Balloon Juice - Ever Get The Feeling You've Been Cheated? Archives

Open Thread: There’s Nothing More All-American…

by Anne Laurie| October 28, 20195:57 pm| 147 Comments

This post is in: Hail to the Hairpiece, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, All Too Normal, Ever Get The Feeling You've Been Cheated?

… than mocking the powerful. Remember that whole “Screw You, King George” Yankee Doodle stuff from your elementary-school history classes, wingnuts?

Not to mention the endless BUT OUR PRECIOUS FIRST AMENDMENT!!! butthurt from Very Serious Pundits, every time it was suggested that calling for rape or murder of one’s enemies might be just a tad excessive?

First off – LOL shut it.

Secondly – Trump will hate this because it's like having your Mom admonish the whole school during recess for laughing at your dumbass new haircut. https://t.co/i2d6mtV2v9

— Zeddy (@Zeddary) October 28, 2019

Perhaps most relevant, his first and last reaction to any opposition is to accuse his critics of being criminals and traitors. The insults typically laced with racial, ethnic or gender stereotypes.

And he's always the last to condemn violence committed in his name.

— Zeddy (@Zeddary) October 28, 2019

And we're all stuck here as he's installed an attorney general who has obviously used his power to cover up misdeeds and harass those who've investigated wrongdoing.

So yeah, last night he got one of his favorite chants turned back on him. Gods, did we ever need to hear it.

— Zeddy (@Zeddary) October 28, 2019

I believe the Lock Him Up chant at the Nationals game was affirmatively good; not just not bad. Because it demonstrates Trump and his policies are opposed by large numbers of normal, every day people. The public needs to see opposition- just like the saw it in the Women's March

— Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) October 28, 2019

Where do cracks in @realDonaldTrump’s impeachment defense begin?
Well…a weak POTUS, already secretly viewed as an obnoxious disaster by most GOP Senators, booed loudly at the World Series…
That makes a big impression on Republicans who already see their party being destroyed. https://t.co/gbo1nFEvLD

— Douglas A. Blackmon (@douglasblackmon) October 28, 2019

extrapolating electoral takes from the nats park boos is dumb but it is a reminder of the carefully constructed reality lots of presidents experience, where critics exist in press and on TV but not IRL. the base that loves them is tangible but the one that doesnt is imaginary

— Steadman™ (@AsteadWesley) October 28, 2019

Open Thread: There’s Nothing More All-American…Post + Comments (147)

Election Inquiry Open Thread: Andrew Yang’s New Hire

by Anne Laurie| October 24, 201912:37 am| 29 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Election 2020, Open Threads, Clown car, Ever Get The Feeling You've Been Cheated?

Tad Devine is going to be a strategist and adviser to @AndrewYang, per people familiar… bringing decades of political experience to a campaign that just raised $10m in Q3 and has grassroots support… will be interesting to watch if Yang can pull any support from Sanders wing

— Robert Costa (@costareports) October 23, 2019

*THIS* Tad Devine?

Tad Devine worked with Manfort in Ukraine. The guy here at the end of the table with them is Konstantine Kilimnik, former GRU, indicted by Mueller. You can read all about him in the Mueller report.

Yang must have at least Googled Tad Devine which means he knows and doesn't care. pic.twitter.com/vk38cvATkJ

— Griz (@grizatlcp) October 23, 2019

From the Daily Beast:

… On Wednesday, Politico reported that the Yang campaign was hiring the firm Devine, Mulvey, and Longabaugh to help with media consulting. The firm has, for years, worked with a slate of Democratic candidates on federal and state races. But it’s best known for its work on Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, on which Tad Devine—one of the firm’s namesakes—served as a senior adviser.

Both Devine and the firm were set to reprise their roles in 2020. But they ended up not joining the Sanders election effort after what was described as strategic difference. In reality, the decision was largely driven by the belief within Sanders’ orbit that they could save money—and do a better job coordinating messages—if they simply produced their ads in house.

“I’ve seen reporting that suggests they quit,” Sanders’ campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, told The Daily Beast. “They did not quit; Senator Sanders never brought them on.”…

“He didn’t break up with us, we broke up with him!”

Maybe Yang (or more likely, his staffers) *didn’t* bother to google Devine. Maybe they honestly believed, hey — guy smart enough not to get busted when his partner is in the federal pen must be a good strategist! Maybe they’re dumb/naive enough to believe the fantasy Tad can lure wavering Sandernistas into their camp.

(TBH, I had more respect for Devine when it seemed like his firm was smart enough to stay away from BernieBust Mk.II, or at least smart enough to lie low until it was certain Manafort wasn’t going to tell the feds anything they didn’t already know.)

But mostly I’m reminded of a quote from baseball great Casey Stengel:

“Been in this game one-hundred years, but I see new ways to lose ’em I never knew existed before.”

Election Inquiry Open Thread: Andrew Yang’s New HirePost + Comments (29)

Late Night Open Thread Reminder: There ARE No ‘Better’ Republicans Than Trump

by Anne Laurie| October 22, 20192:07 am| 17 Comments

This post is in: Grifters Gonna Grift, Open Threads, Republican Venality, All Too Normal, Decline and Fall, Ever Get The Feeling You've Been Cheated?

Just some who are slightly more professional in their kleptocracy:

It's largely forgotten, but a reminder that Halliburton, the company of which then VP Dick Cheney had been CEO for 5 years, and which he left only to join the 2000 ticket, was awarded the lucrative contract to provide food, housing, fuel & other support for the wars he launched. https://t.co/DgdARlP2U9

— Peter Lettre (@plettre) October 18, 2019

There seems to be a shift among the Permanent GOPers to act as though the Oval Office Squatter is some kind of aberrancy that slipped past their time-tested barriers to such vulgar criminality.

Good for them, if they’re finally moving away from protecting their deplorables’ god-emperor. But the truth is, the only difference between this maladministration and the ‘usual’ Repub stint in the WH is that Trump insists, gleefully, on saying the quiet parts out loud.

Late Night Open Thread Reminder: There ARE No ‘Better’ Republicans Than TrumpPost + Comments (17)

Open Thread: Mike Pompeo, “Secretary of Swagger”

by Anne Laurie| October 21, 201912:32 am| 34 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Republican Venality, Republicans in Disarray!, Trumpery, #notintendedtobeafactualstatement, Assholes, Ever Get The Feeling You've Been Cheated?, Go Fuck Yourself

POMPEO: I'm not going to get into hypotheticals about what someone else said.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Except it's not a hypothetical. The chief of staff confirmed aid was withheld for political investigations.

POMPEO: … ??? … pic.twitter.com/85MihdTa0g

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 20, 2019

You can almost hear the felonies in Pompeo’s pregnant pause here. https://t.co/KmVqTNte4t

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) October 20, 2019

The hilarious thing is Pompeo thought a key position in the administration was a career booster for a senate run.

— Schooley (@Rschooley) October 20, 2019

For an administration that prides itself on its macho attitude, this is the biggest bunch of unmanly whiners and snowflakes I've ever seen. I've taught high-school kids who don't complain this much. https://t.co/qbmT08Ly9J

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) October 19, 2019

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has become increasingly frustrated in recent weeks by the departure of top State Department officials and claims that he failed to defend the former US Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, from a smear campaign against her, according to three sources familiar with the situation.

As part of the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, Yovanovitch testified to Congress this week that she was unfairly removed based on false claims pushed by Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

One of the sources tell CNN that Pompeo was alerted to internal and external concerns about Giuliani’s effort to push out Yovanovitch, but Pompeo failed to act — he was wary of getting too deeply involved over fears of derailing US-Ukraine policy and potentially sharing the fate of his former colleague John Bolton, Trump’s national security adviser who was fired for not being aligned with the President…

Pompeo’s apparent choice not to put guardrails between State officials and Giuliani has come under scrutiny by House Democrats who are bent on learning as much as they can about what exactly Pompeo knew of Giuliani’s dealings. In recent interviews, Pompeo has declined to answer questions about Giuliani’s entanglement in the administration’s Ukraine policy.

He was however aware of it. In March, Pompeo received a packet from Giuliani containing unfounded claims about Yovanovitch, as well as former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter regarding their dealings in Ukraine…

As the State Department has stopped working with Congress due to orders from the White House, Pompeo himself continues to defend Trump. He has called the Ukraine impeachment inquiry a conspiracy theory to take down the President.

But there will be new questions about conversations regarding quid pro quo in the coming days given the pronouncement by acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney in a news conference Thursday that the US withheld military aid from Ukraine in hopes of securing a promise that the foreign government would look into the possible presence of the physical Democratic National Committee server hacked by the Russians in 2016.

Pompeo, whose department oversees a hefty amount of that assistance to Ukraine, was also asked last month if it would be a problem if there were a quid pro quo arrangement. Pompeo said it is his job to be sure that foreign assistance is “completely appropriate” and that “American taxpayer dollars are used appropriately.”

2032:

Interviewer: You have a gap here on your resume. Where were you working from 2017 through 2019?

Former Trump Official: Meth binge. Just one, big, long meth binge.

Interviewer: . . . .

FTO: [brightly] All better now!

— GetOverHat (@Popehat) October 17, 2019

IMO, “All better now!” should *definitely* be added to the rotating tags list.

Open Thread: Mike Pompeo, “Secretary of Swagger”Post + Comments (34)

Election 2020 Open Thread: The FTFNYTimes Defends Its #1 Priority

by Anne Laurie| October 20, 20197:24 pm| 82 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Election 2020, Open Threads, All Too Normal, Ever Get The Feeling You've Been Cheated?, Our Failed Media Experiment

Namely, advertising:

here is a very heavy-handed article featuring lots of political consultants who earn lots of money placing FB ads saying campaigns should be placing more FB ads https://t.co/yH9kv6hOkL

— Rachel Cohen (@rmc031) October 20, 2019

article waits until 26th paragraph to point out Trump’s online ads are made up of lies; https://t.co/wL0V9f1uXa

— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) October 20, 2019

somehow I doubt if Elizabeth Warren unleashed a torrent of fabricated claims via FB ads, that NYT would marvel at how savvy she was

— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) October 20, 2019

SeND Us MoR Money OR YR CaMpaIGN Dies!!!…

There's a multi-billion dollar industry that can only exist if the 2020 race looks like a dead heat. They make their money convincing the press that elections are decided by the constant sturm and drang of ad buys, even when all evidence shows one candidate floundering.

— Boo-risma Executive Board Member (@agraybee) October 20, 2019

With impeachment marching forward and Trump in a death spiral, this has been chosen as this week’s reason why Dems Are So Bad At This. https://t.co/1zID3fMJK5

— Boo-risma Executive Board Member (@agraybee) October 20, 2019

Who in America is at risk of forgetting Trump is bad if they go 24 hours without seeing a Facebook ad. https://t.co/7R2BhkDnQN

— Boo-risma Executive Board Member (@agraybee) October 20, 2019

show full post on front page

Election 2020 Open Thread: The <em>FTFNYTimes</em> Defends Its #1 PriorityPost + Comments (82)

Friday Evening Open Thread: (Further) Proof Trump Really Is A Republican

by Anne Laurie| October 18, 20196:02 pm| 122 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Hail to the Hairpiece, Military, Open Threads, Republican Venality, All Too Normal, Assholes, Ever Get The Feeling You've Been Cheated?

(Jeff Danziger via GoComics.com)
.

Just not a professional Repub, like Dick Cheney:

the 'oil' is concentrated in Derr Ezzor where US troops are packing up & leaving. They have to because with US troops ordered out of Rojava the only way to supply them will be by parachute. Russian mercs and Iran-backed militias are already chomping at the bit to fill the vacuum. https://t.co/oxofL7AnBV

— Zeddy (@Zeddary) October 18, 2019

it's also not much. Syria's oil output is far smaller than Iraq, Iran or Saudi Arabia. A nice payday for a kleptocrat and a lifeline to a struggling dictator like Assad but hardly a strategic asset for a superpower.

— Zeddy (@Zeddary) October 18, 2019

Friday Evening Open Thread: (Further) Proof Trump Really *Is* A RepublicanPost + Comments (122)

Late Night Debate Postmortem Open Thread (Part One)

by Anne Laurie| October 16, 201912:58 am| 61 Comments

This post is in: Election 2020, Open Threads, All we want is life beyond the thunderdome, Clown car, Ever Get The Feeling You've Been Cheated?

I’m just going to sum up this entire debate long before it ends:

The format is awful and the byproduct is candidates talking at a rate so fast, this is all just white noise.

The more words-per-minute, the less useful.

This is useless.

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) October 16, 2019

The real winner of that debate was shorter debates with fewer people.

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) October 16, 2019

Dumbest Moderation Decision of the Evening:

WHY IN THE FUCK ARE THEY ASKING DEBATE QUESTIONS ABOUT ELLEN DEGENERES SITTING WITH GEORGE BUSH

— Ragnarok Lobster (@eclecticbrotha) October 16, 2019

Wow, CNN really stuck the landing, didn't they? pic.twitter.com/kaIy7U421a

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) October 16, 2019

Last question. On the #MeToo Anniversary. Is about whether or not the candidates are friends with conservatives.

— Fatima Goss Graves (@FGossGraves) October 16, 2019

Ask Trump the friend question. pic.twitter.com/qbPDc3Izdt

— Schooley (@Rschooley) October 16, 2019

DUMBEST POSSIBLE ‘SERIOUS PERSON’ TAKE OF THE EVENING:

if you take seriously Warren's claim that she personally read a 442 page report, rather than have staff summarize it, that would seem to imply she'd be a very bad executive with bad time use skills

— Matt Bruenig (@MattBruenig) October 16, 2019

(Bruenig deleted this tweet, but not quite soon enough… )

And a smart one at that!

— John Tehan (@johntehan) October 16, 2019

This is foolish. A report of this importance absolutely should be read by members of congress.

— Jacob (@JHead1984) October 16, 2019

I WANT A PRESIDENT WHO READS IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK

— Zeddy (@Zeddary) October 16, 2019

"We can't have smart people actually reading important documents so they can be understood in their proper context so let's have four more years of Trump."

Bruenig, you've jumped the goddamned shark.

— An American Life (@anamericanlion) October 16, 2019

Let us take a moment to remember the California governor who signed abortion legalization, in the pre-Roe days, and also passed a far-reaching law to end the public carrying of guns: Ronald Reagan. #DemDebate

— Eric Kleefeld (@EricKleefeld) October 16, 2019

Late Night Debate Postmortem Open Thread (Part One)Post + Comments (61)

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Motown is Joe-Town!

No one could have predicted…

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Democrats are back in array!

Even though I know this is a bad idea, I’m off to do it anyway!

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Fuck that bum, let’s go Joe!

The lights are all blinking red.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

The choice is between normal and crazy.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.