Take the chill off the evening by joining us for some hot political conversation over a drink at this week’s meeting of the Seattle Chapter of Drinking liberally.
We meet every Tuesday at the Roanoke Park Place Tavern, 2409 10th Ave E, Seattle. Look for us in the back room of the pub beginning about 8pm.
Can’t make it to Seattle? Check out one of the 267 chapters of Living Liberally, including 22 in Washington state, seven in Oregon and three in Idaho. Find a chapter near you. Or start a new chapter for your community!
Reason #433094 Donald thinks NYT is too dangerous to read in the White House
Should Donald should be removed from office:
Disagree
April – 59%
May – 54%
Sept – 45%
Oct – 43%
Certain economic models would have you believe all these adults who want Donald out RIGHT NOW as opposed to ‘likely voters’ will not show up or vote Donald anyway and let him squeak by with in a big EC fashion.
@1 “nothing a big war couldn’t change”…..but in this case, I personally don’t think that is true
Slow news day so far. Only headline of significance is Trump’s comment that the impeachment inquiry is a “lynching.” Of him. Exactly what you’d expect of Trump.
So, for lack of anything else to talk about this morning, let’s debate what Trump’s “lynching” remark signifies.
Here’s my take. I don’t think it’s inherently racist, even though he’s an overtly racist swine. Nor do I think it springs from ignorance of history, even though this guy is an ostrich vis-a-vis the dark chapters of American history.
No, I believe it springs from a complex of psychological dysfunctions, to wit:
1. His chronically acute misuse of language;
2. His persecution complex;
3. His receptivity to conspiracy theories;
4. Feelings of inferiority and insecurity that stem from being bullied as a small child by an overbearing father;
5. Narcissism, self-centeredness, insensisitivity, and lack of awareness;
6. General incapacity for appropriate thought, speech, and behavior;
7. Lack of social skills due to a nearly total absence of socialization during the childhood development phase of his life and lack of any catch-up in his adult years;
8. His pronounced tendency toward impulsive behavior and proclivity for blurting out whatever pops into his mind in the moment;
9. And last,* but not least, his deliberate and conscious use of demagoguery as a political strategy to whip up his racist base by using exploiting themes in a manner that turns reality on its head by representing that racists are the real victims of racism, which more or less comes straight out of Hitler’s playbook.
* Not sure of this. What do the rest of you think? Did I miss anything?
@1 “Certain economic models”
I assume you’re referring to Moody’s, the same outfit who put their triple-A stamp of approval on MBS tranches secured by hot air, which made news this week by predicting a Trump “landslide” in 2020.
I’m surprised they’re still in business. I guess the explanation for that is Wall Street will always have a need for analysts and rating agencies who can materially help them sell dog shit* to the general public.
* With apologies to dogs
In September of 2011, according to FOX and the GOP, Congress approving a $535 million loan guarantee to a failed solar company was legal grounds for impechment.
While we’re on that subject, I wonder if Doctor Dumbfuck ever “invested” in MBS-backed derivatives? I usually associate that with sovereign wealth funds and other stupendously huge pools of money managed by incredibly stupid people, but he does seem like the type who opens scam emails, picks up the phone “IRS” appears on his caller ID, and such like.
@5 Why was it legal grounds for impeachment?
Fun Fact:
One out of every fourteen appointees of the Trump administration is a paid lobbyist.
@7,
Because… REASONS! Also KENYA!
@4 I think you’ve got it. Of course, the orange moron who claims he’s being lynched is the same orange moron who tried to “lynch” the previous president by tarring him as a Kenyan usurper.
@3
I’m more interested in the continued insistence that he’s being denied due process. He’s under investigation and would have you believe, and maybe he’s stupid and or crazy enough to actually believe, that Law Enforcement agencies let the subject of an investigation know and are required bring the subject or their lawyers along and cross examine every potential witness.
It will play to the 30% who worship at his alter but anyone who’s watched a single episode of Law and Order or Cops or Reno 9-11 or Blue Bloods knows this is bat shit stuff.
And he’s actually getting more real time info than almost any other suspect in an investigation.
The more he says the ‘approved’ by polling inquiry is unfair and illegal the higher those ‘should be removed’ numbers are going to climb.
@5 Here’s how stupid you are:
You don’t know how to spell the word “impeachment.”
Impeachment is a political, not legal, process; courts have nothing to do with it; and grounds for impeachment are based on Congress’ inherently political interpretation of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” which requires no law violation.
While you weren’t specific about who you thought should’ve been impeached for the Solyndra fiasco, if Congress approved the loan, then it obviously follows that if Congress wanted to impeach someone for it, they should have impeached themselves.
I’m not sure why HA attracts such idiotic trolls, but for some reason it does. We don’t get smart trolls here, only the dumbfucks of the troll universe.
Sometimes I suspect it’s the same troll, posting under ever-changing screen names, because it’s hard to visualize there are this many stupid people in the world, although I suppose that’s possible when you ponder the ramifications of the bell curve.
@8 The other 13 are billionaires who don’t need the federal salary but don’t donate it to charity anyway.
@3 #9 should have been first on the list.
Never A Dull Moment Dep’t
California high school shooting; 1 reported injury. Santa Rosa police say the lone victim was targeted and it’s not a mass shooting incident.
@12
I think you’re missing the joke.
Things that are no big deal to GOP 2017-present…
Multiple potential counts of obstruction of Mueller probe
Rerouting military crews to Hotels from which you profit
Private companies and foreign governments booking blocks of rooms and never checking in but paying for them at hotels from which you profit.
Repetitive provable lying.
Courting with foreign Governments to gain advantage in upcoming election
Green lighting genocide on the Turkey Syria border
The deficit
And so on
Things that were a VERY big deal to GOP 2009-2016
Wearing a tan suit in the Oval Office
Planting a vegetable garden
Terrorist Fist Bumps
Obamacare
POW recovery
The deficit
And…Solyndra
Hey, we’re losing all our damn money, and Christmas is around the corner, and I ain’t gonna have no money to buy my son the G.I. Joe with the kung-fu grip! And my wife ain’t gonna f… my wife ain’t gonna make love to me if I got no money!”
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hasbro-earnings-miss-estimates-tariffs-105028374.html
Thoughts on trump’s tweet.
Anything to incite the base. The choice of wording is insightful because the base is terrified of being treated as they treated others. This could happen to them if they don’t protect trump from the scary liberals, since he is the only thing protecting them from the brown people who want to take away their god given privilege.
@16. I hope the Democrats grow spines and tell the unrepentant hypocrites to go to hell, when they inevitability start whining that we can’t have nice things like social safety nets because of low taxes on rich people, tan suits and giraffe hoarding.
11,
It is the legal equivalent of arguing with a cop who is investigating him for drunk driving.
The police have absolutely no obligation to listen to it or even permit it if they deem it to be interfering. And efforts to interfere typically result in escalation of the investigation.
Surprisingly common among wealthy entitled types who consider regular people to be beneath them. In the age of body cams it always works against them. This will too once people get tired of the petty whining.
Yes, Roger needs to reread @5. The commenter has been posting comments recently which call out Republicans for their impeachment hypocracy.
“giraffe hoarding”
What’s up with all the giraffe comments lately? Did I miss something a Republican said that was stupid*.
* Of course, I wouldn’t put it past a Republican to try to fuck a giraffe. Sure, it might require a stepladder, but Republicans can be pretty damned resourceful when it comes to fucking animals.
Bill Taylor’s opening statement.
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/10/read-it-veteran-diplomat-bill-taylors-damning-opening-statement-about-trump-and-ukraine/
Read it, Doctor, then grovel before us loyal, patriotic Americans, begging us to forgive your sins. Of course, you won’t do that and we’ll never forgive your betrayal of our country, so…
Live in shame.
@23 Benghazzzzzziiiiiiiii!
Too funny.
“McConnell distances himself from Trump — and denies president’s claim that he called Ukraine call ‘perfect’”
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/10/mcconnell-distances-himself-from-trump-and-denies-presidents-claim-that-he-called-ukraine-call-perfect/
You fucked up, Doctor. And now you’re fucking up again, being one of the few dumbfuck rats who are stupid enough to stay on board and go down with the ship.
Live in shame…and humiliation.
Love this tweet.
Dumbfuck much, Doctor?
@24 But her emails!
“In exchange for the Congressionally directed defense assistance I demand that you should want to help me with my re-election.”
Because, not extortion if you want to do it.
Samey same rape, according to Associate Justice Bart and Squee.
I have a few bones to pick with John Bolton, but his role in this matter is not one of them.
“We ran out of checks! I swear it! We’ll have it to you as soon as the bank sends us the new checks with the cool vintage art!
@22 “What’s up with all the giraffe comments lately? Did I miss something a Republican said that was stupid*.”
It’s a Democratic Underground parody that went viral.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287300492
@31 I’m relieved to know that Republicans aren’t fucking giraffes. Yet. That we know of.
argument essay on abortion http://quotes-from-the-killer-.....essay.site planning an essay
“The top US diplomat in Ukraine, Bill Taylor, testified Tuesday that he had been told President Donald Trump would withhold military aid to the country until it publicly declared investigations would be launched that could help his reelection chances — including into former Vice President Joe Biden, according to a copy of Taylor’s opening statement obtained by CNN.
“Taylor said he was told that ‘everything’ Ukraine wanted — from a one-on-one meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to hundreds of millions in security aid — was dependent on publicly announcing an investigation that included Burisma, the company that hired Biden’s son Hunter, and Ukraine’s alleged involvement in the 2016 election.”
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/22/politics/bill-taylor-deposition-text-messages/index.html
Roger Rabbit’s reaction: Smoking gun.
The GOP reaction will be:
1. Hearsay.
2. Trump being Trump.
3. Get over it.
4. Deplorable but not impeachable.
5. Benghazi!!!
6. All of the above.
@32 Only because they’re in Elizabeth Warren’s protective custody.
The kind of people Tennessee voters elect to public offices.
https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/tennessee-republican-says-queer-running-president-ugly-it-gets-n1070236
@29
After today I have suspicions Bolton is the whistleblower.
The profile fits. Intelligence Official (NSA) who may not have been in the room for a call between Donald and State and Ukraine (hearsay) , Security Clearance high enough that no one would think twice about telling him everything that was said on a phone call when he wasn’t present. Enough of a Washington Insider that though it might kill him emotionally would likely run his concerns by Sen. Minority Leader directly or staff who then advise him on how to protect himself legally as a whistleblower.
Now with testimony that he flipped his shit over the Ukraine $$$ for Dirt campaign and that’s the background for his resignation/termination he’s a reasonable candidate.
How will GOP paint Bolton as a deep state Obama loving commie who hates Donald and the party if my rank speculation here is on base.
@37
Funny that the meeting was about expanding gun rights in the county where Dollywood draws a lot of tourists devolved into a “white people got no rights anymore” event.
Speaking of tourists, guns and popular destinations…
A Tennessee Militia armed to protect himself at the Memphis zoo at some point reached into his pocket and shot himself in the leg.
Always with their finger on the pulse of the 5 Ws of a big story, Fox News:
At this point, there are a number of Republicans who are fucked by Taylor’s testimony. In fac, it might be easier to list those who aren’t fucked.
Off the top of my head, I can only name two. Mitt and Bolton.
Doctor Dumbfuck and his orange moron are most definitely fucked.
@22. The racist incel tries to confuse the real issues with made up controversies like giraffe hording.
35,
Only one of those is a quasi-legal defense.
And so far as Taylor’s and other’s testimony is concerned, it would meet the requirements for at least a half dozen of the Rule 803 exceptions. Assuming Roberts presides over the trial, most of this testimony would be ruled admissible.
@42 Can’t say I blame him. Discussing his betrayal of our country with us would be pretty damned uncomfortable. The doctor is so…awful. Heh.
All kidding aside, I think the doctor’s going to expire while posting crooked Hillary hashtags. Poor sap, thousands of hashtags to his credit and he still can’t name a single fucking crime. And that recently released State Department IG report probably caused his head to explode big time, like the loon. No crimes committed! Meanwhile, half of the GOP is headed to the slammer or already in it. SAD!
38,
Not Bolton.
The IC whistle blower (there are now multiple whistle blowers) who informed on the July 25 “perfect” extortion phone call is CIA.
We know this owing to the fact that it was the CIA General Counsel, Courtney Simmons Elwood who first tipped of the White House OLC that they were in the shit, prompting Mulvaney to hide the SECRET/NOFORN transcript on a code word server beyond the scrutiny of House committees.
My comments aren’t being published.
My comments aren’t getting posted. Censorship?
What’s going on with this site. Is it my phone or the site?
@46-48 Just WordPress conspiring against you, that’s all. Welcome to the club.
“Former Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Tuesday said she left office because ‘saying no’ and refusing to do things that others in the administration wanted was ‘not going to be enough.’
“‘There were a lot of things that, there were those in the administration who thought that we should do, and … it became clear that saying no, and refusing to do it myself was not going to be enough, so it was time for me to offer my resignation,’ she said ….”
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/22/politics/kirstjen-nielsen-speech/index.html
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Being a Trump thug is a demanding job and not every Republican is up to it.
A few days ago Lindsey Graham suggested he would support impeachment if there was evidence of a quid pro quo. There’s now damning evidence of a quid pro quo. Your move, Senator.
Rightwing Thugs Sentenced To Prison
“Two members of the extremist street gang known as the Proud Boys were sentenced Tuesday to four years in a New York prison after attacking protesters outside a GOP event in Manhattan last year. Maxwell Hare, 27, and John Kinsman, 32, were two of 10 Proud Boys arrested in the assault caught on camera in October 2018. ”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/proud-boys-sentenced-new-york_n_5daf2841e4b0f34e3a7d652c
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Fresh meat for the sex-starved inmates of Attica!
There’s always a horse or a goat. Plus they don’t require presents. Nor would you have to put up with a nagging woman.
Did someone say Giraffe?
Running the Playbook,
White House Press Secretary calls Bill Taylor, “radical unelected bureaucrat”
Take it Ted Lieu…
The GOP honors our men in Uniform and our Veterans.
When it comes to re-election, how many reliably Republican base Heroes can Donald shit on and still think more than the 33% will Sen him back?
Anyone have Vegas oddsmakers on Donald losing the primary at this point?
54,
What Republican primary?
It’s Trump’s party. He controls all the money and everyone from McDaniel on down answers to him. They’ve already canceled a half dozen state primaries. The convention is merely a formality.
Impeachment or not, Trump is the Republican nominee.
“Your move, Senator.”
Your move, Republicans. America has to get those criminals out of the WH. They could walk over to the WH tomorrow and put an end to this.
Not Republican’s move.
Not ever gonna happen.
It’s our move, up to us in Real America to clean up their fuckups again.
Again.
Which is why it is time to be completely done with all of them. Every single one from president Russian Slut-Puppet on down to your crazy Uncle Liberty with the NRA sticker.
We have to end the WhitePower Party or we will be right back here in another decade.
@ 56:
That isn’t going to happen. The apparatchik that has asserted itself as the dominant force in Republican politics would never allow it. The GOP is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Russian Mobligarchs.
Bill Taylor, a highly respected and fifty year veteran Officer in the State Department has now laid it all out, in no uncertain terms.
Looks like their boy is becoming more fucked by the minute. Hoist by their own petard, so to speak. That petard being their own arrogance and presumption that a (repeated failure) of a “businessman” might have some abilities or desires beyond just scraping out every barrel within reach for every trace of whatever they had contained for himself. Fat Donny has always assumed that whatever situation he has fallen into is about him making money for himself and his financiers. That’s why the Mammonists love him so much. It’s pure providence and sanctioned by the Almighty himself. The Lord himself has blessed them with this opportunity and by His Name they’re going to squeeze it for every advantage they can. If they have to burn the whole world down they would, just so they could rule over the ashes.
They worship money for the Power it brings to them, and they worship Power for the money it brings to them. That is their only reason for existing in the first place. Ayn Rand and Ludwig von Mises are the plastic Jesusi they stick to the dashboards of their cars. When they offer their blessing at their dinner tables every night, they’re praying for that next big payoff because mama needs a new pair of business jets.
If you promote a criminal for an elected office, you get a criminal organization running the show, every single time. What’s funny about Fat Donny is that the man is all but completely illiterate, and so utterly unintelligent that one can’t help but marvel at the fact that the man an operate a doorknob without somehow losing an eye in the process.
The United States Attorney General and his sidekick are attempting to force an investigation of Joe Biden, based solely on the word of a fired prosecutor in Ukraine, who was paid rather handsomely by a Russian Mobligarch to help him achieve personal favor with Trump just so he could force the Department of Justice to drop the warrants on him.
Thus, it somehow turns out that the Mobligarch in question happens to have had a son sitting on the Board of the Trump Foundation, and Fat Donny specifically directed any payment for “services rendered” be “donated” to the Trump Foundation.
With Republicans, and especially Fat Donny Too Scoups, every accusation is a confession.
One less rogue cop in Phoenix, but he’ll probably get hired somewhere else.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/23/us/phoenix-officer-doll-incident-firing/index.html
Roger Rabbit Commentary: Doctors, lawyers, accountants, professional engineers, land surveyors, truck drivers, and even cosmetologists and barbers are licensed. It’s ridiculous that we don’t have an effective licensing system for cops. People given the power of life of death over citizens obviously should be licensed, and police departments should be allowed to hire only cops in good standing with the licensing authorities, so bad cops can’t be cops anymore. The current system is a revolving door that allows a bad cop to get another policing job, and that’s not tolerable, and fails to keep our citizens safe.
@57 “We have to end the WhitePower Party”
Well, no. You can’t leave trash laying around. It rots and festers. We need a dumpster to put them in. The dumpster is called “the Republican Party.” The GOP is a collection point for trash. What we need is better supervision of the transfer station and disposal process. More fences, barbed wire, and guards.*
* Hey, just kidding. Detention camp imagery is a conservative joke circulating in rightwing chat rooms and blogs. I’m merely parodying them. But we do need to figure out a way to keep Republicans off the streets and out of public buildings so we and our children will be safe.
@ RR @ 60:
“I assure you that this incident is not representative of the majority of Phoenix police officers who serve this city,”
Bullshit. Phoenix has had issues with hiring outright homicidal lunatics in their Police Department for decades. This is just the Chief and Mayor covering their asses.
@63 Think I don’t know that? Phoenix was Joe Arpaio’s home base. That tells you everything you need to know about policing in Phoenix and the surrounding county.
This family is suing the city for $10 million. I hope they collect every cent. Bankrupting the Phoenix police department is the best thing that could happen to the minorities who live there.
@ RR @ 63
It is never, ever, something that comes out of the Police Department’s budget. Such settlements are always paid for by raising taxes on the local citizenry. The Police suffer no consequences, nor any changes to policy are ever made. The only reason that this became an issue at all was because the incident became public. If there was no vid of the arrests, there would be no problems even if that cop had shot one of the babies.
Cops always protect their own until someone outside of their gang finds out and blabs to the Press.
@64 That wasn’t the case in Hampton, Florida, where the nation’s arguably most corrupt police department was disbanded and all its officers lost their jobs.
A big city department like Phoenix is different, of course. And Hampton lost its police department (and nearly lost its municipal charter) because of legislative oversight action, not legal claims. But Hampton, and several other similar cases, stand as a warning to police administrators that citizens have a breaking point and police departments can, in fact, be dismantled. That’s essentially what happened in Ferguson, Missouri — although the city survived as an entity the mayor, city council, city prosecutor, municipal judge, police chief, and most of the police officers all lost their jobs.
So, yes, change is possible. Rooting out bad police leadership is possible. Getting rid of bad cops is possible. America just isn’t doing enough of it yet. But the public mood of indifference to bad policing seems to be changing to one of less tolerance. Police unions also should take note, if they know what’s good for them, that their public support is eroding because of their interference in police management and their insistence on keeping bad cops on the beat.
61,
Well don’t. This shit is way past kidding. And for that matter it is time to give some thought and consideration to the paranoid fantasies of gun-humping capillary farms. No need to build anything like detention camps. They already exist scattered alongside the interstates and tire dumps of Red State America with names like Vista View Court, View Vista Manor, Manor View Court. Cyclone fencing and razor wire. Done.
“Such settlements are always paid for by raising taxes on the local citizenry.”
Much worse than that, really. The settlement funds come out of municipal risk sharing pools. So it comes out of raising pool premiums across the entire municipal liability pool. It’s every single taxpayer, not just the “local” taxpayers in that shit city.
Risk managers who run the pools answer to the city administrators and city attorneys. It isn’t their job to tell these assholes to clean up their act. Any more than it is a malprac insurance adjuster’s job to tell doctors to stop working drunk or high*. Doing so only creates grief. So they don’t. They just raise rates. And rate increases are blindly passed along.
Do any of you know what risk pool category your city is in? How much your city’s rates have gone up in the last ten years? Will they even tell you? Guarantee none of your city council members know.
With not only crime rates falling, but with police injury rates at historic lows, rates should be falling. This isn’t the 70s and 80s with a CIA fueled drug crime epidemic exacerbated by three decades of airborne toxic lead babies hitting their prime crime years. Overall police activity is falling. Jury awards for wrongful death and injury at the hands of police should be dropping through the floor. But they are not.
And nobody gives a fuck because Blue Lives Matter, etc.
*Can you honestly think of any job that is more deserving or random testing? You’ll never hear insurance carriers mention it though.