Countdown to the Start of the Weekend EDT
[wpcdt-countdown id=”212021″]We just added a new Countdown Timer thinggy as per Adam’s request. It works on both desktop and mobile sites which is a win.
Open thread!
ETA: Learning pains
by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)| 187 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads, Previous Site Maintenance
Countdown to the Start of the Weekend EDT
[wpcdt-countdown id=”212021″]We just added a new Countdown Timer thinggy as per Adam’s request. It works on both desktop and mobile sites which is a win.
Open thread!
ETA: Learning pains
by Betty Cracker| 560 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads, Politics
Trump is supposed to make a statement about the Alexandria shooting shortly. I won’t be watching, but I’ll update this space with a transcript as soon as possible.
As far as national crises go, this would appear to be a minor one. No died in this incident,* thank FSM. But a political shooting is always traumatic, and now there’s some evidence emerging that the alleged shooter was an alt-left nutbar.
So, knowing what we know about Trump, what are the chances he handles this situation with the grace and humility befitting the office? Just about zero, I’d say. We’ll see.
*Update: the shooter has died.
ETA: Okay, I ended up watching it after all and was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t a well-written or expertly delivered statement by any means, and it’s an embarrassment, as always, to see that clown looming over the presidential seal.
But it was a pretty innocuous statement — thoughts and prayers, yada yada. If Trump is going to use the incident as a political cudgel, he’ll do it on Twitter later. Will post transcript when available.
This post is in: Because of wow., I'm With Her, Open Threads, Post-racial America, Proud to Be A Democrat, Republicans in Disarray!, Russiagate, Let A Thousand Watergates Bloom
Kamala Harris just handed Jeff Sessions his ass https://t.co/6SGRQVoF6V pic.twitter.com/jcOrIQya10
— Jezebel (@Jezebel) June 13, 2017
It's unacceptable that Sessions – the top law enforcement official in the country – cannot name his legal basis for evading questions.
— Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) June 13, 2017
Sessions during questioning from Sen. Kamala Harris: “I’m not able to be rushed this fast. It makes me nervous.” https://t.co/LaEV7O06ax
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 13, 2017
Kamala Harris is single-handedly destroying another Confederate monument. #SessionsHearing
— Torraine Walker (@TorraineWalker) June 13, 2017
Harris did a very effective job there in getting Sessions to admit the policy he's citing to not answer questions doesn't actually exist
— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) June 13, 2017
Kamala Harris pummels Jeff Sessions so bad John McCain has to jump in to stop her https://t.co/ODX9sIA3wK pic.twitter.com/D4vhI7tL0B
— Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) June 13, 2017
What is it about Kamala Harris that makes her the only Senator Republicans interrupt at every hearing?
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) June 13, 2017
Kamala Harris: What policy are you using to avoid answering?
Jeff Sessions: White privelege
KH: That's not a
Burr: WHITE MALE PRIVILEGE
— Frederick Douglass (@HITEXECUTIVE) June 13, 2017
Re-read Harris's questioning of Sessions: maybe the reason McCain/Burr wanted to shut her down is that she was so thoroughly pwning Sessions https://t.co/hJtRU5GRHg
— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) June 13, 2017
I don’t want to make this post any longer, but y’all should definitely go read the Jezebel and Chait links, because they are mood-enhancing.
Jason Miller: Sessions knocked away "hysteria from Kamala Harris"
Kirsten Powers: “How was Sen. Harris hysterical?” https://t.co/ivRYRNSzBZ— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) June 14, 2017
by David Anderson| 24 Comments
This post is in: Nixonland, Open Threads
My family finally moved from Pittsburgh to North Carolina. That means I am happy. It also means I am staring at 100+ cardboard boxes to unpack and re-sort.
So blogging will be light.
But even as it is light, continue to call the Senate:
When you call a Senate office, ask to speak to the relevant Health Legislative Assistant. Hey look, a list of staffer names! 18/ pic.twitter.com/UQ0yZNaSxc
— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) June 8, 2017
The ask is simple — no bill that leads to coverage losses.
This post is in: Local Races 2018 and earlier, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, #notintendedtobeafactualstatement
Here's a picture of the police escort that Trump got to go golfing (again) this weekend.
Do you think they were trying to say something? pic.twitter.com/UGeVokhi7X
— Holly O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) June 14, 2017
What’s on the agenda as we gear up for another day?
Results are in from the Virginia special primaries…
Congratulations to @RalphNortham. Let's go win this thing—united. Let's take back the House and ensure VA remains a firewall against hate.
— Tom Perriello (@tomperriello) June 14, 2017
A huge reason why Northam won tonight: AA voters. Whether it's skepticism towards "Bernie wing" of party, I'll leave to others to debate.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) June 13, 2017
I supported @tomperriello for #VAgov because we’d fought together for consumers. But we were lucky to have 2 great candidates running.
— Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) June 14, 2017
Per the Washington Post,
…Republican Ed Gillespie held off a surprising challenge from Donald Trump acolyte Corey A. Stewart for that party’s nomination.
… Stewart refus[ed] to concede and [said] he wouldn’t support Gillespie, a man he derided throughout the campaign as “Establishment Ed.”…
Stewart’s strength on the Republican ballot was the biggest surprise of the evening. He had been running as more Trump than Trump, making provocative statements and campaigning on the issue of preserving Confederate monuments. Polls had shown him with a fraction of Gillespie’s support, but a low turnout among Republican voters gave Stewart’s committed base an outsize influence, and Wagner drew significant votes in Hampton Roads that might otherwise have gone to Gillespie.
Overall, Democrats turned out in far greater numbers than Republicans. About 540,000 voters cast ballots in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, while just over 360,000 voters cast ballots on the Republican side, with nearly all precincts reporting…
Gillespie’s narrow win, coming from a small and apparently unenthusiastic electorate, suggests that he faces a major challenge as he tries to both woo Stewart voters and attract moderates and independents while he fights a highly motivated Democratic opposition…
Northam is the Democrat who called Trump a 'narcissistic maniac.' Winning strategy for Dem primaries? https://t.co/in8mjiXJpq
— She persisted (@CaseyHinds) June 14, 2017
Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Suggestive?Post + Comments (109)
by Alain Chamot (1971-2020)| 17 Comments
This post is in: Albatrossity, On The Road, Open Threads, Readership Capture
Good Morning All,
This weekday feature is for Balloon Juicers who are on the road, travelling, etc. and wish to share notes, links, pictures, stories, etc. from their escapades. As the US mainland begins the end of the Earth day as we measure it, many of us rise to read about our friends and their transient locales.
So, please, speak up and share some of your adventures, observations, and sights as you explore, no matter where you are. By concentrating travel updates here, it’s easier for all to keep up-to-date on the adventures of our fellow Commentariat. And it makes finding some travel tips or ideas from 6 months ago so much easier to find…
Have at ’em, and have a safe day of travels!
Should you have any pictures (tasteful, relevant, etc….) you can email them to [email protected] or just use this nifty link to start an email: Start an Email to send a Picture to Post on Balloon Juice
From Debbie:
This may not be share-worthy, and that’s fine. I didn’t crop the photo because I didn’t want to lose the scale.
This shot is of a 30- to 40-foot pine of some sort that serves every spring as scaffold to a very energetic wisteria. This is from a couple years ago as the blooms were beginning to fade. I hoped to get a better picture this year but the late frosts ruined my plans. There’s always next year!
With a sight like that, I cannot avoid publishing! I am a man who loves flowers, trees, and this crazy, towering combination thereof is just divine, even if it’s not at its best.
Finally, some breath-taking magic (please send more):
Where it was taken: Maquipucuna Clound Forest Reserve in the Western Andes of Ecuador
When: 5/20/2017
Commenter: AlbatrossityMale Green-crowned Brilliant, one of the many gorgeous hummingbirds in the cloud forests of Ecuador. We were in Ecuador and the Galapagos with a university Study Abroad Class studying Biology and Creative Writing in May.
Words … cannot …. Wow. I’m sure there’s a Portuguese or German word for what I feel when I see that; joy seems so insufficient.
I once held a stunned, less-reflective hummingbird in my hand as it regained consciousness and strength, only to push off and fly away. It was just one of many magical experiences with these amazing creatures, though certainly the closest and most intimate. But I’ve never seen the kind of intelligence or majesty as in this picture.
The complexity, diversity, and richness of life is amazing, especially in the natural world around us that we often only notice when travelling.
Have a great day all!
This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Republican Venality, Russiagate, Assholes, Ever Get The Feeling You've Been Cheated?, Fucked-up-edness, Riveted By The Sociological Significance Of It All
It's time for America's favorite game show — "Will You Commit Perjury?!" Today, please welcome returning champion @jeffsessions! pic.twitter.com/LZL1r13J6X
— M??? ?eg?i? ?? (@MattNegrin) June 13, 2017
In addition to not being totally honest about why he met w/Kislyak, Sessions may have violated Senate ethics rules. https://t.co/hI3ZRvRp3H
— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) June 13, 2017
Julia Ioffe — a Russian immigrant who has some experience in such areas — thinks that Sessions may be most fearful that, during his mid-2016 stint as Trump’s “political affairs expert”, he may have gone beyond skirting-the-ethical-line to outright-violation-of-Congressional-regulation when he opened his offices and his arms to every international dignitary willing to be seen in Trump’s company. While the two men are undoubtedly soulmates, right now Sessions needs Trump a lot more than Trump needs Sessions, if Jefferson Beauregard III is to keep his cushy job abusing the rights of uppity women, people of color who don’t know their place, young free-speech drug-defending absolutists, and all the other felons unjailed during That Black Man in the White House’s tenure. Should his Repub fellows get too agitated about Sessions’ flagrant rule-breaking, of course Trump will have no qualms whatsofekkingever throwing the Malevolent Leprechaun to the media wolves…
Burr should've slowed down that oath for Sessions, as he clearly didn't understand what it meant the last time around.
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) June 13, 2017
Maybe I'm just a Yankee snob, but when a Southern politician starts talking about "mah honah," I grab my Constitution.
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) June 13, 2017
Sessions pledges to answer questions “as fully as the Lord enables me," unless they involve Trump. Just so we're clear on who the lord is.
— Will Saletan (@saletan) June 13, 2017
Jeff Sessions says @alfranken asked him "A RAMBLING QUESTION." Watch the tape: He **volunteered** that he didn't communicate with Russians.
— James Hohmann (@jameshohmann) June 13, 2017
Sessions is saying he functionally recused himself "from 1st day" as AG. Yet only recused formally after caught lying to Senate re Kislyak.
— Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) June 13, 2017
The only thing to remember is that Sessions is a bad lawyer.
— Richard M. Nixon (@dick_nixon) June 13, 2017
Sessions should expect a visit from the ghost of John Mitchell tonight.
— Andrea Cabral (@criticalthawt) June 13, 2017
Sen. King is *exactly* right here: Sessions is hiding behind executive privilege, even though he says he can't invoke it and Trump has not.
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) June 13, 2017
Shorter Sessions: I don’t remember if I met with him. But if I did meet with him, I can definitely assure you nothing untoward happened.
— Matt Viser (@mviser) June 13, 2017
I was at the Trump's Mayflower hotel speech last April. *Everyone* knew Kislyak was there. Reporters were buzzing about it from the get-go
— Anthony Zurcher (@awzurcher) June 13, 2017
Sessions just referred to "the three meetings" after denying he remembered the third.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) June 13, 2017
Sessions is denying having conversations with the Russians about manipulating the election, which is not the actual question at issue.
— Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) June 13, 2017
Things were moving too fast to keep any notes on these events, Sessions says, forgetting that Comey kept exhaustive notes.
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) June 13, 2017
Reminder: There were SO many reasons why Sessions was a horrendous AG choice, but EVERY @Gop senator voted to confirm him. #complicit
— Rob Sheridan (@rob_sheridan) June 13, 2017
Sessions confirmed Comey was uncomfortable meeting President alone. He had to know it involved Russia: why else would Comey have objected?
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) June 13, 2017
Reading over transcripts, it's now very clear: Sessions is NOT denying he spoke to Kislyak at the Mayflower. He is saying he can't recall.
— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) June 13, 2017
Maybe I missed it but did Sessions offer an explanation for how he perjured himself in his answers to written questions from Judiciary Cmte
— Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) June 13, 2017
Open Sessions Session Recap Thread: <em>“… ‘Zectif PRIVIJJ!…”</em>Post + Comments (58)