Who is shooting this train wreck?

Question for the room: Does Donald Trump have his Pete Souza yet? That is to say, has he chosen a White House photographer? The only pix from the White House I’m seeing are the ones of him signing executive orders with his flunkies arrayed in a half-circle behind him. Pence always stands on his right, and applauds like the toady he is.

The pictures are unremarkable, wire-service stuff. The White House’s Flickr photo stream is empty, so I have to assume that this is one of those still-unfilled positions, like most of the East Wing staff.

And if you’re one of those people who doesn’t know who Pete Souza is, here’s part of his 2016 White House portfolio. I don’t recommend it if you’re feeling …emotional.

Especially this week, when yet another of the 10,000 veils dropped between the American public and the Trump administration. Yes, I’m talking about Natasha, makin’ money. I just can’t believe this stuff; I’m almost literally open-mouthed when I read it. What is wrong with these people? How is it even possible to be this crass?

Change of subject: Wendy was lying next to me the other day when she did something she’s never done before: Farted, audibly. There was a funny little toot, like the horn on a Fisher Price clown car, and then? Mustard gas. Do any of you have those dogs that bark at their own farts? Because that would be hilarious.

This little dickens:

She who smelt it absolutely didn’t deal it.

Posted at 9:30 pm in Current events |
 

82 responses to “Who is shooting this train wreck?”

  1. Suzanne said on February 7, 2017 at 9:51 pm

    Watching PBS American Experience about Oklahoma City and David Koresh and white supremicists. Utterly terrifying.

    We had a cat that would fart a lot. Usually silent but deadlies.

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  2. Deborah said on February 7, 2017 at 9:58 pm

    Can I say that the older you get the less possible it is for you to let go a silent fart. It always makes a noise the older you get. You don’t dare fart in public. That is all.

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  3. Basset said on February 7, 2017 at 10:03 pm

    Don’t even think about farting for a couple days after a butt-scope.

    Suzanne, we’re watching it too.

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  4. Sam said on February 7, 2017 at 10:39 pm

    Dogs are specialists in SBDs. Apparently a faction of the senate is also, with this shutdown of EWarren…or maybe not silent—they had to vote. Hey, don’t get me started on needing Pence’s vote to get slimy Betsy through…. Bets on how long Bets stays in office?

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  5. alex said on February 7, 2017 at 10:44 pm

    I have the Koresh show on too.

    My Doberman did SBDs as well as IEDs and all unpredictably. Her butt would prolapse and looked just like the Target target or Spuds MacKenzie’s (brown) eye. She was a needy dog who wanted to sleep in bed with me, but invariably positioned herself so that her ass was in my face. It’s these reminiscences that dry my tears about the day we put her down. And sensitive stomach, that one. She had projectile sharts. I kid myself when I say I don’t have another dog because I’m in mourning. I don’t have another dog because I’m enjoying my liberty.

    If Melania’s legal argument works, maybe I can sue my parents for fucking up my career as a world-famous concert pianist. They didn’t give me piano lessons when I was young enough to be a prodigy, dammit. I lost all kinds of fame and fortune because those selfish oafs wanted a quiet house without kid music practice.

    And that’s my two cents’ worth.

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  6. Julie Robinson said on February 7, 2017 at 10:51 pm

    Our daughter’s dog was reliving a confrontation she had with another dog in her sleep just now. She was barking and snarling with her eyes closed and we were having a good laugh at her. She’s cat sized and both dogs were on leashes and across the street from each other, so I feel certain she was inflating it in her dream.

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  7. Julie Robinson said on February 7, 2017 at 10:58 pm

    Alex, I love visiting animals but I’m also happy to leave them here. They have two cats and a dog and the youngest cat is the alpha of the house who picks fights with the others just for entertainment. Lots of skirmishes.

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  8. beb said on February 7, 2017 at 11:00 pm

    Talking about dog farts bis an order of magnitude better than talking about the Trump clan.

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  9. Sherri said on February 7, 2017 at 11:10 pm

    It’s more important to be nice to your fellow Senator than to have honest debate about the merits of the nominee for Attorney General. At least, if said Senator is a white male Republican.

    Mitch McConnell is ahead of Paul Ryan on my Arya list, because McConnell is such a gutless coward who hides from the press.

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  10. Sherri said on February 7, 2017 at 11:18 pm

    Orrin Hatch -Orrin Fucking Hatch- is afraid Mrs. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III will be embarrassed if Sen. Warren is allowed to read Coretta Scott King’s letter to the Judiciary Committee from 1986 out loud.

    We remember you, Orrin Hatch. We saw how you treated Anita Hill, and we haven’t forgotten.

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  11. LAMary said on February 7, 2017 at 11:40 pm

    The dear departed Max the Dane mix used to bark or growl at his ass when he farted. Smokey the Lab who is officially an old guy farts audibly. He is allowed to. It is one of the privileges of his age.

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  12. Jakash said on February 8, 2017 at 1:39 am

    “How is it even possible to be this crass?”

    Wondering about the realm of possibility, is it possible to imagine a drop-off in class more breathtaking than from Obama to Goldfinger, accompanied by Michelle to Melania? One of the most galling alternative facts out there is offered by tRumpers deluded enough to think that our long, national nightmare in the White House is over and that the guy who thinks gold plating makes elegant paneling has fine taste.

    “I don’t recommend it if you’re feeling …emotional.” Ditto for watching the movie “Jackie” and ruminating on the difference between the interior decorating ethic adhered to by that first couple, compared with this one. (Not that the takeaway from that movie is interior decoration, of course…)

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  13. Sherri said on February 8, 2017 at 2:13 am

    The ACLU of Washington and the Episcopal Diocese of Western Washington are suing trump over the Muslim ban.

    http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/2-uw-students-join-aclu-suit-as-washington-state-colleges-fight-travel-ban/

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  14. Dexter said on February 8, 2017 at 3:22 am

    Our cat Friendo (yeah…”No Country for Old Men” movie line) escaped for a while and he was dashing up trees and running in the yard, so fast. In the house he bats his tail around quite a bit.
    The money , how much is enough? The only people I worked with who today are retired and travel and drive new cars and go on cruises are the ones that married and lived on one check and invested the other check with a broker for years leading into decades…one guy always asked for my papers’ business sections and he spent his breaks on the pay-phone with his broker. At fifteen years into a thirty year career, he married a lady and they began the investing game. With one year to go, the man told me he had done it…parlayed 14 years of heavy-overtime paychecks into one million dollars. I roughly figured the take-home dough they invested amounted to about $700,000. He made another $300,000 by the stocks and bonds and accumulated interest. And hell yeah $1,600,000 would keep me in butter cookies and bagpipes! I’ll be 68 in 2017…the obituary pages are filled with 60-some year old people. It’d be a struggle to spend a million or two before I croak.

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  15. Deborah said on February 8, 2017 at 4:42 am

    If someone already linked to this, sorry I must have been in Abiquiu or something. Is Huffington Post a credible source? If so this is alarming http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_589a45f1e4b04061313a1fbb?

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  16. ROGirl said on February 8, 2017 at 4:45 am

    They probably bark at their own farts, too.

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  17. David C. said on February 8, 2017 at 6:19 am

    This should send chills up and down your spine. Our toddler king is going to get us all killed if all it takes for him to OK something stupid is for his aides to indulge him in a dick measuring game.

    But Defence Secretary, General James “Mad Dog” Mattis, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, reportedly convinced Mr Trump to go ahead with the raid by suggesting Mr Obama would never have been so bold as to actually go through with it.

    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-yemen-raid-agree-to-policy-barack-obama-would-not-do-james-matthis-qassim-al-rimi-a7566861.html

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  18. Suzanne said on February 8, 2017 at 7:56 am

    Deborah @15, I’d say the Huffington Post is semi-credible, but I’ve seen similar stories in places like the Washington Post. From what has popped across my news feed, there are an unusually large number of leaks coming from White House staffers for this early in an administration. But then, how anyone with half a brain could not see that Trump has no idea what is going on in the world around him is a mystery to me.
    I just heard a news report on the radio that his brand approval has gone up among certain people, especially those over 70, who think he’s “classy.”

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  19. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on February 8, 2017 at 7:58 am

    Trump doesn’t call for a Pete Souza; more of a Man Ray. Or Weegee.

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  20. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on February 8, 2017 at 8:19 am

    Arthur Fellig’s oeuvre: http://gothamist.com/2012/01/04/grisly_crime_scene_photos_from_1930.php

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  21. Kim said on February 8, 2017 at 8:59 am

    A friend’s niece has just begun working in the WH as the photo archivist. The current archivist is retiring after a 30-year career there. So far, no stories to tell. Souza will be a hard act to follow, but maybe one of the president’s children is handy with a camera.

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  22. Peter said on February 8, 2017 at 9:24 am

    Oh, such a rich tapestry today!

    Jeff TMMO – How about Diane Arbus? Better yet, Vivian Meier – she would refuse to be paid, which is alright with Casino Mussolini.

    Bassett is so right about not farting after a butt scope. Don’t ask how I know.

    When we were growing up we had a dachshund who would sit on top of the floor grate and fart into the vent – talk about your whole room freshener. I’m tearing up just typing this.

    And speaking of rancid dog farts – how ’bout that Mitch McConnell ladies and gentlemen!

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  23. Deborah said on February 8, 2017 at 9:25 am

    Yes there have been lots of stories about the leaks, but I hadn’t heard the specific one in that Huff Post piece about the 3am call to ask Flynn about the value of the dollar. That is bizarre and rude. Nuts. Total disregard for other people. What do his supporters think of that? Joe?

    This is like a Big Daddy in that Tennessee Williams play. Crazy and corrupt. And Bannon is like an evil villain in a Bond movie.

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  24. Deborah said on February 8, 2017 at 9:33 am

    I think the Republicans are afraid that Elizabeth Warren could well be the next president in 2020. They will be smearing her from now on.

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  25. Deborah said on February 8, 2017 at 9:50 am

    Seriously, are they doing these leaks on purpose because it adds to the chaos that Bannon desires? http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/trump-foreign-leaders-phone-calls-234770

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  26. Icarus said on February 8, 2017 at 10:06 am

    I’m surprised I didn’t think of this being the sci-fi type

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2017/02/07/i-understand-now-the-trump-administration-is-right-about-everything/?tid=sm_fb&utm_term=.ae712aad9bc0#comments

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  27. john (not mccain) said on February 8, 2017 at 10:17 am

    “Or Weegee.”

    NOT very mild-mannered. Nevertheless, so mote it be.

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  28. Julie Robinson said on February 8, 2017 at 10:44 am

    But don’t they want you to fart so they know your system is working again? That’s what I seem to remember, as much as the drug haze will let me.

    There’s a song in the musical A Little Night Music, titled Every Day a Little Death. It seems to apply to DC these days.

    Weather is still perfect in Orlando, pesky rain happened over night, and in the next 24 hours the rest of my family will be getting in. I’m going to focus on them instead of sh*t storms while we have time together.

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  29. BItter Scribe said on February 8, 2017 at 10:49 am

    I wonder if any of the people who called Michelle Obama ape, tranny, etc., are in any way bothered by Melania’s utter crassness.

    Probably not. She’s just following the lead of the guy they voted for, and the rest of his family.

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  30. Heather said on February 8, 2017 at 10:51 am

    Jesse Berney said it best on Twitter:

    GOP is angry someone read a letter saying Sessions stopped black people from voting but not angry Sessions stopped black people from voting.

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  31. LAMary said on February 8, 2017 at 10:55 am

    I like the idea of WeeGee doing White House Trump photos. Diana Arbus would be good too.

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  32. Kirk said on February 8, 2017 at 11:13 am

    They won’t release you until you fart air after a butt-scope. My late sister thought she had escaped without cutting one and remarked about it on the way home to her husband, who corrected her. “You rattled the walls,” he said.

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  33. Joe K said on February 8, 2017 at 11:19 am

    Deb@23,
    No clue, we are all too busy working.
    Pilot Joe

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  34. Bob (Not Greene) said on February 8, 2017 at 11:32 am

    Joe, thanks for taking time out of your busy work schedule to tell us you’re too busy working.

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  35. Sherri said on February 8, 2017 at 11:36 am

    Waiti, I thought trumpkins voted for him because their jobs had all gone to Mexico.

    Seriously, Joe, what do you believe in that leads you to support trump? Is it just fear of Muslims, as you’ve expressed here before?

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  36. Jolene said on February 8, 2017 at 11:46 am

    It’s funny how Trump voters are always claiming how busy working they are, yet the parts of the country that Clinton won generate nearly two-thirds of the nation’s economic activity.

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  37. Scout said on February 8, 2017 at 11:51 am

    Boy, I’m glad SOMEBODY is working, because none of the rest of us dirty hippies is doing shit, amirite?

    The Natasha story is just so very strange. Like, what is the angle? Deborah mentioned (on FB, I believe) that the reason might actually be to destroy the Daily Mail, one of those “dishonest media” actors Natasha’s husband keeps banging on about. That makes about as much, or more, sense as anything. It can’t be about money, and anyone thinking it would garner her any sympathy misfired badly. But then, calamitous mis-fires seem to be the only thing this bunch of misfits and fools seem to know. If not for the evil opportunism of the Senate and Congress…

    Which brings me to how Betsey DeVos purchased herself a Cabinet post and how all those bought and paid for Senators rubber stamped her appointment (John McCain took in $50,600, and that was one of the smaller grifts) with nary a blink. Followed by the spectacle of this same body shutting down Elizabeth Warren in order to be able to deny Beauregard’s racism. And that was just Tuesday.

    My coffee break is over, so back to WORK for me. Thanks for letting me vent here, gang.

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  38. Deborah said on February 8, 2017 at 11:53 am

    Weegee and Arbus would class up the joint. The current unpopular admin will go for a fifth rate wedding photographer and be completely happy. Besides Weegee and Arbus are long dead.

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  39. Deborah said on February 8, 2017 at 12:01 pm

    Heather at #30, I have no idea who Jesse Berney is but I hope that is going viral. Right on.

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  40. Deborah said on February 8, 2017 at 12:08 pm

    Well Joe, some of us are retired after 40+ years in the work force. And in fact most of Trump’s supporters are old people, no doubt many retired on Social Security and Medicare. He’s losing them too https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/505274/?client=safari

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  41. Judybusy said on February 8, 2017 at 12:12 pm

    Getting back to dogs farting, the *actual* thread today: our dogs does cute little farts, and often looks back in surprise. I obviously find this adorable.

    Also on Tuesday: a US representative introduced a bill to entirely eliminate the EPA. Prior to November, one could greet this with a snort and an eye-roll, but not these days.

    I don’t talk about work much, but while I’m on this pre-approved break, an attorney and I just got a 19-year-old a great outcome of chemical dependency treatment and probation instead of prison! It helped that the PO who wrote the presentence investigation shared her personal history of a brother with FASD who went to prison, and who advocated for our client to get into treatment.

    Oh, in other Minneapolis news: a white supremecist who shot into a crowd of BLM protestors was found guilty on all counts. He was defended by attorneys in my office, so that was really weird.

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  42. MichaelG said on February 8, 2017 at 12:39 pm

    Deborah @ 15, Kevin Drum has some thoughts on Trump’s early $$ call.
    http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum
    Scroll down to “Trump’s Staff…”

    A million six? Of course I could live on that. I’ll be 73 this year and the cancer is advancing so who knows how much longer I’ll be around. Also there’s that aortal aneurism I have some money put aside (less than a tenth of that mil six) but some and with the checks I get from the State, the VA and SSA I have a pretty decent monthly income. I was reasonably poor most of my life and now suddenly find myself in good financial shape.

    Given all the circumstances listed above, I’m treating myself to all the things I didn’t have before. I drink good wine, I go to good restaurants, (lunch at Mulvaney’s with T again yesterday finished off with a $25 shot of grappa) if I want something I buy it. It’s fun for now but I don’t know about any future trips. I have a scan next week and a visit with the Doc. We’ll see how things are then. I might need to have somebody go with me on any trips. I’m slowing down, slowly but inexorably.

    Some idiot at Kaiser keeps sending me those “send me a sample of your shit” kits for colon cancer screening. As if all the CAT scans, PET scans, X-Rays and MRIs wouldn’t notice something. Plus there’s all the chemo I’ve been loading up on over the last couple of years.

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  43. MichaelG said on February 8, 2017 at 12:41 pm

    Period after “aneurism”.

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  44. Jakash said on February 8, 2017 at 1:05 pm

    “No clue, we are all too busy working.”

    Yeah, 76 consecutive months of job growth IS impressive, ain’t it? Thanks, Obama!

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  45. LAMary said on February 8, 2017 at 1:18 pm

    MichaelG, maybe it’s my New Jersey background, but if someone kept asking me for a sample of shit I might accomodate him. It might not be in exactly the manner he requested.

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  46. Jeff Borden said on February 8, 2017 at 2:10 pm

    Is it just me or have the first two and a half weeks of Trumptopia felt like a year to anyone else? Each morning I awake to hear something ridiculous on the radio and see more horror stories on the front pages of my newspapers. It’s bad enough we elected a toddler to the presidency, but it’s even more heartbreaking to realize there isn’t a single Republican in the House or Senate who will stand up to him. Maybe they figure while we’re freaking out over his ridiculous Twitter feuds, disastrous phone calls to foreign leaders and dissing of the judicial branch, they’ll finally get their chance to gut Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid.

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  47. Deborah said on February 8, 2017 at 2:19 pm

    Michael G, good link, I scrolled down further and got this about the Cruz/Sanders debate about healthcare which I totally missed http://m.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2017/02/americans-flee-america-overseas-health-care-just-canadians

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  48. Sherri said on February 8, 2017 at 2:31 pm

    MichaelG, when I was doing my research on colonoscopy, I discovered that Kaiser’s standard of care was FIT for colorectal screening, not colonoscopy.

    But I can do you one better on the standardized letters bugging you about cancer screenings; I keep getting letters from my insurer (Premera Blue Cross) reminding me that I need to get a Pap smear even though they paid for a hysterectomy (with cervix removed) some 7 or 8 years ago.

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  49. Joe K said on February 8, 2017 at 2:36 pm

    Not a problem Bob, flew a little over 8 hr yesterday to help keep a truck plant running.
    Sherri, not scared of Muslims on the whole, just worried about the ones trying to kill me.
    Just a quick question to the group.
    Do you keep your windows and doors locked?
    Why?
    I keep mine locked to hopefully keep bad people out. If someone Comes to my door that I don’t know I don’t let them in till I know what they want,
    Why Shouldn’t we do the same with immigrants?
    Pilot Joe

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  50. Sherri said on February 8, 2017 at 2:57 pm

    Are you complaining about undocumented immigrants, Joe? Or all immigrants? or just Muslim immigrants? Do you know anything about the immigration process?

    If you’re worried about Muslims who might kill you, are you worried about other people who are far more likely to kill you, like the white guy with the armory in his house?

    I’m trying to understand what the value is behind your fear of Muslims, what you consider a priority in life. Is it safety? Desire to keep out people who don’t share your background? What are your values, that you consider trump an expression of them?

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  51. Sherri said on February 8, 2017 at 3:08 pm

    When Republicans do something racist, can’t they come up with a better defense than “The KKK were Democrats!”

    Come on, surely they can show a little more imagination.

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  52. Deborah said on February 8, 2017 at 3:22 pm

    Little Bird says that when a dog (or a person) is startled by a fart, they’re “fartled”.

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  53. Julie Robinson said on February 8, 2017 at 3:23 pm

    Hey Joe, how about attributing when you use others’ work? I’ve seen that door screed half a dozen times lately. Did it come from Fox, by chance?

    I’ve probably just lost another Facebook friend though in this case it’s no great loss. She wrote that she cut up her Nordstrom card, and I asked how Ivanka having most of her goods made overseas went along with her father’s message. http://www.businessinsider.com/ivanka-trump-clothing-line-made-in-china-hong-kong-2017-2

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  54. MichaelG said on February 8, 2017 at 3:35 pm

    Yeah, Sherri. Kaiser moved from colonoscopy to FIT screening about 10 years ago. It’s much cheaper, does a good job of initial screening and is (obviously) much less invasive. If indicated by the FIT screen, they can move on to a c-scope or whatever else is indicated.

    For myself, all the scans, etc. that I’ve had obviate the need for any butt specific screening.

    I just don’t know what to say, Joe. You make such huge, breathtaking, non-sequitur leaps from point A to some point off in space that I’m left speechless.

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  55. Deborah said on February 8, 2017 at 3:35 pm

    Joe, first of all when you go to other countries, not all, you must have a Visa. To get one you have to go through a process. You have to get a passport etc. So you are known to some extent. That doesn’t mean there aren’t people who get through the cracks, of course it happens but when you count all of the travelers who go through customs etc it’s a very (very) small percentage. There’s more I could say but I’ve gotta get back to work.

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  56. brian stouder said on February 8, 2017 at 3:36 pm

    Uncle Rush pushes that “KKK/DemoKRAT party” shit all the time.

    The question he’ll never, ever address is – when did that change, and why? What effect might the Civil Rights movement of the mid-60’s have had? What was Tricky-Dick’s vaunted “Southern Strategy”?

    If Abraham Lincoln’s lawyer-clone was alive today, he’d launch a bigger lawsuit than Melania Trump did, with regard to the bottomless defamation (and moral obscenity) of referring to that party as “the party of Lincoln”.

    Jefferson Davis (the original, not the wannabe who’s going to be AG) himself is the grand-daddy, capital R-Republican template, today

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  57. Heather said on February 8, 2017 at 3:36 pm

    Yeah, I lock my doors. But I also open them pretty often and invite people in. If I don’t know them, I ask them to show me credentials (such as with the guy checking my gas meter), or maybe I have to get to know them a little bit before inviting them in. That’s basically what we do with our immigration process.

    Joe, I invite you to read this first-hand account of the vetting process for a Syrian refugee. If a terrorist wanted to do damage here, there are a lot quicker and more efficient ways of going about it than this: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/i-went-through-americas-extreme-vetting-214703

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  58. Judybusy said on February 8, 2017 at 4:04 pm

    MichaelG, in a way I’m happy for you that you’re now reasonably well-off, and have the good sense to enjoy it. I just wish you had 30 more years to do so. Also, if I had a bit more money (saving lots for retirement) I would certainly volunteer to be a travel buddy. I would, of course, expect a full vetting process, including a background check, mental health screening (which would show I’m annoyingly, persistantly chipper) and about a dozen references. Actually, LAMary might be better, since she’s a nurse, so could help address any medical issues if they arose. I do hope you get to continue to travel!

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  59. kathy t said on February 8, 2017 at 4:10 pm

    Yeah Michael G and Sherri, my electronic list of reminders tells me i will be needing a colonoscopy in 8 years. Never mind that I had a whole bunch of polyps 2 years ago which would need closer surveillance except for the colonoscopy in Sept which revealed an obstructing metastasis of my esophageal tumor for which i had colostomy and resection of a smaller tumor in the small intestine. Ha. They thought i might put this off a few years and save BIG bucks.

    Best, however, was when I was pregnant with kid #3 in the late 80’s. I did not get prenatal care till month 7 because I had popped out another couple of uneventful babies already. Insurance co. demanded a pregnancy test for this obvious wombdweller whose movements could be seen across the room with the naked eye.

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  60. Mark P said on February 8, 2017 at 4:17 pm

    But hey what about those dog farts!

    I had an older stray Doberman who regularly cleared the room with her farts. I finally found a major brand of dog food with no soy content — problem solved.

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  61. Sherri said on February 8, 2017 at 4:28 pm

    The Republican problem on health care in a nutshell:

    You simply cannot have a humane health-care system without socializing risk: The rich and healthy subsidize the treatment of the poor and sick, or else the latter die preventable deaths.

    http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/02/aca-repeal-forces-the-gop-to-choose-conservatism-or-cruelty.html

    The problem for Republicans is that Obamacare passed, despite their attempts to scuttle it, and it has saved peoples’ lives. They knew this would happen, which is why they fought government based health insurance for so long. Once that happens, no amount of big government rhetoric can overcome it. If they repeal Obamacare, they will kill people, period. There is no way to replace it so that it doesn’t kill people that doesn’t retain the features they hate. They’re already damaging it with the uncertainty they’re creating in their beloved marketplace.

    If Democrats can’t manage to run against them with “you’re gonna die if you elect Republicans” ads, then I give up.

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  62. brian stouder said on February 8, 2017 at 4:42 pm

    Sherri – you KNOW what they’ll say –

    “Live free, or DIE!!”

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  63. Sherri said on February 8, 2017 at 4:51 pm

    As long as they get to live free and the other people die.

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  64. Sherri said on February 8, 2017 at 5:00 pm

    I warned of a brain drain under trump. The trickle has begun, for foreign born talent. As I said, Microsoft already has a site in Vancouver because immigration is easier there, and so does Amazon.

    http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/moving-to-canada-no-election-year-joke-anymore/

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  65. brian stouder said on February 8, 2017 at 5:02 pm

    But of course!!

    it is like this whole “Chicago is going to absolute hell!” meme, which Chris Hayes is going to go after beginning this evening.

    Senseless violence and gangs and drugs…it’s those ‘darkies’, doncha know?

    Never mind about all those white people who live in trailer parks in the heartland, and do their drugs and kill one another.

    Lots of human beings, who aren’t born into wealth – or at least into ‘adequacy’ (which is about as much as I can possibly claim!) turn to all sorts of destructive behaviors

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  66. Sherri said on February 8, 2017 at 5:20 pm

    I should add, as someone interested in government in Redmond, immigrants and what the trump administration does about immigration is a huge deal. Almost 40% of our residents are foreign born.

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  67. Sherri said on February 8, 2017 at 5:24 pm

    Prepaid debit cards are just straight up fraud.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-08/jpmorgan-accused-of-nickle-and-diming-jurors-on-debit-card-pay

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  68. Sherri said on February 8, 2017 at 5:29 pm

    No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/02/07/trumps-immigration-order-requires-bureaucrats-to-figure-out-who-is-christian-thats-not-easy/

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  69. David C. said on February 8, 2017 at 6:27 pm

    I lock my doors and windows at night, so what? It’s just what you do. I lived in a time and place where “we don’t have to lock our doors at night”. We still did and so did everyone else. But I don’t dive for the bushes every time I see a person with darker skin. Why should I? They’ve never given me problems. Two of the best bosses I’ve ever had have been Muslims, my dental hygienist is a Muslim. I don’t fear them in the least. I’m not afraid of would-be terrorists. Driving my car to work is more of a danger to my life than terrorism, so is my bathtub, and my stairway, and probably everything I can touch right now. The only people who have made me fear for my life are obnoxious white people who took offence at my riding my bicycle on “their” roads. Joe, when did your family com knocking on America’s door? Was it after 1632? That’s when my forebears came to America. I trust that you’re glad that when your family came knocking on our door, mine opened it for them.

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  70. Colleen said on February 8, 2017 at 7:06 pm

    I refuse to live in fear of the “other”.

    I really don’t see how decent people can support Donald Trump. He is so destructive. And unqualified. And untruthful. He could say the sky is purple with green stripes, and his followers would believe him.

    Alternative atmosphere, I guess.

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  71. Sherri said on February 8, 2017 at 7:14 pm

    Thank you, Senator Graham, for letting us know how women are supposed to behave in your august chamber. I’m sure no man, particularly no Republican man coughTed Cruzcough, would ever do anything so self-aggrandizing, and if he did, I’m sure you’d be quick to silence him too.

    Signed,

    Millions of women who have been silenced in meetings for saying things any man could say with no one blinking

    http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/08/politics/kfile-graham-on-warren/index.html?sr=twCNN020817kfile-graham-on-warren1115PMStoryPhoto&linkId=34280610

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  72. Joe K said on February 8, 2017 at 7:42 pm

    David,
    Mine came in in the late 1890’s I believe, but they came in legally, thru Ellis island after being vetted. Then found jobs on the B&O railroad and learned English
    When I asked my dad one time why we didn’t know Polish, his answer was his grandfather wouldn’t allow it, were in America we speak English was his answer.
    Why can’t we enforce the current laws that are already in place, and am I wrong or didn’t the previous administration put a 6month ban on immigrants from Iran at one time?
    Pilot Joe

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  73. Deborah said on February 8, 2017 at 7:59 pm

    Life goes on Joe, this is the 21st century. Some things live on like the constitution, tell your president that.

    I think the “nevertheless she persisted” meme is brilliant, A rallying cry for women everywhere. Wow, talk about turning off a microphone and turning it into a roar, I can’t think of a better one. The future is female.

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  74. nancy said on February 8, 2017 at 8:11 pm

    Oh, FFS, Joe — after being “vetted?” At Ellis Island that consisted of a medical exam, a five-minute interview and out the door. You could look it up. Today’s refugee or Middle Eastern immigrant goes through a years, yes years-long process.

    Also, where are you getting that immigrants don’t learn English?

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  75. Lurker said on February 8, 2017 at 8:13 pm

    Hello! Want to solve dog flatulence and help the critter’s upset stomach? Canned or fresh pumpkin (not the kind with spices for making pie). Plain, 100% pumpkin. Great for digestion for dogs and about a tablespoon on their food works wonders! I accidentally found this solution on the web and it WORKS!

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  76. alex said on February 8, 2017 at 8:24 pm

    Will it work on Joe? He’s stinkin’ up the room today.

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  77. Jolene said on February 8, 2017 at 8:44 pm

    Historically, the pattern of language-learning in this country has been that people become monolingual in English by the third generation. Immigrants who arrive as adults will always struggle with the language to some extent. The next generation is bilingual. These are the kids who interpret for their parents. The next generation knows little, if any, of the language spoken by the original immigrants. The summary page of this study indicates that this pattern is still occurring among recent immigrants.

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  78. Sherri said on February 8, 2017 at 8:51 pm

    My ancestors weren’t vetted by anyone, because the Native Americans didn’t get that opportunity and the US government didn’t exist at the time.

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  79. nancy said on February 8, 2017 at 8:57 pm

    The they-don’t-speak-English argument is so lame. It’s been disproven time and time and time again, and it’s always people like Joe who tell these b.s. stories about how their ancestors stepped onto American soil and immediately became fluent in English, because they loved America so, so much.

    What Jolene says is true: The immigrants struggle, their children learn, and their grandchildren don’t speak any of the old language. That’s the way it happens, over and over again.

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  80. Sherri said on February 8, 2017 at 9:07 pm

    If we’re going to talk about immigrants not speaking English, let’s talk about Southerners like Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III who proudly celebrate their heritage as traitors to the US government.

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  81. susan said on February 8, 2017 at 9:12 pm

    Joe, here are a few items you might find enlightening:
    You can listen to this one, no reading required: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/609/it’s-working-out-very-nicely

    You can also listen to this one: Episode 68: Politics at the Oscars, and a Doctor’s-Eye View of Trump at http://www.newyorker.com/podcast

    But you’ll actually need to read the collection of articles on this page: http://www.newyorker.com/topics/immigration

    Report back and let us know if you have gained any empathy.

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  82. Sherri said on February 8, 2017 at 9:17 pm

    Joe, still haven’t answered my question. What are your values? I’ve stated mine here, and said what I’m doing in support of them. What’s important to you?

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