wanted to fine China Eleventy trillion semolians for spreading the virus, he is not going to be able to collect on the debt.
Jeffro
If he stays pretty popular with the GOP base – and it looks like he is – then probably no single GOP official is going to stand up and tell him off, or try to talk him into resigning/not running. They’re all getting what they want, for now, and a couple dozen of them think they’ll be shoo-ins in 2024…just dial back the crazy a bit, and look good in comparison.
I’m not agreeing with their math, but that’s what they think.
@Roger Moore: I think some of the GOP’s top officials and donors are realizing his goose is probably cooked, and their priority is going to be to hold the Senate. Between that and SCOTUS, they probably feel that a Dem administration won’t be able to do a whole heck of a lot.
This is a good point. The GOP members of Congress, especially in the House, are about as wingnutty as it gets.
The Pale Scot
@jeffreyw:
Gracie?
Gotta get a George now
Ruckus
@Emma:
I refuse to shop in any store owned by Kroger. They are as despicable as any other right wing owned/run business. They only ever do the bare necessity of actually running a business.
Tony Jay
@Brachiator:
Short version. When Cameron got the chance he changed the rules around the BBC’s relationship to Government so that the top three BBC execs were appointed by Number 10, and they in turn got to appoint the rest of the BBC’s controllers. Pretty soon everyone in a position of power there was a loyal Tory placeman, often shifted over from the Murdoch Press, the Telegraph, etc. Their job isn’t to carry on the BBC’s national duty to inform and entertain, it’s to carry Tory water and prepare the Corporation for eventual privatisation.
In the meantime, they’re a publicly funded job creation scheme for Tory PR flacks and our own bow-tied version of Fox News. Yay for us.
WaterGirl
@Dorothy A. Winsor: That is so sweet! Your daughter-in-law must be a lovely person.
NotMax
@jeffreyw
Obligatory.
Emma
@NickM: Ohhh how interesting, thanks for your comment! I just assumed it was a PR move by management a few years ago (when I saw the sign, which is no longer there), because it was a chirpy “thank you for shopping at a union store!” door sign.
Emma
@CaseyL: hallelujah, I knew the bad habit of consigning receipts to the bottom of my purse would one day prove useful!!! I do have a receipt from Saturday, so thanks for your tip, will proceed to do the survey.
Emma
@Kathleen: Thanks, looks like FM employees are subsumed into bigger coalitions, like my own union (Teamsters Local 763 w00t)
Roger Moore
@Jeffro:
They are giving strong signs that they’re preparing for the Democrats to win in November. At least that’s how I read McConnell saying there’s not going to be any more stimulus and we need to worry about the deficit. If he thought he could save his Senate majority with a stimulus, he would be doing it. Instead, he’s decided it’s more important to hamstring the next Administration with a crippling depression.
Brachiator
@Jeffro:
I firmly believe that Trump can be defeated, but the GOP leadership and their top donors want the goose, the stuffing and all the sides. And they believe that it is within their grasp.
If Balloon Juice folk think about the courts at all, they tend to stop at SCOTUS.
But damn, the Senate just wrapped the confirmation hearing for 37 year old Justin Walker, the youngest federal court nominee in decades, and a man who was initially ranked “not qualified” by the ABA.
A recent Vox story puts this into perspective:
On top of this, Trump may get to appoint two more Supreme Court justices, and has totally demoralized and weakened the Justice Department, making it his servile creature.
laura
Kroger will rue the day they chucked good will into the gutter. I worked for 20 years at Safeway – UFCW represent! It was a great job. Then they got bought by Kolberg Kravis Roberts and I learned a hard investment lesson on pump and dump. Any who, the profit margin is very slim and competition is fierce. Each customer represents an average dollar amount. In 1985 that dollar figure was $10,000. Piss off a shopper – 10 large just walked out the door. So right at this moment the public is learning about just who is essential – and in most cases there’s agreement that front line workers deserve an extra nickel or dime. Many customers would seek another store in light of Kroger’s shite-bag move. What an avoidable self own.
Brachiator
@Roger Moore:
The next big battle is coming, and it will not be about stimulus, but how to best support the entire post-pandemic economy.
California has gone from a $21 billion budget deficit to an estimated deficit of at least $40 billion. I hear a recent news story where Governor Newsom is asking for a $1 trillion bailout for California and some other states.
McConnell will be desperate to make sure that the GOP can hang onto the Senate. And Trump, if he is re-elected, will relish an opportunity to make New York and California grovel before him.
We must defeat Trump in November. The odds I think are in our favor, but the success of a post-pandemic world is another critical issue depending on a Democratic Party victory.
John S.
@laura: Ah yes, another log on the fire of KKR. Making leveraged buyouts illegal was one of the things Elizabeth Warren spoke about during her campaign.
jc
I really don’t wish this illness on anyone, but if someone like Pence turned up positive, it might sober up some of these idiots who can’t be bothered to wear masks in meetings with senior military leadership or corporate CEOs.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Damn, that briefing was supposed to be Trump magic Mission Accomplished moment and he stomped all over it.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Brachiator: Trump and Turtle can screw over the blue states and crash the economy. Or they can pay the bills and then deal with the outrage from their 1% crazy billionaire donors.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
I’ve already seen conservatives doing a lot of Kabuki theater blaming the Democrats for Trump’s antics. I suspect what’s keep Trump so popular with the GOP base is just peer pressure now.
rikyrah
@jeffreyw:
Awe ?
Gracie??
rikyrah
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Will you link to the post??