Archives for February 2018

At the end of February, I always feel like I was overcharged for rent (and an ORCA card, even though I get mine through work). This usually gets me through 30 or 31 days, but this time it’s only 28. I know it works out over time, but part of me wishes it was prorated.

Please joins us this evening as the Seattle Chapter of Drinking liberally meets for conversations over drinks.

We meet every Tuesday at the Roanoke Park Place Tavern, 2409 10th Ave E, Seattle. You’ll find us in the small room at the back of the tavern beginning about 8pm.

Can’t make it to Seattle? Ok…then check out one of the 244 chapters of Living Liberally, including 23 in Washington state, six in Oregon and three in Idaho. Find a chapter near you. Or consider starting your own chapter.

Men knew: King County Democrats edition. It looks like they’re getting their shit together now, but this didn’t happen in a vacuum. People heard his derogatory comments and didn’t speak up. In the end, not calling it out didn’t do him or the organization any good.

I should also say that I see more of my past self in this bad behavior than in a lot of these. And I am grateful to the people who have called me out on these issues over the years.

VOX: When the only way to go free is to plead guilty.

Chris Hayes: Democratic turnout surges in Texas early voting.

The Dotard Трамп And His Gang of Stable Geniuses:

• Lawrence O’Donnell: Dotard Трамп’s campaign chairman and aide indicted on 32 new charges
• Farron Cousins: Was Трамп’s porn star hush money illegal?
• Rachel Maddow: Robert Mueller adds new piece to plot with new Manafort & Gates indictment
• Michael Brooks: Jeff Sessions goes off script and proves he’s still living in the 1800s
• Stephen: Трамп’s state of affairs….Actual affairs:

• Our Cartoon President addresses CPAC
• Chris Hayes: Melania’s parents likely in U.S. thanks to “chain migration”
• The making of Our Cartoon President
• The Opposition with Jordan Klepper: The Trumpian plot of “Black Panther”.
• Stephen: Dotard Трамп Jr.’s Bollywood debut: ‘The dance of the greasy son’
• Our Cartoon President: These jokes are bigly crap
• Maddow: Sanctioned Russian spy chiefs meet with Трамп administration
• Jimmy Kimmel: The Dotard Трамп endorses Mitt Romney
• Lawrence O’Donnell: Jared Kushner’s security clearance is a problem for John Kelly
• Stephen points out Obama’s parting gift to Трамп
• Farron Cousins: Trump allies Manafort and Gates hit with new indictments from Mueller
• Late Night: The dossier interviews the Democratic memo
• Our Cartoon President: Paid family leave
• The Opposition with Jordan Klepper: Trimming the fat—State Department edition.
• Chris Hayes: Mitt Romney said he wouldn’t accept President Dotard Трамп endorsement. He did.
• Farron Cousins: Трамп to Republicans—Ignore PA gerrymandering laws
• Stephen: Трамп’s Twitter spree after Robert Mueller’s Russia indictments
• Our Cartoon President: “I flew in a Playmate for Sex”

Rachel Maddow: Americans Google Alex Van Der Zwaan as Robert Mueller issues new charges .

Jimmy Kimmel: The week in unnecessary censorship.

Francesca Fiorentini: Why the rich love destroying unions.

Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) is indicted on felony invasion of privacy charge.

Young Turks: Governor arrested for revenge porn.

Daily Show: How to make people care about the Great Lakes.

Were Neanderthals the first artists?

Gunz In ‘merica:

• Stephen: If politicians won’t take action, these high schoolers will
• The Opposition with Jordan Klepper: The moderate (uncensored)
• Trevor Noah: Parkland shooting survivors school Congress on gun violence.
• Chris Hayes: Second Amendment doesn’t protect AR-15s
• Stephen asks God about his stance on the NRA
• Heads of State: Трамп announces new NRA approved gun policy:

• WaPo: Parent of FL shooting victim slams Rubio for “pathetically weak” comments
• Jimmy Kimmel on Florida shooting survivors being called fake news
• Daily Show: CRISIS ACTOR EXPOSED!!! #TAMMYMUSTGO.
• Stephen: The kids from Florida aren’t acting
• Jonathan Mann: You don’t need an AR 15
• Maddow: Americans rally for gun safety with Dotard Трамп and GOP as only obstacles
• Trevor: Gun control vs. porn control—Florida takes on the wrong kind of mass shooting
• Young Turks: School shooting survivors aren’t buying Трамп’s bullshit
• Lawrence O’Donnell: Why arming teachers is a fantasy war game
• Vice: The political aftermath of the Parkland School shooting
• Late Show: Meet the school teacher ready for her gun
• James Corden: Gun control in Ameica
• The Opposition with Jordan Klepper: America’s teens experiment with gun control
• Lawrence: Трамп lives in a fantasy world.
• Stephen: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, “The NRA has a chokehold on Congress”
• Mark Fiore: Electoral gunsights.
• WaPo: Трамп’s changing positions on guns over the years.
• Trevor: Marco Rubio and President Трамп stumble through gun control debates/a>
• Late Show: The GOP finally proposes a ban
• Stephen: Трамп wants more guns in schools
• #ArmMeWith: Teachers respond to Трамп with viral campaign.
• Chris Hayes: Parkland survivors transform the gun debate
• Teens Tell VICE why they’re protesting after the Parkland shooting
• Trevor: Conservatives attack Parkland survivors once again
• WaPo: An hour-by-hour comparison of Трамп and Obama responding to school shootings
• The Opposition with Jordan Klepper: Carly Novell and Delaney Tarr on reforming gun laws with #NeverAgain

VOX: How the economy shapes our live lives.

WaPo: Sketching Robert Muller III—how accurate are pop culture’s portrayals?

Lewis Black: How territorial rats could fix New York City’s transit woes.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

I don’t know enough about the case to comment one way or the other, but morally the legislature shouldn’t be exempted from public disclosure requirements. It’s 2018, if anything we should make these records available more easily. Maybe all electronic communications go on a searchable database after a certain amount of time to ensure we aren’t giving away personal information, etc. I realize that this sort of thing can be abused, but in general it’s the direction we should be going.

Over the weekend, I was walking around suburbia. It was the day after the storm, and I passed a rhododendron that had been toppled. I wasn’t sure if I should have pushed the root ball back into the ground. I decided not to wander onto some stranger’s property to do some half-assed landscaping. But I would prefer to live in a world where people did that, and it was OK.

Please joins us this evening for another cocktail-enhanced and conversation-packed edition of the Seattle Chapter of Drinking liberally.

We meet every Tuesday at the Roanoke Park Place Tavern, 2409 10th Ave E, Seattle. You’ll find us in the small room at the back of the tavern beginning about 8pm.

Can’t make it to Seattle? Ok…then check out one of the 244 chapters of Living Liberally, including 23 in Washington state, six in Oregon and three in Idaho. Find a chapter near you. Or consider starting your own chapter.

Seeing the coverage of the kids who survived the Florida school shooting at rallies and in the Sunday shows, I couldn’t help think of how much we, adults in this country, have failed them. However they grieve is the right way, but they shouldn’t have to be there.

They deserve better than the world adults are giving them. They deserve better than being judged on how articulate they are less than a week after living through a horror and having their friends die. The fact that they are stressing about something more than grades or sports or who to go to the dance with is our fault. Shame on us.

1 Kings 11:1-3
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.

Discuss.

Sam Seder: Alex Jones obsesses over sperm on Barack Obama’s face

Chris Hayes: GOP candidate’s parents donate to his Democratic opponent

Bill Maher does Vicente Fox.

Daily Show: Livin’ on the street—Whose fault is it when the stock market drops?

The Opposition with Jordan Klepper: Ijeoma Oluo—You can’t “win” a conversation about race

The Dotard Трамп and His Clown Parade:

• Jimmy Kimmel: Трамп’s lawyer paid off Stormy Daniels
• Young Turks: Трамп wants to replace food stamps with food boxes
• Late Show: Dotard Трамп’s Valentine’s day card to Melania Трамп
• Elizabeth Warren talks about the real “Pocahontas”:

• Rachel Maddow: Dotard Трамп administration is giving Russia what it wants on sanctions
• The Opposition with Jordan Klepper: America’s metaphorical wall is a success
• Farron Cousins: Трамп hasn’t appointed a science advisor; Apparently he is afraid of smart people
• Bill Maher: Traitor Трамп’s toxic trysts.
• Ari Melber: Existential threat to Трамп Presidency in new Mueller indictment?
• Mark Fiore: ТрампBox
• Chris Hayes: Why is Трамп deporting people who call 911?
• Farron Cousins: White House refuses to discuss immigration status of Melania’s family
• WaPo: Wray vs. the White House on Porter’s background check
• Jimmy Kimmel: Dotard Трамп presidential portrait unveiled
• Young Turks: Anti-immigrant Трамп only hires foreign workers
• Lawrence O’Donnell: Robert Mueller likely has a third cooperating witness
• Sen. Blumenthal: “Rob Porter was a security risk time bomb”
• Maddow: Dotard Трамп team uses gun tragedy as cover, reveals financial documents
• Late Show’s alter egos: Extra White House edition:

• WaPo Fact Check: No, the Трамп tax cut didn’t spark major U.S. investments
• Wanda Sykes with Great fails in Black history
• David Pakman: Is Melania trolling Dotard Трамп?
• Sky News: John Oliver on Трамп, Brexit and fake news
• Jimmy Kimmel: White House Valentine’s day cards
• Jimmy Kimmel: More Valentine’s day cards from the White House
• This Dreamer is suing Трамп.
• Lawrence O’Donnell: Dotard Трамп “totally opposed” to domestic abuse and Congress demands answers
• Rachel Maddow: Dotard Трамп’s lawyer says he paid Stormy Daniels from his own money
• Daily Show: No regrets—How a Трамп supporter may have voted to destroy his own career

Mental Floss: Valentine’s Day.

Trevor interviews Heroes of “The 15:17 to Paris”.

CP Times with Roy Wood Jr.: Unsung Black Heroes of Politics.

The Opposition with Jordan Klepper: At war with machines

Hasan the Record: Free speech—If you can’t beat ’em, troll ’em

Francesca Fiorentini: How tech giants feed off capitalism’s failures:

Wendover: How overnight shipping works.

ANOTHER GODDAMN SCHOOL MASS SHOOTING?!?!?

• Parkland students and teachers direct grief and rage at Washington
• Unacceptable: Analysts, politicians react to Fla. school shooting
• Ari Melber: Gov. Andrew Cuomo on background checks and AR-15s.
• WaPo Opinion: President Трамп, you can do much more to reduce gun deaths
• Farron Cousins: He Republicans, your thoughts and prayers ARE NOT DOING SHIT
• Young Turks: FL shooter in custody.
• Rachel Maddow: FL school teacher describes what happened.
• David Pakman: How to debunk “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”
• See videos students took during the Florida school shooting
• Lawrence O’Donnell: Florida Dad to politicians—Stop taking “blood money” from NRA
• How powerful assault rifles lead to devastating wounds
• Rachel Maddow: Dotard Трамп words on gun tragedy ring hollow given past legislation

What the collapse of immigration bills means for Dreamers.

Bad polling is ruining everything.

The Opposition with Jordan Klepper: Ted Lieu and the Democrats’ push to take back the House:

Jimmy Kimmel: This week in unnecessary censorship.

Young Turks: Republican candidate’s own parents don’t want him in office.

Trevor Noah’s Ark-eology: A hidden Mayan village & the Cheddar man

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

Once again: Please everyone reading this, don’t murder anyone. I’m sick of having to write that, but people keep murdering. Honestly, don’t.

I should say to start that there may be times when a box of food instead of SNAP benefits might be beneficial. Save a trip or two worth of gas. Maybe for disabled, people not having to go to the grocery store is a positive.

The proposal isn’t that. And that said, there is a problem with the plan beyond how it infantilizes poor people. It’s that grocery stores are one of the few places where all strata of society meet. This proposal seems like another way for middle class and wealthy people to not think about poor people in their communities.

The Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally meets tonight. And it happens to be a special election night. So, if you haven’t already done so, mail or drop off your ballot, and then swing by and join us for drinks and good cheer.

We meet every Tuesday at the Roanoke Park Place Tavern, 2409 10th Ave E, Seattle. You’ll find us in the small room at the back of the tavern beginning about 8pm.

Can’t make it to Seattle? Seriously? Ok…then check out one of the 244 chapters of Living Liberally, including 23 in Washington state, six in Oregon and three in Idaho. Find a chapter near you. Or go out and start one if need be.

This Presidency is fucking exhausting. Should I write about massive deficits? The second wife beater? Cruel immigration garbage? It’s too much and all at once.

Deuteronomy 22:13-21
If a man takes a wife and, after lying with her, dislikes her and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, “I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity,” then the girl’s father and mother shall bring proof that she was a virgin to the town elders at the gate.  The girl’s father will say to the elders, “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her.  Now he has slandered her and said, ‘I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.’ But here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity.” Then her parents shall display the cloth before the elders of the town, and the elders shall take the man and punish him. They shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver, and give them to the girl’s father, because this man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. She shall continue to be his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.

If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the girl’s virginity can be found, she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death.

Discuss.