Balloon Juice - Open Thread: Tomorrow's Extravaganza Opening

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President.

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

This fight is for everything.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

I really should read my own blog.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

I was promised a recession.

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Open Thread: Tomorrow’s Extravaganza Opening

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The Washington Post has Trump’s lawyer’s full 70-plus-page trial brief, if you’re that curious.

Reader Interactions

202Comments

  1. 1.

    sab

    That two branches of government thing might be dificult for our press to understand since they go to all the same Republican parties.

  2. 2.

    TomatoQueen

    BettyCracker has referred today to the Cockroach Historians and I got to thinking about what that future will be like. Nothing but grass everywhere, as every other plant is too complicated. CHs farming trial transcripts to pass on to the next nest, but then that would mean a T**** Library, which I think we’ve agreed is not on the agenda, ever. CHs will need something to do, though.

  3. 3.

    West of the Rockies

    I love that our president now looks fit (if aged) and dapper.  He knows how to wear a suit and walk with grace, not like a grotesque toddler with a gigantic arse.

  4. 4.

    Alison Rose

    Since it’s an open thread, and I have nothing to say about the trial other than “I hope they convict, they probably won’t, fuck every Republican forever,” instead I will share this crap photo I took of a Red-shouldered Hawk  sitting in the tree outside my window this morning. I was in the kitchen and noticed the cat sitting at the window, which she does all the time to watch all the birdies flitting around the tree (we’re on the third floor). But usually her head is going back and forth like she’s refereeing a tennis match, and this time she was still as a statue. Ten minutes later, she hadn’t moved a muscle, so I go over to see what was so fascinating, and lo and behold, this big mofo was just chilling like a villain. Had to zoom in with my phone through the screened window, so it’s not going to end up on the cover of Birds and Blossoms (which yes, I subscribe to, birbs are the best), but still pretty neat. Usually we just get robins, finches, and juncos around here, with the occasional asshole blue jay

    (It was a lot bigger than it looks in that photo, BTW. I had to point out to the cat that if she were able to get to it, she would not come out the victor in that battle.)

  5. 5.

    John Revolta

    “The real truth is that the people who criminally breached the Capitol did so of their own accord and for their own reasons, and they are being criminally prosecuted.”

    They’re gonna need a bigger bus…………

  6. 6.

    LuciaMia

    the claim that the president’s words could not be reasonably seen as a call to violence is kind of refuted by the fact that, you know, it was

    So funny that that’s Trump’s lawyers’ contention. As if Trump was calling for the crowd to form little discussion groups.

  7. 7.

    Geminid

    @West of the Rockies: I thought President Biden came across well in the parts of the O’Donnell interview I heard yesterday. I heard them on radio, and I thought it was good communication. Quite a contrast to his predecessor.

  12. 12.

    dmsilev

    “The real truth is that the people who criminally breached the Capitol did so of their own accord and for their own reasons, and they are being criminally prosecuted.”

    So, for the first time ever, a mob “spontaneously” descended on the Capitol, stormed the building, killed one of the policemen there and left two (that I know of) others so emotionally traumatized that they later committed suicide, and the fact that He Who Shall Not Be Named spent the previous two months insisting that the election was fraudulent and the mob should “stop the steal” was all one big hilarious miscommunication, like some seditious and treasonous Three’s Company episode?

  14. 14.

    kindness

    2022 will be covered by the NY State trials & convictions.

    Trump being off Twitter is such a god send.

  17. 17.

    debbie

    @dmsilev:

    That argument will fold like a cheap suit. This morning, NPR ran a report on Just Security, a website that has compiled a timeline of the insurrection and the events leading up to it. There were a number of clips of protesters saying they were there for Trump and because he had told them to come.

  18. 18.

    dmsilev

    @debbie: “Trump told me to come” is already being used by some of the insurrectionists as part of their legal defenses. I doubt it will help them much either.

  19. 19.

    Geminid

    @dmsilev: Brooklyn Congressman Hakeem Jeffries a made very cogent summary of the violence of January 6 at a Judiciary Commitee meeting last Friday, while taking Congressman Burgess Owens (UT) to the woodshed. Two minutes of cool, focused, devastating rhetoric. Well worth checking out.

  20. 20.

    Patricia Kayden

    @dmsilev: We literally watched live as insurrectionists were egged on by Trump, left his hate rally and made a beeline for the Capitol to stop Pence from certifying the votes. WE SAW IT LIVE.

  22. 22.

    West of the Rockies

    So in the event Republicans had a collective spine, they’d vote to convict and then might get primaried.  Is losing a Senate seat really and truly existential obliteration?  I know there are only 100 in the country and the job pays well, but damn.

    So, suppose they lose and then a number of total loons run in their place.  Many will lose to a sane Democrat.  After a cycle of such losing, things might return to a halfway normal dynamic.  Ya know, two parties, loyal opposition, and such.  I dont think that will happen.

    I think we are watching the death of the GOP, but it’s like a distant uncle who’s had ALS for eight years and just keeps declining.  That’s an ugly image, and I apologize to those who might be experiencing such a thing.  But the GOP seems unlikely to ever return to what we once called normal.

  24. 24.

    Another Scott

    RE: the murder hornet swarm tweet. Medium:

    That lesson is lost on the New York Times, which last week published an opinion piece by Charlie Warzel and Stuart A. Thompson highlighting the dangers of smartphone location data by mapping the movements of rioters at the Capitol on January 6. (OneZero recommended the story in a short post on Friday.) The journalists obtained a leaked dataset of location pings and used it to map the movements of insurrectionists from a Trump rally to the halls of Congress — in one case, they identified an individual by name, publishing his social media information and other details.

    They intended the story as a warning against surveillance. Warzel and Thompson write “Surrendering our privacy to the government would be foolish” and “None of this data should ever have been collected.” But they undermine their warning by putting the data on full display and using it to make a political point: Yes, the tracking is bad, but look, it also proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that the insurrectionists can be linked to Trump, they seem to say. As if to emphasize the mistake, the New York Times Opinion Twitter account on Sunday promoted the article as having “identified some of the Capitol rioters,” completely missing the core point about data surveillance.

    I’m of a few minds about this:

    1) An inherent aspect of cellular communications is that the towers – of necessity – know exactly who is connected and it doesn’t take much to triangulate the location pretty exactly. The data will always exist and someone will always have access to it – it’s required for the system to work.

    2) It would be irresponsible for a government not to seek access to such data in cases such as an insurrection. Criminals who actively seek to overthrow the government must not be able to hide under over-arching secrecy concerns. Pings indicating someone is inside the Capitol – or that they are outside the Capitol – are obviously important evidence in a trial about the insurrection.

    3) Any type of data can be leaked/stolen/released inadvertently. Data security issues are different from what-the-data-itself-is issues.

    All that said, technology advances faster than the law. Governments need to keep the valid and important concerns about unjustified data collection and surveillance in mind when considering how licenses, patents, trademarks, and general lawmaking affects rapid technological changes in industry (and government itself).

    (via froomkin)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  27. 27.

    CaseyL

    Not sure how the debate will go tomorrow – I mean, of course all or most of the GOPsters will vote against the constitutionality of the trial – but I am quite sure I have no stomach to listen to them say so.  I assume the trial will proceed on a more-or-less party line vote.

    Wednesday is when the real stuff starts to happen.  That’s also the day I go into the office, so watching it might be problematic.  I’ll follow along via BJ (I know the commentary here will be more intelligent than anything the news readers say) and possibly Wonkette and Twitter.

  28. 28.

    geg6

    @CaseyL:

    it’s my day in the office, too.  I streamed the inauguration on my computer and that worked out pretty well, so I’m going to try that again.

    ETA: I streamed CSPAN.  No commentators.

  29. 29.

    Another Scott

    Reuters:

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Georgia Secretary of State’s office has formally opened an investigation into former U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election results, an official in the office told Reuters.

    The investigation comes after Trump was recorded in a Jan. 2 phone call pressuring Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to overturn the state’s election results based on false voter fraud claims.

    “The Secretary of State’s office investigates complaints it receives,” said Walter Jones, a spokesman for Secretary of State’s office, describing the investigation as “fact finding and administrative.”

    “Any further legal efforts will be left to the attorney general,” he said.

    This is the same GOP SoS that is working to restrict voting access in upcoming elections, so I’ll hold my applause. But I’ll keep watching.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  30. 30.

    JoyceH

    @dmsilev: ​
     

    “Trump told me to come” is already being used by some of the insurrectionists as part of their legal defenses. I doubt it will help them much either.

    Also the argument that Trump couldn’t control the mob because they were waaaay over there. The managers could simply play the video of that interviewer asking the QAnon Shaman why they were leaving. He replied, “Trump told us to. He just tweeted it.”

  31. 31.

    sdhays

    @West of the Rockies: The “GOP” (I’ve always hated that designation) is 100% dead. Not resting. Not pining for the fjords. Deceased. Demised. Passed on. Is no more. Ceased to be. Bereft of life.

    It’s the GQP now, and unfortunately still has a lot of vigor left in it, so far. It needs to keep losing elections in ever increasing fashion, burn down to a tiny fringe with little power or influence, and then hopefully something less destructive will rise in its place.

    That process will take decades, I’m afraid, and I hope Democrats can keep the cancer under control and reduce its toxic effects on the nation as a whole while that works itself out.

  34. 34.

    Leto

    @Another Scott: Lot of good points here. There’s an inherent difference between a Chinese like surveillance state, and ours. Not saying ours is perfect. If given the choice between security and liberty, pretty sure our law enforcement personnel would choose brown shirts every time. Also difference between our current system (our data sold to the highest bidder) and actual data privacy.

    But I do think it’s reasonable for the government to be able to use the data in cases like this. We need to be able to find these individuals and bring them to justice.

  35. 35.

    Ryan

    “The young kids coming up today are going to think Trump being put on trial in the Senate is just an annual thing like the Super Bowl or the Winter Solstice. Wonder what he’ll do for 2022.”

     

    I dunno.  An annual political Festivus?  That might be a good thing, at least, until they bring back pork barrel spending.

  36. 36.

    cain

    @West of the Rockies: I think we are watching the death of the GOP, but it’s like a distant uncle who’s had ALS for eight years and just keeps declining. That’s an ugly image, and I apologize to those who might be experiencing such a thing. But the GOP seems unlikely to ever return to what we once called normal.

    it’s a slow death – but it will require replacing the smart loons with even dumber loons who have no idea how to do any political anything and get punked. These people still control the local legislature and are willing to use racism, gerrymandering and others to artificially hold power.

    We are so close to super majorities in Oregon – if we can kick some of these assholes out we can finally get some real stuff done that can help fix some of the issues in rural areas.

  37. 37.

    Patricia Kayden

    No, @nytimes, on 6 January there were traitors & insurrectionists who happened to be veterans. Facing them, veterans who remembered that they'd sworn an oath to protect & defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign & domestic.https://t.co/B7uE6QfjKU— Dan Kim, Lou Dobbs' Career Counselor (@danielmkim) February 8, 2021

  39. 39.

    randy khan

    @Ryan:

    I think it would nice if this time next year he were on trial in a regular court.  State or federal, I’m not fussy.

  41. 41.

    cain

    @Another Scott: ​This is the same GOP SoS that is working to restrict voting access in upcoming elections, so I’ll hold my applause. But I’ll keep watching.

     
    I was under the impression that this was the Republican legislature who was doing all this and not necessarily the SoS.

  42. 42.

    Geminid

    @geg6: Jeffries is a superb communicator. And he can be blunt. At one point a different Republican tried to interrupt him.  Jeffries turned to the heckler and said, “It’s my time…and you really don’t want any of this either.” Then he turned his attention back to Owens.

  43. 43.

    debbie

    @Another Scott:

    I’m just an old, but my suggestion to the people upset about tracking would be to stop doing stuff you don’t want to be caught doing. Easy peasy.

  44. 44.

    randy khan

    @Another Scott:

    I don’t understand why the collection of that data even supports the point that surrendering privacy to the government would be foolish.  The information was collected privately by the wireless providers, and made available to the government only through search warrants or similar procedures (and there’s a federal law on that specific point).  The government simply doesn’t routinely have access to mobile phone location information.  Now, you certainly could make an argument that wireless providers shouldn’t keep that information for any longer than is necessary to provide service, or should keep it at only the level of detail necessary to bill customers, but that’s a different point.  But that’s really a different issue entirely.

  45. 45.

    Another Scott

    @cain: They’re singing from the same hymnal.

    AJC:

    Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Wednesday asked Georgia state representatives to end no-excuse absentee voting, a proposal that would limit the voting method over 1.3 million people used in the presidential election.

    Raffensperger wants to reduce absentee voting after promoting it during the coronavirus pandemic, when he mailed ballot applications to active registered voters before the primary election.

    In last month’s election, about one-quarter of Georgia’s 5 million voters cast absentee ballots as Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump.

    “It makes no sense when we have three weeks of in-person early voting available. It opens the door to potential illegal voting,” Raffensperger told the House Governmental Affairs Committee. “From a logistical challenge, it’s a tremendous burden on our counties” that run elections.

    […]

    “Plus, we’ll keep losing elections!!11” – probably.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  47. 47.

    Leto

    @randy khan: it’s the usual anti-government dumbshittery. Private companies harvest your data and sell it off? A-OK! Government goes through legal means to use data to track seditionists/insurrectionists? OVERREACH! Same reasoning behind why we can’t have a gun tracking system: da gubmint will come git ur gunz!!!

  52. 52.

    Delk

    If you don’t want to be found, turn your phone off. Hasn’t anybody seen a cop show from the last ten years or so? Then again you can’t post incriminating photos in real time with your phone off.

  56. 56.

    CaseyL

    @geg6: C-Span is the best, but AFAIK their camera angles are very limited; I think you can only see whoever is speaking.

    I go to  YouTube to see who’s carrying the video live, and if I don’t like any of them (I think WaPo is best, though sometimes the sound is too low) then I go to C-Span.

  59. 59.

    MomSense

    Came home tonight to miso with veggies, soba noodles, and scallops.  Kid also warmed up some sake.  He quit his zoom classes early and today and said he needed to do something unrelated to school.

    I’ll try to listen to some of the proceedings tomorrow.  It really sucks knowing that the Republicans in the Senate are determined to acquit him.  I just hope the Democrats make what happened so plain that the average person will recognize how shameful the Republican Party is now.

  60. 60.

    zhena gogolia

    @Geminid:

    I loved that.

    I loved him in the first impeachment. It was well worth watching as much of it as possible, if only to see our rising young stars like Jeffries, Maloney, and Demings.

  62. 62.

    Ruckus

    @Geminid:

    Brooklyn Congressman Hakeem Jeffries is a keeper. He is very, very good. He should go a long way in politics. Of course there are quite a number of new(ish) people at the national level that could be said about. This one doesn’t seem to have been blowing his own horn all that much, a refreshing concept.

  65. 65.

    Emma

    Since this is an open thread… has anyone else watched the Britney Spears documentary on Hulu yet? This is honestly the best journalism the NYT has done in my recent memory. Going to be yammering about this the rest of the day now.

    I was never super into Britney, nor the rest of popstar fandom, but I remember the kind of crap she had to put up with, even though I was too young and dumb then to realize that the industry was breaking her. From the way her coworkers (for lack of a better word) talk about her, she really does seem like a lovely, and yes, MENTALLY COMPETENT person.

    And since gross men feature heavily in the documentary, I’m also reminded of a People magazine article I read from the same era about Jessica Simpson. They seriously put a quote in from her dad about how he was proud to have a daughter with double-D’s.

  66. 66.

    Geminid

    The Republicans lose a Congressman, and then they gain a Congresswoman. Today Anthony Brindisi conceded the NY 22nd election to former Congresswoman Claudia Tenney. She won by 109 votes out of a little over 300,000 votes cast. Observers speculated that Brindisi would appeal some of Judge Scott DelConte’s rulings. But DelConte was so thorough and meticulous in his adjudication of this election contest that the Brindisi camp may have felt they had no chance.

    The election contest uncovered no evidence of fraud, but exposed plenty of sloppiness on the part of county election officials. Judge DelConte seemed to play the matter straight. At one point he cautioned Tenney’s lawyers, “I will not tolerate fraud. And I will not tolerate baseless allegations of fraud.” DelConte ran for the bench as a Democrat.

  69. 69.

    burnspbesq

    @Baud:

    Which post was the last straw?

    The one ragging on Cuomo. In a world where there are governors like Abbott and Noem, that’s just indescribably stupid.

  71. 71.

    debbie

    @WaterGirl:
    Looks like he doesn’t intend to stop anytime soon:

    Nor has President Biden reminisced before a crowd of 24,000 Boy Scouts about the time “the hottest people in New York were at this party.”
    — Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) February 8, 2021

  72. 72.

    Alison Rose

    @Emma: You might also be interested in this video about why the “Free Britney” campaign is a disability-rights issue. It was super eye-opening to me, as I wasn’t very aware of the details of Britney’s situation.

  74. 74.

    WaterGirl

    @debbie: before a crowd of 24,000 boy scouts…

    I had forgotten about that.  I laughed

    edit: yesterday I removed the rotating tag “Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…”

  75. 75.

    MomSense

    @Emma:

    I follow her on social media and there have been a lot of discussions about her conservatorship case.  I really feel for her.

    The Taylor Swift documentary on Netflix was also excellent.

  79. 79.

    Mike in NC

    Let’s strike a deal with Putin: he gets to have Trump provided he spends the rest of his life in a gulag in Siberia.

  80. 80.

    Ken

    @Baud: “Our ongoing national embarrassment.”  Your status is far greater; international, perhaps even interplanetary.

  81. 81.

    Mallard Filmore

    @Delk:

     

    If you don’t want to be found, turn your phone off.

    That is not enough. You are still tracked. Remove the battery if possible, or get a radio-proof pouch.

  84. 84.

    trollhattan

    @Leto:

    I’d like this to be a prominent website.

    “Days Biden Golfed:
    • [webmaster, add data here*]
    •
    •
    *sort chronologically, newest on top.”

  85. 85.

    Gvg

    @Leto: I think they just need to subpoena na the data when they have cause as opposed to collect it all for everyone they don’t like.

  88. 88.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    I’m guessing he’s also a Republican who’s very pissed off about how Trump destroyed his party.

    I’ve followed Beschloss for a while. I’ve liked his “on this day in history” tweets. I think he’s switched to “on this day in history Trump fucked us thusly” or something similar.

  89. 89.

    geg6

    @MomSense:

    Agreed about the Taylor Swift doc.  I have some newfound respect for her.

    I’ll have to check out the Britney doc.  Her father is an abusive asshole, from everything I’ve seen.

  97. 97.

    Peale

    So after 25 years, my microwave has finally died. Replacing the fuse fixed nothing and finding a repairman isn’t worth it since it was only $80 when I bought it. Reheating leftovers on the stovetop, though. That’s weird.I feel like my grandma. How did people live like that back then?

  99. 99.

    NotMax

    @CaseyL

    C-SPAN has no cameras in either the House or the Senate chambers, and no control over where they are pointed nor on which is/are active at any time. Same goes for any of the other networks. Those cameras are controlled by the respective legislative bodies. Note I said chambers, not hearing rooms, where more leeway for a pool feed can be allowed (but that is not a given).

  101. 101.

    Mary G

    @geg6: What do you think Fetterman’s chances are of becoming the Dem nominee for Senate next year? I like him and his wife and am thinking about setting up a monthly contribution.

  103. 103.

    cain

    @WaterGirl:

    @cain: He is already dead to them, so matter how many black people he keeps from voting in the next election.

    He’ll need to really team up with Team Cheney – if they win the soul of the party he might have a chance. But not with these Qanon assholes.

    I appreciate his dedication and duty to being fair. But this just makes a mockery of what he did before. After all that illegality, why would you want to be associated with all that shit.

  104. 104.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Mary G: You didn’t ask me, but I think he’ll almost certainly be the nominee and he’s got a really good chance of winning. He has this big state and national profile that he didn’t back in 2016 when he lost the nomination

    EDIT: I live in California, and I gave Fetterman $50 earlier today.

  107. 107.

    NotMax

    @Peale

    Harder to find than they used to be but besides getting a replacement of sufficient power consider looking for one which does not have a push button to open the door. That ‘convenience feature’ seems to be the first thing to conk out in a lot of models.

  108. 108.

    MisterForkbeard

    @HumboldtBlue: I think if this gets more oxygen, he’ll basically just tell people he fucked up and apologize. Probably using some of those exact words, too.

    But it’ll be a good test: If he dissembles on it, then we know what kind of candidate he’ll be.

  110. 110.

    Amir Khalid

    @germy: ​
     If Trump is so keen on watching the impeachment trial, he should go back to DC and attend in person. He could even offer to participate. They’d be happy to let him.

  111. 111.

    different-church-lady

    @burnspbesq: OMG, I thought I was the only one who was resolving to quit them after the election.

    (Still haven’t quite done it, but I’m very very very close…)

  112. 112.

    H.E.Wolf

    @Mary G: Pennsylvania will be an interesting state to watch in 2022, especially if Fetterman gets nominated for the Senate!
    This PA organization looks as if it’s very focused on GOTV:https://turnpablue.org/about-us/
    and its “Resources” page has a lot of info. Anyone here from PA who can tell us if its reputation is good?​​

  113. 113.

    karen marie

    @LuciaMia:  The original plan for the gathering was for it to stay on the mall.  Then Trump’s team got involved and decided the attendees should march on the Capitol.  Trump is absolutely culpable.  How are they going to defend against the fact that Trump – in advance – planned and ensured that the crowd marched on the Capitol?

  115. 115.

    cain

    @H.E.Wolf: He’s going to need the black vote, and chasing down a black man with a shot gun is not going to go down well. Given how many incidences of such things are and putting them in danger.

  116. 116.

    Emma

    @Alison Rose: yes, I watched it back when it first came out! Really good stuff. I work in special ed, so it’s appalling to remember how villainized  Britney was for behavior that was 1. Obviously a cry for help and 2. Pretty tame compared to shit I see and hear about every day. Don’t even get me started on the disparity in societal treatment between guys vs. girls who do stuff like she did during crisis.

    @MomSense: I’m even less of a Taylor Swift fan (wrong generation), but I did hear it was good. Now I may have to watch it, just to compare her and Britney’s experiences a bit.

  119. 119.

    NotMax

    @Amir Khalid

    But at home he can point an Airsoft gun at the screen and pop a few pellets whenever someone he doesn’t like is shown.

    “Ow. My eye!”

    “Oh, boo-hoo. Don’t be such a pussy, Jared.”

    //

  127. 127.

    different-church-lady

    @Baud: But don’t you have to trade grandkids too? I don’t think the Facebook Live algorithms keep up with this kind of thing yet.

  130. 130.

    geg6

    @HumboldtBlue:

    Black Twitter never lived in Braddock.  Braddock is majorly Black and he could have been mayor for life there.  They love him.  The guy has the dates of the deaths by murder of Black Braddock citizens tattooed on his body for Christ’s sake.

  133. 133.

    different-church-lady

    @dmsilev: While everyone was thanking Dolly Parton for funding the vaccine research and rejecting Trump’s medals, Loomis is all, “This would be a good time for me to say that I have always found Parton’s music to be overrated.”

    Assholes with the right politics are still assholes.

  134. 134.

    different-church-lady

    @Gin & Tonic: Oh, well we called it a sweater — it was actually dryer lint we collected from the neighbor’s vents, and then pinned together using barbed wire. But it were sweater to us!

  136. 136.

    Scout211

    https://komonews.com/newsletters-deprecated/news-brief-newsletter-deprecated/doj-appeal-delays-proud-boys-release-in-capitol-breach-case

    I read on CNN that one of the proud boys was being released from custody by a local magistrate. But Judge Howell issued an emergency order to overturn that order.

     

    SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Monday issued an emergency stay halting the decision by a Seattle judge to release a self-proclaimed member of the far-right group Proud Boys from custody as he’s prosecuted for his alleged role in the riot at the U.S. Capitol.

    The decision by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell means Ethan Nordean, 30, will remain in federal custody pending trial. As of Monday morning, Nordean was being held at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac.

    The judge also ordered that Nordean be transferred to D.C. to appear in federal court for future proceedings.

     

  138. 138.

    J R in WV

    @Mallard Filmore: 

    @Delk:

    If you don’t want to be found, turn your phone off.

    That is not enough. You are still tracked. Remove the battery if possible, or get a radio-proof pouch.

    Actually, wrap it in foil, several thicknesses. Won’t work in your hat, but wrap a cell phone, you disable it’s connectivity. Imagine that!!

  139. 139.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Scout211: Rachel Maddow did story last week, and local judges letting the goons go, and then federal judges ordering them taken back into custody, was a recurring theme, including the the one who posted pictures of himself sitting at Nancy Pelosi’s desk

  140. 140.

    geg6

    @cain:

    It happened years ago and is not anything new.  It’s been an issue in all his statewide races.  He’s the Lt. Governor and you don’t win statewide office here without a lot of Black votes.

  143. 143.

    geg6

    @Emma:

    No comparison.  Taylor Swift has a sane family who love and support her, although the music business treated her as badly as they treat most women, especially young ones.  Britney’s family is ridiculously dysfunctional.

  145. 145.

    John Revolta

    Loomis can be an asshole. There are also about ten other regular front pagers over there. And frankly, I learn more from the threads than from the posts anyway.

  147. 147.

    NotMax

    Open thread query. Looking at birthday gifts for Mom. She really likes colorful or unusual (and inexpensive) wristwatches. Ladies, any thoughts on this one? Am drawn to it because of the magnetic band, as in her nineties arthritic fingers can make fumbling with a usual strap closure difficult (and also as I don’t recall her having a blue watch).

    Other option I’m looking at is a really nice, warm pair of house slippers. But I don’t know her shoe size and can’t figure out a way to ask without seeming to be asking.

  151. 151.

    zhena gogolia

    @Peale:

    We went through this last spring! Right at the beginning of the pandemic. I couldn’t believe how onerous it seemed to heat things on the stove! In the summer when there was a lull in Covid we got a new microwave delivered, and we were so happy.

  152. 152.

    Ruckus

    @Mike in NC:

    We have our own gulag, in Cuba. I’ve been there, it’s nice. Well nice enough to keep the idiot who should be known as prisoner #1.

    Doesn’t get as cold as Siberia but than Siberia doesn’t get as warm as Cuba.

  153. 153.

    NotMax

    Thanks for the feedback. BTW, these are the slippers was contemplating. (Actually booties, but thought twice about using the words Mom and booty in the same sentence.)

  154. 154.

    Patricia Kayden

    Pete Buttigieg to Axios on HBO: "Her husband, Doug, and Chasten have become good friends. And just think about that sentence — that the vice president's husband is friends with the secretary of transportation's husband. That's not a sentence you could have said very long ago."— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 8, 2021

  156. 156.

    Ruckus

    @Peale:

    How did people live like that back then?

    Wake up, turn off alarm, take a shower, eat, go to work, go home, turn on stove, heat up dinner, eat. Easy Peasy.

  157. 157.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @zhena gogolia: it happened to me before the pandemic. If you had asked me if I used a microwave a lot before then, I would’ve said no. I was surprised how annoying it was to not have one for a week.

  159. 159.

    Ruckus

    @Peale:

    Had to buy one 2 yrs ago, got an LG inverter series. Very nice, I got the small one, as I don’t need one bigger and it cost me $110. Works far, far better than the last one which was from the 70s. And is easier to set the timer.

  164. 164.

    piratedan

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: 

    just hoping someone is keeping receipts on these local jurists in their proclivity to downplay an assault on the national capitol at a time where the peaceful transfer of power is taking place. How in the pluperfect fuck anyone is being allowed to walk when charged in such a high profile crime is beyond me but mayhap political punditry and public servants aren’t the only ones in bubbles.

  165. 165.

    CaseyL

    @NotMax: ​
     

    The watch is wonderful, blue and sparkly. I never wear watches, and even I’d be tempted.

    Slippers are also excellent, but less festive.

  166. 166.

    TomatoQueen

    @NotMax: ​
      I’ve been getting wristwatches via amazon and ebay with expansion bands for many years. The Timex Indiglo Easy Reader lasts the longest (of course), so I can haz a gold one for wearing with gold jewelry and a silver one for silver, or when I go the chinese brand route, I can spend about twelve bucks and get a watch to match my outfits, INCLUDING florals. The chinese watches last about a year. The one you’ve picked out looks like one of the many chinese vendors & likely if you noodle around in the similars you’ll come to expansion bands. The reason I strongly recommend expansion bands is the arthritic fingers you mention, even the simplest buckle could hurt and/or be frustrating. Expansion ones are easy peasy. There also is a catalogue vendor I think called Northstyle that carries some of the same watches but at quite a markup.

  167. 167.

    FelonyGovt

    OT I got an ergonomic keyboard today and I love it. I type a lot and I think my hands and wrists will really appreciate it.

  169. 169.

    MagdaInBlack

    @TomatoQueen: One of the reviews did mention that she gets “magnetized” to things all day, so there’s that to consider. Amusing the first few times..

  170. 170.

    Another Scott

    ObOpenThread – WSJ (via GoogleNews):

    WASHINGTON—House Democrats released the biggest piece of their coronavirus relief bill late Monday, offering a measure that would extend a $400-a-week unemployment insurance payment through Aug. 29 and send $1,400 per-person payments to most households without lowering the income thresholds from earlier rounds.

    Democrats have been debating whether to reduce those income levels, but the version headed for a Ways and Means Committee vote this week gives the full amounts to individuals with incomes up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000. The legislation also expands the child tax credit, broadens child-care assistance and bolsters tax credits for health insurance.

    […]

    But, but, we were pre-disappointed!!1

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  171. 171.

    rabbit troop sux

    @cain:   I* just wanted to chime in to say I agree with you about watching Fetterman.  As I kid I spent summers in Braddock with my grandparents and still have a lot of family there.  He really put Braddock on the map when he first became mayor- LOL-so I asked my cousins about him.  They were  not impressed at all and I don’t even think they mentioned the racial profiling.  So while I find myself low-key liking him, he still gets  a little side-eye . . .

    *long time lurker, first time commenter

  173. 173.

    J R in WV

    @zhena gogolia:

    Thank you for your thoughtful reply…

    You’re very welcome. She is an interesting young lady, very skilled, I hope she has a great future ahead of her. Has pipes, maybe could use experience listening to other young women with great pipes.

    She seems insecure, maybe improving in that regard. Performing in public is really hard for young people, I was there in High School, it was really hard.

  175. 175.

    PhoenixRising

    Today I gave expert testimony on a bill to limit RX prices, to a state legislative committee; not once did I use the words ‘hookers & blow’ to describe where the pharma industry is actually spending our money after “earning” unlimited sums with the “risk-taking” “innovation” of buying patented molecules developed using taxpayer funds.

    I want a cookie.

  177. 177.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    watching Rachel Maddow being more than a bit disingenuous about the Covid relief bill (Joe Manchin is not “the Democrats”) so she can do a cream-puff interview with Pramila Jayapal, and my random twitter scrolling led me to this story

    A $2 Million Cigar Lodge in the Backyard? You Must Be Blowing Smoke
    In Glencoe, Ill., Andrew Berlin built a 900-square-foot outbuilding where he could enjoy his favorite cigars.

    and I just can’t believe how hard it is to raise taxes in this fucking country (neither his 10K sq ft main house nor the guest house have the proper ventilation)

  178. 178.

    The Pale Scot

    @Alison Rose:

    Can anyone confirm for me if this is a Red-shouldered Hawk?

    The speckling is weird, on the East Coast a red hawk is very auburn. You said it’s big so it’s not a youngin’. I’m sure someone has already made the ID. But like Watergirl told me, what’s the fun in not putting in my 2 cents?

  179. 179.

    Emma

    @geg6: I was thinking more about how they crafted their respective public personas as “the all-American girl next door” and the media frenzies surrounding them at various points in their lives. But I agree about the difference in family functionality :/

  180. 180.

    NotMax

    Loco Florida story for the day.

    Hackers broke into the computer system of a facility that treats water for about 15,000 people near Tampa, Florida and sought to add a dangerous level of additive to the water supply, the Pinellas County Sheriff said on Monday. Source

  181. 181.

    WaterGirl

    @Another Scott: Jen Psaki was certainly hedging on answering that question in today’s press briefing, so I think the change in the thresholds was seriously being considered.  Happy to hear that it didn’t go that way.

  182. 182.

    ...now I try to be amused

    @dmsilev:

    So, for the first time ever, a mob “spontaneously” descended on the Capitol, stormed the building, killed one of the policemen there and left two (that I know of) others so emotionally traumatized that they later committed suicide, and the fact that He Who Shall Not Be Named spent the previous two months insisting that the election was fraudulent and the mob should “stop the steal” was all one big hilarious miscommunication, like some seditious and treasonous Three’s Company episode?

    Funny you should say that, because I always saw the Trump administration as the bad sitcom trope where a character does something wrong and instead of facing the consequences lies about it, then tells other lies to cover for the first lies, then tells more lies to cover for the previous lies, ad infinitum.

  184. 184.

    Another Scott

    @WaterGirl: As I understand it, it’s the Senate where the threshold is in most danger of being changed.  This is action in the House being reported tonight.

    I’m just pleased that they’re doing their jobs, going with what they think is best and quickest (Biden’s numbers) and we’ll see what the Senate comes up with.  And then they’ll compromise if their numbers differ.  And then they’ll vote.  Like it worked in olden times.

    Biden will probably sign the final bill around March 15 – just before the most recent rescue terms run out.

    Congress doesn’t work on Twitter’s timeline.  Fortunately.  :-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  187. 187.

    Bill Arnold

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Apparently, phones can be tracked even when turned off.

    Evidence/documentation?
    (I’ve left an iPhone turned off for a month, and the battery charge barely went down, no more than expected for an unused lithium battery, and I cannot find any solid documentation that turned off iPhones are not really turned off.)

  189. 189.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @different-church-lady:

    Loomis also got in trouble with his university, URI, recently for tweeting that “technology is inherently racist” in the context of facial recognition. It’s twitter and it’s not the best platform for nuance:

    Science, statistics, and technology are all inherently racist because they are developed by racists who live in a racist society, whether they identify as racists or not.

  190. 190.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Bill Arnold:

    Well, “turned off”. All devices, especially ones that are wireless, probably do have background processes constantly running, as you mention. I’d imagine GPS tracking is always on and I think something to do with 911 services (GPS again?) probably always runs. At least until the battery is completely dead. Then it’s truly turned off

  191. 191.

    WaterGirl

    @Another Scott:

    Yeah, I should have realized that.  At least the house isn’t pre-negotiating with themselves. :-)

    Nancy said a day or two ago that she wants to get this passed in a couple of weeks.  I think the March date is the drop dead date because stuff runs out.

  192. 192.

    TS (the original)

    When Liz Cheney is the remaining republican with integrity, there is nothing grand about the party.

  193. 193.

    different-church-lady

    @StringOnAStick: Actually, I misspoke: I vowed to quit them on inauguration day.

    So far I haven’t really kept my vow, but each time I go there I spend less time. It’s like, “Nah, not worth the energy.”

  194. 194.

    different-church-lady

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I don’t know if he actually believes that, or if he’s just trolling, but either way the result is just trolling.

    Why he chooses to make dumb arguments when he could use the same set of circumstances to make smart ones I have no idea.

  196. 196.

    Bill Arnold

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    ell, “turned off”. All devices, especially ones that are wireless, probably do have background processes constantly running,

    If I turn off my phone, “Find My IPhone” gives me the last location that the device was powered on. So I’m looking for evidence; there’s often FUD surrounding security measures, some of which is (said to be) encouraged by intelligence (and perhaps law enforcement) agencies. (To be clear, this would be disinformation to discourage use of security measures that actually work.)
    Like, how secure is Signal? There are rumors circulating that it’s an NSA plant/honeypot/created by the US Government/etc. I’ve seen zero evidence that they are true, and it’s open source. There are rumors that it has been broken; again, I’ve seen zero evidence that there has been any “breakage” other than by physical compromise of one of the endpoint devices. (Or possibly SIM cloning.)

  197. 197.

    planetjanet

    @Bill Arnold: ​
    I don’t think they do. I believe the GPS is off when the phone is powered off. There is no reason for the phone to continue location. When you power on, it listens to a broadcast signal from nearby towers and sends a message to the strongest one to reattach.
    There may be some confusion due to the fact that you can call 911 even if you do not have an active phone account. That is an emergency feature. The phone still has to be one. GPS may work while in airplane mode, but the phone is still on.

  201. 201.

    Chris T.

    @Ruckus: shitforbrains is not a grotesque toddler with a gigantic arse, he’s all ass, all the time. Top of his mangy wig to bottom of his tiny feet, all of it is pure ass.

    Oh!  So that’s why his mouth looks like an anus!

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