Trouble

I actually love musicals but I admit most of them are a bit of a disappointment. The music is... not good enough. This is good.

Evening Thread

Inevitable.



..ahh, the movie doesn't include the important line. I forgot!

Puerto Rico's In America

When I was a kid we made racist Puerto Rican jokes. We made lots of racist jokes because there were a lot of racist jokes around and we were kids so we just echoed them. Not defending, just describing. We made jokes about Puerto Ricans. I doubt I knew a Puerto Rican. I doubt I knew where Puerto Rico was. I doubt I knew Puerto Rico was in America. I doubt I knew anything about Puerto Ricans at all. But we made Puerto Rican jokes like we made Polish jokes.

I Am Still Mad Online

Bush was very very bad and Trump only dreams of leaping over the high bar to be as bad as he was. Why do we forget this?

Lunch Thread

Have a video.

Who Cares What They Say

It's my job to read this stuff and I can go for weeks without reading a single NYT opinion column. I think that's good.

MEEEEE

No it is not about me but having a personal connection to a tragedy makes it more salient. It shouldn't be that way but we're humans and that's how we think. An acquaintance is trapped there and a Puerto Rican friend's mother lives there and while neither are that close to me I still have heard enough to know things are... bad.

Pivot

Trump got mad online at the Latina lady mayor of Puerto Rico and now we know what really happens when Donald Trump is president.

..and someone deleted the tweets. Fuck 2017.

Late Night

Rock on.

The Price is Wrong

Byebye asshole.

Perchance

I took a nap. Naps are good.

Afternoon Thread

Anybody else having a problem distinguishing between Price and Pruitt? Seems like they're in a contest to see which one can rack up the most all expensive, government paid excursions. Now we can also add in the Director of Verteran's Affairs. At least his name doesn't begin in "Pr." The swamp, it is overflowing.

I Am So Tired

The weight of the world does not really rest on my shoulders, but I can never tune it out. It is all horrible and I am so tired.

I Am Mad Online

My life's work - such as it is - was documenting how horrible the Bush administration was. Trump is horrible but most (not all!) of this is not new. Republicans are horrible (also, too, many Democrats).

We're All Friends Here

Politics is about power, and everyone who preaches the bipartisan-can't-we-all-get-along line is just defending the status quo of the people in power. A certain set of journalists hate it, but the development in US politics is the decades long re-alignment. The parties are no longer weird coalitions that make no sense. Even uninformed voters roughly know what Ds are and what Rs are.

Morning Thread

Derp de derp perfectly explains Price's offer to reimburse the government for his seat on the plane, but not the cost of the charter. I mean, what else can you say?

The Grey Turtleneck

Once upon a time, back in the deep dark ages of 2004, a local journalist did a tiny profile of me and was kind enough to not reveal my SECRET IDENTITY even though I revealed it myself not long after. We had a brief chat/interview at a bar the night of the DEAN SCREAM. I saw in real time how normal people (me) saw it versus how journalists saw it. Jesse from Pandagon was there, also, too, for you old timers. He was like 13 at the time (ok probably 21).

I wore a grey turtleneck that my high school girlfriend had knitted for me (hi Carol!) because it was really cold that night. So my costumed superhero cape was born.

Jason Fagone was the journalist, and he has a new book out. I have not read it, but he is an excellent writer and you can read this piece about how fucking awful it is to be shot for free! Then buy his book about The Woman Who Smashed Codes.

Make America Great Again

Trump was right. It is not already great, except in jingoistic American exceptionalism terms. Life for people should be easier and better. Trump is not the one to make things better, of course, and only a Republican can run on an "America sucks (because of that black guy)" platform, but things should be better. Not nibbling around the edges means-tested filling out a 57 page form qualify better. Just better.

Listen To Me You Damn Kids

Bush was horrible. Horrible horrible horrible. Obama was also fucking horrible, but much better! The theater of Trump is more horrible than anything we could have imagined, but so far (Puerto Rico is big exception, but Katrina was Bush's Katrina) he's just a noisy gauche conservative who can't tie his own shoes. He says the quiet things out loud, but they all believe the quiet things.

Trump is bad. Trumpism is bad. But they aren't new.

2004

It sucked. We were here. In a way it was the peak of this stupid blog. We had boobies (w00t! sadly, I think they have all been lost to linkrot). I was never John Kerry's biggest fan, but even though he lost - and he did - he almost won. Almost beating George W. Bush in 2004 was... miraculous. I know those of us in left internetstan couldn't imagine him losing, but really it was insane that he came close to winning. And he did! O Hi O.

Afternoon Thread

I got nothin'

Broder's Boy

Bush II was not very popular then he was. He kept us safe during the 9/11 attacks and was then very popular. Then "we" went to war and he was still popular. Eventually people realized that no matter how many Friedman Units we had, the Iraq war was bad. If you did not live through 9/11-2007 or so it is impossible to explain it to you. The Trump era - which is fucking horrible - is actually (so far!) much more sane and reasonable than that time. Only a few crazy bloggers understand this, but it's actually not debatable. This is just fact. People don't know how bad the Bush era was because most people tuned out. It was bad! Really really really bad!

Eventually the people realized he was bad, but still the press wrote "comeback kid" stories similar to the perpetual "Trump pivot" stories.

The black president was always unpopular, even when he wasn't.

My Blood Runs Cold

Early morning "rock on" seems appropriate.

Nobody Ever Cared About The Deficit

The simplest proof of the fact that almost every political reporter was either dumb as rocks, happy to be lied to, or, most likely, was on board with the ideology that government spending money on anything except war is bad, was that they took deficit concerns seriously. Nobody cares about the deficit (and, mostly, they shouldn't!).

For years, Republican lawmakers lamented the soaring national debt, pressing for spending cuts and clinging to the mantle of fiscal responsibility. But last week, Senate Republicans hammered out a deal to allow for as much as $1.5 trillion in tax cuts, betting that supercharged growth will make up for lost revenue, a potentially dubious prospect. The tax plan outlined Wednesday by the White House and Republican leaders in the House and Senate could cost more than $2 trillion over the next decade, according to a preliminary estimate by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

They don't care. They never cared. Republican presidents run up the deficit and Democratic ones bring it down, and after decades of this the Republicans are still the party of fiscal responsibility according to political journalists. Republicans hate spending any money for nice things and love tax cuts for rich people. That's it. I am a dumb blogger and I know this. You all get paid big salaries by our leading media outlets and you are stupid or liars.

Wednesday Night

I went to a movie. Apparently they still do that!

I Didn't Mean Me

A liberal thinkfluencer is a conservative thinkfluencer who has been hit by a minor raid on his/her wallet.

The Singularity

Filling me with confidence.

Many people in Silicon Valley believe in the Singularity—the day in our near future when computers will surpass humans in intelligence and kick off a feedback loop of unfathomable change.
When that day comes, Anthony Levandowski will be firmly on the side of the machines. In September 2015, the multi-millionaire engineer at the heart of the patent and trade secrets lawsuit between Uber and Waymo, Google’s self-driving car company, founded a religious organization called Way of the Future. Its purpose, according to previously unreported state filings, is nothing less than to “develop and promote the realization of a Godhead based on Artificial Intelligence.”

Self-driving car, artist's conception

As Expected

Trump tax plan raises taxes on middle class people and cuts taxes on rich people. I wonder if Trump know this? I don't think Trump is a *good* guy with great concerns about the middle class, but I think at some level he wants to be seen as a good guy, at least by the Trumpkins (he wants to be liked by the people who like him, at least). I expect his people will lie to him, Trump will take to the twitters talking about the fake news, etc...

Loser

Trump "embarrassed and pissed" that Strange lost last night. Feels outdone by Bannon. Blaming McConnell. Per mult sources to CNN WH team.

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) September 27, 2017

My first thought was that the sooner members of Congress realize working with Trump is toxic the better, but now I'm not so sure. Trump's people are totally incompetent and having them stick their short fingers into the pie probably hurts their Republican agenda. And the Trump agenda (to the extent that we can say there is one) is basically the Republican agenda, with some additional stupid commentary thrown in (the Republicans have a shit ton of stupid commentary already, but it's largely DC jargon that the press accepts as truthy if not quite true).

What This Country Needs Is A Party Of The Radical Center

Have we had that Tom Friedman column yet this election cycle?

The Noble Pursuit Of Amateurism

So shocked (that there was an investigation).

Assistant coaches at Arizona, Auburn, Oklahoma State and USC were all arrested and their programs are almost certainly in dire straights with both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and NCAA. The evidence here is based on an undercover FBI agent, wiretapped phones, recordings, written communication and financial transaction data. The feds win nearly every case for a reason. And the indicted haven’t even started flipping yet.

Though to the extent the money flows into the pockets of the students and their families...good.

Soon To Be Senator Roy Moore

The stupidest timeline.

Tuesday (Already?) Evening

enjoy

America's Worst Humans

Jonathan Chait.

Other Countries Are Nice

Other countries have their problems, also, too, and as a tourist or even short term visitor it's easy to focus on the nice things while the problems - some similar to our own, some different - are obscured. But a big chunk of the population of the greatest country in the world (that's us!) really does seem to believe that every other country in the world is a tyrannical shithole. Even people who manage to travel a bit - the weeklong tour bus or cruise ship visit - seem to think they're just visiting the museum part of the country, that the bits where people actually live are shitholes. But other countries do have nice things - some similar to ours, some different, and, yes, some much better. Life in England or France or Sweden or Italy or Spain or the Netherlands is recognizable and pretty good (I focus on Western Europe because that's mostly where I've been). Those places all differ from each other and from the US, and even I prefer some things about this great land of ours to some things about those countries, but lots of people have nice lives in them and mostly people have easier lives in them, and not just because of the better social insurance and worry-free (financially, anyway) medical care.

Your Moment of Zen

Trump on anthem protests: "To me, the NFL situation is a very important situation... I have plenty of time on my hands. All I do is work." pic.twitter.com/eZ14uNfqdM

— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 26, 2017

Resting Zombie

It'll never die, but Grassidy is dead...for now.

Well Then

It's insane all around but naturalized citizens are... citizens.

WASHINGTON – Federal officials are planning to collect social media information on all immigrants, including permanent residents and naturalized citizens, a move that has alarmed lawyers and privacy groups worried about how the information will be used.

Awkward, Elaine

Mitch is horrible, but he's competent (from a Republican perspective) horrible. Can't imagine who else in that playpen would be better.

The Trump White House is gearing up to lay blame for a series of likely failures this week squarely at the feet of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), according to sources in and outside of the administration.

Never work with Trump. Ever.

Guess I'm Moving To Alaska

Canada might be the *one place in the rich world* where the super super rich might be less than thrilled with the health care system, otherwise every other American would be thrilled to have Canadian health care, whether they know it or not.

Pence warns Alaska that if Graham-Cassidy fails, they could end up with the health-care of "a place called Canada": https://t.co/EPpFbHDK19

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 26, 2017

Morning Thread

When The Tunnels Go

Lots of transit nerds didn't like the tunnel plan Christie killed and weren't too upset about it. They had good reasons! But more astute observers of politics, like me, knew that it wasn't a bad plan or a better plan. It was bad plan or probably no plan.

The Gateway Project to construct two rail tunnels under the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York could take until 2030 to complete. But it might not even begin if federal funding is not forthcoming.

The states have agreed to contribute a total of 50 percent of the construction costs, but the U.S. government has made no commitment for the other half.

Eventually, no plan means no tunnels. And then...

Grassidy

Susan Collins says she's a no. I believe (you never know!) McCain's a real no. Rand Paul says he's no but he'll probably try to vote yes twice anyway. Cruz says he's a no but he'll yell "look at me!" in about 5 minutes, probably.

My point is people are saying it's dead, but, you know, not dead yet!

...I forgot Murkowski! Also probably a no, but...

Where We Are

Fox News is now reporting that this missile launch never happened. The President got duped by an old video from 7 months ago. Good grief. https://t.co/AOoIgpj7av

— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) September 25, 2017

Iran just test-fired a Ballistic Missile capable of reaching Israel.They are also working with North Korea.Not much of an agreement we have!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 23, 2017

Gotta Know Someone

I know too much relies on one or two of the right GOP members of Congress to have some personal experience which makes them see the light that their cold black hearts previously did not let them see, but the health care thing is a mystery. You gotta be pretty damn richie rich, and have pretty damn good richie rich insurance of the kind that most people with "good" insurance don't have, to not get that there is a big problem with our health care system. Most of these people have to have an old friend (maybe even a facebook friend! it's 2017) or a cousin or brother-in-law or whoever who has had an expensive tangle with our medical system. Sure some of the House Freedom Caucus genuinely believe if only we had FREEDOM then everybody would have cheap medical care, but most of the members of Congress aren't that...ok..not ALL of the members of Congress are that dumb.

Nobody Knows In America

It seems to be shifting a bit, but the lack of coverage of Puerto Rico has been astounding.

Weiner

The arc of life is weird sometimes.

BREAKING: Former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner sentenced to 21 months in sexting case that rocked presidential race.

— The Associated Press (@AP) September 25, 2017

The Tweetening

He won't shut up about sports and Puerto Rico is in crisis. Not enough people will care.

“There will be no food in Puerto Rico,” Mr. Rivera predicted. “There is no more agriculture in Puerto Rico. And there won’t be any for a year or longer.”

Puerto Rico is an island and there are messed up laws about which freight ships that can go there. Basically, international ships can't go there directly, only US ships.

Monday Morning

The Republicans have five more days to try and get their piece of shit legislation passed with fifty votes. Five days.

Ungrateful

My "favorite" conservative talking point is that the players are "ungrateful millionaires." Whatever one thinks of sportsball, these people get paid a shitload of money because people pay a lot of money to watch them do what they do. Nobody pays any money to see the owners. Without those "ungrateful millionaires" they'd be paying me 20 bucks a week to trip over my own feet.

Loyalty

Not a new point, but Trump always stresses how loyal he is, what a loyal guy he is. Of course in his narcissistic framework, he means "he expects loyalty from others to him."

He screws everybody who works with him.

Afternoon Thread

Get your afternoon on.

And In More Pressing News

I generally disagree with the "don't talk about issue X, issue Y is more important!!!" especially as, you know, this little blog rarely controls the world, but we do have a very pressing issue and far as I can tell the federal government is doing almost nothing (not nothing, but not much).

"There is horror in the streets," San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz said in a raw, emotional interview with The Washington Post. "People are actually becoming prisoners in their own homes."
"Whenever I walk through San Juan," Yulín said, she sees the "sheer pain in people's eyes. . . . They're kind of glazed, not because of what has happened but because of the difficulty of what will come," she said. "I know we're not going to get to everybody in time. . . . Two days ago I said I was concerned about that. Now I know we won't get to everybody in time."
Oscar Santiago, mayor of the northern coastal city of Vega Alta, said many of his community's families refused to evacuate their flooded homes. One little girl was standing barefoot with her family on a roof, which was littered with nails, he said. When he asked her to put on some sandals, she told him: "The hurricane took them."

Kneeling Day

I do love how conservatives (and often the media) always deflect issues. Everyone knows what's being protested (either originally, or now Trump), but they're all like how dare they disrespect the troops! The flag! A sick kid in the stands! (ok, not that last one, but probably be tomorrow).

Peaceful, Restful Sunday Morning Thread

Hahahaha! Just kidding. How can it possibly be peaceful when Commander in Chief of the largest military in the world threatens another leader, in a tweet. In an effing tweet. Alas, it's too early to start drinking.