Wendy made it yesterday, and I felt most relieved. It’s amazing how much more foul I felt after one extra day. She did some light housekeeping and also brought burgers, so by the time she left, I was purrrring. We have another Winter Storm Warning tomorrow with more snow forecast.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 4:51 (average 5:05). To do it, click here. How did you do?
Short Takes:
From Daily Kos: Big changes are coming to the White House press corps, Reince Priebus suggested in an appearance on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show. Starting with daily press briefings:
"I think that it’s important that we look at all of those traditions that are great, but quite frankly, as you know, don’t really make news and they’re just sort of mundane, boring episodes," Priebus said. […]
Priebus said the White House team is currently discussing how to change things up, including where the press sits in the White House briefing room.
You really can’t say White House press briefings never make news—remember Jeff Gannon? If they’re looking to change the seating chart and increase the amount of news made by the daily briefing, though, putting Breitbart News and Stormfront in the front row should help.
Not only will the Fuhrer be putting Nazis in the front row, but we also may get a rerun of the Jeff Gannon/James "Bulldog" Gluckert fiasco. It really freaks out Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians, when their family values icons turn out to be gay prostitutes.
From NPR: A jury in Charleston, S.C., has found Dylann Roof guilty on all 33 counts of federal hate crimes he faced for murdering nine people and attempting to kill three others in the basement of a historically black church.
As the sentence was read, Roof stood emotionless, reported Alexandra Olgin of South Carolina Public Radio, who was in the courtroom. The charges included murder, attempted murder, damage to religious property, obstruction of religious belief and weapons charges.
This creates a difficult situation for the Fuhrer. Trump will have to pardon this Republican, before he can appoint him to a post in civil rights oversight.
From MSNBC: Obama vows action against Russia
President Obama said Thursday "we need to take action and we will" against Russia for interference in the election. Russian pro-democracy leader and famed chess champion Garry Kasparov joins Lawrence, saying he doesn’t need "intel" to verify Putin’s nefarious role.
I’ve studied Kasparov’s chess games. He is brilliant. I also think he’s spot-on. Obama’s "time and place of our choosing" had better happen damn soon. You know that Putin’s co-conspirators, Trump and the Republican leaders, are traitors. They will do nothing good after Obama is gone. So far, all Obama has done about this outrage is to grab his ankles and bend over.
Cartoon:
15 Responses to “Open Thread – 12/16/2016”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
4:58 "Peduncled" means "having a stalk." Yes, it sounds like something else to me too.
DKos – Translation – we are going to make sure we control the press corps so that all the news that goes out is what we want it to be. Truth be damned (And that means no more Jeff Gannons too.)
NPR – My take is that he will ignore Roof and everything that has anything to do with him. If pressed, he will throw him under the bus.
MSNBC – Democrats have a very poor track record of handling priorities. Normally, I consider that civil rights, women's health, income inequality, while all extremely important, take a back seat to climate change – because if cliamte change wins, there will BE no civil rights, women's health, or income to be unequal. Right now even clinate change has to take a back seat to this Constitutional emergency – because if the Constitutional crisis is not resolved, there will be no planet to worry about. Most people don't see that. Or don't care.
Cartoon – I don't know how it could have been better said.
My take on Roof is the same as yours. I was speaking tongue-in-cheek to illustrate the quality of his appointments.
Oh, yes, and you certainly got that right. I hear Cruella deVil is up for director of the Humane Society.
The obvious choice.
Puzzle — 3:24 I get the point!
Daily Kos — Well there goes the neighbourhood! If you want to control the people, first you must control the press — case in point, Faux Noise was (is?) the 4th Reich's propaganda ministry and look at their viewership — sheeple! I'm sure that Breitbart etc will be in the front row while the likes of the WaPost and NY Times will be in the back behind a post. "We the People" will certainly get shafted on the information front.
NPR — I'm with JD on this one. Roof isn't a big enough fish to fry for Drumpf, unless of course he manages to tweet something very flattering about Drumpf, which I don't think he could. That's when Drumpf might take notice and pardon him.
MSNBC — Surprise, I agree with you. With 35 days left, Obama must act now . . . "a time of our choosing" must be now. Obama can't give Drumpf a chance on this one. If he does, his legacy will be ' the President that allowed the sale of the country to Russia.'
Cartoon — And so they should! Now to get it moved into the courts with charges and trial.
DK: Is Goebbels out there giving these good old boys lessons? Control the media, control how the definitions are worded, and control the sheeple!
NPR: Isn't this how one goes about creating a resume that Rumpy can appreciate?
MSNBC: Just like Bill clinton blew it (no pun intended?) with Monica, and spent the rest of his time in office out of focus, Obama has lost my respect by letting McConnell blow past him on this issue. Where were his balls in September, when they had that high security meeting? Isn't this the leader of the free world, as they say, essentially letting a compromised election stand? So he busts Putin's ass, some? The election still stands, and the country gets the royal screw! He's got a "Bully Pulpit" and doing nothing with it!!!!
Oh, man. I expected more from Pres. Obama. I know his hands are tied with the time element involved. But he needs to put something into play that Drumpfenfarten can't stop. PLEASE! We need some GOOD news!!!
Daily Kos: We can be sure that Breitbart and Faux News will have front row seats.
NPR: He would probably pardon him if he knew for sure that he could profit from it.
MSNBC: I listened to most of the President's speech, and it sounded good. My question is, why did it take him so long to say he would deal with it, and why didn't he and Congress make statements before the election? He cannot run for President again, so there is no political reason for his not doing something as soon as he was made aware of this.
Cartoon: Love this one, we progressives are being made out to be the "real enemy". YOu know, those people who want clean air and water, and for people to live in peace and be paid a living wage..
Congress couldn't, because it was classified. Obama shpuld have unclassified all but sources and methods.
Glad Wendy made it so you feel all fresh. I hope you don't get more snow.
Glad you're purring again, TomCat:
DK: Press critical of Drumpf will be seated outside, or not at all, and won't get to ask any pertinent questions. They'll only be allowed to take notes on how great everything is. To make sure they'll get al the lies straight, they'll be handed out copies of Drumpf's twitters at the beginning of a conference, handed out by a scantily clad lady with visible paw prints in the nether regions.
NPR: Best thing is that the jury called it a hate crime.
MSNBC: Kasparov is more than a chess master, he's been the voice of the Russian opposition for years and has made great sense on a number of occasions. This time is no different. Obama had his chance in September when he was briefed about the Russian involvement, but bent over for Mitch McConnell. All he says now is just to save face, nothing will come of it.
Cartoon: Goosestep got that right, but it better be more than a conspiracy.
See you when I'm upside down.
Have a freat flip trip!
I have faith that Obama will do something – I sense in him a kind of new, quiet, who-gives-a-poop attitude. If it were me, I'd hire assassins to take puky putin out but – a terrible accident of some kind. But then, I don't have the weight of the entire world on my shoulders.
Meanwhile, it seems quite treasonous of the Republicans to me….
Assassination is usually a bad idea even when it's a good idea. Case in point – if we had taken Hitler out sooner, we might very well have lost the war. Turns out he had some of the greatest generals in the world working for him, and he was overriding them all, because he thought he knew better. And mistakes were made. In our favor.
Thanks all! Hugs!!