I’ve never seen any Sam Shepard plays. The closest I’ve come is listening to that Joni Mitchell song about him. What are some good ones that I can watch movie versions of? I watched “Fences” on a plane ride recently and really liked it (once I was sure the main character’s best friend wasn’t going to start lecturing everyone about debt forgiveness), and that made me think I should make more of an effort to see contemporary or at least semi-contemporary plays. Since I live in a small city, there isn’t so much opportunity to see it on the stage (we have theater companies, and I go, but a lot of it is greatest hits).
Mooch Booted
Well, that didn’t take long! Via the NYT:
Trump Removes Anthony Scaramucci From Communications Director Role
WASHINGTON — President Trump has decided to remove Anthony Scaramucci from his position as communications director, three people close to the decision said Monday, relieving him just days after Mr. Scaramucci unloaded a crude verbal tirade against other senior members of the president’s senior staff.
Mr. Scaramucci’s abrupt removal came just 10 days after the wealthy New York financier was brought on to the West Wing staff, a move that convulsed an already chaotic White House and led to the departures of Sean Spicer, the former press secretary, and Reince Priebus, the president’s first chief of staff.
The decision to remove Mr. Scaramucci, who had boasted about reporting directly to the president not the chief of staff, John F. Kelly, came at Mr. Kelly’s request, the people said. Mr. Kelly made clear to members of the White House staff at a meeting Monday morning that he is in charge.
It was not clear whether Mr. Scaramucci will remain employed at the White House in another position or will leave altogether.
Within hours of being sworn in, Kelly boots Mooch. That was the low-hanging fruit, as they say. But that’s not going to solve the chaos problem in the White House, which flows from the corrupt, unqualified, addled shit-stain in the Oval Office.
UPDATE: Ouch!
Anthony Scaramucci was escorted from White House grounds today after ouster, per source familiar with the scene
— Jackie Alemany (@JaxAlemany) July 31, 2017
Same Hymnal
The Russian embassy in the UK gets in on the “deep state” action, the cheeky bastards:
Russia wouldn’t respond in kind beyond pure dip.reciprocity.Our problem,like those of ??itself,doesn't lie w/??people,but elite&deep state pic.twitter.com/EKjdeCOp2K
— Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) July 31, 2017
Coincidentally, most Americans don’t have a problem with the Russian people but rather Putin’s blatant violation of our national sovereignty to install a dangerous fool at the head of our government.
I don’t know if he’s used the term yet, but Trump must buy this “deep state” nonsense completely since it suggests he won fair and square when he didn’t. The “deep state” concept is continuously invoked on Fox News as an excuse for Trump’s many failures, as well as by Trump’s paid supporters like this douchebag:
The deep state is real. All Obama hold overs in the Gov't need to go to allow @realDonaldTrump to Make America Great Again!
— Corey R. Lewandowski (@CLewandowski_) July 30, 2017
It’s also a favorite term of Trump-enabling douchecanoes like this gigantic asshole who runs Wikileaks:
Will the US deep state destroy Donald Trump?
Background: What is the deep state? https://t.co/s3LboI2q6T
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) January 13, 2017
Interesting how they’re all singing from the same hymnal now — even the Russian embassy.
Open thread!
On the Road and In Your Backyard
– note – this is the first auto-form-post –
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Monday Morning Open Thread: Sisters Are Doin’ It
Walk with your chin up and your shoulders back. Be proud of what we’ve accomplished together. And then let's get back to work.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 28, 2017
.
Apart from savoring a hard-earned victory, what’s on the agenda as we start the new week?
***********
Lisa Murkowski was there to vote no all week because of a write-in campaign. All political involvement is not futile.
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) July 28, 2017
At a tiny, remote town, Collins was overwhelmed with support. She went from being a soft no to a loud bill killer. https://t.co/fpRqUOuMHk
— Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) July 29, 2017
Jay Willis, GQ, three days ago:
At around 1:30 in the morning, after he was sure that he finally had the attention of the Senate clerk and of his nervous, exhausted colleagues who had been watching his every move, John McCain dramatically plunged his outstretched arm downwards, finally sealing the fate of Mitch McConnell’s “skinny repeal” bill in a gesture that had all the drama of a WWE heel turn. It was a wild, shocking moment that drew gasps from the gallery, and the only reason it mattered at all is because, from the very beginning of this debacle of an effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act, two women Republican senators—Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska—never gave a fucking inch…
The Affordable Care Act is safe because of the courage of two women who were not swayed by threats, bribes, and every brand of public and private pressure. They might not be getting as much shine as John McCain today, but they are far more deserving of it.
"Sen. Murkowski thank you for saving our care" over anchorage rn. @MSNBC pic.twitter.com/jOG77JavGI
— Elizabeth Love (@lizlove000) July 29, 2017
.@TopherSpiro Alaskans marched to thank @lisamurkowski today and flew this banner! https://t.co/ufOYTzci0I
— Kathryn Madland (@notpd4patriot) July 30, 2017
.@SenatorCollins on #CNNSOTU says that receiving spontaneous applause at Maine airport was "extraordinary" https://t.co/PhzY8j0fqB
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) July 30, 2017
#EveryVoiceMatters
Monday Morning Open Thread: Sisters Are Doin’ ItPost + Comments (193)
Late Night Open Thread: Dignity Wraith Strikes Again
In the interest of full disclosure, Anthony Scaramucci has already deleted the last 24 hours from his upcoming autobiography.
— Kilgore Trout (@KT_So_It_Goes) July 28, 2017
When Scaramucci leapt aboard the Trump Titanic a million years ago — okay, last week — he started his tenure by deleting all evidence of any less-than-Trump-worthy opinions. Which went over, on Twitter, about as well as you’d expect…
Full transparency: I'm deleting old tweets. Past views evolved & shouldn't be a distraction. I serve @POTUS agenda & that's all that matters
— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 22, 2017
Full transparency. I'm destroying all evidence. Past innocence has changed and don't want distraction. Hail Cthulhu https://t.co/GSME52ccwI
— On Trial for ?????? (@ZeddRebel) July 22, 2017
.@Scaramucci just deleted ALL of his old tweets. He no longer supports:
??Gay marriage
??Gun control
??Climate action
??Pro-choice
??Anti-Wall https://t.co/piBIYlosKK— J. Dice ?? (@jdice03) July 22, 2017
Scarsmucci’s willingness to publicly lie about who he’s been for 50 years is a signhe’s dangerous, but it’s also a sign he’s pathetic
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) July 22, 2017
"He was certainly not the kind of person who was going to commit to not lying." https://t.co/1dFCIaY4eg
— David A. Graham (@GrahamDavidA) July 21, 2017
Didn’t take long for the Trump Reverse-Midas Curse to strike such an obvious target…
Late Night Open Thread: Dignity Wraith Strikes AgainPost + Comments (132)
Spectacles (Open Thread)
I was mostly offline this weekend, attending a family shindig way out in the boonies. It was nice to have a break from the onslaught of insane news.
A relative asked me if I’d like to have my great-grandmother’s old spectacles:
She’s been dead for ages. Who knows why we’ve hung onto her glasses all these years.
These may have been my great-grandma’s first pair of glasses — there’s a photo of her wearing them in 1912. But they weren’t her last. She lived to be almost 100.
In my earliest memories of her, she was wearing old-fashioned cat-eye glasses that would be stylish in some quarters today. She died in the 1980s, a crazy old bat to the end. In that era, she had thick, oversized glasses.
I tried the 100+-year-old glasses on, and the prescription was very close to mine.
Anyhoo, open thread!