“So-called President Biden (everyone knows he didn’t win I did) trying to be tough on Russia, but he is hurting America instead and now the world laughs at us like a dog”
“So-called President Biden (everyone knows he didn’t win I did) trying to be tough on Russia, but he is hurting America instead and now the world laughs at us like a dog”
Odd. Whenever I turn on the international news, I see other countries praising us and applauding us, and happy to work with us.
But the GOP base lives in their own special reality.
15.
zhena gogolia
Thanks for this. It is such a relief not to have a POTUS who’s VVP’s lapdog.
I spent way too much time on Twitter the last four years
No judgement. Dump’s bullshit wasn’t something you could really ignore, even if you wanted, given his position at the time.
18.
debbie
I apologize for not being able to keep up with everything, but has Biden announced new sanctions yet? I thought I heard a number of Russian officials would be expelled/deported/whatever.
19.
zhena gogolia
The President of the United States has the interests of the United States at heart. What a refreshing change.
NEW: Biden announces retaliatory measures in response to Russia's election interference, hacking and other malign activity pic.twitter.com/DgYEIT0tld— John Kruzel (@johnkruzel) April 15, 2021
22.
Jeffro
@Cheryl Rofer:Biden’s said it before: he’ll work with Russia when he can, but he’ll respond to meddling in US elections and threatening military action in Europe.
Fox: “Biden indecisive, trying to have it both ways”
23.
Benw
@Martin: it was just a silly joke, no need to hound me ;)
24.
Jeffro
Might be a good time for some info about trumpov & Co and Russia to come out, just to remind everyone that the former guy was Putin’s bootlicking stooge.
@debbie: Yes. New sanctions on a number of Russian officials and businesses. Looks like a move toward cutting Russia out of the international financial system. Also some Russian diplomats expelled.
I understand your not being able to keep up. The past few days I’ve felt like we’re back to the constant news cycle. But this time, some of the news is good, and none of it is that the president has threatened to nuke some country or revoke out constitutional rights.
I think the Trump-Manafort-Kilimnik-Russian intelligence linkage that was made by the Treasury Dept. today is a pretty big story, or should be.
27.
Another Scott
@Cheryl Rofer: I liked that he made it explicit that he could have gone much further. It leaves Putin an opening to ratchet down his actions.
I wonder if the Summit will be before the Duma elections. I’m sure Vlad would want it before…
Cheers,
Scott.
28.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Benw: you never want to belabrador a joke to the point where the humor is irretrieverable.
29.
zhena gogolia
It’s as if we were living in a house with no locks on the doors for four years and now the locksmith has come. I know the analogy is silly, but it was my gut feeling after seeing this statement.
@zhena gogolia: Thanks. I was going to include that Kilimnik linkage in an earlier comment and forgot. The Treasury Department, of all places, is saying that Manafort shared campaign polling information with Kilimnik, who sent it on to Putin. The most that any US government department has said about that very strange activity.
Corporations are not leftist. Corporations occasionally side with leftists because some core right wing values– racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, xenophobia, anti-immigration prejudice– are bad for corporation’s top-line sales and available labor pool for talent. But that is only an alliance of convenience we should leverage. When it comes to labor rights, progressive taxation, regulation, and a number of core leftist values, corporations are and will always remain our enemies.
Do you mean this one? “v blizhaishee vremia” is pretty vague and subject to change.
The Kremlin says that there won't be any Biden-Putin summit in the near future, due to the US sanctions expected to be announced today https://t.co/wjncLlN69u— Mike Eckel (@Mike_Eckel) April 15, 2021
I’ll tell you what’s refreshing: Government documents with punctuation so good, a very long sentence is not at all ponderous:
This includes, in particular, efforts to undermine the conduct of free and fair democratic elections and democratic institutions in the United States and its allies and partners; engage in and facilitate malicious cyber activities against the United States and its allies and partners; foster and use transnational corruption to influence foreign governments; pursue extraterritorial activities targeting dissidents or journalists; undermine security in countries and regions important to United States national security; and violate well-established principles of international law, including respect for the territorial integrity of states.
41.
Benw
@mrmoshpotato: only when I do stupid shit…. like post on BJ!
I was going to include that Kilimnik linkage in an earlier comment and forgot. The Treasury Department, of all places, is saying that Manafort shared campaign polling information with Kilimnik, who sent it on to Putin. The most that any US government department has said about that very strange activity.
You mean…that very strange activity that showed Russia where and how to really concentrate its online disinformation efforts?
43.
Gin & Tonic
@Cheryl Rofer: If a Biden-Putin meeting, whatever it is called, is held to discuss (among other things) Russia’s occupation of Ukraine and Ukraine is not a full partner to that phase, as it looks from what I’ve seen of the preliminary leaks, that will be very bad. Ukraine has agency – this would be like Mom and Dad discussing plans relative to their grown, emancipated child’s future in that child’s absence.
Ukraine’s Ambassador to Germany, today, quoted in German press (sorry, only link at this time in Ukrainian) says Ukraine has two choices: NATO membership or rebuilding the nuclear capability they gave up in 1993. Yes, I know those were Soviet weapons, not Ukrainian, but who reasonably believes they do not have the technical capability now?
@Gin & Tonic: Michael McFaul, former ambassador to Russia, agrees with you.
A Biden-Zelensky meeting in Kyiv would be ideal. Biden has visited the Ukrainian capital many times. (I traveled with him there in 2009.) He could then pop over to Geneva or Vienna to meet Putin. Easy day.
It’s going to take time to set up a summit with Putin. Let’s see how this goes.
49.
Another Scott
@Gin & Tonic: I’m sure that Blanken’s team is talking with Ukraine, but it would be inappropriate for them to have a seat at the table with Biden and Putin. It’s a get reacquainted meeting to lay down markers and figure out a path forward for better and more meaningful relations going forward, not a peace summit (or whatever) to redraw borders.
tl;dr – It’s fine and appropriate for them to speak up now, but the will lose if they demand to be at the table at this meeting.
I would be very surprised if they did not consult Ukraine first. They don’t strike me as people who haven’t thought of issues that have occurred to us on BJ.
Yes, I know those were Soviet weapons, not Ukrainian, but who reasonably believes they do not have the technical capability now?
?♀️
They have no enrichment facilities, nor the radiological facilities to handle and form the fissile materials. I doubt that their explosives industry has the capability for the high precision required. They do have a very good missile factory.
If you mean in terms of intellectual capability, I agree. But it’s a long way from there to building bombs. The ambassador is making (largely) empty threats.
Blanken is Michael Jackson’s kid, I’m pretty sure.
61.
Seanly
Wow, I just watched the video of Gym Jordan questioning Dr. Fauci. He was harping on how the pandemic response is such an affront to all of our 1st Amendment rights while Fauci stuck to his guns that it’s a public health. Jordan just comes across as an aggrandizing asshole – asking a 2 minute question and then throwing out another question before Fauci can finish answering the first rambling question.
I’m curious to see what happens to my monthly Medicare bill after I file my 2020 Federal income tax return, which will show about $150k less income than my 2019 return.
Former Vice President Mike Pence underwent surgery to have a pacemaker implanted after experiencing “symptoms associated with a slow heart rate,” CNBC reports.
70.
Mary G
Auntie Maxine gives Gymnasium Jordan the fuck around and find out treatment. Good for her.
O/T since I am now often sleeping through the night, including at 3 a.m. here when Anne Laurie’s fantastic coronavirus report comes out, I am so glad to be able to say that Orange County CA, despite the shenanigans of a few idiots in Huntington Beach, had only 65 new cases of covid reported today, the lowest number as far as my eyes can see the tiny chart, since April 23, 2020.
@Gin & Tonic: Hospodi Bozhe, don’t get bent out of shape. I credit you with more than enough familiarity with Central & Eastern European history that I was gobsmacked it wasn’t the very first thing that occurred to you.
Michael Jackson’s youngest child, Prince Michael, was nicknamed Blanket but after years of bullying now calls himself Bigi. He’s 17.
A full service blog…
77.
Ken
@trollhattan: Mike Pence … “symptoms associated with a slow heart rate,”
The fly knew.
78.
Ken
I always though Blinken sounded more like a Tolkien dwarf, but whatever.
79.
Uncle Cosmo
@trollhattan: My kneejerk reaction waas that he won’t be microwaving his own lunches from now on…but apparently that hasn’t been a thing for a good long while. (Dang.)
80.
SargassoSink
@debbie: That’s fairly ponderous, for me. If you’ve written a sentence where the clarity would be materially enhanced by structuring it as numbered subsections, it’s probably too long.
Baud
Oh my. Someone is going to be on a Twitter rampage later.
Oh wait….no, he’s not. Hahahaha.
Old School
@Baud: A press release rampage?
natem
@Baud:
“So-called President Biden (everyone knows he didn’t win I did) trying to be tough on Russia, but he is hurting America instead and now the world laughs at us like a dog”
Baud
@Old School:
The fax machines will be running nonstop tonight!
NotMax
Truly open thread? How refreshing (pun intended).
So, girded up the loins enough to open this quarter’s Medicare bill without blanching. (Few things worse than blanched loins, right?)
Cost dropped from the amount of the prior bill. By a mere 1% but down is down.
mrmoshpotato
@natem:
I could see the Kremlin’s orange shitstain writing something this stupid.
John Revolta
@Baud:
“On the Rampage, Pip, and off the Rampage, Pip:–such is Life!”
natem
@mrmoshpotato: I spent way too much time on Twitter the last four years
bnateAZ
How many days since a press conference?-Newsmax
Benw
@natem: funny but waaaaay to coherent.
@mrmoshpotato: now, now. I laugh at my dog all the time when he does stupid shit
Another Scott
We have an ASL interpreter and a picture. Soon…
Cheers,
Scott.
Martin
@Benw: I always interpreted that as the dog doing the laughing.
Yutsano
@Baud: He’s not alone….
Brachiator
@natem:
Odd. Whenever I turn on the international news, I see other countries praising us and applauding us, and happy to work with us.
But the GOP base lives in their own special reality.
zhena gogolia
Thanks for this. It is such a relief not to have a POTUS who’s VVP’s lapdog.
Cheryl Rofer
That was short and to the point.
Biden’s said it before: he’ll work with Russia when he can, but he’ll respond to meddling in US elections and threatening military action in Europe.
mrmoshpotato
@natem:
No judgement. Dump’s bullshit wasn’t something you could really ignore, even if you wanted, given his position at the time.
debbie
I apologize for not being able to keep up with everything, but has Biden announced new sanctions yet? I thought I heard a number of Russian officials would be expelled/deported/whatever.
zhena gogolia
The President of the United States has the interests of the United States at heart. What a refreshing change.
mrmoshpotato
@Benw: But does your dog laugh at you?
zhena gogolia
@debbie:
Jeffro
Fox: “Biden indecisive, trying to have it both ways”
Benw
@Martin: it was just a silly joke, no need to hound me ;)
Jeffro
Might be a good time for some info about trumpov & Co and Russia to come out, just to remind everyone that the former guy was Putin’s bootlicking stooge.
Cheryl Rofer
@debbie: Yes. New sanctions on a number of Russian officials and businesses. Looks like a move toward cutting Russia out of the international financial system. Also some Russian diplomats expelled.
White House Fact Sheet
I understand your not being able to keep up. The past few days I’ve felt like we’re back to the constant news cycle. But this time, some of the news is good, and none of it is that the president has threatened to nuke some country or revoke out constitutional rights.
zhena gogolia
@Jeffro:
I think the Trump-Manafort-Kilimnik-Russian intelligence linkage that was made by the Treasury Dept. today is a pretty big story, or should be.
Another Scott
@Cheryl Rofer: I liked that he made it explicit that he could have gone much further. It leaves Putin an opening to ratchet down his actions.
I wonder if the Summit will be before the Duma elections. I’m sure Vlad would want it before…
Cheers,
Scott.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Benw: you never want to belabrador a joke to the point where the humor is irretrieverable.
zhena gogolia
It’s as if we were living in a house with no locks on the doors for four years and now the locksmith has come. I know the analogy is silly, but it was my gut feeling after seeing this statement.
zhena gogolia
@Jeffro:
WaPo link:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/04/15/government-finally-connects-line-trumps-campaign-russian-intelligence/
Cheryl Rofer
@Another Scott: There was a tweet earlier today quoting Putin that he wouldn’t attend a summit, but I haven’t seen it confirmed.
Biden is playing hardball. Putin will look like the junior partner, but there are many reasons for him to participate in a summit.
mrmoshpotato
@Jeffro: Do you really want detailed information about how Dump sucked the Kremlin’s asshole for at least the past 4 years?
Gin & Tonic
@zhena gogolia: Precisely.
zhena gogolia
Some are complaining that he didn’t mention Navalny. I didn’t expect him to do that at all. That would just be dangerous grandstanding.
Cheryl Rofer
@zhena gogolia: Thanks. I was going to include that Kilimnik linkage in an earlier comment and forgot. The Treasury Department, of all places, is saying that Manafort shared campaign polling information with Kilimnik, who sent it on to Putin. The most that any US government department has said about that very strange activity.
debbie
@zhena gogolia:
Thanks!
mrmoshpotato
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Terrierible.
fuckwit
Corporations are not leftist. Corporations occasionally side with leftists because some core right wing values– racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, xenophobia, anti-immigration prejudice– are bad for corporation’s top-line sales and available labor pool for talent. But that is only an alliance of convenience we should leverage. When it comes to labor rights, progressive taxation, regulation, and a number of core leftist values, corporations are and will always remain our enemies.
zhena gogolia
@Cheryl Rofer:
Do you mean this one? “v blizhaishee vremia” is pretty vague and subject to change.
debbie
@zhena gogolia:
I’ll tell you what’s refreshing: Government documents with punctuation so good, a very long sentence is not at all ponderous:
Benw
@mrmoshpotato: only when I do stupid shit…. like post on BJ!
Jeffro
@zhena gogolia: yes!
@mrmoshpotato: no!
@Cheryl Rofer:
You mean…that very strange activity that showed Russia where and how to really concentrate its online disinformation efforts?
Gin & Tonic
@Cheryl Rofer: If a Biden-Putin meeting, whatever it is called, is held to discuss (among other things) Russia’s occupation of Ukraine and Ukraine is not a full partner to that phase, as it looks from what I’ve seen of the preliminary leaks, that will be very bad. Ukraine has agency – this would be like Mom and Dad discussing plans relative to their grown, emancipated child’s future in that child’s absence.
Ukraine’s Ambassador to Germany, today, quoted in German press (sorry, only link at this time in Ukrainian) says Ukraine has two choices: NATO membership or rebuilding the nuclear capability they gave up in 1993. Yes, I know those were Soviet weapons, not Ukrainian, but who reasonably believes they do not have the technical capability now?
Cheryl Rofer
@zhena gogolia: Yes, that was the tweet. But I haven’t seen that anywhere else.
Cheryl Rofer
@Jeffro: Presumably that was the purpose. But the evidential trail has been thin enough that no other agency was willing to make that claim.
zhena gogolia
@debbie:
Beautiful!
mrmoshpotato
OT – Olive and Mabel
Mabel’s gonna need a bath
Cheryl Rofer
@Gin & Tonic: Michael McFaul, former ambassador to Russia, agrees with you.
It’s going to take time to set up a summit with Putin. Let’s see how this goes.
Another Scott
@Gin & Tonic: I’m sure that Blanken’s team is talking with Ukraine, but it would be inappropriate for them to have a seat at the table with Biden and Putin. It’s a get reacquainted meeting to lay down markers and figure out a path forward for better and more meaningful relations going forward, not a peace summit (or whatever) to redraw borders.
tl;dr – It’s fine and appropriate for them to speak up now, but the will lose if they demand to be at the table at this meeting.
Cheers,
Scott.
zhena gogolia
@Cheryl Rofer:
I would be very surprised if they did not consult Ukraine first. They don’t strike me as people who haven’t thought of issues that have occurred to us on BJ.
Cheryl Rofer
@Gin & Tonic:
?♀️
They have no enrichment facilities, nor the radiological facilities to handle and form the fissile materials. I doubt that their explosives industry has the capability for the high precision required. They do have a very good missile factory.
If you mean in terms of intellectual capability, I agree. But it’s a long way from there to building bombs. The ambassador is making (largely) empty threats.
Spanky
@mrmoshpotato:
Yes. I want to see it in the indicting documents.
Spanky
@Another Scott:
Blanken? Blinkin.
Cheryl Rofer
@Spanky: Blinkin?
Blinken.
Another Scott
@Spanky: Whoops. I usually check, but didn’t that time.
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Spanky:
/nods/
Another Scott
@Cheryl Rofer: From the firm Blanken, Blinkin, Blinken, and Nod.
Cheers,
Scott.
Spanky
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: /Winks
trollhattan
Progress on Notre-Dame, two years since the fire (which, I’m convinced was started by Trump).
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-56761834
Lots of fascinating tidbits on the recovery and restoration.
trollhattan
@Spanky:
Blanken is Michael Jackson’s kid, I’m pretty sure.
Seanly
Wow, I just watched the video of Gym Jordan questioning Dr. Fauci. He was harping on how the pandemic response is such an affront to all of our 1st Amendment rights while Fauci stuck to his guns that it’s a public health. Jordan just comes across as an aggrandizing asshole – asking a 2 minute question and then throwing out another question before Fauci can finish answering the first rambling question.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Seanly:
debbie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
? ? ? ? ?
WaterGirl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: What a dick.
Spanky
@trollhattan:
I thought that was Binky.
burnspbesq
@NotMax:
I’m curious to see what happens to my monthly Medicare bill after I file my 2020 Federal income tax return, which will show about $150k less income than my 2019 return.
burnspbesq
@mrmoshpotato:
Gee, thanks for that. I’ll be over shortly to vomit on your carpet.
Uncle Cosmo
Actually you missed the much more trenchant analogy:
But hey, that’s such a ridiculous concept, who could imagine such a thing ever happening?
trollhattan
Tots and sprayers.
Mary G
Auntie Maxine gives Gymnasium Jordan the fuck around and find out treatment. Good for her.
O/T since I am now often sleeping through the night, including at 3 a.m. here when Anne Laurie’s fantastic coronavirus report comes out, I am so glad to be able to say that Orange County CA, despite the shenanigans of a few idiots in Huntington Beach, had only 65 new cases of covid reported today, the lowest number as far as my eyes can see the tiny chart, since April 23, 2020.
Plus, the youngest covid fighter to date:
Gin & Tonic
@Uncle Cosmo: I’m generally bad with analogies and short on time right now, so you win.
Uncle Cosmo
Or Winken. Or Nod.
Gin & Tonic
@Cheryl Rofer: Thanks for the clarification. Glad to hear an actual expert’s view.
MomSense
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
That was so satisfying.
Uncle Cosmo
@Gin & Tonic: Hospodi Bozhe, don’t get bent out of shape. I credit you with more than enough familiarity with Central & Eastern European history that I was gobsmacked it wasn’t the very first thing that occurred to you.
Ajabu
@Spanky:
Michael Jackson’s youngest child, Prince Michael, was nicknamed Blanket but after years of bullying now calls himself Bigi. He’s 17.
A full service blog…
Ken
The fly knew.
Ken
I always though Blinken sounded more like a Tolkien dwarf, but whatever.
Uncle Cosmo
@trollhattan: My kneejerk reaction waas that he won’t be microwaving his own lunches from now on…but apparently that hasn’t been a thing for a good long while. (Dang.)
SargassoSink
@debbie: That’s fairly ponderous, for me. If you’ve written a sentence where the clarity would be materially enhanced by structuring it as numbered subsections, it’s probably too long.
R-Jud
@Spanky, @Cheryl:
I feel like Blinkon, Blinkun and (sometimes) Blinkyn should’ve got a look in here.
PaulWartenberg
I’ve been sent to Twitter Jail for the next 6 days!
Can someone cover for me while I’m unpersoned?
WaterGirl
@PaulWartenberg: What did you do? Do you have sins to confess? :-)
The Fat Kate Middleton
Another Scott
@Ajabu: Thank you. I kept going through the lyrics to “Billie Jean” and not getting it…
Cheers,
Scott.
stinger
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
/laughs out loud/