We are all John Boltons now…

by

by Ugh

To quote Jon Lovitz as Michael Dukakis in a spoof of a 1988 Presidential debate, "I can't believe I'm losing to this guy." 

These days I kind of wander around in a general state of "WTF", trying to stay off the twitterati. 

63 million people voted for this guy in 2016.  It's a whole "nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people" kind of thing, I guess.  

Separately, General Aviation is dangerous and I don't recommend it unless the pilot is an immediate family member (and probably not even then, see, e.g., JFK Jr.).  

Open thread to talk about the latest and most recent unpleasantness.  Or the Superbowl.  

378 thoughts on “We are all John Boltons now…”

  11. We are all John Boltons now …
    No, we are not.
    Trump and company, Bolton, The American Conservative, the Republican Party, the Iranian mullahs and Soleimani, ISIS, Netanyahu, Putin, the Chinese leadership, the totalitarian leaders of the Philippines, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Australia and North Korea and now Great Britain and all of their supporters and operatives are the conservative nationalist movement around the globe.
    That they kill and murder and back stab one another in their internecine made-men wars is indicative of nothing except elemental reptilian brain stem ratfucker ruthlessness and certainly, in Bolton’s case, bear no similarities to any of us.
    John Bolton will face the same firing squads as Trump and Putin, but thank you, Bolton, for the heads-up.
    Now die, you fuck.
    WE might be Khashoggi. We might be Jo Cox. We might be immigrant children, we might be, and indeed we are intended to be the victims of the murderous worldwide conservative nationalist movements.
    We are the enemies they have in their murderous sights. They want it all. They might come to agreement among themselves, via a balance of murderous violence how to split up the “all”, but they don’t intend to share any with us.
    They might kill one another, like Mafia families visit honor and omicidio upon one another but only so the survivors among those reptiles may feed on us.
    There’s is only one to do on every continent, every country, and every neighborhood infested by the conservative movement vermin.
    7.53 billion human beings on the globe.
    Maybe 500 million of them.
    They are not us.

  12. We are all John Boltons now …
    No, we are not.
    Trump and company, Bolton, The American Conservative, the Republican Party, the Iranian mullahs and Soleimani, ISIS, Netanyahu, Putin, the Chinese leadership, the totalitarian leaders of the Philippines, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Australia and North Korea and now Great Britain and all of their supporters and operatives are the conservative nationalist movement around the globe.
    That they kill and murder and back stab one another in their internecine made-men wars is indicative of nothing except elemental reptilian brain stem ratfucker ruthlessness and certainly, in Bolton’s case, bear no similarities to any of us.
    John Bolton will face the same firing squads as Trump and Putin, but thank you, Bolton, for the heads-up.
    Now die, you fuck.
    WE might be Khashoggi. We might be Jo Cox. We might be immigrant children, we might be, and indeed we are intended to be the victims of the murderous worldwide conservative nationalist movements.
    We are the enemies they have in their murderous sights. They want it all. They might come to agreement among themselves, via a balance of murderous violence how to split up the “all”, but they don’t intend to share any with us.
    They might kill one another, like Mafia families visit honor and omicidio upon one another but only so the survivors among those reptiles may feed on us.
    There’s is only one to do on every continent, every country, and every neighborhood infested by the conservative movement vermin.
    7.53 billion human beings on the globe.
    Maybe 500 million of them.
    They are not us.

  13. Sure, if you stay out of ours. 😉
    Or we could just start a new country, leaving our Trumpers and Brexiteers behind. (We’ll call it “Canada.”)

  14. Sure, if you stay out of ours. 😉
    Or we could just start a new country, leaving our Trumpers and Brexiteers behind. (We’ll call it “Canada.”)

  15. So loath though I am to abandon a good conspiracy theory, my suspicion that Bolton had been bought off by Suleimani’s killing looks thoroughly debunked. But as someone (Emptywheel I think) suggested, he’s a slippery bastard who learnt skulduggery at the knee of a master (Cheney), so estimating what he’s actually up to is pretty hard, even now. Except for wj’s comment back then, to the effect that even if bought, he might not stay bought. But as for whether his intervention will have any serious effect in the short term, the jury (and I use the term loosely) is still out.

  16. So loath though I am to abandon a good conspiracy theory, my suspicion that Bolton had been bought off by Suleimani’s killing looks thoroughly debunked. But as someone (Emptywheel I think) suggested, he’s a slippery bastard who learnt skulduggery at the knee of a master (Cheney), so estimating what he’s actually up to is pretty hard, even now. Except for wj’s comment back then, to the effect that even if bought, he might not stay bought. But as for whether his intervention will have any serious effect in the short term, the jury (and I use the term loosely) is still out.

  17. Interpreting this as an open thread, could anyone here with a sense of aesthetics give an opinion which version of this verse sounds best?
    Vita non caret id quoi vis aeterna iacendi est
    Vita non caret hoc quoi vis aeterna cubandi est
    Vita non caret id quoi vis aeterna cubandi est
    Vita non caret hoc quoi vis aeterna iacendi est
    For those unversed in Latin: that’s my translation of ‘That is not dead which can eternal lie. (And with strange aeons even death may die)(Ast aevis alienis mors moriatur et ipsa)’
    Hac in mole Rylehque moraritur – Iä – Cthulhu.
    Mortuus est ast somniat usque ad sidera recta.

  18. Interpreting this as an open thread, could anyone here with a sense of aesthetics give an opinion which version of this verse sounds best?
    Vita non caret id quoi vis aeterna iacendi est
    Vita non caret hoc quoi vis aeterna cubandi est
    Vita non caret id quoi vis aeterna cubandi est
    Vita non caret hoc quoi vis aeterna iacendi est
    For those unversed in Latin: that’s my translation of ‘That is not dead which can eternal lie. (And with strange aeons even death may die)(Ast aevis alienis mors moriatur et ipsa)’
    Hac in mole Rylehque moraritur – Iä – Cthulhu.
    Mortuus est ast somniat usque ad sidera recta.

  19. Or we could just start a new country, leaving our Trumpers and Brexiteers behind. (We’ll call it “Canada.”)
    Better yet, we give Trump his wish to buy Greenland, and move them there. Why should we give them the good real estate?

  20. Or we could just start a new country, leaving our Trumpers and Brexiteers behind. (We’ll call it “Canada.”)
    Better yet, we give Trump his wish to buy Greenland, and move them there. Why should we give them the good real estate?

  21. Hartmut, it’s comments like this that remind me just how uneducated I am (multiple degrees notwithstanding). Which is probably good for my character or something. 😉

  22. Hartmut, it’s comments like this that remind me just how uneducated I am (multiple degrees notwithstanding). Which is probably good for my character or something. 😉

  23. Jam all the Trumpistas and Brexiteers into Gitmo, and let them torture each other to expose the traitors in their midst.
    Then, after things settle down for a while, whisper to Cuba “not ours any more, have fun”.
    NASA is too slow to finish the “B Ark”, so we have to look to other solutions.

  24. Jam all the Trumpistas and Brexiteers into Gitmo, and let them torture each other to expose the traitors in their midst.
    Then, after things settle down for a while, whisper to Cuba “not ours any more, have fun”.
    NASA is too slow to finish the “B Ark”, so we have to look to other solutions.

  27. wj, you don’t know how long it took me to get the verses metrically correct. At this speed it will take several years to get a full ecloge.
    Surprisingly ‘penguin-devouring (shoggoths)’ fits into a Latin verse (‘aptenodytivorantes’). 😉

  28. wj, you don’t know how long it took me to get the verses metrically correct. At this speed it will take several years to get a full ecloge.
    Surprisingly ‘penguin-devouring (shoggoths)’ fits into a Latin verse (‘aptenodytivorantes’). 😉

  29. Curiosity question: how long before Trump tweets that he barely knows Bolton, and rarely if ever talked to him? Or maybe that he doesn’t know the guy at all?
    Just because it’s self-evidently untrue isn’t an issue, because Trump says stuff like that all the time. And it does seem to be him go-to reaction to anyone who appears to have evidence against him.

  30. Curiosity question: how long before Trump tweets that he barely knows Bolton, and rarely if ever talked to him? Or maybe that he doesn’t know the guy at all?
    Just because it’s self-evidently untrue isn’t an issue, because Trump says stuff like that all the time. And it does seem to be him go-to reaction to anyone who appears to have evidence against him.

  33. Greenland is going to be worth a lot when all the ice melts.
    I don’t know. Isn’t most of it going to be naked rock scraped clean by the ice sheet?

  34. Greenland is going to be worth a lot when all the ice melts.
    I don’t know. Isn’t most of it going to be naked rock scraped clean by the ice sheet?

  35. Need good, solid rocks as foundations for all those rigs… 🙂
    “Greenland is believed by some geologists to have some of the world’s largest remaining oil resources. Prospecting is taking place under the auspices of NUNAOIL, a partnership between the Greenland Home Rule Government and the Danish state. U.S. Geological Survey found in 2001 that the waters off north-eastern Greenland, in the Greenland Sea north and south of the Arctic Circle, could contain up to 110 billion barrels.”
    Petroleum exploration in the Arctic: Greenland

  36. Need good, solid rocks as foundations for all those rigs… 🙂
    “Greenland is believed by some geologists to have some of the world’s largest remaining oil resources. Prospecting is taking place under the auspices of NUNAOIL, a partnership between the Greenland Home Rule Government and the Danish state. U.S. Geological Survey found in 2001 that the waters off north-eastern Greenland, in the Greenland Sea north and south of the Arctic Circle, could contain up to 110 billion barrels.”
    Petroleum exploration in the Arctic: Greenland

  37. Hartmut: FWIW, I prefer the first or fourth, i.e. iacendi not cubandi. But my Latin is to all intents and purposes non-existent these days, it just sounds better to me. And, to make further confession, I am absolutely unfamiliar with the whole Lovecraft thing and the rest of the quotation/story etc.

  38. Hartmut: FWIW, I prefer the first or fourth, i.e. iacendi not cubandi. But my Latin is to all intents and purposes non-existent these days, it just sounds better to me. And, to make further confession, I am absolutely unfamiliar with the whole Lovecraft thing and the rest of the quotation/story etc.

  39. could anyone here with a sense of aesthetics
    You almost put me off opining with that stipulation…
    However, “caret id” sounds unfelicitous to me, FWIW, so the fourth one by preference.

  40. could anyone here with a sense of aesthetics
    You almost put me off opining with that stipulation…
    However, “caret id” sounds unfelicitous to me, FWIW, so the fourth one by preference.

  43. Further thoughts on Bolton’s motivation, from Jonathan Stevenson in today’s NYT. I know some of you eschew the Times, and I can’t post links, so for anyone who hasn’t read it and is interested:
    But there may be a method to the madness — four of them, in fact.
    The first is patriotism. Although Mr. Bolton does hold extreme views about the use of American power, there is little doubt about his basic fealty to the United States constitutional system and to established American institutions. Having come of political age during the Cold War, he is a strong supporter of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and an opponent of Russia’s revanchism under President Vladimir Putin.
    When Mr. Trump mused about withdrawing the United States from the NATO alliance in 2018, Mr. Bolton was reportedly distressed and rallied to keep it from happening. And, in questioning fellow Republican Jon Huntsman’s decision to serve as ambassador to China in President Barack Obama’s administration in 2011, Mr. Bolton said, “There is no patriotic obligation to help advance the career of a politician who is otherwise pursuing interests that are fundamentally antithetical to your values.” In other words, Mr. Trump’s frequent demeaning of the Atlantic alliance, his obtuse bromance with Putin, and his apparent acquiescence in Russian interference with the American electoral process may have persuaded Mr. Bolton to desert the president on principle.
    Then there are his professional principles. Mr. Bolton, unlike Mr. Trump and some of the fiercest members of his inner circle, is a seasoned government professional with an informed respect for the institutional architecture and ethos of American foreign policy. Before becoming Mr. Trump’s national security adviser, Mr. Bolton served as acting ambassador to the United Nations, undersecretary of state, assistant secretary of state and assistant attorney general.
    Mr. Bolton reportedly characterized Mr. Trump’s meddling with aid to Ukraine as a “drug deal” — a crude metaphor for actions that violate his sense of foreign policy professionalism. He also disdained the president’s circumvention of normal diplomatic channels by informally enlisting Rudolph Giuliani, his personal lawyer, whom Mr. Bolton called a “hand grenade who’s going to blow everybody up.” Separate from his sense of patriotic duty, Mr. Bolton may have felt that Mr. Trump had so demeaned the integrity of the foreign policy structure that something radical had to be done.
    Well, maybe. Another explanation is personal indignation and greed. Mr. Bolton spent much of his career dreaming of the national security adviser job, and reportedly lobbied the president for it for years. And, of course, his book is due to come out March 17, and these revelations are sure to make it an instant best seller (a fact not lost on the president: Mr. Trump’s backers have predictably cast him as a “disgruntled” former employee, and Mr. Trump himself has accused him of merely trying to sell books).
    Let’s not judge John Bolton too harshly, though. He lasted almost a year and a half in a job under a famously mercurial president, and toward the end was reportedly unhappy in it. And his book, for which he received a reported $2 million advance, didn’t need this revelation to make it a hot item or line his pockets. So while I’m sure Mr. Bolton doesn’t mind a taste of revenge and higher book sales, in all likelihood the two more honorable factors feature more heavily in Mr. Bolton’s decision-making.
    But there’s one more motive: personal ambition. This is not a man known for his humility. Don’t forget that Mr. Bolton harbors presidential dreams; he came close to a run in 2015, and he maintains a political action committee, through which he doles out money to Republican politicians. And even if Mr. Bolton has let that particular dream die, it’s unlikely that he has hung up his government spurs — instead, he may judge that the Trump ship is sinking and figure that Mr. Bolton might as well accelerate the process and try to position himself for a post in the next administration.
    That short-term calculation of Mr. Trump’s political fortunes may not be sound, and Mr. Bolton may be a ruthless pragmatist. But if he does end up further exposing Mr. Trump’s duplicity, in the fullness of time Mr. Bolton will end up, however fortuitously, on the right side of history. That’s a better legacy than he might have secured merely as the third of Mr. Trump’s four (and counting) embattled national security advisers. If nothing else, this week’s revelations show Mr. Bolton, even after being unceremoniously fired by his president, is still one of the cagiest political fighters in town.

  44. Further thoughts on Bolton’s motivation, from Jonathan Stevenson in today’s NYT. I know some of you eschew the Times, and I can’t post links, so for anyone who hasn’t read it and is interested:
    But there may be a method to the madness — four of them, in fact.
    The first is patriotism. Although Mr. Bolton does hold extreme views about the use of American power, there is little doubt about his basic fealty to the United States constitutional system and to established American institutions. Having come of political age during the Cold War, he is a strong supporter of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and an opponent of Russia’s revanchism under President Vladimir Putin.
    When Mr. Trump mused about withdrawing the United States from the NATO alliance in 2018, Mr. Bolton was reportedly distressed and rallied to keep it from happening. And, in questioning fellow Republican Jon Huntsman’s decision to serve as ambassador to China in President Barack Obama’s administration in 2011, Mr. Bolton said, “There is no patriotic obligation to help advance the career of a politician who is otherwise pursuing interests that are fundamentally antithetical to your values.” In other words, Mr. Trump’s frequent demeaning of the Atlantic alliance, his obtuse bromance with Putin, and his apparent acquiescence in Russian interference with the American electoral process may have persuaded Mr. Bolton to desert the president on principle.
    Then there are his professional principles. Mr. Bolton, unlike Mr. Trump and some of the fiercest members of his inner circle, is a seasoned government professional with an informed respect for the institutional architecture and ethos of American foreign policy. Before becoming Mr. Trump’s national security adviser, Mr. Bolton served as acting ambassador to the United Nations, undersecretary of state, assistant secretary of state and assistant attorney general.
    Mr. Bolton reportedly characterized Mr. Trump’s meddling with aid to Ukraine as a “drug deal” — a crude metaphor for actions that violate his sense of foreign policy professionalism. He also disdained the president’s circumvention of normal diplomatic channels by informally enlisting Rudolph Giuliani, his personal lawyer, whom Mr. Bolton called a “hand grenade who’s going to blow everybody up.” Separate from his sense of patriotic duty, Mr. Bolton may have felt that Mr. Trump had so demeaned the integrity of the foreign policy structure that something radical had to be done.
    Well, maybe. Another explanation is personal indignation and greed. Mr. Bolton spent much of his career dreaming of the national security adviser job, and reportedly lobbied the president for it for years. And, of course, his book is due to come out March 17, and these revelations are sure to make it an instant best seller (a fact not lost on the president: Mr. Trump’s backers have predictably cast him as a “disgruntled” former employee, and Mr. Trump himself has accused him of merely trying to sell books).
    Let’s not judge John Bolton too harshly, though. He lasted almost a year and a half in a job under a famously mercurial president, and toward the end was reportedly unhappy in it. And his book, for which he received a reported $2 million advance, didn’t need this revelation to make it a hot item or line his pockets. So while I’m sure Mr. Bolton doesn’t mind a taste of revenge and higher book sales, in all likelihood the two more honorable factors feature more heavily in Mr. Bolton’s decision-making.
    But there’s one more motive: personal ambition. This is not a man known for his humility. Don’t forget that Mr. Bolton harbors presidential dreams; he came close to a run in 2015, and he maintains a political action committee, through which he doles out money to Republican politicians. And even if Mr. Bolton has let that particular dream die, it’s unlikely that he has hung up his government spurs — instead, he may judge that the Trump ship is sinking and figure that Mr. Bolton might as well accelerate the process and try to position himself for a post in the next administration.
    That short-term calculation of Mr. Trump’s political fortunes may not be sound, and Mr. Bolton may be a ruthless pragmatist. But if he does end up further exposing Mr. Trump’s duplicity, in the fullness of time Mr. Bolton will end up, however fortuitously, on the right side of history. That’s a better legacy than he might have secured merely as the third of Mr. Trump’s four (and counting) embattled national security advisers. If nothing else, this week’s revelations show Mr. Bolton, even after being unceremoniously fired by his president, is still one of the cagiest political fighters in town.

  45. From cleek on the other thread:
    it’s not a defense, it’s a campaign ad.
    https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/480322-biden-calls-out-iowa-gop-senators-impeachment-comments-she-spilled-the

    “She just came out and flat said it. You know, the whole impeachment trial for Trump is just a political hit job to try to smear me, because he is scared to death to run against me, and he has good reason to be concerned,” Biden added.
    (…)
    Ernst said Monday she was “really interested” to see how Trump’s legal team’s presentation on the Bidens would inform caucusgoers.
    “Will they be supporting Vice President Biden at this point? Not sure about that,” she said.

  46. From cleek on the other thread:
    it’s not a defense, it’s a campaign ad.
    https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/480322-biden-calls-out-iowa-gop-senators-impeachment-comments-she-spilled-the

    “She just came out and flat said it. You know, the whole impeachment trial for Trump is just a political hit job to try to smear me, because he is scared to death to run against me, and he has good reason to be concerned,” Biden added.
    (…)
    Ernst said Monday she was “really interested” to see how Trump’s legal team’s presentation on the Bidens would inform caucusgoers.
    “Will they be supporting Vice President Biden at this point? Not sure about that,” she said.

  47. Well, the presentation might well “inform” Iowa caucus goers. But probably motivate them in the opposite direction to what Ernst is expecting.

  48. Well, the presentation might well “inform” Iowa caucus goers. But probably motivate them in the opposite direction to what Ernst is expecting.

  57. Aha! So maybe my old handle suddenly was too long! I’ll be using this new one from now on when I post links.

  58. Aha! So maybe my old handle suddenly was too long! I’ll be using this new one from now on when I post links.

  61. Hartmut, I confess that I had to look up “ecloge,” and I find it described as “pastoral.” This brings to mind an image of a meadow covered in … well, you get the idea.

  62. Hartmut, I confess that I had to look up “ecloge,” and I find it described as “pastoral.” This brings to mind an image of a meadow covered in … well, you get the idea.

  63. Lest we overlook it, also happening now is the attempted distraction of Trump’s Peace Plan for Israel and the Palestinians. Which truth in lavbeling would call Sanctioned Israeli Land Grab. It’s teling that no Palestinians were consulted in its creation. And that, unlike with normal peace agreements, only one side turned up for its unveiling.
    Well that was always the question: Would these incompetents fail to come up with anything? Or would they come up with something actively damaging to the prospects for peace? Looks like we got Door #2.

  64. Lest we overlook it, also happening now is the attempted distraction of Trump’s Peace Plan for Israel and the Palestinians. Which truth in lavbeling would call Sanctioned Israeli Land Grab. It’s teling that no Palestinians were consulted in its creation. And that, unlike with normal peace agreements, only one side turned up for its unveiling.
    Well that was always the question: Would these incompetents fail to come up with anything? Or would they come up with something actively damaging to the prospects for peace? Looks like we got Door #2.

  67. “Working hard”? Or “hardly working”?
    Given that it reads like a Netanyahu campaign flyer, I’m guessing the latter. (Although I suppose it’s possible that, in the best Trump Family tradition, he’s convinced himself that he actually did something more than agree to have his name on it as author,)

  68. “Working hard”? Or “hardly working”?
    Given that it reads like a Netanyahu campaign flyer, I’m guessing the latter. (Although I suppose it’s possible that, in the best Trump Family tradition, he’s convinced himself that he actually did something more than agree to have his name on it as author,)

  69. GntNC, Nigel, thank you for your opinions.
    Id/iacere seems most apt for the cultists who shout *Iä* all the time while hoc/cubare is better suited for the gargling Deep Ones.
    Hoc is more fluid while id has more sinister vibes.
    ral, well it would be an underwater pastoral with a Deep One herding fish on meadows of sea grass.

  70. GntNC, Nigel, thank you for your opinions.
    Id/iacere seems most apt for the cultists who shout *Iä* all the time while hoc/cubare is better suited for the gargling Deep Ones.
    Hoc is more fluid while id has more sinister vibes.
    ral, well it would be an underwater pastoral with a Deep One herding fish on meadows of sea grass.

  71. I’m so sorry everybody, I’m going to try not to go crazy posting links, but it has been really surprisingly frustrating not to be able to do so, it felt like I had one hand tied behind my back. So to celebrate, and then I really am going to try to revert to previous good behaviour, this is a link to a short hilzoy twitter thread which (as usual with hilzoy) neatly destroys the GOP’s absurd arguments about how whatever Trump has done it isn’t impeachable:
    https://twitter.com/hilzoy/status/1222259238766026756

  72. I’m so sorry everybody, I’m going to try not to go crazy posting links, but it has been really surprisingly frustrating not to be able to do so, it felt like I had one hand tied behind my back. So to celebrate, and then I really am going to try to revert to previous good behaviour, this is a link to a short hilzoy twitter thread which (as usual with hilzoy) neatly destroys the GOP’s absurd arguments about how whatever Trump has done it isn’t impeachable:
    https://twitter.com/hilzoy/status/1222259238766026756

  75. Destroying their arguments is easy, getting that through properly to the American public so the GOP senators start being scared is the hard bit.

  76. Destroying their arguments is easy, getting that through properly to the American public so the GOP senators start being scared is the hard bit.

  77. the cult is all-powerful.

    Two Senate Republican aides said Wednesday that the push for witnesses deflated after Tuesday’s closed GOP meeting, with little sign of moderate senators ramping up their efforts.
    The aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak frankly, said Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) are now seen as only soft supporters for witnesses and are not ready to make any firm commitments.
    The only GOP senator, the aides added, who is possibly a firm vote for witnesses is Mitt Romney (Utah). But they said he does not carry significant capital with his colleagues, who see him as a political outlier in the Trump-friendly caucus.

  78. the cult is all-powerful.

    Two Senate Republican aides said Wednesday that the push for witnesses deflated after Tuesday’s closed GOP meeting, with little sign of moderate senators ramping up their efforts.
    The aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak frankly, said Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) are now seen as only soft supporters for witnesses and are not ready to make any firm commitments.
    The only GOP senator, the aides added, who is possibly a firm vote for witnesses is Mitt Romney (Utah). But they said he does not carry significant capital with his colleagues, who see him as a political outlier in the Trump-friendly caucus.

  79. How did Bibi “arrange” for Trump to allow Israel to conquer more territory without firing s shot?
    https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-talented-mr-epstein/
    Collins and Murkowski:
    As the malignantly corrupt conservative movement Republican Party is executed publicly by firing squad (one by one would take too long, the numbers of the subhuman vermin being what they are), the two of them will be made to witness the carnage and then awarded their fates.
    The country is in grave fucking peril.
    Whatever norms of justice are still barely intact will not suffice to wipe this alien monster off the face of the Earth.

  80. How did Bibi “arrange” for Trump to allow Israel to conquer more territory without firing s shot?
    https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-talented-mr-epstein/
    Collins and Murkowski:
    As the malignantly corrupt conservative movement Republican Party is executed publicly by firing squad (one by one would take too long, the numbers of the subhuman vermin being what they are), the two of them will be made to witness the carnage and then awarded their fates.
    The country is in grave fucking peril.
    Whatever norms of justice are still barely intact will not suffice to wipe this alien monster off the face of the Earth.

  85. The GOP Trump defense team will merge with Gwyneth Paltrow’s GOOP Lab to demonstrate the perfect nuclear fusion of all future American dog shit.

  86. The GOP Trump defense team will merge with Gwyneth Paltrow’s GOOP Lab to demonstrate the perfect nuclear fusion of all future American dog shit.

  93. ” ‘I want to be elected. I think I’m a great president. I think I’m the greatest president there ever was. And if I’m not elected, the national interest will suffer greatly.’ That cannot be an impeachable offense.”

    – Alan Dershowitz

  94. ” ‘I want to be elected. I think I’m a great president. I think I’m the greatest president there ever was. And if I’m not elected, the national interest will suffer greatly.’ That cannot be an impeachable offense.”

    – Alan Dershowitz

  95. The evidence is more than strong that the POTUS withheld military aid from the Ukraine, and withheld an invitation for Zelensky to meet with him at the White House, in order to pressure Zelensky to announce an investigation of his rival, Joe Biden.
    When these actions became known, he resisted attempts by Congress to investigate them by refusing to provide relevant documents and by refusing to allow people in his chain of command to testify. This was done not by invoking executive privilege, but by executive fiat.
    He either did those things, or he did not.
    If he did them, they either are grounds for impeachment, or they are not.
    The rest is noise.
    I listened to some of the Q&A on my drive time home this afternoon. I actually found it to be pretty interesting, in an American-history-and-civics-class kind of way. Some interesting and relevant questions were raised.
    None of that amounts to a damned thing beyond general interest. The (R)’s in the Senate will not, in a million years, vote to remove Trump from office. Never.
    The thing I find most worrisome about all of this is the effect it will have on Trump. He will assume – perhaps correctly – that he is beyond being called to account. For more or less anything.
    I can, maybe, imagine the existence of rare individuals capable of handling that combination of power and freedom with responsibility and circumspection.
    Trump is not among them.

  96. The evidence is more than strong that the POTUS withheld military aid from the Ukraine, and withheld an invitation for Zelensky to meet with him at the White House, in order to pressure Zelensky to announce an investigation of his rival, Joe Biden.
    When these actions became known, he resisted attempts by Congress to investigate them by refusing to provide relevant documents and by refusing to allow people in his chain of command to testify. This was done not by invoking executive privilege, but by executive fiat.
    He either did those things, or he did not.
    If he did them, they either are grounds for impeachment, or they are not.
    The rest is noise.
    I listened to some of the Q&A on my drive time home this afternoon. I actually found it to be pretty interesting, in an American-history-and-civics-class kind of way. Some interesting and relevant questions were raised.
    None of that amounts to a damned thing beyond general interest. The (R)’s in the Senate will not, in a million years, vote to remove Trump from office. Never.
    The thing I find most worrisome about all of this is the effect it will have on Trump. He will assume – perhaps correctly – that he is beyond being called to account. For more or less anything.
    I can, maybe, imagine the existence of rare individuals capable of handling that combination of power and freedom with responsibility and circumspection.
    Trump is not among them.

  97. of course “conservatives” are happy about the President who can’t be charged with crimes and can’t even commit crimes if he pretends after he gets caught that he could be seen to be acting in the national interest.
    you know they’re OK with it because they never complained about any of Obama’s or Clinton’s policies!

  98. of course “conservatives” are happy about the President who can’t be charged with crimes and can’t even commit crimes if he pretends after he gets caught that he could be seen to be acting in the national interest.
    you know they’re OK with it because they never complained about any of Obama’s or Clinton’s policies!

  103. Human beings are not vermin. Metaphor or not, I wouldn’t even call Nazis vermin. It’s a Nazi trick to dehumanize people that way, and acting more like Nazis is not my idea of a promising way to get out of the mess we’re in.
    Ditto for metaphors about executing people or eliminating a significant percentage of the world’s population.
    I’m tired of it.
    Hasta la vista.

  104. Human beings are not vermin. Metaphor or not, I wouldn’t even call Nazis vermin. It’s a Nazi trick to dehumanize people that way, and acting more like Nazis is not my idea of a promising way to get out of the mess we’re in.
    Ditto for metaphors about executing people or eliminating a significant percentage of the world’s population.
    I’m tired of it.
    Hasta la vista.

  105. It’s easy to get so outraged at an opponent that one descends into the gutter with them. The problem is, in doing so one acquires the same kind of problematic characteristics.
    The high road is far harder. But in the long run, the low road leads only to defeat.

  106. It’s easy to get so outraged at an opponent that one descends into the gutter with them. The problem is, in doing so one acquires the same kind of problematic characteristics.
    The high road is far harder. But in the long run, the low road leads only to defeat.

  109. I’m deeply uncomfortable with JDT’s rhetoric.
    Fascist Republicans are the problem. Let’s be entirely unlike them.

  110. I’m deeply uncomfortable with JDT’s rhetoric.
    Fascist Republicans are the problem. Let’s be entirely unlike them.

  111. Human beings are not vermin. Metaphor or not, I wouldn’t even call Nazis vermin. It’s a Nazi trick to dehumanize people that way, and acting more like Nazis is not my idea of a promising way to get out of the mess we’re in….
    This.

  112. Human beings are not vermin. Metaphor or not, I wouldn’t even call Nazis vermin. It’s a Nazi trick to dehumanize people that way, and acting more like Nazis is not my idea of a promising way to get out of the mess we’re in….
    This.

  117. Yep, Dershowitz has basically taken a match to his own credibilty and reputation and burnt it to ashes.
    Funny how that keeps happening to people in Trump’s orbit.

  118. Yep, Dershowitz has basically taken a match to his own credibilty and reputation and burnt it to ashes.
    Funny how that keeps happening to people in Trump’s orbit.

  119. Human beings are not vermin. Metaphor or not, I wouldn’t even call Nazis vermin. It’s a Nazi trick to dehumanize people that way, and acting more like Nazis is not my idea of a promising way to get out of the mess we’re in.
    …
    Fascist Republicans are the problem. Let’s be entirely unlike them.
    Seconded on both counts, with the sole caveat (you’d expect it from me, and in any case it’s probably what Pro Bono meant) that not all Republicans are fascists.

  120. Human beings are not vermin. Metaphor or not, I wouldn’t even call Nazis vermin. It’s a Nazi trick to dehumanize people that way, and acting more like Nazis is not my idea of a promising way to get out of the mess we’re in.
    …
    Fascist Republicans are the problem. Let’s be entirely unlike them.
    Seconded on both counts, with the sole caveat (you’d expect it from me, and in any case it’s probably what Pro Bono meant) that not all Republicans are fascists.

  121. Hmmmm.
    https://washingtonmonthly.com/2020/01/29/trumps-geofencing-could-be-a-potent-political-issue/
    If you attend an evangelical or a Catholic Church, a women’s rights march or a political rally of any kind, especially in a seriously contested state, the odds are that your cellphone ID number, home address, partisan affiliation and the identifying information of the people around you will be provided by geofencing marketers to campaigns, lobbyists and other interest groups…
    Reportedly (see the NYT link), the Trump campaign has a significant advantage with this (which is basically the purpose od his big rallies).
    Could make a difference in the marginal states.
    And why is this even legal ?

  122. Hmmmm.
    https://washingtonmonthly.com/2020/01/29/trumps-geofencing-could-be-a-potent-political-issue/
    If you attend an evangelical or a Catholic Church, a women’s rights march or a political rally of any kind, especially in a seriously contested state, the odds are that your cellphone ID number, home address, partisan affiliation and the identifying information of the people around you will be provided by geofencing marketers to campaigns, lobbyists and other interest groups…
    Reportedly (see the NYT link), the Trump campaign has a significant advantage with this (which is basically the purpose od his big rallies).
    Could make a difference in the marginal states.
    And why is this even legal ?

  123. And why is this even legal ?
    Because we have bollocks, if that, for data privacy laws.
    Just another one of our special ways of being free.

  124. And why is this even legal ?
    Because we have bollocks, if that, for data privacy laws.
    Just another one of our special ways of being free.

  129. In the wake of a recent fairly brutal obituary of a minor politician (Lord Chalfont), people have been posting past masterpieces of the genre. I don’t think I ever read this by Hunter Thompson on the death of Nixon, but I’m glad I have now. And interestingly, it has relevance to our current discussion about what kind of language is appropriate when describing out and out villains:
    Some people will say that words like scum and rotten are wrong for Objective Journalism — which is true, but they miss the point. It was the built-in blind spots of the Objective rules and dogma that allowed Nixon to slither into the White House in the first place. He looked so good on paper that you could almost vote for him sight unseen. He seemed so all-American, so much like Horatio Alger, that he was able to slip through the cracks of Objective Journalism. You had to get Subjective to see Nixon clearly, and the shock of recognition was often painful.
    But it’s very well worth reading the rest of it.

  130. In the wake of a recent fairly brutal obituary of a minor politician (Lord Chalfont), people have been posting past masterpieces of the genre. I don’t think I ever read this by Hunter Thompson on the death of Nixon, but I’m glad I have now. And interestingly, it has relevance to our current discussion about what kind of language is appropriate when describing out and out villains:
    Some people will say that words like scum and rotten are wrong for Objective Journalism — which is true, but they miss the point. It was the built-in blind spots of the Objective rules and dogma that allowed Nixon to slither into the White House in the first place. He looked so good on paper that you could almost vote for him sight unseen. He seemed so all-American, so much like Horatio Alger, that he was able to slip through the cracks of Objective Journalism. You had to get Subjective to see Nixon clearly, and the shock of recognition was often painful.
    But it’s very well worth reading the rest of it.

  131. In the wake of a recent fairly brutal obituary of a minor politician (Lord Chalfont), people have been posting past masterpieces of the genre. I don’t think I ever read this by Hunter Thompson on the death of Nixon, but I’m glad I have now. And interestingly, it has relevance to our current discussion about what kind of language is appropriate when describing out and out villains:
    Some people will say that words like scum and rotten are wrong for Objective Journalism — which is true, but they miss the point. It was the built-in blind spots of the Objective rules and dogma that allowed Nixon to slither into the White House in the first place. He looked so good on paper that you could almost vote for him sight unseen. He seemed so all-American, so much like Horatio Alger, that he was able to slip through the cracks of Objective Journalism. You had to get Subjective to see Nixon clearly, and the shock of recognition was often painful.
    But it’s very well worth reading the rest of it.

  132. In the wake of a recent fairly brutal obituary of a minor politician (Lord Chalfont), people have been posting past masterpieces of the genre. I don’t think I ever read this by Hunter Thompson on the death of Nixon, but I’m glad I have now. And interestingly, it has relevance to our current discussion about what kind of language is appropriate when describing out and out villains:
    Some people will say that words like scum and rotten are wrong for Objective Journalism — which is true, but they miss the point. It was the built-in blind spots of the Objective rules and dogma that allowed Nixon to slither into the White House in the first place. He looked so good on paper that you could almost vote for him sight unseen. He seemed so all-American, so much like Horatio Alger, that he was able to slip through the cracks of Objective Journalism. You had to get Subjective to see Nixon clearly, and the shock of recognition was often painful.
    But it’s very well worth reading the rest of it.

  133. Hunter S. Thompson was a master of the sardonic memorial, even for those who he liked. My favorite example being the opening line of his piece for William S. Burroughs:
    “William had a fine taste for handguns, and later in life he became very good with them.”
    Zing!

  134. Hunter S. Thompson was a master of the sardonic memorial, even for those who he liked. My favorite example being the opening line of his piece for William S. Burroughs:
    “William had a fine taste for handguns, and later in life he became very good with them.”
    Zing!

  137. wj, you are so unfair. Jared has been working hard on this.
    Yeah, wj, and there is a TUNNEL! What’s not to like?

  138. wj, you are so unfair. Jared has been working hard on this.
    Yeah, wj, and there is a TUNNEL! What’s not to like?

  139. “William had a fine taste for handguns, and later in life he became very good with them.”
    You see, nous’s comment is a perfect illustration of one of my favourite things about ObWi. Tracking down this quotation led me down a rabbit hole to Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone: The Essential Writing of Hunter S Thompson, and a lot of extremely pleasurable short pieces I hadn’t read before. I once shared a house with this book, or a collection of his writings very like it, and found that I couldn’t go on reading it for too long at a time, it became too much of a good thing after a while. And then I left that place, and forgot all about it. After which, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and a couple of long reads in Rolling Stone like Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail (the former of which I consider to be something of a masterpiece) became pretty much all of his that I remembered. How excellent to (re)discover more…

  140. “William had a fine taste for handguns, and later in life he became very good with them.”
    You see, nous’s comment is a perfect illustration of one of my favourite things about ObWi. Tracking down this quotation led me down a rabbit hole to Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone: The Essential Writing of Hunter S Thompson, and a lot of extremely pleasurable short pieces I hadn’t read before. I once shared a house with this book, or a collection of his writings very like it, and found that I couldn’t go on reading it for too long at a time, it became too much of a good thing after a while. And then I left that place, and forgot all about it. After which, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and a couple of long reads in Rolling Stone like Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail (the former of which I consider to be something of a masterpiece) became pretty much all of his that I remembered. How excellent to (re)discover more…

  145. The Great Shark Hunt is a large collection of HST material, including pre-Gonzo stuff he wrote for the National Observer in the early 60s and carrying on from there.

  146. The Great Shark Hunt is a large collection of HST material, including pre-Gonzo stuff he wrote for the National Observer in the early 60s and carrying on from there.

  149. Strident is right, bobbyp. Lots of interesting and no doubt true and important stuff, but hardly written with any zing or elegance of style, so not a fine example of the genre IMO (No H – I’m not particularly humble).

  150. Strident is right, bobbyp. Lots of interesting and no doubt true and important stuff, but hardly written with any zing or elegance of style, so not a fine example of the genre IMO (No H – I’m not particularly humble).

  151. nous’s comment is a perfect illustration of one of my favourite things about ObWi.
    Eclectic, that’s definitely us.

  152. nous’s comment is a perfect illustration of one of my favourite things about ObWi.
    Eclectic, that’s definitely us.

  153. Rand Paul is an utter wanker. That is all.
    Well, if there was any question about the identity of the whistleblower, I think Roberts just put that to rest.

  154. Rand Paul is an utter wanker. That is all.
    Well, if there was any question about the identity of the whistleblower, I think Roberts just put that to rest.

  155. Come to think of it, The Great Shark Hunt, or maybe The Rum Diaries, could have been the HST book I briefly lived with. I have ordered the Rolling Stone collection from abebooks, my current pusher (and lifesaver). Thanks, nous.

  156. Come to think of it, The Great Shark Hunt, or maybe The Rum Diaries, could have been the HST book I briefly lived with. I have ordered the Rolling Stone collection from abebooks, my current pusher (and lifesaver). Thanks, nous.

  157. “The presiding officer declines to read the question as submitted,” Roberts said.

    Good on Roberts. There was some question just how the Chief Justice would do as presiding officer. I then to count this a promising sign.

  158. “The presiding officer declines to read the question as submitted,” Roberts said.

    Good on Roberts. There was some question just how the Chief Justice would do as presiding officer. I then to count this a promising sign.

  159. GFTNC-there is no topping Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas in the HST oeuvre.
    He also, very early in his career, penned a short monograph about the Hell’s Angles.

  160. GFTNC-there is no topping Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas in the HST oeuvre.
    He also, very early in his career, penned a short monograph about the Hell’s Angles.

  161. bobbyp, yes, I remember reading the Hell’s Angels piece long ago. But as for your first para, I’m certain you’re right.

  162. bobbyp, yes, I remember reading the Hell’s Angels piece long ago. But as for your first para, I’m certain you’re right.

  165. Newly installed panels from the US border wall fell over in high winds Wednesday
    Who had the contract to build it?
    What did they contribute to Trump 2020?

  166. Newly installed panels from the US border wall fell over in high winds Wednesday
    Who had the contract to build it?
    What did they contribute to Trump 2020?

  167. Also – if you click through you will see that the wall was built next to – maybe 1 or 2 feet from – a line of trees. Which are taller than the wall.
    Trees. Taller than the wall.
    People climb trees.

  168. Also – if you click through you will see that the wall was built next to – maybe 1 or 2 feet from – a line of trees. Which are taller than the wall.
    Trees. Taller than the wall.
    People climb trees.

  169. The concrete where the wall sections were blown over was freshly poured and hadn’t cured yet. Pretty much all you can blame the contractors for is being stupid enough to set new fence sections when the winds were forecast to be up.
    More interesting are some of the recent pictures showing modifications to the design to include floodgates wherever the wall crosses a river bed or arroyo in the desert sections. The floodgates will have to be left open during the summer monsoon season. Possibly left open year round in some cases due to the terms of treaties with Mexico over interfering with water flows that cross the border. Friends in New Mexico tell me there are a few places where the wall may have to be built as much as 20 miles from the border in order to find terrain where it won’t wash out in the first few years.

  170. The concrete where the wall sections were blown over was freshly poured and hadn’t cured yet. Pretty much all you can blame the contractors for is being stupid enough to set new fence sections when the winds were forecast to be up.
    More interesting are some of the recent pictures showing modifications to the design to include floodgates wherever the wall crosses a river bed or arroyo in the desert sections. The floodgates will have to be left open during the summer monsoon season. Possibly left open year round in some cases due to the terms of treaties with Mexico over interfering with water flows that cross the border. Friends in New Mexico tell me there are a few places where the wall may have to be built as much as 20 miles from the border in order to find terrain where it won’t wash out in the first few years.

  171. The wall is theater, for Trump’s xenophobic base.
    I understand that sh*t happens on job sites. Although some bracing might have been a good idea.
    But the whole wall business is a toxic farce.

  172. The wall is theater, for Trump’s xenophobic base.
    I understand that sh*t happens on job sites. Although some bracing might have been a good idea.
    But the whole wall business is a toxic farce.

  177. Lamar Alexander weighs in:
    Yes, he did it. No, it doesn’t merit removal from office.
    Also – refusal to respond to or co-operate with investigation into any of this, not a thing. Claims otherwise are frivolous.

    If this shallow, hurried and wholly partisan impeachment were to succeed, it would rip the country apart, pouring gasoline on the fire of cultural divisions that already exist.

    OK then. Let the healing begin.

  178. Lamar Alexander weighs in:
    Yes, he did it. No, it doesn’t merit removal from office.
    Also – refusal to respond to or co-operate with investigation into any of this, not a thing. Claims otherwise are frivolous.

    If this shallow, hurried and wholly partisan impeachment were to succeed, it would rip the country apart, pouring gasoline on the fire of cultural divisions that already exist.

    OK then. Let the healing begin.

  181. Also pushing my buttons this week is this from Mayor Pete:

    In the face of unprecedented challenges, we need a president whose vision was shaped by the American Heartland rather than the ineffective Washington politics we’ve come to know and expect.

    Actually, in the face of unprecedented challenges, we need leaders who will stop trotting out this divisive “heartland vs coastal elites who hate you” bullshit.
    Enough of this crap already. Stop it.
    And FWIW, with all due respect to Mayor Pete, running the United States is not remotely like running South Bend IN. “Ineffective Washington politics” is to no small degree a function of the complexity and scale of national governance, in a nation that spans a continent, four time zones, and 330 million people with vastly different histories, experiences, and values.
    If Mayor Pete ever gets the chance to try it on, he will likely spend his first 100 days in office crapping his pants in terror at the scope of the responsibility that has fallen on his shoulders. Anybody with half a brain would do likewise.
    Enough of this vilification of government. Enough of this bullshit about “the heartland” and “real Americans”. Enough pandering to resentment.
    Want to lead? Articulate a positive, constructive path. Crap about “real America” and “the heartland” is not a positive, constructive path.

  182. Also pushing my buttons this week is this from Mayor Pete:

    In the face of unprecedented challenges, we need a president whose vision was shaped by the American Heartland rather than the ineffective Washington politics we’ve come to know and expect.

    Actually, in the face of unprecedented challenges, we need leaders who will stop trotting out this divisive “heartland vs coastal elites who hate you” bullshit.
    Enough of this crap already. Stop it.
    And FWIW, with all due respect to Mayor Pete, running the United States is not remotely like running South Bend IN. “Ineffective Washington politics” is to no small degree a function of the complexity and scale of national governance, in a nation that spans a continent, four time zones, and 330 million people with vastly different histories, experiences, and values.
    If Mayor Pete ever gets the chance to try it on, he will likely spend his first 100 days in office crapping his pants in terror at the scope of the responsibility that has fallen on his shoulders. Anybody with half a brain would do likewise.
    Enough of this vilification of government. Enough of this bullshit about “the heartland” and “real Americans”. Enough pandering to resentment.
    Want to lead? Articulate a positive, constructive path. Crap about “real America” and “the heartland” is not a positive, constructive path.

  187. The concrete where the wall sections were blown over was freshly poured and hadn’t cured yet. Pretty much all you can blame the contractors for is being stupid enough to set new fence sections when the winds were forecast to be up.
    A competent would leave the forms up until the concrete had cured. So I can blame them for that, too.

  188. The concrete where the wall sections were blown over was freshly poured and hadn’t cured yet. Pretty much all you can blame the contractors for is being stupid enough to set new fence sections when the winds were forecast to be up.
    A competent would leave the forms up until the concrete had cured. So I can blame them for that, too.

  189. Walls do work. Take the Great Wall of China. You don’t see many Mexicans in China…
    I know you weren’t serious. But can’t resist pointing out that the Great Wall of China was intended to keep out Mongols. A response, in part, to the Yuan dynasty established by Ghengis Kahn.) Who, after the Wall was in place, successfully invaded again, in 1636, killing some 25 million people. The Qing (aka Manchu) lasted for over 250 years.
    Then of course, there’s the Maginot Line. That didn’t work so well either.
    Walls look impressive, but don’t work.

  190. Walls do work. Take the Great Wall of China. You don’t see many Mexicans in China…
    I know you weren’t serious. But can’t resist pointing out that the Great Wall of China was intended to keep out Mongols. A response, in part, to the Yuan dynasty established by Ghengis Kahn.) Who, after the Wall was in place, successfully invaded again, in 1636, killing some 25 million people. The Qing (aka Manchu) lasted for over 250 years.
    Then of course, there’s the Maginot Line. That didn’t work so well either.
    Walls look impressive, but don’t work.

  193. I await the first implementation of the Dershowitz Doctrine: a Democratic President decides the national interest requires locking up all Republican Senators. No trials, not even any charges. Just lock them up. After all, they voted that it wasn’t impeachable.
    Actually no. The first implementation should be locking up Dershowitz. Since he argued that it was OK.

  194. I await the first implementation of the Dershowitz Doctrine: a Democratic President decides the national interest requires locking up all Republican Senators. No trials, not even any charges. Just lock them up. After all, they voted that it wasn’t impeachable.
    Actually no. The first implementation should be locking up Dershowitz. Since he argued that it was OK.

  195. A competent would leave the forms up until the concrete had cured. So I can blame them for that, too.
    In the construction pictures I’ve seen, there doesn’t appear to be any forms. Just a trench with some rebar, and they fill the trench with concrete. In some places they’re clearly building so close to the physical border that they can only work from one side of the trench.

  196. A competent would leave the forms up until the concrete had cured. So I can blame them for that, too.
    In the construction pictures I’ve seen, there doesn’t appear to be any forms. Just a trench with some rebar, and they fill the trench with concrete. In some places they’re clearly building so close to the physical border that they can only work from one side of the trench.

  197. In some places they’re clearly building so close to the physical border that they can only work from one side of the trench.
    Would it be more correct to say, “policial border?”

  198. In some places they’re clearly building so close to the physical border that they can only work from one side of the trench.
    Would it be more correct to say, “policial border?”

  201. Remember this? :

    Frost: So, what in a sense you’re saying is that there are certain situations and the Huston plan or that part of it was one of them where the president can decide that it’s in the best interest of the nation or something and do something illegal.
    Nixon: Well, when the president does it … that means that it is not illegal.[4]
    Frost: By definition –
    Nixon: Exactly … exactly… if the president … if, for example, the president approves something … approves an action, ah … because of the national security or in this case because of a threat to internal peace and order of, ah … ah … significant magnitude … then … the president’s decision in that instance is one, ah … that enables those who carry it out to carry it out without violating a law. Otherwise they’re in an impossible position.

    The (R)’s in the Senate are going to extend “national security” or “a threat to internal peace and order” to include “use the power of office to extort an alleged ally into announcing a fraudulent investigation in order to slander a political rival”.

  202. Remember this? :

    Frost: So, what in a sense you’re saying is that there are certain situations and the Huston plan or that part of it was one of them where the president can decide that it’s in the best interest of the nation or something and do something illegal.
    Nixon: Well, when the president does it … that means that it is not illegal.[4]
    Frost: By definition –
    Nixon: Exactly … exactly… if the president … if, for example, the president approves something … approves an action, ah … because of the national security or in this case because of a threat to internal peace and order of, ah … ah … significant magnitude … then … the president’s decision in that instance is one, ah … that enables those who carry it out to carry it out without violating a law. Otherwise they’re in an impossible position.

    The (R)’s in the Senate are going to extend “national security” or “a threat to internal peace and order” to include “use the power of office to extort an alleged ally into announcing a fraudulent investigation in order to slander a political rival”.

  203. Rubio:

    Just because actions meet a standard of impeachment does not mean it is in the best interest of the country to remove a President from office.

    Good to know.
    Murkowski:

    I have come to the conclusions that there will be no fair trial in the Senate. I don’t believe the continuation of this process will change anything. It is sad for me to admit that, as an institution, the Congress has failed.

    Ironically, in the sort of nihilistic self-fulfilling-prophecy “if only we coulda done something!” sense, Murkowski’s comment was apparently an explanation for why she was voting against witnesses.
    To sum up:
    Yeah, we know he did it. Yeah, it was bad. Yeah, the trial was a FUBAR clown show.
    But what can you do?
    Profiles in courage.

  204. Rubio:

    Just because actions meet a standard of impeachment does not mean it is in the best interest of the country to remove a President from office.

    Good to know.
    Murkowski:

    I have come to the conclusions that there will be no fair trial in the Senate. I don’t believe the continuation of this process will change anything. It is sad for me to admit that, as an institution, the Congress has failed.

    Ironically, in the sort of nihilistic self-fulfilling-prophecy “if only we coulda done something!” sense, Murkowski’s comment was apparently an explanation for why she was voting against witnesses.
    To sum up:
    Yeah, we know he did it. Yeah, it was bad. Yeah, the trial was a FUBAR clown show.
    But what can you do?
    Profiles in courage.

  205. At long last, the light bulbs might come on for more folks to realize that the whole idea of impeachment and removal is not a matter of law, but a matter of political will. The trial of A. Johnson left him in office due only to a well placed bribe. Clinton escaped only because there were not enough GOP Senators to get to the 2/3’s super majority (all Dem Senators voted “nay”). The Dem minority could not get Trump’s conviction anywhere close to the super majority threshold.
    Nixon was the anomaly…but those times, too, were an anomaly.

  206. At long last, the light bulbs might come on for more folks to realize that the whole idea of impeachment and removal is not a matter of law, but a matter of political will. The trial of A. Johnson left him in office due only to a well placed bribe. Clinton escaped only because there were not enough GOP Senators to get to the 2/3’s super majority (all Dem Senators voted “nay”). The Dem minority could not get Trump’s conviction anywhere close to the super majority threshold.
    Nixon was the anomaly…but those times, too, were an anomaly.

  209. Got a title all ready for the book about this impeachment trial. Just need a good author.
    Profiles in Cowardice
    Special chapters on those, like Alexander, who are retiring (so they can’t be primaried). And like Murkowski, who already survived losing a primary and winning as an independent (so she knows she could survive it again).

  210. Got a title all ready for the book about this impeachment trial. Just need a good author.
    Profiles in Cowardice
    Special chapters on those, like Alexander, who are retiring (so they can’t be primaried). And like Murkowski, who already survived losing a primary and winning as an independent (so she knows she could survive it again).

  211. TBH, I’m glad to see a few (R) Senators at least publicly say yeah, he did it.
    What I take away from all of this is – everyone who comes anywhere near Trump, gets to see their reputation and credibility turn to crap. Except McConnell, no harm done to him, we already knew what he was.
    Enjoy your remaining time in office, Senators.
    Let’s get this mess done and then throw these bums out in November. Beginning with Bum Number 1.

  212. TBH, I’m glad to see a few (R) Senators at least publicly say yeah, he did it.
    What I take away from all of this is – everyone who comes anywhere near Trump, gets to see their reputation and credibility turn to crap. Except McConnell, no harm done to him, we already knew what he was.
    Enjoy your remaining time in office, Senators.
    Let’s get this mess done and then throw these bums out in November. Beginning with Bum Number 1.

  213. In the meantime, I’m watching the countdown clock on TV: we leave the EU in 7 minutes. Truly, in both our countries, the lunatics have taken over the asylum.

  214. In the meantime, I’m watching the countdown clock on TV: we leave the EU in 7 minutes. Truly, in both our countries, the lunatics have taken over the asylum.

  215. For you folks in the UK, any estimate as to how long it will be before the economic (and other) damage starts to hit home? That is, are you probably seeing minimal damage until Johnson fails to deliver a new treaty by year end? Or does it start to noticably hurt sooner?

  216. For you folks in the UK, any estimate as to how long it will be before the economic (and other) damage starts to hit home? That is, are you probably seeing minimal damage until Johnson fails to deliver a new treaty by year end? Or does it start to noticably hurt sooner?

  219. I think many of the economic damage estimates are overestimated, wj, and there will very probably be some agreement ( though one that falls far short of what we have now) by the end of the year.
    In terms of effects on the overall economy, I think the biggest risk is to the UK car industry, which exports a large percentage of its output to Europe. Trade barriers/frictions (and the next year’s uncertainty over what they’re going to be) are preventing investment in the UK.
    Given the inevitable switch to electric vehicles, which is starting to happen now, it could utterly decimate our domestic industry.
    A couple of current examples – Tesla quite probably have built its new plant in the UK rather than Germany without Brexit; BMW is considering building its electric Minis in the Netherland, not Oxford.
    Nissan and Toyota will be faced with similar decisions over the next couple of years. Now that Nissan is merged with Renault, I think it almost certain their new EV factories will be in a France, not the UK.
    Other sectors (notably farming) could be seriously affected, but that is the biggest near term economic risk, IMO.

  220. I think many of the economic damage estimates are overestimated, wj, and there will very probably be some agreement ( though one that falls far short of what we have now) by the end of the year.
    In terms of effects on the overall economy, I think the biggest risk is to the UK car industry, which exports a large percentage of its output to Europe. Trade barriers/frictions (and the next year’s uncertainty over what they’re going to be) are preventing investment in the UK.
    Given the inevitable switch to electric vehicles, which is starting to happen now, it could utterly decimate our domestic industry.
    A couple of current examples – Tesla quite probably have built its new plant in the UK rather than Germany without Brexit; BMW is considering building its electric Minis in the Netherland, not Oxford.
    Nissan and Toyota will be faced with similar decisions over the next couple of years. Now that Nissan is merged with Renault, I think it almost certain their new EV factories will be in a France, not the UK.
    Other sectors (notably farming) could be seriously affected, but that is the biggest near term economic risk, IMO.

  221. Jeez:
    Murkowski framed her vote as a brave one to protect the chief justice from a Democratic effort to “drag the Supreme Court into the fray, while attacking the Chief Justice.” She continued: “I will not stand for nor support that effort. ???

  222. Jeez:
    Murkowski framed her vote as a brave one to protect the chief justice from a Democratic effort to “drag the Supreme Court into the fray, while attacking the Chief Justice.” She continued: “I will not stand for nor support that effort. ???

  223. Democratic effort to “drag the Supreme Court into the fray, while attacking the Chief Justice.”
    This is pretty clearly a response to this question from Elizabeth Warren.
    Warren is my Senator, I generally support her policy positions and I thoroughly support the role she has carved out for herself as an advocate for working people. I think she’s a great Senator, and I’m glad she’s there.
    All of that said, IMO that was a very poor play on her part. If you’re in the middle of a trial, there isn’t a lot of value in embarrassing or trying to score points off of the judge.
    I make the same point about the comments Nadler made that several (R) Senators took exception to. I don’t disagree with the substance, but if you’re in a trial, there isn’t a lot of value in making derogatory comments about the jury. Even if they’re true.
    What the (R)’s were looking for was any cover whatsoever to justify a “No” vote. On witnesses, on subpoenas for docs, on any point of procedure, and ultimately on removing Trump from office. No point in handing them a way out.
    Regime cleavage it is.
    Yes, and for what:

    “Whatever you think of his behavior,” Mr. Alexander said of Mr. Trump, “with the terrific economy, with conservative judges, with fewer regulations, you add in there an inappropriate call with the president of Ukraine, and you decide if your prefer him or Elizabeth Warren.”

    That’s Lamar Alexander, but the economy / deregulation / judges trifecta is a pretty common mantra for Trump supporters. The “F*** your feelings” base is definitely a presence, but by themselves they wouldn’t be enough to keep him in office.
    It’s the “hey, I’m making money, don’t rock the boat” crowd that tips the balance.
    The institutions and practices that make it possible for us all to more or less live together have been undermined. We no longer live by the same rules, and don’t even recognize a common set of basic, fundamental facts.
    People talk about civil war, but I don’t think it will come to that. People whose mantra is “I’m making money, don’t rock the boat” aren’t going to want anything that disruptive. Not to say there won’t be violence, we’re already there. But I don’t see actual civil war – organized, mobilized rival state violence – on the horizon. Just hostility, mutual suspicion, and pockets of anarchic vigilantism.
    Too dark? Call me crazy. Although I do like the part where they wave the guys with the guns around the metal detector.
    I see utter dysfunction, and the corruption and failure of public institutions. I see the destruction of the natural world in the name of making money and preserving our national “lifestyle”. I see an increasingly rapacious and predatory financial sector.
    I see a nation that is increasingly isolated, with an increasingly irrelevant place in the world.
    Enjoy those tax cuts.

  224. Democratic effort to “drag the Supreme Court into the fray, while attacking the Chief Justice.”
    This is pretty clearly a response to this question from Elizabeth Warren.
    Warren is my Senator, I generally support her policy positions and I thoroughly support the role she has carved out for herself as an advocate for working people. I think she’s a great Senator, and I’m glad she’s there.
    All of that said, IMO that was a very poor play on her part. If you’re in the middle of a trial, there isn’t a lot of value in embarrassing or trying to score points off of the judge.
    I make the same point about the comments Nadler made that several (R) Senators took exception to. I don’t disagree with the substance, but if you’re in a trial, there isn’t a lot of value in making derogatory comments about the jury. Even if they’re true.
    What the (R)’s were looking for was any cover whatsoever to justify a “No” vote. On witnesses, on subpoenas for docs, on any point of procedure, and ultimately on removing Trump from office. No point in handing them a way out.
    Regime cleavage it is.
    Yes, and for what:

    “Whatever you think of his behavior,” Mr. Alexander said of Mr. Trump, “with the terrific economy, with conservative judges, with fewer regulations, you add in there an inappropriate call with the president of Ukraine, and you decide if your prefer him or Elizabeth Warren.”

    That’s Lamar Alexander, but the economy / deregulation / judges trifecta is a pretty common mantra for Trump supporters. The “F*** your feelings” base is definitely a presence, but by themselves they wouldn’t be enough to keep him in office.
    It’s the “hey, I’m making money, don’t rock the boat” crowd that tips the balance.
    The institutions and practices that make it possible for us all to more or less live together have been undermined. We no longer live by the same rules, and don’t even recognize a common set of basic, fundamental facts.
    People talk about civil war, but I don’t think it will come to that. People whose mantra is “I’m making money, don’t rock the boat” aren’t going to want anything that disruptive. Not to say there won’t be violence, we’re already there. But I don’t see actual civil war – organized, mobilized rival state violence – on the horizon. Just hostility, mutual suspicion, and pockets of anarchic vigilantism.
    Too dark? Call me crazy. Although I do like the part where they wave the guys with the guns around the metal detector.
    I see utter dysfunction, and the corruption and failure of public institutions. I see the destruction of the natural world in the name of making money and preserving our national “lifestyle”. I see an increasingly rapacious and predatory financial sector.
    I see a nation that is increasingly isolated, with an increasingly irrelevant place in the world.
    Enjoy those tax cuts.

  225. I hadn’t seen the Warren question, and I entirely agree that it was boneheaded grandstanding.
    That said, it does not even begin to justify Murkowski’s principle free reasoning. Though it does account for it.
    I also agree that Warren is a good Senator, though I have serious doubts about her as a presidential nominee, which this incident does nothing to allay.

  226. I hadn’t seen the Warren question, and I entirely agree that it was boneheaded grandstanding.
    That said, it does not even begin to justify Murkowski’s principle free reasoning. Though it does account for it.
    I also agree that Warren is a good Senator, though I have serious doubts about her as a presidential nominee, which this incident does nothing to allay.

  227. That said, it does not even begin to justify Murkowski’s principle free reasoning.
    I have serious doubts about her as a presidential nominee, which this incident does nothing to allay.
    Agreed, on both points.

  228. That said, it does not even begin to justify Murkowski’s principle free reasoning.
    I have serious doubts about her as a presidential nominee, which this incident does nothing to allay.
    Agreed, on both points.

  229. Hmm. I’m conflicted on Warren’s question in the Senate. From the short-term point of view of “eyes on the prize” it’s true it’s not a good idea to antagonise the judge. On the other hand, given the almost certain outcome of the trial, and the recent history of the GOP’s talking points being all about how illegitimate the process in the House had been, because no witnesses etc., I think she was trying to get a message across to the American people, a message that we all understand but 40% of them seem not to: that this is a fix and they’re all in it together, and it needs cleaning up. But I agree, it’s unlikely to have worked so was a bad idea. We’ll just have to see how things develop for her, and what happens next with the whole Bolton saga, but personally I’m feeling pretty doom-laden about the whole thing (also post-Brexit), so I hope I’m wrong, and feel free to write this off as sheer pessimism!

  230. Hmm. I’m conflicted on Warren’s question in the Senate. From the short-term point of view of “eyes on the prize” it’s true it’s not a good idea to antagonise the judge. On the other hand, given the almost certain outcome of the trial, and the recent history of the GOP’s talking points being all about how illegitimate the process in the House had been, because no witnesses etc., I think she was trying to get a message across to the American people, a message that we all understand but 40% of them seem not to: that this is a fix and they’re all in it together, and it needs cleaning up. But I agree, it’s unlikely to have worked so was a bad idea. We’ll just have to see how things develop for her, and what happens next with the whole Bolton saga, but personally I’m feeling pretty doom-laden about the whole thing (also post-Brexit), so I hope I’m wrong, and feel free to write this off as sheer pessimism!

  233. …that this is a fix and they’re all in it together, and it needs cleaning up.
    It is important to never forget, never, never, never that Roberts would not be there if a partisan Supreme Court had not illegitimately handed the presidency to George W. Bush.

  234. …that this is a fix and they’re all in it together, and it needs cleaning up.
    It is important to never forget, never, never, never that Roberts would not be there if a partisan Supreme Court had not illegitimately handed the presidency to George W. Bush.

  237. According to Bloomberg Brexit has already cost £130 billion and this figure will rise to £200 billion by the end of 2020:
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-10/-170-billion-and-counting-the-cost-of-brexit-for-the-u-k
    As for mid- to longterm economic effects, that’s obviously hard to predict, but there are certainly no economic upsides to Brexit.
    It’s important to realize that the UK economy has been dysfunctional long before anyone ever thought about Brexit – the damage that Thatcher and her successors have done is hard to underestimate. Even without Brexit we would be in big trouble.

  238. According to Bloomberg Brexit has already cost £130 billion and this figure will rise to £200 billion by the end of 2020:
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-10/-170-billion-and-counting-the-cost-of-brexit-for-the-u-k
    As for mid- to longterm economic effects, that’s obviously hard to predict, but there are certainly no economic upsides to Brexit.
    It’s important to realize that the UK economy has been dysfunctional long before anyone ever thought about Brexit – the damage that Thatcher and her successors have done is hard to underestimate. Even without Brexit we would be in big trouble.

  239. “Murkowski’s jab was a way to take a popular dem candidate down a peg.”
    Yes, why bother straining our backs stooping to the republican/conservative levels of discourse, when republican/conservatives can simply declare we do it, while they destroy the rule of law and certify a despot.
    As to Roberts, are his fee-fees damaged at all by trump’s hundreds of obstructions of justice via Twitter, blatant withholding of evidence, witness tampering and jury threatening?
    Or the insults to his jurisprudence after his Obamacare rulings:
    https://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/gop-conservatives-angry-supreme-court-chief-john-roberts-obamacare-119431
    But, yes, Warren’s rhetorically squirting Roberts in the face with a seltzer bottle disqualifies her in all ways, as when Hillary came down with the flu in October/November 2016, but was accused, including in these pages, of lying to cover up whatever deadly, terminal illnesses raving conservative imaginations could conjure.
    On Friday, we learned Richard Nixon was exonerated of all crimes, and Joe Biden was declared guilty of his.
    No mention of the actual defendant in the trial, except recognizing he is guilty but all of the words of the useless fucking Constitution laid end to end can do nothing about it, and except to add “and all the wonderful things he does!”
    But yes, Warren is questionable because she disturbed fake decorum by pointing out that America is now fucking bullshit all the way down.
    Off to see the Wizard.
    In fact, history shows (to counter points made here, including Janie’s and others’ perfectly justified disgust with my hateful rhetoric) that stooping lower than these fascists in rhetoric and actions is precisely how to defeat and destroy them.
    When Lincoln relieved General McClellan of his command with the words “If General McClellan* does not want to use the army, I would like to borrow it for a time,” he decided to indeed stoop lower than the Confederacy and butcher more of them than us.
    When Neville Chamberlain refused to call a spade a spade and stoop below Hitler’s level rhetorically, he was accused of appeasement. It took Churchill to declare that we would kill more of them than us.
    Yes, Lincoln and Churchill used elevated and felicitous poetic language, which was translated into slaughter and butchery for the enemy.
    We’re in a war. Declared by the enemy.
    I’ll address my harsh language in another comment today or tomorrow. No one will like it.
    Nor should they.
    But no hard feelings on my part toward anyone here. Decent people try to be decent, summoning their better angels, even in an indecent world.
    Not me. But thanks for listening. I really am going to STFU, as I can’t go back to merely damning John Jay and everyone who won’t damn John Jay because John Jay ain’t the problem.
    *McClellan in his diaries: “I confess to a prejudice in favor of my own race, & can’t learn to like the odor of either Billy goats or niggers.”
    I guess that might have accounted for something in his strategy of not confronting the mortal, traitorous enemies of America, The Confederacy.”

  240. “Murkowski’s jab was a way to take a popular dem candidate down a peg.”
    Yes, why bother straining our backs stooping to the republican/conservative levels of discourse, when republican/conservatives can simply declare we do it, while they destroy the rule of law and certify a despot.
    As to Roberts, are his fee-fees damaged at all by trump’s hundreds of obstructions of justice via Twitter, blatant withholding of evidence, witness tampering and jury threatening?
    Or the insults to his jurisprudence after his Obamacare rulings:
    https://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/gop-conservatives-angry-supreme-court-chief-john-roberts-obamacare-119431
    But, yes, Warren’s rhetorically squirting Roberts in the face with a seltzer bottle disqualifies her in all ways, as when Hillary came down with the flu in October/November 2016, but was accused, including in these pages, of lying to cover up whatever deadly, terminal illnesses raving conservative imaginations could conjure.
    On Friday, we learned Richard Nixon was exonerated of all crimes, and Joe Biden was declared guilty of his.
    No mention of the actual defendant in the trial, except recognizing he is guilty but all of the words of the useless fucking Constitution laid end to end can do nothing about it, and except to add “and all the wonderful things he does!”
    But yes, Warren is questionable because she disturbed fake decorum by pointing out that America is now fucking bullshit all the way down.
    Off to see the Wizard.
    In fact, history shows (to counter points made here, including Janie’s and others’ perfectly justified disgust with my hateful rhetoric) that stooping lower than these fascists in rhetoric and actions is precisely how to defeat and destroy them.
    When Lincoln relieved General McClellan of his command with the words “If General McClellan* does not want to use the army, I would like to borrow it for a time,” he decided to indeed stoop lower than the Confederacy and butcher more of them than us.
    When Neville Chamberlain refused to call a spade a spade and stoop below Hitler’s level rhetorically, he was accused of appeasement. It took Churchill to declare that we would kill more of them than us.
    Yes, Lincoln and Churchill used elevated and felicitous poetic language, which was translated into slaughter and butchery for the enemy.
    We’re in a war. Declared by the enemy.
    I’ll address my harsh language in another comment today or tomorrow. No one will like it.
    Nor should they.
    But no hard feelings on my part toward anyone here. Decent people try to be decent, summoning their better angels, even in an indecent world.
    Not me. But thanks for listening. I really am going to STFU, as I can’t go back to merely damning John Jay and everyone who won’t damn John Jay because John Jay ain’t the problem.
    *McClellan in his diaries: “I confess to a prejudice in favor of my own race, & can’t learn to like the odor of either Billy goats or niggers.”
    I guess that might have accounted for something in his strategy of not confronting the mortal, traitorous enemies of America, The Confederacy.”

  241. People talk about civil war, but I don’t think it will come to that. People whose mantra is “I’m making money, don’t rock the boat” aren’t going to want anything that disruptive. Not to say there won’t be violence, we’re already there. But I don’t see actual civil war – organized, mobilized rival state violence – on the horizon. Just hostility, mutual suspicion, and pockets of anarchic vigilantism.
    That is what the people who study these sorts of things have been warning about since the Threeper mess in C-ville.
    https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/10/10/what-a-new-u-s-civil-war-might-look-like/
    “With these characteristics in mind we can envision what a modern U.S. civil war might look like. More sporadic and unexpected conflicts but with fewer deaths. Factions sprouting like mushrooms, taking different forms but coordinated across invisible networks. Waves of information warfare. Chaos and an accelerated bazaar of violence with a healthy immune response from the local and national authorities. The outcome (and probable goal) would likely be a fragmentation of the republic into smaller, more manageable alliances, though it may just as easily harden an increasingly authoritarian federal government.”
    Sounds right to me. Prepare for functional, if not actual, Balkanization.

  242. People talk about civil war, but I don’t think it will come to that. People whose mantra is “I’m making money, don’t rock the boat” aren’t going to want anything that disruptive. Not to say there won’t be violence, we’re already there. But I don’t see actual civil war – organized, mobilized rival state violence – on the horizon. Just hostility, mutual suspicion, and pockets of anarchic vigilantism.
    That is what the people who study these sorts of things have been warning about since the Threeper mess in C-ville.
    https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/10/10/what-a-new-u-s-civil-war-might-look-like/
    “With these characteristics in mind we can envision what a modern U.S. civil war might look like. More sporadic and unexpected conflicts but with fewer deaths. Factions sprouting like mushrooms, taking different forms but coordinated across invisible networks. Waves of information warfare. Chaos and an accelerated bazaar of violence with a healthy immune response from the local and national authorities. The outcome (and probable goal) would likely be a fragmentation of the republic into smaller, more manageable alliances, though it may just as easily harden an increasingly authoritarian federal government.”
    Sounds right to me. Prepare for functional, if not actual, Balkanization.

  243. Beautiful if depressing piece by John le Carre, on the state of the world, when receiving the Olof Palme prize:
    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/feb/01/john-le-carre-breaking-heart-brexit?CMP=share_btn_link
    JDT, you know I hope how much people here like and admire you. But when you say:
    In fact, history shows (to counter points made here, including Janie’s and others’ perfectly justified disgust with my hateful rhetoric) that stooping lower than these fascists in rhetoric and actions is precisely how to defeat and destroy them.
    you give no examples of when “stooping lower than these fascists in rhetoric” defeated or destroyed any fascists or other villains. And, as you correctly imply, it’s only your rhetoric which causes the dismay here. Clearly, using it gives you comfort of a strange, bitter sort. But the discomfort caused to others is also strange and bitter, since you are (quite apart from the violent rhetoric) a polemicist of extraordinary talent and verve. Eheu, if as the song says “you can’t have one without the other”.

  244. Beautiful if depressing piece by John le Carre, on the state of the world, when receiving the Olof Palme prize:
    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/feb/01/john-le-carre-breaking-heart-brexit?CMP=share_btn_link
    JDT, you know I hope how much people here like and admire you. But when you say:
    In fact, history shows (to counter points made here, including Janie’s and others’ perfectly justified disgust with my hateful rhetoric) that stooping lower than these fascists in rhetoric and actions is precisely how to defeat and destroy them.
    you give no examples of when “stooping lower than these fascists in rhetoric” defeated or destroyed any fascists or other villains. And, as you correctly imply, it’s only your rhetoric which causes the dismay here. Clearly, using it gives you comfort of a strange, bitter sort. But the discomfort caused to others is also strange and bitter, since you are (quite apart from the violent rhetoric) a polemicist of extraordinary talent and verve. Eheu, if as the song says “you can’t have one without the other”.

  245. “you give no examples of when “stooping lower than these fascists in rhetoric” defeated or destroyed any fascists or other villains.”
    That’s kinda the point.
    My rhetoric is pointless, yet tiresome and discomfiting.
    Yet, somehow, trump’s and hannity’s and limbaugh’s is endlessly seductive and winning.
    But they must be answered in kind and threat because, believe me, they believe we are the “v” word.
    Much worse is required. If Lincoln had stood upon the ramparts and told the Confederacy he would fart in their general direction and they smelt of elderberries, fainting couches would have been crowded with the outraged for months.*
    But killing the Confederacy? Well, now we’re talking. Women and children, while watching their language, rushed to the hills overlooking the battlefields, set down their picnic baskets and parasols, and formed a mosh pit for the slaughter down below.
    I can see the whites of their eyes.
    Yet I must wait for the worst from THEM.
    *I’m sure privately he hated up a shit storm rhetorically, while feeling guilty about it. Trump has no conscience, which IS his winning trait.
    In fact, Trump wins .. and his minions … because they know the rest of us are too decent to go as low as he does.
    He counts on that. That’s his modus operandi. “Watch this”, he’ll think to himself or to whatever temporary Gollum is polishing his shoes at the moment, “they won’t see this coming, because they don’t have the will or imagination to see it coming, just like Hitler invading Czechoslovakia.”
    As Bannon said, Trump doesn’t give a shit.
    That’s how he gets it over on the rest of the world.
    Psychopaths count on the world GIVING a shit.

  246. “you give no examples of when “stooping lower than these fascists in rhetoric” defeated or destroyed any fascists or other villains.”
    That’s kinda the point.
    My rhetoric is pointless, yet tiresome and discomfiting.
    Yet, somehow, trump’s and hannity’s and limbaugh’s is endlessly seductive and winning.
    But they must be answered in kind and threat because, believe me, they believe we are the “v” word.
    Much worse is required. If Lincoln had stood upon the ramparts and told the Confederacy he would fart in their general direction and they smelt of elderberries, fainting couches would have been crowded with the outraged for months.*
    But killing the Confederacy? Well, now we’re talking. Women and children, while watching their language, rushed to the hills overlooking the battlefields, set down their picnic baskets and parasols, and formed a mosh pit for the slaughter down below.
    I can see the whites of their eyes.
    Yet I must wait for the worst from THEM.
    *I’m sure privately he hated up a shit storm rhetorically, while feeling guilty about it. Trump has no conscience, which IS his winning trait.
    In fact, Trump wins .. and his minions … because they know the rest of us are too decent to go as low as he does.
    He counts on that. That’s his modus operandi. “Watch this”, he’ll think to himself or to whatever temporary Gollum is polishing his shoes at the moment, “they won’t see this coming, because they don’t have the will or imagination to see it coming, just like Hitler invading Czechoslovakia.”
    As Bannon said, Trump doesn’t give a shit.
    That’s how he gets it over on the rest of the world.
    Psychopaths count on the world GIVING a shit.

  247. Ah, it was irony! I see, I missed that despite the relative reputations of your countrymen and mine in the deployment of that valuable rhetorical device.
    Their (Trump’s, Hannity’s, Limbaugh’s) rhetoric works only because it appeals to the worst in people’s natures. Yours doesn’t, because it comes from a place which is intrinsically appealing to the best, but the cognitive dissonance between the rhetoric and its intellectual underpinning induces extreme discomfort in the hearer/reader and therefore, unfortunately, makes it ineffectual.

  248. Ah, it was irony! I see, I missed that despite the relative reputations of your countrymen and mine in the deployment of that valuable rhetorical device.
    Their (Trump’s, Hannity’s, Limbaugh’s) rhetoric works only because it appeals to the worst in people’s natures. Yours doesn’t, because it comes from a place which is intrinsically appealing to the best, but the cognitive dissonance between the rhetoric and its intellectual underpinning induces extreme discomfort in the hearer/reader and therefore, unfortunately, makes it ineffectual.

  249. In fact, Trump wins .. and his minions … because they know the rest of us are too decent to go as low as he does.
    I don’t believe this, but I do think he and the rot that is the Republican party should be taken dead seriously, just as was done in other fights that we won against fascists. Pretending that his supporters are decent people is not the ticket. We shouldn’t call them the v word, but we do need to recognize that, yes, they’re all too human – the worst kind.

  250. In fact, Trump wins .. and his minions … because they know the rest of us are too decent to go as low as he does.
    I don’t believe this, but I do think he and the rot that is the Republican party should be taken dead seriously, just as was done in other fights that we won against fascists. Pretending that his supporters are decent people is not the ticket. We shouldn’t call them the v word, but we do need to recognize that, yes, they’re all too human – the worst kind.

  251. https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/gunmen-some-in-masks-swarm-ky-capitol-for-2nd-amendment-rally
    Get yer irony on here.
    Umbrellas and sticks banned.
    If I carry an umbrella to a demonstration against umbrella restrictions, I can be arrested, perhaps because I might poke someone in the eye with the thing in case a gunfight breaks out.
    I agree that my carrying of an umbrella to such a demonstration might appear to threaten poking someone in the eye.
    But if I, as a liberal, say “I suppose next you are going to ban hula hoops”, yawning and some discomfiture will ensue among liberals.
    But if a liberal says “I suppose next you are going to ban umbrellas at a gun rights rally”, conservatives will say,”Yeah, what are you gonna do about it?”, and finger the safety on their semi-automatic rifle in case it looks like rain.
    But then those fatheads (those that I can see in the accompanying photos; I can’t quite make out the fat fucks in camouflage, can you? They sure blend in, don’t they) appear to be threatening me with varying degrees of gunshot wounds should I be meeting inside to discuss restricting the threat of gunshot wounds.
    Kafka is too important of a writer to invoke here.
    So, I’ll just say that America under conservatism is now a dangerous lunatic and if I have to use an umbrella to kill it, I will.

  252. https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/gunmen-some-in-masks-swarm-ky-capitol-for-2nd-amendment-rally
    Get yer irony on here.
    Umbrellas and sticks banned.
    If I carry an umbrella to a demonstration against umbrella restrictions, I can be arrested, perhaps because I might poke someone in the eye with the thing in case a gunfight breaks out.
    I agree that my carrying of an umbrella to such a demonstration might appear to threaten poking someone in the eye.
    But if I, as a liberal, say “I suppose next you are going to ban hula hoops”, yawning and some discomfiture will ensue among liberals.
    But if a liberal says “I suppose next you are going to ban umbrellas at a gun rights rally”, conservatives will say,”Yeah, what are you gonna do about it?”, and finger the safety on their semi-automatic rifle in case it looks like rain.
    But then those fatheads (those that I can see in the accompanying photos; I can’t quite make out the fat fucks in camouflage, can you? They sure blend in, don’t they) appear to be threatening me with varying degrees of gunshot wounds should I be meeting inside to discuss restricting the threat of gunshot wounds.
    Kafka is too important of a writer to invoke here.
    So, I’ll just say that America under conservatism is now a dangerous lunatic and if I have to use an umbrella to kill it, I will.

  253. “We shouldn’t call them the v word, but we do need to recognize that, yes, they’re all too human – the worst kind.”
    I’m getting to that.

  254. “We shouldn’t call them the v word, but we do need to recognize that, yes, they’re all too human – the worst kind.”
    I’m getting to that.

  255. GftNC: In terms of effects on the overall economy, I think the biggest risk is to the UK car industry, which exports a large percentage of its output to Europe.
    I was thinking the biggest hit would be to the financial industry. With barriers, not to mention different rules, there would seem to be big incentives to move to, say, Frankfurt. And it’s not like they have the kind of physical plants to shift that the car industry would.

  256. GftNC: In terms of effects on the overall economy, I think the biggest risk is to the UK car industry, which exports a large percentage of its output to Europe.
    I was thinking the biggest hit would be to the financial industry. With barriers, not to mention different rules, there would seem to be big incentives to move to, say, Frankfurt. And it’s not like they have the kind of physical plants to shift that the car industry would.

  257. That wasn’t me, wj, I think it was Nigel. As I have often said, I know next to nothing about economics, but Nigel’s comment seems reasonable to me, and so does yours.

  258. That wasn’t me, wj, I think it was Nigel. As I have often said, I know next to nothing about economics, but Nigel’s comment seems reasonable to me, and so does yours.

  261. What is most impressive about that Kentucky 2nd Amendment is all those brave defenders of gun rights who are wearing ski masks lest someone learn who they are. Guess they know how unpopular their views are likely to be with their friends and neighbors.

  262. What is most impressive about that Kentucky 2nd Amendment is all those brave defenders of gun rights who are wearing ski masks lest someone learn who they are. Guess they know how unpopular their views are likely to be with their friends and neighbors.

  263. …there would seem to be big incentives to move to, say, Frankfurt.
    And part of it to Dublin. I understand that many of the algorithms and trading software are hosted in London because it’s a few milliseconds closer to Wall Street than Frankfurt at fiber speeds.

  264. …there would seem to be big incentives to move to, say, Frankfurt.
    And part of it to Dublin. I understand that many of the algorithms and trading software are hosted in London because it’s a few milliseconds closer to Wall Street than Frankfurt at fiber speeds.

  265. Interesting to see that the GOP is now 100% in line with supporting Jury Nullification in support of traitors.
    Maybe it should be applied to “disposing” of traitors as well.
    Sauce, goose, gander.

  266. Interesting to see that the GOP is now 100% in line with supporting Jury Nullification in support of traitors.
    Maybe it should be applied to “disposing” of traitors as well.
    Sauce, goose, gander.

  267. But yes, Warren is questionable because she disturbed fake decorum by pointing out that America is now fucking bullshit all the way down.
    That’s not what I was saying.
    She tried to get Roberts to embarrass himself, and failed to do so.
    I have not time for the guy, or his fake impartiality schtick and I couldn’t give much of a damn about Senate decorum. But this was weaksauce – and not even coordinated with her own side, who immediately walked it back.
    It’s not a big point in the context of the whole sorry tale, but that was my reaction, FWIW.

  268. But yes, Warren is questionable because she disturbed fake decorum by pointing out that America is now fucking bullshit all the way down.
    That’s not what I was saying.
    She tried to get Roberts to embarrass himself, and failed to do so.
    I have not time for the guy, or his fake impartiality schtick and I couldn’t give much of a damn about Senate decorum. But this was weaksauce – and not even coordinated with her own side, who immediately walked it back.
    It’s not a big point in the context of the whole sorry tale, but that was my reaction, FWIW.

  269. I was thinking the biggest hit would be to the financial industry. With barriers, not to mention different rules, there would seem to be big incentives to move to, say, Frankfurt.
    That was the fear, and I guess it’s still a possible risk, but the City seems to be remarkably sanguine about it (unlike the motor industry, which seems to be in a state of subdued panic), and is even encouraging the government in seeking more, not less divergence, as (given that we’re out of Europe) they think there will be compensations in not being subject at all to Brussels rules.
    Some jobs have gone to Europe, to ensure a presence within the EU, but there are no real indications of a likely mass migration.
    Again, I’m no expert, but that is my strong impression.

  270. I was thinking the biggest hit would be to the financial industry. With barriers, not to mention different rules, there would seem to be big incentives to move to, say, Frankfurt.
    That was the fear, and I guess it’s still a possible risk, but the City seems to be remarkably sanguine about it (unlike the motor industry, which seems to be in a state of subdued panic), and is even encouraging the government in seeking more, not less divergence, as (given that we’re out of Europe) they think there will be compensations in not being subject at all to Brussels rules.
    Some jobs have gone to Europe, to ensure a presence within the EU, but there are no real indications of a likely mass migration.
    Again, I’m no expert, but that is my strong impression.

  271. If London manages to remain a major financial hub, you will have dodged a bullet. The way Berxit looks (from across the pond) to be going, you will need all the breaks you can get.

  272. If London manages to remain a major financial hub, you will have dodged a bullet. The way Berxit looks (from across the pond) to be going, you will need all the breaks you can get.

  273. My two bits on Brexit watching it from afar with more than a bit of curiosity is that it is far from certain it will be a disaster. Time will obviously tell. But the impact of splitting the world’s 5th largest economy from the other 27 has to be such a difficult case of prognostication that I tend to think projections are pure speculation.
    Most of the projections I have seen lean towards significant economic loss due to the concern of no-deal or bad trade deal with the EU. I’m not so sure that will be the case. It’s in the EU’s economic interest to have a decent deal with what used to be 15% of its GDP. Political interest is maybe different, but not economic. I’m thinking the UK is a big enough market/partner that I’d be worried about yellow vests if the deal were that bad for the UK because it would be correspondingly so (although to a lesser degree) to the EU. Johnson appears to be taking a bold, hard line on a trade deal.
    And projections seem markedly more positive with a decent deal with the EU coupled with a US trade deal. That is a distinct possibility and I’m sure is the goal. Couple that with increased trade flexibility (including with the commonwealth) and maybe the UK nets out on trade. And that’s just trade.
    I did see the car business slow down partly due to uncertainty. wj is right on the need to keep London as a major financial center. I just don’t see that going away though.
    In the end, Brexit will be what the UK makes of it. It is a huge opportunity, IMHO, and if not done properly could be a disaster. I’m betting on the Brits to do well. But those Scots . . .

  274. My two bits on Brexit watching it from afar with more than a bit of curiosity is that it is far from certain it will be a disaster. Time will obviously tell. But the impact of splitting the world’s 5th largest economy from the other 27 has to be such a difficult case of prognostication that I tend to think projections are pure speculation.
    Most of the projections I have seen lean towards significant economic loss due to the concern of no-deal or bad trade deal with the EU. I’m not so sure that will be the case. It’s in the EU’s economic interest to have a decent deal with what used to be 15% of its GDP. Political interest is maybe different, but not economic. I’m thinking the UK is a big enough market/partner that I’d be worried about yellow vests if the deal were that bad for the UK because it would be correspondingly so (although to a lesser degree) to the EU. Johnson appears to be taking a bold, hard line on a trade deal.
    And projections seem markedly more positive with a decent deal with the EU coupled with a US trade deal. That is a distinct possibility and I’m sure is the goal. Couple that with increased trade flexibility (including with the commonwealth) and maybe the UK nets out on trade. And that’s just trade.
    I did see the car business slow down partly due to uncertainty. wj is right on the need to keep London as a major financial center. I just don’t see that going away though.
    In the end, Brexit will be what the UK makes of it. It is a huge opportunity, IMHO, and if not done properly could be a disaster. I’m betting on the Brits to do well. But those Scots . . .

  275. It’s in the EU’s economic interest to have a decent deal with what used to be 15% of its GDP. Political interest is maybe different, but not economic.
    It is in my mind that it is very much in the EU’s political and economic interest that it be seen that departing the EU has significant costs. Pour encourager les autres, if you will.
    At minimum, any special considerations that the UK has negotiated within the EU will disappear. But also, the kind of considerations that non-EU countries such as Norway or Iceland have are also unlikely to be on offer. At least, not without the kind of balancing concessions that Johnson is unlikely to accept.
    As for a UK/US deal, I won’t be surprise if Trump loudly announces an agreement before November. But it will turn out to be, at most, an agreement in principle. Because working out trade deal details takes time, and because Trump and his people are basically massively incompetent at such things. (Although I suppose there is a chance Johnson will get a great deal by the simple expedient of writing the whole thing himself (figuratively speaking); if he flatters Trump properly, Johnson can probably get him to blindly sign anything.)

  276. It’s in the EU’s economic interest to have a decent deal with what used to be 15% of its GDP. Political interest is maybe different, but not economic.
    It is in my mind that it is very much in the EU’s political and economic interest that it be seen that departing the EU has significant costs. Pour encourager les autres, if you will.
    At minimum, any special considerations that the UK has negotiated within the EU will disappear. But also, the kind of considerations that non-EU countries such as Norway or Iceland have are also unlikely to be on offer. At least, not without the kind of balancing concessions that Johnson is unlikely to accept.
    As for a UK/US deal, I won’t be surprise if Trump loudly announces an agreement before November. But it will turn out to be, at most, an agreement in principle. Because working out trade deal details takes time, and because Trump and his people are basically massively incompetent at such things. (Although I suppose there is a chance Johnson will get a great deal by the simple expedient of writing the whole thing himself (figuratively speaking); if he flatters Trump properly, Johnson can probably get him to blindly sign anything.)

  277. Pour encourager les autres, if you will.
    Yes, there is certainly that interest. My point is that if you go too far you will antagonize your own people because it starts to significantly impact your own economy. I’m not convinced the people of the EU have the stomach long-term for no deal. The pissed off bureaucracy? Oh yeah. They underestimated the people once. Why not do it again?

  278. Pour encourager les autres, if you will.
    Yes, there is certainly that interest. My point is that if you go too far you will antagonize your own people because it starts to significantly impact your own economy. I’m not convinced the people of the EU have the stomach long-term for no deal. The pissed off bureaucracy? Oh yeah. They underestimated the people once. Why not do it again?

  279. No, I think it possible the car industry is could be pretty well screwed, and I don’t hold out much hope for any significant deal with the US. We already have a trade surplus there, most industries which deal with the US don’t think a deal particularly urgent, and any likely deal will have negative effects on our agricultural sector.
    The EU doesn’t have to go very far. Don’t forget most of our auto industry is foreign owned, and even modest trade barriers are likely to see new plants built in Europe for preference. Without doing too much to hinder our importing (for example) German built Teslas.
    The Canada style deal Johnson actively seeks is likely to have that effect.

  280. No, I think it possible the car industry is could be pretty well screwed, and I don’t hold out much hope for any significant deal with the US. We already have a trade surplus there, most industries which deal with the US don’t think a deal particularly urgent, and any likely deal will have negative effects on our agricultural sector.
    The EU doesn’t have to go very far. Don’t forget most of our auto industry is foreign owned, and even modest trade barriers are likely to see new plants built in Europe for preference. Without doing too much to hinder our importing (for example) German built Teslas.
    The Canada style deal Johnson actively seeks is likely to have that effect.

  283. I’m sure that the London financiers have already worked out a way to move billions of pounds into Bitcoin, through the DarkWeb, out of Bitcoin, through Cyprus, into the EU and back again, as needed.
    Money in 2020 is bits on computers, and will route around any obstacles.
    Might be more flash-crashes, though. For mysterious causes.

  284. I’m sure that the London financiers have already worked out a way to move billions of pounds into Bitcoin, through the DarkWeb, out of Bitcoin, through Cyprus, into the EU and back again, as needed.
    Money in 2020 is bits on computers, and will route around any obstacles.
    Might be more flash-crashes, though. For mysterious causes.

  285. “The idea that London might have a post-Brexit future as a kind of deregulated “Singapore-on-Thames” is one of the more curious notions to have emerged in the three and a half years since the UK’s citizens voted narrowly to leave the EU in the fateful June 2016 referendum.”
    Will the UK really turn into ‘Singapore-on-Thames’ after Brexit?: There’s little pressure among UK banks for deregulation – instead, France could be a bigger threat (Dec 17, 2019)
    “The idea titillates Tories and terrifies European Union leaders. But such fears say more about the EU’s own vulnerabilities than they do about the U.K.’s desire — or capacity — to transform itself in that direction.”
    Singapore-on-Thames Isn’t Going to Happen: Merkel and Macron are worried that the U.K. will slash taxes and regulations. But they should look first at their own competitiveness. (Oct 15, 2019)
    “Guy Verhofstadt, the Belgian MEP and Brexit coordinator, tweeted that the European Parliament “will never accept the UK can have all the advantage of free trade, and not aligning with our ecological, health & social standards. We are not stupid! We will not kill our own companies, economy, single market. We will never accept ‘Singapore by the North Sea’!””
    Could the U.K. Become the Next Singapore?: What does the fear of “Singapore by the North Sea” say about the European Union? (Sep 30, 2019)

  286. “The idea that London might have a post-Brexit future as a kind of deregulated “Singapore-on-Thames” is one of the more curious notions to have emerged in the three and a half years since the UK’s citizens voted narrowly to leave the EU in the fateful June 2016 referendum.”
    Will the UK really turn into ‘Singapore-on-Thames’ after Brexit?: There’s little pressure among UK banks for deregulation – instead, France could be a bigger threat (Dec 17, 2019)
    “The idea titillates Tories and terrifies European Union leaders. But such fears say more about the EU’s own vulnerabilities than they do about the U.K.’s desire — or capacity — to transform itself in that direction.”
    Singapore-on-Thames Isn’t Going to Happen: Merkel and Macron are worried that the U.K. will slash taxes and regulations. But they should look first at their own competitiveness. (Oct 15, 2019)
    “Guy Verhofstadt, the Belgian MEP and Brexit coordinator, tweeted that the European Parliament “will never accept the UK can have all the advantage of free trade, and not aligning with our ecological, health & social standards. We are not stupid! We will not kill our own companies, economy, single market. We will never accept ‘Singapore by the North Sea’!””
    Could the U.K. Become the Next Singapore?: What does the fear of “Singapore by the North Sea” say about the European Union? (Sep 30, 2019)

  287. And yet, turning into a kind of Singapore was one of the attractive notions floated by some of the more rabid Brexiteers before the referendum….
    From a paper published in 2017:
    For the Conservative government a vision of a post-Brexit Britain, akin to a European ‘Singapore of the West’, has a particular allure. It would be typified by a business-friendly environment, low or zero corporation tax, low wages, weak trade unions and a temporary migrant ‘non-citizen’ workforce, largely without the protection of national labour laws (McTague and Guerrera, 2017). This free-market paradise colours Conservative Party thinking well beyond the ranks of the ‘hard Brexiteers’ in parliament. It is enthusiastically supported and argued for by Economists for Free Trade who are proponents of an ultra-liberal Brexit regime of unilateral free trade solely governed by WTO rules (Dowd, 2017). A ‘Singapore scenario’ as a model for post-Brexit Britain would appear to offer the congenial prospect of labour subordination, and its adoption would have significant potential implications for labour standards in a post-Brexit Britain.
    I can’t now easily find footage of politicians or influential rightwing think-tankers arguing for it before the referendum, but I certainly saw some on TV. So to depict this scenario as a fever dream by the EU, or remainers, even if saner heads prevail (not a given at the moment) is quite misleading.

  288. And yet, turning into a kind of Singapore was one of the attractive notions floated by some of the more rabid Brexiteers before the referendum….
    From a paper published in 2017:
    For the Conservative government a vision of a post-Brexit Britain, akin to a European ‘Singapore of the West’, has a particular allure. It would be typified by a business-friendly environment, low or zero corporation tax, low wages, weak trade unions and a temporary migrant ‘non-citizen’ workforce, largely without the protection of national labour laws (McTague and Guerrera, 2017). This free-market paradise colours Conservative Party thinking well beyond the ranks of the ‘hard Brexiteers’ in parliament. It is enthusiastically supported and argued for by Economists for Free Trade who are proponents of an ultra-liberal Brexit regime of unilateral free trade solely governed by WTO rules (Dowd, 2017). A ‘Singapore scenario’ as a model for post-Brexit Britain would appear to offer the congenial prospect of labour subordination, and its adoption would have significant potential implications for labour standards in a post-Brexit Britain.
    I can’t now easily find footage of politicians or influential rightwing think-tankers arguing for it before the referendum, but I certainly saw some on TV. So to depict this scenario as a fever dream by the EU, or remainers, even if saner heads prevail (not a given at the moment) is quite misleading.

  289. Well, at least the Brexiteer conservatives shoot high with Singapore.
    Our conservatives would like us (meaning not them, but us) to become the Marianas, shit wages, no worker protections and lots of women in the prostitution trade to be buggered cheaply by Republicans during their family values trade shows.

  290. Well, at least the Brexiteer conservatives shoot high with Singapore.
    Our conservatives would like us (meaning not them, but us) to become the Marianas, shit wages, no worker protections and lots of women in the prostitution trade to be buggered cheaply by Republicans during their family values trade shows.

  291. Well, at least the Brexiteer conservatives shoot high with Singapore.
    Our conservatives would like us (meaning not them, but us) to become the Marianas….
    A proper conspiracy theorist would note that there is less reason for Putin (backer of Brexit and of Trump) to do major damage to the UK. Once Brexit has damaged to EU, the UK is no threat to Russia. But the US will always be a threat to Russia, so maximum long-term damage is desirable.
    Nice thing about conspiracy theories. They can be so plausible.
    /fantasy. Or was it?

  292. Well, at least the Brexiteer conservatives shoot high with Singapore.
    Our conservatives would like us (meaning not them, but us) to become the Marianas….
    A proper conspiracy theorist would note that there is less reason for Putin (backer of Brexit and of Trump) to do major damage to the UK. Once Brexit has damaged to EU, the UK is no threat to Russia. But the US will always be a threat to Russia, so maximum long-term damage is desirable.
    Nice thing about conspiracy theories. They can be so plausible.
    /fantasy. Or was it?

  293. a business-friendly environment, low or zero corporation tax, low wages, weak trade unions and a temporary migrant ‘non-citizen’ workforce, largely without the protection of national labour laws
    It’s worth noting that this is not a description of a ‘business friendly’ environment, it’s a description of a capital friendly one.
    The fact that we find it difficult to distinguish the two speaks volumes.

  294. a business-friendly environment, low or zero corporation tax, low wages, weak trade unions and a temporary migrant ‘non-citizen’ workforce, largely without the protection of national labour laws
    It’s worth noting that this is not a description of a ‘business friendly’ environment, it’s a description of a capital friendly one.
    The fact that we find it difficult to distinguish the two speaks volumes.

  295. I got kicked off twitter. Michael Moore was attacking Dems by tweet, digging up the old slanders against HRC and whining about how badly Bernie had been treated etc So I tweeted to him “If you are going to promote circular firing squads, you should start by shooting at yourself.” I got the boot for advocating self-harm which is all kinds of ironic. Oh well twitter is a block hole of time wasting anyway.

  296. I got kicked off twitter. Michael Moore was attacking Dems by tweet, digging up the old slanders against HRC and whining about how badly Bernie had been treated etc So I tweeted to him “If you are going to promote circular firing squads, you should start by shooting at yourself.” I got the boot for advocating self-harm which is all kinds of ironic. Oh well twitter is a block hole of time wasting anyway.

  297. Oh, wonkie! I know somebody who went through that. Don’t give up on tweeting, but send us where to follow you! You’ll be reinstated soon, I think, although I don’t know what the process is.
    I am so with you.

  298. Oh, wonkie! I know somebody who went through that. Don’t give up on tweeting, but send us where to follow you! You’ll be reinstated soon, I think, although I don’t know what the process is.
    I am so with you.

  299. Some of the comments regarding economics: something that is currently and will probably continue to be important is “the virus”. Yes, friends, the coronavirus is shutting down China for awhile. Unlike Wilbur Ross, this will be a bad thing. Put that in the cuisinart with Brexit. Hmmmm. Whatever.

  300. Some of the comments regarding economics: something that is currently and will probably continue to be important is “the virus”. Yes, friends, the coronavirus is shutting down China for awhile. Unlike Wilbur Ross, this will be a bad thing. Put that in the cuisinart with Brexit. Hmmmm. Whatever.

  301. Oh sorry: “Unlike what Wilbur Ross believes” I should have said. Ouch. Sometimes I’m such a disaster.

  302. Oh sorry: “Unlike what Wilbur Ross believes” I should have said. Ouch. Sometimes I’m such a disaster.

  303. This is what we are up against.
    The time will come when we shall have to put down the pearls, sell the fainting couch, stop punching down, and take up something with a bit more firepower.

  304. This is what we are up against.
    The time will come when we shall have to put down the pearls, sell the fainting couch, stop punching down, and take up something with a bit more firepower.

  307. The time will come when we shall have to put down the pearls, sell the fainting couch, stop punching down, and take up something with a bit more firepower.
    At that time, it would be best to have the federal government on our side. That is our task.

  308. The time will come when we shall have to put down the pearls, sell the fainting couch, stop punching down, and take up something with a bit more firepower.
    At that time, it would be best to have the federal government on our side. That is our task.

  311. Speaking of conspiracies, I can’t access bobbyp’s link. I get a message that as a resident of a EU state I am legally forbidden to do so. Does that affect the British here too or has Brexit freed them in that regard?

  312. Speaking of conspiracies, I can’t access bobbyp’s link. I get a message that as a resident of a EU state I am legally forbidden to do so. Does that affect the British here too or has Brexit freed them in that regard?

  313. No, we’ve got another eleven months at least before we can read bobby’s links. 🙂
    The Singapore thing is just risible. First off, it’s a city state, not a country with a population well over 60m.
    Secondly, something like 30% of the population (I think) are overseas residents – which would not go down well with the Brexiteers…
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Singapore

  314. No, we’ve got another eleven months at least before we can read bobby’s links. 🙂
    The Singapore thing is just risible. First off, it’s a city state, not a country with a population well over 60m.
    Secondly, something like 30% of the population (I think) are overseas residents – which would not go down well with the Brexiteers…
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Singapore

  317. Nigel @ 04.15: seconded on both points. Would be interested to read bobbyp’s link.
    And with the Singapore thing, I completely agree it’s risible (not to mention undesirable in every way, those already mentioned and the fact it’s a police state), I just wanted to make the point that some arch-Brexiteers had been excitedly raising it before the referendum.

  318. Nigel @ 04.15: seconded on both points. Would be interested to read bobbyp’s link.
    And with the Singapore thing, I completely agree it’s risible (not to mention undesirable in every way, those already mentioned and the fact it’s a police state), I just wanted to make the point that some arch-Brexiteers had been excitedly raising it before the referendum.

  321. Speaking of conspiracies, I can’t access bobbyp’s link.
    A possiable explination.
    “This past weekend, the one-year anniversary of the implementation of GDPR and, as has been made very clear recently, more has to be done to get it right. One area where the European Union’s data protection regulation is a problem is when it comes to US news sites.
    42 per cent of US news sites, including titles such as     The Chicago Tribune, still block European visitors from viewing their sites, according to Top10VPN.com. A further nine per cent of US titles are offering a limited service for people in Europe.
    However, the number of US sites blocking EU visitors differs greatly depending on which state the site originates from. For example, 80 per cent of news outlets from California and Nevada are accessible to EU users, while 90 per cent of Nebraska’s news sites are blocked with the EU.
    “It’s understandable that many US regional news outlets have taken the view that there’s not enough upside from incurring the expense of complying with regulations imposed from across the Atlantic, and are simply avoiding the issue altogether by blocking visitors from the EU,” said Simon Migliano, head of research at Top10VPN.com.
    “Whatever the benefits to EU citizens from GDPR, it surely can’t have been the intention of EU lawmakers to restrict the flow of important information like this. As a consequence, not only are US travellers and expats prevented from keeping up-to-date with their local news, but journalists and researchers are also unable to access these valuable and diverse sources of information.””
    Over 40 per cent of US news sites are still blocked in Europe a year after GDPR (May 29, 2019)

  322. Speaking of conspiracies, I can’t access bobbyp’s link.
    A possiable explination.
    “This past weekend, the one-year anniversary of the implementation of GDPR and, as has been made very clear recently, more has to be done to get it right. One area where the European Union’s data protection regulation is a problem is when it comes to US news sites.
    42 per cent of US news sites, including titles such as     The Chicago Tribune, still block European visitors from viewing their sites, according to Top10VPN.com. A further nine per cent of US titles are offering a limited service for people in Europe.
    However, the number of US sites blocking EU visitors differs greatly depending on which state the site originates from. For example, 80 per cent of news outlets from California and Nevada are accessible to EU users, while 90 per cent of Nebraska’s news sites are blocked with the EU.
    “It’s understandable that many US regional news outlets have taken the view that there’s not enough upside from incurring the expense of complying with regulations imposed from across the Atlantic, and are simply avoiding the issue altogether by blocking visitors from the EU,” said Simon Migliano, head of research at Top10VPN.com.
    “Whatever the benefits to EU citizens from GDPR, it surely can’t have been the intention of EU lawmakers to restrict the flow of important information like this. As a consequence, not only are US travellers and expats prevented from keeping up-to-date with their local news, but journalists and researchers are also unable to access these valuable and diverse sources of information.””
    Over 40 per cent of US news sites are still blocked in Europe a year after GDPR (May 29, 2019)

  323. Bobbyp’s link was about Yet Another American Nutjob with an interesting interpretation of the Constitution. In this guy’s reading, it calls for socialists to be imprisoned or shot.
    I’m also not sure it’s accurate to say that websites that refuse to serve content to EU IP addresses becayse they don’t want to comply with the GPDR are “blocked in Europe”.
    They are blocked, but the blockage is not on the Euro end of the wire.

  324. Bobbyp’s link was about Yet Another American Nutjob with an interesting interpretation of the Constitution. In this guy’s reading, it calls for socialists to be imprisoned or shot.
    I’m also not sure it’s accurate to say that websites that refuse to serve content to EU IP addresses becayse they don’t want to comply with the GPDR are “blocked in Europe”.
    They are blocked, but the blockage is not on the Euro end of the wire.

  327. Within bobbyp’s link:
    “He (Garcia) also proposed a bill during the 2019 session that would have had the state of Montana buy the Colstrip power plant.”
    Seizing the means of production and folding it into the “deep state” and financing via the pure “slavery of taxes”.
    I read my Marty.
    Maybe Garcia got the Constitution mixed up with Groucho’s “Das Margaret Dumont”:
    ‘Well, I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while.”
    No, wait, that wasn’t it, and besides, Groucho may not have said it. But he would have “meant” it, unlike the Founders and their pronouncements in the Constitution, which have had all sorts of unintended consequences, such as a modicum of freedom for others besides the landed white male gentry.
    Das Kapital, Volume One, Part Three, Chapter Seven:
    “If we examine the whole process from the point of view of its result, the product, it is plain that both the instruments and the subject of labour, are means of production, and that the labour itself is productive labour.”
    There are rats, mice, lice, bedbugs, cockroaches, skittering centipedes, and unarmed, over-educated college boys like myself loose in the state of Montana who are better read than Garcia, and he is surely not qualified to ascend to our very human level of being and consciousness, let alone execute us.
    Garcia ….. GARCIA?!
    Better check his papers. I smell an anchor baby.
    Garcia is three-fifths of the white man I am.

  328. Within bobbyp’s link:
    “He (Garcia) also proposed a bill during the 2019 session that would have had the state of Montana buy the Colstrip power plant.”
    Seizing the means of production and folding it into the “deep state” and financing via the pure “slavery of taxes”.
    I read my Marty.
    Maybe Garcia got the Constitution mixed up with Groucho’s “Das Margaret Dumont”:
    ‘Well, I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while.”
    No, wait, that wasn’t it, and besides, Groucho may not have said it. But he would have “meant” it, unlike the Founders and their pronouncements in the Constitution, which have had all sorts of unintended consequences, such as a modicum of freedom for others besides the landed white male gentry.
    Das Kapital, Volume One, Part Three, Chapter Seven:
    “If we examine the whole process from the point of view of its result, the product, it is plain that both the instruments and the subject of labour, are means of production, and that the labour itself is productive labour.”
    There are rats, mice, lice, bedbugs, cockroaches, skittering centipedes, and unarmed, over-educated college boys like myself loose in the state of Montana who are better read than Garcia, and he is surely not qualified to ascend to our very human level of being and consciousness, let alone execute us.
    Garcia ….. GARCIA?!
    Better check his papers. I smell an anchor baby.
    Garcia is three-fifths of the white man I am.

  331. There is some back story on the Colstrip thing. The Colstrip power plant and associated coal mining are a big chunk of the economy in that part of Montana. The biggest customers for that electricity have been out of state, and are now reluctant to buy coal-generated power (for both cost and political reasons). The Montana legislature looked at a variety of ways to try to keep the plant/mine up and running. Who introduced which bills was less important than just getting them to a place where their pros and cons could be considered. All state legislatures get at least a little crazy when large employers are shutting down. Montana wasn’t as crazy as Wyoming, who faces similar problems.

  332. There is some back story on the Colstrip thing. The Colstrip power plant and associated coal mining are a big chunk of the economy in that part of Montana. The biggest customers for that electricity have been out of state, and are now reluctant to buy coal-generated power (for both cost and political reasons). The Montana legislature looked at a variety of ways to try to keep the plant/mine up and running. Who introduced which bills was less important than just getting them to a place where their pros and cons could be considered. All state legislatures get at least a little crazy when large employers are shutting down. Montana wasn’t as crazy as Wyoming, who faces similar problems.

  333. Michael, your rational explanation vis a vis Garcia slightly misses the point.
    Do you mean that when he’s not threatening to murder so-called socialists, he practices socialism as a pragmatic approach to a few of life’s difficult problems, like any reasonable person might.
    If he committed suicide … self-execution in the cause of principled justice … his epitaph could be “The Constitution Made Me Do It”.

  334. Michael, your rational explanation vis a vis Garcia slightly misses the point.
    Do you mean that when he’s not threatening to murder so-called socialists, he practices socialism as a pragmatic approach to a few of life’s difficult problems, like any reasonable person might.
    If he committed suicide … self-execution in the cause of principled justice … his epitaph could be “The Constitution Made Me Do It”.

  335. “He (Garcia) also proposed a bill during the 2019 session that would have had the state of Montana buy the Colstrip power plant.”
    Government ownership of the means of production (presuming that includes the production of power) is the very definition of socialism.** And this from a guy who wants to kill socialists. Well, at least he won’t have to look far for his first target.
    ** Not that I think he has the least idea what the word means. It’s just shorthand for “people I don’t like”.

  336. “He (Garcia) also proposed a bill during the 2019 session that would have had the state of Montana buy the Colstrip power plant.”
    Government ownership of the means of production (presuming that includes the production of power) is the very definition of socialism.** And this from a guy who wants to kill socialists. Well, at least he won’t have to look far for his first target.
    ** Not that I think he has the least idea what the word means. It’s just shorthand for “people I don’t like”.

  339. From JDT’s link:

    I guess it comes down to their suspicion of expertise that denigrates pointy-headed science as some sort of elitist cabal that is trying to keep them down? Honestly, I don’t get it. Even if you are a hardcore libertarian public health is something that requires scale and coordination.

    I think it comes down to this: “It can’t happen here!” is a powerful enabler when your ideology collides with reality. Because, of course, it can. C.f. Trump, Donald J.

  340. From JDT’s link:

    I guess it comes down to their suspicion of expertise that denigrates pointy-headed science as some sort of elitist cabal that is trying to keep them down? Honestly, I don’t get it. Even if you are a hardcore libertarian public health is something that requires scale and coordination.

    I think it comes down to this: “It can’t happen here!” is a powerful enabler when your ideology collides with reality. Because, of course, it can. C.f. Trump, Donald J.

  341. But, unlike the Chinese government, the US government probably wouldn’t drag its feet for over a month while the virus spread. And arresting doctors who said anything a new and dangerous virus spreading.

  342. But, unlike the Chinese government, the US government probably wouldn’t drag its feet for over a month while the virus spread. And arresting doctors who said anything a new and dangerous virus spreading.

  345. the US government probably wouldn’t drag its feet for over a month while the virus spread.
    Willing to put money on that? As you may note from the link, the whole infrastructure for Federal response has been eliminated. So even making the heroic assumption that the Trump administration decides it wants to do something, how would it do anything useful?

  346. the US government probably wouldn’t drag its feet for over a month while the virus spread.
    Willing to put money on that? As you may note from the link, the whole infrastructure for Federal response has been eliminated. So even making the heroic assumption that the Trump administration decides it wants to do something, how would it do anything useful?

  347. Viruses are libertarians.
    They repel all interfering regulation and the taxation to carry out regulation in the marketplace of freely transmitted viruses.
    The Republican/Conservative Party IS the vaccination AGAINST vaccination by government, just as it is the only weather report permitted in the public sector regarding global climate change.
    I’ve been enslaved via taxation and what little is left of the virtue-signalers in the deep state at the CDC and NIH to pay for efforts to develop vaccines against the Coronavirus and AIDs and EBOLA.
    Clearly, the containment and remaining gummint efforts to cure these viruses is testimony to how much work needs to be done to get rid of all meddling, coercive government.
    Like arsenic and other poisons flowing into the environment favored by republicans/conservatives, when will viruses see the promised land of dominant worldwide market share.
    Kill the Deep State.

  348. Viruses are libertarians.
    They repel all interfering regulation and the taxation to carry out regulation in the marketplace of freely transmitted viruses.
    The Republican/Conservative Party IS the vaccination AGAINST vaccination by government, just as it is the only weather report permitted in the public sector regarding global climate change.
    I’ve been enslaved via taxation and what little is left of the virtue-signalers in the deep state at the CDC and NIH to pay for efforts to develop vaccines against the Coronavirus and AIDs and EBOLA.
    Clearly, the containment and remaining gummint efforts to cure these viruses is testimony to how much work needs to be done to get rid of all meddling, coercive government.
    Like arsenic and other poisons flowing into the environment favored by republicans/conservatives, when will viruses see the promised land of dominant worldwide market share.
    Kill the Deep State.

  349. unlike the Chinese government, the US government probably wouldn’t drag its feet for over a month while the virus spread.
    That will depend entirely on who gets sick.

  350. unlike the Chinese government, the US government probably wouldn’t drag its feet for over a month while the virus spread.
    That will depend entirely on who gets sick.

  351. The Trump/Republican Party’s 2020 Presidential campaign will feature, alongside its victory over the now fucking dead Rule of Law, the Coronavirus as two contradictory memes … as a Chinese hoax … AND as reason to demonize all less than human Asians hurtling themselves as an infestation onto our shores and into our markets.
    It will be a repeat of the disease-carrying fag memes, the all niggers are Willy Horton memes, the watch out for those Soros-beholdened liberal cosmopolitan Jews memes, the towel-headed vaguely Arab, Persian, Middle Eastern terrorists are amongst us memes, and the out-of-control wetback dirty little Mexican invasions across our southern border memes used in all past Republican election campaigns to steal votes and rule over us without our consent.
    It will a repeat of the treatment meted out to the Chinese railroad builders in the 19th century who, when racist exploiting American capital got done stealing their labor, were cast aside and demonized as a threat to pig fucker, racist, conservative America.
    History repeats itself with relish. Again and again.
    Why do I allow it to do that?

  352. The Trump/Republican Party’s 2020 Presidential campaign will feature, alongside its victory over the now fucking dead Rule of Law, the Coronavirus as two contradictory memes … as a Chinese hoax … AND as reason to demonize all less than human Asians hurtling themselves as an infestation onto our shores and into our markets.
    It will be a repeat of the disease-carrying fag memes, the all niggers are Willy Horton memes, the watch out for those Soros-beholdened liberal cosmopolitan Jews memes, the towel-headed vaguely Arab, Persian, Middle Eastern terrorists are amongst us memes, and the out-of-control wetback dirty little Mexican invasions across our southern border memes used in all past Republican election campaigns to steal votes and rule over us without our consent.
    It will a repeat of the treatment meted out to the Chinese railroad builders in the 19th century who, when racist exploiting American capital got done stealing their labor, were cast aside and demonized as a threat to pig fucker, racist, conservative America.
    History repeats itself with relish. Again and again.
    Why do I allow it to do that?

  357. If a Democrat wins, whomever it is, they will be impeached the day after inauguration.
    There is the little detail that, if a Democrat wins the Presidency, the chances of the Republicans retaking the House are nil. And without a majority in the House, they aren’t going to ram thru a partisan impeachment now, are they?
    (But does Ernst know enough about the Constitution to realize that?)

  358. If a Democrat wins, whomever it is, they will be impeached the day after inauguration.
    There is the little detail that, if a Democrat wins the Presidency, the chances of the Republicans retaking the House are nil. And without a majority in the House, they aren’t going to ram thru a partisan impeachment now, are they?
    (But does Ernst know enough about the Constitution to realize that?)

  359. No, she doesn’t.
    But why is the Constitution even relevant now?
    If it’s irrelevant to a former, so-called American military officer, who claims to have been defending the Constitution with her “service” (my ass), than maybe WE had better consider it irrelevant when she becomes a Constitution-illiterate elected official running our government.
    One who threatened death by gunfire to Obama officials who might cross the state line to facilitate Obamacare.
    I believe them when they say, repeatedly, in every election cycle, that they will murder us should they not get their way.
    As they tell us, their word is their bond.

  360. No, she doesn’t.
    But why is the Constitution even relevant now?
    If it’s irrelevant to a former, so-called American military officer, who claims to have been defending the Constitution with her “service” (my ass), than maybe WE had better consider it irrelevant when she becomes a Constitution-illiterate elected official running our government.
    One who threatened death by gunfire to Obama officials who might cross the state line to facilitate Obamacare.
    I believe them when they say, repeatedly, in every election cycle, that they will murder us should they not get their way.
    As they tell us, their word is their bond.

  363. I hear that Rush Limbaugh has advanced lung cancer. FWIW, and to put to rest any notion that I am a good person, my opinion is that if there were a hell, there’d be anticipatory rejoicing therein.

  364. I hear that Rush Limbaugh has advanced lung cancer. FWIW, and to put to rest any notion that I am a good person, my opinion is that if there were a hell, there’d be anticipatory rejoicing therein.

  365. Limbaugh was something of a precursor for today’s Republican Senators. He does not at all (according to what I have read) actually believe the garbage he spouts. He’s just an entertainer who has found a great, long-running, and highly remunerative gig, and is milking it.

  366. Limbaugh was something of a precursor for today’s Republican Senators. He does not at all (according to what I have read) actually believe the garbage he spouts. He’s just an entertainer who has found a great, long-running, and highly remunerative gig, and is milking it.

  367. precursor?
    He is the template with more dittohead iterations among elected republican officials and his millions-fold fan base than Andy Warhol could have ever produced of his Campbell Soup Can paintings from his screen printing process.
    “Fox News’ Sean Hannity responded on his own radio show: “I don’t think talk radio would ever be anything like it is, or I’d be here, if it wasn’t for all that Rush has done.”
    May Hannity follow Limbaugh’s precise poisonous, grifting, non-believing example in the manner and suffering and pain Limbaugh is about to go through, and he IS going to go through some things, baby.
    Let’s hope hopelessly that no medicinals or medical devices or expertise in any way funded or developed by the elites in government and with my tax dollars are used to try and save his ample, ungrateful ass.
    Limbaugh: “I told the staff today that I have a deeply personal relationship with God that I do not proselytize about, but I do, and I have been working that relationship tremendously,” he said.
    Working that relationship?
    What a perfectly disgusting summation of the entire fake stinking conservative republican, but highly remunerative crypto-religious prosperity gospel.
    Like God is a prostitute who can be worked with an extra twenty dollar bill for sex up the poop shute.
    As it happens, I spoke with God not five minutes ago, on his way to the bowling alley where He drinks, and regarding Limbaugh, He saith: I’m the one who supplied the ampules of poison to Goebbels and his wife, Magda, Hitler’s propaganda minister, and handcrafted the bullets to each that followed. As for this clump of mis-arranged but destructive molecules called Rush Limbaugh, if he burst into flames, I wouldn’t put him out with untreated sewage. And any bullet I could supply to hasten his exit would be but one bullet wasted that could be used on the rest of Limbaugh’s ilk.”
    Jesus Christ on a half-time greased-up stripper pole, we now have to look ahead to the great bullshit mourning for Rush Limbaugh. No doubt he’ll time the end so he can lie in state (he’s lied in every state in the Union, as it is) in the Rotunda in the week before next Fall’s election.
    Maybe the corpse of Chris Farley can play Limbaugh’s corpse in the SNL sketch depicting the funeral.
    Unlike Johnny Depp paying five million to have Hunter Thompson’s ashes shot out of a cannon, I will pay nothing to have Limbaugh’s ashes shot AT by a cannon.
    I regret only that Limbaugh’s presence won’t further plague us so that he could live to see his Palm Beach monument to racism and hate (if he didn’t actually believe the garbage he spouts, why the nationwide landfills … the addled minds of 62 million deplorables to be precise … storing that non-biodegradable trash) by the sea consumed by the rising waters.
    I bet he’s buried on higher ground, because he believes in the Resurrection … his … but would not want to reappear soaking wet.
    I wonder if I’ll be invited to give the eulogy at his memorial.

  368. precursor?
    He is the template with more dittohead iterations among elected republican officials and his millions-fold fan base than Andy Warhol could have ever produced of his Campbell Soup Can paintings from his screen printing process.
    “Fox News’ Sean Hannity responded on his own radio show: “I don’t think talk radio would ever be anything like it is, or I’d be here, if it wasn’t for all that Rush has done.”
    May Hannity follow Limbaugh’s precise poisonous, grifting, non-believing example in the manner and suffering and pain Limbaugh is about to go through, and he IS going to go through some things, baby.
    Let’s hope hopelessly that no medicinals or medical devices or expertise in any way funded or developed by the elites in government and with my tax dollars are used to try and save his ample, ungrateful ass.
    Limbaugh: “I told the staff today that I have a deeply personal relationship with God that I do not proselytize about, but I do, and I have been working that relationship tremendously,” he said.
    Working that relationship?
    What a perfectly disgusting summation of the entire fake stinking conservative republican, but highly remunerative crypto-religious prosperity gospel.
    Like God is a prostitute who can be worked with an extra twenty dollar bill for sex up the poop shute.
    As it happens, I spoke with God not five minutes ago, on his way to the bowling alley where He drinks, and regarding Limbaugh, He saith: I’m the one who supplied the ampules of poison to Goebbels and his wife, Magda, Hitler’s propaganda minister, and handcrafted the bullets to each that followed. As for this clump of mis-arranged but destructive molecules called Rush Limbaugh, if he burst into flames, I wouldn’t put him out with untreated sewage. And any bullet I could supply to hasten his exit would be but one bullet wasted that could be used on the rest of Limbaugh’s ilk.”
    Jesus Christ on a half-time greased-up stripper pole, we now have to look ahead to the great bullshit mourning for Rush Limbaugh. No doubt he’ll time the end so he can lie in state (he’s lied in every state in the Union, as it is) in the Rotunda in the week before next Fall’s election.
    Maybe the corpse of Chris Farley can play Limbaugh’s corpse in the SNL sketch depicting the funeral.
    Unlike Johnny Depp paying five million to have Hunter Thompson’s ashes shot out of a cannon, I will pay nothing to have Limbaugh’s ashes shot AT by a cannon.
    I regret only that Limbaugh’s presence won’t further plague us so that he could live to see his Palm Beach monument to racism and hate (if he didn’t actually believe the garbage he spouts, why the nationwide landfills … the addled minds of 62 million deplorables to be precise … storing that non-biodegradable trash) by the sea consumed by the rising waters.
    I bet he’s buried on higher ground, because he believes in the Resurrection … his … but would not want to reappear soaking wet.
    I wonder if I’ll be invited to give the eulogy at his memorial.

  371. Trump keeps knocking items off the list of things Republicans have presumed to hold dear.
    please proceed, President. it is the only good you’re doing in the world.

  372. Trump keeps knocking items off the list of things Republicans have presumed to hold dear.
    please proceed, President. it is the only good you’re doing in the world.

  375. “The company believes that if rival carmakers face tariffs on the vehicles they sell into the British market, they would have a massive competitive advantage.
    That would potentially allow them to increase their UK market share from 4% at the moment to 20%.
    Nissan’s Sunderland plant, which produces Qashqai, the Juke and the Leaf models, employs around 6,000 people and is a major employer in the north-east of England.”
    Nissan to ‘pull out of Europe and concentrate on UK’ in event of hard Brexit: Nissan will pull out of mainland Europe and instead focus on its UK plant if Brexit leads to tariffs on car exports, it has been reported.

  376. “The company believes that if rival carmakers face tariffs on the vehicles they sell into the British market, they would have a massive competitive advantage.
    That would potentially allow them to increase their UK market share from 4% at the moment to 20%.
    Nissan’s Sunderland plant, which produces Qashqai, the Juke and the Leaf models, employs around 6,000 people and is a major employer in the north-east of England.”
    Nissan to ‘pull out of Europe and concentrate on UK’ in event of hard Brexit: Nissan will pull out of mainland Europe and instead focus on its UK plant if Brexit leads to tariffs on car exports, it has been reported.

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