WWWendy was tied up at her day job, so she arrived about 40 minutes late last night. I got to bed late, and I’m feeling very tired. It’s currently 27° F. This is the warmest day until late next week. Brrrr!!!
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:37 (average 4:53). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From YouTube (Daily Kos Channel): During hearings on Gun Violence, Republican gets smashed by audience and Democrats
Barf Bag Alert!!
Damn Ammosexual Republican Racist! Put a .50 cal. with a drum magazine and a bump-stock up his butt and pull the trigger! RESIST!!
From YouTube (MSNBC Channel): House Intel Outlines Parameters Of Donald Trump Investigations (18+ min.)
When Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten threatened Democrats over investigation, he waved a red flag at a bull. Charge! RESIST!!
From NY Times: The third-ranking elected official in Virginia, Attorney General Mark R. Herring, acknowledged Wednesday that he had worn blackface at a party as an undergraduate student, deepening a crisis that has engulfed the state’s Democratic leadership.
Then, just two hours later, a woman came forward to describe in detail her accusation that Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax had sexually assaulted her in 2004, an accusation he denies.
The back-to-back revelations threw the Capitol into a state of uncertainty about who would lead Virginia, coming less than one week after the disclosure of a racist photograph on the yearbook page of Gov. Ralph Northam led to demands for his resignation. Grim-faced legislators rushed through the hallways, shaken by a series of allegations and confessions that threatened to cripple the Virginia government’s three leading officials.
Amid the tumult, Democratic lawmakers were all but paralyzed in the face of a deeply painful sequence of events that could undermine their hopes of reclaiming the State Legislature, the Republicans’ last remaining foothold of power in Virginia, in the fall. The party has not lost a statewide election here since 2009, and Virginia was the only Southern state President Trump lost in 2016.
I see the case of the AG differently. First, he was in college, not med school. Second, he came forward to apologize without having been caught. Third, after admitting it, he isn’t claiming that it wasn’t him. In such cases, the authentic contrition he demonstrated could occasion forgiveness without derailing his career. However, if he does step down, he should do so before Northam, so Northam can appoint a new AG, ideally a black woman. If all three resign, without replacing the AG, the next in line for Governor is a very racist Republican. RESIST!!
Cartoon:
22 Responses to “Open Thread – 2/7/2019”
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4:15 Would be prettier if it weren’t orange.
15° here going to 28° but getting warmer every day for the next eight, going to a high of 57° on Friday the 15th. Go figure.
Some good (IMO) advice from ALterNet.
DKos – Oh, yes, this is the dude with all the DUIs – to the point that his constituents put up a billboard of him in an orange jumpsuit to ask how many more there were that they didn’t know about.
MSNBC – I looked up the word “hack,” which comes from “hackney, a carriage horse hired out as a riding horse to people who wanted to appear wealthy enough to own a riding horse (they weren’t.) To me, this implies someone who does actual work without getting the recoognition for it (it wasn’t the horses’ fault that the renters were shallow and pretentious. Yes, I realize that the term has become negative, especially when used in politics. But I can’t see it that way. Particularly when applied to Adam Schiff, who has more honor and ethics in the cuticle of his little finher than Traitor Tot has in his whole body. Gee – she didn’t even mention the “sealed document placed into a vault” which has so many people speculating crazy ideas.
NYT – Many people of color see the case of the AG differently, for the same reasons that you do. Charles Pierce‘s opinion is also interesting.
Cartoon – Just make sure first that the pipes aren’t frozen, or you could have a disaster on your hands.
I agree with him, except for one thing. As soon as Northam apologized for doing it and reversed himself afterwards he made his position untenable.
Pierce, you mean. I also agree with his premise, but, yeah, Northam and Fairfax are toast. But Herring needs to stay, and to appoint a squeaky clean LG and AG pronto.
I don’t care which one makes the appointments, as long as someone does!
DK: Good for them in rebutting and commenting against Gaetz. Mimicking his führer’s words.
MSNBC: So glad to see this coming to fruition for this investigation. I have every confidence that all will get exposed re: dt. Meanwhile, dt is boohooing, tweeting ….’Unlimited Presidential Harassment’, with re: to the investigation. Isn’t that funny?
NYT: I agree with your analysis, TC. Well said.
Cartoon: Amen.
We are at 54, tonight @33. Windy too. Hope that you get your rest, stay warm, take care, and have a good evening.
*This just in: “Have you ever noticed that we never had fake news until we got a ‘fake president?” ~ William G.~
AMEN to This just in!!!
DKC: Goetz was clearly making stuff up, as per the GOP party line of BS! Sad for Florida, because people like him help make it a not-great state!
MSNBC: “…exerting a little bit of energy….” What, and take him away from his TV remote workout? #3-“What IF the president is a foreign agent?” Fat chance he’s not! #4- Leave NATO? Gee, I wonder in whose ear it was whispered that Vlad would be as happy as a pig in feces, if we did that. #5- Gee, who might that be, Mr. resident? “In the interests of the investigation,” does sound positive, to me. But, I’m trying hard not to salivate, yet. All the dots connect, I’ll put my money on that. It inside to recall that, as Rachel said, Drumph’s threat will go down in history as part of his venal legacy!!
NYT: As per Pierce, and my recent comment, someone clearly has an underhanded agenda in Va.
‘Toon: Flush HARD!
DK: I think Gaetz was using his time to keep the gun hearings off guns in order to keep the NRA happy and keep his money from them coming.
MSNBC: Poor Donny! His temper tantrum and threats didn’t work again. Go Dems and Pelosi!
NYT: I agree with your analysis TomCat. Bravo.
Thank you TomCat. Stay warm and rest up tonight.
This graphic from an AlterNet article tells quite a bit about Republican administrations, and even more about the Trump administration that he so often reminds us is his, and his alone.
The total years in office: 49.8 years Republican 29.8 years Democrat 20 years
1 – The total criminal indictments: 212 Republican 209 Democrat 3
2 – The total criminal convictions: 114 Republican 114 Democrat 0
3 – The total prison sentences: 37 Republican 36 Democrat 1
Of the totals, Republicans own:
1 – 98.6%
2 – 100.0%
3 – 97.3 %
In terms of total years, Republicans own:
1 – 4.197 incidents/year
2 – 2.892 incidents/year
3 – .726 incidents/year
In terms of total Republican years in office, Republicans own:
1 – 7.01 incidents/year
2 – 3.83 incidents/year
3 – 1.21 incidents/year
Now I am not saying Democrats are perfect. But Republicans, for a party that keeps touting law and order, are leading in criminal activity, and that does not even include Trump’s birtherism lies about Obama which, in my opinion, should have been included but it was never pursued as a criminal action. Diaper Don is currently claiming that investigations of his campaign, “his” administration, the inauguration committee and his businesses by Democrat House controlled committees constitutes harassment. Well does he then also agree that his birtherism campaign against Obama, which had to be distracting and annoying to Obama, is harassment orchestrated by him? Not likely. Just goes to show who the better man is — Obama! And then look at the above numbers for the 8 Obama years versus the 1.8 Trump years. Trump, the narcissistic, egomaniacal, unintelligent, racist sociopath and resident of the WH (NEVER POTUS and not deserving of the accolade), is jealous of Obama and his accomplishments.
OK, rant over for now!
KEEP RESISTING!!!
Excellent graphic!
Would that Trumpkins would recognize the TRUTH!
I am sure that Diaper Don would be quick to remind us that about 26 of those criminal indictments are Russian nationals who will never enter the US (again?) to stand trial and therefore should not be counted. But also, he would be very quick to say “No collusion!” whether in full caps or not.
What Nameless said!
WOW!!
DK: Agree..goad to see that the repugs got smashed. They can take their gun s and shove them up their butts. We need gun control NOW.
MSNBC:I pray that they continue to find more dirt on the idiot tRump. I back Nancy and the other Democrats do keep marching forward on the investigation.
NYT” Agree with your point of view on the entire situation, TC.
Cartoon: Big flush.
Puzzle — 3:55 Salad? . . . although it is called orange which is too reminiscent of the clothing that the traitorous, tantruming toddler will be wearing for the rest of his life . . . for that matter, too reminiscent of his skin colour!
Daily Kos — “… deprivation of constitutional rights …”??? Mr Gaetz, what about my rights and those of others to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”? Do we not all count? “Damn Ammosexual Republican Racist! Put a .50 cal. with a drum magazine and a bump-stock up his butt and pull the trigger!” — What a fine idea!!!
MSNBC — Drip, drip . . . Drip, drip . . . Drip, drip . . . Drip, drip . . . The pace is accelerating!!! It cannot accelerate fast enough IMO! When will the Republicans stop obstructing and obfuscating the investigations? From what I have seen, other than Republican criminal mind Devin Nunes, nobody has yet been appointed to the House Intelligence Committee from the Republican party so little work is able to be completed. Can the Democrats sue the Republicans in federal court for not appointing their representatives to the committee? Just not sure what the remedies are for this situation. This work is the work of We the People!
NY Times — Within the past few days, I agreed with the idea that Northam should resign. Now we have the top 3 Virginia Democrats all with skeletons in their closets and the danger that Republicans will take over. While I do not condone the behaviour of Northam and Herring, I look at it in a different light, especially after reading Eric Stetson in Daily Kos.
Can we look at these gentlemen in that light? I do not say this lightly. I, as a white female, was victimised by my maternal grandfather’s racism at the age of 10-11 years old. I knew then he was wrong and that racism directed against African Americans, for that matter against anyone, was wrong. I have also been a victim of racism by some black teen boys in high school (I use ‘black’ because this was in Canada, not the US) and that made me angry.
As for Fairfax, he deserves his “day in court” just like Kavanazi received. If it can be proven that he did in fact sexually assault the woman complainant in 2004, then he should resign. But these 3 events taken together smack of Republican bullshit maneuvering to put Virginia under Republican control.
Cartoon — Flush every Republican, not just Rand Paul.
It is definitely cold here and we are expecting more snow Friday and Saturday, but how much here in Metro is another question. It is also supposed to be cold for another week at least. So Drumpf, there is no such thing as climate change, eh! Keep those kitty dingles warm and out of the music industry! At least Republicans won’t be feeling cold since they are so far in to hell!
An AlterNet article takes the blackface debacle even further. James Comey wrote an op-ed in which he stated that blackface is just the tip of the iceberg in Virginia.
Truly fix the problem!
3:30 I thought you didn’t sleep well?
DK: You can see where Republicans are taking this right in that video. Americans now need more guns and less control to fight of those bad illegal immigrants who come into the country schlepping themselves silly with guns and ammunition and drugs, just because there’s no wall to keep them out. Good to see those two Democrats do their job well and put an end to this Drumpfian reasoning and had it officially noted as unparliamentarian. Kudos.
Rachel Madow: Point 1 & 2 are a rehash of what Mueller is doing, but broader and also taking the last two years in account, which safeguards Mueller from being fired; a smart political move. But it’ll also make a lot of Republicans sweat as it may look into their role since 2016 too. Point 3 & 4 bring in a lot of new governments to look at besides the Russians, such as Israel and Saudi Arabia. What was the quid pro quo there? And all those Republican committee members who tried to hide and obstruct the truth, may be starting to feel a bit queasy.
The trouble with all four is that the House Intel Commission has now taken so much upon them selves that it’ll easily take more than two years before we see any results and that may discourage Democratic voters. If that translates to the 2020 election of President and Congress, the whole investigation may be thrown out again, just like the previous investigation under Republicen “leadership” is tossed out now. So there’s one thing for it: KEEP RESISTING
NYT: Agree with Mitch. This has a disturbing time line and clearly someone behind it.
Cartoon: I hope the sewage system can handle the indecent amount of ?? expected to be flushed soon.
Sometimes I do puzzles best when tired.
That Alternate chart says – a lot, if not “it all.” One does have to be careful with statistics, but these definitely speak well for Democrats and poorly for Republicans.
What’s the difference between tRump and the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz? The scarecrow actually did have a brain.
. . . and he actually used his brain! The scarecrow was outstanding in his field!
Thanks and TGIF hugs!