there once was a man from New York

September 25, 2017 9:36 AM

Bill Cassidy still is a liar / Tom Price is a luxury flier / And Kim Jong-un’s aim / He says, is to tame / The POTUS, a dotard, with fire.
“My earlier invite’s withdrawn!” / Insisted the president, Don. / “Steph wouldn’t have come; / He told you, u bum,” / Observed a 3rd-party, LeBron

Limericks from @limericking

posted by Anonymous (2238 comments total)

Thank you, now and forever!!
posted by greermahoney at 9:37 AM on September 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

Meanwhile, back at the dumpster fire:

North Korean Foreign Minister Says Trump Has ‘Declared War’
posted by chavenet at 9:39 AM on September 25, 2017

A-and man, is the shade heavy in that linked NYP article:

A CIA psychological profile of Kim comes to the conclusion that the young leader has a massive ego and reacts harshly and sometimes lethally to insults and perceived slights, the LA Times noted.
posted by chavenet at 9:41 AM on September 25, 2017 [7 favorites]

You forgot Venezuela.
posted by petebest at 9:42 AM on September 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

Damn, I would love to see "athletes with conscience" become a new pole to exert a counterforce against "anti-tax zealots" and "pro-lifers" and the other Big Issues that we keep hearing about ad nauseum on BOTH sides.

I mean, not all athletes are smart or principled (or good with money or...) -- but it sure would be interesting.

(And no, I am not saying that we should stop talking about wealth inequality or climate change or pro-life or small government -- just that a new, major voice would sure shake things up, as this weekend has shown: people on both sides are really energized about this.)
posted by wenestvedt at 9:44 AM on September 25, 2017 [4 favorites]

The Venezuela thing is especially insane because it goes against his own base even. Like, how did that process go? "They're asking me to do something about Venezuela...I know, I bet they mean include it in the travel ban!"
posted by corb at 9:45 AM on September 25, 2017 [7 favorites]

there once was a man from New York
he ate pizza pies with a fork
posted by Behemoth at 9:47 AM on September 25, 2017 [72 favorites]

Don's tweeting caused anger and unrest -
Take a knee to protest was the best:
Constitutionally fine,
First amendment aligned -
Around Trump the hate coalesced.
posted by giraffeneckbattle at 9:49 AM on September 25, 2017 [12 favorites]

So much winning.

@richarddeitsch:
CBS says its NFL games were up four percent over last year's Week 3 games. GB-CIN is the highest rated game of the week so far.
posted by chris24 at 9:51 AM on September 25, 2017 [24 favorites]

A Canadian Doctor Explains How Her Country's Single-Payer Health Care System Works (NPR, Sept. 24, 2017) -- Canadian doctors aren't government employees, critical health issues are dealt with promptly while less concerning issues may take longer than Danielle Martin, the Canadian physician speaking on the topic, would like, and Canada spends around 10% of its GDP on health care to cover virtually every single resident of their land.

Compare and contrast: that figure is 17.8 percent in the US in 2015, when 9.1 percent of the US population was without health insurance coverage.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:54 AM on September 25, 2017 [45 favorites]

Of course I'm taking a knee for Colin Kaepernick.

No, no- I don't need any help getting up.



I'm just gonna rest here for a bit.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:55 AM on September 25, 2017 [44 favorites]

I really haven't ever enjoyed football and all of my associations with it tend to relate to a very miserable year in marching band in high school--but I am being sorely tempted to watch it now just out of pique.
posted by Sequence at 9:56 AM on September 25, 2017 [6 favorites]

I'm not at all certain how I should be conducting myself in a reality where watching the NFL can be interpreted as an act of civil disobedience.
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:57 AM on September 25, 2017 [153 favorites]

I'm preparing to do summaries of the Finance Committee hearing that's happening in an hour. I want everyone to know what these lying liars who lie all the time are going to say to justify their murderous legislation.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 9:59 AM on September 25, 2017 [38 favorites]

CBS says its NFL games were up four percent over last year's Week 3 games.

That's super. The NFL is still a thoroughly rotten organization and the world would be better off without it.
#supporttheplayers #fucktheNFL
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:00 AM on September 25, 2017 [25 favorites]

I don't see why kneeling for the national anthem is being taken as so disrespectful, other than overt racism. It seems like the most respectful protest option imaginable. Sitting on the bench or turning backs to the flag might be marginally less respectful actions, I guess. But kneeling? It's practically ceremonial.

If players were flipping the double bird at the flag, or dropping trou and wiping with the flag as forms of protest, then I would agree that it was "disrespectful". Maybe still justified - but at least I would agree with the description.
posted by allegedly at 10:00 AM on September 25, 2017 [96 favorites]

It's being taken as so disrespectful because Trump said it was disrespectful, and the MAGA chuds will follow him to hell.
posted by dilaudid at 10:02 AM on September 25, 2017 [38 favorites]

New details of GOP tax plan reveal focus on wealthy (Damian Paletta for Washington Post, September 24, 2017)

White House officials and Republican leaders are preparing a set of broad income and corporate tax cuts while also looking for a way to keep their plan from being a massive windfall for the wealthiest Americans, two people familiar with the plan said.

Party leaders are quietly circulating proposals to lower the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent and lower the top individual income tax rate from 39.6 percent to 35 percent, according to the people familiar with the plan.

White House advisers are divided over whether to cut the top individual tax rate, and Republican leaders, aware the plan could be construed as a huge giveaway to the wealthy, are trying to design features to the package that would ensure that the rich don't get too large a share of the plan's tax relief.
...
Top White House negotiators and key GOP leaders have agreed on those targets, but apparently President Trump has not. On Sunday, as he was about to board Air Force One in New Jersey, Trump told reporters he hoped to see the corporate tax rate lowered to 15 percent, a level that his own negotiators had privately dismissed weeks ago.

“We'll see what happens, but I hope it's going to be 15 percent,” he told reporters. “But it's going to be substantially lower so we bring jobs back to the country.”

The lack of agreement, days before the plan is set to be unveiled more broadly, underscore the difficult Republicans face in uniting behind a tax bill.

GOP leaders, including House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), have said it is impossible to cut the corporate rate to 15 percent without adding too much money to the federal debt. As it stands, the tax cut is expected to add at least $1 trillion to the debt, and potentially much more.
...
Among details that have become public, the plan's benefits would accrue largely to the wealthy, an awkward position for a president who promised his administration would be an economic boom for working-class and middle-class households.

Even the tax cut Trump is hoping to advance for companies that pay individual taxes would help thousands of upper-income business owners in a way critics have said could be gamed to lower their taxes even more. White House officials have said they would create “guardrails” to prevent against this but they have not explained how.

And diving into some details: A Tax Break on Repatriated Earnings Will Not Trickle Down to U.S. Workers (Steven M. Rosenthal for Tax Policy Center.org, September 25, 2017)

Top aides to President Donald Trump argue that tax relief for the accumulated foreign earnings of US-based multinational corporations would be a boon for US workers. But data show that providing such a tax break, which is likely to be a key element of the tax plan being written by the White House and congressional Republicans, would mostly benefit high-income US taxpayers and foreigners, not US workers.

Such a provision would allow US-based multinationals to repatriate untaxed foreign earnings at a special low tax rate. These corporations over many years have booked more than $2.6 trillion of their profits off-shore (PDF), but they’ve been allowed to defer paying the 35 percent US corporate tax due on these profits as long as they are not repatriated to the US parent firm.

A “one-time” repatriation holiday in 2004 taxed $299 billion of accumulated offshore profits that were repatriated to the parent firm at a preferential 5.25% rate. Backers promised the tax break would deliver jobs and investment but instead multinationals used the repatriated funds to pay dividends to shareholders and buy back their stock. In fact, the largest participants in the 2004 repatriation holiday cut jobs and research. Once the holiday ended, the multinationals went right back to accumulating earnings off-shore (and even stepped up the effort), anticipating another tax holiday.

Earlier this month, White House National Economic Council director Gary Cohn offered a new rationale for a tax break on accumulated offshore earnings: “The biggest public pension funds are the biggest owners of equities in the world. They’re the policemen, they’re the firemen and the teachers . . . So yes we’re helping Americans by delivering returns back to them.” But Mr. Cohn’s spin is wrong: A low tax rate on foreign earnings repatriated to the parent firm will not deliver any returns to policemen, firemen, teachers, and other participants in defined benefit plans (because an increase in the value of the assets held by these plans does not increase the ultimate pension payments promised to the beneficiaries). Such a policy shift delivers a windfall to the beneficiaries of defined contribution plans, because an increase in the value of assets held by these plans increases future distributions to beneficiaries. But defined contribution plans are held disproportionately by high-income individuals, not typical wage workers. Another large group that would benefit are foreigners, which are the next largest block of shareholders of US corporations behind pension funds. (Taxable U.S. shareholders hold the third largest block, about 25 percent).

Yeah, looks great for the country, especially if this is another albatross around the neck of the 2018 budget, as mentioned by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) on NPR this morning (audio only at the moment, transcript due up later today).
posted by filthy light thief at 10:03 AM on September 25, 2017 [42 favorites]

"Respect" and "obedience" are seriously conflated, especially but not exclusively in the racial context. Protest itself is disrespectful in this model. Criticism is disrespectful. There is no way to respectfully disagree except to say nothing and do nothing, at least nothing that the public can perceive. Race plays into that, but evangelical churches also often follow this model, for example, as do more conservative models of parenting.
posted by Sequence at 10:05 AM on September 25, 2017 [30 favorites]

I see the boulder is back down at the bottom of the hill again

Well...let's get to pushing
posted by schadenfrau at 10:05 AM on September 25, 2017 [60 favorites]

@Charles Blow: "There is a profound question that we must ask in this country: Who has access to discontent?"
posted by lalex at 1:04 PM on September 25 [1 favorite −] Favorite added! [!]

White people still think that black folk should be grateful for giving them American Opportunities.
posted by FirstMateKate at 10:05 AM on September 25, 2017 [21 favorites]

New details of GOP tax plan reveal focus on wealthy

whaaaaaaaaaa /moeszyslak
posted by entropicamericana at 10:07 AM on September 25, 2017 [17 favorites]

there once was a man from New York
whose success rivaled that of Rob Bork
posted by Mayor West at 10:07 AM on September 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

Party leaders are quietly circulating proposals to lower the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent and lower the top individual income tax rate from 39.6 percent to 35 percent, according to the people familiar with the plan.

Unconscionable. I'd love to see legislation from the progressive wing taxing long-term capital gains as ordinary income introduced in response. Fuck these vultures, hit them where they live.
posted by Existential Dread at 10:08 AM on September 25, 2017 [13 favorites]

Black people in America aren't even allowed to say "our lives matter" without a significant proportion of the white population getting the screaming shits about how disrespectful it is.
posted by supercrayon at 10:08 AM on September 25, 2017 [240 favorites]

White House officials and Republican leaders are preparing a set of broad income and corporate tax cuts while also looking for a way to keep their plan from being a massive windfall for the wealthiest Americans, two people familiar with the plan said.

Wait, is that a typo from the AP or was it just written by a Republican propagandist? The whole damn point of the Republican tax plan is to be a massive windfall for the wealthiest Americans. That's the purpose, right?

That's one of the core principles of the Republican Party: tax cuts for the rich and a middle finger for everyone else.
posted by sotonohito at 10:11 AM on September 25, 2017 [17 favorites]

I don't see why kneeling for the national anthem is being taken as so disrespectful, other than overt racism. It seems like the most respectful protest option imaginable. Sitting on the bench or turning backs to the flag might be marginally less respectful actions, I guess. But kneeling? It's practically ceremonial.

So I actually did think it was disrespectful, because the 'kneeling' I saw always seemed like the 'take a knee' when you're just waiting for time to be over or what have you. But someone with more football familiarity than me said that it's also the symbol when someone is wounded and needs to leave the field, so it becomes more symbolic - the US flag, its ideals, is wounded and needs help, and people are taking a knee until it recovers, like with a wounded player.
posted by corb at 10:12 AM on September 25, 2017 [62 favorites]

Sotonohito, what they meant to write was

while also looking for a way to keep their plan from appearing to be a massive windfall for the wealthiest Americans
posted by cell divide at 10:13 AM on September 25, 2017 [27 favorites]

I know its been, like, pretty much written in stone how much Trump thinks like a fascist. But I still feel a small amount of shock every time he's so blatant about it. In response to the NFL protesting, he tweeted that people who want access to jobs that pay millions shouldn't be allowed to "disrespect...", and just left it at that. AKA: I should choose who gets to be wealthy.
posted by FirstMateKate at 10:13 AM on September 25, 2017 [5 favorites]

I don't see why kneeling for the national anthem is being taken as so disrespectful, other than overt racism.

It's because they're ungrateful, of course. Now that the MAGA hats have noticed that we're onto their old dog-whistles, they've gotta come up with a new one.
posted by Mayor West at 10:14 AM on September 25, 2017 [14 favorites]

From the link, New details of GOP tax plan reveal focus on wealthy: “We'll see what happens, but I hope it's going to be 15 percent,” [Trump] told reporters. “But it's going to be substantially lower so we bring jobs back to the country.”

Yeah, Donald, it's not the lower wages in other places, it's the tax structure here. What an iDJiT!
posted by Mental Wimp at 10:14 AM on September 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

Party leaders are quietly circulating proposals to lower the corporate tax rate ...

Unconscionable.

What can be done to encourage other countries to raise their tax rates?
posted by sammyo at 10:14 AM on September 25, 2017

Anthony Weiner Setenced to 21 months

Should have been 48, that's what the rest of us are serving.
posted by thelonius at 10:16 AM on September 25, 2017 [133 favorites]

“We'll see what happens, but I hope it's going to be 15 percent,” [Trump] told reporters. “But it's going to be substantially lower so we bring jobs back to the country.”

I wonder what would happen if someone told him that the corporate tax rate is 15% for the lowest bracket.
posted by Existential Dread at 10:17 AM on September 25, 2017 [8 favorites]

Another thing that infuriates me about the kneeing protests during football games is how this situation would play out if the kneeler were that irritating twit Tim Tebow. Tebow is known for his overblown, public displays of Christian piety--whatever happen to 'pray not where the hypocrites pray'??. If Tebow were taking a knee to protest marriage equality during the national anthem, would we be hearing about how disrespectful he is to the flag/the country/the national anthem/the troops/whatever other institution? I venture that he wouldn't be publicly berated, but rather would garner effusive praise from the same crowd whining about Colin Kaepernick.

The facile objections to kneeling protests of police brutality against people of color are fundamentally a racist phenomenon. Crying foul over the flag and national anthem is a pretense to hide the real motivation: silencing the powerful non-verbal voices of brown people.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 10:20 AM on September 25, 2017 [74 favorites]

A lot of people in positions of even relative power and privilege don't want to acknowledge that these issues even exist, much less that they might benefit from them in any way, because it might lead to further uncomfortable questions about other aspects of their personal ideologies, and because they're terrified of losing whatever level of power and privilege they currently have; this is true of everyone from the Koch brothers to that angry guy in a MAGA hat propping up the bar. That these protests are taking place in the formerly safe space of NFL football only adds perceived insult to their psychic injury.
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:20 AM on September 25, 2017 [10 favorites]

I've always said that the failure of Anthony Weiner to be killed by Clinton hired ninja is proof that the Clintons aren't the murderous criminal masterminds that the right likes to portray them as. Because damn, if they were murderous criminal masterminds with 1337 ninja on staff, then Weiner seems like he'd be at the top of the list...
posted by sotonohito at 10:21 AM on September 25, 2017 [81 favorites]

Anthony Weiner Setenced to 21 months
Compared to the penalties Trump didn't receive for what he did to underage girls... but then IOKWYA... Republican/TVCelebrity/NewYorkRealEstateMogul/OldFriendOfTheNYT
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:23 AM on September 25, 2017 [6 favorites]

I think it's also the case that you can also take a knee when you're receiving a kick and think that it won't be possible to sufficiently advance (that is, beyond the 20) during the current play. Which is pretty fitting, I think, though the "injury" interpretation is more so.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 10:25 AM on September 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

MAGA hats

Say it fast enough and it sounds like maggots.
posted by Joey Michaels at 10:29 AM on September 25, 2017 [7 favorites]

@jnsanchez: "Bob Costas NAILED this. Patriotism comes in many forms, but it's been conflated w/ bumper sticker flag waving & 'military only.'"

Part of what's happened is that sports and patriotism and the flag have been conflated to such an extent that people can't separate out any nuance.

If you go to see Hamilton, which is about the founding of the republic, no one says, "Wait a minute, don't raise the curtain until we hear the national anthem." When you went to see Private Ryan, no one said "turn off the projector"--Saving Private Ryan--no one said "turn off the projector until we've had the national anthem."

It's in sports where this stuff happens, sometimes movingly, sometimes, I'd submit, cynically, because wrapping yourself in the flag and honoring the military is something which no one is going to object to. We all respect their sacrifice. We all honor their sacrifice. And yet what it has come to mean is that the flag is primarily and only about the military.

This is no disrespect to the military; it's a huge part of the narrative. But Martin Luther King was a patriot. Susan B. Anthony was a patriot. Dissidents are patriots. School teachers and social workers are patriots.

And yet at Yankee Stadium, if we can shift sports, not only do they play the national anthem before the game, but they play "God Bless America" at the seventh-inning stretch 81 times a year at home games, and at every game they say please rise as the Yankees honor a military guest.

I have no problem with that; I stand every time I'm at a ballpark, no matter what it is, I stand. And I certainly respect the military person they bring out there, but there's never a school teacher, there's never a social worker.

Patriotism comes in many forms and what has happened is that it's been conflated with a kind of a bumper-sticker kind of flag-waving, and with the military only. So that people cannot see that in his own way Colin Kaepernick—however imperfectly—is doing a patriotic thing. And so too are some of these other players.

Bob Costas Eloquently Summarized Why the NFL Protests Matter

As Costas painstakingly repeats, honoring our military servicemen and women is a completely acceptable and commendable ritual at sporting events. But celebrating the troops has also become the only acceptable form of political expression in American sports, and has often been stripped of any kind of nuance to be a kind of, in Costas' words, "bumper-sticker flag waving." It has the air of the jingoism that pervaded the Bush era, when criticizing the ultimately disastrous war in Iraq, for instance, was conflated with criticizing the troops. It was not criticizing the troops, it was criticizing government policy that put them in harms way without justification or proper planning.

posted by kirkaracha at 10:29 AM on September 25, 2017 [165 favorites]

I know its been, like, pretty much written in stone how much Trump thinks like a fascist

The kneeling thing and the Steph Curry thing struck me as the usual rah rah "America #1, and I'm a baby that can't take criticism" bull shit we've seen from day one. I'm glad the NFL, the true representatives of American values if such a thing even exists in 2017, broadly and immediately demonstrated against Trump. Once you've lost football fans, you've lost America.

To me, the striking story is how The Orange Menace described watching two minutes of a game and declared that the rules instituted to prevent CTE are "ruining the game."

Trump Caesar actually came out and said he wants to throw black people into the Coliseum and watch them beat each other to death for our entertainment.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 10:31 AM on September 25, 2017 [35 favorites]

As someone who was raised watching NASCAR races on a very regular basis, including amazing times where The Intimidator did shit like the famous Pass In The Grass and pass other cars with most of his sheet metal missing in another race, I'm trying to think of what it would look like if Trump came after Earnhardt Jr.

Same deal as football. With NASCAR racing and with football, you have players putting themselves at the constant risk of deadly or severe injury from a split second's misdjudgement. Let's not pretend that's not what draws so many eager spectators. With football, we can add the certainty of being battered into an invalid.

Like gladiators, the players earn the prerogative to use their high media profile at least once. If Trump picks a fight with NASCAR, I would expect the result to be the same as what just happened.

Christ. It's 2017, Trump is president, and the heroes of the resistance include Roger Goodell and the juggalos. I'm tripping balls, dudes. I must be.
posted by ocschwar at 10:31 AM on September 25, 2017 [85 favorites]

And Teen Vogue. Don't forget Teen Vogue.
posted by Justinian at 10:35 AM on September 25, 2017 [123 favorites]

It doesn't matter if taking the knee represents respect, or the lack of it it, because they're both equally applicable. They're being disrespected, as they have been for four fucking centuries. As many veterans have explained, they didn't fight for billionaires to take away the 1st Amendment rights from what Trump and between 1/3 and 1/2 of the country seems to believe are a bunch of uppity Negroes. "Respecting the flag" says nothing about one's moral character, support for troops, being (Un-)American, and neither should taking the knee as a sign of disrespect. Also, it's worth noting that the military has spent millions of dollars over the years ($53m from 2012 to 2014 alone) to tie nationalist, jingoistic propaganda to the NFL. That tens of millions of racist dinguses fell for that doesn't mean any of us need to.

If there's any handwringing to be done over respecting the flag, aim it at the people who defend the flag of actual traitors who wanted--and let's be real, continue to want--a society built on bigotry and human suffering. That's a symbol worth disrespecting as much as possible.
posted by zombieflanders at 10:36 AM on September 25, 2017 [26 favorites]

Thank you, lalex, for the new thread.

I was afraid I was getting a little typecast around here.
posted by darkstar at 10:36 AM on September 25, 2017 [6 favorites]

I'm just barely caught up on this knee thing, and now NASCAR? Trump got me into twitter... is he going to drag me into sports now, too?
posted by Coventry at 10:39 AM on September 25, 2017 [5 favorites]

I've always said that the failure of Anthony Weiner to be killed by Clinton hired ninja is proof that the Clintons aren't the murderous criminal masterminds that the right likes to portray them as.

Don't sell her short. She decided to run in the 2016 election at Oscar de la Renta's palatial beachfront estate in the Dominican Republic in December 2013 and he was dead by October.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:42 AM on September 25, 2017

@NationalADAPT
Capitol Police are preventing wheelchair users from entering the hearing room & allowing nondisabled people 2 cut ahead.
posted by melissasaurus at 10:42 AM on September 25, 2017 [50 favorites]

No one advocating overwrought reverence for the flag and the National Anthem should be taken seriously unless they can sing the Star Spangled Banner in tune with good breath support.
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:43 AM on September 25, 2017 [7 favorites]

Don't forget the Alt National Parks, either. Very important allies.
posted by FirstMateKate at 10:43 AM on September 25, 2017 [7 favorites]

Another thing that infuriates me about the kneeing protests during football games is how this situation would play out if the kneeler were that irritating twit Tim Tebow. Tebow is known for his overblown, public displays of Christian piety--

So actually, for people who are saying 'how dare he do this in public at all' or "the NFL should fire him", there's actually a case working its way towards the Supreme Court now about a high school coach who was fired for publicly praying on the field. He was fired by a school, which is a little different, but it's still a useful datapoint, especially the difference in Fox News coverage.
posted by corb at 10:46 AM on September 25, 2017 [6 favorites]

Seriously holding my breath til Saturday regarding Graham Cassidy. I am so sure they're going to pull some sneaky bullshit.
posted by Sophie1 at 10:46 AM on September 25, 2017 [19 favorites]

I kinda love Bob Costas, even though I'm not into the sports he covers, so I wish he'd said something about how the military PAYS for that 7th Inning "God Bless America with bonus soldier" stuff.
posted by rhizome at 10:53 AM on September 25, 2017 [8 favorites]

Patriotism Is for White People
posted by zombieflanders at 10:55 AM on September 25, 2017 [10 favorites]

Watching the Graham-Cassidy Stakeout on CSPAN right now. Protestors are yelling "SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!", presumably because of the exclusion of disabled people in wheelchairs.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 10:56 AM on September 25, 2017 [6 favorites]

The Graham-Cassidy hearing will be streaming here (C-SPAN), and here's my health care twitter list for live analysis, snark, scorn, and coverage of the protest.
posted by zachlipton at 10:58 AM on September 25, 2017 [4 favorites]

BLM shut down some highways in MN during protests and white folks complained that it was obstructing people needing to get to work, hospitals, etc. Then BLM did their big protest at the Mall of America and people complained that it was in a public place, at Christmas, it could be dangerous and people were shopping with their kids! For real.

So yeah, another vote for POC are not allowed to protest except in spaces where white folks can ignore it, otherwise it's disrespectful, dangerous, obstructive, always something. Your protest is not allowed to make me uncomfortable in any way.

I've also been trying to get my brain around some idea of how pro sports are a structure where often white fans are consuming the bodily labor of POC but are Very Upset when those bodies have thoughts or ideas. And often get incredibly upset at having to contemplate how much those bodies are getting paid, even as we avidly consume their labor. I've already seen a lot of outrage over how, specifically, we pay "these guys" millions and they should just shut up and play.
posted by nakedmolerats at 10:59 AM on September 25, 2017 [91 favorites]

Graham-Cassidy Stakeout on CSPAN.

Senate Finance Committee hearing on Graham-Cassidy on CSPAN.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 10:59 AM on September 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

zachlipton thank you so much for this twitter list. I've been following it since you first set it up and it's been immensely helpful keeping abreast of all of the crazy crap happening.
posted by zrail at 11:00 AM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

"Respect" and "obedience" are seriously conflated, especially but not exclusively in the racial context. Protest itself is disrespectful in this model. Criticism is disrespectful. There is no way to respectfully disagree except to say nothing and do nothing, at least nothing that the public can perceive. Race plays into that, but evangelical churches also often follow this model, for example, as do more conservative models of parenting.

Sometimes people use “respect” to mean “treating someone like a person” and sometimes they use “respect” to mean “treating someone like an authority”

and sometimes people who are used to being treated like an authority say “if you won’t respect me I won’t respect you” and they mean “if you won’t treat me like an authority I won’t treat you like a person”

and they think they’re being fair but they aren’t, and it’s not okay.

posted by Pope Guilty at 11:00 AM on September 25, 2017 [104 favorites]

Once you've lost football fans, you've lost America.

Except he hasn't lost football fans. The fans hate this shit because football is supposed to be a safe place where black men beat the crap out of each other for their entertainment, not a place where they have to confront uncomfortable truths after a long week at work. The fans were actively booing their own teams on Sunday.
posted by Naberius at 11:01 AM on September 25, 2017 [65 favorites]

The Venezuela thing is especially insane because it goes against his own base even. Like, how did that process go? "They're asking me to do something about Venezuela...I know, I bet they mean include it in the travel ban!"

How does it go against his base? You do realize that MAGA people don't exactly care what South American country people come from before they discriminate against them, right?
posted by winna at 11:02 AM on September 25, 2017 [8 favorites]

From Julie Newmar, Catwoman:

"NFL
The players care more about our country than Trump does. I say -- KNEEL to your higher truth. Do not be afraid. Mr. President, it is you that has stunk up the meaning of the flag that all of us desire to hold so dear."

I'm with her.
posted by Capt. Renault at 11:03 AM on September 25, 2017 [68 favorites]

Sen. Hatch to chanting protesters, many from ADAPT: "If you want a hearing, you better shut up"
posted by zachlipton at 11:04 AM on September 25, 2017 [7 favorites]

Mrrow.
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:05 AM on September 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

Hatch go suck your own cock
posted by angrycat at 11:07 AM on September 25, 2017 [22 favorites]

Well, do they have to have a hearing before a vote? That would make a difference.
posted by rhizome at 11:07 AM on September 25, 2017

If there is a reason to respect the American flag, it's because of the freedoms it is supposed to stand for. Like freedom of speech. Which includes the freedom from being compelled to speak. Exercising those freedoms is more respectful to the flag than blind obedience and empty salutes. If you demand that everyone stand and participate in the flag salute, you'd be better off hacking the flag up and burning in it, because you obviously don't believe in the freedoms for which it should stand.
posted by Zalzidrax at 11:08 AM on September 25, 2017 [11 favorites]

They're now dragging people out of the room, including removing people from their wheelchairs.
posted by melissasaurus at 11:08 AM on September 25, 2017 [11 favorites]

ELECTIONS NEWS

** AL Senate special:

-- Last minute polls show Moore maintaining a near double digit lead; 54-46 (Strategy Research) and 55-45 (Optimus).

-- Karl Rove points out that Moore would be an easy way for Dems to tag other Republicans as extremist, a la Todd Akin a few cycles back. [NYT]

** VA gov -- Wason Center poll has Northam up 47-41. This race has had some polling spread, but this is consistent with the average.

** 2018 Senate:

-- MI: MRG poll has Stabenow handily defeating potential GOP nominee (sigh) Kid Rock, 52-34.

-- 538 goes through some outlier scenarios of what could happen in Senate races.

** Odds & ends -- Dems making retaking state AG offices a big focus for 2018. [Politico]


** Five elections tomorrow of note - specials in NH, SC, and FL, and of course the GOP primary for the Alabma Senate special. Updates as they come.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:08 AM on September 25, 2017 [24 favorites]

If one wants a good round up of how different teams have been responding, GQ has a good article.
posted by joycehealy at 11:08 AM on September 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

"It is easy to protest injustice in a way all people, even your oppressors, can respect."

MLK Jr. in Letters from a Birmingham Public Park

/notreal
posted by Groundhog Week at 11:08 AM on September 25, 2017 [20 favorites]

The committee is being called to order by Orrin Hatch. Protestors are chanting, "Show us humanity, save our liberty!". Hatch is flabbergasted. Said, "If you want a hearing, you'd better shut up." Grassley and Hatch are looking smug AF. Hatch bangs gavel again. Wyden is looking stern, but not disturbed.

Cops are removing a woman in a wheelchair. Looks like they are going to drag people out to silence them. ADAPT are fucking heroines--true patriots showing the world what a just peaceful protest looks like. They haven't yet pulled someone from a chair in the hearing room.

Shouts of "Show us humanity, save our liberty!!" are getting louder. Oh jesus, they are carrying out a protestor :'(--they removed him from his chair. This is disgusting. Hatch has contempt for the patriots protesting written all over his face. Hatch says "The committee will be in recess until we have order." Most of he Republicans have just filed out of the chamber. Looks like some of the Democrats are staying? Sens Hirono and Graham are seated at the witness chairs.

Cops still removing the protestors. These heroines are there showing the country how disgusting Graham-Cassidy is--forcing the Republicans to have people in wheelchairs forcibly removed from the chamber.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 11:13 AM on September 25, 2017 [144 favorites]

Sure hope the goddamned mainstream media is showing some of this.
posted by Melismata at 11:16 AM on September 25, 2017 [7 favorites]

I've also been working out the logic (ha) behind supporting people like Kim Davis for "religious freedom" -- at their jobs -- but crying that people exercising free speech "at their job" should be fired. Because, you know, I think it's shitty but sure, the NFL as an employer has the right to fire someone, just like whatever channel fired Duck Dynasty for being homophobes.

It really underscores that they absolutely don't think freedom of speech is "worth" as much as freedom of religion, even though there they both are in the 1st amendment.

I don't know what to do with this information.
posted by nakedmolerats at 11:16 AM on September 25, 2017 [10 favorites]

Protestors are chanting, "Show us humanity, save our liberty!"

I think it's "No cuts to medicaid, save our liberty!"
posted by melissasaurus at 11:17 AM on September 25, 2017 [7 favorites]

the US flag, its ideals, is wounded and needs help, and people are taking a knee until it recovers, like with a wounded player.

Nah its more to do with black people being killed
posted by dmh at 11:18 AM on September 25, 2017 [6 favorites]

You can donate to ADAPT here. Also mad props, respect, and love to MeFi's own angrycat for her work with ADAPT.

Also, the chant is "No cuts to Medicaid, save our liberty." Totally balled that up. They are dragging a blind man out now. The Republicans have fucked off, by and large, into their holes, while most of the Democrats remain to witness the brutality on display by Chairman Hatch's goons.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 11:19 AM on September 25, 2017 [52 favorites]

It really underscores that they absolutely don't think freedom of speech is "worth" as much as freedom of religion, even though there they both are in the 1st amendment.

It has nothing to do with Constitutionally based ideological consistency. It has to do with "These people are doing a thing I agree with, therefore they are doing it correctly" vs. "Those people are doing a thing I do not agree with, therefore they are doing it incorrectly."
posted by Etrigan at 11:19 AM on September 25, 2017 [10 favorites]

Andrew Prokop, Vox: GOP can't quit Obamacare repeal because of their donors

The Republicans, at least, blatantly don't answer to their constituents. They answer to wealthy donors and only wealthy donors. And it seems to be getting harder for them to thread the needle between pleasing donors and pleasing or at least fooling voters.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 11:20 AM on September 25, 2017 [38 favorites]

Hatch is now called for order. Shouts still ring out in the background. Details that G-C is unusual. Hatch directs cops to silence protestors through removal and to shut the door. Hatch is detailing the witness list--including Graham, Hirono, and various stakeholders. Hatch is pissed that people have the temerity to demand that Medicaid get cut. Hatch expects many disagreements on these topics. Now he's detailing all these 'contentious debates' in the Senate. He keeps calling for 'respect'--subservience from poor people most affected by their murderous legislation.

Hatch recognises that the legislation affects many people, many industries. Says "I respect your opinions on these issues. I wish that expressions of goodwill could fix these issues, but that is not the case." He's trying to delegitimize the protests by noting that disabled people being dragged from the chamber make good camera ops. Hatch wants a "civil discussion", but invokes the idea that he doesn't want the hearing to be a "political sideshow".
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 11:25 AM on September 25, 2017 [18 favorites]

North Korean Foreign Minister Says Trump Has ‘Declared War’

♫♪   All we are saying/Is give impeachment a chance…   ♬♩
posted by mazola at 11:26 AM on September 25, 2017 [13 favorites]

The CSPAN feed from the hallways is more compelling than the hearing.
posted by anastasiav at 11:27 AM on September 25, 2017 [5 favorites]

I am literally seeing facebook posts from the Trumpenmensch about boycotting the NFL.

These geniuses can be made to reject anything, even the most "American" of things, at the bidding of Yell Grampa, while still somehow considering themselves super patriotic, the bestest and most patriotic of all.

It boggles the mind. If Trump came out against apple pie they'd all start cutting down orchards.
posted by aspersioncast at 11:27 AM on September 25, 2017 [29 favorites]

A new thread, a new drawing; this time of the loathsome Ted Cruz, because why not?

The thing I don't get most about this permanently deep frying shitshow is the disconnect of Trump supporters. I'm Canadian, and the place I work in, a large union government warehouse, has Trump supporters. So strange but fortunately I am very good at deflecting when they want to engage. I'm a middle aged white man in a very multicultural environment so I must have the same politics, right? Nothing seems to dim their enthusiasm, nothing.

Anyways, feel free to download, share, what have you, as always.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 11:30 AM on September 25, 2017 [29 favorites]

Can anyone help me out with this?

When congress writes marginal bills and then carves out special treatment for certain states -by name- in order to buy off their congresspersons (like they were attempting with Murkowski via exemptions to allow Alaska to retain key aspects of Obamacare), how does that not violate some combination of the 5th and 14th amendments (Due Process, Equal Protection). I understand that the 14th amendment only "applies" to (mentions) states, however it seems that has been successfully argued in the past that Due Process clause covers approximately the same ground.

Can't a lawsuit argue that the Federal government is privileging Alaskans over the rest of the country? Is this why they included Hawaii in that exemption? Is the Due Process clause not broad enough to cover this?
posted by no1hatchling at 11:32 AM on September 25, 2017 [4 favorites]

Can't a lawsuit argue that the Federal government is privileging Alaskans over the rest of the country? Is this why they included Hawaii in that exemption? Is the Due Process clause not broad enough to cover this?

I can't imagine California is going to take this lying down so I'm sure there will be a lawsuit of some sort.
posted by zrail at 11:34 AM on September 25, 2017 [4 favorites]

CSPAN hallway feed just ended very abruptly and with no warning.
posted by anastasiav at 11:35 AM on September 25, 2017

I could really do without the speechifying. I understand that's essentially what these hearings amount to much of the time but... sorry Wyden I'm falling asleep here.
posted by Justinian at 11:35 AM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

Audible chanting has ceased just as suddenly in the hearing as well.
posted by perspicio at 11:36 AM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

Wyden has an opening statement. Notes that the Trumpcare bill is a lemon--he notes that it will be terrible for 10s of millions of American. He notes that sponsors won't wait on the CBO score before modifying the score. Wyden shredding the process. Notes that the American people Do NOT want the bill. Notes that this bill is about as popular "Ongoing root canal work". Says that the rightwing Republican donor class are the only people who want the ACA to go away. Notes how the bill punishes states who have innovated under the ACA to provide better insurance. Wyden calls bullshit on the term 'flexibility'. Says that the real object of bill is to do worse, so Americans pay more for less care. Says the bill guts funding by way of block grants. Compares proposed system to the hunger games. Notes that preexisting protections will be GONE. Says that the bill reinstates lifetime caps. Says the bill "is an all out assault" on consumer protections in insurance markets.

Wyden says that the bill lacks definitions and enforcement teeth. Notes that Planned Parenthood is under attack and eliminates women's healthcare choice.

closing Points. The process has been an abomination. Wyden notes the frustration of the protestors. Says that this hearing is a talking point. He says the purpose is so Republican can go home to constituents and pass off this kayfabe off as 'regular order'. CBO won't be able to get a score out for weeks. Notes the bill keeps changing because they have to pass it under reconciliation by the end of the week. Wyden wants to work on bipartisan priorities. Wants to fund CHIP, wants to stabilize the private insurance markets. Says that Democrats want to stop the bill and wants to work on real, difficult bipartisan solutions to these issues.

Wyden is pissed that Hatch has held the room in a tiny room. Gets unanimous consent to get an objection letter into the record. Wyden legitimizes the protestors who are trying to get in the room. The room can only hold 30 members of the public. He says that the largest rooms for hearings are available. Notes that the majority wants to keep the bill hidden.

Notes that Cassidy wants to be both a member and a witness--calls bullshit on this. Says Cassidy wants to "apply flexibility" to himself. Hatch jokes that he won't let Cassidy ask questions of himself, demonstrating that he is not taking this hearing seriously.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 11:37 AM on September 25, 2017 [98 favorites]

Now now, root canals are useful things and don't condemn millions of people to early, painful, debt-ridden deaths.
posted by tilde at 11:39 AM on September 25, 2017 [8 favorites]

As we're all watching the hearing, Sarah Sanders is off telling the press that football players protesting is no longer about police abuses and "the focus has long since changed. She's claiming that protesters should be protesting "the officers protecting them on the field" if it was really about police brutality.

When congress writes marginal bills and then carves out special treatment for certain states -by name- in order to buy off their congresspersons

They usually don't call them out by name. They write stuff like "the case of the State with the highest separate poverty guideline for 2017." Everybody knows that means Alaska, but it's usually considered to be legal.
posted by zachlipton at 11:40 AM on September 25, 2017 [11 favorites]

kirkaracha: in Costas' words, "bumper-sticker flag waving."

Nice. In the words of Sage Francis: don't waive your rights with your flag
posted by filthy light thief at 11:42 AM on September 25, 2017 [4 favorites]

Here is an argument that, in targeting and clawing back money from states which expanded Medicaid (without warning those states in advance that this was a possibility), GC is unconstitutional in that it violates the standard for a coercive use of spending authority.


Can't a lawsuit argue that the Federal government is privileging Alaskans over the rest of the country? Is this why they included Hawaii in that exemption? Is the Due Process clause not broad enough to cover this?
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:43 AM on September 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

I don't wish to disrespect "the troops."* However, it takes all sorts of people to make this country work. A few years ago, someone posted a "remember those who make this holiday possible" meme on Labor Day, with a picture of servicemen in Iraq. In short: the poster felt that a day to honor workers had to also honor "the troops." Never mind that without labor, they wouldn't have the equipment to do their job...

I feel as though much of this started as a reaction to tales of Vietnam-era soldiers being spat upon, called baby killers, etc. While that is not a good reaction, either, we are presented a perspective that being in the military is the only honorable path, to the point that even questioning that perspective is not just unpatriotic but treasonous.

Could their be a happy medium? Could we support the troops without having bombastic displays at every event? Can we say it takes not just the military but workers, the press, teachers, first responders, and, yes, even protesters to make this country great? I personally don't want to live in a Heinlein novel.

May if we were to see past that, we could talk about the message of the NFL's protest, and not the media. Hell, maybe it'd open the door to a frank discussion about the role of the US military and the recent wars.

*The fact that I felt the need to open with such a disclaimer speaks volumes.
posted by MrGuilt at 11:43 AM on September 25, 2017 [24 favorites]

The pushback against the protests is just them going back to their old playbook from the Iraq war. If you dissent, you're not patriotic. And it worked for them then. But it's not working for them now. The public is not buying this bullshit.
posted by azpenguin at 11:44 AM on September 25, 2017 [11 favorites]

Graham arguing that blue states spend the most money under ObamaCare but not the reason why, because Republicans declined the free expansion money. They're using their own sabotage to justify ending Medicaid.
posted by T.D. Strange at 11:44 AM on September 25, 2017 [56 favorites]

Hatch is introducing Graham and Hirono for their opening statements.

Graham is opening with his remarks. Says Obamacare is 'a disaster' for SC. Hatch says he wants to help. Graham making claims about insurers and premiums in SC. Does not mention that SC has not expanded Medicaid. Claims that Medicaid and Medicare will take all federal spending. Graham is being a real motherfucker--spouting bullshit. No one can trust this crap.

Graham preemptively tries to head off questioning his motives. He is spouting a bunch of buzzwords and talking points, sprinkled contextless statics. Says that the bill allows for setting up single payer. Notes how his bill steals money from blue states to give them red ones who have done a shitty job of providing healthcare to their citizens.

He's disingenuously suggesting that state officials currently have no input into healthcare/Obamacare. He's spouting bullshit and is giving and drooling and unhinged statement. What horseshit.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 11:44 AM on September 25, 2017 [23 favorites]

support the troops: don't send them off to kill and die for corporate profits
posted by entropicamericana at 11:45 AM on September 25, 2017 [23 favorites]

Another thing that infuriates me about the kneeing protests during football games is how this situation would play out if the kneeler were that irritating twit Tim Tebow

I have a super duper religious Republican Facebook friend who has unfollowed but not de-friended me. I normally don't engage much on her political posts, because I've got a feeling I can only do it so many times before she defriends me. But she posted that she thought, instead of kneeling, the football players should all hold up a photo of a dead soldier. Because that was the only kind of political statement that was appropriate during the anthem -- gratitude for those who defend our freedom. I said "Or they could hold up a picture of an innocent black man shot by police." She deleted that comment, but then some of her other friends chimed in, defending the kneelers. A surprisingly honest and open discussion followed, and I participated, and it ended with her linking to this: Colin Kaepernick vs. Tim Tebow: A tale of two Christians on their knees. And she seemed to concede that Kaepernick could be trying to live out his beliefs, to follow his conscience, and that we need to make a better effort to understand each other.

So if you have super duper religious Republican friends, that might be a good one to share.
posted by OnceUponATime at 11:46 AM on September 25, 2017 [51 favorites]

Graham also said with a straight face that the block-grant funding "would have to be used on healthcare" - not on roads, or bridges etc. (paraphrasing). Surely he knows that money is fungible?
posted by mrgoat at 11:48 AM on September 25, 2017 [8 favorites]

lalex: "so disrespectful to America!" they cry, sitting on their porches under the Confederate flag.

And in the grocery store, as they ring up your produce and frozen goods. I said this in the last thread, but I first heard that the Steelers weren't going on the field until after the anthem was over because people working in the grocery store started discussing this. In New Mexico, not the south. And in a decently blue county (Sandoval Co., fwiw).

This is either ridiculously divisive, or I have more conservative neighbors than I realized. Either way, I am sad, mostly because this was the event that made these folks get so upset as to bring politics into the grocery store, which has otherwise been a neutral territory as far as I've seen. So are these white folks racist, or hyper patriotic in that Everyone Must Stand For The Anthem? I tried to engage with them, but I was pissed off and confused and I only thought of more casual conversation starters when I had left the store.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:49 AM on September 25, 2017

Sen Hirono is up. Notes people find out about debilitating diseases unexpectedly. She notes that is getting great care and compassion from total strangers. She notes that leaders should reflect compassion in their actions. Notes that compassion should not be so absent in the legislation of the wealthiest nation in the world. She notes that healthcare is a right. Says G-C is cruel. Says it is impossible to plan for catastrophic illness. Notes that ACA has dramatically reduced medical bankruptcy. Notes that 32 million people will lose care. Notes how the bill undermines the care of 134 million people living with pre-existing conditions. Notes that the bill will charge people more if they are ill.

She says that the bill does not protect the people. Says that the people cannot trust the regime to do the right thing on healthcare. says insurance companies could use age, health status, and set lifetime caps. Says that she personally would hit lifetime limits in a 'nanosecond'. Says the bill cuts hundreds of billions. Says that the bill punishes states with expanded medicaid and rewards the foot dragging red ones. Notes that children and the elderly will have their care undermined. Says that people should be able to depending on getting healthcare when they need it. States unequivocally that healthcare is a right.

Exhorts the Senate to return to the process that Sens Murray and Alexander have been working out.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 11:51 AM on September 25, 2017 [54 favorites]

mrgoat: Graham also said with a straight face that the block-grant funding "would have to be used on healthcare" - not on roads, or bridges etc. (paraphrasing). Surely he knows that money is fungible?

U.S. federal block grants have limitations. I'm not aware of any "free money" that the Feds give to states as a block grant. Money as a concept is fungible, but block grants have rules, and if you as a state agency do not follow those rules and say spend health care block grant funds on roads or schools, the feds can and will ask you to pay back those funds.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:53 AM on September 25, 2017 [5 favorites]

Graham and Hirono both gave their statements, and then left the chamber without any questions, as is typical. Graham is just going to leave this to Cassidy to defend I guess.
posted by zachlipton at 11:54 AM on September 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

Some yelling audible from within the Senate chamber (presumably from outside of it)...
posted by dhens at 11:56 AM on September 25, 2017

Hatch cries some crocodile tears about Senator Hirono's recovery. Disgusting in the context of trying to kill hundreds of thousands of Americans prematurely. Hatch is now introducing the liar Bill Cassidy, who wants to be both committee member and witness.

Now we're on to Mr. Frothy Mixture of Fecal Matter and Lube himself. The fact that this disgusting shitbird is involved all makes me want to puke.

Third witness is Arkansas Secretary of Health and Human Services Bill(?) Smith. Fourth Witness is Tereasa Miller, PA Secretary of HHS. Fifth is Cindy Mann, former deputy director of CHIP at CMS and former research professor. Dick Wodruff of the American Cancer Society.

Sorry these summaries are not very good. Most of these people I am not familiar with.

Shouts of Shame! ring out in the background.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 11:57 AM on September 25, 2017 [36 favorites]

I'm not watching but I'm so grateful for the summaries. Thank you!
posted by mochapickle at 12:01 PM on September 25, 2017 [33 favorites]

You know, if there's a single good thing to come out of the utter shit-show that has been American public life in the past year, it's that a lot more Americans are aware of the existence of totally bad-ass disability rights activists who are people with disabilities. I'd like to believe that at least some people are going to think twice about their pity narratives after this.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 12:02 PM on September 25, 2017 [43 favorites]

Newsweek: Ivanka Trump Used a Personal Email Account for Government Work: Exclusive

Ivanka Trump, the first daughter and adviser to the president, used a personal email address to communicate with a government official after her father took office, according to documents that the nonprofit American Oversight obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and shared exclusively with Newsweek.

The documents show that on February 28, Trump—identifying herself as Ivanka Kushner—emailed Linda McMahon, the administrator of the United States Small Business Administration, from a personal domain. At the time, Trump was operating inside the White House in a nonofficial capacity. She wrote that she wanted McMahon’s agency and her staff to “explore opportunities to collaborate” on issues related to “women’s entrepreneurship.” She copied on the correspondence the government email addresses of two other federal employees, Dina Powell and Julie Radford.

Trump became an unpaid federal employee in March. But multiple government ethics experts say she likely could have had access to a White House email account in February, given that she is first daughter. Radford, her chief of staff, had a White House email address at the time.

How does a non-employee without a government email have a chief of staff who has one?
posted by zachlipton at 12:02 PM on September 25, 2017 [69 favorites]

The dishonorable Bill Cassidy who lied to Jimmy Kimmel on TV. Cassidy apologizing to Wyden about the process. He's really disgusting because he's saying the insurance market is failing in LA, even though they have fucked their own citizens over because they won't use the ACA system. Notes how his experience as a doctor gives him insight into G-C. He's giving a classic lesson in how to strip context from statistics to support lies. He keeps trying to suggest that his murderous legislation will allow states like Oregon to keep the ACA, while dilberately not mentioning that the funding is cut.

Looool, says that they aren't affecting "6%" of the market--instead of 1/6th. Later corrects. He's trying to defend corrupted, scheming governors who did not expand Medicaid to score racist political points. Tries pass off a few states getting more money as making up for blue states losing hundreds of billions of dollars.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 12:03 PM on September 25, 2017 [16 favorites]

Ivanka's email signature is "Get Outlook for iOS"
posted by zachlipton at 12:05 PM on September 25, 2017 [30 favorites]

Santorum saying that this bill is basically just as "good" as the Welfare Reform Bill of 1996, and attacking the integrity / motives of the protestors in the halls. Good times.
posted by dhens at 12:05 PM on September 25, 2017

Basically Santorum is saying 'this bill is so modest, why are you complaining, you have no idea how bad we would make it if we thought we could get away with it'.
posted by RolandOfEld at 12:06 PM on September 25, 2017 [10 favorites]

The 1% is not going to take on more workers simply because they have a fatter purse due to tax reductions. The only thing that's going to drive hiring in the private sector is an increase in demand - more people out in the street buying. Now, there are only so many 14-karat yachts the wealthiest Americans are going to buy, and it's not enough for Gilded Shipyards, Inc. to take on more full-time workers at a living wage with benefits.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:07 PM on September 25, 2017 [14 favorites]

My clock radio woke me up today to one of bill's authors bloviating about how unfair it apparently is that states who opted into Obamacare get more out of it than states who opted out and... I mean, it did wake me up, I'll say that.

Can't recommend hate-brushing your teeth, though.
posted by Phobos the Space Potato at 12:07 PM on September 25, 2017 [33 favorites]

Mr. Rick Frothy Mix Santorum is up. Invoking his disabled daughter as a why he's doing this shit. Tries to say that Obama care is collapsing, without noting how the Republican party has sabotaged the ACA at every turn. He's trying to defend gutting Medicaid, by invoking on gutting the social safety net in 1996. This patriarchal shithead keeps using the term 'hysterical', because caring about healthcare is apparently due to having a uterus.

I really hate Santorum. He has no real statistic--just unhinged, bullshit talking points disconnected to any data. Trying spin Medicaid per capita cap and block grants as positives. Trying to say that expansion at the rate of medical inflation is good. Says that we aren't going back to the old system because there's 1.2T dollar distributed such that blue states are fucked over. What is a liar.

Hysteria count: 3
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 12:08 PM on September 25, 2017 [36 favorites]

someone posted a 'remember those who make this holiday possible' meme on Labor Day

The Knights of Labor and the Central Labor Union, who called for a holiday honoring labor in 1882?

Or Eugene V. Debs and the American Railway Union, who launched the Pullman Strike in 1894? Or President Grover Cleveland, who pushed the legislation establishing Labor Day through Congress six days after the Pullman Strike in an attempt to placate workers?
posted by kirkaracha at 12:10 PM on September 25, 2017 [24 favorites]

My clock radio woke me up today to one of bill's authors bloviating about how unfair it apparently is that states who opted into Obamacare get more out of it than states who opted out and... I mean, it did wake me up, I'll say that.

Welcome to the 2017 grimdark reboot of "Groundhog Day", where Mitch McConnell forces America to relive the same thing over and over until the day finally goes perfectly (from his perspective..)
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:11 PM on September 25, 2017 [23 favorites]

Phobos the Space Potato: My clock radio woke me up today to one of bill's authors bloviating about how unfair it apparently is that states who opted into Obamacare get more out of it than states who opted out and... I mean, it did wake me up, I'll say that.

THIS KILLS ME (not hearing it on the radio as a morning alarm, but the [lack of] reporting this shit): if reporters would only interject after "we're making it fair" by asking "by taking funding from states who chose to opt in and giving them to states who did not?"

Just ask that one simple question, because I can't think of a way to squirm out of that question. "We're making it more fair" is such utter bullshit.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:11 PM on September 25, 2017 [4 favorites]

Remember in the 21st century jocks are joining ant-racist resistance and the nerds are all Nazis
posted by The Whelk at 12:12 PM on September 25, 2017 [52 favorites]

U.S. federal block grants have limitations. I'm not aware of any "free money" that the Feds give to states as a block grant. Money as a concept is fungible, but block grants have rules, and if you as a state agency do not follow those rules and say spend health care block grant funds on roads or schools, the feds can and will ask you to pay back those funds.

That's not what "fungible" means. It means that if a state spends $X on healthcare and gets $Y from some other source that it is only allowed to spend on healthcare, it will not end up spending $X+$Y on healthcare. It will lower $X and send the money to other things (or possibly just cut taxes, if the legislature is particularly stupid and craven).

This was seen in a lot of lottery states where all the money had to go to schools. Total school expenditures didn't grow by much because legislators said "Well, they're getting all that lottery money, so we don't have to give schools as much from the discretionary pots", so in many places they flatlined or even declined.
posted by Etrigan at 12:12 PM on September 25, 2017 [59 favorites]

I realized this morning that the people spouting the most hateful shit on my fb feed are people who have never taken the time (and won't take the time) to get involved at a local level so I'm not real concerned about these fucks spending time on doing any actual work. A ton of them aren't even registered to vote.

And jfc. Just saw a newsblip that the orange shitstain will be speaking in Indy on Wednesday.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 12:13 PM on September 25, 2017

Mitch McConnell, "It Would Really Help Me Out If You Guys Could Just Give Up Your Health Insurance This One Time," The Onion
posted by dhens at 12:13 PM on September 25, 2017 [20 favorites]

the nerds are all Nazis

Like hell they are. There are PLENTY of Antifa nerds.
posted by Foosnark at 12:13 PM on September 25, 2017 [54 favorites]

filthy light thief: if reporters would only interject after "we're making it fair" by asking "by taking funding from states who chose to opt in and giving them to states who did not?"

And if I were a snarky reporter, I'd follow up by asking "Aren't you trying to make this more of a socialist scheme and undermining states rights by taking money from those who chose to opt in and giving it to states who didn't want increased benefits for their citizens?"
posted by filthy light thief at 12:13 PM on September 25, 2017 [13 favorites]

Smith, AR secretary of HHS. Says he supports the bill. Making random arguments that are disingenuous. Trying to saying that it's 13 million more people on Medicaid because of ACA are a problem. Basically saying that people without much income are a problem. Says he wants to work on CHIP, but invokes capped allotment to the states. Talking about per capita caps--says that all the states with 1115 waiver have them. So in essence, he's claiming they are good because corrupt, racist governors decided that killing their citizens would be better than expanding Medicaid.

Ugh, this guy seems to be Gish Galloping -- just spouting statistics without real context, trying to obscure the reality of how the bill will implemented.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 12:15 PM on September 25, 2017 [9 favorites]

Money as a concept is fungible, but block grants have rules, and if you as a state agency do not follow those rules and say spend health care block grant funds on roads or schools, the feds can and will ask you to pay back those funds.

This is less than the full truth. The "rules" are vague enough that states can redirect funds to activities that were never intended.

Welfare reform in 1996 was structured as block grants and is a textbook example. Today, in some states, as little as 8% of block grants go to basic assistance for poor families. Instead, for example, it is directed to private contractors providing abstinence training.
posted by JackFlash at 12:16 PM on September 25, 2017 [29 favorites]

Could we support the troops without having bombastic displays at every event?

And just, you know, fund their medical care fully, including mental health, and provide them adequate housing?
posted by Mental Wimp at 12:18 PM on September 25, 2017 [47 favorites]

filthy light thief: U.S. federal block grants have limitations. I'm not aware of any "free money" that the Feds give to states as a block grant. Money as a concept is fungible, but block grants have rules, and if you as a state agency do not follow those rules and say spend health care block grant funds on roads or schools, the feds can and will ask you to pay back those funds.

Etrigan: That's not what "fungible" means. It means that if a state spends $X on healthcare and gets $Y from some other source that it is only allowed to spend on healthcare, it will not end up spending $X+$Y on healthcare. It will lower $X and send the money to other things (or possibly just cut taxes, if the legislature is particularly stupid and craven).

This was seen in a lot of lottery states where all the money had to go to schools. Total school expenditures didn't grow by much because legislators said "Well, they're getting all that lottery money, so we don't have to give schools as much from the discretionary pots", so in many places they flatlined or even declined.

This is two different issues. It is true that block grants have limitations, and it is true that state legislators can then say "look, we're getting all this Federal funding for [thing], so we don't have to allocate as much to it!" without looking at how the block grants work and what they won't cover, and what state match is required. For instance, local entities can get funding to support transit (bus-type) services, but infrastructure purchases are supported at an 80/20 ratio, with 80% federal funding and 20% local or state. But operational expenses are a 50/50 split.

This is less than the full truth. The "rules" are vague enough that states can redirect funds to activities that were never intended.

Welfare reform in 1996 was structured as block grants and is a textbook example. Today, in some states, as little as 8% of block grants go to basic assistance for poor families. Instead, for example, it is directed to private contractors providing abstinence training.

This can also be true, where the rule-makers want to dilute the benefit of the funds.

In short: block grants are trickier than they seem, and I agree that getting federal funds can make states neglect some programs.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:19 PM on September 25, 2017 [5 favorites]

Oh speaking of on the ground Grassroots stuff one idea the Socialist feminist working group of my DSA branch has floated is helping eligible people sign up for Medicare, the more people on it the better it works and there are huge numbers of people in places like Buffalo who are eligible but not signed up
posted by The Whelk at 12:20 PM on September 25, 2017 [13 favorites]

Ms. Miller is up. Concerned about this bill becoming law. Notes that PA is experience an all time low in uninsured rate. Notes that 175k peeps have being able to access addiction treatment because of ACA. Says that the ACA is not perfect and notes that there are ways to stabilize the individual markets. Says there are bipartisan solutions. Says that this bill is just a pretense for killing the ACA that would be the largest transfer federal funds to the states. Notes that PA would lose 15B - 30B over the next ten years. Says it forces governors to make impossible decision about who should be getting healthcare. Says that states can be more responsive to citizens, but cutting billions from Medicaid and expiring block grants is not the way to do. Says she does not know how PA could revamp their healthcare system in 2 years, if G-C-H-J to implement.

Says that the funding disappears after 7 years. Would make it impossible to sustain the systems put in place within two years. Says that addressing these issues would not actually fix this devastating bill. Asks them not paper over the horrifying cuts, which would affect the most vulnerable people. Asks the Senate to return to bipartisan process.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 12:20 PM on September 25, 2017 [45 favorites]

From Julie Newmar, Catwoman


Thanks for everything, Julie Newmar!



I can't believe I got to squeeze in a "To Wong Foo" reference!
posted by darkstar at 12:22 PM on September 25, 2017 [41 favorites]

Cindy Mann is up. Says the ACA has been good for providing more healthcare at a lower cost. Notes that almost all major healthcare group oppose the Graham-Cassidy bill. Says that there are ways we could improve the current. Says that it would create chaos and uncertainty if the bill passes. Says the bill create instability in our system. Would also take away financial resources and certainty in how states manage healthcare.

First, G-C builds on BCRA--worse version of the shit that the Senate killed in July. Says G-C cuts are more draconian--bigger cuts to Medicaid expansion. No more funding at regular match to be able to cover very low-income adults. Says it would cut Medicaid for nearly everyone, including pregnant women, children, elderly people, and people with disabilities. If Congress passes it, it cuts funding for everyone the sponsors claim they are protecting.

Second, second that block grants do not grow based on the actual cost of care. Grants cut 82B dollars in next ten years. If costs rises, the gap of funding and need widens. Says that the bill creates a one-size-fits-all funding formula. 29 states receive, with a reduction average of 19%. Says six states would see funding cut by more than 50%. Says the cuts would be left to secretary discretion. Says that increases for one state means there must be a decrease for another. Says that women will not be able to use Planned Parenthood.

Finally, G-C would create chaos. 23 million are projected to receive coverage in 2019. In G-C on Jan 1 in 2020, the bill would end that. Says it is delusional that states would be able to handle. Says the bill is full of state-specific fixes to buy off senators.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 12:28 PM on September 25, 2017 [23 favorites]

Three things.

Most importantly, write your congresspeople demanding greater hurricane relief aid to Puetro Rico. The situation is dire. NYT published this break down of some other ways you can help a few days ago, but additional organized federal assistance would be huge.

Second, regarding the flag kerfuffle, conservatives have an eons old thing about elevating symbols above the things the symbols represent (there's a whole thing I've read but can't find about how Evangelical Christianity is a religion about Christ, not the religion of Christ and how elevating Jesus above his message is the source of at least some of their nonsense). This is one way of controlling people. Get them enraged about an insult to a symbol while simultaneously destroying or altering the things that symbol stands for.

Anyhow, the main thing is that the flag is not a symbol of soldiers and first responders. Its a symbol of our values as a country as expressed in our founding documents. Bigger picture, its a symbol of all of us US citizens and everything good and everything bad we do. I encourage you to push back when people try to narrow the focus down to just the military, the police and (to a lesser extent) the fire department. That's why they use "first responders." You might have a legitimate beef with the actions of the armed services or the police, but everyone respects the fire department.

Finally, a general reminder to take some time for self care. This is an especially maddening month (and the madness shows no signs of slowing down). We can't help anyone if we're too exhausted and wounded to work. Turn off the Internet and go outside or read a book or do whatever let's your mind relax a bit.
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:29 PM on September 25, 2017 [29 favorites]

Today is NBA media day and Lebron had more thoughts: "The people run this country, not one individual. And damn sure not him."
posted by T.D. Strange at 12:31 PM on September 25, 2017 [61 favorites]

I just remembered that there are Christians who refuse to recite the Pledge of Allegiance because it's idolatry (Google search.) What do you want to bet that if asked, the kneeling-outraged will say that those Christians don't need to lose their jobs and aren't disrespecting the military?
posted by XMLicious at 12:32 PM on September 25, 2017 [10 favorites]

Um. Trump did a phone interview for something called the Rick & Bubba show to promote Strange. At the end of the interview, the hosts asked Trump if he would record a promo for their show. And he did:

"Mr. President what I'm about to do right now if it's not classy just say 'Burgess I can't do that' but if we could have you say "this is Donald Trump, president of the United States and you're listening to the Rick and Bubba Show" but if you don't think you should do that we understand."

"I should definitely not do it but I will do it," Trump responded.

The president then said "This is Donald Trump, President of the United States. I love the state of Alabama and you're listening to the "Rick and Bubba Show," and enjoy it and if they ever switch allegiance, please do not run this whatever it is."

There's video available.
posted by zachlipton at 12:33 PM on September 25, 2017 [32 favorites]

Bill Woodruff of the American Cancer Society. Notes how his mother got cancer treatment, and then lived with a pre-existing condition. Until 2010, cancer survivors had to be lucky to keep care--said they were priced out of individual market. Says they could be subject to benefits caps.

Notes that the current system is flawed but can be fixed. Notes the problem is that there is a patchwork of how states handle it. Notes that G-C would make discretionary essential health benefit, preventative services, subject people to benefits caps. Says that we need a national standard for state solutions, so that people can really get the care they need.

Notes the timeline in G-C is ridiculous. Notes that ACS is worried for people who will lose their insurance. Says insurers could be allowed to offer plans that do not cover treatment. Notes that without preventative coverage--cancer will discovered later, treatment more expensive, more medical bankruptcies, and more premature death.

Says he wants real, bipartisan solutions that actually improve healthcare.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 12:34 PM on September 25, 2017 [31 favorites]

I've also been working out the logic (ha) behind supporting people like Kim Davis for "religious freedom" -- at their jobs -- but crying that people exercising free speech "at their job" should be fired.

The difference in this case is in job descriptions. Kim Davis' entire job [virtually] is issuing marriage certificates in accordance with state and federal law. Unlawfully refusing to issue a marriage certificate to a gay couple, being an inherent job duty, isn't something that Davis can get out of. She's free to find another job that won't violate her religious views. Standing or not for the anthem isn't in a football player's contract, plus many of them have their employer's explicit support now.
posted by donatella at 12:35 PM on September 25, 2017 [27 favorites]

Worth pointing out again that this bill completely eliminates all block grants for healthcare after 2026. Not one dime. So what do you think happens to millions of people who lose their insurance then. Do we get to fight once again to save the hostages as Republican hold out for another tax cut for the rich?

Note that the 2026 cut off is a cynical parliamentary ploy to improve the scoring for their tax cut bill which is next on their agenda.
posted by JackFlash at 12:38 PM on September 25, 2017 [19 favorites]

There once was a man from....ah, fuck it
Tell that fat clown to suck it
The solution's in reach
Vote to impeach
Before he burns it all down and chucks it.

dunno. the incoherent rage suddenly sought an outlet. sorry.
posted by Fezboy! at 12:42 PM on September 25, 2017 [79 favorites]

Wyden is trying to get Cassidy to give a yes/no answer to the question of whether all the doctor/hospital/patient groups are wrong that the bill doesn't protect people with pre-existing conditions. He keeps dodging.

Hatch is now interrupting to say his colleague should be treated with "great respect."
posted by zachlipton at 12:42 PM on September 25, 2017 [19 favorites]

Apropos of nothing, a guy I went to college with liked to write non sequitur limericks. For example,

There once was a man from New York
I do not like to eat pork
Grand Coulee Dam
South Vietnam
Babies delivered by fork

posted by plinth at 12:44 PM on September 25, 2017 [47 favorites]

Hatch is starting questions. Getting Cassidy to explain text. Cassidy tries to justify the bill with "equity" and tries to play it off as if they are doing it at an expense to non-expansion states. Tries to redistribute blue state funds to red ones.

Hatch asks Smith how the Federal Government can preserve Medicaid and expand individual coverage.

Wyden up. Wyden notes 27,000 people commented on the G-C bill. Gets them entered into the record. Wyden says we should work on a bipartisan solutions--the CHIP bill and the Murray/Alexander negotions. Calls the process "an abomination", notes that there are no objective data on the effects of the bill.

Says to Cassidy that the healthcare industry is thinks its a disaster. Asks for a yes/no on whether Cassidy believe that doctors and patients are wrong about not wanting this bill. Cassidy won't give a yes/no, and notes that the revised bill would allow states to charge based on medical status.

Hatch interrupts Wyden as though Cassidy isn't sitting their smirking and fucking Wyden around on the answer. Saying Wyden needs to respect Cassidy more. What horseshit.

Wyden asks Woodruff about how it will protects cancer patients. Woodruff says it wouldn't and would make patient protections optional. Says ACA created a national standard for what is adequate and affordable for insurance.

Wyden back on Cassidy on the multiple bills that have been published in the last two weeks. There have been 5 versions. Wants to know if the latest bill is the actual bill the Senate will vote on. Wyden is furious. He asks him for a yes or no answers. Cassidy hopes this will be the last version, but Cassidy is a liar. Wyden objects to the repeated revisions.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 12:45 PM on September 25, 2017 [42 favorites]

Regarding the flag kerfuffle, conservatives have an eons old thing about elevating symbols above the things the symbols represent (there's a whole thing I've read but can't find about how Evangelical Christianity is a religion about Christ, not the religion of Christ and how elevating Jesus above his message is the source of at least some of their nonsense). This is one way of controlling people. Get them enraged about an insult to a symbol while simultaneously destroying or altering the things that symbol stands for.

I've long thought that about the flag. My grandma always argued that people who "disrespect" the flag should be charged with treason and executed, because what a great American value that sentiment is.

But yeah, that also nails perfectly the hypocrisy of the toxic forms of Christianity. As well as the willingness to "support" the troops with bumper stickers and platitudes while providing inadequate healthcare to veterans or simply letting them go homeless, not to mention sending them into unnecessary wars in the first place.
posted by Foosnark at 12:49 PM on September 25, 2017 [8 favorites]

Grassley is up. Claiming that ACA isn't working in IA. Asks for figures on spending in IA--is an increase. Trying to conflate increase on health costs and growth of governmental spending. What bullshit. Grassley stumbling a lot. Trying to play off the ACA as only a give away to insurance companies, without talking about the positive affects of covering more people.

Asks Mann whether Medicaid is sustainable at current rate. She notes that taking away funding will make costs grow. Miller gets the same questions--says needs the cost of care needs to be discussed.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 12:50 PM on September 25, 2017 [10 favorites]

There once was man out of evens.
It me. I'm the one out of evens.
I'm all out of evens.
I'm all out of evens.
I'm all out of all of my evens.
posted by emelenjr at 12:52 PM on September 25, 2017 [120 favorites]

You folks who are actually watching this shitshow and liveblogging it here for the rest of us are doing the Lord's work. Just wanted to say it. Thank you.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:52 PM on September 25, 2017 [72 favorites]

Sen. Stabenow is up. Says that MI is saving money because fewer people are going to the ER without insurance. Says that minimum wage workers are getting covered and MI has saved nearly 500M dollars because people get earlier care.

Says that S&P says that the bill will cost 588k jobs in the next year.

Notes that the bill is a block grant. Says that in 10 years, to continue the block grant would cost is 190B. Notes that the other costs related to HHS are 164B. Notes that MI gets 140B dollars in cuts when the state budget is 56B in 2018. Notes that the bill will gut coverage for people in nursing homes.

Says that the bill will gut maternity care, with the essential benefits eliminated by G-C. Notes G-C would take us back to the days only 4% of plans covered maternity care! Prior to ACA then it would be a pre-existing condition.

Asks Miller about maternity care market before it was in the EHB. Before ACA, women in individual market did not have option to chose plan with maternity coverage. Says that EHB are truly essential and wonders how one can pick even one to eliminate. Notes that without maternity coverage, women will pay tens of thousands of dollars for childbirth and see more medical bankruptcies.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 12:57 PM on September 25, 2017 [39 favorites]

580k jobs in one year doesn't pass the laugh test for me.
posted by Justinian at 12:59 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

Yeah, googling suggests the 580k jobs estimate was through 2027. Senators, make sure you have your figures correct.
posted by Justinian at 1:02 PM on September 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

What do you want to bet that if asked, the kneeling-outraged will say that those Christians don't need to lose their jobs and aren't disrespecting the military?

Well the first link in the search results leads to a peace church website with many recognizable Anabaptist and pacifist contributors.

By their nature, these groups don't respect the military, and governments don't tend to like them. In fact, governments hate pacifists as much as MeFi does - but governments also have to keep an eye on subversives, so they can't afford to be completely mindless about who these people are and how they operate.
posted by tel3path at 1:02 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

Pat Roberts (R-KS) is up. Whining about how the ACA 'failed', when his disgusting governor Sam Brownback has not expanded Medicaid coverage. Notes Sanders' Medicare for all. Says he is continuing to review G-C. Says he thinks it is better than Medicare for all. Asking a question that suggests slowing rate of federal compensation for healthcare, even if it does not adequately fund healthcare, is somehow not a cut.

Asking questions how Kansas will benefit from G-C's attempt to steal money from Democratic states. Says 26 year olds will be allowed to stay. Cassidy trying to say that governors want to take care of their states, except that they won't currently expand Medicaid, so there is no reason to believe that they will take care of their people. It's disgusting.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 1:02 PM on September 25, 2017 [12 favorites]

I find America's obsessive hero-worship of The!! Troops!! really bizarre and cult-like. They're doing a job. They chose to do that job. There are lots of dangerous jobs in the world, and lots which do WAY more good. Why does this one get elevated to saint-hood?
posted by Cheerwell Maker at 1:02 PM on September 25, 2017 [62 favorites]

Senators, make sure you have your figures correct.

If Kimmel can do it, so can you.
posted by Glibpaxman at 1:03 PM on September 25, 2017 [4 favorites]

Why does this one get elevated to saint-hood?

Mostly male, leans harder right than the public.
posted by Etrigan at 1:04 PM on September 25, 2017 [8 favorites]

I find America's obsessive hero-worship of The!! Troops!! really bizarre and cult-like.

It's also deeply repugnant to the original values of the country, which had only a small standing army, until it was transformed into the permanent National Security State after WWII.
posted by thelonius at 1:05 PM on September 25, 2017 [23 favorites]

"I should definitely not do it but I will do it," Trump responded.

Yeah, that about sums it up.
posted by jedicus at 1:05 PM on September 25, 2017 [44 favorites]

Why does this one get elevated to saint-hood?

Because, as the whole NFL thing illustrates, powerful people can shape opinion by invoking the troops as the reason people should do what they want them to do.
posted by Rykey at 1:07 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

The Streets Are ‘Not Safe’: Puerto Rico Begs U.S. for Help. The island is not just trying to recover, it’s trying to reconnect with the rest of the world. The situation is disastrous and they are begging for more help.

Trump ignores Puerto Rico's devastation to tweet about the NFL

The Internet Is Calling Attention to the Crisis in Puerto Rico, and Calling Trump Out
posted by homunculus at 1:07 PM on September 25, 2017 [60 favorites]

"They" meaning powerful people, I mean.
posted by Rykey at 1:07 PM on September 25, 2017

I find America's obsessive hero-worship of The!! Troops!! really bizarre and cult-like.

It's also, to me, strongly reminiscent of the romanticising of the military in Europe during the years prior to WWI. I worry a lot about that.
posted by Quindar Beep at 1:07 PM on September 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

Carver noting how there 97 hearings, 130 consider amendments. Notes how the CBO had a score and that the ACA saved hundreds of billions of dollars under that amendment. Senate spent 25 days on healthcare. Says 67 republican amendments were accepted. Noting that Murray and Alexander have had 4 days of hearings--said that there were bipartisan round tables before each. Notes that the process has been garbage. Has noted how G-C has united over 400 HC orgs in opposition. Says that he hasn't seen such a wide coalition. Notes that Obamacare came mostly from the Heritage Foundation. Noted that Republicans John Chafee, Orrin Hatch, and Charles Grassley sponsored the original ACA bill in the early 90s.

Asks Miller for some cures of the ACA's problems. Says that the individual market is where the problem. Says that for people not getting financial assistance is the issue. Says we need effective mandate, get more young people into the pool, reduce cost of care, and continuing cost-sharing subsidies.

Carver back talking about Romneycare in MA. Says 98% of people covered, with premium increases in the range of 4%. Says that there are bipartisan solutions to the problems of ACA.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 1:08 PM on September 25, 2017 [33 favorites]

Says that the individual market is where the problem. Says that for people not getting financial assistance is the issue.

Hey, that's me. Yeah, it's... not great. Right now I'm paying something like 7k a year. For one person.
posted by Justinian at 1:10 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

What do you want to bet that if asked, the kneeling-outraged will say that those Christians don't need to lose their jobs and aren't disrespecting the military?

Oh, oh, I've had that conversation. Turns out those people aren't real Christians.

(I know, I know, I was hoping for something a little less predictable, too.)
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:10 PM on September 25, 2017 [9 favorites]

Hatch is now interrupting to say his colleague should be treated with "great respect."

One hundred dollars to the reelection fund of the senator who responds to a bullshit call for comity with some variation on "as a fellow senator entitled to the same respect, the chair is out of line dismissing my observation that the honorable witness is a craven, lying fuckboy"
posted by jason_steakums at 1:11 PM on September 25, 2017 [15 favorites]

There it is folks, mark your BINGO card if you had 'someone cites a ghostly constituent that the ACA caused to lose the healthcare they had and/or the healthcare they had to buy under the ACA didn't cover them as good as the unicorn flavored, coated with rainbows insurance that was so cheap that they had before hand'.

Yes, I know these BINGO cards are huge, just stay the course.
posted by RolandOfEld at 1:12 PM on September 25, 2017 [11 favorites]

Robert Portman talking about "flexibility". Trying to cast it as the "states doing what they think is right". Says that addressing the cost of healthcare is best done by given the states "flexibility". Noting how the radical wing aren't happy that there are still taxes in G-C even though they can be directed to the states for bullshit, inadequate funding models. Portman telling stories of people who are claiming that they are getting worse coverage. I want to know how many people have called him saying this bill is shit. Asking Smith how block grants would help the three mentioned people who have seen increase.

Smith just spinning about how flexibility helps. Saying that it's good for states to be able to undermine the Essential Health Benefits, preexisting conditions, and life-time cap prohibition.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 1:14 PM on September 25, 2017 [8 favorites]

Flexibility means nothing when the funding to implement any changes is drastically cut.
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:17 PM on September 25, 2017 [6 favorites]

You folks who are actually watching this shitshow and liveblogging it here for the rest of us are doing the Lord's work. Just wanted to say it. Thank you.

So much this. MetaFilter is the only news source I can tolerate on bad days.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:17 PM on September 25, 2017 [40 favorites]

This Pew Research article on veterans notes that there are many fewer veterans as a percentage of the population than there were in the 60's through the 80's - in 1970, 45% (almost half) of men were veterans, whereas now 16% are.

Besides the fact that most veterans are men and many are politically center to right, the fact that the US now has no draft and there are fewer military veterans in the general population means that "the troops" are an abstraction to many people, not a reality. Many of the "Respect! Our! Troops!" people haven't served in the military, and don't have anyone in their family who has.

I don't like wars, and I don't like the idea of the draft, but I think the distancing of ordinary people from the reality of war and military service has been toxic for our society - it's sooooo easy to be rah-rah war and rah-rah troops when the closest you've come to real war or real military service is playing Call of Duty or LARPing.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 1:18 PM on September 25, 2017 [23 favorites]

Cardin gets objections from MD into the records. Now noting the process is garbage. Said there have been no markups, no chance for amendments, no CBO, but do know that tens of millions will lose coverage. Asking Miller about the issue with individual markets, where people aren't getting subsidies. Says its about 1% of people not getting subsidies. Miller says it's 1-2% in PA.

Cardin noting that tens of millions will lose coverage, just to address this 1-2% of people, instead of allocating more money for subsidies. Cardin notes that there are two ways to manage the copping under the G-C plan--eliminates manadate, eliminate services. Miller basically confirms. Cardin notes that to manage the cap, states will have to cut people off the roles. Asks Miller whether G-C will no longer protect people with congenital conditions. Notes how ACA enabled more people to get addiction and mental healthcare and G-C would gut that. Cardin notes how G-C does not specifically actually address the individual market.

Cardin notes how managing to caps will fuck up cancer treatments for everyone. Woodruff confirms.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 1:20 PM on September 25, 2017 [33 favorites]

Another thing that infuriates me about the kneeing protests during football games is how this situation would play out if the kneeler were that irritating twit Tim Tebow.

We thought it might look a little something... like this. Or maybe this.
posted by Naberius at 1:20 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

I honestly don't understand how Graham-Cassidy's block grants are supposed to be constitutional when ACA's forced Medicaid expansion wasn't. That's the precedent set in 2010. The federal government can't force the states to change their Medicaid programs. Expansion states are just going to refuse to change, right?
posted by zrail at 1:25 PM on September 25, 2017 [5 favorites]

I'm pretty sure Mr. Scott just, after claiming that South Carolina has a large (30%? I forget already) percentage of folks that signed up for coverage that can't afford it, said that he applauded giving the flexibility of choice to states while citing Romneycare in Mass as a poster child for what a state can do given flexibility.

I guess he didn't notice the tiny discrepancy in median income between his state and theirs. I'll save you a click and say one state is number 8 in the country and number 44, you can guess which is which.
posted by RolandOfEld at 1:26 PM on September 25, 2017 [4 favorites]

Tim Scott up now. Spinning more bullshit contextless talking points about how the situation in SC is the ACA's fault, rather than the Republicans in charge of the state who decided not to use the program as passed. Scott is trying to say that the ACA isn't an option for many people, even those the corrupt, racist governors from his party have largely chose not to take care of their people by expanding Medicaid. It's totally appalling intellectual dishonest--not just limited to Senator Scott, btw, but every Republican member of the committee.

Smith now going on about how there is no national healthcare market--trying to distract from how the ACA creates national standards for what insurance is. Scott asking about how G-C helps with opioid issues. Cassidy says states can use the money for whatever the states for opioids, without regard for what actually works.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 1:27 PM on September 25, 2017 [11 favorites]

Many of the "Respect! Our! Troops!" people haven't served in the military, and don't have anyone in their family who has.

It is 100% a Get Out of Arguing Free card. If I have to hear about one more hypothetical homeless vet from someone who never a day in their life has done jack or shit for homeless vets, I'm going to... I don't even know what I'm going to do but it's not going to be pretty. It has gotten way out of control. It was bad enough when it was just "respect our troops!" as a way of shutting down arguments about the validity of the War on Terrah, but now "veterans" are getting used as a reason why we can't help literally anyone else. We can't have better public schools until veterans. We can't have healthcare until veterans. We can't have social services until veterans. We can't keep the population of Puerto Rico from literally actually dying until veterans.

Can we call it Reducto ad Veteranus or something?
posted by soren_lorensen at 1:28 PM on September 25, 2017 [45 favorites]

Oh, oh, I've had that conversation. Turns out those people aren't real Christians.

It still seems like it might be worth getting people to say that in public. Perhaps it would help Evan McMullin move Utah next time, to make it more clear that the wrong kinds of Christians are under threat, along with the wrong/non-cis-het-able-white kinds of Americans.
posted by XMLicious at 1:29 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

Like hell they are. There are PLENTY of Antifa nerds.

#notallnerds

Still in the wake of Silicon Valley execs claiming women have too much power in Tech, I have to wonder: in the classic conflict between the nerds and jocks, maybe the nerds deserved to be trashcanned?
posted by happyroach at 1:32 PM on September 25, 2017 [9 favorites]

Benet notes how Edmund Burke would be spinning in his grave because of the joke that this process has been. Asks for Miller to confirm that there has been no bipartisan solution. Notes that only 7% are on individual market and that less are without subsidies. He notes that he can only conclude that the bill is only about keeping a campaign promise. Says that there was a bipartisan consensus and that the ACA was not a Bolshevik take over of the insurance market. Miller says that the bill will create chaos all over the insurance market.

Says that his constituent that people are dissatisfied with the HC system, because they know they have to make choices that no one in the industrialized world. He's furious that the Senate won't take any bipartisan course of action, but rather stripping hard earned consumer protections and kicking poor people off their insurance.

Notes that now is the time to fix the problem, not fuck it up royal like G-C would.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 1:33 PM on September 25, 2017 [16 favorites]

Speaking of NASCAR, here's Dale Earnhardt Jr's official statement in exactly 139 characters:

All Americans R granted rights 2 peaceful protests
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable-JFK
posted by philip-random at 1:35 PM on September 25, 2017 [27 favorites]

Puerto Rico is Trump's Katrina.
posted by yoga at 1:36 PM on September 25, 2017 [14 favorites]

That's the precedent set in 2010

If only. NFIB v. Sebilius held the Medicaid expansion provision of the ACA violates the Constitution by threatening states with the loss of their existing Medicaid funding if they decline to comply with the expansion. The Court made up the new doctrine that the federal government can't force states to spend more state money by threatening to take away existing federal money if they don't. Medicaid expansion still requires some state spending increase after 3 years, even though it's still a great deal since the federal government still pays 90%. That's not really what Graham-Cassidy-Heller would be doing, they're changing the terms of the existing programs by drastically reducing the federal spending allotted, but not "coercing" the states to spend more in contribution. You know, unless states want to keep up the same level of benefits today, I guess.
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:37 PM on September 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

What a weird world where I find myself liking Lebron James, the mega-gifted jock who I resent with the fire of a thousand dunks I have never been able to make.
posted by srboisvert at 1:38 PM on September 25, 2017 [7 favorites]

Why does this one get elevated to saint-hood?

Because, as the whole NFL thing illustrates, powerful people can shape opinion by invoking the troops as the reason people should do what they want them to do.


You remember how grade school and junior high and high school always had those "pep rallies" to fire up the students to support their home sports team against the opposing schools' teams? You remember how martial and violent some of the chants and imagery was?

I still remember the mob chanting and the drums. I still remember posters hung in the school hallways with "Murder Mundy's Mill!", and "Vanquish the Vikings!" and "Slaughter the Saints!" Or the student articles in the school newspaper about how "[Home School] Slams Central, 35-3", or "[Home School] Razes Riverdale, 21-0" etc.

I cringed at those pep rallies, because I realized even by the time I was 11 that they were part of an insidiously manipulative conditioning, along with the forced Pledge of Allegiance, and the forced "Yes Sir" and "No Sir" children had to say to their parents, and the attitude in church that would not brook asking a Sunday School teacher to even explain their reasoning (hint: grew up in the South).

Conditioned with the idea that we were to buckle to authority, and to automatically hate anyone authority told us to hate, and to cheer violence against them, and hold up those who commit that violence as our heroes. It doesn't matter if they are doing that violence for a good reason or not. Indeed, there is no "reason" needed for why you learn to hate the school five miles away, other than "they are not us" and "those in authority said so."

Calling your worship for the troops into question basically is the residual junior-high mentality of asking if you have school spirit. Whether you are sincerely committed to Sparkle Motion. The social pressures are pretty much the same, and still much based upon an arbitrarily established conflict.

People never really grow out of who they were when they were 13. They just learn to hide it better in polite society. Or, in Trump's case, he never had to learn to hide it better in polite society, because he was always insulated from the consequences of his misbehavior by his family's wealth. And now he has millions of people who cheer him on, so why should he change?
posted by darkstar at 1:39 PM on September 25, 2017 [43 favorites]

Still in the wake of Silicon Valley execs claiming women have too much power in Tech, I have to wonder: in the classic conflict between the nerds and jocks, maybe the nerds deserved to be trashcanned?

Except for how a lot of the nerds are and always were themselves women? Many of us who are in tech now and trying to get respect for being in tech now were also, as teenagers, treated badly for being nerds and geeks. "Nerds" is not a group that ever only included men and continuing to discuss them as a group that only includes men does not in any fashion help women in tech.
posted by Sequence at 1:40 PM on September 25, 2017 [53 favorites]

Bob Casey from PA is up. He's had many letters from constituents opposed to the bill. Noting how everyone knows that they process is not appropriate for the gravity of the bill. Advocates for the bipartisan bill of Murray/Alexander. Notes that the processes for the ACA and G-C are completely incomparable. Says the Senate could move in that direction, but notes that the reconciliation deadline is coming up to pass such partisan legislation.

Does not understand Republican obsession with hating on Medicaid. He does not understand it. He's pissed because he wants to protect the people who use it. He does not understand why it's a problem for 11M people to get healthcare through Medicaid. Says that everyone benefits when we have healthcare.

Brings up opioid situation in rural PA. People there say "Thank god for the Medicaid expansion!" because they can get treatment through it. Does not get obsession with killing the expansions. Asking Miller whether she found evidence of stability proposals from health committee in G-C. She says that the 2 year reinsurance program is there, but that on its own is not enough. Asks her to explain how the bill would affect PA. She says the cuts would devastate PA. 15B-30B dollars will be cut from HC budget.

Casey has been very good on this issue, in how he talks about it. Chair is whining about how people are going over on time.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 1:40 PM on September 25, 2017 [46 favorites]

I'm not sure the Republican Senators really want to actually pass this monstrosity of a bill. Yeah they want to put in a good show but plenty of them will actually be happy having 3 of the Senators vote against this bill because it's frankly radioactive.

Alaska and Arizona will actually lose money relative to the current models (even before block grants expire) so I can't imagine Murkowski will be stupid enough to sign on. Nevada somehow magically stays funding neutral but Heller is fucked either way. Collins wants to run for Governor and she knows voting for this is the kiss of death.

And then you have Paul and Lee saying that this doesn't go far enough the other way in terms of making the US a libertarian paradise.
posted by vuron at 1:41 PM on September 25, 2017 [4 favorites]

U Bum is going down in history, people
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 1:41 PM on September 25, 2017 [49 favorites]

"Let's invite even Republican governors in here to comment on it!!"

Touche. Well played.
posted by RolandOfEld at 1:45 PM on September 25, 2017 [7 favorites]

Serious question ( maybe it's been asked) : Could Twitter close Trump's account citing that he violated rules when he threatened to blow up NK? I think Milo Y. was banned for less.
If he lost Twitter he'd lose his megaphone to his suckers.
posted by Liquidwolf at 1:46 PM on September 25, 2017 [4 favorites]

Warner calls the bill the most "radical, audacious change in our healthcare system that we've ever addressed". He notes how this bill has morphed into a "dramatic deconstruction" of a program that has been in place for 60 years. Notes the American Enterprise Institute has said the most important piece of legislation in years is being pushed through Congress without time for comment. Notes that S&P suggests that 580k would be lost and 240B dollars of economic activities. Says if this is a good idea, it would be a good idea after a thorough review through regular order 3 months from now. Calls this a "trumped up process to get a political scalp" [EC -- note ew racist gross].

Says that the sponsors have never been governors so they don't understand what they are asking. Says its absurd that a governor could revamp a whole state's healthcare system is risible. Says it's clearly designed by someone who's never run a state. Notes that the per capita cap and block grant would be the largest transfer of risk from the federal government to the states ever.

Warner isn't asking questions, but he notes that the current process is a travesty. He says that we need to go for bipartisan process.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 1:46 PM on September 25, 2017 [30 favorites]

U Bum is going down in history, people

Good news for the University of Bumstead, I suppose.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:47 PM on September 25, 2017 [12 favorites]

Could Twitter close Trump's account citing that he violated rules when he threatened to blow up a nation?

Can they? Yes. Should they? Yes. Will they? No.
posted by Justinian at 1:47 PM on September 25, 2017 [29 favorites]

Puerto Rico is Trump's Katrina.

It should be, but the New York Times and the Washington Post are out to lunch. Seems they are busy covering the NFL and NASCAR. Trump gets a pass while three million "Americans" are left in the dark.
posted by JackFlash at 1:48 PM on September 25, 2017 [40 favorites]

Someone with a Twitter here needs to tweet at Lin-Manuel Miranda that his shot at "DJT doesn't care about Puerto Ricans" has arrived.

I'd say credit me but I'm sure someone funnier has done this already.
posted by nakedmolerats at 1:48 PM on September 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

Can they? Yes. Should they? Yes. Will they? No.

Why just because it's good for Twitter's business to have him verbally vomiting all the time? Twitter could get the Nobel Peace Prize for this one act!!!!
I bet with enough support people could twist Twitter's arm into doing this.
posted by Liquidwolf at 1:49 PM on September 25, 2017

I think Milo Y. was banned for less.
When Milo or his followers make death threats, it's illegal. An elected head of state threatening to destroy a country isn't, is it?
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 1:51 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

Maria Cantwell up. Great statement on funding disaster relief for Puerto Rico. Noting how the notion of "flexiblity" is garbage. Says bill tries to address the individual market, but in actual is about killing Medicare. She talked about the bill messes with good ways to expand coverage and lower costs by striking them out of law or making them optional.

She notes how Republicans thinks the only way to reduce Medicaid cost is to cut people off. Shows how all the non-expansion states are the ones who have had massive shutdowns of rural hospitals.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 1:51 PM on September 25, 2017 [31 favorites]

When Milo or his followers make death threats, it's illegal. An elected head of state threatening to destroy a country isn't, is it

I doubt it makes that distinction in the Twitter user terms. It probably says threats in general. Take his Twitter!!!!
posted by Liquidwolf at 1:52 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

One thing I can't quite wrap my head around is how gutting medicaid is going to go over with seniors when a large number of seniors (and their families) depend on medicaid to cover nursing homes and other end-of-life issues.

This includes relatively well to do seniors who do all sorts of estate planning maneuvers to divest themselves of assets because end-of-life care will basically chew through hundreds of thousands of dollars in short order.
posted by vuron at 1:52 PM on September 25, 2017 [8 favorites]

Twitter is run by Nazis who approve of everything Trump says and more, so why would they do something like that.
posted by dilaudid at 1:53 PM on September 25, 2017 [4 favorites]

Local protests occasionally make a stop in front of Twitter's headquarters (usually on weekends though) to ask that they ban Trump in addition to their other grievances.
posted by zachlipton at 1:55 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

Twitter is run by Nazis who approve of everything Trump says and more, so why would they do something like that.

Oh Nazis? I dont know the people who run Twitter.
posted by Liquidwolf at 1:55 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

I doubt it makes that distinction in the Twitter user terms.

You're right, I was being lazy. Their rules state:
Violent threats (direct or indirect): You may not make threats of violence or promote violence, including threatening or promoting terrorism.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 1:56 PM on September 25, 2017 [9 favorites]

You're right, I was being lazy. Their rules state:
Violent threats (direct or indirect): You may not make threats of violence or promote violence, including threatening or promoting terrorism.

Exactly, I was just about to copy that same text. So... that qualifies. Take his fucking Twitter away!!!!
posted by Liquidwolf at 1:57 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

Sherrod Brown enters letters opposing the plan into the record. He can rebut Portman's horseshit from earlier. Notes that there's been a tonne of dishonest opposition to the ACA. Notes that 30k people who aren't getting ACA coverage (in LA I think)--Brown explains how it's the fault of the Republican governor who did not expand the program.

Asks for Cassidy to answer yes or no on whether the bill specifically include funding for opioid treatment funding. Cassidy does not answer with a yes or no, but says it's 'flexibility' that would allow states to cover it. Brown interprets the answer as No.

Brown noting how this bill is not being analyzed and that the process is crap. Notes how sheriffs are for opiod treatment and how constituents are getting treatment because of Medicaid. Says everyone knows that G-C will not cover opioid treatment. Mann says that funding cuts will result in no funding for opioid treatment because it will dry up. Miller says that it is likely more people will die of opioid related causes, because of the funding slashing. Notes that prior to ACA addiction was not covered in many plans.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 1:58 PM on September 25, 2017 [28 favorites]

It still seems like it might be worth getting people to say that in public. Perhaps it would help Evan McMullin move Utah next time, to make it more clear that the wrong kinds of Christians are under threat, along with the wrong/non-cis-het-white kinds of Americans.

No, these - the kind that come up first in the search results linked above - are the kinds of Christians that have always been under threat and have always known it. I must also emphasize that they are *pacifists* as well as Christians, and it's perfectly clear that that makes them immoral at best and Nazi sympathizers at worst in the eyes of J. Random Mefite.

So whether it will work to incite the government to focus its rage on these wrong kinds of Christian, it depends what your goal is. If you want to get Trump-voting Evangelicals to wake up, pitting them against peace churches isn't going to change the status quo at all. If you want peace churches, as the enemy, to come to harm via Trump and his supporters, that has a much better chance of working. They don't have the political power of Mormons in Utah, who also are not generally pacifists.
posted by tel3path at 1:58 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

...but instead multinationals used the repatriated funds to pay dividends to shareholders and buy back their stock.

There is an important finance concept at work here. The simplified model of how firms determine what new projects to spend capital on basically has them compare the rate of return on that project to what the firm feels is it's expected rate of return. Gather up all the projects you want to fund this year and figure out what each ROI is. Start with the highest ROI and work your way down until you're either out of capital or the ROIs are lower than the expected ROI for your firm. If you have more capital that you have favorable projects, the most productive thing you can do with it is return it to your investors. There are basically two methods to accomplish that, dividends (which tend to be very steady and even for some kind of weird reasons) and stock buy-backs.

Now, that concept assumes all other things being equal. That is, hiring 500 more sales people carries the same amount of risk as investing the same funds in, say, a new data-center. And there are plenty of other confounding factors and quantitative factors that can't really be built into model of a project's present value. There are a lot of complicating factors but it's basically true that if a company had something productive to do with foreign funds, they very likely would have been doing something with those funds already.

I have a hard time believing there are very many firms that have more profitable projects than they have capital for domestically but excess capital off-shore and especially that it's a high corporate tax rate that's keeping them from repatriating the funds and putting it to work.

If the GOP gets what they want, the sequence will probably be:
1. US Companies repatriate funds at special low rate
2. US Companies greatly increase the rate of stock-buy-backs
3. US Billionaires, with a fresh tax cut, will be the ones selling off their stocks for the companies to buy back (not at the individual level mind you, but it's the aggregate effect) as this is likely the smartest way to maximize their returns
4. The massive sell-off begins to create a buyer's market, stock prices start to fall.
5. The downward trend starts to set off more sales (especially limit orders as they're automatic) causing the trend to accelerate
6. Stock-market crashes as hard as it's ever crashed
7. I don't know what comes next and I really don't want to find out.
8. US Billionaires invest in a heavily depressed stock-market buying back their portfolios at a pittance compared to what it sold at while they flocked to cash and rode out the storm (I consider this the worst acceptable outcome)

I have a degree in Finance and I don't often get to use that knowledge in job. Mostly it comes in handy to get me LIVID at the "pro business" GOP as they twist that knowledge to tell lies.

GOP Rep: Blah blah blah economic concept
Me: NO YOU DAMN MORON THAT'S NOT HOW THAT WORKS AND I KNOW YOU KNOW THAT!
posted by VTX at 1:59 PM on September 25, 2017 [67 favorites]

He said this at the UN GA. Those aren't twitter followers. Those are the leaders of the world.
posted by adept256 at 2:01 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

Mr. Smith (just now): Phrasing/Word salad. But we're awesome.
posted by RolandOfEld at 2:01 PM on September 25, 2017

He said this at the UN GA. Those aren't twitter followers. Those are the leaders of the world.

NO, he said it on Twitter too.
posted by Liquidwolf at 2:02 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

including threatening or promoting terrorism.

Remember like a month ago when he tweeted that people should be murdered with bullets dipped in pig's blood in order to terrorize muslims?

Twitter is not going to give him the boot until one of his tweets is indisputably and obviously linked to a specific murder, and maybe not even then. I'm afraid that public pressure will only have a chance to move them after something equivalent to him having tweeted "someone should drive a Dodge Challenger into Antifa" the day before Charlottesville.
posted by Rust Moranis at 2:03 PM on September 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

I'd hope the UN would be better than fucking twitter at chastising such threats.
posted by adept256 at 2:06 PM on September 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

LMM has taken to twitter to beg @therealdonaldtrump to do something before many lives are lost. I bet he wishes he could tear the man apart, but I also bet he's wary of reminding Trump that a PR lad called DJT a POS on SNL.
posted by angrycat at 2:08 PM on September 25, 2017 [11 favorites]

Isakson gets a simple yes answer upon request from Cassidy.

Asks Miller about declines in coverage providers. Miller notes that 5 carriers exist in PA, and that they said prior to the instability in Washington, the markets were stabilizing. Smith is talking about AR's situation--3 carriers. Wants to attract more with 'competition'. Says they are getting providers to accept risk (!!! -- that doesn't exactly seem great...). Claims they aren't just cutting benefits and mandated conditions.

He asks Cassidy about Cassidy-Collins. Trying to polish Cassidy's bipartisan bona fides, even though he's trying to screw people.

McCaskill is going through S&P report. Says that increased flexibility comes with less federal dollars. Creates additional fiscal burdens on states. Creates more instability in insurance markets. AEI says G-C will increase instability and needs to move slower with much better analysis. She notes that the bill changed between the time she boarded a flight and time she got to DC. She notes that the states don't have to get a waiver but provide a description of what they will do. She asks Cassidy for definition affordable or adequate, Cassidy gives shit answer citing dictionary definitions. Incredibly disrespectful to Senator McCaskill.

She's noting how the governor has been fucking over her state by not accepting the expansion. A direct challenge to the notion that governors will take care of their people. She is noting how in MO they are cutting Medicaid providers right now without the expansion.

Cassidy is incoherent. Basically saying that people can be enrolled in insurance automatically if the state's decide, even if that means getting automatically enrolled upon a catastrophic injury or illness. He did not how this bill would actually pay for said catastrophic coverage.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 2:11 PM on September 25, 2017 [36 favorites]

I have a hard time believing there are very many firms that have more profitable projects than they have capital for domestically but excess capital off-shore and especially that it's a high corporate tax rate that's keeping them from repatriating the funds and putting it to work.

You don't have to speculate. It is objectively true. Look at Apple who borrowed billions using their off-shore money as collateral and what did they do with it? Did they use it to fund new projects? No they used it to fund new dividends and stock buybacks.

Which is exactly what they would do if allowed to repatriate their off-shore capital. Because they are already doing exactly that with the tax avoidance loophole of borrowing against that capital (which is tax deductible I might note).
posted by JackFlash at 2:12 PM on September 25, 2017 [13 favorites]

basically, the way i see it, twitter is not going to give trump a boot because of one or more of these reasons:

(a) jack and biz support his views
(b) jack and biz need the users and views
(c) jack and biz don't want the drama of kicking him off

none of which really allow jack and biz to come off looking good, but i guess they are consoling themselves with the giant piles of cash they made by giving literal nazis a platform to spew their hate and a tyrant a way to maybe start a nuclear war
posted by entropicamericana at 2:12 PM on September 25, 2017 [8 favorites]

I hate Toomey. Whining how people question their horrifying motives for all this. I need to take a break on these comments.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 2:15 PM on September 25, 2017 [14 favorites]

catastrophic injury or illness

I really hate this idea that if you provide people with coverage for "catastrophic injury or illness" that's good enough. As if people with congenital or chronic conditions just don't exist.
posted by OnceUponATime at 2:16 PM on September 25, 2017 [44 favorites]

I sure hope the guy who rode to power on a series of speeches about what a miserable shit hole this country is comes back on teevee to lecture me about patriotism.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:18 PM on September 25, 2017 [28 favorites]

I really hope that Santorum and Toomey believe in Hell; I don't, but I would love these guys to have a few moments of deathbed epiphany and certainty that they're headed there.
posted by angrycat at 2:21 PM on September 25, 2017 [19 favorites]

Remember how Trump tweeted over the weekend how Iran tested a ballistic missile? No less a source than Fox News (sigh) cites US officials as saying the test was fake, that they released a video of a failed launch from January.

Imagine having a multi-billion dollar system and thousands of people devoted to giving you information, to the point they risk their lives to do so, and you choose to rely entirely on cable news.
posted by zachlipton at 2:22 PM on September 25, 2017 [72 favorites]

Elijah Cummings wants to open an investigation into Kushner's email usage.
posted by PenDevil at 2:25 PM on September 25, 2017 [34 favorites]

Among everything in Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson-Santorum, the most incredible is the last section in the bill text is the last version of the bill.

Sen. McCaskill is right now calling out Cassidy for the lack of a definition of "adequate and affordable" coverage of pre-existing conditions that G-C requires that States must include "a description of" when applying for the block grant (p.8).

If approved, that application is then "deemed to be approved by the Administrator for that year and each subsequent year through December 31, 2026." (p.12).

Which is great, because the very last section of the bill (sec. 204) allows states to renegotiate any promises and throw them out the window (*takes a breath*):

"For any of calendar years 2020 through 2026 for which a State receives funds [...]with respect to health insurance coverage [...] the State may establish rules [... and] if any such rules conflict [...,] the State shall be deemed to satisfy the requirements of the conflicting provision. (p.143)

And then it explicit defines what regulations can be thrown out: coverage for women, discrimination based on age, rating area. The Incidental Economist has a good commentary.

Three pages tacked onto the end of a 146-page bill that quietly erase any question that this bill isn't a giveaway to insurance companies or in any way designed to provide health care.
posted by Theiform at 2:25 PM on September 25, 2017 [44 favorites]

governments hate pacifists as much as MeFi does

Um wut
posted by aspersioncast at 2:29 PM on September 25, 2017 [29 favorites]

This is your regularly scheduled reminder that, as this farce of a hearing goes on, Congress is about to miss the deadline to reauthorize CHIP, which is about to run out of money starting at the end of the month. That's the Children’s Health Insurance Program. It's an extremely popular program because it pays for HEALTH CARE FOR CHILDREN. And they're dong fuck all to fund it before states start to run out of money.
posted by zachlipton at 2:30 PM on September 25, 2017 [67 favorites]

Again, all of this makes way more sense if you think of the 2017 Republican Party as being populated by aspiring serial killers.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:31 PM on September 25, 2017 [25 favorites]

twitter is not going to give trump a boot

I should hope not. His tweets -- and his inability to not tweet -- are a window on his shriveled soul. Over and over again, they show the world how petty and dim and vile Trump is. When they write a history of this presidency, those tweets are going to be exhibit A. No one in the future will believe this shit unless they see stuff like those tweets for themselves, all laid out chronologically in reaction to events.
posted by pracowity at 2:32 PM on September 25, 2017 [13 favorites]

I must also emphasize that they are *pacifists* as well as Christians, and it's perfectly clear that that makes them immoral at best and Nazi sympathizers at worst in the eyes of J. Random Mefite.

Citations needed.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:35 PM on September 25, 2017 [8 favorites]

Yeah, I don't know what this pacifism storyline is about, but I would request maybe start a new thread (or a MeTa) to discuss it? There's already about 16 things being juggled here.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:38 PM on September 25, 2017 [11 favorites]

governments hate pacifists as much as MeFi does
Um wut
Citations needed.

This is a reference to the "Nazi punching is a moral duty" arguments and paens to the courage of antifa. Which are exactly the same arguments used to valorize the military, though both fans of the military and fans of antifa seem slow to recognize the similarity, sometimes.

(Explicitly: governments feel the same way about pacifist conscientious objectors as MeFi does about people who decry Nazi-punching.)
posted by OnceUponATime at 2:38 PM on September 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

> Ivanka's email signature is "Get Outlook for iOS"

I don't know if zachlipton knows why this is such a stupid terrible thing, but I'm going to go scream into a pillow for a minute here and then come back and explain.


!



So for several years, many system administrators have actually blacklisted the Outlook app from their mail servers due to the security risk it represents. Instead of directly pulling email to your phone, the app actually passes it along to a third-party server that downloads the mail for you! I know Microsoft has tried to do better with the app, but as of this year UC San Diego (for example) was warning users about the app - It is important to assess your email security and privacy needs and understand the potential risks before downloading this product."

Two guess as to if anyone did any assessing over there, and I'll note that the linked screenshot of the signature shows an email from February, way before any of the updates mentioned in the UCSD notice.

Full disclosure: I haven't blocked the app in my environment, but 1) most employees here don't have access to their email credentials, and 2) I didn't get this job by blasting the email security practices of other people in the running for this position
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 2:38 PM on September 25, 2017 [69 favorites]

Puerto Rico is Trump's Katrina.

It should be, but the New York Times and the Washington Post are out to lunch. Seems they are busy covering the NFL and NASCAR. Trump gets a pass while three million "Americans" are left in the dark.
posted by JackFlash

I meant it is Trump's Katrina in the sense that people are literally dying and in need of basic living resources and like Bush, he isn't doing a fucking thing about it. Fuck NYT and WaPo. The situation in PR is all over the internet, it's not like traditional news sources matter.
posted by yoga at 2:38 PM on September 25, 2017 [25 favorites]

Katrina took some time to unfold and become perceived as a huge failure for W. I think Puerto Rico will follow the same pattern.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:41 PM on September 25, 2017 [11 favorites]

This is a reference to the "Nazi punching is a moral duty" arguments and paens to the courage of antifa. Which are exactly the same arguments used to valorize the military, though both fans of the military and fans of antifa seem slow to recognize the similarity, sometimes.

Antifa are actually protecting vulnerable minorities from armed violence here in the US while the military act as the armed protectors of American capital and geopolitical interests against people of color in the global south?
posted by dhens at 2:42 PM on September 25, 2017 [31 favorites]

I mean, I respect both antifa and radical pacifists? (And fwiw, I personally know a fair number of radical Christian pacifists. There's a substantial Mennonite community where I live.) I can admire more than one way of living by one's ethical commitments.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:45 PM on September 25, 2017 [39 favorites]

"GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert on Monday urged Arizona to "recall" Sen. John McCain amid his recent brain cancer diagnosis, while criticizing his Republican colleague for going back on his 2016 campaign vow to repeal ObamaCare."
“Nothing inhibits recovery from cancer like stress. I think Arizona could help him, and us."

Aside from the fact that Gohmert is so dumb that he doesn't know that voters cannot recall a senator, I wonder what McCain thinks about the party he is so devoted to.
posted by JackFlash at 2:47 PM on September 25, 2017 [32 favorites]

Personally I lean pacifist but can see both sides of the argument. But to me, opposing the military in principle (as opposed to specific military actions) and supporting the antifa in principle (as opposed to specific actions) are not consistent positions. In principle -- they both do the same thing. I mean the military has been known to fight nazis too.

I don't feel like I entirely hold either one of those positions, partly because of the tension between them.
posted by OnceUponATime at 2:48 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

As to respecting the military in regards to defending my rights... throughout my relatively long life there has not been one military action that was about defending my rights. There have been no foreign elements trying to take away my rights. There are people here in this country who want to take away my rights, but the military isn't going to stop them. In fact they may help them. For you youngsters here, there are some oldsters here who used to say:

Remember Kent State.
posted by njohnson23 at 2:50 PM on September 25, 2017 [105 favorites]

Gohmert is kind of the Platonic ideal of stupid, yeah.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:51 PM on September 25, 2017 [8 favorites]

It could definitely be consistent. For example, if you didn't believe that the state controlling the military in question was legitimate, or deployed that military in the service of legitimate and human-rights-respecting aims.
posted by penduluum at 2:51 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

Still Fighting at Standing Rock: The national media has moved on, but the story is not over.
posted by homunculus at 2:53 PM on September 25, 2017 [23 favorites]

BREAKING: CBO score for Graham Cassidy expected "within minutes"

Relatedly, Sen Collins declined to ive her newest opinion of the bill before the score came out, and Hatch just said its "doubtful" that there will be a vote this week.

Some have speculatd that McConnell is just buying time to avoid handing out another big L before tomorrows AL election. . .
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 2:55 PM on September 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

The partial CBO score is out

They can only say "millions fewer", not enough time for a specific number.
posted by T.D. Strange at 2:57 PM on September 25, 2017 [5 favorites]

and it's been quite a long time since they were under threat from a foreign force.
posted by witchen

With the exception of Russian election interference, though that is of a wholly different scope re: military defending freedom
posted by Golem XIV at 2:58 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

Pacifists choosing not to punch nazis is laudable. Saying nobody should punch nazis is essentially defending nazis.
posted by rocket88 at 3:00 PM on September 25, 2017 [26 favorites]

Could we -not- have the punching Nazis discussion for the umpteenth time?
posted by Archelaus at 3:01 PM on September 25, 2017 [22 favorites]

CBOoooooooooooh no! score.

They basically say it saves at least as much off the budget as the AHCA (which is what they need for reconciliation), "millions" lose coverage, and it will take them weeks to do detailed analysis. They also think having states create new insurance systems by 2020 "would be hard," "difficult," and "challenging" which wins understatement of the day.
posted by zachlipton at 3:02 PM on September 25, 2017 [21 favorites]

Mod note: Agree, please leave the is-it-okay-to-celebrate-nazi-punching thing at "opinions remain divided" and just refer people to the last many times we've had this debate.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 3:05 PM on September 25, 2017 [8 favorites]

MSNBC BREAKING: Susan Colins is a no on G-C.
posted by Room 641-A at 3:11 PM on September 25, 2017 [51 favorites]

Having watched and summarized a great deal of this hearing, I have a few points about it. I won't be able to do another round of questions because I have other things I need to do today.

Positive Aspects

• The ADAPT protesters were amazing. True patriots putting their bodies and living up to the best ideals of our country. Some of them were forced from their wheelchairs and dragged out by police. It's sick that basically none of the Republicans will have their leaden hearts moved ADAPT's courage and conviction to do the right thing and peacefully protest for the human right of healthcare.
• Senator Maize Hirono did amazing job in her opening statement. She clearly laid out the cruelty in Graham-Cassidy-Johnson-Heller and effectively repped for healthcare as a human right.
• Senators McCaskill, Wyden, Bennet, Carver, Casey and Cardin really stood out to me as being thoughtful and asking tough questions.
• Witnesses Miller, Mann, and Woodruff were superb in their clear enunciation of the successes of the ACA, the fixable problems in the ACA, and the atrocious cuts and effects that would come from Graham-Cassidy.
• Major props to Maria Cantwell for calling attention to the situation in Puerto Rico. People are dying there, and they don't have fair or adequate representation in Congress. They money and assistance.

Negatives

• The entire Republican side argument in favor of this bill of shit is rooted in extreme intellectual dishonesty.
• No Republican would really, substantively address the elephant in the room--that their corrupt, racist, scheming Republican governors elected to allow their states to be sicker and pay more in insurance, rather than accept the Medicaid expansion.
• Bill Cassidy is smug, smirking fuckwit who sat there the whole time with an enormous shit-eating grin on his face and a hate-on for people on Medicaid. He gave a yes/no answer to Isakson, but not to Wyden or McCasklll--I wonder why (not really).
• Lindsey Graham's opening statement was unhinged and verging on incoherent.
• Rick Santorum's invocation of welfare destruction as a positive makes my blood boil. The only thing that matters to people like him are how many people are on the program--not the quality of people's lives overall.
• Republicans whine when people question their motives behind actions that kill people.
• Republicans straight up lie in Congressional hearings. Those block grants will not actually end up being spent on healthcare.
• Orrin Hatch telling people that "if your want a hearing, you'd better shut up" was disgusting. Hey asshole, you're a servant of US, not a ruler. The contempt for peaceful protest and the first amendment makes me want to scream scream scream.
• Senators from parties referring to people in the opposing party as their "friends". I cannot understand this sentiment at all. It really steams me when Democrats, in particular, say that about people who vote to make me and many others second-class citizens, routinely vote to force women to give birth, and routinely vote to kill hundreds of thousands of people prematurely by denying them healthcare. Similarly, forced-birth Republicans who seem to basically buy into the 'baby-killer' rhetoric calling people who support reproductive freedom 'friends' make no sense either. How can either side actually be friends with people who hardly seem to share any of the most basic values? It's useful to have a working relationship but calling that a friendship seems like a joke in this particular context.

The contempt and hate of the poor that the Republican party shows routinely doesn't really surprise me anymore--not after 20 years of observing how much they hate me and the very best of this country. It does sicken me though.

Anyway, we can kill this bill--keep up the pressure on Murkowski, Collins, McCain, Paul, Cruz, and anyone making any noise about wavering or leaning towards no. They only have 5 days for a party line vote to force this lethal legislation through.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 3:13 PM on September 25, 2017 [105 favorites]

Susan Collins statement
posted by Room 641-A at 3:14 PM on September 25, 2017 [5 favorites]

Lee says he's undecided, but this draft "moves in the wrong direction."

Look for lots of people to flee as it's clear they don't have the votes, but they'd all swing back the moment it looks like the votes are there.
posted by zachlipton at 3:17 PM on September 25, 2017 [10 favorites]

Excommunicated Cardinal, exceptional job. Thank you.
Still listening to C-span. This last gasp is pathetic. It amazes me how people who are deeply affected by this bill are clueless about what is going on. It's not behind the scenes -- it's right here in front of them, if they pay attention. That is, if they can get past the "black is white, day is night, everything is fine" coming out of this session.
posted by free f_ cat at 3:19 PM on September 25, 2017 [10 favorites]

Rob Portman of Ohio now stating that he is "still undecided", noting that the Ohio State legislature is balking at funding the state contribution at 10%, rather than the current 5% -- let alone taking on the whole responsibility.
posted by Theiform at 3:20 PM on September 25, 2017 [7 favorites]

Twitter has put out a thread explaining that they hold all accounts to the same rules, but they consider "newsworthiness" and "whether a Tweet is of public interest."

In short, if you're President, they let you do it.
posted by zachlipton at 3:28 PM on September 25, 2017 [57 favorites]

So with McCain, Collins and Paul all definite "noes" that's this one gone then? McCain and Collins both argue that changing healthcare (actually not healthcare) so fundamentally on a ludicrously restricted timeline doesn't get their vote so that's it if they want to do tax reform (actually money grab for the rich) next year? Right?
posted by merocet at 3:29 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

Yes except it's 2017 so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by tivalasvegas at 3:30 PM on September 25, 2017 [6 favorites]

National Treasure Alexandra Petri, WaPo: The Trump administration guide to peaceful protests

1. Respect the Flag

Under the Trump administration, you have carte blanche to respect all kinds of flags, be they red, white and blue with stars from 240 years ago or red, white and blue with stars from just 150 years ago! When disposing of a well-respected flag, fold it gently with exquisite care. Be as careful with the flag as you would not be with the head of a person you were putting into a police car.

When honoring the flag and thinking how best to respect it, keep Puerto Rico as far from your thoughts as possible, as the flag is perfect as it is and remembering that Puerto Rico is part of the United States might someday lead to ruining the flag’s aesthetic with additional stars.

posted by Johnny Wallflower at 3:31 PM on September 25, 2017 [45 favorites]

Just as his party's healthcare bill fails for the gazillionth time, Trump is mad at cable news:

.@CNN is #FakeNews. Just reported COS (John Kelly) was opposed to my stance on NFL players disrespecting FLAG, ANTHEM, COUNTRY. Total lie!
General John Kelly totally agrees w/ my stance on NFL players and the fact that they should not be disrespecting our FLAG or GREAT COUNTRY!
Tremendous backlash against the NFL and its players for disrespect of our Country.
#StandForOurAnthem🇺🇸

so that's it if they want to do tax reform (actually money grab for the rich) next year? Right?

They can write the reconciliation instructions to say they should do tax cuts and healthcare together. Some Republicans want to do that, others think it sounds as utterly mad at it is. In short, it's never over. They'll always keep trying. I'm still not exhaling until it's October though.
posted by zachlipton at 3:37 PM on September 25, 2017 [10 favorites]

I'm sure Kelly gave his approval for Trump to throw his name out there.
posted by PenDevil at 3:39 PM on September 25, 2017 [13 favorites]

So with McCain, Collins and Paul all definite "noes" that's this one gone then? McCain and Collins both argue that changing healthcare (actually not healthcare) so fundamentally on a ludicrously restricted timeline doesn't get their vote so that's it if they want to do tax reform (actually money grab for the rich) next year? Righ

If Trump's election has taught us anything, it's to not celebrate victory too early. We need to keep up the pressure on our reps until 10/1.
posted by Sangermaine at 3:39 PM on September 25, 2017 [11 favorites]

Still in the wake of Silicon Valley execs

EXECS are not nerds.
posted by mikelieman at 3:41 PM on September 25, 2017 [16 favorites]

Just as his party's healthcare bill fails for the gazillionth time, Trump is mad at cable news:

Ah, President Senile Fox News Grampaw is staying true to his campaign promise to yell at the TV constantly
posted by Existential Dread at 3:41 PM on September 25, 2017 [13 favorites]

They can write the reconciliation instructions to say they should do tax cuts and healthcare together. Some Republicans want to do that, others think it sounds as utterly mad at it is. In short, it's never over. They'll always keep trying. I'm still not exhaling until it's October though.

But they won't have the fig leaf of the lowered baseline to cut taxes as much as they intended to, right? And I don't see how the politics of this get *better*, after all it will be a midterm year.

Not to say that it can't be done by a sufficiently evil and motivated group of fucks such as the one currently holed up on Capitol Hill.

I honestly thought on January 20 that they would be able to do this in the first hundred days or so. I'm quite happy that I overestimated their competence. SO FAR.
posted by tivalasvegas at 3:42 PM on September 25, 2017 [9 favorites]

This is the day Trump truly became president
posted by theodolite at 3:42 PM on September 25, 2017 [4 favorites]

We need to keep up the pressure on our reps until 10/1.

Susan Collins will continue to get my call from the socialist utopia of Portland, worry not.
posted by merocet at 3:44 PM on September 25, 2017 [11 favorites]

from that Alexandra Petri article:

If you break a window, you are going to cause a family a lot of pane.

im dead
posted by numaner at 4:03 PM on September 25, 2017 [9 favorites]

Chad, a staunch US ally that has sent troops to battle Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and Boko Haram, was a surprising addition to Trump's travel ban.
No one seems to know why the Trump administration’s new travel ban includes Chad, a key counter-terrorism partner of the US military. Including Chad.
In a move that baffled former State Department officials and Africa security experts, the White House on Sunday extended its travel ban to include the central African nation, a crucial partner to the US and France in fighting extremist groups in the region.
Analysts noted that other impoverished countries in the region that weren't banned face the same sort of security issues.
posted by PenDevil at 4:03 PM on September 25, 2017 [32 favorites]

Wyden is closing ON FIRE
posted by fluttering hellfire at 4:06 PM on September 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

We're going to find out that Trump was mad at some dude named Chad, aren't we.
posted by mmoncur at 4:06 PM on September 25, 2017 [54 favorites]

This is the day Trump truly became president

Trump will never become president. He will never BE president. And he certainly will never be MY president, and I will NEVER, EVER call him by that title. EVER.
posted by yoga at 4:08 PM on September 25, 2017 [16 favorites]

Chad knows what he did.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 4:15 PM on September 25, 2017 [9 favorites]

somebody from /t_d probably tweeted some MRA chads/normies drivel at him
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:16 PM on September 25, 2017 [4 favorites]

NY Times op-ed by Eric Reid: Why Colin Kaepernick and I Decided to Take a Knee

After hours of careful consideration, and even a visit from Nate Boyer, a retired Green Beret and former N.F.L. player, we came to the conclusion that we should kneel, rather than sit, the next day during the anthem as a peaceful protest. We chose to kneel because it’s a respectful gesture. I remember thinking our posture was like a flag flown at half-mast to mark a tragedy.

It baffles me that our protest is still being misconstrued as disrespectful to the country, flag and military personnel. We chose it because it’s exactly the opposite. It has always been my understanding that the brave men and women who fought and died for our country did so to ensure that we could live in a fair and free society, which includes the right to speak out in protest. [...]

I can’t find words that appropriately express how heartbroken I am to see the constant smears against Colin, a person who helped start the movement with only the very best of intentions. We are talking about a man who helped to orchestrate a commercial planeful of food and supplies for famine-stricken Somalia. A man who has invested his time and money into needy communities here at home. A man I am proud to call my brother, who should be celebrated for his courage to seek change on important issues. Instead, to this day, he is unemployed and portrayed as a radical un-American who wants to divide our country. [...]

I am nevertheless encouraged to see my colleagues and other public figures respond to the president’s remarks with solidarity with us. It is paramount that we take control of the story behind our movement, which is that we seek equality for all Americans, no matter their race or gender.

What we need now is numbers. Some people acknowledge the issues we face yet remain silent bystanders. Not only do we need more of our fellow black and brown Americans to stand with us, but also people of other races.

This piece is really a must-read. Mr. Reid and Mr. Kaepernick are carrying on the tradition of peacefully fighting for people whose voices have been taken from them. True American Heroes.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 4:21 PM on September 25, 2017 [120 favorites]

somebody from /t_d probably tweeted some MRA chads/normies drivel at him

what the fuck is that even
posted by corb at 4:27 PM on September 25, 2017 [7 favorites]

It baffles me that our protest is still being misconstrued as disrespectful to the country, flag and military personnel.

It's not being innocently misconstrued, it's being intentionally misrepresented.
posted by Nerd of the North at 4:32 PM on September 25, 2017 [48 favorites]

what the fuck is that even

What is a Chad? A tall, good looking, charismatic, rich, popular, and muscular dude. Some are nice and some are mean.

Citation to r/incels, but I recommend you don't follow it. It's super ugly. www.reddit.com/r/Incels/comments/70hmvh/hi_i_am_a_polite_and_curios_norman_who_will_talk/

Maybe Trump is actually involuntarily celibate...
posted by Coventry at 4:33 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

Corb --

somebody from /t_d probably tweeted some MRA chads/normies drivel at him

what the fuck is that even

"Chads" started out on 4chan as name for the guys in high school who were sleeping with a different girl every week while the nice guys were sitting home alone. It's been coopted by the entire red pill / mgtow (men going their own way) / incels (involuntary celibate) crowds on reddit and other places as a general insult against guys who aren't mysognistic shitheels who can have normal conversations with women.
posted by nathan_teske at 4:34 PM on September 25, 2017 [14 favorites]

I can't find it now but somebody on twitter had a video of Bill Cassidy fleeing, pursued by yelling people in wheelchairs. Cassidy was running while trying to film the wheelchair pursuers over his shoulder. The whole time, Cassidy had this manic grin on his face.

I want to find that clip and watch it every day of my life, Cassidy's forced grin looking like it was going to split his head in half, the furious women in wheelchairs screaming, gaining ground.
posted by angrycat at 4:37 PM on September 25, 2017 [42 favorites]

And not to abuse the edit window -- those groups hate chads but they ultimately blame women. It's a deeply misogynistic worldview.
posted by nathan_teske at 4:38 PM on September 25, 2017 [5 favorites]

I just got home from Jury Duty. Thanks ExConCard for the live blogging.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 4:39 PM on September 25, 2017 [9 favorites]

Citation to r/incels, but I recommend you don't follow it. It's super ugly. www.reddit.com/r/Incels/comments/70hmvh/hi_i_am_a_polite_and_curios_norman_who_will_talk/


I know all those things you just described are real, but it still makes me think that we're living in the worst ever William Gibson novel, and clearly being manipulated by some sort of super shitty emergent AI.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 4:39 PM on September 25, 2017 [23 favorites]

Pop is great. His whole thing is worth a read. Some large snippets.

Gregg Popovich condemns Donald Trump's comments

"Our country is an embarrassment in the world," Popovich said. "This is an individual that when people held arms during games, [he thought] that they were doing it to honor the flag. That's delusional. But it's what we have to live with. You've got a choice: We can continue to bounce our heads off the walls with his conduct, or we can decide the institutions of our country are more important, people are more important, [the] decent America we all have and want is more important -- get down to business at the grassroots level and do what we have to do." ...

"I'm an individual. I live in this country. I have a right to say and do what I want. It has nothing to do with my position," Popovich said. "Obviously, race is the elephant in the room, and we all understand that unless it is talked about constantly, it is not going to get better. People get bored, 'Oh, is it that again? They are pulling the race card.' Because it's uncomfortable, there has be an uncomfortable element in the discourse for anything to change. Whether it is LGBT, women's suffrage, race, [it] doesn't matter. People have to be made to feel uncomfortable; especially white people. We still have no clue what being born white means.

"If you read some of the recent literature, there is no such thing as whiteness. But we made it up. Not my original thought, but it's true. Because you were born white, you have advantages systemically, culturally, psychology there. They have been built up for hundreds of years. Many people can't look at it. [It] can't be something on their plate on a daily basis. People want their status quo. People don't want to give it up. Until it's given up, it's not going to be fixed."

posted by chris24 at 4:40 PM on September 25, 2017 [75 favorites]

I know all those things you just described are real,

I only just discovered incels after they were mentioned in the "What Happened?" thread recently, so hardly an expert, but I'd say at least half of it is trolling. The misogyny is real in any case, though.
posted by Coventry at 4:42 PM on September 25, 2017

"Chads" started out on 4chan as name for the guys in high school . . .

Derail, but this usage is significantly older than 4chan. See also Blaines, as in James Spader's buddy in that John Hughes film. And Busters, which only tangentially related and hopefully requires no explication.
posted by aspersioncast at 4:42 PM on September 25, 2017 [5 favorites]

Ryan Zinke is batshitinsane.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 4:44 PM on September 25, 2017 [17 favorites]

Just as his party's healthcare bill fails for the gazillionth time, Trump is mad at cable news:

I'm just enjoying the hashtag I saw in one of the responses: #nincompotus
posted by Mister Fabulous at 4:45 PM on September 25, 2017 [29 favorites]

Oh man, we've been using the term 'Chad' in Chicago since at least the 90's (the female equivalent is a Trixie). It in no way started online, let alone 4chan.
posted by Windigo at 4:45 PM on September 25, 2017 [5 favorites]

It's super ugly. www.reddit.com/r/Incels/comments/70hmvh/hi_i_am_a_polite_and_curios_norman_who_will_talk/

Sweet mother of god. Thank you, but....Christ on a crutch, this is the most horrible year.
posted by corb at 4:46 PM on September 25, 2017 [7 favorites]

Regarding the news that Jared and now Ivanka both were using private email accounts for government business, it should be kept clear -- using private email accounts for government business has never been and still is not illegal.

What is illegal is using private email for government business and not forwarding a copy to government archives within 20 days. This is a new law, enacted by the Republican led congress in 2014 and taking effect at the beginning of 2017.

Also note that this law was enacted after Clinton left office. Prior to the new law it was common practice for cabinet appointees to wait until they left office to forward records to archives and that is what Clinton did.

Now, this might be small-bore stuff in the scheme of infractions by the Trump administration but it is at least worth making a issue of the blatant hypocrisy when just two days ago Trump was leading the crowd in chants of "Lock her up."
posted by JackFlash at 4:47 PM on September 25, 2017 [55 favorites]

Ryan Zinke is batshitinsane.

I'm going to pullquote a bit, because this is worth reading:

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said Monday that nearly one-third of employees at his department are not loyal to him and President Donald Trump, adding that he is working to change the department's regulatory culture to be more business friendly.

Zinke, a former Navy SEAL, said he knew when he took over the 70,000-employee department in March that, "I got 30 percent of the crew that's not loyal to the flag."

In a speech to an oil industry group, Zinke compared Interior to a pirate ship that captures "a prized ship at sea and only the captain and the first mate row over" to finish the mission.

posted by zachlipton at 4:48 PM on September 25, 2017 [17 favorites]

Chad knows what he did.

Won a war against Libya with Toyota pickup trucks, while Gadaffi's invading army was kitted out with Soviet armor and aircraft?

That was pretty bad-ass.
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:48 PM on September 25, 2017 [22 favorites]

WaPo is calling Graham-Cassidy a loss: Senate GOP effort to unwind the ACA collapses Monday (and yes, the URL is interestingly different from the article title). Collins, McCain, and Rand have all said they won't vote for it; Murkowski hasn't said but said she has "concerns;" Cruz has said he "could not back the bill because it does not go far enough," but I can't imagine he'd actually be the third vote to kill it if it got that far.

Earlier, the NYT had an article with a comparison chart (link to screencap) that showed how the various destroy-ACA plans stacked up. G-C is pretty much the worst of them, with the plan passed by the house being possibly a bit worse (in that it repeals the ACA taxes entirely instead of changing them).
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 4:53 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

GOP already eyeing next chance to revive Obamacare repeal
September 30 is not the end, they want to try again in the 2018 budget. And John McCain may not make it all the way through 2018.
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:53 PM on September 25, 2017 [4 favorites]

Ryan Zinke is batshitinsane

Zinke also offered a quirky defense of hydraulic fracturing, a drilling technique also known as fracking that has led to a years-long energy boom in the U.S., with sharply increased production of oil and natural gas.

"Fracking is proof that God's got a good sense of humor and he loves us," Zinke said without explanation.

What explanation is needed? The statement speaks for itself.
In short: Beeble beeble nop nop florfel nooter koople boople.
posted by Atom Eyes at 4:59 PM on September 25, 2017 [34 favorites]

2018 is a harder pitch for them - several have to run for reelection, and it's a lot harder to dodge your constituents while you're trying to persuade them to vote for you. (Not saying, "pshaw, that'll be easy to beat," just that the closed-room-last-minute bill plan doesn't mesh well with a campaign trail.)

There are going to be a lot of people asking what candidates' health care plans are.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 5:00 PM on September 25, 2017 [4 favorites]

Meghan McCain quit her job. He's not long for the world.

So if Collins, Paul, and McCain are def no, then wafflers can just go ahead and vote no now, right? They have the cover. Would be delicious to see Heller vote against his own bill.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 5:02 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

What the frack, Zinke?

Zinke also offered a quirky defense of hydraulic fracturing, a drilling technique also known as fracking that has led to a years-long energy boom in the U.S., with sharply increased production of oil and natural gas.

"Fracking is proof that God's got a good sense of humor and he loves us," Zinke said without explanation.

(original historical quote)
posted by tilde at 5:03 PM on September 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

Sadly, I don't see McCain making it in the Senate through the midterms. If the Republicans ram through a 50 vote (+Pence) bill with McCain's replacement next year just before the midterms it will be a travesty and may God have mercy on them for it because we sure won't.
posted by Justinian at 5:04 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

I know this is sort of borderline tinfoil hat of me, but I worry about fracking in Oklahoma setting off New Madrid. I live on that line and I have earthquake coverage on the house (like a lot of people here) but I'll probably be too dead to use it.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 5:05 PM on September 25, 2017 [8 favorites]

There have been no foreign elements trying to take away my rights.

I would have fully agreed with that statement right up until it was announced that Russian hackers were targeting voting systems in 2016.
posted by xyzzy at 5:07 PM on September 25, 2017 [7 favorites]

between trump getting his missile news solely from fox news, jared kushner's private email use, ivanka's private email use, and this zinke fellow's comments, can anyone give me one good reason why i shouldn't stuff vanilla joe-joe's in my face and pound whiskey tonight until i black out
posted by entropicamericana at 5:10 PM on September 25, 2017 [28 favorites]

Christ on a crutch, this is the most horrible year

I sometimes console myself that Ms. Fisher or Prince or Mr. Michael don't have to see this.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:11 PM on September 25, 2017 [9 favorites]

@ryangrim: Donald Trump spent the last hour on the phone with Republican senators getting told no on his repeal bill. Look out, world.

Daily Beast, Team Trump Prepares the Shiv for Mitch McConnell: ‘He Needs To Go.’

One senior Trump administration official told The Daily Beast that the president is “well prepared to” shovel blame onto McConnell if and when the latest Obamacare repeal effort goes down in flames later this week. Another Trump confidant noted that the president regularly vents about “Mitch’s” seeming inability to get “anything over the finish line.”

A White House official joked that it has proven a winning “formula” for Trump to go after the unpopularity of top GOP brass, including McConnell, ever since the campaign. Trump even spent the last few days hammering home the point that Strange (who is locked in an election fight against Roy Moore) isn’t even all that close to McConnell politically or personally, and that Strange would be “fighting Mitch” in the Senate as an authentic conservative.
...
In declining to comment, Don Stewart, a spokesman for McConnell, noted that neither the Alabama primary nor the vote on the health care bill authored by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) had yet occurred. But he did take a shot at the Senator’s critics in the White House for not putting their names on their takes. “All anonymous sources, right?” Stewart asked, adding: “#brave.”

A source close to McConnell, meanwhile, argued that if blame is to be cast it should be on the White House political shop for not working in advance to avoid a primary fight in Alabama. Far from helping Trump pass his agenda, the source added, a Moore win would imperil it.

“The only two things that I heard [Moore] talk about from a policy perspective is his opposition to Graham-Cassidy and his opposition to his budget that doesn’t balance, which doesn’t lend itself to tax reform,” said the source. “And unless I missed something, those are the two things on Trump's agenda.”

One of the authors of this story provided a helpful hint on Twitter earlier today: The “your fake story is based on anon. sources” line is literally never not given to me by someone who doesn’t go on background every day
posted by zachlipton at 5:12 PM on September 25, 2017 [21 favorites]

So Bernie Sanders was on Tavis Smiley last night and Tavis was really trying to egg him into relitigating the primaries. Has anyone yet come out and said relitigating the primaries is a dumb thing because the Russian were going to bag this for Trump no matter what? I'm waiting for it to come out that the republican primaries were fixed too, especially in light of Manafort's long time FISA surveillance. What happen when Rubio and Jeb! and Canned Soup realize that they were affected by this too?
posted by fluttering hellfire at 5:13 PM on September 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

NYT, Matt Apuzzo and Maggie Haberman,
At Least 6 White House Advisers Used Private Email Accounts

At least six of President Trump’s closest advisers occasionally used private email addresses to discuss White House matters, current and former officials said on Monday.

The disclosures came a day after news surfaced that Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and adviser, used a private email account to send or receive about 100 work-related emails during the administration’s first seven months. But Mr. Kushner was not alone. Stephen K. Bannon, the former chief White House strategist, and Reince Priebus, the former chief of staff, also occasionally used private email addresses. Other advisers, including Gary D. Cohn and Stephen Miller, sent or received at least a few emails on personal accounts, officials said.

Ivanka Trump, the president’s elder daughter, who is married to Mr. Kushner, used a private account when she acted as an unpaid adviser in the first months of the administration, Newsweek reported Monday. Administration officials acknowledged that she also occasionally did so when she formally became a White House adviser. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with reporters.

Because it's the Times, the story goes on to explain why this is just swell and what Clinton did was completely different and terrible.

BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS
posted by zachlipton at 5:14 PM on September 25, 2017 [66 favorites]

can anyone give me one good reason why i shouldn't stuff vanilla joe-joe's in my face and pound whiskey tonight until i black out
posted by entropicamericana at 19:10 on September 25 [+] [!]


Because I just grilled a skirt steak. Dinner first. Come over.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 5:14 PM on September 25, 2017 [29 favorites]

fracking seems more like proof positive of the innately self-destructive nature of humankind, other than some divine blessing. But, tomato tomato
posted by angrycat at 5:16 PM on September 25, 2017 [11 favorites]

I find America's obsessive hero-worship of The!! Troops!! really bizarre and cult-like.

It's also, to me, strongly reminiscent of the romanticising of the military in Europe during the years prior to WWI. I worry a lot about that.

To my knowledge, none of the pre-WWI European powers had an equivalent to the Second Amendment. So I think Americans are supposed to worship the troops for protecting your freedoms until such time as you have to kill them because of the threat they pose to your freedoms.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:19 PM on September 25, 2017 [17 favorites]

Oh good grief. The story ends by saying "Democrats criticized members of the George W. Bush administration for the practice."

That's not what we criticized them for. They were criticized for massive violations of the Presidential Records Act, to the tune of millions of emails, for using an RNC server that was set to automatically delete everything after 30 days.

This isn't some partisan "both side do it" fight, this is a question of whether Presidential records were preserved as required by the law.
posted by zachlipton at 5:21 PM on September 25, 2017 [58 favorites]

While the private email accounts spurred accusations of hypocrisy from Democrats, there are differences. Mrs. Clinton stored classified information on a private server, and she exclusively used a private account for her government work, sending or receiving tens of thousands of emails.

THAT IS A FUCKING LIE, MAGGIE, AND YOU KNOW IT. The information was retroactively classified, it wasn't classified at the time. And we're still going with "but Kushner has **TWO** email accounts"?? Really??

At this point I'm perfectly comfortable labeling Habermann a Nazi collaborator too, because that's what she did and is still doing.
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:22 PM on September 25, 2017 [60 favorites]

I sometimes console myself that Ms. Fisher or Prince or Mr. Michael don't have to see this.
I'd add Patty Duke, Gene Wilder, Alan Young and Abe Vigoda to that group... and 'earlier this year' passings Mary Tyler Moore, Adam West and John "War Doctor" Hurt...
posted by oneswellfoop at 5:23 PM on September 25, 2017 [4 favorites]

Sadly, I don't see McCain making it in the Senate through the midterms. If the Republicans ram through a 50 vote (+Pence) bill with McCain's replacement next year just before the midterms it will be a travesty and may God have mercy on them for it because we sure won't.

It won't change a lot of states. The sad thing is that poor Republicans hate their healthcare being taken away but at the same time they hate abortions, immigrants, and Muslims more.
posted by Talez at 5:30 PM on September 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

181 people arrested protesting at the Capitol today. If you're able to do so, I'm sure ADAPT would appreciate your financial support.
posted by zachlipton at 5:31 PM on September 25, 2017 [27 favorites]

And we're still going with "but Kushner has **TWO** email accounts"?? Really??

I think what she's getting at there is

it is not illegal for White House officials to use private email accounts as long as they forward work-related messages to their work accounts so they can be preserved.

But if Mueller still needed a reason to subpoena all of Kushner's private email, he definitely has one now.
posted by Coventry at 5:31 PM on September 25, 2017 [15 favorites]

The entire Dallas Cowboys team, including the super-Trumpnik owner, just went to the middle of the field and took a knee before (but not during) the national anthem. They still got booed, of course.
posted by dirigibleman at 5:32 PM on September 25, 2017 [36 favorites]

To my knowledge, none of the pre-WWI European powers had an equivalent to the Second Amendment. So I think Americans are supposed to worship the troops for protecting your freedoms until such time as you have to kill them because of the threat they pose to your freedoms.

Don't forget that you have to keep them out of your house per the third amendment. Probably all government housing too but nobody has done a creative interpretation of the third the way they do with the second.
posted by srboisvert at 5:38 PM on September 25, 2017

@realDonaldTrump: Texas & Florida are doing great but Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble..

When we said Trump should be focusing on Puerto Rico, we meant helping them, not "blame the territory."
posted by zachlipton at 5:49 PM on September 25, 2017 [45 favorites]

Now it's become a protest by NFL owners of Trump telling people to boycott NFL games. Jerry Jones doesn't give a shit about police killings. Let Jerry release a statement in support of BLM and Kapernick if he wants to show support for police violence, short of that, its yet another coopting of a POC cause by rich white Republican fucks to keep making money.
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:51 PM on September 25, 2017 [12 favorites]

Just because it sounds better in French:

Mike Pence déplore les «lacunes» du système de santé canadien

"Lacunes" meaning "gaps" or "holes." But also...

Our system has problems for sure, but if you had a lacunar stroke you would not be out of pocket for your emergency or follow up treatment.

Asshole.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:51 PM on September 25, 2017 [8 favorites]

good lord he actually negged a group of people whose lives are in peril
/screaming, screaming, screaming
posted by angrycat at 5:52 PM on September 25, 2017 [34 favorites]

Brave new world, that has me feeling good about the goddamn Dallas Cowboys?

Though yeah, I bet for Jones it has nothing to do with racism.

But does the crowd understand that? The kneeling/not kneeling with arms locked/both demonstrations have confused the heck out of this, honestly.
posted by emjaybee at 5:54 PM on September 25, 2017 [4 favorites]

List of potential McCain replacements

It's a murderer's row of yes votes
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:58 PM on September 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

> It's a murderer's row of yes votes

Well, at least they'll have experience.
posted by tonycpsu at 6:02 PM on September 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

Here's that full set of tweets:

Texas & Florida are doing great but Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble..
...It's old electrical grid, which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the Island was destroyed, with billions of dollars....
...owed to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with. Food, water and medical are top priorities - and doing well. #FEMA

This "blame Puerto Rico and make them pay back their debt, btw everything is going great" routine comes literally as the Governor of Puerto Rico is telling Chris Hayes that 60% of the population lacks access to potable water. Trump is lying. This is disgusting.
posted by zachlipton at 6:07 PM on September 25, 2017 [83 favorites]

"billions of dollars owed to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with"
What? He's not going to provide aid to bail out the banks & Wall Street? You'd think he's gonna lose some of his closest allies over that...
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:12 PM on September 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with

Hey, out of context this is not a sad notion at all. The banks and Wall Street must be dealt with.
posted by jason_steakums at 6:13 PM on September 25, 2017 [9 favorites]

I just heard an interview on the radio with Frances Robles, who's in Puerto Rico. She reports that there's no electricity, people are starting to run out of stockpiled food and are breaking into ruined stores, FEMA is nowhere to be seen, and they're about two days away from a full-on humanitarian crisis.
posted by theodolite at 6:15 PM on September 25, 2017 [19 favorites]

Of course, he ignores why Puerto Rico was in a massive debt crisis in the first place, since Congress literally would not let them set their own gorram financial policy, since they're effectively a colony still.

Thanks, Congress. That worked swell.
posted by Archelaus at 6:16 PM on September 25, 2017 [25 favorites]

I have no idea whether "must be dealt with" means that the loans must be paid off anyway or that they must be forgiven, and I suspect the President doesn't know either
posted by theodolite at 6:17 PM on September 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

One can't imagine him asking his wall street buddies to take the loss on forgiving the debts. Obviously, that burden must be shifted to the taxpayers.
posted by Archelaus at 6:18 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

i know this is going to shock you as loyal, true blue americans but i was raised in a church where there was an american flag on the right side of the altar and people kneeled repeatedly during the service - and there are tens of millions of these subversives in this country

catholics, man, i swear ...
posted by pyramid termite at 6:18 PM on September 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

This is said a lot, in particular with respect to 45, but: Christ, what an asshole.
posted by Room 101 at 6:19 PM on September 25, 2017 [11 favorites]

Twitter isn't cutting him off, citing newsworthiness and transparency.

I kinda understand they are in a no-win situation. Cutting him off would, at best, bring the anger of the Right. At worst, it would invite regulation of social media (and perhaps kill Network Neutrality), under some Orwellian* claim of "Free Speech."

Plus, as someone noted, it gives us some insight into his id. It gives him enough rope to hang himself with.

*Someone upthread noted that John Hurt didn't have to see this, calling him the War Doctor. He was also Winston Smith.
posted by MrGuilt at 6:23 PM on September 25, 2017 [6 favorites]

You know what the cherry on top of the shit sundae of this latest ACA repeal bill is? The incredibly bad faith that Lamar Alexander showed by not standing up for the bipartisan healthcare committee he was oh so proud of by declaring himself a "no" on Graham-Cassidy. Yeah, gonna feel real secure in any promises made in that negotiation if they go back to the table.
posted by jason_steakums at 6:31 PM on September 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

it's like the lesson learned from Katrina was to blame New Orleans
posted by angrycat at 6:32 PM on September 25, 2017 [6 favorites]

What's the story with Murray and Alexander? Is there an ELI5 on that?
posted by fluttering hellfire at 6:34 PM on September 25, 2017

Why do I suspect that if you dig back far enough, somebody in the Puerto Rican local government denied Trump a request to build a resort there and this is his payback?
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:35 PM on September 25, 2017 [16 favorites]

I can't get over the insanity of the "It's OK that they have personal email because they also use their government email" defense. Shame on the NYT for buying it hook line and sinker.

Wife: "You have a secret second cellphone?"

Husband: "Yes, but it's OK because I also have a regular cellphone."

posted by 0xFCAF at 6:36 PM on September 25, 2017 [38 favorites]

What's the story with Murray and Alexander? Is there an ELI5 on that?

It was an attempt for bipartisan stabilization of the Obamacare market places and making sure the CSR payments were paid. It doesn't really matter about the details, because Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell both said they wouldn't give it a vote this week to try again on Graham-Cassidy. Until we hear bipartisan talks are back on, there's nothing to ELI5.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:37 PM on September 25, 2017

List of potential McCain replacements

I love how they're talking about who could replace McCain "if he retires". As though that makes it less macabre. We know what you guys are talking about, we know.
posted by Justinian at 6:39 PM on September 25, 2017 [8 favorites]

@EricColumbus (former Obama official)
THREAD: One part of Trump's disturbing NFL rant at that Alabama rally deserves more attention: the bit about the referee and his wife. [text of rant]
2. Trump lamented that calling penalties for excessively hard hits is "ruining the game" because players "want to hit."
3. Why the penalties? "The referee gets on television, his wife is sitting at home, she's so proud of him."
4. The ref is a pussy, unmanned by his need for his wife’s approval. A real man doesn’t throw penalty flags for ticky-tacky stuff.
5. This is a favorite Trump theme: real Americans are now hemmed in by PC ninnies and their stupid rules. And this time by a woman, no less!
6. Trump often laments the “old days,” when people could beat up protesters.
7. And shoot deserters.
8. And kill captured Muslims with bullets dipped in pigs’ blood.
9. Women bear special blame for ending the old days. In fact, “men are petrified to speak to women anymore.”
10. The irony is that the Trump candidate’s *opponent* in Tuesday’s GOP primary, Roy Moore, is famous for peddling this good-old-days crap.
11. Last week Moore pledged to free America from “political correctness & social experimentation like transgender troops in our bathrooms."
12. (Would all be forgiven If transgender troops relieved themselves in outhouses?)
13. In one sense, Moore’s good-old-days pitch is very different: he says the USA went astray by forsaking God. Roy Moore says 'we've asked for' shootings and killings by turning away from God
14. Trump isn’t a God guy, of course. But Moore’s religious laments have much in common with Trump’s secular declinism.
15. Both men complain that a once-great nation is being laid low by an ever-expanding set of unjust restrictions.
16. For Moore, the sissy referees are federal judges. He was kicked off the Alabama Supreme Court *twice* for disobeying federal courts.
17. Moore was removed in 2003 for ignoring a federal court order to dislodge a Ten Commandments monument he had installed at the courthouse.
18. Elected once again in 2012, he was suspended in 2016 for rest of his term for ordering probate judges not to give gay marriage licenses.
19. Things aren’t what they used to be, Trump and Moore agree. Can’t lead students in prayer. Must pee next to [trans]. No hard tackles.
20. Bizarrely, if Trump’s chosen candidate loses tomorrow, Trump’s vision of America will prevail. END OF THREAD
posted by chris24 at 6:44 PM on September 25, 2017 [38 favorites]

Oh the CNN debate is on too. Bernie is owning, he's defending the ACA, so that concern was overblown so far. Graham is repeating debunked bullshit. Cassidy sounded like a goddamn fucking moron and has literally made me lose faith in the institution of doctors, because between him and Ben Carson, fuck man.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:45 PM on September 25, 2017 [25 favorites]

Ugh ugh ugh I just thought about how deep down, cringingly horrible Trump's reactions to the death of John McCain will be. Because the only way for Trump to not be ghoulish and awful will be to shut up and do nothing, and that absolutely won't happen. He will insist on coming to the funeral to dance on the grave.
posted by jason_steakums at 6:45 PM on September 25, 2017 [6 favorites]

In fact, “men are petrified to speak to women anymore.”

...

...goooood?
posted by jason_steakums at 6:46 PM on September 25, 2017 [21 favorites]

We need a Majority Leader replacement betting pool. Obvious choices are Grassley and Hatch because of longevity. Right wingy picks would be Barrasso or Blunt. Generic republican would be Hoeven, Thune, or Crapo. Pandering to young republicans (at least in kayfabe) would be Sasse or Cotton, possibly Capito.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 6:47 PM on September 25, 2017

$100 says Trump calls McCain a hero in a eulogy read from a teleprompter
posted by 0xFCAF at 6:49 PM on September 25, 2017 [8 favorites]

My money is on Blunt or Thune, btw.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 6:49 PM on September 25, 2017

We need a Majority Leader replacement betting pool.

Mitch ain't going nowhere. Being despised by Trump doesn't seem to be a liability for him.
posted by Joey Michaels at 6:52 PM on September 25, 2017

Hope it's not Grassley unless you want the condescension of a Majority Leader who will make a big show about bipartisanship but won't shut up about how the Democrats aren't being bipartisan because they aren't caving to every single thing the Republicans want.
posted by jason_steakums at 6:56 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

Thanks for liveblogging the G-C hearing this morning. It reminded me to donate to ADAPT.

The most recent white rage ("ungrateful," really?) against kneeling African American athletes finally got me to go look up something I've been trying to put my finger on, from Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow book:

A widespread belief that a majority of black and brown men unfortunately belong in jail is compatible with the new American creed, provided that their imprisonment can be interpreted as their own fault. If the prison label imposed on them can be blamed on their culture, poor work ethic, or even their families, then society is absolved of responsibility to do anything about their condition. This is where black exceptionalism comes in. Highly visible examples of black success are critical to the maintenance of a racial caste system in the era of colorblindness. . . . [to] lend credence to the notion that anyone, no matter how poor or how black you may be, can make it to the top, if only you try hard enough. These stories “prove” that race is no longer relevant.

posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 6:56 PM on September 25, 2017 [44 favorites]

Twitter isn't cutting him off, citing newsworthiness and transparency.

twitter isn't cutting him off because they are gutless cowards who value money above all else and are possibly closeted nazis
posted by entropicamericana at 6:57 PM on September 25, 2017 [19 favorites]

I missed Klobuchar's opening statement but she just crushed with a defense of maternity benefits in the ACA.

And Graham comes back with the bullshit Project Veritas "aborted body parts" videos. This debate is a fucking farce, as expected. But both Dems are doing well. Graham and Cassidy have nothing really in response except lies.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:02 PM on September 25, 2017 [15 favorites]

(Hey, uh, guys, it's gross that the GOP is looking forward to McCain's death. I know it's not what you meant, and/but even in the context of how awful Trump is, it's still kind of gross for us to be putting him in the grave early too. Let the guy fight his cancer. )
posted by BlueBlueElectricBlue at 7:02 PM on September 25, 2017 [18 favorites]

The backlash against Trump is also very profitable for Twitter - the most liked and most retweeted tweets ever are responses to him. 140 characters of Free Speech is a gold mine.
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:03 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

Has Amy Klobuchar raised the ire of either wing of the Democratic party yet? Because I kind of like her. I could go for a Franken/Klobuchar (or Klobuchar/Franken) all Minnesoooota ticket.
posted by Justinian at 7:04 PM on September 25, 2017 [10 favorites]

[to] lend credence to the notion that anyone, no matter how poor or how black you may be, can make it to the top, if only you try hard enough. These stories “prove” that race is no longer relevant.

Last week I watched Ben Shapiro's Berkeley speech so you all don't have to. His argument that racial discrimination isn't a big deal in the US was propped up by the stat that Asian-Americans are the group in the US with the biggest salaries. And a minute or two later he said black people should just get jobs. He doesn't know anything about scientific findings and historical reality in the fields he is talking big about. His arguments were deeply shallow and relentlessly cherry picked.
posted by puddledork at 7:05 PM on September 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

I just remembered that a Franken/Klobuchar ticket would be unconstitutional! Damn you, Founders!
posted by Justinian at 7:08 PM on September 25, 2017 [5 favorites]

Not yet, everyone still loves Amy Klobuchar.

Sorry an all Minnesota ticket is impossible though, since the veep has to be from a different state. Like Missouri. Where Jason Kander is from. Or Indiana, where Pete Buttigieg is from.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 7:08 PM on September 25, 2017 [7 favorites]

Didn't Cheney move from Texas to Wyoming to be able to be Bush Jr.'s running mate, but I don't know how far in advance that was...
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:11 PM on September 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

Yes, the different state thing is one of those relics that doesn't particularly make sense in this day and age but is more trouble than it's worth to change.
posted by Justinian at 7:11 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

the different state thing is one of those relics that doesn't particularly make sense in this day and age but is more trouble than it's worth to change.

Like the electoral college.

wait.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:19 PM on September 25, 2017 [23 favorites]

Does Saudi Arabia have any beef with Chad? Because that's where I'd start looking for answers first. Yemen is added to the list too. When it comes to foreign policy, Trump's fear of brown people usually takes a back seat to his personal business prospects.
posted by p3t3 at 7:20 PM on September 25, 2017 [13 favorites]

Fox's Shep Smith: It's being framed as players attacking the anthem, troops, & the flag, but that's not what they're doing. They're upset with racial injustice... that's not what they're doing and we're complicit [VIDEO]
posted by chris24 at 7:24 PM on September 25, 2017 [63 favorites]

Why do I suspect that if you dig back far enough, somebody in the Puerto Rican local government denied Trump a request to build a resort there and this is his payback?

Why do I suspect that Donald Trump is and has been a fucking flagrant vicious inhuman sociopathic bigot every minute of every day forever?
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:25 PM on September 25, 2017 [28 favorites]

Doesn't someone here have Klobuchar/Kennedy as their 2020 favorite?
posted by asteria at 7:29 PM on September 25, 2017

Not a peep about Puerto Rico from the "man." And none from his wife or children. None from anyone in the administration, or am I wrong? I also wished they believed in hell, but they don't, and here are several hundred people in DC who are openly showing the world that they do not care one jot about anyone who isn't a white man giving them money, regardless of appeals to "support the troops".

They are literally insane with their desire to destroy everything, kick every POC, non-straight, non male, non-Evangelical in the face, and running off with sacks of cash, while trying to push everyone else in the Potomac to drown.

------------------------

Christ on a crutch, this is the most horrible year

I sometimes console myself that Ms. Fisher or Prince or Mr. Michael don't have to see this.

Huh. I wonder if Iman Abdulmajid and Duncan Jones have thoughts about leaving this country with their children and never coming back, not even to work. Bowie's grandson is Asian and his daughter is black. Could they go to Europe? It's getting scary there, also. I suppose their fame and money will keep the kids safe.

It's almost odd to see so many white celebrities speaking out against this racist man, his evil administration, and the craven greedheads in Congress, though, obviously, I'm glad they're doing it. What's the quote? "If we don't hang together, we will surely hang separately"? Is this at all precedented? How can we encourage more of it, especially since a big reason he's in office is because he wanted to be the ultimate permanent A-lister. Did a lot German non-Jewish celebrities during the WWII publicly stand up against the Reich? I only know of Conrad Veidt and Dietrich doing so.
posted by droplet at 7:29 PM on September 25, 2017 [8 favorites]

I keep remembering that a (tiny) part of the brouhaha following the 2000 election involved "hanging chads" and can't help wondering if 45 or someone in his brainless entourage is associating it with something...
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:34 PM on September 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

@bomani_jones
know what's crazy? taking a knee, rather than sitting, was a compromise to show deference to veterans. but y'all just wanna be mad, ha?
- moral of the story? it's not about what these guys are or aren't doing. it's about who they are. or, in critics' minds, *what* they are.
- seriously, have you forgotten already? why is it so easy to play y'all? LAT (Sept '16): Colin Kaepernick kneels during national anthem while former Green Beret Nate Boyer stands beside him
- anyway, what's happened is a discussion of the mistreatment of black ppl has been turned into a one of hurt white feelings over the anthem.
- and yesterday, with all the statements, was about trump disparaging the league run by mostly white owners and how that hurt their feelings.
- then it became about how villanueva gets to say what he wants no matter what, because military, which is readily associated with whiteness.
- meanwhile, all that arm locking and few address trump saying protestors should be fired...but none of these owners will hire kaepernick.
- nope. we're knee deep in the only angles the general white population is comfortable with: the anthem, the flag and "freedom of speech."
- all things to which white ppl can relate. but "hey, please stop shooting us!" just doesn't go over the same way.
posted by chris24 at 7:35 PM on September 25, 2017 [80 favorites]

Texas & Florida are doing great but Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble..
...It's old electrical grid, which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the Island was destroyed, with billions of dollars....
...owed to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with. Food, water and medical are top priorities - and doing well. #FEMA

#CorporationsLivesMatter

That's it. I'm out of evens. I'm so crackly I could be The Human Torch.
posted by tilde at 7:44 PM on September 25, 2017 [16 favorites]

Please tell us more about what a shithole Puerto Rico is while people are dying, President Trump.
posted by Justinian at 7:47 PM on September 25, 2017 [32 favorites]

There once was a man from New York
With a belly like a barrel o' pork
He said "watch me win"
And proceeded to spin
Why he was confused by a spork.
posted by loquacious at 7:47 PM on September 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

The moving states to run thing is utter fuck bullshit. Tennessee Trey is one of the jackholes I have to call. He "moved" into the 9th district in 2015.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 7:48 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

Food, water and medical are top priorities - and doing well.


And doing well?

DOING WELL??


Can a President be sued for malpractice?
posted by darkstar at 7:52 PM on September 25, 2017 [10 favorites]

this series of Puerto Rico tweets has enraged me more than anything in the past 402 years TrumptimeUnits

Yeah like I'm trawling Puerto Rican twitter to see if I can find out if my family that moved there is okay but thanks Trump for letting me know the government is broke, I had no idea and also care much more about that than say them getting food and water.
posted by corb at 7:55 PM on September 25, 2017 [13 favorites]

Switching out McConnell as Leader would be a disaster for the Republican Senate, but they'd manage. As I recall the Leader elections are done by secret ballot and only the majority caucus gets to vote. So you'd only need 27 votes to win. Theoretically this could be done without too much drama and everyone would keep it to themselves. But OF COURSE Trump would insert himself into the discussion and create a mess of everything. But they'd muddle through somehow.

But the House is another deal altogether. If Ryan got deposed it would be like Game of Thrones almost. The voting is done in a public vote and you need a majority of all members, 218 votes. These dipshits can't even manage 218 votes for hurricane disaster relief! No way they can all agree on a new Speaker. I don't even know how many candidates would pop up. It would be chaos.

The truly remarkable thing is that both of these things are possible! Unlikely. But possible! Any other government and it would be ludicrous to suggest that a Majority Leader would get deposed by his own members on the order of his own President! But 2017? Who knows?
posted by Glibpaxman at 7:59 PM on September 25, 2017 [5 favorites]

Hmm 2005 Republican president is so malcompetent he lets humanitarian distaster and death befall hurricane survivors, flash forward to 2017 Republican president is so malcompetent he is poised to let humanitarian disaster and death befall hurricane survivors.

If only I could figure out some link here, help me out guys. We've got to think.

Oh yeah, and I'm resurrecting "malcompetent". Funny how things go in circles.
posted by supercrayon at 8:07 PM on September 25, 2017 [12 favorites]

A lot of quality, interesting Democratic possibilities for 2020, but Democrats could run Dirty Sock/Flat Soda and I'd be: ALL. IN. If, however, celebrity (barfshudder) has become cemented as the new status quo, I'd be thrilled to vote for an Oprah/LeBron ticket. Everyone gets healthcare, you get healthcare, you get healthcare, you get healthcare, you: Get out U bum!!
posted by riverlife at 8:11 PM on September 25, 2017 [29 favorites]

Patrick Redford, Deadspin: Stop Using Pat Tillman

So, remember Tillman as a brave man. Remember him as an athlete who gave up on a lucrative profession to make a sacrifice others would not. But to remember him this way without taking into account everything that happened after he went to the Middle East would be disingenuous. Don’t forget how he developed anti-war views, or how his legacy was manipulated by the powerful in order to stay in power and to keep feeding young men’s lives to the war machine. To bring Tillman into the national anthem kneeling debate as someone who would have reprimanded his teammates for protesting racial injustice (and not, as cynical commentators would have you think, the military) is to completely misunderstand who he was or what he believed in. Pat Tillman was exploited as propaganda from the moment he enlisted, and even more so after his death. Don’t let him be used today.

posted by tonycpsu at 8:14 PM on September 25, 2017 [40 favorites]

Dallas Sportscaster On NFL Players Taking A Knee: "All Of Us Should Protest How Black Americans Are Treated In This Country"

More like this please, sports journalists.
posted by tonycpsu at 8:21 PM on September 25, 2017 [129 favorites]

Sorry an all Minnesota ticket is impossible though, since the veep has to be from a different state.

Not really, though not likely because of possible complications. Only the electoral college delegates from Minnesota are prohibited from voting for both. All the electors from other states could vote for both Klobuchar and Franken. The electors from Minnesota could help elect Klobuchar as president, but couldn't also vote for Franken as vice-president. This might mean that Klobuchar wins the presidency and depending on the remaining spread, if there is no absolute majority for vice-president, then the Senate decides.
posted by JackFlash at 8:34 PM on September 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

The Americans with Disabilities Act Is Under Threat: There’s no entity in charge of ensuring that businesses comply with the ADA.

Republicans’ Push to Strip Health Care From Vulnerable People Shows Disability Rights Are No Longer Bipartisan: When it comes to disability, Congress has been remarkably good at leaving party ideology at the door in the interest of the common good—until now.
posted by homunculus at 8:42 PM on September 25, 2017 [20 favorites]

Team Trump Prepares the Shiv for Mitch McConnell: ‘He Needs To Go.

I wonder when McConnell gets a clue and realizes he has to put a shiv in Trump before Trump puts a shiv in him.

Et tu, Ryan?
posted by JackFlash at 8:42 PM on September 25, 2017 [9 favorites]

ELECTIONS NEWS pt 2

Some late in the day polls:

** AL senate special:
-- Cygnal: Moore up 52-41
-- Trafalgar: Moore up 57-41

** VA gov:
-- CNU: Northam up 47-41
-- IMGE Insights: Northam up 45-41

** NJ gov:
-- Suffolk: Murphy up 44-25
posted by Chrysostom at 9:04 PM on September 25, 2017 [19 favorites]

Uhhh... this seems bad. Via BuzzfeedNews

"WASHINGTON – Federal officials are planning to collect social media information on all immigrants, including permanent residents and naturalized citizens, a move that has alarmed lawyers and privacy groups worried about how the information will be used.

The Department of Homeland Security published the new rule in the Federal Register last week, saying it wants to include "social media handles, aliases, associated identifiable information, and search results" as part of people's immigration file. The new requirement takes effect Oct. 18."
posted by anastasiav at 9:28 PM on September 25, 2017 [49 favorites]

A's fans gave Bruce Maxwell a standing ovation in his first at-bat since he kneeled during national anthem.

VIDEO
posted by chris24 at 9:36 PM on September 25, 2017 [25 favorites]

wow, everyone go watch this

Holy shit that was great.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:01 PM on September 25, 2017 [5 favorites]

"WASHINGTON – Federal officials are planning to collect social media information on all immigrants, including permanent residents and naturalized citizens, a move that has alarmed lawyers and privacy groups worried about how the information will be used.

@tedlieu: Dear @DHSgov: I am a Naturalized Citizen. This is my Twitter account. And your stupid program below can go to hell. It's NUTS!
posted by zachlipton at 10:26 PM on September 25, 2017 [55 favorites]

anastasiav: "[DHS] wants to include "social media handles, aliases, associated identifiable information, and search results" as part of people's immigration file. The new requirement takes effect Oct. 18."

Right now there are only two public comments on this. Maybe some of you born citizens, especially if you're a white Christian (you could leverage that by saying, "As a white Christian..."), could let them know what you think of this staggering invasion of privacy? Since the regime obviously assumes that permanent residents and naturalized citizens are deceitful.

The specific phrase in the proposed rule is under "Supplementary Information," paragraph 2 which begins,

The Department of Homeland Security, therefore, is updating the . . . Alien File, Index, and National File Tracking System of Records notice to: (1) Redefine which records constitute the official record of an individual's immigration history to include the following materials and formats: . . . (5) expand the categories of records to include the following: . . . social media handles, aliases, associated identifiable information, and search results . . .

I'm also side-eyeing "(11) update record source categories to include publicly available information obtained from the internet, public records, public institutions, interviewees, commercial data providers, and information obtained and disclosed pursuant to information sharing agreements." I hope I'm just being paranoid. Visions of the Stasi are dancing through my head...
posted by cybercoitus interruptus at 10:26 PM on September 25, 2017 [37 favorites]

There's a bit more nuance to the NK situation than OMG WE ARE AT WAR NOW

Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia.
posted by flabdablet at 10:35 PM on September 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

Thanks for the heads-up, cybercoitus interruptus. This 62-year-old white male natural citizen just published his objection.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:56 PM on September 25, 2017 [7 favorites]

The Post-Literate American Presidency: Trump is truly the first TV president and a harbinger of the decline in intelligence to come in U.S. politics.
posted by homunculus at 11:43 PM on September 25, 2017 [39 favorites]

That is a fascinating and possibly useful perspective.
posted by Coventry at 12:01 AM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Someone needs to point out to Republicans that a mere 115,000 Puerto Ricans moving to Florida will swing that state Democrat permanently, since their votes suddenly count as soon as they hit the mainland, and maybe they should hurry up and fix the island before THREE MILLION pissed off Puerto Ricans start landing in southern swing states because they had to flee the island.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 12:20 AM on September 26, 2017 [135 favorites]

I propose New Puerto Rico between Youngstown and Pittsburgh, straddling the OH/PA border with a largish enclave in New San Juan north of Tampa.
posted by Justinian at 12:23 AM on September 26, 2017 [25 favorites]

Nick Wright of Fox Sports is also worth a watch on the protests and how the right has tried to hijack them for their own agenda and comfort.

VIDEO
posted by chris24 at 4:13 AM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

MoJo: A New Study Shows Just How Many Americans Were Blocked From Voting in Wisconsin Last Year

A comprehensive study released today suggests how many missing votes can be attributed to the new law. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison surveyed registered voters who didn’t cast a 2016 ballot in the state’s two biggest counties—Milwaukee and Dane, which is home to Madison. More than 1 out of 10 nonvoters (11.2 percent) said they lacked acceptable voter ID and cited the law as a reason why they didn’t vote; 6.4 percent of respondents said the voter ID law was the “main reason” they didn’t vote.

The study’s lead author, University of Wisconsin political scientist Kenneth Mayer, says between roughly 9,000 and 23,000 registered voters in the reliably Democratic counties were deterred from voting by the ID law. Extrapolating statewide, he says the data suggests as many as 45,000 voters sat out the election. “We have hard evidence there were tens of thousands of people who were unable to vote because of the voter ID law,” Mayer told me.

The study, which was funded by Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell, provides some of the firmest evidence yet that new restrictions on voting lead to voter disenfranchisement. It’s a strong rebuke to supporters of voter ID laws like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who has claimed that the notion the voter ID law reduced participation is a “load of crap.” (Wisconsin saw its lowest turnout since 2000, and there were 41,000 fewer voters in Milwaukee compared with 2012.)

After the study’s release, McDonell and Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson joined together in calling for an immediate suspension of the law. “It is completely unacceptable that thousands of voters were deterred from exercising their sacred right to vote due to this law. Citizens’ basic belief in their democracy is seriously eroded when those in power target some for exclusion from self-government,” said McDonell.

Mayer and Michael DeCrescenzo, the University of Wisconsin Ph.D. candidate who co-authored the report, didn’t ask those surveyed who they would’ve voted for, so it’s impossible to know if these thousands of lost voters might’ve tipped the election, but other studies—like a 2014 one by the Government Accountability Office—have found that voter ID laws disproportionately reduced turnout among voters of color, young voters, and newly registered voters, who were more likely to support Democrats. “If you were to re-run the election over without the voter ID requirement, would the outcome have been different? Possibly,” Mayer said.

The study also found socioeconomic and racial disparities among those impacted by the new law. “The burdens of voter ID fell disproportionately on low-income and minority populations,” writes Mayer. More than 20 percent of registrants coming from homes with incomes less than $25,000 say they were kept from voting by the law; 8.3 percent of white voters surveyed were deterred, compared with 27.5 percent of African Americans.

posted by chris24 at 4:20 AM on September 26, 2017 [72 favorites]

Jeff Sessions is giving a talk at Georgetown U about free speech, and some faculty and students who were expected to protest have been disinvited.

Irony n' stuff
posted by angrycat at 4:31 AM on September 26, 2017 [13 favorites]

A new way to disenfranchise the poor:
First require IDs to vote, then take away IDs for failure to pay outrageous court fees.
posted by Bee'sWing at 4:43 AM on September 26, 2017 [51 favorites]

Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny take a knee in support of the protests.
posted by chris24 at 4:46 AM on September 26, 2017 [33 favorites]

who offered a barrel of pork
to every deplorable
turns out he's horrible
can't read or write and won't work
posted by flabdablet at 5:11 AM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

From Collins' statement: "if Senators can adjust a funding formula over a weekend to help a single state, they could just as easily adjust that formula in the future to hurt that state."

I think we're going to see a lot of that in the coming years - gangs of elected officials punishing their political opponents by directly targeting their constituencies. Which is so UTTERLY BEYOND BELIEF that I would not have thought it possible before this year, even as hardened to incredulity as I was, but 2017 man what are you gonna do.

We are all hostages at this point.
posted by winna at 5:12 AM on September 26, 2017 [40 favorites]

Haven't seen this posted here yet: NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe takes one more step in the NFL protest discussion -- calling out people who are willing to stand up to Trump when he criticizes and insults protesting players, but weren't willing to stand up to him when he showed his racism, his misogyny, his bigotry, his greed, etc. in the past.
posted by penduluum at 5:28 AM on September 26, 2017 [39 favorites]

Come on, Mueller.
posted by yoga at 5:45 AM on September 26, 2017 [15 favorites]

The entire Dallas Cowboys team, including the super-Trumpnik owner, just went to the middle of the field and took a knee before (but not during) the national anthem. They still got booed, of course.

Grr that was such a bullshit copout. That is what it looks like when your protest gets corporatized.
posted by LizBoBiz at 5:51 AM on September 26, 2017 [16 favorites]

I propose New Puerto Rico between Youngstown and Pittsburgh,

This is actually not the craziest idea, considering that about 3% of the residents of Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) are Puerto Rican or of Puerto Rican descent. (2010 data) And as of the 2000 census, about 4% of Youngstown. IOW, if Puerto Ricans are forced to leave the island in droves, it's pretty likely a whole bunch will wind up in Northeast Ohio, because there's already a significant population here. So move your "new Puerto Rico" slightly west, and that's a thing that could conceivably happen.

Or, rather, a big influx of pissed off Puerto Ricans flips Ohio Democrat again in the next election.
posted by soundguy99 at 5:52 AM on September 26, 2017 [11 favorites]

on the immigration restriction ratchet/racket...

1/OK, here's a quick thread about the futility of trying to bargain with immigration restrictionists.
2/There's an idea making the rounds that Dems have become unreasonable on immigration. Open borders extremists.
3/Many Dems and liberals are reasonable sorts, who like to stake out a sensible middle ground. So this argument is attractive to some.
4/But over the past few years, it has become apparent that immigration restrictionists are not good-sized bargaining partners.
5/At first, it was "Secure the border!" Well, Obama secured the border.
6/Meanwhile, net illegal immigration ended even before Obama took office.
7/No. "Deport anyone here who came illegally!" became the new rallying cry. Zero net illegal immigration wasn't enough for these guys.
8/OK, so how about ppl who were brought here as kids? You don't want to punish minors as adults, do you? "End DACA! Deport the Dreamers!"
9/OK, so how about LEGAL immigration? That's good, right? "Immigrants take American jobs! RAISE Act! End family reunification immigration!"
10/What about skilled immigration? Republicans like that, right? "Asian tech workers aren't loyal to America!"
11/Everybody get the joke now? These people have no intention of bargaining.
12/They do not want a sensible centrist solution. They do not actually care about the rule of law, or job competition, or whatever.
13/The restrictionists want a return to the system of 1924. They want a policy of white immigration only.
14/Talk to them, and this quickly becomes apparent. They can't stop talking about how great the 1924 system was.
15/Why should liberals or Democrats bargain with a white-nationalist movement? What is to be gained from rhetorical concessions?
16/Open borders is unrealistic and would have big problems. But why not advocate it, when the other side wants a white racial nation?
17/Democrats didn't get extreme on immigration. They just woke up. (end)

more...
"1 different-looking person is a guest. 100 are an invasion. 1000 are just the neighbors."
posted by kliuless at 5:55 AM on September 26, 2017 [45 favorites]

That is what it looks like when your protest gets corporatized.

And it didn't work, either. The line was specifically drawn by Trump as "kneeling bad, linking arms good", and apparently it didn't even matter that it was before the anthem. I haven't seen anyone who was anti-kneeling supporting the Cowboys' jerryfied version.
posted by Etrigan at 5:55 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

Grr that was such a bullshit copout

They watered down the protest so much Jerry freakin' Jones felt comfortable joining in and they still got booed. They will only accept shut up and know your place.
posted by cmfletcher at 5:56 AM on September 26, 2017 [11 favorites]

Was reading the wiki entry for the United States Football League, when I saw this:

In 2014, after founding owner Ralph Wilson (of the NFL's Buffalo Bills) died, Trump tried to purchase the Bills, but was largely rebuffed in favor of Terry Pegula due to his past ties to the USFL; Trump's failure to purchase the Bills was a major factor in his ultimately successful decision to run for President of the United States the next year.[FoxSports Article]

Trump was not what anyone would call a model owner when he owned a USFL franchise.
posted by ZeusHumms at 5:57 AM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

anastasiav, thank you for pointing out that crappy rule change. I just posted a public comment (only #3!) on it, as follows:

The move to alter the Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records by including the social media profiles of immigrants, including permanent residents and naturalized citizens, is an overreach by DHS and an invasion of privacy. I am a natural-born citizen, and so exempt from this change, as things stand today. But I don't doubt that a move will be made to expand this in very short order, despite constitutional protections against it AND a lack of any clear reason to do so. Those same protection should extend to permanent residents and naturalized citizens, because they are CITIZENS of the United States.

posted by wenestvedt at 5:58 AM on September 26, 2017 [12 favorites]

So what is Roger Stone going on about? He's answering questions of the House Intelligence Committee behind closed doors? Why is he so happy about this? Also, he's really fucking insane, right? I feel like I'm arriving at this knowledge a bit late.
posted by angrycat at 5:59 AM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

basically we're living in the worst-case-scenario timeline that slashdot predicted in the 90s
posted by entropicamericana at 6:01 AM on September 26, 2017 [13 favorites]

Someone needs to point out to Republicans that a mere 115,000 Puerto Ricans moving to Florida will swing that state Democrat permanently, since their votes suddenly count as soon as they hit the mainland

Is it possible that they could even register to vote in other states; possibly as a sort of virtual lodger to people volunteering their address/assistance?

basically we're living in the worst-case-scenario timeline that slashdot predicted in the 90s

Trump, naked and petrified covered in hot grits, with a penis-hummingbird?
posted by Buntix at 6:10 AM on September 26, 2017 [8 favorites]

entropicamericana: basically we're living in the worst-case-scenario timeline that slashdot predicted in the 90s

OMG, it's the new Hellmouth?? Come back, Jon Katz, all is forgiven!
posted by wenestvedt at 6:12 AM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]

"I'm deeply amused by how many people think a descendant of enslaved people is going to fetishize the flag over actual freedom. ": Stolen people on stolen land

[twitter thread by @Karnythia]
posted by Buntix at 6:26 AM on September 26, 2017 [24 favorites]

I get the temptation, guys, but Puerto Ricans aren't kittens looking to be rehomed. They need aid, not relocation.
posted by Trifling at 6:32 AM on September 26, 2017 [49 favorites]

Can we stop believing the generals are on our side now?

@DefenseBaron (DefenseOne, NBC)
McMaster: "There's nobody there to control the pres or 'keep him on the reservation.' We're there to serve the pres & advance his agenda"
posted by chris24 at 6:33 AM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

Thousands of people got temporarily relocated during Katrina (which eventually just become permanent) because dealing with a humanitarian crisis while simultaneously redeveloping an entire city was nearly impossible. This is the same thing, except its 3 million people and an entire island. So exponentially more difficult. I'd bet that hundreds of thousands of people leave at the bare minimum.
posted by Glibpaxman at 6:37 AM on September 26, 2017 [14 favorites]

Can we stop believing the generals are on our side now?

I mean, I think that they would be spectacularly bad at their job of pulling the President - this President - back from the brink if they were publicly admitting that is what they were doing, so no, I don't think that's very indicative.
posted by corb at 6:38 AM on September 26, 2017 [12 favorites]

VIRGINIA HOUSE ELECTIONS - HD 91-95

intro
1-5
6-10
11-15
16-20
21-25
26-30
31-35
36-40
41-45
46-50
51-55
56-60
61-65
66-70
71-75
76-80
81-85
86-90

===

91st District
Currently GOP seat
R cand: Gordon Helsel (incumbent)
D cand: Michael Wade

Norfolk, 70.8% white. Incumbent first elected in 2011 special. No D candidate in 2013 or 2015. Trump won district 53-42.

===

92nd District
Currently Dem seat
R cand: none
D cand: Jeion Ward (incumbent)

Hampton, 31.4% white. Incumbent first elected in 2003. No R candidate in 2013 or 2015. Clinton won district 76-20.

===

93rd District
Currently Dem seat
R cand: Heather Cordasco
D cand: Michael Mullin (incumbent)

Williamsburg, 65.1% white. Incumbent first elected in 2016 special. D won 52-48 in 2013, 55-45 in 2015, and 54-46 in 2016 special. Clinton won district 57-38. Ballotpedia Race to Watch and Flippable Defend district.

===

94th District
Currently GOP seat
R cand: David Yancey (incumbent)
D cand: Shelly Simonds

Newport News, 67.8% white. Incumbent first elected in 2011. R won 51-49 in 2013 and 58-42 in 2015.. Clinton won district 50-44. There is a Libertarian candidate. Flippable Potential district.

===

95th District
Currently Dem seat
R cand: none
D cand: Marcia Price (incumbent)

Hampton, 29.6% white. Incumbent first elected in 2015. D won 77-23 in 2013, no R candidate in 2015. Clinton won district 73-23.

===

Next time: 96-100
posted by Chrysostom at 6:41 AM on September 26, 2017 [24 favorites]

Also bear in mind that US generals have experience of a subculture where healthcare and social care are actually relatively reliably supplied by the local government.
posted by jaduncan at 6:42 AM on September 26, 2017 [8 favorites]

Can we stop believing the generals are on our side now?

I have said pretty much this exact thing about three different bosses I had in the military. Each of them was an accomplished leader of soldiers who was damn good at his job. That doesn't mean I didn't have to manage them in some way or another, nor does it mean I would ever have admitted it at the time.
posted by Etrigan at 6:43 AM on September 26, 2017 [11 favorites]

I'm a fan of every time a big media outlet uses the real term. White supremacist rather than white nationalist or alt-right. Racist vs racially charged. Liar vs false claims.

WaPo: If Trump’s not a white supremacist, he does a good impression
posted by chris24 at 6:55 AM on September 26, 2017 [17 favorites]

THAT IS A FUCKING LIE, MAGGIE, AND YOU KNOW IT. The information was retroactively classified, it wasn't classified at the time.

From your link,

More than 2,000 of the 30,490 emails Clinton turned over to the State Department contained classified information, including 110 emails in 52 email chains that contained classified information at the time they were sent or received. (Most emails were retroactively deemed to contain classified information by the U.S. agencies from which the information originated.)

...

“[S]everal thousand work-related emails” were not turned over to the State Department in 2014, but were recovered by the FBI. Comey said “three of those were classified at the time they were sent or received.”

posted by roystgnr at 6:56 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

I just posted a public comment (only #3!) on it, as follows:

So, this morning, despite a couple of people here saying they commented and knowing some folks on my FB who commented, the page still shows only two public comments. Moderation queue? Or something more sinister.....

Can we stop believing the generals are on our side now?

Prior to January, I would not have said anything positive about John Kelley, but I do believe, in my heart of hearts, that he's doing what he can to stand between us and Armageddon. And that's all I can ask, really. I believe John Kelley is a patriot who loves the Constitution more than he loves Donald Trump. If that means he's "on our side" well, then, so be it.
posted by anastasiav at 6:58 AM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

Is this the "classified information" sent FROM THE STATE DEPARTMENT to Huma's account then forwarded to HRC? Seems the bad actor would be the guys in the State Department ops center.

The State Department has copies on file, btw...
posted by mikelieman at 7:00 AM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

The information was retroactively classified, it wasn't classified at the time.

*a hundred comments of fighting about classification and how it works, comments running a wide range between highly informed and poorly informed*
*a hundred comments about why the way classification works is stupid*
*a bottle of alcohol for the poor mods who have to clean it up*

This has been your daily Condensed Comments for improved mod sanity.
posted by corb at 7:01 AM on September 26, 2017 [43 favorites]

Mod note: Hello from the worst timeline, where things are so very bad, and the only ray of light is that we never ever fight about HER EMAILs again.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 7:02 AM on September 26, 2017 [67 favorites]

Butter Emails
posted by kirkaracha at 7:07 AM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

I believe John Kelley is a patriot who loves the Constitution more than he loves Donald Trump. If that means he's "on our side" well, then, so be it.

The problem isn't always the generals who amass power to control an incompetent and dangerous head of state. The problem is the generals who, years from now, decide they don't want to give up any of that power.
posted by Behemoth at 7:10 AM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]

the only ray of light is that we never ever fight about HER EMAILs again

But can we argue about Gerald R Ford and the problems with her EMALS?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 7:10 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

The, uh, National Review just came out swinging on the NFL protests.

These ideals were articulated in the Declaration of Independence, codified in the Constitution, and defended with the blood of patriots. Central to them is the First Amendment, the guarantee of free expression against government interference and government reprisal that has made the United States unique among the world’s great powers. Arguably, it is the single most important liberty of all, because it enables the defense of all the others: Without the right to speak freely we cannot even begin to point out offenses against the rest of the Constitution.

Now, with that as a backdrop, which is the greater danger to the ideals embodied by the American flag, a few football players’ taking a knee at the national anthem or the most powerful man in the world’s demanding that they be fired and their livelihoods destroyed for engaging in speech he doesn’t like?

posted by corb at 7:12 AM on September 26, 2017 [141 favorites]

This is the same thing, except its 3 million people and an entire island.

It's also possible leverage. Whilst it shouldn't be, the Puerto Rican government debt crisis is way too real, and as it happens Trump himself played a part in adding $33 mil to it (although as Politifact notes, he didn't cause it, he just made $900k or so profit before cashing out via bankruptcy and externalising the debt).

It seems spectacularly unlikely that Trump, the voting majority of the quasi-parliamentary branches, or PR's creditors are going to do the right thing and write off the debt and rebuild the infrastructure enough to give people there a fighting chance.

The more barrels they can be put over the better.
posted by Buntix at 7:22 AM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

AFAICT, the National Review has been driven to gibbering schizophrenia over the last two years, since, on the one hand, Hillary and pretty much any Democrat are harbingers of doom that will bring about The End Of Civilization As We Know It, and on the other hand Trump is an unavoidably horrible person who well might start WW3 and isn't even really a true conservative. Hell, the same issue has an article claiming that the NFL players are wrong wrong wrongity wrong. So . . . . . I suppose they get a little credit for even being willing to publish anti-Trump pieces, but not a lot.
posted by soundguy99 at 7:24 AM on September 26, 2017 [8 favorites]

I'd like to point out a profound difference with Dale Earnhart Jr's protest with NASCAR and that of the NFL players. There are only four black NASCAR drivers, whereas NFL is around 75% black. Losing the NFL is one thing, but losing NASCAR? That's a white man's sport.
posted by adept256 at 7:24 AM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

fluttering hellfire: What's the story with Murray and Alexander? Is there an ELI5 on that?

Republican senators ditch bipartisan health care talks (Tami Luhby, CNN, September 19, 2017)

A bipartisan group of senators has failed to reach an agreement on stabilizing Obamacare in 2018.

Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, who chaired a set of health committee hearings with Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, said Tuesday that the effort to craft a "limited, bipartisan plan" to take to Senate leaders by the end of September had come to a standstill.

"During the last month, we have worked hard and in good faith, but have not found the necessary consensus among Republicans and Democrats to put a bill in the Senate leaders' hands that could be enacted," Alexander said in a statement.

Murray said she regretted Alexander's decision, noting the group had identified "significant common ground" and that she had agreed to give states additional flexibility over how they implement Obamacare.

The halt comes as Republicans have revived an effort to repeal Obamacare before the end of the month, when their authority to pass a bill with a simple majority ends. The White House has launched a full-court press backing a bill authored by Sens. Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy that would dismantle major provisions of the health reform law and overhaul Medicaid.

That's right, the White House picked Graham/Cassidey/Santorum/Clown Car of Idiots over a bipartisan effort to amend ACA. Remember this the next time the angry orange or any other GOP assholes say "maybe we could try to work with the Democrats and fix this." THAT EFFORT STARTED, THEN YOU ABORTED IT BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T LIKE THE IDEA OF KEEPING ANYTHING FROM OBAMA.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:27 AM on September 26, 2017 [45 favorites]

That National Review piece is a flaming pile of dogshit. Nearly everything argument in it is wrong, predicated on the nonsense version of "free speech" that means anyone can say anything they want without any repercussions.

Trump's intervention is an actual attempt by the government to stifle free speech, so it qualifies. But the other examples in French's piece are bizarro Sarah Palin versions of free speech, where bigotry is protected:

How many leftists who were yelling “free speech” yesterday are only too happy to sic the government on the tiny few bakers or florists who don’t want to use their artistic talents to celebrate events they find offensive?

and where anyone has a right to a platform at any time, no matter how much hate they incite:

How many progressives who celebrated the First Amendment on Sunday sympathize with college students who chant “speech is violence” and seek to block conservatives from college campuses?

No, David French and The National Review, I don't want you on my side with this if you're going to conflate actual instances of violating peoples' right to free speech with bullshit ones where there is no government intervention, or where there is lawful government intervention.
posted by tonycpsu at 7:28 AM on September 26, 2017 [27 favorites]

with a mouth like a butthole uncorked.
And his oral effluent
brought so many recruits
that the R's bought and drank by the quart.
posted by perspicio at 7:29 AM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

They watered down the protest so much Jerry freakin' Jones felt comfortable joining in and they still got booed. They will only accept shut up and know your place.

Worth pointing out that the Cowboys did their protest on the road in Arizona. It's every American's God-given right and duty to boo the Cowboys at every opportunity.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:30 AM on September 26, 2017 [17 favorites]

This morning NPR talked to some football fans about their takes on the protests. One Trumpy guy went on an on about how these players "who make millions of dollars" shouldn't be protesting. He kept coming back to how wealthy the players (allegedly) are.

I think the word he wanted was "uppity."
posted by workerant at 7:32 AM on September 26, 2017 [27 favorites]

@Garrett Haake (MSNBC): "Just asked Sen. @lisamurkowski about how she will vote on Graham/Cassidy. Her response: 'I don't believe we are going to have a vote.'"

shaaaaade
posted by murphy slaw at 7:32 AM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

MrGuilt: Plus, as someone noted, it gives us some insight into his id. It gives him enough rope to hang himself with.

The problem with rope is that it's multi-purpose. While it seems that Trump could be making plenty of rope with his Twitter proclamations and ranting, instead of a noose, it looks like he's making a rather comfortable hammock, which will hold him as long as the GOP control the house and senate, like two sturdy supports that could actually fail within the next year or two.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:33 AM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

Antonio Olivo, WaPo:

Just in case voters in one of the country’s hottest political races think the contest is just about traffic and jobs, Virginia Democrat Danica Roem has put her transgender status front and center in a new ad meant to attack her Republican opponent, Del. Robert G. Marshall, for refusing to acknowledge her as a woman.

posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:36 AM on September 26, 2017 [29 favorites]

I think we're going to see a lot of that in the coming years - gangs of elected officials punishing their political opponents by directly targeting their constituencies. Which is so UTTERLY BEYOND BELIEF that I would not have thought it possible before this year, even as hardened to incredulity as I was, but 2017 man what are you gonna do.

Bridgegate much?
posted by Melismata at 7:37 AM on September 26, 2017 [11 favorites]

That's right, the White House picked Graham/Cassidey/Santorum/Clown Car of Idiots over a bipartisan effort to amend ACA.

Of course. Because any bipartisan effort will start with like 47 GOP nays no matter what it says. So there is no way the Dems will sign off on health care legislation cruel enough to get GOP votes, and no way the Repubs would allow a nicer proposal to come to the floor under any circumstances.

Republicans know that actively fucking over their own base is LESS damaging to their reelection chances than cooperating with Democrats in any way.
posted by delfin at 7:40 AM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

Kristine Phillips, WaPo: A Trump judicial pick said transgender children are proof that ‘Satan’s plan is working’

Before Jeff Mateer became President Trump’s nominee for federal judgeship in Texas, he fought a local ordinance extending equal protections to members of the LGBT community and said the separation of church and state does not exist in the Constitution.

But likely his most controversial statements were made in two 2015 speeches, in which he said transgender children are proof that “Satan’s plan is working” and same-sex marriage is a harbinger for “disgusting” practices such as polygamy and bestiality. He also appeared to advocate gay conversion therapy, a discredited practice banned by a handful of states and condemned by human rights and medical groups.

Only the best people.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 7:42 AM on September 26, 2017 [44 favorites]

Tom Ley, Deadspin: This Is All Bullshit

For as much as the events of the past weekend were framed as Trump going to war with the NFL, our bum of a president did Roger Goodell and the league a huge favor. All they had to do was release a few limp-dick statements tsk-tsking Trump’s comments for their divisiveness, come up with a few meaningless shows of pseudo-solidarity like we saw in Dallas last night, and poof: Suddenly the anthem protests aren’t about a very specific set of problems plaguing this country, but about “unity,” a cause more hollow than anything 25 branding execs could ever dream up in a conference room. Roger Goodell is on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Colin Kaepernick isn’t.

The worst irony here may be the way the NFL’s new marketing initiative not only appropriates the protests, but perverts their meaning. Kaepernick’s protest and the ones that followed were divisive, and were meant to be: That was the point, to ask people to choose sides, and to direct their attention to what’s going on in the real world beyond sports. Goodell and the owners, in asking everyone to come together around the cause of the NFL itself, have done what they always do, and made what they’ve touched cheaper and smaller.

posted by tonycpsu at 7:44 AM on September 26, 2017 [72 favorites]

Note Lamar!'s statement:

"During the last month, we have worked hard and in good faith, but have not found the necessary consensus among Republicans and Democrats to put a bill in the Senate leaders' hands that could be enacted," Alexander said in a statement.

Emphasis mine. Whether or not anyone on that panel took it at all seriously is open to debate, but they all knew from the start that nothing passable could possibly emerge.

Even if a Quixotic quest to build a Dems+Collins+Murkowski+whoever coalition of 51 somehow succeeded, imagine Yertle letting it on the floor. Or it getting sixty in the Senate to pass cloture. Or passing the House. Or overriding Trump's veto. By that point it's more likely that aliens will land and pass out magical healing ray guns.
posted by delfin at 7:50 AM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

tonycpsu: Dallas Sportscaster On NFL Players Taking A Knee: "All Of Us Should Protest How Black Americans Are Treated In This Country"

Sadly, he's one of the few, very outspoken sportscasters I recognize, and I don't follow sports at all. Dale Hansen is a national treasure:
- Deadspin: Dale Hansen Blasts The Cowboys For Signing Greg Hardy (who has a record of domestic violence);
- Deadspin: Dale Hansen Destroys Silly Opposition To Michael Sam In The NFL (NFL prospect who came out as gay, but would make things "uncomfortable" in the NFL, unlike the number of NFL players who players have been charged with drunk driving, rape, and domestic violence and continue to play);
- USA Today, High School Sports: Texas sportscaster Dale Hansen on transgender wrestler debate: 'Mack Beggs is not the problem';
- WFAA: Hansen Unplugged: Art Briles has failed women of Baylor

Also, in 1987, Hansen was honored with the George Foster Peabody Award for Distinguished Journalism. That same year, he won the duPont-Columbia Award for his contribution to the investigation of SMU's football program. As a result of this investigation, the NCAA prohibited SMU from fielding a football program in 1987. (With auto-playing video to show how much of a down-to-earth Texan Hansen is, with no attention to his actual reporting -_- ... at least he gets some good doggo time on screen :))
posted by filthy light thief at 7:51 AM on September 26, 2017 [45 favorites]

Christ, she's fucking awful.
posted by tonycpsu at 7:54 AM on September 26, 2017 [13 favorites]

15/Why should liberals or Democrats bargain with a white-nationalist movement? What is to be gained from rhetorical concessions?
16/Open borders is unrealistic and would have big problems. But why not advocate it, when the other side wants a white racial nation?
17/Democrats didn't get extreme on immigration. They just woke up. (end)

I'm all for this. Go big or go home. Stake out the most radical position ever, and negotiate down. Obama made a mistake by starting with a sensible bipartisan solution on healthcare, and then watched it get watered down by assholes who ever even voted for it. The folks on the other side effectively have no principles or policy positions, and fail to either argue or negotiate in good faith. Screw reasonable, let's swing for the fences and negotiate down.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY PLATFORM

1. Open Borders
2. Universal Healthcare
3. Free Higher Education
4. Universal Right to Unionize
5. Universal Child Care and Preschool
6. 6 months mandatory paid paternity and maternity leave
7. 4 weeks mandatory paid vacation for every job
8. National minimum wage set at Living wage
9. Sovereign Wealth Fund for petroleum and natural gas proceeds

any more ?
posted by leotrotsky at 8:00 AM on September 26, 2017 [77 favorites]

corb: which is the greater danger to the ideals embodied by the American flag, a few football players’ taking a knee at the national anthem or the most powerful man in the world’s demanding that they be fired and their livelihoods destroyed for engaging in speech he doesn’t like?

For what it's worth, he's doing his best to downgrade his current status as "most powerful man in the world" like he tries to down-grade his net worth through terrible investment management. For example: remember when the Trump Bump could lift stocks, as reported back in late April? The Trump bump is running on vapor as of August, with "Investors dialing back expectations for chaotic Trump administration." And even before the April article, Motly Fool reported Bank Stocks Are Over the Trump Bump as "Shares of big banks have underperformed the broader market since the beginning of March."
posted by filthy light thief at 8:00 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

kirkaracha, I'm not sure what that particular tweet had to do with anybody's emails; the tweet features a powerful speech of former NFL player Shannon Sharpe expressing his disappointment in the NFL's owners, who are only now reacting because Trump told the team owners to fire a player or people should boycott the NFL, which might hurt their wallet.

Transcript available on foxsports (but go watch the video).

Here's theroot with more on that video.
posted by fragmede at 8:06 AM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]

oh, look at these big environmentalists and social justice warriors in their big houses and fancy travel! If they really cared about poverty and the environment, they'd donate it all and wear rags.

I've basically been listening to this dude say that repeatedly for the last three hours here at work (but it's Bono, who flies jets to concerts for the environment). I don't think the big picture (one guy forgoing jets/cars/etc. won't make a difference, but someone like Bono (or an NFL player) can raise awareness and make change for everyone).

What they fail to realize is that we have problems--inequality, racism, global warming--that are too big for even a very powerful patron to make a difference on. Especially if the model is "you give it away if you want; I'm taking all I can." Society needs to change. Bono, or Al Gore, or NFL players can help drive everyone to think about the issue, and make change together.
posted by MrGuilt at 8:11 AM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

10. WPA 2.0 a massive public works project to rebuild and improve our failing infrastructure, providing millions of jobs to skilled and unskilled workers all across our country. A good job paying a fair wage for any American who's willing to work. Would help to address the increasingly dire straits of those in rural communities.
posted by leotrotsky at 8:19 AM on September 26, 2017 [73 favorites]

workerant: This morning NPR talked to some football fans about their takes on the protests. One Trumpy guy went on an on about how these players "who make millions of dollars" shouldn't be protesting. He kept coming back to how wealthy the players (allegedly) are.

I think the word he wanted was "uppity."

Those fans are fooking hilarious. Fun quiz: who is this sports fan talking about when he says: "He's not political, and he has the freedom of speech like we all do." ? If you guessed the President, you're right! How in the world is the Republican president not political? And why the hell do sports players not have that same freedom of speech?

Huh, older white dudes in a sports bar in a red county in red Arizona generally side with the president? You don't say. Odd that NPR didn't venture out to talk to a more diverse sports bar, or maybe sports fans not in a sports bar?
posted by filthy light thief at 8:22 AM on September 26, 2017 [20 favorites]

The White House press pool reports that Trump will visit Puerto Rico 'to survey the damage,' which is definitely exactly the kind of substantive aid that Puerto Rico needs right now and not just a photo-op for Trump.

Surely he will also heroically carry a box from one truck to another truck. And on that day truly become President.
posted by Glibpaxman at 8:22 AM on September 26, 2017 [17 favorites]

Virgina (and New Jersey) Election(s) Serve(s) as First Test of U.S. Voting System Security (NPR, Sept. 25, 2017, with the focus on Virginia in this piece).

Workers here are testing the equipment to make sure it's ready for November. The Virginia Board of Elections this month took the extraordinary step of declaring just weeks before the election that paperless voting machines used here in Falls Church and elsewhere were too insecure and that new equipment had to be purchased immediately.

Emphasis mine - what, no physical record of voting is a bad idea? This is bold news, Virginia! Also, "election watchdog" groups point out that the vote totals need to be audited to ensure there's no vote tampering.

And don't forget, tampering upstream happened in 2016, when Election Hackers Altered Voter Rolls, Stole Private Data (Massimo Calabresi, Time Magazine, June 22, 2017)
posted by filthy light thief at 8:27 AM on September 26, 2017 [15 favorites]

Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, who chaired a set of health committee hearings with Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, said Tuesday that the effort to craft a "limited, bipartisan plan" to take to Senate leaders by the end of September had come to a standstill.

This is just another indication of the bad faith of Republicans. There is no reason that a bipartisan plan to fix Obamacare has to be enacted by the end of September because it can get 60 votes. It isn't restricted to a reconciliation deadline.

The fact that they are immediately disbanding the bipartisan discussions as soon as their repeal plan failed indicates that the discussions were fake bipartisanship used for cover. They never had any intention of enacting a bipartisan plan.

I supposed Murray had to go along with this Republican deception or else be labeled obstructionist -- but really, do they have to play their game.
posted by JackFlash at 8:30 AM on September 26, 2017 [18 favorites]

but really, do they have to play their game.

I don't see it as playing their game. Rs are giving Ds multiple opportunities to prove that Ds are serious about policy and governing, even from the minority. That Rs are interested in neither becomes more clear every time they have to call their own bluff like this.
posted by Emmy Rae at 8:37 AM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

Bill Cassidy: The Public Face of a Doomed Health Care Bill [WaPo]

"At what point does a quixotic effort become masochistic?"

"Sadistic" is the word you're looking for, Viebeck. And the answer is "the first time."
posted by aspersioncast at 8:38 AM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]

anastasiav So, this morning, despite a couple of people here saying they commented and knowing some folks on my FB who commented, the page still shows only two public comments. Moderation queue? Or something more sinister.....

Moderation queue. The comments will be released in batches at least once a week. This is very common for regulations.gov. It is very rare for a comment not to be released publicly.
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 8:44 AM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

Johnny Wallflower: "Virginia Democrat Danica Roem has put her transgender status front and center in a new ad meant to attack her Republican opponent, Del. Robert G. Marshall, for refusing to acknowledge her as a woman."

Yes, Marshall is almost incomprehensibly awful. Among his achievements, "saying disabilities are a punishment from god for abortion, trying to ban gay service members from the VA National Guard, writing the infamous forced ultrasound bill, physically attempting to stop a mildly pro-immigrant bill from being read, attempting to force teachers to carry guns in school, and most recently, writing a NC style bathroom bill for Virginia that was so toxic it never even saw debate. "
posted by Chrysostom at 8:48 AM on September 26, 2017 [24 favorites]

tfw your healthcare opponent is actually making your point for you
posted by entropicamericana at 8:50 AM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]

So I read the Jeet Heer piece that homunculus linked above and wanted to voice a couple of concerns I have with the McLuhan/Postman approach to analysing media.

My concern with the McLuhan/Postman approach is that the way Heer cites those scholars places literacy at the pinnacle of intellectual achievement, while not not really considering that for most of human history and prehistory, knowledge was transmitted orally. That framework suggests that the oral corpus of Yoruba philosophy or the stories that became the Illiad/Kalevala/the Old Testament are inferior to the permanence offered by textual versions. Sometimes the focus on text and literacy seems a way for some people to sneer at oral cultures as 'primitive' or less sophisticated.

The above argument is not to say that I believe it's hunky-dory that the man in the Oval Office apparently watches hours and hours of television everyday. One of the practical issues is that to be an effective executive, one really needs to be able to take in information at a rate that speech cannot match and that means being able to read long documents covering complex issues.

Consider the following passage:

Working very much in the tradition of McLuhan and Postman, contemporary writers like Nicholas Carr have argued that the rise of the Internet intensifies the move away from print culture with the advent of TV. “The decline in Americans’ newspaper reading began decades ago, when radio and TV began consuming more of peoples’ leisure time, but the Internet has accelerated the trend,” Carr wrote. Many of the problems Carr blames on digital culture—that it makes us more distracted, less focused, and less able to form cohesive linear culture—echo Postman’s account of the impact of television.

It seems that Postman and Carr are making similar arguments about the advent of film and digital media that folks made in the past about textual media. I also question the notion that even during the golden age of print literacy or whatever, a widespread population was especially good at reading highly difficult/challenging works. Also, wtf is a "cohesive linear culture"?

This particular piece is definitely thought provoking, but I think conflating the rise of Donald Trump and digital culture per se is a mistake: It's not necessarily that the medium itself is an inhibitor of critical thought, but that people do not learn good critical thinking skills, which sets them up to be easily exploited in an age of disintermediated media and strong media selection bias. Propaganda is a phenomenon that transcends any particular medium.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 8:52 AM on September 26, 2017 [20 favorites]

Maggie Haberman gonna Maggie Haberman, Nate Silver edition. // Christ, she's fucking awful.

I can't remember who tweeted it yesterday about Haberman – Jake Tapper, Yashar Ali, someone who's normally pretty good but wasn't on this – but they said the fact that she gets heat from both sides means she's doing it right. Nope. She gets it from the right because they attack anyone who's not in lockstep with their Nazi agenda. She gets it from the left because she's fucking *wrong* on this. There's a huge difference and no false equivalency no matter how hard she tries.
posted by chris24 at 8:52 AM on September 26, 2017 [38 favorites]

the man in the Oval Office apparently watches hours and hours of television everyday

But the people who lost their shit about President Obama doing his NCAA brackets have no objection.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:00 AM on September 26, 2017 [20 favorites]

"But we can bury it?" the prankster responded. "I'm so embarrassed. It's fairly specialist stuff, half naked women on a trampoline, standing on legoscenes, the tag for the movie was #standingOnTheLittlePeople :("

And now my dogs think I'm crazy because I'm braying laughter at my computer screen.
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:01 AM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]

Catherine Rampell in the Washington Post: ‘Reasonable’ Republicans are betraying us, too

Trump may be a toddler, we keep telling ourselves, but at least some (comparative) grown-ups on Capitol Hill are thinking things through. Maybe we don’t agree with them all the time; maybe they have a different vision for the role of government than many of us do. Still, at least a few thoughtful, moderate, principled, solutions-oriented people in the legislature are working to offset the White House’s abdication of policy leadership.

The flaming turd that is Cassidy-Graham should disabuse us all of that notion.

What’s been threatening the health-care coverage of tens of millions of Americans isn’t Trump. It’s the entire Republican Party.

This garbage bill, currently looking dead but with a few days left to revive itself, should teach us two things: Republicans don’t care about process, and they don’t care about policy. You could be forgiven for also concluding, as they’ve increasingly suggested this week, that they don’t care about regular Americans, either. [...]

Note that it’s not just the usual tea party crazies pushing for this monstrosity. It’s many supposedly reasonable Republicans, too. These include Republicans such as Sens. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) and Ben Sasse (Neb.), upon whom we’ve heaped loads of praise for their principles and backbone.

Rampell nails it. Donald Trump is a symptom of the plague endemic to the entire Republican Party. They aren't serious about governing or finding real solutions to the problems facing our country, even the so-called moderates like Graham, Flake, and Sasse. The institutional Republican Party is at this point, a white supremacist organization focused on enacting policies that affirm white racial grievance. They are the Sons of the Traitor Jefferson Davis.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 9:04 AM on September 26, 2017 [80 favorites]

You know who won't know and won't care? The saps who vote Republican.

Yeah, I'm just trying to understand the downside here. It's like Pelosi and Schumer making a deal with Trump. They know he doesn't act in good faith, but they haven't promised anything so it doesn't matter if he backs out.

I mean the media is bullshit but they love "bipartisanship" so this seems like a good opportunity for Ds to use that to their advantage.
posted by Emmy Rae at 9:07 AM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

The, uh, National Review just came out swinging on the NFL protests.

I wouldn't qualify an article that takes great pains to bow at the altar of both-sides-ism and equate employees protesting racial injustice via a symbolic act that does not affect their job performance with a company literally refusing service to gay people as "coming out swinging".
posted by tocts at 9:07 AM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

I'm an old. I have the flags that draped the coffins of my family who served and died in the American military, and one flag of a friend who had no family who wanted to acknowledge their gay child, and so left it to his friends to celebrate his life.

Before the wars that gave me these flags, I have the oral history of the warriors and nurses who also served in Korea , Vietnam, the trenches of WWII and the Japanese occupation. Before that, we have records going all the way back to the revolutionary war. There is a fort named after one of my ancestors. My people have had a long and sacrificial relationship with this country.

None of those men and women, and the families who support them, sacrificed everything so some bloviating cowardly chickenhawk could sully the presidential office with fascistic demands that POC should be punished for using their constitutional rights.

And while I honor and respect my ancestors who served, this obscene fetishization of soldiers to stifle dissent is unamerican and unforgivable. Soldiers aren't props. They are men and women who do difficult jobs, under difficult conditions, for ridiculously low pay. Some of them have bright and shiny stars in their eyes, but a goodly percentage are there because it's often the best path out of poverty and Podunk USA.

My point is this, nobody gets to speak for me, but me. Nobody gets to speak for Gold Star families, except the families, who are not going to be in lockstep. Everyone should stop fetishism about the flag as though it were synonymous with the military, and as though the military should be respected at some level higher than civilians.

But mostly, mango Mussolini needs to be impeached for the good of all humanity.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 9:09 AM on September 26, 2017 [109 favorites]

It seems that Postman and Carr are making similar arguments about the advent of film and digital media that folks made in the past about textual media. I also question the notion that even during the golden age of print literacy or whatever, a widespread population was especially good at reading highly difficult/challenging works. Also, wtf is a "cohesive linear culture"?

This particular piece is definitely thought provoking, but I think conflating the rise of Donald Trump and digital culture per se is a mistake: It's not necessarily that the medium itself is an inhibitor of critical thought, but that people do not learn good critical thinking skills, which sets them up to be easily exploited in an age of disintermediated media and strong media selection bias. Propaganda is a phenomenon that transcends any particular medium.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 10:52 AM on September 26 [1 favorite +] [!]


I dig what you're saying about oral cultures, but at least as far as the US goes, Postman makes a pretty compelling argument in Amusing Ourselves to Death (which I read for a piece I wrote on Ancient Aliens, lol).

He writes that contemporary writers at the Revolution found Americans to be highly literate, women and men, and de Tocqueville echoed that sentiment in the 1800s. He likewise uses the example of past political speeches (ie Lincoln Douglas debates) to exemplify US literacy and ability to follow long, cohesive, linear arguments; regular people would turn out to listen to hours-long complicated speechifying by two not-THAT-famous legislators. And he argues that that attention span and ability to parse arguments came from dealing in print media that contained long arguments and demanded a healthy attention span.

The idea being that TV, especially "serious" TV, like network/cable news, is the exact opposite. Small bites, lots of music and graphics, little substance.

In anecdotal evidence, my parents, who are pretty smart people, tell me that PBS Newshour is "long-winded," even if they think NBC Nightly is too short to be smart.
posted by TheProfessor at 9:10 AM on September 26, 2017 [21 favorites]

I grew up in New York, so I know many people from Puerto Rico. I know many Puerto Ricans.

Juan Epstein. Great guy, Puerto Rican guy. And people don't know this, but he's also Jewish, believe me. Puerto Rican Jew. So I know many Puerto Ricans and many Jews.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:16 AM on September 26, 2017 [14 favorites]

cjelli is that transcript [real]?
posted by yoga at 9:19 AM on September 26, 2017

Thanks cjelli!
posted by yoga at 9:26 AM on September 26, 2017

Eric Reads the News

What a time to be alive! (I have to say that every five minutes to ensure that I am, actually, still alive. You really never know what with Trump and Kim Jong-Un doing their best Feud: Bette and Joan impressions. Like, enough! Neither of you gets the part. Don't call us; we'll call you.)

Actually, that's an insult to Feud. Reality would never make it as a writer on that series. Even Ryan Murphy would be like "He calls him Rocket Man? On television? In front of the U.N.? Get out; that's too extra.

posted by kirkaracha at 9:31 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

Maggie Haberman gonna Maggie Haberman, Nate Silver edition. // Christ, she's fucking awful.

And being awful again today, going after Nate. This comeback, even though Nate was the one guy saying Trump could win. And getting attacked for it.

@maggieNYT Retweeted Nate Silver
It's this keen understanding of media and politics that you demonstrated with your own modeling


EDIT: And Yashar is defending her AGAIN. Chiming in on someone's response to her about taking responsibility for her email coverage by saying She never reported on HRC's emails.

Umm, come on dude. Spokesman for Hillary Clinton Offers New Take on Email Issue By Maggie Haberman
posted by chris24 at 9:32 AM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

Wisconsin voter ID law deterred nearly 17,000 from voting, UW study says
The study by University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist Ken Mayer concluded 16,800 to 23,250 voters in the two counties — the Democratic strongholds of Wisconsin — did not vote because of the voter ID law.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:33 AM on September 26, 2017 [29 favorites]

For those who missed the CNN healthcare debate last night and are curious, as I was, here is a live blog from The Hill.
posted by OnceUponATime at 9:40 AM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

I will bet hard money that the reason Trump won't be visiting Puerto Rico until next week is because he's a germophobe, and there's nowhere he's willing to stay until then.
posted by corb at 9:50 AM on September 26, 2017 [8 favorites]

TheProfessor: He writes that contemporary writers at the Revolution found Americans to be highly literate, women and men, and de Tocqueville echoed that sentiment in the 1800s. He likewise uses the example of past political speeches (ie Lincoln Douglas debates) to exemplify US literacy and ability to follow long, cohesive, linear arguments; regular people would turn out to listen to hours-long complicated speechifying by two not-THAT-famous legislators. And he argues that that attention span and ability to parse arguments came from dealing in print media that contained long arguments and demanded a healthy attention span.

So a couple of points. Jack Lynch, Professor of English at Rutgers, suggests that

Despite the caveats, we can generalize about patterns of literacy. In 1974, University of Montana scholar Kenneth Lockridge’s groundbreaking book, Literacy in Colonial New England, surveyed evidence from legal records and offered provisional conclusions—“The exercise is bound to be tentative, as it uses a biased sample and an ambiguous measure”—but he made the case that, among white New England men, about 60 percent of the population was literate between 1650 and 1670, a figure that rose to 85 percent between 1758 and 1762, and to 90 percent between 1787 and 1795. In cities such as Boston, the rate had come close to 100 percent by century’s end.

This passage notes that literacy was high among white men. The figures for women are much less over the same period: "Lockridge’s figures make the case: while male literacy in New England rose from 60 percent in the late seventeenth century to 90 percent by the early days of the Republic, he estimated female literacy in the same period as rising from 31 percent to 48 percent—roughly half the rate of males." However, Lynch notes later that women did eventually catch up to men and over a much shorter time period. At the same time, enslaved people were not taught to read at high rates--and in fact, literacy tests post-Rebellion were common as a way to disenfranchise Black citizens.

I still fail to see, though, how attendance of the Lincoln-Douglas debates are evidence of textual literacy being necessary to parse long and complex oral arguments. The Greeks and Romans, only the wealthiest of whom were writing speeches down, gave complex speeches to largely orally oriented audiences. This evidence from Greece and Rome suggests that textual literacy is not a precursor to understanding oral argumentation or rhetoric. I understand that I'm taking this out of the strict context of United States history, but I'm having a hard time with the idea that textual literacy is what enables the understanding and analysis of complex oral rhetoric. It seems to me that if people have a history of listening to complex oral rhetoric--that factor is what will help people parse such speeches, not being able to read them on the page.

To bring it back around to the present, though, I think the media selection bias issue is part of what can make parsing other arguments very difficult. If a group of people all have very different sources of information that use different vocabularies, coming to a consensus of anyone's argumentation style is going to be difficult. If you go read r/t_d, they developed a whole subset of language to make their points which can obscure the meaning to outsiders and not because outsiders lack an attention span to parse their argumentation.

Very interesting topic all around though.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 9:50 AM on September 26, 2017 [15 favorites]

Trump won't set foot on Puerto Rico. He can't be bothered to get dirty & as corb said he's a germophobe. He'll just fly over in a helicopter, have a photo shot with PR destruction in the background and whizz off.
posted by yoga at 10:00 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

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posted by tilde at 10:03 AM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

I still fail to see, though, how attendance of the Lincoln-Douglas debates are evidence of textual literacy being necessary to parse long and complex oral arguments. The Greeks and Romans, only the wealthiest of whom were writing speeches down, gave complex speeches to largely orally oriented audiences. This evidence from Greece and Rome suggests that textual literacy is not a precursor to understanding oral argumentation or rhetoric. I understand that I'm taking this out of the strict context of United States history, but I'm having a hard time with the idea that textual literacy is what enables the understanding and analysis of complex oral rhetoric. It seems to me that if people have a history of listening to complex oral rhetoric--that factor is what will help people parse such speeches, not being able to read them on the page.

To bring it back around to the present, though, I think the media selection bias issue is part of what can make parsing other arguments very difficult. If a group of people all have very different sources of information that use different vocabularies, coming to a consensus of anyone's argumentation style is going to be difficult. If you go read r/t_d, they developed a whole subset of language to make their points which can obscure the meaning to outsiders and not because outsiders lack an attention span to parse their argumentation.

Very interesting topic all around though.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 11:50 AM on September 26 [+] [!]

Yeah that rings pretty much right to me. Hm. Could be that the form or content of Homeric or Yoruba or Athenian oral argument/exposition is really what's at issue, instead of oral versus written.

Plus on my or our side, there's always that confirmation bias, right. TV hasn't made me dumb, it's made all those other [Fox News watching] people dumb.
posted by TheProfessor at 10:08 AM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

One Trumpy guy went on an on about how these players "who make millions of dollars" shouldn't be protesting.

I will never understand this line of thinking. How poor does one have to be to criticize America? So if those NFL players quit, can they have a contrary opinion about this great nation? No, they still have residual money, so no way? Ok, if they give up all their money and become homeless are they allowed to speak out? Still no, because they live here, right? If they hate it so much, why don't they leave? Oh, ok, so if they move to another country, can they now have an opinion about America? Of course not. They're not even Americans.

They will always move the bar. There is no way to win with them.
posted by greermahoney at 10:21 AM on September 26, 2017 [32 favorites]

54%? Honestly I'm kind of surprised it's that high.

I wonder what percentage of Americans think that Canadians are US citizens.
posted by tivalasvegas at 10:21 AM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]

How poor does one have to be to criticize America?

well, not too poor obviously, because they are just lazy and need to try harder and they deserve it anyway
posted by entropicamericana at 10:24 AM on September 26, 2017 [8 favorites]

Interesting piece that ties together the topics of healthcare and Hurricane Maria:

David Anderson, Balloon Juice: Medicaid and emergent care under block grants

Roughly half of everyone living in Puerto Rico has health insurance through Medicaid. Medicaid is obligated to pay for medically necessary care in an emergency even if the hospital is not in the provider network. The doctor in this clip is making a recommendation that anyone who needs significant care and whose family can find a way to get them off the island to go to the mainland. [...]

The prices that will be charged will be far higher than the prices hospitals on the island charge to Medicaid. So each given unit of service will be a more expensive unit of service and a higher proportion of the fixed budget of the Medicaid program.

Block grants don’t work when there is a large shock that needs an immediate response.

posted by tonycpsu at 10:25 AM on September 26, 2017 [10 favorites]

McCain says using reconciliation to pass tax reform+repeal would not be regular order
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:43 AM on September 26, 2017 [18 favorites]

Regarding increasing public illiteracy and poor reasoning skills - a few years ago, WaPo had an article about 8th Grade graduation exam from 1912. Handful of questions (one from each area, and a handful of spelling words):

• Spelling words: conscious, vinegar, autumn, scissors, benefit
• A man bought a farm for $2400 and sold it for $2700. What per cent did he gain?
• Locate these cities: Mobile, Quebec, Buenos Aires, Liverpool, Honolulu.
• What is a Personal Pronoun? Decline I.
• Define Cerebrum; Cerebellum.
• Name five county officers, and the principal duties of each.
• Give the cause of the war of 1812 and name an important battle fought during that war.

How many current high school grads can't locate DC, NYC, LA, and Denver on a map of the US? How many would answer "300" to the question about per cent? How many can name one county officer... and how many could name that many before Kim Davis? How many can name a single important battle from WWII?

I understand the reasons for shifting school from regurgitation of rote facts, and that the 8th grade education standards in 1912 were designed entirely for white boys who weren't being pushed into labor to support their families. But school standards haven't just shifted to allow more diversity; they've outright dropped any specific educational standards in most cases.

The fun part (and by "fun" I mean "despair-inducing") is going through the list of questions and wondering if our current president could answer a single one of them correctly.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 10:50 AM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]

I bet he can spell "scissors" 90% of the time.
posted by Joey Michaels at 10:52 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

Of course Yertle isn't regular. He looks like he hasn't taken a shit in a month.
posted by delfin at 10:53 AM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Josh Marshall, TPM: What Is White Supremacy?

Jon Chait has a new article about the definition of ‘white supremacy’. It caught my attention when I saw Chait and Adam Serwer of The Atlantic debating Chait’s argument on Twitter.

I wanted to share a few thoughts on the question. [...]

I’m largely on Serwer’s side of this argument. ‘White supremacist’ is a word most of us associate with men demanding ‘white rights’, hurling terrible epithets at black people and creating an atmosphere of violence and menace. But a lot of that is atmospherics and tactics. The real definition has to be something like Serwer’s who suggests a “general definition of white supremacist is someone who believes white people are entitled to political and cultural hegemony.”

That is after all the literal definition, the meaning of the phrase.

But we should recognize that these definitions are being contested because the ground underneath our feet is in fact moving. Those who champion racial justice and equal rights – not just African-Americans and other non-whites but from people of color with an intrinsically greater urgency – are fed up with a definitional taxonomy in which lots of people can duck the obloquy merited by their beliefs and actions by simply declining to sign on to them explicitly. I also get Chait’s point, that it may not be productive or accurate to class everyone in these totalizing terms. Donald Trump and Jeff Sessions are definitely different from David Duke. But – and I say this slightly jokingly but mainly in earnest – maybe we should call Sessions and Trump moderate white supremacists and Duke a white supremacist extremist. [...]

If being white is a major part of your political and cultural identity, how you think about who you are, there really is a lot to worry about. That’s because being white isn’t really a biological reality, it’s a category in America that means being the dominant and powerful group. Again, that’s what Trumpism is. A white person can’t cease to be white just by willing it. That’s not how it works. But what you see as important, how you identify, has quite a lot to do with whether you see a future where white people are no longer a majority as a threat.

So this is not just a rhetorical or taxonomic question, whether you say you’re a white supremacist or not while you’re supporting white supremacy. Trump exists and the question of white supremacy is right at the surface today because of the demographic tipping point that country stands at. Whether Trump hates people of color or would take away their rights if he could is a mind-reading exercise we could talk about forever. But the fact that he believes in and wants to preserve a country where white people call the shots goes without saying. So maybe it’s not simply that we’re pulling David Duke and Donald Trump into the same definition. Maybe it is that the changes in the country have made the functional difference between the two much less relevant.

posted by tonycpsu at 10:53 AM on September 26, 2017 [38 favorites]

A man bought a farm for $2400 and sold it for $2700. What per cent did he gain?

Zero, probably? Tell me when he bought it, when he sold it, and the interest rate and I'll tell you how much he lost.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:57 AM on September 26, 2017 [11 favorites]

is there some weird backstory here?

Nate Silver used to work for the NYT. Maggie Haberman is fucking terrible and a Nazi collaborator, and she's accusing Nate of bitterness to cover that fact.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:58 AM on September 26, 2017 [28 favorites]

McCain says using reconciliation to pass tax reform+repeal would not be regular order

And at the same time, you have Graham and Johnson declaring that they won't consider a budget resolution with tax cuts that doesn't also include Obamacare repeal. There are similar divisions in the House.

You know, before Republicans can do tax cuts through a reconciliation bill, first they must pass a budget resolution giving instructions. It's not clear they can even jump the first hurdle with 51 votes. Republicans are so screwed up.
posted by JackFlash at 10:58 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

> @Haley Byrd is reporting: "No vote on Graham Cassidy...Joint decision by Graham, Cassidy, and McConnell not to hold a vote per source"

*Snoopy dance, except Snoopy's holding a long knife, and will straight cut a motherfucker if they try to bring this goddamn thing up again*
posted by tonycpsu at 11:01 AM on September 26, 2017 [35 favorites]

Maggie Haberman is fucking terrible

I don't know much about her, but agree she's the pinnacle of false both-sides in the national media.

and a Nazi collaborator

Care to elaborate?
posted by cell divide at 11:03 AM on September 26, 2017

And being awful again today, going after Nate. This comeback, even though Nate was the one guy saying Trump could win. And getting attacked for it.

Yeah 538 was the single source that actually got the election right. They said "this is what the polling shows, assuming it is accurate". But they also said "if the state polling is off by a relatively normal margin, Trump could win the electoral college by overperforming among white voters in PA and the upper midwest, so he still has a decent chance despite Clinton's small lead in the polls."

538 was dead on in 2016 (for the general) and I have no idea where the take that they were bad comes from. Before the election it was all "HOW DARE YOU SAY TRUMP HAS A 30% TO WIN YOU'RE JUST TRYING TO GET PAGE VIEWS, ASSHOLE" and after the election it was, "HOW DARE YOU SAY CLINTON HAD A 70% CHANCE TO WIN YOU LIED AND FOOLED US."
posted by Justinian at 11:03 AM on September 26, 2017 [65 favorites]

So I guess tRump said today: This is an island sitting in the middle of an ocean. It’s a big ocean, it’s a very big ocean.

His literacy level is elementary school. Dating myself here, but he reminds me so of the Dick and Jane books I read in first grade. ("See Spot run. Run, Spot, run. Spot likes to run. Spot is a good dog.")
posted by NorthernLite at 11:04 AM on September 26, 2017 [9 favorites]

Specifically he spoke about a “frightening” incident at Middlebury College in Vermont, in which a guest speaker was invited to the school to debate with a professor. Protesters shut down the discussion by shouting, he said.

It's frightening. But why would Sessions care? It's not like Charles Murray is a god damned racist monster offering faulty post hoc justification for our epidemic of imprisoning black youths or anything...

Oh wait...
posted by Talez at 11:06 AM on September 26, 2017 [8 favorites]

@Haley Byrd is reporting: "No vote on Graham Cassidy...Joint decision by Graham, Cassidy, and McConnell not to hold a vote per source"

HALLE-FUCKING-LUJAH.
posted by lydhre at 11:06 AM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

Dems have been relatively quiet on Puerto Rico, in an attempt to avoid looking like they are politicizing it. Looks like that's over with now:

@SenSchumer:

1/ The time for tweets and talk is over, the American citizens in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands need action and results.

2/ Instead of trying to take health care away from millions, the Trump Admin & GOP should put an emergency aid bill on the floor this week.

Probably going to be hearing more.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:07 AM on September 26, 2017 [20 favorites]

@Haley Byrd is reporting: "No vote on Graham Cassidy...Joint decision by Graham, Cassidy, and McConnell not to hold a vote per source"

♬♬ you don't have the votes, you don't have the votes ♬

a-ha-ha-ha-ha
posted by entropicamericana at 11:08 AM on September 26, 2017 [31 favorites]

No one seems to know why the Trump administration’s new travel ban includes Chad

Pfft. It's revenge. From last October:

Exxon Mobil Corp. was ordered to pay a record $74 billion fine in Chad for underpaying royalties in the central African nation where the company has been drilling for 15 years, according to a court document.

The fine is about five times more than Chad’s gross domestic product, which the World Bank estimates at $13 billion. The High Court in the capital, N’Djamena, announced its ruling Oct. 5 in response to a complaint from the Finance Ministry that a consortium led by Exxon hadn’t met its tax obligations. The court also demanded the Texas-based oil explorer pay $819 million in overdue royalties, according to the document.

Now, to be fair, Exxon settled the dispute three months ago (can't find any specifics about the settlement). But I don't think for a second that the ban is anything more than Rex Tillerson being a petty asshole.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 11:08 AM on September 26, 2017 [56 favorites]

is there some weird backstory here?

She attacks personally and repeatedly anyone who questions her or the Times coverage of Clinton. There's really no history between them [edit: other than the well known that Silver worked at NYT] that I know of besides her defensiveness and awfulness.
posted by chris24 at 11:09 AM on September 26, 2017 [13 favorites]

54%? Honestly I'm kind of surprised it's that high.

I wonder what percentage of Americans think that Canadians are US citizens.

True story: A few years ago I was in Atlanta for a conference and while I was there, I attended an MLB game with a friend of mine who lives outside of Winnipeg. There were a couple of locals sitting in the seats in front of us who struck up a conversation by asking us who we were rooting for, to which we apparently answered correctly, "the Braves." Then they let us know that the last game had been super lame for them because there were these Puerto Ricans sitting in the seats we were then occupying, who had had the temerity to display the Puerto Rican flag! Oh, it was a scandal. But thank goodness we were there now. I pointed out that my friend was Canadian, which they thought was just fine.
posted by SpaceBass at 11:09 AM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

RE: Josh Marshall, "Moderate white supremacist Donald Trump" does seem like a good description.
posted by Guy Smiley at 11:10 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

and a Nazi collaborator

Care to elaborate?

She attacks personally and repeatedly anyone who questions her or the Times coverage of Clinton.

At a certain point its a reasonable assumption that her actions and the Times coverage during the election was intentional to help Trump. We're at that point with Haberman.
posted by T.D. Strange at 11:12 AM on September 26, 2017 [15 favorites]

And here's Leahy calling for PR/USVI relief asap.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:12 AM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

Statement to GOP leadership on Puerto Rico/USVI from ten democratic Senators so far.

Markey - MA
Warren - MA
Menendez - N.J.
Booker - N.J.
Blumenthal - Conn
Gillibrand - N.Y.
Schumer - N.Y.
Duckworth - Ill
Brown - OH
Casey - PA

Keep calling, folks.
posted by lydhre at 11:14 AM on September 26, 2017 [17 favorites]

The Very Bad Man is answering questions at a press conference with the President of Spain. To the first question, he says the NFL stuff isn't a distraction because he has "plenty of time"
posted by theodolite at 11:14 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

VA gov polling update: new Monmouth poll has Northam up 49-44. That matches up with the polling average of about +4.5.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:20 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

"We've had tremendous reviews" from Puerto Rico and hurricane-affected states.
posted by theodolite at 11:20 AM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

But school standards haven't just shifted to allow more diversity; they've outright dropped any specific educational standards in most cases.

not sure if I should be avoiding this derail but a) this isn't true and b) just in case you're thinking "kids these days", the voting electorate we're deploring would have graduated high school in the 90s.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 11:20 AM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

NYT: Nearly Half of Americans Don’t Know Puerto Ricans Are Fellow Citizens

Immigrant goes to America
Many hellos in America
Nobody knows in America
Puerto Rico's in America
posted by one for the books at 11:22 AM on September 26, 2017 [53 favorites]

This is an island sitting in the middle of an ocean. It’s a big ocean, it’s a very big ocean.

It's not an ocean, and the island's not in the middle. It is an island, though.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:27 AM on September 26, 2017 [14 favorites]

@KenJennings: "Graham Cassidy is back from the dead" --October 2017 news headline, or TV Guide synopsis for a random 1983 episode of Falcon Crest
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:27 AM on September 26, 2017 [26 favorites]

Mavs' J.J. Barea gets team plane for Puerto Rico hurricane relief.
posted by Groundhog Week at 11:27 AM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

"We've had tremendous reviews" from Puerto Rico and hurricane-affected states.

For Trump, everything is about the reality TV show and his ratings.
posted by JackFlash at 11:28 AM on September 26, 2017 [8 favorites]

Looks like someone just lost out on box seats to El Clasico.
posted by PenDevil at 11:31 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

Trump's answer: If you had "accurate polling," I bet you'd find that the people of Catalonia love Spain, which is a great country.

Every day of this administration is like the slapstick parts of King Ralph.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:33 AM on September 26, 2017 [29 favorites]

@KenJennings: "Graham Cassidy is back from the dead" --October 2017 news headline, or TV Guide synopsis for a random 1983 episode of Falcon Crest

If they need this by the 30th, I'm sure the GOP will try one more time to fulfill their Sacred Promise to slay the dragon kill Obamacare. Because erasing his legacy is more important than almost anything.

Expect five senators to stand on the steps of the capital announcing the YOYOB* Act of 2017. Basically, the government gets completely out of health care--Medicare and Medicaid. The money will be rerouted to the military, tax cuts, and presidential golf courses.

*You're On Your Own, Bitches
posted by MrGuilt at 11:33 AM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

Don Jr.'s week without Secret Service protection is a non-story. Trumpspringa is a well-known tradition in the family. They always come back.
posted by emelenjr at 11:33 AM on September 26, 2017 [13 favorites]

Graham saying he's going to come back to Graham-Cassidy after taxes get done.

"Oh, Meyer, you don't know WHEN to quit."
posted by Chrysostom at 11:34 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

they've outright dropped any specific educational standards in most cases.

Not true in most states.
posted by OnceUponATime at 11:34 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

This is an island sitting in the middle of an ocean. It’s a big ocean, it’s a very big ocean.

Wait til he hears about Hawaii.
posted by melissasaurus at 11:35 AM on September 26, 2017 [30 favorites]

“We've had tremendous reviews" from Puerto Rico and hurricane-affected states.

If only we could drive him out via Yelp: “FIRST OF ALL, if I could give this Presidency negative googol stars...”
posted by droplet at 11:39 AM on September 26, 2017 [10 favorites]

"This is an island sitting in the middle of an ocean. It’s a big ocean, it’s a very big ocean."

Christ, does it EVER OCCUR to this guy that, while it's difficult to always sound presidential, it's a laudable goal to try to never sound anything-but-presidential? If these are the words that come into your head, just say nothing.
posted by Rykey at 11:40 AM on September 26, 2017 [19 favorites]

I don't want to read too much into that, since Haberman only joined the NYT in 2015, two years after Silver left, but it's not outlandish to imagine there's still some lingering bad feelings in the NYT's political office (and vice versa).

Nate Silver tweeted about a story that Haberman wrote today, "I can think of someone *else* who repeatedly harped on Clinton’s emails & made it the centerpiece of the campaign.🤔"

His second tweet: The story is written in the passive voice. But Clinton's emails didn't *just happen* to become a huge story. The NYT was a huge reason why.

Maybe Nate's tweets sound harsh, but he just finished writing an 11-part examination of what happened in the 2016 election, and the final chapter is all about the media and how their reporting was not just wrong but bad for the country. I'm sure Haberman isn't the only journalist smarting, but she's the most defensive. From Silver's conclusion:

In general, the problems were worse at The New York Times and other organizations that (as Michael Cieply, a former Times editor, put it) heavily emphasized “the narrative” of the campaign and encouraged reporters to “generate stories that fit the pre-designated line.”

If you re-read the Times’ general election coverage from the conventions onward,16 you’ll be struck by how consistent it was from start to finish. Although the polls were fairly volatile in 2016, you can’t really distinguish the periods when Clinton had a clear advantage from those when things were pretty tight. Instead, the narrative was consistent: Clinton was a deeply flawed politician, the “worst candidate Democrats could have run,” cast in “shadows” and “doubts” because of her ethical lapses. However, she was almost certain to win because Trump appealed to too narrow a range of demographic groups and ran an unsophisticated campaign, whereas Clinton’s diverse coalition and precise voter-targeting efforts gave her an inherent advantage in the Electoral College.

It was a consistent story, but it was consistently wrong.

One can understand why news organizations find “the narrative” so tempting. The world is a complicated place, and journalists are expected to write authoritatively about it under deadline pressure. There’s a management consulting adage that says when creating a product, you can pick any two of these three objectives: 1. fast, 2. good and 3. cheap. You can never have all three at once. The equivalent in journalism is that a story can be 1. fast, 2. interesting and/or 3. true — two out of the three — but it’s hard for it to be all three at the same time.

Deciding on the narrative ahead of time seems to provide a way out of the dilemma. Pre-writing substantial portions of the story — or at least, having a pretty good idea of what you’re going to say — allows it to be turned around more quickly. And narratives are all about wrapping the story up in a neat-looking package and telling readers “what it all means,” so the story is usually engaging and has the appearance of veracity.

The problem is that you’re potentially sacrificing No. 3, “true.” By bending the facts to fit your template, you run the risk of getting the story completely wrong. To make matters worse, most people — including most reporters and editors (also: including me) — have a strong tendency toward confirmation bias. Presented with a complicated set of facts, it takes a lot of work for most of us not to connect the dots in a way that confirms our prejudices. An editorial culture that emphasizes “the narrative” indulges these bad habits rather than resists them.

posted by gladly at 11:41 AM on September 26, 2017 [87 favorites]

How poor does one have to be to criticize America?

I figured he was saying "millions" derogatorily, since his dude's "billionaire" ass pretty much got elected by criticizing America.
posted by aspersioncast at 11:45 AM on September 26, 2017

@cjelli's link above about Sessions comparing student protesters to the KKK reminds me an awful lot of Governor Rhodes' statement about Kent State the day before they shot those kids:

We've seen here at the city of Kent especially, probably the most vicious form of campus-oriented violence yet perpetrated by dissident groups. They make definite plans of burning, destroying, and throwing rocks at police and at the National Guard and the Highway Patrol. This is when we're going to use every part of the law enforcement agency of Ohio to drive them out of Kent. We are going to eradicate the problem. We're not going to treat the symptoms. And these people just move from one campus to the other and terrorize the community. They're worse than the brown shirts and the communist element and also the night riders and the vigilantes. They're the worst type of people that we harbor in America. Now I want to say this. They are not going to take over [the] campus. I think that we're up against the strongest, well-trained, militant, revolutionary group that has ever assembled in America.[24]
posted by gucci mane at 11:45 AM on September 26, 2017 [20 favorites]

(Ps how do people do the inline quotes thing?)
posted by gucci mane at 11:45 AM on September 26, 2017

> (Ps how do people do the inline quotes thing?)

<blockquote>
thing
</blockquote>
posted by tonycpsu at 11:46 AM on September 26, 2017 [12 favorites]

It's the blockquote tag from HTML.
posted by zombieflanders at 11:46 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

If they need this by the 30th, I'm sure the GOP will try one more time to fulfill their Sacred Promise to slay the dragon kill Obamacare.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but not much changes on the 30th. It just means the present budget resolution expires. But next Monday, they can start all over again with the so-called 2018 budget resolution. This resolution will surely contain instructions on tax cuts, but it is also possible that they will also include Obamacare repeal, as Graham and Johnson have just pledged. So you may be hearing about repeal efforts for the rest of the year.

And if that is not enough, if they manage to pass the tax cuts, then on January 1, 2018, they get yet another chance with the so-called 2019 budget resolution and again try to repeal Obamacare. So they have at least two more chances to repeal Obamacare before the mid-term elections.

This nightmare is never going away until Democrats win back a majority in either the House or Senate. Otherwise it will be around at least until 2020 for the next presidential election. Elections have consequences.
posted by JackFlash at 11:47 AM on September 26, 2017 [23 favorites]

Or what tonycpsu did in a much more helpful manner.
posted by zombieflanders at 11:47 AM on September 26, 2017

Education derail notes - I'm not thinking "kids these days;" I'm thinking we have a few generations of shifting standards (as Snopes notes, a good 19th-century education didn't require any knowledge of non-US cultures or the arts, and their focus on history was more than a little lopsided by modern standards), and part of that shifting has been an erosion of specific requirements.

Some of that is reasonable - 8th grade graduates should have a reasonable understanding of, e.g., US history, but the details of what's important and relevant will change over time, so the phrasing of modern requirements is vague, with school boards supposedly setting detailed requirements. This can be a problem, but schools have the resources to address it; it's complicated by the notion that "8th grader" means "student between 12 and 14 years of age" instead of "student who's on track to pass the 8th grade final exams," whatever content is included in those.

[redacted: Long rant about grades being entirely based on age groups instead of educ level.]

I don't think "kids these days" are less-educated for not having learned to diagram sentences and not being able to create a timeline for WWII. I do think there's been an erosion of educational standards, especially in the critical thinking and applied problem-solving areas, and that we have a frightening number of people who think that anything involving video on a screen must be true, because "they" wouldn't let a show called "News" tell lies. And I'm definitely not limiting that latter group to "people under 30," or even "people under 50."
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 11:47 AM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

2009: the great thing about america is anyone can be president
2017: imma stop you right there
posted by entropicamericana at 11:49 AM on September 26, 2017 [98 favorites]

Expect five senators to stand on the steps of the capital announcing the YOYOB* Act of 2017.

Change that to the YOLO Act of 2017 and maybe we can work something out.
posted by kirkaracha at 11:54 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

zombieflanders: "It's the blockquote tag from HTML."

There's also a nice greasemonkey script.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:54 AM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

The ACA Survives!
posted by exlotuseater at 11:56 AM on September 26, 2017 [11 favorites]

The ACA Survives!

You'll forgive me if I don't put my pitchfork back in the shed for another 5 days.
posted by cmfletcher at 11:58 AM on September 26, 2017 [37 favorites]

Wait til he hears about Hawaii.

Sessions has already said that Hawaii is just "an island in the Pacific" and that judges in Hawaii should not have authority to act as a check on the President -- ie, that Hawaii is not really part of the US.

Trump, being a birther, probably thinks that if Obama was born in Hawaii that proves Hawaii isn't part of the US.
posted by OnceUponATime at 12:00 PM on September 26, 2017 [11 favorites]

Forgiven.
posted by exlotuseater at 12:00 PM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

Yeah, I'm not actually going to feel any relief about the ACA until it's October 1st and the ACA is still standing.

And even after that, I'm just going to be waiting for Republicans in the Senate to change whatever rules they need to pass it with 51 votes, reconciliation or no.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 12:01 PM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

I think there are good reasons to think Trump is a white supremacist, but at the same time some good reasons to think he isn't. Vast majority of his life he was aligned with Democrats, then with Independent party, and finally with the Republicans. Through all of these decades it was the Republican party that was anti-minority. I would expect to see him gravitate toward Republicans, far right radio, Limbaugh, Hannity, Buchanan, televangelists; to hate and attack the Clintons, Gore, Kerry, rap culture, affirmative action and political correctness.

For a white supremacist, he had shown a curious lack of interest in the political postures and fashions of the America's racist politicians and media, up until his run. Instead, he would hang around Howard Stern and Access Hollywood and the like.

Everything about Trump screams "opportunism". Every single detail about his background fits perfectly with opportunism.

I think it makes more sense to say he's done more to promote white supremacist views and influence than any white supremacist we know.

On the other hand, if you consider Republican party to be synonymous with white supremacy, he is one by definition because he ran as a Republican.
posted by rainy at 12:01 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

The KKK did not protest. The KKK killed people. There is no equivalence.

preeeetty sure that shriveled old racist baby doesn't consider anyone the KKK was killing to be "people"
posted by poffin boffin at 12:03 PM on September 26, 2017 [11 favorites]

Vast majority of his life he was aligned with Democrats, then with Independent party, and finally with the Republicans.

I wouldn't call that proof positive. The only thing we can say for certain is that unlike the Republicans, the Democratic party has a wing that's not white supremacist.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:05 PM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

Everything about Trump screams "opportunism".

He's a Trump Supremacist?
posted by Coventry at 12:05 PM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

Why do we keep assuming that T has any actual views on anything?
posted by Melismata at 12:06 PM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]

It's maybe not so much that Trump is a white supremacist as that, whatever his particular alignments and allegiances, his words and actions promote and embolden the white supremacist cause often enough that reasonable people would say, "Hey, seems like a duck." As somebody linked upthread, if he's not a white supremacist, he does a pretty good impression.
posted by Rykey at 12:10 PM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

"This is an island sitting in the middle of an ocean. It’s a big ocean, it’s a very big ocean."

When 45 vomited about the Coast Guard improving their "brand" with their Harvey response, I pointed out that the Coast Guard has provided him with several points of resistance and failure: His academy commencement speech was an embarrassing crapfest and nobody pretended otherwise. The top command has pushed back hard on his transgender ban bullshit. His attempt to slash their budget was stopped by Congress. And unless the culture has changed dramatically since I was a member, I can't imagine they're exactly on the same Gestapo page as ICE regarding undocumented immigrants. I think the Coast Guard is one more sore spot for Cheetoh Mussolini.

But now I'm thinking that "brand improvement" thing may have a simpler explanation. This month may have made him realize for the first time in his fucking life the ocean is big and difficult to deal with. And now he wants to tell others this shocking fact, too.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 12:11 PM on September 26, 2017 [23 favorites]

The vast majority of his life was spent grifting in NYC, which skews Democratic -- it was in his interests to at least appear to be a Democrat. He went Independent and finally Republican because of the business opportunities these labels afforded (including the White House).

He's a racist from a racist family, and he has always and will always continue their traditions.
posted by Iris Gambol at 12:12 PM on September 26, 2017 [31 favorites]

Melismata: "Why do we keep assuming that T has any actual views on anything?"

He likes ice cream, we know that.
posted by Chrysostom at 12:12 PM on September 26, 2017 [8 favorites]

The math is simple:

trump is white.
trump is a pathological narcissist.
Ergo, trump is a white supremacist.
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:18 PM on September 26, 2017 [9 favorites]

Trump definitely has some views on some things. Even if you wanted to take the absolute smallest view of it he clearly thinks that he himself, and his family (well most of them, sorry tiffany) are superior and deserve the riches and good treatment they have generally enjoyed. A Trump Supremacist is a pretty apt description. WHY are they deserving of their general good fortunes? It would appear, against all evidence, that he thinks they are smarter and better a most things which is why they have enjoyed so much success. Given his dad's political affiliation with the Klan it would not surprise me in the least if in some small way or as a background to a narrative of personal excellence, Trump didn't put a little stock in the fact that his whiteness is one of the many attributes that make him one of the best people.

Does he hold any consistent policy or political views? no - he is willing to say or do anything that serves him at any time. Is that mutuall incompatible with being a bigoted white supremacist? not really.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 12:19 PM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

White supremacy doesn't always express itself with cartoon villainy.
posted by Groundhog Week at 12:21 PM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]

White supremacy doesn't always express itself with cartoon villainy.

And sometimes, as in the case of Donald Trump, it does.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:23 PM on September 26, 2017 [31 favorites]

YOLUCKYATAC

"You Only Live Until Congress Kills Your Ability To Afford Coverage"
posted by aspersioncast at 12:23 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

Trump's Puerto Rico tweets prove that Wall Street is deep in his head

Trump breaks silence, blames Puerto Rico for humanitarian disaster: The president called out the island's debt and struggles after days of tweeting about football.
posted by homunculus at 12:25 PM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

The Democratic Party was a welcome home for white supremacists until Trump was in his 30s. And I think we've all noted his inability to form new memories since right about then anyway.

I've been watching The Deuce (which, for its various other merits and demerits, is the closest to an anti-aphrodisiac that I've ever encountered) and I keep thinking about this being the New York of Donald Trump's formative years, and definitely the New York of his dad's heyday. In every one of James Franco's² scenes I just keep imagining Donald or Fred Trump walking in the door as the Mobbed Up Developer In A Shiny Suit and I'm like, yep, checks out. These people are all fucking awful, and Donald Trump is basically stuck in this time and place in a fugue state forever. And then I scream into a throw pillow.
posted by soren_lorensen at 12:26 PM on September 26, 2017 [32 favorites]

White supremacy doesn't always express itself with cartoon villainy.

In fact, "gee, I couldn't possibly be a white supremacist because I am not a cartoon villain" is the fig leaf employed by every white supremacist ever.
posted by lydhre at 12:26 PM on September 26, 2017 [39 favorites]

I don't think "kids these days" are less-educated for not having learned to diagram sentences and not being able to create a timeline for WWII. I do think there's been an erosion of educational standards, especially in the critical thinking and applied problem-solving areas, and that we have a frightening number of people who think that anything involving video on a screen must be true, because "they" wouldn't let a show called "News" tell lies. And I'm definitely not limiting that latter group to "people under 30," or even "people under 50."

Erosion of standards is fair, I'll take that argument. We have plenty of specific standards ever since NCLB, but they do neglect critical thinking.

But more importantly anyone who's over 50 has not been in public school for over 30 years. So I feel like the rest of society, outside our public school system, is probably part of the problem.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 12:27 PM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

Why would anyone in Puerto Rico want a hurricane? Because someone will get rich. How tax breaks and a quasi-colonial status make the island vulnerable to disasters.

Puerto Ricans Call for Aid Amidst Catastrophe: "We're American Citizens. We Can't Be Left to Die"
posted by homunculus at 12:35 PM on September 26, 2017 [12 favorites]

If you are an opportunist and you're willing to do and say racist things opportunistically, you are a racist. Enabling white supremacists is racist. Race-baiting is racist. Reacting to protesters differently solely because of their race (or because they're protesting racial disparity) is racist.

Can we please stop excusing this guy by saying, "Oh he's not REALLY racist; he's just willing to act like a racist and give aid and comfort to racism for personal gain"? Because, as Howard Dean so eloquently said, "That IS racist."
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:36 PM on September 26, 2017 [73 favorites]

For a white supremacist, he had shown a curious lack of interest in the political postures and fashions of the America's racist politicians and media, up until his run. Instead, he would hang around Howard Stern and Access Hollywood and the like.

Northern white supremacy looks different from southern white supremacy. Urban white supremacy looks different from rural white supremacy. There are plenty of white supremacists here in NYC, and they look and sound nothing like Jeff Sessions.

The dude's been a white supremacist every day of his life, as evidenced by his words and actions. He's also a raging misogynist who likes to sexually assault women and girls. The fact that he finds an audience to discuss the latter does not disprove the former.

And anyone who views white supremacy as an opportunity is a white supremacist.
posted by melissasaurus at 12:39 PM on September 26, 2017 [92 favorites]

I had a dude on Twitter today tell me that Puerto Ricans are illegal immigrants because the name of our country is the United STATES of American and since Puerto Rico isn't a state it doesn't count. When I pointed out that Washington D.C. isn't a state, he doubled down and said it wasn't part of the country either.

I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to guess his race.
posted by mcduff at 12:40 PM on September 26, 2017 [56 favorites]

I do think there's been an erosion of educational standards, especially in the critical thinking and applied problem-solving areas,
I'm over 60, and was educated in the '60s and '70s, the first 5 years in the L.A. Public Schools then taken out in favor of an expensive Private School for 3 years and a Catholic High School for 4, and I don't remember "critical thinking" being part of the curriculum at any of them; the closest being a semi-radical Jesuit brother doing "comparative religion" in the Catholic School's mandatory Religion class and being heavily harassed by the Good Catholic students. One of my other most memorable teachers was a football coach in the private school who did a Social Studies class that was a daily All-American Pep Talk that I thought would have made a good Talk Radio show 20 years later. "Applied problem-solving" always took a back seat to conformity and obedience, in all 3 school 'types'.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:41 PM on September 26, 2017 [11 favorites]

Puerto Rico isn't a state

It's a "commonwealth" right? Aren't Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts also "commonwealths" officially? Is it just that those commonwealths are also considered "states" for purposes of representation in Congress, etc, and Puerto Rico isn't? What does "commonwealth" even mean?

(I understand it in the British context of "commonwealth countries" which still recognize the queen, but I don't understand it in the American context.)
posted by OnceUponATime at 12:48 PM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

Rats from a sinking ship.
posted by soren_lorensen at 12:51 PM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

Another vote that can't be extorted with threats to re-election prospects, when the impeachment proceedings start. (knock wood.)
posted by OnceUponATime at 12:53 PM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

And then I scream into a throw pillow.

I throw up into a scream pillow.
posted by kirkaracha at 12:53 PM on September 26, 2017 [43 favorites]

I find the question of whether or not Donnie is actually a white supremacist to be one best left to any historians who may be living in 2047. For now it seems sufficient to say that he quacks like a white supremacist.

And in other news, Julian Assange is the new champion of Catalonian secession. I've been wrong about a few things over the last several years, but boy howdy I wasn't wrong about old Julian. I take a lot of pleasure in imagining just how stupefyingly dull and wearisome his prison must be and I look forward to watching it break him one day.
posted by octobersurprise at 12:53 PM on September 26, 2017 [12 favorites]

It's a "commonwealth" right? Aren't Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts also "commonwealths" officially? Is it just that those commonwealths are also considered "states" for purposes of representation in Congress, etc, and Puerto Rico isn't? What does "commonwealth" even mean?

It's just a fancy name for 'state' when it comes to PA/VA/MA. Puerto Rico's status as a commonwealth is more of an actual legal status.

Basically it sounds nicer than colony
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:54 PM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]

> Say it fast enough and it sounds like maggots.

Name-calling is for bullies, but MAGATS is pretty tempting vindictive shorthand.

Especially when used to describe pale, spineless, juvenile insects that feed on death, rot, garbage, and literally bullshit.
posted by Johann Georg Faust at 12:54 PM on September 26, 2017 [9 favorites]

fragmede: the tweet features a powerful speech of former NFL player Shannon Sharpe expressing his disappointment in the NFL's owners, who are only now reacting because Trump told the team owners to fire a player or people should boycott the NFL, which might hurt their wallet.

Transcript available on foxsports (but go watch the video ).

Here's theroot with more on that video.

“I’m disappointed. And I’m unimpressed,” Sharpe said during Fox Sports’ Undisputed. “Because this is the tipping point. Of the 7,537 things that President Trump has said in the last 50 years, him calling an NFL player an SOB is what brought the NFL, the owners and its players, together. And while some might be moved by the conscience of these NFL owners, it wasn’t their conscience that moved them. It was the cash.”

Kimmy Schmidt was first topical, then ahead of the curve by a few months, both with the National Anthem joke and the idea that finally got the Redskins to agree to change their name (spoilers ahoy).

A dark sign of how far we've come in 2017: this realization made me laugh before it made me really, really sad.
posted by filthy light thief at 12:55 PM on September 26, 2017 [14 favorites]

tivalasvegas: "It's just a fancy name for 'state' when it comes to PA/VA/MA. Puerto Rico's status as a commonwealth is more of a legal status."

FYI, KY is the fourth commonwealth state.

PR is legally a territory, like Guam or American Samoa.
posted by Chrysostom at 12:56 PM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

> whoa! @Michael Collins (Gannett Tennessee): "BREAKING: @SenBobCorker will not seek re-election next year. @Tennessean @knoxnews @memphisnews"

Steve Cohen, come on down!
posted by tonycpsu at 12:57 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

Oh yeah I knew there was another one.
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:58 PM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

So, Scott Pruitt's behavior is getting increasingly bizarre. I hope the Oversight Dems put this on their plate:

The Environmental Protection Agency is spending nearly $25,000 to construct a secure, soundproof communications booth in the office of Administrator Scott Pruitt, according to government contracting records. [...] Typically, such soundproof booths are used to conduct hearing tests. But the EPA sought a customized version — one that eventually would cost almost several times more than a typical model — that Pruitt can use to communicate without fear of being monitored. [WP]

posted by Chrysostom at 12:58 PM on September 26, 2017 [77 favorites]

TN is obviously a stretch for Dems, but it at least makes it not a fait accompli. And anything that makes the GOP work harder is a plus.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:00 PM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

Scott Pruitt's $25,000 Jack Off Shed
posted by theodolite at 1:01 PM on September 26, 2017 [49 favorites]

What are Corker's possible replacements like though? How is he compared to the GOP in his state?
posted by corb at 1:02 PM on September 26, 2017

" ... a secure, soundproof communications booth ... "

I know just what he's looking for.
posted by octobersurprise at 1:03 PM on September 26, 2017 [11 favorites]

Tennessee is a state where the right splitting could really help. Nashville is one of the fastest growing metro areas in the country, and Corker only narrowly won over Harold Ford in 2006. A MAGA vs. Establishment split with no runoff would have huge potential for a Todd Akin / Sharon Angle situation.
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:03 PM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

huh I never saw a picture of Bob Corker before today. I guess he's Steve Carrell at 75?
posted by tivalasvegas at 1:03 PM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

Yeah, TN GOP is fairly nutty. Marsha Blackburn would probably be the frontrunner. Blackburn is...colorful.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:05 PM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

James Mackler (@veteranattorney) is one of the people running for the Dem nomination for Corker's seat.

Sidenote: I think twitter handles are going to be important this cycle for branding purposes - IRON STACHE, VETERAN ATTORNEY, etc. Makes it hard to tweet about them without promoting their desired branding.
posted by melissasaurus at 1:05 PM on September 26, 2017 [19 favorites]

WaPo: "DHS waived Jones Act restrictions during Harvey and Irma in order to move oil more quickly to the East Coast and make up for the loss of pipelines...", but won't for PR.

How about No Jones-ation Without Representation. How can you call a port in Puerto Rico a "US port" if the people living around it have no say in the government that controls tariffs & other aspects of shipping at that port?
posted by ASCII Costanza head at 1:06 PM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

I don't think Trump has ever considered himself a member of any party. He will however publicly identify with the party that he thinks will give him the greatest benefit at the time. In 80's he had no problem calling himself a Democrat just like the local politicians in power (Koch, Dinkins, and Gov. Cuomo). Into the 90's he latched onto the post Perot Reform party for a run but his interest died with their national hopes and he was back to sending wedding invites to the Clintons. Come 2008 he found his racist tirades against president Obama got some serious traction in the Tea Party wing that was rising to power in the Republican party.

Even though he's the leader of the party, he hasn't shown any hesitation in attacking and dividing his membership. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he threatens to leave the party at some point as a scorched earth fuck you. Especially if there's an impeachment or indictment looming.

In all those incarnations he's been racist.
posted by cmfletcher at 1:12 PM on September 26, 2017 [39 favorites]

Marsha Blackburn would probably be the frontrunner
*Curses *
*Spits*
posted by Twain Device at 1:13 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

We're still assuming that he actually thinks about something beyond what is right in front of his nose at any given moment.
posted by Melismata at 1:14 PM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

I had a dude on Twitter today tell me that Puerto Ricans are illegal immigrants because the name of our country is the United STATES of American and since Puerto Rico isn't a state it doesn't count. When I pointed out that Washington D.C. isn't a state, he doubled down and said it wasn't part of the country either.

I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to guess his race.

God 2017 has pushed that old "rules lawyering so you can't call me racist" game from "tedious" to "unbearably exhausting" to "eye roll so hard you go blind and then you knock over an oil lamp and then everything is on fire but you don't even care you just want it to be done and anyways burning alive feels better than listening to this shit again". It's actually a good sign that more people are less bold in wrapping themselves up in overt racism, but damn, sometimes it's easy to forget and long for these assholes to have the courage of their shitty little convictions.
posted by jason_steakums at 1:17 PM on September 26, 2017 [19 favorites]

I really hope Spicer goes completely broke paying legal bills and never cashes in on that speaking career he's desperate for. It's the minimum he deserves for his large part in this shitpile, and Press Secretary doesn't pay well enough for the type of years long open ended white collar representation he's going to need. Take out that second mortgage now, Sean.
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:19 PM on September 26, 2017 [41 favorites]

My point is this, nobody gets to speak for me, but me. Nobody gets to speak for Gold Star families, except the families, who are not going to be in lockstep.

It's worth remembering that several lifetimes ago, Trump embarked on several days of name-calling aimed at a Gold Star family who criticized him at the Democratic National Convention.
posted by Gelatin at 1:20 PM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]

Hey, maybe Spicey will have to write a tell-all book to pay his lawyer bills.
posted by Fleebnork at 1:24 PM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

I don't care for Bob Corker as my senator...but I just shuddered a bit. The level of GOP crazy in this state is substantial, both in Congress and especially in the state legislature. Corker is the worst of the TN right wing, except for all of the others.

And I don't want Steve Cohen to lose his House seat, but if he can win he'd be terrific.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 1:24 PM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

Let's take stock of how Mitch McConnell's day is going:
1) ACA repeal failed, again
2) Luther Strange is going to lose to Roy Moore, who will overtake Rand Paul as McConnell's biggest problem in his own party
3) Corker backed out, opening the door to yet another clusterfuck primary or potentially even an unexpected lost seat
4) The University of Louisville, McConnell's team, was just implicated in the biggest scandal in college basketball history.

I bet he's regretting coming out of his shell at all this morning.
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:27 PM on September 26, 2017 [60 favorites]

There's also the possibility that a retiring Corker will turn into a full-blown deficit hawk now, since he's got nothing to run for, and he'll screw up their precious tax cuts.
posted by zachlipton at 1:31 PM on September 26, 2017 [11 favorites]

eye roll so hard you go blind and then you knock over an oil lamp and then everything is on fire but you don't even care you just want it to be done and anyways burning alive feels better than listening to this shit again"

This is on my BINGO card too.
posted by RolandOfEld at 1:33 PM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

Tennessee is also voting for governor in 2018, and our current Republican governor is term limited, so he and Corker might both be interested in switching seats.

Meanwhile, Marsha Blackburn wants Congress to vote on flag/anthem etiquette.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 1:33 PM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

The governor thing is a wrinkle, a lot of possible GOP folks may be tempted by that instead of the Senate seat.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:35 PM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

you're gonna need more squares on that BINGO card.

how about IOKiYAR?
posted by ArgentCorvid at 1:35 PM on September 26, 2017

Let's take stock of how Mitch McConnell's day is going:
1) ACA repeal failed, again
2) Luther Strange is going to lose to Roy Moore, who will overtake Rand Paul as McConnell's biggest problem in his own party
3) Corker backed out, opening the door to yet another clusterfuck primary or potentially even an unexpected lost seat
4) The University of Louisville, McConnell's team, was just implicated in the biggest scandal in college basketball history.

tl;dr:

Sweet Clyde! Laugh derisively at him!
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:37 PM on September 26, 2017 [19 favorites]

Video explaining US territories, including Puerto Rico
posted by delicious-luncheon at 1:38 PM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

Apparently the USNS Comfort is docked in Norfolk right now, with "no plans to deploy."

This is depraved indifference murder.
posted by melissasaurus at 1:40 PM on September 26, 2017 [63 favorites]

I really hope Spicer goes completely broke paying legal bills and never cashes in on that speaking career he's desperate for.

Let's take stock of how Mitch McConnell's day is going:

While we're all enjoying a little afternoon schadenfreude, this Jezebel piece on Megyn Kelly's new show is worth a sniff. I hope White Santa was as embarrassed to do it as I was to read about it.
posted by octobersurprise at 1:42 PM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

PR and USVI are unincorporated organized territories. American Samoa (and some other very small places) are unincorporated unorganized territories. /pedant
posted by orrnyereg at 1:46 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

Apparently the USNS Comfort is docked in Norfolk right now, with "no plans to deploy."

It's my understanding that the Comfort needs a deepwater port that Puerto Rico doesn't have. If true this is one that can't be laid at Trump's feet.
posted by scalefree at 1:48 PM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Hey, maybe Spicey will have to write a tell-all book to pay his lawyer bills.

Isn't there some law about profiting from the story of your crimes? Or will it be lost in litigation like OJ Simpson's book?
posted by tilde at 1:48 PM on September 26, 2017

Oh, oh, dentist office report (yes, I'm here a LOT). They've got Ellen on the TV. Jane Fonda!
posted by tilde at 1:50 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

Tennessee is a state where the right splitting could really help. Nashville is one of the fastest growing metro areas in the country, and Corker only narrowly won over Harold Ford in 2006. A MAGA vs. Establishment split with no runoff would have huge potential for a Todd Akin / Sharon Angle situation.

Except there is nearly no Democratic party organization in Tennessee anymore. Ford Jr. kept it close when there was no incumbent, sure, but in 2012 there was no serious opponent to Corker on the ballot, a random nutter won the D nomination by being alphabetically first on the ballot, and the state party had to come out and ask people not to vote for him.
posted by ghharr at 1:50 PM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

Catherine Rampell: What might Corker be referring to here?

“I also believe the most important public service I have to offer our country could well occur over the next 15 months, and I want to be able to do that as thoughtfully and independently as I did the first 10 years and nine months of my Senate career."

posted by Atom Eyes at 1:50 PM on September 26, 2017 [16 favorites]

It's my understanding that the Comfort needs a deepwater port that Puerto Rico doesn't have. If true this is one that can't be laid at Trump's feet.

Everything is laid at his feet. He's the president. If that resource isn't appropriate for PR, then something else should be sent.
posted by melissasaurus at 1:51 PM on September 26, 2017 [19 favorites]

Actually a Corker / Haslam swap might be the best case scenario for Tennessee, considering the rest of the state Republicans.
posted by ghharr at 1:52 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

It looks like they just announced that the Comfort will go to PR. Thanks, Hillary!

Clinton pressed Trump to deploy hospital ship Comfort to Puerto Rico. Now it’s on the way.
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 2:05 PM on September 26, 2017 [94 favorites]

Video explaining US territories, including Puerto Rico

I'm disappointed it wasn't School House Rock style.

"I'm just a territory. Yes I'm only a territory. And I'm stuck here in state purgatory."
posted by Talez at 2:07 PM on September 26, 2017 [19 favorites]

Clinton pressed Trump to deploy hospital ship Comfort to Puerto Rico. Now it’s on the way.

Imagine what it would be like to have a president that doesn't need to be pressed into saving lives.
posted by mcduff at 2:08 PM on September 26, 2017 [71 favorites]

It's my understanding that the Comfort needs a deepwater port that Puerto Rico doesn't have.

I kind of doubt that. The USNS Comfort is less than 70,000 tons. The Royal Caribbean Adventure docks weekly in San Juan and it is 137,000 tons, almost twice the size and has a draft of 28 feet.
posted by JackFlash at 2:09 PM on September 26, 2017 [17 favorites]

twitter experimenting with doubling character limit; @realdonaldtrump looking forward to fitting twice the falsehoods and hate in a single tweet
posted by entropicamericana at 2:11 PM on September 26, 2017 [8 favorites]

Well, at least our foreign policy is going to be twice as nuanced.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 2:15 PM on September 26, 2017 [8 favorites]

AP: Homeland Security now says Wisconsin elections not targeted

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reversed course Tuesday and told Wisconsin officials that the Russian government did not scan the state’s voter registration system.

Homeland Security told state elections officials on Friday that Wisconsin was one of 21 states targeted by the Russians, raising concerns about the safety and security of the state’s election systems even though no data had been compromised. But in an email to the state’s deputy elections administrator that was provided to reporters at the Wisconsin Elections Commission meeting on Tuesday, Homeland Security said that initial notice was in error.

“Based on our external analysis, the WI IP address affected belongs to the WI Department of Workforce Development, not the Elections Commission,” said the email from Juan Figueroa, with Homeland Security’s Office of Infrastructure Protection.
...
“Either they were right on Friday and this is a cover up, or they were wrong on Friday and we deserve an apology,” Mark Thomsen, the commission’s chairman, said in light of the new email.

Given that it's nearly October 2017, how is this all still some kind of giant mystery?
posted by zachlipton at 2:30 PM on September 26, 2017 [15 favorites]

That's just what happens when you hire The Best People, zachlipton.
posted by tivalasvegas at 2:31 PM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

This IRS news makes me think Manafort's lawyer's records were subpoena-ble because she filed false documents/returns (one of the exceptions to attorney-client privilege). This is getting exciting (for a tax person at least)!
posted by melissasaurus at 2:32 PM on September 26, 2017 [23 favorites]

Pence: "“We’ve all got a right to our opinions,” Pence told the crowd, “but I don’t think it’s too much to ask that players in the National Football League to stand for our national anthem.”

Emphasis not added.
posted by JackFlash at 2:32 PM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

The National Football League has its own anthem?
posted by mazola at 2:36 PM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

AP: Homeland Security now says Wisconsin elections not targeted

The Russians don't need to target Wisconsin. The state's own governor and representatives do the targeting all on their own with heinous voter id laws and other modes of suppressing the D vote.
posted by dis_integration at 2:42 PM on September 26, 2017 [32 favorites]

There is damage to ports and airfields that they have to work around and fix first. There's a rundown of what we're currently doing to help Puerto Rico here. We've already got three big ships in the area, Kearsarge, Oak Hill, and Wasp, instead of Comfort.

Regardless of Trump's involvement or lack thereof, the people down the chain of command certainly seem to be doing their best already.
posted by creampuff at 2:42 PM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

When I pointed out that Washington D.C. isn't a state, he doubled down and said it wasn't part of the country either.

The followup to that is, "so... when congress is in session, they're not protected by US laws? You can't be arrested for crimes in DC, because it's not part of the US?"
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 2:47 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

Nah, waste of time to "follow up" unless you're dealing with a sentient being.
posted by Lyme Drop at 2:49 PM on September 26, 2017 [8 favorites]

When I pointed out that Washington D.C. isn't a state, he doubled down and said it wasn't part of the country either.

That's basically a tenet of sovereign citizenry.
posted by octobersurprise at 2:53 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

NYT: Chuck Rosenberg, acting DEA chief and Comey confidant, will resign, believes Trump has little respect for the law.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:53 PM on September 26, 2017 [40 favorites]

That's just what happens when you hire The Best People, zachlipton.

Top. Men.
posted by kirkaracha at 2:56 PM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

Two more VA gov polls (when it rains, it pours, I guess):

Roanoke has Northam up 47-43
PPP has Northam up 43-40
posted by Chrysostom at 3:06 PM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

anyone who's over 50 has not been in public school for over 30 years. So I feel like the rest of society, outside our public school system, is probably part of the problem.

I can certainly agree with that. But I think the school system has a lot to do with that - we have school for 5-10 year olds, who are squirmy and hard to get to pay attention, because what they learn and how they learn in those years will shape their understandings and ability to learn for the rest of their lives. And we've now had several generations of control and confusion as the central focus of education, with academic details shoved aside, until we have a large, vocal minority of the electorate that truly believes that it's okay if the president is functionally illiterate.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 3:08 PM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]

And we've now had several generations of control and confusion as the central focus of education

**Gatto fan squee**
posted by LooseFilter at 3:12 PM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

Gen Hayden, former CIA and NSA director: If Forced To Choose, Put Me Down With Kaepernick.
posted by corb at 3:22 PM on September 26, 2017 [20 favorites]

God 2017 has pushed that old "rules lawyering so you can't call me racist" game from "tedious" to "unbearably exhausting" . . . It's actually a good sign that more people are less bold in wrapping themselves up in overt racism, but damn, sometimes it's easy to forget and long for these assholes to have the courage of their shitty little convictions.

lol maybe it took you until 2017, but that's been the PoC experience since, well, always. Dave Chappelle was joking about it in the 90's.
posted by joedan at 3:23 PM on September 26, 2017 [9 favorites]

> @cjelli's link above about Sessions comparing student protesters to the KKK reminds me an awful lot of Governor Rhodes' statement about Kent State the day before they shot those kids

FYI I believe they're going to cover Kent State on tonight's episode of The Vietnam War.
posted by homunculus at 3:26 PM on September 26, 2017 [8 favorites]

lol maybe it took you until 2017, but that's been the PoC experience since, well, always.

Obviously, yes. I was just venting out of exasperation.
posted by jason_steakums at 3:36 PM on September 26, 2017

Bleh I just realized that could read as a snide tone in text only. Sub "obviously" for "absolutely".
posted by jason_steakums at 3:42 PM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

a high school coach who was fired for publicly praying on the field. He was fired by a school, which is a little different

It's a lot different if this was a public school. That makes him a public employee on public property, not a private employee on private property.
posted by spitbull at 4:02 PM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]

Gen Hayden, former CIA and NSA director: If Forced To Choose, Put Me Down With Kaepernick.

Why does it require force to make you choose between racism and justice?
posted by srboisvert at 4:03 PM on September 26, 2017 [9 favorites]

Pence: "“We’ve all got a right to our opinions,” Pence told the crowd, “but I don’t think it’s too much to ask that players in the National Football League to stand for our national anthem.”

And when you play in the World Series, you must swear fealty to the One World Government.
posted by jason_steakums at 4:04 PM on September 26, 2017 [59 favorites]

Pence: "“We’ve all got a right to our opinions,” Pence told the crowd, “but I don’t think it’s too much to ask that players in the National Football League to stand for our national anthem.”

It's not too much to ask. It's too much to demand.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 4:07 PM on September 26, 2017 [101 favorites]

Why does it require force to make you choose between racism and justice?

Well, you must realize that Hayden is contemptible.
posted by Chrysostom at 4:13 PM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

Tennessean: With the collapse of the GOP’s last-ditch effort to repeal Obamacare, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said Tuesday he is restarting bipartisan talks to stabilize health insurance markets and bring down premiums.
posted by Chrysostom at 4:17 PM on September 26, 2017 [28 favorites]

Regardless of Trump's involvement or lack thereof, the people down the chain of command certainly seem to be doing their best already.

So I think the problem here is while it's hard to say what the "best" really is for any kind of relief effort and definitely this one: it was a huge storm and maybe very hard to respond to effectively (and never mind that the US federal government has been letting infra problems fester in Puerto Rico for probably decades). BUT, the top leadership of the US executive seems completely uninterested in effective or proactive response. I mean we're asking whether Trump even knew that Puerto Ricans are Americans. Deep skepticism as to whether he (or his people) are actually sufficiently prioritizing and resourcing relief efforts is not unwarranted.
posted by R343L at 4:33 PM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

“We’re getting great reviews,” said the President of relief efforts.

*sigh*
*rubs bridge of nose*
[/real]

Like, I knew, but at the same time I had some inexplicable, fleeting hope that perhaps, maybe, it was . . . no, of course. Of course it's real. The man is seriously ill and a danger to all of us. Christ.
posted by petebest at 4:59 PM on September 26, 2017 [19 favorites]

SPECIAL ELECTION UPDATE

Dem GAIN in Florida Senate 40, 51-47. Clinton had won this district 58-40, but it traditionally split their ballots; R rep had won 51-41 in 2016.

This seat was considered critical for the Dems if they are to retake the FL Senate in 2018.
posted by Chrysostom at 5:03 PM on September 26, 2017 [71 favorites]

huh I never saw a picture of Bob Corker before today. I guess he's Steve Carrell at 75?

Oddly, just a few days ago I saw a photo of the Koch Brothers and thought that one of them* looked remarkably like Stephen Colbert at 80. Even Steph/ven, anyone?

*Dunno which one that is and not gonna look it up because fuck those guys
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:06 PM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

With the collapse of the GOP’s last-ditch effort to repeal Obamacare, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said Tuesday he is restarting bipartisan talks to stabilize health insurance markets and bring down premiums.

So first Alexander says, no deal, we're done. Then he turns back around and says, forget that, let's start again. How can anyone negotiate with these clowns? Anything they agree to is going to be sellout to Republicans for dubious benefits.
posted by JackFlash at 5:15 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

Quick update from UC Berkeley. I decided to walk over and check out today's right wing rally. On the way over I saw about 20 guys, one of them in paintball armor, walking with American flags. They were trailed by a lone bicycle cop struggling to keep from falling over due to lack of forward momentum.

A shirtless guy with a flag sticking out of his backpack walked up behind them and yelled "OK men, drop down and give me 20!" I thought it was a joke, but I looked back and a couple of them were doing push-ups together. It may have been the most insecure thing I've ever witnessed, which is saying a lot coming from me.

I guess there were about 200 protesters earlier in the day. I kept getting text updates from campus police about their movements. I'm sure security cost another $600,000 today. God knows I saw a ton of cops today. There was even an armored personnel carrier, because of course there was. We can add those costs to the running total of $1.4 million from Sunday and Monday. Remember when Berkeley couldn't afford to share open lecture videos because it would have cost $1 million to add ADA-compliant closed captioning? Nice to know that our tuition is going towards Milo Yiannopoulos' pathetic comeback.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 5:17 PM on September 26, 2017 [57 favorites]

“We’re getting great reviews,” said the President of relief efforts.

A++ Would hurricane again!
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:18 PM on September 26, 2017 [9 favorites]

“We’re getting great reviews,” said the President of relief efforts.

I heard this statement on the radio as he was reading it out, and it really cannot be overstated how alarmingly confused he sounded throughout. Weird, long pauses between words, obviously forgetting the beginning of the sentence before getting to the end and consequently stressing the wrong clauses. The man can't even read a prepared text and convincingly appear to understand what he's reading.
posted by contraption at 5:23 PM on September 26, 2017 [9 favorites]

This seat was considered critical for the Dems if they are to retake the FL Senate in 2018.

Well, hot damn! I'll take every bit of good news out there. I raise my g&t to thee, Florida.
posted by greermahoney at 5:24 PM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]

Clinton pressed Trump to deploy hospital ship Comfort to Puerto Rico

I hate that I have lived a life that makes me sure I'm right about this, but: she didn't press him. I mean, she did, but the pressure was a cover to mask what she was really doing. what she did, more masterfully than I have ever seen it done but not so masterfully you can't tell, was

INFORM DONALD TRUMP THERE IS A HOSPITAL SHIP CALLED THE "COMFORT"

and also

INFORM DONALD TRUMP THAT PUERTO RICANS ARE AMERICAN CITIZENS.

the way she wrote "these are American citizens," so that everybody else would read that as moral indignation but Donald Trump would say, what? is she crazy? is that true? and then he did the thing, because that is what you do when you need to act like you knew these things all along.

she's not even a teacher. but women who spend their long lives trying not to blatantly talk down to or perceptibly talk over people less informed and less intelligent but much more vocal than they are, they know how to educate. she is so sly he barely felt the needle. he would never take a geopolitics lesson from her, but being made to feel small and being scared into acting big, that he can do. only in the most barbaric societies do women need to learn to be such subtle movers, but her skills are really tremendous.
posted by queenofbithynia at 5:30 PM on September 26, 2017 [190 favorites]

SPECIAL ELECTION UPDATE

GOP HOLD in Florida House 116, 66-34. The district had gone Clinton 51-46, but R had won 62-38 in the 2016 election for the seat.
posted by Chrysostom at 5:32 PM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

The White House also put out a statement to explain how the Governor of Puerto Rico thanked Trump over and over.
posted by zachlipton at 5:43 PM on September 26, 2017

Good news, everyone: Roy Moore is pretty sure that Illinois is under Sharia law.

(Although for me the real money quote is: "Sharia law incorporates Muslim law into the law. That’s not what we do. We do not punish people according to the Christian precepts of our faith — so there’s a difference." -- BITCH THAT IS LITERALLY WHAT YOU HAVE SPENT YOUR ENTIRE CAREER TRYING TO DO.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:50 PM on September 26, 2017 [79 favorites]

Why do I suspect that if you dig back far enough, somebody in the Puerto Rican local government denied Trump a request to build a resort there and this is his payback?

Would you believe instead that the Trump International Golf Club Puerto Rico went bankrupt in 2015? Eric Trump explained lied at the time, "We merely licensed our name for a fee and have nothing to do with the ownership, development or entity."

The real story is, unsurprisingly, much shadier—and wound up costing Puerto Rican taxpayers as much as $32.7 million.
posted by Doktor Zed at 5:57 PM on September 26, 2017 [31 favorites]

They're already basically calling AL-Sen for Roy Moore, as if there was even a question. He's up 12% and there's no "Strange stronghold" out there.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:02 PM on September 26, 2017

SPECIAL ELECTION UPDATE

Dem GAIN in Florida Senate 40, 51-47. Clinton had won this district 58-40, but it traditionally split their ballots; R rep had won 51-41 in 2016.

This seat was considered critical for the Dems if they are to retake the FL Senate in 2018.

All the more impressive considering the state Democratic party had asked the governor to delay the election after the district was hit hard by Irma--and the governor, recognizing that the hurricane would have made it harder for poorer, Democratic-leaning people to vote, refused.
posted by duffell at 6:04 PM on September 26, 2017 [23 favorites]

SPECIAL ELECTION UPDATE

Dem HOLD in South Carolina House 31, 91-9. Clinton had won district 72-24; D had won district 77-23 in 2016.

No surprise here, but a considerable swing towards the Dems.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:05 PM on September 26, 2017 [30 favorites]

Hey gang long time no chit chat are we going to post and talk about election results tonight? Are we? I haven't done that in a while can I play? I know it is a shitty game sometimes but I want to play. When do the polls close in Alabama?
posted by vrakatar at 6:07 PM on September 26, 2017

The more I read about Moore the more mad I get. Those of us in blue states can donate to Alabama groups that are doing voter registration and voting rights activism.

Alabama folks, please let us know if there are registration efforts we can support, especially any focused on parolees (in May 2017 Alabama restored voting rights to people convicted of lesser felonies) and efforts on college campuses, given the sheer numbers.

These are just the top 5 schools in terms of population----
- University of Alabama: 36,000 students
- Troy University: 28,000 students
- Auburn University: 26,000 students (some students were working on getting a polling place)
- University of Alabama at Birmingham: 17,000 students
- University of South Alabama: 15,000 students

The deadline to register is 15 days before election day so there is some time but not a lot of time! ACLU Alabama has a thorough voting rights tool kit.
posted by spamandkimchi at 6:08 PM on September 26, 2017 [23 favorites]

Well, I just donated to Doug Jones. I doubt that he has a snowball's chance, BUT the Democrats have to try to show that they are making an attempt to be a true national party, as well as to gauge support. When Sessions ran last time he was literally unopposed.
posted by dhens at 6:10 PM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

So. United States Senator Roy Moore.

Dear God.
posted by tivalasvegas at 6:11 PM on September 26, 2017 [19 favorites]

Good news, everyone: Roy Moore is pretty sure that Illinois is under Sharia law.

He isn't even smart enough to parrot the talking points. Everyone knows that Dearborn, Michigan is under sharia law.
posted by Etrigan at 6:12 PM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]

Roy Moore only won his election for Alabama Supreme Court by 3 points, there's not much hope, but it's more like a snowball in the Sahara than a snowball in hell.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:13 PM on September 26, 2017

All the more impressive considering the state Democratic party had asked the governor to delay the election after the district was hit hard by Irma--and the governor, recognizing that the hurricane would have made it harder for poorer, Democratic-leaning people to vote, refused.

When Irma was rolling into Florida, my girlfriend and I were making the last minute preparations and, in the background, the governor held a news conference on TV to talk about evacuations and safety. She scoffed at his alleged compassion (we're no fans of him), but I said that in times of major crisis like this I have to believe that he genuinely wants to keep Floridians safe. Why is that? Because if the whole state dies on his watch, it would hurt his future political ambitions. He can't very well run for Senate from a state where there's nobody left to vote for him.
posted by Servo5678 at 6:14 PM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

We're talking about Roy Stewart Moore, bonerchamp of the Ten Commandments, running for Senate in Alabama--so he could pretty much be caught live on camera smearing butter on the pages of his family bible and fucking the Song of Songs while whistling I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy, and he'd still win against John Q. Democrat in a landslide.
posted by duffell at 6:18 PM on September 26, 2017 [21 favorites]

Annette Taddeo in Florida was one of the candidates supported by Postcards to Voters, which helps volunteers send handwritten postcards to voters in winnable local elections, reminding them to vote. This is my periodic reminder that it's a relatively painless way to get involved in GOTV if you aren't the kind of person who would enjoy phone calling or door knocking.

And yeah, it's hard to envision a scenario in which Moore doesn't win. Which is horrifying, but we're living in 2017, so it's like the fifth most horrifying thing I've heard today.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:21 PM on September 26, 2017 [18 favorites]

As noted, Moore has performed poorly in some past elections. Is he probably going to win the general? Sure, but it's not 100%. Maybe 80%.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:23 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

Alabama demographics. AL voting demographics as infographic.

I know the 2014 Gubernatorial election results don't look good for keeping Moore away from the Senate:
Republican 750,231
Democrat 427,787
But that was 41% turnout. "About 1.17 million of the state's roughly 2.9 million registered voters"

I'll definitely kick a bit of $$ to Jones' campaign but generally even the most well oiled of campaigns only targets likely voters. I want to support folks who are reaching out to the 1.7 million potential voters.

p.s. There are deep blue counties in Alabama.
posted by spamandkimchi at 6:24 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

And yeah, it's hard to envision a scenario in which Moore doesn't win. Which is horrifying, but we're living in 2017, so it's like the fifth most horrifying thing I've heard today.

Wait until Kennedy retires and they put him on SCOTUS, with review shortcut by a frisson of that famous Senatorial 'comity.'
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:25 PM on September 26, 2017

Kari Lerner was another Postcards to Voters candidate, by the way.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:26 PM on September 26, 2017 [13 favorites]

SPECIAL ELECTION UPDATE

Dem GAIN in New Hampshire House Rockingham-4, 50-48. Trump had won this district 59-36, so major swing to the Dems.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:26 PM on September 26, 2017 [20 favorites]

SPECIAL ELECTION SUMMARY

1 GOP Hold (FL House)
1 Dem Hold (SC House)
2 Dem Gains (FL Senate & NH House)
posted by Chrysostom at 6:28 PM on September 26, 2017 [23 favorites]

I'm from Alabama. Moore's going to Washington.
posted by RolandOfEld at 6:28 PM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

Oh, I'm not saying it's not worth fighting Moore--especially since his opponent, Doug Jones, is a stand-up guy! And I agree completely that we need to be fighting everywhere, and need to keep fighting, and need to give a reason for people to show up at the polls. Hell, I'll throw money and phone banking time at Jones myself. But Moore is gonna be placing his hand on that greasy, fucked-to-death family bible as he intones the oath of office regardless.
posted by duffell at 6:29 PM on September 26, 2017

lalex: "idk anything about Taddeo but Rick Wilson retweeted a FL politics guy who got a text from a top Dem fundraiser saying: "Trump has done the impossible...get Annette Taddeo elected.""

She'd lost a couple of previous elections, so.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:32 PM on September 26, 2017

@realDonaldTrump
Even Usain Bolt from Jamaica, one of the greatest runners and athletes of all time, showed RESPECT for our National Anthem!

Look, black guys: even this super black guy made obeisance! C'mon! What do you have to lose???
posted by Rust Moranis at 6:34 PM on September 26, 2017 [30 favorites]

Wait until Kennedy retires and they put him [Roy Moore] on SCOTUS, with review shortcut by a frisson of that famous Senatorial 'comity.'

Y u do dis? Now I will never sleep again.
posted by dhens at 6:37 PM on September 26, 2017 [13 favorites]

The cool (and by cool I mean, "horrifying," of course) thing about Moore is that he's like Trumpier than Trump. Like for these totally fucked in the head lunatic voters, Trump is just. not. quite. incompetent, rambling, and shitty enough. Nope, he's like totally establishment mainstream, yessirree. Mr. Centrist. GAG ME.

Basically, my entire bucket list at this point is: 1) piss on Trump's grave.
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:38 PM on September 26, 2017 [16 favorites]

AP called it officially for Moore.

The general is December 12. Help Doug Jones here.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:39 PM on September 26, 2017 [8 favorites]

@realDonaldTrump
Even Usain Bolt from Jamaica, one of the greatest runners and athletes of all time, showed RESPECT for our National Anthem!

Look, black guys: even this super black guy made obeisance! C'mon! What do you have to lose???

Oh gee yes it's obviously totally and utterly not about race.
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:40 PM on September 26, 2017 [20 favorites]

Not that it or anything else matters but that Usain Bolt video is from 2012
posted by theodolite at 6:42 PM on September 26, 2017 [9 favorites]

Even his name says U-S-A! [fake for now]
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:44 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

So we can probably expect Bolt to express support for the NFL protestors in 5, 4, 3...
posted by jason_steakums at 6:45 PM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

The former official added the IRS is very restricted in what information it can share under Title 26 US Code and would normally need a specific grand jury subpoena in order to share tax returns with another agency.

That's kind of a broad citation... Anyone know what the specific statutes are?
posted by Coventry at 6:46 PM on September 26, 2017

So, given that Roy Moore's so bad, whats up DNCCC?

I keep thinking our - whatever the metaphor for them is - is not very good. Like, they've always kind of sucked but it wasn't ever so . . . gruesome. You've got the most unpopular Predisent in history, access to millions of people directly for basically free, and you're still losing to cheap-ass, peeing-on-themselves, not-even-trying evil.

And no, don't call me. That's like your one move. BUY A NEW MOVE, DNC.
posted by petebest at 6:46 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

felliniBlank real or fake please help me.
posted by vrakatar at 6:47 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

Roy Moore being Roy Moore wasn't enough to dissuade the Alabama electorate.

Now think about _just how far over all conceivable lines of decency_ Moore would have to go in speech or deed to lose this election.

At least Louie Gohmert's title of The Dumbest Man In Washington is not in danger. Moore is not stupid, just earth-shatteringly ignorant.
posted by delfin at 6:48 PM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

McConnell's job is about to get a lot harder. So, silver lining or whatever.
posted by Glibpaxman at 6:53 PM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

If Senator Roy Moore shows us one thing, it's that Trumpism is beholden to nobody, not even Trump.
posted by Talez at 6:55 PM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

Legal Services Alabama is doing voter rights restoration clinics!
posted by spamandkimchi at 6:56 PM on September 26, 2017 [17 favorites]

petebest: "So, given that Roy Moore's so bad, whats up DNCCC?

I keep thinking our - whatever the metaphor for them is - is not very good. Like, they've always kind of sucked but it wasn't ever so . . . gruesome. You've got the most unpopular Predisent in history, access to millions of people directly for basically free, and you're still losing to cheap-ass, peeing-on-themselves, not-even-trying evil.

And no, don't call me. That's like your one move. BUY A NEW MOVE, DNC."

What did you expect the DSCC - that's who handles Senate races, not the DNC - to do in a *Republican* primary? They got probably the best Democratic candidate possible as the nominee - this is Alabama, there's not a deep bench - and it sounds like there's going to be lots of support from national Dems for him.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:57 PM on September 26, 2017 [31 favorites]

Roy Moore being Roy Moore wasn't enough to dissuade the Alabama electorate.

Well, the Republican primary electorate. Alabama sure isn't sending their best, they're bringing hate, they're bringing racism, but some, I assume, are good people.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:58 PM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]

What did you expect the DSCC - that's who handles Senate races, not the DNC - to do in a *Republican* primary?

The DNC are expert at rigging elections! Surely rigging the Republican primary was not beyond them!?! Or something.
posted by Justinian at 6:59 PM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

So, for a dose of levity, Language Log is looking at nicknames/transliterations of Trump's name in Sinitic languages. Particularly promising examples include 特沒譜 ("especially clueless") in China and 도람프 ("Crazy-ump", more or less) in South Korea.
posted by jackbishop at 7:01 PM on September 26, 2017 [9 favorites]

Politco: Russian-funded Facebook ads backed Stein, Sanders and Trump.

Shocked, shocked that there is gambling going on in this establishment.
posted by Justinian at 7:01 PM on September 26, 2017 [74 favorites]

538: Bad day for the GOP establishment
posted by Chrysostom at 7:04 PM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Help Doug Jones

if a cleverly disguised Kyle Maclachlan can't defeat just about anybody -- well, I'm sure he can. he'll end up making friends of Roy Moore and Luther Strange in the end.

you know if I worked for any Alabama Democratic organization I'd be sending out phone banking volunteer requests with the subject CALL FOR HELP so it's just as well I don't
posted by queenofbithynia at 7:06 PM on September 26, 2017 [8 favorites]

I feel the same right now as I did on election night but not quite as intense.

Senator Roy Moore.

I thought we would eventually hit rock bottom but we just keep plumbing new lows.

This is how it felt to live through the Reagan years, right?
posted by Talez at 7:06 PM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

greasy, fucked-to-death family bible

There's the name. Now I just need to form the band.
posted by delfin at 7:07 PM on September 26, 2017 [22 favorites]

This is how it felt to live through the Reagan years, right?

Well, we had bigger hair then.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:17 PM on September 26, 2017 [24 favorites]

some of us just had hair
posted by entropicamericana at 7:19 PM on September 26, 2017 [16 favorites]

Bigger hair, smaller despair.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:20 PM on September 26, 2017 [12 favorites]

If Senator Roy Moore shows us one thing, it's that Trumpism is beholden to nobody, not even Trump.

I still think that Trump had no idea who Strange or Moore were and somebody just got him to back their guy even though Moore is clearly the most Trumpian of the two. I was actually kind of expecting Trump to stab Strange in the back at the 11th hour to back the easy win and go all "fake news" on his former support of Strange, tbh.
posted by jason_steakums at 7:22 PM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

538: Bad day for the GOP establishment

That article comes from the increasingly-less-tenable position that the President of the United States, who is a Republican, his cabinet, which is largely made up of Republican former congresspeople and representatives of the party's most stalwart supporters in industry, and 80% of GOP voters do not represent the "GOP establishment."

It's Trump's party. McConnell's just along for the ride.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:25 PM on September 26, 2017 [30 favorites]

>This is how it felt to live through the Reagan years, right?

That's harder to answer than it seems. I was young and strong during the Reagan years. I am no longer young and strong.
posted by acrasis at 7:29 PM on September 26, 2017 [22 favorites]

Video of Rachel Maddow, MSNBC, interviewing the Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Carmen Yulin Cruz.
posted by gudrun at 7:32 PM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

Moore winning decisively can't make Dean Heller and Jeff Flake feel good, both also down decisively in early primary polling. It might not matter in Alabama, but Nevada and Arizona are not Alabama. Even Tennessee isn't Alabama.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:39 PM on September 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

Basically, my entire bucket list at this point is: 1) piss on Trump's grave.
posted by FelliniBlank

Yeah, my bucket list was to piss on Nixon's. When I got there the line was so long I had to piss in the bucket instead.
posted by Floydd at 7:47 PM on September 26, 2017 [20 favorites]

At this point Nixon would've been hailed as a mavericky moderate if not in the DNC wing of the Democratic party.

All that piss wasted.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:52 PM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

In case you were wondering how The_Donald folks are handling the Strange loss:

Pedes that don't know, Strange was a swamp creature. And under corruption investigation in the past. He was also under the thumb of Mitch mccconnel. Trump had to come out in support of strange because he was "loyal to Trump" in the beginning of the primaries. Moore was not initially, but Alabamians know that Moore will work with Trump in draining the swamp. Strange was a hollow MAGA shell filled with RINO votes. Moore was the only choice and the people who love trump know it. Trust us pedes!
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 8:14 PM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Does he...does he think we won't notice? I mean, he's obviously pleased with the fact that they broadcast his tweets on cable news, so shouldn't he be aware that people are staying on top of what he says?
posted by zachlipton at 8:15 PM on September 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

When has he ever given a shit about that?
posted by rhizome at 8:30 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

The general is December 12.

I did not know there was a general election for this. I thought the winner of tonight's election was the new Senator for Alabama. I can't say I give a Democrat much hope of winning there, but I'm at least slightly relieved.
posted by dnash at 8:37 PM on September 26, 2017

> I can't say I give a Democrat much hope of winning there, but I'm at least slightly relieved.

Matt Yglesias, Vox: Democrats ought to invest in Doug Jones’s campaign against Roy Moore

Politics is weird and unpredictable. When Donald Trump announced his candidacy for president, nobody thought he was going to win. Most people thought he wasn’t even seriously running. Nobody thought Scott Brown could win a Senate seat in Massachusetts, and the GOP congressional landslide of 2010 even involved winning an improbable Senate race in Illinois.

Moore himself seemed like a real underdog in the Alabama primary at one point, having lost — rather badly — to establishment Republicans in earlier primary bids for governor and Senate. Tuesday night, a Democratic candidate won a state legislature special election in New Hampshire in a district Trump carried by 23 points.

Which is just to say that while states and districts have real leans and real tendency, there is an irreducible element of chance and unpredictability to politics. What’s not unpredictable is that Moore would make a bad senator and that it’s an embarrassment to the Alabama Republican Party that they would nominate him for high office. In Jones, Democrats have a worthy candidate. They ought to get behind him in a serious way.

posted by tonycpsu at 8:41 PM on September 26, 2017 [28 favorites]

Zac McCrary is an Alabama Democratic pollster, and he thinks Moore is beatable, maybe. There's a least a chance worth fighting for.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:43 PM on September 26, 2017 [7 favorites]

Good news, everyone: Roy Moore is pretty sure that Illinois is under Sharia law.

I guessing he is thinking of Chicago, home of Kenyan Barrack Obama. And the mayor is Rahm Emanuel. That's got to be a Muslim name, right?
posted by JackFlash at 8:45 PM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

If Trump could beat Clinton after all that oppo droppo, anything is possible I suppose.
posted by Coventry at 8:49 PM on September 26, 2017

Trump had to come out in support of strange because he was "loyal to Trump" in the beginning of the primaries.

I see we're at the "Trump cannot fail, he can only be failed" stage.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:53 PM on September 26, 2017 [16 favorites]

>This is how it felt to live through the Reagan years, right?

well there were a lot more Roland TR-808s around
posted by entropicamericana at 8:55 PM on September 26, 2017 [20 favorites]

Does he...does he think we won't notice? I mean, he's obviously pleased with the fact that they broadcast his tweets on cable news, so shouldn't he be aware that people are staying on top of what he says?

There you go again applying logic to the behavior of a malignant narcissist. The guy Trump campaigned for losing is BIG hit to his ego, regardless of whether Trump could have picked either of them out of a line-up. People did not do what he said, and that is an injury. So what can Trump do now? The only thing he can do to make himself feel better is to pretend he never supported anyone else. This isn't an attempt to fool anyone else (other people barely exist for him anyway). It's an attempt to fool himself into believing he always supported Moore. Getting rid of the tweets helps him pretend to himself. And he WILL believe he was always right and always supported Moore. Narcissists are delusional in exactly this way: they will believe anything that makes them feel better.
posted by threeturtles at 9:00 PM on September 26, 2017 [23 favorites]

well there were a lot more Roland TR-808s around

Today we just have virtual 808s. And virtual politics.
posted by dis_integration at 9:00 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

Don't forget virtual currency, virtual property and virtual rights.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:03 PM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

Trump has started his trade war with Canada, putting a 219% tariff on passenger jets from Bombardier at the request of Boeing. This increases the price of 75 jets that Delta Airlines was preparing to buy from Bombardier from $30 million per plane to nearly $80 million per plane, which will obviously kill the deal.

Meanwhile, Justin Trudeau, in retaliation, is going to kill a $5.2 billion deal to buy F-18 fighters from Boeing.

So Boeing kills a $2.25 Bombardier deal and in retaliation loses a $5.2 billion deal.

Trump, art of the deal. So much winning.
posted by JackFlash at 9:07 PM on September 26, 2017 [118 favorites]

Trump, art of the deal. So much winning.

Good. I hope fucko keeps it up, because the only thing that'll eject this motherfucker from office is making big business angry. Let's get those one-percenter monocles popping. Then you'll see some real movement for impeachment and/or 25th Amendment.
posted by CommonSense at 9:11 PM on September 26, 2017 [19 favorites]

> The Very Bad Man is answering questions at a press conference with the President of Spain.

Spain is a monarchy, and Rajoy is the Prime Minister, not the President.

It's apparently an easy mistake to make:

Trump repeatedly referred to Rajoy as “president”, even though he is prime minister of the country, which is a monarchy.

Also I'm not sure what the snide comment later in the thread about Assange being a Catalan secessionist was about, but I'd urge anyone who feels vaguely that people should have a right to self-determination to read the linked article in its entirety.
posted by chappell, ambrose at 9:13 PM on September 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Meanwhile, Justin Trudeau, in retaliation, is going to kill a $5.2 billion deal to buy F-18 fighters from Boeing.

Well, this is a stupid pissing contest on both sides, if more Hornets is the smarter move for Canada than getting backing into a downgraded export 5th gen fighter (down the road a few years). I don't see RCAF buying Gripens instead.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:13 PM on September 26, 2017

Mike Pence‏ (@mike_pence)
Congratulations Roy Moore! We are thrilled you ran on the #MAGA agenda & we are for you!
7:32 PM - 26 Sep 2017

They know we can see what they said before, right?
posted by miguelcervantes at 9:23 PM on September 26, 2017 [23 favorites]

re: wisconsin
Partisan Gerrymandering Heads to Court Test: Can It Go Too Far?

Republicans won less than half the vote for the Wisconsin state Assembly in 2012 -- but they still got more than 60 percent of the seats.

Democrats are blaming the voting map in a U.S. Supreme Court case that could change the rules for drawing election district lines around the country. The question is whether a redistricting map that’s skewed to help one political party is ever so extreme that it violates the Constitution.

It’s a fight that "many consider the most important case involving the structure of American politics in a generation," said Jeffrey Rosen, president of the National Constitution Center.

The case, set for argument Oct. 3, will be one of the first before the justices when they open what promises to be a historic term next week. The court will weigh religious objections to gay marriage, cell-phone privacy and employees’ right to file class-action lawsuits. The justices may add a showdown over public-sector union fees. President Donald Trump’s travel ban might return to the court after being dropped from the October argument calendar.

Trump has started his trade war with Canada, putting a 219% tariff on passenger jets from Bombardier at the request of Boeing.

fwiw, this is (somewhat of) a blow to the tories: "British Prime Minister Theresa May relies on that number of [10] Democratic Unionist Party lawmakers from Northern Ireland to pass some key legislation after losing her parliamentary majority three months ago. So what matters to DUP leader Arlene Foster matters to May, and what matters most to Foster right now is Bombardier Inc." #silverlinings
posted by kliuless at 9:27 PM on September 26, 2017 [10 favorites]

They know we can see what they said before, right?

We have always been at Moore with Alabasia.
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:28 PM on September 26, 2017 [56 favorites]

Moore was the only choice and the people who love trump know it. Trust us pedes!

Am I correct in inferring that r/the_donald uses "pedes" as a general-purpose in-club synonym for "guys" or "folks"?

Because oh my God, that would be... never mind, it's not the slightest bit surprising.
posted by mmoncur at 9:30 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

TRUMP: Have you heard them, folks? Complaining about my deleted Tweets?

Of course I know how Twitter works. Come on folks, do you think I ran -- and everyone is saying it, believe me -- the greatest social media campaign of all campaign -- OF ALL TIME -- without knowing about the deleting? how the deleting works! come on. are you going to believe that? Of course not! Of course not.

You can't make this stuff up folks.

What's important is that there are no tweets about that Strange guy now. And I know you, the Real Americans, I do, and I know you live in the present! Not in the past, like liberals and all those other people!

We live in the present and are going to control the future! And we are going to welcome Roy Moore to Washington DC!

(Fake, for now)
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:31 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

Well, at least our foreign policy is going to be twice as nuanced.

Think that should technically be half: as trump is the twitter metatron of archetypal entropy his fevered emissions actually destroy meaning and nuance.
posted by Buntix at 9:36 PM on September 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

Am I correct in inferring that r/the_donald uses "pedes" as a general-purpose in-club synonym for "guys" or "folks"?

yes but they use it as a diminutive for one of nature's horrors, centipedes. I don't know why and I don't care to know, but I know for sure that nobody using the term was ever in my 7th grade french class.
posted by queenofbithynia at 9:41 PM on September 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

They really doubled down on that "Deplorables" thing.
posted by Coventry at 9:42 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

mmoncur: "Because oh my God, that would be... never mind, it's not the slightest bit surprising."

Ostensibly, it's short for centipedes, but there might be a wink-wink nudge-nudge for it being a pedophile thing. But this is part of their layers of irony thing. They mix self-deprecating stuff into their messaging to protect their emotions. This is why they talk like comic-book villains and adopt as their mascot a frog that pees with his pants around his ankles. So when they are inevitably made fun of, they can rationalize that to themselves like, "Oh this isn't really about me, this is merely about the character Weeb88Pede that I portray on the internet." If they ever put their 100% sincere opinions on the internet and got made fun of, they wouldn't be able to handle that, emotionally.
posted by RobotHero at 9:47 PM on September 26, 2017 [41 favorites]

I'd be surprised if there wasn't a reference to The Human Centipede intended.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:51 PM on September 26, 2017

Spain is a monarchy, and Rajoy is the Prime Minister, not the President.

It's apparently an easy mistake to make:

Trump repeatedly referred to Rajoy as “president”, even though he is prime minister of the country, which is a monarchy.

GWB did this too. I think it's because the official title of the Spanish head of government ("prime minister") is "President of the Government" (as in they preside over the legislature).
posted by dhens at 10:06 PM on September 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

The centipede stuff is a reference to some meme magic called Can't Stump the Trump Vol 4 which was a mashup between a republican primary debate and a song by Knife Party that sampled a voiceover from a nature documentary. It was given a life of it's own when Trump retweeted a link to it in his Pepe tweet.
posted by peeedro at 10:07 PM on September 26, 2017 [8 favorites]

Centipedes are a thousand times cooler than the denizens of r/td, who would better be described as bed bugs
posted by en forme de poire at 10:11 PM on September 26, 2017 [9 favorites]

Always missing from the reams of evidence that Trump is racist is that according to his first wife Ivana's biography Trump kept a book of Hitler's speeches on his bedside for years. She later disavowed it, but ... who makes something like that up? I can't believe more people don't know this.
posted by xammerboy at 12:47 AM on September 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

Trump friendship ended with Luther. Now Strange is best friend.
posted by jaduncan at 12:53 AM on September 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

ugh, do I even post this here?...

Paul Horner, writer of fake news about 2016 election, found dead (CBS)

Horner took on greater prominence during the presidential election when false stories were widely shared on social media during the race between Trump and Hillary Clinton.

In an interview with The Washington Post in 2016, Horner said he thought Trump won the White House because of him. Horner said Trump's supporters didn't fact-check his stories before posting them....

Even members of President Trump's inner circle, including Mr. Trump's son Eric and then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, shared links to Horner's content. Horner's stories also made their way to Google News, known to feature stories from reputable news sources.

posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 12:55 AM on September 27, 2017 [10 favorites]

Mike Pence warns U.S. heading for Canada-style health care if Graham-Cassidy bill fails

“You know, somewhere in between where I’m sitting in Washington, D.C., and (you) Alaska, is a place called Canada. I probably don’t need to tell the people Alaska about the failings of national socialized health care because it’s right in our neighbour and you see the results every day.

Look, we’ve got a choice: It’s between big government, Washington, D.C., solutions that ultimately, I believe, will collapse into single-payer health care – or whether or not we’re going to repeal the (Obamacare) individual mandate.”

I mean, he's not meant to be a Democratic hype man. But I can't lie, seeing single payer get more mainstream discussion is getting me a little hyped.
posted by jaduncan at 12:58 AM on September 27, 2017 [55 favorites]

Mike Pence warns U.S. heading for Canada-style health care if Graham-Cassidy bill fails

Canada-style? Canada-style??? Where poor people don't suffer and die from preventable god-given diseases like they are supposed to? The horror! The horror!!!

Sure hope he's right about this...
posted by Hairy Lobster at 1:23 AM on September 27, 2017 [48 favorites]

That thing from Pence is hilarious if it weren't so inhumane. "If you don't let us take away insurance from millions and allow tens of thousands needlessly die, then damn it, everyone gets healthcare."

That'll teach'em.
posted by michswiss at 1:49 AM on September 27, 2017 [53 favorites]

"If you kids don't shut up, I'm gonna pull this car over at the next Dairy Queen and EVERYONE gets ice cream, then!"
posted by DoctorFedora at 1:57 AM on September 27, 2017 [97 favorites]

I think everyone is being just a little unfair, Republicans are only trying to take government out of Medicare. They're not even touching what's left over!

Not even with a stick

On a less sarcastic note, I sure hope someone's around saying that what the Republicans are trying to do, find a free market way to do healthcare that works better than Obamacare, is impossible. Obamacare's about the best you can do with a free market health care system, and it's clunky and overcomplicated and costly because free markets don't work for health care. If you want better than Obamacare, you have to start from different assumptions.
posted by Merus at 2:21 AM on September 27, 2017 [10 favorites]

Sorry, I should make that clear: what the Republican donors and politicians have set as their healthcare policy, the 'replace' bit. 'What the Republicans are trying to do' is obviously 'tax cuts for their mates' and drown government in a bathtub under the expectation that government is not actually the organisation that makes the country work, as has been understood since time immemorial.
posted by Merus at 2:31 AM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

Always missing from the reams of evidence that Trump is racist is...

...that in 1989, Trump told Bryant Gumbel in an interview that a "well educated black has a tremendous advantage over a well educated white" and he'd want to be black if he were starting out.
posted by chris24 at 3:39 AM on September 27, 2017 [17 favorites]

I also love how comically evil and out of touch the GOP sounds post repeal and replace fail. "Do you want to live in a world where anyone can just see a doctor?! We're heading towards everyone having healthcare! EVERYONE! Even the poors! What will they even do with it, keep all their teeth? Get their children's broken arms attended to instead of waiting around all night? What kind of blasted hellscape will America become? I'll tell you: Canada!!! Is that what you all want???"

It helps if you imagine this in the voice of Mr Burns.
posted by supercrayon at 3:49 AM on September 27, 2017 [91 favorites]

Have we tried telling Trump that Medicaid got good ratings?
posted by thelonius at 4:02 AM on September 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

I've babbled about this before, but one cool thing about Yeats's "Second Coming" is that there are two vortices in the poem; one dissolving in entropy (the falcon cannot hear the falconer) and another forming (the desert birds reel in).

I find this more interesting than the horrifying image of the resurrection of Christ, really, and Yeats's ideas that there was this preset time when everything would unravel (which I think he meant 100 years after his time, which would be like, um, I think nowish).

So: back to Moore's win. I couldn't process it this morning. I was like: Trump like Strange? Strange not win? Not good?

Not knowing about Strange except that a) he's tall and b) Trump supported him and c) he probably not a crazy man and d) Moore most is most certainly dangerously nuts.

And Yeats's vortex thing makes sense, here: we have what we on the blue think as good and fair and just from principles like at least the 18th century and refined onwards, that's one vortex. I guess Yeats's would argue that we're the falcon and the falconer.

And the other vortex, the desert birds reeling in, is the what I describe for lack of time as a wackadoodle concentration of forces. This sort of movement, the concentration of WTF NO is the only way I can wrap my head around Trumpism and how each day we on the blue, probably not crazy people, are aghast and some people in the country are like, 'We need to be more crazy*!' And nominate somebody like Moore.

*Apologies to the mentally ill. It is a lazy metaphor, but it's hard to describe the disconnect from reality in other ways.
posted by angrycat at 4:24 AM on September 27, 2017 [16 favorites]

Trump supported Strange like Corbyn supported the Remain campaign.
posted by PenDevil at 4:26 AM on September 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

It helps if you imagine this in the voice of Mr Burns.

Funny enough I didn't need that prompt ... the cadence triggered it.
posted by tilde at 4:26 AM on September 27, 2017 [7 favorites]

Military Times: Top military general says he didn't back ban on transgender troops

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford said he advised administration officials to let all qualified individuals serve in the military, a view that was ignored when the White House announced its ban on transgender troops this summer.

“I believe that any individual who meets the physical and mental standards … should be afforded the opportunity to continue to serve,” Dunford told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee during his reappointment hearing on Tuesday.

He added that he had previously given that advice to administration officials in private in the past, and told senators he would continue to give that advice if lawmakers allow him to continue in his leadership post for two more years.

posted by chris24 at 4:27 AM on September 27, 2017 [12 favorites]

So I haven't caught up on this thread, and apologies if this is redundant. Literal Nazis are celebrating Roy Moore's victory.

You know those disapproval ratings of Trump? How much you want to wager a HUGE chunk of those are racists upset that he's not racist enough?
posted by Yowser at 4:32 AM on September 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

Following up on the ABC/WaPo poll from Monday that showed 86% support DACA, from CNN's new poll:

The poll finds most Americans oppose each of the major initiatives Trump has backed on immigration since taking office: 82% say they want the policy known as DACA to continue, 63% oppose building a wall along the entire border with Mexico, and 55% say they oppose changes in federal law to reduce the number of immigrants who enter the country legally.

So much winning.
posted by chris24 at 4:39 AM on September 27, 2017 [17 favorites]

@realdonaldtrump 5 minutes ago: "With one Yes vote in hospital & very positive signs from Alaska and two others (McCain is out), we have the HCare Vote, but not for Friday!"

Followed up with:

@realdonaldtrump: We will have the votes for Healthcare but not for the reconciliation deadline of Friday, after which we need 60. Get rid of Filibuster Rule!

--

I think he's lying to his base – 'don't worry, it'll happen!' – to quell the outrage from some of the nutjobs.
posted by chris24 at 4:41 AM on September 27, 2017 [16 favorites]

Grandpa's confused.
posted by chris24 at 4:43 AM on September 27, 2017 [16 favorites]

Maybe he thinks Steve Scalise (still in the hospital after the shooting) is a Senator and not a Representative?
posted by zombieflanders at 4:48 AM on September 27, 2017 [9 favorites]

Ah the halcyon days when people actually bought that Kelly would be a moderating influence on Trump. Lol.
posted by lydhre at 5:15 AM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

I honestly wonder what Pence means when he says he can see the results of Canadian health care? A healthier populace? Fewer bankruptcies caused by medical bills? Yeah, it's a real hellscape up here, all right.
posted by The Card Cheat at 5:18 AM on September 27, 2017 [31 favorites]

I don't know about you guys, but I'm sure tired of all this winning.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 5:19 AM on September 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

Grandpa's confused, but not so confused he thought Scalise was a senator.

@seungminkim (Politico)
Thad Cochran is in Mississippi recovering from urological issue but NOT hospitalized, spox says. He missed Monday vote

EDIT: I'm sure Thad appreciates that his urological issue will now be all over the news.
posted by chris24 at 5:20 AM on September 27, 2017 [22 favorites]

I honestly wonder what Pence means when he says he can see the results of Canadian health care? A healthier populace? Fewer bankruptcies caused by medical bills? Yeah, it's a real hellscape up here, all right.

No fair asking the GOP to be coherent in their fearmongering. Everyone knows that if you refer to "NHS-style healthcare" or "Canadian style socialized medicine", your audience is supposed to wail in terror at the mere idea even though they don't have any clue what that actually means.

Non-capitalist healthcare is socialist healthcare, and socialism is de facto terrifying and awful. Duh!
posted by tocts at 5:26 AM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

Does "McCain's out" imply that Trump thinks he's going to retire or die imminently? Which, even if true, is not something you say out loud while tallying hypothetical votes, you fuck.
posted by lydhre at 5:28 AM on September 27, 2017 [12 favorites]

In addition to supporting transgender troops in the military in his hearing yesterday, Joint Chiefs Chairman Dunford also contradicted Trump on the Iran deal. From Foreign Policy:

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Tuesday joined other members of President Donald Trump’s cabinet in confirming that Iran is complying with the 2015 nuclear deal that has put a temporary halt to its nuclear weapons program.

“The briefings I have received indicate that Iran is adhering to its JCPOA obligations,” Gen. Joseph Dunford wrote in answers to questions in advance of his hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, using an acronym for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

And Dunford warned that U.S. action to pull out of the deal would have unfortunate ripple effects. He said that if the U.S. were to withdrawal without first finding Iran in material breach of the deal, allies would likely question other American treaty obligations. And North Korea, for its part, would have little incentive to enter into talks over its own nuclear program if Washington were to tear up an agreement that, by all accounts, Iran is adhering to.

“It makes sense to me that our holding up agreements that we have signed, unless there’s a material breach, would have an impact on others’ willingness to sign agreements,” Dunford said.

posted by chris24 at 5:33 AM on September 27, 2017 [27 favorites]

Does "McCain's out" imply that Trump thinks he's going to retire or die imminently?

I read it as he's a definite NO.
posted by chris24 at 5:34 AM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

Does "McCain's out" imply that Trump thinks he's going to retire or die imminently?

I read it as more "We can't count on McCain to vote yes with us"
posted by Twain Device at 5:38 AM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

Through careful operant conditioning involving the use of reward pellets, GOP voters can merely be read a passage from Anne of Green Gables and they will begin to scream about waiting times and socialism.
posted by supercrayon at 5:38 AM on September 27, 2017 [36 favorites]

Does "McCain's out" imply that Trump thinks he's going to retire or die imminently?

I read it as he's a definite NO.

I mean, how stupid is that we're even playing at textual analysis of Trump's tweets, really, but McCain did not strike me as the firmest NO of the lot. His objections were mostly procedural and, if Trump is talking about passing something AFTER reconciliation, I have no idea why he thinks McCain can't be compromised with.
posted by lydhre at 5:40 AM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

if Trump is talking about passing something AFTER reconciliation, I have no idea why he thinks McCain can't be compromised with.

Sure, they could get a bill after reconcilation. Only here's the catch: they'd have to (*gasp*) work with Democrats to put forward a bi-partisan bill that actually helps fix problems with the world.

But then, here's the catch. Such a fancy-pants bill would struggle in the House, where the maniac-right is the tail that wags the grandma-starving, p90x'ing Objectivist puppy, Paul Ryan.

Until the GOP solves it's two problems: (1) it's utter refusal to make compromises with the Democrats that might possibly lead to policies that improve the lives of non-rich people, and (2) the power the maniac-right has in the house over the Speakership, nothing will ever get done outside of reconciliation.
posted by dis_integration at 5:45 AM on September 27, 2017 [9 favorites]

I honestly wonder what Pence means when he says he can see the results of Canadian health care?

Maybe he was at Sarah Palin's house?
posted by Room 641-A at 5:49 AM on September 27, 2017 [47 favorites]

It's possible that Trump's North Korea & Iran (&c.) baiting may be part of this idea he had back when he (clearly stated he) wasn't running for president in 1988.

In particular that '87 full page ad he took out in the NYT, WaPo, and BoGl to advocate (quite literally) using the U.S. military to run a protection racket on its allies.
posted by Buntix at 5:49 AM on September 27, 2017 [8 favorites]

Well, that's a given that it's going to be an utter shitshow and nothing will get done, but he's pretending that he will have 50 votes eventually (but specifically not McCain's) and the only impediment is cloture.

This could all be moot because Trump usually just throws words up on twitter and then insists they actually mean something, but I still try to read the tea leaves of his derangement, I guess.
posted by lydhre at 5:56 AM on September 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

Paul Horner, writer of fake news about 2016 election, found dead (CBS)

FTA:Casey said the Maricopa County medical examiner performed an autopsy which showed there were no signs of foul play. He said Horner had a history of prescription drug abuse and that "evidence at the scene suggested this could be an accidental overdose."

So it appears that he was found dead because he died, which they already knew, and not because of any of the sinister reasons implied by the headline.
posted by Room 641-A at 6:12 AM on September 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

GOP voters can merely be read a passage from Anne of Green Gables and they will begin to scream about waiting times and socialism.

And puffy sleeves and Gilbert Blythe.
posted by drezdn at 6:15 AM on September 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

TENNESSEE UPDATE: Peyton Manning might run for the Senate. Hey, we could do a lot worse. And we know he'll be better than Heath Shuler.

OMAHA!!
posted by Huffy Puffy at 6:15 AM on September 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

Peyton is pretty conservative and way too close to that Papa John fool.
posted by bootlegpop at 6:18 AM on September 27, 2017 [12 favorites]

Peyton is pretty conservative

Making him a horrible fit in today's Republican party. Har har
posted by Rykey at 6:22 AM on September 27, 2017

Peyton is pretty conservative and way too close to that Papa John fool.

Peyton Manning sexually assaulted a trainer in college and has taken action to ruin her life on multiple occasions ever since.
posted by Etrigan at 6:26 AM on September 27, 2017 [59 favorites]

P. Manning's history of sexual assault and victim silencing are also problematic. And god help us if every washed up celeb decides politics is going to be their second act.
posted by Existential Dread at 6:26 AM on September 27, 2017 [9 favorites]

so sick of celebrity politicians (of both parties) i could take two shits and die
posted by entropicamericana at 6:27 AM on September 27, 2017 [11 favorites]

Why two?
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 6:30 AM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

plenty of roughage bruh
posted by entropicamericana at 6:35 AM on September 27, 2017 [13 favorites]

James Fallows: Why The New York Times Should Grapple With Its Coverage of Hillary's Emails
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:36 AM on September 27, 2017 [26 favorites]

The generous reading of "McCain's out" is, for me, "We can't count on McCain to be down with the parliamentary fuckery we have in mind." I mean, I guess that's better than "he ded, write him off."
posted by salix at 6:38 AM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

#Kaepernick2020!
posted by allthinky at 6:43 AM on September 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

“We’re getting great reviews,” said the President of relief efforts.

You don't speak Spanish, do you.
posted by corb at 6:45 AM on September 27, 2017 [59 favorites]

(@Jim Acosta is reporting that Trump is "embarassed and pissed" about last night, so maybe this is what we'll get today.)

As a former Alabama resident, I can confirm that this is the Roy Moore Experience.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 6:50 AM on September 27, 2017 [21 favorites]

Thad [Cochran's] urological issue will now be all over the news.

Like pee on tape.

Also a great damn band name.
posted by spitbull at 6:50 AM on September 27, 2017

so sick of celebrity politicians (of both parties) i could take two shits and die
posted by entropicamericana at 9:27 PM on September 27 [1 favorite +] [!]

Not aimed at you... If you had my condition, two shits would be a light day. I'd wish my daily struggle on all of them. Biologics, opioids, steroids, DMARDS, ancillary meds to handle side effects and maintain other normal stuff. Just handling an hour's errands takes me out. In the USA, I'd be a waste and an afterthought. Fuck them.
posted by michswiss at 6:52 AM on September 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

@realdonaldtrump: "Facebook was always anti-Trump.The Networks were always anti-Trump hence,Fake News, @nytimes(apologized) & @WaPo were anti-Trump. Collusion?"

@realdonaldtrump: ...But the people were Pro-Trump! Virtually no President has accomplished what we have accomplished in the first 9 months-and economy roaring

---

Someone's feeling like a loser this morning.
posted by chris24 at 6:53 AM on September 27, 2017 [27 favorites]

From way up thread:
The former official added the IRS is very restricted in what information it can share under Title 26 US Code and would normally need a specific grand jury subpoena in order to share tax returns with another agency.

That's kind of a broad citation... Anyone know what the specific statutes are?

26 USC Sec. 6103(i)
posted by melissasaurus at 6:58 AM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

@realdonaldtrump: Virtually no President has accomplished what we have accomplished in the first 9 months

Narrator: Literally every other president but Harrison had.
posted by chris24 at 6:58 AM on September 27, 2017 [41 favorites]

In case it hasn't come through, I'm angry about a lot right now. This thread is a part of it. The attack taking place in Australia around the so-called survey for marriage equality has also surfaced another wellspring of remembered fear growing up in rural Texas in the '60's and '70's knowing I was transgender. Now living with a chronic illness. The pain with all of this is intense.
posted by michswiss at 7:02 AM on September 27, 2017 [14 favorites]

In particular that '87 full page ad he took out in the NYT, WaPo, and BoGl to advocate (quite literally) using the U.S. military to run a protection racket on its allies.

TIL BoGl = Boston Globe.
posted by kgander at 7:05 AM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

If you had my condition, two shits would be a light day. I'd wish my daily struggle on all of them. Biologics, opioids, steroids, DMARDS, ancillary meds to handle side effects and maintain other normal stuff. Just handling an hour's errands takes me out.

Reminds me of one of Emma Frost's best psychic whammies.
posted by delfin at 7:07 AM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

Melania Trump sent a bunch of Dr. Seuss books to various school libraries across the country. Librarian Liz Phipps Soeiro of Cambridge, MA, is not a gracious recipient.

Also, take a look at that list of titles. With the exceptions of The Cat in the Hat; One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish; Green Eggs and Ham; and Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, this is not a collection of Seuss's best or most famous works. I guess the Trump administration didn't think The Lorax, The Sneetches or The Butter Battle Book would be on message.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:10 AM on September 27, 2017 [28 favorites]

So in my email I hear the 20 week abortion ban attempt is back on. The fights are never over.
posted by agregoli at 7:14 AM on September 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

Here's the latest GOP "tax plan" (spoiler alert: it's not a real plan).
posted by melissasaurus at 7:25 AM on September 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

I called Rob Portman's office this morning to ask, in light of the fact that his brand of Republicanism is unraveling at the national level, whether he thought it might be a good idea to begin crafting legislation with Democrats to limit the ability of radical, deconstructionist Senators to mangle the processes of government — processes which, in the past, have been preserved by "gentlemen's agreements" that are clearly inadequate now.

I'm not especially hopeful that this will occur — and certainly not through Portman's initiative & leadership — but I really don't know how we will avoid a national calamity orders of magnitude worse than we are already experiencing if it doesn't. So that is what I am going to be advocating for.

I also want to say that, while I have been heartened by the solidarity on the part of the Democratic Caucus that we've seen on key issues so far during this illegitimate presidency, I feel like they need to achieve a next-order-of-magnitude amplification of alarm & outrage about Trumpism in the form of perverse judicial nominees, racist megaphoning, general disdain for law & overt corruption, and and and.

It's like, all through Obama's presidency, he consistently stated & restated the need for individuals to become more involved in politics, but he never really conveyed what I thought would be the appropriate degree of urgency about it. And now, even though we are hearing more urgency now, I still feel like it's languishing at what would have been last year's recommended level.
posted by perspicio at 7:35 AM on September 27, 2017 [10 favorites]

From the tax "framework":

To simplify the tax rules, the additional standard deduction and personal exemptions for the taxpayer and spouse are consolidated into this larger standard deduction. This change is fundamental to a simpler, fairer system.

Straight up lies on page 4. They double the standard deduction and take away one (or two) personal exemptions. So basically it's an additional $3,200 deduction for married joint filers.
posted by zrail at 7:36 AM on September 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

I honestly wonder what Pence means when he says he can see the results of Canadian health care? A healthier populace? Fewer bankruptcies caused by medical bills? Yeah, it's a real hellscape up here, all right.

I live in Trump country. People here have been conditioned for decades to think that Canada is some third-world hellhole where people literally die in the streets from lack of healthcare, and that they spend nearly their entire paychecks in taxes to fund it. I'm not exaggerating.

Peyton is pretty conservative and way too close to that Papa John fool.

Peyton is a trumpnik who, as pointed out, is a sexually assaulting scumbag and, by the way, tried to get one of his black teammates to take the fall for his sexual assault. There is very little difference between him and Trump except that Manning can paper over his sociopathy with goofy affability, which makes him far more dangerous.
posted by dirigibleman at 7:36 AM on September 27, 2017 [40 favorites]

Things I learned today: Medicaid Expansion is on the ballot (!!) here in Maine this November. I'm amused to note that apparently the big argument against, as put forth by Lepage, was that the ACA would be repealed before the ballot measure came to vote.

If this passes, it will be a huge slap in LePage's face. The legislature has passed Medicaid expansion five times, only to be blocked by Lepage each time.

I'm generally pretty informed about all things related to Maine and ballot measures, and had known about the petition drive but had not realized we'd be voting on this this year.

Mainers for Heath Care is the parent organization for this, if anyone wants to volunteer or throw them a few bucks.
posted by anastasiav at 7:38 AM on September 27, 2017 [29 favorites]

More from the tax "framework":

On page 5 they go on to talk about how they repeal the personal deductions for dependents and expand the child tax credit, without any numbers of course. Anyone with kids above the phase out and/or anyone with non-child dependents loses on this deal.
posted by zrail at 7:40 AM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

Ashley Feinberg, Wired: Jared Kushner Voted as a Woman, According to his Registration

It's all a bit much.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:41 AM on September 27, 2017 [32 favorites]

Faint of Butt, that link is 404ing for me, though I can see it linked on the home page. Has it been taken down?
posted by paduasoy at 7:48 AM on September 27, 2017

Jared Kushner—senior advisor and son-in-law to the President, savior of the Middle East, and possible person of interest in a federal investigation—


THAT is how you do descriptors.
posted by Twain Device at 7:49 AM on September 27, 2017 [37 favorites]

paduasoy, it took a few tries to get the link to load for me. I couldn't help but notice that Melania's ultra-severe signature is very, very similar to Trumo's.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:51 AM on September 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-KY: "I thought they were voting for libertarian Republicans," Massie said of the Republican voters who had delivered the Tea Party victories. "But after some soul-searching, I realized when they voted for Rand and Ron [Paul] and me in these primaries, they weren't voting for libertarian ideas. They were voting for the craziest son of a bitch in the race.

The man was this close to self-awareness.
posted by Gelatin at 7:54 AM on September 27, 2017 [26 favorites]

Faint of Butt, that link is 404ing for me, though I can see it linked on the home page. Has it been taken down?

I was about to agree with you, but inspired by Room 641-A's comment I reloaded a few more times, and it came up. It's probably just getting slammed.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:57 AM on September 27, 2017

Here are some tax twitter folks to follow:
@lilybatch
@jdhenchman
@NKaeding
@taxjusticewonk
@SoongJohnston
@AlexParkerDC
@morganrscarboro
@econwonk
@davidckamin
@paigeleejones
@MariaKoklanaris
@alhstn
posted by melissasaurus at 7:58 AM on September 27, 2017 [25 favorites]

Here's the latest GOP "tax plan" (spoiler alert: it's not a real plan).

He creates a special 25% tax rate for pass-through business entities -- sole proprietorships, partnerships and S-corps. One guess who has his businesses set up as a bizarre arrangement of over 500 sole proprietorships, partnerships and S-corps.

Trump would have his millions of dollars of personal income taxed at the same rate as someone making $75,000.

You would see millions of people restructuring their employment as pass-through entities to avoid income tax.
posted by JackFlash at 8:00 AM on September 27, 2017 [51 favorites]

Nothing mentioned about preserving the state & local income tax deduction, which means they plan to get rid of it. Which means states and municipalities that tax their residents to provide adequate services (i.e. "blue states") will be at the receiving end of pain.
posted by xigxag at 8:08 AM on September 27, 2017 [11 favorites]

I forgot to include @HarrySteinDC on my list, who put out some quick calculations showing how low-income seniors will see a tax increase under this plan [link is to twitter thread w/ screencaps of calcs]:

-For single taxpayers aged 65+ and blind: The "zero tax bracket" goes UP AND their tax rate goes up from 10% to 12%. [...] And it translates to a $310 tax increase if this taxpayer makes $20,000.
-For a single taxpayer age 65+ (not blind) making $20,000, the Big Six plan raises their taxes by $155.

posted by melissasaurus at 8:12 AM on September 27, 2017 [18 favorites]

Which, even if true, is not something you say out loud while tallying hypothetical votes, you fuck.

Pretty sure that Trump's brain includes no "that's something you can't say out loud" function whatsoever, just pure unadulterated Monster from the Id.
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:19 AM on September 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

And they call the special 25% tax rate "Tax Rate Structure for Small Businesses".

But guess what, Donald Trump falls into this special tax rate. The Koch brothers fall into this tax rate. Many multi-million dollar companies fall into this category.

Stop calling it a rate for small businesses.
posted by JackFlash at 8:20 AM on September 27, 2017 [44 favorites]

He's like the Jaws shark, only less cuddly.
posted by FelliniBlank at 8:20 AM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

-For single taxpayers aged 65+ and blind: The "zero tax bracket" goes UP AND their tax rate goes up from 10% to 12%. [...] And it translates to a $310 tax increase if this taxpayer makes $20,000.
-For a single taxpayer age 65+ (not blind) making $20,000, the Big Six plan raises their taxes by $155.

I do believe that aliens exist. They just watch us quietly and can't believe that we as a species could exist for so long and be so deliberately cruel. They must be far kinder and patient than us because I would have long written off the whole human race and nuked us from orbit.
posted by Talez at 8:21 AM on September 27, 2017 [7 favorites]

You're not wrong but I would like to point out that, while many of us picture small, local businesses owned by one or two people, the definition of a "small business" is any business with less than $20 million per year in revenue.

Some pretty large business are still considered a "small business".
posted by VTX at 8:23 AM on September 27, 2017 [7 favorites]

This Vox piece predicts the ways in which the GOP will try to hide the ball on their tax "plan":

Perhaps the only way the Trump administration could meet its promises, Burman reasons, is by redefining them: If by “equally progressive” the administration and congressional GOP mean that each income group will see an equivalent percentage decrease in their tax burden, perhaps that could work. But because the federal tax code is already progressive, an equivalent decline in tax burden would amount to a much larger cut — both in dollars and as a share of actual income — for the rich than the middle-class. And it is unlikely the public will believe that the resulting legislation is fair.

A similar trick would be to measure progressivity by the share of taxes paid by each group — so if, say, the richest 1 percent currently pays 25.4 percent of federal taxes and the poorest 20 percent pays 0.8 percent of them, the new plan will commit to keeping those shares the same. “That is a horrendous way to measure progressivity when tax levels are changing,” William Gale, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution specializing on tax policy, says.

“Suppose in system 1, poor guy pays $1, rich guy pays $1 million,” Gale explains. “Then they reform the tax system so that poor guy pays zero and rich guy pays $1. Is this a progressive change? Obviously not by common sense standards — the rich guy got a $999,999 tax cut, which is (let’s assume) a bigger share of his income than the $1 tax cut the poor guy got. But if you look at share of taxes paid, the share paid by the rich guy went up — to 100%.”

The White House declined to specify what exact measure of progressivity they’re using. But from what we know about this bill, and its massive cuts to progressive taxes like the corporate tax, AMT, and estate tax without corresponding increases in the wealthy’s taxes, it’s hard to imagine its gains won’t be concentrated at the top, giving a bigger break to top earners than the middle class.

Expect a lot of gimmicks like these today -- they've had this propaganda ready for decades.
posted by tonycpsu at 8:24 AM on September 27, 2017 [24 favorites]

And it is unlikely the public will believe that the resulting legislation is fair.

Have they met Republican America?

Republican America will not only believe that it's fair but that the legislation will not go far enough to punish the poor.
posted by Talez at 8:26 AM on September 27, 2017 [8 favorites]

A separate rate for passthroughs is just unworkable. If it were attempted, they would need soooooo many antiavoidance provisions, that there is no way it would be "more simple" or "reduce the number of pages in the tax code" or whatever fresh bullshit they're claiming today. And the IRS doesn't have sufficient funding for compliance and enforcement of current tax laws, and I see no proposals to increase IRS funding to deal with a new framework and transitional years. Partnership audits are already the worst thing ever and extremely complex. Like, I'm really struggling to understand how they plan to turn that idea into an actual bill (not to mention Byrd rule issues).
posted by melissasaurus at 8:27 AM on September 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

I do believe that aliens exist. They just watch us quietly and can't believe that we as a species could exist for so long and be so deliberately cruel. They must be far kinder and patient than us because I would have long written off the whole human race and nuked us from orbit.

I think Earth has been quarantined
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 8:28 AM on September 27, 2017 [18 favorites]

For single taxpayers aged 65+ and blind: The "zero tax bracket" goes UP AND their tax rate goes up from 10% to 12%.

Yeah, that new 12% tax rate instead of 10% is just bad marketing. Why did they do that? It would be much more obscure to jigger the standard exemption and the income bracket threshold to get the same revenue, but now they have to explain why they are raising taxes on low income people to 12%.
posted by JackFlash at 8:28 AM on September 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

> I live in Trump country. People here have been conditioned for decades to think that Canada is some third-world hellhole where people literally die in the streets from lack of healthcare, and that they spend nearly their entire paychecks in taxes to fund it.

If you take out the words "in taxes" that's kind of what I've been conditioned to believe Trump country is like.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:29 AM on September 27, 2017 [9 favorites]

but now they have to explain why they are raising taxes on low income people to 12%.

"The lower 20% of taxpayers only contribute 0.8% of the taxes. Everyone has to pull their weight."

Done. Red America will Kreygasm over it.
posted by Talez at 8:32 AM on September 27, 2017 [9 favorites]

I think Earth has been quarantined

I think they're just waiting for us to Great Filter ourselves so that they can strip the copper wiring from our abandoned houses and collect our irradiated bones for crafting projects.
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:33 AM on September 27, 2017 [32 favorites]

I honestly wonder what Pence means when he says he can see the results of Canadian health care? A healthier populace? Fewer bankruptcies caused by medical bills? Yeah, it's a real hellscape up here, all right.

The undead beyond the wall.
posted by srboisvert at 8:44 AM on September 27, 2017

Here are some tax twitter folks to follow:

For anyone wondering how you can keep all these sources straight, I recommend Tweetdeck, an interface that Twitter provides that can categorize people into individual feeds which are all consolidated about a topic. I have one for Republicans, one for Journalists, one for Healthcare, now one for Tax c/o melissasaurus.

It does wonders for being able to filter out information from knowledgeable people quickly.
posted by Talez at 8:45 AM on September 27, 2017 [11 favorites]

Having my bones used for crafts seems like a best case scenario.
posted by medusa at 8:45 AM on September 27, 2017 [25 favorites]

A separate rate for passthroughs is just unworkable. If it were attempted, they would need soooooo many antiavoidance provisions, that there is no way it would be "more simple" or "reduce the number of pages in the tax code" or whatever fresh bullshit they're claiming today.

That illustrates a general concept. Every time you introduce a new special tax rate or deduction, you introduce gaming, tax avoidance, and a more complicated tax return.

The reason our returns are complicated is not because taxes are complicated, per se. It's the thousands of pages of various ways to reduce or avoid paying taxes. All of those additional Schedules, A and D, for example are to reduce taxes.

If you really want to simplify taxes, tax all income the same -- wages, dividends, capital gains. Eliminate all itemized deductions. Boom. You're done. A postcard for your taxes.
posted by JackFlash at 8:50 AM on September 27, 2017 [8 favorites]

The aliens know that if they just wait a few decades, the Algae Hiveminds and Cockroach Commonwealth leaders will be much easier to negotiate with than temperamental monkeys.
posted by delfin at 8:51 AM on September 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

@Matt Mackowiak (GOP dude): ".@RepThomasMassie with a keen insight"

I have a lot of MIT friends in common with Massie. And a lot of us would like to *ahem* have a word with him. Might be a good time now.
posted by ocschwar at 8:57 AM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

the definition of a "small business" is any business with less than $20 million per year in revenue.

That is a definition created by the Small Business Administration which is basically a slush fund controlled by lobbyists that funnels money primarily into the very largest of the "small business" companies and into the pockets of millionaires.

There's no reason the general public needs to adhere to the SBA definitions. And the Trump plan is a flat lie anyway. The Trump and Koch companies are not small businesses even by the SBA definitions and they are included in their "Tax Rate for Small Businesses".
posted by JackFlash at 9:08 AM on September 27, 2017 [7 favorites]

Just to make you feel better and much, much worse: Barack Obama Cried After Dropping Malia Off at Harvard.
posted by Capt. Renault at 9:11 AM on September 27, 2017 [52 favorites]

Team Jamaica to #45: Please leave The Boss [Usain Bolt] out of your politricks.
posted by TwoStride at 9:13 AM on September 27, 2017 [27 favorites]

In case anyone could use a moment of levity:

I had to throw away the pictures of my 10 month old daughter in the voting booth "Voting for her first Madam President", but I'm a patient man and willing to play the long game. She's now nearly 2, and very good at animal noises. And I've been diligently teaching her that turtles say "Let's repeal Obamacare". So when she's identifying animals and doing their sounds, on turtle she does this cute 2 year old unintelligible babble because those words are too big for her still, but she's obviously learning it as if I'm giving her good information like "cow says 'mooo'".

I don't know if I'm terrified or ecstatic that some day in the not distant future she is going to point a turtle and say "let's repeal obamacare" in front of my Trump supporting in-laws. I think my wife will forgive me.
posted by jermsplan at 9:21 AM on September 27, 2017 [100 favorites]

Jared Kushner Voted as a Woman, According to his Registration

Has anyone actually seen Jared and Ivanka together in the same place?
posted by Behemoth at 9:24 AM on September 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

[just dipping a toe into twitter thankstotrump, and whoa thanks: tweetdeck!]
posted by notyou at 9:26 AM on September 27, 2017

Voting for folks like Roy Moore is effectively like voting Sinn Fein for Parliament. You can't reasonably expect them to accomplish anything, you're using your vote as a protest. Roy Moore is an uncompromising zealot that makes his party less likely to pass anything of consequence (because it'll be insufficiently pure to him). Just like Rand Paul did with Obamacare repeal. As a Republican zealot, actually passing anything will more likely hurt your reelection chances because the base has been trained to expect unicorns.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:27 AM on September 27, 2017 [9 favorites]

Nice try with your conspiracies Behemoth, but when things get really tough in the Oval, you can always see both of them hand in hand among the many charming shops Aspen.
posted by cmfletcher at 9:28 AM on September 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

In a way, we actually have three parties now, Democrat, Republican, and GoFuckYourself. The third of these just opposes everything and has no positive governing philosophy. McConnell has the misfortune of a governing coalition of 2 and 3, and a President from 3.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:32 AM on September 27, 2017 [54 favorites]

Being an elected official from 3 is a great gig in an uncompetitive district, btw, because you can't be outflanked in the primary, you never have to deliver on your promises, and you can always blame someone else for your "defeats." Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Freedom Caucus, etc. as craven self-interested scum get this intuitively.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:36 AM on September 27, 2017 [12 favorites]

Trump's gotta be loving the current CNN headline: "Trump infuriated after backing Alabama loser"
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 9:41 AM on September 27, 2017 [18 favorites]

Here are some tax twitter folks to follow:

For anyone wondering how you can keep all these sources straight, I recommend Tweetdeck, an interface that Twitter provides that can categorize people into individual feeds which are all consolidated about a topic. I have one for Republicans, one for Journalists, one for Healthcare, now one for Tax c/o melissasaurus.

You don't need additional anything to do lists. Maybe plain twitter doesn't make it easy to view the lists as a timeline, but when you look at a profile on the web page there's a 3-dot item next to "follow." You can add someone to a list there, existing or new. From the home page when you're logged in, lists are under your icon. Open it up and there's your list of lists. Click one and there's all the tweets and retweets from people on that list, presented timeline-like.

Make the lists public and you can just share them here rather than a list of accounts to follow. The only downside to that approach is you're at the mercy of the list owner and they can add or delete folks and there's nothing you can do about it.

Personally I'm a Tweetbot user and you can create as many columns with it as you want too. I like it because it ignores twitter's efforts to make a non-chronological view. Perhaps they have not polluted Tweetdeck with that yet but I prefer to keep as far from their software as possible.
posted by phearlez at 9:47 AM on September 27, 2017 [7 favorites]

Democrat, Republican, and GoFuckYourself.

If that's the case, the Republicans are less of a party and more the equivalent of a fearful whale louse clinging to a racist humpback.
posted by Rust Moranis at 9:50 AM on September 27, 2017 [8 favorites]

In case anyone could use a moment of levity:

Steven Segal looks like a bad guy from a Steven Segal movie.

"Hi, I'm Steven Segal. You may know me from movies and TV. And when I'm not giving hand-jobs to Vladimir Putin I like to dress in Sebastian Gorka drag and listen to Rammstein unironically."
posted by octobersurprise at 9:50 AM on September 27, 2017 [23 favorites]

I liked the tweet from someone that was something like (sorry can't find it again) "Segal can't decide if he's angrier at democrats or the wizard who cursed him to slowly turn into an owl."
posted by phearlez at 9:53 AM on September 27, 2017 [13 favorites]

Democrat, Republican, and GoFuckYourself.

I'm going with Shitlord. Dem, Reps and Shitlords. Their animal can be a hairy ass.
posted by Sophie1 at 9:54 AM on September 27, 2017

the wizard who cursed him to slowly turn into an owl.

Must be the same wizard who turned that naughty little boy into Jeff Sessions.
posted by octobersurprise at 9:59 AM on September 27, 2017 [9 favorites]

And who turned that turtle into the Senate Majority Leader.
posted by nickmark at 10:04 AM on September 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

I never understood people's love for Steven Segal movies. Among all the big action stars of the 80s & 90s, he was the worst—primarily because he appeared to have absolutely no sense of humor about himself whatsoever, which is not something one could say of Schwarzenegger or Stallone. The other action star from that time whose work always bored me for similar reasons was Chuck Norris. It's no surprise that he, too, is a bloviating right-wing dick bag.
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:06 AM on September 27, 2017 [12 favorites]

> Partisan Gerrymandering Heads to Court Test: Can It Go Too Far?

Sam Wang & Brian Remlinger, The American Prospect: Slaying the Partisan Gerrymander
posted by tonycpsu at 10:07 AM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

MSNBC just showed Trump saying "moments ago" that "We have the votes on health care" but that "we have someone in the hospital right now" and can't get it done before the end of September so "we'll do it in January or February."
posted by XMLicious at 10:08 AM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

Trump Jr reactivated his secret service coverage after a few days, according to reddit, so Russian oligarch Oleg Daripaska could secretly enter the country. I'm not seeing on the Hill article where the oligarch thing was mentioned. r/resist link
posted by yoga at 10:10 AM on September 27, 2017 [7 favorites]

@M_SullivanTax
Reality is the Big six have produced a Small results. It’s a Cheez Doodle reform: lots of puff and color but mostly air. It’s a nowhere plan

It's a real nowhere plan
Coming from an orange man
Giving all the tax credits to rich buddies.
posted by melissasaurus at 10:10 AM on September 27, 2017 [25 favorites]

Trump also said, "there's very little benefit for people of wealth" in tax reform. (I think he was talking about tax reform? He went back to talking about health care after that.)
posted by XMLicious at 10:10 AM on September 27, 2017

VIRGINIA HOUSE ELECTIONS - HD 96-100

intro
1-5
6-10
11-15
16-20
21-25
26-30
31-35
36-40
41-45
46-50
51-55
56-60
61-65
66-70
71-75
76-80
81-85
86-90
91-95

===

96th District
Currently GOP seat
R cand: Brenda Pogge (incumbent)
D cand: Kelly De Lucia

Williamsburg suburbs, 79.2% white. Incumbent first elected in 2007. No D candidate in 2013 or 2015. Trump won district 53-42.

===

97th District
Currently GOP seat
R cand: Chris Peace (incumbent)
D cand: Cori Johnson

Richmond suburbs, 85.1% white. Incumbent first elected in 2006 special. No D candidate in 2013 or 2015. Trump won district 67-28.

===

98th District
Currently GOP seat
R cand: Keith Hodges (incumbent)
D cand: Sheila Crowley

Richmond exurbs, 79.7% white. Incumbent first elected in 2011. No D candidate in 2013 or 2015. Trump won district 63-33.

===

99th District
Currently GOP seat
R cand: Margaret Ransone (incumbent)
D cand: Francis Edwards

Semi-rural district on the Cheasapeake, 70.7% white. Incumbent first elected in 2011. No D candidate in 2013 or 2015. Trump won district 57-39.

===

100th District
Currently GOP seat
R cand: Robert Bloxom (incumbent)
D cand: Willie Randall

Rural Eastern Shore, 62.7% white. Incumbent first elected in 2014 special. No R candidate in 2013, R won 2014 special 60-40, R won 58-42 in 2015. Clinton won district 49-47. Flippable Potential district. This is a rematch of the 2014 special and 2015 elections.

===

Next time: Conclusions!
posted by Chrysostom at 10:20 AM on September 27, 2017 [31 favorites]

so Russian oligarch Oleg Daripaska could secretly enter the country.

that Reddit link says Jr. deactivated it at the same time Daripaska secretly* entered the country, not as a condition of him entering the country secretly* and then reactivated it when he left. That sounds like Jr. wanted to meet with Daripaska privately.

*even assuming this is true.
posted by Room 641-A at 10:21 AM on September 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

In...just about every photo I've seen, Mitch McConnell looks like a perverted little boy spying through the keyhole on his parents having sex.
posted by duffell at 10:24 AM on September 27, 2017 [10 favorites]

So upon further reading in r/resist about Trump Jr deactivating/reactivating SS, it seems Jr held a secret fundraiser on the 18th at a Trump owned golf course that day. Forbes link. They are so gross.
posted by yoga at 10:26 AM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

> It's a real nowhere plan
Coming from an orange man
Giving all the tax credits to rich buddies.

Should five per cent appear too yuge
Be thankful I'm a wealthy stooge
Cos I'm the tax cut man, yeah I'm the tax cut man

For the moneyed few, the rich elite
I'll cut the taxes on Wall Street
If the middle class is sucking on your teat
I'll tax them all to help your balance sheet
posted by tonycpsu at 10:28 AM on September 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

In...just about every photo I've seen, Mitch McConnell looks like a perverted little boy spying through the keyhole on his parents having sex.

That's actually his origin story.
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:28 AM on September 27, 2017 [13 favorites]

And then this u/flyboy comment in r/resist adds that the oligarch's plane landed in Morristown NJ the day of the fundraiser, close to the golf course where the fundraiser was:

Deripaska owns several aircraft through holding companies in the British Virgin Islands. He registers them in Isle of Man, so they have M- tail numbers. His aircraft registration numbers are M-ALAY, M-UGIC, and M-UKHA, among others.
Here is the planefinder page for M-UGIC, a Gulfstream V. If you play back and speed up the track on 9/18/17 it will land in Morristown, NJ, which is a 24 minute drive from Trump National Golf Course Bedminster, NJ.
Edit: The aircraft departed on 9/20/17 and flew to Moscow.

posted by yoga at 10:32 AM on September 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

ummmmmmm tonycpsu this thread is about LIMERICKS

apparently now it's about Liverpools
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:32 AM on September 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

And they call the special 25% tax rate "Tax Rate Structure for Small Businesses".

But guess what, Donald Trump falls into this special tax rate. The Koch brothers fall into this tax rate. Many multi-million dollar companies fall into this category.

Stop calling it a rate for small businesses.

Not only that but we're always near the bottom of OECD rankings for "Tax revenue as % of GDP", with a rate that hovers around a point just below 25%. That's federal plus state plus local/municipal combined, so whoever gets most of the income in the country has to be paying a good deal less than 25% in federal taxes.

I went to look up the IRS statistical report on the top 400 taxpayers which always shows the number of them in the "0% up to 10%" effective tax rate category going up year after year, but noticed that there isn't one for last year and the archived reports end in 2014.

This blog post from last year post-election notes that 2014 was the final year and that they were supposed to switch to reporting on the top ".001 percentile level—which in 2014 represented the top 1,396 returns" but my googles are finding nothing. The blog post links to a paywalled Fortune article "How Much Will Trump Cut Taxes For Top 400? We'll Never Know, As IRS Ends 400 Report".
posted by XMLicious at 10:34 AM on September 27, 2017 [8 favorites]

Trump also said, "there's very little benefit for people of wealth" in tax reform.

he's fucking delusional

Well, let's see.. Among the things the rich don't get out of the tax reform proposal (so far -- we're sure to see some amendments as the process moves along..)

• Not allowed to horsewhip peasants for impudence
• Still must resort to courts if they want to seize your property
• Droit du seigneur not yet restored

It appears he's right. There's very little for the rich in the proposed legislation (other than giant piles of money, of course.)
posted by Nerd of the North at 10:57 AM on September 27, 2017 [9 favorites]

Mod note: Several comments deleted. Sorry, extended Steven Seagal discussion should go somewhere else.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 10:58 AM on September 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

Ugh. The Supreme Court cancels a travel-ban hearing after Donald Trump issues a new order
posted by obliquity of the ecliptic at 11:00 AM on September 27, 2017

I was waiting in line to get my sub for lunch and they had CNN on, interviewing Trump. I hadn't heard him speak in ages, purposefully, and by God he sounds fucking deranged. Just... nonsensical, evil, and stupid. Transcripts do not do this monster justice.
posted by lydhre at 11:02 AM on September 27, 2017 [25 favorites]

I have to imagine that "Secret Service, stop following me!" does not mean "DOJ people, stop following him." Secret Service is under Homeland Security. I hope I'm right, anyway. And I hope Don Jr. is as oblivious as he seems to be.
posted by emelenjr at 11:13 AM on September 27, 2017 [11 favorites]

Trump says he's working on an executive order to allow people to buy health insurance across state lines, because that's literally the only thing he knows about healthcare. This is something several states already allow, yet no insurance company has actually taken them up on the offer, with good reason, because the hard part of selling insurance in another state is dealing with practicalities like setting up a provider network. Buying a cheap plan from another state is meaningless if the doctors in your network are all halfway across the country. More on the practical problems here from KHN's Julie Rovner.

"Trump also said he’s considering lifting it, but shipping industry’s opposition giving him pause because “We have a lot of ships out there.”"

This may be the worst thing he's ever said, and I don't mean that lightly given what all he's said. Just straight up profits over people's lives, and a yet another example of him saying the thing you're not supposed to say out loud.
posted by zachlipton at 11:16 AM on September 27, 2017 [28 favorites]

HuffPo: Senate Judiciary Dems asking questions about Kobach "fraud" commission.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:17 AM on September 27, 2017 [14 favorites]

And then this u/flyboy comment in r/resist adds that the oligarch's plane landed in Morristown NJ the day of the fundraiser, close to the golf course where the fundraiser was:

Hmmm.... Perhaps Mueller's team will want to look into limo reservations on that day.
posted by mikelieman at 11:31 AM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

Inspired by someone above, I've begun to answer back at the racists on FB. And it works. Not in the sense that they "convert", but in the sense that they shut up, and hate-speech is again not acceptable. I can see several friends doing the same.
The haters have no arguments, because they are ignorant haters. So when you tell them facts, there is nothing they can do.
posted by mumimor at 11:34 AM on September 27, 2017 [28 favorites]

He creates a special 25% tax rate for pass-through business entities -- sole proprietorships, partnerships and S-corps.

I seem to recall Kansas tried this and watched their tax collections drop dramatically as business transformed themselves into one of these entities. Being a shining example of fiscal soundness, it's no wonder the GOP is going national with it.
posted by Mental Wimp at 11:35 AM on September 27, 2017 [14 favorites]

Secret Service is under Homeland Security.

They used to be under Treasury. Has that changed?
posted by Mental Wimp at 11:40 AM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

"Trump also said he’s considering lifting it, but shipping industry’s opposition giving him pause because “We have a lot of ships out there.”"

neoliberalism.txt

We'll allow people to starve in deference to industry profits. How is this any different from feudalism at this point?
posted by Existential Dread at 11:42 AM on September 27, 2017 [11 favorites]

I seem to recall Kansas tried this and watched their tax collections drop dramatically as business transformed themselves into one of these entities. Being a shining example of fiscal soundness, it's no wonder the GOP is going national with it.

Yep. It was so bad the Republican legislature overrode the Republican Gov's veto to get rid of it.

Kansas’s economy remains steady but its budget situation has been unsteady for several years. The state is one of four with essentially zero in budget reserves (the others being North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania), with those funds having been drawn down to cover budget gaps since 2013. The state raised sales taxes and cigarette taxes and reduced itemized deductions in 2015. On several occasions the state has swept funds from government accounts and forced loans from the pension fund, the road fund, and local government funds. Revenue dropped sharply after the tax cuts and has remained anemic since; state spending (adjusted for population and inflation) has grown very slowly at about 0.3 percent per year. [link]

posted by melissasaurus at 11:48 AM on September 27, 2017 [21 favorites]

John Kelly wanted to slash refugee admissions to 15,000 per year. The 45,000 they settled on is the lowest since 1980. So glad the generals are working hard to counter Trump's worst impulses.

NYT: Trump Plans 45,000 Limit on Refugees Admitted to U.S.
posted by chris24 at 11:54 AM on September 27, 2017 [7 favorites]

neoliberalism.txt

We'll allow people to starve in deference to industry profits. How is this any different from feudalism at this point?

The Jones Act is about protectionism for our merchant marine industry, which is kind of the opposite of neoliberalism. (If that word means anything anymore.)
posted by OnceUponATime at 12:00 PM on September 27, 2017 [18 favorites]

Expect a lot of gimmicks [in obfuscating the Republican tax cuts for the rich] like these today -- they've had this propaganda ready for decades.

Expect NPR to fall for them completely, as all day they've been going with "Republicans say the tax cuts will jump start the economy and create jobs, while Democrats say they will disproportionately favor the wealthy," which is a failure to report actual objective reality. The notion that any of that is a matter of opinion expired in the Reagan Administration.

Also expect Republicans not to say one word about the deficit, and the media not to notice.
posted by Gelatin at 12:03 PM on September 27, 2017 [26 favorites]

Expect NPR to fall for them completely

WHAT IS WITH ALL THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA DRINKING THE KOOL-AID

Sorry, just had to get that out...
posted by Melismata at 12:04 PM on September 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

I'm beginning to suspect that "neoliberalism" is as Russian as Jill Stein's campaign.
posted by lydhre at 12:05 PM on September 27, 2017 [19 favorites]

Axios: Trump, at war with everyone, mocks McCain, McConnell: "In private, President Trump has taken to physically mocking M&M: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (slumped shoulders; lethargic body language) and Sen. John McCain (imitating the thumbs-down of his historic health-care vote)."

Disgusting and puerile as this behavior is, at least there are people in the White House (Bannonites?) who are ready to leak reports of it.
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:07 PM on September 27, 2017 [8 favorites]

Mocking the main person between you and a successful impeachment? Please proceed.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:09 PM on September 27, 2017 [51 favorites]

If you present facts, they ignore them and keep on trucking with their racism.

And the typos, don't forget the typos. #NeverForget
posted by RolandOfEld at 12:09 PM on September 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

WHAT IS WITH ALL THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA DRINKING THE KOOL-AID

They're physically unable to utter the words, "You're lying." to an interviewee
posted by mikelieman at 12:15 PM on September 27, 2017 [13 favorites]

The Jones Act is about protectionism for our merchant marine industry, which is kind of the opposite of neoliberalism. (If that word means anything anymore.)

Narrator: It does not.
posted by Etrigan at 12:15 PM on September 27, 2017 [10 favorites]

If "20 is a perfect number," why did he want 15 then? He wanted a less than perfect number but settled for a perfect one?

Gosh, if I didn't know better, I'd think he was making these extremely important numbers up out of thin air or something.
posted by zachlipton at 12:22 PM on September 27, 2017 [17 favorites]

Transcripts do not do this monster justice.

I lose my mind the most when I have to listen to him speak. Because you take all of those ignorant, idiotic ramblings, and you layer on a level of smug arrogance and blustering certitude of his innate superiority. He doesn’t get any more infuriating than when he speaks, to me.

Donald Trump perfectly embodies the concept of rich white privilege, more than anyone else I’ve ever witnessed in my life.
posted by Brak at 12:22 PM on September 27, 2017 [64 favorites]

I know I've said this before but I really do hate this man.
posted by asteria at 12:23 PM on September 27, 2017 [38 favorites]

WHAT IS WITH ALL THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA DRINKING THE KOOL-AID

This is easily understood as them being unwilling to have their access cut by calling people on blatant lies.
posted by Archelaus at 12:26 PM on September 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

Expect NPR to fall for them completely, as all day they've been going with "Republicans say the tax cuts will jump start the economy and create jobs, while Democrats say they will disproportionately favor the wealthy,"

"Mhoq'gagrus the Undying says that, as a 10,000 year old Chained God, he is offering the only truly conservative healthcare plan: forced labor as an supplicant for life, and then perpetual service as an enslaved undead minion.

Democrats disagree, saying, "What's the matter with you people?! Run, run for your lives!" We spoke to Darryl, a local small business owner and a Mhoq'gagrus supporter who we found chained to the wheel of tears in the Temple of Spider Throne. Darryl seemed to be in favor of the Arch-Lich's plan, "It's gotta be better than Obamacare, and Mhoq-gagrus sure does make those snowflake liberals mad!"

We also spoke to a representative of the Maimed One, one of the Lesser Fingers made available for press inquiries, he responded, "я не говорю по-английски."

Who's to say? This is NPR.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:28 PM on September 27, 2017 [113 favorites]

BuzzFeed, The Trump Administration Won’t Support State Obamacare Enrollment Events

Regional representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services will not be participating in open enrollment events in the states as they have in years past, according to an administration source and an email sent to health advocates in Mississippi obtained by BuzzFeed News.

The source, who had direct knowledge of the change, told BuzzFeed News that all of the department’s 10 regional directors were told to not to participate in state-based events promoting open enrollment — a significant change from years past.

The move follows a trend by the Trump administration of stepping away from past federal assistance for Obamacare and, particularly, of dialing back resources for the upcoming open enrollment period.

So Price is running around on private jets claiming he has to get out and meet people all across the country, but the actual people on the ground across the country are being ordered to stay in their offices?

Remember the movie The Truman Show where he goes to the travel agent, but they can't let him travel anywhere, so the travel agent's office has posters of plane crashes and terrorists and other stuff to discourage travel? I fear that's where we're headed, the next step will be an HHS ad campaign featuring people who are all "my mother signed up for Obamacare, and now she's dead."
posted by zachlipton at 12:29 PM on September 27, 2017 [31 favorites]

The Jones Act is about protectionism for our merchant marine industry, which is kind of the opposite of neoliberalism. (If that word means anything anymore.)

Fair criticism. I was referring more to the idea that public good must defer to private industry profit, even to the suffering of millions of people. Protectionism may not be neoliberal, but I think the idea that one can't endanger the profits of the shipping industry in order to rush aid to a humanitarian disaster is very much in line with neoliberal economic thinking.
posted by Existential Dread at 12:29 PM on September 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

I will say that even though I can't physically stand the sound of his voice, it is interesting to watch him with the sound off. He is very at ease at a podium, he smiles a lot and clearly knows how to work the crowd. Between that and the chryon at the bottom giving abridged versions of what he's saying, his win with the low-info crowd makes more sense.

Still dedicating Psalm 109 to him though.
posted by asteria at 12:31 PM on September 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

Pence: "You know, somewhere in between where I’m sitting in Washington, D.C., and (you) Alaska, is a place called Canada. I probably don’t need to tell the people Alaska about the failings of national socialized health care because it’s right in our neighbour and you see the results every day."

Y'all should be so lucky. A close relative of mine, who hasn't responded well to other drugs, is thriving under a new treatment for Crohn's. The cost of the drug is $3500 per infusion; he's going once every month or so. The only "health insurance" he has is the one that all Canadian citizens do: the one which takes care of health emergencies and provides preventative care for all of us regardless of ability to pay.

My tax rate is comparable to the average American, and at least we get services for the money.
posted by jokeefe at 12:32 PM on September 27, 2017 [48 favorites]

Trump just repeated his bullshit about getting rid of the legislative filibuster. Says that if the Democrats had the opportunity they would get rid of it on day 1.

Is he stupid? (don't answer that.) Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress under Obama and didn't get rid of the filibuster.
posted by Justinian at 12:39 PM on September 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

Dionne Searcy(NYT): State Department and Pentagon officials all opposed Trump's travel ban on Chad. Stephen Miller said do it anyway
posted by PenDevil at 12:39 PM on September 27, 2017 [14 favorites]

Trump just repeated his bullshit about getting rid of the legislative filibuster. Says that if the Democrats had the opportunity they would get rid of it on day 1.

It's just like how Obama took everyone's guns away. No proof required, everyone just knows it's true, cuz liberals.
posted by Emmy Rae at 12:43 PM on September 27, 2017 [7 favorites]

Trump on why he won’t waive the Jones Act: “A lot of people who are in the shipping industry don’t want” it lifted.

Pure evil doesn't generally come along wearing horns and carrying a pitchfork. But that Trump quote is about as close as it gets.
posted by darkstar at 12:47 PM on September 27, 2017 [17 favorites]

Nooow he's going on about repealing the estate tax because it kills family farmers and they have to have fire sales to pay the tax.

Someone show me a couple family farmers whose estates are worth more than 11 million dollars and can't pay the estate tax? The exemption is 5.5 million per individual! If it's so easy to have a farm worth 11million dollars that this is a problem I think I'm in the wrong line of work. Surely even a shitty farmer will have an estate worth a cool couple million.
posted by Justinian at 12:54 PM on September 27, 2017 [14 favorites]

I think he just sort of gestured at a map, Chad is pretty big and hanging there right in the middle of Africa like a juicy majority-Muslim peach
posted by theodolite at 12:54 PM on September 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

PenDevil:

"Dionne Searcy(NYT): State Department and Pentagon officials all opposed Trump's travel ban on Chad. Stephen Miller said do it anyway"

He had been told by his followers that Chad would get all the women. And then they began screeching incoherently.
posted by charred husk at 12:54 PM on September 27, 2017 [13 favorites]

Dems calling for Price's firing, Trump thinking about it. [The Hill]
posted by Chrysostom at 1:00 PM on September 27, 2017 [13 favorites]

Meanwhile, the Senate has "unanimously" passed (via voice vote) a bill to "reform" Medicare. How afraid should I be?
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:01 PM on September 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

How afraid should I be?

Sounds like a decent bill. It expands in-home & tele-health coverage and streamlines some billing. Doesn't look like it cuts any coverage at all and CBO scored it to reduce spending by over $200 million from 2018 to 2022. I can see why it got bipartisan support, unless there is a poison pill hiding in there somewhere.
posted by papercrane at 1:11 PM on September 27, 2017 [11 favorites]

@damianpaletta: Trump threatens Donnelly. Says if he doesn't back tax cuts "We will come here, we will campaign against him like you wouldn't believe."

This is probably not a good threat to make the day after the guy you just campaigned for lost by 10 points.
posted by zachlipton at 1:17 PM on September 27, 2017 [59 favorites]

Also, I'm PRETTY sure there is going to be a Republican candidate running against Donnelly no matter what.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:22 PM on September 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

"I probably don’t need to tell the people Alaska about the failings of national socialized health care because it’s right in our neighbour and you see the results every day."

I was writing a comment full of wry indignation and rebuttal to the ongoing claims of Canada's Health system being some kind of demonic hell-beast, and then I thought fuck it.

No, seriously, fuck right off Republicans. Come and talk to us about our health system, the successes, the problems, in good faith - like you do with neighbours - or fuck off and stop mentioning us. We're not a talking point in your shit storm of posturing dunderheads. Come with respect or don't come at all.

In short, get the fuck off our lawn.
posted by nubs at 1:25 PM on September 27, 2017 [52 favorites]

It doesn't even seem like a good "win" for Boeing.

Goddamn. Boeing doesn't even compete against the Bombardier planes under question, with no aircraft for sale under 150 seats. This is so incredibly dumb. And they just set the price for the actual competing aircraft from Embraer, so that Embraer just has to price their planes slightly below the Bombardier aircraft + tariff. Not only does this not benefit Boeing in any way, it also fucks over basically any airliner looking to purchase smaller narrow-body aircraft in the US.
posted by Existential Dread at 1:29 PM on September 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

Sorry for the language, eh?
posted by nubs at 1:29 PM on September 27, 2017 [25 favorites]

Majority of voters say Trump not fit to be President.
posted by tau_ceti at 1:30 PM on September 27, 2017 [11 favorites]

Little late on that one, eh?
posted by octobersurprise at 1:32 PM on September 27, 2017 [35 favorites]

Democrats should treat this Republican reconciliation tax bill just like the Obamacare repeal bill. Not one single Democratic vote. There is not a single factual economic reason to help Republicans. Make Republicans own their tax cuts for the rich and ballooning deficits.

If you want nice things -- universal child care, universal pre-school, college, better healthcare coverage -- you need more taxes not less.

Unfortunately I think, some Democrats in congress are going to fall for the "tax cuts for jobs" bullshit and give Republicans cover for their tax cuts for the rich.
posted by JackFlash at 1:33 PM on September 27, 2017 [23 favorites]

Little late on that one, eh?

Well the majority of voters said that in November 2016 too but they just happened to live in the wrong states.
posted by dhens at 1:34 PM on September 27, 2017 [51 favorites]

Those legal bills must be piling up. Newt here: (Emphasiseseses theirs)

Newt Gingrich
4:32 PM (2 minutes ago)
Reply to [[e-mail]]

Friend,

The President is working around-the-clock to enact the agenda YOU voted for.

Now, our critically important end-of-quarter deadline is only 3 days away, and President Trump has asked me to reach out to top supporters like you.

Democrats are against our progress at every turn, and it’s going to take every resource we have to keep fighting for our AMERICA FIRST agenda.

Since we have to report our fundraising publicly, a group of generous donors has agreed to step up and DOUBLE-MATCH ALL DONATIONS THROUGH MIDNIGHT SATURDAY.

CONTRIBUTE $250 = $750

CONTRIBUTE $100 = $300

CONTRIBUTE $75 = $225

CONTRIBUTE $50 = $150

CONTRIBUTE $35 = $105

CONTRIBUTE OTHER AMOUNT

This is our fight, our movement, our agenda.

So let’s get the job done, Friend.

With only 3 days until our end-of-quarter deadline, please contribute $250, $100, $75 $50, $35 or even just $5 today to be DOUBLE-MATCHED and help us meet our goal.

Thank you,

Newt Gingrich Headshot
Newt Gingrich

CONTRIBUTE $100 = $300

Paid for by the Republican National Committee
Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
www.GOP.com
You are receiving this email at [[e-mail]]
Republican National Committee (RNC), 310 1st St SE Washington, DC, 20003-1885, US

We believe this is an important way to reach our grassroots supporters with the most up-to-date information regarding the efforts of the Republican Party and President Trump, and we’re glad you’re on our team. It’s because of grassroots supporters like you that we will Make America Great Again, and we appreciate your support. Thank you for all that you do!

Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe

posted by tilde at 1:39 PM on September 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

omg honey we can get DOUBLE-MATCHED! Get out my checkbook!!!
posted by ian1977 at 1:41 PM on September 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

Daily Beast, Exclusive: Russians Impersonated Real American Muslims to Stir Chaos on Facebook and Instagram: "Kremlin trolls stole the identity of an authentic U.S. Muslim organization—first to smear John McCain and Hillary Clinton, then to sing her praises."

The Facebook group United Muslims of America was neither united, Muslim, nor American.

Instead, sources familiar with the group tell The Daily Beast, it was an imposter account on the world’s largest social network that’s been traced back to the Russian government.

Using the account as a front to reach American Muslims and their allies, the Russians pushed memes that claimed Hillary Clinton admitted the U.S. “created, funded and armed” al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State; claimed that John McCain was ISIS’ true founder; whitewashed blood-drenched dictator Moammar Gadhafi and praised him for not having a “Rothschild-owned central bank”; and falsely alleged Osama bin Laden was a “CIA agent.”
...
The fake account’s strongest surge in political messaging came on the heels of the April 6, 2017 U.S. missile strike against a Syrian government air base -- a response to a chemical weapon attack that killed over 80 people, including 20 children. The action marked Trump’s first significant move directly opposing the will of Russian president Vladimir Putin, and on April 9, the fake United Muslims page registered its disapproval with a meme complaining about the $93 million cost of the strike, “which could have founded [sic] Meals on Wheels until 2029.” (For good measure, it also quoted “got money for wars but can’t feed the poor,” from Tupac Shakur’s “Keep Ya Head Up.”) At least a dozen more similar memes followed—they can still be found on Facebook’s Instagram photo site—urging the U.S. military to stay out of Syria.

posted by zachlipton at 1:46 PM on September 27, 2017 [46 favorites]

--Majority of voters say Trump not fit to be President.

-Little late on that one, eh?

He lost the popular vote, and still wouldn't be President if it hadn't been for the third-party protest votes.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:50 PM on September 27, 2017 [7 favorites]

He lost the popular vote, and still wouldn't be President if it hadn't been for the third-party protest votes.

Don't forget the rampant voter suppression, too
posted by Existential Dread at 1:52 PM on September 27, 2017 [39 favorites]

Thank you,

Newt Gingrich Headshot
Newt Gingrich

CONTRIBUTE $100 = $300

100 bucks for a Newt Gingrich headshot? Cheap at the price!
posted by octobersurprise at 1:52 PM on September 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

Are the people on that mailing list too stupid to wonder why in the fuck these assholes keep asking THEM for money?

also, since when is $750 = 2 X $250?
posted by yoga at 1:55 PM on September 27, 2017

Uh, why are full length Republican fundraising emails getting copied and pasted into this thread? They seem pretty bog-standard to me and they're insufferable enough even when coming from less awful sources.
posted by parallellines at 1:56 PM on September 27, 2017 [42 favorites]

Good Yglesias backgrounder on the Jones Act.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:57 PM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

Yes, third parties, voter suppression etc etc. All are important. But the biggest problem, by gigantic margins, is voter apathy. For every third party or suppressed vote there are 20 people who just can't be bothered to show up.
posted by Justinian at 2:00 PM on September 27, 2017 [10 favorites]

Fun fact about The Jones Act: It's the reason that almost 100% of cruises in the US involve a stop at a foreign port.

Most cruise lines exclusively use foreign flagged ships from Panama/Bermuda/etc. for tax reasons. Because they foreign flagged, they cannot make any trips that only stop in domestic ports. That's why a "Los Angeles to Seattle" cruise starts with a quick stop at Ensenada, MX.

My sister works for Princess Cruises in the "things are totally fucked" department, and something that comes up every once in a while is situations where the ship cannot come into the foreign port (usually weather, but sometimes natural disasters or mechanical issues). When this happens, an officer and some sailors jump into one of the tenders/lifeboats and go ashore to do the official paperwork. Sometimes even that is too hard, and the ship hangs out at sea until the situation is safer. Sometimes they can't keep the schedule and they don't arrive at the final port in time. Princess would rather deal with 100's, if not 1000's, of people missing their return travel and cut the next cruise short than violate The Jones Act.

Obliviously POTUS and the Congress can make this happen for PR, but when I learned about The Jones Act and it's repercussions from my sister, I thought it was very interesting.
posted by sideshow at 2:00 PM on September 27, 2017 [59 favorites]

Wow, you have a very different experience with answering back to racists on FB than I do. Are you responding to racist-friends or racist-strangers? I've found that if someone doesn't know you very well, they don't shut up - they just keep going. If you present facts, they ignore them and keep on trucking with their racism.

Bog-standard racist strangers being encouraged by racists in our government, just like yours. They shut up. I'm going to test this for a while, and if it keeps on working, I'll put a script up here for anyone to use.
posted by mumimor at 2:01 PM on September 27, 2017 [11 favorites]

WP: The Trump administration is restricting lawmakers in both parties from visiting storm-ravaged Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands aboard military aircraft this weekend in order to keep focused on recovery missions there, according to multiple congressional aides.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:03 PM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

Majority of voters say Trump not fit to be President.

Can we talk about those numbers? "94 percent of Black voters say that he is not fit for the role and Hispanic voters were split 60-40 percent."

What is up with 40% of Hispanic voters? What are they seeing that I'm not?
posted by greermahoney at 2:05 PM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

Things I learned today: Medicaid Expansion is on the ballot (!!) here in Maine this November... The legislature has passed Medicaid expansion five times, only to be blocked by [Gov.] Lepage each time.

I just heard about this as well. I'd feel much better about it if what people vote for up here actually means anything. The legislature, this month, is still debating the results from last November’s voting.
posted by LeLiLo at 2:05 PM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

I've found that if someone doesn't know you very well, they don't shut up - they just keep going. If you present facts, they ignore them and keep on trucking with their racism.

This is exactly my experience, too.
posted by greermahoney at 2:07 PM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

greermahoney: "What is up with 40% of Hispanic voters? What are they seeing that I'm not"

A fair amount of inter-generational Cuba-related grudge-holding, and an incredibly broad definition of "hispanic."
posted by schmod at 2:08 PM on September 27, 2017 [8 favorites]

Did I miss when the word "agenda" became positive in the Republican playbook?
posted by elsietheeel at 2:09 PM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

Update: There are now 715 public comments visible (out of the moderation queue) about the 'social media' rule proposed to be implemented on permanent residents (green card holders), naturalized citizens, and others passing through the immigration process.

Please comment, folks. This is important, like many other things, but yeah. Important. Hat tip to anastasiav for the Buzzfeed link.
posted by tilde at 2:09 PM on September 27, 2017 [19 favorites]

The [Maine] legislature, this month, is still debating the results from last November’s voting.

Today's topics included whether to allow internet and/or delivery sales of marijuana. If you live in Maine and have an opinion on that, you can contact the members of the Implementation Committtee.
posted by melissasaurus at 2:10 PM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

Yeah, if you look at the precinct map for that Florida Senate special last night, you can see exactly where the Cuban emigres live.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:10 PM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

What is up with 40% of Hispanic voters? What are they seeing that I'm not?

Abortion.
posted by JackFlash at 2:12 PM on September 27, 2017 [22 favorites]

Looking in at the 538 approval average, Trump had been creeping upward for most of September, but now seems to have gone in reverse again. Currently at 38.5/55.0 approve.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:12 PM on September 27, 2017

What is up with 40% of Hispanic voters? What are they seeing that I'm not?

A friend's cousin has gone full-on Trumpist white-supremacist. Not even my friend pointing out that "Your last name is Hernandez!" had any effect.

In conclusion, Hispanic voters are a land of contrasts.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:16 PM on September 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

Does he not get that Trump and most Trump voters hate people like him and wish he were deported? Oh, he's American? Doesn't matter, still deported. To... somewhere.
posted by Justinian at 2:20 PM on September 27, 2017

I picked up a new biography of Jonathan Swift at the library yesterday and discovered this, a poem that forshadows our Congress, The Legion Club (an excerpt):

Let them, when they once get in
Sell the Nation for a Pin;
While they sit a picking Straws,
Let them rave of making Laws;
While they never hold their Tongue,
Let them dabble in their Dung;
Let them form a grand Committee,
How to plague and starve the City;
Let them stare, and storm, and frown,
When they see a Clergy-Gown;
Let them, 'ere they crack a Louse,
Call for th' Orders of the House;
Let them with their gosling Quills,
Scribble senseless Heads of Bills,
We may, while they strain their Throats,
Wipe our Arses with their Votes.
posted by njohnson23 at 2:28 PM on September 27, 2017 [10 favorites]

In conclusion, Hispanic voters are a land of contrasts.

Just like every other ethnic group.

But yeah, including Cubans in anything trying to gauge the feelings of "Hispanics" skews things a lot.

My ex-wife's family is all from rural Mexico, and to them, Cubans were as separate a people as Germans/Chinese/etc. Both groups share a language and a major religion, but the identity is very different. Anyone who spouted things along the lines of "The GOP has leaders that share your beliefs! We have Rubio and Cruz!" was seen as an ignorant moron.

Also, remember that until very recently, Cuban had a completely different immigration situation due to the "Wet Feet/Dry Feet" policy. Cubans were not hiding in their homes worried about ICE deporting them, for the the most part.
posted by sideshow at 2:28 PM on September 27, 2017 [10 favorites]

Only 3.5% of Hispanics identify as Cuban Americans. They have little influence on the Hispanic population outside of southern Florida.
posted by JackFlash at 2:35 PM on September 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Has ‘No Doubt’ Sexism Played a Role in the Presidential Election

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was asked on Tuesday night by CBS This Morning co-anchor Charlie Rose whether she believed sexism played a role during the contentious 2016 presidential election. Her response? “I have no doubt that it did.”

Speaking with Rose in a wide-ranging interview at the 92nd Street Y in New York, the 84-year-old jurist touched on the likelihood of the U.S. finally seeing a woman as president. “We came pretty close,” Ginsburg said, referring to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Ginsburg went on to say that, while there were “so many things” about the election that were decisive, sexism was a “major, major factor” in the outcome. She continued, “The more women out there doing things … women come in all sizes and shapes. To see the entrance of women into places where they were not there before is a hopeful sign.”

posted by chris24 at 2:38 PM on September 27, 2017 [41 favorites]

since we're talking ruth bader ginsburg
posted by entropicamericana at 2:47 PM on September 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

also, since when is $750 = 2 X $250?

You give $250, and they match with another $250, and then match again (DOUBLE MATCH) with yet another $250. So the total is $750.
posted by OnceUponATime at 2:51 PM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

But yeah, including Cubans in anything trying to gauge the feelings of "Hispanics" skews things a lot.

As a Hispanic woman, can I just say how much it really irritates me when white Americans try to say that Cubans are different and special than all other Hispanics? They're not. They share a lot of values and common culture and experiences with many other Hispanic-Americans.

Hispanic-Americans tend to have their own similar Spanish acculturation, but they have different voting interests according to a lot of factors, including how successful they have been in America and how much they feel they have to lose. More recent immigrants are going to prioritize immigration law more; second and third generation families are often going to prioritize property laws more. But that doesn't make them less comprehendably Hispanic unless your idea of "what is a Hispanic" is a stereotypical new immigrant who came with nothing but the clothes on their back and no established family ties.
posted by corb at 2:52 PM on September 27, 2017 [21 favorites]

Having experience with the Castro regime does tend to make one a little warier about "socialism," though. Some of the most libertarian libertarians I've ever met were Cuban immigrants. Like how Ayn Rand became Ayn Rand because she grew up in the USSR. (People who hate the system so much that they leave and come to America are probably more opposed than the people who stay...)

Of course, many immigrants from South America have their own experiences with communist dictatorships, and I know you've mentioned a little about your own family's history before, Corb. So that doesn't totally set Cubans apart either, though the Castro regime is kind of its own thing.

I'm gonna go with a guess of "reflexive opposition to anything that smells at all like communism among people whose ancestral homelands had disastrous run-ins with communism" combined with "Catholic opposition to abortion" to account for that 40%.
posted by OnceUponATime at 3:00 PM on September 27, 2017

And... Catholic opposition to Muslims, in some cases. Just because someone isn't white, doesn't mean they can't be prejudiced. And the Catholic church has an Islamophobic faction that is... much larger than it should be.

Prejudice against Muslims is the shared "value" that holds a lot of Trump's coalition together.
posted by OnceUponATime at 3:14 PM on September 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

Trump says he's working on an executive order to allow people to buy health insurance across state lines,

Time for the progressive -- and healthier -- states to get back to work on their own quasi-public multistate provider. Then when it becomes the only decent insurance available the red states will sue for access, or attempt to nationalize it. Giving us single payer.
posted by snuffleupagus at 3:20 PM on September 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

Warner sees Reddit as potential target for Russian influence

Reddit could be the next target for federal investigators exploring Russian influence over the 2016 presidential election.

A representative from Sen. Mark Warner’s (Va.) office told The Hill that Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, is interested in Reddit as a potential tool of Russian social media influence. [...]

Experts who have studied Russia’s attempts to influence the election say that Warner is right to be interested in Reddit. They note that many fake news stories can be traced back to the platform, pointing to it as the catalyst behind the spread of Pizzagate, a baseless conspiracy theory that sought to link Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to a fictitious pedophilia ring in a Washington pizzeria in the final days of the campaign.

“[Reddit] is one of the forms that some of the coordinated information campaigns happened on,” says Samantha Bradshaw, a researcher at Oxford University who has studied how governments use social media to influence public opinion. Bradshaw says that she’s witnessed patterns on the site that suggest a deliberate effort to distribute false news.

posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 3:23 PM on September 27, 2017 [29 favorites]

> I'm just going to go ahead and guess that won't be his only flight to abuse taxpayer dollars.

"Travelgate" was already used for a bullshit nothingburger Clinton scandal (but I repeat myself) so let's go with "Travelghazi".
posted by tonycpsu at 3:34 PM on September 27, 2017 [11 favorites]

Elizabeth Warren Is Getting Hillary-ed

Trump's team gunning for potential 2020 reelection rivals
posted by T.D. Strange at 3:35 PM on September 27, 2017 [11 favorites]

I would love to see something criminal come out of this against Zuckerberg. The thought of his smug face in prison delights me.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 3:39 PM on September 27, 2017 [18 favorites]

As a Hispanic woman, can I just say how much it really irritates me when white Americans try to say that Cubans are different and special than all other Hispanics? They're not. They share a lot of values and common culture and experiences with many other Hispanic-Americans.

In Florida, Cubans were about twice as likely as non-Cuban Latinos to vote for Donald Trump. More than half (54%) supported the Republican president-elect, compared with about a quarter (26%) of non-Cuban Latinos, according to National Election Pool exit poll data.

Pew Research Center, Nov. 15, 2016
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 3:41 PM on September 27, 2017 [24 favorites]

Elizabeth Warren Is Getting Hillary-ed

Ask Scott Brown how that worked out for him.
posted by adamg at 3:44 PM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

Warner sees Reddit as potential target for Russian influence

It won't surprise me at all if r/The_Donald turns out to be at the heart of the Russian influence campaign.
posted by diogenes at 3:56 PM on September 27, 2017 [45 favorites]

"Travelgate" was already used for a bullshit nothingburger Clinton scandal (but I repeat myself) so let's go with "Travelghazi".

The Caviar Cabinet?
posted by duffell at 4:04 PM on September 27, 2017

More like Scott Flew-it right?
posted by ian1977 at 4:08 PM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

The tax 'reform' thing helps the lower middle class how? A quick internet search suggests that 77 million households in the US pay no federal income tax. How in the hell does anyone in one of these households (like me) benefit from having a larger standard deduction? A deduction doesn't work like a credit like EIC. You can't take a deduction to the bank if you already have a low income or a low adjusted income. So what the fuck? Is this fooling anyone? People don't remember Romney complaining about the many many people who pay zero to the IRS? It was less than five years ago. (Seems like an eternity.) (I am ignoring trickle down. I'm a skeptic.)

I know that Trump lies and fabricates and makes non-factual claims. I'm still startled that facts can't pop out like Pokemon and do battle against political lies with any degree of effectiveness.
posted by puddledork at 4:17 PM on September 27, 2017 [15 favorites]

Maggie Haberman ✔@maggieNYT
It's this keen understanding of media and politics that you demonstrated with your own modeling

Maggie Haberman is obviously not a Mefite, as if she had been following the threads here leading up to the election, she would've known that Nate Silver was pretty much the only statistician whose numbers reflected the changing reality of polls on the ground in the closely-contested states. Of course, at the time we pilloried him for it, as did just about everybody who wasn't already in the tank for trump.

Election night must have been quite a trip for him—to feel simultaneously sickened yet also vindicated by the horrors as they unfolded...
posted by Atom Eyes at 4:35 PM on September 27, 2017 [35 favorites]

I think that, within the set of all Latinx/Hispano-descended folks all over the world, Cubans are as diverse and multi-culti as those from any other nation.

Cubans in the U.S., though, esp. those who arrived in the 60s, have a *tendency* toward political conservatism that goes beyond the Catholic, "family-oriented" culture that many Latinx have in common. That's nothing to do with Cuban culture, but rather why they came here, and who they were when they were at home. Or so I've come to believe.
posted by allthinky at 4:51 PM on September 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

Progressives need to prepare to go to war on this tax bill just like the Obamacare repeal deal. It's going to blow a $3 trillion to $5 trillion hole in the budget. And in a couple of years, Republicans will turn around and say we have to cut Medicare, Medicaid, and/or Social Security because we can no longer afford it, just look at the skyrocketing debt.

This was exactly their game plan during the Bush years. Bush was handed the first budget surplus in decades by Clinton and the 2001 Bush tax cuts quickly turned that into enormous deficits. Dick Cheney famously said it "this is our due." This was quickly followed by panicked cries about the "entitlement crisis" and need to cut benefits.

I hope Democrats don't fall for it again. Americans paid an awful price for the austerity budgets of the last decade in order to bring down the annual deficit by nearly a trillion dollars. Republicans are set to blow it up again for the rich and again lead an attack on "entitlements."

It's worth noting that Dianne Feinstein was one of a handful of Democratic senators to cross party lines and vote for the 2001 tax cuts, in fact the only one still remaining in office.
posted by JackFlash at 4:57 PM on September 27, 2017 [55 favorites]

I don't think Corker's statement in his announcement that he was retiring, which AtomEyes quotes in this comment, that the most important public service he has to offer the country could occur over the next 15 months has gotten enough attention overall. To me it is quite clearly a statement by Corker that if the evidence calls for it he is willing to fall on the cheeto grenade and be the first major Republican in government to move to impeach Trump.

(Ok, he's a Senator and the House starts the process but you know what I mean.)
posted by Justinian at 4:59 PM on September 27, 2017 [8 favorites]

Gosh, it's almost like the First Amendment lets anybody buy an ad for anything.

This whole Facebook thing smells like a red herring to me. What's next, that Russians are allowed to produce movies?
posted by rhizome at 5:00 PM on September 27, 2017

As a Hispanic woman, can I just say how much it really irritates me when white Americans try to say that Cubans are different and special than all other Hispanics? They're not.

If you are replying to my comment, the "white Americans" you are referring to grew up in an extremely small town without paved roads in Nayarit, Mexico.
posted by sideshow at 5:08 PM on September 27, 2017 [13 favorites]

It's worth noting that Dianne Feinstein was one of a handful of Democratic senators to cross party lines and vote for the 2001 tax cuts, in fact the only one still remaining in office.

She will do it again. That's why California must primary her.
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:09 PM on September 27, 2017 [15 favorites]

Yeah, foreigners can’t buy ads that advocate for one candidate or another, can’t buy electioneering ads that campaign indirectly for one candidate or another and can’t coordinate with a candidate. The laws are kinda old though, and internet ads are kind of in a loophole zone. At least that’s what I learned the last time I googled it.
posted by notyou at 5:11 PM on September 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

If there's one thing that can unite Mefites of all stripes it is our antipathy for Dianne Feinstein. Thanks for all the hard work, Senator Feinstein, please accept this crappy gold watch as our thanks on your way out the door.
posted by Justinian at 5:11 PM on September 27, 2017 [10 favorites]

DiiiiiiFiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!
posted by notyou at 5:12 PM on September 27, 2017

hopefully someone more knowledgable than I will chime in here, but I'm pretty sure that expenditures on U.S. elections by foreign nationals or corporations is a federal crime?

I'd be delighted if someone would post a link to an ELI5-level survey of the current laws surrounding these actions.
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 5:13 PM on September 27, 2017

I doubt that buying an ad for BLM would be considered an election expenditure, and even then, Citizen's United created a large hole to drive through. I wouldn't be surprised if the only regulated election advertising is that which mentions a candidate by name.
posted by rhizome at 5:19 PM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

Cubans in the U.S., though, esp. those who arrived in the 60s, have a *tendency* toward political conservatism that goes beyond the Catholic, "family-oriented" culture that many Latinx have in common. That's nothing to do with Cuban culture, but rather why they came here, and who they were when they were at home.

Cubans -as well as other Central/South Americans, especially those who possessed wealth in their former countries - who arrived fleeing communists tend to be more politically conservative in the US, yes, that's definitely true. But I feel like there's this undercurrent of white Americans who believe that Cubans, and other Hispanic immigrants who don't meet their idea of what a Hispanic immigrant should be, "don't count", or "skew" the "Hispanic narrative". I don't mind when people point out voting differences - but Cubans are a normal part of the Hispanic experience, not some weird outsiders.

(A really great piece about the diversity of the Hispanic/Latin experience is Carlos Andres Gomez's "Juan Valdez, or, Why Is A White Guy Like You Named Carlos")
posted by corb at 5:22 PM on September 27, 2017 [8 favorites]

Gosh, it's almost like the First Amendment lets anybody buy an ad for anything.

It's not necessarily illegal (but it very well could be if it's done in coordination with a campaign, whether anyone needed to register as a foreign agent, etc...), but agents of the Russian government exploiting social issues to cause division and chaos in our country is a rather large problem whether it's legal or not. Russian operatives promoting an Islamophobic protest in the US isn't something we should shrug at.
posted by zachlipton at 5:23 PM on September 27, 2017 [40 favorites]

I don't think Corker's statement in his announcement that he was retiring, which AtomEyes quotes in this comment, that the most important public service he has to offer the country could occur over the next 15 months has gotten enough attention overall. To me it is quite clearly a statement by Corker that if the evidence calls for it he is willing to fall on the cheeto grenade and be the first major Republican in government to move to impeach Trump.

I'm hoping so, but I'm worried about the kinds of "important public service" that the GOP might be cooking up in the next year. OTOH it's not like the GOP will be hurting for senators to vote the party line, so Corker himself isn't necessarily required for the real nasty business, soo... I dunno. Very interested to know what it is.
posted by jason_steakums at 5:25 PM on September 27, 2017

And to bring it back round to Trump, even if he and his campaign broke no laws or did anything improper, it's a significant problem for the President of the United States to find nothing wrong with Russian operatives seeking to exploit social divisions and organizing hateful protests on US soil, particularly when said President seeks to exploit the same divisions and spread hate himself.
posted by zachlipton at 5:36 PM on September 27, 2017 [28 favorites]

But I feel like there's this undercurrent of white Americans who believe that Cubans, and other Hispanic immigrants who don't meet their idea of what a Hispanic immigrant should be, "don't count", or "skew" the "Hispanic narrative".

There's a big problem with local Democratic parties in the Midwest (probably all over, and all the way up to the national party, but local is what I can speak to) thinking of the local Hispanic population as a monoculture that will just vote Democrat without the party having to put in any effort like really getting to know them, including them, letting them lead, selling them on policies (you know, real politicking, like the local parties do for white people!), and it's so frustrating to see the "Well, we tried everything! They just don't vote!" party response to that.
posted by jason_steakums at 5:41 PM on September 27, 2017 [14 favorites]

Politico, John Bresnahan, Senate Republicans have never heard of Roy Moore: "Numerous GOP senators said they were not familiar with the Alabama Senate candidate’s controversial views — but they want him elected."

Senate Republicans say they know almost nothing about Roy Moore, their wildly controversial candidate in the Alabama special election. But they really, really want him to be elected to the Senate.

What about Moore's history of racially insensitive comments? Haven't heard anything. Homophobic remarks? Nada. Moore's claim that some American communities are living under Sharia law? Crickets. Moore's statement that 9/11 happened "because we’ve distanced ourselves from God?" Nothing for you on that. Moore's assertion Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison shouldn't be allowed to serve in Congress because he's a Muslim? We'll get back to you. Moore saying Mitch McConnell should be replaced as Senate majority leader? Uhh, zip.

The day after Moore handily defeated incumbent GOP Sen. Luther Strange — who was backed by both McConnell and President Donald Trump — his potential future Senate GOP colleagues insist they're not aware of the years of inflammatory comments and actions by the Alabama jurist. And they're not going to "pre-judge" Moore at all because, well, he'll just be one of 100 senators and they're all equal in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body.

First place in the deliberate indifference to hate contest goes to Sen. Heller, who offered up "Who won? I wasn't paying attention...I'm just worried about taxes." But come for lots of other Republican Senators expressing ignorance over anything Moore has said or done while wanting him to win.
posted by zachlipton at 5:55 PM on September 27, 2017 [34 favorites]

He wants to cut taxes for the rich, that's all they fucking care about.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:02 PM on September 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

Corrupt as well as batshit insane, Interior Secretary (and pirate captain) Ryan Zinke is carving out a special rule exemption for his home state, to boost his future election chances there.
posted by darkstar at 6:08 PM on September 27, 2017 [10 favorites]

Yes, third parties, voter suppression etc etc. All are important. But the biggest problem, by gigantic margins, is voter apathy. For every third party or suppressed vote there are 20 people who just can't be bothered to show up.

I wish this bit of conventional wisdom could be permanently retired, at least at empirical/leftwing places like this. The reason so few people show up is that the US voting system is screwed up from top to bottom: it's on Tuesdays with no holiday; we have a far larger percentage of poor and working-class people who can't afford to take even an afternoon off; most local elections are blow-outs in our non-proportional, first-past-the-post and gerrymandered system; most states are meaningless in most presidential elections; and at least one and often both of our two main parties have spent centuries working to disenfranchise everyone but older white men from even being able to vote. Given all these huge impediments to voting, it's amazing that we get the turnout we do. Low turnout is not the fault of the voters, and it's misguided to blame them for "apathy" or other moral failings: for every person who tried to vote this year and failed, there are 20 who tried at one point earlier in their lives and failed because of work impediments, vote-blocking, or simply a sense of futility living in a district whose representative has won by 70% as long as they can remember, and whose electoral votes are irrelevant to winning the presidency. Many Americans are deplorable for many reasons, but voter apathy is really not one we can blame on the people.
posted by chortly at 6:14 PM on September 27, 2017 [97 favorites]

Apparently the Russians bought ads on Facebook for Black Lives Matter in cities which had bad experiences with BLM, presumably to scare white people.

This is straight out of the anti-American/Western poli-sci treatise Osnovy geopolitiki (Foundations of Geopolitics), a.k.a. Putin's Playbook. One of its recommendations for undermining the US is "to provoke all forms of instability and separatism within the borders of the United States (it is possible to make use of the political forces of Afro-American racists)." [emphasis added] In general, it advises, "It is especially important to introduce geopolitical disorder into internal American activity, encouraging all kinds of separatism and ethnic, social and racial conflicts, actively supporting all dissident movements—extremist, racist, and sectarian groups, thus destabilizing internal political processes in the U.S."

NEW from NYT: Russia relied heavily on Twitter to sway the 2016 vote, and the subterfuge continues: Fake accounts even stoked furor over N.F.L. protests

You don't stop using a tactic when it's still working. The Russian influence operation monitoring site Hamilton 68 lists #boycottNFL, #NFL, and #takeaknee among the top hashtags promoted by Kremlin-linked bots and trolls on Twitter in the past 48 hours.
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:21 PM on September 27, 2017 [42 favorites]

Many Americans are deplorable for many reasons, but voter apathy is really not one we can blame on the people.

no, sorry, but i really can't go for that - i've met too many people in my life who think that voting is bullshit, our political system is all bullshit and they're not going to bother voting because it's all bullshit

it doesn't help matters that it's a viewpoint with some basis in reality

if you claim to be empirical then you HAVE to be willing to confront the evidence - many potential voters don't show up because they're disgusted and don't give a damn, not because of impediments
posted by pyramid termite at 6:21 PM on September 27, 2017 [16 favorites]

@DanLamothe (WaPo)
Pentagon says there are currently about a combined 5,000 active-duty troops and National Guardsmen involved in Puerto Rico.

@EricHolthaus Retweeted Dan Lamothe
For context: 22,000 troops deployed to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake
24,000 deployed to Japan after the 2011 tsunami
And PR is in the USA.

--

And for Harvey? 13,000.
posted by chris24 at 6:26 PM on September 27, 2017 [50 favorites]

Read the Memo on the Implications of the Alabama Race for Republicans

The NYT has an incredible AL-Sen post-mortem obtained from Mitch McConnell's PAC.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:27 PM on September 27, 2017 [17 favorites]

Trump has achieved in nine months what I thought could never be done:

He's out-assholed Jackson,

out-stupided Bush the Lesser.

and out-corrupted Nixon.

Quite the hat trick.
posted by darkstar at 6:28 PM on September 27, 2017 [31 favorites]

Read the Memo on the Implications of the Alabama Race for Republicans

#4 is really significant:

4. The Republican Congress has replaced President Obama as the bogeyman for conservative GOP primary voters. Opposition to Obama used to be a mainstay of Republican messaging. In Alabama, Strange’s litigation against Obama’s executive actions would have been political gold a year ago. But with Obama out of the picture, our polling found the issue to be a middling votegetter. Now the answer to what is wrong in Washington is the Republican Congress. A new CNN national poll found 53% of Republican voters think the Republican Congress is taking the party in the wrong direction, compared to 79% who prefer Trump’s vision for the party. In the NBC poll, just 27% of Trump supporters and 51% of Republican party supporters are “satisfied” with Republicans in Washington. This narrative is driven by Trump himself, and it resonates with primary voters who believe the Republican Congress “isn’t doing enough” (as we frequently heard in focus groups) to advance the President’s agenda.

In short, the Republican base hates McConnell like they used to hate Obama. And Trump is the one twisting the knife.
posted by zachlipton at 6:38 PM on September 27, 2017 [63 favorites]

if you claim to be empirical then you HAVE to be willing to confront the evidence - many potential voters don't show up because they're disgusted and don't give a damn, not because of impediments

And why are they "disgusted and don't give a damn"? I mean, sure, we can always find someone to blame for being willfully petty, but when we're talking about the US turnout levels vs other developed democracies, the "why" is only answerable based on structural differences between our country and all those others -- and by far the largest differences are due to FPP gerrymandered supermajority districts, Tuesdays, poor worker rights, the electoral college, and the like. It's not an actual explanation to just say that Americans are just bad people -- it's really a form of reverse American exceptionalism, as well as being anti-empirical. It's trendy to blame voters for being hateful or apathetic and revile social scientific attempts to provide antecedent causes for those voter behaviors, but with turnout at least, there's a voluminous social science literature explaining how much of the US turnout difference compared to other countries is due to these structural factors. Having "met too many people" who are deadbeats is not "evidence;" at best, it's a proximate explanation for how systemic impediments have turned off so many potential voters.
posted by chortly at 6:41 PM on September 27, 2017 [31 favorites]

unfortunately, the apathy i'm talking about is not a new phenomenon - look at the actual stats

the voter turnout in 1932, 1948, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2012 was less than in 2016

this is a significant and constant pattern and a very empirical one - using occam's razor, what is the simplest explanation?

that through the last 85 years a significant section of the american people just don't care and that outnumbers all other reasons - this doesn't mean that voter suppression doesn't exist, but it's far outweighed by those who are apathetic and/or disgusted

yes, i've met these people - and you have too - there's too many of them for us not to meet them
posted by pyramid termite at 7:02 PM on September 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

pyramid termite, Tuesdays, gerrymandering, and voter suppression are also consistent through all of those years (well, voter suppression was obviously worse at some points than others).

My political theorist friend tells me that the U.S. made Tuesday ballot day because it allowed folks to travel on Mondays to their polling place and Wednesdays back home, back when transport was human- and animal-powered and polling places few and far between.

Obviously the reason for Tuesday balloting died a long time ago but we still do it. We don't give a holiday. And we cut the power of people's votes with gerrymandered districts.

Disgust and apathy are endemic to all of these issues, not independent of them.
posted by allthinky at 7:17 PM on September 27, 2017 [21 favorites]

Huh: The BBC Launches Korean Language News: A New Option for North Korean Radio Listeners. "On September 25, the BBC launched its Korean-language service, adding another voice to radio stations already targeting North Koreans with news and information....Officially, the BBC says its broadcasts are intended for the “Korean peninsula”—no doubt an attempt to partially deflect complaints from the North Korean government—but there is little doubt of who the real target is."
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:21 PM on September 27, 2017 [16 favorites]

You know what breeds disgust and apathy? Voting for the candidate who wins the most votes, but still "loses". Voting for the party that gets the most votes, but loses. We're teaching generations of kids that their vote does not count, because Republicans will cheat anyway.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:30 PM on September 27, 2017 [75 favorites]

I agree with you, T.D. Strange. How do you propose we correct it?
posted by Archelaus at 7:32 PM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

Sure, we can understand and even sympathise with apathy and disgust; but will apathy and disgust -- in short, inaction -- solve the problem?
posted by phliar at 7:43 PM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

40% of the times I've voted for President in my lifetime, the candidate who won the most votes, lost.

How do you propose we correct it?

We probably can't. At least not without first defeating the Republican party entirely, and that's a political question, not a structural one. The solution would be to rewrite the Constitution to eliminate the electoral college and the malapportioned Senate, and that won't happen. The next best solution would be to push enough states to sign the popular vote interstate compact on the Presidential level, which would help. The Senate will remain an unsolvable problem that will continue getting worse as Democrats continue to self-sort into the cities and Republicans are left with misrepresented land area as a de facto veto over the majority of the population. A SCOTUS ruling against partisan gerrymandering could've also gone a long way, but that's also now most likely dead after the generational loss of Stolen Justice Gorsuch's seat.

The problem with structural failures is correcting them requires reimaging the entire foundation. This country is not equipped to do that, because one party benefits disproportionately from the broken system and has zero desire or incentive to revise it more equitably. Rather, they fully realize their advantage and are completely committed to maintaining and increasing it by any means necessary, including treason.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:44 PM on September 27, 2017 [28 favorites]

Ah, you don't have to eliminate the electoral college and redesign the Senate. You just need to change the gerrymandering law to use Voronoi projection (optimally compact) districting.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 7:59 PM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

You can't fix gerrymandering with math because Democrats and Republicans have different spatial clustering characteristics. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you a gerrymandering scheme that claims to not be gerrymandering.
posted by 0xFCAF at 8:06 PM on September 27, 2017 [9 favorites]

A centroidal Voronoi tessellation, as though the voting districts were designed by bees? I knew that the bees would come back in somehow.
posted by XMLicious at 8:07 PM on September 27, 2017 [17 favorites]

Even if you can design perfectly fair 50/50 districts with math (a) that requires implementation at the state levels and Republican controlled states have no incentive to do it, and (b) doesn't fix the Senate problem, because the Senate is in effect a permanent gerrymander enshrined in the Constitution. There's no fixing the Senate.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:10 PM on September 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

Pentagon says there are currently about a combined 5,000 active-duty troops and National Guardsmen involved in Puerto Rico.

This is the result of wondering whether to fish or cut bait for a half century. We need you as a state, Puerto Rico, so we can protect and aid you adequately with the full power and mighty coffers of the Union. Trump is deliberately punishing you for not being his kinda "white" and not voting for him.

While we're at it, the Far Pacific, in all of its archipelagoes and island oases, deserves a state if Wyoming does.

The storm isn't coming. It's here. We must fight together. As Americans.

Let me derail a bit - "Americans Speak English." No. In parts of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Louisiana, they speak French dialects. They have since before the founding of the Republic. Marten Van Buren, the President, grew up without knowing a lick of English, he had to learn it as a second language, his family spoke Dutch. They were here before most of our immigrant forebears.

Americans speak Castillian spanish, and some families in New Mexico have been speaking it since before Jamestown.

Texans and Pennsylvanians who to this day speak a German dialect first as a child, english second, and this has been going on since the Revolutionary War.

And these are all European Languages! There are a lot of languages that have been around since before Columbus spoken on the mainland and in the Pacific that are taught to babies in their own home as their language.

There are newer languages that are American, many of them uniquely so. Justice Clarence Thomas grew up speaking Gullah, not English.

Spanish is one of two dominant languages in Puerto Rico, and as an American with a firm grasp of what it means to be American... you should be completely unfazed by that...

...Unless you're a horrible White-ethno-nationalist who likes parading around in polo-shirts with tiki-torches.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:10 PM on September 27, 2017 [54 favorites]

50/50 districts aren't "fair". When every 50/50 district swings 2 points (for example, because an unpopular figure is at the top of the ticket), the popular party gets 100% of the seats with 52% of the vote.

This is because you can't fix gerrymandering with math.
posted by 0xFCAF at 8:12 PM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

Elizabeth Warren Is Getting Hillary-ed

They've been trying to smear her for years and all they've got is the "Pocohontas" slur. There is no comparison to Clinton.
posted by Coventry at 8:13 PM on September 27, 2017

And almost all geometry-based solutions will lead to a "cracking and packing" district set where the major city in the area gets a central 90% D district and all the outlying suburban areas get the outer slices of the city and run 60/40% R.

This is because you can't fix gerrymandering with math.
posted by 0xFCAF at 8:14 PM on September 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

And for Harvey? 13,000.

Sounds like Hoover. He famously was able to save a huge number of Russians from a terrible famine but believed that American exceptionalism made our population capable of withstanding the ravages of the Great Depression without much intervention. He was wrong, of course, and utterly failed to meet the social and economic challenges of his time.
posted by xyzzy at 8:14 PM on September 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

> They've been trying to smear her for years and all they've got is the "Pocohontas" slur. There is no comparison to Clinton.

They didn't actually have anything on Clinton either -- they just made shit up. They will do the same with Warren.
posted by tonycpsu at 8:15 PM on September 27, 2017 [64 favorites]

The way it works is obvious. The media needs to have a "balanced" narrative, so they take two equal-sized scandal buckets and fill up each bucket every day. The bucket must always get filled, even if the well is dry.

Warren - what about her college application?
Trump - what about his war crimes?
Warren - what about her college application?
Trump - what about his insider trading?
Warren - what about her college application?
Trump - what about his tax returns?
Warren - what about her college application?
Trump - what about his deals with the Russians?
Warren - what about her college application?
Trump - what about his grifting?
Warren - what about her college application?
Trump - what about his inability to know where he is most of the time?
Warren - what about her college application?
Trump - what about his blatant racism?

Election day comes around and voters go "Huh, Warren did something fishy on her college application! I don't really remember anything so bad about Trump. 4 more years!"
posted by 0xFCAF at 8:21 PM on September 27, 2017 [73 favorites]

One of the most effective strategies against Clinton was coming up with ways to attack her from the Left... it's harder to do with Warren and Klobuschar... but Kamala Harris with her background as a prosecutor may be more vulnerable to that.
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:21 PM on September 27, 2017

According to the article, right-wingers are attacking Warren from the left:

The familiar themes of those radio ads bore fruit on a national scale last week, when right-wing Boston radio host Jeff Kuhner confronted the Massachusetts senator after her appearance at a Boston TV station, posting the video on Twitter on September 18. The video shows Kuhner questioning Warren about the price of her Cambridge home and about her Harvard salary, repeatedly calling her a hypocrite, piggybacking on the narrative of the Mercer-backed radio ads: “You are part of the one percent … You are a multimillionaire and you have a mansion in Cambridge, do you not?” Kuhner presses her. “You’re part of the one percent and yet you rail against the one percent. Do you not see the hypocrisy there?”

After posting the video, Kuhner repeatedly tweeted the clip at Donald Trump and conservative news outlets, alongside descriptions of Warren as a “phony Indian, a phony progressive & a phony senator,” who “made millions shilling for big banks, corporations & insurance giants” and “got rich by flipping homes, taking advantage of old ladies. She embodies crony capitalism.”

I'd like to think that actual progressives will recognize this as bullshit, but I don't have a ton of faith in that.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:24 PM on September 27, 2017 [23 favorites]

It didn't work when they tried to attack Bernie that way, and I don't think it'll work on her.
posted by Coventry at 8:26 PM on September 27, 2017

Oh, it's weird to log into Metafilter and see people talking about Cubans and voting in the US. I think I've talked about being Cuban in political threads here before, and my dad was one of the ones who voted for Trump (I think he's come to regret that, honestly). I really can't talk for all Cubans because it's a very diverse group of people, but I can talk about my family and what I've seen in the community.

The segment of Cubans I come from are exiles that came over during the 60s, many of whom were former business owners and all of whom were granted a path to citizenship upon entering the United States. It's a segment that is not brown; I use the label 'stealth Hispanics' privately in my own head. And really, Cubans do not have a monopoly on being 'stealth'. There are large swaths of Latin America who are Caucasian, which is why even the US Census counts Hispanic status on a separate axis from race. It's really confusing and one of the things that underscores that people of Hispanic origin are not homogeneous.

There are not many Cubans as a proportion of the population, but we are over-represented in areas of power. Out of our three senators of Hispanic heritage, all three are Cuban. Every mayor of Miami back to the 70s has been Cuban. Jeff Bezos is Cuban. John Sununu is Cuban. Jim Acosta is Cuban.

So, as a Cuban you always saw people from my ethnic group in positions of power. Citizenship was in reach if you didn't have it already, so you could feel safe investing in homes and businesses. And if you we're white enough and your English is good enough it's easy to just blend in and not mention that you're hispanic unless you're around people you trust. Or maybe you even forget most of the time that there are people who would think you're ruining America just by being here.

As for the Cuban vote, many are still nursing a grudge with the Clintons over Elian Gonzalez. Others don't like taxes or abortions or are suspicious of immigrants from other parts of Latin America. I'm willing to bet that many who voted for Trump have lighter skin and less accent and the privilege of forgetting.

For me, I've had enough experiences to see that I don't want anything to do with a party that wants to preserve a culture that never existed, one that does not include me. It is a party whose members regularly equate Hispanic people with drug gangs and criminals with no real consequences. The Cuban voting divide is generational. I think a lot of Cubans in my generation see ourselves as part of a larger, diverse Hispanic group. That's because the people who are afraid of and hate Hispanic/Latino people are not very good at making the distinction between us and everyone else.

In summary, Cuban-Americans are a land of contrasts.
posted by Alison at 8:39 PM on September 27, 2017 [77 favorites]

He's out-assholed Jackson

I think to out asshole Jackson, he'd have to cause the deaths of several million ... wait ... oh god ...
posted by Jonathan Livengood at 8:43 PM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

This is because you can't fix gerrymandering with math.

Do you mean fix politically, or as you're demonstrating, fixing its meaning to a consistent definition? You seem to define gerrymandering as basically anything about voting you don't like.

I mean, defining the Senate as gerrymandering? The state boundaries are not drawn to a political party's advantage, and expecting that the Senate should follow population like the House is supposed to will absolutely fuck over everywhere that's not a city. Many countries with functional electoral systems weigh the results in favour of rural areas because otherwise rural interests never get heard.
posted by Merus at 8:44 PM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

You can't fix gerrymandering with math because Democrats and Republicans have different spatial clustering characteristics. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you a gerrymandering scheme that claims to not be gerrymandering.

Apparently you didn't read the link to Wang and Remlinger linked above. Sam Wang and Brian Remlinger know quite a bit about math.

In particular take note of the illustration about half way down labeled "Partisan gerrymandering packs some communities into single districts." It shows how clustering can be used not just for packing but also for splitting.

There is quite a bit that can be done to reduce gerrymandering and it does involve math.
posted by JackFlash at 8:46 PM on September 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

oh man this is quite the retort

I liked the retort better before I read the whole article where he called protesting NFL players "overpaid pansies." Racism and Homophobia in one sentence! A Milkshake Duck for the ages!
posted by mmoncur at 8:50 PM on September 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

You can't fix gerrymandering with math

I think this is supposed to mean something like "you can't get proportional representation out of a system which is deliberately disproportionate," which is true.

But we could fix the system. Without a constitutional ammendment. Ask your reps to support the Fair Representation Act. And ask your state legislature to sign on to the National Popular Vote Compact.
posted by OnceUponATime at 8:56 PM on September 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

They've been trying to smear her for years and all they've got is the "Pocohontas" slur.

Nah. I've been seeing "ex-Republican, Elizabeth Warren" all over my Facebook lately. Also complaints about the size of her house that she defended herself against by mentioning her working class upbringing and early marriage sitch.
posted by xyzzy at 8:57 PM on September 27, 2017 [6 favorites]

SO in other words, the tarring and feathering of Warren by the left, that the dirtbag left attacking Clinton *swore* would never happen, (I'm not sexist, I would vote for Warren! She doesn't have the problems Clinton has!) is about to or is in the process of happening?

I'm shocked! Shocked! there's gambling going on here.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 9:02 PM on September 27, 2017 [27 favorites]

> SO in other words, the tarring and feathering of Warren by the left, that the dirtbag left attacking Clinton *swore* would never happen, (I'm not sexist, I would vote for Warren! She doesn't have the problems Clinton has!) is about to or is in the process of happening?

On the one hand, she's co-sponsored Medicare-for-all, done more to regulate banks than anyone, staunchly supported unions, and wants the wealthy to pay more taxes.

On the other hand, she didn't endorse Bernie, and was a Republican back when MTV played music videos.

So you can see the leftist dilemma.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:09 PM on September 27, 2017 [35 favorites]

Yes, going to a statewide proportional representation system, rather than single member first past the post districts, would solve gerrymandering. Whether that counts as "with math," I will leave as an exercise for the reader.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:09 PM on September 27, 2017

>You can't fix gerrymandering with math

>I think this is supposed to mean something like "you can't get proportional representation out of a system which is deliberately disproportionate," which is true.

No, he is claiming that you can't fix gerrymandering with math because Democrats are clustered in cities. This is simply a false claim. Democratic clustering makes gerrymandering easy for Republicans. It doesn't make it inevitable. Math can identify it and fix it.
posted by JackFlash at 9:10 PM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

unless i'm misreading it appears it's republicans and republican donors trying to smear Warren, not the left?

Does it matter if the attacks are aimed and targeted at Democrats/lefties?
posted by xyzzy at 9:13 PM on September 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

Well, it only works on Democrats/lefties who are (1) total idiots or (2) total sexists. Significant groups but not the largest...
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:15 PM on September 27, 2017 [2 favorites]

What is up with 40% of Hispanic voters? What are they seeing that I'm not?

53 percent of Hispanic voters identify as white, so... yeah, that's pretty much it.
posted by mightygodking at 9:17 PM on September 27, 2017 [4 favorites]

Warner sees Reddit as potential target for Russian influence

Someone was manipulating the results, as I noted here at the time. On /r/politics, the biggest subreddit with 2-3 million subscribers, there was a consistent 5,000 up votes (or downvotes) that highlighted any pro-Bernie or anti-Hillary story through the primaries (and the occasional pro-Trump story, though those congregated in /r/The_Donald. Stories that countered that narrative were buried.

The subreddit was effectively owned, almost completely. And it was striking how few people were around to defend the articles; people actually making comments in the threads were much more pro-Hillary.

Literally the day that Bernie called off his campaign, that force went away. it wasn't clear at the time if this was from Russian troll-bots or the efforts of Revolution Messaging, the online content consultant that got a ridiculous portion of the Sanders campaign's funds (something like 40% of all expenditures.)
posted by msalt at 9:17 PM on September 27, 2017 [31 favorites]

> unless i'm misreading it appears it's republicans and republican donors trying to smear Warren, not the left?

Traister cites several instances of the attacks on Warren gaining traction on the left. One might be tempted to write it off as a few carnival barkers preaching to a lunatic fringe, but given the prior art of leftists and wingnuts rowing in the same direction against Clinton in 2016 and using the same talking points re: Russian influence, "rigging" of elections, etc. I don't think it's a mistake to take the threat of a horseshoe theory coalition against Warren (or any other insufficiently pure progressive) seriously.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:21 PM on September 27, 2017 [20 favorites]

and all this feels like it's coming from the same exhausting "relitigating the primaries" places

I'm just tired of seeing genuinely good-hearted lefties swayed by literal propaganda. I saw it happen with Clinton who at least voted like a lefty if she didn't actually believe in all the things and now I'm seeing it with people I believe to be true progressives. I fully support efforts by Facebook to make the SOURCE of an ad or article more transparent. I don't think it will solve the problem completely, but more information is better, imho.
posted by xyzzy at 9:25 PM on September 27, 2017 [12 favorites]

it is a fact, not a speculation or a smear or a slur, that Warren was once a Republican. it is not the fault of a right-wing propaganda campaign if some people are only now learning about this; it's not a secret and I don't believe she's ever denied it or exhibited the kind of remorse that some would find appropriate for an error of that magnitude.

It's not news. It should be old news and it should have no effect, and if anybody is bothered by it then maybe their vague support of Warren as featureless figurehead wasn't based on knowing very much of anything about her. the education will be good for them.

me personally, I strongly dislike her, maybe nearly half as much as I dislike Bernie Sanders. a lot of that is, as with Sanders, entirely based on feeling and on their voices and the way they (literally) speak to the public. And if I ever have a chance to vote for her for any office without moving to her state first, I will take it. I will take it; I will also argue with her detractors until I throw up or they die; I will also send her money. I will do all this because it will be so obviously the right thing to do that even I with my mighty imagination will not be able to think of any reason at all that I would be able to live with myself if I didn't do it.

also, I'll do it because it will make me better than the Clinton-hating self-described Warren fans of the last primary season and presidential election, and I will feel terrific about that.
posted by queenofbithynia at 9:26 PM on September 27, 2017 [24 favorites]

How do you propose we correct it? ( people not voting )

I think the #1 problem is the denial of service attacks along 2 related vectors.

1) Russian hackers fucking up the voter REGISTRATION database.

"Sorry, sir, you're not in the book..."

2) Waiting > 15 minutes to cast a ballot.

When the people working the polls have to stop and deal with all the exceptions, the line forms. There's never enough machines on a good day, so people either spend hours or bail.

What I've done is this. I joined the Albany County, NY board of elections as an "Elections Inspector", and that means I WORK THE POLLS, and do whatever the hell I can to make sure everyone walking in with a right to vote, GETS TO VOTE with a minimum of bullshit.

The only having one scanner thing, and having to wait for the elections officer with a spare is more common than you'd like to think, and people don't like using the "Emergency Ballot Box" built into the thing and sealed, so they wait, or bail.

We should have congressional legislation to get the thing down to 30 minutes or less. Voting should be as easy as ordering a fucking pizza!

So, step 1: Call your county's board of elections.
Step 2: Ask how you can help at the polls.
Step 3: 2 or 3 hours training at their offices.
Step 4: Help Americans Vote.
posted by mikelieman at 9:29 PM on September 27, 2017 [31 favorites]

ELECTIONS NEWS

** 2018 Senate:

-- NFL QB/sexual assaulter Payton Manning has said he is not interested in Corker's Senate seat. Rep Marsha Blackburn, on the other hand, looks almost certain to get in.

-- Good WP "who is this Doug Jones guy" piece about the Dem challenger in Alabama.

-- Cherry Communications poll of the likely FL Senate matchup has Gov Scott up 47-45 on Sen Nelson. Possible caution that there are signs this one may have oversampled Republicans.

-- Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer seems to be mulling a bid to primary Diane Feinstein. That would be a challenging race. On the other hand, it's almost October, and Feinstein still has not formally announced a re-elect bid. FWIW, she's 84 years old.

-- Orrin Hatch still hasn't decided either. He's 83.

** Odds & ends:

-- As expected, California has formally moved its presidential primary to the beginning of March. This can be expected to boost candidates from California (probably from the West Coast in general), but really puts an emphasis on candidates with big $$$. [LAT]

-- Some nice charts from DailyKos on Dem overperformance in special elections so far.

-- Spending for the House midterms already exceeded the entirety spent in 2012.

posted by Chrysostom at 9:40 PM on September 27, 2017 [34 favorites]

I'm just tired of seeing genuinely good-hearted lefties swayed by literal propaganda.


People can be inoculated against ideas. People interested in seeing Warren succeed can get ahead of the attacks with their own take, with bonus points for showing how the bad spins to come are motivated by shared opponents.
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 9:52 PM on September 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer seems to be mulling a bid to primary Diane Feinstein.

He's one of the D's largest donors (kind of like our Koch) and expressed a ton of frustration about a lack of progressive candidates and a general lack of progressive leadership in the current party. I don't know enough about him to know if I would be in favor of him specifically, but I am very much in favor of getting rid of Feinstein.
posted by xyzzy at 9:56 PM on September 27, 2017 [12 favorites]

I don't want Feinstein primaried, I want her to retire. She's 84 blimmin years old it's time to give someone else a turn. I would love for that to be Ted Lieu, but really we've got quite a few great Reps who could become great Senators for California.
posted by supercrayon at 10:04 PM on September 27, 2017 [29 favorites]

> I think it's silly to think the cited January CNBC/Young Turks guy editorial and some tweets criticizing her for meeting with Wall Street people is evidence leftist attacks on Warren are gaining traction.

It's undeniably evidence of some traction. We can quibble about how strong the evidence is, or how much reach these folks have, but having seen how powerful attacks on Democrats from the left can be when they're politically useful to the right, a healthy dose of caution is warranted.
posted by tonycpsu at 10:10 PM on September 27, 2017 [7 favorites]

If DiFi does retire, there will be about 35 people running.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:11 PM on September 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

I don't want Feinstein primaried, I want her to retire

Me too, but she doesn't seem to be moving that direction. Maybe a robust primary threat is the gentle nudge she needs to make the right decision.
posted by contraption at 10:39 PM on September 27, 2017 [7 favorites]

Steyer is a billionaire and seems to think he can solve political problems by throwing money at them. OTOH he is truly invested in the climate change issue and wants to do right by the people of this country. If we have to have another Richie Rich in national politics, we could do much worse.
posted by suelac at 10:51 PM on September 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

SO in other words, the tarring and feathering of Warren by the left, that the dirtbag left attacking Clinton *swore* would never happen, (I'm not sexist, I would vote for Warren! She doesn't have the problems Clinton has!) is about to or is in the process of happening?

Which is something I predicted a year ago, back when people were going "Oh, we need a REAL TRUE progressive candidate like Warren, not that shifty, Wall-Street lovin' Clinyon." But no, they kept going on about how perfect a candidate Warren would be. I'm pretty damn certain in 2020 the same people will be nodding their heads and saying loudly and repeatedly "Warren? Such a horribly flawed candidate. Not a true progressive at all. I never trusted her."

If it even comes to that. I think we're at the start of a purging of women from leadership positions in the Democratic party, in favor of "young blood" that happens to be all male. Even without that, it's going to be another 32 or more years before a woman Democrat runs for president, so it won't be either Warren or Harris, or anybody in our sight.
posted by happyroach at 11:02 PM on September 27, 2017 [65 favorites]

Happyroach, you have expressed all my fears in one post. Well done, I guess.
posted by greermahoney at 11:04 PM on September 27, 2017 [16 favorites]

I think we're at the start of a purging of women from leadership positions in the Democratic party, in favor of "young blood" that happens to be all male. Even without that, it's going to be another 32 or more years before a woman Democrat runs for president, so it won't be either Warren or Harris, or anybody in our sight.

What? I can think of at least three likely female Dem candidates - Harris, Klobuchar, Gillibrand.
posted by Chrysostom at 11:31 PM on September 27, 2017 [10 favorites]

And already people have turned on Harris, can't trust a prosecutor after all! All our female candidates have to be pure pure pure! I bet a simple google which I do not have the heart for will show whatever "purity" problems people have with Klobuchar and Gillibrand.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 11:35 PM on September 27, 2017 [30 favorites]

The Pocohontas bullshit -(that will poco haunt us) unfortunately has legs.
1) Like "emails" for Clinton it can be a concise and memorble attack that defines the candidate.
2) It gives conscious and unconscious misogynists cover to "happen" to want anyone else no matter how viable or non-viable a candidate.
3) Trump and republicans in general rely one the votes of white men and white women. "Pocohontas" gets to poke their obdula oblongata on race, on "fairness" on the absurd notion that racism has now reversed itself they are disadvantaged. Plus, they don't even have to be rasicst about it cause she's white. (though at this point it seems like a whole lotta people stopped even trying to hide or disassociate their racicism.)

fair:no; fatal, don't know. republicans will smear whoever democrats put up. how much of that smear will stick in the public mind. I mean some % of the public fell for a national candidate running a pedophile ring out of a pizzeria... so im sure we'll hear that Corey Booker drinks menstral blood and Bloomberg is a cannibal and Warren cucks her husband and #nolizzardpeoplebernie4eva
posted by Anchorite_of_Palgrave at 11:40 PM on September 27, 2017 [7 favorites]

now im depressed. We should change the legal name of whoever we nominate to "No" and tell everyone to vote "No" on all this f-ed up shite. Like where the country is headed? Vote no, happy with the national debt, your taxes your healthcare, crime, your boss,and the environment?, vote no! Trust the banks, the lawyers the politicians, the pundits? Vote "No".
posted by Anchorite_of_Palgrave at 11:44 PM on September 27, 2017 [5 favorites]

#nolizzardpeoplebernie4eva

I would give 10 to 1 against Bernie running for the nomination against any other credible progressive candidate in 2020. I think it's not a coincidence that he announced shortly after Warren said she's out.
posted by Coventry at 11:46 PM on September 27, 2017

A new PPIC poll today has 46% of Californians and 50% of likely voters saying Feinstein shouldn't run for a sixth term (vs 41% she should). 57% of Democrats say she should run again.
posted by zachlipton at 11:57 PM on September 27, 2017 [3 favorites]

Alexandra Erin: We Made A Song Our King
[via Avram Gruner on Making Light]
posted by Joe in Australia at 1:30 AM on September 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

I can think of at least three likely female Dem candidates - Harris, Klobuchar, Gillibrand.

I think the issue is that whomever the next likely female Dem candidate turns out to be, she will face the same “Oh, just not her...” bullshit.
posted by Etrigan at 1:46 AM on September 28, 2017 [37 favorites]

We should change the legal name of whoever we nominate to "No" and tell everyone to vote "No" on all this f-ed up shite.

Vote "No"? It's been done before. See, for instance, the 2012 film about the marketing campaign in 1988 in Chile to defeat Augusto Pinochet: No (trailer)
posted by Mister Bijou at 2:02 AM on September 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

Speaking of Russian Astroturfing ....

So fake grassrooting is Astroturfing, but would that term apply here? I'd be looking for something specifically catchy and that means "Damn Putin section of the Republican party again ..."
posted by tilde at 2:44 AM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

Mark Cuban, Pitbull step up, but Trump administration making Puerto Rico evacuees pay

A billionaire business shark and a “worldwide” pop star have donated the use of their own planes, but the Trump administration is making U.S. citizens pay “full fare” to be evacuated from hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico.

What’s worse, the U.S. government, in accordance with a long-standing but discretionary policy, will hold the evacuees’ passports as collateral until it gets its money.

posted by Buntix at 4:26 AM on September 28, 2017 [29 favorites]

What’s worse, the U.S. government, in accordance with a long-standing but discretionary policy, will hold the evacuees’ passports as collateral until it gets its money.

Passports to visit a US Territory? Man, the moment we can, Puerto Rico need full-on Statehood.
posted by mikelieman at 4:34 AM on September 28, 2017 [10 favorites]

Speaking of Russian Astroturfing ....

Cosmoturfing, surely.
posted by pipeski at 4:43 AM on September 28, 2017 [63 favorites]

There is absolutely a misogynistic edge to the tarring of the emerging women in politics, but it seems like there's also the equally unsatisfiable cohort of people who simply are not happy unless they're outside the tent pissing in. We'd like to think we're better than that on the left, but I keep coming back to the weird way the fight over the DNC chair played out. Back when DWS was getting excoriated (not without justification) as a corrupt establishment operative, I remember Tom Perez being well-loved. Fast-forward to an empty chair and suddenly Tom Perez is not only not as liberal as Keith Ellison, but is failure to be so means that he's just another slimy establishment hack. Never mind that from the point of view of the outside-of-the-tent progressives both candidates were good news and a notion they had been cheering until recently, but apparently the fact that Tom Perez was in danger of actually winning something made it necessary to tear him down.

I mean, I think there's at least some section of the left (and some section of every movement) which will simply backpedal to be constantly outside of the mainstream and will smear whoever has momentum. It's fundamentally destructive to whatever movement it attaches to but the problem is that performative contrarianism, by its very nature, is unsatisfiable, so there's nothing to do to get these folks onboard.

So, y'know, when I see people sifting through Kamala Harris's history as a prosecutor trying extra-hard to find some evidence that she's out to feed poor people into the maw of the criminal justice system, I just sigh and figure it's the contrarians playing the liberaler-than-thou game again. But it wouldn't surprise me in the least to figure there's a lot of misogynists hopped onto that bandwagon too.
posted by jackbishop at 4:50 AM on September 28, 2017 [67 favorites]

I have definitely seen leftish attacks on Klobuchar, whose legislative strategy has always been to try to make progress on issues that are NOT hot buttons. She picks something that is flying under the radar, gets Republican co-sponsors to sign on (which they can do on the issues their base is not riled up about) and gets stuff passed. She avoids controversy when possible. You can imagine how purists feel about that. But she gets stuff done and almost always votes the "right way" in a pinch. People like to contrast her with Al Franken (but then they complain that Franken doesn't represent MN either, because Franken endorsed Clinton, and MN went for Sanders.)

I had no strong feelings one way or the other about Klobuchar before last year. But now the more I see her attacked, the more I want to defend and support her.
posted by OnceUponATime at 5:09 AM on September 28, 2017 [18 favorites]

Wherein Speaker Ryan compares apples to oranges. After a little research, aside from the massive differences internally a 1986 SLR doesn't look that different from a modern DSLR. Plus a 1986 digital camera looked pretty similar to the modern DSLR.
posted by drezdn at 5:14 AM on September 28, 2017

Derailing the Relitigation, a post in one act, by petebest

EXTERIOR: NIGHT. A SINGLE PARK BENCH FACING THE FINAL STREAMS OF SUNSET.

The day she announced Tim Kaine, I involuntarily barked, "What?! Why not Warren?! Oh that stupid woman!" Because I thought she'd blown a key strength by choice and was now in jeopardy. This irritation passed after a day or so, and I felt really embarrassed about the outburst. After all, she was incredibly well qualified, her opponent was a monkey-with-a-gun, and 90+% of polls showed she woukd win.

HORIZON TURNS DEEP BLUE-BLACK. A CHORUS OF COYOTES CALL IN THE DISTANCE.

fin
posted by petebest at 5:30 AM on September 28, 2017 [8 favorites]

People on Twitter are saying he finally waived Jones for Puerto Rico, can anyone find a confirmation?
posted by Bacon Bit at 5:32 AM on September 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

People on Twitter are saying he finally waived Jones for Puerto Rico, can anyone find a confirmation?

CNN just sent out an alert saying he did.
posted by chris24 at 5:33 AM on September 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

Wherein Speaker Ryan compares apples to oranges.

Paul Ryan is a craven piece of shit. From last night:

@FoxNews
.@SpeakerRyan: "I think @POTUS is giving us the kind of leadership we need to get this country back on the right track." #Hannityat9

VIDEO
posted by chris24 at 5:40 AM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

if you look closely you can actually pinpoint the exact moment the wispy, desicated remnants of his soul break in two
posted by entropicamericana at 5:45 AM on September 28, 2017 [12 favorites]

@RealDonaldTrump: "Loser Paul Ryan thinks my name is Potus. Can't repeal OCare OR spell proparlee. SAD!" [fake]
posted by Rykey at 5:45 AM on September 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

I love Warren, but I want her to stay in the Senate. We need her command of policy and cross examination there. We need her to keep rising and be ready to lead single payer or he Trump-era repeal if Dems ever retake the Senate. She's also unfortunately more susceptible to the same Clinton-izing by the right as seen in this discussion, and wouldn't bring a natural African American constituency to counter balance it like maybe Harris would. I hope the right wastes a ton of ammo against her for the next 3 years, and she strings them along but ultimately stays put. Not everyone should run for President, and she can be one of our best Democratic Senators ever.
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:58 AM on September 28, 2017 [56 favorites]

Paul Ryan and his ilk will happily eat troughs full of shit if that's what they have to do in order to advance their agenda. What, I ask you, is one man's pride in the face of an opportunity to sicken and impoverish millions of people?
posted by The Card Cheat at 5:59 AM on September 28, 2017 [7 favorites]

One of the more... amusing aspects of the Bombardier trade war is that the decision (if it stands) will probably cost thousands of UK jobs. Why is this miserable nonsense amusing? Because it merrily recontextualises the Brexit theme that 45 loves the UK and will cut us some sweet trade deals to celebrate our bold new independence. A secondary factoid is that those jobs are in Belfast, and it's Northern Ireland MPs who are keeping the government in power. Suck the layers of irony off those gobstoppers, baby.

(If you haven't been following Brexit, it's not going well: massive infighting in government and complete refusal to tackle the difficult/impossible stuff, coupled with Europe drumming its fingers at the shitshow, is pretty much the sum total of developments to date.)

And can I suggest a new name for 45 - the Improperly Mandated President of the US, or IMPOTUS?
posted by Devonian at 6:10 AM on September 28, 2017 [51 favorites]

Re: Warren. Selfishly, I am also so afraid of senatorial elections in MA. Do not underestimate our potential for electing fucking Republicans, we are really really stupid that way.
posted by lydhre at 6:25 AM on September 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

I have a bad feeling now that we know how Facebook can be weaponized, the Dem nominee in 2020 is definitely going to be Zuckerberg.
posted by corb at 6:38 AM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

Hasn't Warren made it clear that she does NOT want to be president?
posted by elsietheeel at 6:52 AM on September 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

No, that was a misread in service of a clickbait headline.
posted by Coventry at 6:59 AM on September 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

She hasn't ruled out a 2020 run in the unambiguous way she ruled out a 2016 run. She's made statements about not wanting to run, wanting to focus on the Senate, etc. but has dodged questions about whether she'll serve out her full Senate term, and hasn't made the kind of "Shermanesque" statement that people demand in these situations.

I don't think she'll run, but the GOP views her as the most prominent progressive bogeywoman out there right now, so she's the one taking the most enemy fire right now. If she did unequivocally rule out a 2020 run, we're still far enough from 2020 that the GOP may still find her useful as a punching bag, but at some point they'd shift their focus to whoever the next in line would be for President.

I do hope she stays in the Senate, and ultimately I think she will.
posted by tonycpsu at 7:09 AM on September 28, 2017 [5 favorites]

Erik Loomis, LGM: Articulating the Left Agenda

Offering Americans an alternative to the bad policies of the Trump administration is necessary, but offering them an alternative to the bad policies from both parties in the last half-century is also necessary. Thus I was highly pleased to see Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod Brown, Tammy Baldwin, Maggie Hassan, Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, and Kirsten Gillibrand unite to introduce legislation to ban states from enacting so-called “right to work” laws.

Obviously this is not going to pass this Congress or be signed by this president. But neither is single payer. Yet we see single payer being an absolute requirement for anyone who aspires to be the Democratic nominee in 2020, which is why nearly every possible Democratic candidate in the Senate signed on, even those with shaky records in the past, such as Cory Booker. That should only be the first of our demands. It should also become standard Democratic Party dogma to ban right to work legislation. Democrats should also call for universal free childcare, free higher education, and the constitutional right to a job. That’s the progressive future we should want and demand. [...]

posted by tonycpsu at 7:12 AM on September 28, 2017 [34 favorites]

"I think @POTUS is giving us the kind of leadership we need to get this country back on the right track."

Cut to: Donald Trump confusedly trying to fold a map
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:13 AM on September 28, 2017 [22 favorites]

Newsweek has a new interview with Jill Stein. In general she comes off as a lying shitheel. On Russia-related matters she might as well be Roger fucking Stone. Beyond suspicious.

Your name was mentioned in the document request from the Senate Judiciary Committee to the lawyers of Paul Manafort and Donald Trump Jr. Why?

"I think it’s there for the same reason that that photo keeps circulating without a single fact. There was no translator at the dinner. Putin came in very briefly. Maybe he was there for 10 or 15 minutes before he gave a speech in Russian. Nobody was introduced to anybody."

Did you have any other contact with anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign that could have led the Senate Judiciary Committee to reasonably suspect collusion?

"Zero. [Zero?] Zero. Politically, we couldn’t be further apart. Culturally, we couldn’t be further apart. It makes me laugh to even think of the suggestion." But you did want to defeat Hillary Clinton, so in that sense—
"Well, let me say, that is fake news. That is based on an article, this contention that I thought Hillary was worse than Trump. I never said that." [total horseshit, of course she did]

Do you believe that in some way you delegitimized Clinton in the eyes of young progressives and in that way paved the way for a Trump victory?

"Greens do not vote for Democrats. You have to do the numbers. You can’t just move Green votes into the Democratic column. Remember, most people who voted for Donald Trump were not voting for him. They were actually voting against the Clintons."

A whole lot of "I never said thats" (she did), a whooooole lot of Putin/Russia deflection/whataboutism, capped off with a "send me to North Korea so I can fix it." Stein's either a knowing traitor, too stupid to know she's a traitor, or (most likely) inhabits a mystical limbo-zone between the two.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:15 AM on September 28, 2017 [48 favorites]

So, I was thinking, "Why don't people talk about Tammy Duckworth for President" so I looked her up and she was born in Thailand. Damn it, Thailand.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:16 AM on September 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

Her father was a US Marine and US citizen so she's still eligible.
posted by asteria at 7:20 AM on September 28, 2017 [49 favorites]

Passports to visit a US Territory? Man, the moment we can, Puerto Rico need full-on Statehood.

If you think the GOP hates letting Mexicans vote, just wait until you hear their response to proposed statehood for an entire island of people who just got actively, vigorously, pants-on screwed by them and their president*.
posted by middleclasstool at 7:20 AM on September 28, 2017 [10 favorites]

Yes, if Ted Cruz can run, Tammy Duckworth can run. And by God I think she should.
posted by rikschell at 7:26 AM on September 28, 2017 [20 favorites]

Yes she should, but they will say she can't, and no one in the media will point out that, wait a second, Ted Cruz could.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 7:33 AM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

What? Don't they support the troops? Our VETERANS? Our FLAGGGGGG???????
posted by melissasaurus at 7:35 AM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

Mark Kirk already tried this and got owned in the IL senate election.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 7:36 AM on September 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

but they will say she can't, and no one in the media will point out that, wait a second, Ted Cruz could.

Then we tell them to go fuck themselves.
posted by asteria at 7:36 AM on September 28, 2017

Yes she should, but they will say she can't,

If by "they", you mean the courts or the FEC or Secretaries of State or anyone else who determines who can actually stand in an election, no, they won't.

If by "they", you mean the Republicans, well, I don't fucking care what they say. They're going to slime any Democrat with anything they can think of, true or not. Fuck them, and fuck anyone who shies away from supporting good candidates because of what "they will say".
posted by Etrigan at 7:37 AM on September 28, 2017 [26 favorites]

John McCain was also born overseas.

As was 44, allegedly.
posted by notyou at 7:37 AM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

I love love love love Tammy Duckworth and would cry with joy if she decided to run. I also think the Republicans would run the most horrifying campaign against her we can possibly imagine, between her being a woman, a POC, foreign-born, and a person with a disability. The cognitive dissonance the Rs would experience when rabidly attacking a vet and a war hero might just explode the world.
posted by lydhre at 7:38 AM on September 28, 2017 [23 favorites]

I'd vote for Duckworth based solely on the obscene limerick potential.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 7:41 AM on September 28, 2017 [18 favorites]

John Kerry was a decorated war hero, etc, and the GOP had no difficulty attacking him as a coward. Cognitive dissonance is only a thing if you let it be one.
posted by notyou at 7:42 AM on September 28, 2017 [33 favorites]

This is Bruce Bartlett piece has some really good, evidence based counter arguments to the GOP arguments for their tax cut package.

I helped create the GOP tax myth. Trump is wrong: Tax cuts don’t equal growth.

The Reagan tax cut did have a positive effect on the economy, but the prosperity of the ’80s is overrated in the Republican mind. In fact, aggregate real gross domestic product growth was higher in the ’70s — 37.2 percent vs. 35.9 percent.

Moreover, GOP tax mythology usually leaves out other factors that also contributed to growth in the 1980s: First was the sharp reduction in interest rates by the Federal Reserve. The fed funds rate fell by more than half, from about 19 percent in July 1981 to about 9 percent in November 1982. Second, Reagan’s defense buildup and highway construction programs greatly increased the federal government’s purchases of goods and services. This is textbook Keynesian economics.
...
But there is no evidence showing a boost in growth from the 1986 act. The economy remained on the same track, with huge stock market crashes — 1987’s “Black Monday,” 1989’s Friday the 13th “mini-crash” and a recession beginning in 1990. Real wages fell.
...
The flip-side of tax cut mythology is the notion that tax increases are an economic disaster — the reason, in theory, every Republican in Congress voted against the tax increase proposed by Bill Clinton in 1993. Yet the 1990s was the most prosperous decade in recent memory. At 37.3 percent, aggregate real GDP growth in the 1990s exceeded that in the 1980s.
...
Despite huge tax cuts almost annually during the George W. Bush administration that cost the Treasury trillions in revenue, according to the Congressional Budget Office, growth collapsed in the first decade of the 2000s. Real GDP rose just 19.5 percent, well below its ’90s rate.

We saw another test of the Republican tax myth in 2013, after President Barack Obama allowed some of the Bush tax cuts to expire, raising the top income tax rate to its current 39.6 percent from 35 percent. The economy grew nicely afterward and the stock market has boomed — up around 10,000 points over the past five years.

posted by OnceUponATime at 7:45 AM on September 28, 2017 [61 favorites]

That Bartlett piece makes me think... Tax cuts and government spending can both stimulate the economy, and they both affect the deficit in the same way. Republicans love to cite the "Laffer curve" for tax cuts, arguing that in some high-tax limit it is possible to bring in more government revenue because of the economic stimulus effect of a tax cut than you lose by lowering the rate (though they never cite any evidence that we are anywhere close to that level of taxation right now.)

I wonder why no one ever makes the same argument about government spending?

That there is presumably some point where spending more government money will actually shrink the deficit, because it will stimulate the economy enough to more than make up the difference? Isn't that sort of what happened after 2008? Obama spent a lot of money, but deficits got smaller throughout his term as that spending helped the economy recover? Why don't Republicans ever want to reach for that tool in the economic stimulus toolbox?
posted by OnceUponATime at 7:46 AM on September 28, 2017 [10 favorites]

No, it's true, y'all are right. They Republicans would vomit it all out without a hint of awareness, I know, but you would think that at some point they would be struck dumb by their own hypocrisy and callousness.

YOU WOULD THINK, but no.
posted by lydhre at 7:47 AM on September 28, 2017

Duckworth/Kander - Both Army vets. One northern, one southern. One white, one POC, woman, man. Lieutenant Col/Captain. One Senator other Sec. of State.

Could potentially be a winning team.
posted by Sophie1 at 7:48 AM on September 28, 2017 [12 favorites]

Duckworth/Kander - Both Army vets. One northern, one southern. One white, one POC, woman, man. Lieutenant Col/Captain. One Senator other Sec. of State.

I think they are both awesomely competent and would vote for them in a heartbeat but I hear the wails and rending of garments from the Left already.
posted by lydhre at 7:51 AM on September 28, 2017 [5 favorites]

Marlow Stern, Daily Beast: The Time Donald Trump Turned Away in Disgust While a Man Was Bleeding to Death in Front of Him

“I was at Mar-a-Lago and we had this incredible ball, the Red Cross Ball, in Palm Beach, Florida. And we had the Marines. And the Marines were there, and it was terrible because all these rich people, they’re there to support the Marines, but they’re really there to get their picture in the Palm Beach Post… so you have all these really rich people, and a man, about eighty years old—very wealthy man, a lot of people didn’t like him—he fell off the stage [...] So what happens is, this guy falls off right on his face, hits his head, and I thought he died. And you know what I did? I said, ‘Oh my god, that’s disgusting,’ and I turned away. I couldn’t, you know, he was right in front of me and I turned away. I didn’t want to touch him… he’s bleeding all over the place, I felt terrible. You know, beautiful marble floor, didn’t look like it. It changed color. Became very red. And you have this poor guy, eighty years old, laying on the floor unconscious, and all the rich people are turning away. ‘Oh my god! This is terrible! This is disgusting!’ and you know, they’re turning away. Nobody wants to help the guy. His wife is screaming—she’s sitting right next to him, and she’s screaming.” [...] “What happens is, these ten Marines from the back of the room… they come running forward, they grab him, they put the blood all over the place—it’s all over their uniforms—they’re taking it, they’re swiping [it], they ran him out, they created a stretcher. They call it a human stretcher, where they put their arms out with, like, five guys on each side [...] I was saying, ‘Get that blood cleaned up! It’s disgusting!’ The next day, I forgot to call [the man] to say he’s ok,” [adding of the blood,] “It’s just not my thing.”
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:03 AM on September 28, 2017 [89 favorites]

I helped create the GOP tax myth. Trump is wrong: Tax cuts don’t equal growth.

How he just wrote 1200 words about tax cuts and didn't mention Kansas, I have no idea.
posted by god hates math at 8:06 AM on September 28, 2017 [16 favorites]

Rebecca Traister wrote a piece about how the Republican donor class is currently focusing their fire on Warren. She highlights how they basically lifted their Hillary narrative and transposed it to Warren, and people on the so called Left are willing to pick it up. Whoever we nominate, they're going to take the same approach. It may be easier if that person is a woman but goddammit we don't have to fall for it.

I don't recall who it was that wrote (I'm paraphrasing) that Hillary Clinton's first name may as well be "She's not perfect, but"... you know, contrasted with the many perfect male candidates who always win their races. I'm so done with that kind of waffling preface.

We're proving during this administration* that We the People can hold our government to account if we work at it. Imagine our current levels of civic engagement, but with a legitimate government! Not that I want to keep babysitting the people who supposedly represent us. But staying engaged while our people are in office, instead of applying purity tests after the fact, is something we can definitely do.
posted by Emmy Rae at 8:09 AM on September 28, 2017 [27 favorites]

I also think the Republicans would run the most horrifying campaign against her we can possibly imagine, between her being a woman, a POC, foreign-born, and a person with a disability.

Is there anyone that the Republicans would not "run the most horrifying campaign" against? The blandest, most centrist white male candidate imaginable? Ask Gore and Kerry how well that worked for them.

This is what I meant when I said that the Democrats are acting like they're in an abusive relationship with the Republicans - if they act absolutely perfectly, nominate the perfect, pure candidate and say all the perfect, pure things, they won't be abused and subject to a torrent of attack ads and statements.

It doesn't work that way. It doesn't work for people in abusive relationships and it won't work for the Democrats. Nothing we can say or do, no Practically Perfect In Every Way Stepford candidate, will make the Republicans play fair and fight clean.

We've got to stop worrying about finding a candidate who won't inspire Hillary Clinton-like attacks and realize that this is inevitable and instead find the best candidates, period.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 8:10 AM on September 28, 2017 [171 favorites]

I am Jason Kander assembling a gun blindfolded forever.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 8:12 AM on September 28, 2017 [22 favorites]

I'd like the Democrats to propose returning to a top marginal tax rate of 90% on the grounds that in the 1950's it worked great and the economy was booming and there were great jobs. The last is a bit disingenuous, there were great jobs for white people in some areas, but it plays into the mythos the Republicans have invented and helps undercut their BS.

We'll probably never get a top marginal rate of 90%. But simply by putting it out there as a goal it shifts the Overton Window, changes the tone of all tax negotiations, and helps put us in a better negotiating position.

I'd also like to see the Democrats propose putting **ALL** income, regardless of source, under that same tax rate. This BS where a rich jackass who technically has no "income" because they get all their money via stocks or whatever it is rich jackasses do for money needs to end. The source of income, whether via gambling on the stock market, straight wages, or whatever needs to be made irrelevant. 90% of everything over $418,500/year goes to the government.

All this BS about "investment" being bad to tax has to stop.
posted by sotonohito at 8:14 AM on September 28, 2017 [40 favorites]

Marlow Stern, Daily Beast
Jesus fuck. Just when you think you couldn't possibly think less of someone, something even more horrific comes along. I don't know why this one in particular is really sticking with me, I mean, it is in no way surprising.

Fuck.
posted by rp at 8:14 AM on September 28, 2017 [20 favorites]

I'd vote for Duckworth based solely on the obscene limerick potential.

I voted for Senator Duckworth.
Does she have what it takes? Yes, a truckworth!
While some Democrats cave
And give Rs what they crave
Not our Tammy. She don't give a fuckworth.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:18 AM on September 28, 2017 [119 favorites]

On the one hand, she's co-sponsored Medicare-for-all, done more to regulate banks than anyone, staunchly supported unions, and wants the wealthy to pay more taxes.

On the other hand, she didn't endorse Bernie, and was a Republican back when MTV played music videos.

So you can see the leftist dilemma.

This isn't at all a fair portrayal of the criticism Traister cites in her article, which focused on Warren's recent fundraiser at the home of a former UBS executive and her recent private meeting with Jamie Dimon.

It's fair to criticize one of the most reliably populist politicians in America for risking the compromise of her program by taking money from the businessmen she has previously abhorred, and she should explain the move. I'm sure there's a good explanation, because I seriously doubt that someone who has built her reputation on principle would fritter it away for a little money, and I doubt that Wall Street would suddenly see the light and give money to one of their most vocal public enemies.

When this criticism comes from the right, it's obviously disingenuous, because the right is perfectly fine with big business's domination of the public sphere, and they should probably celebrate when a real populist seems to compromise. When it comes from the left, though, it's perfectly consonant with their politics, and if it's unfounded, it deserves to be rebutted as unfounded, not dishonest.

Libby Watson, who used to write for The Sunlight Foundation, an organization dedicated to exposing dark money in politics, and whom Traister quoted at the end of her piece, responded to her implication that she was a puppet of that same dark money:

anyway this is fucking exhausting. i criticized warren for meeting with jamie dimon precisely because i don't want the next dem nominee to make the same mistakes hillary did, because i want them to win!!!!

FINAL thing: i don't even necessarily think meeting with dimon is disqualifying. there might have been a good reason! the advantage of such criticism is pushing warren to explain what the purpose was. i'm sorry for believing we deserve answers from our politicians.

i made this point, in fact, on chapo. criticizing dem pols like warren or harris from the left isn't meant to disqualify them (at least when i do it), it's done in the hope that it pushes them left and makes them stronger candidates

posted by Rustic Etruscan at 8:21 AM on September 28, 2017 [15 favorites]

Someone call will.i.am that's campaign gold Faint of Butt!
posted by cmfletcher at 8:22 AM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

Marlow Stern, Daily Beast: The Time Donald Trump Turned Away in Disgust While a Man Was Bleeding to Death in Front of Him

the callousness is bad enough - but tell me, how can a man with the social awareness of a gnat tell stories like this and still become president?
posted by pyramid termite at 8:24 AM on September 28, 2017 [12 favorites]

SCOTUS granted cert in the case to kill public sector unions. We don't even have to ask how Stolen Justice Gorsuch will vote.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:24 AM on September 28, 2017 [17 favorites]

I wonder why no one ever makes the same argument about government spending?

That there is presumably some point where spending more government money will actually shrink the deficit, because it will stimulate the economy enough to more than make up the difference?

Good grief. There were plenty of economists making a similar argument, but Republicans weren't listening. Spending during a recession does increase deficits somewhat, but it is an undeniable fact that the U.S. is poorer today because of the austerity policies of the last decade. The same goes for austerity policies in the UK and the EU.

The economic google phrase is "fiscal multiplier". A dollar of additional government spending during a recession creates 1.5, or 2.0, or 2.5 times as much GDP. An example here. And here you can see Krugman discuss the fiscal multiplier in relation to the Laffer curve. Fiscal stimulus doesn't quite "pay for itself." What is does it reduce the deficit from the level it would be without the stimulus. So in that sense, during a recession, addition spending does reduce the deficit.
posted by JackFlash at 8:24 AM on September 28, 2017 [12 favorites]

I bet Trump is a faint constitutioned weakling who goes to the pediatric sedation dentist.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 8:29 AM on September 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

> This isn't at all a fair portrayal of the criticism Traister cites in her article, which focused on Warren's recent fundraiser at the home of a former UBS executive and her recent private meeting with Jamie Dimon.

I was making my own statement on the posture of the leftier-than-thou left toward Warren that I've observed myself, not attempting to tl;dr Traister's piece.

Libby Watson's response provides valuable context for one of Traister's data points. To the extent that we can push Democratic politicians in the right direction on these issues, we should. I just don't know that Warren taking one meeting with Jamie Dimon deserves an instant attack on her and comparison to Clinton. There are shades of gray in between tool of Wall Street and progressive stalwart.
posted by tonycpsu at 8:31 AM on September 28, 2017 [5 favorites]

The Time Donald Trump Turned Away in Disgust While a Man Was Bleeding to Death in Front of Him

I'm a little concerned about my apparently boundless capacity for hatred.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:31 AM on September 28, 2017 [63 favorites]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-16/unions-are-losing-their-decades-long-right-to-work-fight

Here's something that bugs me to the core... In Citizen's United the SCOTUS essentially said money was speech and couldn't be infringed... Since then, states have doubled down attacks on Unions, to the point that in Wisconsin, a public sector union can only discuss wages and nothing else in negotiation. Negotiation is literal, by the dictionary definition, speech, but the SCOTUS hasn't protected.

It's almost as if the Republicans got Citizen's United through to help their big donors, and then have done everything possible to tamp down the one group (Unions) on the left that could take advantage of it.
posted by drezdn at 8:32 AM on September 28, 2017 [28 favorites]

When the editor of the National Review says your tax plan is a flaming piece of shit... you may be the party that campaigned on repealing and replacing Obamcare for 8 years with nothing to repeal and replace it with. Same as it ever was.

@RichLowry
Question: How can you spend months touting a middle-class tax cut and then introduce a plan that doesn't reliably cut middle-class taxes?
posted by chris24 at 8:33 AM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

We have awesome people. It isn't enough. I agree with sotonohito that instead of focusing on the perfect candidate, we focus on attention-getting, ambitious policies that pique people's interest. Like single-payer (or Medicare for all, or some kind of health care, most people don't know the difference, or care), it gets attention in a way even the most charismatic person will not.

A good rule of marketing is to make it about what the customer wants (in the Republican case, a return to a mythic golden time, plus fear of change/difference), not how great you are.

So anything that trumpets, loudly and unashamedly, what we want to give people is a good thing. I think, in the past, we responded to the unfair level of scrutiny fueled by the Republicans by being timid, or overly wonky, or Republican-lite, thinking we could negotiate our way forward. But that just made us look like we were ashamed or insincere.

They're gonna mock us. They're gonna slime us. They're gonna work the refs. Some of them are gonna respond violently. We have to keep fighting for what we want all the same.
posted by emjaybee at 8:34 AM on September 28, 2017 [32 favorites]

The source of income, whether via gambling on the stock market, straight wages, or whatever needs to be made irrelevant.

It's tricky, though, because how do you count unrealized gains? The value of your business, your stock, your house, your farm, the painting your grandmother left you, or whatever goes up. But that does not actually put cash in your pocket unless you sell it. How much tax should you owe on that increase in value? ... which is "income" in that it increased your wealth, but which is not liquid money that you can use to pay taxes, unless you sell. Do you force people to liquidate their investments, even their businesses and homes etc, in order to pay taxes? That's hardly fair to someone who worked really hard to build that business and would rather continue to build in than cash out and start over, or who lives in that home that's increasing in value.

But if you don't tax unrealized gains, then rich people can appear to have tiny "incomes" (and pay tiny taxes) even as their wealth grows exponentially.

I'm not going to pretend to understand how our tax system handles this problem right now, what with capital gains taxes and depreciation and corporate taxes and pass-through business taxes and whatever. And I'm not going to claim to know how it ought to be handled. I don't understand. But I think the reason our tax system is complicated is because situations like this are complicated, and it is almost impossible to make it simpler without making it less fair.
posted by OnceUponATime at 8:35 AM on September 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

I'm a little concerned about my apparently boundless capacity for hatred.

One of the worst things about shitty evil people is how they force you to constantly have to control your hatred and disgust instead of living a life filled with more positive emotions. I learned this with Bush, Jr.; he filled me with hate, which is caustic stuff that I don't want to feel, all the time, but yet ignoring him was not an option. Yet the sound of his voice filled me with stress and rage.

Metafilter and the internet in general helped me cope, with him and the current miscreant, by allowing me to stay informed without having to watch or listen to him on the news.
posted by emjaybee at 8:40 AM on September 28, 2017 [38 favorites]

The value of your business, your stock, your house, your farm, the painting your grandmother left you, or whatever goes up. But that does not actually put cash in your pocket unless you sell it.

You already have this problem with property tax. It's hard to separate out if you do that, tax-wise, "the house you got thirty years ago for 100k that's now worth 1mil but you are elderly and live in it with your cats on Social Security" and "the investment property that you bought to flip when the market is right."
posted by corb at 8:43 AM on September 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

I didn't read that as a suggestion for taxing unrealized gains. It means taxing all income at the same rate. Right now earned wages can be taxed as high as 39.5%, but dividends and capital gains are taxes at 15% or 20%.

This discrimination between earned income (wages) and investment income is the source of Warren Buffett's statement that he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. The secretary pays the wage rate and Buffett pays the lower investment rate.

Treating all income the same should be a progressive tax goal.
posted by JackFlash at 8:43 AM on September 28, 2017 [17 favorites]

I was making my own statement on the posture of the leftier-than-thou left toward Warren that I've observed myself, not attempting to tl;dr Traister's piece.

Sure, and I've seen the opinions you caricatured, but your comment came in the context of a discussion about Traister's piece, which offers exactly two admittedly hyperbolic tweets to support the notion that the left has fallen for the smears of the right, though there is no reason to think those tweets couldn't have been published without the encouragement of the right-wing press.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 8:44 AM on September 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

SCOTUS granted cert in the case to kill public sector unions.

Well, I'm sure my brother-in-law who hasn't worked since marrying my sister in his mid-50s (while my sister continues to work PT well past retirement age), who thinks that striking faculty at a university "should get a pink slip" will be happy.

tRump's cognitively dissonant base, ladies & germs.
posted by NorthernLite at 8:46 AM on September 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

So anything that trumpets, loudly and unashamedly, what we want to give people is a good thing. I think, in the past, we responded to the unfair level of scrutiny fueled by the Republicans by being timid, or overly wonky, or Republican-lite, thinking we could negotiate our way forward. But that just made us look like we were ashamed or insincere.

Let's have two parties (YouTube/ West Wing video)
posted by mikepop at 8:46 AM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

That's hardly fair to someone who [...] lives in that home that's increasing in value.

That part's easy, at least. Is it your primary residence, where you actually live? Then it's exempt. Is it one of your eight beach houses that you only visit for a week once a year? Pay up, bucko.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:46 AM on September 28, 2017 [12 favorites]

Question: How can you spend months touting a middle-class tax cut and then introduce a plan that doesn't reliably cut middle-class taxes?

"Well we give rich people tax cuts and that filters down to you as higher wages for you. Remember how it was when Reagan was president? Yeah we're doing that."
posted by Talez at 8:48 AM on September 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

"Well we give rich people tax cuts and that filters down to you as higher wages for you. Remember how it was when Reagan was president? Yeah we're doing that."

Oh I agree. It's just interesting to see the National Review basically stating the Democratic argument in this battle.
posted by chris24 at 8:52 AM on September 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

I'd like the Democrats to propose returning to a top marginal tax rate of 90% on the grounds that in the 1950's it worked great and the economy was booming and there were great jobs. The last is a bit disingenuous, there were great jobs for white people in some areas, but it plays into the mythos the Republicans have invented and helps undercut their BS.

We'll probably never get a top marginal rate of 90%. But simply by putting it out there as a goal it shifts the Overton Window, changes the tone of all tax negotiations, and helps put us in a better negotiating position.

I'd like to see them explain it too. That top rate only applies to a select fraction of people. Donald Trump is probably too poor to be required to pay it.
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:55 AM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

You already have this problem with property tax. It's hard to separate out if you do that, tax-wise, "the house you got thirty years ago for 100k that's now worth 1mil but you are elderly and live in it with your cats on Social Security" and "the investment property that you bought to flip when the market is right."

Hence homestead exemptions... which are among the many exemptions and deductions and special cases that make taxes so complex...

I didn't read that as a suggestion for taxing unrealized gains. It means taxing all income at the same rate. Right now earned wages can be taxed as high as 39.5%, but dividends and capital gains are taxes at 15% or 20%.

As I understand it capital gain taxes are explicitly for unrealized gains. If you sell the asset, you are taxed on the profits from that sale as ordinary income. I think. But like I said, I'm no expert.
posted by OnceUponATime at 8:59 AM on September 28, 2017

As I understand it capital gain taxes are explicitly for unrealized gains. If you sell the asset, you are taxed on the profits from that sale as ordinary income.

This is incorrect. A capital gain/loss is taxed upon realization (unless it's in a nonrecognition transaction). Only certain taxpayers (e.g., traders who make a 475 election) mark-to-market.
posted by melissasaurus at 9:04 AM on September 28, 2017 [12 favorites]

Thanks. Sorry for the misleading take.
posted by OnceUponATime at 9:06 AM on September 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

Josh Marshall (TPM) with Expand the Inheritance Tax

Getting rid of the tax on inheritances will be a disaster because more than any time in a century we need more public policies to combat wealth inequality, not fewer. To that end, a key part of the equation is getting back to what inheritance taxes actually are. Dead people don’t pay taxes. They’re dead. This is literally the case. Inheritance taxes only come into play once someone has left the plane of earthly existence. It is a tax on people who inherit vast sums of money. [emphasis in original]

Don’t get me wrong. Most everyone wants to pass things on to their children and heirs. If you’re a great money-making success in life, you want to pass things on to your children and heirs. That’s great. You should be able to. And you can. But every tax decision, which is embodied in public policy, is one based in equity and capacity to pay. People who inherit large sums of money have a high capacity to pay, certainly more than middle income earners who are already falling behind in economic terms. You don’t have to demonize people as leisure class wastrels to understand the basic fact that a tax on inheritance is critical in public policy terms and simply fair in equity terms.

Everyone should do everything they can to stop this.

This so-called plan isn't tax "reform" so much as it is tax fuckery. It's a massive gutting of public funding so that the very wealthiest people can have a few more dollars and their children can continue to accumulate vast sums by shirking the inheritance tax. Apparently Gary Cohn ‘Can’t Guarantee Anything’ On Potential Middle Class Tax Hike (Matt Shuham, TPM)--i.e., giving the middle-class an across-the-board lower tax bill, the ostensible point of all this howling for their proposed tax fuckery, may not actually happen.

I would like to see a) higher rates on capital gains, b) more tax brackets on the upper end to differentiate between people making more than the top bracket's minimum in a year, and c) an increase in the rate on inheritances above the current exemption value.

The cut-n-gut Republican caucus cannot have their way on this plan. Unfortunately, if they try and do more reconciliation tricks, I don't think we can count on Murkowski, Collins, and McCain to do the right thing.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 9:13 AM on September 28, 2017 [35 favorites]

NYT: ‘Soon,’ ‘Very Soon,’ ‘Eventually’: A Detailed List of Things Trump Said Would Happen

Oh noes, whine whine, he's STILL not acting presidential!!
posted by Melismata at 9:14 AM on September 28, 2017

Ah, I see the confusion. Perhaps this will help.

Capital gains are the increase in value of an asset. If you bought it at $100 and today it is worth $200, your gain is $200.

That gain is unrealized until you sell it. You are not taxed on unrealized gain, ever. When you sell the asset, you realize that gain, collect the cash, and then are taxed on that income. That realized gain is income, but it falls into a separate, special tax rate for investment income. It is taxed at a flat rate of 15% (or sometimes 20%), but it is never taxed at your ordinary wage tax rate. Your investment tax doesn't go up no matter how much you make. It is a flat, reduced rate.

So while a wage earner can pay 39.6% tax in their income, the millionaire investor will pay only 15% (or 20%) flat rate on their investment income no matter how much.

Edit: or what Melissasaurus said.
posted by JackFlash at 9:14 AM on September 28, 2017 [7 favorites]

> it is almost impossible to make it simpler without making it less fair.

Warren Buffet famously declared that he pays less in taxes than his secretary. There are clearly ways where it could be more fair, however simpler is more fair.

On one end of the spectrum, you have wealthy individuals who can afford to have a team of people work on their taxes, especially when controlling interesting in many companies is considered.

On the other end of the spectrum you have overworked poor families holding down multiple jobs that are just shy of full time, so their employers pays less overhead. They also need to do taxes.

Which end of the spectrum is going to be more able to take advantage of possible loopholes found among the 70k pages of tax code? Never mind that poor families are not likely to own any Monet or Van Gough's for art galleries to display and use as a tax deduction.

The onus of tax preparation, then, should be on the government. Yet this threatens Intuit business model, so they spent $1 million lobbying California, and $13 million lobbying the federal government to fight free filing.

I'm up for shifting the overton window to the left with ideas like universal basic income (welfare for all!), defunding the DEA (Hey, the GOP keeps trying to defund the EPA), or shuttering the military (replace it with a branch who's primary goal is humanitarian), but special interests groups twist the government's arm on something as basic as the government offering tax prep software, never mind the tax code itself.

Taxes could be made more fair and simpler, without the headfake of an idea, that simpler means we're going to force people to sell successful businesses in order to pay the IRS.
posted by fragmede at 9:15 AM on September 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

In case it isn't obvious, I had a typo in the previous comment. If you bought an asset for $100 and today it is worth $200, the gain is $100, the difference between sale price and the cost.

The editors apologize for the error.
posted by JackFlash at 9:29 AM on September 28, 2017 [8 favorites]

I haven't checked out the latest edition released this summer, but Taxing Ourselves: A Citizen's Guide to the Debate over Taxes is a great book for learning about the US tax system and tax policy proposals. Some of it is available on Google Books.
posted by melissasaurus at 9:31 AM on September 28, 2017 [9 favorites]

Okay, I get that we mostly don't tax unrealized gains (except, as corb says with property taxes.) But surely that is not quite fair either? Millionaires can become billionaires without ever paying any taxes on that increase in wealth? Only on what they liquidate for spending money? I guess then that increase in wealth could go untaxed for generations, but for the estate tax?
posted by OnceUponATime at 9:34 AM on September 28, 2017

1. Warren Buffet pays a lower tax rate than his secretary, not pays less in taxes.
B. Investment Income comes from two sources that are (generally) taxed at different rates: realized capital gains and dividends.
III. Inheritance taxes are commonly avoided through proper estate planning by the very people they are meant to target.
posted by achrise at 9:36 AM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

But surely that is not quite fair either? Millionaires can become billionaires without ever paying any taxes on that increase in wealth? Only on what they liquidate for spending money? I guess then that increase in wealth could go untaxed for generations, but for the estate tax?

Yes.
posted by melissasaurus at 9:36 AM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

That's the nub of it, OnceUponATime. If you want to be truly wealthy, you have to own some wealth.
posted by notyou at 9:37 AM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

From the 'pedia entry on Wealth Taxes:

In 1999, Donald Trump proposed for the United States a one off 14.25% wealth tax on the net worth of individuals and trusts worth $10 million or more. Trump claimed that this would generate $5.7 trillion in new taxes, which could be used to eliminate the national debt.[17] A net wealth tax may also be designed to be revenue neutral if it is used to broaden the tax base, stabilize the economy, and reduce individual income and other taxes[18].

Let's all tweet that at him.
posted by notyou at 9:41 AM on September 28, 2017 [26 favorites]

instead of focusing on the perfect candidate, we focus on attention-getting, ambitious policies that pique people's interest

Oh emjaybee, in the midst of darkness just to have someone use the correct word makes this editor feel a wee bit better on an Internet swamped with incorrectly used peeks and peaks and piques.

More importantly, your approach is right on the money. Or will be if the Dems continue building a spine. Thank you!
posted by Bella Donna at 9:43 AM on September 28, 2017 [11 favorites]

There Is No GOP Establishment or Base. Just Massive Resistance. (Josh Marshall, TPM)

This is all true. But there’s a deeper dynamic here that goes beyond ‘establishment’ and ‘tea party’. Indeed, when the President is Donald Trump and people elected in the Tea Party wave election of 2010 (and successive elections) dominate the congressional GOP, it is a bit hard to say what the GOP ‘establishment’ even is at this point other than the current occupants of the top of the GOP hill trying to fend off radicals calling them sell-outs who can’t deliver for the base.

This is the crux of the issue. Last spring I said the Trump phenomenon was a product of what I termed ‘nonsense debt‘. Republicans had spent years pumping their voters up on increasingly extreme and nonsensical claims and promises. This worked very well for winning elections. But it had also built up a debt that eventually had to be repaid. Concretely, they were making claims and promises that were either factually ridiculous, politically unviable or unacceptable to a broad swath of the voting public. Eventually you get elected and need to produce. By definition that’s never really possible: both because the claims and promises are nonsensical and unviable but also because a politics based on reclamation, revenge and impulse is almost impossible to satisfy through normal legislative politics. [...]

Now we have all of this coming home to roost in a far more explosive way. Republicans were never going to be able to turn back Obamacare and its death panels while Obama was President. That was straight up obvious. Anyone should have understood that. But it really should have been possible for them to do it when they controlled the entire government. They clearly can’t. That same pattern has played out across the whole legislative landscape. But it’s not really a matter of two groups battling each other. It’s the fallout of a conservative movement engaging in massive resistance against the rest of the country and the inevitable cycle of extremity and betrayal that goes with that.

posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 9:52 AM on September 28, 2017 [62 favorites]

VIRGINIA HOUSE ELECTIONS - Conclusion

intro
1-5
6-10
11-15
16-20
21-25
26-30
31-35
36-40
41-45
46-50
51-55
56-60
61-65
66-70
71-75
76-80
81-85
86-90
91-95
96-100

===

So, what is the takeaway from all this, other than that perhaps I should have done these in bigger chunks? Virginia is the first regularly scheduled election in the Trump era (New Jersey, too, but the situation is far different there). We have an outside chance of flipping the lower house of the legislature. And as I've said a few times now, state legislatures are in the sweet spot in that they actually matter a good bit, but traditionally not much attention gets paid to them, so your money/volunteering could make a big difference.

Virginia is electing its governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general, too. And those are super important, but are obviously much bigger operations where you wouldn't have as much impact (but go here, here, and here if you want to help them). But helping out delegate candidates could be a big deal. And big Dem gains in the VA House is the kind of thing that helps drives GOP retirements and decisions not to run elsewhere.

So, assuming you do not have infinite time/money, where should you donate? Well, that's kind of the eternal debate - do you focus on actually winnable districts, or does that mean that we neglect areas leading to them trending ever more rightward? Or do you focus on platform, and give to the most progressive types, regardless of other factors? I can't make that decision for you. But here's a couple of pointers:

-- This is a detailed race by race look, along with race ratings. I feel he might be a bit too conservative, given trends we've been seeing, but it's clearly well informed.
--DailyKos is backing candidates from eight HDs: 2, 12, 13, 31, 51, 72, 73, 85.
-- This group of progressive groups is backing 25 candidates: 2, 12, 10, 13, 17, 21, 27, 28, 31, 32, 34, 40, 42, 50, 51, 67, 68, 72, 73, 84, 85, 87, 93, 94, 100.
-- Flippable has five first tier candidates (2, 13, 31, 32, 42), 12 second tier (10, 12, 21, 27, 28, 40, 50, 67, 68, 72, 94, 100) and three defend districts (34, 87, 93)
-- Platforms can be found on candidate websites, of course, and good pullout bits on Flippable and the Ballotpedia candidate pages. I know Foy (2) and Guzman (31) are considered big progressives.

Finally:

-- Best candidate name: Schuyler VanValkenburg [72]
-- Best candidate photo: Tristan Shields [18]
-- Worst use of oxygen, please defeat him: Bob Marshall [13]
posted by Chrysostom at 9:55 AM on September 28, 2017 [66 favorites]

Josh Marshall (TPM) with Expand the Inheritance Tax

100%. If those kids aren't worthless, they'll earn their own fortunes.
posted by mikelieman at 9:57 AM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

I really hope the Democrats keep on building a titanium spine, because we're going to need it. If there is a "purge" of women from the ranks of Democratic officials, as noted above, it won't be because of the kind of blatant sexism that Republicans favor. Yes, it will be inspired by sexism, but the subtle kind. Something like this: We need new blood: we need people who are electable. Who appeal to swing voters. Who have a spotless background. We need to play it safe.

And the safe, electable, appealing to swing voters (never mind that they don't exist any more), spotless-background candidate is much more likely to be a man, not because men are better at politics or more honest or more electable or whatever, but because ingrained and subtle sexism make us see candidates that way.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 9:58 AM on September 28, 2017 [27 favorites]

I'm seeing more women running than ever. I'm not sure this "woman purge" is based on facts.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:04 AM on September 28, 2017 [5 favorites]

Steve Scalise is back at work. Which is great news, and we can now go back to fighting his agenda.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:08 AM on September 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

On taxes, I don't really know a lot. I understand more than a lot of people, I at least understand how tax brackets work, but I'm about as far from an expert as it gets. I took a macroeconomics class way back in 1997 for my first degree, and that's the only actual economics education I've ever had.

But I "know" some things, things which are likely wrong in a lot of specifics but broadly true.

Among other things I "know" that rich people don't actually have to count all of their income when they pay income tax, that they get a super special, very low, tax for "capital gains" which is something rich people get to do for most of their money and something people like me don't get to do.

I think most Americans are probably at about that level of understanding, complete with big misunderstandings. And they're the people we need to talk to.

Like with single payer there's a lot that needs to be worked out under the hood. But for the love of all that's holy don't talk about that shit unless someone specifically asks for it.

I don't want to hear about the various details of how doctors get paid and all that shit, I just want to know that when I get sick I can go to the doctor, get fixed, and not face financial catastrophe. That's all I care about when it comes to health care reform.

I don't really give a shit about the specific details of who pays what and how. I just want to know that we're planning to tax the ever loving FUCK out of the rich parasites and force them to disgorge huge piles of their hoarded money back into the economy. I want to "know" that Bill Gates, or George Soros, or Warren Buffett, or whoever is paying more in taxes than me. I want to "know" that rich people don't get super special low rates but super special high rates.

If you want to accomplish that by tinkering with capital gains rates, or homestead exemptions, or whatever, I'm fine with that. Go for it.

And certainly the people who know more about taxes and the economy should work out all the bits so that they have an actual plan and when asked they can go into endless minute hairsplitting detail on how exactly it'll work.

But we don't and can't sell that and to be perfectly honest I don't really care about the details.

What we sell is simple: The tax system is horribly unfair, the rich elites are paying next to nothing, and we plan to tax the shit out of them. All income over X$ will be taxed at 90%, and the specifics on how y'all tax geeks want to figure out how to deal with the games rich people play with their money don't really matter to me. The results do.

As long as **ALL** of their money is being highly taxed I'm happy. Same as it doesn't really matter to me how exactly the doctor gets paid, and medical procedure prices are negotiated, and all that other stuff. I just want to go to the doc when I get sick and not wind up broke.

I'm a lot more focused on messaging and big picture policy than the minute of how that actually works out. And I know the details are incredibly important. I get that, I'm not dismissing that, and I understand the urge of the people who work out the details to be proud of their necessary and hard work and want to show it off.

But don't.

I'm a computer tech. I fix problems. And none of my clients gives half a shit how I do it. They care about one thing and one thing only: does the damn computer work? If so, they're happy. If not, they're grumpy. They don't want to hear me talk about the OSI seven layer model and how I tracked down the problem in their network stack, they just want their internet to work.

To me the details are interesting and I love to talk about them. But I know very well that they don't care. They don't want to hear "I'll dig into DHCP and see if there's an IP conflict, then check your DNS settings before I..." They want to hear "no worries, I'll have it fixed in a few minutes".

Same goes for taxes. Outside the actual experts, no one cares about how it works. We just care about whether it's fair. And we "know", scare quotes because there's very little actual knowledge involved, that right now the rich guys pay nothing and we working people foot the bill for their parties.
posted by sotonohito at 10:10 AM on September 28, 2017 [34 favorites]

I'm seeing more women running than ever. I'm not sure this "woman purge" is based on facts.

How many of them are being supported by the local, state, and national Democratic parties? Anyone can run; it's more instructive to look at where the tailwinds are.
posted by Etrigan at 10:11 AM on September 28, 2017 [7 favorites]

If anyone is inclined to follow Chrysostom's advice and invest some effort in the VA House of Delegates race... Postcards to voters is currently writing GOTV postcards for Kelly Fowler of District 21 (here is Chrysostom's summary of that race.) If you want to write some too, you can just send an email to [e-mail], they ask you to write a sample postcard and send them a picture to show that you understand the rules, and then they start sending you addresses (but no names.)
posted by OnceUponATime at 10:12 AM on September 28, 2017 [10 favorites]

> And the safe, electable, appealing to swing voters (never mind that they don't exist any more), spotless-background candidate is much more likely to be a man, not because men are better at politics or more honest or more electable or whatever, but because ingrained and subtle sexism make us see candidates that way.

Sort of like the recent threat to Nancy Pelosi's House leadership from Tim Ryan of Ohio (PROTIP: if you're so anonymous that people have to add "of [state]" when referencing you, you might not be a great candidate to lead the party). Pelosi's done more to make progressive policy than nearly anyone in that chamber, but Donald Trump won in the midwest, therefore, we have to push her out in favor of a deficit hawk who supported the anti-choice Stupak amendment to the ACA. Because the WhiteWorkingClass (tm) said so.
posted by tonycpsu at 10:15 AM on September 28, 2017 [18 favorites]

Trump adviser 'can't guarantee' taxes won't go up for middle class

President Donald Trump's top economic adviser, Gary Cohn, said today that he can't guarantee that taxes won't go up for some middle-class families under the administration's sweeping tax overhaul.

"There's an exception to every rule," Cohn told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview on "Good Morning America."

"I can't guarantee anything," said Cohn, the director of the White House Economic Council. "You can always find a unique family somewhere."

He said Trump's plan is "purely aimed at middle-class families." But Cohn acknowledged that "it depends which state you live in."

Leopards, faces, etc.
posted by jaduncan at 10:17 AM on September 28, 2017 [24 favorites]

How many of them are being supported by the local, state, and national Democratic parties? Anyone can run; it's more instructive to look at where the tailwinds are.

Well, five of the eight Dem pickups in special elections have been women. And 41 of the 60 Dem candidates for contested Virginia House seats are women, if I've done my math right.

This is not to say the party doesn't have issues with institutionalized sexism, it does without question. But I'm seeing more women getting involved than I can previously remember. Certainly, these grassroots groups like Indivisible seem to have a lot of women involved, and that's going to be a generator of candidates for local and state races.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:20 AM on September 28, 2017 [13 favorites]

"He tells it like it is."
posted by kirkaracha at 10:23 AM on September 28, 2017 [7 favorites]

@LauraLitvan: NEW: Senate Health Chair Lamar Alexander says a bipartisan deal to stabilize Obamacare’s insurance exchanges could come as early as tonight

Of course, then there's the House.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:24 AM on September 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

"purely aimed at middle-class families."

This is a great example of how politicians phrase things in the media to skirt the truth. They will use a phrase or term like "middle-class families" but not define their categorization. A person watching CNN who hears a politician say "middle-class families" can interpret that to mean whatever they already think a middle-class family is; there's no clear shared agreement on what exactly makes a family a family, or that family's economic status middle-class. To mis-use Douglas Adams,

Dent: "Normality, right. We can talk about normality until the cows come home."
Prefect: "What is normal?"
Trillian: "What is home?"
Beeblebrox: "What are cows?"

"Middle-class families" is such a vague term for a topic—taxes—that is brutally specific. It's also extremely media-friendly.
posted by carsonb at 10:37 AM on September 28, 2017 [38 favorites]

Lindsey Graham on Obamacare Repeal: I Had No Idea What I Was Doing (via)

“Well, I’ve been doing it for about a month. I thought everybody else knew what the hell they were talking about, but apparently not,” Graham clarified, adding he had assumed “these really smart people will figure it out.”

The crash course in health policy has been a romp, Graham said. “I’ve enjoyed this more than anything. I’ve learned so much about health care in other states — Pennsylvania, Alaska, Ohio,” he said, adding that he even learned about his own state. “South Carolina, we have 11 predominantly African-American counties that have unique health care needs and one size doesn’t fit all, even within your state. I looked at the history of welfare reform, and I think we can replicate that here.”

That Graham thinks reforming health care is analogous to welfare suggests he may still have a ways to go on his journey.

posted by tonycpsu at 10:47 AM on September 28, 2017 [56 favorites]

The follow-up question is: did the Trump campaign reach out to anyone else -- and did anyone else accept?

Naturally the mind turns to famously cash-strapped Kanye's appearance at Trump Tower.
posted by jaduncan at 10:55 AM on September 28, 2017 [18 favorites]

Kanye/Trump video reference.
posted by jaduncan at 10:58 AM on September 28, 2017

Faint of Butt, you've done the Lord's work with that limerick.
posted by greermahoney at 11:01 AM on September 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

Cunningham's Graham's Law states "the best way to get the right answer on the internet about civics is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer craft horrificly bad and murderously stupid legislation."
posted by sebastienbailard at 11:09 AM on September 28, 2017 [10 favorites]

OMG hahaha fucking Lindsay Graham. "I didn't even understand how healthcare in my own state worked before I tried to pass legislation fundamentally altering it forever lololol I learned so much tho the real healthcare reform has been the friends I made along the way."
posted by supercrayon at 11:11 AM on September 28, 2017 [88 favorites]

Interesting Sarah Kliff: 3 reasons repealing Obamacare next year is a lot harder
posted by Chrysostom at 11:12 AM on September 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

From that Graham article: “It’s been the most amazing journey of my life. I’ve taken the eye off the ball on terrorism, I’m just amazed the whole planet hasn’t crumbled because I wasn’t on it,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said of the weeks he’s spent leading the health care repeal effort.

Fuuuck you, you egotistical dick.
posted by jason_steakums at 11:14 AM on September 28, 2017 [46 favorites]

“It’s been the most amazing journey of my life. I’ve taken the eye off the ball on terrorism, I’m just amazed the whole planet hasn’t crumbled because I wasn’t on it,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said of the weeks he’s spent leading the health care repeal effort.

A functional human being would probably learn something from that.
posted by Etrigan at 11:16 AM on September 28, 2017 [39 favorites]

@RichLowry
Question: How can you spend months touting a middle-class tax cut and then introduce a plan that doesn't reliably cut middle-class taxes?

Because you know the so-called "liberal media" (you know, the one you keep excoriating as "fake news") will still take your claims that it's a middle class tax cut seriously.
posted by Gelatin at 11:20 AM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

Oddly, I'm Not Seeing Any Globes in Breitbart Headlines Today

Gary Cohn is selling President Trump's tax plan, and he's not doing a very good job of it: [...]

Cohn is lying, obviously. He knows the plan will make the rich richer (he's dishonestly denying that, too) and will do little or no good for the non-rich, and will do harm to some.

So you'd assume Breitbart would be raking Cohn over the coals, right? He should be a target for two reasons: First, Breitbart has hated him for a while, referring to him as "Globalist Gary" and framing his name with globe images: [...]

Second, Steve Bannon is a regular Joe whose heart bleeds for the little guy -- or so he tells us on a regular basis: [...]

On the Breitbart front page I see no globes, no sneering references to Cohn, no criticism of the tax plan at all.

At Breitbart, Cohn has been attacked for criticizing Trump's response to the Charlottesville neo-Nazi rally and for seeking to prevent Trump from starting trade wars. That's what being a man of the people means to Steve Bannon: supporting domestic racism and backing xenophobia-based trade policies that would, of course, raise the retail prices Joe Sixpack pays. Taxes? Where in the phrase "blood and soil" do you see anything about taxes?

If Joe Sixpack he can't take advantage of the elimination of the capital gains tax, or the reduced tax rate on pass-through corporation earnings, tough luck. "Populist" Bannon sheds no tears.

posted by tonycpsu at 11:23 AM on September 28, 2017 [7 favorites]

/r/HQG is on fire today.
posted by Talez at 11:23 AM on September 28, 2017 [24 favorites]

I'd like to see them explain it too. That top rate only applies to a select fraction of people. Donald Trump is probably too poor to be required to pay it.

I bet the great majority of them live in New York and California, too. The Dems could come out with "Not a single person living in these states would be affected by this increase:" and then list off thirty or forty states.
posted by rifflesby at 11:23 AM on September 28, 2017 [5 favorites]

"I thought everybody else knew what the hell they were talking about, but apparently not.”

Isn't that line usually the go-to for people who don't want any credibility? But by all means, Senator, continue to play a major role in running our country and collecting your taxpayer-funded paycheck.
posted by Rykey at 11:24 AM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

Shorter Graham: "Not many people know how complicated health care really is. Now, let me go swanning back to provide my keen insights on the global terrorism problem."


It just provides a window into the intellectual dishonesty of a Senator who gets up on a debate stage to propose to the nation How It Should Be Done, but doesn't have a clue what he's talking about.
posted by darkstar at 11:28 AM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

Republicans, with a smile: "WHO KNEW *BLAH* COULD BE SO COMPLICATED?"

The rest of us: "You fucking pieces of shit."

Meanwhile, the world crumbles.
posted by lydhre at 11:30 AM on September 28, 2017 [46 favorites]

NYT: ‘Soon,’ ‘Very Soon,’ ‘Eventually’: A Detailed List of Things Trump Said Would Happen
President Trump regularly says that his policy goals – an Obamacare repeal, an infrastructure bill, an overhaul of the tax code, a border wall, among others – will happen “soon,” “very soon,” “very, very soon,” “in the coming weeks” or even “immediately.”

Easy 30-second ad to blanket Trump Country with throughout the midterms: Repeated clips of Trump talking about building the wall "soon," investing in infrastructure "right away," repealing Obamacare "day one," and so on, and so on. Cut to photo of Trump in the Rose Garden with the Republican leadership: "Donald Trump. Just another Washington politician."

We shouldn't bother convincing right-wing Republicans to switch sides, just get them to think there's no point.
posted by duffell at 11:32 AM on September 28, 2017 [28 favorites]

"Donald Trump: What has he done for you lately? What has he done for you ever?"
posted by rifflesby at 11:34 AM on September 28, 2017 [12 favorites]

"I thought everybody else knew what the hell they were talking about, but apparently not.”

My mind is slightly blown that Lindsay Graham, a practicing Republican politician of some years, can't tell when other Republican politicians are lying, fudging or blowing smoke. Really? Really??? C'mon, their lying ain't that smooth.
posted by puddledork at 11:37 AM on September 28, 2017 [11 favorites]

And God bless Gary Cohn. (Also, on a related note, fuck Gary Cohn forever.) The Democrats need to make that man famous for accidentally telling the truth about GOP priorities. "Donald Trump will raise your taxes so his friends can buy yachts." Keep talking about his appearance at a private millionaires' club right after the election promising to cut his buddies' taxes. Talk about it so much that the networks have to keep replaying it for context. Refer to the White House as Goldman Sachs' Washington Office.

In case it's not clear, I don't think improving public discourse in America should be on our list of priorities right now.
posted by duffell at 11:38 AM on September 28, 2017 [5 favorites]

Rosie M. Banks comment flagged as fantastic.
posted by yoga at 11:39 AM on September 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

"Donald Trump: What has he done for you lately? What has he done for you ever?"

Made liberals mad and sad. That's literally it. And that's enough for Trump voters and a lot of Republicans. This isn't about logic or their best interests or policy or the country or governance. It's about their precious feelings and white grievance. That is it. Pure reaction, pure appeal to the id. The Republicans and Fox News have fed this monster and I'm just not sure how it can be stopped, short of mass deprogramming.
posted by yasaman at 12:04 PM on September 28, 2017 [39 favorites]

A lot has happened in the ~60 years since JFK, including many other changes to tax brackets and rates. It seems like a big stretch to characterize any new changes as "throwing the JFK tax reform under the bus."
posted by tonycpsu at 12:05 PM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

And anyway to my eyes, the JFK changes didn't do much in terms of the average rates. Certainly nothing close to the downward trajectory since Reagan, briefly interrupted by the Clinton years when we decided to run a balanced budget.
posted by tonycpsu at 12:12 PM on September 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'd like the Democrats to propose returning to a top marginal tax rate of 90% on the grounds that in the 1950's it worked great and the economy was booming and there were great jobs.

In the 1950's the USA produced around half of the world's oil and was the dominant global economy because Europe was still rebuilding from WWII and Japan, Korea, China etc weren't even on the map, and there was massive expansion of suburbia, building of interstate highways, etc. The economic conditions of the time had more to with all of that than high marginal tax rates on high earners, and aren't reproducible in the present environment.
posted by Pseudonymous Cognomen at 12:22 PM on September 28, 2017 [10 favorites]

We only have 7 tax brackets currently, which top out at 39.6% for income over $450k(ish) (The exact dollar amount varies depending if you are single/married etc) I've often wondered why we have so few brackets.

Why not just add a bunch more? Bracket 8 for income over 1.5 million, Bracket 9 for 2.5 million and so forth. Add an additional 1% to each bracket until you top out at say...70%.

While we're at it, tax capital gains as ordinary income and eliminate the cap on social security completely.
posted by Eddie Mars at 12:23 PM on September 28, 2017 [18 favorites]

Why not just add a bunch more? Bracket 8 for income over 1.5 million, Bracket 9 for 2.5 million and so forth. Add an additional 1% to each bracket until you top out at say...70%.

Because the power and influence of the groups in this country that get into those high incomes is exponentially greater than the people in the lower brackets.
posted by cell divide at 12:27 PM on September 28, 2017 [10 favorites]

This video is the best 5 minutes you will see on the NFL protests. Seriously, watch it. — “When people march, they are not protesting traffic.”
posted by tonycpsu at 12:29 PM on September 28, 2017 [24 favorites]

The Republicans and Fox News have fed this monster and I'm just not sure how it can be stopped, short of mass deprogramming.

This. We have 30% of the electorate who are a Koch/Murdoch botnet.
posted by benzenedream at 12:30 PM on September 28, 2017 [10 favorites]

While we're at it, tax capital gains as ordinary income and eliminate the cap on social security completely.

Or, I mean, we could just feed the plutocrats to sharks.

we could even chant "EAT THE RICH" while we did so
posted by ragtag at 12:32 PM on September 28, 2017 [9 favorites]

I haven't seen this linked here yet, I don't think, and it's just an incredibly well written and well reasoned analysis of the various arguments being made in our national debate about "free speech" and protest.

Adam Serwer in The Atlantic: A Nation of Snowflakes

The greatest threats to free speech in America come from the state, not from activists on college campuses.
posted by OnceUponATime at 12:36 PM on September 28, 2017 [9 favorites]

/r/HQG is on fire today.

the hilariously missing part of that is that afterwards the kids tell him to go fix it himself. (if you're not familiar with Rick and Morty, here's that scene in full, but the insults are still the same)
posted by numaner at 12:37 PM on September 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

One can but hope that an outright admission that deficit worries were only a talking point to block Democratic proposal and not a sincerely held belief will journalists to take future deficit-hawking less seriously.

I'm going to need a bigger cake for this.
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:44 PM on September 28, 2017 [9 favorites]

Pseudonymous Cognomen In the 1950's the USA produced around half of the world's oil and was the dominant global economy because Europe was still rebuilding from WWII and Japan, Korea, China etc weren't even [...]

Sure, and black people were legally second class citizens, and all sorts of other stuff was different.

So?

Look at the bigger picture. Since the 1950's the conservatives have been selling everyone a huge lie. They've been telling us that if we just cut taxes on rich people the economy will do awesome and everyone will have more money.

And yet the exact opposite has happened. There's an inverse relationship between the top marginal tax rate and how well the average person does. The lower the top marginal tax rate, the worse it is for you and me.

Over the decades the top marginal tax rate has been cut, and cut, and cut, and cut, and the economy has gotten worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and our pay has gotten lower and lower and lower and lower.

So sure, there was a lot of other stuff going on in the 1950's. But how about we try raising taxes on the rich parasites as an experiment and see what happens? We've tried the other way, cutting taxes on the rich moocher class for the last 67 years and the results haven't exactly been good, so how about we try something else?

One way or another we've got to claw back some of the enormous wealth they've been hoarding, massive taxes on people making obscene amounts of money seem like a good way to accomplish that goal.

Seriously, what's your alternative? Begging nicely for the R's to leave taxes in their current ruinous state? "Compromising" by giving them yet another tax cut that will lay waste to the economy and lower our wages even further?

Raise taxes on the rich fuckers, sure it probably won't reset the economy to the 1950's boom, but let's give it a shot.

I also specifically invoke the 1950's because of the poisonous nostalgia the Republicans have been spreading regarding the 1950's. If we say "let's make taxes like they were in the 1950's!" it'll undermine a lot of Republican anti-tax points.

Same as raising top marginal tax rates to 70% should be presented as "let's make taxes like they were under Reagan!"

I fucking hate Reagan, but if I can turn him against the Republicans that's a good thing.

TL;DR: No, I don't seriously expect that simply changing the top marginal tax rate to 90% will reproduce the 1950's economy. This is about sales.
posted by sotonohito at 12:50 PM on September 28, 2017 [34 favorites]

The economic conditions of the time had more to with all of that than high marginal tax rates on high earners, and aren't reproducible in the present environment.

By your same argument, there is no evidence that high marginal tax rates would have a negative impact now. Economic growth is primarily driven by factors other than the marginal tax rate. So there is no excuse for not raising them.
posted by JackFlash at 1:02 PM on September 28, 2017 [12 favorites]

Why not just add a bunch more? Bracket 8 for income over 1.5 million, Bracket 9 for 2.5 million and so forth. Add an additional 1% to each bracket until you top out at say...70%.


Because the power and influence of the groups in this country that get into those high incomes is exponentially greater than the people in the lower brackets.


This is THE underlying obstacle behind virtually every roadblock in the path of social justice and equality in our country and the rest of the world. Extremely wealthy, extremely powerful people who - as the modern day aristocracy - need the status quo to remain in place because their wealth and power are founded on it.

It's why basic common sense estate taxes are under attack. Why health care can't be treated like a common good. It's why unionizing is under attack. Why laws are passed allowing strip mining and fracking and pollution in sensitive areas. Why the fiduciary rule is treated like some communist plot. Why voter suppression and gerrymandering are so prevalent. Why we get war after war after war despite the human cost.
posted by darkstar at 1:04 PM on September 28, 2017 [52 favorites]

Update: Russian Interference in 2016 US Election, Bots, & Misinformation

By Twitter PublicPolicy
Thursday, 28 September 2017

Based on our findings thus far, RT spent $274,100 in U.S. ads in 2016. In that year, the @RT_com, @RT_America, and @ActualidadRT accounts promoted 1,823 Tweets that definitely or potentially targeted the U.S. market. These campaigns were directed at followers of mainstream media and primarily promoted RT Tweets regarding news stories.
...
Russia and other post-Soviet states have been a primary source of automated and spammy content on Twitter for many years. Content that violates our rules with respect to automated accounts and spam can have a highly negative effect on user experience, and we have long taken substantial action to stem that flow.

posted by OnceUponATime at 1:06 PM on September 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

CNN, Jake Tapper, Exclusive: Kushner didn't disclose personal email account to Senate intel committee

In his closed interview with the staff of the Senate intelligence committee, White House senior adviser and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner did not share the existence of his personal email account, which he has used for official business, CNN has learned.

CNN has also learned that the chair and vice chair of the committee were so unhappy that they learned about the existence of his personal email account via news reports that they wrote him a letter via his attorney Thursday instructing him to double-check that he has turned over every relevant document to the committee including those from his "'personal email account' described to the news media, as well as all other email accounts, messaging apps, or similar communications channels you may have used, or that may contain information relevant to our inquiry."

How did CNN obtain the letter from the committee, you may ask? Well it involves ONLY THE BEST PEOPLE doing only their best work:

CNN obtained the letter labeled "COMMITTEE SENSITIVE" via the self-styled "email prankster," a man in the UK who has several times impersonated members of the orbit around President Donald Trump to others in that circle.

Earlier this week, the prankster pretended to be Kushner and wrote to Kushner's real attorney, Lowell, about the (fictitious) adult content of emails he had shared with White House officials, as covered by Business Insider. Apparently, earlier Thursday, when Lowell attempted to forward the very real letter from the very legitimate Senate intelligence committee leaders, his email auto-fill supplied the address of the very fake Kushner account run by the prankster. A person familiar with the email transmission told CNN it was inadvertently forwarded to the prankster's address.

posted by zachlipton at 1:06 PM on September 28, 2017 [116 favorites]

lock him up?
posted by vibrotronica at 1:13 PM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

My comment on the social media collection proposal by DHS:

As a natural-born citizen of the United States, I find the rule change contrary to everything I hold dear about the US and its culture. The impulse to expand documentation into these private areas is Orwellian in the extreme and conveys to fellow citizens and residents that they are unwelcome and second class. I also believe much of the rule to be unconstitutional, although that is ultimately for the courts to decide.

posted by Mental Wimp at 1:13 PM on September 28, 2017 [16 favorites]

Earlier this week, the prankster pretended to be Kushner and wrote to Kushner's real attorney, Lowell, about the (fictitious) adult content of emails he had shared with White House officials, as covered by Business Insider. Apparently, earlier Thursday, when Lowell attempted to forward the very real letter from the very legitimate Senate intelligence committee leaders, his email auto-fill supplied the address of the very fake Kushner account run by the prankster. A person familiar with the email transmission told CNN it was inadvertently forwarded to the prankster's address.

Man, that is hilarious. There is literally no end to their incompetence.
posted by mumimor at 1:15 PM on September 28, 2017 [50 favorites]

My paternal grandparents bought a house and lived a comfortable two car middle class life on just my grandfather's income, and he worked a job that didn't require a degree.

My maternal grandparents bought a **HUGE** house and lived a very comfortable upper middle class life on my maternal grandfather's engineering degree and occasional part time factory work from my grandmother.

My partner has a Master's degree, I have a Bachelor's. We both work "good" jobs. And we're barely scraping by on the skin of our teeth. We live paycheck to paycheck. The very idea of owning a house is utterly laughable.

At this rate my kid will have a Ph.D and a great job... and live in a homeless shelter or his car.

Why are things getting so much worse for you and me and everyone else?

Has the GDP dropped suddenly over the past 67 years?

No. Today's GDP is higher than ever before.

Has the US working class become lax and unproductive?

No. Today the productivity per worker is vastly higher than it was back when my grandparents were starting out.

What changed between the 1950's and today?

Average CEO pay in the 1950's was around twelve times the amount made by the lowest paid person in the company. Today the average CEO makes well over six hundred times what the lowest paid employee does, and many will make over two thousand times what the lowest paid person does.

The rich today are incredibly richer than they were in the 1950's, and they've done that by stealing the economic growth from you and me. Remember how the economy today is "booming"? It is, in the technical sense that GDP is going up, stock values are rising, and so on. But all of that economic growth has gone straight to the top 1%, you and I don't get any of it. We haven't since the 1960's.

We're poor because those rich fuckers have taken all the money. I'm not an economic expert but it isn't hard to see that when Bill Gates, and the Kochs, and all the other billionaire parasites have so much money that means there isn't as much for you and me.

Making the pie larger could give everyone a bigger slice, but in practice what has happened is that the growth of the pie has gone 100% to the richest of the rich and our slice has either stayed the same or gotten a bit smaller.

The fix to this problem is simple: TAKE BACK THE MONEY!

Taxes are the humane, civilized, way to do that. Income taxes of 90% on income over $1,000,000/year, estate taxes about that high for all inheritances over $10,000,000.

One way or another the obscenely wealthy must be compelled to surrender a lot of their wealth so we can all do better. I'd prefer to do it via taxation, the civilized, peaceful, way. Because if that doesn't work it'll be accomplished in a much less civilized and peaceful way, and I strongly suspect that in the event of economic civil war me and my family would probably wind up as collateral damage.
posted by sotonohito at 1:15 PM on September 28, 2017 [176 favorites]

his email auto-fill supplied the address of the very fake Kushner account run by the prankster. A person familiar with the email transmission told CNN it was inadvertently forwarded to the prankster's address.

Every third news story about these people needs Yakkity Sax playing in the background.
posted by dragstroke at 1:16 PM on September 28, 2017 [38 favorites]

Rapper 50 Cent has claimed that Donald Trump’s team offered him $500,000 to make an appearance in Trump’s presidential campaign.


Offering to pay someone who has a self declared nominative worth of 50 cents by one million percent as an opening bid seems so very Trump.
posted by srboisvert at 1:22 PM on September 28, 2017 [15 favorites]

Auto-fill would be my candidate for Least Likely to Save the Republic, yet here we are.
posted by The Nutmeg of Consolation at 1:23 PM on September 28, 2017 [29 favorites]

The Time Donald Trump Turned Away in Disgust While a Man Was Bleeding to Death in Front of Him

The thing about that story that's so terrible is not just what a garbage human he is, it's that he thinks telling that story will humanize him.
posted by corb at 1:27 PM on September 28, 2017 [59 favorites]

I am experiencing great joy in imagining the pranksters reaction to that appearing in his inbox
posted by Jalliah at 1:29 PM on September 28, 2017 [17 favorites]

Gary Cohn, with a net worth of more than $250 million, suggested some of the things a "a typical family earning $100,000 with two children" could do with an extra $1,000 from tax cuts:

“If we allow a family to keep another $1,000 of their income, what does that mean?” Cohn said. “They can renovate their kitchen, they can buy a new car, they can take a family vacation, they can increase their lifestyle. That’s what our tax plan is to do — our tax plan is aimed to return more income back to hard-working Americans.”

How delusional do you have to be to start with a typical family making $100K/year and then think a new car or a kitchen remodel costs $1,000?
posted by zachlipton at 1:31 PM on September 28, 2017 [114 favorites]

Gary Cohn, with a net worth of more than $250 million, suggested some of the things a "a typical family earning $100,000 with two children" could do with an extra $1,000 from tax cuts ... How delusional do you have to be to start with a typical family making $100K/year and then think a new car or a kitchen remodel costs $1,000?

You would think he would know you can't even by a case of Cristal.
posted by JackFlash at 1:38 PM on September 28, 2017 [9 favorites]

A hundred bananas.
posted by something something at 1:38 PM on September 28, 2017 [47 favorites]

“What could one banana cost, Michael? $10?”
posted by nathan_teske at 1:39 PM on September 28, 2017 [38 favorites]

You know those private jet flights that Price and HHS insist were totally legal and necessary and appropriate? Now he's vowing to never take another one and says he'll reimburse the government.

Except, and I think this could be a thing, his statement is ridiculously carefully worded:

Today, I will write a personal check to the US Treasury for the expense of my travel on private charter planes. The taxpayers won't pay a dime for my seat on those plans.

"My travel" and "my seat" are rather specific. I'm betting he'll calculate some amount less than the actual cost of the charters to represent his "seat" and will just pay that.

And to get it out of the way, what, is he going to pay for the costs with the proceeds of his insider trading?
posted by zachlipton at 1:43 PM on September 28, 2017 [33 favorites]

I just got a quote for refacing my cabinets in my TEENY kitchen that was around $3,000.
posted by Melismata at 1:44 PM on September 28, 2017 [5 favorites]

Auto-fill would be my candidate for Least Likely to Save the Republic, yet here we are.

....Yet Here We Are is definitely going to be the title of at least one history of this era.
posted by emjaybee at 1:47 PM on September 28, 2017 [22 favorites]

Price: Today, I will write a personal check to the US Treasury for the expenses of my travel on private charter planes. The taxpayers won’t pay a dime for my seat on those planes.

Let's see how much he actually reimburses. Hope he remembers to include interest on the total at the applicable federal rate. Or do we all get to borrow $400k from the government at 0%?
posted by melissasaurus at 1:48 PM on September 28, 2017 [11 favorites]

Do you think that Pruitt and Price totally hate their jobs and are just trying to milk everything they can out of their office before they get fired? Like this is some expensive passive aggression?
posted by fluttering hellfire at 1:49 PM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

The taxpayers won’t pay a dime for my seat on those planes.

Yes, but what about the other people that were on the plane with you?
posted by ArgentCorvid at 1:50 PM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

I can spot a sleezebag when I see one. Turns out he's only paying back $52K.
posted by zachlipton at 1:50 PM on September 28, 2017 [29 favorites]

Aaaaaand, there it is: @finnygo [fox news]
NEW: Senior HHS source says that HHS secretary Tom Price will specifically pay $51,887.31 over useage of a private plane.
posted by melissasaurus at 1:51 PM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

Price: Today, I will write a personal check to the US Treasury for the expenses of my travel on private charter planes. The taxpayers won’t pay a dime for my seat on those planes.

Pictures of the check, or it didn't happen. As zachlipton suggested, he is paying for "my seat", not the total cost of the flights.
posted by JackFlash at 1:52 PM on September 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

Oh look. Another Tom Price scandal right in the middle of this one. It's an omnishambles! BuzzFeed: Tom Price Wanted To Reopen His Department's Executive Dining Room, Sources Say

Tom Price, the Health and Human Services secretary currently under fire for his private jet travel, asked a White House official within the first two months of the administration to let President Trump know that he wanted to reopen his department's executive dining room, according to a source with knowledge of the request.

A separate source confirmed Price's interest in "reconstituting" the executive dining room more recently. The room had been closed as a dining room for top officials since the George W. Bush administration.
...
The source who said Price wanted White House aides to mention his interest in the executive dining room to the president said Price is hurting the administration.

"He's such a fucking hypocrite," said the source, who has advised Trump in the past. "We were always the people slamming Obama and his staff for doing stuff like this."

I think the most revealing part of this is an ex-Trump-advisor with knowledge of Price's request is throwing him under the bus. Sounds kind of Reince-like to me, or someone in that family.

Sebelius and Burwell, however, did have an executive chef, because some forms of extravagance are bipartisan.
posted by zachlipton at 1:54 PM on September 28, 2017 [21 favorites]

There is literally no end to their incompetence.

I know some people who work for the federal government, and one of the only things that gives me any hope these days is hearing from them about how wildly incompetent the current administration is. For all the regressive policies we've seen, there's a whole bunch that have failed solely because of how many people have no idea how to draft an official document. I don't want to give specific examples, but you know those clips of Maxine Waters (and others) totally shutting people down for trying to give bullshit talking points instead of answering specific, direct questions? Imagine how many people are trying to do that with official documents. I'm talking really basic stuff, too, like if I were a government agency that required the Secretary of Hands to submit a document detailing how many fingers I am holding up right now, they'd submit something about the importance of fingers for the American people. It's insane. This is what happens when you have so many people who have never worked in government, and who have no idea what they're doing.

This may be common knowledge for people who follow politics really closely, but it blew my mind a little. It doesn't make everything OK, but they really are constantly tripping over their own feet. That they can get anything done is honestly kind of hard to fathom sometimes.
posted by shapes that haunt the dusk at 1:56 PM on September 28, 2017 [37 favorites]

So you're saying . . . THE PRICE IS WRONG?
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 1:56 PM on September 28, 2017 [27 favorites]

Today's reason that I am apoplectic with rage: this Talking Points Memo article and this Center for Health Journalism article saying that Congress has known about this Saturday's expiration of funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for two years, but is still going to miss the deadline for reauthorizing it.

One of my senators is Republican Joni Ernst. I asked a regional office why the program had not been reauthorized in time. The staffer clearly had little idea what the program was. This issue doesn't seem to be something that is yet on their radar in terms of constituent concerns. I hope Americans will now make them aware of how important this is.

My other senator is Republican Chuck Grassley, who is on the Senate Finance Committee in charge of CHIP. I called a regional office and asked why the program hadn't been reauthorized. I waited a long while for them to research the subject, and the staffer told me that as far as she knew, it had been reauthorized as part of the continuing resolution. I read her the TPM article including the quote from Senator Wyden saying “We have the rest of the week ... I’m willing to pull out all the stops to get this done”. The staffer said she would pass on my concerns. I expressed further concern that a senator on the committee in charge of a program vital to the lives of children would not only have failed to reauthorize it in time but had not thought to mention the program in his recent statements or his many, many Tweets. The staffer said they couldn't respond regarding legislative issues ("we deal mainly with constitutent services") and I would have to call the DC office. The DC office went to voicemail. (Ernst's DC office went to a staffer who said she couldn't comment on literally anything about the program, but would pass on my concerns.)

I also called my local Democrat representative and asked him to make a statement regarding how terrible this all is and what bill he would support to fix it.

Please call your senators and representatives!
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:59 PM on September 28, 2017 [32 favorites]

Haha Tom Price. WTF you can’t pay back one-eighth of what you stole and call it making the taxpayers whole.
posted by notyou at 2:00 PM on September 28, 2017 [9 favorites]

(The actual reason CHIP has not been reauthorized, as far as I can tell, is that Republicans trying to repeal the ACA thought they might use it as a bargaining CHIP.)

(I hope this is a teachable moment and people will vote Republican less in the future.)
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:00 PM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

How delusional do you have to be to start with a typical family making $100K/year and then think a new car or a kitchen remodel costs $1,000?

And that that's what we'd spend our money on, instead of paying off debts or taking our 15 year old cars to the mechanic?
posted by Emmy Rae at 2:01 PM on September 28, 2017 [19 favorites]

Tom Price is keeping an eye on how many jalapeno poppers everyone ate because there is no way he's splitting this check down the middle
posted by theodolite at 2:03 PM on September 28, 2017 [68 favorites]

the chair and vice chair of the committee were so unhappy that they learned about the existence of his personal email account via news reports that they wrote him a letter via his attorney Thursday instructing him to double-check that he has turned over every relevant document to the committee

Hoo boy, they are pissed indeed. Keep it up, Jared, and you'll soon be at the wrong end of a dirty look over the top of somebody's glasses.
posted by Rykey at 2:04 PM on September 28, 2017 [8 favorites]

Guys, I want to just step back for a moment and breathe. DJT told a story of witnessing a frail person seriously injuring himself and, in telling this story, emphasized that THE ONLY THING HE CARED ABOUT was that the old man was bleeding out onto the marble floor.

I once puked all over my grandmother's head while she was driving me to school. She had to drive, puke all over her head, until she got home. The vomit ruined her leather coat. Somehow, she still loved me and never talked about how disgusting it was.

I somehow took this for granted.
posted by angrycat at 2:04 PM on September 28, 2017 [76 favorites]

Why is Price even bothering to pay back any of it if he's going to insult everybody by offering such a pittance? I hope this is just another stupid, irresponsible act in a lifetime of stupid, irresponsible acts and not part of some deal to let him off the hook with the administration.
posted by vathek at 2:07 PM on September 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

Why is Price even bothering to pay back any of it if he's going to insult everybody by offering such a pittance?

I imagine it's the same reason his boss personally donated $78k to the National Park Service after his budget proposed defunding them by $375 million...
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:10 PM on September 28, 2017 [13 favorites]

So by that logic, Price must be making his assistants and staffers pay back their share of the flights's cost? People whose net worth is presumably a lot less than $14 million?

What a prince. Or crook. Probably crook.
posted by martin q blank at 2:12 PM on September 28, 2017 [5 favorites]

Car and Driver, The 10 Cheapest New Cars of 2017: Nissan Versa S, $12,855
USA Today, The cheapest car in the U.S. for 2017 may surprise you: Nissan Versa S, $12,825
posted by kirkaracha at 2:13 PM on September 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

From the Dutch news magazine Zembla:

The dubious friends of Donald Trump part 3: The billion dollar fraud

Previously Part 1: The Russians, Part 2: King of Diamonds. One of the subjects of this part 3, Kazakh Ilyas Khrapunov, evidently sued and lost in an attempt to prevent the broadcast. (Dutch, Google translate)

Ilyas Khrapunov is the son of Victor Khrapunov. Kazakh's former minister and former mayor of Almaty is accused by the Kazakh government of stealing and laundering hundreds of millions of dollars. Ilyas is also the son-in-law of the Kazakh oligarch Mukhtar Ablyazov, who has been convicted by a British civil court for repayment of $ 4 billion for fraud. According to the Kazakh government, Ilyas Khrapunov would play a central role in managing and laundering the disappeared billions.

posted by XMLicious at 2:18 PM on September 28, 2017 [8 favorites]

HomeAdvisor, How Much Does It Cost To Remodel A Kitchen? $21,797 (national average)
posted by kirkaracha at 2:18 PM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD.
posted by lalex at 1:17 PM on September 28

I didn't think anything could surprise you, anymore, Lalex.
posted by greermahoney at 2:19 PM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

Keep in mind that Price can deduct the $51,887.31 on his Schedule A as an employee business expense, so the taxpayer will be paying part of his check as well. Only a portion will ultimately come out of his pocket.
posted by JackFlash at 2:20 PM on September 28, 2017 [19 favorites]

Sounds kind of Reince-like to me, or someone in that family.

I would have guessed Bannon.
posted by Coventry at 2:22 PM on September 28, 2017

Oh hey, what's this? Just a Daily Caller video where they loop Glenn Thrush saying "chutzpah" with Hava Nagila playing under it. And they have the chutzpah to spell it "KHOUTSPA" too. Lovely gesture for Yom Kippur, really.
posted by zachlipton at 2:26 PM on September 28, 2017 [7 favorites]

Somebody's gotta go back and get a shitload of dimes!
posted by onehalfjunco at 2:31 PM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

Tucker Carlson's Daily Caller attacking someone for being ethnically Jewish at least has the benefit of technical factual accuracy. Maybe this is a turning point in our civil discourse...
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:39 PM on September 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

I know some people who work for the federal government, and one of the only things that gives me any hope these days is hearing from them about how wildly incompetent the current administration is.

[Says nothing]
[Blinks twice]
posted by T.D. Strange at 2:46 PM on September 28, 2017 [22 favorites]

We can only hope that twice-removed Chief Justice Moore soon becomes once-removed-and-counting Senator Moore.

(Barring a Democrat winning in Alabama.)

(I think we can bar that. Even with a low bar.)

(Not as low as the Alabama State Bar, but low.)
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:48 PM on September 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

Why is Price even bothering to pay back any of it if he's going to insult everybody by offering such a pittance?

Because he knows NPR, among others, will report it as simply "Price to pay back government for use of planes" and never, ever, follow up on it, implying that he has paid the government back in full and that it wasn't that big a deal to begin with.

Does ResistBot also help with targeting public editors and ombudspersons at various media outlets? Cuz I sometimes think we need to be hitting them up with a ton of messages in addition to reaching out to our legislators.
posted by lord_wolf at 3:02 PM on September 28, 2017 [42 favorites]

lord_wolf: Does ResistBot also help with targeting public editors and ombudspersons at various media outlets? Cuz I sometimes think we need to be hitting them up with a ton of messages in addition to reaching out to our legislators.

I agree 1000000%. I'd like to know this too. The media may not be as responsible as the actual politicians, but they are culpable to a great degree (But Her Emails!) and I think their feet need to be held to the fire as much as our elected officials.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 3:09 PM on September 28, 2017 [17 favorites]

The Daily Caller decided the time is not yet ripe for full bore Jew baiting and deleted their video. Also why did no one tell me they have a sister site called The Daily Vaper
posted by theodolite at 3:18 PM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

As someone who lives in Bluelandia, I'd love to fire up resistbot for editors and ombudspersons.
posted by Room 641-A at 3:21 PM on September 28, 2017 [5 favorites]

>Why is Price even bothering to pay back any of it if he's going to insult everybody by offering such a pittance?

>Because he knows NPR, among others, will report it as simply "Price to pay back government for use of planes" and never, ever, follow up on it, implying that he has paid the government back in full and that it wasn't that big a deal to begin with.

For what it's worth, here are the latest headlines:

Politico: "Price says he'll repay taxpayers for his private jet travel"

NPR: "Price To Pay Portion Of Charter Flight Costs" and the story includes the $52K check compared to the $400K cost.
posted by JackFlash at 3:23 PM on September 28, 2017 [24 favorites]

Daily Beast, Swin, Trump Aides Are Confounded By His Hospital Lie: ‘He’s Just, You Know, Doing His Thing.’

The president of the United States has been repeatedly blaming the biggest legislative failure of his administration on a senator in a made-up hospital, and no one in the White House is quite sure why.

Starting Wednesday, President Donald Trump has insisted seven times, in public comments to reporters and via his Twitter account, that Republicans failed to deliver on his campaign promise to tank Obamacare because “you can't do it when somebody is in the hospital.”

That somebody—“one senator” who is a “great” guy, Trump says—is Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS), who is not in the hospital. Cochran and his office were forced to clarify this repeatedly. The Senator himself tweeted: “I’m not hospitalized, but am recuperating at home in Mississippi and look forward to returning to work soon.”
...
White House officials could not quite rationalize why President Trump keeps promoting the bizarre claim. One senior Trump aide told The Daily Beast that the president was “just, you know, doing his thing,” in riffing on a topic and reiterating a false claim to which he feels attached. Another said that the media was engaged in hair-splitting to ding the president. But when The Daily Beast emphasized that the failure of the repeal effort had nothing to do with a sick lawmaker, the official did not respond.

Another White House official, however, did, only to sarcastically reply: “tax reform going great.”

Officials spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak freely about a fake hospital.

Sanders helpfully claimed that "in the hospital" was just a quick handy way of saying "physically unable to be here," and I hope she adopts this in her daily life: "Where's John? Oh he's in the hospital. Oh dear what's wrong? He's waiting for the cable guy to show up." She also attempted to claim that they had the votes on "the substance" of repealing the ACA without, you know, having the votes for the bill itself.
posted by zachlipton at 3:31 PM on September 28, 2017 [35 favorites]

Because the power and influence of the groups in this country that get into those high incomes is exponentially greater than the people in the lower brackets.

Thus the reporting that the Republicans were pushing drastic and haphazard health care cuts to appease their donors.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/9/25/16339336/graham-cassidy-republican-donors
posted by sebastienbailard at 3:35 PM on September 28, 2017

President Donald Trump Blames Thad Cochran's Prostate for Healthcare Vote Failure. This is the worst true sentence I've been able to type. Thanks, 2017.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 3:48 PM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

and no one in the White House is quite sure why.

Really? They don’t know him by now?
posted by Melismata at 3:54 PM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

Re nominal tax rates vs actual taxation; I own companies. The vast majority of which exist to hold IP, but otherwise don't do much. However, because of how I've structured things, if I file my taxes like I'm Dow chemical, I can get my effective tax rate below 5%. I spend a few hours every year stripping out exemptions, to get my rate high enough not to trigger an audit, and to ease my conscience. The idea that any Corp is paying the nominal rate is ridiculous.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 3:56 PM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

Really? They don’t know him by now?

They'll probably never never never know him.

TRUEFACT: people worry about the gridfire projectors and CAM dusters but we ROUs do most of our work with earworms. Cheers and hoogachakahoogachaka.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 3:57 PM on September 28, 2017 [23 favorites]

Local Boston news had a bit on preparations for a protest somewhere in which they're planning on burning Patriots jerseys, because some team members kneeled during the Anthem.

So like the various conservative protests of Starbucks, it somehow involves buying the merchandise of the organization being protested.
posted by XMLicious at 4:10 PM on September 28, 2017 [13 favorites]

Why was Price so quick to offer up some cash for his flights? Maybe because he knew there were even more expensive ones that hadn't been revealed yet? Politico reports that Price took military jets to Europe, Asia for over $500K, for a total travel bill of over a million bucks since May.

Maybe, maybe, there's justification for military air for a trip to Liberia (there are direct flights there from Europe on major international carriers), but it's absurd to call in the Department of Defense because you want to go from Berlin to Geneva.
posted by zachlipton at 4:13 PM on September 28, 2017 [30 favorites]

So you can get expelled from the Senate. I'm wikipedia-ing the current Sen Repubs to see if any of them are dirty enough to meet any of these charges.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 4:22 PM on September 28, 2017

The WSJ reports that Treasury Removes Paper at Odds With Mnuchin’s Take on Corporate-Tax Cut’s Winners

The Treasury Department has taken down a 2012 economic analysis that contradicts Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s argument that workers would benefit the most from a corporate income tax cut.

The 2012 paper from the Office of Tax Analysis found that workers pay 18% of the corporate tax while owners of capital pay 82%. That is a breakdown in line with many economists’ views and close to estimates from the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation and Congressional Budget Office.

The JCT, which will evaluate tax bills in Congress, estimates that capital bears 75% of the long-run corporate-tax burden, with labor paying the rest.

But Mr. Mnuchin has been arguing the opposite, citing other papers that attribute more of the burden to labor. The point is central to Mr. Mnuchin’s argument that workers would benefit from the corporate tax cut the administration is proposing, and switching that assumption would significantly alter the estimates of who would benefit from the Republican tax policy framework released on Wednesday.

posted by zachlipton at 4:31 PM on September 28, 2017 [30 favorites]

God fucking dammit.

Billy Corgan has gone full infowars. I think I'll listen to 1979 one last time then never again.
posted by Talez at 4:33 PM on September 28, 2017 [8 favorites]

It's probably relevant to read this earlier piece from June: Does Cutting Taxes on the Wealthy Lead to Greater Growth?

This was from Michael Pettis, so the post can get sprawlingly long. Here's the summary bit:

[E]conomies in which savings are scarce, and which consequently suffer from investment levels that are lower than what the market would otherwise choose, income inequality can increase long-term growth. When savings are not scarce, however, income inequality results, over the long term, in lower growth and higher unemployment, although this can be temporarily postponed with rising debt.

But this article really really needs to be read in full. Especially by the Trumpo-Randian oligarchy. But of course they don't actually want to use economics in economical policy, do they?
posted by runcifex at 4:37 PM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

DJT told a story of witnessing a frail person seriously injuring himself and, in telling this story, emphasized that THE ONLY THING HE CARED ABOUT was that the old man was bleeding out onto the marble floor.

........

He was still angry at Kelly later Friday, delivering bizarre comments on “CNN Tonight.’’

“You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever,” he said.

I'm sensing a pattern.

Books my grandchildren will read:

Yet Here We Were
He Was Just Doing His Thing
There Was Literally No End To Their Incompetence
Meanwhile Back At The Dumpster File
Banks Which, Sadly, Must Be Dealt With

I will make sure they can read. We'll start with my vintage Nixon-Era Doonsbury collection.
posted by tilde at 4:40 PM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

Billy Corgan has gone full infowars. I think I'll listen to 1979 one last time then never again.


Oh Corgan’s been a wing nut for years now, going on Alex Jones wearing 4 shirts and babbling. I think he was never all good in the noggin. But hey the 90s man, the 90s
posted by dis_integration at 4:41 PM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

DJT told a story of witnessing a frail person seriously injuring himself and, in telling this story, emphasized that THE ONLY THING HE CARED ABOUT was that the old man was bleeding out onto the marble floor.

If there's a recording of this I hope it gets played in a loop for every conservative-leaning AARP voter out there in every election held between now and whenever Trump's out of office.
posted by Nerd of the North at 4:47 PM on September 28, 2017 [23 favorites]

If there's a recording of this

Here you go (includes bonus ramble about how weird and gross he finds it when "a beautiful girl" tells him she's interested in nursing as a profession. This is because nurses have to clean up gross stuff, and beautiful girls should want to avoid things like that.)
posted by contraption at 4:57 PM on September 28, 2017 [20 favorites]

Paging Dr. Freud, white courtesy telephone please:

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday said there’s not much to clarify about the administration’s position on some NFL players and coaches who drop to one knee to protest during the national anthem because the issue is “pretty black and white.”

posted by mmoncur at 5:02 PM on September 28, 2017 [59 favorites]

As anticipated, Kyrsten Sinema has formally announced her Senate bid in an attempt to unseat Jeff Flake here in Arizona.

I voted for her when I lived in her district, but she has moved quite a lot toward the center since then, and a lot of people are unhappy with her as a congressional representative. However, I must say she's been pretty smart about her choices from a career perspective, because her voting record makes her a much more viable candidate for statewide office than the more progressive Democrats we have around here. She is very popular among moderates and even many Republicans.

A lot of people will hold their nose and vote for her, as Democrats, but will be thrilled if we can boot Flake from his seat. Especially since McCain's slot will almost certainly also come up before the end of his term, and will be viciously fought over among the crazier faction of the GOP (see: Kelli Ward), it would be nice to have at least one of our senators on our side at least some of the time.

I agree that she's our best bet for this opportunity, even though I don't love her much, myself.
posted by Superplin at 5:05 PM on September 28, 2017 [14 favorites]

She's not going to be facing Flake.
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:09 PM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

She's not going to be facing Flake.

Yeah, it'll be some Trumpist sociopath who defeated Flake in the primary. If Alabama's any indication, they'll nominate Sheriff Joe.
posted by leotrotsky at 5:13 PM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

Yeah, I have the terrible feeling any senators with even a breath of sanity on the R side are going to be primaried out in favor of shitgibbons this year.
posted by corb at 5:14 PM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

National Treasure Alexandra Petri, WaPo: Tom Price’s truly amazing plane apology

Don’t worry, everyone.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, he who liked to take tiny expensive planes from one point to another, has been shown the error of his ways, and he is paying back $51.887.31 to the U. S. Treasury as a beautiful, symbolic gesture to the taxpayer. (That’s enough, according to Gary Cohn, to buy 57 brand new cars or redo 57 kitchens!) The total cost of his travel, as Politico found, was more than $400,000, but why should a little thing like that spoil the loveliness of this selfless act? He is only supposed to cover the cost of one SEAT on those planes, not the cost of flying the rest of the plane, a factor entirely out of his control.

“The taxpayers,” he wrote, “won’t pay a dime for my seat on those planes.” No, they won’t pay a dime. They will pay something around $350,000.

posted by Johnny Wallflower at 5:21 PM on September 28, 2017 [40 favorites]

Billy Corgan has gone full infowars.

A narcissist is into ultraconservativism, you say...
posted by jason_steakums at 5:27 PM on September 28, 2017 [15 favorites]

So Trump apparently suspended the Jones Act for 10 days (only? WTF?!) to help get life-saving assistance to Puerto Rico post-Hurricane Maria. But did Duke & Mattis/the White House trick Trump into waiving that Jones Act by convincing him he was instead suspending this Jones Act? My brain says it can't be that stupid and/or racist, but...
posted by Fiberoptic Zebroid and The Hypnagogic Jerks at 5:28 PM on September 28, 2017 [11 favorites]

Why was Price so quick to offer up some cash for his flights?

I actually can't believe he would pony up at all, since returning any money while explicitly acknowledging that he shouldn't have incurred those expenses is pretty much admitting wrongdoing.

Then again, I don't know what the laws governing these matters say, and at any rate it's pretty clear that anybody in this administration can get away with anything.
posted by Rykey at 5:29 PM on September 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

In the Packers-Bears game both teams just performed the Trump-approved standing arm-lock, no kneeling. Football is safe for racists once more
posted by theodolite at 5:31 PM on September 28, 2017 [15 favorites]

Tom Price had made big travel plans
To drink and cavort with Trump fans
The plane cost a mint
Price was a skinflint
With no love for health nor humans
posted by Joey Michaels at 5:31 PM on September 28, 2017 [8 favorites]

Billy Corgan has gone full infowars

the right is a vampire...
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 5:51 PM on September 28, 2017 [8 favorites]

VIRGINIA HOUSE ELECTIONS - Conclusion

You’ve done a sentient being’s job, Chrysostom.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 5:54 PM on September 28, 2017 [10 favorites]

It didn't work when they tried to attack Bernie that way, and I don't think it'll work on her.

You clearly don't realize how much some people hate women.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 5:57 PM on September 28, 2017 [57 favorites]

leotrotsky: She's not going to be facing Flake.
Yeah, it'll be some Trumpist sociopath who defeated Flake in the primary. If Alabama's any indication, they'll nominate Sheriff Joe.

I dunno. He has the Koch brothers' money backing him. I suppose it'll come down to Koch vs Mercer, which is not the kind of wrestling match anyone really wants to watch, at least not in a setting with actual real-world consequences.
posted by Superplin at 6:09 PM on September 28, 2017

posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a

How the fuck do you remember your username?
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:17 PM on September 28, 2017 [51 favorites]

On another note, Ben Sasse--yes, that Ben Sasse--lit into Richard Spencer in what is a pretty glorious takedown. Since Sasse doesn't understand how to thread tweets, some kind soul pulled them all together here.

It started when Sasse linked to a Reuters piece about James Lankford's (R-OK) remarks that Putin has stoked racial tensions in the US. Spencer replied that, "In the minds of goober conservatives, the Russians are to blame for racial divisions." After which, Sasse basically schooled him on the stupidity of his neo-Nazi movement.

I could do without the God bit, but otherwise I find myself weirdly cheering him on.
2017 keeps bringing the weird.
posted by Superplin at 6:19 PM on September 28, 2017 [13 favorites]

Eh, I'm not thrilled he threw in that 'identity politics' jab.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 6:25 PM on September 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

How the fuck do you remember your username?

There’s an Einstein quote about phone numbers in there somewhere.
posted by Brak at 6:33 PM on September 28, 2017 [2 favorites]

Wasn't that Einstein quote the inspiration for Bradbury's short story "Hexadecimal Phone Call from Mars"?

[uh, fake]
posted by riverlife at 6:46 PM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

fluttering hellfire: Eh, I'm not thrilled he threw in that 'identity politics' jab.

Yeah, that too. Still, it's the most positive reaction I've ever had to Senator Sasse.
posted by Superplin at 6:56 PM on September 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a

How the fuck do you remember your username?

As Kushner's lawyer learned today, autocomplete is a double-edged sword.
posted by C'est la D.C. at 7:09 PM on September 28, 2017 [40 favorites]

In the Packers-Bears game both teams just performed the Trump-approved standing arm-lock, no kneeling. Football is safe for racists once more

You missed the part where they said "Red Rover, Red Rover we call a thunderstorm over".
posted by srboisvert at 7:14 PM on September 28, 2017

Taxes are irrelevant. The tax reform bullshit is extremely bullshitty distraction.

NYT Lets Think Tank Funded by Gov’t and Arms Industry Claim Huge US Military Budget Isn’t Huge Enough

A 2016 Department of Defense inspector general report found that the Pentagon was unable to document what had happened to a staggering $6.5 trillion in funds.

That's $6,500,000,000,000.00. Missing.

On September 18, the Senate voted overwhelmingly (89 to eight) to pass an enormous, record-breaking $700 billion Pentagon bill, giving far-right President Donald Trump even more money for war than he had requested.

Times reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg effectively helped to sell the bill in an extremely sympathetic article, headlined “Senate Passes $700 Billion Pentagon Bill, More Money Than Trump Sought.”

Please be reminded that killing people with Graham-Crackerdy would only have "saved" a guesstimated $8bn/yr. These fuckers are the circus, we're thousands of miles away from relevant problem solving, and at least some of them know that.

Where's the money, Lebowski?!
posted by petebest at 7:19 PM on September 28, 2017 [48 favorites]

As Kushner's lawyer learned today, autocomplete is a double-edged sword.

And then there's times you just want to place a deposit for a haircut appointment and Chrome won't bring up the prompt to fill in your credit card number forcing you to find your god damned wallet which you can't remember where you've left it and why can't I pull my stupid CC number out of this piece of shit anymore?
posted by Talez at 7:27 PM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

You pay for a haircut digitally?
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:30 PM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

No they want a credit card as security to hold an appointment but we're getting off topic given that President Hair Club obviously has no need of them.
posted by Talez at 7:43 PM on September 28, 2017

So far there have been plane stories about Pruitt, Price, and now Zinke. Manchin (can't be bothered to look up his real name) is looking like a thrifty penny-pincher with his one measly eclipse/gold bar fondling trip. These guys clearly got the message from their boss that budgets go out the window when tax payers foot the bill.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:56 PM on September 28, 2017 [1 favorite]

Well, we might be getting a Friday scoop o'clock.

@juliaioffe (The Atlantic)
Hey, @benjaminwittes!
tick
tick
tick
tick
tick
posted by chris24 at 7:56 PM on September 28, 2017 [9 favorites]

Taxes are irrelevant.

I mean, I get what you're saying, but taxes are a very important tool in shaping the economy in a capitalist system, and tax reform is direly needed, although in a totally different mode than the Trump/Cohn proposal. With the right tax policy we can reduce income inequality dramatically, simply by incentivizing larger wages for employees and smaller payouts for executives, etc.
posted by dis_integration at 8:00 PM on September 28, 2017 [3 favorites]

Um, this is bad. Lawnewz (as later reported by CNN): DOJ Seeking Info on 6,000 People Who ‘Liked’ Anti-Trump Facebook Page

The ACLU-DC is trying to stop three search warrants that’d let the Department of Justice snoop around protesters’ Facebook accounts over Inauguration Day protests. They filed in D.C. Superior Court on Thursday, saying the government’s demands violate the Fourth Amendment because they are so broad, and threatening First Amendment speech. These warrants ask for too much information not directly relevant to the federal probe, argues the ACLU. This includes information on the plaintiffs’ friends, associates, and the approximately 6000 individuals who just “liked” an anti-Donald Trump Facebook page. Requested data would go back to Nov. 1, 2016, a week before the presidential election.

“The warrants make no provision for avoiding or minimizing invasions into personal and associational/expression information, for preventing such information from being shared widely within the government, or for destroying irrelevant material when the investigation is concluded,” said the ACLU filing. In other words, this might chill First Amendment speech by giving the government means to observe anyone who were simply linked to anti-Trump protesters.

This fight stems from arrests made Jan. 20. Demonstrators came to Washington D.C. to protest President Donald Trump‘s inauguration, and over 200 ended up getting charged with felony rioting. In investigating the alleged criminality, the federal government later got three search warrants from the D.C. Superior Court against three Facebook accounts: the disruptj20 page (now known as Resist This) owned by Emmelia Talarico, and personal accounts owned by Lacy MacAuley, and Legba Carrefour. According to the ACLU, these people didn’t initially know about warrants because of a gag order. Facebook fought this gag order, which was later dropped by the government shortly before the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled on it. Talarico, MacAuley, and Carrefour hadn’t even been charged with Inauguration Day-related arrested by the US Attorney, said the ACLU.

First the DreamHost warrant targeting 1.3 million IPs and now Facebook data for everyone who liked a page?
posted by zachlipton at 8:03 PM on September 28, 2017 [55 favorites]

This fight stems from arrests made Jan. 20. Demonstrators came to Washington D.C. to protest President Donald Trump‘s inauguration, and over 200 ended up getting charged with felony rioting.

If they were arrested for rioting, the evidence the prosecutor needs should be... that they were engaged in rioting when they were arrested. Pretty simple. And the feds can fuck off if they don't have that evidence. It's beyond absurd that social media should factor into it.
posted by jason_steakums at 8:13 PM on September 28, 2017 [15 favorites]

tonight, on A Little On The Fucking Nose:

Some Worry About Judicial Nominee’s Ties to a Religious Group

Some of the group’s practices would surprise many faithful Catholics. Members of the group swear a lifelong oath of loyalty, called a covenant, to one another, and are assigned and are accountable to a personal adviser, called a “head” for men and a “handmaid” for women. The group teaches that husbands are the heads of their wives and should take authority over the family.

Current and former members say that the heads and handmaids give direction on important decisions, including whom to date or marry, where to live, whether to take a job or buy a home, and how to raise children.
posted by theodolite at 8:27 PM on September 28, 2017 [22 favorites]

Manchin (can't be bothered to look up his real name) is looking like a thrifty penny-pincher with his one measly eclipse/gold bar fondling trip.

Oh, no, that wasn't the worst. He also asked for a $25,000/hr government plane for his honeymoon.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:32 PM on September 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

First the DreamHost warrant targeting 1.3 million IPs and now Facebook data for everyone who liked a page?

considering all the times i have threatened to burn people alive i sure hope mefi has a warrant canary
posted by poffin boffin at 8:38 PM on September 28, 2017 [28 favorites]

A year without a cat scan post? That'd be a serious canary.
posted by downtohisturtles at 8:43 PM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

Recently, a racial slur ("Go home, ___") was found on a bulletin board outside the room of a black cadet at the US Air Force Academy's prep school. Superintendent & Lt. General Silveria's response, at the end of this article, is worth your time.

A lot of headlines and talk about the culture of the Air Force Academy has left me generally unthrilled about its direction in recent years. This bit from Silveria made me feel better.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 8:58 PM on September 28, 2017 [23 favorites]

Reality Winner was annoyed that Fox News was on all the time in the office
posted by XMLicious at 9:00 PM on September 28, 2017 [6 favorites]

It's over, friends. They're really going to chuck it all overboard rather than face reality. People are losing their shit over the football protests. That was evidently just the last straw for the champions of free speech on the right. So now they're just done with free speech, too. Especially when it's used for anything as tacky as expressing a controversial political opinion instead of more respectable uses such as making dick jokes, casual death threats, racist and misogynistic insults and child rape jokes, just as the founding fathers intended.
posted by saulgoodman at 9:07 PM on September 28, 2017 [7 favorites]

Some Worry About Judicial Nominee’s Ties to a Religious Group

oh good just in time for some screaming nightmares

it is shameful that the Democratic questioning focused on her Roman Catholic faith. But the religious group in question is People of Praise and it sounds a lot like a cult. Here's a former member alleging that it's a cult.

By all accounts, Ms. Barrett appears headed for confirmation to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago, a post one rung below the Supreme Court. She is often mentioned as a potential candidate for the high court, especially if Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg were to retire.

This is scary. I'm scared. People need to wake the fuck up on the Federalist Society and the judiciary as a whole. thanks guys, I'm gonna go scream now
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 9:15 PM on September 28, 2017 [15 favorites]

fluttering hellfire: "So you can get expelled from the Senate. I'm wikipedia-ing the current Sen Repubs to see if any of them are dirty enough to meet any of these charges."

You CAN be, sure. The last time anybody actually was expelled was for supporting the Confederacy during the Civil War. And it takes a 2/3 majority to do the expelling.

Short of something like shooting someone on the Senate floor, a Senator will not be expelled.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:30 PM on September 28, 2017 [4 favorites]

Wow, if you haven't watched scaryblackdeath's link go do that now.

Impressed that the US Air Force is officially putting it out there too.
posted by downtohisturtles at 10:45 PM on September 28, 2017 [17 favorites]

That USAFA video. I never thought I would be so grateful to hear a white man demand dignity and respect for others, regardless of gender or race. And that's because of the force and clarity of the demand. No equivocation. Includes the whole institution. Go watch it. He mentions Charlottesville, Ferguson, and the recent NFL protests. This is what white people should do: use their positions of power or privilege to rebuke hatred of one another.
posted by Mister Cheese at 11:30 PM on September 28, 2017 [54 favorites]

I love the video. And yet I also wish that white people would hear it when a black person says it. Most of these viral videos that are great, really they are, are notable because a white person is saying what black people have been saying all their lives. We all make that complaint about how a woman says something and it's ignored, but a man says the same thing a minute later and it's a brilliant idea. That's literally black people's lives forever. Every time one of these goes viral they must just weep inside.
posted by greermahoney at 1:37 AM on September 29, 2017 [39 favorites]

I believe it was Napoleon who said "put your iron hand in a velvet glove". This current US administration is more the iron fist sans glove. Bare-knuckle bullies and blatantly, shamelessly corrupt.
posted by valetta at 1:54 AM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Price Will Cover Cost Of Private Flights: ‘The Taxpayers Won’t Pay A Dime’

not good enough. if you or I did this, we'd have lost our job and be facing felony fraud charges.

so should he.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 1:57 AM on September 29, 2017 [61 favorites]

Completing the trifecta, FOX joins this week's CNN and ABC/WaPo polls showing DACA support in the 80s, significantly up from past polls with Trump's reverse Midas. The 83% support is a new record high for their poll.

Now
Legalize 83%
Deport 14%

Oct '16
Legalize 74%
Deport 18%

Jul '15
Legalize 64%
Deport 30%
posted by chris24 at 4:23 AM on September 29, 2017 [22 favorites]

Recently, a racial slur ("Go home, ___") was found on a bulletin board outside the room of a black cadet at the US Air Force Academy's prep school.

Some background: the "prep schools" at the service academies aren't what most people think of when they hear those words. They're legitimate preparatory schools, occupied mostly by two sorts of cadets/midshipmen: athletes and prior-enlisted service members who are smart but don't have the academic skills that most of the non-prep cadets learned in high school.

The Army and Air Force prep schools are co-located with the academies, and there's occasionally some "You don't belong here" bullshit aimed at the preps. As you can imagine, it's easy for race to enter into that, given that the preps are mostly athletes and people who didn't get the best educational opportunities.
posted by Etrigan at 4:25 AM on September 29, 2017 [7 favorites]

I love the video. And yet I also wish that white people would hear it when a black person says it.

Yes, certainly. Let's take a few moments to hear a black man's perspective.

For example (but please go read the whole thing):

I’ve been in and around the military my entire life, I have immediate family that have served and retired in multiple branches and I have close friends who are deployed overseas. As a kid “A Soldier Story” and “Lords of Discipline”, movies about the grotesque violence and racism faced by men of color integrating the armed forces, were regularly in my family’s VCR. I remember seeing white soldiers smirking or simply refusing to salute my father as we walked around the base I grew up on. I’ve gotten late night phone calls from friends deployed overseas asking for advice on how to deal with racialized and sexual violence from fellow soldiers. I’ve heard the sick racial hazing stories from campus ROTC programs. In other words, on the scale of racial dreck that these young people are likely to face should they choose a career in the military, the general’s generalized admonishment will leave them woefully unprepared.

posted by perspicio at 4:28 AM on September 29, 2017 [38 favorites]

How Donald Trump Opened the Door to Roy Moore Michelle Goldberg/NYTimes

Linked mainly for this quote she brings:

In trying to understand the movement I was reporting on, I turned to scholars of authoritarianism and fascism. If their words seemed relevant then, they’re even more so now. Fritz Stern, a historian who fled Nazi Germany, described the “conservative revolution” that prefigured National Socialism: “The movement did embody a paradox: its followers sought to destroy the despised present in order to recapture an idealized past in an imaginary future.”

posted by mumimor at 4:46 AM on September 29, 2017 [23 favorites]

There once was a woman from Chi-town
Who hated Donald Trump's take down
She saw people lose hope, brah
And said this is really the last straw
So will everyone now vote for Oprah?
posted by Room 641-A at 5:21 AM on September 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

Why is Price even bothering to pay back any of it if he's going to insult everybody by offering such a pittance?

Presumably he's hoping that the 'pay back the full cost' bit gets picked up by the news, the actual reality gets sidelined, and he gets to walk away without paying back the full cost or otherwise getting in trouble.

For what it's worth, NPR noted twice this morning that his reimbursement did not cover the whole cost, and in one case quoted a George W. Bush ethics official as saying it's like putting money back in the cookie jar after getting caught with one's hand in it. Good for them, in this case.
posted by Gelatin at 5:23 AM on September 29, 2017 [10 favorites]

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz reacts to the acting DHS secretary's description of the Puerto Rico recovery effort as a "good news story." Heartbreaking.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 5:47 AM on September 29, 2017 [21 favorites]

The Supreme Court’s Anti-Democratic Feedback Loop
As a result, Republicans have lost the popular vote in six of the last seven presidential elections, and yet have a Supreme Court majority able to impose its vision on a national electorate that has consistently rejected it. And if one or more of the Court’s octogenarians or near-octogenarians resigns or is forced to leave the Court while Trump is president and Republicans control the Senate, Republicans could control the Supreme Court for decades. And what’s worse is that Supreme Court Republicans have used the First Amendment to make American institutions less fair and representative. They have used the First Amendment to protect the nearly unfettered ability of wealthy individuals and corporations to influence elections. They are now poised to use it to reduce the power of organized labor, one of the few potential counterweights to corporate power. And instead of actively checking Republican attempts to overcome its unpopular agenda by suppressing the vote, the Roberts Court has actively contributed to Republican vote suppression efforts, even when it has had no remotely plausible basis in the text of the Constitution for doing so.

The coming decimation of public sector unions by the Supreme Court is part of a disturbing pattern—and it’s a problem that will get worse before it gets better, as the Court joins with other antidemocratic features of American government to stop majorities from expressing themselves.
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:47 AM on September 29, 2017 [42 favorites]

There once was a woman from Chi-town

I love you all. The only intelligent life on this goddamn planet. AND you meet my emotional needs by showing me this kind of stuff first thing in the morning. Thank you for being you!
posted by mikelieman at 5:47 AM on September 29, 2017 [8 favorites]

Never could've guessed in our country's divorce, that the left would get custody of football.
posted by Talez at 6:01 AM on September 29, 2017 [56 favorites]

That's a great twitter thread, Talez.
posted by yoga at 6:22 AM on September 29, 2017

I'm not authorized to view those tweets.

:(
posted by the man of twists and turns at 6:34 AM on September 29, 2017

Have we discussed anger yet in these threads? I'm worried about the angry people. Unless myself, my friends, and the people in this thread are huge outliers, there's a lot of anti-right wing anti-GOP anger building. People that were normally insulated from their monstrous ways are now feeling, if not pain then the stress and fear in anticipation of the pain (whether from a tax hike or healthcare being strip mined down to nothing). Which will get worse as more and more cases percolate through the stolen courts (congress being stuck).

The Democrats have lightning rods up for these varying flavors of anger, right? They're ready for this and they won't be undercut by some new shiny psychopath who fans the flames waaaay harder, in simpler terms, and more visibly than they have been the past few months, right?
posted by Slackermagee at 6:50 AM on September 29, 2017 [13 favorites]

> People that were normally insulated from their monstrous ways are now feeling, if not pain then the stress and fear in anticipation of the pain (whether from a tax hike or healthcare being strip mined down to nothing)...The Democrats have lightning rods up for these varying flavors of anger, right?

You mean, when the petite bourgeoisie find their expectations for the future in jeopardy? I think history indicates that problem won't be limited to one party.
posted by klarck at 7:16 AM on September 29, 2017 [7 favorites]

I think history indicates that problem won't be limited to one party.

I mean, we're currently living through the GOP version of this and I'd rather not have to sit through the blue flavored sequel.
posted by Slackermagee at 7:19 AM on September 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

I'm not authorized to view those tweets.

:(

For your benefit, a sampling of the comments:

...

The right gets seagal, nugent, and chachi. The left gets deniro, Springsteen,and the NFL. Have fun righties!

Don't forget Palin & Kid Rock. The right definitely gets them.

Mustn’t forget the duck dynasty boys and girls.

and allllll of the Duggars.

2017 No one loves Chachi

The paperwork specifically says we get NFL, schools & healthcare. They get NASCAR, book bannings & medical leeches

We get movies, Broadway, late night comedy, they get faux news and pork rinds.

Hey can we get visitation rights on those pork rinds? I'll just eat them every other weekend, and they can have them the rest of the time.

They can have pork rinds if we get bacon.

They can have my bacon when they pry it from my cold, dead hands... -Liberals

And the Right's like "Okay, but we get manufacturing and coal mining!". and the Left's like "Well, I guess that's fair.". (ha ha, suckers).

Who gets the nuclear football??

The left, because we won't fumble.

Nice.

And medical marijuana

well we didnt want NASCAR, that one has always been a little backwards and weird...

And ironic...only turn left.

When you're so far right, there's only one way to go...

But the right is definitely going to break the restraining order and secretly meet up with football.

etc.
posted by darkstar at 7:27 AM on September 29, 2017 [11 favorites]

Manchin (can't be bothered to look up his real name) is looking like a thrifty penny-pincher with his one measly eclipse/gold bar fondling trip.

Oh, no, that wasn't the worst. He also asked for a $25,000/hr government plane for his honeymoon.

Should've bothered. You both mean Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin not WV Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat.
posted by scalefree at 7:42 AM on September 29, 2017 [12 favorites]

That USAFA video. I never thought I would be so grateful to hear a white man demand dignity and respect for others, regardless of gender or race. And that's because of the force and clarity of the demand. No equivocation. Includes the whole institution. Go watch it. He mentions Charlottesville, Ferguson, and the recent NFL protests. This is what white people should do: use their positions of power or privilege to rebuke hatred of one another.

I'll try to transcribe a bit of that talk as well and give you a minor takeaway that's 100% anecdotal, but not exactly baseless, afterwards. From Lt. General Silveria, emphasis mine:

"So just in case you're unclear on where I stand on this topic, I'm going to leave you with my most important thought today:

If you can't treat someone with dignity and respect then you need to get out.

If you can't treat someone of another gender, whether that's a man or a woman, with dignity and respect then you need to get out.

If you demean someone in any way then you need to get out.

If you can't treat someone from another race or with another color skin with dignity and respect then you need to get out.

Reach for your phones... I'm serious. OK, you don't have to reach for you phones. I want you to videotape this for yourself so that you can use it. So that we all have the moral courage together. All of us on the staff tower lining the glass, all of us in this room. This is our institution.

And if you need it and you need my words then you keep these words and you use them and your remember them and you share them and you talk about them: If you can't treat someone with dignity and respect then get out."

Takeaways as someone who never technically served in the military but had fathers and grandfathers that did (as enlisted Army/Marines) and would talk about it fairly often, as someone who did 4 years in a AFJROTC role under some good and some not great instructors who were retired Air Force, and as someone who did a year or so as an Army ROTC scholarship cadet (before opting out once I realized it wasn't for me):

0) Good for fucking him for saying this. It's truly refreshing and I hope it goes viral as hell within the military rank and file.
1) This general speaks exactly like the best leadership role models I saw and heard of in my military experience. This no-nonsense, no colorful words, and direct message is/was the norm for people that know what needs to be done and expects their subordinates to listen when they talk. This person knows who he is talking to and despite it being simple and short...
2) The talk seems well crafted and is borderline brilliant in and of itself. Seriously, it's so good in so many small ways that should stand out to anyone listening or reading the words. Not least in that he tries to get social media spinning it via phone references.
3) Finally, I don't know if you can hear it, but my ears certainly can, but he is PISSED. He is high enough in the ranks to know better than to spout vulgarities (at least while the cameras are rolling) but I am very suspicious that there is an understood/silent expletive after every phrase of "You need to get the" and before "out" and if the cameras weren't rolling I bet he would have been dropping that F-bomb hard and often. I could be wrong, he may not be that type of leader but I swear I hear him holding it back.

And good for fucking him for all of it.
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:43 AM on September 29, 2017 [56 favorites]

I'm worried about the angry people.

I'm worried they aren't angry enough. I'm seeing essentially what a lot of us were predicting months ago, which is that four years of active resistance is a difficult ask, especially when a lot of the people most comfortably situated to resist--upper middle-class white folks without kids--are least directly affected in the short term by the shitstorm.

The "righteous" anger has been with the revanchist right for most of my life, and the Democratic response has been anodyne and mealy-mouthed.

Anger doesn't have to translate to violence. I haven't seen anything resembling the emergence of an actual angry left, and frankly worrying about this feels a little like the concern-trolling about antifa.

Not calling you about specifically, Slackermagee; I've seen some of this on social media as well. And there may be cause for concern over the long haul, but short term I'm just not seeing it.
posted by aspersioncast at 7:50 AM on September 29, 2017 [28 favorites]

I am very suspicious that there is an understood/silent expletive after every phrase of "You need to get the" and before "out"

Ah, the "implied fuck." Yes, his words may be restrained but everyone knows what the fuck he means.
posted by corb at 7:53 AM on September 29, 2017 [8 favorites]

scalefree: Manchin (can't be bothered to look up his real name) is looking like a thrifty penny-pincher with his one measly eclipse/gold bar fondling trip.

Oh, no, that wasn't the worst. He also asked for a $25,000/hr government plane for his honeymoon.

Should've bothered. You both mean Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin not WV Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat.

No, that's wrong. The link I provided to the $25K/hour plane does go to a story about Mnuchin (because I assumed mentioning the eclipse trip to Fort Knox meant were talking about Mnuchin.)
posted by Room 641-A at 7:57 AM on September 29, 2017

I think the implication was that y'all should have bothered to include the correct name in your posts, for clarity's sake.
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 8:00 AM on September 29, 2017 [3 favorites]

I'm not authorized to view those tweets.

:(

Looks like a cookie thing. I'm using Chrome, and had the same experience. Then I opened the link in an incognito tab and it loaded fine.
posted by perspicio at 8:03 AM on September 29, 2017

aspersioncast I'm with you. We're not angry enough yet, and I'm not sure we will be until it's far too late.

We should have refused to permit Trump's "win", and shut down the country with mass protests until the real winner was seated. Instead we meekly went along with the horrific cheating and blatant theft of the Presidency, the Supreme Court, and Congress.

In 2018, if things go as expected, we'll yet again get the most votes, but thanks to mass cheating (mostly in the form of gerrymandering, but voter suppression will play a huge role too) the Republicans will keep the House.

Will we shut down the country with mass protests until the cheaters leave and real elections are held? I'm guessing not.

Trump is going to fire Mueller one of these days. It's inevitable. When that happens I'm sure we'll have some protests as are already planned.

I'm also fairly sure those protests will end rather than shutting down the country until Trump resigns.

We are nowhere near angry enough, and the Democrats are foolishly trying to smother our anger rather than trying to harness it.

Now is not the time for a calm measured polite and civil response. Now is the time for screaming, frothing at the mouth, white hot rage and berserking.

If the choice is between permitting the Republicans to keep on stealing elections and ruling us with an iron fist from a minority position or tearing the country apart then I say let's get tearing.
posted by sotonohito at 8:05 AM on September 29, 2017 [24 favorites]

We should have refused to permit Trump's "win",

We should have refused to permit Bush's "win" in 2000, which was decided by one asshole conservative judge in Florida.
posted by Melismata at 8:07 AM on September 29, 2017 [47 favorites]

I worry about anger on all sides of the political debate, because I worry about the breakdown of trust which is a necessary ingredient for the peaceful rule of law. Doug Muder says it very well in this week's Weekly Sift:

Nationalism Reconsidered

The inherent political discord of a democratic republic is only stable if it is an island floating on a broader sea of public consensus. Constitutional rights only matter if the public actually believes in them, so that whoever gains power will feel constrained to defend everybody’s rights, and not just the rights of a particular party or ethnic group. As the U.S. Senate has been finding out over the last decade or so, unwritten but broadly shared standards of fair play are as important — and perhaps more important — than constitutional guarantees.

In many countries, a disputed presidential election like the U.S. had in 2000 would have led to civil war. Instead, the Supreme Court ruled, Gore conceded, and subsequent elections were held on schedule in 2004 and 2008. When Bush’s chosen successor lost the 2008 election, we had a peaceful transfer of power.

That happened because all sides had confidence in American standards of fair play. If Gore’s supporters in 2000 (or the outgoing Bushies in 2008) had believed that they were all about to be rounded up and shot, civil war might have seemed like a more attractive option.

Confidence in the underlying consensus limits the stakes of an election, and allows the losers to retreat and regroup rather than panic. Because of that consensus, we argue vociferously over things like tax rates and health insurance, but we don’t consider killing off all the old people. Anti-gay bakers may or may not have to make cakes for same-sex weddings, but they won’t be sent off to re-education camps. Larger or smaller numbers of undocumented Hispanics may be deported, but Hispanic citizens will not be ethnically cleansed. We may or may not create hurdles to voting that many people will lack the will to jump, but we will not revoke the voting rights of entire races or religions. In some future progressive administration, billionaires may have a harder time multiplying their wealth and passing it on to their descendants, but they won’t become enemies of the people whose estates are confiscated and whose children are impoverished.

In short, we can vote about the things that divide us, and live with the outcome, because we share a broad consensus on the graver issues that large numbers of people would be willing to kill or die for. (When the consensus ruptured on slavery, we did have a civil war.) A country that doesn’t have such a consensus won’t be a stable democracy, no matter what its constitution says.

Emphasis mine. Everybody is angry. And that's a threat to the consensus that supports democracy. It's a threat to the mutual trust we all need in order to live together under a common social contract.

Now of course I understand that it is almost impossible to trust Republicans when they keep pulling all these undemocratic stunts, gerrymandering and voter suppression and unlimited campaign spending by billionaires and so on. But as that trust in the democratic process degrades, the left does indeed become more vulnerable to demagoguery and strong-man politics. There have been leftist demagogues before in world history. We need to be vigilant. The kind of victory someone like that could lead us to is a pyrrhic victory.
posted by OnceUponATime at 8:09 AM on September 29, 2017 [20 favorites]

I love the video. And yet I also wish that white people would hear it when a black person says it.

I thought about that when I posted the link. It's something I've thought about with almost every one of these "great moment of (name) speaking truth!)" videos I've seen, from sportscasters on ESPN to Pop to this one. Probably the reaction to the NFL stuff I shared most actively was Shannon Sharpe's, which I thought was powerful and cut to the core and said things others have either missed or been afraid to say.

It kills me that so many white people won't listen until it's a white man speaking. Absolutely kills me, and it shames me as a white man. If they listen and maybe get the fucking message or at least think about it, I figure it's worth it to put those white men speaking truth in front of them. Hopefully maybe that will trigger then to listen to black men (and women, and other people of color, and the list goes on). But it drives me fucking nuts to see people of color speak up with the same or even greater eloquence and power and still I know how many people will never listen.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 8:12 AM on September 29, 2017 [9 favorites]

We should have refused to permit Trump's "win",

We should have refused to permit Bush's "win" in 2000, which was decided by one asshole conservative judge in Florida.


Was just thinking of posting the same comment, and decided not to, because it would be reopening old wounds. But I'm glad you said it.

Watching Vice President Al Gore presiding over the certification of the vote in the House that day, when Democrat after Democrat rose to object, and he had to rule against them on procedural grounds, is still probably the most poignant example of the tragic hero's "knowingly walking to his doom" scene I can think of in modern politics.

Before Bush v. Gore, I was a nominal (though progressive) Republican. I adored Sandra Day O'Connor and the SCOTUS. I stopped calling myself a Republican the day Bush took office and never looked back.
posted by darkstar at 8:21 AM on September 29, 2017 [47 favorites]

Honestly, if there were enough left infrastructure for a left demogogue to emerge, I would stand up and cheer. They don't come from nowhere - you need a history of organizing, usually around labor, and some kind of stable structure like a serious socialist party. The closest we've had to left demogogues in this country (by which I think we have to mean "powerful organizers from outside the party system") have emerged from socialist, union or civil rights organizing, and they have been such laudable figures as Malcolm X and Eugene Debs. The sixties pushed some radical figures into mainstream politics, and they turned out to be, what, Jerry Brown and people like that - not exactly readying the tumbrils. I guess you could make a case for ambiguous populist figures like William Jennings Bryan, and there are always white racist populists who had a leftism-for-whites agenda, but at this point populism-for-whites isn't going to be a left position.

If you look at somone like Hugo Chavez, who really did deliver a lot of material benefits to the majority but who was also an authoritarian, you see that those people tend to emerge from powerful pre-existing social formations. Chavez was in the army, there was a left/clandestine faction within the army (which probably doesn't exist in the US army, for a variety of reasons) and used that to move into power. And an awful lot of the people I think folks visualize when they say "left wing demogogue" are people like Lenin or whoever, who had long, long lives of organizing and fighting before events took a turn. If we've got a junior Lenin in this country, much the best option would be for them to succeed at an early, less-dramatic point so that radical social change can happen without the other things.

The other thing is that even left terrorist groups like the Weather Underground or the Red Army Fraktion have been pretty small potatoes - we like to talk as if they were big, dangerous organizations but in terms of violence they actually did very little. Italy is a bit of an exception in that the Red Brigades and associated stuff were more of a thing, but Italy was much less stable as a democracy and the state was doing all that Strategy of Tension stuff.

Seriously, where are the massively destructive left riots in US history? You can point to a few sort of destructive situations around strikes, but if you compare even the riots of the sixties that were triggered by racist violence to the white riots where, like, whole Black business districts were leveled, you can see that right wing violence far, far eclipses anything the left has ever pulled off in this country. This is a real historical blindspot - white and right wing violence gets naturalized because this is a right-wing country, while comparatively petty left-wing violence gets blown up into some kind of national emergency.

I mean, if people are actually pushed hard enough, yeah, there is violence, but it takes a lot of pushing and tends not to be that violent violence. Like, when I think of plausible leftist upheavals in this country, I think "what if some kind of guerilla conflict around DAPL-like pipeline concerns broke out with sabotage attacks on pipelines and cop machinery" or "what if there were mass protests that contained elements of rioting" more than anything else. I would expect the violence to be largely right-wing violence involved in suppressing something like that.
posted by Frowner at 8:30 AM on September 29, 2017 [44 favorites]

Sarah Jaffe in the New Republic: Socialized Medicine Has Won the Health Care Debate.

The repeated rebukes of attempts to undo Obamacare have shown that the average American is no longer moved by the threat of the “S-word.” If we are on a slippery slope toward socialized medicine, it appears that Americans are just fine with that. For the left, there’s a lot to learn from the successful battles against going backward on health care—lessons about how Trump-era politics can be used to push “socialist” policies that move Democrats, and the American public, forward in unexpected ways.

[...]

Both Republicans and Democrats have badly misunderstood what makes Obamacare unpopular. What people don’t like are the inequities that still prevail in our health care system, not the fact that “government is too involved.” When Vox’s Sarah Kliff visited Whitley County, Kentucky, to talk to Trump voters who benefited from the ACA, she heard complaints from those buying private insurance with their subsidies that their deductibles were still too high for them to access care. Others, not surprisingly, were angry that the very poor got Medicaid, while they had to pay monthly premiums for care they rarely used. But that anger hasn’t turned them against the program. Medicaid expansion—the “socialized” part of the ACA—remains wildly popular, with 84 percent of those polled by Kaiser Family Foundation saying it’s important to keep the expansion.

The ACA’s means-testing sets up a hierarchy of plans that at times seem calculated to fuel resentment of those getting “free stuff.” It also requires hours of work—I write from personal experience, as a freelancer who has attempted to explain repeatedly that my income varies from month to month and year to year—to prove to the system that you are not getting away with something you haven’t qualified for.

[...]

By focusing on the not-good poll numbers for Obamacare, politicians and pundits have missed the whole point: The law didn’t go too far for Americans to get behind. It didn’t go far enough.

posted by Rustic Etruscan at 8:33 AM on September 29, 2017 [36 favorites]

Seriously, where are the massively destructive left riots in US history?

The US has historically been a more right wing country. But just because it hasn't happened here before, doesn't mean it can't. Backlash against the abuses we are seeing on the right, might be exactly the kind of thing that would set something like that off.

I'm not saying it's happening now, I'm just saying let's be vigilant because the conditions are becoming ripe for it to happen. The fact that you say you would stand up and cheer a left wing demagogue in a comment which also mentions Hugo Chavez and Lenin is pretty worrying to me.
posted by OnceUponATime at 8:44 AM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

You folks who are afraid of a left-wing demagogue, what are you actually afraid of? High taxes on the wealthy? Penalties for civil rights violations? Socialized health care and education? Sure, there's a danger of someone spouting left-wing economic jargon while perpetuating the same old institutions of racism and sexism, and we need to watch out for people like that and kick them to the curb the instant they show their true colors, but people are dying in the streets right now. If there's going to be violence, I'd rather it lead to the Koch brothers hanging from lampposts than to more black twelve-year-olds getting gunned down by cops.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:52 AM on September 29, 2017 [30 favorites]

We need anger from the left, we need radicalization because we need systemic change, and soon. People are suffering right now, and I can't for the life of me privilege fears of left wing oppression in our mammon-worshipping founded-on-racism country controlled by the hard right over the injustices that actually exist. Every time I hear these concerns, I cannot but think of this.
posted by The Gaffer at 8:54 AM on September 29, 2017 [9 favorites]

OnceUponATime, I think if you'll read Frowner's comment again you'll find you've missed some of its nuance.
posted by aspersioncast at 8:54 AM on September 29, 2017 [5 favorites]

The US has historically been a more right wing country. But just because it hasn't happened here before, doesn't mean it can't. Backlash against the abuses we are seeing on the right, might be exactly the kind of thing that would set something like that off.

I'm not saying it's happening now, I'm just saying let's be vigilant because the conditions are becoming ripe for it to happen. The fact that you say you would stand up and cheer a left wing demagogue in a comment which also mentions Hugo Chavez and Lenin is pretty worrying to me.

Worry not! The NSA's societal surveillance program, combined with the FBI's institutional know-how, will avert the disaster before it even threatens the tax code, never mind the government at large. With luck, Mark Zuckerberg will ascend to the presidency, and his repository of personal information will make the authorities' task even easier.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 8:56 AM on September 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

Seriously, where are the massively destructive left riots in US history?

Here's a list of all riots in American history to get you started. You'll have to classify them yourself though.
posted by scalefree at 8:57 AM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

You folks who are afraid of a left-wing demagogue, what are you actually afraid of? High taxes on the wealthy? Penalties for civil rights violations? Socialized health care and education?

Paging corb to the thread.
posted by Talez at 8:57 AM on September 29, 2017 [10 favorites]

You know, seeing as she’s one of the few people on this board that has actually lived through the reign a left wing demagogue.
posted by Talez at 8:58 AM on September 29, 2017 [6 favorites]

I missed the start of the segment, but Stephanie Ruhle and Ali Velshi just had someone on defending the tax plan and they each must have called Trump a liar and mentioned that by he was lying about 15 times.

Earlier, Ruhle said that "Tom Price thought he was a baller with his private planes but that it was the ultimate JV move." And she was opening crying when she introduced the mother of someone who has been missing in Puerto Rico for 10 days. I think she's great.
posted by Room 641-A at 9:02 AM on September 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

> Paging corb to the thread. [...] You know, seeing as she’s one of the few people on this board that has actually lived through the reign a left wing demagogue.

Eh, how about we just accept as a given that violent extremists have come from various points on the political spectrum throughout history, but that the threats we're facing now are almost exclusively from arch-conservatives. I'll worry about hypothetical left-wing revolutionaries after they give us universal healthcare.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:05 AM on September 29, 2017 [29 favorites]

> Earlier, Ruhle said that "Tom Price thought he was a baller with his private planes but that it was the ultimate JV move." And she was opening crying when she introduced the mother of someone who has been missing in Puerto Rico for 10 days. I think she's great.

Hard. Pass. (warning: links to election night thread)
posted by tonycpsu at 9:06 AM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

You folks who are afraid of a left-wing demagogue, what are you actually afraid of? High taxes on the wealthy? Penalties for civil rights violations? Socialized health care and education?

My username provides sufficient rebuttal, I should think.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:06 AM on September 29, 2017 [11 favorites]

Josh Marshall's piece this morning entitled Livin’ La Vida Trumpa

As I tried over the last year or two to understand the world of Trump, one thing I tried hard to get my head around was the stark and often comical pattern of Trump Organization loyalists’ strict public subservience to Trump. They’re not just loyal. Dignity jettisoning protestations and affirmative declarations seem to be part of the deal. What I heard or read again and again is that there’s a pretty clear if perhaps unspoken deal in the Trump universe. If you work for Trump as one of his people – not the thousands who must work for various Trump businesses but the high level, visible retainers – you get to enjoy the lifestyle. But the price is total loyalty, total self-abnegation and whatever loss of dignity is required to serve Trump. [...]

Many people seem to be happy with that bargain.

Every administration has its share of small-bore scandals, profligate spending, and minor corruption. Obama’s was the exception, among both Democratic and Republican administrations. But we’ve seen enough now I think to recognize a distinct problem in the Trump administration. We now have multiple cabinet secretaries using private chartered jets and military jets in what seems to be an unprecedented way. We also have at least two cabinet secretaries having government-funded security details which seem wildly out of proportion to any real threat. (My strong suspicion is they just don’t want to have to deal with protestors or see them.) In so many words, that deal I mentioned from the Trump Organization – give up your dignity and you get to live the lifestyle – seems to have been ported over to the new Trump Organization, what we used to know as the US government.

posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 9:09 AM on September 29, 2017 [43 favorites]

I love the video. And yet I also wish that white people would hear it when a black person says it.

I agree with this, though as a brown man, I genuinely appreciate hearing a white man speak strongly against racism. It means that he has listened to some brown or black man or woman in their struggle against racism. When a white person is silent in the face of racism, we understand that they at best are apathetic and at worst complicit. People of color cannot bear the the burden of speaking out against racism alone. Nor can any single leader. Courage to speak out against all the -isms and phobias must permeate our society.
posted by Mister Cheese at 9:16 AM on September 29, 2017 [51 favorites]

We need anger from the left, we need radicalization because we need systemic change, and soon. People are suffering right now, and I can't for the life of me privilege fears of left wing oppression in our mammon-worshipping founded-on-racism country controlled by the hard right over the injustices that actually exist. Every time I hear these concerns, I cannot but think of this.

It’s allready out of our hands. We need to figure out how to deal with this before climate change figures it out for us.
posted by The Whelk at 9:23 AM on September 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

If people are actually worried about left-wing anger leading to massive violence and rule by demagogues, the absolute number 1 thing you can do to prevent that would be to actually address the issues underlying and causing that anger, namely things like massive wealth inequality, bigotry given platforms to proclaim its hateful views wherever and whenever, constant fear that your life will be permanently ruined by losing your job or even just having a family member get sick, unimaginable cruelty visited on residents by agents of the state, indiscriminate murder of peoples' overseas relatives, etc. If you just want to wring your hands about how mean college students are and how there sure have been some bad communists, then go ahead and complain about rhetoric or whatever.

People aren't just angry for the sake of being angry, and a society that actually bothered to address the entirely justifiable reasons for that anger would, in fact, be better for 99.9% of the people in it. We don't have to live out the Russian Revolution again, but that is certainly a possibility if the only ideas people have for dealing with that anger are telling people not to be so mad because that's how you get a Chavez.
posted by Copronymus at 9:24 AM on September 29, 2017 [38 favorites]

the threats we're facing now are almost exclusively from arch-conservatives. I'll worry about hypothetical left-wing revolutionaries after they give us universal healthcare.

I mean, this is basically almost word for word what I said for the last ten years, except reversed. Needless to say, this is not the world I envisioned or wanted. This shit catches you unawares if you let it.

Right now, what we need more than anything else is a return to normal operation of government. We are seeing - with what's happening in Puerto Rico, with the incompetent failure to reauthorize CHIP, so many other things - how completely damaging demogogues who have no intention of making the norms of government work are.

If you want to vote in someone with left-wing ideas and plans to implement them, that's one hundred percent different than having a left wing revolutionary with no skill in governance, rising on nothing but the anger of the people.
posted by corb at 9:32 AM on September 29, 2017 [27 favorites]

Yeah, I am fully on board with establishing the NO DEMAGOGUES OF ANY KIND rule, thank you.
posted by lydhre at 9:34 AM on September 29, 2017 [21 favorites]

But whenever we try to do this

vote in someone with left-wing ideas and plans to implement them,

The right (and the center) in America accuse us of doing this

having a left wing revolutionary with no skill in governance, rising on nothing but the anger of the people.

even though a left-wing revolutionary ascending to the White House will never happen: the 60s showed us that The Powers That Truly Be will kill anyone who poses a serious threat of riding popular left-leaning resentment to national levels of power.
posted by lord_wolf at 9:39 AM on September 29, 2017 [17 favorites]

I am angry. I share this anger with all who have a powerful thirst for justice.

You should not be worried about this anger. You should be worried about injustice. You should be worried about hate. You should be worried about the motives and actions of those who reject, and mock, and denigrate, and misrepresent this anger.

And you should be angry, too.
posted by perspicio at 9:41 AM on September 29, 2017 [31 favorites]

Just remember, while the losers always call it a coup, for the rest of the world, a non-violent revolution to remove a leader and organization who repeatedly maintain rule despite only having a minority of national support, in order to install a leader with majority support and a system that ensures that that only winners of the majority may lead, is called a "democratic revolution."
posted by chortly at 9:42 AM on September 29, 2017 [25 favorites]

And if you want an example of a current left-leaning demagogue, look no further than Italy's Beppe Grillo.

It's concerning and fucked up from the left too, folks.
posted by lydhre at 9:48 AM on September 29, 2017 [6 favorites]

corb, I'm curious when was the last time we had the "norms of government" functioning effectively?
posted by allthinky at 9:52 AM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Don't want demagoguery of any kind? Here's a thing you can do right now. Call up your Senators and tell them you're paying attention and want them to reauthorize CHIP, the Children's Health Insurance Program. States will start running out of money at the end of the month, which is...checks calendar...tomorrow. Minnesota will run out of money immediately and is looking to bridge the gap out of its general fund. Utah is preparing to freeze new applications. They're planing games with kids' health care. Call them up and tell them you can see them.

NYT: U.S. to Pull More Diplomats Out of Cuba After Attacks. More than half of the staff at the Havana embassy will be sent home and routine services, including visas for Cubans, will be shuttered.

However, we're not retaliating by forcing Cuba to reduce its diplomatic presence in Washington, which suggests we still don't think Cuba is actually responsible for the attacks. This has really been one of the strangest news stories.
posted by zachlipton at 9:53 AM on September 29, 2017 [40 favorites]

And you should be angry, too.

Oh I am. And I am afraid too. And it is consuming all my energy and destroying some of my relationships.

And that seems like a bad sign for the future.
posted by OnceUponATime at 9:54 AM on September 29, 2017 [6 favorites]

Thing is, I'm 100% fine with no demagogues in theory.

Problem is when I see calls for "a return to normal operation of government", at this point I can't see that as anything but a call to accept and normalize the abuses we've suffered.

If we, despite all the gerrymandering and voter suppression, win in 2018 and then in 2020 and just try to go back to the status quo and join hands with the Republicans in bipartisan comity and so on all that does is say "yes, Republicans, you can lie, cheat, steal, and abuse us, you can steal the Presidency, the Supreme Court, and destroy the government, and we'll just let you get away with it with no penalty of any sort".

I've seen this horrid ratcheting effect over my entire life. The Republicans storm the government, almost always by cheating, kick over all the norms that exist, ruin everything, leave the economy and the nation in a shambles, and then the Democrats come back in, act all conciliatory and nice, try to clean up the worst of the ruin left behind by the Republicans while leaving their major policies in place, and then the next marauding horde of Republican ruiners comes charging in.

I do **NOT** want a return to the normal operation of our government. The normal operation of our government is an endless cycle of abuse at the hands of Republicans who seek to turn our nation into a Rand style dystopia.

We must break that cycle and actually, finally, get shit fixed for real not just a few band aids over the worst of the gaping wounds the Republicans inflict every 4 to 8 years.

We must not permit the theft of the Supreme Court, or the lower courts, by the Republicans to be normalized and accepted.

Calls for a return to normalcy are nothing less than calls to legitimize and accept the grievous harm done to us by the Republicans and I reject them utterly.

We do this to ourselves all the damn time. We on the left are so fucking scared of our own shadows that at the slightest hint that we're getting a bit miffed we spiral into endless BS about how our anger is wrong, and bad, and will bring the destruction of everything.

Whenever a Democrat, or worst an actual leftist, starts to get popular virtually everyone on the left unites in cries of horror that we might, possibly, be flirting with "populism" and tries too make sure that popular politician gets stopped ASAP.

Why the hell do we insist on neutralizing ourselves when victory looks possible? WTF is up with that?

I want to fucking win. I don't see why everyone is so terrified of us on the left getting a bit angry. We aren't fucking Mao ready to start the American Cultural Revolution, we're legitimately, honorably, and 100% justifiedly, angry at the abuses we have suffered.

Anger is not inherently bad or wrong. Popularity is not inherently bad or wrong.

Is victory by the left really such a horrible thing that even people ostensibly on the left feel it must be stopped at all costs?
posted by sotonohito at 9:57 AM on September 29, 2017 [60 favorites]

Washington Post Editorial Board: Trump’s tax ‘miracle’: Cowardice and dishonesty

...Republicans are not going to pay for these giveaways to the rich, which means future workers will pick up the tab. They have promised to raise money by cutting tax deductions, but they have been more specific about the deductions they would keep than the ones they would eliminate. They’ve done none of the hard work, in other words. Meanwhile, they admit they are unwilling to fully pay for the tax cuts they want, so they are giving themselves permission to cut up to $1.5 trillion in taxes without any offsets at all, arguing that a spurt of economic growth would make up for much of the lost revenue.

This is tax reform, in other words, for dishonest political cowards. It is not a legacy that members of Congress should want to leave to their children.

Catherine Rampell in the Washington Post: The GOP tax plan is ridiculous. Here’s why.

Last year, I proposed a handy rule of thumb for evaluating the economic proposals of politicians: The more growth they promise, the worse their plan probably is.

Why? Because the promise of bonkers growth usually means the politicians need that bonkers growth to paper over the ginormous deficits sure to follow — in the real world, under more realistic assumptions. [...]

This rule of thumb...[is] relevant again with the “Big Six’s” new tax “plan.”

I put “plan” in scare-quotes here because it’s not really a plan. At best it’s an outline, offering barely more detail than the bullet points the Trump administration released in April. It doesn’t even specify the thresholds for the individual income-tax rates it proposes. It also doesn’t identify a single individual tax preference it would kill, despite claiming to simplify the code and close lots of “loopholes.” Even the state and local tax deduction, which administration officials have talked about eliminating, isn’t explicitly mentioned. [...]

A Tax Policy Center estimate of the fuzzy April framework found that it would lower revenue between $3.5 trillion and $7.8 trillion over a decade, depending on which loopholes you assume get closed. Its numbers don’t change much after accounting for economic growth effects.

The radical Republican caucus are trying to blow a giant hole in the budget as an excuse to kill more of us by cutting Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. We are sacrifices at the alter of their god of greed.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 9:59 AM on September 29, 2017 [38 favorites]

However, we're not retaliating by forcing Cuba to reduce its diplomatic presence in Washington, which suggests we still don't think Cuba is actually responsible for the attacks.

Or, you know, the State Department is really fucking incompetent.
posted by Behemoth at 9:59 AM on September 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

We have plenty of real stuff to worry about without spending time tilting at the windmill of a left leaning demagogue. For example, the Senate seems to be preparing to gut a consumer protection rule. Should a left wing demagogue actually start to rise, I'll worry about them. Right now, ain't got no time for that.
posted by Joey Michaels at 9:59 AM on September 29, 2017 [30 favorites]

I'd like a new normal that's explicitly non-zero-sum please.
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:03 AM on September 29, 2017 [6 favorites]

Needless to say, this is not the world I envisioned or wanted.

It isn't? The voter suppression, Federalist Society justices by any means necessary, elimination of publicly funded social safety nets, minority rule in the Senate, flat taxes ... these aren't the positions you've been arguing for years?

When did you give up AnCap?
posted by the man of twists and turns at 10:04 AM on September 29, 2017 [14 favorites]

Because the promise of bonkers growth usually means the politicians need that bonkers growth to paper over the ginormous deficits sure to follow

Every Democrat who talks to the national media needs to say something to the effect of "if Republicans really cared about the deficit, they'd pay for their tax cuts."

And if possible, they can add "Notice how they don't have the courage to admit they'd like to do it by eliminating Social Security and Medicare. That's because as much as they complain about them, Repulicans know how popular those programs are. "
posted by Gelatin at 10:05 AM on September 29, 2017 [7 favorites]

Why are we talking about a left wing demagogue when the 2020 nominee of "the left" has a really good chance of being Wall Street owned Cory Booker or Andrew Cuomo? And "the left" just ran a Senate slate of handpicked former-Republican Schumercrats? How can you look at the US as it exists right now and think "well I hope the left doesn't rise up violently and ruin everything"? There is barely a "left" movement at all, period, and if there was, it would be swiftly crushed by the right wing state just like Occupy Wall St was. There's your model for a leftist uprising in the US, it's some tentative sit-ins, tolerated briefly before the violent crackdown comes.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:07 AM on September 29, 2017 [19 favorites]

If you want to know why antifa and so many other of the more vital, activist, left wing organizations are thoroughly sick of the Democratic party, look no further than the pants wetting terror some people are indulging in over the totally hypothetical and not even slightly rooted in actual events **POSSIBILITY** of a left wing demagogue.

We're angry.

If you fear left wing anger so much then defuse it by ending the injustice, unfairness, and all around cruelty that is producing the anger. Don't scold us for being mad when we're being abused.

Eventually, yes, that anger will boil over into unfortunate and not at all good results. You don't stop that from happening by telling us not to get mad about being abused, you stop it by ending the systemic cheating and abuse by the Republicans, reversing their ill gotten gains, and making life in America more fair and equable.

To all those who are so paranoid and fearful about anger on the left the message is simple: the only way to avoid what you fear is by giving us real, tangible, wins.
posted by sotonohito at 10:07 AM on September 29, 2017 [38 favorites]

The Republican will respond "All we have to do is cut all this needless spending and worthless programs and waste."

And the media and public will lap it up for the most part.
posted by delfin at 10:08 AM on September 29, 2017 [6 favorites]

Deficits are the single most important thing in the universe when a Democrat is in the White House, doubly so if there's also even a single house of Congress held by the Democrats.

But the very instant the Republicans have power deficits don't matter at all.

The really sad part isn't that the mass media fails to point out the breathtaking hypocrisy of that position. The really sad part is that the Democrats seem to agree.
posted by sotonohito at 10:11 AM on September 29, 2017 [14 favorites]

Some background: the "prep schools" at the service academies aren't what most people think of when they hear those words. They're legitimate preparatory schools, occupied mostly by two sorts of cadets/midshipmen: athletes and prior-enlisted service members who are smart but don't have the academic skills that most of the non-prep cadets learned in high school.

The Army and Air Force prep schools are co-located with the academies, and there's occasionally some "You don't belong here" bullshit aimed at the preps. As you can imagine, it's easy for race to enter into that, given that the preps are mostly athletes and people who didn't get the best educational opportunities.

My cousin's oldest son just started his first year at USAFA, on an athletic scholarship -- he's from Columbia, MO, and his dad (my cousin) is a cop. The kid's pretty close to his parents, and now that they're allowed to make regular contact with their families, I wonder what's going to be said about this on the ol' family Facebook pages.
posted by palomar at 10:13 AM on September 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

In the name of "progress", there is a new etf trading, ticker MAGA, which has the following description:

Point Bridge GOP Stock Tracker ETF is an exchange-traded fund incorporated in the USA. It tracks the Point Bridge GOP Stock Tracker Index. It invests in companies whose employees and political action committees ("PACs") are highly supportive of Republican candidates for election to the US Congress, Vice Presidency, Presidency, or to party-affiliated federal committees or groups.


what the hell.
posted by H. Roark at 10:14 AM on September 29, 2017 [14 favorites]

Action takes many forms, it can be calling your representatives, it can be supporting local politicians on your side (vote Jabari Brisport for NYC City Council 35!) or volunteering some time to stuff envelopes at your local political group HQ. Sometimes it’s mutual aide, or showing up in strike solidarity, supporting sanctuary in the streets, sometimes it’s just putting your money behind your mouth.

Worrying about a left wing demagogue is a straight up roko’s basilisk. We must have inexhaustible optimism because it is the only fight against nihilism.

(My current crazy theory is that, since we’ve abdonded any form of investing in the future or being an,e to think two steps again, we’re about to the utter collapse of media and with it, a lot of social media and advertising. You can’t keep buying groceries on credit)
posted by The Whelk at 10:16 AM on September 29, 2017 [22 favorites]

You folks who are afraid of a left-wing demagogue, what are you actually afraid of? High taxes on the wealthy? Penalties for civil rights violations? Socialized health care and education?

I'm a member of the first generation of my family for as far back as I can trace in which nobody was murdered for the crime of being Jewish. None of my father's first cousins lived to the age of ten, because they were all murdered for being Jewish. I am worried because antisemitism is the socialism of fools, and I think that's a really likely way that all sorts of Americans could be united around a future demagogue.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 10:20 AM on September 29, 2017 [16 favorites]

Anyway ‘there’s no left in this country’ ignores the vast vast majority of people who are politically disengaged cause they , quite rightly, feel politics has nothing to do with them. That’s your target, that’s your base, and most liberals and left-progressives are reachable, even amenable. I know for a fact that’s a lot of former Students for a Democratic Society people out there in the cold waiting to be called home.

The left in the US didn’t die, it was killed.
posted by The Whelk at 10:21 AM on September 29, 2017 [21 favorites]

In which Trump [video] explains Puerto Rico: "This is an island. Surrounded by water. Big water, ocean water." He goes on to complain about their debt and question how rebuilding will be paid for, something he didn't seem concerned with when Florida and Texas were hit.
posted by zachlipton at 10:21 AM on September 29, 2017 [11 favorites]

As referenced in the links posted above, the Senate released their reconciliation instructions for the tax bill earlier this morning. Here's the legislative text [pdf], here are the tables [pdf], here's a quick thread about it from @econwonk.
posted by melissasaurus at 10:22 AM on September 29, 2017 [5 favorites]

The really sad part isn't that the mass media fails to point out the breathtaking hypocrisy of that position. The really sad part is that the Democrats seem to agree.

And the even sadder part is that despite adopting yet another Republican framing, much of the media seems to agree with Republican voters that "liberal media bias" is a thing that exists. The Republicans have thoroughly worked the refs.
posted by Gelatin at 10:23 AM on September 29, 2017 [13 favorites]

I am worried because antisemitism is the socialism of fools

If they come for the Jews, they'll line me up against the wall right next to you, and I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:24 AM on September 29, 2017 [5 favorites]

Meanwhile, Trump's legal goons are trying to block protection for gay employees in New York:

The Trump administration on Tuesday will urge a U.S. appeals court in Manhattan to rule that federal law does not ban discrimination against gay employees.

The U.S. Department of Justice is supporting a New York skydiving company, Altitude Express Inc, in a lawsuit brought by former instructor Donald Zarda, who accused the company of firing him after he told a customer he was gay and she complained.

The case will require the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to decide whether discrimination against gay workers is a form of unlawful sex bias under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That law bans discrimination based on workers’ sex, race, religion and other traits.

The Trump administration’s involvement in the lawsuit is one of several moves it has made that has alarmed LGBTQ groups. Last month, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum directing the U.S. military not to accept transgender men and women as recruits.

posted by Joey Michaels at 10:24 AM on September 29, 2017 [10 favorites]

In which Trump [video] explains Puerto Rico: "This is an island. Surrounded by water. Big water, ocean water."

According to NPR, the problem right now isn't shipping relief supplies to the island, it's distributing the supplies from the ports to the interior.

The US military is excellent at logistical problems like that. If only Trump had the ability to deploy the military instead of just whining on Twitter...
posted by Gelatin at 10:25 AM on September 29, 2017 [39 favorites]

If they come for the Jews, they'll line me up against the wall right next to you, and I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

Then I think you haven't been paying attention.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 10:27 AM on September 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

And here's your "Island in the Sun" remix [video]: Donald Trump definitely understands what an island is.
posted by zachlipton at 10:28 AM on September 29, 2017

Seriously, can we not with the hypothetical left wing demagogue thing? It's like a bunch of people inside of a burning house with the flames getting higher and the smoke getting thicker by the minute. And they're looking at the door, hesitant to move, because what if there's something equally bad or even worse out there.

Let's worry about that when (or, rather, if) we make it through that door alive.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 10:30 AM on September 29, 2017 [46 favorites]

Curious as to what disgraced fascist ex-sheriff Joe Arpaio has been up to since being pardoned? Apparently still vowing to track down the evidence that will expose the 'truth' of Obama's foreign birth.
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:34 AM on September 29, 2017 [6 favorites]

Cook's disagrees with some of you, and has moved the AZ Senate race from "leans R" to "toss-up" now that Sinema has announced her candidacy.
posted by Superplin at 10:36 AM on September 29, 2017 [13 favorites]

This isn't terrible.

New Poll Shows Alabama Senate Is A Just 6-Point Race

In a poll commissioned by Decision Desk HQ of likely voters, Republican nominee Roy Moore leads Democrat Doug Jones 50.2% to 44.5%.
posted by chris24 at 10:44 AM on September 29, 2017 [28 favorites]

corb, I'm curious when was the last time we had the "norms of government" functioning effectively

What I mean by "norms of government" is not "political norms" but rather things like "staffing even the boring government offices in such a way as to allow them to function."
posted by corb at 10:57 AM on September 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

Huh that’s about how much our Palestinian Lutheran minister socialist city council candidate lost to the very popular incumbent in the primary - it was less than 600 votes in the end I think. Encouraging.
posted by The Whelk at 10:59 AM on September 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

The case will require the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to decide whether discrimination against gay workers is a form of unlawful sex bias under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That law bans discrimination based on workers’ sex, race, religion and other traits.

For some context, this argument has been tried several times, like once a decade since the 80s. In the past various courts have ruled that homophobic discrimination does not constitute discrimination based on sex. The social climate has changed enough that they might rule differently, though.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 11:03 AM on September 29, 2017

Or rather, if this ruling is different, it will be because of the changing social climate and likely not because of the underlying legal argument.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 11:05 AM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

In a poll commissioned by Decision Desk HQ of likely voters, Republican nominee Roy Moore leads Democrat Doug Jones 50.2% to 44.5%.

Even if it's a loss (which it probably is), forcing the Republicans to spend money in Alabama means less dollars to deploy elsewhere. And it's not like Roy Moore is going to stop saying stupid shit.
posted by leotrotsky at 11:07 AM on September 29, 2017 [17 favorites]

6pts with no campaigning and probably next to zero name recognition is not terrible and worth Democratic investment. Jones looks like a very good candidate with a solidly Democratic message, against Roy Fucking Moore. It's worth making the Republicans defend, it's worth making a play for what should've been an unthinkable pickup, and it's worth fighting against Roy Moore in the Senate. Democrats should've saved some of the money wasted on Both Sides Boy Wonder Jon Osseff in GA-6 for this. The potential value of a Jones win dwarfs what would've been a marginal and unreliable vote in one House district.
posted by T.D. Strange at 11:14 AM on September 29, 2017 [24 favorites]

So, about that Trump Admin argument about sexual-orientation not being a protected status . . . after the Tuesday hearing things aren't looking so good for the DOJs argument.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:14 AM on September 29, 2017 [15 favorites]

look no further than the pants wetting terror some people are indulging in over the totally hypothetical and not even slightly rooted in actual events **POSSIBILITY** of a left wing demagogue.

Less fear of a demagogue and more worrying that the Democrats aren't picking up on the currents of anger that could be used to power a wave election if they were to put some kind of lightning rod plank down like, "We will use the powers of congress to investigate and pursue justice for frauds, emoluments clause violations, crimes against humanity, etc committed during the Trump administration". Just a super blatant piece of rhetoric that keeps that anger working for the Democrats.

Or whatever it is that would work because I am not a political science specialist, have no experience in this, and only sit here seeing this potential seemingly churn without direction. (and if there already is something lightning-rod like to capture these sentiments and the people that hold them, not having heard of it is a terrible sign)
posted by Slackermagee at 11:15 AM on September 29, 2017 [7 favorites]

It's more cluelessness than anything else. I live in a left-wing bubble, and there are definitely people who hate T to death and at the same time think it's cool to eat imported foods that were probably grown by slaves because Diversity!
posted by Melismata at 11:15 AM on September 29, 2017

Well, I guess the demagogue fear is there too but the immediate matter is grasping the extent to which the population is riled up.
posted by Slackermagee at 11:16 AM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

And it's not like Roy Moore is going to stop saying stupid shit.

Saying stupid shit, especially things that infuriates liberals, is free publicity and energizes the Republican base. Moore already said multiple things showing he's manifestly unsuited for the Senate and won handily. And he spent a fraction of what Strange did.
posted by Candleman at 11:16 AM on September 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

Tax Policy Center just released their preliminary analysis of the tax framework.

In 2018, the average tax bill for all income groups would decline. Taxpayers in the bottom 95 percent of the income distribution would see average after-tax incomes increase between 0.5 and 1.2 percent. Taxpayers in the top 1 percent (incomes above $730,000), would receive about 50 percent of the total tax benefit; their after-tax income would increase an average of 8.5 percent. Between 2018 and 2027, the average tax cut as a share of after-tax income would fall for all income groups other than the top 1 percent. In 2027, taxpayers between the 80th and 95th percentiles of income (between about $150,000 and $300,000) would experience a slight tax increase on average. [...] The resulting overall revenue loss would be $3.2 trillion.

In 2018, about 12 percent of taxpayers would face a tax increase of roughly $1,800 on average. More than a third of taxpayers making between about $150,000 and $300,000 would pay more, mainly because most itemized deductions would be repealed. [...]

By 2027, taxes would rise for roughly one-quarter of taxpayers, including nearly 30 percent of those with incomes between about $50,000 and $150,000 and 60 percent of those making between about $150,000 and $300,000. The number of taxpayers with a tax increase rises over time. This is because the plan would replace personal exemptions, which are indexed for inflation, with additional credits for children and non-child dependents that are not indexed for inflation.

posted by melissasaurus at 11:16 AM on September 29, 2017 [49 favorites]

Seriously, can we not with the hypothetical left wing demagogue thing? It's like a bunch of people inside of a burning house with the flames getting higher and the smoke getting thicker by the minute. And they're looking at the door, hesitant to move, because what if there's something equally bad or even worse out there.

But what if there's fire outside, too

Might as well just do nothing, amirite

What's on tv
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 11:20 AM on September 29, 2017 [6 favorites]

National Treasure Alexandra Petri, WaPo: It was all worth it for this tax reform

Tax reform, the party repeated to itself, watching as Donald Trump climbed to the top of the polls and stayed there.

The new senator from Alabama is going to be a stack of Bibles under a black robe that only enforces the law when it feels like it. Shh. Tax reform.

There is an “R” next to his name. That is what counts. There is an “R” next to his name and the “R” means Tax Reform. (“He’s going to be for tax reform, I think,” said Rob Portman, (R-Ohio).) Maybe, once, the “R” meant something else, too. Too hard to remember. What is important is that it will all be worth it for tax reform.

posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:24 AM on September 29, 2017 [30 favorites]

Oh, this is responsible as hell. The Senate's budget resolution removes the requirement for a CBO score to report the bill out of committee. They can just drop the tax bill on the Senate floor without an analysis of what it actually does.
posted by zachlipton at 11:24 AM on September 29, 2017 [52 favorites]

How Fake News Turned a Small Town Upside Down Caitlin Dickerson, NYTimes
There are many terrible details in this story, this is just an example:

The next day, Camille Barigar, the mayor’s wife, arrived in her office at the college, where she ran the performing-arts center, and started listening to her voice mail. In a calm, measured voice, a man who sounded as if he was reading from a script went on for nearly four minutes. “I wonder, Miss Barigar, if your residence was posted online and your whereabouts identified, how you would feel if half a dozen Muslim men raped and sodomized you, Miss Barigar, and when you tried to scream, broke every tooth in your mouth,” he said. “And then I wonder how you’d feel if, when you went to the Twin Falls Police Department, they told you to run along, that this is simply cultural diversity.”

The caller said that life was “becoming difficult” in the United States, just as it had in England. He referenced Jo Cox, a British member of Parliament who spoke out in support of refugees and later “met with opposition in the form of a bullet to the head.”

“She’s dead now,” he said. “They’ve buried her.”

Even a responsible, functioning democracy would find it difficult to deal with this type of madness. Now, how will this end?
posted by mumimor at 11:30 AM on September 29, 2017 [45 favorites]

Not well.
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:36 AM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

The budget table that melissasaurus linked to is pretty astounding if that's what Republicans are actually proposing.

It's a little confusing because they present both outlays and revenues as positive numbers that you have to mentally subtract, and they also present the economic feedback as negative numbers but you actually need to mental add them to revenues.

But once you work through it all, Republicans are proposing tax cuts of at least $1.5 trillion and in spite of it having a budget surplus by 2026. This is all based on fanciful assumptions of growth in the economy.

In particular, they are using "dynamic scoring", a non-standard scoring method, to suggest that their tax cuts will increase the growth rate of the economy. You can see that in the line labeled "economic feedback". Negative numbers mean subtracting from deficits, so negative is good, but they are using magic pixie dust to suggest that their tax cuts will increase tax revenue by 275 billions dollars annually by 2027. When you see the words "economic feedback" substitute "dynamic scoring."

This is all typical Republican fantasy, claiming a balanced budget by 2027. Without the underlying assumptions for revenue and spending, this is no more realistic than their 9 page tax "plan".
posted by JackFlash at 11:44 AM on September 29, 2017 [13 favorites]

How Fake News Turned a Small Town Upside Down Caitlin Dickerson, NYTimes

Out of the many, many things that frost me about this kind of situation, in some ways I think it's the childishness of so-called adults which bugs me the most. They don't really believe that roving gangs of Muslims are assaulting people, they just enjoy the opportunity to be racist and hurt others - if they were actually worried, they would be reassured when the facts came out, instead of continuing to lie. And of course, they don't care about the consequences of their lies - even when the lies make their own lives worse - because lying is just so much fun for them and they can't muster up the self-reflectiveness of realize that getting high on lying isn't actually a good idea.

If they were actually worried, they wouldn't be like, "I know, threatening the civil authorities will make me much safer!"

They're just rotten people. People always used to complain about the hippies and the Me Generation and their "if it feels good, do it" attitude, but this is just more of the same.
posted by Frowner at 11:46 AM on September 29, 2017 [55 favorites]

The problem with demagogues is that it doesn't fucking matter where they started out, on the political spectrum. They have no allegiance to policy, parties, or campaign promises. They have no allegiance even to anything that has ever come out of their own fucking mouth. Their one and only concern is their own power and how to keep it.

Look at Trump. He is not delivering what he promised his base: he won't and he can't and he doesn't give a shit. His base doesn't give a shit either, not really, because what they care about is feeling HEARD and REPRESENTED. Demagogues do that well.

Look, I'm a leftist. I'm not saying any of this because I'm concern trolling or trying to harsh the buzz of the antifa or fucking up the revolution or whatever. I'm saying there's no use entertaining even the idea of a demagogue because you can't. trust. a. demagogue. They are never on "your" side.
posted by lydhre at 11:48 AM on September 29, 2017 [28 favorites]

if the Dems want to free up money for long shot races maybe they can cut back on the multiple six figure salaries to consultants who keep losing them elections
posted by The Whelk at 11:51 AM on September 29, 2017 [23 favorites]

(I also don't think who spends the most wins is even true anymore despite the people who make money off that really really REALLY wanting it to be true, like people in charge of media buy in)
posted by The Whelk at 11:51 AM on September 29, 2017 [5 favorites]

Look, I'm a leftist. I'm not saying any of this because I'm concern trolling or trying to harsh the buzz of the antifa or fucking up the revolution or whatever. I'm saying there's no use entertaining even the idea of a demagogue because you can't. trust. a. demagogue. They are never on "your" side.

But these would be our leopards!
posted by leotrotsky at 11:51 AM on September 29, 2017 [22 favorites]

When you see the words "economic feedback" substitute "dynamic scoring."

And think Kansas.
posted by chris24 at 11:53 AM on September 29, 2017 [14 favorites]

Do we have a clever name yet for the phenomenon that makes all these terrible people do exactly what they've criticized others for, publicly and shamelessly? Like not just Trump, but all his lackeys, seem to actually revel in doing things they've loudly come out against in the past.

Do they really just do it to infuriate anyone with the remotest shreds of memory fixity or ethical consistency?
posted by aspersioncast at 11:56 AM on September 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

Also I volunteer to be the left-wing demagogue. Do I need a Patreon or something? Everyone listen to ME!
posted by aspersioncast at 11:57 AM on September 29, 2017

I just feel like no one is saying, "this is the lineage that I think an American left demogogue would hail from, based on these facts about left politics and these historical examples". Everyone is all "if people get mad enough, it will just happen", and there isn't even the remotest evidence that this is the case.

Trump is not just an equal-and-opposite right demogogue - he is the product of particular political and economic forces which would never produce a leftist. There are vaguely left extremely wealthy people, but they simply are not demogogue types, because it is very, very unusual for a rich person to have politics that are far left, never mind the incentive to advocate for, eg, radical redistribution of wealth. Peter Kropotkin, maybe? But I don't know how much wealth he actually had after his imprisonment, also this was pre-revolutionary Russia.

It is very, very difficult to imagine a radical left figure emerging with the kind of social power that the Trumpists wield. This is not because the left is always good and the right is always bad; it's because we live under a specific set of historical conditions which are unlikely to produce this outcome in the medium term future.
posted by Frowner at 11:58 AM on September 29, 2017 [28 favorites]

They’ve done none of the hard work, in other words. Meanwhile, they admit they are unwilling to fully pay for the tax cuts they want, so they are giving themselves permission to cut up to $1.5 trillion in taxes without any offsets at all, arguing that a spurt of economic growth would make up for much of the lost revenue.

This is tax reform, in other words, for dishonest political cowards. It is not a legacy that members of Congress should want to leave to their children.

They're not planning to leave this legacy to their children. Their children will inherit an affluence far beyond the reach of any normal person, untouched by estate taxes. The mess they're creating is the legacy they're planning on leaving to your children.
posted by Nerd of the North at 11:59 AM on September 29, 2017 [43 favorites]

Also I volunteer to be the left-wing demagogue. Do I need a Patreon or something? Everyone listen to ME!

I don't think that's enough. Might as well start living up to the monstrosity ascribed to the left. We need a left-wing Demogorgon.
posted by orbit-3 at 12:00 PM on September 29, 2017 [3 favorites]

McConnell's former CoS and campaign manager re: the poll. Lol.

@HolmesJosh
In a surprise to nobody, looks like the Bannon crowd created a new problem for @realDonaldTrump and the GOP. #alsen
posted by chris24 at 12:01 PM on September 29, 2017

Mod note: Guys, you've been at the Leftist Demagogue: Threat or Menace? game literally since I woke up this morning, let's consider it well-discussed and move on.
posted by Eyebrows McGee (staff) at 12:02 PM on September 29, 2017 [67 favorites]

President Donald Trump Blames Thad Cochran's Prostate for Healthcare Vote Failure. This is the worst true sentence I've been able to type. Thanks, 2017.

2018: President Donald Trump Praises Ted Cruz's Prostate for Healthcare Vote Success
posted by Vic Morrow's Personal Vietnam at 12:06 PM on September 29, 2017 [5 favorites]

Do we have a clever name yet for the phenomenon that makes all these terrible people do exactly what they've criticized others for, publicly and shamelessly? Like not just Trump, but all his lackeys, seem to actually revel in doing things they've loudly come out against in the past.

Do they really just do it to infuriate anyone with the remotest shreds of memory fixity or ethical consistency?

Demonstrative celebratory hypocrisy?
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:07 PM on September 29, 2017 [6 favorites]

More GOP emails, which due to popular demand will not be posted. But the theme is Donald Trump is making a list and he wants you on it. The lists of people who believe in him and support him blah blah blah blah blah, and you make a donation!. Wouldn't you like to be on his little list? Blech
posted by tilde at 12:10 PM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Do we have a clever name yet for the phenomenon that makes all these terrible people do exactly what they've criticized others for, publicly and shamelessly?

Demonstrative celebratory hypocrisy?


I like that. I also like performative hypocrisy, which parallels well with performative piety and performative patriotism. All of them are demonstrative to achieve a particular effect.
posted by darkstar at 12:10 PM on September 29, 2017 [9 favorites]

Sarah Kendzior, Fast Company: Why Puerto Rico Is Not Trump’s Katrina

Under Trump, Americans have lost a lot–civil rights, environment protections, perhaps our sovereignty–but what we have lost most is our expectation of what is normal. Trump, a president who is applauded for feats like reading off a teleprompter without being egregiously racist, is held to the lowest standard possible, yet still manages to not meet it, so the standard is continually moved to accommodate his mounting failures. After months of fending off Trump-made disasters–TrumpCare, unconstitutional executive orders, flirtations with nuclear war–few Americans expected him to handle a natural disaster or express empathy for those hurt by it. Fewer expected that Trump would grant Puerto Rico, a territory of mostly non-white, Spanish-speaking U.S. citizens, the same respect as a U.S. state.

Trump’s heartlessness still has the capacity to shock, but it does not surprise. Hurricane Maria is not Trump’s Katrina: It’s just Trump being Trump, the presidency its own existential threat. That it is reasonable to expect so little from a president is its own tragedy, but that should not stop people from demanding more.

posted by Johnny Wallflower at 12:11 PM on September 29, 2017 [12 favorites]

Just calculated the growth rates in the Republican budget table. They are assuming 5% annual growth in tax revenues and 2.5% annual growth in spending. With dynamic scoring included, they project 5.7% annual growth in tax revenue, close to Trump's insane 6% number.

By the way, the Federal Reserve forecasts 2.4% GDP growth, less than half the Republican invention.
posted by JackFlash at 12:11 PM on September 29, 2017 [11 favorites]

really such a tremendous prostate
posted by Vic Morrow's Personal Vietnam at 12:12 PM on September 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

Do we have a clever name for...

While not particularly clever, "corrupt asshole" probably covers it.
posted by notyou at 12:14 PM on September 29, 2017 [8 favorites]

Do we have a clever name yet for the phenomenon that makes all these terrible people do exactly what they've criticized others for, publicly and shamelessly?

Demonstrative celebratory hypocrisy?

I like that. I also like performative hypocrisy, which parallels well with performative piety and performative patriotism. All of them are demonstrative to achieve a particular effect.


On further reflection, I kind of feel like the word brazen ought to be in there, somewhere, to capture the really in your face and unrepentant aspect of it.

Brazen performative hypocrisy?

Gleeful, brazen, performative hypocrisy? Republican, for short.
posted by darkstar at 12:16 PM on September 29, 2017 [3 favorites]

I just posted something that had nothing to do with politics in a community news group on Facebook and got a bunch of Fox News videos from (apparently) Russian accounts in the comments. Facebook is still peddling fake news. This is frustrating.
posted by pxe2000 at 12:19 PM on September 29, 2017 [8 favorites]

Shit. Yeah, I was grasping at "performative" but got "demonstrative" instead.

Gleeful is close. Bacchal? There's this sort of freewheeling, burning-ants-with-magnifying-glass anarchical* love of chaos that calls for a less innocent word.

*in the popular sense -- please let's don't have another round about anarchism
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:22 PM on September 29, 2017

Audacious performative hypocrisy?

Maybe just 'gross performative hypocrisy'. That works on pretty much every definition of 'gross'.
posted by tivalasvegas at 12:25 PM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

BPH is a good acronym.
posted by aspersioncast at 12:26 PM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Demonstrative is so correct. It's got "monster" built right in there.
posted by petebest at 12:27 PM on September 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

I've been keeping a running thread on twitter on policy positions and goals from the extremely mundane tweaking the dials (Reinstate the overtime protection for salaried workers bill the Texas courts keeps slapping down, you'd give 1/4th of all Americans an extra 20k and force companies to actually hire more people) scheduling laws and general retail worker protection....

...to stuff that is an implementation of a popular idea (expand Medicare to everyone under 27 as a warm up for Medicare for all, they're a low risk base and catching things early is half the reason we're doing this to decrease costs)

...to stuff that seems radical but is quite doable and never been cheaper (buy out the top 25 publicly traded oil and gas companies and move them onto production wind down and refocus on climate change repair, mitigation and clean up, possibly a quasi-autonomous NGO model)

..to actually kind of radical (a one time forgiveness of all student debt as a acknowledgement that we let it get out of hand and imposing a 2% tax on the upper 1% for five years to fund the creation of a truly free national university system. Maybe forgive the debt of people who go into our rapidly expanding public service first? Idk)

...To much more radical ideas (everyone under 18 is classified as non working and gets a monthly stipend, that's your UBI test run) and a bunch of basic , fix-the-leaks-on-the-ship-of-state stuff like really big voter access reform, bills to enfranchise all ex-felons, voting by mail, making for profit prisons illegal, destroying Right To Work laws, repealing anti-union organizing and joining laws, LGBTQ job protections and medical access, expand SNAPP for nearly everyone and call it an agricultural subsidiary (people can;t afford to buy food don;t eat, it's a national security issue)..etc etc

I feel like I should just bundle this all up into a huge Labour-style manifesto just as a solid declaration for what the hell we're for. Stuff like this.
posted by The Whelk at 12:28 PM on September 29, 2017 [65 favorites]

BPH is a good acronym.

So we're back to prostates again.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:29 PM on September 29, 2017 [6 favorites]

What if there were some kind of reality show where people got fired? I wonder who could host a show like that.

@JenniferJJacobs: TRUMP tells press asking if he'll fire TOM PRICE: "He's a fine man, we're going to make a decision tonight." per @aritbenie
posted by zachlipton at 12:30 PM on September 29, 2017 [11 favorites]

@JenniferJJacobs: TRUMP tells press asking if he'll fire TOM PRICE: "He's a fine man, we're going to make a decision tonight." per @aritbenie

Nice knowing you, Tom.

Since Tom is one of the few semi-competent evildoers, I hope Trump's trigger finger starts getting itchy.

Can Scott Pruitt be next? I understand he's encased his office in a soundproof bubble and is sure half the Agency is plotting against him. I understand he's pretty keen on charter flights as well.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:36 PM on September 29, 2017 [13 favorites]

Cause it's like, we know how to create a foundational welfare state. We don't know how to keep it safe from new administrations down the line, which is where my the answer to the problems of democracy is more democracy starts to perk up.
posted by The Whelk at 12:37 PM on September 29, 2017 [8 favorites]

@aynrandpaulryan (March for Truth organizer):
1- I received a DM from a vetted source who wishes to remain anonymous.
S/he was on a conference call with FEMA on Monday, September 25.
2- This is 5 days after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico. Others on the call: [Lists numerous agencies you'd expect from DoD and Homeland on down]
3- "Then, after every department reported their activities and projections,
it was time for the White House to issue their report."
4- WH answer?
No report, no activity.⁰⁰Nothing planned for Puerto Rico.
"We were all stunned", this source said.
5 - Meaning until Monday the 25th, (nearly a WEEK after Hurricane Maria made landfall), the WH had no plans to make any moves in PR…
6- ...while DoD, FEMA, all government agencies and non-government agencies were ready to go or had already started activities on the ground.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 12:48 PM on September 29, 2017 [73 favorites]

Trump [video]: "The loss of life, it's always tragic. But it's been incredible. The results that we've had with respect to loss of life. People can't believe how successful that has been, relatively speaking."

What kind of a monster says this?
posted by zachlipton at 12:52 PM on September 29, 2017 [50 favorites]

Did he say anything about Puerto Rico's brand
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 12:56 PM on September 29, 2017 [27 favorites]

Come on, zachlipton! You should know by now that to a narcissist, the only thing that matters about a hurricane is how it reflects on them! Obama era hurricanes would surely have killed more people out of sheer pique.
posted by xyzzy at 12:57 PM on September 29, 2017 [3 favorites]

The [NOUN], it's always [ADJECTIVE]. But it's been incredible. The results that we've had with respect to [SAME NOUN]. People can't believe how successful that has been, relatively speaking.
posted by theodolite at 12:59 PM on September 29, 2017 [30 favorites]

The Occasional Dana: LA Times: Trump's tax plan could hit Southern California hard. Will GOP House members here support it?

The pain to constituents comes in the form of Trump's plan to eliminate the state and local tax deduction (SALT), and Dana's district (The Golden 48th!) is near the top when it comes to the size of the average SALT deduction taken by the locals (and second highest among CA districts represented by GOP members (highest is the Fabulous 50th, represented by Darrel Issa, who was perhaps most at risk of losing his seat before Trump tossed him this grenade)). The chart at the link is worth the click.

How does Dana plan to thread (or camel) this needle?

In any case, Congress’ decisions about tax reform “aren’t going to be based on winning or losing control of the House,” but on what’s best for the national economy, said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who represents a coastal Orange County district that Democrats are going after hard. Rohrabacher said he’s open to both saving and repealing the SALT deduction, which he described as a federal subsidy for California’s high taxes*.

Looks like food times ahead for GOP reps in blue and purple districts in high tax states and towns!

-------------------------
SALT is also relief from double-taxation, Mr Rohrabacher, if you need a conservative friendly talking point!
posted by notyou at 1:01 PM on September 29, 2017 [10 favorites]

The Occasional Dana (Afternoon Extra Edition): The Hill: Rohrabacher Says Aides Blocking Assange Deal

California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher says White House aides are preventing President Donald Trump from pardoning WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Rohrabacher made the accusations to The Daily Caller after Trump said he hadn’t heard of any potential deal with Assange. Asked about a possible pardon for Assange on Sunday, Trump replied, “I’ve never heard that mentioned, really, I’ve never heard that mentioned.”

“I think the president’s answer indicates that there is a wall around him that is being created by people who do not want to expose this fraud that there was collusion between our intelligence community and the leaders of the Democratic Party,” Rohrabacher said Tuesday.

Rohrabacher said that Trump could issue a pardon before he has been charged with any crimes.

Representative Rohrabacher is certainly determined to help Mr Assange out of exile! Seems like a weird thing for a California Congressman to spend his limited time and attention on, doesn't it?
posted by notyou at 1:07 PM on September 29, 2017 [40 favorites]

Dangit. Missed the edit window. Food times for all!
posted by notyou at 1:09 PM on September 29, 2017 [21 favorites]

“I think the president’s answer indicates that there is a wall around him that is being created by people who do not want to expose this fraud that there was collusion between our intelligence community and the leaders of the Democratic Party,” Rohrabacher said Tuesday.

That sentence doesn't make any sense in like six different ways.
posted by diogenes at 1:13 PM on September 29, 2017 [13 favorites]

Trump's net approval rating was -14 when he started the NFL/NBA racist ranting a week ago. It's now -22.
posted by chris24 at 1:15 PM on September 29, 2017 [33 favorites]

Yeah, it seems clear that when Trump shuts up and at least tries to be Presidential, even just a little, his approval bumps up. Americans want him to pivot to being President!

But he just can't sustain it.
posted by notyou at 1:20 PM on September 29, 2017 [9 favorites]

Question. When emailing congresscritters, is it alright if you're slightly rude? Every time I end up snidely commenting on how they're letting down their conservative values.
posted by Trifling at 1:22 PM on September 29, 2017

On TV it says he's going to make a special announcement about "Donald Trump Will Decide Price's Fate Tonight". Like, really CNN? You have to frame this like a teaser for the apprentice? Because I'm pretty sure he's gonna say "you're fired".
posted by lkc at 1:22 PM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

National Treasure Alexandra Petri, WaPo: Full disclosure: I am Jared Kushner. I have no idea what I’m doing.

Jared here. Sorry about forgetting to tell you about my private email account, senators!

In general, I apologize if, on a form, I forgot to disclose anything about myself, or, indeed, everything about myself. I just have this condition where the second I am presented with a form for making disclosures, I lose all recollection of who I am, what I am doing and the meaning of the word “disclosure.” It sounds like something that a bank should do to a poor family. Boy, I hope I’m not poor! I assume I’m not, based on these cuff links I’m wearing, but I honestly don’t know! The second I was asked to supply information about myself, my condition kicked in.

Have we met before?

I am not trying to be rude. It’s just that apparently I’ve met like a whole BUNCH of Russian officials, and I have zero recollection of any of this. Or, like, any income I’ve received at any time. Or most of my business holdings. Looking at my fine-tailored suit, I assume I must have business holdings. I can’t wait to find out what they are! I hope they don’t involve a complex web of business dealings with hostile nations. That could be awkward.

posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:23 PM on September 29, 2017 [48 favorites]

Death toll in Puerto Rico hugely underreported.

I can't even. These people need help and the Great Cheeto is blustering about how good his ratings are!
posted by suelac at 1:25 PM on September 29, 2017 [39 favorites]

Republican Tax Cut Would Benefit Wealthy and Corporations Most, Report Finds

The report, which is the first detailed assessment of the plan’s financial impact, found that the average tax bill for all income groups would decline by $1,600, or 2.1 percent, in 2018. The biggest decrease would go to those with incomes above $730,000, who would see their after-tax incomes rise by an average of 8.5 percent, or about $129,000.


Its just lie after lie after lie, and people keep eating it up. Does the median R family really think they are just temporarily-embarassed millionares to the point that their income will soon be >730k/yr? I don't get it.
posted by H. Roark at 1:26 PM on September 29, 2017 [16 favorites]

Reminds me of that episode of Cheers, when Woody was trying to tell his ultra-rich girlfriend that he didn't have any money:

Woody: "I don't have any money. None. Take all the money in the world and get rid of it, that's how much money I have."

Girlfriend, after a while: "Oh, I think I understand now. It's like when Daddy wanted to buy Shell Oil, but couldn't?"
posted by Melismata at 1:32 PM on September 29, 2017 [13 favorites]

"I've been keeping a running thread on twitter on policy positions and goals from the extremely mundane tweaking the dials (Reinstate the overtime protection for salaried workers bill the Texas courts keeps slapping down, you'd give 1/4th of all Americans an extra 20k and force companies to actually hire more people) scheduling laws and general retail worker protection...."

Add "real trust-busting enforcement" to the list, and "implement strict liability for credit reporting companies" to start.
posted by klangklangston at 1:35 PM on September 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

I keep thinking there was probably some analyst(s) at FEMA or Homeland or DoD or wherever who came up with some reasonable estimates of how bad this was gonna be and what kind of response would be needed, only for some fucker like Stephen Miller to say, "Nah."

It's not like Cheetoh Mussolini would have paid attention at all in those meetings, assuming he was even present.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 1:38 PM on September 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

Price resigned.
posted by PenDevil at 1:38 PM on September 29, 2017 [66 favorites]

The Mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz, just after Trump boarded his flight for another weekend vacation at a Trump property:

I will do what I never thought I was going to do. I am begging, begging anyone that can hear us to save us from dying. If anybody out there is listening to us, we are dying, and you are killing us with the inefficiency.

posted by zachlipton at 1:38 PM on September 29, 2017 [56 favorites]

Price resigned.

Now I bet he's rushing to the bank to try to cancel that check!
posted by zachlipton at 1:39 PM on September 29, 2017 [32 favorites]

And Price resigns. Next Zinke and Pruitt? Please?
posted by HyperBlue at 1:39 PM on September 29, 2017 [11 favorites]

From Josh Marshall's Livin’ La Vida Trumpa linked above:

We see some of this in the choreography of the Trump presidency. It has become a standard photo opportunity in the Trump era to see Trump seated at his desk in the Oval Office with top appointees standing to either side. The President usually has something like that at a bill signing. But no one signs something standing up. It’s sort of natural. But I sit, you stand is a clear visual message of power and hierarchy we’ve seldom seen before even with the more imperial presidents. Not this often and not when there’s not a bill signing. You’ll look in vain for anything like it with Obama and mainly for Bush too.

The version of this I've noticed is in his photos with foreign leaders. See him standing with South Korea's Moon Jae-in or with Azerbaijan's Ilham Aliyev, between the narcissism and his tv star's intuition for composition, Trump has an uncanny ability to frame himself in the center of the shot and crowd his guests out.
posted by peeedro at 1:40 PM on September 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

I didn't think it was possible to be too much of a grifter for the Trump Administration.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:44 PM on September 29, 2017 [17 favorites]

I have to believe every gov't official in Puerto Rico has to stop and ask themselves if their criticism of the administration's response will backfire and make things worse. Even with Katrina, I thought the gov't failures were out of incompetence and a lack of preparation, but not out of active spite. These goons, though?

I'm half expecting 45 to order the Comfort to turn around because of his own hurt feelings.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 1:45 PM on September 29, 2017 [13 favorites]

For funsies I just trained a Markov Chain on a bunch of Trump speeches and got this:

God bless you. And we're in her own citizens who have struck our borders; and northern Nigeria and the East to realize that a terrible pain is asking us whether they cleaned the same red and aid. The memories of both the Boy Scout. Thank you see you, the deaths of our heart, one refugee resettlement that time, Our support of humanity.

I think it's largely indistinguishable from his actual speech patterns, except my chain might intentionally be avoiding repetition.
posted by aspersioncast at 1:46 PM on September 29, 2017 [31 favorites]

HyperBlue: "And Price resigns. Next Zinke and Pruitt? Please?"

They did the same things. Price resigning definitely makes it more difficult for them to hang on. Pruitt probably more than Zinke, since he's had bonus weirdness going on.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:47 PM on September 29, 2017 [12 favorites]

Price lasted 10 days after the news came out. Thats exactly one Scaramucci.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 1:48 PM on September 29, 2017 [106 favorites]

You can't really blame these guys for thinking they had the green light to loot as much as possible. I thought they did too. I'm glad I was wrong.
posted by diogenes at 1:49 PM on September 29, 2017 [36 favorites]

Price resigns

One down, plenty more to go. Keep it up, people!
posted by lydhre at 1:49 PM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Price resigned.

It's like they say when you foul out in basketball: Hit The Road, Jack!
posted by Room 641-A at 1:50 PM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

They have the green light to loot all they want once they muzzle the media. And disenfranchise just a few more voters.
posted by puddledork at 1:51 PM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

At this rate, the current Senate's major "accomplishment" will be a record number of appointment approvals just due to their sheer turnover.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 1:51 PM on September 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

I'll spare you all the "Price is wrong" zingers, but this is really a compelling display of dignity wraithdom. You have a guy who was chair of the House Budget Committee, and Trump managed to destroy him in just eight months. And the Republicans had to spend millions to hold his seat. Oh, and now he's going to have to buy health insurance for himself on the individual market.

Incredible props to Dan Diamond and Rachana Pradhan at Politico for pursuing this story, and to the HHS officials who tipped them off about the flights.
posted by zachlipton at 1:52 PM on September 29, 2017 [100 favorites]

I didn't think it was possible to be too much of a grifter for the Trump Administration.

I still don't think it is. What I didn't think possible was to get too caught.
posted by mrgoat at 1:52 PM on September 29, 2017 [12 favorites]

Wow. Once again Trump proves he has no loyalty to anyone but himself. Price could have apologized, paid back the money but he was sucking up all the headlines and we can't have that.

Now Trump has to nominate a replacement and they'll have to go through confirmation hearings. I wonder with all the bad press Trump's cabinet heads have been garnering will the Republican Senators continue to rubber stamp the nominees?
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 1:52 PM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

mrgoat beat me by 4 minutes. The offense is NEVER the grift or crime, it's getting caught in a way that makes Trump look bad/takes the spotlight off him.
posted by phearlez at 1:53 PM on September 29, 2017 [14 favorites]

So if Zinke bails, is he still going to run against Tester in 2018? I hope not. I like Jon Tester.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 1:57 PM on September 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

Hopefully trump picks a Repiblican Senator as Price's replacement. Trump is stupid enough to do it and it would warm my heart to watch these fuckers fight for yet another seat that ought not to be in question.
posted by lydhre at 1:58 PM on September 29, 2017 [21 favorites]

This aged spectacularly

Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) 6:47 PM - 28 Nov 2016:

Congressman Tom Price will be a great Secretary of Health and Human Services. He is the right leader to help Congress replace Obamacare.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 1:59 PM on September 29, 2017 [65 favorites]

Hopefully trump picks a Repiblican Senator as Price's replacement. Trump is stupid enough to do it and it would warm my heart to watch these fuckers fight for yet another seat that ought not to be in question.
posted by lydhre at 15:58 on September 29 [3 favorites +] [!]

Bill Cassidy?
posted by fluttering hellfire at 2:02 PM on September 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

I didn't think it was possible to be too much of a grifter for the Trump Administration.

Trumps are permitted to grift. Staff isn't.
posted by notyou at 2:14 PM on September 29, 2017 [5 favorites]

Worth remembering that Orrin Hatch changed the rules of the Finance Committee to get around a Democratic boycott and confirm Price.

They all knew he was dirty at the time and didn't care. This administration has never been a Trump problem, it's Republicans.
posted by T.D. Strange at 2:15 PM on September 29, 2017 [69 favorites]

I'm reminded of how President Harding's incompetence and weakness as a leader led to his Cabinet engaging in a lot of corruption (Teapot Dome, etc.).

As for Jared's disclosophobia, hopefully his condition won't hinder his ability to solve the opioid crisis, reorganize the federal government, or bring peace to the Middle East.
posted by darkstar at 2:18 PM on September 29, 2017 [3 favorites]

“He’s not a grifter,” said Trump. “He was called a grifter because he was caught. I like people who weren’t caught.” [fake]
posted by Killick at 2:22 PM on September 29, 2017 [9 favorites]

I'm sure it's not about the $1M travel perks, but about larger sums skimmed and stirred away during the months he controlled the HHS purse
posted by growabrain at 2:22 PM on September 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

So Graham-Crackerdy was booed into submission, Tom Price got fired, and the NFL hates Trump out loud?

Mmmmmmmm . . Imma go wiiiiiiiith crumb cake

U Bum!
posted by petebest at 2:23 PM on September 29, 2017 [17 favorites]

Death toll in Puerto Rico hugely underreported.

Yeah, things are so bad in PR right now that people I know are trying to crowdfund a helicopter to deliver aid to their family's towns, and most people haven't been able to find out if their family is alive for over a week. Nobody cares though, least of all Trump.
posted by corb at 2:30 PM on September 29, 2017 [27 favorites]

I could use a large slice of this cake, petebest
posted by growabrain at 2:30 PM on September 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

I'm half expecting 45 to order the Comfort to turn around because of his own hurt feelings.

Well, frustratingly it somehow has just now left dock.

@7im (Tim Dickinson - Rolling Stone)
Hospital ship Comfort finally shoves off from VA to PR

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:455294/mmsi:368817000/imo:7390478/vessel:USNS_COMFORT
posted by chris24 at 2:32 PM on September 29, 2017 [13 favorites]

Yeah, I have the terrible feeling any senators with even a breath of sanity on the R side are going to be primaried out in favor of shitgibbons this year.
posted by corb at 5:14 PM on September 28 [5 favorites +] [!]

Same as it ever was...
posted by Mental Wimp at 2:36 PM on September 29, 2017

I say shitgibbons now, shitgibbons tomorrow, shitgibbons forever!
posted by kirkaracha at 2:41 PM on September 29, 2017

In this NPR interview, retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, who is credited with turning around the Bush administration's response to Katrina, says that Puerto Rico is a bigger crisis than Katrina. He says that Katrina involved 60,000 federal troops. Today, President Trump is celebrating that Puerto Rico will receive 5,000 federal troops.

I called my members of Congress and asked them to urge the President to greatly increase aid including military aid to Puerto Rico. I also said that Puerto Rico's infrastructure and its ability to deal with a crisis has been undermined by the denial of their statehood, and that this would be a great time to support statehood for Puerto Rico.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:45 PM on September 29, 2017 [49 favorites]

1. The Comfort doesn't leave port until NINE DAYS after the island is devastated by Maria.

2. Food and water aid is still stuck in transit.

3. The death toll is still rising.

4. Many people still haven't been able to contact their family members.

5. The whole Puerto Rican economy is at a standstill.

Yet...

6. The White House is calling it a "good news story" and Trump is saying that people can't believe how successful they've been with the loss of life. (wtf?)


I can't even begin to imagine how devastated and angry and betrayed Puerto Ricans must feel right now. This is grotesquely unacceptable, and as bad as (or worse than!) the failure after Katrina.
posted by darkstar at 2:46 PM on September 29, 2017 [76 favorites]

I didn't think it was possible to be too much of a grifter for the Trump Administration.

It's not the grift and it's not that he got caught. These people have no shame. It's that he embarrassed Trump by failing to repeal Obamacare. The planes expenses is just an excuse and a cover story.
posted by JackFlash at 2:50 PM on September 29, 2017 [5 favorites]

What is the purpose of the American military and its Commander-in-Chief if not to protect the lives of American citizens?
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:51 PM on September 29, 2017 [32 favorites]

Some day, yeah
We'll get it together and we'll get it all done
Some day
When your head is much lighter
Some day, yeah
We'll walk in the rays of a beautiful sun
Some day
When the world is much brighter
Some day, yeah
We'll get it together and we'll get it all done
posted by kirkaracha at 2:51 PM on September 29, 2017 [5 favorites]

Regarding the next Secretary of Health of Human Services, who on earth would...
a) want the job
b) be able to get 51 votes in the Senate
c) be willing to genuflect to Donald Trump sufficiently to be picked in the first place?

This seems to be a hard puzzle to fit together. Maybe Trump will be stuck with Acting Secretary Don J. Wright, a career civil servant.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:58 PM on September 29, 2017 [7 favorites]

Just thinking of Rick & Morty and the ability to travel to an alternate universe...

...where Clinton won...

...where Gore won...

...where Carter was re-elected...

...
posted by darkstar at 2:59 PM on September 29, 2017 [12 favorites]

I say shitgibbons now, shitgibbons tomorrow, shitgibbons forever!

It's shitgibbons all the way down.
posted by Talez at 3:08 PM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Tom Price, Sean Spicer, Sebastian Gorka, James Comey
Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus, Anthony Scaramucci
Derek Harvey, Mike Dubke, K.T. McFarland, Katie Walsh
Michael Flynn, Sally Yates, Kellyanne's yet to go.

This Trump administration.
He'd hire the best people, he said, only the best people.
This Trump administration.
Almost enough people gone to make a full verse of.
posted by Talez at 3:18 PM on September 29, 2017 [12 favorites]

Phil Kerpen‏: Hearing whispers that RICK SANTORUM is under consideration for HHS.
posted by octothorpe at 3:24 PM on September 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

Death toll in Puerto Rico hugely underreported.

And set to rise rapidly. Not confirmed yet but on Twitter I'm seeing reports of cholera. First time in over a century. People are drinking from creeks so it's only a matter of time. God damn him.
posted by scalefree at 3:25 PM on September 29, 2017 [39 favorites]

And set to rise rapidly. Not confirmed yet but on Twitter I'm seeing reports of cholera. First time in over a century. People are drinking from creeks so it's only a matter of time. God damn him.

USA! USA! USA!
posted by Talez at 3:27 PM on September 29, 2017 [3 favorites]

Just thinking of Rick & Morty and the ability to travel to an alternate universe...

have we definitively established that trump isn't the first incursion from the all-cronenberg earth
posted by murphy slaw at 3:29 PM on September 29, 2017 [8 favorites]

Phil Kerpen‏: Hearing whispers that RICK SANTORUM is under consideration for HHS.

With him slithering out from under his rock to stick his nose in the Graham-Cassidy process, it makes me think Price has been on the way out for a while.
posted by jason_steakums at 3:32 PM on September 29, 2017 [8 favorites]

I have very little faith in this Senate, but I refuse to believe that Most Certainly Not A Medical Doctor Rick Fucking Santorum could be confirmed as Secretary for Health and Human Services.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:32 PM on September 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

And Price resigns. Next Zinke and Pruitt? Please?

This was my immediate thought. The precedent has been set. Pressure them all to resign, then prosecute them for misuse of public funds and office.
posted by Existential Dread at 3:34 PM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

Rick "The Blah People" Santorum ?

Well, he is a racist know-nothing shitbigot. I guess I'm surprised he's not already on the TrumpDole.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 3:36 PM on September 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

And if you want an example of a current left-leaning demagogue, look no further than Italy's Beppe Grillo.

It's concerning and fucked up from the left too, folks.
posted by lydhre at 9:48 AM on September 29 [5 favorites +] [!]

This seems to be more an example of a former leftist who's swung radically to the right. He calls Donald Trump a moderate, e.g.
posted by Mental Wimp at 3:37 PM on September 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

Price resigned.
posted by PenDevil at 1:38 PM on September 29 [42 favorites −] Favorite added! [!]

Hopefully, that will speed up his prosecution for theft.
posted by Mental Wimp at 3:39 PM on September 29, 2017 [5 favorites]

After Harvey, we spent 10 days trying to find someone. In a city where I knew the diving teams, and first responders, and the redneck navy, so I was at least getting updates. I cannot imagine the terror of the families who haven't heard from loved ones, in an area that our country seems to have forgotten are our own people.

This weekend i went to the memorial of our lost friend, and I wish that on no-one. People in this government should hang for what they're doing to Puerto Rico.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 3:44 PM on September 29, 2017 [52 favorites]

I have very little faith in this Senate, but I refuse to believe that Most Certainly Not A Medical Doctor Rick Fucking Santorum could be confirmed as Secretary for Health and Human Services.

He's a Senator, so "comity" is the only thing that matters, my good friend.

Too racist to be a federal judge Jeff Sessions was confirmed with Democratic votes. Betsy DeVos bought a nomination for Ed literally without ever holding an actual job in her entire life.

If Santorum is nominated, he will be confirmed like every other one was, because Republicans. And he'll probably get several Democratic votes on top.
posted by T.D. Strange at 3:52 PM on September 29, 2017 [9 favorites]

man, trump takes 'Heckuva Job, Brownie' to a new level.
posted by localhuman at 3:52 PM on September 29, 2017 [10 favorites]

The State of Georgia spent $50 million on a special election to fill Price's seat. He was a cabinet secretary for 9 months.

As to who will replace him, Cassidy seems a natural to fill the spot as he is both a doctor and he tried repealing Ocare. He did lose, however, and Trump doesn't like losers.

In other news, I want to see some bad press for Stephen Miller. I sent postcards last month asking that my MOC pressure the President to fire Bannon, Gorka, and Miller. Bannon and Gorka are gone but that shitty racist, Miller remains. I would like to see him go before this 12 Day Asian Trip in early November.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 3:53 PM on September 29, 2017 [9 favorites]

Ok, so if Cassidy won't get it over his bill, and Paul was a no vote, that leaves Barasso. WY would be a Republican hold, right?
posted by fluttering hellfire at 3:57 PM on September 29, 2017

man, trump takes 'Heckuva Job, Brownie' to a new level.

Combined with "Now watch this drive."

@kylegriffin1
Per pool, Trump has arrived at Trump Nat'l Golf Club in N.J.
This is his 66th day at a golf course, 86th day at a Trump property as POTUS.
posted by chris24 at 4:05 PM on September 29, 2017 [8 favorites]

The State of Georgia spent $50 million on a special election to fill Price's seat. He was a cabinet secretary for 9 months.

National GOP Groups Spent $81K To Defend Price’s House Seat For Every Day In Cabinet
posted by peeedro at 4:06 PM on September 29, 2017 [24 favorites]

And Price resigns. Next Zinke and Pruitt? Please?

I don't see this as a threat to Zinke and Pruitt. Price is out because he had one job and one job only -- to repeal Obamacare. He failed and on The White House Apprentice Show, that means you're fired. It's no accident this is happening just as the reconciliation repeal deadline expires.

The people sweating now are Mnuchin, Mulvaney and Cohn. They know it's pass the tax cuts or else. And Republicans are even more divided on taxes than for Obamacare. It's going to be an ugly few months in congress. They will pass something, but its unlikely to look much like anything on the table now.
posted by JackFlash at 4:11 PM on September 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

A fellow who wasn't so nice
Screwed government up in a trice
Appointing dumb grafters
But not so long after
He came to discover the Price.
posted by uosuaq at 4:12 PM on September 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

Politico: Kelly struggling to make sense of Jared and Ivanka’s West Wing roles

It’s not just Kelly who is uncertain of how to make the arrangement work. In recent months, according to multiple administration officials, the president has also been casually surveying people close to him about whether having his family members in the government is creating too much noise.

“Baby, you’re getting killed, this is a bad deal,” Trump has told Ivanka Trump, in front of other staffers, after soaking in the criticisms of the role his daughter is playing.

"Too much noise" or rather too much attention away from him. I get the feeling he would like to just fire everyone and be the sole center of attention.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 4:15 PM on September 29, 2017 [26 favorites]

At the Trump White House, every day is Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:21 PM on September 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

Honestly if you were an incumbent Republican politician in a reasonably safe office why would you want a nomination to a Trump cabinet position, where reasonably likely outcomes include:

• highly public personal humiliation at the hands of a malignant narcissist, or even better, his posse of sycophantic sociopaths
• dismissal before the office manager can even manage to order your new business cards
• a high probability of scrutiny from federal law enforcement and the potential for ruinously expensive legal bills

What kind of person is actually going to sign up for that? Expect the nominees to get less qualified, not more.
posted by Nerd of the North at 4:41 PM on September 29, 2017 [32 favorites]

1) If Price at HHS was determined to starve ACA, oh God, Santorum.
2) I weep for Puerto Rico
posted by angrycat at 4:49 PM on September 29, 2017 [5 favorites]

Ezra Klein sounded pretty sharp on the NewsHour. I hope he shows up more often.
posted by lumnar at 4:49 PM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

The Frothy Mixture is no longer a Senator (as of 2006), so while he could be nominated, I don't know that "comity" would come in to play. As it is, I'm not holding my breath for whoever replaces Price to be anything but a grifter and crook, because that's how this administration rolls.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 4:52 PM on September 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

You know how the mantra of Republicans with health care has been "state flexibility?" Turns out they don't really mean it. Oklahoma went to considerable trouble to setup a state reinsurance program for the individual market (basically, tax health insurers and use the money to pay toward the expenses of high-cost patients), which they estimated would lower premiums by 30%. HHS and Treasury sat on the waiver application past the deadline, and now Oklahoma is giving up.

Please add "state flexibility" to the set of things Republicans only say they want but don't actually deliver.
posted by zachlipton at 4:52 PM on September 29, 2017 [43 favorites]

“Baby

Barfbarfbarfbarfbarfbarfbarf!
posted by Room 641-A at 4:55 PM on September 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

The Frothy Mixture is no longer a Senator (as of 2006), so while he could be nominated, I don't know that "comity" would come in to play.

He wasn't well liked, either. Sessions - for reasons that surpass understanding - was.
posted by Chrysostom at 5:06 PM on September 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

As noted by JackFlash, the Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas docks regularly in San Juan. This week, the company canceled its scheduled passengers and instead delivered 500 generators, medical and relief supplies, and prepared to evacuate some 3000 persons (including family members of employees, but I've read especially people who've taken refuge in the San Juan Airport, many tourists [as seen in video here]), as well as space for up to 1000 evacuees from the US Virgin Islands when it stops in St. Croix. It's already halfway there.
[Oddly, FOX was the only network website with this story, though it fits their bootstraps POV.]

Meanwhile, USNS Comfort appears to be within visible horizon of Virginia Beach.

(Some have pointed out that USNS Mercy, docked in San Diego, could be potentially deployed to assist Mexico's earthquake recovery, but as the coastal areas were less affected it's not clear to me it would be of great help.)
posted by dhartung at 5:09 PM on September 29, 2017 [27 favorites]

What kind of person is actually going to sign up for that?

Somewhere out there, Louie Gohmert's head point begins an eerie rattling . . .

He wasn't well liked, either. Sessions - for reasons that surpass understanding - was.

Ooh! Ooh! I know! I know why!

Because racistses?
posted by petebest at 5:45 PM on September 29, 2017 [6 favorites]

More like Tom "Sky High" Price amirite!

*sigh* missed it by that much!
posted by petebest at 6:15 PM on September 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

My name is Price
on plane I fly
spend tax dollars
in the sky

Orange man pouts
No confidence
Resignation
the latest dunce
posted by fluttering hellfire at 6:23 PM on September 29, 2017 [10 favorites]

Oh LOL, Tom Price's shady stock shenanigans are being investigated by Preet Bharara.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 6:51 PM on September 29, 2017 [10 favorites]

Meanwhile on FOX "News", Tucker Carlson is reading The Cat in the Hat. I'm not joking.
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:53 PM on September 29, 2017 [5 favorites]

a variant of an oldie but goodie

there once was a president orange
there once was a president orange
impeach now impeach now
impeach now impeach now
there once was a president orange
posted by pyramid termite at 6:55 PM on September 29, 2017 [14 favorites]

Whoops, I thought it was over real estate money laundering.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 6:59 PM on September 29, 2017

I have the recollection that Santorum was his era's Ted Cruz. No one liked him, even Republicans just tolerated him. He'd be a good addition to the Trump Show™
posted by Glibpaxman at 7:03 PM on September 29, 2017 [3 favorites]

So, have we addressed the fact that Preet Bharara has a podcast? Because he does. He's extremely charming.

(The much-wished-for other side version of right wing talk radio seems to be podcasts.)
posted by soren_lorensen at 7:08 PM on September 29, 2017 [17 favorites]

Meanwhile on FOX "News", Tucker Carlson is reading The Cat in the Hat. I'm not joking.

It couldn't possibly be on bowtie's radar because a liberal librarian turned her nose up at such a cliché gift? Not at all. I bet he's just showing everyone the quality of one of America's finest authors.
posted by Talez at 7:09 PM on September 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

I feel sorry for Tucker Carlson. He was born a silver spoon scion of the D.C. elite and had limitless opportunity, but he lacked the imagination, passion, or character to do anything worthy with it. So he just fell back on the easy, wingnut-welfare supported, performance art punditry that forms the dregs of the sociopolitical barrel. When he's gone, the only thing he'll be remembered for is once getting schooled by Jon Stewart. A completely wasted life.
posted by darkstar at 7:25 PM on September 29, 2017 [32 favorites]

ELECTIONS NEWS

** 2018 Senate:

-- Contrary to expectations, Dem senators aren't getting primaried from the left. [Politico]

-- Sabato: A look at historic trends of off-year Senate races. tl;dr: The out party sometimes loses seats, but prez popularity is a big factor.

** Odds & ends:

-- Cook Political: Best indicator of 2018 House results may be the Virginia House of Delegates results. I feel like I've read something about those lately....

-- WP: Dems bringing diverse candidates in the House of Delegates races.

-- Cook Political: Dems have big enthusiasm edge.

-- WP: A lot of Puerto Ricans will probably end up moving to Florida. That could have a huge impact on the state's politics.

-- Nate Cohn: Incumbency + gerrymandering = problems for the Dems in retaking the House. GOP retirements/primaries will be key.

posted by Chrysostom at 7:58 PM on September 29, 2017 [36 favorites]

I feel sorry for Tucker Carlson. He was born a silver spoon scion of the D.C. elite and had limitless opportunity, but he lacked the imagination, passion, or character to do anything worthy with it. So he just fell back on the easy, wingnut-welfare supported, performance art punditry that forms the dregs of the sociopolitical barrel. When he's gone, the only thing he'll be remembered for is once getting schooled by Jon Stewart. A completely wasted life.

I am inclined to agree with you about the wasted potential but sympathy is something I find difficult to extend to someone who has effectively dedicated their life to making things worse for millions of people.

Even now.. he could retire tomorrow to a life of astonishing comfort and security and never need to work another day. He would be extended status and respect and treated cordially even by those who find his actions odious because that's how we treat people of his class in this country. And yet that's somehow not enough -- either because of mistaken but sincere belief in the positions he espouses or (as I am inclined to believe) cynical indifference combined with a commitment to his own aggrandizement he gets up every day and makes the world measurably worse for his presence.
posted by Nerd of the North at 9:11 PM on September 29, 2017 [16 favorites]

I feel sorry for Tucker Carlson.

I don't. I don't really feel that violence is a great solution in many contexts, but, if "face made for punching" doesn't have his picture next to it, then why even have pictures in dictionaries ?
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 9:21 PM on September 29, 2017 [20 favorites]

I understand the sentiment, but I'll reserve my sympathy for the billions of people on the planet whose best moments in life aren't nearly as good than Tucker Carlson's worst moments.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:33 PM on September 29, 2017 [6 favorites]

That Sabato piece is nice illustration of how punditry works, and how it can go wrong. It presents a decent historical overview of midterm Senate elections, where the average loss for the party of the president is about 4 seats, and discusses why it is only that low because of a few key elections -- 34, 62, 98, and 02 -- where the President had very high approval ratings (over 60% in those cases) and therefore managed to gain seats. Between those two facts, the *historical* perspective would suggest that Democrats are the overwhelming favorite to pick up seats in the Senate. Yet Sabato concludes:

But, generally speaking, there is at least one big and hardly profound takeaway: If President Trump can build upon his recent approval uptick — he’s back around 40%, although there have been some signs that he’s falling back again — that could help Republicans across the board, because typically one only sees significant non-presidential party Senate incumbent losses under popular presidents.

If he stays where he is or declines, that probably reduces Republican chances to knock off more than one or two Democratic incumbents.

However, just because we’ve never seen an unpopular president’s party knock out several Senate incumbents from the other party doesn’t mean it can’t happen. The Democratic vulnerability next year is clear, both in the volume of seats they are defending and the deep Republican lean of several of those states.

All of this may be true based on the existing states in play, the polls in those states, etc. But that has nothing to do with the historical record. History -- the subject of the previous 2000 words of his essay -- is quite clear: we should expect a significant gain for the out-party in a midterm where the president's approval is in the 40s. Maybe history is no guide because we know better, based on polls, which states are up for election, etc. But then why the whole long essay discussing history, only to chuck it all at end in favor of specific state-based predictions? We didn't need history for that, it just lends it an air of informedness.

More generally, this is how punditry -- even careful, well-informed stuff like Sabato, or its higher-brow cousins like the Nates -- can go wrong. The Cohn/NYT piece discusses incumbent advantages in a similar way, and frets that without a lot of retirements, 2018 is unlikely to be a wave. Thereafter follows a lot of detailed discussions about who has or hasn't retired, how many are necessary, etc. And then in passing, a link to this chart showing that lo, there have already been a lot of retirements, historically speaking. The wave hasn't arrived because we are a year away and the signal just doesn't exist yet, but if you look for the hints, they are there.

Which is all to say that yeah, maybe history is over, Republicans have finally beaten the system with gerrymandering in the House and sheer luck with the Senate. But history did a pretty decent job predicting the last few elections, and the reason it's often right when the pundits are wrong -- especially far in advance of an election -- is that the pundits rely on current polls to make their judgments, but a year out the historical forces haven't yet started to affect the polling. I don't know if that's true, but if it is, we would expect to see those polls start to move in the months ahead, perhaps not until spring or summer, eventually showing more and more Republicans that we now consider safe to start looking less and less safe. The Sabatos and Nates will adjust their predictions, and look not too bad when the election actually comes because by then the polls will be in line with the trends. But at this point, if one believes in history, they are simply wrong to be making poll-based predictions and ignoring historical forces. Once again: it may be history that is wrong, who the hell knows. But if it's right, all those detailed local predictions that Sabato and Cohn are laboring over are misleading, since it's estimating the wave when the tide is still out.
posted by chortly at 9:35 PM on September 29, 2017 [16 favorites]

Price resigned.

still not good enough. where are the felony fraud charges?
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 9:44 PM on September 29, 2017 [32 favorites]

It's not just polling though, many of the states Democrats are defending have trended more and more Republican for the last 20 years, and some, like Montana and West VA, went for Trump by 40+ points. There's two historical trends fighting in 2018, most swings states have become steadily more red at every level especially in the era of Obama and FOX News, but yes, the President's party historically loses seats. Apart from that, the 2018 map is by accident tilted against Democrats this cycle (they blew their advantaged cycle in 2016 on 10 Patrick Murphys and Ted Stricklands), and last time these seats were defended a popular black President was on the top of the ticket.

We all saw the failures of polling in 2016, but it's that and historical trendlines are the only pseudo-objective measurements we have. But 2/3 of those things are trending against the Democrats retaking the Senate.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:55 PM on September 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

tucker carlson? i could punch him in the nuts so hard his bow tie would spin.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 9:59 PM on September 29, 2017 [15 favorites]

still not good enough. where are the felony fraud charges?

Michael Brown was suspected of shoplifting. Republicans were outraged.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 10:06 PM on September 29, 2017 [20 favorites]

still not good enough. where are the felony fraud charges?

Come now, who here hasn't spent USD $1M of the people's money on charter and military flights, just because they could?
posted by sebastienbailard at 10:10 PM on September 29, 2017 [10 favorites]

Michael Brown was suspected of shoplifting. Republicans were outraged.

Trayvon Martin wore a hoodie. Republicans were outraged.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:18 PM on September 29, 2017 [28 favorites]

After the racial incident at the prep school that was addressed yesterday by the Air Force Academy Superintendent, there are reports of a possible active shooter on Air Force Academy grounds right now.
posted by faineant at 10:36 PM on September 29, 2017

You folks who are afraid of a left-wing demagogue, what are you actually afraid of? High taxes on the wealthy? Penalties for civil rights violations? Socialized health care and education?

My username provides sufficient rebuttal, I should think.
posted by leotrotsky at 11:06 AM on September 29

Good point. So the first law after the revolution is to outlaw ice picks
posted by wobumingbai at 10:47 PM on September 29, 2017 [6 favorites]

Good point. So the first law after the revolution is to outlaw ice picks

Ice axe, not pick. Less Basic Instinct and more straight up horrifying spike into the skull. Trotsky survived more than a day after having a wedge-shaped hole driven into his brain.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 10:58 PM on September 29, 2017 [3 favorites]

Though to be fair, I am unable to see how the size of the hole makes the murder itself less or more horrifying.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 11:03 PM on September 29, 2017 [5 favorites]

"It's not the axe that kills you it's the hole." Alternate Universe Laurie Anderson
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:26 PM on September 29, 2017 [10 favorites]

Metafilter: I'm unable to sè how the size of the hole ... makes it less horrifying.
posted by Anchorite_of_Palgrave at 11:27 PM on September 29, 2017 [8 favorites]

Because I'm me, I was looking over the GSA's Gov't travel regs.

Turns out "Use of a Government aircraft;" requires specific authorization or prior approval. I want to know who signed-off on Price's use of gov't aircraft, don't you?
posted by mikelieman at 11:28 PM on September 29, 2017 [21 favorites]

Wow, I just deep-dived into GSA travel regs ( like "oh, here are the required EDI data elements deep" )

If some top-flight investigative journalists dug in, this sorta mundane stuff that none of the Trump admin ever thought was important, could change the narrative. "Gov't Fraud & Waste: Tom Price."

Aside from "What's Price's liabilities under the False Claims Act?", "Who else has been stealing taxpayer money?" is like my next question.
posted by mikelieman at 12:06 AM on September 30, 2017 [22 favorites]

The key thing to know about the travel regs is that government employees fly economy. Economy plus on an extremely long flight - I guess the secretary could make an argument for business class, but most public servants would view that to be in poor taste. A private plane is really astonishing. Just another one of the wonders brought to you by the notion that the government should run like a business!
posted by Emily's Fist at 12:29 AM on September 30, 2017 [29 favorites]

Nobody said it had to be a successful business...
posted by Myeral at 12:36 AM on September 30, 2017 [9 favorites]

Fantastic New Rule: The Kremlin Konnection tonight
posted by growabrain at 1:02 AM on September 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

Mike Pence is such a bland (but scarily evil) fuckface that when Maher said "this man, Mike Pence" I said "aka Mike Pence" out loud before he got to the punchline. Man I hate this guy. You're not supposed to consider the Handmaids Tale a utopia.
posted by Justinian at 1:31 AM on September 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

Washington Examiner: Justice Department nominee with ties to Russian bank voted out of committee

Brian Benczkowski, a Republican lawyer who once served as a staff director of the committee for former Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., was advanced in an 11-9 party-line vote and will soon head to the Senate floor for a confirmation vote.

Benczkowski admitted earlier this year that he worked for Russia’s Alfa Bank during his time as a partner at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis. He also ran the Trump transition team at the Justice Department.

The New York Times first reported that Benczkowski represented the bank, one of Russia’s largest with ties to President Vladimir Putin. The FBI investigated the bank last year after it was mentioned in a dossier containing unproven allegations about the Trump campaign and possible collusion with Russia, but it ultimately concluded there was no wrongdoing or misconduct.

Benczkowski also downplayed his role in the Trump campaign during his confirmation hearing.

posted by christopherious at 1:48 AM on September 30, 2017 [16 favorites]

Welp, not surprising given she's a woman and a POC, but Trump has decided to attack the mayor of San Juan. Oh, and the people of Puerto Rico as lazy ingrates.

@realDonaldTrump
The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump.
- ...Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They....
- ...want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job.
- The military and first responders, despite no electric, roads, phones etc., have done an amazing job. Puerto Rico was totally destroyed.
posted by chris24 at 4:36 AM on September 30, 2017 [43 favorites]

who was very complimentary only a few days ago

He is totally deranged
posted by mumimor at 4:57 AM on September 30, 2017 [58 favorites]

has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump.

Either he really believes that, or he wants people to think that for his own political gain, and I don't know which is worse. Either way, to focus on who's being "nasty" to you when an island full of American citizens is dying is... wow.
posted by Rykey at 5:18 AM on September 30, 2017 [20 favorites]

I've spent much of the last 9 months enraged, but today is really something. 3 million Americans are homeless, sick, thirsty, starving, drowning, dying, frightened, begging for help... and Trump blames them for being lazy. There should be no coming back from this and any media that gives him an inch of respect for any future lowest-bar-ever hint of normality is complicit.
posted by chris24 at 5:21 AM on September 30, 2017 [98 favorites]

Fantastic New Rule: The Kremlin Konnection tonight

I've soured on Bill Maher pretty hard, but that was excellent (aside from the pee-tape joke).
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 5:22 AM on September 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

He's a sociopath. I see somethiing like that and wonder what's wrong with me that he can still shock me.
posted by Mavri at 5:23 AM on September 30, 2017 [23 favorites]

I'm not an American, I'm not right wing, I work at being progressive and engaged and all that. There is nothing about 45 with which I identify, more than leg and arm count.

And yet, he manages to embarrass me (for being in the same species? I dunno) more and more each day. Today, with that sub-infantile package of half-gloat, half-scorn about Puerto Rico, he has excelled himself in that department. A four year old in kindergarten would be sent to the naughty step for repeating such things.
posted by Devonian at 5:27 AM on September 30, 2017 [18 favorites]

He tweeted that from his golf course.
posted by T.D. Strange at 5:29 AM on September 30, 2017 [71 favorites]

I just don't understand. It would be so easy for this administration to do the bare minimum for Puerto Rico and call it a huge win. The bare minimum! The press would fall over themselves to praise the president and he could crow about what an amazing job he was doing.

This is... this is suicidal indifference. I don't expect them to act because of ethics, or duty, or - you know - common decency and respect for their fellow man, but this is just deranged. They should be acting out of self-preservation. There should be someone in there bypassing Trump to make Trump himself look decent. Disaster response is AN EASY WIN, for fuck's sake.

Given the latest tweets, I am betting the Tuesday photo op is off?
posted by lydhre at 5:31 AM on September 30, 2017 [23 favorites]

Given the latest tweets, I am betting the Tuesday photo op is off?

Oh no, still going. And wants to add USVI, because unlike those lazy ingrates in PR, they're working hard.

@realDonaldTrump
I will be going to Puerto Rico on Tuesday with Melania. Will hopefully be able to stop at the U.S. Virgin Islands (people working hard).
posted by chris24 at 5:36 AM on September 30, 2017 [6 favorites]

Honestly if you were an incumbent Republican politician in a reasonably safe office why would you want a nomination to a Trump cabinet position, where reasonably likely outcomes include:
highly public personal humiliation at the hands of a malignant narcissist, or even better, his posse of sycophantic sociopaths
dismissal before the office manager can even manage to order your new business cards
a high probability of scrutiny from federal law enforcement and the potential for ruinously expensive legal bills
What kind of person is actually going to sign up for that? Expect the nominees to get less qualified, not more.

The leopard doesn't fail you. You fail the leopard. Only losers fail. I'm not a loser.

[gets into cage with leopard]
posted by srboisvert at 5:36 AM on September 30, 2017 [12 favorites]

This is... this is suicidal indifference.

No it's not. Dude's been shoveling nothing but outrageous shit like this since the campaign, and nothing's stopped him.

Which is the real fucking outrage here. The people who CAN stop him—Congress—have tolerated Trump since he took office, and they'll continue to tolerate him, all his crimes and outrages and liabilities, because their power's linked to his.
posted by Rykey at 5:38 AM on September 30, 2017 [42 favorites]

I just don't understand. It would be so easy for this administration to do the bare minimum for Puerto Rico and call it a huge win. The bare minimum! The press would fall over themselves to praise the president and he could crow about what an amazing job he was doing.

Yeah, but then the brown people would survive. That's not what the GOP wants.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 5:41 AM on September 30, 2017 [13 favorites]

The press would fall over themselves to praise the president and he could crow about what an amazing job he was doing.

I recall "the press" spending weeks on Bill Clinton shutting down a whole airport for a day so he could get a 400 dollar haircut.

They didnt spend as much time on the fact that the story was almost entirely made up. The press loves loves loves a Republican Daddy President.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 5:43 AM on September 30, 2017 [18 favorites]

Everytime I think that my opinion of Trump can't go any lower, he proves me wrong.
posted by octothorpe at 5:45 AM on September 30, 2017 [19 favorites]

@cmMcConnaughy
Our President is playing us-them resentment politics with American victims of a natural disaster. The victims are wrong, military right. 1/x
- He's not only invoking partisan polarization by making the call for help a Democratic partisan ploy, he's likening Puerto Rico to welfare 2/
- and elevating military and law enforcement as the only "righteous" people in the circumstances. 3/x
- Welfare is "undeserved, unearned handout." Americans are particularly unsupportive of aid painted as this, especially so when racialized. 4/
- (On that dynamic see especially Martin Gilens "Why Americans Hate Welfare," applied nicely here: https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/why-do-americans-still-hate-welfare/ 5/x
- It seems useful to the President that Puerto Rico is a place where people speak Spanish, deemed "foreign" by many https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/26/upshot/nearly-half-of-americans-dont-know-people-in-puerto-ricoans-are-fellow-citizens.html 6/
- It's telling that the President has done nothing to correct that misperception, is not referring to Puerto Rico as our fellow Americans. 7/x
- That he is elevating the military and law enforcement in the same tweet-breath is particularly telling of the divisive intention. 8/x
- The military and law enforcement are painted the opposite of welfare recipients: they are self-sacrificing for the good of us all. 9/x
- This solidifies the narrative of undeserving-ness through contrast. It also puts the "good guys" of the story on the President's side. 10/x
- And it makes the Puerto Rico narrative look essentially like Trump's story of #TakeAKnee - the patriotic versus the complainers. 11/x
- In other words, he's trying to delegitimize Puerto Rico's calls for help, to push attention away from their need to their deservingness. End
posted by chris24 at 5:46 AM on September 30, 2017 [67 favorites]

I recall "the press" spending weeks on Bill Clinton shutting down a whole airport for a day so he could get a 400 dollar haircut.

If I could make the stuff growing on 1992 Bill Clinton's head look like the hair on a President, I'd charge $400 too
posted by thelonius at 5:49 AM on September 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

I'm faxing my reps this message every day: "You are complicit every time you do not speak out against this president and history will remember you as being complicit."
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 5:50 AM on September 30, 2017 [61 favorites]

I think this is going to backfire, like the #takeaknee fiasco. And it's still an own goal, because he probably could have just gotten some positive blowback from the Price resignation and played golf all weekend. Now he's definitely going to hVe to deL with this in some way.
posted by Room 641-A at 5:52 AM on September 30, 2017

@realDonaldTrump: The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump.

@Lin_Manuel Retweeted Donald J. Trump
You're going straight to hell, @realDonaldTrump.
No long lines for you.
Someone will say, "Right this way, sir."
They'll clear a path.

@realDonaldTrump: ...Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They....

@Lin_Manuel Retweeted Donald J. Trump
She has been working 24/7.
You have been GOLFING.
You're going straight to hell.
Fastest golf cart you ever took.

@realDonaldTrump: ...want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job.

Lin-Manuel Miranda Retweeted Donald J. Trump
Did you tweet this one from the first hole, 18th hole, or the club?
Anyway, it's a lie. You're a congenital liar.
https://hispanicfederation.org/donate

@Lin_Manuel
I have been so moved by YOUR generosity since Maria.
You deserve a leader who shares an OUNCE, a SHRED of the compassion you all have.
posted by chris24 at 5:55 AM on September 30, 2017 [111 favorites]

How terrible do you have to be to anger Lin-Manuel Miranda?
posted by guiseroom at 6:03 AM on September 30, 2017 [48 favorites]

She has been working 24/7.
You have been GOLFING.

From the WaPo, Lost weekend: How Trump’s time at his golf club hurt the response to Maria
posted by peeedro at 6:06 AM on September 30, 2017 [35 favorites]

Is there anything criminal in the legal sense over his indifference and hostility to Puerto Rico? Is any of this prosecutable?
posted by fluttering hellfire at 6:06 AM on September 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

His own fucking general in charge says there's not enough people or supplies.

'Not enough' troops, equipment in Puerto Rico, says general in charge of relief

The Defense Department has not sent enough troops and vehicles to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico but will soon send more, according to the three-star general newly in charge of coordinating the military response.

Army Lt. Gen. Jeff Buchanan said Friday morning that the Pentagon has 10,000 people helping with the response after Hurricanes Irma and Maria ripped through Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands earlier this month.

“We're certainly bringing in more [troops]," Buchanan said on CNN’s “New Day.”

"For example, on the military side, we're bringing in both Air Force, Navy, and Army medical capabilities in addition to aircraft, more helicopters. ... [But] it's not enough, and we're bringing more in.”

The Pentagon has already allocated more than 4,000 troops to help in rescue and restoration efforts to the U.S. territories, but it wasn’t until Thursday, eight days after Maria slammed the Caribbean, that U.S. Northern Command (Northcom) sent Buchanan.

posted by chris24 at 6:11 AM on September 30, 2017 [46 favorites]

'Not enough' troops, equipment in Puerto Rico, says general in charge of relief

I recall Harvey having 30,000 troops deployed.

I hear 1/2 the National Guard in Puerto Rico is on duty. 4,000 troops.

Trump: "Lazy and Ungrateful"

Racism defined.
posted by mikelieman at 6:14 AM on September 30, 2017 [49 favorites]

The mayor responds.

@CarmenYulinCruz
The goal is one: saving lives. This is the time to show our "true colors". We cannot be distracted by anything else. [pix of rescues and recovery]
posted by chris24 at 6:24 AM on September 30, 2017 [51 favorites]

These motherfuckers are rotten to the core.

@KFaulders
Asked a WH official if POTUS has plans to meet with the Mayor of San Juan Tuesday and got this response -->

Not sure. She has been invited to FEMA command center several times to see operations and be part of efforts but so far has refused to come, maybe too busy doing tv?

posted by chris24 at 6:30 AM on September 30, 2017 [35 favorites]

@realDonaldTrump: Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They want everything to be done for them...

Yes, the citizens of the colonial property of the United States of America who have been disenfranchised and denied access to their desired legal rights of statehood including the ability for municipalities to declare bankruptcy, while simultaneously being systemically underfunded and, by their colonial possessor's imposition of the Jones Act, prohibited from obtaining affordable goods from ships flying under flags of nations other than their colonial possessor, leading to food costing twice as much as in the mainland... those citizens are lazy and expect everything to be done for them, especially when they have no electricity or food or clean water and they can't even withdraw their own money from the bank. Sad!

I'm angry! But I also recognize that in our righteous criticism of Donald's insufficient response to the suffering of people who probably aren't interested in attending his rallies, we have struck a nerve! Let's keep it up and hopefully precipitate some pivotal event to get this fucker removed from office.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:35 AM on September 30, 2017 [85 favorites]

The thing with Trump and Trumpists is that I still feel this kind of blank bafflement when dealing with them. They're alien, not because they do bad stuff but because their responses are so outside my experience. I am used to people with bad politics who are still moved by human suffering - people who always want to cut foodstamps, but are easy targets for soft-focus pictures of sad things. I'm used to the problem being that people refuse to connect the systemic with the specific - out of racism, out of selfishness, out of learned bad habits. But there's still something that I recognize - we both see a story about suffering and we're both moved. Those people still have bad politics - they're still enemies. But I know how to respond.

Trump and his ilk - there's just this looking-into-the-void feeling. Like, they might as well be human-sized sea cucumbers or something for all the familiar humanity that they manifest. Every time, there's this just moment of blankess when I deal with them, this total confusion. I don't understand how actual flesh humans can talk and act like they do.

It's this radical newness - not the evil, there's always been lots of evil - but this "people are dying in Puerto Rico, I am literally am in communcation with actual humans who are in trouble and I still see this as mostly a bloviating and privatization opportunity".

In a way it makes sense. Like, when a union moves in, the company moves to somewhere with no unions. When a tax law gets passed people invent ways to game it. We live in an era where you cannot hide from the direct presence of people who are suffering - you can't just live in a gated community and go to exclusive places, because the internet brings these people to you. In the past, the immediate presence of suffering usually elicited a reaction, so rich people avoided seeing it, but that's not possible now. So the solution is to learn how to be utterly indifferent - to have no human response whatsoever, to become post-human.

You always hope that some new technology or situation will force a change by its nature, but the only change it forces it that the powerful learn to resist it.
posted by Frowner at 6:38 AM on September 30, 2017 [80 favorites]

Every news item has a point-of-view, right? The POV is an underlying given, and THE context for information in the news item. Okay.

WHY (O Lord), are news organizations treating this man as if he's mentally fit to serve?! Do not waste our time on what/when/why because those are all irrelevant. (See: "Price Broke Trump's Cardinal Rule" - Trump's only rule is Trump, this piece is speculative in the extreme. Or "Trump, the master manipulator, uses NFL flap to . . ". Ugh.)

News media, please listen to us very carefully: HE'S LITERALLY A DEMENTED SOCIOPATH. It is not just another administration. You got us here, now FIX IT.

Someone mentioned 'complicit'?
posted by petebest at 6:41 AM on September 30, 2017 [31 favorites]

Ice axe, not pick.

I once saw a one-act play entitled Variations on the Death of Trotsky that mined quite a bit of humor from this confusion, including the line "A mountain climber's axe! A mountain climber's axe! CAN'T I GET THAT THROUGH YOUR SKULL?!?!?!"
posted by EarBucket at 6:42 AM on September 30, 2017 [14 favorites]

@denicefrohman
To be clear, this is the mayor of San Juan who he insulted. She's using a bullhorn to find people.

PIC OF MAYOR IN HIP DEEP WATER LOOKING FOR VICTIMS
posted by chris24 at 6:42 AM on September 30, 2017 [69 favorites]

Former USAID Foreign Disaster Assistance chief Jeremy Konyndyk:

This is the best tick-tock I've seen on White House mgmt of Puerto Rico response. And it is so, so, so damning. 1/
I've tried to be balanced re: Trump's handling of PR, incl in my piece today, b/c I know how hard this stuff is. 2/
But WaPo report tonight makes that impossible. Confirms worst suspicions. Clear that WH took their eye off the ball at the worst moment. 3/
The 2-3 days immediately after a major event are critical; that's when you gauge damage in order to calibrate response. 4/
During that critical window, rather than shaping response, POTUS was at golf club. Even held work mtgs; but not on PR. 5/
Senior admin officials didn't visit PR to assess situation first-hand until 5 days post storm. Inexcusable. 6/
Tellingly, what set Trump off and spurred his attention was not briefings - it was bad tv coverage. 7/
He didn't hold a high level meeting on the storm response until Tuesday - SIX DAYS after landfall. This is disaster mgmt malpractice. 8/
And it has become clearer and clearer that response hasn't had the resources and people it needs - as DoD is now admitting.
Why do I call this malpractice? Because they had all the tools they needed to see this for what it was; if only they'd paid attention. 10/
Storm played out exactly as forecast. Was clear it would be devastating, and it was. And then....the President left things on autopilot. 11/
And that has had real, tangible, harmful consequences for the speed and effectiveness of the response. 12/
It makes me so mad I could spit. 13/
FEMA staff deserve better. DoD staff deserve better. And most of all, the people of Puerto Rico deserve better. This is not leadership. /end

posted by T.D. Strange at 6:42 AM on September 30, 2017 [81 favorites]

Not sure. She has been invited to FEMA command center several times to see operations and be part of efforts but so far has refused to come, maybe too busy doing tv?

I think I see the proble:; generally people use "TV" to mean "TeleVision" but here it means "Tending to the Vulnerable".
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:45 AM on September 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

Puerto Rico: Mayor pleads for better response; Trump hits back

The fuck??

Warning: disturbing image of a dangerous racist sociopath attacking millions of innocent people
posted by petebest at 6:51 AM on September 30, 2017 [13 favorites]

@Mikel_Jollett
The mayor of San Juan (Carmen Cruz) lost her house and has been living in a shelter.

Trump GOLFED yesterday.
posted by chris24 at 6:54 AM on September 30, 2017 [72 favorites]

Is there anything criminal in the legal sense over his indifference and hostility to Puerto Rico? Is any of this prosecutable?

No. The appropriate response to this is impeachment citing a callous disregard for the life and safety of American citizens. But this will not happen without a more specific crime or a more Democratic Congress.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 6:59 AM on September 30, 2017 [11 favorites]

Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help.

I didn't know you could get literally nauseous when your body contained this much rage but apparently you can! The things Trump is teaching me.
posted by corb at 7:01 AM on September 30, 2017 [51 favorites]

"the best tick-tock" ? let it go....
posted by thelonius at 7:02 AM on September 30, 2017

The Fake News Networks are working overtime in Puerto Rico doing their best to take the spirit away from our soldiers and first R's. Shame!

We all remember in Saving Private Ryan where they hear a radio broadcast questioning whether the mission is understaffed and so they all give up and spend the rest of the movie moping around destroyed chateaus
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 7:04 AM on September 30, 2017 [7 favorites]

Criticising the response to Maria is now criticising the troops. Gee where have I heard that before.
posted by PenDevil at 7:07 AM on September 30, 2017 [18 favorites]

@JamilSmith
Trump implied that @CarmenYulinCruz and her people are lazy. The racial undercurrent becomes an overcurrent.

@Shakestweetz Retweeted Jamil Smith
Trump also said @CarmenYulinCruz is not authentically angry, but pretending on orders from the Dems, which is profoundly misogynistic trash.
- To be abundantly clear: Trump reacted to a desperate plea for help from @CarmenYulinCruz by unleashing a torrent of racism and misogyny.
- This is who Donald Trump is. His malice is not "accidental." It is the central feature of his deplorable presidency.
- Shame on anyone who ever indulged the sickening pretense that Trump was ever going to be anything else but this.
- This is what happens when people who should know better insist on extending endless good will to a monster.
posted by chris24 at 7:09 AM on September 30, 2017 [103 favorites]

It could be an inability to experience empathy. Trump is furious that people are questioning the magnitude of his response to Puerto Rico, so he imagines the average member of the military who is actually working to save lives is equally furious about this questioning, rather than, say, furious that they lack sufficient resources to help more people.

Does he truly believe this or does he believe it's something that will get repeated on Fox and Friends and give him a warm feeling inside? Is there even a difference?
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 7:10 AM on September 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

Criticising the response to Maria is now criticising the troops. Gee where have I heard that before.

Oh yeah, it's party line this morning.

@PressSec Sarah Sanders
US military & first responders saving many lives in PR, but like so many of their acts of heroism, is often a story that doesn’t get told
posted by chris24 at 7:11 AM on September 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

Meanwhile...

What is 45 worth to Twitter? About $2 billion.
posted by Devonian at 7:15 AM on September 30, 2017 [9 favorites]

Let's keep it up and hopefully precipitate some pivotal event to get this fucker removed from office.

While I'm all for twisting Trump's nipples and keeping him distracted, my only hope is every day, Mueller's collection of indictments gets refined just a little more with every iteration. I keep myself out of an alcoholic stupor by wishing REAL HARD that when they drop, they're going to be freaking art.

From my lips, to G-d's ears. But you know, fucking 2017.
posted by mikelieman at 7:15 AM on September 30, 2017 [18 favorites]

The thing with Trump and Trumpists is that I still feel this kind of blank bafflement when dealing with them.

I suggest there is not-insignificant intersection between this and the now-classic "Emotional Labor/Executive Functioning" discussions. THAT deserves it's own FPP, so I will end my comments now.
posted by mikelieman at 7:18 AM on September 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

"Washington Examiner: Justice Department nominee with ties to Russian bank voted out of committee"

The GOP has become so focused on winning procedural battles that they've forgotten those procedures have actual reasons, like maybe if they hadn't changed the rules to rush Price and Mnuchin out of committee over the objections of literally every Democrat, they wouldn't be burning through a wildly morally compromised cabinet and having to put up previously-safe Congressional seats for special elections. But they're so convinced the only thing that matters is the slugfest and that there's no bipartisan ground like "hey maybe having ethics is good," and THEY'VE so thoroughly weaponized all the process and use it for nothing but obstruction that they can't imagine it has any legitimate reason left, that they're steamrolling right over all of that and constantly own-goaling.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:19 AM on September 30, 2017 [49 favorites]

Where the FUCK is mueller. I get the plodding thoroughness thing but it's time. This man is insane.
posted by lazaruslong at 7:21 AM on September 30, 2017 [9 favorites]

Retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, who commanded the military response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, slams President Donald Trump's response to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico:

"He doesn't give a damn about poor people, doesn't give a damn about people of color. And the SOB who rides around in Air Force 1 is denying services needed by the people of Puerto Rico" [VIDEO]

And this was before this morning's tweetstorm.
posted by chris24 at 7:23 AM on September 30, 2017 [88 favorites]

I think the explanation of Trump's response to the disaster in PR is simple: PR voted 61% for Clinton, while he won TX and FL. He literally thinks the only places that matter are the ones that voted for him in the election. The racism helps, but if PR had voted for Trump he'd have been all hands on deck. Or nevermind I read that table wrong. This comment is useless.
posted by dis_integration at 7:28 AM on September 30, 2017 [6 favorites]

In watching discussion of PR today online, it's so very clear how much sexism, racism, and xenophobia is just this constantly simmering hate just below the surface in everything the US right does or says. All it takes is for the woman mayor from PR to dare suggest that their president may not have done everything correctly, and it boils up like a raging river that consumes their ability to even put a sentence together.
posted by hydropsyche at 7:33 AM on September 30, 2017 [35 favorites]

I believe it was Napoleon who said "put your iron hand in a velvet glove". This current US administration is more the iron fist sans glove. Bare-knuckle bullies and blatantly, shamelessly corrupt.

He also famously said Talleyrand was "shit in a silk stocking". After this morning tweet storm, Trump is just shit, sans stocking.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 7:37 AM on September 30, 2017 [6 favorites]

Gottdamm.

When the W administration injected race into the Katrina response, attacked the local mayor and attempted to shift the blame, etc, they did it the old fashioned way, with innuendo delivered by lackeys. But not President Trump! He does it the modern way—he announces it loud and clear himself.

We’re almost halfway to the 2018 elections.
posted by notyou at 7:43 AM on September 30, 2017 [7 favorites]

Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré is a motherfucking hero for going on the record and speaking the truth.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 7:47 AM on September 30, 2017 [45 favorites]

And they continue to attack her. Because she tweeted once in May 2016 that a President Trump might be a nightmare for PR. Umm, she was right?

@DanScavino
San Juan, PR Mayor has been hating on @realDonaldTrump long before he was our President. I'm not surprised by the show she is putting on...
posted by chris24 at 7:55 AM on September 30, 2017 [8 favorites]

> Let's keep it up and hopefully precipitate some pivotal event...

I wouldn't put it past Trump to get fed up and decide to send in the army. Like, on a military mission.

> PIC OF MAYOR IN HIP DEEP WATER LOOKING FOR VICTIMS

If Trump saw this picture he'd probably think she's looking for her golf ball. Can't even avoid the hazard. Sad!
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:56 AM on September 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo: A True Moment of National Disgrace

On Twitter this morning, stung by criticism, President Trump attacked the people of Puerto Rico, all American citizens, as lazy and disorganized people who “want everything to be done for them.” I am cutting the verbatim text out of the tweets here.

“The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump. Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job.”

Thanks to reporting from the big papers, we now have a general understanding of how this all unfolded. For a critical three or four days after Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, President Trump was away at his New Jersey golf resort, ranting about the NFL and generally not paying attention. It now seems that wasn’t merely a matter of optics and presidential statements. Critical time was lost and things didn’t happen. Once the scope of catastrophe began to become clear, Trump’s inaction began to generate criticism. Once that happened Trump proceeded to fold Puerto Rico into his comfort zone politics of grievance and narcissism. The focus shifted to Puerto Rico’s debt, ingratitude and – finally this morning – laziness and disorganization.

It does not discount or diminish Trump’s penchant for racist awfulness to note that a lot of this doesn’t seem to be by design or, perhaps better to say, forethought. It is more like reflex, in response to his own bumbling. Trump provoked his battle with the NFL out of a mix of personal, racist rage and desire to stoke up his supporters with a new white rights grievance controversy. This seems a little different. His own incompetence and indifference to his job responsibilities generated criticism and led him to make critical mistakes he could not undo. Once that happened, his own personality kicked in. The greased path to narcissistic injury, grievance and racist grievance political attacks was the inevitable reflex. It’s his comfort zone, his natural inclination.

The Primary Text of Trumpism

As I’ve read and reread these hideous three tweets which I transcribed below, I’ve realized they are not just a disgrace but something like a primary text of Trumpism. Everything is there.

Things non-white people say are dictated by “the Democrats.” Non-whites aren’t political actors.

Every conflict quickly boils down honorable and white soldiers, police and first responders versus non-white ingrates, complainers and protestors. In fact, the very actions of the latter group dishonors and assaults the sacrifices and purity of the first.

This may all sound inflamed and dramatic. It is. But look at the language about the Puerto Ricans who “want everything to be done for them” and the first responders and military service members. Look how clearly it matches the Trump’s imagery of black NFL players and protestors dishonoring veterans who sacrificed everything.

The core and essence of Trumpism is a racist morality play. It plays out again and again, just with a different troupe of actors in each town.

posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 7:57 AM on September 30, 2017 [85 favorites]

I looked it up and Puerto Rico's Republican Primary delegates went to Marco Rubio, but that's probably unrelated.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:01 AM on September 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

Oh yeah, it's party line this morning.

Interestingly, a previously unknown person in one of the biggest Huracan Maria update facebooks suddenly came on to suggest we join with Trump in criticizing the mayor.

The resulting responses have been...colorful. Go peddle your bullshit elsewhere, troll farm!
posted by corb at 8:04 AM on September 30, 2017 [16 favorites]

Where the FUCK is mueller. I get the plodding thoroughness thing but it's time. This man is insane.

I totally get the frustration, but consider the "onion" of Russian money laundering and associated crimes he's peeling apart. Another layer is another SERIES of indictments and another dozen or so suspects to be investigated. I think from a "political" point of view, from the goal of getting Trump to resign, they have to be able to send to federal prison without any reasonable doubt: Ivanka and Don Jr.

Everyone else is disposable to Trump. With that in mind, I'm tolerant of the amount of time this is taking. SO FAR.
posted by mikelieman at 8:04 AM on September 30, 2017 [8 favorites]

Please link to that, corb!
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:05 AM on September 30, 2017

The good general Honoré asked about this morning's tweets. Killing with kindness.

“I have no reaction. The mayor’s living on a cot, and I hope the President has a good day of golf.”
posted by chris24 at 8:06 AM on September 30, 2017 [68 favorites]

I wouldn't put it past Trump to get fed up and decide to send in the army. Like, on a military mission.

I've said before that the USMC could have a logistical pipeline up and running in < 4 hours, and I'll say it again.

Worst Executive Management Ever.
posted by mikelieman at 8:08 AM on September 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

Here's Pete Souza, on point as usual.
posted by lydhre at 8:10 AM on September 30, 2017 [15 favorites]

Nov. '12

@realDonaldTrump
The federal gov. has handled Sandy worse than Katrina. There is no excuse why people don't have electricity or fuel yet.
posted by chris24 at 8:14 AM on September 30, 2017 [16 favorites]

What in the fuck did I stumble back into?

Trump fiddles while San Juan drowns.
posted by Talez at 8:14 AM on September 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

Talez, please, it's 2017. Trump golfs while Puerto Rico drowns.
posted by lydhre at 8:16 AM on September 30, 2017 [31 favorites]

San Juan, PR Mayor has been hating on @realDonaldTrump long before he was our President.

Well, he was a corrupt, sociopathic, greedy, dangerous, racist, know-nothing asshole long before he was our president. What's your point, Scavino?
posted by Rykey at 8:16 AM on September 30, 2017 [44 favorites]

My god, Trump and his people simply will not be stopped from gaslighting and lying, will they? No matter what, good IS bad, up IS down, and it's gone past putting metaphorical fingers in their ears and going "LALALALALALALA", like 5 year olds; they're literally quintupling down on their lies. And absolutely no one really believes what they're saying, not even their base. I don't understand who they think they're fooling.

When your own military is contradicting you in public, surely this?

Eh, what am I saying? Trump is too fucked in the head to care about anything but his own ego, his material comfort, and preserving his world view that he's awesome, everyone loves him and thinks he's a great guy, and anyone who thinks otherwise must be dragged down and punished.
posted by droplet at 8:18 AM on September 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

“I have no reaction. The mayor’s living on a cot, and I hope the President has a good day of golf.”


Well, no worries about Trump getting a sunburn at least - that shade is pretty deep.
posted by nubs at 8:18 AM on September 30, 2017 [17 favorites]

Where the FUCK is mueller.

Mueller knows he only gets one shot and it has to be perfect - by which I mean it has to convince the GOP that they must impeach immediately, because if they decide anything else Trump will simply obstruct/interfere with the investigation/prosecution until we're really, fully, seeing a true American tyranny.
posted by mightygodking at 8:19 AM on September 30, 2017 [69 favorites]

The thing with Trump and Trumpists is that I still feel this kind of blank bafflement when dealing with them.

I'm used to dealing with people who have the same goals as me (reduction of suffering) but different--occasionally bordering on magical--ideas of how to best achieve that goal. No one who doesn't know them believes me on this point, but my parents are actually very kind, compassionate people. They just think that government is the boogie man that stands between humanity and eternal bountiful utopia for all. They're extremely wrong in any number of ways, but our goals are the same and provide a basis on which I can actually make a counter-argument.

With Trumpists, where the underlying motivation seems to be a desire for and enjoyment of more suffering, not less... I don't know what to do with that. I can't argue because my arguments are all "evidence shows that the best way to reduce suffering is..." and they're just like "fuck off, I don't care, cry more." I got nothing. That's not a human response. These people are monsters.
posted by soren_lorensen at 8:21 AM on September 30, 2017 [59 favorites]

mueller, do not throw away your shot
posted by entropicamericana at 8:25 AM on September 30, 2017 [48 favorites]

“I have no reaction. The mayor’s living on a cot, and I hope the President has a good day of golf.”

Here's the thing about retired generals: they're not really retired in the way regular people think of it. They're not even "retired" the way non-general military people are. "Retired" generals are in a special status wherein they are still under the jurisdiction of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, particularly Article 88, which precludes them from using "contemptuous words" about the President (and Congress, and various other civilian officials in the chain of command). Honore is essentially blinking "CHRIST WHAT AN ASSHOLE" in Morse code.
posted by Etrigan at 8:27 AM on September 30, 2017 [99 favorites]

I want Mueller to do a thorough job. Mueller ain't the problem. Our president is a complete and utter shithead. I want to know where the advisors, cabinet members, and congress critters are. Those are the complicit fuckers.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 8:29 AM on September 30, 2017 [23 favorites]

I mean, he still said the president doesn't care if Hispanic people starve to death.

(Not inaccurately!)
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:29 AM on September 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

The Time Donald Trump Turned Away in Disgust While a Man Was Bleeding to Death in Front of Him

The Time Donald Trump Turned Away in Disgust While Puerto Rico Died in Front of Him

The Time Donald Trump Turned Away in Disgust While [your state, institution, or personal human name here] Died in Front of Him
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:32 AM on September 30, 2017 [20 favorites]

So I checked Google News just now and the articles on Puerto Rico were being filed under "World," not "US." I left them a cranky bit of feedback about that, and you can too if you click on the gear symbol in the top right, then "Feedback."
posted by Tsuga at 8:34 AM on September 30, 2017 [34 favorites]

Side note to say that Puerto Rico is legally considered a possession of, rather than an integral part of, the United States, which is a major part of the problem contributing to their fiscal crisis and reduced ability to respond to humanitarian catastrophe.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:44 AM on September 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

"Trump fiddles while San Juan drowns."

Such an unfair comparison. At least Nero had an infrastructure plan.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:47 AM on September 30, 2017 [14 favorites]

Nero Berates Lazy Romans For Being On Fire
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:49 AM on September 30, 2017 [48 favorites]

Does he truly believe this

No. He believes nothing except that he's right. He is Not Well.
posted by petebest at 8:49 AM on September 30, 2017 [7 favorites]

Three days ago.

Speaker Ryan: "I think @POTUS is giving us the kind of leadership we need to get this country back on the right track."
posted by chris24 at 8:50 AM on September 30, 2017 [11 favorites]

Mueller knows he only gets one shot and it has to be perfect

Former DoJ prosecutor Samuel Buell makes a convincing case that Mueller knows he has to proceed slowly and methodically.

While Trump blows like a major hurricane across the landscape of American legal and political norms, Mueller and his team quietly pull on the levers of law—levers that Trump, so far, has been unable to control.

For each tweet, a subpoena. For each insult or putdown, a question for a witness under oath. For each grand display of braggadocio, the silent picking of a lock to execute an early morning warrant. All of it in service of a mission to tirelessly gather facts, the mother’s milk of the federal prosecutor. Facts that hold up in a courtroom under the most demanding standards of proof. Ones that speak for themselves and do not admit alternatives.

Mueller must intend the contrast. “Bobby Three Sticks”—the behind-the-back nickname pinned on him by FBI agents who were struck by Director Mueller’s patrician, uncompromising demeanor and who bridled at his forceful management style—is as seasoned and savvy a player as there is in the legal world of Washington, the federal courts, and elite criminal defense practice.{...}

Mueller’s optimal approach could be to move steadily, to remain very much in the picture but not to hurry things too much, perhaps not unveiling major evidence until as far out as the congressional midterms of 2018. In this approach, he wouldn’t hastily call forward ultimate questions in a manner that could cause his band of rule-of-law police officers to exit the scene or be pushed away too early in this presidency.

In other words, you come at the king, you best not miss.
posted by Doktor Zed at 8:53 AM on September 30, 2017 [20 favorites]

@DanScavino's Twitter...that's just perfect. Golfing in front of the American flag, like a true rich, white, male, Republican American. Would anyone bet against me if I guessed that the photo was taken on one of Trump's courses?
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:53 AM on September 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

Nero Berates Lazy Romans Iberians For Being On Fire
posted by jedicus at 8:54 AM on September 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

Never forget Speaker Ryan’s pre-election pledge ”I am not going to defend Donald Trump—not now, not in the future”.

That pledge has not aged well.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:56 AM on September 30, 2017 [22 favorites]

Donald Trump's last 7 days are just mind-bogglingly bad Chris Cillizza, CNN (!)

Doubt it? Try to remember what happened on Monday of this past week. Or Tuesday. There's a less-than-5% chance you can do it. I cover this stuff for a living and I can't. The mind simply can't process this amount of news at the pace at which it currently moves. . . .

Saturday 9/23: Trump disinvites Steph Curry and his Golden State Warrior teammates from the White House . . .

IT HAS BEEN _0_ DAYS SINCE THE LAST TRUMP DISASTER
posted by petebest at 8:59 AM on September 30, 2017 [16 favorites]

When I think of Mueller and his team, I think back to when I was an admin for some BF3 and BF4 servers (online, multiplayer, military shooter style video games). Some troll would show up with "Sieg Heil" in their profile, claiming the holocaust is a myth, blowing up their own team's vehicles, or some other such trolling behavior.

So, that troll is going to get banned. He knows it, I know it, all the players know it. But bureaucracy is how you make sure you don't start swinging the ban-hammer around willy-nilly so I've got some paperwork to complete and I need to make sure that I've got the evidence that I'll need (or at least know that it exists and that I can access it). While I'm working on that stuff, the troll is left to their own devices which usually means that they'll have stepped up their trolling.

It sucks that I have to let them run rampant while I'm following the proper process and they're doing a lot of harm but there just aren't many options. If I'm really lucky, the other players will find a way to contain them while I'm working but I need to ignore that or something will go wrong and I'll end up banning the wrong player or they'll disappear before I have a change to ban them or something like that.
posted by VTX at 9:16 AM on September 30, 2017 [10 favorites]

Richard A Friedman, Guardian Op/Ed: What if Trump is actually a master of empathy?

There is nothing necessarily nice about empathy. What Trump doesn’t have is sympathy – he doesn’t really feel badly for other people.

Trump is a master of empathy. Most people confuse empathy with sympathy and don’t understand the nature – or power – of empathy. There is nothing necessarily nice about empathy, which is essentially the ability to imagine and intuit how other people think and feel.

It has nothing to do with genuinely identifying with others or actually feeling their pain; that would be sympathy. Instead, empathy is really about having an accurate theory of mind of other people – and getting under their skin.

Trump has lots of empathy. What he doesn’t have is sympathy—he doesn’t really feel badly for other people. He is not using his considerable empathy skills for Puerto Rico for a simple reason: they are not his base and he has little interest in them.

What he appears to use empathy for is keeping his base in a state of stress, and thus less willing to criticize, abandon, or oppose him.
posted by ZeusHumms at 9:17 AM on September 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

Trump has lots of empathy. What he doesn’t have is sympathy—he doesn’t really feel badly for other people.

Why not not both?
posted by Room 641-A at 9:22 AM on September 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

If one is dealing with like-minded people, projection can look a lot like empathy.
posted by klarck at 9:23 AM on September 30, 2017 [11 favorites]

I think he lacks both. He doesn't seem to be able to understand that other people feel bad in ways and for reasons that have nothing at all to do with him when bad things happen to them.
posted by VTX at 9:31 AM on September 30, 2017 [6 favorites]

Donald Trump's last 7 days are just mind-bogglingly bad Chris Cillizza, CNN (!)

God, it's only been a week since the whole NFL thing?
posted by octothorpe at 9:32 AM on September 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

The NFL thing was shortly after this well-predicted crisis in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands began, or rather, intensified. There are many things we cannot predict with confidence regarding a scenario where Hillary Clinton is President, but I feel comfortable saying she would not have chosen that moment to start a racist feud with a sports league.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:40 AM on September 30, 2017 [65 favorites]

Donald Trump is a fucking psychopath and any think piece, article, hot take, interview, political cartoon, episode of Duck Tales, etc that does anything but blare this fact when the subject of Donald Trump arises is complicit. I'm tired of reading new fresh insights into the psyche of Donald Trump. We elected America's unfiltered id as POTUS. No wonder there's sewage in the streets.
posted by supercrayon at 9:41 AM on September 30, 2017 [78 favorites]

There's a part of me that can't help but think the silence of the Republican party on Trump's behavior towards Puerto Rico is their way of insuring they don't push for statehood. This cack-handed approach by the U.S. should engender enough ill-will that Republicans never have to worry about that again.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 9:46 AM on September 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

Inspired by another, this is my new, daily resistbot fax to my representatives:

Every time you fail to speak out when this president...

(1) acts to deepen or inflame divisions among Americans,

(2) exhibits racism, misogyny, or other misanthropic behaviors, or

(3) demonstrates contempt or disregard for the laws and ethical standards that define us as a civilized society,

...you are COMPLICIT in the harm that he inflicts.

Every time you vote to confirm one of his partisan, unqualified, compromised, or otherwise toxic judicial nominees, you brand yourself a COLLABORATOR with his degenerate agenda.

There is no such thing as neutrality. You cannot hide in silence, or behind unrelated good works.

We watch. History will remember. Your response to the overarching, ongoing national calamity in which we are embroiled tells the most important tale of your lasting imprint on the nation.

posted by perspicio at 9:50 AM on September 30, 2017 [42 favorites]

What if Donald Trump

nope
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 9:55 AM on September 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

What if Donald Trump

nope

[cue 1995-era guitar]

What if Trump was one of us
Just a non-demented-non-sociopath like one of us
Just a sapient being capable of empathy and object permanence
Trying to not destroy civilization and bring about probable human extinction
posted by Rust Moranis at 10:02 AM on September 30, 2017 [45 favorites]

Puerto Rican Debt Holders Respond to Catastrophic Hurricane by Offering Puerto Rico More Debt [Intercept]

Reposting something I wrote elsewhere:

It doesn't shock me that someone would be predatory enough to try and turn tragedy into profit, but I *am* surprised that anyone whose job supposedly involves assessing financial risk could offer this deal. They must know that no matter where their "place in line" for repayments is, they would never get their money back, right?

Hurricane season has shot the PROMESA Act right in the gut. No matter what arrangement had been worked out prior to now, Puerto Rico is going to have basically nil finances to spare for repayment, for the rest of 2017 at the very least.

So Congress will basically have three choices:
a) Be the first administration in US history to let "full faith and credit" bonds go unpaid (and get slammed by Wall Street for it)

b) Push through PROMESA v2 and force bondholders to accept it (and earn the hatred of business for it)

c) Just restore PR's right to declare bankruptcy (and let the bullshit spend years wending it's way through the courts, like all major bankruptcies do, so Congress can say "let the courts decide, not our problem")
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 10:07 AM on September 30, 2017 [16 favorites]

What he appears to use empathy for is keeping his base in a state of stress, and thus less willing to criticize, abandon, or oppose him.

That's not empathy. That's manipulation.
posted by krinklyfig at 10:12 AM on September 30, 2017 [16 favorites]

It doesn't shock me that someone would be predatory enough to try and turn tragedy into profit, but I *am* surprised that anyone whose job supposedly involves assessing financial risk could offer this deal. They must know that no matter where their "place in line" for repayments is, they would never get their money back, right?

They might be banking on the White House essentially forcing the entire island into indentured servitude as payment for rebuilding. God knows I wouldn't bet against them trying.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 10:27 AM on September 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

Be the first administration in US history to let "full faith and credit" bonds go unpaid.

Puerto Rican debt is not U.S. government bonds and therefore is not backed by the U.S. government. Lenders knew this going in and that is why they charged a higher interest rate than U.S. Treasury bonds. If, as bondholders now claim, there is no possibility of default, then the bond auctions were a fraud and Puerto Rico is paying excessive interest on those bonds for risk that doesn't exist.

Lenders where attracted to Puerto Rico because they paid higher interest and they were paid higher interest because there presumably was a risk of default. For bondholders to now claim that default is impossible is corrupt.

Once again Wall Street can never fail. They collect the profits and taxpayers carry the risk.
posted by JackFlash at 10:34 AM on September 30, 2017 [40 favorites]

I know — believe me I know — that we've all been feeling this for months. I don't want to drag this thread down into a pit of despair or hopelessness. But moreso than at any point so far, I am having trouble envisioning any way forward from here.

All I can think is that this moment will pass, and he will keep finding newer, more horrible ways to hurt people, to tear down our institutions, to damage our collective psyche. And somehow, the Republican party will keep following him down the path.

I have been working hard to engage with people with whom I disagree. But I increasingly look at people who maintain an association with the Republican party, and all I can think is that they are on some level horribly damaged, or just out and out evil. And I don't know what to do.

I want to scream and not stop screaming.

I'm sorry. I don't know how to make this productive. I just needed to find a place to say it, and I have been reading and following along with you all for long enough that I feel a level of kinship here. 
posted by bluemilker at 10:34 AM on September 30, 2017 [49 favorites]

NSA warned White House against using personal email (Josh Meyer, Politico)
In briefings to incoming Trump aides, security officials highlighted the dangers of unsecured email and phones.

“Jared is probably one of the top five or 10 targets in the U.S. government because of his access to the president and because of the portfolios he’s been given,” said Richard Clarke, a former top cybersecurity advisor to three presidents. “It’s a pretty safe bet that his personal devices have been compromised by foreign intelligence services. And therefore there is some risk that meetings he attends are compromised too.”

posted by Room 641-A at 10:46 AM on September 30, 2017 [24 favorites]

Puerto Rican debt is not U.S. government bonds and therefore is not backed by the U.S. government.

At least $4.4 Billion of PR's debt is full-faith-and-credit. Source, and note that the article refers to them as "the two most recent full-faith-and-credit debt issues of the commonwealth" (emphasis mine)

So at least some of the debt is US-backed.

EDIT TO ADD: A more recent Bloomberg article mentions "More than $13 billion of general-obligation bonds backed by the commonwealth’s full faith and credit"
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 10:47 AM on September 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

I once saw a one-act play entitled Variations on the Death of Trotsky

David Ives! Mrs. Example and I were in a show that featured a collection of Ives one-acts, and apart from starring with me in The Universal Language (which was an absolute blast, and I would punch a toddler to make it happen again), she made the ice axe prop for our Trotsky. It was awesome.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 10:48 AM on September 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

The latest Dig podcast has an interview with Marisol LeBrón about the Puerto Rico debt crisis.

She is:

Marisol LeBrón received her PhD in American Studies from New York University. Her research interests include policing, militarization, incarceration, spatial inequalities, political economy, youth, and race in the Americas. She is currently at work on a book about the growth of punitive governance in contemporary Puerto Rico.

One TL;DL is essentially that there was some seriously dodgy (disaster capitalism microcosm experiment) shit going on and questionable legality about some of the loans made. But there's a lot more than that.
posted by Buntix at 10:50 AM on September 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

Forgive PR's historical debt, grant them immediate statehood. Boom, done. Massive boost to the map and flag industry.
posted by freecellwizard at 10:51 AM on September 30, 2017 [45 favorites]

At least $4.4 Billion of PR's debt is full-faith-and-credit.

Full-faith-and-credit of Puerto Rico, not the U.S. government. There's a difference. The U.S. Treasury is not obligated to pay Puerto Rican debt.
posted by JackFlash at 10:53 AM on September 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

Bluemilker, I agree that this is a low point in US history, and that it can be hopeless at times. But like in our personal lives, all we can do is try our hardest to overcome, and research proves that outcomes are better for optimistic people. I've had days where I felt lost, and my husband reminded me of this. As a refugee, my husband survived war, escaped genocide, and lost everything. But he never lost his joy of living (although he did develop a healthy amount of cynicism).

So if anything, out of duty, let's keep optimistic and brave, and let's not let these assholes steal our joy in life. We'll overcome, and we'll be stronger for it.
posted by Tarumba at 10:53 AM on September 30, 2017 [20 favorites]

Oh also mentioned on the podcast there's https://puertoricosyllabus.com/

With massive amounts of info and references about the debt crisis.
posted by Buntix at 10:56 AM on September 30, 2017 [10 favorites]

> "I would punch a toddler to make it happen again"

*ding*
posted by kyrademon at 11:02 AM on September 30, 2017 [6 favorites]

I think it’s outrageous that certain Presidents are out there taking a knee during the national humanitarian crisis. It’s unpatriotic! They should be fired.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 11:03 AM on September 30, 2017 [9 favorites]

Full-faith-and-credit of Puerto Rico, not the U.S. government. There's a difference. The U.S. Treasury is not obligated to pay Puerto Rican debt.

It wasn't obliged to buy balance sheets full of toxic assets a decade ago but here we are.
posted by Talez at 11:16 AM on September 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

It wasn't obliged to buy balance sheets full of toxic assets a decade ago but here we are.

That's exactly the point. Bondholders are claiming some sort of guarantee of protection from default that doesn't really exist and expect the U.S. government to bail them out -- and to our shame once again, maybe they will. They privatize the profits and socialize the risks.
posted by JackFlash at 11:25 AM on September 30, 2017 [15 favorites]

Sebastian Gorka Welcomed To Halfway House For Fired Trump Administration Members
posted by growabrain at 11:26 AM on September 30, 2017 [8 favorites]

“Jared is probably one of the top five or 10 targets in the U.S. government because of his access to the president and because of the portfolios he’s been given,”

"And because he's a self-centered, gullible idiot." [fake, but accurate]

And thank you all for the David Ives derail. We're all in this Philadelphia together.
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:36 AM on September 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

I just kind of shocked myself (not in the electric way.) I was googling the symptoms of a mild concussion, and one the top hits was the CDC. I was about to click the link but changed my mimd because I couldn't be sure that even somethimg as benign as a mild concussion might be politicized for whatever reason this adminstration thought useful. I'm not sure I'd trust anything on an official government website until I was satisfied a D president ordered every fuckimg page reviewed. (Not a slam at the civil service employees who we trying to hold this place together.)
posted by Room 641-A at 12:10 PM on September 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

It’s a pretty safe bet that his personal devices have been compromised by foreign intelligence services.

For a demonstration on 60 Minutes, white hat hackers in Europe (Germany maybe?) listened in on conversations a US Congressman was having on an iPhone. He was in on the pen test so he didn't say anything important, but... yeah. Jared's been feeding intel to any half-decent spy operation that cares enough to listen.
posted by xyzzy at 12:17 PM on September 30, 2017 [13 favorites]

Jared's been feeding intelligence? More like feeding idiocy, but OFFICIAL idiocy.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:23 PM on September 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

The Hill: Ex-Medicare head says Trump 'purposely' raising health insurance premiums
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:43 PM on September 30, 2017 [6 favorites]

Wow, even Michael "I avoid politics to protect my sponsorship deals" Jordan is speaking up.
posted by Lyme Drop at 12:45 PM on September 30, 2017 [10 favorites]

REMINDER: SNL starts again tonight. Ryan Gosling hosting and Jay-Z musical guest. Should be interesting.
posted by chris24 at 12:46 PM on September 30, 2017 [7 favorites]

REMINDER: SNL starts again tonight.

Ten bucks says they wrote/rewrote a sketch this afternoon.
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:48 PM on September 30, 2017 [15 favorites]

Jared's been feeding intelligence? More like feeding idiocy, but OFFICIAL idiocy.

Yeah, there's a glimpse of light here in that they are all so moronically stupid they probably don't really get what they are doing or understand the information that is provided to them.
posted by mumimor at 12:49 PM on September 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

Trump doesn't have to 'purposely' sabotage the Health Insurance business... just run it the same way he ran all his private businesses (with the exception of those with Russian partners propping them up).

The old Hanlon's Razor: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"... of course when you have BOTH malice and stupidity...
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:53 PM on September 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

Meanwhile—and certainly to be popular over here—over at The Intercept, Glenn Greenwald reports:

LAST FRIDAY, most major media outlets touted a major story about Russian attempts to hack into U.S. voting systems, based exclusively on claims made by the Department of Homeland Security. “Russians attempted to hack elections systems in 21 states in the run-up to last year’s presidential election, officials said Friday,” began the USA Today story, similar to how most other outlets presented this extraordinary claim.
[…]
So what was wrong with this story? Just one small thing: it was false. The story began to fall apart yesterday when Associated Press reported that Wisconsin – one of the states included in the original report that, for obvious reasons, caused the most excitement – did not, in fact, have its election systems targeted by Russian hackers…

Yet Another Major Russia Story Falls Apart. Is Skepticism Permissible Yet?
posted by standardasparagus at 12:56 PM on September 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

Also, Kumail Nanjiani is hosting SNL on Oct 14 and has been practicing his monologue at stand-up dives in LA a little. He focuses on race, immigration, and Islamophobia and it's veryyyy good and funny. Can't wait.
posted by Emily's Fist at 12:59 PM on September 30, 2017 [20 favorites]

Shorter Glenn Greenwald: "You said the house was flooded and everything was ruined but what about this tchotchke I found in the rafters? COMPLETELY DRY."
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:01 PM on September 30, 2017 [40 favorites]

@realDonaldTrump:
To the people of Puerto Rico:
Do not believe the #FakeNews!
#PRStrong🇵🇷

—

Who ya gonna believe, me or your lying eyes.
posted by chris24 at 1:01 PM on September 30, 2017 [21 favorites]

The old Hanlon's Razor: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"... of course when you have BOTH malice and stupidity...

Why not both ? Malcompetence.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 1:01 PM on September 30, 2017

over at The Intercept, Glenn Greenwald reports:

The Intercept does still employ reporters. Glenn Greenwald is not one of them.
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:09 PM on September 30, 2017 [10 favorites]

To the people of Puerto Rico:
Do not believe the #FakeNews!

aren't they still out of power? did he like put this in a bottle and throw it into the potomac and wished it would go to puerto rico?

might as well have ...
posted by pyramid termite at 1:09 PM on September 30, 2017 [26 favorites]

Shorter Glenn Greenwald: "You said the house was flooded and everything was ruined but what about this tchotchke I found in the rafters? COMPLETELY DRY."

Seems a bit disingenuous, as the article is certainly more thorough than that synopsis. But I understand that Greenwald is not A National Treasure over here.
posted by standardasparagus at 1:10 PM on September 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

For some reason, even though LMM's tweets are along the lines of "Sit down John, you fat mother--," as opposed to his earlier his tweets in which he was non-inflamnitorily pleading for help for Puerto Rico, I find his angry tweets more emotionally wrenching. Like, this guy has been projecting sweetness and light all over twitter non-stop, even though I'm sure he's hated Trump with the fire of a thousand suns long before this.

And you know that he's been holding himself back, trying as hard as he can to be positive in this world of shit. And with this particular issue, in his earlier tweets you can see him trying to appeal to any sense of empathy/sympathy that might exist with DJT, even appealing to DJT's sense of his legacy.

And today he fucking loses it. I mean, I don't think that he sat down and said, maybe if I tell DJT he's hell-bound things will get better. I think he just fucking lost it. Not that I blame him one bit. But this perpetually cheerful presence just losing it on twitter emphasizes the heartbreak and suffering that is happening.
posted by angrycat at 1:10 PM on September 30, 2017 [72 favorites]

The Intercept does still employ reporters. Glenn Greenwald is not one of them.

Are there issues in the article linked therein?

Or have these threads simply become dogmatic, acritical echo chambers?
posted by standardasparagus at 1:13 PM on September 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

Are there issues in the article linked therein?

It's not reporting, it's trolling. Because Greenwald is a troll, not a reporter. Every outlet he mentions covered both the original DHS statements, and the retractions.
posted by T.D. Strange at 1:24 PM on September 30, 2017 [20 favorites]

Or have these threads simply become dogmatic, acritical echo chambers?

The issue is that Greenwald takes any mistake in the Russia coverage and uses it to dismiss the entire thing despite overwhelmingly evidence. By his standard Watergate would've never been broken since Woodward and Bernstein made several big errors in coverage, including reporting that Hugh Sloan had told the grand jury that Haldeman controlled the reelection fund that paid for the break-in. And a front page story falsely accusing 3 innocent people of receiving the information from the illegal wiretaps.

Russia is an incredibly complex story being covered up by the most powerful person in the world, plus wherever in that ranking you'd put Putin. Despite this, people are working hard to find the truth despite great professional and personal risk. And the fact that Greenwald refuses to recognize this and instead uses it to advance his pro-Russia agenda is confirmation that he's a partisan hack, not a journalist.
posted by chris24 at 1:25 PM on September 30, 2017 [107 favorites]

Russia is an incredibly complex story being covered up by the most powerful person in the world, plus wherever in that ranking you'd put Putin.

I would argue that Putin is actually the most powerful person in the world, at this point. Donny follows closely after.
posted by lydhre at 1:38 PM on September 30, 2017 [7 favorites]

Russia is an incredibly complex story being covered up by the most powerful person in the world, plus wherever in that ranking you'd put Putin.

I agree entirely regarding the complexity of the story, as does Greenwald, which he acknowledges in the article. Accordingly, some claims should be treated with skepticism—which is the premise of the article—and later retraction of a story, as T.D. Strange notes, does not refute Greenwald's premise in the linked article.

Russia's involvement in the recent election is significant, and the story is indeed complex. I do think, however, the various claims, pieces of evidence, construction of narratives, etc., needs to be weighed in its own merit, which would prevent the reporting errors Greenwald outlines.

I await Mueller and his committee with great hope, yet with bated breath.
posted by standardasparagus at 1:46 PM on September 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

I'm not sure I'd trust anything on an official government website until I was satisfied a D president ordered every fuckimg page reviewed. (Not a slam at the civil service employees who we trying to hold this place together.)

Trumprot. Antidote: fire.
posted by petebest at 1:48 PM on September 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

malcompetence
A portmanteau word combining "malicious" and "incompetent." Coined by playwright Max Sparber to describe the behavior of President George W. Bush.

I always thought it was AstroZombie . . .
posted by petebest at 1:56 PM on September 30, 2017 [6 favorites]

I'm so old I can remember when the last Hispanic woman dared to criticize Trump.

Trump tweeted:
"Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate?"
[All lies, in case you couldn't guess]

Clinton tweeted:
"This is...unhinged, even for Trump. What kind of man stays up all night to smear a woman with lies and conspiracy theories?"

Trump does not take kindly to criticism, especially from a member of a minority, double especially if that minority person is also a woman.

You knew he was a snake before you voted him in.
posted by JackFlash at 2:32 PM on September 30, 2017 [47 favorites]

aren't they still out of power? did he like put this in a bottle and throw it into the potomac and wished it would go to puerto rico?

That tweet wasn't meant for anyone in Puerto Rico. It was for all his supporters who need to convince themselves that they aren't a bunch of racist dickbags.
posted by bibliowench at 2:34 PM on September 30, 2017 [30 favorites]

Nah, he doesn't give a shit how his supporters feel about themselves. That tweet was to "prove" to the "haters" that he isn't a racist dickbag.
posted by rifflesby at 2:44 PM on September 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

To the people of Puerto Rico:

So wait is the fake news that his tweet is being repeated verbatim or is the fake news that they're dying and need more help or maybe the fake news is that they're out of power? Or is Trump admitting that he is the fake news?

That tweet wasn't meant for anyone in Puerto Rico. It was for all his supporters who need to convince themselves that they aren't a bunch of racist dickbags.

I believe this but I don't have the slightest clue about the thought process that would lead from this tweet to that conclusion. It's like the Underpants gnomes' business plan is Trumpistans thought process.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:45 PM on September 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'm not sure I'd trust anything on an official government website until I was satisfied a D president ordered every fuckimg page reviewed. (Not a slam at the civil service employees who we trying to hold this place together.)

Roll it all back to the Archive.Org wayback copies, then start moving forward as if all Trump's changes didn't happen? I can hope?
posted by mikelieman at 2:48 PM on September 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

I believe this but I don't have the slightest clue about the thought process that would lead from this tweet to that conclusion. It's like the Underpants gnomes' business plan is Trumpistans thought process.

Consider that Consensual Reality is whatever everyone in the group believes it is. Trump tweets that, and EVERYTHING IS FINE. Any evidence to the contrary is lugenpresse. Cognitive dissonance avoided. Go back to watching football... THOSE DAMNED UNGRATEFUL AND LAZY ATHLETES! Why can't they protest somewhere else! ( cue next issue to distract from any Cognitive Dissonance ).

Remember, the first hurdle to understanding crazy people is YOU ARE NOT CRAZY*

*mileage varies
posted by mikelieman at 2:51 PM on September 30, 2017 [10 favorites]

We are now in the part of the show where the main character(s), having realized that something is wrong with reality, begin investigating exactly what, and hoping that the writers have provided an in-universe time machine to go back and fix it once the problem has been pinpointed.
posted by dhartung at 2:55 PM on September 30, 2017 [8 favorites]

Getting caught up. Re: Mahar's 8 minute summary of Trump as photo map.

Mahar is a total dick, but this time I'll credit the writing staff for knocking it out of the park, and Mahar's competent delivery.
posted by mikelieman at 3:03 PM on September 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

Heard this on WAMC today. Amazing Journalism. 6 minutes. Listen to what White Supremacist Consensual Reality sounds like

( spoiler: White Supremacists ignore objective reality)

Reporter Zach Hirsch lives in Plattsburgh, N.Y., a small city near the Canadian border. One day he struck up a conversation with his neighbors about why they were flying the Confederate flag.
posted by mikelieman at 3:12 PM on September 30, 2017 [14 favorites]

standardasparagus: I agree entirely regarding the complexity of the story, as does Greenwald, which he acknowledges in the article

It's not a very well written article. For one, he did an entire article on election tampering but failed to mention The Intercept's own reporting on the NSA report about Russian attempts to hack our election, for which The Intercept screwed up and their source is now in Federal prison?

Also, he wrote the Secretary of State of California wrote a "scathing statement repudiating the claimed report" but he oddly chose to leave out the fact that the Secretary of State said the Russian operation didn't penetrate election systems because they were accidentally targeting the network of the state Department of Technology, and that part of the "scathing statement" was asking why DHS only notified them a year after the fact. Seems like an important detail, doesn't it? Yes, any claim of successful hacking should be retracted and corrected, but why is he overlooking Russian attempts to penetrate election systems? And, more importantly, why isn't the story about DHS's slow, inept response? And what are they doing to protect future elections?
posted by bluecore at 3:38 PM on September 30, 2017 [42 favorites]

( spoiler: White Supremacists ignore objective reality)

no, you're not a southern belle, you're a ding dong from kansas
posted by pyramid termite at 3:43 PM on September 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

Listen to what White Supremacist Consensual Reality sounds like

Well, they don't sound like super geniuses.
posted by schadenfrau at 3:44 PM on September 30, 2017 [6 favorites]

I don't know whether Trump lacks sympathy or empathy, but I am absolutely certain he lacks class and grace.

I am also absolutely certain that if he went back time to the magical era-that-never-really-was that conservatives want to send us to, he would not be able to mix and mingle with the upper classes because they would reject him for his oafishness and would be horrified by his lack of manners and decency. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've read reports that most folks in the American upper tiers of wealth view him that way as it is.

And yet it seems he's always one "pivot" or one "he faithfully repeated the words on the teleprompter even if he didn't understand them" moment away from supportive coverage from the American media.

When I think about how the American media gleefully ran with the narratives of Gore is fake, Kerry is wooden, Biden is gaffe-prone, HRC is untrustworthy and unlikeable, but keeps extending chance after chance to him, I sometimes want to confront them like Gunnery Sgt Hartman confronted Pvt Joker in FMJ: What is that animal Trump doing in the White House?! Why is Trump getting away with so much shit that you ripped other people apart for?! Why arent you -- metaphorically -- stomping Trump's guts out?!

I wish I could spend just an hour or so each day stoned out of my mind listening to "What's Going On?" and "Inner City Blues" and "Mercy Mercy Me" on repeat like I did in my 20s to help me get through these days.
posted by lord_wolf at 3:51 PM on September 30, 2017 [35 favorites]

White Supremacist Consensual Reality

Worst. band. ever.

[H]ave these threads simply become dogmatic, acritical echo chambers?

Does anyone even read the passionately impassionate logical fallacies and strawman arguments down here?
posted by riverlife at 4:05 PM on September 30, 2017 [18 favorites]

These people are monsters.

the only reasonable course of action is to kill frown disapprovingly at them.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 4:06 PM on September 30, 2017

Why is Trump getting away with so much shit that you ripped other people apart for?! Why arent you -- metaphorically -- stomping Trump's guts out?!
That's why I have my theory that he became a 'favorite' of the New York Media by throwing advertising $$ at the newspaper Real Estate sections (NYT, WSJ, Daily News & Post if they have 'em). And once Giuliani got his reputation as a Prosecutor (for getting Michael Milken, whose greatest crime to New York was moving his office to L.A.), he became Friend to the Corrupt, including/especially Trump.
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:09 PM on September 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

Sounds like somebody didn't let him win out on the links today.
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:23 PM on September 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

Where the hell is John Kelly? Can we not have ONE peaceful day ffs?

His foursome still on the 15th hole. Trump is already in the clubhouse.
posted by JackFlash at 4:27 PM on September 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

lalex, does it matter?
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 4:30 PM on September 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

I'm still trying to figure out how Luther Strange went up many points after the election.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 4:32 PM on September 30, 2017 [7 favorites]

It's a crime, but does it matter?
Does it matter much, does it matter much to you?
Does it ever really matter?
Yes, it really, really matters.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 4:32 PM on September 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

The Hill Trump to sit down for interview with Hannity in West Virginia

The network announced Saturday that Trump will join Hannity before an audience in Morgantown, W.Va. this week, where the two men will discuss tax reform and the economy, among other topics.

Hannity is among Trump's most ardent allies in the media.

Audience members, including Democrats, Republicans and independents, will also get the chance to ask the president questions of their own.

Oh I sincerely doubt that actual Democrats are going to be allowed to ask the President questions.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 4:36 PM on September 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

Nonsense, Lyndon LaRouche supporters will be given all the time they need...
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 4:40 PM on September 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

lalex: "he deleted the Alabama tweet btw: "In analyzing the Alabama Primary race, Fake News always fails to mention that the candidate I endorsed went up MANY points after Election!"

"after" the election"

He's retweeted a correction: In analyzing the Alabama Primary race,FAKE NEWS always fails to mention that the candidate I endorsed went up MANY points after endorsement!
posted by octothorpe at 4:43 PM on September 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

A "proud Republican-American" who praises Trump for his ties to Russia would provide the most hilarious stunned silence of the decade...
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:44 PM on September 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

I have my theory that he became a 'favorite' of the New York Media by throwing advertising $$ at the newspaper Real Estate sections (NYT, WSJ, Daily News & Post if they have 'em).

As I've mentioned before, you've been claiming this over and over, in thread after thread. When I previously asked for evidence, you didn't respond. So, I guess now it becomes a "theory," whereas before you acted as if it was established fact. As a theory, it's not totally outlandish, I guess. I'd be interested in proof. So I ask you again, do you have any sourcing on this "theory," or is it something you just pulled out of your ass?
posted by neroli at 4:45 PM on September 30, 2017 [8 favorites]

I don't know whether Trump lacks sympathy or empathy, but I am absolutely certain he lacks class and grace.

Can you have class or grace without empathy? I don't think so. People with both class and grace are able to read and grok other people and then behave generously towards others accordingly without making it about themselves. Trump is incapable of this.

In fact, I'm pretty sure I've read reports that most folks in the American upper tiers of wealth view him that way as it is.

As a New Yorker, I can tell you that Ivanka and Jared were working that angle in their "3rd generation" way, but that's gone now. "The Quality" of this city never thought very much of Trump, his father, or his grandfather. And that's something, from a city where John Jacob Astor was seen as a "jumped-up fur trader" in the late 1700s to his family taking up many spots on the Social Register on two continents less than 90 years later.

------------------------------

Robert Reich's blog has a post today on how Trump is simply irrelevant in the governance of the country as of now: "Announcement: Donald Trump is no longer the president of the United States."
posted by droplet at 4:47 PM on September 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

In the past we've seen that some of his craziest twitter days coincided with developments in the Russia case, like the Manafort raid and Don Jr. subpoena, that were not obvious to the public on the day of his tweets. I hope today will turn out to be one of those days.
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:52 PM on September 30, 2017 [24 favorites]

In my "how far into this madness are we meter" that fact that we don't even do a sarcastic "surely this" as millions of american citizens suffer a natural disaster and are blamed for being lazy.... How scary the reality we live in.
posted by Anchorite_of_Palgrave at 4:52 PM on September 30, 2017 [8 favorites]

what pyramid termite said before, but with more foaming-at-the-mouth rage/humor, from @goldengateblond:

"They can't see the "fake news" or any news at all THEY HAVE NO FUCKING POWER YOU MALIGNANT TUMOR ON AMERICA"
posted by martin q blank at 4:56 PM on September 30, 2017 [25 favorites]

If some top-flight investigative journalists dug in, this sorta mundane stuff that none of the Trump admin ever thought was important, could change the narrative.

Support Pro Publica.
posted by jgirl at 5:00 PM on September 30, 2017 [10 favorites]

I'm down with chat, lalex, because I am going to get high af first.

I took a day off of domestic responsibilities today and was playing Katamari when I heard that confederate flag story on NPR. Turns out white hot anger can beat the rich things level.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 5:12 PM on September 30, 2017 [10 favorites]

lalex: "PROGRAMMING NOTE QUESTION: Are folks going to be watching SNL live? Is there interest in putting up a FanFare post or...*takes deep breath* chatting in chat?"

I never can stay up that late, just catch the highlights on the internet.
posted by octothorpe at 5:15 PM on September 30, 2017

spoiler: White Supremacists ignore objective reality

It's such a distillation of the stubborn "my opinion is the one that matters" thinking - I mean, they all (reportedly) recognize the awkwardness when the kid tells them how it's received. But then pretty quickly retreat to "well, we'll just have to have a conversation about what it means to us."

Lady, if you say a thing and everyone receives it as racist, and you know it, and you do it anyway... well I don't know what to tell you. Is there a practical difference between "I don't care if everyone thinks I'm racist" and "I'm racist"?
posted by ctmf at 5:24 PM on September 30, 2017 [13 favorites]

Maybe if there's so little daylight between "you" and "racist" nobody can tell the difference, you're operating a bit closer than you think?
posted by ctmf at 5:31 PM on September 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

@realDonaldTrump: Results of recovery efforts will speak much louder than complaints by San Juan Mayor. Doing everything we can to help great people of PR!

@realDonaldTrump: Because of #FakeNews my people are not getting the credit they deserve for doing a great job. As seen here, they are ALL doing a GREAT JOB!

Per the US Army, 95% of the country still has no electricity and the number without drinkable water ROSE from 45% to 55% in the last 4 days.
posted by chris24 at 5:41 PM on September 30, 2017 [26 favorites]

Trump is basically crowing, "Great job, Trumpie!" For Christ's sake. This has been the worst day for my mental health since election night. I despair.
posted by thebrokedown at 5:54 PM on September 30, 2017 [9 favorites]

imagine being such a terrible person that a kardashian is telling you that you need to shape up
imagine being such a terrible person that the kardashian is correct
posted by entropicamericana at 6:05 PM on September 30, 2017 [111 favorites]

Vox's "The Weeds" podcast dropped an episode in the past day or two about Puerto Rico. Covering the present disaster, the ongoing financial crisis, and the future crises that we can already see coming.

Puerto Rico needs to be rebuilt. Not just repaired or restored. Over 80% of the power lines are down. Their power infrastructure is so out of date that mainland engineers may not even know how to fix them - they're trying to pull people out of retirement to fix it right now. Because their creditors have first dibs on any revenue, that's sapped away all the money that was supposed to go to upgrades and renewal for the past several years.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 6:13 PM on September 30, 2017 [8 favorites]

So Puerto Rico's economy is controlled by outside mercantile interests; they can't exercise sovereign rights in order to fix it; and they aren't even represented in Congress. They literally are a colony, aren't they.
posted by Joe in Australia at 6:20 PM on September 30, 2017 [21 favorites]

Well this is chilling...

Josh Marshall at TPM: Getting Ready for Trump’s Puerto Rico Shakedown

This and other comments about the Puerto Rico crisis make it look very much like Trump plans to use the disaster as a wedge to enforce a massive wave of privatization on the Island. His comments, hints and overall attitude suggest he’s looking at the crisis not as a public emergency on US territory but more like the way a rival business looks at a distressed competitor

I mean that is how Russia's oligarchs got their wealth, wasn't it? They maneuvered themselves into a position to claim the wealth that had been the property of the state, in the "massive wave of privatization " after the Soviet collapse?
posted by OnceUponATime at 6:20 PM on September 30, 2017 [40 favorites]

In my "how far into this madness are we meter" that fact that we don't even do a sarcastic "surely this" as millions of american citizens suffer a natural disaster and are blamed for being lazy.... How scary the reality we live in.

I think at this point there are only two circumstances remaining that qualify for a "surely this": 1) The moment after the Senate successfully votes to convict for impeachment. 2) The moment after the launch commencing global thermonuclear war.

[On a lighter note, hopefully we can all agree that "surely this" shall be the title of the first thread after Impeachment, yes?]
posted by chortly at 6:26 PM on September 30, 2017 [11 favorites]

So Puerto Rico's economy is controlled by outside mercantile interests; they can't exercise sovereign rights in order to fix it; and they aren't even represented in Congress. They literally are a colony, aren't they.

Yes, but one which could likely become a state if they demanded it. They haven't really wanted to up to now. I hope that changes but who knows.
posted by Justinian at 6:27 PM on September 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

Yes, but one which could likely become a state if they demanded it.

97% of the votes in the last referendum were for statehood. It is entirely up to Congress to do something about it.
posted by dilaudid at 6:30 PM on September 30, 2017 [15 favorites]

On a lighter note, hopefully we can all agree that "surely this" shall be the title of the first thread after Impeachment, yes?

Of course we can't, and don't call me Shirley.
posted by Daily Alice at 6:31 PM on September 30, 2017 [8 favorites]

97% of the votes in the last referendum were for statehood.

If you know that, then you know why it likely can't be taken as a representation of PR's desires.
posted by Justinian at 6:31 PM on September 30, 2017 [6 favorites]

We had a FPP on Puerto Rico's statehood, btw, if anyone needs a refresher.

They literally are a colony, aren't they.

the Jones Act is hot colonialist garbage too, or so the internet says, but I can't figure out how, so if someone wants to explain it, that would be great.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 6:32 PM on September 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

@realDonaldTrump: Results of recovery efforts will speak much louder than complaints by San Juan Mayor. Doing everything we can to help great people of PR!

@ananavarro Retweeted Donald J. Trump
Ppl of 🇵🇷, if you flee devastation & come to mainland, hope you settle in a swing state- FL, PA, OH... Register to vote & don't forget this!

---

Gotta love a NeverTrumper saying come vote Dem in swing states.
posted by chris24 at 6:34 PM on September 30, 2017 [37 favorites]

the Jones Act is hot colonialist garbage too, or so the internet says, but I can't figure out how, so if someone wants to explain it, that would be great.

Let's say you're a merchant shipper. You get paid per mile each of your TEU travels. Now let's assume you're coming from China to the West Coast. Some your manifest cargo is going to have an eventual destination of Hawaii. Now you *could* offer to the importer to stop in Hawaii and unload but then you have to spend an extra day, maybe two, paying all your staff, to get paid less for a shipment. So fuck that.

If the Jones Act wasn't in effect for non-contiguous states then cheaper merchant shippers from other nations could drop off cargo in Hawaii and pick up cargo from Hawaii bound for the lower 48. But they can't.

So Hawaii has to pay rates far above to send cargo to the lower 48 than what the lower 48 pay for importing from China making Hawaiian exports less cost effective than Chinese goods. Then you have the insult of having to pay US merchant shipping rates to get your shit imported originally to the lower 48 back out to Hawaii, halfway back to where it came from originally.

So yeah, that's why it's colonialist garbage. It fucks anyone not in the lower 48.
posted by Talez at 6:44 PM on September 30, 2017 [31 favorites]

I await Mueller and his committee with great hope, yet with bated breath.

one bates their breath because of intense anticipation, so "great hope/yet" makes no sense here--if you have great hope you'd hate your breath.

also, one really shouldn't bate your breath wet Mueller, he's gonna take his time so you'll be holding your breath for at least a year.

Yeah, thanks, I am aware what the phrase means. And "hate" or "bate"? "Wet" Mueller or "wrt" Mueller?

Anyways, indeed, "yet" should not be there. eyeroll.jpg
posted by standardasparagus at 6:44 PM on September 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

"the Jones Act is hot colonialist garbage too, or so the internet says, but I can't figure out how, so if someone wants to explain it, that would be great."

Only ships with a US flag/registration (US owned, US built, US manned) can dock there, so even if France or Mexico wants to send aid, they can't, without first sending the aid to Florida, unloading it all, and having it loaded onto a US ship. On a practical day-to-day basis, it means shit costs twice as much in PR as on the mainland, because you can't have anything shipped direct from China; it all has to be shipped to Florida, unloaded, reloaded, and shipped to PR. (Meanwhile, wages in PR are way lower than on the mainland.) It's also why Alaska and Hawaii (and Guam) are expensive places to live.

Foreign ships can land, but they pay super-punitive tariffs, to make sure anything shipped from foreign ports costs more than anything shipped to Miami, unloaded, reloaded, and reshipped.

Pretty much everyone is against it (both Democratic and Republican think-tanks want to kill it), except for US shippers and ship-builders.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 6:45 PM on September 30, 2017 [32 favorites]

the Jones Act is hot colonialist garbage too, or so the internet says, but I can't figure out how, so if someone wants to explain it, that would be great.

Just Security, Sam Kleiner: The Jones Act and Puerto Rico: ‘National Security’ Protectionism.
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:46 PM on September 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

And when Twitter isn't publicly spreading Trump's awfulness, it's alerting his followers to the plans of his opponents before they can begin acting on them.
posted by oneswellfoop at 6:46 PM on September 30, 2017

The San Juan mayor is getting ripped on for her clothes.
posted by jgirl at 6:49 PM on September 30, 2017

Tomorrow's Daily News front page... takes a shot.
posted by chris24 at 6:58 PM on September 30, 2017 [12 favorites]

Not-really-a-counterpoint: a lot of the Jones Act is colonialist garbage, but a lot of it exists to protect sailors.
posted by kalimac at 7:00 PM on September 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

Only ships with a US flag/registration (US owned, US built, US manned) can dock there, so even if France or Mexico wants to send aid, they can't, without first sending the aid to Florida, unloading it all, and having it loaded onto a US ship.

This is not correct. There is nothing preventing foreign ships from docking in Puerto Rico. The Jones Act only controls shipments between two U.S. ports. Shipments from Puerto Rico to a foreign port or from a foreign port to Puerto Rico are not subject to the Jones Act.

On a practical day-to-day basis, it means shit costs twice as much in PR as on the mainland, because you can't have anything shipped direct from China; it all has to be shipped to Florida, unloaded, reloaded, and shipped to PR.

This is not correct either. You can ship direct from anywhere in the world to Puerto Rico or vice versa. But on a practical basis, Puerto Rico trades more with the U.S. than the rest of the world which requires more expensive U.S. ships.

The Jones Act only pertains to shipments directly from one U.S. port to another. So there are a couple of ways this makes things expensive in Puerto Rico (or Hawaii or Alaska). Anything shipped from the U.S. to Puerto Rico must be shipped in more expensive U.S. ships. So right now, there are only a tiny number of U.S. flagged ships that qualify, not enough to handle the present crisis for aid shipments. There are thousands of foreign flagged ships that could take up the slack but can't because of the Jones Act.

The Jones Act prohibits a Chinese ship going from Los Angeles to China from stopping off in Hawaii on the way to deliver fresh vegetables. Likewise a Chinese ship stopping in Hawaii on the way to Los Angeles is prohibited from carrying pineapples to Los Angeles, which raises their shipping costs. They have to wait for a U.S. ship from the mainland.

A couple of examples. It is cheaper for New Jersey to import salt from Chile than from Louisiana, because a cheaper foreign ship can deliver from Chile to New Jersey than using a U.S. ship to go from Louisiana to New Jersey. It costs $800 to ship a container from Los Angeles to Shanghai and $8000 to ship the same container to Hawaii.
posted by JackFlash at 7:23 PM on September 30, 2017 [40 favorites]

Robert Reich's blog has a post today on how Trump is simply irrelevant in the governance of the country as of now: "Announcement: Donald Trump is no longer the president of the United States."

I like the idea of referring to Donald Trump as the nominal president of the United States.
posted by srboisvert at 7:23 PM on September 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

Keep in mind Puerto Rico is impacted by TWO different Jones Acts.

* The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, generally referred to as the Jones Act (named for Senator Wesley Jones [R-WA]). This is primarily a protectionist measure designed to create a robust US merchant fleet by regulating cabotage (transport between two points in the same country). It has generally failed in this regard. I am open to the idea that sailors need protections, as referenced in the Citylab article kalimac linked, but I think re-examing the costs and benefits of the act is overdue.

* The Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act of 1917, generally referred to as the Jones–Shafroth Act (named for Rep. William Atkinson Jones, [D-VA] and Sen. John Shafroth, [D-CO]). This act made Puerto Ricans US citizens, and exempted Puerto Rican issued bonds from any taxation.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:27 PM on September 30, 2017 [10 favorites]

97% of the votes in the last referendum were for statehood.

This is misleading, the opposition to statehood campaigned to boycott the referendum.

Congress has to vote on Puerto Rico to be a state. That will never happen under Republican control, ever. PR Senators would be Democrats, and nothing else matters.

If Democrats do retake the Senate though, PR admission along with debt forgiveness and massive investment should be a priority.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:38 PM on September 30, 2017 [6 favorites]

This is pretty good Nate Silver. tl;dr: Hey, Trump's bullshit isn't a *strategy*, he's just an asshole.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:44 PM on September 30, 2017 [23 favorites]

If Democrats do retake the Senate though, PR admission along with debt forgiveness and massive investment should be a priority.

I agree with you! I think we established that admission would be simple majority votes, right?
posted by Justinian at 7:54 PM on September 30, 2017

Yes, that is correct.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:57 PM on September 30, 2017

imagine being such a terrible person that a kardashian is telling you that you need to shape up
imagine being such a terrible person that the kardashian is correct

A compelling change, I guess I should start watching Star Trek: Discovery then.
posted by Slackermagee at 8:00 PM on September 30, 2017 [1 favorite]

And today he fucking loses it. I mean, I don't think that he sat down and said, maybe if I tell DJT he's hell-bound things will get better. I think he just fucking lost it. Not that I blame him one bit. But this perpetually cheerful presence just losing it on twitter emphasizes the heartbreak and suffering that is happening.

It was downright Hamiltonian. (I had to say it.)
I wish his "never gonna be president now" had been true.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:00 PM on September 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

AJ Vicens of Mother Jones: Been in San Juan for a day and a half. Still can't wrap my mind around the daily life. Let's put this in terms people will understand. 1/x
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:16 PM on September 30, 2017 [32 favorites]

Trump is basically crowing, "Great job, Trumpie!" For Christ's sake.

"I’m doing a heckuva job, brownies!
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:24 PM on September 30, 2017 [5 favorites]

speaking of leopards eating faces...
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 8:59 PM on September 30, 2017 [2 favorites]

So apparently nobody currently in office in PR will give Trump the happy quotes his narcissism needs so he's turning to the former Governor to get his fix: When was the last time the White House read out a call between the President and a registered lobbyist?
posted by scalefree at 9:02 PM on September 30, 2017 [4 favorites]

1) These hurricanes are serious things. The US needs some sort of hurricane forecasting service to predict them.
2) Emergencies of one sort or another occur regularly in a country the size of the USA. There needs to be some sort of federal authority to manage them.
3) All this takes coordination. I'm sure the people with executive authority do their best, but there should be one person in charge with ultimate responsibility. A Chief Executive, as it were.
posted by Joe in Australia at 9:06 PM on September 30, 2017 [12 favorites]

Well it’s after midnight on the east coast, so congratulations on making it through another fiscal year without Obamacare being repealed and on the expiration of the reconciliation instructions. And a big uncongratulations on the expiration of funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
posted by zachlipton at 9:10 PM on September 30, 2017 [80 favorites]

Listen to what White Supremacist Consensual Reality sounds like

( spoiler: White Supremacists ignore objective reality)

I had an utterly mind-boggling conversation with a friend (B) the other day that went along similar lines to the one in this report. We'd been talking about kids and babies and my friend's friends (a couple, P&M) naturally came up. Nice folks, I'd met them a number of years ago on a couple of occasions. B and I had helped them move into their current place (I'm always game!) and then a few weeks later they took us to a firing range and let us shoot guns. That was weird and fun but a total one-and-done thing for me to do. B and I drifted apart for a few years, and just started hiking together recently.

So yep B brings up P&M to me on this hike in the context of babies, P being super pregnant right now, but in a way that makes me think B doesn't remember that I know P&M from those little escapades number of years ago. I remind B about the guns and we share a little chuckle and I'm like, "man, fuckin' guns" and my friend is like, "yeah, I talk to M about the guns, we fight about that shit all the time, politics too." M's in the tank for President Pussy Grabber, and P tags along working hard to maintain friendships with liberal/progressive folks like B.

B admits that the discussions they have can get heated, and M's passionately indoctrinated to the alt-Right. B says to me, "do you know about the plates?" and I remember that it had come up, years ago and probably after we'd done the guns thing and were castigating the ultra-conservative in America. M collects Nazi memorabilia. I hadn't seen M in years, not again after the shooting range in fact, and now I remembered that it was because this same topic came up and I was like, "NOPE. No space for that shit in my circle." I basically re-iterate that sentiment to B now, and we dive headlong into the 'limits of tolerance' debate.

Admirably, B is 100% for full-circle inclusion, the ideal of everybody existing together equally, total free speech including all the terrible stuff, and also fully rejects the (admittedly contradictory) limit of tolerance at intolerance. B wants to have conversation with white supremacists and Nazi sympathizers until they come around, wants to give them the chance to explain how collecting Nazi memorabilia somehow doesn't mean they sympathize with Nazis. I say, "imagine having a Jewish person in the room for that conversation, and/or an African-American. You can't ask the people being oppressed to sit there and listen to a person's justification for ascribing to the symbols of that oppression but somehow also NOT ascribing to the oppression."

And yeah, it gives B pause, but only for a moment. B says, "Well they won't be there for that conversation." and I fucking lose it. Instead of continuing in a calm and logical manner, patiently explaining how excluding those people from that conversation is simply giving into the bigoted wishes of the white supremacist and/or Nazi sympathizer, I call bullshit loud and clear and the conversation goes downhill quickly. Thankfully that was the very end of the hike, because if we had to spend much more singletrack time together I don't even know where it would have gone.

*sigh* That friendship is on the rocks again, and I don't know if I have it in me to go back to what would have to be gone back to before I would consider moving onto any other topics in the friendship. But hey, listening to that NPR story was validating a little, and I needed that. Needed to say that story 'out loud' too, it's been gnawing at me for a week.
posted by carsonb at 9:32 PM on September 30, 2017 [33 favorites]

After the racial incident at the prep school that was addressed yesterday by the Air Force Academy Superintendent, there are reports of a possible active shooter on Air Force Academy grounds right now.

I realise this is from a few days ago, and thus is ancient history now, but isn't a military academy the worst place to be a deranged shooter? It's like trying to rob a police academy.
posted by Merus at 9:45 PM on September 30, 2017

So I flipped on SNL for a few minutes, we don't normally watch broadcast TV and don't have cable. Ed Gillespie's racist MS-13/Willie Horton ad is running literally every commercial break in Virginia.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:56 PM on September 30, 2017

Where are you? I saw it once in Northern Virginia (WRC4).
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:02 PM on September 30, 2017

Also Northern VA and I'm sure I saw it at least twice. But I've also been drinking, so. I also heard it on the Washington Football Team pregame show last week on the way to the grocery, so that was nice.
posted by T.D. Strange at 10:14 PM on September 30, 2017

SNL was pretty toothless except for Michael Che
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 10:20 PM on September 30, 2017 [6 favorites]

WaPo: Gillespie rolls out ‘Kill, Rape, Control’ attack ad against Northam
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:29 PM on September 30, 2017

Carole Cadwalladr, Guardian: British courts may unlock secrets of how Trump campaign profiled US voters

A US professor is trying to reclaim his personal data from the controversial analytics firm that helped Donald Trump to power. In what legal experts say may be a “watershed” case, a US citizen is using British laws to try to discover how he was profiled and potentially targeted by the Trump campaign.

David Carroll, an associate professor at Parsons School of Design in New York, has discovered a transatlantic legal mechanism that he hopes will give him access to information being sought by both the FBI and the Senate intelligence committee. In recent weeks, investigators looking at how people acting on behalf of Russia targeted American voters have focused on Trump’s data operation. But although the FBI obtained a court order against Facebook to make it disclose evidence, the exact way in which US citizens were profiled and targeted remains largely unknown.

But British data protection laws may provide some transparency on the company at the heart of Trump’s data operation – Cambridge Analytica – and how it created profiles of 240 million Americans. In January, Carroll discovered he – and a group of other citizens – had the right under UK law to ask for his personal data back from the company, and when it failed to supply it, he started filing pre-trial actions to sue the company under British law. The lawsuit is the result of a unique situation, according to Ravi Naik of Irvine Thanvi Natas, the British solicitor who is leading the case. It arose because although Cambridge Analytica is largely owned by Trump’s biggest donor, hedge-fund billionaire Robert Mercer, and though its vice-president at the time of the US election was Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, the company was spun out of an older British military and elections contractor, SCL, with which it still shares staff, directors and a London office.

posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:05 PM on September 30, 2017 [57 favorites]

I'm sure the people with executive authority do their best, but there should be one person in charge with ultimate responsibility. A Chief Executive, as it were.

great idea! we strap trump onto a buoy and drop him into the Pacific with some semaphore flags he can use if he spots a hurricane. who knows, he might even find MH370.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 11:18 PM on September 30, 2017 [8 favorites]

So the WaPo article on Gillespie's ad repeats his framing wholesale with no pushback - "Northam cast the deciding vote to allow sanctuary cities that let illegal immigrants who commit crimes back on the street, increasing the threat of MS-13". Sanctuary city policies do not do that, just in case anyone forgot. The WaPo does not mention that in the article. They have a link to an explainer, but that just goes into details on the vote. Nowhere is it mentioned that Gillespie is either deeply mistaken or fucking lying.

Even the FactCheck.org article doesn't go into that. They call the statement "misleading" but focus on details of the bill and the vote and they don't mention that this ad is misleading viewers about what the fuck sanctuary city policies even are.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 12:08 AM on October 1, 2017 [13 favorites]

but isn't a military academy the worst place to be a deranged shooter

One might reasonably suspect that, but due to the risks of particularly accidents as well as insurrection and general bad behavior, troops are not ordinarily armed when on base. This has been slightly relaxed as a rule following the shootings at Fort Hood, the DC Naval Yard, and various recruiting stations. But basically the only people who might normally carry loaded weapons (small arms, like handguns) are military police, and you can kill around a dozen people before you have to confront any MPs. In both base shootings, they had to call in civilian police.

That's why I have my theory that he became a 'favorite' of the New York Media

This is basically BS. He was never such a favorite, and has always been perceived as a gauche, classless arriviste. His kid-glove treatment during the campaign was a combination of "ratings" as a financial motivation and a misguided belief that simply portraying him as he is was sufficient criticism that the public would automatically be repelled and reject him, deer-in-headlights syndrome engendered by decades of right-wing attacks on the media for not treating their candidates "fairly", and for a certain few, a deeper understanding that their criticism of him only makes him stronger in that his core supporters will double down on his positions apparently no matter what he does. All of this is still obviously discoverable in current-day coverage as well. They literally can't win.

It isn't that the media don't have things that need critiquing and vigilance against. But somehow assuming that the media are, in fact, a magic filter against a demagogue trading on the worst impulses of what is being further revealed as a deeply white supremacist country is kind of foolish. I don't know that our understanding of the media environment is accurate today, but certainly assuming that it works the same as we thought during the 20th century (when the media were centralized and largely inaccessible to POC and women) is anachronistic. To a fascist autocrat and his followers, a critical and objective media is a Fifth Column before it is anything else.
posted by dhartung at 12:16 AM on October 1, 2017 [23 favorites]

a US citizen is using British laws to try to discover how he was profiled and potentially targeted by the Trump campaign.

As far as I can tell (not been able to find a definitive statement that it applies internationally, but no exclusions either) anyone should be able to request their info from Cambridge Analytica via the process at https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/personal-information/. This can also be done by email, although the company receiving the data request can charge up to £10 to provide it. The company has 40 days to respond.


CA have explicitly denied (Grauniad article) processing any data related to Vote Leave, quite possibly having forseen that UK peeps might citizen DDOS them with requests (and have easier recourse to legal action than non-UK personages).

Guessing the Data Protection Act isn't going to survive brexit.
posted by Buntix at 12:18 AM on October 1, 2017 [3 favorites]

New Yörker: How Badly Is Neil Gorsuch Annoying the Other Supreme Court Justices?
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:10 AM on October 1, 2017 [9 favorites]

How terrible do you have to be to anger Lin-Manuel Miranda?

At this rate, Pope Francis is going to tweet "Fuck you, you fucking fuck" to Trump or something.





I'd actually kind of like to see that for real, upon reflection
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:30 AM on October 1, 2017 [62 favorites]

At this rate, Pope Francis is going to tweet "Fuck you, you fucking fuck" to Trump or something.

For some obscure reasons, that "FU, U F'ing F" construct is dear to my heart, and from your lips to G-d's ears!
posted by mikelieman at 5:56 AM on October 1, 2017 [5 favorites]

@realDonaldTrump
We have done a great job with the almost impossible situation in Puerto Rico. Outside of the Fake News or politically motivated ingrates,...
- ...people are now starting to recognize the amazing work that has been done by FEMA and our great Military. All buildings now inspected.....
- ...for safety. Thank you to the Governor of P.R. and to all of those who are working so closely with our First Responders. Fantastic job!


@brianstelter Retweeted Donald J. Trump
"I'm not aware of such inspections, there are areas of Puerto Rico where we really haven't gotten contact," Gov. Ricardo Rosselló tells CNN

---

Besides the lie, 11 days later 95% don’t have power, 55% don’t have drinkable water. They’re fighting to survive, but to him they’re just ingrates if they don’t praise him enough.

Oh, and the people we need to stand up to this manifestly unfit person?

@samstein
Paul Ryan this morning addressing Trump and race: "I do really believe his heart's in the right place."
posted by chris24 at 7:20 AM on October 1, 2017 [38 favorites]

What are the rules on faxing "bad" language to congress critters? I'm about a quarter inch from just making these faxes and messages say, "You complicit piece of shit."
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 7:30 AM on October 1, 2017 [11 favorites]

"I do really believe his heart's in the right place."

his hands are in the right place, too, and they're still tiny
posted by pyramid termite at 7:34 AM on October 1, 2017 [11 favorites]

"I do really believe his heart's in the right place."


In a canopic jar in the dark subterranean GOP lair along with those of all the eternally stained who have repeatedly chosen to support and feed his malignancy?

(I ask merely for information [and also know that historically the heart was left in the body]).
posted by Buntix at 7:35 AM on October 1, 2017 [13 favorites]

@realDonaldTrump
I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man...
...Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!

Sunday morning seems like a rude time to remind a species that it will soon perish in nuclear hellfire.
posted by Rust Moranis at 7:41 AM on October 1, 2017 [28 favorites]

The title of that that New Yorker piece linked above really buries the lede. It looks like the unwritten norms and traditions that have protected the reputation of the SCOTUS are being tested by Gorsuch, and there's good chance Roberts will probably let him slide because right wing agenda. Thus completing the trifecta necessary to our government's destruction.
posted by klarck at 7:43 AM on October 1, 2017 [22 favorites]

Trump's heart is in the right place if you're also a racist.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:46 AM on October 1, 2017 [8 favorites]

Nothing like publicly undermining US diplomatic and foreign policy efforts. I love how he talks as if the State Department is like a different company, not part of his own administration, and how he finds out what one of his own cabinet members is doing from Fox News.
posted by FelliniBlank at 7:51 AM on October 1, 2017 [31 favorites]

I guess maybe his heart *is* in the right place since he doesn't have a heart.

Paul Ryan is such a mealy-mouthed turdball.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 7:51 AM on October 1, 2017

Ah, yes, "the right place!" That's another one of those insidious, infinitely-interpretable political phrases. What is normal? What's a cow?

Bless their hearts.
posted by carsonb at 7:53 AM on October 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

Axios: Scoop: Homeland security adviser pushes upbeat PR campaign for Puerto Rico

In contrast to dire reports from the island, White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert sent West Wing colleagues an unusually upbeat update — leaked to Axios — that points to a rapid recovery no one on the ground is witnessing.

Bossert, back from a trip to Puerto Rico earlier in the week, says it's "still an urgent situation," but that the administration has "a strong ground game in place on the island with military leadership":

• "I hope to turn the corner on our public communications ... I recommend that [this weekend] we use the general theme of supporting the governor and standing with the people of Puerto Rico to get them food, water, shelter and emergency medical care."
• "Monday and Tuesday we can pivot hopefully to a theme of stabilizing as we address temporary housing and sustaining the flow of commodities and basic government services, including temporary power. After that we focus on restoration of basic services throughout next week and next weekend."
• "Then we start a theme of recovery planning for the bright future that lies ahead for Puerto Rico. Planned hits, tweets, tv bookings and other work will limit the need for reactionary efforts."
• "The storm caused these problems, not our response to it. We have pushed about as much stuff and people through a tiny hole in as short a timeframe as possible." [FULL TEXT]

The White House's sunny plan comes as TV reports "increasingly echo those after Katrina a dozen years ago in sounding the alarm for a desperate population frustrated by the pace of relief efforts," AP's David Bauder points out.

---

TPM: FEMA Administrator Swipes At San Juan Mayor, Those Who ‘Spout Off’ About Aid

Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long on Sunday swiped at San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz and others he claimed “spout off” about relief efforts in Puerto Rico after the island was devastated by Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

“What I don’t have patience for is the fact that what we’re trying to do and what we have successfully done is we have established a joint field office within San Juan,” Long said on “Fox News Sunday.”

He said the agency is “having daily conversations with all of the mayors” and “working with the governor and his leadership to be able to create unified objectives.”

“If mayors decide not to be a part of that, then the response is fragmented,” Long said. “And the bottom line is, is that we’re pushing everybody, we’re trying to push her, in there.”

“Is Mayor Cruz not participating in the FEMA effort?” Fox News’ Chris Wallace pressed Long, who did not answer.

“You know, we can choose to look at what the mayor spouts off or what other people spout off, but we can also choose to see what’s actually being done, and that’s what I would ask,” Long replied.

“You know, we can choose to look at what the mayor spouts off or what other people spout off, but we can also choose to see what’s actually being done, and that’s what I would ask,” Long replied.

"Many Puerto Ricans — all US citizens — in San Juan and other parts of the island told BuzzFeed News on Saturday that they have not received help from federal or state agencies. Across the country, as of Saturday morning, the government says 45% of people have drinkable water. More than 11,000 people are in shelters. About 10% have cell phone service and about half of the supermarkets are open. One hospital is fully running, while 59 are partially available."
posted by chris24 at 7:54 AM on October 1, 2017 [42 favorites]

So that probably just means, his heart is in the proper place, in terms of physiology. I wonder how Ryan knows this for sure, but okay, likelihood and all that.
It's only his tweetythumbs that seem to be utterly out of joint.
posted by Namlit at 8:02 AM on October 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

and there's good chance Roberts will probably let Gorsuch slide because right wing agenda.

Not defending Roberts, but what recourse do the other justices have other than stern words?
posted by C'est la D.C. at 8:09 AM on October 1, 2017

Not defending Roberts, but what recourse do the other justices have other than stern words?

They could finally write down rules for judicial recusal and include things like paid appearances by a party to a case before the Court, forcing Gorsuch to choose between voting on cases or his right wing celebrity side-career. I don't expect that to happen, but maybe brazen conflicts and obvious political sloganeering by a Justice could force something to change.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:16 AM on October 1, 2017 [38 favorites]

So we're watching another crime against humanity unfold on American soil because of the GOP?

If I could program I might make a site that matches donors with citizens in Puerto Rico who want to relocate to Florida. With preference given to swing districts. And with a handy little "register to vote" thingy.
posted by schadenfrau at 8:24 AM on October 1, 2017 [14 favorites]

If I could program I might make a site that matches donors with citizens in Puerto Rico who want to relocate to Florida. With preference given to swing districts. And with a handy little "register to vote" thingy.

I get this, and we definitely should help people from Puerto Rico who need or want to relocate, but people shouldn't be compelled to leave their homes because of government incompetence, indifference, and malice.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:30 AM on October 1, 2017 [14 favorites]

what recourse do the other justices have other than stern words?

The most senior justice in the majority (or the Chief Justice if he is in the majority) assigns the responsibility of writing the majority opinion. Since Gorsuch is the most junior justice, there could be an agreement (tacit or otherwise) to never let him write a majority opinion, or at least severely limit it. That would reduce his influence, but it seems pretty unlikely. The conservative justices don't give a shit, and the liberal ones will rarely find themselves on a majority with Gorsuch that doesn't also include Roberts (e.g. a unanimous opinion).

Beyond that, the real disciplinary power (impeachment) is reserved to Congress and is extremely unlikely to be invoked. The Republicans will never impeach Gorsuch, and the Democrats would be highly unlikely to do so. My guess is it would require video evidence of Gorsuch engaging in "sacks with dollar signs"-level corruption for the Democrats to risk the political cost.
posted by jedicus at 8:32 AM on October 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

I think I've realized, finally, what really, truly, deeply disturbs me about Trump and why his mere existence as a serious political candidate, much less the winner of the 2016 election shakes me to my core.

It isn't that Trump is a monster.

He is, of course. He's a narcissist, a sociopath, he's everything vile about humanity all rolled into a single package and then coated in an extra helping of the worst sort of excesses of the aristocracy just for good measure.

But that merely makes him, personally, kind of vile, it doesn't make me fear for my nation or my species.

What really disturbs me about Trump is that there are somewhere between 20% and 25% of Americans who absolutely love him and support him.

There are Republicans who voted against him, like corb, and I can truly respect that. They saw an opportunity to advance their legislative agenda, saw that taking that opportunity would involve voting for a person who delights in evil, and decided that they could not justify voting for such a person. I may disagree, deeply, with every political belief of such people but I can respect them.

There are Republicans who voted for him on the grounds that he'd advance their legislative agenda, and while I can't respect that I can at least understand it. I think such people are pretty awful, but their motive is at least comprehensible to me. They wanted policies X, Y, and Z enacted, if Trump won the odds of those policies being enacted would be high, so they voted Trump despite knowing he was a horrible, vile, Saturday morning reveling in his own villainy villain. It makes sense even if it's awful.

But the true believers, the Trump Cultists, the avid Trump fans, they utterly and completely baffle and horrify me.

Somewhere between 20% and 25% of Americans didn't vote for Trump despite him being awful, they voted for him **BECAUSE** he was awful. Every single thing that the rest of us, both Republicans and Democrats, recoil from they adore.

The existence of sociopaths is bad, but I can deal with it.

The existence of large numbers of my fellow citizens who leap at the chance to worship sociopaths, to praise them for their sociopathy, and who increase their affection for Trump the more evil he does, that I have a really difficult time dealing with.

I used to own a button, purchased back in 2003, that said "CTHULHU/NYARLATHOTEP! WHY VOTE FOR THE LESSER EVIL?" I bought it because I thought it was funny, because the idea of people voting for Cthulhu was absurd and beyond taking seriously and therefore it was a joke.

But in 2016 we found that around 20% of Americans would proudly and eagerly vote for Cthulhu, and when he ravaged cities they'd cheer. When he devoured Americans they'd laugh and approve.

And that's what worries me about Trump and makes me wonder about the future of humanity.

I knew, in an abstract sort of way, that people did that. I've studied history, I know that every villain from Pol Pot to Stalin to Hitler to Torqmada to any bloody king you care to name, had genuine followers who loved them and loved them all the more the more evil they did. But it wasn't until I saw it happening around me that it really became emotionally real to me.

Around 20% of humanity is, when it gets right down to it, not merely willing to become Nazis and help shovel enemies of the state into the ovens, they're eager for the chance and will actively work to help bring about circumstances where they can lift up a Hitler, or a Trump, and thereby create an environment where they can start the killing.

When my partner and I watched the Bond movies we'd joke to each other, wondering where the Bond villains got all those henchmen? What sort of person would sign up to work for a self proclaimed evil overlord? I know the answer now: around 20% of humanity is not merely willing, but positively eager to be a henchman to an evil overlord.
posted by sotonohito at 8:42 AM on October 1, 2017 [117 favorites]

klarck It looks like the unwritten norms and traditions that have protected the reputation of the SCOTUS are being tested by Gorsuch

You're about 17 years too late there. The reputation of the Supreme Court was utterly and permanently demolished by Bush v Gore in 2000. Anyone who has held the illusion that the Court was anything but just another political field and the terms "Republican Justice" and "Democratic Justice" weren't 100% accurate and proper has been indulging in self delusion.

The Supreme Court is, and always has been, just another political arena, and that's why it infuriates me when I saw Justice Ginsberg, a woman I otherwise deeply admire and respect, steadfastly refuse to resign and allow Obama to appoint her replacement because she was putting the entire partisan balance of the Court, and thus our liberty and possibly our lives, at risk by indulging in her quaint fantasy of the Court as a non-partisan body.

There's very good odds now that she will die or be incapacitated during the next 3 years and thus allow Trump to appoint her replacement. All because she wouldn't admit reality.
posted by sotonohito at 8:46 AM on October 1, 2017 [17 favorites]

Its not 20-25% of Americans seeing this and approving cheering... its closer to 35-40%. We are hundreds of scandals and 'surely this'es in. any talking point or excuse or naivete has been demonstably removed by facts and his actions. 35 to 40 of the country. Uncertain who will win the civil war.
posted by Anchorite_of_Palgrave at 8:56 AM on October 1, 2017 [9 favorites]

that's why it infuriates me when I saw Justice Ginsberg, a woman I otherwise deeply admire and respect, steadfastly refuse to resign and allow Obama to appoint her replacement

Perhaps you didn't notice, but Democrats only held a filibuster proof majority, if you count Lieberman, for a few months at the beginning of the Obama administration in 2009. There was no guarantee that Democrats could get a liberal replacement on the bench, or even any replacement at all. Until Republicans changed the rules in 2017, it required 60 votes to seat a Supreme Court Justice.
posted by JackFlash at 9:01 AM on October 1, 2017 [33 favorites]

@ChadPergram: On Fox FEMA Administrator Brock Long says hurricane relief for Puerto Rico is “the most logistically challenging event the US has ever seen”

In 1994 we invaded and occupied Haiti like it was no big deal. I know, 'cause I was part of it. Yet somehow, 23 years later, bringing aid to an American territory is super hard.

We kept Berlin afloat during a blockade using a single airfield. We fought a war across the Pacific while simultaneously invading Europe. We put our flag on the goddamn moon. But man, taking care of our own territory after a disaster, you guys, that's just...I mean how do you even do that?
posted by scaryblackdeath at 9:19 AM on October 1, 2017 [126 favorites]

242 years ago till present

There's a reason engineer regiments have long histories. War or peace they do the most good. When you deploy them.
posted by Buntix at 9:34 AM on October 1, 2017 [9 favorites]

there acting as if the problem with the katrina response was that the administration didn't speak loudly and highly enough of its response. and if they just keep talking about how good things are that things will magically get better.

i want these people put in a rocket towards the sun.
posted by localhuman at 9:43 AM on October 1, 2017 [21 favorites]

there acting as if the problem with the katrina response was that the administration didn't speak loudly and highly enough of its response. and if they just keep talking about how good things are that things will magically get better.

Oh yeah, part of the narrative on the nutjob right is how they're not gonna let the left malign Trump over Maria like we supposedly did Bush over Katrina. Cuz it was just us swiftboating him, don't ya know.
posted by chris24 at 10:03 AM on October 1, 2017 [7 favorites]

i want these people put in a rocket towards the sun.

(fake)I want them put in a rocket towards the sun, too. But those people at NASA tell me they only have launch times open at night! Sad!(/fake)
posted by pyramid termite at 10:05 AM on October 1, 2017 [2 favorites]

Dancing around the word ‘racist’ in coverage of Trump (Pete Vernon, CColumbia Journalism Review)

“RACIALLY CHARGED,” “racially loaded,” “racially divisive.” When it comes to Donald Trump’s political approach in the context of his criticism of NFL players protesting during the National Anthem, journalists have no problem identifying the underlying issue, despite the president’s insistence to the contrary.

What they’re having a harder time with is the use of the word “racist” to describe those comments.

“I don’t think journalists have had the easiest time clearly labeling things for what they are,” Slate chief political correspondent Jamelle Bouie said at an event hosted by CJR in Charlottesville last week. “At a certain point we have to take the actions of groups of people, of voters of politicians, and apply to them the labels that fit. I see a reluctance around that when it comes to the president, the president’s supporters, and racism.”

posted by Room 641-A at 10:17 AM on October 1, 2017 [11 favorites]

There's a reason engineer regiments have long histories.

They did good work for Julius Caesar
posted by thelonius at 10:19 AM on October 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

I've kind of been wondering, off and on, what keeps Trump people around at this point. (The people who work for him or within his executive branch, that is, not his supporters...for his supporters, I think it's much less that 25-35% of American adults are willing to continue uncritically supporting a malignant narcissist, but rather that a fair portion of us are just dumb, as in, not capable of processing information and symbols fluently or accurately due to a variety of reasons both within and beyond an individual's influence, and thus very persuadable and particularly vulnerable to our current communication media saturation. Seriously, I know a personally lovely lady in my community, who has good values and loves her family and comes to the college in her retirement and takes classes with all kinds of young adults, and really enjoys them and wouldn't intentionally harm anyone and yet continues to be a devoted Trump supporter....but, the thing is, and I say this with all affection for her, she's not real bright and doesn't get a lot of information about the world in her daily life, and what she does get is filtered through either Fox News or her family and she and I do actually talk about the world and Trump and stuff, and they're lively conversations and she really listens but none of it penetrates or sticks because anything I say is washed away as soon as she gets home....but she would be horrified to know the reality of the person she supports, how truly awful Trump is, but when we talk about it her eyes kind of glaze over and she's semi-mesmerized and replies 'well, I just love him.....' and I think, well, words and information clearly are not the modes for reaching her mind and thoughts, but wow what the hell is really happening here? Like, how badly have we messed with our minds over the past 75 years, and is this cohort among us, who are most vulnerable to utter saturation in a manipulative, propagandistic media environment, maybe our canary in the coal mine?)

But for the people who took jobs and moved to Washington, I've always sensed that there is something different in their, like, basic world view that I haven't been able to see--for instance, I watch Sarah Sanders clips from press briefings, and I don't get the sense that she thinks that she's bullshitting or lying, but rather that she wants so much for the nonsense she's saying to become true, that if she asserts a thing often and directly enough, everyone will finally go 'oh, ok, well I guess that's how it is, then,' and it will magically become true, and so she wasn't lying (or will not have been lying, if only you would accept her clearly-more-rational-than-reality lies as such). This was something that started on Day 1 with Spicer and the inauguration crowd size: it's like he thought he wasn't lying but instead was angry that everyone just wouldn't accept that it was how he said it was.

And of course, that's a coping skill for victims of narcissists writ large, but this morning I realize that it also points to why our problem is less Donald Trump the person, than it is Donald Trump the Apotheosis of Mass Media Bullshit: his narcissist's need to create a reality bubble where He Is The Greatest, Always is unfortunately powerfully resonate with both the past 40 years or so of our current Great Awakening, as well as the past 75 years or so of mass media propagandizing.

This statement from Homeland Security, linked upthread a bit:

Bossert, back from a trip to Puerto Rico earlier in the week, says it's "still an urgent situation," but that the administration has "a strong ground game in place on the island with military leadership":
"I hope to turn the corner on our public communications ... I recommend that [this weekend] we use the general theme of supporting the governor and standing with the people of Puerto Rico to get them food, water, shelter and emergency medical care."
"Monday and Tuesday we can pivot hopefully to a theme of stabilizing as we address temporary housing and sustaining the flow of commodities and basic government services, including temporary power. After that we focus on restoration of basic services throughout next week and next weekend."
"Then we start a theme of recovery planning for the bright future that lies ahead for Puerto Rico. Planned hits, tweets, tv bookings and other work will limit the need for reactionary efforts."

This is from a mind who actually believes that how you shape public perception via media is what actually creates what is real. That's the pattern I finally noticed this morning, the common thread among Trump people working for him in Washington: they think that reality is negotiable, that if they just message hard enough or something, that this thorny Puerto Rico problem will just go away. Like, there is no analogue to actual people or events, or if so, those are parallel to the real concerns, so we see concern about messaging and image consistently valued more than concern about human beings, not just because Trump's himself is that way, but because they've been conditioned into a kind of magical-thinking-consumer-culture-mediated consciousness, that makes their minds feel alien to me in ways that are surprising and deeply discomfiting.
posted by LooseFilter at 10:21 AM on October 1, 2017 [53 favorites]

I've kind of been wondering, off and on, what keeps Trump people around at this point.

Racism is a helluva drug.

Or alternatively, they're despicable and/or dumb.
posted by chris24 at 10:24 AM on October 1, 2017 [4 favorites]

We kept Berlin afloat during a blockade using a single airfield. We fought a war across the Pacific while simultaneously invading Europe. We put our flag on the goddamn moon. But man, taking care of our own territory after a disaster, you guys, that's just...I mean how do you even do that?

Right? I mean, check out the history of the town of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Y-12 ran the country completely out of copper for wiring. Know what they did? Borrowed all the silver from the US Mint and used that instead. When we want to do something, we do it. "Hard" is an excuse for "don't really want to."
posted by ctmf at 10:24 AM on October 1, 2017 [32 favorites]

for instance, I watch Sarah Sanders clips from press briefings, and I don't get the sense that she thinks that she's bullshitting or lying, but rather that she wants so much for the nonsense she's saying to become true, that if she asserts a thing often and directly enough, everyone will finally go 'oh, ok, well I guess that's how it is, then,' and it will magically become true, and so she wasn't lyin

I think this might describe Spicer, but my fear when she came on board is that she is a true believer. I believe that she believes every thing she says, everything that Trump says, and if you don't understand it it's your goddamn problem. Remember, her father is a very vocal supporter of Huckabee family friend Josh Duggar, and I have no reason to believe she's the one family member who isn't on board. She has no moral compass.
posted by Room 641-A at 10:33 AM on October 1, 2017 [9 favorites]

“I don’t think journalists have had the easiest time clearly labeling things for what they are,”

The amount I don't care about how hard it's been to call Rump a racist is . . like . . near-infinite. This whoooooooole . . thing, okay, could be cleared up in a month if the fucking corporate news media would get their motherfucking shit together.
posted by petebest at 10:33 AM on October 1, 2017 [11 favorites]

I used to own a button, purchased back in 2003, that said "CTHULHU/NYARLATHOTEP! WHY VOTE FOR THE LESSER EVIL?" I bought it because I thought it was funny, because the idea of people voting for Cthulhu was absurd and beyond taking seriously and therefore it was a joke.

sotonohito, I think you're a brilliant person and I love your commentary, but I have to disagree with you right now. You see, Trump cultists aren't Nyarlathotep cultists.

They're worse.

People call Trump and his boosters nihilists, but they're not. Not in the slightest. I know this because I am a nihilist, and these people frighten and disgust me.

I see no value in life. Life, to me, is nothing but a delivery mechanism for suffering, and suffering is the worst thing in existence. Good exists only insofar as it is an absence of suffering. If I could exterminate every living thing on this planet in order to free it from suffering, I would. If aliens landed tomorrow with a copy of To Serve Man, I would be the first to march into the stewpot.

But I believe these things because I care. I don't want anyone to suffer. If suffering is inevitable, then I believe it must be equalized, because suffering only multiplies when it is unequally distributed. It is not right to compound the suffering of one group while lessening that of another. That is the worst thing any of us can do.

Trump and his fiends do not care. They separate themselves from humanity. They see the people who don't look like they do, or live like they do, or speak like they do, and they will sit back and laugh as those people drown or starve or bleed out in the streets, because they think they're better. They place more value on their own lives than on the lives of others, and that's not nihilism. That's just evil.

If we cannot all thrive, it is our moral imperative to at least distribute suffering equally so that it can be minimized. Trump's monsters disagree, and that is why we must destroy them.
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:37 AM on October 1, 2017 [35 favorites]

[The Y-12 uranium enrichment project] ran the country completely out of copper for wiring. Know what they did? Borrowed all the silver from the US Mint and used that instead

(That is, incidentally, a heck of a story, which I had not previously heard.)
posted by jedicus at 10:51 AM on October 1, 2017 [14 favorites]

...Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!

Is he doing the Sleepy Rex meme on his own secretary of state
posted by theodolite at 11:13 AM on October 1, 2017 [20 favorites]

Yes, I think that’s right, Loosefilter: they’re dissociated from reality and I don’t think it’s just the Trump crowd. We’ve got some of that problem that takes different forms on the left, too, and I think it goes at least partly back to the overload of information rich media content and how much higher the baseload of symbolic processing required to navigate the contemporary world is. It’s not just a political or cultural problem. Those are just specific manifestations and forms the breakdown can take.
posted by saulgoodman at 11:17 AM on October 1, 2017 [7 favorites]

The resonances between Brexit and Administration 45 continue to be striking - you have Tillerson running foreign policy in direct contradiction to 45's wishes, and we have Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson issuing his own Brexit policy in the face of May's attempts to keep the lid on - and neither leader (sorry, "leader") has the power either to stop or sack their rogue politico. (Although Tillerson is probably doing what he's doing for whatever passes for the right reasons, while BoJo is just trying to fuck shit up so he can be Chaos King.)

Words cannot, etc.
posted by Devonian at 11:24 AM on October 1, 2017 [5 favorites]

Does Trump think he's running some kind of good-cop/bad-cop routine with Tillerson as good cop and Kim as perp? Because this is some breathtakingly cavalier bullshit.
posted by GrammarMoses at 11:28 AM on October 1, 2017 [5 favorites]

Well, nuking North Korea would certainly take eyes off his botched response to Puerto Rico.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 11:31 AM on October 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

Want to Know What Divides This Country? Come to Alabama
posted by mumimor at 11:32 AM on October 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

That's the pattern I finally noticed this morning, the common thread among Trump people working for him in Washington: they think that reality is negotiable, that if they just message hard enough or something, that this thorny Puerto Rico problem will just go away.

this is exactly how american management has been running most american business for the last few decades - it always works until the company goes bankrupt and everyone loses their jobs

this is also why so many people buy this bullshit, because they hear it all the time at work and the company's still solvent and they haven't lost their jobs

yet

the disturbing part about running government like a business isn't that the people suggesting it don't know how to run a government - no, it's they don't know how to run a business
posted by pyramid termite at 11:38 AM on October 1, 2017 [44 favorites]

> Want To Know What Divides This Country? Come To Alabama

Hard pass.
posted by The Card Cheat at 11:41 AM on October 1, 2017 [22 favorites]

This was something that started on Day 1 with Spicer and the inauguration crowd size: it's like he thought he wasn't lying but instead was angry that everyone just wouldn't accept that it was how he said it was.

I think he knew he was lying, and that was part of the anger.

Sean and I have mutual friends, and I believe that in the hope of moderation and a Trump pivot, Sean was punching his career ticket and looking forward to serving the nation through the office, not the man.

But it's a big jump from RNC comm director to White House comms. He was over his head in more ways than one. Usually there'd be an agency comm director appointment (one of the top ones, State or Treasury or the like) or a stint as comm director with the Speaker or the Senate Majority Leader as the next rung.

Does that punch in the ticket make Sean a tool? Sure. I suppose it makes me one, back in the day, as well.

Sarah, on the other hand, is a complete true believer swimming in the Trump tank.
posted by jgirl at 11:49 AM on October 1, 2017 [22 favorites]

> Want To Know What Divides This Country? Come To Alabama

Hard pass.

Epony-something?
posted by mumimor at 11:50 AM on October 1, 2017

Oh good, more discussion of how Trump voters are poor little dim vulnerable lost lambs with no agency, who can't possibly be held responsible for the consequences of their actions. Let's spend more time patting the hands of people who find it lovable when a corrupt vicious prick spouts non-stop racist misogynistic xenophobic bullshit. That'll help them become more connected to reality.
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:58 AM on October 1, 2017 [31 favorites]

Just to be clear that Alabama piece goes hard on white supremacy and it's historical interactions with populism.
posted by Rainbo Vagrant at 12:00 PM on October 1, 2017 [8 favorites]

Oh good, more discussion of how Trump voters are poor little dim vulnerable lost lambs with no agency, who can't possibly be held responsible for the consequences of their actions.

I know, empathy and compassion are hard work that never ends, and I too appreciate each opportunity to practice them, no matter how angry or hurt I may feel.

.....wait, were you just spewing vitriol into the thread based on your projection onto my comment? My bad, nvmind.
posted by LooseFilter at 12:19 PM on October 1, 2017 [7 favorites]

The. Best. People.

@statedeptspox
#DPRK will not obtain a nuclear capability. Whether through diplomacy or force is up to the regime @StateDept

And I guess it's progress that he's blaming Bush in addition to Clinton and Obama on our way to Armageddon?

@realDonaldTrump
Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won't fail.
posted by chris24 at 12:20 PM on October 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years

I guess he's not aware that Kim Jong-un has been in power for only six years.
posted by neroli at 12:47 PM on October 1, 2017 [54 favorites]

@realDonaldTrump
Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won't fail.

Even ignoring the fact that it wasn't even the same "Rocket Man" across those three administrations, you WILL fail. You HAVE failed, every day since January 20th. You DO fail, every day you're upright and breathing. Your genetic coding just spells F-A-I-L-F-A-I-L-F-A-I-L, over and over. Your saying "I won't fail" is like a cinder block saying "I won't sink rapidly to the bottom of the ocean." You are that cinder block, onto which someone has painted the word "FAIL," rushing to the bottom of the FAIL-cific Ocean, every second. The only thing you don't fail at, ironically enough, is failing. YOU NEVER FAIL TO BE A FAILING HUMAN BEING.

You will fail humanity in your dealings with North Korea, and we'll all suffer for it, probably forever. And nobody who can stop it is doing fuck-all to stop it.

Little irritated over here, I'll admit it.
posted by Rykey at 12:48 PM on October 1, 2017 [68 favorites]

> People call Trump and his boosters nihilists, but they're not.

Just to get the inevitable reference over and done with..

"I mean, say what you want about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos."

Amusing as the line was in the movie, I agree I'd rather have nihilism. We now return you to our ongoing discussion..
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:48 PM on October 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

Donald J. Trump can start a nuclear war all by himself, with no input or control from anyone. 24/7.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 1:10 PM on October 1, 2017 [4 favorites]

YOU NEVER FAIL TO BE A FAILING HUMAN BEING.

If they held a tournament for failure, Trump would come in last.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:13 PM on October 1, 2017 [9 favorites]

This is from a mind who actually believes that how you shape public perception via media is what actually creates what is real.

That's overthinking it I believe. This is straight-up gaslighting the entire nation.
posted by mikelieman at 1:14 PM on October 1, 2017 [6 favorites]

@realDonaldTrump
Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won't fail.

ehm... "rocket man" didn't attack us or achieve nuclear weapons capability under any of those presidents. So, they all succeeded. The only one in question of failing here is you.
posted by ctmf at 1:26 PM on October 1, 2017 [21 favorites]

Donald J. Trump can start a nuclear war all by himself, with no input or control from anyone. 24/7.

Can he though? I was under the impression that the procedure for initiating a nuclear strike was a bit more complicated than just tweeting it out, like doesn't he have to select a pre-prepared plan, then confirm it by reading some authorization codes? We know he's either illiterate or has such bad vision that he can't read small print.

And another thing, would he remember how to perform the procedure? We're talking about a guy who's been calling Kim Jong-Un "Little Rocket Man" because he can't remember the man's name.

It's possible that we avoid a nuclear war just due to the fact that one vain septuagenarian's eyesight is poor and his brain is mush.
posted by mrgoat at 1:54 PM on October 1, 2017 [5 favorites]

ehm... "rocket man" didn't attack us or achieve nuclear weapons capability under any of those presidents. So, they all succeeded. The only one in question of failing here is you.

In fairness to previous presidents, GW's policy of "not holding to our end of the bargain on previous deals" did help accelerate the current situation. It's also why they're not keen on more deals.

Not that Trump's interested in a deal.
posted by Archelaus at 2:08 PM on October 1, 2017 [11 favorites]

@TheRealGhostOfTheRealKingGeorgeIII: Being nice to Musket Man George Washington hasn't worked in 250 years, why would it work now?
posted by tonycpsu at 2:10 PM on October 1, 2017 [11 favorites]

I feel like most of these fiascos all come down to the root cause of Dunning-Kruger effect - Trump doesn't know when he needs help and won't listen to people who know more than him. The best thing he could do right now is have a weekly, all off-the-record, "past presidents" brunch (GOP and Dem) and get some coaching on how to be president. And seriously consider what they say and why, even if he ultimately disagrees. And hire some competent fucking experts.

Of course, it's no surprise that he's like that, we knew it in 2016 and (as a country) voted for him anyway.
posted by ctmf at 2:18 PM on October 1, 2017 [6 favorites]

There's also the possibility that a retiring Corker will turn into a full-blown deficit hawk now, since he's got nothing to run for, and he'll screw up their precious tax cuts.

I posted that speculation the other day, and, well, itshappening.gif:

"If it looks like it adds one penny to the deficit, I'm not going to be for it," Corker says of tax reform.

No idea if he really means it, but since he's retiring and has nothing to lose, the threat sounds serious to me.
posted by zachlipton at 2:23 PM on October 1, 2017 [27 favorites]

I think I've realized, finally, what really, truly, deeply disturbs me about Trump and why his mere existence as a serious political candidate, much less the winner of the 2016 election shakes me to my core.
[...] What really disturbs me about Trump is that there are somewhere between 20% and 25% of Americans who absolutely love him and support him.

Dude, I figured that out last May.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:46 PM on October 1, 2017 [3 favorites]

It's probably a sign of the times that I had to see if that was a real account, tonycpsu.
posted by Archelaus at 2:49 PM on October 1, 2017

Axios, Jonathan Swan, Scoop: Trump urges staff to portray him as "crazy guy"

In an Oval Office meeting earlier this month, President Trump gave his top trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer, an Art of the Deal-style coaching session on how to negotiate with the South Koreans.

Trump's impromptu coaching came in the middle of a pivotal conversation with top officials about whether or not to withdraw from the U.S.-Korean trade deal. Sources familiar with the conversation paraphrased the exchange for Axios, and the White House did not dispute this account.

A number of senior officials and cabinet secretaries were present for the conversation, including Defense Secretary Mattis, Agriculture Secretary Perdue, and Secretary of State Tillerson. At issue was whether the U.S. would withdraw from the Korean trade deal — an action Trump threatened but still hasn't done.

"You've got 30 days, and if you don't get concessions then I'm pulling out," Trump told Lighthizer.

"Ok, well I'll tell the Koreans they've got 30 days," Lighthizer replied.

"No, no, no," Trump interjected. "That's not how you negotiate. You don't tell them they've got 30 days. You tell them, 'This guy's so crazy he could pull out any minute'."

"That's what you tell them: Any minute," Trump continued. "And by the way, I might. You guys all need to know I might. You don't tell them 30 days. If they take 30 days they'll stretch this out."

This is how he wants to negotiate with our ally, by proclaiming how crazy he is. The article goes on to cite other examples of Trump declaring himself to be crazy in international relations, such as his tweet undercutting Tillerson today and threats to destroy North Korea. This is not normal.
posted by zachlipton at 2:52 PM on October 1, 2017 [27 favorites]

It's kind of normal, though. (For definitions of "normal" that include Richard Nixon.)
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:58 PM on October 1, 2017 [5 favorites]

Even leaving out the crazyfication factor, there's about 30% of the US population who genuinely do favor authoritarianism, and believe that USA means "White male USA". And at this point, with the help of an effective propaganda system, they pretty much dominate the political and economic system.

There's no certainty that this will be reversed, either. We can hope for 2018 and 2020, but the Reactionaries are not planning to give up power any time soon. They're making plans to stay in power for the next 70+ years, and reshape the entire nation into a new Confederacy. There's nothing saying they won't succeed. We know that authoritarian regimes like Korea, China, Franco Spain can last for decades. And if you think of things like monarchies and Imperial Rome, then we're talking hundreds of years.

And then of course there's climate change throwing things into a loop as well. We know what that can do to civilizations, and we aren't preparing. It makes me wonder what revolutions, what political machinations and overturns happened in the Hittite Empire and the city-states of Eastern Mediterranean before and during the start of the Bronze Age Collapse. I wonder if people will look at our ruins and ask the same thing.
posted by happyroach at 3:06 PM on October 1, 2017 [15 favorites]

Paul Ryan this morning addressing Ballet Dancing Giraffe Logic and race: "I do really believe his heart's in the right place.

Well, technically he's probably correct as we would have heard about it if Trump was dextrocardiac.
posted by daybeforetheday at 3:08 PM on October 1, 2017 [3 favorites]

Maybe not normal, but it does have precedent.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 3:12 PM on October 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

It's also totally unnecessary - no one thinks he isn't crazy. What he should be trying to convince people of is that he knows how to negotiate.
posted by mrgoat at 3:17 PM on October 1, 2017 [6 favorites]

So Trump thinks that he has this rep as a rational and stable actor that he needs to undermine?
posted by angrycat at 3:19 PM on October 1, 2017 [24 favorites]

WPFW in D.C. is playing "Trump Crazy" from 1955 on "The Latin Flavor Classic Edition." Host Jim Byers is mentioning "the heinous comments" toward the San Juan mayor "by 45."

Previous cut in the set was "Possessed by the Devil" and before that, "Evil Ways."

Jim's not holding back!
posted by jgirl at 3:25 PM on October 1, 2017 [5 favorites]

Yeah, that Axios "scoop" really has the feel of something that was "leaked" by the Trump camp to make his instability seem calculated and strategic.
posted by neroli at 3:26 PM on October 1, 2017 [37 favorites]

Yeah it seems like what Trump needs to convince anyone he's negotiating with not that he's crazy, but that he's capable of keeping his side of anything he agrees to for any length of time. It's no good negotiating with someone with absolutely no track record of ever keeping his word.
posted by threeturtles at 3:36 PM on October 1, 2017 [7 favorites]

> Want To Know What Divides This Country? Come To Alabama

Huh. Turns out to be some kind of Mac vs. PC thing.

Nah, just kiddin. It's racistses.
posted by petebest at 4:14 PM on October 1, 2017 [17 favorites]

WPFW in D.C. is playing "Trump Crazy" from 1955 on "The Latin Flavor Classic Edition." Host Jim Byers is mentioning "the heinous comments" toward the San Juan mayor "by 45."

Previous cut in the set was "Possessed by the Devil" and before that, "Evil Ways."

Jim's not holding back!

WPFW archives their shows for two weeks if you miss the one on now.
posted by jgirl at 4:23 PM on October 1, 2017 [1 favorite]

Kyle Griffin: Per pool: "Members of the pool said they heard someone yell to Trump during the trophy ceremony: 'You don't give a shit about Puerto Rico!'"
posted by PenDevil at 4:27 PM on October 1, 2017 [36 favorites]

Maybe not normal, but it does have precedent.

Nixon's madman theory was aimed at communist-bloc nations. Enemy nations. This is like if Nixon was sending signals to, like, Canada that he was crazy enough to make the Soviets nuke them if Ottawa didn't say nicer things about him.
posted by Rust Moranis at 4:37 PM on October 1, 2017 [7 favorites]

Please don't give him any ideas.
posted by The Card Cheat at 4:44 PM on October 1, 2017 [7 favorites]

Also, Nixon didn't start out as a madman. (Though he apparently became quite paranoid later on.) It's not Madman Theory if you're just a crazy asshole.
posted by Justinian at 4:46 PM on October 1, 2017 [3 favorites]

This made me smile:

The White House, cognizant of Trump appearing to take the weekend off at his golf course, scheduled a series of briefing phone calls from 2 to 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. Each one was scheduled to last no longer than15 minutes, however, and one was with a former governor of Puerto Rico who currently works as a lobbyist in Washington.

No such calls appeared on Trump's Sunday schedule; instead, the White House announced that the President would travel by helicopter to the Liberty National Golf Club, perched on New York Harbor, to watch the final day of the President's Cup golf tournament from a special suite inside the clubhouse.

Trump's three most recent predecessors — Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton — took in the tournament together last week, appearing jovial in photographs. They, along with George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, have spearheaded a hurricane charity appeal that includes Puerto Rico; Trump was not invited to participate.

From Kevin Liptak at CNN
posted by valkane at 4:50 PM on October 1, 2017 [33 favorites]

Scoop: Trump urges staff to portray him as "crazy guy"

Just an idea, but not leaking that the madman ploy is just an act might make it more effective. But of course it's doesn't matter because it's not true. It's just their lame excuse/cover for an actual madman.

And the Vice Madman chimed in today.

@TeddyDavisCNN
Pence backs up Trump, saying it is "frustrating" to millions to hear "rhetoric" from the mayor of San Juan "instead of focusing on results."
posted by chris24 at 5:10 PM on October 1, 2017 [4 favorites]

Wow, imagine how frustrating it must be for the millions of us who are actually focusing on results.
posted by Rykey at 6:02 PM on October 1, 2017 [46 favorites]

> Why do I call this malpractice? Because they had all the tools they needed to see this for what it was; if only they'd paid attention.

Yeah, this is "Heckuva job Brownie" X about 5000.

It will be interesting to see how far this penetrates the folks who still think Trump is some kind of genius businessman who 'gets things done.'

Managing disaster response is pretty much the minimum requirement Americans would have for any president. This can't bode well for a president is is already surfing amazingly low approval levels to historic new depths . . .
posted by flug at 6:24 PM on October 1, 2017 [3 favorites]

It will be interesting to see how far this penetrates the folks who still think Trump is some kind of genius businessman who 'gets things done.'

They will buy the line that it's only the uncooperative Puerto Ricans that aren't holding up their end of the deal causing the problem. The fact that Puerto Ricans aren't white will be entirely incidental, of course.
posted by Candleman at 6:39 PM on October 1, 2017 [9 favorites]

Tragically the 30% left who approve of Trump think that Puerto Rico is part of Mexico and we shouldn't be helping them anyway.
posted by mmoncur at 6:39 PM on October 1, 2017

How would it bode any worse than any of the previous spectacular failures of Trump or the GOP in general? Letting Puerto Rico go dark sounds right in line with their plans for the future of American health care, but instead of changing their minds, they’re only doubling down.
posted by Autumnheart at 6:43 PM on October 1, 2017

With everything that's happened today, I didn't think anything else could push me into spitting, incoherent rage.

I was wrong.

@NBCNews: President Trump dedicates Presidents Cup golf tournament trophy to those affected by hurricanes
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 6:51 PM on October 1, 2017 [17 favorites]

Another Onion headline, ripped from reality.
posted by Dashy at 7:05 PM on October 1, 2017 [19 favorites]

So when does he snowbird down to Mar-A-lago until April?
posted by fluttering hellfire at 7:14 PM on October 1, 2017

But in 2016 we found that around 20% of Americans would proudly and eagerly vote for Cthulhu, and when he ravaged cities they'd cheer. When he devoured Americans they'd laugh and approve.

I suspect all of this boils down to "Kill everyone who isn't just like us." Like every single time, this is the core and heart of the Republicans. Kill the weirdos, gay people, brown people, or just anyone who puts us slightly off/doesn't hate all the weirdos and is okay with letting them live.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:40 PM on October 1, 2017 [10 favorites]

It's more like "another real headline stolen from the Onion" at this point. I feel bad for those Onion people, they do good work, and lately it's just getting harder and harder for them.
posted by uosuaq at 7:51 PM on October 1, 2017 [6 favorites]

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told a group of high school students “that they don’t have a right to health care, food and shelter,” WISN reports.

Said Johnson: “I think it’s probably more of a privilege.”
posted by Chrysostom at 7:59 PM on October 1, 2017 [38 favorites]

I wonder what kind of Chianti pairs best with Johnson liver.
posted by uosuaq at 8:04 PM on October 1, 2017 [10 favorites]

I wonder what kind of Chianti pairs best with Johnson liver.

Not to be confused with the Chianti that pairs best with Liver-Eating Johnson
posted by Rust Moranis at 8:12 PM on October 1, 2017 [3 favorites]

To quote an (actual, current) Senator:

At one estate, the serfs sacked the manor house, killed the knight, and roasted him on a spit in front of his wife and kids. Then, after ten or twelve peasants violated the lady, with the children still watching, they forced her to eat the roasted flesh of her husband and then killed her.

*That* is class warfare.

Your move, Senator Johnson.

Sorry for posting three times in such quick succession. I got het up. Seriously though, fuck this guy.
posted by uosuaq at 8:16 PM on October 1, 2017 [5 favorites]

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told a group of high school students “that they don’t have a right to health care, food and shelter,” WISN reports.

Said Johnson: “I think it’s probably more of a privilege.”

EAT THE RICH
posted by dis_integration at 8:43 PM on October 1, 2017 [24 favorites]

To quote an (actual, current) Senator:
I'm reading Tuchman's A Distant Mirror right now. The 14th century: it got worse.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 8:46 PM on October 1, 2017 [13 favorites]

Define "worse".
posted by uosuaq at 9:03 PM on October 1, 2017

Wellll... a third of the population dies.
posted by Justinian at 9:10 PM on October 1, 2017 [2 favorites]

(Possibly even half or more!)
posted by Justinian at 9:11 PM on October 1, 2017 [3 favorites]

Can he though? I was under the impression that the procedure for initiating a nuclear strike was a bit more complicated than just tweeting it out, like doesn't he have to select a pre-prepared plan, then confirm it by reading some authorization codes? We know he's either illiterate or has such bad vision that he can't read small print.

The President carries a sealed card called the Biscuit containing the daily nuclear launch Gold Codes (along with a bunch of fake codes in case the Biscuit is stolen) on his person. His aide unlocks the Football case for him, he selects an option from the sheaf of them or from a shorter list of the most likely options that's likened to a Chinese menu complete with graphics describing an array of major attack options (MAOs), selected attack options (SAOs), and limited attack options (LAOs) & uses an included radio device to contact the Secretary of Defense or his designated alternate via the National Military Command Center (NMCC). He authenticates to the SecDef then together they call the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. The President authenticates again & SecDef authenticates the President's identity but has no authority beyond that, ie cannot cancel the order. The option is named, Gold Codes relayed & orders go to the silos & subs. The final thing in the Football is a list of secure bunkers where the President can ride out any retaliatory strikes. The VP also has a Football & Biscuit but they can only be used after the President has been recused via the 25th Amendment.
posted by scalefree at 9:12 PM on October 1, 2017 [11 favorites]

Wellll... a third of the population dies.

So kind of like this century?
(oops -- spoiler alert, sorry)
posted by uosuaq at 9:15 PM on October 1, 2017 [3 favorites]

Justinian: "(Possibly even half or more!)"

Yeah, I saw a paper on this (I was going to do an FPP, but it was a bit thin). The death rate really varied widely, but there's some evidence that, in at least some areas, it was much higher than normally believed. Like near total.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:25 PM on October 1, 2017

Yeah, that Axios "scoop" really has the feel of something that was "leaked" by the Trump camp to make his instability seem calculated and strategic.

Normally I'd agree but I think this actually is a rare instance of Trump trying to be strategic. His "save your energy, Rex" tweet to Tillerson had all the hallmarks of the world's clumsiest "good cop, bad cop" setup.
posted by scalefree at 9:29 PM on October 1, 2017 [3 favorites]

I wonder what kind of Chianti pairs best with Johnson liver.

The Wisconsin Winery Association refuses to answer my emails requesting help with this matter.
posted by sebastienbailard at 9:33 PM on October 1, 2017 [5 favorites]

The golf tournament dedication to PR feels like a bullying move. It's hard for me to understand how somebody could be so stupid as to not realize how insulting it is. DJT knows he's being criticized for golfing while Puerto Ricans are begging for drinkable water.

I think this was more like a pro wrestling style insult that was crafted by this impulse to be sadistic to the weaker party, something that was part of his character since he was a bullying child.
posted by angrycat at 11:07 PM on October 1, 2017 [22 favorites]

There's video of the shooting commencing (no visuals, you just hear the gunman firing clips in the distance and people panicking and running). The shooting started at a country music festival, and then (apparently) the shooter fled to the Mandalay Bay casino and has now been taken down.

There were some reports of shots fired at other casinos but right now these appear to be either panic calls from people at those casinos hearing the shots elsewhere or purposeful distractions.
posted by mightygodking at 11:35 PM on October 1, 2017 [3 favorites]

Las Vegas MPD is officially reporting that one suspect is down. People tweeting scanner activity indicated that they converged on an upper (32nd story hotel room in Mandalay Bay and broke down the door.

Knowledgeable individuals say the gunfire (at the concert, anyway) was clearly a single automatic weapon, including a pause to change clips (90-100 rounds per are possible). I can only imagine the terror of being fired down on in a crowd with nowhere to hide or take cover.

Naturally, this being 2017, I've already seen several hoax tweets that the shooter is the comedian Sam Hyde (or with an Arabic sounding nom de guerre). Fuck you, 4chan.

There are also ongoing reports of activity at other casinos, but as noted these may be hoaxes or confusion amid an apparent mass panic. As always, the On the Media News Consumer's Guide is good to keep in mind.

Facebook has activated their Safety Check for the area. And here are some news photos already posted at Getty [graphic].
posted by dhartung at 12:16 AM on October 2, 2017 [5 favorites]

As of moments ago LVMPD states they believe no more shooters. As of this time media reporting two killed, 24 wounded, of whom 14 are in critical condition. Review-Journal has a story up which is sure to evolve.

Ideally not directly related, I came across a disturbing thread covering the social media activity surrounding the hoax reports of an active shooter at the US Air Force Academy on Friday night. The author suggests there was a coordinated effort that potentially hoped for an armed cadet or civilian to begin panic shooting at cops, thus sparking a real incident. We need to be vigilant if this tactic was intentional and deemed useful (rather than mass hysteria).
posted by dhartung at 12:47 AM on October 2, 2017 [9 favorites]

Automatic gunfire into a crowd from an elevated position. Jesus christ.
posted by Justinian at 1:12 AM on October 2, 2017

The Review-Journal article that dhartung linked says at least 20 killed.
posted by Justinian at 1:23 AM on October 2, 2017

Fuck.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 1:24 AM on October 2, 2017

Associated Press says "at least" two dead, with dozens injured. Let's hope the "20 dead" thing is a misunderstanding.
posted by Joe in Australia at 1:35 AM on October 2, 2017

It's not. Sheriff is holding a press conference right now. Says 100+ injured, 20+ dead. Shooter is a local, associated with one "Marilou Danley" whose ID was found next to the shooter. The internet will tell you who the shooter was if you google, but it hasn't been confirmed by police.
posted by Justinian at 1:37 AM on October 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

Mod note: A couple deleted. Once the facts are settled, the Las Vegas shooting should get its own thread rather than continue here.
posted by taz (staff) at 1:50 AM on October 2, 2017 [6 favorites]

And here's where the Puerto Rico situation gets completely lost in the coverage of dead white people in Las Vegas. PR's done for.

.
(Puerto Rico)

.
(Las Vegas shooting victims)

Fuck everything.
posted by Rykey at 3:52 AM on October 2, 2017 [22 favorites]

We're not in a News Cycle anymore. It's just Bad News on top of Bad News on top of Bad News ad. inf.

Fuck everything, indeed.
posted by mikelieman at 3:56 AM on October 2, 2017 [13 favorites]

The President has been briefed and is on it, so that's... yeah.
posted by Justinian at 4:06 AM on October 2, 2017

I'll bet five dollars he blames it somehow on antifa. Because he's a wretched excuse for a human being whose only guiding star is how to make everything worse.
posted by corb at 4:08 AM on October 2, 2017 [8 favorites]

I may offer up a cake for this, but I'll lay odds that his first comments will end up focussing on the one off-duty police officer killed and the other severely injured in this tragedy. That'll be his mental intersection he can latch onto. Damn, this is horrible.
posted by michswiss at 4:10 AM on October 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

There's been a lot of maga-bot activity already promoting an emergency services vs. NFL narrative.

Along with a lot pinning it on ISIS/BLM/Antifa - they're also getting better at phrasing things in a way that (only just) avoid being reportable to get the accounts banned.

Imagine making a living from actively making human crises and suffering worse.
posted by Buntix at 4:20 AM on October 2, 2017 [4 favorites]

Holy shit, horrific.

John Kelly needs to grab that fucking phone and smash it with a mallet immediately.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:22 AM on October 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

Here's the full text of an update on Puerto Rico that White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert sent his West Wing colleagues (Mike Allen, Axios)

I recommend that today and tomorrow we use the general theme of supporting the governor and standing with the people of Puerto Rico to get them food, water, shelter and emergency medical care. Monday and Tuesday we can pivot hopefully to a theme of stabilizing as we address temporary housing and sustaining the flow of commodities and basic government services, including temporary power. After that we focus on restoration of basic services throughout next week and next weekend. Then we start a theme of recovery planning for the bright future that lies ahead for Puerto Rico. Planned hits, tweets, tv bookings and other work will limit the need for reactionary efforts.

The storm caused these problems, not our response to it. We have pushed about as much stuff and people through a tiny hole in as short a timeframe as possible.

posted by Room 641-A at 4:28 AM on October 2, 2017 [4 favorites]

Yeah I don't think they're gonna need those media plans any more.
posted by Justinian at 4:31 AM on October 2, 2017 [6 favorites]

Guardian updates reporting that Trump has tweeted condolences and has delayed his trip to Puerto Rico.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 4:34 AM on October 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

Guardian updates reporting that Trump has tweeted condolences and has delayed his trip to Puerto Rico.

Not just condolences but "warmest" condolences. I don't know if that's a thing?

I'd say he needs to be able to multitask and handle Puerto Rico AND Las Vegas at the same time, but the PR visit was never anything but a photo op potemkin visit so canceling it was probably the right call.

What a thing to wake up to. It's now being described as "the deadliest mass shooting in US history."

The previous deadliest shooting occurred barely over a year ago.
posted by Justinian at 4:40 AM on October 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

Mod note: Sorry, but once again, we can't really nest a few hundred or thousand more comments on the Las Vegas tragedy inside this POTUS thread that is already over 2,000 comments long. If someone wants to make a dedicated post with what solid/reliable information is already available, and link(s) to updating blog coverage, that would be the way to actually be able to discuss this.
posted by taz (staff) at 4:45 AM on October 2, 2017 [12 favorites]

Yeah I don't think they're gonna need those media plans any more.

I think the thought process behind the scenes is more important than whether or not they will be able to execute these exact plans on schedule.
posted by Room 641-A at 4:46 AM on October 2, 2017

@ realDonaldTrump
My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting. God bless you!

Hey, that wasn't as awful a tweet as it could have been! Hurrah?
posted by petebest at 4:47 AM on October 2, 2017 [6 favorites]

Eric Trump is already using the occasion to post more law enforcement lionization along with that fashy fucking "blue line" flag: "It is days like this that we should stop and thank all the men and women in uniform, who sacrifice their own lives every day to help others."
posted by contraption at 5:00 AM on October 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

I'll bet five dollars he blames it somehow on antifa. Because he's a wretched excuse for a human being whose only guiding star is how to make everything worse.

I dipped into Twitter briefly. That narrative has already been sown. Lots of tweets trolling with a 'shooter is alt-left crazy guy' net.
posted by run"monty at 5:04 AM on October 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

Light thread here (if it's okay Taz).
posted by MattWPBS at 5:28 AM on October 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

Ariane de Vogue, CNN: Supreme Court kicks off blockbuster term: Cases to watch

(The link doesn't name all the cases but provides really brief summaries of the categories. The gist is that it'll be a much more conservative court, what with Gorsuch breaking the previous 4-4 ties and the possible retirement of Kennedy. I'll save you the click and auto-play video:)
-travel ban
-immigration
-voting rights and gerrymandering
-religious liberty
-cell phone privacy
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 6:28 AM on October 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

Here's the ACLU's David Cole on Amicus with Dahlia Lithwick, discussing the SCOTUS term.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:34 AM on October 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

The contemptible failure of the Senate Democrats to revoke unanimous consent for absolutely everything and shut down the Senate to prevent the confirmation of Gorsuch, to treat him as if he were a normal Republican nominee rather than the recipient of stolen goods, is the worst thing they have done to date.

Congratulations Senate Dems (and Obama, for failing to simply seat Garland and force a constitutional crisis after it became apparent the Republicans were cheating to steal the seat), you've doomed us.
posted by sotonohito at 6:35 AM on October 2, 2017 [34 favorites]

I put the odds of the Supreme Court declaring that gerrymandering is not merely legal, but a perfect expression of what "the Founders" wanted and that any attempt to ban gerrymandering is unconstitutional at around 99%.

No way, no how, not even slightly, will the Republican Justices (including Kennedy because that's ultimately what he is) vote to end the single thing that permits the Republicans to keep "winning" elections.
posted by sotonohito at 6:37 AM on October 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

The other upcoming Supreme Court case is the right-to-work case. Because lots of liberal middle class people hate unions, it gets left out a lot.

What's going to happen is that "fair-share"* dues are going to be ruled illegal, which is going to cut the legs out from under both on-the-job union activity (defending workers' rights) and larger political activity. It's going to be decided on partisan lines despite legal precedent suggesting that it should go the other way.

In the US, "closed shop" unions are not legal - in a union workplace, you don't have to join the union or pay union dues. However, because you benefit from the union's negotiations, you can be required to pay a smaller amount which cannot be used for indirectly-union political activity, like working for legislation or supporting a pro-union candidate. Fair-share dues go to things like paying an organizer (in my union, this is usually someone who retired from a union job and works part time for the union) or paying for time spent by members on union activities - if you are a steward or do grievance related stuff, for instance. Most union organizing (at least in my union) is done by union members for free, but it's very handy to have someone who can work every day during business hours.

Because this is America and Americans are dumb as shit, everyone is all like "oh noes I am oppressed by my fair share dues, I would absolutely make more money and have better insurance and more time off if I individually negotiated with my employer, even though there is literally no evidence to bear this out. Also I should be able to do whatever I want, because 'Murka!11!!" and there's a case up before the Supremes.

I don't know why they're even bothering to hear it - they might as well just announce a ruling by fiat, since we all know how it will go.
posted by Frowner at 6:37 AM on October 2, 2017 [69 favorites]

It is particularly depressing and frightening to me that I have no expectation - none, zero - that any Supreme Court case will be determined by investigation into the law. They're all determined by cherrypicking bits of law out of context and then having the Republican judges approve it.

During the election I casually mentioned to an educated, liberal person who did not like Hillary that this election was vital because we were playing for the Supreme Court. "Oh, I didn't think of that," they said. I refrained from saying, "Augh, I think of little else!!!!"
posted by Frowner at 6:43 AM on October 2, 2017 [20 favorites]

Let's see, they've rigged the courts, gerrymandered districts to hell and back, opened the floodgates to dirty money, and gloatingly ululated their disenfranchisement of non-GOP voters. Hm.

And there isn't any other method to change the kleptocratic complicit proctocracy. Nope. All legal, democratic avenues are swiftly being blocked. If only the founders had some alternative response to a tyrannical abuse of power.
posted by petebest at 6:44 AM on October 2, 2017 [11 favorites]

I don't know why they're even bothering to hear it - they might as well just announce a ruling by fiat, since we all know how it will go.

Yeah, Kennedy is a social issue swing voter, not a labor issue swing voter. 5-4 conservatives. It's really fucked up that we can call the votes so early, regardless of jurisprudential considerations or even a cursory reading of the case. The court literally just splits on partisan lines and then makes up the jurisprudence to support it.
posted by dis_integration at 6:47 AM on October 2, 2017 [5 favorites]

that fashy fucking "blue line" flag

gosh and here I thought they were all about respecting the flag.
posted by jason_steakums at 6:48 AM on October 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

Eric Trump is already using the occasion to post more law enforcement lionization along with that fashy fucking "blue line" flag:

Another Trump who is human-shaped poo with a bad wig.
posted by Room 641-A at 6:52 AM on October 2, 2017 [4 favorites]

Yeah, Kennedy is a social issue swing voter, not a labor issue swing voter

So what happens if everything before the court is framed as a social issue?
posted by ZeusHumms at 6:58 AM on October 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

@RepJoeKennedy:

Programs GOP Congress let expire last night
-healthcare for low-income kids
-Community health centers
-Loans for low-income college students

These people are actual child-murderers, and they're getting away with it.
posted by zombieflanders at 7:03 AM on October 2, 2017 [62 favorites]

Kennedy already gave us the gay marriage ruling this decade, so in his mind he's done enough to bolster the false idea that his vote is in play in every case, when really he rules with the 4 other Republican hardliners 24/25 times.
posted by T.D. Strange at 7:03 AM on October 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

Hey, that wasn't as awful a tweet as it could have been! Hurrah?

Honestly, I was fully expecting that he would praise the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas for not being a crime scene. But the day is young.
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:12 AM on October 2, 2017 [6 favorites]

Live feed for President's remarks on Las Vegas [YouTube, TIME Magazine]
posted by Rykey at 7:32 AM on October 2, 2017

Kennedy already gave us the gay marriage ruling this decade

He also sided with the liberal justices in ruling that carbon dioxide can be regulated as a pollutant.
posted by C'est la D.C. at 7:36 AM on October 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

Oops, just realized that should have gone in the other thread. Apologies, mods.
posted by Rykey at 7:39 AM on October 2, 2017

Matthew Yglesias, Vox: Puerto Rico is all our worst fears about Trump coming real. "A real crisis comes and Trump can’t handle it."

But none of the issues the federal response is wrestling with were unknown in advance. The world had days of warning that a hurricane was heading toward Puerto Rico. The perilous state of the island’s electrical grid has been apparent for years — as has the weak financial health of its electrical utility and municipal governments.

A president who was focused on his job could have asked in advance what the plan was for a hurricane strike on Puerto Rico. He would have discovered that since Puerto Rico is part of the United States, FEMA is the default lead agency but it’s the US military that has the ships and helicopters that would be needed to get supplies into the interior of a wrecked island. And he could have worked something out. Instead, he didn’t get worked up about Puerto Rico until more than a week after the storm hit when he saw the mayor of San Juan lambasting him on television. He lashed out with his usual playbook — one that will only make things worse.

The substantive problem that Trump — and America — is now facing is that you can’t go back in time and do the preparatory work that should have been done. You can’t preposition satellite phones, schedule timely visits from top administration officials, or quickly dispatch ships and helicopters once you’re starting with an eight-day lag. The best you can do is admit you were too slow and throw everything you’ve got at it.

But admitting wrongdoing isn’t part of Trump’s playbook.

Defensiveness and counterpunching is.

posted by ZeusHumms at 8:00 AM on October 2, 2017 [49 favorites]

It's really fucked up that we can call the votes so early, regardless of jurisprudential considerations or even a cursory reading of the case. The court literally just splits on partisan lines and then makes up the jurisprudence to support it.

Actually, we often can't call the votes so early. Crowdsourced and expert predictions only get about 80% of case outcomes correct, and are a bit worse than that at predicting how individual justices will vote. Purely algorithmic predictions are worse still.
posted by jedicus at 8:09 AM on October 2, 2017 [8 favorites]

"President Trump Gives His Remarks" ... Could you...like... NOT? Thanks.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 8:21 AM on October 2, 2017 [6 favorites]

"It's not that bad, they actually take the issues into consideration one time in five!" is still.....not great.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:28 AM on October 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

"It's not that bad, they actually take the issues into consideration one time in five!" is still.....not great.

The fact that an expert (or crowd) can predict the outcome correctly does not mean the issues were not taken into consideration and the outcome could be predicted purely on a partisan basis.

More concretely: lately about ~25% of merits decisions are 5-4, and ~20% have a party line vote breakdown. Thus, 80% of cases have at least some non-partisan component to the decision. So it's actually just the opposite of what you concluded: they (for some definition of they) take the issues (for some definition of issues) into account four times in five.
posted by jedicus at 8:42 AM on October 2, 2017 [10 favorites]

The problem doesn't really show itself in mundane cases about say, interpretation of a statue of limitations, where the Court will of course look at the underlying legal issues. It shows up in these big, high impact cases, like the culmination of decades long Republican funded push to end public sector unions, or slowly erode abortion rights, or slowly erode the VRA until finally killing it. On the biggest cases, with the highest political impacts, we know for a fact how 4 Republican justices will vote, and Anthony Kennedy is a backstabbing ally. SCOTUS is key component of implementing the radical Republican agenda to remake society. That's why they stole a seat to keep Republican Justices in power. That's why they've spent literally 40 years building the bizarro-Warren Court and are on the verge of ruling by judicial fiat for the next half century. I'm sure once there's a 7-2 Republican majority, there will still be some 9-0 rulings interpreting procedural issues or routine resolution of circuit splits, maybe even up to 80% still, but those are not the cases that Republicans stole control of the Court for.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:52 AM on October 2, 2017 [14 favorites]

UPCOMING SPECIAL ELECTIONS - NOVEMBER - PART 1

There are a ton of special elections in November (plus of course, the regulars in NH and VA), so I'm going to cut this into five or so races at a time.

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: October specials. Not too late to help those folks out.

====

November 7 - Georgia House 89 -- [multiple candidates]

HD-89 is currently a D seat (the incumbent resigned to focus on a gubernatorial campaign); the D ran unopposed in 2016, 2014, and 2012. The district was won by by Clinton 90-6 and by Obama 89-9. The Rs control the Georgia House by about 50 seats. Georgia does a top two primary (if no one exceeds 50%), second round Dec 5. No R filed for this race, there are four Dems.

=> This is one of those ones with info hard to find on the candidates, and it's a guaranteed D regardless. I'll have more on the top two next month, if it comes to that.

====

November 7 - Georgia House 117 - Deborah Gonzalez

HD-117 is currently an R seat (the incumbent was appointed to a judicial seat); the R ran unopposed in 2016, 2014, and 2012. The district was won by Trump 49-46 and by Romney 54-44.

=> A bit of a stretch, but we've seen a number of single digit Trump districts flip this year.

====

November 7 - Georgia House 119 - Jonathan Wallace

HD-119 is currently an R seat (the incumbent was appointed to a state job)l the R ran unopposed in 2016, 2014, and 2012. The district was won by Trump 51-44 and Romney 59-40. There are three Rs running.

=> Again, might be a reach, but not out the question.

====

November 7 - Georgia House 42 - Teri Anulewicz

HD-42 is currently a D seat (the incumbent resigned to focus on a gubernatorial campaign); the D won 73-27 in 2016 and ran unopposed in 2014 and 2012. The district was won by Clinton 69-27 and by Obama 68-30. The D is the only candidate this time.

=>Running unopposed is a pretty sweet gig.

====

November 7 - Georgia House 4 - Peter Pociask

HD-4 is currently an R seat (the incumbent resigned for reasons unclear to me); the R ran unopposed in 2016, 2014, and 2012. The district was won by Trump 64-33 and Romney 64-32. There are 3 Rs running.

=> D might squeak into the second round, but this is too much of a reach, especially since his campaign seems pretty low-powered.

posted by Chrysostom at 9:33 AM on October 2, 2017 [27 favorites]

The problem doesn't really show itself in mundane cases about say, interpretation of a statue of limitations, where the Court will of course look at the underlying legal issues. It shows up in these big, high impact cases, like the culmination of decades long Republican funded push to end public sector unions, or slowly erode abortion rights, or slowly erode the VRA until finally killing it.

That's a fair point, and I don't know what the stats are like for 'big, high impact cases'. At one time the SCDB attempted to track the 'contemporary salience' of cases (e.g. was the case mentioned on the front page of the NYT), but the effort was abandoned. I would not be surprised if conservative 5-4 decisions were more common in such cases, but I'd be hesitant to make a strong statement because of the risk of confirmation bias, recency bias, etc.
posted by jedicus at 9:34 AM on October 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

And there isn't any other method to change the kleptocratic complicit proctocracy. Nope. All legal, democratic avenues are swiftly being blocked. If only the founders had some alternative response to a tyrannical abuse of power.

There is the second amendment....

More seriously - the Civil war era, the Jim Crow era, the civil rights era were substantially worse than this one by nearly every metric and those wrongs got changed. We need to do now what we did then.

It is not now, and never has been, enough to build something nice. You also have to maintain it, and that can be more effort than the construction was. The Left of my lifetime has been lax.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 9:50 AM on October 2, 2017 [13 favorites]

Loopy from the dentist and watching too much Las Vegas coverage ...

Breaking news on the lobby TV when I went in, some whatever non-Fox talk show wen they letd me out.
posted by tilde at 9:51 AM on October 2, 2017

It's OK guys.

Trump didn't botch the Puerto Rico response. Bloomberg says so.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 9:53 AM on October 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

It is not now, and never has been, enough to build something nice. You also have to maintain it, and that can be more effort than the construction was.

Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever stealing from the many to the few. The manna of popular liberty must be gathered each day or it is rotten. The living sap of today outgrows the dead rind of yesterday. The hand entrusted with power becomes, either from human depravity or esprit de corps, the necessary enemy of the people. Only by continued oversight can the democrat in office be prevented from hardening into a despot; only by unintermitted agitation can a people be sufficiently awake to principle not to let liberty be smothered in material prosperity.

-Wendell Phillips
posted by OnceUponATime at 10:01 AM on October 2, 2017 [14 favorites]

UPCOMING SPECIAL ELECTIONS - NOVEMBER - PART 2

Part 1

====

November 7 - Georgia House 26 -- Steve Smith

HD-26 is currently an R seat (the incumbent resigned to focus on his run for lt gov); the R was unopposed in 2016, 2014, and 2012. The district was won by Trump 78-18 and Romney 84-15. There are two Rs running.

=> I can't even find a website for the D, plus this is clearly deep red country.

====

November 7 - Georgia House 60 - [multiple candidates]

HD-60 is currently a D seat (the incumbent resigned to run for a county position); the D won 92-8 in 2016, and was unopposed in 2014 and 2012. Clinton won the district 91-7 and Obama 89-11. There are 3 Ds running, no Rs.

=> Another one with sparse info and a guaranteed D win. More info if we go to runoff.

====

November 7 - Georgia Senate 6 - [multiple candidates]

SD-6 is currently an R seat (the incumbent resigned to run for governor); the R won 52-48 in 2016, 61-29 in 2014, and 53-47 in 2012. Clinton won the district 55-40, but Romney 53-46. The Rs control the Georgia Senate by about 20 seats. There are 3 Ds and 5 Rs running.

=> This one looks like a serious pickup opportunity.

===

November 7 - Georgia Senate 39 - [multiple candidates]

SD-39 is currently a D seat (the incumbent resigned to run for mayor of Atlanta); the D was unopposed in 2016, won 84-16 in 2014, and was unopposed in 2012. Clinton won the district 85-12 and Obama 84-16. There are 4 Ds and 1 R running.

=> Easy D hold.

====

Also: Primaries and party candidate selections later this month for Maine (Oct 3) and Massachusetts (Oct 10). Details on those when they happen.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:12 AM on October 2, 2017 [28 favorites]

It is revolting, watching 45, the deadbeat playboy, go all religious in his comments about Las Vegas. This is one of the few times I have watched him play president. And then he has no one to rail on, since the shooter is not of color, and his name is not of Middle Eastern origin.
posted by Oyéah at 10:30 AM on October 2, 2017 [4 favorites]

zachlipton: In short, the Republican base hates McConnell like they used to hate Obama. And Trump is the one twisting the knife.

Except he only has two hands, and 24 hours in a day. In other words, how can a bumbling rambler really rile up his base so well? He's the most convenient, central pawn for multiple entities to spread various messages, from Fox news to Russian trolls.

Trump's the knife, but the force behind him is not only his own.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:41 AM on October 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

UPCOMING SPECIAL ELECTIONS - NOVEMBER - PART 3

Part 1
Part 2

====

November 7 - Michigan House 1 - Tenisha Yancey

HD-1 is currently a D seat (the incumbent resigned after being convicted of charges related to financial crimes); the D won 68-32 in 2016, 67-33 in 2014, and 71-29 in 2012. Clinton won the district 74-23 and Obama 76-24. Rs control the Michigan House by about 15 seats. There is also a Libertarian candidate.

=> There were two Rs in the primary, but hard to see this as anything but safe D.

====

November 7 - Michigan House 109 - Sara Cambensy

HD-109 is currently a D seat (the incumbent committed suicide); the D won 62-34 in 2016, 66-34 in 2014, and 58-42 in 2012. Trump won the district 49-45, but Obama 53-46. There is also a Green candidate.

=>This is probably one of the better pickup opportunities for the GOP. The currents have been going the other way, but this is one to keep an eye on.

====

November 7 - Missouri Senate 8 - Hillary Shields

SD-8 is currently an R seat (the incumbent was appointed to a state job); the R was unopposed in 2014 and 2010. Trump won the district 57-37, Romney 59-39. The Rs control the Missouri Senate by about 15 seats. There is an independent candidate.

=> On paper, this looks like too much of a reach. But the D is founder of one of the more successful Indivisible groups, and the independent is actually an R, who might split the vote on the right.

===

November 7 - Missouri House 23 - Barbara Anne Washington

HD-23 is currently a D seat (the incumbent resigned for a private sector job); the D was unopposed in 2016, 2014, and 2012. Clinton won the district 89-8, Obama 94-6. The Rs control the Missouri House by about 65 seats. There is a Green candidate.

=> Can't find much info, but should be safe D.

====

November 7 - Missouri House 151 - Curtis Clark

HD-151 is currently an R seat (the incumbent resigned for a private sector job); the R was unopposed in 2016, won 70-30 in 2014, and won 66-34 in 2012. Trump won the district 83-14, Romney 73-25. There is a Libertarian candidate.

=> Looks like a token campaign, unfortunately.

posted by Chrysostom at 10:42 AM on October 2, 2017 [27 favorites]

=> Looks like a token campaign, unfortunately.

Yeah, I drove through this area a couple of months ago. It's the kind of place that has pro-life billboards every few miles on the interstate. Also, Sikeston. Which tries to present having a restaurant that throws bread at you as a redeeming quality (spoiler: it isn't). It makes Jeffco look cosmopolitan.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 11:11 AM on October 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

Charles Pierce: Republicans Were So Busy Trying to Repeal Obamacare, They Ran Out the Clock on 9 Million Kids

Don’t worry, though. The House of Representatives is on the case. In a tweet earlier Monday morning, Maggie Haberman of The New York Times pointed us to this statement from a “House GOP aide” that claims that the funding won’t run out until December.

First of all, contra this House GOP Aide, Minnesota officials have pointed out to their congressional delegation that their state’s money ran out this past weekend. Second, this is not a scenario that should give anyone much hope. If the thinking within the Republican congressional majority is that they have another two months leeway with this program, then I don’t think it unreasonable to assume that they will use it as a bargaining…er…chip in the upcoming slanging match over the budget, thus making the health coverage for nine million kids a hostage to, say, the elimination of the estate tax. Are they above doing this? Are you kidding me?

posted by homunculus at 11:22 AM on October 2, 2017 [41 favorites]

On the biggest cases, with the highest political impacts, we know for a fact how 4 Republican justices will vote, and Anthony Kennedy is a backstabbing ally.

Honestly, I think the problem is that people keep trying to make the Supreme Court do what it's not designed to do. It's designed to enforce and interpret a 200-year old document. In no way did said 200-year old document intend most of what's happening now, our society, our capacities, etc. And so a lot of progressive decisions even make human sense, but for them to fit into "Constitutionality" requires a metric fuckton of twisting.

So for example a woman should have a right to an abortion on humanitarian grounds, but Roe v Wade had to jump some twisty hoops to find a Constitutional right, for example. It wasn't decided because of cold legal facts, but rather because women were dying trying to seek back alley abortions. For the noblest of reasons - but not the best of legal ones. Similarly with a lot of cases heading to the nations highest court - the moral and the legal answer don't always agree.

And so you're appointing people to a court that has to fulfill a two hundred year old dictate, and also saying they are the highest authority in the land, the court of last appeal. It's..a problem, to say the least.
posted by corb at 11:31 AM on October 2, 2017 [11 favorites]

Are you advocating Originalism?
posted by fluttering hellfire at 11:38 AM on October 2, 2017

The Atlantic, Julia Ioffe and Franklin Foer, Did Manafort Use Trump to Curry Favor With a Putin Ally?: "Emails turned over to investigators detail the former campaign chair's efforts to please an oligarch tied to the Kremlin." The Post previously published excerpts of these emails, but the Atlantic has them all.

Despite his apparently precarious financial situation, Manafort went to work for the Trump campaign for free in March 2016. Later that year, he took out $16 million in loans against his New York properties. (The loans are now being investigated by both the Manhattan District Attorney and the New York Attorney General.) In the email exchange that took place two weeks after starting on the campaign, Manafort seemed primarily concerned with the Russian oligarch’s approval for his work with Trump—and asked for confirmation that Deripaska was indeed paying attention.

“Yes, I have been sending everything to Victor, who has been forwarding the coverage directly to OVD,” Kilimnik responded in April, referring again to Deripaska. (“Victor” is a Deripaska aide, the source close to Manafort confirmed.) “Frankly, the coverage has been much better than Trump’s,” Kilimnik wrote. “In any case it will hugely enhance your reputation no matter what happens.”
...
On July 29, a week after Trump accepted the Republican nomination, Manafort received another email from Kilimnik, this one with the subject line “Black Caviar.” “I met today with the guy who gave you your biggest black caviar jar several years ago,” Kilimnik wrote. “We spent about 5 hours talking about his story, and I have several important messages from him to you. He asked me to go and brief you on our conversation. I said I have to run it by you first, but in principle I am prepared to do it, provided that he buys me a ticket. It has to do about the future of his country, and is quite interesting. So, if you are not absolutely against the concept, please let me know which dates/places will work, even next week, and I could come and see you.”

Manafort agreed to the cryptic request, responding “Tuesday is best.”

By this point, the correspondence between Manafort and Kilimnik had grown even more veiled. There was no longer mention of Victor or even V; the reference to Deripaska as OVD had fallen out. Yet there are two clues that may hint at the identity of the person whom Kilimnik describes as “the guy who gave you your biggest black caviar jar.” One is a reference to “his country,” apparently not the same as Kilimnik’s, who is from Ukraine. The second is the reference to jars of black caviar. Investigators believe that to be a reference to payments, The Washington Post reported.

More cryptic stuff inside, of the sort that makes my head hurt, but the fundamental question is just who Manafort was working for whhen he was working for free for a self-professed billionaire while he clearly needed a large quantity of money.
posted by zachlipton at 11:43 AM on October 2, 2017 [38 favorites]

ancient and holey

"holey?" as in "full of holes"?

Best. Typo. Ever.
posted by Archelaus at 11:49 AM on October 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

“I met today with the guy who gave you your biggest black caviar jar several years ago,”

"Can I come by your place later? I want to buy three green sweaters and half a newspaper."
posted by Faint of Butt at 11:50 AM on October 2, 2017 [42 favorites]

advocating Originalism?

It just so happens, coincidence I'm sure, that "originalism" plays into the hands of Republicans who are always for some racist status quo. If it isn't explicitly written in the 200-year-old Constitution, then you can safely ignore it. Like slavery or child labor or miscegenation or private decisions about healthcare or use of contraceptives or LGBT rights or education ...

Remember that Republicanism and Conservatism is about preserving the past and the privileges and racism and inequality associated with that. Just a coincidence, I guess, about that "originalism."

> the moral and the legal answer don't always agree

If the Constitution isn't about morality and equality, what good is it?
posted by JackFlash at 11:53 AM on October 2, 2017 [8 favorites]

ArgentCorvid: Trump didn't botch the Puerto Rico response. Bloomberg says so.

In case people are looking for some specifics on criticisms of this, here are some I found:

re: USNS Comfort not being dispatched
> It takes time to both man and equip her for sea. Given that there was no certainty where the hurricane would hit, it doesn’t make sense to have readied her prior to its impact.

Except that's not the case. We knew four days out that Puerto Rico was within the cone of uncertainty. Unlike Harvey, we knew it was going to hit the island, we just didn't know its strength at landfall.

> Amphibious ships including the light amphibious carriers Kearsarge and Wasp and the amphibious landing ship dock Oak Hill were at sea and dispatched to Puerto Rico ahead of the hurricane’s impact.

This implies they anticipated the hurricane hitting Puerto Rico, but apparently those ships were dispatched to the USVI after Hurricane Irma, not Hurricane Maria. The USVI are 180 km to the East, so in the region but I'm not sure how much actual support they can provide to both at that same time. To that point, it's interesting to me the Pentagon doesn't specify the aid to each but only the region as a whole:

> The USS Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group has already been conducting rescue operations in the region, including eight medical evacuations and 148 airlifts, and delivered 44,177 pounds of relief supplies and cargo to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands since Maria struck, according to the Pentagon.

Those ships carry CH-53 Sea Stallions, which as far as I can tell has an operational range when cargo loaded of 50 nm, or about 92 km. So it doesn't seem feasible they could unload cargo by helicopter at both Puerto Rico and the USVI at the same time, even positioned directly in the middle (no fuel for the return trip.)

Unless we get more info from the Pentagon, my guess is they dispatched to USVI after Irma, and one or both ships had to move after Maria hit, so I'd argue the implication they prepared in advance for Maria is disingenuous.
posted by bluecore at 11:54 AM on October 2, 2017 [8 favorites]

Dana Milbank in the Washington Post: Donald Trump’s dog

See Rex.

Rex is a big dog. Rex is the top dog. Rex has a good job. Rex can fly! Rex has a jet. Fly, Rex, fly. Rex flies to other lands. Rex sits. Rex shakes. Rex speaks. When Rex speaks, Rex thinks he speaks for the U.S.A.

See Donald. Donald owns Rex. Rex is Donald’s dog. Donald is loud. Donald is big. Donald is bigger than Rex. Donald is mean to Rex. When Rex speaks, Donald tweets. Donald tweets like a bird. Tweet, Donald, tweet. Donald’s tweets hurt Rex. Donald says: Bad, Rex! Do not speak, Rex. Rex, you do not speak for the U.S.A. Only Donald speaks for the U.S.A.

Rex rolls over. Roll, Rex, roll. Good boy. Rex tells Donald he will not be a bad dog again. Rex tries. Rex tries hard. Rex tries very hard. But then Rex forgets. Rex thinks he speaks for the U.S.A. again. Donald gets mad again. Donald tweets again. Rex rolls over again.

Rex is so sad. Rex wants to cry. Rex was a big boss once. He dug for oil. Dig, Rex, dig. Rex made a lot of bones. But Donald said: Do not dig, Rex. Come be my dog.

Some commentary on the on-going humiliation of one Rex Tillerson. Not that I find Tillerson to be a particularly admirable person, but I can't fathom why he would continually put up with this crap shoveled onto him by the WH.
posted by Excommunicated Cardinal at 12:05 PM on October 2, 2017 [25 favorites]

Not that I find Tillerson to be a particularly admirable person, but I can't fathom why he would continually put up with this crap shoveled onto him by the WH.

Somebody has to be Reek. And it seems like Reekhood is now a requirement to serve in the Cabinet.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 12:10 PM on October 2, 2017 [4 favorites]

It is revolting, watching 45, the deadbeat playboy, go all religious in his comments about Las Vegas.

To understand the level of cognitive dissonance at play, this was on my FB feed today [trigger warning: vomit inducing for actual Christians].
posted by dhartung at 12:16 PM on October 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

WaPo, Tom Hamburger,, Rosalind S. Helderman and Adam Entous, Trump’s company had more contact with Russia during campaign, according to documents turned over to investigators. Yep, it's Michael "Says Who" Cohen again:

Associates of President Trump and his company have turned over documents to federal investigators that reveal two previously unreported contacts from Russia during the 2016 campaign, according to people familiar with the matter.

In one case, Trump’s personal attorney and a business associate exchanged emails weeks before the Republican National Convention about traveling to an economic conference in Russia that would be attended by top Russian financial and government leaders, including President Vladi­mir Putin, according to people familiar with the correspondence.

In the other case, the same Trump attorney, Michael Cohen, received a proposal in late 2015 for a Moscow residential project from a company founded by a billionaire who once served in the Russian Senate, these people said. The previously unreported inquiry marks the second proposal for a Trump-branded Moscow project that was delivered to the company during the presidential campaign and has since come to light.

Cohen declined the invitation to the economic conference, citing the difficulty of attending so close to the GOP convention, according to people familiar with the matter. And Cohen rejected the Moscow building plan.

Well, I'm sure whoever invited him to the economic conference was totally on the up and up. No, wait, that would be Felix Sater, the shadiest guy I have ever seen:

The June 2016 email to Cohen about the economic conference came from Felix Sater, a Russian-born real estate developer and former Trump business associate. Sater encouraged Cohen to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, with Sater telling Cohen that he could be introduced to Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian prime minister, top financial leaders and perhaps to Putin, according to people familiar with the correspondence. At one point, Sater told Cohen that Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, could help arrange the discussions, according to a person familiar with the exchange.

posted by zachlipton at 12:18 PM on October 2, 2017 [16 favorites]

Not that I find Tillerson to be a particularly admirable person, but I can't fathom why he would continually put up with this crap shoveled onto him by the WH.

Because he's been promised tangible rewards, most likely billions of dollars in oil contracts for his former employer, which will mean hundreds of millions of dollars for Rex personally at some point down the road.
posted by cell divide at 12:21 PM on October 2, 2017 [6 favorites]

BREAKING according to the AP: Interior Dept. opens investigation into Zinke's use of private air charters.

Calling it now. Next to go: Zinke.
posted by Sophie1 at 12:25 PM on October 2, 2017 [36 favorites]

Calling it now. Next to go: Zinke.

oh please oh please oh please /crosses fingers

These people make Warren "Teapot Dome" Harding's Cabinet look like a bunch of Boy Scouts.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 12:29 PM on October 2, 2017 [20 favorites]

To understand the level of cognitive dissonance at play, this was on my FB feed today [trigger warning: vomit inducing for actual Christians].

From that link:
“Not the globalists,” said Bachmann. “The globalists are being frustrated at every turn because he’s a very unusual character.

Oy.
posted by snuffleupagus at 12:34 PM on October 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

Calling it now. Next to go: Zinke.

oh please oh please oh please /crosses fingers

Careful what you wish for, if Zinke goes he's probably going to turn around and run against Jon Tester in Montana. There's no Republican candidate yet and Zinke was the assumed front runner prior to taking over Interior. After just electing a Republican who assaulted a reporter on camera, I doubt Montana voters are going to care all that much about some private plane flights.
posted by T.D. Strange at 12:36 PM on October 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

I love that, since Trump cares for no one but himself, he's happy to instantly throw loyal cabinet members under the bus to win the news cycle, distract from other stuff. Price, Zinke, Pruitt, etc. He would have fired Sessions, too, if he thought he could get away with it.

...and Rex is probably gone by the end of year, as well (he just wants out.)
posted by leotrotsky at 12:37 PM on October 2, 2017

This guy is Zinke's successor. I feel like I should go dig out his confirmation from C-SPAN and give it a whirl and see what we're in for.

I could only hope he'd be too disgraced to run against Tester, but that would be ascribing normal people emotions to these people.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 12:39 PM on October 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

I think the next departures in order will be Zinke, Shuklin, Sessions, Javanka, and then Pruitt. Pruitt is batnuts and he'll hang on until he's close to being forcibly removed in a straightjacket.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 12:41 PM on October 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

Did you all forget who the Boy Scouts invited to the Jamboree this year?
posted by fluttering hellfire at 12:47 PM on October 2, 2017 [6 favorites]

...and Rex is probably gone by the end of year, as well

He's going to tell John Kelly to fire his chief of staff because now Ivanka can't just bartending any more.

These people make Warren "Teapot Dome" Harding's Cabinet look like a bunch of Boy Scouts.

When I was in third grade I had to do a report on Warren G. Harding. Now the poor child who gets assigned Warren G. Harding can be grateful that at least they didn't get assigned Donald J. Trump.
posted by Room 641-A at 12:49 PM on October 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

Rex Tillerson Must Go. “If he does remain, it will be yet another sign of the collapse of self respect among those who are now willing to serve in senior positions in government.”
posted by homunculus at 12:52 PM on October 2, 2017 [4 favorites]

I think the next departures in order will be Zinke, Shuklin, Sessions, Javanka, and then Pruitt. Pruitt is batnuts and he'll hang on until he's close to being forcibly removed in a straightjacket.

If Trump thought he could fire Sessions he'd be gone already. I think Sessions hangs on. That also makes Rosenstein Acting AG until the appointment and confirmation of a successor. Can you imagine those confirmation hearings?
posted by leotrotsky at 12:52 PM on October 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

Huh, I think Sessions quits because something surfaces with the Special Counsel that turns up the heat a little too high under Racist Elf's feet.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 12:55 PM on October 2, 2017 [4 favorites]

Right after Price resigned, my husband said that this is going to be the way that all these assholes get out of these jobs they clearly don't actually want without being "quitters."
posted by soren_lorensen at 12:57 PM on October 2, 2017 [4 favorites]

Calling it now. Next to go: Zinke.

I've created an apropriate meme for just this eventuality.
posted by Atom Eyes at 1:05 PM on October 2, 2017 [5 favorites]

I'd argue the implication they prepared in advance for Maria is disingenuous.

Yeah, you know, being full of American citizens and stuff, Puerto Rico should have pre-staged "civil defense" supplies on the order of say... Maritime Prepositioning Ships Squadrons (MPSRON), IIRC 7 ships each.
posted by mikelieman at 1:10 PM on October 2, 2017

I think the next departures in order will be Zinke, Shuklin, Sessions, Javanka, and then Pruitt.

Don't forget Elaine Chao!
posted by chaoticgood at 1:21 PM on October 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

Covering President Trump in a Polarized Media Environment -- During the early days of the administration, similar storylines covered across outlets, but types of sources heard from and the assessments of Trump’s actions differed (Amy Mitchell, Jeffrey Gottfried, Galen Stocking, Katerina Eva Matsa and Elizabeth Grieco for Pew Research Center, Journalism and Media, Oct. 2, 2017)

Within a news story, the statements from the sources cited – and what reporters choose to quote from them – as well as the reporter’s own language formulate the overall assessment of the Trump administration. During the time period studied, stories from outlets with a right-leaning audience were at least five times more likely to carry an overall positive evaluation of Trump’s words or actions (defined as stories that contained at least twice as many positive statements as negative ones) than stories from outlets with a left-of-center or more mixed audience (31% vs. 5% and 6%, respectively). They were also at least three times less likely to carry negative assessments (14% vs. 56% and 47%, respectively). Still, most stories from outlets with a right-leaning audience (55%) carried neither a positive nor negative assessment of the president.

Another area of difference is the degree to which the reporter of a story directly refuted or corrected a statement by President Trump or a member of the administration. Overall, this occurred in one-in-ten stories, but it was about seven times as common in stories from outlets with a left-leaning audience (15%) than right-leaning ones (2%), while outlets with a more mixed audience fell in the middle (10%).

I know that refuting all the incorrect statements from the Trump Team, and more broadly the GOP at large, would likely double the size of the average political article, but come on, only 1 in 10 stories?

Found via the poorly titled NPR article: Study: News Coverage Of Trump More Negative Than For Other Presidents, to which I replied "of course, that's because he's more negative or out-right wrong than other presidents."
posted by filthy light thief at 1:25 PM on October 2, 2017 [9 favorites]

McSweeney’s: A Mother’s Curse for Congress After It Let CHIP Funding for Nine Million Children Expire
posted by homunculus at 1:35 PM on October 2, 2017 [26 favorites]

Once again, Trump turns public opinion against his position. USA TODAY Poll: Americans say Trump is wrong on NFL protests

Most Americans say the protests by NFL players during the National Anthem are appropriate, a USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds, and they say, by overwhelming margins, that President Trump's heated criticism of them are not.

Two-thirds in the poll of registered voters, by 68%-27%, say Trump's call for NFL owners to fire the players and fans to boycott their games is inappropriate. That includes a third of Republicans as well as nine of 10 Democrats.

By 51%-42%, those surveyed say the players' protests are appropriate. [...]

Whites are closely divided on whether the players' protests are appropriate; 44% say they are and 49% disagree. But blacks by a wide margin call them appropriate.

When it comes to the president's remarks, whites call them inappropriate by 2-1. Blacks overwhelmingly hold that view.

posted by chris24 at 2:02 PM on October 2, 2017 [20 favorites]

Great, so by the end of the week we could have 75% of the people publicly supporting tougher gun control. Release the hound, General Kelly.
posted by Room 641-A at 2:12 PM on October 2, 2017 [4 favorites]

So some 40% of people who oppose the protests nonetheless believe it's inappropriate for Trump to wade in the way he has, which is actually kind of encouraging in our hyper-partisan morass.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 2:28 PM on October 2, 2017 [18 favorites]

Two-thirds in the poll of registered voters, by 68%-27%, say Trump's call for NFL owners to fire the players and fans to boycott their games is inappropriate. That includes a third of Republicans as well as nine of 10 Democrats.

I'm really very curious about these people who have been the perpetual "fifth dentist" of Democrats in all these polls this year, just being in the tank for Trump on all these issues. Are they all just Dixiecrat versions of WW2 Japanese holdouts?
posted by jason_steakums at 2:41 PM on October 2, 2017 [9 favorites]

Black Caviar is pretty shitty spycraft code
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 2:51 PM on October 2, 2017 [9 favorites]

Covering President Trump in a Polarized Media Environment

This title, by itself, is wankish fuckery. Granpa, what's a "Polarized Media Environment"?

Seven-in-ten stories from outlets with a left-leaning audience and 62% from those with a more mixed audience included at least two of nine types of sources evaluated, such as a member of the administration, a member of Congress, or an outside expert.

HE'S A DEMENTED SOCIOPATH WITH NO IMPULSE CONTROL AND NUCLEAR CODES. Fuck your polarized media environment, non-partisan Pew Research Center. WE PAST THAT NOW.

Also your quantitative social science methodologies are for shit. Now grab a shovel.
posted by petebest at 3:11 PM on October 2, 2017 [20 favorites]

Dude, it's me, Dave. Let me in, man. I have the Black Caviar, man.
posted by klarck at 3:14 PM on October 2, 2017 [10 favorites]

I used to know a guy back in Washington D.C. who sold "spicy green chilis", he said it was OK to text him whenever as long as you only used "Spicy Green Chilis"... for example can I get an 1/8th of Spicy Green Chilis. Brilliant.
posted by cell divide at 3:38 PM on October 2, 2017 [10 favorites]

Sounds like aNew Mexico transplant.
posted by wobumingbai at 3:42 PM on October 2, 2017 [4 favorites]

Black Caviar is pretty shitty spycraft code

Oss être was deemed too clever.
posted by snuffleupagus at 3:47 PM on October 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

I googled black caviar, and apparently it's a horse. Now I'm even more confused.
posted by ryanrs at 3:57 PM on October 2, 2017 [1 favorite]

Sen. Kamala Harris Drops Some Truth Bombs, Defends NFL Protests During Remarks at Historically Black Church
posted by homunculus at 4:01 PM on October 2, 2017 [12 favorites]

Whites are closely divided on whether the players' protests are appropriate; 44% say they are and 49% disagree. But blacks by a wide margin call them appropriate.

Someday I hope there will be a survey that asks what Black people think of the white players who stand by and do nothing while their black teammates protest.

I'd be really interested to see that.

The majority white NFL fans are now openly booing the players they have paid to see and whose jerseys they buy. It must be a hell of thing to stand in a stadium full of people who have paid to see you play and who cosplay as you but at the same time think your lives shouldn't matter as much as a flag and a song.
posted by srboisvert at 4:05 PM on October 2, 2017 [65 favorites]

wow Pat Robertson linked the NFL protests and the shooting. I note it, not in anger, but in puzzlement, because I have apparently run out of fucks, evens, what have you.
posted by angrycat at 4:26 PM on October 2, 2017 [8 favorites]

Pat Robertson linked the NFL protests and the shooting.

How about Puerto Rico, Pat? How does it all fit in?
posted by aspersioncast at 4:31 PM on October 2, 2017 [4 favorites]

Politico, Josh Dawsey and Andrea Peterson, Hundreds of White House emails sent to third Kushner family account

White House officials have begun examining emails associated with a third and previously unreported email account on Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s private domain, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Hundreds of emails have been sent since January from White House addresses to accounts on the Kushner family domain, these people said. Many of those emails went not to Kushner’s or Ivanka Trump’s personal addresses but to an account they both had access to and shared with their personal household staff for family scheduling.

The emails—which include non-public travel documents, internal schedules and some official White House materials—were in many cases sent from Ivanka Trump, her assistant Bridges Lamar and others who work with the couple in the White House. The emails to the third account were largely sent from White House accounts but occasionally came from other private accounts, one of these people said.
...
Many of the emails came from Ivanka Trump’s assistant and included work-related “data,” according to a person familiar with the exchanges. Such messages were sent “daily,” this person added.

“They’ve pretty much been using it since they got here,” this person said.

BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS BUT HER EMAILS

This better be in a fucking special commemorative edition of the New York Times.
posted by zachlipton at 5:21 PM on October 2, 2017 [92 favorites]

Oh, and if you want more things to rage at, the House is set to vote tomorrow on a bill banning abortion at 20 weeks. It's not currently expected to pass the Senate, though who the hell knows.
posted by zachlipton at 5:23 PM on October 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

Yeah but what did we have to lose?

I mean besides our standing, dignity, principles, direction, allies, and stuff. Clownwigs for all!*

* NOT CLOWNIST
posted by petebest at 5:45 PM on October 2, 2017 [2 favorites]

So for example a woman should have a right to an abortion on humanitarian grounds, but Roe v Wade had to jump some twisty hoops to find a Constitutional right, for example.

People concerned that the government might intrude into a dwelling probably could not conceive of a government willing to intrude into a womb.
posted by Mental Wimp at 5:53 PM on October 2, 2017 [9 favorites]

Oss être was deemed too clever.

Too clever for me... What's it mean?
posted by Coventry at 6:02 PM on October 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

Ossetra is a kind of black(ish) caviar. OSS was the predecessor of the CIA.

A bad pun for a bad day.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:25 PM on October 2, 2017 [23 favorites]

A private server.
Seriously.
posted by Dashy at 6:43 PM on October 2, 2017 [3 favorites]

And Puerto Rico has vanished, Trump will presnutdent in Vegas in stead. The news has forgotten about the Caribbean.
posted by Oyéah at 6:52 PM on October 2, 2017 [9 favorites]

Ossetra is a kind of black(ish) caviar.

TIL! Thanks.
posted by Coventry at 7:28 PM on October 2, 2017

UPCOMING SPECIAL ELECTIONS - NOVEMBER - PART 4

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

====

November 7 - Mississippi House 38 - [multiple candidates]

HD-38 is currently a D seat (the incumbent resigned, apparently just because he was tired of it); the D ran unopposed in 2015 and 2011. No presidential results, sorry. The Rs control the Mississippi House by about 25 seats. Mississippi specials are nominally non-partisan; all three candidates are actually Democrats, as far as I can determine.

=> Another low-info race with guaranteed D result.

====

November 7 - Mississippi House 54 - [multiple candidates]

HD-54 is currently an R seat (the incumbent resigned to become an alderman in Vicksburg); the R ran unopposed in 2015 and 2011. No presidential results, sorry.

=> These MS races are brutal. At least get a facebook page, guys.

====

November 7 - New Hampshire House Sullivan 1 - Brian Sullivan

HD-Sullivan 1 is currently a D seat (the incumbent resigned for reasons unclear - you see a lot of this in the NH House, because it is so weird); this is a two seat district that has returned two Ds the last three elections - by an 8 point margin in 2016, 7 points in 2014, and 8 points in 2012. The district went for Clinton 59-37 and Obama 59-40. The Rs control the New Hampshire House by about 50 seats.

=> Looks like a solid D seat.

====

November 7 - New Hampshire House Hillsborough 15 - Erika Connors

HD-Hillsborough 15 is currently an R seat (the incumbent passed away); this is a two seat district that went D-R the last three elections. The district went for Trump 53-43 and Romney 51-48.

=> Bit of a stretch, but a Dem gain is doable. A website would help, Erika!

====

November 7 - South Carolina House 113 - Marvin Pendarvis

HD-113 is currently a D seat (the incumbent resigned to become a judge); the D was unopposed in 2016, 2014, and 2012. The district went for Clinton 67-28 and Obama 73-26. The Rs control the South Carolina House by about 35 seats.

=> Should be a safe D hold.

posted by Chrysostom at 8:07 PM on October 2, 2017 [28 favorites]

ELECTIONS NEWS

** VA gov:

-- The NRA had been planning to go up tomorrow with pro-Gillespie ads. Those are being delayed a week in the wake of the Las Vegas shooting.

-- Gillespie got the backing of a business group after pledging to oppose any "bathroom bills." That's news to conservatives, to whom he has signaled otherwise. [WP]

** 2018 House:

-- The proposed GOP tax plan would take away state/local tax deductability. That would mean a tax increase for people living in high tax areas, which happens to have a lot of overlap with a list of the most vulnerable GOP reps. [Vox]

-- WA-08 will be a critical pickup for the Dems (this was Reichert's district). Candidate Kim Schrier is off to good fundraising start, banking $270K in just 7 weeks.

-- Dems plan to make healthcare the centerpiece of House campaigns. [The Hill]

posted by Chrysostom at 8:38 PM on October 2, 2017 [31 favorites]

** VA gov

In addition, GOP donors appear to be staying on the sidelines, Gillespie has raised less money than any Virginia gubernatorial candidate since Mark Earley in 2001. He’s a GOP insider and the party’s best shot to flip a seat this year. Where’s the money? (WaPo)

About half of the top 20 donors for Cuccinelli and McDonnell had not donated to Gillespie as of Aug. 31, [nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project] data shows. And nearly 70 percent of the 428 donors who gave at least $100 to both McDonnell and Cuccinelli by the same point in the campaign cycle have not given to Gillespie.

posted by peeedro at 12:01 AM on October 3, 2017 [7 favorites]

Timely distraction? The Guardian's editorial wags an invisible finger
posted by infini at 2:28 AM on October 3, 2017 [6 favorites]

Timely distraction? The Guardian's editorial wags an invisible finger

As pointed out to me in person, it is a hell of a way for Puerto Ricans to learn they are Black.
posted by jaduncan at 2:38 AM on October 3, 2017 [13 favorites]

Trump aides were apparently arguing that he should cancel the trip to PR yesterday. Which, does he really think an island with no infrastructure and millions of suffering people are going to go away in one news cycle?
posted by angrycat at 4:42 AM on October 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

Everything is horrific, and this shittiest of administrations is failing to deal with most of it. But the shooting is over, and its aftermath localized. The aftermath of the hurricane is just going to continue. Maybe Trump shouldn't go, because fuck Trump and fuck Trump trying to appear presidential. Send money. Send a Trump-sized food and water package.

We can't let them live yet another massive failure down.
posted by aspersioncast at 5:18 AM on October 3, 2017 [8 favorites]

aspersioncast: a Trump-sized food and water package

Same diff.
posted by Too-Ticky at 5:23 AM on October 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

Trump is just now saying live that the roads are cleared in PR. And just before that he said that LV was "a miracle. The first responders did a great job."
posted by Room 641-A at 5:24 AM on October 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

I'm starting to think he's not capable of change.
posted by petebest at 5:32 AM on October 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

holy shit. "Miracle"?
posted by angrycat at 5:32 AM on October 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

Ladies, I'm starting to think that trump might not be that smart.
posted by medusa at 5:40 AM on October 3, 2017 [11 favorites]

holy shit. "Miracle"?

Most likely he's talking about the SWAT team succeeding, not the entire event.
posted by thelonius at 5:59 AM on October 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

It's miraculous how it swept all the bad news about himself from cable TV.
posted by Devonian at 6:06 AM on October 3, 2017 [17 favorites]

Most likely he's talking about the SWAT team succeeding, not the entire event.

Yes, here's context with a link to a video.
posted by peeedro at 6:12 AM on October 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

Trump: I'm smart! Ess emm arr tee smart!
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 6:20 AM on October 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

Thank you, peeedro. Can't wait for my Trumpcare hearing aids to arrive!
posted by Room 641-A at 6:21 AM on October 3, 2017

Trump: I can handle things! I'm smart! Not like everybody says...like dumb...I'm smart and I want respect!
posted by kirkaracha at 6:25 AM on October 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

he said that LV was "a miracle. The first responders did a great job."

If this guy didn't have the sense of a doorknob I'd swear he was employing some crazy subliminal tactics on his base. Nobody on the planet would use the world "miracle" to describe the shooting in LV—it was anything BUT a goddamn miracle. But here's our prez, throwing out the word "miracle" to make his fundie base's ears perk up for a second. Unbelievable.
posted by Rykey at 6:26 AM on October 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

Most likely he's talking about the SWAT team succeeding,

In apprehended the suspect who had earlier committed suicide? What's that about "Born on third, thinks they hit a home run"
posted by mikelieman at 6:27 AM on October 3, 2017 [4 favorites]

In apprehended the suspect who had earlier committed suicide? What's that about "Born on third, thinks they hit a home run"

The shooter engaged SWAT through the door and then shot himself when they were breaching is the latest I've heard.
posted by chris24 at 6:28 AM on October 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

Ah, on preview, thanks for the context, peeedro. Although Trump still does Christian theology no favors when he fails to question what kind of God would wait until 50-plus people are dead and hundreds injured before deciding to step in with the "miracle" of stopping the shooter, through the human construct of a SWAT team.
posted by Rykey at 6:30 AM on October 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

Bloomberg: The GOP Tax Plan Is Already Hitting Speed Bumps

Some details on the problems they're having. And the hypocrisy of this bit is... crazy.

White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney is signaling similar flexibility, saying on CNN Sunday that decisions about deductions remain up in the air as “the bill is not finished yet.” He took it a step further, by adding that a tax plan that doesn’t add to the deficit won’t spur growth.

“I’ve been very candid about this. We need to have new deficits because of that. We need to have the growth,” Mulvaney said. “If we simply look at this as being deficit-neutral, you’re never going to get the type of tax reform and tax reductions that you need to get to sustain 3 percent economic growth.”

posted by chris24 at 6:33 AM on October 3, 2017 [15 favorites]

An Oral History of the Trump Administration, as told through anonymous quotes from White House and Republican officials, broken down into the categories The Staff, Workplace Drama, The Daily Grind, and Moscow HQ: "What emerges from this anonymous stew is an ongoing record of the Republican failure to speak up in public, while the president wreaks havoc both here and abroad. It is a story about a rotting GOP, as told by the greatest cowards of the Trump era."

My favorite comes from 'one of Washington's best-connected Republicans' that was making the rounds among the Republican establishment in DC: "Trump is like Ollie North. He actually believes the stuff he's lying about."
posted by Doktor Zed at 6:34 AM on October 3, 2017 [39 favorites]

Battle for Bama: How the Tide Could Turn Against Roy Moore
posted by T.D. Strange at 6:35 AM on October 3, 2017 [6 favorites]

Trump: I can handle things! I'm smart! Not like everybody says...like dumb...I'm smart and I want respect!

He wants things that make him go.
posted by orrnyereg at 6:40 AM on October 3, 2017 [11 favorites]

I’ve been very candid about this. We need to have new deficits because of that. We need to have the growth,” Mulvaney said. “If we simply look at this as being deficit-neutral, you’re never going to get the type of tax reform and tax reductions that you need to get to sustain 3 percent economic growth

Fuckin’ Supply Siders.

Let’s be candid about this: that shit never works.
posted by notyou at 6:47 AM on October 3, 2017 [24 favorites]

Same diff.

Q: What's the difference between Trump and canned corned beef hash?
A: The US hasn't sent hundreds of pounds of Trump to Puerto Rico.
posted by aspersioncast at 6:50 AM on October 3, 2017 [9 favorites]

Can someone with a non-R senator suggest to them that some good gun control measures be amended to the upcoming tax bill? Because mine don't listen when I try to suggest stuff like that.
posted by ArgentCorvid at 7:03 AM on October 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

Seconded _{tiniest laugh}

My senators have about as much power/voice as Puerto Rico's.
posted by aspersioncast at 7:21 AM on October 3, 2017

My senators are a gelatinous cube in a human suit and an animated evil aging Ken doll. Texas senators care not for my gay space communistic demand.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 7:24 AM on October 3, 2017 [23 favorites]

We need to have new deficits because of that.

The Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, and A Fiscal Conservative were walking down the street when they see a quarter laying there. Which one picks it up ?

Nobody, because none of them exist.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 7:34 AM on October 3, 2017 [38 favorites]

Alex Nichols in The Outline: Dinesh D'Souza is the Perfect Propagandist for Trump's America

The associations D’Souza attempts to draw between Democrats and Nazis in The Big Lie, which he promoted at the White House in August, are even more shoddily constructed. He takes a bit of truth — that Hitler looked to America’s policy of Manifest Destiny (which, remember, was completed in the Republican-dominated postbellum era) when planning his own lebensraum — and surrounds it with hoax stories, cherry-picked quotes and strategic omissions. He earnestly cites the debunked Planned Parenthood “baby-selling” video from 2015 in order to compare it to Josef Mengele. He quotes Franklin D. Roosevelt complimenting Mussolini (he called him an “admirable Italian gentleman” in the early 1930s) in order to make the case that the New Deal was identical to fascism, and then discounts Roosevelt’s leadership in World War II by arguing that Stalin deserves sole credit for defeating the Nazis — a left-wing argument that might offend D’Souza’s Cold War-reared audience if they had more than six months of working memory. This is one of many paradoxes inherent to D’Souza’s current crusade. Throughout his tortured arguments, he endorses sentiments — admitting the Civil War was fought over slavery, backing anti-discrimination laws, and downplaying the US role in the World Wars, to name a few — that would infuriate his readers if they were attributed to a liberal.

[...]

Paradoxically, the people most likely to read and watch D’Souza’s output — far-right “populists” like Trump — are the least likely to be repulsed by his depictions of America’s racist past. This is the central flaw in D’Souza’s hyper-partisan mythmaking. No matter how hard he tries to pin everything from slavery to the Holocaust on the modern Democratic Party, the true inheritors of past racist ideologies will always incriminate themselves. Democrats may have been the subjects of Confederate statues, but Democrats aren't holding torchlit Klan rallies to defend them.

posted by Rustic Etruscan at 7:37 AM on October 3, 2017 [21 favorites]

Fuckin’ Supply Siders. Steal-From-The-99%-ers

There we go.
posted by petebest at 7:46 AM on October 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

Trump: I can handle things! I'm smart! Not like everybody says...like dumb...I'm smart and I want respect!

And also: 🎶 I am so smart! S-M-R-T! 🎶

Fredo Simpson: Dumbest. President. Ever.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:49 AM on October 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

In apprehended the suspect who had earlier committed suicide? What's that about "Born on third, thinks they hit a home run"

The Las Vegas SWAT located the guy and engaged with him, which resulted in him killing himself, quickly. They did a great job, despite the fact that Trump also says so.
posted by thelonius at 7:54 AM on October 3, 2017 [6 favorites]

_{gelatinous cube in a human suit/animated evil aging Ken doll 2020!}

we still doing this?
posted by aspersioncast at 8:01 AM on October 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

Remember how some rightwing nutjob sites made up a PR trucker strike so they could blame brown people instead of Trump? Well, in his statement this morning before flying to PR, Trump blamed PR truck drivers.

And also said that Puerto Ricans need to give the US more help.

Asked about the mayor of San Juan, P.R., who criticized the federal relief effort and whom he criticized on Twitter, he said:

"Well, I think she's come back a long way. I think it's now acknowledged what a great job we've done, and people are looking at that. And in Texas and in Florida, we get an A+. And I'll tell you what, I think we've done just as good in Puerto Rico, and it's actually a much tougher situation. But now the roads are cleared, communications is starting to come back. We need their truck drivers to start driving trucks."

"On a local level, they have to give us more help. But I will tell you, the first responders, the military, FEMA, they have done an incredible job in Puerto Rico. And whether it's her or anybody else, they're all starting to say it. I appreciate very much the governor and his comments. He has said we have done an incredible job, and that's the truth."

And the governor, who's been avoiding conflict with Trump, said this morning "We need more help."
posted by chris24 at 8:20 AM on October 3, 2017 [32 favorites]

My favorite comes from 'one of Washington's best-connected Republicans' that was making the rounds among the Republican establishment in DC: "Trump is like Ollie North. He actually believes the stuff he's lying about."

I lost interest in the Deanna Troi defense back doing the Gulf War. I don't care if they personally, temporarily, believe their own hogwash -- George Orwell pointed out back in 1948 that doing so was an essential ability of the propagandist. It's still doubleplusungood.
posted by Gelatin at 8:22 AM on October 3, 2017 [16 favorites]

I hate this administration so much I hope it doesn't rot my soul out
posted by yoga at 8:38 AM on October 3, 2017 [43 favorites]

Happy Tuesday! This is a perfect moment to remind everyone that self-care is vital in these trying times.
posted by carsonb at 8:44 AM on October 3, 2017 [6 favorites]

________________
|              |
|   TAX CUTS   |
|    DO NOT    |
|   PAY FOR    |
|  THEMSELVES  |
|              |
----------------
       ||
       ||
(\__/) ||
(•ㅅ•) ||
/ 　 づ
posted by Talez at 8:46 AM on October 3, 2017 [84 favorites]

UPCOMING SPECIAL ELECTIONS - NOVEMBER - PART 5

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

A slew of Washington state specials. This is big, because if the Ds win SD-45, they will have unified control of the state government. These are all November 7.

===

House District 7 -- Susan Swanson


HD-7 is currently an R seat (the incumbent was appointed as interim senator in SD-7); no D ran in 2016, 2014, or 2012 for either seat in the district. District went for Trump 63-29 and Romney 61-36. In the special primary, the R won 66-34.

=> At least the Dems had a candidate this time.

===

House District 31 -- Nate Lowry

HD-31 is currently an R seat (the incumbent was appointed as interim senator in SD-31); no D ran for either seat in 2016; in 2014 and 2012, D and R each took one of the seats. District went for Trump 50-42 and for Romney 50-48. In the special primary, the R won 57-43.

=> This is probably a winnable district, but doesn't look like it happens this time.

===

House District 48 -- Vandana Slatter

HD-48 is currently a D seat (the incumbent was appointed as interim senator in SD-48); no R ran for either seat in 2016; Ds won both seats in 2014 and 2012 by about 40 point margins. District went for Clinton 68-25 and Obama 62-36. In the special primary, the D won 77-23 over a Libertarian, no R candidate.

=> Super-safe D hold.

===

Senate District 7 -- Karen Hardy

SD-7 is currently an R seat (the incumbent took a job at the USDA); no D candidate in 2014 or 2013 special, the R won 75-25 in 2010. District went for Trump 63-29 and Romney 61-36. In the special primary, the R won 67-33.

=> Again, at least the Dems had a candidate this time.

===

SD-31 -- Michelle Rylands

SD-31 is currently an R seat (the incumbent won a seat on County Council); Ds ran, but did not reach the general in 2014 and 2010. District went for Trump 50-42 and for Romney 50-48. In the special primary, the R won 58-42.

=> This is probably a winnable district, but doesn't look like it happens this time.

===

Senate District 37 -- Rebecca Saldaña

SD-37 is currently a D seat (the incumbent won a seat in Congress); an R ran, but did not reach the general in 2014, no R ran in 2010. District went for Clinton 87-8 and for Obama 86-11. There was no opponent in the special primary, so the general is moot.

=> Now THIS is a safe seat.

===

Senate District 45 -- Manka Dhingra


SD-45 is currently an R seat (the incumbent passed away); R won 53-47 in 2014 and 51-49 in 2010. District went for Clinton 65-28 and Obama 58-40. In the special primary, the D won 51-41 (the third candidate was an independent, but seemed centrish, maybe a tad left of that).

=>This is the big magilla. Based on the primary and 2016 pres, the D looks good, but there is a lot of outside GOP money flowing in. Polling in LDs is really iffy, but there was a poll that showed Dhingra up several point.

===

Senate District 48 -- Patty Kuderer

SD-48 is currently a D seat (the incumbent was elected lieutenant governor); D won 65-35 in 2014 and 53-47 in 2010. District went for Clinton 68-25 and Obama 62-36. In the special primary, the D won 62-23 over a Libertarian, no R candidate.

=> Super-safe D hold.

posted by Chrysostom at 8:53 AM on October 3, 2017 [33 favorites]

This Is What It Looks Like When the President Asks People to Snitch on Their Neighbors
Together, the logs are a grim running diary of a country where people eagerly report their fellow residents to the authorities, or seek to bring the power of the immigration police to bear on family disputes.
posted by T.D. Strange at 8:56 AM on October 3, 2017 [20 favorites]

T.D. Strange: "Battle for Bama: How the Tide Could Turn Against Roy Moore"

Speaking of which, new JMC Analytics poll:

Moore 48%
Jones 40%
McBride 1%
(11% undecided)

Generic Republican 49%
Generic Democrat 45%
(6% undecided)

This follows on the earlier Opinion Savvy poll that found Moore up 50-45.

(you can help Jones here)
posted by Chrysostom at 9:01 AM on October 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

What a card!
posted by kirkaracha at 9:28 AM on October 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

UPCOMING SPECIAL ELECTIONS - NOVEMBER - PART 6

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Last one (until we get those ME and MA candidates).

====

November 7 - Utah US House 3 - Kathie Allen

UT-03 is currently an R seat (this is the Jason Chaffetz seat; he's resigned to be an evildoer elsewhere); the R won 74-26 in 2016 and 72-23 in 2014. The district went for Trump 47-23 and Romney 78-20. In addition to the D and the R, there is a Libertarian, an Independent American Party candidate, an independent, and a United Utah Party candidate.

=> Well, that's a lot of candidates to split the vote on the right. And the R was the least conservative person in the primary (he's the mayor of Provo). But still, this is a very long shot for the D.

====

November 14 - Oklahoma House 76 - Chris VanLandingham

HD-76 is currently an R seat (the incumbent passed away); the R won 68-32 in 2016, 72-28 in 2014, and 68-32 in 2012. The district went for Trump 65-30 and Romney 71-29. The Rs control the Oklahoma House by about 45 seats.

=> Normally, you'd say this is totally out of reach. But in the four OK specials this year, the D swing has averaged +33 vs Trump margin. So it's just possible.

====

November 14 - Oklahoma Senate 37 - Allison Ikley-Freeman

SD-37 is currently an R seat (the incumbent resigned to pursue work in the private sector); the R won 56-40 in 2016 and was unopposed in 2012. The district went for Trump 67-27 and for Romney 69-31. The Rs control the Oklahoma Senate by about 30 seats.

=> Probably too much of a reach.

====

November 14 - Oklahoma Senate 45 - Steve Vincent

SD-45 is currently an R seat (the incumbent resigned while being investigated for ethics violations); the R was unopposed in 2016 and 2012. The district went for Trump 67-27 and Romney 70-30.

=> Not likely at all, but given the swings in OK plus a scandal with the previous incumbent, just barely possible.

Thanks, I hope this was helpful. Donate or volunteer for these folks if you can!
posted by Chrysostom at 9:32 AM on October 3, 2017 [26 favorites]

As noted in that twitter thread, the death count is at least 69, with no counts for areas outside of San Juan.
posted by angrycat at 9:34 AM on October 3, 2017 [16 favorites]

Say, I wonder what Bob Mueller is up to these days....

Mueller Tasks an Adviser With Getting Ahead of Pre-Emptive Pardons [Bloomberg]
posted by Chrysostom at 9:52 AM on October 3, 2017 [35 favorites]

Preview of the next couple of weeks: Trump fixates on "16 dead" and when that number is revised upward he accuses Puerto Rican authorities of lying to make him look bad
posted by theodolite at 9:58 AM on October 3, 2017 [25 favorites]

I will eat a cake when this comes true, and I will do it not on my cheat day.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 10:06 AM on October 3, 2017 [6 favorites]

I'll say this for 45, he reliably re-ignites awareness of his awfulness by needlessly referring back to events that any sane politician would know to leave very well alone - and doing so with a reliable crassness that is a solid force multiplier.
posted by Devonian at 10:15 AM on October 3, 2017 [15 favorites]

Politico: DeVos' security detail could cost up to $6.54M over the next year
posted by Chrysostom at 10:26 AM on October 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

Live stream of the Joe Biden/Doug Jones rally in Birmingham. Should start any minute!
posted by Rhaomi at 10:28 AM on October 3, 2017 [4 favorites]

Mueller Tasks an Adviser With Getting Ahead of Pre-Emptive Pardons

He’s Michael Dreeben, a bookish career government lawyer with more than 100 Supreme Court appearances under his belt

"Oops I accidentally forwarded seekrit congressional documents to a troll," said Michael Dreeben never.
posted by Room 641-A at 10:29 AM on October 3, 2017 [12 favorites]

Politico: DeVos' security detail could cost up to $6.54M over the next year

And that doesn't even include the litter-bearers and the groom of the stool
posted by Rust Moranis at 10:30 AM on October 3, 2017 [20 favorites]

You know, Michael Brown could maybe redeem himself a bit if he came out and said something along the lines of, "I fucked up Katrina. I was terrible. Now, I am watching horrible fuck-ups happen. Learn from me."
posted by angrycat at 10:34 AM on October 3, 2017 [4 favorites]

and the groom of the stool

...so Jared?
posted by leotrotsky at 10:39 AM on October 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

US Votes Against UN Resolution Condemning Death Penalty for Blasphemy, Adultery and Same-Sex Relations

The resolution passed 27-13, with seven nations abstaining. America joined just 12 other countries – among them Burundi, China, Egypt, India, Iraq, Japan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia – in voting against the United Nations Human Rights Council's resolution.
posted by zakur at 10:46 AM on October 3, 2017 [53 favorites]

America joined just 12 other countries – among them Burundi, China, Egypt, India, Iraq, Japan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia – in voting against the United Nations Human Rights Council's resolution.

OH COME ON
posted by petebest at 10:51 AM on October 3, 2017 [58 favorites]

flames... flames on the side of my face

at this point if i were to look into the mirror pretty sure i would look like two-face
posted by entropicamericana at 10:53 AM on October 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

Probably for the best, but it's still History's loss: Obama came so close to telling a dick joke at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
posted by Capt. Renault at 10:58 AM on October 3, 2017 [7 favorites]

flames... flames on the side of my face

Indeed.
posted by RolandOfEld at 10:58 AM on October 3, 2017

Senate Judiciary leaders denied access to CIA material on Russian meddling

The CIA has denied a request by the bipartisan leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee to let them view some of the same information about Russian meddling that the intelligence committee has already seen, according to the panel’s top Democrat.
posted by mumimor at 11:00 AM on October 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

Obama came so close to telling a dick joke

Ah, those were simpler times.
posted by tivalasvegas at 11:01 AM on October 3, 2017 [4 favorites]

yes that was the reference
posted by entropicamericana at 11:04 AM on October 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

Given Nikki Haley as our UN representative, I can't find that shocking.

She has no business being in that role.
posted by Archelaus at 11:06 AM on October 3, 2017 [11 favorites]

I was coming here to see if anyone else had posted the news about Nikki Haley’s vote in support of Sharia law; WTF are these people doing? Also, what are Japan and India doing voting against the resolution?
posted by TedW at 11:06 AM on October 3, 2017 [11 favorites]

And Paul Ryan wanted Trump to keep Price.
posted by drezdn at 11:11 AM on October 3, 2017

Judd Legum (via Twitter): Trump to hurricane victim in Puerto Rico: "Have a good time".

Considering his two main qualifications for running for office were stints as casino owner and gameshow host, I guess his throwing this empty phrase around is to be expected.
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:15 AM on October 3, 2017 [10 favorites]

There’s a big leap from being unfriendly to LBGTQ people and thinking the death penalty is OK; they also could have just abstained.
posted by TedW at 11:15 AM on October 3, 2017 [17 favorites]

I can't speak to this specific vote but a lot of votes in the UN are around coalitions that might support each other on various other votes.
posted by cell divide at 11:22 AM on October 3, 2017

It's less the conservative streak in both countries, it's more the authoritarian streak in both countries- IMHO
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 11:22 AM on October 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

I know people don't expect a lot from Burundi, but they're the only country on that list that has abolished the death penalty, so I'm putting them on blast too
posted by theodolite at 11:24 AM on October 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

From the UN itself, the US commented on L6 (Action on Resolution on the Question of the Death Penalty)

United States, speaking in an explanation of the vote before the vote, said it would vote against this resolution. The United States reaffirmed its longstanding position on the legality of the death penalty, when imposed and carried out in a manner consistent with a State’s international obligations. The United States was deeply troubled whenever an individual subject to the death penalty was denied the procedural and substantive protections to which he or she was entitled. But it was not possible to accept the implication that all methods of execution had such a result.
posted by stonepharisee at 11:27 AM on October 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

There’s a big leap from being unfriendly to LBGTQ people and thinking the death penalty is OK; they also could have just abstained.

The resolution in question (PDF link) was more broadly about application of the death penalty against religious and ethnic minorities, women, etc; NB particularly this part:

Calls upon States that have not yet acceded to or ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights aiming at the abolition of the death penalty to consider doing so;

Japan, like the US, is not likely to abolish capital punishment anytime soon.
posted by Pseudonymous Cognomen at 11:30 AM on October 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

WH pool: "In a surreal scene, Trump handed some packages of "Arroz Rico"...and held up his arm and softly shot paper towels into the crowd" [photo behind the link]
posted by zachlipton at 11:32 AM on October 3, 2017 [19 favorites]

WH pool: "In a surreal scene, Trump handed some packages of "Arroz Rico"...and held up his arm and softly shot paper towels into the crowd"

we're not far away from launching t-shirts into the crowd during the sotu now
posted by entropicamericana at 11:43 AM on October 3, 2017 [12 favorites]

Trump: "Every death is a horror, but"

But?

Shut up you dickweed
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 11:43 AM on October 3, 2017 [12 favorites]

Three quick stories with a common theme: the swamp

Politico: Ryan asked White House to reconsider ousting Price. Kelly called Ryan to give him a courtesy heads up just before it was announced, but Ryan tried to save his buddy's job. The interesting thing to me here is not that Ryan did it, but that someone involved leaked this, presumably to smear Ryan as a swamp creature himself.

Office of Special Council [pdf]: Nikki Haley violated the Hatch Act when she retweeted Trump's endorsement of Ralph Norman "on an account that repeatedly invoked her official position as Ambassador to the United Nations." She deleted the tweet and they are taking no further action, but she is advised that such behavior in the future will be considered "a willful and knowing violation of the law."

WaPo: Hedge fund billionaire flew top Mnuchin aide on private jet to Palm Beach. Mnuchin’s chief of staff, the former chief operating officer of the campaign, accepted a ride on his hedge fund pal's (and major donor's) private jet. The Treasury IG is investigating.

(Sadly, no video of Trump throwing paper towels into a crowd of hurricane victims yet. The tape has to make its way to the airport for transmission apparently, but I'm entirely too eager to see this disaster.)
posted by zachlipton at 11:45 AM on October 3, 2017 [13 favorites]

No wait, I do have video of Trump throwing paper towels into the crowd!
posted by zachlipton at 11:47 AM on October 3, 2017 [14 favorites]

lalex:The 10-day trip was not entirely a vacation. Shulkin was in Europe for meetings with Danish and British officials about veterans’ health issues.

Yet he and his wife spent about half their time sightseeing, including shopping and touring historic sites, according to an itinerary obtained by The Washington Post and confirmed by a U.S. official familiar with their activities.

Again, if this was your average civil servant, they would be terminated quickly, likely with additional repercussions. Compare and contrast: a state employee was seen parking a state vehicle at a grocery store to buy dog food when they're on their way back to the office from a meeting , so now all state employees are to steer clear of anything that might appear to be personal use of a state vehicle. Under Trump, how many rather wealthy individuals have now gone out of their way to get taxpayers to pay for their luxuries?

These are the true "welfare kings and queens," to recycle a term created by Republicans who needed a boogeyman to outrage conservatives at the idea that someone might be making out like a bandit on the taxpayer's dime.

Update: VA watchdog reviewing Shulkin 10-day trip to Europe (AP via Washington Post, Oct. 3, 2017) -- The Veterans Affairs Department’s watchdog says it is reviewing Secretary David Shulkin’s 10-day trip to Europe with his wife that mixed business meetings with sightseeing.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:51 AM on October 3, 2017 [11 favorites]

Zaphod Beeblebrox was less of an embarrassment.
posted by theredpen at 11:53 AM on October 3, 2017 [21 favorites]

WTF are people in a hurricane-devasted area going to do with paper towels? Don't they need, like, water and food and power? Is he going to hand out bottles of 409 next?

Every comment I've made in the last two days, I've wanted to append the wish that someone kick Trump in the balls.
posted by angrycat at 11:53 AM on October 3, 2017 [14 favorites]

These are the true "welfare kings and queens," to recycle a term created by Republicans who needed a boogeyman a thinly veiled racist dogwhistle with just enough plausible deniability for the so-called "liberal media" to let them get away with it to outrage conservatives at the idea that someone might be making out like a bandit on the taxpayer's dime.

Fixed for accuracy.
posted by Gelatin at 11:54 AM on October 3, 2017 [7 favorites]

No wait, I do have video of Trump throwing paper towels into the crowd!
posted by zachlipton at 11:47 AM on October 3 [+] [!]

That is sick
posted by mumimor at 12:02 PM on October 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

NARAL says that Congress is voting on a 20-week abortion ban today and I haven't heard one word about it, including here - although I may have missed it considering I can barely load this thread.
posted by agregoli at 12:02 PM on October 3, 2017 [11 favorites]

Trump Markov Chain 2:

"God God Bless You. God put that the Polish people. You know this, everybody has inflicted terrible pain is not be spending almost anything about it, it totally changed his company, and we will face down evil together, only a tremendous disadvantage in promoting secure our jobs. Protection will never made us that cares for a great schools for their success when people in many, many do we cherish inspiring works of these shared goals, interests, and the revival of our success."

I'll add the Puerto Rico speech next time for ten times more fun.*


* where fun == existential terror
posted by aspersioncast at 12:08 PM on October 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

Zaphod Beeblebrox was less of an embarrassment.

Zaphod Beeblebox invented the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. Trump has contributed nothing.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:12 PM on October 3, 2017 [25 favorites]

God God Bless You. God put that the Polish people. You know this, everybody has inflicted terrible pain is not be spending almost anything about it, it totally changed his company, and we will face down evil together, only a tremendous disadvantage in promoting secure our jobs. Protection will never made us that cares for a great schools for their success when people in many, many do we cherish inspiring works of these shared goals, interests, and the revival of our success."

Wait, where did he say this, now?
posted by holborne at 12:12 PM on October 3, 2017

NARAL says that Congress is voting on a 20-week abortion ban today and I haven't heard one word about it, including here - although I may have missed it considering I can barely load this thread.

H.R. 36. It's horrific and provides for the prosecution of any woman who attempts to get around the ban. It's almost certainly going to pass the House (it has before), but might stall in the Senate (Cornyn says it's 'not a priority right now'). So it's really important to put pressure on the Senate right now. It's the kind of bill that, failing to pass any other legislation that pleases their base, might be passable in an election year.
posted by melissasaurus at 12:13 PM on October 3, 2017 [8 favorites]

trump approaches hurricane relief the same way I react after spilling red wine on the rug at a party:
grab a fistful of paper towels and make a couple of half-assed, clumsy dabs at the stain, then quickly shuffle to the other side of the room and pretend that nothing ever happened.
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:14 PM on October 3, 2017 [23 favorites]

sorry holborne, that should have had [fake]

I'm training a Markov chain on Trump speeches.
posted by aspersioncast at 12:16 PM on October 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

I'm training a Markov chain on Trump speeches.

The scary part was that it sounded totally plausible.
posted by holborne at 12:24 PM on October 3, 2017 [9 favorites]

Not a "real catastrophe" will I'm sure play well to millions without water or power.

If you look at the — every death is a horror, but if you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina and you look at the tremendous hundreds and hundreds of people that died and what happened here with a storm that was just totally overbearing. No one has ever seen anything like that.

posted by chris24 at 12:25 PM on October 3, 2017 [7 favorites]

@JDiamond1: "Flashlights. you don't need 'em anymore," Trump says as he hands out supplies in Puerto Rico. 95% of the island is still without power. [later updated to 93% per FEMA; still hardly the stuff of "don't need flashlights anymore"] [video of him saying this]

Jeremy Konyndyk, chief of Foreign Disaster Assistance under Obama, responds to Trump's "real catastrophe" crap [edited from tweets]:

"Never tweet angry" is usually good advice and I try to adhere to it. But right now, the hell with that. THIS IS APPALLING. This is such a deeply wrong, deeply inappropriate, deeply disrespectful thing to say....that I hardly know where to start. Start with this: we have no reliable idea of the actual death toll. Reporting of fatalities has broken down. Toll of 16 reflects mostly those killed in the storm or immediate aftermath; number likely to rise are info links are restored. Operative question here is how many have died during the ensuring response, when they *could have been saved.* We don't yet know.

But the bigger point - EVERY fatal catastrophe is a "real catastrophe", FFS (sorry. don't tweet angry). The only sense in which Trump's comment is accurate is this: the "real" catastrophe is arguably not the storm, but his response to it. The initial death toll is the one thing over which he had negligible control. The rest is on him. Choosing to ignore the response for the first 6 days because tweeting about the NFL was more important? That's on him. Getting into fights with local authorities rather than figuring out how to best support them? That's on him. Claiming the response was fine and dandy when most of the island was (and is) without power and water? That's on him. Taking his eye off the ball while the federal response proved to be too slow, too small, and too late? That's on him. Assuming an overstrapped FEMA operating without a strong State-level counterpart would be up to the task of this? That's on him. Foot-dragging on the Jones Act waiver because US shipping interests weren't wild about it? That's on him.

Exhale.

Most fundamentally - failing to create a leadership culture in which this response could succeed? That is absolutely on him. [more behind the link]

Meanwhile, Trump's obsession with the Coast Guard continues:

From the White House transcript:

Trump: And a lot of people got to see the real Coast Guard during this incredible trouble. Would you like to say something on behalf of your men and women?

Air Force representative: Sir, I’m representing the Air Force.

Trump: No, I know that.

posted by zachlipton at 12:33 PM on October 3, 2017 [85 favorites]

Throwing ANYthing into any crowd right now is an exceptionally bad and tasteless gesture.
posted by yoga at 12:34 PM on October 3, 2017 [4 favorites]

Citing 'Inadequate' Response From US Government, Oxfam Will Step in to Aid Puerto Rico (Ellie Shechet, The Slot)

Oxfam America, a global anti-poverty organization, has taken the unusual step of getting involved in a disaster being managed by a wealthy first-world nation, something they don’t normally do.

“Oxfam has monitored the response in Puerto Rico closely, and we are outraged at the slow and inadequate response the US government has mounted in Puerto Rico,” Oxfam America president Abby Maxman said in a statement on Tuesday. “Clean water, food, fuel, electricity, and health care are in desperately short supply and quickly dwindling, and we’re hearing excuses and criticism from the administration instead of a cohesive and compassionate response.”

posted by Room 641-A at 12:34 PM on October 3, 2017 [68 favorites]

Not a "real catastrophe" will I'm sure play well.

The New Republic has an observation about that; when things were pretty rosy Trump claimed we were in the midst of his vision of "American Carnage", but now that actual disaster has struck we're supposed to focus on the silver lining of the hurricane clouds and the miracles during our worst modern mass shooting.
posted by peeedro at 12:35 PM on October 3, 2017 [22 favorites]

This seems a bit speculative, but interesting:

Did Manafort Use Trump’s Campaign to Pay Back Russia?

The year before Manafort joined Trump’s campaign, Deripaska filed a complaint in a Cayman Islands court that Manafort had borrowed $19 million from him and failed to account for it, and even hired a private investigator to track down Manafort, who had essentially gone into hiding. Julia Ioffe and Franklin Foer have obtained the emails that the Post reported on earlier. And while the messages are written carefully and frequently encoded — they refer to “black caviar jars” to mean payments, for instance — they indicate that Manafort was trying to impress Deripaska with his work as Trump’s campaign manager.

Manafort’s role as unpaid campaign manager for Donald Trump gave him a position of potentially enormous value to Russia. His massive debts to a Kremlin-aligned oligarch made him enormously vulnerable to being used as an agent of Russian influence. This is probably why the FBI was wiretapping Manafort, as CNN has reported, and why espionage experts have described Manafort as having the profile of an “ideal spy.” The emails are crucial because they go beyond circumstantial evidence to show Manafort communicating with Russian paymasters.

More specifically, he can be seen displaying his relationship with Trump to the person he apparently owed a massive sum of money. If he was using his position to get whole, as he wrote, it would mean Manafort was delivering favors to Russia through the Trump campaign in order to pay off his debt.

posted by Coventry at 12:36 PM on October 3, 2017 [18 favorites]

He cannot employ empathy in any normal manner. He cannot hold a consistent thought in his head. He cannot simply read words off a script in a remotely normal manner.

I can’t speak to the latter two, but I’ve never seen Trump show any capacity for true empathy. I do not believe that has ever existed.
posted by Brak at 12:36 PM on October 3, 2017 [4 favorites]

when things were pretty rosy Trump claimed we were in the midst of his vision of "American Carnage", but now that actual disaster has struck we're supposed to focus on the silver lining of the hurricane clouds and the miracles during our worst modern mass shooting.

On the plus side, Trump's behavior has made it way easier to describe my childhood to people who had normal parents.
posted by melissasaurus at 12:37 PM on October 3, 2017 [53 favorites]

Trump: And a lot of people got to see the real Coast Guard during this incredible trouble. Would you like to say something on behalf of your men and women?

Air Force representative: Sir, I’m representing the Air Force.

oh god
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 12:37 PM on October 3, 2017 [26 favorites]

From the White House transcript:

Trump: And a lot of people got to see the real Coast Guard during this incredible trouble. Would you like to say something on behalf of your men and women?

Air Force representative: Sir, I’m representing the Air Force.

Sweet Jesus.

And I'm an atheist.
posted by Gelatin at 12:46 PM on October 3, 2017 [19 favorites]

Trump aides were apparently arguing that he should cancel the trip to PR yesterday.

I think the Trump aides were on to something. It doesn't seem to have gone well for him. No idea if it's actually helping Puerto Rico, either.
posted by greermahoney at 12:47 PM on October 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

Trump: And a lot of people got to see the real Coast Guard during this incredible trouble. Would you like to say something on behalf of your men and women?
Air Force representative: Sir, I’m representing the Air Force.

imagine if obama had made this gaffe
posted by entropicamericana at 12:51 PM on October 3, 2017 [38 favorites]

I'm training a Markov chain on Trump speeches.

I'm reporting you to the Game Theory police for cruelty to a stochastic process.
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:52 PM on October 3, 2017 [27 favorites]

imagine if obama had made this gaffe


Imagine if the Obama and his administration had done just one thing out of the thousands - and by now, I'd be surprised if it wasn't in four digits - of the inappropriate, illegal or wilfully awful things that 45 and his crew have done since January.

By the time 2020 comes around, we're going to need an encyclopedia to document the hypocrisy. The Hypopedia Republicaria.
posted by Devonian at 12:57 PM on October 3, 2017 [46 favorites]

Air Force representative: Sir, I’m representing the Air Force.

So this is also a thing that happened today:

Meanwhile, after thanking an Air Force general present at the briefing, Trump went on a strange digression about the F-35 fighter jet, a troubled boondoggle whose cost Trump negotiated down with the manufacturer. The discussion of the plane was roughly as lengthy as the president’s discussion of the victims of the storm, and it had nothing to do with the hurricane.

posted by peeedro at 1:01 PM on October 3, 2017 [35 favorites]

Trump: And a lot of people got to see the real Coast Guard during this incredible trouble.

And yet I'm pretty sure that the Coast Guard isn't going to get 1% of that incredible budget giveaway to defense contractors. (1% would make an enormous difference in the CG budget for infrastructure improvement, if they were allowed to also hire enough staff to do the work.)
posted by suelac at 1:01 PM on October 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

No idea if it's actually helping Puerto Rico, either.

They now have slightly more paper towels.
posted by drezdn at 1:02 PM on October 3, 2017 [23 favorites]

Can't wait to hear what Vicente Fox thinks about all this.
posted by orrnyereg at 1:03 PM on October 3, 2017 [7 favorites]

Putting this in tiny text since it's becoming a derail.
The scary part was that it sounded totally plausible.
Inspired by an election thread comment of unremembered provenance that pointed out how Trump basically sounds like a Markov chain.

This comment from thread back in August reminded me to work on it. Haven't gotten to the second one yet, just fiddling with the speech transcripts.
posted by aspersioncast at 1:05 PM on October 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

You're all so smug about the Air Force thing... but I bet you don't have a smug answer to this:

As Trump has correctly pointed out: "This is an island sitting in the middle of an ocean. And it’s a big ocean; it’s a very big ocean."

Now, how would an Air Force guy even get there? THEY DON'T HAVE BOATS!!!!
Not so smug now, are you? Q.E.D. WIN!!11!!!
posted by Hairy Lobster at 1:06 PM on October 3, 2017 [12 favorites]

Media Matters: : Fox's Ed Rollins: 54-year old mayor of San Juan is "a very young woman" who is "overcome" by hurricane devastation

Go fuck yourself, Ed Rollins.
posted by tonycpsu at 1:07 PM on October 3, 2017 [61 favorites]

I thought the Markov chain was supposed to be of Trump and not his supporters...?
posted by Slackermagee at 1:07 PM on October 3, 2017

Now, how would an Air Force guy even get there? THEY DON'T HAVE BOATS!!!!

*cough*
posted by peeedro at 1:09 PM on October 3, 2017 [14 favorites]

A good day it seems at SCOTUS. Kennedy appeared to lean toward good not evil.

MoJo: Anthony Kennedy’s Questioning Suggests Extreme Partisan Gerrymandering Could Be in Danger

Kennedy was the first justice to ask a question in Tuesday’s opening arguments in the case, Gill v. Whitford. “Suppose the Court…decided that this is a First Amendment issue?” Kennedy asked Wisconsin’s solicitor general, implying that extreme partisan gerrymandering could violate the right to free speech by preventing those in the minority—in this case Wisconsin Democrats denied representation—from having an equal say in the political process.

Kennedy also seemed to suggest that the court could set a standard for when gerrymandering crosses a line. When Erin Murphy, who argued in favor of the Wisconsin Legislature, argued that state Democrats “have not come up with a workable standard to determine when a map is too political,” Kennedy responded that a manageable standard could be whether a map was drawn with the “overriding concern
” to “have a maximum number of votes for party X or party Y.” He asked whether such a scenario would violate the First Amendment or the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Kennedy questioned only the lawyers for the state of Wisconsin, rather than the plaintiffs. Generally, conservative justices aggressively question the liberal challengers and vice versa. That Kennedy focused his questions on the Wisconsin side suggested he had a problem with the maps the Legislature had drawn and was looking for a reasonable way to strike them down.

ThinkProgress: A majority of the Supreme Court appears ready to strike down a partisan gerrymander

The good news for Smith, and for other opponents of partisan gerrymanders, is that there appear to be five votes to strike down Wisconsin’s maps. Justice Anthony Kennedy, the Court’s “swing” vote in this case, asked a number of critical questions of the lawyers defending the gerrymandered maps and literally no questions of Smith. At one point, he appeared to grow angry with an attorney defending the maps for not answering one of his questions.

posted by chris24 at 1:09 PM on October 3, 2017 [50 favorites]

Trump basically sounds like a Markov chain.

Come on, he's at least an LSTM.
posted by Coventry at 1:09 PM on October 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

Oxfam America, a global anti-poverty organization, has taken the unusual step of getting involved in a disaster being managed by a wealthy first-world nation, something they don’t normally do.

I heard on the radio yesterday that the US Virgin Islands have asked Denmark for aid.
posted by mumimor at 1:10 PM on October 3, 2017 [14 favorites]

The Future of American Democracy Is at Stake at the Supreme Court: This Wisconsin gerrymandering case is fundamental.
posted by homunculus at 1:19 PM on October 3, 2017 [17 favorites]

Abortion ban passed the house.
posted by agregoli at 1:20 PM on October 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

Abortion ban passed the house.

And Obamacare repeal passed the house over fifty times.

It's absolutely impossible to get 60 Senate votes for 20 weeks.
posted by Talez at 1:25 PM on October 3, 2017 [9 favorites]

Abortion ban passed the house.
Ugh. If you know any of these Republican shitstains, don't fuck 'em.

Happy to continue the Markov Chain derail by MeMail if anyone's interested in the corpus/methodology.
posted by aspersioncast at 1:27 PM on October 3, 2017

No jinxing.
posted by Autumnheart at 1:27 PM on October 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

Foreign Policy: Rep. Dana Rohrabacher met with the Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya during a 2016 trip to Moscow, a previously undisclosed tête-à-tête that sheds additional light on the extent to which Moscow-based political operatives sought to influence American officials in the run-up to last year’s presidential election.

In an interview with a pro-Russian Crimean news service, Veselnitskaya said she met with Rohrabacher — a California Republican and arguably the most prominent advocate in Congress for closer relations between Washington and Moscow — in April 2016 to discuss issues surrounding the Magnitsky Act, the punitive American sanctions measure responding to Russian human rights abuses that she has lobbied against.
posted by PenDevil at 1:31 PM on October 3, 2017 [23 favorites]

The worst thing about the Coast Guard gaffe is not the gaffe itself but that Trump's kneejerk instinct is to make a bald-faced lie and claim the immediately preceding event never happened. He may be lack the empathy to instinctively understand that other people have seen his mistake and that he would benefit from laughing it off rather than obviously gaslighting them.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:35 PM on October 3, 2017 [11 favorites]

Abortion ban passed the house.

Western PA congressman who undoubtedly voted for the ban was in the news today: Rep. Tim Murphy, popular with pro-life movement, urged abortion in affair, texts suggest
posted by octothorpe at 1:38 PM on October 3, 2017 [46 favorites]

The Future of American Democracy Is at Stake at the Supreme Court: This Wisconsin gerrymandering case is fundamental.

I have been thinking that the future of American democracy was in Robert Mueller's hands so this should help take some of the weight off his shoulders.

Happy to continue the Markov Chain derail by MeMail if anyone's interested in the corpus/methodology

I'm not knowledgeable enough to participate but I'd love to see this show up in projects!

imagine if obama had made this gaffe

footage not found

posted by Room 641-A at 1:39 PM on October 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

Ok but who hasn't met with Veselnitskaya

She was all like "Let's talk about Magnitsky" and I was like "How did you get into my house"
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 1:44 PM on October 3, 2017 [45 favorites]

> Western PA congressman who undoubtedly voted for the ban was in the news today: Rep. Tim Murphy, popular with pro-life movement, urged abortion in affair, texts suggest

This fucking guy. He was my rep when I lived out in Monroeville, and he was your typical lockstep GOP vote who did nothing tangible for his constituents, which never made sense to me since the district has a pretty sizable Democratic registration advantage. Dems could just never seem to run a decent candidate against him, and in retrospect, some of those registered Democrats were probably "Western PA Democrats", AKA "Future Trump Republicans."

Seems like a district that's ripe for flipping if the Democrats can run a decent candidate. I don't live there anymore, so I haven't followed the Democratic primary candidates, but it certainly seems that something like this presents an opportunity.
posted by tonycpsu at 1:50 PM on October 3, 2017 [7 favorites]

From that giraffe link, in June 2014:
"As the Democratic president stares at the giraffe in the photo below, perhaps he's wondering whether it can take on a GOP elephant."

*sob*
posted by Hermeowne Grangepurr at 1:55 PM on October 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

Okay, but imagine if Obama had made this giraffe.

This is the best thing today.
posted by Room 641-A at 1:59 PM on October 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

This is the best thing today.

or since...

The best antidote for the banality of evil is the happy absurdity of good.
posted by Buntix at 2:02 PM on October 3, 2017 [10 favorites]

Yeah, the Coast Guard's "brand" has improved so much 45 can't tell the difference between them and the Air Force.

I read that quote while I was on a bed in a blood bank today. My first thought after seeing the debacle of hurricane response for Puerto Rico was, "Maybe I should go donate blood. No, wait. People will donate now. I should wait two or three weeks and go when the donations fall off." Then Las Vegas happened and I'm like, "Well, this garbage fire is never gonna end so I might as well make my appointment now." (Yeah, I know 45 didn't cause Vegas, but he's sure as shit not gonna do anything to make that situation better. He's still itching to kill health care for fuck's sake.)

I've been rage-donating my way through 2017. Completely lost track of everyone and everything I've donated to just to fight all the bullshit from this regime. One thing after another, whatever I can do. I wound up throwing money to translifeline.org as soon as the transgender ban bullshit became a policy directive and not a tweet, which was right before the first fucking hurricane hit so I had nothing for Texas.

I'm a writer, and like Scalzi said last night, writing is harder this year. Harder to stay focused. Harder to produce. But I threw a big chunk of money from a book to a refugee charity earlier in the year because of the travel ban, I'm trying to figure out if I can do something similar for Puerto Rico & USVI (without a new book to back it, so it's a risk), and I just...it never ends.

I'm not saying this to pat myself on the back or get anyone else to give me pats. Please don't mistake why I'm talking about this. I don't feel any better for doing this. There's no solace. No feeling I've done my part. No sense that I'm a better person or that I've actually helped anyone. Not even smug self-righteousness. It's just a black fucking hole. There's always something else.

Shortly after the election, I said to some friends that while obviously it's far worse for people of color, women, insert-marginalized-group-here, I also felt insulted as a veteran by the results. I pulled refugees out of the ocean, y'know? This really felt like millions of Americans stepped up to say, "Fuck your service." I put that aside and got over it to do what I can because, again, my little sting is nothing compared to what others face. But here I am sitting in a blood bank with a needle in my arm looking at Twitter and this motherfucker screams about a protest against police brutality being an insult to veterans when he can't even tell us apart in fucking uniforms.

There's no rock bottom here. None.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 2:05 PM on October 3, 2017 [78 favorites]

I miss competence and decency.
posted by Lyme Drop at 2:06 PM on October 3, 2017 [33 favorites]

I miss competence.
posted by Melismata at 2:10 PM on October 3, 2017 [7 favorites]

They're not allowing Puerto Ricans to buy hot food with food stamps. From today's NYT piece Aid Is Getting to Puerto Rico. Distributing It Remains a Challenge:

Mr. Rosselló also said the federal government had denied a request to allow hurricane victims in Puerto Rico who use food stamps to redeem them at fast-food restaurants and other places that serve prepared hot meals.

The administration had previously granted the same food stamp waivers to Texas and Florida; these lasted until September 30. If your state didn't vote for him or if he doesn't like the ethnicity of its people, he will happily starve you.
posted by Rust Moranis at 2:11 PM on October 3, 2017 [64 favorites]

i am in my 40s and i am honestly having a hard time remembering when i didnt live in a dystopian hellworld with no hope of escape but as a white male i know i must have been privileged to feel that way at some point... maybe prior to 2000/2001? i dunno
posted by entropicamericana at 2:16 PM on October 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

> The federal government had denied a request to allow hurricane victims in Puerto Rico [to do X, while they] had previously granted the same waivers to Texas and Florida.

I'm going to think real hard about why this might be true, for any value of X whatsoever. Could it be ... nah, our administration and our President would not be racists, would they?
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:22 PM on October 3, 2017

Now I'm imagining a spy army of resistance volunteers who have affairs with republican shitheads and then publicize the texts and recordings of shitheads being shitty.

Am I a bad person?
posted by medusa at 2:22 PM on October 3, 2017 [15 favorites]

i am in my 40s and i am honestly having a hard time remembering when i didnt live in a dystopian hellworld with no hope of escape but as a white male i know i must have been privileged to feel that way at some point... maybe prior to 2000/2001? i dunno

I never recovered from the Cold War's threat of instant nuclear annihilation, and the subsequent expectation of post-apocalyptic nightmares. I *wish* I could count on those old, naive post-apocalyptic nightmares these days.
posted by mikelieman at 2:24 PM on October 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

> Am I a bad person?

You're certainly my kind of bad person.
posted by tonycpsu at 2:24 PM on October 3, 2017 [16 favorites]

Am I a bad person?

You're not a bad person, but at this point I don't really think an avalanche of texts and recordings and even videos of Republican politicians caught in scandals will matter.

Shame is no longer a factor for them or their constituents. They don't care anymore. They've already decided their racism and their sexism means more to them than their own survival. Nothing matters to them except the laughs it'll give them when they see how angry it makes liberals.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 2:27 PM on October 3, 2017 [28 favorites]

> ... like Scalzi said last night, writing is harder this year ...

Clicking over: ... The man has been in office for nine months at this point and there is rarely a week or month where things have not been historically crappy, a feculent stew of Trump’s shittiness as a human and as a president, his epically corrupt and immoral administration ...

I don't know, he seems to be writing just fine... (sob).
posted by RedOrGreen at 2:27 PM on October 3, 2017 [12 favorites]

i think i have finally found a purpose in life, and that is to live long enough to piss on Trump's grave. If I live long enough to piss on Paul Ryan's gave, or Mick Mulvaney's grave, or Stephen Miller's Grave, or Steve Bannon's grave, or Mitch McConnel's grave, or Scott Pruitt's grave, or any other number of piss deserving graves I will consider my life having been extra fulfilling when I kick off to the great unknown.

but now my life goal is to piss on trump's grave. ( I guess i could start with scalia's grave )
posted by localhuman at 2:27 PM on October 3, 2017 [15 favorites]

@medusa, I feel terrible for those people. they would need to be the bravest people to have sex with those craven monsters.

and even that might not work, as it would be lauded by the White Men who support them as proof of their virility, or they would blame their inadequate wives, or something. What a gross world.
posted by thebotanyofsouls at 2:28 PM on October 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

This isn’t even Katrina. This is some Potato Famine-level callous evil.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 2:31 PM on October 3, 2017 [29 favorites]

but now my life goal is to piss on trump's grave. ( I guess i could start with scalia's grave )

There's gonna be a long line...
posted by mikelieman at 2:31 PM on October 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

seriously, they should consider putting in a bathroom instead of a headstone.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 2:35 PM on October 3, 2017 [12 favorites]

seriously, they should consider putting in a bathroom instead of a headstone.

Many ancient Roman grave markers had handy-dandy openings for poured libations, so why not bring the practice back and get the best of both worlds?
posted by Rust Moranis at 2:42 PM on October 3, 2017 [4 favorites]

'Cause his dumb corpse would probably get off on it.
posted by Atom Eyes at 2:46 PM on October 3, 2017 [12 favorites]

"SD-37 is currently a D seat (the incumbent won a seat in Congress); an R ran, but did not reach the general in 2014, no R ran in 2010. District went for Clinton 87-8 and for Obama 86-11. There was no opponent in the special primary, so the general is moot.

=> Now THIS is a safe seat."

My old district! So, so blue. Blue like Metafilter. Blue enough that you could point at a house down the street and say "That's where the Republican lives." And the Democratic caucus gathering was a complete madhouse.
posted by litlnemo at 2:48 PM on October 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

Trump went on a strange digression

No he didn't. This is a lie. This is malicious press cowardice. Trump's speech was entirely within the parameters of demented sociopathy. To pretend it was a "strange digression" is to intentionally deceive readers for the sake of keeping everything status quo.

BAD reporter! NO! No retweet! Bad!
posted by petebest at 2:55 PM on October 3, 2017 [19 favorites]

BAD reporter! NO! No retweet! Bad!

In the best of all possible iterations of THIS FUCKING WORLD, that was your reply to the reporter themselves.

And if not... Imma just gonna pretend it is...
posted by mikelieman at 2:58 PM on October 3, 2017

If Kennedy is interested and doesn't want to retire at least before the gerrymandering verdict, how long does that guarantee he will be on the court?
posted by corb at 3:06 PM on October 3, 2017

And to all of my people -- and I have to say, General Buchanan got here a few days ago, and there’s no doubt about it you are a general. There’s a reason you’re a general, right? But he’s no games. I said, give me a general; I don’t want to have any -- I don’t want to have a general that plays games. And you’ve done a fantastic job. The whole team has been amazing.

Your governor has been -- who I didn’t know; I heard very good things about him. He’s not even from my party, and he started right at the beginning appreciating what we did. And he was tremendously supportive, and he knew the level of problem that you had at the beginning, before, and the level -- what happened with respect to the tremendous storms that hit your beautiful island.

THE PRESIDENT IS MENTALLY UNWELL.

He managed to string together three everyday words, "he's no games", that have never been used like that before. It's not normal! Why is the media acting like it's normal? This is not normal.
posted by 0xFCAF at 3:28 PM on October 3, 2017 [56 favorites]

Exclusive: Jared Kushner's personal email moved to Trump Organization computers amid public scrutiny (Brad Heath, USA Today)

President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump moved their personal email accounts to computers run by the Trump Organization as public scrutiny intensified over their use of private emails to conduct White House business, internet registration records show.

The move, made just days after Kushner’s use of a personal email account first became public, came shortly after special counsel Robert Mueller asked the White House to turn over records related to his investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion with Trump associates. It also more closely intertwines President Trump’s administration with his constellation of private businesses.

posted by Room 641-A at 3:32 PM on October 3, 2017 [36 favorites]

0xFCAF. I genuinely thought that was another markov chain simulation.
posted by michswiss at 3:35 PM on October 3, 2017 [16 favorites]

MoJo: Anthony Kennedy’s Questioning Suggests Extreme Partisan Gerrymandering Could Be in Danger

WILL YOU SHUT UP? You're like daring someone to Pelican Brief him.
posted by FelliniBlank at 3:35 PM on October 3, 2017 [7 favorites]

THE PRESIDENT IS MENTALLY UNWELL.

It's pronounced "Reaganesque".
posted by sebastienbailard at 3:43 PM on October 3, 2017 [28 favorites]

well, there you go again
posted by entropicamericana at 3:44 PM on October 3, 2017 [19 favorites]

It's pronounced "Reaganesque".

Whaddwe think bonzo?,
posted by Buntix at 3:50 PM on October 3, 2017

TRUMP: I have to say, General Buchanan got here a few days ago, and there’s no doubt about it you are a general. There’s a reason you’re a general, right? But he’s no games. I said, give me a general; I don’t want to have any -- I don’t want to have a general that plays games. And you’ve done a fantastic job.

Your governor has been -- who I didn’t know; I heard very good things about him. He’s not even from my party, and he started right at the beginning appreciating what we did.

Who's a general? Yes you are! Are you a good general too? Are you? A good one? Yes you are. Such a good general solider man. No games!

And is that a Governor? Oooh, I'm not sure. He looks like a dem! Guvvvy guvvyy guvvvvy?
posted by snuffleupagus at 3:55 PM on October 3, 2017 [10 favorites]

Schwarzenegger: It's 'time to terminate gerrymandering' (Max Greenwood, The Hill)

More from Trump's transcript:

I said, how does it do it in fights? And how do they do in fights with the F-35? They said, we do very well. You can’t see it. Literally you can’t see it. So it’s hard to fight a plane that you can’t see, right?

And the Coast Guard would follow it. It goes in, and they’d be right behind it, and then they’d move.
posted by Room 641-A at 3:57 PM on October 3, 2017 [5 favorites]

National treasure John Dingell wins the internet today.

@NBCNews: President Trump throws paper towels into the crowd at a Hurricane Maria relief event in Puerto Rico

@JohnDingell Retweeted NBC News
Heck of a job, Brawny.
posted by chris24 at 4:01 PM on October 3, 2017 [84 favorites]

TRUMP: "I also want to thank your congresswoman, who actually represents the largest number of people of any congressperson in the United States. I know that. It’s 3.5 million people, Jenniffer, right?"

"I know that"
posted by snuffleupagus at 4:01 PM on October 3, 2017 [4 favorites]

Also, until further notice FEMA and HHS are being replaced by Brock.

Who, we'd like to inform you, has a shitload of A+'s.
posted by snuffleupagus at 4:02 PM on October 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

And, Governor, I just want to tell you that, right from the beginning, this governor did not play politics. He didn’t play it at all. He was saying it like it was, and he was giving us the highest grades. And I want to -- on behalf of our country, I want to thank you. (Applause.)

FUCK YOU
posted by angrycat at 4:04 PM on October 3, 2017 [17 favorites]

Just a heads up: any time one of you posts a direct quote from trump I'm flagging it as 'noise'.
Nothing personal. I just can't stand looking at gibberish.
posted by Atom Eyes at 4:05 PM on October 3, 2017 [7 favorites]

He's doing his best to make an example of Puerto Rico for everyone else: keep your criticism to yourself and kiss my ass (or at least don't contradict me when I claim you did), or else when it's your state in need, you're screwed.

This is the most disgusting "kiss the ring" bullying horseshit I've ever seen from a president. It's not even medieval. It's like something out of a gross grimdark fantasy novel.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 4:07 PM on October 3, 2017 [42 favorites]

From that transcript, it's pretty clear that Trump thinks that being President means that all other politicians work for him.
posted by peeedro at 4:07 PM on October 3, 2017 [13 favorites]

He never hesitates to ingratiate himself to the Generals and Admirals of the United States Armed services, because he thinks buttering them up will mean they'll toss a coup when he gets in trouble, either in congress or in an election. It's amusing to see them all hold him gently but firmly at arm's length. All the boomer Generals retired or went into business or public services. These are Gen X commanders, and they are a different kettle of fish.
posted by Slap*Happy at 4:08 PM on October 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

Schwarzenegger: It's 'time to terminate gerrymandering'

*deep sigh* Yeah, sure, I'll take it.
posted by contraption at 4:21 PM on October 3, 2017 [40 favorites]

Bananapanstically*, a batshit crisis speech (¿) like this drives up supporter approval numbers.

* Opposite of "historically", because. Y'know.

And if not... Imma just gonna pretend it is...

Absolutely. We thank you for your patience.
posted by petebest at 4:22 PM on October 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

request to replace "mentally unwell" with "cognitively unwell" or "cognitive dysfunction"?

Mentally unwell/mentally ill is a broad category that includes heaps of people who can string together coherent sentences. I would much rather have a mentally ill president (with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder or anxiety disorder or what have you) (in fact I assume we have had presidents with mood disorders) than a president who seems to be unable to follow or make a logical argument and has no ability to reflect or analyze.
posted by spamandkimchi at 4:28 PM on October 3, 2017 [15 favorites]

Schwarzenegger: It's 'time to terminate gerrymandering'

*deep sigh* Yeah, sure, I'll take it.

Would also have accepted:

"Hey, gerrymandering, remember when I promised to kill you last?"

[beat]

"I lied."
posted by Atom Eyes at 4:31 PM on October 3, 2017 [7 favorites]

If Kennedy is interested and doesn't want to retire at least before the gerrymandering verdict, how long does that guarantee he will be on the court?

The term just started today, in all likelihood Kennedy won't retire mid-term unless he's about to die, and maybe not even then. If he's going to retire, the term ends in June 2018. He'd announce it then or shortly before.
posted by T.D. Strange at 4:38 PM on October 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

Every time I think he couldn’t possibly be more racist and cruel, he pulls a Barney Stinson.

The Hill: Report: Trump admin denied Puerto Rico request to let victims use food stamps for fast food

Puerto Rico requested the administration temporarily lift the restrictions on the program, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

So far, the administration has refused, even after granting similar waivers in Texas after Hurricane Harvey and in Florida after Hurricane Irma.

Every fucking time.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 4:44 PM on October 3, 2017 [35 favorites]

It's just a black fucking hole. There's always something else.
There's no rock bottom here. None.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 5:05 PM on October 3

* eponysterically sobbing *
posted by numaner at 4:49 PM on October 3, 2017 [7 favorites]

Dylan Byers at CNN... Facebook: Russian ads reached 10 million people

"Facebook says an estimated 10 million people in the U.S. saw at least one of the 3,000 political ads it says were bought by accounts linked to the Russian government.

The figure, disclosed by Facebook for the first time on Monday, underscores how effective Russian meddling on social media could be with even a minimal investment.

The ad buyers spent just $100,000 over two years to target 10 million people, according to figures Facebook has provided about the ad buys. That's an audience roughly equivalent to the population of Michigan.
...
Schrage acknowledged it was "possible" that there were more Russian-bought political ads on the network that Facebook has yet to identify."

posted by OnceUponATime at 4:59 PM on October 3, 2017 [10 favorites]

I swear to God, I thought my handle was an expression of sarcasm.
I was so wrong.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 4:59 PM on October 3, 2017 [12 favorites]

"But he’s no games. I said, give me a general;"

But he's no brains. I said, give me a president;
posted by Hairy Lobster at 4:59 PM on October 3, 2017 [16 favorites]

Today's my birthday. Is it too late to hope for some kind of delicious scoop?
posted by Superplin at 5:12 PM on October 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

Report: Trump admin denied Puerto Rico request to let victims use food stamps for fast food

Donald Trump himself uses public money for junk food. He has a cola summoning button FFS!
posted by srboisvert at 5:24 PM on October 3, 2017 [14 favorites]

Today's my birthday. Is it too late to hope for some kind of delicious scoop?

I am afraid that ice cream is your best bet
posted by thelonius at 5:27 PM on October 3, 2017 [6 favorites]

Per the correction in the Hill article, the regime reversed its decision and will now let Puerto Ricans use food stamps for fast food.

No points for doing the right thing only once embarrassed. Their first reflex was to be dicks. But the decision was reversed, so this is one less measure of awful for the people of Puerto Rico and that's worth knowing.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 5:38 PM on October 3, 2017 [43 favorites]

This Is What It Looks Like When the President Asks People to Snitch on Their Neighbors

Together, the logs are a grim running diary of a country where people eagerly report their fellow residents to the authorities, or seek to bring the power of the immigration police to bear on family disputes.

I finally got around to reading this, and want to highlight a bit because there's a bigger problem here not in the headline: Trump's VOICE hotline posted super-personal details about the calls they received on their website. Like names and addresses and phone numbers of both reporters and reportees. Like information that could put the crime victims they purport to be helping at risk:

Some people on the spreadsheet said they had gotten callbacks from ICE. A California woman who asked to remain anonymous contacted the hotline after she said her undocumented Mexican husband sexually molested her 11-year-old daughter. She told Splinter that ICE has contacted her via email about her call, but she said she did not understand how her phone number and police report information were published online. “That’s news to me, they sure didn’t tell me that,” she said. “They told me it was private.” Her husband’s name and work address were also published, and she said she worries for her safety if he finds out that she filed a report with ICE.

A prominent victims’ rights group condemned the fact that the information was publicly viewable.

The egregiousness of this failure is staggering, as is the fact there will surely be no consequences for those responsible.
posted by zachlipton at 5:40 PM on October 3, 2017 [54 favorites]

No points for doing the right thing only once embarrassed. Their first reflex was to be dicks.

This could be the Cliff's Notes plot summary for the whole Trump family history.
posted by darkstar at 5:42 PM on October 3, 2017 [11 favorites]

Scaryblackdeath, I donated my whole last paycheck to Puerto Rico and Hurricane relief. It doesn’t feel like enough. It does seem never ending and drear.
(I don’t work that often, on call basis, so not all that much but all I made for the last few months. Mr gadgetenvy keeps us in food and such.)
posted by Gadgetenvy at 5:47 PM on October 3, 2017 [7 favorites]

Election returns coming in from the Birmingham mayoral runoff, where it's still far too early to call. Good article on the campaign of Randall Woodfin, a community-minded progressive who's challenging the incumbent mayor.
posted by duffell at 5:51 PM on October 3, 2017 [1 favorite]

theredpen: "Zaphod Beeblebrox was less of an embarrassment."

Well, he's just this guy, you know?
posted by Chrysostom at 5:59 PM on October 3, 2017 [8 favorites]

Rick Hasen and SCOTUSblog analyses of the Wisconsin gerrymander case. Both with the "cautious optimism for the challengers."

I wonder if Wisconsin was too clever by half with this redistricting - it's really, really egregious. Something merely bad might have gotten past, but it's hard to defend something *this* bad.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:12 PM on October 3, 2017 [10 favorites]

So it’s hard to fight a plane that you can’t see, right?

You'd think so, but you can see Wonder Woman sitting right there inside the plane.
posted by kirkaracha at 6:15 PM on October 3, 2017 [9 favorites]

Scaryblackdeath, I donated my whole last paycheck to Puerto Rico and Hurricane relief. It doesn’t feel like enough. It does seem never ending and drear.
(I don’t work that often, on call basis, so not all that much but all I made for the last few months. Mr gadgetenvy keeps us in food and such.)

I worked as a substitute teacher every day I could from 2005-2013, because as a sub you only get paid when you work. I can't say I was ever facing homelessness or the like because I had family to back me up, but I know debt and the worry about making the rent and being behind, and I flew without the net of health insurance for almost all of those years. I was way below most of my friends' living standards. And I remember being afraid of not finding enough work. It only turned around in 2013 when my books took off. I'm not wealthy, but compared to living on substitute wages it sure feels like being rich.

My first instinct was to give back. The thing I've done was to say all my profits from X book for Y amount of time would go to a charity. And the thing is -- I feel like a heel for doing it that way, and I kinda feel like a heel even talking about it here because it smacks of self-promotion. But I figured it was the way I could do the most good, and hell, I could've just spent that money on advertising or something. Even so, it feels tacky to talk about, and the tactic feels tacky, too.

This weekend at Geek Girl Con I met the lady who made that poster of Captain America saying "I Want YOU to Punch Nazis." Her artist booth had all of her work up, and many prints were marked with "$5 from every purchase goes to [X good cause]." (Money from the Cap poster goes to SPLC, iirc.) So I talked to her about those mixed feelings and she said (paraphrasing), "I get that, too. But the money I can raise by making noise about it is way more than I can by just writing a check, so I do it."

So now I'm wrestling with the question of whether or not I can do it for Puerto Rico & the USVI, and I don't know if I can swing it right now 'cause I'm coming into the low point of my income cycle. I felt really good the first time I did one of these things, back in 2014, for a veterans' charity. Now I'm just caught between feeling like an asshole if I don't and feeling empty and unsatisfied and pointless if I do.

Fuck 2017, y'know?
posted by scaryblackdeath at 6:24 PM on October 3, 2017 [15 favorites]

Ginsburg slaps Gorsuch in Gerrymandering Case

Gorsuch went on to give his colleagues a civics lecture about the text of the Constitution. “And where exactly do we get authority to revise state legislative lines? When the Constitution authorizes the federal government to step in on state legislative matters, it’s pretty clear—if you look at the Fifteenth Amendment, you look at the Nineteenth Amendment, the Twenty-sixth Amendment, and even the Fourteenth Amendment, Section 2.” In other words, Gorsuch was saying, why should the Court involve itself in the subject of redistricting at all—didn’t the Constitution fail to give the Court the authority to do so?

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is bent with age, can sometimes look disengaged or even sleepy during arguments, and she had that droopy look today as well. But, in this moment, she heard Gorsuch very clearly, and she didn’t even raise her head before offering a brisk and convincing dismissal. In her still Brooklyn-flecked drawl, she grumbled, “Where did ‘one person, one vote’ come from?” There might have been an audible woo that echoed through the courtroom. (Ginsburg’s comment seemed to silence Gorsuch for the rest of the arguments.)

posted by threeturtles at 6:29 PM on October 3, 2017 [73 favorites]

>---------------NEW THREAD---------------<
posted by infinitewindow at 6:29 PM on October 3, 2017 [11 favorites]

dammit i just wanted to discuss some interesting ideas from this thread why does this idiot Trump keep fucking up the world
posted by holyrood at 6:32 PM on October 3, 2017 [6 favorites]

By the time 2020 comes around, we're going to need an encyclopedia to document the hypocrisy. The Hypopedia Republicaria.
posted by Devonian at 2:57 PM on October 3

Malleus Trumpicanus, surely.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 6:37 PM on October 3, 2017 [7 favorites]

Omg this is the first time I'm there as a new thread link is posted. I dunno if I should feel accomplished or continue my despair, but I suppose both at the same time is appropriate.
posted by numaner at 6:41 PM on October 3, 2017 [3 favorites]

Donald Trump himself uses public money for junk food. He has a cola summoning button FFS!

Lyndon Johnson had a Fresca machine at his desk.
posted by jgirl at 6:56 PM on October 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

'Cause his dumb corpse would probably get off on it.
something about the difference between a chickpea and a garbanzo bean.
posted by aspersioncast at 8:15 PM on October 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

"I get that, too. But the money I can raise by making noise about it is way more than I can by just writing a check, so I do it."

That thing where I guilt all my Wechat friends who normally post feelgood posts about DJ's or somesuch. MAKE NOISE. It works better. (And write your own large check and be loud about the fact that you did.)
posted by saysthis at 8:59 PM on October 3, 2017

WTF are people in a hurricane-devasted area going to do with paper towels?

everything is a mess, that's why they need the quicker-picker-upper.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 11:39 PM on October 3, 2017 [2 favorites]

They're on an island in the middle of the ocean, you see, and it's a big big ocean, so of course they have a lot of water to wipe up.
posted by Soliloquy at 12:00 AM on October 4, 2017 [2 favorites]

everything is a mess, that's why they need the quicker-picker-upper.

i mean, at least he didn't start handing out calgon
posted by entropicamericana at 7:52 AM on October 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

National treasure John Dingell wins the internet today.

Chris24, please read this. His role in getting the NRA involved in squashing gun control measures in America means he will always be tainted in my eyes.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 8:19 AM on October 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

What, no milk and cookies?
posted by zachlipton at 1:21 PM on October 4, 2017 [2 favorites]