In Iowa, home health nurse Lisa Dockery was fired from her job caring for a boy with severe disabilities after arguing with his parents, who said COVID-19 is a “hoax.” The argument started because the parents refused to wear masks around Dockery and the boy, even though she told them their son’s life was in danger because he has respiratory problems, relies on tube feedings and cannot walk, state unemployment records show.
The case ended with a judge ordering her former employer to pay her unemployment.
@CSK: Say WHAAAAAAT????????????????? trump didn’t win it again?????????????????????? It’s all a damned liberal conspiracy!!! Obama got it just for not being GW Bush!
Law enforcement officers in Portland, Oregon, specifically targeted medics with teargas and projectiles during summer protests in “indiscriminate attacks”, according to a new report by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR).
The study is based on interviews and medical examinations involving health professionals, volunteer medics and emergency services personnel. It also found Portland police and fire personnel did not provide on-site medical care for injured protesters, and prevented ambulances from accessing the area of protests.
The PHR described an overall pattern that constituted “cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment” from Portland police and federal agents, violating several international compacts on the use of force.
……………………………..
The document includes testimony from in-person observers, including a deputy fire chief, who say that “the number and severity of injuries” increased markedly after the arrival of federal agents, who were more likely to shoot “less lethal” ordnance like teargas canisters directly at protesters and medics.
People in Louisiana are bracing themselves for flooding and dangerously high winds for the sixth time this year, as 2020’s extraordinary hurricane season sent yet another major storm in the state’s direction, amid Earth’s accelerating climate crisis.
Hurricane Delta strengthened rapidly to a category 4 event on Tuesday before easing back to a category 2 then restrengthening to a category 3, with sustained winds of up to 100mph. The hurricane, churning in the Gulf of Mexico, is expected to hit the US Gulf coast on Friday and potentially cause flooding in Texas and Louisiana.
John Bel Edwards, the governor of Louisiana, has declared a state of emergency for what he called “an incredibly dangerous storm”. The governor said he didn’t expect widespread evacuations but that flooding and wind damage would extend far inland.
Delta is expected to hit areas around the city of Lake Charles that were devastated when Hurricane Laura tore through the region in August, killing at least 28 people. Thousands of residents remain displaced from their homes due to the previous storm. “This season has been relentless,” Edwards said. “Prepare for the worst. Pray for the best.”
Fortunately for my youngest, well to the west of NOLA. Not that I’m uncrossing my fingers with at least another month to go in this year’s hurricane season.
Trumphausen by Proxy: Claiming without evidence that one’s liberal child suffers from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Trumpomania: Characterized by “highs” where you tell everyone you meet how Trump is the greatest president–no, greatest human being–to ever walk the face of the earth.
Trumpoholism: Addiction to Trump Wine.
Trumpnesia: Failure to remember that the position you took in support of Trump totally contradicts what you said 10 minutes ago, or sometimes 10 seconds.
Trumpist Personality Disorder: Acting like an asshole toward everyone around you, because Trump.
Trumpissistic Personality Disorder: Characterized by a belief that you are the greatest Trump supporter the world has ever seen. High degree of comorbidity with the previous disorder.
Trumporexia: Characterized by looking at Trump on TV and seeing a slim, healthy young man with gorgeous blond locks and impressively large hands.
It seems as though the reporters at Politico have just about had it.
THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS PROVEN that the 18 acres on which the White House sits are a logic-free zone. Don’t waste your time trying to make sense of anything that comes out of there or that goes on there, because it’s a fool’s errand, and you’ll just end up with a headache and a clenched jaw.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.) plan to introduce legislation Friday that would create a commission to “help ensure effective and uninterrupted leadership” in the presidency.
The panel would be called the Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office, “the body and process called for in the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” the offices of Pelosi and Raskin said in a statement announcing the move.
My experience with the Edit function has been at best erratic ever since the recent “update” several weeks ago. I use Safari 12.1.2 on a MacBook Air pushing macOS Sierra 10.12.6
Reloading the page after posting a comment helps now and then. Sometimes Edit never appears no matter how many reloads. Very inconsistent.
The sign was “located 24 (feet) from the center of the road clearly in the right of way.” City rules state that signs, whether they’re political or for events like garage sales, need to be 33 feet from the street.
A 52-year-old city inspector who was not named was tasked with moving the sign and was cut by razor blades attached to the bottom. A second Trump sign was also discovered a similar sharp device.
“Several signs were taken from property that had several razor blades taped all the way along the bottom of the sign,” officials wrote.
The homeowner told deputies “their signs were taken and when they returned from out of town the signs were back in their yard,” the release read. “The homeowner denies any knowledge of the blades.”
Re: website weirdness. I’m probably just showing my ignorance here but do any of our programmers out there know if there is some kind of function to make sure all pending actions are completed before redisplaying a web page? I’m thinking that some of this quirkiness may be due to actions not getting executed in time or out of order.
And overthrowing the most aggressively warlike regime on the planet was a good reason.
I thought that the two term limit overthrew the Bush regime?
Obama was one of the best American presidents in a long time (probably since FDR), but he was still a war-monger. As Chomsky has said, every American president since WW2 is a war criminal. Giving him the Nobel peace prize was odd.
I just listened to a recording of Trump phoning in to Hannity last evening. He sounds awful, but is planning on holding a rally on Saturday in Florida? His doctor has apparently cleared him, saying his vitals are normal.
I can’t help but think this is unwise. How is it going to look if he starts coughing onstage? This is all so weird.
@Scott:
“Rule” doesn’t mean “override” or “take power”. One of Congress’ functions is to investigate pertinent issues of governance and social problems that might need legislation. Since the only way to affect a change of this nature is via Constitutional amendment, the process can logically start with Congress officially investigating and making a recommendation that becomes an official Proposal the States can then act on.
The 25th is toothless in an era of increasing longevity. The chances of a critically ill or demented POTUS that refuses to cede power grows. What’s more, there’s no true mechanism to give power back – the 25th is written to be a one-way street and that’s why it’s not being used. It’s a nuke instead of a surgical strike. If there was a way to move the VP to Acting Status with clear deadlines and boundaries and then have them be put back automatically, I think we’d see it engaged more. Think about it: every time the President needs to go under anesthesia, we have a 25th issue that requires POTUS to temporarily sign over power. What happens if they don’t issue the letter?
We’ve been very lucky to not have our own Mad King so far but every country eventually gets one and implements governmental change to mitigate the damage afterwards. We can’t keep pretending Presidential health concerns are not a matter of national security and that POTUS doesn’t magically from things that prevent them from doing their jobs.
(They’re not going to do that though. @OzarkHillbilly’s right: it’s to piss Trump off 🙂 )
@Jen:
If I had to guess, I’d say his behavior is a combination of his usual bullheadedness and desperation at his upcoming election loss compounded by the effects of whatever steroids he’s still ingesting.
@Jen: It will be interesting to see how turnout is at his next COVID Super-Spreader event. I would like nothing more than for all the seats to be empty, but I suspect the lemmings are still going to rush over the cliff to their deaths.
This seems too clever by half. I don’t see an upside.
Most of Congress and political Washington understand that Trump has mental health issues and neurological damage. This is a vehicle for public discussion of that.
And, as OzarkHillbilly notes, Pelosi is really good at trolling Trump and getting to him.
25th Amendment, section 4 clearly lays out how the President either refutes the “inability clause”, or regains power automatically–unless blocked by 2/3 of both houses.
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
If I had to guess, I’d say his behavior is a combination of his usual bullheadedness and desperation at his upcoming election loss compounded by the effects of whatever steroids he’s still ingesting.
That, and also this analysis of malignant narcissistic behavior:
At some point, a narcissist’s whole shtick implodes. Their fragile, porcelain facade cracks in too many places. They lose control of the narrative. They double down on increasingly unbelievable things.
And then the monument topples and the pigeons finally scatter.
1/
There are always a few diehard hangers-on but they lose the crowd.
It has been so long with Trump – and his cult is so brainwashed by a propaganda machine bigger than him – I had more or less given up on his implosion ever coming.
@Mu Yixiao: Am I reading that correctly, that the initial accusation of inability must come from the Vice President and the cabinet? If so, what does Pelosi have to do with anything?
For one thing, they may now really believe COVID-19 is no big deal, seeing as how Trump beat it quickly (of course, none of them will have either access to synthetic antibodies, or remdesivir early on, nor 24/7 medical care .
But also Dear Leader Trump has pronounced his infection a blessing from God. It would be positively blasphemous to turn down a chance to share in the Savior’s divine blessing, would it not?
Where, exactly, is this Florida rally going to be held? Don’t they need some sort of venue? Will they announce it at the last minute? Do they even have a venue? This is getting very strange–more so than usual, I think.
I believe today will be the day Trump holds his “radio rally” on the Rush Limbaugh Show. Has he confused today with tomorrow? Limbaugh broadcasts from Palm Beach, does he not?
@KM: @charon: All elections are a combination of motivating your voters and demotivating your opponents voters.
What I mean by my comment is that while riling up Trump is fun, it also riles up his voters. And I don’t see this action as adding motivation to Biden voters.
@Mu Yixiao :
If I’m reading this correctly, “or of such other body as Congress may by law provide” means that Congress can pass something to declare to President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives is unfit to discharge his duties. Fine – this Commission would be the first part of the process to do so.
What needs to be addressed in the language of the Amendment is what happens when a clearly unfit POTUS and his cronies refuse to do their duty. After all, the 25th can be temporary so it should be invoked far more often than the life or death stance conservatives have taken on it. For instance, if they lie or conceal illness that means the 25th should be in play, it’s criminal if not actively treasonous and those individuals are removed from positions of power. We’ve already had a POTUS with dementia during a time when nukes flying was a real concern; it was concealed from the public and meaningful decisions were made by those who had no legal right to do so. Right now we have a loophole that allows a shadow government to exist and unelected individuals to decide the course of the nation because we don’t want to restrict the Imperial Office of the Presidency.
@OzarkHillbilly: I know, right? One of the reasons I could never see myself as a modern Republican is this adolescent attitude of “I’m going to blatantly lie to your face and you can’t do anything about it.” Setting aside the morality (which, of course, you shouldn’t in real life), I couldn’t handle the indignity and humiliation. This has become the absolute norm for Republicans. They have no respect for themselves or the people they view as opponents and end up degrading themselves.
And yes, I understand that there are Democrats and others that do this to. My point is that this is the norm in the modern Republican Party.
Am I reading that correctly, that the initial accusation of inability must come from the Vice President and the cabinet?
For section four (ousting the Pres, rather than him signing a letter on his own), that’s the plain-text reading. Here’s the start of that section:
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
The lack of proper commas can make for some interpretation debates, but the “teams” can be either:
1) VP + Cabinet Secretaries
2) VP + Congress
After which, the President can say “Nuh uh! I’m okey-dokey!” and he gets his job back
Unless Team One or Team Two tell congress “Nuh uh! He’s totally not worthy.” At which time Congress convenes to break up the fight and decide who gets the ice cream cone.
@MarkedMan: I coukd never go along with the heinous scams. Telling people that global warming isn’t real, or if it is it isn’t caused by humans, or if it is caused by humans it’s unstoppable, just so a handful of extremely rich people can get even richer at the expense of everyone else in the world? No can do.
@CSK: Mr Pence is in FL this Saturday at events in Orlando & The Villages. Quickly glancing at the Campaign website “events” page, the last one begins at 3:30. With the theme parks as empty as I suppose they are, probably a venue could be found. It’s kind of late to find a crowd to fill a stadium but I’ll let their confidence in their follower’s motivation stand.
The complicating factor is the news that Mr Pence “cancelled events” and flew straight back to D.C. last night. Did the FL events get cancelled? Is Pence well? Is the VP in a secret cabal with Ms Pelosi to activate the 25th Amendment? Are Aliens expected on the National Mall later today?
Who knows what these jokers are up to? They certainly don’t.
@Teve: No, the comments didn’t destroy my faith in America at all. It looks just as fwked up after reading the comments as I believed it was yesterday. It’s possible that Pelosi and Raskin are setting up an own goal with their proposal, but even so, that only means the government is still non-functional.
Aaron Rupar
@atrupar
·
13h
“California is gonna have to ration water. You wanna know why? Because they send millions of gallons of water out to sea, out to the Pacific. Because they want to take care of certain little tiny fish, that aren’t doing very well without water.” — Trump
@Just nutha ignint cracker: I was being a little hyperbolic perhaps, but the number of responses expecting Trump to Lock Her Up (and Obama, and Biden,…) any day now is sad.
@JohnMcC:
I read somewhere that Pence canceled his events to fly back to D.C. to vote. I don’t know if that’s true.
I wonder if Trump just didn’t blurt out something about holding a rally in Florida and one on Sunday in Pennsylvania as a function of his rapidly increasing lunacy.
I noticed just now that Trump has added that he’ll rally in Florida if a location can be found. Someone must have convinced him these things can’t be arranged at the drop of a hat. What do you want to bet there won’t be a rally in Florida or Pennsylvania?
And he’s still supposed to host the Rush Limbaugh show today–or at least that’s what Limbaugh’s website claims.
@Teve: I could do it since I really do believe that the world is past the tipping point. I think that it would be nice if we did something, but global warming is likened to the “Tragedy of the Commons” parable/thought experiment for legitimate reasons.
[Thank you for watching episode 728 of Why a nation shouldn’t elect people like Cracker (or Donald J. Trump, for that matter) to high office.]
@CSK: Vote on what? AFAIK, Congress isn’t in session now, so there are no ties to break, and we have to assume that because Pence knows how evil voting by mail is, that he will be casting his ballot in person.
I thought that the two term limit overthrew the Bush regime?
True, but John (Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran) McCain would have been a continuation regime. But your Chomsky quote to the effect that all modern presidents are war criminals is on point. I was disappointed in Obama for not getting out of both Iraq and Afghanistan. I understand the pressure on him to not do anything radical, but still, disappointing. On the other hand he made a pretty good start at dealing with Iran. He failed to sufficiently Trump proof it, but I don’t think anyone could have.
@Just nutha ignint cracker: oh, yeah, there’s no chance we’re going to make a dent in global warming. We’ll probly be +5°C by the end of the century. Famines, floods, wars, all that.
Now, it’s possible that his doctor is lying, but given the risks associated with that (I’d think at very least he could lose his license to practice medicine), I don’t think it’s the case.
You know, it’s a clear no-brainer for Trump to release a copy of his negative test result for COVID-19. Not just announce it, but show the actual PCR test result from a lab. I’m betting he won’t do it because even a no-brainer decision requires a brain, and probably because he’s using a rapid test that’s not very reliable.
@Jen:
Actually (according to Haberman), Trump has completed his treatments and the Dr anticipated Trump’s return to public engagements. Somewhat different than “cleared him”.
Can you say…. a younger Harold Bornstein???
Trump and his surrounds have blown-up all credibility.
“Anticipates” is a very carefully chosen word that doctors will use to cover their ass.
@Northerner: @gVOR08: First of all, that Nobel Prize was very early in his term. The problem at that point wasn’t that he’d done anything terrible, but that he hadn’t done much at all. They basically gave it to him for winning the presidency.
I do happen to be an Obama admirer, but his foreign policy was a mixed bag, with Libya being a hot mess. So it’s not just that he did some things that are arguably criminal (e.g. assassinating US citizens), he also had significant failures from a policy perspective. He also had some serious accomplishments–the Iran Deal, the Paris Accord, even though Trump went on to wreck both–but like I said, it was overall a mixed bag.
@grumpy realist: I’ve pretty much stopped reading Dreher. His obvious horror of teh gays got worse and worse but the straw that broke it for me was his reaction to Black Lives Matter. He went from “sensible conservative” mode to “quivering on the ground in a fetal position sobbing for the policemen to protect him from the darkies” in about to weeks. The guy is the caricature of a conservative, fearful and angry about all those that are different.
@Teve: 500 years from now if the GOP still exists it will still be digging for Hillary’s e-mails before every Presidential election. It may become one of those long-standing customs everyone does but nobody remembers why or how it started.
@MarkedMan: And now, it seems, he needs to be protected from rainbow-coloured Oreos. Which are totalitarian, or something.
Dreher is the sort of idiot who will be screaming about an imagined catastrophe scheduled to hit 30 years down the road while totally ignoring the very real landslide/tsunami/whatever that’s just about to engulf him.
The Mexican Revolution ended in 1921, or rather the civil wars and the succession revolving-door governments ended in 1921. Until around the late 80s or early 90s, under the rule of the same party (through name changes), presidents and other politicians promised to deliver on the “promises of the Revolution.”
Then they just gave up because no one cared or even remembered what these were any more.
GOP Rep. Mike Bost tests positive for COVID-19
This citizen is the Representative for the 12th Congressional District of Illinois. My district. I have already voted for his opponent Ray Lenzi.
Ray hung around with my roommates 50 years ago. He was Student Body President one year. I helped with their efforts to start an outdoor day care camp, Su Casa, for the children of the migrant farm workers who worked the peach and apple orchards that are a big part of the Southern Illinois economy. Su Casa is still in operation today.
Republican Bost has held the seat since 2014 after several years of Democrats representing the District. Ballotpedia doesn’t give Lenzi much of a chance.
President Trump will give an address from a balcony, a la Benito Mussolini, on the White House to hundreds of invited guests tomorrow. He will be separated from them, but I’m willing to bet they won’t be separated from each other. Another superspreader event in the making.
Given that we have heard no further word about the alleged rally in Florida tomorrow, I assume that won’t be happening.
Whitey Ford, the street-smart New Yorker who had the best winning percentage of any pitcher in the 20th century and helped the Yankees become baseball’s perennial champions in the 1950s and ’60s, has died. He was 91.
A family member told The Associated Press on Friday that Ford died at his Long Island home Thursday night. The cause was not known. Ford also lived in the Fort Lauderdale area for many years.
Nicknamed the “Chairman of the Board,” Ford was a wily left-hander who pitched from 1950-67 in the major leagues, all with the Yankees. He was among the most dependable pitchers in baseball history.
He won 236 games and lost just 106, a winning percentage of .690. He would help symbolize the almost machinelike efficiency of the Yankees in the mid-20th century, when only twice between Ford’s rookie year and 1964 did they fail to make the postseason.
Ford’s death is the latest this year of a number of baseball greats: Al Kaline, Tom Seaver, Lou Brock and Bob Gibson.
Ford’s .690 career winning percentage is more amazing if you knew its background. Famous baseball author Bill James wrote in one of his books showing how Ford’s decisions were distributed. Whitey had the most while Casey Stengel was his manager against, Cleveland, then followed by Chicago, etc. Cleveland and Chicago were the Yankees main rivals when Casey was manager. Ford’s decisions tapered off in direct correlation to who were the next best teams down to the worst in the AL. In other words, Ford didn’t start a whole lot* against Washington, Philadelphia/Kansas City A’s, or the St Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles. In other words, Ford was excellent against strong teams.
RIP Chairman
*- My strat o matic baseball playing includes the 1955-1960 Ford/Stengel years and I use the actual lineups and starting pitchers. Ford doesn’t see much action against the American League’s worst teams.
500 years from now if the GOP still exists it will still be digging for Hillary’s e-mails before every Presidential election. It may become one of those long-standing customs everyone does but nobody remembers why or how it started.
I now have this amazing image in my head of Morris Dancing having begun as a quest for Hillary’s Emails…
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
No no no. no. just no. You don’t get to leave me holding the bag. Once again, this retired sociopath will not run for the position of Fearless Leader, will not serve, and will run like a rabbit if drafted.
@Teve:
How do you explain this gap in your resume?
I was in jail.
Are you sure you weren’t working for the Trump campaign?
Swear to God. Jail.
Speaking from personal experience, I’d rather be in jail than in Trump’s WH. Less backstabbing, better food, although apparently WH drug pipeline is way better.
Secretary Pompeo tells Fox he’s working to get more of @HillaryClinton’s emails out before the election.
Okay… In my defense, I was in China during all of this.
I thought the issue was that HRC was using an improperly secured personal server (in violation of rules) for government e-mails, not that that there was an issue with the content of any particular e-mails.
Gods forgive me for this, but: What am I missing?
ETA: I’m off to watch bad movies then spend the weekend getting the house and yard ready for winter. I might not be back until Monday.
@Mu Yixiao: you’re not missing anything. It’s a whole bunch of bullshit. Seemingly every government official before her and since has used some kind of unsecured email to do official stuff, but it only matters because it’s Hillary. She is La Diabla!
@Mu Yixiao: @Teve: After having her lawyers go thru them, she also deleted a bunch of personal emails on their advice… Which gave the GOP the opening to claim, “THE EVIL SHE BITCH IS TRYING TO HIDE HER UNDERHANDED EVIL SCHEMES AND CRIMINAL DOINGS FROM TRUE RED BLOODED AMERICANS!!!!!” I’ve heard a lot of numbers, anywhere from 10,000-30,000 of them.
As one who has probably gotten nowhere near 10,000 emails in my entire life, I have a hard time envisioning it. But I was never the spouse of an ex-president, a US Senator from NY, SoS, or expected future candidate for President. Not only that, I was never as popular as her… Tho if intensity counts, I may be as reviled.
So anyway, politically it was a dumb move on her part, but if she had been involved in any shenanigans, surely one of those 10-30,000 email recipients/senders would have turned on her long before now for the big bucks they could make on the wingnut welfare circuit.
U.S. and Russian negotiators have agreed in principle to continue freezing their nuclear warhead stockpiles in a bid to salvage their last remaining arms control pact before it expires next year, a person familiar with the talks said Friday.
The person said it’s not yet clear if the agreement for a freeze will succeed or translate into an extension of the New START treaty that expires in February. But, if it works, the person said an agreement could be announced before the Nov. 3 presidential election with an eye toward extending the accord and eventually bringing China into it, a longtime Trump administration demand.
The person said President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin have signed off on the freeze, but negotiators still need to iron out details, including compliance and verification issues. The person spoke to reporters after the last round of U.S,-Russia arms control talks in Helsinki this week.
Arms control is very technical. When Henry Kissinger in his memoirs starts writing about SALT talks, I need caffeine to stay away awake.
For those who don’t remember, a nuclear freeze was a proposal of every major democratic candidate for President in 1984.
New question then, should the AMA be convening a hearing to question the wisdom of letting this hairball continue to practice medicine? I know that’s not happening, but it’s possible (I’d go so far as to say likely and reasonable) that it should.
Additionally, I’m now officially adding Trump’s doctor to the list of people not to listen to because they are liars.
ETA: I will add that in the little corner of Red State ‘Murka that I live in, the County health department does not declare a person cured until after 14 days have elapsed without a return of symptoms. If I were this guy’s malpractice insurer, I’d drop him like a hot rock.
@grumpy realist: Why is it that Dreher can’t simply ignore rainbow Oreos? I KNOW that I would never have noticed them in the store if he hadn’t brought it up. I still may never see any of them because I almost never look for Oreos. [eye roll emoji here]
Remember, although many Republicans support Trump unreservedly and share his sensibilities, many don’t. Judges were the glue that bound them to his administration and a key reason most Republican lawmakers said nothing as he trashed the rule of law and made a mockery of democratic governance. Judges are why, when faced with an unambiguously impeachable offense, the Republican Senate voted to acquit Trump of all charges. It was the tantalizing promise of a powerful, conservative judiciary that gave Republicans every incentive to act as if Trump was outside the bounds of the Constitution. The only way to avert moral hazard and keep this from happening again is to make Republicans pay a price for the dangerous risk they took with the country. Expanding the courts is that price.
@Mister Bluster: I get the joke about Oreos. In fact, my comment to a friend about Kamala Harris being selected as VP was “I don’t get the fuss; who doesn’t like Oreos.” My comment was about Dreher’s fixation on Oreos that aren’t white in the middle–they have the colors of the LGBTQ rainbow flag. Try to keep up. 🙁
The U.N.’s World Food Program has won the Nobel Peace Prize.
‘So frustrating’: Doctors and nurses battle virus skeptics
@CSK: Say WHAAAAAAT????????????????? trump didn’t win it again?????????????????????? It’s all a damned liberal conspiracy!!! Obama got it just for not being GW Bush!
Portland: officers targeted medics with teargas and projectiles, report finds
@OzarkHillbilly:
A tragic injustice, and no doubt the work of a communist conspiracy.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Wait. How can Covid-19 be a hoax if Trump contracted it?
Hurricane Delta: Louisiana braces for disaster for sixth time this year
Fortunately for my youngest, well to the west of NOLA. Not that I’m uncrossing my fingers with at least another month to go in this year’s hurricane season.
@CSK: trump lies about everything doncha know, so he never really had it. He was just pulling another genius 11th dimensional electoral move.
The Florida headline of the day-
Retiree schedules heart test, hospital mistakenly puts him on COVID floor for 2 nights
For almost 16 years, I worked in radiology for JFK Hospital. The hospital was approximately two miles from where I was living too.
During that time, when a hospital expansion was occurring, a rape victim brought to the ER was misplaced for 5-6 hours.
The headline of the day-
FBI busts militia ‘plot’ to abduct Michigan Gov Gretchen Whitmer
Terry Crews Does Trump on Hannity.
A helpful glossary.
Trumphausen by Proxy: Claiming without evidence that one’s liberal child suffers from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Trumpomania: Characterized by “highs” where you tell everyone you meet how Trump is the greatest president–no, greatest human being–to ever walk the face of the earth.
Trumpoholism: Addiction to Trump Wine.
Trumpnesia: Failure to remember that the position you took in support of Trump totally contradicts what you said 10 minutes ago, or sometimes 10 seconds.
Trumpist Personality Disorder: Acting like an asshole toward everyone around you, because Trump.
Trumpissistic Personality Disorder: Characterized by a belief that you are the greatest Trump supporter the world has ever seen. High degree of comorbidity with the previous disorder.
Trumporexia: Characterized by looking at Trump on TV and seeing a slim, healthy young man with gorgeous blond locks and impressively large hands.
@Kylopod: Heh. I am sooooo stealing that.
It seems as though the reporters at Politico have just about had it.
This seems too clever by half. I don’t see an upside.
Citing 25th Amendment, Pelosi, Raskin move to create panel that could rule on president’s fitness for office
@sam:
A scene from White Chicks? I don’t get it.
@Scott: It will drive trump totally around the bend during an election that is mostly about how sane he is or isn’t.
Richard North Patterson certainly has a way with words. In an article in thebulwarkcom today he proffers us this epic line:
“So divorced from normal humanity is he that Trump reimagined his protean repulsiveness as riveting dominance.”
“Protean repulsiveness”…I bow to the master.
The edit function has vanished, even when I refresh the page.
@CSK:
I haven’t been able to edit in at least a week. Doesn’t it show?
@Bill:
Now it’s magically reappeared–after I closed the page and went to another site. Weird.
My experience with the Edit function has been at best erratic ever since the recent “update” several weeks ago. I use Safari 12.1.2 on a MacBook Air pushing macOS Sierra 10.12.6
Reloading the page after posting a comment helps now and then. Sometimes Edit never appears no matter how many reloads. Very inconsistent.
@OzarkHillbilly:
And overthrowing the most aggressively warlike regime on the planet was a good reason.
Reloaded my 9:06am est post several times. No edit. Closed OTB went to homepage and opened OTB. No edit.
Let’s see what happenes when I post this.
No edit.
If you want to lose all faith in America, read the comments
Test of edit function 0922 10/9
Re: website weirdness. I’m probably just showing my ignorance here but do any of our programmers out there know if there is some kind of function to make sure all pending actions are completed before redisplaying a web page? I’m thinking that some of this quirkiness may be due to actions not getting executed in time or out of order.
@MarkedMan:
It’s most likely a cache issue. Cached data is being shown instead of fresh data (the edit function).
DL Hughley tears Kanye a new ass
@MarkedMan: Suuuuuure…
@gVOR08:
I thought that the two term limit overthrew the Bush regime?
Obama was one of the best American presidents in a long time (probably since FDR), but he was still a war-monger. As Chomsky has said, every American president since WW2 is a war criminal. Giving him the Nobel peace prize was odd.
I just listened to a recording of Trump phoning in to Hannity last evening. He sounds awful, but is planning on holding a rally on Saturday in Florida? His doctor has apparently cleared him, saying his vitals are normal.
I can’t help but think this is unwise. How is it going to look if he starts coughing onstage? This is all so weird.
@Scott:
“Rule” doesn’t mean “override” or “take power”. One of Congress’ functions is to investigate pertinent issues of governance and social problems that might need legislation. Since the only way to affect a change of this nature is via Constitutional amendment, the process can logically start with Congress officially investigating and making a recommendation that becomes an official Proposal the States can then act on.
The 25th is toothless in an era of increasing longevity. The chances of a critically ill or demented POTUS that refuses to cede power grows. What’s more, there’s no true mechanism to give power back – the 25th is written to be a one-way street and that’s why it’s not being used. It’s a nuke instead of a surgical strike. If there was a way to move the VP to Acting Status with clear deadlines and boundaries and then have them be put back automatically, I think we’d see it engaged more. Think about it: every time the President needs to go under anesthesia, we have a 25th issue that requires POTUS to temporarily sign over power. What happens if they don’t issue the letter?
We’ve been very lucky to not have our own Mad King so far but every country eventually gets one and implements governmental change to mitigate the damage afterwards. We can’t keep pretending Presidential health concerns are not a matter of national security and that POTUS doesn’t magically from things that prevent them from doing their jobs.
(They’re not going to do that though. @OzarkHillbilly’s right: it’s to piss Trump off 🙂 )
@Jen:
If I had to guess, I’d say his behavior is a combination of his usual bullheadedness and desperation at his upcoming election loss compounded by the effects of whatever steroids he’s still ingesting.
@Jen: It will be interesting to see how turnout is at his next COVID Super-Spreader event. I would like nothing more than for all the seats to be empty, but I suspect the lemmings are still going to rush over the cliff to their deaths.
Well, it seems the edit function lottery was less than a resounding success 😉
@Scott:
Most of Congress and political Washington understand that Trump has mental health issues and neurological damage. This is a vehicle for public discussion of that.
And, as OzarkHillbilly notes, Pelosi is really good at trolling Trump and getting to him.
@KM:
25th Amendment, section 4 clearly lays out how the President either refutes the “inability clause”, or regains power automatically–unless blocked by 2/3 of both houses.
@CSK:
That, and also this analysis of malignant narcissistic behavior:
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1313513475491143681.html
Excerpt:
@Mu Yixiao: Am I reading that correctly, that the initial accusation of inability must come from the Vice President and the cabinet? If so, what does Pelosi have to do with anything?
@Jax:
Alas, I suspect a good turnout.
For one thing, they may now really believe COVID-19 is no big deal, seeing as how Trump beat it quickly (of course, none of them will have either access to synthetic antibodies, or remdesivir early on, nor 24/7 medical care .
But also Dear Leader Trump has pronounced his infection a blessing from God. It would be positively blasphemous to turn down a chance to share in the Savior’s divine blessing, would it not?
Where, exactly, is this Florida rally going to be held? Don’t they need some sort of venue? Will they announce it at the last minute? Do they even have a venue? This is getting very strange–more so than usual, I think.
I believe today will be the day Trump holds his “radio rally” on the Rush Limbaugh Show. Has he confused today with tomorrow? Limbaugh broadcasts from Palm Beach, does he not?
@KM: @charon: All elections are a combination of motivating your voters and demotivating your opponents voters.
What I mean by my comment is that while riling up Trump is fun, it also riles up his voters. And I don’t see this action as adding motivation to Biden voters.
@Mu Yixiao :
If I’m reading this correctly, “or of such other body as Congress may by law provide” means that Congress can pass something to declare to President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives is unfit to discharge his duties. Fine – this Commission would be the first part of the process to do so.
What needs to be addressed in the language of the Amendment is what happens when a clearly unfit POTUS and his cronies refuse to do their duty. After all, the 25th can be temporary so it should be invoked far more often than the life or death stance conservatives have taken on it. For instance, if they lie or conceal illness that means the 25th should be in play, it’s criminal if not actively treasonous and those individuals are removed from positions of power. We’ve already had a POTUS with dementia during a time when nukes flying was a real concern; it was concealed from the public and meaningful decisions were made by those who had no legal right to do so. Right now we have a loophole that allows a shadow government to exist and unelected individuals to decide the course of the nation because we don’t want to restrict the Imperial Office of the Presidency.
@OzarkHillbilly: I know, right? One of the reasons I could never see myself as a modern Republican is this adolescent attitude of “I’m going to blatantly lie to your face and you can’t do anything about it.” Setting aside the morality (which, of course, you shouldn’t in real life), I couldn’t handle the indignity and humiliation. This has become the absolute norm for Republicans. They have no respect for themselves or the people they view as opponents and end up degrading themselves.
And yes, I understand that there are Democrats and others that do this to. My point is that this is the norm in the modern Republican Party.
@DrDaveT:
For section four (ousting the Pres, rather than him signing a letter on his own), that’s the plain-text reading. Here’s the start of that section:
The lack of proper commas can make for some interpretation debates, but the “teams” can be either:
1) VP + Cabinet Secretaries
2) VP + Congress
After which, the President can say “Nuh uh! I’m okey-dokey!” and he gets his job back
Unless Team One or Team Two tell congress “Nuh uh! He’s totally not worthy.” At which time Congress convenes to break up the fight and decide who gets the ice cream cone.
@MarkedMan: I coukd never go along with the heinous scams. Telling people that global warming isn’t real, or if it is it isn’t caused by humans, or if it is caused by humans it’s unstoppable, just so a handful of extremely rich people can get even richer at the expense of everyone else in the world? No can do.
Superspreader in chief: the ultimate timeline of Trump’s deadly coronavirus denial
@CSK: Mr Pence is in FL this Saturday at events in Orlando & The Villages. Quickly glancing at the Campaign website “events” page, the last one begins at 3:30. With the theme parks as empty as I suppose they are, probably a venue could be found. It’s kind of late to find a crowd to fill a stadium but I’ll let their confidence in their follower’s motivation stand.
The complicating factor is the news that Mr Pence “cancelled events” and flew straight back to D.C. last night. Did the FL events get cancelled? Is Pence well? Is the VP in a secret cabal with Ms Pelosi to activate the 25th Amendment? Are Aliens expected on the National Mall later today?
Who knows what these jokers are up to? They certainly don’t.
@Teve: No, the comments didn’t destroy my faith in America at all. It looks just as fwked up after reading the comments as I believed it was yesterday. It’s possible that Pelosi and Raskin are setting up an own goal with their proposal, but even so, that only means the government is still non-functional.
My faith in America is just fine.
Rod Dreher whines that gay Oreos are totalitarian
@Just nutha ignint cracker: I was being a little hyperbolic perhaps, but the number of responses expecting Trump to Lock Her Up (and Obama, and Biden,…) any day now is sad.
@Jen: “ Someone is claiming thatHis doctor has apparently cleared him, saying his vitals are normal.
FTFY. Assume everything is untrue. Do so sadly if you wish, but it’s simply not reasonable to believe anything Trump says.
Meme my friend just posted:
@JohnMcC:
I read somewhere that Pence canceled his events to fly back to D.C. to vote. I don’t know if that’s true.
I wonder if Trump just didn’t blurt out something about holding a rally in Florida and one on Sunday in Pennsylvania as a function of his rapidly increasing lunacy.
I noticed just now that Trump has added that he’ll rally in Florida if a location can be found. Someone must have convinced him these things can’t be arranged at the drop of a hat. What do you want to bet there won’t be a rally in Florida or Pennsylvania?
And he’s still supposed to host the Rush Limbaugh show today–or at least that’s what Limbaugh’s website claims.
@Teve: I could do it since I really do believe that the world is past the tipping point. I think that it would be nice if we did something, but global warming is likened to the “Tragedy of the Commons” parable/thought experiment for legitimate reasons.
[Thank you for watching episode 728 of Why a nation shouldn’t elect people like Cracker (or Donald J. Trump, for that matter) to high office.]
@CSK: Vote on what? AFAIK, Congress isn’t in session now, so there are no ties to break, and we have to assume that because Pence knows how evil voting by mail is, that he will be casting his ballot in person.
@MarkedMan: And so very un Christian: The 8th Commandment: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Tom Brady suffered a senior’s moment last night.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/10/08/sports/tom-brady-buccaneers-fall-nick-foles-bears-20-19/
@Northerner:
True, but John (Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran) McCain would have been a continuation regime. But your Chomsky quote to the effect that all modern presidents are war criminals is on point. I was disappointed in Obama for not getting out of both Iraq and Afghanistan. I understand the pressure on him to not do anything radical, but still, disappointing. On the other hand he made a pretty good start at dealing with Iran. He failed to sufficiently Trump proof it, but I don’t think anyone could have.
For this weekend I’m thinking chicken and onions in tomato sauce with paprika, and a side of shredded potatoes in a creamy garlic sauce.
I think either would mix well with some kind of long pasta.
@Jen: One thing we have learned for sure from the last few years is that Trump can get his doctors to lie for him.
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
I’m not clear on this, but it seems that Pence was doing mail-in voting.
@Teve: Rod gets pretty well filleted in the comments, I note.
@Just nutha ignint cracker: oh, yeah, there’s no chance we’re going to make a dent in global warming. We’ll probly be +5°C by the end of the century. Famines, floods, wars, all that.
@Just nutha ignint cracker: No, his doctor actually cleared him:
Trump’s doctor says he’s completed his Covid-19 treatments and can return to ‘public engagements’ on Saturday.
Now, it’s possible that his doctor is lying, but given the risks associated with that (I’d think at very least he could lose his license to practice medicine), I don’t think it’s the case.
@Jen:
You know, it’s a clear no-brainer for Trump to release a copy of his negative test result for COVID-19. Not just announce it, but show the actual PCR test result from a lab. I’m betting he won’t do it because even a no-brainer decision requires a brain, and probably because he’s using a rapid test that’s not very reliable.
@Jen:
Actually (according to Haberman), Trump has completed his treatments and the Dr anticipated Trump’s return to public engagements. Somewhat different than “cleared him”.
Can you say…. a younger Harold Bornstein???
Trump and his surrounds have blown-up all credibility.
“Anticipates” is a very carefully chosen word that doctors will use to cover their ass.
@Northerner: @gVOR08: First of all, that Nobel Prize was very early in his term. The problem at that point wasn’t that he’d done anything terrible, but that he hadn’t done much at all. They basically gave it to him for winning the presidency.
I do happen to be an Obama admirer, but his foreign policy was a mixed bag, with Libya being a hot mess. So it’s not just that he did some things that are arguably criminal (e.g. assassinating US citizens), he also had significant failures from a policy perspective. He also had some serious accomplishments–the Iran Deal, the Paris Accord, even though Trump went on to wreck both–but like I said, it was overall a mixed bag.
@grumpy realist: I’ve pretty much stopped reading Dreher. His obvious horror of teh gays got worse and worse but the straw that broke it for me was his reaction to Black Lives Matter. He went from “sensible conservative” mode to “quivering on the ground in a fetal position sobbing for the policemen to protect him from the darkies” in about to weeks. The guy is the caricature of a conservative, fearful and angry about all those that are different.
Well, Trump, in the course of his radio rally* today, informed Rush Limbaugh that “we have a cure” for Covid-19, that being (I guess) Regeneron.
He also claimed to have been concerned about his own recovery, which he had previously said he wasn’t. Consistency, thou art a jewel.
*If he can do a radio rally, why not a virtual rally? Never mind. Rhetorical question.
The perfect summary of this election, its stakes, and what Republicans are trying to do…beware of anyone who speaks against democracy…
Vote these fucktards out, America.
@Teve: 500 years from now if the GOP still exists it will still be digging for Hillary’s e-mails before every Presidential election. It may become one of those long-standing customs everyone does but nobody remembers why or how it started.
@MarkedMan: And now, it seems, he needs to be protected from rainbow-coloured Oreos. Which are totalitarian, or something.
Dreher is the sort of idiot who will be screaming about an imagined catastrophe scheduled to hit 30 years down the road while totally ignoring the very real landslide/tsunami/whatever that’s just about to engulf him.
@Mikey:
More like 65-70 years.
The Mexican Revolution ended in 1921, or rather the civil wars and the succession revolving-door governments ended in 1921. Until around the late 80s or early 90s, under the rule of the same party (through name changes), presidents and other politicians promised to deliver on the “promises of the Revolution.”
Then they just gave up because no one cared or even remembered what these were any more.
@grumpy realist: Religion is fine in moderation. But when somebody gets a double dose, it can be a problem.
President Trump will give an address from a balcony, a la Benito Mussolini, on the White House to hundreds of invited guests tomorrow. He will be separated from them, but I’m willing to bet they won’t be separated from each other. Another superspreader event in the making.
Given that we have heard no further word about the alleged rally in Florida tomorrow, I assume that won’t be happening.
The Chairman of the Board has passed away–
Ford’s .690 career winning percentage is more amazing if you knew its background. Famous baseball author Bill James wrote in one of his books showing how Ford’s decisions were distributed. Whitey had the most while Casey Stengel was his manager against, Cleveland, then followed by Chicago, etc. Cleveland and Chicago were the Yankees main rivals when Casey was manager. Ford’s decisions tapered off in direct correlation to who were the next best teams down to the worst in the AL. In other words, Ford didn’t start a whole lot* against Washington, Philadelphia/Kansas City A’s, or the St Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles. In other words, Ford was excellent against strong teams.
RIP Chairman
*- My strat o matic baseball playing includes the 1955-1960 Ford/Stengel years and I use the actual lineups and starting pitchers. Ford doesn’t see much action against the American League’s worst teams.
Nothing says tinpot dictator like addresses from the balcony.
@Mikey:
I now have this amazing image in my head of Morris Dancing having begun as a quest for Hillary’s Emails…
@Just nutha ignint cracker:
No no no. no. just no. You don’t get to leave me holding the bag. Once again, this retired sociopath will not run for the position of Fearless Leader, will not serve, and will run like a rabbit if drafted.
@Teve:
Speaking from personal experience, I’d rather be in jail than in Trump’s WH. Less backstabbing, better food, although apparently WH drug pipeline is way better.
@Bill: Thank you, Bill. Was going to mention that myself. What a great career!
@Teve:
Okay… In my defense, I was in China during all of this.
I thought the issue was that HRC was using an improperly secured personal server (in violation of rules) for government e-mails, not that that there was an issue with the content of any particular e-mails.
Gods forgive me for this, but: What am I missing?
ETA: I’m off to watch bad movies then spend the weekend getting the house and yard ready for winter. I might not be back until Monday.
@Mu Yixiao: you’re not missing anything. It’s a whole bunch of bullshit. Seemingly every government official before her and since has used some kind of unsecured email to do official stuff, but it only matters because it’s Hillary. She is La Diabla!
@Mu Yixiao: @Teve: After having her lawyers go thru them, she also deleted a bunch of personal emails on their advice… Which gave the GOP the opening to claim, “THE EVIL SHE BITCH IS TRYING TO HIDE HER UNDERHANDED EVIL SCHEMES AND CRIMINAL DOINGS FROM TRUE RED BLOODED AMERICANS!!!!!” I’ve heard a lot of numbers, anywhere from 10,000-30,000 of them.
As one who has probably gotten nowhere near 10,000 emails in my entire life, I have a hard time envisioning it. But I was never the spouse of an ex-president, a US Senator from NY, SoS, or expected future candidate for President. Not only that, I was never as popular as her… Tho if intensity counts, I may be as reviled.
So anyway, politically it was a dumb move on her part, but if she had been involved in any shenanigans, surely one of those 10-30,000 email recipients/senders would have turned on her long before now for the big bucks they could make on the wingnut welfare circuit.
Has it become 1984 again?
Arms control is very technical. When Henry Kissinger in his memoirs starts writing about SALT talks, I need caffeine to stay away awake.
For those who don’t remember, a nuclear freeze was a proposal of every major democratic candidate for President in 1984.
@Jen:
New question then, should the AMA be convening a hearing to question the wisdom of letting this hairball continue to practice medicine? I know that’s not happening, but it’s possible (I’d go so far as to say likely and reasonable) that it should.
Additionally, I’m now officially adding Trump’s doctor to the list of people not to listen to because they are liars.
ETA: I will add that in the little corner of Red State ‘Murka that I live in, the County health department does not declare a person cured until after 14 days have elapsed without a return of symptoms. If I were this guy’s malpractice insurer, I’d drop him like a hot rock.
@grumpy realist: Why is it that Dreher can’t simply ignore rainbow Oreos? I KNOW that I would never have noticed them in the store if he hadn’t brought it up. I still may never see any of them because I almost never look for Oreos. [eye roll emoji here]
@CSK: Kayleigh and Kellyanne should show up to offer their support to the President. And Mike Bost and the Coast Guard Vice Commandant and…
@Just nutha ignint cracker:..Oreos
(white in the middle…get it?)
Commission cancels second debate between Trump and Biden
Jamelle Bouie: court packing can be an instrument of justice
@Mister Bluster: I get the joke about Oreos. In fact, my comment to a friend about Kamala Harris being selected as VP was “I don’t get the fuss; who doesn’t like Oreos.” My comment was about Dreher’s fixation on Oreos that aren’t white in the middle–they have the colors of the LGBTQ rainbow flag. Try to keep up. 🙁
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