So long, and thanks for all the fish!
July 29, 2017 12:00 AM Subscribe
A week of political high drama - with vulgar palace intrigues, the President dealt a spectacular legislative failure, venting to Boy Scouts, and endorsing Police violence - is capped off by the launch of a North Korean ICBM with enough range to reach most of the U.S.
Martin Rowson is back from his vacation and gives us this stunningly realistic depiction of the current affairs.
posted by runcifex at 12:12 AM on July 29, 2017 [20 favorites]
posted by runcifex at 12:12 AM on July 29, 2017 [20 favorites]
Could someone link any discussion on the obamacare repeal fail? I can't find any in the old thread. I know John McCain was being dissed for allowing the debate to happen - what's the reaction to him now being part of the 3 rebel Republicans? Do you think this is some master plan of his?
posted by freethefeet at 12:20 AM on July 29, 2017
posted by freethefeet at 12:20 AM on July 29, 2017
Well, there's this:
Trump Calls McCain A ‘Hero’ Now That He Will Return To DC For O’care Vote (TPM)
From July 25, before the vote.
posted by adept256 at 12:27 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
Trump Calls McCain A ‘Hero’ Now That He Will Return To DC For O’care Vote (TPM)
From July 25, before the vote.
posted by adept256 at 12:27 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
"Threadfall"! I just reread DRoP...
posted by mikelieman at 12:37 AM on July 29, 2017 [19 favorites]
posted by mikelieman at 12:37 AM on July 29, 2017 [19 favorites]
The RogueWHStaff twitter account has just lost any chill it ever had and is in full screaming meltdown mode. Which is thoroughly enjoyable given the smug tone of that account throughout. More insider scandal about them not being able to find light switches pls and less exhortations to the unwashed masses to stand up to a guy you're criticizing via an anonymous twitter account.
posted by fshgrl at 12:41 AM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by fshgrl at 12:41 AM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
I'm not sure if this has been linked before, but in the light of the recent North Korean missile tests, I think it's worth re-reading this NYT in-depth article:
Trump Inherits a Secret Cyberwar Against North Korean Missiles
It is obvious now that the sabotage has outlived its usefulness, and NK long-range missile is becoming a real thing, and Trump is doing nothing useful.
I mean, any other hypothetical US president would have been at least attempting to exert some real effort. Trump and his administration (specifically, Rex Tillerson, who is quitting) are uniquely disqualified for the job of preventing a nuclear annihilation.
Tillerson is impotently hollering to China and Russia. But if there's to be a way out, all the parties must drag their arses to the table and start the unpleasant but down-to-earth talks. The qualified people must show up.
posted by runcifex at 12:48 AM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
Trump Inherits a Secret Cyberwar Against North Korean Missiles
It is obvious now that the sabotage has outlived its usefulness, and NK long-range missile is becoming a real thing, and Trump is doing nothing useful.
I mean, any other hypothetical US president would have been at least attempting to exert some real effort. Trump and his administration (specifically, Rex Tillerson, who is quitting) are uniquely disqualified for the job of preventing a nuclear annihilation.
Tillerson is impotently hollering to China and Russia. But if there's to be a way out, all the parties must drag their arses to the table and start the unpleasant but down-to-earth talks. The qualified people must show up.
posted by runcifex at 12:48 AM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
Fshgrl, I'm assuming you mean RoguePotusStaff? RogueWHStaff appears to be parody, and not off the rails, currently.
posted by greermahoney at 1:01 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by greermahoney at 1:01 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
Blather - Reince - Repeal
posted by chavenet at 1:03 AM on July 29, 2017 [60 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 1:03 AM on July 29, 2017 [60 favorites]
North Korean ICBMs...great! Do they have any MIRVs to go with that? D:
posted by sexyrobot at 1:10 AM on July 29, 2017
posted by sexyrobot at 1:10 AM on July 29, 2017
I have zero faith in Trump's ability to negotiate his way out of nuclear war, so I'm thankful for my old friend, the Ohio class ballistic missile submarine. I'm thankful for the men and women I served with who are continuing to stand watch to ensure that any fucker that wants to take a swing at us had better be very, very sure about it. It's a small, cold comfort, but it's still a comfort when our lives are in his small, cold hands.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 1:24 AM on July 29, 2017 [28 favorites]
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 1:24 AM on July 29, 2017 [28 favorites]
It's been a long time since I played Civ, but I recall there was a version where if you used a nuclear weapon, every other civilisation declared war on you, ally or not. It would be murder suicide, and I doubt they'll do that. The real danger is Trump having a temper tantrum and thereby giving DPRK nothing to lose.
If it comes to that, I hope there's a Stanislav Petrov that decides not to follow orders.
posted by adept256 at 1:33 AM on July 29, 2017 [34 favorites]
If it comes to that, I hope there's a Stanislav Petrov that decides not to follow orders.
posted by adept256 at 1:33 AM on July 29, 2017 [34 favorites]
Could someone link any discussion on the obamacare repeal fail?
Look at the last thread - it was basically live blogged. Scroll down to around 10PM that night.
Oh I thought the poster was being sarcastic, as that was THE topic (if one can single out any from the shitstorm grabbag that was this week, and likely every other under this administration) of last Thread. There were literally about 500 comments in response to the vote, many of them re: McCain's role in the trio and speculation about the political calculus.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 2:13 AM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
Look at the last thread - it was basically live blogged. Scroll down to around 10PM that night.
Oh I thought the poster was being sarcastic, as that was THE topic (if one can single out any from the shitstorm grabbag that was this week, and likely every other under this administration) of last Thread. There were literally about 500 comments in response to the vote, many of them re: McCain's role in the trio and speculation about the political calculus.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 2:13 AM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
"The real danger is Trump having a temper tantrum and thereby giving DPRK nothing to lose."
My impression is that not just Trump, but lots of folk don't understand how incredibly dangerous is the border between South and North Korea. It's only 150 miles in length, and there's almost two million soldiers positioned there. But it's even worse, as Seoul is just 35 miles from the border -- well within the range of artillery. There's supposedly something like 10K artillery pieces there, many or most aimed at Seoul. There's 10 million people in Seoul.
A conventional war would escalate immediately into an all-out confrontation, devastating both countries and killing, one way or another, millions. There is no military solution to this problem. All those millions of civilians are basically hostages to the status quo. The US simply cannot and would not risk Seoul with something like a tactical bombing of nuke facilities.
So the threat of the nukes and the missiles cannot be solved with force. But as long as those millions of troops are at that border, and the DPRK fears the US and South Korea, the DPRK has every incentive to complete both the nuke and ICBM programs to cement their "don't fuck with us" status.
I don't think that Trump understands any of this. He doesn't or didn't know the probability of escalation and civilian casualties from a military strike against the DPRK. If he knows now, he probably doesn't care. And he's inclined to believe that people will back down if he's belligerent enough. He is the worst possible president for dealing with this problem. If anyone has any fears of Trump instigating some terrible military calamity, it's not Iran or Yemen or Syria that we need to worry about, it's North Korea because it's the most delicately balanced situation with also the most risk.
But I can't even really think about that. The scale of the nightmare that is the Trump administration challenges my ability to comprehend it within the historical context of my lifetime. He is easily the most personally vile man to be President in at least a century. He and his administration are also corrupt, ignorant, and inept. I wrote early last year about how much I felt that Trump represented a viable right-wing populist threat, but what I had in mind was that he might be a cult of personality authoritarian -- well, I thought he might be good at it. But he's pretty terrible at it. Yes, he does have a intuitive grasp of being a controversial public figure. But he's actually incompetent about translating that into broader support on the right. He has no clue how to get anyone to do anything he wants.
And that, in a weird way, makes it worse for me. I don't understand how even a third of the GOP would support such a personally vile and basically inept person, much less the half or two-thirds who do. I would never have believed the American people could be so debased as to elect and support a blustering, braggart, clownish wannabe-strongman as the pissbucket that is Donald Trump.
So who knows. I half expect or hope that this administration will just continue to be a deteriorating shambolic clusterfuck, tearing itself apart from the inside-out, mostly neglecting any of the responsibilities of, you know, actually governing. What I fear is ... well, who knows? We're off the map, over the edge. I mostly just wish that Trump would sort of forget that North Korea exists.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 2:23 AM on July 29, 2017 [238 favorites]
My impression is that not just Trump, but lots of folk don't understand how incredibly dangerous is the border between South and North Korea. It's only 150 miles in length, and there's almost two million soldiers positioned there. But it's even worse, as Seoul is just 35 miles from the border -- well within the range of artillery. There's supposedly something like 10K artillery pieces there, many or most aimed at Seoul. There's 10 million people in Seoul.
A conventional war would escalate immediately into an all-out confrontation, devastating both countries and killing, one way or another, millions. There is no military solution to this problem. All those millions of civilians are basically hostages to the status quo. The US simply cannot and would not risk Seoul with something like a tactical bombing of nuke facilities.
So the threat of the nukes and the missiles cannot be solved with force. But as long as those millions of troops are at that border, and the DPRK fears the US and South Korea, the DPRK has every incentive to complete both the nuke and ICBM programs to cement their "don't fuck with us" status.
I don't think that Trump understands any of this. He doesn't or didn't know the probability of escalation and civilian casualties from a military strike against the DPRK. If he knows now, he probably doesn't care. And he's inclined to believe that people will back down if he's belligerent enough. He is the worst possible president for dealing with this problem. If anyone has any fears of Trump instigating some terrible military calamity, it's not Iran or Yemen or Syria that we need to worry about, it's North Korea because it's the most delicately balanced situation with also the most risk.
But I can't even really think about that. The scale of the nightmare that is the Trump administration challenges my ability to comprehend it within the historical context of my lifetime. He is easily the most personally vile man to be President in at least a century. He and his administration are also corrupt, ignorant, and inept. I wrote early last year about how much I felt that Trump represented a viable right-wing populist threat, but what I had in mind was that he might be a cult of personality authoritarian -- well, I thought he might be good at it. But he's pretty terrible at it. Yes, he does have a intuitive grasp of being a controversial public figure. But he's actually incompetent about translating that into broader support on the right. He has no clue how to get anyone to do anything he wants.
And that, in a weird way, makes it worse for me. I don't understand how even a third of the GOP would support such a personally vile and basically inept person, much less the half or two-thirds who do. I would never have believed the American people could be so debased as to elect and support a blustering, braggart, clownish wannabe-strongman as the pissbucket that is Donald Trump.
So who knows. I half expect or hope that this administration will just continue to be a deteriorating shambolic clusterfuck, tearing itself apart from the inside-out, mostly neglecting any of the responsibilities of, you know, actually governing. What I fear is ... well, who knows? We're off the map, over the edge. I mostly just wish that Trump would sort of forget that North Korea exists.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 2:23 AM on July 29, 2017 [238 favorites]
If it comes to that, I hope there's a Stanislav Petrov that decides not to follow orders.
Yeah, about that, two things:
First, Stanislav Petrov didn't not follow an order that was given specifically to him by a superior. He just decided that the instruments indicating a US nuclear attack were incorrect, and recognized a false alarm. Not to downplay that, it's still very heroic what he did and he probably prevented a nuclear war, but given that it was a standing order, or protocol, to order a counterstrike in such cases, I think that "not following protocol" would be a more accurate desription than "not following orders", as would be the case when you are given a specific order by the commander in chief.
Second, the US military already made it clear that they would follow Trump's orders of a nuclear strike.
But I suppose that we can still hope for the sheer incompetence of Trump in doing what is probably a three-step process. Let's just hope that he doesn't call Bannon or Kelly to help him.
posted by sour cream at 2:28 AM on July 29, 2017 [15 favorites]
Yeah, about that, two things:
First, Stanislav Petrov didn't not follow an order that was given specifically to him by a superior. He just decided that the instruments indicating a US nuclear attack were incorrect, and recognized a false alarm. Not to downplay that, it's still very heroic what he did and he probably prevented a nuclear war, but given that it was a standing order, or protocol, to order a counterstrike in such cases, I think that "not following protocol" would be a more accurate desription than "not following orders", as would be the case when you are given a specific order by the commander in chief.
Second, the US military already made it clear that they would follow Trump's orders of a nuclear strike.
But I suppose that we can still hope for the sheer incompetence of Trump in doing what is probably a three-step process. Let's just hope that he doesn't call Bannon or Kelly to help him.
posted by sour cream at 2:28 AM on July 29, 2017 [15 favorites]
> Second, the US military already made it clear that they would follow Trump's orders of a nuclear strike.
Yeah, but when push comes to shove, you get one attempt, and you don't signal that in advance.
posted by stonepharisee at 2:30 AM on July 29, 2017 [31 favorites]
Yeah, but when push comes to shove, you get one attempt, and you don't signal that in advance.
posted by stonepharisee at 2:30 AM on July 29, 2017 [31 favorites]
It's 4:30 am in Oklahoma with less than two dozen comments on the new thread... and I hope to goodness that I won't come back in a few hours to find several hundred comments on the blue about Trump's latest catastrophe. That feels so futile... it's always a crawl from crisis to crisis. Always.
This presidency is an ongoing disaster. And a large part of that is the number of people who Just. Don't. Get. It.
Thanks, MetaFilter.
posted by free f_ cat at 2:40 AM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
This presidency is an ongoing disaster. And a large part of that is the number of people who Just. Don't. Get. It.
Thanks, MetaFilter.
posted by free f_ cat at 2:40 AM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
Oh I thought the poster was being sarcastic, as that was THE (snip)
No, totally straight faced! I am in a non usa timezone, saw the news, wanted the mefi reaction and couldn't find anything at the bottom of the old thread, am also on mobile so scrolling around thread difficult, ctrl-f hard when you don't have a useful key word. I posted here because I finally caught the start of one of these threads! Sorry.
posted by freethefeet at 2:44 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
No, totally straight faced! I am in a non usa timezone, saw the news, wanted the mefi reaction and couldn't find anything at the bottom of the old thread, am also on mobile so scrolling around thread difficult, ctrl-f hard when you don't have a useful key word. I posted here because I finally caught the start of one of these threads! Sorry.
posted by freethefeet at 2:44 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
Freethefeet, just ignore the 800 comments where everyone guarantees that McCain will vote yes. Then later on, you might as well ignore the 100-or-so comments where everyone disagrees about whether or not the yes vote (on the MTP) doomed the bill for the remainder of the fiscal year.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 2:48 AM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by paper chromatographologist at 2:48 AM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
Second, the US military already made it clear that they would follow Trump's orders of a nuclear strike
I don't think that tells us anything, really. What else could Swift have possibly said without resigning his commission? I mean, it's terrifying that Trump has legal authority to order nuclear strikes, but a serving naval officer saying that they will follow orders is no more than an acknowledgement of that legal authority. Any decision to disobey would be made, as stonepharisee says, without prior signalling.
posted by howfar at 2:50 AM on July 29, 2017 [22 favorites]
I don't think that tells us anything, really. What else could Swift have possibly said without resigning his commission? I mean, it's terrifying that Trump has legal authority to order nuclear strikes, but a serving naval officer saying that they will follow orders is no more than an acknowledgement of that legal authority. Any decision to disobey would be made, as stonepharisee says, without prior signalling.
posted by howfar at 2:50 AM on July 29, 2017 [22 favorites]
the 800 comments where everyone guarantees that McCain will vote yes
It's a sort of triumph of despair over experience that leads us, again and again, to think that the idiots in the GOP have a plan for anything. But maybe the scary thing about the Trump presidency is that US national politics has become almost wholly unpredictable, making it almost comforting to imagine we live in a world where evil is at least competent and consistent.
posted by howfar at 2:57 AM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
It's a sort of triumph of despair over experience that leads us, again and again, to think that the idiots in the GOP have a plan for anything. But maybe the scary thing about the Trump presidency is that US national politics has become almost wholly unpredictable, making it almost comforting to imagine we live in a world where evil is at least competent and consistent.
posted by howfar at 2:57 AM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
Another plug for East Manitoba's Buzzfeed link from the last thread.
Many of the dead people investigated by the Buzzfeed team are Russian and British businessmen and lawyers. One of them is a British scientist from Public Health England who testified in the Litvinenko case.
One of my colleagues also testified in the Litvinenko enquiry, and when I heard they were 'scared of repercussions', I am embarrassed to say I snickered at the wry joke I thought it was.
The series of investigations (led by journalist Heidi Blake and her team), and primary sources they link to, are amazing if you like spy thrillers, and terrifying because this is real life.
posted by mgrrl at 3:32 AM on July 29, 2017 [53 favorites]
Many of the dead people investigated by the Buzzfeed team are Russian and British businessmen and lawyers. One of them is a British scientist from Public Health England who testified in the Litvinenko case.
One of my colleagues also testified in the Litvinenko enquiry, and when I heard they were 'scared of repercussions', I am embarrassed to say I snickered at the wry joke I thought it was.
The series of investigations (led by journalist Heidi Blake and her team), and primary sources they link to, are amazing if you like spy thrillers, and terrifying because this is real life.
posted by mgrrl at 3:32 AM on July 29, 2017 [53 favorites]
Since nothing has exploded yet here's Stephen Colbert and a nine-year-old girl Responding to the "Pickle" letter.
posted by mmoncur at 3:55 AM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by mmoncur at 3:55 AM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
Somehow I enjoyed this short video of CNN's Zapruder-style analysis of McCain voting No.
posted by mmoncur at 4:04 AM on July 29, 2017 [43 favorites]
posted by mmoncur at 4:04 AM on July 29, 2017 [43 favorites]
This set me off thinking about the word "vulgar," which means "of the common people," and all the classist assumptions contained by that as well as the disdainful connotations of my grandmother's use of "common." Then I digressed to "populist," which apparently means something similar and often plays out this way.
But I don't think it's vulgar what's going on, exactly. Yes, it's crude, and it's out in the street where everyone can see. Openness is not always a good idea. Part of the shock when Nixon's tapes were released was how banal his language was. Yes, I'm a language snob.
But though I'm distressed by the paucity of expression of our President, as well as by its open rudeness (the origin of "rude" is "uncultured," so once again a class word), I'm most disturbed by its incompetence, cruelty, corruption, and willful ignorance.
posted by Peach at 4:15 AM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
But I don't think it's vulgar what's going on, exactly. Yes, it's crude, and it's out in the street where everyone can see. Openness is not always a good idea. Part of the shock when Nixon's tapes were released was how banal his language was. Yes, I'm a language snob.
But though I'm distressed by the paucity of expression of our President, as well as by its open rudeness (the origin of "rude" is "uncultured," so once again a class word), I'm most disturbed by its incompetence, cruelty, corruption, and willful ignorance.
posted by Peach at 4:15 AM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
Oh, and the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church released a statement about the transgender ban.
posted by Peach at 4:16 AM on July 29, 2017 [17 favorites]
posted by Peach at 4:16 AM on July 29, 2017 [17 favorites]
In his intro, Colbert described Huckabee Sanders as "the mother of the kid who bit your kid" which is wonderfully evocative.
One of the comments notes that previously Sessions was described as "the pixie who is excitedly watching you have sex in a forest", which is...just...*bows down*.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 4:33 AM on July 29, 2017 [106 favorites]
One of the comments notes that previously Sessions was described as "the pixie who is excitedly watching you have sex in a forest", which is...just...*bows down*.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 4:33 AM on July 29, 2017 [106 favorites]
Trump: ‘Russia was against Trump in the 2016 election’ (The Hill)
posted by Barack Spinoza at 4:40 AM on July 29, 2017 [28 favorites]
President Trump on Saturday insisted Russia never wanted him to be president, a claim he says means Moscow did not collude to influence the 2016 election on his behalf.Desperation is a stinky cologne, Mr. President.
He made the connection in a tweet about the firm behind a controversial dossier filled with salacious allegations about Trump. The firm, Fusion GPS, “also worked for Russia,” according to a news story Trump re-tweeted.
“In other words, Russia was against Trump in the 2016 election - and why not, I want strong military & low oil prices,” Trump commented.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 4:40 AM on July 29, 2017 [28 favorites]
I would like to post an excerpt of a speech given by Chief of the Army, Lieutenant-General David Morrison, Australian of the Year 2016.
By now I assume you know my attitude to this type of conduct. I have stated categorically, many times, that the Army has to be a inclusive organisation, in which every soldier, man and woman, is able to reach their full potential and is encouraged to do so. Those who think that it is ok to behave in a way that demeans or exploits their colleagues, have no place in this army. Our service has been engaged in continuous operations since 1999, and in it’s longest war ever in Afghanistan. On all operations, female soldiers and officers have proven themselves worthy of the BEST traditions of the Australian Army. They are vital to us, maintaining our capability now, and in to the future.
If that does not suit you….then get out!!
You may find another employer where your attitude and behaviour is acceptable, but I doubt it. The same goes to those who think toughness is built on humiliating others.
Every one of us is responsible for the culture and reputation of our army and the environment in which we work. If you become aware of any individual degrading another, then show moral courage and take a stand against it. No one has EVER explained to me how the exploitation or degradation of others, enhances capability, or honours the traditions of the Australian Army.
I will be ruthless in ridding the army of people who cannot live up to it’s values. And i need everyone of you to support me in achieving this. The standard you walk past, is the standard you accept. that goes for all of us, but especially those, who by their rank, have a leadership role.
David's a close friend of Group Captain Cate McGregor and supported her transition. She has commented about this recent ban, though I can't find a link.
If that does not suit you….then get out!! <------ THIS TIMES A MILLION! It's not the transgenders that don't belong in the army, and I have a good feeling David would feel exactly the same.
posted by adept256 at 4:43 AM on July 29, 2017 [76 favorites]
By now I assume you know my attitude to this type of conduct. I have stated categorically, many times, that the Army has to be a inclusive organisation, in which every soldier, man and woman, is able to reach their full potential and is encouraged to do so. Those who think that it is ok to behave in a way that demeans or exploits their colleagues, have no place in this army. Our service has been engaged in continuous operations since 1999, and in it’s longest war ever in Afghanistan. On all operations, female soldiers and officers have proven themselves worthy of the BEST traditions of the Australian Army. They are vital to us, maintaining our capability now, and in to the future.
If that does not suit you….then get out!!
You may find another employer where your attitude and behaviour is acceptable, but I doubt it. The same goes to those who think toughness is built on humiliating others.
Every one of us is responsible for the culture and reputation of our army and the environment in which we work. If you become aware of any individual degrading another, then show moral courage and take a stand against it. No one has EVER explained to me how the exploitation or degradation of others, enhances capability, or honours the traditions of the Australian Army.
I will be ruthless in ridding the army of people who cannot live up to it’s values. And i need everyone of you to support me in achieving this. The standard you walk past, is the standard you accept. that goes for all of us, but especially those, who by their rank, have a leadership role.
David's a close friend of Group Captain Cate McGregor and supported her transition. She has commented about this recent ban, though I can't find a link.
If that does not suit you….then get out!! <------ THIS TIMES A MILLION! It's not the transgenders that don't belong in the army, and I have a good feeling David would feel exactly the same.
posted by adept256 at 4:43 AM on July 29, 2017 [76 favorites]
The cesspool's own Scott Adams was on Tucker Carlson's show to lend his expertise. On North Korea.
posted by lownote at 4:48 AM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by lownote at 4:48 AM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
I suppose I could at least note that the escalating outrageousness from your White House has led me to become a more knowledgeable person; even the Canadian news is all Trump all the time, and now I listen to a growing number of podcasts instead of the radio while I work. I try to limit my exposure by sticking to these threads and Stephen Colbert, but I can't avoid the traffic of burning garbage trucks in my twitter feed (my USA knitters used to discuss sl1, k2tog, psso versus k3tog; now they worry about dying).
It's to the point where Himself pointed out the newest magazine cover of Justin, and my first remark was "oh great, now Trump is going to be all hissy with us, thanks Rolling Stone for torpedoing the NAFTA negotiations".
posted by Mary Ellen Carter at 4:53 AM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
It's to the point where Himself pointed out the newest magazine cover of Justin, and my first remark was "oh great, now Trump is going to be all hissy with us, thanks Rolling Stone for torpedoing the NAFTA negotiations".
posted by Mary Ellen Carter at 4:53 AM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
So, what you're saying is this was just another normal week here in Bizzaro America.
posted by tommasz at 4:55 AM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by tommasz at 4:55 AM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
OPLAN 5027 is the name of the official military plans for dealing with a North Korean invasion. Cutting to the chase: 500,000 South Korean civilians dead, and 50,000 US soldiers.
This is almost entirely due to (as mentioned upthread) roughly 10,000 artillery pieces being in range of tens of millions of people. There is no readily available solution to this, nor even a pie-in-the-sky theoretical one to the best of my knowledge.
Nukes, however, are a bit of a sideshow in this. North Korea got off a launch, yes, and hypothetically it may even have the range to hit the US. Launching is one thing, accurate targeting is another, and carrying a nuclear device that is capable of surviving reentry is very much another. Those steps take years. MIRVs are an additional several years R&D after that. For that and reasons of Assured Destruction ('Mutual' is out: it would be the greatest tragedy in US history if a major city got hit by a nuke, but the capital-D Destruction that followed would be very much one-sided), it's not worth having a protracted discussion about a nuclear exchange.
It is very much worth having a discussion about Trump vs. a potential humanitarian crisis on the hundreds-of-thousands-dead scale, which we seem to be careening towards.
posted by Ryvar at 5:06 AM on July 29, 2017 [13 favorites]
This is almost entirely due to (as mentioned upthread) roughly 10,000 artillery pieces being in range of tens of millions of people. There is no readily available solution to this, nor even a pie-in-the-sky theoretical one to the best of my knowledge.
Nukes, however, are a bit of a sideshow in this. North Korea got off a launch, yes, and hypothetically it may even have the range to hit the US. Launching is one thing, accurate targeting is another, and carrying a nuclear device that is capable of surviving reentry is very much another. Those steps take years. MIRVs are an additional several years R&D after that. For that and reasons of Assured Destruction ('Mutual' is out: it would be the greatest tragedy in US history if a major city got hit by a nuke, but the capital-D Destruction that followed would be very much one-sided), it's not worth having a protracted discussion about a nuclear exchange.
It is very much worth having a discussion about Trump vs. a potential humanitarian crisis on the hundreds-of-thousands-dead scale, which we seem to be careening towards.
posted by Ryvar at 5:06 AM on July 29, 2017 [13 favorites]
North Korean ICBMs...great! Do they have any MIRVs to go with that?
Definitely not. Yet. Miniaturizing nuclear weapons to the point of putting multiple warheads on a single launcher took the US twenty years of research and hundreds of tests. NK doesn't even have a single warhead small enough to go on an ICBM yet.
If Putin wants to stir up trouble he could give them aide in this. The Chinese find North Korea useful but probably would prefer no nukes.
posted by Bee'sWing at 5:07 AM on July 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
Definitely not. Yet. Miniaturizing nuclear weapons to the point of putting multiple warheads on a single launcher took the US twenty years of research and hundreds of tests. NK doesn't even have a single warhead small enough to go on an ICBM yet.
If Putin wants to stir up trouble he could give them aide in this. The Chinese find North Korea useful but probably would prefer no nukes.
posted by Bee'sWing at 5:07 AM on July 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
The cesspool's own Scott Adams was on Tucker Carlson's show to lend his expertise. On North Korea.
I know it's not true, but the longer I stare at that screenshot the more the thought comes to me: we must have done something to deserve this
posted by Rust Moranis at 5:09 AM on July 29, 2017 [27 favorites]
I know it's not true, but the longer I stare at that screenshot the more the thought comes to me: we must have done something to deserve this
posted by Rust Moranis at 5:09 AM on July 29, 2017 [27 favorites]
Yeah, I have to say, the North Korea thing has me really worried, especially after the "I am tweeting military policy" business. I just worry that the last thing I'll see is a tweet that says "After consultation with my generals I have decided to nuke North Korea".
I mean, leaving aside the millions of dead in North and South Korea and the incredibly physical and emotional devastation that would wreak, even if this didn't somehow turn into a global nuclear war, a small nuclear exchange would be terrible for the planet in ways that I don't think we fully understand yet.
The obvious thing to do with North Korea is give them stuff, and hope you can get the point where they will take agricultural and medical advisors so that some of it benefits ordinary people. The problem with North Korea is, fundamentally, that it's a bad and unjust regime that hurts its own people., not that the government seems to be a murder soap opera. If your neighbors are abusing their kids, your focus is on the wellbeing of the kids.
posted by Frowner at 5:10 AM on July 29, 2017 [35 favorites]
I mean, leaving aside the millions of dead in North and South Korea and the incredibly physical and emotional devastation that would wreak, even if this didn't somehow turn into a global nuclear war, a small nuclear exchange would be terrible for the planet in ways that I don't think we fully understand yet.
The obvious thing to do with North Korea is give them stuff, and hope you can get the point where they will take agricultural and medical advisors so that some of it benefits ordinary people. The problem with North Korea is, fundamentally, that it's a bad and unjust regime that hurts its own people., not that the government seems to be a murder soap opera. If your neighbors are abusing their kids, your focus is on the wellbeing of the kids.
posted by Frowner at 5:10 AM on July 29, 2017 [35 favorites]
There is only one possible salesman for a major national shift in policy, and that is the president of the United States. And Trump is a salesman. The problem is he knows only how to sell himself. He has no clue how to sell anything else.
posted by robbyrobs at 5:13 AM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by robbyrobs at 5:13 AM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
At least the US is on track to get another right wing dictatorship in its pockets. Pakistan 2018?
"American officials have been pressing Pakistan’s military leadership to be more aggressive in going after the Haqqanis. And Mr. Sharif’s exit means that General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the Pakistani Army’s chief, assumes an even bigger role.
“This means even more power in the military’s hands because the military is truly the only institution in Pakistan that’s not in turmoil,” said Vikram J. Singh, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia. “But the fact is,” he added, “they already have all the power in the military. So it’s not that big a change.”
posted by rc3spencer at 5:16 AM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
"American officials have been pressing Pakistan’s military leadership to be more aggressive in going after the Haqqanis. And Mr. Sharif’s exit means that General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the Pakistani Army’s chief, assumes an even bigger role.
“This means even more power in the military’s hands because the military is truly the only institution in Pakistan that’s not in turmoil,” said Vikram J. Singh, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia. “But the fact is,” he added, “they already have all the power in the military. So it’s not that big a change.”
posted by rc3spencer at 5:16 AM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Second, the US military already made it clear that they would follow Trump's orders of a nuclear strike.
Do you think Petrov spent his entire military career saying "You know, comrades, in case our very clear protocols say that I am ordered to launch a strike, I'm pretty sure that I will ignore them and investigate further."? Of course not. Neither did U.S. Air Force Captain William Bassett when he received direct orders to launch.
Be worried, sure. Don't be fatalistic.
posted by Etrigan at 5:22 AM on July 29, 2017 [31 favorites]
Do you think Petrov spent his entire military career saying "You know, comrades, in case our very clear protocols say that I am ordered to launch a strike, I'm pretty sure that I will ignore them and investigate further."? Of course not. Neither did U.S. Air Force Captain William Bassett when he received direct orders to launch.
Be worried, sure. Don't be fatalistic.
posted by Etrigan at 5:22 AM on July 29, 2017 [31 favorites]
North Korea may not have a small enough nuclear weapon to fit on to their ICBM, but they could put chemical or biological weapons on it now.
posted by Bee'sWing at 5:23 AM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Bee'sWing at 5:23 AM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
[Australian member of parliament] Khalil Eideh, who was blocked from entering the United States while on an overseas study tour, has arrived home "exhausted, very, very disappointed [and] frustrated" by his treatment.
The Upper House MP, who was born in Lebanon, was part of a group of MPs examining the effectiveness of drug laws and regulations in Europe and North America.
But when he went to fly from Vancouver to Denver he was told his flight had been cancelled by the US.
"[They gave me] no explanation whatsoever, at first they couldn't find my name. When I gave them my itinerary they said 'ah yes, unfortunately it's blocked and we can't take you on the plane'," he said.
Mr Eideh said his family is from Syria, which is on the list of countries targeted by US President Donald Trump's travel restrictions, and he has joint Australian and Syrian citizenship.
posted by Rust Moranis at 5:27 AM on July 29, 2017 [37 favorites]
The Upper House MP, who was born in Lebanon, was part of a group of MPs examining the effectiveness of drug laws and regulations in Europe and North America.
But when he went to fly from Vancouver to Denver he was told his flight had been cancelled by the US.
"[They gave me] no explanation whatsoever, at first they couldn't find my name. When I gave them my itinerary they said 'ah yes, unfortunately it's blocked and we can't take you on the plane'," he said.
Mr Eideh said his family is from Syria, which is on the list of countries targeted by US President Donald Trump's travel restrictions, and he has joint Australian and Syrian citizenship.
posted by Rust Moranis at 5:27 AM on July 29, 2017 [37 favorites]
This is almost entirely due to (as mentioned upthread) roughly 10,000 artillery pieces being in range of tens of millions of people. There is no readily available solution to this, nor even a pie-in-the-sky theoretical one to the best of my knowledge.
Nukes, however, are a bit of a sideshow in this. North Korea got off a launch, yes, and hypothetically it may even have the range to hit the US. Launching is one thing, accurate targeting is another, and carrying a nuclear device that is capable of surviving reentry is very much another.
Consider THIS:
The MGR-3 Little John was a free flight artillery rocket system designed and put into service by the U.S. Army during the 1950s and 1960s.
posted by mikelieman at 5:28 AM on July 29, 2017
Nukes, however, are a bit of a sideshow in this. North Korea got off a launch, yes, and hypothetically it may even have the range to hit the US. Launching is one thing, accurate targeting is another, and carrying a nuclear device that is capable of surviving reentry is very much another.
Consider THIS:
The MGR-3 Little John was a free flight artillery rocket system designed and put into service by the U.S. Army during the 1950s and 1960s.
posted by mikelieman at 5:28 AM on July 29, 2017
Or even... Davy Crockett (nuclear device)
posted by mikelieman at 5:31 AM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by mikelieman at 5:31 AM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
*looks for lead-lined raccoon hat*
posted by pyramid termite at 5:34 AM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by pyramid termite at 5:34 AM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
First, Stanislav Petrov didn't not follow an order that was given specifically to him by a superior. He just decided that the instruments indicating a US nuclear attack were incorrect, and recognized a false alarm. Not to downplay that, it's still very heroic what he did and he probably prevented a nuclear war, but given that it was a standing order, or protocol, to order a counterstrike in such cases, I think that "not following protocol" would be a more accurate desription than "not following orders", as would be the case when you are given a specific order by the commander in chief.
Second, the US military already made it clear that they would follow Trump's orders of a nuclear strike.
I'm going to continue to give credit to Stanislav for saving human civilisation, and I'd presume that if asked whether he'd follow orders beforehand, he'd also have said 'yes'.
posted by Sebmojo at 5:35 AM on July 29, 2017 [10 favorites]
Second, the US military already made it clear that they would follow Trump's orders of a nuclear strike.
I'm going to continue to give credit to Stanislav for saving human civilisation, and I'd presume that if asked whether he'd follow orders beforehand, he'd also have said 'yes'.
posted by Sebmojo at 5:35 AM on July 29, 2017 [10 favorites]
Mr Eideh said his family is from Syria, which is on the list of countries targeted by US President Donald Trump's travel restrictions, and he has joint Australian and Syrian citizenship.
Does he have joint citizenship? Several Australian MPs have been forced to resign in recent weeks because you're not allowed to serve in parliament if you're a dual citizen, per our constitution. I did hear he did support Assad back in 2006, but that was before he went genocidal. Anyhow, he's most certainly not a threat to the US and it's a bit insulting because he's an Australian representative.
They let in Fionna from the Sex Party.
posted by adept256 at 5:37 AM on July 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
Does he have joint citizenship? Several Australian MPs have been forced to resign in recent weeks because you're not allowed to serve in parliament if you're a dual citizen, per our constitution. I did hear he did support Assad back in 2006, but that was before he went genocidal. Anyhow, he's most certainly not a threat to the US and it's a bit insulting because he's an Australian representative.
They let in Fionna from the Sex Party.
posted by adept256 at 5:37 AM on July 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
I'd like to mention the hypothetical Petrov could be Korean. You do need a couple of brain cells to bang together to launch a nuke. Surely enough to realise the consequences will not be good for you or anyone.
posted by adept256 at 5:42 AM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by adept256 at 5:42 AM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
Khalil Eideh is actually a Victorian State MP, not a federal MP, which are the only ones to whom the idiocy that is Section 44 of the Australian Constitution applies AFAIK.
posted by flabdablet at 5:42 AM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 5:42 AM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
> They let in Fionna from the Sex Party.
Rrrright, and the point is that the Sex Party is somehow obviously as dodgy as supporting Al Assad's genocide?
posted by stonepharisee at 5:43 AM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Rrrright, and the point is that the Sex Party is somehow obviously as dodgy as supporting Al Assad's genocide?
posted by stonepharisee at 5:43 AM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
At least the US is on track to get another right wing dictatorship in its pockets. Pakistan 2018?
Don't forget Venezuela.
posted by Pope Guilty at 5:51 AM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Don't forget Venezuela.
posted by Pope Guilty at 5:51 AM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Second, the US military already made it clear that they would follow Trump's orders of a nuclear strike.
Those orders need to come from Trump via The Marine who carries "The Football"
I believe he has a sidearm, and orders from some 1960's - 1970's RAND Corporation ("dual") study of what we should do if the President is compromised by Russia.
At least, that's what lets me sleep at night...
posted by mikelieman at 5:53 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
Those orders need to come from Trump via The Marine who carries "The Football"
I believe he has a sidearm, and orders from some 1960's - 1970's RAND Corporation ("dual") study of what we should do if the President is compromised by Russia.
At least, that's what lets me sleep at night...
posted by mikelieman at 5:53 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
In Pence's Republic of Gilead? Probably. As for Khalil, I heard he supported Assad in 2006, long before the Arab spring. If he still supports him, I'd rather he doesn't come back.
posted by adept256 at 5:54 AM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by adept256 at 5:54 AM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
Eideh is a stupid and venal politician, but he's no more likely to threaten the US than any other random traveller. His exclusion was an insult to Australia and the opacity of the reasons behind it are a symptom of the USA's growing totalitarianism.
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:56 AM on July 29, 2017 [19 favorites]
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:56 AM on July 29, 2017 [19 favorites]
The British looked at using Davy Crockett and were planning a warhead for it called Wee Gwen. Because nothing says 'battlefield nuclear devastation' than an image of a tiny Scots granny.
Which all puts me in mind of the madness at the dawning of nuclear proliferation in the 1950s, which was - I think - somewhat held in balance by the fact that all the people involved had direct experience of global conflagration. They've all gone, and the Cold Warriors are dying out. Not a good environment for an unstable, paranoid state like NK to confront an unstable and grotesquely weak leader like 45.
posted by Devonian at 5:59 AM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
Which all puts me in mind of the madness at the dawning of nuclear proliferation in the 1950s, which was - I think - somewhat held in balance by the fact that all the people involved had direct experience of global conflagration. They've all gone, and the Cold Warriors are dying out. Not a good environment for an unstable, paranoid state like NK to confront an unstable and grotesquely weak leader like 45.
posted by Devonian at 5:59 AM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
This set me off thinking about the word "vulgar,"
The word I think the headline writers are looking for is "obscene". Scaramucci's rant wasn't vulgar (ie. rough, "common"), it was an obscenity.
posted by saturday_morning at 6:10 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
The word I think the headline writers are looking for is "obscene". Scaramucci's rant wasn't vulgar (ie. rough, "common"), it was an obscenity.
posted by saturday_morning at 6:10 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
The Upper House MP, who was born in Lebanon, was part of a group of MPs examining the effectiveness of drug laws and regulations in Europe and North America.
So he missed out on the 'doing it wrong' part of the tour.
posted by srboisvert at 6:19 AM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
So he missed out on the 'doing it wrong' part of the tour.
posted by srboisvert at 6:19 AM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
Well, that was a nice hour long nap. I'm doing all the work this morning I should've done yesterday & the day before. Halp.
posted by yoga at 6:27 AM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by yoga at 6:27 AM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
This means even more power in the military’s hands because the military is truly the only institution in Pakistan that’s not in turmoil,” said Vikram J. Singh, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia. “But the fact is,” he added, “they already have all the power in the military. So it’s not that big a change.”
Well, that's a load of bullshit. The Pakistani military is a very troubled and divided institution. It is, indeed, the most powerful institution and yesterday's court verdict almost certainly strengthens its hand. But to pretend that it isn't a mess, or even that it's less of a mess than most other institutions is misleading at best. But yeah, interfering with democratic process in other countries is obviously something the US has never had any qualms about.
posted by bardophile at 6:37 AM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
Well, that's a load of bullshit. The Pakistani military is a very troubled and divided institution. It is, indeed, the most powerful institution and yesterday's court verdict almost certainly strengthens its hand. But to pretend that it isn't a mess, or even that it's less of a mess than most other institutions is misleading at best. But yeah, interfering with democratic process in other countries is obviously something the US has never had any qualms about.
posted by bardophile at 6:37 AM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
I have never been a reader of either National Review or The American Conservative. I clicked on robbyrob's link above about Trump being a salesman only of himself not knowing it would take me to a Rod Dreher editorial, but read it in its entirety.
So, as someone raised by a Kennedy Democrat and a Nixon-ish Republican (it was more tumultuous than you can probably imagine), and who will be probably be defined by future generations (if we have them) as an Obama Democrat, I am not the target reader for Dreher's musings. And, they honestly contained more self-criticism and reflection than I expected. Dreher excoriates the Republican Party for its failures with the Iraq War, Katrina and Wall Street.
But some of the asides really got to me. The asides showed the combination of intellectual laziness and superiority that is a huge part of the problem with right-wing ideology. Both of those traits were also in the service of an overall nihilistic viewpoint that, it can't be stated often enough, lead the American public to both Tmurp and the pointless quest to repeal the ACA.
Dreher basically gives a laundry list of institutions he no longer believes in: the Republican Party, American government, the Catholic Church. Then he starts tacking on other institutions with shakier and shakier justifications: the American education system and American newsrooms.
And y'know, sure, it's a jeremiad; he's depressed; arguably thirty years of American conservative movement politics have culminated in failure and the most rank, black satire of their ideas in the form of Tmurp.
But to just throw in the following: "I don't have faith in American universities anymore. I don't believe in general that they really know what education is." And then have that be the sum total of your argument against American universities in an editorial that otherwise has nothing to do with the American education system shows that the real lessons of thirty years of failure of conservatism's intellectual movement are still not being learned.
I recognize that this is a minor point amidst the larger chaos of the Tmurp/Republican administration. But, I am a professor. I point that out often responding to AskMefi questions about my field. I critique what we do as professors to my colleagues, but I do it with specific points, based on specific, verifiable observations and with the humility that I could be all wrong and should be ready to entertain whatever rebuttals I hear when I give my critiques. If I told my colleagues, in any workplace, I don't believe in general that we really know what [topic x that is central to the workplace] is, they would have almost no choice, but to think "welp, Slothrop's useless."
Absolutism, and a lack of doubt, can be a pitfall to any thinker anywhere, but it is obviously axiomatic to conservative ideology. Again, I fully recognize it's a fairly minor point and one that applies to me in a personal way, but I wanted to respond.
posted by Slothrop at 6:50 AM on July 29, 2017 [130 favorites]
So, as someone raised by a Kennedy Democrat and a Nixon-ish Republican (it was more tumultuous than you can probably imagine), and who will be probably be defined by future generations (if we have them) as an Obama Democrat, I am not the target reader for Dreher's musings. And, they honestly contained more self-criticism and reflection than I expected. Dreher excoriates the Republican Party for its failures with the Iraq War, Katrina and Wall Street.
But some of the asides really got to me. The asides showed the combination of intellectual laziness and superiority that is a huge part of the problem with right-wing ideology. Both of those traits were also in the service of an overall nihilistic viewpoint that, it can't be stated often enough, lead the American public to both Tmurp and the pointless quest to repeal the ACA.
Dreher basically gives a laundry list of institutions he no longer believes in: the Republican Party, American government, the Catholic Church. Then he starts tacking on other institutions with shakier and shakier justifications: the American education system and American newsrooms.
And y'know, sure, it's a jeremiad; he's depressed; arguably thirty years of American conservative movement politics have culminated in failure and the most rank, black satire of their ideas in the form of Tmurp.
But to just throw in the following: "I don't have faith in American universities anymore. I don't believe in general that they really know what education is." And then have that be the sum total of your argument against American universities in an editorial that otherwise has nothing to do with the American education system shows that the real lessons of thirty years of failure of conservatism's intellectual movement are still not being learned.
I recognize that this is a minor point amidst the larger chaos of the Tmurp/Republican administration. But, I am a professor. I point that out often responding to AskMefi questions about my field. I critique what we do as professors to my colleagues, but I do it with specific points, based on specific, verifiable observations and with the humility that I could be all wrong and should be ready to entertain whatever rebuttals I hear when I give my critiques. If I told my colleagues, in any workplace, I don't believe in general that we really know what [topic x that is central to the workplace] is, they would have almost no choice, but to think "welp, Slothrop's useless."
Absolutism, and a lack of doubt, can be a pitfall to any thinker anywhere, but it is obviously axiomatic to conservative ideology. Again, I fully recognize it's a fairly minor point and one that applies to me in a personal way, but I wanted to respond.
posted by Slothrop at 6:50 AM on July 29, 2017 [130 favorites]
I haven't seen much appreciation for how thoroughly and deliberately McCain ratfucked the GOP and the President. He didn't just vote no, he let everyone think he was going to vote yes for the whole week, all the while withstanding a torrent of invective ("leaving the hospital to deny people the care he's getting"). He could have corrected that impression at any time, but he didn't. And it's very likely he knew he would be casting the deciding vote. After all, that's why he was leaving the hospital to do this Very Important Thing.
And he let them think he was with them until the very last second, when it was far too late to save face by postponing or canceling the vote. The whole act was one part no more fucks to give and one part a dish served cold. You really have to wonder what the primary motivation was for it -- was it Trump mocking the fact that he was captured and held as POW?
posted by Bringer Tom at 6:52 AM on July 29, 2017 [122 favorites]
And he let them think he was with them until the very last second, when it was far too late to save face by postponing or canceling the vote. The whole act was one part no more fucks to give and one part a dish served cold. You really have to wonder what the primary motivation was for it -- was it Trump mocking the fact that he was captured and held as POW?
posted by Bringer Tom at 6:52 AM on July 29, 2017 [122 favorites]
Of course Dreher expects his opinion to be taken as fact. One of the bedrock principles of movement conservatism is that there are no other viewpoints with any validity or credibility.
posted by delfin at 6:58 AM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by delfin at 6:58 AM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
I don't know, and perhaps we never can truly know, why McCain took the path he did, whether it was a late decision or, if not, how far back that decision was made. But it is desperately tempting to compare it with Obama's merciless bating of 45 at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Was that the key factor in what happened next? Again, who can tell - but I'd bet a packet of Marlboro Reds that Obama would have chosen not to take that shot had he seen the future.
Any history of humankind that doesn't have a large chapter on embarrassment and spite as prime motivators is going to be deplorably incomplete.
posted by Devonian at 7:02 AM on July 29, 2017 [35 favorites]
Any history of humankind that doesn't have a large chapter on embarrassment and spite as prime motivators is going to be deplorably incomplete.
posted by Devonian at 7:02 AM on July 29, 2017 [35 favorites]
I take McCain at his word - he voted No because the way they were going about it was wrong. He stood up for integrity in the process.
posted by double bubble at 7:02 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by double bubble at 7:02 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
So he finally found a time when integrity mattered to him?
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:04 AM on July 29, 2017 [25 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:04 AM on July 29, 2017 [25 favorites]
Any history of humankind that doesn't have a large chapter on embarrassment and spite as prime motivators is going to be deplorably incomplete.
One of the only attacks on the US mainland in WW2 was the shelling of Ellwood beach:
A naval reserve officer, Nishino commanded a merchant ship which sailed through the Santa Barbara Channel before the war. His ship had once stopped at the Ellwood Oil Field to take on a cargo of oil. Unfortunately, while walking to a welcoming ceremony, Nishino tripped and fell into a patch of prickly pear cactus (now below Fairway 11 of the Sandpiper Golf Course). A group of oil workers saw the Japanese officer having cactus spines pulled from his backside and began to laugh.[...] As a result, Nishino chose the oil field as the target for his deck gun. Most of the damage he inflicted was within 300 m (980 ft) of the spot he had fallen.
The Cactus-To-The-Ass Effect should be at least as important to our understanding of human history as the Butterfly Effect.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:10 AM on July 29, 2017 [102 favorites]
One of the only attacks on the US mainland in WW2 was the shelling of Ellwood beach:
A naval reserve officer, Nishino commanded a merchant ship which sailed through the Santa Barbara Channel before the war. His ship had once stopped at the Ellwood Oil Field to take on a cargo of oil. Unfortunately, while walking to a welcoming ceremony, Nishino tripped and fell into a patch of prickly pear cactus (now below Fairway 11 of the Sandpiper Golf Course). A group of oil workers saw the Japanese officer having cactus spines pulled from his backside and began to laugh.[...] As a result, Nishino chose the oil field as the target for his deck gun. Most of the damage he inflicted was within 300 m (980 ft) of the spot he had fallen.
The Cactus-To-The-Ass Effect should be at least as important to our understanding of human history as the Butterfly Effect.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:10 AM on July 29, 2017 [102 favorites]
Better late than never. I'll take anything if it can jolt the republicans out of this nasty spiral they are in. I don't have a problem with conservatives if they truly believe their positions are in the best interests of the country. We disagree on how to get there and where to go but let's at least do it for the right reasons. The GOP has been operating under the desire for political survival and revenge for far too long. Please please please get back to governing for the people.
posted by double bubble at 7:12 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by double bubble at 7:12 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
I take McCain at his word - he voted No because the way they were going about it was wrong. He stood up for integrity in the process.
If you read McCain's statement on why he voted no, he says some kind of dumb things about the ACA and he follows the GOP line that Democrats "rammed it through Congress on a strict-party line vote" which, of course, is due to Republican intransigence, not any unwillingness to compromise from the Democrats. But if you can look past those things, he also says (1) this bill wouldn't deliver affordable, quality healthcare, which is a more honest assessment than you'll get from most Republicans and (2) the Senate needs to go back to bipartisan committee hearings and regular process, which it absolutely does.
Overall, this is the best statement you're going to get from someone who is still a Republican, if he actually sticks with not voting for anything that doesn't improve health care and wasn't crafted in a healthy process, it's going to be hard for McConnell to blow up the system.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 7:14 AM on July 29, 2017 [21 favorites]
If you read McCain's statement on why he voted no, he says some kind of dumb things about the ACA and he follows the GOP line that Democrats "rammed it through Congress on a strict-party line vote" which, of course, is due to Republican intransigence, not any unwillingness to compromise from the Democrats. But if you can look past those things, he also says (1) this bill wouldn't deliver affordable, quality healthcare, which is a more honest assessment than you'll get from most Republicans and (2) the Senate needs to go back to bipartisan committee hearings and regular process, which it absolutely does.
Overall, this is the best statement you're going to get from someone who is still a Republican, if he actually sticks with not voting for anything that doesn't improve health care and wasn't crafted in a healthy process, it's going to be hard for McConnell to blow up the system.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 7:14 AM on July 29, 2017 [21 favorites]
How about we stop talking about McCain and instead talk about Collins and Murkowski?
Two No Votes On Obamacare Repeal That Were Months In The Making, Tierney Sneed, TPM.
Two No Votes On Obamacare Repeal That Were Months In The Making, Tierney Sneed, TPM.
But the continued resistance of Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) illuminated the deep distrust that accrued over the Senate leadership’s secretive process, as well as the major substantive issues in the Republican health care bill that GOP never was fully ready to engage on.posted by medusa at 7:15 AM on July 29, 2017 [108 favorites]
From Day 1 the two veteran senators made clear what their top concerns were. They were shut out from a private group said to be working on a closed-door health care deal that was only the start of multiple norms busted and a unprecedented lack of transparency. And rather than meet their demands on the substance, Republicans attempted to cut side deals or even bully them, until they were just written off completely.
How about we stop talking about McCain and instead talk about Collins and Murkowski?
Definitely! I will remember this as a day that gave me hope about so many things.
It probably won't last long - but it's a nice feeling.
posted by double bubble at 7:18 AM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
Definitely! I will remember this as a day that gave me hope about so many things.
It probably won't last long - but it's a nice feeling.
posted by double bubble at 7:18 AM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
In retrospect, McCain left plenty of clues in plain sight, most particularly that speech he gave after his first "yes" vote to proceed. He spends the first few minutes praising the very characteristics of Senate life which have been visibly absent recently, then drops this bomb:
posted by Bringer Tom at 7:20 AM on July 29, 2017 [66 favorites]
We're getting nothing done. All we've really done this year is confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. Our healthcare insurance system is a mess. We all know it, those who support Obamacare and those who oppose it. Something has to be done. We Republicans have looked for a way to end it and replace it with something else without paying a terrible political price. We haven't found it yet, and I'm not sure we will. All we've managed to do is make more popular a policy that wasn't very popular when we started trying to get rid of it.He put it right out there in front of our faces, and nobody heard it because everyone was so certain they knew what was going to happen. This was the real reason he quit his treatment and came to DC. He watched his Republican colleagues smile and clap each other on the back and use procedural tricks to humiliate the Democrats, all the while sharpening the knife he was readying to plunge into their backs. And he kept that knife hidden until the very last possible moment, to maximize its impact. He may have voted no because it was the right thing to do, but he executed the vote in a way calculated to maximally humiliate the GOP and the President. How sweet it must have been when Trump called him on the Senate floor as the vote was being held open and he told the Donald nyet in person.
I voted for the motion to proceed to allow debate to continue and amendments to be offered. I will not vote for the bill as it is today. It's a shell of a bill right now. We all know that. I have changes urged by my state's governor that will have to be included to earn my support for final passage of any bill. I know many of you will have to see the bill changed substantially for you to support it.
posted by Bringer Tom at 7:20 AM on July 29, 2017 [66 favorites]
Please please please get back to governing for the people.
Hard to "get back" to something they've never once done. Modern Republicans have only ever had the interests of some or the rich, white, people; and corporate people, in mind.
You have to go back to the 50s and 60s to find any semblance of any part of the Republican party that could credibly care about governing outcomes for more than that set of citizens. And all those people today identify as Democrats.
They're not going to govern for the people. That's not even remotely near their stated goals for the last 40+ years. It's tax cuts, always and forever. It's spending cuts, always and forever. It's regulations are bad, always and forever. It's god and guns for the true believers while the rich get to claim every last cent of productivity. Republicans are not capable of governing, only of destroying everything America has ever built and transforming it into a theocracy ruled by a feudal white supremacist over-class.
They're not going to govern, they came to pillage, not to build.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:22 AM on July 29, 2017 [72 favorites]
Hard to "get back" to something they've never once done. Modern Republicans have only ever had the interests of some or the rich, white, people; and corporate people, in mind.
You have to go back to the 50s and 60s to find any semblance of any part of the Republican party that could credibly care about governing outcomes for more than that set of citizens. And all those people today identify as Democrats.
They're not going to govern for the people. That's not even remotely near their stated goals for the last 40+ years. It's tax cuts, always and forever. It's spending cuts, always and forever. It's regulations are bad, always and forever. It's god and guns for the true believers while the rich get to claim every last cent of productivity. Republicans are not capable of governing, only of destroying everything America has ever built and transforming it into a theocracy ruled by a feudal white supremacist over-class.
They're not going to govern, they came to pillage, not to build.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:22 AM on July 29, 2017 [72 favorites]
And not to minimize the role Collins and Murkowski played; their stands were principled and necessary, but they also let everyone know where they stood months in advance. I am really intensely curious as to whether they were in on what McCain intended to do.
posted by Bringer Tom at 7:23 AM on July 29, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by Bringer Tom at 7:23 AM on July 29, 2017 [16 favorites]
From Reddit:
I'm not sure if it's really being appreciated just how comprehensively the Republicans were just fucked over.posted by zarq at 7:25 AM on July 29, 2017 [104 favorites]
See, the Republicans have been trying to pass these godawful healthcare bills through a process called budget reconciliation, which, among other things, protects the bill from being filibustered in the Senate and only requires a simple majority of 50 votes (rather than 60, which the Republicans don't have).
The thing is, the Senate can only consider one budget reconciliation bill per topic per year. Of course, if the bill dies in committee and never comes to an official vote, it doesn't count- which is why they've been able to keep hammering away at the issue.
This bill, though, was allowed to come to the Senate floor, because the Republicans thought they'd secured the votes. Collins, Murkowski and the Democrats would vote no, everyone else would vote yes, and Pence would break the tie. And then McCain completely fucked them. And it was almost certainly a calculated move; he voted to allow the bill to come to the floor. Had McCain allowed it to die in committee, McConnell could have come back with yet another repeal bill; but he let it come to a vote, and now they can't consider another budget reconciliation bill for the rest of the fiscal year. The Senate needs 60 votes to pass any kind of healthcare reform now.
So now they're caught between a rock and a hard place. Either they concede defeat on the issue and try again later (causing a big, unpopular stink that could damage elections if they try it before the midterms, or risking losing the slim majority they already have if they wait) or they actually sit down with the democrats like adults and write a halfway decent healthcare bill.
This is amazing.
...
Budget reconciliation wasn't actually meant to be used for healthcare bills, it's meant to be used for, well, budgetary concerns. They're forcing a square peg in a round hole by arguing that the funding and tax portions of the ACA fall under "budget legislation", so that makes things a bit weird. The ACA repeal bill would, I believe, affect the "spending" and "revenues" subjects; so they've now basically blown their chance at passing anything else through reconciliation this fiscal year.
McCain's speech on Tuesday was about returning the Senate to its normal functioning rules of order. Looks like he took a step to do just that, and put a halt to McConnell and Ryan's shenanigans.
posted by zarq at 7:27 AM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by zarq at 7:27 AM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
He may have voted no because it was the right thing to do, but he executed the vote in a way calculated to maximally humiliate the GOP and the President.
I see the calculated humiliation as part of the message. He didn't just vote no - he made sure he did it explosively. He made sure to drive his point home.
posted by double bubble at 7:31 AM on July 29, 2017 [13 favorites]
I see the calculated humiliation as part of the message. He didn't just vote no - he made sure he did it explosively. He made sure to drive his point home.
posted by double bubble at 7:31 AM on July 29, 2017 [13 favorites]
The point about allowing the bill to the floor to keep it from coming back again next week is a point I hadn't heard; lovely! I look forward to having this particular, narrow strain of nonsense settled for now.
posted by kaibutsu at 7:34 AM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by kaibutsu at 7:34 AM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
McCain's vote was likely heavily influenced by local Arizona politics, at least to some degree. The Obamacare repeal was polling in the single digits (!) here in the state. Our other Republican Senator (Flake), who voted for repeal, is already underwater in the polls and widely seen as vulnerable. Had repeal happened, I suspect Flake's goose would have been cooked in the next election.
And although the Governor and State Legislature are controlled by Republicans, the state is trending more purplish. Registered voters are about 1/3 Republican, 1/3 Democrat and 1/3 Independent. While the Independents tend to lean Republican (or Libertarian), they are shiftable. A massively unpopular repeal of Obamacare could well have mobilized enough voters to have major effect in state politics.
Well before McCain's dramatic vote, he had already said he would be guided by the Governor's wishes on the question of repeal. Governor Ducey was on the record opposing repeal. When it became clear that Paul Ryan might have just passed the Senate's bill, McCain probably felt he had to vote it down, or risk Arizona going blue across the board, just in time for the next re-districting.
posted by darkstar at 7:34 AM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
And although the Governor and State Legislature are controlled by Republicans, the state is trending more purplish. Registered voters are about 1/3 Republican, 1/3 Democrat and 1/3 Independent. While the Independents tend to lean Republican (or Libertarian), they are shiftable. A massively unpopular repeal of Obamacare could well have mobilized enough voters to have major effect in state politics.
Well before McCain's dramatic vote, he had already said he would be guided by the Governor's wishes on the question of repeal. Governor Ducey was on the record opposing repeal. When it became clear that Paul Ryan might have just passed the Senate's bill, McCain probably felt he had to vote it down, or risk Arizona going blue across the board, just in time for the next re-districting.
posted by darkstar at 7:34 AM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
Except it will be back, and he'll be voting for it.
posted by Artw at 7:36 AM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Artw at 7:36 AM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
@realDonaldTrump: Republican Senate must get rid of 60 vote NOW! It is killing the R Party, allows 8 Dems to control country. 200 Bills sit in Senate. A JOKE!
@HolmesJosh (McConnell's former chief of staff):
Instead of searching for the leaker, search for the idiot who keeps putting the President on irrelevant and counterproductive crusades
@costareports:
A McConnell ally pings me and says the Maj. Leader *can't stand* this kind of process advice from down the street.
---
Trump being pissed and making McConnell's life miserable is a good way to start a Saturday.
posted by chris24 at 7:36 AM on July 29, 2017 [68 favorites]
@HolmesJosh (McConnell's former chief of staff):
Instead of searching for the leaker, search for the idiot who keeps putting the President on irrelevant and counterproductive crusades
@costareports:
A McConnell ally pings me and says the Maj. Leader *can't stand* this kind of process advice from down the street.
---
Trump being pissed and making McConnell's life miserable is a good way to start a Saturday.
posted by chris24 at 7:36 AM on July 29, 2017 [68 favorites]
Well, while we're here - my two cents... I'm cobbling some of this together from various sources I've been reading over the past few days (Topher Spiro, 538, WaPo, Politico, etc.). Please correct if there are things wrong. A big part of this comes from Adam Jentleson, an aide to former Democratic Senator Harry Reid. His recent tweetstorm on the topic of Senate leadership provides some of this information.
McCain's enemy, and the person he intended to humiliate, is McConnell. McConnell lead the legal charge to ruin McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform. That was probably McCain's signature legislation and his fellow party member ruined it; really, really, really ruined it, when you consider the effect of Citizens United.
So, then he gives a speech about how the Senate should be a deliberative body with norms that encourage bipartisanship. I do think McCain truly believes in bipartisanship and process as much or more than he believes in outcomes. He was truly outsourcing his position on the bill to his Governor because he probably does not have much legislative staff dedicated to studying health policy. I don't think he was trying to pass the buck to Arizona's Governor; I think he was really asking "Well, what do you think will happen, because I don't study this." He's not interested in it and focuses on military policy and probably staffs his office accordingly.
McCain has to be cognizant of the person who has truly destroyed the process of the Senate and that's Mitch McConnell. Not enough has been reported on the truly radical transformation of Senate operations McConnell has effected, all so that he can be Majority Leader. Notice that Republican Senator Ron Johnson publicly complained about McConnell's leadership in pretty strong terms during the bill making process. According to Jentleson, that's a lot more shocking than the public realizes. McConnell has basically consolidated power to himself at the expense of other Senators in both parties. I think some Republican Senators are starting to wake up to that fact and don't like it. I don't think they are doing it in the best interests of the American people, but the competitive nature of the system itself (McConnell only serves at the pleasure of other Republican Senators assenting to him as leader) is probably the best we got.
TL/DR: (IMO) McCain wanted to screw McConnell, who for too long has been ruining an institution McCain loves. McCain was probably somewhat indifferent to the legislation itself.
posted by Slothrop at 7:40 AM on July 29, 2017 [76 favorites]
McCain's enemy, and the person he intended to humiliate, is McConnell. McConnell lead the legal charge to ruin McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform. That was probably McCain's signature legislation and his fellow party member ruined it; really, really, really ruined it, when you consider the effect of Citizens United.
So, then he gives a speech about how the Senate should be a deliberative body with norms that encourage bipartisanship. I do think McCain truly believes in bipartisanship and process as much or more than he believes in outcomes. He was truly outsourcing his position on the bill to his Governor because he probably does not have much legislative staff dedicated to studying health policy. I don't think he was trying to pass the buck to Arizona's Governor; I think he was really asking "Well, what do you think will happen, because I don't study this." He's not interested in it and focuses on military policy and probably staffs his office accordingly.
McCain has to be cognizant of the person who has truly destroyed the process of the Senate and that's Mitch McConnell. Not enough has been reported on the truly radical transformation of Senate operations McConnell has effected, all so that he can be Majority Leader. Notice that Republican Senator Ron Johnson publicly complained about McConnell's leadership in pretty strong terms during the bill making process. According to Jentleson, that's a lot more shocking than the public realizes. McConnell has basically consolidated power to himself at the expense of other Senators in both parties. I think some Republican Senators are starting to wake up to that fact and don't like it. I don't think they are doing it in the best interests of the American people, but the competitive nature of the system itself (McConnell only serves at the pleasure of other Republican Senators assenting to him as leader) is probably the best we got.
TL/DR: (IMO) McCain wanted to screw McConnell, who for too long has been ruining an institution McCain loves. McCain was probably somewhat indifferent to the legislation itself.
posted by Slothrop at 7:40 AM on July 29, 2017 [76 favorites]
Every. Single. Time.
2013
@realDonaldTrump:
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Senate filibuster rule. Harry Reid & Obama killed it yesterday. Rule was in effect for over 200 years.
posted by chris24 at 7:42 AM on July 29, 2017 [63 favorites]
2013
@realDonaldTrump:
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Senate filibuster rule. Harry Reid & Obama killed it yesterday. Rule was in effect for over 200 years.
posted by chris24 at 7:42 AM on July 29, 2017 [63 favorites]
McCain was probably somewhat indifferent to the legislation itself.
He's issued a statement unambiguously stating he is in favor of it.
posted by Artw at 7:43 AM on July 29, 2017
He's issued a statement unambiguously stating he is in favor of it.
posted by Artw at 7:43 AM on July 29, 2017
The problem is, though, is that there _are_ maybe 10, 20 current Republican Senators who are at all capable of functioning in a Normal Order environment. That's not to say that it's their first choice but that they are physically and emotionally capable of saying that yes, My Esteemed Colleague is not a potted plant and I can exchange ideas with him or her and work towards a bipartisan compromise. But they are not in a position to act as any kind of a bloc because they do not have the courage to act on this.
There are many other Republican Senators, and far more Republican Representatives in the House who are incapable of that largely because their base has been carefully trained to be incapable of condoning that. Movement Conservatism can never fail, it can only be failed by RINOs, and the answer to a thoughtful, compromise-capable representative is to primary them with an angry bomb-thrower. McCain took the bullet because circumstances suggested that he could, and the McConnells of the world have no intention whatsoever to pay attention to his post-vote speech. What matters to them is not his ideals but his betrayal, and if McCain passes away or retires abruptly his replacement will toe the line and we'll be right back to Fiat By Turtle.
posted by delfin at 7:44 AM on July 29, 2017 [13 favorites]
There are many other Republican Senators, and far more Republican Representatives in the House who are incapable of that largely because their base has been carefully trained to be incapable of condoning that. Movement Conservatism can never fail, it can only be failed by RINOs, and the answer to a thoughtful, compromise-capable representative is to primary them with an angry bomb-thrower. McCain took the bullet because circumstances suggested that he could, and the McConnells of the world have no intention whatsoever to pay attention to his post-vote speech. What matters to them is not his ideals but his betrayal, and if McCain passes away or retires abruptly his replacement will toe the line and we'll be right back to Fiat By Turtle.
posted by delfin at 7:44 AM on July 29, 2017 [13 favorites]
Trump just delivered the most chilling speech of his presidency
The president of the United States is explicitly encouraging police violence.
posted by robbyrobs at 7:45 AM on July 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
The thing is, the Senate can only consider one budget reconciliation bill per topic per year ... Had McCain allowed it to die in committee, McConnell could have come back with yet another repeal bill; but he let it come to a vote, and now they can't consider another budget reconciliation bill for the rest of the fiscal year.I wasn't even aware of this. That is some finely crafted knife-twisting right there.
posted by Bringer Tom at 7:48 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
I believe the Reddit theory on why the bill cannot come back has been discredited.
posted by Artw at 7:51 AM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
posted by Artw at 7:51 AM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
Aw hell. It was such a great theory. Do you have a link, artw?
posted by zarq at 7:53 AM on July 29, 2017
posted by zarq at 7:53 AM on July 29, 2017
Yes it has been debunked. The twitter thread the below is part of has many more details.
@Taniel:
.@KDbyProxy helpfully provides the portion of the Senate* transcript relevant to reconciliation not being shut down: [screenshot]
posted by chris24 at 7:54 AM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
@Taniel:
.@KDbyProxy helpfully provides the portion of the Senate* transcript relevant to reconciliation not being shut down: [screenshot]
posted by chris24 at 7:54 AM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
Vulgar Palace Intrigues is the name of my new doom metal band.
posted by Doleful Creature at 7:54 AM on July 29, 2017 [18 favorites]
posted by Doleful Creature at 7:54 AM on July 29, 2017 [18 favorites]
Artw: He's issued a statement unambiguously stating he is in favor of it.
Yes, he has. And he has blamed the Democrats for the lack of bipartisanship. I have no idea what his real thoughts are, nor do any of us. I was providing a sketch of his possible motivations based on the sources I named. Jentleson's tweet storm has some context here, for instance. The WaPo's front page has a story about the McCain-McConnell divide which I haven't read, but it's not in any way my original idea.
I am not, in any way, encouraging people to relax about healthcare. I have been calling my blockhead Senators multiple times a day each day, and they also have said really backwards, up-is-down type stuff about the whole thing.
posted by Slothrop at 7:56 AM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
Yes, he has. And he has blamed the Democrats for the lack of bipartisanship. I have no idea what his real thoughts are, nor do any of us. I was providing a sketch of his possible motivations based on the sources I named. Jentleson's tweet storm has some context here, for instance. The WaPo's front page has a story about the McCain-McConnell divide which I haven't read, but it's not in any way my original idea.
I am not, in any way, encouraging people to relax about healthcare. I have been calling my blockhead Senators multiple times a day each day, and they also have said really backwards, up-is-down type stuff about the whole thing.
posted by Slothrop at 7:56 AM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
So then, McCain's vote was probably a heady mix of factors: the opportunity to grandstand and self-aggrandize, and to take a principled stand for Senatorial normal order, and to kill a bill he didn't like (the Skinny Repeal), and to send a big F.U. to both Trump and McConnell, and to address the realities of local Arizona politics, and to maneuver for a better repeal-and-replace opportunity in the future, and possibly to achieve other Byzantine ends which have not yet been ascertained and may never be fully known.
In conclusion, John McCain is a land of contrasts.
posted by darkstar at 8:00 AM on July 29, 2017 [20 favorites]
In conclusion, John McCain is a land of contrasts.
posted by darkstar at 8:00 AM on July 29, 2017 [20 favorites]
Thanks chris24! A shame.
posted by zarq at 8:01 AM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by zarq at 8:01 AM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
Except it will be back, and he'll be voting for it.
And that's OK. I mean, it's absolutely NOT OK to me -- I think ACA repeal of any flavor would be a terrible, terrible thing for the nation and its people, and the sooner we can get to single payer, the better. (Basically, if we can nudge Medicaid, Medicare, and subsidies to keep gradually expanding, they should all run into each other relatively quickly, and then we'll be just about there.) Take my Cadillac plan and give me that sweet, sweet socialized medicine, brother, hallelujah!
But it's like Egg -- his ideology and positions and goals are anathema to me, but you cannot control or negate the fact that conservatives and others have widely divergent views about government and its role and specific issues. It's awful that some people think abortion should be limited or outlawed, but some people do think that, and if those folks and forces are numerous and influential enough, they will prevail. You're never going to get the McCains, McMuffins, and Collinses to believe what we believe and want what we want.
About all that can be done is to try and ensure that voting and elections and legislative bodies work in established ways according to agreed-upon values and norms and are as non-toxic as possible. We have a long way to go to improve that. But stuff like what McCain et al. did this week are teeny steps in that direction. We have to realize, though, that even if/when the system and processes are healthy and working properly and fairly, even if you took the billionaire donors etc. out of the mix, policies and legislation will still be enacted that are abhorrent or objectionable to us. For instance, during my entire lifetime, from JFK on, even the most far leftward politicians in the US who had any ability to affect these things have been hugely more bellicose than me when it comes to the military and foreign policy. That's not going to change anytime soon; one just has to cope with it and keep chipping away. Or move to Sweden or Madagascar.
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:06 AM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
And that's OK. I mean, it's absolutely NOT OK to me -- I think ACA repeal of any flavor would be a terrible, terrible thing for the nation and its people, and the sooner we can get to single payer, the better. (Basically, if we can nudge Medicaid, Medicare, and subsidies to keep gradually expanding, they should all run into each other relatively quickly, and then we'll be just about there.) Take my Cadillac plan and give me that sweet, sweet socialized medicine, brother, hallelujah!
But it's like Egg -- his ideology and positions and goals are anathema to me, but you cannot control or negate the fact that conservatives and others have widely divergent views about government and its role and specific issues. It's awful that some people think abortion should be limited or outlawed, but some people do think that, and if those folks and forces are numerous and influential enough, they will prevail. You're never going to get the McCains, McMuffins, and Collinses to believe what we believe and want what we want.
About all that can be done is to try and ensure that voting and elections and legislative bodies work in established ways according to agreed-upon values and norms and are as non-toxic as possible. We have a long way to go to improve that. But stuff like what McCain et al. did this week are teeny steps in that direction. We have to realize, though, that even if/when the system and processes are healthy and working properly and fairly, even if you took the billionaire donors etc. out of the mix, policies and legislation will still be enacted that are abhorrent or objectionable to us. For instance, during my entire lifetime, from JFK on, even the most far leftward politicians in the US who had any ability to affect these things have been hugely more bellicose than me when it comes to the military and foreign policy. That's not going to change anytime soon; one just has to cope with it and keep chipping away. Or move to Sweden or Madagascar.
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:06 AM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
WaPo: John Kelly, Trump’s new chief of staff, ‘won’t suffer idiots and fools’
But...I mean...his boss is an idiot and a fool.
posted by zakur at 8:09 AM on July 29, 2017 [112 favorites]
But...I mean...his boss is an idiot and a fool.
posted by zakur at 8:09 AM on July 29, 2017 [112 favorites]
How about we stop talking about McCain and instead talk about Collins and Murkowski?
especially every time someone says McCain may be terrible, but he's the best you can hope for from a Republican. no he isn't. Lisa Murkowski is. Is she good? No. Is she better than John McCain? Much better. did she need 80 years of general adulation and freedom to vent her spleen at all times plus a brain tumor to help her on her way? nope.
Anybody who remembers the passage of the Matthew Shepard hate crimes prevention act will also remember that of the 5 (five) Republicans in the Senate willing to support it, one was Lisa Murkowski. Two of the others were Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. None of them was John McCain.
that was way back nearly 10 years ago and is just a random example, but forgetting how people actually voted on all kinds of things is crucial to being nice and forgiving towards John McCain in his twilight years.
posted by queenofbithynia at 8:12 AM on July 29, 2017 [124 favorites]
WaPo: John Kelly, Trump’s new chief of staff, ‘won’t suffer idiots and fools’
So basically, it's just going to be him and Barron in the empty echoing White House then: Home Alone with a General.
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:12 AM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
So basically, it's just going to be him and Barron in the empty echoing White House then: Home Alone with a General.
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:12 AM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
WaPo: John Kelly, Trump’s new chief of staff, ‘won’t suffer idiots and fools’
I'm going to take that as meaning he's an asshole who is constantly flying off the handle at tiny shit. Should be fun.
posted by Artw at 8:15 AM on July 29, 2017 [61 favorites]
I'm going to take that as meaning he's an asshole who is constantly flying off the handle at tiny shit. Should be fun.
posted by Artw at 8:15 AM on July 29, 2017 [61 favorites]
I wonder if we'll ever get a report of that McCain/Trump call that kept him from voting until the "P"s. Did he just trail Trump along or did he give him a good lecture on policy and how being a self centered asshole is not the most effective approach to collaborating in government?
posted by sammyo at 8:17 AM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by sammyo at 8:17 AM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I really tend to doubt these "there's no rule saying a dog can't play basketball!" sort of explanations of Senate procedure.
What we need is a Schoolhouse Rock roughly the length of the uncut Heaven's Gate.
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:17 AM on July 29, 2017 [17 favorites]
What we need is a Schoolhouse Rock roughly the length of the uncut Heaven's Gate.
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:17 AM on July 29, 2017 [17 favorites]
oh, I thought it was more of an "I don't suffer idiots, I enjoy every second of them" kind of deal.
posted by queenofbithynia at 8:18 AM on July 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by queenofbithynia at 8:18 AM on July 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
Let's not forget, Kelly was the guy who told Trump upon receiving a ceremonial sword at a Coast Guard commencement speech: "You can use that on the press, sir."
posted by zakur at 8:21 AM on July 29, 2017 [25 favorites]
posted by zakur at 8:21 AM on July 29, 2017 [25 favorites]
Now I'm trying to picture Gen. Won't Suffer Fools at his first staff meeting with: Scaramucci, Bannon, Miller, Kushner, Gorka, Conway. . . .
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:22 AM on July 29, 2017 [19 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:22 AM on July 29, 2017 [19 favorites]
Guys, what if Kelly is also a fool
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 8:23 AM on July 29, 2017 [62 favorites]
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 8:23 AM on July 29, 2017 [62 favorites]
I'm hearing lots of well reasoned commentary that tossing a disciplined general used to competent soldiers into chaotic barrel of vipers may not be the most effective strategy. He certainly knows he cannot just give orders but when he lays out a reasoned plan and it's twisted out of shape and 'friends' just do what they want, there may be messes that can not be fixed. There may never be an effective clean up of this group until meltdown.
posted by sammyo at 8:24 AM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by sammyo at 8:24 AM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
When people say they don't suffer fools gladly it means they're just intolerant of views which don't exactly match their own.
posted by dng at 8:26 AM on July 29, 2017 [42 favorites]
posted by dng at 8:26 AM on July 29, 2017 [42 favorites]
I wonder if Bannon will be around much longer given Scaramucci's...colorful...assessment of him.
posted by Sangermaine at 8:26 AM on July 29, 2017
posted by Sangermaine at 8:26 AM on July 29, 2017
Bringer Tom: He put it right out there in front of our faces, and nobody heard it because everyone was so certain they knew what was going to happen.
Because McCain has a bad habit of saying something brave then backing the party line when it comes time to vote. 538 had an interesting analysis of McCain's vote history as an abstract, looking at an average of GOP votes and where the vocal conservative movement has gone, noting "Congress has become more polarized, but McCain has stayed put."
posted by filthy light thief at 8:30 AM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
Because McCain has a bad habit of saying something brave then backing the party line when it comes time to vote. 538 had an interesting analysis of McCain's vote history as an abstract, looking at an average of GOP votes and where the vocal conservative movement has gone, noting "Congress has become more polarized, but McCain has stayed put."
posted by filthy light thief at 8:30 AM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
Those orders need to come from Trump via The Marine who carries "The Football"
I believe he has a sidearm, and orders from some 1960's - 1970's RAND Corporation ("dual") study of what we should do if the President is compromised by Russia.
Oh, good then, nothing to worry about, it's not like any of those aides have shown poor judgement or an inability to say "No" to rich douchebags.
posted by NorthernLite at 8:31 AM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
I believe he has a sidearm, and orders from some 1960's - 1970's RAND Corporation ("dual") study of what we should do if the President is compromised by Russia.
Oh, good then, nothing to worry about, it's not like any of those aides have shown poor judgement or an inability to say "No" to rich douchebags.
posted by NorthernLite at 8:31 AM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
I have zero faith in Trump's ability to negotiate his way out of nuclear war, so I'm thankful for my old friend, the Ohio class ballistic missile submarine.
I don't think you can navigate a submarine into the White House living quarters even if you flood the metro tunnels with water to give it an access route for part of the way. give it a try though, sure, why not.
posted by queenofbithynia at 8:31 AM on July 29, 2017 [25 favorites]
It was a little disappointing that McCain's shenanigans did not actually kill the healthcare changes, but I can imagine he thought it might. They won't want to try again in a hurry, anyway.
Speaking of Murkowski:
posted by Merus at 8:32 AM on July 29, 2017 [126 favorites]
Speaking of Murkowski:
After her conference speech, Murkowski was approached by a teacher who said she would not be alive today without health care provided by the Affordable Care Act passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama.There's a difference, I think, between Republicans who listen and Republicans who don't. The people who managed to talk to Murkowski and convince her there was a big problem with their approach are true American heroes.
Speaking to reporters, Murkowski said she heard from another woman undergoing treatment for cancer.
“She needs to just focus on getting her body whole, but she’s got another series (of treatments) to come up, and she was saying, I can’t focus on myself … because I’m so worried that something’s going to happen to my health care and I will be labeled with a pre-existing condition and I’m never going to be able to get health care again,” Murkowski said. “It’s these types of stories that remind me that no, the importance of a timeline is not nearly as important as getting this right.”
posted by Merus at 8:32 AM on July 29, 2017 [126 favorites]
TL/DR: (IMO) McCain wanted to screw McConnell
This is the most believable thing, far more than all this blah blah actual principles horeseshit. McCain is notorious for being petty and vindictive and holding a grudge. Find someone in aviation who can better recall the story of his years-long fucking-over of someone (and by virtue, the organization he headed) who he didn't like.
posted by phearlez at 8:34 AM on July 29, 2017 [16 favorites]
This is the most believable thing, far more than all this blah blah actual principles horeseshit. McCain is notorious for being petty and vindictive and holding a grudge. Find someone in aviation who can better recall the story of his years-long fucking-over of someone (and by virtue, the organization he headed) who he didn't like.
posted by phearlez at 8:34 AM on July 29, 2017 [16 favorites]
When people say they don't suffer fools gladly it means they're just intolerant of views which don't exactly match their own.
Oh God yes...my reaction to a General rank officer that says they don't suffer fools would be "I bet you do when they outrank you". You don't usually rise that high in the military without playing the political game and occasionally swallowing your pride when a congresscritter or a superior officer says or does something stupid.
Basically, a General saying he doesn't suffer fools is simply a reaffirmation that there are privileges of rank to be able to marginalize or disregard subordinates when they say or do something you don't like.
So yeah, it'll be very interesting to see how that flies in the farce that is Trump's reality clownshow.
posted by darkstar at 8:37 AM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
Oh God yes...my reaction to a General rank officer that says they don't suffer fools would be "I bet you do when they outrank you". You don't usually rise that high in the military without playing the political game and occasionally swallowing your pride when a congresscritter or a superior officer says or does something stupid.
Basically, a General saying he doesn't suffer fools is simply a reaffirmation that there are privileges of rank to be able to marginalize or disregard subordinates when they say or do something you don't like.
So yeah, it'll be very interesting to see how that flies in the farce that is Trump's reality clownshow.
posted by darkstar at 8:37 AM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
While the carnival of fools that leaks to, shouts at, runs away from the press keeps us all entertained, I am extremely uneasy about the role the Bannon, Miller and Gorka play in all this, precisely because we do not see it in the press. The pres*dent does something obnoxious and we wonder what role they had, but we never get to know. They don't answer to the press and they don't even have real jobs or titles or responsibilities. They are mad as hatters and fucking evil to boot, with known fondness for ushering in the collapse of the civilized order, though they probably have three different goals there.
posted by stonepharisee at 8:37 AM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
posted by stonepharisee at 8:37 AM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
Just caught up on US politics after spending over three days avoiding, ignoring or missing it. Heck, a lot can happen in three days. Bits of it are even rationale, and occasionally positive.
I notice that Paddy Power are offering quite short odds of 4/9 on "FBI to explicitly confirm that they have evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government to influence the result of the 2016 US Presidential election. Charges must then be brought against members of the Trump campaign team for bet to be a winner. Closing December 31st 2017."
posted by Wordshore at 8:38 AM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
I notice that Paddy Power are offering quite short odds of 4/9 on "FBI to explicitly confirm that they have evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government to influence the result of the 2016 US Presidential election. Charges must then be brought against members of the Trump campaign team for bet to be a winner. Closing December 31st 2017."
posted by Wordshore at 8:38 AM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
Mod note: Several comments deleted. Please reload folks. If you think a comment is offensive you can flag it. If you're outside the US, don't worry, you don't need to tell us Trump is bad.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 8:39 AM on July 29, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 8:39 AM on July 29, 2017 [13 favorites]
Yeah, the big vote wasn't on final passage of the bill, it was on an amendment with the text they wanted to pass. The bill (House AHCA language) is still out there on the calendar, but they've taken it off the floor because they don't have the votes to pass it.
If they ever find language that would get 50 Senators, or if they want to do some other reconciliation bill, all they have to do is bring the bill back and write another substitute amendment to wipe out the current text and replace it with what they want. Not much debate time left, either, though unlimited amendment/vote-a-rama rules would still apply.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 8:46 AM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
If they ever find language that would get 50 Senators, or if they want to do some other reconciliation bill, all they have to do is bring the bill back and write another substitute amendment to wipe out the current text and replace it with what they want. Not much debate time left, either, though unlimited amendment/vote-a-rama rules would still apply.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 8:46 AM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
Why did everyone stop asking Sebastian Gorka about Nazis?
posted by adamvasco at 8:48 AM on July 29, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by adamvasco at 8:48 AM on July 29, 2017 [16 favorites]
I don't think you can navigate a submarine into the White House living quarters even if you flood the metro tunnels with water to give it an access route for part of the way. give it a try though, sure, why not.
I'm gonna have a nice cold Nuka Cola and think on this plan.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 8:50 AM on July 29, 2017 [15 favorites]
I'm gonna have a nice cold Nuka Cola and think on this plan.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 8:50 AM on July 29, 2017 [15 favorites]
Quick shout out to two of my favorite Anti-Trump voices lately:
Watergate special prosecutor* Jill Wine-Banks and former White House ethics lawyer for GWB, Richard Painter.
* Wikipedia: Wine-Volner received media attention during the trial for her lawyering and for wearing miniskirts. Of course it sucks that her clothes were ever an issue, but I like the fact that she was an early adopter of wearing miniskirts to court.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:53 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
Watergate special prosecutor* Jill Wine-Banks and former White House ethics lawyer for GWB, Richard Painter.
* Wikipedia: Wine-Volner received media attention during the trial for her lawyering and for wearing miniskirts. Of course it sucks that her clothes were ever an issue, but I like the fact that she was an early adopter of wearing miniskirts to court.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:53 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
There's a difference, I think, between Republicans who listen and Republicans who don't. The people who managed to talk to Murkowski and convince her there was a big problem with their approach are true American heroes.
This.
After the vote, I went to a bunch of the Republican senators Twitter pages to thank or insult them, as the case warrented. I thought, based on all of their speeches about how they have promised their constituents for 8 years they would repeal Obamacare, that their Twitter feeds would be full of pleas to vote yes and admonishments for those who voted no. I looked for 15 minutes and barely found a couple of tweets like that. Almost every one was people pleading to keep Obamacare and vote no. What bothers me is that the vast majority of the American people did not want this to pass, and yet it came down to one vote in the Senate. This is not ok. These people are not even pretending to represent their constituents. It's dismaying.
posted by greermahoney at 8:55 AM on July 29, 2017 [110 favorites]
This.
After the vote, I went to a bunch of the Republican senators Twitter pages to thank or insult them, as the case warrented. I thought, based on all of their speeches about how they have promised their constituents for 8 years they would repeal Obamacare, that their Twitter feeds would be full of pleas to vote yes and admonishments for those who voted no. I looked for 15 minutes and barely found a couple of tweets like that. Almost every one was people pleading to keep Obamacare and vote no. What bothers me is that the vast majority of the American people did not want this to pass, and yet it came down to one vote in the Senate. This is not ok. These people are not even pretending to represent their constituents. It's dismaying.
posted by greermahoney at 8:55 AM on July 29, 2017 [110 favorites]
I don't think you can navigate a submarine into the White House living quarters even if you flood the metro tunnels with water to give it an access route for part of the way. give it a try though, sure, why not.
I was thinking just drop it directly onto his head, or if that's too difficult you might be able to just roll it over him. If rolling is in fact your game, however, I would reccomend the much rounder Los Angeles class submarine instead.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 8:57 AM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
What fresh hell awaits us this week? Which aspect of reality will be denied using sophistry galling to both logic and common decency? Which societal norm is going to drop below the horizon behind us as we trudge towards outright autocracy? Which basic feature of civilization will be declared an enemy of the state? Who will ascend as this week's new lying amoral goblin and what will be their connection to Russia? What formerly unthinkable event will be declared as a chaotic distraction from an even worse revelation? Who will be served up as the traitorous super villain responsible for this week's controversy? Which cartoonishly evil figure will we find ourselves reluctantly repositioning as "not so bad?" How many times will we hear the new historians and experts in constitutional law confidently declare that Watergate took two years and that the President cannot pardon state crimes? What new federal crime will be placed at the feet of Robert Mueller to investigate? What preposterous chain events will we entertain as possible in order fight off abject despondency?
Find out this week on "Uncultured Barbarians Dismantling Civil Society."
posted by milarepa at 9:00 AM on July 29, 2017 [37 favorites]
Find out this week on "Uncultured Barbarians Dismantling Civil Society."
posted by milarepa at 9:00 AM on July 29, 2017 [37 favorites]
Given how often "there's no rule saying a dog can't play basketball!" comes up in these threads, I wonder if they actually teach the Air Bud Theory in law schools. It seems like an instructive example.
posted by heathkit at 9:08 AM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by heathkit at 9:08 AM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
I think it's popular because the "Air Bud Theory" closely matches how a lot people imagine law works: a set of rigid precepts that can only be followed exactly as literally rendered and can be "beaten" if you find a magic loophole. The extreme end of this is the Sovereign Citizen people.
posted by Sangermaine at 9:12 AM on July 29, 2017 [57 favorites]
posted by Sangermaine at 9:12 AM on July 29, 2017 [57 favorites]
Daniel Hoffman, former chief of station for the CIA: The Russians Were Involved. But It Wasn’t About Collusion. [NYT]
Tl;dr: "This operation was meant to be discovered." Hoffman believes that the Kushner/DonJr-Veselnitskaya meeting was not about Team Trump establishing a Kremlin line. The meeting itself is kompromat.
[linking != endorsement]
posted by runcifex at 9:12 AM on July 29, 2017 [18 favorites]
Tl;dr: "This operation was meant to be discovered." Hoffman believes that the Kushner/DonJr-Veselnitskaya meeting was not about Team Trump establishing a Kremlin line. The meeting itself is kompromat.
[linking != endorsement]
posted by runcifex at 9:12 AM on July 29, 2017 [18 favorites]
So /r/the_donald is writing legislation now.
Margaret Sullivan, Mashable: H.Res.477, which was proposed on Wednesday, calls for an investigation into the alleged misconduct of Hillary Clinton and James Comey.
It turns out that a staffer in Gaetz's office by the name of Devin Murphy, under the thinly veiled reddit pseudonym of Devinm666, reportedly took to r/The_Donald for help writing the legislation. Murphy was eventually outed by three Twitter users [ ] after they noted Devinm666's frequent activity on the r/The_Donald subreddit and his insider knowledge of the legislative process. [...] The suggestions he received show up in the finished amendment.
When asked for comment by Wired, Rep. Gaetz responded via email: "It is the responsibility of our staff to gather as much information as possible when researching a subject and provide that information for consideration. We pride ourselves on seeking as much citizen input as possible."
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:13 AM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
Margaret Sullivan, Mashable: H.Res.477, which was proposed on Wednesday, calls for an investigation into the alleged misconduct of Hillary Clinton and James Comey.
It turns out that a staffer in Gaetz's office by the name of Devin Murphy, under the thinly veiled reddit pseudonym of Devinm666, reportedly took to r/The_Donald for help writing the legislation. Murphy was eventually outed by three Twitter users [ ] after they noted Devinm666's frequent activity on the r/The_Donald subreddit and his insider knowledge of the legislative process. [...] The suggestions he received show up in the finished amendment.
When asked for comment by Wired, Rep. Gaetz responded via email: "It is the responsibility of our staff to gather as much information as possible when researching a subject and provide that information for consideration. We pride ourselves on seeking as much citizen input as possible."
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:13 AM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
Every. Single Time.
2012.
@realDonaldTrump
3 Chief of Staffs in less than 3 years of being President: Part of the reason why @BarackObama can't manage to pass his agenda.
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 9:15 AM on July 29, 2017 [29 favorites]
2012.
@realDonaldTrump
3 Chief of Staffs in less than 3 years of being President: Part of the reason why @BarackObama can't manage to pass his agenda.
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 9:15 AM on July 29, 2017 [29 favorites]
No more need for political analogies on the healthcare vote, folks. We have a winner.
@sirosenbaum: McCain came thru like Gollum at Mt Doom
posted by scaryblackdeath at 9:22 AM on July 29, 2017 [108 favorites]
@sirosenbaum: McCain came thru like Gollum at Mt Doom
posted by scaryblackdeath at 9:22 AM on July 29, 2017 [108 favorites]
Given how often "there's no rule saying a dog can't play basketball!" comes up in these threads, I wonder if they actually teach the Air Bud Theory in law schools. It seems like an instructive example.
I brought it up in Contracts but our professor was ... under-thused.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 9:23 AM on July 29, 2017 [12 favorites]
I brought it up in Contracts but our professor was ... under-thused.
posted by Barack Spinoza at 9:23 AM on July 29, 2017 [12 favorites]
I think it's popular because the "Air Bud Theory" closely matches how a lot people imagine law works: a set of rigid precepts that can only be followed exactly as literally rendered and can be "beaten" if you find a magic loophole.
To be fair, there ought to be a "lawyer's disease" to go along with "engineer's disease", where lawyers expound on things on the internet as if the only thing required for a just society is a literal reading of the law. These people are surely also on the lookout for "one weird trick". I don't think this is strictly a "non-lawyers don't understand the law" thing.
posted by hoyland at 9:26 AM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
To be fair, there ought to be a "lawyer's disease" to go along with "engineer's disease", where lawyers expound on things on the internet as if the only thing required for a just society is a literal reading of the law. These people are surely also on the lookout for "one weird trick". I don't think this is strictly a "non-lawyers don't understand the law" thing.
posted by hoyland at 9:26 AM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
Beyond the weirdness of often agreeing with Jennifer Rubin, is living in a world where Bill Kristol is now often right.
@BillKristol:
Trump knows Senate R's won't get rid of filibuster. So he's setting up a (fake) excuse for failure. Six months in, Trump expects to fail.
posted by chris24 at 9:27 AM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
@BillKristol:
Trump knows Senate R's won't get rid of filibuster. So he's setting up a (fake) excuse for failure. Six months in, Trump expects to fail.
posted by chris24 at 9:27 AM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
Daniel Hoffman, former chief of station for the CIA: The Russians Were Involved. But It Wasn’t About Collusion. [NYT]
Tl;dr: "This operation was meant to be discovered." Hoffman believes that the Kushner/DonJr-Veselnitskaya meeting was not about Team Trump establishing a Kremlin line. The meeting itself is kompromat.
Even assuming this is true? The answer is the same: vote out of office, impeach, and prosecute. The minute Trump & the GOP do something worthy of their office, I'll stop calling for those solutions, but until then, it's all fuel for the engine to take them down.
posted by saysthis at 9:28 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
Tl;dr: "This operation was meant to be discovered." Hoffman believes that the Kushner/DonJr-Veselnitskaya meeting was not about Team Trump establishing a Kremlin line. The meeting itself is kompromat.
Even assuming this is true? The answer is the same: vote out of office, impeach, and prosecute. The minute Trump & the GOP do something worthy of their office, I'll stop calling for those solutions, but until then, it's all fuel for the engine to take them down.
posted by saysthis at 9:28 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
Trump knows Senate R's won't get rid of filibuster. So he's setting up a (fake) excuse for failure. Six months in, Trump expects to fail.
Possibly so, but this theory suggests a degree of Trumpian strategic thinking, foresight and message discipline that so far is in little evidence.
posted by darkstar at 9:33 AM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
Possibly so, but this theory suggests a degree of Trumpian strategic thinking, foresight and message discipline that so far is in little evidence.
posted by darkstar at 9:33 AM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
Oh I think he's great at making excuses and blaming others. That's not really 12th dimensional chess.
posted by chris24 at 9:36 AM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 9:36 AM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
> 3 Chief of Staffs in less than 3 years of being President: Part of the reason why @BarackObama can't manage to pass his agenda.
Maybe he was complaining that Obama was only averaging one chief of staff per year.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:38 AM on July 29, 2017 [20 favorites]
Maybe he was complaining that Obama was only averaging one chief of staff per year.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:38 AM on July 29, 2017 [20 favorites]
For those interested in a slightly deeper analysis of the DPRK's recent ICBM launches, I highly recommend two of the most recent episodes of the Arms Control Wonk podcast: first launch, second launch.
The second episode is less analysis and more "how take" since they did it so soon after the second launch, but still better than 95% of the news coverage I've seen on this issue.
The depressing conclusion the hosts come to (and I agree with), is that we simply have to accept that North Korea is now a nuclear power capable of holding the continental US at risk. And therefore, as much as we dislike that regime, we'll have to treat them as such, including what that implies about mutual deterrence of other military actions. Kim Jong Un is not going anywhere anytime soon.
posted by fencerjimmy at 9:39 AM on July 29, 2017 [12 favorites]
The second episode is less analysis and more "how take" since they did it so soon after the second launch, but still better than 95% of the news coverage I've seen on this issue.
The depressing conclusion the hosts come to (and I agree with), is that we simply have to accept that North Korea is now a nuclear power capable of holding the continental US at risk. And therefore, as much as we dislike that regime, we'll have to treat them as such, including what that implies about mutual deterrence of other military actions. Kim Jong Un is not going anywhere anytime soon.
posted by fencerjimmy at 9:39 AM on July 29, 2017 [12 favorites]
I have zero faith in Trump's ability to negotiate his way out of nuclear war, so I'm thankful for my old friend, the Ohio class ballistic missile submarine. I'm thankful for the men and women I served with who are continuing to stand watch to ensure that any fucker that wants to take a swing at us had better be very, very sure about it. It's a small, cold comfort, but it's still a comfort when our lives are in his small, cold hands.
Ugh, no. No, no, no. We don't need more of this "nuke that fucker" language. This is the kind of stuff that Fox & Friends says when they casually float the idea of preemptively nuking 20 million innocent North Koreans over their morning coffee like sociopaths.
With Trump, the danger isn't negotiating our way out of nuclear war, it's negotiating our way into nuclear war as a goal. Because he's been talking about using nukes in interviews since the 1980s. Because he talked about using them as a solution in the debates. Because he doesn't seem to believe in diplomacy or a strong State Department. Because he likes to play the tough guy to make up for all his Vietnam deferments. Because he doesn't seem to care about the well-being of other human beings in a normal way. Because he likely doesn't even understand the concept of radiation and nuclear fallout. Because his only week of relatively good press was when he bombed things in Syria. Honestly, is there any doubt that Trump would probably brag in one of his rallies about being the second president in history to use nukes?
"Well, at least we nuked them first" isn't a victory condition, at least in my book. It means we failed as a nation in every possible. We failed by electing Trump, we failed by putting him at the top of a nuclear launch chain with virtually no checks & balances, and we failed to force him to find a diplomatic solution instead of killing 20 million innocent North Koreans and 1 asshole. No, I would feel nothing but shame and horror if we solve these problems with a boomer.
posted by bluecore at 9:40 AM on July 29, 2017 [53 favorites]
Ugh, no. No, no, no. We don't need more of this "nuke that fucker" language. This is the kind of stuff that Fox & Friends says when they casually float the idea of preemptively nuking 20 million innocent North Koreans over their morning coffee like sociopaths.
With Trump, the danger isn't negotiating our way out of nuclear war, it's negotiating our way into nuclear war as a goal. Because he's been talking about using nukes in interviews since the 1980s. Because he talked about using them as a solution in the debates. Because he doesn't seem to believe in diplomacy or a strong State Department. Because he likes to play the tough guy to make up for all his Vietnam deferments. Because he doesn't seem to care about the well-being of other human beings in a normal way. Because he likely doesn't even understand the concept of radiation and nuclear fallout. Because his only week of relatively good press was when he bombed things in Syria. Honestly, is there any doubt that Trump would probably brag in one of his rallies about being the second president in history to use nukes?
"Well, at least we nuked them first" isn't a victory condition, at least in my book. It means we failed as a nation in every possible. We failed by electing Trump, we failed by putting him at the top of a nuclear launch chain with virtually no checks & balances, and we failed to force him to find a diplomatic solution instead of killing 20 million innocent North Koreans and 1 asshole. No, I would feel nothing but shame and horror if we solve these problems with a boomer.
posted by bluecore at 9:40 AM on July 29, 2017 [53 favorites]
North Korea may not have a small enough nuclear weapon to fit on to their ICBM, but they could put chemical or biological weapons on it now.
It wouldn't be very practical. An ICBM flies into space, coming back it has so much speed (gravitation acceleration minus atmospheric friction) that energy imparted by the missile itself is equal to or greater than any conventional explosive it could carry. (Force (Newtons) = Mass (kg) x Velocity^2 (meters per second squared)). Chemical or biological agents aboard and ICBM would likely be engulfed in impact heat before they could be dispersed (unless the thing came down via parachute which would then make it an easier target). That is why nukes are wanted. People who know physics could probably explain this all better, but that is my basic understanding (and as always, I may be marvelously wrong).
posted by phoque at 9:45 AM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
It wouldn't be very practical. An ICBM flies into space, coming back it has so much speed (gravitation acceleration minus atmospheric friction) that energy imparted by the missile itself is equal to or greater than any conventional explosive it could carry. (Force (Newtons) = Mass (kg) x Velocity^2 (meters per second squared)). Chemical or biological agents aboard and ICBM would likely be engulfed in impact heat before they could be dispersed (unless the thing came down via parachute which would then make it an easier target). That is why nukes are wanted. People who know physics could probably explain this all better, but that is my basic understanding (and as always, I may be marvelously wrong).
posted by phoque at 9:45 AM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
Nope, no chess-playing here, eleventh-dimensional or otherwise. It's an endless game of fail at tic-tac-toe, throw toddler tantrum, rip up paper, rinse and repeat.
I recall a picture of Trump's glum face on election night even as he was winning. I think he really didn't expect to win and was, and is, flummoxed at actually having to work and govern rather than be the shit-stirring opposition. I surmise he was counting on HRC winning and getting to sit back and bloviate all about what a winner he would have been, Crooked Hillary, Lock Her Up, etc. etc. and in general being King of the Reddits.
Likewise, I think most Republicans (probably not Collins, Murkowski, and a few others) were just settling in to be the Party of No, as they had been since Obama was elected. It was so easy for them to make political hay out of Whatever The Black Guy Wants We Said NO. It played well to the racist base. Now they're the party in power, they have to actually govern, make laws, and all that boring stuff, and they are lost. The Party of No can't transform itself into the Party of Can Do because their muscles have atrophied.
The Republicans, by and large, are now propped up by a combination of wealthy donors and white racism. It's becoming clear that this is about all that is sustaining them.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 9:45 AM on July 29, 2017 [74 favorites]
I recall a picture of Trump's glum face on election night even as he was winning. I think he really didn't expect to win and was, and is, flummoxed at actually having to work and govern rather than be the shit-stirring opposition. I surmise he was counting on HRC winning and getting to sit back and bloviate all about what a winner he would have been, Crooked Hillary, Lock Her Up, etc. etc. and in general being King of the Reddits.
Likewise, I think most Republicans (probably not Collins, Murkowski, and a few others) were just settling in to be the Party of No, as they had been since Obama was elected. It was so easy for them to make political hay out of Whatever The Black Guy Wants We Said NO. It played well to the racist base. Now they're the party in power, they have to actually govern, make laws, and all that boring stuff, and they are lost. The Party of No can't transform itself into the Party of Can Do because their muscles have atrophied.
The Republicans, by and large, are now propped up by a combination of wealthy donors and white racism. It's becoming clear that this is about all that is sustaining them.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 9:45 AM on July 29, 2017 [74 favorites]
Mod note: A few comments deleted. No jokes about nuclear war. Not dark humor, not cynically snarky observations, please just don't.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 9:45 AM on July 29, 2017 [36 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 9:45 AM on July 29, 2017 [36 favorites]
3 Chief of Staffs in less than 3 years of being President: Part of the reason why @BarackObama can't manage to pass his agenda.
Maybe he was complaining that Obama was only averaging one chief of staff per year.
The citizens of South Carolina were warned: “We're going to win so much. You're going to get tired of winning" The staff change is just Winning! Like Charlie Sheen - Winning!
Metafilter: ‘Please Mr. President, I have a headache. Please, don't win so much. This is getting terrible.’
posted by rough ashlar at 9:48 AM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
Maybe he was complaining that Obama was only averaging one chief of staff per year.
The citizens of South Carolina were warned: “We're going to win so much. You're going to get tired of winning" The staff change is just Winning! Like Charlie Sheen - Winning!
Metafilter: ‘Please Mr. President, I have a headache. Please, don't win so much. This is getting terrible.’
posted by rough ashlar at 9:48 AM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
>> I think it's popular because the "Air Bud Theory" closely matches how a lot people imagine law works: a set of rigid precepts that can only be followed exactly as literally rendered and can be "beaten" if you find a magic loophole.
> To be fair, there ought to be a "lawyer's disease" to go along with "engineer's disease", where lawyers expound on things on the internet as if the only thing required for a just society is a literal reading of the law. These people are surely also on the lookout for "one weird trick". I don't think this is strictly a "non-lawyers don't understand the law" thing.
The worst version of this comes from people who stand at the intersection of law and the tech industry. See (to take the most prominent example) Lawrence Lessig, the guy who genuinely thought that what the American public wanted in 2016 was a presidential candidate running as a personal referendum on campaign finance reform — he pledged that if elected he'd push through campaign finance reform and then resign — and who lost the biggest case of his career because:
Lawyers, on the other hand, get lawyer's disease — this is a great term, by the way, and I am totally going to steal it — because their social position and training encourages them toward liberalism, in the liberal-not-left sense: because they are trained to see formal processes as themselves potentially establishing justice, they often become convinced that formal processes really do establish justice. And then, as a sort of ego-defense measure used to justify their own participation in the system, they proceed to willfully ignore the clear evidence indicating otherwise.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 9:54 AM on July 29, 2017 [93 favorites]
> To be fair, there ought to be a "lawyer's disease" to go along with "engineer's disease", where lawyers expound on things on the internet as if the only thing required for a just society is a literal reading of the law. These people are surely also on the lookout for "one weird trick". I don't think this is strictly a "non-lawyers don't understand the law" thing.
The worst version of this comes from people who stand at the intersection of law and the tech industry. See (to take the most prominent example) Lawrence Lessig, the guy who genuinely thought that what the American public wanted in 2016 was a presidential candidate running as a personal referendum on campaign finance reform — he pledged that if elected he'd push through campaign finance reform and then resign — and who lost the biggest case of his career because:
- He had a too clever by half "one weird trick" argument, and
- despite all evidence to the contrary, he genuinely believed that the Supreme Court was an apolitical organization — he thought it would be unfair if the Supreme Court were political, that the law wouldn't mean anything without an apolitical foundation under it, and then based on those feelings "reasoned" that the Supreme Court therefore really was apolitical.
Lawyers, on the other hand, get lawyer's disease — this is a great term, by the way, and I am totally going to steal it — because their social position and training encourages them toward liberalism, in the liberal-not-left sense: because they are trained to see formal processes as themselves potentially establishing justice, they often become convinced that formal processes really do establish justice. And then, as a sort of ego-defense measure used to justify their own participation in the system, they proceed to willfully ignore the clear evidence indicating otherwise.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 9:54 AM on July 29, 2017 [93 favorites]
Beyond the weirdness of often agreeing with Jennifer Rubin, is living in a world where Bill Kristol is now often right.
Whenever one of these two is on MSNBC (!) these days, they're pretty much completely indistinguishable from a sensible person, and I sit there and think: This is Bill Kristol! Satanic Bill Kristol the neocon of PNAC. PNAC FOR GOD'S SAKE. Bill Kristol, GW Bush, Charles Krauthammer, and George Effing Will are fellow travelers now. What the fucking fuck?
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:56 AM on July 29, 2017 [39 favorites]
Whenever one of these two is on MSNBC (!) these days, they're pretty much completely indistinguishable from a sensible person, and I sit there and think: This is Bill Kristol! Satanic Bill Kristol the neocon of PNAC. PNAC FOR GOD'S SAKE. Bill Kristol, GW Bush, Charles Krauthammer, and George Effing Will are fellow travelers now. What the fucking fuck?
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:56 AM on July 29, 2017 [39 favorites]
Daniel Hoffman, former chief of station for the CIA: The evidence that has emerged from this meeting strongly suggests that this was not an effort to establish a secure back channel for collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign . . .
Well OK, but hello, Kushner allegedly made that effort himself when he met with Kislyak and explicitly suggested setting up a secure back channel using the Russian embassy's facilities.
If that story is false, then the Russian operation was definitely trying to paint a picture of collusion. If it's true, Kushner, while an idiot, was definitely in a collusion-adjacent neighborhood, trying to evade the U.S. national security apparatus and undermine the Obama administration's position on sanctions, Syria, or whatever else.
posted by mubba at 10:19 AM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
Well OK, but hello, Kushner allegedly made that effort himself when he met with Kislyak and explicitly suggested setting up a secure back channel using the Russian embassy's facilities.
If that story is false, then the Russian operation was definitely trying to paint a picture of collusion. If it's true, Kushner, while an idiot, was definitely in a collusion-adjacent neighborhood, trying to evade the U.S. national security apparatus and undermine the Obama administration's position on sanctions, Syria, or whatever else.
posted by mubba at 10:19 AM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
No more need for political analogies on the healthcare vote, folks. We have a winner.
@sirosenbaum: McCain came thru like Gollum at Mt Doom
I rather like @danwlin's LOTR analogy:
@sirosenbaum: McCain came thru like Gollum at Mt Doom
I rather like @danwlin's LOTR analogy:
TRUMP: No man can stop the repeal billposted by zakur at 10:23 AM on July 29, 2017 [123 favorites]
MURKOWSKI (removing helmet): I AM NO MAN
We're going to win so much. You're going to get tired of winning
That was a typo. It should be "We're going to whine so much. You're going to get tired of whining."
posted by kirkaracha at 10:23 AM on July 29, 2017 [64 favorites]
I would add "white sexism" to "white racism" as propping up the Republicans. Homophobia and transphobia as well. They're the Party of 'Ist and 'Phobe. I read somewhere in comments on either Lawyers, Guns and Money or Love, Joy, Feminism that Republican politicians are trying to please donors (by dismantling the safety net and enriching the 1%) while fooling voters (by mouthing all the racist, sexist, bigoted shit that R voters eat up with a spoon, promising to put Scary Brown People and Uppity Women in their place and return the country to a mythical 1950's). And, so far, it's worked. But it looks like the wheels are starting to come off, especially when people don't want their healthcare taken away and politicians are pretty much blatantly telling their constituents, "I don't work for you and I won't listen to you. Go to hell."
I'm reading Robert Sapolsky's Behave (link goes to Guardian review). He notes that while being conservative or liberal is not correlated with intelligence, right wing authoritarians do have lower intelligence. Simple people want simple answers, and tend to fear anyone not like them. It's terribly easy to fool them and whip them up into a frenzy. It makes me wonder how many of them are going to Stand By Their Man when jobs don't materialize and their safety nets are threatened.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 10:26 AM on July 29, 2017 [44 favorites]
I'm reading Robert Sapolsky's Behave (link goes to Guardian review). He notes that while being conservative or liberal is not correlated with intelligence, right wing authoritarians do have lower intelligence. Simple people want simple answers, and tend to fear anyone not like them. It's terribly easy to fool them and whip them up into a frenzy. It makes me wonder how many of them are going to Stand By Their Man when jobs don't materialize and their safety nets are threatened.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 10:26 AM on July 29, 2017 [44 favorites]
Given the news about North Korea, this would be a great time to start calling your senators about the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act. It was introduced way back in January and appears to be sitting in committee - the Foreign Relations Committee. The Senate just passed the Russia sanctions bill (which includes sanctions against Iran and North Korea, which I hadn't known). Ben Cardin, the committee's Ranking Member, says "The Congress of the United States has sent a clear message tonight to the governments of the Russian Federation, Iran and North Korea – there will be consequences for their dangerous, destabilizing activities against our country", so North Korea is clearly on their minds (as indeed it should be).
The Russia-North Korea-Iran sanctions bill passed the Senate with 98 votes. In the middle of a massive partisan fight, that's an incredible bipartisan effort. The Republican committee chair said "I hope the overwhelming support for this legislation can serve as an example for what can be accomplished when Congress works together and puts the interests of the American people first."
Call your senators. Call the heads of the committee, Senator Bob Corker and Senator Ben Cardin. If you still have time, go ahead and call the rest of the committee. You get the most mileage out of calling your own senators, but the committee members are working for all Americans, and there's no harm in calling them too.
Call, call, call. Fax. Email. We just had an amazing victory. Let's go for the next one.
posted by kristi at 10:32 AM on July 29, 2017 [21 favorites]
The Russia-North Korea-Iran sanctions bill passed the Senate with 98 votes. In the middle of a massive partisan fight, that's an incredible bipartisan effort. The Republican committee chair said "I hope the overwhelming support for this legislation can serve as an example for what can be accomplished when Congress works together and puts the interests of the American people first."
Call your senators. Call the heads of the committee, Senator Bob Corker and Senator Ben Cardin. If you still have time, go ahead and call the rest of the committee. You get the most mileage out of calling your own senators, but the committee members are working for all Americans, and there's no harm in calling them too.
Call, call, call. Fax. Email. We just had an amazing victory. Let's go for the next one.
posted by kristi at 10:32 AM on July 29, 2017 [21 favorites]
Talking Points Memo has a timeline of How the Hit Went Down on Reince:
What they show quite clearly is that Air Force One landed. The President waited for Priebus to get off the plane before tweeting that he was fired. He then waited for Priebus to be escorted away before leaving the plane himself. There’s even a Godfather-esque moment in how the SUVs were handled.posted by kirkaracha at 10:40 AM on July 29, 2017 [52 favorites]
[ICBM-borne non-nuclear weapons] wouldn't be very practical.
ICBM-born conventional weapons are in (early) active development.
(Force (Newtons) = Mass (kg) x Velocity^2 (meters per second squared)).
This isn't a real equation: a newton is a kilogram-meter per second squared, so these units don't match. Maybe you were thinking of kinetic energy, which is 1/2 m v^2.
posted by lozierj at 10:43 AM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
ICBM-born conventional weapons are in (early) active development.
(Force (Newtons) = Mass (kg) x Velocity^2 (meters per second squared)).
This isn't a real equation: a newton is a kilogram-meter per second squared, so these units don't match. Maybe you were thinking of kinetic energy, which is 1/2 m v^2.
posted by lozierj at 10:43 AM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
JFC, what a fucking coward Trump is.
posted by zakur at 10:44 AM on July 29, 2017 [36 favorites]
posted by zakur at 10:44 AM on July 29, 2017 [36 favorites]
Second, the US military already made it clear that they would follow Trump's orders of a nuclear strike.
The commanders don't and can't speak for the guys at the consoles. That's a bit like the police chiefs saying their force doesn't condone prisoner abuse. They hope that, they acknowledge that's what the rules are, they may even think it'll really happen that way, but they can't know that. Hell, even the guys at the consoles can't know it in advance until the moment comes.
Problem is, there are enough nukes where "some will, some won't" means some will.
posted by ctmf at 10:52 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
The commanders don't and can't speak for the guys at the consoles. That's a bit like the police chiefs saying their force doesn't condone prisoner abuse. They hope that, they acknowledge that's what the rules are, they may even think it'll really happen that way, but they can't know that. Hell, even the guys at the consoles can't know it in advance until the moment comes.
Problem is, there are enough nukes where "some will, some won't" means some will.
posted by ctmf at 10:52 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
It's especially cowardly for someone whose finishing move is supposedly firing people. It's starting to dawn on me that he might be a fucking liar, you guys.
posted by lydhre at 10:54 AM on July 29, 2017 [57 favorites]
posted by lydhre at 10:54 AM on July 29, 2017 [57 favorites]
Second, the US military already made it clear that they would follow Trump's orders of a nuclear strike.
Of course it would be a literal military coup for them to say that they will not follow the President's orders.
posted by shothotbot at 11:09 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
Of course it would be a literal military coup for them to say that they will not follow the President's orders.
posted by shothotbot at 11:09 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
It's especially cowardly for someone whose finishing move is supposedly firing people. It's starting to dawn on me that he might be a fucking liar, you guys.
COWARDICE IS COURAGE
posted by dng at 11:16 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
COWARDICE IS COURAGE
posted by dng at 11:16 AM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
Sigh.
Politico, 7/29: Senate Republicans to make another attempt at Obamacare repeal
Politico, 7/29: Senate Republicans to make another attempt at Obamacare repeal
Trump met with three Republican senators on Friday about a proposal from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to block grant federal health care funding to the states and keep much of Obamacare’s tax regime. White House officials also met with House Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), according to two sources familiar with the meeting...posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 11:17 AM on July 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
In theory, the Senate could bring back up their party line budget “reconciliation” effort to gut Obamacare as soon as next week. Graham’s bill has not been scored by the Congressional Budget Office and did not receive a test vote this week. It currently has a small group of supporters and will likely need major work to pass the Senate, like language defunding Planned Parenthood which would likely alienate a pair of moderate senators.
If the President actually took us into nuclear war, a literal military coup might well be preferable.
posted by en forme de poire at 11:17 AM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
posted by en forme de poire at 11:17 AM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
And I mean, I'm not one of the people fantasizing about a military coup, but at some point you need to put species before country.
posted by en forme de poire at 11:18 AM on July 29, 2017 [44 favorites]
posted by en forme de poire at 11:18 AM on July 29, 2017 [44 favorites]
I've already decided how I'm going to explain this presidency to young people decades from now.
"How could you elect this asshole President?"
"We were drunk."
"Who was?"
"Everyone. The whole country went on a collassal bender and when we came to, Trump was president."
posted by jonmc at 11:20 AM on July 29, 2017 [18 favorites]
"How could you elect this asshole President?"
"We were drunk."
"Who was?"
"Everyone. The whole country went on a collassal bender and when we came to, Trump was president."
posted by jonmc at 11:20 AM on July 29, 2017 [18 favorites]
"Collassal bender" indeed.
posted by Fiberoptic Zebroid and The Hypnagogic Jerks at 11:25 AM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by Fiberoptic Zebroid and The Hypnagogic Jerks at 11:25 AM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
We should have all just voted for Deez Nuts like we wanted to. At least weed would be legal.
posted by sexyrobot at 11:31 AM on July 29, 2017 [19 favorites]
posted by sexyrobot at 11:31 AM on July 29, 2017 [19 favorites]
I've already decided how I'm going to explain this presidency to young people decades from now.
"How could you elect this asshole President?"
"We were drunk."
This lets assholes off way too easily and dismisses people who fought to prevent this clusterfuck. Drunk? No we weren't. Most of us were paying attention, but too many people were hateful bigots/non-thinkers/deplorables who didn't care what happened to the country or the world.
I Survived 2016 But My Sense of Humor Didn't
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 11:33 AM on July 29, 2017 [76 favorites]
"How could you elect this asshole President?"
"We were drunk."
This lets assholes off way too easily and dismisses people who fought to prevent this clusterfuck. Drunk? No we weren't. Most of us were paying attention, but too many people were hateful bigots/non-thinkers/deplorables who didn't care what happened to the country or the world.
I Survived 2016 But My Sense of Humor Didn't
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 11:33 AM on July 29, 2017 [76 favorites]
From a bit up thread,
Bringer Tom: [McCain] may have voted no because it was the right thing to do, but he executed the vote in a way calculated to maximally humiliate the GOP and the President.
I didn't catch onto this while it was happening, but in all the recaps and videos of his vote I noticed that he didn't vote when his name was up on the roll call. Collins and Murkowski got their 'No's' in when their names were called, and McCain waited until Murkowski got her vote in. But as soon as she did he went to the front, got the clerk's attention, and put his 'no' vote down. As soon as he did, the vote was decided, and all of the GOP Senators from P through Z and anyone else waiting past their roll call voted 'Aye' on a bill that was already dead. Every single one of those Aye's is an attack ad for the primary challenger and the Dem opponent in those senators' next election. That's humiliation.
posted by carsonb at 11:33 AM on July 29, 2017 [23 favorites]
Bringer Tom: [McCain] may have voted no because it was the right thing to do, but he executed the vote in a way calculated to maximally humiliate the GOP and the President.
I didn't catch onto this while it was happening, but in all the recaps and videos of his vote I noticed that he didn't vote when his name was up on the roll call. Collins and Murkowski got their 'No's' in when their names were called, and McCain waited until Murkowski got her vote in. But as soon as she did he went to the front, got the clerk's attention, and put his 'no' vote down. As soon as he did, the vote was decided, and all of the GOP Senators from P through Z and anyone else waiting past their roll call voted 'Aye' on a bill that was already dead. Every single one of those Aye's is an attack ad for the primary challenger and the Dem opponent in those senators' next election. That's humiliation.
posted by carsonb at 11:33 AM on July 29, 2017 [23 favorites]
Neither did U.S. Air Force Captain William Bassett when he received direct orders to launch.
Two months after that original post, the linked article added a note that a refuting article had been published elsewhere. Spidey-sense quote:
Two months after that original post, the linked article added a note that a refuting article had been published elsewhere. Spidey-sense quote:
"I'm the only one who has been cleared to talk about it," Bordne told Stars and Stripes.posted by The arrows are too fast at 11:35 AM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Other missileers who dispute him are either lying about being on duty during the Cuban Missile Crisis or are jealous of not receiving Air Force approval to discuss the near-launch, he said.
@Marshall_Cohen
7/21 Spicer quits
7//24 Kushner's Russia interview
7/25 BCRA fails
7/26 Repeal-only fails
7/28 Skinny repeal fails
7/28 Priebus fired
---
Add to this:
7/26 Trump tweets transgender ban
7/26 Trump's Boy Scout speech
7/26 Scaramucci tweets accusation to FBI and DOJ of Reince leaking a public disclosure
7/27 Scaramucci gives insane interview to New Yorker's Ryan Lizza saying Bannon fellates himself
7/28 Trump's speech advocating police brutality
7/28 Scaramucci's wife files for divorce
And I'm sure I'm missing things as well. American Heroes week was quite the week.
posted by chris24 at 11:41 AM on July 29, 2017 [35 favorites]
7/21 Spicer quits
7//24 Kushner's Russia interview
7/25 BCRA fails
7/26 Repeal-only fails
7/28 Skinny repeal fails
7/28 Priebus fired
---
Add to this:
7/26 Trump tweets transgender ban
7/26 Trump's Boy Scout speech
7/26 Scaramucci tweets accusation to FBI and DOJ of Reince leaking a public disclosure
7/27 Scaramucci gives insane interview to New Yorker's Ryan Lizza saying Bannon fellates himself
7/28 Trump's speech advocating police brutality
7/28 Scaramucci's wife files for divorce
And I'm sure I'm missing things as well. American Heroes week was quite the week.
posted by chris24 at 11:41 AM on July 29, 2017 [35 favorites]
Metafilter: I Survived 2016 But My Sense of Humor Didn't
posted by deludingmyself at 11:41 AM on July 29, 2017 [58 favorites]
posted by deludingmyself at 11:41 AM on July 29, 2017 [58 favorites]
These people are not even pretending to represent their constituents. It's dismaying.
Yyyeah, but if I'm as charitable about other people's motivations as I can be, I can kind of see how that could happen. Members of Congress are representatives, yes, but also supposed to be leaders. Senate moreso than the chamber that literally has "representative" in the name. The leader's job is sometimes to do the right thing even if the followers don't recognize it yet. I think this is what those you're talking about are telling themselves at night?
Doesn't really excuse them, since a good leader who knows he or she is going against the followers would educate the followers to eliminate the conflict. And these people are hiding from angry crowds. But the "leader" rationalization, plus a bit of self-serving imagining of the "silent supporters" explains a lot that doesn't require total malice.
posted by ctmf at 11:43 AM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
Yyyeah, but if I'm as charitable about other people's motivations as I can be, I can kind of see how that could happen. Members of Congress are representatives, yes, but also supposed to be leaders. Senate moreso than the chamber that literally has "representative" in the name. The leader's job is sometimes to do the right thing even if the followers don't recognize it yet. I think this is what those you're talking about are telling themselves at night?
Doesn't really excuse them, since a good leader who knows he or she is going against the followers would educate the followers to eliminate the conflict. And these people are hiding from angry crowds. But the "leader" rationalization, plus a bit of self-serving imagining of the "silent supporters" explains a lot that doesn't require total malice.
posted by ctmf at 11:43 AM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
Nuclear weapons are not about the strike. They're about the threat of a strike. Nobody with a nuclear weapon wants to use a nuclear weapon. But for the deterrent effect to work, your enemies have to believe 100% that you would use the weapon. Commanders cannot say they wouldn't follow the order without damaging their deterrent power, making it more likely that they might actually have to make that decision someday.
posted by ctmf at 11:52 AM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by ctmf at 11:52 AM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
I am sure the good boy remembers to Rience his Priebus, and then wash his hands, before he says his prayers at night. Only then can he read his "comics" under the covers by flashlight.
What amazes me is a person like Priebus is educated, and should have, somewhere, somehow figured out what rough shape the world is in for about 65% of those who live in it. Then with his alleged Christianity, he could have used his energies and wherewithal to do something positive about the human condition, according to the exhortations of his alleged religion. But no, his effects are, over a lifetime, negative. I don't feel sorry for him, he isn't going home to a slum, he is going home to steak cooked right for a change.
The distracting "moral" issues that divert from real social uplift, like abortion, access to immoral birth control, free food for the lazy, he is on the side of wealthy scammers who depend on the pyramid of the poor walking them around, to maintain his place in the dark moral current, feeding on his allotment of fame, influence, and material comfort.
Again, the issue of the day is the death of the oil industry, and the other industries involved in harvest of free resources from the planet, and resale of what were the passive remains of ancient life, posing as for our ease, for our comfort, but really for the advancement of easy access to wealth, regardless if the whole world chokes on it.
This wretched personnel whirlygig at the White House, and the malefactor attempts to vacuum up any sort of security for the people of our nation, the amazing natural resources of our nation, is the thrashing fever dream of those who have had it for free, for too long. They are the early death throes of a self demolishing system. We should not let the militarization of our entire approach to life on Earth, eat us and the Earth, while we still live.
The average age of the eighteenth century factory worker at death was 17. Now we get to serve a lot longer. We didn't have a lot of choices to do things differently, but I maintain the pressure to go to the New World, had to do with a return to the normalcy of living on the world, rather than living at the pleasure of the well connected. Difficult as that was, I am sure it beat the hell out of what they had going, otherwise why would they have risked it all?
Mark my words Trump Hotel, Yosemite, Trump Hotel, Yellowstone. Where I live there is consensus to shrink Sequoia National Park, and to manage the timber sales, because we can't come up with the money to maintain it. This is an emergent hostage situation, with all the national resources. We are being served notice that the rich won't be taxed for maintenance of our infrastructure or wild lands, they will take the money, and the money from destroying, harvesting, reselling our wild spaces, under the guise of better management, and tax relief. What about infrastructure? Toll bridges everywhere, travel in the nation prohibitive in cost to low income families, privatized parks? No open lands? It is as if the well connected are saying, you will not tax our profits, you have to do with out a lawn, you can't afford those trees, we'll sell those, also for our benefit.
I don't feel bad for people that work the White House for this economic demagogue bully, serving robber demagogues. I feel bad about the threats to our national security because he is not emotionally competent to make good international diplomacy, and then to advocate for civil, and police violence inside our borders, that is the icing on the cake of duh. He knows not one thing about how a proper human behaves. Proof of this is a whole lot of people and organizations you would not have expected to do so, are taking a higher road, the states and cities supporting The Paris Accords, the military supporting their troops, including their trans troops. Anyway, I don't feel bad for anyone who willingly enters a relationship with someone like Trump, McConnell, or Ryan.
posted by Oyéah at 11:53 AM on July 29, 2017 [38 favorites]
What amazes me is a person like Priebus is educated, and should have, somewhere, somehow figured out what rough shape the world is in for about 65% of those who live in it. Then with his alleged Christianity, he could have used his energies and wherewithal to do something positive about the human condition, according to the exhortations of his alleged religion. But no, his effects are, over a lifetime, negative. I don't feel sorry for him, he isn't going home to a slum, he is going home to steak cooked right for a change.
The distracting "moral" issues that divert from real social uplift, like abortion, access to immoral birth control, free food for the lazy, he is on the side of wealthy scammers who depend on the pyramid of the poor walking them around, to maintain his place in the dark moral current, feeding on his allotment of fame, influence, and material comfort.
Again, the issue of the day is the death of the oil industry, and the other industries involved in harvest of free resources from the planet, and resale of what were the passive remains of ancient life, posing as for our ease, for our comfort, but really for the advancement of easy access to wealth, regardless if the whole world chokes on it.
This wretched personnel whirlygig at the White House, and the malefactor attempts to vacuum up any sort of security for the people of our nation, the amazing natural resources of our nation, is the thrashing fever dream of those who have had it for free, for too long. They are the early death throes of a self demolishing system. We should not let the militarization of our entire approach to life on Earth, eat us and the Earth, while we still live.
The average age of the eighteenth century factory worker at death was 17. Now we get to serve a lot longer. We didn't have a lot of choices to do things differently, but I maintain the pressure to go to the New World, had to do with a return to the normalcy of living on the world, rather than living at the pleasure of the well connected. Difficult as that was, I am sure it beat the hell out of what they had going, otherwise why would they have risked it all?
Mark my words Trump Hotel, Yosemite, Trump Hotel, Yellowstone. Where I live there is consensus to shrink Sequoia National Park, and to manage the timber sales, because we can't come up with the money to maintain it. This is an emergent hostage situation, with all the national resources. We are being served notice that the rich won't be taxed for maintenance of our infrastructure or wild lands, they will take the money, and the money from destroying, harvesting, reselling our wild spaces, under the guise of better management, and tax relief. What about infrastructure? Toll bridges everywhere, travel in the nation prohibitive in cost to low income families, privatized parks? No open lands? It is as if the well connected are saying, you will not tax our profits, you have to do with out a lawn, you can't afford those trees, we'll sell those, also for our benefit.
I don't feel bad for people that work the White House for this economic demagogue bully, serving robber demagogues. I feel bad about the threats to our national security because he is not emotionally competent to make good international diplomacy, and then to advocate for civil, and police violence inside our borders, that is the icing on the cake of duh. He knows not one thing about how a proper human behaves. Proof of this is a whole lot of people and organizations you would not have expected to do so, are taking a higher road, the states and cities supporting The Paris Accords, the military supporting their troops, including their trans troops. Anyway, I don't feel bad for anyone who willingly enters a relationship with someone like Trump, McConnell, or Ryan.
posted by Oyéah at 11:53 AM on July 29, 2017 [38 favorites]
The whole country went on a collassal bender and when we came to, Trump was president.
Systemic racism is a helluva drug.
posted by C'est la D.C. at 11:55 AM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
Systemic racism is a helluva drug.
posted by C'est la D.C. at 11:55 AM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
mikelieman, my demon hunter's name in WoW is Threadfall, and I was just in Discord explaining the reference to some guildies who have never had the pleasure of reading those books and tabbed over to see your comment and thought I was going crazy for a minute.
posted by lazaruslong at 11:57 AM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by lazaruslong at 11:57 AM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
Politico, 7/29: Senate Republicans to make another attempt at Obamacare repeal
NO. BAD SENATE. Go back to your districts and think about what you've done!
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:58 AM on July 29, 2017 [28 favorites]
NO. BAD SENATE. Go back to your districts and think about what you've done!
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 11:58 AM on July 29, 2017 [28 favorites]
The Democrats need to help the Republicans out with tax reform if we want this ACA repeal bullshit to die for more than five minutes. But they need to demand more than "we'll stop casting repeal Obamacare" In exchange for tax reform help, they need a "fix the ACA" bill that is fully funded by Twitler and Congress. This will mean that middle class folks will get shafted YET AGAIN, but lack of health care/insurance is more of an existential threat to most people than an unfair tax burden.
posted by xyzzy at 12:07 PM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by xyzzy at 12:07 PM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
> The Democrats need to help the Republicans out with tax reform if we want this ACA repeal bullshit to die for more than five minutes.
On what basis do you believe that Democrats "helping the Republicans out with 'tax reform' [sic]" would prevent them from going back to the ACA repeal well? The state of play right now is that without Democrats conceding anything, the GOP has shown no ability to get to 51 votes. *If* McCain, Murkowski, or Collins were to suddenly change their tune, then maybe we could talk about cutting deals, but if the Republicans want to keep bringing up ACA repeal ideas that are doomed to fail, let them. There's no reason to pre-emptively surrender on the basis that they might get the votes. Make them show their cards first.
posted by tonycpsu at 12:11 PM on July 29, 2017 [34 favorites]
On what basis do you believe that Democrats "helping the Republicans out with 'tax reform' [sic]" would prevent them from going back to the ACA repeal well? The state of play right now is that without Democrats conceding anything, the GOP has shown no ability to get to 51 votes. *If* McCain, Murkowski, or Collins were to suddenly change their tune, then maybe we could talk about cutting deals, but if the Republicans want to keep bringing up ACA repeal ideas that are doomed to fail, let them. There's no reason to pre-emptively surrender on the basis that they might get the votes. Make them show their cards first.
posted by tonycpsu at 12:11 PM on July 29, 2017 [34 favorites]
You're missing the fact that the Republicans are already killing the ACA non-legislatively by defunding it. It's the announced strategy. Unless the Democrats can get "fix and fund the ACA" done, the ACA is dead in a couple years without a single bill passed.
posted by xyzzy at 12:16 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by xyzzy at 12:16 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
Which is why it needs to be issue number 1 for 2018.
posted by Artw at 12:19 PM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by Artw at 12:19 PM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
Uppity Women in their place and return the country to a mythical 1950's
I was actually reading a really good book recently about how the myth of the family in the 1950s ignores the decades that have gone before it, and the forces that shape the 1950s themselves, in reaction to the 1930s and 1940s, when multigenerational family living was required because of economic necessity.
Essentially it's not just that people want to return to a mythical 1950s, it's that they want to return to a mythical combination of the best of the 1880s, 1920s, 1930s, and 1950s, but ignoring the bad stuff each of those decades had.
So if you want mothers sacrificing everything and gently guiding their children, you have the 1880s, but then husbands and wives are essentially strangers to each other. If you want wives focusing totally on their husbands, then you want the 1920s, but then there's not as much interaction with the children. If you want inter-generational family times, from the 1930s, you can have them, but they come with a lot of authoritarian shit and trouble with intergenerational standards of raising children. Even leaving the economic shit alone, the 1950s come with a lot of other baggage, as women were culturally and legally pushed to "do it all" - with institutionalizations for false schizophrenia if they didn't.
posted by corb at 12:21 PM on July 29, 2017 [90 favorites]
I was actually reading a really good book recently about how the myth of the family in the 1950s ignores the decades that have gone before it, and the forces that shape the 1950s themselves, in reaction to the 1930s and 1940s, when multigenerational family living was required because of economic necessity.
Essentially it's not just that people want to return to a mythical 1950s, it's that they want to return to a mythical combination of the best of the 1880s, 1920s, 1930s, and 1950s, but ignoring the bad stuff each of those decades had.
So if you want mothers sacrificing everything and gently guiding their children, you have the 1880s, but then husbands and wives are essentially strangers to each other. If you want wives focusing totally on their husbands, then you want the 1920s, but then there's not as much interaction with the children. If you want inter-generational family times, from the 1930s, you can have them, but they come with a lot of authoritarian shit and trouble with intergenerational standards of raising children. Even leaving the economic shit alone, the 1950s come with a lot of other baggage, as women were culturally and legally pushed to "do it all" - with institutionalizations for false schizophrenia if they didn't.
posted by corb at 12:21 PM on July 29, 2017 [90 favorites]
The Democrats need to help the Republicans out with tax reform
The only thing the Democrats need to help the Republicans with is wiping their asses.
posted by Sys Rq at 12:22 PM on July 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
The only thing the Democrats need to help the Republicans with is wiping their asses.
posted by Sys Rq at 12:22 PM on July 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
This isn't a real equation: a newton is a kilogram-meter per second squared, so these units don't match. Maybe you were thinking of kinetic energy, which is 1/2 m v^2.
Yes, thank you lozierj. (Kinda knew I was totally wrong, looked it up after posting and felt like an idiot, but that is normal for me.)
posted by phoque at 12:22 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yes, thank you lozierj. (Kinda knew I was totally wrong, looked it up after posting and felt like an idiot, but that is normal for me.)
posted by phoque at 12:22 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Which is why it needs to be issue number 1 for 2018.So we can pass a bill in one house, have it fail the other, or even if it squeaks by, get vetoed by Trump/Pence/Ryan/Hatch? That doesn't actually fix things. This needs to be a bipartisan process.
posted by xyzzy at 12:23 PM on July 29, 2017
> You're missing the fact that the Republicans are already killing the ACA non-legislatively by defunding it.
I'm well aware of the ongoing efforts to undermine the ACA. However, Congressional Republicans are not honest negotiating partners, and there is very little they can do to tie Trump's hands on the executive action / inaction that he's using to attack the exchanges because he has a veto pen. The GOP will never provide enough votes to override a Trump veto just to keep a handshake agreement with Democrats. That simply will not happen unless the "tax reform" bill is so skewed toward upward redistribution that it does more harm than killing the ACA exchanges does.
posted by tonycpsu at 12:26 PM on July 29, 2017 [12 favorites]
I'm well aware of the ongoing efforts to undermine the ACA. However, Congressional Republicans are not honest negotiating partners, and there is very little they can do to tie Trump's hands on the executive action / inaction that he's using to attack the exchanges because he has a veto pen. The GOP will never provide enough votes to override a Trump veto just to keep a handshake agreement with Democrats. That simply will not happen unless the "tax reform" bill is so skewed toward upward redistribution that it does more harm than killing the ACA exchanges does.
posted by tonycpsu at 12:26 PM on July 29, 2017 [12 favorites]
This whole healthcare fiasco really drives home a point about American governance: it's almost impossible to accomplish anything important without at least tacit acceptance from your opponents. It's entirely possible to destroy things or block progress on your own, which is why conservatives can appear to be so successful while also being intransigent assholes, but to create something is an order of magnitude harder.
What Obama proved is that it's not necessary to have opposing party support. He showed through both Obamacare and Dodd-Frank that as long as you bring in the interest groups surrounding your legislation, insurance companies and banks, you can accomplish big things despite intense partisan opposition. Furthermore, these things will be durable and difficult to repeal. But Trump is proving that if you lack all of those things, attempting to do something with only partisan support will get nowhere.
But Trump is actually taking this a whole step further. At the end of Bush's Presidency we saw a President who lacked the ability to govern because no one, not Congress, not the People, not the Press, not the bureaucracy trusted his ability to govern effectively and truthfully. Institutions of American power were suspicious of Trump on Day 1. Since then they have been turned hostile to him at almost every level.
Let's take a look:
posted by Glibpaxman at 12:28 PM on July 29, 2017 [105 favorites]
What Obama proved is that it's not necessary to have opposing party support. He showed through both Obamacare and Dodd-Frank that as long as you bring in the interest groups surrounding your legislation, insurance companies and banks, you can accomplish big things despite intense partisan opposition. Furthermore, these things will be durable and difficult to repeal. But Trump is proving that if you lack all of those things, attempting to do something with only partisan support will get nowhere.
But Trump is actually taking this a whole step further. At the end of Bush's Presidency we saw a President who lacked the ability to govern because no one, not Congress, not the People, not the Press, not the bureaucracy trusted his ability to govern effectively and truthfully. Institutions of American power were suspicious of Trump on Day 1. Since then they have been turned hostile to him at almost every level.
Let's take a look:
- One of MAGA's foundational points is to be at war with journalism. This might raise his popularity inside the base, but it turns the entire institution against him. Media outlets and important conservative leaders such as David Frum, Bill Kristol, and Joe Scarborough are actively working against him. Even Fox has had surprising moments of honesty because of Trump's craziness.Governing is hard in a pluralistic nation of 300 million people. If we look back at the primaries, Trump never even had majority support of Republican primary voters. His true believers might - and this is being generous - be 10% of the population, or 20% of voters. He got elected because some powerful institutions backed him. But as he escalates his war against these institutions, his effectiveness will fall from it's current level of anemic to something much, much darker. If you want to be a successful President, try to ally yourself with institutions or at least sideline them as neutral actors.
- The US Federal government is one of the largest employers in the world. Getting these people on your side, or at least neutral to you is an easy way to succeed as President. His first day in office he pissed off the bureaucracy by denigrating the park service over his crowd size and making that bizarre speech at the CIA, not to mention all the other ridiculous crap he's done since. By souring the federal bureaucracy the President cannot enact his agenda. Trump is attempting to counter this by only appointing loyalists to top level positions but there are only so many loyalists, these people are C-level employees (at best), and career bureaucrats will always maintain some level of independence from the President.
- When Trump's travel ban was blocked by the courts, he could have just allowed the process to continue normally to the Supreme Court where he was about to nominate the likely deciding vote. Instead he chose to lash out and personally attack Federal Judges. Judges, despite their protestations to the contrary, are politicians. And politicians will never allow other politicians to take away their power. When Trump attempted to subvert the normal court process by attacking those Federal Judges, every judge in the country saw that as an attack on the Judicial Branch's authority and independence, including the Supreme Court. Chief Justice Roberts is very conservative, but if there is one thing he cares about above everything else it is safeguarding the independence, authority, and legitimacy of the court.
- During the Obamacare repeal fight, Republicans decided to write their bill in secret without any input whatsoever from experts. This led to a situation where lobbyists for doctors, nurses, hospitals, the AARP, and even insurance companies were vocally against the bill. Now, constructing legislation always entails trade offs and it's almost impossible to make everyone happy. But you could have gotten these groups to remain silent, at least. If you look at the rest of the business community, you can see that Trump started his term at least attempting to bring some interests close. But as time has gone on, it has become increasingly toxic for brands to be associated with him.
- By ignoring Republican governors' advice on the Paris Accords, Obamacare, Immigration, and recently this voting fraud initiative Trump has turned almost all 50 states against him. In American Federalism, state governments are where most of the power actually resides. The national government has the moral authority to lead and a fair amount of power to enact laws, but as we saw with Obamacare, if the states decide they don't want to go along the laws won't be enforced. You can also look at how States have decided to ignore Trump and work with foreign governments on the Paris Accords. Or how states have ignored DC for years on marijuana. Or how states are ignoring Trump on voter fraud. Pissing off states is dumb.
- This week, Trump has taken the absolutely bonkers decision to undermine his own cabinet officials. By attacking Jeff Sessions openly he not only weakens Sessions, but scares every other appointee. If Trump is willing to attack Jeff Sessions, his oldest and fiercest supporter, who is next? Why the hell should I stick my neck out for him?
- Trump also interfered in the Senate. Senators are politicians just like judges. Interfering with one Senator's independence will make all the other Senators nervous. When he threatened Heller and Flake so openly he torpedoed any chance of positive relations with Republicans. He also tried to use the federal government to threaten sitting Senators into voting for a bill by threatening their states. He then began a campaign to end the filibuster.
- Finally, he fired Reince Priebus who was Chairman of the RNC and one of the only RNC Chairmen to be reelected. Republican Congressmen, Senators, Governors, States Legislators, and activists like Reince Priebus. They trust him. By eliminating Priebus, not to mention Spicer, Trump has declared war on the Republican Party itself.
posted by Glibpaxman at 12:28 PM on July 29, 2017 [105 favorites]
The Democrats need to help the Republicans out with tax reform if we want this ACA repeal bullshit to die for more than five minutes.Yeah, no. They needed to stop pretending that Republicans were honest brokers about eight years ago. You can't cut a deal with these people, because they don't play by any rules. You can just try to thwart them until we can elect a better congress.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 12:30 PM on July 29, 2017 [57 favorites]
And I'm sure I'm missing things as well. American Heroes week was quite the week.
7/26 Senator Orrin Hatch (UT - R) publicly rebukes transgender ban
7/26 Senator Richard Shelby (AL - R) publicly rebukes transgender ban
7/26 Armed Forces rebukes transgender ban
7/26 Former independent counselor during Clinton term, Ken Starr, rebukes Trump for not upholding his oath of office
7/28 Police Chiefs Association publicly rebukes Trump's call for increased police violence
I know there are many, many more.
Also, this sick burn:
Richard W. Painter @RWPUSA
Senator McCain helped defeat a truly awful bill. He also prefers presidents who weren't captured by the Russians.
posted by Room 641-A at 12:31 PM on July 29, 2017 [110 favorites]
7/26 Senator Orrin Hatch (UT - R) publicly rebukes transgender ban
7/26 Senator Richard Shelby (AL - R) publicly rebukes transgender ban
7/26 Armed Forces rebukes transgender ban
7/26 Former independent counselor during Clinton term, Ken Starr, rebukes Trump for not upholding his oath of office
7/28 Police Chiefs Association publicly rebukes Trump's call for increased police violence
I know there are many, many more.
Also, this sick burn:
Richard W. Painter @RWPUSA
Senator McCain helped defeat a truly awful bill. He also prefers presidents who weren't captured by the Russians.
posted by Room 641-A at 12:31 PM on July 29, 2017 [110 favorites]
Republicans are going to try as hard as possible to kill Americans until it turns out to have some kind of consequences for them. That'll be 2018. Maybe then Democrats can do some kind of bipartisan shit from a position of strength, but until then it would be simple capitulation and collaboration.
posted by Artw at 12:32 PM on July 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by Artw at 12:32 PM on July 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
The time to do something bipartisan on ACA funding would be in the context of appropriations legislation, which has to get passed every year or the government shuts down. It's a natural fit since job 1 for the Democrats is making sure HHS spends the money it's supposed to.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:38 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:38 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
The time to do something bipartisan on ACA funding would be in the context of 2010-2016.
I mean, Jesus.
posted by tivalasvegas at 1:03 PM on July 29, 2017 [17 favorites]
I mean, Jesus.
posted by tivalasvegas at 1:03 PM on July 29, 2017 [17 favorites]
If you want to be a successful President, try to ally yourself with institutions or at least sideline them as neutral actors.
I don't think he wants to be a successful President. He wants to be the self-praising Trump. Which he has done for decades.
Money, bullying, luck, systemic privilege, and armies of lawyers and sycophants vying to advance themselves while participating in his cons. He was also awful, super awful by all accounts as a casino owner. Didn't matter, he's successfully relentless at lying and bullying until he can buy his way out of situations and continue another day.
posted by rc3spencer at 1:04 PM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
I don't think he wants to be a successful President. He wants to be the self-praising Trump. Which he has done for decades.
Money, bullying, luck, systemic privilege, and armies of lawyers and sycophants vying to advance themselves while participating in his cons. He was also awful, super awful by all accounts as a casino owner. Didn't matter, he's successfully relentless at lying and bullying until he can buy his way out of situations and continue another day.
posted by rc3spencer at 1:04 PM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
I was actually reading a really good book recently about how the myth of the family in the 1950s ignores the decades that have gone before it, and the forces that shape the 1950s themselves, in reaction to the 1930s and 1940s, when multigenerational family living was required because of economic necessity.
Corb: would that be National Treasure Stephanie Coontz's The Way We Never Were or its sequel The Way We Really Are?
I can't recommend Stephanie Coontz enough for a clear-eyed look at American history through a feminist lens. She has another book, Marriage, A History which takes an equally clear-eyed and feminist view of marriage and its history.
Coontz has a website and she also wrote an article for Vox on why (white) women voted for Trump.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 1:04 PM on July 29, 2017 [71 favorites]
Corb: would that be National Treasure Stephanie Coontz's The Way We Never Were or its sequel The Way We Really Are?
I can't recommend Stephanie Coontz enough for a clear-eyed look at American history through a feminist lens. She has another book, Marriage, A History which takes an equally clear-eyed and feminist view of marriage and its history.
Coontz has a website and she also wrote an article for Vox on why (white) women voted for Trump.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 1:04 PM on July 29, 2017 [71 favorites]
Ship's sailed; compromise time is over. Going forward the Democrats should handle the health care funding crisis by:
1) Lay every fucking problem in the current system at the Republicans' and Trump's feet;
1b) Sue the shit out of this incompetent, traitorous Administration every time it even looks like they might have violated their duty to uphold the law. This is the strategy that hobbled Medicaid expansion and won stupid carveouts for religious organizations, plus it muddied the waters since a pathetically large segment of the population thought Obamacare was dead/dying/unconstitutional;
2) Put forward a positive, easy-to-understand and concrete set of solutions for fixing health care;
3) Take back the House in 2018, and the Senate and Presidency in 2020, on a strong plank of universal, affordable coverage;
4) Kill the fillibuster and all the stupid veto points so that we can implement a coherent plan to drag this country's health system into at least the 1970s.
posted by tivalasvegas at 1:08 PM on July 29, 2017 [35 favorites]
1) Lay every fucking problem in the current system at the Republicans' and Trump's feet;
1b) Sue the shit out of this incompetent, traitorous Administration every time it even looks like they might have violated their duty to uphold the law. This is the strategy that hobbled Medicaid expansion and won stupid carveouts for religious organizations, plus it muddied the waters since a pathetically large segment of the population thought Obamacare was dead/dying/unconstitutional;
2) Put forward a positive, easy-to-understand and concrete set of solutions for fixing health care;
3) Take back the House in 2018, and the Senate and Presidency in 2020, on a strong plank of universal, affordable coverage;
4) Kill the fillibuster and all the stupid veto points so that we can implement a coherent plan to drag this country's health system into at least the 1970s.
posted by tivalasvegas at 1:08 PM on July 29, 2017 [35 favorites]
This is all true, but even without control of any chambers the Dems still have leverage on the spending process and they should use it to stop the 71-year-old toddler president from cratering health insurance markets before 2019 in order to get back at John McCain for not giving him a binky.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:10 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:10 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
4 is kind of dangerous without 5, kill gerrymandering and vote suppression so Republicans can't take either house back.
posted by Artw at 1:11 PM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by Artw at 1:11 PM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
Oh yeah but that goes under the Democratic Reform plank. AND I HAVE IDEAS THERE AS WELL.
posted by tivalasvegas at 1:12 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by tivalasvegas at 1:12 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
7/27 Scaramucci gives insane interview to New Yorker's Ryan Lizza saying Bannon fellates himself
Ha!
@yashar
On CNN, @RyanLizza said he saved the audio file of his Scaramucci interview as "Insane Scaramucci Interview"
posted by chris24 at 1:13 PM on July 29, 2017 [41 favorites]
Ha!
@yashar
On CNN, @RyanLizza said he saved the audio file of his Scaramucci interview as "Insane Scaramucci Interview"
posted by chris24 at 1:13 PM on July 29, 2017 [41 favorites]
6) Make PR and DC states.
posted by chris24 at 1:14 PM on July 29, 2017 [51 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 1:14 PM on July 29, 2017 [51 favorites]
According to this DailyKos diary, McCain seems to have informed both Murkowski and numerous Democrats of his intention to vote no on the skinny repeal. The only people taken by surprise were the Republican leadership. Ouch!
posted by Bringer Tom at 1:19 PM on July 29, 2017 [34 favorites]
posted by Bringer Tom at 1:19 PM on July 29, 2017 [34 favorites]
1) Federal elections and federal electoral districts get Federal oversight and federally-funded and -trained poll watchers, similar to the way the Census is run;
2) Congress passes clear legislation limiting the impact of Citizens United;
3) Clear, simple and low-cost or free national voter ID.
4) Mandatory show-up-at-the-poll law (you don't have to vote, but you at least have to sign in, with obvious health, etc. exceptions), combined with mandatory time off and subsidized poll rides for voters with mobility/transportation issues.
posted by tivalasvegas at 1:20 PM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
2) Congress passes clear legislation limiting the impact of Citizens United;
3) Clear, simple and low-cost or free national voter ID.
4) Mandatory show-up-at-the-poll law (you don't have to vote, but you at least have to sign in, with obvious health, etc. exceptions), combined with mandatory time off and subsidized poll rides for voters with mobility/transportation issues.
posted by tivalasvegas at 1:20 PM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
They needed to stop pretending that Republicans were honest brokers about eight years ago.
The Victory of ‘No’
The Republicans were pumped because they saw a path out of the political wilderness. They were convinced that even if Obama kept winning policy battles, they could win the broader messaging war simply by remaining unified and fighting him on everything.The conference chairman was "a then-obscure Indiana conservative named Mike Pence."
The Party of No: New Details on the GOP Plot to Obstruct Obama
[The excerpt] reveals some of my reporting on the Republican plot to obstruct President Obama before he even took office, including secret meetings led by House GOP whip Eric Cantor (in December 2008) and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (in early January 2009) in which they laid out their daring (though cynical and political) no-honeymoon strategy of all-out resistance to a popular President-elect during an economic emergency. “If he was for it,” former Ohio Senator George Voinovich explained, “we had to be against it.”posted by kirkaracha at 1:23 PM on July 29, 2017 [51 favorites]
...
What they said right from the get-go was, It doesn’t matter what the hell you do, we ain’t going to help you. We’re going to stand on the sidelines and bitch.
My point is, there's a lot of shit that can be done, even in two years, with a clear agenda and a majority in both houses + the presidency. The years 2008-2010 saw the only real forward movement we've had in this country all millennium -- they got a ton done even with the filibuster rules and with an understandable, but in retrospect painfully hobbling commitment to bipartisanship.
If Dems can put forward a coherent, simple-to-explain and popular agenda in 2018, win back the House and/or Senate (to block any stupid legislation from 2018-2020) and use that as the springboard to to really win back the government, they can build the foundation for a sane, modern nation from 2020...
posted by tivalasvegas at 1:25 PM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
If Dems can put forward a coherent, simple-to-explain and popular agenda in 2018, win back the House and/or Senate (to block any stupid legislation from 2018-2020) and use that as the springboard to to really win back the government, they can build the foundation for a sane, modern nation from 2020...
posted by tivalasvegas at 1:25 PM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
Politico, 7/29: Senate Republicans to make another attempt at Obamacare repeal
McCain is going home indefinitely right? And Collins/Murkowski are not flipping. They don't have the votes for anything unless one of those things changes.
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:29 PM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
McCain is going home indefinitely right? And Collins/Murkowski are not flipping. They don't have the votes for anything unless one of those things changes.
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:29 PM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
I was actually reading a really good book recently about how the myth of the family in the 1950s ignores the decades that have gone before it, and the forces that shape the 1950s themselves, in reaction to the 1930s and 1940s, when multigenerational family living was required because of economic necessity.
Corb: would that be National Treasure Stephanie Coontz's The Way We Never Were or its sequel The Way We Really Are?
Thanks, both corb and Rosie M. Banks, I think we all need to fight back at that false memory of the fifties. I'm going to explore Coontz's website and books.
Just looking at my own family gives a whole other picture, and even though Europe was a lot poorer than America, the nostalgia for things that never were is as widespread here.
My paternal grandmother lost her husband during the war, and raised my dad on a meager correspondent's wage. Thanks to rent control and postwar urban flight they had a nice apartment, but the budget was tiny. Still she managed to care for some of my dad's friends who had far richer parents but less love. I know them, they still talk about it. My dad has passed away now, but he hated the fifties with a vengeance, even though in many ways he was the archetype of a person who might have fifties nostalgia.
My maternal grandparents were better off and managed to move to the suburbs and my gram was a stay at home mum. But their house was 119 m2 and they lived there as a family of five, at one time sharing the house with refugees from Hungary. My grandmother hated the restrictions and narrow-mindedness of it all, and her one ambition in life was for me to get a masters degree and get out into the world (after she'd given up on getting her daughters to do it).
Sorry about the derail, I'd love if someone more knowledgeable than me could make an FPP about the real fifties, but this always gets me riled up. And there is something in my mind about this is very relevant to any discussion of Trump and the trumpists that I can't quite write down yet, but it's on it's way. Something about lying of course.
posted by mumimor at 1:33 PM on July 29, 2017 [15 favorites]
Corb: would that be National Treasure Stephanie Coontz's The Way We Never Were or its sequel The Way We Really Are?
Thanks, both corb and Rosie M. Banks, I think we all need to fight back at that false memory of the fifties. I'm going to explore Coontz's website and books.
Just looking at my own family gives a whole other picture, and even though Europe was a lot poorer than America, the nostalgia for things that never were is as widespread here.
My paternal grandmother lost her husband during the war, and raised my dad on a meager correspondent's wage. Thanks to rent control and postwar urban flight they had a nice apartment, but the budget was tiny. Still she managed to care for some of my dad's friends who had far richer parents but less love. I know them, they still talk about it. My dad has passed away now, but he hated the fifties with a vengeance, even though in many ways he was the archetype of a person who might have fifties nostalgia.
My maternal grandparents were better off and managed to move to the suburbs and my gram was a stay at home mum. But their house was 119 m2 and they lived there as a family of five, at one time sharing the house with refugees from Hungary. My grandmother hated the restrictions and narrow-mindedness of it all, and her one ambition in life was for me to get a masters degree and get out into the world (after she'd given up on getting her daughters to do it).
Sorry about the derail, I'd love if someone more knowledgeable than me could make an FPP about the real fifties, but this always gets me riled up. And there is something in my mind about this is very relevant to any discussion of Trump and the trumpists that I can't quite write down yet, but it's on it's way. Something about lying of course.
posted by mumimor at 1:33 PM on July 29, 2017 [15 favorites]
Oh, of course. Remember when Scaramucci tweeted that Joe Paternon quote and everyone was like, WTF?
Scaramucci has been praising Joe Paterno from White House to hype tribute movie he’s producing (Tom Brigham, Raw Story)
This is secondary to politics, but I used to be friendly with an LA County Superior Court Judge* and I once asked him what his one piece of advice would be if you ever go to court. Without thinking, he said, "Don't waste the judge's time."
*Appointed by Jerry Brown -- during Brown's first term!
posted by Room 641-A at 1:39 PM on July 29, 2017 [27 favorites]
Scaramucci has been praising Joe Paterno from White House to hype tribute movie he’s producing (Tom Brigham, Raw Story)
Scaramucci’s financial disclosure reports reveal he is co-executive producer of a TV movie titled “Happy Valley” celebrating disgraced Penn State Nittany Lions football coach Joe Paterno, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed.When Trump attempted to subvert the normal court process by attacking those Federal Judges, every judge in the country saw that as an attack on the Judicial Branch's authority and independence,
This is secondary to politics, but I used to be friendly with an LA County Superior Court Judge* and I once asked him what his one piece of advice would be if you ever go to court. Without thinking, he said, "Don't waste the judge's time."
*Appointed by Jerry Brown -- during Brown's first term!
posted by Room 641-A at 1:39 PM on July 29, 2017 [27 favorites]
tivalasvegas: 4) Mandatory show-up-at-the-poll law (you don't have to vote, but you at least have to sign in, with obvious health, etc. exceptions), combined with mandatory time off and subsidized poll rides for voters with mobility/transportation issues.
Or do like what we do up here in the People's Republic of Washington: universal vote-by-mail. Your ballot and a handy guide to the issues—with context-neutral descriptions and arguments in favor and against alongside rebuttals—are mailed straight to your door. Most of the urban counties have a feature where you can go online and print out your ballot to mail in. You can also go to a traditional polling place (there are fewer, but they still exist) and mark a ballot in person, if you like.
posted by fireoyster at 1:43 PM on July 29, 2017 [12 favorites]
Or do like what we do up here in the People's Republic of Washington: universal vote-by-mail. Your ballot and a handy guide to the issues—with context-neutral descriptions and arguments in favor and against alongside rebuttals—are mailed straight to your door. Most of the urban counties have a feature where you can go online and print out your ballot to mail in. You can also go to a traditional polling place (there are fewer, but they still exist) and mark a ballot in person, if you like.
posted by fireoyster at 1:43 PM on July 29, 2017 [12 favorites]
Or they can arm-twist a blue dog.
Come on man, every single Democrat has been rock solid and heroic on this issue. I understand cynicism but let's give credit where it is due. There will be no Democrats flipping, blue dog or not, on anything resembling the bills under consideration.
posted by Justinian at 1:43 PM on July 29, 2017 [46 favorites]
Come on man, every single Democrat has been rock solid and heroic on this issue. I understand cynicism but let's give credit where it is due. There will be no Democrats flipping, blue dog or not, on anything resembling the bills under consideration.
posted by Justinian at 1:43 PM on July 29, 2017 [46 favorites]
Re: Don't forget to thank the Dems
NYT: How Schumer Held Democrats Together Through a Health Care Maelstrom
NYT: How Schumer Held Democrats Together Through a Health Care Maelstrom
In recent days, as Senate Republicans feverishly cobbled together their doomed health care bill, Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader, made several quiet visits to the hideaway office of John McCain, Republican of Arizona, on the first floor of the Capitol. Senator McCain, who recently received a brain cancer diagnosis, was nervous about the bill, which he thought would harm people in his state, and elegiac about members of his storied family, reminiscing about them at some length.posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 1:53 PM on July 29, 2017 [66 favorites]
During those visits and in several phone calls, Mr. Schumer, who had led Democrats in a moment of prayer for Mr. McCain, assured him that they would have the 80-year-old senator’s back in his quest for bipartisan legislation should the health bill fail, including making sure Mr. McCain’s beloved defense bill was passed...
Those assurances, whether they pushed Mr. McCain to vote against the bill or not, say a great deal about Mr. Schumer, who has held the Democrats together even as he has promised to work with Republicans. Six months in as leader, Mr. Schumer has melded the blustery negotiating strategies of his predecessor, Harry Reid of Nevada, with the cagey tactics of Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, who honed the art of obstruction as a weapon...
He has worked carefully — far more than Mr. Reid, many Democrats agreed — to be almost relentlessly inclusive, talking with them at all hours of the day, over every manner of Chinese noodle, on even tiny subjects, to make them feel included in strategy. Recently, as he sat in a dentist’s chair waiting for a root canal, he dialed up Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut to talk about a coming judiciary hearing concerning Donald Trump Jr.
Yeah, honestly. We've paid a lot of (well-deserved) attention to the 3 Rs that crossed over, but there are plenty of Ds in extremely tough states - Heitcamp, Tester, Donnelly - who have stood strong.
I wonder how much, if any, pressure they are facing. Does this thing have any organic support whatsoever?
posted by Artw at 1:59 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
I wonder how much, if any, pressure they are facing. Does this thing have any organic support whatsoever?
posted by Artw at 1:59 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Corb: would that be National Treasure Stephanie Coontz's The Way We Never Were or its sequel The Way We Really Are?
The former, and I cannot recommend it enough to everyone!
posted by corb at 2:00 PM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
The former, and I cannot recommend it enough to everyone!
posted by corb at 2:00 PM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
During those visits and in several phone calls, Mr. Schumer, who had led Democrats in a moment of prayer for Mr. McCain, assured him that they would have the 80-year-old senator’s back in his quest for bipartisan legislation should the health bill fail, including making sure Mr. McCain’s beloved defense bill was passed...
Rand Paul just blocked the defense bill, and John McCain is not happy about it
posted by Room 641-A at 2:04 PM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
Rand Paul just blocked the defense bill, and John McCain is not happy about it
posted by Room 641-A at 2:04 PM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
Or do like what we do up here in the People's Republic of Washington: universal vote-by-mail. Your ballot and a handy guide to the issues—with context-neutral descriptions and arguments in favor and against alongside rebuttals—are mailed straight to your door.
As was discussed during the election, this both doesn't do a whole lot for turnout (in contrast with same day registration or, IIRC, early voting) and leaves voters incredibly vulnerable to intimidation from abusive partners, employers, religious groups and so on, because it inadvertently destroys the secret ballot.
posted by hoyland at 2:05 PM on July 29, 2017 [18 favorites]
As was discussed during the election, this both doesn't do a whole lot for turnout (in contrast with same day registration or, IIRC, early voting) and leaves voters incredibly vulnerable to intimidation from abusive partners, employers, religious groups and so on, because it inadvertently destroys the secret ballot.
posted by hoyland at 2:05 PM on July 29, 2017 [18 favorites]
I'd rather just have Election Week instead of Election Day.
posted by BeginAgain at 2:08 PM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
posted by BeginAgain at 2:08 PM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
Trump threatens insurer payments — and health care enjoyed by Congress
Isn't he threatening the wrong house here?
Not even a competent thug.
posted by Artw at 2:10 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Isn't he threatening the wrong house here?
Not even a competent thug.
posted by Artw at 2:10 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
I think that mail-in voting should be easy to opt into. There are people who don't vote because, for various reasons, it's difficult for them to get to the polls; not to mention voter intimidation while at the polls (or just running a gantlet of not-malicious-just-clueless poll workers).
Abusive partners/housemates I can see as a danger, but most employers don't have access to their employees' mail at home. Unless you post "I voted for Candidate X" on a public Facebook or Twitter, how will your employer know anything? I feel that voter intimidation is more a danger in person than by mail.
I am for making voting super-duper easy, no matter the format. Easier in-person voting and making Election Day a holiday would definitely help; but the option for mail-in voting is important.
I vote by mail. Luckily, I live alone so there is no-one to intimidate me except for my cats who want me to write in "Charlie the Tuna."
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 2:14 PM on July 29, 2017 [12 favorites]
Abusive partners/housemates I can see as a danger, but most employers don't have access to their employees' mail at home. Unless you post "I voted for Candidate X" on a public Facebook or Twitter, how will your employer know anything? I feel that voter intimidation is more a danger in person than by mail.
I am for making voting super-duper easy, no matter the format. Easier in-person voting and making Election Day a holiday would definitely help; but the option for mail-in voting is important.
I vote by mail. Luckily, I live alone so there is no-one to intimidate me except for my cats who want me to write in "Charlie the Tuna."
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 2:14 PM on July 29, 2017 [12 favorites]
Yeah, honestly. We've paid a lot of (well-deserved) attention to the 3 Rs that crossed over, but there are plenty of Ds in extremely tough states - Heitcamp, Tester, Donnelly - who have stood strong.
So far, yes. I was responding to "they have to do A or B" with "there's a C", not saying it's likely. But it's 2017. Don't completely write off the unlikely.
posted by ctmf at 2:20 PM on July 29, 2017
So far, yes. I was responding to "they have to do A or B" with "there's a C", not saying it's likely. But it's 2017. Don't completely write off the unlikely.
posted by ctmf at 2:20 PM on July 29, 2017
Oh grodd can we please not go down the vote by mail/coercion road for the Nth time? Go read the old threads if you must.
posted by phearlez at 2:21 PM on July 29, 2017 [35 favorites]
posted by phearlez at 2:21 PM on July 29, 2017 [35 favorites]
Indeed, I deliberately took that can of worms and put it firmly in the back of the shelf when writing the above comment.
Vote-by-mail is a thing that can be hammered out with the Democratic majority we win in 2020 on the platform of a day off for voting. The point is that we want free and fair elections with as few barriers as possible.
posted by tivalasvegas at 2:26 PM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
Vote-by-mail is a thing that can be hammered out with the Democratic majority we win in 2020 on the platform of a day off for voting. The point is that we want free and fair elections with as few barriers as possible.
posted by tivalasvegas at 2:26 PM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
Isn't he threatening the wrong house here?
What's threatening the Democrats gonna get him? He knows they're not going to suddenly feel warm fuzzies and start cooperating no matter what he does.
posted by Archelaus at 2:26 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
What's threatening the Democrats gonna get him? He knows they're not going to suddenly feel warm fuzzies and start cooperating no matter what he does.
posted by Archelaus at 2:26 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Some good news:
Federal Judge Knocks Down Arkansas’ Stringent New Abortion Restrictions (Andrew De Millo, TPM)
Federal Judge Knocks Down Arkansas’ Stringent New Abortion Restrictions (Andrew De Millo, TPM)
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal judge has blocked Arkansas from enforcing four new abortion restrictions, including a ban on a common second trimester procedure and a fetal remains law that opponents say would effectively require a partner’s consent before a woman could get an abortion. [...]posted by Room 641-A at 2:27 PM on July 29, 2017 [63 favorites]
Baker’s ruling also halts a law that would impose new restrictions on the disposal of fetal tissue from abortions. The plaintiffs argued that it could also block access by requiring notification of a third party, such as the woman’s sexual partner or her parents, to determine what happens to the fetal remains. [...]
Baker also blocked part of a law set to take effect in January that would ban abortions based solely on the fetus’ sex. [...]
The judge also blocked a law that would expand a requirement that physicians performing abortions for patients under 14 take certain steps to preserve embryonic or fetal tissue and notify police where the minor resides.
More bits from that NYT Schumer link:
Mr. Schumer’s original plan after Mr. Trump was elected was to find a way to work with his fellow New Yorker on issues where he thought they might align, such as an infrastructure bill...posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 2:30 PM on July 29, 2017 [12 favorites]
Fleeting dreams of using Mr. Trump’s populism to triangulate against a Republican-controlled Congress dissolved, he said, when Mr. Trump instead decided to move right away to repealing the Affordable Care Act. So Mr. Schumer turned to an opposition agenda, doing everything within his limited powers to slow, block or obviate Mr. Trump’s agenda....
For the fight, Mr. Schumer held together his disparate group of red state moderates, left-wing resistance fighters, hard-core policy wonks and everything in between, forming a partisan blast wall against Republican efforts to repeal the health care law, in part via maddening delays of basic Senate business...
Mr. Schumer’s central weapon is procedural tricks to slow Mr. Trump’s nominees, something that infuriates Mr. McConnell. “I don’t like it, and we are not going to do it as a practice,” Mr. Schumer said, but “when you’re choosing a cabinet nominee, especially a controversial one, it makes sense.’’
All told, he said, his relationship with Mr. McConnell is an improvement over Mr. McConnell’s with Mr. Reid. Mr. Schumer has repeatedly told Mr. McConnell that Democrats would ease up on their obstruction once health care was behind them...
Mr. Schumer committed one slight toward Mr. McConnell that baffled even his closest allies, voting against letting Mr. McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, become secretary of transportation.
The fetus's sex? What's that about? So they would have to wait until the sex is known, but not too late?
posted by ctmf at 2:32 PM on July 29, 2017
posted by ctmf at 2:32 PM on July 29, 2017
No, that's entirely a tempest in a teapot. They think that specific cultures that they think don't value women will abort female babies based on their being female. Nobody in America is doing this.
posted by corb at 2:36 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by corb at 2:36 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
Never mind, I was reading it wrong I think. You can't decide to get an abortion just because you didn't get the boy or girl you wanted. I don't know how that would be enforceable.
posted by ctmf at 2:38 PM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by ctmf at 2:38 PM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
Well I guess we should applaud their sexism for being intersectional with their racism.
posted by Artw at 2:39 PM on July 29, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by Artw at 2:39 PM on July 29, 2017 [12 favorites]
Sex selection abortion happens in other countries, but IIRC by the time you can determine the fetus' sex via ultrasound you're looking at a pretty late term abortion, which is much more expensive and problematical in the US than it is in some other places.
posted by Bringer Tom at 2:40 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Bringer Tom at 2:40 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
The fetus's sex? What's that about?
Crap, sorry! I didn't copy the next part. It should have been
Baker also blocked part of a law set to take effect in January that would ban abortions based solely on the fetus’ sex. The groups are challenging the law’s requirement that a doctor performing the abortion first request records related to the entire pregnancy history of the woman. The plaintiffs say the requirement would violate a patient’s privacy and indefinitely delay a woman’s access to abortion.
posted by Room 641-A at 2:46 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
Crap, sorry! I didn't copy the next part. It should have been
Baker also blocked part of a law set to take effect in January that would ban abortions based solely on the fetus’ sex. The groups are challenging the law’s requirement that a doctor performing the abortion first request records related to the entire pregnancy history of the woman. The plaintiffs say the requirement would violate a patient’s privacy and indefinitely delay a woman’s access to abortion.
posted by Room 641-A at 2:46 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
> Engineers get engineer's disease because the social position and training of engineers teaches them to view themselves as the smartest people possible — which in turn leads them toward authoritarianism — and because it encourages them to view social problems as a subset of technical problems rather than viewing technical problems as a subset of social problems.
Why Coase's Penguin didn't fly* - "In short – we need to distinguish between the rhetorical claims that technological change will bring openness along with it, and the (far more sustainable) claim that technology will probably only have openness enhancing benefits in a world where we are already dealing with the underlying power relations. The best recent account of this perspective that I've seen comes from Astra Taylor in The People's Platform: 'openness alone does not provide the blueprint for a more equitable social order, in part because the 'freedom' promoted by the tech community almost always turns out to be of the Darwinian variety. Openness in this context is ultimately about promoting competition, not protecting equality in any traditional sense; it has little to say about entrenched systems of economic privilege, labor rights, fairness, or economic redistribution. Despite enthusiastic commentators and their hosannas to democratization, inequality is not exclusive to closed systems. Networks reflect and exacerbate imbalances of power as much as they improve them.' "
posted by kliuless at 2:48 PM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
Why Coase's Penguin didn't fly* - "In short – we need to distinguish between the rhetorical claims that technological change will bring openness along with it, and the (far more sustainable) claim that technology will probably only have openness enhancing benefits in a world where we are already dealing with the underlying power relations. The best recent account of this perspective that I've seen comes from Astra Taylor in The People's Platform: 'openness alone does not provide the blueprint for a more equitable social order, in part because the 'freedom' promoted by the tech community almost always turns out to be of the Darwinian variety. Openness in this context is ultimately about promoting competition, not protecting equality in any traditional sense; it has little to say about entrenched systems of economic privilege, labor rights, fairness, or economic redistribution. Despite enthusiastic commentators and their hosannas to democratization, inequality is not exclusive to closed systems. Networks reflect and exacerbate imbalances of power as much as they improve them.' "
posted by kliuless at 2:48 PM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
greermahoney: What bothers me is that the vast majority of the American people did not want this to pass, and yet it came down to one vote in the Senate. This is not ok. These people are not even pretending to represent their constituents. It's dismaying.
So, when calling, faxing or emailing senators or representatives, the general rule is that you only contact people who directly represent you, right? Except if you're going to donate funds, which really gets to the crux of the issue.
But everyone pays some lip service to "their constituents," even if they cherry-pick the 10 examples of someone supporting their actions when they have hundreds to even thousands of people saying "for the love of everything I value, do not do this thing!"
I would now love to have a massively coordinated effort to call the offices of all senators and representatives at the same time with a similar script: "I'm representing [important sounding company, like Prestige Worldwide] and I've misplaced the donors phone number, I'll just ask you -- how can I donate $10k to [senator/representative]? [Wait for replay] Great, thanks! Now, is it a problem that we're based in (another state)? Would it be a problem if we made this donation in a month? Now, could we get a commitment that [senator/representative] [supports/denies something] now?"
The script needs some work, but I'd love recordings of both Republican and Democratic staff saying they'd take money from anyone, no matter where they're located (in the US - oversees is too much like a "Gotcha"), and that some significant donation would ensure some level of support for something, until the donation is dependent on that support, and that support will actually come at a later time.
Really, I want to make the case that "representing constituents" is by and large BS, especially when major donors are offering financial support for policy support. Everyone knows it's going on to some level, but getting a broad report across the board would be great, and could be used to push campaign finance reforms (or ensure that big-ticket donors only call the secret access lines or whatnot).
posted by filthy light thief at 2:50 PM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
So, when calling, faxing or emailing senators or representatives, the general rule is that you only contact people who directly represent you, right? Except if you're going to donate funds, which really gets to the crux of the issue.
But everyone pays some lip service to "their constituents," even if they cherry-pick the 10 examples of someone supporting their actions when they have hundreds to even thousands of people saying "for the love of everything I value, do not do this thing!"
I would now love to have a massively coordinated effort to call the offices of all senators and representatives at the same time with a similar script: "I'm representing [important sounding company, like Prestige Worldwide] and I've misplaced the donors phone number, I'll just ask you -- how can I donate $10k to [senator/representative]? [Wait for replay] Great, thanks! Now, is it a problem that we're based in (another state)? Would it be a problem if we made this donation in a month? Now, could we get a commitment that [senator/representative] [supports/denies something] now?"
The script needs some work, but I'd love recordings of both Republican and Democratic staff saying they'd take money from anyone, no matter where they're located (in the US - oversees is too much like a "Gotcha"), and that some significant donation would ensure some level of support for something, until the donation is dependent on that support, and that support will actually come at a later time.
Really, I want to make the case that "representing constituents" is by and large BS, especially when major donors are offering financial support for policy support. Everyone knows it's going on to some level, but getting a broad report across the board would be great, and could be used to push campaign finance reforms (or ensure that big-ticket donors only call the secret access lines or whatnot).
posted by filthy light thief at 2:50 PM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
Sex selection abortion happens in other countries, but IIRC by the time you can determine the fetus' sex via ultrasound you're looking at a pretty late term abortion, which is much more expensive and problematical in the US than it is in some other places.
Yes, this is a known issue in India, for example. In general, the way the law tries to prevent this is by banning abortions after the sex is determined (i.e. abortions are totally ok, sex-selective abortions are not). Still happens though, though probably much less than it otherwise would.
posted by peacheater at 2:52 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yes, this is a known issue in India, for example. In general, the way the law tries to prevent this is by banning abortions after the sex is determined (i.e. abortions are totally ok, sex-selective abortions are not). Still happens though, though probably much less than it otherwise would.
posted by peacheater at 2:52 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
> Not enough has been reported on the truly radical transformation of Senate operations McConnell has effected, all so that he can be Majority Leader.
here was an attempt, earlier: Mitch McConnell is breaking the Senate
posted by kliuless at 2:56 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
here was an attempt, earlier: Mitch McConnell is breaking the Senate
posted by kliuless at 2:56 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
There is no evidence that sex selection abortions occur in the US more than in rare, isolated cases, but that doesn't matter. Anti-choice zealots see it as a way to turn opinion. Because after all, they say, who would oppose murdering a baby for such a superficial reason? Even feminists!, they say, should be against people killing a baby just because it's a girl.
Any abortion restriction is a good abortion restriction. If people are going to accept that women shouldn't terminate a pregnancy solely because she doesn't want a boy or doesn't want a girl, then people are more likely to accept that a woman shouldn't terminate any pregnancy. It is all about making abortion non-existent, one step at a time. The anti-immigrant overtones is just the pickle on top of the patriarchal shitsandwich
posted by chaoticgood at 3:06 PM on July 29, 2017 [28 favorites]
Any abortion restriction is a good abortion restriction. If people are going to accept that women shouldn't terminate a pregnancy solely because she doesn't want a boy or doesn't want a girl, then people are more likely to accept that a woman shouldn't terminate any pregnancy. It is all about making abortion non-existent, one step at a time. The anti-immigrant overtones is just the pickle on top of the patriarchal shitsandwich
posted by chaoticgood at 3:06 PM on July 29, 2017 [28 favorites]
#NotTheOnion2017
"Anyhow, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders made the same mistake that her predecessor, Sean Spicer, once did by wearing a green blouse to a briefing this week. Maybe she got used to Spicer’s policy of doing briefings off camera. Well, now it’s the Mooch Era and the cameras are back on." Link
posted by Evilspork at 3:07 PM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
"Anyhow, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders made the same mistake that her predecessor, Sean Spicer, once did by wearing a green blouse to a briefing this week. Maybe she got used to Spicer’s policy of doing briefings off camera. Well, now it’s the Mooch Era and the cameras are back on." Link
posted by Evilspork at 3:07 PM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
Sex selection abortion happens in other countries, but IIRC by the time you can determine the fetus' sex via ultrasound you're looking at a pretty late term abortion, which is much more expensive and problematical in the US than it is in some other places.
Yes, this is a known issue in India, for example.
No, it is a known thing that happens.
posted by phearlez at 3:11 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
Yes, this is a known issue in India, for example.
No, it is a known thing that happens.
posted by phearlez at 3:11 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
I don't understand this "mistake of wearing green" thing. Chroma-keying is not limited to green. You can do this with any single flat color. (Really, you can do it on any region and MLB for one does it with ad spaces in stadiums, for example, but for non-flat non-rectangular moving stuff doing it by color is more practical.) Maybe some older hardware requires green or SHS wore a color that most stuff is already calibrated to, but really you can do anything.
posted by phearlez at 3:15 PM on July 29, 2017 [18 favorites]
posted by phearlez at 3:15 PM on July 29, 2017 [18 favorites]
It's a timehonored tradition, phearlez!
posted by Evilspork at 3:27 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Evilspork at 3:27 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
phearlez, you're right on the technicality of Chroma-keying being possible on any given flat color. What you're missing is the fact that it is traditionally been green in broadcasting. The tradition has been ingrained in video editors (of all stripes, professional and non-) minds, so the problem with wearing green in today's lulz-stained world is that it automatically signals every troll with a video editor at home to do something dumb like in the video at the nymag.com link above. They literally cannot resist the temptation presented by the traditional coloring. You can wave any color cape at a bull and it'll charge you eventually, but red works best.
posted by carsonb at 3:32 PM on July 29, 2017 [19 favorites]
posted by carsonb at 3:32 PM on July 29, 2017 [19 favorites]
....and this is the dumbest derail I've participated in lately.
Remember when the Executive Administration of the United States of America was being investigated for direct financial ties to Russian oligarchs who influenced the election last year?
posted by carsonb at 3:34 PM on July 29, 2017 [15 favorites]
Remember when the Executive Administration of the United States of America was being investigated for direct financial ties to Russian oligarchs who influenced the election last year?
posted by carsonb at 3:34 PM on July 29, 2017 [15 favorites]
You can wave any color cape at a bull and it'll charge you eventually, but red works best.
this is an ironic analogy because bulls are color-blind
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:34 PM on July 29, 2017 [17 favorites]
this is an ironic analogy because bulls are color-blind
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:34 PM on July 29, 2017 [17 favorites]
I don't understand this "mistake of wearing green" thing. Chroma-keying is not limited to green. You can do this with any single flat color. (Really, you can do it on any region and MLB for one does it with ad spaces in stadiums, for example, but for non-flat non-rectangular moving stuff doing it by color is more practical.) Maybe some older hardware requires green or SHS wore a color that most stuff is already calibrated to, but really you can do anything.
You can do it with any color but green gives the cleanest mattes because the Bayer filter over the CCD results in twice the resolution on the green channel as any other color. Plus when you're doing things for the lulz you have to work with compressed sources. Ever try to do chroma-keying with red from a H.264 source? Giant pain in the fucking ass because it basically throws away 99% of the red channel and turns it to fuzzy shit.
Green works because it's easiest to do it cleanly and convincingly. Nobody with any pride wants to put work out there that makes you look like a total amateur.
posted by Talez at 3:41 PM on July 29, 2017 [77 favorites]
You can do it with any color but green gives the cleanest mattes because the Bayer filter over the CCD results in twice the resolution on the green channel as any other color. Plus when you're doing things for the lulz you have to work with compressed sources. Ever try to do chroma-keying with red from a H.264 source? Giant pain in the fucking ass because it basically throws away 99% of the red channel and turns it to fuzzy shit.
Green works because it's easiest to do it cleanly and convincingly. Nobody with any pride wants to put work out there that makes you look like a total amateur.
posted by Talez at 3:41 PM on July 29, 2017 [77 favorites]
Nobody with any pride wants to put work out there that makes you look like a total amateur.
This does explain the white house, I'll give you that.
posted by maxwelton at 3:44 PM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
This does explain the white house, I'll give you that.
posted by maxwelton at 3:44 PM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
filthy light thief: no one that you would call in a congress person's office is going to accept a large corporate-backed donation over the phone and they aren't going to talk about policy commitments in the same call anyway. It isn't their first rodeo and anyway you're going to get a staffer who doesn't have the authority to do either those things. There's no gotcha moment you're going to have on the phone. Of course they take money from anyone. Getting elected is expensive. That doesn't mean they actually represent folks outside their districts, at least not in the sense that congressional rules care about, and even if if in practice obviously congress people care about a lot of issues, some of which don't strongly or directly matter to people in their district.
posted by R343L at 4:24 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by R343L at 4:24 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
Mod note: Deleted a bunch of arguing about abortion-the-issue that's not related to the news link above; part of the chromakey derail; and a short derail on an old article.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 4:39 PM on July 29, 2017 [15 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 4:39 PM on July 29, 2017 [15 favorites]
Can anyone clue me in on what the President of the United States is talking about in this tweet from a half hour ago:
I love reading about all of the "geniuses" who were so instrumental in my election success. Problem is, most don't exist. #Fake News! MAGA
posted by theodolite at 4:48 PM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
I love reading about all of the "geniuses" who were so instrumental in my election success. Problem is, most don't exist. #Fake News! MAGA
posted by theodolite at 4:48 PM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
I think he's finally denying his own existence.
posted by dng at 4:51 PM on July 29, 2017 [21 favorites]
posted by dng at 4:51 PM on July 29, 2017 [21 favorites]
Can anyone clue me in on what the President of the United States is talking about in this tweet from a half hour ago
Malignant narcissists often refuse to accept that they were ever helped by anybody in success that is always theirs and theirs alone. A malignant narcissist with sociopathic tendencies will also not understand that saying this does not look great to many people, and that most human beings understand that there's no shame in being helped by people who are better at any particular thing than you, and that saying that no geniuses ever helped you makes you look like you're bragging about being dumb as dogshit.
posted by Rust Moranis at 4:52 PM on July 29, 2017 [34 favorites]
Malignant narcissists often refuse to accept that they were ever helped by anybody in success that is always theirs and theirs alone. A malignant narcissist with sociopathic tendencies will also not understand that saying this does not look great to many people, and that most human beings understand that there's no shame in being helped by people who are better at any particular thing than you, and that saying that no geniuses ever helped you makes you look like you're bragging about being dumb as dogshit.
posted by Rust Moranis at 4:52 PM on July 29, 2017 [34 favorites]
Ohh I think he means Russian hackers
posted by theodolite at 4:54 PM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 4:54 PM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
What baited that?
Find out so we can do it more.
Dance little monkey, dance
posted by yesster at 4:56 PM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
Find out so we can do it more.
Dance little monkey, dance
posted by yesster at 4:56 PM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
Anyway he's moved on to being mad at China for not helping the Kims conquer South Korea even though they sell us a ton of shit.
posted by theodolite at 4:57 PM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 4:57 PM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
The photo at the top of the NYT Schumer article has a nice detail: he's sitting beneath a portrait of FDR , and next to one of (I think, harder to tell) Teddy Roosevelt.
posted by nonasuch at 4:58 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by nonasuch at 4:58 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
nonasuch: The article mentions that his office is "festooned with portraits of his idols (Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson)," so perhaps it's Johnson?
This article also made me pause and realize that my politics/civics literacy is probably higher than ever before, even compared to when I had a politics-related job. Though I'm not familiar with all the nitty-gritty parliamentarian details, at least I'm more tuned in to who the people in government are, their voting record, which committees they're on, etc. I could probably rattle off half the Senate by name, and identify many more Congressmembers by name / photo / viral rant / public broadcast of hearings / infamous or inspiring deeds. Coverage like this article and the videos of the healthcare debates have "humanized" a lot of the politicians in the news--or at least the helpers, because coverage also has confirmed some to be the unhuman deplorables we thought they were.
And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one. People are engaged in politics at an Unpresidented rate! Hopefully we can channel this into action and Unpresident this effing administration real soon.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 5:17 PM on July 29, 2017 [15 favorites]
This article also made me pause and realize that my politics/civics literacy is probably higher than ever before, even compared to when I had a politics-related job. Though I'm not familiar with all the nitty-gritty parliamentarian details, at least I'm more tuned in to who the people in government are, their voting record, which committees they're on, etc. I could probably rattle off half the Senate by name, and identify many more Congressmembers by name / photo / viral rant / public broadcast of hearings / infamous or inspiring deeds. Coverage like this article and the videos of the healthcare debates have "humanized" a lot of the politicians in the news--or at least the helpers, because coverage also has confirmed some to be the unhuman deplorables we thought they were.
And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one. People are engaged in politics at an Unpresidented rate! Hopefully we can channel this into action and Unpresident this effing administration real soon.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 5:17 PM on July 29, 2017 [15 favorites]
from the NY Post article linked above: Another person close to Anthony claimed that he was actually the victim of his wife’s verbal abuse: “She would say, ‘You’re a grifter, you’re this.’ She would mock him for being a Trump sycophant.”
I went to one of the same shitty colleges as this woman and she is the first person loosely related to the Trump administration with whom I am not ashamed to share some tenuous and superficial connection.
this is the right way to deal with Trump-supporting relatives and especially husbands. especially Trump-supporting husbands who have friends with hilarious opinions about what abuse is. you just get out. good luck to her
posted by queenofbithynia at 5:18 PM on July 29, 2017 [78 favorites]
I went to one of the same shitty colleges as this woman and she is the first person loosely related to the Trump administration with whom I am not ashamed to share some tenuous and superficial connection.
this is the right way to deal with Trump-supporting relatives and especially husbands. especially Trump-supporting husbands who have friends with hilarious opinions about what abuse is. you just get out. good luck to her
posted by queenofbithynia at 5:18 PM on July 29, 2017 [78 favorites]
I'm not the puppet abuser, you're the abuser.
posted by Behemoth at 5:21 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Behemoth at 5:21 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
The script needs some work, but I'd love recordings of both Republican and Democratic staff saying they'd take money from anyone, no matter where they're located
It is legal to contribute to political campaigns across state lines -- certainly in federal-level campaigns. I am not certain what you would prove here; that political campaigns follow election law? In any case, many candidates love to highlight in-state/out-of-state donation ratios as it is, because this information is already public.
and that some significant donation would ensure some level of support for something
This is illegal, known as quid pro quo, and would probably get you reported to the FBI. See: Abscam, or Keating Five if you'd rather. Even under the most recent loosening of standards (McCutcheon v. FEC), it is understood that a specific offer of money in exchange for a specific type of political act remains illegal.
(Indeed, in the conviction of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the definition of a bribe wasn't even limited to money, something his attorneys continue to vigorously dispute.)
Really, this is the sort of stunt pioneered by James O'Keefe, and he barely escaped being a federal felon and has faced multiple lawsuits. In any case, if you were able to obtain such a recording, handing it over to the FBI yourself would be the only ethical choice. This is because it is not supposed to happen.
Everyone knows it's going on to some level, but getting a broad report across the board would be great, and could be used to push campaign finance reforms
Yeah, but they already know this sort of thing is illegal so doing it for random stunt activist over the phone is only going to catch a few dumb-ass low-level staffers, with either insufficient training or judgement, who will be immediately fired. The door you want is down this hallway. I understand you're bitter, but a lot of people have been fighting these money=speech shenanigans ever since the case law turned down this dark road, and the key isn't embarrassing politicians who are operating within norms, but getting the norms (laws) changed. There are a lot of orgs out there working on that already; last year we got a referendum on our local ballot thanks to Wisconsin United to Amend, for a total of 110 successful referenda in this state alone (1/7 of the national total, interestingly). I'm sure they'd love you to take up this particular necessary work in your locality, so do hook up with your state-level group on that.
posted by dhartung at 5:24 PM on July 29, 2017 [24 favorites]
It is legal to contribute to political campaigns across state lines -- certainly in federal-level campaigns. I am not certain what you would prove here; that political campaigns follow election law? In any case, many candidates love to highlight in-state/out-of-state donation ratios as it is, because this information is already public.
and that some significant donation would ensure some level of support for something
This is illegal, known as quid pro quo, and would probably get you reported to the FBI. See: Abscam, or Keating Five if you'd rather. Even under the most recent loosening of standards (McCutcheon v. FEC), it is understood that a specific offer of money in exchange for a specific type of political act remains illegal.
(Indeed, in the conviction of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the definition of a bribe wasn't even limited to money, something his attorneys continue to vigorously dispute.)
Really, this is the sort of stunt pioneered by James O'Keefe, and he barely escaped being a federal felon and has faced multiple lawsuits. In any case, if you were able to obtain such a recording, handing it over to the FBI yourself would be the only ethical choice. This is because it is not supposed to happen.
Everyone knows it's going on to some level, but getting a broad report across the board would be great, and could be used to push campaign finance reforms
Yeah, but they already know this sort of thing is illegal so doing it for random stunt activist over the phone is only going to catch a few dumb-ass low-level staffers, with either insufficient training or judgement, who will be immediately fired. The door you want is down this hallway. I understand you're bitter, but a lot of people have been fighting these money=speech shenanigans ever since the case law turned down this dark road, and the key isn't embarrassing politicians who are operating within norms, but getting the norms (laws) changed. There are a lot of orgs out there working on that already; last year we got a referendum on our local ballot thanks to Wisconsin United to Amend, for a total of 110 successful referenda in this state alone (1/7 of the national total, interestingly). I'm sure they'd love you to take up this particular necessary work in your locality, so do hook up with your state-level group on that.
posted by dhartung at 5:24 PM on July 29, 2017 [24 favorites]
Can anyone clue me in on what the President of the United States is talking about in this tweet from a half hour ago:
I love reading about all of the "geniuses" who were so instrumental in my election success. Problem is, most don't exist. #Fake News! MAGA
Maybe someone told him he shouldn't fire Sessions because of Sessions' work on the campaign and now he's all "Jeff who? It was all me."
Or else if he's just generally being dismissive of the people who did all the heavy lifting on his campaign, wow is that a bad move when the Feds are trying to flip a bunch of them.
posted by jason_steakums at 5:33 PM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
I love reading about all of the "geniuses" who were so instrumental in my election success. Problem is, most don't exist. #Fake News! MAGA
Maybe someone told him he shouldn't fire Sessions because of Sessions' work on the campaign and now he's all "Jeff who? It was all me."
Or else if he's just generally being dismissive of the people who did all the heavy lifting on his campaign, wow is that a bad move when the Feds are trying to flip a bunch of them.
posted by jason_steakums at 5:33 PM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
I think he's trying to insist Reince doesn't exist. That's the only way I can parse it.
And that no longer seems like a particularly surprising thing for him to do.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:36 PM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
And that no longer seems like a particularly surprising thing for him to do.
posted by Lyn Never at 5:36 PM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
The first - and possibly only - major piece of legislation in this president's first year is going to be the Russia sanctions! This makes me so happy.
Trump must be miserable. He is trapped and has no way out.
posted by Justinian at 5:37 PM on July 29, 2017 [67 favorites]
Trump must be miserable. He is trapped and has no way out.
posted by Justinian at 5:37 PM on July 29, 2017 [67 favorites]
That's the new JTML, for those playing the home game
posted by Windopaene at 5:39 PM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by Windopaene at 5:39 PM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
Trump must be miserable. He is trapped and has no way out.
posted by Justinian at 9:37 AM on July 30 [2 favorites −] Favorite added! [!]
Which means, I think, he'll sabotage healthcare any way he can, and ramp up state violence. I have no idea how to fight that.
posted by saysthis at 5:42 PM on July 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 9:37 AM on July 30 [2 favorites −] Favorite added! [!]
Which means, I think, he'll sabotage healthcare any way he can, and ramp up state violence. I have no idea how to fight that.
posted by saysthis at 5:42 PM on July 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
I love reading about all of the "geniuses" who were so instrumental in my election success. Problem is, most don't exist. #Fake News! MAGA
He's not wrong. "Most" don't exist because he won on racism, sexism, and Russians. The only "geniuses" were the Russians running interference for him. The rest definitely weren't geniuses...especially people who actually voted for him.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 5:44 PM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
He's not wrong. "Most" don't exist because he won on racism, sexism, and Russians. The only "geniuses" were the Russians running interference for him. The rest definitely weren't geniuses...especially people who actually voted for him.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 5:44 PM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
Oh hey also the head of embassy security resigned from the State Department, while Rex is taking a few days off.
From that article:
Tillerson is planning to bring on Michael Evanoff, who was the head of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s personal security detail when she led Foggy Bottom. Rice has been advising Tillerson and was part of the effort to persuade President Trump to choose him for secretary of state. Evanoff declined to comment.
posted by Room 641-A at 5:51 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
From that article:
Tillerson is planning to bring on Michael Evanoff, who was the head of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s personal security detail when she led Foggy Bottom. Rice has been advising Tillerson and was part of the effort to persuade President Trump to choose him for secretary of state. Evanoff declined to comment.
posted by Room 641-A at 5:51 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
If anyone hasn't had enough minutiae for the week, I believe H.R.3364 is the text of the sanctions bill present to the President yesterday. Either Trump capitulates (as expected) this coming week or it becomes law anyway on either the 31st or the 1st of August. I'm not sure how the days are counted.
The bill is relatively long as sanctions are a complicated subject. I didn't read the entire thing but the sections limiting Trump's power are relatively clear. And there are other sections which change language from things like "the President is authorized and encouraged to" into "the President shall", which obviously is meant to force his hand. It's obvious this is a slap in Trump's face.
I like the faux-paper background they use for the bill on the web.
posted by Justinian at 5:53 PM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
The bill is relatively long as sanctions are a complicated subject. I didn't read the entire thing but the sections limiting Trump's power are relatively clear. And there are other sections which change language from things like "the President is authorized and encouraged to" into "the President shall", which obviously is meant to force his hand. It's obvious this is a slap in Trump's face.
I like the faux-paper background they use for the bill on the web.
posted by Justinian at 5:53 PM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
1) Fuck Condoleeza Rice
2) Fuck typing on an ipad
posted by Room 641-A at 5:54 PM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
2) Fuck typing on an ipad
posted by Room 641-A at 5:54 PM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
I want to know what Trump is reading -- which news outlet used the word "genius" to refer to any Trump-supporting Republican operative during the 2016 election? I mean, there were certainly some who could be called "shrewd", "experienced", or even "competent", but "genius"?
Seriously, I did a bunch of searches and the only person I've found who has been described in any recent article as "genius" related to Trump was... Vladimir Putin.
Maybe Trump is reading some kind of book? HA HA HA just kidding I can't believe I said that.
posted by mmoncur at 6:00 PM on July 29, 2017 [13 favorites]
Seriously, I did a bunch of searches and the only person I've found who has been described in any recent article as "genius" related to Trump was... Vladimir Putin.
Maybe Trump is reading some kind of book? HA HA HA just kidding I can't believe I said that.
posted by mmoncur at 6:00 PM on July 29, 2017 [13 favorites]
kirkaracha- "We're going to whine so much. You're going to get tired of whining."
I've been trying to fit that line in for 2 weeks, but I'm always 200 comments too late.
posted by MtDewd at 6:03 PM on July 29, 2017 [20 favorites]
I've been trying to fit that line in for 2 weeks, but I'm always 200 comments too late.
posted by MtDewd at 6:03 PM on July 29, 2017 [20 favorites]
The guy is an attention-junky. Sooooo let's all keep giving him the attention he deserves.
posted by Twang at 6:15 PM on July 29, 2017
posted by Twang at 6:15 PM on July 29, 2017
He's just a guy on MetaFilter. No big deal.
wait - which one were you talking about
posted by petebest at 6:27 PM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
wait - which one were you talking about
posted by petebest at 6:27 PM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
Trump is the monkey, while the organ grinder's accomplice picks your pocket.
posted by goutytophus at 6:37 PM on July 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by goutytophus at 6:37 PM on July 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
Speaking of the USS Condoleezza Rice the Sleepy-T Whisperer is on the board of dropbox, which is why all you app makers can forget it when they're your storage solution.
I was watching a local business ad yesterday when it occurred to me that the only thing I need to know is: do you now, or have you ever supported Trump? Real simple-like. "C'mon down to Unpainted Huffheinz where we've never supported Trump!" All I need to know, and you've got 25 more seconds to play video of a soothing waterfall. Win-win.
posted by petebest at 6:39 PM on July 29, 2017 [19 favorites]
I was watching a local business ad yesterday when it occurred to me that the only thing I need to know is: do you now, or have you ever supported Trump? Real simple-like. "C'mon down to Unpainted Huffheinz where we've never supported Trump!" All I need to know, and you've got 25 more seconds to play video of a soothing waterfall. Win-win.
posted by petebest at 6:39 PM on July 29, 2017 [19 favorites]
Wait, hold on, Scaramucci went to Tufts?? I'm gonna need to take a bath in some Lysol and I haven't even been back on campus in like six years. Ugh.
posted by lydhre at 6:43 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by lydhre at 6:43 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
Nobody with a nuclear weapon wants to use a nuclear weapon.
[citation needed]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:50 PM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
[citation needed]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:50 PM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
Trump is the monkey, while the organ grinder's accomplice picks your pocket.
Having your pockets picked is the least of your worries when the monkey's rabid and biting people at random in the crowd.
posted by dng at 6:54 PM on July 29, 2017 [12 favorites]
Having your pockets picked is the least of your worries when the monkey's rabid and biting people at random in the crowd.
posted by dng at 6:54 PM on July 29, 2017 [12 favorites]
Chimps go for the crotch first, FYI.
posted by rhizome at 7:03 PM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 7:03 PM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
IIRC, chimps go for the crotch, face, and fingers, but I'm actually not sure how they prioritize them. Start with whatever's closest I'd guess.
posted by rhizome at 7:08 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 7:08 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
I may spend most of my time lurking in these threads, but I too had to eat my cake.
posted by meese at 7:09 PM on July 29, 2017 [64 favorites]
posted by meese at 7:09 PM on July 29, 2017 [64 favorites]
Would you shop at a store called Unpainted Huffheins?
posted by kirkaracha at 7:29 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 7:29 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
I want to know what Pussy grabber is reading
hah, good one. He watches Fox News; they probably had some Brietbarter on who called Bannon a genius.
posted by carsonb at 7:33 PM on July 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
hah, good one. He watches Fox News; they probably had some Brietbarter on who called Bannon a genius.
posted by carsonb at 7:33 PM on July 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
As promised, since McCain voted "no" went and bought a box of Pinwheel cookies that I'd banned years ago from my house because I could not control my eating around them.
Am disappointed to report: they aren't that good. Either they changed the recipe or my tastebuds have become more discerning since then.
So, thanks for that, McCain? I guess that's a food I need no longer fear.
posted by emjaybee at 7:35 PM on July 29, 2017 [44 favorites]
Am disappointed to report: they aren't that good. Either they changed the recipe or my tastebuds have become more discerning since then.
So, thanks for that, McCain? I guess that's a food I need no longer fear.
posted by emjaybee at 7:35 PM on July 29, 2017 [44 favorites]
@realDonaldTrump: Unless the Republican Senators are total quitters, Repeal & Replace is not dead! Demand another vote before voting on any other bill!
@jaketapper:
I asked a Sr GOP Senate aide about this proposed strategy. His answer: "With Senator McCain changing his mind and becoming a no vote,..." 1/
2/ "...the votes aren't there right now. And new proposals will take weeks to get a score from CBO..." (congressional budget office)
3/ "...We aren't going to shut down for weeks while we wait for CBO--even if there was a proposal that had 50+ votes." -fin-
posted by chris24 at 7:38 PM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
@jaketapper:
I asked a Sr GOP Senate aide about this proposed strategy. His answer: "With Senator McCain changing his mind and becoming a no vote,..." 1/
2/ "...the votes aren't there right now. And new proposals will take weeks to get a score from CBO..." (congressional budget office)
3/ "...We aren't going to shut down for weeks while we wait for CBO--even if there was a proposal that had 50+ votes." -fin-
posted by chris24 at 7:38 PM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
If anyone hasn't had enough minutiae for the week, I believe H.R.3364 is the text of the sanctions bill present to the President yesterday.
Correct.
Either Trump capitulates (as expected) this coming week or it becomes law anyway on either the 31st or the 1st of August. I'm not sure how the days are counted.
Provided they don't adjourn it's 10 days from the 28th - it passed on the 27th but the constituion says presented to him which was the following day.
But given the efforts to say we've always been at war with Eurasia via these claims that Trump had any input on this and has gotten it where he approves I imagine he's just going to sign in order to avoid the embarrassment of being overridden.
posted by phearlez at 7:42 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Correct.
Either Trump capitulates (as expected) this coming week or it becomes law anyway on either the 31st or the 1st of August. I'm not sure how the days are counted.
Provided they don't adjourn it's 10 days from the 28th - it passed on the 27th but the constituion says presented to him which was the following day.
If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.So, presumably, that's the 29th, 31st, 1st...5th, 7th, 8th, 9th makes 10. Text says "within" so I think that means he's got all of the 9th, so on the 10th it's passed by neglect.
ARTICLE I, SECTION 7, CLAUSE 2
But given the efforts to say we've always been at war with Eurasia via these claims that Trump had any input on this and has gotten it where he approves I imagine he's just going to sign in order to avoid the embarrassment of being overridden.
posted by phearlez at 7:42 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Provided they don't adjourn it's 10 days from the 28th
I knew it was 10 days. Somehow.... somehow I lost a week? Trump makes things so surreal.
posted by Justinian at 7:45 PM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
I knew it was 10 days. Somehow.... somehow I lost a week? Trump makes things so surreal.
posted by Justinian at 7:45 PM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
Re: what Trump's talking about with the geniuses tweet.
@kevndriscoll:
Did someone print him out excerpts from @JoshuaGreen's new book?
---
The book is Devil's Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency.
posted by chris24 at 7:47 PM on July 29, 2017 [13 favorites]
@kevndriscoll:
Did someone print him out excerpts from @JoshuaGreen's new book?
---
The book is Devil's Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency.
posted by chris24 at 7:47 PM on July 29, 2017 [13 favorites]
So the Kaiser Foundation estimates that if Trump ends the cost sharing reduction payments it could end up costing the government more in increased patient subsidies than the reduction in spending on the CSRs.
So doing so is nothing but a "BLOW UP THE MARKET" button. I mean, we knew that already but its nice to see it in black and white.
posted by Justinian at 7:47 PM on July 29, 2017 [18 favorites]
So doing so is nothing but a "BLOW UP THE MARKET" button. I mean, we knew that already but its nice to see it in black and white.
posted by Justinian at 7:47 PM on July 29, 2017 [18 favorites]
Joshua Green and/or his publisher need to get a bot tweeting that book @realDonalTrump like yesterday.
posted by carsonb at 7:49 PM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by carsonb at 7:49 PM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
It's almost comforting to see that nobody has bothered with the charade of this POTUS posting a summer reading list as in POTUSes past.
Trump's summer reading list sneak preview
posted by dng at 7:49 PM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
Trump's summer reading list sneak preview
posted by dng at 7:49 PM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
10 days not including Sunday, anyway, making it a variable length of 11 to 12 days in reality. Wonder how they'd count it if it was "presented to him" on a Sunday?
Speaking of, the Congress page on all the vetoes up to now is pretty neat! Only 7 presidents have made it through their term(s) with no vetoes and as we know one of them was helped in that task by dying quickly. I wish the table had a column for how many items were presented to them for signature in total so we could more easily eyeball a percentage. (Wouldn't be hard to dig up but I'm too lazy to integrate the data)
posted by phearlez at 7:53 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Speaking of, the Congress page on all the vetoes up to now is pretty neat! Only 7 presidents have made it through their term(s) with no vetoes and as we know one of them was helped in that task by dying quickly. I wish the table had a column for how many items were presented to them for signature in total so we could more easily eyeball a percentage. (Wouldn't be hard to dig up but I'm too lazy to integrate the data)
posted by phearlez at 7:53 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Oops pressed save too soon - also interesting is the footnote about why the total count is different on this page from the numbered Presidential vetoes!
posted by phearlez at 7:55 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by phearlez at 7:55 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
"Am disappointed to report: they aren't that good. Either they changed the recipe or my tastebuds have become more discerning since then."
Did you last have them long enough ago that they've taken out the transfats? That's usually the source of my disappointment!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:06 PM on July 29, 2017 [10 favorites]
Did you last have them long enough ago that they've taken out the transfats? That's usually the source of my disappointment!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:06 PM on July 29, 2017 [10 favorites]
As promised, since McCain voted "no" went and bought a box of Pinwheel cookies...
Maybe have some Graham crackers instead? Sorry.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:09 PM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
Maybe have some Graham crackers instead? Sorry.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:09 PM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
So one thing that's been bothering me that it seemed churlish to bring up a few days ago: it seems like many Americans use single-payer healthcare and universal healthcare interchangeably. Most of the benefits of single-payer over universal healthcare are pretty marginal process things - it simplifies costs for hospitals and closes off some for-profit healthcare avenues you may or may not want. Meanwhile, universal healthcare is massive - an automatic government-administered program that looks after basic needs and threatening illnesses available to all, automatically. You get the incomparable negotiating power, you get people not having to worry about hospital debt, you get people being able to go to the hospital and deal with small problems before they become big problems.
This might be an artifact of the way the debate's gone, like how left-wing Americans are 'progressive' because 'liberal' became an epithet. Is 'universal healthcare' like that e.g. it's come to mean something different and less good? Or could it be my understanding e.g. my country uses 'universal healthcare' and it means something different to what the rest of the world means?
It bothers me because my country, Australia, has universal but not single-payer healthcare, and I've always thought it was the most likely model for America - take Medicare, make it automatic and paid for through tax increases, but private insurers provide care over the top if you want to pay for it, and most don't.
posted by Merus at 8:22 PM on July 29, 2017 [17 favorites]
This might be an artifact of the way the debate's gone, like how left-wing Americans are 'progressive' because 'liberal' became an epithet. Is 'universal healthcare' like that e.g. it's come to mean something different and less good? Or could it be my understanding e.g. my country uses 'universal healthcare' and it means something different to what the rest of the world means?
It bothers me because my country, Australia, has universal but not single-payer healthcare, and I've always thought it was the most likely model for America - take Medicare, make it automatic and paid for through tax increases, but private insurers provide care over the top if you want to pay for it, and most don't.
posted by Merus at 8:22 PM on July 29, 2017 [17 favorites]
Joshua Green and/or his publisher need to get a bot tweeting that book @realDonalTrump like yesterday.
Maybe as an ironic trigger, but keep in mind these are the people doing the thing. Going "hah, this is what happened" would look to Trump and Bannon like a music journalist writing about The Beatles in 1963, saying, "this sounds nothing like Gene Pitney."
posted by rhizome at 8:26 PM on July 29, 2017
Maybe as an ironic trigger, but keep in mind these are the people doing the thing. Going "hah, this is what happened" would look to Trump and Bannon like a music journalist writing about The Beatles in 1963, saying, "this sounds nothing like Gene Pitney."
posted by rhizome at 8:26 PM on July 29, 2017
Merus, single-payer healthcare is precisely what we do have in Australia: the government pays providers (some of which are actually or effectively publicly-owned) to supply health services to the population.
posted by Joe in Australia at 8:35 PM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Joe in Australia at 8:35 PM on July 29, 2017 [3 favorites]
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Cal) wasn't the only person needing to reclaim their time from Sec. Mnuchin's contempt during the hearing of the House Financial Services Committee. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn) and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y) had to reclaim their time multiple times as well. Rep. David Scott (D-Georgia) asked a single question but was required to re-inject forcefully with throat clearing and multiple "thank you" and "I got your answer" to make Munchin quit talking over and past him.
Mnuchin appears to have a problem being asked questions by black people. He argues and interrupts them and is far more rude and condescending to them than any of the white people. He also seems to make them repeat their questions more, like he can't understand how they dare speak, it is a filibuster trick, but he seems to use it more as a power move (in a "just because I can make you repeat I will" way).
Another good give no fucks Maxine moment was after Mnuchin called into question what Ellison was knowledgeable about (called him stupid in politer terms but the intent was clear) ... Waters wasn't having it and immediately stuck up for Ellison, punched back with a call for an apology from Mnuchin, the Chair came to his rescue and gave him time to play the indignant and injured party. Waters still wasn't done and knowing it would be hammered down still took a final shot at both the Chair and Mnuchin by reminding him he was under oath.
(This was a shot at the Chair because he chose not to swear in Mnuchin. It is a formality because people like Mnuchin swore an oath upon taking their job and the oath can be considered to carry to committees (depending on committee rules))
I have a hard time deciding who I dislike most in this cabinet, but Mnuchin is continually near the top.
posted by phoque at 8:37 PM on July 29, 2017 [78 favorites]
Mnuchin appears to have a problem being asked questions by black people. He argues and interrupts them and is far more rude and condescending to them than any of the white people. He also seems to make them repeat their questions more, like he can't understand how they dare speak, it is a filibuster trick, but he seems to use it more as a power move (in a "just because I can make you repeat I will" way).
Another good give no fucks Maxine moment was after Mnuchin called into question what Ellison was knowledgeable about (called him stupid in politer terms but the intent was clear) ... Waters wasn't having it and immediately stuck up for Ellison, punched back with a call for an apology from Mnuchin, the Chair came to his rescue and gave him time to play the indignant and injured party. Waters still wasn't done and knowing it would be hammered down still took a final shot at both the Chair and Mnuchin by reminding him he was under oath.
(This was a shot at the Chair because he chose not to swear in Mnuchin. It is a formality because people like Mnuchin swore an oath upon taking their job and the oath can be considered to carry to committees (depending on committee rules))
I have a hard time deciding who I dislike most in this cabinet, but Mnuchin is continually near the top.
posted by phoque at 8:37 PM on July 29, 2017 [78 favorites]
My understanding is that "universal healthcare" just means some system that manages to provide healthcare to everyone. Some countries have single payer, which means that the government pays for everyone's healthcare, although the actual healthcare providers may or may not be run by the government. The other big system, which is basically what Obamacare was modeled off of, is a system in which the government mandates and subsidizes universal insurance, which can be provided by highly-regulated private companies. That works ok in a lot of countries, but it may not work so well in the US, because corporations have a lot of political power here and can probably effectively resist meaningful regulation.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:40 PM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:40 PM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
Is 'universal healthcare' like that e.g. it's come to mean something different and less good?
For many conservatives, "universal healthcare" means "my hard-earned money gets taken away to pay for abortions and feelgood drugs for lazy sluts."
Many people who've grown up with full coverage through family insurance plans, and switched to their own when they got white-collar jobs, have no idea what "qualifying" for health insurance would mean, nor what kind of health problems arise from not having it. (See extreme example: a president who thinks health care costs a few dozen dollars a year.) They assume that everyone who has a decent work ethic can find a job that provides good coverage, so anyone who doesn't have healthcare must be either too lazy to work, or perhaps too criminal to have a job that provides health coverage. The idea that there are full-time long-term jobs that flat-out don't provide benefits (or sick leave, in many cases) never occurs to them - if they believe such jobs exist, they think they're intended as temp/part-time jobs for students who are covered under their parents' plans.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:41 PM on July 29, 2017 [31 favorites]
For many conservatives, "universal healthcare" means "my hard-earned money gets taken away to pay for abortions and feelgood drugs for lazy sluts."
Many people who've grown up with full coverage through family insurance plans, and switched to their own when they got white-collar jobs, have no idea what "qualifying" for health insurance would mean, nor what kind of health problems arise from not having it. (See extreme example: a president who thinks health care costs a few dozen dollars a year.) They assume that everyone who has a decent work ethic can find a job that provides good coverage, so anyone who doesn't have healthcare must be either too lazy to work, or perhaps too criminal to have a job that provides health coverage. The idea that there are full-time long-term jobs that flat-out don't provide benefits (or sick leave, in many cases) never occurs to them - if they believe such jobs exist, they think they're intended as temp/part-time jobs for students who are covered under their parents' plans.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:41 PM on July 29, 2017 [31 favorites]
So, I have this idea for a constitutional amendment or act or two. I don't know what to call it. It needs something snappy, like Freedom and Prosperity through Perspective Act or something.
The idea is that we require all future Presidential candidates/elects and maybe all sworn in senators and however many other politicos at a certain level to spend a week in orbit.
I was also considering some other sub-clause to this that they would also need to be able to accomplish a set of every day tech tasks, like at least "hello world" in at least one modern language and/or defeat a web filter and configure a home router.
But I the astronaut requirement would effectively be enough, and it would have an array benefits.
One, it would ensure that our space program was top notch and very well funded. Two, it would force the "Overview Effect" on anyone who would lead our nation. Three, it would ensure that all candidates were mentally and physically fit regardless of age. Four, it would put science back into America.
And if you can't pass the astronaut physical and training, why do you get to handle the nuclear football and be CiC?
The other amendment I strongly propose is that these same candidates have to spend a year entirely penniless. They get dropped off in a strange city's Skid Road with no ID, no money and a bare minimum of weather appropriate clothes and must rely entirely on government aid to get back on their feet. Or the kindness of strangers, based on their own countenance. Or even the work of their own hands.
To really drive the point home they're not even allowed to ask for any official help or seek work at all for the first month so they get to experience a taste of hitting rock bottom and how crazy simply being dirty, hungry, homeless and unsafe can make someone no matter how well off they are.
posted by loquacious at 8:43 PM on July 29, 2017 [28 favorites]
The idea is that we require all future Presidential candidates/elects and maybe all sworn in senators and however many other politicos at a certain level to spend a week in orbit.
I was also considering some other sub-clause to this that they would also need to be able to accomplish a set of every day tech tasks, like at least "hello world" in at least one modern language and/or defeat a web filter and configure a home router.
But I the astronaut requirement would effectively be enough, and it would have an array benefits.
One, it would ensure that our space program was top notch and very well funded. Two, it would force the "Overview Effect" on anyone who would lead our nation. Three, it would ensure that all candidates were mentally and physically fit regardless of age. Four, it would put science back into America.
And if you can't pass the astronaut physical and training, why do you get to handle the nuclear football and be CiC?
The other amendment I strongly propose is that these same candidates have to spend a year entirely penniless. They get dropped off in a strange city's Skid Road with no ID, no money and a bare minimum of weather appropriate clothes and must rely entirely on government aid to get back on their feet. Or the kindness of strangers, based on their own countenance. Or even the work of their own hands.
To really drive the point home they're not even allowed to ask for any official help or seek work at all for the first month so they get to experience a taste of hitting rock bottom and how crazy simply being dirty, hungry, homeless and unsafe can make someone no matter how well off they are.
posted by loquacious at 8:43 PM on July 29, 2017 [28 favorites]
I won't even argue the details, loq, because I really like where you're coming from there. Can you imagine such a world where that happens? It would be incredible.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 8:45 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 8:45 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
And if you can't pass the astronaut physical and training, why do you get to handle the nuclear football and be CiC?Presidents in wheelchairs need not apply?
posted by xyzzy at 8:45 PM on July 29, 2017 [40 favorites]
loquacious, can we also have an amendment that says naturalized citizens can be president? Because I'm pretty sure Ted Lieu can already meet all those requirements.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:55 PM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by Room 641-A at 8:55 PM on July 29, 2017 [8 favorites]
I have a hard time deciding who I dislike most in this cabinet, but Mnuchin is continually near the top.
And that's before you remember he should've been thrown in jail over criminal robo-signed forgery of foreclosure documents as CEO of Indymac. Thanks, Obama and Eric Holder.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:56 PM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
And that's before you remember he should've been thrown in jail over criminal robo-signed forgery of foreclosure documents as CEO of Indymac. Thanks, Obama and Eric Holder.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:56 PM on July 29, 2017 [14 favorites]
. They get dropped off in a strange city's Skid Road with no ID, no money and a bare minimum of weather appropriate clothes and must rely entirely on government aid to get back on their feet.
what a terrific way to make sure custodial parents of young children stay out of the public sphere! there are easier ways, some of them still in effect, but this one sounds more fun. plus of course it gives no unfair advantages to white people over everybody else, and by that I mean it gives a lot of them.
Presidents in wheelchairs need not apply?
That too. this has all the thrilling appeal of mandatory phys ed requirements at the post-secondary level. which I am sure some people, somewhere, are nostalgic for.
posted by queenofbithynia at 9:02 PM on July 29, 2017 [30 favorites]
what a terrific way to make sure custodial parents of young children stay out of the public sphere! there are easier ways, some of them still in effect, but this one sounds more fun. plus of course it gives no unfair advantages to white people over everybody else, and by that I mean it gives a lot of them.
Presidents in wheelchairs need not apply?
That too. this has all the thrilling appeal of mandatory phys ed requirements at the post-secondary level. which I am sure some people, somewhere, are nostalgic for.
posted by queenofbithynia at 9:02 PM on July 29, 2017 [30 favorites]
Merus, single-payer healthcare is precisely what we do have in Australia: the government pays providers (some of which are actually or effectively publicly-owned) to supply health services to the population.
It's not single payer because you have private health insurers and can run under the private system or public system as you choose. You can be a private patient in a public hospital if you want since some of the best hospitals are public. It allows people to skip the "queue" on minor elective surgeries that could take months under the public system.
posted by Talez at 9:06 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
It's not single payer because you have private health insurers and can run under the private system or public system as you choose. You can be a private patient in a public hospital if you want since some of the best hospitals are public. It allows people to skip the "queue" on minor elective surgeries that could take months under the public system.
posted by Talez at 9:06 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
It's rumored that Uncle Joe Biden called McCain in advance of the health care vote to lobby for a "no." (If you recall, VP Biden was on the verge of selling his house to pay for his adult son's brain cancer treatment, but Barack Obama stepped in to help him out financially so he wouldn't lose his home.) And, according to this tidbit from HuffPo, Joe Lieberman (!!) also called McCain to lobby for a no.
posted by xyzzy at 9:11 PM on July 29, 2017 [54 favorites]
posted by xyzzy at 9:11 PM on July 29, 2017 [54 favorites]
I propose that we only allow cyborgs who can at least punch through 2cm thick steel plating to become president
posted by XMLicious at 9:26 PM on July 29, 2017 [29 favorites]
posted by XMLicious at 9:26 PM on July 29, 2017 [29 favorites]
Pretty sure Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho could meet those requirements, loq.
posted by carsonb at 9:40 PM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by carsonb at 9:40 PM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
It allows people to skip the "queue" on minor elective surgeries that could take months under the public system.
IME people with private insurance are widely believed in Australia to also get better treatment even for essential therapies like chemo. But I only have direct experience with one person, who had private coverage.
posted by Coventry at 9:41 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
IME people with private insurance are widely believed in Australia to also get better treatment even for essential therapies like chemo. But I only have direct experience with one person, who had private coverage.
posted by Coventry at 9:41 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Can Congress cut off the president's travel budget, now that he's spent more in a year than Obama did in 7 years? Because that'd be pretty amusing.
(Also, can we make "istaphobe" a word? As in, "the GOP is the party of -ists and -phobes" collapsing to "istaphobes"? It seems like a good word!)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:44 PM on July 29, 2017 [15 favorites]
(Also, can we make "istaphobe" a word? As in, "the GOP is the party of -ists and -phobes" collapsing to "istaphobes"? It seems like a good word!)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:44 PM on July 29, 2017 [15 favorites]
Sounds like a medical condition
"My Istaphobia is actin' up"
"My amygdala is all sore and tender"
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 9:52 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
"My Istaphobia is actin' up"
"My amygdala is all sore and tender"
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 9:52 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Not sure about "istaphobe". Sounds kind of unfair to istas.
And what we really need is for anyone elected to the Presidency (or, potentially Congress), to be automatically subjected to the most intrusive financial audit possible with the results made public and provided to the FBI, IRS and AG of every state in which he/she ever resided, all before inauguration. It would've prevented Donnie from ever even thinking about running.
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:57 PM on July 29, 2017 [30 favorites]
And what we really need is for anyone elected to the Presidency (or, potentially Congress), to be automatically subjected to the most intrusive financial audit possible with the results made public and provided to the FBI, IRS and AG of every state in which he/she ever resided, all before inauguration. It would've prevented Donnie from ever even thinking about running.
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:57 PM on July 29, 2017 [30 favorites]
And what we really need is for anyone elected to the Presidency (or, potentially Congress), to be automatically subjected to the most intrusive financial audit possible with the results made public and provided to the FBI, IRS and AG of every state in which he/she ever resided, all before inauguration.
Before election, surely. I'd want to know that info before voting.
posted by greermahoney at 10:00 PM on July 29, 2017 [16 favorites]
Well, I just didn't want all the primary contenders and all the minor party candidates needlessly subjected to this if it's going to be irrelevant to the ones who won't come anywhere near the Big Job.
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:05 PM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:05 PM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm more than happy with it just being the names on the final ballot, and not for primaries. But I'd want it to be 3rd parties, too, and while we're at it, let's just do ranked choice voting.
Deal? Cool.
posted by greermahoney at 10:09 PM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
Deal? Cool.
posted by greermahoney at 10:09 PM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
what we really need is for anyone elected to the Presidency (or, potentially Congress), to be automatically subjected to the most intrusive financial audit possible with the results made public
I'd be happy to include this for people running for primaries. Want to throw your hat in the presidential ring? Tell everyone where you get your money, first. Not comfortable letting the public know that much about your finances? Then you're not ready for the job.
Make the words, "I'm running for President" mean "I welcome public scrutiny into every part of my life that's not subject to legally privileged communication." There is no banker/client privilege.
Of course, that would be mean a bunch of candidates who didn't get elected, had their finances thrown wide open. And the downside of that would be...
I'm sure there are some, but I'm pretty sure I'd believe the public's right to know details about the person who wants to give orders to the military overrides those downsides.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 10:36 PM on July 29, 2017 [28 favorites]
I'd be happy to include this for people running for primaries. Want to throw your hat in the presidential ring? Tell everyone where you get your money, first. Not comfortable letting the public know that much about your finances? Then you're not ready for the job.
Make the words, "I'm running for President" mean "I welcome public scrutiny into every part of my life that's not subject to legally privileged communication." There is no banker/client privilege.
Of course, that would be mean a bunch of candidates who didn't get elected, had their finances thrown wide open. And the downside of that would be...
I'm sure there are some, but I'm pretty sure I'd believe the public's right to know details about the person who wants to give orders to the military overrides those downsides.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 10:36 PM on July 29, 2017 [28 favorites]
I just didn't want all the primary contenders and all the minor party candidates needlessly subjected to this if it's going to be irrelevant to the ones who won't come anywhere near the Big Job.
Nah, might as well filter out the bullshit candidates early. Besides, it would need to be done by the parties as part of the primary / nomination process. You can't force these extra qualifications outside of party rules.
posted by ryanrs at 10:37 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Nah, might as well filter out the bullshit candidates early. Besides, it would need to be done by the parties as part of the primary / nomination process. You can't force these extra qualifications outside of party rules.
posted by ryanrs at 10:37 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
It occurs to me that while I hope John McCain pulls off a miracle and lives for years and years despite his prognosis (as with anyone who has cancer) realistically the governor of Arizona is going to be appointing a new Senator from Arizona some months before the midterms. Could be 2 months. Could be a year. And that Senator's vote will save or destroy Obamacare.
The pressure Ducey will be under is going to be insane.
posted by Justinian at 10:40 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
The pressure Ducey will be under is going to be insane.
posted by Justinian at 10:40 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
Mental health experts say President is 'paranoid and delusional'. We've all known this for many months but the idea seems to be getting new traction.
posted by scalefree at 10:44 PM on July 29, 2017
posted by scalefree at 10:44 PM on July 29, 2017
Well, yes, but that article appears to be from April.
posted by Justinian at 10:47 PM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 10:47 PM on July 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
No.
There is no upside to psychopathologizing Trump.
Please don't do that. Stop now.
Trump is a perfect example of shallow psychology. There is no depth there.
All we have to do is look at his behavior. His behavior shows he's a shitstain upon humanity's legacy.
His mind is irrelevant.
His behavior is important.
Stop.
posted by yesster at 10:50 PM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
There is no upside to psychopathologizing Trump.
Please don't do that. Stop now.
Trump is a perfect example of shallow psychology. There is no depth there.
All we have to do is look at his behavior. His behavior shows he's a shitstain upon humanity's legacy.
His mind is irrelevant.
His behavior is important.
Stop.
posted by yesster at 10:50 PM on July 29, 2017 [11 favorites]
Yesterday's treat:
@TunaCatsup: [picture of "Kid Rock For Senate" banner] Oh man, @SherylCrow must be rolling in her grave right now...
@SherylCrow: Dude. I'm still alive.
(six hours later)
@SherylCrow: In the studio today & I saw I'd be "rolling in my grave" - inspired me to write a song "Dude, I'm Still Alive!" @JeffreyTrott @andrewpetroff [video]
@SherylCrow: ....with lyrics, if you would like to follow along. #dudeimstillalive [screenshot]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:51 PM on July 29, 2017 [56 favorites]
@TunaCatsup: [picture of "Kid Rock For Senate" banner] Oh man, @SherylCrow must be rolling in her grave right now...
@SherylCrow: Dude. I'm still alive.
(six hours later)
@SherylCrow: In the studio today & I saw I'd be "rolling in my grave" - inspired me to write a song "Dude, I'm Still Alive!" @JeffreyTrott @andrewpetroff [video]
@SherylCrow: ....with lyrics, if you would like to follow along. #dudeimstillalive [screenshot]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:51 PM on July 29, 2017 [56 favorites]
Well, yes, but that article appears to be from April.
Well so it is. But I have started seeing a new rash of mental health professionals standing up to say it.
posted by scalefree at 10:54 PM on July 29, 2017
Well so it is. But I have started seeing a new rash of mental health professionals standing up to say it.
posted by scalefree at 10:54 PM on July 29, 2017
There is no upside to psychopathologizing Trump.
It has predictive power for his behavior. There's any number of national & world leaders already taking advantage of that.
posted by scalefree at 10:57 PM on July 29, 2017 [27 favorites]
It has predictive power for his behavior. There's any number of national & world leaders already taking advantage of that.
posted by scalefree at 10:57 PM on July 29, 2017 [27 favorites]
"Mental health experts say President is 'paranoid and delusional'." Isn't that what at least half of Trump supporters were voting for?
And the new news is: "Psychiatry group tells members they can ignore ‘Goldwater rule’ and comment on Trump’s mental health"
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:59 PM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
And the new news is: "Psychiatry group tells members they can ignore ‘Goldwater rule’ and comment on Trump’s mental health"
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:59 PM on July 29, 2017 [9 favorites]
the general rule is that you only contact people who directly represent you, right? Except if you're going to donate funds, which really gets to the crux of the issue.
Is it legal to tell a lawmaker that you'll donate to them if they vote a certain way? I get that lobbying is basically exactly that, but do lobbyists have to do it behind some kind of fig leaf?
posted by Coventry at 11:00 PM on July 29, 2017
Is it legal to tell a lawmaker that you'll donate to them if they vote a certain way? I get that lobbying is basically exactly that, but do lobbyists have to do it behind some kind of fig leaf?
posted by Coventry at 11:00 PM on July 29, 2017
Well, another Trump thread and another drawing, though this time, in honour of his recent humiliation on the senate floor, I offer a rendering of human type fartstick Mitch McConnell.
Also, if anyone would like to suggest future not so flattering rendering projects concerning the Trump government, I'm all ears.
As per usual, an open Facebook link, and please feel free to share, download, what have you.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 11:04 PM on July 29, 2017 [40 favorites]
Also, if anyone would like to suggest future not so flattering rendering projects concerning the Trump government, I'm all ears.
As per usual, an open Facebook link, and please feel free to share, download, what have you.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 11:04 PM on July 29, 2017 [40 favorites]
I have started seeing a new rash of mental health professionals [...]
No, the rash would be dermatologists. A group of psychologists is called a quirk.
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:05 PM on July 29, 2017 [106 favorites]
No, the rash would be dermatologists. A group of psychologists is called a quirk.
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:05 PM on July 29, 2017 [106 favorites]
Is it legal to tell a lawmaker that you'll donate to them if they vote a certain way?
No, it is not legal to bribe lawmakers. Not in such a direct way, at least.
posted by ryanrs at 11:09 PM on July 29, 2017
No, it is not legal to bribe lawmakers. Not in such a direct way, at least.
posted by ryanrs at 11:09 PM on July 29, 2017
There is no upside to psychopathologizing Trump.
I consider it an important item of discussion because, if the right people start to believe it, it's one of the two ways he could be taken out of office before the next election.
I also think it's one of the ways that "Well, at least he's a Republican" Trump voters can be convinced not to vote for him again.
posted by mmoncur at 11:11 PM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
I consider it an important item of discussion because, if the right people start to believe it, it's one of the two ways he could be taken out of office before the next election.
I also think it's one of the ways that "Well, at least he's a Republican" Trump voters can be convinced not to vote for him again.
posted by mmoncur at 11:11 PM on July 29, 2017 [7 favorites]
I also think it's one of the ways that "Well, at least he's a Republican" Trump voters can be convinced not to vote for him again.
There are situations where othering can be useful & productive. This is one of them. If Republican voters (& politicians for that matter) are given the out of saying Trump isn't really one of them after all it's conceivable they'd take it if they can leave the rest of their worldview intact.
posted by scalefree at 11:20 PM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
There are situations where othering can be useful & productive. This is one of them. If Republican voters (& politicians for that matter) are given the out of saying Trump isn't really one of them after all it's conceivable they'd take it if they can leave the rest of their worldview intact.
posted by scalefree at 11:20 PM on July 29, 2017 [5 favorites]
suggest future not so flattering rendering projects
Mulvaney and Sessions oh please oh please oh please
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:25 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Mulvaney and Sessions oh please oh please oh please
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:25 PM on July 29, 2017 [1 favorite]
Scary-moochy needs a much less "pretty boy" rendering...
And I don't think using the words of "Mental health experts" would convince the Trumpists who are anti-science or just anti-expert. Maybe some of them if you got the support of Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz.
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:31 PM on July 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
And I don't think using the words of "Mental health experts" would convince the Trumpists who are anti-science or just anti-expert. Maybe some of them if you got the support of Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz.
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:31 PM on July 29, 2017 [6 favorites]
It occurs to me that while I hope John McCain pulls off a miracle and lives for years and years despite his prognosis (as with anyone who has cancer) realistically the governor of Arizona is going to be appointing a new Senator from Arizona some months before the midterms. Could be 2 months. Could be a year. And that Senator's vote will save or destroy Obamacare.
But thanks to the reconciliation rules, aren't we pretty much in the clear if we make it to 2018? Like they only get one per year right? And they can't do two at the same time. So if Republicans want to do something else, like Tax Reform, won't they have to close down Healthcare Reconciliation '17 and open Tax Reform Reconciliation '18? Senate rules are confusing.
posted by Glibpaxman at 11:32 PM on July 29, 2017
But thanks to the reconciliation rules, aren't we pretty much in the clear if we make it to 2018? Like they only get one per year right? And they can't do two at the same time. So if Republicans want to do something else, like Tax Reform, won't they have to close down Healthcare Reconciliation '17 and open Tax Reform Reconciliation '18? Senate rules are confusing.
posted by Glibpaxman at 11:32 PM on July 29, 2017
But thanks to the reconciliation rules, aren't we pretty much in the clear if we make it to 2018? Like they only get one per year right? And they can't do two at the same time. So if Republicans want to do something else, like Tax Reform, won't they have to close down Healthcare Reconciliation '17 and open Tax Reform Reconciliation '18? Senate rules are confusing.
Forget it, Jake. It's Calvinball.
posted by MrVisible at 11:36 PM on July 29, 2017 [36 favorites]
Forget it, Jake. It's Calvinball.
posted by MrVisible at 11:36 PM on July 29, 2017 [36 favorites]
I'm an LCSW.
I specifically don't do psychotherapy but could, there are many discussions among my peers about how Trumps behavior really really messes with peoples minds, especially survivors of domestic violence and other types of power dynamic related violence in particular.
It's a fine line as a helping professional to do so in a way that isn't about me or my beliefs but about the benefit of the person. It's complicated to allow individuals who are trying to navigate figuring out what a healthy relationship could look like when politics come up. Some people really desperately need to hear the words the president are saying are not what one should expect in a workplace or in a home. Their litteral lives could depend on not falling in love/ not living with/getting away from/recognizing someone with similar behavior patterns.
I could care less if someone is a Republican or Democrat or wants single payer health care as a social worker or therapist. I do care about empowering people to make informed choices in their lives and live the way they want to live.
posted by AlexiaSky at 11:45 PM on July 29, 2017 [38 favorites]
I specifically don't do psychotherapy but could, there are many discussions among my peers about how Trumps behavior really really messes with peoples minds, especially survivors of domestic violence and other types of power dynamic related violence in particular.
It's a fine line as a helping professional to do so in a way that isn't about me or my beliefs but about the benefit of the person. It's complicated to allow individuals who are trying to navigate figuring out what a healthy relationship could look like when politics come up. Some people really desperately need to hear the words the president are saying are not what one should expect in a workplace or in a home. Their litteral lives could depend on not falling in love/ not living with/getting away from/recognizing someone with similar behavior patterns.
I could care less if someone is a Republican or Democrat or wants single payer health care as a social worker or therapist. I do care about empowering people to make informed choices in their lives and live the way they want to live.
posted by AlexiaSky at 11:45 PM on July 29, 2017 [38 favorites]
Also, back to McConnell. The lust for power, as people here have commented, is accurate, but I also get the sense that the mission to give the wealthiest people in the U.S. a massive break in taxes is also an over riding concern for him.
Anyone here knows who funds him and what they expect from the Jowl That Walks Like A Man?
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 11:51 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
Anyone here knows who funds him and what they expect from the Jowl That Walks Like A Man?
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 11:51 PM on July 29, 2017 [4 favorites]
Scalefree: There are situations where othering can be useful & productive.
Like, when they're not on our side? Do you think calling Trump psychotic really helps? Attack the man's actions, his unstatesmanlike words, his contradictory public positions, but don't ever imagine that, by labelling him, you are doing something of value.
posted by CCBC at 12:04 AM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Like, when they're not on our side? Do you think calling Trump psychotic really helps? Attack the man's actions, his unstatesmanlike words, his contradictory public positions, but don't ever imagine that, by labelling him, you are doing something of value.
posted by CCBC at 12:04 AM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
I saw this comment on an NYT article about psychological well-being:
[The article and comments are quite AskMefiesque.]
posted by runcifex at 12:05 AM on July 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
... I'm 70, and so far, so good. The dozens of goldfinches at my feeders are eating me out of house and home, and I rejoice at this (admittedly transactional) friendship. Some of them spend more time fighting off the others than actually eating, but 'twas ever thus. They are the Trumpists of their species, and don't seem to be enjoying themselves at all. Maybe someone should instruct them to meditate.I don't know why, but I'm giggling contently while picturing this image of finches. I'm sure there's a factual explanation of their behaviour in the animal kingdom, but Trumpist finches are just ... the benign levity I'd occasionally allow my self, especially on Sunday.
[The article and comments are quite AskMefiesque.]
posted by runcifex at 12:05 AM on July 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
Well, Sunday's Doonesbury is appropriately Trump-centric, but a distracting detail (he's still ordering Priebus around) shows how these days even a few days lead time is too much. (Still, the Hollywood casting agent in the last panel is a timeless character in Doonesbury-land.)
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:16 AM on July 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:16 AM on July 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
My point is that for some the psychopathology of Trump is an important topic, especially for vulnerable adults who have a hard time building supportive relationships .
But also without getting to much into diagnosis discussion derail, understanding his personality traits/profile really highlights the discufuction and explains what is going on in an academic way. Confoundingly, most people with these traits at this level of display end up in pretty bad places like jail or prision. Money and privilege are protective factors against that IMO, though some argue Trump can't be psychopathologized because he isn't experiencing functional difficulty. (I'd argue he is due to reports of how much reassurance he needs).
posted by AlexiaSky at 12:18 AM on July 30, 2017 [23 favorites]
But also without getting to much into diagnosis discussion derail, understanding his personality traits/profile really highlights the discufuction and explains what is going on in an academic way. Confoundingly, most people with these traits at this level of display end up in pretty bad places like jail or prision. Money and privilege are protective factors against that IMO, though some argue Trump can't be psychopathologized because he isn't experiencing functional difficulty. (I'd argue he is due to reports of how much reassurance he needs).
posted by AlexiaSky at 12:18 AM on July 30, 2017 [23 favorites]
most people with these traits at this level of display end up in pretty bad places like jail or prison
Fingers crossed.
posted by ryanrs at 12:25 AM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
Fingers crossed.
posted by ryanrs at 12:25 AM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
AlexiaSky: My point is that othering Trump serves no useful purpose and that using psychiatric labels this way turns mental illness into an accusation or an epithet.
posted by CCBC at 12:45 AM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by CCBC at 12:45 AM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
A not-officially-political comic by Darrin Bell today has a sadly accurate depiction of "MAGA Thinking".
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:08 AM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:08 AM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
Mod note: A couple deleted. Please drop the "may people mention professional opinions of a possible Trump psychiatric issue" debate now. It's not verboten on the site, and major news organizations are covering it. That said, let's also be aware of the long history of using medical diagnoses as weapons and instruments of oppression against marginalized people, and not unthinkingly buoy that up. Please be thoughtful and careful.
posted by taz (staff) at 1:32 AM on July 30, 2017 [27 favorites]
posted by taz (staff) at 1:32 AM on July 30, 2017 [27 favorites]
Phlegmco(tm), this one should wait until impeachment: a last supper style tableaux with him and all his enablers.
posted by Meatbomb at 3:56 AM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Meatbomb at 3:56 AM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
I mean, if we're doing wishlists for electoral reform:
- Ranked choice voting
- Electorates drawn either by an independent, non-partisan body, or by a computer algorithm if you can't plug the ratfuckery
- Plugging the Citizens United hole
- Public money for elections only (and yes, Bernie, taking donations from small donors still counts as private money)
- Voting moved to a weekend, which is a public holiday
- Presidential candidates may declare and primaries can start no more than four months before the election
- Being on the electoral roll and attending the voting booth are both easy, and compulsory (I know Americans say this isn't democratic but a) it's my wishlist, not yours and b) Australia does it, and which between Australia and the United States looks the most like a functioning democracy right now?)
- Replace the Electoral College (which is this weird formality that doesn't seem to have a purpose) with a point system - say, 10000 points, awarded proportionally based on the popular vote. (I think there's real risk that less populous states aren't able to get someone who speaks for them, so I think it's important the system lets them put their thumb on the scale a bit and get slightly more points than they would based purely on population, but their interests are better represented in the Senate.)
- Let's get even wilder: double the size of the House. The new half's representatives are awarded to political parties so that the total makeup of the House is as close as possible to the country's popular vote in House elections. (New Zealand does this, and it's nuts and I love it. For instance, if 5% of Americans vote for the Green Party, they won't win any of the directly elected seats, but they'll be awarded seats in the House so that 5% of House reps are Green Party reps.)
Ah, DJT Jr's emails. Good lord, that feels like forever ago.
Here's my hope: I hope that we're getting to the point where the clock has run out on ACA repeal in the Senate. Part of me says that they're going to ignore public opinion and try again. I mean, that seems to be life now. But the other part of me says that enough Senators have gotten the point that people don't want this and they don't want to spend the political capital on this. If we can get to next year without a repeal, I think it's going to survive (although Trump is working on sabotaging it.) Repeal is a vote that a lot of them don't want to take in an election year. But, as stated upthread, we're playing Calvinball right now. I do have even money on McConnell being bounced out as Majority Leader, though.
posted by azpenguin at 4:02 AM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Here's my hope: I hope that we're getting to the point where the clock has run out on ACA repeal in the Senate. Part of me says that they're going to ignore public opinion and try again. I mean, that seems to be life now. But the other part of me says that enough Senators have gotten the point that people don't want this and they don't want to spend the political capital on this. If we can get to next year without a repeal, I think it's going to survive (although Trump is working on sabotaging it.) Repeal is a vote that a lot of them don't want to take in an election year. But, as stated upthread, we're playing Calvinball right now. I do have even money on McConnell being bounced out as Majority Leader, though.
posted by azpenguin at 4:02 AM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Electorates drawn either by an independent, non-partisan body, or by a computer algorithm if you can't plug the ratfuckery
awarded to political parties so that the total makeup of the House is as close as possible to the country's popular vote in House elections.
There is a bill in the House right now which would be a first step toward multi-member districts and proportional representation. You can call your reps and ask them to support it! Tell your friends to do the same!
It's going to take years to get traction, but at least there is concrete action you can take.
You can also support the National Popular Vote Compact in your state legislature.
posted by OnceUponATime at 4:44 AM on July 30, 2017 [13 favorites]
awarded to political parties so that the total makeup of the House is as close as possible to the country's popular vote in House elections.
There is a bill in the House right now which would be a first step toward multi-member districts and proportional representation. You can call your reps and ask them to support it! Tell your friends to do the same!
It's going to take years to get traction, but at least there is concrete action you can take.
You can also support the National Popular Vote Compact in your state legislature.
posted by OnceUponATime at 4:44 AM on July 30, 2017 [13 favorites]
More rebukes from police departments. And while we know this is not representative of actual cops (or even, in practice, the people speaking out) it's still stunning to see traditional "tough on crime" sectors speaking out so publicly against a sitting Republican president. Add to the list:
New York police commissioner James P. O’Neill
Ben Tobias, a spokesman for the police department in Gainesville, Florida
LAPD
Boston Police Commissioner William Evans
The first three, at least, not known for their progressive policing.
posted by Room 641-A at 5:06 AM on July 30, 2017 [22 favorites]
New York police commissioner James P. O’Neill
Ben Tobias, a spokesman for the police department in Gainesville, Florida
LAPD
Boston Police Commissioner William Evans
The first three, at least, not known for their progressive policing.
posted by Room 641-A at 5:06 AM on July 30, 2017 [22 favorites]
"Proctocrat" indeed has a Menckenian ring attached to it.
posted by runcifex at 5:20 AM on July 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by runcifex at 5:20 AM on July 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
#EuphemismsForLyingYourAssOff
"Regardless, it is not the norm that 21-year-olds pay that little [$12 or $15] each year, or each month, for insurance on the Obamacare market. Most Americans pay significantly more than that for health insurance, even young people."
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/20/trump-thinks-young-people-pay-12-for-health-insurance.html
posted by Evilspork at 5:25 AM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
"Regardless, it is not the norm that 21-year-olds pay that little [$12 or $15] each year, or each month, for insurance on the Obamacare market. Most Americans pay significantly more than that for health insurance, even young people."
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/20/trump-thinks-young-people-pay-12-for-health-insurance.html
posted by Evilspork at 5:25 AM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
I think long wish lists of policy changes we would like to see are at best a coping mechanism.
...
That looks to me like a coping strategy and the lists of policy desiderata start to read like fever dreams.
...
We will be very lucky and hard put trying to crawl this country back to some sort of stability for years .... IF we survive as a democracy.
...
We will still be in a tactical dogfight for years with the white nationalist faction and their sympathizers.
I agree to an extent, but I actually find a lot of value in "lists of policy desiderata". One, because I don't always know what I want. I read those lists, and I know I'm not the only one. They help me cope and focus my energy. Two, because our ideological opponents seem intent on painting anyone left of center (whatever value of center you want) as Luigi Galleani, and there's a big difference between that and simply wanting better schools or less police brutality or something (or maybe you really do want to bomb police stations and dodge the draft (and I'm not implying that you do, just a general example), but if so, I think knowing the difference would also serve your cause). Third, we harangue the Dems and each other for not standing for something. Well? Policy wishlists are a direct answer to that accusation. Four, it's a much better coping mechanism than slathering graffiti on an immigrant's house, buying a new SUV, carrying a gun, or posting Pepe memes on non-political subreddits, which is what they do.
posted by saysthis at 5:28 AM on July 30, 2017 [17 favorites]
...
That looks to me like a coping strategy and the lists of policy desiderata start to read like fever dreams.
...
We will be very lucky and hard put trying to crawl this country back to some sort of stability for years .... IF we survive as a democracy.
...
We will still be in a tactical dogfight for years with the white nationalist faction and their sympathizers.
I agree to an extent, but I actually find a lot of value in "lists of policy desiderata". One, because I don't always know what I want. I read those lists, and I know I'm not the only one. They help me cope and focus my energy. Two, because our ideological opponents seem intent on painting anyone left of center (whatever value of center you want) as Luigi Galleani, and there's a big difference between that and simply wanting better schools or less police brutality or something (or maybe you really do want to bomb police stations and dodge the draft (and I'm not implying that you do, just a general example), but if so, I think knowing the difference would also serve your cause). Third, we harangue the Dems and each other for not standing for something. Well? Policy wishlists are a direct answer to that accusation. Four, it's a much better coping mechanism than slathering graffiti on an immigrant's house, buying a new SUV, carrying a gun, or posting Pepe memes on non-political subreddits, which is what they do.
posted by saysthis at 5:28 AM on July 30, 2017 [17 favorites]
Ranked choice voting
Just so we're clear, ranked-choice voting does not guarantee proportionality. That's fine--proportionality is something you can choose to prioritise or not in a voting system--but usually people in advancing it as this magic alternative eliminating all flaws of FPTP assert it's proportional.
posted by hoyland at 5:30 AM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
Just so we're clear, ranked-choice voting does not guarantee proportionality. That's fine--proportionality is something you can choose to prioritise or not in a voting system--but usually people in advancing it as this magic alternative eliminating all flaws of FPTP assert it's proportional.
posted by hoyland at 5:30 AM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
Ranked choice voting guarantees you can vote your conscience without accidentally empowering the greater of two evils. That is valuable in itself. But seriously everybody, that FairVote plan combines ranked choice with proprotionality and does not even require a constitutional ammendment. Go read about it.
posted by OnceUponATime at 5:56 AM on July 30, 2017 [17 favorites]
posted by OnceUponATime at 5:56 AM on July 30, 2017 [17 favorites]
Ho-lee-crap, lalex!
posted by Room 641-A at 6:19 AM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Room 641-A at 6:19 AM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
Wowsers - that is straight out of the Joe Goebbels playbook. Pitch perfect.
posted by Devonian at 6:23 AM on July 30, 2017
posted by Devonian at 6:23 AM on July 30, 2017
There's a big, obvious reason why much of my 'electoral reform' wishlist for America is drawn from how Australia and New Zealand does it! Here's a hint: I don't have reps to call, but Americans definitely should do so!
I think long wish lists of policy changes we would like to see are at best a coping mechanism.
Yeah, not always.
I mean, I can understand the impulse to question whether talking on the internet is any kind of substitute for actual political action. I strongly doubt that Twitter threads of analysis count as 'work' or 'helping the #Resistance'* anywhere near as much as showing up to rallies and calling senators and knocking on doors. But I think there's potentially some value in lists like this. There's a little bit of community building; there's an opportunity to genuinely bring up new ideas, as long as they're explained well; there's the potential to try and find ways to reframe and explain popular ideas so people who are doing the necessary work can try different approaches. I pointed out upthread that Murkowski got why Obamacare mattered to her constituents from a couple of different stories: one saying it made it possible to get insurance at all, another one fearing they'd be classified as having a pre-existing condition and losing their current insurance. Those people saying 'save Obamacare' won't be any more persuasive through sheer numbers; it's through sharing stories and finding different ways of saying the same thing that we'll be more persuasive. These kind of wishlists give people a chance to practice and to compare notes.
Just so we're clear, ranked-choice voting does not guarantee proportionality.
Let's start here: I think ranked choice is important because it makes your vote more valuable. You can make sure all the candidates you like benefit from your vote, and you can vote for a Libertarian or a Green without throwing your vote away or having them 'spoil' the election. It's not a complete solution on its own, as mentioned - if there's only one seat, there can still be only one winner and that is never a minor party despite them having some support - but it's still valuable on its own.
I'm also aware you can't really make a voting system that reflects the will of the electorate perfectly - there's always going to be circumstances where tactical voting better helps your preferences than just voting for them, or where someone wins who has less support. The more you try and fix it, the more complicated it becomes - but still, I think there's room to improve on the way America currently does it.
* I am definitely not subscribing to your Patreon
posted by Merus at 6:23 AM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
I think long wish lists of policy changes we would like to see are at best a coping mechanism.
Yeah, not always.
I mean, I can understand the impulse to question whether talking on the internet is any kind of substitute for actual political action. I strongly doubt that Twitter threads of analysis count as 'work' or 'helping the #Resistance'* anywhere near as much as showing up to rallies and calling senators and knocking on doors. But I think there's potentially some value in lists like this. There's a little bit of community building; there's an opportunity to genuinely bring up new ideas, as long as they're explained well; there's the potential to try and find ways to reframe and explain popular ideas so people who are doing the necessary work can try different approaches. I pointed out upthread that Murkowski got why Obamacare mattered to her constituents from a couple of different stories: one saying it made it possible to get insurance at all, another one fearing they'd be classified as having a pre-existing condition and losing their current insurance. Those people saying 'save Obamacare' won't be any more persuasive through sheer numbers; it's through sharing stories and finding different ways of saying the same thing that we'll be more persuasive. These kind of wishlists give people a chance to practice and to compare notes.
Just so we're clear, ranked-choice voting does not guarantee proportionality.
Let's start here: I think ranked choice is important because it makes your vote more valuable. You can make sure all the candidates you like benefit from your vote, and you can vote for a Libertarian or a Green without throwing your vote away or having them 'spoil' the election. It's not a complete solution on its own, as mentioned - if there's only one seat, there can still be only one winner and that is never a minor party despite them having some support - but it's still valuable on its own.
I'm also aware you can't really make a voting system that reflects the will of the electorate perfectly - there's always going to be circumstances where tactical voting better helps your preferences than just voting for them, or where someone wins who has less support. The more you try and fix it, the more complicated it becomes - but still, I think there's room to improve on the way America currently does it.
* I am definitely not subscribing to your Patreon
posted by Merus at 6:23 AM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Lalex I was just reading about this! The first tweet is in response to:
@christina Wilkie Priebus warned Trump not to hire Scaramucci, saying SkyBridge Capital's buyers overpaid because he'd promised them special access to Trump.
To which Arthur Schwartz responds with the tweet about the mistress and: Hey @Reince. Remember when people told you that it was me that was trashing you in the press? They were right. Happy to start again, 🦌.
The stag emoji is in reference to Priebus' nickname, Prancer.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:32 AM on July 30, 2017 [23 favorites]
@christina Wilkie Priebus warned Trump not to hire Scaramucci, saying SkyBridge Capital's buyers overpaid because he'd promised them special access to Trump.
To which Arthur Schwartz responds with the tweet about the mistress and: Hey @Reince. Remember when people told you that it was me that was trashing you in the press? They were right. Happy to start again, 🦌.
The stag emoji is in reference to Priebus' nickname, Prancer.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:32 AM on July 30, 2017 [23 favorites]
@realDonaldTrump: ...they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk. We will no longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem!
Followed directly in the tweet stream
@realDonaldTrump: Don't give up Republican Senators, the World is watching: Repeal & Replace...and go to 51 votes (nuke option), get Cross State Lines & more.
So...call me crazy...but may not be the best idea to use the phrases "nuke option", "the world is watching", and "get cross state lines" when also tweeting about North Korea. You know - just in case. It wouldn't be very presidential to start a nuclear exchange because you get some words mixed in a tweet. Kthxbye.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 6:38 AM on July 30, 2017 [19 favorites]
Followed directly in the tweet stream
@realDonaldTrump: Don't give up Republican Senators, the World is watching: Repeal & Replace...and go to 51 votes (nuke option), get Cross State Lines & more.
So...call me crazy...but may not be the best idea to use the phrases "nuke option", "the world is watching", and "get cross state lines" when also tweeting about North Korea. You know - just in case. It wouldn't be very presidential to start a nuclear exchange because you get some words mixed in a tweet. Kthxbye.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 6:38 AM on July 30, 2017 [19 favorites]
And now trolls are demanding Jake Tapper should be confronted at Politicon using the hashtag #CNNisISIS. Unbelievable. We've gone from "lamestream media" to "fake news" to CNN is a terrorist group.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:39 AM on July 30, 2017 [22 favorites]
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:39 AM on July 30, 2017 [22 favorites]
The Sanctimony and Sin of G.O.P. ‘Moderates’ (Paul Krugman, NYT)
posted by Room 641-A at 6:44 AM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
I started with McCain because so many journalists still fall for his pose as an independent-minded maverick, ignoring the reality that he has almost always been a reliable partisan yes-man whenever it matters. Incredibly, some commentators actually praised his performance earlier this week, focusing on his noble-sounding words and ignoring his utterly craven actions.(If you hit a paywall, try opening in incognito mode.)
posted by Room 641-A at 6:44 AM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
Surely there are more discrete ways to intimidate someone into silence than blackmailing them in a public forum? Every time I think this can't get more clownshow, it becomes more clownshow.
We've gone from "lamestream media" to "fake news" to CNN is a terrorist group.
The alt-right has latched onto the idea that saying mean things about them is literally a form of terror. It's a hell of a drug.
posted by Room 101 at 6:45 AM on July 30, 2017 [18 favorites]
We've gone from "lamestream media" to "fake news" to CNN is a terrorist group.
The alt-right has latched onto the idea that saying mean things about them is literally a form of terror. It's a hell of a drug.
posted by Room 101 at 6:45 AM on July 30, 2017 [18 favorites]
Unbelievable. We've gone from "lamestream media" to "fake news" to CNN is a terrorist group.
Alex Jones/Infowars/Cernovich are openly paying bounties for viewers to display "CNN is ISIS" signs on TV. Monetization/gamification of this stuff is going to continue as long as people keep buying Jones' Super Male Vitality snake oil and Infowars-brand fluoride-free toothpaste.
posted by Rust Moranis at 6:46 AM on July 30, 2017 [19 favorites]
Alex Jones/Infowars/Cernovich are openly paying bounties for viewers to display "CNN is ISIS" signs on TV. Monetization/gamification of this stuff is going to continue as long as people keep buying Jones' Super Male Vitality snake oil and Infowars-brand fluoride-free toothpaste.
posted by Rust Moranis at 6:46 AM on July 30, 2017 [19 favorites]
It's all part of the normalization of the view of unsympathetic media as Lugenpresse.
For autocracy to thrive, all of the countervailing institutions - the independent judiciary, the free press, the universal voting franchise, etc. - must be suborned, demonized, or otherwise marginalized.
We're watching it happen in real time.
posted by darkstar at 6:48 AM on July 30, 2017 [56 favorites]
For autocracy to thrive, all of the countervailing institutions - the independent judiciary, the free press, the universal voting franchise, etc. - must be suborned, demonized, or otherwise marginalized.
We're watching it happen in real time.
posted by darkstar at 6:48 AM on July 30, 2017 [56 favorites]
This on Trump/Scaramucci and toxic masculinity is getting love on political twitter: Death of a F***ing Salesman
These guys don’t want to see Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross. What they want is to be Blake. They want to swagger, to curse, to insult, and to exercise power over men, exercising power over men being the classical means to the end of exercising power over women, which is of course what this, and nine-tenths of everything else in human affairs, is about. Blake is a specimen of that famous creature, the “alpha male,” and establishing and advertising one’s alpha creds is an obsession for some sexually unhappy contemporary men. There is a whole weird little ecosystem of websites (some of them very amusing) and pickup-artist manuals offering men tips on how to be more alpha, more dominant, more commanding, a literature that performs roughly the same function in the lives of these men that Cosmopolitan sex tips play in the lives of insecure women. Of course this advice ends up producing cartoonish, ridiculous behavior. If you’re wondering where Anthony Scaramucci learned to talk and behave like such a Scaramuccia, ask him how many times he’s seen Glengarry Glen Ross.
It's an accurate description of the New York douchebro mindset, but the conclusion is that of the entire Republican party:
So, listen up, Team Trump: “Put that coffee down. Coffee is for closers only.”
Republican critics still are not turning on Trump and his team of clowns, even to the tiny extent that they are, out of any concern for good policy, that kicking millions of people off health care is evil, or persuasion that tax cuts maybe dont fix all things. No, they're upset because Trump isn't doing enough terrible things fast enough. They want him to close. Close Obamacare/Medicaid repeal. Close billionare tax cuts. Close pulling out of Paris. Close pulling out of the Iran deal. Close appointing 200+ Gorsuchs. Close reigniting the drug war. Close massive voter suppression. They're getting tired of his insanity stopping them from creating a white nationalist utopia along the model of Putin's Russia.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:58 AM on July 30, 2017 [49 favorites]
These guys don’t want to see Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross. What they want is to be Blake. They want to swagger, to curse, to insult, and to exercise power over men, exercising power over men being the classical means to the end of exercising power over women, which is of course what this, and nine-tenths of everything else in human affairs, is about. Blake is a specimen of that famous creature, the “alpha male,” and establishing and advertising one’s alpha creds is an obsession for some sexually unhappy contemporary men. There is a whole weird little ecosystem of websites (some of them very amusing) and pickup-artist manuals offering men tips on how to be more alpha, more dominant, more commanding, a literature that performs roughly the same function in the lives of these men that Cosmopolitan sex tips play in the lives of insecure women. Of course this advice ends up producing cartoonish, ridiculous behavior. If you’re wondering where Anthony Scaramucci learned to talk and behave like such a Scaramuccia, ask him how many times he’s seen Glengarry Glen Ross.
It's an accurate description of the New York douchebro mindset, but the conclusion is that of the entire Republican party:
So, listen up, Team Trump: “Put that coffee down. Coffee is for closers only.”
Republican critics still are not turning on Trump and his team of clowns, even to the tiny extent that they are, out of any concern for good policy, that kicking millions of people off health care is evil, or persuasion that tax cuts maybe dont fix all things. No, they're upset because Trump isn't doing enough terrible things fast enough. They want him to close. Close Obamacare/Medicaid repeal. Close billionare tax cuts. Close pulling out of Paris. Close pulling out of the Iran deal. Close appointing 200+ Gorsuchs. Close reigniting the drug war. Close massive voter suppression. They're getting tired of his insanity stopping them from creating a white nationalist utopia along the model of Putin's Russia.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:58 AM on July 30, 2017 [49 favorites]
People are still discussing the President's tweet from yesterday:
If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!
because nobody seems to know what the "bailouts for members of Congress" means except it sounds like a threat. People are speculating that he means he won't pay the subsidies for their ACA plans although how that is in his control is confusing me.
This tweet about China also confuses me:
I am very disappointed in China. Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet...
"Allowed them to make hundreds of billions" wut? America is addicted to cheap imports. Is he saying previous Presidents should have limited imports? Taxed them? Forced China to swap merchandise for merchandise rather than money?
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:10 AM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!
because nobody seems to know what the "bailouts for members of Congress" means except it sounds like a threat. People are speculating that he means he won't pay the subsidies for their ACA plans although how that is in his control is confusing me.
This tweet about China also confuses me:
I am very disappointed in China. Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet...
"Allowed them to make hundreds of billions" wut? America is addicted to cheap imports. Is he saying previous Presidents should have limited imports? Taxed them? Forced China to swap merchandise for merchandise rather than money?
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:10 AM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
The fact that National Review is even publishing something that could be described as discussing toxic masculinity is notable.
That was my (and some people on twitter's) description though. The point of the NR writer seems to be that the false bravado is getting in the way of inflicting actual pain on millions of the most vulnerable. NR and people like Rick Wilson, Egg, Bill Kristol, etc, would happily trade the Trump/Mooch/Blake-from-Glengarry alpha male posturing ineffectiveness for Mike Pence's no less toxic brand of creepy-Jesus-Patriarch masculinity if it meant Obamacare repeal and tax cuts and every other parade of horrors could pass the Senate.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:13 AM on July 30, 2017 [10 favorites]
That was my (and some people on twitter's) description though. The point of the NR writer seems to be that the false bravado is getting in the way of inflicting actual pain on millions of the most vulnerable. NR and people like Rick Wilson, Egg, Bill Kristol, etc, would happily trade the Trump/Mooch/Blake-from-Glengarry alpha male posturing ineffectiveness for Mike Pence's no less toxic brand of creepy-Jesus-Patriarch masculinity if it meant Obamacare repeal and tax cuts and every other parade of horrors could pass the Senate.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:13 AM on July 30, 2017 [10 favorites]
Being on the electoral roll and attending the voting booth are both easy, and compulsory (I know Americans say this isn't democratic but a) it's my wishlist, not yours and b) Australia does it, and which between Australia and the United States looks the most like a functioning democracy right now?)
An EMT friend of mine has told me they had to stop using 'who is the prime minister?' as a test for concussion, because in Australia we went from Howard->Rudd->Gillard->Abbot->Turnbull in the space of a single US presidential term.
posted by adept256 at 7:25 AM on July 30, 2017 [17 favorites]
An EMT friend of mine has told me they had to stop using 'who is the prime minister?' as a test for concussion, because in Australia we went from Howard->Rudd->Gillard->Abbot->Turnbull in the space of a single US presidential term.
posted by adept256 at 7:25 AM on July 30, 2017 [17 favorites]
because nobody seems to know what the "bailouts for members of Congress" means except it sounds like a threat
I expect he means that he'll tell OPM to stop kicking in for their health insurance. There seems to be conservative wharrgarbl about how this means that MCs aren't under Obamacare. Which is stupid, but, well.
MCs and some of their staff lost their federal health insurance under the ACA and have to either go on the exchanges, rely on a spouse's employer-provided coverage, or rely on old employer coverage if available. But the feds still pay what would have been the employer contribution towards a federal plan, just as a direct subsidy. This relies on OPM decisions of some sort that a sitting president could maybe reverse.
Maybe because if the feds paying is a result of formal rulemaking under the APA or similar, just the president saying so wouldn't make it happen. There would still have to be hearings or hearing-like events and opportunities for other public input and OPM would still have to make a decision supported by the data, input given at hearings, and other public input.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:27 AM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
I expect he means that he'll tell OPM to stop kicking in for their health insurance. There seems to be conservative wharrgarbl about how this means that MCs aren't under Obamacare. Which is stupid, but, well.
MCs and some of their staff lost their federal health insurance under the ACA and have to either go on the exchanges, rely on a spouse's employer-provided coverage, or rely on old employer coverage if available. But the feds still pay what would have been the employer contribution towards a federal plan, just as a direct subsidy. This relies on OPM decisions of some sort that a sitting president could maybe reverse.
Maybe because if the feds paying is a result of formal rulemaking under the APA or similar, just the president saying so wouldn't make it happen. There would still have to be hearings or hearing-like events and opportunities for other public input and OPM would still have to make a decision supported by the data, input given at hearings, and other public input.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:27 AM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
because nobody seems to know what the "bailouts for members of Congress" means except it sounds like a threat. People are speculating that he means he won't pay the subsidies for their ACA plans although how that is in his control is confusing me.
When Obamacare passed, Grassley added an amendment that said Congress - including staffers - had to buy insurance through the exchanges. Basically forcing them off of employer provided insurance with its corresponding employer contribution to having to pay full freight on the exchanges. To fix this problem, the Obama administration ruled that the government, as employer, would help subsidize Obamacare for Congress and staffers up to 75% of the cost of a Gold Plan. Since this is an executive administration ruling regarding the law, it is absolutely something Trump can stop doing. If he did, all Congresscritters and staffers would see their insurance costs triple if they stay on Gold, or increase significantly with reduced benefits if they move to Silver or Bronze. Or lose insurance if they can't afford and elect to pay the fine.
posted by chris24 at 7:30 AM on July 30, 2017 [17 favorites]
When Obamacare passed, Grassley added an amendment that said Congress - including staffers - had to buy insurance through the exchanges. Basically forcing them off of employer provided insurance with its corresponding employer contribution to having to pay full freight on the exchanges. To fix this problem, the Obama administration ruled that the government, as employer, would help subsidize Obamacare for Congress and staffers up to 75% of the cost of a Gold Plan. Since this is an executive administration ruling regarding the law, it is absolutely something Trump can stop doing. If he did, all Congresscritters and staffers would see their insurance costs triple if they stay on Gold, or increase significantly with reduced benefits if they move to Silver or Bronze. Or lose insurance if they can't afford and elect to pay the fine.
posted by chris24 at 7:30 AM on July 30, 2017 [17 favorites]
I don't think 45 is yet clear on the idea that Congress are not his employees and he cannot take away their salaries and benefits.
He's mostly just looking for some way to hurt/control people around him to get what he wants, so expect more nonsensical lashing out.
I like the lists of Ideal Fixes for Democracy because they often introduce me to new ideas. However at the moment I'd like a fix that involves making our voting booths secure, because at Defcon they broke into some decommissioned electronic voting machines in minutes without much effort. I'm about ready to go back to Scantron machines at this point.
posted by emjaybee at 7:31 AM on July 30, 2017 [13 favorites]
He's mostly just looking for some way to hurt/control people around him to get what he wants, so expect more nonsensical lashing out.
I like the lists of Ideal Fixes for Democracy because they often introduce me to new ideas. However at the moment I'd like a fix that involves making our voting booths secure, because at Defcon they broke into some decommissioned electronic voting machines in minutes without much effort. I'm about ready to go back to Scantron machines at this point.
posted by emjaybee at 7:31 AM on July 30, 2017 [13 favorites]
I'm about ready to go back to Scantron machines at this point.
That's on my wishlist.
posted by saysthis at 7:34 AM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
That's on my wishlist.
posted by saysthis at 7:34 AM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
Forget Breitbart: the White House has a new favorite rightwing media outlet.
And so the infighting continues.
Jared Kushner reportedly “struck a deal” with Sinclair during the campaign to “secure better media coverage” .
posted by adamvasco at 7:34 AM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
And so the infighting continues.
Jared Kushner reportedly “struck a deal” with Sinclair during the campaign to “secure better media coverage” .
posted by adamvasco at 7:34 AM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
Collins: Trump’s Threat Would Not Affect My Vote Against GOP O’Care Repeal Bill (Esme Cribb, TPM)
posted by Room 641-A at 7:38 AM on July 30, 2017 [132 favorites]
“I got off the plane and there was a large group of outbound passengers, none of whom I happened to know, and spontaneously some of them started applauding, and then virtually all of them started to applaud,” she said.I can't wait to see the reception the other senators get when they go home.
Collins said “it was just amazing.”
“I’ve never had that happen in the 20 years that I’ve been privileged to serve in the Senate, so it was very encouraging and affirming, especially arriving back home after a very difficult time,” she said. “It really was so extraordinary, heartwarming and affirming.”
posted by Room 641-A at 7:38 AM on July 30, 2017 [132 favorites]
I expect he means that he'll tell OPM to stop kicking in for their health insurance.
Yeah, again with a CURRENT POLICY, when the premium payments stop coming in, the policy is CANCELLED. In other words, when Trump/Mulvaney try this bullshit, the INSURERS will just cancel thousands of policies. Easy Peasy. Of course there MAY be some political fallout from Congress and their staffs..
posted by mikelieman at 7:39 AM on July 30, 2017
Yeah, again with a CURRENT POLICY, when the premium payments stop coming in, the policy is CANCELLED. In other words, when Trump/Mulvaney try this bullshit, the INSURERS will just cancel thousands of policies. Easy Peasy. Of course there MAY be some political fallout from Congress and their staffs..
posted by mikelieman at 7:39 AM on July 30, 2017
I'm about ready to go back to Scantron machines at this point.
NYS has these. And when I watch them boot they're running Linux. Which is good. THEN the Java app starts up... Which is less-good...
posted by mikelieman at 7:41 AM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
NYS has these. And when I watch them boot they're running Linux. Which is good. THEN the Java app starts up... Which is less-good...
posted by mikelieman at 7:41 AM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
“I’ve never had that happen in the 20 years that I’ve been privileged to serve in the Senate, so it was very encouraging and affirming, especially arriving back home after a very difficult time,” she said. “It really was so extraordinary, heartwarming and affirming.”
She was also on SOTU with Jake Tapper on CNN this morning and made it very clear that all the calls and constituent action made a big difference. So congrats to all you who called and wrote and protested.
@Taniel
On Susan Collins's CNN interview this morning. She often mentions her contacts with anti-repeal Mainers; public outcry is having an impact.
posted by chris24 at 7:45 AM on July 30, 2017 [45 favorites]
She was also on SOTU with Jake Tapper on CNN this morning and made it very clear that all the calls and constituent action made a big difference. So congrats to all you who called and wrote and protested.
@Taniel
On Susan Collins's CNN interview this morning. She often mentions her contacts with anti-repeal Mainers; public outcry is having an impact.
posted by chris24 at 7:45 AM on July 30, 2017 [45 favorites]
Thank you for the explanation.
Threatening Congress is surely the best idea! After all, they have no power over him, right? (eyeroll)
Since you guys are on top of things maybe you clarify something else for me. Trump wants to rip up the Iran Deal and renegotiate. However, our two biggest bargaining chips have been played: returning their frozen assets and revoking UN sanctions allow them to trade with other countries. What we get in return is the chance to inspect their nuclear and Uranium-enrichment facilities. If Trump decides to annul the agreement, what does he think he could do better? I doubt the UN would be persuaded to go back to embargoes and trade sanctions so Trump would essentially be left with no threats to return to the bargaining table.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:46 AM on July 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
Threatening Congress is surely the best idea! After all, they have no power over him, right? (eyeroll)
Since you guys are on top of things maybe you clarify something else for me. Trump wants to rip up the Iran Deal and renegotiate. However, our two biggest bargaining chips have been played: returning their frozen assets and revoking UN sanctions allow them to trade with other countries. What we get in return is the chance to inspect their nuclear and Uranium-enrichment facilities. If Trump decides to annul the agreement, what does he think he could do better? I doubt the UN would be persuaded to go back to embargoes and trade sanctions so Trump would essentially be left with no threats to return to the bargaining table.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:46 AM on July 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
If I understand correctly, Mick Mulvaney essentially confirmed this to Jake Tapper this morning. (Discussion starts at beginning of clip.)
Can someone please introduce a bill forcing the OPM to make the payments and also defunding the USSS's Mar-a-Lago budget?
posted by Talez at 7:47 AM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
Can someone please introduce a bill forcing the OPM to make the payments and also defunding the USSS's Mar-a-Lago budget?
posted by Talez at 7:47 AM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
If I understand correctly, Mick Mulvaney essentially confirmed this to Jake Tapper this morning. (Discussion starts at beginning of clip.)
Can someone please introduce a bill forcing the OPM to make the payments and also defunding the USSS's Mar-a-Lago budget?
posted by Talez at 11:47 PM on July 30 [+] [!]
Lawsuits could force feds to pay Obamacare insurers
Doesn't solve Mar-a-lago, but...
posted by saysthis at 7:50 AM on July 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
Can someone please introduce a bill forcing the OPM to make the payments and also defunding the USSS's Mar-a-Lago budget?
posted by Talez at 11:47 PM on July 30 [+] [!]
Lawsuits could force feds to pay Obamacare insurers
Doesn't solve Mar-a-lago, but...
posted by saysthis at 7:50 AM on July 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
If Trump decides to annul the agreement, what does he think he could do better?
The Iran deal is not just between the US and Iran. It's between the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council (US, Russia, China, UK, France), plus Germany and the EU, and Iran. The chances of him getting something better are very low, but the chances of getting everybody else to go along with him are even lower.
posted by chris24 at 7:51 AM on July 30, 2017 [12 favorites]
The Iran deal is not just between the US and Iran. It's between the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council (US, Russia, China, UK, France), plus Germany and the EU, and Iran. The chances of him getting something better are very low, but the chances of getting everybody else to go along with him are even lower.
posted by chris24 at 7:51 AM on July 30, 2017 [12 favorites]
Arthur Schwartz
Had second thoughts
Was off his trolley
And now says sorry
I deleted my tweets re @Reince & apologized to him. Pretty sure he's not accepting my apology. Can't blame him. I'm ashamed of what I said.
3:43 PM - 30 Jul 2017
posted by Devonian at 7:54 AM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
Had second thoughts
Was off his trolley
And now says sorry
I deleted my tweets re @Reince & apologized to him. Pretty sure he's not accepting my apology. Can't blame him. I'm ashamed of what I said.
3:43 PM - 30 Jul 2017
posted by Devonian at 7:54 AM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
"I deleted my tweets re @Reince & apologized to him. Pretty sure he's not accepting my apology. Can't blame him. I'm ashamed of what I said."
Translation: I've done the damage I intended, revealed he has a mistress, and will now pull the ripcord to try to pretend I'm not the raging asshole I've been shown to be.
posted by chris24 at 7:55 AM on July 30, 2017 [87 favorites]
Translation: I've done the damage I intended, revealed he has a mistress, and will now pull the ripcord to try to pretend I'm not the raging asshole I've been shown to be.
posted by chris24 at 7:55 AM on July 30, 2017 [87 favorites]
seems to me that if trump cuts off the insurance for congress' employees that they'll just go find jobs elsewhere and it'll be harder to replace them
stupid
posted by pyramid termite at 7:56 AM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
stupid
posted by pyramid termite at 7:56 AM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
hah - jinx... but still, what a switch from douchbro combative to penitent. Wonder who said what to whom.
posted by Devonian at 7:56 AM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Devonian at 7:56 AM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Priebus' nickname, Prancer
What?!
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:57 AM on July 30, 2017 [16 favorites]
What?!
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:57 AM on July 30, 2017 [16 favorites]
In light of the new focus on antitrust in the Democratic platform:
1. Ok, let's talk about the Democratic Party's deep state. Not the politicians, not the consultants, but BigLaw. That's where power lives. 2. Christine Varney, Obama's first attorney general for antitrust, was a key transition figure and extremely powerful in the administration. 3. Christine Varney is the reason the administration allowed airline mergers, and corporate concentration wasn't taken seriously. 4. She, with a group of private equity (James Rubin)/top level banker (Michael Froman), organized the Obama WH. 5. Varney promised to go after big ag. Did a listening tour. Didn't do anything. Now she works for Time Warner in the ATT-Time Warner merger 6. Here's Elizabeth Warren going after Christine Varney for revolving door corruption. But it's not just Varney. 7. Jon Leibowitz was the Obama FTC Chair who called off the investigation into Google. Immediately joins BigLaw. 8. Leibowitz's new firm Davis Polk represents Google. He also led a coalition to overturn FCC privacy rules. 9. It goes on. Obama antitrust lawyer Sharis A. Pozen joined Skadden, Arps. Joseph F. Wayland goes to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Etc. 10. Leibowitz now says those who want to protect privacy are engaged in "hyper-partisan hyperbole." This was Obama's point man on Google! 11. The real way that this works is through the American Bar Association and the Chamber of Commerce. 12. Leibowitz helped author the ABA Antitrust Transition Report for Trump. Calls for gutting CFPB, rejects populism. 13. Read this. It's literally GOP and Dem lawyers saying they reject the political platform of both parties. A power unto themselves. 14. Meanwhile, Obama antitrust chief Renata Hesse, who gave a great speech in 2016, now reps Amazon in its purchase of Whole Foods. 15. And Christine Varney is part of a group of lawyers writing a report for the Chamber of Commerce to eviscerate antitrust enforcement. 16. This report, which few noticed, is part of a move to kill antitrust by sticking it into trade agreements/WTO. 17. This isn't new. The corporate legal profession has always been opposed to democratic reach into the commercial sphere. 18. 1924 Dem Presidential candidate John W. Davis was a corporate attorney who fought bitterly against New Deal reforms. 19. The Dem Presidential candidates from 1920, 1924, and 1928 hated Roosevelt and the New Deal, with al Smith leading the big biz charge. 20. The Democratic elected leaders, by embracing antitrust, are building a real program. Their enemies, within the party, aren't elected. 21. Those who follow me know I think Obama was a bad President. One could make the excuse he was just following BigLaw. That is fair. 22. It is an ideological disagreement. To have a real democracy, we must recognize that the ABA - which scores judges for liberals - is bad. 23. We must have an agenda not just to change government, or business, but law schools and the legal profession. Right now it's toxic. 24. Incidentally, the National Lawyers Guild, which today stations lawyers at protests, was formed in opposition to the ABA.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:58 AM on July 30, 2017 [25 favorites]
1. Ok, let's talk about the Democratic Party's deep state. Not the politicians, not the consultants, but BigLaw. That's where power lives. 2. Christine Varney, Obama's first attorney general for antitrust, was a key transition figure and extremely powerful in the administration. 3. Christine Varney is the reason the administration allowed airline mergers, and corporate concentration wasn't taken seriously. 4. She, with a group of private equity (James Rubin)/top level banker (Michael Froman), organized the Obama WH. 5. Varney promised to go after big ag. Did a listening tour. Didn't do anything. Now she works for Time Warner in the ATT-Time Warner merger 6. Here's Elizabeth Warren going after Christine Varney for revolving door corruption. But it's not just Varney. 7. Jon Leibowitz was the Obama FTC Chair who called off the investigation into Google. Immediately joins BigLaw. 8. Leibowitz's new firm Davis Polk represents Google. He also led a coalition to overturn FCC privacy rules. 9. It goes on. Obama antitrust lawyer Sharis A. Pozen joined Skadden, Arps. Joseph F. Wayland goes to Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Etc. 10. Leibowitz now says those who want to protect privacy are engaged in "hyper-partisan hyperbole." This was Obama's point man on Google! 11. The real way that this works is through the American Bar Association and the Chamber of Commerce. 12. Leibowitz helped author the ABA Antitrust Transition Report for Trump. Calls for gutting CFPB, rejects populism. 13. Read this. It's literally GOP and Dem lawyers saying they reject the political platform of both parties. A power unto themselves. 14. Meanwhile, Obama antitrust chief Renata Hesse, who gave a great speech in 2016, now reps Amazon in its purchase of Whole Foods. 15. And Christine Varney is part of a group of lawyers writing a report for the Chamber of Commerce to eviscerate antitrust enforcement. 16. This report, which few noticed, is part of a move to kill antitrust by sticking it into trade agreements/WTO. 17. This isn't new. The corporate legal profession has always been opposed to democratic reach into the commercial sphere. 18. 1924 Dem Presidential candidate John W. Davis was a corporate attorney who fought bitterly against New Deal reforms. 19. The Dem Presidential candidates from 1920, 1924, and 1928 hated Roosevelt and the New Deal, with al Smith leading the big biz charge. 20. The Democratic elected leaders, by embracing antitrust, are building a real program. Their enemies, within the party, aren't elected. 21. Those who follow me know I think Obama was a bad President. One could make the excuse he was just following BigLaw. That is fair. 22. It is an ideological disagreement. To have a real democracy, we must recognize that the ABA - which scores judges for liberals - is bad. 23. We must have an agenda not just to change government, or business, but law schools and the legal profession. Right now it's toxic. 24. Incidentally, the National Lawyers Guild, which today stations lawyers at protests, was formed in opposition to the ABA.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:58 AM on July 30, 2017 [25 favorites]
I read this 3 days ago and it has haunted me ever since. I never gave any thought to the pregnant women caught up in the opioid addiction crisis.
HuffPo Getting An Abortion In Alabama Is Hard. The Opioid Crisis Is Making It Even Harder.
It boils down to opioid abusers have irregular periods which makes it harder for them to realize they are pregnant. This means that they often end-up requiring second trimester abortions which involve surgery (D & C.) However, having over-used opioids means the brain is no longer affected by opiate pain relievers so that means these women have to undergo surgery without pain relief. Not having an abortion, on the other hand, can mean being charged with child endangerment if they use drugs during pregnancy.
By the way, even though they have severe restrictions and lots of hoops to jump through (such as 48 hour wait in between first consult and the actual procedure) Alabama is one of the last Southern States to allow abortions up to 22 weeks which means they get desperate women crossing state lines.
I would say that combating the opioid crisis should include free birth control.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 8:00 AM on July 30, 2017 [66 favorites]
HuffPo Getting An Abortion In Alabama Is Hard. The Opioid Crisis Is Making It Even Harder.
It boils down to opioid abusers have irregular periods which makes it harder for them to realize they are pregnant. This means that they often end-up requiring second trimester abortions which involve surgery (D & C.) However, having over-used opioids means the brain is no longer affected by opiate pain relievers so that means these women have to undergo surgery without pain relief. Not having an abortion, on the other hand, can mean being charged with child endangerment if they use drugs during pregnancy.
By the way, even though they have severe restrictions and lots of hoops to jump through (such as 48 hour wait in between first consult and the actual procedure) Alabama is one of the last Southern States to allow abortions up to 22 weeks which means they get desperate women crossing state lines.
I would say that combating the opioid crisis should include free birth control.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 8:00 AM on July 30, 2017 [66 favorites]
What they want is to be Blake. They want to swagger, to curse, to insult, and to exercise power over men ...The other day I was curious to see how the "I'm not sucking my own cock" line played with the commenters on Free Republic. On one thread, it looked like it made about a third angry, another third doubted he'd said it at all, and a third were delighted by it and wanted more. Two men enter, one man leaves, indeed.
posted by octobersurprise at 8:03 AM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
One more sign Rs are getting sick of his shit?
@dandrezner
It's surprising to hear the panelists on @FoxNewsSunday speaking with such contempt about @POTUS: "Commander-in-Tweet," "Sir Tweets-a-Lot."
posted by chris24 at 8:04 AM on July 30, 2017 [20 favorites]
@dandrezner
It's surprising to hear the panelists on @FoxNewsSunday speaking with such contempt about @POTUS: "Commander-in-Tweet," "Sir Tweets-a-Lot."
posted by chris24 at 8:04 AM on July 30, 2017 [20 favorites]
"I deleted my tweets re @Reince & apologized to him. Pretty sure he's not accepting my apology. Can't blame him. I'm ashamed of what I said."
Translation: I've done the damage I intended, revealed he has a mistress, and will now pull the ripcord to try to pretend I'm not the raging asshole I've been shown to be.
Pretty sure the deletion and apology came because a) he got an enraged call from Scaramucci, b) Jake Tapper explained libel law to him, and/or c) his attorney follows his Twitter.
And like The Mooch, this guy thinks you can erase things from the Internet. Man, you can't make this shit up. Always room on the bus for one more bozo.
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:05 AM on July 30, 2017 [28 favorites]
Translation: I've done the damage I intended, revealed he has a mistress, and will now pull the ripcord to try to pretend I'm not the raging asshole I've been shown to be.
Pretty sure the deletion and apology came because a) he got an enraged call from Scaramucci, b) Jake Tapper explained libel law to him, and/or c) his attorney follows his Twitter.
And like The Mooch, this guy thinks you can erase things from the Internet. Man, you can't make this shit up. Always room on the bus for one more bozo.
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:05 AM on July 30, 2017 [28 favorites]
One of the major symptoms of Toxic Masculinity is an inability to recognize Glengarry Glen Ross as satire.
posted by wabbittwax at 8:18 AM on July 30, 2017 [40 favorites]
posted by wabbittwax at 8:18 AM on July 30, 2017 [40 favorites]
So the cocaine addict publicist has himself got a cocaine addiction publicist? Wow.
posted by Artw at 8:18 AM on July 30, 2017 [14 favorites]
posted by Artw at 8:18 AM on July 30, 2017 [14 favorites]
It's coke addled publicists all the way down.
posted by LarsC at 8:22 AM on July 30, 2017 [52 favorites]
posted by LarsC at 8:22 AM on July 30, 2017 [52 favorites]
It's coke addled publicists all the way down.
And all the way up.
posted by diogenes at 8:23 AM on July 30, 2017 [24 favorites]
And all the way up.
posted by diogenes at 8:23 AM on July 30, 2017 [24 favorites]
A future movie about the current White House communications team is going to look like a Behind the Music documentary, but without the music.
posted by diogenes at 8:29 AM on July 30, 2017 [28 favorites]
posted by diogenes at 8:29 AM on July 30, 2017 [28 favorites]
I guess it's called The White House for a reason.
posted by Artw at 8:32 AM on July 30, 2017 [24 favorites]
posted by Artw at 8:32 AM on July 30, 2017 [24 favorites]
So, I'm all for any kind of voting reform that gets us away from first-past-the-post, and ranked choice / instant runoff voting is definitely an improvement. But it still suffers from Arrow's Impossibility Theorem, so as long as we're still in the pipe dream phase of this discussion, I think it's important to bring up the fact that approval voting and score (aka range) voting exist and suffer from fewer flaws. Nicky Case's To Build A Better Ballot is an excellent demonstration of various voting systems and their strengths and weaknesses.
My personal preference is for a scantron-style ballot, with each voter getting to cast for each candidate "approve," "disapprove," or "no preference." This allows for fast and low-error machine tabulation with an automatic paper record in case of suspected hacks, a ballot which is easy to understand for most voters, and a low rate of spoiled ballots.
This is, of course, independent of the question of proportional representation, which is also a good idea.
posted by biogeo at 8:34 AM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
My personal preference is for a scantron-style ballot, with each voter getting to cast for each candidate "approve," "disapprove," or "no preference." This allows for fast and low-error machine tabulation with an automatic paper record in case of suspected hacks, a ballot which is easy to understand for most voters, and a low rate of spoiled ballots.
This is, of course, independent of the question of proportional representation, which is also a good idea.
posted by biogeo at 8:34 AM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
So, for American Heroes Week, Trump turned a Boy Scout gathering and a police gathering in to Trumpian rallies and announced he was arbitrarily kicking people out of the military.
posted by dirigibleman at 8:37 AM on July 30, 2017 [22 favorites]
posted by dirigibleman at 8:37 AM on July 30, 2017 [22 favorites]
Coke! Mistresses! Deep down, every Famblee Values Republican is secretly Robert Baratheon. Or, for you book-readers, Aegon the Unworthy.
The really sickening part about hypocrites in the Famblee Values And Jebus Party is that they would happily send poorer, browner people to jail for - wait for it! - drugs. They yammer on about Faaaaaaamily and want to throw money at "marriage enhancing programs" or whatever Save The Father Knows Best Family is called. They want to take marriage rights away from LGBT people and keep trans and gender-nonconforming people from peeing in peace.
And so-called "family values" "God-fearing" people love the sinners anyway, because they're not about God's love, they're all about the white supremacy and patriarchy.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 8:38 AM on July 30, 2017 [13 favorites]
The really sickening part about hypocrites in the Famblee Values And Jebus Party is that they would happily send poorer, browner people to jail for - wait for it! - drugs. They yammer on about Faaaaaaamily and want to throw money at "marriage enhancing programs" or whatever Save The Father Knows Best Family is called. They want to take marriage rights away from LGBT people and keep trans and gender-nonconforming people from peeing in peace.
And so-called "family values" "God-fearing" people love the sinners anyway, because they're not about God's love, they're all about the white supremacy and patriarchy.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 8:38 AM on July 30, 2017 [13 favorites]
I still don't know exactly how it happened. I just lost control. And the next thing I knew I was White House Communications Director.
posted by diogenes at 8:42 AM on July 30, 2017 [58 favorites]
posted by diogenes at 8:42 AM on July 30, 2017 [58 favorites]
The Father Knows Best Family is called
The Anderson family. Back when I was growing up and had cable we didn't have time delay for the west coast of Australia. I watched a *LOT* of Nick-at-Nite.
posted by Talez at 8:43 AM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
The Anderson family. Back when I was growing up and had cable we didn't have time delay for the west coast of Australia. I watched a *LOT* of Nick-at-Nite.
posted by Talez at 8:43 AM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
The Iran deal is not just between the US and Iran. It's between the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council (US, Russia, China, UK, France), plus Germany and the EU, and Iran. The chances of him getting something better are very low, but the chances of getting everybody else to go along with him are even lower.
So on the one hand, yay for multilateral action stopping Trump from saber-rattling with Iran. On the other hand, this will fit perfectly into his narrative about America having to go it alone in the face of a global conspiracy to keep us weak... Which, of course, will amount to saber-rattling with Iran. With the bonus of getting his base more energized (i.e., dangerous).
I thought the "FUCK 2016" pin my friend gave me late last year was clever. It's gonna get less amusing every year I have to update it, though.
posted by Rykey at 8:49 AM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
So on the one hand, yay for multilateral action stopping Trump from saber-rattling with Iran. On the other hand, this will fit perfectly into his narrative about America having to go it alone in the face of a global conspiracy to keep us weak... Which, of course, will amount to saber-rattling with Iran. With the bonus of getting his base more energized (i.e., dangerous).
I thought the "FUCK 2016" pin my friend gave me late last year was clever. It's gonna get less amusing every year I have to update it, though.
posted by Rykey at 8:49 AM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
An EMT friend of mine has told me they had to stop using 'who is the prime minister?' as a test for concussion, because in Australia we went from Howard->Rudd->Gillard->Abbot->Turnbull in the space of a single US presidential term.
Whereas EMTs here recently had to stop using "Who is the president" as the same test, because people would answer correctly and then have anxiety attacks.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:56 AM on July 30, 2017 [68 favorites]
Whereas EMTs here recently had to stop using "Who is the president" as the same test, because people would answer correctly and then have anxiety attacks.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:56 AM on July 30, 2017 [68 favorites]
[fake, but plausible]
posted by Golem XIV at 8:59 AM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Golem XIV at 8:59 AM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
Mnuchin appears to have a problem being asked questions by black people.
Just to revisit this for a second, here is the video of Ellison questioning Mnuchin, and yeah, Mnuchin is SUPER dickish, at one point telling Ellison "I don't think you know what robo-signing is." Anyone here who thinks Mnuchin would have said that to a white dude?
Bonus: Maxine Waters asking at the end if Mnuchin would like a little extra time to apologize to Ellison (spoiler: he didn't). Hopefully one of these days, white congresspeople will realize that when they see someone being disrespectful to their colleagues of color, that they too can jump in and say something!
posted by triggerfinger at 9:01 AM on July 30, 2017 [54 favorites]
Just to revisit this for a second, here is the video of Ellison questioning Mnuchin, and yeah, Mnuchin is SUPER dickish, at one point telling Ellison "I don't think you know what robo-signing is." Anyone here who thinks Mnuchin would have said that to a white dude?
Bonus: Maxine Waters asking at the end if Mnuchin would like a little extra time to apologize to Ellison (spoiler: he didn't). Hopefully one of these days, white congresspeople will realize that when they see someone being disrespectful to their colleagues of color, that they too can jump in and say something!
posted by triggerfinger at 9:01 AM on July 30, 2017 [54 favorites]
Rut-roh, somebody's in the doghouse:
Ms. Collins said she was talking with Arizona Sen. John McCain, another “no” vote, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Mr. Pence, who was at the U.S. Capitol to break a potential 50-50 tie vote.posted by FelliniBlank at 9:06 AM on July 30, 2017 [25 favorites]
“And he said to me, ‘boy, are you tough,’” Ms. Collins said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But he softened that by putting his arm around me" [emphasis added].
EMT: Who is the president?
Patient: A monster from beyond the veil. A pulpous and vile mass that knows of nothing but its own madness. The nightmares and sick fantasies of a nation, made flesh. The end of all good things and the forerunner of unimaginable atrocities to come.
EMT: OK you're fine
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:08 AM on July 30, 2017 [150 favorites]
Patient: A monster from beyond the veil. A pulpous and vile mass that knows of nothing but its own madness. The nightmares and sick fantasies of a nation, made flesh. The end of all good things and the forerunner of unimaginable atrocities to come.
EMT: OK you're fine
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:08 AM on July 30, 2017 [150 favorites]
> Priebus' nickname, Prancer
> What?!
Supposedly an Xmas photo went around with Reince wearing a sweater with a reindeer on it, and so, from there it's not hard to see Reinhold ~ Reindeer -> Priebus ~ Prancer. But according to Bill Kristol, the moniker/emoji is primarily used by Scaramucci and his allies. I mean, Reince already has a nickname. Reince.
posted by xigxag at 9:08 AM on July 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
> What?!
Supposedly an Xmas photo went around with Reince wearing a sweater with a reindeer on it, and so, from there it's not hard to see Reinhold ~ Reindeer -> Priebus ~ Prancer. But according to Bill Kristol, the moniker/emoji is primarily used by Scaramucci and his allies. I mean, Reince already has a nickname. Reince.
posted by xigxag at 9:08 AM on July 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
Of course we now know what should have been obvious all along, given the pubescent-boy psyches involved: Priebus's nickname among his West Wing enemies was, inevitably, "Rinse Penis."
posted by adamgreenfield at 9:10 AM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by adamgreenfield at 9:10 AM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Runt's Penis, surely. Fucking amateurs.
posted by Rykey at 9:15 AM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Rykey at 9:15 AM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
when the people of the land of rebus hear what we've been saying about their beloved prince, they are going to be so mad.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 9:21 AM on July 30, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 9:21 AM on July 30, 2017 [16 favorites]
FelliniBlank posted: Ms. Collins said she was talking with Arizona Sen. John McCain, another “no” vote, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was Mr. Pence, who was at the U.S. Capitol to break a potential 50-50 tie vote.
“And he said to me, ‘boy, are you tough,’” Ms. Collins said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But he softened that by putting his arm around me"
a shoulder tap and a side hug? given what we know about Pence's weirdness around women, this may be the most disturbing thing I've read in this thread
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:27 AM on July 30, 2017 [28 favorites]
“And he said to me, ‘boy, are you tough,’” Ms. Collins said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But he softened that by putting his arm around me"
a shoulder tap and a side hug? given what we know about Pence's weirdness around women, this may be the most disturbing thing I've read in this thread
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:27 AM on July 30, 2017 [28 favorites]
If Trump decides to annul the agreement, what does he think he could do better?
Whatever happened would be soooo muuuch whiter and 100\% less black.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:28 AM on July 30, 2017
Whatever happened would be soooo muuuch whiter and 100\% less black.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:28 AM on July 30, 2017
Of course we now know what should have been obvious all along, given the pubescent-boy psyches involved: Priebus's nickname among his West Wing enemies was, inevitably, "Rinse Penis."
Very close, but you're giving them too much credit:
@SRuhle: Two additional sources confirm the last name & make a first name correction "Rancid"
posted by sporkwort at 9:32 AM on July 30, 2017 [10 favorites]
Very close, but you're giving them too much credit:
@SRuhle: Two additional sources confirm the last name & make a first name correction "Rancid"
posted by sporkwort at 9:32 AM on July 30, 2017 [10 favorites]
Michael Lewis on the Trumpian nuclear threat: ignorance of what DOE does. VF.
posted by rc3spencer at 9:37 AM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by rc3spencer at 9:37 AM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
I would like the dems to run an anti-cyber bullying media push just using Trump tweets as negative examples.
Just a Trump tweet and a comment - "Be a better human than this." or "Don't build yourself up by tearing others down"
posted by srboisvert at 9:40 AM on July 30, 2017 [24 favorites]
Just a Trump tweet and a comment - "Be a better human than this." or "Don't build yourself up by tearing others down"
posted by srboisvert at 9:40 AM on July 30, 2017 [24 favorites]
This is from early July, but I don't recall seeing it.
'Democracy Vouchers' Aim to Amplify Low-Income Voices, to Conservative Ire (Josh Cohen, The Guardian)
'Democracy Vouchers' Aim to Amplify Low-Income Voices, to Conservative Ire (Josh Cohen, The Guardian)
If money amplifies the voices of wealthy Americans in politics, Seattle is trying something that aims to give low-income and middle-class voters a signal boost.posted by Room 641-A at 9:41 AM on July 30, 2017 [59 favorites]
The city’s new “Democracy Voucher” program, the first of its kind in the US, provides every eligible Seattle resident with $100 in taxpayer-funded vouchers to donate to the candidates of their choice. The goal is to incentivize candidates to take heed of a broad range of residents – homeless people, minimum-wage workers, seniors on fixed incomes – as well as the big-dollar donors who often dictate the political conversation. [...]
Seattle candidates are not required to participate in the voucher program. But Jon Grant, a leftist city council candidate who previously led the Tenants Union of Washington, has made the vouchers a centerpiece of his campaign. He has pushed to collect vouchers from over 1,000 people, including those living in several homeless encampments.
Of the $145,933 in donations that Grant reported on the most recent campaign disclosure form, $128,800 is from vouchers.
EMT: Who is the president?
THERE IS NO PRESIDENT ONLY ZUUL
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:46 AM on July 30, 2017 [19 favorites]
THERE IS NO PRESIDENT ONLY ZUUL
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:46 AM on July 30, 2017 [19 favorites]
I'm both giddy and extremely anxious about the fact that they seem to be floating more and more Pence trials balloons.
At some point it's just gonna roll into pure nausea.
posted by schadenfrau at 9:54 AM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
At some point it's just gonna roll into pure nausea.
posted by schadenfrau at 9:54 AM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
I actually had a seizure in Vegas in 2009, and my dad was desperate to keep the EMT's from taking me the hospital to avoid all the ridiculous fees. I didn't have insurance. They asked me 3 questions.
EMT: What is your name?
Me: urrrrgggggg
EMT: What city are you in?
Me: Oregon?
Dad: You can't take him. We can't pay for any of this, he'll be fine.
EMT: You don't have a choice. If he doesn't answer the next question he's coming with us.
EMT: Who is the President?
Me: Barack Obama. Yes, we cannnnnnnnnnnnn.
I don't think I could have answered any other question in that moment. But my dad is a evangelical christian, rush limbaugh listening Republican. And I was excited to answer that question in 2009 with him standing over me.
posted by Glibpaxman at 9:56 AM on July 30, 2017 [147 favorites]
EMT: What is your name?
Me: urrrrgggggg
EMT: What city are you in?
Me: Oregon?
Dad: You can't take him. We can't pay for any of this, he'll be fine.
EMT: You don't have a choice. If he doesn't answer the next question he's coming with us.
EMT: Who is the President?
Me: Barack Obama. Yes, we cannnnnnnnnnnnn.
I don't think I could have answered any other question in that moment. But my dad is a evangelical christian, rush limbaugh listening Republican. And I was excited to answer that question in 2009 with him standing over me.
posted by Glibpaxman at 9:56 AM on July 30, 2017 [147 favorites]
If money amplifies the voices of wealthy Americans in politics, Seattle is trying something that aims to give low-income and middle-class voters a signal boost.Holy shit I literally fist pumped. Fuck yeah this is...at least in the right direction. Also I love love love the idea of taxing rich people to give to poor people who will then donate it to candidates likely to tax rich people. It tickles me right in the schadensprunger.
posted by schadenfrau at 9:57 AM on July 30, 2017 [51 favorites]
I actually had a seizure in Vegas in 2009, and my dad was desperate to keep the EMT's from taking me the hospital to avoid all the ridiculous fees. I didn't have insurance. They asked me 3 questions.
Anyone who says that the United States has the best health system in the world on the back of this evidence is either deluded or a fucking liar.
posted by Talez at 10:00 AM on July 30, 2017 [62 favorites]
Anyone who says that the United States has the best health system in the world on the back of this evidence is either deluded or a fucking liar.
posted by Talez at 10:00 AM on July 30, 2017 [62 favorites]
Joshua Green, WaPo: Five myths about Steve Bannon
Stephen K. Bannon seemed to come out of nowhere in August 2016, taking over Donald Trump’s struggling campaign and leading it to the most shocking upset in U.S. presidential history. Few people, even in Washington, had heard of Bannon before then. And because he liked to cultivate an image of himself as a dark, nationalist political Svengali — a portrait the media mostly accepted — a number of myths have arisen about Bannon and his beliefs. Here are five of them.posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:00 AM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
Not to get us off the debate over how much cocaine exactly is being used in the White House, but I read an interesting article last month that came up again and still feels relevant: The Fate of the Democrats' Future May Lie in Georgia. The writer focuses almost exclusively on rural areas and so she definitely has that lens on when writing it. Pull quote:
And so there will be a big question as to what's the best way to win in Georgia. Is it merely to maximize turnout among African-Americans and transplants in the Atlanta area, or is it try to claw back the rural blue-collar voters that Democrats ancestrally had when they used to win in Georgia?
That is a serious, existential question for Democrat operatives as they look at winning back anything in the Trump Belt.
Thinking about this in a broader sense: the former strategy is very effective for winning the popular vote but is likely to leave in place the popular vote/electoral vote divide seen in the last election. The latter strategy may create a closer popular vote/electoral vote alignment.
A central focus of one candidate is a program former Governor Zell Miller put into place that grants scholarships to anyone who gets a B average or better. The other candidate voted to reduce spending on that scholarship. The writer notes that the scholarship has broad appeal among working-class voters, who based on her work pounding the pavement are still very interested in supporting public schools.
It's a short read but interesting when it comes to broader strategy.
posted by rednikki at 10:07 AM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
And so there will be a big question as to what's the best way to win in Georgia. Is it merely to maximize turnout among African-Americans and transplants in the Atlanta area, or is it try to claw back the rural blue-collar voters that Democrats ancestrally had when they used to win in Georgia?
That is a serious, existential question for Democrat operatives as they look at winning back anything in the Trump Belt.
Thinking about this in a broader sense: the former strategy is very effective for winning the popular vote but is likely to leave in place the popular vote/electoral vote divide seen in the last election. The latter strategy may create a closer popular vote/electoral vote alignment.
A central focus of one candidate is a program former Governor Zell Miller put into place that grants scholarships to anyone who gets a B average or better. The other candidate voted to reduce spending on that scholarship. The writer notes that the scholarship has broad appeal among working-class voters, who based on her work pounding the pavement are still very interested in supporting public schools.
It's a short read but interesting when it comes to broader strategy.
posted by rednikki at 10:07 AM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
Mnuchin is SUPER dickish
I went to see two movies I'd missed recently, Wonder Woman and Tully. In the end credits of the first, suddenly there's that name, Steve Mnuchin, up on the screen, as exec producer. My thought: huh, must be more common than I thought. Then, when he reappeared at the end of Tully, I couldn't resist googling, having seen his assholery vs M Waters shortly before. And know I know: All the movies you didn't know Steven Mnuchin produced.
Is there nothing these fuckers won't spoil?
posted by progosk at 10:14 AM on July 30, 2017 [13 favorites]
I went to see two movies I'd missed recently, Wonder Woman and Tully. In the end credits of the first, suddenly there's that name, Steve Mnuchin, up on the screen, as exec producer. My thought: huh, must be more common than I thought. Then, when he reappeared at the end of Tully, I couldn't resist googling, having seen his assholery vs M Waters shortly before. And know I know: All the movies you didn't know Steven Mnuchin produced.
Is there nothing these fuckers won't spoil?
posted by progosk at 10:14 AM on July 30, 2017 [13 favorites]
Producer credits can mean pretty much anything though. Mate of a mate of the guy who invested a bit of money, etc...
posted by Artw at 10:20 AM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 10:20 AM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
They're not sending their best.
@KFILE
On July 23rd, @ArthurSchwartz who is now denying he was Scaramucci's publicist tweeted a link saying he was. --> [screenshot]
@jaketapper
Source close to @reince says he never spoke with @Schwartz and has neither heard nor accepted any apology from him.
@KFILE
On July 23rd, @ArthurSchwartz who is now denying he was Scaramucci's publicist tweeted a link saying he was. --> [screenshot]
@jaketapper
Source close to @reince says he never spoke with @Schwartz and has neither heard nor accepted any apology from him.
@ArthurSchwartz: I deleted my tweets re @Reince & apologized to him. Pretty sure he's not accepting my apology. Can't blame him. I'm ashamed of what I said.posted by chris24 at 10:26 AM on July 30, 2017 [22 favorites]
.@Reince is a better man than me; he accepted my apology. I did something stupid and I'm embarrassed. Keep the hits coming - I deserve it.
When my mom had some sort of mental event before the election, her inability to name Barak Obama as the president alarmed me so badly I thought I might pass out. She wailed, "How can I not remember his name?! I LOVE that guy!"
posted by thebrokedown at 10:30 AM on July 30, 2017 [18 favorites]
posted by thebrokedown at 10:30 AM on July 30, 2017 [18 favorites]
You know, it occurs to me, here during this lovely central California summer morning, where it is nice and cool and I have to stop reading the internet to go and mow/edge my yard before the temp shoots up above 100 degrees because, well, we're trashing the Earth and so apparently summers are hot as hell now, that this whole #FakeNews and 'war on the media' thing is going to completely backfire on those pushing it, and will put us in a place--within the next 5-10 years, I expect--where a critical mass of people do not trust any news media at all.
To wit: I noticed at the grocery store yesterday that the card readers for payment say "Do Not Remove Your Card" while the transaction is processing (when using a chip card) and every single time I see that message appear on the little dot-matrix-y screen, I reflexively reach to pull my card out of the slot. And every time I think some version of 'dammit, did it again, why do I always want to do that? it says not to RIGHT THERE,' but of course it's because of how that instruction is phrased: it undermines itself, just like the message of 'THOSE people are FAKE NEWS but THESE people are supes trustworthy'; the human brain does not parse nuance in any essential way.
If you want someone to not pull their card from a slot while a transaction is processing, one of the worst things to do is to send them a message phrased as "Do NOT do X." We know (too lazy to look up and link an article, sorry, but the day is heating up and I got some lawn care to do) that the human brain will instinctively parse a message like that as "DO THE VERB" because brains evolved to follow instructions to do things to survive much more so than to not do things.* It catches me all. the. time. I see that message, do NOT remove card, and my arm reflexively moves a few millimeters toward the reader to yank out the card before my fore-brain can intervene and say 'no, stupid, it says do not do,' and then my lizard-brain kind of sheepishly goes 'oh yeah, of course, I saw that too, I was just getting in position for when we do need to take the card out,' and the fore-brain is all 'sure, right' and so then part of my brain is embarrassed by another part, because it evolved earlier and is often kind of stupid when responding to the world as it is today--which is to give it some credit really fucking confusing and counterintuitive a whole lot of the time--and has to work pretty hard every day to reconcile many of its instincts and urges with a world that needs it to adapt way more quickly than the typical 10,000-year tick of the evolutionary clock's second. But my point is not, poor brainstem ("I can pick up this pencil and tell you its name is Steve"), rather that we vastly overestimate our brains' abilities to parse any subtlety of meaning, when all evidence indicates that we're not super good at it, at least at the immediate, reflexive level and also--because our biggest ideas, beliefs, assumptions are rarely carefully examined--this happens with high-level ideas and perceptions, too.
So I kind of expect that this whole fake media, court-the-kids-with-Circa stuff is most likely to culminate in a populace who is cynical about all news media, because they realize that #FakeNews really means that everybody has an agenda, and you should be cynical about why anyone is telling you anything about anything. I have no idea where that will leave us, I can imagine better and worse outcomes from that, but I just don't see human brains parsing the difference between who is supposed to be fake news and who isn't; at some point, if your brain accepts the framing that much of the news is fake because someone has an agenda, it will not make distinctions well. Most people, I expect, will simply follow the verb in the instruction 'Do Not Remove Your Card' and pull their cards out of the readers.**
*(This is why, with dog training, the whole idea is to eliminate choices, so don't give your dogs a bunch of 'no' information--that's an open-ended, unlimited set. No dog is smart enough to remember all of the virtually unlimited numbers of things that they are not allowed to do, but are definitely smart enough to learn the specific, limited subset of things you'd like for them to do. So, for example, you'll never train a dog to do well with a leash, a leash is sort of an abstract concept they can't ken and there are so many things that you don't want them to do and etc., but you can very effectively train them how to orient to you and your body while out on walks with a leash, because that's a small set of acceptable behaviors that are easily conveyed and reinforced with consistent food reward and praise. They don't have to understand a leash, or safety, or 'don't run away from me for this reason or this reason or this reason or this reason' or on and on; they just have to learn 'stay next to me and walk alongside me this way.')
**(The way to avoid this, for those programming POP payment devices, is of course, as with dog training, to phrase in the affirmative: Leave Card In Reader or similar. That way the poor Old Brain Parts can more easily make sense of the world and respond appropriately.)
posted by LooseFilter at 10:32 AM on July 30, 2017 [43 favorites]
To wit: I noticed at the grocery store yesterday that the card readers for payment say "Do Not Remove Your Card" while the transaction is processing (when using a chip card) and every single time I see that message appear on the little dot-matrix-y screen, I reflexively reach to pull my card out of the slot. And every time I think some version of 'dammit, did it again, why do I always want to do that? it says not to RIGHT THERE,' but of course it's because of how that instruction is phrased: it undermines itself, just like the message of 'THOSE people are FAKE NEWS but THESE people are supes trustworthy'; the human brain does not parse nuance in any essential way.
If you want someone to not pull their card from a slot while a transaction is processing, one of the worst things to do is to send them a message phrased as "Do NOT do X." We know (too lazy to look up and link an article, sorry, but the day is heating up and I got some lawn care to do) that the human brain will instinctively parse a message like that as "DO THE VERB" because brains evolved to follow instructions to do things to survive much more so than to not do things.* It catches me all. the. time. I see that message, do NOT remove card, and my arm reflexively moves a few millimeters toward the reader to yank out the card before my fore-brain can intervene and say 'no, stupid, it says do not do,' and then my lizard-brain kind of sheepishly goes 'oh yeah, of course, I saw that too, I was just getting in position for when we do need to take the card out,' and the fore-brain is all 'sure, right' and so then part of my brain is embarrassed by another part, because it evolved earlier and is often kind of stupid when responding to the world as it is today--which is to give it some credit really fucking confusing and counterintuitive a whole lot of the time--and has to work pretty hard every day to reconcile many of its instincts and urges with a world that needs it to adapt way more quickly than the typical 10,000-year tick of the evolutionary clock's second. But my point is not, poor brainstem ("I can pick up this pencil and tell you its name is Steve"), rather that we vastly overestimate our brains' abilities to parse any subtlety of meaning, when all evidence indicates that we're not super good at it, at least at the immediate, reflexive level and also--because our biggest ideas, beliefs, assumptions are rarely carefully examined--this happens with high-level ideas and perceptions, too.
So I kind of expect that this whole fake media, court-the-kids-with-Circa stuff is most likely to culminate in a populace who is cynical about all news media, because they realize that #FakeNews really means that everybody has an agenda, and you should be cynical about why anyone is telling you anything about anything. I have no idea where that will leave us, I can imagine better and worse outcomes from that, but I just don't see human brains parsing the difference between who is supposed to be fake news and who isn't; at some point, if your brain accepts the framing that much of the news is fake because someone has an agenda, it will not make distinctions well. Most people, I expect, will simply follow the verb in the instruction 'Do Not Remove Your Card' and pull their cards out of the readers.**
*(This is why, with dog training, the whole idea is to eliminate choices, so don't give your dogs a bunch of 'no' information--that's an open-ended, unlimited set. No dog is smart enough to remember all of the virtually unlimited numbers of things that they are not allowed to do, but are definitely smart enough to learn the specific, limited subset of things you'd like for them to do. So, for example, you'll never train a dog to do well with a leash, a leash is sort of an abstract concept they can't ken and there are so many things that you don't want them to do and etc., but you can very effectively train them how to orient to you and your body while out on walks with a leash, because that's a small set of acceptable behaviors that are easily conveyed and reinforced with consistent food reward and praise. They don't have to understand a leash, or safety, or 'don't run away from me for this reason or this reason or this reason or this reason' or on and on; they just have to learn 'stay next to me and walk alongside me this way.')
**(The way to avoid this, for those programming POP payment devices, is of course, as with dog training, to phrase in the affirmative: Leave Card In Reader or similar. That way the poor Old Brain Parts can more easily make sense of the world and respond appropriately.)
posted by LooseFilter at 10:32 AM on July 30, 2017 [43 favorites]
Anecdote!
My five-year-old daughter was showing her grandmother her favorite shirt given to her by her favorite friend.
Grandmother: "And who's your favorite Dad?"
Kid: "My dad!"
Grandmother: "And who's your favorite Mom?"
Kid: "Bernie Sanders!"
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 10:36 AM on July 30, 2017 [38 favorites]
My five-year-old daughter was showing her grandmother her favorite shirt given to her by her favorite friend.
Grandmother: "And who's your favorite Dad?"
Kid: "My dad!"
Grandmother: "And who's your favorite Mom?"
Kid: "Bernie Sanders!"
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 10:36 AM on July 30, 2017 [38 favorites]
The whole affaire Schwartz is more diagnostic of a bunch of over-coked white blokes running amok in the rock smoke of their own egoistic delusions than the Bee Gee's Sergeant Pepper movie. I have little doubt that the chaos evinced by the arrival of Mooch in just a few short days will end in disaster for him and others quite soon, but like a radioactive isotope with a short half-life, you can't tell just when the atom's going to decay.
I guess it's called The White House for a reason.
But have you tried the house white? (Which was - perhaps still is - the nickname given to cocaine in Westminster in the 90s, due to its widespread and enthusiastic use.)
posted by Devonian at 10:40 AM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
I guess it's called The White House for a reason.
But have you tried the house white? (Which was - perhaps still is - the nickname given to cocaine in Westminster in the 90s, due to its widespread and enthusiastic use.)
posted by Devonian at 10:40 AM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
Jake Tapper went to Politicon? What an idiot. As someone put it, Politicon sounds like Twitter, but real life.
posted by Yowser at 10:44 AM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Yowser at 10:44 AM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
"Forget it, Jake. It's Calvinball."
Calvinistball, Shirley?
posted by Evilspork at 10:46 AM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Calvinistball, Shirley?
posted by Evilspork at 10:46 AM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Calvinistball, cf. #1, #2, #3. What a fun image search!
posted by Evilspork at 10:49 AM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Evilspork at 10:49 AM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
over-coked white blokes running amok in the rock smoke
Throw some Migos beats behind that brilliant formulation and you're halfway to a hit rekkid.
posted by adamgreenfield at 10:51 AM on July 30, 2017 [20 favorites]
Throw some Migos beats behind that brilliant formulation and you're halfway to a hit rekkid.
posted by adamgreenfield at 10:51 AM on July 30, 2017 [20 favorites]
Jake Tapper went to Politicon? What an idiot
Joy Reid is there, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. But so was Roger Stone, so.
posted by Room 641-A at 10:57 AM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Joy Reid is there, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. But so was Roger Stone, so.
posted by Room 641-A at 10:57 AM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
To which Arthur Schwartz responds with the tweet about the mistress and: Hey @Reince. Remember when people told you that it was me that was trashing you in the press? They were right. Happy to start again, 🦌.
So Anthony Scaramucci threatened felony prosecution and firing to anyone who leaks, right?
And now his publicist publicly admits being the source of leaks about Scary Mooch's mortal enemy Reince Preibus.
Interesting plot twist.
posted by msalt at 11:06 AM on July 30, 2017 [13 favorites]
So Anthony Scaramucci threatened felony prosecution and firing to anyone who leaks, right?
And now his publicist publicly admits being the source of leaks about Scary Mooch's mortal enemy Reince Preibus.
Interesting plot twist.
posted by msalt at 11:06 AM on July 30, 2017 [13 favorites]
Wow, so much since last night.
“I got off the plane and there was a large group of outbound passengers, none of whom I happened to know, and spontaneously some of them started applauding, and then virtually all of them started to applaud,” she said.
This is why it's important to acknowledge when e.g., McCain does a good thing (for once) and not just immediately move on to "oh yeah, but he's still a shitty person." I mean, it might be true, but positive reinforcement works too. (Little by little, not every time, not 100% all at once, let's not straw man this)
Coke! Mistresses! Deep down, every Famblee Values Republican is secretly Robert Baratheon.
There was a story on MeFi some time ago on the theory that the flawed ones do even better than the perfect ones. I can look at them and think, hey, we have the same values, Jeebus and all that. But ALSO, hey, that person understands. Has the same temptations, weaknesses, and challenges as I do. Doesn't think they're better than me. The perfect (seeming) ones just make (hypothetical) me feel bad about myself.
Seattle is trying something that aims to give low-income and middle-class voters a signal boost.
So we're just admitting now democracy is all about the money? Dollars get to vote, not people. I mean, I guess it's just facing reality. Ideally though, I'd like to solve the problem, not just accept it as given.
the card readers for payment say "Do Not Remove Your Card"
I see that every day, but I never thought about it like that! I was always trained in the military to avoid negative orders. You don't announce on the PA "do not secure the port turbine generator!" Instead you say "maintain the port turbine generator running!" or else you're very likely to hear a rushed "secure the port turbine generator AYE!" [boom] O shit.
posted by ctmf at 11:14 AM on July 30, 2017 [15 favorites]
“I got off the plane and there was a large group of outbound passengers, none of whom I happened to know, and spontaneously some of them started applauding, and then virtually all of them started to applaud,” she said.
This is why it's important to acknowledge when e.g., McCain does a good thing (for once) and not just immediately move on to "oh yeah, but he's still a shitty person." I mean, it might be true, but positive reinforcement works too. (Little by little, not every time, not 100% all at once, let's not straw man this)
Coke! Mistresses! Deep down, every Famblee Values Republican is secretly Robert Baratheon.
There was a story on MeFi some time ago on the theory that the flawed ones do even better than the perfect ones. I can look at them and think, hey, we have the same values, Jeebus and all that. But ALSO, hey, that person understands. Has the same temptations, weaknesses, and challenges as I do. Doesn't think they're better than me. The perfect (seeming) ones just make (hypothetical) me feel bad about myself.
Seattle is trying something that aims to give low-income and middle-class voters a signal boost.
So we're just admitting now democracy is all about the money? Dollars get to vote, not people. I mean, I guess it's just facing reality. Ideally though, I'd like to solve the problem, not just accept it as given.
the card readers for payment say "Do Not Remove Your Card"
I see that every day, but I never thought about it like that! I was always trained in the military to avoid negative orders. You don't announce on the PA "do not secure the port turbine generator!" Instead you say "maintain the port turbine generator running!" or else you're very likely to hear a rushed "secure the port turbine generator AYE!" [boom] O shit.
posted by ctmf at 11:14 AM on July 30, 2017 [15 favorites]
Now, do we know for sure that this guy actually exists and isn't just The Mooch's cocaine tulpa?
posted by Artw at 11:15 AM on July 30, 2017 [20 favorites]
posted by Artw at 11:15 AM on July 30, 2017 [20 favorites]
So Anthony Scaramucci threatened felony prosecution and firing to anyone who leaks, right?
And now his publicist publicly admits being the source of leaks about Scary Mooch's mortal enemy Reince Preibus.
Yeah but to be fair he was gakked to the gills when he said that. Plus, words don't mean anything, documents are easily faked, Russian mobsters live here now and Commander Goldturd thinks he has game.
If it's not coke or some (shock: Russian) synthetic behind the throne I'll be disappoint.
posted by petebest at 11:16 AM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
And now his publicist publicly admits being the source of leaks about Scary Mooch's mortal enemy Reince Preibus.
Yeah but to be fair he was gakked to the gills when he said that. Plus, words don't mean anything, documents are easily faked, Russian mobsters live here now and Commander Goldturd thinks he has game.
If it's not coke or some (shock: Russian) synthetic behind the throne I'll be disappoint.
posted by petebest at 11:16 AM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
ctmf - concerns that McCain is not getting enough handjobs from the press may be severely misplaced.
posted by Artw at 11:17 AM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Artw at 11:17 AM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
"Per pool, Trump has arrived at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, VA at 9:39AM. It is his 43rd day at a golf course as president."
According to obamagolfcounter.com, which I presume has no interest in minimising Obama's golf numbers, Obama's 43rd round of golf as president was in July 2010, so an entire year longer than it took Trump.
Although, to be fair, I suppose that Trump's count is for 'days at a golf course' rather than rounds of golf. Conveniently, trumpgolfcount.com tells us that we have confirmed golf at 16 of 41 visits (when last updated), ahead of Obama's 11 at the same point in his presidency.
posted by knapah at 11:17 AM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
According to obamagolfcounter.com, which I presume has no interest in minimising Obama's golf numbers, Obama's 43rd round of golf as president was in July 2010, so an entire year longer than it took Trump.
Although, to be fair, I suppose that Trump's count is for 'days at a golf course' rather than rounds of golf. Conveniently, trumpgolfcount.com tells us that we have confirmed golf at 16 of 41 visits (when last updated), ahead of Obama's 11 at the same point in his presidency.
posted by knapah at 11:17 AM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Also, Johnny Wallflower, love ya man, but can we (as a group, this is just an example) not just copy clickbait onto mefi? What was the relevant takeaway from that article? Your favorite part? You just posted the teaser, no meat.
posted by ctmf at 11:19 AM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by ctmf at 11:19 AM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
The Five Myths About Steve Bannon thing? Worked for me, full article
posted by petebest at 11:24 AM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by petebest at 11:24 AM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Joe Biden still wants to be president. Can his family endure one last campaign? [WaPo]
posted by standardasparagus at 11:40 AM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by standardasparagus at 11:40 AM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
To be fair to McCain, he surely knew that most of the far right scorn would be heaped on him after this vote. Especially since they will see him as slightly backstabby and that he tricked them on purpose. He did a lot of shitty things but let's keep in mind if he was more liberal he would have been primaried in Arizona and wouldn't be there for this vote. I'm not suddenly a fan of McCain but this is precisely why I want to be especially careful not to discount a good act of someone I don't like.
The far right had long seen McCain as a pink commie traitor rino. They still voted for him in 08 because Obama.
posted by rainy at 11:46 AM on July 30, 2017 [8 favorites]
The far right had long seen McCain as a pink commie traitor rino. They still voted for him in 08 because Obama.
posted by rainy at 11:46 AM on July 30, 2017 [8 favorites]
From TD STrange's posted tweestorm from Matt Stoller: 21. Those who follow me know I think Obama was a bad President.
Welp. I guess Neoliberals are the real enemy?
posted by Justinian at 11:47 AM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Welp. I guess Neoliberals are the real enemy?
posted by Justinian at 11:47 AM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
The golf is so far down the list of horrible that I have to keep reminding myself why it matters - after all, I'd be very much in favour of a lazy but brilliant Prez who did good work for five days a week then kicked back for the weekend. Did I care that Obama played a lot of golf? I did not - and in any case, he put the hours in too.
It matters because it's symptomatic of the disjoint between 45's promises and his actions. I'd love to see a supercut of all the campaign blather interspersed with the news headlines that contradicts it. It would have to go on for some time, so it'd have to be pretty sharply edited and with a kicking audio track, and it'd probably have to be re-edited every week, but it'd be a fine, fine thing.
posted by Devonian at 11:48 AM on July 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
It matters because it's symptomatic of the disjoint between 45's promises and his actions. I'd love to see a supercut of all the campaign blather interspersed with the news headlines that contradicts it. It would have to go on for some time, so it'd have to be pretty sharply edited and with a kicking audio track, and it'd probably have to be re-edited every week, but it'd be a fine, fine thing.
posted by Devonian at 11:48 AM on July 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
You call pullquote for lol-neoliberals, but the rest of the tweets were discussing entrenched opposition to a more populist 2018 platform, including from Obama alums.
posted by T.D. Strange at 11:57 AM on July 30, 2017
posted by T.D. Strange at 11:57 AM on July 30, 2017
Can someone explain this to me:
@Niels Lesniewski You want a real crisis? Send Pence to preside over the Senate and recognize a senator not named McConnell first to set the agenda.
What does "recognize" mean in this context?
Also our UN ambassador is done with diplomacy, which is par for the course in this administration.
@Nikki Haley Done talking about NKorea.China is aware they must act.Japan & SKorea must inc pressure.Not only a US problem.It will req an intl solution.
I realize Haley took the post as ambassador to the UN as a way of buffing up her Foreign Policy experience but it would be nice to have someone at the UN who was actually interested in diplomatic relations with N. Korea, especially at this time.
Call me crazy but I don't think threatening them is the answer. They are a small, vulnerable nation that wants the nuclear weapon systems to use as a deterrent because they feel threatened by the US and others. They are isolated which means the Fascist Dictator in power has a lot more control. How about lifting the sanctions and opening up trade alliances. Also giving them food & medical supplies. We could even do the same sort of deal we did with Iran, giving them economic opportunities for inspections or something. Kim Jong-Un might like the chance to become obscenely wealthy and live a more lavish lifestyle.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 12:00 PM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
@Niels Lesniewski You want a real crisis? Send Pence to preside over the Senate and recognize a senator not named McConnell first to set the agenda.
What does "recognize" mean in this context?
Also our UN ambassador is done with diplomacy, which is par for the course in this administration.
@Nikki Haley Done talking about NKorea.China is aware they must act.Japan & SKorea must inc pressure.Not only a US problem.It will req an intl solution.
I realize Haley took the post as ambassador to the UN as a way of buffing up her Foreign Policy experience but it would be nice to have someone at the UN who was actually interested in diplomatic relations with N. Korea, especially at this time.
Call me crazy but I don't think threatening them is the answer. They are a small, vulnerable nation that wants the nuclear weapon systems to use as a deterrent because they feel threatened by the US and others. They are isolated which means the Fascist Dictator in power has a lot more control. How about lifting the sanctions and opening up trade alliances. Also giving them food & medical supplies. We could even do the same sort of deal we did with Iran, giving them economic opportunities for inspections or something. Kim Jong-Un might like the chance to become obscenely wealthy and live a more lavish lifestyle.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 12:00 PM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
> From TD STrange's posted tweestorm from Matt Stoller: 21. Those who follow me know I think Obama was a bad President.
Welp. I guess Neoliberals are the real enemy?
It is possible to believe that neoliberalism is a bad thing and also that fascism is a bad thing, and also it's possible to believe that neoliberalism is a bad thing without also believing that neoliberalism is worse than fascism, and also it's possible to criticize neoliberalism while making cause with neoliberals against fascists (with the proviso that one must always understand that neoliberals, like most people, can be unreliable opponents of fascism).
basically I'm calling out that comment as pointlessly tendentious. is what I'm doing here.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 12:01 PM on July 30, 2017 [33 favorites]
Welp. I guess Neoliberals are the real enemy?
It is possible to believe that neoliberalism is a bad thing and also that fascism is a bad thing, and also it's possible to believe that neoliberalism is a bad thing without also believing that neoliberalism is worse than fascism, and also it's possible to criticize neoliberalism while making cause with neoliberals against fascists (with the proviso that one must always understand that neoliberals, like most people, can be unreliable opponents of fascism).
basically I'm calling out that comment as pointlessly tendentious. is what I'm doing here.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 12:01 PM on July 30, 2017 [33 favorites]
@Niels Lesniewski You want a real crisis? Send Pence to preside over the Senate and recognize a senator not named McConnell first to set the agenda.
What does "recognize" mean in this context?
"The majority leader has the right to be called upon first if several senators are seeking recognition by the presiding officer, which enables him to offer motions or amendments before any other senator." (much more history of the role, rules and development of Majority/Minority leaders at link.)
As Senate Majority Leader, McConnell runs the Senate and is recognized first to determine/say what the Senate acts on. However, Senate Majority Leader is not a constitutional office. It's merely a norm, created over time by Senate rules. Pence/Trump could try to stir up shit by ignoring Senate rules.
posted by chris24 at 12:05 PM on July 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
What does "recognize" mean in this context?
"The majority leader has the right to be called upon first if several senators are seeking recognition by the presiding officer, which enables him to offer motions or amendments before any other senator." (much more history of the role, rules and development of Majority/Minority leaders at link.)
As Senate Majority Leader, McConnell runs the Senate and is recognized first to determine/say what the Senate acts on. However, Senate Majority Leader is not a constitutional office. It's merely a norm, created over time by Senate rules. Pence/Trump could try to stir up shit by ignoring Senate rules.
posted by chris24 at 12:05 PM on July 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
Also our UN ambassador is done with diplomacy, which is par for the course in this administration.
Ambassadors gonna ambassad-- oh wait. It's 2017 and all official communication between world leaders et al. happens via twitter.
(Note to myself circa 2008: it's true. This is all true.)
posted by lydhre at 12:07 PM on July 30, 2017 [8 favorites]
Ambassadors gonna ambassad-- oh wait. It's 2017 and all official communication between world leaders et al. happens via twitter.
(Note to myself circa 2008: it's true. This is all true.)
posted by lydhre at 12:07 PM on July 30, 2017 [8 favorites]
He did a lot of shitty things but let's keep in mind if he was more liberal he would have been primaried in Arizona and wouldn't be there for this vote
He literally was just primaried from the right in Arizona by a moronic, ghoulish lunatic. It wasn't close.
Re: Obama and BigLaw and the Banks
Um...yeah. That is a goddamn problem. I don't think it's the kind of thing that can be dealt with in a term or a Presidency. It's going to take concerted popular effort over the space of a generation to remove the damaging influence of BigLawCorpBank in the body politic without killing the patient. We're like one of those sedentary cautionary tales who have grown into their couch. We're gonna have to go slow.
Might as well start now.
posted by schadenfrau at 12:08 PM on July 30, 2017 [8 favorites]
He literally was just primaried from the right in Arizona by a moronic, ghoulish lunatic. It wasn't close.
Re: Obama and BigLaw and the Banks
Um...yeah. That is a goddamn problem. I don't think it's the kind of thing that can be dealt with in a term or a Presidency. It's going to take concerted popular effort over the space of a generation to remove the damaging influence of BigLawCorpBank in the body politic without killing the patient. We're like one of those sedentary cautionary tales who have grown into their couch. We're gonna have to go slow.
Might as well start now.
posted by schadenfrau at 12:08 PM on July 30, 2017 [8 favorites]
@Niels Lesniewski You want a real crisis? Send Pence to preside over the Senate and recognize a senator not named McConnell first to set the agenda.
That doesn't seem crisis-ey to me? McConnell would just raise a point of order, Pence would say it's invalid, the Senate would vote that it is valid and that McConnell should have been recognized, and the Senate would take steps to further curb the power of the VP to actually preside.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:14 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
That doesn't seem crisis-ey to me? McConnell would just raise a point of order, Pence would say it's invalid, the Senate would vote that it is valid and that McConnell should have been recognized, and the Senate would take steps to further curb the power of the VP to actually preside.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:14 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Pence might show up with three or four Trumpist votes in hand? I suppose the idea would be to prevent the Senate from moving forward on anything until they give the President his repeal and replace.
posted by notyou at 12:21 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by notyou at 12:21 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Pence might show up with three or four Trumpist votes in hand? I suppose the idea would be to prevent the Senate from moving forward on anything until they give the President his repeal and replace.
posted by notyou at 4:21 AM on July 31 [+] [!]
I wonder how quick Congress would pull a double impeachment if that happened. I know that would get us President Ryan, but...I don't know if Congress would accept having their hands tied.
posted by saysthis at 12:27 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by notyou at 4:21 AM on July 31 [+] [!]
I wonder how quick Congress would pull a double impeachment if that happened. I know that would get us President Ryan, but...I don't know if Congress would accept having their hands tied.
posted by saysthis at 12:27 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
You might think Pence could just hang out in the chair and try to impose his will on the Senate, but in this instance the Senators would fall back on their natural defense, which is to be more boring than you can possibly imagine. Pence would tap out after a few hours (or, as they call it in the Senate, "half a speech").
posted by Huffy Puffy at 12:29 PM on July 30, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 12:29 PM on July 30, 2017 [10 favorites]
news via AFP: "#BREAKING 755 US diplomats must leave Russia, President Putin announces" (no article yet that I'm aware of)
posted by lalex at 11:04 AM on July 30
Articles coming out now. E.g.:
WaPo: Putin orders cut of 755 personnel at U.S. missions
The Hill: Putin expels 755 US diplomats from Russia
posted by lalex at 11:04 AM on July 30
Articles coming out now. E.g.:
WaPo: Putin orders cut of 755 personnel at U.S. missions
The Hill: Putin expels 755 US diplomats from Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered 755 U.S. diplomatic mission staff to leave the country in a Sunday interview with a Russian television station.posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 12:31 PM on July 30, 2017 [11 favorites]
The diplomats must leave the country by Sept. 1, The New York Times reported.
In an interview [with] Rossiya-1, Putin said he was capping the number of American personnel at 455 — the same as the number of Russian diplomatic and technical staff in the United States, according to the Washington Post.
The expulsion comes in response to legislation overwhelmingly passed by Congress last week that would increase sanctions against Russia and blocks President Trump from being able to lift the measures.
The staff reduction is dramatic, the Post said, involving the main embassy in Moscow and missions in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok.
The Russian government will also seize two diplomatic properties in Moscow, retaliation for an Obama administration decision to take over two Russian mansions in the U.S., the Post added.
Oh, surely. The House impeaches... could a motivated White House wedge and finagle a way to prevent or delay that?
posted by notyou at 12:31 PM on July 30, 2017
posted by notyou at 12:31 PM on July 30, 2017
Joe Biden still wants to be president. Can his family endure one last campaign? [WaPo]
Joe, honey, I love you, but sit down.
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:36 PM on July 30, 2017 [67 favorites]
Joe, honey, I love you, but sit down.
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:36 PM on July 30, 2017 [67 favorites]
I wonder how quick Congress would pull a double impeachment if that happened. I know that would get us President Ryan, but...I don't know if Congress would accept having their hands tied.
Nixon 2.0
1. Muller indicts Pence.
2. Failing President Trump appoints $SOMEBODY_ELSE to VP
3. Failing President Trump resigns rather than be impeached/indicted
4. $SOMEBODY_ELSE becomes President.
Who's the money on whom $SOMEBODY_ELSE is going to end up being.
posted by mikelieman at 12:37 PM on July 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
Nixon 2.0
1. Muller indicts Pence.
2. Failing President Trump appoints $SOMEBODY_ELSE to VP
3. Failing President Trump resigns rather than be impeached/indicted
4. $SOMEBODY_ELSE becomes President.
Who's the money on whom $SOMEBODY_ELSE is going to end up being.
posted by mikelieman at 12:37 PM on July 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
Pence might show up with three or four Trumpist votes in hand?
Then the vote to overrule Pence is 97-3 or 96-4 instead of 100-0?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:39 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
Then the vote to overrule Pence is 97-3 or 96-4 instead of 100-0?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:39 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
You're probably right that the Senate would remain loyal to the Senate, first.
What if Pence recognized someone like Schumer?
posted by notyou at 12:44 PM on July 30, 2017
What if Pence recognized someone like Schumer?
posted by notyou at 12:44 PM on July 30, 2017
Then the vote to overrule Pence is 97-3 or 96-4 instead of 100-0?
Assuming the Democrats want to help McConnell save face. Not going to happen.
posted by Talez at 12:45 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Assuming the Democrats want to help McConnell save face. Not going to happen.
posted by Talez at 12:45 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Who's the money on whom $SOMEBODY_ELSE is going to end up being.
posted by mikelieman at 4:37 AM on July 31 [1 favorite +] [!]
Joe Exotic/Vermin Supreme 2018
posted by saysthis at 12:45 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by mikelieman at 4:37 AM on July 31 [1 favorite +] [!]
Joe Exotic/Vermin Supreme 2018
posted by saysthis at 12:45 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Amb. McFaul says we don't even have 755 American diplomats in Russia, so presumably they're forcing us to fire Russian local staff too?
posted by zachlipton at 12:56 PM on July 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 12:56 PM on July 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
Assuming the Democrats want to help McConnell save face.
No, assuming that Senators want the Senate to be the Senate and not just an appendage of the white house.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:02 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
No, assuming that Senators want the Senate to be the Senate and not just an appendage of the white house.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:02 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
This is how they sneak more spies back here!
posted by Artw at 1:02 PM on July 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Artw at 1:02 PM on July 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
Maybe that 755 number includes all the US spies that Trump told Putin about at the G20 dinner.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:02 PM on July 30, 2017 [37 favorites]
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:02 PM on July 30, 2017 [37 favorites]
Maybe that 755 number includes all the US spies that Trump told Putin about at the G20 dinner.
Well, they don't usually just expel people at random, just like we didn't take that compound away just because it was Russia's. It's a perfect opportunity to say "I know what you were doing here" by the names you choose, and to choose precisely the people whose unfinished business or lost capability would hurt the most. And without having to prove anything or even make any explicit accusations.
posted by ctmf at 1:10 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
Well, they don't usually just expel people at random, just like we didn't take that compound away just because it was Russia's. It's a perfect opportunity to say "I know what you were doing here" by the names you choose, and to choose precisely the people whose unfinished business or lost capability would hurt the most. And without having to prove anything or even make any explicit accusations.
posted by ctmf at 1:10 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
Between Flynn, Trump and Tillerson they probably do have a nice annotated list - them just letting those people go would be a bit of a surprise though.
posted by Artw at 1:17 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Artw at 1:17 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
So y'all, I was making a hat cake. So as to eat my hat because McCain voted no. And it was gonna be a cowboy hat, cause maverick, and pink, because women's march, and I wanted to try a new red paste, but I swear before God, I have spent three hours rescuing a Swiss meringue buttercream that turned to soup, and now that I've finally got that fixed, I do not have the spoons to sculpt a cake, so...I'm having deconstructed maverick strawberry cake with Swiss meringue blobs, and fresh strawberries, and I'm calling it a win for cake and maverick both. Now, who wants to come help me eat all this damn cake?
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 1:28 PM on July 30, 2017 [74 favorites]
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 1:28 PM on July 30, 2017 [74 favorites]
A couple of actuaries put together an analysis of what could happen if Trump stops paying CSR payments to insurance companies.. It would cost the government a lot, and result in a rather strange situation in the exchanges:
posted by zachlipton at 1:30 PM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
Because subsidies in 2018 will be based on the cost of the second lowest-cost silver plan, any increase in those premium rates will cause subsidies to increase in parallel.Raising premiums like this is also going to chase off those with incomes too high to qualify for subsidies.
In fact, according to our projections, subsidies could increase to the extent that they would actually exceed the cost of a bronze plan for many lower-income enrollees. A substantial portion of the nearly 7 million marketplace enrollees eligible for CSR could receive a bronze-level plan for no cost, or upgrade to a gold-level plan at very low premiums.
posted by zachlipton at 1:30 PM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
“But he softened that by putting his arm around me"
So I guess now we know why Mike Pence isn't allowed to be alone with women other than his wife.
posted by jackbishop at 1:31 PM on July 30, 2017 [33 favorites]
So I guess now we know why Mike Pence isn't allowed to be alone with women other than his wife.
posted by jackbishop at 1:31 PM on July 30, 2017 [33 favorites]
Raising premiums like this is also going to chase off those with incomes too high to qualify for subsidies.
I'm sure the dozens of people in this position will be crushed.
posted by Talez at 1:42 PM on July 30, 2017
I'm sure the dozens of people in this position will be crushed.
posted by Talez at 1:42 PM on July 30, 2017
The Arthur Schwartz / Reince Priebus thing: So, according to Schwartz, Trump crew apparently have "oppo research" on their own guys ... in case they step out of line or just out of favor? Which he knows because friend of, definitely not publicist or representative of, Scaramucci?
Maybe I'm behind on the new way of doing things, but that term, "oppo research" seems an awful lot like "blackmail material" when used this way, because, I mean -- you're talking about your own dudes. That's not "oppo," that's just control and coercion. Right? Am I missing something?
Interesting. Is anyone in the media following this up, because I would be interested in hearing more about this "oppo on our own guys" thing.
posted by taz at 1:44 PM on July 30, 2017 [45 favorites]
Maybe I'm behind on the new way of doing things, but that term, "oppo research" seems an awful lot like "blackmail material" when used this way, because, I mean -- you're talking about your own dudes. That's not "oppo," that's just control and coercion. Right? Am I missing something?
Interesting. Is anyone in the media following this up, because I would be interested in hearing more about this "oppo on our own guys" thing.
posted by taz at 1:44 PM on July 30, 2017 [45 favorites]
Maxine Water's "Reclaiming My Time" remix single will brighten your day.
posted by emjaybee at 1:44 PM on July 30, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by emjaybee at 1:44 PM on July 30, 2017 [10 favorites]
I'm sure the dozens of people in this position will be crushed.
I get the snark, but there are plenty of people who make more than $48,000 a year but less than whatever amount makes paying a sixth to a quarter of your entire income in health insurance costs something laughable.
Raising premiums like this is also going to chase off those with incomes too high to qualify for subsidies.
Since the CSRs apply only to silver plans, would cutting off CSRs affect the premiums for Bronze or Gold plans?
posted by Justinian at 1:46 PM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
I get the snark, but there are plenty of people who make more than $48,000 a year but less than whatever amount makes paying a sixth to a quarter of your entire income in health insurance costs something laughable.
Raising premiums like this is also going to chase off those with incomes too high to qualify for subsidies.
Since the CSRs apply only to silver plans, would cutting off CSRs affect the premiums for Bronze or Gold plans?
posted by Justinian at 1:46 PM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
Maybe I'm behind on the new way of doing things, but that term, "oppo research" seems an awful lot like "blackmail material" when used this way, because, I mean -- you're talking about your own dudes. That's not "oppo," that's just control and coercion. Right? Am I missing something?
They're Republicans and therefore it's important to be accurate.
posted by Talez at 1:46 PM on July 30, 2017 [10 favorites]
They're Republicans and therefore it's important to be accurate.
posted by Talez at 1:46 PM on July 30, 2017 [10 favorites]
I get the snark, but there are plenty of people who make more than $48,000 a year but less than whatever amount makes paying a sixth to a quarter of your entire income in health insurance costs something laughable.
The subsidies go up to 400% FPL at 9% of income so your typical family of four is going to be making over a hundred grand and not have employer provided insurance before you get kicked into this edge case.
Like I said, dozens.
posted by Talez at 1:50 PM on July 30, 2017
The subsidies go up to 400% FPL at 9% of income so your typical family of four is going to be making over a hundred grand and not have employer provided insurance before you get kicked into this edge case.
Like I said, dozens.
posted by Talez at 1:50 PM on July 30, 2017
Maybe I'm behind on the new way of doing things
It's been SOP since, oh, the Babylonian courts. If you're in charge of disciplining your troops in government, you absolutely must have a black book of your charges' misdemeanours, because blackmail and fear are perfectly cromulent tools for whipping your lot into line.
I think an ex-Chief Whip of the Tory party put it something like 'little boys, backhanders, blow, booze... it all goes in the book, and stays there if they do what I tell them'.
What you don't do is spunk it out on Twitter. That would be very stupid.
posted by Devonian at 1:51 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
It's been SOP since, oh, the Babylonian courts. If you're in charge of disciplining your troops in government, you absolutely must have a black book of your charges' misdemeanours, because blackmail and fear are perfectly cromulent tools for whipping your lot into line.
I think an ex-Chief Whip of the Tory party put it something like 'little boys, backhanders, blow, booze... it all goes in the book, and stays there if they do what I tell them'.
What you don't do is spunk it out on Twitter. That would be very stupid.
posted by Devonian at 1:51 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
I made cupcakes. Cause that way I can have a tiny victory cake every day for a bunch of days.
posted by supercrayon at 1:52 PM on July 30, 2017 [30 favorites]
posted by supercrayon at 1:52 PM on July 30, 2017 [30 favorites]
Mark Summer at DailyKos coins "proctocracy:" government of, by, and for a bunch of assholes.
I've actually been using pluto-klepto-proctocracy for a while: government by rich, thieving assholes.
posted by zeri at 1:56 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
I've actually been using pluto-klepto-proctocracy for a while: government by rich, thieving assholes.
posted by zeri at 1:56 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
The subsidies go up to 400% FPL at 9% of income so your typical family of four
And 400% FPL for a single person is $48,000. You really think that making $50k is incredibly uncommon? You live in Boston (AFAIK) for crissake! And I'm sure you must have been to, like, LA or NYC or basically any major city.
posted by Justinian at 1:58 PM on July 30, 2017 [12 favorites]
And 400% FPL for a single person is $48,000. You really think that making $50k is incredibly uncommon? You live in Boston (AFAIK) for crissake! And I'm sure you must have been to, like, LA or NYC or basically any major city.
posted by Justinian at 1:58 PM on July 30, 2017 [12 favorites]
FWIW, the number of people you're talking about is roughly 10,000,000. Not dozens. That's according to the CBO. But keep on keepin' on.
posted by Justinian at 2:00 PM on July 30, 2017 [22 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 2:00 PM on July 30, 2017 [22 favorites]
Breaking News: President Trump has announced the new Ambassador to Russia, Robert Mueller, who will depart immediately
[fake]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:01 PM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
[fake]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:01 PM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
I'm sure the dozens of people in this position will be crushed.
Well, hi! I'm one of those "dozens." I buy my health insurance through the ACA marketplace. I don't get subsidies. Please remember that the ACA made a huge difference for people pretty much across all demographics.
I'm self-employed. While I make enough that I could afford to buy insurance before the ACA became law, I lived in fear that the insurance companies could suddenly declare me uninsurable so I never used insurance to pay for any mental health care (even when my policy covered it). I never changed plans once I had one because to do so would require me to remember and list every single time I visited a doctor in the past 5 (or was it 10?) years. If I were to forget just one appointment or prescription, the company would be able to uninsure me at any point.
The ACA isn't just about subsidies or Medicaid (although both are so important and I am delighted that my taxes support them). It is also about ensuring consumer protections for everyone who buys health insurance.
posted by mcduff at 2:03 PM on July 30, 2017 [107 favorites]
Well, hi! I'm one of those "dozens." I buy my health insurance through the ACA marketplace. I don't get subsidies. Please remember that the ACA made a huge difference for people pretty much across all demographics.
I'm self-employed. While I make enough that I could afford to buy insurance before the ACA became law, I lived in fear that the insurance companies could suddenly declare me uninsurable so I never used insurance to pay for any mental health care (even when my policy covered it). I never changed plans once I had one because to do so would require me to remember and list every single time I visited a doctor in the past 5 (or was it 10?) years. If I were to forget just one appointment or prescription, the company would be able to uninsure me at any point.
The ACA isn't just about subsidies or Medicaid (although both are so important and I am delighted that my taxes support them). It is also about ensuring consumer protections for everyone who buys health insurance.
posted by mcduff at 2:03 PM on July 30, 2017 [107 favorites]
From the previous thread:I was going to say people should start sending $12 to the WH and ask them to send insurance but then it might go into 45's "reelection campaign".
Reminder, the president told the NYT you can get coverage for 12.00/yr and Sarah Huckabee Sanders was supposed to follow up and no one has called her out on that.
Also, for $reasons my Facebook thinks I was born in 1924 so I get ads for AARP now, sign up for only $12 a year.
posted by tilde at 2:07 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
I admit I was shocked the number of people who don't receive subsidies for Obamacare plans is as high as NPR reports. I thought the number was in the 2million range! Not that 2million is "dozens" either, but still. 10m is quite surprising.
posted by Justinian at 2:07 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 2:07 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
I don't believe gold plans can cost less than silver plans, though I'm not positive on that. If the price of silver plans increase to make up for the lack of CSR payments, the actuaries seem to think they'll approach the price of gold plans. The off-exchange plans might help make up for this, but the intent was never for the marketplace to be useless to you if you made over 400% FPL, and Republican sabotage may create just that situation.
And yes, people making around 400% FPL (not all of whom are families of four living large in low cost-of-living areas) need to be able to buy health insurance. There are plenty of single people in major cities making $50K/year who don't have employer-provided insurance, including people who are self-employed. I personally know well more than a dozen people in such a situation, thank you very much. This group includes self-employed plumbers and electricians and such who finally had a path to health insurance under the ACA. They will have to drop coverage if their premiums go through the roof. It's great to be more concerned with people who are less well off (and per the analysis I linked, those people can come out of this great, with free bronze plans), but the subsides already help protect those with lower incomes from premium increases.
posted by zachlipton at 2:08 PM on July 30, 2017 [14 favorites]
And yes, people making around 400% FPL (not all of whom are families of four living large in low cost-of-living areas) need to be able to buy health insurance. There are plenty of single people in major cities making $50K/year who don't have employer-provided insurance, including people who are self-employed. I personally know well more than a dozen people in such a situation, thank you very much. This group includes self-employed plumbers and electricians and such who finally had a path to health insurance under the ACA. They will have to drop coverage if their premiums go through the roof. It's great to be more concerned with people who are less well off (and per the analysis I linked, those people can come out of this great, with free bronze plans), but the subsides already help protect those with lower incomes from premium increases.
posted by zachlipton at 2:08 PM on July 30, 2017 [14 favorites]
You know, I'm actually tempted to believe that NPR is wrong and are misreporting. 10,000,000 just seems too high as a % of people buying obamacare plans. So ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
posted by Justinian at 2:10 PM on July 30, 2017
posted by Justinian at 2:10 PM on July 30, 2017
> Maybe I'm behind on the new way of doing things, but that term, "oppo research" seems an awful lot like "blackmail material" when used this way, because, I mean -- you're talking about your own dudes. That's not "oppo," that's just control and coercion. Right? Am I missing something?
It would seem to fit NY's second degree coercion.
Which would be a factor if the rule of law was still a thing that applied to the disciples of the MAGA.
posted by Buntix at 2:14 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
It would seem to fit NY's second degree coercion.
Which would be a factor if the rule of law was still a thing that applied to the disciples of the MAGA.
posted by Buntix at 2:14 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
I don't know - if I were still living in California, is be pretty tempted to forego coverage provided by my employer for getting a silver or bronze version of Kaiser. It might cost more, but my employer plans were always junk and changed every year.
posted by LionIndex at 2:14 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by LionIndex at 2:14 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
I believe NPR is including off-exchange plans in that 10 million figure. Charles Gaba puts it at about 7.7 million people buying off-exchange.
The good news is that the ACA requires such plans to follow all the new rules, so they have to cover pre-existing conditions and all the essential benefits and everything. And off-exchange plans are often cheaper than on-exchange ones if you don't qualify for subsidies.
posted by zachlipton at 2:15 PM on July 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
The good news is that the ACA requires such plans to follow all the new rules, so they have to cover pre-existing conditions and all the essential benefits and everything. And off-exchange plans are often cheaper than on-exchange ones if you don't qualify for subsidies.
posted by zachlipton at 2:15 PM on July 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
It's great to be more concerned with people who are less well off (and per the analysis I linked, those people can come out of this great, with free bronze plans)
Right, every analysis I've read indicates that the people at the forefront of marketplaces spiralling out of control are not the poor, who will either qualify for Medicaid or for subsidies which limit their costs as a % of income but the middle-income types who make modestly over 400% FPL and do not qualify for either Medicaid or subsidies.
posted by Justinian at 2:16 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Right, every analysis I've read indicates that the people at the forefront of marketplaces spiralling out of control are not the poor, who will either qualify for Medicaid or for subsidies which limit their costs as a % of income but the middle-income types who make modestly over 400% FPL and do not qualify for either Medicaid or subsidies.
posted by Justinian at 2:16 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Thanks, zach! That makes sense. Like I said my impression had been that something around 2million people were buying obamacare plans without subsidies, and so it would put the number right around 10million when including off-exchange plans. (Now I'm surprised so many people are on off-exchange plans but that's not really relevant to the discussion.)
posted by Justinian at 2:18 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 2:18 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Also not all subsidies are particularly meaningful. I went on an IBX plan through Obamacare and while any reduction was better than no reduction, it wasn't much.
posted by delfin at 2:29 PM on July 30, 2017
posted by delfin at 2:29 PM on July 30, 2017
Right, every analysis I've read indicates that the people at the forefront of marketplaces spiralling out of control are not the poor, who will either qualify for Medicaid or for subsidies which limit their costs as a % of income but the middle-income types who make modestly over 400% FPL and do not qualify for either Medicaid or subsidies.
If this didn't involve the health and financial security of millions of actual real people, it would be deeply ironic that these are exactly the same people who Trump and Republicans declare to be "Obamacare victims." For those under 400% FPL, the effects of the sabotage are much more limited (albeit not on the federal budget), but they're directly felt by the people Republicans keep claiming they care about.
posted by zachlipton at 2:33 PM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
If this didn't involve the health and financial security of millions of actual real people, it would be deeply ironic that these are exactly the same people who Trump and Republicans declare to be "Obamacare victims." For those under 400% FPL, the effects of the sabotage are much more limited (albeit not on the federal budget), but they're directly felt by the people Republicans keep claiming they care about.
posted by zachlipton at 2:33 PM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
Which would be a factor if the rule of law was still a thing that applied to the disciples of the MAGA.
It'll happen all at once or not at all, and if it does happen I hope it is utterly pitiless.
posted by Artw at 2:37 PM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
It'll happen all at once or not at all, and if it does happen I hope it is utterly pitiless.
posted by Artw at 2:37 PM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
ctmf: You just posted the teaser, no meat.
As I always do, especially when I know the denizens of this thread are aware of the reporter's other work. Excerpts are not meant to substitute for the full article.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 2:45 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
As I always do, especially when I know the denizens of this thread are aware of the reporter's other work. Excerpts are not meant to substitute for the full article.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 2:45 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Presidents in wheelchairs need not apply?
what a terrific way to make sure custodial parents of young children stay out of the public sphere! there are easier ways, some of them still in effect, but this one sounds more fun. plus of course it gives no unfair advantages to white people over everybody else, and by that I mean it gives a lot of them.
Pretty sure Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho could meet those requirements, loq.
Ouch! Points taken. Yeah, I knew that these requirements would also be a little too ubermenschy.
That obviuously wasn't my goal. My goal is just to instill perspective and empathy in people who seem to have none. I'm actually curious to know if you took an acute narcissist and/or sociopath and put them on orbit for a while for a dose of the overview effect, would they come away humbled like so many astronauts have, or would they come away broken and terrified, or would they just naturally see the whole world and think it would perfectly fine and just to own it all and have it rotate obediently around them?
And I have no idea how to make something like this happen. Actually, I'll transcribe the image text, because I've been meaning to type this up for a while and it'll be just a moment:
what a terrific way to make sure custodial parents of young children stay out of the public sphere! there are easier ways, some of them still in effect, but this one sounds more fun. plus of course it gives no unfair advantages to white people over everybody else, and by that I mean it gives a lot of them.
Pretty sure Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho could meet those requirements, loq.
Ouch! Points taken. Yeah, I knew that these requirements would also be a little too ubermenschy.
That obviuously wasn't my goal. My goal is just to instill perspective and empathy in people who seem to have none. I'm actually curious to know if you took an acute narcissist and/or sociopath and put them on orbit for a while for a dose of the overview effect, would they come away humbled like so many astronauts have, or would they come away broken and terrified, or would they just naturally see the whole world and think it would perfectly fine and just to own it all and have it rotate obediently around them?
And I have no idea how to make something like this happen. Actually, I'll transcribe the image text, because I've been meaning to type this up for a while and it'll be just a moment:
I want a dyke for president. I want a person with aids for president and I want a fag for vice president and I want someone with no health insurance and I want someone who grew up in a place where the earth is so saturated with toxic waste that they didn't have a choice about getting leukemia. I want a president that had an abortion at sixteen and I want a candidate who isn't the lesser of two evils and I want a president who lost their last lover to aids, who still sees that in their eyes every time they lay down to rest, who held their lover in their arms and knew they were dying. I want a president with no air conditioning, a president who has stood on line at the clinic, at the dmv, at the welfare office and has been unemployed and layed off and sexually harrassed and gaybashed and deported. I want someone who has spent the night in the tombs and had a cross burned on their lawn and survived rape. I want someone who has been in love and been hurt, who respects sex, who has made mistakes and learned from them. I want a Black woman for president. I want someone with bad teethposted by loquacious at 2:54 PM on July 30, 2017 [26 favorites]and an attitude, someone who has eatenthat nastyhospital food, someone who crossdresses and has done drugs and been in therapy. I want someone who has committed civil disobedience. And I want to know why this isn't possible. I want to know why we started learning somewhere down the line that a president is always a clown; always a john and never a hooker. Always a boss and never a worker, always a thief and never caught.
-unknown author and source
Yeah, I regret naming you specifically, it's just a thing I wish we could all do less of. (and belongs in MeTa, tbh) No worries.
posted by ctmf at 2:56 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by ctmf at 2:56 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
"President Trump has announced the new Ambassador to Russia" Jon Huntsman. Real news.
posted by Oyéah at 3:07 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Oyéah at 3:07 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
-unknown author and source
Zoe Leonard, ""I Want a President," 1992
posted by neroli at 3:13 PM on July 30, 2017 [29 favorites]
Zoe Leonard, ""I Want a President," 1992
posted by neroli at 3:13 PM on July 30, 2017 [29 favorites]
Good summary of the CSR issue from Andy Slavitt, who ran Medicare, Medicaid and ACA for Obama.
@ASlavitt
Trump plans to sabotage the ACA this week. If everyone handles it right, it won't work. More on this later today. Follow if interested.
2- Trump's single greatest bullet in his gun to disrupt ACA is to not make CSR payments what he calls bailouts.
3- Trump has been threatening it & I am hearing he will announce this Tuesday he won't pay. His aide...👇 Kellyanne Conway says President Trump will decide ‘this week’ whether to cut off insurance payments
4- There is a well documented record that this is political & violates the law. Well documented by Trump that is. But more importantly...
5- States & insurers by refilling can make this a neutral 2 positive 4 consumers & the only one to pay the price of this sabotage- Trump...
6- Here's how. This is technical, but Oliver Wyman explains it here: http://health.oliverwyman.com/transform-care/2017/05/impact_defunding_CSR_payments.html
7- Now I will try to explain. Skip next few tweets if you don't want these details. It begins with states allowing states to file w no CSRs.
8- When states re-file, there are 3 types of consumers: 1- those w max subsidies 2- those w some subsidies 3- those w none. All can be ok/btr
9- With max subsidies, consumers are protected against all rate increases. They don't pay a penny more.
10- For consumers w some subsidies, benchmark silver plan is higher so they actually get MORE of a subsidy
11- People with no subsidy will be the same if plans file a comparable off market silver plan.
12- Technical part is over. What this means is insurers make it the exact same in 2018 and beyond. Consumers same in better. But...
13- If Trump eliminates CSR payments, entire increase in burden could be born by the Federal Treasury. Trump would be sabotaging himself.
14- If trump pulls the trigger this could end up looking like the very foolish decision it is if no one blinks. And here's what happens...
15- Here's what happens next.
-Gets sued for remaining 2017 payments.
-2018 & beyond (per Oliver Wyman, tweet 6)
Worse for him...
16- If Trump pulls the trigger on CSRs, he loses what leverage he may have to push Congress for a deal.
17- This is a little but like Trump pulling out of the Paris Accord and states & companies saying "we won't change our emission standards."
posted by chris24 at 3:13 PM on July 30, 2017 [34 favorites]
@ASlavitt
Trump plans to sabotage the ACA this week. If everyone handles it right, it won't work. More on this later today. Follow if interested.
2- Trump's single greatest bullet in his gun to disrupt ACA is to not make CSR payments what he calls bailouts.
3- Trump has been threatening it & I am hearing he will announce this Tuesday he won't pay. His aide...👇 Kellyanne Conway says President Trump will decide ‘this week’ whether to cut off insurance payments
4- There is a well documented record that this is political & violates the law. Well documented by Trump that is. But more importantly...
5- States & insurers by refilling can make this a neutral 2 positive 4 consumers & the only one to pay the price of this sabotage- Trump...
6- Here's how. This is technical, but Oliver Wyman explains it here: http://health.oliverwyman.com/transform-care/2017/05/impact_defunding_CSR_payments.html
7- Now I will try to explain. Skip next few tweets if you don't want these details. It begins with states allowing states to file w no CSRs.
8- When states re-file, there are 3 types of consumers: 1- those w max subsidies 2- those w some subsidies 3- those w none. All can be ok/btr
9- With max subsidies, consumers are protected against all rate increases. They don't pay a penny more.
10- For consumers w some subsidies, benchmark silver plan is higher so they actually get MORE of a subsidy
11- People with no subsidy will be the same if plans file a comparable off market silver plan.
12- Technical part is over. What this means is insurers make it the exact same in 2018 and beyond. Consumers same in better. But...
13- If Trump eliminates CSR payments, entire increase in burden could be born by the Federal Treasury. Trump would be sabotaging himself.
14- If trump pulls the trigger this could end up looking like the very foolish decision it is if no one blinks. And here's what happens...
15- Here's what happens next.
-Gets sued for remaining 2017 payments.
-2018 & beyond (per Oliver Wyman, tweet 6)
Worse for him...
16- If Trump pulls the trigger on CSRs, he loses what leverage he may have to push Congress for a deal.
17- This is a little but like Trump pulling out of the Paris Accord and states & companies saying "we won't change our emission standards."
posted by chris24 at 3:13 PM on July 30, 2017 [34 favorites]
Joe Biden still wants to be president. Can his family endure one last campaign? [WaPo]
FFS, he should get out of the way of people who might actually bring together an effective Democratic coalition. That probably means someone black, someone female, and someone without a lot of voter-hostile legislation to their name.
posted by Coventry at 3:19 PM on July 30, 2017 [19 favorites]
FFS, he should get out of the way of people who might actually bring together an effective Democratic coalition. That probably means someone black, someone female, and someone without a lot of voter-hostile legislation to their name.
posted by Coventry at 3:19 PM on July 30, 2017 [19 favorites]
Holy shit, Schwartz thought he apologized to Reince because he sent it to the wrong email address (because of course he did) and some prankster fucked with him. The best people.
@jaketapper
Retweeted EMAIL PRANKSTER
This was the email that fooled @arthurschwartz into thinking he had apologized to @Reince
@SINON_REBORN - EMAIL PRANKSTER
I accepted @ArthurSchwartz apology. It seemed the gentlemanly thing to do [screenshot]
@SINON_REBORN
@jaketapper will reveal all tomorrow. There's a few more who have fell for my parlour tricks. Hope none of them are based in the White House
@jaketapper
Retweeted EMAIL PRANKSTER
Watch #TheLead at 4 pm ET Monday, folks!
---
I think Schwartz is gonna regret going after Jake this morning and siccing the trolls on him.
posted by chris24 at 3:20 PM on July 30, 2017 [47 favorites]
@jaketapper
Retweeted EMAIL PRANKSTER
This was the email that fooled @arthurschwartz into thinking he had apologized to @Reince
@SINON_REBORN - EMAIL PRANKSTER
I accepted @ArthurSchwartz apology. It seemed the gentlemanly thing to do [screenshot]
@SINON_REBORN
@jaketapper will reveal all tomorrow. There's a few more who have fell for my parlour tricks. Hope none of them are based in the White House
@jaketapper
Retweeted EMAIL PRANKSTER
Watch #TheLead at 4 pm ET Monday, folks!
---
I think Schwartz is gonna regret going after Jake this morning and siccing the trolls on him.
posted by chris24 at 3:20 PM on July 30, 2017 [47 favorites]
The dream dies hard.
posted by Room 641-A at 3:20 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Room 641-A at 3:20 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
If I were still living in California, is be pretty tempted to forego coverage provided by my employer for getting a silver or bronze version of Kaiser.
This is what I did for a year or so; I was unemployed/working temp gigs, and got on Kaiser through Covered California (without subsidies). When I got a full-time offer, the insurance was BC/BS of Virginia, and the prospect of finding a GP, a GYN, an audiologist, and all the other specialists I needed just looked too intimidating. So I took the financial hit and stayed on CC, waiving my employer's coverage. Probably cost me rather a lot, but I love being in Kaiser and it seemed worth it to me.
posted by suelac at 3:29 PM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
This is what I did for a year or so; I was unemployed/working temp gigs, and got on Kaiser through Covered California (without subsidies). When I got a full-time offer, the insurance was BC/BS of Virginia, and the prospect of finding a GP, a GYN, an audiologist, and all the other specialists I needed just looked too intimidating. So I took the financial hit and stayed on CC, waiving my employer's coverage. Probably cost me rather a lot, but I love being in Kaiser and it seemed worth it to me.
posted by suelac at 3:29 PM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
Zoe Leonard, ""I Want a President," 1992
Thank you, I've always wanted to know the source. I just found that image years ago and always wondered about where it came from.
posted by loquacious at 3:33 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Thank you, I've always wanted to know the source. I just found that image years ago and always wondered about where it came from.
posted by loquacious at 3:33 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
FFS, he should get out of the way of people who might actually bring together an effective Democratic coalition. That probably means someone black, someone female, and someone without a lot of voter-hostile legislation to their name.
Someone under the age of 70.
posted by Glibpaxman at 3:33 PM on July 30, 2017 [12 favorites]
Someone under the age of 70.
posted by Glibpaxman at 3:33 PM on July 30, 2017 [12 favorites]
Very, very ready for the age of Boomer politics to be over.
posted by Artw at 3:35 PM on July 30, 2017 [79 favorites]
posted by Artw at 3:35 PM on July 30, 2017 [79 favorites]
FFS, he should get out of the way of people who might actually bring together an effective Democratic coalition. That probably means someone black, someone female, and someone without a lot of voter-hostile legislation to their name.
Let's not confuse what we want the world to be like with what it actually is like.
It's absurd to argue -- especially after the last election -- that a white man would be less effective at putting together a Democratic coalition than a Black woman. We all agree that the U.S. is racist, right? That's why. It's a sad reality but it's a real truth. Even totally badass women such as Maxine Waters or Barbara Lee would face a significant additional disadvantage on top of all the gerrymandering, voter suppression efforts, unlimited right wing money, Fox & Sinclair propaganda, Russian manipulation, etc. There's a reason an old white man like Bernie Sanders did surprisingly well against Hillary, and it wasn't all socialism.
posted by msalt at 3:36 PM on July 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
Let's not confuse what we want the world to be like with what it actually is like.
It's absurd to argue -- especially after the last election -- that a white man would be less effective at putting together a Democratic coalition than a Black woman. We all agree that the U.S. is racist, right? That's why. It's a sad reality but it's a real truth. Even totally badass women such as Maxine Waters or Barbara Lee would face a significant additional disadvantage on top of all the gerrymandering, voter suppression efforts, unlimited right wing money, Fox & Sinclair propaganda, Russian manipulation, etc. There's a reason an old white man like Bernie Sanders did surprisingly well against Hillary, and it wasn't all socialism.
posted by msalt at 3:36 PM on July 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
I think Biden is too old and would prefer someone younger but dude would win in a walk. He may be the single most electable Democrat in the country, save for his age. The coalition he could put together would be very solid.
posted by Justinian at 3:40 PM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 3:40 PM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
The Christie descent is not over yet.
@BennyHutch
At #Cubs #Brewers game. #ChrisChristie was getting razzed by fans, so he got in the face of one of them. 5:30 on @WISN12News
VIDEO
posted by chris24 at 3:41 PM on July 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
@BennyHutch
At #Cubs #Brewers game. #ChrisChristie was getting razzed by fans, so he got in the face of one of them. 5:30 on @WISN12News
VIDEO
posted by chris24 at 3:41 PM on July 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
It's a sad reality but it's a real truth. Even totally badass women such as Maxine Waters or Barbara Lee would face a significant additional disadvantage...
Same reason that Hollywood films starring women or minority actors will never do well at the box office, huh?
posted by clawsoon at 3:41 PM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
Same reason that Hollywood films starring women or minority actors will never do well at the box office, huh?
posted by clawsoon at 3:41 PM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
Clearly minorities and women face additional discrimination in every single aspect of American life save for running for President?
posted by Justinian at 3:43 PM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 3:43 PM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
> There's a reason an old white man like Bernie Sanders did surprisingly well against Hillary, and it wasn't all socialism.
This logic only holds if we assume that the only voters that are allowed to show up in 2020 are the ones who showed up in 2016. A women and/or a person of color at the top of the ticket would create a much different coalition that could win in places that neither Hillary nor Trump did particularly well. This could change the electoral college equation in ways that favor Democrats. It makes no sense to use the outcome of one very weird election to justify playing it safe with Yet Another Old White Guy in 2020.
posted by tonycpsu at 3:46 PM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
This logic only holds if we assume that the only voters that are allowed to show up in 2020 are the ones who showed up in 2016. A women and/or a person of color at the top of the ticket would create a much different coalition that could win in places that neither Hillary nor Trump did particularly well. This could change the electoral college equation in ways that favor Democrats. It makes no sense to use the outcome of one very weird election to justify playing it safe with Yet Another Old White Guy in 2020.
posted by tonycpsu at 3:46 PM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
I love Joe Biden. I would love to have dinner with him. I think he's better sidecoaching and doing Biden Foundation stuff, though.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 3:48 PM on July 30, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 3:48 PM on July 30, 2017 [13 favorites]
Kamala Harris is our next president, let's just all accept it now.
posted by BeginAgain at 3:50 PM on July 30, 2017 [17 favorites]
posted by BeginAgain at 3:50 PM on July 30, 2017 [17 favorites]
As usual, I'd vote for her if she were the nominee but I am so done with prosecutors.
posted by Justinian at 3:50 PM on July 30, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 3:50 PM on July 30, 2017 [8 favorites]
LAist has a piece about Politicon. Worth it for the Kellyanne Cosplay.
posted by Room 641-A at 3:55 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Room 641-A at 3:55 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Hate to disappoint you, but it's not about 'putting together a coalition' or being progressive enough or 'running a great campaign' .....
All of those stupid euphemisms fail in the face of a second x chromosome.
posted by Dashy at 4:07 PM on July 30, 2017 [8 favorites]
All of those stupid euphemisms fail in the face of a second x chromosome.
posted by Dashy at 4:07 PM on July 30, 2017 [8 favorites]
Tom Price explains that when Trump promised to fire Tom Price if the healthcare vote failed, it was a joke.
Everything Trump says is a joke. Until it's serious. He is Schrödinger's Comedian.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 4:10 PM on July 30, 2017 [32 favorites]
Everything Trump says is a joke. Until it's serious. He is Schrödinger's Comedian.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 4:10 PM on July 30, 2017 [32 favorites]
John Delaney is the... the... dude who was governor of... Rhode Island? Who ran in 2016? Of 2020.
You can tell how much of an impact he made. I'm completely blanking on his name. I could google it trivially but I think this makes the point more effectively.
posted by Justinian at 4:26 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
You can tell how much of an impact he made. I'm completely blanking on his name. I could google it trivially but I think this makes the point more effectively.
posted by Justinian at 4:26 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Mod note: ENOUGH REHASHING OF THE PRIMARIES, just because Biden likes running for office and somoene wrote an article about it doesn't mean we must RIGHT THIS MINUTE BATTLEDOME THE 2020 PRIMARY. AND I SWEAR BY MY SHINY METAL ASS IF PREHASHING 2020 BECOMES A THING WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A PROBLEM.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 4:27 PM on July 30, 2017 [112 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 4:27 PM on July 30, 2017 [112 favorites]
Maybe we could work on a list of banned subjects for the catch-all threads? [serious]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 4:28 PM on July 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 4:28 PM on July 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
Okay, this didn't hit me until today, and maybe it was mentioned by others, but the Scar-Moocher calling up a reporter in the middle of the night, and not wanting his name used and expecting to speak off-the-record and trashing Priebus is virtually the definition of a leaker and one who is tearing apart the administration. Which of course he declared he wanted to crack down on.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 4:31 PM on July 30, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 4:31 PM on July 30, 2017 [16 favorites]
Maybe we could work on a list of banned subjects for the catch-all threads? [serious]
THIS IS STALINISM [goes on like that for sixteen hours]
posted by gerryblog at 4:33 PM on July 30, 2017 [14 favorites]
THIS IS STALINISM [goes on like that for sixteen hours]
posted by gerryblog at 4:33 PM on July 30, 2017 [14 favorites]
Ha ha. "her legacy".
posted by Artw at 4:51 PM on July 30, 2017 [23 favorites]
posted by Artw at 4:51 PM on July 30, 2017 [23 favorites]
she is reading Eleanor Roosevelt’s biography for guidance and inspiration.
If it wasn't so awful, this would be excellent satire.
posted by suelac at 4:52 PM on July 30, 2017 [40 favorites]
If it wasn't so awful, this would be excellent satire.
posted by suelac at 4:52 PM on July 30, 2017 [40 favorites]
The fact that I can Ctrl+F this thread and find no mention of William Browder is extremely alarming, considering people on reddit think Trump and Scaramucci's recent antics are specifically designed to distract from Browder's testimony (text / video). This stuff is damning.
posted by jsnlxndrlv at 4:55 PM on July 30, 2017 [62 favorites]
posted by jsnlxndrlv at 4:55 PM on July 30, 2017 [62 favorites]
So for my McCain cake, I made a dewberry cake using the frozen wild dewberries from my yard that I'd been saving up for just such a cake. My husband isn't helping me eat it, though, so I don't know what to do with all this cake.
Today my husband came home from the grocery store with a package of mini cupcakes. Which normally I love and would be a treat, but I just looked at him and went "you bought me CAKE?"
So I'm kinda rolling in freaking cake over here. Guess it's time to go eat cake for dinner...
posted by threeturtles at 4:58 PM on July 30, 2017 [24 favorites]
Today my husband came home from the grocery store with a package of mini cupcakes. Which normally I love and would be a treat, but I just looked at him and went "you bought me CAKE?"
So I'm kinda rolling in freaking cake over here. Guess it's time to go eat cake for dinner...
posted by threeturtles at 4:58 PM on July 30, 2017 [24 favorites]
I hope her reading list progression goes Eleanor Roosevelt > Susan B Anthony > Mother Jones > Rosa Luxemburg > Emma Goldman. If nothing else it'll be a helluva fun time during those White House family photo ops.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 4:58 PM on July 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 4:58 PM on July 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
The thing about claiming to be a beast tamer/whisperer is, beasts don't always tame, or listen to you, or sometimes just plain scratch or kill you. The beast is a beast and it's gonna do whatever it fucking wants. It only listens to you sometimes when it's in the fucking mood to. We all remember Roy and his tiger.
This is pretty much the Ivanka problem here. If anyone could tame a beast, she and/or Jared are the most well liked by Trump that anyone can tell--and they still can't make much or any difference.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:04 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
This is pretty much the Ivanka problem here. If anyone could tame a beast, she and/or Jared are the most well liked by Trump that anyone can tell--and they still can't make much or any difference.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:04 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
If you have not heard Browder's testimony, you don't have a fucking clue what's going on.
posted by Bringer Tom at 5:04 PM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by Bringer Tom at 5:04 PM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
If you have not heard Browder's testimony, you don't have a fucking clue what's going on.
A grossly incompetent president is wrecking the country and his election is the result of collusion with Russians? Also oil money pay offs?
posted by Artw at 5:08 PM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
A grossly incompetent president is wrecking the country and his election is the result of collusion with Russians? Also oil money pay offs?
posted by Artw at 5:08 PM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
The last post is full of Browder stuff.
This thread is only 500 comments or, like, 40 minutes old
posted by orange ball at 5:10 PM on July 30, 2017 [18 favorites]
This thread is only 500 comments or, like, 40 minutes old
posted by orange ball at 5:10 PM on July 30, 2017 [18 favorites]
We're distracted by still having health insurance.
posted by notyou at 5:13 PM on July 30, 2017 [44 favorites]
posted by notyou at 5:13 PM on July 30, 2017 [44 favorites]
That's a bit problematic, because IIRC the Russians lied about the extent of the disabilities of the Russian orphans, and many parents (and overburdened school systems) were duped. Let's not go there.
posted by Melismata at 5:19 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 5:19 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Jonathan Swan, Axios: Trump's purple crayon
posted by zachlipton at 5:19 PM on July 30, 2017 [23 favorites]
NYT's Maggie Haberman told the "Longform Podcast" last week that President Trump is "some version of Harold [and] the Purple Crayon." It's a children's book about a boy named Harold who has a purple crayon and the power to create his own world by drawing it.The Hill: Mulvaney: It's White House policy Senate keeps focus on healthcare"[Trump] is drawing his own reality and he wants you to kind of follow him down that path," Haberman says. "In his view, all reality is subjective and it can be kind of twisted and played with."It's one of the most insightful observations I've heard about Trump. And I thought of it while reading the July 24 edition of the National Enquirer
White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said Sunday that it’s official White House policy that nothing else gets a vote in Congress before healthcare.I'm sure the Senate will be thrilled to know that the White House is dictating their agenda, and all of us will be thrilled that raising the debt ceiling is a secondary concern. And, um, is the White House that keeps complaining about the pace of confirmations now insisting that all confirmations must stop?
"Yes," it's official policy that the Senate stay focused on ObamaCare reform before voting on anything else, Mulvaney told Jake Tapper on CNN’s State of the Union.
posted by zachlipton at 5:19 PM on July 30, 2017 [23 favorites]
Anyone that compares Trump to Harold and the Purple Crayon does not understand Harold and the Purple Crayon. This seriously pisses me off.
posted by Room 641-A at 5:22 PM on July 30, 2017 [31 favorites]
posted by Room 641-A at 5:22 PM on July 30, 2017 [31 favorites]
> nothing else gets a vote in Congress before healthcare.
I thought they had a vote on healthcare, and that vote said "no changes."
"Keep voting until you get the answer you want" is not how a democracy works. Neither is "vote again until the president is happy with the results," or we'd have had a very different November 9th last year.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 5:24 PM on July 30, 2017 [37 favorites]
I thought they had a vote on healthcare, and that vote said "no changes."
"Keep voting until you get the answer you want" is not how a democracy works. Neither is "vote again until the president is happy with the results," or we'd have had a very different November 9th last year.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 5:24 PM on July 30, 2017 [37 favorites]
Now, do we know for sure that this guy actually exists and isn't just The Mooch's cocaine tulpa?
Having recently seen Kuso it's just as possible that he's a talking blowjob-giving boil on Mooch's neck.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 5:26 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Having recently seen Kuso it's just as possible that he's a talking blowjob-giving boil on Mooch's neck.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 5:26 PM on July 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
Even while there is no doubt adoption is being used as political leverage and even code right now, there is also a real reason Russians and others are skeptical of American adoptions: U.S. Mother Who 'Returned' Her Adopted Son To Russia Ordered To Pay Child Support. I've chosen Forbes as the source for this story because both sides etc. but I can assure you all that when the case was on every single not American media was horrified by the blatant inhumanity of the American system. This was the case that made "adoptions" an easy target for Russian propaganda later on and now. I'd guess that a lot of people in Russia, Europe and Asia who don't follow politics will remember this story and feel Russia is doing the right thing.
posted by mumimor at 5:32 PM on July 30, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by mumimor at 5:32 PM on July 30, 2017 [8 favorites]
We're distracted by still having health insurance.
Today, anyway. I srsly quit my job and went freelance a couple of weeks before election day because Hillz was in.
/em warms up resistbot
posted by tilde at 5:36 PM on July 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
Today, anyway. I srsly quit my job and went freelance a couple of weeks before election day because Hillz was in.
/em warms up resistbot
posted by tilde at 5:36 PM on July 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
I'd guess that a lot of people in Russia, Europe and Asia who don't follow politics will remember this story and feel Russia is doing the right thing.
Wait. You'd guess that a lot of people would think cancelling an entire adoption program because of one (admittedly awful) situation is the right thing?? It's one woman. If the US had some sort of habit of doing this, that would be one thing. But an isolated incident makes you think it's reasonable to trash the whole program? I mean, maybe I might think, they should see where this one went wrong and see if they need to adjust their methods. But I don't see many people saying "Oh yeah, I remember that news story. I guess those Americans just shouldn't raise kids."
posted by greermahoney at 5:53 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
Wait. You'd guess that a lot of people would think cancelling an entire adoption program because of one (admittedly awful) situation is the right thing?? It's one woman. If the US had some sort of habit of doing this, that would be one thing. But an isolated incident makes you think it's reasonable to trash the whole program? I mean, maybe I might think, they should see where this one went wrong and see if they need to adjust their methods. But I don't see many people saying "Oh yeah, I remember that news story. I guess those Americans just shouldn't raise kids."
posted by greermahoney at 5:53 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
Right now, "not the worst Trump" looks like Ivanka's best shot at a legacy. And for that she'll have to fight Barron and Tiffany.
posted by octobersurprise at 5:53 PM on July 30, 2017 [19 favorites]
posted by octobersurprise at 5:53 PM on July 30, 2017 [19 favorites]
In other Russia news: https://www.engadget.com/2017/07/30/russian-censorship-law-bans-proxies-and-vpns/ - It's also requiring that you link your phone number to chat apps.
This really isn't the sort of 80's nostalgia I enjoy.
Quite curious to see if anything happens with the Russian troll farm support for Trump, presumably they'll still be bulking up the global alt-right, but it could be an indication whether Putin's on the out with Trump, or just U.S. America.
posted by Buntix at 5:55 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
This really isn't the sort of 80's nostalgia I enjoy.
Quite curious to see if anything happens with the Russian troll farm support for Trump, presumably they'll still be bulking up the global alt-right, but it could be an indication whether Putin's on the out with Trump, or just U.S. America.
posted by Buntix at 5:55 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
because, what, Putin was a beneficiary of the tax rip-off that Maginsky was trying to expose?
Putin benefits financially, yes, but the bigger picture is that Putin builds his political power through overseeing and enforcing the kleptocracy. Money is stolen from the Russian economy and it goes to the people of Putin's choosing. He creates loyalty and consolidates political power by having well-fed lieutenants.
The Magnitsky Act throws a wrench in that, money can no longer flow from the Russian economy to Putin and his henchmen in their outside-of-Russia personal accounts. They've been keeping their money in the US and EU because the rule of law is so weak in Russia that if the money can be stolen once there's no guarantee that it won't be stolen again. With the Magnitsky Act in place those already stolen assets are now stranded and newly embezzled funds have no safe haven, Putin's mechanism of exercising political power has been directly undermined.
posted by peeedro at 5:56 PM on July 30, 2017 [40 favorites]
Putin benefits financially, yes, but the bigger picture is that Putin builds his political power through overseeing and enforcing the kleptocracy. Money is stolen from the Russian economy and it goes to the people of Putin's choosing. He creates loyalty and consolidates political power by having well-fed lieutenants.
The Magnitsky Act throws a wrench in that, money can no longer flow from the Russian economy to Putin and his henchmen in their outside-of-Russia personal accounts. They've been keeping their money in the US and EU because the rule of law is so weak in Russia that if the money can be stolen once there's no guarantee that it won't be stolen again. With the Magnitsky Act in place those already stolen assets are now stranded and newly embezzled funds have no safe haven, Putin's mechanism of exercising political power has been directly undermined.
posted by peeedro at 5:56 PM on July 30, 2017 [40 favorites]
Molly Ball, Atlantic: The Final Humiliation of Reince Priebus: "Like his party, the former White House chief of staff swallowed his principles in the name of power. He was repaid in savage indignity." A really good look at how Priebus found himself in this position. Oh, and Michael Steele still bears a grudge all right:
Roger Cohen, NYT op-ed: The Desperation of Our Diplomats
Ironically, Priebus’s own career in national politics began with an act of disloyalty. In 2011, he was serving as the Republican National Committee’s general counsel under then-chairman Michael Steele. Despite big wins in the 2010 midterm elections, party activists had become dissatisfied with what they viewed as Steele’s mismanagement and penchant for gaffes. Steele knew he would have challengers when he sought another term as chairman—but he didn’t expect a challenge from Priebus, whom he considered a teammate.One of the most interesting parts of the Priebus story is his role in bringing all of this about; he had spent years working to cultivate Trump as a party donor before he ran, apparently not getting the memo that Trump prefers if other people write the checks. He saw a loudmouth birther and saw dollar-signs. As Trump kept talking about running for office, Priebus humored him because he wanted his money. And here we are.
“This is the bed Reince has been making for himself since he was my general counsel,” Steele told me. “He’s a guy who’s always positioning himself for the next thing. Karma’s a bitch, ain’t it?”
Roger Cohen, NYT op-ed: The Desperation of Our Diplomats
Still, that shove captured the rudeness and remoteness that have undermined trust at Foggy Bottom. Stephenson began to understand the many distressed people coming to her “asking if their service is still valued.” The lack of communication between the secretary and the rest of the building has been deeply disturbing.posted by zachlipton at 5:58 PM on July 30, 2017 [60 favorites]
An exodus is underway. Those who have departed include Nancy McEldowney, the director of the Foreign Service Institute until she retired last month, who described to me “a toxic, troubled environment and organization”; Dana Shell Smith, the former ambassador to Qatar, who said what was most striking was the “complete and utter disdain for our expertise”; and Jake Walles, a former ambassador to Tunisia with some 35 years of experience. “There’s just a slow unraveling of the institution,” he told me.
The 8,000 Foreign Service officers are not sure how to defend American values under a president who has entertained the idea of torture, shown contempt for the Constitution, and never met an autocrat who failed to elicit his sympathy. Trump seems determined to hollow out the State Department in a strange act of national self-amputation.
Charlie Warzel, in this week's Infowarzel, leads off with this tidbit:
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 5:59 PM on July 30, 2017 [12 favorites]
The real effect of Trump's anti-media twitter rants: What happens when a president uses his office to constantly undermine coverage he doesn't like as "fake news?" And what is the lasting effect of a relentless anti-MSM pro-Trump media that trumpets messages like #CNNIsISIS? One example is this headline which I couldn't get out of my brain this week:
"Poll: Republicans Think Courts Should Be Able To Shut Down Media That’s “Biased Or Inaccurate,” 45/20"
It's just one poll, I know, but...HOO BOY! As Allahpundit notes:
"45/20, tantalizingly close to a clear majority for torching the First Amendment. Nothing says “small government” like telling judges to close down newspapers for having too much of a point of view."
[…]
Oh, and it's not just Republicans (though they're the most in favor, according to the poll). As Allahpundit notes:
"Among 25 demographics measured, not a single one has a majority opposed to the idea of court-ordered shutterings of certain media. The groups most strongly opposed are Clinton voters and “other” voters last fall at just 42 percent apiece. Overall, a plurality of 43 percent of the population “hasn’t heard enough” to form an opinion yet about whether the state should be allowed to target news outlets for closure."
"Poll: Republicans Think Courts Should Be Able To Shut Down Media That’s “Biased Or Inaccurate,” 45/20"
Oh wow how different things would have looked if this was around in 2009.
posted by Talez at 6:01 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Oh wow how different things would have looked if this was around in 2009.
posted by Talez at 6:01 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Maybe that 755 number includes all the US spies that Trump told Putin about at the G20 dinner.
read + write + execute for owner, and read + execute for group and others. Putin is making linux file permission jokes now.
posted by srboisvert at 6:01 PM on July 30, 2017 [24 favorites]
read + write + execute for owner, and read + execute for group and others. Putin is making linux file permission jokes now.
posted by srboisvert at 6:01 PM on July 30, 2017 [24 favorites]
read + write + execute for owner, and read + execute for group and others. Putin is making linux file permission jokes now.
#MAKEEXTGREATAGAIN
posted by Talez at 6:07 PM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
#MAKEEXTGREATAGAIN
posted by Talez at 6:07 PM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
Where narcissists are concerned, the more golden you are as the golden child, the worse your treatment when you inevitably fail to live up to the standards set for you.
That's something Christie doesn't seem yet to have learned. He keeps trying to regain his status as favored child, not realizing that Trump has moved on to other favorites. For now. Not that their position is anything to envy, just look at Priebus. No doubt Scaramucci's turn on the wheel will be spectacular. Probably throw the guy in jail.
posted by Autumnheart at 6:09 PM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
That's something Christie doesn't seem yet to have learned. He keeps trying to regain his status as favored child, not realizing that Trump has moved on to other favorites. For now. Not that their position is anything to envy, just look at Priebus. No doubt Scaramucci's turn on the wheel will be spectacular. Probably throw the guy in jail.
posted by Autumnheart at 6:09 PM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
So, listen up, Team Trump: “Put that coffee down. Coffee is for closers only.”
How did we all miss such a straight pitch to setup this joke?
@JerryDunleavy: "Covfefe is for closers"
posted by zachlipton at 6:12 PM on July 30, 2017 [31 favorites]
How did we all miss such a straight pitch to setup this joke?
@JerryDunleavy: "Covfefe is for closers"
posted by zachlipton at 6:12 PM on July 30, 2017 [31 favorites]
The most interesting section of the Infowarzel piece (the "meat," as it were ;)):
The Platform Wars And What It Means For The Pro-Trump Media: Three similar events transpired over the last two weeks that stuck with me. A week ago, Bill Mitchell tweeted that Facebook blocked — without warning, he says — his 'Your Voice Radio' content. And Alt-Right (honestly, I'm actually a little unsure where she lands on the political spectrum these days) personality Lauren Southern tweeted at length that her Patreon crowdfunding account was deleted. And finally, this weekend, the alt-right vlogger and Twitter personality, Baked Alaska, had his GoFundMe account suspended as he was trying to raise money for a #UniteTheRight meetup in Charlottesville, VA in August.posted by Johnny Wallflower at 6:14 PM on July 30, 2017 [31 favorites]
To the pro-Trump media, these are flagrant signs of censorship and punishment for their viewpoints. But as an outside observer it also highlights the importance of mainstream technology platforms in the pro-Trump media.
The far-right has put together a number of bespoke crowdfunding sites but for the most part there's a huge tech deficit on the far right. The major social distribution platforms —where the pro-Trump media largely have risen from and have indoctrinated and gained their followers — are touted as inclusive and as open to nearly all viewpoints but are generally thought of as part of a progressive culture and (generalizing here...but) most have pretty liberal workforces. It sets up a pretty interesting dynamic. Especially when you consider that none of these platforms are required — as self-governed corporate entities — to be equal opportunity spaces or even to uphold basic tenets of free speech (though, for the most part, they try to).
When the pro-Trump media is banned from a major platform — take Milo and Twitter — there are very real consequences for those individuals. Mostly that's because these platforms are a) how they grow their audiences and b) where they can cross over and get the attention of the MSM. Again, take Milo and his Twitter megaphone. He's still in the news cycle, sure, but his voice — and reach — is drastically turned down as a result.
In recent months there've been some valiant efforts to create pro-Trump tech communities like Gab.ai (an almost carbon copy of Twitter with a near-anything goes speech policy). Gab may have a growing user base and some cash on hand and even dedicated fans but the one thing Gab doesn't have is liberals to troll and trigger. Twitter does. Twitter is the crossover portal between the MSM and the pro-Trump "Upside Down." That makes it vital to the pro-Trump operation. Just like YouTube is "red-pill" ground zero (where the pro-Trump media) can indoctrinate new followers, Twitter is where they can break through. What happens if some or any of that goes away?
BTW if you're wondering what the GanerGate assholes are up to now when they are not being the "alt-right", I'm pretty sure this Is them.
posted by Artw at 6:27 PM on July 30, 2017 [14 favorites]
posted by Artw at 6:27 PM on July 30, 2017 [14 favorites]
That Chris Christie on a fan reminds me of:
Max What now?
Leo You're going to jump on me.
Max What?
Leo You're going to jump on me. I know you're gonna jump on me and squash me like a bug. Please don't jump on me.
Max I'm not gonna jump on you. I'm not gonna jump on you! Will you please get a hold of yourself?
Leo Leave me alone, and don't touch me please, don't touch me!
Max What is your problem?
Leo I'm hysterical, I'm having hysterics. When I get like this, I can't stop.
Max Will you stop that, and don't panic please.
Leo I'm hysterical, I'm having hysterics. I'm still panicking, and I can't stop.
Max Hold on I'm coming (throws water on Leo)
Leo I'M WET!!! I'M WET!!! Cause, I'm hysterical!!! (Max slaps him) I'M IN PAIN!!! I'M IN PAIN!!! And I'm wet and Cause, I'm still hysterical!
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:33 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
Max What now?
Leo You're going to jump on me.
Max What?
Leo You're going to jump on me. I know you're gonna jump on me and squash me like a bug. Please don't jump on me.
Max I'm not gonna jump on you. I'm not gonna jump on you! Will you please get a hold of yourself?
Leo Leave me alone, and don't touch me please, don't touch me!
Max What is your problem?
Leo I'm hysterical, I'm having hysterics. When I get like this, I can't stop.
Max Will you stop that, and don't panic please.
Leo I'm hysterical, I'm having hysterics. I'm still panicking, and I can't stop.
Max Hold on I'm coming (throws water on Leo)
Leo I'M WET!!! I'M WET!!! Cause, I'm hysterical!!! (Max slaps him) I'M IN PAIN!!! I'M IN PAIN!!! And I'm wet and Cause, I'm still hysterical!
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:33 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
Ha ha. "her legacy."
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
posted by entropicamericana at 6:45 PM on July 30, 2017 [28 favorites]
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
posted by entropicamericana at 6:45 PM on July 30, 2017 [28 favorites]
Gab may have a growing user base and some cash on hand and even dedicated fans but the one thing Gab doesn't have is liberals to troll and trigger.Gab doesn't have enough cash on hand to pay market salaries for the people it already employs, of course, much less to do the new hiring it would have to do to scale. I wish people who report on this would actually pay attention to the numbers they're talking about--what they've raised has already supposedly lasted them about a year and if it lasts them another year, it's because they've suckered their labor into working for options. The numbers look big, but not for a company that needs to pay salaries and an accountant and hosting costs. They haven't raised an amount that could lead anybody to take seriously that they're capable of scaling even if they had enough people coming in and regularly using the service to need to.
So, yeah, there's way more than "one thing" they don't have.
posted by Sequence at 6:54 PM on July 30, 2017 [8 favorites]
I could believe the recent over-the-top shenanigans are, in part, camouflage for Browder's testimony. What I don't get, is what good that's supposed to do.
It's a complex situation with a lot of history; it doesn't condense nicely into tweets; and most important, the people charged with investigating and doing something about it aren't getting their info from Facebook, so it really doesn't matter if the internet is exploding with POTUS45's newest bigotry or musical-chairs staffing arrangements.
If I were charged with downplaying that testimony to the public, I'd be making sure every news outlet got a copy of the testimony and were encouraged to make it immediate, breaking news. Each one would pick a different soundbite, probably most commonly the graphic horror details of prison torture - and gliding over the money-laundering issues. The general public reaction would be "ooh, Russian prison is terrible, someone should stop them from being so awful," and then they'd go back to their celebrity tweetfeed.
Ignoring at hoping it'll go away isn't likely to work; instead, it lets journalists and pundits dig through the complexities and try to find the single bright-line story that can be outlined in a handful of tweets - before the whole thing is "old news," which is what would happen if it were solidly reported and then ignored for a few days.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 7:02 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
It's a complex situation with a lot of history; it doesn't condense nicely into tweets; and most important, the people charged with investigating and doing something about it aren't getting their info from Facebook, so it really doesn't matter if the internet is exploding with POTUS45's newest bigotry or musical-chairs staffing arrangements.
If I were charged with downplaying that testimony to the public, I'd be making sure every news outlet got a copy of the testimony and were encouraged to make it immediate, breaking news. Each one would pick a different soundbite, probably most commonly the graphic horror details of prison torture - and gliding over the money-laundering issues. The general public reaction would be "ooh, Russian prison is terrible, someone should stop them from being so awful," and then they'd go back to their celebrity tweetfeed.
Ignoring at hoping it'll go away isn't likely to work; instead, it lets journalists and pundits dig through the complexities and try to find the single bright-line story that can be outlined in a handful of tweets - before the whole thing is "old news," which is what would happen if it were solidly reported and then ignored for a few days.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 7:02 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
So this is encouraging, right? Trump’s Base Sticks With Him — Except in the South
Pres. Trump Net Approval (Gallup)
WV +25
ND +23
WY +20
OH -1
IA -4
GA -7
AZ -9
TX -9
WI -9
PA -9
MI -10
Those are devastating #s for traditionally deep red states...
posted by zakur at 7:21 PM on July 30, 2017 [26 favorites]
Pres. Trump Net Approval (Gallup)
WV +25
ND +23
WY +20
OH -1
IA -4
GA -7
AZ -9
TX -9
WI -9
PA -9
MI -10
Those are devastating #s for traditionally deep red states...
posted by zakur at 7:21 PM on July 30, 2017 [26 favorites]
Unless they are willing to vote Democratic his approval could be -30. I'll believe it when I see it.
posted by Justinian at 7:22 PM on July 30, 2017 [25 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 7:22 PM on July 30, 2017 [25 favorites]
The fact that I can Ctrl+F this thread and find no mention of William Browder is extremely alarming
I freaked out about all that stuff weeks ago. Browder was on every political podcast five minutes after Junior started tweeting about the "adoptions" meeting.
posted by diogenes at 7:25 PM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
I freaked out about all that stuff weeks ago. Browder was on every political podcast five minutes after Junior started tweeting about the "adoptions" meeting.
posted by diogenes at 7:25 PM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
It's insane that the favorability numbers for historically bluish-purple Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania are right there alongside Texas and Georgia.
I'm not sure how to interpret what that means for 2018, but it's certainly something that wouldn't have been expected two years ago.
posted by tivalasvegas at 7:28 PM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
I'm not sure how to interpret what that means for 2018, but it's certainly something that wouldn't have been expected two years ago.
posted by tivalasvegas at 7:28 PM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
I think perhaps this is more a situation where Texas and Georgia are surprisingly right there alongside MI, PA, and WI - as in, those numbers are not so surprising in the bluish-purple states, but they are quite surprising in the red ones.
posted by marlys at 7:36 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by marlys at 7:36 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
ELECTIONS NEWS
** Elections integrity:
** 2018 Senate:
** Odds & ends -- Nice writeup on that NH state Senate seat the Dems held.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:37 PM on July 30, 2017 [29 favorites]
** Elections integrity:
-- Hackers were able to break into voting machine software in short order at DEF CON. [The Hill]** AL Sen special election -- In the GOP primary, two polls (Strategy Research, Cygnal) have appointed Sen Luther Strange up a few points on Roy "the Ten Commandments judge guy" Moore, with House Freedom Caucus Rep Mo Brooks trailing in 3rd.
-- After winning the case against EPIC, the Kobach commission has renewed its voter data request. Most states expected not to change their original stance.
** 2018 Senate:
-- Trafalgar Group (a GOP pollster) has Kid Rock up 49-46 on Stabenow. Um, I'll believe this one when I see it.** 2018 House -- General overview from Sabato, plus rating changes (12 Dem favorable, 1 GOP favorable).
-- No surprise, but Manchin formally announced his re-election bid in WV.
** Odds & ends -- Nice writeup on that NH state Senate seat the Dems held.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:37 PM on July 30, 2017 [29 favorites]
I wouldn't worry about Browder's testimony (which is well worth watching for many reasons) being somehow kicked out of the news cycle. It's not news, and was never in the cycle. There are no revelations, there is no new possible path to the prize. What it is, is a bunch of decent people getting important evidence into the right context, so it can be used to illuminate other things.
What Browder says is all known already. It's not news. But because of who he is and the direct experiences he's had, he knows he's an important primary source for the investigation, and he needs to tell them directly. So this testimony has multiple purposes: to let the Judiciary committee know from the horse's mouth about the modus operandi of the Russians, to demonstrate publically that these claims are sourced, and to show that the committee is working properly.
None of this is news: all of it is necessary. It's a feature, not a story.
Enjoy the Moocharama in good conscience.
posted by Devonian at 7:39 PM on July 30, 2017 [19 favorites]
What Browder says is all known already. It's not news. But because of who he is and the direct experiences he's had, he knows he's an important primary source for the investigation, and he needs to tell them directly. So this testimony has multiple purposes: to let the Judiciary committee know from the horse's mouth about the modus operandi of the Russians, to demonstrate publically that these claims are sourced, and to show that the committee is working properly.
None of this is news: all of it is necessary. It's a feature, not a story.
Enjoy the Moocharama in good conscience.
posted by Devonian at 7:39 PM on July 30, 2017 [19 favorites]
WV +25
I'm not even slightly surprised by that number but it's just so frustrating to see it.
posted by octothorpe at 7:47 PM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
I'm not even slightly surprised by that number but it's just so frustrating to see it.
posted by octothorpe at 7:47 PM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
I'm not even slightly surprised by that number but it's just so frustrating to see it.
Choosing between a job and clean air and water for your kids is a hell of a Sophie's Choice for these people and I struggle to blame them solely for it.
posted by Talez at 7:49 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
Choosing between a job and clean air and water for your kids is a hell of a Sophie's Choice for these people and I struggle to blame them solely for it.
posted by Talez at 7:49 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
Something new? Maybe? Politico: Centrist lawmakers plot bipartisan health care stabilization bill
posted by zachlipton at 7:50 PM on July 30, 2017 [15 favorites]
A coalition of roughly 40 House Republicans and Democrats plan to unveil a slate of Obamacare fixes Monday they hope will gain traction after the Senate’s effort to repeal the law imploded.I wouldn't trust Tom Reed to reliably tell me if the building we were both in was on fire, so I'm skeptical, but actually appropriating the CSR funds would be progress. They also, of course, want to end the medical device tax, because that's one thing lobbyists will not ever let die.
The Problem Solvers caucus, led by Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) and Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), is fronting the effort to stabilize the ACA markets, according to multiple sources. But other centrist members, including Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), and several other lawmakers from the New Democrat Coalition and the GOP’s moderate Tuesday Group are also involved.
Their plan focuses on immediately stabilizing the insurance market and then pushing for Obamacare changes that have received bipartisan backing in the past.
The most significant proposal is funding for Obamacare’s cost-sharing subsidies. Insurers rely on these payments – estimated to be $7 billion this year — to reduce out-of-pocket costs for their poorest Obamacare customers.
posted by zachlipton at 7:50 PM on July 30, 2017 [15 favorites]
Calling that a choice implies there’s any indication the job will materialize.
posted by phearlez at 7:50 PM on July 30, 2017 [23 favorites]
posted by phearlez at 7:50 PM on July 30, 2017 [23 favorites]
Calling that a choice implies there’s any indication the job will materialize.
Whatever. Call it punishing the people who cost them their job and punishing the people that turned their water to yellow sludge. Either way they go they can't vote their way out of the shit.
posted by Talez at 7:55 PM on July 30, 2017
Whatever. Call it punishing the people who cost them their job and punishing the people that turned their water to yellow sludge. Either way they go they can't vote their way out of the shit.
posted by Talez at 7:55 PM on July 30, 2017
I mean, seriously, when we were drawing up the Loan Guarantee Program for REEE projects did we not think to put a string in there that if they commercialize their tech they pick an area ravaged by energy policy changes for manufacturing?
Instead we had a brand new Tesla manufacturing plant in freaking Fremont in one of the lowest unemployment areas in the freaking world.
Who honestly can blame these people for thinking "what the fuck, Democrats?"
posted by Talez at 7:58 PM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
Instead we had a brand new Tesla manufacturing plant in freaking Fremont in one of the lowest unemployment areas in the freaking world.
Who honestly can blame these people for thinking "what the fuck, Democrats?"
posted by Talez at 7:58 PM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
Instead we had a brand new Tesla manufacturing plant in freaking Fremont
Isn't the Fremont plant an older GM plant?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:05 PM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
Isn't the Fremont plant an older GM plant?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:05 PM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
Yes. Tesla plant is older GM plant that became a Japanese car company plant with GM. Been there since 60's.
posted by njohnson23 at 8:07 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by njohnson23 at 8:07 PM on July 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
Yep, you can read about the history of NUMMI. And re-opening a shuttered car factory to build electric cars doesn't seem like such a bad plan to me, even if you might wish that factory was located somewhere else.
posted by zachlipton at 8:17 PM on July 30, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 8:17 PM on July 30, 2017 [13 favorites]
On thursday McMaster fired
Derek Harvey, an Iran hawk hired by Michael Flynn.
Is McMaster on his way as well?
posted by adamvasco at 8:17 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Derek Harvey, an Iran hawk hired by Michael Flynn.
Is McMaster on his way as well?
posted by adamvasco at 8:17 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
WV +25
I'm not even slightly surprised by that number but it's just so frustrating to see it.
Yeah I'm not sure the solution in WV is to nominate a liberal democrat for Senate judging from this number.
posted by Justinian at 8:18 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm not even slightly surprised by that number but it's just so frustrating to see it.
Yeah I'm not sure the solution in WV is to nominate a liberal democrat for Senate judging from this number.
posted by Justinian at 8:18 PM on July 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Democrats Can Abandon the Center — Because the Center Doesn’t Exist
Those who subscribe to the spatial model acknowledge that this prediction doesn’t bear out: Real-life political parties are beholden to interest groups, donors, and hyperpartisan activists who inhibit their capacity to court the median voter. Still, the model dictates that whichever party can best neutralize those constraints and capture the center, wins.posted by the man of twists and turns at 8:22 PM on July 30, 2017 [27 favorites]
But, as Achen and Bartels argue in their book, the problem with this theory is that none of its premises are true.
First, very few voters have uniformly liberal or conservative ideological views. Which is to say: Public opinion varies across more than one ideological dimension. There are a good number of people in America who support increasing Social Security benefits and banning Muslims from immigrating to the United States. Which shouldn’t be surprising, given that there is no inherent contradiction between those two beliefs. In fact, a recent study of the 2016 electorate by political scientist Lee Drutman found that most social/racial conservatives in the United States have broadly liberal economic views.
Ike Barinholtz (via Twitter): Anthony Scaramucci looks like an extra in the Wolf of Wall Street that they had to fire because he kept trying to talk to Leo
(that's from the last thread)
Um. That was supposed to be a joke, and yet. Today's Daily Beast, Marlow Stern: How Anthony Scaramucci Made It Into ‘Wall Street 2’—And Donald Trump Got Cut
As Christman says: "Jokes are over. No more jokes."
posted by zachlipton at 8:25 PM on July 30, 2017 [26 favorites]
(that's from the last thread)
Um. That was supposed to be a joke, and yet. Today's Daily Beast, Marlow Stern: How Anthony Scaramucci Made It Into ‘Wall Street 2’—And Donald Trump Got Cut
Scaramucci, who goes by the nickname “The Mooch,” pops up briefly in two interstitial scenes of Money Never Sleeps as an unnamed short seller working for Churchill Schwartz, the investment firm run by Brolin’s villain.We previously discussed Trump's deleted scene and his list of demands for what camera angles could be used and that nobody was allowed to touch his hair.
In both of the scenes, presented in split-screen, Scaramucci is talking to clients by phone, and in the later one, at around the film’s 40-minute mark, he even appears to channel his new boss, using one of Trump’s favorite made-up words.
“Churchill Schwartz has a yuge position in this thing and I want to get you in that stock,” he says.
The Mooch’s brief cameos, which amount to less than fifteen total seconds of screen time, didn’t come cheap. According to sources close to the production, in exchange for the cameos—and the SkyBridge Capital logo being displayed prominently during a charity gala sequence in the film—Scaramucci ponied up around $100,000. Former president George W. Bush didn’t nickname him “Gucci Scaramucci” for nothing.
That, of course, is more screen time than Donald Trump received.
As Christman says: "Jokes are over. No more jokes."
posted by zachlipton at 8:25 PM on July 30, 2017 [26 favorites]
I wouldn't trust Tom Reed to reliably tell me if the building we were both in was on fire, so I'm skeptical
I share your skepticism of (my rep., alas) Tom Reed. But FWIW, he has not been awful on climate change or on bipartisan efforts: he is, at least, a member of the House's bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus.
posted by marlys at 8:27 PM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
I share your skepticism of (my rep., alas) Tom Reed. But FWIW, he has not been awful on climate change or on bipartisan efforts: he is, at least, a member of the House's bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus.
posted by marlys at 8:27 PM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
Centrist lawmakers plot bipartisan health care stabilization bill
Oh great, just what we need in these trying times: finding the middle point between absolute cruelty and moderate cruelty. There's a winning strategy for all of us.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 8:39 PM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
Oh great, just what we need in these trying times: finding the middle point between absolute cruelty and moderate cruelty. There's a winning strategy for all of us.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 8:39 PM on July 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
Mod note: As William Shatner is not involved in US politics, we are not going to have a flamewar over whether stupid shit he says on Twitter is adequate to call a Jewish man a Nazi so that 47 people can ragequit over a gigantic derail.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 8:45 PM on July 30, 2017 [47 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 8:45 PM on July 30, 2017 [47 favorites]
Can we at least all unite in agreement that this gospel version of Rep. Maxine Waters' Reclaiming My Time by Twitter's @mykalkilgore is what we truly all need right now?
posted by zachlipton at 8:54 PM on July 30, 2017 [68 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 8:54 PM on July 30, 2017 [68 favorites]
Re: NUMMI
For me, one of the most memorable episodes of This American Life was the one on NUMMI (links: the 2015 episode, an update to the original 2010 episode).
Interesting case study of an industry's creative problem-solving, job creation/improvement, contrasting cultural approaches...I especially appreciated the interviews with the workers who compared before-NUMMI and during/after-NUMMI experiences.
Contrast with the isolationist rhetoric of today.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 8:56 PM on July 30, 2017 [8 favorites]
For me, one of the most memorable episodes of This American Life was the one on NUMMI (links: the 2015 episode, an update to the original 2010 episode).
Interesting case study of an industry's creative problem-solving, job creation/improvement, contrasting cultural approaches...I especially appreciated the interviews with the workers who compared before-NUMMI and during/after-NUMMI experiences.
Contrast with the isolationist rhetoric of today.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 8:56 PM on July 30, 2017 [8 favorites]
My six-year-old was sitting next to me on the couch when I watched that Maxine Waters clip originally and now whenever his brother pisses him off and tries to talk over him, he starts shouting, "RECLAIMING MY TIME! RECLAIMING MY TIME! RECLAIMING MY TIME!"
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:56 PM on July 30, 2017 [181 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:56 PM on July 30, 2017 [181 favorites]
Literally every single woman who's being interrupted should be yelling that out.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:07 PM on July 30, 2017 [66 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:07 PM on July 30, 2017 [66 favorites]
R. Eric Thomas has some thoughts on this.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:10 PM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:10 PM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
Waters was being stonewalled, and yet she persisted in reclaiming her time.
posted by Room 641-A at 9:12 PM on July 30, 2017 [17 favorites]
posted by Room 641-A at 9:12 PM on July 30, 2017 [17 favorites]
I'm just waiting for some woman to bring a giant loud buzzer or horn or something to smack every time a guy talks over her.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:37 PM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:37 PM on July 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
Perhaps the DNC gavel?
posted by bardophile at 9:45 PM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by bardophile at 9:45 PM on July 30, 2017 [3 favorites]
Okay, I just listened to that gospel version 4 times in a row. It's CATCHY.
posted by nonasuch at 9:48 PM on July 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by nonasuch at 9:48 PM on July 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
Christ, what an asshole Mnuchin is. He basically told her that he wasn't going to respond to her letter, that she could ask other committee members he felt like talking to.
posted by msalt at 11:00 PM on July 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by msalt at 11:00 PM on July 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
I honestly think it's time to dispel this fiction that Trump knows exactly what he's doing. He doesn't know what he's doing.... He's not playing 11-dimensional chess here.
This whole idea of 11th dimensional chess is crap anyway. Look at the last person who the citizens were told 'oh don't worry - he's just playing 11th dimensional chess' didn't get done the things that he was supposedly playing 11th dimensional chess on and therefore would get things done.
These people are not Xanatos from Gargoyles. They are human beings who have direct access to the levers of power and are using them for either their own purpose or for the purpose of a class of others who would rather not be seen using the levers of power.
posted by rough ashlar at 1:03 AM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
This whole idea of 11th dimensional chess is crap anyway. Look at the last person who the citizens were told 'oh don't worry - he's just playing 11th dimensional chess' didn't get done the things that he was supposedly playing 11th dimensional chess on and therefore would get things done.
These people are not Xanatos from Gargoyles. They are human beings who have direct access to the levers of power and are using them for either their own purpose or for the purpose of a class of others who would rather not be seen using the levers of power.
posted by rough ashlar at 1:03 AM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
Wait. You'd guess that a lot of people would think cancelling an entire adoption program because of one (admittedly awful) situation is the right thing?? It's one woman. If the US had some sort of habit of doing this, that would be one thing. But an isolated incident makes you think it's reasonable to trash the whole program? I mean, maybe I might think, they should see where this one went wrong and see if they need to adjust their methods. But I don't see many people saying "Oh yeah, I remember that news story. I guess those Americans just shouldn't raise kids."
Way up there, but I feel I ought to reply. The comment was not about what I think, but about public perception. The way this story was presented in our media, it did seem "the US had some habit of doing this". That was of course deeply unfair, but adoption is a very complicated thing and there are anti-adoption activists out there ready to blow every single case up while even the so-called mainstream media loves a scandal.
posted by mumimor at 1:36 AM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
Way up there, but I feel I ought to reply. The comment was not about what I think, but about public perception. The way this story was presented in our media, it did seem "the US had some habit of doing this". That was of course deeply unfair, but adoption is a very complicated thing and there are anti-adoption activists out there ready to blow every single case up while even the so-called mainstream media loves a scandal.
posted by mumimor at 1:36 AM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
Trump makes US seem a 'kleptocracy', says ex-ethics chief Walter Shaub
Shaub, who quit job at head of Office of Government Ethics this month, describes ‘embarrassment’ of Trump’s business ties as president
(...)
“We can’t know whether his decisions are motivated by his policy aims or his financial interests,” he said, “and that uncertainty alone creates the problem because, whatever his intent, people having to ask undermines the faith in governmental decision-making and puts a cloud over everything the government does.”
posted by moody cow at 3:32 AM on July 31, 2017 [37 favorites]
Shaub, who quit job at head of Office of Government Ethics this month, describes ‘embarrassment’ of Trump’s business ties as president
(...)
“We can’t know whether his decisions are motivated by his policy aims or his financial interests,” he said, “and that uncertainty alone creates the problem because, whatever his intent, people having to ask undermines the faith in governmental decision-making and puts a cloud over everything the government does.”
posted by moody cow at 3:32 AM on July 31, 2017 [37 favorites]
Rather shocked no one link to The Observer called The Observer view on Donald Trump’s unfitness for office exists. Donald - please stop winning.
posted by rough ashlar at 4:35 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by rough ashlar at 4:35 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Rather shocked no one link to The Observer called The Observer view on Donald Trump’s unfitness for office exists. Donald - please stop winning.
In a way, what is happening now is so far beyond the pale that people have forgotten how things were before, if that makes sense. It's good someone is reminding us all. But it is terrifying that we are here
posted by mumimor at 4:53 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Reclaiming My Time (Gospel Mix) (Non-f***ingTwitter version) is indeed the perfect way to start the day and an important part of this nutritious breakfast.
posted by petebest at 4:59 AM on July 31, 2017 [27 favorites]
posted by petebest at 4:59 AM on July 31, 2017 [27 favorites]
In a way, what is happening now is so far beyond the pale that people have forgotten how things were before, if that makes sense.
And I'd stake out a different position: Any individual set of malfeasance has a historical parallel, adjusting for the technology used in the malfeasance. That parallel may be in lower-level offices and on rare occasions outside the direct political history of the US of A, but I'd say it exists.
Trump has seen/heard of event X happening to Y and seen no punishment OR he's done X(1) in the past. Now he went unchallenged on X(1) or may have gotten called on it, and either paid off the counterparty, bullied his way out, or actually "won" in a court battle.
The only 2 differences are:
1) How 'concentrated' the doubling down on the stupid is.
2) The ability of the historic media function is now distributed to the people information is.
"The system" has let Trump and people like Trump get away with things and the man and the people around him are just doing what they understand has worked or observed has worked.
posted by rough ashlar at 5:39 AM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
And I'd stake out a different position: Any individual set of malfeasance has a historical parallel, adjusting for the technology used in the malfeasance. That parallel may be in lower-level offices and on rare occasions outside the direct political history of the US of A, but I'd say it exists.
Trump has seen/heard of event X happening to Y and seen no punishment OR he's done X(1) in the past. Now he went unchallenged on X(1) or may have gotten called on it, and either paid off the counterparty, bullied his way out, or actually "won" in a court battle.
The only 2 differences are:
1) How 'concentrated' the doubling down on the stupid is.
2) The ability of the historic media function is now distributed to the people information is.
"The system" has let Trump and people like Trump get away with things and the man and the people around him are just doing what they understand has worked or observed has worked.
posted by rough ashlar at 5:39 AM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
WBUR: Vietnam Veteran First To Receive Medal Of Honor From President Trump
Scheduled for today. What could possibly go wrong?
posted by ZeusHumms at 6:02 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Scheduled for today. What could possibly go wrong?
posted by ZeusHumms at 6:02 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Any news on when the Russian Sanction bill gets signed?
posted by mikelieman at 6:07 AM on July 31, 2017
posted by mikelieman at 6:07 AM on July 31, 2017
Vietnam Veteran First To Receive Medal Of Honor From President Trump
It's weird how much headline writers and article writers are leaning on Trump in this (and other similar military decoration-awarding stories). Maybe I'm just noticing it more, but I don't remember quite so much emphasis on Obama in similar stories eight years ago.
posted by Etrigan at 6:10 AM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
It's weird how much headline writers and article writers are leaning on Trump in this (and other similar military decoration-awarding stories). Maybe I'm just noticing it more, but I don't remember quite so much emphasis on Obama in similar stories eight years ago.
posted by Etrigan at 6:10 AM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
Any news on when the Russian Sanction bill gets signed?
He's only got ten days from when it is sent from the Capitol so he's gotta sign it soon. Or he could just not sign it and let it become law anyway, I guess, which would be the next best signal besides vetoing it that he's still all-in with his Russian pals.
posted by dis_integration at 6:12 AM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
He's only got ten days from when it is sent from the Capitol so he's gotta sign it soon. Or he could just not sign it and let it become law anyway, I guess, which would be the next best signal besides vetoing it that he's still all-in with his Russian pals.
posted by dis_integration at 6:12 AM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Maybe I'm just noticing it more, but I don't remember quite so much emphasis on Obama in similar stories eight years ago.
Because no one expected Obama to say something stupid. (ok, ok. Some thought policy X was stupid and then would call him stupid but lets say that is just normal politics.) Read off the teleprompter - sure. But there was a low-level "what stupid thing will he say" angle to Bush the second.
There is gonna be a train wreck and we are all around the dumpster fire with campfire jiffy pop so we have something to eat while watching the train wreck of the week. In this case it will be the train wreck to END the month and we'll all get a new wrecks NEXT month.
posted by rough ashlar at 6:19 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Because no one expected Obama to say something stupid. (ok, ok. Some thought policy X was stupid and then would call him stupid but lets say that is just normal politics.) Read off the teleprompter - sure. But there was a low-level "what stupid thing will he say" angle to Bush the second.
There is gonna be a train wreck and we are all around the dumpster fire with campfire jiffy pop so we have something to eat while watching the train wreck of the week. In this case it will be the train wreck to END the month and we'll all get a new wrecks NEXT month.
posted by rough ashlar at 6:19 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Any news on when the Russian Sanction bill gets signed?
For what it's worth, NPR reported this morning that Trump will sign the bill, though it was in the news summary so no details on how they knew that.
posted by Gelatin at 6:22 AM on July 31, 2017
For what it's worth, NPR reported this morning that Trump will sign the bill, though it was in the news summary so no details on how they knew that.
posted by Gelatin at 6:22 AM on July 31, 2017
Vietnam Veteran First To Receive Medal Of Honor From President Trump
It's also another thing that Obama took care of that Trump looks to take to credit for:
It's also another thing that Obama took care of that Trump looks to take to credit for:
In 2016, Defense Secretary Ash Carter recommended McCloughan for the Medal of Honor. But since the medal must be awarded within five years of the recipient's actions, Congress needed to pass a bill waiving the time limit. President Barack Obama signed the measure in late 2016, but he didn't get the opportunity to recognize McCloughan with the medal before his term ended this year.posted by peeedro at 6:27 AM on July 31, 2017 [40 favorites]
"The system" has let Trump and people like Trump get away with things and the man and the people around him are just doing what they understand has worked or observed has worked.
I've thought about this idea for a while now too. It's kind of depressing to wonder how much American governance in the past has been by people like him, with the only differences being what you note above, plus the fact that properly seasoned politicians have been socialized into how to at least *look* like they value concepts like democracy and dignity.
posted by Rykey at 6:27 AM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
I've thought about this idea for a while now too. It's kind of depressing to wonder how much American governance in the past has been by people like him, with the only differences being what you note above, plus the fact that properly seasoned politicians have been socialized into how to at least *look* like they value concepts like democracy and dignity.
posted by Rykey at 6:27 AM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
I've thought about this idea for a while now too. It's kind of depressing to wonder how much American governance in the past has been by people like him, with the only differences being what you note above, plus the fact that properly seasoned politicians have been socialized into how to at least *look* like they value concepts like democracy and dignity.
Ha ha, a lot of it. Maybe most! Picture a time when you've been in the room with people who have fancier jobs than you and/or more money, and how obvious it usually is that they think you're a stupid peasant who is too ignorant to identify what is important for their own life, much less have opinions about the big stuff. (If you're working class, there will be many times like that.) Then picture people like that - but richer and more powerful, and they grew up with constant deference from, like, actual servants - running the world.
Inequality and rule by elites - even rule by a political class - are bad things and produce bad results. We're seeing that in letters of fire right now, and I still have some hope that the post-Trump shake-out will improve things a bit, but the real improvement would be some system where high marginal tax rates, term limits and some kind of much more representative mechanism (althings for all!) minimized the tendency toward rule by an entrenched class of wealthy people who are all basically friends even when they pretend to oppose each other.
posted by Frowner at 6:39 AM on July 31, 2017 [30 favorites]
Ha ha, a lot of it. Maybe most! Picture a time when you've been in the room with people who have fancier jobs than you and/or more money, and how obvious it usually is that they think you're a stupid peasant who is too ignorant to identify what is important for their own life, much less have opinions about the big stuff. (If you're working class, there will be many times like that.) Then picture people like that - but richer and more powerful, and they grew up with constant deference from, like, actual servants - running the world.
Inequality and rule by elites - even rule by a political class - are bad things and produce bad results. We're seeing that in letters of fire right now, and I still have some hope that the post-Trump shake-out will improve things a bit, but the real improvement would be some system where high marginal tax rates, term limits and some kind of much more representative mechanism (althings for all!) minimized the tendency toward rule by an entrenched class of wealthy people who are all basically friends even when they pretend to oppose each other.
posted by Frowner at 6:39 AM on July 31, 2017 [30 favorites]
I mean, if there were constant hot mikes, Washington would be razed by angry mobs within a week, because we'd have incontrovertible evidence of their contempt for working people.
posted by Frowner at 6:40 AM on July 31, 2017 [15 favorites]
posted by Frowner at 6:40 AM on July 31, 2017 [15 favorites]
politicians have been socialized into how to at least *look* like they value concepts like democracy
When was the last time a politician said "My esteemed colleague here has said that we are a democracy and the reality is we are a Republic and for good reason" and then go into how, just on national security issues, the elected reps get information the public does not and therefore a leap of faith is sometimes needed when the public believes one way VS the way a vote goes down.
The citizens have a WHOLE bunch of obligations - follow more laws that can be counted, be on the hook for a whole bunch of debt, and follow the instructions of local enforcement bodies. To get 'em to go along with all of that crap - ya gotta try to sell 'em that "of course you'll be listen to" when it sure seems obvious the citizens are not.
Trump exists as president because a large enough section of the population felt he was gonna change things. And, yea, he SURE is changing things.
Saying "lets go back to what we had" is going to have pushback. Actual accountability for public officials for getting America into its mess its now in would be a way out of Trump but ALSO be something that hasn't existed for some time. Why not try THAT eh?
posted by rough ashlar at 6:43 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
When was the last time a politician said "My esteemed colleague here has said that we are a democracy and the reality is we are a Republic and for good reason" and then go into how, just on national security issues, the elected reps get information the public does not and therefore a leap of faith is sometimes needed when the public believes one way VS the way a vote goes down.
The citizens have a WHOLE bunch of obligations - follow more laws that can be counted, be on the hook for a whole bunch of debt, and follow the instructions of local enforcement bodies. To get 'em to go along with all of that crap - ya gotta try to sell 'em that "of course you'll be listen to" when it sure seems obvious the citizens are not.
Trump exists as president because a large enough section of the population felt he was gonna change things. And, yea, he SURE is changing things.
Saying "lets go back to what we had" is going to have pushback. Actual accountability for public officials for getting America into its mess its now in would be a way out of Trump but ALSO be something that hasn't existed for some time. Why not try THAT eh?
posted by rough ashlar at 6:43 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
I know a guy (not me) who hates Trump - haaaaaaates him, but voted 3rd party. Naturally I said, well you bought it - enjoy! And his response was that he felt that as bad as Trump is, at least it wasn't business as usual, in all of its negative context. That was a few months ago.
Trump is utter chaos and each day is a new trial from which we have so far barely emerged intact, but I still took his meaning in that under HRC we'd get competent, even progressive, leadership, but the Banks would not be reined in, the big money would do what it does, etc. "Business as usual", lobbyists run DC, we can't expect congress to change, every election is Coke vs. Pepsi. As under Obama. Just, beyond powerless in his role as voter.
I think not voting Clinton was straight up unsanity, but his point was something like "people are so tired of that they're willing to go along with this yutz just to do something, anything different". And yes it was a white, straight, fiscally conservative male so. The downside probably seemed weather-able at the time, and he hates Trump and HRC so he didn't vote for either major party. I'm hoping he learned? I guess?
posted by petebest at 7:13 AM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
Trump is utter chaos and each day is a new trial from which we have so far barely emerged intact, but I still took his meaning in that under HRC we'd get competent, even progressive, leadership, but the Banks would not be reined in, the big money would do what it does, etc. "Business as usual", lobbyists run DC, we can't expect congress to change, every election is Coke vs. Pepsi. As under Obama. Just, beyond powerless in his role as voter.
I think not voting Clinton was straight up unsanity, but his point was something like "people are so tired of that they're willing to go along with this yutz just to do something, anything different". And yes it was a white, straight, fiscally conservative male so. The downside probably seemed weather-able at the time, and he hates Trump and HRC so he didn't vote for either major party. I'm hoping he learned? I guess?
posted by petebest at 7:13 AM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
Agreed Frowner and Rough. Although I do think Trump is in his own class (heh) in this regard. Perhaps inevitably, though.
posted by Rykey at 7:15 AM on July 31, 2017
posted by Rykey at 7:15 AM on July 31, 2017
> not a single one has a majority opposed to the idea of court-ordered shutterings of certain media
For this, I wonder about the exact phrasing of the question, which isn't included in the article.
If a bar regularly sold tickets for bands that didn't show up, but somehow convinced the customers that it was their fault so there were no refunds, they'd not only be subject to fines; the courts might shut the place down, revoke their business licenses, and so on.
A strong belief in the first amendment doesn't mean "no court should ever step in to prevent any kind of speech," which is what the article implied.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 7:19 AM on July 31, 2017 [25 favorites]
For this, I wonder about the exact phrasing of the question, which isn't included in the article.
it asked Americans if they support or oppose letting courts shut down news media outlets for publishing stories that are “biased or inaccurate.”I think Fox's "info-tainment" approach to news should be prosecuted as fraud. I think deliberately attempting to persuade people of things that are not true, for the purpose of (1) selling ads/newspapers/hit counts, or (2) getting votes for a particular candidate, is a crime - and as such, should be subject to not only fines and jail time for the people directly involved, but the potential of injunctions that shut down the venue.
If a bar regularly sold tickets for bands that didn't show up, but somehow convinced the customers that it was their fault so there were no refunds, they'd not only be subject to fines; the courts might shut the place down, revoke their business licenses, and so on.
A strong belief in the first amendment doesn't mean "no court should ever step in to prevent any kind of speech," which is what the article implied.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 7:19 AM on July 31, 2017 [25 favorites]
....marching on to war. This October, Trump Will Try to Start a War with Iran. (Links in the article to Foreign Policy and NYT can be opened in incognito tab if registration required ) According to the Foreign Policy article a source with intimate knowledge of that meeting said Steve Bannon, the White House chief strategist, and Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to the president, were particularly vocal, repeatedly asking Tillerson to explain the U.S. national security benefits of certification. “They repeatedly questioned Rex about why recertifying would be good for U.S. national security, and Rex was unable to answer,” the source said.
posted by adamvasco at 7:21 AM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by adamvasco at 7:21 AM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
Along the lines of how politicians are socialized to behave, and probably already touched on in the 45 threads, but I was thinking today how, to the extent that Trump even has any ideology, the core of it feels like a more truthful display of the subconscious id beneath modern conservatism.
Rather than focusing as most GOP members do on stimulating the economy through tax cuts and trickle down, which has not aged well since Reagan anyways, he's simply dividing America back up into haves and have-nots. The have-not minorities are to be exploited, oppressed, and used for the haves to succeed, and also as scapegoats for the haves to blame their social and political failures on. He can't quite sell this in such explicit terms, but it's clear when you add up all the MAGA talk, nationalism, xenophobia, and green-lighting violent policing. We can all "win more" be redefining "we" to a smaller subset, then exploiting or oppressing everyone else.
Trump loves Andrew Jackson almost as much as Putin, presumably for displacing and killing Native Americans to take their land, but probably also for Jackson's belief in the spoils system over the merit system. This fits right in with his comments about how we "should have taken their oil."
Modern conservatism has basically been promoting these same principles, but at least before Trump, less directly or slightly watered down as simply tax-cuts, deregulation, or "war-on-[something minorities do]" type law enforcement. Trump's complete, and utter disinterest and/or inability to obfuscate the underlying greed and malevolence has been a sight to behold, topped perhaps only by the fact that so many are following him down this dark path.
posted by p3t3 at 7:25 AM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
Rather than focusing as most GOP members do on stimulating the economy through tax cuts and trickle down, which has not aged well since Reagan anyways, he's simply dividing America back up into haves and have-nots. The have-not minorities are to be exploited, oppressed, and used for the haves to succeed, and also as scapegoats for the haves to blame their social and political failures on. He can't quite sell this in such explicit terms, but it's clear when you add up all the MAGA talk, nationalism, xenophobia, and green-lighting violent policing. We can all "win more" be redefining "we" to a smaller subset, then exploiting or oppressing everyone else.
Trump loves Andrew Jackson almost as much as Putin, presumably for displacing and killing Native Americans to take their land, but probably also for Jackson's belief in the spoils system over the merit system. This fits right in with his comments about how we "should have taken their oil."
Modern conservatism has basically been promoting these same principles, but at least before Trump, less directly or slightly watered down as simply tax-cuts, deregulation, or "war-on-[something minorities do]" type law enforcement. Trump's complete, and utter disinterest and/or inability to obfuscate the underlying greed and malevolence has been a sight to behold, topped perhaps only by the fact that so many are following him down this dark path.
posted by p3t3 at 7:25 AM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
I mean, if there were constant hot mikes, Washington would be razed by angry mobs within a week, because we'd have incontrovertible evidence of their contempt for working people.
Haha, absolutely not, but many would die from extreme spinal torsion while trying to justify the soundbites.
posted by Behemoth at 7:26 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Haha, absolutely not, but many would die from extreme spinal torsion while trying to justify the soundbites.
posted by Behemoth at 7:26 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
petebest, that's exactly how I felt about HRC and how it would be business as usual if she would be elected. And I voted for her. But I'll bet that's why a lot of people voted for Trump. (I live in a bleeding liberal bubble, and I enjoy making people squirm by saying "people voted for Trump because they were angry!".)
posted by Melismata at 7:34 AM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 7:34 AM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
Yeah, Behemoth, tribalism is a hell of a drug. This really came into focus for me after 9/11, and it ramped way up after the Tea Party came along (in response to Obama's election and egged on by FOX News and right-wing radio, natch). But now it's gone bonkers with Trump. Before all this I thought people's ideas determined which tribe to belong to, but it's more often the reverse. And as the right wing has figured out, a tribe tells you what to want to believe, and nothing is as powerful as what people want to believe.
posted by Rykey at 7:39 AM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by Rykey at 7:39 AM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
"The President waited for Priebus to get off the plane before tweeting that he was fired."
I wonder if The Apprentice was just trump's way of enacting his fantasy of assertively firing people, because in real life he's too much of a coward.
posted by Tarumba at 7:40 AM on July 31, 2017 [62 favorites]
I wonder if The Apprentice was just trump's way of enacting his fantasy of assertively firing people, because in real life he's too much of a coward.
posted by Tarumba at 7:40 AM on July 31, 2017 [62 favorites]
people voted for Trump because they were angry
People do a lot of stupid things when we're angry. Flip tables, beat each other up and so forth. It's hard to remain rational when the amygdala has gone full grar.
But understanding why people's terrible behaviour is what it is is no reason to excuse it, and reacting to an election campaign run by an obvious shonk obviously shonkier than the most obviously shonky Nigerian email scammer in the entire history of ever by voting to put him in charge of the world's most powerful military is inexcusable.
posted by flabdablet at 7:43 AM on July 31, 2017 [42 favorites]
People do a lot of stupid things when we're angry. Flip tables, beat each other up and so forth. It's hard to remain rational when the amygdala has gone full grar.
But understanding why people's terrible behaviour is what it is is no reason to excuse it, and reacting to an election campaign run by an obvious shonk obviously shonkier than the most obviously shonky Nigerian email scammer in the entire history of ever by voting to put him in charge of the world's most powerful military is inexcusable.
posted by flabdablet at 7:43 AM on July 31, 2017 [42 favorites]
Very, very ready for the age of Boomer politics to be over.
Being a boomer, I am, too. I was so glad to see Obama in the White House, because although he is a technically a boomer by three years, his story and outlook is post-boomer. I hope the Dems can get back to that thread.
posted by Mental Wimp at 7:53 AM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
Being a boomer, I am, too. I was so glad to see Obama in the White House, because although he is a technically a boomer by three years, his story and outlook is post-boomer. I hope the Dems can get back to that thread.
posted by Mental Wimp at 7:53 AM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
Loved the gospel Reclaiming My Time, and appreciated the YouTube link. But then I looked down and the first related video was the original video from the hearing, titled something like "Mad Maxine Waters Won't Stop Saying 'Reclaiming my Time!'". Ugh.
posted by mabelstreet at 7:57 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by mabelstreet at 7:57 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
I still took his meaning in that under HRC we'd get competent, even progressive, leadership, but the Banks would not be reined in, the big money would do what it does, etc. "Business as usual", lobbyists run DC, we can't expect congress to change, every election is Coke vs. Pepsi. As under Obama. Just, beyond powerless in his role as voter.
I understand and sympathize with the sentiment, but it drives me crazy: I can't sympathize with the reactionary need to plunge ahead with the sentiment and steadfastly ignore the contradiction in the consequences. Because if you're tired of a big-business-run government, you don't help elect someone who, in both words and actions, embraces the idea that only money matters and that this is a winners-eat-losers world an order of magnitude more than any other candidate before. You also don't help strengthen the party that works the hardest not only to eliminate any regulations on business, but to ingrain in the public and in the culture the idea that business is holy and to restrain it in any way amounts to an attack on freedom. It's like picking an ICBM over a cannon because you're sick of death and violence and hey, space is an exciting idea. Maybe voting doesn't give any of us great power, but it still comes with great responsibility, and orders of magnitude matter even when both options are bad.
posted by trig at 7:59 AM on July 31, 2017 [37 favorites]
I understand and sympathize with the sentiment, but it drives me crazy: I can't sympathize with the reactionary need to plunge ahead with the sentiment and steadfastly ignore the contradiction in the consequences. Because if you're tired of a big-business-run government, you don't help elect someone who, in both words and actions, embraces the idea that only money matters and that this is a winners-eat-losers world an order of magnitude more than any other candidate before. You also don't help strengthen the party that works the hardest not only to eliminate any regulations on business, but to ingrain in the public and in the culture the idea that business is holy and to restrain it in any way amounts to an attack on freedom. It's like picking an ICBM over a cannon because you're sick of death and violence and hey, space is an exciting idea. Maybe voting doesn't give any of us great power, but it still comes with great responsibility, and orders of magnitude matter even when both options are bad.
posted by trig at 7:59 AM on July 31, 2017 [37 favorites]
I don't think the last election is a good test of whether women can put together a solid coalition. Fair or not (it's not) there is a yawning chasm separating "women" from "women who are Hillary Clinton" in the eyes of the American people.
Well, we do know Hillary put together a coalition that won the popular vote by a large margin. We still don't know if losing the Electoral College was a result of Russian interference through selective hacking of voter registration, targeted fake news, or both. I will withhold judgement, but it's clear she won a majority of voters.
posted by Mental Wimp at 8:01 AM on July 31, 2017 [45 favorites]
Well, we do know Hillary put together a coalition that won the popular vote by a large margin. We still don't know if losing the Electoral College was a result of Russian interference through selective hacking of voter registration, targeted fake news, or both. I will withhold judgement, but it's clear she won a majority of voters.
posted by Mental Wimp at 8:01 AM on July 31, 2017 [45 favorites]
if you're tired of a big-business-run government
Those on the Right with whom I was in frequent dispute in the lead-up to the Trump calamity were not so much tired of a big-business-run government as tired of a big-business-run government.
Any attempt to steer the conversation toward anything to do with structural power imbalances would quickly get derailed by huge towers of apparently sound reasoning built on the implicit premise that Terrible Unacceptable Coercion is exclusively a property of Government while Wonderful Laudable Free Exchange is exclusively a property of Business.
I know of no way short of subjecting its holder to endless literal facepunching by jowly old men in expensive suits to shift that belief once established.
posted by flabdablet at 8:12 AM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
Those on the Right with whom I was in frequent dispute in the lead-up to the Trump calamity were not so much tired of a big-business-run government as tired of a big-business-run government.
Any attempt to steer the conversation toward anything to do with structural power imbalances would quickly get derailed by huge towers of apparently sound reasoning built on the implicit premise that Terrible Unacceptable Coercion is exclusively a property of Government while Wonderful Laudable Free Exchange is exclusively a property of Business.
I know of no way short of subjecting its holder to endless literal facepunching by jowly old men in expensive suits to shift that belief once established.
posted by flabdablet at 8:12 AM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
Although I do think Trump is in his own class (heh) in this regard. Perhaps inevitably, though.
I'm listening to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg9VCf5einY 168 Clinton street, the audio 41:52 in....there is a short story to be written that the events here are in support of re-awaking that which sleeps in r'lyeh is why things are they way they are. Perhaps instead of a nuke war, a return of the microbes that the old ones spawned via the overdue global plagues for the ACA kabuki tie in? The folder pile no one saw the contents of is because of the non Euclidean binding non-disclosure contracts within. John McCain still gets to be a horrible old one, just one that doesn't want dread Cthulhu back.
Heck, people can start playing flute music all around whatever is The Donald's "stuff". I'm sure someone will create an app for smartphones that plays random flute music but listens if another version of the app is playing so it can eerily sync up. (ultra sound or bluetooth could work)
Random flute music at a low level from phones as protest.....why the heck not?
posted by rough ashlar at 8:14 AM on July 31, 2017
I'm listening to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg9VCf5einY 168 Clinton street, the audio 41:52 in....there is a short story to be written that the events here are in support of re-awaking that which sleeps in r'lyeh is why things are they way they are. Perhaps instead of a nuke war, a return of the microbes that the old ones spawned via the overdue global plagues for the ACA kabuki tie in? The folder pile no one saw the contents of is because of the non Euclidean binding non-disclosure contracts within. John McCain still gets to be a horrible old one, just one that doesn't want dread Cthulhu back.
Heck, people can start playing flute music all around whatever is The Donald's "stuff". I'm sure someone will create an app for smartphones that plays random flute music but listens if another version of the app is playing so it can eerily sync up. (ultra sound or bluetooth could work)
Random flute music at a low level from phones as protest.....why the heck not?
posted by rough ashlar at 8:14 AM on July 31, 2017
> I know of no way short of subjecting its holder to endless literal facepunching by jowly old men in expensive suits to shift that belief once established.
And that seems to be more or less what we are all forced to endure in 2017, regardless of voting behaviour.
posted by stonepharisee at 8:16 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
And that seems to be more or less what we are all forced to endure in 2017, regardless of voting behaviour.
posted by stonepharisee at 8:16 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
haves and have-nots. [...] MAGA talk, nationalism, xenophobia, and green-lighting violent policing. We can all "win more" be redefining "we" to a smaller subset, then exploiting or oppressing everyone else. [...] Andrew Jackson [...] displacing and killing Native Americans to take their land [...] spoils system [...] "should have taken their oil."
I would sum all of this up as "might makes right." And yes, Trump pretty much says it outright, but other Republicans have long hinted at it.
And I get so frustrated with people who see that the current system is unfair (true) and think a good solution to that is to blow up the system entirely, rather than trying to fix it.
Because "might makes right" is what happens when you don't have a system. You may briefly have "anarchy" but the power vacuum is quickly filled by warlords, strongmen, organized crime and gangs... It's not the case that "no government" is better than "bad government" because "no government" is not sustainable. The strong will take the opportunity to impose their wills.
(And that's exactly what Putin wants, of course. To destroy the international system imposed after WWII and take the opportunity to impose his will.)
Might makes right. That's the alternative to process-focused, lawyerly working-within the system... If people get sick of the system being rigged against them and decide to blow it up, they better hope they have the most impregnable fortresses and the biggest guns, because whoever does is going to make the new rules. A lot of heavily armed right wingers are well aware of that and okay with it.
posted by OnceUponATime at 8:21 AM on July 31, 2017 [30 favorites]
I would sum all of this up as "might makes right." And yes, Trump pretty much says it outright, but other Republicans have long hinted at it.
And I get so frustrated with people who see that the current system is unfair (true) and think a good solution to that is to blow up the system entirely, rather than trying to fix it.
Because "might makes right" is what happens when you don't have a system. You may briefly have "anarchy" but the power vacuum is quickly filled by warlords, strongmen, organized crime and gangs... It's not the case that "no government" is better than "bad government" because "no government" is not sustainable. The strong will take the opportunity to impose their wills.
(And that's exactly what Putin wants, of course. To destroy the international system imposed after WWII and take the opportunity to impose his will.)
Might makes right. That's the alternative to process-focused, lawyerly working-within the system... If people get sick of the system being rigged against them and decide to blow it up, they better hope they have the most impregnable fortresses and the biggest guns, because whoever does is going to make the new rules. A lot of heavily armed right wingers are well aware of that and okay with it.
posted by OnceUponATime at 8:21 AM on July 31, 2017 [30 favorites]
On yesterday's Pod Save America Joy Reid expounded on the idea that the African-American community was not embarrassed to admit they voted for Obama because he was Black but women--especially white liberal women--were afraid or embarrassed to say they were voting for Hillary because she was a woman. It's like that always has to be hedged by declarations about her competence & inclusive policies.
I DO want to break up monopolies, reign in the banks, & tax the rich until they scream but I think my greatest desire is a President with empathy for all. Someone who has the imagination to see how legislation & policies can make life a little better a little easier for the masses rather than the few.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 8:21 AM on July 31, 2017 [36 favorites]
I DO want to break up monopolies, reign in the banks, & tax the rich until they scream but I think my greatest desire is a President with empathy for all. Someone who has the imagination to see how legislation & policies can make life a little better a little easier for the masses rather than the few.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 8:21 AM on July 31, 2017 [36 favorites]
they better hope they have the most impregnable fortresses and the biggest guns
We have the BEST guns! So many guns! Believe me.
weeps
posted by flabdablet at 8:22 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
We have the BEST guns! So many guns! Believe me.
weeps
posted by flabdablet at 8:22 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
spitbull: Rampant cocaine abuse among Trump and his circle of fools could explain so much, so simply. If Scaramucci isn't carrying it on his person at all times I will ... eat a cake. And friends, I was a rock musician in the 80s and I know what it looks like.
I want to hear more of your life as a cake-loving 80s rock musician.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:25 AM on July 31, 2017 [36 favorites]
I want to hear more of your life as a cake-loving 80s rock musician.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:25 AM on July 31, 2017 [36 favorites]
If there's anything Alaskans don't like, it's having Alaska threatened by Washington, D.C.
I find that amusing. During part of my time in D.C., AK senator Ted Stevens was chair of the Committee on Governmental Affairs.
A lot of us did not appreciate his behavior regarding the District.
posted by MtDewd at 8:25 AM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
I find that amusing. During part of my time in D.C., AK senator Ted Stevens was chair of the Committee on Governmental Affairs.
A lot of us did not appreciate his behavior regarding the District.
posted by MtDewd at 8:25 AM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
We have the BEST guns! So many guns!
All gotten on credit. Say, can we just default or declare bankruptcy?
Bankruptcy is brilliant and smart after all. Just not paying bills is best.
posted by rough ashlar at 8:26 AM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
All gotten on credit. Say, can we just default or declare bankruptcy?
Bankruptcy is brilliant and smart after all. Just not paying bills is best.
posted by rough ashlar at 8:26 AM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
life as a cake-loving 80s rock musician
obligatory cake
posted by flabdablet at 8:33 AM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
obligatory cake
posted by flabdablet at 8:33 AM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
I think I've come up with a fair prequalification for running for higher office. The candidate must play SimCity using their prospective platform as a model and, after fifty in-game years (during which at least two disasters must strike the city), the sim society must be thriving and happy. Their progress will be recorded and available for voters to watch. I'd recommend at least SimCity 3000 or SimCity 4 for this, as earlier versions are not complex enough. Public funding shall provide a loaner computer and the game if necessary.
posted by Servo5678 at 8:36 AM on July 31, 2017 [17 favorites]
posted by Servo5678 at 8:36 AM on July 31, 2017 [17 favorites]
Trump is the guy who played the original SimCity by typing "FUND" over and over until disaster struck, never spending any of the money on anything in the game, and wondering why none of the money ever showed up in any of his real-life shell corporations.
posted by tonycpsu at 8:40 AM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by tonycpsu at 8:40 AM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
I DO want to break up monopolies, reign in the banks, & tax the rich until they scream but I think my greatest desire is a President with empathy for all. Someone who has the imagination to see how legislation & policies can make life a little better a little easier for the masses rather than the few.
This really upsets me about Clinton's loss. Remember the stories about how good a listener she was? How she took notes during her meetings and organized them went over them afterwards? I want a listener president. It's part of the foundation of empathy. More likely with a woman, sadly.
posted by Mister Cheese at 8:41 AM on July 31, 2017 [41 favorites]
This really upsets me about Clinton's loss. Remember the stories about how good a listener she was? How she took notes during her meetings and organized them went over them afterwards? I want a listener president. It's part of the foundation of empathy. More likely with a woman, sadly.
posted by Mister Cheese at 8:41 AM on July 31, 2017 [41 favorites]
Choosing between false promises of a job and clean air and water for your kids...
posted by Mental Wimp at 8:48 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Mental Wimp at 8:48 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
On yesterday's Pod Save America Joy Reid expounded on the idea that the African-American community was not embarrassed to admit they voted for Obama because he was Black but women--especially white liberal women--were afraid or embarrassed to say they were voting for Hillary because she was a woman. It's like that always has to be hedged by declarations about her competence & inclusive policies.
This is because we as a culture do everything in our power to delegitimize solidarity by members of dispossessed classes. Some of these groups reject the message because they know it's the only way they get a voice at the table, but others buy into it for a number of reasons.
posted by NoxAeternum at 8:50 AM on July 31, 2017 [18 favorites]
This is because we as a culture do everything in our power to delegitimize solidarity by members of dispossessed classes. Some of these groups reject the message because they know it's the only way they get a voice at the table, but others buy into it for a number of reasons.
posted by NoxAeternum at 8:50 AM on July 31, 2017 [18 favorites]
Trump is utter chaos and each day is a new trial from which we have so far barely emerged intact, but I still took his meaning in that under HRC we'd get competent, even progressive, leadership, but the Banks would not be reined in, the big money would do what it does, etc. "Business as usual", lobbyists run DC, we can't expect congress to change, every election is Coke vs. Pepsi. As under Obama. Just, beyond powerless in his role as voter.
Does your voter friend see any indication at all that in addition to the utter Trump chaos -- and the burbling authoritarianism that's come with it -- the banks are being reined in, big money doesn't do what it wants -- accept tax breaks and then lay off workers anyway, for example -- lobbyists running DC, etc? Thrump's antics might be a distraction from how much business as usual Washington is in terms of the power elites being serviced, but the evidence is there. Does your voter friend care to look?
posted by Gelatin at 8:51 AM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
Does your voter friend see any indication at all that in addition to the utter Trump chaos -- and the burbling authoritarianism that's come with it -- the banks are being reined in, big money doesn't do what it wants -- accept tax breaks and then lay off workers anyway, for example -- lobbyists running DC, etc? Thrump's antics might be a distraction from how much business as usual Washington is in terms of the power elites being serviced, but the evidence is there. Does your voter friend care to look?
posted by Gelatin at 8:51 AM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
I dunno, we talk less. Now.
posted by petebest at 9:00 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by petebest at 9:00 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Dem campaign chief vows no litmus test on abortion
Republican light and standing for nothing all the way, sigh...
posted by Artw at 9:02 AM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Republican light and standing for nothing all the way, sigh...
posted by Artw at 9:02 AM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Joy Reid expounded on the idea that the African-American community was not embarrassed to admit they voted for Obama because he was Black but women--especially white liberal women--were afraid or embarrassed to say they were voting for Hillary because she was a woman.
That is so powerfully insightful.
Plus, We don't doubt and discount a brown man's basic competence and intelligence, the way we do any woman's.
posted by Dashy at 9:03 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
That is so powerfully insightful.
Plus, We don't doubt and discount a brown man's basic competence and intelligence, the way we do any woman's.
posted by Dashy at 9:03 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Alex Isenstadt/Politico : McConnell wages war down South
The Senate leader is being pilloried in an Alabama special election [to replace Jeff Sessions in the Senate] as the hated symbol of the establishment — and he's responding in force.posted by ZeusHumms at 9:03 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Tim Alberta/Politico : Without Priebus, Trump Is a Man Without a Party
...[after Priebus' dismissal,] Of Trump’s closest advisers, only Mike Pence has any association with the Republican Party.posted by ZeusHumms at 9:12 AM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
This no longer seems accidental. Trump has, since taking office, consistently referred to Republicans as though he is not one himself—it's invariably “they” or “them.” Unlike past presidents of his party, Trump entered the White House with few personal relationships with prominent Republicans: donors, lobbyists, party activists, politicians. This liberated him to say whatever he pleased as a candidate, and, by firing Priebus, Trump might feel similarly liberated. The fear now, among Republicans in his administration and on Capitol Hill, is that Trump will turn against the party, waging rhetorical warfare against a straw-man GOP whom he blames for the legislative failures and swamp-stained inertia that has bedeviled his young presidency. It would represent a new, harsher type of triangulation, turning his base against the politicians of his own party that they elected.
Things have not yet escalated to that point. But some, including officials in his own administration, took the dismissal of Priebus as a signal that Trump is willing to go rogue against the GOP. ...
lalex: She has also said she wants to make ending human trafficking a White House priority.
I skimmed this and read "She also said she wants to make human trafficking a White House priority" and I was all "oho a bit too on the nose, Politico."
Because Trump's skeezy connection to skeezy modeling agencies. That's the joke.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:17 AM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
I skimmed this and read "She also said she wants to make human trafficking a White House priority" and I was all "oho a bit too on the nose, Politico."
Because Trump's skeezy connection to skeezy modeling agencies. That's the joke.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:17 AM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
Plus, We don't doubt and discount a brown man's basic competence and intelligence, the way we do any woman's.
Dashy, I'm not so sure I'd agree with you on this. As a white woman, I certainly see men of color's competence and intelligence questioned all the time.
posted by mcduff at 9:20 AM on July 31, 2017 [15 favorites]
Dashy, I'm not so sure I'd agree with you on this. As a white woman, I certainly see men of color's competence and intelligence questioned all the time.
posted by mcduff at 9:20 AM on July 31, 2017 [15 favorites]
“They repeatedly questioned Rex about why recertifying would be good for U.S. national security, and Rex was unable to answer,” the source said.
I have almost no knowledge of the Iran deal, but I'd like to think I could come up with a somewhat cogent argument for how it would be good for national security. Sheesh.
posted by AwkwardPause at 9:21 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
I have almost no knowledge of the Iran deal, but I'd like to think I could come up with a somewhat cogent argument for how it would be good for national security. Sheesh.
posted by AwkwardPause at 9:21 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Because "might makes right" is what happens when you don't have a system. You may briefly have "anarchy" but the power vacuum is quickly filled by warlords, strongmen, organized crime and gangs... It's not the case that "no government" is better than "bad government" because "no government" is not sustainable. The strong will take the opportunity to impose their wills.
I've mentioned it before, but Thomas Hobbes was no one's liberal, and he had that one figured out back in 1651. The astounding ignorance of modern movement conservatives of not only Enlightenment but also pre-Enlightenment political philosophy never ceases to amaze.
posted by Gelatin at 9:22 AM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
I've mentioned it before, but Thomas Hobbes was no one's liberal, and he had that one figured out back in 1651. The astounding ignorance of modern movement conservatives of not only Enlightenment but also pre-Enlightenment political philosophy never ceases to amaze.
posted by Gelatin at 9:22 AM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
What the conservative movement clearly needs is some kind of Reformation.
posted by flabdablet at 9:24 AM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 9:24 AM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
I presume the party follows Trump wherever he goes. Hence Scaramucci. Idiot in front, party in back.
I think they'll follow the money. Even in a best case scenario, all Trump can offer is more of this, whereas staying in the good graces of the Mercers, Kochs, Adelson, etc. basically means your entire family gets can feed at the trough in perpetuity.
For now, there hasn't really been a major break between the Republican billionaires and Trump, but if there is, I don't see the party sticking with him that long.
posted by Copronymus at 9:25 AM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
I think they'll follow the money. Even in a best case scenario, all Trump can offer is more of this, whereas staying in the good graces of the Mercers, Kochs, Adelson, etc. basically means your entire family gets can feed at the trough in perpetuity.
For now, there hasn't really been a major break between the Republican billionaires and Trump, but if there is, I don't see the party sticking with him that long.
posted by Copronymus at 9:25 AM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
Those on the Right with whom I was in frequent dispute in the lead-up to the Trump calamity were not so much tired of a big-business-run government as tired of a big-business-run government.
I think this is a fair part of how people voted for (and still support) Trump, while thinking he's nothing but disruptive: 30 years of conditioning by extreme right-wing talk radio and Fox News has led large chunks of at least two generations of Americans to believe that "the government" is some sort of separate thing, with its own nefarious interests, run by shadowy people who just want to interfere with our lives and take our stuff. There no longer seems to be much sense or awareness of the reality that there is no such thing as "the government," separate from us; the government is us, administering ourselves, as those in democracies are supposed to do. That thing is us.
But if you accept the otherization of democratic government, then you also likely believe that there is some ongoing, monolithic mechanism that preserves the status quo. So if you don't realize that Donald Trump and the people he appoints/hires are the literal embodiment and current manifestation of "the government," you probably feel safe voting for a president whom you know will be disruptive and incompetent, because you think that all the stuff government does will somehow magically keep happening because you believe that it's some entity or force unto itself, rather than us just doing the work every day. I think a lot of Trump voters will be genuinely surprised if he manages to really fuck up the world in some specific way (start a war with Iran, nuke NK, etc.), and their shock will be expressed as "why didn't somebody in the government stop him??"
posted by LooseFilter at 9:27 AM on July 31, 2017 [31 favorites]
I think this is a fair part of how people voted for (and still support) Trump, while thinking he's nothing but disruptive: 30 years of conditioning by extreme right-wing talk radio and Fox News has led large chunks of at least two generations of Americans to believe that "the government" is some sort of separate thing, with its own nefarious interests, run by shadowy people who just want to interfere with our lives and take our stuff. There no longer seems to be much sense or awareness of the reality that there is no such thing as "the government," separate from us; the government is us, administering ourselves, as those in democracies are supposed to do. That thing is us.
But if you accept the otherization of democratic government, then you also likely believe that there is some ongoing, monolithic mechanism that preserves the status quo. So if you don't realize that Donald Trump and the people he appoints/hires are the literal embodiment and current manifestation of "the government," you probably feel safe voting for a president whom you know will be disruptive and incompetent, because you think that all the stuff government does will somehow magically keep happening because you believe that it's some entity or force unto itself, rather than us just doing the work every day. I think a lot of Trump voters will be genuinely surprised if he manages to really fuck up the world in some specific way (start a war with Iran, nuke NK, etc.), and their shock will be expressed as "why didn't somebody in the government stop him??"
posted by LooseFilter at 9:27 AM on July 31, 2017 [31 favorites]
Trump’s latest attempt to gut Obamacare could backfire spectacularly
Trump apparently believes that cutting off these payments will help “implode” Obamacare. Yet, if Trump should stop the payments, that could have the unintended effect of expanding access to health insurance, even potentially making some health plans free for many families of modest means.
...
As actuaries Dianna Welch and Kurt Giesa note in an analysis of what would happen if the CSR payments are cut off, “CSR are only available under silver-level exchange plans.” Thus, if Trump does cut off these payments, it is likely that premiums for bronze, gold, and platinum health plans would remain fairly constant. After all, shutting down CSR payments has no immediate impact on the cost of insuring a bronze, gold, or platinum health consumer.
Now here’s the part where things get weird. Recall that the value of the tax credits paid out to help people afford their premiums are tied to the cost of the second-least expensive silver plan — so those tax credits gain value as silver-level premiums rise.
So even as premiums in the bronze, gold, and platinum markets stay more or less the same, the amount the government will pay to help cover those premiums will spike in a world without CSR. The result, according to Welch and Giesa, is that many people will be able to obtain bronze plans for no cost at all — or, alternatively, they will be able to purchase much more generous gold plans for barely more than the cost of a silver plan.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:29 AM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Trump apparently believes that cutting off these payments will help “implode” Obamacare. Yet, if Trump should stop the payments, that could have the unintended effect of expanding access to health insurance, even potentially making some health plans free for many families of modest means.
...
As actuaries Dianna Welch and Kurt Giesa note in an analysis of what would happen if the CSR payments are cut off, “CSR are only available under silver-level exchange plans.” Thus, if Trump does cut off these payments, it is likely that premiums for bronze, gold, and platinum health plans would remain fairly constant. After all, shutting down CSR payments has no immediate impact on the cost of insuring a bronze, gold, or platinum health consumer.
Now here’s the part where things get weird. Recall that the value of the tax credits paid out to help people afford their premiums are tied to the cost of the second-least expensive silver plan — so those tax credits gain value as silver-level premiums rise.
So even as premiums in the bronze, gold, and platinum markets stay more or less the same, the amount the government will pay to help cover those premiums will spike in a world without CSR. The result, according to Welch and Giesa, is that many people will be able to obtain bronze plans for no cost at all — or, alternatively, they will be able to purchase much more generous gold plans for barely more than the cost of a silver plan.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:29 AM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
(To wit: keep your government hands off my Medicare.)
posted by LooseFilter at 9:32 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by LooseFilter at 9:32 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
> "Idiot in front, party in back."
It's like a mullet for politics.
posted by kyrademon at 9:33 AM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
It's like a mullet for politics.
posted by kyrademon at 9:33 AM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
Trump wears his mullet backwards.
That's the twist.
posted by flabdablet at 9:37 AM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
That's the twist.
posted by flabdablet at 9:37 AM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
Oh it;s this idiot...
Moore, who rose to national fame after he refused to obey a federal order to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from an Alabama judicial building, made his feelings clear about the leader in a lengthy fundraising appeal with the subject line, “You & Me vs Mitch McConnell.”
Unless there are multiples of that idiot, which is highly likely. Didn't his stupid ass ten commandments get knocked over by a truck?
posted by Artw at 9:38 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Moore, who rose to national fame after he refused to obey a federal order to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from an Alabama judicial building, made his feelings clear about the leader in a lengthy fundraising appeal with the subject line, “You & Me vs Mitch McConnell.”
Unless there are multiples of that idiot, which is highly likely. Didn't his stupid ass ten commandments get knocked over by a truck?
posted by Artw at 9:38 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
So even as premiums in the bronze, gold, and platinum markets stay more or less the same, the amount the government will pay to help cover those premiums will spike in a world without CSR. The result, according to Welch and Giesa, is that many people will be able to obtain bronze plans for no cost at all — or, alternatively, they will be able to purchase much more generous gold plans for barely more than the cost of a silver plan.
Oh my g_d, if Trump helped us back into Medicare for all through failed attempts at fucking everything up I will laugh and laugh and laugh and embrace our glorious social democratic future
posted by Existential Dread at 9:38 AM on July 31, 2017 [24 favorites]
Oh my g_d, if Trump helped us back into Medicare for all through failed attempts at fucking everything up I will laugh and laugh and laugh and embrace our glorious social democratic future
posted by Existential Dread at 9:38 AM on July 31, 2017 [24 favorites]
Republican light and standing for nothing all the way, sigh...
I've rewritten this comment about a dozen times because any reply to this is a trap. I mean the choices Schumer has here are spend more time in the wilderness hoping the Republican electorate grows a conscience or basically tell prospective candidates that it's ok to not consider a woman's bodily autonomy as absolute.
Talk about your Kobayashi Marus.
I dunno. We've partnered with truly awful people before to push progressive agendas through in this country. We'll probably have to work with what we consider to be shitty people but not as bad as the really shitty people again.
Can someone who's not white, male, and straight (no sleight against you, Artw) please give me a hand on how to empathize and reconcile the reality of the politics with wanting desperately to form a coalition that can even try to begin to fix things. I have no real sacrifice to make or indignity to face so saying it's something we need to just bite the bullet on just feels wrong to me in so many ways.
posted by Talez at 9:39 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
I've rewritten this comment about a dozen times because any reply to this is a trap. I mean the choices Schumer has here are spend more time in the wilderness hoping the Republican electorate grows a conscience or basically tell prospective candidates that it's ok to not consider a woman's bodily autonomy as absolute.
Talk about your Kobayashi Marus.
I dunno. We've partnered with truly awful people before to push progressive agendas through in this country. We'll probably have to work with what we consider to be shitty people but not as bad as the really shitty people again.
Can someone who's not white, male, and straight (no sleight against you, Artw) please give me a hand on how to empathize and reconcile the reality of the politics with wanting desperately to form a coalition that can even try to begin to fix things. I have no real sacrifice to make or indignity to face so saying it's something we need to just bite the bullet on just feels wrong to me in so many ways.
posted by Talez at 9:39 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Rampant cocaine abuse among Trump and his circle of fools could explain so much, so simply. If Scaramucci isn't carrying it on his person at all times I will ... eat a cake. And friends, I was a rock musician in the 80s and I know what it looks like.
I want to hear more of your life as a cake-loving 80s rock musician.
Just listen to the Beatles' Savoy Truffle, that should cover it.
posted by rainy at 9:41 AM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
I want to hear more of your life as a cake-loving 80s rock musician.
Just listen to the Beatles' Savoy Truffle, that should cover it.
posted by rainy at 9:41 AM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
On a lighter note, John Oliver's report on Alex Jones—"the Walter Cronkite of shrieking batshit gorilla clowns"—is not to be missed. Watch it. It's more fun than massaging your taint with a tactical assault wipe.
posted by octobersurprise at 9:54 AM on July 31, 2017 [28 favorites]
posted by octobersurprise at 9:54 AM on July 31, 2017 [28 favorites]
Can someone who's not white, male, and straight (no sleight against you, Artw) please give me a hand on how to empathize and reconcile the reality of the politics with wanting desperately to form a coalition that can even try to begin to fix things.
I'm white, straight, and female. Personally I think ideological purity tests are great when you are winning, but they are a luxury you don't have when you are losing. I'll team up with anyone who wants to save democracy right now, and we'll sort out our differences later.
When Karl Rove and George W. Bush trash Trump in public I cheer, even though I was out in the streets protesting those guys in 2003. Right now I'm hoping Jeff Sessions doesn't get fired. I basically think Jeff Sessions is the devil -- I think he's morally wrong on every single issue and smarter and more dangerous than the rest of the Trump administration -- but I don't want him fired because then Trump would fired Mueller and that could be the end of the rule of law in America.
Save us... FBI? Save us... Catholic leadership? Save us... Tech bros? Save us... Neocons? We've found ourselves saying all of that this year, to our collective shock, I think. But those people really have helped stand between us and the end of American democracy so far.
Roosevelt teamed up with Stalin to stop Hitler. When there's a threat, you have to take the allies you can get, even if they are horrible people. You can go back to being enemies later.
I keep reaching for some Hunger Games metaphors here, but I can't seem to do it without spoilers, so if you're familiar with the books/movies, fill in your own Hunger Games metaphors at this point.
So can I tolerate a pro-life Democrat in a district that is not my own? Who will vote for a Democratic Speaker of the House? When the alternative is a Republican? Yes.
posted by OnceUponATime at 9:56 AM on July 31, 2017 [56 favorites]
I'm white, straight, and female. Personally I think ideological purity tests are great when you are winning, but they are a luxury you don't have when you are losing. I'll team up with anyone who wants to save democracy right now, and we'll sort out our differences later.
When Karl Rove and George W. Bush trash Trump in public I cheer, even though I was out in the streets protesting those guys in 2003. Right now I'm hoping Jeff Sessions doesn't get fired. I basically think Jeff Sessions is the devil -- I think he's morally wrong on every single issue and smarter and more dangerous than the rest of the Trump administration -- but I don't want him fired because then Trump would fired Mueller and that could be the end of the rule of law in America.
Save us... FBI? Save us... Catholic leadership? Save us... Tech bros? Save us... Neocons? We've found ourselves saying all of that this year, to our collective shock, I think. But those people really have helped stand between us and the end of American democracy so far.
Roosevelt teamed up with Stalin to stop Hitler. When there's a threat, you have to take the allies you can get, even if they are horrible people. You can go back to being enemies later.
I keep reaching for some Hunger Games metaphors here, but I can't seem to do it without spoilers, so if you're familiar with the books/movies, fill in your own Hunger Games metaphors at this point.
So can I tolerate a pro-life Democrat in a district that is not my own? Who will vote for a Democratic Speaker of the House? When the alternative is a Republican? Yes.
posted by OnceUponATime at 9:56 AM on July 31, 2017 [56 favorites]
Rampant cocaine abuse among Trump and his circle of fools could explain so much, so simply.
Koka Kola advertising and kokaineposted by kirkaracha at 10:01 AM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
Strolling down the Broadway in the rain
Neon light sign says it
I read it in the paper, they're crazy!
Suit your life, maybe so
In the White House, I know
All over Berlin (they've been doin' it for years)
And in Manhattan!
Things have not yet escalated to that point. But some, including officials in his own administration, took the dismissal of Priebus as a signal that Trump is willing to go rogue against the GOP
One universal constant among my conservative friends is nearly total disdain for the GOP. And this faction difference is really the thing that has submarined the GOP for the past ~10 years. The schism between the torch throwing TP GOP and the Establishment GOP has never been greater.
There exists a similar schism in the dems, thought it isn't felt quite as severely. But enthusiasm for establishment democrats is also pretty low - and after decades of dems more or less totally ignoring their base (I was for the war before I was against it, the "uncomfortable" WI protests, etc.), it isn't hard to see why.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 10:04 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
One universal constant among my conservative friends is nearly total disdain for the GOP. And this faction difference is really the thing that has submarined the GOP for the past ~10 years. The schism between the torch throwing TP GOP and the Establishment GOP has never been greater.
There exists a similar schism in the dems, thought it isn't felt quite as severely. But enthusiasm for establishment democrats is also pretty low - and after decades of dems more or less totally ignoring their base (I was for the war before I was against it, the "uncomfortable" WI protests, etc.), it isn't hard to see why.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 10:04 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
One universal constant among my conservative friends is nearly total disdain for the GOP. And this faction difference is really the thing that has submarined the GOP for the past ~10 years. The schism between the torch throwing TP GOP and the Establishment GOP has never been greater.
Republicans - just like us!
(only fucking idiots, obvs)
posted by Artw at 10:06 AM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
Republicans - just like us!
(only fucking idiots, obvs)
posted by Artw at 10:06 AM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
@GrimKim
Dems: Okay, so. Abortion is maybe bad. Do you love us now?
Republicans: lol fuck off
Dem voters: Fuck OFF
Millennials: FUCK OFF
Dems: oh no
posted by Artw at 10:08 AM on July 31, 2017 [67 favorites]
Dems: Okay, so. Abortion is maybe bad. Do you love us now?
Republicans: lol fuck off
Dem voters: Fuck OFF
Millennials: FUCK OFF
Dems: oh no
posted by Artw at 10:08 AM on July 31, 2017 [67 favorites]
Trans people have been left behind numerous times by these so-called liberals. Gains have been won at our expense. It's not "a difference of opinion," it's people's lives. Differences of opinions are for stuff like "should we invest in bike lanes" or "should we save this historic building" not "should we give this group civil rights or not?"
posted by AFABulous at 10:10 AM on July 31, 2017 [65 favorites]
posted by AFABulous at 10:10 AM on July 31, 2017 [65 favorites]
OnceUponATime: And I get so frustrated with people who see that the current system is unfair (true) and think a good solution to that is to blow up the system entirely, rather than trying to fix it.
Who knew fixing things could be so complicated?
Seriously, breaking things (and profiting from contracts to manage the mess) is a lot easier than working together and fixing things.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:10 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Who knew fixing things could be so complicated?
Seriously, breaking things (and profiting from contracts to manage the mess) is a lot easier than working together and fixing things.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:10 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
and that could be the end of the rule of law in America.
End?
When Black Lives Matter members and Edward Snowden are all saying 'you can't get a fair trial', when a neologism of "Testalying" exists while people cheer on 'cops rought 'em up' - perhaps the "rule of law" is in more trouble than a couple of people getting fired?
posted by rough ashlar at 10:16 AM on July 31, 2017 [14 favorites]
End?
When Black Lives Matter members and Edward Snowden are all saying 'you can't get a fair trial', when a neologism of "Testalying" exists while people cheer on 'cops rought 'em up' - perhaps the "rule of law" is in more trouble than a couple of people getting fired?
posted by rough ashlar at 10:16 AM on July 31, 2017 [14 favorites]
I wonder if the Monster Raving Loony Party is ready to expand to the US. Because, I swear before the FSM, that if the Dems throw women under the bus, I will stop volunteering and funding them, and I will rise like a Texas Honey Badger and begin my reign of surreal politics. The garden where I have grown my fucks has been barren for awhile, and I have none left to give.
I will outweird kinky Friedman, I will outsmoke Willy Nelson, and I will outliberal the Sainted Anne Richards. I am a short, fat, brownish lady, and I have fucking had enough of this shit. I stand zero chance of getting elected, but I will be goddamned if I'm gonna let the Dems assume they have my vote just because the republicans are worse.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 10:16 AM on July 31, 2017 [54 favorites]
I will outweird kinky Friedman, I will outsmoke Willy Nelson, and I will outliberal the Sainted Anne Richards. I am a short, fat, brownish lady, and I have fucking had enough of this shit. I stand zero chance of getting elected, but I will be goddamned if I'm gonna let the Dems assume they have my vote just because the republicans are worse.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 10:16 AM on July 31, 2017 [54 favorites]
So can I tolerate a pro-life Democrat in a district that is not my own? Who will vote for a Democratic Speaker of the House? When the alternative is a Republican? Yes.
Should you tolerate chasing mythical swing centrist voters when the ones on the far left are telling us, over and over again, in word and deed, that they are staying the fuck home rather than voting for beige can't-we-all-just-get-along Democrats?
Should you tolerate making deals with people who keep lying and saying they'd be willing to vote for a Democrat who just agreed with them on a couple of Republican issues that go to the base of what we want the Democratic party to be (e.g., respect for women's bodily autonomy and the role of government in people's intensely personal lives and decisions) in favor of people who don't get to vote because of structural discrimination and out-and-out voter suppression?
Should you sit idly by while people in other districts elect representatives who will rise in power and influence to the point that you don't even recognize your party anymore when you have an example right across the aisle as to what happens to the party then?
No.
posted by Etrigan at 10:18 AM on July 31, 2017 [32 favorites]
Should you tolerate chasing mythical swing centrist voters when the ones on the far left are telling us, over and over again, in word and deed, that they are staying the fuck home rather than voting for beige can't-we-all-just-get-along Democrats?
Should you tolerate making deals with people who keep lying and saying they'd be willing to vote for a Democrat who just agreed with them on a couple of Republican issues that go to the base of what we want the Democratic party to be (e.g., respect for women's bodily autonomy and the role of government in people's intensely personal lives and decisions) in favor of people who don't get to vote because of structural discrimination and out-and-out voter suppression?
Should you sit idly by while people in other districts elect representatives who will rise in power and influence to the point that you don't even recognize your party anymore when you have an example right across the aisle as to what happens to the party then?
No.
posted by Etrigan at 10:18 AM on July 31, 2017 [32 favorites]
I am a cis queer woman of colour and I think this is a garbage move. "Form a coalition with assholes and sort your shit out later" always has costs, and that cost is everyone driven out by said assholes. The power structures that form in these sorts of devil's bargains always seem to replicate the exact same power structures that led to us being in this mess in the first place, in which any attempt at progressive policies is somehow seen as divisive and unproductive, and miraculously it's always women and queer people and trans people and people of colour who have to sit down and wait for their rights.
Media outlets are still falling all over themselves feeling sorry for the maligned Trump voter in San Francisco who feels alienated by the fact that their friends hate their politics, and never seems to cover the progressive living in a red state who lives surrounded by people who don't believe in their humanity. I refuse to believe that the only way forward is to go backwards.
Democrats are hell bent on this dumb plan of assuming their base will always be their base, and they have to go chasing after people who don't like them, instead of serving their base first and foremost and trusting that passion to be contagious. That's why Republicans win, among any number of underhanded tactics - they prioritize their base, not people who can barely tolerate their presence.
There are millions of felons who are disenfranchised for simple pot possession charges. There are millions of poor people and people of colour who can't vote because of voter suppression laws. Go fix that, instead of flipping a giant middle finger to the people who have tirelessly pushed the party forward because you take them for granted.
posted by Phire at 10:19 AM on July 31, 2017 [101 favorites]
Media outlets are still falling all over themselves feeling sorry for the maligned Trump voter in San Francisco who feels alienated by the fact that their friends hate their politics, and never seems to cover the progressive living in a red state who lives surrounded by people who don't believe in their humanity. I refuse to believe that the only way forward is to go backwards.
Democrats are hell bent on this dumb plan of assuming their base will always be their base, and they have to go chasing after people who don't like them, instead of serving their base first and foremost and trusting that passion to be contagious. That's why Republicans win, among any number of underhanded tactics - they prioritize their base, not people who can barely tolerate their presence.
There are millions of felons who are disenfranchised for simple pot possession charges. There are millions of poor people and people of colour who can't vote because of voter suppression laws. Go fix that, instead of flipping a giant middle finger to the people who have tirelessly pushed the party forward because you take them for granted.
posted by Phire at 10:19 AM on July 31, 2017 [101 favorites]
And for your daily bit of yelling at Florida: New Florida Law Lets Residents Challenge School Textbooks (Greg Allen on NPR, July 31, 2017)
posted by filthy light thief at 10:21 AM on July 31, 2017 [15 favorites]
Keith Flaugh is a retired IBM executive living in Naples, Fla., and a man with a mission. He describes it as "getting the school boards to recognize ... the garbage that's in our textbooks."First, if you think of any scene in A Clockwork Orange is pornography, I'm concerned about what you find arousing. Second, this is all about denying climate change (PDF) and evolution (PDF), with concerns about how the constitution is taught being a lesser concern, along with the depiction of Cubans as happy people.
Flaugh helped found Florida Citizens' Alliance, a conservative group that fought unsuccessfully to stop Florida from signing on to Common Core educational standards.
More recently, the group has turned its attention to the books being used in Florida's schools. A new state law, developed and pushed through by Flaugh's group, allows parents, and any residents, to challenge the use of textbooks and instructional materials they find objectionable via an independent hearing.
Flaugh finds many objections with the books used by Florida students. Two years ago, members of the alliance did what he calls a "deep dive" into 60 textbooks (PDF).
"We found them to be full of political indoctrination, religious indoctrination, revisionist history and distorting our founding values and principles, even a significant quantity of pornography," he says.
The pornography, Flaugh says, was in literature and novels such as Angela's Ashes, A Clockwork Orange and books by author Toni Morrison, which were in school libraries or on summer reading lists.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:21 AM on July 31, 2017 [15 favorites]
Go fix that
By what means besides having a majority in state and national Congresses?
posted by zabuni at 10:21 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
By what means besides having a majority in state and national Congresses?
posted by zabuni at 10:21 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Also, Democrats are terrible at enforcing party compliance. If you don't think conservatives know they can win races by running as Democrats and then vote with Republicans anyway, you're deluded.
posted by Phire at 10:22 AM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by Phire at 10:22 AM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
You can bet the same people keen on not applying this "litmus test" would absolutely keep support from a candidate if they were too keen on single payer or a decent minimum wage, both things that are actually popular with people likely to vote dem.
posted by Artw at 10:22 AM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by Artw at 10:22 AM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
putin thought trump would improve ties, but now his hopes are scotched
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 10:23 AM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 10:23 AM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
By what means besides having a majority in state and national Congresses?
Republicans didn't get here overnight. Recruit and support good progressive candidates at all levels of the democracy, people whose policies actually advance your ideals. You won't win every race, but you'll win some, and the more people you field and run the better your chances are. Throw your support behind the Nikkita Olivers of the world, who can have real impacts on wages, sanctuary policies, police reform, civic engagement outreach and support. Try something other than what's been failing for decades. No single person will save us if we won't save ourselves.
posted by Phire at 10:27 AM on July 31, 2017 [15 favorites]
Republicans didn't get here overnight. Recruit and support good progressive candidates at all levels of the democracy, people whose policies actually advance your ideals. You won't win every race, but you'll win some, and the more people you field and run the better your chances are. Throw your support behind the Nikkita Olivers of the world, who can have real impacts on wages, sanctuary policies, police reform, civic engagement outreach and support. Try something other than what's been failing for decades. No single person will save us if we won't save ourselves.
posted by Phire at 10:27 AM on July 31, 2017 [15 favorites]
People who stand for something or appear to stand for something win elections. People who don't... don't. It's not magic.
posted by Artw at 10:28 AM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Artw at 10:28 AM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
It's not "a difference of opinion," it's people's lives.
I didn't say "difference of opinion."
I went with a "teaming up with Stalin" metaphor. Stalin almost certainly killed more people than Hitler -- the Holodomor took longer than the Holocaust, but it was more deadly -- and those were real "people's lives" too. Stalin was not a good guy, not at all, not even compared to Hitler.
But Stalin working with us to defeat Hitler was a better outcome for the world than Stalin staying in power AND Hitler winning the war, and that was the likely other alternative.
Trump will destroy the lives of trans people and women if he stays in power (among other vulnerable groups.) So kicking all the people who are insufficiently supportive of vulnerable groups out of the Democratic party is a pretty empty "win" if the result is that the Democratic party is too small to fight back against Trump. If Trump wins, trans people lose, women lose, refugees lose, black people lose... everybody loses. Let's all resist him together and then we can figure out how to run our country more fairly once we are confident we will still have a country.
"Form a coalition with assholes and sort your shit out later" always has costs, and that cost is everyone driven out by said assholes.
Sadly -- the people who will be driven out are people in districts we already win by large margins. The assholes we might win are in districts we lost last time and MUST win if we hope to regain power.
You can bet the same people keen on not applying this "litmus test" would absolutely keep support from a candidate if they were too keen on single payer
Oh come on. Plenty of Democrats who are keen on single payer get financial support from the party for their run -- which is what this story was about. And Bernie Sanders is mentioned in your link as being "keen on not applying" this kind of litmus test -- probably because he protested very loudly against litmus tests being applied against HIM.
posted by OnceUponATime at 10:28 AM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
I didn't say "difference of opinion."
I went with a "teaming up with Stalin" metaphor. Stalin almost certainly killed more people than Hitler -- the Holodomor took longer than the Holocaust, but it was more deadly -- and those were real "people's lives" too. Stalin was not a good guy, not at all, not even compared to Hitler.
But Stalin working with us to defeat Hitler was a better outcome for the world than Stalin staying in power AND Hitler winning the war, and that was the likely other alternative.
Trump will destroy the lives of trans people and women if he stays in power (among other vulnerable groups.) So kicking all the people who are insufficiently supportive of vulnerable groups out of the Democratic party is a pretty empty "win" if the result is that the Democratic party is too small to fight back against Trump. If Trump wins, trans people lose, women lose, refugees lose, black people lose... everybody loses. Let's all resist him together and then we can figure out how to run our country more fairly once we are confident we will still have a country.
"Form a coalition with assholes and sort your shit out later" always has costs, and that cost is everyone driven out by said assholes.
Sadly -- the people who will be driven out are people in districts we already win by large margins. The assholes we might win are in districts we lost last time and MUST win if we hope to regain power.
You can bet the same people keen on not applying this "litmus test" would absolutely keep support from a candidate if they were too keen on single payer
Oh come on. Plenty of Democrats who are keen on single payer get financial support from the party for their run -- which is what this story was about. And Bernie Sanders is mentioned in your link as being "keen on not applying" this kind of litmus test -- probably because he protested very loudly against litmus tests being applied against HIM.
posted by OnceUponATime at 10:28 AM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
Because, I swear before the FSM, that if the Dems throw women under the bus, I will stop volunteering and funding them, and I will rise like a Texas Honey Badger and begin my reign of surreal politics.
Fucking this. Fundamental human rights for women are not some ducking policy question that reasonable people can disagree over.
I am a lifelong registered Democrat. I give to the party. Women are the party's base.
I will set everything I can fucking find on metaphorical fire if they sell us out, and I will never look back. After what happened in 2016, we are fucking DONE. We can only be pushed so far. I really hope the Democrats aren't determined to find out what happens when they push a little more.
posted by schadenfrau at 10:29 AM on July 31, 2017 [40 favorites]
Fucking this. Fundamental human rights for women are not some ducking policy question that reasonable people can disagree over.
I am a lifelong registered Democrat. I give to the party. Women are the party's base.
I will set everything I can fucking find on metaphorical fire if they sell us out, and I will never look back. After what happened in 2016, we are fucking DONE. We can only be pushed so far. I really hope the Democrats aren't determined to find out what happens when they push a little more.
posted by schadenfrau at 10:29 AM on July 31, 2017 [40 favorites]
And for those who didn't click the link, the story is "Democrats will not withhold financial support for candidates who oppose abortion rights, the chairman of the party’s campaign arm in the House said in an interview with The Hill."
So it's not like the question is whether the platform will suddenly become anti-abortion. It's whether the party leadership will impose this political belief as a condition of getting funding.
posted by OnceUponATime at 10:31 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
So it's not like the question is whether the platform will suddenly become anti-abortion. It's whether the party leadership will impose this political belief as a condition of getting funding.
posted by OnceUponATime at 10:31 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Cis white woman here: While I agree that a certain amount of coalition and compromise is necessary, I think that Democrats have more to lose rather than gain by being, as Etrigan put it, beige. The Third Way is dead.
The much-vaunted, ass-kissed swing voter is as dead as the dodo. I would say that almost all of the people who want to Save The Pweshus Unborn Baybeez have gone Republican. Ditto people who want to Save Our Pure Daughters by keeping those icky trans people out of public bathrooms. I think we are wasting our time by coalitioning with those particular "socially conservative" people.
I've said it before and I'll say it again - we need to get out our vote, not kiss white bigot butt. I want to see every damn person who can vote to show up at the polls or mail in their ballots. Democrats do not have a problem with voters fleeing to the Republicans because Baybeez and Bathrooms; they have a problem with people not showing up in the first place.
We Dems also have a problem that is much, much harder to solve and that is a distribution problem. Remember the woman who won the popular vote for President? The Democrat? Too bad those Democratic voters were mostly clustered in cities. We also have a Faux News problem. People, mostly older white people, have been brainwashed by Fox News and its kind, especially in areas where it's hard to get an internet connection and listen to podcasts or streaming news.
We do have problems and some of them are hard to fix, but catering to bigots won't solve them. Obviously a Democrat in a red state like Montana is not going to be as far left as one from California but we need to stand with each other.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 10:32 AM on July 31, 2017 [53 favorites]
The much-vaunted, ass-kissed swing voter is as dead as the dodo. I would say that almost all of the people who want to Save The Pweshus Unborn Baybeez have gone Republican. Ditto people who want to Save Our Pure Daughters by keeping those icky trans people out of public bathrooms. I think we are wasting our time by coalitioning with those particular "socially conservative" people.
I've said it before and I'll say it again - we need to get out our vote, not kiss white bigot butt. I want to see every damn person who can vote to show up at the polls or mail in their ballots. Democrats do not have a problem with voters fleeing to the Republicans because Baybeez and Bathrooms; they have a problem with people not showing up in the first place.
We Dems also have a problem that is much, much harder to solve and that is a distribution problem. Remember the woman who won the popular vote for President? The Democrat? Too bad those Democratic voters were mostly clustered in cities. We also have a Faux News problem. People, mostly older white people, have been brainwashed by Fox News and its kind, especially in areas where it's hard to get an internet connection and listen to podcasts or streaming news.
We do have problems and some of them are hard to fix, but catering to bigots won't solve them. Obviously a Democrat in a red state like Montana is not going to be as far left as one from California but we need to stand with each other.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 10:32 AM on July 31, 2017 [53 favorites]
As actuaries Dianna Welch and Kurt Giesa note in an analysis of what would happen if the CSR payments are cut off, “CSR are only available under silver-level exchange plans.” Thus, if Trump does cut off these payments, it is likely that premiums for bronze, gold, and platinum health plans would remain fairly constant. After all, shutting down CSR payments has no immediate impact on the cost of insuring a bronze, gold, or platinum health consumer.
This analysis assumes that the insurance companies wouldn't raise all premiums in a giddy rush of consumer-gouging. That assumption in the face of what insurance companies actually do is ludicrous and naive.
posted by winna at 10:33 AM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
This analysis assumes that the insurance companies wouldn't raise all premiums in a giddy rush of consumer-gouging. That assumption in the face of what insurance companies actually do is ludicrous and naive.
posted by winna at 10:33 AM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
So it's not like the question is whether the platform will suddenly become anti-abortion. It's whether the party leadership will impose this political belief as a condition of getting funding.
And if not, what the fuck even is a political party?
posted by Pope Guilty at 10:33 AM on July 31, 2017 [17 favorites]
And if not, what the fuck even is a political party?
posted by Pope Guilty at 10:33 AM on July 31, 2017 [17 favorites]
So it's not like the question is whether the platform will suddenly become anti-abortion. It's whether the party leadership will impose this political belief as a condition of getting funding.
This is some mealy mouthed bullshit.
Honestly, as much as I hate the NRA, maybe it's time to take a look at their playbook. It shouldn't be safe for a Democrat to be pro-forced birth. Not sure where we'd find funding analogous to the gun manufacturers, but Jesus Christ, it shouldn't be impossible to use scorched earth tactics in service of, you know, actual good.
posted by schadenfrau at 10:35 AM on July 31, 2017 [25 favorites]
This is some mealy mouthed bullshit.
Honestly, as much as I hate the NRA, maybe it's time to take a look at their playbook. It shouldn't be safe for a Democrat to be pro-forced birth. Not sure where we'd find funding analogous to the gun manufacturers, but Jesus Christ, it shouldn't be impossible to use scorched earth tactics in service of, you know, actual good.
posted by schadenfrau at 10:35 AM on July 31, 2017 [25 favorites]
Can someone who's not white, male, and straight (no sleight against you, Artw) please give me a hand on how to empathize and reconcile the reality of the politics with wanting desperately to form a coalition that can even try to begin to fix things.
I personally have a red line on several issues, abortion being one of them -- I will not support, donate to, campaign for, or vote for a candidate unless they support safe, legal, on demand abortion for any person who wants one regardless of financial ability. That said, if the alternative candidate is equally or more anti-abortion, I won't campaign against the less-shitty-on-abortion candidate, I'll just direct my attention to other battles. If the person is already in office, I'm ok with working with them on other issues where we might agree, and I'll continue to push them to change their voting behavior on abortion (and, in the absence of that, to just shut the hell up about their personal opinions on abortion).
For example: I hope Joe Manchin changes his policy stance on abortion, and in theory I support a primary challenger who is more progressive on the issue of forced childbirth (being pro-abortion is necessary for my support, but not sufficient). If no such challenger exists, then I will restrict my WV-Senate-race involvement to helping Manchin understand why supporting forced childbirth is barbaric, unChristian, and wrong. In the general election, obviously Manchin's GOP challenger will be a forced birther as well, so my preferred policy outcome will not benefit from opposing Manchin at that stage (but, again, I personally will not be providing my time or money to Manchin in that race). To the extent I had a personal connection with someone in WV, I'd probably explain my view and, depending on their specific circumstances, ask them to vote for Manchin anyway so that we can have a Dem majority, but I would make sure to acknowledge that that vote may come with an emotional cost or personal sacrifice (i.e., she may be voting for someone who supports enacting a policy that would result in her death). It's not a small ask and we shouldn't couch it in terms of said person having an unreasonable "purity" test, and we shouldn't chastise people for refusing to vote for their own deaths in order to serve the "greater good."
posted by melissasaurus at 10:35 AM on July 31, 2017 [38 favorites]
I personally have a red line on several issues, abortion being one of them -- I will not support, donate to, campaign for, or vote for a candidate unless they support safe, legal, on demand abortion for any person who wants one regardless of financial ability. That said, if the alternative candidate is equally or more anti-abortion, I won't campaign against the less-shitty-on-abortion candidate, I'll just direct my attention to other battles. If the person is already in office, I'm ok with working with them on other issues where we might agree, and I'll continue to push them to change their voting behavior on abortion (and, in the absence of that, to just shut the hell up about their personal opinions on abortion).
For example: I hope Joe Manchin changes his policy stance on abortion, and in theory I support a primary challenger who is more progressive on the issue of forced childbirth (being pro-abortion is necessary for my support, but not sufficient). If no such challenger exists, then I will restrict my WV-Senate-race involvement to helping Manchin understand why supporting forced childbirth is barbaric, unChristian, and wrong. In the general election, obviously Manchin's GOP challenger will be a forced birther as well, so my preferred policy outcome will not benefit from opposing Manchin at that stage (but, again, I personally will not be providing my time or money to Manchin in that race). To the extent I had a personal connection with someone in WV, I'd probably explain my view and, depending on their specific circumstances, ask them to vote for Manchin anyway so that we can have a Dem majority, but I would make sure to acknowledge that that vote may come with an emotional cost or personal sacrifice (i.e., she may be voting for someone who supports enacting a policy that would result in her death). It's not a small ask and we shouldn't couch it in terms of said person having an unreasonable "purity" test, and we shouldn't chastise people for refusing to vote for their own deaths in order to serve the "greater good."
posted by melissasaurus at 10:35 AM on July 31, 2017 [38 favorites]
What even is the point of not leaving all of the anti-abortion candidates for the Republicans to sweep up, is it just to show a "D" next to someone's name on a Chyron? Maybe anti-abortion "Democrats" simply should not be supported as candidates by anybody.
posted by rhizome at 10:38 AM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 10:38 AM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
And Bernie Sanders is mentioned in your link as being "keen on not applying" this kind of litmus test -- probably because he protested very loudly against litmus tests being applied against HIM.
To which the proper response is to tell him to get fucked, because a) he has no problem applying tests to others, and b) if he wants Democratic support, he can fucking uphold Democratic positions.
posted by NoxAeternum at 10:48 AM on July 31, 2017 [34 favorites]
To which the proper response is to tell him to get fucked, because a) he has no problem applying tests to others, and b) if he wants Democratic support, he can fucking uphold Democratic positions.
posted by NoxAeternum at 10:48 AM on July 31, 2017 [34 favorites]
I've said it before and I'll say it again - we need to get out our vote, not kiss white bigot butt. I want to see every damn person who can vote to show up at the polls or mail in their ballots. Democrats do not have a problem with voters fleeing to the Republicans because Baybeez and Bathrooms; they have a problem with people not showing up in the first place.
We Dems also have a problem that is much, much harder to solve and that is a distribution problem. Remember the woman who won the popular vote for President? The Democrat? Too bad those Democratic voters were mostly clustered in cities. We also have a Faux News problem. People, mostly older white people, have been brainwashed by Fox News and its kind, especially in areas where it's hard to get an internet connection and listen to podcasts or streaming news.
Which is why Third Way-style accomodationism is ultimately counterproductive (did it keep George W. Bush out of the White House, for example?). Once they regain power, and as they gain power, Democrats need to not so much reach out to Republican power bases as do as much as they can to reduce their actual power -- starting by increasing taxes on the wealthy a lot. That's certainly look different to the "both sides are just the same" crowd, I bet.
One endgame of accumulating enough power should be getting enough votes to impeach Gorsuch as the fruit of a poisoned tree. Republicans know their agenda is not popular, which is why they have this insecurity about feeling like losers. So rather than accommodating them, let's make 'em lose.
posted by Gelatin at 10:51 AM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
We Dems also have a problem that is much, much harder to solve and that is a distribution problem. Remember the woman who won the popular vote for President? The Democrat? Too bad those Democratic voters were mostly clustered in cities. We also have a Faux News problem. People, mostly older white people, have been brainwashed by Fox News and its kind, especially in areas where it's hard to get an internet connection and listen to podcasts or streaming news.
Which is why Third Way-style accomodationism is ultimately counterproductive (did it keep George W. Bush out of the White House, for example?). Once they regain power, and as they gain power, Democrats need to not so much reach out to Republican power bases as do as much as they can to reduce their actual power -- starting by increasing taxes on the wealthy a lot. That's certainly look different to the "both sides are just the same" crowd, I bet.
One endgame of accumulating enough power should be getting enough votes to impeach Gorsuch as the fruit of a poisoned tree. Republicans know their agenda is not popular, which is why they have this insecurity about feeling like losers. So rather than accommodating them, let's make 'em lose.
posted by Gelatin at 10:51 AM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
And Bernie Sanders is mentioned in your link as being "keen on not applying" this kind of litmus test -- probably because he protested very loudly against litmus tests being applied against HIM.
Bernie Sanders is correct about a lot of things, but there are a lot of people who wish he would be a little more conscious of non-class-based issues, including whether they are worthy of litmus tests.
posted by Etrigan at 10:52 AM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
Bernie Sanders is correct about a lot of things, but there are a lot of people who wish he would be a little more conscious of non-class-based issues, including whether they are worthy of litmus tests.
posted by Etrigan at 10:52 AM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
With the new branding, "A Better Deal", the only litmus test they should be considering is, "Does our policy offer a better deal than theirs?"
You go down the party platform, and if you don't have a "Better Deal" to offer on say, Access to Abortion than the republicans, you're not on our team...
posted by mikelieman at 10:53 AM on July 31, 2017 [14 favorites]
You go down the party platform, and if you don't have a "Better Deal" to offer on say, Access to Abortion than the republicans, you're not on our team...
posted by mikelieman at 10:53 AM on July 31, 2017 [14 favorites]
What even is the point of not leaving all of the anti-abortion candidates for the Republicans to sweep up, is it just to show a "D" next to someone's name on a Chyron?
Your comment is right below this one:
One can argue that this end doesn't justify the means, but it's pretty clearly the point.
posted by galaxy rise at 10:54 AM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
Your comment is right below this one:
For example: I hope Joe Manchin changes his policy stance on abortion, and in theory I support a primary challenger who is more progressive on the issue of forced childbirthThe point of accepting individual anti-choice dems is that the party as a whole is pro-choice and individual representatives who vote for democratic leadership may be the difference between the majority and the minority. If we had another Capito from WV, rather than Manchin, the Senate would have passed ACA repeal - including its attack on Planned Parenthood - last week.
One can argue that this end doesn't justify the means, but it's pretty clearly the point.
posted by galaxy rise at 10:54 AM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
What even is the point of not leaving all of the anti-abortion candidates for the Republicans to sweep up, is it just to show a "D" next to someone's name on a Chyron? Maybe anti-abortion "Democrats" simply should not be supported as candidates by anybody.
The argument has been made that were e.g. Joe Manchin accepted as a D, his vote in the Senate would have been replaced by an R and we would currently be navigating a post-ACA-repeal world today. I can understand that argument, even if I don't like it. I give Schumer credit for keeping his caucus organized against the repeal.
I think it's clear that there are gains to be made in mobilizing passionate left voters, based on the widespread popularity of single payer or Medicare-for-all, but Dem leadership has an antiquated view that more votes are available by positioning themselves to appeal to centrists. This is a serious problem, based on the reaction to Nancy Pelosi's ill-advised "Single payer is off the table" gaffe back in March. There's a lot recommend certain members of the Democratic leadership-I give Pelosi a ton of credit for the passage of the spending bill earlier this year-but a centrist strategy that accepts positions like pro-forced birth and rolling back LGTBQ rights will continue to backfire in elections, particularly when combined with increased voter suppression.
We need Dems to run on single payer and automatic voter registration, and to stop with all the goddamn Bernie-Hillary sniping.
posted by Existential Dread at 10:55 AM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
The argument has been made that were e.g. Joe Manchin accepted as a D, his vote in the Senate would have been replaced by an R and we would currently be navigating a post-ACA-repeal world today. I can understand that argument, even if I don't like it. I give Schumer credit for keeping his caucus organized against the repeal.
I think it's clear that there are gains to be made in mobilizing passionate left voters, based on the widespread popularity of single payer or Medicare-for-all, but Dem leadership has an antiquated view that more votes are available by positioning themselves to appeal to centrists. This is a serious problem, based on the reaction to Nancy Pelosi's ill-advised "Single payer is off the table" gaffe back in March. There's a lot recommend certain members of the Democratic leadership-I give Pelosi a ton of credit for the passage of the spending bill earlier this year-but a centrist strategy that accepts positions like pro-forced birth and rolling back LGTBQ rights will continue to backfire in elections, particularly when combined with increased voter suppression.
We need Dems to run on single payer and automatic voter registration, and to stop with all the goddamn Bernie-Hillary sniping.
posted by Existential Dread at 10:55 AM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
What the conservative movement clearly needs is some kind of Reformation.
The 95 Tweets
posted by tilde at 10:55 AM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
The 95 Tweets
posted by tilde at 10:55 AM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
There doesn't seem to be an open thread about Venezuela to drop this Financial Times ~16min video into but the interplay between political forces, paramilitaries, and criminal gangs is interesting. Hopefully less relevant to the US than it seemed it might soon be a short time ago.
(And hopefully things will get much better for Venezuelans soon, of course.)
posted by XMLicious at 10:57 AM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
(And hopefully things will get much better for Venezuelans soon, of course.)
posted by XMLicious at 10:57 AM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
"Unless there are multiples of that idiot, which is highly likely. Didn't his stupid ass ten commandments get knocked over by a truck?"That was a different monument (Arkansas, not Alabama, but I can understand the confusion.)
Roy Moore is a piece of work -- he's been booted from the Alabama State Supreme Court twice for letting his particular brand of Christian fundamentalism take precedent over the rule of law. For Moore, "separation of church and state" is a problem that needs to be fixed.
Imagine Jeff Sessions raised to the power of Pat Robertson -- that's Roy Moore.
posted by TwoToneRow at 10:58 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
I think this is a fair part of how people voted for (and still support) Trump, while thinking he's nothing but disruptive: 30 years of conditioning by extreme right-wing talk radio and Fox News has led large chunks of at least two generations of Americans to believe that "the government" is some sort of separate thing, with its own nefarious interests, run by shadowy people who just want to interfere with our lives and take our stuff. There no longer seems to be much sense or awareness of the reality that there is no such thing as "the government," separate from us; the government is us, administering ourselves, as those in democracies are supposed to do. That thing is us.
"We gotta get rid of big government!"
"Do you pay taxes?"
"Yup. Too goddamned many."
"Do you buy stuff at WalMart and McDonalds and use electricty and non-well water?"
"Somma those."
"Ever had to call the fire department or the police, or go to public school?"
"Well, sure, who hasn't?"
"How's your local library, and park, and hospital?"
"Uh, okay, I guess."
"That's goverment. You're government. We're all part of it."
just spun off the top of my noggin ... there's prolly a better way to put it ... and the usual caveat that, you know, lots of peple don't really want to change their minds about things.
posted by tilde at 11:01 AM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
"We gotta get rid of big government!"
"Do you pay taxes?"
"Yup. Too goddamned many."
"Do you buy stuff at WalMart and McDonalds and use electricty and non-well water?"
"Somma those."
"Ever had to call the fire department or the police, or go to public school?"
"Well, sure, who hasn't?"
"How's your local library, and park, and hospital?"
"Uh, okay, I guess."
"That's goverment. You're government. We're all part of it."
just spun off the top of my noggin ... there's prolly a better way to put it ... and the usual caveat that, you know, lots of peple don't really want to change their minds about things.
posted by tilde at 11:01 AM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
This sounds like a great way to discourage actual Democrats from donating to the Democratic Party.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 11:04 AM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by scaryblackdeath at 11:04 AM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Something else: the Overton window has to move on "pro-choice." It doesn't mean "forced abortions for everyone every day and twice on Sunday!" It means, "whether to have an abortion or not is up to the person with the uterus and no-one else." You know, choice.
"I would never ever have an abortion but I don't care what other women do" is pro-choice. "I support women's right to choose, and I also want to strengthen the societal safety net so that more women can choose to keep their babies" is also pro-choice.
If more people owned their pro-choice stance instead of hiding behind mealy-mouthed "abortion should be rare/a last resort" type platitudes maybe we could move the Overton window at least a bit.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 11:05 AM on July 31, 2017 [93 favorites]
"I would never ever have an abortion but I don't care what other women do" is pro-choice. "I support women's right to choose, and I also want to strengthen the societal safety net so that more women can choose to keep their babies" is also pro-choice.
If more people owned their pro-choice stance instead of hiding behind mealy-mouthed "abortion should be rare/a last resort" type platitudes maybe we could move the Overton window at least a bit.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 11:05 AM on July 31, 2017 [93 favorites]
It was maddening to have a Blue Dog Democrat as our rep here in western North Carolina. He consistently voted against the Obama agenda, and people like him were why single payer was off the table to start with.
But it is so much MORE frustrating to have been redistricted such that we are now represented by a deep-red Republican who dismisses anything we city folk have to say and skips out on town hall meetings.
I'm not saying we should have to compromise on forced birth, but in certain regions the best we can hope for is a representative who disagrees with us but does not actually hold us in contempt. I hated the Blue Dogs like hell when we had 'em, but goddamn do I miss them these days.
posted by rikschell at 11:06 AM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
But it is so much MORE frustrating to have been redistricted such that we are now represented by a deep-red Republican who dismisses anything we city folk have to say and skips out on town hall meetings.
I'm not saying we should have to compromise on forced birth, but in certain regions the best we can hope for is a representative who disagrees with us but does not actually hold us in contempt. I hated the Blue Dogs like hell when we had 'em, but goddamn do I miss them these days.
posted by rikschell at 11:06 AM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
If the democratic party isn't going to support democratic voters, then maybe it's time to replace the party.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 11:06 AM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 11:06 AM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
Not to abuse the edit window, but what I'm trying to say is that I believe it's time to scrap the two party system all the way around. We are too diverse a territory and people to have just two parties. This monopoly on national office holders has to end. Less two state, more parliament.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 11:09 AM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 11:09 AM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
That involves substantial rewriting of the Constitution.
posted by Pope Guilty at 11:11 AM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 11:11 AM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
Maybe I'm a weirdo, but to be "A better deal" it just has to be overall better, not better in every particular.
Every candidate has (conceptually) a big vector of positions-on-issues. I project that down to a single score that's weighted by what I care about, then (for each election) choose which of the two most electable candidates has a higher score. (Of course none of this is explicitly numeric as it's happening in my head; I'm trying here to represent a judgment that's mostly based on feelings using the language that I have). The point is that I strive for making these judgments using continuous, linear (in an "additive" rather than "sequential" sense) reasoning; I think using litmus tests means you leave some utility on the table.
Ugh, I'm expressing myself so badly here, but I think it's kind of important, so I'm hoping someone similarly-minded can pick up the ball and explain it better.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 11:12 AM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
Every candidate has (conceptually) a big vector of positions-on-issues. I project that down to a single score that's weighted by what I care about, then (for each election) choose which of the two most electable candidates has a higher score. (Of course none of this is explicitly numeric as it's happening in my head; I'm trying here to represent a judgment that's mostly based on feelings using the language that I have). The point is that I strive for making these judgments using continuous, linear (in an "additive" rather than "sequential" sense) reasoning; I think using litmus tests means you leave some utility on the table.
Ugh, I'm expressing myself so badly here, but I think it's kind of important, so I'm hoping someone similarly-minded can pick up the ball and explain it better.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 11:12 AM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
In principle, yes, it's totally time to scrap the two-party system.
In practice, Republicans have seen that their one greatest strength is unity while liberals see the Republican agenda as the scorched-earth shitshow horror of incompetence and hate that it actually is. The last thing liberals should do is encourage any dilution of their own side.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 11:12 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
In practice, Republicans have seen that their one greatest strength is unity while liberals see the Republican agenda as the scorched-earth shitshow horror of incompetence and hate that it actually is. The last thing liberals should do is encourage any dilution of their own side.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 11:12 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Plus, We don't doubt and discount a brown man's basic competence and intelligence, the way we do any woman's.
May I refer you to:
"You speak so well!"
"He's so articulate!"
"Affirmative action."
In basketball it's "he's a heady player who really knows the game."
In football Black NFL QBs are a fairly recent phenomenon because the position is for "heady field generals."
posted by Lyme Drop at 11:12 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
May I refer you to:
"You speak so well!"
"He's so articulate!"
"Affirmative action."
In basketball it's "he's a heady player who really knows the game."
In football Black NFL QBs are a fairly recent phenomenon because the position is for "heady field generals."
posted by Lyme Drop at 11:12 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
it's time to scrap the two party system all the way around
Yes it is! But while it lasts we must take its effects into account!
That involves substantial rewriting of the Constitution.
No it doesn't!
posted by OnceUponATime at 11:15 AM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
Yes it is! But while it lasts we must take its effects into account!
That involves substantial rewriting of the Constitution.
No it doesn't!
posted by OnceUponATime at 11:15 AM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
Joe Manchin is of course in his 70s, highlighting our other big problem.
posted by Artw at 11:18 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Artw at 11:18 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
I have come to the conclusion that there is one political belief that is universally agreed upon by every single person not just in the United States, but in the entire world, and it is this:
"The most ideal, perfect form of government is an immortal dictator who agrees with me."
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:22 AM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
"The most ideal, perfect form of government is an immortal dictator who agrees with me."
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:22 AM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
Should you tolerate chasing mythical swing centrist voters when the ones on the far left are telling us, over and over again, in word and deed, that they are staying the fuck home rather than voting for beige can't-we-all-just-get-along Democrats?
I'll see your mythical swing voters and raise you a completely fictional candidate. Seriously, the DNC thinks there are potential presidential candidates existing in reality (let alone viable ones) whose positions are entirely compatible with liberal and/or progressive ideology (including domestic/social, economic, and foreign policy) EXCEPT that they're anti-abortion? Note: I don't mean their individual feelings or personal beliefs/actions. I mean they have a professional political campaign position in favor of outlawing abortion.
I'm gonna straight up say such a creature is nothing but a figment of Tom Perez's (or whoever's) imagination. We might as well say we'll allow chupacabras on the Democratic ticket.
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:24 AM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
I'll see your mythical swing voters and raise you a completely fictional candidate. Seriously, the DNC thinks there are potential presidential candidates existing in reality (let alone viable ones) whose positions are entirely compatible with liberal and/or progressive ideology (including domestic/social, economic, and foreign policy) EXCEPT that they're anti-abortion? Note: I don't mean their individual feelings or personal beliefs/actions. I mean they have a professional political campaign position in favor of outlawing abortion.
I'm gonna straight up say such a creature is nothing but a figment of Tom Perez's (or whoever's) imagination. We might as well say we'll allow chupacabras on the Democratic ticket.
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:24 AM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
Lady Chupacabra is my new Monster Raving Loony Party name. Fear me, and my estrogenical tyranny.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 11:27 AM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 11:27 AM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
Seriously, the DNC thinks there are potential presidential candidates existing in reality (let alone viable ones) whose positions are entirely compatible with liberal and/or progressive ideology (including domestic/social, economic, and foreign policy) EXCEPT that they're anti-abortion?
What makes you think that was about presidential candidates?
posted by OnceUponATime at 11:27 AM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
What makes you think that was about presidential candidates?
posted by OnceUponATime at 11:27 AM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
What makes you think that was about presidential candidates .
Misreading, I guess? although I'd say it's overwhelmingly likely to be the case down at the school board and dogcatcher level as well.
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:30 AM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
Misreading, I guess? although I'd say it's overwhelmingly likely to be the case down at the school board and dogcatcher level as well.
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:30 AM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
I interrupt today's discussion of the stupid dumb hurtful thing the party has done to bring good news. Joe Arpaio has been found guilty of criminal contempt of court for his refusal to stop racial profiling in immigration sweeps when he was Sheriff.
posted by zachlipton at 11:34 AM on July 31, 2017 [148 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 11:34 AM on July 31, 2017 [148 favorites]
WTF? @GlennThrush: Mooch out as comms director per sources
posted by zachlipton at 11:36 AM on July 31, 2017 [64 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 11:36 AM on July 31, 2017 [64 favorites]
Hoowee, and me with a fridge full of leftover cake and a nearly full bottle of Pimms.
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:37 AM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:37 AM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
Now I'm just waiting for it to filter onto MSNBC so I can see Katie Tur's spit-take.
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:38 AM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:38 AM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
Breaking News: President Trump has decided to remove Anthony Scaramucci from his position as communications director
posted by cooker girl at 11:38 AM on July 31, 2017 [35 favorites]
posted by cooker girl at 11:38 AM on July 31, 2017 [35 favorites]
Seems like the Times had a heads-up again and had the story ready. Trump Removes Anthony Scaramucci From Communications Director Role
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.posted by zachlipton at 11:38 AM on July 31, 2017 [20 favorites]
...
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.
Cocaine futures in freefall!
posted by Artw at 11:38 AM on July 31, 2017 [79 favorites]
posted by Artw at 11:38 AM on July 31, 2017 [79 favorites]
It's really inconceivable to think that there might be a Joe Biden who wants to apply his "private" abortion position to the public sphere? No one can imagine that hard?
I don't want to get all Thomas Friedman here, but if you went to middle America you would find a lot of people who claim to believe that abortion is murder, but otherwise align more with Democrats than Republicans and spend a lot of time retconning their support of GOP policies they don't like just so that they can vote for pro-life candidates.
posted by 0xFCAF at 11:39 AM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
I don't want to get all Thomas Friedman here, but if you went to middle America you would find a lot of people who claim to believe that abortion is murder, but otherwise align more with Democrats than Republicans and spend a lot of time retconning their support of GOP policies they don't like just so that they can vote for pro-life candidates.
posted by 0xFCAF at 11:39 AM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
The schadenfreude on journalism Twitter is...amazing.
And everywhere else, for that matter.
posted by mynameisluka at 11:39 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
And everywhere else, for that matter.
posted by mynameisluka at 11:39 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Scaramucci has resigned! This is hilarious. What a joke.
posted by Justinian at 11:39 AM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 11:39 AM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
The entire MSNBC set is cracking up, and Katie's trying to keep a straight face and not say "what the fuck?"
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:39 AM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:39 AM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
zachlipton: It was not clear whether Mr. Scaramucci will remain employed at the White House in another position or will leave altogether.
Drain the swamp? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by filthy light thief at 11:40 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Drain the swamp? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by filthy light thief at 11:40 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Breaking News: President Trump has decided to remove Anthony Scaramucci from his position as communications director
Well, Scaramucci was getting a lot of attention in the role.
posted by Gelatin at 11:40 AM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Well, Scaramucci was getting a lot of attention in the role.
posted by Gelatin at 11:40 AM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
"Hmm, I've been off MeFi all day today, I wonder if anything is happening in politcal land, I'll dip into The Thread for minute..."
>WTF? @GlennThrush: Mooch out as comms director per sources
"Oh."
I think I'll stay off The Thread every day and check in at 2:40 EST in the off chance it leads to a White House senior staffer getting fired.
posted by Tevin at 11:41 AM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
>WTF? @GlennThrush: Mooch out as comms director per sources
"Oh."
I think I'll stay off The Thread every day and check in at 2:40 EST in the off chance it leads to a White House senior staffer getting fired.
posted by Tevin at 11:41 AM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
...and not to abuse the edit window, I wonder if Scaramucci's wife will now go thru with the divorce.
posted by Gelatin at 11:41 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Gelatin at 11:41 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
The argument has been made that were e.g. Joe Manchin accepted as a D, his vote in the Senate would have been replaced by an R and we would currently be navigating a post-ACA-repeal world today. I can understand that argument, even if I don't like it.
When you say you don't like it, do you mean you don't think it's true or that you don't like the reality that makes it true? I'm having troubling parsing it.
Because the last few weeks make it self-evident to me. How could it not be true unless people think that a Democratic candidate indistinguishable from, say, a California Democrat could win in West Virginia, a state where Trump's approval is still sky high?
posted by Justinian at 11:42 AM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
When you say you don't like it, do you mean you don't think it's true or that you don't like the reality that makes it true? I'm having troubling parsing it.
Because the last few weeks make it self-evident to me. How could it not be true unless people think that a Democratic candidate indistinguishable from, say, a California Democrat could win in West Virginia, a state where Trump's approval is still sky high?
posted by Justinian at 11:42 AM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Scaramucchi has resigned.--CNN [real]
lol
posted by sylvanshine at 11:42 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
lol
posted by sylvanshine at 11:42 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
....so is Spicer coming back, since he sort of never left?
(Who's running this show, anyway? /rhetorical)
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 11:42 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
(Who's running this show, anyway? /rhetorical)
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 11:42 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Who knew the fandango could be this hard?
posted by tivalasvegas at 11:43 AM on July 31, 2017 [35 favorites]
posted by tivalasvegas at 11:43 AM on July 31, 2017 [35 favorites]
I wonder if Scaramucci's wife will now go thru with the divorce.
Marriage is for closers!
posted by Servo5678 at 11:44 AM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
Marriage is for closers!
posted by Servo5678 at 11:44 AM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
10 days of winning.
Meanwhile, CNN's got a scoop. EXCLUSIVE: Kelly called Comey to express anger over firing, sources say
Ok this is brutal. @timothypmurphy: well it definitely wasn't to spend more time with his family
posted by zachlipton at 11:44 AM on July 31, 2017 [91 favorites]
Meanwhile, CNN's got a scoop. EXCLUSIVE: Kelly called Comey to express anger over firing, sources say
New White House chief of staff John Kelly was so upset with how President Donald Trump handled the firing of FBI Director James Comey that Kelly called Comey afterward and said he was considering resigning, according to two sources familiar with a conversation between Kelly and Comey.Of course, he didn't resign and agreed to become Chief of Staff, so not exactly reassured here.
Both sources cautioned that it was unclear how serious Kelly, then the secretary of homeland security, was about resigning himself.
"John was angry and hurt by what he saw and the way (Comey) was treated," one of the sources said.
Ok this is brutal. @timothypmurphy: well it definitely wasn't to spend more time with his family
posted by zachlipton at 11:44 AM on July 31, 2017 [91 favorites]
Arrivederci, Scaramucci!
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:44 AM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:44 AM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
I interrupt today's discussion of the stupid dumb hurtful thing the party has done to bring good news. Joe Arpaio has been found guilty of criminal contempt of court for his refusal to stop racial profiling in immigration sweeps when he was Sheriff.
It be pretty sweet if they put him on one his chain gangs before they get rid of them.
posted by srboisvert at 11:45 AM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
It be pretty sweet if they put him on one his chain gangs before they get rid of them.
posted by srboisvert at 11:45 AM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Joe Arpaio has been found guilty of criminal contempt of court
Isn't he
Pretty in pink
posted by flabdablet at 11:46 AM on July 31, 2017 [33 favorites]
Isn't he
Pretty in pink
posted by flabdablet at 11:46 AM on July 31, 2017 [33 favorites]
Whoever blocked Scaramucci's hiring for six months deserves a promotion.
posted by knuckle tattoos at 11:46 AM on July 31, 2017 [27 favorites]
posted by knuckle tattoos at 11:46 AM on July 31, 2017 [27 favorites]
"Mr. Kelly made clear to members of the White House staff at a meeting Monday morning that he is in charge."
Can you imagine the sheer amount of jumping up and down, angry hooting, chest-beating, and feces-flinging every meeting must be in there?
Those poor janitors.
posted by Drastic at 11:46 AM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Can you imagine the sheer amount of jumping up and down, angry hooting, chest-beating, and feces-flinging every meeting must be in there?
Those poor janitors.
posted by Drastic at 11:46 AM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
He barely made it 10 days? LOL LOL LOL.
But seriously, I'm almost disappointed. How many destructive coke fueled tantrums have we been denied?
posted by lydhre at 11:46 AM on July 31, 2017 [22 favorites]
But seriously, I'm almost disappointed. How many destructive coke fueled tantrums have we been denied?
posted by lydhre at 11:46 AM on July 31, 2017 [22 favorites]
lydhre: if anything this should trigger more of them
posted by cybertaur1 at 11:48 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by cybertaur1 at 11:48 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
It's really inconceivable to think that there might be a Joe Biden who wants to apply his "private" abortion position to the public sphere? No one can imagine that hard?
Joe Biden's principle of keeping his "private" position on abortion separate from his public actions as an elected official would be the defining attribute of a Democrat. A reversal of that would not be hard to imagine so much as it would be a betrayal of a fundamental position of the party.
Lots of people are uncomfortable with abortions. Super uncomfortable. Including pro-choice people. The distinction lies in the recognition that they should not make that choice for others.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 11:48 AM on July 31, 2017 [57 favorites]
Joe Biden's principle of keeping his "private" position on abortion separate from his public actions as an elected official would be the defining attribute of a Democrat. A reversal of that would not be hard to imagine so much as it would be a betrayal of a fundamental position of the party.
Lots of people are uncomfortable with abortions. Super uncomfortable. Including pro-choice people. The distinction lies in the recognition that they should not make that choice for others.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 11:48 AM on July 31, 2017 [57 favorites]
Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the fandango?
posted by flabdablet at 11:48 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 11:48 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Lost a job, getting a divorce--The Mooch ought to have plenty of time to take up a new hobby.
You know who might have some good advice about that? Steve Bannon.
posted by box at 11:49 AM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
You know who might have some good advice about that? Steve Bannon.
posted by box at 11:49 AM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
It's really inconceivable to think that there might be a Joe Biden who wants to apply his "private" abortion position to the public sphere? No one can imagine that hard?
I can imagine someone maybe wanting or considering such a thing and then promptly realizing their whole career would instantly be over.
But the reason people like Joe Biden and others with strong private views or reservations don't do that is the "making these beliefs law and imposing them on millions upon millions of others" part. It's not that there aren't abortion-hating Democratic-leaners out there; it's that this one thing is unlikely to be a single line item. People who actively want to overturn Roe v. Wade enough to make that part of their profession tend to have a bunch of other philosophical and ideological dealies that, as a whole, make them incompatible with or insufficiently appealing to Democratic voters or at least the base.
Not that there's a perfect Democrat or anything, though.
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:49 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
I can imagine someone maybe wanting or considering such a thing and then promptly realizing their whole career would instantly be over.
But the reason people like Joe Biden and others with strong private views or reservations don't do that is the "making these beliefs law and imposing them on millions upon millions of others" part. It's not that there aren't abortion-hating Democratic-leaners out there; it's that this one thing is unlikely to be a single line item. People who actively want to overturn Roe v. Wade enough to make that part of their profession tend to have a bunch of other philosophical and ideological dealies that, as a whole, make them incompatible with or insufficiently appealing to Democratic voters or at least the base.
Not that there's a perfect Democrat or anything, though.
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:49 AM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Trump a bolt of lightning, very very frightening me
posted by flabdablet at 11:50 AM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 11:50 AM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
Easy come, easy go...
posted by Cookiebastard at 11:50 AM on July 31, 2017 [20 favorites]
posted by Cookiebastard at 11:50 AM on July 31, 2017 [20 favorites]
But seriously, I'm almost disappointed. How many destructive coke fueled tantrums have we been denied?
Are you kidding? If he doesn't show up as a regular on Fox, CNN is bound to hire him.
posted by Gelatin at 11:51 AM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
Are you kidding? If he doesn't show up as a regular on Fox, CNN is bound to hire him.
posted by Gelatin at 11:51 AM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
I'm just sitting here cackling into my Lean Cuisine like Trump causes the complete devastation of everyone who comes into his orbit but it's never been this fast or this complete before.
posted by yellowbinder at 11:51 AM on July 31, 2017 [46 favorites]
posted by yellowbinder at 11:51 AM on July 31, 2017 [46 favorites]
I wonder if the Skybridge deal goes through now?
It should definitely receive scrutiny, if even members of the uber-corrupt Trump administration thought it was an overpay designed to curry influence!
posted by cell divide at 11:51 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
It should definitely receive scrutiny, if even members of the uber-corrupt Trump administration thought it was an overpay designed to curry influence!
posted by cell divide at 11:51 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
They're going to have to have a Dancing with the Stars special just to decide which former White House staffer gets to be on the real show.
posted by zachlipton at 11:51 AM on July 31, 2017 [25 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 11:51 AM on July 31, 2017 [25 favorites]
The dispute over whether or not the Democratic Party should support overtly antifeminist / anti-woman candidates who might be useful for them on other issues is at its core a dispute over whether the role of a political party is to correctly measure the temperature of the electorate and then provide a candidate that matches that electorate, or if it is to instead move the electorate as a whole toward the party's preferred positions — to stake out a clear platform, and to mobilize people in defense of that platform.
If the answer is the latter, providing support for advocates for misogyny is a way to sabotage the party as a whole; if the party is willing to throw 51% of the population under the bus, it becomes significantly harder to mobilize people in defense of the rest of the platform, since it puts the lie to claims that the party is for people. Obviously, I believe that the role of the party is to move the electorate, not measure it, and that attempting to sculpt the party around the extant desires of the electorate requires fetishizing electoral victories at the expense of political movement-building more generally.
If this position is correct, transformative candidates running on clearly stated transformative platforms will tend to outperform compromise candidates, all else being equal.
But all else is never equal.
In the absence of clear evidence for the electoral superiority of transformative candidates over compromise candidates — though likewise in the absence of clear evidence for the electoral superiority of compromise candidates over transformative candidates — I am left simply appealing to the (non-empirically-verifiable) idea that electoral politics is, although important, not the end-all be-all of politics more generally, and that moreover focusing on winning elections over doing politics is a way to do long-term electoral damage to the party. Well, and also I'm compelled to point to the specific damage that antichoicers do while in government; throwing 51% of the population under the bus is a bad look, certainly, but it also does direct material harm to real people.
And that's why I think the Democratic Party needs to not back antichoicers and other misogynists.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:51 AM on July 31, 2017 [27 favorites]
If the answer is the latter, providing support for advocates for misogyny is a way to sabotage the party as a whole; if the party is willing to throw 51% of the population under the bus, it becomes significantly harder to mobilize people in defense of the rest of the platform, since it puts the lie to claims that the party is for people. Obviously, I believe that the role of the party is to move the electorate, not measure it, and that attempting to sculpt the party around the extant desires of the electorate requires fetishizing electoral victories at the expense of political movement-building more generally.
If this position is correct, transformative candidates running on clearly stated transformative platforms will tend to outperform compromise candidates, all else being equal.
But all else is never equal.
In the absence of clear evidence for the electoral superiority of transformative candidates over compromise candidates — though likewise in the absence of clear evidence for the electoral superiority of compromise candidates over transformative candidates — I am left simply appealing to the (non-empirically-verifiable) idea that electoral politics is, although important, not the end-all be-all of politics more generally, and that moreover focusing on winning elections over doing politics is a way to do long-term electoral damage to the party. Well, and also I'm compelled to point to the specific damage that antichoicers do while in government; throwing 51% of the population under the bus is a bad look, certainly, but it also does direct material harm to real people.
And that's why I think the Democratic Party needs to not back antichoicers and other misogynists.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:51 AM on July 31, 2017 [27 favorites]
Easy come, easy go...
Little high, little low.
posted by Gelatin at 11:51 AM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
Little high, little low.
posted by Gelatin at 11:51 AM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
well it definitely wasn't to spend more time with his family
That's gonna leave a mark.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:52 AM on July 31, 2017 [17 favorites]
is Spicer coming back, since he sort of never left?
No! We will not let you go!
posted by flabdablet at 11:52 AM on July 31, 2017 [23 favorites]
No! We will not let you go!
posted by flabdablet at 11:52 AM on July 31, 2017 [23 favorites]
Easy come, easy go...
Little high, little low.
Mostly high, though.
posted by lydhre at 11:52 AM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
Little high, little low.
Mostly high, though.
posted by lydhre at 11:52 AM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
Aw, we've lost so many good people lately. Please tell me there's a redemption island/battle-back episode coming up soon!!
posted by acidic at 11:54 AM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by acidic at 11:54 AM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
From an uninformed perspective, it seems like once more the Dems think the path to victory is to become more like Republicans.
posted by cell divide at 11:54 AM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by cell divide at 11:54 AM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
I have to say, this turn of events is a big relief if for no other reason than not having Bohemian fucking Rhapsody stuck in my head every single day.
posted by something something at 11:55 AM on July 31, 2017 [53 favorites]
posted by something something at 11:55 AM on July 31, 2017 [53 favorites]
Jim Wright, @Stonekettle:
Scaramucci lost his job.
Lost his president.
Lost his wife.
Lost his home.
Bet he wishes he could suck his own cock NOW.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 11:55 AM on July 31, 2017 [101 favorites]
Scaramucci lost his job.
Lost his president.
Lost his wife.
Lost his home.
Bet he wishes he could suck his own cock NOW.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 11:55 AM on July 31, 2017 [101 favorites]
Why do parts keep falling off this well-oiled, finely-tuned machine?
posted by zakur at 11:55 AM on July 31, 2017 [23 favorites]
posted by zakur at 11:55 AM on July 31, 2017 [23 favorites]
acidic: Aw, we've lost so many good people lately. Please tell me there's a redemption island/battle-back episode coming up soon!!
I'm looking forward to the Reunion Episode. It's gonna be really ugly.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:55 AM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
I'm looking forward to the Reunion Episode. It's gonna be really ugly.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:55 AM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
zakur: Why do parts keep falling off this well-oiled, finely-tuned machine?
Too much oil, too much pressure.
Not enough precision German engineering, which might actually be a good thing. (Sorry/not sorry)
posted by filthy light thief at 11:56 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Too much oil, too much pressure.
Not enough precision German engineering, which might actually be a good thing. (Sorry/not sorry)
posted by filthy light thief at 11:56 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Now he'll be able to focus on finding the real leakers.
posted by drezdn at 11:56 AM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
posted by drezdn at 11:56 AM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
Any way the wind blows...
posted by nubs at 11:57 AM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by nubs at 11:57 AM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
I'm mostly surprised that there is a bar that's not as low as possible in the WH. Interesting.
posted by rc3spencer at 11:57 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by rc3spencer at 11:57 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Suggested NY Post headline: Scaramucci Can Do Fandango!
"Easy come, easy go, little high, little low"
posted by octobersurprise at 11:58 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
"Easy come, easy go, little high, little low"
posted by octobersurprise at 11:58 AM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
The Time article notes that they had three unnamed sources that spilled the beans about Kelly requesting Saramucci's removal. I'd be shocked if Kelly will be able to stop the various staffers and (senior) advisors from talking to the press. I don't really think it's in any of their interests to stop, and no one in the upper echelons of this clown show inspire true loyalty..
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 11:58 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 11:58 AM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Mooch strikes me as the sort who would lash out at someone who would fire him.
posted by drezdn at 11:59 AM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by drezdn at 11:59 AM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
It's well oiled, but it's still a Lada.
posted by contraption at 11:59 AM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by contraption at 11:59 AM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
Sorrs, missed it, was doing a line.
posted by octobersurprise at 11:59 AM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by octobersurprise at 11:59 AM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
it's still a Lada
I was thinking Trabi, but whatevs.
posted by flabdablet at 12:00 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
I was thinking Trabi, but whatevs.
posted by flabdablet at 12:00 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."
-- Sean Spicer
From Ivanka's twitter
posted by orange ball at 12:00 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
-- Sean Spicer
From Ivanka's twitter
posted by orange ball at 12:00 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
*raising a glass and fork to dear departed Tony to the tune of actual Queen*
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:01 PM on July 31, 2017
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:01 PM on July 31, 2017
So Baghdad Bob lasted longer as press spokesperson during the 2003 Gulf War than Scaramucci did ....just dropping that for the LOLz.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 12:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by inflatablekiwi at 12:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
the mooch
the mooch
the mooch has been fired
we don't need no water let the motherfucker burn
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [54 favorites]
the mooch
the mooch has been fired
we don't need no water let the motherfucker burn
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [54 favorites]
Vamoose the Mooch
posted by uosuaq at 12:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by uosuaq at 12:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
> I was thinking Trabi, but whatevs.
WASH YOUR MOUTH OUT WITH SOAP. trabants are humble and adorable. scaramucci is flashy and disgusting.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 12:02 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
WASH YOUR MOUTH OUT WITH SOAP. trabants are humble and adorable. scaramucci is flashy and disgusting.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 12:02 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
From Ivanka's twitter
[citation needed]
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 12:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
[citation needed]
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 12:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
Make America Humble And Adorable Again
posted by flabdablet at 12:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 12:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
The Time article notes that they had three unnamed sources that spilled the beans about Kelly requesting Saramucci's removal.
So apparently Kelly doesn't suffer either fools OR tools.
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
So apparently Kelly doesn't suffer either fools OR tools.
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
So long, and thanks for all the fish, indeed!.
#PrescientTitleAward
posted by tilde at 12:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [20 favorites]
#PrescientTitleAward
posted by tilde at 12:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [20 favorites]
Uh, so did the Mooch already diversify his assets by this point? Like, if he accepted the job for tax purposes, then actually keeping the job might seem more trouble than it's worth.
posted by RobotHero at 12:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by RobotHero at 12:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
What if canning the mooch was just a move to distract us from the democratic party's fundamentally illogical abandonment of viewing pregnant folks as fully human/ pro-choice views as a basic requirements.
am I doing that right?
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 12:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [22 favorites]
am I doing that right?
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 12:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [22 favorites]
The Time article notes that they had three unnamed sources that spilled the beans about Kelly requesting Saramucci's removal.
The press has been doing this sort of thing since at least the beginning of Trump's presidency, and I love it. It both signals that their sources are more likely to be solid, and tweaks Trump's nose by remind him that multiple people in the White House leak to the press.
posted by Gelatin at 12:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
The press has been doing this sort of thing since at least the beginning of Trump's presidency, and I love it. It both signals that their sources are more likely to be solid, and tweaks Trump's nose by remind him that multiple people in the White House leak to the press.
posted by Gelatin at 12:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
The Executive Branch of the United States of America is the world's premier Speedrunning community, including:
- Richard Nixon Speedrunning
- Dignity Wraith Speedrunning
- William Gibson Speedrunning
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [26 favorites]
- Richard Nixon Speedrunning
- Dignity Wraith Speedrunning
- William Gibson Speedrunning
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [26 favorites]
You know, I'm not excited to see clownshow characters voted off the island. The one thing that could turn Trump's inept attempted fascist takeover of democracy into an actual fascist takeover of democracy would be competent managers helping him execute it. Like former 4 star generals with violent authoritarian fantasies. John Kelly coming in and consolidating power is not a good development. Dysfunction is stopping this from getting, far, far worse. We should be rooting for dysfunction and incompetence.
posted by T.D. Strange at 12:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [91 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 12:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [91 favorites]
I tweeted @Scaramucci a link to the Fandango careers page. Just trying to help.
posted by emelenjr at 12:05 PM on July 31, 2017 [32 favorites]
posted by emelenjr at 12:05 PM on July 31, 2017 [32 favorites]
Lydia Polgreen (huffpo editor) on twitter 30 mintes ago: If only you could hear the laughter in my newsroom right now.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 12:05 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 12:05 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
The amazing thing is just how efficiently and thoroughly Trump destroys the lives of people who come in contact with him. Priebus had a perfectly swell life as a party functionary, six months later, he's getting abandoned in an SUV by Dan Scavino. Scaramucci was your standard hedge fund bro who wrecked his marriage and missed the birth of his child in exchange for the last 10 days. Anybody who isn't family is promptly destroyed.
Anyway, American Dreams week is shaping up to be pretty great. (I love how the only way I know what White House theme week it is comes from mocking it when this stuff happens.)
posted by zachlipton at 12:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [35 favorites]
Anyway, American Dreams week is shaping up to be pretty great. (I love how the only way I know what White House theme week it is comes from mocking it when this stuff happens.)
posted by zachlipton at 12:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [35 favorites]
"In a statement, Scaramucci explained that he was leaving the position to spend more time learning how to suck his own cock" [fake?]
posted by donatella at 12:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by donatella at 12:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
He hired the General to fire the Mooch...
He hired the Mooch to fire the Spicer...
He hired the Spicer to tell the lies...
I don't know why he told us the lies.
I hope he dies.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:07 PM on July 31, 2017 [160 favorites]
He hired the Mooch to fire the Spicer...
He hired the Spicer to tell the lies...
I don't know why he told us the lies.
I hope he dies.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:07 PM on July 31, 2017 [160 favorites]
Is July network sweeps month? Because that makes sense if you replace the idea of Trump being in office for days, with the idea that each day is an episode.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 12:07 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 12:07 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
Next logical step is Kelly goes on a massive cocaine binge.
posted by Artw at 12:08 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Artw at 12:08 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
the Nixon presidency except every time someone says "Nixon" it goes faster
posted by nonasuch at 12:08 PM on July 31, 2017 [141 favorites]
posted by nonasuch at 12:08 PM on July 31, 2017 [141 favorites]
Uh, so did the Mooch already diversify his assets by this point? Like, if he accepted the job for tax purposes, then actually keeping the job might seem more trouble than it's worth.
He entered into the sale agreement for SkyBridge in January, but since he didn't take an official position in the administration until now (or, maybe never, since his official start date was to be 8/15?), there was a question of whether the sale qualified for the preferential tax deferral (warning: autoplay).
posted by melissasaurus at 12:08 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
He entered into the sale agreement for SkyBridge in January, but since he didn't take an official position in the administration until now (or, maybe never, since his official start date was to be 8/15?), there was a question of whether the sale qualified for the preferential tax deferral (warning: autoplay).
posted by melissasaurus at 12:08 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
I have to say, this turn of events is a big relief if for no other reason than not having Bohemian fucking Rhapsody stuck in my head every single day.]
BREAKING: The White House announced its new comms director, Galileo Figaro [fake]
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:08 PM on July 31, 2017 [39 favorites]
BREAKING: The White House announced its new comms director, Galileo Figaro [fake]
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:08 PM on July 31, 2017 [39 favorites]
12:02 Local Time: "There, I've finally caught up with the Thread."
12:04 Local Time: ~83 new comments~
"Oh sweet Jesus on a Ritz cracker what is it n- oh. HAAAAAAAAAA"
12:08 Local Time: "AAAAAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHHAAAHA"
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 12:09 PM on July 31, 2017 [103 favorites]
12:04 Local Time: ~83 new comments~
"Oh sweet Jesus on a Ritz cracker what is it n- oh. HAAAAAAAAAA"
12:08 Local Time: "AAAAAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHHAAAHA"
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 12:09 PM on July 31, 2017 [103 favorites]
Also, Democrats are terrible at enforcing party compliance. If you don't think conservatives know they can win races by running as Democrats and then vote with Republicans anyway, you're deluded.
In Illinois it is hard to find Republicans with the courage to even put their party on their signs or TV commercials. The governor pretends he is not a Republican. He is pretty much a mini-Trump/Bush Jr. hybrid and about as competent at government so get ready for him to move on to the national stage!
posted by srboisvert at 12:09 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
In Illinois it is hard to find Republicans with the courage to even put their party on their signs or TV commercials. The governor pretends he is not a Republican. He is pretty much a mini-Trump/Bush Jr. hybrid and about as competent at government so get ready for him to move on to the national stage!
posted by srboisvert at 12:09 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm just so glad it's already over. I was sick of the Bohemian Rhapsody references from the moment that dude turned up on the news.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 12:10 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
posted by scaryblackdeath at 12:10 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
Upon learning of his termination, Scaramucci was heard to respond "Oh, fiddlesticks."
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:10 PM on July 31, 2017 [39 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:10 PM on July 31, 2017 [39 favorites]
We should be rooting for dysfunction and incompetence.
We're getting that anyway.
posted by Gelatin at 12:10 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
We're getting that anyway.
posted by Gelatin at 12:10 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
For the statistically-minded among us, Scaramucci's ten-day tenure is a new record for shortest stint as Communications Director. He narrowly beat the 11-day run of Jack Koehler (Reagan's fifth comms director) who resigned when it became public that he had been active in Deutsches Jungvolk, a Nazi government youth division, when he was a kid back in the fatherland.
Say what you will of the the Mooch, but he was merely an asshole and not a Nazi.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:11 PM on July 31, 2017 [34 favorites]
Say what you will of the the Mooch, but he was merely an asshole and not a Nazi.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:11 PM on July 31, 2017 [34 favorites]
obscure joke image
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:12 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:12 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
Look fast before it's gone: The Federalist, "Why Anthony Scaramucci Is The Man Trump And America Need."
posted by octobersurprise at 12:13 PM on July 31, 2017 [33 favorites]
posted by octobersurprise at 12:13 PM on July 31, 2017 [33 favorites]
To be fair, that's a strongly anti-Trump article.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:14 PM on July 31, 2017
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:14 PM on July 31, 2017
For those following at home, the Mooch is Lucky Contestant Number Ten in this week's installment of Who's Quiting Or Being Fired From The White House This Time.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 12:14 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 12:14 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
When I said yesterday - yesterday! - that I have little doubt that the chaos evinced by the arrival of Mooch in just a few short days will end in disaster for him and others quite soon, but like a radioactive isotope with a short half-life, you can't tell just when the atom's going to decay, I really didn't expect the experimental determination of λ to be so low.
We know 45's administration is radioactive. It's good to start getting some data on its characteristics.
posted by Devonian at 12:15 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
We know 45's administration is radioactive. It's good to start getting some data on its characteristics.
posted by Devonian at 12:15 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
David Marcus (who wrote the Mooch Federalist piece referenced above) @BlueBoxDave Guess I filed that piece just in the nick of time...
posted by notyou at 12:16 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by notyou at 12:16 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
Donald Trump hires the best people. He hires so many of the best people that he needs to fire the old ones to make room. It's a rapidly shrinking cycle of excellence, a maelstrom, always twirling, twirling, twirling towards making America great again.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:18 PM on July 31, 2017 [32 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:18 PM on July 31, 2017 [32 favorites]
They're going to have to have a Dancing with the Stars special just to decide which former White House staffer gets to be on the real show.
At this rate, they'll be able to have DWTS: White House Edition
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:18 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
At this rate, they'll be able to have DWTS: White House Edition
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:18 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
@EsotericCD:
Scaramucci's *official start date* as WH Communications Director was August 15th.
It's July 31st.
That's gotta be some kind of record.
posted by harujion at 12:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [87 favorites]
Scaramucci's *official start date* as WH Communications Director was August 15th.
It's July 31st.
That's gotta be some kind of record.
posted by harujion at 12:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [87 favorites]
"Mr Scaramucci, please explain the gap of negative 15 days in your work history"
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [116 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [116 favorites]
Scaramucci's *official start date* as WH Communications Director was August 15th.
See how shrewd Drump is? He got all the publicity of hiring the Mooch but now doesn't have to pay him a cent in salary!
posted by dnash at 12:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
See how shrewd Drump is? He got all the publicity of hiring the Mooch but now doesn't have to pay him a cent in salary!
posted by dnash at 12:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Now that Scaramucci is leaving, I need to take my very last opportunity to tell you that the Romanian word "muci" (pronounced "mooch") means "snot." And in doing this, I hope that you enjoy the same juvenile little laugh every time this moron calls himself "The Snot."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:21 PM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:21 PM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
And the Mooch needs to pay 15 days of severance to the gummint, instead of receiving it.
posted by storybored at 12:21 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by storybored at 12:21 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
I don't want to get all Thomas Friedman here, but if you went to middle America you would find a lot of people who claim to believe that abortion is murder, but otherwise align more with Democrats than Republicans and spend a lot of time retconning their support of GOP policies they don't like just so that they can vote for pro-life candidates.
No, you won't. The anti-choice vote is pretty thoroughly in the right wing camp.
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:21 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
No, you won't. The anti-choice vote is pretty thoroughly in the right wing camp.
posted by NoxAeternum at 12:21 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
With a career flameout like this, I suppose we can look forward to him being a candidate on the next Celebrity Apprentice?
posted by Capt. Renault at 12:22 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Capt. Renault at 12:22 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
For the statistically-minded among us, Scaramucci's ten-day tenure is a new record for shortest stint as Communications Director.
As a side note, 45 has already surpassed poor doomed William Henry Harrison's 31-day stint in the presidency, but he can still come in under Garfield's time if he is gone by next Monday.
I believe in Donald. He can do it.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:22 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
As a side note, 45 has already surpassed poor doomed William Henry Harrison's 31-day stint in the presidency, but he can still come in under Garfield's time if he is gone by next Monday.
I believe in Donald. He can do it.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:22 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Say what you will of the the Mooch, but he was merely an asshole and not a Nazi.
[citation needed]
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:23 PM on July 31, 2017 [23 favorites]
[citation needed]
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:23 PM on July 31, 2017 [23 favorites]
Why do parts keep falling off this well-oiled, finely-tuned machine?
Its the winning, winning SO much that you are saying Donald, this is terrible.
posted by rough ashlar at 12:23 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Its the winning, winning SO much that you are saying Donald, this is terrible.
posted by rough ashlar at 12:23 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
*goes away for 1/2 hour* Can't I even leave you guys alone for one minute???
posted by Melismata at 12:23 PM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 12:23 PM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
12:02 Local Time: "There, I've finally caught up with the Thread."
12:04 Local Time: ~83 new comments~
"Oh sweet Jesus on a Ritz cracker what is it n- oh. HAAAAAAAAAA"
12:08 Local Time: "AAAAAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHHAAAHA"
I was just thinking this morning how kind the universe was to give us the weekend off to rest up and recover after the trainwreck of last week. Now I know why.
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
12:04 Local Time: ~83 new comments~
"Oh sweet Jesus on a Ritz cracker what is it n- oh. HAAAAAAAAAA"
12:08 Local Time: "AAAAAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHHAAAHA"
I was just thinking this morning how kind the universe was to give us the weekend off to rest up and recover after the trainwreck of last week. Now I know why.
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
"The loss of Mooch is devasting [sic] for reasons I can't go into. He was going to run next generation media strategy. No way to spin, this is bad." — @CernovichHe must've promised to instruct Mike in the mystic arts of autofellatio.
![The loss of Mooch is devasting [sic] for reasons I can't go into. He was going to run next generation media strategy. No way to spin, this is bad](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DGFhMSyXkAENdiB.jpg){kind=link}
posted by octobersurprise at 12:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [28 favorites]
You know, I'm not excited to see clownshow characters voted off the island. The one thing that could turn Trump's inept attempted fascist takeover of democracy into an actual fascist takeover of democracy would be competent managers helping him execute it. Like former 4 star generals with violent authoritarian fantasies. John Kelly coming in and consolidating power is not a good development. Dysfunction is stopping this from getting, far, far worse. We should be rooting for dysfunction and incompetence.
Yup. The one part of this government that has been working with ruthless efficiency since Trump took office is ICE. Kelly is the guy who has been enabling that to happen, his portfolio got a whole lot bigger last week, and now he's making moves.
posted by joedan at 12:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
Yup. The one part of this government that has been working with ruthless efficiency since Trump took office is ICE. Kelly is the guy who has been enabling that to happen, his portfolio got a whole lot bigger last week, and now he's making moves.
posted by joedan at 12:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
in this week's installment of Who's Quiting Or Being Fired From The White House This Time
Who's next?
Now so long, Kellyanne
It's time that we began
To laugh
And cry
And cry
And laugh about it all again
Come ON. A man can dream.
posted by flabdablet at 12:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
Who's next?
Now so long, Kellyanne
It's time that we began
To laugh
And cry
And cry
And laugh about it all again
Come ON. A man can dream.
posted by flabdablet at 12:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
Scaramucci has now fallen on his feet and been hired as a Fox News analyst... sorry, I'm now reading he's been fired for sexual harassment, receiving a golden parachute of $20 million... and now he's died of old age. Requiescat In Pace old friend
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:25 PM on July 31, 2017 [28 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:25 PM on July 31, 2017 [28 favorites]
Look, I don’t normally have sympathy with my fellow Brits who get all pearl-clutchy about Americanisms, but: ‘ouster’ clearly ought to mean ‘someone who ousts’. I’ve been finding a lot of headlines very confusing recently, please just cut it out. Thank you.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 12:25 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 12:25 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
Was it boneitis?
posted by ZeusHumms at 12:26 PM on July 31, 2017 [35 favorites]
posted by ZeusHumms at 12:26 PM on July 31, 2017 [35 favorites]
From Ivanka's twitter
[citation needed]
Sorry, I forgot.
[Fake]
posted by orange ball at 12:27 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
[citation needed]
Sorry, I forgot.
[Fake]
posted by orange ball at 12:27 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Handy Flow Chart
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:27 PM on July 31, 2017
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:27 PM on July 31, 2017
Say what you will of the the Mooch, but he was merely an asshole and not a Nazi.
[citation needed]
At this point, he is Schroedinger's Nazi: his fascism eigenstate will have to remain unresolved.
Hey, when he HBO series of this presidency gets made, who will be brought in for a single episode to play Scaramucci?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:27 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
[citation needed]
At this point, he is Schroedinger's Nazi: his fascism eigenstate will have to remain unresolved.
Hey, when he HBO series of this presidency gets made, who will be brought in for a single episode to play Scaramucci?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:27 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
The press has been doing this sort of thing since at least the beginning of Trump's presidency, and I love it. It both signals that their sources are more likely to be solid, and tweaks Trump's nose by remind him that multiple people in the White House leak to the press.
One by one he'll eliminate them, like in an Agatha Christie novel, only to find himself alone finally with Ivanka, who picks up her phone "to check on the kids" every day shortly before the Daily Beast post deadline.
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:27 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
One by one he'll eliminate them, like in an Agatha Christie novel, only to find himself alone finally with Ivanka, who picks up her phone "to check on the kids" every day shortly before the Daily Beast post deadline.
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:27 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
‘ouster’ clearly ought to mean ‘someone who ousts’.
Nope, sorry.
oust·er
ˈoustər/Submit
noun
1.
NORTH AMERICAN
dismissal or expulsion from a position.
"a showdown that may lead to his ouster as leader of the party"
2.
LAW
ejection from a freehold or other possession; deprivation of an inheritance.
posted by cooker girl at 12:27 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Nope, sorry.
oust·er
ˈoustər/Submit
noun
1.
NORTH AMERICAN
dismissal or expulsion from a position.
"a showdown that may lead to his ouster as leader of the party"
2.
LAW
ejection from a freehold or other possession; deprivation of an inheritance.
posted by cooker girl at 12:27 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
From Twitter:
An exclusive statement from Scaramucci on leaving the WH Position. (fake, and yet another Bohemian Rhapsody joke)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:28 PM on July 31, 2017
An exclusive statement from Scaramucci on leaving the WH Position. (fake, and yet another Bohemian Rhapsody joke)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:28 PM on July 31, 2017
Did i just get loss.jpged
posted by Yowser at 12:28 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Yowser at 12:28 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm kind of impressed by how incredibly unlikable The Mooch is, even in a sea of the worst people in America like the Trump administration. He threw the entire White House into turmoil just by showing up because of how much people hated him, and less than 24 hours in, Kelly seems to have said, "this asshole has to go" as basically his first official act. How abrasive do you have to be that people who deal with Bannon, Miller, and Gorka on a regular basis find you to be too much of an asshole?
posted by Copronymus at 12:28 PM on July 31, 2017 [33 favorites]
posted by Copronymus at 12:28 PM on July 31, 2017 [33 favorites]
Billy Eichner: "OMG he's gonna replace Scaramucci with OJ"
posted by Capt. Renault at 12:30 PM on July 31, 2017 [17 favorites]
posted by Capt. Renault at 12:30 PM on July 31, 2017 [17 favorites]
Looks like that 'doesn't suffer fools' tag for Kelly may be accurate.
In which case, he's going to get awful lonely in there.
posted by Devonian at 12:30 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
In which case, he's going to get awful lonely in there.
posted by Devonian at 12:30 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
Not to launch a linguistic derail, but ouster is a pretty old English legal term for removing or ejecting someone from land. It's never meant the person doing the ousting.
posted by Aravis76 at 12:30 PM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by Aravis76 at 12:30 PM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
saeed jones
Scaramucci: So fucking stoked about my new job at wh—
Karma: RECLAIMING MY TIME.
Lol.
posted by mgrrl at 12:31 PM on July 31, 2017 [128 favorites]
Scaramucci: So fucking stoked about my new job at wh—
Karma: RECLAIMING MY TIME.
Lol.
posted by mgrrl at 12:31 PM on July 31, 2017 [128 favorites]
WaPo: Anthony Scaramucci erroneously listed as dead in the new Harvard Law alumni directory
Pity poor Anthony Scaramucci: reportedly getting divorced, sacked from his job after a mere 10 days — and now there’s an erroneous report that he’s dead.posted by zachlipton at 12:31 PM on July 31, 2017 [55 favorites]
The blink-and-you-missed him former White House communications director is listed as deceased in the new Harvard Law School alumni directory, which arrived in alums’ mailboxes the very week that “The Mooch” became the most talked-about guy in all of politics. An asterisk by the 1989 graduate’s name indicates that he was reported dead since the last directory, which was published in 2011.
So is it now more or less likely that Ryan Lizza posts Insane_Scaramucci_Interview.wav
posted by theodolite at 12:31 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 12:31 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
How long until Scott Adams is considered for the Comm Director post?
posted by drezdn at 12:33 PM on July 31, 2017 [28 favorites]
posted by drezdn at 12:33 PM on July 31, 2017 [28 favorites]
April Ryan reporting, per unnamed source, that Mooch told newly minted CoS Kelly "I don't report to you" and Kelly said "youre gone" [and he was]
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 12:33 PM on July 31, 2017 [49 favorites]
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 12:33 PM on July 31, 2017 [49 favorites]
Fine, "ousterer."
posted by rhizome at 12:34 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 12:34 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
oustest
posted by neroli at 12:35 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by neroli at 12:35 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
...and now there’s an erroneous report that he’s dead.
Maybe he stumbled over one of his Horcruxes on the way out. Every day a tiny bit of us dies within us, like.
posted by Namlit at 12:35 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Maybe he stumbled over one of his Horcruxes on the way out. Every day a tiny bit of us dies within us, like.
posted by Namlit at 12:35 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
tweaks Trump's nose by remind him that multiple people in the White House leak to the press
and nobody really knows who keeps pushing the prez's every little brain fart straight out on twitter
posted by flabdablet at 12:35 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
and nobody really knows who keeps pushing the prez's every little brain fart straight out on twitter
posted by flabdablet at 12:35 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Is there no one here with the least little bit of decency?
We let Mario Cantone get his hopes up, and now... :(
posted by Guy Smiley at 12:36 PM on July 31, 2017 [18 favorites]
We let Mario Cantone get his hopes up, and now... :(
posted by Guy Smiley at 12:36 PM on July 31, 2017 [18 favorites]
April Ryan reporting, per unnamed source, that Mooch told newly minted CoS Kelly "I don't report to you" and Kelly said "youre gone" [and he was]
Kelly is running around the White House shouting about how he's not locked up with you, you're locked up with me.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 12:36 PM on July 31, 2017 [46 favorites]
Kelly is running around the White House shouting about how he's not locked up with you, you're locked up with me.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 12:36 PM on July 31, 2017 [46 favorites]
On the other hand, Scaramucci probably wasn't there long enough to commit indictable crimes...
posted by mikelieman at 12:37 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by mikelieman at 12:37 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
I know this is probably not a great attitude, but I can't help feeling pleased right now that I got to live through the ten days of Scaramucci. That New Yorker interview is going to exist forever. Forever! And we got to see it happen!
posted by something something at 12:37 PM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by something something at 12:37 PM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
Sam Stein has a sad: In all seriousness, this is a sad story. Not a laugher. Guy sold his company, divorced his wife, didn’t see his kid's birth, for…. this.
posted by octothorpe at 12:37 PM on July 31, 2017
posted by octothorpe at 12:37 PM on July 31, 2017
Let's not have an ouster cult on the blue, eh?
Seriously doubt this will be the last plank-walk we see this week, though, if 45 is going to defer to a sane man in hiring and firing decisions.
posted by Devonian at 12:38 PM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
Seriously doubt this will be the last plank-walk we see this week, though, if 45 is going to defer to a sane man in hiring and firing decisions.
posted by Devonian at 12:38 PM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
Ron Howard voice: It's a laugher
posted by MCMikeNamara at 12:38 PM on July 31, 2017 [14 favorites]
posted by MCMikeNamara at 12:38 PM on July 31, 2017 [14 favorites]
Ousterizer
posted by wabbittwax at 12:38 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by wabbittwax at 12:38 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Tragedy is comedy + time. In this case, shortly under ten days.
posted by roger ackroyd at 12:39 PM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by roger ackroyd at 12:39 PM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
Sara Huckabee Sanders is giving an on camera briefing in 10 minutes (or whenever she shows up)
I am super stoked
SHS: I gotcher hair and makeup right here [rude gesture], motherfucker. Sorry, Jesus. [fake]
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:39 PM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
I am super stoked
SHS: I gotcher hair and makeup right here [rude gesture], motherfucker. Sorry, Jesus. [fake]
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:39 PM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
In all seriousness, this is a sad story. Not a laugher. Guy sold his company, divorced his wife, didn’t see his kid's birth, for [neo-fascism]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:39 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:39 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
Sam Stein has a sad
I thought Scaramucci's wife divorced him. It's odd how a woman's agency gets removed from this engrossing story about men winning.
posted by kariebookish at 12:39 PM on July 31, 2017 [102 favorites]
I thought Scaramucci's wife divorced him. It's odd how a woman's agency gets removed from this engrossing story about men winning.
posted by kariebookish at 12:39 PM on July 31, 2017 [102 favorites]
Are SNL going to do recaps of what could have been?
posted by Artw at 12:40 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Artw at 12:40 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
I am going with Ousterman Weekend, myself.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:40 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:40 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
Joe Biden's principle of keeping his "private" position on abortion separate from his public actions as an elected official would be the defining attribute of a Democrat. A reversal of that would not be hard to imagine so much as it would be a betrayal of a fundamental position of the party.
Lots of people are uncomfortable with abortions. Super uncomfortable. Including pro-choice people. The distinction lies in the recognition that they should not make that choice for others.
This.
Plus the defining feature of Democratic Party members is that they work to make abortions less necessary rather than less available and or legal.
Someone with a personal anti-abortion stance should work for sex education, pre-natal and post-natal health care, day care, a social safety net, equal pay for women before they even consider outlawing abortion and criminalizing women who make different choices.
Republicans on the other hand ensure that unwanted and unsupported pregnancies will occur and do their damnedest to prevent women from avoiding them and try to criminalize those that do.
You can be a pro-life democrat but you've got to bring the whole pro-life package rather than just the after it is too late angry spanking asshole dad part.
posted by srboisvert at 12:40 PM on July 31, 2017 [45 favorites]
Lots of people are uncomfortable with abortions. Super uncomfortable. Including pro-choice people. The distinction lies in the recognition that they should not make that choice for others.
This.
Plus the defining feature of Democratic Party members is that they work to make abortions less necessary rather than less available and or legal.
Someone with a personal anti-abortion stance should work for sex education, pre-natal and post-natal health care, day care, a social safety net, equal pay for women before they even consider outlawing abortion and criminalizing women who make different choices.
Republicans on the other hand ensure that unwanted and unsupported pregnancies will occur and do their damnedest to prevent women from avoiding them and try to criminalize those that do.
You can be a pro-life democrat but you've got to bring the whole pro-life package rather than just the after it is too late angry spanking asshole dad part.
posted by srboisvert at 12:40 PM on July 31, 2017 [45 favorites]
>Let's not have an ouster cult on the blue, eh?
a.. Blue Ouster Cult ...d'ya mean?
posted by The_Auditor at 12:40 PM on July 31, 2017 [34 favorites]
a.. Blue Ouster Cult ...d'ya mean?
posted by The_Auditor at 12:40 PM on July 31, 2017 [34 favorites]
Not to launch a linguistic derail, but ouster is a pretty old English legal term for removing or ejecting someone from land. It's never meant the person doing the ousting.
I was joking, I wasn’t suggesting it was actually an incorrect usage, just a confusing one for those of us who aren’t used to it, but: I’m fascinated to learn it’s odd-looking because it’s French. Thanks!
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 12:41 PM on July 31, 2017
I was joking, I wasn’t suggesting it was actually an incorrect usage, just a confusing one for those of us who aren’t used to it, but: I’m fascinated to learn it’s odd-looking because it’s French. Thanks!
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 12:41 PM on July 31, 2017
SNL will now need a mini-series length premiere episode.
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:41 PM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:41 PM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
Weekend at Ouster's II
posted by rhizome at 12:42 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 12:42 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
if 45 is going to defer
no, that's his real hair
posted by flabdablet at 12:43 PM on July 31, 2017 [15 favorites]
no, that's his real hair
posted by flabdablet at 12:43 PM on July 31, 2017 [15 favorites]
I have the BBC news app on my iPad, and everyone around me is now trained to ask me "what happened" when they hear the app's alert noise. It's gone off twice this hour, and the reaction has varied wildly to each one, depending on the circumstances.
Instance 1: "Scaramucci was just fired."
"What????....Holy shit....Unbelievable!" (followed by several minutes' discussion)
Instance 2: "We just imposed sanctions on Venezuela."
"...Oh. ...Yeah, I saw that coming." (everyone immediately goes back to work)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:44 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
Instance 1: "Scaramucci was just fired."
"What????....Holy shit....Unbelievable!" (followed by several minutes' discussion)
Instance 2: "We just imposed sanctions on Venezuela."
"...Oh. ...Yeah, I saw that coming." (everyone immediately goes back to work)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:44 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
yeah it's probably a good sign actually when public support of fascism gets your life ruined in exchange. that is pretty much the appropriate way for society to react to someone being like "you know what I'm going to be the spokesman for? fascism!"
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 12:44 PM on July 31, 2017 [23 favorites]
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 12:44 PM on July 31, 2017 [23 favorites]
Seriously doubt this will be the last plank-walk we see this week, though, if 45 is going to defer to a sane man in hiring and firing decisions.
Someone in the Trump court is trying to shiv the new grand vizier: Kelly Called Comey to Express Anger Over Firing,Steve Bannon Sources Say.
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:44 PM on July 31, 2017 [24 favorites]
Someone in the Trump court is trying to shiv the new grand vizier: Kelly Called Comey to Express Anger Over Firing,
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:44 PM on July 31, 2017 [24 favorites]
Seriously, though, much as I hate Huckabee Sanders, I hope she comes out with her regular hair again instead of her recent Mooch Makeover hair. Fucking sexist dick.
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:45 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:45 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
a.. Blue Ouster Cult ...d'ya mean?
Don't Fear the Trumper
posted by nubs at 12:45 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Don't Fear the Trumper
posted by nubs at 12:45 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Yeah I'm not surprised. Seems like the fix was in for Venezuela. Steady stream of propaganda all weekend.
posted by Yowser at 12:46 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Yowser at 12:46 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
SNL will have plenty of fresh and shiny new news to lampoon upon their return and will not have the bandwidth to recycle antiquated stuff like the mooch's brief, vulgar tenure or that time Chief of Staff Kushner hired r_thedonald to set civil rights policy.
posted by notyou at 12:46 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by notyou at 12:46 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
Someone with a personal anti-abortion stance should work for sex education, pre-natal and post-natal health care, day care, a social safety net, equal pay for women before they even consider outlawing abortion and criminalizing women who make different choices.
I mean, we can take a step back and appreciate this from the standpoint of a member of Congress who happens to be a Jehovah's Witness or Christian Scientist. "Look, part of a democracy is being open to a discussion of whether blood transfusions should be illegal." In that light, abortion looks like a soft-pedaled policy in that very few people ever have them, but if someone's personal politics is going to become national (or a state's) law, then it's easy to blow the whole thing up. So there's a question for the DNC: where do you draw the line?
posted by rhizome at 12:46 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
I mean, we can take a step back and appreciate this from the standpoint of a member of Congress who happens to be a Jehovah's Witness or Christian Scientist. "Look, part of a democracy is being open to a discussion of whether blood transfusions should be illegal." In that light, abortion looks like a soft-pedaled policy in that very few people ever have them, but if someone's personal politics is going to become national (or a state's) law, then it's easy to blow the whole thing up. So there's a question for the DNC: where do you draw the line?
posted by rhizome at 12:46 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Don't Fear the Trumper
This Ain't the Summer of Love
posted by Golem XIV at 12:47 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
This Ain't the Summer of Love
posted by Golem XIV at 12:47 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
I thought Scaramucci's wife divorced him. It's odd how a woman's agency gets removed from this engrossing story about men winning.
Seriously. Honestly, if Scaramucci's wife pulled the trigger on the divorce because of his actions post-White House gig, it was perhaps the first good thing that this administration has done for somebody not named Trump.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 12:47 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
Seriously. Honestly, if Scaramucci's wife pulled the trigger on the divorce because of his actions post-White House gig, it was perhaps the first good thing that this administration has done for somebody not named Trump.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 12:47 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
Who ousters the ousters?
posted by 0xFCAF at 12:47 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by 0xFCAF at 12:47 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Maybe now Scaramucci can focus his attention on sucking his own cock.
posted by chrchr at 12:49 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by chrchr at 12:49 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
The joke I've been waiting for while everyone's been stuck on Bohemian Rhapsody:
Death to (S)mooch(y)
posted by Existential Dread at 12:50 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
Death to (S)mooch(y)
posted by Existential Dread at 12:50 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
The (Comey related) Washington Post subhead "In ouster, anxiety over investigation into meddling” was particularly opaque.
/end of derail
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 12:50 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
/end of derail
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 12:50 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Hey, has anyone done a health check on Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and others? The doubling over in laughter and side splitting at this point may need emergency attention.
posted by rough ashlar at 12:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by rough ashlar at 12:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
@AhirShah: The only logical way this can go is for the next White House Communications Director to be an actual line of cocaine
posted by tonycpsu at 12:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [87 favorites]
posted by tonycpsu at 12:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [87 favorites]
Hey, when he HBO series of this presidency gets made, who will be brought in for a single episode to play Scaramucci?
Ken Marino. The answer is Ken Marino, leaning hard into "Aaaaaay I'm Italian".
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 12:54 PM on July 31, 2017 [24 favorites]
Ken Marino. The answer is Ken Marino, leaning hard into "Aaaaaay I'm Italian".
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 12:54 PM on July 31, 2017 [24 favorites]
The joke I've been waiting for while everyone's been stuck on Bohemian Rhapsody:
Another one bites the dust?
posted by octobersurprise at 12:54 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
Another one bites the dust?
posted by octobersurprise at 12:54 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
This is the absolute best joke I've seen about Mooch, I can't stop laughing
posted by Brainy at 12:54 PM on July 31, 2017 [38 favorites]
posted by Brainy at 12:54 PM on July 31, 2017 [38 favorites]
Jared and Ivanka were reported as supporting Scaramucci's hiring and now as supporting his firing.
Is there anyone who still believes these people actually do anything?
posted by zachlipton at 12:55 PM on July 31, 2017 [55 favorites]
Is there anyone who still believes these people actually do anything?
posted by zachlipton at 12:55 PM on July 31, 2017 [55 favorites]
I scanned back on CNN's website to see Brooke Baldwin breaking the news. She very clearly whispers "shit" and laughs and is on the verge of cracking up for several minutes.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:55 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:55 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
"Ouster" is one of those words I've only seen in news headlines, kinda like "amid." Matter of fact, I'll bet ten Yankee dollars that some copy editor out there went with "amid ouster" for a Comey firing explainer at some point this spring.
posted by EatTheWeek at 12:56 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by EatTheWeek at 12:56 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
(East: Could you give a link re Brooke Baldwin? I gotta see this.)
posted by XtinaS at 12:56 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by XtinaS at 12:56 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
Naturally, the BBC phrasing was, "Anthony Scaramucci sacked as Trump media chief."
In other words: "The man responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked has been sacked."
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 12:57 PM on July 31, 2017 [62 favorites]
In other words: "The man responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked has been sacked."
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 12:57 PM on July 31, 2017 [62 favorites]
I doubt Clinton et al are laughing very much. It is amusing to see someone as transparently awful as Mooch get humiliated in so dramatic a fashion, and I enjoy it as much as anyone, but in reality all this shitstormery is leaving the country in an extremely vulnerable and unstable state. It's actively dangerous.
If there aren't discussions going on right now in the GOP about confronting the unthinkable - the final ouster (da-da-DAH-dah, dah-da-dah-da-DAAAH), I'm made of felt and cheese.
posted by Devonian at 12:58 PM on July 31, 2017 [47 favorites]
If there aren't discussions going on right now in the GOP about confronting the unthinkable - the final ouster (da-da-DAH-dah, dah-da-dah-da-DAAAH), I'm made of felt and cheese.
posted by Devonian at 12:58 PM on July 31, 2017 [47 favorites]
"The man responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked has been sacked."
BREAKING: Trump taps new Comms Director
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:00 PM on July 31, 2017 [25 favorites]
BREAKING: Trump taps new Comms Director
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:00 PM on July 31, 2017 [25 favorites]
Here's Brooke Baldwin processing the information.
posted by leotrotsky at 1:02 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 1:02 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
Oh boy, Mnuchin's there. I'll pay any reporter $500 cash money to reclaim their time.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
If there aren't discussions going on right now in the GOP about confronting the unthinkable - the final ouster
Possibly, maybe probably if the Marine General can't effect The Pivot or at least reduce the madness back to April 2017 levels.
posted by notyou at 1:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
Possibly, maybe probably if the Marine General can't effect The Pivot or at least reduce the madness back to April 2017 levels.
posted by notyou at 1:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
So Venezuela bad, Turkey good? Just to make sure I've got this right from the press briefing?
posted by Yowser at 1:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Yowser at 1:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
@SarcasticRover: Mars is so far away from Earth that we only just heard about Scaramucci getting hired as Communication Director.
Congrats, @Scaramucci!
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [81 favorites]
Congrats, @Scaramucci!
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [81 favorites]
Briefing has started. H. R. McMaster and Steve Mnuchin will be giving remarks first.
posted by 0xFCAF at 1:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by 0xFCAF at 1:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
A Møøch once bit my sister....no realli!
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:05 PM on July 31, 2017 [49 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:05 PM on July 31, 2017 [49 favorites]
"The man responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked has been sacked."
Mynd you, Møøch bites Kan be pretti nasti.
posted by lord_wolf at 1:05 PM on July 31, 2017 [43 favorites]
Mynd you, Møøch bites Kan be pretti nasti.
posted by lord_wolf at 1:05 PM on July 31, 2017 [43 favorites]
f there aren't discussions going on right now in the GOP about confronting the unthinkable - the final ouster (da-da-DAH-dah, dah-da-dah-da-DAAAH), I'm made of felt and cheese.
Except, no - they are probably all breathing a sigh of relief and hoping the WH quiets down now so they can continue to ignore the larger problem.
posted by double bubble at 1:05 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Except, no - they are probably all breathing a sigh of relief and hoping the WH quiets down now so they can continue to ignore the larger problem.
posted by double bubble at 1:05 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Wow. Tough on Venezuela. Wonder what time Trump's going to sign the Russian Sanctions Bill?
posted by mikelieman at 1:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by mikelieman at 1:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Wow they were quick with freezing Venezuela assets.
How's the Russia thing going, Trumpy boy? You're putin everything you can into it?
posted by Yowser at 1:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
How's the Russia thing going, Trumpy boy? You're putin everything you can into it?
posted by Yowser at 1:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Mnuchin: "This represents a rupture in $COUNTRY_NAME's democratic and constitutional order"
sorry that should be Venezuela
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:07 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
sorry that should be Venezuela
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:07 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
Did Mnuchin just say "repernuctions" ?
posted by 0xFCAF at 1:08 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by 0xFCAF at 1:08 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
Why is Tillerson not giving this briefing?
posted by mfu at 1:09 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by mfu at 1:09 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
Mnuchin on now about Venezuela sanctions: Since when do these fuckers care a whit about democracy? This is the most I've heard anybody in this administration even use the word "democracy."
Also, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Philippines, Russia.
posted by Rykey at 1:10 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
Also, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Philippines, Russia.
posted by Rykey at 1:10 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
Why is Tillerson not giving this briefing?
He's having a powernap for eight hours
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:10 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
He's having a powernap for eight hours
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:10 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
> Why is Tillerson not giving this briefing?
Because he's taking some time off.
posted by Tevin at 1:11 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Because he's taking some time off.
posted by Tevin at 1:11 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
"How is this differen from... Turkey? ... President Trump congratulated the President of Turkey on that"
"The difference is we see the end of the constitution in Venezuela"
OK THEN.
posted by Yowser at 1:11 PM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
"The difference is we see the end of the constitution in Venezuela"
OK THEN.
posted by Yowser at 1:11 PM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
The thing is, Trump may like the idea of this Kelly-style "runs a tight ship" crap in theory or when it's happening over at DHS, but it's hard to imagine him functioning in that kind of environment himself. He's going to be undermining Kelly's orderly setup and countermanding instructions and generally fucking things up just to be a disruptive bastard every chance he gets. He loves shitty morale and division and staff members being at each other's throats; I can't imagine him tolerating change well at all.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:11 PM on July 31, 2017 [29 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:11 PM on July 31, 2017 [29 favorites]
Place your bets on the new comms director! Perhaps this guy: Ummmm outside the White House a man is wheeling a skeleton right now (To clarify, I mean the skeleton as the new comms director. Can't be worse than the Mooch, right?)
posted by yasaman at 1:13 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by yasaman at 1:13 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Why is Tillerson not giving this briefing?
He's having a powernap for eight hours
When he wakes up, he'll need to be told that Scaramucci has been both hired and fired.
posted by Existential Dread at 1:14 PM on July 31, 2017 [29 favorites]
I want to punch Mr. Secretary in the face.
posted by mikelieman at 1:14 PM on July 31, 2017
posted by mikelieman at 1:14 PM on July 31, 2017
The inevitable coup question...
"We are focused on the democratic process"
(and you're imposing sanctions why then? What exactly does democracy mean anymore?)
posted by Yowser at 1:15 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
"We are focused on the democratic process"
(and you're imposing sanctions why then? What exactly does democracy mean anymore?)
posted by Yowser at 1:15 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Welp, Trump is down to 39% approval... ON RASMUSSEN!
posted by chris24 at 1:15 PM on July 31, 2017 [40 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 1:15 PM on July 31, 2017 [40 favorites]
Oh, so the Venezuela sanctions are just against Maduro. Well that's a relief. For a moment there I was-
Acording to Reuters, the US is still considering broader sanctions against Venezuela’s oil industry, which could prove devastating for a country which is already in a state of economic free fall.
We had to destroy the country in order to save it?
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 1:15 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Acording to Reuters, the US is still considering broader sanctions against Venezuela’s oil industry, which could prove devastating for a country which is already in a state of economic free fall.
We had to destroy the country in order to save it?
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 1:15 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
SHS: "You guys wasted all your questions on asking the same one over and over. Just kidding... tough crowd." [real]
posted by Rykey at 1:16 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Rykey at 1:16 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
The thing is, Trump may like the idea of this Kelly-style "runs a tight ship" crap in theory or when it's happening over at DHS, but it's hard to imagine him functioning in that kind of environment himself.
Yup. DHS is not DOD, but it's still an agency with a very clear chain-of-command and lot of military or quasi-military staff. Kelly's term at DHS was relatively non-scandalous because he was put in charge of an agency where people are accustomed to following orders. (And because a certain subset of the agency is really happy about the opportunity to bust heads. Sigh.)
But the White House is a much flatter organization: basically it's a medieval court, with dozens of people simultaneously jockeying for Trump's attention and validation. Neither the current denizens nor Trump himself are going to be willing to go through Kelly for everything. Or even most things.
I sort of respect the guy for trying, but I also kind of hope he fails, badly, because I don't want the White House to be competent at their malice and corruption.
posted by suelac at 1:16 PM on July 31, 2017 [33 favorites]
Yup. DHS is not DOD, but it's still an agency with a very clear chain-of-command and lot of military or quasi-military staff. Kelly's term at DHS was relatively non-scandalous because he was put in charge of an agency where people are accustomed to following orders. (And because a certain subset of the agency is really happy about the opportunity to bust heads. Sigh.)
But the White House is a much flatter organization: basically it's a medieval court, with dozens of people simultaneously jockeying for Trump's attention and validation. Neither the current denizens nor Trump himself are going to be willing to go through Kelly for everything. Or even most things.
I sort of respect the guy for trying, but I also kind of hope he fails, badly, because I don't want the White House to be competent at their malice and corruption.
posted by suelac at 1:16 PM on July 31, 2017 [33 favorites]
night of the schlong imbibes
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:17 PM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:17 PM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
We're going to sell coal to Ukraine, which Sarah Huckabee Sanders just called an "alternative fuel"
posted by TheProfessor at 1:17 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by TheProfessor at 1:17 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
And in unison, the press cries, "What happened, Sarah? What happened?" [real]
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:17 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:17 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
An energy deal with Ukraine...
I'm out, I can't deal with it anymore. My God I'd forgotten how bad these briefings are.
posted by Yowser at 1:17 PM on July 31, 2017
I'm out, I can't deal with it anymore. My God I'd forgotten how bad these briefings are.
posted by Yowser at 1:17 PM on July 31, 2017
"What happened, Sarah?"
posted by leotrotsky at 1:18 PM on July 31, 2017
posted by leotrotsky at 1:18 PM on July 31, 2017
"What matters most to us is not who's employed in the White House."
That's been pretty obvious, Sarah.
posted by leotrotsky at 1:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [53 favorites]
That's been pretty obvious, Sarah.
posted by leotrotsky at 1:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [53 favorites]
From the previous thread:
Notyou's wife on hearing the news about Priebus: "You know what? I'm not even gonna learn their names anymore."
After Mooch's firing it's probably better to call all new incoming WH staff by Red Shirt #1, Red Shirt #2...
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 1:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [33 favorites]
Notyou's wife on hearing the news about Priebus: "You know what? I'm not even gonna learn their names anymore."
After Mooch's firing it's probably better to call all new incoming WH staff by Red Shirt #1, Red Shirt #2...
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 1:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [33 favorites]
Looks like someone didn't go quietly into that good night...
posted by Freon at 1:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [23 favorites]
posted by Freon at 1:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [23 favorites]
This is the first time I've actually watched her and by George she has an unpleasant demeanor. (That's me trying to be nice)
Talking about Huckabee Sanders here.
posted by ramix at 1:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
Talking about Huckabee Sanders here.
posted by ramix at 1:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
"Don't Fear the Trumper"
I went to a Blue Oyster Cult show a couple of months ago in a rather small town in Virginia, and at some point the vocalist made a super subtle disapproving reference to "our president", and some drunk douchebro in the audience yelled WE LIKE OUR PRESIDENT. I was in one of the front rows and it was so fucking embarrassing but my husband and I couldn't publicly disagree because this is literally the town where they filmed that neonazi movie with Daniel Radcliffe, so yeah.
Tldr: For as long as they could remember my face (a few minutes maybe), the band members of the Blue Oyster Cult thought I was a trump supporter.
posted by Tarumba at 1:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
I went to a Blue Oyster Cult show a couple of months ago in a rather small town in Virginia, and at some point the vocalist made a super subtle disapproving reference to "our president", and some drunk douchebro in the audience yelled WE LIKE OUR PRESIDENT. I was in one of the front rows and it was so fucking embarrassing but my husband and I couldn't publicly disagree because this is literally the town where they filmed that neonazi movie with Daniel Radcliffe, so yeah.
Tldr: For as long as they could remember my face (a few minutes maybe), the band members of the Blue Oyster Cult thought I was a trump supporter.
posted by Tarumba at 1:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Why is Tillerson not giving this briefing?
He's having a powernap for eight hours
Someone has to wake him from the Lazarus Pit.
posted by drezdn at 1:22 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
He's having a powernap for eight hours
Someone has to wake him from the Lazarus Pit.
posted by drezdn at 1:22 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
SHuckS just favorably compared the White House to a house full of pre-schoolers. Damned with faint praise.
posted by mikelieman at 1:23 PM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by mikelieman at 1:23 PM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
Press: So who actually made the decision vis a vis The Mooch?
Sarah Huckabee Sanders: I think I've been pretty clear. [WORD SALAD]
Press: So uh who actually made the decision vis a vis The Mooch?
ad nauseum
posted by TheProfessor at 1:23 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Sarah Huckabee Sanders: I think I've been pretty clear. [WORD SALAD]
Press: So uh who actually made the decision vis a vis The Mooch?
ad nauseum
posted by TheProfessor at 1:23 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Hucks is being quite definite that everything and everyone now goes through Kelly, presumably a condition he demanded to take the job.
So that's going to be fun for all the family...
posted by Devonian at 1:25 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
So that's going to be fun for all the family...
posted by Devonian at 1:25 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Looks like someone didn't go quietly into that good night...
What's the bet the first thing Kelly did when he arrived at the White House was to walk into the Oval Office and say "fire that little cocksucker Scaramucci, Mr President you dumb fuck"?
posted by Talez at 1:25 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
What's the bet the first thing Kelly did when he arrived at the White House was to walk into the Oval Office and say "fire that little cocksucker Scaramucci, Mr President you dumb fuck"?
posted by Talez at 1:25 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Looks like someone didn't go quietly into that good night...
Nearly 200 days and not one frogmarch yet! Come on already!
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:26 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Nearly 200 days and not one frogmarch yet! Come on already!
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:26 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
We're going to sell coal to Ukraine, which Sarah Huckabee Sanders just called an "alternative fuel"
So....Ukraine's working their asses off to get off of Russian gas, so this directly undermines some of Putin's leverage there, which is fun from a geopolitical perspective. Ukraine has also had a number of renewables projects they've been trying to get off the ground, but understandable the conflict there has been an issue. This is going to be real unpredictable, assuming it actually happens.
posted by Existential Dread at 1:26 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
So....Ukraine's working their asses off to get off of Russian gas, so this directly undermines some of Putin's leverage there, which is fun from a geopolitical perspective. Ukraine has also had a number of renewables projects they've been trying to get off the ground, but understandable the conflict there has been an issue. This is going to be real unpredictable, assuming it actually happens.
posted by Existential Dread at 1:26 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Can't keep watching.
(Spoiler: The Huckster almost broke out in a laugh when someone asked whether the President endorses police brutality)
posted by Yowser at 1:26 PM on July 31, 2017
(Spoiler: The Huckster almost broke out in a laugh when someone asked whether the President endorses police brutality)
posted by Yowser at 1:26 PM on July 31, 2017
moderately obscure joke image
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:27 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:27 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
Hey, when he HBO series of this presidency gets made, who will be brought in for a single episode to play Scaramucci?
It's going to be a 25 second cameo of some voice actor primarly talking about Steve Bannon. Heck, just use the real audio.
The Donald Sr: "We should bring in The Mooch. That'll fix things."
[Shot of TV Chyron of Mooch Ramblings over pic of tape recorder] VO of the actual Mooch: "as for Bannon, he's just ..."
Ron Howard V.O. "It didn't."
[Shot of Mooch being escorted out of the White House]
posted by tilde at 1:28 PM on July 31, 2017 [22 favorites]
It's going to be a 25 second cameo of some voice actor primarly talking about Steve Bannon. Heck, just use the real audio.
The Donald Sr: "We should bring in The Mooch. That'll fix things."
[Shot of TV Chyron of Mooch Ramblings over pic of tape recorder] VO of the actual Mooch: "as for Bannon, he's just ..."
Ron Howard V.O. "It didn't."
[Shot of Mooch being escorted out of the White House]
posted by tilde at 1:28 PM on July 31, 2017 [22 favorites]
We're going to sell coal to Ukraine, which Sarah Huckabee Sanders just called an "alternative fuel"
So....Ukraine's working their asses off to get off of Russian gas, so this directly undermines some of Putin's leverage there, which is fun from a geopolitical perspective. Ukraine has also had a number of renewables projects they've been trying to get off the ground, but understandable the conflict there has been an issue. This is going to be real unpredictable, assuming it actually happens.
posted by Existential Dread at 3:26 PM on July 31 [+] [!]
Yeah, I mean getting together with Ukraine on getting off of Gazprom is all to the good. But, like, actual renewables, right? Not helping them to build a coal infrastructure. Course she called it "thermal coal," which...nope, on investigation, that's regular old coal.
posted by TheProfessor at 1:28 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
So....Ukraine's working their asses off to get off of Russian gas, so this directly undermines some of Putin's leverage there, which is fun from a geopolitical perspective. Ukraine has also had a number of renewables projects they've been trying to get off the ground, but understandable the conflict there has been an issue. This is going to be real unpredictable, assuming it actually happens.
posted by Existential Dread at 3:26 PM on July 31 [+] [!]
Yeah, I mean getting together with Ukraine on getting off of Gazprom is all to the good. But, like, actual renewables, right? Not helping them to build a coal infrastructure. Course she called it "thermal coal," which...nope, on investigation, that's regular old coal.
posted by TheProfessor at 1:28 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Trump's Mirror, February 2016: Wow was Ted Cruz disloyal to his very capable director of communication. He used him as a scape goat-fired like a dog! Ted panicked.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:29 PM on July 31, 2017 [37 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:29 PM on July 31, 2017 [37 favorites]
The Atlantic, David Graham: The Spectacular Self-Destruction of Anthony Scaramucci. We'll just jump to the last paragraph:
Speaking to CNN on Thursday morning, Scaramucci acknowledged that while he had said he was like a brother to Priebus, some brothers had relationships like the one between the biblical brothers Cain and Abel, the former of whom slew the elder. Scaramucci did not say whether it was he or Priebus who represented Cain in that situation, but by Friday evening it appeared clear that Priebus was Abel. With the benefit of a few more days, it’s now clear that the better analogy comes not from the Bible but from Sophocles’ Antigone, and the cases of Eteocles and Polyneices—mutual fratricides, killed on the battlefield of a civil war.posted by zachlipton at 1:31 PM on July 31, 2017 [25 favorites]
From now on whenever I want to get out a conversation I'll just say "we're cutting it a little close on time" and immediately run away.
posted by theodolite at 1:32 PM on July 31, 2017 [29 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 1:32 PM on July 31, 2017 [29 favorites]
Alex Jones is 10 years younger than Scaramucci.
posted by Tuba Toothpaste at 1:32 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by Tuba Toothpaste at 1:32 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
Trenchant analysis from political journal Wonkette
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:33 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:33 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
But, like, actual renewables, right?
Yep, actual renewables. Of course, Russia would like to disrupt that as much as possible.
Yep, actual renewables. Of course, Russia would like to disrupt that as much as possible.
Already, Ukraine has reduced its reliance on Russian fossil fuels, cutting consumption of natural gas by about one-third since 2013.posted by Existential Dread at 1:33 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
But the economic environment is less favourable, Gielen says. Electricity demand has declined in the years since the conflict with Russia escalated, and is mostly met by existing nuclear and fossil-fuel sources. More-over, the exceedingly high cost of investment in the politically unstable country might discourage potential backers. As the first phase of implementing the 2014 action plan, Ukraine is scheduled to build 51 solar-power and 15 wind-power projects — an endeavour that will cost an estimated $7 billion.
“Financing renewables in Ukraine is comparable to investing in parts of Africa,” Gielen says. “Investors such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development might still be interested, but the Chernobyl solar plant certainly can’t be a purely commercial project.”
On today's episode of #TimeTravelTrump: Wow was Ted Cruz disloyal to his very capable director of communication. He used him as a scape goat-fired like a dog! Ted panicked.
posted by scalefree at 1:34 PM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by scalefree at 1:34 PM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
ABC reporter Jonathan Karl is on Charlie Rose (pre-recorded, pre-Mooch-firing) talking about Kelly taking over for Priebus and he points out that no one in the White House or Congress came to Priebus' defense when Scaramucci started his tirade a week ago.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 1:42 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 1:42 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
The (Comey related) Washington Post subhead "In ouster, anxiety over investigation into meddling” was particularly opaque.
That reads like a cryptic crossword clue.
posted by rocket88 at 1:42 PM on July 31, 2017 [38 favorites]
That reads like a cryptic crossword clue.
posted by rocket88 at 1:42 PM on July 31, 2017 [38 favorites]
> On today's episode of #TimeTravelTrump: Wow was Ted Cruz disloyal to his very capable director of communication. He used him as a scape goat-fired like a dog! Ted panicked.
I try to not contribute to the noise in these threads but yeezy creezy what does Donald Trump think a dog is and how do you fire one?!
posted by Tevin at 1:43 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
I try to not contribute to the noise in these threads but yeezy creezy what does Donald Trump think a dog is and how do you fire one?!
posted by Tevin at 1:43 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
I try to not contribute to the noise in these threads but yeezy creezy what does Donald Trump think a dog is and how do you fire one?!
Trump doesn't have a dog. Even Adolph Hitler had a dog.
posted by mikelieman at 1:44 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
Trump doesn't have a dog. Even Adolph Hitler had a dog.
posted by mikelieman at 1:44 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
> I try to not contribute to the noise in these threads but yeezy creezy what does Donald Trump think a dog is and how do you fire one?!
I don't know what Trump thinks a dog is. However, I think he thinks you fire one by looking the other way while people put the dog in a van and drive off with it and then after that everyone pretends the dog never existed.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:45 PM on July 31, 2017 [33 favorites]
I don't know what Trump thinks a dog is. However, I think he thinks you fire one by looking the other way while people put the dog in a van and drive off with it and then after that everyone pretends the dog never existed.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:45 PM on July 31, 2017 [33 favorites]
Trump has fired many dogs. Any time he sees a dog, he mentally says "you're fired".
posted by cell divide at 1:46 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by cell divide at 1:46 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
"We decided to take Scaramucci to a nice farm upstate where he'll have plenty of room to run around."
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 1:46 PM on July 31, 2017 [42 favorites]
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 1:46 PM on July 31, 2017 [42 favorites]
yeezy creezy what does Donald Trump think a dog is and how do you fire one?!
Nick Wing, HuffPost, February 2016: Donald Trump Clearly Doesn’t Understand How Dogs Work
Phillip Bump, WaPo, March 2016: Note to Mr. Trump: Dogs don’t even have jobs, man
posted by zachlipton at 1:47 PM on July 31, 2017 [26 favorites]
Nick Wing, HuffPost, February 2016: Donald Trump Clearly Doesn’t Understand How Dogs Work
Phillip Bump, WaPo, March 2016: Note to Mr. Trump: Dogs don’t even have jobs, man
posted by zachlipton at 1:47 PM on July 31, 2017 [26 favorites]
So lemme see if I have this straight:
-Spicer quit because of the Mooch
-Mooch takes down Preibus
-Preibus replaced by Kelly
-Kelly gets rid of the Mooch
If Spicer now gets rid of Kelly, the cycle will be complete and the Portal shall open...
posted by nubs at 1:48 PM on July 31, 2017 [62 favorites]
-Spicer quit because of the Mooch
-Mooch takes down Preibus
-Preibus replaced by Kelly
-Kelly gets rid of the Mooch
If Spicer now gets rid of Kelly, the cycle will be complete and the Portal shall open...
posted by nubs at 1:48 PM on July 31, 2017 [62 favorites]
I'm pretty sure "dog" is Trumpspeak for "bitch," but he'll tell you he's too nice to use that language. But it's what he means.
posted by emelenjr at 1:51 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by emelenjr at 1:51 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
We apologise for the fault in the
administration. Reince Priebus has been
sacked.
administration. Those responsible for sacking
the people who have just been sacked,
have been sacked.
posted by murphy slaw at 1:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [35 favorites]
administration. Reince Priebus has been
sacked.
Mynd you, Møøch bites Kan be pretty nasti...We apologise again for the fault in the
administration. Those responsible for sacking
the people who have just been sacked,
have been sacked.
posted by murphy slaw at 1:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [35 favorites]
There's no way anyone in the white house could have nice hair with all the doors swinging there no wonder there are flies
posted by yoga at 1:53 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by yoga at 1:53 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Hedge fund exec faces steep tax bill should White House job fall through
Mar 13, 2017, 10:03am EDT
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:53 PM on July 31, 2017 [36 favorites]
Mar 13, 2017, 10:03am EDT
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:53 PM on July 31, 2017 [36 favorites]
On today's episode of #TimeTravelTrump
Prediction: Trump's timeline is working in reverse through his tweets and his impeachment will come when it converges to the present day.
posted by C'est la D.C. at 1:53 PM on July 31, 2017 [14 favorites]
Prediction: Trump's timeline is working in reverse through his tweets and his impeachment will come when it converges to the present day.
posted by C'est la D.C. at 1:53 PM on July 31, 2017 [14 favorites]
That don't impress me, Mooch
posted by porn in the woods at 1:56 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by porn in the woods at 1:56 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
So lemme see if I have this straight:
-Spicer quit because of the Mooch
-Mooch takes down Preibus
-Preibus replaced by Kelly
-Kelly gets rid of the Mooch
-God creates dinosaurs
-God kills dinosaurs
-God creates man
-Man kills God
-Man creates dinosaurs
-Dinosaurs eat man
-Woman inherits the earth
posted by chrchr at 1:57 PM on July 31, 2017 [26 favorites]
-Spicer quit because of the Mooch
-Mooch takes down Preibus
-Preibus replaced by Kelly
-Kelly gets rid of the Mooch
-God creates dinosaurs
-God kills dinosaurs
-God creates man
-Man kills God
-Man creates dinosaurs
-Dinosaurs eat man
-Woman inherits the earth
posted by chrchr at 1:57 PM on July 31, 2017 [26 favorites]
> Trump doesn't have a dog. Even Adolph Hitler had a dog.
The rarely seen reverse-Godwin in which we shoot upwards.
posted by stonepharisee at 2:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [70 favorites]
The rarely seen reverse-Godwin in which we shoot upwards.
posted by stonepharisee at 2:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [70 favorites]
According to a recent twitter infographic (not found, and trying to cram those end-of-the-month hours in to get them invoiced, it's probably somewhere here) Trump is the first U.S. president in 150 years not to have any pet whatsoever.
posted by Buntix at 2:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Buntix at 2:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
@theferocity
Scaramucci: So fucking stoked about my new job at wh—
Karma: RECLAIMING MY TIME.
posted by chris24 at 2:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [25 favorites]
Scaramucci: So fucking stoked about my new job at wh—
Karma: RECLAIMING MY TIME.
posted by chris24 at 2:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [25 favorites]
his pets keep running away - even the goldfish
posted by pyramid termite at 2:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by pyramid termite at 2:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
No pet would have him
posted by agregoli at 2:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by agregoli at 2:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
I try to not contribute to the noise in these threads but yeezy creezy what does Donald Trump think a dog is and how do you fire one?!
You have the Department of Defense to build you a comically huge circus cannon. You pop the canine in, light the sparkly fuse, and FIRE! A shower of confetti later and Nova Scotia now has more dogs than natural fauna, like moose, or Tom Selleck.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 2:07 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
You have the Department of Defense to build you a comically huge circus cannon. You pop the canine in, light the sparkly fuse, and FIRE! A shower of confetti later and Nova Scotia now has more dogs than natural fauna, like moose, or Tom Selleck.
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 2:07 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
When he wakes up, he'll need to be told that Scaramucci has been both hired and fired.
It occurred to me that I have had a vacation in Bali longer than Scaramucci's term lasted. I have been bedridden from a virus for a longer stretch. I spent more time (albeit not in a single continuous stretch) in airplanes most years this century than he did in his job. I had a torrid fling where neither of us put clothes on that lasted longer. I have fasted longer than this. I read the entirety of The Lord of the Rings twice in a shorter time.
I think this should be an AskMe.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:07 PM on July 31, 2017 [24 favorites]
It occurred to me that I have had a vacation in Bali longer than Scaramucci's term lasted. I have been bedridden from a virus for a longer stretch. I spent more time (albeit not in a single continuous stretch) in airplanes most years this century than he did in his job. I had a torrid fling where neither of us put clothes on that lasted longer. I have fasted longer than this. I read the entirety of The Lord of the Rings twice in a shorter time.
I think this should be an AskMe.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:07 PM on July 31, 2017 [24 favorites]
Instead of a dog Trump's Checkers speech is going going to be about some sycophant intern named Dylan.
posted by nathan_teske at 2:08 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by nathan_teske at 2:08 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Acording to Reuters, the US is still considering broader sanctions against Venezuela’s oil industry, which could prove devastating for a country which is already in a state of economic free fall.
We had to destroy the country in order to save it?
This, fwiw, would follow the general pattern of White House "distractions": it's incompetent and hamfisted and stupid, and it possibly "distracts" from whatever embarrassment is dominating the news cycle, and it does real harm to real people so calling it a "distraction" is still shitty.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 2:09 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
We had to destroy the country in order to save it?
This, fwiw, would follow the general pattern of White House "distractions": it's incompetent and hamfisted and stupid, and it possibly "distracts" from whatever embarrassment is dominating the news cycle, and it does real harm to real people so calling it a "distraction" is still shitty.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 2:09 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
Trump is the first U.S. president in 150 years not to have any pet whatsoever.
ooh! ooh! this is where i get to wax rhapsodic about calvin coolidge's pet raccoon rebecca.
posted by murphy slaw at 2:09 PM on July 31, 2017 [35 favorites]
ooh! ooh! this is where i get to wax rhapsodic about calvin coolidge's pet raccoon rebecca.
posted by murphy slaw at 2:09 PM on July 31, 2017 [35 favorites]
Pickles' letter was his Checkers speech.
posted by tilde at 2:09 PM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by tilde at 2:09 PM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
Let's not give Trump & Co any ideas that he should be getting a dog. Dogs deserve so much better than him. I shudder to think of how he would treat the poor animal.
posted by triggerfinger at 2:10 PM on July 31, 2017 [34 favorites]
posted by triggerfinger at 2:10 PM on July 31, 2017 [34 favorites]
Ryan Lizza (yes, that Ryan Lizza), New Yorker: Anthony Scaramucci’s Ouster May Show That John Kelly Has the Rare Ability to Rein In Trump
A hint of Kelly’s potential influence on Trump emerged two weeks ago, in Aspen, Colorado, when Kelly made a startling revelation. According to several sources who attended a private briefing that included some of the nation’s most senior current and former national-security officials, Kelly sought to ease their minds about one of the most controversial and famous Trump proposals: the border wall with Mexico. Many of the current and former officials were deeply skeptical of Trump, and surprised that Kelly, a respected Marine Corps general, would even take a job working for him.Oh, and:
Kelly explained that he had spent a great deal of time talking through the issue with Trump, and he believed he had convinced the President that he didn’t actually need to build a physical wall along the entire nineteen-hundred-mile-long border between the United States and Mexico. Instead, the use of sophisticated monitoring technology, air surveillance, and fencing could secure the border with what Trump could start calling a “barrier.”
To the officials in the room, it was a fascinating admission. Kelly seemed to be suggesting that he was one of the few people who might be able to tame Trump and get him to back off some of his most cartoonish policy ideas, even the ones that were core campaign promises. Kelly did not seem delusional. After impressing the group with the anecdote, Kelly added a caveat that was paraphrased for me as something to the effect of, “But you never know: one tweet, and that could all change.”
On Wednesday night, Scaramucci told me, “What I’m going to do is I’m going to eliminate everyone on the comms team and we’ll start over.” He did not know how prescient he was.posted by zachlipton at 2:10 PM on July 31, 2017 [32 favorites]
Paul Krugman in The New York Times: Who Ate Republicans' Brains?
As many people have pointed out, when it came to health care Republicans were basically caught in their own web of lies. They fought against the idea of universal coverage, then denounced the Affordable Care Act for failing to cover enough people; they made “skin in the game,” i.e., high out-of-pocket costs, the centerpiece of their health care ideology, then denounced the act for high deductibles. When they finally got their chance at repeal, the contrast between what they had promised and their actual proposals produced widespread and justified public revulsion.
But the stark dishonesty of the Republican jihad against Obamacare itself demands an explanation. For it went well beyond normal political spin: for seven years a whole party kept insisting that black was white and up was down.
And that kind of behavior doesn’t come out of nowhere. The Republican health care debacle was the culmination of a process of intellectual and moral deterioration that began four decades ago, at the very dawn of modern movement conservatism — that is, during the very era anti-Trump conservatives now point to as the golden age of conservative thought.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:12 PM on July 31, 2017 [31 favorites]
As many people have pointed out, when it came to health care Republicans were basically caught in their own web of lies. They fought against the idea of universal coverage, then denounced the Affordable Care Act for failing to cover enough people; they made “skin in the game,” i.e., high out-of-pocket costs, the centerpiece of their health care ideology, then denounced the act for high deductibles. When they finally got their chance at repeal, the contrast between what they had promised and their actual proposals produced widespread and justified public revulsion.
But the stark dishonesty of the Republican jihad against Obamacare itself demands an explanation. For it went well beyond normal political spin: for seven years a whole party kept insisting that black was white and up was down.
And that kind of behavior doesn’t come out of nowhere. The Republican health care debacle was the culmination of a process of intellectual and moral deterioration that began four decades ago, at the very dawn of modern movement conservatism — that is, during the very era anti-Trump conservatives now point to as the golden age of conservative thought.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:12 PM on July 31, 2017 [31 favorites]
@Allure_magazine: Retweet if you've had a period that lasted longer than Scaramucci
posted by bibliowench at 2:13 PM on July 31, 2017 [82 favorites]
posted by bibliowench at 2:13 PM on July 31, 2017 [82 favorites]
Chart of presidential pets from The Economist
posted by Azara at 2:14 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by Azara at 2:14 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
Well if Scaramucci does get vindictive and decides he wants his old Tweets back, it's hard to imagine he'll have trouble finding backup screen caps.
posted by jacy at 2:15 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by jacy at 2:15 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
Trump officials want to add a coal display to the EPA museum, because of course.
posted by T.D. Strange at 2:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 2:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Is Kelly the beginning of the military coup we've all been hoping for?
Maybe.
posted by jamjam at 2:19 PM on July 31, 2017
Maybe.
posted by jamjam at 2:19 PM on July 31, 2017
Note: Moochie died on the way back to his home planet.
posted by Talez at 2:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Talez at 2:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Trump is the first U.S. president in 150 years not to have any pet whatsoever.
Hey, no fair. Chris Christie counts as a pet!
posted by mmoncur at 2:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
Hey, no fair. Chris Christie counts as a pet!
posted by mmoncur at 2:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
Kelly seemed to be suggesting that he was one of the few people who might be able to tame Trump...
These people. Will. Just. Never. Learn.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 2:21 PM on July 31, 2017 [55 favorites]
These people. Will. Just. Never. Learn.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 2:21 PM on July 31, 2017 [55 favorites]
Dr. Chuck Tingle: "TONY SCARYMOOCHY was not buckaroo but also not devil just classic scoundrel. only trompman to understand way of kissing your own weiner. RIP"
posted by Capt. Renault at 2:21 PM on July 31, 2017 [26 favorites]
posted by Capt. Renault at 2:21 PM on July 31, 2017 [26 favorites]
Kelly has presided over ICE, which is the locus for the Trump administration's worst humanitarian abuses and that time it looked like we were going to get a full-blown constitutional crisis where the White House would ignore court orders, so if Kelly takes over it's not going to be in order to restore any kind of constitutional order. It just means we get a junta instead of a kleptocracy.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:21 PM on July 31, 2017 [35 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:21 PM on July 31, 2017 [35 favorites]
Kelly seemed to be suggesting that he was one of the few people who might be able to tame Trump and get him to back off some of his most cartoonish policy ideas,
good thing saying a thing like that in front of people who will repeat it to the press isn't something that would ever make Trump angry enough to fire a person.
posted by queenofbithynia at 2:21 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
good thing saying a thing like that in front of people who will repeat it to the press isn't something that would ever make Trump angry enough to fire a person.
posted by queenofbithynia at 2:21 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
Donald Trump is the first American president without a pet in nearly 150 years
What do you think Stephen Miller is?
He's got to be fed regularly, otherwise he unhinges his jaw and starts consuming interns.
posted by leotrotsky at 2:21 PM on July 31, 2017 [14 favorites]
What do you think Stephen Miller is?
He's got to be fed regularly, otherwise he unhinges his jaw and starts consuming interns.
posted by leotrotsky at 2:21 PM on July 31, 2017 [14 favorites]
@Allure_magazine: Retweet if you've had a period that lasted longer than Scaramucci
posted by bibliowench
That is one multi-purpose burn, I tell you what.
posted by Iris Gambol at 2:22 PM on July 31, 2017 [24 favorites]
posted by bibliowench
That is one multi-purpose burn, I tell you what.
posted by Iris Gambol at 2:22 PM on July 31, 2017 [24 favorites]
So lemme see if I have this straight:
-Spicer quit because of the Mooch
-Mooch takes down Preibus
-Preibus replaced by Kelly
-Kelly gets rid of the Mooch
If Spicer now gets rid of Kelly, the cycle will be complete and the Portal shall open...
It's an administrative ouroboros! Or autofellatio, if you prefer. I just hope no one breaks their neck.
posted by TedW at 2:23 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
-Spicer quit because of the Mooch
-Mooch takes down Preibus
-Preibus replaced by Kelly
-Kelly gets rid of the Mooch
If Spicer now gets rid of Kelly, the cycle will be complete and the Portal shall open...
It's an administrative ouroboros! Or autofellatio, if you prefer. I just hope no one breaks their neck.
posted by TedW at 2:23 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
The one thing that could turn Trump's inept attempted fascist takeover of democracy into an actual fascist takeover of democracy would be competent managers helping him execute it.
When you start with Spicer and ditch him for someone publicly nicknamed "The Mooch," your next move is unlikely to nod toward competence in anything.
posted by Bringer Tom at 2:23 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
When you start with Spicer and ditch him for someone publicly nicknamed "The Mooch," your next move is unlikely to nod toward competence in anything.
posted by Bringer Tom at 2:23 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
> Paul Krugman in The New York Times: Who Ate Republicans' Brains?
My question these days is who ate Krugman's brain? He knows damned well the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes a lot more than just the insurance exchanges, most importantly the Medicaid Expansion. Yet in this piece, and in his recent blog post on the subject, he conflates "the ACA" and "the Heritage plan." I was going to complain about this earlier but then Mooch-a-palooza broke out, but helpfully Scott Lemieux has a post summarizing the many reasons Krugman is wrong on this.
I'm not saying we should take away Krugman's Nobel prize here, but he's certainly setting back the cause by defining the ACA down. It was a major progressive achievement, albeit not nearly the bill any of us wanted. Whatever argument is being advanced with this sleight-of-hand isn't worth the risk of leaving people with the impression that losing the ACA would be no big deal because the Republicans basically wanted the same thing 20+ years ago.
posted by tonycpsu at 2:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
My question these days is who ate Krugman's brain? He knows damned well the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes a lot more than just the insurance exchanges, most importantly the Medicaid Expansion. Yet in this piece, and in his recent blog post on the subject, he conflates "the ACA" and "the Heritage plan." I was going to complain about this earlier but then Mooch-a-palooza broke out, but helpfully Scott Lemieux has a post summarizing the many reasons Krugman is wrong on this.
I'm not saying we should take away Krugman's Nobel prize here, but he's certainly setting back the cause by defining the ACA down. It was a major progressive achievement, albeit not nearly the bill any of us wanted. Whatever argument is being advanced with this sleight-of-hand isn't worth the risk of leaving people with the impression that losing the ACA would be no big deal because the Republicans basically wanted the same thing 20+ years ago.
posted by tonycpsu at 2:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
Anthony Scaramucci’s Ouster May Show That John Kelly Has the Rare Ability to Rein In Trump
Right!
Naw...in a week Trump will be all "Hey, Army Boy, go pick me up a Quarter Pounder with Cheese and drop my underwear off at the laundry."
*Kif Sigh*
Yes Sir.
posted by Cookiebastard at 2:26 PM on July 31, 2017 [18 favorites]
Right!
Naw...in a week Trump will be all "Hey, Army Boy, go pick me up a Quarter Pounder with Cheese and drop my underwear off at the laundry."
*Kif Sigh*
Yes Sir.
posted by Cookiebastard at 2:26 PM on July 31, 2017 [18 favorites]
From Reddit:
PSA: If you bought milk on the day Scaramucci was hired, it is still fresh.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 2:26 PM on July 31, 2017 [86 favorites]
PSA: If you bought milk on the day Scaramucci was hired, it is still fresh.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 2:26 PM on July 31, 2017 [86 favorites]
Lizza is nuts if he thinks Kelly's ability to get Trump to go along once means jack shit. I worked for a dude who shares a lot of the asshole and chaos impulses of Trump. He was forever hiring people to come in and supposedly right the ship and completely unwilling to accept that almost all the chaos was a result of his actions. Every time one of these dudes - and of course they were always dudes - would come in there'd be this period of adjustment where we'd all have to adjust to their idea of order and the big cheese would kinda sorta stay out of their way and let them do their thing.
He'd still fuck around with stuff unnecessarily and I think every one of these dudes would start to have this tickle in the back of their minds as he's make them change a few things and expect them to justify some measures that nobody rational would need an explanation for. But they'd soldier on and make some sorts of progress and feel pretty good about themselves as they got all us front-liners to go along without anywhere near as much trouble as they were lead to believe it would be.
Then, inevitably, lord high nutter would fuck it all up by disregarding schedules and requirements and retasking people without informing the new director. There'd be some surprise and maybe the first few times the fresh meat would go talk to the boss about how he was fucking up all the schedules and deliverables. One of them was supposed to get us to CMMI certification, which was hugely comic. I don't think he was two weeks into that effort before it became brutally clear to him that the only thing that was sure-fire going to prevent that was the company owner.
Amusingly, one of these fellows was at USDA last I looked. I have pondered sending him a message asking if he sees the similarity but it's not impossible he, as a conservative sort of fellow, could be a Trump supporter. And I'd rather not know if that's the case.
Anyway, Kelly might be in a honeymoon period (probably best counted in hours) where he's getting some cooperation but it won't last. At least our company president wasn't tweeting insane bullshit that undermined our mission. On the other hand, he didn't have access to nuclear weaponry.
posted by phearlez at 2:27 PM on July 31, 2017 [39 favorites]
He'd still fuck around with stuff unnecessarily and I think every one of these dudes would start to have this tickle in the back of their minds as he's make them change a few things and expect them to justify some measures that nobody rational would need an explanation for. But they'd soldier on and make some sorts of progress and feel pretty good about themselves as they got all us front-liners to go along without anywhere near as much trouble as they were lead to believe it would be.
Then, inevitably, lord high nutter would fuck it all up by disregarding schedules and requirements and retasking people without informing the new director. There'd be some surprise and maybe the first few times the fresh meat would go talk to the boss about how he was fucking up all the schedules and deliverables. One of them was supposed to get us to CMMI certification, which was hugely comic. I don't think he was two weeks into that effort before it became brutally clear to him that the only thing that was sure-fire going to prevent that was the company owner.
Amusingly, one of these fellows was at USDA last I looked. I have pondered sending him a message asking if he sees the similarity but it's not impossible he, as a conservative sort of fellow, could be a Trump supporter. And I'd rather not know if that's the case.
Anyway, Kelly might be in a honeymoon period (probably best counted in hours) where he's getting some cooperation but it won't last. At least our company president wasn't tweeting insane bullshit that undermined our mission. On the other hand, he didn't have access to nuclear weaponry.
posted by phearlez at 2:27 PM on July 31, 2017 [39 favorites]
Oompa Loompa dippity daramucci ...
posted by kyrademon at 2:29 PM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by kyrademon at 2:29 PM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
ooh! ooh! this is where i get to wax rhapsodic about calvin coolidge's pet raccoon rebecca.
how society has changed
She was sent from Mississippi to be part of the White House Thanksgiving meal in 1926, but the Coolidge family found her to be friendly and docile and decided to keep her as a pet instead.
posted by sammyo at 2:29 PM on July 31, 2017 [24 favorites]
how society has changed
She was sent from Mississippi to be part of the White House Thanksgiving meal in 1926, but the Coolidge family found her to be friendly and docile and decided to keep her as a pet instead.
posted by sammyo at 2:29 PM on July 31, 2017 [24 favorites]
Anthony Scaramucci’s Ouster May Show That John Kelly Has the Rare Ability to Rein In Trump
If you are worried that Kelly may actually be effective at imposing order on the White House so that it can be more efficiently evil, the way to prevent that would be to keep talking about how Trump does everything Kelly says and is totally under Kelly's thumb.
"Kelly seemed to be suggesting that he was one of the few people who might be able to tame Trump and get him to back off some of his most cartoonish policy ideas, even the ones that were core campaign promises."
This is perfect. Yes, let's all tell this story of how Kelly told Trump he was wrong about the wall! And then Trump basically apologized for being wrong because Kelly told him to, right?
Yeah, Trump has basically just turned all of "President Bannon's" responsibilities over to "President Kelly" it seems...
posted by OnceUponATime at 2:33 PM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
If you are worried that Kelly may actually be effective at imposing order on the White House so that it can be more efficiently evil, the way to prevent that would be to keep talking about how Trump does everything Kelly says and is totally under Kelly's thumb.
"Kelly seemed to be suggesting that he was one of the few people who might be able to tame Trump and get him to back off some of his most cartoonish policy ideas, even the ones that were core campaign promises."
This is perfect. Yes, let's all tell this story of how Kelly told Trump he was wrong about the wall! And then Trump basically apologized for being wrong because Kelly told him to, right?
Yeah, Trump has basically just turned all of "President Bannon's" responsibilities over to "President Kelly" it seems...
posted by OnceUponATime at 2:33 PM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
Lizza is nuts if he thinks Kelly's ability to get Trump to go along once means jack shit.
Lizza is making a nice start at doing to Kelly what he did to Scaramucci. The raw material needs a little more refining, so he will get a little journalism practice along the way. but just look at the quotes he's using, he's obviously neither nuts nor somehow less aware of what he's writing than everyone here reading it. he's just supercilious is all. but useful.
posted by queenofbithynia at 2:36 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
"Kelly seemed to be suggesting that he was one of the few people who might be able to tame Trump and get him to back off some of his most cartoonish policy ideas, even the ones that were core campaign promises."
This is perfect. Yes, let's all tell this story of how Kelly told Trump he was wrong about the wall! And then Trump basically apologized for being wrong because Kelly told him to, right?
Don't forget how he called Comey to tell him his firing was a shitty deal. Quick, somebody, dig up a quote of Kelly saying Sessions's recusal was "absolutely the right thing to do."
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:36 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
This is perfect. Yes, let's all tell this story of how Kelly told Trump he was wrong about the wall! And then Trump basically apologized for being wrong because Kelly told him to, right?
Don't forget how he called Comey to tell him his firing was a shitty deal. Quick, somebody, dig up a quote of Kelly saying Sessions's recusal was "absolutely the right thing to do."
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:36 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
This thread moves so fast.
Lots of people are uncomfortable with abortions. Super uncomfortable. Including pro-choice people. The distinction lies in the recognition that they should not make that choice for others.
I think it was a comment here (years ago) that got me thinking about how disingenuous the term "pro-life" is, and how much it shapes the debate. I find myself wishing Democrats would start talking in terms of being pro-freedom (of choice) rather than pro-(freedom of) choice, and really curious as to how that would play out. Because "Freedom" has long been the magic rallying slogan for the right: Big Government wants to steal your freedom, Republicans fight to keep you free. I'd like to see Democrats taking back that word a lot more forcefully, and I'd really like to see it more prominent in any discussion about abortion. If people's brains are going to just automatically click into position the moment they hear the word "freedom," then I want the position statement to be "I'm pro-FREEDOM" and "I'm for a woman's FREEDOM to choose." (And if all that does is make the word less of an unquestioned sledgehammer, then that's pretty vital too.)
posted by trig at 2:42 PM on July 31, 2017 [51 favorites]
Lots of people are uncomfortable with abortions. Super uncomfortable. Including pro-choice people. The distinction lies in the recognition that they should not make that choice for others.
I think it was a comment here (years ago) that got me thinking about how disingenuous the term "pro-life" is, and how much it shapes the debate. I find myself wishing Democrats would start talking in terms of being pro-freedom (of choice) rather than pro-(freedom of) choice, and really curious as to how that would play out. Because "Freedom" has long been the magic rallying slogan for the right: Big Government wants to steal your freedom, Republicans fight to keep you free. I'd like to see Democrats taking back that word a lot more forcefully, and I'd really like to see it more prominent in any discussion about abortion. If people's brains are going to just automatically click into position the moment they hear the word "freedom," then I want the position statement to be "I'm pro-FREEDOM" and "I'm for a woman's FREEDOM to choose." (And if all that does is make the word less of an unquestioned sledgehammer, then that's pretty vital too.)
posted by trig at 2:42 PM on July 31, 2017 [51 favorites]
She was sent from Mississippi to be part of the White House Thanksgiving meal in 1926, but the Coolidge family found her to be friendly and docile and decided to keep her as a pet instead.
Wait, are we talking about Chris Christie again?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:42 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
Wait, are we talking about Chris Christie again?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:42 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
Unless there's a war.
That's the scariest part of all of this-- Trump's running out of non-war options to get the respect and popularity he craves.
posted by cell divide at 2:46 PM on July 31, 2017 [42 favorites]
That's the scariest part of all of this-- Trump's running out of non-war options to get the respect and popularity he craves.
posted by cell divide at 2:46 PM on July 31, 2017 [42 favorites]
Kelly will last two months.
AKA six mooches.
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:47 PM on July 31, 2017 [47 favorites]
AKA six mooches.
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:47 PM on July 31, 2017 [47 favorites]
Kelly will last two months.
I though it was last in first out now? He should already be gone.
posted by Namlit at 2:49 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
I though it was last in first out now? He should already be gone.
posted by Namlit at 2:49 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
Oompa Loompa Dippity Dooch
We have advice for the one they call Mooch
Oompa Loompa Dippity Dong
Talking bout a coworker's schlong is wrong
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 2:49 PM on July 31, 2017 [18 favorites]
We have advice for the one they call Mooch
Oompa Loompa Dippity Dong
Talking bout a coworker's schlong is wrong
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 2:49 PM on July 31, 2017 [18 favorites]
Report: Kushner called Trump campaign too disorganized to collude with Russia
posted by PenDevil at 2:49 PM on July 31, 2017 [15 favorites]
posted by PenDevil at 2:49 PM on July 31, 2017 [15 favorites]
Banning has been doing a disturbingly good job of staying out of the news, which makes him all the more dangerous.
posted by Rumple at 2:50 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by Rumple at 2:50 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
It's so cute to watch the interns learn to leak for the first time. Kushner did his talk for the Congressional interns (and I presume most of them have far more knowledge of government than he does), complete with a warning about leaking, and someone sent their notes to Foreign Policy. He says they couldn't have colluded because they were too incompetent for that.
“They thought we colluded, but we couldn’t even collude with our local offices,” Kushner told congressional interns during a private talk at the Capitol Visitor Center auditorium on Monday afternoon.posted by zachlipton at 2:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [40 favorites]
I beseech you, remember the real/fake tags. That Kushner story is actually real, ye gods.
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Kushner called
They misspelled "Management and cybernetics expert..."
posted by rhizome at 2:53 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
They misspelled "Management and cybernetics expert..."
posted by rhizome at 2:53 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Joon Lee on Twitter: Anthony Scaramucci getting fired by the White House is basically the same as Jean Ralphio's rendezvous in accounting.
posted by the return of the thin white sock at 2:53 PM on July 31, 2017 [28 favorites]
posted by the return of the thin white sock at 2:53 PM on July 31, 2017 [28 favorites]
Checking in on the moral compass of Trump's White House:
Robert Costa (@costareports): "sources also say POTUS & fam did not appreciate how A.S. comments linked them to vulgarity. Like to play rough but not be laughed at/embrsd"
NBC New York (@NBCNewYork): "Source also says women in admin, including Ivanka and Melania Trump, were 'disgusted' by Scaramucci's language."
Take note, future Trumpists: References to autofellatio are frowned upon, but those about grabbing women's genitals are A-OK.
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:54 PM on July 31, 2017 [90 favorites]
Robert Costa (@costareports): "sources also say POTUS & fam did not appreciate how A.S. comments linked them to vulgarity. Like to play rough but not be laughed at/embrsd"
NBC New York (@NBCNewYork): "Source also says women in admin, including Ivanka and Melania Trump, were 'disgusted' by Scaramucci's language."
Take note, future Trumpists: References to autofellatio are frowned upon, but those about grabbing women's genitals are A-OK.
posted by Doktor Zed at 2:54 PM on July 31, 2017 [90 favorites]
Yeah, I never associated the Trumps with vulgarity until Scaramucci came along!
posted by mmoncur at 2:57 PM on July 31, 2017 [86 favorites]
posted by mmoncur at 2:57 PM on July 31, 2017 [86 favorites]
The Kakistocrats!
posted by chris24 at 3:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [20 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 3:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [20 favorites]
zachlipton: Kelly seemed to be suggesting that he was one of the few people who might be able to tame Trump and get him to back off some of his most cartoonish policy ideas, even the ones that were core campaign promises. Kelly did not seem delusional. After impressing the group with the anecdote, Kelly added a caveat that was paraphrased for me as something to the effect of, “But you never know: one tweet, and that could all change.”
"I don't mean to brag, but I totally know how to deal with Trump. Unless he has access to his phone."
Yeah, about that ....
posted by filthy light thief at 3:05 PM on July 31, 2017 [14 favorites]
"I don't mean to brag, but I totally know how to deal with Trump. Unless he has access to his phone."
Yeah, about that ....
posted by filthy light thief at 3:05 PM on July 31, 2017 [14 favorites]
"We were too incompetent to collude but we definitely should be the most powerful people in the world" is a really great position to take I hope they stick with it.
posted by dis_integration at 3:05 PM on July 31, 2017 [40 favorites]
posted by dis_integration at 3:05 PM on July 31, 2017 [40 favorites]
Take note, future Trumpists: References to autofellatio are frowned upon, but those about grabbing women's genitals are A-OK.
No, no, see Trump and all the boys being boys around him are fine with all that locker room talk, but they have to protect their womenfolk from such crudeness.
posted by bibliowench at 3:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
No, no, see Trump and all the boys being boys around him are fine with all that locker room talk, but they have to protect their womenfolk from such crudeness.
posted by bibliowench at 3:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
Found the new Surely this!
IT HAS BEEN _0_ DAYS SINCE THE LAST TRUMP DISASTER
posted by petebest at 3:09 PM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
IT HAS BEEN _0_ DAYS SINCE THE LAST TRUMP DISASTER
posted by petebest at 3:09 PM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
From @alv9n, via 538 chat:
Shortest terms as comms director, ranked:posted by Rhaomi at 3:13 PM on July 31, 2017 [42 favorites]
1. Mooch
2. Guy who was part of Hitler Youth
3. Spicer
I'm only posting this Slate article for the headline: Future Ex-White House Chief of Staff Reportedly Criticized Comey Firing
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:14 PM on July 31, 2017 [40 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:14 PM on July 31, 2017 [40 favorites]
The Onion: ‘So Fuckin’ Sorry To Hear About This Shit,’ Reads Outpouring Of Sympathetic Texts From Scaramucci’s Friends, Family
The Onion is a satirical publication
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:16 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
The Onion is a satirical publication
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:16 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
My question these days is who ate Krugman's brain? He knows damned well the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act includes a lot more than just the insurance exchanges, most importantly the Medicaid Expansion. Yet in this piece, and in his recent blog post on the subject, he conflates "the ACA" and "the Heritage plan." I was going to complain about this earlier but then Mooch-a-palooza broke out, but helpfully Scott Lemieux has a post summarizing the many reasons Krugman is wrong on this.
I'm not saying we should take away Krugman's Nobel prize here, but he's certainly setting back the cause by defining the ACA down. It was a major progressive achievement, albeit not nearly the bill any of us wanted. Whatever argument is being advanced with this sleight-of-hand isn't worth the risk of leaving people with the impression that losing the ACA would be no big deal because the Republicans basically wanted the same thing 20+ years ago.
Lemieux's post I think is a little overselling the case; everybody understands that ACA wasn't a photocopy of a 15 year old Heritage Foundation white paper. He dismisses the important areas that they are strongly similar as "self-evident truths" while elaborating on all the differences. The ACA is closer to the Heritage design than, for example, any other developed country's health care system.
And while I think there is political benefit in casting the ACA as a major progressive achievement, there is also political benefit in showing it as being based in conservative ideology, showing that Republicans opposing it are doing so for opposition's sake, not because there exists a competing conservative plan. It is also, I think, a more useful way of understanding the corner that Republicans are painted into on the issue - the only substantive, popular ways to change the ACA move it to the left.
I think that, based on the activism of the past months, the progressive community gets that the ACA is a major progressive achievement, and people who don't view it through that lens by now are not going to be sold it on the merits of its progressivism. Maybe I'm not in the right circles, but how big is the overlap between "has the impression that losing the ACA would be no big deal" and "reads Paul Krugman on a regular basis - but not the parts where he points out that losing the ACA would take health care away from millions of Americans, including the first paragraph of his most recent column"?
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 3:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
I'm not saying we should take away Krugman's Nobel prize here, but he's certainly setting back the cause by defining the ACA down. It was a major progressive achievement, albeit not nearly the bill any of us wanted. Whatever argument is being advanced with this sleight-of-hand isn't worth the risk of leaving people with the impression that losing the ACA would be no big deal because the Republicans basically wanted the same thing 20+ years ago.
Lemieux's post I think is a little overselling the case; everybody understands that ACA wasn't a photocopy of a 15 year old Heritage Foundation white paper. He dismisses the important areas that they are strongly similar as "self-evident truths" while elaborating on all the differences. The ACA is closer to the Heritage design than, for example, any other developed country's health care system.
And while I think there is political benefit in casting the ACA as a major progressive achievement, there is also political benefit in showing it as being based in conservative ideology, showing that Republicans opposing it are doing so for opposition's sake, not because there exists a competing conservative plan. It is also, I think, a more useful way of understanding the corner that Republicans are painted into on the issue - the only substantive, popular ways to change the ACA move it to the left.
I think that, based on the activism of the past months, the progressive community gets that the ACA is a major progressive achievement, and people who don't view it through that lens by now are not going to be sold it on the merits of its progressivism. Maybe I'm not in the right circles, but how big is the overlap between "has the impression that losing the ACA would be no big deal" and "reads Paul Krugman on a regular basis - but not the parts where he points out that losing the ACA would take health care away from millions of Americans, including the first paragraph of his most recent column"?
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 3:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
Hey folks. You might want to reconsider the "oompa loompa" jokes and comments. Here's a good overview explaining why they are offensive.
posted by mcduff at 3:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [38 favorites]
posted by mcduff at 3:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [38 favorites]
LOLZ: @realDonaldTrump: "A great day at the White House!"
[that's what he has to say, in its entirety]
posted by zachlipton at 3:22 PM on July 31, 2017 [27 favorites]
[that's what he has to say, in its entirety]
posted by zachlipton at 3:22 PM on July 31, 2017 [27 favorites]
What else is left? Augustus's glandular problem is off limits, as is Violet's OCD, Veruca's spiritual heir is President and Mike Teevee grew up to be on Fox and Friends.
posted by delfin at 3:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by delfin at 3:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
FOUR OLD PEOPLE IN ONE BED, THAT'S WHAT SOCIALIZED MEDICINE GETS YOU
posted by prize bull octorok at 3:26 PM on July 31, 2017 [28 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 3:26 PM on July 31, 2017 [28 favorites]
Kinkshamer.
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:29 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:29 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
FOUR OLD PEOPLE IN ONE BED, THAT'S WHAT SOCIALIZED MEDICINE GETS YOU
Cialis and tequila can have the same effect.
posted by MrVisible at 3:30 PM on July 31, 2017 [17 favorites]
Cialis and tequila can have the same effect.
posted by MrVisible at 3:30 PM on July 31, 2017 [17 favorites]
Grandpa Joe clearly faking disability.
posted by Artw at 3:32 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Artw at 3:32 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
You know, I don't mean to sound like a pessimist, but I'm getting the feeling this administration might not know what they're doing.
posted by saysthis at 3:34 PM on July 31, 2017 [47 favorites]
posted by saysthis at 3:34 PM on July 31, 2017 [47 favorites]
Hey, now that Scaramucci is free, maybe he and Don Jr can form Dooch Enterprises.
posted by FelliniBlank at 3:35 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 3:35 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
I'm about to take a vacation soon, and I'm like actually afraid to look away from the internet in case the world is essentially on fire in five days. Stuff happens way too quickly in this "administration".
posted by corb at 3:36 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by corb at 3:36 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
Oompa Loompas
Please to note MetaFilter link in the link.
posted by petebest at 3:39 PM on July 31, 2017 [35 favorites]
“In the version first published, [the Oompa-Loompas were] a tribe of 3,000 amiable black pygmies who have been imported by Mr. Willy Wonka from ‘the very deepest and darkest part of the African jungle where no white man had been before.’ Mr. Wonka keeps them in the factory, where they have replaced the sacked white workers. Wonka’s little slaves are delighted with their new circumstances, and particularly with their diet of chocolate. Before they lived on green caterpillars, beetles, eucalyptus leaves, ‘and the bark of the bong-bong tree.'”Of course it was rewritten after the first edition. Ten years after. In 1972.
Please to note MetaFilter link in the link.
posted by petebest at 3:39 PM on July 31, 2017 [35 favorites]
That Jeff Flake piece feels like a massive crack in the dam. Holy hell.
posted by Glibpaxman at 3:40 PM on July 31, 2017 [31 favorites]
posted by Glibpaxman at 3:40 PM on July 31, 2017 [31 favorites]
So as I layered in my defense mechanisms, I even found myself saying things like, “If I took the time to respond to every presidential tweet, there would be little time for anything else.”
I find it difficult to take his contrition seriously when just four days ago he voted to destroy the Affordable Care Act.
Fuck his penitence.
posted by suelac at 3:41 PM on July 31, 2017 [39 favorites]
I find it difficult to take his contrition seriously when just four days ago he voted to destroy the Affordable Care Act.
Fuck his penitence.
posted by suelac at 3:41 PM on July 31, 2017 [39 favorites]
Mod note: Enough with the Oompa Loompas, suffice to say there are plenty of problems, folks can seek more info outside this thread.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 3:41 PM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 3:41 PM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
At a certain point, it might be time to build an ark.
Now would be a good point to start building this metaphorical ark of impeachment.
posted by diogenes at 3:41 PM on July 31, 2017 [14 favorites]
Now would be a good point to start building this metaphorical ark of impeachment.
posted by diogenes at 3:41 PM on July 31, 2017 [14 favorites]
From National Treasure Alexandra Petri:
And now the curse of President Trump has fallen upon Scaramucci, and he has been made a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. He is of no further use to Jared nor unto Ivanka, and so his iniquities cry out against him, and his loyalty is regarded not at all. And also the general, John Kelly, did not like his deeds, not one bit, and John Kelly has big braids on his shoulders and his burnt offerings to the homeland have received Trump’s favor.posted by yasaman at 3:42 PM on July 31, 2017 [47 favorites]
So he has been cursed forth from Trump’s presence and he must wander the earth and lament until the end of his days.
He was escorted from the White House grounds, crying piteously to his maker, “Do not cast me out! For I have sold my business and destroyed my relationships, and if I must be hidden from your face, I must surely die.”
Brutal piece from Jeff Flake (R-AZ).
Tl;dr: concerned, troubled
posted by FelliniBlank at 3:42 PM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
Tl;dr: concerned, troubled
posted by FelliniBlank at 3:42 PM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
Didn't somebody else in the Trump administration (or maybe it was the right-wing media) already trot out the "too stupid too collude" excuse?
posted by diogenes at 3:43 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by diogenes at 3:43 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
Tl;dr: concerned, troubled
Probably, but McCain's patented "concerns" recently resulted in real action, so maybe it's the start of a new trend!
posted by diogenes at 3:45 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
Probably, but McCain's patented "concerns" recently resulted in real action, so maybe it's the start of a new trend!
posted by diogenes at 3:45 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
It was we conservatives who
This is what it sounds like when you not only sow the seeds of authoritarianism but also repeatedly drive the manure spreader over the field, put up a fence around it, brag to anyone who will listen about how great the harvest is going to be, and then it finally grows out of the ground as a much more ugly and toxic crop than you could have imagined.
Do you think he'd be saying any of these things if Trump were more "statesmanlike"? If Trump were able to push through his policies, many of them lifted straight from the far right of the Republican party, with finesse and clever politicking? If he even tweeted less? I seriously doubt it. I think what bothers conservatives the most about Trump isn't that he's trying to pull the country way far to the right; it's that he's bad at doing that.
You'll forgive me if I have a really hard time believing all these Republican legislators, who have next year's midterms to consider and spent years building up to a president like Trump, suddenly had some Road to Damascus moment and realized what a monster he is. They've been pushing for an autotheocracy since Reagan. They're just disappointed the guy leading the charge is so awful at being able to lead. But hell, if that means the party caves from within, so be it.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 3:48 PM on July 31, 2017 [37 favorites]
This is what it sounds like when you not only sow the seeds of authoritarianism but also repeatedly drive the manure spreader over the field, put up a fence around it, brag to anyone who will listen about how great the harvest is going to be, and then it finally grows out of the ground as a much more ugly and toxic crop than you could have imagined.
Do you think he'd be saying any of these things if Trump were more "statesmanlike"? If Trump were able to push through his policies, many of them lifted straight from the far right of the Republican party, with finesse and clever politicking? If he even tweeted less? I seriously doubt it. I think what bothers conservatives the most about Trump isn't that he's trying to pull the country way far to the right; it's that he's bad at doing that.
You'll forgive me if I have a really hard time believing all these Republican legislators, who have next year's midterms to consider and spent years building up to a president like Trump, suddenly had some Road to Damascus moment and realized what a monster he is. They've been pushing for an autotheocracy since Reagan. They're just disappointed the guy leading the charge is so awful at being able to lead. But hell, if that means the party caves from within, so be it.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 3:48 PM on July 31, 2017 [37 favorites]
Probably, but McCain's patented "concerns" recently resulted in real action, so maybe it's the start of a new trend!
Well, according to the article, the things Flake is concerned about are the very urgent, crisis issues of free trade and the legislative filibuster rather than, you know, the fitness of the President to remain in office, so I ain't holding my breath.
posted by FelliniBlank at 3:48 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Well, according to the article, the things Flake is concerned about are the very urgent, crisis issues of free trade and the legislative filibuster rather than, you know, the fitness of the President to remain in office, so I ain't holding my breath.
posted by FelliniBlank at 3:48 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Tl;dr: concerned, troubled
Probably, but McCain's patented "concerns" recently resulted in real action, so maybe it's the start of a new trend!
posted by diogenes at 7:45 AM on August 1 [1 favorite +] [!]
A new trend of not emmiserating the poor to make the rich richer, gaslighting, persecuting minorities, respecting women's rights, acknowledging science, following the law, and not preaching exactly the wrong thing all the time?
posted by saysthis at 3:49 PM on July 31, 2017
Probably, but McCain's patented "concerns" recently resulted in real action, so maybe it's the start of a new trend!
posted by diogenes at 7:45 AM on August 1 [1 favorite +] [!]
A new trend of not emmiserating the poor to make the rich richer, gaslighting, persecuting minorities, respecting women's rights, acknowledging science, following the law, and not preaching exactly the wrong thing all the time?
posted by saysthis at 3:49 PM on July 31, 2017
If only the Flake thing didn't happen today, it might have made the front page news. Maybe.
posted by mmoncur at 3:50 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by mmoncur at 3:50 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
Brutal piece from Jeff Flake (R-AZ):
Yeah. I don't give a fuck what Jeff Flake has to say. He's voted with Trump 95.5% of the time, and it's outright journalistic malpractice to publish his op-ed (so he can hawk his upcoming book) without a picture of him with a giant "95.5% Trump Supporter" stamp over his face.
He declares us to be Noah before the flood and asks why his own party is doing nothing about it, yet when it comes time for him to actually say what should be done, his grand ideas are to maybe say something when Trump might damage the party (not the nation or people of color or LGBT people mind you, just if he could be hurting the Republican Party), say they're still for free trade, and not end the filibuster. That's bloody it? That's your policy prescription? You get all riled up about how it's time to build an ark and how Article I means Congress is there to act, and yet what you actually meant was "continue to send the occasional tweet that's vaguely critical but continue to vote to enable everything Trump wants?"
This op-ed and the Senate who wrote it are a complete waste of space and time.
posted by zachlipton at 3:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [42 favorites]
Yeah. I don't give a fuck what Jeff Flake has to say. He's voted with Trump 95.5% of the time, and it's outright journalistic malpractice to publish his op-ed (so he can hawk his upcoming book) without a picture of him with a giant "95.5% Trump Supporter" stamp over his face.
He declares us to be Noah before the flood and asks why his own party is doing nothing about it, yet when it comes time for him to actually say what should be done, his grand ideas are to maybe say something when Trump might damage the party (not the nation or people of color or LGBT people mind you, just if he could be hurting the Republican Party), say they're still for free trade, and not end the filibuster. That's bloody it? That's your policy prescription? You get all riled up about how it's time to build an ark and how Article I means Congress is there to act, and yet what you actually meant was "continue to send the occasional tweet that's vaguely critical but continue to vote to enable everything Trump wants?"
This op-ed and the Senate who wrote it are a complete waste of space and time.
posted by zachlipton at 3:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [42 favorites]
I'd just like to point out Trump's three last tweets:
Donald J. Trump: Highest Stock Market EVER, best economic numbers in years, unemployment lowest in 17 years, wages raising, border secure, S.C.: No WH chaos!
Retweeted Fox & Friends story about a county sheriff thinking he's doing a good job
[Mooch quits/fired here]
Donald J. Trump: A great day at the White House!
posted by MattWPBS at 3:54 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Donald J. Trump: Highest Stock Market EVER, best economic numbers in years, unemployment lowest in 17 years, wages raising, border secure, S.C.: No WH chaos!
Retweeted Fox & Friends story about a county sheriff thinking he's doing a good job
[Mooch quits/fired here]
Donald J. Trump: A great day at the White House!
posted by MattWPBS at 3:54 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Unless you're Jeff Flake, you don't have to apologize :)
posted by zachlipton at 3:55 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 3:55 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
I realize this is a case of very low expectations, exceeded, but the part I really...appreciated isn't the right word, but anyway the part where he acknowledged conservative silence in the face of attacks on Obama's very legitimacy.
That caught my attention too. And when he admitted that the obstructionism against Obama led us to Trump. It's something we all know, but hearing it from a Republican Senator? Well, I think Flake is pretty fucked in 2018 no matter what. If by some miracle of Lucifer Trump gets popular, Flake will be offed by a primary challenger. And no matter how centrist he tries to go, he's an unpopular first term Senator running while his party's extremely unpopular President is in the WH.
The best part is that as Senators like Flake or Heller squirm to the center and say truthful but inflammatory things like this, it will only ignite the GOP civil war that we all know is coming. Grab your popcorn.
posted by Glibpaxman at 3:56 PM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
That caught my attention too. And when he admitted that the obstructionism against Obama led us to Trump. It's something we all know, but hearing it from a Republican Senator? Well, I think Flake is pretty fucked in 2018 no matter what. If by some miracle of Lucifer Trump gets popular, Flake will be offed by a primary challenger. And no matter how centrist he tries to go, he's an unpopular first term Senator running while his party's extremely unpopular President is in the WH.
The best part is that as Senators like Flake or Heller squirm to the center and say truthful but inflammatory things like this, it will only ignite the GOP civil war that we all know is coming. Grab your popcorn.
posted by Glibpaxman at 3:56 PM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
Flake does almost sound like a normal rational human being who is aware of what is going on there though... I assume he's for the chop now, since that's beyond the pale in Republican politics.
posted by Artw at 3:59 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Artw at 3:59 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
While there are elements of that Flake piece that are...in the direction of positive, it is still frustrating. First, opening with 'but liberals!" regarding the extremism undertaken by his own majority leader rings extremely hollow. Nothing undertaken by Democratic Congressional Cauci in the last 25 years has been anywhere close as awful to the Gingrich/McConnell Methodology. Second, acknowledging that it was wrong to say 'Papers Please!' to President Obama is too little, too late to have a meaningful effect--you're lead by the Birther King himself. Third, their whole platform is a racist, inhuman, anti-woman, anti-poor nightmare, grounded in zealotry, hate, lies, and bullshit.
If this piece is a prelude to a major change in Jeff Flake's behavior--i.e., working to respond to climate change, support for women's freedom to not give birth, voter enfranchisement, and so forth--then, great! I'd then be more inclined to support him, but until then, this piece reads like him trying to get ahead of negative stories for his 2018th re-election campaign and nothing more :-/.
Thanks for posting it, lalex--can be good to see what the opposition are saying.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 4:00 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
If this piece is a prelude to a major change in Jeff Flake's behavior--i.e., working to respond to climate change, support for women's freedom to not give birth, voter enfranchisement, and so forth--then, great! I'd then be more inclined to support him, but until then, this piece reads like him trying to get ahead of negative stories for his 2018th re-election campaign and nothing more :-/.
Thanks for posting it, lalex--can be good to see what the opposition are saying.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 4:00 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
Meanwhile, back in the White House, those remaining notice that yet another figurine of an Indian has been broken off the dining room centerpiece.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 4:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [41 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 4:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [41 favorites]
Didn't somebody else in the Trump administration (or maybe it was the right-wing media) already trot out the "too stupid too collude" excuse?
I believe Lindsey Graham had a zinger along those lines.
posted by orange ball at 4:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
I believe Lindsey Graham had a zinger along those lines.
posted by orange ball at 4:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
The Occasional Dana: Rep. Dana Rohrabacher faces hostile crowd during panel about Russia and Trump at Politicon
-------------
*stovepiping! disagreement among members of the IC!
posted by notyou at 4:02 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) said he appreciated being able to speak with people "who obviously don't like me" on the topic, one from which he has not backed down even as he's been in the headlines for his pro-Russia positions.He's got (half*) a point there. Too bad he learned it too late: Rohrabacher voted Aye on the 2002 Iraq AUMF.
The crowd wasn't having it. They heckled him. "Shame on you!" they shouted. They called for “town hall meetings” in his district, 50 miles from the convention. They called him "paranoid." They hissed and they laughed.
[...]
Rohrabacher went after familiar targets, including President Obama, Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation. A man in the crowd shouted, “Fox News talking point!”
When it came to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's probe into Russia's meddling in the U.S. elections, Rohrabacher questioned the intelligence unearthed in the investigation and brought the conversation back to Clinton's controversial campaign emails. "They were not making up emails," he said. "All they were doing was releasing information that was accurate."
The congressman said he's learned not to trust American intelligence until he can verify it, and cited the reports of weapons of mass destruction during the Iraq confict to back up his point.
-------------
*stovepiping! disagreement among members of the IC!
posted by notyou at 4:02 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
How will the movie about this disaster show trump tweeting? Will it be house of cards style on screen displays? Even the movie is gonna suck
posted by dis_integration at 4:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by dis_integration at 4:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Like with Peggy Noonan's column I'm less concerned about the hypocrisy and many manifest policy and morality problems with the man and column than I am with what it reflects about Republicans' mindset toward Trump. People are openly defying Trump and calling out him and the Party. Recognizing that this represents a pretty big chink in the armor doesn't mean you're excusing or forgetting Flake's awfulness and hypocrisy. This is a R senator up for election 2018 who's publicly running as fast as possible away from Trump and the Party.
posted by chris24 at 4:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [37 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 4:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [37 favorites]
Dear Concerned Republicans:
You broke it. You own it.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 4:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
You broke it. You own it.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 4:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
How will the movie about this disaster show trump tweeting?
smash cut to Donald, ankles bepantsed, hunched atop a toilet in a dingy bathroom, his face lit up by the glow of the screen, slowly reading the tweet to himself as he furiously types it out. same bathroom, same posture, same everything, every time
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
smash cut to Donald, ankles bepantsed, hunched atop a toilet in a dingy bathroom, his face lit up by the glow of the screen, slowly reading the tweet to himself as he furiously types it out. same bathroom, same posture, same everything, every time
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
Chris Christie basically argued Trump, Jr. was too dumb to collude.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 4:07 PM on July 31, 2017
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 4:07 PM on July 31, 2017
Trump's method is based on forcibly imposing a synthetic reality in place of the actual one -- as was the Cheney/Bush Jr. regime. Who can forget this classic quote?
So when a Jeff Flake admits to aspects of consensus/objective reality, and notes that Trump's approach isn't working, that is very significant IMHO even if he doesn't vote the right way.
posted by msalt at 4:10 PM on July 31, 2017 [18 favorites]
We create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . .It's amazing Republicans didn't conclude from the disaster that was George W. Bush's presidency that this idea was flawed, but Trump & Co. clearly doubled down and the Rebublican base ate it up. Their continued embrace of reality-from-will and the reality that Trump is projecting is the president's main remaining source of strength.
So when a Jeff Flake admits to aspects of consensus/objective reality, and notes that Trump's approach isn't working, that is very significant IMHO even if he doesn't vote the right way.
posted by msalt at 4:10 PM on July 31, 2017 [18 favorites]
"You own it."
No, it's all going wrong because of Democrap interference and Dear Leader is doing the best job, terrific ones, with huge... "tracts of land", and blackjack and hookers, big league, much believe, very me, wow. Mediocre!
posted by Evilspork at 4:11 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
No, it's all going wrong because of Democrap interference and Dear Leader is doing the best job, terrific ones, with huge... "tracts of land", and blackjack and hookers, big league, much believe, very me, wow. Mediocre!
posted by Evilspork at 4:11 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
I like the idea of Flake talking explicitly in terms of an ark/lifeboat. If that idea starts to gain currency there could well be a rush to get onboard to avoid being swept away in a righteous flood of accountability at the hands of wrathful voters.
posted by contraption at 4:11 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by contraption at 4:11 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
That Jeff Flake piece feels like a massive crack in the dam.
Rather poor taste for Flake to claim the mantle as Arizona's useless concern troll before McCain is even in the grave.
posted by JackFlash at 4:15 PM on July 31, 2017 [57 favorites]
Rather poor taste for Flake to claim the mantle as Arizona's useless concern troll before McCain is even in the grave.
posted by JackFlash at 4:15 PM on July 31, 2017 [57 favorites]
folks I think it went a little something like this
RUSSIAN SPY: let us collude
DON JR: WHERE ARE THE HILLARY EMAILS WHY DO YOU KEEP TALKING ABOUT ADOPTION THIS IS DUMB
RUSSIAN SPY: ok plan B we'll just say the fact that you took this meeting is kompromat
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:16 PM on July 31, 2017 [73 favorites]
RUSSIAN SPY: let us collude
DON JR: WHERE ARE THE HILLARY EMAILS WHY DO YOU KEEP TALKING ABOUT ADOPTION THIS IS DUMB
RUSSIAN SPY: ok plan B we'll just say the fact that you took this meeting is kompromat
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:16 PM on July 31, 2017 [73 favorites]
I like the idea of Flake talking explicitly in terms of an ark/lifeboat. If that idea starts to gain currency there could well be a rush to get onboard to avoid being swept away in a righteous flood of accountability at the hands of wrathful voters.
Or like rats desperate to flee the sinking, burning ship. I believe that Republican officials thought they could ride the Trump train to the magical Land of White Christian Free-Market 'Murka, with a woman in every kitchen and a gun in every man's hand.
But Trump is so out of control and his brand proving to be so toxic that many mainstream Republicans are going to start thinking in terms of saving their own skins/re-election chances/ places at the wingnut welfare trough.
I want the Trump toxicity to stick to all his Republican allies and former allies just like the pitch stuck to the bratty lazy daughter in Frau Holle.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 4:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
How will the movie about this disaster show trump tweeting?
At first in a wide shot, Trump typing on his device artfully, fingers almost dancing, cut to a variety of individuals reading on various devices, chuckling, beaming, showing to friends. Occasional Russians / Macedonian fake newsers spliced in. As campaign gains power, these individual responses will be intermixed with cheering crowds, images of skirmishes and campaign rally violence.
After his election, the loud cheering crowds fade to ominous silence. Trump, alone, in big empty White House looking around like a paranoid owl. He picks his Android tentatively, in the filmic shorthand we recognize from a thousand movies about alcoholism, and starts to tweet frenetically.
The camera gets closer and closer as the pace accelerates- his fingers, an eye and arched brow, mixed responses from followers, some aggro Proud Boys cheering, others wincing, a quick shot of him passed out with covfefe on screen, then the rhythm quickening, fragments of single letters filling the screen until the frenzy explodes into ... {not sure, we haven't got there yet.}
posted by msalt at 4:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
At first in a wide shot, Trump typing on his device artfully, fingers almost dancing, cut to a variety of individuals reading on various devices, chuckling, beaming, showing to friends. Occasional Russians / Macedonian fake newsers spliced in. As campaign gains power, these individual responses will be intermixed with cheering crowds, images of skirmishes and campaign rally violence.
After his election, the loud cheering crowds fade to ominous silence. Trump, alone, in big empty White House looking around like a paranoid owl. He picks his Android tentatively, in the filmic shorthand we recognize from a thousand movies about alcoholism, and starts to tweet frenetically.
The camera gets closer and closer as the pace accelerates- his fingers, an eye and arched brow, mixed responses from followers, some aggro Proud Boys cheering, others wincing, a quick shot of him passed out with covfefe on screen, then the rhythm quickening, fragments of single letters filling the screen until the frenzy explodes into ... {not sure, we haven't got there yet.}
posted by msalt at 4:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
Jennifer Rubin in the Washington Post: Does the GOP deserve to survive?
*Yes, I would prefer more than just two viable parties, but in the nearer term, I'm willing to have two parties that operate from a basis in empirical evidence.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 4:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [46 favorites]
An accountability project (maybe not quite at the level of reconciliation processes in the wake of fallen regimes in South Africa or Chile) certainly is needed; a turnover in leadership is essential. The party must repudiate Trump and the Trump era to go forward. Those intent on turning away from the Trump era will require visible symbols underscoring the party’s repudiation of Trumpism, including perhaps a name change. (The New Republican Party? The Modern Republican Party?)I may never really get over how weird it is to agree with Rubin this frequently--I used to think she was a total hack--, but I think she's making a whole lot of sense in this piece. A real center-right party*, with an agenda and policy ideas root in empirical evidence would be a huge boon to everyone. There's very little that is 'center-right' about the current Republican party--it's radicals nearly all the way down.
Second, is such a dramatic break really needed? Yes, if, as #NeverTrump and #NoLongerTrump Republicans believe, the Trump problem is of an entirely different magnitude than, say, Watergate, and has resulted in much more serious, permanent damage to our democracy, then it is not enough to simply shuffle the presidential candidates, make some speeches and keep the platform and leadership essentially unchanged. And yes, most of the Republicans currently in the House and Senate need to go. They’ve put party over country, not lived up to their oaths of office and contributed to the polarization of our politics and erosion of our democratic norms. A clean, dramatic break is mandatory. [...]
Third, both the specific agenda (a creaky facade left over from the 1980s) and the central values of the party are in need of revamping. Its positions on tax, budget, environmental, law enforcement and immigration policy are outmoded, counterproductive and in many cases not based on reality. [...]
Fourth, Trump’s presidency should prompt center-right voters and leaders to re-define the purpose, foundational beliefs and role of the party. Civic character and dedication to democratic norms (as opposed to positions on a laundry list of issues) must be elevated in importance.
*Yes, I would prefer more than just two viable parties, but in the nearer term, I'm willing to have two parties that operate from a basis in empirical evidence.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 4:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [46 favorites]
I didn't see this posted here, but one can imagine the potential for hijinks, tragedy, and ragefuel.
White House panel urges Trump to declare state of emergency over opioid crisis
"The White House's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis — created by executive order in March and chaired by Chris Christie — issued an interim report today with a big recommendation to President Trump: declare a national emergency to respond to the country's opioid crisis." (via Axios, so I'm sure there's more out there)
posted by saysthis at 4:22 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
White House panel urges Trump to declare state of emergency over opioid crisis
"The White House's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis — created by executive order in March and chaired by Chris Christie — issued an interim report today with a big recommendation to President Trump: declare a national emergency to respond to the country's opioid crisis." (via Axios, so I'm sure there's more out there)
posted by saysthis at 4:22 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
From the Jesus Wept file:
Just passed Seb Gorka on the Hill. His [Mustang's] license plate is "ART WAR"
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
Just passed Seb Gorka on the Hill. His [Mustang's] license plate is "ART WAR"
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
In tangential political news, the DSA has reached its goal of 25k members before the National Convention on the 3rd.
posted by The Whelk at 4:26 PM on July 31, 2017 [18 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 4:26 PM on July 31, 2017 [18 favorites]
Brutal piece from Jeff Flake (R-AZ)
Yeah, the Jeff Flake piece is good for sharing, in the hopes that it might cause another little chink in the armor of my conservative-leaning friends who have a hard time abandoning the party out of loyalty/tribalism; but as soon as I saw I thought "oh, is Jeff Flake expressing grave concern?" Right after he voted in favor of something that was highly unpopular among his constituents and in direct opposition to the very high-profile vote of his fellow senator? The year before he's up for re-election? Hmm, I wonder if Jeff Flake really is sincere this time. Sincere and concerned enough to take some meaningful action? Let me think about it...
posted by triggerfinger at 4:29 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Yeah, the Jeff Flake piece is good for sharing, in the hopes that it might cause another little chink in the armor of my conservative-leaning friends who have a hard time abandoning the party out of loyalty/tribalism; but as soon as I saw I thought "oh, is Jeff Flake expressing grave concern?" Right after he voted in favor of something that was highly unpopular among his constituents and in direct opposition to the very high-profile vote of his fellow senator? The year before he's up for re-election? Hmm, I wonder if Jeff Flake really is sincere this time. Sincere and concerned enough to take some meaningful action? Let me think about it...
posted by triggerfinger at 4:29 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
From the Jesus Wept file:
Just passed Seb Gorka on the Hill. His [Mustang's] license plate is "ART WAR"
There just weren't enough characters for "INSUFFERABLE PRICK"
posted by jason_steakums at 4:37 PM on July 31, 2017 [15 favorites]
Just passed Seb Gorka on the Hill. His [Mustang's] license plate is "ART WAR"
There just weren't enough characters for "INSUFFERABLE PRICK"
posted by jason_steakums at 4:37 PM on July 31, 2017 [15 favorites]
From the Jesus Wept file:
Just passed Seb Gorka on the Hill. His [Mustang's] license plate is "ART WAR"
This is how I always internally pronounce Artw's username on here when I read it.
posted by dng at 4:39 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Just passed Seb Gorka on the Hill. His [Mustang's] license plate is "ART WAR"
This is how I always internally pronounce Artw's username on here when I read it.
posted by dng at 4:39 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Re: Flake -- look, when our enemies cry out for mercy we don't have to give it to them. I just like how it sounds.
posted by penduluum at 4:40 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by penduluum at 4:40 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
Just passed Seb Gorka on the Hill. His [Mustang's] license plate is "ART WAR"
Note to anyone considering quoting Sun Tzu: the impression this creates is not "hey, this guy is a deep thinker" it's "Christ, another one of these wankers".
posted by thelonius at 4:41 PM on July 31, 2017 [62 favorites]
Note to anyone considering quoting Sun Tzu: the impression this creates is not "hey, this guy is a deep thinker" it's "Christ, another one of these wankers".
posted by thelonius at 4:41 PM on July 31, 2017 [62 favorites]
This is how I always internally pronounce Artw's username on here when I read it.
I am made very sad by this moment.
posted by Artw at 4:42 PM on July 31, 2017 [41 favorites]
I am made very sad by this moment.
posted by Artw at 4:42 PM on July 31, 2017 [41 favorites]
WTF is Axios anyway? Sounds like a front.
posted by Artw at 4:43 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Artw at 4:43 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
I knew I should have kept that to myself.
posted by dng at 4:43 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by dng at 4:43 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Gorka reminds of a dude who thinks he can't get dates because "women only date assholes" and he's a Nice Guy, wears a duster and a fedora, and plays a lot of tabletop wargames with thousands of cardboard counters.
posted by Justinian at 4:44 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 4:44 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
Also he could totally tell you the advantages and disadvantages of the 7.5 cm KwK 42 L/70 vs the 8.8 cm KwK 43 L/71.
posted by Justinian at 4:45 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 4:45 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
He studied the blade.
posted by Artw at 4:45 PM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
posted by Artw at 4:45 PM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
Art War
Round 1: Carney versus Garfunkel
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 4:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [90 favorites]
Round 1: Carney versus Garfunkel
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 4:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [90 favorites]
Actually the thing to understand about Gorka is that he was in the TA and makes a Really Big deal out of it and pretends to be some kind of military expert as a result of it.
He's Mike from Spaced but an asshole, is what I'm saying.
There was probably even a time with a tank.
posted by Artw at 4:53 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
He's Mike from Spaced but an asshole, is what I'm saying.
There was probably even a time with a tank.
posted by Artw at 4:53 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
His [Mustang's] license plate is "ART WAR"
The better question is, what exactly is that probably-illegal-in-all-50-states apparatus mounted on the top of that license plate?
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 4:53 PM on July 31, 2017
The better question is, what exactly is that probably-illegal-in-all-50-states apparatus mounted on the top of that license plate?
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 4:53 PM on July 31, 2017
Hey, Democrats, Maybe You Should Run Someone Against Jeff Flake
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:54 PM on July 31, 2017 [28 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:54 PM on July 31, 2017 [28 favorites]
WaPo: Exclusive: President Trump personally dictated the misleading statement on Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with Russians
Trump, they say, is increasingly acting as his own lawyer, strategist and publicist, often disregarding the recommendations of the professionals he has hired.posted by rewil at 4:55 PM on July 31, 2017 [66 favorites]
“He refuses to sit still,” the presidential adviser said. “He doesn’t think he’s in any legal jeopardy, so he really views this as a political problem he is going to solve by himself.”
WTF is Axios anyway? Sounds like a front.
posted by Artw at 8:43 AM on August 1 [+] [!]
Wikipedia: Axios (stylized as AXIOS) is an American news and information website founded in 2016 by Politico co-founder Jim VandeHei, Politico's former Chief White House correspondent Mike Allen, and former Politico Chief Revenue Officer Roy Schwartz.
The company launched with a mission statement that consisted of, “Media is broken—and too often a scam.” It planned to focus on "business, technology, politics, and media trends".[2] Furthermore they disavowed the use of banner ads, pop-ups and clickbait titles, using native advertising instead. The article style was focused on brevity, clear structure and often features bullet points.[4]
A July 2017 overview on the use of unnamed sources in US political reporting highlighted Axios (alongside Politico) as a publication that is "targeted at political junkies" and "in particular often float[s] 'scoops' predicting that something will happen that never does".[5]
Takeaway - stay wary of possible native advertising & predictive headlines, but often a good 2-3 paragraph "here is what is happening"-style news site with non-clickbait-ish headlines. I like it for my RSS reader. Run by Politico staffers & funded by NBC, among others, not evil.
Edited to fix funding partner list.
posted by saysthis at 4:56 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 8:43 AM on August 1 [+] [!]
Wikipedia: Axios (stylized as AXIOS) is an American news and information website founded in 2016 by Politico co-founder Jim VandeHei, Politico's former Chief White House correspondent Mike Allen, and former Politico Chief Revenue Officer Roy Schwartz.
The company launched with a mission statement that consisted of, “Media is broken—and too often a scam.” It planned to focus on "business, technology, politics, and media trends".[2] Furthermore they disavowed the use of banner ads, pop-ups and clickbait titles, using native advertising instead. The article style was focused on brevity, clear structure and often features bullet points.[4]
A July 2017 overview on the use of unnamed sources in US political reporting highlighted Axios (alongside Politico) as a publication that is "targeted at political junkies" and "in particular often float[s] 'scoops' predicting that something will happen that never does".[5]
Takeaway - stay wary of possible native advertising & predictive headlines, but often a good 2-3 paragraph "here is what is happening"-style news site with non-clickbait-ish headlines. I like it for my RSS reader. Run by Politico staffers & funded by NBC, among others, not evil.
Edited to fix funding partner list.
posted by saysthis at 4:56 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
WaPo: Exclusive: President Trump personally dictated the misleading statement on Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with Russians
This bit is the money quote, I think:
posted by zachlipton at 4:56 PM on July 31, 2017 [47 favorites]
This bit is the money quote, I think:
“This was . . . unnecessary,” said one of the president’s advisers, who like most other people interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations. “Now someone can claim he’s the one who attempted to mislead. Somebody can argue the president is saying he doesn’t want you to say the whole truth.”We knew they had a meeting to write the response and Trump was involved, but Trump personally dictating the blatantly misleading statement is new. And White House officials leaking this down to the level of "he doesn’t want you to say the whole truth" is astonishing to me.
posted by zachlipton at 4:56 PM on July 31, 2017 [47 favorites]
Bahahaha. Scaramucci is having dinner at the Trump Hotel tonight.
Tipster @ENBrown reports: "Just watched The Mooch enter Trump hotel lobby & pause for attention..none. Few steps, pause, pose..none. Few steps, pause, pose..."
posted by zachlipton at 4:59 PM on July 31, 2017 [61 favorites]
Tipster @ENBrown reports: "Just watched The Mooch enter Trump hotel lobby & pause for attention..none. Few steps, pause, pose..none. Few steps, pause, pose..."
posted by zachlipton at 4:59 PM on July 31, 2017 [61 favorites]
Trump, they say, is increasingly acting as his own lawyer, strategist and publicist
I have such a love hate relationship with this scripted-by-frontal-lobe-damaged-Shakespeare shit
I mean I am cackling -- loudly -- but also holy bugfuck Christ
posted by schadenfrau at 5:00 PM on July 31, 2017 [31 favorites]
I have such a love hate relationship with this scripted-by-frontal-lobe-damaged-Shakespeare shit
I mean I am cackling -- loudly -- but also holy bugfuck Christ
posted by schadenfrau at 5:00 PM on July 31, 2017 [31 favorites]
Come on, dude, order some fucking takeout. I'm already sore from laughing at your expense.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
Hey, Democrats, Maybe You Should Run Someone Against Jeff Flake
Nah. We thought it'd be a laugh fucking riot to run nobody in a marginal Republican seat with a pissed off electorate. We'd finally find out who the Libertarians would caucus with.
posted by Talez at 5:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Nah. We thought it'd be a laugh fucking riot to run nobody in a marginal Republican seat with a pissed off electorate. We'd finally find out who the Libertarians would caucus with.
posted by Talez at 5:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
I hear the meatloaf there is unique.
posted by MrVisible at 5:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by MrVisible at 5:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
Ooooooo, I toldja there was a vaguely obstruction of justice-y flavor to Trump's involvement in cooking up that cover story.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Tipster @ENBrown reports: "Just watched The Mooch enter Trump hotel lobby & pause for attention..none. Few steps, pause, pose..none. Few steps, pause, pose..."
Yet more evidence the whole thing was a stunt to distract media attention from theBrowder testimony.
posted by ocschwar at 5:05 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
Yet more evidence the whole thing was a stunt to distract media attention from theBrowder testimony.
posted by ocschwar at 5:05 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
Trump, they say, is increasingly acting as his own [. . .] publicist
That's only because the great Arthur Schwartz isn't available.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
That's only because the great Arthur Schwartz isn't available.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
That's only because the great Arthur Schwartz isn't available.
I thought it was because we all knew about John Barron.
posted by Talez at 5:08 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
I thought it was because we all knew about John Barron.
posted by Talez at 5:08 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Man I was leaving work thinking jokingly "better get home by scoop o'clock" and just got home and the latest broke about the Don jr statement being dictated and I'm going to have a drink before I eat the Chinese takeout.
posted by vrakatar at 5:10 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by vrakatar at 5:10 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
From Susan Simpson, The View from LL2:
It turns out that Don Jr.'s statement had been written and approved by Trump on board Air Force One, while flying back from the G20 meeting. Trump knew NYT story was in pipeline when he got Putin alone for a chat no other American would hear. The Don Jr. meeting was on his mind. The next day, in response to a story that the NYT was about to break on Don Jr.'s meeting with the Russian lawyer, Don Jr. gave a statement.
That doesn't sound like a coincidence. That sounds like making sure you & an accomplice are on same page when it comes to your cover story. Entire thread
posted by readery at 5:14 PM on July 31, 2017 [54 favorites]
It turns out that Don Jr.'s statement had been written and approved by Trump on board Air Force One, while flying back from the G20 meeting. Trump knew NYT story was in pipeline when he got Putin alone for a chat no other American would hear. The Don Jr. meeting was on his mind. The next day, in response to a story that the NYT was about to break on Don Jr.'s meeting with the Russian lawyer, Don Jr. gave a statement.
That doesn't sound like a coincidence. That sounds like making sure you & an accomplice are on same page when it comes to your cover story. Entire thread
posted by readery at 5:14 PM on July 31, 2017 [54 favorites]
Vic Berger weighs in
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 5:14 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 5:14 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
No, no, see Trump and all the boys being boys around him are fine with all that locker room talk, but they have to protect their womenfolk from such crudeness.
For a good laugh or cry, try reading this 2011 column from conservative talkshow host and 2016 Trump supporter Dennis Prager, F-Word Laced Speech Disqualifies Donald Trump from Presidency:
For a good laugh or cry, try reading this 2011 column from conservative talkshow host and 2016 Trump supporter Dennis Prager, F-Word Laced Speech Disqualifies Donald Trump from Presidency:
Last week, Trump may have made his one contribution to American history. His was the first speech of a person seeking the nomination of major party to be its candidate for president to use such language.posted by peeedro at 5:16 PM on July 31, 2017 [15 favorites]
Had he used the F-word once and apologized, I would not have written this column. But, and this IS important, he used it once and, upon seeing the enthusiastic reaction, felt encouraged to use it again and again.
The audience’s reaction is even more important — and more distressing — than Trump’s use of the word. Had there been booing, or had someone who invited him arisen to ask that he not use such language, or had some of the women walked out, the good name of the Republican Party and of conservative values would have been preserved. But if Republican women — and I emphasize both the party and the gender — find the F-word used by a potential candidate for president of the United States amusing, America is more coarsened than I had imagined.
If we cannot count on Republicans and conservatives to maintain standards of public decency and civility, to whom shall we look?
The thing about Axios is that it comes from Politico's Playbook DNA -- short, social-media-sized bites of news, aimed at a Beltway and media insider audience. But sheesh, that name....
There's a credit union near me that calls itself Advia and has a purple and white "medical" color scheme, like it's not a way to save money but a way to cure your gout.
So when a Jeff Flake admits to aspects of consensus/objective reality, and notes that Trump's approach isn't working, that is very significant IMHO even if he doesn't vote the right way. --msalt
Like with Peggy Noonan's column I'm less concerned about the hypocrisy and many manifest policy and morality problems with the man and column than I am with what it reflects about Republicans' mindset toward Trump. --chris24
Same. The thing here is that if you want the dysfunction to continue you probably don't want the GOP to get frustrated and impeach. And maybe the rule of law doesn't work for everybody but dunno if I want the anarchy that would surely follow the collapse of a Trumpian autocracy/proctocracy. Either the Constitution means something, however imperfect, or it means nothing and we'd better hope for a leftist revolution that works, but the choices seem to be somewhere between neo-liberalism and neo-confederacy. I sure don't want to imagine the constitution that would come out of a new convention given the country's tilt lately. I no longer have my optimism.
But yeah, there's a growing rift between what it means to be "Republican" and what it means to be "Trumpist", and it's mainly about that crazification factor with his base. That's great for the left when it means they can't pass no-healthcare, but it's not great for the US in the long run, even discounting the risk of a war. I'm happy so far to settle for a WH that can't find its own asshole, but I choose to stand with any Republican who'll help get the fool out of there. Doesn't mean I like them or what they stand for.
Flake is significant as a sitting Senator. The party has plenty of folks already derided by the base as RINOs, so what's one more for them? If he gives cover to more of his partisans to speak up, though, we might see more than Graham-esque "concern". Flake is a Mormon and a literal Goldwater Foundation alumnus, so he isn't from the RINO-ey Bush wing in that sense; he is probably closer politically to someone like Noonan, but she's not an elected.
posted by dhartung at 5:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
There's a credit union near me that calls itself Advia and has a purple and white "medical" color scheme, like it's not a way to save money but a way to cure your gout.
So when a Jeff Flake admits to aspects of consensus/objective reality, and notes that Trump's approach isn't working, that is very significant IMHO even if he doesn't vote the right way. --msalt
Like with Peggy Noonan's column I'm less concerned about the hypocrisy and many manifest policy and morality problems with the man and column than I am with what it reflects about Republicans' mindset toward Trump. --chris24
Same. The thing here is that if you want the dysfunction to continue you probably don't want the GOP to get frustrated and impeach. And maybe the rule of law doesn't work for everybody but dunno if I want the anarchy that would surely follow the collapse of a Trumpian autocracy/proctocracy. Either the Constitution means something, however imperfect, or it means nothing and we'd better hope for a leftist revolution that works, but the choices seem to be somewhere between neo-liberalism and neo-confederacy. I sure don't want to imagine the constitution that would come out of a new convention given the country's tilt lately. I no longer have my optimism.
But yeah, there's a growing rift between what it means to be "Republican" and what it means to be "Trumpist", and it's mainly about that crazification factor with his base. That's great for the left when it means they can't pass no-healthcare, but it's not great for the US in the long run, even discounting the risk of a war. I'm happy so far to settle for a WH that can't find its own asshole, but I choose to stand with any Republican who'll help get the fool out of there. Doesn't mean I like them or what they stand for.
Flake is significant as a sitting Senator. The party has plenty of folks already derided by the base as RINOs, so what's one more for them? If he gives cover to more of his partisans to speak up, though, we might see more than Graham-esque "concern". Flake is a Mormon and a literal Goldwater Foundation alumnus, so he isn't from the RINO-ey Bush wing in that sense; he is probably closer politically to someone like Noonan, but she's not an elected.
posted by dhartung at 5:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
If we cannot count on Republicans and conservatives to maintain standards of public decency and civility, to whom shall we look?
Did they miss that time Dick Cheney told someone to go fuck themselves in the senate?
posted by dng at 5:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
Did they miss that time Dick Cheney told someone to go fuck themselves in the senate?
posted by dng at 5:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
Axios (stylized as AXIOS) is an American news and information website founded in 2016
*slowly realizes he's been thinking of Atrios for months of seeing Axios links*
posted by jason_steakums at 5:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [22 favorites]
*slowly realizes he's been thinking of Atrios for months of seeing Axios links*
posted by jason_steakums at 5:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [22 favorites]
Notes from today's League of Women Voters meeting with our new Mayor in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. We are progressive FOR MISSISSIPPI, and the new white mayor is continuing the outgoing African-American mayor's stance of not flying the Mississippi state flag on municipal buildings. So, I asked him, "In light of that, are you hearing any rumblings about changing the name of our county?" He got a pained look on his face and curtly said, "No." A lady behind me stage-whispered, "Now that's going too far!!"
Now, it's maybe just ME, but I think that a conversation about changing our county's name from "Forrest," named after Confederate general and KKK-founder Nathan Bedford Forrest, to something else, (maybe like one-R "Forest," perhaps?) while not the most pressing issue ever, is maybe worth having?
posted by thebrokedown at 5:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [37 favorites]
Now, it's maybe just ME, but I think that a conversation about changing our county's name from "Forrest," named after Confederate general and KKK-founder Nathan Bedford Forrest, to something else, (maybe like one-R "Forest," perhaps?) while not the most pressing issue ever, is maybe worth having?
posted by thebrokedown at 5:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [37 favorites]
the particular flakey paragraphs quoted here are pretty good but why argue about whether the conclusions live up to them when if you actually go to the source this is his opener:
Who could blame the people who felt abandoned and ignored by the major parties for reaching in despair for a candidate who offered oversimplified answers to infinitely complex questions and managed to entertain them in the process?
ME. ME, JEFF FLAKE, I COULD DO THAT. I COULD AND I CAN. and so could even a twerp like you. don't tell me you never used your blaming tendons before and you're afraid you'll strain them, I will not believe you. get some gumption and blame your constituents. blaming Donald Trump is petty stuff and pretty soon it will even be the easy, cowardly choice for Republicans as well as every sane person. but blaming the ones responsible, that might have consequences. and questioning the judgment of the Republican electorate when you are elected by Republicans might be some kind of prelude to a personal sacrifice in the name of principle and truth. god forbid.
posted by queenofbithynia at 5:25 PM on July 31, 2017 [20 favorites]
Who could blame the people who felt abandoned and ignored by the major parties for reaching in despair for a candidate who offered oversimplified answers to infinitely complex questions and managed to entertain them in the process?
ME. ME, JEFF FLAKE, I COULD DO THAT. I COULD AND I CAN. and so could even a twerp like you. don't tell me you never used your blaming tendons before and you're afraid you'll strain them, I will not believe you. get some gumption and blame your constituents. blaming Donald Trump is petty stuff and pretty soon it will even be the easy, cowardly choice for Republicans as well as every sane person. but blaming the ones responsible, that might have consequences. and questioning the judgment of the Republican electorate when you are elected by Republicans might be some kind of prelude to a personal sacrifice in the name of principle and truth. god forbid.
posted by queenofbithynia at 5:25 PM on July 31, 2017 [20 favorites]
This is an important bit buried in the Post story:
posted by zachlipton at 5:35 PM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
In one scenario, these people said, Kushner’s team talked about sharing everything, including the contents of the emails, with a mainstream news organization.Circa was an innovative news app and aggregator that shut down in 2015 for financial reasons. Its ashes were purchased by Sinclair Broadcast Group.
Hicks and Raffel declined to comment. Kushner lawyer Abbe Lowell also declined to comment.
The president’s outside legal team, led by Marc Kasowitz, had suggested that the details be given to Circa, an online news organization the Kasowitz team thought would be friendly to Trump. Circa had inquired in previous days about the meeting, according to people familiar with the discussions.
The president’s legal team planned to cast the June 2016 meeting as a potential setup by Democratic operatives hoping to entrap Trump Jr. and, by extension, the presumptive Republican nominee, according to people familiar with discussions.
Kasowitz declined to comment for this article, as did a Circa spokesman.
posted by zachlipton at 5:35 PM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
Scaramucci is having dinner at the Trump Hotel tonight.
Those are some spicy Moochballs! Bada bing!
posted by kirkaracha at 5:45 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Allegations are only allegations, until trial.
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:47 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:47 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
If there is any justice in the universe, someday soon Gorka will be subpoenaed to testify before a House committee that includes Rep. Maxine Waters, because never has there been a smug hostile blowhard more in need than he of being Time Reclaimed.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:47 PM on July 31, 2017 [17 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:47 PM on July 31, 2017 [17 favorites]
OK so I was in my car when the news broke about Scaramucci, and I laughed out loud and scared the kids, and also thought I'll never get to bed tonight.
But it's also so strange, this morning I was thinking a lot about how Trump doesn't have pets and how that is indicative of what is wrong with him. We are really a hive mind. I think someone needs to gift Barron with a dog (or a pony, or a panda, or a tarantula). People do this all the time with royalty, and there is little they can do about it. Mostly the animals are given to a zoo (here in the monarchy), but I suspect Barron really wants a pet and even a rat could improve his life. Pets are character-building.
posted by mumimor at 5:48 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
But it's also so strange, this morning I was thinking a lot about how Trump doesn't have pets and how that is indicative of what is wrong with him. We are really a hive mind. I think someone needs to gift Barron with a dog (or a pony, or a panda, or a tarantula). People do this all the time with royalty, and there is little they can do about it. Mostly the animals are given to a zoo (here in the monarchy), but I suspect Barron really wants a pet and even a rat could improve his life. Pets are character-building.
posted by mumimor at 5:48 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
I sure hope every single person on that AF-1 flight where Trump cooked up the "misleading story" has a criminal defense attorney on retainer.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:54 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:54 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
Did they miss that time Dick Cheney told someone to go fuck themselves in the senate?
Reader, that someone's name was Patrick Leahy.
posted by rhizome at 5:56 PM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
Reader, that someone's name was Patrick Leahy.
posted by rhizome at 5:56 PM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
even a rat could improve his life
A fellow MeFite told me yesterday that he finds himself muttering, like a mantra, "ratfuckers!" throughout his day because, well, ratfuckers. So maybe a different pet?
posted by Bella Donna at 5:56 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
A fellow MeFite told me yesterday that he finds himself muttering, like a mantra, "ratfuckers!" throughout his day because, well, ratfuckers. So maybe a different pet?
posted by Bella Donna at 5:56 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
I mean surely, Trump sitting down to hash anything out with anybody is newsworthy in itself.
posted by rhizome at 5:57 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 5:57 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Um, in case that wasn't clear, he's referring to Republicans. And Trump. And his minions.
posted by Bella Donna at 5:57 PM on July 31, 2017
posted by Bella Donna at 5:57 PM on July 31, 2017
Did they miss that time Dick Cheney told someone to go fuck themselves in the senate?
Don't forget the time he shot a guy in the face, and then made that guy apologize for having his face shot
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 6:07 PM on July 31, 2017 [63 favorites]
Don't forget the time he shot a guy in the face, and then made that guy apologize for having his face shot
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 6:07 PM on July 31, 2017 [63 favorites]
From the WaPo article linked above:
posted by mhum at 6:10 PM on July 31, 2017 [78 favorites]
“The thing that really strikes me about this is the stupidity of involving the president,” Zeidenberg said. “They are still treating this like a family-run business and they have a PR problem. . . . What they don’t seem to understand is this is a criminal investigation involving all of them.”This is something I'm not sure has been remarked upon enough. Trump himself was the one who talked to Comey to get him to back off of the Flynn investigation. Trump himself was the one who asked Dan Coats to see if there was anything he could do to get Comey to back off. I'm 60% sure that there was also a third person (Adm. Rogers maybe?) that Trump personally asked to see if they could do something about the Russia investigation. This ding-dong is too dim to realize that when you're making active efforts to obstruct an ongoing investigation, you don't do it yourself. You send a trusted flunkie to deliver the message in order to maintain the illusion of plausible deniability. We don't need to ask "What did [Trump] know and when did he know it?" He fucking told us, he told everyone. He said it on NBC News. There's no way for him to lay this off on some rogue aides, 'cause he's the one that did it.
posted by mhum at 6:10 PM on July 31, 2017 [78 favorites]
A question for the lawyers: does "fulsome" have a specific legal meaning?
Here's the passage from the linked WaPo piece: "Trump Jr. did not respond to requests for comment. His lawyer, Alan Futerfas, told The Post that he and his client “were fully prepared and absolutely prepared to make a fulsome statement” about the meeting, what led up to it and what was discussed."
If not, then I think this word may not mean what Futerfas thinks it means.
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:13 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Here's the passage from the linked WaPo piece: "Trump Jr. did not respond to requests for comment. His lawyer, Alan Futerfas, told The Post that he and his client “were fully prepared and absolutely prepared to make a fulsome statement” about the meeting, what led up to it and what was discussed."
If not, then I think this word may not mean what Futerfas thinks it means.
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:13 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Think Progress White House commission on drug abuse recommends increasing Medicaid spending
The commission, which is chaired by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), said the best way to “rapidly increase treatment capacity” is to expand the availability of treatment under Medicaid with more federal funds. The commission, which also includes the governors of Massachusetts and North Carolina, calls expanding the availability of Medicaid “the single fastest way to increase treatment availability across the nation.”posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:14 PM on July 31, 2017 [44 favorites]
Good god, ten days isn't even usually enough time for government IT to get your email working. At least give him a few days to prove he's just as email-security-stupid as the rest of 'em.
posted by ctmf at 6:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by ctmf at 6:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
If not, then I think this word may not mean what Futerfas thinks it means.
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:13 PM on July 31 [1 favorite +] [!]
Re: fulsome
From William Safire's 2009 column on language:
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:13 PM on July 31 [1 favorite +] [!]
Re: fulsome
From William Safire's 2009 column on language:
He meant full, in the sense of “complete,” even “abundant” or “copious,” which is what that word meant in the Middle Ages. But by the 16th century, fulsome’s meaning had taken “full” overboard, to “satiating, cloying, excessive.” Shakespeare used it often, meaning “loathsome” and “rank with lust.” The O.E.D. defines its application to language and style as “offensive to good taste . . . from being ‘over-done.’ Now chiefly used in reference to gross or excessive flattery.”posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 6:33 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
In the 20th century, however, the original, positive meaning of “abundant” made a comeback that now causes semantic confusion. To some, fulsome praise means “full-fledged acknowledgment of worthiness”; to others, it means “overboard apple-polishing; nauseating flattery.”
Sure are a lot of "sources knowledgable of the discussions" going around. Kushner still has a security clearance because he's Mueller's mole in the organization. Calling it.
posted by ctmf at 6:34 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by ctmf at 6:34 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
For the White House pet I'd allow maybe a stick-insect, but I'd be worried about the thing. Maybe just a stick.
posted by Artw at 6:35 PM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
posted by Artw at 6:35 PM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
Fulsome is a troublesome word. And, it turns out, it’s a rare case in which dictionaries have made the word’s meaning more confusing rather than more clear.
In context Futerfas seems to be using it the way Noah Webster thought that Americans were using it, but we then followed the English for the next century or so and allowed it to seem like a derivation of 'foul' rather than 'full'. In the last couple of generations, though, that meaning (which was original to the word in the 13th century) seems to have returned.
(If you google the phrase while excluding the current applicable name, you find a debate in the South Australian Parliament as to which sense it was used. In 1886.)
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by dhartung at 6:35 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
In context Futerfas seems to be using it the way Noah Webster thought that Americans were using it, but we then followed the English for the next century or so and allowed it to seem like a derivation of 'foul' rather than 'full'. In the last couple of generations, though, that meaning (which was original to the word in the 13th century) seems to have returned.
(If you google the phrase while excluding the current applicable name, you find a debate in the South Australian Parliament as to which sense it was used. In 1886.)
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by dhartung at 6:35 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
Today's Don Jr leak must have come from Priebus I assume.
Here's to many more where that came from.
posted by Rumple at 6:35 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
Here's to many more where that came from.
posted by Rumple at 6:35 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
If Trump had a dog, we'd be able to create a fake Twitter account for that dog:
@Dogus45 - moochuman left meatloaf on table but staff cleared it before I could grab it. Losers. Sad. #tiredofwinnimg
posted by Joey Michaels at 6:40 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
@Dogus45 - moochuman left meatloaf on table but staff cleared it before I could grab it. Losers. Sad. #tiredofwinnimg
posted by Joey Michaels at 6:40 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
When I hear someone use it, it sets off my BS detector, just like when they say they have "a number of" documents or witnesses proving their case (you see, zero is a number).
I almost always hear "fulsome" as part of "fulsome praise." As euphemisms for "a lot" or "many" go, it's way less annoying than "myriad" or "a plethora."
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:40 PM on July 31, 2017
I almost always hear "fulsome" as part of "fulsome praise." As euphemisms for "a lot" or "many" go, it's way less annoying than "myriad" or "a plethora."
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:40 PM on July 31, 2017
Trump was "joking" when he encouraged police violence.
Are there no real reporters at these press conferences? Why didn't someone say "Does President Trump consider all police abuse and violence to be a joke, or just certain kinds? And do innocent victims of police violence think it's funny?"
posted by mmoncur at 6:45 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
Are there no real reporters at these press conferences? Why didn't someone say "Does President Trump consider all police abuse and violence to be a joke, or just certain kinds? And do innocent victims of police violence think it's funny?"
posted by mmoncur at 6:45 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
I'm sorry, but I don't think Barron should get a pet.
Here's the thing about growing up with a narcissist parent. If they ever find out you love anything, they will do everything in their power to destroy that thing or your connection to it. Caring about anything provides the monster with leverage. The survival method most people adopt is referred to as 'grey rock'; you don't give the narcissist any power over you by not giving them reactions. You don't share anything with them, and hope they ignore you.
Eventually, hopefully, you get free and get into therapy. (Hopefully with a therapist who is well-versed in treatment methods for CPTSD.)
I shudder to think of what would happen to a pet caught up in the power dynamics between Trump and his son. Like, literally shudder.
posted by MrVisible at 6:45 PM on July 31, 2017 [70 favorites]
Here's the thing about growing up with a narcissist parent. If they ever find out you love anything, they will do everything in their power to destroy that thing or your connection to it. Caring about anything provides the monster with leverage. The survival method most people adopt is referred to as 'grey rock'; you don't give the narcissist any power over you by not giving them reactions. You don't share anything with them, and hope they ignore you.
Eventually, hopefully, you get free and get into therapy. (Hopefully with a therapist who is well-versed in treatment methods for CPTSD.)
I shudder to think of what would happen to a pet caught up in the power dynamics between Trump and his son. Like, literally shudder.
posted by MrVisible at 6:45 PM on July 31, 2017 [70 favorites]
it's way less annoying than "myriad" or "a plethora."
And what is a plethora, Jefe ?
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 6:48 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
And what is a plethora, Jefe ?
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 6:48 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
Are there no real reporters at these press conferences?
Precious few.
posted by uosuaq at 6:48 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Precious few.
posted by uosuaq at 6:48 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Are there no real reporters at these press conferences? Why didn't someone say "Does President Trump consider all police abuse and violence to be a joke, or just certain kinds? And do innocent victims of police violence think it's funny?"
Those are basically the exact questions that reporters (pretty sure I heard Jim Acosta in particular) were shouting as Sanders walked out.
posted by zachlipton at 6:48 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
Those are basically the exact questions that reporters (pretty sure I heard Jim Acosta in particular) were shouting as Sanders walked out.
posted by zachlipton at 6:48 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
We had a hint this was coming after the fake email from Priebus to Scaramucci, but here's the full story. CNN (Jake Tapper): White House officials tricked by email prankster
posted by zachlipton at 6:55 PM on July 31, 2017 [50 favorites]
A self-described "email prankster" in the UK fooled a number of White House officials into thinking he was other officials, including an episode where he convinced the White House official tasked with cyber security that he was Jared Kushner and received that official's private email address unsolicited.There's so much more gold inside. Only the best people!
"Tom, we are arranging a bit of a soirée towards the end of August," the fake Jared Kushner on an Outlook account wrote to the official White House email account of Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert. "It would be great if you could make it, I promise food of at least comparible (sic) quality to that which we ate in Iraq. Should be a great evening."
Bossert wrote back: "Thanks, Jared. With a promise like that, I can't refuse. Also, if you ever need it, my personal email is" (redacted).
posted by zachlipton at 6:55 PM on July 31, 2017 [50 favorites]
convinced the White House official tasked with cyber security
Awise man once said "The security aspect of cyber is very, very tough".
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 7:00 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
A
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 7:00 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
That's only because the great Arthur Schwartz isn't available.
He fell in the first moments of the Art War. When you come at Linkletter, you best not miss.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [17 favorites]
He fell in the first moments of the Art War. When you come at Linkletter, you best not miss.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [17 favorites]
Has Mueller asked for an email confession yet?
posted by AlexiaSky at 7:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by AlexiaSky at 7:06 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Trump was "joking" when he encouraged police violence.
Trump: "When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough, I said, 'Please don't be too nice."
That Freddy Gray broken neck joke is a real knee-slapper. And the police at the speech thought it was hilarious.
posted by JackFlash at 7:07 PM on July 31, 2017 [27 favorites]
Trump: "When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough, I said, 'Please don't be too nice."
That Freddy Gray broken neck joke is a real knee-slapper. And the police at the speech thought it was hilarious.
posted by JackFlash at 7:07 PM on July 31, 2017 [27 favorites]
"Tom, we are arranging a bit of a soirée towards the end of August," the fake Jared Kushner on an Outlook account wrote to the official White House email account of Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert.The really delicious thing about that bit of phishing is that it looks from the screenshot in the article like it got tagged as [SUSPECTED_SPAM]; but Bossert fell for it anyway.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 7:13 PM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
This is something I'm not sure has been remarked upon enough. Trump himself was the one who talked to Comey to get him to back off of the Flynn investigation. Trump himself was the one who asked Dan Coats to see if there was anything he could do to get Comey to back off. I'm 60% sure that there was also a third person (Adm. Rogers maybe?) that Trump personally asked to see if they could do something about the Russia investigation. This ding-dong is too dim to realize that when you're making active efforts to obstruct an ongoing investigation, you don't do it yourself.
One might ask, "Well, why in the hell would he ever do that?" He does stupid shit like the above because he thinks that he's a master deal maker and that people like/respect him so much that he can get them to drop serious federal investigations. He thinks his money will protect him because it always has before.
Thing is, though, he's a second-string high school ball player with rich parents who've literally bought starts for him trying to play with the big leaguers. To stretch this metaphor to breaking--Trump doesn't even know the in-field fly rule, and he doesn't understand why he's been called out.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 7:14 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
One might ask, "Well, why in the hell would he ever do that?" He does stupid shit like the above because he thinks that he's a master deal maker and that people like/respect him so much that he can get them to drop serious federal investigations. He thinks his money will protect him because it always has before.
Thing is, though, he's a second-string high school ball player with rich parents who've literally bought starts for him trying to play with the big leaguers. To stretch this metaphor to breaking--Trump doesn't even know the in-field fly rule, and he doesn't understand why he's been called out.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 7:14 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
The night just gets better and better. Lachlan and Swin at the Daily Beast bring us: Corey Lewandowski Has Been Fired From The One America News Network
posted by zachlipton at 7:15 PM on July 31, 2017 [14 favorites]
Corey Lewandowski has been fired. Again.Just how terrible do you have to be to get fired by OANN? I didn't know that was actually even possible.
Three sources with knowledge of the situation tell The Daily Beast that the former Trump campaign manager and current informal adviser to the president has been let go from One America News Network, a pro-Trump cable channel pitching itself as an aspiring Fox News.
Lewandowski angered OANN leadership with his frequent appearances on Fox and other competitors, which one former OANN employee described as “a big no-no” with the channel’s leadership. Senior staff at the network knew it was likely that Lewandowski would do other network appearances, but things came to a head when it began to appear that Lewandowski was giving more attention to competitors than his employer.
posted by zachlipton at 7:15 PM on July 31, 2017 [14 favorites]
Nation Not Sure How Many Ex-Trump Staffers It Can Safely Reabsorb.
posted by storybored at 7:17 PM on July 31, 2017 [45 favorites]
posted by storybored at 7:17 PM on July 31, 2017 [45 favorites]
I'm watching Lawrence O'Donnell and his guests talk about Kelly's new responsibilities and what he must do to stabilize the White House and the consensus seems to be this: he's got to be the fucking President.
posted by octobersurprise at 7:18 PM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by octobersurprise at 7:18 PM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
Someone better get the email prankster story to the Pentagon before Trump orders a military operation to go rescue a Nigerian prince.
posted by zachlipton at 7:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 7:19 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
Wait, what? Are they saying he needs to take over? Or that he has no chance in hell?
posted by gofargogo at 7:20 PM on July 31, 2017
posted by gofargogo at 7:20 PM on July 31, 2017
"Tom, we are arranging a bit of a soirée towards the end of August," the fake Jared Kushner on an Outlook account wrote to the official White House email account of Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert. "It would be great if you could make it, I promise food of at least comparible (sic) quality
it's the classic straight-in not-trying-style email scam to weed out people with any degree of skepticism or critical thinking/reading ability, too! look at that, faking up a typo and then IN THE SAME EMAIL using a word ("soirée") which anyone could tell you Kushner does not know and could not spell and certainly could not accent correctly. and as if Kushner would ever propose "a bit of a"(n) anything ever, any more than trump would. this is a completely different dumb idiom from his own! why doesn't anybody hire me to discover who is Real and who is Replicant in their inbox, I have skills. well, I can read, anyway.
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:22 PM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
it's the classic straight-in not-trying-style email scam to weed out people with any degree of skepticism or critical thinking/reading ability, too! look at that, faking up a typo and then IN THE SAME EMAIL using a word ("soirée") which anyone could tell you Kushner does not know and could not spell and certainly could not accent correctly. and as if Kushner would ever propose "a bit of a"(n) anything ever, any more than trump would. this is a completely different dumb idiom from his own! why doesn't anybody hire me to discover who is Real and who is Replicant in their inbox, I have skills. well, I can read, anyway.
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:22 PM on July 31, 2017 [10 favorites]
They're saying that Donnie needs babysitting to such a degree that Kelly might as well be President.
posted by octobersurprise at 7:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by octobersurprise at 7:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
I think Fulsome is the prison they're all gonna go to.
posted by orange ball at 7:25 PM on July 31, 2017 [64 favorites]
posted by orange ball at 7:25 PM on July 31, 2017 [64 favorites]
From Foreign Policy, by Robbie Gramer, Dan De Luce, and Colum Lynch-- How the Trump Administration Broke the State Department: Morale has hit rock bottom at Foggy Bottom, as American foreign service officers languish and Rex Tillerson builds a mini-empire. "By failing to fill numerous senior positions across the State Department, promulgating often incoherent policies, and systematically shutting out career foreign service officers from decision-making, the Trump administration is undercutting U.S. diplomacy and jeopardizing America’s leadership role in the world, according to more than three dozen current and former diplomats interviewed by FP."
And this, from the last paragraphs: "But a top aide has confided to colleagues that Tillerson and his inner circle are growing deeply frustrated by “media attacks, their inability to control the policy, and a lack of support from the Senate.”
“I think he hates the job and won’t stay long,” the aide said."
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:25 PM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
And this, from the last paragraphs: "But a top aide has confided to colleagues that Tillerson and his inner circle are growing deeply frustrated by “media attacks, their inability to control the policy, and a lack of support from the Senate.”
“I think he hates the job and won’t stay long,” the aide said."
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:25 PM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
White House officials tricked by email prankster
Remember we had an entire campaign where the only issue covered on CNN and in the New York Times was email security practices?
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:25 PM on July 31, 2017 [89 favorites]
Remember we had an entire campaign where the only issue covered on CNN and in the New York Times was email security practices?
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:25 PM on July 31, 2017 [89 favorites]
I know what you did.
this is the only thing more infuriating than you know what you did, coming from someone you're trying to scam into telling what it was "you" did.
scaramucci comes off fairly well here, in that he was dumb enough he believed it was the real Reince, but prudent enough not to let any classified details slip into the ether. because of course you wouldn't tell Reince anything scandalous or substantial. nobody tells Reince anything.
and "reread Shakespeare" really isn't bad advice just in general
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:27 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
this is the only thing more infuriating than you know what you did, coming from someone you're trying to scam into telling what it was "you" did.
scaramucci comes off fairly well here, in that he was dumb enough he believed it was the real Reince, but prudent enough not to let any classified details slip into the ether. because of course you wouldn't tell Reince anything scandalous or substantial. nobody tells Reince anything.
and "reread Shakespeare" really isn't bad advice just in general
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:27 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
What I want to know is, who exactly does Smoochy think he is in his Othello reference?
posted by biogeo at 7:30 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by biogeo at 7:30 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
I think Fulsome is the prison they're all gonna go to.
I hear the train a comin'.
posted by dirigibleman at 7:33 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
I hear the train a comin'.
posted by dirigibleman at 7:33 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
Smooch thinks he is all the characters, all the time.
posted by AlexiaSky at 7:34 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by AlexiaSky at 7:34 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
My personal preference for the next White House Director of Communications is Joe Pesci, whom I have confirmed is still alive
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 7:40 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 7:40 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
“They are still treating this like a family-run business and they have a PR problem. . . . What they don’t seem to understand is this is a criminal investigation involving all of them.”
But remember, Trump has treated every one of his numerous illegal activities pre-White-House as a "PR problem" and has never been called to account for them, so why can't he keep going the way that always worked for him? And today he tweeted a boast about a "record high" stock market. Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again; if America actually prosecuted White Collar Crime, Trump would have been put away for life years ago (and the stock market trading floors would be mostly empty while the Federal Prisons would have no room for drug offenders, due to all the Wall Street crooks).
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:41 PM on July 31, 2017 [18 favorites]
But remember, Trump has treated every one of his numerous illegal activities pre-White-House as a "PR problem" and has never been called to account for them, so why can't he keep going the way that always worked for him? And today he tweeted a boast about a "record high" stock market. Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again; if America actually prosecuted White Collar Crime, Trump would have been put away for life years ago (and the stock market trading floors would be mostly empty while the Federal Prisons would have no room for drug offenders, due to all the Wall Street crooks).
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:41 PM on July 31, 2017 [18 favorites]
he soon caught on and responded, "I have sent this to law enforcement who will handle from here."
That's also the recommended response to emails from the actual Don. Jr.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:42 PM on July 31, 2017 [56 favorites]
That's also the recommended response to emails from the actual Don. Jr.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:42 PM on July 31, 2017 [56 favorites]
I think the awful truth is that they are all the dumb one.
posted by Justinian at 7:45 PM on July 31, 2017 [22 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 7:45 PM on July 31, 2017 [22 favorites]
I could believe the recent over-the-top shenanigans are, in part, camouflage for Browder's testimony. What I don't get, is what good that's supposed to do.
If you can't prevent a story from coming out, make sure attention turns to it gradually, in a trickle, and not in a splash.
Shit, even China does it this way. They practically do A-B testing on censorship to see what to let slide and what to suppress.
posted by ocschwar at 7:50 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
If you can't prevent a story from coming out, make sure attention turns to it gradually, in a trickle, and not in a splash.
Shit, even China does it this way. They practically do A-B testing on censorship to see what to let slide and what to suppress.
posted by ocschwar at 7:50 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
y'all, between this and...quite a few other things, I am starting to think that Eric's not the dumb one.
I know, right? The detail I always get hung up on is that when Trump took office, they made Don Jr. and a non-family guy be trustees of the business and wouldn't let Eric do it. It's just such a bazarrio slight. This is weird arrangement and such a public slight to Eric; two brothers are off supposedly running the business, but one of them is relegated to being merely the only member of an advisory committee?
But given recent events, what if they really did that because Eric was too clever to run the business?
I hate that I think about this.
posted by zachlipton at 7:51 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
I know, right? The detail I always get hung up on is that when Trump took office, they made Don Jr. and a non-family guy be trustees of the business and wouldn't let Eric do it. It's just such a bazarrio slight. This is weird arrangement and such a public slight to Eric; two brothers are off supposedly running the business, but one of them is relegated to being merely the only member of an advisory committee?
But given recent events, what if they really did that because Eric was too clever to run the business?
I hate that I think about this.
posted by zachlipton at 7:51 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
quite a few other things, I am starting to think that Eric's not the dumb one
1) Lowest. Bar. Ever.
2) Smart enough to steal money from his charity, too dumb to do it well.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:52 PM on July 31, 2017
1) Lowest. Bar. Ever.
2) Smart enough to steal money from his charity, too dumb to do it well.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:52 PM on July 31, 2017
Given how they all fell for this prankster, there's no way these idiots weren't phished and hacked like Podesta. Russia has everything they've emailed I'd guess, so even if there wasn't outright conspiracy - though I'm sure there was - they're all compromised.
posted by chris24 at 7:58 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 7:58 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
I think the awful truth is that they are all the dumb one.
I am somehow reminded of the late, lamented Lemmy's approach to mixing Motörhead's sound: "Everything louder than everything else."
And can I also add that I love that my phone autocorrects Motorhead to Motörhead?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:59 PM on July 31, 2017 [31 favorites]
I am somehow reminded of the late, lamented Lemmy's approach to mixing Motörhead's sound: "Everything louder than everything else."
And can I also add that I love that my phone autocorrects Motorhead to Motörhead?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:59 PM on July 31, 2017 [31 favorites]
Given how they all fell for this prankster, there's no way they weren't phished and hacked like Podesta. Russia has everything they've emailed I'd guess, so even if there wasn't outright conspiracy - though I'm sure there was - they're all compromised.
And Trumo doesn't even use email, right? Funny, he's the only one that wouldn't get hit.
two brothers are off supposedly running the business, but one of them is relegated to being merely the only member of an advisory committee?because
I thought Don Jr. was GOB. It's all very confusing. Maybe Trump thinks someone named after you can't testify against you in court.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
And Trumo doesn't even use email, right? Funny, he's the only one that wouldn't get hit.
two brothers are off supposedly running the business, but one of them is relegated to being merely the only member of an advisory committee?because
I thought Don Jr. was GOB. It's all very confusing. Maybe Trump thinks someone named after you can't testify against you in court.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Fulsome Loser Blues
I had to sing this out loud in front of whoever was in the room.
Slight correction to my Fulsome song, "they let you got away" ---> "they let you get away" (with it).
Also, "shot a man ofn Fifth Ave"
posted by Mental Wimp at 8:09 PM on July 31, 2017
I had to sing this out loud in front of whoever was in the room.
Slight correction to my Fulsome song, "they let you got away" ---> "they let you get away" (with it).
Also, "shot a man o
posted by Mental Wimp at 8:09 PM on July 31, 2017
The State Dept is in even worse shape than we thought. Tillerson has revoked all delegated authorities in the department, which basically means his office is now solely and directly responsible for all functions of the State Department. Including personnel, transit passes, and keeping coffee filters in stock.
WTF.
(Possibly not the coffee filters.)
posted by suelac at 8:16 PM on July 31, 2017 [62 favorites]
WTF.
(Possibly not the coffee filters.)
posted by suelac at 8:16 PM on July 31, 2017 [62 favorites]
I just want to emphasize one detail about the Post's story tonight. Trump personally dictated the misleading statement for Don Jr. on Air Force One. Why was he on Air Force One? Because he was coming home from the G20 Summit. What was he doing at the G20 summit? Meeting with Putin, privately.
Again, the entire Russia story could merely be the world's largest coincidence, but when everything these people do is the most suspicious thing possible, including the cover-ups...
posted by zachlipton at 8:18 PM on July 31, 2017 [24 favorites]
Again, the entire Russia story could merely be the world's largest coincidence, but when everything these people do is the most suspicious thing possible, including the cover-ups...
posted by zachlipton at 8:18 PM on July 31, 2017 [24 favorites]
Tillerson has revoked all delegated authorities
Approving travel would be one. Kind of necessary for a State Department. (Also, approving public statements which, I can kind of see what he's going for there.)
posted by ctmf at 8:20 PM on July 31, 2017
Approving travel would be one. Kind of necessary for a State Department. (Also, approving public statements which, I can kind of see what he's going for there.)
posted by ctmf at 8:20 PM on July 31, 2017
The State Dept is in even worse shape than we thought. Tillerson has revoked all delegated authorities in the department, which basically means his office is now solely and directly responsible for all functions of the State Department. Including personnel, transit passes, and keeping coffee filters in stock.
WTF.
(Possibly not the coffee filters.)
posted by suelac at 12:16 PM on August 1 [5 favorites +] [!]
From the link:
Bureau of Consular Affairs: We don’t know how many delegated authorities there are in totality but the Bureau of Consular Affairs alone has 27 delegated authorities going back to 1969. We understand that this was recently just been renegotiated. Here are some (not an exhaustive list):
Delegation of Authority 119 (2/13/1969): Authority to designate persons who shall be authorized and empowered to administer oaths in connection with the execution of passport applications.
Delegation of Authority 143 (10/30/1981): Delegation of Authority to Issue Certificates of Authentication for Documents Maintained by the Office of Passport Services Department of State.
So. Passports.
posted by saysthis at 8:27 PM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
WTF.
(Possibly not the coffee filters.)
posted by suelac at 12:16 PM on August 1 [5 favorites +] [!]
From the link:
Bureau of Consular Affairs: We don’t know how many delegated authorities there are in totality but the Bureau of Consular Affairs alone has 27 delegated authorities going back to 1969. We understand that this was recently just been renegotiated. Here are some (not an exhaustive list):
Delegation of Authority 119 (2/13/1969): Authority to designate persons who shall be authorized and empowered to administer oaths in connection with the execution of passport applications.
Delegation of Authority 143 (10/30/1981): Delegation of Authority to Issue Certificates of Authentication for Documents Maintained by the Office of Passport Services Department of State.
So. Passports.
posted by saysthis at 8:27 PM on July 31, 2017 [13 favorites]
Won't there be, like, a million ways for bad actors to exploit a bottleneck like that?
posted by XMLicious at 8:28 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by XMLicious at 8:28 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
It can't go on. They can't do anything at all without Tillerson approving it.
No paychecks, no changes in schedules, no room reservations for meetings . No expenses.
posted by AlexiaSky at 8:32 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
No paychecks, no changes in schedules, no room reservations for meetings . No expenses.
posted by AlexiaSky at 8:32 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
Wow, the Tillerson revoking authorities thing is... if I'm reading the article correctly, that's the "grind gov't to a screeching halt" move.
And yeah, plenty of opportunity for exploiting the bottleneck, and (sigh) a whole bunch of people are going to be hurt (I haven't read enough to sort out if paychecks are part of this clusterfuck), and... this idiot dude is going to have a rough time when he realizes that re-allocating parts of the authority are going to take a lot longer than revoking them took. Re-allocating means getting someone to accept the baton, which means at the very least, time-delays for communications.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:34 PM on July 31, 2017 [15 favorites]
Why yes, if you need a pass for the State Department parking garage, you have to ask Tillerson’s Front Office for that, too.The article is proving too dense for my end-of-workday brain to sort out the full scope of what's going on, but I can understand that that's a whole lot of low-level decision-making that's now stuck on one guy, who apparently doesn't realize how many gov't functions are officially under his authority.
And yeah, plenty of opportunity for exploiting the bottleneck, and (sigh) a whole bunch of people are going to be hurt (I haven't read enough to sort out if paychecks are part of this clusterfuck), and... this idiot dude is going to have a rough time when he realizes that re-allocating parts of the authority are going to take a lot longer than revoking them took. Re-allocating means getting someone to accept the baton, which means at the very least, time-delays for communications.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:34 PM on July 31, 2017 [15 favorites]
The president’s legal team planned to cast the June 2016 meeting as a potential setup by Democratic operatives hoping to entrap Trump Jr. and, by extension, the presumptive Republican nominee, according to people familiar with discussions.
Was Nixon doing coke or did his paranoia come natural?
posted by petebest at 8:37 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
Was Nixon doing coke or did his paranoia come natural?
posted by petebest at 8:37 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
So Rex came back from his extended, definitely not a prelude to quitting vacation and decided to rekindle his enthusiasm for this job by immediately diving into . . . approving parking passes and meeting reservations?
posted by Copronymus at 8:38 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by Copronymus at 8:38 PM on July 31, 2017 [11 favorites]
Is this not an end-run around the Muslim Travel Ban slapdowns? Basically, that travel visas can now be super slow-walked through an intentionally bottlenecked State Department approval process, functionally eliminating most travel approvals by bureaucratic means.
Sort of like not making abortions illegal outright, but shuttering most of the clinics so that logistically they are virtually impossible to get?
posted by darkstar at 8:42 PM on July 31, 2017 [32 favorites]
Sort of like not making abortions illegal outright, but shuttering most of the clinics so that logistically they are virtually impossible to get?
posted by darkstar at 8:42 PM on July 31, 2017 [32 favorites]
that's the "grind gov't to a screeching halt" move
You'd think Rex Tillerson, of all people, would keep things well-oiled.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:47 PM on July 31, 2017 [33 favorites]
You'd think Rex Tillerson, of all people, would keep things well-oiled.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:47 PM on July 31, 2017 [33 favorites]
Yeah, this will indeed put a halt to the dread Muslim student-and-scientist invasion. Of course, it'll also put a halt to a substantial portion of US travel to other places, assistance for US citizens in other countries, and negotiating international government contracts.
Oh, and meetings, of course; wouldn't want to have unauthorized meetings. It will nicely end all discussions of budgeting, time off schedules, and telling interns which copy machine they're authorized to use.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:48 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
Oh, and meetings, of course; wouldn't want to have unauthorized meetings. It will nicely end all discussions of budgeting, time off schedules, and telling interns which copy machine they're authorized to use.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:48 PM on July 31, 2017 [9 favorites]
ELECTIONS NEWS
** 2018 Senate:
** Odds & ends:
** 2018 Senate:
-- In MI, Target-Insyght poll has Stabenow up 50-42 over possible GOP candidate (I can't believe I am typing this) Kid Rock.** Election integrity -- Arguments tomorrow in the Common Cause suit against the Kobach commission data request for Privacy Act violations. Should see a ruling on a TRO this week.
-- In PA, frothing anti-immigrant Rep Lou Barletta is close to jumping into the race against Bob Casey, but no formal announcement yet.
** Odds & ends:
-- The Obama/Holder redistricting org is off to a good start on the fundraising front.posted by Chrysostom at 8:49 PM on July 31, 2017 [43 favorites]
-- ACLU putting $5M into getting an initiative on the 2018 ballot in Florida to restore voting rights for felons who have completed their sentences.
-- A federal court has ruled North Carolina does not need to hold special elections over the illegally gerrymandered legislative districts. The legislature is ordered to produce new maps this September.
-- Trump approval continues at or near his all-time lows in all polls. Also check out this neat graph of Trump vs other post-WW2 presidents.
In all honesty, it looks an awful lot like Tillerson is pretty much putting sanctions on the US from inside the house, possibly in retaliation for the sanctions on Russia that are holding up his billions of dollars.
Sure tastes like treason.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [45 favorites]
Sure tastes like treason.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [45 favorites]
I know of nothing that says the State Department has stopped issuing visas, which would be enormous news if it happened. They issue around 10 million visas a year. It would be impossible for Tillerson to clear them all through his office all even if he wanted to.
Clearly, Tillerson has created a mess internally by revoking delegated authorities, but some of the catastrophizing doesn't seem to have happened.
posted by zachlipton at 8:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
Clearly, Tillerson has created a mess internally by revoking delegated authorities, but some of the catastrophizing doesn't seem to have happened.
posted by zachlipton at 8:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
flabdablet: Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the fandango?
*bangs head on desk repeatedly*
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 8:53 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
*bangs head on desk repeatedly*
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 8:53 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
Holy hell. If anyone wants to make spitbull's song a reality via internet collaboration, I don't have the skills for that but I do play a little mandolin* and would be glad to contribute backing chords. Just sayin'.
* the mandolin is little, and my skill is littler
posted by biogeo at 8:55 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
* the mandolin is little, and my skill is littler
posted by biogeo at 8:55 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
On more reading of the article - which isn't confirmed by anything else - it seems to say that he revoked all authorities, and then re-delegated selected sets of them, but apparently not the parts dealing with "minor administrative" functions. Like, y'know, parking permits.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:59 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:59 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Wait. Are you saying passports can't be given out now because Rex is the only one with authority to administer the oath?
posted by odinsdream at 12:45 PM on August 1 [3 favorites +] [!]
I DON'T KNOW!!!
posted by saysthis at 9:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by odinsdream at 12:45 PM on August 1 [3 favorites +] [!]
I DON'T KNOW!!!
posted by saysthis at 9:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
After spending months fearing that this administration would sink our government into some form of fascism, it is very odd to now watch them instead make the office of the president flat-out not function.
This is not what I had feared. No. It is something much stranger.
Too strange, in fact, for me to even hazard a guess at where it is all going next.
How long can the federal government go on without a functioning administration?
Who will finally take back the controls and how will they do it?
Please let it be someone competent, please let them do it within the rule of law, and please let it happen soon...
(hey a girl can dream)
posted by marlys at 9:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
This is not what I had feared. No. It is something much stranger.
Too strange, in fact, for me to even hazard a guess at where it is all going next.
How long can the federal government go on without a functioning administration?
Who will finally take back the controls and how will they do it?
Please let it be someone competent, please let them do it within the rule of law, and please let it happen soon...
(hey a girl can dream)
posted by marlys at 9:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [19 favorites]
It's only reported at the one site; there's no other news about it. If passports had come to a screeching halt a week ago, we'd've heard about it.
Anyone know if diplopundit.net is normally reliable?
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 9:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
Anyone know if diplopundit.net is normally reliable?
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 9:04 PM on July 31, 2017 [8 favorites]
I know of nothing that says the State Department has stopped issuing visas, which would be enormous news if it happened. They issue around 10 million visas a year. It would be impossible for Tillerson to clear them all through his office all even if he wanted to.
Clearly, Tillerson has created a mess internally by revoking delegated authorities, but some of the catastrophizing doesn't seem to have happened.
Remember that earlier this month, a Tillerson hired firm recommended all visa, passport, and travel document issuance be transferred to DHS.
I usually don't like tin foil hat speculating but if I was betting on conspiracies it looks like they plan to have DHS annex the whole visa/passport function by having State refuse to do it. Make it so bad that it forces Congress's hand on the issue. State and DHS have always been at loggerheads with the whole State trying to make us look like reasonable people on the world stage and the DHS skinheads wanting to bring back the [insert not-white ethnicity here] Exclusion Act. With DHS calling the shots, those shots backed by non-reviewability, and reasonable state department career diplomats expelled from the process, we can probably look forward to some really bad shit happening. Of all the departments, DHS has been on board with ethno-nationalist fascism from day fucking 1.
Marlys might have been a tad too quick about not functioning being a good sign of not slipping towards fascism.
posted by Talez at 9:17 PM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
Clearly, Tillerson has created a mess internally by revoking delegated authorities, but some of the catastrophizing doesn't seem to have happened.
Remember that earlier this month, a Tillerson hired firm recommended all visa, passport, and travel document issuance be transferred to DHS.
I usually don't like tin foil hat speculating but if I was betting on conspiracies it looks like they plan to have DHS annex the whole visa/passport function by having State refuse to do it. Make it so bad that it forces Congress's hand on the issue. State and DHS have always been at loggerheads with the whole State trying to make us look like reasonable people on the world stage and the DHS skinheads wanting to bring back the [insert not-white ethnicity here] Exclusion Act. With DHS calling the shots, those shots backed by non-reviewability, and reasonable state department career diplomats expelled from the process, we can probably look forward to some really bad shit happening. Of all the departments, DHS has been on board with ethno-nationalist fascism from day fucking 1.
Marlys might have been a tad too quick about not functioning being a good sign of not slipping towards fascism.
posted by Talez at 9:17 PM on July 31, 2017 [16 favorites]
The State department thing is pants on head insane. This can only be deliberately taking the state department out of play. Tillerson needs to be removed. This is madness.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 9:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 9:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [3 favorites]
Getting exceedingly carried away with all the speculation re: Tillerson, passports, and visas. This "story" has been reported in one blog thus far, and it's been up for close to 24 hours.
posted by standardasparagus at 9:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by standardasparagus at 9:20 PM on July 31, 2017 [12 favorites]
spitbull, you're a fucking genius and I love you.
Also I'm really glad to have some other earworm in my head as I make calls for Beto O'Rouke's campaign for Senate.
posted by blessedlyndie at 9:26 PM on July 31, 2017
Also I'm really glad to have some other earworm in my head as I make calls for Beto O'Rouke's campaign for Senate.
posted by blessedlyndie at 9:26 PM on July 31, 2017
Time to get on my hobby horse about trans people and passports again. Clinton's state department was friendly to us. Tillerson hasn't had enough time to fuck with us, apparently. DHS will not be friendly. Tell your trans friends to correct the gender on their passport now, before they won't be able to. They can and will continue to fuck with us, so do whatever you can to help your friends. Here's a guide on getting a passport with the correct gender.
posted by AFABulous at 9:31 PM on July 31, 2017 [34 favorites]
posted by AFABulous at 9:31 PM on July 31, 2017 [34 favorites]
Slow down. My speculation was clearly marked as tin foil hat level.
posted by Talez at 9:36 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Talez at 9:36 PM on July 31, 2017 [1 favorite]
Re, state department story, in a quick scan, I'm not finding hard confirmation, however, this story from Foreign Policy talks about how Sleepy has been creating his own fiefdom excluding the actual knowledge workers with experience, and how he has been reconfiguring foggy bottom so that everything flows through the 7th floor.
FP
So, I would not be at all surprised to see that the final stage of creating Sleepy Kingdom has come to pass.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 9:47 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
FP
So, I would not be at all surprised to see that the final stage of creating Sleepy Kingdom has come to pass.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 9:47 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Whether passport issuance moves to DHS or not, the administration has demonstrably already started fucking with trans people, so it's prudent to plan ahead.
posted by AFABulous at 9:47 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by AFABulous at 9:47 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
Clearly, Tillerson has created a mess internally by revoking delegated authorities, but some of the catastrophizing doesn't seem to have happened.
There's not enough to this story (yet) but even if Tillerson has created an internal guidance clusterfuck, it will take a while to filter out. State is huge. Thousands of people go to work every day just assuming their entire existence that day is going to be issuing passports based on 200 years of precedent. You don't just undo that with a memo. People don't read their work email that fast for small changes, much less, oh, we're going to cease doing one of the core functions of the government, um, tomorrow. It'd be like telling the post office to not deliver mail on Mondays and Tuesday. What the fuck are those employees supposed to be doing, and what the fuck are they supposed to tell the public. They wouldn't just stop doing their jobs because the political appointee 6 levels above them said something crazy. They'd ask their front line supervisor what the fuck to do, and that person would tell them to do their job while they figure out what's going on, then call their supervisor, and that happens 6 more times until every GS-15 in State is calling Tillerson's office directly and asking him whether he's telling them to lay off 70k people and what they should tell the New York Times.
And there's few things that could create a worse PR clusterfuck than arbitrarily ceasing passports. Other than tax returns, passports are probably the most visible interaction with the federal government in American life, period.
They're clearly trying to sideline State, because "talking" is liberal-speak for being a pussy, and shooting every brown person that moves is Real America. But fucking with passports is the stupidest thing imaginable.
So I expect to read that they've done this in 6 hours.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:48 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
There's not enough to this story (yet) but even if Tillerson has created an internal guidance clusterfuck, it will take a while to filter out. State is huge. Thousands of people go to work every day just assuming their entire existence that day is going to be issuing passports based on 200 years of precedent. You don't just undo that with a memo. People don't read their work email that fast for small changes, much less, oh, we're going to cease doing one of the core functions of the government, um, tomorrow. It'd be like telling the post office to not deliver mail on Mondays and Tuesday. What the fuck are those employees supposed to be doing, and what the fuck are they supposed to tell the public. They wouldn't just stop doing their jobs because the political appointee 6 levels above them said something crazy. They'd ask their front line supervisor what the fuck to do, and that person would tell them to do their job while they figure out what's going on, then call their supervisor, and that happens 6 more times until every GS-15 in State is calling Tillerson's office directly and asking him whether he's telling them to lay off 70k people and what they should tell the New York Times.
And there's few things that could create a worse PR clusterfuck than arbitrarily ceasing passports. Other than tax returns, passports are probably the most visible interaction with the federal government in American life, period.
They're clearly trying to sideline State, because "talking" is liberal-speak for being a pussy, and shooting every brown person that moves is Real America. But fucking with passports is the stupidest thing imaginable.
So I expect to read that they've done this in 6 hours.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:48 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
Honestly, this sort of thing is good advice for everyone at all times. Not to fall into catastrophic thinking, but history is full of unexpected events. And even if it isn't something at home, it can easily happen abroad. A border-crossing or a traffic stop can turn into a nightmare if your documentation is inconsistent. It's much easier for people who have changed their birth names, gender, or other identification markers (including people who have taken on their spouse's surname) to get everything right now, rather than when they're overseas and trying to explain that "Jordan Taylor" is the same person as "Jordan Riley", who is the same person as "Riley, Jordan Taylor".
posted by Joe in Australia at 9:49 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by Joe in Australia at 9:49 PM on July 31, 2017 [6 favorites]
I just want to offer a thanks to all of the Allies and Friends of the USA, which is nearly 7/10 ths of the UN recognized independent free nations,
Please continue to stand with us as we work through how to excise this tumor from our collective body,
We have stood by you,
Please stand by us. (and please help us if it all goes to shit really fast, like really really fast, like what is September even going to look like)
posted by yesster at 9:51 PM on July 31, 2017 [20 favorites]
Please continue to stand with us as we work through how to excise this tumor from our collective body,
We have stood by you,
Please stand by us. (and please help us if it all goes to shit really fast, like really really fast, like what is September even going to look like)
posted by yesster at 9:51 PM on July 31, 2017 [20 favorites]
Two more things, diplopundit is a fairly deep resource, and it is widely read in organisations which deal with state, like ngo. Its burnbag has tipped off more than one reporter to stories. It's a known resource, and it's more wonk than foil, imho.
Second thing, seconding Joe. I am in a Kafkaesque nightmare, as a cisgendered woman who married once in the 80s, and once in the 90s, and now homeland defense as decided that I can't have any documents until I show up at a federal building in another town, in another county, and I can't make an appointment, and they can't guarantee when or if I can see anyone, and oh, bring my birth certificate, marriage license from the 80s, divorced decree, license from the 90s, my old passports, and God knows what else they decide I need, if I can ever find out where I'm supposed to go. All of this, because I changed my name to my husband's name in the 80s.
Advice to young women. Do not change your name. Just don't. Trust me on this one.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 10:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [73 favorites]
Second thing, seconding Joe. I am in a Kafkaesque nightmare, as a cisgendered woman who married once in the 80s, and once in the 90s, and now homeland defense as decided that I can't have any documents until I show up at a federal building in another town, in another county, and I can't make an appointment, and they can't guarantee when or if I can see anyone, and oh, bring my birth certificate, marriage license from the 80s, divorced decree, license from the 90s, my old passports, and God knows what else they decide I need, if I can ever find out where I'm supposed to go. All of this, because I changed my name to my husband's name in the 80s.
Advice to young women. Do not change your name. Just don't. Trust me on this one.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 10:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [73 favorites]
Libby Anne discusses how Evangelicals Have Tied their Wagons to Trump
It's been...something to be vindicated in the fact my assessment of Evangelical Christianity has been basically accurate. I hope their embrace of this sexual predator has salted the fields of their ministry and choked the roots of their "faith".
I hope for much better outcomes for Christians who have stood with marginalized people, given kind words, and undertaken strong actions in pursuit of real justice.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 10:16 PM on July 31, 2017 [67 favorites]
Evangelicals have tied their wagons to a vulgar, vengeful, egotistical leader who basks in the adulation of the crowds even as he whips up hatred against immigrants and openly calls for an escalation in police brutality. Some days I feel like current political alliances are so outlandish that they must be a horrible dream, a nightmare I will wake up from if I just pinch myself hard enough. Then I check my email and yes, my jovial evangelical grandfather did send me all those chain emails about how God had raised Trump up for such a time as this.Whatever member of the Cruz campaign said that Ted Cruz would show this nation the face of god..well, it wasn't Ted who did, but we're getting to see the whole damned thing. The last year has shown what so many of us have known for a very long time--that the of face of these so-called Evangelical Christians' god is putrescent and teaming with the maggots of hate, racism, homo- and transphobia, contempt of the poor, embrace of sexual predation, xenophobia, and greed. Having been a target for this group's hate and persecution complex for my entire adult life, I'm not surprised they bent over backwards to elect someone so hateful.
It has been a decade since I stopped identifying as evangelical, but watching evangelicals fawn over Trump has broken something in me. I’m past opposing evangelicals over policy or doctrinal differences, as serious as those may be. This is something else entirely—something deeper. I had though that for all of our differences, evangelicals had a soul. I had thought there were core values underlying everything else. For me, this has been an “emperor has no clothes” sort of moment.
Evangelicals’ attachment to Trump is going to define them for the next generation—and it’s certainly not going to help them with their Millennial problem.
It's been...something to be vindicated in the fact my assessment of Evangelical Christianity has been basically accurate. I hope their embrace of this sexual predator has salted the fields of their ministry and choked the roots of their "faith".
I hope for much better outcomes for Christians who have stood with marginalized people, given kind words, and undertaken strong actions in pursuit of real justice.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 10:16 PM on July 31, 2017 [67 favorites]
UPCOMING SPECIAL ELECTIONS - SEPTEMBER
Boilerplate: Lots of law comes out of state legislatures, plenty of it bad. These elections don't get much attention, doubly so for special elections. Because of the small scope, a small amount of your money or time could help elect these folks! Please pitch in, if you can!
Previously noted: August specials. Not too late to help those folks out.
New: September elections
====
posted by Chrysostom at 10:22 PM on July 31, 2017 [81 favorites]
Boilerplate: Lots of law comes out of state legislatures, plenty of it bad. These elections don't get much attention, doubly so for special elections. Because of the small scope, a small amount of your money or time could help elect these folks! Please pitch in, if you can!
Previously noted: August specials. Not too late to help those folks out.
New: September elections
====
September 5 -- New Hampshire House Grafton 9 -- Joshua AdjutantThere's also a September 26 special in South Carolina House 31, but the primary runoff isn't until Aug 8. I'll provide info on that one then.
HD-Grafton 9 is currently an R seat (the incumbent resigned for reasons unclear). Some NH House districts are multi-member, this one has two, which complicates how to report past results. Let's just say it's been a 2 GOP seat for the last 3 elections at least, but by fairly narrow margins - 7 points in 2016, 2 points in 2014, 4 points in 2012. Adjutant was one of the D candidates in 2016 (the better performing one), and won the nomination this time in a write-in campaign. The district went for Trump 55-40, but for Obama 50-48. The Rs control the NH House by about 50 seats.
=> Maybe a bit of a stretch, but probably a decent shot here for the D.
====
September 12 -- New Hampshire House Belknap 9 -- Charlie St. Clair [I know this is hard to believe, but I don't think he has a website]
HD-Belknap 9 is currently an R seat (the incumbent resigned when we found out he is the RedPill guy). This LD is single-seat; the R won in 2016 by 6, in 2014 by 4, but the D won in 2012 by 7. The district went for Trump 56-39, but for Obama 50-49.
=> Maybe? District seems pretty toss up, although the D ran in a *different* Belknap LD in 2016 and did poorly.
====
September 12 -- Oklahoma House District 46 -- Jacob Rosecrants
HD-46 is currently an R seat (the incumbent resigned to take a non-government job); the R won by 21 in 2016, no D candidate in 2014 or 2012. The district went for Trump 52-41, for Romney 60-40. Rosecrants was also the 2016 candidate. The Rs control the OK House by about 45 seats.
=> Definitely a reach, but Ds have been doing well in the OK specials, plus Rosecrants is a teacher, and education funding is a hot issue in OK.
====
September 12 -- Mississippi House District 102 -- Kathryn Rehner [MS specials are technically non-partisan, but Rehner is definitely a D]
HD-102 is currently an R seat (the incumbent was elected mayor of Hattiesburg); the R won by 45 in 2015, by 32 in 2011. No presidential results, sorry. The Rs control the MS House by about 25 seats.
=> There are three other candidates, but even with a split vote, this is likely too far a reach.
====
September 26 -- New Hampshire House Rockingham 4 -- Kari Lerner
HD Rockingham 4 is currently an R seat (the incumbent passed away); this is a 5-seat district, all of which have been R in the last three cycles. The closest D lost by 4 points in 2016, 6 points in 2014, and 2 points in 2012. The district went for Trump 59-36, and for Romney 60-39.
=> Not impossible, but a stretch.
====
September 26 -- Florida Senate District 40 -- Annette Taddeo
SD-40 is currently an R seat (the incumbent resigned after being overheard using racial slurs); the R won by 10 points in 2016, no D ran in 2014 or 2012. The district was won by Clinton 58-40. The Rs control the FL Senate by about 9 seats.
=> Looks like a strong opportunity, although Taddeo has had a bit of a Martha Coakley vibe.
====
September 26 -- Florida House District 116 -- Gabriela Mayaudon
HD-116 is currently an R seat (incumbent is resigning to run for SD-40); the R won by 24 points in 2016, no Dem ran in 2014 or 2012. The district was won by Clinton 51-46, but by Romney 55-44. The Rs control the FL House by about 35 seats.
=> Possible but a reach.
====
posted by Chrysostom at 10:22 PM on July 31, 2017 [81 favorites]
Are you my favorite late-night Mefite, Chrysostom? If not, you're in my top 3. Thank you for your Election posts, yet again. You do so much good.
posted by greermahoney at 10:29 PM on July 31, 2017 [24 favorites]
posted by greermahoney at 10:29 PM on July 31, 2017 [24 favorites]
and, the ever present question:
who ix still standing with him, and why?
Why?
How craven of a creature do you have to be to still be OK with being associated with this shitspawn?
posted by yesster at 10:30 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
who ix still standing with him, and why?
Why?
How craven of a creature do you have to be to still be OK with being associated with this shitspawn?
posted by yesster at 10:30 PM on July 31, 2017 [4 favorites]
The Fulsome Loser Blues really should be recorded .... and uploaded to iTunes as a MeFi fundraiser.
posted by Rumple at 10:43 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Rumple at 10:43 PM on July 31, 2017 [7 favorites]
greermahoney: "Are you my favorite late-night Mefite, Chrysostom? If not, you're in my top 3. "
PPP has me up as your favorite 35-32 over zachlipton, but Tarrance Group has us both back of Excommunicated Cardinal by a point. Keep in mind the crucial county party endorsement is later this week.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [95 favorites]
PPP has me up as your favorite 35-32 over zachlipton, but Tarrance Group has us both back of Excommunicated Cardinal by a point. Keep in mind the crucial county party endorsement is later this week.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [95 favorites]
Why not Maxine Waters in 2020? Seriously. Reclaiming Our Time, Reclaiming Our Future, Reclaiming Our Spirits, Reclaiming Our Nation.
The only plausible objection I see is her age and that's...well, ageist. To ameliorate this non-starter of an argument we could trust Ms. Waters' choice for VP to be as high-quality as she is.
She's just coming into the peak of her game. Let's draft Maxine Waters!! Whoever she'd repulse wasn't going to vote for a Democrat in the first place, and she'd pull in soooo many left and previously non-voting votes.
Anyway, just wanted to circle back and maybe forward to a true bright spot in this past few daze' collective administrative self-fellation.
Reclaiming Our Dignity
posted by riverlife at 10:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [32 favorites]
The only plausible objection I see is her age and that's...well, ageist. To ameliorate this non-starter of an argument we could trust Ms. Waters' choice for VP to be as high-quality as she is.
She's just coming into the peak of her game. Let's draft Maxine Waters!! Whoever she'd repulse wasn't going to vote for a Democrat in the first place, and she'd pull in soooo many left and previously non-voting votes.
Anyway, just wanted to circle back and maybe forward to a true bright spot in this past few daze' collective administrative self-fellation.
Reclaiming Our Dignity
posted by riverlife at 10:52 PM on July 31, 2017 [32 favorites]
The only plausible objection I see is her age
Also the many corruption allegations. I'm not saying she's done anything, but you'd be hearing about these a lot a lot.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:56 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
Also the many corruption allegations. I'm not saying she's done anything, but you'd be hearing about these a lot a lot.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:56 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
Yeah, but then PPP polled #1 quidnunc kid, ostensibly as a joke candidate, and now we might as well be Lincoln Chafee in this race.
posted by zachlipton at 10:57 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 10:57 PM on July 31, 2017 [21 favorites]
PPP has me up as your favorite 35-32 over zachlipton, but Tarrance Group has us both back of Excommunicated Cardinal by a point. Keep in mind the crucial county party endorsement is later this week.
Chrysostom is a neoliberal corporate shill.
posted by bongo_x at 10:59 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
Chrysostom is a neoliberal corporate shill.
posted by bongo_x at 10:59 PM on July 31, 2017 [5 favorites]
Sure, that's the response you get if the only person polled is You Can't Tip A Buick.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [27 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 11:01 PM on July 31, 2017 [27 favorites]
It's been...something to be vindicated in the fact my assessment of Evangelical Christianity has been basically accurate. I hope their embrace of this sexual predator has salted the fields of their ministry and choked the roots of their "faith".
To quote Burroughs: “Never do business with a religious son-of-a- bitch. His word ain't worth a shit -- not with the Good Lord telling him how to fuck you on the deal.”
posted by Artw at 11:02 PM on July 31, 2017 [41 favorites]
To quote Burroughs: “Never do business with a religious son-of-a- bitch. His word ain't worth a shit -- not with the Good Lord telling him how to fuck you on the deal.”
posted by Artw at 11:02 PM on July 31, 2017 [41 favorites]
Chrysostom is a neoliberal corporate shill.
Great. Now I have bros campaigning for me. If a bird perches on top of my laptop tomorrow, I'm taking a vacation.
posted by zachlipton at 11:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [17 favorites]
Great. Now I have bros campaigning for me. If a bird perches on top of my laptop tomorrow, I'm taking a vacation.
posted by zachlipton at 11:03 PM on July 31, 2017 [17 favorites]
> Why not Maxine Waters in 2020?
Riverlife, I was so going to say something similar and aborted for various reasons. Good for you.
posted by christopherious at 11:07 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
Riverlife, I was so going to say something similar and aborted for various reasons. Good for you.
posted by christopherious at 11:07 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
meanwhile:
The Week Donald Trump Lost the South China Sea
Vietnam's capitulation shows China's neighbors fear the U.S. no longer has their backs.
By Bill Hayton (foreignpolicy.com)
"Vietnam’s history is full of heroic tales of resistance to China. But this month Hanoi bent the knee to Beijing, humiliated in a contest over who controls the South China Sea, the most disputed waterway in the world. Hanoi has been looking to Washington for implicit backing to see off Beijing’s threats. At the same time, the Trump administration demonstrated that it either does not understand or sufficiently care about the interests of its friends and potential partners in Southeast Asia to protect them against China. Southeast Asian governments will conclude that the United States does not have their backs. And while Washington eats itself over Russian spies and health care debates, one of the world’s most crucial regions is slipping into Beijing’s hands.
There’s no tenser set of waters in the world than the South China Sea. For the last few years, China and its neighbors have been bluffing, threatening, cajoling, and suing for control of its resources. ..."
posted by sebastienbailard at 11:15 PM on July 31, 2017 [39 favorites]
The Week Donald Trump Lost the South China Sea
Vietnam's capitulation shows China's neighbors fear the U.S. no longer has their backs.
By Bill Hayton (foreignpolicy.com)
"Vietnam’s history is full of heroic tales of resistance to China. But this month Hanoi bent the knee to Beijing, humiliated in a contest over who controls the South China Sea, the most disputed waterway in the world. Hanoi has been looking to Washington for implicit backing to see off Beijing’s threats. At the same time, the Trump administration demonstrated that it either does not understand or sufficiently care about the interests of its friends and potential partners in Southeast Asia to protect them against China. Southeast Asian governments will conclude that the United States does not have their backs. And while Washington eats itself over Russian spies and health care debates, one of the world’s most crucial regions is slipping into Beijing’s hands.
There’s no tenser set of waters in the world than the South China Sea. For the last few years, China and its neighbors have been bluffing, threatening, cajoling, and suing for control of its resources. ..."
posted by sebastienbailard at 11:15 PM on July 31, 2017 [39 favorites]
Thanks for the heads-up Chrysostom, I try to keep up on all. the. things. and had completely forgotten those OneUnited issues. That's unfortunate.
This would not prevent me at this time from voting (just a tad bit less) enthusiastically for Rep. Waters. She's going to have to work much much harder than that to lose my vote, I'd have to see much worse on multiple fronts before changing my vote. [This stubborn emotional attachment of mine may be a flipped image of how the Trump supporter won't let go of their feels--I would not be surprised if Mooch is at this moment as strong a supporter of his Prednisone as ever.]
Warts and all, I believe Maxine Waters has her constituents' backs, and mine and the nation's, and I believe she'd work hard and put up with next to no foolishness as she led us further down the path to our gay luxury space communism. It's nice to have someone on the Dem side to believe in, to be able to connect viscerally to, beyond policy.
posted by riverlife at 11:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
This would not prevent me at this time from voting (just a tad bit less) enthusiastically for Rep. Waters. She's going to have to work much much harder than that to lose my vote, I'd have to see much worse on multiple fronts before changing my vote. [This stubborn emotional attachment of mine may be a flipped image of how the Trump supporter won't let go of their feels--I would not be surprised if Mooch is at this moment as strong a supporter of his Prednisone as ever.]
Warts and all, I believe Maxine Waters has her constituents' backs, and mine and the nation's, and I believe she'd work hard and put up with next to no foolishness as she led us further down the path to our gay luxury space communism. It's nice to have someone on the Dem side to believe in, to be able to connect viscerally to, beyond policy.
posted by riverlife at 11:24 PM on July 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
At the same time, the Trump administration demonstrated that it either does not understand or sufficiently care about the interests of its friends and potential partners in Southeast Asia to protect them against China.
This is why Obama was so gung-ho about the TPP, it's as much an alliance against China hegemony as a trade agreement.
posted by PenDevil at 11:44 PM on July 31, 2017 [36 favorites]
This is why Obama was so gung-ho about the TPP, it's as much an alliance against China hegemony as a trade agreement.
posted by PenDevil at 11:44 PM on July 31, 2017 [36 favorites]
Advice to young women. Do not change your name. Just don't. Trust me on this one.
Pro tip: you can call yourself whatever you want day to day, on Facebook, and credit cards and your library card and business cards and at jobs, without changing your name officially. If you keep your driver's license and passport and tax returns to your real (aka maiden) name, do whatever you want elsewhere with no worries.
posted by msalt at 12:40 AM on August 1, 2017 [19 favorites]
Pro tip: you can call yourself whatever you want day to day, on Facebook, and credit cards and your library card and business cards and at jobs, without changing your name officially. If you keep your driver's license and passport and tax returns to your real (aka maiden) name, do whatever you want elsewhere with no worries.
posted by msalt at 12:40 AM on August 1, 2017 [19 favorites]
Olivia Nuzzi brings us the definitive history of the Scaramucci era: The Mooch’s Wild, 11-Day Ride Through Trump’s White House. I'd like to focus on this bit:
Nuzzi ends with a warning though:
But with Kelly’s appointment, things had shifted. A source close to the White House told me that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner only supported Scaramucci in the first place because they had wanted to get rid of Priebus — long Scaramucci’s nemesis, since he’d prevented him from joining the administration immediately after the inauguration. Once Scaramucci had done his job by ousting Priebus, this source said, Ivanka and Jared had no reason to protect him — especially after the New Yorker story. Further, they wanted the new chief of staff to have a chance to do the job the right way, which meant being able to choose his own staff.Every goddamn thing with these two is "we totally meant for it to happen this way." Jared and Ivanka are really going with "that all worked out well" as their story here? The amount of self-serving crap that comes out of their publicist or "friends" or Mared Mushner talking with a funny accent or whatever they do ought to be sufficient to run a waste-to-energy plant. But now they have to make nice with Kelly, since even they are supposedly supposed to be reporting through him (even though, unlike most staffers, I hope, they can tell Trump whatever they want in the Residence), though surely they can continue to be completely ineffectual wastes of space under pretty much any organizational structure.
Secondarily, the source said, “don’t fuck with Steve.”
Nuzzi ends with a warning though:
The Mooch may be gone for now, but history suggests he’ll be back.posted by zachlipton at 12:57 AM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
Babadooch.
posted by Joe in Australia at 1:41 AM on August 1, 2017 [25 favorites]
posted by Joe in Australia at 1:41 AM on August 1, 2017 [25 favorites]
As often as we've talked about "the writers of 2017" coming up with crazy storylines, cartoonist Ruben Bolling has come up with a literal depiction with "In the Writers' Room, Creating a Scaramucci".
(Meanwhile I've seen at least 3 other cartoonists, including two I do respect, do the same gag, re-creating Poochie's exit from the Itchy & Scratchy Show with "Moochie"... so the meme that "The Simpsons Did It First" now really does apply to Real Life)
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:45 AM on August 1, 2017 [14 favorites]
(Meanwhile I've seen at least 3 other cartoonists, including two I do respect, do the same gag, re-creating Poochie's exit from the Itchy & Scratchy Show with "Moochie"... so the meme that "The Simpsons Did It First" now really does apply to Real Life)
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:45 AM on August 1, 2017 [14 favorites]
I hope their embrace of this sexual predator has salted the fields of their ministry and choked the roots of their "faith".
For the past several years, previous to Trump, the evangelicals / fundamentalists have been in a panic over two big things: a strong downward trend in baptisms, and most of the 20somethings raised in the church are not staying in the church.
Homophobia, embrace of extreme right wing politics, limited roles of women in church leadership & institutional misogyny, and a complete rigidity on sexual freedom & agency. That's been pushing people away, young people especially, for a long time now. Was a noticeable trend by the late 90s. Was a trend causing panic by the late 00's.
The evangelicals embracing Trump are just accelerating something which was already happening. It's almost as if the church has just given up. They go for the short-term power and money, knowing their day in the sun is almost over.
posted by honestcoyote at 2:54 AM on August 1, 2017 [39 favorites]
For the past several years, previous to Trump, the evangelicals / fundamentalists have been in a panic over two big things: a strong downward trend in baptisms, and most of the 20somethings raised in the church are not staying in the church.
Homophobia, embrace of extreme right wing politics, limited roles of women in church leadership & institutional misogyny, and a complete rigidity on sexual freedom & agency. That's been pushing people away, young people especially, for a long time now. Was a noticeable trend by the late 90s. Was a trend causing panic by the late 00's.
The evangelicals embracing Trump are just accelerating something which was already happening. It's almost as if the church has just given up. They go for the short-term power and money, knowing their day in the sun is almost over.
posted by honestcoyote at 2:54 AM on August 1, 2017 [39 favorites]
Tillerson: Then I realized, how can the State Department interfere with naptime if the State Department no longer exists?
(taps temple meaningfully)
posted by sebastienbailard at 4:06 AM on August 1, 2017 [26 favorites]
(taps temple meaningfully)
posted by sebastienbailard at 4:06 AM on August 1, 2017 [26 favorites]
The evangelicals embracing Trump are just accelerating something which was already happening. It's almost as if the church has just given up. They go for the short-term power and money, knowing their day in the sun is almost over.
It's a winning strategy so far. If they can keep Trump propped up long enough to get another Supreme Court justice, they can ride that pale horse right into the sunset.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:17 AM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
It's a winning strategy so far. If they can keep Trump propped up long enough to get another Supreme Court justice, they can ride that pale horse right into the sunset.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:17 AM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
If they can keep Trump propped up long enough to get another Supreme Court justice
Why? The Republicans have a lock* on things for 1.5 years. For the Supreme Court - it doesn't matter: Trump, Pence, Ryan, Incitatus.
Right now, Trump is WORSE for the party because how much of a party creature is Trump?
*lock in that if the party votes together as a group.
posted by rough ashlar at 4:34 AM on August 1, 2017
Why? The Republicans have a lock* on things for 1.5 years. For the Supreme Court - it doesn't matter: Trump, Pence, Ryan, Incitatus.
Right now, Trump is WORSE for the party because how much of a party creature is Trump?
*lock in that if the party votes together as a group.
posted by rough ashlar at 4:34 AM on August 1, 2017
I love Vicente Fox's dedication to trolling Trump.
@VicenteFoxQue:
Hey Trump, I'm watching this really bad reality TV show with low ratings called Survivor White House. I can't change the channel. Sad!
posted by chris24 at 4:37 AM on August 1, 2017 [104 favorites]
@VicenteFoxQue:
Hey Trump, I'm watching this really bad reality TV show with low ratings called Survivor White House. I can't change the channel. Sad!
posted by chris24 at 4:37 AM on August 1, 2017 [104 favorites]
Good thing all those leaks got cleaned up.
@passantino:
ABC has two senior sources confirming the Post report Trump dictated the misleading Don Jr statement http://abcn.ws/2vhvs4a
posted by chris24 at 4:47 AM on August 1, 2017 [18 favorites]
@passantino:
ABC has two senior sources confirming the Post report Trump dictated the misleading Don Jr statement http://abcn.ws/2vhvs4a
posted by chris24 at 4:47 AM on August 1, 2017 [18 favorites]
Reassuring detail in this Kelly story. 😳
Kelly flexes muscle his first day on the job at White House
Kelly flexes muscle his first day on the job at White House
Mattis and Kelly also agreed in the earliest weeks of Trump’s presidency that one of them should remain in the United States at all times to keep tabs on the orders rapidly emerging from the White House, according to a person familiar with the discussions.posted by chris24 at 5:02 AM on August 1, 2017 [26 favorites]
To quote Burroughs: “Never do business with a religious son-of-a- bitch. His word ain't worth a shit -- not with the Good Lord telling him how to fuck you on the deal.”
Back when I worked in sales, an old boss and friend of mine, who is a devout Catholic, once told me "If anyone ever says 'I'm a good Christian' to you, hold onto your wallet."
In ten years of jewelry sales and the fifteenish years of my career after I got out of sales, I have never had an encounter that disproved him. Not one.
posted by middleclasstool at 5:09 AM on August 1, 2017 [51 favorites]
Back when I worked in sales, an old boss and friend of mine, who is a devout Catholic, once told me "If anyone ever says 'I'm a good Christian' to you, hold onto your wallet."
In ten years of jewelry sales and the fifteenish years of my career after I got out of sales, I have never had an encounter that disproved him. Not one.
posted by middleclasstool at 5:09 AM on August 1, 2017 [51 favorites]
Aside from the way the "Trump dictated the cover story" report makes him look even more guilty, deceptive, wilfully idiotic, unable to heed advice, and possessed of abysmally awful judgment and political instincts, it also chips away at his "I didn't know about the meeting" bullshit.
I mean, how plausible is it that a guy who micromanages to the point that he and his entire staff spend a 5-hour plane trip compulsively messing with a press release on an "unimportant" issue would have been out of the loop about a meeting in his inner circle related to dirt on his loathed opponent?
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:15 AM on August 1, 2017 [21 favorites]
I mean, how plausible is it that a guy who micromanages to the point that he and his entire staff spend a 5-hour plane trip compulsively messing with a press release on an "unimportant" issue would have been out of the loop about a meeting in his inner circle related to dirt on his loathed opponent?
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:15 AM on August 1, 2017 [21 favorites]
The evangelicals embracing Trump are just accelerating something which was already happening. It's almost as if the church has just given up. They go for the short-term power and money, knowing their day in the sun is almost over.
Roll to Disbelieve delves into this idea pretty often, from an ex-insider's point of view.
posted by Rykey at 5:18 AM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
Roll to Disbelieve delves into this idea pretty often, from an ex-insider's point of view.
posted by Rykey at 5:18 AM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
Advice to young women. Do not change your name. Just don't. Trust me on this one.
Pro tip: you can call yourself whatever you want day to day, on Facebook, and credit cards and your library card and business cards and at jobs, without changing your name officially. If you keep your driver's license and passport and tax returns to your real (aka maiden) name, do whatever you want elsewhere with no worries.
And if your husband-to-be is fixated on you being labelled with his name to the point of not caring how much of a nightmare it is for you to change your name, you may want to rethink getting married.
posted by winna at 5:29 AM on August 1, 2017 [52 favorites]
Pro tip: you can call yourself whatever you want day to day, on Facebook, and credit cards and your library card and business cards and at jobs, without changing your name officially. If you keep your driver's license and passport and tax returns to your real (aka maiden) name, do whatever you want elsewhere with no worries.
And if your husband-to-be is fixated on you being labelled with his name to the point of not caring how much of a nightmare it is for you to change your name, you may want to rethink getting married.
posted by winna at 5:29 AM on August 1, 2017 [52 favorites]
Recent (28 July) McClatchy in depth article on Felix Sater "the ex-con who ties himself to Trump".
posted by adamvasco at 5:35 AM on August 1, 2017
posted by adamvasco at 5:35 AM on August 1, 2017
they can ride that pale horse right into the sunset lake of fire.
FTFY.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 5:36 AM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
FTFY.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 5:36 AM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Haven't seen this one posted yet - "Exclusive: Senate too divided to keep up healthcare push - Senator Hatch":
posted by jason_steakums at 5:37 AM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
"He said he would prefer Congress not appropriate cost-sharing subsidies that help make Obamacare plans affordable but added, 'I think we’re going to have to do that.'"Sooo keep an eye out for 3 am rants against Hatch soon, I guess.
[...]
"Hatch said lawmakers would need to appropriate the cost-sharing subsidy payments that the administration has been making. Trump has threatened to cut off these subsidies, which help insurers keep deductibles down for low-income people who get health insurance through the Obamacare exchanges."
posted by jason_steakums at 5:37 AM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
Reassuring detail in this Kelly story. 😳
Kelly flexes muscle his first day on the job at White House
Mattis and Kelly also agreed in the earliest weeks of Trump’s presidency that one of them should remain in the United States at all times to keep tabs on the orders rapidly emerging from the White House, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
Erm, so the military are now managing the presidency? There are four generals in there now...
The radio here in the old country is full of people saying 'this could be the clear direction that everyone needs - anything that settles America down is good.'
This is 'reassuring' in the same way as C-SPAN going to Swan Lake on heavy rotation. With State apparently parasitized by an ichneumon wasp laying its eggs in its brain, this is, in the words of the master, 'very far from OK'.
posted by Devonian at 5:39 AM on August 1, 2017 [36 favorites]
Kelly flexes muscle his first day on the job at White House
Mattis and Kelly also agreed in the earliest weeks of Trump’s presidency that one of them should remain in the United States at all times to keep tabs on the orders rapidly emerging from the White House, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
Erm, so the military are now managing the presidency? There are four generals in there now...
The radio here in the old country is full of people saying 'this could be the clear direction that everyone needs - anything that settles America down is good.'
This is 'reassuring' in the same way as C-SPAN going to Swan Lake on heavy rotation. With State apparently parasitized by an ichneumon wasp laying its eggs in its brain, this is, in the words of the master, 'very far from OK'.
posted by Devonian at 5:39 AM on August 1, 2017 [36 favorites]
Trent Frank calls for Mueller's resignation
posted by HyperBlue at 5:42 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by HyperBlue at 5:42 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Oh, so conservative members of the House care about conflicts of interest now? But only in the FBI, concerning individuals specifically tasked with investigating the Preisdent for his own conflicts of interest?
I wonder if Trump will use this as an excuse to fire him because "he's obviously lost the confidence of Congress to do his job so I had to"?
posted by Autumnheart at 5:53 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
I wonder if Trump will use this as an excuse to fire him because "he's obviously lost the confidence of Congress to do his job so I had to"?
posted by Autumnheart at 5:53 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Trent Frank calls for Mueller's resignation
...because he's a known associate of known Democratic Operative James Comey, apparently.
posted by mmoncur at 5:53 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Jared and Ivanka are really going with "that all worked out well" as their story here?
I thought the source was going with "they pretended to support a guy until they got what they needed from him, and once they had no more use for him they withdrew their protection and watched dispassionately as his career fell apart without lifting a finger to help, because they never heard of gratitude."
but for trumps it is the same thing
posted by queenofbithynia at 5:56 AM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
I thought the source was going with "they pretended to support a guy until they got what they needed from him, and once they had no more use for him they withdrew their protection and watched dispassionately as his career fell apart without lifting a finger to help, because they never heard of gratitude."
but for trumps it is the same thing
posted by queenofbithynia at 5:56 AM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
The way these dismissals are going reminds me of SNL's "Buh-bye" sketch with annoying flight attendants.
posted by ZeusHumms at 6:07 AM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by ZeusHumms at 6:07 AM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
David Folkenflik: Behind Fox News' Baseless Seth Rich Story: The Untold Tale
posted by zombieflanders at 6:19 AM on August 1, 2017 [39 favorites]
The lawsuit focuses particular attention on the role of the Trump supporter, Ed Butowsky, in weaving the story. He is a wealthy Dallas investor and unpaid Fox commentator on financial matters, who has emerged as a reliable Republican surrogate in recent years. Butowsky offered to pay for Wheeler to investigate the death of the DNC aide, Seth Rich, on behalf of his grieving parents in Omaha.If this pans out, I assume the Rich family should be able to try and sue the pants off of everyone involved, including Trump?
On April 20, a month before the story ran, Butowsky and Wheeler — the investor and the investigator — met at the White House with then Press Secretary Sean Spicer to brief him on what they were uncovering.
The first page of the lawsuit quotes a voicemail and text from Butowsky boasting that President Trump himself had reviewed drafts of the Fox News story just before it went to air and was published.
posted by zombieflanders at 6:19 AM on August 1, 2017 [39 favorites]
State Department Withdraws From Top Recruitment Program — Sowing Confusion
A State Department spokesman told Foreign Policy the department is temporarily withdrawing itself from participation in the Presidential Management Fellowship program, an esteemed program that recruits cream-of-the-crop graduates into the federal government. The spokesman cited an ongoing reorganization of the State Department, but did not say when the temporary suspension would end.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:32 AM on August 1, 2017 [17 favorites]
A State Department spokesman told Foreign Policy the department is temporarily withdrawing itself from participation in the Presidential Management Fellowship program, an esteemed program that recruits cream-of-the-crop graduates into the federal government. The spokesman cited an ongoing reorganization of the State Department, but did not say when the temporary suspension would end.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:32 AM on August 1, 2017 [17 favorites]
A State Department spokesman told Foreign Policy the department is temporarily withdrawing itself from participation in the Presidential Management Fellowship program, an esteemed program that recruits cream-of-the-crop graduates into the federal government.
If not just another symptom of the State Department's institutional suicide, it's hard to see this as anything but an intentional attempt to stop the flow of goddamned liberal university elites into the federal government. The cream no longer rises to the top, but shit still floats.
posted by Rust Moranis at 6:36 AM on August 1, 2017 [42 favorites]
If not just another symptom of the State Department's institutional suicide, it's hard to see this as anything but an intentional attempt to stop the flow of goddamned liberal university elites into the federal government. The cream no longer rises to the top, but shit still floats.
posted by Rust Moranis at 6:36 AM on August 1, 2017 [42 favorites]
Can't vouch for the source, but I thought this 7/8/17 blog post from The Skeptical Bureacrat was a decent explainer on the question of moving visa/passport responsibilities to DHS: Transfer Visa Functions to DHS? Who's Listening to Whom?
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:37 AM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:37 AM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Nicole Lafond/TPM : Eric Trump: I Want Somebody To Start Fighting For My Father
Appearing on Fox’s “Hannity” show, the favorite media outlet of the Trump family, Eric Trump said his father is carrying the “whole weight” of the Republican party on his shoulders.posted by ZeusHumms at 6:38 AM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
“My father said it, you know, he said it a couple of weeks ago in a tweet. He said, you know, ‘Am I going to have to carry this whole weight on my shoulders? When are some of the people in my own party going to start protecting me?’” Eric Trump said. “Now listen, I’m an outsider, I am looking in on the White House. … But I want somebody to start fighting for him.”
Good thing I got my degree from Liberty University!
posted by thelonius at 6:38 AM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 6:38 AM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Trump to meet with Tillerson, Harriet Sinclair, Newsweek
Per the story, posted yesterday at Noon-thirty, Trump was to meet with a fussy Sleepy-T at the White House. Yesterday. At 1:30. The story mentions Smoochy as evidence of new shake-ups, but not Smooch's booting because it was still two hours away.
Also, no word on what, if anything, became of Sleepy T. Perhaps he slept in.
posted by petebest at 6:41 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Per the story, posted yesterday at Noon-thirty, Trump was to meet with a fussy Sleepy-T at the White House. Yesterday. At 1:30. The story mentions Smoochy as evidence of new shake-ups, but not Smooch's booting because it was still two hours away.
Also, no word on what, if anything, became of Sleepy T. Perhaps he slept in.
posted by petebest at 6:41 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
No time to sleep; too busy dismantling the State Department.
posted by notyou at 6:47 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by notyou at 6:47 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
House budget eliminates ARPA-E, and cuts EERE by 45%
I don't say this lightly: this is the reason we will be drawn into the next war, and the reason we will lose it.
posted by ocschwar at 6:50 AM on August 1, 2017 [41 favorites]
I don't say this lightly: this is the reason we will be drawn into the next war, and the reason we will lose it.
posted by ocschwar at 6:50 AM on August 1, 2017 [41 favorites]
The State Department is missing $79 million in anti-ISIS funding because Tillerson has yet to sign two memos, The Week, 7/31/17
Meanwhile, foreign diplomats apparently are at a loss of whom to talk to at State to get their message to the American government, while State Department employees are asked to build "word clouds" to pass the time.
who could have predicted such utter ineptitude and chaos oh no so unexpect
posted by petebest at 6:52 AM on August 1, 2017 [39 favorites]
Meanwhile, foreign diplomats apparently are at a loss of whom to talk to at State to get their message to the American government, while State Department employees are asked to build "word clouds" to pass the time.
who could have predicted such utter ineptitude and chaos oh no so unexpect
posted by petebest at 6:52 AM on August 1, 2017 [39 favorites]
Josh Rogan, WaPo:
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has ordered his department to redefine its mission and issue a new statement of purpose to the world. The draft statements under review right now are similar to the old mission statement, except for one thing — any mention of promoting democracy is being eliminated.
The sleepy Tillerson brings forth monsters...
posted by Devonian at 6:56 AM on August 1, 2017 [18 favorites]
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has ordered his department to redefine its mission and issue a new statement of purpose to the world. The draft statements under review right now are similar to the old mission statement, except for one thing — any mention of promoting democracy is being eliminated.
The sleepy Tillerson brings forth monsters...
posted by Devonian at 6:56 AM on August 1, 2017 [18 favorites]
while State Department employees are asked to build "word clouds" to pass the time
I guess it takes some time to make the "Fuck This Shit" word cloud aesthetically pleasing
posted by nubs at 6:58 AM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
I guess it takes some time to make the "Fuck This Shit" word cloud aesthetically pleasing
posted by nubs at 6:58 AM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
Meanwhile, foreign diplomats apparently are at a loss of whom to talk to at State to get their message to the American government, while State Department employees are asked to build "word clouds" to pass the time.
wut
from the original Foreign Policy article:
In early spring, as the Trump administration readied to gut the State Department of funding, Tillerson recruited a small private consulting company, Insigniam, which markets itself as a “breakthrough management consulting firm,” to conduct a department-wide employee survey.
The survey, derided by many officials, asked employees questions and prompts like, “To optimally support the future mission of the Department, what one or two things should your work unit totally stop doing or providing?” and “Help us build a word cloud.” Many questions presupposed offices needed to be cut. More than half of the 75,000-person workforce didn’t bother to fill out the survey.
wut
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:00 AM on August 1, 2017 [35 favorites]
wut
from the original Foreign Policy article:
In early spring, as the Trump administration readied to gut the State Department of funding, Tillerson recruited a small private consulting company, Insigniam, which markets itself as a “breakthrough management consulting firm,” to conduct a department-wide employee survey.
The survey, derided by many officials, asked employees questions and prompts like, “To optimally support the future mission of the Department, what one or two things should your work unit totally stop doing or providing?” and “Help us build a word cloud.” Many questions presupposed offices needed to be cut. More than half of the 75,000-person workforce didn’t bother to fill out the survey.
wut
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:00 AM on August 1, 2017 [35 favorites]
Man, I understand those clean energy budget cuts are not law yet, but aargh. That's frustrating to read.
posted by notyou at 7:00 AM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by notyou at 7:00 AM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
The Allure of Trump’s Narcissism, a longish piece in the LA Review of Books.
posted by tavegyl at 7:01 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by tavegyl at 7:01 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
The sleepy Tillerson brings forth monsters...
That is not dead which can eternal lie; and with strange aeons even State may die...
posted by nubs at 7:02 AM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
That is not dead which can eternal lie; and with strange aeons even State may die...
posted by nubs at 7:02 AM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
Robert Reich, political commentator, Sec. of Labor under Clinton, has a blog
This morning I phoned my friend, a former Republican member of Congress.posted by petebest at 7:04 AM on August 1, 2017 [66 favorites]
Me: What’s going on? Seems like the White House is imploding and Republicans are going down with the ship.
Him (chuckling): We’re officially a banana republic.
. . .
Me: So how do they get him out?
Him: Put someone else up in ’20. Lots of maneuvering already. Pence, obviously. Cruz thinks he has a shot.
Me: But that won’t help them in the midterms. What’s the plan before then?
Him: Lots think he’s fritzing out.
Me: Fritzing out?
Him: Going totally bananas. Paranoia. You want to know why he fired Priebus, wants Sessions out, and is now gunning for Tillerson?
Me: He wants to shake things up?
Him (chuckling): No. The way I hear it, he thinks they’ve been plotting against him.
. . .
Me: I find it hard to believe they’re plotting against him.
Him: Of course not! It’s ludicrous. Sessions is a loyal lapdog. Tillerson doesn’t know where the bathroom is. That’s my point. Trump is fritzing out. Having manic delusions. He’s actually going nuts.
. . .
Me: So what are you telling me?
Him: They don’t have to plot against him. It will be obvious to everyone that he’s got to go. That’s where the twenty-fifth amendment really does comes in.
Me: So you think…
Him: Who knows? But he’s losing it fast. My betting is he’s out of office before the midterms. And Pence is president.
I am imagining @scaramucci gazing at his Twitter header and listening to Sarah McLachlan on repeat.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 7:05 AM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by A Terrible Llama at 7:05 AM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
"breakthrough management and consulting firm" = "totally uses 'totally' non-ironically in a serious-type survey to connote a friendly, frank environment blindingly conducive to the honest sharing of opinions."
posted by notyou at 7:06 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by notyou at 7:06 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
> except for one thing — any mention of promoting democracy is being eliminated.Good riddance. One of the more honest, self-aware, not-totally-tone-deaf deeds from this adminidefenestration.
posted by runcifex at 7:07 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
This morning I phoned my friend, a former Republican member of Congress
I suspect an amount of wishful thinking there regarding the current crop of republicans, still, fun if true.
posted by Artw at 7:10 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
I suspect an amount of wishful thinking there regarding the current crop of republicans, still, fun if true.
posted by Artw at 7:10 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
Him: Who knows? But he’s losing it fast. My betting is he’s out of office before the midterms. And Pence is president.
What* have we got on PENCE
*impeachables - gotta hit him deep in the impeachables.
posted by tilde at 7:10 AM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
What* have we got on PENCE
*impeachables - gotta hit him deep in the impeachables.
posted by tilde at 7:10 AM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
Fucker is knee deep in the same collusion.
posted by Artw at 7:11 AM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by Artw at 7:11 AM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
petebest, that is absolutely terrifying. They're going to let Trump play Nero and watch the country burn down as collateral damage AND THEN maybe invoke the 25th? If he's truly heading towards open paranoia, which would be way worse than my original impression of worsening dementia, we're in for a scary fucking ride.
posted by lydhre at 7:13 AM on August 1, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by lydhre at 7:13 AM on August 1, 2017 [16 favorites]
*impeachables - gotta hit him deep in the impeachables.
Taking far too long to get the 25 Amendment process going, thereby committing reckless endangerment of the entire fucking country.
posted by ocschwar at 7:14 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
Taking far too long to get the 25 Amendment process going, thereby committing reckless endangerment of the entire fucking country.
posted by ocschwar at 7:14 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
It isn't ineptitude : We are watching a conscious effort to dismantle a functioning federal government. They are burning it down.
And the Republicans in the House and Senate (and a handful of democrats, honestly) are making sure they loot the store before it all burns down.
posted by das_2099 at 7:14 AM on August 1, 2017 [48 favorites]
And the Republicans in the House and Senate (and a handful of democrats, honestly) are making sure they loot the store before it all burns down.
posted by das_2099 at 7:14 AM on August 1, 2017 [48 favorites]
I read that from Reich yesterday and have felt gloom and doom ever since. Pence will be the savior, a Godly man... and a Tea Party nut job. They get what they want and he will sign anything McConnell and Ryan send him. He'll keep Mulvaney of course.
posted by readery at 7:17 AM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by readery at 7:17 AM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Nubs beat me to it, but I got yer word cloud right here.
posted by Rykey at 7:18 AM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by Rykey at 7:18 AM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
It might be best for the country if trumpists actually do break away from the GOP and cause massive infighting. That would stall the Republican agenda, keep trump in power long enough to be a roadblock, and kill time until the midterms, when Republican dysfunction is fresh on everyone's mind. Otherwise, Pence taking things over, righting the ship, and normalizing far right Tea Party leadership would be exceptionally bad for the country. Especially if he's seen as heroic in doing so.
posted by codacorolla at 7:21 AM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by codacorolla at 7:21 AM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
Everybody says this, that Pence was "knee deep in the same collusion." But other than the fact that he was part of the campaign at all, I have not seen any evidence, and believe me, I have been looking for it!
He was supposedly picked by Manafort, which is a little suspicious, but Manafort could really have picked him as a sop to the evangelical base, just as it seemed at the time.
He did not really seem to be in the loop during the campaign at all, often delivering a completely different message. At the Vice Presidential debate he came across like a hardliner on Russia and Syria. Trump then threw him under the bus at the presidential debate, saying they hadn't spoken but that he thought Pence was wrong.
Pence did try to defend Michael Flynn, but then Flynn got fired for "lying to the Vice President."
He has been working Capitol Hill trying to get Trumpcare passed, but he has not been defending Trump himself in public.
And I really haven't seen a single story linking him to money laundering or weird relationships with Russians or even financial conflicts of interest, which is very unusual for this administration.
He might be guilty. He might be a true-believer fascist. But based on what I have seen so far I very much doubt he is leaving the White House before 2020.
posted by OnceUponATime at 7:22 AM on August 1, 2017 [17 favorites]
He was supposedly picked by Manafort, which is a little suspicious, but Manafort could really have picked him as a sop to the evangelical base, just as it seemed at the time.
He did not really seem to be in the loop during the campaign at all, often delivering a completely different message. At the Vice Presidential debate he came across like a hardliner on Russia and Syria. Trump then threw him under the bus at the presidential debate, saying they hadn't spoken but that he thought Pence was wrong.
Pence did try to defend Michael Flynn, but then Flynn got fired for "lying to the Vice President."
He has been working Capitol Hill trying to get Trumpcare passed, but he has not been defending Trump himself in public.
And I really haven't seen a single story linking him to money laundering or weird relationships with Russians or even financial conflicts of interest, which is very unusual for this administration.
He might be guilty. He might be a true-believer fascist. But based on what I have seen so far I very much doubt he is leaving the White House before 2020.
posted by OnceUponATime at 7:22 AM on August 1, 2017 [17 favorites]
petebest, that is absolutely terrifying. They're going to let Trump play Nero and watch the country burn down as collateral damage AND THEN maybe invoke the 25th? If he's truly heading towards open paranoia, which would be way worse than my original impression of worsening dementia, we're in for a scary fucking ride.
This is why, despite the shit we give them, we should be happy Mattis and McMaster are there. They may be war hawks, they may be complicit, but they're not fucking insane and they're between Trump and the big red button. Maybe not officially, but practically. If Trump is bonkers and says let the missiles fly, and both SecDef and NSC advisor say, "Don't do it." ain't no way missiles get launched. There's even precedent with Nixon:
"During Nixon’s last days in the White House at the height of the Watergate crisis, when some were doubting the President’s mental stability, Schlesinger reportedly instructed the Joint Chiefs of Staff to check with him before carrying out any of Nixon’s orders regarding nuclear weapons. He also drew up contingency plans for an emergency military deployment in the event of an impeached Nixon refusing to step down."
posted by leotrotsky at 7:29 AM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
This is why, despite the shit we give them, we should be happy Mattis and McMaster are there. They may be war hawks, they may be complicit, but they're not fucking insane and they're between Trump and the big red button. Maybe not officially, but practically. If Trump is bonkers and says let the missiles fly, and both SecDef and NSC advisor say, "Don't do it." ain't no way missiles get launched. There's even precedent with Nixon:
"During Nixon’s last days in the White House at the height of the Watergate crisis, when some were doubting the President’s mental stability, Schlesinger reportedly instructed the Joint Chiefs of Staff to check with him before carrying out any of Nixon’s orders regarding nuclear weapons. He also drew up contingency plans for an emergency military deployment in the event of an impeached Nixon refusing to step down."
posted by leotrotsky at 7:29 AM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
If the "Deep State" has anything on Pence, they'd probably want to hold it until closer to the end of Trump rather than waste it early and give Trump another, friendlier Veep.
posted by notyou at 7:29 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by notyou at 7:29 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
They're not going to be able to pin anything on Pence, I fear.
Our best bet is Trump feeling threatened by Pence and the 25th and forcing him to resign only to replace him with an obviously unfit crony. But these are my fever dreams.
posted by lydhre at 7:30 AM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Our best bet is Trump feeling threatened by Pence and the 25th and forcing him to resign only to replace him with an obviously unfit crony. But these are my fever dreams.
posted by lydhre at 7:30 AM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
He might be guilty. He might be a true-believer fascist. But based on what I have seen so far I very much doubt he is leaving the White House before 2020.
He was told directly by Elijah Cummings about Flynn and then later publicly acted as if he had no knowledge of it.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:31 AM on August 1, 2017 [58 favorites]
He was told directly by Elijah Cummings about Flynn and then later publicly acted as if he had no knowledge of it.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:31 AM on August 1, 2017 [58 favorites]
If you don't think that Trump and his people didn't make sure to entangle Pence in every potentially impeachable and indictable thing they were doing, and in fact to make some up specifically to inoculate Trump from a 25th Amendment situation, you aren't paying attention to how Trump works.
posted by Etrigan at 7:34 AM on August 1, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 7:34 AM on August 1, 2017 [12 favorites]
I've not looked too deeply into Pence's culpability in any of this, but as a resident of Indiana, I can tell you he was weaselly as shit about getting RFRA, which was basically codified discrimination against LGBT people, passed. And almost as weaselly about reversing course when people here flipped out about it. It wouldn't surprise me at all to find out he's knee deep in fascism and collusion, and then lies his ass off about it.
posted by Rykey at 7:37 AM on August 1, 2017 [15 favorites]
posted by Rykey at 7:37 AM on August 1, 2017 [15 favorites]
If you don't think that Trump and his people didn't make sure to entangle Pence in every potentially impeachable and indictable thing they were doing, and in fact to make some up specifically to inoculate Trump from a 25th Amendment situation, you aren't paying attention to how Trump works.
Sure, option A. Option B is that Trump and his people had no idea what the 25th Amendment even was until, like, last week.
Both are consistent with how this bunch of chucklefucks operates.
posted by lydhre at 7:37 AM on August 1, 2017 [15 favorites]
Sure, option A. Option B is that Trump and his people had no idea what the 25th Amendment even was until, like, last week.
Both are consistent with how this bunch of chucklefucks operates.
posted by lydhre at 7:37 AM on August 1, 2017 [15 favorites]
If you don't think that Trump and his people didn't make sure to entangle Pence in every potentially impeachable and indictable thing they were doing, and in fact to make some up specifically to inoculate Trump from a 25th Amendment situation, you aren't paying attention to how Trump works.
They're all idiots. I have no doubt they cc:ed Pence on some incredibly incriminating stuff on Flynn completely incidentally because it didn't occur to them not to.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:37 AM on August 1, 2017 [19 favorites]
They're all idiots. I have no doubt they cc:ed Pence on some incredibly incriminating stuff on Flynn completely incidentally because it didn't occur to them not to.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:37 AM on August 1, 2017 [19 favorites]
Our best bet is Trump feeling threatened by Pence and the 25th and forcing him to resign only to replace him with an obviously unfit crony. But these are my fever dreams.
Trump has no power to make Pence resign. Because he was on the ballot, the Vice President is an elected office, not an appointed position. The only responsibilities of the Vice President under the Constitution are breaking ties in the Senate and sitting around waiting for a vacancy in the Presidency. Pence doesn't have to participate in the administration at all, and Trump can't fire him.
posted by stopgap at 7:40 AM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
Trump has no power to make Pence resign. Because he was on the ballot, the Vice President is an elected office, not an appointed position. The only responsibilities of the Vice President under the Constitution are breaking ties in the Senate and sitting around waiting for a vacancy in the Presidency. Pence doesn't have to participate in the administration at all, and Trump can't fire him.
posted by stopgap at 7:40 AM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
Trump was "joking" when he encouraged police violence.
What happened to Trump's loudmouthed refusal to be "politically correct"? I don't think this threadbare excuse satisfies anyone disgusted by the fact that he obviously meant what he said (and by the cops who cheered him), but how can this weakling walkback endear him to his supporters?
posted by Gelatin at 7:43 AM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
What happened to Trump's loudmouthed refusal to be "politically correct"? I don't think this threadbare excuse satisfies anyone disgusted by the fact that he obviously meant what he said (and by the cops who cheered him), but how can this weakling walkback endear him to his supporters?
posted by Gelatin at 7:43 AM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
As discussed elsewhere, a good way to get the 25th invoked is to start talking loudly about joint impeachment of Trump and Pence, and put the fire under Pence's ass.
posted by ocschwar at 7:45 AM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by ocschwar at 7:45 AM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
He has been working Capitol Hill trying to get Trumpcare passed, but he has not been defending Trump himself in public.
Pence doesn't get much coverage because he's boring as dirt and charmless and also Trump just keeps doing AMAZEBALLS CRAZY SHIT, but he is, indeed, out there continually defending the President's insanity, saying for example about Trump's idiotic and petty public humiliation of Sessions:
posted by dis_integration at 7:46 AM on August 1, 2017
Pence doesn't get much coverage because he's boring as dirt and charmless and also Trump just keeps doing AMAZEBALLS CRAZY SHIT, but he is, indeed, out there continually defending the President's insanity, saying for example about Trump's idiotic and petty public humiliation of Sessions:
"I think one of the president's virtues is his candor," he added. "There's no attempt to hide his feelings. His expressed disappointment here is very sincere and he's said 'well, we'll see what happens in the future.' But at least the American people know and every member of the Cabinet can know that you'll always know where you stand with President Trump."He's wedded to this disaster 100% and I don't see how he comes out of it untarnished. At the very least, there's no way he wins in 2020 post-impeachment (although I still think Trump can win if not impeached.)
posted by dis_integration at 7:46 AM on August 1, 2017
Trump has no power to make Pence resign. Because he was on the ballot, the Vice President is an elected office, not an appointed position. The only responsibilities of the Vice President under the Constitution are breaking ties in the Senate and sitting around waiting for a vacancy in the Presidency. Pence doesn't have to participate in the administration at all, and Trump can't fire him.
I know, that's why I didn't say fire. Even beyond Etrigan's thoughts on Pence being purposefully roped into the Russian shit, I am sure Trump has dirt on him one way or another. Whether Trump would try to use it is another matter, but if he truly is getting more paranoid he is eventually going to lash out however he can.
posted by lydhre at 7:46 AM on August 1, 2017
I know, that's why I didn't say fire. Even beyond Etrigan's thoughts on Pence being purposefully roped into the Russian shit, I am sure Trump has dirt on him one way or another. Whether Trump would try to use it is another matter, but if he truly is getting more paranoid he is eventually going to lash out however he can.
posted by lydhre at 7:46 AM on August 1, 2017
Ashley Feinberg: Kushner On Middle East Peace: "What Do We Offer That's Unique? I Don't Know."
Team Jared: "Please don't leak this."
posted by tonycpsu at 7:49 AM on August 1, 2017 [39 favorites]
Team Jared: "Please don't leak this."
Prior to Kushner's talk, Katie Patru, the deputy staff director for Member Services, Outreach & Communications, told the assembled interns, "To record today’s session would be such a breach of trust, from my opinion. This town is full of leakers and everyone knows who they are, and no one trusts them. In this business your reputation is everything, I’ve been on the hill for 15 years. I’ve sat in countless meetings with members of congress where important decisions were being made. During all those years in all those meetings, I never once leaked to a reporter. …. If someone in your office has asked you to break our protocol and give you a recording so they can leak it, as a manager, that bothers me at my core."Ron Howard: "Someone leaked it."
WIRED has obtained a recording of Kushner's talk, which lasted for just under an hour in total.Kushner: "I was told there would be no math."
So, what do we offer that's unique? I don’t know… I’m sure everyone that’s tried this has been unique in some ways, but again we’re trying to follow very logically. We're thinking about what the right end state is. And we’re trying to work with the parties very quietly to see if there's a solution. And there may be no solution, but it’s one of the problem sets that the president asked us to focus on. So we’re going to focus on it and try to come to the right conclusion in the near future.The rest is Kushner patting his own back for alleged successes addressing water sharing from the Jordan River and de-escalating the metal detector situation at the Temple Mount. I'm sure that only someone with Jared's unassailable record of deal-making could possibly have made these things happen.
posted by tonycpsu at 7:49 AM on August 1, 2017 [39 favorites]
We're thinking about what the right end state is. And we’re trying to work with the parties very quietly to see if there's a solution. And there may be no solution, but it’s one of the problem sets that the president asked us to focus on. So we’re going to focus on it and try to come to the right conclusion in the near future.
I KNEW there was a reason you were picked for this task, Jared.
posted by Rykey at 7:52 AM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
I KNEW there was a reason you were picked for this task, Jared.
posted by Rykey at 7:52 AM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
Hatch said he would prefer Congress not appropriate cost-sharing subsidies that help make Obamacare plans affordable but added, 'I think we’re going to have to do that.'
Keep in mind that it was Republicans who filed suit against Obama in a attempt to prevent him from paying the cost-sharing subsidies. They got a lower court judge to agree with them but the suit is still unresolved until it goes to the Supreme Court.
It is the Democratic position that annual appropriations are not required because the Obamacare law already requires the payments to be made. Republicans want to turn those into annually approved appropriations that they can use every year as a hostage in exchange for whatever awful items they have on their agenda.
So don't be surprised if you see Democrats opposing appropriation of cost-sharing subsidies. It is because they don't want to weaken the Obamacare law and give Republicans one more cudgel to use against them.
posted by JackFlash at 7:54 AM on August 1, 2017 [20 favorites]
Keep in mind that it was Republicans who filed suit against Obama in a attempt to prevent him from paying the cost-sharing subsidies. They got a lower court judge to agree with them but the suit is still unresolved until it goes to the Supreme Court.
It is the Democratic position that annual appropriations are not required because the Obamacare law already requires the payments to be made. Republicans want to turn those into annually approved appropriations that they can use every year as a hostage in exchange for whatever awful items they have on their agenda.
So don't be surprised if you see Democrats opposing appropriation of cost-sharing subsidies. It is because they don't want to weaken the Obamacare law and give Republicans one more cudgel to use against them.
posted by JackFlash at 7:54 AM on August 1, 2017 [20 favorites]
They go for the short-term power and money, knowing their day in the sun is almost over.
I'd like their day in the sun to end soon. It's been forty fucking years already.
posted by Talez at 7:56 AM on August 1, 2017 [20 favorites]
I'd like their day in the sun to end soon. It's been forty fucking years already.
posted by Talez at 7:56 AM on August 1, 2017 [20 favorites]
This is why, despite the shit we give them, we should be happy Mattis and McMaster are there. They may be war hawks, they may be complicit, but they're not fucking insane and they're between Trump and the big red button. Maybe not officially, but practically. If Trump is bonkers and says let the missiles fly, and both SecDef and NSC advisor say, "Don't do it." ain't no way missiles get launched.
Since we heard about it I have assumed the Resolute Desk's new Coke button was the world's best hope to avoid nuclear Armageddon.
I picture Trump red faced with rage completely surrounded with bottles of diet coke unable to understand why everyone isn't dead.
posted by srboisvert at 7:57 AM on August 1, 2017 [39 favorites]
Since we heard about it I have assumed the Resolute Desk's new Coke button was the world's best hope to avoid nuclear Armageddon.
I picture Trump red faced with rage completely surrounded with bottles of diet coke unable to understand why everyone isn't dead.
posted by srboisvert at 7:57 AM on August 1, 2017 [39 favorites]
The Occasional Dana: Dana Rohrabacher Will Be Present at Tonight's Town Hall Without Being Present
"The Congressman has received national attention for his pro-Russian views and has recently been accused of violating U.S. sanctions against Russia," say organizers of tonight's town hall. "Rohrabacher has also received campaign donations from Paul Manafort while Mr. Manafort was acting as a foreign agent for the Ukrainian government."posted by notyou at 8:08 AM on August 1, 2017 [20 favorites]
While Rohrabacher will likely be a no-show—hey, just like Vietnam!—a congressman is scheduled to appear. He would be Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Manhattan Beach), who, unlike the Slimin' Congressman of Surf City, has been on the right side of climate change, Obamacare and taking a dim view of Vlad Putin's intentions, according to organizers.
Hey everybody: Sign up to be notified of protests if Trump fires Mueller!
There are sites all over the country.
posted by OnceUponATime at 8:18 AM on August 1, 2017 [15 favorites]
There are sites all over the country.
posted by OnceUponATime at 8:18 AM on August 1, 2017 [15 favorites]
Trump still hasn't signed the Russia sanctions and now they're claiming the White House hasn't received the bill
Ron Howard: [they received the bill]
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:23 AM on August 1, 2017 [62 favorites]
Ron Howard: [they received the bill]
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:23 AM on August 1, 2017 [62 favorites]
This is why, despite the shit we give them, we should be happy Mattis and McMaster are there. They may be war hawks, they may be complicit, but they're not fucking insane and they're between Trump and the big red button. Maybe not officially, but practically. If Trump is bonkers and says let the missiles fly, and both SecDef and NSC advisor say, "Don't do it." ain't no way missiles get launched. There's even precedent with Nixon:
We have no guarantee that in a situation where the Commander in Chief gives an order, either Mattis or McMaster will stand against him. Mattis has said that nuclear weapons are not a first strike weapon. Great. So what happens if the DPRK nukes South Korea? Or launches a nuclear missile at us? Well, Mattis apparently believes nukes should be used as last resort weapons for self-defense. For us and our allies. And then there's this: Mattis: U.S. Will Overwhelmingly Respond to Any Nuclear Weapons Use
Trusting that any President's military advisors will keep him from engaging in a nuclear holocaust is the worst kind of Russian Roulette to play. Trusting Trump administration appointees in any capacity... well, we might as well just put our heads between our legs and kiss our asses goodbye.
posted by zarq at 8:24 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
We have no guarantee that in a situation where the Commander in Chief gives an order, either Mattis or McMaster will stand against him. Mattis has said that nuclear weapons are not a first strike weapon. Great. So what happens if the DPRK nukes South Korea? Or launches a nuclear missile at us? Well, Mattis apparently believes nukes should be used as last resort weapons for self-defense. For us and our allies. And then there's this: Mattis: U.S. Will Overwhelmingly Respond to Any Nuclear Weapons Use
Trusting that any President's military advisors will keep him from engaging in a nuclear holocaust is the worst kind of Russian Roulette to play. Trusting Trump administration appointees in any capacity... well, we might as well just put our heads between our legs and kiss our asses goodbye.
posted by zarq at 8:24 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
Interesting thing for Drudge to be tweeting.
@DRUDGE_REPORT
McClatchyDC: Dems starting to win state races in Trump districts...
posted by chris24 at 8:27 AM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
@DRUDGE_REPORT
McClatchyDC: Dems starting to win state races in Trump districts...
posted by chris24 at 8:27 AM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
Trump still hasn't signed the Russia sanctions and now they're claiming the White House hasn't received the bill"We didn't receive the bill! If we did I think some intern had it and he lost it and we've turned the White House upside down looking for it. Can you guys vote again and send another?"
posted by Talez at 8:28 AM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
he thinks they’ve been plotting against him.
1) ‘Please Mr. President, I have a headache. Please, don't win so much. This is getting terrible.’
2) Paranoids have real enemies.
most important 3)
What, exactly, are these 'plotters' going to do? He's the president. The only people who can remove him from office with the force of law is Congress. None of the people listed as 'plotters' are able to do anything legally to him.
If FDR caused term limits, is Trump gonna cause the office to have age limits and psych evals?
posted by rough ashlar at 8:32 AM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
1) ‘Please Mr. President, I have a headache. Please, don't win so much. This is getting terrible.’
2) Paranoids have real enemies.
most important 3)
What, exactly, are these 'plotters' going to do? He's the president. The only people who can remove him from office with the force of law is Congress. None of the people listed as 'plotters' are able to do anything legally to him.
If FDR caused term limits, is Trump gonna cause the office to have age limits and psych evals?
posted by rough ashlar at 8:32 AM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
The White House dog ate the bill.
[RH]: The White House dog is Steve Bannon.
posted by notyou at 8:33 AM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
[RH]: The White House dog is Steve Bannon.
posted by notyou at 8:33 AM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
The White House does realize that not signing the bill, whether they've received it or not, means the bill becomes law next Wednesday, right?
posted by Talez at 8:39 AM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by Talez at 8:39 AM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
Maybe Trump learned about pocket vetoes the other day.
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:41 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:41 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Trump still hasn't signed the Russia sanctions and now they're claiming the White House hasn't received the bill
Ron Howard: [they received the bill]
Jefferson tried this shit with judicial appointments from the Adams administration that hadn't been sent out yet and this is going to turn into something like Marbury v. Madison only a lot stupider, isn't it.
posted by middleclasstool at 8:45 AM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
Ron Howard: [they received the bill]
Jefferson tried this shit with judicial appointments from the Adams administration that hadn't been sent out yet and this is going to turn into something like Marbury v. Madison only a lot stupider, isn't it.
posted by middleclasstool at 8:45 AM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
he thinks if he keeps it in his pocket it vetoes the bill doesn't he
posted by um at 8:46 AM on August 1, 2017 [17 favorites]
posted by um at 8:46 AM on August 1, 2017 [17 favorites]
Robert Reich, political commentator, Sec. of Labor under Clinton, has a blog
Every once in a while, he'll post about some conversation he's had with a Republican, and it always strikes me as a little too on-the-nose, a little too much what we want to hear. Maybe I'm weird, but I've always been skeptical of these posts.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 8:46 AM on August 1, 2017 [31 favorites]
Every once in a while, he'll post about some conversation he's had with a Republican, and it always strikes me as a little too on-the-nose, a little too much what we want to hear. Maybe I'm weird, but I've always been skeptical of these posts.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 8:46 AM on August 1, 2017 [31 favorites]
[RH]: The White House dog is Steve Bannon.
Well, before they just made Reince eat it to humiliate him, but now they have to get Bannon drunk every time and just leave him on a pile of papers.
posted by Behemoth at 8:47 AM on August 1, 2017
Well, before they just made Reince eat it to humiliate him, but now they have to get Bannon drunk every time and just leave him on a pile of papers.
posted by Behemoth at 8:47 AM on August 1, 2017
The White House does realize that not signing the bill, whether they've received it or not, means the bill becomes law next Wednesday, right?
My prediction: it's going to get dragged out to the last minute - like next Tuesday - or this is an attempt to start laying the groundwork for a pocket veto or some other type of "legal" veto on the basis of the WH not having time to properly review the legislation.
posted by nubs at 8:47 AM on August 1, 2017
My prediction: it's going to get dragged out to the last minute - like next Tuesday - or this is an attempt to start laying the groundwork for a pocket veto or some other type of "legal" veto on the basis of the WH not having time to properly review the legislation.
posted by nubs at 8:47 AM on August 1, 2017
Maybe Trump learned about pocket vetoes the other day.
Oh Jesus Christ. Does he think that the constitutional adjournment is when Congress goes on vacation? Like agents to accept veto messages don't exist? Does he think he's playing a clever game of strategy thinking this will veto the resolution and just waste time? I can just see him getting up at a rally with some prop constitution (god I hope not the real one) and pointing to some random part saying "it says here that unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its return and they were well and truly gone from Washington that day. Believe me, I was there and that place was DESERTED".
posted by Talez at 8:48 AM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Oh Jesus Christ. Does he think that the constitutional adjournment is when Congress goes on vacation? Like agents to accept veto messages don't exist? Does he think he's playing a clever game of strategy thinking this will veto the resolution and just waste time? I can just see him getting up at a rally with some prop constitution (god I hope not the real one) and pointing to some random part saying "it says here that unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its return and they were well and truly gone from Washington that day. Believe me, I was there and that place was DESERTED".
posted by Talez at 8:48 AM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Congress needs to be in recess for a pocket veto. Waiting ten days on a bill while congress is in session is the same as signing it.
posted by cmfletcher at 8:49 AM on August 1, 2017 [14 favorites]
posted by cmfletcher at 8:49 AM on August 1, 2017 [14 favorites]
Congress has designated agents to accept a veto during recess. The only time you can truly pocket veto is at the end of a Congressional term.
posted by Talez at 8:52 AM on August 1, 2017
posted by Talez at 8:52 AM on August 1, 2017
...now they're claiming the White House hasn't received the bill
Meredith!
posted by zakur at 8:55 AM on August 1, 2017 [21 favorites]
Meredith!
posted by zakur at 8:55 AM on August 1, 2017 [21 favorites]
According to the German Foreign Minister, Trump hasn't decided whether or how to tighten sanctions against Russia.
@GermanyDiplo
FM @sigmargabriel on the #US sanctions bill: There is still time - we will voice our concerns clearly.
@GermanyDiplo
FM @sigmargabriel on the #US sanctions bill: There is still time - we will voice our concerns clearly.
Evidently President Trump has not yet made any decision on whether or how he plans to tighten the sanctions on Russia. In any case, the bill provides for consultations with us Europeans before that can happen.posted by chris24 at 8:55 AM on August 1, 2017
We will make the most of this opportunity. I am in close contact with Rex Tillerson on this issue. We will voice our concerns very clearly.
Our priority is to overcome the Ukraine crisis and to maintain the political pressure on Moscow that sanctions cause. That is only possible if we present a united front and work together. And we will oppose an "America first" industrial policy under the pretext of sanctions.
I had though that for all of our differences, evangelicals had a soul. I had thought there were core values underlying everything else. For me, this has been an “emperor has no clothes” sort of moment.
Same for me. I now feel like evangelicals fooled me twice: The first time when I believed what they taught, the second time when I believed that they believed what they taught.
I knew better when they abandoned Jimmy Carter in favor of Ronald Reagan back in 1980. If they had a soul, they sold it decades ago.
posted by Gelatin at 8:55 AM on August 1, 2017 [59 favorites]
Same for me. I now feel like evangelicals fooled me twice: The first time when I believed what they taught, the second time when I believed that they believed what they taught.
I knew better when they abandoned Jimmy Carter in favor of Ronald Reagan back in 1980. If they had a soul, they sold it decades ago.
posted by Gelatin at 8:55 AM on August 1, 2017 [59 favorites]
China’s State Media Slams Trump’s ‘Emotional Venting’ on Twitter
After President Trump pilloried China in 48 tweeted words, accusing it of failing to tame its neighbor and longtime ally North Korea, Beijing issued its own rebuke to Mr. Trump — in a cutting editorial of 1,000 Chinese characters from Xinhua, the official news agency.posted by chris24 at 9:13 AM on August 1, 2017 [12 favorites]
“Trump is quite a personality, and he likes to tweet,” said the Xinhua response issued late Monday and widely displayed on Chinese news websites. “But emotional venting cannot become a guiding policy for solving the nuclear issue on the peninsula,” it said, referring to the divided Korean Peninsula.
The United States, it added, “must not continue spurning responsibility” for the volatile standoff with North Korea, “and even less should it stab China in the back.”
The unusually personal nature of the editorial, together with comments delivered earlier that day by China’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York, show North Korea is becoming the main dispute threatening to tear at Mr. Trump’s initially friendly relationship with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
If you liked the Ironstache announcement video:
Meet Amy McGrath, the Democratic Marine Lt. Col. and combat fighter pilot challenging Rep. Andy Barr in KY-06. KY-06 is winnable, it includes Lexington, the most liberal city in Kentucky with widely respected openly gay major Jim Gray and was represented by (blue dog) Democrats for most of the 90's and until 2013.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:14 AM on August 1, 2017 [53 favorites]
Meet Amy McGrath, the Democratic Marine Lt. Col. and combat fighter pilot challenging Rep. Andy Barr in KY-06. KY-06 is winnable, it includes Lexington, the most liberal city in Kentucky with widely respected openly gay major Jim Gray and was represented by (blue dog) Democrats for most of the 90's and until 2013.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:14 AM on August 1, 2017 [53 favorites]
Dr. Chuck Tingle has a new book out entitled: Pounded In the Butt By the Fact That It Took Less Time For The Book To Be Written And Published Than The Entire Length Of Tony Scarymoochy's Term as White House Communications Director.
Out now on Amazon.
posted by Capt. Renault at 9:14 AM on August 1, 2017 [61 favorites]
Out now on Amazon.
posted by Capt. Renault at 9:14 AM on August 1, 2017 [61 favorites]
I'm personally betting that Kelly is going to last only a few months. To do his job properly requires that he limit Trump's zaniness and chaos sewing BS. Trump absolutely will not tolerate that.
If Trump doesn't already hate Kelly, he will in a few more days. And then he'll start subverting Kelly, going behind his back, undermining him, undoing all the order and discipline Kelly is trying to impose on the West Wing. The courtiers of Mad King Don will collaborate with each other to oust Kelly, as Kelly stands between them and the sort of influence dealing and collecting they thrive on.
If Kelly lasts even the 6 months that Priebus did I'll be stunned.
posted by sotonohito at 9:15 AM on August 1, 2017 [17 favorites]
If Trump doesn't already hate Kelly, he will in a few more days. And then he'll start subverting Kelly, going behind his back, undermining him, undoing all the order and discipline Kelly is trying to impose on the West Wing. The courtiers of Mad King Don will collaborate with each other to oust Kelly, as Kelly stands between them and the sort of influence dealing and collecting they thrive on.
If Kelly lasts even the 6 months that Priebus did I'll be stunned.
posted by sotonohito at 9:15 AM on August 1, 2017 [17 favorites]
Every once in a while, he'll [Robert Reich] post about some conversation he's had with a Republican, and it always strikes me as a little too on-the-nose, a little too much what we want to hear. Maybe I'm weird, but I've always been skeptical of these posts.
This is a time-honored tradition among newspaper columnists, by the way: creating a fictional man-on-the-street (often a taxi driver) to voice opinions and attitudes that bolster and help to illustrate the author's take on a particular issue of the day. H.L. Mencken did it. Mike Royko did it. Molly Ivins did it. David Brooks (or is it Thomas Friedman?) still does it.
It's usually done with enough panache and humor that it's obvious to the reader that the writer is using literary license to get their point across. I'll admit that it's kind of annoying that Reich appears to play it so straight.
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:18 AM on August 1, 2017 [12 favorites]
This is a time-honored tradition among newspaper columnists, by the way: creating a fictional man-on-the-street (often a taxi driver) to voice opinions and attitudes that bolster and help to illustrate the author's take on a particular issue of the day. H.L. Mencken did it. Mike Royko did it. Molly Ivins did it. David Brooks (or is it Thomas Friedman?) still does it.
It's usually done with enough panache and humor that it's obvious to the reader that the writer is using literary license to get their point across. I'll admit that it's kind of annoying that Reich appears to play it so straight.
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:18 AM on August 1, 2017 [12 favorites]
While Rohrabacher will likely be a no-show—hey, just like Vietnam!—a congressman is scheduled to appear. He would be Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Manhattan Beach)
I just called his D.C. Office to thank him (and his staff) for being awesome. I also reiterated that should he primary Feinstein he has one vote and volunteer in me, and that I'm not the only one.
Ted Lieu \o/
Trump still hasn't signed the Russia sanctions and now they're claiming the White House hasn't received the bill
Come on!
posted by Room 641-A at 9:18 AM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
I just called his D.C. Office to thank him (and his staff) for being awesome. I also reiterated that should he primary Feinstein he has one vote and volunteer in me, and that I'm not the only one.
Ted Lieu \o/
Trump still hasn't signed the Russia sanctions and now they're claiming the White House hasn't received the bill
Come on!
posted by Room 641-A at 9:18 AM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Congress has designated agents to accept a veto during recess. The only time you can truly pocket veto is at the end of a Congressional term.
Except for, as Wikipedia informs me, the times when the president ignores the agents and pockets the bill anyway? Frankly that's the type of "We're not in a Constitutional crisis because the injured party rolled over" thing I've come to expect from 2017.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 9:19 AM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Except for, as Wikipedia informs me, the times when the president ignores the agents and pockets the bill anyway? Frankly that's the type of "We're not in a Constitutional crisis because the injured party rolled over" thing I've come to expect from 2017.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 9:19 AM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
I'm personally betting that Kelly is going to last only a few months. To do his job properly requires that he limit Trump's zaniness and chaos sewing BS. Trump absolutely will not tolerate that.
I bet Trump's latest tweet is in response to Kelly trying to tell him to cut down on Twitter.
@realDonaldTrump
Only the Fake News Media and Trump enemies want me to stop using Social Media (110 million people). Only way for me to get the truth out!
posted by chris24 at 9:20 AM on August 1, 2017 [22 favorites]
I bet Trump's latest tweet is in response to Kelly trying to tell him to cut down on Twitter.
@realDonaldTrump
Only the Fake News Media and Trump enemies want me to stop using Social Media (110 million people). Only way for me to get the truth out!
posted by chris24 at 9:20 AM on August 1, 2017 [22 favorites]
@MattGertz
April 20: Wheeler, Butowsky brief Spicer on Seth Rich.
May 16: Asked about Fox story @ WH briefing, Spicer says he knows nothing about it.
VIDEO
@yashar Retweeted Matthew Gertz
Even if Wheeler lied about everything else, this is the story. The White House now confirms that they were aware of the story.
posted by chris24 at 9:26 AM on August 1, 2017 [14 favorites]
April 20: Wheeler, Butowsky brief Spicer on Seth Rich.
May 16: Asked about Fox story @ WH briefing, Spicer says he knows nothing about it.
VIDEO
@yashar Retweeted Matthew Gertz
Even if Wheeler lied about everything else, this is the story. The White House now confirms that they were aware of the story.
posted by chris24 at 9:26 AM on August 1, 2017 [14 favorites]
Only way for me to get the truth out!
To be fair, he doesn't have a communications director...
posted by Devonian at 9:26 AM on August 1, 2017 [16 favorites]
To be fair, he doesn't have a communications director...
posted by Devonian at 9:26 AM on August 1, 2017 [16 favorites]
The News alert banner on CNN says Sessions is speaking at "an annual gathering of black law enforcement executives."
Uff duh.
posted by Bacon Bit at 9:26 AM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
Uff duh.
posted by Bacon Bit at 9:26 AM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
Is he going to perform a citizens arrest on them?
posted by Artw at 9:32 AM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Artw at 9:32 AM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
Atom Eyes: "This is a time-honored tradition among newspaper columnists, by the way: creating a fictional man-on-the-street"
Except, when Robert Reich does it -- and he's done multiple of these, here's a FB post from Dec 5, 2015 and another from Oct 28, 2016 -- it's not just a man-on-the-street. He claims its a "former Republican member of Congress" who he's known for years. Either he's making these up out of whole cloth or he actually does know one former Republican member of Congress who's willing to talk some colorful but anonymous smack about the GOP.
posted by mhum at 9:32 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
Except, when Robert Reich does it -- and he's done multiple of these, here's a FB post from Dec 5, 2015 and another from Oct 28, 2016 -- it's not just a man-on-the-street. He claims its a "former Republican member of Congress" who he's known for years. Either he's making these up out of whole cloth or he actually does know one former Republican member of Congress who's willing to talk some colorful but anonymous smack about the GOP.
posted by mhum at 9:32 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
So, regarding Scaramucci, let me get this straight -- because they were fed up with a couple of business-as-usual politician types, they decided to go with a completely inexperienced loudmouth outsider businessman, but to their rapidly growing horror he turned out to be an uncontrollable gibbering lunatic, something anyone with half a brain could have foretold from the very beginning?
I feel like there's some kind of ... parallel that could be drawn here. But I just ... can't ... quite put my finger on it ...
posted by kyrademon at 9:33 AM on August 1, 2017 [94 favorites]
I feel like there's some kind of ... parallel that could be drawn here. But I just ... can't ... quite put my finger on it ...
posted by kyrademon at 9:33 AM on August 1, 2017 [94 favorites]
Paul Ryan goes all in on the Wall, complete with Dukakis in Tank directed by Michael Bay video.
@SpeakerRyan
RT if you agree→ It is time for The Wall.
VIDEO
posted by chris24 at 9:34 AM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
@SpeakerRyan
RT if you agree→ It is time for The Wall.
VIDEO
posted by chris24 at 9:34 AM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Paul Ryan goes all in on the Wall
That's odd. Does he not realize that more immigration means more grannies he can starve?
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:40 AM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
That's odd. Does he not realize that more immigration means more grannies he can starve?
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:40 AM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
Only the Fake News Media and Trump enemies want me to stop using Social Media (110 million people). Only way for me to get the truth out!
I dunno why the way he triple counts his followers drives me nuts. You don't have 110 million followers, you have ~35m on twitter, fb, and instagram. There is significant overlap. You have maybe 50m followers. 25 million of those are bots. Most of the rest are probably rubber necking the disaster, like me.
posted by dis_integration at 9:41 AM on August 1, 2017 [18 favorites]
I dunno why the way he triple counts his followers drives me nuts. You don't have 110 million followers, you have ~35m on twitter, fb, and instagram. There is significant overlap. You have maybe 50m followers. 25 million of those are bots. Most of the rest are probably rubber necking the disaster, like me.
posted by dis_integration at 9:41 AM on August 1, 2017 [18 favorites]
It isn't ineptitude : We are watching a conscious effort to dismantle a functioning federal government. They are burning it down.
This seems to be overlooked more than I'm comfortable with. A few months ago, everyone was much more savvy about Bannon and his Fourth Turning foolishness, but we seem to have forgotten that he's still there and he's still working to create his fantastical reality.
The most dangerous people in all this are not the venal, selfish assholes on the front row; it's the true believers, who are always the most formidably focused on accomplishing their goals, and who seem to be making progress--at least, the nihilists are.
For Bannon, all of Trump's behavior and illness and etc. are features, not bugs, they are the aspects of his person that make him such a useful tool to accomplish Bannon's goals, and Bannon is the one who appears to be having a whole lot of success with his agenda.
(The other set of True Believers I'm worried about are the Christian Dominionists, who are in the VP and at least a couple of cabinet secretary spots. I'm not sure they've made much progress on their immediate agenda--though, e.g., DeVos' destructiveness certainly helps Bannon--but there is definitely an assembled crew in place. All will ruthlessly exploit the openings that a crazy, paranoid and dumb president provides.)
posted by LooseFilter at 9:42 AM on August 1, 2017 [32 favorites]
This seems to be overlooked more than I'm comfortable with. A few months ago, everyone was much more savvy about Bannon and his Fourth Turning foolishness, but we seem to have forgotten that he's still there and he's still working to create his fantastical reality.
The most dangerous people in all this are not the venal, selfish assholes on the front row; it's the true believers, who are always the most formidably focused on accomplishing their goals, and who seem to be making progress--at least, the nihilists are.
For Bannon, all of Trump's behavior and illness and etc. are features, not bugs, they are the aspects of his person that make him such a useful tool to accomplish Bannon's goals, and Bannon is the one who appears to be having a whole lot of success with his agenda.
(The other set of True Believers I'm worried about are the Christian Dominionists, who are in the VP and at least a couple of cabinet secretary spots. I'm not sure they've made much progress on their immediate agenda--though, e.g., DeVos' destructiveness certainly helps Bannon--but there is definitely an assembled crew in place. All will ruthlessly exploit the openings that a crazy, paranoid and dumb president provides.)
posted by LooseFilter at 9:42 AM on August 1, 2017 [32 favorites]
Wow, this Seth Rich 3.0 story is blowing up faster than a NK missile test.
posted by rc3spencer at 9:42 AM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by rc3spencer at 9:42 AM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
Matt Lauer: so what's the solution
Lindsey Graham: we could just blow North Korea off the map
Matt Lauer: Even though that would kill millions of people?
Lindsey Graham: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(Paraphrased)
On preview, re the Seth Rich story, is it just me or do all these news drops make every day feel like Friday?
posted by Room 641-A at 9:45 AM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Lindsey Graham: we could just blow North Korea off the map
Matt Lauer: Even though that would kill millions of people?
Lindsey Graham: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(Paraphrased)
On preview, re the Seth Rich story, is it just me or do all these news drops make every day feel like Friday?
posted by Room 641-A at 9:45 AM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
See, here again I'm seeing what happened to MJ happening to Tromp, where absolute power and the hall 'o' mirrors isolation that leads to gets the person into terrible danger and the world watches as they spiral down, down, dooowwwnnn. Only in this case I don't understand it as well because in this case he's surrounded by family who should be able to step between him and the terrible mirror. Why cannot the people who presumably love him intervene for him? If that Air Force One unforced error with dictating the kid's idiotic criminalizing statement for him happened as reported, for instance. How could that happen to him? Why didn't anyone who cares for him prevent it? Using distraction tactics, maybe? Fake a heart attack? Smuggle a Vegas showgirl onto the plane? Start a fire? Trip on a seam in the carpet and fall on top of him while transporting a syringe full of Haldol? Something! Anything!
posted by Don Pepino at 9:45 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Don Pepino at 9:45 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
Wow, this Seth Rich 3.0 story is blowing up faster than a NK missile test.
I hope so. If the President used his office as part of an effort to harass private citizens, there should be hell to pay.
posted by zombieflanders at 9:47 AM on August 1, 2017 [29 favorites]
I hope so. If the President used his office as part of an effort to harass private citizens, there should be hell to pay.
posted by zombieflanders at 9:47 AM on August 1, 2017 [29 favorites]
If the President used his office as part of an effort to harass private citizens, there should be hell to pay.
I'm sorry, has the president used his office for anything BUT harassing private citizens?
posted by Behemoth at 9:49 AM on August 1, 2017 [68 favorites]
I'm sorry, has the president used his office for anything BUT harassing private citizens?
posted by Behemoth at 9:49 AM on August 1, 2017 [68 favorites]
One of my absolute favorite books is The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon. I used to think it was almost perfect, except that the ending was a little too unlikely.
And now it doesn't seem at all "out there." Terrifying.
I agree with you very strongly, LooseFilter, about Bannon being someone who should remain in our thoughts. It sounds like that "President Bannon" dig had started to get on someone's nerves. I'd like to see it resurrected.
posted by theredpen at 9:50 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
And now it doesn't seem at all "out there." Terrifying.
I agree with you very strongly, LooseFilter, about Bannon being someone who should remain in our thoughts. It sounds like that "President Bannon" dig had started to get on someone's nerves. I'd like to see it resurrected.
posted by theredpen at 9:50 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
You [trump] have maybe 50m followers. 25 million of those are bots. Most of the rest are probably rubber necking the disaster, like me.
Wait. Are there really some of you still following him on Twitter?
Block the motherfucker already! Trust me: it's one of the most beautiful, cathartic feelings in the world!
You'll still hear second-hand (and third-hand, and fourth-hand, etc.) about all the crazy shit he spouts every hour of the day, believe me. But it's soooo satisfying to see someone retweeting him only to read "This tweet is unavailable."
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:53 AM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
Wait. Are there really some of you still following him on Twitter?
Block the motherfucker already! Trust me: it's one of the most beautiful, cathartic feelings in the world!
You'll still hear second-hand (and third-hand, and fourth-hand, etc.) about all the crazy shit he spouts every hour of the day, believe me. But it's soooo satisfying to see someone retweeting him only to read "This tweet is unavailable."
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:53 AM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
I'm sorry, has the president used his office for anything BUT harassing private citizens?
To be fair, he has also used his office for harassing permanent residents, immigrants and visa-seekers. And other heads of states and their spouses.
posted by tivalasvegas at 9:55 AM on August 1, 2017 [15 favorites]
To be fair, he has also used his office for harassing permanent residents, immigrants and visa-seekers. And other heads of states and their spouses.
posted by tivalasvegas at 9:55 AM on August 1, 2017 [15 favorites]
Has everyone read the Browder testimony? Threads come and go, so not sure if this was last weeks news cycle, but it really helped me to connect a lot of dots. Where the hell is Mueller. This shit needs to be stopped.
posted by H. Roark at 9:55 AM on August 1, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by H. Roark at 9:55 AM on August 1, 2017 [16 favorites]
Mueller is doing his job like a grownup which means no leaks every five seconds.
posted by tivalasvegas at 9:56 AM on August 1, 2017 [43 favorites]
posted by tivalasvegas at 9:56 AM on August 1, 2017 [43 favorites]
I'm sorry, has the president used his office for anything BUT harassing private citizens?
Golf.
posted by Artw at 9:56 AM on August 1, 2017 [16 favorites]
Golf.
posted by Artw at 9:56 AM on August 1, 2017 [16 favorites]
Mueller is doing his job like a grownup which means no leaks every five seconds.
And the indictments are going to be PERFECT.
posted by mikelieman at 9:57 AM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
And the indictments are going to be PERFECT.
posted by mikelieman at 9:57 AM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
On preview, re the Seth Rich story, is it just me or do all these news drops make every day feel like Friday?
No lie, when I was driving home yesterday I caught myself thinking "wow, I'm glad it's the weekend."
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:57 AM on August 1, 2017 [13 favorites]
No lie, when I was driving home yesterday I caught myself thinking "wow, I'm glad it's the weekend."
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:57 AM on August 1, 2017 [13 favorites]
Browder who? More importantly, did you hear about Scaramucci's antics? /s
posted by sebastienbailard at 9:58 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by sebastienbailard at 9:58 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Block the motherfucker already
You can also use @UnfollowTrump instead if you want to keep up to the minute on his various spewings without giving the fucker the satisfaction of another follower.
posted by bibliowench at 9:58 AM on August 1, 2017 [15 favorites]
You can also use @UnfollowTrump instead if you want to keep up to the minute on his various spewings without giving the fucker the satisfaction of another follower.
posted by bibliowench at 9:58 AM on August 1, 2017 [15 favorites]
Mueller won't save us, though. He can establish facts and maybe indictments will put political pressure on Congress. But ultimately it is going to be the outrage of the citizenry that brings down this Administration, or not.
posted by tivalasvegas at 10:02 AM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by tivalasvegas at 10:02 AM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
There are two explanations I can think of for why no one will help him. 1. They're unaware he's in danger because somehow they think he's behaving rationally. 2. They're not moved by his plight, or not enough to risk the blowback they'd get from him for thwarting him. I don't think 1. is credible. I think it's 2. I think this is Lear without Cordelia.
posted by Don Pepino at 10:02 AM on August 1, 2017 [14 favorites]
posted by Don Pepino at 10:02 AM on August 1, 2017 [14 favorites]
Court tells Trump’s EPA to enforce methane rule for oil and gas drillers (Mark Hand, TPM)
EPA’s failure to enforce rule is causing release of “hazardous air pollutants,” court rules.
posted by Room 641-A at 10:02 AM on August 1, 2017 [17 favorites]
EPA’s failure to enforce rule is causing release of “hazardous air pollutants,” court rules.
A federal appeals court ruled late Monday that the Environmental Protection Agency must enforce Obama-era restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas industry.Fwiw, I'm not even on twitter and the threads here give me all I need to know.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit struck down the EPA’s attempt to suspend methane restrictions for the sector, formally vacating the agency’s 90-day stay of key provisions of New Source Performance Standards. The rule is now in effect.
posted by Room 641-A at 10:02 AM on August 1, 2017 [17 favorites]
You can also use @UnfollowTrump instead if you want to keep up to the minute on his various spewings without giving the fucker the satisfaction of another follower.
Hmm ... gotta get that follower count up.
posted by tilde at 10:03 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Hmm ... gotta get that follower count up.
posted by tilde at 10:03 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
How could that happen to him?
There are two kinds of people around Trump, apparently: non-family, who all seem to be cynical opportunists/true believers of various kinds; and his family.
The first group will not care for nor protect Trump in any way, except insofar as it benefits them or their ends. The second group, his family, cannot love or protect him in the ways described because they were raised by a sick, hateful father and have lived their entire lives in a world defined by malignant narcissism. I don't think they know how to love other people in unselfish ways because it was never modeled for or taught to them.
So Trump is reaping what he has sown. It's tragic, but my sympathy is limited because of this.
posted by LooseFilter at 10:06 AM on August 1, 2017 [13 favorites]
There are two kinds of people around Trump, apparently: non-family, who all seem to be cynical opportunists/true believers of various kinds; and his family.
The first group will not care for nor protect Trump in any way, except insofar as it benefits them or their ends. The second group, his family, cannot love or protect him in the ways described because they were raised by a sick, hateful father and have lived their entire lives in a world defined by malignant narcissism. I don't think they know how to love other people in unselfish ways because it was never modeled for or taught to them.
So Trump is reaping what he has sown. It's tragic, but my sympathy is limited because of this.
posted by LooseFilter at 10:06 AM on August 1, 2017 [13 favorites]
I want to move to Kentucky just to vote for Amy McGrath.
Now that's an ad. Calls out McConnell for not responding to a child's letter. Plays up her career military service. Empowering to women and families. Shames her opponent for his health care vote.
This might get some legs.
posted by archimago at 10:06 AM on August 1, 2017 [22 favorites]
Now that's an ad. Calls out McConnell for not responding to a child's letter. Plays up her career military service. Empowering to women and families. Shames her opponent for his health care vote.
This might get some legs.
posted by archimago at 10:06 AM on August 1, 2017 [22 favorites]
Trump still hasn't signed the Russia sanctions and now they're claiming the White House hasn't received the bill
Prediction: the next one will be that Anthony Scaramucci took all the pens when leaving. They figure they will keep coming up with plausible excuses for the next 4 years and BOOM, no kompromat, no drama, everyone's happy.
posted by rainy at 10:06 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
Prediction: the next one will be that Anthony Scaramucci took all the pens when leaving. They figure they will keep coming up with plausible excuses for the next 4 years and BOOM, no kompromat, no drama, everyone's happy.
posted by rainy at 10:06 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
I think this is Lear without Cordelia.
Let's be fair, here. Lear was an awful father but his basic instincts towards the citizenry - at least post-madness - were generous. Trump is like Goneril and Regan merged with each other and then lost their minds.
posted by Aravis76 at 10:08 AM on August 1, 2017 [16 favorites]
Let's be fair, here. Lear was an awful father but his basic instincts towards the citizenry - at least post-madness - were generous. Trump is like Goneril and Regan merged with each other and then lost their minds.
posted by Aravis76 at 10:08 AM on August 1, 2017 [16 favorites]
His own administration is rebuking Trump.
WSJ: Acting DEA Chief Rebuts Trump’s Remarks on Police Use of Force: Rosenberg memo to agency staff says to disregard suggestion that suspects should be roughed up
WSJ: Acting DEA Chief Rebuts Trump’s Remarks on Police Use of Force: Rosenberg memo to agency staff says to disregard suggestion that suspects should be roughed up
The nation’s top narcotics officer repudiated President Donald Trump’s remarks about police use of force, issuing a memo saying Drug Enforcement Administration agents must “always act honorably” by maintaining “the very highest standards” in the treatment of criminal suspects.posted by chris24 at 10:09 AM on August 1, 2017 [58 favorites]
Chuck Rosenberg, who as acting DEA chief works for the president, told agency personnel world-wide in a Saturday memo to disregard any suggestion that roughing up suspects would be tolerated. The memo came a day after Mr. Trump told a crowd of law-enforcement officers they shouldn’t be “too nice” when arresting “thugs.”
“The president, in remarks delivered yesterday in New York, condoned police misconduct regarding the treatment of individuals placed under arrest by law enforcement,” begins the memo, titled “Who We Are” and marked “Global Distribution.”
Mr. Rosenberg wrote that although he is certain no “special agent or task force officer of the DEA would mistreat a defendant,” Mr. Trump’s comments required a response. The White House, the Justice Department and the DEA, which is an arm of the Justice Department, declined to comment on the Rosenberg memo.
“I write to offer a strong reaffirmation of the operating principles to which we, as law enforcement professionals, adhere,” the memo says. “I write because we have an obligation to speak out when something is wrong. That’s what law enforcement officers do. That’s what you do. We fix stuff. At least, we try.”
Life in the Trump era
@joshgerstein (Politico) Just called the press line for a major federal law enforcement agency and got a message saying "It is Thursday, January 19." #wtfposted by pjenks at 10:12 AM on August 1, 2017 [68 favorites]
he second group, his family, cannot love or protect him in the ways described because they were raised by a sick, hateful father and have lived their entire lives in a world defined by malignant narcissism. I don't think they know how to love other people in unselfish ways because it was never modeled for or taught to them.
If you try to help a narcissist parent but the thing that would help them is not the thing they want to do, you will end up added to their enemies list even if you are doing it out of love.
Ask me how I know!
posted by winna at 10:13 AM on August 1, 2017 [47 favorites]
If you try to help a narcissist parent but the thing that would help them is not the thing they want to do, you will end up added to their enemies list even if you are doing it out of love.
Ask me how I know!
posted by winna at 10:13 AM on August 1, 2017 [47 favorites]
Every once in a while, he'll [Robert Reich] post about some conversation he's had with a Republican, and it always strikes me as a little too on-the-nose, a little too much what we want to hear. Maybe I'm weird, but I've always been skeptical of these posts.
You are not the only one. Every time I read something from his "sources", they sound made up, whole cloth. His former Republicans apparently dont sound like Libertarians or Independents - They sound like hardcore Dems. It could just be his filter, but I never trust what he says.
posted by greermahoney at 10:13 AM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
You are not the only one. Every time I read something from his "sources", they sound made up, whole cloth. His former Republicans apparently dont sound like Libertarians or Independents - They sound like hardcore Dems. It could just be his filter, but I never trust what he says.
posted by greermahoney at 10:13 AM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
Has everyone read the Browder testimony?
I have, it's really interesting stuff. Definitely recommended reading.
posted by cell divide at 10:13 AM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
I have, it's really interesting stuff. Definitely recommended reading.
posted by cell divide at 10:13 AM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
WSJ: Acting DEA Chief Rebuts Trump’s Remarks on Police Use of Force: Rosenberg memo to agency staff says to disregard suggestion that suspects should be roughed upNice start (I know the local police to where he was speaking spoke out too) ... more of the gov't should be speaking out like this on all kinds of things, even if he has officially silenced them (I'm thinking of you, EPA). And Pence for not repudiating as well.
Something like:
WSJ: Acting DEA Chief Rebuts Trump’s Remarks and Pence's silent support on Police Use of Force: Rosenberg memo to agency staff says to disregard suggestion that suspects should be roughed up
Everything batshit needs to be loudly blamed on them both.
posted by tilde at 10:17 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
‘I will not break faith’: Coast Guard admiral defies Trump order to ban transgender service members
The Coast Guard has decided that it will not honor President Donald Trump’s order to ban transgender people from serving in their ranks. He later claimed it was too expensive to pay their medical costs.posted by Room 641-A at 10:19 AM on August 1, 2017 [237 favorites]
Military.com quoted Admiral Paul Zukunft, saying that his first action upon hearing Trump’s ban was to reach out to all 13 members of the Coast Guard that self-identified as transgender.
“I reached out personally to Lt. Taylor Miller, who was featured on the cover of The Washington Post last week,” Zukunft said. “If you read that story, Taylor’s family has disowned her. Her family is the United States Coast Guard. And I told Taylor, ‘I will not turn my back. We have made an investment in you, and you have made an investment in the Coast Guard, and I will not break faith.'”
I'm personally betting that Kelly is going to last only a few months.
We can only hope. General Kelly is one of those people who is so profoundly ignorant he doesn't even recognize his own ignorance. Here he is from back in 2003, pontificating in the right-wing Washington Times:
Vietnam is mostly jungle. I don't like jungles, but guerrillas do. There is plenty of cover and concealment. There is plenty of water. There are a lot of things to eat. Creepy crawly yucky things, but you can eat them if you have to. A large guerrilla force can live, relatively securely, in jungles for long periods. Iraq is mostly desert. Desert offers little cover or concealment, less food and water.
As Markos Moulitsas pointed out, back in 2003, no, Iraqis aren't camel riding Bedouins in the desert. Iraqis live in densely populated urban cities. Baghdad alone has nearly the population of New York City. As the last 15 years have shown, urban warfare is the deadliest and bloodiest type of warfare. Kelly was entirely clueless about this reality.
Kelly also was a proponent of the ignorant "we have to fight them over there so we don't have to fight them over here" propaganda.
This filling of Trump's administration with generals is very disturbing -- Kelly, Mattis, McMaster, Sweeney, Kellogg, and formerly Flynn. This is the way banana republics occur -- in South America, in the Middle East, and elsewhere. The public demands some sort of calm and authority from the chaos and welcome the generals. We've even seen this from "progressives" on Metafilter.
Be careful what you wish for. These guys are hare-core, true believers in military authority. And they are profoundly ignorant. And they are taking over the government.
posted by JackFlash at 10:19 AM on August 1, 2017 [84 favorites]
We can only hope. General Kelly is one of those people who is so profoundly ignorant he doesn't even recognize his own ignorance. Here he is from back in 2003, pontificating in the right-wing Washington Times:
Vietnam is mostly jungle. I don't like jungles, but guerrillas do. There is plenty of cover and concealment. There is plenty of water. There are a lot of things to eat. Creepy crawly yucky things, but you can eat them if you have to. A large guerrilla force can live, relatively securely, in jungles for long periods. Iraq is mostly desert. Desert offers little cover or concealment, less food and water.
As Markos Moulitsas pointed out, back in 2003, no, Iraqis aren't camel riding Bedouins in the desert. Iraqis live in densely populated urban cities. Baghdad alone has nearly the population of New York City. As the last 15 years have shown, urban warfare is the deadliest and bloodiest type of warfare. Kelly was entirely clueless about this reality.
Kelly also was a proponent of the ignorant "we have to fight them over there so we don't have to fight them over here" propaganda.
This filling of Trump's administration with generals is very disturbing -- Kelly, Mattis, McMaster, Sweeney, Kellogg, and formerly Flynn. This is the way banana republics occur -- in South America, in the Middle East, and elsewhere. The public demands some sort of calm and authority from the chaos and welcome the generals. We've even seen this from "progressives" on Metafilter.
Be careful what you wish for. These guys are hare-core, true believers in military authority. And they are profoundly ignorant. And they are taking over the government.
posted by JackFlash at 10:19 AM on August 1, 2017 [84 favorites]
And I told Taylor, ‘I will not turn my back. We have made an investment in you, and you have made an investment in the Coast Guard, and I will not break faith.'
Well that's encouraging. It's easy to defy a tweet, but still. Good on him.
Semper paratus.
posted by suelac at 10:24 AM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
Well that's encouraging. It's easy to defy a tweet, but still. Good on him.
Semper paratus.
posted by suelac at 10:24 AM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
Be careful what you wish for. These guys are hare-core, true believers in military authority. And they are profoundly ignorant. And they are taking over the government.
And like Bannon, and (we can assume) Trump, they believe the great fight of their generation, where they can attain glory and immortality, is in a "clash of civilizations" between the "Judeo-Christian West" and Islam. Never mind that almost all of it is nonsense, they are hammers in search of nails and scary foreigners are generally popular targets to the masses. This is also how Russia has lured in so many of these guys-- they pitch themselves as an ally in the global fight against radical Islam to save the "West", even though the actual reasons for Russian actions in Syria and elsewhere have almost nothing to do with the West, civilization, or Islamic radicals.
posted by cell divide at 10:26 AM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
And like Bannon, and (we can assume) Trump, they believe the great fight of their generation, where they can attain glory and immortality, is in a "clash of civilizations" between the "Judeo-Christian West" and Islam. Never mind that almost all of it is nonsense, they are hammers in search of nails and scary foreigners are generally popular targets to the masses. This is also how Russia has lured in so many of these guys-- they pitch themselves as an ally in the global fight against radical Islam to save the "West", even though the actual reasons for Russian actions in Syria and elsewhere have almost nothing to do with the West, civilization, or Islamic radicals.
posted by cell divide at 10:26 AM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
Trump was "joking" when he encouraged police violence.
I was bullied in grade school. I know exactly what kind of "joking" he is talking about.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:27 AM on August 1, 2017 [72 favorites]
I was bullied in grade school. I know exactly what kind of "joking" he is talking about.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:27 AM on August 1, 2017 [72 favorites]
Well that's encouraging. It's easy to defy a tweet, but still. Good on him.
It's a pretty fucking big deal for a member of the armed forces, let alone an admiral, to do it, publicly.
posted by FelliniBlank at 10:28 AM on August 1, 2017 [36 favorites]
It's a pretty fucking big deal for a member of the armed forces, let alone an admiral, to do it, publicly.
posted by FelliniBlank at 10:28 AM on August 1, 2017 [36 favorites]
Ruh-roh!
Right-Wing Financial Adviser at the Center of Seth Rich-Fox News Lawsuit Deletes Twitter Account
Gee, now we'll never know what those tweets said. Oh well!
posted by Room 641-A at 10:29 AM on August 1, 2017 [22 favorites]
Right-Wing Financial Adviser at the Center of Seth Rich-Fox News Lawsuit Deletes Twitter Account
Gee, now we'll never know what those tweets said. Oh well!
posted by Room 641-A at 10:29 AM on August 1, 2017 [22 favorites]
"I promise food of at least comparible (sic) quality to that which we ate in Iraq".
Does anyone else feel a little bad for Bossert? I would have been really excited about Iraqi food 😯
posted by Tarumba at 10:29 AM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Does anyone else feel a little bad for Bossert? I would have been really excited about Iraqi food 😯
posted by Tarumba at 10:29 AM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Be careful what you wish for. These guys are hare-core, true believers in military authority. And they are profoundly ignorant. And they are taking over the government.
Word frickin up on this. I'm not clever enough to figure out a nice, pithy ending for the sentence The government should be run like but I definitely know what it should not be run like.
We need to cure the American people of thinking that the government should be run like a business. We need to cure the American people of thinking that the government should be run like the military.
Certainly we can take best practices from both the business world and the military, but the government has completely different goals from large corporations and the armed forces and needs different personalities in key roles than those two worlds.
posted by lord_wolf at 10:29 AM on August 1, 2017 [40 favorites]
Word frickin up on this. I'm not clever enough to figure out a nice, pithy ending for the sentence The government should be run like but I definitely know what it should not be run like.
We need to cure the American people of thinking that the government should be run like a business. We need to cure the American people of thinking that the government should be run like the military.
Certainly we can take best practices from both the business world and the military, but the government has completely different goals from large corporations and the armed forces and needs different personalities in key roles than those two worlds.
posted by lord_wolf at 10:29 AM on August 1, 2017 [40 favorites]
TPM's Josh Marshall Making Sense of the Big WaPo Story and the False Statement
The cover-up is not worse than the crime here--That Big D is desperate to make sure no one ever looks too closely into his finances or interactions with the post-Soviet criminal underworld because he knows on some deep level that what he's hiding is worse than the slow reveal of all the details.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 10:36 AM on August 1, 2017 [78 favorites]
The kernel of the Post report is a much more total and dramatic report of something we knew more tenuously in near contemporaneous reports a month ago: that President Trump had himself been involved in crafting the original statement that his son Don Jr. released in response to the original New York Times report about his June 2016 meeting with that Russia lawyer. That alone represented a stunning failure on the part of his aides. Since they implicated the President in both the knowledge of those events and whatever misstatements were included in the response to them – something with possibly severe legal implications. What the Post now reports is that not only was Trump the apparently sole author of the false statement – he apparently dictated the copy – but that he overruled his top aides and advisors to construct that false statement. [...]Josh has laid out a strong case that the Popular Vote Loser isn't just inexperienced but that he has been actively involved in the cover-up. One of the most interesting things about this article is what Josh did not mention--the secret meeting with Putin, which no other American citizen witnessed. The tweet thread by Susan Simpson that readery posted above lays out an interesting timeline. Apparently the meeting with Putin involved discussion of "Russian adoptions"--i.e., the sanctions imposed by Magnitsky Act. Sr. then wrote a statement for Jr. on Air Force 1 that specifically named issues related to said Magnitsky Act as the topic of the discussion with Natalia Veselnitskaya.
But those points all pale in comparison to the central story: the President’s dictation of the false statement. The narrow facts and legal jeopardy are important. But they are, again, secondary. The real issue is this: The President, contrary to what many have thought, is the one person who appears to know all the key details. Kushner likely knows many of them. Kushner’s lawyers know some but likely not all since it seems unlikely he’s being fully truthful with them. Trump’s lawyers likely know some but not all the facts. Others each have their own bundle of knowledge but likely in few cases the whole picture. [...]
The thread connecting all the most aggressive attempts to hide facts and obstruct the investigation is Donald Trump. He is the actor in every single case, often over the purported and perhaps real objections of those around him. But it is almost always those who know less than he does.
Because it is the explanation put forward by his advisors and also the less ominous explanation, we are still getting versions of ‘all these actions are just examples of the President’s naïveté and pugilism’. That is hardly credible. So many efforts to cover up, obstruct and lie only have one credible explanation. If we are honest with ourselves – which some of us are more able to do than others – we know what that explanation is.
The cover-up is not worse than the crime here--That Big D is desperate to make sure no one ever looks too closely into his finances or interactions with the post-Soviet criminal underworld because he knows on some deep level that what he's hiding is worse than the slow reveal of all the details.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 10:36 AM on August 1, 2017 [78 favorites]
The government should be run like it considers more than one opinion at a time.
posted by delfin at 10:37 AM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by delfin at 10:37 AM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
(I went on vacation for 2 weeks and I'm still a thread and a half back and I've run out of favorites. Reading through with the advantage of hindsight is weird.)
posted by danielleh at 10:37 AM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by danielleh at 10:37 AM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
It's a pretty fucking big deal for a member of the armed forces, let alone an admiral, to do it, publicly.
Yeah. I shouldn't have understated it, although there are some factors that apply to soften the issue here: USCG is not part of DOD, and there are only 13 openly transgender members of the service. And I assume that the Commandant got some backup from DHS before speaking publicly: he's unlikely to have said that without having either Kelly or Duke approve it.
posted by suelac at 10:37 AM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
Yeah. I shouldn't have understated it, although there are some factors that apply to soften the issue here: USCG is not part of DOD, and there are only 13 openly transgender members of the service. And I assume that the Commandant got some backup from DHS before speaking publicly: he's unlikely to have said that without having either Kelly or Duke approve it.
posted by suelac at 10:37 AM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
When Rick Fucking Santorum on CNN sounds half way sane,
damn.
Trump is a helluva drug.
posted by yesster at 10:40 AM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
damn.
Trump is a helluva drug.
posted by yesster at 10:40 AM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Scaramucci fan-fic:
Once upon a time, the end.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 10:40 AM on August 1, 2017 [41 favorites]
Once upon a time, the end.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 10:40 AM on August 1, 2017 [41 favorites]
Reading through with the advantage of hindsight is weird.
Yesterday I was out and about and didn't hear any news all day. When I got in the car to go home I turned off the radio because I was like "*spoilers* NPR, I'd rather read about whatever happened on metafilter".
posted by peeedro at 10:41 AM on August 1, 2017 [42 favorites]
Yesterday I was out and about and didn't hear any news all day. When I got in the car to go home I turned off the radio because I was like "*spoilers* NPR, I'd rather read about whatever happened on metafilter".
posted by peeedro at 10:41 AM on August 1, 2017 [42 favorites]
Now that's an ad. Calls out McConnell for not responding to a child's letter. Plays up her career military service. Empowering to women and families. Shames her opponent for his health care vote.
This might get some legs.
Legs that McConnell has plenty of experience chopping right out from under people.
Calls out McConnell for not responding to a child's letter?
"I regret that with my busy schedule serving the American people, I have not had time to send little Timmy the letter I wrote back to him that same day. I sure hope this photo opp of me giving him a cool gift in person will make him feel better."
Plays up her career military service?
"I have some grave concerns about Amy McGrath's conduct while in the service. Concerns that make me question her fitness to serve in Congress."
Empowering to women and families?
"Some people call supporting abortion mills like Planned Parenthood empowering to women and families. We say God is empowering to women and families, not far-left government-funded programs."
Shames her opponent for his health care vote?
"I will never apologize for voting to repeal Obama's broken, socialist deathcare system and to replace it with the cheapest, best, sexiest, most amazing health care plan ever conceived, based on the market—not on some Washington bureaucrat's idea of health care."
As a former resident of Kentucky, I sincerely, fervently hopeMcGrath anybody kicks McConnell's ass in 2018. But these people will shamelessly attack anything about their opponents, good or bad, in order to hang on to power. It's their whole thing.
posted by Rykey at 10:42 AM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
This might get some legs.
Legs that McConnell has plenty of experience chopping right out from under people.
Calls out McConnell for not responding to a child's letter?
"I regret that with my busy schedule serving the American people, I have not had time to send little Timmy the letter I wrote back to him that same day. I sure hope this photo opp of me giving him a cool gift in person will make him feel better."
Plays up her career military service?
"I have some grave concerns about Amy McGrath's conduct while in the service. Concerns that make me question her fitness to serve in Congress."
Empowering to women and families?
"Some people call supporting abortion mills like Planned Parenthood empowering to women and families. We say God is empowering to women and families, not far-left government-funded programs."
Shames her opponent for his health care vote?
"I will never apologize for voting to repeal Obama's broken, socialist deathcare system and to replace it with the cheapest, best, sexiest, most amazing health care plan ever conceived, based on the market—not on some Washington bureaucrat's idea of health care."
As a former resident of Kentucky, I sincerely, fervently hope
posted by Rykey at 10:42 AM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
Cool Papa Bell was really onto something with the Coast Guard, huh?
posted by Tevin at 10:42 AM on August 1, 2017 [15 favorites]
posted by Tevin at 10:42 AM on August 1, 2017 [15 favorites]
Does anyone else feel a little bad for Bossert? I would have been really excited about Iraqi food
It was probably a burger or something.
posted by Artw at 10:43 AM on August 1, 2017
It was probably a burger or something.
posted by Artw at 10:43 AM on August 1, 2017
(trump voter demographic maps and opioid addiction demo maps are virtually identical)
posted by yesster at 10:43 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by yesster at 10:43 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
The government should be run like
you actually want it to run.
posted by jamjam at 10:46 AM on August 1, 2017 [15 favorites]
you actually want it to run.
posted by jamjam at 10:46 AM on August 1, 2017 [15 favorites]
Scaramucci fan-fic:
Once upon a time, the end.
For sale: communications director, never used.
posted by uosuaq at 10:51 AM on August 1, 2017 [96 favorites]
Once upon a time, the end.
For sale: communications director, never used.
posted by uosuaq at 10:51 AM on August 1, 2017 [96 favorites]
Every existing republican should have trump hung around their neck for the rest of their lives like the chicken-stealing dogs they are*. They own this. Every day they don't denounce this train wreck as a party they own it.
*this is an expression do not do anything like this to a doggo. the best way to train them is rewarding them for doing what you want and make sure they don't have the chance to do things you don't.
posted by winna at 10:52 AM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
*this is an expression do not do anything like this to a doggo. the best way to train them is rewarding them for doing what you want and make sure they don't have the chance to do things you don't.
posted by winna at 10:52 AM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
as a resident of Indiana, I can tell you he was weaselly as shit about getting RFRA, which was basically codified discrimination against LGBT people, passed. And almost as weaselly about reversing course when people here flipped out about it. It wouldn't surprise me at all to find out he's knee deep in fascism and collusion, and then lies his ass off about it.
Lucky for Pence the Bible is silent on the subject of bearing false witness. Oh, wait...
posted by Gelatin at 10:57 AM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
Lucky for Pence the Bible is silent on the subject of bearing false witness. Oh, wait...
posted by Gelatin at 10:57 AM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
Trump is the kind of person that burns down a forest to get revenge against an annoying cricket.
And then changes the law to make burning down forests easier.
And then puts a pyromaniac in charge of the Forest Bureau.
And then tweets: Smokey the Bear is fat and ugly. Terrible ratings!
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 10:59 AM on August 1, 2017 [13 favorites]
And then changes the law to make burning down forests easier.
And then puts a pyromaniac in charge of the Forest Bureau.
And then tweets: Smokey the Bear is fat and ugly. Terrible ratings!
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 10:59 AM on August 1, 2017 [13 favorites]
Lucky for Pence the Bible is silent on the subject of bearing false witness. Oh, wait...
LOL. It's Okay If You're An Evangelical.
Republican Christianity is an utter moral void.
posted by Artw at 11:01 AM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
LOL. It's Okay If You're An Evangelical.
Republican Christianity is an utter moral void.
posted by Artw at 11:01 AM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
Congress has designated agents to accept a veto during recess. The only time you can truly pocket veto is at the end of a Congressional term.
Your information is out of date by quite a long time.
posted by phearlez at 11:02 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Your information is out of date by quite a long time.
...Barnes v. Kline (1985). The Supreme Court, however, vacated the decision as moot. Following the action by the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice declared its opinion that the President's pocket-veto power extends to any adjournment of longer than three days. President George H.W. Bush continued to exercise the power, as did President William Jefferson Clinton, and repeated attempts in Congress to pass legislation stating its view of the power have failed to pass.However if they're actually sticking by their earlier rumblings about preventing recess appointments then they'd never be adjourned more than a day anyway.
posted by phearlez at 11:02 AM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
McGrath is running against Andy Barr for the House seat, not McConnell. McConnell was reelected in 2014 and not up again until 2020. Andy Barr is in a PVI R+9 district, that I believe was gerrymandered to be include more Republican out cities to dilute Lexington's Democratic vote in 2010. It's going to be difficult for sure, but Barr is pretty much Mitch McConnell's hand picked successor and foot stool, and McConnell is not popular in the state despite winning. He's won mainly by massively outspending his challengers, and by the KY Democrats putting up incompetent cardboard Republican-life candidates who ran some of the worst campaigns in modern politics against him like Alison Grimes and Jack Conway. There could be an opening to tie Barr to McConnell and Trump at the same time and sneak in a strong Democratic candidate in a wave election.
It's a stretch goal for sure, but seeing strong candidates come out for office against Trumpsters is a start. This is what a 50 state, 435 district strategy looks like. Run candidates everywhere. Find candidates that don't suck and that actually stand for something besides getting elected and paying campaign consultants. Don't sabotage the best candidate just because they're not the one Wall St Schumercrats back in the primary. Compete everywhere, and when the wave comes, some of those candidates will win in places we never would've expected.
posted by T.D. Strange at 11:02 AM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
It's a stretch goal for sure, but seeing strong candidates come out for office against Trumpsters is a start. This is what a 50 state, 435 district strategy looks like. Run candidates everywhere. Find candidates that don't suck and that actually stand for something besides getting elected and paying campaign consultants. Don't sabotage the best candidate just because they're not the one Wall St Schumercrats back in the primary. Compete everywhere, and when the wave comes, some of those candidates will win in places we never would've expected.
posted by T.D. Strange at 11:02 AM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
Reading through with the advantage of hindsight is weird.
I started getting the Sunday NYT (print) in Feb., but was so depressed I skipped much of it. (t-Rump's everywhere, constant mentions even in Arts & Leisure.) So I saved the papers, and am wading back through mostly non-news sections. But glancing at other sections it's astonishing to be reminded, Oh, that happened in Feb/April/June.
I mean, people, the avalanche of Alt-Right NOT-RIGHT crap that's happened these 7 -8 months!
posted by NorthernLite at 11:03 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
I started getting the Sunday NYT (print) in Feb., but was so depressed I skipped much of it. (t-Rump's everywhere, constant mentions even in Arts & Leisure.) So I saved the papers, and am wading back through mostly non-news sections. But glancing at other sections it's astonishing to be reminded, Oh, that happened in Feb/April/June.
I mean, people, the avalanche of Alt-Right NOT-RIGHT crap that's happened these 7 -8 months!
posted by NorthernLite at 11:03 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
"@joshgerstein (Politico) Just called the press line for a major federal law enforcement agency and got a message saying "It is Thursday, January 19." #wtf"
Even the phones are nostalgic for life before the inauguration.
posted by Tarumba at 11:04 AM on August 1, 2017 [50 favorites]
Even the phones are nostalgic for life before the inauguration.
posted by Tarumba at 11:04 AM on August 1, 2017 [50 favorites]
If it takes weeks for them to find the light switches, how long is it going to take to locate the manual to reprogram the PBX?
posted by contraption at 11:11 AM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by contraption at 11:11 AM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
JackFlash, was that article penned by Gen John Kelly or someone else named Jack Kelly, who is attributed at the bottom? I can't find anything on Jack Kelly, so wondering if this is one of those things where they would have swapped out his first name for 'some reason?' If that was really written by our current chief of staff, I'm more horrified by what comes after your-pull quote:
The North Vietnamese and their Viet Cong allies were bright, skilled, resourceful, well-led, and very brave.
In Iraq, we’re fighting Arabs.
This is an open admission of belief in culture superiority, and besides being offensive/incorrect is extremely dangerous. Very much hoping that this was in fact not authored by Gen. Kelly because holy shit
posted by andruwjones26 at 11:14 AM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
The North Vietnamese and their Viet Cong allies were bright, skilled, resourceful, well-led, and very brave.
In Iraq, we’re fighting Arabs.
This is an open admission of belief in culture superiority, and besides being offensive/incorrect is extremely dangerous. Very much hoping that this was in fact not authored by Gen. Kelly because holy shit
posted by andruwjones26 at 11:14 AM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
Block the motherfucker already!
Trump got me engaged with Twitter for the first time ever. Last night I deleted my account because I realized it wasn't adding anything to my life. Feels good!
posted by Coventry at 11:15 AM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
Trump got me engaged with Twitter for the first time ever. Last night I deleted my account because I realized it wasn't adding anything to my life. Feels good!
posted by Coventry at 11:15 AM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
National Treasure Alexandra Petri, WaPo: Chaos? What chaos? No chaos here!
The good news is, this is not chaos. “No WH chaos!” President Trump tweeted on Monday morning.posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:15 AM on August 1, 2017 [19 favorites]
(He said this as Anthony Scaramucci ran past him, covered in bees, and jumped into a lake. Metaphorically speaking.)
On the one hand, the president has a point. The White House had just gotten rid of Scaramucci as its communications director, and for any other workplace, that would not have been a sign of chaos at all. That would be a sign that it had read, seen or heard anything that Scaramucci had said at any point, noticed what an obvious nonsense person he was and realized that hiring him had been the result of one particularly egregious typo. But this is the Trump White House, where hiring Scaramucci in the first place, a man given to profanity-laced tirades, was assumed to be a permanent move that would give him Great Power and that the people on the Internet whose job it is to hope that the White House knows what it is doing all immediately wrote to say was Just What The White House Needed.
> except for one thing — any mention of promoting democracy is being eliminated.
Good riddance. One of the more honest, self-aware, not-totally-tone-deaf deeds from this adminidefenestration.
Sorta. I concur that the obsession with democracy as a first step in troubled nations is just a bad plan. I think the US's foreign policy would be way better if we focused on fundamental rights over political system methods. You'd avoid the awkwardness of things like the Palestinian election and subsequent hypocrisy that gave us. The problem with this admin doing it is that there's little sign they'll make that shift, and instead will just support whatever tinpot jackass gives them the short-term payoff they want.
posted by phearlez at 11:16 AM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
Good riddance. One of the more honest, self-aware, not-totally-tone-deaf deeds from this adminidefenestration.
Sorta. I concur that the obsession with democracy as a first step in troubled nations is just a bad plan. I think the US's foreign policy would be way better if we focused on fundamental rights over political system methods. You'd avoid the awkwardness of things like the Palestinian election and subsequent hypocrisy that gave us. The problem with this admin doing it is that there's little sign they'll make that shift, and instead will just support whatever tinpot jackass gives them the short-term payoff they want.
posted by phearlez at 11:16 AM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
My prediction: it's going to get dragged out to the last minute - like next Tuesday - or this is an attempt to start laying the groundwork for a pocket veto or some other type of "legal" veto on the basis of the WH not having time to properly review the legislation.
That dog won't hunt. No one is going to believe the Trump Administration gives a toss about properly reviewing legislation.
posted by Gelatin at 11:16 AM on August 1, 2017
That dog won't hunt. No one is going to believe the Trump Administration gives a toss about properly reviewing legislation.
posted by Gelatin at 11:16 AM on August 1, 2017
JackFlash, was that article penned by Gen John Kelly or someone else named Jack Kelly, who is attributed at the bottom?
Yeah, the Jack Kelly credited with the Washington Times piece seems to be this asshole who recently retired from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, not General John Kelly.
posted by contraption at 11:21 AM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
Yeah, the Jack Kelly credited with the Washington Times piece seems to be this asshole who recently retired from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, not General John Kelly.
posted by contraption at 11:21 AM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
Not to interrupt the spiralling agony of our current news cycle, but: cake.
Making good on this comment: If McCain votes no I will bake a cake shaped like a hat and eat it.
posted by galaxy rise at 11:25 AM on August 1, 2017 [109 favorites]
Making good on this comment: If McCain votes no I will bake a cake shaped like a hat and eat it.
posted by galaxy rise at 11:25 AM on August 1, 2017 [109 favorites]
I've heard it said of fascist governments that at least they make the trains run on time.
Amtrak's $630m Trump budget cut could derail service in 220 US cities.
posted by walrus at 11:26 AM on August 1, 2017 [14 favorites]
Amtrak's $630m Trump budget cut could derail service in 220 US cities.
posted by walrus at 11:26 AM on August 1, 2017 [14 favorites]
From the National Treasure Alexandra Petri piece linked by Johnny Wallflower: Meanwhile, Kushner is leaking to the White House interns that the Trump campaign was TOO INCOMPETENT TO COLLUDE WITH ANYONE (Kushner continues to be both a particle and a wave; his collusion cat is always dead, though), and then the interns told a reporter.
Really trying not to dissolve into gales of laughter at my desk here right now. The legal research I should be doing is not supposed to be funny. But...collusion cat!
posted by yasaman at 11:27 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
Really trying not to dissolve into gales of laughter at my desk here right now. The legal research I should be doing is not supposed to be funny. But...collusion cat!
posted by yasaman at 11:27 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
Thanks for the clarification contraption! Now stepping aside for today's planned daily shitshow/press conference....
posted by andruwjones26 at 11:28 AM on August 1, 2017
posted by andruwjones26 at 11:28 AM on August 1, 2017
"Not to interrupt the spiralling agony of our current news cycle, but: cake."
But what flavor is ittt
posted by Tarumba at 11:29 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
But what flavor is ittt
posted by Tarumba at 11:29 AM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
Hat
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:30 AM on August 1, 2017 [44 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:30 AM on August 1, 2017 [44 favorites]
was that article penned by Gen John Kelly or someone else named Jack Kelly, who is attributed at the bottom?
Sorry, you are right. That is a different Kelly who was Deputy Sec of the Air Force.
But there is this a few weeks ago in a speech at George Washington University:
“Make no mistake — we are a nation under attack. We are under attack from criminals who think their greed justifies raping young girls at knifepoint, dealing poison to our youth, or killing just for fun.”
Donald Trump? Nope that is the General John Kelly, who the swooning pundits say will reign in Trump's excesses.
posted by JackFlash at 11:31 AM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
Sorry, you are right. That is a different Kelly who was Deputy Sec of the Air Force.
But there is this a few weeks ago in a speech at George Washington University:
“Make no mistake — we are a nation under attack. We are under attack from criminals who think their greed justifies raping young girls at knifepoint, dealing poison to our youth, or killing just for fun.”
Donald Trump? Nope that is the General John Kelly, who the swooning pundits say will reign in Trump's excesses.
posted by JackFlash at 11:31 AM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
galaxy rise, that is an awesome-looking cake.
I did end up making oatmeal (walnut-orange-cranberry) cookies on Saturday, but I failed to document this for MetaFilter.
posted by suelac at 11:31 AM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
I did end up making oatmeal (walnut-orange-cranberry) cookies on Saturday, but I failed to document this for MetaFilter.
posted by suelac at 11:31 AM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Uh, Don Jr's own emails show that his statement was a lie. But thanks for confirming Trump Sr. was involved.
@ddale8
Sarah Sanders: "The statement that Don Jr. issued is true," and Donald Sr. "weighed in as any father would."
posted by chris24 at 11:34 AM on August 1, 2017 [14 favorites]
@ddale8
Sarah Sanders: "The statement that Don Jr. issued is true," and Donald Sr. "weighed in as any father would."
posted by chris24 at 11:34 AM on August 1, 2017 [14 favorites]
Bari Weiss, NYT: When Progressives Embrace Hate
The image of this fearsome foursome, echoed in more than a few flattering profiles, was as seductive as a Benetton ad. There was Tamika Mallory, a young black activist who was crowned the “Sojourner Truth of our time” by Jet magazine and “a leader of tomorrow” by Valerie Jarrett. Carmen Perez, a Mexican-American and a veteran political organizer, was named one of Fortune’s Top 50 World Leaders. Linda Sarsour, a hijab-wearing Palestinian-American and the former head of the Arab-American Association of New York, had been recognized as a “champion of change” by the Obama White House. And Bob Bland, the fashion designer behind the “Nasty Women” T-shirts, was the white mother who came up with the idea of the march in the first place.posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:35 AM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
What wasn't to like?
A lot, as it turns out. The leaders of the Women’s March, arguably the most prominent feminists in the country, have some chilling ideas and associations. Far from erecting the big tent so many had hoped for, the movement they lead has embraced decidedly illiberal causes and cultivated a radical tenor that seems determined to alienate all but the most woke.
But what flavor is ittt
Hat
that's how you get mercury poisoning
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:36 AM on August 1, 2017 [15 favorites]
Hat
that's how you get mercury poisoning
posted by prize bull octorok at 11:36 AM on August 1, 2017 [15 favorites]
The. Best. People.
@joshrogin
Tillerson on Syria post-ISIS:
“What we are hoping to avoid is the outbreak of a civil war.” Wait, what?
posted by chris24 at 11:37 AM on August 1, 2017 [39 favorites]
@joshrogin
Tillerson on Syria post-ISIS:
“What we are hoping to avoid is the outbreak of a civil war.” Wait, what?
posted by chris24 at 11:37 AM on August 1, 2017 [39 favorites]
Here's a new one:
Jeff Sessions names General Mark Inch to lead Federal Bureau of Prisons
posted by JackFlash at 11:39 AM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Jeff Sessions names General Mark Inch to lead Federal Bureau of Prisons
posted by JackFlash at 11:39 AM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
General John Kelly, who the swooning pundits say will reign in Trump's excesses.
JackFlash, I'm sure you meant "rein" but in this context "reign" is pretty funny.
posted by Cookiebastard at 11:39 AM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
JackFlash, I'm sure you meant "rein" but in this context "reign" is pretty funny.
posted by Cookiebastard at 11:39 AM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
Trump still hasn't signed the Russia sanctions and now they're claiming the White House hasn't received the bill
Someone just asked SHS what the delay was with signing the bill, and she said there was no delay, it's just going through the usual review process.
he's unlikely to have said that without having either Kelly or Duke approve it.
That's also a big deal, right?
posted by Room 641-A at 11:42 AM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
Someone just asked SHS what the delay was with signing the bill, and she said there was no delay, it's just going through the usual review process.
he's unlikely to have said that without having either Kelly or Duke approve it.
That's also a big deal, right?
posted by Room 641-A at 11:42 AM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
It is a simple vanilla cake, Tarumba, with a grape ribbon.
Since this comment is already off-topic, I will compound my sins and self-link to my gallery of cakes shaped like things which are not cakes, in case anyone shares this particular hobby with me.
posted by galaxy rise at 11:42 AM on August 1, 2017 [29 favorites]
Since this comment is already off-topic, I will compound my sins and self-link to my gallery of cakes shaped like things which are not cakes, in case anyone shares this particular hobby with me.
posted by galaxy rise at 11:42 AM on August 1, 2017 [29 favorites]
I am in love with your raised garden cake
posted by Tarumba at 11:50 AM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by Tarumba at 11:50 AM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
China’s State Media Slams Trump’s ‘Emotional Venting’ on Twitter
After President Trump pilloried China in 48 tweeted words, accusing it of failing to tame its neighbor and longtime ally North Korea, Beijing issued its own rebuke to Mr. Trump — in a cutting editorial of 1,000 Chinese characters from Xinhua, the official news agency.
“Trump is quite a personality, and he likes to tweet,” said the Xinhua response issued late Monday and widely displayed on Chinese news websites. “But emotional venting cannot become a guiding policy for solving the nuclear issue on the peninsula,” it said, referring to the divided Korean Peninsula.
The United States, it added, “must not continue spurning responsibility” for the volatile standoff with North Korea, “and even less should it stab China in the back.”
The unusually personal nature of the editorial, together with comments delivered earlier that day by China’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York, show North Korea is becoming the main dispute threatening to tear at Mr. Trump’s initially friendly relationship with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
posted by chris24 at 1:13 AM on August 2 [6 favorites +] [!]
I, uhh, went ahead and translated it. Why not. Translator notes in caps, and there are lots, and it's a first draft so if you want to nitpick go away.
Not enough people know this, but you can get a 10 year tourist or business visa to China just for showing up, of which Chinese people can get the same after our gamut of silly visa interviews (China just wants an FBI background check, no interview, that's all). I say this because whatever you want to say about China and its power projection, these are people who believe in mutually beneficial arrangements, and they are reasonable negotiators. No other country has a 10-year visa to the US, y'know? (Thanks Obama.) Again, not to say you should approve of what they do, but don't think for a second that China is a bad-faith actor who will screw you if the balance of power is right. If you let them, sure, but...
If THIS is the scathing editorial? That's what I would have said to 45 myself, had I been in the position to do so.
EDITED to add I'm 5 beers in. It's only responsible to tell you, 'cause...well, hey, free translation, done 'cause I like doing it. But I'm pretty sure it reads sober-ish
posted by saysthis at 11:51 AM on August 1, 2017 [141 favorites]
After President Trump pilloried China in 48 tweeted words, accusing it of failing to tame its neighbor and longtime ally North Korea, Beijing issued its own rebuke to Mr. Trump — in a cutting editorial of 1,000 Chinese characters from Xinhua, the official news agency.
“Trump is quite a personality, and he likes to tweet,” said the Xinhua response issued late Monday and widely displayed on Chinese news websites. “But emotional venting cannot become a guiding policy for solving the nuclear issue on the peninsula,” it said, referring to the divided Korean Peninsula.
The United States, it added, “must not continue spurning responsibility” for the volatile standoff with North Korea, “and even less should it stab China in the back.”
The unusually personal nature of the editorial, together with comments delivered earlier that day by China’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York, show North Korea is becoming the main dispute threatening to tear at Mr. Trump’s initially friendly relationship with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
posted by chris24 at 1:13 AM on August 2 [6 favorites +] [!]
I, uhh, went ahead and translated it. Why not. Translator notes in caps, and there are lots, and it's a first draft so if you want to nitpick go away.
原标题：特朗普撒怨气找错了对象新华社记者 杜白羽在朝鲜新近试射洲际弹道导弹后，美国总统特朗普在推特上发文，抱怨“中国在朝鲜问题上什么也没有为美国做过”，虽然“中国能Takeaway - This is probably the sanest thing I've ever read from China's state media. My thoughts are that, no matter what the conflict in the South China Sea, and yes China is being a dick, but they have the decency to conduct great power politics like a gentleman, as did we once.
Original headline: Trump vents anger on the wrong target
Xinhua journalist: Du Baiyu
After North Korea’s recent ICBM test firings, US President Trump stated on Twitter, “[WTF LIKE I’M LINKING THAT BUT HERE IS MY TRANSLATION OF THEIR TRANSLATION THIS WILL BE GREAT I HAVE THE BEST WORDS] China has done nothing for America on North Korea”, even though “China can easily solve this problem.”
特朗普热衷于通过推特就一些问题发表个人观点，这是他的特点。朝鲜最新试射的导弹，据说具备打到美国一些地方的能力，这似乎令特朗普感到“不爽”，但把这股怨气撒到中国身上，显然是找错了发泄的对象，其逻辑难以自洽。
Trump’s craving to publish his personal opinions on Twitter is something unique about him. Missiles most lately tested by North Korea have the capacity to reach certain places in America, which has led to Trump’s feeling of “unawesomeness” (NO ONE IS PAYING ME FOR THIS SO WHAT). But in venting his anger on China, Trump has obviously found the wrong target, because such logic is hard to reconcile.
行胜于言。中国作为半岛近邻和负责任大国，多年来为推动半岛核问题的解决倾注了巨大心血和努力，这一点不容质疑。对于半岛核问题的政治解决，中方始终坚持无核化的既定目标，始终坚持对话谈判的解决道路；在具体措施上，中方一直全面、准确、严格、认真地执行安理会制裁朝鲜的决议。罔顾事实指责中国在半岛核问题上没做什么事，甚至渲染和突出所谓“中国责任论”，这不光是因为有一部分人对半岛核问题缺乏全面准确了解，更因为有些人存心颠倒黑白、别有用心地转嫁责任。
Actions speak louder than words. China, as the major neighboring power responsible for the peninsula, has expended massive “blood” (translator’s note: not actual blood, but like, this is a for serious modifier ‘cause it means “bloodish”, as in “we bled for this”, not literal but close, no ethnic or other overtones) and effort to push forward a solution to the peninsula’s nuclear problem, and none may doubt that fact. China has always supported the goal of de-nuclearization of the peninsula, and has always supported the path of a negotiated solution. As regards specific solutions, China has always pushed for a comprehensive, accurate, stringent, serious, and decisive execution of UN Security Council sanctions. Never mind the fact that certain people mean to highlight and misuse the so-called “China responsibility theory”, this (THE TWEET) is not only the result of a comprehensive misunderstanding of the issues faced by the peninsula by certain individuals, it is moreso the result of certain people’s intent to overturn black and white and shift responsibility.
众所周知，半岛核问题的核心是朝美矛盾，本质是安全问题。朝鲜在本月初和月末接连两次发射洲际弹道导弹，令半岛局势骤然紧张。有分析认为，朝鲜这种做法，一方面是想表明坚决不会在强化核武的道路上后退一步，另一方面是向美方释放直接对话的强烈信号。
It is widely understood that the peninsula’s nuclear issue is a conflict between North Korea and the United States, and that at root, it is a national security issue. North Korea’s ICBM missile tests at the start of this month and late last month have instigated a sudden, surprising, and stark (MY ADJECTIVES, IN CHINESE IT’S ONE ADJECTIVE) increase in tension on the peninsula. There is analysis that suggests North Korea will not retreat even one step on the road to development of nuclear weapons, but other analysis suggests this is a strong and direct signal to the United States to not hold back.
但特朗普政府不但无视这种“朝鲜式”的“对话邀请”，还摆出一副“硬碰硬”的架势。朝鲜本月28日晚试射洲际弹道导弹仅30余小时后，美国即出动两架B－1B轰炸机飞抵半岛，对朝武力示威；美韩还计划于8月举行“乙支自由卫士”联合军演。这一系列举动无疑把半岛局势进一步推向升温恶化的方向。
Trump’s government has not only ignored this “NK-style” “invitation for dialogue”, it has laid out a “hard against hard” position. Only 30 hours after North Korea’s test of an ICBM on the 28th, the US sent two B-1B bombers to fly over the peninsula in a warning to North Korea: the US and Korea (SOUTH KOREA, but c’mon, NK is…we all know, ‘cause I was just in Korea and it’s pretty f’in cool) plan to hold the Ulchi-Freedom Guardian exercises in August. These exercises will only increase tensions on the peninsula.
当下，半岛最需要的是立即撤火，而不要添柴，更不要火上浇油。一旦擦枪走火，瞬间可以演变成局部冲突，甚至爆发战争，后果不堪设想。
At present, what the situation on the peninsula needs most is a snuffing of the wick, not the pouring on of fuel to the fire. The moment conflict becomes hot, it could instantly become a regional conflict, not to mention a war, the results of which are not to be imagined (MEANING TERRIBLE).
美方如果真心希望中国帮助解决半岛核问题，就应认真考虑中方提出的“双暂停”倡议和“双轨并行”方案。“双暂停”是指朝鲜暂停核导活动，美韩暂停大规模军演，旨在为重启对话协商找到突破口；“双轨并行”思路则是并行推进半岛无核化与停和机制转换，以推进半岛无核化进程，实现半岛和地区的长治久安。中方的倡议和方案符合联合国安理会决议的要求，符合包括美朝在内各方的根本利益，客观公正，合情合理，务实可行，也得到越来越多国家的理解和支持。
If the US truly hopes to solve the peninsula’s nuclear problem, it should seriously consider the "double suspension" initiative and the "two-track parallelism" proposal. "Two-track parallelism" refers to NK ceasing nuclear activities, while the US ceases large-scale military exercises, with the goal being that both sides find a breaththrough in negotiations. "Two-track parallelism" means that both nuclear activities are stopped on the peninsula and a cessation of large-scale military exercises, in the service of both de-nuclearizing the peninsula and peninsular and regional peace. China's initiatives and programs are in line with the requirements of the UN Security Council resolutions and the fundamental interests of both parties, including both the United States and NK, are objective and fair, reasonable and pragmatic, and are understood and supported by an increasing number of nations.
中国与朝鲜山水相连，半岛局势的安危对中国影响巨大，中国为半岛核问题的解决所付出的巨大努力有目共睹。美方应该明白，中国不是半岛核问题的直接矛盾方，中国手中更没有解决半岛核问题的魔法棒，拿着解决问题钥匙的恰恰是美朝双方。
China is connected to the Korean land. The peninsula’s nuclear issue has a massive impact on China, and China's significant efforts to solve the nuclear issue on the peninsula are obvious to all. The United States should understand that China is not its direct adversary in the peninsula’s nuclear issue, and moreover that China possesses no magic wand to solve the peninsula’s nuclear issue, and that the key to solving the problem rests with none other than the United States and North Korea.
特朗普很有个性，喜欢发推文，但情绪化的表达不能变成解决半岛核问题具有指导性的政策。若想解决半岛核问题，有关方面必须拿出实际行动和诚意，切勿再推卸责任，更不应在中国背后“捅刀”。
Trump has personality (LITERALLY, THAT’S IT), likes to tweet, but emotional expressions cannot become guiding policy on solving the peninsula’s nuclear propblem.To solve the peninsula’s nuclear problem will require practical action and sincerity, not the absolution of responsibility, and even less suggesting that China should “stab in the knife”.
Not enough people know this, but you can get a 10 year tourist or business visa to China just for showing up, of which Chinese people can get the same after our gamut of silly visa interviews (China just wants an FBI background check, no interview, that's all). I say this because whatever you want to say about China and its power projection, these are people who believe in mutually beneficial arrangements, and they are reasonable negotiators. No other country has a 10-year visa to the US, y'know? (Thanks Obama.) Again, not to say you should approve of what they do, but don't think for a second that China is a bad-faith actor who will screw you if the balance of power is right. If you let them, sure, but...
If THIS is the scathing editorial? That's what I would have said to 45 myself, had I been in the position to do so.
EDITED to add I'm 5 beers in. It's only responsible to tell you, 'cause...well, hey, free translation, done 'cause I like doing it. But I'm pretty sure it reads sober-ish
posted by saysthis at 11:51 AM on August 1, 2017 [141 favorites]
saysthis what is the word you are translating as 'unawesomeness' because that is a great concept and I need that word like whoa.
posted by winna at 11:53 AM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by winna at 11:53 AM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
The leaders of the Women’s March, arguably the most prominent feminists in the country
household names for sure. definitely higher profile in the public consciousness than, I don't know, Beyonce and Hillary Clinton.
I suppose I take this badly because I don't like being condescended to by people who think nobody but them remembers who Louis Farrakhan is. but also because what the fuck is her problem with Madonna and Ashley Judd? I am aware that Madonna quoting Auden to say that "we must love one another or die" was taken as a death threat by Trump spokespeople, but I don't actually care.
(p.s. I am 100 percent team no weak excuses for progressive anti-semitism. I just think this editorial sucks real bad.)
posted by queenofbithynia at 11:53 AM on August 1, 2017 [21 favorites]
household names for sure. definitely higher profile in the public consciousness than, I don't know, Beyonce and Hillary Clinton.
I suppose I take this badly because I don't like being condescended to by people who think nobody but them remembers who Louis Farrakhan is. but also because what the fuck is her problem with Madonna and Ashley Judd? I am aware that Madonna quoting Auden to say that "we must love one another or die" was taken as a death threat by Trump spokespeople, but I don't actually care.
(p.s. I am 100 percent team no weak excuses for progressive anti-semitism. I just think this editorial sucks real bad.)
posted by queenofbithynia at 11:53 AM on August 1, 2017 [21 favorites]
I'm sure you meant "rein" but in this context "reign" is pretty funny.
Arg, I'm going to give it a rest before the Trumps make me stupid too.
posted by JackFlash at 11:57 AM on August 1, 2017
Arg, I'm going to give it a rest before the Trumps make me stupid too.
posted by JackFlash at 11:57 AM on August 1, 2017
saysthis what is the word you are translating as 'unawesomeness' because that is a great concept and I need that word like whoa.
posted by winna at 3:53 AM on August 2 [+] [!]
不爽/bu shuang/lit. "not awesome"
爽 is...pretty much our modern English understanding of "awesome". The sensation of "feels good". You're right, it's in that beautiful intercultural adjective space where most of the untranslateables live. I wish I could propose an English equivalent, but I also propose we have modifiers and usage customs that make our own usage awesome, don't imitate, create.
Also peace and power to the mods, PM me with language stuff, don't do it here in the thread.
posted by saysthis at 12:00 PM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by winna at 3:53 AM on August 2 [+] [!]
不爽/bu shuang/lit. "not awesome"
爽 is...pretty much our modern English understanding of "awesome". The sensation of "feels good". You're right, it's in that beautiful intercultural adjective space where most of the untranslateables live. I wish I could propose an English equivalent, but I also propose we have modifiers and usage customs that make our own usage awesome, don't imitate, create.
Also peace and power to the mods, PM me with language stuff, don't do it here in the thread.
posted by saysthis at 12:00 PM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
(I added some formatting to your translation, saysthis, so it's less of a big block of text.)
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:01 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:01 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
(I'd probably pay upwards of $10 to watch trump eat actual raccoon meat -- really pick it off the bones with his little hands while making a disgusted, put upon face. Ah, the weird ways in which we cope.)
You can switch the words "Trump" and "raccoon" around and leave everything else the same and it works just as well.
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:02 PM on August 1, 2017 [71 favorites]
You can switch the words "Trump" and "raccoon" around and leave everything else the same and it works just as well.
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:02 PM on August 1, 2017 [71 favorites]
I am aware that Madonna quoting Auden to say that "we must love one another or die" was taken as a death threat by Trump spokespeople, but I don't actually care.
As a threat this is even less imposing than "cake or death."
posted by phearlez at 12:06 PM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
As a threat this is even less imposing than "cake or death."
posted by phearlez at 12:06 PM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
Lexington, the most liberal city in Kentucky with widely respected openly gay major Jim Gray and was represented by (blue dog) Democrats for most of the 90's and until 2013.
Lexington has its bonafides but, uh, I'm pretty sure Louisville is more firmly liberal. I will concede that Greg Fischer isn't gay but we have a pretty vibrant, diverse culture and an authentic dyed-in-the-wool Democratic rep (John Yarmuth).
Then again, I also found a card advertising Stormfront tucked into the mirror in a Kroger bathroom, so I guess we still have shitheads here.
posted by jackbishop at 12:08 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Lexington has its bonafides but, uh, I'm pretty sure Louisville is more firmly liberal. I will concede that Greg Fischer isn't gay but we have a pretty vibrant, diverse culture and an authentic dyed-in-the-wool Democratic rep (John Yarmuth).
Then again, I also found a card advertising Stormfront tucked into the mirror in a Kroger bathroom, so I guess we still have shitheads here.
posted by jackbishop at 12:08 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Now that's an ad. Calls out McConnell for not responding to a child's letter. Plays up her career military service. Empowering to women and families. Shames her opponent for his health care vote.
Boy howdy, yes. I love how she explicitly frames her candidacy as Democrats and the people vs. Republican politicians who don't care about their interests. Excellent framing. Maybe a Democrat can't win in Kentucky. But ... we'll see about that.
posted by Gelatin at 12:08 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
Boy howdy, yes. I love how she explicitly frames her candidacy as Democrats and the people vs. Republican politicians who don't care about their interests. Excellent framing. Maybe a Democrat can't win in Kentucky. But ... we'll see about that.
posted by Gelatin at 12:08 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
So I trust all those investigating reporters are looking at what Provest Marshall Inch was up to during his Afghan tenure and operation Enduring Freedom. I hope the word Bagram doesn't pop up.
posted by adamvasco at 12:10 PM on August 1, 2017
posted by adamvasco at 12:10 PM on August 1, 2017
"The North Vietnamese and their Viet Cong allies were bright, skilled, resourceful, well-led, and very brave."Man in the black pajamas, Dude. Worthy fuckin' adversary.
posted by octobersurprise at 12:13 PM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
OMG! IVANKA has never looked more like a carer for the bewildered demented Daddy!!!!!
this conference is terrifying
posted by Wilder at 12:18 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
this conference is terrifying
posted by Wilder at 12:18 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
A lot, as it turns out. The leaders of the Women’s March, arguably the most prominent feminists in the country, have some chilling ideas and associations. Far from erecting the big tent so many had hoped for, the movement they lead has embraced decidedly illiberal causes and cultivated a radical tenor that seems determined to alienate all but the most woke.Oh, fuck off you concern-trolling piece of shit. We were there. We know that the women's marches were about the millions of us who turned out to fight fascism, not about any particular leader. This is an old, boring diversionary tactic, and it's not working anymore.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 12:21 PM on August 1, 2017 [101 favorites]
Bari Weiss, NYT: When Progressives Embrace Hate
A lot of words in this article, many sort-of specious connections made, but what it's really about is that Bari Weiss is a fierce defender of Israel, and she doesn't like that a Palestinian woman and anti-Zionist is one of the leaders of the Women's March. Take Linda Sasour out of the picture and that article never gets written.
posted by cell divide at 12:22 PM on August 1, 2017 [34 favorites]
A lot of words in this article, many sort-of specious connections made, but what it's really about is that Bari Weiss is a fierce defender of Israel, and she doesn't like that a Palestinian woman and anti-Zionist is one of the leaders of the Women's March. Take Linda Sasour out of the picture and that article never gets written.
posted by cell divide at 12:22 PM on August 1, 2017 [34 favorites]
Lexington has its bonafides but, uh, I'm pretty sure Louisville is more firmly liberal. I will concede that Greg Fischer isn't gay but we have a pretty vibrant, diverse culture and an authentic dyed-in-the-wool Democratic rep (John Yarmuth).
Yea, it's about the same really. Jefferson was 54% for Clinton, Fayette was 51%. Yarmouth still wins because his district is packed into pretty much just Jefferson county, he's the lone Dem beneficiary of gerrymandering in the state. While Lexington's smaller raw numbers liberal vote has been diluted out with the rest of central KY.
posted by T.D. Strange at 12:25 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yea, it's about the same really. Jefferson was 54% for Clinton, Fayette was 51%. Yarmouth still wins because his district is packed into pretty much just Jefferson county, he's the lone Dem beneficiary of gerrymandering in the state. While Lexington's smaller raw numbers liberal vote has been diluted out with the rest of central KY.
posted by T.D. Strange at 12:25 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
In other "run it like a business" fears, the local open government folks are feeling twitchy about possible shenanigans with regards to the laws around the federal depository library program. You can see more details here, but the upshot is that there's concern that stuff that is currently provided free could find itself behind a fee and/or poor preservation efforts could result. Whether that's a reasonable concern or not is unclear, though this mad-dash they're doing on this (supposedly a draft bill is already being written and the window for comments is only through the end of this new month) doesn't exactly fill one with confidence. This section has been untouched for almost thirty years now, what's the hurry?
posted by phearlez at 12:28 PM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by phearlez at 12:28 PM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
What did I say?! Called it!
Mattis, Kelly hatched travel pact to keep tabs on Trump: report
Two of President Trump's top advisers reportedly agreed in the early days of the administration that they would not leave the United States at the same time, in order to ensure they could monitor orders coming from the White House.
The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and then-Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly -- who was sworn in as chief of staff on Monday -- agreed in the early weeks of Trump's presidency to coordinate travel plans so that one of them would always be in the United States.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:29 PM on August 1, 2017 [21 favorites]
Mattis, Kelly hatched travel pact to keep tabs on Trump: report
Two of President Trump's top advisers reportedly agreed in the early days of the administration that they would not leave the United States at the same time, in order to ensure they could monitor orders coming from the White House.
The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and then-Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly -- who was sworn in as chief of staff on Monday -- agreed in the early weeks of Trump's presidency to coordinate travel plans so that one of them would always be in the United States.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:29 PM on August 1, 2017 [21 favorites]
Waiter? Can you send ten beers and a bottle of 洋河大曲 to saysthis's table?
posted by Devonian at 12:29 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by Devonian at 12:29 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
So apparently I filled out one of those bullshit GOP surveys a while back ... fresh from my spam box:
Turning off the noiseposted by tilde at 12:30 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Spam
x
Donald J. Trump
2:16 PM (1 hour ago)
Reply
to [EUPHAMISMFORPOTUSISALIAR]@[REDACTED].org
Why is this message in Spam? It contains content that's typically used in spam messages. Learn more
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Friend,
Politicians have spent too much time bickering and not enough time listening. Enough!
I want to hear from YOU.
I want to hear from the American heartland -- the REAL America that lives outside of the DC-media fantasy bubble.
Now that we’ve passed the six-month mark of our presidency, I want you to take the Listening to America Survey to tell me the true sentiments, concerns, and interests of REAL America.
The mainstream media and Hollywood love to tell you “how America is feeling.” But they know nothing. They live in a world where you get to keep your job even if you fail to get anything done.
It’s time to tune them out. It’s time to shut off the noise and just LISTEN.
Just like on the campaign, I always like to go directly to the people. I asked our supporters to help prepare for our three big debates against Hillary. I asked what issues we should address. I asked for help creating our platform.
So please take this moment to turn off the very loud noise of Washington and take the Listening to America Survey.
Thank you,
President Trump Signature Headshot
And a sea slug cake!
posted by orrnyereg at 12:31 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by orrnyereg at 12:31 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
> I'd probably pay upwards of $10 to watch trump eat actual raccoon meat -- really pick it off the bones with his little hands while making a disgusted, put upon face.I'd pay at least $10 to watch Trump try to eat cotton candy.
posted by Fiberoptic Zebroid and The Hypnagogic Jerks at 12:33 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Lexington has its bonafides but, uh, I'm pretty sure Louisville is more firmly liberal.
True. But the economic driver of Lexington is UKY, and Chandler Medical Center is pretty much floating the rest of the school, to say nothing of the other hospitals in town - Lexington is pretty heavy with healthcare and it's adjacent economic structures. If Blevin decides to fuck with the medicaid expansion, or if a later iteration of the ACA fight torpedoes it entirely, locals are well aware of it what effect it will have on their immediate economy - it would not be a popular course of action.
Also, this is getting kinda in the weeds with local stuff. Also also, if there are so many Lexingtonians on here, how come we don't do regular mefi meet-ups?
posted by eclectist at 12:33 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
True. But the economic driver of Lexington is UKY, and Chandler Medical Center is pretty much floating the rest of the school, to say nothing of the other hospitals in town - Lexington is pretty heavy with healthcare and it's adjacent economic structures. If Blevin decides to fuck with the medicaid expansion, or if a later iteration of the ACA fight torpedoes it entirely, locals are well aware of it what effect it will have on their immediate economy - it would not be a popular course of action.
Also, this is getting kinda in the weeds with local stuff. Also also, if there are so many Lexingtonians on here, how come we don't do regular mefi meet-ups?
posted by eclectist at 12:33 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
phearlez or other library types, could you possibly write up a short description what the deal is with the DLC/Title 44 and what people should do? Maybe a link/instructions for commenting on it?
Even with Wikipedia, I find it pretty confusing. Most people don't know what *any* of those acronyms mean, or what it has to do with them. I would do so but I'm afraid I'd get it wrong.
posted by emjaybee at 12:38 PM on August 1, 2017
Even with Wikipedia, I find it pretty confusing. Most people don't know what *any* of those acronyms mean, or what it has to do with them. I would do so but I'm afraid I'd get it wrong.
posted by emjaybee at 12:38 PM on August 1, 2017
Amy McGrath, KY-6: "this is my new mission - to take on a Congress of career politicians who treat the people of Kentucky like they're disposable."
*fist pump*
This is how you reach out to Trump voters without reneging on your values, Dems. Grab a pen and take some notes.
posted by deludingmyself at 12:38 PM on August 1, 2017 [46 favorites]
*fist pump*
This is how you reach out to Trump voters without reneging on your values, Dems. Grab a pen and take some notes.
posted by deludingmyself at 12:38 PM on August 1, 2017 [46 favorites]
How will the movie about this disaster show trump tweeting?
GIGO scenes will alternate:
1. Eating awful food during the day as he schemes with his gang.
2. Grunting and splattering out awful shits in the middle of the night as he tweets out the equally smelly nuggets that have been keeping his mind occupied.
posted by pracowity at 12:39 PM on August 1, 2017
GIGO scenes will alternate:
1. Eating awful food during the day as he schemes with his gang.
2. Grunting and splattering out awful shits in the middle of the night as he tweets out the equally smelly nuggets that have been keeping his mind occupied.
posted by pracowity at 12:39 PM on August 1, 2017
Metafilter: Grunting and splattering out awful shits in the middle of the night
posted by Existential Dread at 12:41 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Existential Dread at 12:41 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Churchill just before D-Day "We hope with this action to prevent Germany entering Poland."
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 12:42 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 12:42 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Trump is Doing More or Less What We Thought He'd be Doing If He Lost
Trump isn't interested in doing the job of president -- but he's intensely interested in generating spin. It's not just the regular morning tweetstorms, which seem to be the moments in the day when he's most engaged. It's not just that he still holds campaign rallies (and revels in the adulation). Today's two biggest stories involve Trump trying to fend off reality with messaging: The Washington Post says he personally dictated a false statement describing a meeting his son, son-in-law, and campaign head had with various unsavory Russians in 2016, and NPR reports on allegations that the White House -- allegedly including Trump himself -- colluded with Fox News and a right-wing money guy to spread a now-withdrawn story claiming that murdered Democratic aide Seth Rich was in touch with Wikileaks shortly before his death.posted by tonycpsu at 12:47 PM on August 1, 2017 [24 favorites]
In both cases, Trump seems to have acted as if messaging could fend off reality -- or maybe he thought objective reality didn't matter as long as his fan base believed his version of each story.
Remember when we thought Trump was going to lose the election, and we all assumed that this Vanity Fair report might really be true? [...]
Well, there's no media company, but the Trump presidency is really just a propaganda machine for itself, one that doesn't broadcast so much as narrowcast -- the target market is the same one that would have watched Trump TV if it had actually gone on the air. Trump's fan base is still with him not because he's managed to do very much of what he promised to do, but because he talks about doing it, and he talks about how unfair everyone is to him. Isn't that the point of right-wing media -- to reflect the audience own sense of permanent grievance? In that way, the Trump presidency is the most important right-wing media outlet right now. What the Trump presidency isn't is a presidency. And Trump doesn't care, because messaging is what seems to matter most to him.
Bari Weiss, NYT: When Progressives Embrace Hate
A lot, as it turns out. The leaders of the Women’s March, arguably the most prominent feminists in the country, have some chilling ideas and associations. Far from erecting the big tent so many had hoped for, the movement they lead has embraced decidedly illiberal causes and cultivated a radical tenor that seems determined to alienate all but the most woke.
Oh, fuck off you concern-trolling piece of shit. We were there. We know that the women's marches were about the millions of us who turned out to fight fascism, not about any particular leader. This is an old, boring diversionary tactic, and it's not working anymore.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:21 AM on August 2 [4 favorites +] [!]
Bari Weiss, NYT: When Progressives Embrace Hate
A lot of words in this article, many sort-of specious connections made, but what it's really about is that Bari Weiss is a fierce defender of Israel, and she doesn't like that a Palestinian woman and anti-Zionist is one of the leaders of the Women's March. Take Linda Sasour out of the picture and that article never gets written.
posted by cell divide at 4:22 AM on August 2 [1 favorite +] [!]
Also, sorry to italiquote again (mods, I googled how to do the formatting thicker margins thing, I failed, I'm a sad human being with failure written on my face, help), but like...
No. No. The precondition is that there was hate before we ever even talked about intolerance, and if there is intolerance sensed by anybody, it's because...it's intolerance (and frustration with) OF hate and its more "benign" manifestations. I've lost more than a few friends over this in 2017 - "stop defending that shitty thing" "what shitty thing I'm an ally" "no you're not because shitty thing" "but shitty thing isn't actually shitty you're such an intolerant leftist".
Healthy doses of middle fingers aside, this is a problem, especially as terms like "regressive left" become popular. The point isn't even "you/they started it and I'm reacting and reacting after so many reactions that I'm fed up", it's that guys, identity politics and Bothsides Inc are all aspects of the same thing - power diametrics exists in everyday life, and there is no true dialogue without acknowledging and accounting for that. If I can't say, "Um, a black wheelchaired lesbian has it harder than the white straight able-bodied me" without a 20-minute digression into "no, really, dude, I'm not a communist and life does suck for people without our privilege, and no I don't mean they're starving I mean in the minutiae except that matters too", how am I supposed to not punch people? Or at least say, "STFU YOU'RE NOT HELPING GO HOME". At the same time how am I supposed to talk to a black wheelchaired lesbian without going, "But no seriously I want to help! I'm not THEM."
I've managed so far (to not punch), but god damn it's hard. I don't even want to talk to people anymore. Also I've managed to never have the strawman conversation I just set up with a black wheelchaired lesbian. The ones I know of are the most patient of people with me. I don't bring it up and I'm just normal most of the time. But still. It shouldn't have to be like this.
Is there a good resource on how to...I don't even know...not be in this mess? I do okay on the daily and in my usual political talks, but there's gotta be a better hook to shut down the whole libertarian/white male/"I'm an ally but shut up with your needs we're no different" thing. Other than shutting up and staying out of people's way, or calling it out when I see it, I don't know what to do.
posted by saysthis at 12:50 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
A lot, as it turns out. The leaders of the Women’s March, arguably the most prominent feminists in the country, have some chilling ideas and associations. Far from erecting the big tent so many had hoped for, the movement they lead has embraced decidedly illiberal causes and cultivated a radical tenor that seems determined to alienate all but the most woke.
Oh, fuck off you concern-trolling piece of shit. We were there. We know that the women's marches were about the millions of us who turned out to fight fascism, not about any particular leader. This is an old, boring diversionary tactic, and it's not working anymore.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:21 AM on August 2 [4 favorites +] [!]
Bari Weiss, NYT: When Progressives Embrace Hate
A lot of words in this article, many sort-of specious connections made, but what it's really about is that Bari Weiss is a fierce defender of Israel, and she doesn't like that a Palestinian woman and anti-Zionist is one of the leaders of the Women's March. Take Linda Sasour out of the picture and that article never gets written.
posted by cell divide at 4:22 AM on August 2 [1 favorite +] [!]
Also, sorry to italiquote again (mods, I googled how to do the formatting thicker margins thing, I failed, I'm a sad human being with failure written on my face, help), but like...
No. No. The precondition is that there was hate before we ever even talked about intolerance, and if there is intolerance sensed by anybody, it's because...it's intolerance (and frustration with) OF hate and its more "benign" manifestations. I've lost more than a few friends over this in 2017 - "stop defending that shitty thing" "what shitty thing I'm an ally" "no you're not because shitty thing" "but shitty thing isn't actually shitty you're such an intolerant leftist".
Healthy doses of middle fingers aside, this is a problem, especially as terms like "regressive left" become popular. The point isn't even "you/they started it and I'm reacting and reacting after so many reactions that I'm fed up", it's that guys, identity politics and Bothsides Inc are all aspects of the same thing - power diametrics exists in everyday life, and there is no true dialogue without acknowledging and accounting for that. If I can't say, "Um, a black wheelchaired lesbian has it harder than the white straight able-bodied me" without a 20-minute digression into "no, really, dude, I'm not a communist and life does suck for people without our privilege, and no I don't mean they're starving I mean in the minutiae except that matters too", how am I supposed to not punch people? Or at least say, "STFU YOU'RE NOT HELPING GO HOME". At the same time how am I supposed to talk to a black wheelchaired lesbian without going, "But no seriously I want to help! I'm not THEM."
I've managed so far (to not punch), but god damn it's hard. I don't even want to talk to people anymore. Also I've managed to never have the strawman conversation I just set up with a black wheelchaired lesbian. The ones I know of are the most patient of people with me. I don't bring it up and I'm just normal most of the time. But still. It shouldn't have to be like this.
Is there a good resource on how to...I don't even know...not be in this mess? I do okay on the daily and in my usual political talks, but there's gotta be a better hook to shut down the whole libertarian/white male/"I'm an ally but shut up with your needs we're no different" thing. Other than shutting up and staying out of people's way, or calling it out when I see it, I don't know what to do.
posted by saysthis at 12:50 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
thanks for confirming Trump Sr. was involved.
@ddale8
Sarah Sanders: "The statement that Don Jr. issued is true," and Donald Sr. "weighed in as any father would."
Great honk, Sanders did confirm that Trump participated in the cover-up. While I tend to doubt that every father would be willing to participate in a criminal conspiracy, it's important to remember that ultimately Trump is covering up his own crimes, not his son's.
posted by Gelatin at 12:50 PM on August 1, 2017 [14 favorites]
@ddale8
Sarah Sanders: "The statement that Don Jr. issued is true," and Donald Sr. "weighed in as any father would."
Great honk, Sanders did confirm that Trump participated in the cover-up. While I tend to doubt that every father would be willing to participate in a criminal conspiracy, it's important to remember that ultimately Trump is covering up his own crimes, not his son's.
posted by Gelatin at 12:50 PM on August 1, 2017 [14 favorites]
Masha Gessen, NY Review of Books, Why Autocrats Fear LGBT Rights:
. . . Queer rights are anything but a distraction: they are a frontier, sometimes the frontier in the global turn toward autocracy.posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 12:53 PM on August 1, 2017 [38 favorites]
The appeal of autocracy lies in its promise of radical simplicity, an absence of choice. In Trump’s imaginary past, every person had his place and a securely circumscribed future, everyone and everything was exactly as it seemed, and government was run by one man issuing orders that could not and need not be questioned. The very existence of queer people—and especially transgender people—is an affront to this vision. Trans people complicate things, throw the future into question by shaping their own, add layers of interpretation to appearances, and challenge the logic of any one man decreeing the fate of people and country.
. . . When he pledged to build the wall or to fight a variety of non-existent crime waves (urban, immigrant) he was promising to shield Americans from the strange, the unknown, the unpredictable. Here, too, queers can serve as convenient shorthand. By tweeting that he has decided to ban transgender people from the military, Trump shows that he is the autocrat that he was elected to be: he can control people by issuing an order. The order juxtaposes the military—the symbol of Americans’ security—with transgender people, who make so many Americans feel so anxious.
. . . This is no distraction: it is the very heart of Trumpism.
Oh, fuck off you concern-trolling piece of shit. We were there. We know that the women's marches were about the millions of us who turned out to fight fascism, not about any particular leader. This is an old, boring diversionary tactic, and it's not working anymore.
Completely agree. The people talked about in that article do indeed have some problematic things about them... but they are a couple of people out of millions and frankly right now I'm a little more concerned with the dangerous moron in the White House to worry all that much because Linda Sarsour tweeted something weird.
posted by Justinian at 12:54 PM on August 1, 2017 [19 favorites]
Completely agree. The people talked about in that article do indeed have some problematic things about them... but they are a couple of people out of millions and frankly right now I'm a little more concerned with the dangerous moron in the White House to worry all that much because Linda Sarsour tweeted something weird.
posted by Justinian at 12:54 PM on August 1, 2017 [19 favorites]
Also, this is getting kinda in the weeds with local stuff. Also also, if there are so many Lexingtonians on here, how come we don't do regular mefi meet-ups?
I had to move away 5 years ago and I sure do miss LexVegas :(
posted by Golem XIV at 12:58 PM on August 1, 2017
I had to move away 5 years ago and I sure do miss LexVegas :(
posted by Golem XIV at 12:58 PM on August 1, 2017
Oh, fuck off you concern-trolling piece of shit. We were there. We know that the women's marches were about the millions of us who turned out to fight fascism, not about any particular leader. This is an old, boring diversionary tactic, and it's not working anymore.
I agree with everything except the last phrase, only because such an obvious work of concern trolling still can find a spot on the NYT op-ed page. Shame on them.
posted by Gelatin at 12:59 PM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
I agree with everything except the last phrase, only because such an obvious work of concern trolling still can find a spot on the NYT op-ed page. Shame on them.
posted by Gelatin at 12:59 PM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
Monica Hesse, Ben Terris and Dan Zak at the Post bring us ‘The moment when it really started to feel insane’: An oral history of the Scaramucci Era, a time capsule of what it was like to be alive last week, which already feels like an eternity ago. Relive such great moments as:
posted by zachlipton at 1:00 PM on August 1, 2017 [35 favorites]
David [a Boy Scout]: There were disagreements all over camp. Some people saying “F Trump,” some people saying “MAGA.” I heard there was a troop from New York that had a troop from Texas right next to them and the leaders had to keep them separate.Or save it to reminiscence over a stiff drink with your grandkids.
posted by zachlipton at 1:00 PM on August 1, 2017 [35 favorites]
Air Force to purchase bankrupt Russian airline's planes for Air Force One: report (The Hill)
sigh ... [real]
posted by Barack Spinoza at 1:00 PM on August 1, 2017 [34 favorites]
sigh ... [real]
posted by Barack Spinoza at 1:00 PM on August 1, 2017 [34 favorites]
Donald Sr. "weighed in as any father would."
Any 39-year-olds here who can confirm they run everything by their Dad first, so he can add false statements?
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:00 PM on August 1, 2017 [78 favorites]
Any 39-year-olds here who can confirm they run everything by their Dad first, so he can add false statements?
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:00 PM on August 1, 2017 [78 favorites]
(mods, I googled how to do the formatting thicker margins thing, I failed, I'm a sad human being with failure written on my face, help)
You do it like this:
<blockquote>indented stuff goes here</blockquote>posted by XMLicious at 1:03 PM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
Behind the Crazy Headlines of the Trump Presidency (John Cassidy for the New Yorker, August 1, 2017)
After six months, a kind of familiarity has set in, and a few warnings need restating.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:04 PM on August 1, 2017 [60 favorites]
After six months, a kind of familiarity has set in, and a few warnings need restating.
On Monday morning, I sat down to write a post about the swearing-in of John Kelly as the new White House chief of staff, and the beginning of Act II of Trump’s Presidency. By the time I had finished writing, not one but two news cycles had turned. In the afternoon, news broke that Anthony Scaramucci, the New York financier who was named Trump’s director of communications just a week and a half ago, had been fired. And on Monday night, the Washington Post revealed that President Trump had dictated a misleading statement that was given to the press about his son Donald Trump, Jr.,’s infamous meeting, last June, with a Russian lawyer.(All emphasis mine)
In this Administration, the scoops and shockers and bloopers come so fast that it is hard to keep up, let alone figure out what is ephemeral and what really matters. But, at the risk of the next news cycle making me look silly, here are three points to remember about how we got here and where we are going.
First, conflict and chaos are chronic conditions for this White House. Kelly, a former four-star Marine general, may be an effective manager, but he is taking on a virtually impossible task. Within hours of being sworn in, Kelly got rid of Scaramucci, demonstrating that he intends to run a more disciplined West Wing—and that, for now, Trump has acceded to this wish. But for how long? Throughout his career, Trump has deliberately stirred conflict among his underlings, chafed at efforts to rein him in, and reserved the right to act in arbitrary and contradictory ways. The last military man who tried to impose some order on the chaos, H. R. McMaster, the national-security adviser, has been rewarded with a series of leaks about how Trump finds him annoying and is thinking of getting rid of him.
Second, the Russia story will not go away. For weeks now, it has been clear that Trump would prefer to decommission Robert Mueller, the special counsel, and shut down his investigation. At one point it seemed possible that Trump might try to force out Jeff Sessions, the Attorney General, and then, during the August congressional recess, appoint a successor who would agree to fire Mueller. But Sessions has made clear that he isn’t resigning. And some Republicans in Congress—most notably Chuck Grassley, the head of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee—have made clear that they won’t go along with such a blatantly self-dealing maneuver.
Third, and most important, Trump remains a serious threat to American democracy. As I wrote a few weeks after the election, “The big unknown isn’t what Trump will do: his pattern of behavior is clear. It is whether the American political system will be able to deal with the unprecedented challenge his election presents, and rein him in.” So far, the system—or parts of it—has risen to the Trump challenge. The courts, the permanent bureaucracy (Steve Bannon’s “deep state”), the media, and the American citizenry have responded in commendable fashion, resisting the encroachments of an arbitrary and unhinged President. But the threat of democratic erosion persists, as made clear by Trump’s recent campaign against Sessions, his summary announcement on Twitter that transgender people will no longer be able to serve in the U.S. armed forces, and the speech that he delivered last week in which he encouraged cops to rough up gang members they have arrested.
Engaging in demagoguery, targeting minorities, acting outside the normal policy process, and seeking to exert personal control over law-enforcement agencies: it should barely need saying that these are the tactics of a would-be authoritarian. But after six months of Trump as President a kind of familiarity has set in, and the warnings perhaps do need restating. As the net of the Russia scandal tightens around Trump, there is every reason to believe that his behavior will get even more erratic and dangerous.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:04 PM on August 1, 2017 [60 favorites]
phearlez or other library types, could you possibly write up a short description what the deal is with the DLC/Title 44 and what people should do? Maybe a link/instructions for commenting on it?
I don't want to go too far afield so I'll be brief. The post I linked is the more recent one; this prior one probably hits the point more directly:
As far as something to do I'm not sure there's much to do at this point unless you're versed enough in the particulars to be someone who can comment intelligently. This is just machinations in the House and limited to the Committee on House Administration. If you happen to be in the district for one of those members (and condolences if it's Comstock, congrats if it's Raskin) you could contact them but the rest of us are out of luck.
Mostly I shared it because it potentially runs up against this sort of government-as-profit-center/everything piecemeal payment philosophy that the modern republican party embraces. But if you have librarian friends who have an interest in the depository program you should let them know.
posted by phearlez at 1:06 PM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
I don't want to go too far afield so I'll be brief. The post I linked is the more recent one; this prior one probably hits the point more directly:
Chapter 19 of Title 44 is the very core of the FDLP. It not only defines the FDLP but it is the only legal guarantee that the government will provide its information for free to the General Public.If you have ever been in a library that has a "government documents" section you've seen the Fed Depository program at work. I think the concern is less about those document dumps in particular than this being the one place where the fed has to provide stuff to the public with the presumption that it'll be no additional cost to the citizen.
As far as something to do I'm not sure there's much to do at this point unless you're versed enough in the particulars to be someone who can comment intelligently. This is just machinations in the House and limited to the Committee on House Administration. If you happen to be in the district for one of those members (and condolences if it's Comstock, congrats if it's Raskin) you could contact them but the rest of us are out of luck.
Mostly I shared it because it potentially runs up against this sort of government-as-profit-center/everything piecemeal payment philosophy that the modern republican party embraces. But if you have librarian friends who have an interest in the depository program you should let them know.
posted by phearlez at 1:06 PM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
Yeah so I know I said before that the awfulness isn't dependent on any particular administration, and it's really not rational to blame Kelly for the fact that I just had to drop my pants for the TSA again, but nothing else that's going on is rational and I find some comfort in having someone to blame, so tough shit, Johnny. You owe me some dignity.
At least this time the guy with the gun didn't come in the little room; he just stayed stationed right outside the door. So... progress? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by nickmark at 1:07 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
At least this time the guy with the gun didn't come in the little room; he just stayed stationed right outside the door. So... progress? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by nickmark at 1:07 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
I want to hear from YOU.
I want to hear from the American heartland -- the REAL America that lives outside of the DC-media fantasy bubble.
So... I grew up lower middle class, first in my family to go to college. I grew up in a town with a Main Street and cornfields and cows walking distance from my house. And sometimes I wonder when I ceased to be a "real American" to these people. Was it my first day of college? Grad school? When I moved to a city? Did I ever count since I "left" my Real America hometown after childhood, not really because I hated it but because I wanted to do other stuff, too? What population of city would I have had to stay under to retain my Real American title? Was my childhood best friend ever a Real American? She grew up in the same town, but her parents were educated and liberal. I just wanna know, sometimes, if there was a specific day when my Real/Not Real American identities diverged.
posted by nakedmolerats at 1:08 PM on August 1, 2017 [106 favorites]
I want to hear from the American heartland -- the REAL America that lives outside of the DC-media fantasy bubble.
So... I grew up lower middle class, first in my family to go to college. I grew up in a town with a Main Street and cornfields and cows walking distance from my house. And sometimes I wonder when I ceased to be a "real American" to these people. Was it my first day of college? Grad school? When I moved to a city? Did I ever count since I "left" my Real America hometown after childhood, not really because I hated it but because I wanted to do other stuff, too? What population of city would I have had to stay under to retain my Real American title? Was my childhood best friend ever a Real American? She grew up in the same town, but her parents were educated and liberal. I just wanna know, sometimes, if there was a specific day when my Real/Not Real American identities diverged.
posted by nakedmolerats at 1:08 PM on August 1, 2017 [106 favorites]
This is a new one. The WSJ had an interview with Trump last week. They published a story but no transcript. Then someone leaked the transcript to Politico, who did publish it.
Trump got upset because a reporter described the reaction to his speech to the Boy Scouts as mixed:
posted by zachlipton at 1:10 PM on August 1, 2017 [71 favorites]
Trump got upset because a reporter described the reaction to his speech to the Boy Scouts as mixed:
WSJ: I thought it was an interesting speech in the context of the Boy Scouts.Also, Ivanka "randomly" dropped in on the interview, just as she did with the Times. Sarah Sanders today: "I don't think anybody just wanders into the Oval Office...this is the White House."
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right.
WSJ: They seemed to get a lot of feedback from former scouts and –
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Did they like it?
WSJ: It seemed mixed.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: They loved it. (Laughter.) It wasn’t – it was no mix. That was a standing –
WSJ: In the – you got a good – you got a good reaction in –
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I mean, you know, he writes mostly negative stuff. But that was a standing ovation –
WSJ: You got a good reaction inside the arena, that’s right.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: – from the time I walked out on the stage – because I know. And by the way, I’d be the first to admit mixed. I’m a guy that will tell you mixed. There was no mix there. That was a standing ovation from the time I walked out to the time I left, and for five minutes after I had already gone. There was no mix.
WSJ: Yeah, there was a lot of supporters in the arena.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: And I got a call from the head of the Boy Scouts saying it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them, and they were very thankful. So there was – there was no mix.
posted by zachlipton at 1:10 PM on August 1, 2017 [71 favorites]
PRESIDENT TRUMP: It’s not – basically, it’s a motion to talk. But once you get that motion, it’s in pretty good shape, once you get in. It’s hard to get in, but once you get in. So we’re going to see. John McCain was a great help, coming in as he did. And so it was something I very much appreciate, and we’ll see what happens. We’re going to know in about two hours.
Heh.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 1:14 PM on August 1, 2017 [16 favorites]
Heh.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 1:14 PM on August 1, 2017 [16 favorites]
Barack Spinoza: Air Force to purchase bankrupt Russian airline's planes for Air Force One: report (The Hill)
So will the Air Force tear them apart to ensure there are no bugs or tracking devices anywhere inside? Maybe that's a small thing compared to all the upgrades necessary to make this a viable Air Force One craft, which was detailed before (Defense News, April 28, 2017)
posted by filthy light thief at 1:18 PM on August 1, 2017 [12 favorites]
So will the Air Force tear them apart to ensure there are no bugs or tracking devices anywhere inside? Maybe that's a small thing compared to all the upgrades necessary to make this a viable Air Force One craft, which was detailed before (Defense News, April 28, 2017)
Doug Royce, an aerospace analyst with Forecast International, agreed that it would be unlikely that the program could be decreased by $1 billion, given the sophisticated systems on board that protect against nuclear and electronic attacks, and allow the president to communicate with the world at any time.He's not just buying any used aircraft to shuttle his bloated pre-corpse from golf course to hotel, he's buying the next flying fortress.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:18 PM on August 1, 2017 [12 favorites]
Same basic story here, nakedmolerats, except I was kidnapped to the U.S. by my American grandparents and introduced to my kindergarten class here as "an immigrant" despite my actual citizenship status being citizen by birth on U.S. soil and paternity, and yeah, that question has nagged me my whole life, but never more since this radical "conservative" takeover started really ramping up under Bush II.
posted by saulgoodman at 1:18 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by saulgoodman at 1:18 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
Air Force to purchase bankrupt Russian airline's planes for Air Force One: report (The Hill)
sigh ... [real]
Yes, but a misleading headline. They're not buying used planes from a Russian airline, they're buying new planes that were ordered by the airline who then went bankrupt before delivery.
posted by rocket88 at 1:19 PM on August 1, 2017 [19 favorites]
sigh ... [real]
Yes, but a misleading headline. They're not buying used planes from a Russian airline, they're buying new planes that were ordered by the airline who then went bankrupt before delivery.
posted by rocket88 at 1:19 PM on August 1, 2017 [19 favorites]
First, conflict and chaos are chronic conditions for this White House.
Well, I'll give them credit for running the government like a lot of businesses are run.
posted by Rykey at 1:19 PM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
Well, I'll give them credit for running the government like a lot of businesses are run.
posted by Rykey at 1:19 PM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
I want to hear from YOU.
I want to hear from the American heartland -- the REAL America that lives outside of the DC-media fantasy bubble.
There's an inherent Fascism to the term "real America". It necessarily requires the listener to separate the country into the loyal, good, patriotic, parts and the parts occupied by Quislings at best and foreign invaders at worst. It's the internal enemy required by Fascism put in a very simple, hard to define precisely but easy to understand, package.
Even when I lived in Amarillo TX, which I assume counts as "real America", I was not a "real American". I voted Democratic, I'm a race traitor, I have LGBT friends, the list of my shortcomings in "real Americanism" goes on and on.
The spread of the idea of "REAL America", populated by "real Americans", as opposed to us godless communazi hippie types, has been one of the major means by which the right spread more open eliminationism.
When you hear someone talk about "REAL America", it means they believe you should be killed. Maybe they lack the guts to do it themselves, but they'll stand by and cheer while you are executed. Never forget that people who use that language want you dead. They are not your friends, your family, or your allies, no matter what nice lies they tell you and themselves. When push comes to shove, when the mob rises up, they'll either be part of the mob or (at absolute "best") standing on the sidelines vaguely disapproving of the messiness. Bu they won't lift a finger to save your life, not even if you're their family.
posted by sotonohito at 1:24 PM on August 1, 2017 [89 favorites]
I want to hear from the American heartland -- the REAL America that lives outside of the DC-media fantasy bubble.
There's an inherent Fascism to the term "real America". It necessarily requires the listener to separate the country into the loyal, good, patriotic, parts and the parts occupied by Quislings at best and foreign invaders at worst. It's the internal enemy required by Fascism put in a very simple, hard to define precisely but easy to understand, package.
Even when I lived in Amarillo TX, which I assume counts as "real America", I was not a "real American". I voted Democratic, I'm a race traitor, I have LGBT friends, the list of my shortcomings in "real Americanism" goes on and on.
The spread of the idea of "REAL America", populated by "real Americans", as opposed to us godless communazi hippie types, has been one of the major means by which the right spread more open eliminationism.
When you hear someone talk about "REAL America", it means they believe you should be killed. Maybe they lack the guts to do it themselves, but they'll stand by and cheer while you are executed. Never forget that people who use that language want you dead. They are not your friends, your family, or your allies, no matter what nice lies they tell you and themselves. When push comes to shove, when the mob rises up, they'll either be part of the mob or (at absolute "best") standing on the sidelines vaguely disapproving of the messiness. Bu they won't lift a finger to save your life, not even if you're their family.
posted by sotonohito at 1:24 PM on August 1, 2017 [89 favorites]
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I’m disappointed in Jeff Sessions, yes.He's talking, I believe, about this Washington Post story: Trump ends covert CIA program to arm anti-Assad rebels in Syria, a move sought by Moscow. And besides the schadenfreude about how great a job Scaramucci was going to do to fix the leaking, he's describing a major foreign policy and military decision about who to arm and support as "that was not something that I was involved in, other than they did come and they suggested."
WSJ: Do you want him to leave?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Number one, they should go after the leakers in intelligence. I don’t mean the White House stuff where they’re fighting over who loves me the most, OK? (Laughter.) It’s just stupid people doing that.
MR. BAKER: Anthony’s already taken care of that. (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I know, that’s just – and Anthony will handle that. (Laughter.) I can – Anthony can do that out of his back pocket, OK? I’m talking about intelligence leaks. I’m talking like the story about Syria that was in The New York Times the other day. I’m – which by the way, was a decision made by people, not me. But, you know, they wrote it 100 – it was in the –
WSJ: The Post, I thought. It was in The Washington Post.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: It was in The Washington Post. That was not something that I was involved in, other than they did come and they suggested. It turns out it’s – a lot of al-Qaida we’re giving these weapons to. You know, they didn’t write the truthful story, which they never do. So all of those things are very important. But, no, I’m very disappointed in the fact that the Justice Department has not gone after the leakers. And they’re the ones that have the great power to go after the leakers, you understand. So – and I’m very disappointed in Jeff Sessions.
WSJ: You can fire him.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Look, Jeff – I could. But we’ll see what happens. But I was – I appointed a man to a position. And then shortly after he gets the position, he recused himself. I said, what’s that all about? Why didn’t you tell me that you were going to do that, and I wouldn’t have appointed you? But I appointed him. And shortly thereafter, he recused himself.
He's outright admitting that one of the most significant foreign policy decisions of his administration wasn't something he was involved in other than saying "yeah, sure, whatever" when "they" came in and suggested it. Which, you know, isn't surprising, but he's the one saying it, like "don't blame me, I wasn't involved."
posted by zachlipton at 1:25 PM on August 1, 2017 [56 favorites]
There's an inherent Fascism to the term "real America". It necessarily requires the listener to separate the country into the loyal, good, patriotic, parts and the parts occupied by Quislings at best and foreign invaders at worst. It's the internal enemy required by Fascism put in a very simple, hard to define precisely but easy to understand, package.
Indeed, and it was just as true when it was one of Sarah Palin's favorite phrases. The Republican Party's turn to fascism has not happened overnight.
posted by Gelatin at 1:27 PM on August 1, 2017 [30 favorites]
Indeed, and it was just as true when it was one of Sarah Palin's favorite phrases. The Republican Party's turn to fascism has not happened overnight.
posted by Gelatin at 1:27 PM on August 1, 2017 [30 favorites]
zachlipton: PRESIDENT TRUMP: And I got a call from the head of the Boy Scouts saying it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them, and they were very thankful. So there was – there was no mix.
Seth Meyer: We're at the point where all of the President's speeches will have to be followed by a legal disclaimer (at 9:43 or there about)
posted by filthy light thief at 1:27 PM on August 1, 2017 [13 favorites]
Seth Meyer: We're at the point where all of the President's speeches will have to be followed by a legal disclaimer (at 9:43 or there about)
posted by filthy light thief at 1:27 PM on August 1, 2017 [13 favorites]
You know if you lose out after that audition as Spinal Tap drummer, you can always get a job as a White House communication director.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 1:29 PM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 1:29 PM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
MR. BAKER: What have you been doing, Mr. President, sort of behind the scenes?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: A lot. A lot.
MR. BAKER: I mean, what do you think the crucial conversations have been?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Many conversations. I just had one with a certain senator that was very convincing to that senator.
[CUT TO: Still image of McCain giving "thumbs down" on Senate floor]
RON HOWARD V.O.: It wasn't.
posted by AndrewInDC at 1:32 PM on August 1, 2017 [58 favorites]
PRESIDENT TRUMP: A lot. A lot.
MR. BAKER: I mean, what do you think the crucial conversations have been?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Many conversations. I just had one with a certain senator that was very convincing to that senator.
[CUT TO: Still image of McCain giving "thumbs down" on Senate floor]
RON HOWARD V.O.: It wasn't.
posted by AndrewInDC at 1:32 PM on August 1, 2017 [58 favorites]
that explains the plaque on his desk
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:32 PM on August 1, 2017 [18 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:32 PM on August 1, 2017 [18 favorites]
The idea that rural or small-town, non-coastal America is more "real" than urban/ coastal American is really deeply embedded in Iowa culture, and I don't just hear it from right-wingers or Republicans, to be honest. It's one of the harder things about living here, as an East Coast transplant who is also "East Coast" in the sense of being Jewish. (And I don't think that people here intentionally mean "East Coast" as code for Jewish, but I think there's some of that embedded in ideas about the East Coast, even if it isn't always conscious.) I don't know if I think it's inherently fascist, but I think it's fucked up, and I wish there was a way to overcome it. Our country's diversity is part of what defines us, and New York City is inherently as American as small-town Iowa. And I get tired of trying to figure out whether I should say that when I'm talking to people I like and who I think would be horrified to think of themselves as provincial or bigoted.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 1:39 PM on August 1, 2017 [42 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 1:39 PM on August 1, 2017 [42 favorites]
Jesus. I just....Will it never stop? I wouldn't trust any one of those people to order and pick up lunch for a mid-sized office without screwing it up. And it's not just the unforced errors and the endless gaffs, it's when given a choice between the obvious thing, or the kind thing, or the sensible thing or the usual thing, these people UNFAILINGLY pick the dumbest, meanest thing. Forever and ever, amen. It's just a steady drip of small, stupid evil regularly interspersed with giant OMGWTFuckery, and I. Am. Exhausted.
posted by thebrokedown at 1:41 PM on August 1, 2017 [43 favorites]
posted by thebrokedown at 1:41 PM on August 1, 2017 [43 favorites]
That Bari Weiss hit piece in the nyt was poorly argued, full of false equivalency, and surprisingly poorly written. Why is it the right always expects absolute purity from the left, and it never matters if you're a republican. Zionism does not equal Jewish. White ladies may not understand how black ladies feel about black leaders. Terrorism/Freedom fighter is just a matter of perspective.
This was a hit piece designed to give the right wing something to jackoff to while they neg the woman's movement.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 1:41 PM on August 1, 2017 [36 favorites]
This was a hit piece designed to give the right wing something to jackoff to while they neg the woman's movement.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 1:41 PM on August 1, 2017 [36 favorites]
First, conflict and chaos are chronic conditions for this White House.
Excuse me, they're the mission statement.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:42 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Excuse me, they're the mission statement.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:42 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
The President of the United States on talking to foreign leaders:
(Including an editor who parties with Ivanka in the Hamptons and then keeps the transcript a secret until someone leaked to a rival publication.)
posted by zachlipton at 1:43 PM on August 1, 2017 [37 favorites]
So I deal with foreign countries, and despite what you may read I have unbelievable relationships with all of the foreign leaders. They like me. I like them. You know, it’s amazing. So I’ll call, like, major – major countries, and I’ll be dealing with the prime minister or the president. And I’ll say, how are you doing? Oh, don’t know, don’t know, not well, Mr. President, not well. I said, well, what’s the problem? Oh, GDP 9 percent, not well. And I’m saying to myself, here we are at like 1 percent, dying, and they’re at 9 percent and they’re unhappy. So, you know, and these are like countries, you know, fairly large, like 300 million people. You know, a lot of people say – they say, well, but the United States is large. And then you call places like Malaysia, Indonesia, and you say, you know, how many people do you have? And it’s pretty amazing how many people they have. So China’s going to be at 7 or 8 percent, and they have a billion-five, right? So we should do really well.He calls up world leaders and asks how many people live in their countries? And then proudly announces this fact to reporters?
(Including an editor who parties with Ivanka in the Hamptons and then keeps the transcript a secret until someone leaked to a rival publication.)
posted by zachlipton at 1:43 PM on August 1, 2017 [37 favorites]
He's outright admitting that one of the most significant foreign policy decisions of his administration wasn't something he was involved in other than saying "yeah, sure, whatever" when "they" came in and suggested it.
The buck stops somewhere else. Not here. I think I saw it go by, though. You know how it is. You know life.
posted by nubs at 1:44 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
The buck stops somewhere else. Not here. I think I saw it go by, though. You know how it is. You know life.
posted by nubs at 1:44 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
First, conflict and chaos are chronic conditions for this White House.
Excuse me, they're the mission statement.
So they're more Tzeentch than Khorne, is what you're saying.
posted by Existential Dread at 1:45 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Excuse me, they're the mission statement.
So they're more Tzeentch than Khorne, is what you're saying.
posted by Existential Dread at 1:45 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Air Force to purchase bankrupt Russian airline's planes for Air Force One: report (The Hill)
... does anyone else remember the new US Embassy in Moscow, that was discovered to be absolutely riddled with Soviet spy technology?
No reason, just wondered.
posted by suelac at 1:45 PM on August 1, 2017 [22 favorites]
... does anyone else remember the new US Embassy in Moscow, that was discovered to be absolutely riddled with Soviet spy technology?
No reason, just wondered.
posted by suelac at 1:45 PM on August 1, 2017 [22 favorites]
That Bari Weiss hit piece in the nyt was poorly argued, full of false equivalency, and surprisingly poorly written. Why is it the right always expects absolute purity from the left, and it never matters if you're a republican. Zionism does not equal Jewish. White ladies may not understand how black ladies feel about black leaders. Terrorism/Freedom fighter is just a matter of perspective.
This was a hit piece designed to give the right wing something to jackoff to while they neg the woman's movement.
I think it's also telling that, as far as I can tell, Weiss only goes after three of the four 'founders'. And the one she doesn't say a thing about...is the white one.
posted by Tknophobia at 1:46 PM on August 1, 2017 [40 favorites]
This was a hit piece designed to give the right wing something to jackoff to while they neg the woman's movement.
I think it's also telling that, as far as I can tell, Weiss only goes after three of the four 'founders'. And the one she doesn't say a thing about...is the white one.
posted by Tknophobia at 1:46 PM on August 1, 2017 [40 favorites]
Dear President of China,
How much tea do you have really
Your friend,
Donald J. Trummmmmmmmmmp
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 1:47 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
How much tea do you have really
Your friend,
Donald J. Trummmmmmmmmmp
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 1:47 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
> The buck stops somewhere else. Not here. I think I saw it go by, though. You know how it is. You know life.
Nobody knew buck-stopping could be so complicated.
posted by Old Kentucky Shark at 1:48 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
Nobody knew buck-stopping could be so complicated.
posted by Old Kentucky Shark at 1:48 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
Trucking along building that border wall:
Trump admin waives environmental laws to allow border wall constructionposted by tilde at 1:54 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
By Tal Kopan, Rene Marsh and Gregory Wallace, CNN
Washington (CNN)The Trump administration announced Tuesday it will waive environmental and other laws and regulations that would impede the first phase of construction of a wall along the US-Mexico border.
The Department of Homeland Security decision clears an important hurdle to construction of the wall, and signals an approach the administration could take in the future when it seeks to build additional sections of wall or fence.
The waiver announced Tuesday applies to "a variety of environmental, natural resource, and land management laws" in the San Diego sector, one of the most-crossed regions of the border and the site where border wall prototypes are scheduled to be constructed later this year.
So, you know, and these are like countries, you know, fairly large, like 300 million people. You know, a lot of people say – they say, well, but the United States is large. And then you call places like Malaysia, Indonesia, and you say, you know, how many people do you have? And it’s pretty amazing how many people they have.
I know obviously all of this is complete gibberish, but still. "How many people they have." Like he's talking about pieces in a game.
Also I like the way he can't remember which one of Malaysia and Indonesia has a near 300 million person population and which one doesn't, so he just says both of them.
posted by dng at 1:57 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
I know obviously all of this is complete gibberish, but still. "How many people they have." Like he's talking about pieces in a game.
Also I like the way he can't remember which one of Malaysia and Indonesia has a near 300 million person population and which one doesn't, so he just says both of them.
posted by dng at 1:57 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
Amy McGrath's ad caught the eye of Charlie Pierce, who has Paul Ryan's cringe-worthy border wall propaganda up as a comparison.
Kentucky Democrats need several dozen candidates like her. Way too many state legislative seats are won by bottom-feeding Republicans because there wasn't even a D on the ballot. If the party wants to be competitive, they have to actually compete. I could go on and on about the missteps of Grimes and Conway, but it will help immeasurably to simply have the KDP out there reminding people that they exist and didn't just roll over and die sometime in the past decade.
Also, this is getting kinda in the weeds with local stuff. Also also, if there are so many Lexingtonians on here, how come we don't do regular mefi meet-ups?
Louisvillian here! I would totally go to Lexington for a meet-up. Or better yet, meet in the middle, somewhere along the Bourbon Trail.
posted by chaoticgood at 1:57 PM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
Kentucky Democrats need several dozen candidates like her. Way too many state legislative seats are won by bottom-feeding Republicans because there wasn't even a D on the ballot. If the party wants to be competitive, they have to actually compete. I could go on and on about the missteps of Grimes and Conway, but it will help immeasurably to simply have the KDP out there reminding people that they exist and didn't just roll over and die sometime in the past decade.
Also, this is getting kinda in the weeds with local stuff. Also also, if there are so many Lexingtonians on here, how come we don't do regular mefi meet-ups?
Louisvillian here! I would totally go to Lexington for a meet-up. Or better yet, meet in the middle, somewhere along the Bourbon Trail.
posted by chaoticgood at 1:57 PM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
It's pretty crazy that I don't have the energy or inclination to read an article with the headline "Trump Told Fox News to Publish Seth Rich Murder Hoax, Lawsuit Claims."
I guess I used up all my evens for the day on "Trump dictated son’s misleading statement on meeting with Russian lawyer."
posted by diogenes at 1:57 PM on August 1, 2017 [17 favorites]
I guess I used up all my evens for the day on "Trump dictated son’s misleading statement on meeting with Russian lawyer."
posted by diogenes at 1:57 PM on August 1, 2017 [17 favorites]
Two birds with one stone!
(If the birds being crushed with wall-stones could be endangered all the better)
posted by Artw at 1:57 PM on August 1, 2017
(If the birds being crushed with wall-stones could be endangered all the better)
posted by Artw at 1:57 PM on August 1, 2017
Attention, attention. Trump's approval ratings on the 538 tracker have hit an all-time low (37.8%), while his disapproval has hit an all-time high (56.7%).
Please also enjoy the ACLU's brief in Bob Murray's lawsuit against John Oliver and Last Week tonight, featuring sections like "The Ridiculous Case at Hand. Anyone Can Legally Say 'Eat Shit, Bob!,'" "Plantiffs' Motion for a Temporary Restraiting Order is Ridiculous," and "Courts Can't Tell Media Companies How to Report, Bob."
posted by zachlipton at 1:57 PM on August 1, 2017 [66 favorites]
Please also enjoy the ACLU's brief in Bob Murray's lawsuit against John Oliver and Last Week tonight, featuring sections like "The Ridiculous Case at Hand. Anyone Can Legally Say 'Eat Shit, Bob!,'" "Plantiffs' Motion for a Temporary Restraiting Order is Ridiculous," and "Courts Can't Tell Media Companies How to Report, Bob."
posted by zachlipton at 1:57 PM on August 1, 2017 [66 favorites]
Oh, GDP 9 percent, not well. And I’m saying to myself, here we are at like 1 percent, dying, and they’re at 9 percent and they’re unhappy. So, you know, and these are like countries, you know, fairly large, like 300 million people.ARRRRGHH. The stupidity and just fucking ignorance of the basics of this quote drive me crazy. I know, I know, it's the hallmark of this asshole, but for some reason this is the quote that got through the last bit of armor I've built up since November and touched the nerve that controls my impulse to bang my head into the desk.
There are two countries with a GDP growth rate of 9% or more. Iraq and the Turks and Caicos Islands. And there are 3 countries with more than 300 million, China, India & us. He's fucking negging the whole damn country.
For the record, Indonesia has ~265m people and a GDP growth of 5%...
posted by gofargogo at 2:00 PM on August 1, 2017 [29 favorites]
Please also enjoy the ACLU's brief in Bob Murray's lawsuit against John Oliver and Last Week tonight, featuring sections like "The Ridiculous Case at Hand. Anyone Can Legally Say 'Eat Shit, Bob!,'" "Plantiffs' Motion for a Temporary Restraiting Order is Ridiculous," and "Courts Can't Tell Media Companies How to Report, Bob."
You missed the best one:
You missed the best one:
Which also begs the question: is Mr. Nutterbutter one of the 50 Doe Defendants included in this action?posted by Talez at 2:04 PM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
The Trump administration announced Tuesday it will waive environmental and other laws
Anyone with some background on how the Executive ignores The Laws of the United States?
posted by mikelieman at 2:05 PM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
Anyone with some background on how the Executive ignores The Laws of the United States?
posted by mikelieman at 2:05 PM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
Nevermind. I ReadTFA:
posted by mikelieman at 2:07 PM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
DHS has used the waiver multiple times in the past, including to build border fence from 2005 to 2008. The waivers were challenged in the courts, but each time federal judges granted DHS the authority to move forward, according to a Congressional Research Service report. The Supreme Court declined two requests to review the issue.They just fucking ignore the Laws of the United States...
posted by mikelieman at 2:07 PM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
Air Force to purchase bankrupt Russian airline's planes for Air Force One: report (The Hill)
... does anyone else remember the new US Embassy in Moscow, that was discovered to be absolutely riddled with Soviet spy technology?
The grar about the 747/AF1 replacement isn't spying. The Russian company bankrupted and never accepted any deliveries. The US is going to buy planes that haven't even been built yet, and is going to physically get them from Boeing.
The scam is more likely that the US Government will pay a discounted price for the deliveries of the 747's involving a bankrupting Russian company, rather than just buying planes directly from Boeing, an American company. The big question left remaining is how will Trump profit from this? How will Putin profit from this?
posted by Mister Fabulous at 2:10 PM on August 1, 2017 [29 favorites]
... does anyone else remember the new US Embassy in Moscow, that was discovered to be absolutely riddled with Soviet spy technology?
The grar about the 747/AF1 replacement isn't spying. The Russian company bankrupted and never accepted any deliveries. The US is going to buy planes that haven't even been built yet, and is going to physically get them from Boeing.
The scam is more likely that the US Government will pay a discounted price for the deliveries of the 747's involving a bankrupting Russian company, rather than just buying planes directly from Boeing, an American company. The big question left remaining is how will Trump profit from this? How will Putin profit from this?
posted by Mister Fabulous at 2:10 PM on August 1, 2017 [29 favorites]
Jesus. I just....Will it never stop? I wouldn't trust any one of those people to order and pick up lunch for a mid-sized office without screwing it up.
pretend this [fake] lunch order took place last week so I can burn through some Scaramucci jokes
A transcript of Scaramucci placing the take-out order is leaked to Politico; in it, the restaurant employee asks him to repeat whether or not he wanted mustard on the turkey on rye and Scaramucci responds by calling him a "degenerate c***-f***er who should ought to have his b**** c****ed in a c******* p***** and s***ed up his t****"
The salad Jared ordered somehow ends up in ISIS recruiting videos
Don Jr orders a sandwich with Russian dressing and Instagrams himself eating it; later explains in an email that this was intended as a coded message to a Russian businessman and lawyer he's started doing some exciting deals with. The email is accidentally CC'd to the entire White House press corps
On his way back from picking up the order, Chris Christie drops the bag carrying Bannon's lunch and it manages to escape
Pence refuses to eat his sandwich after a call to the restaurant reveals that it may have been prepared by the hands of an unmarried woman; it's awkward watching him pick at a bag of Baked Lay's while everybody else eats
Trump tweets picture of well-done ribeye steak, says it's not cooked enough, invites North Korea to "nuke" it for him "if they have the balls"
SHS goes on TV to explain that the President was just kidding about daring North Korea to launch a nuclear strike against the US, in between bites of the salad without dressing that Scaramucci ordered for her instead of what she actually wrote down
posted by prize bull octorok at 2:11 PM on August 1, 2017 [47 favorites]
pretend this [fake] lunch order took place last week so I can burn through some Scaramucci jokes
A transcript of Scaramucci placing the take-out order is leaked to Politico; in it, the restaurant employee asks him to repeat whether or not he wanted mustard on the turkey on rye and Scaramucci responds by calling him a "degenerate c***-f***er who should ought to have his b**** c****ed in a c******* p***** and s***ed up his t****"
The salad Jared ordered somehow ends up in ISIS recruiting videos
Don Jr orders a sandwich with Russian dressing and Instagrams himself eating it; later explains in an email that this was intended as a coded message to a Russian businessman and lawyer he's started doing some exciting deals with. The email is accidentally CC'd to the entire White House press corps
On his way back from picking up the order, Chris Christie drops the bag carrying Bannon's lunch and it manages to escape
Pence refuses to eat his sandwich after a call to the restaurant reveals that it may have been prepared by the hands of an unmarried woman; it's awkward watching him pick at a bag of Baked Lay's while everybody else eats
Trump tweets picture of well-done ribeye steak, says it's not cooked enough, invites North Korea to "nuke" it for him "if they have the balls"
SHS goes on TV to explain that the President was just kidding about daring North Korea to launch a nuclear strike against the US, in between bites of the salad without dressing that Scaramucci ordered for her instead of what she actually wrote down
posted by prize bull octorok at 2:11 PM on August 1, 2017 [47 favorites]
They just fucking ignore the Laws of the United States...
To be fair, no, they didn't. They got themselves a law passed that says they can issue waivers to these requirements.
Which still pisses me off, as someone who spends 40 hours/week working to ensure projects comply with those very laws. It's NOT that fucking hard if you're willing to do the work and be reasonable. But for these guys, destroying critical habitat for endangered species is a feature, not a bug.
posted by suelac at 2:12 PM on August 1, 2017 [12 favorites]
To be fair, no, they didn't. They got themselves a law passed that says they can issue waivers to these requirements.
Which still pisses me off, as someone who spends 40 hours/week working to ensure projects comply with those very laws. It's NOT that fucking hard if you're willing to do the work and be reasonable. But for these guys, destroying critical habitat for endangered species is a feature, not a bug.
posted by suelac at 2:12 PM on August 1, 2017 [12 favorites]
prize bull octorok are you one of the writers
posted by tomierna at 2:15 PM on August 1, 2017 [21 favorites]
posted by tomierna at 2:15 PM on August 1, 2017 [21 favorites]
Christopher Wray has been confirmed by the Senate as FBI Director.
Also, Golf.com (yes, I am citing golf.com, because 2017) has a story, First Golfer: Donald Trump's relationship with golf has never been more complicated. Talking about his Bedminister club:
Also, Golf.com (yes, I am citing golf.com, because 2017) has a story, First Golfer: Donald Trump's relationship with golf has never been more complicated. Talking about his Bedminister club:
As President, Trump has already made four visits to the club. He has his own cottage adjacent to the pool; it was recently given a secure perimeter by the Secret Service, leading to the inevitable joke that it's the only wall Trump has successfully built. Chatting with some members before a recent round of golf, he explained his frequent appearances: "That White House is a real dump." Trump is often at his most unguarded among the people who pay for their proximity to him. Last November, the President-elect hosted a cocktail reception and dinner at Bedminster on the same weekend that he was holding interviews at the club with candidates for his Cabinet. At the dinner, Trump addressed the members of the club by saying, "This is my real group. You are the special people. I see all of you. I recognize, like, 100% of you, just about." Then he issued an open invitation to drop in on his Cabinet interviews the next day.posted by zachlipton at 2:18 PM on August 1, 2017 [24 favorites]
Christopher Wray has been confirmed by the Senate as FBI Director.
bey bye investigation?
First Golfer: Donald Trump's relationship with golf has never been more complicated.
Jesus he is so fucking gross. Old news, I know, but every so often it will strike me again.
Also fuck golf.
posted by Artw at 2:20 PM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
bey bye investigation?
First Golfer: Donald Trump's relationship with golf has never been more complicated.
Jesus he is so fucking gross. Old news, I know, but every so often it will strike me again.
Also fuck golf.
posted by Artw at 2:20 PM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
Please also enjoy the ACLU's brief in Bob Murray's lawsuit against John Oliver and Last Week tonight
This is one of the best amicus briefs I've ever read.
posted by melissasaurus at 2:21 PM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
This is one of the best amicus briefs I've ever read.
posted by melissasaurus at 2:21 PM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
Sorry. That vote was 95-5, nays were five Democrats. Gillibrand, Warren, Markey, Wyden & Merkley. Wyden specifically cited that Wray "failed to oppose government backdoors into Americans’ personal devices."
posted by zachlipton at 2:24 PM on August 1, 2017 [15 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 2:24 PM on August 1, 2017 [15 favorites]
Clearly standing up on Healthcare was a one time only blip. Just what in the fuck is wrong with Democrats to make them so utterly worthless?
posted by Artw at 2:26 PM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by Artw at 2:26 PM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
Wray confirmed as FBI director (Seung Min Kim, Politico, Aug. 1, 2017)
The president wants his FBI director to do his bidding. Too bad he’s nominated another James Comey.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:27 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
The nonexistent drama over confirming Wray stands in contrast to how the vacancy appeared in the first place — with President Donald Trump's shocking ouster of Comey as the FBI director was overseeing an investigation into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.Christopher Wray Will Not Be Trump’s Stooge (Leon Neyfakh, Slate, July 11, 2017)
But once special counsel Robert Mueller was tapped to lead the probe, Democrats mostly dropped their objections to Trump's FBI nominee. Wray breezed through his confirmation hearing in the Judiciary Committee last month after he pledged to remain fiercely independent from any political pressure.
A larger nominations package is expected before senators leave for the August recess, although who will be confirmed as part of that deal is to be determined, according to senators and aides.
"I think they're talking and trying to figure out how big that package will be," said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), referring to McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Added Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.): "We went into this week believing there would be a nominations package, and we still believe that."
The president wants his FBI director to do his bidding. Too bad he’s nominated another James Comey.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:27 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
Ah, real people. Amber Rudd, the UK Home Secretary , has just said that 'real people' don't need strong encryption, only terrorists want that.
(checks URL currently in use, notes HTTPS, prepares to hand self in.)
posted by Devonian at 2:32 PM on August 1, 2017 [21 favorites]
(checks URL currently in use, notes HTTPS, prepares to hand self in.)
posted by Devonian at 2:32 PM on August 1, 2017 [21 favorites]
I wonder if Amber Rudd understands how internet banking works.
posted by dng at 2:41 PM on August 1, 2017 [28 favorites]
posted by dng at 2:41 PM on August 1, 2017 [28 favorites]
If there really exists such a thing as a White Hat Hacker, Rudd's entire email, browsing and banking history should be made public by the end of the week.
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:43 PM on August 1, 2017 [17 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:43 PM on August 1, 2017 [17 favorites]
I feel like as each new general rolls into the White House the others probably say "Welcome to the suck".
I wonder what the campaign ribbon for white house service will look like.
posted by srboisvert at 2:45 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
I wonder what the campaign ribbon for white house service will look like.
posted by srboisvert at 2:45 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
There are White Hat Hackers, but they wouldn't be such if they made personal information public like that.
posted by cell divide at 2:45 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by cell divide at 2:45 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
I propose a new type: The Cake Hat Hacker
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 2:48 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 2:48 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
Trump instructs Price to go after birth control.
posted by emjaybee at 2:51 PM on August 1, 2017 [14 favorites]
posted by emjaybee at 2:51 PM on August 1, 2017 [14 favorites]
zachlipton: "Sorry. That vote was 95-5, nays were five Democrats. Gillibrand, Warren, Markey, Wyden & Merkley. Wyden specifically cited that Wray "failed to oppose government backdoors into Americans’ personal devices.""
Gillibrand's opposition to basically all nominees is surely going to be mentioned in her presidential campaign.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:51 PM on August 1, 2017 [25 favorites]
Gillibrand's opposition to basically all nominees is surely going to be mentioned in her presidential campaign.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:51 PM on August 1, 2017 [25 favorites]
Yeah, I guess a Hacker who does awful things to awful people wouldn't be White Hat, maybe Fez Hacker? Fezes are cool. Definitely not Fedora Hacker...
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:52 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:52 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
🎶 🎷 🎺 🥁
Folks, here’s a story ‘bout Tony the Moocher
He was a man of filthy lucre
Tony was mean around the clock
Wasn’t about to suck his own cock
Hi-dee hi-dee hi-dee hi (hi-dee hi-dee hi-dee hi)
Whoa-a-a-a-ah (whoa-a-a-a-ah)
Hee-dee-hee-dee-hee-dee-hee (hee-dee-hee-dee-hee-dee-hee)
He-e-e-e-e-e-e-y (he-e-e-e-e-e-e-y)
He bowed down to a peruke
And hated Reincey, called him a kook
He then pledged to kill all leakers
Most of all those dinner peekers
Hi-dee hi-dee hi-dee hi (hi-dee hi-dee hi-dee hi)
Whoa-a-a-a-ah (whoa-a-a-a-ah)
He-e-e-e-e-e-e-y (he-e-e-e-e-e-e-y)
Oh-oh-oh-oh (oh-oh-oh-oh)
He had a dream about the #MAGA bounty
Joined a “hack” out of Queens County
Thought he’d be Trump’s Pepe Prince
Took on views that used to make him wince
Hi-dee hi-dee hi-dee hi (hi-dee hi-dee hi-dee hi)
Ho-dee-ho-dee-ho-dee ho (ho-dee-ho-dee-ho-dee ho)
Skip-de-diddly-skip-de-diddly-diddly-oh (skip-de-diddly-skip-de-diddly-diddly-oh)
Bour'rrigy-bour'rrigy-bour'rrigy-oh (bour'rrigy-bour'rrigy-bour'rrigy-oh)
But he lost his job, like he lost his wife
His bargain leading only to strife
Fired by Kelly and out on his gooch
Is no one out there for the Mooch?
Hi-dee hi-dee hi-dee hi (hi-dee hi-dee hi-dee hi)
Whoa-a-a-a-ah (whoa-a-a-a-ah)
He-e-e-e-e-e-e-y (he-e-e-e-e-e-e-y)
Whoa-a-a-a-ah (whoa-a-a-a-ah)
Poor Ton’, poor Ton’, poor Ton’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
some of the syllable counts need work.
posted by waninggibbon at 2:52 PM on August 1, 2017 [36 favorites]
Folks, here’s a story ‘bout Tony the Moocher
He was a man of filthy lucre
Tony was mean around the clock
Wasn’t about to suck his own cock
Hi-dee hi-dee hi-dee hi (hi-dee hi-dee hi-dee hi)
Whoa-a-a-a-ah (whoa-a-a-a-ah)
Hee-dee-hee-dee-hee-dee-hee (hee-dee-hee-dee-hee-dee-hee)
He-e-e-e-e-e-e-y (he-e-e-e-e-e-e-y)
He bowed down to a peruke
And hated Reincey, called him a kook
He then pledged to kill all leakers
Most of all those dinner peekers
Hi-dee hi-dee hi-dee hi (hi-dee hi-dee hi-dee hi)
Whoa-a-a-a-ah (whoa-a-a-a-ah)
He-e-e-e-e-e-e-y (he-e-e-e-e-e-e-y)
Oh-oh-oh-oh (oh-oh-oh-oh)
He had a dream about the #MAGA bounty
Joined a “hack” out of Queens County
Thought he’d be Trump’s Pepe Prince
Took on views that used to make him wince
Hi-dee hi-dee hi-dee hi (hi-dee hi-dee hi-dee hi)
Ho-dee-ho-dee-ho-dee ho (ho-dee-ho-dee-ho-dee ho)
Skip-de-diddly-skip-de-diddly-diddly-oh (skip-de-diddly-skip-de-diddly-diddly-oh)
Bour'rrigy-bour'rrigy-bour'rrigy-oh (bour'rrigy-bour'rrigy-bour'rrigy-oh)
But he lost his job, like he lost his wife
His bargain leading only to strife
Fired by Kelly and out on his gooch
Is no one out there for the Mooch?
Hi-dee hi-dee hi-dee hi (hi-dee hi-dee hi-dee hi)
Whoa-a-a-a-ah (whoa-a-a-a-ah)
He-e-e-e-e-e-e-y (he-e-e-e-e-e-e-y)
Whoa-a-a-a-ah (whoa-a-a-a-ah)
Poor Ton’, poor Ton’, poor Ton’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
some of the syllable counts need work.
posted by waninggibbon at 2:52 PM on August 1, 2017 [36 favorites]
Grey Hat Hacker is the term you're looking for.
posted by jferg at 2:55 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by jferg at 2:55 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
So it looks like the Trump-Putin-false-statement timeline has hit Josh Marshall's radar: Did President Trump Dictate the False Statement? Or Was It President Putin?
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 2:55 PM on August 1, 2017 [56 favorites]
Whatever else they were discussing, it still seems to be the case that Veselnitskaya pushed her case about the Magnitsky Act in the Trump Tower meeting. So it’s not implausible that she discussed adoptions. She may well have. It’s also true that “adoptions” are sometimes a code word for sanctions in discussions with Russian government officials. So again, there are alternative, less damning explanations.Can you imagine the screaming shitfit that the Republican party would've thrown if this situation had involved Obama or Clinton? They would've right to have done so. As it stands, the supposed chief executive has at the very least given the appearance of taking direction from the KGB man who runs the Russian kleptocracy.
But piecing together this timeline and based on President Trump’s own account, we can say that he knew his advisers were discussing how to respond to a press story about the June 2016 meeting. He had a secret conversation with President Putin at which they discussed the issue of Russian adoptions. Then hours later he dictated a false statement to be released in the name of his son in which he claimed that Russian adoptions were the topic of the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting. That is a highly troubling chain of events to put it mildly.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 2:55 PM on August 1, 2017 [56 favorites]
So, you know, and these are like countries, you know, fairly large, like 300 million people.
Trump: "There are three. China, India and the third ... I forget ... sorry ... oops."
posted by JackFlash at 2:56 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
Trump: "There are three. China, India and the third ... I forget ... sorry ... oops."
posted by JackFlash at 2:56 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
I feel like as each new general rolls into the White House the others probably say "Welcome to the suck".
I wonder what the campaign ribbon for white house service will look like.
Terry Colon FTW...
posted by mikelieman at 2:57 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
I wonder what the campaign ribbon for white house service will look like.
Terry Colon FTW...
posted by mikelieman at 2:57 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
One more from the WSJ interview:
posted by zachlipton at 3:04 PM on August 1, 2017 [68 favorites]
WSJ: Would you consider pardons, Mr. President, given the investigation is –He's asked about pardons and his mind immediately turns to Jared. Hmm...
PRESIDENT TRUMP: You know what? I don’t even think of pardons. Here’s why, nobody did anything wrong. Look at Jared, everybody – we do appreciate the editorial – but everybody said Jared Kushner. Jared’s a very private person. He doesn’t get out. I mean, maybe it’s good or maybe it’s bad what I do, but at least people know how I feel. Jared’s this really nice, smart guy, who’d love to see peace in the Middle East and in Israel, OK?
posted by zachlipton at 3:04 PM on August 1, 2017 [68 favorites]
conflict and chaos are chronic conditions for this White House
🎭
posted by tilde at 3:04 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
conflict and chaos are part of their pathos, along with the secret of gummiberry juice
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:13 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:13 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
some of the syllable counts need work.
You're being way too hard on yourself, look at the schedule you were working under.
posted by contraption at 3:17 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
You're being way too hard on yourself, look at the schedule you were working under.
posted by contraption at 3:17 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
peace in the Middle East and in Israel
Add one more data point to the "Donald Trump doesn't know Israel is in the Middle East" file, in with his "Just got back from the Middle East" speech while he was there.
posted by Sys Rq at 3:18 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Add one more data point to the "Donald Trump doesn't know Israel is in the Middle East" file, in with his "Just got back from the Middle East" speech while he was there.
posted by Sys Rq at 3:18 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Trump today talking about Foxconn: “They’re going to spend $10 billion, but he is one of the great businessmen of our time,” Trump said in reference to Foxconn CEO Terry Gou. “And I think the number is going to be $30 billion. He told me off the record he thinks he may go $30 billion, $30 billion. Think of this. He may go 30 billion dollar investment, but he told me that off the record so I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone.”
posted by JackFlash at 3:19 PM on August 1, 2017 [75 favorites]
posted by JackFlash at 3:19 PM on August 1, 2017 [75 favorites]
Whenever I read written excerpts of his interviews, I often feel as if one of us must be suffering from undiagnosed aphasia.
posted by darkstar at 3:21 PM on August 1, 2017 [46 favorites]
posted by darkstar at 3:21 PM on August 1, 2017 [46 favorites]
Reading about the White House being behind the Seth Rich story. Is Donald's plan to delay the completion of Mueller's report indefinitely by continually requiring him to open up new investigations into new criminal behavior? Cunning.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:23 PM on August 1, 2017 [27 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:23 PM on August 1, 2017 [27 favorites]
[Henry Winkler] "You know what I said about not being able to finish an investigation if you start another one? Turns out I was way off on that."
posted by Rykey at 3:25 PM on August 1, 2017 [21 favorites]
posted by Rykey at 3:25 PM on August 1, 2017 [21 favorites]
Here's how to process the very real quote: the President is a dumb idiot who is dumb and not a clever President
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:27 PM on August 1, 2017 [14 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:27 PM on August 1, 2017 [14 favorites]
[real], apparently
I'm less disturbed by Trump blabbing his off-the-record conversation (if it actually happened) than I am at the prospect that he's willing to take at face value when an investor says they'll pay $10 billion now, but might pay $30 billion later. I'd put chances we see even the $10 billion at less than 50/50.
posted by tonycpsu at 3:28 PM on August 1, 2017 [13 favorites]
I'm less disturbed by Trump blabbing his off-the-record conversation (if it actually happened) than I am at the prospect that he's willing to take at face value when an investor says they'll pay $10 billion now, but might pay $30 billion later. I'd put chances we see even the $10 billion at less than 50/50.
posted by tonycpsu at 3:28 PM on August 1, 2017 [13 favorites]
Trump doesn't give a flying fuck about how much money Foxconn spends, he cares about saying things that sound good right now. I'm not even confident he's not pulling the "off-the-record" $30bn line out of his ass.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:30 PM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:30 PM on August 1, 2017 [8 favorites]
I'm not clever enough to figure out a nice, pithy ending for the sentence The government should be run like
How about "The government should be run like a government."
Because that, fundamentally, is the problem. Government is a different institution to business, military, academia, whatever. It has different demands, different problems, different rules. The sooner people let go of this fantasy that government is like some other thing that they think they understand better, and the sooner we all get over the belief that the problem with government is politicians and bureaucrats instead of our own failure as a citizenry to engage with it and pick good politicians and bureaucrats, the better off we'll all be.
posted by biogeo at 3:30 PM on August 1, 2017 [68 favorites]
How about "The government should be run like a government."
Because that, fundamentally, is the problem. Government is a different institution to business, military, academia, whatever. It has different demands, different problems, different rules. The sooner people let go of this fantasy that government is like some other thing that they think they understand better, and the sooner we all get over the belief that the problem with government is politicians and bureaucrats instead of our own failure as a citizenry to engage with it and pick good politicians and bureaucrats, the better off we'll all be.
posted by biogeo at 3:30 PM on August 1, 2017 [68 favorites]
Cunning.
As cunning as a fox who’s just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University?
posted by the return of the thin white sock at 3:31 PM on August 1, 2017 [16 favorites]
As cunning as a fox who’s just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University?
posted by the return of the thin white sock at 3:31 PM on August 1, 2017 [16 favorites]
The thought process could be:
"[I'M GOING TO MAKE SOMETHING UP] And I think the number is going to be $30 billion. [I'M GOING TO MAKE UP SOME EVIDENCE FOR THIS CLAIM] He told me off the record he thinks he may go $30 billion, $30 billion. Think of this. [OH SHIT THEY MIGHT SAY THAT I'M LYING, I WILL COVER MY ASS BY SAYING IT'S UNPROVABLE] He may go 30 billion dollar investment, but he told me that off the record so I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone. [GREAT WORK DONALD, YOU GET THREE SCOOPS TONIGHT]"
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:32 PM on August 1, 2017 [18 favorites]
"[I'M GOING TO MAKE SOMETHING UP] And I think the number is going to be $30 billion. [I'M GOING TO MAKE UP SOME EVIDENCE FOR THIS CLAIM] He told me off the record he thinks he may go $30 billion, $30 billion. Think of this. [OH SHIT THEY MIGHT SAY THAT I'M LYING, I WILL COVER MY ASS BY SAYING IT'S UNPROVABLE] He may go 30 billion dollar investment, but he told me that off the record so I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone. [GREAT WORK DONALD, YOU GET THREE SCOOPS TONIGHT]"
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:32 PM on August 1, 2017 [18 favorites]
Cunning, in the manner of certain hats.
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:35 PM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:35 PM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
"I have come up with a plan so cunning you could stick a tail on it and call it a weasel." (Blackadder)
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 3:38 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 3:38 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
Folks, here’s a story ‘bout Tony the Moocher
Ooh, ooh, Spicer could be the Reefer Man
Man what's the matter with that cat there?
must be full ofreefer Big Red
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 3:39 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Ooh, ooh, Spicer could be the Reefer Man
Man what's the matter with that cat there?
must be full of
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 3:39 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
The scam is more likely that the US Government will pay a discounted price for the deliveries of the 747's involving a bankrupting Russian company, rather than just buying planes directly from Boeing, an American company.
Transaero's been bankrupt since October 2015, when they were still on the production line, and the planes were completed and sent to the Mojave boneyard for storage. They're owned outright by Boeing, and as no more passenger 747s will ever be built, it's all actually a pretty sensible course of action.
posted by ambrosen at 3:39 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
Transaero's been bankrupt since October 2015, when they were still on the production line, and the planes were completed and sent to the Mojave boneyard for storage. They're owned outright by Boeing, and as no more passenger 747s will ever be built, it's all actually a pretty sensible course of action.
posted by ambrosen at 3:39 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
Someone has the knives out already: John Kelly is President Trump’s cry for help
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:46 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:46 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm not even confident he's not pulling the "off-the-record" $30bn line out of his ass.
Just skimming the transcript, other numbers I saw that definitely were out of his ass were his electoral collage results and how long ago the 2013 Ms Universe pageant was:
"And she lost easily, you know, 306 to 223 I think, right – 223, something like that."
"I mean, I had Ms. Universe there, like, nine years ago, eight years ago, something like that."
Something like that must be the new tell meaning that he's making shit up.
Looking back to the most recent NYTimes interview: "[Comey] said I said “hope” — “I hope you can treat Flynn good” or something like that. I didn’t say anything."
Checks out, or something like that.
posted by peeedro at 3:47 PM on August 1, 2017 [18 favorites]
Just skimming the transcript, other numbers I saw that definitely were out of his ass were his electoral collage results and how long ago the 2013 Ms Universe pageant was:
"And she lost easily, you know, 306 to 223 I think, right – 223, something like that."
"I mean, I had Ms. Universe there, like, nine years ago, eight years ago, something like that."
Something like that must be the new tell meaning that he's making shit up.
Looking back to the most recent NYTimes interview: "[Comey] said I said “hope” — “I hope you can treat Flynn good” or something like that. I didn’t say anything."
Checks out, or something like that.
posted by peeedro at 3:47 PM on August 1, 2017 [18 favorites]
There are two countries with a GDP growth rate of 9% or more. Iraq and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Well, if those are the choices, I propose that we go with the Turks and Caicos model.
posted by diogenes at 3:47 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
Well, if those are the choices, I propose that we go with the Turks and Caicos model.
posted by diogenes at 3:47 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
They're owned outright by Boeing
Well, that at least means they won't be full of Russian bugs. But I suspect the Air Force (or is it the Secret Service?) won't be happy about having to retrofit them to meet their security requirements rather than build from the beginning.
posted by suelac at 3:47 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Well, that at least means they won't be full of Russian bugs. But I suspect the Air Force (or is it the Secret Service?) won't be happy about having to retrofit them to meet their security requirements rather than build from the beginning.
posted by suelac at 3:47 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
From the "John Kelly is President Trump’s cry for help" article by Ed Rogers:
The Post’s article is problematic for the president on a number of fronts, but, oh, by the way, nothing about it suggests there was any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. This is just another example of the White House mismanaging and overreacting to the non-scandal.
Fuck that guy. The rest of the article is almost as dumb.
posted by diogenes at 3:53 PM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
The Post’s article is problematic for the president on a number of fronts, but, oh, by the way, nothing about it suggests there was any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. This is just another example of the White House mismanaging and overreacting to the non-scandal.
Fuck that guy. The rest of the article is almost as dumb.
posted by diogenes at 3:53 PM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
i think this came up in one of the first post election mega threads, but i can't seem to find it: how many general make a junta?
posted by j_curiouser at 3:54 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by j_curiouser at 3:54 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Someone has the knives out already
I think you confused knives with a gentle back rub.
posted by diogenes at 3:56 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
I think you confused knives with a gentle back rub.
posted by diogenes at 3:56 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
I want to re-link Masha Gessen's piece about queer rights, and thanks to whoever posted it.
The tweets about a transgender ban ... sucked, but the response has been really heartening for me personally, because (like in 2015) I didn't think we had this much support from this many different people.
Deray McKesson spent a lot of time on that in this week's podcast - it was clear he took it really seriously. I didn't expect that. He interviewed Obama's SecNav about it, and this guy, who is a Southern White man and a general, was full-throated in his defense of transgender people in general, not just in the capacity of the military. I didn't expect that. I didn't expect my own Republican congressman, Leonard Lance (NJ-07), to vote the right way on this issue. I didn't expect fucking Orrin Hatch to oppose Trump on this issue. I thought trans people would make easy targets, and I'm really heartened to find out I was wrong.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 3:58 PM on August 1, 2017 [80 favorites]
The tweets about a transgender ban ... sucked, but the response has been really heartening for me personally, because (like in 2015) I didn't think we had this much support from this many different people.
Deray McKesson spent a lot of time on that in this week's podcast - it was clear he took it really seriously. I didn't expect that. He interviewed Obama's SecNav about it, and this guy, who is a Southern White man and a general, was full-throated in his defense of transgender people in general, not just in the capacity of the military. I didn't expect that. I didn't expect my own Republican congressman, Leonard Lance (NJ-07), to vote the right way on this issue. I didn't expect fucking Orrin Hatch to oppose Trump on this issue. I thought trans people would make easy targets, and I'm really heartened to find out I was wrong.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 3:58 PM on August 1, 2017 [80 favorites]
I propose that we go with the Turks and Caicos model.
You mean having internal autonomy, but the UK government can revoke home rule if shit hits the fan?
I'm... okay with that model.
please liz, take us back, your ancestors were right, republicans ruin everything
posted by tivalasvegas at 4:00 PM on August 1, 2017 [12 favorites]
You mean having internal autonomy, but the UK government can revoke home rule if shit hits the fan?
I'm... okay with that model.
please liz, take us back, your ancestors were right, republicans ruin everything
posted by tivalasvegas at 4:00 PM on August 1, 2017 [12 favorites]
Correlation does not mean causation, BUT...
1) Trump has said he could shoot somebody in the middle of Fifth Avenue...
2) The accusations over Seth Rich's murder being connected to the White House put "Trump's Mirror" into play...
3) Are we certain as to The Donald's personal schedule the night Rich was killed? HMMMM?
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:07 PM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
1) Trump has said he could shoot somebody in the middle of Fifth Avenue...
2) The accusations over Seth Rich's murder being connected to the White House put "Trump's Mirror" into play...
3) Are we certain as to The Donald's personal schedule the night Rich was killed? HMMMM?
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:07 PM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
Have you seen the British government recently? I think you might genuinely be better off with Donald Trump.
posted by dng at 4:08 PM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by dng at 4:08 PM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
I think you might genuinely be better off with Donald Trump.
Hey now, let's not say things we can't take back
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 4:10 PM on August 1, 2017 [18 favorites]
Hey now, let's not say things we can't take back
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 4:10 PM on August 1, 2017 [18 favorites]
I think you confused knives with a gentle back rub.
I like the way it admits Trump hasn't ever changed but scoffs at "anti-Trump people" for suggesting he won't EVER change cos that's totally going to happen now.
posted by Artw at 4:10 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
I like the way it admits Trump hasn't ever changed but scoffs at "anti-Trump people" for suggesting he won't EVER change cos that's totally going to happen now.
posted by Artw at 4:10 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Reuters: Exclusive: Former Justice Department official joins Mueller team
posted by zachlipton at 4:13 PM on August 1, 2017 [80 favorites]
Most recently a white-collar criminal defense lawyer with New York law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, Andres, 50, served at the Justice Department from 2010 to 2012. He was deputy assistant attorney general in the criminal division, where he oversaw the fraud unit and managed the program that targeted illegal foreign bribery.Yeah, that's not an ominous sign at all, right?
posted by zachlipton at 4:13 PM on August 1, 2017 [80 favorites]
Not for us. For the Trumps? I'd start firing more staffers to keep up the smoke screen.
posted by gofargogo at 4:15 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by gofargogo at 4:15 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Well, that at least means they [the 747s] won't be full of Russian bugs.
Boeing built them for delivery to a Russian airline. They'll be full of American bugs, and will come with the secondary satellite channel with Ft. Meade already installed and operational.
posted by toxic at 4:16 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
Boeing built them for delivery to a Russian airline. They'll be full of American bugs, and will come with the secondary satellite channel with Ft. Meade already installed and operational.
posted by toxic at 4:16 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
Have you seen the British government recently? I think you might genuinely be better off with Donald Trump.
I'll take my chances with Jeremy Corbyn. Please send him ASAP
posted by Existential Dread at 4:24 PM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
I'll take my chances with Jeremy Corbyn. Please send him ASAP
posted by Existential Dread at 4:24 PM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
Yeah, that's not an ominous sign at all, right?
Along with the Daily Beast "Welcome to Hell" WH mood round-ups, my other favorite thing is these periodic announcements of Mueller hiring another attorney/investigator with loads of experience pursuing [Very Specific, Very Bad Shit We're Increasingly Sure These Assholes Did a Lot].
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:27 PM on August 1, 2017 [42 favorites]
Along with the Daily Beast "Welcome to Hell" WH mood round-ups, my other favorite thing is these periodic announcements of Mueller hiring another attorney/investigator with loads of experience pursuing [Very Specific, Very Bad Shit We're Increasingly Sure These Assholes Did a Lot].
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:27 PM on August 1, 2017 [42 favorites]
He calls up world leaders and asks how many people live in their countries?
It's even worse! He asks how many people they have. Twice. Like he's scoring a round of Canasta and racking up "leader points." Who says that? No one, that's who. It's very telling.
Reuters: Exclusive: Former Justice Department official joins Mueller team
I feel like this is the part of the movie where the detective is putting together the pieces of the puzzle while the bad guy is trying to get away.
posted by Room 641-A at 4:27 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
It's even worse! He asks how many people they have. Twice. Like he's scoring a round of Canasta and racking up "leader points." Who says that? No one, that's who. It's very telling.
Reuters: Exclusive: Former Justice Department official joins Mueller team
I feel like this is the part of the movie where the detective is putting together the pieces of the puzzle while the bad guy is trying to get away.
posted by Room 641-A at 4:27 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
I sort of picture Mueller's investigation in terms of Jaws: Brody and Hooper, Esqs. open like a bulging grimy sheaf of documents, blanch, and go, "You're gonna need a bigger tax fraud team."
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:31 PM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:31 PM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
Josh Marshall on Twitter:
EXCLUSIVE: Mueller hires Dutch Greenberg, former DOJ lawyer specializing in indicting sleazoids with tragic hair.
posted by diogenes at 4:36 PM on August 1, 2017 [31 favorites]
EXCLUSIVE: Mueller hires Dutch Greenberg, former DOJ lawyer specializing in indicting sleazoids with tragic hair.
posted by diogenes at 4:36 PM on August 1, 2017 [31 favorites]
I apologize if these facts were buried somewhere in the Wheeler links above, but since I didn't see them called out, the Washington Post's timeline of the Seth Rich story is bananas.
posted by deludingmyself at 4:38 PM on August 1, 2017 [49 favorites]
Very shortly after the article was published, Mr. Wheeler called Butowsky and demanded an explanation for the false statements about him in Zimmerman’s article. Butowsky stated that the quotes were included because that is the way the President wanted the article.Emphasis in the text of the original lawsuit, from which that's quoted.
posted by deludingmyself at 4:38 PM on August 1, 2017 [49 favorites]
I think you might genuinely be better off with Donald Trump.
The graft is always greener . . .
posted by jamjam at 4:41 PM on August 1, 2017 [17 favorites]
The graft is always greener . . .
posted by jamjam at 4:41 PM on August 1, 2017 [17 favorites]
EXCLUSIVE: Mueller hires Dutch Greenberg, former DOJ lawyer specializing in indicting sleazoids with tragic hair.
One of the replies is "LEAKED: Mueller hires noted forensic urologist."
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:44 PM on August 1, 2017 [18 favorites]
One of the replies is "LEAKED: Mueller hires noted forensic urologist."
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:44 PM on August 1, 2017 [18 favorites]
I apologize if these facts were buried somewhere in the Wheeler links above, but since I didn't see them called out, the Washington Post's timeline of the Seth Rich story is bananas.
So our options here that a lot of people found it lulzy that the President is paying attention to some shitty ratfucking conspiracy article or we have a commander in chief that believes conspiracies about his political opponents.
JFC.
posted by Talez at 4:50 PM on August 1, 2017
So our options here that a lot of people found it lulzy that the President is paying attention to some shitty ratfucking conspiracy article or we have a commander in chief that believes conspiracies about his political opponents.
JFC.
posted by Talez at 4:50 PM on August 1, 2017
I searched and I'm not seeing this in the thread, and figure it's worth mentioning here even though prospects for it to go anywhere are, er, zero. Booker introduces bill to legalize marijuana nationwide
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker is proposing a far-reaching bill that would both legalize marijuana at the federal level and encourage states to legalize it locally through incentives.posted by zachlipton at 4:51 PM on August 1, 2017 [70 favorites]
The New Jersey Democrat’s bill, called the Marijuana Justice Act, has virtually no chance of passage in the Republican-controlled Congress and in a presidential administration that’s decidedly anti-marijuana.
“You see these marijuana arrests happening so much in our country, targeting certain communities — poor communities, minority communities — targeting people with an illness,” Booker, the former mayor of Newark, said in a Facebook Live rollout of his legislation.
The bill would legalize marijuana at the federal level and withhold federal money for building jails and prisons, along with other funds, from states whose cannabis laws are shown to disproportionately incarcerate minorities.
@lawrencehurley:
BREAKING: Appeals court allows Democratic attorneys general to intervene in defense of Obamacare cost-sharing subsidy payments
@lawrencehurley:
This is potentially a big deal as lawsuit is between Republican-led House and Trump, who has threatened to cut off payments
posted by chris24 at 4:54 PM on August 1, 2017 [40 favorites]
BREAKING: Appeals court allows Democratic attorneys general to intervene in defense of Obamacare cost-sharing subsidy payments
@lawrencehurley:
This is potentially a big deal as lawsuit is between Republican-led House and Trump, who has threatened to cut off payments
posted by chris24 at 4:54 PM on August 1, 2017 [40 favorites]
Uh-oh, predicting a whole new "so-called judges" tweetfit in 5, 4, 3 . . . . . . . .
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:57 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:57 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
So our options here that a lot of people found it lulzy that the President is paying attention to some shitty ratfucking conspiracy article or we have a commander in chief that believes conspiracies about his political opponents.
I'm pretty sure none of us find it lulzy in the least that the damn president possibly directed and pushed the propagation of these awful stories that were incredibly harmful to Rich's family. Whether he did it cynically and/or credulously is mostly beside the point.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:01 PM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
I'm pretty sure none of us find it lulzy in the least that the damn president possibly directed and pushed the propagation of these awful stories that were incredibly harmful to Rich's family. Whether he did it cynically and/or credulously is mostly beside the point.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:01 PM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
PRESIDENT TRUMP: And I got a call from the head of the Boy Scouts saying it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them, and they were very thankful. So there was – there was no mix.
The Boy Scouts say this call never happened, per multiple reporters who have asked for confirmation.
posted by zachlipton at 5:02 PM on August 1, 2017 [100 favorites]
The Boy Scouts say this call never happened, per multiple reporters who have asked for confirmation.
posted by zachlipton at 5:02 PM on August 1, 2017 [100 favorites]
Mr Chief Boy Scout might want to stay off Twitter for a while. Maybe hurl his smartphone at the wall, too.
posted by notyou at 5:05 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by notyou at 5:05 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm pretty sure none of us find it lulzy in the least that the damn president possibly directed and pushed the propagation of these awful stories that were incredibly harmful to Rich's family. Whether he did it cynically and/or credulously is mostly beside the point.
I don't mean the concept of the president believing a conspiracy is funny. When they said that the president taking interest in the article was "a joke" then the same assertion that the president is taking an interest shows up a couple more times. So either multiple people think making that assertion is hilarious (which would be required to fit their purported narrative that the president's involvement was just a joke) or the President was actually involved in a conspiracy.
posted by Talez at 5:07 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
I don't mean the concept of the president believing a conspiracy is funny. When they said that the president taking interest in the article was "a joke" then the same assertion that the president is taking an interest shows up a couple more times. So either multiple people think making that assertion is hilarious (which would be required to fit their purported narrative that the president's involvement was just a joke) or the President was actually involved in a conspiracy.
posted by Talez at 5:07 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Senior EPA official resigns with scathing message for Trump and Pruitt
“Today the environmental field is suffering from the temporary triumph of myth over truth.” (Natasha Geiling, Think Progress)
“Today the environmental field is suffering from the temporary triumph of myth over truth.” (Natasha Geiling, Think Progress)
She also raised concerns over the administration’s new requirement that for every new regulation, one regulation must be repealed.posted by Room 641-A at 5:11 PM on August 1, 2017 [53 favorites]
“This poses a real Sophie’s choice for public health agencies like EPA,” Southerland wrote. “Should EPA repeal two existing rules protecting infants from neurotoxins in order to promulgate a new rule protecting adults from a newly discovered liver toxin? Faced with such painful choices, the best possible outcome for the American people would be regulatory paralysis where no new rules are released so that existing protections remain in place.”
Someone has the knives out already
I think you confused knives with a gentle back rub
No, I'm quite serious. Can you think of a better way to sabotage someone in Trump's orbit than by saying that Trump needs them, that he can't do without them, that they exert control over him? He might as well have glued a sign to Kelly's back saying "FIRE ME".
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:11 PM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
I think you confused knives with a gentle back rub
No, I'm quite serious. Can you think of a better way to sabotage someone in Trump's orbit than by saying that Trump needs them, that he can't do without them, that they exert control over him? He might as well have glued a sign to Kelly's back saying "FIRE ME".
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:11 PM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
NYT, Charlie Savage: Justice Dept. to Take On Affirmative Action in College Admissions
The Trump administration is preparing to redirect resources of the Justice Department’s civil rights division toward investigating and suing universities over affirmative action admissions policies deemed to discriminate against white applicants, according to a document obtained by The New York Times.posted by zachlipton at 5:16 PM on August 1, 2017 [26 favorites]
The document, an internal announcement to the civil rights division, seeks current lawyers interested in working for a new project on “investigations and possible litigation related to intentional race-based discrimination in college and university admissions.”
The announcement suggests that the project will be run out of the division’s front office, where the Trump administration’s political appointees work, rather than its Educational Opportunities Section, which is run by career civil servants and normally handles work involving schools and universities.
Reuters: Exclusive: Former Justice Department official joins Mueller team
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:16 PM on August 1, 2017 [30 favorites]
{...} Andres was a federal prosecutor in Brooklyn for over a decade, eventually serving as chief of the criminal division in the U.S. attorney's office there. He prosecuted several members of the Bonanno organized crime family, one of whom was accused of plotting to have Andres killed.And remember who was mixed up with the Bonannos? That's right, Trump's old business partner Felix Sater. (Back in 1998, Sater was convicted of running a $40 million penny stock pump and dump stock fraud scheme tied to the Bonanno crime family.)
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:16 PM on August 1, 2017 [30 favorites]
The first time Kelly finds out about a meeting he wasn't invited to or a hallway conversation he wasn't briefed about or a tweet that contradicts his official statement, he's going to lose his shit.
He won't last two weeks in this job.
posted by rocket88 at 5:18 PM on August 1, 2017 [13 favorites]
He won't last two weeks in this job.
posted by rocket88 at 5:18 PM on August 1, 2017 [13 favorites]
No, I'm quite serious. Can you think of a better way to sabotage someone in Trump's orbit than by saying that Trump needs them, that he can't do without them, that they exert control over him? He might as well have glued a sign to Kelly's back saying "FIRE ME".
So your theory is that Ed Rogers is simultaneously carrying water for Trump and trying to sabotage Kelly?
posted by diogenes at 5:25 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
So your theory is that Ed Rogers is simultaneously carrying water for Trump and trying to sabotage Kelly?
posted by diogenes at 5:25 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
I don't mean the concept of the president believing a conspiracy is funny. When they said that the president taking interest in the article was "a joke" then the same assertion that the president is taking an interest shows up a couple more times.
Sorry -- I misinterpreted your original comment.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:26 PM on August 1, 2017
Sorry -- I misinterpreted your original comment.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:26 PM on August 1, 2017
"... suing universities over affirmative action admissions policies deemed to discriminate against white applicants."
Won't someone please think of the White Man!
posted by phliar at 5:27 PM on August 1, 2017 [14 favorites]
Won't someone please think of the White Man!
posted by phliar at 5:27 PM on August 1, 2017 [14 favorites]
I just wanna know, sometimes, if there was a specific day when my Real/Not Real American identities diverged.
Alternatively, I want to know at what point I get to count as a Real American, because I've lived here in Bumfuck, Nowhere almost 15 years now. I have looked out my window to see cows in my front yard grazing (they were escapees). I live in a trailer. Am I forever tainted, denied Real American status because I grew up in Houston? Because I went to college? Because I once lived in New York?
Am I required to buy a pickup truck and cowboy boots before my opinion counts? Is there a certain number of firearms required? What are the defining qualities of Real Americans? Is there any correct answer other than "votes Republican?"
posted by threeturtles at 5:28 PM on August 1, 2017 [48 favorites]
Alternatively, I want to know at what point I get to count as a Real American, because I've lived here in Bumfuck, Nowhere almost 15 years now. I have looked out my window to see cows in my front yard grazing (they were escapees). I live in a trailer. Am I forever tainted, denied Real American status because I grew up in Houston? Because I went to college? Because I once lived in New York?
Am I required to buy a pickup truck and cowboy boots before my opinion counts? Is there a certain number of firearms required? What are the defining qualities of Real Americans? Is there any correct answer other than "votes Republican?"
posted by threeturtles at 5:28 PM on August 1, 2017 [48 favorites]
Won't someone please think of the White Man!
Hey. I've read my bible. Sin is clearly punished to the third and forth generation. It's been five generations since slavery so, logically, white people are off the hook for systemic racism now.
posted by Talez at 5:29 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Hey. I've read my bible. Sin is clearly punished to the third and forth generation. It's been five generations since slavery so, logically, white people are off the hook for systemic racism now.
posted by Talez at 5:29 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
So your theory is that Ed Rogers is simultaneously carrying water for Trump
Is anyone actually doing that for their primary mission right now? I don't even think his own children are doing that except insumuch as it's expedient to them.
posted by ocschwar at 5:29 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
I don't even think his own children are doing that except insumuch as it's expedient to them.
Wouldn't want to be disinherited from the family debt.
posted by Talez at 5:30 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Wouldn't want to be disinherited from the family debt.
posted by Talez at 5:30 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
The Trump administration is preparing to redirect resources of the Justice Department’s civil rights division toward investigating and suing universities over affirmative action admissions policies deemed to discriminate against white applicants, according to a document obtained by The New York Times.
Those jerks are finally hitting their stride.
*sounds of things smashing*
Nope, didn't help.
posted by notyou at 5:31 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
Those jerks are finally hitting their stride.
*sounds of things smashing*
Nope, didn't help.
posted by notyou at 5:31 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
That Ed Rogers op-ed re: John Kelly is President Trump’s cry for help is in itself a giant cry for help from its own author.
Dude. Look at the shit you wrote. And I chose that word specifically, because it's shit. Look at it.
Bear with me, but I am one of those Republicans who have always thought that something would happen or a threshold would be crossed and Donald Trump would pivot to become a better leader.
Ed nervously stands up amid his support group. "Hi," he begins. "I'm Ed, and I'm demonstrably ridiculous."
I see a glimmer of hope that maybe the president realizes he needs to be protected from himself and, in his mind, only someone with Kelly’s stature is worthy of such responsibility.
This is a bald-faced admission that the President of the United States needs a fucking retired Marine general to hold his hand and keep him from doing stupid shit. Hell, it's not even that. It's a hope that the president recognizes that he needs this, and it's a hope coming from a member of the president's party who can't come to grips with his own ridiculousness. There's no recognition from Rogers that the situation is that bad, and that he and the rest of the Republican party are complicit in bringing us here.
And then there's this:
In almost 24 hours since Kelly was sworn in, there haven’t been any disasters, the president hasn’t tweeted anything crazy and Scaramucci is out. So, by Trump’s standards, they are on a roll.
Look at that, Ed Rogers. Look at what you wrote. "The president hasn't done anything horrifically stupid in the last 24 hours. He's on a roll."
Look at that, Ed. Look at that until you realize what that actually means. You're saying the president is so fucking incompetent that going 24 hours without a massive own-goal -- thanks to the hand-holding of a retired Marine general -- is an achievement.
Look at that line until you find your sense of shame again, Ed Rogers. Look until you find your sense of shame and then go home and stop writing or trying to give anyone your advice or your opinions ever again.
I swear if I knew some way to make Rogers actually see this and address it rather than just shouting it out into the blue, I'd do it. For fuck's sake.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 5:32 PM on August 1, 2017 [113 favorites]
Dude. Look at the shit you wrote. And I chose that word specifically, because it's shit. Look at it.
Bear with me, but I am one of those Republicans who have always thought that something would happen or a threshold would be crossed and Donald Trump would pivot to become a better leader.
Ed nervously stands up amid his support group. "Hi," he begins. "I'm Ed, and I'm demonstrably ridiculous."
I see a glimmer of hope that maybe the president realizes he needs to be protected from himself and, in his mind, only someone with Kelly’s stature is worthy of such responsibility.
This is a bald-faced admission that the President of the United States needs a fucking retired Marine general to hold his hand and keep him from doing stupid shit. Hell, it's not even that. It's a hope that the president recognizes that he needs this, and it's a hope coming from a member of the president's party who can't come to grips with his own ridiculousness. There's no recognition from Rogers that the situation is that bad, and that he and the rest of the Republican party are complicit in bringing us here.
And then there's this:
In almost 24 hours since Kelly was sworn in, there haven’t been any disasters, the president hasn’t tweeted anything crazy and Scaramucci is out. So, by Trump’s standards, they are on a roll.
Look at that, Ed Rogers. Look at what you wrote. "The president hasn't done anything horrifically stupid in the last 24 hours. He's on a roll."
Look at that, Ed. Look at that until you realize what that actually means. You're saying the president is so fucking incompetent that going 24 hours without a massive own-goal -- thanks to the hand-holding of a retired Marine general -- is an achievement.
Look at that line until you find your sense of shame again, Ed Rogers. Look until you find your sense of shame and then go home and stop writing or trying to give anyone your advice or your opinions ever again.
I swear if I knew some way to make Rogers actually see this and address it rather than just shouting it out into the blue, I'd do it. For fuck's sake.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 5:32 PM on August 1, 2017 [113 favorites]
phliar: "Won't someone please think of the White Man!"
This is your periodic reminder that, according to some researchers, a noticeable portion of white people believe that discrimination against white people is not only a problem, it's a bigger problem than discrimination against black people.
posted by mhum at 5:33 PM on August 1, 2017 [48 favorites]
This is your periodic reminder that, according to some researchers, a noticeable portion of white people believe that discrimination against white people is not only a problem, it's a bigger problem than discrimination against black people.
posted by mhum at 5:33 PM on August 1, 2017 [48 favorites]
*sounds of things smashing*
Nope, didn't help.
*puts envelope to turban*
*rips envelope open*
*blows into the envelope*
*takes paper out the envelope*
A Trump voter who depends on Medicaid in 2020.
posted by Talez at 5:34 PM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
Nope, didn't help.
*puts envelope to turban*
*rips envelope open*
*blows into the envelope*
*takes paper out the envelope*
A Trump voter who depends on Medicaid in 2020.
posted by Talez at 5:34 PM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
Scarydeath if you email him, there's a good chance he will read it!
posted by cell divide at 5:38 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by cell divide at 5:38 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Am I required to buy a pickup truck and cowboy boots before my opinion counts?
I believe you can skip the cowboy boots as long as your truck has nuts.
posted by Talez at 5:38 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
I believe you can skip the cowboy boots as long as your truck has nuts.
posted by Talez at 5:38 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
So your theory is that Ed Rogers is simultaneously carrying water for Trump
Is anyone actually doing that for their primary mission right now?
Did you read the article? It's clearly Ed Rogers' primary mission.
posted by diogenes at 5:38 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Is anyone actually doing that for their primary mission right now?
Did you read the article? It's clearly Ed Rogers' primary mission.
posted by diogenes at 5:38 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
...resisting the encroachments of an arbitrary and unhinged President.
Just popping up to say you can't become unhinged if you've never been hinged.
posted by Mental Wimp at 5:39 PM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
Just popping up to say you can't become unhinged if you've never been hinged.
posted by Mental Wimp at 5:39 PM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
GOP chairman opens door to Democrats on ObamaCare (The Hill)
A Senate chairman on Tuesday took a significant step toward working with Democrats on stabilizing a core facet of ObamaCare — the healthcare exchanges.posted by Barack Spinoza at 5:40 PM on August 1, 2017 [35 favorites]
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who helms the Senate Health Committee, announced he will hold bipartisan hearings during the first week of September on strengthening ObamaCare’s individual markets for 2018. The goal: to craft a bipartisan, short-term proposal by mid-September.
It feels so good to stand up to your bullies. Damn right you're gonna have bi-partisan hearings before this bill passes.
posted by Room 641-A at 5:42 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Room 641-A at 5:42 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
The goal: to craft a bipartisan, short-term proposal by mid-September.
Fun fact: This phrase works for both Obamacare AND the debt ceiling!
posted by Talez at 5:43 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
Fun fact: This phrase works for both Obamacare AND the debt ceiling!
posted by Talez at 5:43 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
The Trump administration is preparing to redirect resources of the Justice Department’s civil rights division toward investigating and suing universities over affirmative action admissions policies deemed to discriminate against white applicants, according to a document obtained by The New York Times.
Every time I think I can no longer be surprised by President White Male Fragility, I'm wrong.
posted by greermahoney at 5:47 PM on August 1, 2017 [26 favorites]
Every time I think I can no longer be surprised by President White Male Fragility, I'm wrong.
posted by greermahoney at 5:47 PM on August 1, 2017 [26 favorites]
About the newest General, General Inch...
TIL someone can get a degree in both Biblical Archeology AND Military Arts. That's not scary at all.
Also I lurved the golf article linked above by zachlipton because it is pretty damn snarky. I hope Melania chases Donald around reading him the nastier bits like the part where they describe him as 'a portly 6'2"' he will hate that. Also this is v. good:
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:48 PM on August 1, 2017 [13 favorites]
TIL someone can get a degree in both Biblical Archeology AND Military Arts. That's not scary at all.
Also I lurved the golf article linked above by zachlipton because it is pretty damn snarky. I hope Melania chases Donald around reading him the nastier bits like the part where they describe him as 'a portly 6'2"' he will hate that. Also this is v. good:
Trump will sometimes respond to a shot he duffed by simply playing a second ball and carrying on as if the first shot never happened. In the parlance of the game, Trump takes floating mulligans, usually more than one during a round. Because of them it is impossible to say what he has actually shot on any given day, according to 18 people who have teed it up with Trump over the last decade[...]The only thing I did not like about the article was where they call him "the best golfer who has ever lived in the White House." You know he is going to talk about that part, maybe tweet it out, maybe even give himself some sort of trophy.
In a 2013 tweet aimed at entrepreneur Mark Cuban, Trump wrote, "Golf match? I've won 18 Club Championships including this weekend. @mcuban swings like a little girl with no power or talent. Mark's a loser." Trump has never made public a list of his club titles, and fact-checking calls to all of the Trump properties on this subject went universally un-returned. Winged Foot is the one non-Trump club at which the President is a member, and his name does not appear on any of the honor boards in the old clubhouse.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:48 PM on August 1, 2017 [13 favorites]
Dude. Look at the shit you wrote.
And behold this gem:
Maybe there is something about John F. Kelly’s gravitas that will compel Trump to behave like a president should.
His gravitas!? His gravitas is going to fundamentally alter a 70 year old man? That's some powerful fucking gravitas!
posted by diogenes at 5:57 PM on August 1, 2017 [24 favorites]
And behold this gem:
Maybe there is something about John F. Kelly’s gravitas that will compel Trump to behave like a president should.
His gravitas!? His gravitas is going to fundamentally alter a 70 year old man? That's some powerful fucking gravitas!
posted by diogenes at 5:57 PM on August 1, 2017 [24 favorites]
Also, I just wanted to say, since I only saw this article posted upthread: ‘I will not break faith’: Coast Guard admiral defies Trump order to ban transgender service members... that's my service.
I've got a bunch to be bitter about from my own experiences serving in the '90s, but that's still my service. And I'm real glad to see I've still got reason to be proud.
Thank you, Admiral.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 5:57 PM on August 1, 2017 [41 favorites]
I've got a bunch to be bitter about from my own experiences serving in the '90s, but that's still my service. And I'm real glad to see I've still got reason to be proud.
Thank you, Admiral.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 5:57 PM on August 1, 2017 [41 favorites]
As quoted by Excommunicated Cardinal upthread:
To cope with this particular revelation, I'm imagining Elizabeth wordlessly handing Phillip the pliers because the pain will take her mind off the stupidity.
posted by joyceanmachine at 5:57 PM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
Then hours later he dictated a false statement to be released in the name of his son in which he claimed that Russian adoptions were the topic of the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting. That is a highly troubling chain of events to put it mildly.For the past couple months, one of my coping mechanisms for the unending fucking garbage fire that is Russiagate has been to imagine how flabbergasted Phillip and Elizabeth from the Americans would be if they were expected to run an agent as stupid as Donald Trump.
To cope with this particular revelation, I'm imagining Elizabeth wordlessly handing Phillip the pliers because the pain will take her mind off the stupidity.
posted by joyceanmachine at 5:57 PM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
I'm watching Chris Hayes right now and it's remarkable how much Egg looks like Bill Murray's more serious, less funny brother.
posted by octobersurprise at 6:02 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by octobersurprise at 6:02 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
I threw down a one take version of "Fulsome Loser Blues" and put it on YouTube
*applauds*
posted by zachlipton at 6:06 PM on August 1, 2017 [13 favorites]
*applauds*
posted by zachlipton at 6:06 PM on August 1, 2017 [13 favorites]
Maybe there is something about John F. Kelly’s gravitas that will compel Trump to behave like a president should.
It's really interesting to see the country go through the stages of coping that are so familiar to us children of narcissists. This stage is the one in which you think someone or something has got to be able to make the narcissist actually behave like a caring, rational human being. (Spolier alert: Nothing will make them change. Ever. The first step to healing is realizing that.)
posted by mcduff at 6:17 PM on August 1, 2017 [57 favorites]
It's really interesting to see the country go through the stages of coping that are so familiar to us children of narcissists. This stage is the one in which you think someone or something has got to be able to make the narcissist actually behave like a caring, rational human being. (Spolier alert: Nothing will make them change. Ever. The first step to healing is realizing that.)
posted by mcduff at 6:17 PM on August 1, 2017 [57 favorites]
The Trump administration is preparing to redirect resources of the Justice Department’s civil rights division toward investigating and suing universities over affirmative action admissions policies deemed to discriminate against white applicants
modern conservatism has no organizing principle beyond imagined white victimhood
posted by gwint at 6:18 PM on August 1, 2017 [66 favorites]
modern conservatism has no organizing principle beyond imagined white victimhood
posted by gwint at 6:18 PM on August 1, 2017 [66 favorites]
Sincere apologies for cluttering the thread (spitbull has memail off or I would write directly)...
If the Fulsome Loser Blues is getting made I would like to throw my hat in for vocals... I have a low singing voicecand can do a passable Johnny Cash impression. And I love both the original tune and this wonderful adaptation.
posted by Meatbomb at 6:19 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
If the Fulsome Loser Blues is getting made I would like to throw my hat in for vocals... I have a low singing voicecand can do a passable Johnny Cash impression. And I love both the original tune and this wonderful adaptation.
posted by Meatbomb at 6:19 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
TIL someone can get a degree in both Biblical Archeology AND Military Arts.
That "Masters of Military Arts and Science Degree from the School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS)" pretty much just means that when he went to a particular Army career school around his 10th-12th year of service, he stayed a little longer and wrote a thesis.
posted by Etrigan at 6:21 PM on August 1, 2017
That "Masters of Military Arts and Science Degree from the School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS)" pretty much just means that when he went to a particular Army career school around his 10th-12th year of service, he stayed a little longer and wrote a thesis.
posted by Etrigan at 6:21 PM on August 1, 2017
spitbull I hereby declare you a national hero.
posted by vrakatar at 6:22 PM on August 1, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by vrakatar at 6:22 PM on August 1, 2017 [12 favorites]
The "what has he done now" zeitgeist has even affected Blue Apron. (McSweeneys/satire)
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 6:30 PM on August 1, 2017 [35 favorites]
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 6:30 PM on August 1, 2017 [35 favorites]
What a coincidence, that bears a distinct resemblance to the stuff I'm actually eating instead of the third of the Blue Apron meals I got this week because I thought I could bribe myself to cook and instead I just cry about how I can't cook AND go to work every day AND live in 2017.
posted by Sequence at 6:44 PM on August 1, 2017 [15 favorites]
posted by Sequence at 6:44 PM on August 1, 2017 [15 favorites]
OK Y'all, by popular demand (sort of), I threw down a one take version of "Fulsome Loser Blues" and put it on YouTube. I'll leave it up a week or two, get it while it's hot.
This is just so so great! Your playing and singing are perfect throughout. I'm extremely impressed!
posted by OmieWise at 7:00 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
This is just so so great! Your playing and singing are perfect throughout. I'm extremely impressed!
posted by OmieWise at 7:00 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
the debt ceiling
I am getting to The Browder Testimony, but before that I'd like to point out that Chuckles The Orange Turd is driving a bus filled with crazy right-wing nuts and crazier right-wing nuts towards a very unlikely compromise to keep the world's economy from asploding.
Fortunately, the world's most charismatic IT Manag- sorry, Treasury Secretary, is navigating. They'll have about 20 days (Labor day -> end of Sept) before the feces are expected to begin impacting the air circulating device. There is no way this will get ugly fast.
posted by petebest at 7:07 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
I am getting to The Browder Testimony, but before that I'd like to point out that Chuckles The Orange Turd is driving a bus filled with crazy right-wing nuts and crazier right-wing nuts towards a very unlikely compromise to keep the world's economy from asploding.
Fortunately, the world's most charismatic IT Manag- sorry, Treasury Secretary, is navigating. They'll have about 20 days (Labor day -> end of Sept) before the feces are expected to begin impacting the air circulating device. There is no way this will get ugly fast.
posted by petebest at 7:07 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
PPP poll finds Heller approval rating falling to 22 percent
posted by Artw at 7:15 PM on August 1, 2017 [19 favorites]
posted by Artw at 7:15 PM on August 1, 2017 [19 favorites]
Pro-tip! If sothe Republican FBI director who threw the election your way is fired for discovering Russian collusion, maybe not nominate a successor with Russian connections if you want them to get past the Senate. - Presidenting For Dummies.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:15 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:15 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Jesus, you people who said the Browder testimony tied it all together weren't shitting.
It's barely about Trump at all, except for the fact they tipped the Presidency to him, have kompromat on him, and will/have paid him a finder's fee from Rosneft.
Trump is our problem now. Putin just wants his billions and leverage over the Russian crime lords back by getting rid of the Magnitsky Act.
Fucking American democracy was just . . . *KGB shrug*
posted by petebest at 7:27 PM on August 1, 2017 [36 favorites]
It's barely about Trump at all, except for the fact they tipped the Presidency to him, have kompromat on him, and will/have paid him a finder's fee from Rosneft.
Trump is our problem now. Putin just wants his billions and leverage over the Russian crime lords back by getting rid of the Magnitsky Act.
Fucking American democracy was just . . . *KGB shrug*
posted by petebest at 7:27 PM on August 1, 2017 [36 favorites]
PPP poll finds Heller approval rating falling to 22 percent
In case it's not obvious, the R senators have not suddenly grown spines. Polling (Trump all time low approval, R pols not far behind in many cases) have made it politically expedient to no longer cower to Trump. That's it.
posted by gwint at 7:28 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
In case it's not obvious, the R senators have not suddenly grown spines. Polling (Trump all time low approval, R pols not far behind in many cases) have made it politically expedient to no longer cower to Trump. That's it.
posted by gwint at 7:28 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
I don’t mean the White House stuff where they’re fighting over who loves me the most, OK?
coming from anyone else, this would be an attempt at self-deprecating humor, but i'm pretty sure trump is incapable of self-deprecation
posted by murphy slaw at 7:34 PM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
coming from anyone else, this would be an attempt at self-deprecating humor, but i'm pretty sure trump is incapable of self-deprecation
posted by murphy slaw at 7:34 PM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
Really? Huffpo?
posted by double bubble at 7:37 PM on August 1, 2017
posted by double bubble at 7:37 PM on August 1, 2017
It was great seeing Browder's Twitter account blow up on Monday. People caught up finally and collectively went "holy shit"
posted by Yowser at 7:41 PM on August 1, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by Yowser at 7:41 PM on August 1, 2017 [13 favorites]
I might have to go back and take another's look, but isn't it all just stuff we've been talking about since before the inauguration?
posted by Artw at 7:51 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 7:51 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm way behind, and just getting around to reading the multi-part Buzzfeed investigation on Russia that someone linked upthread (but was apparently published in June) and it legitimately is making my blood run cold. Sorry if we've gone over this already in one of the other threads and I missed it, but for anyone who is interested in the Browder testimony, this goes into more depth on a lot of people surrounding the Magnitsky affair. Even more damning is how Britain has more or less turned a blind eye to political assassinations in the UK:
Russian assassins have been able to kill in Britain with impunity over the past decade, 17 current and former British and American intelligence officials told BuzzFeed News.Considering that Brexit could likely destabilize the country even more, I'm not sure if I see Britain taking a big stand against this soon, which of course is what Russia wanted ever since they first bought and paid for Nigel Farage, if not before. All of Putin's best laid plans are coming to fruition while there is no adult in the room and it is very, very alarming.posted by triggerfinger at 7:52 PM on August 1, 2017 [43 favorites]
The core reason British authorities have turned a blind eye, a current senior national security adviser to the British government told BuzzFeed News, is fear. Ministers, he said, were not prepared to take the “political risk of dealing firmly and effectively in whatever way with the activities of the Russian state and Russian-organised crime in the UK” because the Kremlin could inflict massive harm on Britain by unleashing cyberattacks, destabilising the economy, or mobilising elements of Britain’s large Russian population to “cause disruption”. Deep law enforcement funding cuts mean “our capabilities are very weak”, he said. It was also impossible to rule out the risk of “general war with Russia” in the current climate, he said, and “if it were to happen it would happen very, very rapidly, and we would be entirely unprepared”. As a result, he concluded, ministers “desperately don’t want to antagonise the Russians” and senior figures in government had told him bluntly that there was “no political appetite to deal with the Russian Federation”.
SYCOPHANT ITALIANO - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody
posted by kirkaracha at 7:56 PM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 7:56 PM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
Buzzfeed basically comes out and says that Boris Berezovsky was assassinated by the Kremlin. I thought the same at the time (as did many others), and did a post about it, but given that the British authorities were so adamant that it was suicide and that he had been depressed, I accepted that.
posted by triggerfinger at 8:00 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by triggerfinger at 8:00 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
I've seen a lot of footage of U.K. Conservatives since June 14, and nothing horrible that happens under their watch can surprise me at this point.
posted by Yowser at 8:08 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Yowser at 8:08 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Buzzfeed basically comes out and says that Boris Berezovsky was assassinated by the Kremlin. I thought the same at the time (as did many others), and did a post about it, but given that the British authorities were so adamant that it was suicide and that he had been depressed, I accepted that.
posted by triggerfinger at 12:00 PM on August 2 [+] [!]
I'm not an accelerationist by choice, but given who's in the White House, I hold certain of their tenets to be true because shreds of hope are nice to have. The house is on fire, and we're doing a hell of a job fighting it, but parts are gonna burn and there's gonna be damage, y'know? So why not look on the bright side?
One of the bright sides is that the Trump trash fire is burning directly adjacent to the Kremlin's toxic waste dump. Burn baby burn.
posted by saysthis at 8:13 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by triggerfinger at 12:00 PM on August 2 [+] [!]
I'm not an accelerationist by choice, but given who's in the White House, I hold certain of their tenets to be true because shreds of hope are nice to have. The house is on fire, and we're doing a hell of a job fighting it, but parts are gonna burn and there's gonna be damage, y'know? So why not look on the bright side?
One of the bright sides is that the Trump trash fire is burning directly adjacent to the Kremlin's toxic waste dump. Burn baby burn.
posted by saysthis at 8:13 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
The more I think about Comey's testimony, the more I think W in TF was up with Bill Clinton having that obvious meeting with Loretta Lynch on the tarmac? Sometimes I get a bit shittily conspiratorial and think we're blaming the wrong person.
What are you insinuating here?
posted by dilaudid at 8:19 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
What are you insinuating here?
posted by dilaudid at 8:19 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
I would like to know a lot more about the role of Fusion GPS in all of this.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 8:19 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 8:19 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
I might have to go back and take another's look, but isn't it all just stuff we've been talking about since before the inauguration?
Yes and no - yes it's relevant to Trump's collusion, bafflingly incompetent coverup, and all that. But no we haven't put such a fine point on it before: Putin is losing huge control and money powers by having his kleptocrats' assets frozen or siezed.
It makes the point that early on, Putin wanted to stop billionaire corruption but then he demanded a 50% cut of everything, and once entrenched he would come down like a stack of bricks on dissenting billionaires.
The Magnitsky Act freezes that 50% and since they can't pay he loses leverage over them.
Add in gross corruption and violence at all levels and it makes the tacit argument that hacking an election is a small risk compared to the reward, and what the hell it worked even. Now to get this puppet shithead to shut his tweet hole for five seconds and repeal that Act, preferably quietly, under the cover of darkness or distraction.
posted by petebest at 8:22 PM on August 1, 2017 [22 favorites]
Yes and no - yes it's relevant to Trump's collusion, bafflingly incompetent coverup, and all that. But no we haven't put such a fine point on it before: Putin is losing huge control and money powers by having his kleptocrats' assets frozen or siezed.
It makes the point that early on, Putin wanted to stop billionaire corruption but then he demanded a 50% cut of everything, and once entrenched he would come down like a stack of bricks on dissenting billionaires.
The Magnitsky Act freezes that 50% and since they can't pay he loses leverage over them.
Add in gross corruption and violence at all levels and it makes the tacit argument that hacking an election is a small risk compared to the reward, and what the hell it worked even. Now to get this puppet shithead to shut his tweet hole for five seconds and repeal that Act, preferably quietly, under the cover of darkness or distraction.
posted by petebest at 8:22 PM on August 1, 2017 [22 favorites]
"Because adoptions"
Which brings us back to Trump the traitor and his 'adoption' meeting.
posted by petebest at 8:23 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Which brings us back to Trump the traitor and his 'adoption' meeting.
posted by petebest at 8:23 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Now to get this puppet shithead to shut his tweet hole for five seconds and repeal that Act
The key thing here is when Sen Whitehouse confirmed that although the Magnitsky act would not likely be overturned, there exists an executive privilege to take names off the list of Russians affected by the act. Much better. More control.
posted by readery at 8:28 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
The key thing here is when Sen Whitehouse confirmed that although the Magnitsky act would not likely be overturned, there exists an executive privilege to take names off the list of Russians affected by the act. Much better. More control.
posted by readery at 8:28 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
Oh yes. Please Mr Trump, tell us all the names, just like Mr Putin told them to you.
posted by Joe in Australia at 8:34 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by Joe in Australia at 8:34 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
HuffPo has an interview with Scaramucci: Why The Mooch Lost His Cool
There is so much more madness behind this link. For example:
posted by zachlipton at 8:44 PM on August 1, 2017 [23 favorites]
There is so much more madness behind this link. For example:
Scaramucci said he felt burned by the interview. “The Lizzas and Scaramuccis have been friends for over 50 years. My dad knew his dad from construction, and we were building a personal relationship. Most of what I said was humorous and joking. Legally, it may have been on the record, but the spirit of it was off. And he knew that.”This is supposed to be a communications professional who has no clue how on-the-record works (Lizza says they are not and have never been family friends, but thinks their fathers might have known each other.
Still, Scaramucci told me, he has plans to take Lizza out for a beer.
posted by zachlipton at 8:44 PM on August 1, 2017 [23 favorites]
I normally can't stand watching MTP Daily, but today Joy Reid was on the panel and she helpfully pointed out that Jeff Flake isn't really talking about changing the Republican Party, nor is he opposed to Donald Trump's policies.
JOY REID: Look, the reality is, you know, you have to what was Donald Trump’s crime in the minds of Republican elites? I went and I looked up Jeff Flake’s voting record. He has voted 95.5 percent with Donald Trump. Trump’s margin in Arizona was 3.5 percent. So, 538.com’s predicted predictive score would be that he would have voted with Trump about 61 percent of the time. He superseded that by 30 points. So this is not a difference in content or in what they want to do. It is really to me about the gap between the text and subtext. If Donald Trump committed a crime among Republican elites, he made the long-term subtext of Republicanism into text.posted by xyzzy at 8:45 PM on August 1, 2017 [53 favorites]
Meaning, if you've been listening to right wing talk radio over the last 20 something years, the same anger and rage and anger at the changes in the country, the same ethic, the same sort of, you know, sometime vulgarity existed. It's just that elites in the Republican Party didn't accept that as the way to market the party to the world. Donald Trump recognized better than they did, better than Jeff Flake did, better than John McCain did, that he could simply identify with the text of what people were saying on talk radio or listening to when they heard Rush Limbaugh, the anger and rage they felt all the time, the sense of political correctness, meaning, “I can’t say these things because I can’t keep my job and be in polite society.” Trump said, “Yes, you can or I can say them for you.” So, all Trump did was take a lot of the subtext and anger that was already there. He didn’t invent this. Trump is just making it open and obvious and Republican elites can’t stand it.
rocket88: "He won't last two weeks in this job."
Are you willing to wager a cake on this?
posted by Chrysostom at 8:47 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
Are you willing to wager a cake on this?
posted by Chrysostom at 8:47 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
Trump has an announcement scheduled tomorrow with Sens. Cotton and Perdue that is set to be the unveiling of their legal immigration bill, previous versions of which have cut the number of legal immigrants in half and would end immigration preferences for many family members. They've been working with Stephen Miller to write the bill.
WaPo: A soccer star from Gaithersburg won a college scholarship. But ICE plans to deport him.
WaPo: A soccer star from Gaithersburg won a college scholarship. But ICE plans to deport him.
Claros Saravia, 19, who had a scholarship to play college soccer in North Carolina, was detained along with his older brother, Diego, in Baltimore on Friday following one of their regular check-ins with immigration officials.posted by zachlipton at 8:52 PM on August 1, 2017 [10 favorites]
They entered the United States illegally in 2009, fleeing violence in their native El Salvador. Lizandro Claros Saravia graduated from Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg this past spring and was planning to attend the two-year Louisburg College in North Carolina on a soccer scholarship this fall.
“He’s one of the hardest-working people on our team,” Matt Di Rosa said at the protest, which drew about 50 people, including family, teammates and immigration advocates. “He has a bright future, and that’s something he actively sought.”
Artw: "PPP poll finds Heller approval rating falling to 22 percent"
As well as losing to generic Dem 50-31.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:53 PM on August 1, 2017 [19 favorites]
As well as losing to generic Dem 50-31.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:53 PM on August 1, 2017 [19 favorites]
Turns out he may regret that healthcare vote.
May all of them regret their healthcare votes.
posted by Artw at 9:03 PM on August 1, 2017 [66 favorites]
May all of them regret their healthcare votes.
posted by Artw at 9:03 PM on August 1, 2017 [66 favorites]
Jeff Sessions To Hold Press Conference About Ongoing Investigations Into Leaks on Friday
If you haven't watched Browder's testimony and are able to, it's worth it. That may be the best congressional testimony I've ever heard. It's not just what he says. He is unflinching and unequivocal: "Do you think they talked about adoptions in that meeting?" "I am 100% sure no one talked about adoptions." (Paraphrased.) It's pretty stunning to watch considering the guy probably has a price on his head.
posted by Room 641-A at 9:16 PM on August 1, 2017 [29 favorites]
Attorney General Jeff Sessions is scheduled to hold a press conference about the ongoing investigation into the leaks that have plagued the Trump administration.Jesus, you people who said the Browder testimony tied it all together weren't shitting
It is uncertain as to what specifically Sessions will share with the public, but he is expected to “go further,” including pointing to specific news reports that were the direct result of an illegal leak. According to Fox News, the announcement “may provide more of an overview of what the DOJ hopes to accomplish rather than specific prosecutions at this stage.”
If you haven't watched Browder's testimony and are able to, it's worth it. That may be the best congressional testimony I've ever heard. It's not just what he says. He is unflinching and unequivocal: "Do you think they talked about adoptions in that meeting?" "I am 100% sure no one talked about adoptions." (Paraphrased.) It's pretty stunning to watch considering the guy probably has a price on his head.
posted by Room 641-A at 9:16 PM on August 1, 2017 [29 favorites]
Missed this one earlier today. I'll let the Death and Taxes headline do the talking: Sarah Huckabee Sanders acts like a total asshole to reporter April Ryan. 13 seconds of just pure nastiness.
posted by zachlipton at 9:20 PM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 9:20 PM on August 1, 2017 [11 favorites]
OK Y'all, by popular demand (sort of), I threw down a one take version of "Fulsome Loser Blues" and put it on YouTube.
Amazing. You've made me a happy man.
posted by biogeo at 9:21 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Amazing. You've made me a happy man.
posted by biogeo at 9:21 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
The DOJ is bringing it, across multiple fronts. Guess the AG got the message.
posted by notyou at 9:33 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by notyou at 9:33 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
The more I think about Comey's testimony, the more I think W in TF was up with Bill Clinton having that obvious meeting with Loretta Lynch on the tarmac? Sometimes I get a bit shittily conspiratorial and think we're blaming the wrong person.
Blaming the wrong person as in, incorrectly blaming Comey for reacting to the tarmac meeting with his letter? Maybe. I think Comey's concerns were reasonable, but he should probably have approached Sally Yates* with his concerns instead of going solo.
*This is a good rule of thumb in general; when in doubt, trust Sally Yates.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 9:35 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Blaming the wrong person as in, incorrectly blaming Comey for reacting to the tarmac meeting with his letter? Maybe. I think Comey's concerns were reasonable, but he should probably have approached Sally Yates* with his concerns instead of going solo.
*This is a good rule of thumb in general; when in doubt, trust Sally Yates.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 9:35 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
I was assuming he was thinking of blaming Bill Clinton, because neoliberals are the true enemy!
posted by Justinian at 9:36 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 9:36 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
If not the Tarmac Meeting, something else. Move on.
posted by notyou at 9:45 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by notyou at 9:45 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
American Muslims Are Now More Accepting Of Homosexuality Than White Evangelicals
posted by Artw at 9:55 PM on August 1, 2017 [58 favorites]
posted by Artw at 9:55 PM on August 1, 2017 [58 favorites]
The Boston Globe felt you should know: The solar eclipse path will overwhelmingly pass over Trump Country.
posted by adamg at 10:00 PM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by adamg at 10:00 PM on August 1, 2017 [7 favorites]
American Muslims Are Now More Accepting Of Homosexuality Than White Evangelicals
posted by Artw at 1:55 PM on August 2 [1 favorite −] Favorite added! [!]
posted by saysthis at 10:01 PM on August 1, 2017 [56 favorites]
posted by Artw at 1:55 PM on August 2 [1 favorite −] Favorite added! [!]
A Pew Research Center survey conducted this year found that 52 percent of U.S. Muslims say homosexuality should be accepted by society. In contrast, only 34 percent of white evangelical Protestants believed in 2016 that homosexuality should be accepted by society.American. Taliban.
The rate at which white evangelicals are shifting their views is slower than the rate for Muslims. White evangelicals shifted their views by 11 percentage points between 2006 and 2016. Muslims’ acceptance of homosexuality shot up by 25 percentage points between 2007 and 2017.
posted by saysthis at 10:01 PM on August 1, 2017 [56 favorites]
The more I think about Comey's testimony, the more I think W in TF was up with Bill Clinton having that obvious meeting with Loretta Lynch on the tarmac? Sometimes I get a bit shittily conspiratorial and think we're blaming the wrong person.
And what exactly do you think happened?
According to all accounts, the meeting was completely serendipitous. It was unplanned. Clinton and his entourage happened to arrive at the airport to take off at the same time that Lynch's plane just arrived. Their two planes were 75 yards apart in the exclusive executive jet section of the Phoenix airport.
Famously gregarious Clinton went over to say hi as he often does. For example, you can see a hilarious video of Clinton and Obama here as Clinton yaks away with the local dignitaries.
The meeting was not private. According to those present they talked about golf, their grandchildren, and the results of the Brexit vote which was the news of the day in July. That's it.
And for that, Comey takes it upon himself to declare that his boss Lynch is corrupt, does not even discuss the incident with her, defies department rules regarding political interference, defies the warnings of the Justice Department ethics office and goes off on a tear on Hillary, handing the election to Donald Trump.
Maybe you would say Bill Clinton was careless, but that's just Bill being gregarious Bill. And in fact, the entire investigation was bogus anyway. So where's the conspiracy?
posted by JackFlash at 10:04 PM on August 1, 2017 [82 favorites]
And what exactly do you think happened?
According to all accounts, the meeting was completely serendipitous. It was unplanned. Clinton and his entourage happened to arrive at the airport to take off at the same time that Lynch's plane just arrived. Their two planes were 75 yards apart in the exclusive executive jet section of the Phoenix airport.
Famously gregarious Clinton went over to say hi as he often does. For example, you can see a hilarious video of Clinton and Obama here as Clinton yaks away with the local dignitaries.
The meeting was not private. According to those present they talked about golf, their grandchildren, and the results of the Brexit vote which was the news of the day in July. That's it.
And for that, Comey takes it upon himself to declare that his boss Lynch is corrupt, does not even discuss the incident with her, defies department rules regarding political interference, defies the warnings of the Justice Department ethics office and goes off on a tear on Hillary, handing the election to Donald Trump.
Maybe you would say Bill Clinton was careless, but that's just Bill being gregarious Bill. And in fact, the entire investigation was bogus anyway. So where's the conspiracy?
posted by JackFlash at 10:04 PM on August 1, 2017 [82 favorites]
The solar eclipse path will overwhelmingly pass over Trump Country.
Logical me: What a coincidence. This doesn't mean anything though, and it's weird that you're even mentioning it, Boston Globe.
Shrieking wild-haired witch prophetess me: IT IS AN OMEN. AS YE PLUNGED THE NATION INTO DARKNESS, SO YOU TOO SHALL BE PLUNGED INTO DARKNESS. THE SUN WILL NOT SHINE UPON YOU AND YOUR CROPS WILL WITHER. THE PISS TAPE APPROACHETH. PREPARE YOURSELVES.
posted by yasaman at 10:06 PM on August 1, 2017 [66 favorites]
Logical me: What a coincidence. This doesn't mean anything though, and it's weird that you're even mentioning it, Boston Globe.
Shrieking wild-haired witch prophetess me: IT IS AN OMEN. AS YE PLUNGED THE NATION INTO DARKNESS, SO YOU TOO SHALL BE PLUNGED INTO DARKNESS. THE SUN WILL NOT SHINE UPON YOU AND YOUR CROPS WILL WITHER. THE PISS TAPE APPROACHETH. PREPARE YOURSELVES.
posted by yasaman at 10:06 PM on August 1, 2017 [66 favorites]
Jesus, you people who said the Browder testimony tied it all together weren't shitting
If you haven't watched Browder's testimony and are able to, it's worth it. That may be the best congressional testimony I've ever heard.
+1 on watching the testimony in addition to reading it (IIRC the "full text" in the Atlantic link isn't verbatim of the live testimony).
Since Comey, I've been on a bit of a testimony footage binge--Yates, Sessions, various hearings with Congressmembers (some greatest hits: Jon "I Want a Damn Answer" Tester and Maxine "Reclaiming My Time" Waters), even bits of the Watergate hearings. Browder's testimony is really engrossing and informative. His testimony fills in a lot of background and Putin's motives/M.O.--my reaction to it was "Huh, now this Russian thing makes sense."
"Do you think they talked about adoptions in that meeting?" "I am 100% sure no one talked about adoptions." (Paraphrased.)
So one part that is kinda confusing me...When Browder spoke about how one of Putin's retaliatory tactics was to restrict adoptions of Russian children by American families, that was the thing that made me go "Oh so that's why adoptions came up in the Russia meetings." Before, "adoptions" seemed like a random topic plucked from the air. A lot of people (e.g., on the twitter thread of Susan Simpson of LL2 blog) were theorizing that "adoptions" was code for "sanctions," and/but Browder's explanation of Putin's retaliation linked adoptions to sanctions...
In which case, why use "adoptions" as a cover story? Doesn't it still make it appear that you are discussing sanctions? Or is "sanctions" less of a scandalous topic for the meeting-goers to be discussing than "dirt on the Dems"? (Or is this another case of "I'm attributing too much strategic sense to these people"?)
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 10:07 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
If you haven't watched Browder's testimony and are able to, it's worth it. That may be the best congressional testimony I've ever heard.
+1 on watching the testimony in addition to reading it (IIRC the "full text" in the Atlantic link isn't verbatim of the live testimony).
Since Comey, I've been on a bit of a testimony footage binge--Yates, Sessions, various hearings with Congressmembers (some greatest hits: Jon "I Want a Damn Answer" Tester and Maxine "Reclaiming My Time" Waters), even bits of the Watergate hearings. Browder's testimony is really engrossing and informative. His testimony fills in a lot of background and Putin's motives/M.O.--my reaction to it was "Huh, now this Russian thing makes sense."
"Do you think they talked about adoptions in that meeting?" "I am 100% sure no one talked about adoptions." (Paraphrased.)
So one part that is kinda confusing me...When Browder spoke about how one of Putin's retaliatory tactics was to restrict adoptions of Russian children by American families, that was the thing that made me go "Oh so that's why adoptions came up in the Russia meetings." Before, "adoptions" seemed like a random topic plucked from the air. A lot of people (e.g., on the twitter thread of Susan Simpson of LL2 blog) were theorizing that "adoptions" was code for "sanctions," and/but Browder's explanation of Putin's retaliation linked adoptions to sanctions...
In which case, why use "adoptions" as a cover story? Doesn't it still make it appear that you are discussing sanctions? Or is "sanctions" less of a scandalous topic for the meeting-goers to be discussing than "dirt on the Dems"? (Or is this another case of "I'm attributing too much strategic sense to these people"?)
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 10:07 PM on August 1, 2017 [6 favorites]
> The Boston Globe felt you should know: The solar eclipse path will overwhelmingly pass over Trump Country.
Clickbait achievement: unlocked. Just about any straight-ish line through the United States is going to look like that. Trump won something like 84% of counties, so the eclipse passing through 92% Trump counties is barely noteworthy unless you just want to capitalize on the sense of doom that we all feel about this nightmare.
posted by tonycpsu at 10:11 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
Clickbait achievement: unlocked. Just about any straight-ish line through the United States is going to look like that. Trump won something like 84% of counties, so the eclipse passing through 92% Trump counties is barely noteworthy unless you just want to capitalize on the sense of doom that we all feel about this nightmare.
posted by tonycpsu at 10:11 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
unless you just want to capitalize on the sense of doom that we all feel about this nightmare.
I'm in, where do we start?
posted by rhizome at 10:26 PM on August 1, 2017 [16 favorites]
I'm in, where do we start?
posted by rhizome at 10:26 PM on August 1, 2017 [16 favorites]
‘Leaking Sure Is Cool, Huh, Guys?’ Says Disguised John Kelly To White House Aides
WASHINGTON—Straightening his synthetic wig before casually approaching a nearby lunch table, a disguised Chief of Staff John Kelly reportedly set down his tray, pulled over a chair, and said “Leaking sure is cool, huh, guys?” to a group of White House aides dining in the West Wing commissary Tuesday. “Anybody else just love leaking information to the press, or have any fun leaking stories they want to tell? It’s totally cool if you do; everybody’s doing it,” said Kelly, who then asked the group what their “absolute favorite things to leak” were before taking a bite of his sandwich and intently observing the staffers’ reactions from behind his prop glasses.
...
(The Onion is a satirical news website.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bush ethics lawyer: I wish Trump could go one week without obstructing justice By Jacqueline Thomsen
Richard Painter: "I would like to have one week from this White House where they don't engage in a new act of obstruction of justice." pic.twitter.com/u2LaPgRWKD
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 2, 2017
Former ethics chief to President George W. Bush said Tuesday that he would like the Trump administration to not obstruct justice for just one week.
Richard Painter said Tuesday that President Trump “weighing in” on the first statement about Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Russia lawyer points to obstruction of justice.
"I would like to have one week from this White House where they don't engage in a new act of obstruction of justice,” Painter said on MSNBC’s All In With Chris Hayes.
Painter said Trump Jr.’s use of a false statement drafted by his father will likely lead to a compromising ethical situation if a criminal investigation is taking place into the Russian meeting.
...
(The Hill is not a satirical news website.)
posted by sebastienbailard at 10:27 PM on August 1, 2017 [37 favorites]
WASHINGTON—Straightening his synthetic wig before casually approaching a nearby lunch table, a disguised Chief of Staff John Kelly reportedly set down his tray, pulled over a chair, and said “Leaking sure is cool, huh, guys?” to a group of White House aides dining in the West Wing commissary Tuesday. “Anybody else just love leaking information to the press, or have any fun leaking stories they want to tell? It’s totally cool if you do; everybody’s doing it,” said Kelly, who then asked the group what their “absolute favorite things to leak” were before taking a bite of his sandwich and intently observing the staffers’ reactions from behind his prop glasses.
...
(The Onion is a satirical news website.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bush ethics lawyer: I wish Trump could go one week without obstructing justice By Jacqueline Thomsen
Richard Painter: "I would like to have one week from this White House where they don't engage in a new act of obstruction of justice." pic.twitter.com/u2LaPgRWKD
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 2, 2017
Former ethics chief to President George W. Bush said Tuesday that he would like the Trump administration to not obstruct justice for just one week.
Richard Painter said Tuesday that President Trump “weighing in” on the first statement about Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Russia lawyer points to obstruction of justice.
"I would like to have one week from this White House where they don't engage in a new act of obstruction of justice,” Painter said on MSNBC’s All In With Chris Hayes.
Painter said Trump Jr.’s use of a false statement drafted by his father will likely lead to a compromising ethical situation if a criminal investigation is taking place into the Russian meeting.
...
(The Hill is not a satirical news website.)
posted by sebastienbailard at 10:27 PM on August 1, 2017 [37 favorites]
why use "adoptions" as a cover story? Doesn't it still make it appear that you are discussing sanctions?
Because they are stupid people who think they are smart people. When the USA imposed sanctions, Russia retaliated by banning adoptions from the USA. By implication, if the USA removes the sanctions, Russia will lift the ban. So Russian proxies can talk about their desire to resume US adoptions without technically bringing up the issue of sanctions. And after the Trump team figured this out, they realised that they could use the same code word in their admissions without technically lying. Unfortunately, now that everyone knows this, their use of the code word makes them look either (a) even more clueless; (b) even more crooked; or (in the case of Don Jr.) (c) both.
posted by Joe in Australia at 10:44 PM on August 1, 2017 [44 favorites]
Because they are stupid people who think they are smart people. When the USA imposed sanctions, Russia retaliated by banning adoptions from the USA. By implication, if the USA removes the sanctions, Russia will lift the ban. So Russian proxies can talk about their desire to resume US adoptions without technically bringing up the issue of sanctions. And after the Trump team figured this out, they realised that they could use the same code word in their admissions without technically lying. Unfortunately, now that everyone knows this, their use of the code word makes them look either (a) even more clueless; (b) even more crooked; or (in the case of Don Jr.) (c) both.
posted by Joe in Australia at 10:44 PM on August 1, 2017 [44 favorites]
Plus, the sanctions are for interfering in the election. To just lift them would be absolving Russia. It's a nutso idea for any reason.
I think one of the senators even made the analogy that "adoptions" was like when drug dealers talk about "pie."
posted by Room 641-A at 11:03 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
I think one of the senators even made the analogy that "adoptions" was like when drug dealers talk about "pie."
posted by Room 641-A at 11:03 PM on August 1, 2017 [9 favorites]
Sessions hates pie.
I mean, what a backwards, retrograde, out and out dick.
posted by riverlife at 11:19 PM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
I mean, what a backwards, retrograde, out and out dick.
posted by riverlife at 11:19 PM on August 1, 2017 [5 favorites]
So it's option (Or is this another case of "I'm attributing too much strategic sense to these people"?) then?
Was also wondering why the Russian agents wouldn't be more subtle. I can't tell when/whether the Trump side realized the connection between adoptions and sanctions but I'm betting the Russian side had a grasp of the link and the optics of the meeting.
But then again the pro-Putin team was also willing to poison someone in London in broad daylight with frickin' polonium traceable back to Russia, so maybe subtlety isn't really their style. And being too subtle would fly way over the campaign's heads, I guess (normally this would be just a cheap joke but with this bunch...)?
---
Bonus thought: Browder mentioned that the Russians would have continued the anti-Magnitsky-Act efforts whether Trump or HRC won. Do we have any released info on overtures from Russian proxies to the Dem campaign?
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 11:22 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
Was also wondering why the Russian agents wouldn't be more subtle. I can't tell when/whether the Trump side realized the connection between adoptions and sanctions but I'm betting the Russian side had a grasp of the link and the optics of the meeting.
But then again the pro-Putin team was also willing to poison someone in London in broad daylight with frickin' polonium traceable back to Russia, so maybe subtlety isn't really their style. And being too subtle would fly way over the campaign's heads, I guess (normally this would be just a cheap joke but with this bunch...)?
---
Bonus thought: Browder mentioned that the Russians would have continued the anti-Magnitsky-Act efforts whether Trump or HRC won. Do we have any released info on overtures from Russian proxies to the Dem campaign?
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 11:22 PM on August 1, 2017 [3 favorites]
srsly. pie is the best.
posted by j_curiouser at 11:22 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by j_curiouser at 11:22 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
Thanks to everyone pointing out the stunning Browder testimony. I finally feel as if I have a full picture as to how urgent Putin and the oligarchs feel the Magnitsky list is and why that it is so. I thought it was interesting how Lindsey Graham tried so very hard to make this testimony partisan with his whole BUT IF THE RUSSIANS WERE WORKING TO HELP TRUMP WHY WOULD THEY BE COLLECTING OPPO shtick. Duh, Linsdey. Just, duh. Browder made it even better when he confirmed to Graham that the Russians frequently played both sides of an issue in order to gain or maintain control of corporate and state actors. Yeah, not so much of a slam dunk for your side there, Lindsey. No one else seemed particularly partisan. Even the Democrats. It was like listening to an audiobook of a Nelson DeMille novel, really. If you haven't taken the time to listen, you really should.
On Preview: Clinton was on record as being against the Magnitsky Act from her time as SoS, and the elephants said it was because Bill got 500K to make a speech in Russia. She claimed it was because of the Russia reset the Obama administration was wanting to do, but who knows. If she had won, HRC was certainly very aware of the Act and its implementation. I think efforts to fix "Russian adoption" would have been much more difficult to slide by HRC.
posted by xyzzy at 11:27 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
On Preview: Clinton was on record as being against the Magnitsky Act from her time as SoS, and the elephants said it was because Bill got 500K to make a speech in Russia. She claimed it was because of the Russia reset the Obama administration was wanting to do, but who knows. If she had won, HRC was certainly very aware of the Act and its implementation. I think efforts to fix "Russian adoption" would have been much more difficult to slide by HRC.
posted by xyzzy at 11:27 PM on August 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Former President Bill Clinton can't meet with the Attorney General because duh OMGZ corruptions!!! but currently under-investigation for colluding with Russia President Trump can have an hour-long solo private chat with Putin and how DARE you imply anything untoward?!? Republicans are so full of shit that full, ruptured colostomy bags stare agape in awe and wonder.
posted by riverlife at 11:29 PM on August 1, 2017 [86 favorites]
posted by riverlife at 11:29 PM on August 1, 2017 [86 favorites]
Plus, the sanctions are for interfering in the election.
Wait I thought we were talking about the previous sanctions (the penalties under the Magnitsky Act, passed before the 2016 election).
But yes pie is good. I just tried cherry pie for the first time last week.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 11:29 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
Wait I thought we were talking about the previous sanctions (the penalties under the Magnitsky Act, passed before the 2016 election).
But yes pie is good. I just tried cherry pie for the first time last week.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 11:29 PM on August 1, 2017 [2 favorites]
I just tried cherry pie for the first time last week.
Cherry pie is one of my favs. I mean, I don't think I ever met a pie I didn't love. If Sessions actually hates pie, this is truly the most damning piece of evidence against him. (Also, I hate cookies, so eff off, racist Keebler elf.)
posted by greermahoney at 11:47 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
Cherry pie is one of my favs. I mean, I don't think I ever met a pie I didn't love. If Sessions actually hates pie, this is truly the most damning piece of evidence against him. (Also, I hate cookies, so eff off, racist Keebler elf.)
posted by greermahoney at 11:47 PM on August 1, 2017 [4 favorites]
From the WSJ interview referencing the jamboree fiasco: That was a standing ovation from the time I walked out to the time I left, and for five minutes after I had already gone.
I'm pretty sure they were standing because there were no chairs.
This is the second time he has mistaken a crowd standing as their excitement for him. The first was when he addressed the CIA and forget to ask them to sit.
posted by cman at 11:54 PM on August 1, 2017 [33 favorites]
I'm pretty sure they were standing because there were no chairs.
This is the second time he has mistaken a crowd standing as their excitement for him. The first was when he addressed the CIA and forget to ask them to sit.
posted by cman at 11:54 PM on August 1, 2017 [33 favorites]
Will someone please wake me up when the orange shitstain is finally blocked from ruining the entirety of the US government?
K Thx BAI
posted by yesster at 12:19 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
K Thx BAI
posted by yesster at 12:19 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Wait I thought we were talking about the previous sanctions (the penalties under the Magnitsky Act, passed before the 2016 election).
Ha! I actually changed it but it's all so fuzzy now. But yeah, same point.
I don't like pie. All the cake talk made me happy.
posted by Room 641-A at 1:28 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Ha! I actually changed it but it's all so fuzzy now. But yeah, same point.
I don't like pie. All the cake talk made me happy.
posted by Room 641-A at 1:28 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
The black irony of 45 and his people claiming to give a shrew's shit about the adoption problems of Russian children, while delighting in screwing over families in America through racist-driven deportation and immigration bans, is perhaps not the most loathsome hypocrisy of the moment, but it sure comes close.
posted by Devonian at 1:58 AM on August 2, 2017 [34 favorites]
posted by Devonian at 1:58 AM on August 2, 2017 [34 favorites]
Also Russia is the one banning the adoption of children not the US. The Russians could drop the ban anytime they want.
posted by PenDevil at 2:07 AM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by PenDevil at 2:07 AM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
The black irony of 45 and his people claiming to give a shrew's shit about the adoption problems of Russian children, while delighting in screwing over families in America through racist-driven deportation and immigration bans, is perhaps not the most loathsome hypocrisy of the moment, but it sure comes close.
posted by Devonian at 5:58 PM on August 2 [2 favorites +] [!]
Hey now, let's not forget Russia banned the adoption of sick orphans, because healthy orphans were already banned. Putin retaliated for not being able to become one of the oligarchs he was cracking down on by condemning Russia's sickest orphans to Russia's state orphanage system, instead of letting them come to families who wanted them in the US.
THE ARISTOCRATS!
posted by saysthis at 2:36 AM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by Devonian at 5:58 PM on August 2 [2 favorites +] [!]
Hey now, let's not forget Russia banned the adoption of sick orphans, because healthy orphans were already banned. Putin retaliated for not being able to become one of the oligarchs he was cracking down on by condemning Russia's sickest orphans to Russia's state orphanage system, instead of letting them come to families who wanted them in the US.
THE ARISTOCRATS!
posted by saysthis at 2:36 AM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
Yes, I know - but the adoption of adoption as the code to cover collusion is, shall we say, mutual.
posted by Devonian at 3:08 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Devonian at 3:08 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
It's a dogwhistle to a certain stripe of Christian pro-life activist, too. I think that's part of the tactic, try to create a wedge by making it about something plausibly altruistic seeming and relatable on a human level, like getting orphan kids placed into families. It's just the standard variety of political posturing, only too grasping and desperate to work on anyone who isn't deeply invested in family and child welfare issues.
posted by saulgoodman at 3:45 AM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by saulgoodman at 3:45 AM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
Time for Stephen Bannon to Start Worrying? NYTimes/Elizabeth Williamson
posted by mumimor at 3:45 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Former President Bill Clinton can't meet with the Attorney General because duh OMGZ corruptions!!! but currently under-investigation for colluding with Russia President Trump can have an hour-long solo private chat with Putin and how DARE you imply anything untoward?!?
Not to mention tweeting and saying in interviews repeatedly how much he wants his AG to obstruct justice on Russia and persecute his enemies to distract from Russia.
American. Taliban.
Tealiban.
posted by chris24 at 4:18 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
Not to mention tweeting and saying in interviews repeatedly how much he wants his AG to obstruct justice on Russia and persecute his enemies to distract from Russia.
American. Taliban.
Tealiban.
posted by chris24 at 4:18 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
Via @onlxn, a brutal ad challenging Senator Heller
posted by Joe in Australia at 4:37 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Joe in Australia at 4:37 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
I can't stop clapping long enough to reach a gun and pull a trigger. I can't even sit down. Do you know what nights are like for me? And let's not even talk about my sex life.
I would imagine your partner(s) appreciate the encouragement but suspect you're being sarcastic. Like that one ex I had who wouldn't stop saying thank you. It gets very distracting.
posted by Molesome at 4:38 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
I would imagine your partner(s) appreciate the encouragement but suspect you're being sarcastic. Like that one ex I had who wouldn't stop saying thank you. It gets very distracting.
posted by Molesome at 4:38 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Not suspicious or infuriating at all...
Tillerson spurns $80 million to counter ISIS, Russian propaganda
posted by chris24 at 4:56 AM on August 2, 2017 [74 favorites]
Tillerson spurns $80 million to counter ISIS, Russian propaganda
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is resisting the pleas of State Department officials to spend nearly $80 million allocated by Congress for fighting terrorist propaganda and Russian disinformation.God forbid we piss off the boss.
It is highly unusual for a Cabinet secretary to turn down money for his department. But more than five months into his tenure, Tillerson has not issued a simple request for the money earmarked for the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, $60 million of which is now parked at the Pentagon. Another $19.8 million sits untouched at the State Department as Tillerson’s aides reject calls from career diplomats and members of Congress to put the money to work against America’s adversaries.
The $60 million will expire on Sept. 30 if not transferred to State by then, current and former State Department officials told POLITICO.
The struggle over the money is a case study in Tillerson’s approach to managing the State Department and the frustration it is engendering among American diplomats. Current and former U.S. officials call it the latest example of a severe slowdown in department decision-making; of Tillerson’s reliance on a coterie of political aides who distrust State’s career staffers; and a casualty of President Donald Trump’s intention to slash State's budget, which has Tillerson looking for ways to reshape the department and spend less money, not more.
Sources cited another sensitive factor at play: Russia. One Tillerson aide, R.C. Hammond, suggested the money is unwelcome because any extra funding for programs to counter Russian media influence would anger Moscow, according to a former senior State Department official. [my bold]
posted by chris24 at 4:56 AM on August 2, 2017 [74 favorites]
From the NYT article on Bannon mumimor linked above:
But given Mr. Trump’s weakness, vanity and plain incompetence, there are limits to how much Mr. Bannon, who helped birth this dysfunctional presidency, can do to fix it.
We can only hope.
Goddamn WHEN do the indictments start rolling out?????
posted by yoga at 5:12 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
But given Mr. Trump’s weakness, vanity and plain incompetence, there are limits to how much Mr. Bannon, who helped birth this dysfunctional presidency, can do to fix it.
We can only hope.
Goddamn WHEN do the indictments start rolling out?????
posted by yoga at 5:12 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
If you needed an example of how extreme and cultish Republicans have become...
@IngrahamAngle
Let's liberate Arizona from @JeffFlake in 2018. Flake & McCain are de facto Dems on most key issues. Prediction: Flake switches parties.
@FrankLuntz Retweeted Laura Ingraham
Sen. @JeffFlake has an A grade from the @NRA, a 100% pro-life rating from the @NRLC, a 97% from @GovWaste, and a 95% from @FreedomWorks.
posted by chris24 at 5:17 AM on August 2, 2017 [49 favorites]
@IngrahamAngle
Let's liberate Arizona from @JeffFlake in 2018. Flake & McCain are de facto Dems on most key issues. Prediction: Flake switches parties.
@FrankLuntz Retweeted Laura Ingraham
Sen. @JeffFlake has an A grade from the @NRA, a 100% pro-life rating from the @NRLC, a 97% from @GovWaste, and a 95% from @FreedomWorks.
posted by chris24 at 5:17 AM on August 2, 2017 [49 favorites]
It's hard to imagine they got rid of Liz Spayd, considering that NYTimes Opinion Piece on Bannon is some mealy mouthed garbage that would have fit right at home during Spayd's tenure.
(Bannon's not going anywhere, and taxes are most certainly NOT HIGH on wealthy Americans.)
posted by Yowser at 5:30 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
(Bannon's not going anywhere, and taxes are most certainly NOT HIGH on wealthy Americans.)
posted by Yowser at 5:30 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
Oh, and expect another horror show today if Miller is directly involved in shaping America's immigration policy. So at least we have that to look forward to? Jesus.
posted by Yowser at 5:32 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Yowser at 5:32 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
More detail on the CSR court decision yesterday.
The D.C. Circuit just made it harder for Trump to stop the cost-sharing payments
The D.C. Circuit just made it harder for Trump to stop the cost-sharing payments
This afternoon, the D.C. Circuit granted a motion from a group of fifteen states, led by California, to intervene in the pending appeal in House v. Price. As I explained when the motion was filed, allowing the states to intervene will prevent the Trump administration from unilaterally dismissing its appeal in the case.posted by chris24 at 5:39 AM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
That’s a big deal. If the Trump administration wanted to stop making cost-sharing payments, the easiest way to do so would be to dismiss the appeal. The lower court entered an injunction to stop those payments, but put its injunction on hold to allow for an appeal. If Trump were to order the appeal’s dismissal, the injunction would spring into force, and the payments would end.
Now the states can keep the appeal alive, even if Trump wants to get rid of it.
... [and from the decision] ...… [T]he States’ motion is [also] timely. … Where, as here, substantial doubts about the inadequacy of representation develop after the case has begun, timeliness is measured from when the potential inadequacy of representation develops. … The States have filed within a reasonable time from when their doubts about adequate representation arose due to accumulating public statements by high-level officials both about a potential change in position and the Department’s joinder with the House in an effort to terminate the appeal.In other words, President Trump’s loose lips have once again created problems for his lawyers. Go figure.
As well as losing to generic Dem 50-31.
Heller is a dead man walking. What makes it all amusing is that Wynn is most certainly going to throw him under the bus anyway despite his threats. There's no way Republicans don't primary him out for someone who doesn't have the stink of the healthcare vote on them. Ditto Flake minus the Wynn shoveling money at his primary opponent.
Which is a shame because they were going to be such easy pickups with those two bozos as the opponents.
Also Russia is the one banning the adoption of children not the US. The Russians could drop the ban anytime they want.
The Russians banned the adoption of children by US citizens because a US parent took a kid they adopted, stuck him on a plan with a note saying they couldn't handle the kid, and abandoned him. Putin being an evil asshole doesn't change this one.
posted by Talez at 5:46 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Heller is a dead man walking. What makes it all amusing is that Wynn is most certainly going to throw him under the bus anyway despite his threats. There's no way Republicans don't primary him out for someone who doesn't have the stink of the healthcare vote on them. Ditto Flake minus the Wynn shoveling money at his primary opponent.
Which is a shame because they were going to be such easy pickups with those two bozos as the opponents.
Also Russia is the one banning the adoption of children not the US. The Russians could drop the ban anytime they want.
The Russians banned the adoption of children by US citizens because a US parent took a kid they adopted, stuck him on a plan with a note saying they couldn't handle the kid, and abandoned him. Putin being an evil asshole doesn't change this one.
posted by Talez at 5:46 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
The name Felix Sater was bothering me and then I realized why: Felix Leiter was a recurring character in the James Bond series played by eight different actors over time.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 5:50 AM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 5:50 AM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
The Russians banned the adoption of children by US citizens because a US parent took a kid they adopted, stuck him on a plan with a note saying they couldn't handle the kid, and abandoned him. Putin being an evil asshole doesn't change this one.
And reversing the Maginsty Act would make up for this?
posted by PenDevil at 5:53 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
And reversing the Maginsty Act would make up for this?
posted by PenDevil at 5:53 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
The Russians banned the adoption of children by US citizens because a US parent took a kid they adopted, stuck him on a plan with a note saying they couldn't handle the kid, and abandoned him. Putin being an evil asshole doesn't change this one.
The awful, unforgivable truth of that one adoption doesn't change that it was a convenient excuse for Putin and the Magnitsky Act was the real reason the punitive ban was put in place and continues to be maintained.
posted by chris24 at 5:53 AM on August 2, 2017 [23 favorites]
The awful, unforgivable truth of that one adoption doesn't change that it was a convenient excuse for Putin and the Magnitsky Act was the real reason the punitive ban was put in place and continues to be maintained.
posted by chris24 at 5:53 AM on August 2, 2017 [23 favorites]
The Russians banned the adoption of children by US citizens because a US parent took a kid they adopted, stuck him on a plan with a note saying they couldn't handle the kid, and abandoned him.
Man, it's only 9:02 and I gotta trot out Excuse, not a reason already?
posted by Etrigan at 6:03 AM on August 2, 2017 [13 favorites]
Man, it's only 9:02 and I gotta trot out Excuse, not a reason already?
posted by Etrigan at 6:03 AM on August 2, 2017 [13 favorites]
Another nominal reason for the Russian adoption ban was the tragic death of an adoptee left in in a car in Virginia.
posted by TedW at 6:05 AM on August 2, 2017
posted by TedW at 6:05 AM on August 2, 2017
The solar eclipse path will overwhelmingly pass over Trump Country.
Something something Dolores Claiborne right idea something.
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:06 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Something something Dolores Claiborne right idea something.
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:06 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Buzzfeed: Trump Has Launched A "Real News" Program On His Facebook, Hosted By His Daughter-In-Law
In one video, Lara Trump said she'd be back every week to provide updates on the president's accomplishments.
...
"I bet you haven't heard about all the accomplishments the president had this week because there's so much fake news out there," she said.
posted by bluecore at 6:09 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
In one video, Lara Trump said she'd be back every week to provide updates on the president's accomplishments.
...
"I bet you haven't heard about all the accomplishments the president had this week because there's so much fake news out there," she said.
posted by bluecore at 6:09 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
Considering that Brexit could likely destabilize the country even more, I'm not sure if I see Britain taking a big stand against this soon, which of course is what Russia wanted ever since they first bought and paid for Nigel Farage, if not before. All of Putin's best laid plans are coming to fruition while there is no adult in the room and it is very, very alarming.
Farage is a gnat compared to Britain's dependency on energy imports. About 35% of the UK's energy imports come from Russia. That's the real reason the UK, and the rest of Europe as well, dance lightly around the issue of Russian meddling and expat assassination.
They not only provide offshore cash havens for Russian Oligarchs. They help create Russian Oligarchs in the first place.
posted by srboisvert at 6:09 AM on August 2, 2017 [13 favorites]
Farage is a gnat compared to Britain's dependency on energy imports. About 35% of the UK's energy imports come from Russia. That's the real reason the UK, and the rest of Europe as well, dance lightly around the issue of Russian meddling and expat assassination.
They not only provide offshore cash havens for Russian Oligarchs. They help create Russian Oligarchs in the first place.
posted by srboisvert at 6:09 AM on August 2, 2017 [13 favorites]
Politico's full transcript of the WSJ interview reminded me of all the incoherent chats I had with my grandma when her Alzheimer's was bad.
This transcript sounds the same. The President has dementia.
BAKER: What have you been doing, Mr. President, sort of behind the scenes?
TRUMP: A lot. A lot.
BAKER: I mean, what do you think the crucial conversations have been?
TRUMP: Many conversations. I just had one with a certain senator that was very convincing to that senator. So I’ve done a lot. I mean, last night — last night it was amazing. I was at the — you know, I was in West Virginia doing certain things and making a speech to the Boy Scouts, and that was some crowd. That was an incredible crowd.
But I’ve been working hard, trying to get the senators to go along with it. And I — you know, I think I — you know, look, just don’t quote me on this unless it happens, but I think we have a pretty good shot.
later on he just goes wide...
BAKER: What are you most proud of in the first six months?
TRUMP: A lot of things. I think I’m proud of the Supreme Court choice. And that’s not just a nomination, that’s getting him through. I’m very proud of opening up regulations. One of the reasons you see optimism is because people can actually use their land. They can farm their land. I’ve had tremendous and tremendous — look, I had 45,000 people there yesterday. It’s the biggest crowd they’ve ever had, and they were — they were going wild yesterday in West Virginia. But people can actually use their land and they can build.
And I think one of the things that I have to be very proud of is the VA.
and then, pure fantasy:
TRUMP: And I got a call from the head of the Boy Scouts saying it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them, and they were very thankful. So there was — there was no mix.
further, pure batshit insanity:
TRUMP: So I deal with foreign countries, and despite what you may read, I have unbelievable relationships with all of the foreign leaders. They like me. I like them. You know, it’s amazing. So I’ll call, like, major — major countries, and I’ll be dealing with the prime minister or the president. And I’ll say, how are you doing? Oh, don’t know, don’t know, not well, Mr. President, not well. I said, well, what’s the problem? Oh, GDP 9 percent, not well. And I’m saying to myself, here we are at like 1 percent, dying, and they’re at 9 percent and they’re unhappy. So, you know, and these are like countries, you know, fairly large, like 300 million people. You know, a lot of people say — they say, well, but the United States is large. And then you call places like Malaysia, Indonesia, and you say, you know, how many people do you have? And it’s pretty amazing how many people they have. So China’s going to be at 7 [percent] or 8 percent, and they have a billion-five, right? So we should do really well.
What the fuckity fuck? The man is not lucid.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 6:12 AM on August 2, 2017 [80 favorites]
This transcript sounds the same. The President has dementia.
BAKER: What have you been doing, Mr. President, sort of behind the scenes?
TRUMP: A lot. A lot.
BAKER: I mean, what do you think the crucial conversations have been?
TRUMP: Many conversations. I just had one with a certain senator that was very convincing to that senator. So I’ve done a lot. I mean, last night — last night it was amazing. I was at the — you know, I was in West Virginia doing certain things and making a speech to the Boy Scouts, and that was some crowd. That was an incredible crowd.
But I’ve been working hard, trying to get the senators to go along with it. And I — you know, I think I — you know, look, just don’t quote me on this unless it happens, but I think we have a pretty good shot.
later on he just goes wide...
BAKER: What are you most proud of in the first six months?
TRUMP: A lot of things. I think I’m proud of the Supreme Court choice. And that’s not just a nomination, that’s getting him through. I’m very proud of opening up regulations. One of the reasons you see optimism is because people can actually use their land. They can farm their land. I’ve had tremendous and tremendous — look, I had 45,000 people there yesterday. It’s the biggest crowd they’ve ever had, and they were — they were going wild yesterday in West Virginia. But people can actually use their land and they can build.
And I think one of the things that I have to be very proud of is the VA.
and then, pure fantasy:
TRUMP: And I got a call from the head of the Boy Scouts saying it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them, and they were very thankful. So there was — there was no mix.
further, pure batshit insanity:
TRUMP: So I deal with foreign countries, and despite what you may read, I have unbelievable relationships with all of the foreign leaders. They like me. I like them. You know, it’s amazing. So I’ll call, like, major — major countries, and I’ll be dealing with the prime minister or the president. And I’ll say, how are you doing? Oh, don’t know, don’t know, not well, Mr. President, not well. I said, well, what’s the problem? Oh, GDP 9 percent, not well. And I’m saying to myself, here we are at like 1 percent, dying, and they’re at 9 percent and they’re unhappy. So, you know, and these are like countries, you know, fairly large, like 300 million people. You know, a lot of people say — they say, well, but the United States is large. And then you call places like Malaysia, Indonesia, and you say, you know, how many people do you have? And it’s pretty amazing how many people they have. So China’s going to be at 7 [percent] or 8 percent, and they have a billion-five, right? So we should do really well.
What the fuckity fuck? The man is not lucid.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 6:12 AM on August 2, 2017 [80 favorites]
Buzzfeed: Trump Has Launched A "Real News" Program On His Facebook, Hosted By His Daughter-In-LawI mean, every authoritarian cult of personality worth its salt needs a transparent propaganda arm
posted by DoctorFedora at 6:19 AM on August 2, 2017 [13 favorites]
> Another nominal reason for the Russian adoption ban was the tragic death of an adoptee left in in a car in Virginia.
The ban came a couple of years after the kid was sent back on the plane, and after a moratorium put in place immediately following it had been replaced with an agreement allowing U.S. adoptions again.
There was a lot made of there being 19 Russian orphans who had been 'tortured and killed' by their adopted parents, and the idea that law enforcement hadn't properly prosecuted the adopters.
While there certainly were some tragedies, this does seem to have been played up in the Russian media to boost anti-septic sentiment. It certainly doesn't really seem to be for the benefit of the actual orphans in question given the context of how a lot of disabled Russian kids end up in the system and how they are then treated. (Although it has improved from back in the 90's).
posted by Buntix at 6:22 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
The ban came a couple of years after the kid was sent back on the plane, and after a moratorium put in place immediately following it had been replaced with an agreement allowing U.S. adoptions again.
There was a lot made of there being 19 Russian orphans who had been 'tortured and killed' by their adopted parents, and the idea that law enforcement hadn't properly prosecuted the adopters.
While there certainly were some tragedies, this does seem to have been played up in the Russian media to boost anti-septic sentiment. It certainly doesn't really seem to be for the benefit of the actual orphans in question given the context of how a lot of disabled Russian kids end up in the system and how they are then treated. (Although it has improved from back in the 90's).
posted by Buntix at 6:22 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
The Center For American Progress Is Releasing A Nearly 50-Page Report Claiming Trump–Russia Collusion (BuzzFeed, Lissandra Villa)
readery: The key thing here is when Sen Whitehouse confirmed that although the Magnitsky act would not likely be overturned, there exists an executive privilege to take names off the list of Russians affected by the act. Much better. More control.
Short term, I think this is the most important takeaway. Even if Trumo signs the sanctions bill, this loophole needs to be closed ASAP. When you hear adoption, think sanctions, and when you hear sanctions, think Putin's access to his money.
posted by Room 641-A at 6:27 AM on August 2, 2017 [29 favorites]
The Center for American Progress has written a nearly 50-page report for Democrats in Congress, making the case for collusion between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia. The report, a draft of which was reviewed by BuzzFeed News ahead of its release Wednesday, makes the bold claim that “it is now clear there was collusion” and “this is the biggest political scandal in American history.”If nothing else, it will be nice to have a complete summary in one place.
CAP’s report, which includes several appendices linking to news reports and quotes from the Trump administration, does not include any new information, but it does represent a push for a dramatic change of tone for Democrats in Congress.
readery: The key thing here is when Sen Whitehouse confirmed that although the Magnitsky act would not likely be overturned, there exists an executive privilege to take names off the list of Russians affected by the act. Much better. More control.
Short term, I think this is the most important takeaway. Even if Trumo signs the sanctions bill, this loophole needs to be closed ASAP. When you hear adoption, think sanctions, and when you hear sanctions, think Putin's access to his money.
posted by Room 641-A at 6:27 AM on August 2, 2017 [29 favorites]
While there certainly were some tragedies, this does seem to have been played up in the Russian media to boost anti-septic sentiment. It certainly doesn't really seem to be for the benefit of the actual orphans in question given the context of how a lot of disabled Russian kids end up in the system and how they are then treated. (Although it has improved from back in the 90's).
The domestic treatment of disabled Russian orphans notwithstanding, if we required the actual results from our domestic policies to match what we preach to the world the United States wouldn't be able to say a damn thing about anything.
posted by Talez at 6:27 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
The domestic treatment of disabled Russian orphans notwithstanding, if we required the actual results from our domestic policies to match what we preach to the world the United States wouldn't be able to say a damn thing about anything.
posted by Talez at 6:27 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Even if Trumo signs the sanctions bill, this loophole needs to be closed ASAP.
It's an Admiral Ackbar provision.
posted by Talez at 6:28 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
It's an Admiral Ackbar provision.
posted by Talez at 6:28 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Buzzfeed: Trump Has Launched A "Real News" Program On His Facebook, Hosted By His Daughter-In-Law
Well, time to add Lara to my rankings of the worst Trumps (wherever that was in whatever thread that was). Someone who can stand to look at Facebook please let me know where she should fall in the current rankings:
1. Donald
2. Don Jr.
3. Jared
4. Ivanka
5. Eric
6. Melania
7. Tiffany
8. Barron
Without watching it, I suspect she places somewhere around Eric?
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:28 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Well, time to add Lara to my rankings of the worst Trumps (wherever that was in whatever thread that was). Someone who can stand to look at Facebook please let me know where she should fall in the current rankings:
1. Donald
2. Don Jr.
3. Jared
4. Ivanka
5. Eric
6. Melania
7. Tiffany
8. Barron
Without watching it, I suspect she places somewhere around Eric?
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:28 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
That WSJ transcript--I want to color-code it for things like hyperbole, wishful thinking, anecdote (disproved/doubtful), name-calling, 2016-election-related, etc. and see whether there's anything left. Holy shit, there's just no there there.
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:29 AM on August 2, 2017 [25 favorites]
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:29 AM on August 2, 2017 [25 favorites]
It's hilarious that they didn't actually want to publish the whole thing and yet somehow it leaked out.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:31 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:31 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
I mean, every authoritarian cult of personality worth its salt needs a transparent propaganda arm
Recall that as governor of Indiana, Mike Pence tried the same thing.
posted by Gelatin at 6:32 AM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
Recall that as governor of Indiana, Mike Pence tried the same thing.
posted by Gelatin at 6:32 AM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
...and then at some point he denied having ever heard of it.
"The day after the story broke, 16 hours after the first version of this column was posted online, he called to insist there had been a misunderstanding. He said he had little knowledge of what his staff had been working on and would "see to it" that the new operation did little more than collect press releases into one big clearinghouse."
It's a pattern with Mike "Dumb as a" Pence Fost. It's always bullshit.
posted by leotrotsky at 6:48 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
"The day after the story broke, 16 hours after the first version of this column was posted online, he called to insist there had been a misunderstanding. He said he had little knowledge of what his staff had been working on and would "see to it" that the new operation did little more than collect press releases into one big clearinghouse."
It's a pattern with Mike "Dumb as a" Pence Fost. It's always bullshit.
posted by leotrotsky at 6:48 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Buzzfeed: Trump Has Launched A "Real News" Program On His Facebook, Hosted By His Daughter-In-Law
IIRC, wasn't there a bit of speculation heading into the election that the Trumpian endgame was to parlay the noise created from the campaign into the creation of an "online news" platform? Is this just a revival of that idea?
posted by nubs at 6:53 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
IIRC, wasn't there a bit of speculation heading into the election that the Trumpian endgame was to parlay the noise created from the campaign into the creation of an "online news" platform? Is this just a revival of that idea?
posted by nubs at 6:53 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
It's Not. About. Adoption.
These are the droids we're looking for:
It's about freeing up billions to rule an enormous swath of the planet, and about using violent intimidation for same.
Trump is neck deep in Shit Lake with that. It doesn't take Robert Reich's former Congressman to see he's "fritzing out".
posted by petebest at 6:55 AM on August 2, 2017 [21 favorites]
These are the droids we're looking for:
It's about freeing up billions to rule an enormous swath of the planet, and about using violent intimidation for same.
Trump is neck deep in Shit Lake with that. It doesn't take Robert Reich's former Congressman to see he's "fritzing out".
posted by petebest at 6:55 AM on August 2, 2017 [21 favorites]
IIRC, wasn't there a bit of speculation heading into the election that the Trumpian endgame was to parlay the noise created from the campaign into the creation of an "online news" platform?
What speculation? The Trump campaign started doing Trump TV segments on Facebook Live when they thought all hope was lost. The only thing that derailed it was Trump winning the election and having to actually run the country.
posted by Talez at 6:56 AM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
What speculation? The Trump campaign started doing Trump TV segments on Facebook Live when they thought all hope was lost. The only thing that derailed it was Trump winning the election and having to actually run the country.
posted by Talez at 6:56 AM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
The only thing that derailed it was Trump winning the election and having to actually run the country.
Assumes facts not in evidence. The country is not running.
posted by mikelieman at 6:59 AM on August 2, 2017 [26 favorites]
Assumes facts not in evidence. The country is not running.
posted by mikelieman at 6:59 AM on August 2, 2017 [26 favorites]
Assumes facts not in evidence. The country is not running.
Fuck. Hoisted by my own petard. Touché good sir.
posted by Talez at 7:01 AM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
Fuck. Hoisted by my own petard. Touché good sir.
posted by Talez at 7:01 AM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
hey guys if propaganda and fake news and their role in the imminent collapse of our republic have you down, whatever you do, don't listen to the most recent radiolab
posted by entropicamericana at 7:01 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by entropicamericana at 7:01 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
Even his bragging is third rate.
Trump stock market performance eclipsed by Obama and Bush
Obama - 22.6%
Bush I - 20.7%
Trump - 8.8%
posted by chris24 at 7:03 AM on August 2, 2017 [12 favorites]
Trump stock market performance eclipsed by Obama and Bush
Obama - 22.6%
Bush I - 20.7%
Trump - 8.8%
posted by chris24 at 7:03 AM on August 2, 2017 [12 favorites]
hey guys if propaganda and fake news and their role in the imminent collapse of our republic have you down, whatever you do, don't listen to the most recent radiolab
Is there a transcript?
posted by Talez at 7:03 AM on August 2, 2017
Is there a transcript?
posted by Talez at 7:03 AM on August 2, 2017
Even his bragging is third rate.
This is kind of unfair. Trump was handed a working economy. Both Obama and Bush had nowhere to go but up.
posted by Talez at 7:08 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
This is kind of unfair. Trump was handed a working economy. Both Obama and Bush had nowhere to go but up.
posted by Talez at 7:08 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
This is the first time I've ever heard of Lara Trupm.
I have a theory that deep underneath rumpT Tower is a locked room where puTmr keeps his children strapped to gurneys with labels like Un-named Organ Bank #10, #11, #12, etc.
This is the place Don Jr and the others are terrified they will be sent back to, and from which one was recently released into the world, having been given the name Lara.
posted by um at 7:09 AM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
I have a theory that deep underneath rumpT Tower is a locked room where puTmr keeps his children strapped to gurneys with labels like Un-named Organ Bank #10, #11, #12, etc.
This is the place Don Jr and the others are terrified they will be sent back to, and from which one was recently released into the world, having been given the name Lara.
posted by um at 7:09 AM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
This is kind of unfair. Trump was handed a working economy. Both Obama and Bush had nowhere to go but up.
I agree that stock market performance is not the best way to judge a presidency. However, I'm not the one choosing to do so, Trump is.
You could also argue that there was no certainty or probability when Obama took over that the market/second-worst-economy-in-US-history would go back up quickly as opposed to further decline into depression territory or remain stagnant.
posted by chris24 at 7:11 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
I agree that stock market performance is not the best way to judge a presidency. However, I'm not the one choosing to do so, Trump is.
You could also argue that there was no certainty or probability when Obama took over that the market/second-worst-economy-in-US-history would go back up quickly as opposed to further decline into depression territory or remain stagnant.
posted by chris24 at 7:11 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
In the Browder context (heh, sorry), Lesin's death being ruled "accidental" is tantamount to kicking the smoking gun in the river with an "oops, no evidence" shrug.
Btw, the pronouncement of Lesin's death as an "accident" came two weeks before the election, and from (so far as I've been able to find) Channing D. Phillips, an Obama appointee who formerly worked in the Organized Crime division, so. ???
posted by petebest at 7:14 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Btw, the pronouncement of Lesin's death as an "accident" came two weeks before the election, and from (so far as I've been able to find) Channing D. Phillips, an Obama appointee who formerly worked in the Organized Crime division, so. ???
posted by petebest at 7:14 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
@realDonaldTrump: It was my great honor to pay tribute to a VET who went above & beyond the call of duty to PROTECT our COMRADES, our COUNTRY, & OUR FREEDOM!
Unfortunate phrasing given the climate, perhaps?
posted by jammer at 7:18 AM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
Unfortunate phrasing given the climate, perhaps?
posted by jammer at 7:18 AM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
I have a theory that deep underneath rumpT Tower is a locked room where puTmr keeps his children strapped to gurneys with labels like Un-named Organ Bank #10, #11, #12, etc.
I'm picturing a vast, dimly-lit vault where the more defective and irregular Trumps are stored, suspended in goo-filled cylinders. Here's what looks like an Ivanka with no eyes and a retractable second jaw. Over there is a Don Jr. with external lungs and a gastropodal foot instead of legs. A kennel containing a giant wad of hair like piss-colored cotton candy that hisses and spits at passersy-by. And an Eric with a strangely unfinished face and a blank idiot stare - oh wait, that's just Eric.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:23 AM on August 2, 2017 [44 favorites]
I'm picturing a vast, dimly-lit vault where the more defective and irregular Trumps are stored, suspended in goo-filled cylinders. Here's what looks like an Ivanka with no eyes and a retractable second jaw. Over there is a Don Jr. with external lungs and a gastropodal foot instead of legs. A kennel containing a giant wad of hair like piss-colored cotton candy that hisses and spits at passersy-by. And an Eric with a strangely unfinished face and a blank idiot stare - oh wait, that's just Eric.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:23 AM on August 2, 2017 [44 favorites]
@realDonaldTrump: It was my great honor to pay tribute to a VET who went above & beyond the call of duty to PROTECT our COMRADES, our COUNTRY, & OUR FREEDOM!
Shows how much he actually cares about Specialist McCloughan that he can't be arsed to remember his name for the length of a tweet.
posted by Etrigan at 7:26 AM on August 2, 2017 [30 favorites]
Shows how much he actually cares about Specialist McCloughan that he can't be arsed to remember his name for the length of a tweet.
posted by Etrigan at 7:26 AM on August 2, 2017 [30 favorites]
Shows how much he actually cares about Specialist McCloughan that he can't be arsed to remember his name for the length of a tweet.
Hard to keep names in your head when it's stuffed full of linear regression analyses of healthcare outcomes.
posted by dis_integration at 7:27 AM on August 2, 2017 [23 favorites]
Hard to keep names in your head when it's stuffed full of linear regression analyses of healthcare outcomes.
posted by dis_integration at 7:27 AM on August 2, 2017 [23 favorites]
I have a theory that deep underneath rumpT Tower is a locked room where puTmr keeps his children strapped to gurneys with labels like Un-named Organ Bank #10, #11, #12, etc...This is the place Don Jr and the others are terrified they will be sent back to, and from which one was recently released into the world, having been given the name Lara.
I am reminded of an unjustly obscure John Brunner novel, The Jagged Orbit, in which a criminal syndicate of weapons dealers present themselves to the world as a family — the Gottschalks — the final member of whom to appear is named "Robert."
This turns out to be a shallow codename designed to obfuscate his true identity and nature, i.e. Robot Gottschalk. Robot, IIRC, declares war on the rest of the family-cartel, and takes measures that lead directly to their physical destruction and the unraveling of their influence over American and global society.
We should be so lucky with Lady 3Lara, or whatever her current designation is.
posted by adamgreenfield at 7:27 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
I am reminded of an unjustly obscure John Brunner novel, The Jagged Orbit, in which a criminal syndicate of weapons dealers present themselves to the world as a family — the Gottschalks — the final member of whom to appear is named "Robert."
This turns out to be a shallow codename designed to obfuscate his true identity and nature, i.e. Robot Gottschalk. Robot, IIRC, declares war on the rest of the family-cartel, and takes measures that lead directly to their physical destruction and the unraveling of their influence over American and global society.
We should be so lucky with Lady 3Lara, or whatever her current designation is.
posted by adamgreenfield at 7:27 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
Huh.
Obama’s Inner Circle Is Urging Deval Patrick to Run
The former Massachusetts governor would have powerful allies in 2020. There’s just one problem: It’s not clear he wants to do it. (Politico, Edward-Isaac Dovere) posted by Room 641-A at 7:29 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
Obama’s Inner Circle Is Urging Deval Patrick to Run
The former Massachusetts governor would have powerful allies in 2020. There’s just one problem: It’s not clear he wants to do it. (Politico, Edward-Isaac Dovere) posted by Room 641-A at 7:29 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
I'm picturing a vast, dimly-lit vault where the more defective and irregular Trumps are stored, suspended in goo-filled cylinders.
Can we get back to politics? Please?
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 7:31 AM on August 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
Can we get back to politics? Please?
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 7:31 AM on August 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
Hard to keep names in your head when it's stuffed full of linear regression analyses of healthcare outcomes.
There's room for a double-joke here about how logit/probit or duration models would usually be more appropriate...
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:32 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
There's room for a double-joke here about how logit/probit or duration models would usually be more appropriate...
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:32 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
I am thankful for those that read the WSJ transcript because I can not. It puts his voice inside my brain.
posted by readery at 7:33 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by readery at 7:33 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
This is kind of unfair. Trump was handed a working economy.
Not to hear him tell it, he wasn't.
(It'll be amusing, though, when he finally does pull out that excuse, after all his badmouthing the Obama economy.)
posted by Gelatin at 7:33 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Not to hear him tell it, he wasn't.
(It'll be amusing, though, when he finally does pull out that excuse, after all his badmouthing the Obama economy.)
posted by Gelatin at 7:33 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Hard to keep names in your head when it's stuffed full of linear regression analyses of healthcare outcomes.
Axios: John Kelly closes the Oval Office door
"Even POTUS appears to be trying to impress his four-star handler, picking up his game by acting sharper in meetings and even rattling off stats."
---
Hahahahaha.
posted by chris24 at 7:34 AM on August 2, 2017 [13 favorites]
Axios: John Kelly closes the Oval Office door
"Even POTUS appears to be trying to impress his four-star handler, picking up his game by acting sharper in meetings and even rattling off stats."
---
Hahahahaha.
posted by chris24 at 7:34 AM on August 2, 2017 [13 favorites]
A kennel containing a giant wad of hair like piss-colored cotton candy that hisses and spits at passersy-by.
Paging phlegmco(tm)!
posted by adamgreenfield at 7:34 AM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
Paging phlegmco(tm)!
posted by adamgreenfield at 7:34 AM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
Obama’s Inner Circle Is Urging Deval Patrick to Run
As a Masshole, I would like to inform the regular public that Deval Patrick has the charisma of a dead fish and that I think this is a terrible idea.
posted by lydhre at 7:36 AM on August 2, 2017 [19 favorites]
As a Masshole, I would like to inform the regular public that Deval Patrick has the charisma of a dead fish and that I think this is a terrible idea.
posted by lydhre at 7:36 AM on August 2, 2017 [19 favorites]
CNN Breaking News: Trump signed the Russia sanctions bill per the White House.
posted by chris24 at 7:38 AM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 7:38 AM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
Double down on that. Patrick/Warren 2020: "Healthcare, Gay Marriage and Weed for all!" a.k.a. "Don't blame us, we're from Massachusetts!" a.k.a. Mondale Revenge Tour.
What could possibly go wrong?
posted by Freon at 7:40 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
What could possibly go wrong?
posted by Freon at 7:40 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Does this mean more kompromat comes out
posted by tivalasvegas at 7:40 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by tivalasvegas at 7:40 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
I certainly can't see why America wouldn't vote for a former Massachusetts governor who works at Bain Capital.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:41 AM on August 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:41 AM on August 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
The President and VP can't be from the same state.
posted by tivalasvegas at 7:41 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by tivalasvegas at 7:41 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Mod note: Couple deleted. I know this was said with the best intentions, but let's not get into what would be a very predictable argument about racism against white people etc.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 7:42 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 7:42 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
these are like countries, you know, fairly large, like 300 million people
So, the United States, India and China are the only countries with more than 300 million people. The US has 325 million and India and China are both over a billion. Indonesia is the 4th largest country with 263 million (as of July 1st, 2017). So, "countries with like 300 million people" only includes the United States.
posted by soelo at 7:42 AM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
So, the United States, India and China are the only countries with more than 300 million people. The US has 325 million and India and China are both over a billion. Indonesia is the 4th largest country with 263 million (as of July 1st, 2017). So, "countries with like 300 million people" only includes the United States.
posted by soelo at 7:42 AM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
The President and VP can't be from the same state.
Wow, I had completely forgotten about that despite all the fuss that had been made when Cheney went and changed his residence to Wyoming at the last minute.
posted by Freon at 7:44 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Wow, I had completely forgotten about that despite all the fuss that had been made when Cheney went and changed his residence to Wyoming at the last minute.
posted by Freon at 7:44 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
The President and VP can't be from the same state.
They can, it's just that the Electors from that state can't vote for both of them in the Electoral College, so it's generally considered inadvisable to nominate a presidential and vice-presidential candidate from the same state. Although Dick Cheney showed us that was easy enough to get around. ("I'm not from Texas, I'm from Wyoming, see?")
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:48 AM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
They can, it's just that the Electors from that state can't vote for both of them in the Electoral College, so it's generally considered inadvisable to nominate a presidential and vice-presidential candidate from the same state. Although Dick Cheney showed us that was easy enough to get around. ("I'm not from Texas, I'm from Wyoming, see?")
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:48 AM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
The President and VP can't be from the same state.
They can be from the same state -- that state's electors just can't vote for two people from their state. So if Cheney hadn't've changed his residence, we might have ended up with President Bush and VP Lieberman.
posted by Etrigan at 7:48 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
They can be from the same state -- that state's electors just can't vote for two people from their state. So if Cheney hadn't've changed his residence, we might have ended up with President Bush and VP Lieberman.
posted by Etrigan at 7:48 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
radiolab link 35 mins in
Hey, the tradition of the weekly address by the president.....has Mr. Winning done these?
posted by rough ashlar at 7:55 AM on August 2, 2017
Hey, the tradition of the weekly address by the president.....has Mr. Winning done these?
posted by rough ashlar at 7:55 AM on August 2, 2017
Hey, the tradition of the weekly address by the president.....has Mr. Winning done these?
Holy cats, I'd forgotten entirely about the weekly presidential radio address. On slow news Mondays, NPR used to quote whatever Obama or George W. Bush had to say in their address. The fact that, so far as I can tell, NPR has not done so once since January could mean that Trump never did one or that the ongoing dumpster fire means there hasn't ever been a slow news Monday, but probably both.
The fact that Trump does them but never says anything newsworthy is unlikely, given how much he likes to stir things up with his tweets. And he wouldn't get his needed fix of adulation by talking to a radio mike, so I doubt they're much of a priority for him.
posted by Gelatin at 8:01 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Holy cats, I'd forgotten entirely about the weekly presidential radio address. On slow news Mondays, NPR used to quote whatever Obama or George W. Bush had to say in their address. The fact that, so far as I can tell, NPR has not done so once since January could mean that Trump never did one or that the ongoing dumpster fire means there hasn't ever been a slow news Monday, but probably both.
The fact that Trump does them but never says anything newsworthy is unlikely, given how much he likes to stir things up with his tweets. And he wouldn't get his needed fix of adulation by talking to a radio mike, so I doubt they're much of a priority for him.
posted by Gelatin at 8:01 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Trump is doing weekly addresses, just not on the radio.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/07/28/president-donald-j-trumps-weekly-address
posted by jammer at 8:05 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/07/28/president-donald-j-trumps-weekly-address
posted by jammer at 8:05 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
(It turns out he apparently does do them, but I haven't found a week-by-week archive of them at the White House site yet.)
posted by Gelatin at 8:05 AM on August 2, 2017
posted by Gelatin at 8:05 AM on August 2, 2017
Yglesias points out that Deval Patrick has spent his post-gubernatorial time cashing in at Bain Capital, which...is maybe not the best look for a Democrat currently.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:06 AM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 8:06 AM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
The radio format would mean Trump couldn't employ two of his most effective persuasive tools—his exaggerated expressions and his bullying body language. Naturally he prefers Youtube. Even then, he looks comparatively awkward since he has to stick to a speech he didn't write and read from a teleprompter (there's no room for his beloved extemporizing). It's no Boy Scout jamboree, that's for sure.
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:08 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:08 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Talez: "Heller is a dead man walking. What makes it all amusing is that Wynn is most certainly going to throw him under the bus anyway despite his threats. There's no way Republicans don't primary him out for someone who doesn't have the stink of the healthcare vote on them. Ditto Flake minus the Wynn shoveling money at his primary opponent."
I feel pretty confident about flipping the Heller seat (if we could pick up the governor's mansion for the trifecta, that would be awesome).
The problem with Flake is that the Dems *still* don't have a major candidate. This baffles me, tbh.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:09 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
I feel pretty confident about flipping the Heller seat (if we could pick up the governor's mansion for the trifecta, that would be awesome).
The problem with Flake is that the Dems *still* don't have a major candidate. This baffles me, tbh.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:09 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
hey guys if propaganda and fake news and their role in the imminent collapse of our republic have you down, whatever you do, don't listen to the most recent radiolab
this actually is already impacting my job personally. As a production editor for a university's online courses, discussions have already begun on when/how to add to my job duties of edtiing audio/video, a skill set of creating audio/video out of a sampled collection of voices to dictate to a script.
Without a performance from an instructor.
'Lecturers' would hand in a sample of their voice, and a prepared transcript of of their material, and I would dictate/type their performance into the lecture. ETA on me becoming this Philip Dick side character are sometime in the next 5-10 years.
posted by rc3spencer at 8:12 AM on August 2, 2017 [42 favorites]
this actually is already impacting my job personally. As a production editor for a university's online courses, discussions have already begun on when/how to add to my job duties of edtiing audio/video, a skill set of creating audio/video out of a sampled collection of voices to dictate to a script.
Without a performance from an instructor.
'Lecturers' would hand in a sample of their voice, and a prepared transcript of of their material, and I would dictate/type their performance into the lecture. ETA on me becoming this Philip Dick side character are sometime in the next 5-10 years.
posted by rc3spencer at 8:12 AM on August 2, 2017 [42 favorites]
There doesn't seem to be (that I've found) a specific archive, but they're all individually listed under the 'speeches and remarks' archive (which is listed chronologically). It wouldn't take too long to compile them, but the fact that they're not tagged in any way is...well, a finely-tuned machine this administration isn't.
Is he doing one on leaf peeping?
posted by zarq at 8:17 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Is he doing one on leaf peeping?
posted by zarq at 8:17 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Yglesias points out that Deval Patrick has spent his post-gubernatorial time cashing in at Bain Capital, which...is maybe not the best look for a Democrat currently.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 8:19 AM on August 2, 2017 [28 favorites]
Instead, he’s been at Bain Capital, running a new social good private equity fund called Double Impact, which has raised $390 million for investments in small- and medium-size companies that he said need to show a focus on “sustainability, health and wellness, and then a place-based strategy we’re calling ‘community building,’ which is about companies that are intentional about creating good jobs and economic activity in places of chronic underemployment.” The first two investments are in a chain of small, low-cost gyms in Michigan and Indiana that he hopes will bring affordable fitness to underserved areas, and in a company in Texas that diverts organic waste.This sounds... pretty good? Like if you're going to be part of the capitalist machine, this is basically the best possible way you can do that.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 8:19 AM on August 2, 2017 [28 favorites]
Trump Signs Russia Sanctions Bill, But Lays Out His Concerns About the Law (Bloomberg, Margaret Talev)
President to add signing statement as legislation becomes law
posted by Room 641-A at 8:19 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
President to add signing statement as legislation becomes law
President Donald Trump has signed the Russia sanctions bill Congress forced on him, and is adding a statement saying the administration will carry out the law but with reservations about its impact and the constitutionality of some provisions.Is that going to be enough for Putin? I don't think so!
The so-called signing statement, obtained by Bloomberg, lays out Trump’s concerns about the legislation, including that it encroaches on presidential authority and may hurt U.S. ability to work with allies.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:19 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
WaPo: Trump sings bill imposing new sanctions on Russia, but issues a statement with concerns
From story: "he intends to issue a signing statement, which will highlight his concerns with it."
*of course* he will. gotta send that love letter to Putin.
Note - no text of signing statement yet; guessing they'll add it when it's available.
posted by martin q blank at 8:20 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
From story: "he intends to issue a signing statement, which will highlight his concerns with it."
*of course* he will. gotta send that love letter to Putin.
Note - no text of signing statement yet; guessing they'll add it when it's available.
posted by martin q blank at 8:20 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Tom Namako of Buzzfeed news, just now on Twitter: "In its haste to pass this legislation, the Congress included a number of clearly unconstitutional provisions" Trump on Russia sanctions [which he apparently signed]
im out of whats to even fuck at this point, really.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:21 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
im out of whats to even fuck at this point, really.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:21 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
So, um, he doesn't know he has veto power? Interesting...
posted by Sys Rq at 8:23 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Sys Rq at 8:23 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
'Lecturers' would hand in a sample of their voice, and a prepared transcript of of their material, and I would dictate/type their performance into the lecture.
Okay, I know all kinds of horrible things can come of this, but the thing I'm most indignant about is that if you can do this, at least let me listen to these lectures as read by Liam Neeson or something.
More seriously:
Like if you're going to be part of the capitalist machine, this is basically the best possible way you can do that.
Yeah, I'm not in favor of our system as it stands, but as long as we have that system, I think it's dangerous for progressives to completely avoid that world, because it just means that conservatives wind up managing all the capital. I'm less concerned with what company someone is working for than what they're actually doing. All that said, I think there's unfortunately something to be said for running someone boring and respectable, but... it's going to need to be someone who can manage the circus that 2020 is going to be.
posted by Sequence at 8:24 AM on August 2, 2017 [13 favorites]
Okay, I know all kinds of horrible things can come of this, but the thing I'm most indignant about is that if you can do this, at least let me listen to these lectures as read by Liam Neeson or something.
More seriously:
Like if you're going to be part of the capitalist machine, this is basically the best possible way you can do that.
Yeah, I'm not in favor of our system as it stands, but as long as we have that system, I think it's dangerous for progressives to completely avoid that world, because it just means that conservatives wind up managing all the capital. I'm less concerned with what company someone is working for than what they're actually doing. All that said, I think there's unfortunately something to be said for running someone boring and respectable, but... it's going to need to be someone who can manage the circus that 2020 is going to be.
posted by Sequence at 8:24 AM on August 2, 2017 [13 favorites]
WaPo: Trump sings bill imposing new sanctions on Russia, but issues a statement with concerns
From story: "he intends to issue a signing statement, which will highlight his concerns with it."
Big deal. Trump can shoot off his mouth all he wants, but even so anyone can see he failed to shield Russia from the sanctions. And the Magnitsky Act is, of course, still in place.
It's interesting how blatantly Putin is signalling that the Magnitsky Act, and the financial constraints it puts on him and his cronies, is his Achilles heel.
posted by Gelatin at 8:24 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
From story: "he intends to issue a signing statement, which will highlight his concerns with it."
Big deal. Trump can shoot off his mouth all he wants, but even so anyone can see he failed to shield Russia from the sanctions. And the Magnitsky Act is, of course, still in place.
It's interesting how blatantly Putin is signalling that the Magnitsky Act, and the financial constraints it puts on him and his cronies, is his Achilles heel.
posted by Gelatin at 8:24 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
constitutionality of some provisions.
Last time I checked, according to the GOP foreign persons don't have Constitutional rights. IOKIYR?
posted by mikelieman at 8:25 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Last time I checked, according to the GOP foreign persons don't have Constitutional rights. IOKIYR?
posted by mikelieman at 8:25 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
WaPo: Trump sings bill imposing new sanctions on Russia, but issues a statement with concerns
Is...is he trying to McCain Putin?
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:25 AM on August 2, 2017 [19 favorites]
Is...is he trying to McCain Putin?
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:25 AM on August 2, 2017 [19 favorites]
Tom Namako of Buzzfeed news, just now on Twitter: "In its haste to pass this legislation, the Congress included a number of clearly unconstitutional provisions" Trump on Russia sanctions [which he apparently signed]
How nice for you, big shot! Since they're "blatantly unconstitutional," and you're a litigious jerk anyway, it should be child's play to get them overturned in court.
Yeah, good luck with that.
posted by Gelatin at 8:26 AM on August 2, 2017
How nice for you, big shot! Since they're "blatantly unconstitutional," and you're a litigious jerk anyway, it should be child's play to get them overturned in court.
Yeah, good luck with that.
posted by Gelatin at 8:26 AM on August 2, 2017
Big deal. Trump can shoot off his mouth all he wants, but even so anyone can see he failed to shield Russia from the sanctions. And the Magnitsky Act is, of course, still in place.
On top of that, there's additional scrutiny and criticism about the Executive's use of exemptions.
posted by mikelieman at 8:26 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
On top of that, there's additional scrutiny and criticism about the Executive's use of exemptions.
posted by mikelieman at 8:26 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
It's interesting how blatantly Putin is signalling that the Magnitsky Act, and the financial constraints it puts on him and his cronies, is his Achilles heel.
Well, my immediate thought is then that we've missed something else (in addition to these sanctions) that is more painful for The Kakistocrats to lose than not having lifted the sanctions.
posted by Slackermagee at 8:27 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Well, my immediate thought is then that we've missed something else (in addition to these sanctions) that is more painful for The Kakistocrats to lose than not having lifted the sanctions.
posted by Slackermagee at 8:27 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
@realDonaldTrump: It was my great honor to pay tribute to a VET who went above & beyond the call of duty to PROTECT our COMRADES, our COUNTRY, & OUR FREEDOM!
I did my thesis in a computational linguistics-y subject that involved stylistic analysis, string similarity, and so on.
I mention all this because I've realized I have almost the perfect background to derive some sort of index of how unstable Donald Trump is getting by measuring how much his tweets resemble Dr. Bronner's soap labels.
Insert one teaspoonful juicy Russian pulp. Collude! Collude! OK!!!
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 8:30 AM on August 2, 2017 [65 favorites]
I did my thesis in a computational linguistics-y subject that involved stylistic analysis, string similarity, and so on.
I mention all this because I've realized I have almost the perfect background to derive some sort of index of how unstable Donald Trump is getting by measuring how much his tweets resemble Dr. Bronner's soap labels.
Insert one teaspoonful juicy Russian pulp. Collude! Collude! OK!!!
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 8:30 AM on August 2, 2017 [65 favorites]
So, um, he doesn't know he has veto power? Interesting...
The sanctions passed overwhelmingly, by veto-proof margins. Had he vetoed them, Trump would have suffered the humiliation of it being overturned. Which means that Trump places his ego above the interests of his Russian handlers at least to some extent.
posted by Gelatin at 8:30 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
The sanctions passed overwhelmingly, by veto-proof margins. Had he vetoed them, Trump would have suffered the humiliation of it being overturned. Which means that Trump places his ego above the interests of his Russian handlers at least to some extent.
posted by Gelatin at 8:30 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Of Course Abortion Should Be a Litmus Test for Democrats by Lindy West [nyt]
Abortion is normal. Abortion is common, necessary and happening every day across party lines, economic lines and religious lines. Abortion is also legal and, contrary to what the pundit economy would have you believe, not particularly controversial. According to the Pew Research Center, nearly 70 percent of all Americans oppose overturning Roe v. Wade, while 75 percent of Democrats believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. These are not numbers that indicate controversy.posted by melissasaurus at 8:31 AM on August 2, 2017 [94 favorites]
Yes, abortion does draw certain groups to the polls. Trump’s success among evangelicals can almost certainly be attributed to their belief that he will appoint justices who will bring about the end of Roe v. Wade (a promise that, it seems, with the appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, he intends to fulfill). But that is why Republicans vote; it’s not why Democrats vote.
Abortion is not controversial on the left. So what does it say that so many lefty men are willing to scrap it in an attempt to pander to some vague fantasy of a vast, disgruntled, anti-choice center?
This sounds... pretty good? Like if you're going to be part of the capitalist machine, this is basically the best possible way you can do that.
Because if there's two things the Republican mud slinging machine is known for it's highlighting nuance and intellectual honesty.
posted by Talez at 8:32 AM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
Because if there's two things the Republican mud slinging machine is known for it's highlighting nuance and intellectual honesty.
posted by Talez at 8:32 AM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
Much as it may be a totally quixotic task to try to glean any real meaning from the president*s word-salad brain, I think the "blatantly unconstitutional" part hes referring to is the limitation of his own power to negotiate with foreign entities, not that the sanctions bill deprives foreigners of their questionably-extant constitutional rights (as I understand it as a non-lawyer some rights enshrined in the constitution apply to more than just citizens, in some cases anyway).
Then again hes operation on an honorary JD from trump Univ. skool o law, so maybe he didn't mean what I think he meant. the tweets speak for themselves, after all.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:33 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Then again hes operation on an honorary JD from trump Univ. skool o law, so maybe he didn't mean what I think he meant. the tweets speak for themselves, after all.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:33 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Canada is getting so many asylum seekers from the US now that we have opened a temporary shelter in the Montreal Olympic stadium.
posted by fimbulvetr at 8:33 AM on August 2, 2017 [22 favorites]
posted by fimbulvetr at 8:33 AM on August 2, 2017 [22 favorites]
Which means that Trump places his ego above the interests of his Russian handlers at least to some extent.
His handlers know not to push him too hard for no appreciable reason.
Yet.
posted by Etrigan at 8:34 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
His handlers know not to push him too hard for no appreciable reason.
Yet.
posted by Etrigan at 8:34 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Canada is getting so many asylum seekers from the US now that we have opened a temporary shelter in the Montreal Olympic stadium.
I wonder how many of these are American citizens and how many are people who sought asylum in the US first. I also wonder how bad it would have to get for an American citizen to be granted asylum. Asking for a friend.
posted by AFABulous at 8:40 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
I wonder how many of these are American citizens and how many are people who sought asylum in the US first. I also wonder how bad it would have to get for an American citizen to be granted asylum. Asking for a friend.
posted by AFABulous at 8:40 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
So it appears they sent out two versions of the signing statement?
#1
#2
In one of them (I'm guessing the one written to soothe Trump) he takes the opportunity to brag: "I built a truly great company worth many billions of dollars."
posted by bluecore at 8:41 AM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
#1
#2
In one of them (I'm guessing the one written to soothe Trump) he takes the opportunity to brag: "I built a truly great company worth many billions of dollars."
posted by bluecore at 8:41 AM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
Oh, if I RTFA a little closer, it says that many are Haitian. I'm still wondering about my 2nd question though.
posted by AFABulous at 8:41 AM on August 2, 2017
posted by AFABulous at 8:41 AM on August 2, 2017
All this willingness to allow forced-birthers to run under the Democratic banner REALLY pisses me off. When I was working in the campaign office last year, 75-80% of the Democratic volunteers were women or otherwise feminine presenting people. We often lack the money of the Republican machine, so the Democratic Party is even more dependent on the unpaid labor of volunteers.
It's utterly fury-making that be-uterined people's reproductive freedom is apparently up for debate within the party. Chasing that mythical "swing voter" at the expense of your most loyal and valuable members is so goddamned stupid I can't even. Burn this forced-birth tolerance bullshit to. the. ground.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 8:43 AM on August 2, 2017 [73 favorites]
It's utterly fury-making that be-uterined people's reproductive freedom is apparently up for debate within the party. Chasing that mythical "swing voter" at the expense of your most loyal and valuable members is so goddamned stupid I can't even. Burn this forced-birth tolerance bullshit to. the. ground.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 8:43 AM on August 2, 2017 [73 favorites]
This sounds... pretty good? Like if you're going to be part of the capitalist machine, this is basically the best possible way you can do that.
Because if there's two things the Republican mud slinging machine is known for it's highlighting nuance and intellectual honesty.
They're also known for just straight-up making shit up, so I think we can dispense with the notion that Patrick is "handing" them dirt.
posted by Etrigan at 8:44 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Because if there's two things the Republican mud slinging machine is known for it's highlighting nuance and intellectual honesty.
They're also known for just straight-up making shit up, so I think we can dispense with the notion that Patrick is "handing" them dirt.
posted by Etrigan at 8:44 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
The sanctions bill also includes sanctions on Iran and North Korea, so maybe he just wants to start a war more than he cares about whatever Russians can do to him at this point. I wish the other sanctions had been discussed more, because it's very disconcerting to me how close it feels like we are to blowing up Obama's Iran nuclear deal while simultaneously trying to aggravate the North Koreans into preemptively attacking.
posted by Copronymus at 8:44 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Copronymus at 8:44 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
I built a truly great company worth many billions of dollars.
"I built a truly great company with billions of laundered Russian dollars -- and you are going to ruin it all with your meddling."
posted by JackFlash at 8:47 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
"I built a truly great company with billions of laundered Russian dollars -- and you are going to ruin it all with your meddling."
posted by JackFlash at 8:47 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
Does he want to start a war for funsies? It seems the only reason he does things are to stroke his ego or to make money, so I guess the next photo op will be of him driving a tank. (Unless he thinks ahead to the inevitable Dukakis memes, which he probably won't.)
posted by AFABulous at 8:51 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by AFABulous at 8:51 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Abortion is not controversial on the left. So what does it say that so many lefty men are willing to scrap it in an attempt to pander to some vague fantasy of a vast, disgruntled, anti-choice center?
One of the many things I've read about this issue is Luke Howard's "Returning to the March for Life". I'm not sure what else to say about it. It did make me entirely more confused about the issue. My stance on the whole is still "if you don't like abortions then don't get one" because I, as a white male, don't think I have any skin in this game or should have any say in the matter at all, but for the 160 million women in this country there's most certainly 160 million different opinions on abortion, all its nuances, the reasons why they have those opinions, their priorities, their values, everything.
posted by Talez at 8:52 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
One of the many things I've read about this issue is Luke Howard's "Returning to the March for Life". I'm not sure what else to say about it. It did make me entirely more confused about the issue. My stance on the whole is still "if you don't like abortions then don't get one" because I, as a white male, don't think I have any skin in this game or should have any say in the matter at all, but for the 160 million women in this country there's most certainly 160 million different opinions on abortion, all its nuances, the reasons why they have those opinions, their priorities, their values, everything.
posted by Talez at 8:52 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
"I can make far better deals with foreign countries than Congress."
Here comes President Deals again, making Mexico pay for Medicaid and Saudi Arabia pay $100bn for the border wall and getting Foxconn to invest $10, no probably more like $30 trillion in our nations golf courses and beauty pageants
posted by Existential Dread at 8:53 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
Here comes President Deals again, making Mexico pay for Medicaid and Saudi Arabia pay $100bn for the border wall and getting Foxconn to invest $10, no probably more like $30 trillion in our nations golf courses and beauty pageants
posted by Existential Dread at 8:53 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
So it appears they sent out two versions of the signing statement
This is remarkable. I don't have words.
I mention all this because I've realized I have almost the perfect background to derive some sort of index of how unstable Donald Trump is getting by measuring how much his tweets resemble Dr. Bronner's soap labels.
He's also got a lot of George Costanza in him:
posted by Room 641-A at 8:54 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
This is remarkable. I don't have words.
I mention all this because I've realized I have almost the perfect background to derive some sort of index of how unstable Donald Trump is getting by measuring how much his tweets resemble Dr. Bronner's soap labels.
He's also got a lot of George Costanza in him:
And by the way, I’d be the first to admit mixed. I’m a guy that will tell you mixed. There was no mix there. That was a standing ovation from the time I walked out to the time I left, and for five minutes after I had already gone. There was no mix.Btw, did anyone see MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle trying to suppress laughter during the interview with the R who was also a gynecologist. She was nearly full Jimmy Fallon, but I didn't catch what set her off.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:54 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Statement by President Donald J. Trump on Signing the “Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act”
"I have no idea how these people got their CAATS wedged into their Act or why"
posted by melissasaurus at 8:56 AM on August 2, 2017 [26 favorites]
"I have no idea how these people got their CAATS wedged into their Act or why"
posted by melissasaurus at 8:56 AM on August 2, 2017 [26 favorites]
Also, I apologize in advance for my post. I'm not intentionally trying to be an apologist for the anti-choice lobby or for male political leaders trying to make hay with possible anti-choice centrists. It just made me think and helped me to humanize the other side.
posted by Talez at 8:56 AM on August 2, 2017
posted by Talez at 8:56 AM on August 2, 2017
Talez: "Because if there's two things the Republican mud slinging machine is known for it's highlighting nuance and intellectual honesty."
I think the difficult part would be more with the primary, given the leftist surge of party enthusiasm.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:58 AM on August 2, 2017
I think the difficult part would be more with the primary, given the leftist surge of party enthusiasm.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:58 AM on August 2, 2017
Talez: "Also, I apologize in advance for my post."
What you should apologize for is calling a comment a post.
UNFORGIVABLE
posted by Chrysostom at 9:00 AM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
What you should apologize for is calling a comment a post.
UNFORGIVABLE
posted by Chrysostom at 9:00 AM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
UNFORGIVABLE
Sir, I do believe the dank meme the kids are using is "LITERALLY UNPLAYABLE".
Your comment is LITERALLY UNPLAYABLE.
posted by Talez at 9:02 AM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
Sir, I do believe the dank meme the kids are using is "LITERALLY UNPLAYABLE".
Your comment is LITERALLY UNPLAYABLE.
posted by Talez at 9:02 AM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
I, as a white male, don't think I have any skin in this game
I think white males have skin in the game as humans, and should work to protect a woman's right to chose. I don't see a lot of nuance in the abortion issue, because studies show that abortions are less common in places with proper medical care and education. So both pro-choice and anti-choice people should work together to expand choice while simultaneously reducing the number of abortions.
posted by cell divide at 9:03 AM on August 2, 2017 [40 favorites]
I think white males have skin in the game as humans, and should work to protect a woman's right to chose. I don't see a lot of nuance in the abortion issue, because studies show that abortions are less common in places with proper medical care and education. So both pro-choice and anti-choice people should work together to expand choice while simultaneously reducing the number of abortions.
posted by cell divide at 9:03 AM on August 2, 2017 [40 favorites]
Are you guys seeing the news about the RAISE Act that Trump is backing? I feel sick.
posted by prefpara at 9:04 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by prefpara at 9:04 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Yeah, I'm not in favor of our system as it stands, but as long as we have that system, I think it's dangerous for progressives to completely avoid that world, because it just means that conservatives wind up managing all the capital.
I agree, I think it's important to have people working inside and outside the system. But of all the people in this country, can we not find someone without big money and banking and corporate ties to be at the top? Maybe he'd make a great Treasury Secretary or something?
posted by Room 641-A at 9:05 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
I agree, I think it's important to have people working inside and outside the system. But of all the people in this country, can we not find someone without big money and banking and corporate ties to be at the top? Maybe he'd make a great Treasury Secretary or something?
posted by Room 641-A at 9:05 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
More on the RAISE Act:
Speaking as an immigrant (and a refugee), I still feel sick. Going to go look at some photos of my family members still abroad and try not to cry at work.
posted by prefpara at 9:08 AM on August 2, 2017 [45 favorites]
To achieve the reductions, Cotton and Perdue are taking aim at green cards for extended family members of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents, including grown children, grandparents and siblings.The same article says it's hard to see this shit getting 60 votes which, god bless every Democrat in the Senate.
Speaking as an immigrant (and a refugee), I still feel sick. Going to go look at some photos of my family members still abroad and try not to cry at work.
posted by prefpara at 9:08 AM on August 2, 2017 [45 favorites]
Why is it that when the issue is a right wing issue it's a "principle", but when it's a left wing issue it's a "litmus test"?
I'm also curious about how far our spineless wimpocrat leadership takes this BS.
Would they support a pro-segregation candidate in an area that is traditionally racist?
Would they support a pro-holocaust candidate in an area that is traditionally antisemitic?
Would they support an anti-LGBT candidate in an area that is traditionally homophobic?
What other parts of the Democratic platform are mere suggestions that can be abandoned for the right candidate in the right place?
It seems that only women's rights are mere "litmus tests", the rest are principles.
We, of course, are expected by the party elders and very important editorialists to take this without complaint on pain of being accused of being childish and making the perfect the enemy of the good.
Meanwhile, those self same editorialists will provide infinite cover for misogynists and other assorted right wing choads, they'll write that the progressives allied themselves with hate, because some of the people involved in the Resistance are radicals.
Those sorts of right wing attacks from ostensible Democrats on other Democrats are not and can never be "making the perfect the enemy of the good". Only filthy hippies who dare to criticize St. Manchin may be accused of that.
As always, in the Democratic party it is literally impossible to be too right wing, but extremely easy to be too left wing.
posted by sotonohito at 9:10 AM on August 2, 2017 [84 favorites]
I'm also curious about how far our spineless wimpocrat leadership takes this BS.
Would they support a pro-segregation candidate in an area that is traditionally racist?
Would they support a pro-holocaust candidate in an area that is traditionally antisemitic?
Would they support an anti-LGBT candidate in an area that is traditionally homophobic?
What other parts of the Democratic platform are mere suggestions that can be abandoned for the right candidate in the right place?
It seems that only women's rights are mere "litmus tests", the rest are principles.
We, of course, are expected by the party elders and very important editorialists to take this without complaint on pain of being accused of being childish and making the perfect the enemy of the good.
Meanwhile, those self same editorialists will provide infinite cover for misogynists and other assorted right wing choads, they'll write that the progressives allied themselves with hate, because some of the people involved in the Resistance are radicals.
Those sorts of right wing attacks from ostensible Democrats on other Democrats are not and can never be "making the perfect the enemy of the good". Only filthy hippies who dare to criticize St. Manchin may be accused of that.
As always, in the Democratic party it is literally impossible to be too right wing, but extremely easy to be too left wing.
posted by sotonohito at 9:10 AM on August 2, 2017 [84 favorites]
I'm still wondering about my 2nd question though.
AFABulous: Generally you would have to face certain death back home, like refugees fleeing genocide or, in the case of the Haitians, the breakdown of society/certain death by starvation and thirst caused by the earthquake. My understanding is that the first safe country you land in, you have to apply for refugee status in.
I'm thinking for Americans this means an active purge of some kind-- we'd be seeing people pulled out of their homes or deliberate famine...someone at risk of being deported by ICE might have a case, but might not. Americans usually can't get refugee or asylum status in Canada, though there were some exceptions for people fleeing the draft back in the day. There was an African-American man a little while ago whose case was rejected after he argued that police violence was a threat to his life in America based in genocidal prejudice-- I happen to think he has a point, but I see why Canada would prioritize how it does-- so there does need to be an obvious danger that isn't also present in Canada. We're not there yet. I would think that internment camps or banning certain groups from working would maybe get us there, but it sure didn't in WWII, so...
posted by blnkfrnk at 9:11 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
AFABulous: Generally you would have to face certain death back home, like refugees fleeing genocide or, in the case of the Haitians, the breakdown of society/certain death by starvation and thirst caused by the earthquake. My understanding is that the first safe country you land in, you have to apply for refugee status in.
I'm thinking for Americans this means an active purge of some kind-- we'd be seeing people pulled out of their homes or deliberate famine...someone at risk of being deported by ICE might have a case, but might not. Americans usually can't get refugee or asylum status in Canada, though there were some exceptions for people fleeing the draft back in the day. There was an African-American man a little while ago whose case was rejected after he argued that police violence was a threat to his life in America based in genocidal prejudice-- I happen to think he has a point, but I see why Canada would prioritize how it does-- so there does need to be an obvious danger that isn't also present in Canada. We're not there yet. I would think that internment camps or banning certain groups from working would maybe get us there, but it sure didn't in WWII, so...
posted by blnkfrnk at 9:11 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
To achieve the reductions, Cotton and Perdue are taking aim at green cards for extended family members of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents, including grown children, grandparents and siblings.It already takes over a decade to get green cards for these categories of family members. They're just kicking these people while they're down for no good fucking reason.
posted by Talez at 9:13 AM on August 2, 2017 [25 favorites]
Nobody is stopping antichoice people from voting Democratic if they want to. If they are doing so, they are doing so because abortion is not their most important issue. Thus, compromising on abortion to reach out to them is nonsensical.
In other words, the Republicans own the antichoice position, and we should let them do so, because it's a terrible position with bad consequences for all women.
We should also, of course, loudly point out all the ways in which their position hurts actual women, children, and even fetuses (through lack of prenatal care), and that their claim to be "pro-life" is hypocritical in the extreme, and even raises the rate of abortions, legal and non-.
Our stance should be that we trust and support women, and they just want to punish them. Because that's the truth.
posted by emjaybee at 9:14 AM on August 2, 2017 [51 favorites]
In other words, the Republicans own the antichoice position, and we should let them do so, because it's a terrible position with bad consequences for all women.
We should also, of course, loudly point out all the ways in which their position hurts actual women, children, and even fetuses (through lack of prenatal care), and that their claim to be "pro-life" is hypocritical in the extreme, and even raises the rate of abortions, legal and non-.
Our stance should be that we trust and support women, and they just want to punish them. Because that's the truth.
posted by emjaybee at 9:14 AM on August 2, 2017 [51 favorites]
The conventional wisdom by which the establishment Democrats abide states that the most desirable political position is one equidistant between two extremes. Since many Republicans take the view that abortion should be absolutely illegal under any circumstances, I volunteer to take the equal and opposite view that abortion should be absolutely mandatory and that no pregnancies may be allowed to come to term. This frees up the establishment Democrats to take on a centrist policy, i.e, that abortion should always be legal, but also a decision that may be made only by the pregnant person.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:16 AM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:16 AM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
I, as a white male, don't think I have any skin in this game
Besides agreeing with cell divide's comment, I'll point out that this thinking is based on a flawed assumption. Abortion is not the only target of the forced-birth crowd; they also have contraception in their sights. So unless as a man you don't care at all about the right to ever choose contraception, you very much do have skin in the game.
posted by Gelatin at 9:18 AM on August 2, 2017 [20 favorites]
Besides agreeing with cell divide's comment, I'll point out that this thinking is based on a flawed assumption. Abortion is not the only target of the forced-birth crowd; they also have contraception in their sights. So unless as a man you don't care at all about the right to ever choose contraception, you very much do have skin in the game.
posted by Gelatin at 9:18 AM on August 2, 2017 [20 favorites]
Since many Republicans take the view that abortion should be absolutely illegal under any circumstances, I volunteer to take the equal and opposite view that abortion should be absolutely mandatory and that no pregnancies may be allowed to come to term.
It couldn't hurt. Back in the late '00s a few of us took up the facetious position that we want to make gay marriage mandatory and look how that turned out.
Besides agreeing with cell divide's comment, I'll point out that this thinking is based on a flawed assumption. Abortion is not the only target of the forced-birth crowd; they also have contraception in their sights. So unless as a man you don't care at all about the right to ever choose contraception, you very much do have skin in the game.
OK, I don't believe I have skin in the game telling a woman what she should do, not what her choices should be.
posted by Talez at 9:19 AM on August 2, 2017
It couldn't hurt. Back in the late '00s a few of us took up the facetious position that we want to make gay marriage mandatory and look how that turned out.
Besides agreeing with cell divide's comment, I'll point out that this thinking is based on a flawed assumption. Abortion is not the only target of the forced-birth crowd; they also have contraception in their sights. So unless as a man you don't care at all about the right to ever choose contraception, you very much do have skin in the game.
OK, I don't believe I have skin in the game telling a woman what she should do, not what her choices should be.
posted by Talez at 9:19 AM on August 2, 2017
Beyond Parody Department: Trump considering Rick Perry as DHS secretary.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:19 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 9:19 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
A trio of recent tech and science-related articles from Wired:
Obama Alums Pour $1.5 Million Into Progressive Tech Startups (Issie Lapowsky, August 2, 2017)
posted by filthy light thief at 9:20 AM on August 2, 2017 [45 favorites]
Obama Alums Pour $1.5 Million Into Progressive Tech Startups (Issie Lapowsky, August 2, 2017)
... a group of former Obama staffers is trying to break that cycle [of shelving once-innovative tools to target voters]. The group, Higher Ground Labs, is taking a note from Sand Hill Road and applying venture-capital tactics to progressive politics. On Wednesday, Higher Ground is disclosing investments totaling nearly $1.5 million in 10 startups and enrolling them in a five-month accelerator program, during which they’ll work with mentors from the political-tech space to build their businesses.US Scientists, Please Run for Office. The Planet Needs You (Clive Thompson, Aug. 1, 2017)
...
Higher Ground has raised $2.5 million from investors spanning politics and the tech industry. The companies receiving funding include Qriously, which uses programmatic online ads instead of phone calls to gauge public opinion, Victory Guide, a so-called “digital campaign manager” that gives local candidates a day-by-day agenda of campaign goals, and Tuesday Strategies, which helps volunteers send personalized text and social media messages to friends the campaign wants to reach.
THE NEW GOP regime looks to be catastrophic for science: The first Trump budget proposed slashing funding on everything from ocean research to satellites. And work on climate science? “We consider that to be a waste of your money,” Trump’s budget director said. Science is under attack; there’s no other way to put it. Apart from marching in the streets and waving signs, what can scientists do?Good news, Clive! The US Scientists Stepping Up to Run for Office (Tim Murphy, Aug. 2017)
Run for office. The country desperately needs more egghead lawmakers. Right now, Capitol Hill has almost none. The House and Senate are acrawl with lawyers, bankers, and businesspeople but somehow manage to repel people trained in the process of gathering data and testing hypotheses in order to better understand reality.
Yet, my God—aren’t those precisely the skills you want in today’s post-fact Washington?
THERE’S SOMETHING DIFFERENT about the crop of Democrats running for Congress in 2018. As in previous years, the party has recruited a small army of veterans in high-profile races and in Republican-held districts. There are loads of state legislators, business owners, and government officials.Good, long article, though no helpful links to follow, so I added some.
But the candidates also include a volcanologist [Jess Phoenix, CA 25th District] who’s worried that her favorite research spot will be opened up for development; an aerospace engineer [Joseph Kopser, TX District 21] who’s running against the climate-denying head of the House Science Committee; a pediatrician [Mai-Khanh Tran, MD, CA-39] who spends part of the year treating leprosy patients in Vietnam; and a physicist [Elaine DiMasi, NY, 1st Congressional District] who worries what budget cuts would mean to the federal research facility where she spent her career.
All told, more than a dozen Democratic candidates with science backgrounds have announced their candidacies for Congress or are expected to in the coming months.
...
The surge of science-based candidates has been aided by a new political outfit called 314 Action, launched last summer by Shaughnessy Naughton, a breast cancer researcher from Pennsylvania who ran for Congress in 2014 and 2016 . The group, named for the first three digits of Pi, aims to do for candidates with scientific backgrounds what EMILY’s List has done for pro-choice women—funding, recruiting, and training candidates at every level of government. So far 6,000 scientists have reached out to the group about running for federal, state, and local offices; and 314 plans to also back candidates in three dozen school board races this fall. Washington has plenty of lawyers; maybe it’s time for a fresh experiment.
...
The only STEM field that’s well represented in Congress is medicine; there are 14 physicians between the House and the Senate, but most are Republicans who have shown more of a commitment to conservative dogma than scientific best practices. (Former Georgia Republican Rep. Paul Broun, a doctor, infamously referred to evolutionary biology as a lie “from the pit of hell.”)
posted by filthy light thief at 9:20 AM on August 2, 2017 [45 favorites]
Like I said, my whole position on abortions is "You don't like abortions? Don't get one" which is pretty much a default for not telling a woman what to do with her life.
posted by Talez at 9:20 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Talez at 9:20 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
giant wad of hair like piss-colored cotton candy that hisses and spits at passersy-by
That's Bannon's dinner.
posted by notsnot at 9:21 AM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
That's Bannon's dinner.
posted by notsnot at 9:21 AM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
Why is it that when the issue is a right wing issue it's a "principle", but when it's a left wing issue it's a "litmus test"?
Oooh, I know! Pick me!
Because the so-called "liberal media" internalizes much of the right wing's framing, regardless of whether it agrees with the conservative stance on an issue? (For example, NPR's endless use of the Republican slogan "repeal and replace" in reference to the ACA, even when there was no assurance Republicans would or could even replace it.)
posted by Gelatin at 9:21 AM on August 2, 2017 [20 favorites]
Oooh, I know! Pick me!
Because the so-called "liberal media" internalizes much of the right wing's framing, regardless of whether it agrees with the conservative stance on an issue? (For example, NPR's endless use of the Republican slogan "repeal and replace" in reference to the ACA, even when there was no assurance Republicans would or could even replace it.)
posted by Gelatin at 9:21 AM on August 2, 2017 [20 favorites]
I'd rather talk less about theoretical ideological purity than who, specifically, we're talking about here. Who is this person who is shitty about abortion but great about everything else? I know some politicians who are personally religious but who aren't interested in legislating their beliefs; that's fine. But who's actively politically anti-abortion but a progressive I'd want to vote for on every other count? What is this person actually like? People who're interested in legislating their religion on one count are not coming to that position in isolation. If a pro-life person shows up with the magical perfect system they've invented that will permanently solve health care, income inequality and racism, I would vote for them and worry about solving all the other issues in a few years! I might as well be saying I'd vote for Santa. Everybody I've seen who's been problematic about this has also been problematic about a lot of stuff. There's a difference between a litmus test and a bellwether.
posted by Sequence at 9:23 AM on August 2, 2017 [37 favorites]
posted by Sequence at 9:23 AM on August 2, 2017 [37 favorites]
Beyond Parody Department: Trump considering Rick Perry as DHS secretary
This guy? Cool.
Cabinet members ‘laugh a lot’ about Rick Perry not knowing his department controls nuclear arsenal (Death & Taxes, Tosten Burks)
This guy? Cool.
Cabinet members ‘laugh a lot’ about Rick Perry not knowing his department controls nuclear arsenal (Death & Taxes, Tosten Burks)
“Secretary Perry is a wonderful guy,” Zinke said. “I think he thought his department was more about energy than…science. Mostly, it’s science. And, of course, they also have responsibility of our nuclear arsenal. Interior is the one that produces energy…we laugh a lot about it."posted by Room 641-A at 9:25 AM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
A social-liberal-to-left coalition of movement activists successfully badgered the conservatives and social liberals who hold Democratic Party Senate seats into mounting a thoroughgoing opposition to the Republican attempts to dismantle healthcare in America, and that opposition was (for now) successful. Now the electeds and institutional leaders of the Democratic Party are attempting to reclaim that victory for themselves and thereby keep the actual leaders — which is to say, movement activists — from displacing them or further marginalizing them. That's what this sudden swerve back to unappealing-to-everyone centrist nonsense is about.
Elected Democrats are not our leaders. Elected Democrats are our targets. Do not look to them for leadership, and don't expect them to do anything decent unless we force them to.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 9:25 AM on August 2, 2017 [33 favorites]
Elected Democrats are not our leaders. Elected Democrats are our targets. Do not look to them for leadership, and don't expect them to do anything decent unless we force them to.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 9:25 AM on August 2, 2017 [33 favorites]
Really, this "complicated" the issue for you? Why?
Because some people who are pro-forced birth aren't cartoonishly evil? Because some of them are actual humans who have uncritically accepted propaganda, as humans do?
Because there's a point where there's a heart beat? Because some nice woman "has the timeline down," even though she doesn't acknowledge that privileging the hypothetical "rights" of a potential life over the actual rights of a living woman is what she's actually describing? That this is the only time anyone seems to find this idea "nuanced" or "complicating" rather than fucking horrifying? And that they ignore the fact that that potential life becomes a life because a woman does the work to make it one, and this is the only time anyone's comfortable with forced labor?
That's enough to "complicate" the idea of fundamental rights for women for you?
Yeah, no shit you have no skin in the game. The things "progressive" men feel comfortable saying about women -- things they know would be beyond the pale for any other group -- will never cease to shock me.
posted by schadenfrau at 9:26 AM on August 2, 2017 [42 favorites]
Because some people who are pro-forced birth aren't cartoonishly evil? Because some of them are actual humans who have uncritically accepted propaganda, as humans do?
Because there's a point where there's a heart beat? Because some nice woman "has the timeline down," even though she doesn't acknowledge that privileging the hypothetical "rights" of a potential life over the actual rights of a living woman is what she's actually describing? That this is the only time anyone seems to find this idea "nuanced" or "complicating" rather than fucking horrifying? And that they ignore the fact that that potential life becomes a life because a woman does the work to make it one, and this is the only time anyone's comfortable with forced labor?
That's enough to "complicate" the idea of fundamental rights for women for you?
Yeah, no shit you have no skin in the game. The things "progressive" men feel comfortable saying about women -- things they know would be beyond the pale for any other group -- will never cease to shock me.
posted by schadenfrau at 9:26 AM on August 2, 2017 [42 favorites]
They're just kicking these people while they're down for no good fucking reason.
I wouldn't say it's a "good" reason, but there's definitely a reason and strategy behind it; to appeal to and rally their xenophobic, racist base.
posted by chris24 at 9:26 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
I wouldn't say it's a "good" reason, but there's definitely a reason and strategy behind it; to appeal to and rally their xenophobic, racist base.
posted by chris24 at 9:26 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Joe Manchin (D-WV) identifies as pro-life. I personally find that baffling and disgusting. But I'm also grateful to him for standing with the party in defending the ACA in the Senate. While I'd much, much rather see a pro-choice (pro-freedom, pro-health, pro-women, anti-government-screwing-around-in-your-body) senator occupying his seat, I'd also much, much rather have him there than a Republican who would have stripped us all of healthcare by now.
The DNC's statement about funding candidates isn't an abstract question about appealing to some hypothetical centrists who hold liberal positions on everything except abortion. (Though in fact I have met at least a few of these people, who say they consistently vote R even though they disagree with them on everything except abortion, because abortion is the issue that matters most to them. Anecdotes are not data, etc, but they do exist.) It's a very concrete question about whether they make campaign funds available to people like Joe Manchin. Once an anti-choice candidate has won the primary in a district, should the DNC refuse to support them against the Republican (who is almost certainly also anti-choice) in the general election?
I don't like it. The idea that money and/or effort I would expend for the Democratic national party would even indirectly help elect a candidate who would vote to support an anti-choice agenda makes me feel slightly ill. But as bad as that is, doing nothing and letting an anti-choice Republican who will also vote to take away healthcare, defund climate science, and tax the poor and give to the rich, that's even worse.
It doesn't seem like the party's staunch pro-choice platform is changing, only that they're reaffirming that they'll support candidates like Joe Manchin. I'm not happy with it, but I can't say that it doesn't seem like the lesser of evils to me. In the meantime, we need to focus on changing the conversation to the point that a pro-choice candidate can win the primary in a state like West Virginia.
posted by biogeo at 9:27 AM on August 2, 2017 [13 favorites]
The DNC's statement about funding candidates isn't an abstract question about appealing to some hypothetical centrists who hold liberal positions on everything except abortion. (Though in fact I have met at least a few of these people, who say they consistently vote R even though they disagree with them on everything except abortion, because abortion is the issue that matters most to them. Anecdotes are not data, etc, but they do exist.) It's a very concrete question about whether they make campaign funds available to people like Joe Manchin. Once an anti-choice candidate has won the primary in a district, should the DNC refuse to support them against the Republican (who is almost certainly also anti-choice) in the general election?
I don't like it. The idea that money and/or effort I would expend for the Democratic national party would even indirectly help elect a candidate who would vote to support an anti-choice agenda makes me feel slightly ill. But as bad as that is, doing nothing and letting an anti-choice Republican who will also vote to take away healthcare, defund climate science, and tax the poor and give to the rich, that's even worse.
It doesn't seem like the party's staunch pro-choice platform is changing, only that they're reaffirming that they'll support candidates like Joe Manchin. I'm not happy with it, but I can't say that it doesn't seem like the lesser of evils to me. In the meantime, we need to focus on changing the conversation to the point that a pro-choice candidate can win the primary in a state like West Virginia.
posted by biogeo at 9:27 AM on August 2, 2017 [13 favorites]
Like, honestly, how are the parallels between "oh we must think of the poor racist Trump voter and their special white person pain" and "we must think of the pro-forced birth advocate and their humanity" not unbelievably obvious?
posted by schadenfrau at 9:29 AM on August 2, 2017 [28 favorites]
posted by schadenfrau at 9:29 AM on August 2, 2017 [28 favorites]
The group, Higher Ground Labs, is taking a note from Sand Hill Road and applying venture-capital tactics to progressive politics.
So uh what they're gonna all run and invest in the same candidates within driving distance of their Mountainview McMansions and ignore any work being done outside the bay area?
They're all gonna wait for someone else to become the lead investor in political candidates so they can piggyback off someone else's due diligence?
They're gonna 'disrupt' politics by attempting to rent-seek and exploit inefficiencies in public services in order to enrich themselves?
Spare me this bullshit please, venture capital is hardly innovative or a social good in any sense. They have a herd mentality (look at fucking Juicero or Theranos), and their motivation is nothing more that 10x ROI on their investment dollars.
posted by Existential Dread at 9:29 AM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
So uh what they're gonna all run and invest in the same candidates within driving distance of their Mountainview McMansions and ignore any work being done outside the bay area?
They're all gonna wait for someone else to become the lead investor in political candidates so they can piggyback off someone else's due diligence?
They're gonna 'disrupt' politics by attempting to rent-seek and exploit inefficiencies in public services in order to enrich themselves?
Spare me this bullshit please, venture capital is hardly innovative or a social good in any sense. They have a herd mentality (look at fucking Juicero or Theranos), and their motivation is nothing more that 10x ROI on their investment dollars.
The companies receiving funding include Qriously, which uses programmatic online ads instead of phone calls to gauge public opinion, Victory Guide, a so-called “digital campaign manager” that gives local candidates a day-by-day agenda of campaign goals, and Tuesday Strategies, which helps volunteers send personalized text and social media messages to friends the campaign wants to reach.Gonna lose in 2020 if they rely on this kinda bullshit
posted by Existential Dread at 9:29 AM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
In other news Attorney General Jeff Sessions announces that the Justice Dept. is opening an investigation into why black people can say it but white people can't.
posted by scalefree at 9:36 AM on August 2, 2017 [48 favorites]
posted by scalefree at 9:36 AM on August 2, 2017 [48 favorites]
If we go down a path of funding being predicated on strict adherence to party platform, it shifts focus away from the candidates towards the largely non-elected party leaders who dictate platform - the same group and party image that got us into this mess to begin with (imho).
I dont think its a good idea.
posted by H. Roark at 9:38 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
I dont think its a good idea.
posted by H. Roark at 9:38 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
WTH with those two signing statements. That's crazy
Only one of them is "signed" and dated; the second one ends in bluster, and then sort of trails off.
posted by progosk at 9:38 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Only one of them is "signed" and dated; the second one ends in bluster, and then sort of trails off.
posted by progosk at 9:38 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
But who's actively politically anti-abortion but a progressive I'd want to vote for on every other count?
Here is the roll call for HR. 7 "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017." The Democrats voting to make the Hyde Amendment permanent include:
Cuellar
Lipinski
Peterson
Lipinski was also a cosponsor of the bill.
Only 121 out of 190 House Dems have cosponsored Rep. Barbara Lee's bill H.R. 775, "Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH Woman) Act of 2017"
NARAL's 2016 Congressional Record on Choice [pdf] has details on the 2016 votes.
Saying "it's up to the pregnant person" is not enough -- we have laws that essentially prevent poor women from accessing abortion care; we need to actively work to remove these barriers not just sit silently on the sidelines while women die.
posted by melissasaurus at 9:39 AM on August 2, 2017 [28 favorites]
Here is the roll call for HR. 7 "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017." The Democrats voting to make the Hyde Amendment permanent include:
Cuellar
Lipinski
Peterson
Lipinski was also a cosponsor of the bill.
Only 121 out of 190 House Dems have cosponsored Rep. Barbara Lee's bill H.R. 775, "Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH Woman) Act of 2017"
NARAL's 2016 Congressional Record on Choice [pdf] has details on the 2016 votes.
Saying "it's up to the pregnant person" is not enough -- we have laws that essentially prevent poor women from accessing abortion care; we need to actively work to remove these barriers not just sit silently on the sidelines while women die.
posted by melissasaurus at 9:39 AM on August 2, 2017 [28 favorites]
To my eye, opposing free and unrestricted access to abortion is indicative a deep moral failing, one rooted in a tendency to think that instructions on how to build a thing are the same thing as that thing (here's my long-form explanation of that stance).
Opposing abortion rights is enough to disqualify someone, because it indicates misogyny, and there is no place for misogyny within a political party. But even if that weren't enough to disqualify someone, opposition to abortion rights is indicative of an anti-worker, pro-boss, and anti-human political stance, and therefore has no place in a party that purports to be center-left.
It is — barely — acceptable for a political candidate in West Virginia or whatever to make statements about personal opposition to both abortion and also state restrictions on abortion, since that is a pro-choice stance. It's a bad stance, since it is mealy-mouthed and unappealing to everyone, and since it means that the man taking that stance (gendered language used deliberately) is foregoing an opportunity to move people in their state or district toward decency.
But it is not acceptable for any political candidate to militate for state restrictions on abortion, any more than it's acceptable for a political candidate to militate for apartheid.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 9:41 AM on August 2, 2017 [35 favorites]
Opposing abortion rights is enough to disqualify someone, because it indicates misogyny, and there is no place for misogyny within a political party. But even if that weren't enough to disqualify someone, opposition to abortion rights is indicative of an anti-worker, pro-boss, and anti-human political stance, and therefore has no place in a party that purports to be center-left.
It is — barely — acceptable for a political candidate in West Virginia or whatever to make statements about personal opposition to both abortion and also state restrictions on abortion, since that is a pro-choice stance. It's a bad stance, since it is mealy-mouthed and unappealing to everyone, and since it means that the man taking that stance (gendered language used deliberately) is foregoing an opportunity to move people in their state or district toward decency.
But it is not acceptable for any political candidate to militate for state restrictions on abortion, any more than it's acceptable for a political candidate to militate for apartheid.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 9:41 AM on August 2, 2017 [35 favorites]
Now the electeds and institutional leaders of the Democratic Party are attempting to reclaim that victory for themselves and thereby keep the actual leaders — which is to say, movement activists — from displacing them or further marginalizing them.
What's the evidence for this? I've mostly read that they acknowledge the resistance and are keeping their hands off it so as to not interfere.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 9:41 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
What's the evidence for this? I've mostly read that they acknowledge the resistance and are keeping their hands off it so as to not interfere.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 9:41 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
If you read my last number of tweets, only one opinion can be formed - that our President, and therefore "leader," is grossly incompetent!
Because of course.
posted by scalefree at 9:41 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
Because of course.
posted by scalefree at 9:41 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
Yeah count me in as tired of the "don't like abortions, don't have one" line. We need advocacy, we need to fight back. Staying out of it is not sufficient if you actually care about women's lives.
posted by agregoli at 9:41 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by agregoli at 9:41 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
Manchin is a great example, really. Manchin is not a solid progressive who just happens to be pro-life. He's a person who could very well be running as a Republican if he lived in a less conservative state. I do think it's worth talking about whether this is or isn't a good use of resources. But he's not just pro-life--look at how he's been about environmental regulation. And his history on LGBT stuff is mixed. It's a whole package of issues. It might work out in the political calculus to support him, but it definitely isn't just that he's got this one flaw. It's not like throwing abortion under the bus will get everything else done.
posted by Sequence at 9:43 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Sequence at 9:43 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Just as I've noted that the Overton window has to move on "pro-choice" (meaning, a person with a uterus is the only one with ownership of that uterus and whether to give birth) I want "pro-life" to change to "pro-forced-birth" or "the patriarchal control party" or maybe "pro-Handmaid's-Tale." Because white evangelists - the largest contingent of pro-lifers, and certainly the most politically influential - want to take away birth control AND defund children's services and any other thing that makes taking care of already born children easier.
I think they want white Christian men to have vast families of abused and neglected children.
Fred Clark/Slacktivist on the history of the pro-life movement and its linkage with white evangelicals.
Pro-life seems to be about Not Enough White Baybeez, and since the Republicans are the party of white supremacy, of course they are pro-forced-birth.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 9:45 AM on August 2, 2017 [32 favorites]
I think they want white Christian men to have vast families of abused and neglected children.
Fred Clark/Slacktivist on the history of the pro-life movement and its linkage with white evangelicals.
Pro-life seems to be about Not Enough White Baybeez, and since the Republicans are the party of white supremacy, of course they are pro-forced-birth.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 9:45 AM on August 2, 2017 [32 favorites]
I'd like to see the DNC figure out how to protect the rights of Democrats, particularly women and minorities, and advance the interests of Democrats, and to hell with what conservatives and Trump supporters think. Who cares what they think? The point of winning an election is that you don't have to fucking care, because you have a majority and can drive the agenda. Haven't we learned anything from the last FOUR elections?
The simple fact is that Trump supporters and conservatives will benefit from a Democratic agenda, because our agenda is generally beneficial to society. I don't give a shit if conservatives cry over the idea that a zygote might have fewer rights than an adult woman, who is also allowed to do things like work and possess property, and that black people aren't arrested in droves, and that educational textbooks tell the truth, and that science is in schools and religion is not. Who fucking cares. Conservatives certainly don't worry about how we feel about the damage their horrifying descent into fascism is doing, they are celebrating our horror. Are we actually sitting here discussing their fucking feelings of outrage over our propositions that legitimately benefit the public good? WHO CARES. Stop focusing on that. Focus on OUR feelings and what WE want.
Jesus. Two political parties and all either one gives a shit about is what the know-nothing Nazis would vote for? STOP COURTING THEIR VOTE. They do not matter except that their voice is destructive to the foundation of democracy. We should be shutting them out as much as possible, not figuring out a way to include them.
posted by Autumnheart at 9:46 AM on August 2, 2017 [44 favorites]
The simple fact is that Trump supporters and conservatives will benefit from a Democratic agenda, because our agenda is generally beneficial to society. I don't give a shit if conservatives cry over the idea that a zygote might have fewer rights than an adult woman, who is also allowed to do things like work and possess property, and that black people aren't arrested in droves, and that educational textbooks tell the truth, and that science is in schools and religion is not. Who fucking cares. Conservatives certainly don't worry about how we feel about the damage their horrifying descent into fascism is doing, they are celebrating our horror. Are we actually sitting here discussing their fucking feelings of outrage over our propositions that legitimately benefit the public good? WHO CARES. Stop focusing on that. Focus on OUR feelings and what WE want.
Jesus. Two political parties and all either one gives a shit about is what the know-nothing Nazis would vote for? STOP COURTING THEIR VOTE. They do not matter except that their voice is destructive to the foundation of democracy. We should be shutting them out as much as possible, not figuring out a way to include them.
posted by Autumnheart at 9:46 AM on August 2, 2017 [44 favorites]
Yeah count me in as tired of the "don't like abortions, don't have one" line.
And regardless of whether you "like" abortions, if you have the ability to become pregnant, your life may depend on access to abortion procedures. Not all abortions are wanted; not all abortions are "elective."
posted by melissasaurus at 9:50 AM on August 2, 2017 [39 favorites]
And regardless of whether you "like" abortions, if you have the ability to become pregnant, your life may depend on access to abortion procedures. Not all abortions are wanted; not all abortions are "elective."
posted by melissasaurus at 9:50 AM on August 2, 2017 [39 favorites]
Sometimes I think about how all of this will end. Usually I imagine Trump convicted of his crimes and sentenced to prison, but more and more lately I end up with a mental image of him in a straightjacket, curled up in the corner of a padded room and muttering sentence fragments to himself while staring off blankly into space. "...biggest crowds ever... best speech they ever had... ten minutes of applause..."
posted by Servo5678 at 9:50 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Servo5678 at 9:50 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
He's a person who could very well be running as a Republican if he lived in a less conservative state.
And he would lose if he did that. There's not a single red state Republican who is less conservative than he is. Not one! Murkowski is about on par, and as we know Alaska has a lot of idiosyncracies that make it unusual.
posted by Justinian at 9:54 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
And he would lose if he did that. There's not a single red state Republican who is less conservative than he is. Not one! Murkowski is about on par, and as we know Alaska has a lot of idiosyncracies that make it unusual.
posted by Justinian at 9:54 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Room 641-A: “Secretary Perry is a wonderful guy,” Zinke said. “I think he thought his department was more about energy than…science. Mostly, it’s science. And, of course, they also have responsibility of our nuclear arsenal. Interior is the one that produces energy…we laugh a lot about it."
"And then we cry. And drink. We do a lot of crying into our drinks now. I've come to really appreciate goses." [fake]
My own appreciation of goses is [real].
posted by filthy light thief at 9:54 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
"And then we cry. And drink. We do a lot of crying into our drinks now. I've come to really appreciate goses." [fake]
My own appreciation of goses is [real].
posted by filthy light thief at 9:54 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
If there were ever another super obvious lesson to be learned from Republican campaign tactics, it's that you win elections by motivating the base. Not by courting the hypothetical single-issue swing voter. Our base is not anti-abortion Evangelicals. We don't need their vote and we certainly don't want to cater to their ideology in policy.
posted by Autumnheart at 9:56 AM on August 2, 2017 [20 favorites]
posted by Autumnheart at 9:56 AM on August 2, 2017 [20 favorites]
It's hilarious that they didn't actually want to publish the whole thing and yet somehow it leaked out.
In every tragedy look for the helpers.
posted by srboisvert at 9:56 AM on August 2, 2017 [32 favorites]
In every tragedy look for the helpers.
posted by srboisvert at 9:56 AM on August 2, 2017 [32 favorites]
@yashar:
Trump has never met a signing ceremony he didn't love....except for a Russia sanctions bill signing ceremony.
posted by chris24 at 9:56 AM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
Trump has never met a signing ceremony he didn't love....except for a Russia sanctions bill signing ceremony.
posted by chris24 at 9:56 AM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
I guess the way I look at it is this; Is there a single anti-choice law or policy that is in effect right now or has the possibility of going into effect in the future because of Joe Manchin? Because there are literally hundreds of thousands of people who are going to be alive in the future because he wasn't replaced with a Republican.
posted by Justinian at 9:57 AM on August 2, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 9:57 AM on August 2, 2017 [12 favorites]
Here, have a letter to send to the DCCC about how unacceptable this acceptance of forced-birthers is:
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 10:00 AM on August 2, 2017 [92 favorites]
To the DCCC Leadership:Feel free to modify this letter to suit your needs or views. I am sooooo pissed off about this. Like, I don't have a uterus--damn you accidents of biology!--, but I have totally had elements of our society try to tell me what I can/cannot do with my body, and I won't stand for those segments to do it to others. The bottom line is this: Your body? Your choice.
Representative Luján's recent comments stating that the DCCC will not insist that candidates running as Democrats uphold a woman's freedom to make her own reproductive choices is appalling, disheartening, and political malpractice. While I can accept that a candidate might be personally uncomfortable with abortion, I expect every single Democrat to vote in support of reproductive freedom.
First, I am unequivocally opposed to forcing a person to give birth. Birth is inherently risky, can be traumatic, and no person with a uterus should ever be forced to go through it unless they want to. To be in the so-called "pro-life" movement means to believe that someone should be forced to give birth. There should be ZERO room for people so opposed to reproductive freedom in the Democratic party.
Second, this announcement is incredibly disheartening. [Explain your volunteering or financial contributions to the Democratic Party here]. To see the DCCC espouse a policy that abandons the basic principle of upholding someone's freedom to make the the best medical choice for that person makes me question what else will be up for debate. Will the DCCC require candidates to support access to contraception--that's the other target of the forced-birth movement. [As a [whatever type of person you are--especially if you are part of a marginalized group], I wonder whether the DCCC will abandon me and my rights.]
Finally, this announcement is political malpractice. All the men in the Democratic party who are willing to toss in with the forced-birth movement need to consider this fact: The vast majority of the unpaid labor that runs your campaigns is donated by WOMEN. To abandon one of the most basic freedoms of the people who make your campaigns possible is perhaps the most foolish course of action for the DCCC to take. Why would you as an organization want to alienate your strongest and most valuable supporters? Furthermore, abortion is not a controversial topic. The vast majority of Americans support Roe v. Wade and believe that abortion should be widely available. Voters who believe women should be forced to give birth are already Republicans--they will not vote for Democrats, so it's foolish to waste time trying to court them at the expense of the Democratic base.
In conclusion, this recent announcement that the DCCC will not insist candidates uphold the basic principle of reproductive freedom is immoral, risks alienating the Democratic party's most passionate volunteers and most valuable resource, and is among the most appallingly stupid politics I have ever seen. I hope you all will reconsider before such actions depress turnout and volunteer rates among the most faithful Democratic supporters.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 10:00 AM on August 2, 2017 [92 favorites]
It turns out he apparently does do them, but I haven't found a week-by-week archive of them at the White House site yet.
Search results for "weekly address"
posted by kirkaracha at 10:01 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
I am curious as to what is going on at Rasmussen. I remember seeing their polls during the Obama/Romney election (and maybe Obama/McCain) and gnashing my teeth because they obviously had their thumb on the scale for Republicans.
Their last two or three polls though have shown an absolute cratering for Trump's popularity. In mid-June, they had it 55 disapprove, with 45 approve. Just today, they release a poll that shows 62 disapprove, with 38 approve. That is the worst disapproval number registered since Trump was elected! Worse than anything Gallup, YouGov, PPP or others have recorded. This is Rasmussen with their biased selection of "likely voters." My conspiracy theory is that perhaps Rasmussen wants to prep the Fox News viewer that it's time to start packing up their things and moving on to Pence...
posted by Slothrop at 10:02 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Their last two or three polls though have shown an absolute cratering for Trump's popularity. In mid-June, they had it 55 disapprove, with 45 approve. Just today, they release a poll that shows 62 disapprove, with 38 approve. That is the worst disapproval number registered since Trump was elected! Worse than anything Gallup, YouGov, PPP or others have recorded. This is Rasmussen with their biased selection of "likely voters." My conspiracy theory is that perhaps Rasmussen wants to prep the Fox News viewer that it's time to start packing up their things and moving on to Pence...
posted by Slothrop at 10:02 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
the parallels between "oh we must think of the poor racist Trump voter and their special white person pain" and "we must think of the pro-forced birth advocate and their humanity" not unbelievably obvious?
But this reminds me of all the right wingers who don't care what happens to Muslim refugees because of the terrible views of Muslim extremists.
Of course we have to care about the pain and humanity of people who don't share our beliefs and values. Including their right to be represented in our democracy.
Assume the people of West Virginia want to be represented by an anti-choice person. Because they themselves are majority anti-choice. Assume that being represented by an anti-choice person is for whatever (bad) reason vitally important to them.
Still they might like the opportunity to be represented by an anti-choice person who wants to help the poor and sick, to rein in the robber barrons, who wants the law to be fair to minorities, who wants to stop global warming before it destroys us. If such a person (they do exist!) wins the Democratic primary in such a district, do we really tell those primary voters to go pound sand? Then we guarantee the election of an anti-choice person... who is probably also in favor or racist and classier policies and the destruction of the earth. And, as has been said, that Republican anti-choice person will also vote for Republican leadership in Congress who will actually bring anti-choice legislation for a vote.
It is just completely counter-productive to the goal of protecting reproductive choice, not to mention all our other goals, to decide we won't support Red State democrats who have to be anti-choice to pass their district's voters' litmus test.
posted by OnceUponATime at 10:02 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
But this reminds me of all the right wingers who don't care what happens to Muslim refugees because of the terrible views of Muslim extremists.
Of course we have to care about the pain and humanity of people who don't share our beliefs and values. Including their right to be represented in our democracy.
Assume the people of West Virginia want to be represented by an anti-choice person. Because they themselves are majority anti-choice. Assume that being represented by an anti-choice person is for whatever (bad) reason vitally important to them.
Still they might like the opportunity to be represented by an anti-choice person who wants to help the poor and sick, to rein in the robber barrons, who wants the law to be fair to minorities, who wants to stop global warming before it destroys us. If such a person (they do exist!) wins the Democratic primary in such a district, do we really tell those primary voters to go pound sand? Then we guarantee the election of an anti-choice person... who is probably also in favor or racist and classier policies and the destruction of the earth. And, as has been said, that Republican anti-choice person will also vote for Republican leadership in Congress who will actually bring anti-choice legislation for a vote.
It is just completely counter-productive to the goal of protecting reproductive choice, not to mention all our other goals, to decide we won't support Red State democrats who have to be anti-choice to pass their district's voters' litmus test.
posted by OnceUponATime at 10:02 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
My male dog in the abortion fight is that a dude pulled out once 3000 years ago, and thereafter masturbation (the male type) became MURDER!
I know that sounds patently ridiculous in this debate, but, like, history and stuff. Women and their bodies present an easy target for authoritarian jerks with crazy theories, but it's not like they stop at women. Hold the god damn line and protect women from forced birth, or before long, kleenex and baby oil will require ID to purchase.
It's 2017 and you know it's possible. No compromise on this.
posted by saysthis at 10:02 AM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
I know that sounds patently ridiculous in this debate, but, like, history and stuff. Women and their bodies present an easy target for authoritarian jerks with crazy theories, but it's not like they stop at women. Hold the god damn line and protect women from forced birth, or before long, kleenex and baby oil will require ID to purchase.
It's 2017 and you know it's possible. No compromise on this.
posted by saysthis at 10:02 AM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
I'm taking all this wishy washy stuff about allowing anti choice dems a place in our government extremely personally. It's hurtful and gross to know that even some Mefi members think holding the line on basic women's healthcare is too much to insist on.
posted by agregoli at 10:07 AM on August 2, 2017 [39 favorites]
posted by agregoli at 10:07 AM on August 2, 2017 [39 favorites]
So I dunno about you, but I've just flagged Excommunicated Cardinal's letter as fantastic.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:07 AM on August 2, 2017 [17 favorites]
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:07 AM on August 2, 2017 [17 favorites]
If you read my last number of tweets, only one opinion can be formed - that our President, and therefore "leader," is grossly incompetent!
Oh god this one had me so confused for a moment. I missed the date and started mentally wrangling with the possibility that Trump just wrote this. Which, you know, isn't inconceivable, because now nothing is... I swear, the level of incomprehensibility in which we currently live is short-circuiting my mind.
posted by marlys at 10:08 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
Oh god this one had me so confused for a moment. I missed the date and started mentally wrangling with the possibility that Trump just wrote this. Which, you know, isn't inconceivable, because now nothing is... I swear, the level of incomprehensibility in which we currently live is short-circuiting my mind.
posted by marlys at 10:08 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
> If such a person (they do exist!) wins the Democratic primary in such a district, do we really tell those primary voters to go pound sand? Then we guarantee the election of an anti-choice person.
Both of the options you outline guarantee the election of an anti-choice person. The better approach is to attempt to change the minds of the electorate — which is to say, running a political campaign.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:09 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
Both of the options you outline guarantee the election of an anti-choice person. The better approach is to attempt to change the minds of the electorate — which is to say, running a political campaign.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:09 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
maybe the principles vs tactics argument is not resolvable here.
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:11 AM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 10:11 AM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
Sorry I'm like 2 news cycles behind but reading every comment is hard! Harder when you set aside two hours to watch the Browder testimony, but that was--again--totally worth it. Watch it. The testimony that's published around the web is just Browder's prepared remarks, as far as I can tell, which are really just a very short, detailed summary of his book, Red Notice. There's a TON more meat in the two rounds of questions from the Committee. And this, I haven't even gotten to this what with this comment and the book to read and c, but here's Browder's witness testimony in 2015 that directly led to the passing of the Magnitsky Act.
Bonus thought: Browder mentioned that the Russians would have continued the anti-Magnitsky-Act efforts whether Pussy grabber or HRC won. Do we have any released info on overtures from Russian proxies to the Dem campaign?
This is one of the things directly addressed by Browder under questioning. He states that Vasilnitskaya's "life work" and the work of her team in the U.S. is to reverse the effects of the Magnitsky Act. Their approach to that end is multi-pronged and wide-spread. For instance, the meeting with Don Jr. and co. was NOT the only meeting they took with people in/in contention for power. He claims they were all over D.C. meeting at tons of Congresspersons' offices. And Senator Whitehouse (the Whitehearse jesting at the beginning of this hearing, by the bye, is weird and gross?) notes that even taking such a meeting would become kompromat for the U.S. Citizens involved.
Another prong is the FusionGPS angle that Senator Graham couldn't get his head around. OF COURSE Putin wants oppo on folks he's trying to bribe, and OF COURSE he's playing both sides. Browder states with no ambiguity that, when it comes to partisan politics in the United States, Vladimir Putin gives no fucks which side wins. He only cares about his billions of dollars and leverage over kleptocrats.
Speaking of, former CEO of Exxon/Mobil Rex Tillerson is currently looking a lot like one of those Russian Oligarchs. Rich enough to only care about accumulating power and additional wealth, in charge of a vast swath of the American Federal Government that he's meticulously shutting down while hundreds of millions of dollars in government funds mysteriously go poof. 50% to Putin, was that the deal Sleepy T?
Blumenthal asks an important question that helps put everything in perspective: Why should the Russian billionaire oligarchs care if they can't open a Bank of America account [due to the Magnitsky Act sanctions]? Can't they just frolic and spend their money and not care if they can't have an American bank account?
And Browder makes it crystal clear: It's not that they can't open an American bank account, it's that they can't open any accounts anywhere. No bank on Earth—no COMPANY on Earth—wants to be in violation of US Treasury Dept sanctions. If they can't move their money around, it's trapped in Russia where it's apparently just as easy to steal from them as it was for them to steal it from the Russian people/government. Something that isn't connected in this testimony is that having somebody like Steve Mnuchin in charge of the Treasury Dept. is really scary because he's in deep with Finance, and capital-F Finance is definitely interested in helping rich Russians 'manage' their rogue billions.
Ugh, rotten to the core, just corrupt through and through, from so many angles. This is the chaos.
This is already long enough so further apologies are due to you, but one other thing RE: adoptions that Browder testifies to is that Russia never allowed Americans to adopt healthy Russian children. The only Russian kids that were allowed to be adopted into the US were sick, disabled, or otherwise unhealthy orphans. Putin putting a stop to US adoptions deprived disabled children a loving home AND western medical care (FWIW, yech). Browder states that Putin was so angry about the Magnitsky Act that he enacted the most vile, punitive, and horrible policy he could muster in response: holding disabled Russian orphans as literal hostages. !!!
posted by carsonb at 10:12 AM on August 2, 2017 [60 favorites]
Bonus thought: Browder mentioned that the Russians would have continued the anti-Magnitsky-Act efforts whether Pussy grabber or HRC won. Do we have any released info on overtures from Russian proxies to the Dem campaign?
This is one of the things directly addressed by Browder under questioning. He states that Vasilnitskaya's "life work" and the work of her team in the U.S. is to reverse the effects of the Magnitsky Act. Their approach to that end is multi-pronged and wide-spread. For instance, the meeting with Don Jr. and co. was NOT the only meeting they took with people in/in contention for power. He claims they were all over D.C. meeting at tons of Congresspersons' offices. And Senator Whitehouse (the Whitehearse jesting at the beginning of this hearing, by the bye, is weird and gross?) notes that even taking such a meeting would become kompromat for the U.S. Citizens involved.
Another prong is the FusionGPS angle that Senator Graham couldn't get his head around. OF COURSE Putin wants oppo on folks he's trying to bribe, and OF COURSE he's playing both sides. Browder states with no ambiguity that, when it comes to partisan politics in the United States, Vladimir Putin gives no fucks which side wins. He only cares about his billions of dollars and leverage over kleptocrats.
Speaking of, former CEO of Exxon/Mobil Rex Tillerson is currently looking a lot like one of those Russian Oligarchs. Rich enough to only care about accumulating power and additional wealth, in charge of a vast swath of the American Federal Government that he's meticulously shutting down while hundreds of millions of dollars in government funds mysteriously go poof. 50% to Putin, was that the deal Sleepy T?
Blumenthal asks an important question that helps put everything in perspective: Why should the Russian billionaire oligarchs care if they can't open a Bank of America account [due to the Magnitsky Act sanctions]? Can't they just frolic and spend their money and not care if they can't have an American bank account?
And Browder makes it crystal clear: It's not that they can't open an American bank account, it's that they can't open any accounts anywhere. No bank on Earth—no COMPANY on Earth—wants to be in violation of US Treasury Dept sanctions. If they can't move their money around, it's trapped in Russia where it's apparently just as easy to steal from them as it was for them to steal it from the Russian people/government. Something that isn't connected in this testimony is that having somebody like Steve Mnuchin in charge of the Treasury Dept. is really scary because he's in deep with Finance, and capital-F Finance is definitely interested in helping rich Russians 'manage' their rogue billions.
Ugh, rotten to the core, just corrupt through and through, from so many angles. This is the chaos.
This is already long enough so further apologies are due to you, but one other thing RE: adoptions that Browder testifies to is that Russia never allowed Americans to adopt healthy Russian children. The only Russian kids that were allowed to be adopted into the US were sick, disabled, or otherwise unhealthy orphans. Putin putting a stop to US adoptions deprived disabled children a loving home AND western medical care (FWIW, yech). Browder states that Putin was so angry about the Magnitsky Act that he enacted the most vile, punitive, and horrible policy he could muster in response: holding disabled Russian orphans as literal hostages. !!!
posted by carsonb at 10:12 AM on August 2, 2017 [60 favorites]
I guess the way I look at it is this; Is there a single anti-choice law or policy that is in effect right now or has the possibility of going into effect in the future because of Joe Manchin? Because there are literally hundreds of thousands of people who are going to be alive in the future because he wasn't replaced with a Republican.
I think the ultimate question is not whether Manchin is better than the best Republican (he is), but whether he (and those like him) should be replaced with a lefter Democrat though the primary system. I doubt whether very many people advocate not voting for the Democrat in the general because he's too conservative. The real question is whether he should be replaced at the primary level, and relatedly, whether he should be criticized vigorously for his terrible stances in the meantime. Right now the key question for Democrats is not whether you vote for a blue dog in the general, but who to back going into 2018. There are hundreds of candidates lining up all across the (left) political spectrum, and serious hard choices need to be made by the leadership, donors, and us rank-and-file about who to back, and when we need to back someone to the right of our personal preference in order to make it more likely that the Democrat will win the general. And I think the argument many are making is that that the "pragmatic," "strategic" choice of deliberately backing the center-right primary/pre-primary Democrat over the lefty is neither morally desirable, nor actually as strategically successful as the centrist caucus and certain elements of the leadership would have us believe.
posted by chortly at 10:12 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
I think the ultimate question is not whether Manchin is better than the best Republican (he is), but whether he (and those like him) should be replaced with a lefter Democrat though the primary system. I doubt whether very many people advocate not voting for the Democrat in the general because he's too conservative. The real question is whether he should be replaced at the primary level, and relatedly, whether he should be criticized vigorously for his terrible stances in the meantime. Right now the key question for Democrats is not whether you vote for a blue dog in the general, but who to back going into 2018. There are hundreds of candidates lining up all across the (left) political spectrum, and serious hard choices need to be made by the leadership, donors, and us rank-and-file about who to back, and when we need to back someone to the right of our personal preference in order to make it more likely that the Democrat will win the general. And I think the argument many are making is that that the "pragmatic," "strategic" choice of deliberately backing the center-right primary/pre-primary Democrat over the lefty is neither morally desirable, nor actually as strategically successful as the centrist caucus and certain elements of the leadership would have us believe.
posted by chortly at 10:12 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
Excommunicated Cardinal, thanks, and sent (with appropriate mods).
posted by maxwelton at 10:13 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by maxwelton at 10:13 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
It is just completely counter-productive to the goal of protecting reproductive choice, not to mention all our other goals, to decide we won't support Red State democrats who have to be anti-choice to pass their district's voters' litmus test.
Only if you take pro-choice Americans' votes, time, and money as a given. Only if you think that women will endure any amount of abuse and never establish boundaries or create their own organizations.
If a WV voter wants an anti-choice representative so bad, they can vote for the whole apocalyptic GOP package. Or, they can get the f*&@ over it.
Put another way: we're not trapped in here with them, they're trapped in here with us.
posted by melissasaurus at 10:13 AM on August 2, 2017 [29 favorites]
Only if you take pro-choice Americans' votes, time, and money as a given. Only if you think that women will endure any amount of abuse and never establish boundaries or create their own organizations.
If a WV voter wants an anti-choice representative so bad, they can vote for the whole apocalyptic GOP package. Or, they can get the f*&@ over it.
Put another way: we're not trapped in here with them, they're trapped in here with us.
posted by melissasaurus at 10:13 AM on August 2, 2017 [29 favorites]
What the fuckity fuck? The man is not lucid.
he never has been. not from day fucking one.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 10:13 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
he never has been. not from day fucking one.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 10:13 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
Both of the options you outline guarantee the election of an anti-choice person. The better approach is to attempt to change the minds of the electorate — which is to say, running a political campaign.
I have no idea what Barack Obama's personal feelings on gay marriage are or were. But I know that his statements underwent an evolution from tepid opposition to support. I have no doubt that at least in part, Obama signaled that it was okay to change one's opinion and accept same-sex marriage, and wouldn't you know, public opinion has moved considerably in that direction.
I can't say whether Obama led that change, followed it, or a little of both, but I have no doubt that he (and Joe Biden, and others) influenced some people to come around to the side of right on the issue.
posted by Gelatin at 10:14 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
I have no idea what Barack Obama's personal feelings on gay marriage are or were. But I know that his statements underwent an evolution from tepid opposition to support. I have no doubt that at least in part, Obama signaled that it was okay to change one's opinion and accept same-sex marriage, and wouldn't you know, public opinion has moved considerably in that direction.
I can't say whether Obama led that change, followed it, or a little of both, but I have no doubt that he (and Joe Biden, and others) influenced some people to come around to the side of right on the issue.
posted by Gelatin at 10:14 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
> maybe the principles vs tactics argument is not resolvable here.
Maybe it's not a principles vs. tactics argument.
One of the things that's especially great about Excommunicated Cardinal's letter upthread is that it pinpoints the tactical mistake involved in supporting antichoice candidates and other misogynists. I quote:
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:15 AM on August 2, 2017 [27 favorites]
Maybe it's not a principles vs. tactics argument.
One of the things that's especially great about Excommunicated Cardinal's letter upthread is that it pinpoints the tactical mistake involved in supporting antichoice candidates and other misogynists. I quote:
Finally, this announcement is political malpractice. All the men in the Democratic party who are willing to toss in with the forced-birth movement need to consider this fact: The vast majority of the unpaid labor that runs your campaigns is donated by WOMEN. To abandon one of the most basic freedoms of the people who make your campaigns possible is perhaps the most foolish course of action for the DCCC to take. Why would you as an organization want to alienate your strongest and most valuable supporters?If you think the women who make campaigns work nationwide are less important than Joe Manchin, go ahead and support Joe Manchin's antichoice stance. But if the party takes that line, they're making a massive tactical blunder through fetishizing a particular election over the strength of the party as a whole. That's a recipe for losing — not just losing in West Virginia, but losing nationwide.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:15 AM on August 2, 2017 [27 favorites]
I am curious as to what is going on at Rasmussen. I remember seeing their polls during the Obama/Romney election (and maybe Obama/McCain) and gnashing my teeth because they obviously had their thumb on the scale for Republicans.
They're not mustache-twirling villains, determined to suborn the vox populi and force people to think the correct way. They just have a methodology that skews rightward, which was closest to the actual results last year, and they're dead on with Gallup and last week's Reuters/Ipsos.
posted by Etrigan at 10:15 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
They're not mustache-twirling villains, determined to suborn the vox populi and force people to think the correct way. They just have a methodology that skews rightward, which was closest to the actual results last year, and they're dead on with Gallup and last week's Reuters/Ipsos.
posted by Etrigan at 10:15 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
>What the fuckity fuck? The man is not lucid.
he never has been. not from day fucking one.
There's a reason his daughter keeps casually popping in on interviews.
posted by sebastienbailard at 10:17 AM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
he never has been. not from day fucking one.
There's a reason his daughter keeps casually popping in on interviews.
posted by sebastienbailard at 10:17 AM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
So I dunno about you, but I've just flagged Excommunicated Cardinal's letter as fantastic.
Flagged as fantastic, sent to the DCCC with the below addition to the second paragraph.
"Furthermore, many abortions are medically necessary due to life-threatening complications to the mother and fetus. To politicize life-saving medical treatments for women is unconscionable."
posted by Existential Dread at 10:17 AM on August 2, 2017 [26 favorites]
Flagged as fantastic, sent to the DCCC with the below addition to the second paragraph.
"Furthermore, many abortions are medically necessary due to life-threatening complications to the mother and fetus. To politicize life-saving medical treatments for women is unconscionable."
posted by Existential Dread at 10:17 AM on August 2, 2017 [26 favorites]
I guess the way I look at it is this; Is there a single anti-choice law or policy that is in effect right now or has the possibility of going into effect in the future because of Joe Manchin? Because there are literally hundreds of thousands of people who are going to be alive in the future because he wasn't replaced with a Republican.
I guess the way I look at it is this: does positing irrelevant hypotheticals predicated on an apparent deliberate misunderstanding of how things actually work in the world mean you're deliberately giving cover to people who want to take away my human rights, or are you just doing it because your privilege means you don't have to personally think too hard about any of this?
Three Republicans flipped because of the politics of their own home states. Capito was almost one of them. Giving Joe Manchin the Saved Obamacare trophy is just dumb, and making a utilitarian comparison between human rights for women and healthcare is so goddamned offensive I don't actually know where to begin.
Men of Metafilter: maybe some of you need to listen a little more, and maybe some of you aren't as woke as you think.
If you think I'm taking this personally, you're goddamned right I am. You know what another word for forced pregnancy is? Rape. Think about that next time you pontificate about hypotheticals.
posted by schadenfrau at 10:18 AM on August 2, 2017 [29 favorites]
I guess the way I look at it is this: does positing irrelevant hypotheticals predicated on an apparent deliberate misunderstanding of how things actually work in the world mean you're deliberately giving cover to people who want to take away my human rights, or are you just doing it because your privilege means you don't have to personally think too hard about any of this?
Three Republicans flipped because of the politics of their own home states. Capito was almost one of them. Giving Joe Manchin the Saved Obamacare trophy is just dumb, and making a utilitarian comparison between human rights for women and healthcare is so goddamned offensive I don't actually know where to begin.
Men of Metafilter: maybe some of you need to listen a little more, and maybe some of you aren't as woke as you think.
If you think I'm taking this personally, you're goddamned right I am. You know what another word for forced pregnancy is? Rape. Think about that next time you pontificate about hypotheticals.
posted by schadenfrau at 10:18 AM on August 2, 2017 [29 favorites]
You don't think its personal going the other way? There are people reading this thread, and I'm one of them, that are going to be alive because health care was saved. Joe Manchin and others like him were part of that.
Politics is personal. Don't pretend you have a monopoly on that.
posted by Justinian at 10:20 AM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
Politics is personal. Don't pretend you have a monopoly on that.
posted by Justinian at 10:20 AM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
(The loss of the ACA is not a hypothetical. Those deaths are not hypothetical. It is what would have happened.)
posted by Justinian at 10:21 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 10:21 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
ABORTION IS HEALTHCARE
posted by melissasaurus at 10:22 AM on August 2, 2017 [69 favorites]
posted by melissasaurus at 10:22 AM on August 2, 2017 [69 favorites]
You Can't Tip a Buick, I was so compelled by your articulation of your pro-choice stance when I initially read it back in that thread that I copied and emailed it to myself so I could share it with other people if/when the subject came up. I'm glad to see you share it again here.
posted by The Notorious SRD at 10:22 AM on August 2, 2017
posted by The Notorious SRD at 10:22 AM on August 2, 2017
Of course we have to care about the pain and humanity of people who don't share our beliefs and values. Including their right to be represented in our democracy.
Only if their beliefs and values support democracy and the rights of all.
If they don't, then a) we definitely shouldn't care and b) absolutely shouldn't support their right to be represented. America doesn't benefit when white supremacists and anti-science oligarchs are in charge. As citizens, they certainly retain all their rights and freedoms under literally anyone else's representation, whereas the opposite is not at all true--we do not retain all our rights and freedoms under their representation. There is a line in which some views are not appropriate for the public forum, much less for policy, and we are seeing what happens when it's crossed.
posted by Autumnheart at 10:23 AM on August 2, 2017 [13 favorites]
Only if their beliefs and values support democracy and the rights of all.
If they don't, then a) we definitely shouldn't care and b) absolutely shouldn't support their right to be represented. America doesn't benefit when white supremacists and anti-science oligarchs are in charge. As citizens, they certainly retain all their rights and freedoms under literally anyone else's representation, whereas the opposite is not at all true--we do not retain all our rights and freedoms under their representation. There is a line in which some views are not appropriate for the public forum, much less for policy, and we are seeing what happens when it's crossed.
posted by Autumnheart at 10:23 AM on August 2, 2017 [13 favorites]
ABORTION IS HEALTHCARE
And Planned Parenthood would have been defunded if the repeal had passed! Those red-state Democrats protected Planned Parenthood..
posted by Justinian at 10:23 AM on August 2, 2017 [17 favorites]
And Planned Parenthood would have been defunded if the repeal had passed! Those red-state Democrats protected Planned Parenthood..
posted by Justinian at 10:23 AM on August 2, 2017 [17 favorites]
Metafilter: It's no Boy Scout jamboree, that's for sure.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 10:24 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 10:24 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
You don't think its personal going the other way? There are people reading this thread, and I'm one of them, that are going to be alive because health care was saved
So am I, so I'm pretty comfortable with the idea that human rights for half the population -- rights that involve healthcare, lol -- are of greater moral gravity.
Your position of false equivalence is only possible if you don't see women's bodily autonomy as a human right. Which...
posted by schadenfrau at 10:25 AM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
So am I, so I'm pretty comfortable with the idea that human rights for half the population -- rights that involve healthcare, lol -- are of greater moral gravity.
Your position of false equivalence is only possible if you don't see women's bodily autonomy as a human right. Which...
posted by schadenfrau at 10:25 AM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
> Those red-state Democrats protected Planned Parenthood..
Don't misassign agency.
We protected Planned Parenthood. We protected Planned Parenthood by making it impossible for elected Democrats (red state or otherwise) to do anything but protect Planned Parenthood. The electeds are not agents here, they're instruments.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:27 AM on August 2, 2017 [58 favorites]
Don't misassign agency.
We protected Planned Parenthood. We protected Planned Parenthood by making it impossible for elected Democrats (red state or otherwise) to do anything but protect Planned Parenthood. The electeds are not agents here, they're instruments.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:27 AM on August 2, 2017 [58 favorites]
From the signing statement (emphasis mine):
But I know that his statements underwent an evolution from tepid opposition to support. I have no doubt that at least in part, Obama signaled that it was okay to change one's opinion and accept same-sex marriage,
Biden really deserves the credit for that, I think?
posted by Room 641-A at 10:29 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
My Administration will give careful and respectful consideration to the preferences expressed by the Congress in these various provisions and will implement them in a manner consistent with the President's constitutional authority to conduct foreign relations.As someone on TV pointed out, the president doesn't seem to understand that this now a law.
But I know that his statements underwent an evolution from tepid opposition to support. I have no doubt that at least in part, Obama signaled that it was okay to change one's opinion and accept same-sex marriage,
Biden really deserves the credit for that, I think?
posted by Room 641-A at 10:29 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
I think the ultimate question is not whether Manchin is better than the best Republican (he is), but whether he (and those like him) should be replaced with a lefter Democrat though the primary system.
When you primary a moderate in a competitive election and replace them with someone further from the center you get results like Sen. Lugar losing to Richard Mourdock who then goes on to lose to Joe Donnelly. The Republicans have shot themselves in the foot repeatedly using this strategy. Why would we want to emulate that?
I live in Indiana; we're pretty red here. You will not elect Elizabeth Warren here. Your choices are somebody like Joe Donnelly or Evan Bayh OR some Republican. That's it. Who do you want? You primary a Democrat here and all you do is give the seat to the Republicans who just tried to kill thousands of Americans and lost by one fucking vote.
If the seat is a lock, like many urban House seats across the country and most Senate seats in blue states, go ahead primary moderates like Feinstein and elect Howard Zinn, I don't care. In competitive states and districts, please don't fuck it up for the rest of us.
posted by leotrotsky at 10:29 AM on August 2, 2017 [20 favorites]
When you primary a moderate in a competitive election and replace them with someone further from the center you get results like Sen. Lugar losing to Richard Mourdock who then goes on to lose to Joe Donnelly. The Republicans have shot themselves in the foot repeatedly using this strategy. Why would we want to emulate that?
I live in Indiana; we're pretty red here. You will not elect Elizabeth Warren here. Your choices are somebody like Joe Donnelly or Evan Bayh OR some Republican. That's it. Who do you want? You primary a Democrat here and all you do is give the seat to the Republicans who just tried to kill thousands of Americans and lost by one fucking vote.
If the seat is a lock, like many urban House seats across the country and most Senate seats in blue states, go ahead primary moderates like Feinstein and elect Howard Zinn, I don't care. In competitive states and districts, please don't fuck it up for the rest of us.
posted by leotrotsky at 10:29 AM on August 2, 2017 [20 favorites]
Let's say we accept that formulation, YCTaB. Were those red state Democrats replaced with red state Republicans would those efforts at pressure have been equally effective? Would they have also been our instruments?
The answer is obviously no.
posted by Justinian at 10:30 AM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
The answer is obviously no.
posted by Justinian at 10:30 AM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
There's really no way to make, "Yes, but if women would simply give up on the idea of bodily autonomy, we could win more seats" sound palatable to 51% of the population and electorate.
Hey, maybe we could win in 2018 if we went around and cut every guy's dick off. That would solve a lot of problems! Let's do it! I personally don't have a dick, so I see no way this could have negative repercussions. Men shouldn't really have a problem with this either, because you can easily live a full life without a penis and tons of people do.
posted by Autumnheart at 10:31 AM on August 2, 2017 [42 favorites]
Hey, maybe we could win in 2018 if we went around and cut every guy's dick off. That would solve a lot of problems! Let's do it! I personally don't have a dick, so I see no way this could have negative repercussions. Men shouldn't really have a problem with this either, because you can easily live a full life without a penis and tons of people do.
posted by Autumnheart at 10:31 AM on August 2, 2017 [42 favorites]
Latest Quinnipiac poll has some harsh numbers for Trump: President Donald Trump plunges to a new low as American voters disapprove 61 - 33 percent of the job he is doing, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today. White men are divided 47 - 48 percent and Republicans approve 76 - 17 percent. White voters with no college degree, a key part of the president's base, disapprove 50 - 43 percent.
Of particular interest is the number for white men, which is finally almost tipping over into majority disapproval. 79% of Republicans still approve of Trump though! I'm not happy until we get to 27% approval or lower, but 33% is pretty close to the crazification factor.
posted by yasaman at 10:33 AM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
Of particular interest is the number for white men, which is finally almost tipping over into majority disapproval. 79% of Republicans still approve of Trump though! I'm not happy until we get to 27% approval or lower, but 33% is pretty close to the crazification factor.
posted by yasaman at 10:33 AM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
When you primary a moderate in a competitive election and replace them with someone further from the center you get results like Sen. Lugar losing to Richard Mourdock who then goes on to lose to Joe Donnelly. The Republicans have shot themselves in the foot repeatedly using this strategy. Why would we want to emulate that?
Anecdotes aside, Republicans have successfully moved rightward via primaries and the threat of primaries, and at the same time have increased their majorities in dozens of legislatures at the state and federal level. Furthermore, political science research suggests that there is at best a very weak relationship between the ideological position of a candidate and that of their district. So there is far more latitude in running folks to the left of our current crop of centrist Democrats than the centrist caucus would have us believe.
posted by chortly at 10:34 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
Anecdotes aside, Republicans have successfully moved rightward via primaries and the threat of primaries, and at the same time have increased their majorities in dozens of legislatures at the state and federal level. Furthermore, political science research suggests that there is at best a very weak relationship between the ideological position of a candidate and that of their district. So there is far more latitude in running folks to the left of our current crop of centrist Democrats than the centrist caucus would have us believe.
posted by chortly at 10:34 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
Let's say we accept that formulation, YCTaB. Were those red state Democrats replaced with red state Republicans would those efforts at pressure have been equally effective? Would they have also been our instruments?
The answer is obviously no.
No need to rewrite history: Collins and Murkowski Stood Up for Womankind Over the Threats of Men
posted by melissasaurus at 10:34 AM on August 2, 2017 [33 favorites]
The answer is obviously no.
No need to rewrite history: Collins and Murkowski Stood Up for Womankind Over the Threats of Men
posted by melissasaurus at 10:34 AM on August 2, 2017 [33 favorites]
> Let's say we accept that formulation, YCTaB. Were those red state Democrats replaced with red state Republicans would those efforts at pressure have been equally effective? Would they have also been our instruments?
You're begging the question in the technical sense here: you're assuming the thing you want proved as part of the proof. Specifically, you are assuming:
You're begging the question in the technical sense here: you're assuming the thing you want proved as part of the proof. Specifically, you are assuming:
- That the function of a electoral-political campaign is to measure the electorate's views and provide a candidate matching those views.
- That, because the function of a political campaign is measuring rather than changing the electorate's views, a non-misogynist candidate would therefore do worse than a misogynist candidate in an area where the electorate is currently majority misogynist.
- That the damage done, in West Virginia and nationwide, by supporting a misogynist candidate for office in West Virginia is less than whatever benefits are obtained by supporting that candidate.
If the Democrats must fund Joe Manchin, they should do it as quietly as possible. It's a tactical blunder to make public announcements of their intent to not just support Joe Manchin, but also recruit more Joe Manchins.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:35 AM on August 2, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:35 AM on August 2, 2017 [16 favorites]
Anecdotes aside, Republicans have successfully moved rightward via primaries and the threat of primaries billionaire extremists massively funding statewide races over decades together with a well funded propaganda arm spreading misinformation and aggressive gerrymandering and voter suppression, and at the same time have increased their majorities in dozens of legislatures at the state and federal level
posted by leotrotsky at 10:37 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 10:37 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
No need to rewrite history: Collins and Murkowski Stood Up for Womankind Over the Threats of Men
Neither of them are from West Virginia. The pressures are completely different than Maine or Alaska.
YCTaB: I'm not assuming those things, I'm arguing them. That's.... the entire point of this disagreement?
posted by Justinian at 10:38 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Neither of them are from West Virginia. The pressures are completely different than Maine or Alaska.
YCTaB: I'm not assuming those things, I'm arguing them. That's.... the entire point of this disagreement?
posted by Justinian at 10:38 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Because some people who are pro-forced birth aren't cartoonishly evil? Because some of them are actual humans who have uncritically accepted propaganda, as humans do?
Because there's a point where there's a heart beat? Because some nice woman "has the timeline down," even though she doesn't acknowledge that privileging the hypothetical "rights" of a potential life over the actual rights of a living woman is what she's actually describing? That this is the only time anyone seems to find this idea "nuanced" or "complicating" rather than fucking horrifying? And that they ignore the fact that that potential life becomes a life because a woman does the work to make it one, and this is the only time anyone's comfortable with forced labor?
That's enough to "complicate" the idea of fundamental rights for women for you?
It's not complicating the idea of fundamental rights. So much of patriarchal bullshit is men telling women what to do based on the belief that it's the best thing for them. I'm trying not to do that because I believe it makes me a shitty person to do that. I'm unquestionably on the side that a woman's bodily autonomy is absolute. That doesn't make me not feel like a shitty patriarchist when it comes to having an abortion discussing about a woman's bodily autonomy with women even when I think they're wrong if they believe it's not absolute.
I'm sorry. Make no mistake I'm 100% with you on this principle.
posted by Talez at 10:39 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Because there's a point where there's a heart beat? Because some nice woman "has the timeline down," even though she doesn't acknowledge that privileging the hypothetical "rights" of a potential life over the actual rights of a living woman is what she's actually describing? That this is the only time anyone seems to find this idea "nuanced" or "complicating" rather than fucking horrifying? And that they ignore the fact that that potential life becomes a life because a woman does the work to make it one, and this is the only time anyone's comfortable with forced labor?
That's enough to "complicate" the idea of fundamental rights for women for you?
It's not complicating the idea of fundamental rights. So much of patriarchal bullshit is men telling women what to do based on the belief that it's the best thing for them. I'm trying not to do that because I believe it makes me a shitty person to do that. I'm unquestionably on the side that a woman's bodily autonomy is absolute. That doesn't make me not feel like a shitty patriarchist when it comes to having an abortion discussing about a woman's bodily autonomy with women even when I think they're wrong if they believe it's not absolute.
I'm sorry. Make no mistake I'm 100% with you on this principle.
posted by Talez at 10:39 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Biden really deserves the credit for that, I think?
Biden probably deserves much credit for the evolution of Obama's stance (which is why I gave him credit in my next sentence), but no one has a bigger bully pulpit than the president. Regardless of how Obama's opinion changed, if it did at all, his own public stance helped move the needle. And so did Biden's, of course, and others', but it sure didn't hurt to have the POTUS endorse the right stance on the issue.
By the way, I just got a message from my local Planned Parenthood chapter asking for a 60-second video message explaining why I support the organization and its mission of reproductive freedom. I am not sure I'll be able to put one together, but I plan to, and if so I'm going to base it on Excommunicated Cardinal's fantastic script, with ideas from subsequently in the thread.
posted by Gelatin at 10:39 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Biden probably deserves much credit for the evolution of Obama's stance (which is why I gave him credit in my next sentence), but no one has a bigger bully pulpit than the president. Regardless of how Obama's opinion changed, if it did at all, his own public stance helped move the needle. And so did Biden's, of course, and others', but it sure didn't hurt to have the POTUS endorse the right stance on the issue.
By the way, I just got a message from my local Planned Parenthood chapter asking for a 60-second video message explaining why I support the organization and its mission of reproductive freedom. I am not sure I'll be able to put one together, but I plan to, and if so I'm going to base it on Excommunicated Cardinal's fantastic script, with ideas from subsequently in the thread.
posted by Gelatin at 10:39 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
yasaman: "79% of Republicans still approve of Trump though!"
There's been some evidence that this partially driven by people who dislike Trump ceasing to identify as Republican.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:41 AM on August 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
There's been some evidence that this partially driven by people who dislike Trump ceasing to identify as Republican.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:41 AM on August 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
I would gladly vote for a D congressperson (in the general election; ideally they wouldn't make it past the primary) who wanted to pass a "cut all dicks off" law, because there's no practical effect of that congressperson's stance. Likewise with Manchin's anti-choice stance: no one is losing access to abortion because of it. The important question for any given opportunity to vote is (be it a primary or a general election), are they better than the alternative, all things considered?
If the Democrats must fund Joe Manchin, they should do it as quietly as possible.
My knee-jerk response to this is to agree. But if the choice is "R runs unopposed" versus "R gets opposed by an anti-choice D", I'll take the latter, and if that anti-choice D needs some signal that they'll get support, I'm totally on the fence about whether that signal is worth the associated costs.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 10:41 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
If the Democrats must fund Joe Manchin, they should do it as quietly as possible.
My knee-jerk response to this is to agree. But if the choice is "R runs unopposed" versus "R gets opposed by an anti-choice D", I'll take the latter, and if that anti-choice D needs some signal that they'll get support, I'm totally on the fence about whether that signal is worth the associated costs.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 10:41 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
Anecdotes aside, Republicans have successfully moved rightward via primaries and the threat of primariesbillionaire extremists massively funding statewide races over decades together with aggressive gerrymandering and voter suppression, and at the same time have increased their majorities in dozens of legislatures at the state and federal level
A lot of those races they're massively funding are primaries, and the gerrymandering and suppression are being done by the moved-rightward Republicans who primaried out the "moderates". I don't think you're arguing against chortly there.
posted by Etrigan at 10:42 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
A lot of those races they're massively funding are primaries, and the gerrymandering and suppression are being done by the moved-rightward Republicans who primaried out the "moderates". I don't think you're arguing against chortly there.
posted by Etrigan at 10:42 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Anecdotes aside, Republicans have successfully moved rightward via primaries and the threat of primaries primaries billionaire extremists massively funding statewide races over decades together with aggressive gerrymandering and voter suppression, and at the same time have increased their majorities in dozens of legislatures at the state and federal level
Sure, billionaire funding is also a cause, and perhaps the fundamental cause. But the proximate cause -- the mechanism by which they are able to enforce such conformity in the caucus -- is by threatening primaries, and then actually backing primaries with huge support when those threats needed acting upon. Democrats can do the same thing, albeit with grassroots (and party) support rather than billionaire backing.
posted by chortly at 10:43 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Sure, billionaire funding is also a cause, and perhaps the fundamental cause. But the proximate cause -- the mechanism by which they are able to enforce such conformity in the caucus -- is by threatening primaries, and then actually backing primaries with huge support when those threats needed acting upon. Democrats can do the same thing, albeit with grassroots (and party) support rather than billionaire backing.
posted by chortly at 10:43 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Likewise with Manchin's anti-choice stance: no one is losing access to abortion because of it.
I mean, you're messaging to people that the loss of access to abortion is on the table for that candidate. You'll lose some base of voters who will see no difference between the candidates and will then stay home and not support your candidate; you'll see more anti-choice candidates running because they see that position will help them get elected; you'll see access to abortion healthcare restricted further and further as in Texas, Missouri, and other red states. Signalling that abortion access is a right that you'll happily trade for other issues will see abortion access losing support. Particularly when you signal it is not a priority on a national fucking level, as the DCCC did.
posted by Existential Dread at 10:47 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
I mean, you're messaging to people that the loss of access to abortion is on the table for that candidate. You'll lose some base of voters who will see no difference between the candidates and will then stay home and not support your candidate; you'll see more anti-choice candidates running because they see that position will help them get elected; you'll see access to abortion healthcare restricted further and further as in Texas, Missouri, and other red states. Signalling that abortion access is a right that you'll happily trade for other issues will see abortion access losing support. Particularly when you signal it is not a priority on a national fucking level, as the DCCC did.
posted by Existential Dread at 10:47 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
Democrats can do the same thing, albeit with grassroots (and party) support rather than billionaire backing.
The smart money on the Republican side uses those primary threats in safe through gerrymandering districts or solidly red state Senate seats. That pulls the entire caucus rightward without risking seats. The dumb money targets folks like Dean Heller, who wasted his 'No' vote and is now a dead man walking.
posted by leotrotsky at 10:48 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
The smart money on the Republican side uses those primary threats in safe through gerrymandering districts or solidly red state Senate seats. That pulls the entire caucus rightward without risking seats. The dumb money targets folks like Dean Heller, who wasted his 'No' vote and is now a dead man walking.
posted by leotrotsky at 10:48 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
I would gladly vote for a D congressperson (in the general election; ideally they wouldn't make it past the primary) who wanted to pass a "cut all dicks off" law, because there's no practical effect of that congressperson's stance.
The point is, there is enormous "practical effect" in continuing anti choice stances and the idea that women aren't allowed to be in control of their own bodies. I don't think men advocating this have actually really thought about what these anti choice stances mean and how threatening, actually physically threatening (in the same sense of the goofy example of cutting off a guy's dick) it is to women and our lives and agency and actual fucking rights as citizens of the United States. I don't think you would actually vote for or argue in favor for anyone who advocated cutting dicks off if there was a real chance of it happening to you or loved ones. The stakes are completely different for women on this issue.
I am not willing to waver one fucking inch on my bodily autonomy. I am a full person, a full citizen, and I have rights that are unalienable.
posted by agregoli at 10:48 AM on August 2, 2017 [34 favorites]
The point is, there is enormous "practical effect" in continuing anti choice stances and the idea that women aren't allowed to be in control of their own bodies. I don't think men advocating this have actually really thought about what these anti choice stances mean and how threatening, actually physically threatening (in the same sense of the goofy example of cutting off a guy's dick) it is to women and our lives and agency and actual fucking rights as citizens of the United States. I don't think you would actually vote for or argue in favor for anyone who advocated cutting dicks off if there was a real chance of it happening to you or loved ones. The stakes are completely different for women on this issue.
I am not willing to waver one fucking inch on my bodily autonomy. I am a full person, a full citizen, and I have rights that are unalienable.
posted by agregoli at 10:48 AM on August 2, 2017 [34 favorites]
Likewise with Manchin's anti-choice stance: no one is losing access to abortion because of it.
Every single time a person with political power and a media platform expresses a disapproval of abortion, womens' access to abortion is threatened. Even if it's a Senator in the minority party, even if it's an unelected party representative.
Abortion doctors lives are threatened every day. Women have to endure threats and violence just to access needed healthcare. Doctors and nurses have to wear bulletproof vests.
This isn't a hypothetical; this is what happens here in America. Domestic terrorists target people providing or accessing abortions; we shouldn't promote the terrorists' propaganda.
posted by melissasaurus at 10:49 AM on August 2, 2017 [59 favorites]
Every single time a person with political power and a media platform expresses a disapproval of abortion, womens' access to abortion is threatened. Even if it's a Senator in the minority party, even if it's an unelected party representative.
Abortion doctors lives are threatened every day. Women have to endure threats and violence just to access needed healthcare. Doctors and nurses have to wear bulletproof vests.
This isn't a hypothetical; this is what happens here in America. Domestic terrorists target people providing or accessing abortions; we shouldn't promote the terrorists' propaganda.
posted by melissasaurus at 10:49 AM on August 2, 2017 [59 favorites]
Another number of interest from the Quinnipiac poll: 54% of Republicans think Trump should stop tweeting from his personal account. 69% of all respondents think he should stop tweeting from his personal account. Looks like this number has always been 60+% since Qpac started asking the question though.
Also, only 34% of Independents approve of the job Trump is doing. 2% of Dems approve, IDEK what's up with those people. Accelerationists? Trolls?
Re Mueller: 54% of Republicans think he'll conduct a fair investigation, compared to 73% of Dems and 64% of Independents. Only 37% of Republicans think it would be an abuse of power if Trump orders the DOJ to fire Mueller, compared to 93% of Dems and 71% of Independents. That gulf is troubling to me.
posted by yasaman at 10:49 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
Also, only 34% of Independents approve of the job Trump is doing. 2% of Dems approve, IDEK what's up with those people. Accelerationists? Trolls?
Re Mueller: 54% of Republicans think he'll conduct a fair investigation, compared to 73% of Dems and 64% of Independents. Only 37% of Republicans think it would be an abuse of power if Trump orders the DOJ to fire Mueller, compared to 93% of Dems and 71% of Independents. That gulf is troubling to me.
posted by yasaman at 10:49 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
Etrigan: "[Rasmussen staff are] not mustache-twirling villains, determined to suborn the vox populi and force people to think the correct way."
Okay, my statements might have been exaggerated. I do feel like I remember Nate Silver discussing Rasmussen and other pollsters (and I believe he named Rasmussen) moving their numbers back to reality when an election got closer. Basically, put out puffed up numbers to potentially persuade the public that a candidate has "momentum" and then quickly hedge back to the actual results of polling as the election draws near. I could be misremembering that, though.
posted by Slothrop at 10:50 AM on August 2, 2017
Okay, my statements might have been exaggerated. I do feel like I remember Nate Silver discussing Rasmussen and other pollsters (and I believe he named Rasmussen) moving their numbers back to reality when an election got closer. Basically, put out puffed up numbers to potentially persuade the public that a candidate has "momentum" and then quickly hedge back to the actual results of polling as the election draws near. I could be misremembering that, though.
posted by Slothrop at 10:50 AM on August 2, 2017
is by threatening primaries, and then actually backing primaries with huge support when those threats needed acting upon. Democrats can do the same thing, albeit with grassroots (and party) support rather than billionaire backing.
So all we have to do is get the lefter parts of the party to agree on something and act with discipline?
Sounds simple enough.
posted by Talez at 10:51 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
So all we have to do is get the lefter parts of the party to agree on something and act with discipline?
Sounds simple enough.
posted by Talez at 10:51 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
no one has a bigger bully pulpit than the president.
I agree completely. I meant that by going first, he probably gave Onama some cover.
posted by Room 641-A at 10:51 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
I agree completely. I meant that by going first, he probably gave Onama some cover.
posted by Room 641-A at 10:51 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Ah, Talez, ok. Yeah I can see being uncomfortable when confronting pro-forced birth women as a pro-choice man. But you don't need to argue what's best for them -- you can just say you're glad they have the ability to choose what's best for them. Which is true! I honestly can't think of an argument in favor of choice and access to healthcare that would put you in a weird position; it's only if you go on the attack against the pro-forced birth position that you might end up in sticky territory? But defending women's human rights doesn't necessarily mean undermining the autonomy of women's who are wrong.
posted by schadenfrau at 10:51 AM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by schadenfrau at 10:51 AM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
You don't think its personal going the other way? There are people reading this thread, and I'm one of them, that are going to be alive because health care was saved. Joe Manchin and others like him were part of that.
Politics is personal. Don't pretend you have a monopoly on that.
You also don't have a monopoly on that. One of my best friends is alive because she was able to obtain a legal abortion to end the pregnancy that was going to kill her. One of my other best friends has her sanity because she was able to deliver her child, who had no brain stem, well before her due date. She wasn't forced to carry her child to term. She will tell you that had she been forced to carry to term, with all that that means as a woman in society*, she would have literally lost her mind.
So yeah, politics is personal. So is medical care. No one, ever, is going to get everything they want. But we cannot let the anti-choice faction get even more traction than they already have.
*meaning: total strangers touching your pregnant belly and asking when you're due; everyone around you assuming you're as happy as they are that you're pregnant; having to either lie to people that you're happy or making everyone feel awful when you tell them that you're basically going to give birth only to watch your child die in front you a matter of hours after. Being a woman in society has SO MUCH MORE BAGGAGE than being a man. Add a pregnancy? Jesus wept, you have no idea.
posted by cooker girl at 10:51 AM on August 2, 2017 [58 favorites]
Politics is personal. Don't pretend you have a monopoly on that.
You also don't have a monopoly on that. One of my best friends is alive because she was able to obtain a legal abortion to end the pregnancy that was going to kill her. One of my other best friends has her sanity because she was able to deliver her child, who had no brain stem, well before her due date. She wasn't forced to carry her child to term. She will tell you that had she been forced to carry to term, with all that that means as a woman in society*, she would have literally lost her mind.
So yeah, politics is personal. So is medical care. No one, ever, is going to get everything they want. But we cannot let the anti-choice faction get even more traction than they already have.
*meaning: total strangers touching your pregnant belly and asking when you're due; everyone around you assuming you're as happy as they are that you're pregnant; having to either lie to people that you're happy or making everyone feel awful when you tell them that you're basically going to give birth only to watch your child die in front you a matter of hours after. Being a woman in society has SO MUCH MORE BAGGAGE than being a man. Add a pregnancy? Jesus wept, you have no idea.
posted by cooker girl at 10:51 AM on August 2, 2017 [58 favorites]
*80 new comments*
What utter shit did Trump come up with toda-- oh. Nevermind. It's Metafilter yet again debating whether women's bodily autonomy is politically expendable. JUST WHAT WE NEEDED.
posted by lydhre at 10:52 AM on August 2, 2017 [71 favorites]
What utter shit did Trump come up with toda-- oh. Nevermind. It's Metafilter yet again debating whether women's bodily autonomy is politically expendable. JUST WHAT WE NEEDED.
posted by lydhre at 10:52 AM on August 2, 2017 [71 favorites]
I take it personally as a woman who has both donated time and money to the Democrats and gotten an abortion in a state where it is highly restricted, and I'm angry that they're so eager to attract the least liberal common denominator that they'll ignore the rest of us. I'm frustrated, and disappointed, and angry.
posted by ChuraChura at 10:54 AM on August 2, 2017 [32 favorites]
posted by ChuraChura at 10:54 AM on August 2, 2017 [32 favorites]
Remember Robert Dear? The gunman who shot up a Planned Parenthood clinic while muttering about "no more baby parts"? "Manchin won't actually be the deciding vote on restricting abortion" isn't the only calculus involved in allowing (and funding!) people who advocate for forced birth positions and spout that kind of rhetoric. It matters.
posted by Roommate at 10:54 AM on August 2, 2017 [21 favorites]
posted by Roommate at 10:54 AM on August 2, 2017 [21 favorites]
This isn't a hypothetical; this is what happens here in America. Domestic terrorists target people providing or accessing abortions; we shouldn't promote the terrorists' propaganda.
Quoted for fucking truth. Volunteer as an escort at PP and then go and tell us that pro-forced birth politicians don't hurt women.
posted by schadenfrau at 10:55 AM on August 2, 2017 [44 favorites]
Quoted for fucking truth. Volunteer as an escort at PP and then go and tell us that pro-forced birth politicians don't hurt women.
posted by schadenfrau at 10:55 AM on August 2, 2017 [44 favorites]
Regarding litmus tests for Democrats, it's worth remembering that Democrats are a pretty heterogeneous coalition in many different dimensions. Here are some rough estimates I pulled together last time this rolled around:
Around 25% of Democrats are pro-life.
Around 30% of Democrats (and 23% of Democratic women) think that women have it no harder than men.
Maybe 10-30% of Democrats are racist.
Maybe 15% of Democrats are homophobes.
Maybe 25% of Democrats are Islamophobes.
These numbers are my very subjective interpretations of the linked polls, so please don't quibble with the exact numbers. The main conclusion is that, while there's of course a lot of overlap among these groups, the overlap is not perfect, so at least a third and perhaps half of all Democratic voters are bigoted and/or misogynist in some significant respect.
This doesn't mean that our elected representatives have to be though! 0% of elected Democrats should be any of these things, even if that entails potential electoral costs in nominating Democrats that are always to the left of a chunk of the party. Partly because of this, I also feel that similarly, our Democratic representatives can and should be systematically to the left of their constituents on various other dimensions as well -- health, economics, war -- even if that too entails potential electoral costs. But as I've argued above, those electoral costs are actually far less than the "pragmatic" centrist wing of the party would have us believe.
posted by chortly at 10:56 AM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
Around 25% of Democrats are pro-life.
Around 30% of Democrats (and 23% of Democratic women) think that women have it no harder than men.
Maybe 10-30% of Democrats are racist.
Maybe 15% of Democrats are homophobes.
Maybe 25% of Democrats are Islamophobes.
These numbers are my very subjective interpretations of the linked polls, so please don't quibble with the exact numbers. The main conclusion is that, while there's of course a lot of overlap among these groups, the overlap is not perfect, so at least a third and perhaps half of all Democratic voters are bigoted and/or misogynist in some significant respect.
This doesn't mean that our elected representatives have to be though! 0% of elected Democrats should be any of these things, even if that entails potential electoral costs in nominating Democrats that are always to the left of a chunk of the party. Partly because of this, I also feel that similarly, our Democratic representatives can and should be systematically to the left of their constituents on various other dimensions as well -- health, economics, war -- even if that too entails potential electoral costs. But as I've argued above, those electoral costs are actually far less than the "pragmatic" centrist wing of the party would have us believe.
posted by chortly at 10:56 AM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
Slothrop: "I do feel like I remember Nate Silver discussing Rasmussen and other pollsters (and I believe he named Rasmussen) moving their numbers back to reality when an election got closer. Basically, put out puffed up numbers to potentially persuade the public that a candidate has "momentum" and then quickly hedge back to the actual results of polling as the election draws near. I could be misremembering that, though."
I don't remember that. He has expressed concern about pollsters in general falling prey to "herding," where - especially close to elections - people with results that are way out of line with most other surveys massage the data a little to get more in line. The problem being sometimes the way out of line one is correct!
posted by Chrysostom at 10:56 AM on August 2, 2017
I don't remember that. He has expressed concern about pollsters in general falling prey to "herding," where - especially close to elections - people with results that are way out of line with most other surveys massage the data a little to get more in line. The problem being sometimes the way out of line one is correct!
posted by Chrysostom at 10:56 AM on August 2, 2017
I would gladly vote for a D congressperson (in the general election; ideally they wouldn't make it past the primary) who wanted to pass a "cut all dicks off" law, because there's no practical effect of that congressperson's stance.
Until they vote in support of the side of the aisle that wants to cut all dicks off, and as of January 1st you are informed that your dick is coming off.
I know it's tempting to consider this hyperbole, but this is exactly how legislation gets passed that criminalizes women who get abortions or even have miscarriages, that defunds and eliminates access to medical care, and that allows any number of uninvolved parties to decide whether or not you get to keep your dick. If they're feeling especially generous, they'll add a rider to the legislation that lets you petition your insurer to justify keeping your dick intact and not having it cut off.
This is exactly what women go through to obtain medical care, birth control, maternity coverage, abortion, and emergency treatment that involves their reproductive organs. Just imagine being put in a position where you have to justify why you deserve to keep your dick. Imagine going to a hospital after a dick-mangling injury, and when you ask the surgeons to save you, they refuse because they have a dick-removing policy and won't do dick-saving surgery, so they tell you to go somewhere else. Then you bleed to death. Or maybe you have petitioned the insurance companies to keep your dick, but now none of your preventative care or prescriptions are covered because why should anyone pay for you to keep your dick? Assuming your pharmacist will even fill your prescriptions because by law, they can tell you "no" because they don't believe guys should be allowed to have dicks.
If you feel like any of the above is an absolutely outrageous scenario, now imagine that half of the people you run into over the course of a day are literally subject to exactly those kinds of laws and regulations. Now imagine telling them that they should just cool with it because someone might win a Senate seat who will, btw, make sure you get that dick cut off for sure.
posted by Autumnheart at 10:56 AM on August 2, 2017 [39 favorites]
Until they vote in support of the side of the aisle that wants to cut all dicks off, and as of January 1st you are informed that your dick is coming off.
I know it's tempting to consider this hyperbole, but this is exactly how legislation gets passed that criminalizes women who get abortions or even have miscarriages, that defunds and eliminates access to medical care, and that allows any number of uninvolved parties to decide whether or not you get to keep your dick. If they're feeling especially generous, they'll add a rider to the legislation that lets you petition your insurer to justify keeping your dick intact and not having it cut off.
This is exactly what women go through to obtain medical care, birth control, maternity coverage, abortion, and emergency treatment that involves their reproductive organs. Just imagine being put in a position where you have to justify why you deserve to keep your dick. Imagine going to a hospital after a dick-mangling injury, and when you ask the surgeons to save you, they refuse because they have a dick-removing policy and won't do dick-saving surgery, so they tell you to go somewhere else. Then you bleed to death. Or maybe you have petitioned the insurance companies to keep your dick, but now none of your preventative care or prescriptions are covered because why should anyone pay for you to keep your dick? Assuming your pharmacist will even fill your prescriptions because by law, they can tell you "no" because they don't believe guys should be allowed to have dicks.
If you feel like any of the above is an absolutely outrageous scenario, now imagine that half of the people you run into over the course of a day are literally subject to exactly those kinds of laws and regulations. Now imagine telling them that they should just cool with it because someone might win a Senate seat who will, btw, make sure you get that dick cut off for sure.
posted by Autumnheart at 10:56 AM on August 2, 2017 [39 favorites]
I'm assuming nearly everyone in this thread voted for Obama in 2008 (if they could), when he was on the record opposing gay marriage.
I mean this as a serious question: Are civil rights for gay people "expendable"? If so, can you justify that stance? If not, why did you support Obama anyway (and what does that mean)?
posted by 0xFCAF at 10:57 AM on August 2, 2017 [20 favorites]
I mean this as a serious question: Are civil rights for gay people "expendable"? If so, can you justify that stance? If not, why did you support Obama anyway (and what does that mean)?
posted by 0xFCAF at 10:57 AM on August 2, 2017 [20 favorites]
Every single time a person with political power and a media platform expresses a disapproval of abortion, womens' access to abortion is threatened. Even if it's a Senator in the minority party, even if it's an unelected party representative.
There's little pushback in these threads when people point out that Trump threatening transgendered people's participation in the military, or making a speech encouraging police to rough up suspects, poses a real threat to people, even if official policy never changes, because it encourages extremists.
Accepting that access to reproductive freedom is even on the negotiating table puts it on the table. Recall that the absolutist stance of the anti-abortion crowd has moved the Overton window to the right, as no amount of legislation regulating the practice, no matter how onerous, is enough; they'll be back to take another bite at the apple.
Reproductive freedom for all should not be negotiable. The fact that the other side isn't willing to negotiate should make that fact all the more obvious.
posted by Gelatin at 10:58 AM on August 2, 2017 [29 favorites]
There's little pushback in these threads when people point out that Trump threatening transgendered people's participation in the military, or making a speech encouraging police to rough up suspects, poses a real threat to people, even if official policy never changes, because it encourages extremists.
Accepting that access to reproductive freedom is even on the negotiating table puts it on the table. Recall that the absolutist stance of the anti-abortion crowd has moved the Overton window to the right, as no amount of legislation regulating the practice, no matter how onerous, is enough; they'll be back to take another bite at the apple.
Reproductive freedom for all should not be negotiable. The fact that the other side isn't willing to negotiate should make that fact all the more obvious.
posted by Gelatin at 10:58 AM on August 2, 2017 [29 favorites]
Julie Parker, McSweeney's: Recap of The West Wing, Season 18/Episode 21
Those of you who have been tuning in to this latest season of The West Wing might have felt a bit overwhelmed by last week’s episode. Too many plot lines, haphazard arrivals and exits of characters, and not enough focus on logic and character motivation — all recurring problems this season. Things have really gone downhill since Aaron Sorkin left. Let’s break it down.posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:58 AM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
The Arrival of the Mooch
Last week, we were introduced to the character of Anthony Scaramucci, the new White House Communications Director. He’s clearly setup to be the anti-Toby Ziegler. Basically a used car salesman for the Oval Office, “the Mooch” is way too over the top, right off the bat. In his very first episode he not only misses the birth of his child, but he has a long, expletive-laden conversation with a New Yorker reporter (shouldn’t it have been the failing New York Times instead?) that he doesn’t remember to keep off the record. Then his wife suddenly files for divorce! I mean, come on. Seems like the only possible explanation for the Mooch’s behavior is that he has some sort of drug problem — which could be an interesting twist in a future episode that would tie in nicely with the country’s opioid epidemic. Though wouldn’t that just be a recycled version of the Leo McGarry alcoholism arc?
actually physically threatening (in the same sense of the goofy example of cutting off a guy's dick)
I don't see why this is any goofier an example than forcing a woman to give birth.
Without any medical coverage or care, even.
posted by Autumnheart at 11:00 AM on August 2, 2017 [19 favorites]
I don't see why this is any goofier an example than forcing a woman to give birth.
Without any medical coverage or care, even.
posted by Autumnheart at 11:00 AM on August 2, 2017 [19 favorites]
What really disturbs me about the comments here complaining about primary challenges to right wing Democrats is that it's the opposite of what I've been told as a leftist for my whole life.
All my life people of the centrist/rightist side of the Democratic party would tell me (in a very condescending way I might add) that my childish, magical thinking, leftism was quasi tolerable as long as I restricted it to the primaries and voted for whoever won the primaries in the general election.
I thought this seemed like a reasonable approach. I thought we in the supposed big tent of the Democratic party had a fucking deal.
But now that we on the left are mobilizing and seem to actually have the power to swing a few primaries it seems that the rightist/centrist faction of the Democratic party was lying the whole time. Or, at least, they never really believed we'd have the power to swing a primary so they felt not so much that it was ok for us to fight in the primaries, but rather that holding out fighting in the primaries was viewed more as a fantasy extended to keep us in line rather than something they believe was actually permissible.
Now I'm told that not only must I be a good Democrat and vote for any filthy right wing slime with a D by their name in the general election, but **ALSO** that I'm a horrible, bad, evil, childish, magical thinking, moron if I try to challenge right wing slim in the primaries too.
Tell me, oh great and wise moderates of the party, just what the fuck exactly is it you think is permissible for us childish, magical thinking, leftists to really do?
Here we are and you're telling us that a central plank of the Democratic Party platform is, like magic, not really there. You're telling us that we're childish fools for imagining that maybe, just maybe, we ought not to give our full throated support to right wing slime who forced birth. You're telling us now that the rights of 50% of America (and more than 50% of Democrats) are mere petulant whines from children and that it would be horrible, bad, and awful for us to "fuck things up" as someone in this thread put it, by insisting that the Democrats stand for equal rights.
So, all vitriol to the side, I'm asking very seriously here: what **EXACTLY** do you consider permissible action from the left here? How are we, from your POV, permitted to be leftists in the Democratic Party?
I'll also ask you if you've considered things from the other side of the problem? You keep seeming to think that the votes, money, and volunteer labor of leftists and women are the birthright of anyone with a D by their name and that no matter how horrible a candidate your centrism produces we will work our butts off for them, donate all we can spare, and vote for them.
We, it seems are expected to give all, while they are expected to give nothing. Does that arrangement seem just, equable, fair, or even non-abusive to you? Vote for a guy who will oppose your rights or the Constitution gets it? Really, that's your inspiring vision for the Democratic Party?
But mostly, now that you've told me that primary fights are off the table and forbidden, I really do what to know what you think we are permitted to do? Or is there anything, in your view, that we on the left can legitimately do to advance our cause and position?
posted by sotonohito at 11:00 AM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
All my life people of the centrist/rightist side of the Democratic party would tell me (in a very condescending way I might add) that my childish, magical thinking, leftism was quasi tolerable as long as I restricted it to the primaries and voted for whoever won the primaries in the general election.
I thought this seemed like a reasonable approach. I thought we in the supposed big tent of the Democratic party had a fucking deal.
But now that we on the left are mobilizing and seem to actually have the power to swing a few primaries it seems that the rightist/centrist faction of the Democratic party was lying the whole time. Or, at least, they never really believed we'd have the power to swing a primary so they felt not so much that it was ok for us to fight in the primaries, but rather that holding out fighting in the primaries was viewed more as a fantasy extended to keep us in line rather than something they believe was actually permissible.
Now I'm told that not only must I be a good Democrat and vote for any filthy right wing slime with a D by their name in the general election, but **ALSO** that I'm a horrible, bad, evil, childish, magical thinking, moron if I try to challenge right wing slim in the primaries too.
Tell me, oh great and wise moderates of the party, just what the fuck exactly is it you think is permissible for us childish, magical thinking, leftists to really do?
Here we are and you're telling us that a central plank of the Democratic Party platform is, like magic, not really there. You're telling us that we're childish fools for imagining that maybe, just maybe, we ought not to give our full throated support to right wing slime who forced birth. You're telling us now that the rights of 50% of America (and more than 50% of Democrats) are mere petulant whines from children and that it would be horrible, bad, and awful for us to "fuck things up" as someone in this thread put it, by insisting that the Democrats stand for equal rights.
So, all vitriol to the side, I'm asking very seriously here: what **EXACTLY** do you consider permissible action from the left here? How are we, from your POV, permitted to be leftists in the Democratic Party?
I'll also ask you if you've considered things from the other side of the problem? You keep seeming to think that the votes, money, and volunteer labor of leftists and women are the birthright of anyone with a D by their name and that no matter how horrible a candidate your centrism produces we will work our butts off for them, donate all we can spare, and vote for them.
We, it seems are expected to give all, while they are expected to give nothing. Does that arrangement seem just, equable, fair, or even non-abusive to you? Vote for a guy who will oppose your rights or the Constitution gets it? Really, that's your inspiring vision for the Democratic Party?
But mostly, now that you've told me that primary fights are off the table and forbidden, I really do what to know what you think we are permitted to do? Or is there anything, in your view, that we on the left can legitimately do to advance our cause and position?
posted by sotonohito at 11:00 AM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
But as I've argued above, those electoral costs are actually far less than the "pragmatic" centrist wing of the party would have us believe.
I don't know if there are costs but we ran the most democratic socialist platform since FDR and we still lost the states we needed by a margin less than Stein's vote tally. So you tell me how far left we have to go before the left will start swallowing their pride and start showing up when it counts.
posted by Talez at 11:00 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
I don't know if there are costs but we ran the most democratic socialist platform since FDR and we still lost the states we needed by a margin less than Stein's vote tally. So you tell me how far left we have to go before the left will start swallowing their pride and start showing up when it counts.
posted by Talez at 11:00 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
From Rosie Gray at The Atlantic:
A top official of the National Security Council was fired last month after arguing in a memo that President Trump is under sustained attack from subversive forces both within and outside the government who are deploying Maoist tactics to defeat President Trump’s nationalist agenda.posted by yasaman at 11:02 AM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
His dismissal marks the latest victory by National-Security Adviser H.R. McMaster in the ongoing war within Trump’s White House between those who believe the president is under threat from dark forces plotting to undermine him, and those like McMaster who dismiss this as conspiratorial thinking.
I'm assuming nearly everyone in this thread voted for Obama in 2008 (if they could), when he was on the record opposing gay marriage.
I mean this as a serious question: Are civil rights for gay people "expendable"? If so, can you justify that stance? If not, why did you support Obama anyway (and what does that mean)?
posted by 0xFCAF at 2:57 AM on August 3 [+] [!]
No civil rights are "expendable". Least evil option available in FPTT voting system is why I did it.
posted by saysthis at 11:03 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
I mean this as a serious question: Are civil rights for gay people "expendable"? If so, can you justify that stance? If not, why did you support Obama anyway (and what does that mean)?
posted by 0xFCAF at 2:57 AM on August 3 [+] [!]
No civil rights are "expendable". Least evil option available in FPTT voting system is why I did it.
posted by saysthis at 11:03 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
I'm assuming nearly everyone in this thread voted for Obama in 2008 (if they could), when he was on the record opposing gay marriage. I mean this as a serious question: Are civil rights for gay people "expendable"? If so, can you justify that stance?
This is a really good point. My assumption is that the counterargument is that people didn't actually believe that Obama was against gay marriage which seems kind of weak.
posted by Justinian at 11:04 AM on August 2, 2017
This is a really good point. My assumption is that the counterargument is that people didn't actually believe that Obama was against gay marriage which seems kind of weak.
posted by Justinian at 11:04 AM on August 2, 2017
Why is it that the right leaning Democrats are not scolded for magical, childish, thinking when they vote against liberal Democrats, but left leaning Democrats are scolded for even daring to be very critical of right leaning Democrats?
Their decision to vote Republican or just to sit out the elections is considered inevitable, or tolerable, or in some way not failing to be a good Democrat. Yet one single leftist says that they might vote Green and this is viewed as horrible vile treason? Why is there double standard of letting the right leaning Democrats get away with shit you castigate the left for?
posted by sotonohito at 11:04 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Their decision to vote Republican or just to sit out the elections is considered inevitable, or tolerable, or in some way not failing to be a good Democrat. Yet one single leftist says that they might vote Green and this is viewed as horrible vile treason? Why is there double standard of letting the right leaning Democrats get away with shit you castigate the left for?
posted by sotonohito at 11:04 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
I don't know if there are costs but we ran the most democratic socialist platform since FDR and we still lost the states we needed by a margin less than Stein's vote tally. So you tell me how far left we have to go before the left will start swallowing their pride and start showing up when it counts.
Jesus H Christ, here's a fun little strawman. That platform came about because the left wing of the party, with Bernie, pushed the platform to the left. We lost those states because of a combination of gerrymandering, voter suppression, and various campaign and email scandal-related errors. Blaming the left 'not showing up' for Hillary's narrow loss is ludicrous.
posted by Existential Dread at 11:05 AM on August 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
Jesus H Christ, here's a fun little strawman. That platform came about because the left wing of the party, with Bernie, pushed the platform to the left. We lost those states because of a combination of gerrymandering, voter suppression, and various campaign and email scandal-related errors. Blaming the left 'not showing up' for Hillary's narrow loss is ludicrous.
posted by Existential Dread at 11:05 AM on August 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
I know this is a small detail but it's sort of freaking me out. Why would they put both up?
They're not actually good at this. Any of this.
posted by Etrigan at 11:05 AM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
They're not actually good at this. Any of this.
posted by Etrigan at 11:05 AM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
I don't know if there are costs but we ran the most democratic socialist platform since FDR and we still lost the states we needed by a margin less than Stein's vote tally. So you tell me how far left we have to go before they start swallowing their pride and start showing up when it counts.
I have quite a few thoughts about this, but I believe responding in detail would constitute relitigating 2016 in the eyes of the mods, don't you?
posted by chortly at 11:07 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
I have quite a few thoughts about this, but I believe responding in detail would constitute relitigating 2016 in the eyes of the mods, don't you?
posted by chortly at 11:07 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
My assumption is that the counterargument is that people didn't actually believe that Obama was against gay marriage which seems kind of weak.
Again, I don't pretend to know what opinion Obama actually held, as opposed to thought it politically expedient to express, but in the 2008 election, it was reasonable to assume that Obama was a person of good will who at least had the potential to come around to supporting the right position. For a Republican to do the same, it seems, they need to be personally affected -- have a son or daughter come out, for example. Given the choice between a candidate I believe could be open to the right position a candidate whose mind seems closed on the issue, the choice is clear.
posted by Gelatin at 11:07 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Again, I don't pretend to know what opinion Obama actually held, as opposed to thought it politically expedient to express, but in the 2008 election, it was reasonable to assume that Obama was a person of good will who at least had the potential to come around to supporting the right position. For a Republican to do the same, it seems, they need to be personally affected -- have a son or daughter come out, for example. Given the choice between a candidate I believe could be open to the right position a candidate whose mind seems closed on the issue, the choice is clear.
posted by Gelatin at 11:07 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Autumnheart, I liked your example, and even memailed you to say so - I suppose I said that word goofy because even when arguing for my own rights, I know some here will think that takes it too far. And you're right, that's stupid, and I'm sorry.
posted by agregoli at 11:08 AM on August 2, 2017
posted by agregoli at 11:08 AM on August 2, 2017
Mod note: A few comments deleted. Folks, this is circling back around to the familiar ground of "how left should the Dems go" with a side helping of whose fault the 2016 election was, let's just not. You all, frequent commenters in these threads, know that we've been over these same arguments from these same people ten million times and restating stances again here isn't changing that. Leave it please.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 11:08 AM on August 2, 2017 [37 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 11:08 AM on August 2, 2017 [37 favorites]
When Obama had his stance against gay marriage, states were increasingly legalizing gay marriage at the state level. So, even a vote for Obama at that stage would still have enabled a Democrat to fight for gay marriage at the state level and thus move the needle. Certainly voting for McCain would not have made the fight at the state level more likely to succeed, because McCain had a vested interest in preventing its success and Obama did not.
This isn't the same environment, where Republican parties at every level of government have a *very* vested interest in disenfranchising women's reproductive rights (not to mention other rights). Being a net-neutral influence will not prevent continued disenfranchisement, much less encourage affirming and protecting those rights.
posted by Autumnheart at 11:10 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
This isn't the same environment, where Republican parties at every level of government have a *very* vested interest in disenfranchising women's reproductive rights (not to mention other rights). Being a net-neutral influence will not prevent continued disenfranchisement, much less encourage affirming and protecting those rights.
posted by Autumnheart at 11:10 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
sotonohito: yeah, the right-wing tendency within the democratic party has always wanted to adopt something like the democratic centralist organization strategy you find in Marxist-Leninist parties, a strategy typically summed up with the phrase "democracy in debate, centralism in action."
In democratic centralist parties, the centralist side tends to end up recasting all forms of actually existing debate as dangerous disunity; "democracy in debate, centralism in action" devolves to "pretend that there's debate, say what the central committee says you should say, and then do what the central committee wants you to do."
One thing I can say about Trotskyists: at least their centralism tends to be in defense of generally decent aims and generally decent values. But the centralism that the right wing of the Democratic Party pushes for is centralism in the defense of the status quo; it's just conservative authoritarianism masked behind a pretense of democratic debate.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:11 AM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
In democratic centralist parties, the centralist side tends to end up recasting all forms of actually existing debate as dangerous disunity; "democracy in debate, centralism in action" devolves to "pretend that there's debate, say what the central committee says you should say, and then do what the central committee wants you to do."
One thing I can say about Trotskyists: at least their centralism tends to be in defense of generally decent aims and generally decent values. But the centralism that the right wing of the Democratic Party pushes for is centralism in the defense of the status quo; it's just conservative authoritarianism masked behind a pretense of democratic debate.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:11 AM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
My Senators are Wyden and Merkley, two of the most liberal. Thanks to Portland overwhelming the rest of the state, I'm pretty sure the only thing they have to worry about is a primary from the left. At least that's how they act. Most of the "blue" states are similar. CA, WA, NY, MA, HI, MA, RI, DE, VT, NJ, and maybe VA, CO, NM, MN. Even being generous you'll only get to 30 liberal Senators. To get a majority you need to find at least 20 Senators who don't fit neatly into the Progressive/Liberal/Democratic box. People from IA, ND, WY, or AK have different values than people from OR, CA, NY, or VT. But that doesn't mean we can't find morally acceptable common ground to stand on.
If you're from WV, do you think that Manchin is representing the state well? Or the other conservative Senators like Heitkamp, Tester, Stabenow, Casey, McCaskill, Baldwin, Donnelly, or Nelson? I honestly don't know. They aren't my Senators, and I feel like condescending towards states I don't live in about their brand of "Democrat" is a bad idea. If Manchin or Casey are your Senator and they are pissing you off and disappointing you then go primary them, or support someone who will. But if you live in Seattle, San Francisco, Minneapolis, or New York, maybe defer to the people on the ground.
Actually looking at that list really makes me think about how difficult it is to elect a progressive majority into the Senate. We already have Senators from ND, WV, OH, IN, FL, MT, WI, MO, and PA and only have 48. If we want a majority we need to be flexible with specific candidates, but we don't have to relax morals. Imagine if we had 55 or 60 Senators. Then we could allow 5 of them to vote against the party for their specific issue and still get stuff done. If the WV Senator needs to be pro-coal, then fine. She'll vote for bank regulations. And if the IN Senator needs to be pro-life, ok, he'll support expanding medicaid and improving public education.
But if you lack the majority, none of this matters. The other side has control and has the opportunity to create policies that move the overton window in their favor. Joe Lieberman really fucked Democrats by killing the public option, but passing Obamacare ripped the Overton Window so far to the left we can't imagine going back to the old status quo. Now talking about a public option, or medicaid buy in, isn't radical. It might be necessary. And moving to single payer (a radical fantasy 10 years ago) is a serious policy discussion. None of that happens without all the wishy-washy blue dog support to pass a flawed Obamacare law whose greatest contribution might be obligating the US government to take responsibility for healthcare in the minds of voters.
posted by Glibpaxman at 11:11 AM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
If you're from WV, do you think that Manchin is representing the state well? Or the other conservative Senators like Heitkamp, Tester, Stabenow, Casey, McCaskill, Baldwin, Donnelly, or Nelson? I honestly don't know. They aren't my Senators, and I feel like condescending towards states I don't live in about their brand of "Democrat" is a bad idea. If Manchin or Casey are your Senator and they are pissing you off and disappointing you then go primary them, or support someone who will. But if you live in Seattle, San Francisco, Minneapolis, or New York, maybe defer to the people on the ground.
Actually looking at that list really makes me think about how difficult it is to elect a progressive majority into the Senate. We already have Senators from ND, WV, OH, IN, FL, MT, WI, MO, and PA and only have 48. If we want a majority we need to be flexible with specific candidates, but we don't have to relax morals. Imagine if we had 55 or 60 Senators. Then we could allow 5 of them to vote against the party for their specific issue and still get stuff done. If the WV Senator needs to be pro-coal, then fine. She'll vote for bank regulations. And if the IN Senator needs to be pro-life, ok, he'll support expanding medicaid and improving public education.
But if you lack the majority, none of this matters. The other side has control and has the opportunity to create policies that move the overton window in their favor. Joe Lieberman really fucked Democrats by killing the public option, but passing Obamacare ripped the Overton Window so far to the left we can't imagine going back to the old status quo. Now talking about a public option, or medicaid buy in, isn't radical. It might be necessary. And moving to single payer (a radical fantasy 10 years ago) is a serious policy discussion. None of that happens without all the wishy-washy blue dog support to pass a flawed Obamacare law whose greatest contribution might be obligating the US government to take responsibility for healthcare in the minds of voters.
posted by Glibpaxman at 11:11 AM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
Leave it please
God damn it, we were SO CLOSE to figuring it all out this time.
posted by Behemoth at 11:12 AM on August 2, 2017 [55 favorites]
God damn it, we were SO CLOSE to figuring it all out this time.
posted by Behemoth at 11:12 AM on August 2, 2017 [55 favorites]
It's not complicating the idea of fundamental rights. So much of patriarchal bullshit is men telling women what to do based on the belief that it's the best thing for them. I'm trying not to do that because I believe it makes me a shitty person to do that. I'm unquestionably on the side that a woman's bodily autonomy is absolute. That doesn't make me not feel like a shitty patriarchist when it comes to having an abortion discussing about a woman's bodily autonomy with women even when I think they're wrong if they believe it's not absolute.
I'm sorry. Make no mistake I'm 100% with you on this principle.
I find it's helpful to lean a bit more on a separation of church and state argument in this specific situation. Because the anti-choice side is also wrong on that point, by trying to impose the religious beliefs of some on everyone.
posted by jason_steakums at 11:12 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
I'm sorry. Make no mistake I'm 100% with you on this principle.
I find it's helpful to lean a bit more on a separation of church and state argument in this specific situation. Because the anti-choice side is also wrong on that point, by trying to impose the religious beliefs of some on everyone.
posted by jason_steakums at 11:12 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
I am, personally, not saying that you shouldn't vote for the least-bad option. I think not voting for the least bad option is how we got fucking Trump.
What I am objecting to, and strenuously, is for the party - MY PARTY - to proclaim that going forward women's rights are just not worth fighting for. In two thousand motherfucking seventeen. When the right to have an abortion is eroded on all fronts, when women are facing attacks on their access to both birth control, preventative care, and maternal care. When social services are cut and programs that help feed and care for children and mothers are scrapped.
Come on. Women's rights are the fucking BATTLE GROUND.
posted by lydhre at 11:13 AM on August 2, 2017 [63 favorites]
What I am objecting to, and strenuously, is for the party - MY PARTY - to proclaim that going forward women's rights are just not worth fighting for. In two thousand motherfucking seventeen. When the right to have an abortion is eroded on all fronts, when women are facing attacks on their access to both birth control, preventative care, and maternal care. When social services are cut and programs that help feed and care for children and mothers are scrapped.
Come on. Women's rights are the fucking BATTLE GROUND.
posted by lydhre at 11:13 AM on August 2, 2017 [63 favorites]
When will Trump does something ridiculously awful to save us from this slow news day?
posted by Justinian at 11:13 AM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 11:13 AM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
Furthermore, political science research suggests that there is at best a very weak relationship between the ideological position of a candidate and that of their district.
What are you thinking of? The Warshaw/Tausanovitch/etc stuff? Yeah, those are big clouds but I expect those shape up a lot if you're looking state by state. All I have on hand at the moment is district presidential vote and the effect is strong -- bivariate, a 1SD shift in right vote gets you a .74SD shift rightward in ideology. With party, a little over a quarter of an SD rightward.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:15 AM on August 2, 2017
What are you thinking of? The Warshaw/Tausanovitch/etc stuff? Yeah, those are big clouds but I expect those shape up a lot if you're looking state by state. All I have on hand at the moment is district presidential vote and the effect is strong -- bivariate, a 1SD shift in right vote gets you a .74SD shift rightward in ideology. With party, a little over a quarter of an SD rightward.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 11:15 AM on August 2, 2017
Now I'm told that not only must I be a good Democrat and vote for any filthy right wing slime with a D by their name in the general election, but **ALSO** that I'm a horrible, bad, evil, childish, magical thinking, moron if I try to challenge right wing slim in the primaries too.
If that's the message I'm conveying, I have miscommunicated. I don't think anyone needs to accept the Manchins of the world in the primaries.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 11:16 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
If that's the message I'm conveying, I have miscommunicated. I don't think anyone needs to accept the Manchins of the world in the primaries.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 11:16 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Come fight about universal health care instead? Joshua Holland, The Nation: Medicare-for-All Isn’t the Solution for Universal Health Care: "The health-care debate is moving to the left. But if progressives don’t start sweating the details, we’re going to fail yet again."
Olivia Nuzzi, New York: Exactly How Close Was the White House to Fox News’ Fake Seth Rich Story?
THR, Seth Abramovitch: How 'Sharknado' Casts Its C-Listers and Nearly Landed Trump as President
posted by zachlipton at 11:16 AM on August 2, 2017 [16 favorites]
Understanding that other countries’ schemes vary significantly in the details—and that in the US, the cost of care would remain a serious challenge under any system—should lead to a different conversation among progressives. Rather than making Medicare-for-All a litmus test, we should start from the broader principle that comprehensive health care is a human right that should be guaranteed by the government—make that the litmus test—and then have an open debate about how best to get there. Maybe Medicaid is a better vehicle. Perhaps a long phase-in period to Medicare-for-All might help minimize the inevitable shocks. There are lots of ways to skin this cat.Politico: Mulvaney: We still might dump Obamacare subsidies. The threats never end.
At a minimum, it’s time to get past the idea that anyone who doesn’t embrace Medicare-for-All, as it’s currently defined, must be some kind of neoliberal hack.
Olivia Nuzzi, New York: Exactly How Close Was the White House to Fox News’ Fake Seth Rich Story?
Still, Butowsky can’t help but want to appear connected to the Trump administration even while he’s denying it. He told me, “I knew people who were on the campaign,” but then backtracked and said, “It wasn’t so much on the campaign. I know people.”BuzzFeed, Steven Perlberg and Charlie Warzel: These Two TV Producers Have Become Famous For Tweeting And Everyone Is Like :eyes:. In which Bradd Jaffy and Kyle Griffin tweet a lot and some of their colleagues are stupidly upset about that. Speaking of which, I sincerely hope Jaffy is enjoying a well-deserved vacation; haven't heard from him in a while.
He has previously described Steve Bannon, the president’s chief strategist who previously ran Breitbart News, as a personal friend.
Asked about that on Tuesday, things devolved into a strange existential meditation on the meaning of friendship.
“Steve Bannon is a friend,” he said first. And then: “He would say he barely knows me, because we’ve never really done anything together, but he’s a friend. I’ve been on his radio show twice. And I’ve written a couple of articles and I’ve seen him places, and he’s a very nice guy and I like him and admire his intelligence quite a bit.”
Asked what in the hell that meant, he said, “Well, I guess everyone has a different interpretation of a friend. I’ve never been to dinner, lunch with him. I’ve never had a drink with him. I’ve never really done anything with him. I don’t know … He’s a friend. How about this: You’re my friend, too.” (I am not.) “You know what I’m saying … You can call him friend, friendly associate. When I said I don’t know if Steve would call me a friend? We’ve never really done much together! I call Steve — he’s a friend. He’s a really nice guy.” (Steve Bannon does not consider Butowsky a friend.)
Butowsky said he hasn’t spoken to Bannon in “two years” and he’s never met with him at the White House. But he noted that there’s another person he considers a friend, “Who I haven’t talked to in six years. You can define it any way you want to. I think you’re my friend.” (Again, no.)
“This is kind of silly,” he admitted.
THR, Seth Abramovitch: How 'Sharknado' Casts Its C-Listers and Nearly Landed Trump as President
In January 2015, two years before he was sworn in as president, Donald Trump was set to step into the same role in a very different capacity: He had signed on to play the president in 2015's Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!Trump's people delayed, saying he might run for actual President, so they offered the role to Mark Cuban instead. Then Michael Cohen got all mad and threatened to sue Sharknado.
Producers' first choice to play the leader of the free world in the Washington, D.C.-set disaster film was Sarah Palin, but negotiations with the former Alaska governor and vice presidential nominee had fallen through. That's when Ian Ziering, the gung-ho star of the schlocky Syfy franchise, had the inspiration to capitalize on the special relationship he'd developed with Trump while taping Celebrity Apprentice (Ziering made it as far as the penultimate task). His reality TV boss would make a good commander in chief, he reasoned. An offer went out. Almost immediately, it elicited a response.
"The Donald said yes," recalls David Latt, the 51-year-old co-founder of The Asylum, the off-brand assembly line behind the Sharknado series. "He was thrilled to be asked."
posted by zachlipton at 11:16 AM on August 2, 2017 [16 favorites]
I'm wondering: now that Trump has signed the Russian sanctions, what is going through the minds of Putin and Co. who thought they had the perfect puppet and instead got an out-of-control giant toddler who might not be as useful as they thought?
Yes, they disrupted the election and caused chaos, which is part of what they wanted, but - it seems all isn't working out quite as planned.
And if Britain is hamstrung by dependence on Russian oil - solar and wind power can't come fast enough. For the United States, as well. Not just because of global warming, but because no one country (or state, or wealthy donor, or...) can take the sun and wind away.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 11:18 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
Yes, they disrupted the election and caused chaos, which is part of what they wanted, but - it seems all isn't working out quite as planned.
And if Britain is hamstrung by dependence on Russian oil - solar and wind power can't come fast enough. For the United States, as well. Not just because of global warming, but because no one country (or state, or wealthy donor, or...) can take the sun and wind away.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 11:18 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
I think Putin is happy enough. He's got chaos, confusion, and an effectively neutralized USA giving him a free hand in eastern Europe.
Sure, he'd have been happier if the sanctions were lifted, but I think overall he's content just seeing America doing basically nothing for the next 4 years.
posted by sotonohito at 11:22 AM on August 2, 2017 [12 favorites]
Sure, he'd have been happier if the sanctions were lifted, but I think overall he's content just seeing America doing basically nothing for the next 4 years.
posted by sotonohito at 11:22 AM on August 2, 2017 [12 favorites]
I'm wondering: now that Trump has signed the Russian sanctions, what is going through the minds of Putin and Co. who thought they had the perfect puppet and instead got an out-of-control giant toddler who might not be as useful as they thought?
"I am shocked, shocked that Donald Trump wouldn't hold up his end of a deal."
posted by jason_steakums at 11:22 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
"I am shocked, shocked that Donald Trump wouldn't hold up his end of a deal."
posted by jason_steakums at 11:22 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
And if Britain is hamstrung by dependence on Russian oil - solar and wind power can't come fast enough.
I seem to recall somebody we know being opposed to offshore wind farms around those parts...
posted by carsonb at 11:23 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
I seem to recall somebody we know being opposed to offshore wind farms around those parts...
posted by carsonb at 11:23 AM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
Furthermore, political science research suggests that there is at best a very weak relationship between the ideological position of a candidate and that of their district.What are you thinking of? The Warshaw/Tausanovitch/etc stuff? Yeah, those are big clouds but I expect those shape up a lot if you're looking state by state. All I have on hand at the moment is district presidential vote and the effect is strong -- bivariate, a 1SD shift in right vote gets you a .74SD shift rightward in ideology. With party, a little over a quarter of an SD rightward.
Sorry -- poorly worded on my part. There is a reasonably strong correlation, but the fundamental question is causality. It's certainly the case that candidates arise who roughly match their district, but this is also endogenous to party beliefs that only these sorts of folks can win these districts. My rough memory of what I've read [citation needed!] was that, when you take a more causal approach -- looking at shifts in either the member or the district ideology over time -- the connection between candidate ideology and vote share weakens considerably, suggesting that a large part of the correlation is due to initial selection, much of which may be due to begging the question.
posted by chortly at 11:24 AM on August 2, 2017
Or the other conservative Senators like Heitkamp, Tester, Stabenow, Casey, McCaskill, Baldwin, Donnelly, or Nelson?
Uh, in no world is Tammy Baldwin equivalent to your other examples. Wisconsin is a...complicated state and she is doing her best like she always has. We don't have to worry about her voting away our rights. Is she perfect? No, of course not. But she's no Manchin, Heitkamp, etc.
posted by altopower at 11:26 AM on August 2, 2017 [17 favorites]
Uh, in no world is Tammy Baldwin equivalent to your other examples. Wisconsin is a...complicated state and she is doing her best like she always has. We don't have to worry about her voting away our rights. Is she perfect? No, of course not. But she's no Manchin, Heitkamp, etc.
posted by altopower at 11:26 AM on August 2, 2017 [17 favorites]
Trump hit all time lows in approval and all time highs in disapproval again today. His disapproval numbers jumped quite considerably in the last couple days. Considerably for a poll aggregator I mean given it looks at an average of many polls.
posted by Justinian at 11:29 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 11:29 AM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Yeah, Baldwin is by some metrics more progressive than Sanders (and close to the top in how much more progressive she is than her state).
posted by Etrigan at 11:30 AM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 11:30 AM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
(Another potential mechanism for a misleading correlation between ideology and district is that, in an idealistically open party primary system, you would expect more centrist Democrats to win primaries in more centrist districts, and thus would expect more centrist Democratic representatives in those districts. This association can lead to the conclusion that only centrist Dems can win centrist districts. But in a hyper-partisan world, it may be that any Dem in the general would do about as well as any other Dem, and thus the observed association due to the primary effect might be obscuring the fact that there is actually little causal connection between ideology and vote share in the general. Which would imply that if you did manage to nominate a more left-wing democrat in the primary, they wouldn't necessarily be at any greater disadvantage in the general.)
posted by chortly at 11:32 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by chortly at 11:32 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Politicians are free to support policies that reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, make it easier to be pregnant, and make it easier to raise children. All of these things reduce the incidence of abortion.
Restricting access to abortion just kills women and girls. You cannot be in favor of restricting access to abortion and claim to be "pro life" or "progressive" or, ideally, "a Democrat."
posted by melissasaurus at 11:32 AM on August 2, 2017 [44 favorites]
Restricting access to abortion just kills women and girls. You cannot be in favor of restricting access to abortion and claim to be "pro life" or "progressive" or, ideally, "a Democrat."
posted by melissasaurus at 11:32 AM on August 2, 2017 [44 favorites]
Uh, in no world is Tammy Baldwin equivalent to your other examples. Wisconsin is a...complicated state and she is doing her best like she always has. We don't have to worry about her voting away our rights. Is she perfect? No, of course not. But she's no Manchin, Heitkamp, etc.
Yeah, Baldwin is by some metrics more progressive than Sanders (and close to the top in how much more progressive she is than her state).
I really don't know enough about other Senators. Thanks!
posted by Glibpaxman at 11:33 AM on August 2, 2017
Yeah, Baldwin is by some metrics more progressive than Sanders (and close to the top in how much more progressive she is than her state).
I really don't know enough about other Senators. Thanks!
posted by Glibpaxman at 11:33 AM on August 2, 2017
What I am objecting to, and strenuously, is for the party - MY PARTY - to proclaim that going forward women's rights are just not worth fighting for. In two thousand motherfucking seventeen. When the right to have an abortion is eroded on all fronts, when women are facing attacks on their access to both birth control, preventative care, and maternal care. When social services are cut and programs that help feed and care for children and mothers are scrapped.
Come on. Women's rights are the fucking BATTLE GROUND.
Didn't a very passionate, hardworking woman say like 22 years ago that "Human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights, once and for all."? I think she was in the media recently...
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 11:35 AM on August 2, 2017 [23 favorites]
Come on. Women's rights are the fucking BATTLE GROUND.
Didn't a very passionate, hardworking woman say like 22 years ago that "Human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights, once and for all."? I think she was in the media recently...
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 11:35 AM on August 2, 2017 [23 favorites]
I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to talk about this anymore?
posted by Justinian at 11:35 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 11:35 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
Responding to the Canadian asylum thing that's way upthread now: I believe that in Pence's America, forced LGBT conversion therapy, at least for kids, is not unthinkable. (If this seems hyperbolic, why is forced birth a possible outcome but not this?) A lot of stuff would probably happen before this - passage of RFRA, rollback of marriage equality - but conversion should be the tipping point for asylum.
It's not often noted that the Nazis' first book burning targeted a pro-LGBT research institute (which isn't even mentioned in the Holocaust museum's writeup of it !!). Present-day autocrats also tend to oppress the LGBT community first.
posted by AFABulous at 11:41 AM on August 2, 2017 [25 favorites]
It's not often noted that the Nazis' first book burning targeted a pro-LGBT research institute (which isn't even mentioned in the Holocaust museum's writeup of it !!). Present-day autocrats also tend to oppress the LGBT community first.
posted by AFABulous at 11:41 AM on August 2, 2017 [25 favorites]
I have to wonder whose idea it was for Scaramucci to not be present in the delivery room. The media is playing it like "he missed the birth of his child," but was he actually missed? I get the rather strong impression that the soon-to-be-former Mrs. Mooch was maybe not in favor of having him around.
posted by Autumnheart at 11:43 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Autumnheart at 11:43 AM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Glibpaxman: "Or the other conservative Senators like Heitkamp, Tester, Stabenow, Casey, McCaskill, Baldwin, Donnelly, or Nelson? I honestly don't know. They aren't my Senators, and I feel like condescending towards states I don't live in about their brand of "Democrat" is a bad idea. If Manchin or Casey are your Senator and they are pissing you off and disappointing you then go primary them, or support someone who will."
Just as a sidebar, this pretty badly misreads what Casey's been up to since the election.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:43 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Just as a sidebar, this pretty badly misreads what Casey's been up to since the election.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:43 AM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
it's not like they stop at women. Hold the god damn line and protect women from forced birth, or before long, kleenex and baby oil will require ID to purchase.
Ah. If we don't fight now to save women from grotesque bodily violation and exclusion from basic health care and human rights, one day men might be slightly inconvenienced. don't say it couldn't happen here, it's a real threat!
this argument -- usually I see it in Viagra slippery slope form -- I understand it is sometimes born of cynicism and the true fact that minor inconveniences for men are more outraging and mobilizing for a lot of people than brutalization of women. but it's not a joke worth making or pushing forward, because it is just so incredibly offensive that the very worst and most literal form of forced labor that can realistically be imposed on a huge group of people in the present time and place is anyone's idea of a starting point in the war on human rights. Women denied abortions is the end of the slope, not the beginning.
when the religious maniacs live out everyone's paranoid fantasies and criminalize masturbation, you know how you get around it? you get your own room and lock the door. when they shut down all the abortion clinics, you know what you do? Suffer and die.
do not belittle the real monstrosity in service of an imaginary boner scare, please. the rhetorical effect is not worth the offense.
posted by queenofbithynia at 11:43 AM on August 2, 2017 [42 favorites]
Ah. If we don't fight now to save women from grotesque bodily violation and exclusion from basic health care and human rights, one day men might be slightly inconvenienced. don't say it couldn't happen here, it's a real threat!
this argument -- usually I see it in Viagra slippery slope form -- I understand it is sometimes born of cynicism and the true fact that minor inconveniences for men are more outraging and mobilizing for a lot of people than brutalization of women. but it's not a joke worth making or pushing forward, because it is just so incredibly offensive that the very worst and most literal form of forced labor that can realistically be imposed on a huge group of people in the present time and place is anyone's idea of a starting point in the war on human rights. Women denied abortions is the end of the slope, not the beginning.
when the religious maniacs live out everyone's paranoid fantasies and criminalize masturbation, you know how you get around it? you get your own room and lock the door. when they shut down all the abortion clinics, you know what you do? Suffer and die.
do not belittle the real monstrosity in service of an imaginary boner scare, please. the rhetorical effect is not worth the offense.
posted by queenofbithynia at 11:43 AM on August 2, 2017 [42 favorites]
Didn't a very passionate, hardworking woman say like 22 years ago that "Human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights, once and for all."? I think she was in the media recently...
And to me, that's the point - there's a lot of people who are viewed as moderate who see this walk back from supporting the reproductive rights of women as an offront, and there's a lot of supposed progressives making the pragmatic argument over this. Trying to argue that this is the moderates betraying the left is just wrong, Period. And the roots of why this is happening come from a different place than the divide between progressives and moderates.
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:44 AM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
And to me, that's the point - there's a lot of people who are viewed as moderate who see this walk back from supporting the reproductive rights of women as an offront, and there's a lot of supposed progressives making the pragmatic argument over this. Trying to argue that this is the moderates betraying the left is just wrong, Period. And the roots of why this is happening come from a different place than the divide between progressives and moderates.
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:44 AM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
Politicians are free to support policies that reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, make it easier to be pregnant, and make it easier to raise children.
And fund research that will lead to a reduction in congenital disorders, something else "pro-lifers" rarely mention.
posted by Behemoth at 11:44 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
And fund research that will lead to a reduction in congenital disorders, something else "pro-lifers" rarely mention.
posted by Behemoth at 11:44 AM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
Chrysostom and Etrigan, I am happy to stand (er... sit) corrected re: Rasmussen. I think I might have implied that they flat out faked numbers, which is not what I meant. My understanding is that polling outfits create poll subject models (e.g. who counts as a "likely voter") that can subtly produce a result that might be favorable in partisan terms. I just wanted to point out that, IMO, today's results from Rasmussen are like an earthquake. I checked 538 again, and it turns out that Rasmussen was reporting disapprove/approve numbers of 55/45 as recently as July 9-11. I think the latest numbers (62/38) might reflect massive disappointment re: the (pointless, unpopular) Obamacare repeal.
posted by Slothrop at 11:45 AM on August 2, 2017
posted by Slothrop at 11:45 AM on August 2, 2017
Asylum: I don't really want to speculate as to our possible apocalyptic future (it freaks me out too much, and others have described it as unhelpful in the political threads), but I wouldn't be surprised if LGBT people were one of the targets if that comes to pass. As with earthquakes, tornadoes, etc. you should always have a plan B.
posted by blnkfrnk at 11:46 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by blnkfrnk at 11:46 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to talk about this anymore?
posted by Justinian at 3:35 AM on August 3 [+] [!]
Palate cleanser by Garrison Keillor (who, for all his flaws and the willful ignorance on display in this article, makes a good point here) - We Will Survive This
posted by Justinian at 3:35 AM on August 3 [+] [!]
Palate cleanser by Garrison Keillor (who, for all his flaws and the willful ignorance on display in this article, makes a good point here) - We Will Survive This
He fulfills an important role of celebs: giving millions of people the chance to feel superior to him. The gloomy face and the antique adolescent hair, the mannequin wife and the clueless children of privilege, the sheer pointlessness of flying around in a 747 to say inane things to crowds of people — it’s cheap entertainment for us, and in the end it simply doesn’t matter.posted by saysthis at 11:47 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
What matter are tomatoes. There is an excellent crop this year, like the tomatoes of our youth that we ate right off the vine, juice running down our chins. There is nothing like this. For years, I dashed into supermarkets and scooped up whatever was available, tomatoes bred for long shelf life that tasted like wet cardboard, and now I go to a farmers market and I’m astonished all over again. A spiritual experience. The spontaneity of the tomato compared to the manufactured sweetness of the glazed doughnut. An awakening takes place, light shines in your soul. Anyone who bites into a good tomato and thinks about Trump is seriously delusional.
Pretty much everyone is reporting record lows at this point (Q, Gallup, YouGov), so I'm pretty sure it's solid. Hard to say if Rasmussen has changed anything.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:47 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Chrysostom at 11:47 AM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
>> I mean this as a serious question: Are civil rights for gay people "expendable"? If so, can you justify that stance? If not, why did you support Obama anyway (and what does that mean)?
> In 2008, gay marriage was not the law of the land. Opposition to it was less about restricting something that was not available, so much as not supporting something that was not yet available.
Nah, that's hair-splitting. The real answer is that Obama's opposition to marriage equality in 2008 was a blunder, but, because it was so clearly disingenuous, it wasn't a huge blunder.
I supported Barack Obama in the general election in 2008 because my policy is to always vote for the leftmost viable candidate in all elections, even if I have deep disagreements with that candidate. That's the reason why I voted for Obama in the primary and general in 2008, why I voted for Sanders in the primary in 2016, and why I voted for Clinton in the general in 2016. All of these candidates were deeply flawed, but all of them were also the leftmost viable candidate in each of those races.
What we are talking about here is not about elections. It's about politics, specifically the political struggle for control over the Democratic Party. And when the left wins that struggle, the right wing needs to fall in line behind them.
If the Democratic Party for tactical reasons has to give material support to Joe Manchin, they should have the decency to treat that as the shame that it is, and be as quiet about it as possible. Elements within the Democratic Party have chosen instead to trumpet their shameful support for Joe Manchin in the interest of recruiting more candidates like him. This is a mistake.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:48 AM on August 2, 2017 [38 favorites]
> In 2008, gay marriage was not the law of the land. Opposition to it was less about restricting something that was not available, so much as not supporting something that was not yet available.
Nah, that's hair-splitting. The real answer is that Obama's opposition to marriage equality in 2008 was a blunder, but, because it was so clearly disingenuous, it wasn't a huge blunder.
I supported Barack Obama in the general election in 2008 because my policy is to always vote for the leftmost viable candidate in all elections, even if I have deep disagreements with that candidate. That's the reason why I voted for Obama in the primary and general in 2008, why I voted for Sanders in the primary in 2016, and why I voted for Clinton in the general in 2016. All of these candidates were deeply flawed, but all of them were also the leftmost viable candidate in each of those races.
What we are talking about here is not about elections. It's about politics, specifically the political struggle for control over the Democratic Party. And when the left wins that struggle, the right wing needs to fall in line behind them.
If the Democratic Party for tactical reasons has to give material support to Joe Manchin, they should have the decency to treat that as the shame that it is, and be as quiet about it as possible. Elements within the Democratic Party have chosen instead to trumpet their shameful support for Joe Manchin in the interest of recruiting more candidates like him. This is a mistake.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:48 AM on August 2, 2017 [38 favorites]
it's not like they stop at women. Hold the god damn line and protect women from forced birth, or before long, kleenex and baby oil will require ID to purchase.
Ah. If we don't fight now to save women from grotesque bodily violation and exclusion from basic health care and human rights, one day men might be slightly inconvenienced. don't say it couldn't happen here, it's a real threat!
this argument -- usually I see it in Viagra slippery slope form -- I understand it is sometimes born of cynicism and the true fact that minor inconveniences for men are more outraging and mobilizing for a lot of people than brutalization of women. but it's not a joke worth making or pushing forward, because it is just so incredibly offensive that the very worst and most literal form of forced labor that can realistically be imposed on a huge group of people in the present time and place is anyone's idea of a starting point in the war on human rights. Women denied abortions is the end of the slope, not the beginning.
when the religious maniacs live out everyone's paranoid fantasies and criminalize masturbation, you know how you get around it? you get your own room and lock the door. when they shut down all the abortion clinics, you know what you do? Suffer and die.
do not belittle the real monstrosity in service of an imaginary boner scare, please. the rhetorical effect is not worth the offense.
posted by queenofbithynia at 3:43 AM on August 3 [5 favorites +] [!]
True, and I was going purely for rhetorical effect. Sorry.
posted by saysthis at 11:49 AM on August 2, 2017
Ah. If we don't fight now to save women from grotesque bodily violation and exclusion from basic health care and human rights, one day men might be slightly inconvenienced. don't say it couldn't happen here, it's a real threat!
this argument -- usually I see it in Viagra slippery slope form -- I understand it is sometimes born of cynicism and the true fact that minor inconveniences for men are more outraging and mobilizing for a lot of people than brutalization of women. but it's not a joke worth making or pushing forward, because it is just so incredibly offensive that the very worst and most literal form of forced labor that can realistically be imposed on a huge group of people in the present time and place is anyone's idea of a starting point in the war on human rights. Women denied abortions is the end of the slope, not the beginning.
when the religious maniacs live out everyone's paranoid fantasies and criminalize masturbation, you know how you get around it? you get your own room and lock the door. when they shut down all the abortion clinics, you know what you do? Suffer and die.
do not belittle the real monstrosity in service of an imaginary boner scare, please. the rhetorical effect is not worth the offense.
posted by queenofbithynia at 3:43 AM on August 3 [5 favorites +] [!]
True, and I was going purely for rhetorical effect. Sorry.
posted by saysthis at 11:49 AM on August 2, 2017
Chrysostom - yeah, that's what I mean, at bottom. I think Rasmussen may have decided to reveal the extent of Tmurp's unpopularity to its wider (Republican) audience. They have decided to make a poll subject model that actually shows that unpopularity, rather than disguising it.
posted by Slothrop at 11:50 AM on August 2, 2017
posted by Slothrop at 11:50 AM on August 2, 2017
When will Trump does something ridiculously awful to save us from this slow news day?
RUMINT to the rescue!
RUMINT to the rescue!
🔥🔥🔥Top WH source: Trump spoke with Putin before he signed Russia sanctions bill. No word yet on what #PutinsPuppet told him, but stay tuned!—Jon Cooper @joncoopertweetsBut let's hear what the White House says:
I heard the same, different source.—Scott Dworkin @funder
Q: Before he signed the sanctions bill, did Trump have a convo with Putin?posted by Doktor Zed at 11:50 AM on August 2, 2017 [29 favorites]
CONWAY: "Oh, I can't comment on that and I'm not aware of that."{video}—Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1
Too bad you can't get asylum for being forced to give birth or go without medical care. That's just middle-of-the-road legislation!
posted by Autumnheart at 11:50 AM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by Autumnheart at 11:50 AM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
Elements within the Democratic Party have chosen instead to trumpet their shameful support for Joe Manchin in the interest of recruiting more candidates like him. This is a mistake.
You mean like Sanders supporting Heath Mello earlier this year?
Again, this particular issue doesn't cleave down the progressive/moderate line, so let's not pretend that it does.
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:52 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
You mean like Sanders supporting Heath Mello earlier this year?
Again, this particular issue doesn't cleave down the progressive/moderate line, so let's not pretend that it does.
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:52 AM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
CONWAY: "Oh, I can't comment on that and I'm not aware of that."
Ron Howard V.O.: "He did"
Also, at this point in the cycle, its T-minus 1 hour before Trump tweets that he did have a conversation with Putin.
posted by Twain Device at 11:52 AM on August 2, 2017 [16 favorites]
Ron Howard V.O.: "He did"
Also, at this point in the cycle, its T-minus 1 hour before Trump tweets that he did have a conversation with Putin.
posted by Twain Device at 11:52 AM on August 2, 2017 [16 favorites]
If the Democratic Party for tactical reasons has to give material support to Joe Manchin, they should have the decency to treat that as the shame that it is, and be as quiet about it as possible.
And instead be loud about how the pro-choice is the moral position -- too long has the perceived morality been conceded to the so-called "pro-life" side! -- and that the desire to punish women for having sex, and worse yet punishing children for whatever the perceived sins of the parents might be -- is deeply, deeply immoral.
One might say: "The topic of abortion may make me uncomfortable, but voting to interfere in lifesaving health care for women is a wrong I can't condone."
Too long has "fecklessness" followed "Democratic" as night followed day. It's long past time for Democrats to emerge from the defensive crouch their losses to Reagan and George W. Bush seems to have put them in -- the policies of Republican presidents have been, by and large, disastrous, and Democrats should not apologize for being in the right, let alone tacitly concede that the Republican side is.
posted by Gelatin at 11:54 AM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
And instead be loud about how the pro-choice is the moral position -- too long has the perceived morality been conceded to the so-called "pro-life" side! -- and that the desire to punish women for having sex, and worse yet punishing children for whatever the perceived sins of the parents might be -- is deeply, deeply immoral.
One might say: "The topic of abortion may make me uncomfortable, but voting to interfere in lifesaving health care for women is a wrong I can't condone."
Too long has "fecklessness" followed "Democratic" as night followed day. It's long past time for Democrats to emerge from the defensive crouch their losses to Reagan and George W. Bush seems to have put them in -- the policies of Republican presidents have been, by and large, disastrous, and Democrats should not apologize for being in the right, let alone tacitly concede that the Republican side is.
posted by Gelatin at 11:54 AM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
NAACP issues first-ever travel advisory for a state — and it’s Missouri (McClatchy, Ian Cummings)
The Missouri travel advisory is the first time an NAACP conference has ever made one state the subject of a warning about discrimination and racist attacks, a spokesman for the national organization said Tuesday.posted by Room 641-A at 11:56 AM on August 2, 2017 [28 favorites]
Missouri became the first because of recent legislation making discrimination lawsuits harder to win, and in response to longtime racial disparities in traffic enforcement and a spate of incidents cited as examples of harm coming to minority residents and visitors, say state NAACP leaders.
Mod note: From here on - the Dem-strategery-on-abortion discussion should move over to the new thread just about Democrats and abortion. No longer in this catchall. Thanks.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 11:57 AM on August 2, 2017 [62 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 11:57 AM on August 2, 2017 [62 favorites]
News from the dentist office. No longer showing FoxNews, now NatGeo Wild. The baby turtles are swimming out to sea!
posted by tilde at 11:58 AM on August 2, 2017 [83 favorites]
posted by tilde at 11:58 AM on August 2, 2017 [83 favorites]
Josh Marshall on Donald Trump and the Hunt for the Big Russia Deal
We really need to see his tax returns for the last 20 years at least. They probably show massive debt and huge amounts of cash for servicing that debt that tie directly to Russian kleptocrats wanting to preserve their ill-gotten gains.
What with this possible new conversation with Putin before signing the sanctions bill, I think that they must have some plan to get around the sanctions--possibly with the executive discretion to modify the list of affected people. The way to undermine Putin's power is through the wallet--if he can't keep the money flowing to his oligarch pals, his power is reduced. I think Congress must continue to explore ways to keep the dirty money that leaves Russia from going back in.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 12:00 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
One part of this story we already know. In 2013 era, Trump was chumming up with the Agalarov clan, first as hosts of the November 2013 Miss Universe pageant (of which Trump was then part owner) and second as investors in a new Trump building project in Moscow. After the pageant, Trump and the Agalarovs signed a preliminary agreement to build a Trump Tower Moscow. But the deal seems to have fallen through or come to nothing before the Presidential campaign got underway.All of these troubling stories floating around, with the admission of one of the grown brats about how T Org has had shitloads of money coming in from Russia, suggests that said org is a front for laundering dirty Russian Oligarch Money.
But that does not seem to be the only effort.
Trump business partner Felix Sater told TPM’s Sam Thielman that he was working on a deal to build a Trump Tower Moscow in the final months of 2015, after Trump’s presidential campaign was already underway. This seems to have come after the Agalarov deal foundered. And, based on Sater’s account, it focused on new oligarch partners.
We really need to see his tax returns for the last 20 years at least. They probably show massive debt and huge amounts of cash for servicing that debt that tie directly to Russian kleptocrats wanting to preserve their ill-gotten gains.
What with this possible new conversation with Putin before signing the sanctions bill, I think that they must have some plan to get around the sanctions--possibly with the executive discretion to modify the list of affected people. The way to undermine Putin's power is through the wallet--if he can't keep the money flowing to his oligarch pals, his power is reduced. I think Congress must continue to explore ways to keep the dirty money that leaves Russia from going back in.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 12:00 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
>why did you support Obama anyway
Because the other viable candidate was John McCain, and his running mate was Sarah Palin.
The question posed by the 2008 election was not 'do you agree with Obama on every point?', and it was not 'do you think America needs a credible third party?' It was 'Obama or McCain?', full stop. Sarah Palin was a garbage person, a demagogue, and the closest thing to Trump we had seen up to that point. We have now elected a similar human catastrophe, and we're all wondering if we're still living in a democracy, if the rule of law can survive, etc,. etc.
Democracy is ALWAYS the lesser of some number of evils.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 12:01 PM on August 2, 2017 [17 favorites]
Because the other viable candidate was John McCain, and his running mate was Sarah Palin.
The question posed by the 2008 election was not 'do you agree with Obama on every point?', and it was not 'do you think America needs a credible third party?' It was 'Obama or McCain?', full stop. Sarah Palin was a garbage person, a demagogue, and the closest thing to Trump we had seen up to that point. We have now elected a similar human catastrophe, and we're all wondering if we're still living in a democracy, if the rule of law can survive, etc,. etc.
Democracy is ALWAYS the lesser of some number of evils.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 12:01 PM on August 2, 2017 [17 favorites]
Uh....
Trump-Linked Data Firm Removes State Dept., NATO Logos After NBC Questions (NBC News, Anna R. Schecter)
posted by Room 641-A at 12:03 PM on August 2, 2017 [14 favorites]
Trump-Linked Data Firm Removes State Dept., NATO Logos After NBC Questions (NBC News, Anna R. Schecter)
The company that created Cambridge Analytica, the data analytics operation that helped Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential election, has removed the U.S. State Department logo and the NATO logo from its website after inquiries from NBC News.More at the link.
The website of SCL Group, a private British behavioral research company, featured the State and NATO logos and used language touting their "approval" of the company's "methodology" until last week.
The company was awarded State Department contracts this year to help fight ISIS recruitment and has taught behavioral change science at a NATO-affiliated training program.
"NATO as an organization does not approve methodologies per se," said a NATO spokesman.
A State Department spokesperson said that after NBC News asked about the State logo on SCL's website, the agency had asked SCL to remove the logo because SCL had not asked to use it or cleared the associated language with the agency as required.
posted by Room 641-A at 12:03 PM on August 2, 2017 [14 favorites]
I kind of want Stephen Miller and Glenn Thrush yelling at each other as my ringtone.
posted by OverlappingElvis at 12:05 PM on August 2, 2017
posted by OverlappingElvis at 12:05 PM on August 2, 2017
@natesilver538
Trump approval by month (per 538 average):
January—44.8
February—44.0
March—43.1
April—41.3
May—40.4
June—38.8
July—38.9
August—37.4
posted by Glibpaxman at 12:08 PM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
Trump approval by month (per 538 average):
January—44.8
February—44.0
March—43.1
April—41.3
May—40.4
June—38.8
July—38.9
August—37.4
posted by Glibpaxman at 12:08 PM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
I feel like the White House is hoping they can announce this (RAISE Act) and everyone will pretend its an actual policy instead of an entirely dead-on-arrival piece of legislation.
I would also appreciate it if someone could punch Stephen Miller every time he says "chain migration." We're talking about people wanting to live in the same country, heck, the same hemisphere as their families, and they wait years to do so.
posted by zachlipton at 12:09 PM on August 2, 2017 [16 favorites]
I would also appreciate it if someone could punch Stephen Miller every time he says "chain migration." We're talking about people wanting to live in the same country, heck, the same hemisphere as their families, and they wait years to do so.
posted by zachlipton at 12:09 PM on August 2, 2017 [16 favorites]
Overall approval doesn't say much that isn't blindingly obvious anway. I'd be far more interested in a roundup of the approval ratings from people who voted for the prick.
posted by flabdablet at 12:10 PM on August 2, 2017
posted by flabdablet at 12:10 PM on August 2, 2017
As I watch this briefing, I am increasingly terrified that Stephen Miller is currently auditioning for the job of Communications Director.
posted by zachlipton at 12:12 PM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 12:12 PM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
All of these troubling stories floating around, with the admission of one of the grown brats about how T Org has had shitloads of money coming in from Russia, suggests that said org is a front for laundering dirty Russian Oligarch Money.
As I said to a right winger who expressed the opinion that comparing Trump to Mussolini was just pffft because checks and balances: the only checks you'll see if Trump gets elected will be the ones written to grow his offshore balances.
posted by flabdablet at 12:14 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
As I said to a right winger who expressed the opinion that comparing Trump to Mussolini was just pffft because checks and balances: the only checks you'll see if Trump gets elected will be the ones written to grow his offshore balances.
posted by flabdablet at 12:14 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
So is Old Black Eyes going to talk so long the SHS will say they've run out of time? Not a good day to be the Press Secretary. (And that's saying a lot.)
posted by Room 641-A at 12:14 PM on August 2, 2017
posted by Room 641-A at 12:14 PM on August 2, 2017
Overall approval doesn't say much that isn't blindingly obvious anway. I'd be far more interested in a roundup of the approval ratings from people who voted for the prick.
Plenty of people didn't bother voting. Every percentage point his approval rating drops represents a fairly big number of those people being energized.
posted by Etrigan at 12:14 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Plenty of people didn't bother voting. Every percentage point his approval rating drops represents a fairly big number of those people being energized.
posted by Etrigan at 12:14 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
This is both an astonishing television moment and literally the worst discussion of immigration policy imaginable.
posted by zachlipton at 12:24 PM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 12:24 PM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
I would also appreciate it if someone could punch Stephen Miller [rest of sentence unnecessary]
As I watch this briefing, I am increasingly terrified that Stephen Miller is currently auditioning for the job of Communications Director.
No point in being terrified by that which has always been inevitable. Should have been obvious that we had our Goebbels when he was doing workmanly-competent corpse-eyed fascist warm-ups during the campaign.
posted by Rust Moranis at 12:26 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
As I watch this briefing, I am increasingly terrified that Stephen Miller is currently auditioning for the job of Communications Director.
No point in being terrified by that which has always been inevitable. Should have been obvious that we had our Goebbels when he was doing workmanly-competent corpse-eyed fascist warm-ups during the campaign.
posted by Rust Moranis at 12:26 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
Video: Here's the entire exchange between Stephen Miller and @Acosta.
It's so bad I'm not sure it qualifies as high school debate, but yeah, this is our reality now. "National Park revisionism."
posted by zachlipton at 12:30 PM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
It's so bad I'm not sure it qualifies as high school debate, but yeah, this is our reality now. "National Park revisionism."
posted by zachlipton at 12:30 PM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
I would also appreciate it if someone could punch Stephen Miller every time he says "chain migration."
Ugh! As though white immigrants to the US were all a bunch of single, childfree orphans who decided to move here on a lark.
posted by jedicus at 12:30 PM on August 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
Ugh! As though white immigrants to the US were all a bunch of single, childfree orphans who decided to move here on a lark.
posted by jedicus at 12:30 PM on August 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
I'm assuming nearly everyone in this thread voted for Obama in 2008 (if they could), when he was on the record opposing gay marriage.
I assumed voting Dem in 2008 was to keep the unprecedented insanity of the McCain/Palin combo out of the WH.
posted by rc3spencer at 12:32 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
I assumed voting Dem in 2008 was to keep the unprecedented insanity of the McCain/Palin combo out of the WH.
posted by rc3spencer at 12:32 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
This is both an astonishing television moment and literally the worst discussion of immigration policy imaginable.
The part where Acosta reads Miller The New Colossus and Miller disclaims it as an American value by saying it was added later?
posted by Talez at 12:32 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
The part where Acosta reads Miller The New Colossus and Miller disclaims it as an American value by saying it was added later?
posted by Talez at 12:32 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
Apparently Miller thinks the Emma Lazarus poem on the Statue of Liberty doesn't matter because it was "added later"?
posted by emjaybee at 12:32 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by emjaybee at 12:32 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
Fighting the urge to call Cotton's office and ask his staff if he could please call my dad and explain to him why America doesn't consider his relationship to his expected granddaughter important, as that's understandably an awkward conversation for me to have personally. Also, I can provide them with a list of my family members and would appreciate if they could circle the ones I shouldn't love as much so I don't get caught flat-footed.
posted by prefpara at 12:33 PM on August 2, 2017 [19 favorites]
posted by prefpara at 12:33 PM on August 2, 2017 [19 favorites]
Miller: If you actually read the sonnet, Jim, James, Jimothy, it says "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!". That's obviously telling immigrants to stay where they are. [fake]
posted by Talez at 12:35 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Talez at 12:35 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
flabdablet: "Overall approval doesn't say much that isn't blindingly obvious anway. I'd be far more interested in a roundup of the approval ratings from people who voted for the prick."
Here you go.
posted by Chrysostom at 12:36 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Here you go.
posted by Chrysostom at 12:36 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
I assumed voting Dem in 2008 was to keep the unprecedented insanity of the McCain/Palin combo out of the WH.
And now we have, well, what we have now.
posted by cooker girl at 12:38 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
And now we have, well, what we have now.
posted by cooker girl at 12:38 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Jim I think I heard Stephen Jim Miller say Jim too many times and now I Jim Jimfected with his Jim
posted by Rust Moranis at 12:39 PM on August 2, 2017 [26 favorites]
posted by Rust Moranis at 12:39 PM on August 2, 2017 [26 favorites]
Miller's body language says as much as his facist, racist, revisionist, "ahistorical" stuttering. He says that the Statue of Liberty is "...a symbol of American liberty" while pointing at himself.
posted by carsonb at 12:39 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by carsonb at 12:39 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
SHS has the worst poker face I've ever seen. I can feel the hate and contempt through the TV.
posted by Room 641-A at 12:39 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by Room 641-A at 12:39 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
2% of Dems approve, IDEK what's up with those people. Accelerationists? Trolls?
Inattention, probably. There are studies out there that indicate that a significant minority of people taking surveys straight up do not pay attention to how they're answering, to the extent that their answers appear to be entirely random. Here's one from 2012 which pegs the figure at about 10-12%; a different 2014 study gives a lower figure of 3-9%. However you calculate and however you design your surveys, there's going to be a baseline of random noise which, in a large enough polled group, means that a nonzero number of responses will espouse a position nobody really holds.
posted by jackbishop at 12:40 PM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
Inattention, probably. There are studies out there that indicate that a significant minority of people taking surveys straight up do not pay attention to how they're answering, to the extent that their answers appear to be entirely random. Here's one from 2012 which pegs the figure at about 10-12%; a different 2014 study gives a lower figure of 3-9%. However you calculate and however you design your surveys, there's going to be a baseline of random noise which, in a large enough polled group, means that a nonzero number of responses will espouse a position nobody really holds.
posted by jackbishop at 12:40 PM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
I feel like Miller just got exactly what he wanted. Everyone is going to be playing the Acosta clip and it's going to be a debate on whether immigrants are evil and what the Statue of Liberty stands for rather than and "what's wrong with letting in the same number of immigrants we let in during the 80s?" rather than "the White House is talking up a completely doomed bill as if it was law because it makes announcements instead of enacting actual policy."
posted by zachlipton at 12:43 PM on August 2, 2017 [17 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 12:43 PM on August 2, 2017 [17 favorites]
Why is Gargamel on my TV
posted by pxe2000 at 12:44 PM on August 2, 2017 [31 favorites]
posted by pxe2000 at 12:44 PM on August 2, 2017 [31 favorites]
2% of Dems approve, IDEK what's up with those people. Accelerationists? Trolls?
There are two people in my extended family who are registered Democrats and Trumpniks.
So basically, rural/suburban white "racial anxiety" voters who haven't gotten around to switching their party affiliation.
posted by dirigibleman at 12:44 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
There are two people in my extended family who are registered Democrats and Trumpniks.
So basically, rural/suburban white "racial anxiety" voters who haven't gotten around to switching their party affiliation.
posted by dirigibleman at 12:44 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
I don't think anything about this gang of idiots and buffoons is planned or clever and when it results in something that benefits them it is because the system is stacked to prop up idiots and buffoons when they happen to be rich and white.
posted by maxsparber at 12:45 PM on August 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
posted by maxsparber at 12:45 PM on August 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
I think that's why they hired SHS, they **WANTED** the hate and contempt to show.
Trump has always been about saying the quiet parts loud, and the Republicans very much view the press as the enemy. It probably helps keep his numbers up that his spokespeople are so clearly contemptuous and hateful towards the press.
posted by sotonohito at 12:46 PM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
Trump has always been about saying the quiet parts loud, and the Republicans very much view the press as the enemy. It probably helps keep his numbers up that his spokespeople are so clearly contemptuous and hateful towards the press.
posted by sotonohito at 12:46 PM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
Why is Gargamel on my TV
Uh, given that Gargamel is an anti-semitic caricature* and Stephen Miller is Jewish, could we maybe steer clear of that?
I mean, fuck Stephen Miller, but still.
*dark hair, big nose, balding, does magic, loves gold, etc.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:47 PM on August 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
Uh, given that Gargamel is an anti-semitic caricature* and Stephen Miller is Jewish, could we maybe steer clear of that?
I mean, fuck Stephen Miller, but still.
*dark hair, big nose, balding, does magic, loves gold, etc.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:47 PM on August 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
I think that's why they hired SHS, they **WANTED** the hate and contempt to show.
Trump wants leverage on Mike Huckabee, and thought maybe her husband still owned KFC.
posted by Etrigan at 12:48 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Trump wants leverage on Mike Huckabee, and thought maybe her husband still owned KFC.
posted by Etrigan at 12:48 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
I didn't know that about Gargamel. Sorry, everyone.
Why is Slenderman on my TV
posted by pxe2000 at 12:48 PM on August 2, 2017 [42 favorites]
Why is Slenderman on my TV
posted by pxe2000 at 12:48 PM on August 2, 2017 [42 favorites]
I'm taking all this wishy washy stuff about allowing anti choice dems a place in our government extremely personally. It's hurtful and gross to know that even some Mefi members think holding the line on basic women's healthcare is too much to insist on.
I hope the mods don't see it as continuing a derail for me to respond to this here, but I just wanted to say this:
If mine was one of the comments that made you (and anyone else) feel this way, I'm sorry. It wasn't my intent. I've tried to be more clear in the other thread.
posted by biogeo at 12:49 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
I hope the mods don't see it as continuing a derail for me to respond to this here, but I just wanted to say this:
If mine was one of the comments that made you (and anyone else) feel this way, I'm sorry. It wasn't my intent. I've tried to be more clear in the other thread.
posted by biogeo at 12:49 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
And Senator Whitehouse ... notes that even taking such a meeting would become kompromat for the U.S. Citizens involved. ... [ Putin] only cares about his billions of dollars and leverage over kleptocrats.
How many of you remember when laws were a thing. Like during ABSCAM. VS say BCCI.
How pissed off are citizen gonna need to get to see at least ABSCAM level of investigations/prosecutions?
posted by rough ashlar at 12:49 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
How many of you remember when laws were a thing. Like during ABSCAM. VS say BCCI.
How pissed off are citizen gonna need to get to see at least ABSCAM level of investigations/prosecutions?
posted by rough ashlar at 12:49 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
if you want a vision of the future, imagine a Miller jimming on a human face, forever
posted by Rust Moranis at 12:50 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Rust Moranis at 12:50 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
I'm assuming nearly everyone in this thread voted for Obama in 2008 (if they could), when he was on the record opposing gay marriage.
Oh, FFS. In 2008 Bernie Sanders was on record against gay marriage too. Are you calling out his supporters too?
Perhaps you've forgotten that in 2004, over 30 states passed consitutional amendments banning gay marriage and in many cases even civil unions? Only 25% of voters supported gay marriage that year, and the backlash against it helped George Bush get re-elected, as he campaigned for a constitutional amend that would have permanently prohibited it. Bernie, Hillary and Barack were all fighting a rear-guard effort to prevent that by supporting civil unions as a compromise.
Oh, FFS. In 2008 Bernie Sanders was on record against gay marriage too. Are you calling out his supporters too?
Perhaps you've forgotten that in 2004, over 30 states passed consitutional amendments banning gay marriage and in many cases even civil unions? Only 25% of voters supported gay marriage that year, and the backlash against it helped George Bush get re-elected, as he campaigned for a constitutional amend that would have permanently prohibited it. Bernie, Hillary and Barack were all fighting a rear-guard effort to prevent that by supporting civil unions as a compromise.
of the 11 states in which amendments defining marriage were on the ballot [in 2004], all passed handily. Bush won in nine, including Ohio. Interpretation of some exit polling suggests that the amendments may have brought out one million additional voters, most of which came out for the first time to cast their ballots for Bush.posted by msalt at 12:53 PM on August 2, 2017 [16 favorites]
Now I want a supercut of Miller and Trump saying Jim.
posted by peeedro at 12:54 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by peeedro at 12:54 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
flabdablet: "Overall approval doesn't say much that isn't blindingly obvious anway. I'd be far more interested in a roundup of the approval ratings from people who voted for the prick."
Here you go.
Not too surprising, and the only points that really matter are the ones on the bottom of the graph. Most of it is people waffling back and forth between strongly approve and mostly approve, which may as well be labeled would vote for Trump again and would vote for Trump again. But there does seem to be a bit of an upturn in the disapproval numbers starting around mid-May. It's not a lot but it doesn't have to be.
posted by phearlez at 12:55 PM on August 2, 2017
Here you go.
Not too surprising, and the only points that really matter are the ones on the bottom of the graph. Most of it is people waffling back and forth between strongly approve and mostly approve, which may as well be labeled would vote for Trump again and would vote for Trump again. But there does seem to be a bit of an upturn in the disapproval numbers starting around mid-May. It's not a lot but it doesn't have to be.
posted by phearlez at 12:55 PM on August 2, 2017
wow I've never watched Stephen Miller in action before. That was some pretty amazing whatever you call taking a comment and blowing it up into how dare you call me a RACIST verbal play.
I'll just leave this Jay Smooth link here. No reason, why do you ask?
posted by RolandOfEld at 12:57 PM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
I'll just leave this Jay Smooth link here. No reason, why do you ask?
posted by RolandOfEld at 12:57 PM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
Donald Trump had said that Mexico’s president ‘complimented’ him on fewer border crossings and a Scouts head lauded his ‘greatest speech ever’. On Wednesday Peña Nieto and the Boy Scouts said they had not made those calls to the president.
posted by sourcejedi at 12:58 PM on August 2, 2017 [50 favorites]
posted by sourcejedi at 12:58 PM on August 2, 2017 [50 favorites]
Stephen Miller: Verbal shit-poster.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 12:58 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 12:58 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
Stephen Miller: Verbal shit-poster.
Gish Diarrhea?
posted by Talez at 1:02 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Gish Diarrhea?
posted by Talez at 1:02 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Remember when U.S. Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX) proclaimed that more carbon dioxide might be a good thing? Well, Carbon Dioxide May Rob Crops Of Nutrition, Leaving Millions At Risk (Courtney Columbus, NPR, Aug. 2, 2017)
posted by filthy light thief at 1:03 PM on August 2, 2017 [14 favorites]
Rising carbon dioxide levels could have an unexpected side effect on food crops: a decrease in key nutrients. And this could put more people at risk of malnutrition.And back in 2014, the new climate change denialism, claiming more carbon dioxide is a good thing, was called out by Dana Milbank in a Washington Post op-ed:
A 2014 study showed that higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are likely to put a dent in the protein, iron and zinc content of rice, wheat, peas and other food crops. Samuel Myers, an environmental health researcher at Harvard's School of Public Health, was the lead author on that study.
This time, Myers and his colleagues wanted to quantify what those changes might mean for people around the world. To do this, they built a new database detailing the foods people in each country eat and the nutrient content of those foods. The database lists the "per capita consumption of 225 foods for 152 different countries." It also accounts for differences in diets in each country based on age and gender.
The database allowed them to calculate the number of people within each country that aren't getting enough of certain nutrients. They could then project changes in the protein and iron content of their diets through 2050. Their results appear in two new studies published Wednesday.
For years, the fossil-fuel industries have been telling us that global warming is a hoax based on junk science.So who's Smith shilling for now?
But now these industries are floating an intriguing new argument: They’re admitting that human use of coal, oil and gas is causing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to rise — but they’re saying this is a good thing. We need more CO2 in our lives, not less.
“CO2 is basically plant food, and the more CO2 in the environment the better plants do,” proclaimed Roger Bezdek, a consultant to energy companies, at an event hosted Monday by the United States Energy Association, an industry trade group.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:03 PM on August 2, 2017 [14 favorites]
The baby turtles are swimming out to sea!
I don't blame them one bit.
posted by Celsius1414 at 1:04 PM on August 2, 2017 [27 favorites]
I don't blame them one bit.
posted by Celsius1414 at 1:04 PM on August 2, 2017 [27 favorites]
When threatened, the rare and endangered Jerseyan Christie resorts to a novel form of chemical weaponry: the ability to aim its nacho sac and propel hot cheese directly at its attacker. It must, however, be very careful to use this defense sparingly, as to not diminish its precious nacho reserves that are so yummy and good.
Katherine Landergan, Politico. Christie: I could have dumped my nachos on Cubs fan
“For those of you who know me, I was very restrained,” Christie said during an unrelated news conference in Trenton. “I didn’t dump the nachos on him or anything, which I think was an option.”
posted by Rust Moranis at 1:07 PM on August 2, 2017 [14 favorites]
Katherine Landergan, Politico. Christie: I could have dumped my nachos on Cubs fan
“For those of you who know me, I was very restrained,” Christie said during an unrelated news conference in Trenton. “I didn’t dump the nachos on him or anything, which I think was an option.”
posted by Rust Moranis at 1:07 PM on August 2, 2017 [14 favorites]
Donald Trump had said that Mexico’s president ‘complimented’ him on fewer border crossings and a Scouts head lauded his ‘greatest speech ever’. On Wednesday Peña Nieto and the Boy Scouts said they had not made those calls to the president.
Yes. Today Sanders claimed this wasn't a lie because Trump supposedly had the conversations in person; they just didn't happen via telephone.
posted by zachlipton at 1:16 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
Yes. Today Sanders claimed this wasn't a lie because Trump supposedly had the conversations in person; they just didn't happen via telephone.
posted by zachlipton at 1:16 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
“I didn’t dump the nachos on him or anything, which I think was an option.”
Well, sure, assault is an option. Assault is always an option. A poor option, but it's an option.
posted by Capt. Renault at 1:18 PM on August 2, 2017 [21 favorites]
Well, sure, assault is an option. Assault is always an option. A poor option, but it's an option.
posted by Capt. Renault at 1:18 PM on August 2, 2017 [21 favorites]
Hey, Christie's a reasonable guy: "You get one shot to call me a name or curse me out. And I gave him that first shot to do that, but when you go at it a second time, you’re going to get a response."
posted by adamg at 1:20 PM on August 2, 2017
posted by adamg at 1:20 PM on August 2, 2017
“I didn’t dump the nachos on him or anything, which I think was an option.”
Well, sure, assault is an option.
One of the surest signs of an abuser is taking credit for not hitting you.
posted by Etrigan at 1:20 PM on August 2, 2017 [68 favorites]
Well, sure, assault is an option.
One of the surest signs of an abuser is taking credit for not hitting you.
posted by Etrigan at 1:20 PM on August 2, 2017 [68 favorites]
National treasure Jay Smooth on Anthony Scaramucci: "This is the platonic ideal of schadenfreude."
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:21 PM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:21 PM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
Stephen Miller looks like Buster Bluth to me.
I can imagine that he thinks the blue parts on the map are land as well..
posted by narwhal at 1:22 PM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
I can imagine that he thinks the blue parts on the map are land as well..
posted by narwhal at 1:22 PM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
New Fears For Public Service Loan Forgiveness (Anya Kamenetz, NPR, Aug. 2, 2017)
Joking aside, Public Service Loan Forgiveness was created a decade ago, and the first group of borrowers should have their loans forgiven this fall. A 2016 blog post, which still appears on the official ed.gov website, describes it as a "broad, employment-based forgiveness program for federal student loans." As detailed in that post, anyone who works for the government or a nonprofit can have their loans erased after 120 monthly payments. The blog post also helpfully states "Lastly, a payment only qualifies if it was made after October 1, 2007, so nobody can qualify until 2017 at the earliest."
Now, people would normally be watching the clock to see what this shitty administration does. Except this past March, four lawyers were informed that their work for the American Bar Association, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and Vietnam Veterans of America, all non-profits, didn't meet the qualifications for this program. Betsy DeVos's Department of Education went after lawyers first, and they responded in kind, with a lawsuit. Now DoE is saying "we're not sure what we're going to do with this loan forgiveness program."
To lawyers. And police officers. And a ton of civil servants. How absolutely Trumpian, to break a contract, especially one made by a fellow Republican president. Yes, it passed with bipartisan support and was signed into law by GWB.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:25 PM on August 2, 2017 [65 favorites]
A legal motion the Department of Education filed yesterday could have big ramifications for half a million teachers, social workers, police officers and other public servants. The motion asserts that there has been no final decision on whether these people will have their student debt forgiven, as they had believed.Why does this administration hate police officers so much?
Joking aside, Public Service Loan Forgiveness was created a decade ago, and the first group of borrowers should have their loans forgiven this fall. A 2016 blog post, which still appears on the official ed.gov website, describes it as a "broad, employment-based forgiveness program for federal student loans." As detailed in that post, anyone who works for the government or a nonprofit can have their loans erased after 120 monthly payments. The blog post also helpfully states "Lastly, a payment only qualifies if it was made after October 1, 2007, so nobody can qualify until 2017 at the earliest."
Now, people would normally be watching the clock to see what this shitty administration does. Except this past March, four lawyers were informed that their work for the American Bar Association, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and Vietnam Veterans of America, all non-profits, didn't meet the qualifications for this program. Betsy DeVos's Department of Education went after lawyers first, and they responded in kind, with a lawsuit. Now DoE is saying "we're not sure what we're going to do with this loan forgiveness program."
To lawyers. And police officers. And a ton of civil servants. How absolutely Trumpian, to break a contract, especially one made by a fellow Republican president. Yes, it passed with bipartisan support and was signed into law by GWB.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:25 PM on August 2, 2017 [65 favorites]
Miller is straight out of the racist white nationalist online forums, just like Gorka, and the media folk better figure out quick how to body-slam him.
Speaking of straight out of the racist white nationalist online forums, an NSC staffer, Rich Higgins, just got fired.
posted by Talez at 1:28 PM on August 2, 2017 [25 favorites]
Speaking of straight out of the racist white nationalist online forums, an NSC staffer, Rich Higgins, just got fired.
“Globalists and Islamists recognize that for their visions to succeed, America, both as an ideal and as a national and political identity, must be destroyed,” the memo warns. It argues that this has led “Islamists [to] ally with cultural Marxists,” but that in the long run, “Islamists will co-opt the movement in its entirety.”This was written by a real NSC staffer for a real NSC memo. The phrase that Gamergaters made up to justify bullying women for the cardinal sin of making Gamergaters realize their dicks don't automatically make them hegemonical, "cultural marxism", is in a government fucking memo.
posted by Talez at 1:28 PM on August 2, 2017 [25 favorites]
Glenn Thrush on MSNBC just now: "I feel like someone is putting LSD in my Wheaties every morning."
posted by zakur at 1:28 PM on August 2, 2017 [41 favorites]
posted by zakur at 1:28 PM on August 2, 2017 [41 favorites]
Stephen Miller looks like Buster Bluth to me.
Buster Bluth infected by the thing from the Denzel movie Fallen, perhaps
posted by Existential Dread at 1:29 PM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
Buster Bluth infected by the thing from the Denzel movie Fallen, perhaps
posted by Existential Dread at 1:29 PM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
sourcejedi: Donald Trump had said that Mexico’s president ‘complimented’ him on fewer border crossings and a Scouts head lauded his ‘greatest speech ever’. On Wednesday Peña Nieto and the Boy Scouts said they had not made those calls to the president.
Repeating this from up-thread: Seth Meyer: We're at the point where all of the President's speeches will have to be followed by a legal disclaimer.
Seriously, let's just call a serial liar a serial liar.
Ooh, or better yet - let's consider everything Trump says a lie until proven otherwise. Instead of having everyone scramble around to debunk his every word, let's push back and say "we don't believe you, you prove it to us."
Downgrade Trump's words to "Junk Speech" status.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:31 PM on August 2, 2017 [43 favorites]
Repeating this from up-thread: Seth Meyer: We're at the point where all of the President's speeches will have to be followed by a legal disclaimer.
Seriously, let's just call a serial liar a serial liar.
Ooh, or better yet - let's consider everything Trump says a lie until proven otherwise. Instead of having everyone scramble around to debunk his every word, let's push back and say "we don't believe you, you prove it to us."
Downgrade Trump's words to "Junk Speech" status.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:31 PM on August 2, 2017 [43 favorites]
I want somebody to ask Trump a follow-up question about that Boy Scouts praise -- namely, "the head of the Boy Scouts that you talked to -- is that an adult man, or just the top Scout"?
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:34 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:34 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
Fuck off, Garrison Keillor.
Some of us might not actually, literally survive this.
But you keep on keepin' on with your privilege.
posted by archimago at 1:35 PM on August 2, 2017 [46 favorites]
Some of us might not actually, literally survive this.
But you keep on keepin' on with your privilege.
posted by archimago at 1:35 PM on August 2, 2017 [46 favorites]
Chris Christie: “I didn’t dump the nachos on him or anything, which I think was an option.”
lol. There is exactly a zero percent chance he's dropping those nachos absent being attacked by seagulls.
posted by mikelieman at 1:36 PM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
lol. There is exactly a zero percent chance he's dropping those nachos absent being attacked by seagulls.
posted by mikelieman at 1:36 PM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
Trust me I've already scouted out my landing places for fleeing the country if they renege on PSLF. Long story short, negative amortization, don't go to law school kids. And Belize or Croatia seem like the nicest places that won't extradite over US financial debts as far as I can tell.
More seriously, the suit there is about categories of public service organizations that the regulation leaves some discretion to the Dept of Ed. 501c3s and all local, state and federal government employees should still be covered regardless of whether quasi-public service organizations like the ABA get cut out. At least, let's hope. We should start knowing more about how they're going to move forward with PSLF in October, and I'm still a couple years away, just hoping the litigation is over by the time I'm eligible.
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:40 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
More seriously, the suit there is about categories of public service organizations that the regulation leaves some discretion to the Dept of Ed. 501c3s and all local, state and federal government employees should still be covered regardless of whether quasi-public service organizations like the ABA get cut out. At least, let's hope. We should start knowing more about how they're going to move forward with PSLF in October, and I'm still a couple years away, just hoping the litigation is over by the time I'm eligible.
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:40 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
I stopped watching Jay Smooth awhile back but I didn't know his new cohost is a KITTEN!
posted by AFABulous at 1:46 PM on August 2, 2017 [14 favorites]
posted by AFABulous at 1:46 PM on August 2, 2017 [14 favorites]
So are we just all going to pretend that Sarah Sanders didn't read a letter from an 11-year-old named Frank who wants to come over and mow the White House lawn for free? He said he'd bring his own power or push mower and weed wacker and he'd even provide his own fuel and batteries.
And then Sanders said they're inviting the kid to come mow the lawn with the groundskeepers and that we have to have fewer immigrants because "it’s our responsibility to keep the American dream alive for kids like Frank, immigrants who are already here and those who dream of immigrating here in the future."
Someone please tell me that all didn't happen.
posted by zachlipton at 1:47 PM on August 2, 2017 [52 favorites]
And then Sanders said they're inviting the kid to come mow the lawn with the groundskeepers and that we have to have fewer immigrants because "it’s our responsibility to keep the American dream alive for kids like Frank, immigrants who are already here and those who dream of immigrating here in the future."
Someone please tell me that all didn't happen.
posted by zachlipton at 1:47 PM on August 2, 2017 [52 favorites]
USDA Chief Scientist nominee's old blog posts found through Internet Wayback Machine, not complimentary.
Trump nominee Sam Clovis blasted progressives as 'race traders' and 'race traitors' in old blog posts
posted by tittergrrl at 1:47 PM on August 2, 2017 [29 favorites]
Trump nominee Sam Clovis blasted progressives as 'race traders' and 'race traitors' in old blog posts
Sam Clovis, President Donald Trump's nominee to be the Department of Agriculture's chief scientist, maintained a now-defunct blog for years in which he accused progressives of "enslaving" minorities, called black leaders "race traders," and labeled former President Barack Obama a "Maoist" with "communist" roots.Vetting is such a beta cuck move.
...
Clovis did not respond to an email from CNN's KFile requesting comment. A spokesperson for the USDA said, "Dr. Clovis is a proud conservative and a proud American. All of his reporting either on the air or in writing over the course of his career has been based on solid research and data. He is after all an academic."
...
At times, Clovis adopted a conspiratorial tone in his blog postings, openly pondering whether the Obama Administration would place conservative activists on a kill list that included terrorists like Anwar al-Awlaki and accusing Obama-era czars of using taxpayer money to buy the support of academics who would claim science was settled.
In one blog post in April 2011, Clovis contrasted the successful recovery efforts following the 2008 floods in Iowa with the chaos in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, attributing the difference to Iowa's culture "focused on family, community and the primacy of faith in life."
posted by tittergrrl at 1:47 PM on August 2, 2017 [29 favorites]
zachlipton: So are we just all going to pretend that Sarah Sanders didn't read a letter from an 11-year-old named Frank who wants to come over and mow the White House lawn for free?
They'll lie about his age and call him a summer intern. Ta-da! Government working like a business!
posted by filthy light thief at 1:50 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
They'll lie about his age and call him a summer intern. Ta-da! Government working like a business!
posted by filthy light thief at 1:50 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
The ACLU will be deposing Kobach tomorrow: Appeals court won't block Kobach deposition [politico]
@ACLU
We look forward to asking Kobach about any plans to dismantle voting rights. Under oath.
posted by melissasaurus at 1:51 PM on August 2, 2017 [67 favorites]
@ACLU
We look forward to asking Kobach about any plans to dismantle voting rights. Under oath.
posted by melissasaurus at 1:51 PM on August 2, 2017 [67 favorites]
Fuck off, Garrison Keillor.
Some of us might not actually, literally survive this.
But you keep on keepin' on with your privilege.
Yeah. I grow the best organic heirloom tomatoes in the world and I can wipe the sweat from my brow, pull a massive, perfect Cherokee Purple right from the vine, bite into it, taste its hot savor, and then think: "This is a delicious tomato. We'll be lucky to not die in nuclear war, in a prison camp, from an easily curable disease, at the hands of paramilitary death squads, or from the earth turning into Venus." Good for you if you don't, Keillor. You don't have to lecture the Power of Positive Tomato Thinking into us.
posted by Rust Moranis at 1:51 PM on August 2, 2017 [46 favorites]
Some of us might not actually, literally survive this.
But you keep on keepin' on with your privilege.
Yeah. I grow the best organic heirloom tomatoes in the world and I can wipe the sweat from my brow, pull a massive, perfect Cherokee Purple right from the vine, bite into it, taste its hot savor, and then think: "This is a delicious tomato. We'll be lucky to not die in nuclear war, in a prison camp, from an easily curable disease, at the hands of paramilitary death squads, or from the earth turning into Venus." Good for you if you don't, Keillor. You don't have to lecture the Power of Positive Tomato Thinking into us.
posted by Rust Moranis at 1:51 PM on August 2, 2017 [46 favorites]
It's not the tomatoes, its the ketchup he makes from them. Ketchup has natural mellowing agents which help you overlook the rise of incompetent nationalist authoritarianism in your country and focus on the delights of summer instead.
posted by Reverend John at 1:55 PM on August 2, 2017 [32 favorites]
posted by Reverend John at 1:55 PM on August 2, 2017 [32 favorites]
Democracy might be collapsing in the only country many of us are invited to live in, but it's silly to worry about it when tomaters taste so gawrsh-darn good. Thank goodness the bottom hasn't dropped out of the Rustic Charm market yet... heewack.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 1:55 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Sing Or Swim at 1:55 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
The ACLU is bringing me joy in a dark time. Bless them.
posted by prefpara at 1:56 PM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
posted by prefpara at 1:56 PM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
Rust Moranis: Yeah. I grow the best organic heirloom tomatoes in the world and I can wipe the sweat from my brow, pull a massive, perfect Cherokee Purple right from the vine, bite into it, taste its hot savor, and then think:
Or on a "smaller" scale (oh god, are we to a point that this is considered small?): we'll be lucky to live in the United States as a legal immigrant, have affordable, local access to health care for anything from birth control to cancer screening and treatment, agreements from a prior Republican president are upheld and ten years of payments into a program are honored, police (and the boy scouts) aren't empowered to abuse people, and the heads of federal departments know what their departments actually cover, months into their tenure as the so-called leaders of those departments (and, you know, for laughs, those people aren't also hell-bent on dismantling the departments and all the programs and protections they ensure).
Turning to Venus is a serious concern, but there are also very pressing issues today. Not that we can't (or shouldn't) diversify and fight back on every front.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:59 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Or on a "smaller" scale (oh god, are we to a point that this is considered small?): we'll be lucky to live in the United States as a legal immigrant, have affordable, local access to health care for anything from birth control to cancer screening and treatment, agreements from a prior Republican president are upheld and ten years of payments into a program are honored, police (and the boy scouts) aren't empowered to abuse people, and the heads of federal departments know what their departments actually cover, months into their tenure as the so-called leaders of those departments (and, you know, for laughs, those people aren't also hell-bent on dismantling the departments and all the programs and protections they ensure).
Turning to Venus is a serious concern, but there are also very pressing issues today. Not that we can't (or shouldn't) diversify and fight back on every front.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:59 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
If Conservative Review knows what they're talking about, it seems to be cleaning day at the NSC. They're reporting that McMaster has forced out Ezra Cohen-Watnick.
posted by zachlipton at 2:00 PM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 2:00 PM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
The phrase that Gamergaters made up to justify bullying women for the cardinal sin of making Gamergaters realize their dicks don't automatically make them hegemonical, "cultural marxism", is in a government fucking memo.
Gamergaters didn't make up the phrase "cultural marxism"; it goes back to the 1980s, was a pet concept of Anders Breivik, and yes, is explicitly anti-semitic.
That's what was in a government fucking memo.
posted by neroli at 2:01 PM on August 2, 2017 [63 favorites]
Gamergaters didn't make up the phrase "cultural marxism"; it goes back to the 1980s, was a pet concept of Anders Breivik, and yes, is explicitly anti-semitic.
That's what was in a government fucking memo.
posted by neroli at 2:01 PM on August 2, 2017 [63 favorites]
True "cultural marxists" should be celebrating every action Trumpy and his Wrecking Crew do to America's standing in the world. And those "all time high stock markets"? Totally globalist for decades.
And then, there's Garrison Keillor with the Fake News from Lake Wobegon. He was a pioneer in that awful practice. "Where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average". That is totally how Trumpy refers to his family.
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:02 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
And then, there's Garrison Keillor with the Fake News from Lake Wobegon. He was a pioneer in that awful practice. "Where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average". That is totally how Trumpy refers to his family.
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:02 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Can I redact the Garrison Keillor article? What I got out of it was, "Despite the demonspawn in the White House, create a space in your head where only tomatoes are present, because that is the only way to survive this, and probably the best way."
I forget a lot of people don't have that luxury. I'm sorry and thank you for the reminders.
posted by saysthis at 2:02 PM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
I forget a lot of people don't have that luxury. I'm sorry and thank you for the reminders.
posted by saysthis at 2:02 PM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
The @Russia account tweeted "Whoever comes to us with #sanctions, from sanctions will perish. We dedicate this video to those who try to hurt us with new sanctions!" and, I am for [real] not kidding, a 3:31 video of some kind of Renaissance Fair.
posted by zachlipton at 2:03 PM on August 2, 2017 [17 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 2:03 PM on August 2, 2017 [17 favorites]
And then Sanders said they're inviting the kid to come mow the lawn with the groundskeepers and that we have to have fewer immigrants because "it’s our responsibility to keep the American dream alive for kids like Frank, immigrants who are already here and those who dream of immigrating here in the future."
Next up, a letter from 12 year old Dakota who wishes he could "pledge fealty" to "our God Emperor".
posted by Talez at 2:04 PM on August 2, 2017 [25 favorites]
Next up, a letter from 12 year old Dakota who wishes he could "pledge fealty" to "our God Emperor".
posted by Talez at 2:04 PM on August 2, 2017 [25 favorites]
Everybody's a little on-edge, saysthis. I knew what you meant, but I got why people were angry too.
Please let us be nice to each other, y'all. We're all we've got.
posted by emjaybee at 2:06 PM on August 2, 2017 [38 favorites]
Please let us be nice to each other, y'all. We're all we've got.
posted by emjaybee at 2:06 PM on August 2, 2017 [38 favorites]
and, I am for [real] not kidding, a 3:31 video of some kind of Renaissance Fair.
God, no wonder they keep losing Eurovision
posted by donatella at 2:09 PM on August 2, 2017 [16 favorites]
God, no wonder they keep losing Eurovision
posted by donatella at 2:09 PM on August 2, 2017 [16 favorites]
“CO2 is basically plant food, and the more CO2 in the environment the better plants do,” proclaimed Roger Bezdek, a consultant to energy companies, at an event hosted Monday by the United States Energy Association, an industry trade group."Mr. McClure, my crazy friend says that CO2 causes global warming. Is he crazy?"
"No, not crazy, just ignorant! You see, your friend has probably never heard of...plants!"
posted by AndrewInDC at 2:11 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
I would also appreciate it if someone could punch Stephen Miller every time he says "chain migration."Yeah, "chain migration" is absolutely a term that historians of US immigration use to describe migration patterns in the 19th and early 20th century. It's actually a pretty important concept in US immigration history.
Ugh! As though white immigrants to the US were all a bunch of single, childfree orphans who decided to move here on a lark.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:11 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
God, no wonder they keep losing Eurovision
Nah. That's just Scandinavian bloc voting.
posted by Talez at 2:13 PM on August 2, 2017
Nah. That's just Scandinavian bloc voting.
posted by Talez at 2:13 PM on August 2, 2017
omg do you guys remember Orly Taitz? I feel like I have to whisper in case Trump hears me and makes her the next AG
can't snark Trump will hear me
posted by tivalasvegas at 2:13 PM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
can't snark Trump will hear me
posted by tivalasvegas at 2:13 PM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
I'm the only one who feels a little uneasy that this seems to be turning into "Trump's Pet Generals clean house" Week?
posted by gofargogo at 2:14 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by gofargogo at 2:14 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
The Anne Frank Center is having none of Miller's take on Emma Lazarus.
posted by PenDevil at 2:14 PM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by PenDevil at 2:14 PM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
CO2 is basically plant food,
You know what else is plant food? Cow shit. And yet Roger Bezdek probably doesn't want to cover his house in it! Crazy, right?
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:15 PM on August 2, 2017 [12 favorites]
You know what else is plant food? Cow shit. And yet Roger Bezdek probably doesn't want to cover his house in it! Crazy, right?
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:15 PM on August 2, 2017 [12 favorites]
Has anyone ever seen the Anne Frank Center, the WV ACLU and Maxine Waters in the same room?
I have a theory
posted by tivalasvegas at 2:16 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
I have a theory
posted by tivalasvegas at 2:16 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
Meanwhile, NASA is hiring a "Planetary Protection Officer". It's officially to protect against interplanetary threats, but the position could be used to work against the "pro-CO2" assholes.
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:16 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:16 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
The @Russia account tweeted "Whoever comes to us with #sanctions, from sanctions will perish. We dedicate this video to those who try to hurt us with new sanctions!" and, I am for [real] not kidding, a 3:31 video of some kind of Renaissance Fair.
LOL, Russia, we do ren fairs for lunch (and dinner).
posted by dirigibleman at 2:17 PM on August 2, 2017
LOL, Russia, we do ren fairs for lunch (and dinner).
posted by dirigibleman at 2:17 PM on August 2, 2017
CO2 is basically plant food
Water is a building block of life, but if you put enough of it in one place, you can drown in it.
posted by mcdoublewide at 2:18 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Water is a building block of life, but if you put enough of it in one place, you can drown in it.
posted by mcdoublewide at 2:18 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
> Expert troll alert, Russian Prime Minister edition:
There's also his facebook post (via google translate, my Russian isn't up to it even sans Pinot G.)
I'm guessing Medvedev is probably a trial balloon himself as he's at an age where many Russians shoot themselves repeatedly in the back of the head, and are thus deniable.
posted by Buntix at 2:20 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
There's also his facebook post (via google translate, my Russian isn't up to it even sans Pinot G.)
The signing by the US president of a new sanctions law against Russia creates several consequences. First, the hope of improving our relations with the new US administration is the end. Secondly, Russia declared a full-fledged trade war. Thirdly, the Trump administration demonstrated complete impotence, in the most humiliating manner, transferring executive powers to Congress. This changes the alignment of forces in US political circles.Also, worse than all of the above (in Trumpian terms), his previous tweet prior to todays was bigging up @Schwarzenegger
What does this mean for them? The American establishment completely outplayed Trump. The president is not happy with the new sanctions, but he could not fail to sign the law. The new sanction topic emerged primarily as another way to put Trump in his place. Ahead are new approaches, the ultimate goal of which is to remove him from power. An incompetent player must be eliminated.
I'm guessing Medvedev is probably a trial balloon himself as he's at an age where many Russians shoot themselves repeatedly in the back of the head, and are thus deniable.
posted by Buntix at 2:20 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
So are we just all going to pretend that Sarah Sanders didn't read a letter from an 11-year-old named Frank who wants to come over and mow the White House lawn for free?
Well, Pickle turned out to be kosher.
posted by kirkaracha at 2:21 PM on August 2, 2017 [22 favorites]
There are more ways to survive Trump than only thinking about tomatoes, and that's not the best way to survive Trump.
Like noting and protesting things that some would like to call "just distractions," it's possible to deal with the Trump administration by "thinking about tomatoes" and also taking action. This column is nothing more than a variant on encouraging people to make sure to do self-care.
posted by phearlez at 2:22 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Like noting and protesting things that some would like to call "just distractions," it's possible to deal with the Trump administration by "thinking about tomatoes" and also taking action. This column is nothing more than a variant on encouraging people to make sure to do self-care.
posted by phearlez at 2:22 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
@ZekeJMiller: FAA has formally issued NOTAMS for POTUS vacation in Bedminster from Aug 4-20. http://tfr.faa.gov/save_pages/detail_7_2568.html
This comes after the Senate gave up part of its recess.What with proposing to drastically change the immigration system, tax code, health care system, and a massive infrastructure package, it's a great time to take the month off.
posted by zachlipton at 2:23 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
This comes after the Senate gave up part of its recess.What with proposing to drastically change the immigration system, tax code, health care system, and a massive infrastructure package, it's a great time to take the month off.
posted by zachlipton at 2:23 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
And if Britain is hamstrung by dependence on Russian oil - solar and wind power can't come fast enough
The UK imports about 35% of its energy, and about 10% of that's from Russia, so 3.5%. It generates 9% from "renewables" (including burning wood in old coal power stations, but still a good amount of wind, hydro and solar.) All sources from here, the same source that was misread above.
Russia provides 35% of imported coal, but much less of the more important imports. So the government feebleness about enforcing UK laws on Russia is all about the fact that Russian crimes are all committed in the most lawless parts of the UK, such as Mayfair and Chelsea.
posted by ambrosen at 2:29 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
The UK imports about 35% of its energy, and about 10% of that's from Russia, so 3.5%. It generates 9% from "renewables" (including burning wood in old coal power stations, but still a good amount of wind, hydro and solar.) All sources from here, the same source that was misread above.
Russia provides 35% of imported coal, but much less of the more important imports. So the government feebleness about enforcing UK laws on Russia is all about the fact that Russian crimes are all committed in the most lawless parts of the UK, such as Mayfair and Chelsea.
posted by ambrosen at 2:29 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
and strongly suggested not doing anything at all.
Yeah I don't see that at all.
posted by phearlez at 2:32 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Yeah I don't see that at all.
posted by phearlez at 2:32 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm the only one who feels a little uneasy that this seems to be turning into "Trump's Pet Generals clean house" Week?
It is interesting, and indicates some sort of shift of power. But since they can't control Trump, and Trump is his own worst enemy, I'm not seeing any major change for the worse right now. I don't see it as the start of a military coup or junta, it's more like the same old crazy clown show but now with a few adults trying to prevent the whole house from burning down by running round with tiny fire extinguishers.
posted by mumimor at 2:32 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
It is interesting, and indicates some sort of shift of power. But since they can't control Trump, and Trump is his own worst enemy, I'm not seeing any major change for the worse right now. I don't see it as the start of a military coup or junta, it's more like the same old crazy clown show but now with a few adults trying to prevent the whole house from burning down by running round with tiny fire extinguishers.
posted by mumimor at 2:32 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
I went OFF about Emma Lazarus on my Twitter (not linking here, find it in my profile or google for me or whatever), if you want some historical context on her poem.
Also, just a note that the Anne Frank Center is not the actual Anne Frank family or foundation or museum. There was a great piece about it in the Atlantic a while ago. Not saying not to listen to them, just maybe take with a grain of salt because they are "inspired by" Anne Frank and certainly do not speak for her.
posted by mynameisluka at 2:35 PM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
Also, just a note that the Anne Frank Center is not the actual Anne Frank family or foundation or museum. There was a great piece about it in the Atlantic a while ago. Not saying not to listen to them, just maybe take with a grain of salt because they are "inspired by" Anne Frank and certainly do not speak for her.
posted by mynameisluka at 2:35 PM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
Nobody speaks for Anne Frank, because she's dead. That's kind of the whole point about Anne Frank: her voice was silenced, etc. The Anne Frank Center seems to be doing good things, and that's good enough for me.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:41 PM on August 2, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:41 PM on August 2, 2017 [13 favorites]
I'm the only one who feels a little uneasy that this seems to be turning into "Trump's Pet Generals clean house" Week?
No. Kelly is a true believer as much as Bannon or Miller. He's a fucking fascist too, and ICE has been completely ruthless and efficient under his leadership at DHS. I want fuckups and idiots in charge getting nothing done for incompetence and backstabbing, not Göring in the making.
posted by T.D. Strange at 2:43 PM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
No. Kelly is a true believer as much as Bannon or Miller. He's a fucking fascist too, and ICE has been completely ruthless and efficient under his leadership at DHS. I want fuckups and idiots in charge getting nothing done for incompetence and backstabbing, not Göring in the making.
posted by T.D. Strange at 2:43 PM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
Trump really is recapitulating the Reagan administration isn't he? One of Reagan's favorite things to do was claim he'd gotten a letter from unspecified people who totally supported him and everything he did. He was especially fond of claiming the letters were from various groups he was oppressing and that those people fervently supported his oppressive policies.
Just wait, pretty soon Trump will be with a foreign leader and interrupt him to say "you know, your nose looks just like Steve Bannon's".
posted by sotonohito at 2:45 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Just wait, pretty soon Trump will be with a foreign leader and interrupt him to say "you know, your nose looks just like Steve Bannon's".
posted by sotonohito at 2:45 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
45 reminds me of the worst sort of online discussion troll, who repeatedly claims that they're being supported by loads of people by email who are too threatened by the aggressive comments to risk public comment. I've had to deal with a few of those in my time, and they are noxious in many ways.
However, he's off to his summer dacha, leaving the generals in charge. That always ends well!
posted by Devonian at 2:50 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
However, he's off to his summer dacha, leaving the generals in charge. That always ends well!
posted by Devonian at 2:50 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
However, he's off to his summer dacha, leaving the generals in charge. That always ends well!
The generals will not be in charge of his Twitter, though.
posted by suelac at 2:53 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
The generals will not be in charge of his Twitter, though.
posted by suelac at 2:53 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
CO2 is basically plant food
But I think electrolytes are what plants need.
posted by snofoam at 2:54 PM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
But I think electrolytes are what plants need.
posted by snofoam at 2:54 PM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
I'm guessing Medvedev is probably a trial balloon himself as he's at an age where many Russians shoot themselves repeatedly in the back of the head, and are thus deniable.
Doubtful. Medvedev is Putin's little sycophant. The proverbial lap dog that licks the peanut butter off Putin's balls.
posted by Talez at 2:56 PM on August 2, 2017
Doubtful. Medvedev is Putin's little sycophant. The proverbial lap dog that licks the peanut butter off Putin's balls.
posted by Talez at 2:56 PM on August 2, 2017
Ezra Cohen-Watnick really is out. Trump still sounds 100% determined to personally wreck the Iran deal though, which is terrifying.
And with that, comedy hour! Charlie Warzel: Here Is Anthony Scaramucci's "Communications Plan" From Before He Was Fired . Cernovich published the plan and claims that Scaramucci will hold a press conference this week and "will be setting up an off-West Wing communications shop with the sole purpose of helping the President." BuzzFeed authenticated the document. Some highlights from his plan that are hilarious in retrospect:
He also uses the "word" "Comms" roughly 800,000 times, presumably because he just learned it and thought it sounded cool.
posted by zachlipton at 2:58 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
And with that, comedy hour! Charlie Warzel: Here Is Anthony Scaramucci's "Communications Plan" From Before He Was Fired . Cernovich published the plan and claims that Scaramucci will hold a press conference this week and "will be setting up an off-West Wing communications shop with the sole purpose of helping the President." BuzzFeed authenticated the document. Some highlights from his plan that are hilarious in retrospect:
- POTUS can choose to fight with the media, but Comms can not.
d) Recognize good work in a consistent and formal way. Establish a meritocracy where real contributions to Comms are recognized. Make it clear that horn tooting and denigrating colleagues is unacceptable
-meet with Steve Bannon (I want his insight and help. He presumably has an opinion on how Comms can operate more effectively)
-meet with Ryan Lizza (not to litigate the past—to reset for moving forward)
He also uses the "word" "Comms" roughly 800,000 times, presumably because he just learned it and thought it sounded cool.
posted by zachlipton at 2:58 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
That off-West Wing shop may be illegal:
Ousted Scaramucci is setting up guerrilla pro-Trump comms shop that may violate federal law
posted by Room 641-A at 3:03 PM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
Ousted Scaramucci is setting up guerrilla pro-Trump comms shop that may violate federal law
posted by Room 641-A at 3:03 PM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
So the White House's defense of the compatibility of its new English-speaking immigration policy with traditional American values is that Statue of Liberty didn't originally have that pro-immigration poem next to it; the poem was added later*. Once again the Trump Administration is trying to make up for its proposed defunding of arts education by being as poetically tragic as possible.
* in fact the poem was written as part of fundraising efforts for the monument.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:05 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
* in fact the poem was written as part of fundraising efforts for the monument.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:05 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
“Comms need to humanize POTUS and burnish his image. For example, POTUS is the best golfer to serve as President. Perhaps, we embrace it with a national online lottery to play a round of golf with him..." [real]
posted by zakur at 3:07 PM on August 2, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by zakur at 3:07 PM on August 2, 2017 [16 favorites]
can't snark Trump will hear me
Hey, I mentioned a signing statement and see what happened? We got two of 'em. Loose lips sink ships, kids.
posted by eclectist at 3:08 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Hey, I mentioned a signing statement and see what happened? We got two of 'em. Loose lips sink ships, kids.
posted by eclectist at 3:08 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Hi I have awakened from a brief nap. But I can rest assured that new Chief of Staff Kelly is reining in the chaos and nothing weird has happened, right? No senior policy staff dumping on the Statue of Liberty with fascist talking points or anything, right?
*skims thread*
Ohhhhhh...
posted by Cookiebastard at 3:17 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
*skims thread*
Ohhhhhh...
posted by Cookiebastard at 3:17 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
>For example, POTUS is the best golfer to serve as President. Perhaps, we embrace it with a national online lottery to play a round of golf with him..."
Perhaps, reflect on why you're so happy to play Renfield to Orange Dracula that you can't even hear how this sounds or think what it means anymore.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 3:18 PM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
Perhaps, reflect on why you're so happy to play Renfield to Orange Dracula that you can't even hear how this sounds or think what it means anymore.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 3:18 PM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
zachlipton: "Ezra Cohen-Watnick really is out."
Huh. So weird. I was just reading an article in The Atlantic -- "The Man McMaster Couldn't Fire" -- about how un-fireable Cohen-Watnick was. Also, I'll note that the photo used at the top of the TPM article is, of course, not of the 31-year-old Cohen-Watnick but rather of the guy who fired him, Gen. H.R. McMaster, presumably because there are no good available photos of this man of mystery.
posted by mhum at 3:23 PM on August 2, 2017
Huh. So weird. I was just reading an article in The Atlantic -- "The Man McMaster Couldn't Fire" -- about how un-fireable Cohen-Watnick was. Also, I'll note that the photo used at the top of the TPM article is, of course, not of the 31-year-old Cohen-Watnick but rather of the guy who fired him, Gen. H.R. McMaster, presumably because there are no good available photos of this man of mystery.
posted by mhum at 3:23 PM on August 2, 2017
National Treasure Alexandra Petri, WaPo: Stephen Miller and Sarah Huckabee Sanders: Ask a reasonable question, get a stupid answer
Sarah Huckabee Sanders: Here I am. First, an attempt at folksy and winning banter that will go over like a lead balloon. Now here is a terrifying person who will speak on behalf of President Trump, or maybe just a Cabinet secretary. Not Rick Perry, as he turned out to have charisma and at one point during his Q&A, which lasted more than the regulation eight seconds, he gave something that almost resembled an actual answer to a reporter’s question and I could barely drag him off in time. Today, to alarm and unnerve you, I have brought Stephen Miller from the large rock outside the oval office where he customarily suns himself and feasts on the bones of small rodents. He is here, as our custom is, to defend a policy idea that is bad.posted by Johnny Wallflower at 3:28 PM on August 2, 2017 [65 favorites]
Stephen Miller: The president’s new green-card policy is really not so bad, and we did it to make black people’s lives easier.
April Ryan: That doesn’t seem true.
Miller: Too bad there is no opportunity for us to discuss it now but maybe someday when our lives have calmed down I can tell you why.
Reporter: Do you have any statistics to support why this bill limiting immigration will actually help create jobs?
Miller: No, it’s just a feeling I have
Reporter: Have there been studies that contain information that you can cite?
Miller: I have the names of authors of studies, is that what you mean?
Reporter: No.
Miller: SHH, LET ME FINISH ANSWERING.
Clarence Thomas’ Army of Clerks Is Making His Once-Fringy Legal Vision a Trump-Era Reality
Remember, Jill Stein voters, both parties were exactly the same!
posted by T.D. Strange at 3:41 PM on August 2, 2017 [33 favorites]
Remember, Jill Stein voters, both parties were exactly the same!
posted by T.D. Strange at 3:41 PM on August 2, 2017 [33 favorites]
The Occasional Dana: Jeff Sessions' Crusade Against Marijuana Just Hit a Huge Roadblock
posted by notyou at 3:49 PM on August 2, 2017 [37 favorites]
Last week, the Senate Committee on Appropriations – the group that determines spending legislation in the Senate – reapproved an amendment that would keep U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions far away from medical marijuana.Dana Rohrabacher: Right on Weed; Wrong on Everything Else.
The committee voted to reapprove the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment, which would effectively block the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) from using any federal funds to go after medical marijuana patients and businesses.
posted by notyou at 3:49 PM on August 2, 2017 [37 favorites]
Dana Rohrabacher: Right On Weed; Wrong on Everything Else. FTFY.
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:53 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:53 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
For example, POTUS is the best golfer to serve as President.
Or so he says. I've no doubt that this will turn out to be bullshit, too.
(Can he swing like a Bush?)
posted by clawsoon at 3:56 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Or so he says. I've no doubt that this will turn out to be bullshit, too.
(Can he swing like a Bush?)
posted by clawsoon at 3:56 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
It is interesting, and indicates some sort of shift of power. But since they can't control Trump, and Trump is his own worst enemy, I'm not seeing any major change for the worse right now. I don't see it as the start of a military coup or junta, it's more like the same old crazy clown show but now with a few adults trying to prevent the whole house from burning down by running round with tiny fire extinguishers.
Agreed. The problem is Trump's essential nature as a malignant narcissist will never change no matter what control mechanism is put in place or new staffer brought in to execute it. He will do whatever he wants whenever he wants & nobody can tell him no, ever. The only questions are how & when Kelly will fail, not whether he will. It's a certainty that he won't succeed IMO.
posted by scalefree at 3:56 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Agreed. The problem is Trump's essential nature as a malignant narcissist will never change no matter what control mechanism is put in place or new staffer brought in to execute it. He will do whatever he wants whenever he wants & nobody can tell him no, ever. The only questions are how & when Kelly will fail, not whether he will. It's a certainty that he won't succeed IMO.
posted by scalefree at 3:56 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Yeah but have you ever been accused by the unwittingly-recorded House Majority Leader of taking money from Putin, on weed?
posted by Rust Moranis at 3:57 PM on August 2, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by Rust Moranis at 3:57 PM on August 2, 2017 [13 favorites]
Thanks for the Thomas article, T.D. Strange. Watching the executive branch under this administration get dismantled on the one hand, and concentrated and militarized on the other, has been alarming, and it looks like it's going to get... more alarming.
posted by Rykey at 4:00 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Rykey at 4:00 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Stephen Miller: Verbal shit-poster.
Gish Diarrhea?
Gish Trots.
posted by darkstar at 4:05 PM on August 2, 2017 [12 favorites]
Gish Diarrhea?
Gish Trots.
posted by darkstar at 4:05 PM on August 2, 2017 [12 favorites]
@JuddLegum
1. Stephen Miller attacked the Statue of Liberty poem today, echoing a popular white nationalist talking point [Think Progress link]
2. Others who have made the same argument:
- David Duke (wrote entire chapter about it)
- Richard Spencer
- Stormfront
3. Prominent white nationalists cheered Miller's argument online
posted by chris24 at 4:06 PM on August 2, 2017 [58 favorites]
1. Stephen Miller attacked the Statue of Liberty poem today, echoing a popular white nationalist talking point [Think Progress link]
2. Others who have made the same argument:
- David Duke (wrote entire chapter about it)
- Richard Spencer
- Stormfront
3. Prominent white nationalists cheered Miller's argument online
Hunter Wallace @occdissent: Stephen Miller just echoed us on the Statue of Liberty #ChangingTheNarrative http://www.occidentaldissent.com/2017/02/03/david-brooks-the-great-war-for-national-identity/4. Also idea that poem doesn't reflect spirit of statue is bunk -- it was written to raise money for it
posted by chris24 at 4:06 PM on August 2, 2017 [58 favorites]
For example, POTUS is the best golfer to serve as President.
Interesting article on Trump and golf here. Maybe one day he will be as good as Kim Jong-Il.
posted by TedW at 4:08 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Interesting article on Trump and golf here. Maybe one day he will be as good as Kim Jong-Il.
posted by TedW at 4:08 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Who even is Stephen Miller? He speaks like a bottom-of-the-barrel middle school debater attempting to defend a Stormfront talking point.
posted by cichlid ceilidh at 4:10 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by cichlid ceilidh at 4:10 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Christian Finnegan (via Twitter): Stephen Miller is a subreddit that was struck by lightning and became a real boy.
posted by Atom Eyes at 4:10 PM on August 2, 2017 [93 favorites]
posted by Atom Eyes at 4:10 PM on August 2, 2017 [93 favorites]
I believe that he was a bottom-of-the-barrel Santa Monica High School presidential candidate attempting to defend Stormfront talking points previously.
posted by bootlegpop at 4:13 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by bootlegpop at 4:13 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
... back to the military trans issue, Teen Vogue hits it out of the park again: Experts Answer Reddit Questions About Transgender People.
"I have never met someone who regretted transition."
accompanied by How to be an Ally.
This was a particularly good set of resources I enjoyed sharing with a very ignorant relative's FB thread today.
posted by Dashy at 4:13 PM on August 2, 2017 [34 favorites]
"I have never met someone who regretted transition."
accompanied by How to be an Ally.
This was a particularly good set of resources I enjoyed sharing with a very ignorant relative's FB thread today.
posted by Dashy at 4:13 PM on August 2, 2017 [34 favorites]
Prominent white nationalists cheered Miller's argument online
You know what? It's probably time to stop being afraid to quote Malcolm X, if not Black Panthers, where one might normally invoke MLK. Notching up the rhetoric seems much more suitable to the times.
posted by rhizome at 4:18 PM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
You know what? It's probably time to stop being afraid to quote Malcolm X, if not Black Panthers, where one might normally invoke MLK. Notching up the rhetoric seems much more suitable to the times.
posted by rhizome at 4:18 PM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
Maybe the backlash on their trial balloon was too much for even these racists? Or a lie. Probably a lie.
@jaketapper
DOJ calls affirmative action news stories "inaccurate," says personnel posting sought attorneys to investigate Asian-American complaint
posted by chris24 at 4:21 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
@jaketapper
DOJ calls affirmative action news stories "inaccurate," says personnel posting sought attorneys to investigate Asian-American complaint
posted by chris24 at 4:21 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Zuckerberg hires Clinton pollster.
Jesus Christ NO.
posted by schadenfrau at 4:23 PM on August 2, 2017 [53 favorites]
Jesus Christ NO.
posted by schadenfrau at 4:23 PM on August 2, 2017 [53 favorites]
I was really hoping he'd go away if we didn't talk about him.
posted by zachlipton at 4:25 PM on August 2, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 4:25 PM on August 2, 2017 [16 favorites]
THE UNAVOIDABLE MOISTNESS OF ZUCC
posted by Existential Dread at 4:28 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by Existential Dread at 4:28 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
@scottlincicome
Congress has restricted immigration to raise US wages at least 3 times: 1882, 1924, and 1964. It failed each time.
Sens. Cotton and Perdue’s Bill to Cut Legal Immigration Won’t Work and Isn’t an Effective Bargaining Chip
---
The Koch Brothers' Cato Institute comes out against the immigration bill. In case you were worried it somehow might pass.
posted by chris24 at 4:29 PM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
Congress has restricted immigration to raise US wages at least 3 times: 1882, 1924, and 1964. It failed each time.
Sens. Cotton and Perdue’s Bill to Cut Legal Immigration Won’t Work and Isn’t an Effective Bargaining Chip
---
The Koch Brothers' Cato Institute comes out against the immigration bill. In case you were worried it somehow might pass.
posted by chris24 at 4:29 PM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
Zuckerberg hires Clinton pollster.
How do I volunteer for this poll, and what's less than "strongly disapprove"? Please, ask me for my comments at the end of the poll, because I have comments for Zuck.
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:30 PM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
How do I volunteer for this poll, and what's less than "strongly disapprove"? Please, ask me for my comments at the end of the poll, because I have comments for Zuck.
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:30 PM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
Zuckerberg hires Clinton pollster.
where is the SEE FEWER POSTS LIKE THIS drop down thingy please 8(
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:33 PM on August 2, 2017 [17 favorites]
where is the SEE FEWER POSTS LIKE THIS drop down thingy please 8(
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:33 PM on August 2, 2017 [17 favorites]
Are you guys trying to say that Zuckerberg isn't a real Progressive
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 4:34 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 4:34 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
The @Russia account tweeted "Whoever comes to us with #sanctions, from sanctions will perish. We dedicate this video to those who try to hurt us with new sanctions!" and, I am for [real] not kidding, a 3:31 video of some kind of Renaissance Fair.
Update: @Ukraine has responded with "If you'd respected international law, you would've avoided sanctions & would've been sending missions to Mars now, not running with sticks" and a South Park gif.
This is truly the dumbest timeline.
posted by zachlipton at 4:34 PM on August 2, 2017 [56 favorites]
Update: @Ukraine has responded with "If you'd respected international law, you would've avoided sanctions & would've been sending missions to Mars now, not running with sticks" and a South Park gif.
This is truly the dumbest timeline.
posted by zachlipton at 4:34 PM on August 2, 2017 [56 favorites]
Two Presidents reflect on the White House. [fb]
Trump: "A dump."posted by standardasparagus at 4:34 PM on August 2, 2017 [119 favorites]
Obama: "In the evening, when Michelle and the girls have gone to bed, I sometimes walk down the hall to a room Abraham Lincoln used as his office. It contains an original copy of the Gettysburg address, written in Lincoln’s own hand.
I linger on these few words that have helped define our American experiment: 'A new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal'.”
Does anyone else think that Russia banning US adoptions was really pathetic? The US did serious damage to the Russian oligarchy with the Magnitsky Act, going right after the basic structure of Putin's authority (according to Browder and others) and Putin's response was... to ban adoptions. Magnitsky was classic Superpower vs. Third World Nuisance stuff. Russia had no US leverage until they managed to help a corrupt administration into power.
But now: one of those signing statements mentions the President's power to deal with Ukraine. That will be the new Adoption, the issue that Trump and Putin are discussing privately, the item that he can raise with Congress and that Thoughtful folks will Think about. Maybe, they will think, if we cut a deal to lighten up on, say, one or two of these guys, then Ukrainian lives might be saved. And Freedom!
Not all the people around Trump are idiots. So far, he has been too self-absorbed to understand that. So far.
posted by CCBC at 4:35 PM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
But now: one of those signing statements mentions the President's power to deal with Ukraine. That will be the new Adoption, the issue that Trump and Putin are discussing privately, the item that he can raise with Congress and that Thoughtful folks will Think about. Maybe, they will think, if we cut a deal to lighten up on, say, one or two of these guys, then Ukrainian lives might be saved. And Freedom!
Not all the people around Trump are idiots. So far, he has been too self-absorbed to understand that. So far.
posted by CCBC at 4:35 PM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
This. Is. Amazing.
The moment when it really started to feel insane’: An oral history of the Scaramucci era (WaPo, Monica Hesse, Ben Terris and Dan Zak August
Not a joke story.
posted by Room 641-A at 4:37 PM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
The moment when it really started to feel insane’: An oral history of the Scaramucci era (WaPo, Monica Hesse, Ben Terris and Dan Zak August
Not a joke story.
posted by Room 641-A at 4:37 PM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
please billionaires can you just go off to your hilltop palaces and eat pearls and race yachts and fuck pandas and whatever the hell else it is you people enjoy and just continue to take advantage of having every conceivable luxury and comfort available to you and STOP TRYING TO DIRECTLY RUN OUR FUCKING GOVERNMENT K THANKS BYE
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:38 PM on August 2, 2017 [76 favorites]
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:38 PM on August 2, 2017 [76 favorites]
Maybe it's time to apply some pressure on the DNC to institute some requirements for Presidential candidates--namely, you can't just throw your hat into the rink without previous public service? Or just straight up ban people of over a certain wealth threshold from running.
I loath Mark Zuckerberg and his damned company, and I certainly don't want his creepy private surveillance apparatus entwined with the federal government's capabilities or weapons. I'm sick of creepy billionaires fucking with everything.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 4:42 PM on August 2, 2017 [55 favorites]
I loath Mark Zuckerberg and his damned company, and I certainly don't want his creepy private surveillance apparatus entwined with the federal government's capabilities or weapons. I'm sick of creepy billionaires fucking with everything.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 4:42 PM on August 2, 2017 [55 favorites]
Idaho Senator James Risch said, "I guarantee you there were phone calls in addition to those emails, and I want to hear all of it before I answer the question you put to me."
Intercom. They had the intercom on. donnie was downstairs, eavesdropping.
posted by vrakatar at 4:42 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Intercom. They had the intercom on. donnie was downstairs, eavesdropping.
posted by vrakatar at 4:42 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Zuckerberg hires Clinton pollster.
This does make it clear that if Zuck ever runs for the Presidency, he WON'T be running to WIN.
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:43 PM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
This does make it clear that if Zuck ever runs for the Presidency, he WON'T be running to WIN.
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:43 PM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
A Vatican Shot Across the Bow for Hard-Line U.S. Catholics (Jason Horowitz, NYT)
Two close associates of Pope Francis have accused American Catholic ultraconservatives of making an alliance of “hate” with evangelical Christians to back President Trump [...] The authors, writing in a Vatican-vetted journal, singled out Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s chief strategist, as a “supporter of an apocalyptic geopolitics” that has stymied action against climate change and exploited fears of migrants and Muslims with calls for “walls and purifying deportations.”posted by cybertaur1 at 4:47 PM on August 2, 2017 [36 favorites]
[...]
The main point of the article, he said, was the pope’s argument that religion in the service of politics or power is ideology, and that the manipulation of anxiety for political ends risks rendering the church a “sect of the pure.”
[...]
Father Spadaro said he was alarmed by the retrofitting of a mystical apocalyptical worldview into conservative Catholicism.
“We are warning against this kind of mixture, which is dangerous,” he said.
That is some fairly threatening language. Whose "new approaches" do they mean?
TLDR PEE TAPE
I dunno, to me the text preceding the "new approaches" bit makes it sound like Medvedev was talking about Congress ousting Trump, not Russia:
posted by Rykey at 4:48 PM on August 2, 2017
TLDR PEE TAPE
I dunno, to me the text preceding the "new approaches" bit makes it sound like Medvedev was talking about Congress ousting Trump, not Russia:
"The president is not happy with the new sanctions, but he could not fail to sign the law. The new sanction topic emerged primarily as another way to put Trump in his place. Ahead are new approaches, the ultimate goal of which is to remove him from power....but then there's a bunch of stuff that follows that I'm not really familiar with at all, so I'm not sure whether my impression is correct or not. At any rate, here's hoping Russia focuses its anger at Trump directly and personally, and not on the rest of us, including our allies.
posted by Rykey at 4:48 PM on August 2, 2017
I've been thinking about that Medvedev post from earlier--he's trying to destablize our country by provoking the unpopular loser in the WH in raging out and/or making a power grab. He's trying to engender the idea that Congress's authority is not legitimate.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 4:50 PM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 4:50 PM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
With the caveat, of course, that Medvedev didn't mean Russia helping Congress oust Trump with some kompromat. (Sorry, didn't want to abuse the Edit function).
posted by Rykey at 4:51 PM on August 2, 2017
posted by Rykey at 4:51 PM on August 2, 2017
Zuckerberg hires Clinton pollster.
This does make it clear that if Zuck ever runs for the Presidency, he WON'T be running to WIN.
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:43 PM on 8/2
[3 favorites +] [!]
He's running third party. TWO PARTY BAD!! BUSINESS MAN PHILANTHROPY MAN GOOD
posted by tilde at 4:51 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
The Deeper Story on Cohen-Watnick (Josh Marshall, TPM)
Cohen-Watnick likely had dirty hands in the Russia cover-up. Specifically, his ‘review’ of intelligence which led to the ‘un-masking’ charade was likely an effort to monitor and perhaps interfere with the on-going Russia probe.posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 4:52 PM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
In a sane world, any ONE of these ousters that have gone down in the last month would have been its own entire thread.
posted by absalom at 5:00 PM on August 2, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by absalom at 5:00 PM on August 2, 2017 [13 favorites]
So today I was talking to my sister (one of my many family members who live in the US) and conversation naturally turned to the state of US politics. We were talking about how ignorant we had been of the stark reality of systemic racism, particularly against African Americans, and how guilty we felt about our ignorance. And that led to both of us sharing our grief and outrage and shock at the public discourse around the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice (say their names) and the ache we felt when we, mothers of boys, both of us, thought about how impossible it was to imagine being the mother of a black boy in the US and the fear that must go with that. And then she said that she was starting to have some inkling, because she was constantly beset by worry for her eldest boy, who has a teenager's typical hot head, but for whom a single hotheaded minute could mean life-changing consequences. Because that is the reality for a young Muslim male with brown skin. Some of you may remember how familiar I said the Khan family seemed to me. The professional South Asian diaspora has had to watch the American Dream dissolve around them after they had started living it.
Ain't no tomato good enough to make you forget that.
posted by bardophile at 5:01 PM on August 2, 2017 [72 favorites]
Ain't no tomato good enough to make you forget that.
posted by bardophile at 5:01 PM on August 2, 2017 [72 favorites]
Hey billionaires, leave the pandas alone!
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:05 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:05 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
bardophile ... spent the weekend teaching a teenager defensive driving skills in the "city" ... including how to avoid engagement with other drivers, both those who need help (blinker) and pissed (not as daring as a long term driver making an unprotected left in the rain).
posted by tilde at 5:09 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by tilde at 5:09 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
I apologize in advance for the length of this news dump, though if I keep writing this any longer, lalex will have systematically posted every link first.
AP: Trump’s new top aide assures Sessions his job is safe
Albany Times Union with a WTF story: [New York State] Elections commissioners feud with Sugarman, will provide Trump voter data
Politico, Josh Dawsey: Kelly cracks down on West Wing back channels to Trump
And a concluding tweet from Ryan Lizza: Trump has expressed more concerns about Congress's Russia sanctions bill than about Putin's expulsion of US diplomats.
posted by zachlipton at 5:11 PM on August 2, 2017 [55 favorites]
AP: Trump’s new top aide assures Sessions his job is safe
New White House chief of staff John Kelly, in one of his first acts in his new post, called Attorney General Jeff Sessions to reassure him that his position was safe despite the recent onslaught of criticism he has taken from President Donald Trump.NBC News: Trump Says U.S.‘Losing’ Afghan War in Tense Meeting With Generals
Kelly called Sessions on Saturday to stress that the White House was supportive of his work and wanted him to continue his job, according to two people familiar with the call. The people demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about a private conversation. Kelly, who was appointed to the post the day before, described the president as still miffed at Sessions but did not plan to fire him or hope he would resign.
Over nearly two hours in the situation room, according to the officials, Trump complained about NATO allies, inquired about the United States getting a piece of Afghan’s mineral wealth and repeatedly said the top U.S. general there should be fired. He also startled the room with a story that seemed to compare their advice to that of a paid consultant who cost a tony New York restaurateur profits by offering bad advice.Oh wait, did you want to know about that last thing? Ok...
To underscore his view that the veterans who fought in the war may be better positioned to advise him on an Afghanistan strategy, Trump compared the policy review process to the renovation of a famed New York restaurant in the 1980s, officials said.And, I mean, he's not entirely wrong (avoiding the debate I already saw on Twitter about just how 'elite' the 21 Club is), but it's also weird as hell to be talking about a Manhattan restaurant reservation 30 years ago in the situation room when discussing the war we're currently engaged in.
Trump told his advisers that the restaurant, Manhattan's elite '21' Club, had shut its doors for a year and hired an expensive consultant to craft a plan for a renovation. After a year, Trump said, the consultant's only suggestion was that the restaurant needed a bigger kitchen.
Officials said Trump kept stressing the idea that lousy advice cost the owner a year of lost business and that talking to the restaurant's waiters instead might have yielded a better result. He also said the tendency is to assume if someone isn't a three-star general he doesn't know what he's talking about, and that in his own experience in business talking to low-ranking workers has gotten him better outcomes.
The '21' Club, which has been one of Trump's favorite New York spots, closed for two months in 1987 while it underwent a full renovation and reopened to great fanfare.
Albany Times Union with a WTF story: [New York State] Elections commissioners feud with Sugarman, will provide Trump voter data
John Conklin, a spokesman for the Board of Elections, said that the Board had received a Freedom of Information Law request for the information from the Trump commission last Friday. Because it was specified that the data would be used for an “elections purpose,” there was no other possible exemption under FOIL that could be used by the Board to deny the commission the public information. The data, which is being sent to the Trump commission Wednesday afternoon, will not include either social security or drivers license numbers, Conklin said.And the commission is already doing damage in Colorado: 5,300+ Colorado voters withdraw registration as state prepares to send info. to Trump commission. And of those re-registering:
Gov. Andrew Cuomo had said he did not want New York to supply the data, but the decision was ultimately that of the Board of Elections, whose commissioners consist of two Democrats and two Republicans.
As of Friday’s numbers, nearly 87 percent of those who had withdrawn their registrations in Colorado were registered as either Democrats or unaffiliated voters. Just 11 percent were Republicans.The Weekly Standard (yes, hear me out, it's worth reading I think): Inside the McMaster-Bannon War. McMaster is squeezing out Bannon loyalists (though Cohen-Watnick was firmly on the Jared/Ivanka side of that divide) and the deplorables are fighting back:
Meanwhile, Bannon’s allies outside the White House are trying to put the squeeze on McMaster. On Wednesday, radio host Laura Ingraham tweeted a months-old article from the New York Times about McMaster’s “break with the administration on Islam.”WaPo: Trump plan to hire 15,000 border and immigration personnel isn’t justified, federal watchdog says. The DHS inspector general put out a report that says there's no justification for hiring 15,000 new agents and that they will need massive pools of 750,000 and 500,000 applicants to apply for jobs for the Border Patrol and ICE positions, respectively, to actually fill the positions.
Meanwhile, blogger Mike Cernovich has been tweeting links to a website called McMasterLeaks, which contains a single blog post with multiple examples of how McMaster is undermining Trump. At the top of the page is a cartoon depicting McMaster (incorrectly labeled as “McMasters”) and David Petraeus as marionette puppets with strings controlled by liberal billionaire George Soros. In turn, Soros is depicted as a puppet controlled by a green, monstrous hand simply labeled “Rothschilds.”
Cernovich has not responded to a question about whether or not he runs the website.
For some time, Steve Bannon has been considering leaving the White House. One of Bannon’s closest buddies in the West Wing was Reince Priebus, now gone. A newly emboldened H.R. McMaster, purging Bannonites with the backing of John Kelly (and the president), could hasten his exit.
The president seems partial to McMaster. "Sometimes he drives me nuts," Trump said this week, according to a White House official. "But there's something about the guy I really like."
Politico, Josh Dawsey: Kelly cracks down on West Wing back channels to Trump
When new White House chief of staff John Kelly huddled with senior staff on his first day at work, he outlined a key problem in President Donald Trump’s White House that he planned to fix: Bad information getting into the president’s hands.Wow. What a crazy idea. What would happen if we didn't put articles from GotNews.com on the President's desk? Heck, imagine if anybody who considered putting information from GotNews.com on the President's desk was fired. Of course, nothing matters and all hope is lost, and what's the point if you can't stop him from watching Fox News nonstop anyway:
...
Since starting this week, Kelly has told aides that anyone briefing the president needs to show him the information first. The Trump West Wing tradition of aides dropping off articles on the president’s desk – and then waiting for him to react, with a screaming phone call or a hastily scheduled staff meeting, must stop. He will not accept aides walking into the Oval Office and telling the president information without permission – or without the information being vetted.
“He basically said, the president has to get good briefings, he has to get good intelligence,” one senior White House official said. “We have to be putting him in a position to make good decisions.”
In the West Wing, many of the president’s most controversial decisions have been attributed to bad information, partially because the president is easily swayed by the last person he talked to – or the last thing he read.
For example, he accused President Barack Obama of tapping his phone line in Trump Tower after seeing comments from a conservative talk show host and a Breitbart News article. He has often posted some of his most controversial tweets while watching Fox News and stewing. He has sometimes seemed to view television accounts of the news as fact more than information from people armed with classified information. He has made decisions about legal matters or major policy decisions while consulting with some aides – only to reverse them after talking to family members or friends, who he dials late at night.
He has been given information of dubious quality, from stories by GotNews.com, a blog written by a right-wing provocateur named Charles Johnson to segments from segments of debunked documentaries. He has, at times, listened to real estate friends about legislative strategy while ignoring Speaker Paul Ryan or Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
By limiting information, and making it go through proper channels, Kelly is “ensuring Trump doesn’t make his decisions based on some bullshit he watched at midnight or on Breitbart,” said Chris Whipple, who recently wrote a book on the chief-of-staff role.
Kelly and senior West Wing officials don’t believe Trump will fully change. He is not going to stop tweeting, for example, and they expect him to keep dialing old friends in New York after hours – and that he will likely huddle with aides when Kelly is not around. Senior officials are likely to still give him articles to read without Kelly knowing. “He’s not under the impression he can tell Donald Trump, oh, you’re going to do it my way,” one Kelly associate said. “He’s not delusional about it.”Nick Offerman has announced his support for Iron Stache, because "Wisconsin is charismatic af and deserves some goddamn ethical representation."
And a concluding tweet from Ryan Lizza: Trump has expressed more concerns about Congress's Russia sanctions bill than about Putin's expulsion of US diplomats.
posted by zachlipton at 5:11 PM on August 2, 2017 [55 favorites]
I believe that he was a bottom-of-the-barrel Santa Monica High School presidential candidate attempting to defend Stormfront talking points previously
If you do a search you'll find a bunch of links from when he first popped up, full of his former classmates calling him an asshole. He's the Ted Cruz of California. Also, I live close enough to SaMo HS that I heard the walls weeping during his appearance today.
posted by Room 641-A at 5:12 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
If you do a search you'll find a bunch of links from when he first popped up, full of his former classmates calling him an asshole. He's the Ted Cruz of California. Also, I live close enough to SaMo HS that I heard the walls weeping during his appearance today.
posted by Room 641-A at 5:12 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
He changed his tune on Louise Mensch: "She’s kind of a nut job. Ive stopped following her."
posted by zachlipton at 5:16 PM on August 2, 2017 [23 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 5:16 PM on August 2, 2017 [23 favorites]
Thanks, Zach. Actually, the part of that report of Trump's nutso meeting with the generals that stood out to me was
inquired about the United States getting a piece of Afghan’s mineral wealth
I knew from his talk about seizing Iraq's oil that he can't grasp the concept of pirating another country's resources as an international crime, but I can't believe he's already broached the topic as president, conferring with the generals about it. I'd really like to hear more details about this.
posted by Rykey at 5:29 PM on August 2, 2017 [12 favorites]
inquired about the United States getting a piece of Afghan’s mineral wealth
I knew from his talk about seizing Iraq's oil that he can't grasp the concept of pirating another country's resources as an international crime, but I can't believe he's already broached the topic as president, conferring with the generals about it. I'd really like to hear more details about this.
posted by Rykey at 5:29 PM on August 2, 2017 [12 favorites]
Then may I suggest this pretty jaw-dropping Times story from a little while back? Trump Finds Reason for the U.S. to Remain in Afghanistan: Minerals. He's apparently quite interested in the topic.
Sadly, one of the authors, legendary national security reporter James Risen, just took a buyout from the Times.
Bonus link: Zach Braff wants to play Miller on SNL
posted by zachlipton at 5:34 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Sadly, one of the authors, legendary national security reporter James Risen, just took a buyout from the Times.
Bonus link: Zach Braff wants to play Miller on SNL
posted by zachlipton at 5:34 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Uh, that article's from July 25, Zach. That's like a hundred light years ago in this timeline.
posted by Rykey at 5:40 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Rykey at 5:40 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
Yes, the "minerals" thing is nothing new, and neither is the TrumpHouse using the word "minerals" as a substitute for "cocaine", as in "Mooch, I hope you brought enough 'minerals' for everyone in the meeting..."
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:45 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:45 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
All of our wars are for oil or minerals. Always has been the case.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 5:59 PM on August 2, 2017
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 5:59 PM on August 2, 2017
Yes, the "minerals" thing is nothing new, and neither is the TrumpHouse using the word "minerals" as a substitute for "cocaine", as in "Mooch, I hope you brought enough 'minerals' for everyone in the meeting..."
"They're dank rocks, Marie!"
posted by rhizome at 6:01 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
"They're dank rocks, Marie!"
posted by rhizome at 6:01 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
Speaking of which, I sincerely hope Jaffy is enjoying a well-deserved vacation; haven't heard from him in a while.
From four hours ago:
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:01 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
From four hours ago:
"oy, I picked a weird week to take a break from twitter"—Bradd Jaffy @BraddJaffyNewsflash, Bradd, every week since 11/7 has been a weird week, whether on or off Twitter.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:01 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
The @Russia account tweeted "Whoever comes to us with #sanctions, from sanctions will perish. We dedicate this video to those who try to hurt us with new sanctions!" and, I am for [real] not kidding, a 3:31 video of some kind of Renaissance Fair.
I am watching the full Browder testimony right now and Browder is talking all about Renaissance Capital.
Separately, have we learned anything more in the last six months about who got that 19% stake in Rosneft?
posted by triggerfinger at 6:04 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
I am watching the full Browder testimony right now and Browder is talking all about Renaissance Capital.
Separately, have we learned anything more in the last six months about who got that 19% stake in Rosneft?
posted by triggerfinger at 6:04 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
All of our wars are for oil or minerals. Always has been the case.
What minerals was the War of 1812 fought for?
posted by thelonius at 6:07 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
What minerals was the War of 1812 fought for?
posted by thelonius at 6:07 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
Kelly cracks down on West Wing back channels to Trump
Way to misread the room. Trump is a lifelong praise junkie. He's literally addicted to it. And you're denying him his fix, emptying out his stash & backup stash & backup backup stash. This is not going to be pretty. It's rough even when the addict wants to get sober. And Trump has no such wish.
posted by scalefree at 6:14 PM on August 2, 2017 [17 favorites]
Way to misread the room. Trump is a lifelong praise junkie. He's literally addicted to it. And you're denying him his fix, emptying out his stash & backup stash & backup backup stash. This is not going to be pretty. It's rough even when the addict wants to get sober. And Trump has no such wish.
posted by scalefree at 6:14 PM on August 2, 2017 [17 favorites]
Way to misread the room. Trump is a lifelong praise junkie. He's literally addicted to it. And you're denying him his fix, emptying out his stash & backup stash & backup backup stash. This is not going to be pretty. It's rough even when the addict wants to get sober. And Trump has no such wish.
Just wait. The tweets...they shall be glorious.
posted by jferg at 6:17 PM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
Just wait. The tweets...they shall be glorious.
posted by jferg at 6:17 PM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
What minerals was the War of 1812 fought for?
The ones in Canada?
posted by Nice Guy Mike at 6:21 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
The ones in Canada?
posted by Nice Guy Mike at 6:21 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
> POTUS is the best golfer to serve as President
Commander in cheat: Trump regularly breaks the rules of golf, exaggerates his handicap
Article from today, but I'm pretty sure I've heard about shenanigans on the course before.
posted by ASCII Costanza head at 6:22 PM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
Commander in cheat: Trump regularly breaks the rules of golf, exaggerates his handicap
Article from today, but I'm pretty sure I've heard about shenanigans on the course before.
posted by ASCII Costanza head at 6:22 PM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
Also from today, Trump’s golf game tells us an awful lot about Trump.
posted by peeedro at 6:26 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by peeedro at 6:26 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
He changed his tune on Louise Mensch: "She’s kind of a nut job. Ive stopped following her."
I'm relieved to hear that. That was my reservation about the guy.
(But he'd better not let the Marshal of the Supreme Court find out.)
posted by octobersurprise at 6:26 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
I'm relieved to hear that. That was my reservation about the guy.
(But he'd better not let the Marshal of the Supreme Court find out.)
posted by octobersurprise at 6:26 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Following that order was treason.
posted by biogeo at 6:33 PM on August 2, 2017 [42 favorites]
posted by biogeo at 6:33 PM on August 2, 2017 [42 favorites]
A few wars not fought for oil or minerals:
Revolutionary War
War of 1812
Civil War
World War I
World War II
Korean War
posted by haiku warrior at 6:35 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Revolutionary War
War of 1812
Civil War
World War I
World War II
Korean War
posted by haiku warrior at 6:35 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
They wouldn't let LA Mayor Garcetti or the DA anywhere near the detainees. I think they still can't can't info from thrm.
posted by Room 641-A at 6:35 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Room 641-A at 6:35 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Commander in cheat: Trump regularly breaks the rules of golf, exaggerates his handicap
Every time I hear about him playing golf, I can only think of that scene from Goldfinger.
posted by MrBadExample at 6:36 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
Every time I hear about him playing golf, I can only think of that scene from Goldfinger.
posted by MrBadExample at 6:36 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
45 can't sober up, and the generals know it, Kelly and McMasters are cutting off his reinforcements and his lines of supply. I won't say intelligence or allies, for he has neither.
By the time he gets back, he'll be a howling, slobbering mess with fear and anger in his eyes, but nothing more. A rabid cur. The talk will be had. The pearl-handled revolver will be slid across the desk, with a choice of two bullets: the resignation, or the 25th.
Dabbing his brow with his tie, he knows he needs to think, to calm the demon howls in his head. Play for time.
He presses the special button.
Nothing. Nothing happens. No diet cola appears.
It is too late for him now.
(Aaron? I think I've cracked the surprise mid-season cast change problem. Let me know what you think.)
posted by Devonian at 6:38 PM on August 2, 2017 [19 favorites]
By the time he gets back, he'll be a howling, slobbering mess with fear and anger in his eyes, but nothing more. A rabid cur. The talk will be had. The pearl-handled revolver will be slid across the desk, with a choice of two bullets: the resignation, or the 25th.
Dabbing his brow with his tie, he knows he needs to think, to calm the demon howls in his head. Play for time.
He presses the special button.
Nothing. Nothing happens. No diet cola appears.
It is too late for him now.
(Aaron? I think I've cracked the surprise mid-season cast change problem. Let me know what you think.)
posted by Devonian at 6:38 PM on August 2, 2017 [19 favorites]
World War II
While WWII was a complex war on many fronts, this is definitely not entirely correct. The oil embargo against Japan was a primary factor in their decision to attack the US.
posted by thefoxgod at 6:38 PM on August 2, 2017 [16 favorites]
While WWII was a complex war on many fronts, this is definitely not entirely correct. The oil embargo against Japan was a primary factor in their decision to attack the US.
posted by thefoxgod at 6:38 PM on August 2, 2017 [16 favorites]
Nothing. Nothing happens. No diet cola appears.
DAS WAR EIN BEFEHL!!!
posted by uosuaq at 6:50 PM on August 2, 2017 [12 favorites]
DAS WAR EIN BEFEHL!!!
posted by uosuaq at 6:50 PM on August 2, 2017 [12 favorites]
When new White House chief of staff John Kelly huddled with senior staff on his first day at work, he outlined a key problem in President Donald Trump’s White House that he planned to fix: Bad information getting into the president’s hands.
This is an admission that the president is incapable of evaluating information on his own. I think we all here know that, but good lord when is the news media going to openly report it that way?
posted by winna at 7:01 PM on August 2, 2017 [48 favorites]
This is an admission that the president is incapable of evaluating information on his own. I think we all here know that, but good lord when is the news media going to openly report it that way?
posted by winna at 7:01 PM on August 2, 2017 [48 favorites]
The American Civil War was not fought specifically for oil or minerals. That's technically correct. However, the South started the war over maintaining and increasing access to an important and powerful resource: slave labor. I personally would put it strongly in the list of wars over control of resources.
posted by honestcoyote at 7:02 PM on August 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
posted by honestcoyote at 7:02 PM on August 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
Laurence O'Donnell gunning for Kelly. Opens with:
"Breaking news tonight, Jeff Sessions' job is safe, not because Trump said so, but because Trump's boss, General Kelly said so."
Trump will take it well if such sentiments get to him.
posted by chris24 at 7:02 PM on August 2, 2017 [31 favorites]
"Breaking news tonight, Jeff Sessions' job is safe, not because Trump said so, but because Trump's boss, General Kelly said so."
Trump will take it well if such sentiments get to him.
posted by chris24 at 7:02 PM on August 2, 2017 [31 favorites]
A few wars not fought for oil or minerals:
Revolutionary War
War of 1812
Civil War
World War I
World War II
Revolutionary War: turpentine. Close enough.
Civil war: as pointed out, slave labor was essnetially treated as energy, same as oil or coal.
World War I: triggered in no small part by the destablization of the naval balance of power from the conversion to oil dreadnoughts over coal powered warships.
World War II: Germany definitely lunged east to get oil in the Caucasus and Romania. And Japan fought over Indonesian oil.
posted by ocschwar at 7:07 PM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
Revolutionary War
War of 1812
Civil War
World War I
World War II
Revolutionary War: turpentine. Close enough.
Civil war: as pointed out, slave labor was essnetially treated as energy, same as oil or coal.
World War I: triggered in no small part by the destablization of the naval balance of power from the conversion to oil dreadnoughts over coal powered warships.
World War II: Germany definitely lunged east to get oil in the Caucasus and Romania. And Japan fought over Indonesian oil.
posted by ocschwar at 7:07 PM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
I like how "zachlipton" and "lalex" post separately. You don't often see such attention to detail from the writers.
posted by petebest at 7:08 PM on August 2, 2017 [37 favorites]
posted by petebest at 7:08 PM on August 2, 2017 [37 favorites]
British punk singer detained at SFO airport, and deported, it appears, because of a Trump-mocking-performace last summer. BEFORE THE ELECTION.
The CBP will have to be purged HARD in 2018.
posted by ocschwar at 7:10 PM on August 2, 2017 [69 favorites]
Politicon responds to the Zuckerberg poll
Who the fuck is his audience, because billionaire techbro douchebags don't seem like a viable path to 270.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:10 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
Who the fuck is his audience, because billionaire techbro douchebags don't seem like a viable path to 270.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:10 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
I'm not really digging this whole "glorious military stepping in to fill the power vacuum" vibe.
posted by Behemoth at 7:10 PM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
posted by Behemoth at 7:10 PM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
It seems to work in Egypt.
posted by vrakatar at 7:14 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by vrakatar at 7:14 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
> The CBP will have to be purged HARD in 2018.
s/purged/abolished.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 7:14 PM on August 2, 2017 [14 favorites]
s/purged/abolished.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 7:14 PM on August 2, 2017 [14 favorites]
One of Bannon’s closest buddies in the West Wing was Reince Priebus, now gone.
I don't know where this reporter went to school but that is NOT how I remember it from my ancient history classes. didn't they hate each other? wasn't that the first white house intrigue story of the long-long-ago?
or is it just a delicate insult to Bannon, that in spite of all that, he still doesn't have anyone else who likes him any better than Reince?
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:16 PM on August 2, 2017 [16 favorites]
I don't know where this reporter went to school but that is NOT how I remember it from my ancient history classes. didn't they hate each other? wasn't that the first white house intrigue story of the long-long-ago?
or is it just a delicate insult to Bannon, that in spite of all that, he still doesn't have anyone else who likes him any better than Reince?
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:16 PM on August 2, 2017 [16 favorites]
@realDonaldTrump: I love the White House, one of the most beautiful buildings (homes) I have ever seen. But Fake News said I called it a dump - TOTALLY UNTRUE
And Sports Illustrated/Golf Magazine decides to hit back with a podcast with the Alan Shipnuck, who wrote the story. He's standing by it:
And Sports Illustrated/Golf Magazine decides to hit back with a podcast with the Alan Shipnuck, who wrote the story. He's standing by it:
ALAN SHIPNUCK: Yeah, I had a conversation with Ms. Hicks as well, which was quite enlightening -- the confrontational and rude tone of the phone call. They definitely don’t waste any time trying to be charming or friendly, these people in the White House communications department. She tried the same line on me, "That’s a lie and needs to be retracted." I explained to her: It’s not a lie. The president said this in front of eight or nine members and staffers at [Trump] Bedminster. It was his first visit to the club after he had been residing in the White House. It was a moment of candor. Someone who was a part of that conversation relayed it to me. I found this person to be an extremely credible source on any number of topics.posted by zachlipton at 7:22 PM on August 2, 2017 [95 favorites]
The week of the U.S. Women’s Open [in July], I heard the same story told by two or three different other sources. This is certainly a moment that has already passed into legend at Trump Bedminster. It might be inconvenient for her boss and she might wish he didn’t say it, but it’s not a lie.
Time to FOIA the CBP regarding Peter Bywaters, I think.
posted by ocschwar at 7:33 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by ocschwar at 7:33 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Kelly called Sessions on Saturday to stress that the White House was supportive of his work and wanted him to continue his job, according to two people familiar with the call. The people demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about a private conversation.
So private that enough people heard it that two folks would leak it and not be worried they'd be called on the carpet for it! Puh-leeze, they couldn't have been more authorized to speak about this if Kelly had had his hand up their ass in order to make their mouths move while he said the words.
This is complete and total deliberate "leaking" on purpose to try to make relations look cordial. Anyone who reads this and buys it as indicating Sessions is any safer than he was 24 hours ago is an idiot. I think it's possible Trump has enough sense/self-preservation to keep from shitcanning Sessions (pity, IMNSHO) in the near future. But the love has not been regained.
posted by phearlez at 7:33 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
So private that enough people heard it that two folks would leak it and not be worried they'd be called on the carpet for it! Puh-leeze, they couldn't have been more authorized to speak about this if Kelly had had his hand up their ass in order to make their mouths move while he said the words.
This is complete and total deliberate "leaking" on purpose to try to make relations look cordial. Anyone who reads this and buys it as indicating Sessions is any safer than he was 24 hours ago is an idiot. I think it's possible Trump has enough sense/self-preservation to keep from shitcanning Sessions (pity, IMNSHO) in the near future. But the love has not been regained.
posted by phearlez at 7:33 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
On Trump's golf: I've mentioned this before, but a friend of mine, who is a country club Republican and a member of BelAir in West LA, shared with me before the election that NOBODY at his club would play a round with Trump willingly. He was a notorious cheat, poor sport, boor, etc. So it's not like this isn't well known.
(My friend voted for Clinton, and I'm sure golf was part of his decision matrix.)
posted by notyou at 7:35 PM on August 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
(My friend voted for Clinton, and I'm sure golf was part of his decision matrix.)
posted by notyou at 7:35 PM on August 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
Beau Willimon: Stephen Miller - Lazarus' poem was added 1903: same yr your ancestors Wolf & Bessie Glotzer came thru Ellis Island. Bet it mattered to them.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:36 PM on August 2, 2017 [82 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:36 PM on August 2, 2017 [82 favorites]
For example, POTUS is the best golfer to serve as President. Perhaps, we embrace it with a national online lottery to play a round of golf with him...
I know someone who has played a round of golf with Trump. It will surprise none of you to say that, based on his description of the outing, this would be a lottery with exactly one loser and everyone else a winner.
posted by phearlez at 7:40 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
I know someone who has played a round of golf with Trump. It will surprise none of you to say that, based on his description of the outing, this would be a lottery with exactly one loser and everyone else a winner.
posted by phearlez at 7:40 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
For example, POTUS is the best golfer to serve as President. Perhaps, we embrace it with a national online lottery to play a round of golf with him...
Time to burn my draft card, I guess.
posted by ocschwar at 7:43 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Time to burn my draft card, I guess.
posted by ocschwar at 7:43 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Inside the McMaster-Bannon War
Bannon waits while McMaster baits.
posted by kirkaracha at 7:43 PM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
Soldiers promised citizenship charge Pentagon with putting their applications on ice (McClatchy, Vera Bergengruen)
Soldiers in the U.S. Army Reserve are suing the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security for stalling their citizenship applications after they joined the military through a program that promised them fast-track naturalization for their service.posted by Room 641-A at 7:43 PM on August 2, 2017 [44 favorites]
“Each plaintiff-soldier has kept his/her end of the bargain,” their lawsuit states. The immigrant recruits did their part by enlisting, training in drills with their unit, and subjecting themselves to deployment. The U.S. Army certified their service, and the military is supposed to provide citizenship as soon as they complete basic training or attend drills. [...]
The delay has put some soldiers at risk of deportation, the lawsuit states. These soldiers are “suffering irreparable harm” and financial strain as they face uncertainty about their status, unable to get a job, a drivers license, or a passport to visit sick family members, their attorneys say.
It has also baffled the military lawyer who wrote the policy.
If
posted by runcifex at 7:44 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
The_Zuck runs as a third party and splits the accelerationist votes, I fail to see the problem.posted by runcifex at 7:44 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
From the Buzzfeed investigation: the death of MI6 codebreaker (who had also been working with the NSA) Gareth Williams, whose body was found stuffed into a duffel bag and left in his bathtub. The authorities couldn't determine the cause of death due to his body being so badly decomposed, helped along by the heat being cranked in his apartment, despite the heat spell they were experiencing in London in the middle of August.
Oh, and there were no fingerprints or DNA found on either the edge of the tub, the zipper of the duffel bag or the padlock on the bag. The key to the padlock was found under his body in the bag. After a three year inquest, the police conclusion? An accident.
I mean, the British government is basically a co-conspirator at this point.
posted by triggerfinger at 7:46 PM on August 2, 2017 [66 favorites]
Oh, and there were no fingerprints or DNA found on either the edge of the tub, the zipper of the duffel bag or the padlock on the bag. The key to the padlock was found under his body in the bag. After a three year inquest, the police conclusion? An accident.
I mean, the British government is basically a co-conspirator at this point.
posted by triggerfinger at 7:46 PM on August 2, 2017 [66 favorites]
If The_Zuck runs as a third party and splits the accelerationist votes, I fail to see the problem.
One of the few electoral things to be profoundly thankful for is that the various flavors of Aggrieved Populist White Dude are sprinkled around all the parties instead of being one unified voting bloc.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:48 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
One of the few electoral things to be profoundly thankful for is that the various flavors of Aggrieved Populist White Dude are sprinkled around all the parties instead of being one unified voting bloc.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:48 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Ooooooo, if you do the TV thing, Amy McGrath is appearing on Lawrence O'Donnell in a few.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:51 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:51 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
After a three year inquest, the police conclusion? An accident.
Holy cats - that is Black Adder "accidentally stabbed himself in the stomach while shaving" level craziness.
posted by Joey Michaels at 7:51 PM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
Holy cats - that is Black Adder "accidentally stabbed himself in the stomach while shaving" level craziness.
posted by Joey Michaels at 7:51 PM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
/So, you guys, I have fallen down a rabbit hole with this Renaissance Capital thing. Like, I'm finding blog posts from 2009 talking about how tied they were to the Russian oligarchs, and how they were related to Magnitsky murder, and Russian sources claiming that Magnitsky was tortured to get him to testify against Browder, and now the Russia state twitter is tweeting out RenFair pics in response to 45 signing sanctions, and frankly y'all, it's getting so weird now that even original x files writers are looking at this twisted yarn of an epic tale and are like, "oh, come on now."
This is nuts, you guys. None of this is normal. Either the treason runs so deep that we may never be able excise it, or there are a lot more stupid people in government than statistics would suggest.
I put it to you that a significant percentage of this administration and it's defenders, are compromised. I believe we are in the middle of a coup that is being enabled by the republican party. It is possible that I need a foil lining to my bonnet, but I think the situation is a lot more dire than even we here think.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 7:51 PM on August 2, 2017 [74 favorites]
This is nuts, you guys. None of this is normal. Either the treason runs so deep that we may never be able excise it, or there are a lot more stupid people in government than statistics would suggest.
I put it to you that a significant percentage of this administration and it's defenders, are compromised. I believe we are in the middle of a coup that is being enabled by the republican party. It is possible that I need a foil lining to my bonnet, but I think the situation is a lot more dire than even we here think.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 7:51 PM on August 2, 2017 [74 favorites]
Both, I suspect.
posted by Artw at 7:55 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 7:55 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
That RenFaire tweet really spooked me, tbh.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:58 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Room 641-A at 7:58 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
> It is possible that I need a foil lining to my bonnet
Okay so I'm just going to note that it took me like three tries to actually read this as "bonnet" rather than "botnet," because that's the sort of cyberpunk future we're in.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 7:58 PM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
Okay so I'm just going to note that it took me like three tries to actually read this as "bonnet" rather than "botnet," because that's the sort of cyberpunk future we're in.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 7:58 PM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
ELECTIONS NEWS
** 2018 House -- Dems keep good lead in generic ballot, 44-37.
** Electoral integrity -- A judge denied an emergency restraining order in the Common Cause suit against the Kobach commission, indicating it's better handled by the appeals court.
** Odds & ends:
** 2018 House -- Dems keep good lead in generic ballot, 44-37.
** Electoral integrity -- A judge denied an emergency restraining order in the Common Cause suit against the Kobach commission, indicating it's better handled by the appeals court.
** Odds & ends:
-- RNC fundraising strong.posted by Chrysostom at 7:58 PM on August 2, 2017 [22 favorites]
-- Morning Consult poll finds 60% think the White House is in chaos.
Wait. Color me completely clueless, but was the Ren fair pic a reference to Renaissance Capital?
posted by mabelstreet at 7:59 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by mabelstreet at 7:59 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
I put it to you that a significant percentage of this administration and it's defenders, are compromised. I believe we are in the middle of a coup that is being enabled by the republican party. It is possible that I need a foil lining to my bonnet, but I think the situation is a lot more dire than even we here think.
If it was Russia, not China, that got into the OPM databases, then they have the dirt on all the people you suspect, and it would explain a lot.
posted by ocschwar at 8:00 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Wait. Color me completely clueless, but was the Ren fair pic a reference to Renaissance Capital?
* snatches away plate of beans *
Okay buddy, you've had enough for tonight.
posted by Behemoth at 8:02 PM on August 2, 2017 [29 favorites]
* snatches away plate of beans *
Okay buddy, you've had enough for tonight.
posted by Behemoth at 8:02 PM on August 2, 2017 [29 favorites]
I'm going to be thinking about Rennisance Fair-Rennisance Capital all night now, thanks, but what I really want to know is what the hell "buildings (homes)" is supposed to mean in Trump's tweet.
posted by zachlipton at 8:05 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 8:05 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
It’s not a lie. The president said this in front of eight or nine members and staffers at [Trump] Bedminster. It was his first visit to the club after he had been residing in the White House. It was a moment of candor.
a moment of candor from the Don is ALWAYS a lie...
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:06 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
a moment of candor from the Don is ALWAYS a lie...
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:06 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm Not Convinced that Stephen Miller's Briefing Was a Trainwreck
Yes, I know that even though Miller is Jewish, he knows precisely what kind of dog whistle the word "cosmopolitan" is. But I don't know that most of America knows that. To those who haven't staked out a lefty position on immigration -- and most Americans haven't -- I'm afraid that Miller's points seemed reasonable, if possibly not well expressed. [...]posted by tonycpsu at 8:06 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Americans do think speaking English is important to being American (even though many of us had ancestors who came here and never fully mastered the language).
So today might have gone over better in America as a whole than it did among liberal pundits. And I suspect Miller went over like gangbusters on the right. No, he doesn't look like the kind of guy who could comfortably hang out in a beer-and-a-shot bar with blue-collar deplorables. He's an arrogant, weaselly know-it-all -- but he's their arrogant, weaselly know-it-all, saying what they believe about the desirability of limiting immigration. So I bet he makes them stand up and cheer.
I don't care if it's Putin's code for "bring me a turkey leg!" It's weird.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:07 PM on August 2, 2017
posted by Room 641-A at 8:07 PM on August 2, 2017
Apparently Miller thinks the Emma Lazarus poem on the Statue of Liberty doesn't matter because it was 'added later'?
OK, so we can get rid of other "added later" stuff like In God We Trust on currency. It first appeared on coins in 1864, didn't appear on all coins until it was added to the nickel in 1938, and first appeared on paper money in 1957.
Or we could restore "E pluribus unim" ("out of many, one"), which was the motto of the United States from 1776 until being replaced by "In God We Trust" in 1956.
Or we could drop "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. It was added in 1954.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:08 PM on August 2, 2017 [108 favorites]
He's just highlighting the type of building. Similar to if he said 'Last night I had the best dinner (steak).'
posted by chris24 at 8:12 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by chris24 at 8:12 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
I can't think of any reasonable explanation as to why the Russian twitter would have intended to reference Renaissance Capital with that tweet, but I had just read that comment and one hour later I was watching Browder's testimony and he's talking about Renaissance Capital.
Plus, I still have that weird-ass burger tweet by the Russian Embassy on my mind.
posted by triggerfinger at 8:19 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Plus, I still have that weird-ass burger tweet by the Russian Embassy on my mind.
posted by triggerfinger at 8:19 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
Okay i see now that triggerfinger suggested the Renaissance fair/Capital connection up thread. Looked up plate of beans. Describes all of what I ever do. But like, doesn't the video imply that RenCap kompromat is on its way?
posted by mabelstreet at 8:24 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by mabelstreet at 8:24 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
There's the whole bill of rights - "added later".
posted by double bubble at 8:26 PM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
posted by double bubble at 8:26 PM on August 2, 2017 [24 favorites]
It's Chekhov's Ren Fest.
posted by triggerfinger at 8:27 PM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by triggerfinger at 8:27 PM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
That Peter Bywaters article has been updated with the claim he wasn't targeted for political speech but because he had a visitor visa instead of one for paid artistic performance.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:28 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:28 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
Axios: Trump's big trade battle with China kicks off Friday
posted by zachlipton at 8:29 PM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
President Trump will give a speech at the White House on Friday, and will sign a memo directing his trade representative to go after Chinese theft of intellectual property and the way U.S. companies are forced to share technology with Chinese firms, as Axios scooped yesterday. Administration officials say Trump is doing this because of complaints he's heard from Silicon Valley executives saying Chinese IP theft is one of their biggest challenges (Peter Thiel was involved in crafting this new step).Oh good, a trade war. We'll just add this to the list of things to be done during his vacation.
posted by zachlipton at 8:29 PM on August 2, 2017 [10 favorites]
That Peter Bywaters article has been updated with the claim he wasn't targeted for political speech but because he had a visitor visa instead of one for paid artistic performance.
I figured this was the case, but it doesn't explain why they called up a video of his political speech when deciding to deny him entry.
posted by zachlipton at 8:30 PM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
I figured this was the case, but it doesn't explain why they called up a video of his political speech when deciding to deny him entry.
posted by zachlipton at 8:30 PM on August 2, 2017 [6 favorites]
My guess is that the CBP agent in question suddenly became very eager to enforce the rules upon learning of the political ideology of the performer in question...
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:31 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:31 PM on August 2, 2017 [8 favorites]
MetaFilter: Looked up plate of beans. Describes all of what I ever do.
posted by reductiondesign at 8:32 PM on August 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
posted by reductiondesign at 8:32 PM on August 2, 2017 [15 favorites]
So this is a thing. A website launched on Wednesday by a former FBI special agent-turned disinformation expert claims to track Russian propaganda in near-real time, as it spreads via Twitter accounts that have been linked to Russian influence operations. The site: Hamilton 68.
posted by scalefree at 8:32 PM on August 2, 2017 [54 favorites]
posted by scalefree at 8:32 PM on August 2, 2017 [54 favorites]
Reporter says ‘state run Russian propaganda outlet’ pushed him to cover Seth Rich conspiracy theory at the center of a new White House lawsuit (Yahoo News, Hunter Walker)
On preview, triggerfinger, you made me go back and start watching the Browder testimony again. Is it common for people to read 10 minutes of opening remarks without a single glance at their notes? I'm not sure he looks at them at all. I noticed his voice cracks a tiny bit when he tells them all the details of Magnitsky's torturous end.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:35 PM on August 2, 2017 [28 favorites]
WASHINGTON — Reporter Andrew Feinberg says a Russian state-owned news site he once worked for pressured him to advance a conspiracy theory about the fatal shooting of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich.Emphasis mine. More at the link.
Feinberg, who was the White House correspondent for Sputnik, first made his allegations when he left the Russian outlet in May. However, his story is newly relevant in light of a lawsuit filed this week that accused President Trump and the White House of playing a role in a “fake news” story designed to advance the same conspiracy theory.
Feinberg started at Sputnik in January, just as Trump took office. He was the outlet’s first reporter to work inside the West Wing. In a conversation with Yahoo News on Wednesday, Feinberg alleged Sputnik wanted him to bring up a news article that’s at the center of the lawsuit in the White House press briefing room.
On preview, triggerfinger, you made me go back and start watching the Browder testimony again. Is it common for people to read 10 minutes of opening remarks without a single glance at their notes? I'm not sure he looks at them at all. I noticed his voice cracks a tiny bit when he tells them all the details of Magnitsky's torturous end.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:35 PM on August 2, 2017 [28 favorites]
....marching on to war. This October, Trump Will Try to Start a War with Iran
Iran says new U.S. sanctions violate nuclear deal, vows 'proportional reaction'
"Iran had already said it would complain to the body that oversees the 2015 deal - under which it accepted curbs on its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief - about the measures passed in Congress last week in response to a missile development program and human rights abuses."
Well, it wasn't like I'd planned sleeping soundly tonight.
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:38 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
Iran says new U.S. sanctions violate nuclear deal, vows 'proportional reaction'
"Iran had already said it would complain to the body that oversees the 2015 deal - under which it accepted curbs on its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief - about the measures passed in Congress last week in response to a missile development program and human rights abuses."
Well, it wasn't like I'd planned sleeping soundly tonight.
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:38 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
Is it common for people to read 10 minutes of opening remarks without a single glance at their notes?
The person I was watching this with mentioned that too. What he said in his opening statement tracked pretty closely with his prepared testimony, which I read yesterday. He also testified on this matter to Congress back when the Magnitsky Act was passed and he has also written a book about it. I'm guessing that he's told the story so many times over the years that he basically has it memorized by now.
posted by triggerfinger at 8:44 PM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
The person I was watching this with mentioned that too. What he said in his opening statement tracked pretty closely with his prepared testimony, which I read yesterday. He also testified on this matter to Congress back when the Magnitsky Act was passed and he has also written a book about it. I'm guessing that he's told the story so many times over the years that he basically has it memorized by now.
posted by triggerfinger at 8:44 PM on August 2, 2017 [11 favorites]
If Dionysus 69 comes after Hamilton 68, we're all in for quite the show soon.
posted by zachlipton at 8:50 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by zachlipton at 8:50 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
Interesting article on Trump and golf here. Maybe one day he will be as good as Kim Jong-Il.
posted by TedW at 4:08 PM on August 2 [1 favorite +] [!]
Maybe Trump and Kim Jong-Il can play a round of golf to resolve the Korean nukes issue. The winner gets to keep his nukes.
posted by Mental Wimp at 8:56 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by TedW at 4:08 PM on August 2 [1 favorite +] [!]
Maybe Trump and Kim Jong-Il can play a round of golf to resolve the Korean nukes issue. The winner gets to keep his nukes.
posted by Mental Wimp at 8:56 PM on August 2, 2017 [2 favorites]
RE: trade war with China, cyberwar with Russia, and possible real wars with North Korea and Iran, all I can think of is that should anything untoward happen, the Executive branch of our government is probably weaker than at any point since Watergate. And I'm including that time when Scary Al Haig was on my tee-vee trying to reassure me that he had everything under control just after St. Ronnie was shot.
Hell, I loathe Nixon, but even he, at the nadir of the Watergate affair, probably had better command and control over U.S. foreign policy* and would have been better able to handle a crisis - even while being evicted from the White House - than would its current resident.
You just know this weakness is being taken advantage of by unscrupulous actors, in ways large and small, at home and abroad right now.
*Offer does not apply to Southeast Asia.
posted by darkstar at 9:03 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
Hell, I loathe Nixon, but even he, at the nadir of the Watergate affair, probably had better command and control over U.S. foreign policy* and would have been better able to handle a crisis - even while being evicted from the White House - than would its current resident.
You just know this weakness is being taken advantage of by unscrupulous actors, in ways large and small, at home and abroad right now.
*Offer does not apply to Southeast Asia.
posted by darkstar at 9:03 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
Folks, I love this RenFair/Renaissance Capital conspiracy theory you got going on, but the caption of the video is "Folk Festival in Zaraysk", a region which in medieval times was an important defensive fortification against numerous invaders. So the most likely mundane explanation was just your run of the mill "Russia will prevail against all opponents" sentiment hailing back to one of the many, many times Russia did exactly that.
As per site guidelines I will be voluntarily surrendering my beans coupons with HR.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 9:03 PM on August 2, 2017 [32 favorites]
As per site guidelines I will be voluntarily surrendering my beans coupons with HR.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 9:03 PM on August 2, 2017 [32 favorites]
It's "we're going to hack your shit so bad you'll be living in a Ren Fair"
posted by ctmf at 9:12 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by ctmf at 9:12 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Now, if they used footage from Gathering of Juggalos the message would be crystal clear and unambiguous.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 9:14 PM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 9:14 PM on August 2, 2017 [18 favorites]
Experts Warn Repeated Attempts At Eradicating Obamacare May Have Created Ultra-Resistant Super Law - The Onion
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:28 PM on August 2, 2017 [79 favorites]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:28 PM on August 2, 2017 [79 favorites]
uhhh... Kim Jong-il is still dead, right?
posted by AFABulous at 9:53 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by AFABulous at 9:53 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
Yes, Kim Jong-il is still dead.
posted by xyzzy at 9:56 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by xyzzy at 9:56 PM on August 2, 2017 [1 favorite]
I for one am not especially bothered by the idea of Donald and Kim Jong-il and/or Kim Jong-un being forever stuck together on a supernatural golf course in some sort of crazy hand-crafted afterlife scenario.
posted by christopherious at 9:59 PM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by christopherious at 9:59 PM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
Oh, Wait. Maybe It Was Collusion. (NYT Op-Ed, John Sipher and Steve Hallaug)
We like to think of ourselves as fair-minded and knowledgeable, having between us many years of experience with the C.I.A. dealing with Russian intelligence services. It is our view not only that the Russian government was running some sort of intelligence operation involving the Trump campaign, but also that it is impossible to rule out the possibility of collusion between the two.posted by Room 641-A at 10:03 PM on August 2, 2017 [17 favorites]
At this point if you told me that Russia had re-animated Kim Jong-il's corpse just to fuck with us I would probably believe it.
posted by AFABulous at 10:04 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by AFABulous at 10:04 PM on August 2, 2017 [7 favorites]
And here is one of the most perfect political cartoons I've seen lately. (From now on, to me, he's 'Mo' Trump)
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:20 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:20 PM on August 2, 2017 [4 favorites]
A review of Lara Trump's performance.
I think she ranks above Eric because Eric did have one moment of smarts recently, even if Seth Meyers pointed out that Eric probably figured it out because normally he wouldn't get those e-mails.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:45 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
I think she ranks above Eric because Eric did have one moment of smarts recently, even if Seth Meyers pointed out that Eric probably figured it out because normally he wouldn't get those e-mails.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:45 PM on August 2, 2017 [5 favorites]
Sometimes I think about how all of this will end... more and more lately I end up with a mental image of him in a straightjacket, curled up in the corner of a padded room and muttering sentence fragments to himself while staring off blankly into space. "...biggest crowds ever... best speech they ever had... ten minutes of applause..."
Jared visiting the ex-President.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:52 PM on August 2, 2017
Jared visiting the ex-President.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:52 PM on August 2, 2017
Wow. That Lara Trump clip probably earned about a 7 on the They Live scale for me.
posted by christopherious at 10:52 PM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by christopherious at 10:52 PM on August 2, 2017 [9 favorites]
What minerals was the War of 1812 fought for?
Salt.
Of course Keillor thinks he'll survive, he served up folksy white nostalgia culture for 3 decades.
He won't. There is a place in my heart that is so dull, boring and exceptionally average that it has become a sort of scar, a void of milquetoast nothingness that can't be assuaged or erased. It itches but cannot be scratched.
You see, I belong to a loosely organized band of highly trained freedom fighters dedicated to preventing this from happening. As it is now, he's only living at our convenience, and at this very moment he is having a very intense conversation about those tweets with at least six of the more elite agents of this organization that cannot be named.
What I can tell you about this organization is that it is mainly comprised of people roughly in the Generation X demographic, people who shared an intense loathing for the dull, calloused spot left on their souls left by endless, countless hours of being forced to listen to Lake Woebegone and Garrison Keillor's inspid syrup-on-gravel voice on family road trips and campouts or visits to the cabin in the woods.
I can try to assure you byu telling you that thanks to my extensive training I can now turn anything, and I mean anything, from the Land's End or L.L. Bean catalogs into a deadly weapon. Down comforters, pillows, duvets, velvet Chrismas-themed table runners, slippers, plush throws, silk long underwear... anything. We spend an entire month training on how to behead Garrison Keillor in particular with nothing more than a paperboard advent calendar at 50 paces, with or without the little foil wrapped chocolate coins inside. I once saw a petite and rather mousy woman cut an a fully armored MRAP to ribbons with nothing more than a few deft, well-placed cracks with fleece-lined deerstalker cap.
We're ready for Garrison Keillor.
posted by loquacious at 11:05 PM on August 2, 2017 [68 favorites]
Salt.
Of course Keillor thinks he'll survive, he served up folksy white nostalgia culture for 3 decades.
He won't. There is a place in my heart that is so dull, boring and exceptionally average that it has become a sort of scar, a void of milquetoast nothingness that can't be assuaged or erased. It itches but cannot be scratched.
You see, I belong to a loosely organized band of highly trained freedom fighters dedicated to preventing this from happening. As it is now, he's only living at our convenience, and at this very moment he is having a very intense conversation about those tweets with at least six of the more elite agents of this organization that cannot be named.
What I can tell you about this organization is that it is mainly comprised of people roughly in the Generation X demographic, people who shared an intense loathing for the dull, calloused spot left on their souls left by endless, countless hours of being forced to listen to Lake Woebegone and Garrison Keillor's inspid syrup-on-gravel voice on family road trips and campouts or visits to the cabin in the woods.
I can try to assure you byu telling you that thanks to my extensive training I can now turn anything, and I mean anything, from the Land's End or L.L. Bean catalogs into a deadly weapon. Down comforters, pillows, duvets, velvet Chrismas-themed table runners, slippers, plush throws, silk long underwear... anything. We spend an entire month training on how to behead Garrison Keillor in particular with nothing more than a paperboard advent calendar at 50 paces, with or without the little foil wrapped chocolate coins inside. I once saw a petite and rather mousy woman cut an a fully armored MRAP to ribbons with nothing more than a few deft, well-placed cracks with fleece-lined deerstalker cap.
We're ready for Garrison Keillor.
posted by loquacious at 11:05 PM on August 2, 2017 [68 favorites]
You see, I belong to a loosely organized band of highly trained freedom fighters dedicated to preventing this from happening. As it is now, he's only living at our convenience, and at this very moment he is having a very intense conversation about those tweets with at least six of the more elite agents of this organization that cannot be named.
What I can tell you about this organization is that it is mainly comprised of people roughly in the Generation X demographic, people who shared an intense loathing for the dull, calloused spot left on their souls left by endless, countless hours of being forced to listen to Lake Woebegone and Garrison Keillor's inspid syrup-on-gravel voice on family road trips and campouts or visits to the cabin in the woods.
I can try to assure you byu telling you that thanks to my extensive training I can now turn anything, and I mean anything, from the Land's End or L.L. Bean catalogs into a deadly weapon. Down comforters, pillows, duvets, velvet Chrismas-themed table runners, slippers, plush throws, silk long underwear... anything. We spend an entire month training on how to behead Garrison Keillor in particular with nothing more than a paperboard advent calendar at 50 paces, with or without the little foil wrapped chocolate coins inside. I once saw a petite and rather mousy woman cut an a fully armored MRAP to ribbons with nothing more than a few deft, well-placed cracks with fleece-lined deerstalker cap.
We're ready for Garrison Keillor.
posted by loquacious at 3:05 PM on August 3 [1 favorite +] [!]
You're like a weaponized Minnesota nice. Is there polonium hotdish for the Enemies of the People?
posted by saysthis at 11:25 PM on August 2, 2017 [20 favorites]
What I can tell you about this organization is that it is mainly comprised of people roughly in the Generation X demographic, people who shared an intense loathing for the dull, calloused spot left on their souls left by endless, countless hours of being forced to listen to Lake Woebegone and Garrison Keillor's inspid syrup-on-gravel voice on family road trips and campouts or visits to the cabin in the woods.
I can try to assure you byu telling you that thanks to my extensive training I can now turn anything, and I mean anything, from the Land's End or L.L. Bean catalogs into a deadly weapon. Down comforters, pillows, duvets, velvet Chrismas-themed table runners, slippers, plush throws, silk long underwear... anything. We spend an entire month training on how to behead Garrison Keillor in particular with nothing more than a paperboard advent calendar at 50 paces, with or without the little foil wrapped chocolate coins inside. I once saw a petite and rather mousy woman cut an a fully armored MRAP to ribbons with nothing more than a few deft, well-placed cracks with fleece-lined deerstalker cap.
We're ready for Garrison Keillor.
posted by loquacious at 3:05 PM on August 3 [1 favorite +] [!]
You're like a weaponized Minnesota nice. Is there polonium hotdish for the Enemies of the People?
posted by saysthis at 11:25 PM on August 2, 2017 [20 favorites]
Remember the whole story of the girls robotics team from Afghanistan that was denied visas to come to the US and then they finally got to come? Al Jazeera reports that the 14-year-old team captain's father was killed Tuesday in an ISIL-claimed attack on a mosque.
.
posted by zachlipton at 11:28 PM on August 2, 2017 [30 favorites]
.
posted by zachlipton at 11:28 PM on August 2, 2017 [30 favorites]
God damn it.
.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 3:29 PM on August 3 [1 favorite +] [!]
.
WTF
.
posted by saysthis at 11:30 PM on August 2, 2017
.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 3:29 PM on August 3 [1 favorite +] [!]
.
WTF
.
posted by saysthis at 11:30 PM on August 2, 2017
Oh, Wait. Maybe It Was Collusion. (NYT Op-Ed, John Sipher and Steve Hallaug)
I love this, and it is conjuring some kind of nightmare scenario version of The Americans for me.
Gabriel: Now, I want the two of you to understand that The Center realizes this is a delicate matter that requires patience and finesse. You might be at this for months.
Philip: ... Actually, we-
Elizabeth: He took the bait immediately.
Gabriel: What?
Phillip: "I love it", he said. I'm not kidding.
Gabriel: Really? Well, that's wonderful. When are you meeting?
Phillip: I already did. I literally could not give him enough material. He was that eager.
Gabriel: Good lord.
Phillip and Elizabeth look at each other pensively, Phillip nods to her.
Elizabeth: Gabriel, does he already work for us? I mean he so readily committed treason we just-
Phillip: We don't mean any disrespect. We just want to know what's going on.
Gabriel sighs: Well. I can honestly tell you no one has told me any such thing.
Phillip: Maybe they didn't tell you because they knew we'd ask.
Gabriel: Maybe. (gets up to put kettle of tea on) So in Phase 2 we'll be-
Elizabeth: Already done. The candidate's on board.
Gabriel: Are you serious?
Phillip: He was publicly bragging about the material the next morning.
Gabriel, flummoxed: What?
Elizabeth: We know. It's not-
Gabriel: That idiot is going to blow the whole operation. Does he have any idea-
Elizabeth: He didn't say where he got the comms from. Listen. We knew the risks. If he ruins this, we have an out.
Phillip: And if he doesn't ruin it, (shrugs)
Gabriel, shaking his head: If this gets out when he's in office, this could be very bad for us. The Americans aren't just going to let this slide.
(music builds, Phillip and Elizabeth look at each other again, Phillip turns to Gabriel)
Phillip: Honestly? Beats trying to get a bugged clock into Caspar Weinberger's office.
DUN-DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN! DUN!
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 11:44 PM on August 2, 2017 [37 favorites]
I love this, and it is conjuring some kind of nightmare scenario version of The Americans for me.
Gabriel: Now, I want the two of you to understand that The Center realizes this is a delicate matter that requires patience and finesse. You might be at this for months.
Philip: ... Actually, we-
Elizabeth: He took the bait immediately.
Gabriel: What?
Phillip: "I love it", he said. I'm not kidding.
Gabriel: Really? Well, that's wonderful. When are you meeting?
Phillip: I already did. I literally could not give him enough material. He was that eager.
Gabriel: Good lord.
Phillip and Elizabeth look at each other pensively, Phillip nods to her.
Elizabeth: Gabriel, does he already work for us? I mean he so readily committed treason we just-
Phillip: We don't mean any disrespect. We just want to know what's going on.
Gabriel sighs: Well. I can honestly tell you no one has told me any such thing.
Phillip: Maybe they didn't tell you because they knew we'd ask.
Gabriel: Maybe. (gets up to put kettle of tea on) So in Phase 2 we'll be-
Elizabeth: Already done. The candidate's on board.
Gabriel: Are you serious?
Phillip: He was publicly bragging about the material the next morning.
Gabriel, flummoxed: What?
Elizabeth: We know. It's not-
Gabriel: That idiot is going to blow the whole operation. Does he have any idea-
Elizabeth: He didn't say where he got the comms from. Listen. We knew the risks. If he ruins this, we have an out.
Phillip: And if he doesn't ruin it, (shrugs)
Gabriel, shaking his head: If this gets out when he's in office, this could be very bad for us. The Americans aren't just going to let this slide.
(music builds, Phillip and Elizabeth look at each other again, Phillip turns to Gabriel)
Phillip: Honestly? Beats trying to get a bugged clock into Caspar Weinberger's office.
DUN-DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN! DUN!
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 11:44 PM on August 2, 2017 [37 favorites]
News from the dentist office. No longer showing FoxNews, now NatGeo Wild. The baby turtles are swimming out to sea!
even mcconnell's extended family knows a sinking ship when they see one.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 11:45 PM on August 2, 2017 [37 favorites]
even mcconnell's extended family knows a sinking ship when they see one.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 11:45 PM on August 2, 2017 [37 favorites]
Remember the whole story of the girls robotics team from Afghanistan that was denied visas to come to the US and then they finally got to come? Al Jazeera reports that the 14-year-old team captain's father was killed Tuesday in an ISIL-claimed attack on a mosque.
Well shit. That's infuriating and I hope this gets rubbed in 45's face at every turn.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 11:46 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
Well shit. That's infuriating and I hope this gets rubbed in 45's face at every turn.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 11:46 PM on August 2, 2017 [3 favorites]
To anyone who thinks that All Of Islam is the Problem, it must be screamed into their ears ten times a minute "THIS WAS ISIS ATTACKING A MOSQUE!!!!"
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:50 PM on August 2, 2017 [39 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:50 PM on August 2, 2017 [39 favorites]
The majority of the Muslim world has been disavowing Daesh for years, and terrorism in general for decades. No one seems to have noticed.
posted by bardophile at 12:09 AM on August 3, 2017 [41 favorites]
posted by bardophile at 12:09 AM on August 3, 2017 [41 favorites]
That's infuriating and I hope this gets rubbed in 45's face at every turn.
I don't think Trump will lose a moment's sleep over a dead Muslim, regardless of who they were (unless they were rich and/or powerful).
posted by Candleman at 12:13 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
I don't think Trump will lose a moment's sleep over a dead Muslim, regardless of who they were (unless they were rich and/or powerful).
posted by Candleman at 12:13 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Muslims are the largest victim group of radical Islamist terrorism.
What distresses me, is that when you tell this to the bigots, they say: See? This is exactly the proof that Islam is bad bad bad BAD and deserves eradication.
posted by runcifex at 12:13 AM on August 3, 2017 [28 favorites]
What distresses me, is that when you tell this to the bigots, they say: See? This is exactly the proof that Islam is bad bad bad BAD and deserves eradication.
posted by runcifex at 12:13 AM on August 3, 2017 [28 favorites]
Additionally, the vast majority of victims of terrorist acts committed by Muslims have been other Muslims. Why would one more attack on one more mosque have any impact on popular prejudice? Not that I'm bitter or anything.
posted by bardophile at 12:16 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by bardophile at 12:16 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
I don't think Trump will lose a moment's sleep over a dead Muslim, regardless of who they were (unless they were rich and/or powerful).
I harbor no delusions about it troubling him personally. But this needs to be highlighted as yet another disastrous outcome of his xenophobic policies, in the hopes that these policies can more quickly be reversed.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 12:18 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
I harbor no delusions about it troubling him personally. But this needs to be highlighted as yet another disastrous outcome of his xenophobic policies, in the hopes that these policies can more quickly be reversed.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 12:18 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
even mcconnell's extended family knows a sinking ship when they see one
To be fair, it would be unsurprising to learn that any family capable of giving rise to that man has spent at least the last few hundred years honing their skills at jumping off them.
posted by flabdablet at 2:03 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
To be fair, it would be unsurprising to learn that any family capable of giving rise to that man has spent at least the last few hundred years honing their skills at jumping off them.
posted by flabdablet at 2:03 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Late-night moment of absurdity, because I think this bears repeating: the actual President of the United States, the guy in charge of the military and nuclear weapons and the federal government and all that, agreed to be the pretend President in a TV movie called Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, but didn't sign the paperwork to do it because he decided to run for actual President instead.
As Rachel Maddow reminded us last year: This is your life now. This is our election now. This is us. This is our country. It's real.
posted by zachlipton at 2:59 AM on August 3, 2017 [46 favorites]
As Rachel Maddow reminded us last year: This is your life now. This is our election now. This is us. This is our country. It's real.
posted by zachlipton at 2:59 AM on August 3, 2017 [46 favorites]
America's midlife crisis: lessons from a survivalist summit
A harsh critique of the American present by Stephen Marche in the Guardian.
It's long and rambling, but among other elements, I found this interesting:
It does seem to me that American conservatives are obsessed with taxes in a different way than other conservatives are. It's most obvious with healthcare: middle class Americans are willing to pay completely absurd insurance rates in order to avoid paying more in taxes. (And it makes no sensible difference that most have employer-payed insurance - my wage as a 50-something academic is far higher than that of my equivalent in the US, among other things because my employer does not have to contribute to a health plan). I hope this is beginning to change now.
But people in the US complain about schools, infrastructure, law-enforcement and many other things that could all be vastly improved by raising taxes a little. And after a period of outsourcing during the 00's, manufacturing jobs are moving back to highly taxed countries in Europe, because all the things governments provide are good for business. Access to healthcare, childcare and care for the frail elderly all free women to work, and women in the workforce mean a greater talent pool for companies recruit from. Good infrastructure is vital for distribution and trade as well as day to day functionality: you want access to stable and cheap power and water and roads, and you want your workers to be able to get to work on time, every day, well fed and well rested.
Cheap or free education is good for business. Government-funded research is good for business. Stable government and good trade agreements are good for business.
posted by mumimor at 4:14 AM on August 3, 2017 [76 favorites]
A harsh critique of the American present by Stephen Marche in the Guardian.
It's long and rambling, but among other elements, I found this interesting:
Peter Thiel, Silicon Valley’s most famous Trump supporter, wrote in his essay The Education of a Libertarian that “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible” and that “capitalist democracy” was an “oxymoron”.
As different as they are in geography and sensibility, Thiel and Finicum Finch share an idea: they both see America as an experiment in property rather than experiment in democracy. Liberty to them is not government of the people, by the people, for the people. Liberty is ownership. Taxation is legal plunder.
America’s midlife crisis has been realized in the flesh in the decaying Woodland mall: these men and women have been overwhelmed by an inherently unsatisfiable longing for freedom. To them, paying taxes, to be compelled to pay taxes, is a form of enslavement. By this definition, who among us is free? Who among us could ever be free?
It does seem to me that American conservatives are obsessed with taxes in a different way than other conservatives are. It's most obvious with healthcare: middle class Americans are willing to pay completely absurd insurance rates in order to avoid paying more in taxes. (And it makes no sensible difference that most have employer-payed insurance - my wage as a 50-something academic is far higher than that of my equivalent in the US, among other things because my employer does not have to contribute to a health plan). I hope this is beginning to change now.
But people in the US complain about schools, infrastructure, law-enforcement and many other things that could all be vastly improved by raising taxes a little. And after a period of outsourcing during the 00's, manufacturing jobs are moving back to highly taxed countries in Europe, because all the things governments provide are good for business. Access to healthcare, childcare and care for the frail elderly all free women to work, and women in the workforce mean a greater talent pool for companies recruit from. Good infrastructure is vital for distribution and trade as well as day to day functionality: you want access to stable and cheap power and water and roads, and you want your workers to be able to get to work on time, every day, well fed and well rested.
Cheap or free education is good for business. Government-funded research is good for business. Stable government and good trade agreements are good for business.
posted by mumimor at 4:14 AM on August 3, 2017 [76 favorites]
better yet - let's consider everything Trump says a lie until proven otherwise. Instead of having everyone scramble around to debunk his every word, let's push back and say "we don't believe you, you prove it to us."
Oh, yeah. This morning on NPR, Maggie Hassan was talking about health care, and her interviewer noted that Trump calls the subsidy payments to insurance companies a "bailout," and asked her if maybe Trump had a point. Unfortunately, she did not respond by telling him that one should never assume Trump is telling the truth about anything, as she should have.
posted by Gelatin at 4:39 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Oh, yeah. This morning on NPR, Maggie Hassan was talking about health care, and her interviewer noted that Trump calls the subsidy payments to insurance companies a "bailout," and asked her if maybe Trump had a point. Unfortunately, she did not respond by telling him that one should never assume Trump is telling the truth about anything, as she should have.
posted by Gelatin at 4:39 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
After a three year inquest, the police conclusion? An accident.
Holy cats - that is Black Adder "accidentally stabbed himself in the stomach while shaving" level craziness.
Heh. You think THAT's crazy? Now this happened before Mr. :Please stop winning this is terrible". Perhaps with the New Don in charge all the military adventurism will be curtailed eh?
LaVena Johnson She's the soldier who was SO immune to pain that acid was found in/around her genitals, was able to shoot herself in the head, leave a trail of blood AND get dressed so the investigation into the events could be found a suicide.
That's some Haven PD Nathan Wuornos level of ignoring pain there.
posted by rough ashlar at 4:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
Holy cats - that is Black Adder "accidentally stabbed himself in the stomach while shaving" level craziness.
Heh. You think THAT's crazy? Now this happened before Mr. :Please stop winning this is terrible". Perhaps with the New Don in charge all the military adventurism will be curtailed eh?
LaVena Johnson She's the soldier who was SO immune to pain that acid was found in/around her genitals, was able to shoot herself in the head, leave a trail of blood AND get dressed so the investigation into the events could be found a suicide.
That's some Haven PD Nathan Wuornos level of ignoring pain there.
posted by rough ashlar at 4:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
Reading the linked Guardian piece is transporting me to the 90's, where my idiotic friends in the 2600 community were rhapsodic over the freaking Unabomber manifesto and its explication of the nature of "real" freedom. If you want the sort of freedom that the doomsday preppers are rabidly saving up for, the type of freedom that Ted Kaczynski describes, then, no, you will not find that in a democracy or ANY FORM of government. Nor will you find it in the free market, for reasons that should be obvious at this point.
posted by xyzzy at 4:57 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by xyzzy at 4:57 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
“capitalist democracy” was an “oxymoron”
I'm inclined to agree, but Mr. Thiel and I have very different solutions to the conflict.
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:05 AM on August 3, 2017 [14 favorites]
I'm inclined to agree, but Mr. Thiel and I have very different solutions to the conflict.
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:05 AM on August 3, 2017 [14 favorites]
I'll handle this one. The only danger is if the White House were being run by Nazis and the military. . . . waitaminit . . . Statue of Liberty . . . *gasp* That was OUR planet!!
posted by petebest at 5:05 AM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by petebest at 5:05 AM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
the hell "buildings (homes)" is supposed to mean in Trump's tweet.
The people in his base who think the MERS and homeloans issue is a gross violation of law. That base will ignore "Trump Mortgage" and how some members of Trumps own swamp are from the MERS tied system. But Trump chums the waters hoping a few of the yipping pack of hyeians will go after the MERS bone VS keep chasing him.
posted by rough ashlar at 5:08 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
The people in his base who think the MERS and homeloans issue is a gross violation of law. That base will ignore "Trump Mortgage" and how some members of Trumps own swamp are from the MERS tied system. But Trump chums the waters hoping a few of the yipping pack of hyeians will go after the MERS bone VS keep chasing him.
posted by rough ashlar at 5:08 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
agreed to be the pretend President in a TV movie called Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, but didn't sign the paperwork to do it because he decided to run for actual President instead.
This is going to be like Hitler's art school career all over again. In the future, everyone will wonder what could have been if we had only encouraged Trump's acting more.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 5:28 AM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
This is going to be like Hitler's art school career all over again. In the future, everyone will wonder what could have been if we had only encouraged Trump's acting more.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 5:28 AM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
Though to be fair, he's already playing one on television.
posted by flabdablet at 5:31 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 5:31 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
I'll take it.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 5:43 AM on August 3, 2017
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 5:43 AM on August 3, 2017
You bastards.
posted by Yowser at 5:50 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Yowser at 5:50 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
*crosses Megan Mullally off the Things Still Untouched By Trump list*
posted by Room 641-A at 5:59 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Room 641-A at 5:59 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
ugh - i found an arnold the pig for president page and was just about to link to it when i found some pretty shitty anti-muslim stuff there
nothing is good anymore - i swear ...
posted by pyramid termite at 6:01 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
nothing is good anymore - i swear ...
posted by pyramid termite at 6:01 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
A performance like that calls for an appropriate encore.
posted by flabdablet at 6:02 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 6:02 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
poor nick offerman
posted by entropicamericana at 6:02 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by entropicamericana at 6:02 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'd just like to point out, in these trying times, one bright spot. In that WaPo oral history of the Scaramucci era linked above, the caption: President Donald Trump gestures as former boys scout, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, left, and Energy Secretary Rick Perry give the three-finger salute at the 2017 National Boy Scout Jamboree in West Virginia.
I actually laughed out loud.
posted by rp at 6:10 AM on August 3, 2017 [20 favorites]
I actually laughed out loud.
posted by rp at 6:10 AM on August 3, 2017 [20 favorites]
It's Scoop o'Clock in the morning!
The Washington Post: "You cannot say that to the press." Trump urged Mexican president to end his public defiance on border wall
“You cannot say that to the press,” Trump said repeatedly, according to a transcript of the Jan. 27 call obtained by The Washington Post. Trump made clear that he realized the funding would have to come from other sources but threatened to cut off contact if Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto continued to make defiant statements.
The funding “will work out in the formula somehow,” Trump said, adding later that “it will come out in the wash, and that is okay.” But “if you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall, then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot live with that.”
He described the wall as “the least important thing we are talking about, but politically this might be the most important.”
Donald John Trump
Making Subtext Text
All Day
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:24 AM on August 3, 2017 [60 favorites]
The Washington Post: "You cannot say that to the press." Trump urged Mexican president to end his public defiance on border wall
“You cannot say that to the press,” Trump said repeatedly, according to a transcript of the Jan. 27 call obtained by The Washington Post. Trump made clear that he realized the funding would have to come from other sources but threatened to cut off contact if Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto continued to make defiant statements.
The funding “will work out in the formula somehow,” Trump said, adding later that “it will come out in the wash, and that is okay.” But “if you are going to say that Mexico is not going to pay for the wall, then I do not want to meet with you guys anymore because I cannot live with that.”
He described the wall as “the least important thing we are talking about, but politically this might be the most important.”
Donald John Trump
Making Subtext Text
All Day
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:24 AM on August 3, 2017 [60 favorites]
entropicamericana: poor nick offerman
Quite the opposite, Nick's a lucky man. (Scroll down for the Colbert interview from last December, where Mullally discusses meeting the Obamas at last year's White House Christmas party, then gives the goods on the 'Green Acres' bit.)
posted by hangashore at 6:25 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Quite the opposite, Nick's a lucky man. (Scroll down for the Colbert interview from last December, where Mullally discusses meeting the Obamas at last year's White House Christmas party, then gives the goods on the 'Green Acres' bit.)
posted by hangashore at 6:25 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
It's also tweet O'clock!
@realDonaldTrump
Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low. You can thank Congress, the same people that can't even give us HCare!
Bipartisan senators to introduce bill to protect Mueller (Axios, Shane Savitsky)
posted by Room 641-A at 6:27 AM on August 3, 2017 [31 favorites]
@realDonaldTrump
Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low. You can thank Congress, the same people that can't even give us HCare!
Bipartisan senators to introduce bill to protect Mueller (Axios, Shane Savitsky)
posted by Room 641-A at 6:27 AM on August 3, 2017 [31 favorites]
@realDonaldTrump
I love the White House, one of the most beautiful buildings (homes) I have ever seen. But Fake News said I called it a dump - TOTALLY UNTRUE
Never. Fails.
2014
@realDonaldTrump
.@GolfMagazine is great, thanks!
posted by chris24 at 6:29 AM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
I love the White House, one of the most beautiful buildings (homes) I have ever seen. But Fake News said I called it a dump - TOTALLY UNTRUE
Never. Fails.
2014
@realDonaldTrump
.@GolfMagazine is great, thanks!
posted by chris24 at 6:29 AM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
We must end this façade and reëxamine if those boys scout earned their coördination badges. What a bunch of naïfs!
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:29 AM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:29 AM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
But how many attorneys general were formerly boys or girls scout?
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:30 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:30 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
I am assuming by now that Nieto and others know that T is batshit insane.
posted by Melismata at 6:31 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 6:31 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm curious if Zinke and Perry were eagles scout or gave up halfway.
posted by BeginAgain at 6:33 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by BeginAgain at 6:33 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
*crosses Megan Mullally off the Things Still Untouched By Trump list*
Uh, even if Megan Mullally were not constantly emitting an Anti-Biff-Tannen Subspace Field that keeps her perfect, alabaster skin untainted and free of contamination by walking garbage bags stuffed with racist Sloppy Joe meat (which, as we all know, she is and has been since at least 1991), bear in mind that she has for years been treating her skin with Offerman Particles (65% Lagavulin and sawdust), which themselves provide both a protective barrier and the means by which she will in fact never die.
posted by middleclasstool at 6:34 AM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
Uh, even if Megan Mullally were not constantly emitting an Anti-Biff-Tannen Subspace Field that keeps her perfect, alabaster skin untainted and free of contamination by walking garbage bags stuffed with racist Sloppy Joe meat (which, as we all know, she is and has been since at least 1991), bear in mind that she has for years been treating her skin with Offerman Particles (65% Lagavulin and sawdust), which themselves provide both a protective barrier and the means by which she will in fact never die.
posted by middleclasstool at 6:34 AM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
Trump mindlessly tweets Fox & Friends report that blames him for Obamacare premium hikes (David Edwards, Raw Story)
posted by Room 641-A at 6:38 AM on August 3, 2017 [68 favorites]
President Donald Trump promoted a Fox News article that suggests he is responsible for Obamacare premium hikes.(Emphasis and schadenfreude mine.)
At 4:40 a.m. ET on Thursday, Trump shared a tweet from his favorite morning show, Fox & Friends, that warned Obamacare premiums would be rising.
Insurers seeking huge premium hikes on ObamaCare plans https://t.co/YrUwvMKlyb
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) August 3, 2017
But the article concluded by suggesting that the president was at fault for the premium hikes because he had threatened to withhold payments from insurers.
posted by Room 641-A at 6:38 AM on August 3, 2017 [68 favorites]
Oh my! Those phone conversation transcripts:
This is going to kill me. I am the world’s greatest person that does not want to let people into the country.posted by zakur at 6:40 AM on August 3, 2017 [51 favorites]
I know how to build very inexpensively . . . and it will be a better wall and it will look nice.
You and I will always be friends. We will almost become the fathers of our country — almost, not quite, okay?
I guarantee you they are bad. That is why they are in prison right now. They are not going to be wonderful people who go on to work for the local milk people.
From the transcript of Trump's call with Pena Nieto:
posted by sporkwort at 6:44 AM on August 3, 2017 [67 favorites]
In Ohio, they are having rallies for Trump right now because Trump has taken a hard stance on Mexico. We lost a lot of factories in Ohio and Michigan and I won these states – some of these states have not been won in 38 years by a Republican and I won them very easily. So they are dancing in the streets. You probably have the same thing where they are dancing in your streets also, but in reverse.wut
posted by sporkwort at 6:44 AM on August 3, 2017 [67 favorites]
"Dancing in the streets, but in reverse" will be the name of the pop history book that covers our era.
posted by mittens at 6:49 AM on August 3, 2017 [64 favorites]
posted by mittens at 6:49 AM on August 3, 2017 [64 favorites]
Metafilter: dancing in the streets, but in reverse.
posted by runcifex at 6:50 AM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by runcifex at 6:50 AM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
the local milk people
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 6:50 AM on August 3, 2017 [66 favorites]
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 6:50 AM on August 3, 2017 [66 favorites]
This is going to kill me. I am the world’s greatest person that does not want to let people into the country.
I know how to build very inexpensively . . . and it will be a better wall and it will look nice.
You and I will always be friends. We will almost become the fathers of our country — almost, not quite, okay?
I guarantee you they are bad. That is why they are in prison right now. They are not going to be wonderful people who go on to work for the local milk people.
GIVE ME A FAKE TAG OR GIVE ME DEATH. PLEASE.
posted by lydhre at 6:52 AM on August 3, 2017 [56 favorites]
I know how to build very inexpensively . . . and it will be a better wall and it will look nice.
You and I will always be friends. We will almost become the fathers of our country — almost, not quite, okay?
I guarantee you they are bad. That is why they are in prison right now. They are not going to be wonderful people who go on to work for the local milk people.
GIVE ME A FAKE TAG OR GIVE ME DEATH. PLEASE.
posted by lydhre at 6:52 AM on August 3, 2017 [56 favorites]
We will almost become the fathers of our country — almost, not quite, okay?
He is physically incapable of giving someone a compliment without immediately walking it a little bit back just to remind them who's really the best person in the conversation.
posted by Etrigan at 6:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
He is physically incapable of giving someone a compliment without immediately walking it a little bit back just to remind them who's really the best person in the conversation.
posted by Etrigan at 6:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
You and I will always be friends. We will almost become the fathers of our country — almost, not quite, okay?
Oh, fuck me. We're being governed by a less-coherent Tommy Wiseau. "It's bullshit. I did not collude with Russia. I did naaaaht. Oh hi, Vlad."
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 6:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [34 favorites]
Oh, fuck me. We're being governed by a less-coherent Tommy Wiseau. "It's bullshit. I did not collude with Russia. I did naaaaht. Oh hi, Vlad."
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 6:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [34 favorites]
I guarantee you they are bad. That is why they are in prison right now. They are not going to be wonderful people who go on to work for the local milk people.
better skills, better jobs, better wheyges
posted by Rust Moranis at 6:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
better skills, better jobs, better wheyges
posted by Rust Moranis at 6:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
"I won New Hampshire because New Hampshire is a drug-infested den." (real)
posted by diogenes at 6:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [19 favorites]
posted by diogenes at 6:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [19 favorites]
GIVE ME A FAKE TAG OR GIVE ME DEATH. PLEASE.
It's real. He's streets ahead. But you know, like in reverse.
posted by tilde at 6:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
It's real. He's streets ahead. But you know, like in reverse.
posted by tilde at 6:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
Dancing in the streets, but in reverse
"🎶Can't forget the Motor City! Let Detroit go bankrupt 🎶"
posted by Barack Spinoza at 6:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
"🎶
posted by Barack Spinoza at 6:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
These call transcripts are by a gigantic margin the weirdest, most disturbing, dumbest things I have read since early yesterday.
posted by Caxton1476 at 6:55 AM on August 3, 2017 [114 favorites]
posted by Caxton1476 at 6:55 AM on August 3, 2017 [114 favorites]
Also, to Peña Nieto:
posted by pjenks at 6:55 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
“I won New Hampshire because New Hampshire is a drug-infested den.”what diogenes said.
posted by pjenks at 6:55 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
“My people stand up and say, ‘Mexico will pay for the wall,’ and your people probably say something in a similar but slightly different language.” [real, ffs]
Slightly. Different. Language.
posted by stonepharisee at 6:57 AM on August 3, 2017 [24 favorites]
Slightly. Different. Language.
posted by stonepharisee at 6:57 AM on August 3, 2017 [24 favorites]
It's real. He's streets ahead. But you know, like in reverse.
Streets behind?
posted by Talez at 6:57 AM on August 3, 2017
Streets behind?
posted by Talez at 6:57 AM on August 3, 2017
“I won New Hampshire because New Hampshire is a drug-infested den.”
OMG. You lost NH. YOU LOST NEW HAMPSHIRE.
posted by lydhre at 6:57 AM on August 3, 2017 [80 favorites]
OMG. You lost NH. YOU LOST NEW HAMPSHIRE.
posted by lydhre at 6:57 AM on August 3, 2017 [80 favorites]
(Also he did not in fact win the vile narco-state of New Hampshire)
edit: damn it lydhre
posted by Rust Moranis at 6:58 AM on August 3, 2017 [17 favorites]
edit: damn it lydhre
posted by Rust Moranis at 6:58 AM on August 3, 2017 [17 favorites]
One side of this transcript sounds like Google translate from English to Spanish back to English
posted by shothotbot at 6:58 AM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by shothotbot at 6:58 AM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
OMG. You lost NH. YOU LOST NEW HAMPSHIRE.
And also, I take offense that the entirety of New Hampshire is a drug-infested den. New Hampshire is Massachusetts's shopping mall and a quite nice one at that. The drug users are quite considerate and restrict themselves to the Burger King bathrooms.
posted by Talez at 7:00 AM on August 3, 2017 [22 favorites]
And also, I take offense that the entirety of New Hampshire is a drug-infested den. New Hampshire is Massachusetts's shopping mall and a quite nice one at that. The drug users are quite considerate and restrict themselves to the Burger King bathrooms.
posted by Talez at 7:00 AM on August 3, 2017 [22 favorites]
I am assuming by now that Nieto and others
This is just the periodic reminder that naming conventions in Spanish don't work like they do in most western countries and that you should generally just use the names as you see them reported in the newspaper. Enrique Peña Nieto is not "Nieto," he is "Peña Nieto." Former Mexican president and excellent thorn in Trump's side Vicente Fox is Vicente Fox Quesada. Not Quesada or Fox Quesada, but Fox.
The shortish version is that in Spanish naming customs people (generally) have two surnames, the first from their father and the second from their mother. If Alice de la Torre and Bob Garcia had a daughter Carol, she would be Carol Garcia de la Torre. The paternal surname usually acts like the single surname in most western countries -- if you had to guess, and you don't because you're talking about people that newspapers are reporting about, you would assume that the name in the middle is the surname. But lots of people use both surnames, like Peña Nieto does, or go by their maternal surname alone, if their paternal surname is very common. So Carol might well just go by Carol de la Torre because there are lots of Garcias running around. Or not; you would have to know what she does.
tl;dr: just use the names the way that newspapers do. Peña Nieto.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:02 AM on August 3, 2017 [81 favorites]
This is just the periodic reminder that naming conventions in Spanish don't work like they do in most western countries and that you should generally just use the names as you see them reported in the newspaper. Enrique Peña Nieto is not "Nieto," he is "Peña Nieto." Former Mexican president and excellent thorn in Trump's side Vicente Fox is Vicente Fox Quesada. Not Quesada or Fox Quesada, but Fox.
The shortish version is that in Spanish naming customs people (generally) have two surnames, the first from their father and the second from their mother. If Alice de la Torre and Bob Garcia had a daughter Carol, she would be Carol Garcia de la Torre. The paternal surname usually acts like the single surname in most western countries -- if you had to guess, and you don't because you're talking about people that newspapers are reporting about, you would assume that the name in the middle is the surname. But lots of people use both surnames, like Peña Nieto does, or go by their maternal surname alone, if their paternal surname is very common. So Carol might well just go by Carol de la Torre because there are lots of Garcias running around. Or not; you would have to know what she does.
tl;dr: just use the names the way that newspapers do. Peña Nieto.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:02 AM on August 3, 2017 [81 favorites]
Slightly. Different. Language.
Trump may be confused because Mexicans keep saying words that are place names in Texas and California.
posted by Talez at 7:02 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Trump may be confused because Mexicans keep saying words that are place names in Texas and California.
posted by Talez at 7:02 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
“I won New Hampshire because New Hampshire is a drug-infested den.”
[RH]:He didn't; it isn't.
posted by notyou at 7:03 AM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
[RH]:He didn't; it isn't.
posted by notyou at 7:03 AM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
Callin' out around the world, are you ready for a brand new beat?
Summer's here and we’re reverse dancin' in the street.
Reversin' in Chicago (dancin' in the street)
Down in New Orleans (dancin' in the street)
In New York City
All we need is sirens, sweet sirens,
There'll be klaxons everywhere
There'll be batons swingin' and firehoses sprayin’,
Reverse dancin’ in the street
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:03 AM on August 3, 2017 [18 favorites]
Summer's here and we’re reverse dancin' in the street.
Reversin' in Chicago (dancin' in the street)
Down in New Orleans (dancin' in the street)
In New York City
All we need is sirens, sweet sirens,
There'll be klaxons everywhere
There'll be batons swingin' and firehoses sprayin’,
Reverse dancin’ in the street
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:03 AM on August 3, 2017 [18 favorites]
Former Mexican president and excellent thorn in Trump's side Vicente Fox is Vicente Fox Quesada. Not Quesada or Fox Quesada, but Fox.
Or his name in Spanish, El Zorro.
posted by Talez at 7:05 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Or his name in Spanish, El Zorro.
posted by Talez at 7:05 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
“I won New Hampshire because New Hampshire is a drug-infested den.”
OMG. You lost NH. YOU LOST NEW HAMPSHIRE.
If Peña Nieto had broken in with "Excuse me Mr. President, but you lost New Hampshire" he would be on his way to get his Nobel Peace Prize right now
posted by shothotbot at 7:05 AM on August 3, 2017 [28 favorites]
OMG. You lost NH. YOU LOST NEW HAMPSHIRE.
If Peña Nieto had broken in with "Excuse me Mr. President, but you lost New Hampshire" he would be on his way to get his Nobel Peace Prize right now
posted by shothotbot at 7:05 AM on August 3, 2017 [28 favorites]
p = "New Hampshire is a drug-infested den."
q = "[Trump] won New Hampshire"
If p is False and q is False then p->q is True, right?
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 7:06 AM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
q = "[Trump] won New Hampshire"
If p is False and q is False then p->q is True, right?
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 7:06 AM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
Produced by White House staff
Who specifically produced them, I wonder? At this point, I'm nearly as interested in the metanarrative as I am the things being leaked. So who decided that now was the time for these transcripts to be made public, and why?
posted by yasaman at 7:07 AM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
Who specifically produced them, I wonder? At this point, I'm nearly as interested in the metanarrative as I am the things being leaked. So who decided that now was the time for these transcripts to be made public, and why?
posted by yasaman at 7:07 AM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
Every holiday, I attend at least one horrifying meal with my inlaws, as you do. I spend the first hour and a half or so wound so tight I'm practically shaking. But going into hour two, something snaps in me and I just start laughing. At everything. Horrible racist statement? Oh Lordy, teeheehee. Completely inappropriate description of bowel movements as we try to eat chocolate pie? Bwhahahaha. You get the idea. They think I'm totally insane, but that moment where I switch over from excruciating anxiety to incredulous hilarity is a sweet, sweet relief. I'm happy to announce that I have reached that point in this presidency this morning. MILK PEOPLE.
posted by thebrokedown at 7:07 AM on August 3, 2017 [64 favorites]
posted by thebrokedown at 7:07 AM on August 3, 2017 [64 favorites]
the local milk people
I saw them play an acoustic set in 2004. Really underrated.
posted by chris24 at 7:08 AM on August 3, 2017 [59 favorites]
I saw them play an acoustic set in 2004. Really underrated.
posted by chris24 at 7:08 AM on August 3, 2017 [59 favorites]
"Dancing In The Streets But In Reverse" by The Local Milk People is this week's Employee Pick at my favorite record store.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:08 AM on August 3, 2017 [70 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:08 AM on August 3, 2017 [70 favorites]
I won New Hampshire, but in reverse.
posted by runcifex at 7:08 AM on August 3, 2017 [34 favorites]
posted by runcifex at 7:08 AM on August 3, 2017 [34 favorites]
In Trump's defense, he's probably right about the refugees not working for the milk people.
posted by diogenes at 7:09 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by diogenes at 7:09 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
From the Australian transcript:
TURNBULL Okay, I will explain why. It is not because they are bad people. It is because in order to stop people smugglers, we had to deprive them of the product. So we said if you try to come to Australia by boat, even if we think you are the best person in the world, even if you are a Noble [sic] Prize winning genius, we will not let you in. Because the problem with the people —
TRUMP That is a good idea. We should do that too. You are worse than I am.
>8I
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:09 AM on August 3, 2017 [26 favorites]
TURNBULL Okay, I will explain why. It is not because they are bad people. It is because in order to stop people smugglers, we had to deprive them of the product. So we said if you try to come to Australia by boat, even if we think you are the best person in the world, even if you are a Noble [sic] Prize winning genius, we will not let you in. Because the problem with the people —
TRUMP That is a good idea. We should do that too. You are worse than I am.
>8I
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:09 AM on August 3, 2017 [26 favorites]
I think we're seeing more cognitive difficulties with the president and he's confusing the New Hampshire primary with the general election.
posted by cmfletcher at 7:10 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by cmfletcher at 7:10 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Former Mexican president and excellent thorn in Trump's side Vicente Fox is Vicente Fox Quesada. Not Quesada or Fox Quesada, but Fox.
Or his name in Spanish, El Zorro.
Or his name in Spanglish, El Zorro with Cheese.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:11 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Or his name in Spanish, El Zorro.
Or his name in Spanglish, El Zorro with Cheese.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:11 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
I'm just grateful for this exclusive look inside the process of Doing Deals
posted by theodolite at 7:11 AM on August 3, 2017 [23 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 7:11 AM on August 3, 2017 [23 favorites]
He won the New Hampshire primary, so that's all he remembers.
posted by Etrigan at 7:11 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 7:11 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Consider: Those call memos are from late January, when he was at his zenith, still basking in the glow of his November triumph, before the daily stress of the job, the steady parade of fail, the constant sniping from the bureaucracy and opposition pols ruined his mood (and hastened the decline of his declining brain). Imagine, if you dare, the call memos from more recent calls.
posted by notyou at 7:12 AM on August 3, 2017 [20 favorites]
posted by notyou at 7:12 AM on August 3, 2017 [20 favorites]
"Dancing in the streets, but in reverse"
Mirror universe where Meatloaf and Henry Rollins had a MTV hit covering this?
posted by thelonius at 7:13 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Mirror universe where Meatloaf and Henry Rollins had a MTV hit covering this?
posted by thelonius at 7:13 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
From the Australian transcript:
I followed the law and removed myself from the electoral roll when I left Australia "permanently". Now I kind of regret that.
posted by Talez at 7:15 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
I followed the law and removed myself from the electoral roll when I left Australia "permanently". Now I kind of regret that.
posted by Talez at 7:15 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
One side of this transcript sounds like Google translate from English to Spanish back to English
Wait, that was translated back to English?
(personally, I don't think Spanish was involved. Probably Jabberwock.)
posted by notsnot at 7:17 AM on August 3, 2017
Wait, that was translated back to English?
(personally, I don't think Spanish was involved. Probably Jabberwock.)
posted by notsnot at 7:17 AM on August 3, 2017
the local milk people
True story, my dad's family owned and ran the tri-state Surge dealership in South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa when I was growing up, and in fact until about 10 years ago. Surge is, was, a company that builds and installs the milking parlors and equipment for dairy farms, and then services and maintains them. I spent many a day during summers riding with my dad from dairy farm to dairy farm on his rounds. So my dad's family is literally local milk people helping other local milk people.
Appreciate the congrats.
posted by chris24 at 7:17 AM on August 3, 2017 [41 favorites]
True story, my dad's family owned and ran the tri-state Surge dealership in South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa when I was growing up, and in fact until about 10 years ago. Surge is, was, a company that builds and installs the milking parlors and equipment for dairy farms, and then services and maintains them. I spent many a day during summers riding with my dad from dairy farm to dairy farm on his rounds. So my dad's family is literally local milk people helping other local milk people.
Appreciate the congrats.
posted by chris24 at 7:17 AM on August 3, 2017 [41 favorites]
Or his name in Spanglish, El Zorro with Cheese.
No no no you're mistaking him for his cousin, Vincent Fox Quesadilla. It's a common mistake.
posted by Talez at 7:18 AM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
No no no you're mistaking him for his cousin, Vincent Fox Quesadilla. It's a common mistake.
posted by Talez at 7:18 AM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
I can only assume the Russians are leaking these transcripts because they probably still had full control of Trump's ancient Android phone in January.
posted by PenDevil at 7:20 AM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by PenDevil at 7:20 AM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
I'm just grateful for this exclusive look inside the process of Doing Deals
The Art of the Schlemiel*
* if only he were a benign unlucky bungler
posted by tilde at 7:22 AM on August 3, 2017
The Art of the Schlemiel*
* if only he were a benign unlucky bungler
posted by tilde at 7:22 AM on August 3, 2017
I think we're seeing more cognitive difficulties with the president and he's confusing the New Hampshire primary with the general election.
See also: Dairy Workers/Milk People...
posted by mikelieman at 7:23 AM on August 3, 2017
See also: Dairy Workers/Milk People...
posted by mikelieman at 7:23 AM on August 3, 2017
From the Executive Director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, via Facebook:
Also, someone's response to a troll parroting "The statue didn't originally have the poem":
posted by Etrigan at 7:27 AM on August 3, 2017 [62 favorites]
Stephen Miller has turned himself simultaneously into a Statue of Arrogance and a National Monument of Ignorance. His subpar knowledge of American history, as reflected in Emma Lazarus' poem, means he couldn't pass President Trump's new immigration test. Therefore, Stephen, please leave.How fucked up do you have to be for the Anne Frank Center to tell you to fuck off?
Also, someone's response to a troll parroting "The statue didn't originally have the poem":
The original harbor did not have the statue. The original Bible did not have a New Testament. The original army did not have tanks. The original Cunningham family did not have Richie as it's oldest child. The original TGI Friday's did not have waiters who would let you eat the hell in peace. What's your point?
posted by Etrigan at 7:27 AM on August 3, 2017 [62 favorites]
@realDonaldTrump - Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low. You can thank Congress, the same people that can't even give us HCare!
@BillKristol - To state the obvious (but sometimes it's important to state the obvious): This is really a shocking statement from an American president.
The really, really shocking thing is that since the election Bill Kristol has said many things that are not wrong.
Fucken crazy-ass 2017 world.
posted by Cookiebastard at 7:30 AM on August 3, 2017 [47 favorites]
@BillKristol - To state the obvious (but sometimes it's important to state the obvious): This is really a shocking statement from an American president.
The really, really shocking thing is that since the election Bill Kristol has said many things that are not wrong.
Fucken crazy-ass 2017 world.
posted by Cookiebastard at 7:30 AM on August 3, 2017 [47 favorites]
Are they going to become the Boston bomber in five years?
Doubtful. Do you know how fucking long the flights are from Boston to Australia? I speak from experience when I say that after those flights nobody is going to be bombing anything. You'd have to be a pretty rare variety of determined to start in Australia to go to Boston and then commit any heinous crime little alone a bombing.
posted by Talez at 7:32 AM on August 3, 2017
Doubtful. Do you know how fucking long the flights are from Boston to Australia? I speak from experience when I say that after those flights nobody is going to be bombing anything. You'd have to be a pretty rare variety of determined to start in Australia to go to Boston and then commit any heinous crime little alone a bombing.
posted by Talez at 7:32 AM on August 3, 2017
Trump’s Real Personnel Victory: More Conservative Judges (Jeffrey Toobin for the New Yorker, August 2, 2017)
Luckily, there's a Wikipedia page with a list of federal judges appointed by Trump, so we can easily keep an eye on them without having to track down individual news stories and public notices.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:32 AM on August 3, 2017 [38 favorites]
WWhile the tragicomic fall of Anthony Scaramucci was playing out at the White House on Monday, the mood was business as usual at the Capitol. There, the Senate was dealing with its own kind of personnel matter, one that, in the larger scheme, probably matters more than who happens to be the White House communications director of the week. To little notice, and with no fanfare, the Senate moved toward confirming another of President Trump’s appointees to a lifetime seat on the federal Court of Appeals.Emphasis mine: the taint of Trump will be around for a long time, even if national politics are returned to a focus on viable politicians and we avoid a wave of publicly known figures who have no place in politics (Kid Rock, I'm looking at you).
In the early evening, the Senate voted to close debate on Kevin Newsom, the nominee for the Eleventh Circuit. His actual confirmation, which is now a foregone conclusion, will take place in the next few days. Newsom resembles many Trump nominees to the federal bench. He has excellent formal qualifications, including a degree from Harvard Law School, a Supreme Court clerkship, and a stint as the solicitor general of Alabama, where he excelled at defending the state’s imposition of capital punishment against legal challenges. Most notably, Newsom is also young for a federal judge—just forty-five—and a political conservative, as evidenced by his membership in the Federalist Society. (Earlier this year, I wrote about the role of the Federalist Society, and one of its leaders, Leonard Leo, in stage-managing Trump’s nomination of Neil Gorsuch.) In light of his age, Newsom will likely serve for decades after the Trump Presidency has concluded.
So while the public watches Trump churn through White House staff members, his Administration is humming along nicely in filling federal judgeships, with the enthusiastic assistance of the Republican majority in the Senate.
Luckily, there's a Wikipedia page with a list of federal judges appointed by Trump, so we can easily keep an eye on them without having to track down individual news stories and public notices.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:32 AM on August 3, 2017 [38 favorites]
I can only assume the Russians are leaking these transcripts because they probably still had full control of Trump's ancient Android phone in January.
My thoughts were: (a) Reince's revenge (or Reince-ppl still in the WH), or (b) WH staff who want to send a fuck-you to Kelly and his no-leaks crusade, or (c) we're seeing the beginning of a legit campaign to invoke the 25th Amendment (from Kelly? Mattis? Sessions? all of them?).
Re the 25th -- if the cabinet position is empty (e.g., DHS Sec. now that Kelly's the CoS), does the acting Secretary sign off on invoking the 25th or is that office removed from both the numerator and denominator of the "majority" determination?
posted by melissasaurus at 7:32 AM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
My thoughts were: (a) Reince's revenge (or Reince-ppl still in the WH), or (b) WH staff who want to send a fuck-you to Kelly and his no-leaks crusade, or (c) we're seeing the beginning of a legit campaign to invoke the 25th Amendment (from Kelly? Mattis? Sessions? all of them?).
Re the 25th -- if the cabinet position is empty (e.g., DHS Sec. now that Kelly's the CoS), does the acting Secretary sign off on invoking the 25th or is that office removed from both the numerator and denominator of the "majority" determination?
posted by melissasaurus at 7:32 AM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
My favorite part of the Trump-Turnbull transcript is when he asks and answers a question all on his own, incorrectly:
posted by dis_integration at 7:35 AM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
Trump: What is the thing with boats? Why do you discriminate against boats? No, I know, they come from certain regions. I get it.Now I think Turnbull's policy is pretty antihumanitarian, but it makes a certain sense. But Trump interprets it in his own way, and then you just know that he was just doodling and hitting the Diet Coke button while Turnbull tried to explain the policy, all along thinking: "they won't take these people because they come on boats, and boats come from bad places. what kind of sucker do they think I am?" completely unswayed by an alternative explanation.
Turnbull: No, let me explain why.
posted by dis_integration at 7:35 AM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
Isn't Local Milk People Christopher Kimball's Grateful Dead cover band?
posted by TedW at 7:36 AM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by TedW at 7:36 AM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
The call logs could have been leaked months ago and the WaPo held them for confirmation or who knows.
posted by notyou at 7:38 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by notyou at 7:38 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Re the 25th -- if the cabinet position is empty (e.g., DHS Sec. now that Kelly's the CoS), does the acting Secretary sign off on invoking the 25th or is that office removed from both the numerator and denominator of the "majority" determination?
No one knows. Congress has the power under the 25th to enact a law ironing out the details, but they haven't done so yet, and no one's ever tried to invoke it, so it's never been fought.
posted by Etrigan at 7:39 AM on August 3, 2017
No one knows. Congress has the power under the 25th to enact a law ironing out the details, but they haven't done so yet, and no one's ever tried to invoke it, so it's never been fought.
posted by Etrigan at 7:39 AM on August 3, 2017
Isn't Local Milk People Christopher Kimball's Grateful Dead cover band?
No. It's what remained when Jeff Mangum quit.
posted by Talez at 7:40 AM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
No. It's what remained when Jeff Mangum quit.
posted by Talez at 7:40 AM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
The call logs could have been leaked months ago and the WaPo held them for confirmation or who knows.
The . . . WaPo?
posted by petebest at 7:40 AM on August 3, 2017
The . . . WaPo?
posted by petebest at 7:40 AM on August 3, 2017
It's how the hip kids say Washington Post.
posted by Talez at 7:43 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Talez at 7:43 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
We may disagree on who they are, but we know what kind of hotel they stay at when they're traveling.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:44 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:44 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
We may disagree on who they are, but we know what kind of hotel they stay at when they're traveling.
Just don't stay at the kind where you can check out any time you like but you can never leave. They ran out of wine over forty fucking years ago and they STILL haven't gotten any more. What poor service that place was.
posted by Talez at 7:47 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Just don't stay at the kind where you can check out any time you like but you can never leave. They ran out of wine over forty fucking years ago and they STILL haven't gotten any more. What poor service that place was.
posted by Talez at 7:47 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
The. Best. People.
WaPo: 8 things the Trump team denied, and then later confirmed
posted by chris24 at 7:48 AM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
WaPo: 8 things the Trump team denied, and then later confirmed
posted by chris24 at 7:48 AM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
I prefer to read the NeYoTi.
posted by Cookiebastard at 7:48 AM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
posted by Cookiebastard at 7:48 AM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
So I think I've figured out the dancing in reverse thing. Trump saw that Turnbull was the leader of the Liberal Party, and assumed that Turnbull wasn't some conservative asshole (narrator: he is).
posted by Yowser at 7:49 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Yowser at 7:49 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
So I think I've figured out the dancing in reverse thing. Trump saw that Turnbull was the leader of the Liberal Party, and assumed that Turnbull wasn't some conservative asshole (narrator: he is).
Everyone knows things go in the other direction down there
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:51 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Everyone knows things go in the other direction down there
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:51 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
It's true, "WaPo" does sound as if it might have been a particularly obscure Nazi secret police organization chartered under Amt III of the RSHA or something.
posted by adamgreenfield at 7:52 AM on August 3, 2017
posted by adamgreenfield at 7:52 AM on August 3, 2017
It's true, "WaPo" does sound as if it might have been a particularly obscure Nazi secret police organization chartered under Amt III of the RSHA or something.
And here I was thinking it sounded like the paper was handsome.
posted by Talez at 7:53 AM on August 3, 2017 [20 favorites]
And here I was thinking it sounded like the paper was handsome.
posted by Talez at 7:53 AM on August 3, 2017 [20 favorites]
No, I meant the WaPo would know where it came from and how long they'd been sitting on it. More like WaD'oh, amirite I'll show myself out
posted by petebest at 7:58 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by petebest at 7:58 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Flake at 18% approval - 62% disapproval and -16 to generic Democrat in new PPP poll.
posted by chris24 at 7:58 AM on August 3, 2017 [27 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 7:58 AM on August 3, 2017 [27 favorites]
My brain hurts from all of the nonsense this morning.
posted by Sophie1 at 8:00 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Sophie1 at 8:00 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Does that carry over if he gets primaries to oblivion? Are they going to want anyone who makes things better (i.e. isnt try to remove everyone's healthcare) or are they going to double down?
posted by Artw at 8:02 AM on August 3, 2017
posted by Artw at 8:02 AM on August 3, 2017
That Hamilton 68 bot-tracking site is a really striking way to visualize what message Putin's invested in pushing.
The three most common primary issues out of the 91 stories analyzed involved US partisan politics, the conflict in Syria, and the investigation of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller. [...] The 9 articles targeting Robert Mueller and his investigation were uniformly hostile.
posted by Emily's Fist at 8:03 AM on August 3, 2017 [22 favorites]
The three most common primary issues out of the 91 stories analyzed involved US partisan politics, the conflict in Syria, and the investigation of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller. [...] The 9 articles targeting Robert Mueller and his investigation were uniformly hostile.
posted by Emily's Fist at 8:03 AM on August 3, 2017 [22 favorites]
@pattymo: Trump being a whiny dumbass on phone calls to foreign leaders shows there's no limit to the dimensions of his chess game. Masterful
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:04 AM on August 3, 2017 [21 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:04 AM on August 3, 2017 [21 favorites]
Does that carry over if he gets primaries to oblivion? Are they going to want anyone who makes things better (i.e. isnt try to remove everyone's healthcare) or are they going to double down?
In the past the electorate has firmly shown they'll reward being lied to and that they'll happily give the new person a pass on the previous moron's lies.
But it's 2017. Up is down. Black is white. Cats are dogs. Who knows whether the electorate has learned to do the basic arithmetic that would prove any Republican healthcare plan that doesn't move Obamacare to the left is full of shit.
posted by Talez at 8:06 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
In the past the electorate has firmly shown they'll reward being lied to and that they'll happily give the new person a pass on the previous moron's lies.
But it's 2017. Up is down. Black is white. Cats are dogs. Who knows whether the electorate has learned to do the basic arithmetic that would prove any Republican healthcare plan that doesn't move Obamacare to the left is full of shit.
posted by Talez at 8:06 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Exclusive: Top FBI officials could testify against Trump. The acting head of the bureau told top officials to prepare. (Murray Waas, Vox)
posted by Barack Spinoza at 8:07 AM on August 3, 2017 [46 favorites]
posted by Barack Spinoza at 8:07 AM on August 3, 2017 [46 favorites]
Luckily, there's a Wikipedia page with a list of federal judges appointed by Trump, so we can easily keep an eye on impeach them
Fixed for fruit-of-a-poisoned-tree wishful thinking. But if Democrats gain sufficient majority in 2020, there's no reason at all -- not "tradition," not "comity," not anything -- that they should allow Republicans to enjoy the benefits of colluding with Russia. We need to wipe the slate clean.
(And of course, if there are enough Senate Democrats to do that, they can whipsaw thru Democratic replacements.)
For the record, I also support a purge of INS and CBP, as they're riddled with fascists.
posted by Gelatin at 8:08 AM on August 3, 2017 [14 favorites]
Fixed for fruit-of-a-poisoned-tree wishful thinking. But if Democrats gain sufficient majority in 2020, there's no reason at all -- not "tradition," not "comity," not anything -- that they should allow Republicans to enjoy the benefits of colluding with Russia. We need to wipe the slate clean.
(And of course, if there are enough Senate Democrats to do that, they can whipsaw thru Democratic replacements.)
For the record, I also support a purge of INS and CBP, as they're riddled with fascists.
posted by Gelatin at 8:08 AM on August 3, 2017 [14 favorites]
"I guarantee you they are bad. That is why they are in prison right now. They are not going to be wonderful people who go on to work for the local milk people."
This is the President of the United States talking about economic refugees who are in a refugee camp. And also, about milk people.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:12 AM on August 3, 2017 [55 favorites]
This is the President of the United States talking about economic refugees who are in a refugee camp. And also, about milk people.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:12 AM on August 3, 2017 [55 favorites]
General Kelly running a tight ship so far. Prez attacks Congress in favor of Putin and more leaky leaks. PIVOT!
posted by chris24 at 8:17 AM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by chris24 at 8:17 AM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
Fixed for fruit-of-a-poisoned-tree wishful thinking. But if Democrats gain sufficient majority in 2020, there's no reason at all -- not "tradition," not "comity," not anything -- that they should allow Republicans to enjoy the benefits of colluding with Russia. We need to wipe the slate clean.
That sounds like a terrible, terrible idea to me, even with Trump in office, and potentially sets up a reset button for important judgeships whenever one party gets a boatload of electoral power, which seems like a thing you would not want to set in motion as a country.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 8:18 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
That sounds like a terrible, terrible idea to me, even with Trump in office, and potentially sets up a reset button for important judgeships whenever one party gets a boatload of electoral power, which seems like a thing you would not want to set in motion as a country.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 8:18 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
which seems like a thing you would not want to set in motion as a country.
Please register this complaint with the Republicans who refused to fill these seats for six years when a Democrat was constitutionally obligated to fill them and are now rushing to cram as many of their people in as possible before they get turfed out in 2018.
posted by Etrigan at 8:20 AM on August 3, 2017 [51 favorites]
Please register this complaint with the Republicans who refused to fill these seats for six years when a Democrat was constitutionally obligated to fill them and are now rushing to cram as many of their people in as possible before they get turfed out in 2018.
posted by Etrigan at 8:20 AM on August 3, 2017 [51 favorites]
The Dow Jones has been around in some form since May 2, 1885, about seven weeks after Grover Cleveland began his first term. Here is a list of the percent increase in the first six months of each presidency. I included only the first term and for Cleveland, I began with the first index. The data comes from here. It mentions adjusting the early data (before it became the Dow Jones Industrial average).
Just over half of the presidents are represented. Among these Trump's six month performance is middling, 12 out of 23.
1. F. Roosevelt 79.4%
2. McKinley 34.6
3. Cleveland 22.6
4. Hoover 21.4
5. Taft 20.4
6. Truman 17.2
7. Bush I 15.2
8. Coolidge 14.3
9. Obama 11.3
10. Clinton 9.3
11. L. Johnson 9.1
12. Trump 9.0
13. Kennedy 7.66
14. B. Harrison 5.14
15. Bush II neg 0.1
16. Reagan neg 0.12
17. Wilson neg. 0.6
18. T. Roosevelt neg 2.8
19. Carter neg 4.0
20. Eisenhower neg 6.3
21. Harding neg 9.5
22. Ford neg 9.7
23. Nixon neg 10.4
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 8:21 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Just over half of the presidents are represented. Among these Trump's six month performance is middling, 12 out of 23.
1. F. Roosevelt 79.4%
2. McKinley 34.6
3. Cleveland 22.6
4. Hoover 21.4
5. Taft 20.4
6. Truman 17.2
7. Bush I 15.2
8. Coolidge 14.3
9. Obama 11.3
10. Clinton 9.3
11. L. Johnson 9.1
12. Trump 9.0
13. Kennedy 7.66
14. B. Harrison 5.14
15. Bush II neg 0.1
16. Reagan neg 0.12
17. Wilson neg. 0.6
18. T. Roosevelt neg 2.8
19. Carter neg 4.0
20. Eisenhower neg 6.3
21. Harding neg 9.5
22. Ford neg 9.7
23. Nixon neg 10.4
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 8:21 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Please register this complaint with the Republicans who refused to fill these seats for six years when a Democrat was constitutionally obligated to fill them and are now rushing to cram as many of their people in as possible before they get turfed out in 2018.
That's horrible and destructive, but it's not the same as suggesting we just go and fire all the judges appointed and restart the process. I don't disagree that the Republicans have done this, I just feel that arguing for firing and hiring judges easily or en masse is not a really positive stance to take for any party, government or country.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 8:25 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
That's horrible and destructive, but it's not the same as suggesting we just go and fire all the judges appointed and restart the process. I don't disagree that the Republicans have done this, I just feel that arguing for firing and hiring judges easily or en masse is not a really positive stance to take for any party, government or country.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 8:25 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
ok guys here you go
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:27 AM on August 3, 2017 [55 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:27 AM on August 3, 2017 [55 favorites]
Ryan Lizza has released the audio of his interview with Scaramucci.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:27 AM on August 3, 2017 [52 favorites]
posted by Room 641-A at 8:27 AM on August 3, 2017 [52 favorites]
Please register this complaint with the Republicans who refused to fill these seats for six years when a Democrat was constitutionally obligated to fill them and are now rushing to cram as many of their people in as possible before they get turfed out in 2018.
Not to mention literally stole one of Obama's SCOTUS picks. The Republican Senate could have simply voted on and rejected Garland; they didn't so much as give him a hearing. The precedent has already been set; the key now is not to reward bad behavior.
Also, I suggest that given McConnell already undertook the unprecedented step of stealing a SCOTUS seat, there's no evidence at all Republicans would respect the norm of not impeaching judges they disagree with anyway.
No, Republicans must be reversed root and branch, and that includes turning out all the Federalist Society clones they're putting on the bench. That's the reward they see for tolerating Trump, and if the Democrats have the power to do so, they must deny the Republicans that reward.
posted by Gelatin at 8:28 AM on August 3, 2017 [38 favorites]
Not to mention literally stole one of Obama's SCOTUS picks. The Republican Senate could have simply voted on and rejected Garland; they didn't so much as give him a hearing. The precedent has already been set; the key now is not to reward bad behavior.
Also, I suggest that given McConnell already undertook the unprecedented step of stealing a SCOTUS seat, there's no evidence at all Republicans would respect the norm of not impeaching judges they disagree with anyway.
No, Republicans must be reversed root and branch, and that includes turning out all the Federalist Society clones they're putting on the bench. That's the reward they see for tolerating Trump, and if the Democrats have the power to do so, they must deny the Republicans that reward.
posted by Gelatin at 8:28 AM on August 3, 2017 [38 favorites]
Abnormal circumstances demand abnormal measures. If the administration is clearly shown to have been corrupt all along, I see no reason to accept as valid any appointments made by them. Interfering with the appointment of judges is definitely something you don't want to do, unless they were appointed in a corrupt fashion. Then toss them the hell out.
posted by stonepharisee at 8:28 AM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by stonepharisee at 8:28 AM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
The. Best. People.
WaPo: 8 things the Trump team denied, and then later confirmed
The URL says 7 things, by the time you linked to it there were 8, and by the time I clicked on it there were 9...
posted by bassooner at 8:32 AM on August 3, 2017 [52 favorites]
WaPo: 8 things the Trump team denied, and then later confirmed
The URL says 7 things, by the time you linked to it there were 8, and by the time I clicked on it there were 9...
posted by bassooner at 8:32 AM on August 3, 2017 [52 favorites]
"It’s probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in."
- Lyndon Johnson, re: Hoover as quoted in The New York Times (31 October 1971)
---
Keep firing* people Donny!
Yes, I know the weak man famous for firing people can't actually do it himself and has others do it for him.
posted by chris24 at 8:35 AM on August 3, 2017
- Lyndon Johnson, re: Hoover as quoted in The New York Times (31 October 1971)
---
Keep firing* people Donny!
Yes, I know the weak man famous for firing people can't actually do it himself and has others do it for him.
posted by chris24 at 8:35 AM on August 3, 2017
Exclusive: Top FBI officials could testify against Trump. The acting head of the bureau told top officials to prepare.
Comey is already on the record saying that Trump asked him to drop the Russia investigations, and that he felt pressure to do so. Trump is already on record admitting he fired Comey because of the Russia investigations. With that, it is already a strong case for Obstruction.
Add in the supporting testimony of a half-dozen senior FBI officials, along with the statements by Intel directors that there was Russian hacking of the election to favor Trump, and we don't even need to get into Manafort, Rosneft, and all of the other shadowy collusion and fraud tangents (though Mueller is surely looking into them, too).
Given his reputation, if Mueller is allowed to do his job, I believe at least an Obstruction charge is 100% inevitable.
The real question is what happens when Trump is charged (or about to be charged) with obstruction. Does he attempt to self-pardon? Does he pre-emptively pardon everybody else involved with Russian collusion/hacking/money laundering/fraud so they can't be pressured to testify in any future investigations once he's out of office? Does he try to fight impeachment in the House? Does he arrange for a Nixonian exit with a Pence pardon? Does he try to start a war as a distraction? Does he just ragequit?
Given that it's Trump, any and all of the above are realistic scenarios. It is amazing to contemplate that we are almost certainly in for FAR more drama than we've seen thus far. Stock up on cake and popcorn...this is our generation's Presidential implosion.
posted by darkstar at 8:35 AM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
Comey is already on the record saying that Trump asked him to drop the Russia investigations, and that he felt pressure to do so. Trump is already on record admitting he fired Comey because of the Russia investigations. With that, it is already a strong case for Obstruction.
Add in the supporting testimony of a half-dozen senior FBI officials, along with the statements by Intel directors that there was Russian hacking of the election to favor Trump, and we don't even need to get into Manafort, Rosneft, and all of the other shadowy collusion and fraud tangents (though Mueller is surely looking into them, too).
Given his reputation, if Mueller is allowed to do his job, I believe at least an Obstruction charge is 100% inevitable.
The real question is what happens when Trump is charged (or about to be charged) with obstruction. Does he attempt to self-pardon? Does he pre-emptively pardon everybody else involved with Russian collusion/hacking/money laundering/fraud so they can't be pressured to testify in any future investigations once he's out of office? Does he try to fight impeachment in the House? Does he arrange for a Nixonian exit with a Pence pardon? Does he try to start a war as a distraction? Does he just ragequit?
Given that it's Trump, any and all of the above are realistic scenarios. It is amazing to contemplate that we are almost certainly in for FAR more drama than we've seen thus far. Stock up on cake and popcorn...this is our generation's Presidential implosion.
posted by darkstar at 8:35 AM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
The fantasy that the Dems get a two-thirds supermajority in the Senate, then will spend all their time running impeachment trials of judges rather than implementing their legislative agenda, doesn't seem like a scenario that we need to worry too much about one way or the other.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 8:35 AM on August 3, 2017 [21 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 8:35 AM on August 3, 2017 [21 favorites]
I'd give him a pass on saying he "won New Hampshire" because he could have been referring to the Republican primary. I would suggest people don't give him a pass on calling the state "a drug-infested den" to a foreign leader.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:36 AM on August 3, 2017 [14 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:36 AM on August 3, 2017 [14 favorites]
It's hard. You don't want to further damage institutional protocol in trying to undo damage done to it in the past, and making it normal to purge the judiciary on getting office would be a very bad precedent to establish. But you have to fix long-term damage.
Perhaps the better way to proceed, over impeaching all the bad judges, would be to first create a framework that either prevents or makes it very hard for judicial hijacking to take place - you make it much more expensive for Congress to impede or delay appointments, and perhaps set absolute time limits for the SCOTUS process - these are difficult things, I know, and need far keener legal/constitutional minds than mine - and then, once these safeguards are in place, consider how to expunge the illicitly appointed judges.
But it has to be a two-stage process: first, build a better mechanism, then repair the damage caused by the old. Otherwise you're in a race to the bottom.
Ryan Lizza has released the audio of his interview with Scaramucci.
It was yearning to be free.
posted by Devonian at 8:39 AM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
Perhaps the better way to proceed, over impeaching all the bad judges, would be to first create a framework that either prevents or makes it very hard for judicial hijacking to take place - you make it much more expensive for Congress to impede or delay appointments, and perhaps set absolute time limits for the SCOTUS process - these are difficult things, I know, and need far keener legal/constitutional minds than mine - and then, once these safeguards are in place, consider how to expunge the illicitly appointed judges.
But it has to be a two-stage process: first, build a better mechanism, then repair the damage caused by the old. Otherwise you're in a race to the bottom.
Ryan Lizza has released the audio of his interview with Scaramucci.
It was yearning to be free.
posted by Devonian at 8:39 AM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
What I'd like is a constitutional amendment clarifying "advice and consent" re judicial appointments. Something like "if the Senate doesn't explicitly vote down a judicial nomination within 3 months, the nomination is approved".
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 8:42 AM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 8:42 AM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
"It’s probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in."
The thing is that Trump is the one who pisses (no pissing, no pissing you're pissing) and he's just standing in the tent pissing in a circle and all the staffers are mopping it up and squeezing it on the rest of us.
what i'm saying is pee tape
posted by dis_integration at 8:44 AM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
The thing is that Trump is the one who pisses (no pissing, no pissing you're pissing) and he's just standing in the tent pissing in a circle and all the staffers are mopping it up and squeezing it on the rest of us.
what i'm saying is pee tape
posted by dis_integration at 8:44 AM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
Maybe "drug-infested den" is a compliment coming from Trump. Why should he have to walk all the way to the dining room to get his cocaine?
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 8:48 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 8:48 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Here are some refugees working for the local milk people
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:48 AM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:48 AM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
Given that it's Trump, any and all of the above are realistic scenarios.
My money's on starting a war. He's not going to walk away. He lives to distract.
posted by archimago at 8:50 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
My money's on starting a war. He's not going to walk away. He lives to distract.
posted by archimago at 8:50 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
From before the election, Jewish Journal: Stephen Miller, meet your immigrant great-grandfather
And for Miller to say his family came to America “legally” is simply a ruse. There was no illegal immigration at the turn of the century, because all non-Asian immigration was essentially legal until the 1920s.
Then, as now, angry voices fought to keep these immigrants out. They organized the Immigration Restriction League, focused on shutting the ports to swarthy Italians and Jews.
“The floodgates are open,” wrote one anti-immigrant newspaper editor as the Eastern European Jews docked in New York. “The horde of $9.60 steerage slime is being siphoned upon us from Continental mud tanks.”
Such sentiments led to the Immigration Quota Act of 1924 — which effectively shut the door to Jewish immigration on the eve of the Holocaust.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [38 favorites]
And for Miller to say his family came to America “legally” is simply a ruse. There was no illegal immigration at the turn of the century, because all non-Asian immigration was essentially legal until the 1920s.
Then, as now, angry voices fought to keep these immigrants out. They organized the Immigration Restriction League, focused on shutting the ports to swarthy Italians and Jews.
“The floodgates are open,” wrote one anti-immigrant newspaper editor as the Eastern European Jews docked in New York. “The horde of $9.60 steerage slime is being siphoned upon us from Continental mud tanks.”
Such sentiments led to the Immigration Quota Act of 1924 — which effectively shut the door to Jewish immigration on the eve of the Holocaust.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [38 favorites]
You know, as a matter of general principle, it's really not OK that the President's phone calls with other world leaders can be intercepted and published.
posted by thelonius at 8:55 AM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 8:55 AM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
I'm partial to court packing as the retaliation measure. Kill the filibuster while we're at it, and put in 5 new dem SCOTUS seats on a party line vote.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:55 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:55 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
@JohnJHarwood
among other things, embarrassing for Paul Ryan who has just gone all in for The Wall
---
Assumes Ryan can feel shame, but less than 48 hours from Ryan going full Dukakis in a Wall video to release of Trump saying it's an unimportant thing he just needs politically.
---
@mattdpearce
Trump administration getting a nasty case of seeing what it's like to have their internal communications dumped for public consumption.
---
"I love Wikileaks!"
posted by chris24 at 8:56 AM on August 3, 2017 [44 favorites]
among other things, embarrassing for Paul Ryan who has just gone all in for The Wall
---
Assumes Ryan can feel shame, but less than 48 hours from Ryan going full Dukakis in a Wall video to release of Trump saying it's an unimportant thing he just needs politically.
---
@mattdpearce
Trump administration getting a nasty case of seeing what it's like to have their internal communications dumped for public consumption.
---
"I love Wikileaks!"
posted by chris24 at 8:56 AM on August 3, 2017 [44 favorites]
I'm really dreading Friday evening.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:56 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Room 641-A at 8:56 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Travel-ban reporting from the Daily Beast, based on FOIA documents: Trump’s DHS Ordered Agents to Block Congressmen During Travel Ban
The part I think is crazy is this:
posted by peeedro at 8:56 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
The part I think is crazy is this:
That email included several photos of protesters, and noted that Univision filmed protesters at the San Antonio airport. It also noted that Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, and California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom all made appearances at airport protests.Is that a brag book or an enemies list? You decide!
posted by peeedro at 8:56 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
And admit D.C. And Puerto Rico as states, along on party lines. Republicans started the end of democratic norms, but Democrats have ways to retaliate without completely stopping to their level. Both court packing and "Senate packing" would be perfectly constitutional and could go through regular order like regular democratic processes should. No dirty tricks required, only 50 Democratic senators that have any sense of back bone for proportional and appropriate response to Republican political terrorism.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:58 AM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:58 AM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
You know, as a matter of general principle, it's really not OK that the President's phone calls with other world leaders can be intercepted and published.
They weren't intercepted. These transcripts are from notes made by staff at the time and distributed to various members of the administration.
posted by chris24 at 8:59 AM on August 3, 2017 [35 favorites]
They weren't intercepted. These transcripts are from notes made by staff at the time and distributed to various members of the administration.
posted by chris24 at 8:59 AM on August 3, 2017 [35 favorites]
You know, as a matter of general principle, it's really not OK that the President's phone calls with other world leaders can be intercepted and published.
Agreed. But when the Congress is reluctant to initiate a necessary impeachment, and the Vice President is reluctant to initiate a necessary invocation of the 25th Amendment, it is exceedingly OK.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:59 AM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
Agreed. But when the Congress is reluctant to initiate a necessary impeachment, and the Vice President is reluctant to initiate a necessary invocation of the 25th Amendment, it is exceedingly OK.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:59 AM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
cjelli: "Personally, I'd like to see it paired with some kind of codification that Congress can't just leave nominations open and that failing to hold confirmation hearings for x many days means automatic confirmation rather than a block (or similar-type solutions), because we need to do something to restore the norms of government that existed before Obama's term in office -- but 'pretend those norms still exist' isn't an effective option."
I think the message of the last few years is basically, "norms aren't good enough, they need to be codified as laws."
posted by Chrysostom at 9:00 AM on August 3, 2017 [39 favorites]
I think the message of the last few years is basically, "norms aren't good enough, they need to be codified as laws."
posted by Chrysostom at 9:00 AM on August 3, 2017 [39 favorites]
Tillis [R-NC] and Coons [D-DE] introducing legislation that would call for court review of any firing of any special counsel. Note that both of them sit on Judiciary.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:03 AM on August 3, 2017 [52 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 9:03 AM on August 3, 2017 [52 favorites]
Fox News Alert:
New Fox Harassment Allegations: “A Contributorship…Was Contingent Upon” Sex (Andy Kroll, Mother Jones)
A former Fox News guest says a producer close to Roger Ailes sought sex in exchange for a paid gig at the network.
Fox News lawyers up for Seth Rich lawsuit (Alexander Nazaryan, Newsweek/Raw Story)
posted by Room 641-A at 9:05 AM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
New Fox Harassment Allegations: “A Contributorship…Was Contingent Upon” Sex (Andy Kroll, Mother Jones)
A former Fox News guest says a producer close to Roger Ailes sought sex in exchange for a paid gig at the network.
Fox News lawyers up for Seth Rich lawsuit (Alexander Nazaryan, Newsweek/Raw Story)
posted by Room 641-A at 9:05 AM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
[real]
@AlKapDC
Sebastian Gorka asked on Fox what Trump can do to pressure China over North Korea. Gorka: "We have the president's Twitter feed."
VIDEO
posted by chris24 at 9:05 AM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
@AlKapDC
Sebastian Gorka asked on Fox what Trump can do to pressure China over North Korea. Gorka: "We have the president's Twitter feed."
VIDEO
posted by chris24 at 9:05 AM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
What I'd like is a constitutional amendment clarifying "advice and consent" re judicial appointments. Something like "if the Senate doesn't explicitly vote down a judicial nomination within 3 months, the nomination is approved".
If a President dawdles for ten days without signing a bill while Congress is in session it automatically becomes law, so the basic mechanism is already Founder Approved™, and it seems eminently fair that the President has a similar ticking-clock provision for appointments as a balance of power. It makes a ton of sense and the argument against is easily countered by "if the Senate doesn't want the nominee, the Senate can vote on it".
You'd probably need a catch that says the President can't dump all their nominees for everything on the Senate all at once to DDOS them with ticking clocks but that's easy to handle.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:05 AM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
If a President dawdles for ten days without signing a bill while Congress is in session it automatically becomes law, so the basic mechanism is already Founder Approved™, and it seems eminently fair that the President has a similar ticking-clock provision for appointments as a balance of power. It makes a ton of sense and the argument against is easily countered by "if the Senate doesn't want the nominee, the Senate can vote on it".
You'd probably need a catch that says the President can't dump all their nominees for everything on the Senate all at once to DDOS them with ticking clocks but that's easy to handle.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:05 AM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
Clearly "dancing in the streets but in reverse" is a euphemism. Right?
Man, the whole popular image of Trump as some master of negotiations is re-proven to be a joke a couple times a week. Dude is practically begging in those transcripts. He commands no respect or dignity. It's all pleading and cajoling and pitches with all the savvy of a used car salesman. No wonder he's as much a laughing stock in those circles as ours.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 9:09 AM on August 3, 2017 [25 favorites]
Man, the whole popular image of Trump as some master of negotiations is re-proven to be a joke a couple times a week. Dude is practically begging in those transcripts. He commands no respect or dignity. It's all pleading and cajoling and pitches with all the savvy of a used car salesman. No wonder he's as much a laughing stock in those circles as ours.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 9:09 AM on August 3, 2017 [25 favorites]
The fantasy that the Dems get a two-thirds supermajority in the Senate, then will spend all their time running impeachment trials of judges rather than implementing their legislative agenda, doesn't seem like a scenario that we need to worry too much about one way or the other.
I agree that the Democrats achieving the necessary majority in the Senate is unlikely. But I don't see why they would have to try each case individually. I am unaware of anything in the Constitution that says the judges couldn't be impeached as a group.
posted by Gelatin at 9:13 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
I agree that the Democrats achieving the necessary majority in the Senate is unlikely. But I don't see why they would have to try each case individually. I am unaware of anything in the Constitution that says the judges couldn't be impeached as a group.
posted by Gelatin at 9:13 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
I think the message of the last few years is basically, "norms aren't good enough, they need to be codified as laws."
This is always the way - there's a spectrum of how society enforces individual behaviour from informal pressures of friends of approval or disapproval, though general morality, codified ethics, civil and criminal law, through to mob violence and revolution. Governments move boundaries around in the middle somewhere, in response to various influences, and it's where you find the Overton window's mounting rails.
So it's not only in order, it's explicitly the job of a new and more progressive government to move some important behavioural limits from 'morals and ethics' or generally agreed protocol into the law, in just the same way that others have been moved out. And, being progressive, the process has to be backed by logic and evidence. Planning for that (and talking about it now) is absolutely the right way to go, even if you think it won't be doable this time around, because you don't get the public pressure to make it happen until the idea's bedded in for a while (or unless the old way has produced terrible tragedies, and those tend to have to be really bad for fast results, not the sort of 'OMG this is terrible' results that we might think are clearly abysmal because they are...).
posted by Devonian at 9:13 AM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
This is always the way - there's a spectrum of how society enforces individual behaviour from informal pressures of friends of approval or disapproval, though general morality, codified ethics, civil and criminal law, through to mob violence and revolution. Governments move boundaries around in the middle somewhere, in response to various influences, and it's where you find the Overton window's mounting rails.
So it's not only in order, it's explicitly the job of a new and more progressive government to move some important behavioural limits from 'morals and ethics' or generally agreed protocol into the law, in just the same way that others have been moved out. And, being progressive, the process has to be backed by logic and evidence. Planning for that (and talking about it now) is absolutely the right way to go, even if you think it won't be doable this time around, because you don't get the public pressure to make it happen until the idea's bedded in for a while (or unless the old way has produced terrible tragedies, and those tend to have to be really bad for fast results, not the sort of 'OMG this is terrible' results that we might think are clearly abysmal because they are...).
posted by Devonian at 9:13 AM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
You'd probably need a catch that says the President can't dump all their nominees for everything on the Senate all at once to DDOS them with ticking clocks but that's easy to handle.
That's easy. Stop the clock on days when the Senate isn't in session. If the President dumps a bunch of nominees when the Senate is in session, then it can just broadly vote them all down with a polite request to re-submit them in an orderly fashion. If the President dumps a bunch of nominees when the Senate isn't in session, then the clock isn't ticking and no harm done.
posted by jedicus at 9:13 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
That's easy. Stop the clock on days when the Senate isn't in session. If the President dumps a bunch of nominees when the Senate is in session, then it can just broadly vote them all down with a polite request to re-submit them in an orderly fashion. If the President dumps a bunch of nominees when the Senate isn't in session, then the clock isn't ticking and no harm done.
posted by jedicus at 9:13 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
BREAKING: Scaramucci is Italian for "brief fight" or "unimportant controversy"
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:14 AM on August 3, 2017 [14 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:14 AM on August 3, 2017 [14 favorites]
@SenJohnMcCain
Our relationship w/ Russia is at dangerous low. You can thank Putin for attacking our democracy, invading neighbors & threatening our allies
posted by chris24 at 9:15 AM on August 3, 2017 [51 favorites]
Our relationship w/ Russia is at dangerous low. You can thank Putin for attacking our democracy, invading neighbors & threatening our allies
posted by chris24 at 9:15 AM on August 3, 2017 [51 favorites]
Clearly "dancing in the streets but in reverse" is a euphemism. Right?
My interpretation when I read it was that he meant protesting & rioting.
posted by scalefree at 9:16 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
My interpretation when I read it was that he meant protesting & rioting.
posted by scalefree at 9:16 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
I'd add it also sets a bad precedent for the Supreme Court to intervene in the political process in favor of the presidential candidate favored by a narrow majority of justices, but that didn't stop Bush v Gore, even as they lampshaded the terrible example they were setting by trying to exempt their own garbage ruling from precedent, and yet here we are.
Republicans have been undermining norm and protocols long before Trump -- recall that they impeached Clinton even though they knew it was futile -- and it's high time the Democrats ceased their policy of unilateral disarmament.
posted by Gelatin at 9:18 AM on August 3, 2017 [17 favorites]
Republicans have been undermining norm and protocols long before Trump -- recall that they impeached Clinton even though they knew it was futile -- and it's high time the Democrats ceased their policy of unilateral disarmament.
posted by Gelatin at 9:18 AM on August 3, 2017 [17 favorites]
Sebastian Gorka asked on Fox what Trump can do to pressure China over North Korea. Gorka: "We have the president's Twitter feed."
Gorka is acutely conscious that President Trump, theoretically the most powerful man in the world, does not have the capability to personally guide the American military to achieve his goals, nor to personally guide the American intelligence apparatus or State Department to achieve his goals, nor to personally guide the legislature to achieve his goals. What he has is social media.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:19 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Gorka is acutely conscious that President Trump, theoretically the most powerful man in the world, does not have the capability to personally guide the American military to achieve his goals, nor to personally guide the American intelligence apparatus or State Department to achieve his goals, nor to personally guide the legislature to achieve his goals. What he has is social media.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:19 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Clearly "dancing in the streets but in reverse" is a euphemism. Right?
I pictured Ginger Rogers in high heels.
posted by peeedro at 9:21 AM on August 3, 2017 [26 favorites]
I pictured Ginger Rogers in high heels.
posted by peeedro at 9:21 AM on August 3, 2017 [26 favorites]
It's true, 'WaPo' does sound as if it might have been a particularly obscure Nazi secret police organization
Gestwapo.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:24 AM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
And admit D.C. And Puerto Rico as states, along on party lines. Republicans started the end of democratic norms, but Democrats have ways to retaliate without completely stopping to their level. Both court packing and "Senate packing" would be perfectly constitutional and could go through regular order like regular democratic processes should.
Also, on a more realistic note, change the stupid law limiting the current size of the House of Representatives. Increasing the number of representatives == more Democratic representatives, not to mention watering down the Republicans' Electoral College advantage, and that bill also can be passed by regular order. If the Democrats get a filibuster-proof Senate majority in 2020, that change should be one of the first orders of business.
posted by Gelatin at 9:24 AM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
Also, on a more realistic note, change the stupid law limiting the current size of the House of Representatives. Increasing the number of representatives == more Democratic representatives, not to mention watering down the Republicans' Electoral College advantage, and that bill also can be passed by regular order. If the Democrats get a filibuster-proof Senate majority in 2020, that change should be one of the first orders of business.
posted by Gelatin at 9:24 AM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
A former Fox News guest says a producer close to Roger Ailes sought sex in exchange for a paid gig at the network.
I guess that's just standard operating procedure at Fox
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 9:25 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
I guess that's just standard operating procedure at Fox
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 9:25 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
> I think the message of the last few years is basically, "norms aren't good enough, they need to be codified as laws."
That may be treating the symptom, not the disease. That previous generations seem to have maintained some semblance of equity and justice under existing norms leads me to believe that it may be we the people who are lacking, not our laws.
posted by klarck at 9:26 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
That may be treating the symptom, not the disease. That previous generations seem to have maintained some semblance of equity and justice under existing norms leads me to believe that it may be we the people who are lacking, not our laws.
posted by klarck at 9:26 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
I think the message of the last few years is basically, "norms aren't good enough, they need to be codified as laws."
Recall that one of the Republicans' favorite whines in response to doing so is "the criminalization of politics," which, sadly, Democrats generally fail to point out is a tacit admission that Republican politics relies on crime.
posted by Gelatin at 9:27 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Recall that one of the Republicans' favorite whines in response to doing so is "the criminalization of politics," which, sadly, Democrats generally fail to point out is a tacit admission that Republican politics relies on crime.
posted by Gelatin at 9:27 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
You'd have to be a pretty rare variety of determined to start in Australia to go to Boston and then commit any heinous crime little alone a bombing.
Business Class
posted by flabdablet at 9:27 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Business Class
posted by flabdablet at 9:27 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Clearly "dancing in the streets but in reverse" is a euphemism. Right?
My interpretation when I read it was that he meant protesting & rioting.
I thought it meant "People cheer ["dance"] when I talk about getting one up on Mexico, but they probably cheer ["dance"] when you talk about getting one up on the US."
It's a cynical "Obviously, none of us mean the stuff we say to the plebes" line. Like "Don't worry about that anti-Mexico stuff I say to crowds in Ohio. Obviously I don't mean it. It's just what they want to hear. You know how it is. You probably do the same thing, but in reverse."
Trump thinks everyone else is just as dishonest and corrupt as he is.
posted by OnceUponATime at 9:27 AM on August 3, 2017 [30 favorites]
My interpretation when I read it was that he meant protesting & rioting.
I thought it meant "People cheer ["dance"] when I talk about getting one up on Mexico, but they probably cheer ["dance"] when you talk about getting one up on the US."
It's a cynical "Obviously, none of us mean the stuff we say to the plebes" line. Like "Don't worry about that anti-Mexico stuff I say to crowds in Ohio. Obviously I don't mean it. It's just what they want to hear. You know how it is. You probably do the same thing, but in reverse."
Trump thinks everyone else is just as dishonest and corrupt as he is.
posted by OnceUponATime at 9:27 AM on August 3, 2017 [30 favorites]
v v v v v YES v v v v vI think the message of the last few years is basically, "norms aren't good enough, they need to be codified as laws."
^ ^ THIS THING ^ ^ RIGHT HERE ^ ^posted by a snickering nuthatch at 9:30 AM on August 3, 2017 [37 favorites]
Clearly "dancing in the streets but in reverse" is a euphemism. Right?
it's a dignified collaboration between two creative professionals at the height of their relevance and artistic sensibility
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:35 AM on August 3, 2017 [19 favorites]
it's a dignified collaboration between two creative professionals at the height of their relevance and artistic sensibility
posted by prize bull octorok at 9:35 AM on August 3, 2017 [19 favorites]
I'd give him a pass on saying he "won New Hampshire" because he could have been referring to the Republican primary. I would suggest people don't give him a pass on calling the state "a drug-infested den" to a foreign leader.
It's more of a backyard really.
posted by srboisvert at 9:36 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
It's more of a backyard really.
posted by srboisvert at 9:36 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Most of the congressional ratfuckery is protected by Article I Section V and can't be barred or made official without an amendment.
posted by cmfletcher at 9:37 AM on August 3, 2017
posted by cmfletcher at 9:37 AM on August 3, 2017
Trump told Peña Nieto that he knew “how to build very inexpensively . . . and it will be a better wall and it will look nice.”Goddamn Gertrude Stein-soundin' motherfucker.
posted by octobersurprise at 9:39 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
I know I'm getting repetitive, but while we are dreaming of ways to fix our democracy if we ever get the chance, don't forget to dream about the Fair Vote system. It would fix the House without needing a constitutional amendment, and as a bonus would probably destroy the two party system.
We can likewise ditch the electoral college without an amendment through the National Popular Vote Compact.
I think these are genuinely achievable reforms, if we can get enough people focused on them for a few years.
posted by OnceUponATime at 9:43 AM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
We can likewise ditch the electoral college without an amendment through the National Popular Vote Compact.
I think these are genuinely achievable reforms, if we can get enough people focused on them for a few years.
posted by OnceUponATime at 9:43 AM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
Most of the congressional ratfuckery is protected by Article I Section V and can't be barred or made official without an amendment.
Ah, yes:
posted by tivalasvegas at 9:44 AM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
Ah, yes:
Each House may determine the Level of Ratfuckery of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behavior, save in cases where a Member shouts 'You Lie' at a black President, and, with the Concurrence of two-thirds, expel a Member.[fake-ish]
posted by tivalasvegas at 9:44 AM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
New Quinnipiac poll out.
American voters say 68 - 27 percent, including 55 - 39 percent among voters in military households, that transgender people should be allowed to serve in the military, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today.Other findings:
Republicans opposed transgender service 60 - 32 percent, but every other party, gender, education, age or racial group supports transgender service by margins of 22 percentage points or higher, the independent Quinnipiac University Poll finds.
- By an 89 - 8 percent margin, American voters say it should be illegal for an employer to discriminate against an employee based on sexual orientation.
- American voters disapprove 80 - 15 percent of the way Republicans in Congress are handling health care. Even Republicans disapprove 60 - 32 percent. Voters disapprove 64 - 25 percent of Republican ideas to replace Obamacare.
- American voters say 81 - 14 percent, including 76 - 17 percent among Republicans, that there should be bipartisan hearings on any new health care law to replace Obamacare.
- Voters oppose 69 - 26 percent, including 52 - 39 percent among Republicans, decreasing federal funding for Medicaid.
- If the 2018 Congressional elections were held today, voters say 52 - 38 percent, including 48 - 37 percent among independent voters, they would like the Democrats to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Voters say 53 - 39 percent, including 49 - 40 percent among independent voters, they would like to see the Democrats win control of the U.S. Senate.
When Trump says he knows how to build "very inexpensively", that disturbance you feel in the Force is the collective anguish of a million structural engineers, building inspectors, and U.S. steel manufacturers as they cried out in terror, and we're suddenly silenced.
posted by darkstar at 9:45 AM on August 3, 2017 [28 favorites]
posted by darkstar at 9:45 AM on August 3, 2017 [28 favorites]
In re: New Hampshire, setting aside the opioid epidemic, which is real:
Our unemployment rate is 2.8%. Nearly every business downtown has a hiring sign. We just don't have enough people to do the work. You know what would help? Immigration.
posted by damayanti at 9:48 AM on August 3, 2017 [30 favorites]
Our unemployment rate is 2.8%. Nearly every business downtown has a hiring sign. We just don't have enough people to do the work. You know what would help? Immigration.
posted by damayanti at 9:48 AM on August 3, 2017 [30 favorites]
Digging down on that Quinnipiac poll reveals some... headscratchers?
"Voters disapprove 59 - 34 percent of the way Democrats in Congress are handling health care." (Disapproval is higher regarding Republicans and health care).
"Replacing the current health care system with a single payer system in which Medicare covers every American citizen is a good idea, voters say 51 - 38 percent."
So, there have to be some considerable number of survey respondents who are saying "I don't like the way Democrats in Congress are handling health care, because I'd rather just have single payer!"
posted by Slothrop at 9:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
"Voters disapprove 59 - 34 percent of the way Democrats in Congress are handling health care." (Disapproval is higher regarding Republicans and health care).
"Replacing the current health care system with a single payer system in which Medicare covers every American citizen is a good idea, voters say 51 - 38 percent."
So, there have to be some considerable number of survey respondents who are saying "I don't like the way Democrats in Congress are handling health care, because I'd rather just have single payer!"
posted by Slothrop at 9:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
Stopped Clock Jennifer Rubin, WaPo:
The bully in chief is losing his touch
The bully in chief is losing his touch
Trump is a diminished figure, a weakened force after only about six months in office. Once the aura of presidential authority is gone, others (Congress, the chief of staff, third parties) become more and more daring in challenging the president, more willing to speak out (on the record or via leaks) and more insistent on taking matters into their own hands. Trump got to the presidency by faking his way through the campaign, pretending to have skills and knowledge he obviously does not. As he now fakes “being in charge,” watch for him to lash out at real and perceived affronts, step up the number of self-congratulatory lies (so many imaginary phone calls!) and strain even harder to recapture the adulation he experienced on the campaign trail by pandering to his less-educated, rural white base. Will he completely blow up his presidency before Kelly can assert some semblance of order? The race is on; Kelly better work fast.A rebuttal to Trump’s twisted vision of the United States
In essence, under Trump the GOP has lost the upper hand on values — not abortion or gay marriage but on civic values such as fair play, respect for the rule of law, self-discipline, empathy, tolerance and free expression. The party that embraces a president who thinks there are 12 articles in the Constitution and wants to “open up libel law” (there is no federal libel law and he apparently is fuzzy on New York Times v. Sullivan) has lost the mantle of constitutional conservatism. The party that reflexively blames foreigners and promotes extreme economic inequality has lost a claim to coherence on economic policy. The party that has cooked up a phony narrative of massive voting fraud (and thereby begun to lay the groundwork for restrictions on voting) has lost faith in democracy itself. A rebuttal, a sweeping call to return to American civic values, is required. Somewhere in the heartland — maybe, Springfield, Ill. or Fulton, Mo.? — a great and important speech could be given.posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:58 AM on August 3, 2017 [24 favorites]
Peter from Peter And The Test Tube Babies got refused entry to the US for dressing up as Trump and mocking him on stage.
Or for visa issues.
posted by MattWPBS at 9:58 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Or for visa issues.
posted by MattWPBS at 9:58 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Those Quinnipiac numbers really bring home just how far public opinion on LGBT rights have shifted in the U.S just in the past ten years. I mean, it's like "Warp 4, Sulu" in terms of social progress.
It was only 32 years ago that I had to forfeit a full-ride NROTC scholarship to an Ivy League school and a career as a Naval Officer because I was gay and couldn't bear the threat inherent in living a double life with the U.S. government. Since then, we've gone from "Are you now, or have you ever been, a homosexual?" with the threat of fines, prison and Dishonorable Discharge if you'd lied, then to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", and now to LGBT serving openly and senior Generals and Admirals essentially publicly back-handing the President for suggesting otherwise. My 18-year-old self could never have imagined it happening, much less by the time I'd hit 50. I've watched it all unfold with amazement.
This must be what it was like for Boomers whose parents had no t.v. in the house when they were little, but who now have 150 cable channels at their fingertips, and can video Skype to their grandkids via a phone they carry in their pocket.
posted by darkstar at 10:00 AM on August 3, 2017 [99 favorites]
It was only 32 years ago that I had to forfeit a full-ride NROTC scholarship to an Ivy League school and a career as a Naval Officer because I was gay and couldn't bear the threat inherent in living a double life with the U.S. government. Since then, we've gone from "Are you now, or have you ever been, a homosexual?" with the threat of fines, prison and Dishonorable Discharge if you'd lied, then to "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", and now to LGBT serving openly and senior Generals and Admirals essentially publicly back-handing the President for suggesting otherwise. My 18-year-old self could never have imagined it happening, much less by the time I'd hit 50. I've watched it all unfold with amazement.
This must be what it was like for Boomers whose parents had no t.v. in the house when they were little, but who now have 150 cable channels at their fingertips, and can video Skype to their grandkids via a phone they carry in their pocket.
posted by darkstar at 10:00 AM on August 3, 2017 [99 favorites]
In re: New Hampshire, setting aside the opioid epidemic, which is real:
But New Hampshire is far from being ground zero of the opioid crisis. There's no particular reason to single them out for that.
posted by diogenes at 10:02 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
But New Hampshire is far from being ground zero of the opioid crisis. There's no particular reason to single them out for that.
posted by diogenes at 10:02 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
So, there have to be some considerable number of survey respondents who are saying "I don't like the way Democrats in Congress are handling health care, because I'd rather just have single payer!"
There's also a non-zero number of respondents who have no idea what they're talking about re: Trumpcare vs. ACA [vs. Obamacare] vs. single-payer, or what the different parties actually stand for but they do know that Democrats are evil so
posted by tivalasvegas at 10:05 AM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
There's also a non-zero number of respondents who have no idea what they're talking about re: Trumpcare vs. ACA [vs. Obamacare] vs. single-payer, or what the different parties actually stand for but they do know that Democrats are evil so
posted by tivalasvegas at 10:05 AM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
If I knew how, I'd do it myself...but I want a video of yesterday's press briefing where every time Stephen Miller says "Jim", the audio pitch gets raised by a semitone.
posted by rocket88 at 10:07 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by rocket88 at 10:07 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
So I'm only glancing through those Mexico & Australia call transcripts, 'cause I'd rather not invest lots of time reading it all. But the thing I notice here is both Nieto and Turnbull try to give Trump a way to dig himself out of his nonsense, or at least give him chances to stop digging. And he just can't take it. He can't help himself.
Christ, what an asshole.
Also, with this, the bill to protect Mueller, the note about FBI leadership potentially testifying against Trump, Daily Beast releasing those docs showing Trump ordering agents not to talk to Congressfolks... anyone feel like this is Kelly's real "welcome to your new job" day?
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:09 AM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
Christ, what an asshole.
Also, with this, the bill to protect Mueller, the note about FBI leadership potentially testifying against Trump, Daily Beast releasing those docs showing Trump ordering agents not to talk to Congressfolks... anyone feel like this is Kelly's real "welcome to your new job" day?
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:09 AM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
Trying to put myself in Peña Nieto's shoes on that call... man.
What's that you say, Bully-in-Chief, who has denigrated my country and our citizens since you first announced your intention to run for president? My telling the truth—that I have no intention of paying for the xenophobic symbol you yourself admit is not a priority, except politically—will make you look bad in the press, which you also denigrate?
Por favor perdóname! Give me a moment, Sir, to clear my appointments for the day. My time is yours—consider me your piñata to beat and threaten at your pleasure. My people, if they're not too busy throwing bags of drugs over the border or terrorizing Americans to even notice, will cry tears of joy when I tell them that, in accordance with the natural order of things, I am prioritizing the political needs and emotional whims of the man who personally takes every opportunity he can to shit on them, brutalize them, scapegoat them.
I'm confident, Mr. President, from the way you have to ask me not to call you out in the press, that you do so out of courtesy and not desperation. And I'm equally confident, Sir, that capitulating to your demands will guarantee good will and selfless consideration from you in return.
Whatever it takes, Mr. President, for you to save face with the batshit-crazy racists who make up your base, you need only mention it, perhaps in a tweet—and it is yours.
posted by Rykey at 10:09 AM on August 3, 2017 [28 favorites]
What's that you say, Bully-in-Chief, who has denigrated my country and our citizens since you first announced your intention to run for president? My telling the truth—that I have no intention of paying for the xenophobic symbol you yourself admit is not a priority, except politically—will make you look bad in the press, which you also denigrate?
Por favor perdóname! Give me a moment, Sir, to clear my appointments for the day. My time is yours—consider me your piñata to beat and threaten at your pleasure. My people, if they're not too busy throwing bags of drugs over the border or terrorizing Americans to even notice, will cry tears of joy when I tell them that, in accordance with the natural order of things, I am prioritizing the political needs and emotional whims of the man who personally takes every opportunity he can to shit on them, brutalize them, scapegoat them.
I'm confident, Mr. President, from the way you have to ask me not to call you out in the press, that you do so out of courtesy and not desperation. And I'm equally confident, Sir, that capitulating to your demands will guarantee good will and selfless consideration from you in return.
Whatever it takes, Mr. President, for you to save face with the batshit-crazy racists who make up your base, you need only mention it, perhaps in a tweet—and it is yours.
posted by Rykey at 10:09 AM on August 3, 2017 [28 favorites]
I think the message of the last few years is basically, "norms aren't good enough, they need to be codified as laws."
But also, laws aren't magic. They don't implement themselves, they don't enforce themselves. They're useful tools for people interested in maintaining a system... but even so the system can only be maintained if the populace as a whole is, moment to moment, committed to maintaining it.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:09 AM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
^ ^ THIS THING ^ ^ RIGHT HERE ^ ^But also, laws aren't magic. They don't implement themselves, they don't enforce themselves. They're useful tools for people interested in maintaining a system... but even so the system can only be maintained if the populace as a whole is, moment to moment, committed to maintaining it.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:09 AM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
hSo, there have to be some considerable number of survey respondents who are saying "I don't like the way Democrats in Congress are handling health care, because I'd rather just have single payer!"
Sadly, mass opinion doesn't usually work that neatly. Both are majorities, so logically there does have to be some people who stated both opinions. But.
Lots of Americans are mentally disorganized chuckleheads who do not condition one opinion on another. So if X% disapprove of how Democrats in Congress are handling health care *and* agreed with that Medicare for all statement, it's likely that only a smallish fraction of that X% disapprove *because* they favor single payer in any coherent or stable way. It's likely that most of those people just happen to favor both those things today without any particular logical connection between them.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:11 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Sadly, mass opinion doesn't usually work that neatly. Both are majorities, so logically there does have to be some people who stated both opinions. But.
Lots of Americans are mentally disorganized chuckleheads who do not condition one opinion on another. So if X% disapprove of how Democrats in Congress are handling health care *and* agreed with that Medicare for all statement, it's likely that only a smallish fraction of that X% disapprove *because* they favor single payer in any coherent or stable way. It's likely that most of those people just happen to favor both those things today without any particular logical connection between them.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:11 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Rykey, you're putting too much thought into this. It's more likely he thought, oh, right, fucking insane, what's for lunch?
posted by Melismata at 10:15 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 10:15 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
So if X% disapprove of how Democrats in Congress are handling health care *and* agreed with that Medicare for all statement, it's likely that only a smallish fraction of that X% disapprove *because* they favor single payer in any coherent or stable way. It's likely that most of those people just happen to favor both those things today without any particular logical connection between them.
"So... you want a realistic down-to-earth show that's completely off the wall and swarming with magic robots?"
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:16 AM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
"So... you want a realistic down-to-earth show that's completely off the wall and swarming with magic robots?"
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:16 AM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
Rather than the impeachment of Garland, my personal fantasy has always been that someone would bring the case to a sympathetic circuit like the ninth, draw three liberal judges who rule that his appointment did indeed violate the constitution, at which point it would go to the Supreme Court, where Garland would of course have to recuse himself, leading to a 4-4 split which would leave the circuit decision standing.
posted by chortly at 10:20 AM on August 3, 2017 [20 favorites]
posted by chortly at 10:20 AM on August 3, 2017 [20 favorites]
(Gorsuch, not Garland, I think you mean there)
posted by Etrigan at 10:22 AM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 10:22 AM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
where Garland (Gorsuch) would of course have to recuse himself
No one can force a SC Justice to recuse. It is completely up to them.
posted by chris24 at 10:23 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
No one can force a SC Justice to recuse. It is completely up to them.
posted by chris24 at 10:23 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Digging down on that Quinnipiac poll reveals some... headscratchers?
I don't think the average person has a very rational mental model of what's going on. They know they don't like the American healthcare system, it's expensive, but they also think it's the best in the world, and they blame the Democrats because it's Obamacare, and they blame the Republicans because they haven't fixed it, and in a few years they'll forget about the Democrats and just blame Trump for everything. They know they don't want socialized medicine bc evil Stalin but they do want everyone to have healthcare and they want it cheap, etc.
posted by dis_integration at 10:27 AM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
I don't think the average person has a very rational mental model of what's going on. They know they don't like the American healthcare system, it's expensive, but they also think it's the best in the world, and they blame the Democrats because it's Obamacare, and they blame the Republicans because they haven't fixed it, and in a few years they'll forget about the Democrats and just blame Trump for everything. They know they don't want socialized medicine bc evil Stalin but they do want everyone to have healthcare and they want it cheap, etc.
posted by dis_integration at 10:27 AM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
Trump: Good. I want you to be so popular that your people will call for a constitutional amendment in Mexico so that you can run again for another six years.
Holy Jebus. He really has no clue.
posted by Omon Ra at 10:28 AM on August 3, 2017 [30 favorites]
Holy Jebus. He really has no clue.
posted by Omon Ra at 10:28 AM on August 3, 2017 [30 favorites]
Turnbull: The only people that we do not take are people who come by boa.
Well, to be fair...
posted by darkstar at 10:28 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Well, to be fair...
posted by darkstar at 10:28 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
So I'm getting the take away that Trump's goose is cooked, but they're going to leave it on the spit to burn while they shovel as much bad judges through as possible. That's how stories/posts/tweets/etc need to be framed. Period.
"The last of our humanity burning up on POTUS Twitter."
Whacha doing over there with those big lists of judicial nominees?
"Ho ho, look what Trump did now! Don't mind us, we're just trying to run the country since he's not doing much anyway. No big deal. Go look at the twitters!"
posted by tilde at 10:30 AM on August 3, 2017 [21 favorites]
"While Trump's daily antics paint him as the weak sauce poser in chief that he is, Pence is not idle, nor is the Legislative branch. They're packing the Judiciary, trying to get as many racist, misogynistic, white-nationalist-friendly judges on the bench so that even if Trump manages to drag the silent but complicit Pence along with him, the judiciary rots and putrifies to the bone."What's that smell?
"The last of our humanity burning up on POTUS Twitter."
Whacha doing over there with those big lists of judicial nominees?
"Ho ho, look what Trump did now! Don't mind us, we're just trying to run the country since he's not doing much anyway. No big deal. Go look at the twitters!"
posted by tilde at 10:30 AM on August 3, 2017 [21 favorites]
I think the message of the last few years is basically, "norms aren't good enough, they need to be codified as laws."
Preet agrees.
@PreetBharara
Retweeted @thehill:Graham, Booker writing bill to block Trump from firing special counsel http://hill.cm/a6cSpws
This is an example of what seems inevitable in the wake of Trump: codifying soft norms into hard laws to protect core American principles.
@Jonathan_Leahy
Replying to @PreetBharara
amazing quote on the subject from @Kasparov63: "Americans are learning from Trump that much of their democracy was run on the honor system"
posted by chris24 at 10:35 AM on August 3, 2017 [114 favorites]
Preet agrees.
@PreetBharara
Retweeted @thehill:Graham, Booker writing bill to block Trump from firing special counsel http://hill.cm/a6cSpws
This is an example of what seems inevitable in the wake of Trump: codifying soft norms into hard laws to protect core American principles.
@Jonathan_Leahy
Replying to @PreetBharara
amazing quote on the subject from @Kasparov63: "Americans are learning from Trump that much of their democracy was run on the honor system"
posted by chris24 at 10:35 AM on August 3, 2017 [114 favorites]
538 points out that while Trump disapproval is really high at 58%, almost all of that is STRONGLY disapprove, at 47%. Those aren't people you can really sway.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:35 AM on August 3, 2017 [27 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 10:35 AM on August 3, 2017 [27 favorites]
Those aren't people you can really sway.
Yeah, hard to pivot when the people who currently aren't supporting you really hate you. Which is why it will get worse as he triples down on his racist fascist base. It's the only place for him to get his adoration fix.
posted by chris24 at 10:38 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Yeah, hard to pivot when the people who currently aren't supporting you really hate you. Which is why it will get worse as he triples down on his racist fascist base. It's the only place for him to get his adoration fix.
posted by chris24 at 10:38 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
amazing quote on the subject from @Kasparov63: "Americans are learning from Trump that much of their democracy was run on the honor system"
So well put. We subjected our honor system to a man who has no concept of honor.
posted by Rykey at 10:39 AM on August 3, 2017 [68 favorites]
So well put. We subjected our honor system to a man who has no concept of honor.
posted by Rykey at 10:39 AM on August 3, 2017 [68 favorites]
Those Quinnipiac numbers really bring home just how far public opinion on LGBT rights have shifted in the U.S just in the past ten years. I mean, it's like "Warp 4, Sulu" in terms of social progress.
Aptly phrased, because I don't doubt George Takei's activism helped move that needle somewhat.
Fun fact: Takei spoke at Butler University about his experience in the internment camps and as a closeted gay man. He signed the copy of his autobiography To The Stars I bought there, and reading the book, which was published before he came out publicly, and having met his husband Brad (who charmed the folks waiting in line), I was saddened to note that Takei hardly mentioned his romantic life at all, aside from noting in several places that Nichelle Nichols is a very sexy woman.
posted by Gelatin at 10:40 AM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
Aptly phrased, because I don't doubt George Takei's activism helped move that needle somewhat.
Fun fact: Takei spoke at Butler University about his experience in the internment camps and as a closeted gay man. He signed the copy of his autobiography To The Stars I bought there, and reading the book, which was published before he came out publicly, and having met his husband Brad (who charmed the folks waiting in line), I was saddened to note that Takei hardly mentioned his romantic life at all, aside from noting in several places that Nichelle Nichols is a very sexy woman.
posted by Gelatin at 10:40 AM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
Eli Lake rambles on uselessly in You Can Thank Leakers for New Russia Sanctions. Yes, thank you leakers. But then he buries this deep in his stupid column:
Quick calendar notes:
Trump has promised "a very big announcement, which will be very exciting I think for the media and everyone else" tonight at his West Virginia rally (yes, he's having another campaign rally).
Scaramucci's announcement tomorrow has been cancelled: "No Press Event Tomorrow: Focusing on Family, My Work in The Private Sector. #MovingForward Stay Tuned!"
Oh, and the Trump golf club in Rancho Palos Verdes is shooting gophers (or other unspecified animals), which does not appear to be legal within the city limits.
posted by zachlipton at 10:42 AM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster has concluded that Rice did nothing wrong, according to two U.S. intelligence officials who spoke to me on condition of anonymity. That might explain why Trump has yet to declassify more information on the prior administration's unmasking requests.He does not appear to notice that he's including leaked information in a column condemning leaking. Also, sounds like she deserves an apology.
Quick calendar notes:
Trump has promised "a very big announcement, which will be very exciting I think for the media and everyone else" tonight at his West Virginia rally (yes, he's having another campaign rally).
Scaramucci's announcement tomorrow has been cancelled: "No Press Event Tomorrow: Focusing on Family, My Work in The Private Sector. #MovingForward Stay Tuned!"
Oh, and the Trump golf club in Rancho Palos Verdes is shooting gophers (or other unspecified animals), which does not appear to be legal within the city limits.
posted by zachlipton at 10:42 AM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
Each House may determine the Level of Ratfuckery of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behavior, save in cases where a Member shouts 'You Lie' at a black President, and, with the Concurrence of two-thirds, expel a Member.
But then Ted Cruz would be out on the street without direct supervision and who wants that?
posted by rough ashlar at 10:47 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
But then Ted Cruz would be out on the street without direct supervision and who wants that?
posted by rough ashlar at 10:47 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
So glad the FBI is sharing my lavish fanfic daydreams:
posted by FelliniBlank at 10:50 AM on August 3, 2017 [65 favorites]
“What you are going to have is the potential for a powerful obstruction case,” a senior law enforcement official said. “You are going to have the [former] FBI director testify, and then the acting director, the chief of staff to the FBI director, the FBI’s general counsel, and then others, one right after another. This has never been the word of Trump against what [James Comey] has had to say. This is more like the Federal Bureau of Investigation versus Donald Trump.”I'll be in my bunk.
posted by FelliniBlank at 10:50 AM on August 3, 2017 [65 favorites]
Which is why it will get worse as he triples down on his racist fascist base.
Speaking of...
The Week: It's white nationalism week in the Trump administration
Speaking of...
The Week: It's white nationalism week in the Trump administration
This week, we saw dramatic movement on policies that honor the white nationalist campaign Trump ran.posted by chris24 at 10:50 AM on August 3, 2017 [24 favorites]
On Tuesday, The New York Times revealed that "the Trump administration is preparing to redirect resources of the Justice Department's civil rights division toward investigating and suing universities over affirmative action admissions policies deemed to discriminate against white applicants." Then on Wednesday, the president announced his support for a bill that would severely curtain legal immigration, cutting the number of immigrants allowed in to the U.S. in half, restricting the family members who would be able to sponsor an immigrant's application, capping the number of refugees, and ending the "diversity lottery" that grants visas to applicants from countries with fewer immigrants.
That bill may not pass, and there's no way to tell how successful the government's suits on behalf of oppressed white students will be. But the practical effects aren't really the point. Instead, Trump is symbolically fulfilling what were symbolic promises to begin with.
The power of Trump's campaign for so many of his voters was that it wasn't couched in euphemism and it didn't apologize for its appeal to racial, ethnic, and religious identity. His most ardent supporters thrilled to the permission Trump gave them to cast off the chains of "political correctness" and tell people what they really thought of them — immigrants, Muslims, African-Americans, women, all of them.
What do you think "Make America Great Again" was supposed to mean? It promised a return to a time when our country was less diverse and no one questioned a hierarchy that placed white men at the top (today, of course, the hierarchy still exists, but people question it all the time). Many of those white men feel like they've lost something over the years, particularly if their economic prospects are limited. For them, the idea of turning back the clock so they wouldn't have to read signs in Spanish or be polite to people they consider their lessers was nothing short of intoxicating.
But then Ted Cruz would be out on the street without direct supervision and who wants that?
"He's got a two day head start on you, which is more than he needs. Cruz has got friends in every town and village from here to Honduras, he speaks a dozen languages, knows every local custom, he'll blend in, disappear, you'll never see him again. With any luck, he's got the Grail already."
posted by Etrigan at 10:51 AM on August 3, 2017 [21 favorites]
"He's got a two day head start on you, which is more than he needs. Cruz has got friends in every town and village from here to Honduras, he speaks a dozen languages, knows every local custom, he'll blend in, disappear, you'll never see him again. With any luck, he's got the Grail already."
posted by Etrigan at 10:51 AM on August 3, 2017 [21 favorites]
Cruz has got friends
I have been told this is incorrect
posted by one for the books at 10:53 AM on August 3, 2017 [46 favorites]
I have been told this is incorrect
posted by one for the books at 10:53 AM on August 3, 2017 [46 favorites]
But it's 2017. Up is down. Black is white. Cats are dogs.
Well I've seen a cat and I have seen a dog but I have never seen a dat. [so sadly real but on the other hand it got us the quote "Buttars said that gays and lesbians were "the greatest threat to America going down,"" which is pretty fuckin funny if some of your humor is at the 13-year-old level like mine is]
posted by phearlez at 10:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Well I've seen a cat and I have seen a dog but I have never seen a dat. [so sadly real but on the other hand it got us the quote "Buttars said that gays and lesbians were "the greatest threat to America going down,"" which is pretty fuckin funny if some of your humor is at the 13-year-old level like mine is]
posted by phearlez at 10:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Cruz has got friends
I have been told this is incorrect
thatsthejoke.youtube.com
posted by Etrigan at 10:56 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
I have been told this is incorrect
thatsthejoke.youtube.com
posted by Etrigan at 10:56 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
(It's really not the joke)
posted by FelliniBlank at 10:58 AM on August 3, 2017
posted by FelliniBlank at 10:58 AM on August 3, 2017
(The joke is actually the Zodiac Killer)
posted by Artw at 11:00 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Artw at 11:00 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Oh my god, the Chait piece linked by lalex:
posted by joyceanmachine at 11:01 AM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
Trump: Why haven’t you let them out? Why have you not let them into your society?I just, oh my god.
Turnbull: Okay, I will explain why. It is not because they are bad people.
posted by joyceanmachine at 11:01 AM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
(watch people get excited about "that would be perjury" then go ask lawyers who see the inside of courtrooms about how much perjury goes on and how often that results in charges. See "the lies have it" from the 1980's ABA magazine.)
See also: testilying which has been a known problem for fifty years.
posted by phearlez at 11:03 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
See also: testilying which has been a known problem for fifty years.
posted by phearlez at 11:03 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
"He's got a two day head start on you, which is more than he needs. Cruz has got friends in every town and village from here to Honduras, he speaks a dozen languages, knows every local custom, he'll blend in, disappear, you'll never see him again. With any luck, he's got the Grail already."
CUT TO: Cruz at grocery store checkout, attempting to negotiate the purchase of the store's entire supply of canned soup, in full bloviating college-forensics mode.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:04 AM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
CUT TO: Cruz at grocery store checkout, attempting to negotiate the purchase of the store's entire supply of canned soup, in full bloviating college-forensics mode.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:04 AM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
Have we discussed the local milk people yet? I only "skimmed" recent posts.
[I'm sure he's not talking about chocolate milk people.]
[Insert joke about the 1%, the 2%, the 4%, the whole milk people.]
[Oh, the irony that t-Rump could not pass the Speak English immigration proposal.]
posted by NorthernLite at 11:04 AM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
[I'm sure he's not talking about chocolate milk people.]
[Insert joke about the 1%, the 2%, the 4%, the whole milk people.]
[Oh, the irony that t-Rump could not pass the Speak English immigration proposal.]
posted by NorthernLite at 11:04 AM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
Reading through the transcripts of the calls with Peña Nieto and Turnbull, it really strikes me that both address Trump as "Mr. President," while Trump calls them both by their first names immediately and without invitation--this is consistent throughout both calls.
Of course he's a presumptuous ass, so it's not surprising, but what is terrifying is to realize yet again that the President of the United States has no understanding or even accurate conception of his office and role in the most basic sense. Trump has so little understanding of what it means to be the President (or Prime Minister) of a country that he fails to understand that those conversations are not two dudes chatting to do deals or whatever; it's two individual human beings whose election to this service is so important, profound and consequential to so many millions (billions) of people, that their offices subsume most of their individual identities, and they must speak to one another as the embodied presence of their people and nations, not as Donald and Enrique and Malcolm.
When serving as President or Prime Minister, if you are a serious person and understand the job you have been tasked with at all, you understand that you are your professional role and office first and foremost, 24/7, until such time as your appointment to that office is concluded. Formality isn't just ceremony or pomp, it's the way that individual, fallible human beings remind themselves moment-to-moment that these things matter and that everything I do and say is extraordinarily consequential and stuff nearly all of the rest of us will never, ever have to worry about, stuff that no person can just intuitively do or be. (It also helps to signify and remind to everyone around them, too, because we're all super fallible and imperfect and need stuff like that to help us get it right consistently.)
I'm not sure how much longer I can hold my existential fear and horror at bay, and I'm a resiliently sanguine person who resides in a state with legal weed: Trump doesn't even understand what it means to be a president in the most basic sense, his dementia is increasingly obvious, and the people around him doing the actual nuts-and-bolts stuff are so dumb and poorly educated that they can't even make transcripts without numerous, obvious and simple mistakes and typos ("Noble Prize," twice, and "Malcom" every time the name is written??).
At this point, I'm much less afraid of whatever this crew is trying to do intentionally: I'm mostly afraid of whatever someone else is doing to exploit the serious vulnerabilities and opportunities created by this toxic, perfect storm of stupid, venal, selfish and solipsistic actors. And that's a lot more people and interests, who are all likely much smarter and more thoughtful than anyone working in the Executive Branch currently.
posted by LooseFilter at 11:05 AM on August 3, 2017 [85 favorites]
Of course he's a presumptuous ass, so it's not surprising, but what is terrifying is to realize yet again that the President of the United States has no understanding or even accurate conception of his office and role in the most basic sense. Trump has so little understanding of what it means to be the President (or Prime Minister) of a country that he fails to understand that those conversations are not two dudes chatting to do deals or whatever; it's two individual human beings whose election to this service is so important, profound and consequential to so many millions (billions) of people, that their offices subsume most of their individual identities, and they must speak to one another as the embodied presence of their people and nations, not as Donald and Enrique and Malcolm.
When serving as President or Prime Minister, if you are a serious person and understand the job you have been tasked with at all, you understand that you are your professional role and office first and foremost, 24/7, until such time as your appointment to that office is concluded. Formality isn't just ceremony or pomp, it's the way that individual, fallible human beings remind themselves moment-to-moment that these things matter and that everything I do and say is extraordinarily consequential and stuff nearly all of the rest of us will never, ever have to worry about, stuff that no person can just intuitively do or be. (It also helps to signify and remind to everyone around them, too, because we're all super fallible and imperfect and need stuff like that to help us get it right consistently.)
I'm not sure how much longer I can hold my existential fear and horror at bay, and I'm a resiliently sanguine person who resides in a state with legal weed: Trump doesn't even understand what it means to be a president in the most basic sense, his dementia is increasingly obvious, and the people around him doing the actual nuts-and-bolts stuff are so dumb and poorly educated that they can't even make transcripts without numerous, obvious and simple mistakes and typos ("Noble Prize," twice, and "Malcom" every time the name is written??).
At this point, I'm much less afraid of whatever this crew is trying to do intentionally: I'm mostly afraid of whatever someone else is doing to exploit the serious vulnerabilities and opportunities created by this toxic, perfect storm of stupid, venal, selfish and solipsistic actors. And that's a lot more people and interests, who are all likely much smarter and more thoughtful than anyone working in the Executive Branch currently.
posted by LooseFilter at 11:05 AM on August 3, 2017 [85 favorites]
Oh, and the Trump golf club in Rancho Palos Verdes is shooting gophers
Oh, come on, everybody knows you need plastic explosives for that.
posted by adamg at 11:07 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Oh, come on, everybody knows you need plastic explosives for that.
posted by adamg at 11:07 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Trump has promised "a very big announcement, which will be very exciting I think for the media and everyone else" tonight at his West Virginia rally (yes, he's having another campaign rally).
My money's on him formally announcing his candidacy for 2020.
posted by triggerfinger at 11:09 AM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
My money's on him formally announcing his candidacy for 2020.
posted by triggerfinger at 11:09 AM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
Reading through the transcripts of the calls with Peña Nieto and Turnbull, it really strikes me that both address Trump as "Mr. President," while Trump calls them both by their first names immediately and without invitation--this is consistent throughout both calls.
Of course he's a presumptuous ass, so it's not surprising,
Beyond presumptuous; he's so clearly that person everyone has encountered at least once who (a) immediately starts calling you by your first name or, more likely, a diminutive that he has no idea if you actually like/use and (2) will get his dander up the moment you don't use the most high & mighty title he thinks applies to him.
posted by phearlez at 11:11 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Of course he's a presumptuous ass, so it's not surprising,
Beyond presumptuous; he's so clearly that person everyone has encountered at least once who (a) immediately starts calling you by your first name or, more likely, a diminutive that he has no idea if you actually like/use and (2) will get his dander up the moment you don't use the most high & mighty title he thinks applies to him.
posted by phearlez at 11:11 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Have we discussed the local milk people yet? I only "skimmed" recent posts.
Yes, with fan art and even more fan art.
Feels like yesterday in Trump-time.
posted by zakur at 11:12 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Yes, with fan art and even more fan art.
Feels like yesterday in Trump-time.
posted by zakur at 11:12 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Trump has promised "a very big announcement, which will be very exciting I think for the media and everyone else" tonight at his West Virginia rally (yes, he's having another campaign rally).
Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour in this office.
posted by chris24 at 11:13 AM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour in this office.
posted by chris24 at 11:13 AM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
Yeah I'm just going to bet a cake right now he's not holding a campaign rally to resign.
posted by zachlipton at 11:15 AM on August 3, 2017 [23 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 11:15 AM on August 3, 2017 [23 favorites]
"So... you want a realistic down-to-earth show that's completely off the wall and swarming with magic robots?"
And you should win stuff by voting!
posted by Talez at 11:15 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
And you should win stuff by voting!
posted by Talez at 11:15 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
He doesn't know what he's announcing yet.
posted by notyou at 11:16 AM on August 3, 2017 [23 favorites]
posted by notyou at 11:16 AM on August 3, 2017 [23 favorites]
He doesn't know what he's announcing yet.
Well they know if they tell him ahead of time he'll tweet it
posted by phearlez at 11:18 AM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
Well they know if they tell him ahead of time he'll tweet it
posted by phearlez at 11:18 AM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
Whoa, hold up, I just remembered Journey was at the White House a few weeks ago. Maybe they're playing?
So, does that mean this is the series finale? I'm OK with that!
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:20 AM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
So, does that mean this is the series finale? I'm OK with that!
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:20 AM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
I'm not sure how much longer I can hold my existential fear and horror at bay, and I'm a consistently, resiliently sanguine person
Embrace cheerful nihilism. I'm serious. Personally, I wouldn't be able to function otherwise, because frankly, the horrifyingly keen awareness that my entire life hinges on a) a Muslim brown person not succeeding at an act of terror on US soil and b) Trump's reaction thereto, would paralyze me. Also I woke up to pee late last night/early this morning, and my half asleep brain wondered: what news am I going to wake up to? and felt a little bit of dread in my stomach, and then while I peed, I thought: what if North Korea does bomb us? And that whole horror scenario played out in my head, and then I went the fuck back to sleep because ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ what else am I gonna do? I mean, yeah, protest, call my reps, write letters, howl into this particular blue-colored void with all of you. But apart from that it's ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ all the way down. Might as well laugh at the insanity along the way.
posted by yasaman at 11:20 AM on August 3, 2017 [26 favorites]
Embrace cheerful nihilism. I'm serious. Personally, I wouldn't be able to function otherwise, because frankly, the horrifyingly keen awareness that my entire life hinges on a) a Muslim brown person not succeeding at an act of terror on US soil and b) Trump's reaction thereto, would paralyze me. Also I woke up to pee late last night/early this morning, and my half asleep brain wondered: what news am I going to wake up to? and felt a little bit of dread in my stomach, and then while I peed, I thought: what if North Korea does bomb us? And that whole horror scenario played out in my head, and then I went the fuck back to sleep because ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ what else am I gonna do? I mean, yeah, protest, call my reps, write letters, howl into this particular blue-colored void with all of you. But apart from that it's ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ all the way down. Might as well laugh at the insanity along the way.
posted by yasaman at 11:20 AM on August 3, 2017 [26 favorites]
AP: Jeff Sessions threatens San Bernardino with loss of crime-fighting funds
posted by notyou at 11:22 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Jeff Sessions moved Thursday to again punish so-called sanctuary cities, this time threatening to deny federal crime-fighting resources to four cities beset by violence — including San Bernardino — if they don’t step up efforts to help detain and deport people living in the country illegally.Just to be clear -- DOJ is not cutting these cities off, only blocking them from participating in this new program.
The Justice Department sent letters to cities struggling with gun violence, telling them they will be ineligible for a new program that aims to root out drug trafficking and gang crime unless they give federal immigration authorities access to jails and provide advance notice before releasing someone in custody who is wanted on immigration violations. The cities — Baltimore, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Stockton and San Bernardino — all expressed interest in the Justice Department’s new Public Safety Partnership, which enlists federal agents, analysts and technology to help communities find solutions to crime.
[...]
Sessions last week told jurisdictions they need to meet the same conditions or lose out on millions of dollars from a separate program that aims to send grant money to support law enforcement. That move made some local officials more defiant.
posted by notyou at 11:22 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
The Trump Administration is THIS close to Regionals!
posted by Yowser at 11:24 AM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Yowser at 11:24 AM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
> It helps if you exercise a ton, especially since that will come in handy when the civil war comes to your neighborhood.
also make friends with your neighbors. it's a good thing to do, and it feels all exciting and subversive and resist-ey when you tell yourself you're making friends with your neighbors so that you can mutually support each other against the trumpist hordes should the worst happen.
but really you're just making friends with your neighbors cause making friends with your neighbors is a good thing to do. just like really you're exercising a ton because working out is a good thing to do.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:25 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
also make friends with your neighbors. it's a good thing to do, and it feels all exciting and subversive and resist-ey when you tell yourself you're making friends with your neighbors so that you can mutually support each other against the trumpist hordes should the worst happen.
but really you're just making friends with your neighbors cause making friends with your neighbors is a good thing to do. just like really you're exercising a ton because working out is a good thing to do.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:25 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
The cities — Baltimore, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Stockton and San Bernardino — all expressed interest
Weird. Why does Albuquerque get the state name distinction, but the others don't? So we don't confuse it with Albuquerque, Minnesota?
posted by notyou at 11:26 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Weird. Why does Albuquerque get the state name distinction, but the others don't? So we don't confuse it with Albuquerque, Minnesota?
posted by notyou at 11:26 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Man Who Said ‘Don’t Take Vacations’ Prepares for 17-Day Getaway
posted by kirkaracha at 11:28 AM on August 3, 2017 [29 favorites]
Often referred to as a branding genius, Trump tweeted the phrase ["Habitual Vacationer"} six times in November and December of 2011. Then he gave up. He would not, however, stop attacking Obama for his vacations, an obsession that looks mighty silly now that Trump prepares to take his first official vacation from the White House. On Friday, Trump will leave Washington for a 17-day stay at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Other than duration, it’s unclear what distinguishes this trip from the many he’s already taken to Trump National Golf Club and his Florida resort Mar-a-Lago.A not-up-to-the-job lost-the-popular-vote record-setting-vacationer Republican president going on a long vacation in August? What could possibly go wrong?
posted by kirkaracha at 11:28 AM on August 3, 2017 [29 favorites]
Calling it now. The Big Announcement is new merch for this "campaign" or his news outlet.
posted by Twain Device at 11:28 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Twain Device at 11:28 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Hey, some good news?
@JohnJHarwood
WH budget chief Mulvaney says he & entire administration now on board behind "clean" debt limit increase - no longer seeking spending cuts
---
Of course there's this from 2013.
@realDonaldTrump
I cannot believe the Republicans are extending the debt ceiling—I am a Republican & I am embarrassed!
And a ton more like it.
posted by chris24 at 11:29 AM on August 3, 2017 [19 favorites]
@JohnJHarwood
WH budget chief Mulvaney says he & entire administration now on board behind "clean" debt limit increase - no longer seeking spending cuts
---
Of course there's this from 2013.
@realDonaldTrump
I cannot believe the Republicans are extending the debt ceiling—I am a Republican & I am embarrassed!
And a ton more like it.
posted by chris24 at 11:29 AM on August 3, 2017 [19 favorites]
Good news: employees are more likely to get busted for malfeasance when they go on vacation!
posted by Yowser at 11:29 AM on August 3, 2017 [17 favorites]
posted by Yowser at 11:29 AM on August 3, 2017 [17 favorites]
He doesn't know what he's announcing yet.
More like, his Russian contacts haven't delivered the promised information quite yet.
posted by LooseFilter at 11:30 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
More like, his Russian contacts haven't delivered the promised information quite yet.
posted by LooseFilter at 11:30 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Embrace cheerful nihilism. I'm serious.
Or if you prefer, you can think of it as learning to let go of the things you cannot change. I think it's sorta tomayto/tomahtoe but if you can't get past the framing maybe it makes it easier.
Just to be clear -- DOJ is not cutting these cities off, only blocking them from participating in this new program.
This isn't new as a concept for how to push states into going along, though I am unaware of it being done at the city level. The fed got states to go to a 55mpg speed limit by making funds contingent on it. Though, in another difference, I think those were highway funds so they were at least related subjects. The NMSL.
posted by phearlez at 11:30 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Or if you prefer, you can think of it as learning to let go of the things you cannot change. I think it's sorta tomayto/tomahtoe but if you can't get past the framing maybe it makes it easier.
Just to be clear -- DOJ is not cutting these cities off, only blocking them from participating in this new program.
This isn't new as a concept for how to push states into going along, though I am unaware of it being done at the city level. The fed got states to go to a 55mpg speed limit by making funds contingent on it. Though, in another difference, I think those were highway funds so they were at least related subjects. The NMSL.
posted by phearlez at 11:30 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Whoa, hold up, I just remembered Journey was at the White House a few weeks ago. Maybe they're playing?
"Just a small town Republican... living in a lonely liberal bubble... he took the midnight train and was shot by an illegal immigrant!"
posted by Talez at 11:30 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
"Just a small town Republican... living in a lonely liberal bubble... he took the midnight train and was shot by an illegal immigrant!"
posted by Talez at 11:30 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
It's been a long time since I worked with AP style, but if memory serves me correctly, it's chockablock with indications that some cities are referred to by name and others by name and state. I don't know why Stockton would stand alone, though.
posted by Gelatin at 11:30 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Gelatin at 11:30 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
The Big News to be announced tonight? Ivanka's fall clothing lineup. GET IT WHILE IT'S HOT!
posted by Yowser at 11:30 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Yowser at 11:30 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
You're missing important context for those tweets which explain the difference, chris24. See, in 2013 the President was a black man. But now its a white man. Understand now?
posted by Justinian at 11:31 AM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 11:31 AM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
A not-up-to-the-job lost-the-popular-vote record-setting-vacationer Republican president going on a long vacation in August? What could possibly go wrong?
Now there's a historical parallel I was blissfully unaware of until a minute ago. Paired with my fears expressed a few comments upthread, I will now spend the rest of today trying not to freak out.
posted by LooseFilter at 11:33 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Now there's a historical parallel I was blissfully unaware of until a minute ago. Paired with my fears expressed a few comments upthread, I will now spend the rest of today trying not to freak out.
posted by LooseFilter at 11:33 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
You're missing important context for those tweets which explain the difference, chris24. See, in 2013 the President was a black man. But now its a white man. Understand now?
Pfffft... Bill Clinton was blacker than Obama and he got treated with the utmost respOH MY GOD THE RACISM REALLY IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE.
posted by Talez at 11:33 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Pfffft... Bill Clinton was blacker than Obama and he got treated with the utmost respOH MY GOD THE RACISM REALLY IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE.
posted by Talez at 11:33 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
From the AP stylebook on city names:
Except for cities that stand alone in datelines, use the state name in textual material when the city or town is not in the same state as the dateline, or where necessary to avoid confusion: Springfield, Massachusetts, or Springfield, Illinois. Provide a state identification for the city if the story has no dateline, or if the city is not in the same state as the dateline. However, cities that stand alone in datelines may be used alone in stories that have no dateline if no confusion would result.posted by phearlez at 11:34 AM on August 3, 2017
I don't know why Stockton would stand alone, though.
Because Stockton stands alone as a monument that it is in fact possible to make a place that's shittier to live than Tracy.
posted by Talez at 11:35 AM on August 3, 2017 [19 favorites]
Because Stockton stands alone as a monument that it is in fact possible to make a place that's shittier to live than Tracy.
posted by Talez at 11:35 AM on August 3, 2017 [19 favorites]
This drives me nuts:
Ted Cruz deployed his won't-respond-to-Tweets policy when I asked about Trump blaming Congress for Russia relations.
As ridiculous as it is, those tweets are official WH statements.
posted by diogenes at 11:35 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Ted Cruz deployed his won't-respond-to-Tweets policy when I asked about Trump blaming Congress for Russia relations.
As ridiculous as it is, those tweets are official WH statements.
posted by diogenes at 11:35 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
This isn't new as a concept for how to push states into going along, though I am unaware of it being done at the city level. The fed got states to go to a 55mpg speed limit by making funds contingent on it.
If memory serves me correctly, they did the same with the 21-years-old drinking age, too. (Fun fact: Louisiana was one of the last holdouts, which is why, thanks to a grandfather clause and the city of New Orleans, I am one of the last cohort to have had my first legal drink at 18.)
It's also useful to remember that when Republicans deploy their focus-tested word "flexibility" for states, what they mean is they don't want to be bound by clear national standards in spending the federal taxpayers' dollars.
posted by Gelatin at 11:35 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
If memory serves me correctly, they did the same with the 21-years-old drinking age, too. (Fun fact: Louisiana was one of the last holdouts, which is why, thanks to a grandfather clause and the city of New Orleans, I am one of the last cohort to have had my first legal drink at 18.)
It's also useful to remember that when Republicans deploy their focus-tested word "flexibility" for states, what they mean is they don't want to be bound by clear national standards in spending the federal taxpayers' dollars.
posted by Gelatin at 11:35 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
It's been a long time since I worked with AP style, but if memory serves me correctly, it's chockablock with indications that some cities are referred to by name and others by name and state. I don't know why Stockton would stand alone, though.
AP style does not require the name of a state to accompany the names of the following 30 cities:
Baltimore is one the 30, but not Stockton or San Bernardino. The byline is an AP reporter, but I wonder whether it was picked up from a California outlet whose style is not to indicate California cities as such.
posted by Etrigan at 11:36 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
AP style does not require the name of a state to accompany the names of the following 30 cities:
Baltimore is one the 30, but not Stockton or San Bernardino. The byline is an AP reporter, but I wonder whether it was picked up from a California outlet whose style is not to indicate California cities as such.
posted by Etrigan at 11:36 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
The reason Albuquerque is annotated with the state, New Mexico, is to give people an opportunity to confuse it with Old Mexico.
posted by tilde at 11:36 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by tilde at 11:36 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Baltimore is one the 30, but not Stockton or San Bernardino. The byline is an AP reporter, but I wonder whether it was picked up from a California outlet whose style is not to indicate California cities as such.
Nope, it's just a fuckup because everyone keeps canning copy editors. The rule I quoted above says you use the state anytime the city is outside the dateline. And the dateline for that story was Washington (as in DC, which their style does annoyingly say they can use that way to refer to the District even though it's fucking confusing) so every single one of those should have had the state included.
posted by phearlez at 11:39 AM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
Nope, it's just a fuckup because everyone keeps canning copy editors. The rule I quoted above says you use the state anytime the city is outside the dateline. And the dateline for that story was Washington (as in DC, which their style does annoyingly say they can use that way to refer to the District even though it's fucking confusing) so every single one of those should have had the state included.
posted by phearlez at 11:39 AM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
I think there are two possibilities for the surprise announcement.
Nothing.
Wray has agreed to go after Hillary.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 11:39 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Nothing.
Wray has agreed to go after Hillary.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 11:39 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
I bet he's going to announce a new campaign slogan. that's the sort of thing he cares deeply about. and his theory of mind is busted, so he can't understand that other people don't care about exactly the same things he does.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:39 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:39 AM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
My link is to the San Bernardino Sun, so that explains San Berdoo, and possibly Stockton, since, as Talez notes, all Californians know about Stockton.
posted by notyou at 11:40 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by notyou at 11:40 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
I mean I don't bet a cake or whatever. this isn't a serious unserious bet, it's an unserious unserious bet.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:40 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:40 AM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
My link is to the San Bernardino Sun, so that explains San Berdoo, and possibly Stockton, since, as Talez notes, all Californians know about Stockton.
I honestly didn't realize there were this many people on MeFi who get shitty Central Valley city references.
posted by Talez at 11:43 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
I honestly didn't realize there were this many people on MeFi who get shitty Central Valley city references.
posted by Talez at 11:43 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
C'mon people, this is Lucy-with-the-football shenanigans.
The announcement will be postponed two weeks and then never mentioned again.
In a couple of months it will leak out that Trump wanted to show everyone the new Emoji movie toy he got with his happy meal.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 11:45 AM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
The announcement will be postponed two weeks and then never mentioned again.
In a couple of months it will leak out that Trump wanted to show everyone the new Emoji movie toy he got with his happy meal.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 11:45 AM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
In a couple of months it will leak out that Trump wanted to show everyone the new Emoji movie toy he got with his happy meal.
If it was the poop emoji all I need to solve the planet's energy needs is a large strand of copper wire, some magnets, some glue, and Patrick Stewart's corpse.
posted by Talez at 11:46 AM on August 3, 2017
If it was the poop emoji all I need to solve the planet's energy needs is a large strand of copper wire, some magnets, some glue, and Patrick Stewart's corpse.
posted by Talez at 11:46 AM on August 3, 2017
I hope he announces some clarifications to AP Style.
posted by notyou at 11:47 AM on August 3, 2017 [46 favorites]
posted by notyou at 11:47 AM on August 3, 2017 [46 favorites]
Wondering if anything is in the pipeline for scoop o'clock juuust as DJT clears out tomorrow for his vacay.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:48 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:48 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
George F. Will/Washington Post: Trump is something the nation did not know it needed...
posted by ZeusHumms at 11:48 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
... a feeble president whose manner can cure the nation’s excessive fixation with the presidency.Quotes from the Daily 202 for 8/3.
Fortunately, today’s president is so innocent of information that Congress cannot continue deferring to executive policymaking. And because this president has neither a history of party identification nor an understanding of reciprocal loyalty, congressional Republicans are reacquiring a constitutional — a Madisonian — ethic. It mandates a prickly defense of institutional interests, placing those interests above devotion to parties that allow themselves to be defined episodically by their presidents.
… Furthermore, today’s president is doing invaluable damage to Americans’ infantilizing assumption that the presidency magically envelops its occupant with a nimbus of seriousness. … For now, worse is better. Diminution drains this office of the sacerdotal pomposities that have encrusted it.”
posted by ZeusHumms at 11:48 AM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Trump' s alleged announcement is a MacGuffin. He just wants to pump up ratings for his rally. It's like that old haiku:
Trump holds a rally
Claims he will say something new
Ron Howard: he won't.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:50 AM on August 3, 2017 [28 favorites]
Trump holds a rally
Claims he will say something new
Ron Howard: he won't.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:50 AM on August 3, 2017 [28 favorites]
If it was the poop emoji all I need to solve the planet's energy needs is a large strand of copper wire, some magnets, some glue, and Patrick Stewart's corpse.
That would require Patrick Stewart to be dead and I do not accept those terms good day sir
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:51 AM on August 3, 2017 [33 favorites]
That would require Patrick Stewart to be dead and I do not accept those terms good day sir
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:51 AM on August 3, 2017 [33 favorites]
I hope he announces some clarifications to AP Style.
You know, if he came out in favor of the Oxford comma, two spaces after a period, and punctuation outside of quotation marks in a quoted phrase, I might be prepared to overlook the whole Russia thing...
posted by darkstar at 11:52 AM on August 3, 2017 [21 favorites]
You know, if he came out in favor of the Oxford comma, two spaces after a period, and punctuation outside of quotation marks in a quoted phrase, I might be prepared to overlook the whole Russia thing...
posted by darkstar at 11:52 AM on August 3, 2017 [21 favorites]
If I were the media, I'd be looking at everything but the "big announcement." Classic Trumpian diversion away from something way more important going on somewhere else.
posted by Rykey at 11:53 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Rykey at 11:53 AM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
He still has a cabinet position to replace (DHS) so the announcement could be that.
posted by AndrewInDC at 11:53 AM on August 3, 2017
posted by AndrewInDC at 11:53 AM on August 3, 2017
He's going to announce that he's putting everyone at the rally to work in the coal mines.
"This area shall henceforth be named: District 12!
"May the odds be ever in your favor!"
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 11:53 AM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
"This area shall henceforth be named: District 12!
"May the odds be ever in your favor!"
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 11:53 AM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
That would require Patrick Stewart to be dead and I do not accept those terms good day sir
He's still alive? I was under the impression that he died of shame after starring in The Emoji Movie.
posted by Talez at 11:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
He's still alive? I was under the impression that he died of shame after starring in The Emoji Movie.
posted by Talez at 11:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Ooooooooooh "big announcement" equals distraction from some news coming out. This is gonna be a good scoop o' clock I hope.
posted by Twain Device at 11:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by Twain Device at 11:54 AM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
Re: Trump's upcoming announcement
My new practice is to react to things Trump does or says after he says or does them, not before, when he makes his big attention-whoring "announcements." The announcements are totally false or bullshit most of the time, and on the rare occasions when he actually does something, it's executed so ineptly that it's either ignored or quickly countered.
Seems like a better use of my energy and attention.
posted by LooseFilter at 11:55 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
My new practice is to react to things Trump does or says after he says or does them, not before, when he makes his big attention-whoring "announcements." The announcements are totally false or bullshit most of the time, and on the rare occasions when he actually does something, it's executed so ineptly that it's either ignored or quickly countered.
Seems like a better use of my energy and attention.
posted by LooseFilter at 11:55 AM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
You know, if he came out in favor of the Oxford comma, two spaces after a period, and punctuation outside of quotation marks in a quoted phrase, I might be prepared to overlook the whole Russia thing...
I am horrified to find myself in agreement with someone who could think items 2 and 3 in that list are acceptable. On the upside, I now have a better understanding of why so many things go pear-shaped after the revolution succeeds...
posted by phearlez at 11:56 AM on August 3, 2017 [17 favorites]
I am horrified to find myself in agreement with someone who could think items 2 and 3 in that list are acceptable. On the upside, I now have a better understanding of why so many things go pear-shaped after the revolution succeeds...
posted by phearlez at 11:56 AM on August 3, 2017 [17 favorites]
Big announcement: Trump has personally intervened to save three jobs at a Flying J located a few miles outside of Cincinnati
[fake]
posted by 0xFCAF at 12:00 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
[fake]
posted by 0xFCAF at 12:00 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
You know, if he came out in favor of the Oxford comma, two spaces after a period, and punctuation outside of quotation marks in a quoted phrase, I might be prepared to overlook the whole Russia thing...
Flagged as fantastic.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 12:00 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Flagged as fantastic.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 12:00 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
A not-up-to-the-job lost-the-popular-vote record-setting-vacationer Republican president going on a long vacation in August? What could possibly go wrong?
Get Lindsay Buckingham on the line. Tell him it's an emergency.
posted by octobersurprise at 12:00 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Get Lindsay Buckingham on the line. Tell him it's an emergency.
posted by octobersurprise at 12:00 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
I think there are two possibilities for the surprise announcement.
Nothing.
Wray has agreed to go after Hillary.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 1:39 PM on August 3 [+] [!]
^^^THIS^^^
Or a variation, like, "I've just gotten some really bad evidence about Hillary, really bad, and we're going to deal with it very soon. Real soon, people."
Which will mean he has nothing, or something irrelevant. Either way, it supplies Fox which a new chyron every hour for a news cycle or two, then disappears.
posted by Caxton1476 at 12:01 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Nothing.
Wray has agreed to go after Hillary.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 1:39 PM on August 3 [+] [!]
^^^THIS^^^
Or a variation, like, "I've just gotten some really bad evidence about Hillary, really bad, and we're going to deal with it very soon. Real soon, people."
Which will mean he has nothing, or something irrelevant. Either way, it supplies Fox which a new chyron every hour for a news cycle or two, then disappears.
posted by Caxton1476 at 12:01 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
I...I'm sorry I even mentioned the big announcement here.
posted by zachlipton at 12:03 PM on August 3, 2017 [14 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 12:03 PM on August 3, 2017 [14 favorites]
He could be genuinely confused as to what year it is, and thinks he's making a campaign announcement about Hillary.
posted by rc3spencer at 12:05 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by rc3spencer at 12:05 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Vox: The biggest stories of the Trump era may not be about Trump
and then there's this:
The Uninhabitable Earth
Famine, economic collapse, a sun that cooks us: What climate change could wreak — sooner than you think. This is nightmare fuel.
Good things to keep in mind as you wait for the announcement.
posted by saysthis at 12:05 PM on August 3, 2017 [19 favorites]
and then there's this:
The Uninhabitable Earth
Famine, economic collapse, a sun that cooks us: What climate change could wreak — sooner than you think. This is nightmare fuel.
Good things to keep in mind as you wait for the announcement.
posted by saysthis at 12:05 PM on August 3, 2017 [19 favorites]
George F. Will/Washington Post: Trump is something the nation did not know it needed . . . a feeble president whose manner can cure the nation’s excessive fixation with the presidency.
Fortunately, today’s president is so innocent of information that Congress cannot continue deferring to executive policymaking. . . .
Will always writes as if he imagines himself orating in a powdered wig before some august body, but yeah.
United States Senate: Irritating The President
Fortunately, today’s president is so innocent of information that Congress cannot continue deferring to executive policymaking. . . .
Will always writes as if he imagines himself orating in a powdered wig before some august body, but yeah.
United States Senate: Irritating The President
The Senate spent most of its first year setting precedents. During the month of August 1789, it established two precedents that particularly irritated President George Washington.posted by Herodios at 12:09 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
On August 5, for the first time, the Senate refused to confirm a presidential appointee. Ignoring the budding concept of "senatorial courtesy," President George Washington had failed to consult with Georgia’s two senators before he nominated Benjamin Fishbourn to the post of naval officer for the Port of Savannah. One of those senators, James Gunn, favored another candidate who was a close political ally. Gunn promptly engineered the Senate rejection of Fishbourn. . . .
On the day after the Fishbourn rejection, President Washington angrily drafted a letter to the Senate. . . . “Permit me to submit to your consideration whether on occasions where the propriety of Nominations appear questionable to you, it would not be expedient to communicate that circumstance to me, and thereby avail yourselves of the information which led me to make them, and which I would with pleasure lay before you.” He explained his own close association with Fishbourn, whom he considered brave, loyal, experienced, and—pointedly—popular among the political leaders of his state. The president then nominated a candidate acceptable to Senator Gunn.
[. . . ]
Many of the framers thought the Senate would meet with the president in the manner of an executive council, and that they would jointly deliberate the details of a treaty. Early on in the First Congress, however, an important precedent steered the Senate towards a more independent role in exercising its treaty powers. . . .
On August 22, 1789, [President Washington] visited the Senate to receive its advice and consent for an Indian treaty. He occupied the presiding officer's chair while Senate President John Adams sat at the desk assigned to the Senate's secretary. Intimidated by Washington's presence, senators found it difficult to concentrate on the treaty's provisions as Adams read them aloud. After hearing the contents of several supporting documents, members decided they needed more time. An angry president spoke for the first time during the proceedings: "This defeats every purpose of my being here!"
Although he returned two days later to observe additional debate and the treaty's approval, he conducted all further treaty business with the Senate in writing.
George Will: Diminution drains this office of the sacerdotal pomposities...
There is a point where the simpler word suffices.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 12:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [24 favorites]
There is a point where the simpler word suffices.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 12:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [24 favorites]
He's going to announce that he's putting everyone at the rally to work in the coal mines.
"Lord, I'm so tired/How long can this go on?"
posted by kirkaracha at 12:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
There is a point where the simpler word suffices.
Indeed, I have a law degree and read a lot of classic novels, and I still have trouble parsing George Will. It's like that old Far Side cartoon with Ginger the dog. Nothing resolves into sense after about the third word...
posted by suelac at 12:14 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Indeed, I have a law degree and read a lot of classic novels, and I still have trouble parsing George Will. It's like that old Far Side cartoon with Ginger the dog. Nothing resolves into sense after about the third word...
posted by suelac at 12:14 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Diminution drains this office of the sacerdotal pomposities that have encrusted it.
Dear George Will and Garrison Keillor:
Please accept this sincere and heartfelt invitation to fuck right off.
Regards,
Fellini
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:15 PM on August 3, 2017 [17 favorites]
Dear George Will and Garrison Keillor:
Please accept this sincere and heartfelt invitation to fuck right off.
Regards,
Fellini
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:15 PM on August 3, 2017 [17 favorites]
I have an awful feeling: he will announce an upcoming vacancy in the Supreme Court.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 12:16 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 12:16 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Okay, look, you can't drain something that has encrusted itself onto a thing. "We will drain the barnacles that have encrusted the hull"? I don't think so.
posted by Frowner at 12:16 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by Frowner at 12:16 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
he'll probably just show us all that stupid map he's obsessed with
posted by localhuman at 12:17 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by localhuman at 12:17 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
George Will: Diminution drains this office of the sacerdotal pomposities [that have encrusted it].
There is a point where the simpler word suffices.
That very sentence had me immediately googling to see whether the term "sacerdotal encrustations" had ever been used. I am tempted to coin and adopt the phrase henceforth.
posted by darkstar at 12:17 PM on August 3, 2017
There is a point where the simpler word suffices.
That very sentence had me immediately googling to see whether the term "sacerdotal encrustations" had ever been used. I am tempted to coin and adopt the phrase henceforth.
posted by darkstar at 12:17 PM on August 3, 2017
After hearing the contents of several supporting documents, members decided they needed more time. An angry president spoke for the first time during the proceedings: "This defeats every purpose of my being here!"
Good for you, George. People who don't respect the value of your time are the worst.
I have an awful feeling: he will announce an upcoming vacancy in the Supreme Court.
There's no chance this clown caucus could keep that sort of thing a secret more than 100 minutes.
posted by phearlez at 12:18 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Good for you, George. People who don't respect the value of your time are the worst.
I have an awful feeling: he will announce an upcoming vacancy in the Supreme Court.
There's no chance this clown caucus could keep that sort of thing a secret more than 100 minutes.
posted by phearlez at 12:18 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'd just like to add that Leche Gente is my new mariachi Dead Milkmen cover band.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 12:19 PM on August 3, 2017 [14 favorites]
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 12:19 PM on August 3, 2017 [14 favorites]
given the way Trump introduced the "exciting announcement" I can't figure out what would fit that in his head
I'm tipping he's going to announce that he's talked to Mexico about his wall and they're totally gonna pay for it.
posted by flabdablet at 12:25 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm tipping he's going to announce that he's talked to Mexico about his wall and they're totally gonna pay for it.
posted by flabdablet at 12:25 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Dear George Will and Garrison Keillor:
Please accept this sincere and heartfelt invitation to fuck right off.
Geez, Garrison Keillor must've stole a whole generation's lunch money for all the unearned resentment he gets on this forum.
posted by Herodios at 12:26 PM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
Please accept this sincere and heartfelt invitation to fuck right off.
Geez, Garrison Keillor must've stole a whole generation's lunch money for all the unearned resentment he gets on this forum.
posted by Herodios at 12:26 PM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
There's really nothing positive to be gained from speculating (and debating those speculations) on the announcement and we'll all know soon enough. I 100% agree that giving these pre-announcements attention is playing exactly into what he wants, and that doesn't serve us.
posted by greermahoney at 12:26 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by greermahoney at 12:26 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
I'm not sure how much longer I can hold my existential fear and horror at bay, and I'm a consistently, resiliently sanguine person
I think you are supposed to eat a tomato.
posted by archimago at 12:30 PM on August 3, 2017 [30 favorites]
I think you are supposed to eat a tomato.
posted by archimago at 12:30 PM on August 3, 2017 [30 favorites]
The only thing we hate more than someone who disagrees with us on almost everything is someone who agrees with us on almost everything, but is smug about it!
posted by biogeo at 12:31 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by biogeo at 12:31 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
He does this for attention: not necessarily as a distraction, although it is that too, sometimes, but because he likes getting press and he likes getting attention and he likes rallies and he likes applause. There is no particular reason we should take an announcement that an announcement will happen later to be of any significance whatsoever.
West Virginia is the heart of Trump country. It's already being reported that people are lining up to see him. The crowd will be large and very enthusiastic. Getting the press to cover a rally of fawning Trump fans is probably the point. Since he'll be preaching to the choir, the coverage will be positive. Only a few of the outlets will explain that West Virginia was a Trump stronghold during the election, which gives the impression that he showed up and all these people just randomly came out to see him.
The biggest issues West Virginians mentioned in polls included the economy, repealing the ACA and immigration. An announcement on any of those three would get a huge, positive response.
posted by zarq at 12:34 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
West Virginia is the heart of Trump country. It's already being reported that people are lining up to see him. The crowd will be large and very enthusiastic. Getting the press to cover a rally of fawning Trump fans is probably the point. Since he'll be preaching to the choir, the coverage will be positive. Only a few of the outlets will explain that West Virginia was a Trump stronghold during the election, which gives the impression that he showed up and all these people just randomly came out to see him.
The biggest issues West Virginians mentioned in polls included the economy, repealing the ACA and immigration. An announcement on any of those three would get a huge, positive response.
posted by zarq at 12:34 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Requesting that DC become a state requires changing the constitution. It's not a territory like Puerto Rico, it's The Federal District. Making it a state also creates lots small jurisdiction problems. The federal government is in DC, it's difficult from a legal standpoint to give the state of DC jurisdiction over Congress or the White House. Or all the employees of those places. Or the federal bureaucracy.
Maybe since we have to change the constitution anyway, we just give DC a Senator and leave it at that.
posted by Glibpaxman at 12:34 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Maybe since we have to change the constitution anyway, we just give DC a Senator and leave it at that.
posted by Glibpaxman at 12:34 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
is it scoop o'clock already?
posted by palomar at 12:36 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by palomar at 12:36 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
I always enjoyed the Guy Noir sketches, though.
posted by notyou at 12:40 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by notyou at 12:40 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
It'll probably involve some corporation that's intending to create 8 amazing new jobs in West Virginia, of which 3 will materialize. It seems like his only "successes" at this point are all that sort of thing, companies doing what they were totally going to do anyway, and Trump trying to get people to believe that all economic growth during his presidency is his personal doing.
posted by Sequence at 12:41 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Sequence at 12:41 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
My bet now is that Trump announces a mandatory offspring program today.
posted by rhizome at 12:41 PM on August 3, 2017
posted by rhizome at 12:41 PM on August 3, 2017
A Gen-X er who had to listen to endless hours of that in an oldsmobile.
Garrison Keillor put on a radio show that you didn't like.
Someone else forced you to listen to it.
I think TAL is a load of crap, but I don't go around on global internet fora telling Ira Glass to fuck off.
posted by Herodios at 12:42 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
Garrison Keillor put on a radio show that you didn't like.
Someone else forced you to listen to it.
I think TAL is a load of crap, but I don't go around on global internet fora telling Ira Glass to fuck off.
posted by Herodios at 12:42 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
I dare you to name something whiter.
Resentment about what your parents played on the car radio years ago on your way to your second home.
posted by Herodios at 12:45 PM on August 3, 2017 [98 favorites]
Resentment about what your parents played on the car radio years ago on your way to your second home.
posted by Herodios at 12:45 PM on August 3, 2017 [98 favorites]
Here's the bigannouncement most probably: West Virginia Governor to Switch from Democrat to Republican
Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia, a Democrat who was elected last year even as President Trump carried the state by 42 points, is expected to announce Thursday night at a rally with Mr. Trump that he is changing parties, according to three sources familiar with the plans.
posted by PenDevil at 12:45 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia, a Democrat who was elected last year even as President Trump carried the state by 42 points, is expected to announce Thursday night at a rally with Mr. Trump that he is changing parties, according to three sources familiar with the plans.
posted by PenDevil at 12:45 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
WSJ: "Special Counsel Mueller Impanels Washington Grand Jury in Russia Probe
I jabbed my finger at the favorite button so fast I think I sprained something.
posted by darkstar at 12:45 PM on August 3, 2017 [18 favorites]
I jabbed my finger at the favorite button so fast I think I sprained something.
posted by darkstar at 12:45 PM on August 3, 2017 [18 favorites]
Could this be the announcement?
Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia, a Democrat who was elected last year even as President Trump carried the state by 42 points, is expected to announce Thursday night at a rally with Mr. Trump that he is changing parties, according to three sources familiar with the plans.
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:45 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia, a Democrat who was elected last year even as President Trump carried the state by 42 points, is expected to announce Thursday night at a rally with Mr. Trump that he is changing parties, according to three sources familiar with the plans.
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:45 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
If so, kind of weak tea.
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:46 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:46 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
VALAR POPCORNIS
posted by joyceanmachine at 12:46 PM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by joyceanmachine at 12:46 PM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
It'll probably involve some corporation that's intending to create 8 amazing new jobs in West Virginia, of which 3 will materialize.
Yep, at a cost for the taxpayer of like $2 - $4 million per job, and it's probably been in the works since 2015 or so and the jobs are just cleaning coal dust off of coal mine robots for $25k a year. Of course it's something like that.
posted by jason_steakums at 12:46 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Yep, at a cost for the taxpayer of like $2 - $4 million per job, and it's probably been in the works since 2015 or so and the jobs are just cleaning coal dust off of coal mine robots for $25k a year. Of course it's something like that.
posted by jason_steakums at 12:46 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Of all things, it has been a Frank Ocean t-shirt that made me feel better this week:
It's a plain white shirt that says "WHY BE RACIST, SEXIST, HOMOPHOBIC, OR TRANSPHOBIC WHEN YOU COULD JUST BE QUIET?"
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:46 PM on August 3, 2017 [41 favorites]
It's a plain white shirt that says "WHY BE RACIST, SEXIST, HOMOPHOBIC, OR TRANSPHOBIC WHEN YOU COULD JUST BE QUIET?"
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:46 PM on August 3, 2017 [41 favorites]
Gov Justice "President Trump, a man who has singlehandedly created over 35 jobs in our great state..."
posted by rhizome at 12:47 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 12:47 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
How does one get around the WSJ paywall?
posted by stonepharisee at 12:47 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by stonepharisee at 12:47 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
If I were the media, I'd be looking at everything but the "big announcement." Classic Trumpian diversion away from something way more important going on somewhere else.
Yup, that grand jury announcement was right on time.
posted by Room 641-A at 12:49 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Yup, that grand jury announcement was right on time.
posted by Room 641-A at 12:49 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Requesting that DC become a state requires changing the constitution.
Not really, the constitution provides that there will be federal district but does not define the shape or size of it. There was no constitutional amendment required to retrocede Alexandria and Arlington back to Virginia. The federally held land that makes up current DC could remain to be the entirety of "skinny DC", while all of the private and city held land, where people actually live and would like self-rule and federal representation, could form a new state.
posted by peeedro at 12:49 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
Not really, the constitution provides that there will be federal district but does not define the shape or size of it. There was no constitutional amendment required to retrocede Alexandria and Arlington back to Virginia. The federally held land that makes up current DC could remain to be the entirety of "skinny DC", while all of the private and city held land, where people actually live and would like self-rule and federal representation, could form a new state.
posted by peeedro at 12:49 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
How does one get around the WSJ paywall?
Non-paywalled version of the WSJ article above on Mueller impaneling the grand jury:
http://archive.is/yN7Cw
posted by un petit cadeau at 12:50 PM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
Non-paywalled version of the WSJ article above on Mueller impaneling the grand jury:
http://archive.is/yN7Cw
posted by un petit cadeau at 12:50 PM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
For those of you who hate Benjamin Wittes (the tick-tick-tick guy) less than you hate Garrison Keillor, please enjoy this video of Wittes' baby cannon blowing up a tomato in honor of scoop o'clock.
posted by kelborel at 12:51 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by kelborel at 12:51 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
How does one get around the WSJ paywall?
Drug catapult
posted by jason_steakums at 12:51 PM on August 3, 2017 [35 favorites]
Drug catapult
posted by jason_steakums at 12:51 PM on August 3, 2017 [35 favorites]
Hmm, where do I remember Justice from. Wikipedia?
posted by Sequence at 12:52 PM on August 3, 2017 [42 favorites]
He had been a registered member of the Republican Party until changing his registration in February 2015.Right before he ran for governor.
posted by Sequence at 12:52 PM on August 3, 2017 [42 favorites]
Requesting that DC become a state requires changing the constitution.
This is not a matter of universal agreement.
posted by phearlez at 12:52 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
This is not a matter of universal agreement.
posted by phearlez at 12:52 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia, a Democrat who was elected last year even as President Trump carried the state by 42 points, is expected to announce Thursday night at a rally with Mr. Trump that he is changing parties, according to three sources familiar with the plans.
Shorter headline: TRUMP SUBVERTS JUSTICE
posted by darkstar at 12:52 PM on August 3, 2017 [39 favorites]
Shorter headline: TRUMP SUBVERTS JUSTICE
posted by darkstar at 12:52 PM on August 3, 2017 [39 favorites]
Special Counsel Mueller Impanels Washington Grand Jury in Russia Probe - Expansion beyond Flynn grand jury is a sign the investigation in election meddling is ramping up"
WSJ is paywalled, so I'm gonna ask here: Is it early to do this? I thought Mueller was probably gonna spend the first year just building up his office and staff, but that's probably based on the Whitewater shitshow which was always ridiculous. Is a grand jury something you put together early in the process? I thought that was something you didn't do until you had a solid case ready to put in front of them.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 12:53 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
WSJ is paywalled, so I'm gonna ask here: Is it early to do this? I thought Mueller was probably gonna spend the first year just building up his office and staff, but that's probably based on the Whitewater shitshow which was always ridiculous. Is a grand jury something you put together early in the process? I thought that was something you didn't do until you had a solid case ready to put in front of them.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 12:53 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Mueller Has a Grand Jury
How does one get around the WSJ paywall?
Politicalwire has it, but so far nothing but the first two paragraphs of the WSJ article. More later, and links in comments, I'm sure.
posted by Herodios at 12:54 PM on August 3, 2017
I... I thought Prairie Companion was supposed to be a parody of insipid nostalgia.
Is it, is it earnest?
My God. The horror. The horror.
posted by Yowser at 12:54 PM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
Is it, is it earnest?
My God. The horror. The horror.
posted by Yowser at 12:54 PM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
Ty Cobb, special counsel to the president
Oh come on.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:55 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
Oh come on.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:55 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
How does one get around the WSJ paywall?
Follow them on Twitter and click the link from their tweets -- not from other people RTing it or whatever, go to @wsj and look from there.
posted by Etrigan at 12:55 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Follow them on Twitter and click the link from their tweets -- not from other people RTing it or whatever, go to @wsj and look from there.
posted by Etrigan at 12:55 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
I've always used an Incognito window or Private Mode (depending on browser) and it lets me read the WSJ articles.
posted by Twain Device at 12:55 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Twain Device at 12:55 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Is it early to do this? I thought Mueller was probably gonna spend the first year just building up his office and staff, but that's probably based on the Whitewater shitshow which was always ridiculous. Is a grand jury something you put together early in the process? I thought that was something you didn't do until you had a solid case ready to put in front of them.
From the article:
From the article:
Before Mr. Mueller was tapped in May to be special counsel, federal prosecutors had been using at least one other grand jury, located in Alexandria, Va., to assist in their criminal investigation of Michael Flynn, a former national security adviser. That probe, which has been taken over by Mr. Mueller’s team, focuses on Mr. Flynn’s work in the private sector on behalf of foreign interests.posted by chris24 at 12:57 PM on August 3, 2017 [19 favorites]
Grand juries are powerful investigative tools that allow prosecutors to subpoena documents, put witnesses under oath and seek indictments, if there is evidence of a crime. Legal experts said that the decision by Mr. Mueller to impanel a grand jury suggests he believes he will need to subpoena records and take testimony from witnesses.
A grand jury in Washington is also more convenient for Mr. Mueller and his 16 attorneys—they work just a few blocks from the U.S. federal courthouse where grand juries meet—than one that is 10 traffic-clogged miles away in Virginia.
“This is yet a further sign that there is a long-term, large-scale series of prosecutions being contemplated and being pursued by the special counsel,” said Stephen I. Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas. “If there was already a grand jury in Alexandria looking at Flynn, there would be no need to reinvent the wheel for the same guy. This suggests that the investigation is bigger and wider than Flynn, perhaps substantially so.”
Thomas Zeno, a federal prosecutor for 29 years before becoming a lawyer at the Squire Patton Boggs law firm, said the grand jury is “confirmation that this is a very vigorous investigation going on.”
“This doesn’t mean he is going to bring charges,” Mr. Zeno cautioned. “But it shows he is very serious. He wouldn’t do this if it were winding down.”
As the person who posted the Keillor piece, I hereby express my happiness that "eating tomatoes" seems to be a subject of continued interest, and officially submit it as Metafilter's euphemism for "'keep calm it's all fine' when it's actually not."
posted by saysthis at 12:58 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by saysthis at 12:58 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
Popehat explains:
This is Big. Here's why. /1posted by zachlipton at 12:58 PM on August 3, 2017 [65 favorites]
The Biggitude isn't necessarily that there's a crime, or that Mueller thinks that there is one or may be one. /2
The Biggitude is the procedural/investigative significance of starting up a grand jury investigation and what it suggests he'll do. /3
/4 This suggests he can, and will, compel witnesses to appear to testify. That will either yield (secret) grand jury testimony . . . .
/5 ...or it will yield a cascade of invocations of the Fifth, cooperation negotiations, and the like. Or both. Moreover . . .
/6 particularly with judgmentally challenged people, this phase increases pressure and thus dumb new crimes -- obstruction, perjury, etc.
/7 Plus you've got your grand jury subpoenas for documents, which tend to leak and similarly drive dumb/self-defeating reactions.
/8 With sensible, prudent, obedient clients, this is gravely dangerous. With this crew . . . well. Hold their beer.
/9 It addition, it reflects that Mueller believes there's a certain level of "there" there to justify a GJ investigation. However . . .
/10 With even the most justifiably esteemed prosecutor, that belief is not worthy of uncritical acceptance. Prosecutors gotta prosecute.
/11 Also, seems apt to return to this splainer of target/subject/witness terminology in federal investigations.
… Furthermore, today’s president is doing invaluable damage to Americans’ infantilizing assumption that the presidency magically envelops its occupant with a nimbus of seriousness. … For now, worse is better. Diminution drains this office of the sacerdotal pomposities that have encrusted it.”Never thought I'd see old George in an Accelerationist pose. He should take care with his wishes; they may come true. Days after the election, Bruce Sterling wrote:
During my lifetime there’s always been something sacrosanct about the American Presidency. Not anymore. Yes, it will still be the office of a chief executive with atomic bombs and a huge military and spy apparatus. But it’s no longer the lay Papacy for a unipolar superpower. Like other aspects of the digital landscape, the Presidency is just up for grabs.There is a point where the simpler word suffices.
Will's euphuistic felicities can match William Buckley's any day, but he hasn't the flashing eye and the shark-like grin.
posted by octobersurprise at 12:59 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Bets are off with the timing of the Mueller investigation because we've never had such brazen misconduct from the executive branch before. A prosecutor who just wanted to say "this is what it would take to get Joe Schmo indicted for obstruction" could have written his report based solely on things Trump has said on national television. The question is how deep Mueller wants to dive into what we don't know yet, and how much of a belt-and-suspenders (and additional belts, and additional suspenders) approach he prefers.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:59 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:59 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
localmilkpeople.com points to the National Park Service website.
posted by run"monty at 1:00 PM on August 3, 2017 [59 favorites]
posted by run"monty at 1:00 PM on August 3, 2017 [59 favorites]
Thomas Zeno
This is a man who has learned never to walk into a room holding exactly two documents.
posted by cortex at 1:01 PM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
This is a man who has learned never to walk into a room holding exactly two documents.
posted by cortex at 1:01 PM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
I hope he announces some clarifications to AP Style.
You know, if he came out in favor of the Oxford comma, two spaces after a period, and punctuation outside of quotation marks in a quoted phrase, I might be prepared to overlook the whole Russia thing...
I gave up the two spaces because MetaFilter convinced me that I was being an old fuddy-Duffy but now you tell me there's a war on #1 and #3?! You will pry the Oxford comma out of my cold, dead, and worm-riddled hands.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 1:01 PM on August 3, 2017 [25 favorites]
You know, if he came out in favor of the Oxford comma, two spaces after a period, and punctuation outside of quotation marks in a quoted phrase, I might be prepared to overlook the whole Russia thing...
I gave up the two spaces because MetaFilter convinced me that I was being an old fuddy-Duffy but now you tell me there's a war on #1 and #3?! You will pry the Oxford comma out of my cold, dead, and worm-riddled hands.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 1:01 PM on August 3, 2017 [25 favorites]
keillor's prairie home companion was like 33% nostalgia, 33% parody of nostalgia, 33% lynchian small-town-hides-dark-secrets, and 1% sibilance.
(thile's aphc is 5% nostalgia for keillor's aphc and 95% look-at-how-great-i-chris-thile-am)
posted by entropicamericana at 1:02 PM on August 3, 2017 [14 favorites]
(thile's aphc is 5% nostalgia for keillor's aphc and 95% look-at-how-great-i-chris-thile-am)
posted by entropicamericana at 1:02 PM on August 3, 2017 [14 favorites]
I am not a Gen Xer, and the reason I told Keillor and Will to fuck off is the shared tone and mindset of entitlement in their pieces linked upthread. "We'll survive Trump; just think about tomatoes." "Trump is a difficult but ultimately worthwhile character-building life lesson for the nation."
How nice to be totally insulated from the actual harm he is doing to real people.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:02 PM on August 3, 2017 [39 favorites]
How nice to be totally insulated from the actual harm he is doing to real people.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:02 PM on August 3, 2017 [39 favorites]
And the NPS homepage is dedicated to the Statue of Librrty!
posted by Room 641-A at 1:03 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by Room 641-A at 1:03 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
Ty Cobb, special counsel to the president
Oh come on.
Luckily not an enslaved specter of a baseball legend, but instead Middle Earth Wilford Brimley.
posted by jason_steakums at 1:03 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
Oh come on.
Luckily not an enslaved specter of a baseball legend, but instead Middle Earth Wilford Brimley.
posted by jason_steakums at 1:03 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
Special Counsel Mueller Impanels Washington Grand Jury in Russia Probe
Let's see... Beginning of August...
September is going to (a) suck for a lot of the people involved, (b) suck for the moderators, and (c) suck for our phones w/ 3000comment threads DAILY.
posted by mikelieman at 1:05 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Let's see... Beginning of August...
September is going to (a) suck for a lot of the people involved, (b) suck for the moderators, and (c) suck for our phones w/ 3000comment threads DAILY.
posted by mikelieman at 1:05 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
localmilkpeople.com points to the National Park Service website.
posted by run"monty 4 minutes ago [6 favorites +] [!]
Notable for the Statue of Liberty banner. This is grade A trolling.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 1:05 PM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by run"monty 4 minutes ago [6 favorites +] [!]
Notable for the Statue of Liberty banner. This is grade A trolling.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 1:05 PM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
Okay, so he's treacly, maudlin and occasionally painfully whitebread (and lutefisk), but I do generally dig Keillor and PHC.
That said, the tomato thing was a reach, and more frustratingly, fits into the benign, anodyne NPR worldview that has become more irritating lately. As was documented in an earlier thread, I don't want All Things Considered...I want Some Things Rejected Outright.
Tomato therapy, while laudable folk medicine in better times, feels like it's unintentionally trivializing the nation's pain.
/tomato derail
posted by darkstar at 1:08 PM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
That said, the tomato thing was a reach, and more frustratingly, fits into the benign, anodyne NPR worldview that has become more irritating lately. As was documented in an earlier thread, I don't want All Things Considered...I want Some Things Rejected Outright.
Tomato therapy, while laudable folk medicine in better times, feels like it's unintentionally trivializing the nation's pain.
/tomato derail
posted by darkstar at 1:08 PM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
I like this paragraph from the WSJ article:
Mr. Trump has questioned the neutrality of Mr. Mueller’s office, telling Fox News he is concerned that Mr. Mueller’s prosecutors are “Hillary Clinton supporters” and that Messrs. Mueller and Comey are friends. Mr. Comey was a top Justice official in the George W. Bush administration when Mr. Mueller was the FBI director; both are Republicans.
posted by diogenes at 1:09 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
Mr. Trump has questioned the neutrality of Mr. Mueller’s office, telling Fox News he is concerned that Mr. Mueller’s prosecutors are “Hillary Clinton supporters” and that Messrs. Mueller and Comey are friends. Mr. Comey was a top Justice official in the George W. Bush administration when Mr. Mueller was the FBI director; both are Republicans.
posted by diogenes at 1:09 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
For those of you who hate Benjamin Wittes (the tick-tick-tick guy)...
Also, it's really old news but new to me, Wittes has a black belt in taekwondo and has called Putin a judo fraud: I'll Fight Putin Any Time, Any Place He Can't Have Me Arrested.
posted by peeedro at 1:10 PM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
Also, it's really old news but new to me, Wittes has a black belt in taekwondo and has called Putin a judo fraud: I'll Fight Putin Any Time, Any Place He Can't Have Me Arrested.
posted by peeedro at 1:10 PM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
Mr. Comey was a top Justice official in the George W. Bush administration when Mr. Mueller was the FBI director; both are Republicans.
We really should have hired Ron Howard to read that...
posted by mikelieman at 1:11 PM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
We really should have hired Ron Howard to read that...
posted by mikelieman at 1:11 PM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
Special Counsel Mueller Impanels Washington Grand Jury in Russia Probe
How much do I love that this drops right on the eve of President Lazybones's big vacation? So so so much.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:11 PM on August 3, 2017 [34 favorites]
How much do I love that this drops right on the eve of President Lazybones's big vacation? So so so much.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:11 PM on August 3, 2017 [34 favorites]
How much do I love that this drops right on the eve of President Lazybones's big vacation? So so so much.
I'm going to have a Ham Sandwich for dinner to celebrate!
posted by mikelieman at 1:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
I'm going to have a Ham Sandwich for dinner to celebrate!
posted by mikelieman at 1:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Mr. Trump has questioned the neutrality of Mr. Mueller’s office, telling Fox News he is concerned that Mr. Mueller’s prosecutors are “Hillary Clinton supporters” and that Messrs. Mueller and Comey are friends. Mr. Comey was a top Justice official in the George W. Bush administration when Mr. Mueller was the FBI director; both are Republicans.
You're only a Republican as long as you enable other Republicans to get away with things.
posted by nubs at 1:13 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
You're only a Republican as long as you enable other Republicans to get away with things.
posted by nubs at 1:13 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
Why, I think I'll join you! Bartender, ham sammiches for everyone!
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:13 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:13 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Tomato therapy, while laudable folk medicine in better times, feels like it's unintentionally trivializing the nation's pain.
What I propose is a new kind of tomato therapy ...
posted by octobersurprise at 1:14 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
What I propose is a new kind of tomato therapy ...
posted by octobersurprise at 1:14 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
I am not a Gen Xer, and the reason I told Keillor and Will to fuck off is the shared tone and mindset of entitlement in their pieces linked upthread.
Ah. Well, it's a long thread, and I apologise for conflating your resentment for Garrison Keillor with other peoples resentment for Garrison Keillor.
posted by Herodios at 1:16 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Ah. Well, it's a long thread, and I apologise for conflating your resentment for Garrison Keillor with other peoples resentment for Garrison Keillor.
posted by Herodios at 1:16 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Unearned? Loquacious had that down
What I can tell you about this organization is that it is mainly comprised of people roughly in the Generation X demographic, people who shared an intense loathing for the dull, calloused spot left on their souls left by endless, countless hours of being forced to listen to Lake Woebegone and Garrison Keillor's inspid syrup-on-gravel voice on family road trips and campouts or visits to the cabin in the woods.
Love,
A Gen-X er who had to listen to endless hours of that in an oldsmobile. Prairie Home Companion is like artisinal boomer pandering dressed as respectable entertainment. I dare you to name something whiter.
Uhh, reddit.com/r/thedonald; /r/redpill; the alt-right; stormfront.org; Fox News; InfoWars; Breitbart; the White House; etc&etc.
I think we're confusing a need to hate Keillor with the more-or-less-objective fact that A Prairie Home Companion sucked. That last piece he wrote was tone-deaf but it wasn't exactly Nazi propaganda, which is an important distinction when we're living under a regime with literal fascists in it.
posted by TheProfessor at 1:16 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
What I can tell you about this organization is that it is mainly comprised of people roughly in the Generation X demographic, people who shared an intense loathing for the dull, calloused spot left on their souls left by endless, countless hours of being forced to listen to Lake Woebegone and Garrison Keillor's inspid syrup-on-gravel voice on family road trips and campouts or visits to the cabin in the woods.
Love,
A Gen-X er who had to listen to endless hours of that in an oldsmobile. Prairie Home Companion is like artisinal boomer pandering dressed as respectable entertainment. I dare you to name something whiter.
Uhh, reddit.com/r/thedonald; /r/redpill; the alt-right; stormfront.org; Fox News; InfoWars; Breitbart; the White House; etc&etc.
I think we're confusing a need to hate Keillor with the more-or-less-objective fact that A Prairie Home Companion sucked. That last piece he wrote was tone-deaf but it wasn't exactly Nazi propaganda, which is an important distinction when we're living under a regime with literal fascists in it.
posted by TheProfessor at 1:16 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
Yes, both have been Republicans in the past. It would be interesting to know if they still would consider themselves such. I'm sure if they were asked, they'd recuse themselves.
posted by rikschell at 1:17 PM on August 3, 2017
posted by rikschell at 1:17 PM on August 3, 2017
A nice detail from CNN (emphasis added):
One year after the FBI opened an investigation, the probe is now managed by special counsel Robert Mueller. Sources described an investigation that has widened to focus on possible financial crimes, some unconnected to the 2016 elections, alongside the ongoing scrutiny of possible illegal coordination with Russian spy agencies and alleged attempts by President Donald Trump and others to obstruct the FBI investigation. Even investigative leads that have nothing to do with Russia but involve Trump associates are being referred to the special counsel to encourage subjects of the investigation to cooperate, according to two law enforcement sources.posted by zachlipton at 1:18 PM on August 3, 2017 [39 favorites]
The increased financial focus hasn't gone unnoticed by Trump, who warned Mueller, via an interview with The New York Times, that his financial dealings were a red line that investigators shouldn't cross. But the order establishing the special counsel makes clear Mueller is authorized to investigate any matters that "arose or may arise directly from the investigation."
Reuters: BREAKING: Grand jury subpoenas have been issued related to June 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr., Russian lawyers and others - sources (no article yet)
♫ Vacation, all I ever wanted
Vacation, had to get away
Vacation, meant to be spent alone ♫
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:21 PM on August 3, 2017 [31 favorites]
♫ Vacation, all I ever wanted
Vacation, had to get away
Vacation, meant to be spent alone ♫
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:21 PM on August 3, 2017 [31 favorites]
Sources described an investigation that has widened to focus on possible financial crimes, some unconnected to the 2016 elections
You know, the value of Kompromat diminishes rapidly when a Federal Prosecutor presents it to a Grand Jury.
posted by mikelieman at 1:23 PM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
You know, the value of Kompromat diminishes rapidly when a Federal Prosecutor presents it to a Grand Jury.
posted by mikelieman at 1:23 PM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
Watching the Browder testimony (it's really good everyone should watch it, the man is super lucid and intelligent and wow it's insane) and OMG the following
Another part of the testimony was about that Russian cellist, Roldugin, from the Panama Papers -- this is apparently a $2 billion cellist and close friend of Putin. Obviously the implication is that Roldugin is a holder for some of Putin's assets.
WHAT IF TRUMP IS TOO
lots of controversy over Trump's wealth. really doesn't want his tax returns public, seemingly beyond what could be reasonable. "How bad could it possibly be"? well pretty bad!
is this tinfoil hat material?
posted by cybertaur1 at 1:25 PM on August 3, 2017 [22 favorites]
Whitehouse: You have had to become kind of a sleuth of sorts to sort through a lot of this stuff, you've hired investigators, you've worked with investigators, your book Red Notice describes some of that investigative work. We have a phrase here, "follow the money". How important is following the money to investigating Russian influence operations?This just after they described that Putin is particularly upset since he, in Browder's estimation, has $200 billion stashed around the world, largely within banks controlled by the West, which is frozen under the Magnitsky act, so he's not only personally seeing his assets freeze but also his influence among Russian oligarchs is maybe dwindling as well since he can't quite deliver on his promises in the same way.
Browder: Following the money is the key to all of these types of situations.
Whitehouse: How useful are tax returns as an investigative tool in following the money as you describe?
Another part of the testimony was about that Russian cellist, Roldugin, from the Panama Papers -- this is apparently a $2 billion cellist and close friend of Putin. Obviously the implication is that Roldugin is a holder for some of Putin's assets.
WHAT IF TRUMP IS TOO
lots of controversy over Trump's wealth. really doesn't want his tax returns public, seemingly beyond what could be reasonable. "How bad could it possibly be"? well pretty bad!
is this tinfoil hat material?
posted by cybertaur1 at 1:25 PM on August 3, 2017 [22 favorites]
Reuters: BREAKING: Grand jury subpoenas have been issued related to June 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr., Russian lawyers and others - sources (no article yet)
strategic popcorn reserves severely depleted
posted by entropicamericana at 1:25 PM on August 3, 2017 [22 favorites]
strategic popcorn reserves severely depleted
posted by entropicamericana at 1:25 PM on August 3, 2017 [22 favorites]
Bruce Sterling wrote: "During my lifetime there’s always been something sacrosanct about the American Presidency."
This strikes me as an odd thing for someone who was twenty years old when Nixon resigned to say.
posted by Herodios at 1:25 PM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
This strikes me as an odd thing for someone who was twenty years old when Nixon resigned to say.
posted by Herodios at 1:25 PM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
Garrison Keillor is in fact the local dimensional projection of a certain known and rather naughty matrioshka brain known to us as ƹƚo|q, and The Prairie Home Companion and Lake Woebegone are incredibly dangerous memetic viruses that are entropic in nature. These memetic viruses are carefully crafted to cause what is known in the galactic core as ƚɒɒ|q|ɒƚꙅ, which can best be translated as "forever-stopping" or perhaps even "forever-napping".
In essence the these memetic viruses are social entropic accelerators, capable of causing the cultural momentum of entire interplanetary systems to recede and decline into solipsistic fugues and stupors so profound that it can cause civilizations to back-slide on the Kardashev scale or fail to even reach type 1 in the first place.
You see, ƹƚo|q really likes to watch people sleeping and napping. Not just human people, any life form sleeping or engaging in nap-like behaviors of inactivity. But it has to be a lot of sleeping life forms at once, ideally billions or trillions.
It has been estimated that as much as half the known populated galaxy has been induced to nap simultaneously by ƹƚo|q for the edification of its strange fetish.
posted by loquacious at 1:26 PM on August 3, 2017 [23 favorites]
In essence the these memetic viruses are social entropic accelerators, capable of causing the cultural momentum of entire interplanetary systems to recede and decline into solipsistic fugues and stupors so profound that it can cause civilizations to back-slide on the Kardashev scale or fail to even reach type 1 in the first place.
You see, ƹƚo|q really likes to watch people sleeping and napping. Not just human people, any life form sleeping or engaging in nap-like behaviors of inactivity. But it has to be a lot of sleeping life forms at once, ideally billions or trillions.
It has been estimated that as much as half the known populated galaxy has been induced to nap simultaneously by ƹƚo|q for the edification of its strange fetish.
posted by loquacious at 1:26 PM on August 3, 2017 [23 favorites]
strategic popcorn reserves severely depleted
Must mine more popcorn?
posted by ArgentCorvid at 1:26 PM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
Must mine more popcorn?
posted by ArgentCorvid at 1:26 PM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
From Evan Perez, Pamela Brown and Shimon Prokupecz of CNN's article :
Even before Mueller was appointed, FBI investigators focused on four Trump associates: Paul Manafort, former campaign chairman, Michael Flynn, former national security adviser, Carter Page, cited by Trump as a national security adviser, and Roger Stone, a Trump friend and supporter who openly engaged with hackers calling themselves Guccifer 2.0, which US intelligence says was an online persona created as a cover for Russian intelligence agents. ....posted by yasaman at 1:28 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Page had been the subject of a secret intelligence surveillance warrant since 2014, earlier than had been previously reported, US officials briefed on the probe told CNN.
When information emerged last summer suggesting that the Russians were attempting to cultivate Page as a way to gain an entrée into the Trump campaign, the FBI renewed its interest in him. Initially, FBI counterintelligence investigators saw the campaign as possible victims being targeted by Russian intelligence.
Page denies working with any Russians as part of the Kremlin's election meddling, though he admits interacting with some Russians during the campaign.
Another extremely fascinating detail in that CNN article:
There are also, as I understand it, really not that many people in this country who are the subjects of individual FISA warrants (setting aside bulk collection). Donald Trump happened to name one of them when he told the world who his foreign policy advisors were.
posted by zachlipton at 1:28 PM on August 3, 2017 [25 favorites]
Page had been the subject of a secret intelligence surveillance warrant since 2014, earlier than had been previously reported, US officials briefed on the probe told CNN.Given what this man says openly on live television, I can only imagine what wiretaps of his calls sound like.
When information emerged last summer suggesting that the Russians were attempting to cultivate Page as a way to gain an entrée into the Trump campaign, the FBI renewed its interest in him. Initially, FBI counterintelligence investigators saw the campaign as possible victims being targeted by Russian intelligence.
There are also, as I understand it, really not that many people in this country who are the subjects of individual FISA warrants (setting aside bulk collection). Donald Trump happened to name one of them when he told the world who his foreign policy advisors were.
posted by zachlipton at 1:28 PM on August 3, 2017 [25 favorites]
How does one get around the WSJ paywall?
Also, if you have Amazon Prime, WaPo is free for 6 months and 3.99 a month thereafter.
posted by greermahoney at 1:30 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Also, if you have Amazon Prime, WaPo is free for 6 months and 3.99 a month thereafter.
posted by greermahoney at 1:30 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
It sure will be interesting if the grand jury finds a smoking gun, but that's a big "if".
For example, if they find out that the Trump campaign illegally met with a Russian government-linked lawyer to get illegally-obtained dirt on Clinton and then repeatedly lied about it, that'd be crazy.
Or what if they find out that Trump illegally obstructed justice by firing James Comey because he wouldn't drop the Russia investigation and commissioned his Deputy AG to provide a false pretense for doing so? Boy howdy that'd be a wild ride.
Anyway we'll see what turns up.
posted by 0xFCAF at 1:31 PM on August 3, 2017 [41 favorites]
For example, if they find out that the Trump campaign illegally met with a Russian government-linked lawyer to get illegally-obtained dirt on Clinton and then repeatedly lied about it, that'd be crazy.
Or what if they find out that Trump illegally obstructed justice by firing James Comey because he wouldn't drop the Russia investigation and commissioned his Deputy AG to provide a false pretense for doing so? Boy howdy that'd be a wild ride.
Anyway we'll see what turns up.
posted by 0xFCAF at 1:31 PM on August 3, 2017 [41 favorites]
Page had been the subject of a secret intelligence surveillance warrant since 2014.
Imagine what this info will do to his already impressive tinfoil hattitude.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:32 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Imagine what this info will do to his already impressive tinfoil hattitude.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:32 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
All their investigations have actually been focused on how good Dobald Trump is at golf. The punishments for wrongly marking your card are surprisingly severe.
posted by dng at 1:33 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by dng at 1:33 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
/8 With sensible, prudent, obedient clients, this is gravely dangerous. With this crew . . . well. Hold their beer.
Oh Popehat, let me count the ways.
posted by RolandOfEld at 1:34 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Oh Popehat, let me count the ways.
posted by RolandOfEld at 1:34 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Must mine more popcorn?
Cannot Constantly Chew Popcorn.
posted by gurple at 1:35 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Cannot Constantly Chew Popcorn.
posted by gurple at 1:35 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
This!
possible financial crimes, some unconnected to the 2016 elections,
thisthisthisthisthis!
Because I am convinced that of the two reasons he went out for prez, only the irresistible lure of greatbig crowds was a bigger enticement than the yummyyummy idea that maybe if he got elected he could be pardoned and skip out of going to jail for criming his enormous ass off his entire life.
posted by Don Pepino at 1:36 PM on August 3, 2017 [27 favorites]
possible financial crimes, some unconnected to the 2016 elections,
thisthisthisthisthis!
Because I am convinced that of the two reasons he went out for prez, only the irresistible lure of greatbig crowds was a bigger enticement than the yummyyummy idea that maybe if he got elected he could be pardoned and skip out of going to jail for criming his enormous ass off his entire life.
posted by Don Pepino at 1:36 PM on August 3, 2017 [27 favorites]
can mueller's grand jury subpoena the tax returns?
posted by j_curiouser at 1:36 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by j_curiouser at 1:36 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
It has been estimated that as much as half the known populated galaxy has been induced to nap simultaneously by ƹƚo|q for the edification of its strange fetish. So ... the opposite of Volgon poetry.
I'm seeing lots of good things from the non-Trump announcements from Muller's team, but I find its lack of Pence ... disturbing.
posted by tilde at 1:37 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
I'm seeing lots of good things from the non-Trump announcements from Muller's team, but I find its lack of Pence ... disturbing.
posted by tilde at 1:37 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
can mueller's grand jury subpoena the tax returns?
Yes, and they can get them directly from the IRS so Trump & Co wouldn't even necessarily know.
posted by chris24 at 1:39 PM on August 3, 2017 [80 favorites]
Yes, and they can get them directly from the IRS so Trump & Co wouldn't even necessarily know.
posted by chris24 at 1:39 PM on August 3, 2017 [80 favorites]
The biggest issues West Virginians mentioned in polls included the economy, repealing the ACA and immigration.
And here's the funny thing about that: take a look at immigrant population per state. Only four states in the continental US - ND, SD, Wyoming and Montana - have a lower immigrant population than WV, with a grand total of 28,000 altogether.
Not that this surprises me. When I lived in Maryland, the white folks who lived way up in Baltimore County where you almost never saw a black person were like a jillion times more racist than any white person I met in the city proper.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 1:39 PM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
And here's the funny thing about that: take a look at immigrant population per state. Only four states in the continental US - ND, SD, Wyoming and Montana - have a lower immigrant population than WV, with a grand total of 28,000 altogether.
Not that this surprises me. When I lived in Maryland, the white folks who lived way up in Baltimore County where you almost never saw a black person were like a jillion times more racist than any white person I met in the city proper.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 1:39 PM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
It sure will be interesting if the grand jury finds a smoking gun, but that's a big "if".
I'm confident some grand jury will find some reason to indict Trump and others in his circle sooner or later. Until then, it'll be satisfying to watch the toddler throw tantrums because he's not getting his way and people are being so unfair to him. As somebody mentioned upthread, it'll also be a time ripe for new indictable crimes to be committed in a rush to circle the wagons. Add Trump's asinine, inexplicable urge to blab his stupid head off any time there's a microphone or Twitter nearby, and... yeah, popcorn.
posted by Rykey at 1:40 PM on August 3, 2017
I'm confident some grand jury will find some reason to indict Trump and others in his circle sooner or later. Until then, it'll be satisfying to watch the toddler throw tantrums because he's not getting his way and people are being so unfair to him. As somebody mentioned upthread, it'll also be a time ripe for new indictable crimes to be committed in a rush to circle the wagons. Add Trump's asinine, inexplicable urge to blab his stupid head off any time there's a microphone or Twitter nearby, and... yeah, popcorn.
posted by Rykey at 1:40 PM on August 3, 2017
Perhaps the mining jobs Trump will bring back are in the popcorn sector. Not many people know that the War of 1812 was actually fought over precious popcorn resources.
I am eagerly awaiting celebrating Mueller Time, but then, I also received a lump of (artisanally mined) coal at Fitzmas, so...
posted by darkstar at 1:41 PM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
I am eagerly awaiting celebrating Mueller Time, but then, I also received a lump of (artisanally mined) coal at Fitzmas, so...
posted by darkstar at 1:41 PM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
Richard Painter tweets a friendly reminder:
Important White House ethics rule: don't lie to a grand jury.
posted by Room 641-A at 1:41 PM on August 3, 2017 [25 favorites]
Important White House ethics rule: don't lie to a grand jury.
posted by Room 641-A at 1:41 PM on August 3, 2017 [25 favorites]
In the CNN article, Jay Sekelow says "Any inquiry from the special counsel that goes beyond the mandate specified in the appointment we would object to." Unfortunately for team Trump, the mandate is so broad that it's impossible for anything to go beyond it.
posted by diogenes at 1:42 PM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by diogenes at 1:42 PM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
A proposed Constitutional amendment:
posted by biogeo at 1:43 PM on August 3, 2017 [14 favorites]
Section 1: To prevent the abuse of the Senate's power to confirm judicial nominees by refusing to hold a vote until the President's term of office has ended, the Senate must provide a response to the President's lawfully nominated candidate to any federal judgeship within 90 days. Days in which the Senate is not in session shall not count toward this 90 day period. If at the end of 90 days in session, the Senate has not provided a clear decision in response to the President's nomination, the nominee shall be considered confirmed.I think other "prevent abuse of power and provide redress for past such abuse" amendments and/or laws are going to be necessary going forward.
Section 2: If, at the end of a President's term of office, the Senate has not yet responded to that President's nomination of a federal judge, the Senate must provide a clear decision in response within 90 days of the original nomination. Days in which the Senate is not in session shall not count toward this 90 day period. If the Senate fails to provide a clear yea or nay response to the former President's nomination, the nominee shall be considered confirmed. If the Senate refuses consent to the former President's nomination, the new President shall provide a nominee.
Section 3: As redress for the abuse of its power to confirm judicial nominees by refusing to hold a vote until the President's term of office ended, all federal judicial positions for which nominees were advanced by the President that remained vacant as of January 19, 2017 shall be reconsidered. However, any such positions for which the nominee has died, has formally withdrawn from consideration by giving notice to the Senate, or has become ineligible for office shall not be reconsidered. The Senate shall have 180 days to provide a clear yea or nay response for each nomination, not including days the Senate is not in session, beginning the date this amendment is ratified. If at the end of this period the Senate has not given a clear decision in response to the nomination, the nominee shall be considered confirmed. If the Senate denies consent to the former President's nomination, and the position has been subsequently filled under the laws prior to this amendment, then the judge now holding that position shall retain his or her position. For any such position which shall be reconsidered within this 180 day period, if that position has been subsequently filled under the laws prior to this amendment, the judge now holding that position shall remain in office until the Senate renders a decision.
posted by biogeo at 1:43 PM on August 3, 2017 [14 favorites]
Lordy.
WaPo: The single chart that shows that federal grand juries indict 99.99 percent of the time
posted by un petit cadeau at 1:43 PM on August 3, 2017 [64 favorites]
WaPo: The single chart that shows that federal grand juries indict 99.99 percent of the time
posted by un petit cadeau at 1:43 PM on August 3, 2017 [64 favorites]
Here's the bigannouncement most probably: West Virginia Governor to Switch from Democrat to Republican
Hey Donald: our big announcement is bigger than your big announcement.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:44 PM on August 3, 2017 [41 favorites]
Hey Donald: our big announcement is bigger than your big announcement.
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:44 PM on August 3, 2017 [41 favorites]
I can tell you . . .
Hey Donald: our big announcement is bigger than your big announcement.
. . . believe me.
Believe me.
posted by Herodios at 1:46 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Hey Donald: our big announcement is bigger than your big announcement.
. . . believe me.
Believe me.
posted by Herodios at 1:46 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
what does a grand jury do?
listens to prosecutors and witnesses (no defense counsel allowed); issues indictments (or not)
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:47 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
listens to prosecutors and witnesses (no defense counsel allowed); issues indictments (or not)
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:47 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
A grand jury grand jurises, obviously.
posted by dng at 1:47 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by dng at 1:47 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
WaPo: The single chart that shows that federal grand juries indict 99.99 percent of the time
OH NOW I GET THE HAM SANDWICH JOKES.
(this past year has just zapped my ability to get comedy that doesn't involve people falling down/over)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:47 PM on August 3, 2017 [33 favorites]
OH NOW I GET THE HAM SANDWICH JOKES.
(this past year has just zapped my ability to get comedy that doesn't involve people falling down/over)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:47 PM on August 3, 2017 [33 favorites]
Tomato therapy, while laudable folk medicine in better times, feels like it's unintentionally trivializing the nation's pain.
I think the problem is not so much the idea as presenting it in the folksy kind of way. Mindfulness as a concept is very, very important to coping with trauma, especially for people with existing mental health issues. Food as a sensory experience can be a useful way of staying in the moment as a way of coping with extremes of feeling. But while mindfulness involves small things, that doesn't make it small or something that shouldn't be taken seriously when you're doing it. There's a difference between suggesting that someone go find a moment they can enjoy and try to stay in that moment long enough to recharge, and making it seem casual and easy. Mindfulness is not, in fact, laudable folk medicine; it's a big part of the currently-accepted therapeutic process. Making it seem like folk medicine makes it harder to get the people who most need it to do it; the last thing people need is to get the impression that it's self-involved and useless.
posted by Sequence at 1:47 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
I think the problem is not so much the idea as presenting it in the folksy kind of way. Mindfulness as a concept is very, very important to coping with trauma, especially for people with existing mental health issues. Food as a sensory experience can be a useful way of staying in the moment as a way of coping with extremes of feeling. But while mindfulness involves small things, that doesn't make it small or something that shouldn't be taken seriously when you're doing it. There's a difference between suggesting that someone go find a moment they can enjoy and try to stay in that moment long enough to recharge, and making it seem casual and easy. Mindfulness is not, in fact, laudable folk medicine; it's a big part of the currently-accepted therapeutic process. Making it seem like folk medicine makes it harder to get the people who most need it to do it; the last thing people need is to get the impression that it's self-involved and useless.
posted by Sequence at 1:47 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Remember, a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:47 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:47 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
This cracks me up:
"They launch an investigation into collusion in the election," says one person whose client is among those being scrutinized by the Mueller investigators. "Then they go after people because of old business matters that have nothing to do with collusion."
It isn't fair that I'm getting busted for money laundering just because the president colluded with Russia!
posted by diogenes at 1:48 PM on August 3, 2017 [44 favorites]
"They launch an investigation into collusion in the election," says one person whose client is among those being scrutinized by the Mueller investigators. "Then they go after people because of old business matters that have nothing to do with collusion."
It isn't fair that I'm getting busted for money laundering just because the president colluded with Russia!
posted by diogenes at 1:48 PM on August 3, 2017 [44 favorites]
Now there's a historical parallel I was blissfully unaware of until a minute ago. Paired with my fears expressed a few comments upthread, I will now spend the rest of today trying not to freak out.
Unlike Bush, Trump hasn't spent the last 7 months tearing down the counter-terrorism framework established by his predecessor, or willfully ignoring and suppressing the warnings from its remnants.
Whatever mayhem comes from Trump's poor leadership, it's likely to be very different this time.
posted by Coventry at 1:48 PM on August 3, 2017
Unlike Bush, Trump hasn't spent the last 7 months tearing down the counter-terrorism framework established by his predecessor, or willfully ignoring and suppressing the warnings from its remnants.
Whatever mayhem comes from Trump's poor leadership, it's likely to be very different this time.
posted by Coventry at 1:48 PM on August 3, 2017
Grand Jury as explained by Wikipedia.
The function of a grand jury is to accuse persons who may be guilty of an offense, but the institution is also a shield against unfounded and oppressive prosecution. It is a means for lay citizens, representative of the community, to participate in the administration of justice. It can also make presentments on crime and maladministration in its area. The traditional number of the grand jury is 23.
posted by yoga at 1:48 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
The function of a grand jury is to accuse persons who may be guilty of an offense, but the institution is also a shield against unfounded and oppressive prosecution. It is a means for lay citizens, representative of the community, to participate in the administration of justice. It can also make presentments on crime and maladministration in its area. The traditional number of the grand jury is 23.
posted by yoga at 1:48 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Um, guys...?
what does a grand jury do?
A grand jury works with some kind of prosecutor to determine if a case merits an indictment. A friend of mine once got placed on one. If you show interest in the process, as they made the mistake of doing on the first day, you have to be the foreperson!
posted by OverlappingElvis at 1:48 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
what does a grand jury do?
A grand jury works with some kind of prosecutor to determine if a case merits an indictment. A friend of mine once got placed on one. If you show interest in the process, as they made the mistake of doing on the first day, you have to be the foreperson!
posted by OverlappingElvis at 1:48 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
Governor Justice of West Virginia: "I was a committed Democrat, but then I heard the President was under a grand jury investigation for colluding with a hostile foreign government and I thought, I want me some-a that!" [fake]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:48 PM on August 3, 2017 [29 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:48 PM on August 3, 2017 [29 favorites]
All this explication is ruining a perfectly good dinner plan!
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:49 PM on August 3, 2017
posted by FelliniBlank at 1:49 PM on August 3, 2017
The only time I've read about a grand jury not indicting is when the potential defendant is a police officer. That's literally the only time.
posted by Justinian at 1:49 PM on August 3, 2017 [26 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 1:49 PM on August 3, 2017 [26 favorites]
The ham sandwich thing does not apply to law enforcement officers, and I presume this applies as well to other, more powerful employees of the government.
posted by middleclasstool at 1:50 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by middleclasstool at 1:50 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
It'd be hilarious if Gov. Justice backed out of his party switch after hearing about the grand jury announcement. [grampa_simpson_walking_in_and_out.gif]
posted by tonycpsu at 1:52 PM on August 3, 2017 [25 favorites]
posted by tonycpsu at 1:52 PM on August 3, 2017 [25 favorites]
in 10 minutes I have to leave the internet for 2 hours.
I'm leaving for a week of backcountry camping in 36 hours. I'm afraid I'll come back to the actual end result of Douglas Adam's "the universe disappearing and being replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable". I'll have no frame of reference for anything.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 1:52 PM on August 3, 2017 [34 favorites]
I'm leaving for a week of backcountry camping in 36 hours. I'm afraid I'll come back to the actual end result of Douglas Adam's "the universe disappearing and being replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable". I'll have no frame of reference for anything.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 1:52 PM on August 3, 2017 [34 favorites]
Federal grand juries indict 99.99 percent of the time
the prosecutor's like "so, should i investigate" and the grand jury's like "sure whatever bruh, you be you"
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:52 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
the prosecutor's like "so, should i investigate" and the grand jury's like "sure whatever bruh, you be you"
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:52 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
Garrison Keillor is a derail, so I didn't want to jump in, but someone should stand up for him. He has been a genial, progressive voice for decades. If Lake Wobegon seems to be too white, too archaic and arcane, it is because that is the story Keillor was dealt. He idealizes a prairie life where women are strong and people are generally tolerant. It is stylized, a bit mock-literate and not for everyone's tastes.
Unless there is something that I don't know about where he is gone woolly in the head, he has been and is a voice of quiet reason. And even if you can cite one or more items against, he has built up a large store of goodwill.
I liked (not loved) Prairie Home Companion for its earnestness, its unwavering presence over the years and its commitment to its vision.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 1:55 PM on August 3, 2017 [46 favorites]
Unless there is something that I don't know about where he is gone woolly in the head, he has been and is a voice of quiet reason. And even if you can cite one or more items against, he has built up a large store of goodwill.
I liked (not loved) Prairie Home Companion for its earnestness, its unwavering presence over the years and its commitment to its vision.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 1:55 PM on August 3, 2017 [46 favorites]
It isn't fair that I'm getting busted for money laundering just because the president colluded with Russia!
Russia plays a long game. The money laundering always had a secondary benefit to them; Kompramat on the people doing it.
Someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this justice as a gift on my daughter's wedding day.
posted by chris24 at 1:57 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Russia plays a long game. The money laundering always had a secondary benefit to them; Kompramat on the people doing it.
Someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this justice as a gift on my daughter's wedding day.
posted by chris24 at 1:57 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
The ham sandwich thing does not apply to law enforcement officers
More of a pork shoulder sandwich with chips lot.
posted by Sys Rq at 1:57 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
More of a pork shoulder sandwich with chips lot.
posted by Sys Rq at 1:57 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm increasingly impressed by Senator Manchin for being somehow electable in West Virginia while also voting the right way at least half the time
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:00 PM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:00 PM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
Geez you guys. I put a little time into adding a new page to my Trump/Russia site, and while I'm working on it there are new bombshells coming out. I feel like Sisyphus!
(The new page is a bullet-point list of all the suspicious facts -- adapted once again from one of my MeFi posts -- and a bunch of links to analysis pieces attempting to explain all the facts. I figured people need it boiled down at this point. Executive summary, sort of. I've been updating the rest of the site as the stories come out too, though I really don't know how to fit the Browder testimony in without re-writing the whole thing around it. For now it is just a link from the words "Magnitsky act" in the "What did Russia hope to accomplish?" section. Feedback welcome -- I've gotten some great help from MeFites so far.)
posted by OnceUponATime at 2:00 PM on August 3, 2017 [27 favorites]
(The new page is a bullet-point list of all the suspicious facts -- adapted once again from one of my MeFi posts -- and a bunch of links to analysis pieces attempting to explain all the facts. I figured people need it boiled down at this point. Executive summary, sort of. I've been updating the rest of the site as the stories come out too, though I really don't know how to fit the Browder testimony in without re-writing the whole thing around it. For now it is just a link from the words "Magnitsky act" in the "What did Russia hope to accomplish?" section. Feedback welcome -- I've gotten some great help from MeFites so far.)
posted by OnceUponATime at 2:00 PM on August 3, 2017 [27 favorites]
> Federal grand juries indict 99.99 percent of the time
Surely it's Federal grands jury indicts. Or maybe Federals grand jury indicts?
sorrynotsorry
posted by fragmede at 2:03 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Surely it's Federal grands jury indicts. Or maybe Federals grand jury indicts?
sorrynotsorry
posted by fragmede at 2:03 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
My day improves every time I think about the fact that the grand jury is getting rolling just as Trump was planning to take another 17 days off. I hope it utterly ruins his vacation.
And, at a minimum, I expect an indictment of him for obstruction of justice. For real.
posted by bearwife at 2:03 PM on August 3, 2017 [42 favorites]
And, at a minimum, I expect an indictment of him for obstruction of justice. For real.
posted by bearwife at 2:03 PM on August 3, 2017 [42 favorites]
I'm leaving for a week of backcountry camping in 36 hours.
I am so goddamn jealous right now, because I'm going to be attached to my computer with a tube sucking up this toxic bullshit.
posted by Sophie1 at 2:04 PM on August 3, 2017 [47 favorites]
I am so goddamn jealous right now, because I'm going to be attached to my computer with a tube sucking up this toxic bullshit.
posted by Sophie1 at 2:04 PM on August 3, 2017 [47 favorites]
This is your friendly reminder that lying to a grand jury was the first article of impeachment against Bill Clinton.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 2:09 PM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 2:09 PM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
Metafilter: Garrison Keillor is a derail
posted by biogeo at 2:10 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by biogeo at 2:10 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
One thing that gives me a sliver of hope regarding the older generation of voters, i.e. Boomers, is my dad.
While his father was a Socialist, my dad has always been a Democrat. A fairly progressive one, but a patriotic, system-trusting Democrat nonetheless. He even supported the invasion of Iraq, and felt Sanders was too far to the left to be trusted with the White House.
Well, ever since November, his personal Overton window has been gradually moving leftward. In fact, I called him yesterday and we chatted a bit about the latest shit tornado passing through DC. He has lost all faith in the Democrats, and believes they need to concentrate more on unifying the left rather than reach out to centrists. "But that's kind of typical for an old Red like me I guess," he joked. I have never heard this man refer to himself as a "Red" in my entire life.
So who knows. I'm sure he's not an anomaly. He might still believe in a two-party system, like it seems most Americans do, but he wants his party to start getting really, really leftist. Fully realizing this is anecdata, my optimism compels me to extrapolate.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 2:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
While his father was a Socialist, my dad has always been a Democrat. A fairly progressive one, but a patriotic, system-trusting Democrat nonetheless. He even supported the invasion of Iraq, and felt Sanders was too far to the left to be trusted with the White House.
Well, ever since November, his personal Overton window has been gradually moving leftward. In fact, I called him yesterday and we chatted a bit about the latest shit tornado passing through DC. He has lost all faith in the Democrats, and believes they need to concentrate more on unifying the left rather than reach out to centrists. "But that's kind of typical for an old Red like me I guess," he joked. I have never heard this man refer to himself as a "Red" in my entire life.
So who knows. I'm sure he's not an anomaly. He might still believe in a two-party system, like it seems most Americans do, but he wants his party to start getting really, really leftist. Fully realizing this is anecdata, my optimism compels me to extrapolate.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 2:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
Current top tweet from WV Republican Party:
@WVGOP
Low-Energy @WVGovernor Refuses To Stop Millions Of $$ In Contracts To Companies Who Cheated WV Taxpayers. Sad!
posted by neroli at 2:14 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
@WVGOP
Low-Energy @WVGovernor Refuses To Stop Millions Of $$ In Contracts To Companies Who Cheated WV Taxpayers. Sad!
posted by neroli at 2:14 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
New WVGOP tweet is tepid in support and draws attention to the Governor's "past transgressions". Of course, this is before he is officially anointed by Donald John the Baptist
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:20 PM on August 3, 2017
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:20 PM on August 3, 2017
Should we tell them, or just let them be surprised?
posted by Room 641-A at 2:22 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Room 641-A at 2:22 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
@FoxNews: .@JaySekulow: "To look at a real estate deal from 10 years ago... would be way outside the scope of the mandate."
Robert Mueller grabs his to-do list, *scritch scrtich*, "check all real estate deals from 10 years ago."
posted by zachlipton at 2:25 PM on August 3, 2017 [98 favorites]
Robert Mueller grabs his to-do list, *scritch scrtich*, "check all real estate deals from 10 years ago."
posted by zachlipton at 2:25 PM on August 3, 2017 [98 favorites]
Josh Dawsey: Pool report today describes Spicer as "all smiles." Spicer has been spotted smiling more in the past two weeks than anyone in Washington.
Spicey run free!
posted by zabuni at 2:28 PM on August 3, 2017 [36 favorites]
Spicey run free!
posted by zabuni at 2:28 PM on August 3, 2017 [36 favorites]
Luckily we've got a real estate deal from 20 months ago, per Felix Sater.
posted by rc3spencer at 2:29 PM on August 3, 2017
posted by rc3spencer at 2:29 PM on August 3, 2017
Important White House ethics rule: don't lie to a grand jury.
BWAAAAhahahahhhh!!! Aaigh! Oh! Haha ha haaaa! Ethics! *snf*. Ohgod. *snf* . . . ehhh.
Okay. . . Hit me.
/refresh
posted by petebest at 2:30 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
BWAAAAhahahahhhh!!! Aaigh! Oh! Haha ha haaaa! Ethics! *snf*. Ohgod. *snf* . . . ehhh.
Okay. . . Hit me.
/refresh
posted by petebest at 2:30 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Whitewater Timeline
Also: HTML time machine.
posted by notyou at 2:32 PM on August 3, 2017 [22 favorites]
1978So, 16 years is the limit?
Arkansas Attorney General Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton join with James B. and Susan McDougal to borrow $203,000 to buy 220 acres of land in Arkansas' Ozark Mountains. They soon form the Whitewater Development Corp., intending to build vacation homes.
Clinton is elected governor.
[...]
January 1994
Attorney General Janet Reno names New York lawyer and former U.S. attorney Robert B. Fiske Jr. as special counsel to investigate the Clintons' involvement in Whitewater. Fiske announces he will also explore a potential link between Foster's suicide and his intimate knowledge of the developing Whitewater scandal.
Also: HTML time machine.
posted by notyou at 2:32 PM on August 3, 2017 [22 favorites]
"To look at a real estate deal from 10 years ago... would be way outside the scope of the mandate."
I cannot begin to comprehend how any lawyer could consider this to be a beneficial thing to say about their client on a technical, ethical, pragmatic or Machiavellian level. Our president is surrounded by fellow grandmasters of the many-dimensional game
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:34 PM on August 3, 2017 [22 favorites]
I cannot begin to comprehend how any lawyer could consider this to be a beneficial thing to say about their client on a technical, ethical, pragmatic or Machiavellian level. Our president is surrounded by fellow grandmasters of the many-dimensional game
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:34 PM on August 3, 2017 [22 favorites]
So, 16 years is the limit?
1978 - Whitewater
1994 - Special Counsel
1998 - Clinton impeached for something completely unrelated to Whitewater
So what's that about scope, Jay?
posted by chris24 at 2:34 PM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
1978 - Whitewater
1994 - Special Counsel
1998 - Clinton impeached for something completely unrelated to Whitewater
So what's that about scope, Jay?
posted by chris24 at 2:34 PM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
I cannot begin to comprehend how any lawyer
Jay Sekulow is not just any lawyer...
posted by mikelieman at 2:35 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Jay Sekulow is not just any lawyer...
posted by mikelieman at 2:35 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
i_am_no_lawyer.webm
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 2:36 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 2:36 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Garrison Keillor is a derail, so I didn't want to jump in, but someone should stand up for him. He has been a genial, progressive voice for decades.
I'm mostly kidding and taking the piss and trying for some irreverent levity. Of course I'd much rather listen to or hang out with Keillor than, say, Alex Jones.
But those comments from Keillor really strike a nerve that involves the very real escapism and solipsism of boomer politics that's been chafing at people in my demographic for a while now,
And that it is part of the reason why we're here having this totally insane conversation in the first place, and how the Democratic party threw away a fully grass roots populist mandate, ignored the rising threat of the alt-right and disenfranchised working class and then plugged in Clinton instead of Sanders as though she were even remotely the same thing on a totally phoned in campaign with the arrogant hubris to assume the country wasn't actually mad enough to allow Trump to get elected.
It's not really about heirloom tomatoes.
I am, however, deadly serious about having been nearly abusively overexposed to the shows on road trips. Between the Lake Woebegone box sets, the classic 60s radio friendly compilations and Beatles tapes, it's a wonder that I have any will to be weird left at all.
posted by loquacious at 2:37 PM on August 3, 2017 [21 favorites]
I'm mostly kidding and taking the piss and trying for some irreverent levity. Of course I'd much rather listen to or hang out with Keillor than, say, Alex Jones.
But those comments from Keillor really strike a nerve that involves the very real escapism and solipsism of boomer politics that's been chafing at people in my demographic for a while now,
And that it is part of the reason why we're here having this totally insane conversation in the first place, and how the Democratic party threw away a fully grass roots populist mandate, ignored the rising threat of the alt-right and disenfranchised working class and then plugged in Clinton instead of Sanders as though she were even remotely the same thing on a totally phoned in campaign with the arrogant hubris to assume the country wasn't actually mad enough to allow Trump to get elected.
It's not really about heirloom tomatoes.
I am, however, deadly serious about having been nearly abusively overexposed to the shows on road trips. Between the Lake Woebegone box sets, the classic 60s radio friendly compilations and Beatles tapes, it's a wonder that I have any will to be weird left at all.
posted by loquacious at 2:37 PM on August 3, 2017 [21 favorites]
"To look at a real estate deal from 10 years ago... would be way outside the scope of the mandate."
NYTimes, Dec. 17, 2007 - Real Estate Executive With Hand in Trump Projects Rose From Tangled Past
NYTimes, Dec. 17, 2007 - Real Estate Executive With Hand in Trump Projects Rose From Tangled Past
Mr. Sater — who now goes by the name Satter — has been jetting to Denver, Phoenix, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and elsewhere since 2003, promoting potential projects in partnership with Mr. Trump and others. In New York, the company Mr. Sater works for, Bayrock Group, is a partner in the Trump SoHo, a sleek, 46-story glass tower condominium hotel under construction on a newly fashionable section of Spring Street.posted by melissasaurus at 2:38 PM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
@JaySekulow: "To bring corpse-sniffing dogs to that cracked concrete slab behind the pool-cleaning equipment storage shed at Mar-A-Lago would be way outside the scope of the mandate."
posted by Rust Moranis at 2:38 PM on August 3, 2017 [101 favorites]
posted by Rust Moranis at 2:38 PM on August 3, 2017 [101 favorites]
I wonder how Chief of Staff Marine General's day is going?
posted by notyou at 2:40 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by notyou at 2:40 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
Jim Justice, first of the Renaissance Fair victims. Hotelier, has to be a boy and his dog, a girl, a selection of chamber maids, drug fueled parties, or all of the above. Kompromat! Find it, find it, Lassie!
posted by Oyéah at 2:40 PM on August 3, 2017
posted by Oyéah at 2:40 PM on August 3, 2017
Mueller Plunges Across Trump's Neckline—er, I mean, Red Line
Trump has threatened Mueller in an attempt to keep his investigation confined to the election. He suggested in an interview with The New York Times that he might fire Mueller if the probe moved beyond Russian interference. However, Mueller’s commission gives him broad latitude to pursue whatever crimes he comes across. If Trump tried to fire Mueller, it could set up a replay of the 1973 “Saturday Night Massacre,” in which President Richard Nixon fired the Watergate special prosecutor, though only after his attorney general and his deputy both refused to do so and resigned. The incident is known as the beginning of the end for Nixon. Republican senators have warned Trump against firing Mueller, saying it would produce a political catastrophe.posted by J.K. Seazer at 2:40 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
The news of a grand jury is perhaps less a surprise than the speed with which it was impaneled. It suggests that Mueller’s team has moved past an exploratory phase. A grand jury hears testimony about potential wrongdoing and decides whether to charge people with crimes. It allows a prosecutor to subpoena documents and to put witnesses under oath for testimony. Mueller has also rapidly expanded his team, hiring a slew of high-profile lawyers, including several with experience in money laundering, organized crime, bribery, and witness-flipping. He recently added Greg Andres, a partner in a prominent white-shoe New York firm, to his group.
Our president is surrounded by fellow grandmasters of the many-dimensional game
Never goes out of style.
"Truth is, these are not very bright guys and things got out of hand."
posted by chris24 at 2:42 PM on August 3, 2017 [17 favorites]
Never goes out of style.
"Truth is, these are not very bright guys and things got out of hand."
posted by chris24 at 2:42 PM on August 3, 2017 [17 favorites]
"To look at a real estate deal from 10 years ago... would be way outside the scope of the mandate."
I cannot begin to comprehend how any lawyer could consider this to be a beneficial thing to say about their client on a technical, ethical, pragmatic or Machiavellian level.
Reminds me of a line from Orson Welles's Touch of Evil: "Just because he speaks a little guilty, that don't make him innocent."
posted by Atom Eyes at 2:44 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
I cannot begin to comprehend how any lawyer could consider this to be a beneficial thing to say about their client on a technical, ethical, pragmatic or Machiavellian level.
Reminds me of a line from Orson Welles's Touch of Evil: "Just because he speaks a little guilty, that don't make him innocent."
posted by Atom Eyes at 2:44 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
@JaySekulow: "There is no earthly reason or probable cause for Mueller to get a noted forensic urologist all up in this mess." [fake]
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:45 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:45 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
"Analyzing the works of Leonardo da Vinci for hidden codes that could reveal a global conspiracy spanning the centuries is right out Mr Mueller, don't even think about it buddy"
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:48 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:48 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
WaPo: Secret Service vacates Trump Tower command post in lease dispute with president’s company
posted by zachlipton at 2:51 PM on August 3, 2017 [67 favorites]
The Secret Service has vacated its command post inside Trump Tower in Manhattan following a dispute between the government and President Trump’s company over the terms of a lease for the space, according to two people familiar with the discussions.Uh, Trump is demanding more money to lease space to the Secret Service to protect his building where he doesn't even go anymore? And his people suggested they look elsewhere?
Previously, the Secret Service had stationed its command post — which houses supervisors and backup agents on standby in case of an emergency — in a Trump Tower unit one floor below the president’s apartment.
...
On Thursday, a spokeswoman for the Trump Organization said the government should seek space in another location.
“After much consideration, it was mutually determined that it would be more cost effective and logistically practical for the Secret Service to lease space elsewhere,” spokeswoman Amanda Miller wrote in an email to The Washington Post.
The details of the dispute between the Trump Organization and the Secret Service were not clear Thursday. Two people familiar with the discussions said the sticking points included the price and other conditions of the lease.
posted by zachlipton at 2:51 PM on August 3, 2017 [67 favorites]
Trump Org tries to siphon government funds, security detail underlings express reluctance, Trump Org sends security detail underlings packing
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:55 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:55 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
I smell a better deal coming!
posted by rc3spencer at 2:55 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by rc3spencer at 2:55 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Gov. Jim Justice from WV apparently switched from Republican to Democrat in 2015. And now two years later he is switching back from Democrat to Republican. Truly a man of unwavering principle.
posted by Justinian at 2:56 PM on August 3, 2017 [37 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 2:56 PM on August 3, 2017 [37 favorites]
Truly a man of unwavering principle
And impeccable timing!
posted by Room 641-A at 2:58 PM on August 3, 2017 [27 favorites]
And impeccable timing!
posted by Room 641-A at 2:58 PM on August 3, 2017 [27 favorites]
Or, Trump Org got wind of impending legal action related to the obvious conflict of interest, and preemptively tried to undermine it by evicting the Secret Service. But that suggests a level of damage control belied by their earlier behavior.
posted by darkstar at 2:59 PM on August 3, 2017
posted by darkstar at 2:59 PM on August 3, 2017
that it is part of the reason why we're here having this totally insane conversation in the first place, and how the Democratic party threw away a fully grass roots populist mandate, ignored the rising threat of the alt-right and disenfranchised working class and then plugged in Clinton instead of Sanders
It's what they get for neglecting their Powder Milk biscuits, the biscuits that give you the will to get up and do the things that need to be done.
Heavens, they're tasty and expeditious.
posted by octobersurprise at 2:59 PM on August 3, 2017 [17 favorites]
It's what they get for neglecting their Powder Milk biscuits, the biscuits that give you the will to get up and do the things that need to be done.
Heavens, they're tasty and expeditious.
posted by octobersurprise at 2:59 PM on August 3, 2017 [17 favorites]
Of course, the real mystery is what dumb one-word epithet Trump will use to insult the Wall Street Journal now that they're in the scoop game.
posted by theodolite at 3:01 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 3:01 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
I missed it on the first read but am pointing out here that there are TWO Senate bills to protect special counsel Mueller (one is Tillis-Coons, the other is Graham-Booker):
Buzzfeed: Bipartisan Groups Of Senators Are Introducing Bills To Make Firing The Special Counsel More Difficult
Buzzfeed: Bipartisan Groups Of Senators Are Introducing Bills To Make Firing The Special Counsel More Difficult
Sens. Thom Tillis and Chris Coons — both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee — introduced the Special Counsel Integrity Act on Thursday.posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 3:02 PM on August 3, 2017 [24 favorites]
Meanwhile, Sens. Lindsey Graham, Cory Booker, Sheldon Whitehouse and Richard Blumenthal introduced a similar bill — the Special Counsel Independence Protection Act — on Thursday as well.
The Tillis-Coons bill would allow for court review of any firing of any special counsel, and is similar to a provision in the independent counsel law that Congress let expire in the 1990s.
The Graham-Booker-Whitehouse-Blumenthal bill would go a step further, requiring the attorney general to go to court seeking approval before removing any special counsel.
Justice running as a Democrat was a stunt, apparently. He promised to accept a salary of $1 per year (the man is a billionaire, after all) in order to get rid of the sitting governor, who is a Republican. Even as a Dem he was vocally pro-Trump. He was a total DINO, as it were - appropriately enough for someone so hung up on fossil fuels.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 3:04 PM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 3:04 PM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
It's what they get for neglecting their Powder Milk biscuits,
luckily, all is not lost:
one little thing can revive a guy
and that is a piece of rhubarb pie
serve it up, nice and hot
maybe things aren't as bad as you thought
posted by entropicamericana at 3:04 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
luckily, all is not lost:
one little thing can revive a guy
and that is a piece of rhubarb pie
serve it up, nice and hot
maybe things aren't as bad as you thought
posted by entropicamericana at 3:04 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
I missed it on the first read but am pointing out here that there are TWO Senate bills to protect special counsel Mueller (one is Tillis-Coons, the other is Graham-Booker)
So does this mean Mueller has agreed to confine his investigation to the executive branch?
posted by dilaudid at 3:05 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
So does this mean Mueller has agreed to confine his investigation to the executive branch?
posted by dilaudid at 3:05 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Justice running as a Democrat was a stunt, apparently. He promised to accept a salary of $1 per year (the man is a billionaire, after all) in order to get rid of the sitting governor, who is a Republican. Even as a Dem he was vocally pro-Trump. He was a total DINO, as it were - appropriately enough for someone so hung up on fossil fuels.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 7:04 AM on August 4 [+] [!]
You know that thing about how we're not supposed to purity test...I mean...there are maybe times where it's okay.
posted by saysthis at 3:08 PM on August 3, 2017 [27 favorites]
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 7:04 AM on August 4 [+] [!]
You know that thing about how we're not supposed to purity test...I mean...there are maybe times where it's okay.
posted by saysthis at 3:08 PM on August 3, 2017 [27 favorites]
Bipartisan Groups Of Senators Are Introducing Bills To Make Firing The Special Counsel More Difficult
They know he's dangerous. They know he's guilty. They want to impeach him and convict him, or force him to resign. All they need is a criminal charge. Perhaps that will be enough to open the floodgates of Republican voters saying, "I always knew he was a crook."
They really do not want to have to deal with a new constitutional order in which a President is able to prevent a criminal investigation into himself with impunity.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:09 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
They know he's dangerous. They know he's guilty. They want to impeach him and convict him, or force him to resign. All they need is a criminal charge. Perhaps that will be enough to open the floodgates of Republican voters saying, "I always knew he was a crook."
They really do not want to have to deal with a new constitutional order in which a President is able to prevent a criminal investigation into himself with impunity.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:09 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster has concluded that Rice did nothing wrong, according to two U.S. intelligence officials who spoke to me on condition of anonymity. That might explain why Trump has yet to declassify more information on the prior administration's unmasking requests.
Some more info on Rice and McMaster.
Circa (yes, rightwing, let's give the Trump Jr/Russia meeting story to them, Circa): A letter from H.R. McMaster said Susan Rice will keep her top-secret security clearance
Some more info on Rice and McMaster.
Circa (yes, rightwing, let's give the Trump Jr/Russia meeting story to them, Circa): A letter from H.R. McMaster said Susan Rice will keep her top-secret security clearance
Almost one month after it was disclosed that former President Obama's National Security Adviser Susan Rice was unmasking members of President Trump’s team and other Americans, Trump’s own national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, sent an official letter giving her unfettered and continuing access to classified information and waiving her “need-to-know” requirement on anything she viewed or received during her tenure, Circa has confirmed.posted by chris24 at 3:10 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
The undated and unclassified letter from McMaster was sent in the mail to Rice's home during the last week of April. Trump was not aware of the letter or McMaster’s decision, according to two Senior West Wing officials and an intelligence official, who spoke to Circa on condition that they not be named.
...
“Basically, this letter which was signed in the last week of April undercuts the president’s assertion that Susan Rice’s unmasking activity was inappropriate. In essence, anybody who committed a violation as she did would not be given access to classified information,” said a senior West Wing official, who was shown the document by Circa and verified its authenticity. “In fact, they would have their security clearance and right to 'need-to-know' stripped.”
the Democratic party threw away a fully grass roots populist mandate, ignored the rising threat of the alt-right and disenfranchised working class and then plugged in Clinton instead of Sanders
those fucking primary voters, man. always doing what they want and not what they're told.
I don't know that this will go undeleted long enough to be noticed, but the idea that you can make contempt for Garrison Keillor into a special privilege held only by fans of Bernie Sanders is profoundly offensive. This Clinton-liker not only hates him more than you do, I bet I'm further from the boomer generation than you as well.
posted by queenofbithynia at 3:27 PM on August 3, 2017 [35 favorites]
those fucking primary voters, man. always doing what they want and not what they're told.
I don't know that this will go undeleted long enough to be noticed, but the idea that you can make contempt for Garrison Keillor into a special privilege held only by fans of Bernie Sanders is profoundly offensive. This Clinton-liker not only hates him more than you do, I bet I'm further from the boomer generation than you as well.
posted by queenofbithynia at 3:27 PM on August 3, 2017 [35 favorites]
All this talk about prosecutors and amazing law teams is exciting how do I take down the president I want in on this
posted by gucci mane at 3:32 PM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by gucci mane at 3:32 PM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
maybe tattoo an ice-cream cone on your face idk
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:34 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:34 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Can we drop the Garrison Keillor discussion/hate-on? It has really become tiresome.
posted by haiku warrior at 3:37 PM on August 3, 2017 [38 favorites]
posted by haiku warrior at 3:37 PM on August 3, 2017 [38 favorites]
That "unmasking" bullshit was three months ago? Christ on a cracker.
No, not that unmasking bullshit.
posted by petebest at 3:41 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
No, not that unmasking bullshit.
posted by petebest at 3:41 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
If we're going to do a hate-on at radio 'personalities' who should have retired years ago, how about Trump's buddy Howard Stern? Baba booey.
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:42 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:42 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
I occasionally think with deep, intense longing about being one Mueller's office drones. Like, not even doing anything super Important. You could literally stick me in a windowless room doing tedious document review! I would be happy to receive the emails from the Important people all "please print" and "please pull this file"! If they have a Wall of Crazy, I would be honored to tack things to it! I JUST WANT TO BE IN THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENS, shuffling papers, reading all the boring stuff, running time-consuming Lexis searches.
posted by yasaman at 3:42 PM on August 3, 2017 [89 favorites]
posted by yasaman at 3:42 PM on August 3, 2017 [89 favorites]
It's what they get for neglecting their Powder Milk biscuits,
luckily, all is not lost:
one little thing can revive a guy
and that is a piece of rhubarb pie
serve it up, nice and hot
maybe things aren't as bad as you thought
posted by entropicamericana at 6:04 PM on 8/3
Eponysterical?
posted by rabbitrabbit at 3:42 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
luckily, all is not lost:
one little thing can revive a guy
and that is a piece of rhubarb pie
serve it up, nice and hot
maybe things aren't as bad as you thought
posted by entropicamericana at 6:04 PM on 8/3
Eponysterical?
posted by rabbitrabbit at 3:42 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
@matthewamiller (MSNBC Justice Analyst)
We're about to see what happens when a White House that runs on a culture of lying collides with a process where lying means jail time.
posted by chris24 at 3:43 PM on August 3, 2017 [64 favorites]
We're about to see what happens when a White House that runs on a culture of lying collides with a process where lying means jail time.
posted by chris24 at 3:43 PM on August 3, 2017 [64 favorites]
Tom Nichols, Federalist: It’s Not Good To See So Many Generals In The White House
[…] trying to shore up our worries about the president by surrounding him with generals is dangerous idea. In almost every developed society, military officers think of themselves as more honorable and upright than the civilians around them, and to lean on the generals when the White House is off the rails encourages the notion that the officer corps is the only real reservoir of virtue and competence in the nation. It’s a deeply unhealthy and wrong-headed notion, especially in a constitutional republic.posted by Johnny Wallflower at 3:43 PM on August 3, 2017 [36 favorites]
Retirement is a fig leaf that does not solve this problem. Generals are still generals even when they retire: it’s why we address them by their rank even when they leave their command. (John F. Kennedy, in talking with his predecessor Dwight Eisenhower, referred to him as “general,” and Ike called the much younger JFK “Mr. President.”) Mattis had to get a waiver to serve as secretary of Defense specifically because the legislature, wisely, decided to put at least seven years of distance between wearing a uniform and assuming the top civilian defense post, and only to allow exceptions at the sufferance of the entire Congress.
The American tradition has until recently been a model to other nations. It is based on the idea that the experts in politics and the experts in violence maintain autonomy in completely separate domains, even though for the sake of coherent policy they must overlap on occasion. The generals and admirals do not decide national priorities; in return, the civilians do not micro-manage the military or its daily operations. The voters, for their part, are expected to choose civilians, not military officers, to exercise political judgment.
Oh, and hey, maybe important, maybe not re Flynn and Cambridge Analytica. From AP's Chad Day and Stephen Braun:
President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has disclosed new income and consulting roles that he previously left off his public financial filing, including payments from the Trump transition team and a brief advisory role with a firm related to a controversial data analysis company that aided the Trump campaign.posted by yasaman at 3:44 PM on August 3, 2017 [26 favorites]
A person close to Flynn told The Associated Press on Thursday that the retired U.S. Army lieutenant general is amending his disclosure to show that near the end of the election, Flynn entered into a consulting agreement with SCL Group. The Virginia-based company is related to Cambridge Analytica, the data mining and analysis firm that worked last year with Trump’s presidential campaign.
David Graham at The Atlantic has a decent look at the Turnbull and Peña Nieto transcripts, Leaked Transcripts Show How Foreign Leaders Manipulate Trump:
Two countries, two leaders, two approaches—yet both succeeded, for different reasons. The calls with Malcolm Turnbull and Enrique Peña Nieto are not only a valuable document of how diplomacy works; they would also set a pattern. Time and again, foreign leaders have found that Trump is hardly the hardened negotiator he claims, but is instead a pushover. If they can get into a one-on-one conversation with Trump, they can usually convince him to come around to their position. If that was true on paying for the wall and taking refugees, it stands to reason it would be true for lesser Trump priorities, too.posted by peeedro at 3:47 PM on August 3, 2017 [31 favorites]
And if Turnbull and Peña Nieto were able to manipulate Dumb Donald, just imagine what Putin accomplished in his 'longer than expected' conversations with nobody around to transcribe...
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:55 PM on August 3, 2017 [39 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:55 PM on August 3, 2017 [39 favorites]
Rally livestream (YT). Camera currently pointed at black drapes while chat rages.
posted by christopherious at 4:03 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by christopherious at 4:03 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
If they can get into a one-on-one conversation with Trump, they can usually convince him to come around to their position.
Yeah but importantly he'll come around to their position only until the moment someone else or something he wants makes him turn it around again. He has no principles and no honor and words are just words to him.
posted by jason_steakums at 4:10 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
Yeah but importantly he'll come around to their position only until the moment someone else or something he wants makes him turn it around again. He has no principles and no honor and words are just words to him.
posted by jason_steakums at 4:10 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
There is a point where the simpler word suffices.
"Eschew obfuscation" is my motto.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 4:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [18 favorites]
"Eschew obfuscation" is my motto.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 4:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [18 favorites]
TMZ: Sean Spicer Turns Down Dancing with the Stars
"The change you voted for is happening every single day. Everyone in this arena is united by shared values. We believe in God, we believe in family." Just a few dog whistles here.
posted by zachlipton at 4:15 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
"The change you voted for is happening every single day. Everyone in this arena is united by shared values. We believe in God, we believe in family." Just a few dog whistles here.
posted by zachlipton at 4:15 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
These never ending amendments to disclosure forms are annoying. Does there ever come a point where we can just say they failed to disclose something?
posted by diogenes at 4:18 PM on August 3, 2017 [18 favorites]
posted by diogenes at 4:18 PM on August 3, 2017 [18 favorites]
@AndrewCMcCarthy (Contributing Editor at National Review & Former Chief Asst. U.S. Attorney)
This is officially criminal now. You don't impanel a grand jury for a counterintelligence investigation.
posted by chris24 at 4:18 PM on August 3, 2017 [41 favorites]
This is officially criminal now. You don't impanel a grand jury for a counterintelligence investigation.
posted by chris24 at 4:18 PM on August 3, 2017 [41 favorites]
Yeah but importantly he'll come around to their position only until the moment someone else or something he wants makes him turn it around again.
The full faith and credit of the United States of America is now measured in goldfish lifespans.
posted by cmfletcher at 4:19 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
The full faith and credit of the United States of America is now measured in goldfish lifespans.
posted by cmfletcher at 4:19 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
VALAR POPCORNIS
I'm inordinately pleased that this has leaked out of Fanfare now.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 4:19 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
I'm inordinately pleased that this has leaked out of Fanfare now.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 4:19 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
Watching the livestream... it's pretty full-on fash. Birthright of freedom.
But somehow, I think of the three words 'Federal Grand Jury', and I skip ten years into the future, and I'm seeing this rally on a clip show about five minutes before the one of 45 on the stand, under oath, unable to say a word.
posted by Devonian at 4:21 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
But somehow, I think of the three words 'Federal Grand Jury', and I skip ten years into the future, and I'm seeing this rally on a clip show about five minutes before the one of 45 on the stand, under oath, unable to say a word.
posted by Devonian at 4:21 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
Congratulations to everyone who guessed the announcement is the governor party switching thing
posted by theodolite at 4:23 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 4:23 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Newsweek cover for this week.
I can't decide if the Cheetos are the best part, or if that first photograph is
posted by miratime at 4:23 PM on August 3, 2017 [21 favorites]
I can't decide if the Cheetos are the best part, or if that first photograph is
posted by miratime at 4:23 PM on August 3, 2017 [21 favorites]
Seung Min Kim (via Twitter): The Senate is setting up a host of pro forma sessions right now thru September so recess appointments can't occur. cc @realDonaldTrump
As Charles Pierce notes: This is a Republican majority doing this.
posted by Atom Eyes at 4:26 PM on August 3, 2017 [61 favorites]
As Charles Pierce notes: This is a Republican majority doing this.
posted by Atom Eyes at 4:26 PM on August 3, 2017 [61 favorites]
This is officially criminal now
The President has been saying this investigation is criminal for months
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 4:26 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
The President has been saying this investigation is criminal for months
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 4:26 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
As Charles Pierce notes: This is a Republican majority doing this.
True, but if they didn't co-operate the Democrats would force it using a filibuster of the motion to adjourn.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 4:28 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
True, but if they didn't co-operate the Democrats would force it using a filibuster of the motion to adjourn.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 4:28 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Newsweek cover for this week.
I can't decide if the Cheetos are the best part, or if that first photograph is
This just confused me so much. I totally forgot that I had installed a plugin.
I'm all 'but what does a cat sitting in a box have to do with Trump and cheetos and why is Newsweek using a picture of a cat sitting in a box and why is this being posted here....oh...'
The plugin changes pictures of Trump into cat pictures.
posted by Jalliah at 4:28 PM on August 3, 2017 [35 favorites]
Steve Schmidt loses it over White House in ‘meltdown’ mode: ‘We’ll pay a price for that soon’:
“This White House has been in a state of meltdown for some time,” Schmidt said during a Thursday episode of “Deadline” on MSNBC. “And it seems that the events that are occurring last week, this week are just simply overwhelming it.”
...
“The totality of all of this is it makes the world more dangerous and it makes the world more unstable,” he continued. “And that’s the big take away from this week is the degree to which when you put it all together, he is fueling instability. And I don’t know what day it will be and I don’t know what hour in that day, but we’ll pay a price for that at some hour soon in this country. This is serious business. That’s a building where life and death decisions get made, and these people couldn’t be more out matched in dealing with this stuff.”
Note that this is the same man who was made responsible for Sarah Palin.
posted by Evilspork at 4:29 PM on August 3, 2017 [17 favorites]
“This White House has been in a state of meltdown for some time,” Schmidt said during a Thursday episode of “Deadline” on MSNBC. “And it seems that the events that are occurring last week, this week are just simply overwhelming it.”
...
“The totality of all of this is it makes the world more dangerous and it makes the world more unstable,” he continued. “And that’s the big take away from this week is the degree to which when you put it all together, he is fueling instability. And I don’t know what day it will be and I don’t know what hour in that day, but we’ll pay a price for that at some hour soon in this country. This is serious business. That’s a building where life and death decisions get made, and these people couldn’t be more out matched in dealing with this stuff.”
Note that this is the same man who was made responsible for Sarah Palin.
posted by Evilspork at 4:29 PM on August 3, 2017 [17 favorites]
Ah, Jim Justice.... "Have we not heard enough about the Russians?"
No, sir. We have not even begun.
posted by Devonian at 4:30 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
No, sir. We have not even begun.
posted by Devonian at 4:30 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
Newsweek cover for this week.
Oh, that will make him SO MAD. He changed the Oval Office curtains to gold.
posted by Mchelly at 4:33 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Oh, that will make him SO MAD. He changed the Oval Office curtains to gold.
posted by Mchelly at 4:33 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Not gonna lie, the idea that we might get to see those fucking tax returns sometime soon is pretty exciting. I want every dirty little transaction, every shell corporation, every tax dodge, every fake charity a matter of public record, and the Trumps exposed as the mostly-broke, weak-con, lying-ass tasteless traitorous losers they are. I wanna see them broke and miserable and at least some of them in jail.
posted by emjaybee at 4:33 PM on August 3, 2017 [45 favorites]
posted by emjaybee at 4:33 PM on August 3, 2017 [45 favorites]
I kind of admire Jim Justice's willingness to jump onto a flaming bandwagon that has already gone over the cliff's edge. That takes chutzpah.
posted by diogenes at 4:34 PM on August 3, 2017 [21 favorites]
posted by diogenes at 4:34 PM on August 3, 2017 [21 favorites]
military officers think of themselves as more honorable and upright than the civilians around them
I cannot speak to this, because I'm a veteran and I'm currently choking on my own bile. Thank God I can type this rather than speak it.
and to lean on the generals when the White House is off the rails encourages the notion that the officer corps is the only real reservoir of virtue and competence in the nation
By and large my experience was that officers are usually the least useful people in the room, and I've found a shocking number of (former) officers willing to back that opinion up when I've voiced it, but that's just me.
I don't really expect this contributes much to the discussion and hand and Nichols isn't wrong about all the ex-generals being a problem as a collective (and individually in many cases). Mostly I just wanted to thank this regime for being the gift of Oh God You Know What Else Pisses Me Off? that keeps on giving.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 4:35 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
I cannot speak to this, because I'm a veteran and I'm currently choking on my own bile. Thank God I can type this rather than speak it.
and to lean on the generals when the White House is off the rails encourages the notion that the officer corps is the only real reservoir of virtue and competence in the nation
By and large my experience was that officers are usually the least useful people in the room, and I've found a shocking number of (former) officers willing to back that opinion up when I've voiced it, but that's just me.
I don't really expect this contributes much to the discussion and hand and Nichols isn't wrong about all the ex-generals being a problem as a collective (and individually in many cases). Mostly I just wanted to thank this regime for being the gift of Oh God You Know What Else Pisses Me Off? that keeps on giving.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 4:35 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
From Alexander Nazaryan's Newsweek piece linked above:
posted by yasaman at 4:35 PM on August 3, 2017 [53 favorites]
In late April, the president confessed that he was both overwhelmed and frustrated. “I loved my previous life,” he said. “I had so many things going. This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier.” That may be the most remarkable admission ever made by a sitting American president. Clinton’s infidelities, Nixon’s paranoia: Those were the usual failings of the powerful. But a disdain for power because wielding power is harder than pretending to wield power in a reality television series? That is Al Bundy coming home from another miserable day of work at the New Market Mall, cracking open a beer and wondering when his nightmare of shoe-selling drudgery will end.The whole thing is great, dripping with well-sourced contempt.
posted by yasaman at 4:35 PM on August 3, 2017 [53 favorites]
Jim Justice is like a rat climbing onto a sinking vessel.
posted by diogenes at 4:37 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by diogenes at 4:37 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
Trump is talking about Russians. It is insane.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 4:38 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 4:38 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Jim Justice And His Sense Of Timing would make a nice title for a children's picture book.
posted by dng at 4:39 PM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by dng at 4:39 PM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
It's August and the President is still presiding over an areana full of people chanting "lock her up."
posted by zachlipton at 4:39 PM on August 3, 2017 [14 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 4:39 PM on August 3, 2017 [14 favorites]
Hey all. We need to stop all this Russia talk. Your President says it's all made up and just a cover for the greatest loss in American history.
posted by Jalliah at 4:40 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
It's August and the President is still presiding over an arena full of people chanting "lock her up."
Give it a year and he'll be reduced to getting his cellmate chanting it, one last time, for old time's sake.
posted by dng at 4:42 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
Give it a year and he'll be reduced to getting his cellmate chanting it, one last time, for old time's sake.
posted by dng at 4:42 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
It's August and the President is still presiding over an areana full of people chanting "lock her up."
Are the rallies getting more frequent? Have we had back-to-back weeks before?
posted by diogenes at 4:42 PM on August 3, 2017
Are the rallies getting more frequent? Have we had back-to-back weeks before?
posted by diogenes at 4:42 PM on August 3, 2017
Look at all of those useful idiots eating up his lies.
posted by entropicamericana at 4:43 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by entropicamericana at 4:43 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
When he said that Hillary "gave away our Uranium to some very angry Russians" the noise made by the crowd was very fucking ominous. They want violence and he's aiming it at her.
posted by Rust Moranis at 4:43 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by Rust Moranis at 4:43 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
"Steal our jobs and drain our wealth." [Trump, real]
Blech!
posted by puddledork at 4:43 PM on August 3, 2017
Blech!
posted by puddledork at 4:43 PM on August 3, 2017
All ir needs is an 'Elect me in 2020, and I alone will deliver'.
posted by Devonian at 4:46 PM on August 3, 2017
posted by Devonian at 4:46 PM on August 3, 2017
This rally is terrifying
He should be terrified
This is what Trump does when he is terrified. Or at least as much as he is capable of being terrified. This go bad. He gets up, says things his crowd will like and basks in the adulation. Things is what makes him feel better. This is what he needs. He gets high.
Then boom it's crash time when reality starts smacking him around again.
posted by Jalliah at 4:46 PM on August 3, 2017 [19 favorites]
He should be terrified
This is what Trump does when he is terrified. Or at least as much as he is capable of being terrified. This go bad. He gets up, says things his crowd will like and basks in the adulation. Things is what makes him feel better. This is what he needs. He gets high.
Then boom it's crash time when reality starts smacking him around again.
posted by Jalliah at 4:46 PM on August 3, 2017 [19 favorites]
The very existence of these rallies (let alone the content) is unprecedented, right?
posted by diogenes at 4:46 PM on August 3, 2017 [35 favorites]
posted by diogenes at 4:46 PM on August 3, 2017 [35 favorites]
JR 2017 WRITER: listen I know we got a lot in the stew right now but I have a great idea for a walk-on character. he's a democratic governor who switches part--
HEAD 2017 WRITER: look, we just wrapped the Scaramucci arc, and we got the whole grand jury thing ramping up. this isn't the time
JR 2017 WRITER: his name is super on the nose ironic. Jim Justice
HEAD 2017 WRITER: *sigh* fine
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:48 PM on August 3, 2017 [67 favorites]
HEAD 2017 WRITER: look, we just wrapped the Scaramucci arc, and we got the whole grand jury thing ramping up. this isn't the time
JR 2017 WRITER: his name is super on the nose ironic. Jim Justice
HEAD 2017 WRITER: *sigh* fine
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:48 PM on August 3, 2017 [67 favorites]
Have his eyes always been tiny slits?
posted by double bubble at 4:51 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by double bubble at 4:51 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
That he continues to walk off to "You Can't Always Get What you Want" is still one of the strangest things of our time.
posted by zachlipton at 4:57 PM on August 3, 2017 [50 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 4:57 PM on August 3, 2017 [50 favorites]
Tidings from my email inbox:
Any other time I'd be annoyed they're "riffing" on something that's done such good as "it gets better".
The full faith and credit of the United States of America is now measured in goldfish lifespans.
The goldfish in my pantry expire in December. I don't think I can wait that long.
So. What about Pence? If Mueller is indeed going after old financial crimes because they can't make collusion stick, what about Pence??????
posted by tilde at 4:58 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
IT GETS BETTERIt does indeed get better, Old Navy. It does indeed.
Inbox
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Old Navy6:14 PM (1 hour ago)
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to [tilde]@[webmail].com
The more you shop, the more you save: 35% OFF on $75 or more. View in web browser.
Any other time I'd be annoyed they're "riffing" on something that's done such good as "it gets better".
The full faith and credit of the United States of America is now measured in goldfish lifespans.
The goldfish in my pantry expire in December. I don't think I can wait that long.
So. What about Pence? If Mueller is indeed going after old financial crimes because they can't make collusion stick, what about Pence??????
posted by tilde at 4:58 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Of course, none of this is of merely academic interest, but I'm interested to see how the internal contradictions in the Trump team play out. Bannon and his ilk are anti-Semites, Kushner And Ivanka are Orthodox Jews. It's one thing to find common cause when you're winning the Presidency, it's quite another in the face of sworn testimony and indictments.
posted by OmieWise at 5:01 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by OmieWise at 5:01 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Jim Justice: "You know what else is unbelievable? This man now has a chief of staff that all of us can pronounce his first name." [video]
Charming guy.
posted by zachlipton at 5:01 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
Charming guy.
posted by zachlipton at 5:01 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
A large portion of the audience in West Virginia seemed to be teenagers who just wanted to get some video for their snapchat stories.
posted by diogenes at 5:02 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by diogenes at 5:02 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
That's awful. Luckily none of us here on Metafilter have ever stooped to making fun of Reince Priebus's name.
posted by theodolite at 5:04 PM on August 3, 2017 [40 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 5:04 PM on August 3, 2017 [40 favorites]
Oh! I assumed it was some kind of racism about Obama's chief of staffs. I was going through them like "Jack....no... Denis... no... Bill... no... Rahm? Really? It's one syllable." It didn't occur to me he was just mocking Obvious Anagram.
posted by Justinian at 5:06 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 5:06 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
Oh! I assumed it was some kind of racism about Obama's chief of staffs. I was going through them like "Jack....no... Denis... no... Bill... no... Rahm? Really? It's one syllable."
I'm pretty sure it was Pete that tripped him up.
posted by diogenes at 5:08 PM on August 3, 2017
I'm pretty sure it was Pete that tripped him up.
posted by diogenes at 5:08 PM on August 3, 2017
That's awful. Luckily none of us here on Metafilter have ever stooped to making fun of Reince Priebus's name.
my dude didn't even hazard an actual attempt at making fun of it, he just lazily threw a bloody scrap of ICKY FOREIGN out to the crowd
posted by prize bull octorok at 5:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
my dude didn't even hazard an actual attempt at making fun of it, he just lazily threw a bloody scrap of ICKY FOREIGN out to the crowd
posted by prize bull octorok at 5:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
Dallas News, Ruth May, "Tangled web connects Russian oligarch money to GOP campaigns"
posted by Freon at 5:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [69 favorites]
During the 2015-2016 election season, Ukrainian-born billionaire Leonid "Len" Blavatnik contributed $6.35 million to leading Republican candidates and incumbent senators. Mitch McConnell was the top recipient of Blavatnik's donations, collecting $2.5 million for his GOP Senate Leadership Fund under the names of two of Blavatnik's holding companies, Access Industries and AI Altep Holdings, according to Federal Election Commission documentsand OpenSecrets.org.Well...
Marco Rubio's Conservative Solutions PAC and his Florida First Project received $1.5 million through Blavatnik's two holding companies. Other high dollar recipients of funding from Blavatnik were PACS representing Wisconsin Goveror Scott Walker at $1.1 million, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham at $800,000, Ohio Governor John Kasich at $250,000 and Arizona Senator John McCain at $200,000.
posted by Freon at 5:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [69 favorites]
That may be the most remarkable admission ever made by a sitting American president.
Still not on a par with Harding's admission of complete incompetence and unsuitability for the job.
posted by Coventry at 5:15 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Still not on a par with Harding's admission of complete incompetence and unsuitability for the job.
posted by Coventry at 5:15 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Two other interesting notes:
The first is that the collusion goalposts have moved once again. Now it's "There were no Russians in our campaign. There never were." Then he asked the crowd if they saw any Russians around in West Virginia, Ohio, or Pennsylvania. Eventually, this will be down to the level of "Putin wasn't personally writing my speeches."
The other one is that Trump actually kind of made the hardest sell he ever has for a health care bill (which health care bill? nobody knows), just extremely late. He even at one point told people to call up their reps about it. He only sells the bill when it's dead, for some reason.
posted by zachlipton at 5:17 PM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
The first is that the collusion goalposts have moved once again. Now it's "There were no Russians in our campaign. There never were." Then he asked the crowd if they saw any Russians around in West Virginia, Ohio, or Pennsylvania. Eventually, this will be down to the level of "Putin wasn't personally writing my speeches."
The other one is that Trump actually kind of made the hardest sell he ever has for a health care bill (which health care bill? nobody knows), just extremely late. He even at one point told people to call up their reps about it. He only sells the bill when it's dead, for some reason.
posted by zachlipton at 5:17 PM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
The other one is that Trump actually kind of made the hardest sell he ever has for a health care bill (which health care bill? nobody knows), just extremely late. He even at one point told people to call up their reps about it. He only sells the bill when it's dead, for some reason.
ABC: Always be... covfefe?
posted by tivalasvegas at 5:26 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
ABC: Always be... covfefe?
posted by tivalasvegas at 5:26 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Politico: The Ugly History of Stephen Miller’s ‘Cosmopolitan’ Epithet
posted by Evilspork at 5:26 PM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Evilspork at 5:26 PM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
You know who else held rallies?
posted by Evilspork at 5:31 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Evilspork at 5:31 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
He only sells the bill when it's dead, for some reason.
Perhaps he knows the kind of bill the Republican Congress is willing to pass would be political death for him, but is too much of a coward to say so and risk taking some of the blame for it failing to pass.
posted by Coventry at 5:33 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Perhaps he knows the kind of bill the Republican Congress is willing to pass would be political death for him, but is too much of a coward to say so and risk taking some of the blame for it failing to pass.
posted by Coventry at 5:33 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
sold his coal mines to Russians for $600 million in 2012-recently bought them back for $5 mil.
that is one way to launder money, I think.
posted by vrakatar at 5:39 PM on August 3, 2017 [45 favorites]
that is one way to launder money, I think.
posted by vrakatar at 5:39 PM on August 3, 2017 [45 favorites]
Transactions that defy "open market" expectations are exactly the kind of thing that Mueller is looking for.
Especially if they're that egregious
posted by yesster at 5:40 PM on August 3, 2017 [26 favorites]
Especially if they're that egregious
posted by yesster at 5:40 PM on August 3, 2017 [26 favorites]
Perhaps he knows the kind of bill the Republican Congress is willing to pass would be political death for him, but is too much of a coward to say so and risk taking some of the blame for it failing to pass.
I think this assumes that he's less of a dimwitted fuckup than he actually is?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:41 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
I think this assumes that he's less of a dimwitted fuckup than he actually is?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:41 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
"recently" looks like it was November. Old news but more info on the new party re-flip
posted by mabelstreet at 5:41 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by mabelstreet at 5:41 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
that is one way to launder money, I think.
Yes, but the money flow is backwards for that; Justice ends us with the clean money rather than the Russians. Unless there is another deal we don't know about where he pays the Russians tons of cash for something.
posted by Justinian at 5:42 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Yes, but the money flow is backwards for that; Justice ends us with the clean money rather than the Russians. Unless there is another deal we don't know about where he pays the Russians tons of cash for something.
posted by Justinian at 5:42 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
You know who else held rallies?
posted by Evilspork at 9:31 AM on August 4 [+] [!]
Bernie Sanders, Australian gingers, and ferret legalization advocates?
posted by saysthis at 5:47 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by Evilspork at 9:31 AM on August 4 [+] [!]
Bernie Sanders, Australian gingers, and ferret legalization advocates?
posted by saysthis at 5:47 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
If the reserves are depleted, then it's entirely reasonable that a coal company could go from a valuation of $600 million to $5 million.
(but probably not in five years)
posted by Yowser at 5:50 PM on August 3, 2017
(but probably not in five years)
posted by Yowser at 5:50 PM on August 3, 2017
I'll gladly let you park 600 million in my asset if you promise to sell it back to me for 5. In the meantime it earns interest and can fund a nice beach house. Justice ends up with the clean money because the foreign actor has made enough money already, they just need a place to hide it, and they get influence as a dividend.
posted by vrakatar at 5:51 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by vrakatar at 5:51 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
The Gang Who Couldn't Loot Straight
posted by tonycpsu at 5:52 PM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by tonycpsu at 5:52 PM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
Checking out the merch at the rally:
@Molly Ball THEY SELL MAGA OVERALLS NOW
Come for the overalls, stay for the T-shirt with Trump as Calvin pissing on a snowflake.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:59 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
@Molly Ball THEY SELL MAGA OVERALLS NOW
Come for the overalls, stay for the T-shirt with Trump as Calvin pissing on a snowflake.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:59 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
I think this assumes that he's less of a dimwitted fuckup than he actually is?
I tend to think of him as an impulsive, demented, ignorant, arrogant fuckup, but he's needed at least a bit of cunning to get this far.
posted by Coventry at 6:01 PM on August 3, 2017
I tend to think of him as an impulsive, demented, ignorant, arrogant fuckup, but he's needed at least a bit of cunning to get this far.
posted by Coventry at 6:01 PM on August 3, 2017
The Gang Who Couldn't Loot Straight
To be fair (?), I think this has all been significantly more successful for the Russians than I think they could have imagined it would be. There are different levels of influence that invite different levels of scrutiny, and I think that they did what had to be done for, say, level [possible celebrity endorser/relatively minor politician], and now they find themselves in a whole other league of scrutiny [central national figure impossible to ignore]. I think they over-estimated the savvy of the American people, insofar as they assumed they wouldn't have their operation assigned this level of scrutiny.
posted by OmieWise at 6:01 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
To be fair (?), I think this has all been significantly more successful for the Russians than I think they could have imagined it would be. There are different levels of influence that invite different levels of scrutiny, and I think that they did what had to be done for, say, level [possible celebrity endorser/relatively minor politician], and now they find themselves in a whole other league of scrutiny [central national figure impossible to ignore]. I think they over-estimated the savvy of the American people, insofar as they assumed they wouldn't have their operation assigned this level of scrutiny.
posted by OmieWise at 6:01 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
The other one is that Trump actually kind of made the hardest sell he ever has for a health care bill (which health care bill? nobody knows), just extremely late. He even at one point told people to call up their reps about it. He only sells the bill when it's dead, for some reason.
It wouldn't hurt my head so much if Trump didn't attack Obamacare so hard from the left when he's pushing people to pass it from the right.
posted by Talez at 6:01 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
It wouldn't hurt my head so much if Trump didn't attack Obamacare so hard from the left when he's pushing people to pass it from the right.
posted by Talez at 6:01 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
These never ending amendments to disclosure forms are annoying. Does there ever come a point where we can just say they failed to disclose something?
if I recall correctly, acorrding to Ted Lieu, it's a crime not to disclose everything the first time. That doesn't mean you can't amend it, or that you'll be charged with a crime, but amemending your form doesn't automatically absolve you of the ommissions.
Then he asked the crowd if they saw any Russians around in West Virginia
Cities with the Highest Percentage of Russians in West Virginia
Lochgelly, WV -- Population: 100 -- % Russians: 32.08 -- National rank: #2
posted by Room 641-A at 6:02 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
if I recall correctly, acorrding to Ted Lieu, it's a crime not to disclose everything the first time. That doesn't mean you can't amend it, or that you'll be charged with a crime, but amemending your form doesn't automatically absolve you of the ommissions.
Then he asked the crowd if they saw any Russians around in West Virginia
Cities with the Highest Percentage of Russians in West Virginia
Lochgelly, WV -- Population: 100 -- % Russians: 32.08 -- National rank: #2
posted by Room 641-A at 6:02 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
Somebody was asking about the crowd size:
@Jenna Johnson The Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington, WV, has a capacity of 9,000 -- and it's packed for Trump's rally tonight.
Not as big as his last rally which was 45,000 Boy Scouts. But these people tonight are watching and listening to Trump voluntarily. I have to laugh at the idea of the Gold-plated Real Estate King being the Beloved Icon of West Virginia. It is truly a strange fit.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:03 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
@Jenna Johnson The Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington, WV, has a capacity of 9,000 -- and it's packed for Trump's rally tonight.
Not as big as his last rally which was 45,000 Boy Scouts. But these people tonight are watching and listening to Trump voluntarily. I have to laugh at the idea of the Gold-plated Real Estate King being the Beloved Icon of West Virginia. It is truly a strange fit.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:03 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
In a town of 100, how can 32.08% of them be anything? Are we talking about a 32 whole Russians and also one sliver of a Russian you can't see if he stands sideways? That might explain some things.
posted by lozierj at 6:10 PM on August 3, 2017 [27 favorites]
posted by lozierj at 6:10 PM on August 3, 2017 [27 favorites]
I tend to think of him as an impulsive, demented, ignorant, arrogant fuckup, but he's needed at least a bit of cunning to get this far.
On the one hand, sure, he's always seemed to me to have the same basic cunning as a con artist or skeevy salesman.
But on the other hand, getting this far implies that he'd in some way gone beyond what we would expect for an impulsive, demented, ignorant, arrogant fuckup of a white man who inherited a gazillion dollars. Which seems not the case?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:11 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
On the one hand, sure, he's always seemed to me to have the same basic cunning as a con artist or skeevy salesman.
But on the other hand, getting this far implies that he'd in some way gone beyond what we would expect for an impulsive, demented, ignorant, arrogant fuckup of a white man who inherited a gazillion dollars. Which seems not the case?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:11 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Perhaps he knows the kind of bill the Republican Congress is willing to pass would be political death for him, but is too much of a coward to say so and risk taking some of the blame for it failing to pass.
I think this assumes that he's less of a dimwitted fuckup than he actually is?
My theory: I think he's scared. He's scared of breaking stuff.
The biggest sign of this is his disinterest in intelligence briefings and natsec matters. He wants to bloviate about North Korea and all, but really, that shit is scary. His decisions can get people killed. Worse, what if he starts a war that doesn't end all pretty? He doesn't want to take the blame for that.
He doesn't want to look like a loser.
That's why he wants to outsource all this stuff. It's why he wants to leave everything to "the generals," why he wants his intel briefings in bullet points and picture books (also, yes, he's a fuckwit and he can't keep track of it anyway). If he outsources it, then he can blame the failures on others.
Legislation is the same thing. If it's something that goes through Congress, then it's "the Republicans" as a team and not just him. He only pipes up about the health care stuff because it was such a big part of the plank for so long, and because of his grudge against Obama. He knows he can't just walk away from that one without looking weak...but he tries.
It's also worth noting that the moment he took office, he was hit with one of the biggest mass protests in a long time (the Women's March). His first major action, the Muslim Ban, was an awful mess for a lot of people and the fight isn't over but in the initial stages he got beaten like he owed people money. (Ron Howard voice: He owes lots of people lots of money.) And considering the Flynn stuff, the Russia stuff, and all the rest?
He's scared. He doesn't want to look like a loser. And he knows he looks like more and more of a loser all the time. Because he is.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 6:11 PM on August 3, 2017 [53 favorites]
I think this assumes that he's less of a dimwitted fuckup than he actually is?
My theory: I think he's scared. He's scared of breaking stuff.
The biggest sign of this is his disinterest in intelligence briefings and natsec matters. He wants to bloviate about North Korea and all, but really, that shit is scary. His decisions can get people killed. Worse, what if he starts a war that doesn't end all pretty? He doesn't want to take the blame for that.
He doesn't want to look like a loser.
That's why he wants to outsource all this stuff. It's why he wants to leave everything to "the generals," why he wants his intel briefings in bullet points and picture books (also, yes, he's a fuckwit and he can't keep track of it anyway). If he outsources it, then he can blame the failures on others.
Legislation is the same thing. If it's something that goes through Congress, then it's "the Republicans" as a team and not just him. He only pipes up about the health care stuff because it was such a big part of the plank for so long, and because of his grudge against Obama. He knows he can't just walk away from that one without looking weak...but he tries.
It's also worth noting that the moment he took office, he was hit with one of the biggest mass protests in a long time (the Women's March). His first major action, the Muslim Ban, was an awful mess for a lot of people and the fight isn't over but in the initial stages he got beaten like he owed people money. (Ron Howard voice: He owes lots of people lots of money.) And considering the Flynn stuff, the Russia stuff, and all the rest?
He's scared. He doesn't want to look like a loser. And he knows he looks like more and more of a loser all the time. Because he is.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 6:11 PM on August 3, 2017 [53 favorites]
one sliver of a Russian you can't see if he stands sideways?
that's called a Kislyak
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 6:11 PM on August 3, 2017 [49 favorites]
that's called a Kislyak
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 6:11 PM on August 3, 2017 [49 favorites]
You might forget you had a meeting with .08 of a Russian.
posted by Room 641-A at 6:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
posted by Room 641-A at 6:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
Close enough. Jinx.
posted by Room 641-A at 6:13 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Room 641-A at 6:13 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
I'm hoping for a little peace and quiet tomorrow so I can catch up by reading some long-form articles I've bookmarked, like the Newsweek article. Oh no..wait..tomorrow is the beginning of the War on China. Well maybe when Trump flies off to begin his vacation.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:15 PM on August 3, 2017
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:15 PM on August 3, 2017
Daily Beast, Betsy Woodruff, Lachlan Markay Asawin Suebsaeng Mueller Crosses Trump’s ‘Red Line,’ As Aides Pray Trump Behaves
“The worry is what the president does now,” the official said. “Whether he does something that’s gonna make everything else even more difficult.”posted by zachlipton at 6:18 PM on August 3, 2017 [19 favorites]
The official alluded to Trump’s interview with the New York Times last month, in which he agreed that Mueller would cross a “red line” by expanding his investigation from alleged Russian election meddling into the Trump family’s finances. Jay Sekulow, a member of the president’s outside legal team, reiterated that position to CNN on Thursday. “Any inquiry from the special counsel that goes beyond the mandate specified in the appointment we would object to,” he said.
Mueller and his team are now firmly on the wrong side of that “red line,” and Trump staffers are worried at the prospect that he could follow through on his treat—or at the very least dig the White House deeper into a legal and public relations hole with ill-considered tweets or public statements that have become his hallmark.
...
For months, White House advisers have been urging the president—who has no qualms venting about Mueller and other top law-enforcement officials publicly—not to order the firing of Mueller, as aides generally recognize the “apocalyptic shitstorm,” as one White House adviser put it, that would result.
“[Trump] has gone up to the line of and flirted with the idea of firing [officials], including Sessions,” the Trump adviser said. “But we’re not at code red at all yet.”
...
Multiple senior members of Trump’s campaign—who all lost out on top slots in the Trump White House, some of whom continue to stay in contact with the president—contacted by The Daily Beast on Thursday evening could all only marvel at how lucky they were to not work in the administration in this time of that they “do not have to deal with this shit” today, as one bluntly noted.
But on the other hand, getting this far implies that he'd in some way gone beyond what we would expect for an impulsive, demented, ignorant, arrogant fuckup of a white man who inherited a gazillion dollars.
Ross Perot, Steve Forbes, John Kerry and Mitt Romney were all extraordinarily wealthy, and did not obtain the Presidency. Also, I heard the Trump campaign mostly paid for itself via donations. Is that true? Modulo the price of dooming his children and in-laws to ignominy and prison, of course.
posted by Coventry at 6:21 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Ross Perot, Steve Forbes, John Kerry and Mitt Romney were all extraordinarily wealthy, and did not obtain the Presidency. Also, I heard the Trump campaign mostly paid for itself via donations. Is that true? Modulo the price of dooming his children and in-laws to ignominy and prison, of course.
posted by Coventry at 6:21 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
one sliver of a Russian you can't see if he stands sideways?
that's called a Kislyak
You might forget you had a meeting with .08 of a Russian.
Guys, I can't tell if we're talking about politics or drinking at a bar anymore.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 6:22 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
that's called a Kislyak
You might forget you had a meeting with .08 of a Russian.
Guys, I can't tell if we're talking about politics or drinking at a bar anymore.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 6:22 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
Multiple senior members of Trump’s campaign—who all lost out on top slots in the Trump White House, some of whom continue to stay in contact with the president—contacted by The Daily Beast on Thursday evening could all only marvel at how lucky they were to not work in the administration in this time of that they “do not have to deal with this shit” today, as one bluntly noted.
hi Chris
posted by prize bull octorok at 6:23 PM on August 3, 2017 [53 favorites]
hi Chris
posted by prize bull octorok at 6:23 PM on August 3, 2017 [53 favorites]
Turns out it's relatively cheap to run a campaign by tapping into the xenophobic-racist-misogynistic motherlode.
posted by tivalasvegas at 6:24 PM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by tivalasvegas at 6:24 PM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
In a town of 100, how can 32.08% of them be anything? Are we talking about a 32 whole Russians and also one sliver of a Russian you can't see if he stands sideways? That might explain some things.
Nesting Russians? Of course as they get smaller they're going to be smaller and smaller parts of a %.
posted by Talez at 6:25 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
Nesting Russians? Of course as they get smaller they're going to be smaller and smaller parts of a %.
posted by Talez at 6:25 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
... he's always seemed to me to have the same basic cunning as a con artist or skeevy salesman.
I imagine whatever skills he currently has are almost entirely used-car-salesman tricks he picked up from his father's business by osmosis that have only resisted dementia because they've been used enough to become mannerisms.
posted by lozierj at 6:25 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
I imagine whatever skills he currently has are almost entirely used-car-salesman tricks he picked up from his father's business by osmosis that have only resisted dementia because they've been used enough to become mannerisms.
posted by lozierj at 6:25 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Turns out it's relatively cheap to run a campaign by tapping into the xenophobic-racist-misogynistic motherlode.
I'm not praising him for that, of course.
posted by Coventry at 6:27 PM on August 3, 2017
I'm not praising him for that, of course.
posted by Coventry at 6:27 PM on August 3, 2017
That's why he wants to outsource all this stuff...If he outsources it, then he can blame the failures on others.
Legislation is the same thing. If it's something that goes through Congress, then it's "the Republicans" as a team and not just him."
Not only that, but even the slimmest responsibility he acknowledges that the Executive branch may have in trying to push through important legislation is foisted off on his underlings. His public bullyjoking that Secretary Price "had better get the votes" to pass Trumpcare, and threatening to fire him if he didn't, was par for the course for DJFT, but unprecedented among former Chief Executives, AFAIK.
posted by darkstar at 6:30 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Legislation is the same thing. If it's something that goes through Congress, then it's "the Republicans" as a team and not just him."
Not only that, but even the slimmest responsibility he acknowledges that the Executive branch may have in trying to push through important legislation is foisted off on his underlings. His public bullyjoking that Secretary Price "had better get the votes" to pass Trumpcare, and threatening to fire him if he didn't, was par for the course for DJFT, but unprecedented among former Chief Executives, AFAIK.
posted by darkstar at 6:30 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
So with the Governor of West Virginia's announcement tonight that he's joining the Republican Party, that's 34 states, e.g., the number required for a Constitutional Convention, headed by GOP members. I am panicking.
posted by carmicha at 6:32 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by carmicha at 6:32 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
Once a Mainstream Media Corporation had him identified as a "best selling author", he's been getting by on self-promotion. Having the family name on big buildings with foundations that mobsters could use to dump bodies into helps too. And you can do a lot of damage and set up for much deeper disruption when you are considered "comic relief" in the Pop Culture.
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:34 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:34 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Second billboard bashing Sen. Mitch McConnell posted on I-65 south from The Courier-Journal (has pics of billboards! Sorry, I'm not familiar with The Courier-Journal but couldn't find other sources)
We've Had Enough!
You Make Us Sick!
#DitchMitch2020
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 6:35 PM on August 3, 2017 [24 favorites]
Indivisible Kentucky posted its final billboard on southbound Interstate 65 on Wednesday morning, which tells the Republican Majority Leader the group has “had enough.” ...Slogans:
"We’re inviting citizens to join us in this effort by taking pictures of the billboards (not while driving, of course!) and post them to social media with the hashtag #DitchMitch2020," the statement said.
We've Had Enough!
You Make Us Sick!
#DitchMitch2020
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 6:35 PM on August 3, 2017 [24 favorites]
So with the Governor of West Virginia's announcement tonight that he's joining the Republican Party, that's 34 states, e.g., the number required for a Constitutional Convention, headed by GOP members. I am panicking.
Don't. They need 34 legislatures, not governors, they have 32, and only I think 26 or 27 have passed convention measures, all of which are basically GOP stunt bills. They'd probably all have to pass something similar calling for a specific convention, all together. And the movement is a total clusterfuck.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:42 PM on August 3, 2017 [46 favorites]
Don't. They need 34 legislatures, not governors, they have 32, and only I think 26 or 27 have passed convention measures, all of which are basically GOP stunt bills. They'd probably all have to pass something similar calling for a specific convention, all together. And the movement is a total clusterfuck.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:42 PM on August 3, 2017 [46 favorites]
The answer to the question posed in the post title is almost certainly "no' (and the author notes that he thinks such a scheme would come from someone else in Trump's orbit), but I'm not betting against Joe Manchin doing something despicable and self-serving:
Is Trump Going to Try To Play 11-Dimensional Chess?
Is Trump Going to Try To Play 11-Dimensional Chess?
But now we know that if Manchin needs to be replaced, Justice will replace him with a Republican. And we also know that there could be a vacancy at the Department of Energy if, as has been rumored, Trump moves Rick Perry from there to the Department of Homeland Security, to replace the new White House chief of staff, John Kelly.posted by tonycpsu at 6:43 PM on August 3, 2017
So the follow[ing] could really happen: Perry goes to Homeland Security. Manchin goes to Energy. Justice picks a Republican replacement senator. And we get to go through the Obamacare repeal-and-replace nightmare all over again, because Trump just can't let it go.
Democratic Governors Association hitting hard at their former member:
For what it's worth, Manchin said today he's not taking a cabinet position and has no interest in changing parties himself.
posted by zachlipton at 6:45 PM on August 3, 2017 [18 favorites]
"Jim Justice deceived the state of West Virginia when he ran as a Democrat 8 months ago," DGA Executive Director Elizabeth Pearson wrote.Manchin goes to Energy.
...
"As Republicans have repeatedly said, Jim Justice owes millions in unpaid company taxes, after a deal with a Russian coal company," Pearson writes. "These debts have only worsened under Justice's term as governor."
"If President Trump cut a deal," she adds, "we hope it does not put U.S. taxpayers on the hook to bail out Jim Justice's personal finances."
For what it's worth, Manchin said today he's not taking a cabinet position and has no interest in changing parties himself.
posted by zachlipton at 6:45 PM on August 3, 2017 [18 favorites]
Keep in mind that even if 2/3 of the states proposed an amendment it would have to be ratified by 3/4 of the states. So they'd need 38 states with Republican legislatures. All of whom agreed on the amendment.
posted by Justinian at 6:46 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 6:46 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
So was Jim Justice Trump's big announcement for the night?
posted by Coventry at 6:55 PM on August 3, 2017
posted by Coventry at 6:55 PM on August 3, 2017
Justice was the big announcement, yes. And to think I spent the afternoon dreaming about what kind of cake to have the neighborhood pornographic cake shop make up for me if he somehow resigned.
posted by zachlipton at 6:58 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 6:58 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
he's needed at least a bit of cunning to get this far.
Ha! No. But let us put on our linguist hat:
His Putin's campaign, on the other hand? Yes. Quite cunning. Despite Trump.
posted by petebest at 7:04 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Ha! No. But let us put on our linguist hat:
Definition of cunningDexterous, crafty, insightful, wily? No. Trickery is at least arguable but I'd argue this bird is more cunning.
1: dexterous or crafty in the use of special resources (such as skill or knowledge) or in attaining an end "a cunning plotter"
2: displaying keen insight "a cunning observation"
3: characterized by wiliness and trickery "cunning schemes"
posted by petebest at 7:04 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Keep in mind that even if 2/3 of the states proposed an amendment it would have to be ratified by 3/4 of the states. So they'd need 38 states with Republican legislatures. All of whom agreed on the amendment.
There is no time limit on ratification by states. The 27th took over 200 years but ended up as the highest law in the land. Any 2/3rds right wing proposal turns into a long con land mine that get approved in a special session or by ballot props in strange years.
posted by cmfletcher at 7:04 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
There is no time limit on ratification by states. The 27th took over 200 years but ended up as the highest law in the land. Any 2/3rds right wing proposal turns into a long con land mine that get approved in a special session or by ballot props in strange years.
posted by cmfletcher at 7:04 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Keep in mind that even if 2/3 of the states proposed an amendment it would have to be ratified by 3/4 of the states. So they'd need 38 states with Republican legislatures. All of whom agreed on the amendment.
Yeah. I thought about that. You don't have to have 38 at once, just at one time. So you'd need 13 states to act as bulwarks.
HI, CA, OR, NV, IL, DE, MD, NJ, NY, RI, MA, VT would all never go triple Republican. D control of WA is holding on by its fingertips, if the Republicans hold there until 2020 and push over the edge expect new maps to see WA's house caucus go to 3D and 7R in 2022. Colorado is similar with the lower house on tenterhooks for R control and could go either way with enough ALEC money flowing in. Maine's house is barely holding on and NM is slipping.
The worrying thing is that we've seen that once given power, Republican legislators will burrow into the state like parasites to keep their seat margins ridiculously high. North Carolina for instance.
The firewall for runaway amendments is ever so thin. Concerted efforts in a handful of states could send vulnerable blue legislatures over the edge. Even more worrying is traditionally blue states that are struggling to have liberal control of their legislatures (I'm looking at you New York).
Trump may be a sinking ship in the eyes of all of us but the conservative base is sure as hell still there and still showing up to pull that lever. The leadership has never stopped looking for the moment to stab the knife into the heart of liberalism once and for all. And believe me, if ALEC gets their way they will have finished liberalism in this country once and for all.
posted by Talez at 7:06 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
Yeah. I thought about that. You don't have to have 38 at once, just at one time. So you'd need 13 states to act as bulwarks.
HI, CA, OR, NV, IL, DE, MD, NJ, NY, RI, MA, VT would all never go triple Republican. D control of WA is holding on by its fingertips, if the Republicans hold there until 2020 and push over the edge expect new maps to see WA's house caucus go to 3D and 7R in 2022. Colorado is similar with the lower house on tenterhooks for R control and could go either way with enough ALEC money flowing in. Maine's house is barely holding on and NM is slipping.
The worrying thing is that we've seen that once given power, Republican legislators will burrow into the state like parasites to keep their seat margins ridiculously high. North Carolina for instance.
The firewall for runaway amendments is ever so thin. Concerted efforts in a handful of states could send vulnerable blue legislatures over the edge. Even more worrying is traditionally blue states that are struggling to have liberal control of their legislatures (I'm looking at you New York).
Trump may be a sinking ship in the eyes of all of us but the conservative base is sure as hell still there and still showing up to pull that lever. The leadership has never stopped looking for the moment to stab the knife into the heart of liberalism once and for all. And believe me, if ALEC gets their way they will have finished liberalism in this country once and for all.
posted by Talez at 7:06 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
This is why ALEC fight so hard for balanced budget amendments in the states and nationally. Even if the populace decides they've had enough of conservative policies, a balanced budget amendment prevents any government from enacting liberal policies.
posted by Talez at 7:11 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by Talez at 7:11 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
Every time Trump has a "big announcement" the papers have something ready shove it out of the spotlight. First of all, can you imagine how angry this must be making Mr. "I Get the Best Ratings"? (I picture him stomping his feet and demanding THREE scoops of ice cream) Second, is there a reservoir of damaging info just waiting around for Donald to announce, "LOOK AT ME, BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!" so someone can publish? It sure seems like it sometimes.
posted by Glibpaxman at 7:13 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by Glibpaxman at 7:13 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Second, is there a reservoir of damaging info just waiting around for Donald to announce, "LOOK AT ME, BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!" so someone can publish? It sure seems like it sometimes.
It's more that there's damaging information about Trump every day, so it's bound to overlap with any announcement he makes.
posted by diogenes at 7:17 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
It's more that there's damaging information about Trump every day, so it's bound to overlap with any announcement he makes.
posted by diogenes at 7:17 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Trump Says Mueller Just Called Him and Said He’s the Most Innocent Person Ever.
posted by storybored at 7:21 PM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by storybored at 7:21 PM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
National Treasure Alexandra Petri, WaPo: I am not running for president; I just want to meet every cow and Iowan
But I am not running. I am just doing a year of travel, for normal reasons. Hey, I’m human, and what human can resist the chance to go to small-town Iowa, multiple times, to appear in photos with the great people I meet there? I’m only human! I am human.posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:22 PM on August 3, 2017 [27 favorites]
What do I have to do to convince people this is not a calculated political strategy? Seriously, what? I will do whatever that is, and take pictures of myself doing it, and write a post about it. Organically. As all of this has been.
Would someone who was running for office visit the hard workers in the train yards of Nebraska, or stop at a big truck stop in Iowa to understand that “unique lifestyle“? Or go to summer hockey practice in Minnetonka, have dinner with a group of Somali refugees or meet the hard-working scholars at Urban Prep Academy on the South Side of Chicago? Sure, I think they have wisdom that more of our elected officials could stand to hear and struggles we all should try harder to understand, but that’s not something that someone who wanted to be elected to office would say. But hey — maybe more politicians should.
“I’m visiting small towns in Iowa” is a normal sentence, said by many a billionaire who wants nothing.
Real fake tags people, real fake tags.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:24 PM on August 3, 2017 [36 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:24 PM on August 3, 2017 [36 favorites]
So with all this going on here one of the thing is Russia is doing.
From twitter Darren Kaplan
There's been a 5300% increase in the use of the hashtag "#FireMcMaster" by Russian bots and trolls. http://dashboard.securingdemocracy.org/ Seen this before
I took a peek at alt-right twitter Mike C and the like and it's mostly McMaster, deepstate McMaster blah blah. He's being called a traitor, anti-Isreal and pretty much anything else you can imagine. Also saw some indignation that McMaster et al are treating Trump like he's (r-word) and they are pissed at the Generals.
So this seems to be part of the game plan for whatever reason.
posted by Jalliah at 7:32 PM on August 3, 2017 [14 favorites]
Trump Says Mueller Just Called Him and Said He’s the Most Innocent Person Ever.
posted by storybored at 10:21 PM on August 3
[3 favorites +] [!]
Is Borowitz the new Rickroll?
posted by tilde at 7:33 PM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
And also, if what I said doesn't already have you shitting your pants at just how much the hardline conservatives are actually winning, keep in mind 38 states is the number for 51 states as well as 50. If a trifecta Republican congress wanted to go for broke could they could take a small slab of Wyoming like Uinta County R+70-something, and turn it into red as a tomato West Bumblefuck which would be another state to hit 38 with, another red house seat, and two extra red senators.
I don't think it could happen normally but with what's happening in North Carolina I think what we're seeing there is just a preview for the political Thunderdome that will preoccupy the post-Boomer generations.
posted by Talez at 7:34 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
I don't think it could happen normally but with what's happening in North Carolina I think what we're seeing there is just a preview for the political Thunderdome that will preoccupy the post-Boomer generations.
posted by Talez at 7:34 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Trump Says Mueller Just Called Him and Said He’s the Most Innocent Person Ever.
[real fake]
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:35 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
[real fake]
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:35 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Jalliah: So this seems to be part of the game plan for whatever reason.
Isn't mere chaos in the U.S. administration a plus for whatever nefarious plans Putin might be hatching?
posted by clawsoon at 7:37 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Isn't mere chaos in the U.S. administration a plus for whatever nefarious plans Putin might be hatching?
posted by clawsoon at 7:37 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
What do I have to do to convince people this is not a calculated political strategy? Seriously, what? I will do whatever that is, and take pictures of myself doing it, and write a post about it. Organically. As all of this has been.
The Zuck has hired one of the engineers of Hillary's Demise.
The Dems are fucked.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 7:38 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
The Zuck has hired one of the engineers of Hillary's Demise.
The Dems are fucked.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 7:38 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Is Borowitz the new Rickroll?
Borowitz is the new Rickroll where someone says "I am going to Rickroll you!" and then Astley starts playing and the person says "I am rickrolling you!" every 10 seconds or so.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 7:38 PM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
Borowitz is the new Rickroll where someone says "I am going to Rickroll you!" and then Astley starts playing and the person says "I am rickrolling you!" every 10 seconds or so.
posted by Aya Hirano on the Astral Plane at 7:38 PM on August 3, 2017 [15 favorites]
White House Statement on Mueller Grand Jury Copied Directly From Wall Street Journal Report (Justin Baragona, Mediaite)
In the WSJ story about the grand jury, Trump outside counsel Ty Cobb gave the paper a statement about how grand juries are supposed to be secret and that the administration is committed to working with Mueller.posted by Room 641-A at 7:39 PM on August 3, 2017 [17 favorites]
Shortly after the piece went up, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released the following statement. [screenshot]
And, right away, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins noticed that the White House had just copied and pasted what was in the WSJ and sent it out as their own statement. [screenshot]
However, it should be noted, that the very last sentence in the White House statement wasn’t in the WSJ report. So it appears that someone wanted to make sure a certain message was sent.
While cows are raised in Iowa, we are more famous for the pork industry around here.
There are more hogs in Iowa than humans.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 7:43 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
There are more hogs in Iowa than humans.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 7:43 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Can we organize massive public demonstrations when this fucker finally resigns that consist of vast, unbroken fields of signs emblazoned with nothing but the word "LOSER"? And can we force him to watch video of it nonstop in prison? It is, after all, the absolute most vile insult Trump knows.
posted by Room 101 at 7:47 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by Room 101 at 7:47 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
We've talked about this CNN report from earlier today in a couple of contexts, but I'm having a hard time parceling out how much this bit is new, because it's certainly explosive:
posted by zachlipton at 7:48 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
CNN has learned that investigators became more suspicious when they turned up intercepted communications that US intelligence agencies collected among suspected Russian operatives discussing their efforts to work with Manafort, who served as campaign chairman for three months, to coordinate information that could damage Hillary Clinton's election prospects, the US officials say. The suspected operatives relayed what they claimed were conversations with Manafort, encouraging help from the Russians.We knew that there are intercepted communications, but the part about suspected operatives relaying requests for help from Manafort sounds new to me. Of course, that could be disinformation, with people talking on lines they knew were likely to be intercepted, but still.
Manafort faces potential real troubles in the probe, according to current and former officials. Decades of doing business with foreign regimes with reputations for corruption, from the Philippines to Ukraine, had led to messy finances.
posted by zachlipton at 7:48 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
White House Statement on Mueller Grand Jury Copied Directly From Wall Street Journal Report
• • •
As Huckabee Sanders realizes she's bought this and now owns it. All of it. If that doesn't sound like 45 has left the building, I don't know what does.
It's all over except for the tweeting.
posted by tilde at 7:49 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
There are more hogs in Iowa than humans.
This is surprising for a place that doesn't seem to understand that pork is what BBQ is made of.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 7:53 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
This is surprising for a place that doesn't seem to understand that pork is what BBQ is made of.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 7:53 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
"Former FBI Director Jim Comey said three times the President is not under investigation and we have no reason to believe that has changed."
Dude, Trump should sue his lawyers for malpractice. *I* have reason to believe that has changed (if it ever was true) and all I do is read the news. I didn't even have to go to law school for that.
Also, three times, really? Damn, son, that proves it. Did you call "no take-backs" immediately? Did he pinky swear?
posted by ctmf at 7:54 PM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
Dude, Trump should sue his lawyers for malpractice. *I* have reason to believe that has changed (if it ever was true) and all I do is read the news. I didn't even have to go to law school for that.
Also, three times, really? Damn, son, that proves it. Did you call "no take-backs" immediately? Did he pinky swear?
posted by ctmf at 7:54 PM on August 3, 2017 [12 favorites]
If Zuck hires enough of "the engineers of Hillary's Demise", it increases the likelihood that any other serious Democrat may be MORE successful.
And Borowitz was hired by the New Yorker as a "one-man Onion" some time ago, in one of its less notable editorial moments.
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:56 PM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
And Borowitz was hired by the New Yorker as a "one-man Onion" some time ago, in one of its less notable editorial moments.
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:56 PM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
The key word in that sentence is "former." Just the fact that he is the Former FBI Director is enough treason to believe the President is now under investigation for the act of formerizing Comey.
Abusing the edit function to say that I meant to type "is enough reason," but I like my typo better.
posted by zachlipton at 7:56 PM on August 3, 2017 [25 favorites]
Abusing the edit function to say that I meant to type "is enough reason," but I like my typo better.
posted by zachlipton at 7:56 PM on August 3, 2017 [25 favorites]
“The worry is what the president does now,” the official said. “Whether he does something that’s gonna make everything else even more difficult.”
Translation: "Please please please, Mr. President, do not announce on national TV that Mueller probably wants to see your tax returns but he can't have them. And especially please do not announce that your whole family has done business with Russia for decades and there's nothing wrong with that."
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 7:59 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Translation: "Please please please, Mr. President, do not announce on national TV that Mueller probably wants to see your tax returns but he can't have them. And especially please do not announce that your whole family has done business with Russia for decades and there's nothing wrong with that."
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 7:59 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
From the Daily Beast article linked above:
posted by yasaman at 8:09 PM on August 3, 2017 [75 favorites]
Multiple White House sources emphasized that, though some of this Russia-related news from Thursday isn’t entirely new, several major stories breaking in the span of one afternoon ups the chances of Trump-Russia investigation news playing wall-to-wall on the news—thus greatly increasingly the chances the president will notice the coverage, become distracted by it, grow infuriated by it, and lash out.this is not normal this is not normal this is not normal. Obama would never. GWB would never. This is how you speak about a child with behavioral management issues. This is how you speak about an abusive family member. It should not be how his own staff talks about the President of the United States.
posted by yasaman at 8:09 PM on August 3, 2017 [75 favorites]
♫ We're gonna have a real fake tag together ♫
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
The thing about "this is not normal" is getting to me. It is, actually, rather normal in human history. Powerful people tend to come in types; demented narcissist rulers are not a new phenomenon. Maybe new to the U.S. Presidency, but not to the rest of the world.
And people do recognize his type from their own lives; terrible parents, bad exes, bosses who made your work life miserable. Trump is depressingly normal to a lot of people.
Rather I would say "This is not acceptable." And it isn't. Not as president, boss, partner or parent. His behavior, the harm he causes, is unacceptable. Our job is not to accept it.
posted by emjaybee at 8:16 PM on August 3, 2017 [59 favorites]
And people do recognize his type from their own lives; terrible parents, bad exes, bosses who made your work life miserable. Trump is depressingly normal to a lot of people.
Rather I would say "This is not acceptable." And it isn't. Not as president, boss, partner or parent. His behavior, the harm he causes, is unacceptable. Our job is not to accept it.
posted by emjaybee at 8:16 PM on August 3, 2017 [59 favorites]
anyone else keep a tab open for @realdonaldtrump on scoop o'clock nights?
IFTTT is your friend. Set up to get a push notice/text/email/etc whenever he tweets of whatever he tweets.
posted by chris24 at 8:18 PM on August 3, 2017
IFTTT is your friend. Set up to get a push notice/text/email/etc whenever he tweets of whatever he tweets.
posted by chris24 at 8:18 PM on August 3, 2017
Hold on. Is a grand jury like a mock trial, except the prosecution can get documents and evidence?
posted by Room 641-A at 8:22 PM on August 3, 2017
posted by Room 641-A at 8:22 PM on August 3, 2017
Zuck just hiring Hillary's people isn't going to help him because what Hillary had on her side, most importantly, is literal years of coalition building so that when the primary came, everyone who mattered in the Democratic party was on her side. There's a reason why her only challengers were no-hopers and an Independent who borrowed the Democratic Party ticket for the election.
At this point, I'm much less afraid of whatever this crew is trying to do intentionally: I'm mostly afraid of whatever someone else is doing to exploit the serious vulnerabilities and opportunities created by this toxic, perfect storm of stupid, venal, selfish and solipsistic actors.
I mean, I've always wanted my own nuclear missile, and if there's a time to nick one, it's now!
posted by Merus at 8:27 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
At this point, I'm much less afraid of whatever this crew is trying to do intentionally: I'm mostly afraid of whatever someone else is doing to exploit the serious vulnerabilities and opportunities created by this toxic, perfect storm of stupid, venal, selfish and solipsistic actors.
I mean, I've always wanted my own nuclear missile, and if there's a time to nick one, it's now!
posted by Merus at 8:27 PM on August 3, 2017 [9 favorites]
Not a lawyer, but the way I understand it, it's the citizen's chance to tell the prosecutor "What, that's all you got? Get out of here with that bullshit." And they almost never do.
posted by ctmf at 8:29 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by ctmf at 8:29 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
Hold on. Is a grand jury like a mock trial, except the prosecution can get documents and evidence?
Sort of? A grand jury is a chance for a prosector to present evidence and call witnesses in order to show that there is reason to believe a crime may have been committed. It's not really a trial cheifly because there is no defense. Which I think is lame but has along tradition in commonlaw. The thing about grand juries is that if the prosecutor wants an indictment, they tend to get one because they have free reign to present the facts of the case in the way that most favorably biases the jury towards their interpretation of those facts. So if a grand jury is convened about you, get ready to be indicted. Someone is going to be prosecuted for something by Mueller, otherwise he wouldn't have convened a grand jury.
posted by dis_integration at 8:37 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
Sort of? A grand jury is a chance for a prosector to present evidence and call witnesses in order to show that there is reason to believe a crime may have been committed. It's not really a trial cheifly because there is no defense. Which I think is lame but has along tradition in commonlaw. The thing about grand juries is that if the prosecutor wants an indictment, they tend to get one because they have free reign to present the facts of the case in the way that most favorably biases the jury towards their interpretation of those facts. So if a grand jury is convened about you, get ready to be indicted. Someone is going to be prosecuted for something by Mueller, otherwise he wouldn't have convened a grand jury.
posted by dis_integration at 8:37 PM on August 3, 2017 [13 favorites]
The thing about grand juries is that if the prosecutor wants an indictment, they tend to get one because they have free reign to present the facts of the case in the way that most favorably biases the jury towards their interpretation of those facts. So if a grand jury is convened about you, get ready to be indicted.
Unless you're a white cop who shot a black kid in Missouri. In that case, the prosecutor will flub the GJ presentment so as to provide cover for not bringing charges.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 8:39 PM on August 3, 2017 [27 favorites]
Unless you're a white cop who shot a black kid in Missouri. In that case, the prosecutor will flub the GJ presentment so as to provide cover for not bringing charges.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 8:39 PM on August 3, 2017 [27 favorites]
Point is that the right candidate doesn't necessarily need those years of coalition building or party ties. Certainly Trump didn't! Is Zuck that type of candidate? I certainly don't think so, but I also didn't really see President Trump coming so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The current president was a TV celebrity for decades; people recognized his face, and a whole lot of them liked seeing him on TV. He also had decades of building business connections instead of party connections. Zuck's name is known to people in the high-end corporate world, people who like docudrama movies, and internet geeks. His face is known to nobody - except inasmuch as he looks like the actor who portrayed him.
If he runs, a whole lot of people will assume that The Social Network was a documentary, and ask him questions about the events in it.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:44 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
The current president was a TV celebrity for decades; people recognized his face, and a whole lot of them liked seeing him on TV. He also had decades of building business connections instead of party connections. Zuck's name is known to people in the high-end corporate world, people who like docudrama movies, and internet geeks. His face is known to nobody - except inasmuch as he looks like the actor who portrayed him.
If he runs, a whole lot of people will assume that The Social Network was a documentary, and ask him questions about the events in it.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 8:44 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Yeah I'm not going to look forward to Zuck possibly running. My sister-in-law is a fairly close acquaintance of his after working at particularly high level at FB and getting the left version of justifying a candidate being insanely unqualified to be president is going to be so much fun.
posted by Talez at 8:50 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by Talez at 8:50 PM on August 3, 2017 [10 favorites]
Maybe the grand jury is an anti-firing move. Can't the grand jury investigate whatever they want, independently of the prosecutor? So Trump says Mueller, you better not look at my tax returns. Grand Jury: give me the tax returns. Mueller: shrug.
Also, Trump: Mueller's fired
Grand Jury: We'd like to interview Mr. Mueller again, then we might have some other people we want to talk to. Repeat this line over again as necessary.
posted by ctmf at 8:51 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Also, Trump: Mueller's fired
Grand Jury: We'd like to interview Mr. Mueller again, then we might have some other people we want to talk to. Repeat this line over again as necessary.
posted by ctmf at 8:51 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
It's all over except for the tweeting.
I don't know... Trump seems likely to attempt a military coup rather than just give up.
posted by Coventry at 8:53 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
I don't know... Trump seems likely to attempt a military coup rather than just give up.
posted by Coventry at 8:53 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Okay, thanks guys. I only just realized that there are no defense attorneys so that all makes sense now.
Also, I missed that it was Senator Murkowsky who made the announcement about the whatchamacallit Senate sessions to prevent recess appointments. Awesome.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:55 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Also, I missed that it was Senator Murkowsky who made the announcement about the whatchamacallit Senate sessions to prevent recess appointments. Awesome.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:55 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Is Zuck that type of candidate? I certainly don't think so, but I also didn't really see President Trump coming
He's going to have one hell of a campaign website.
posted by Coventry at 9:00 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
He's going to have one hell of a campaign website.
posted by Coventry at 9:00 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
He's going to have one hell of a campaign website.
...but it's going to be totally paywalled.
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:04 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
...but it's going to be totally paywalled.
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:04 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
UPDATE: It was pointed out to me that the LA Times article I cited was from May. He has been doing media appearances and it is entirely possible he is not inside the White House, but this is an old article and has apparently not come to pass.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:20 PM on August 3, 2017
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:20 PM on August 3, 2017
Trump seems likely to attempt a military coup rather than just give up.
Him and whose army?
posted by Sys Rq at 9:20 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
Him and whose army?
posted by Sys Rq at 9:20 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
dammit
posted by emjaybee at 9:20 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by emjaybee at 9:20 PM on August 3, 2017 [3 favorites]
Yeah, if anything he seems likely to attempt to start a civil war, rather than a military coup
posted by DoctorFedora at 9:21 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by DoctorFedora at 9:21 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
See the update on that story. He does not appear to be out, and the Daily Beast gang reported today that Gorka appears to be safe:
Gorka Is Not a Gonerposted by zachlipton at 9:22 PM on August 3, 2017
Two senior administration officials say the combative adviser to the president Sebastian Gorka is safe from the latest clean sweep, in part because the president likes him (especially when Gorka is on TV repping the White House and sparring with cable-news hosts); he reports to Bannon, not the NSC; and he’s popular with the Trump base.
“He’s one of the few people who can articulate Trump’s vision effectively,” one of the officials said. All of the officials spoke anonymously in order to describe staffing changes at the White House.
That link should have pointed to McMaster Goes to War—Against His White House Enemies
posted by zachlipton at 9:36 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by zachlipton at 9:36 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
“He’s one of the few people who can articulate Trump’s vision effectively,”
Oh good, the Nazi is the one who gets what's going on in Donnie's head.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:36 PM on August 3, 2017 [23 favorites]
Oh good, the Nazi is the one who gets what's going on in Donnie's head.
posted by jason_steakums at 9:36 PM on August 3, 2017 [23 favorites]
Trump seems likely to attempt a military coup rather than just give up.
Trump is much more likely to be the target of a coup. The generals seem to dislike him and do not fear him. And they may see themselves as the last line of defense against Trump's incompetence.
Fortunately, Trump doesn't seem to have any fear of quitting. Someone can probably convince him a resignation is equivalent to bankruptcy. Just this document you sign so you can walk away from your problems and make money somewhere else.
posted by honestcoyote at 9:40 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
Trump is much more likely to be the target of a coup. The generals seem to dislike him and do not fear him. And they may see themselves as the last line of defense against Trump's incompetence.
Fortunately, Trump doesn't seem to have any fear of quitting. Someone can probably convince him a resignation is equivalent to bankruptcy. Just this document you sign so you can walk away from your problems and make money somewhere else.
posted by honestcoyote at 9:40 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
okay so just broadly speaking, and this is apropos of no one particular thing and more just a thought that's been in the background of my mind since January, really, but can you imagine how disturbing the world trump is living in is? He is:
No one should be sympathetic toward him, of course. I'd say he's the devil, but the devil is smart and the devil is sexy, while Trump is just pathetic. But nevertheless, he might kill us all.
I guess what I'm getting at here is that maybe the best consolation we have available to us, the like tomato or whatever that we can find momentary pleasure in chewing on, is that no matter how bad we have it, at least we're not Donald Trump.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 9:45 PM on August 3, 2017 [142 favorites]
- going senile
- while all the world's media becomes more and more exclusively about him, and
- while Russian spies doing their best to keep him maximally confused, maximally afraid, and maximally compliant, and
- while highly competent U.S. federal agents are at work around the clock, diligently uncovering all his most shameful secrets,
- (and recall that like half of his life has been devoted to the project of hiding the secret that he's broke. Hiding his brokeness is his life's work and he's watching it evaporate)
- ... and, to repeat, he's going senile. and all the TVs are talking to him, about him, all the time.
- oh and just to add, he's got no psychological defenses to any of this, because he's spent his life being emotionally pampered by everyone around him.
No one should be sympathetic toward him, of course. I'd say he's the devil, but the devil is smart and the devil is sexy, while Trump is just pathetic. But nevertheless, he might kill us all.
I guess what I'm getting at here is that maybe the best consolation we have available to us, the like tomato or whatever that we can find momentary pleasure in chewing on, is that no matter how bad we have it, at least we're not Donald Trump.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 9:45 PM on August 3, 2017 [142 favorites]
Yeah well, I don't feel THAT bad. How 'bout if I take some of his TV abuse off his plate, but also get a Manhattan apartment like his and never have to work? I promise I'll take the abuse with a smile, and I won't even run for dog catcher.
posted by ctmf at 9:57 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by ctmf at 9:57 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
This just confused me so much. I totally forgot that I had installed a plugin.
2017: The plugin changes pictures of Trump into cat pictures.
posted by maudlin at 9:57 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
2017: The plugin changes pictures of Trump into cat pictures.
posted by maudlin at 9:57 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
The man is a Philip K. Dick character, but not one from one of the light and fluffy books like Ubik or Do Androids Dream. He's from one of the grim ones. He's one of Palmer Eldritch's playthings.
In 15 years, someone is going to write one hell of an opera about 45.
Pity that we have to suffer through these events to get there.
posted by suelac at 9:58 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
In 15 years, someone is going to write one hell of an opera about 45.
Pity that we have to suffer through these events to get there.
posted by suelac at 9:58 PM on August 3, 2017 [8 favorites]
his apartment is grotesque and unlivable.
but that aside, what he's trapped in really is my vision of hell: he's going insane and also all the TVs really are talking about him and also he's such a total asshole that no one's ever willingly associated with him, except people trying to use him. It's a torture so psychologically elaborate that you'd think only a malevolent god — or like, Roko's Basilisk — could have thought it up.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:02 PM on August 3, 2017 [24 favorites]
but that aside, what he's trapped in really is my vision of hell: he's going insane and also all the TVs really are talking about him and also he's such a total asshole that no one's ever willingly associated with him, except people trying to use him. It's a torture so psychologically elaborate that you'd think only a malevolent god — or like, Roko's Basilisk — could have thought it up.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:02 PM on August 3, 2017 [24 favorites]
There's material enough for 50 tragicomedies based on the last year alone. Would that we could bring Euripides and Shakespeare back from the dead to write some of them. Alas, living through said tragicomedies as what amounts to the Greek chorus turns out to be both unsatisfying and stressful.
posted by yasaman at 10:05 PM on August 3, 2017 [24 favorites]
posted by yasaman at 10:05 PM on August 3, 2017 [24 favorites]
> There's material enough for 50 tragicomedies based on the last year alone. Would that we could bring Euripides and Shakespeare back from the dead to write some of them.
Maybe have Lin-Manuel Miranda write a song or two for them, just to cut the bleakness a bit.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:07 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Maybe have Lin-Manuel Miranda write a song or two for them, just to cut the bleakness a bit.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:07 PM on August 3, 2017 [4 favorites]
Whoa, hold up, I just remembered Journey was at the White House a few weeks ago.
NEAL SCHON WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 10:18 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
NEAL SCHON WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 10:18 PM on August 3, 2017 [2 favorites]
Whoa, hold up, I just remembered Journey was at the White House a few weeks ago.
That's just because Trump wanted Rick Perry for DHS Secretary but they accidentally invited Steve Perry instead.
posted by mmoncur at 10:22 PM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
That's just because Trump wanted Rick Perry for DHS Secretary but they accidentally invited Steve Perry instead.
posted by mmoncur at 10:22 PM on August 3, 2017 [16 favorites]
no matter how bad we have it, at least we're not Donald Trump.
his apartment is grotesque and unlivable.
This is the page I'm on too. If this was a story and not our nightmare reality, I'd be fascinated with the predicament of a guy who becomes president and still hates himself. And what kills me is that years ago, some footage of Trump miserable, wheezing and complaining in his solid gold apartment atop the capitol of the world illustrated to me that masculinity, wealth and status were no-win scenarios. All the trappings of wealth, all that access, all that power and still utterly disgusted with your every waking moment. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
posted by EatTheWeek at 10:25 PM on August 3, 2017 [19 favorites]
his apartment is grotesque and unlivable.
This is the page I'm on too. If this was a story and not our nightmare reality, I'd be fascinated with the predicament of a guy who becomes president and still hates himself. And what kills me is that years ago, some footage of Trump miserable, wheezing and complaining in his solid gold apartment atop the capitol of the world illustrated to me that masculinity, wealth and status were no-win scenarios. All the trappings of wealth, all that access, all that power and still utterly disgusted with your every waking moment. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
posted by EatTheWeek at 10:25 PM on August 3, 2017 [19 favorites]
"Here is the Forbes article she tweeted. I know nothing about coal, is that an accurate reflection of the market drop over 5 years?"
So there's a few things happening there -- increasing global warming controls/taxes/environmental laws/general awareness making coal less attractive as a long-term investment; depletion of specific mines; a series of absolutely incredible Appalachian coal bankruptcies where the execs absconded with the money and left the feds on the hook for pensions; but the biggest one is probably the drop in demand for what's called "met coal," or metallurgical coal, which is coal of sufficient quality to be used in steel production. China's demand for steel -- and therefore met coal -- has fallen off a cliff, and that's been a HUGE factor in driving higher-quality coal mines into bankruptcy. Met coal in the US primarily comes from Appalachia, which is one of the reasons Appalachian mines -- which have much higher-quality coal -- have been hit harder recently than, say, Illinois mines which have plain ol' thermal coal. It's not as profitable, but it had a predictable downturn rather than a sudden collapse due to a downturn in steel demand. Anyway, new Appalachian mines that are opening or reopening (that Trump keeps bragging about) are largely met coal, as the global economy absorbs the Chinese steel shock and corrects for the rash of closures and bankruptcies. Met coal is worth a hell of a lot more money than thermal coal, and big coal profits mostly come from met coal. People making big money in coal -- rather than sort-of regular utility money -- are almost always selling met coal. Thermal coal pays nice salaries to executives and isn't a bad way to be a capitalist if you own the mine, but it doesn't make SuperPAC money like met coal does. Historically a downturn in the coal market has pushed thermal coal producers out of business first, since they operate on much slimmer margins (it takes just as much work to mine 1 ton of low-quality thermal coal as 1 ton of high-quality met coal, so you make a lot more money on the met coal after labor costs), but this time met coal really got fucked by the startling drop in steel demand, and basically nobody was ready for it.
Which, I assume that transaction is being investigated and it should be, but it is possible that the Russians who bought it were surprised by the Chinese building crash and the rash of coal bankruptcies and lawsuits and sold to get out of a bum bet, and Justice is either a huge believer in coal and willing to buy on the cheap just because he's so convinced it will recover, or else he was savvy about the currently uptick in steel demand.
#ThingsYouLearnLivingInCoalCountry
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:27 PM on August 3, 2017 [79 favorites]
So there's a few things happening there -- increasing global warming controls/taxes/environmental laws/general awareness making coal less attractive as a long-term investment; depletion of specific mines; a series of absolutely incredible Appalachian coal bankruptcies where the execs absconded with the money and left the feds on the hook for pensions; but the biggest one is probably the drop in demand for what's called "met coal," or metallurgical coal, which is coal of sufficient quality to be used in steel production. China's demand for steel -- and therefore met coal -- has fallen off a cliff, and that's been a HUGE factor in driving higher-quality coal mines into bankruptcy. Met coal in the US primarily comes from Appalachia, which is one of the reasons Appalachian mines -- which have much higher-quality coal -- have been hit harder recently than, say, Illinois mines which have plain ol' thermal coal. It's not as profitable, but it had a predictable downturn rather than a sudden collapse due to a downturn in steel demand. Anyway, new Appalachian mines that are opening or reopening (that Trump keeps bragging about) are largely met coal, as the global economy absorbs the Chinese steel shock and corrects for the rash of closures and bankruptcies. Met coal is worth a hell of a lot more money than thermal coal, and big coal profits mostly come from met coal. People making big money in coal -- rather than sort-of regular utility money -- are almost always selling met coal. Thermal coal pays nice salaries to executives and isn't a bad way to be a capitalist if you own the mine, but it doesn't make SuperPAC money like met coal does. Historically a downturn in the coal market has pushed thermal coal producers out of business first, since they operate on much slimmer margins (it takes just as much work to mine 1 ton of low-quality thermal coal as 1 ton of high-quality met coal, so you make a lot more money on the met coal after labor costs), but this time met coal really got fucked by the startling drop in steel demand, and basically nobody was ready for it.
Which, I assume that transaction is being investigated and it should be, but it is possible that the Russians who bought it were surprised by the Chinese building crash and the rash of coal bankruptcies and lawsuits and sold to get out of a bum bet, and Justice is either a huge believer in coal and willing to buy on the cheap just because he's so convinced it will recover, or else he was savvy about the currently uptick in steel demand.
#ThingsYouLearnLivingInCoalCountry
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 10:27 PM on August 3, 2017 [79 favorites]
what he's trapped in really is my vision of hell
I would regard it as a personal failure to wish Trump ill or savor his pain, but I haven't the slightest sympathy for his situation. It was his choice at every step.
posted by Coventry at 10:31 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
I would regard it as a personal failure to wish Trump ill or savor his pain, but I haven't the slightest sympathy for his situation. It was his choice at every step.
posted by Coventry at 10:31 PM on August 3, 2017 [6 favorites]
oh, no, certainly no one should feel sympathy for him. it's just, imagining what the world is like for him is dark. He's trapped in a fractured universe, going senile. he's a perfectly miserable creature in every way.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:39 PM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:39 PM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
this time met coal really got fucked by the startling drop in steel demand, and basically nobody was ready for it.
Uncitable speculation, but here was China going "we take pollution seriously" and "we have an overbuilding problem and real estate bubble" and "we mean it about handling global warming", and there they were going "la la la climate change is a lie".
I know I'm asking this in hindsight, but it seems like you'd have to be this particular flavor of willfully ignorant to not see it coming. Am I wrong?
posted by saysthis at 10:42 PM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
Uncitable speculation, but here was China going "we take pollution seriously" and "we have an overbuilding problem and real estate bubble" and "we mean it about handling global warming", and there they were going "la la la climate change is a lie".
I know I'm asking this in hindsight, but it seems like you'd have to be this particular flavor of willfully ignorant to not see it coming. Am I wrong?
posted by saysthis at 10:42 PM on August 3, 2017 [11 favorites]
We've passed 3000 comments. Perhaps a fresh thread soon?
posted by salix at 11:02 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by salix at 11:02 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Oh *thats* why the thread keeps freezing and messing up Chrome!
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 11:11 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 11:11 PM on August 3, 2017 [1 favorite]
If tomorrow has merely standard levels of insanity, it would be kind of swell I think to try to make it to Monday on this thread, lest we invite the simultaneous pain of New Thread Idle Chatter and No News Weekend Idle Chatter that leads to relitigation and other such horrors. Just my preference anyway; make a new thread if you have the urge or can't take it on your device anymore.
posted by zachlipton at 11:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by zachlipton at 11:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [7 favorites]
I'm not particularly attached to an image of Donald Trump in an orange jumpsuit; I think once you become President you become relatively immune to prosecution in a manner that leads to prison time, and although Trump breaks a ton of norms, I don't really see Pence/Ryan/Hatch/McConnell going out of their way to continue that trend.
Still.
I very much want to see people get punished for this whole mess, provided that there's sufficient evidence that crimes were committed. I guess once a generation or so we have to send a few dozen people who help a POTUS commit high crimes and misdemeanors to jail to remind people that it's not the best idea to stick your neck out for unrepentant assholes like Nixon and Trump. There are many, many people who could have just continued their lives as amoral sociopaths, reaping chaos and destruction everywhere they go, but instead they decided to help a destructive, incompetent narcissist secure a presidency. Kushner could have just kept being an idiot who pays too much money for sketchy addresses in NY, Stone could have kept giving Rolling Stone interviews where he shows off his stupid fucking Nixon tattoo, Manafort could have helped secure, say, Estonia for the Kremlin, Reince Priebus could have kept running the RNC, Carter Page could have continued his insane correspondence detailing his Clinton persecution fantasies with the DOJ, etc. etc. Instead, all of these people are having their entire lives picked apart and put under a microscope by investigators who have a huge budget and lots of leeway to look into whatever the hell they want, as far back as they want.
Couldn't have happened to a nicer group of "people."
posted by xyzzy at 11:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [26 favorites]
Still.
I very much want to see people get punished for this whole mess, provided that there's sufficient evidence that crimes were committed. I guess once a generation or so we have to send a few dozen people who help a POTUS commit high crimes and misdemeanors to jail to remind people that it's not the best idea to stick your neck out for unrepentant assholes like Nixon and Trump. There are many, many people who could have just continued their lives as amoral sociopaths, reaping chaos and destruction everywhere they go, but instead they decided to help a destructive, incompetent narcissist secure a presidency. Kushner could have just kept being an idiot who pays too much money for sketchy addresses in NY, Stone could have kept giving Rolling Stone interviews where he shows off his stupid fucking Nixon tattoo, Manafort could have helped secure, say, Estonia for the Kremlin, Reince Priebus could have kept running the RNC, Carter Page could have continued his insane correspondence detailing his Clinton persecution fantasies with the DOJ, etc. etc. Instead, all of these people are having their entire lives picked apart and put under a microscope by investigators who have a huge budget and lots of leeway to look into whatever the hell they want, as far back as they want.
Couldn't have happened to a nicer group of "people."
posted by xyzzy at 11:12 PM on August 3, 2017 [26 favorites]
Not a lawyer, but the way I understand it, it's the citizen's chance to tell the prosecutor "What, that's all you got? Get out of here with that bullshit." And they almost never do.
Great thing about The Law is that it's written down. You want to tell a Grand Jury to indict X for violating 18 USC Whatever, you go through the checklist that is 18 USC Whatever, and make sure you got everything you need.
Then, you tell the GJ, "You need Overt acts A, B, C. Here is A, Here is B, Here is C'
No one should be sympathetic toward him, of course. I'd say he's the devil, but the devil is smart and the devil is sexy, while Trump is just pathetic. But nevertheless, he might kill us all.
Golgothan (Shit Demon). Explains the orange paint and fake hair.
posted by mikelieman at 11:25 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
Great thing about The Law is that it's written down. You want to tell a Grand Jury to indict X for violating 18 USC Whatever, you go through the checklist that is 18 USC Whatever, and make sure you got everything you need.
Then, you tell the GJ, "You need Overt acts A, B, C. Here is A, Here is B, Here is C'
No one should be sympathetic toward him, of course. I'd say he's the devil, but the devil is smart and the devil is sexy, while Trump is just pathetic. But nevertheless, he might kill us all.
Golgothan (Shit Demon). Explains the orange paint and fake hair.
posted by mikelieman at 11:25 PM on August 3, 2017 [5 favorites]
#NotTheOnion2017 #PreciousSnowflakes
An anti-immigrant group mistook empty bus seats for women wearing burqas
posted by Evilspork at 12:07 AM on August 4, 2017 [9 favorites]
An anti-immigrant group mistook empty bus seats for women wearing burqas
posted by Evilspork at 12:07 AM on August 4, 2017 [9 favorites]
Working on new Thread
posted by AlexiaSky at 12:13 AM on August 4, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by AlexiaSky at 12:13 AM on August 4, 2017 [7 favorites]
Ok mine sucks.
posted by mazola at 12:17 AM on August 4, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by mazola at 12:17 AM on August 4, 2017 [11 favorites]
Finally, something about this stupid timeline makes sense:
Bret Easton Ellis Would Like To Write A Novel About Dead-Eyed Trump Advisor Stephen Miller
Bret Easton Ellis Would Like To Write A Novel About Dead-Eyed Trump Advisor Stephen Miller
Bret Easton Ellis is finally ready to return to the affluent and detached Los Angeles milieu of his 1985 debut novel Less than Zero, except this time the dead-inside narrator won't have a coke problem—he'll have a racist geopolitics problem! Yes, that's right, Ellis has announced that he finds C+ Santa Monica fascist Stephen Miller "compelling," and that he would like to write a novel about him. Miller, for those somehow unfamiliar with the dead-eyed Trump advisor, is a Los Angeles-born senior policy advisor to the President of the United States who once sort of lost a high school election to the Cobrasnake. Ellis is also known for his aptly titled novel American Psycho and the ensuing Patrick Bateman references made by insufferable dudebros everywhereposted by Room 641-A at 12:22 AM on August 4, 2017 [4 favorites]
I'll bake some cookies and wait for the local milk people.
posted by runcifex at 12:59 AM on August 4, 2017 [19 favorites]
posted by runcifex at 12:59 AM on August 4, 2017 [19 favorites]
It's friday, and the local milk people just delivered 2 half-gallons of their low-temp pasteurized low-fat in GLASS BOTTLES..
posted by mikelieman at 3:51 AM on August 4, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by mikelieman at 3:51 AM on August 4, 2017 [4 favorites]
Congratulations to everyone who guessed the announcement is the governor party switching thing
And here I was thinking they were gonna announce that space aliens are real. Why? Because no one would believe trump and such a thing would out-news cycle discussions about George Wills and Garrison Keiler.
posted by rough ashlar at 4:33 AM on August 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
And here I was thinking they were gonna announce that space aliens are real. Why? Because no one would believe trump and such a thing would out-news cycle discussions about George Wills and Garrison Keiler.
posted by rough ashlar at 4:33 AM on August 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
I want every dirty little transaction, every shell corporation, every tax dodge, every fake charity a matter of public record, and the Trumps exposed as the mostly-broke, weak-con, lying-ass tasteless traitorous losers they are. I wanna see them broke and miserable and at least some of them in jail.
Understand that at least in California and Texas have state grand jury wording about how they grand juries there can investigate any crimes that come to their attention.
Both states have allowed citizens to make presentments to a grand jury in the last 10 years, according to some determined citizens.
Nothing stopping anyone from giving it a go in their county/state if their state law allows for investigation into any crime that comes to the attention of the grand jury.
posted by rough ashlar at 4:48 AM on August 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
Understand that at least in California and Texas have state grand jury wording about how they grand juries there can investigate any crimes that come to their attention.
Both states have allowed citizens to make presentments to a grand jury in the last 10 years, according to some determined citizens.
Nothing stopping anyone from giving it a go in their county/state if their state law allows for investigation into any crime that comes to the attention of the grand jury.
posted by rough ashlar at 4:48 AM on August 4, 2017 [1 favorite]
FYI, citizen "common law" grand juries are a favorite not-actually-a-thing tactic of the gold fringe on the flag sovereign citizen movement.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:20 AM on August 4, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:20 AM on August 4, 2017 [3 favorites]
VALAR POPCORNIS
I am very sorry. Please to translate?
posted by Mental Wimp at 7:54 AM on August 4, 2017 [3 favorites]
I am very sorry. Please to translate?
posted by Mental Wimp at 7:54 AM on August 4, 2017 [3 favorites]
Did everyone notice that Secretary Zinke visited Bunkerville where the Bundy's live, (the gold fringe comment reminded me.) It is not all that easy to get there, a fifty mile drive from Las Vegas. The Gold Fringers are leaning on 45 too, and I am sure it comes to him in those bible and prayer meetings. Shudder.
posted by Oyéah at 8:43 AM on August 4, 2017
posted by Oyéah at 8:43 AM on August 4, 2017
It's popcorn that can kill Orange Walkers
Orange colored AT-ATs?
posted by Room 641-A at 8:50 AM on August 4, 2017
Orange colored AT-ATs?
posted by Room 641-A at 8:50 AM on August 4, 2017
Bunkerville where the Bundy's live ... It is not all that easy to get there
[RH] It's just off the interstate
posted by achrise at 9:32 AM on August 4, 2017
[RH] It's just off the interstate
posted by achrise at 9:32 AM on August 4, 2017
the new thread link fell off recent activity (because of...popcorn? orange walkers? you guys are probably the last ones at every party too huh)
posted by R a c h e l at 10:14 AM on August 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by R a c h e l at 10:14 AM on August 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
Gorka's out?
That took way too long. Nazi's are way too welcome in Trump's White House.
posted by Mental Wimp at 12:28 PM on August 4, 2017
That took way too long. Nazi's are way too welcome in Trump's White House.
posted by Mental Wimp at 12:28 PM on August 4, 2017
That took way too long. Nazi's are way too welcome in Trump's White House.
posted by Mental Wimp at 12:28 PM on August 4 [+] [!] Need to fix a typo? Edit
Sorry, but I didn't understand that this was an old story.
posted by Mental Wimp at 12:32 PM on August 4, 2017
posted by Mental Wimp at 12:28 PM on August 4 [+] [!] Need to fix a typo? Edit
Sorry, but I didn't understand that this was an old story.
posted by Mental Wimp at 12:32 PM on August 4, 2017
Miller, for those somehow unfamiliar with the dead-eyed Trump advisor, is a Los Angeles-born senior policy advisor to the President of the United States
You know, LA was added to the US later, so it doesn't really count as part of the country. So he's basically an illegal alien.
B͕̑̈́ͅƯ̱̤̪̼̖̿R̙̪̠̗ͨͥͤN͐҉̩ ͒̐͋ͦ͝H͓̺̩̰͉̣ͭ͑ͨͧͫ̅I̎ͨ̍̏͆ͩ̏͏̞̗̺M̟͗ͯ͐ͤ̆!̈
posted by Mental Wimp at 12:57 PM on August 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
You know, LA was added to the US later, so it doesn't really count as part of the country. So he's basically an illegal alien.
B͕̑̈́ͅƯ̱̤̪̼̖̿R̙̪̠̗ͨͥͤN͐҉̩ ͒̐͋ͦ͝H͓̺̩̰͉̣ͭ͑ͨͧͫ̅I̎ͨ̍̏͆ͩ̏͏̞̗̺M̟͗ͯ͐ͤ̆!̈
posted by Mental Wimp at 12:57 PM on August 4, 2017 [2 favorites]
VALAR POPCORNIS
I am very sorry. Please to translate?
It's a derivation of the High Valyrian expression "Valar morghulis," meaning "All men must die." It is a standard greeting (and life/death worldview) throughout the continent of Essos in Game of Thrones.
As for Valar popcornis, I translate it loosely as "All men must eat popcorn." Or, more topically, everyone on MeFi is compelled to watch - with a blend of schadenfreude, fascination and glee - as the slow-motion trainwreck of the Trump administration is overcome by Avalanche Mueller.
But, it could more literally relate to any popcorn-related endeavor, as the verb is left implicit. So: everyone must mine popcorn, everyone must have popcorn cake, everyone must tomato ham sandwich popcorn bean plate, or more fundamentally, everyone must simply popcorn (whatever you conceive of that to be).
posted by darkstar at 1:44 PM on August 4, 2017 [6 favorites]
I am very sorry. Please to translate?
It's a derivation of the High Valyrian expression "Valar morghulis," meaning "All men must die." It is a standard greeting (and life/death worldview) throughout the continent of Essos in Game of Thrones.
As for Valar popcornis, I translate it loosely as "All men must eat popcorn." Or, more topically, everyone on MeFi is compelled to watch - with a blend of schadenfreude, fascination and glee - as the slow-motion trainwreck of the Trump administration is overcome by Avalanche Mueller.
But, it could more literally relate to any popcorn-related endeavor, as the verb is left implicit. So: everyone must mine popcorn, everyone must have popcorn cake, everyone must tomato ham sandwich popcorn bean plate, or more fundamentally, everyone must simply popcorn (whatever you conceive of that to be).
posted by darkstar at 1:44 PM on August 4, 2017 [6 favorites]
tl;dr: it's a Game of Thrones thing.
posted by rhizome at 2:40 PM on August 4, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 2:40 PM on August 4, 2017 [4 favorites]
Well, yes.
Also, I should have said that the verb is ambiguous, not that it is implicit.
VALAR BEANPLATIS
posted by darkstar at 3:22 PM on August 4, 2017 [9 favorites]
Also, I should have said that the verb is ambiguous, not that it is implicit.
VALAR BEANPLATIS
posted by darkstar at 3:22 PM on August 4, 2017 [9 favorites]
>Or the other conservative Senators like Heitkamp, Tester, Stabenow, Casey, McCaskill, Baldwin, Donnelly, or Nelson?
Finally, one I know how to answer.
McCaskill is one of my senators.
#1. She is VASTLY preferable to the other senator from our state (Roy Blunt).
#2. She is a very skilled politician and she *listens*. Even to Republicans, rural Missourians, etc.
#3. She knows how to win elections in a state that is now pretty conservative and getting more conservative year by year.
The last one is the clincher. It is no good to have a candidate who aligns with my particular views say 10% or 20% more, but then loses the election.
posted by flug at 7:23 PM on August 4, 2017 [5 favorites]
Finally, one I know how to answer.
McCaskill is one of my senators.
#1. She is VASTLY preferable to the other senator from our state (Roy Blunt).
#2. She is a very skilled politician and she *listens*. Even to Republicans, rural Missourians, etc.
#3. She knows how to win elections in a state that is now pretty conservative and getting more conservative year by year.
The last one is the clincher. It is no good to have a candidate who aligns with my particular views say 10% or 20% more, but then loses the election.
posted by flug at 7:23 PM on August 4, 2017 [5 favorites]
I have similar feelings about Casey. There's a lot of grousing from the left about how he voted for justices who want to overturn Roe v. Wade, and is more mainstream than progressive.
On the other hand, he did vote against continuing the Mexico City Policy and against defunding Planned Parenthood, and is roughly 20384-10238-1023-098 times preferable on every issue to PA's other senator, (Pat Toomey, R-Fuck the Poor), he's fired up about Trump and actually taking surprisingly strong positions for a guy who was the definition of establishment bland Democrat prior to the election, and I'm not sure somebody meaningfully to Casey's left can win in Pennsylvania.
Especially now that this bigoted, xenophobic piece of shit and one of Trump's very first political supporters has all but announced he's running against Casey in 2018.
Yeah, no.
posted by joyceanmachine at 1:38 PM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
On the other hand, he did vote against continuing the Mexico City Policy and against defunding Planned Parenthood, and is roughly 20384-10238-1023-098 times preferable on every issue to PA's other senator, (Pat Toomey, R-Fuck the Poor), he's fired up about Trump and actually taking surprisingly strong positions for a guy who was the definition of establishment bland Democrat prior to the election, and I'm not sure somebody meaningfully to Casey's left can win in Pennsylvania.
Especially now that this bigoted, xenophobic piece of shit and one of Trump's very first political supporters has all but announced he's running against Casey in 2018.
Yeah, no.
posted by joyceanmachine at 1:38 PM on August 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
Casey had 100% from NARAL in 2016. Less in previous years, but he's moving in the right direction and has been quite open about it. He has fought for his constituents this year while Toomey has been hiding under McConnell's desk. He held town halls. He's reachable by phone.
Pennsylvania is a conservative, mostly rural state. Our Democrats tend to be moderates, Casey is not an anomaly. I am all for a 50 state strategy, but not a one size fits all strategy. Run the most-left candidate you can conceivably win with.
posted by soren_lorensen at 2:29 PM on August 5, 2017 [6 favorites]
Pennsylvania is a conservative, mostly rural state. Our Democrats tend to be moderates, Casey is not an anomaly. I am all for a 50 state strategy, but not a one size fits all strategy. Run the most-left candidate you can conceivably win with.
posted by soren_lorensen at 2:29 PM on August 5, 2017 [6 favorites]
"Uncitable speculation, but here was China going "we take pollution seriously" and "we have an overbuilding problem and real estate bubble" and "we mean it about handling global warming", and there they were going "la la la climate change is a lie".
I know I'm asking this in hindsight, but it seems like you'd have to be this particular flavor of willfully ignorant to not see it coming. Am I wrong?"
Sort-of. Definitely smart coal mine people know the good times are coming to an end sooner rather than later (and the downturn has been obvious for a couple decades), but when the Chinese steel crash happened, it took a LOT of people by surprise, including very sophisticated investors and analysts of those markets. It wasn't obvious that China was going to go in hard on being a leader in fighting global warming, and the pollution issues had been ignored or dealt with in cosmetic ways for quite a while, and while pretty much everyone knew the overbuilding boom had to stop eventually, nobody had a great idea of when eventually might be.
The dumb fuckin' bit is all these coal mine owners and their enablers in the US government pretending demand is going back to what it used to be and refusing to admit that coal needs to be wound down in an orderly fashion to prevent repeated bankruptcies and crashes and catastrofucks to people's lives when that happens.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:00 PM on August 5, 2017
I know I'm asking this in hindsight, but it seems like you'd have to be this particular flavor of willfully ignorant to not see it coming. Am I wrong?"
Sort-of. Definitely smart coal mine people know the good times are coming to an end sooner rather than later (and the downturn has been obvious for a couple decades), but when the Chinese steel crash happened, it took a LOT of people by surprise, including very sophisticated investors and analysts of those markets. It wasn't obvious that China was going to go in hard on being a leader in fighting global warming, and the pollution issues had been ignored or dealt with in cosmetic ways for quite a while, and while pretty much everyone knew the overbuilding boom had to stop eventually, nobody had a great idea of when eventually might be.
The dumb fuckin' bit is all these coal mine owners and their enablers in the US government pretending demand is going back to what it used to be and refusing to admit that coal needs to be wound down in an orderly fashion to prevent repeated bankruptcies and crashes and catastrofucks to people's lives when that happens.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:00 PM on August 5, 2017
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posted by greermahoney at 12:07 AM on July 29, 2017 [26 favorites]