Lights, camera, Fellini.

So, the Washington Post/Project Veritas story. Of course you’re allowed the belly laughs you undoubtedly had, watching James O’Keefe’s moron underling try to “cancel” her interview with the Post reporter batting her around like a cat with a mouse. But once you’ve had them, consider what this is saying about our particular moment.

O’Keefe sent this woman on her mission, apparently in the belief that Washington Post reporters would say, in essence, “Tell me your story and I will immediately put it in the newspaper. Will it affect the election? Oh my, yes. Judge Roy Moore is finished, I tell you. Finished!”

And if they wouldn’t use those exact words, well, they can always fix it in post. (TV joke there.)

I guess what amazes me most about this caper is how…not just dumb, but ignorant it was. You don’t have to know much about how reporting is done to be flabbergasted that anyone thought this would work. Or, giving them credit for a few more IQ points, assume they knew it wouldn’t work, but they could get enough to piece together something their supporters would accept as Stickin’ it to the Man, and keep O’Keefe in $300,000 worth of high cotton for a little while longer.

I read somewhere that bloggers — bloggers! — at Breitbart are knocking down six figures a year. This gravy train has many cars; in Tomi Lahren’s, you can get you hair highlighted. But how long will the people who pay for the coal to keep it running down the track keep doing so?

The trouble is that many of these rich donors are out of touch with reality (if I had a billion dollars and nobody ever told me “no,” I would probably be out of touch, too). Rather than investing in the tedious and time-consuming work of incremental gain, they demand instant gratification. Rather than supporting young conservatives who have a steady working-class temperament, they fawn over eccentric young dreamers with delusions of grandeur.

Meanwhile, lots of deserving conservative causes and individuals wither on the vine.

What a world, when a whole, well-funded organization is built on telling lies to support a candidate alleged to have molested young teens. AMERICA.

I was going to write more on this, but again, my feeble efforts have been overtaken by events. Today? Matt Lauer, aka the Phantom Graduate of Ohio University. (Seriously. I graduated from the j-school there the same time he did, and I have zero memory of him. Assuming he may have been in a different sequence, like radio-TV, well, J.C. was a fixture in that department, and he doesn’t remember him either. None of our classmates, ditto. Weird.) More chainsaws can be heard in the forest, and more trees will be falling soon.

One of the women I swim with said today, while we were showering, that all of 2017 seems like a Fellini movie. Either that, or Kubrick:

What a natural-born model that lady is. So expressive.

Happy Wednesday. all.

Posted at 8:43 am in Current events, Media |
 

166 responses to “Lights, camera, Fellini.”

  1. Dorothy said on November 29, 2017 at 8:53 am

    All I could think of when I saw a clip the other day of those kids surrounding and hugging Melania during her breeze-through of the decorations was “I wonder how much they paid those kids’ families to make them do that?”

    The fact that my daughter works at the Post now just fills me with so much pride and happiness that I can barely contain it. She is extremely happy in her new position. Suffice to say we are taking great pleasure in that particular story. We’re visiting her just after Christmas and will get a tour of the new building where she works in D.C. And like Forrest Gump, that’s all I’m going to say about that.

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  2. coozledad said on November 29, 2017 at 8:56 am

    They have an opportunity to replace Lauer with someone who isn’t a craven asslicker, and they won’t. The real journalists are hardly visible on a TV set these days. Until you see people like Imani Gandy and Sarah Kendzior on daily programming, it’s all just boy’s club shite.

    We’ve got a a president who’s disseminating Nazi propaganda. Hate speech. White males collectively brought us to this point, gladhanding Republicans at every step, and a top-down purge is, sadly, too fucking late.

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  3. redoubt said on November 29, 2017 at 9:01 am

    (Party/champagne brunch at Ann Curry’s.)

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  4. jcburns said on November 29, 2017 at 9:02 am

    I’m wondering whether the Ohio University J-school will strip Lauer of his post-success awards and accolades, including his honorary degree.
    And yes, I was a fixture at WOUB. I was a 500 watt light in Studio A.

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  5. Randy said on November 29, 2017 at 9:18 am

    This is a long way to go for a “fix it in post” joke, but it’s from The Onion, and it’s The Onion skewering Paris Hilton back when she merited skewering. NSFW, from the headline all the way to the end: http://bit.ly/2BmDY1F

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  6. 4dbirds said on November 29, 2017 at 9:44 am

    I hope Ann Curry is smiling today. Also Melania is a one expression stick.

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  7. coozledad said on November 29, 2017 at 10:23 am

    Russia is at war with the US, and the entire Republican apparatus is helping them. Traitor scum.
    https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/935557562375852034

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  8. alex said on November 29, 2017 at 10:23 am

    Wikipedia says Lauer dropped out of Ohio U in 1979, but returned in the 1990s and obtained his degree at age 39.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Lauer

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  9. Jeff Borden said on November 29, 2017 at 10:30 am

    I imagine a whole lot of bad apples have yet to fall from the trees. Maybe that is an unintended consequence of this abortion of a presidency? More women speaking up and demanding justice from the men who wronged them? I hope NBC plows the disgraced Lauer’s multimillion dollar salary into more reporters, producers and researchers, but I doubt it. The thought that someone of so little value as Megan Kelly is making something like $13 million at NBC makes my stomach ache. Imagine if that cash were put into news resources. Ah, well, I covered that industry long enough to know that the marquee names get the vast majority of the money. Nothing changes.

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  10. MarkH said on November 29, 2017 at 10:45 am

    More to the point of Lauer’s education, wiki also says he attended OU’s Scripps College of Communication, School of Media Arts and Studies. Was that separate from OU’s journalism program? Even if it was, it seems unlikely Nancy and especially JC would not have crossed paths at some point. Lauer’s birthday has him one month younger than Nancy which could put him in Athens the majority of the time she and JC were there. Also, it’s entirely possible that ’97 degree was honorary.

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  11. nancy said on November 29, 2017 at 10:58 am

    He might be one of those people who was a pimply dork, later transformed by exercise, confidence and excellent makeup artists.

    The J-school wasn’t called Scripps when we were there. If he dropped out in ’79 and finished later, that would figure. I think Scripps endowed and renamed it about two or three years after I graduated.

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  12. adrianne said on November 29, 2017 at 11:07 am

    Matt Lauer has always impressed me as a dick. Glad to hear my impressions were on track.

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  13. Jakash said on November 29, 2017 at 11:10 am

    A fine tweet-thread replying to and eviscerating a conservative’s charming speculation that “nominating Hillary Clinton may have been a mistake.”

    https://twitter.com/GothamGirlBlue/status/935685316870070272

    And I’ll readily agree with Adrianne — never got what people liked about that guy in the first place.

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  14. Suzanne said on November 29, 2017 at 11:11 am

    Have you seen the pictures of the White House Christmas decor? Looks like a horror movie set.

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  15. jcburns said on November 29, 2017 at 11:25 am

    Dropping out just before finishing is a proud tradition at Ohio University’s College of Communication. (Speaking from a somewhat limited perspective.)

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  16. Sherri said on November 29, 2017 at 11:29 am

    Jakash, a fine tweet thread indeed. Instead of worrying about how to win over trump voters (hint: they can’t be won over), the Dems should be thinking of new ways to get women of color running for office. They are the core of the party.

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  17. coozledad said on November 29, 2017 at 11:52 am

    There’s some speculation that Megyn Kelly may fail upward into Matt Lauer’s chair of very serious people’s Republican cracklicking. A safe bet. She’s basically another white man, and the NBC corporate office only makes lateral moves, unless you’re black.

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  18. Bitter Scribe said on November 29, 2017 at 11:57 am

    Did anyone see that bizarre picture that someone on Melania’s staff tweeted of a Christmas tree in the White House? There was a tree, tiny in the background, at the end of a long corridor lined on either side with ugly potted—trees? Shrubs? Hard to tell, but whatever they were, they looked awful, with bare intertwined branches. The whole thing was shot in silver and (mostly) black. It was like the set of a horror movie. Internet comedians had a field day, photoshopping Alfred Hitchcock and characters from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” into the frame.

    I wonder, do models run out of taste when it’s not supplied to them?

    As for Paris Hilton, it’s perhaps worth noting that her “inheritance” is nowhere near as big as most people think, and she earned almost all of her money herself. True, she earned it largely through useless shit like showing up at nightclubs, but she earned it nonetheless.

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  19. john (not mccain) said on November 29, 2017 at 12:42 pm

    And now it’s Garrison Keillor’s turn. Will there be any men over the age of 50 left in the media this time next year?

    https://www.rawstory.com/2017/11/garrison-keillor-fired-by-minnesota-public-radio-over-inappropriate-behavior-report/

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  20. jcburns said on November 29, 2017 at 12:42 pm

    Woebegone, indeed. Garrison Keillor out (yes, you thought he had retired) from his deals with Minnesota Public Radio and American Public Media.

    This means ‘A Writer’s Almanac’—gone. And also means that Chris Thile’s ‘Prairie Home Companion’ gets renamed. (!!)

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  21. FDChief said on November 29, 2017 at 1:03 pm

    “Meanwhile, lots of deserving conservative causes and individuals wither on the vine.”

    But that’s the REAL problem. Because there are really no “deserving causes and individuals” in modern U.S. “conservatism”.

    I mean, other than open stooging for plutocracy, and comfort for white nationalism, Christian theocracy, and fear of the “others” (whether those others are gay, or brown, or Muslim), what IS there to “conservative” in the U.S. right now?

    I know that sounds harsh, but…that’s really it, isn’t it? It’s all tax cuts and privatize and deregulate and unshackle Wall Street and shove the homos back in the closet and no abortion and open carry everywhere. “Small government”? Sure…unless you count the DoD. Or the NSA.

    There’s no GOP vision of a future United States that doesn’t really come down to a return to the Gilded Age, is there?

    What’s appalling is that, goddammit, this nonsense works! Something like 40% of the U.S. public buys it. A ridiculously huge number of Americans who are getting or going to get hosed by the GOP’s oligarchic fervor for plutocracy – their jobs offshored or downsized, their cities and towns less liveable, their health degraded by pollution and lack of medical care – are all in on this nonsense because they can buy four more AR-15 knockoffs, and the taco truck guy is being deported, and the liberal slut can’t abort the little bastard she conceived from sacrilegious sexytime.

    So, no. It’s not that there are “deserving” conservative causes and people who are going without. Like Chesterton’s Christianity, it’s not that there’s a decent, thoughtful, sane conservatism that has been tried and found wanting. It has been found inadequately racist, theocratic, and punitive, and never tried ever since (as Charlie Pierce likes to say) Reagan fed the GOP the monkeybrains back in the Eighties…

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  22. Julie Robinson said on November 29, 2017 at 1:18 pm

    Wowza. I get it though. This has stirred up a lot of feelings about my own me too story, which happened 40 years ago and which I didn’t even identify as harassment at the time. Obviously I’m not the only one.

    Dorothy, The Post has been doing stellar work and I’m looking forward to seeing the Watergate movie over Christmas. It’d be fun to go see it together with your daughter. I was paying for a digital subscription for my sister and I transferred it over to me after she died. I love being able to click on all those stories instead of just reading the headlines.

    Now, speaking of sexism: our credit union in Florida has different logins for a married couple, even different member numbers although it’s a joint account. I found out that my login gives limited info and for more we have to use my husband’s.

    We called and asked if I could be given full access and were told that only the first name on the account has that. Have you ever heard anything more ridiculous? I’m just as liable for the mortgage, but I can’t get the info without pretending I’m my husband. How can this be legal?

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  23. jcburns said on November 29, 2017 at 1:24 pm

    Julie, a small point, the movie “The Post” is mostly about the Pentagon Papers, not Watergate.

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  24. susan said on November 29, 2017 at 1:29 pm

    Not surprising at all about Garrison Keillor. I heard about his shit back in the 1970s, from a friend of mine who worked at Minnesota Public Radio at the time. Women were warned about him back then. I’ve been waiting for that dog-shit covered shoe to drop for weeks, and sure enough! Plop! There it goes.

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  25. Julie Robinson said on November 29, 2017 at 1:31 pm

    You’re right. I just call the whole era Watergate. I actually thought about that as I typed it and hit submit anyway.

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  26. Bitter Scribe said on November 29, 2017 at 1:37 pm

    I’m not surprised about Keillor either, but for a different reason.

    Years ago, the old Spy magazine trolled a bunch of celebrities by sending them pictures of a 16-year-old girl with notes saying she would like to date them. (The picture was of a model.) Keillor was one of the few who bit, and they recorded a creepy phone call he made to an actress playing the girl after he got the note.

    It was epic trolling. If the Project Veritas people have any brains, they’ll do something like that to journalists they don’t like, instead of trying to get them to chase phony stories.

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  27. Jeff Borden said on November 29, 2017 at 1:37 pm

    Damn, FDChief, you must be my long-lost brother. I’ve been echoing your thoughts for years now, but you’ve done it far more eloquently.

    The election of the Orange King revealed how many Americans are truly just dogass dumb. . .just as the election of that fucking child molester creep in Alabama will reveal just how corrupt and depraved evangelical Christianity has become. The pederast is up by seven points in the last poll I saw.

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  28. coozledad said on November 29, 2017 at 1:50 pm

    Support the troops my ass.

    https://twitter.com/votevets/status/935888227097088000

    There are no decent, kind, or moral Republicans. That there were ever any has been an obvious fiction since the Reagan years, but a fundamentally racist country simply can’t accept most of their white neighbors are trash. The friction might reduce property values.

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  29. Dorothy said on November 29, 2017 at 2:05 pm

    Julie at first we thought we could all see The Post while we visit DC in late December. Alas the movie doesn’t get released until January 12.

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  30. Julie Robinson said on November 29, 2017 at 2:41 pm

    Well dang, Dorothy, I thought it was a Christmas movie. Wrong twice in a day; I’m gonna shut up now.

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  31. Jeff Borden said on November 29, 2017 at 2:53 pm

    I just got a message from VoteVets. The GOP tax plan removes any deductions for companies hiring disabled American veterans. And yet the rabble who vote for this party will proudly attest that the Republican Party is the one that “supports” the troops. This is one sick fucking political party. Maybe Coozledad is actually underestimating just how vile and foul the GOP has become.

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  32. Sherri said on November 29, 2017 at 3:03 pm

    As Matt Lauer goes down, let us remember that he interviewed both trump and Hillary in prime time, and did an outrageously bad job of it. Once again, some of the most influential people shaping the view of the candidates did not respect women.

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  33. alex said on November 29, 2017 at 3:31 pm

    In all of the excitement about Lauer and Keillor this morning I forgot to mention the excitement in my own neighborhood:

    http://wane.com/2017/11/29/man-attacks-dekalb-county-sheriffs-deputy-during-traffic-stop/

    The fugitive was still at large when I left for work this morning, a guy from Florida with drugs in the trunk of his car who got stopped on the interstate and took off on foot after getting pulled over.

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  34. Suzanne said on November 29, 2017 at 3:42 pm

    Brilliant
    https://twitter.com/imillhiser/status/935314147641839616

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  35. jcburns said on November 29, 2017 at 3:56 pm

    The Variety article on Matt Lauer is up (and the server is slammed); the takeaways include a specially designed button under Lauer’s desk that would look the door from the inside without his getting up, and of course, the penis displaying, always the penis displaying.

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  36. LAMary said on November 29, 2017 at 3:58 pm

    Lauer was doing phone interviews with Trump through a lot of the campaign. I would be yelling at the television “ask him about (fill in the blank)” but Matt was blowing sunshine. I know Trump worked for NBC for years and so maybe they couldn’t really interview him. Or maybe Matt Lauer just sucked as an interviewer.

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  37. MarkH said on November 29, 2017 at 4:53 pm

    LAMary – Both, But mostly the latter.

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  38. Dave said on November 29, 2017 at 5:01 pm

    Someone posted on here long ago that someone they knew ran into Garrison Keillor in either a book or record shop in a out of the way place and tried to tell him how much his show meant to them and Garrison kept saying, “I’m looking like I’m listening to you but I’m not listening”.

    In other words, leave me alone. I’ve thought of him differently every since.

    Dexter, I saw the storm you created on Facebook. I remember when I first came to Fort Wayne, circa 1972, I thought there was a lot of wild goings-on really surprised me, and that continued throughout my touches in Fort Wayne in both 76 and 79, before we actually moved there permanently in 86.

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  39. Judybusy said on November 29, 2017 at 5:03 pm

    I got a postcard for a social services conference planned for March–the keynote will be John Quinones. my first thought was, “Will he still be around?” I’m not too surprised at all the allegations surfacing, and I’m glad the women are being believed. I hope he hasn’t done anything abusive, because his story is really cool.

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  40. Sherri said on November 29, 2017 at 5:12 pm

    So now we know that when Matt Lauer wasn’t making the Olympic opening ceremonies unwatchable, he was trying to screw everything in sight.

    Just try to imagine a network tolerating such behavior from a woman.

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  41. Sherri said on November 29, 2017 at 5:36 pm

    Redmond needs more housing: http://www.redmond-reporter.com/news/microsoft-announces-massive-expansion-to-redmond-campus/

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  42. Deborah said on November 29, 2017 at 6:03 pm

    Do you think with all these guys, do their wives know? How could they not? They either know and don’t care or they live under rocks.

    I’m back in Chicago, arrived this morning and now have all my ducks in a row to get my passport renewed tomorrow morning at 10 when my appointment is. There have been all kinds of glitches that we’ve had to scramble around to fix, but I think it’s all good now. After I know I have my passport I will sleep soundly.

    I mentioned here that I got my hair drastically cut short, and it has become apparent that I’m allergic to the hairsprays I’ve been using, I never used sprays when it was long. My eyes are itchy and swollen and my forehead is splotchy and itchy too. I had to get my passport photos this afternoon, looking pretty ratty. I also burned my upper lip while I was in Abiquiu I was blowing out an oil lantern and didn’t realize I was that close to the glass chimney. Ow ow ow. I’m putting lots of ointments on my messed up face these days.

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  43. alex said on November 29, 2017 at 6:13 pm

    And it seemed innocent enough at the time:

    https://jezebel.com/katie-couric-once-said-matt-lauers-most-annoying-habit-1820838279

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  44. Deborah said on November 29, 2017 at 6:23 pm

    I saw Garrison Keillor at the airport in Albuquerque about 10 years ago, he looked like an absolute unshaven slob. He was wearing disheveled, wrinkled clothing (a sport jacket over a shirt and pants with untied converse high tops with no socks). He looked like he was going home after a three or four day bender. Everybody left him alone for the most part.

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  45. David C. said on November 29, 2017 at 6:30 pm

    Julie @ 22. When we first moved to Wisconsin, we joined a credit union where on our statements I was listed on the top as the account owner and Mary was listed at the bottom as co-owner. When we tried to use our statement to establish our address for our driver licenses it was OK for me, but they wouldn’t accept it for Mary because she was listed on the bottom. The credit union refused to add her name to the top even if mine went to the bottom. They said no the husband always goes on top. We finally had to cancel our cable and have it reissued in Mary’s name so she could get her license.

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  46. Suzanne said on November 29, 2017 at 6:45 pm

    I saw Keillor perform a couple of times. Several years ago, he was one of the IPFW Omnibus Lecture series presenters. The way he walks on stage and his presentation made me wonder if he isn’t on the autism spectrum. At the lecture, we were fairly close and I swear he had his closed most of the time.

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  47. Suzanne said on November 29, 2017 at 6:53 pm

    That is “had his eyes closed most of the time.” And paced back & forth almost the entire time.

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  48. Julie Robinson said on November 29, 2017 at 7:02 pm

    Dave, our credit union here in the Fort lists us both jointly, and we have one login, so we find it beyond bizarre. I question its legality, though of course Florida offers almost no consumer protections. They told us if we wanted the order changed we would have to refinance (cue volcano emoji).

    Deborah, I’ve read a diary my mom kept when I was in kindergarten and it’s heartbreaking to read as she wonders about where my dad is when he stays out all nights. She was completely powerless at that time, with two little ones, no job or car, and living in the country. Her parents had objected to their getting married and told her she had made her bed and she’d have to sleep in it.

    So yes, she knew he was sleeping around. But she could neither stop him or figure a way out of her situation.

    Don’t you wonder how many men are squirming right now, waiting to be outed?

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  49. Deborah said on November 29, 2017 at 7:29 pm

    My husband’s father was a serial cheater on my MIL, which breaks my heart because she is a beautiful, smart, sharp as a tack 98 year old now. She’s been a widow for over 30 years and better off for it IMO. My husband and his brothers and sisters didn’t know a thing about it, they were clueless. At one point my husband’s brother’s third grade teacher was having an affair with their dad and they were clueless, so I realize husband’s lie and wives live in denial or fear.

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  50. Heather said on November 29, 2017 at 8:00 pm

    My father slept around on my mother. I know he stayed out late on Rush Street in Chicago and often missed the train home. She told me once he literally would say he was going out for cigarettes and come home days later. He was cheating with the woman who became his second wife, my stepmother, when my mother was pregnant with my brother. She told me she finally decided to kick him out when he came home with some pills and she found toddler me playing with them–she said it was one thing if she chose to put herself in that situation, but she wouldn’t put her kids in it. For a Catholic woman who grew up in the 50s and 60s and basically was raised to be a wife, that took a lot of courage.

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  51. Sherri said on November 29, 2017 at 8:25 pm

    I’m shocked that Roy Moore was involved with an organization that didn’t believe women should run for office or vote, and whose leader abused a 15 year old girl.

    https://thinkprogress.org/moore-study-course-vison-forum-135402ed8816/

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  52. Julie Robinson said on November 29, 2017 at 8:35 pm

    My dad’s excuse was that he was out on a story for the radio station. Or that he came back to the station after an evening event to file a story, was exhausted, and fell asleep. They were plausible stories because he often covered a meeting or broadcast a game at night, and then was up again at 4 am for the early news. He was always tired and would fall deeply asleep the second he lay down. But she knew. She knew.

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  53. Charlotte said on November 29, 2017 at 9:30 pm

    There’s a guy in Lake Forest I went to the fancy Day School with, who built a hedge fund with his inherited wealth and made a ton of money. One of those assholes in plaid pants. Last time I was home, the gossip was that he bought his mistress a house in LF, and his wife threw a fit. Not that he *had* a mistress, but that she was in LF. He had to sell the house and buy a different one in Lake Bluff (next door, same high school district, historically considered slightly less fancy but hardly any difference these days). Apparently the wife told him he can do whatever he wants, she’ll never divorce him, but she’s going to spend as much of his money as he can. Oh marital bliss among the 1%.

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  54. Heather said on November 29, 2017 at 9:39 pm

    More details about the woman involved in the Project Veritas fail: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/womans-effort-to-infiltrate-the-washington-post-dates-back-months/2017/11/29/ce95e01a-d51e-11e7-b62d-d9345ced896d_story.html?utm_term=.167b60f702b4

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  55. Brandon said on November 29, 2017 at 9:53 pm

    For those of you who were wondering what had happened to Hattie: She died last night in her sleep after suffering with lung cancer. Details of a memorial are forthcoming.

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  56. Deggjr said on November 29, 2017 at 10:31 pm

    The financial responsibility question for couples/families is weird. My wife opened some credit card accounts that didn’t require my signature, whatever. I called Target to question a bill and was told they couldn’t talk to me. So I was responsible for the bill but couldn’t ask questions.

    Along the way we covered our son under our healthcare policy as a full-time student. He dropped a course. I called the school, was he still a full-time student and thus covered by our medical plan? The university wouldn’t answer the question. Did they know who was responsible for his well-being? Didn’t know, didn’t care, the school wouldn’t violate his privacy.

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  57. brian stouder said on November 29, 2017 at 10:52 pm

    Brandon – what news, what news, eh? Earlier this week a good friend of mine lost his mother – who had lived to a good old age, and was suffering various ailments….but still – it was ‘mom’.

    All these revelations about people using whatever power they have to sexually exploit others is downright depressing.

    Our current president has a huge (‘yuuuuge!”) platform (albeit with small hands) to pursue such things, even as he did this very thing when he was a run-of-the-mill bored rich guy/teevee celebrity.

    Just when you think our national moment is at rock-ass bottom, we find a way to tumble downward a bit further…

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  58. Jolene said on November 30, 2017 at 1:29 am

    Marc Fisher, one of my favorite Posties, wrote this profile of Garrison Keillor almost 20 years ago and reposted it today. It’s wonderful writing throughout. Among other things, it gives a sense of why it was that, when he traveled, he looked, as Deborah said, like he had been on a bender.

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  59. Dexter said on November 30, 2017 at 3:39 am

    I am one of many who always thought Matt Lauer was a weasel in appearance and sneaky-creepiness. Some people ya just cannot stand, and he was one, but I cured that by never watching “Today”…ever. I turn on The Dan Patrick Show at 9:00 AM until noon because I love sports. And geez, Jeff Borden, I had no idea the highly annoying M. Kelly makes $13M. She is another phony creep, a Fox runaway, a liar, Trump boaster, the entire package. And NBC signed her. Hurtful. Huntley-Brinkley-Chancellor are spinning I just betcha.
    Trump is back on The Birther kick, yeah, I know…he’s a cretin. Now he’s saying the pussy grabber stuff “is not my voice…phony”. His disdain for Muslims surfaced big-time Wedneday. Un fired an ICBM also…Trump sent Huckleberry out to say North Korea will be destroyed if they ever straighten that thing out. First were questions as to the range…can it hit Hawaii? Check. Can it hit San Francisco? No…then later “oh HELL yes!” and now, the Delaware shore. Are we fucked? Yes. But that has to do with taxes…the military problems will end us or protect us. Maybe…maybe not.

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  60. Deborah said on November 30, 2017 at 5:08 am

    I’m sorry to hear that about Hattie, I checked out her blog from time to time.

    Trump is tweeting overtime these days and saying outrageous stuff in an effort to try to keep the press from talking about the tax bill, IMHO.

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  61. Connie said on November 30, 2017 at 7:11 am

    Deggjr, if you call the library and ask what books your minor children have checked out I can’t tell you. State library privacy law. I can tell you how to use their library card number to look it up. I can’t allow you to pick up your spouse’s holds unless said spouse has given permission.

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  62. Julie Robinson said on November 30, 2017 at 7:52 am

    Thanks for letting us know about Hattie, Brandon, May she rest in peace.

    Got a 404 on the Keillor piece, Jolene.

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  63. coozledad said on November 30, 2017 at 7:55 am

    This won’t matter to the Republicans here, or their enablers, but this is as good an opportunity as any to point out Trump’s whole generation was really fucked up, at the most fundamental levels of human interaction. It would be too generous to suggest it was all the tetraethyl lead floating around in the atmosphere and precipitating in the drinking water: too much absolution for people who don’t deserve a pass.

    One thing I noticed pretty early on about refugees from the fifties/sixties/seventies is they were always haunting parties of my age group looking for some young ass. You could tell that absent a bequest from their parents or some fantastically unlikely luck, they were flop sweating their way to homelessness. They were of a piece with the whole Hell’s Angels/ Manson family aesthetic that’s come to a big head in the person of Trump. The pus in our national carbuncle.

    http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/11/trump-first-rate-pussy.html

    Hippy dippy dipshit or preppy fuckbag, none of them had a clue regarding the basis of mutual respect. And this boy is as close as they’ll ever get to a pure representation of themselves.

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  64. Suzanne said on November 30, 2017 at 8:57 am

    This is how Keillor says his misconduct accusation happened: “I meant to pat her back after she told me about her unhappiness, and her shirt was open and my hand went up it about six inches. She recoiled. I apologized…”*
    I can say with 100% certainty that when trying to console a guy friend, my hand has never, ever accidently gone down his pants or up his shirt. Ever.

    * https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/garrison-keillor-says-fired-over-alleged-improper-behavior/ar-BBFVxVo

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  65. Jolene said on November 30, 2017 at 9:02 am

    Let me try this again. Here’s the link to Marc Fisher’s Keillor profile.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/features/prair.htm

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  66. Jolene said on November 30, 2017 at 9:08 am

    Trump’s whole generation was really fucked up . . .

    Isn’t he part of the same generation as most of the people who comment here?

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  67. Deborah said on November 30, 2017 at 9:14 am

    I actually agree that the baby boomer generation (my generation) is the worst.

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  68. coozledad said on November 30, 2017 at 9:24 am

    The sexism here among many of the white male commenters isn’t just fucking subtext. It’s out in the open, and up until recently, it was greeted with a chuckle and a pat on the back. Y’all just get pissy when someone brings it up.

    Pilot Joe took a hell of a long time to become persona non grata here, and he still isn’t among the old white guys- “How’s that err-plane a’ hangin’, Joe!?” Just being a Republican out here seems to insulate people from a responsibility for their worst selves. Torture advocacy. Favoring the dismantling of health care. The bald assertion that “blacks don’t vote because they’re too lazy.” Or the time honored classic “Nobody respecks me cuz I’m an old white man.” Or “His real name is Barry Soetero!”

    These all get a pass. Pointing them out is a sin. That’s a generational tic that accommodates notions of white male authority when there’s no moral authority in evidence.

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  69. coozledad said on November 30, 2017 at 9:36 am

    They’re supporting a pedo to pass a tax bill that will chop their stupid racist constituents off at the knees. But “I’m not opposed to different outcomes.” Haha.

    https://twitter.com/thistallawkgirl/status/936232199019548673

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  70. Jolene said on November 30, 2017 at 9:37 am

    Torture advocacy. Favoring the dismantling of health care. The bald assertion that “blacks don’t vote because they’re too lazy.” Or the time honored classic “Nobody respecks me cuz I’m an old white man.” Or “His real name is Barry Soetero!”

    Who says these things? I’ve never seen a comment remotely like this here.

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  71. Jenine said on November 30, 2017 at 9:53 am

    Can’t find it now but I read a tweet yesterday that summed things up very well. To paraphrase: Men are surprised because stories about sexual harassment are coming from every direction. Women are surprised because men are actually now being fired over these stories.

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  72. coozledad said on November 30, 2017 at 9:55 am

    Yes you have. Jeff TMMO, on the night of the 2014 election, said that Obama’s base didn’t turn out in the cities, because they couldn’t be bothered. St. Bitch called him out on it. He referred to Obama as Barry Soetero. Pilot Joe got a pass for suggesting he fucked my wife, because at the time it was important to preserve some fucked up asymetrical notion of civility.

    Basset frequently bitches and moans about being “marginalized” because of his age and whiteness.

    And when these things are recounted, the stock response has shifted from “They didn’t say that!” to “It doesn’t matter that they said that! They is a good people now! Is too! Is too!”

    So you tell me, who’s jerking who’s chain?

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  73. Jeff Borden said on November 30, 2017 at 10:48 am

    As a white, 66-year-old boomer, I am totally on board with flushing our generation from the halls of power. We have done a bang-up job of screwing up this nation and leaving a mountainous pile of destruction in our wake for millennials to clean up. When I think what previous generations bequeathed us and how we have failed to do the same for the next generation, I want to vomit. I hope the younger generation treats us better as we age than we treated them. They have every right to want to wish us into the cornfield.

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  74. 4dbirds said on November 30, 2017 at 11:03 am

    Rip Hattie. Condolences to her family. Joe The Pilot (why does he sign off like that? Who cares, I don’t say 4dbirds Office Worker.) and Danny both have the ability, still, to get my gears grinding. I mostly ignore when they post and tell myself they’re stupid.

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  75. coozledad said on November 30, 2017 at 11:12 am

    The circumambient atmosphere of pussgrab sexism gave us Trump, and this crop of Republican vultures.

    The whole lot of them are suspect in every motive and action. A colloquy of highly paid rapists fronted (and still are fronting) every major media organization, and especially the Sunday shows.It’s getting to the point you can tell who’s the next perv simply by the way they excoriated Hillary. Chuck Todd just ain’t right with Democratic women guests. I got a feeling his day is coming, and given his facial hair, that day is going to be incredibly weird.

    https://twitter.com/Shakestweetz/status/936020647691587584

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  76. Heather said on November 30, 2017 at 11:16 am

    Welp, McCain just said he will vote yes on the tax bill. Another old white man screwing us. We are so, so fucked.

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  77. coozledad said on November 30, 2017 at 11:18 am

    Of course he’s going to vote yes: And Trump’s firming up the dictatorship of the Republican party.

    https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/936247234626228225

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  78. coozledad said on November 30, 2017 at 11:23 am

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQL37wcgI6k

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  79. Minnie said on November 30, 2017 at 11:24 am

    “Let all the poison that lurks in the mud, hatch out.”

    ― Robert Graves, I, Claudius

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  80. Sherri said on November 30, 2017 at 11:27 am

    RIP, Hattie, and grace to her family.

    I respect what Cooz says around here to take a moment when he says something that makes me feel a little defensive and ask myself why I’m feeling defensive. My first AA sponsor taught me to do that, and while I don’t do it often enough, it is helpful in slowing down knee jerk reactions. At least it gives me a chance to own what I’ve done, and if I haven’t done anything, I don’t have to engage in a pissing match.

    Here’s a wild story out of Florida/Los Angeles: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rupert-tarsey-20171129-htmlstory.html

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  81. Sherri said on November 30, 2017 at 11:30 am

    Here’s what the beginning of the backlash will look like: https://twitter.com/IjeomaOluo/status/936017987403890688

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    • nancy said on November 30, 2017 at 11:45 am

      Sherri, I saw that thread yesterday. This “due process” misdirection must be part of the pushback, because I’m suddenly seeing it everywhere, never mind that:

      1) These are matters of private employment, which is overwhelmingly at-will in this country. Due process doesn’t apply. Speaking as someone who had a sterling job evaluation a year ago and got cashiered nine months later, I feel this acutely.

      2) I saw a dumbass Facebook comment that said, “All these women are suing.” Whu-? All these women are NOT suing. (Although they may, in the future.) Where does this come from?

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  82. susan said on November 30, 2017 at 11:34 am

    cooz @78 Campaign ads are getting more and more interesting. E.g., I’ve never seen one where “penis” is mentioned. Ha!

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  83. Dexter said on November 30, 2017 at 12:33 pm

    Joe low balls Barton. .. soon done…not running again. Say it IS,Joe, say it IS. Conyers just wanted those women to “touch his genital area and satisfy him sexually”. Lots of these men liked to surprise victims with burst ins, nude,erect. THAT was the M.O. of Lauer and Rose. Every day, a bottomless well of sordid humanity. Bottomless. Word of the day.

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  84. Scout said on November 30, 2017 at 1:00 pm

    RIP, Hattie, and solace to her family. Thank you, Brandon, for letting us know.

    What Cooz said is right on. I do try to ignore the turd stirrers here. I’m not always successful. In Dial It’s case I have to remind myself to apply Hanlon’s Razor and move on. Danny is smarter and meaner. I recognize that they are both looking for reaction especially after we’ve been suckered into conversation niceties by the ocassional normal-guy stuff they post. Bottom line is that feeding trolls only encourages them and when you don’t they’ll look for the attention they crave by needling nice people elsewhere. I’m glad Cooz is back to call that shit out so eloquently.

    Apparently my grandpa was a cheating bastard but my grandma never knew. One of her stupid half sisters told her about it when Gram was 76. She died a few months later and I’m convinced it was from a broken heart.

    Jeff Borden @73 – you said it all and you said it well. I’m not proud of being a Boomer. Our generation has f’d the planet for our kids and grandkids in astonishingly spectacular fashion.

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  85. Deborah said on November 30, 2017 at 1:08 pm

    I really think Conyers should resign, but I sort of hope he says something about only resigning when Trump does.

    I was able to take care of my passport today, I pick it up at 3 tomorrow afternoon. I’m so relieved. I haven’t had much of an appetite for the last few days from all of the stress, I’m not hungry at all. Of course I’m excited to get to go to London but I’m not happy about all of the travel days in airports and on planes ahead of me.

    An only in Chicago moment, as I was walking home from the loop area this morning there was a large, trembling rat sitting in the middle of the sidewalk, obviously in death throes but creepy as hell.

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  86. Peter said on November 30, 2017 at 1:47 pm

    Cooz at #78 – I saw that ad on another site a few minutes ago. If I lived in Michigan I’d vote for her twice.

    Before all of you Boomers (heck, I’m one myself) get too down on yourselves, I bet none of you would have done this:

    Last night my wife and I witnessed a car accident – a young woman was crossing the intersection when the light was turning red, and she was hit by a young woman in a car turning left when the light changed – AND THEY WERE BOTH TEXTING!!!!!

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  87. Deborah said on November 30, 2017 at 2:13 pm

    Texting. Peter, I almost got hit today crossing the street while a woman was texting in her car. I knew enough to be vigilant, because you have to.

    I just looked at the weather forecast for London and it’s going to rain 4 days out of the week we’ll be there, but of course it’s London.

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  88. Deborah said on November 30, 2017 at 2:47 pm

    You guys haven’t let me down in this regard, I need some book recommendations for all my air experiences coming up. If I can get something in paperback, so much the better, because of weight and space issues obviously.

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  89. Suzanne said on November 30, 2017 at 2:50 pm

    Lillian Boxfish takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney. Wonderful book!

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  90. Dorothy said on November 30, 2017 at 2:52 pm

    Ugh, Peter, I keep saying it’s an eventuality that we’re going to be in an accident because of some asshole texting and driving. I see it every single day when I am driving to or from work – someone in a car as I’m driving past holding their phone and glancing up to check the road in front of them. I’d like to honk my horn so stop them but my luck they’ll veer right into my car and it’ll be my own damn fault.

    Deborah my daughter saw a rat at the Metro station recently – the first one she’s noticed since she moved to the DC area in August. Kind of rattled her (HA – get it? “rat”tled her.) Sorry. I guess I’m my own best audience.) And don’t put a lot of faith in that weather report. I really only believe them if they are within 24-48 hours of a trip. Weather can and often does change!

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  91. kath said on November 30, 2017 at 2:56 pm

    I was the sexual harassment reporting officer for an organization a number of years ago. It was my job to take complaints, conduct an investigation, and make a report and recommendation to the board about whether further action was warranted. No business or organization would fire someone within days of a single accusation. Although with a private employer you are not entitled to due process, employers do have to have sexual harassment policies, and they have to follow them.

    The reason these very high profile people are being summarily fired is likely because there have been numerous past complaints or the person’s behavior was common knowledge. Harvey Weinstein, Garrison Keillor, and Matt Lauer were all key people. They could not be fired or disciplined without significant damage to their organizations. So the organizations did what they had to do to keep their key people in place.

    I think that in light of the Bill Cosby (and also the movie Spotlight), the public has become more aware of settlement agreements with non-disclosure clauses, and they don’t like them. The backlash against the board of directors of the Weinstein Company is a cautionary tale. Organizations that have covered up their stars’ bad behavior in the past are going to have to fire these people now to avoid looking like they are unresponsive.

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  92. Jakash said on November 30, 2017 at 3:07 pm

    Cooz makes a lot of good points, is a fantastic, colorful writer and provides wonderful links. Personally, though, I’m not a fan of wild over-generalizations, from the right or the left. “Trump’s whole generation was really fucked up” “none of them had a clue.” I can lament the state of the world today and the Boomers’ failures that have resulted in it, without pretending that the entire bunch were or are pussy-grabbing, environment-trashing Philistines. Evidently, that puts me in a small minority among today’s commenters and makes me an enabler. Oh, well… On to what I was planning to comment about —

    I can remember a time when there were crazy dictators ranting in various countries around the world, and our President wasn’t one of them. Good times!, as they say. Now, our Maximum Leader is as unhinged as the worst of them. Anyway, some perspective on North Korea from a nuclear weapons expert…

    https://twitter.com/wellerstein/status/935848548771483653

    My favorite tweet from yesterday’s news avalanche: “‘jfc what does it take to hold on to a news cycle in that country?’ – Kim Jong Un”

    https://twitter.com/iowahawkblog/status/935950648998326272

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  93. Deborah said on November 30, 2017 at 3:13 pm

    Suzanne, Lillian Boxfish takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney sounds like the perfect book for me. I’m headed to Barnes and Noble now. Thanks.

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  94. Joe Kobiela said on November 30, 2017 at 3:27 pm

    4birds@74,
    It’s Pilot Joe, not Joe the pilot 🙂

    Pilot Joe

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  95. Dorothy said on November 30, 2017 at 3:31 pm

    Maybe it’s time that we ALL adopted a lil’ nickname to sign off on our comments. Here’s mine.

    Joe Repellent (only Pilots)

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  96. adrianne said on November 30, 2017 at 4:00 pm

    Let me recommend Hillary’s book, What Happened, on the campaign. I’m about 1/3 of the way through it, and it’s very well written. Last night, I got a chance to wait on line at the Strand Bookstore for two hours to have Hillary and Chelsea sign their books, It Takes a Village and She Persisted. They both were gracious and fun (I heard Hillary’s guffaw from across the room).

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  97. Deborah said on November 30, 2017 at 4:35 pm

    Well, of course the local Barnes and Noble didn’t have Lillian Boxfish takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney, and it doesn’t come out in paperback until April anyway. So I got a Haruki Mirakami book, A Wild Sheep Chase instead. My husband likes Murakami but we don’t always like the same books so I’m still open for suggestions (he likes Salman Rushdie, and I don’t for instance). I have thought about the Hillary Clinton book, What Happened, I want to read it and I will, I just want a break from politics for a bit.

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  98. Jerry said on November 30, 2017 at 4:42 pm

    Deborah @87: if it’s any comfort we had a few flakes of snow today. It didn’t settle but I didn’t care for it.

    What are your plans for your London visit?

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  99. susan said on November 30, 2017 at 4:51 pm

    Deborah, here are a couple:

    Rabbit: The Autobiography of Ms Pat by Patricia Williams. It is hard believe the way she grew up, and survived. I listened to the audiobook so I could hear her read it.

    The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel. Christopher Knight lived in the woods of Maine for 27 years without anyone seeing him or knowing who it was or where he actually lived. But he survived by raiding nearby homes, whether summer or full residential. For 27 years. Some people just can’t live within our social norms.

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  100. Deborah said on November 30, 2017 at 5:16 pm

    Jerry, we are traveling with my husband’s uncle who has Alzheimer’s so we will be doing what he wants to do most of the time. We will have some time to ourselves and want to go to the Tate Modern, and the Tate, Kew Gardens. Also at least one night at the theater, haven’t figured out what we want to see yet, or what we can get tickets to see. We will be going out to dinner at Bibendum and trying to get to River Cafe too but don’t know if we can get in there because it takes a lot of upfront reservation time there. River Cafe is run by the wife, Ruth Rodgers, of a famous architect, (Lord) Richard Rodgers (he designed the Pompidou Centre in Paris with Renzo Piano). Mostly we will be walking around, drinking in the atmosphere with Uncle J. He is a huge Churchill fan, so there may be some related events with that in mind if we can come up with them. We lived in London back in the late 80s off and on for about a year, so we’ll check out some of the places we used to go if they’re still there. Uncle J lived in London in the 50s so there will be some nostalgia tours arranged for him too. He likes to walk and so do we.

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  101. Deborah said on November 30, 2017 at 5:27 pm

    Hattie had a blog and her daughter posted there about her mother’s death. I left a comment there for Hattie’s family, it is under moderation and it took a day for my comment to show up, but if anyone wants to comment there, here it is http://hattie.typepad.com/hatties_web/2017/11/hattie-is-gone-but-not-forgotten-.html#comments

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  102. Jolene said on November 30, 2017 at 5:29 pm

    Deborah, if you are looking for another book, you might try Churchill and Orwell: The Fight for Freedom by Tom Ricks. Favorably reviewed everywhere and chosen as one of the NYT 100 Notable Books of 2017. Might give you some new material for talk with your husband’s uncle. Ricks is an incisive thinker and a clear and eloquent writer.

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LYJTE7S/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

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  103. Sherri said on November 30, 2017 at 5:54 pm

    Deborah, we loved the Churchill War Rooms: http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/churchill-war-rooms

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  104. Joe K said on November 30, 2017 at 6:08 pm

    Dorthy,
    You make me smile and make my day better.
    Thank You
    Pilot Joe

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  105. Andrea said on November 30, 2017 at 6:12 pm

    Deborah, you might want to consider getting a kindle or other reader if you don’t want to haul a lot of books… I just got one for a trip to Paris and it was delightful to have many books on one small lightweight device.

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  106. Sherri said on November 30, 2017 at 6:15 pm

    It was USA Today, and evidently they weren’t able to find someone to write the anti-due process counter that they wanted.

    https://theestablishment.co/due-process-is-needed-for-sexual-harassment-accusations-but-for-whom-968e7c81e6d6

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  107. Deborah said on November 30, 2017 at 6:30 pm

    Andrea, I have an iPad that I have books on, but I left it in Santa Fe so I don’t want to buy something else. I also find that I don’t read books on my iPad much, not sure why, just habit I guess.

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  108. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on November 30, 2017 at 6:32 pm

    Coozledad, you’re as selective as the people you like to slime. Yes, turnout in 2014 was lowest in 70 years. It wasn’t about contempt for anyone, it was about trying to make sense of trends that were already heading towards Trumpianism. And yes, I said I suspect the odd choice to seal all of Obama’s student records from Occidental, where by all accounts he was a perfectly good student, was that he might well have either used international student status or the name Soetoro to register or get financial aid.

    This is what I don’t get. You don’t want alliances, you don’t want to expand a message, you just want to condemn, and the circle of condemnation just gets bigger. I don’t dispute that I have a long way to go in dealing with my own racism and privilege. I doubt we’re that different in local policy; I haven’t heard enough specific stuff to know just how far apart we are on federal matters. I’ll give you a stick to beat me with: I don’t think it’s a bad idea to reduce the corporate tax rate in and of itself, but the tax bill as it stands is an atrocity politically and pragmatically. I don’t support it. If you support 98% taxes on all income over $1 million I have plenty of friends here in Ohio who would cheer you on.

    Honestly, I’m not trying to piss you off, I just can’t figure out why I still provoke you to anger when I shut up for weeks at a time. And there’s no small number of lifetime Republicans right now who are seriously rethinking their affiliation and reassessing the conservatism of their neck of the woods; this is an opportunity to reach out and grow a community, not build the wall higher. If I listened to all the folks here who said “you can’t work with [so-and-so]” we wouldn’t have passed our levy earlier this month. And that’s what it’s going to take to dislodge His Cheeto-ness from our collective throat.

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  109. Deborah said on November 30, 2017 at 6:34 pm

    For what I’m seeing on the news tonight, as an American I feel like I need to wear a button while I’m in London that declares I didn’t vote for Trump.

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  110. susan said on November 30, 2017 at 6:46 pm

    Deborah, attach a Canadian flag to your pack/suitcase/bag.

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  111. David C. said on November 30, 2017 at 6:48 pm

    Technically, I’m a boomer born in 1959. By the time I became an adult, the immediate post-war boomers were already pulling up the ladder after they got their good public schools and inexpensive college educations. The great American tradition of I’ve got mine, fuck you just gets worse. The people who slag-off the millennials annoy the shit out of me. We’ve dealt them a shitty hand and yet every millennial I’ve ever worked with has been decent, caring, hard-working, and liberal. Very, very liberal. After all the fun of breaking all the damned plates, someone has to clean up, and we’ve left it to them. I think they’ll do well and eventually save all our bacon.

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  112. alex said on November 30, 2017 at 7:04 pm

    I’m at my wit’s end today with my aging and hard-of-hearing parents, who almost got scammed out of $10K this morning. Ayiyi!

    My mom wanted to get rid of Kaspersky antivirus software because Kaspersky’s a lying Russian Trump-enabling sack of shit, so she went to Best Buy and bought Trend Micro antivirus software instead. She was having difficulty setting it up so she called Trend Micro’s customer support yesterday and spoke with someone in India. They got it working and everything seemed to be okay.

    Then she gets a call this morning from some Indian-sounding guy who purports to be from Trend Micro. They were telling her to do all sorts of things with the computer and spent hours this morning; they had access to the computer from their end. Finally the guy says sorry they just can’t make it work and they’re going to send a refund. They asked to send it directly to my mom’s bank account and she said no, send it to her credit card. So she gives them the credit card information. Then suddenly my dad’s online banking pops up on the computer and transfers $10K from my mom’s credit card to my dad’s checking. My mom asks wtf and the guy starts crying and says he’s going to lose his job because of this terrible mistake. My mom hangs up and my parents call my dad’s bank. The Indian guy keeps trying to call back. The bank tells my dad there’s $10K transferred into his checking from the credit card. My dad says transfer it back to the credit card. They say it’ll cost. My dad says the hell it will, he didn’t authorize it, some scammers put it there and how dare the bank allow such a thing.

    Anyway, I’m trying to explain to my dad that they need to put all of their financial institutions on notice because there’s no way of knowing what information these people got out of the computer and my dad’s being a horse’s ass and thinks he thwarted a fraud end of story even though he’s basically computer-illiterate. And my mom’s locked out of her computer; it won’t let her in without a password that she doesn’t have. She’s taking it in to Best Buy tomorrow.

    Not clear what happened but I wonder if someone at Trend Micro’s tech support sold my mom’s info to scammers, or if this is a common thing. My mom called Trend Micro and they acknowledged that it wasn’t one of their people who called her today and that she was definitely being scammed, but she knew that already.

    I think they need to talk to their other banks and credit card companies and put them all on notice that their computer security has been breached. My mom’s receptive to the idea. My dad, who thinks he knows everything, isn’t.

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  113. coozledad said on November 30, 2017 at 7:04 pm

    It’s not incumbent upon Democrats to tell people their racist intransigence is good for them. It’s not the Democrats who steadily created the environment in which it was possible for Heather Heyer to be murdered. It’s not the Democrats who were beneficiaries of a Nixonian media empire whose entire mission was the Balkanization of the United States. It’s not the Democrats who caved to the Russians, committed treason, and forged a union with the post soviet anti-Semitic oligarchic order.

    It’s not Democrats who are stripping health care from the poor. It’s not Democrats who are rallying behind childfuckers. We didn’t elect Trump, and we’re not the party circling the wagons around him.

    We had plenty of former Republicans showing up at our headquarters to volunteer. None of them still entertained the fiction that Paul Ryan was a public servant.

    Then there were the people chickenshit conventional wisdom says we should be courting: fuckers in skull masks out to terrify black voters. Shits waving treason flags. I wouldn’t give you a dime for their miserable lives. I don’t want that trash in my party. Your party has courted, shaped and formed them out of the common clay. They’re idiots, and they’re yours.

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  114. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on November 30, 2017 at 7:06 pm

    A painfully good point made on Twitter by Clara Jeffery about the sexual harassment stories in media slipstream right now: “Many women coming forward are powerful, wealthy, connected part of Hollywood/media elite. People *less* likely to be prey than average women. Calibrate overall size of problem acccordingly.”

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  115. alex said on November 30, 2017 at 7:17 pm

    While I’m at it, I want to go on a rant about Menard’s too. My partner’s remodeling a kitchen for some people who insisted on buying their shit there. I’d caution against it. Despite being given very clear specifications and measurements, the cabinets came back incorrectly sized in some cases and they screwed up the countertop. The countertop was to have a fancy ogee edge. On the first go-round, the counter came back edged all around except on one side, which was flat as if going against a wall, even though it was clear from my partner’s instructions that it was an exposed edge and should not be flat but ogee.

    So when they went to pick up the new counter today, it had no ogee edges at all. And because of time constraints our friend decided to just go with it even though it’s not what he wanted.

    I’m so fucking sick of stupidity.

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  116. coozledad said on November 30, 2017 at 7:35 pm

    Yeah, nothing says power like a teenaged Alabama waitress. The revolution against psychosexual abuse will not be televised. Will not be televised. Will not be televised in the Republican party. It is a feature. It’s driving the pocket authoritarians back into the tidal pools from whence they sprung.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGaoXAwl9kw

    Alabama was a concentration camp, and arguably one of the primary loci of modern racialist feudalism. The moral argument might keep returning there, and it should, but only as a painful lesson to other states. You can’t rehabilitate Alabama without de-Nazification. The whole state is built on a mass shallow grave of human decency. The earth there is soft and unwalkable with the wronged dead.

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  117. David C. said on November 30, 2017 at 7:38 pm

    Alex, Menard’s is as fucked as the mind of its owner. http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2013/06/20/murphys-law-the-strange-life-of-john-menard/

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  118. Jakash said on November 30, 2017 at 8:30 pm

    The echoes in this liberal chamber seem pretty resonant to me, but perhaps until the reverberations from every single spot in the room are true-blue, we mustn’t be satisfied.

    Jeff (tmmo) is a Republican in Ohio who voted for Hillary and just denounced this tax bill. That matters more to me than what he may have said in 2014. Holding him accountable for everything wrong with the Republican Party and for every comment he’s ever made seems less than productive to me, but YMMV.

    I wouldn’t be making this second comment if he hadn’t mentioned “I just can’t figure out why I still provoke you to anger when I shut up for weeks at a time.” Other than an interest in sparring, I can’t figure that out, either. What I *can* figure out is that Jeff (tmmo) is a very good commenter (and person, from the evidence I’ve seen) and that he offers a perspective that I, for one, am interested in. Doesn’t anybody else here care that he’s essentially been bullied into steering clear of this blog? I do.

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  119. Julie Robinson said on November 30, 2017 at 8:33 pm

    Oh Lordy, Alex. My mom at least has the sense to say no to all those callers, and never responds to the computer issues that pop up. She’s so inherently distrustful that she never says yes or clicks when they tell her to. Then she has me deal with it. The day she says yes to a scammer I’ll know we’re in big trouble.

    A friend had an elderly relative who was quite well off and fell prey to a shady evangelist. She was at the bank getting ready to sign major accounts over to him when someone from the bank rang her up. I’m not making this call, he said, because I could get into trouble, but I think you should immediately come over to the bank and stop your aunt from making a very big mistake. Luckily, she got there in time.

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  120. Bruce Fields said on November 30, 2017 at 8:44 pm

    “Not clear what happened but I wonder if someone at Trend Micro’s tech support sold my mom’s info to scammers”

    I don’t know about you, but we get pretty frequent callers claiming to be from someplace (usually Microsoft). What you describe sounds like that scam in every respect–the only thing linking it to Trend Micro is that that’s the company they claimed to be calling from. That could be a conspiracy, or a coincidence, or it could be that your mom jumped to conclusions about who was calling them and unintentionally fed them that idea.

    In any case it’s such a common scam that I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that Trend Micro is involved.

    https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/ph/security/news/online-privacy/offline-cyber-threats-how-to-spot-a-tech-support-scam

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  121. alex said on November 30, 2017 at 9:39 pm

    Bruce, it’s certainly possible that my mom received such a call coincidentally, although I also think Trend Micro ought to look into the possibility that its overseas tech support reps might be colluding with scammers.

    I get those calls too from time to time. I don’t have anything Microsoft in my house and I tell them to go fuck themselves, and I’d probably do the same if I got an unsolicited call purporting to be from Apple.

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  122. coozledad said on November 30, 2017 at 9:49 pm

    Most people have to pay for sockpuppets. Or do it themselves.

    If you’re reluctant to express yourself because you don’t meet with approval, you’ve got to find another angle besides writing. As a drummer in my old band used to say, nature is cruel.

    Racism isn’t something you whisk away, especially if your livelihood depends upon it.

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  123. Julie Robinson said on November 30, 2017 at 9:51 pm

    I never listen to any of them long enough to find out where they’re from. The second I realize it’s a solicitation I hang the eff up. If you call me and don’t start speaking immediately, I also hang up. The tell-tale second of silence means a solicitor and I don’t have time for it.

    I keep meaning to mention that those are really bad ballet dancers that Melania with the frozen expression is watching.

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  124. alex said on November 30, 2017 at 9:52 pm

    jackash, I agree. I don’t understand why Cooz doesn’t like Jeff, even though I do heartily second his vituperation for this site’s two biggest trolls.

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  125. coozledad said on November 30, 2017 at 10:14 pm

    Polska proud. But not the way Jimly thinks of it.
    https://twitter.com/nicomowarsaw/status/936358146083311618

    By the way, I highly recommend Jerzy Kosinki’s The Painted Bird. He might as well be talking about the snake handlers and anti-Jew babblers of the backwoods US.

    We’ll be Poland soon enough. A net exporter of white sex workers and drunk sharecroppers. It’s the price of being a Russian vassal state.

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  126. basset said on November 30, 2017 at 10:19 pm

    Alex, I suspect it’s because JeffTMMO has a much better command of the language and doesn’t insist on being all negative, all angry, all the time. “…just want to condemn” is exactly right.

    (more condemnation coming in 3… 2…)

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  127. coozledad said on November 30, 2017 at 10:37 pm

    basset, dear. if your threshold for command of the English language is “lumbering evasions in the passive voice” then Jeff TMMO is your man. Do you really want me to get more technical about the semantics of racism?

    I’ve been accused of being a bully. In a forum of old white fucks that’s absolutely meaningless. I think it more properly attaches to blowing away innocent woodland creatures for shits and giggles. But you go on strokin that epiphone, son.

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  128. coozledad said on November 30, 2017 at 10:43 pm

    And in terms of “all angry. all the time” You will never know the nature of my happiness. How it transcends me and extends to the people I love. I hardly know what to make of it myself, because it isn’t of me. It’s of the heroes I’ve worked with for matters of simple justice.

    Nothing says sad old man like you, but you can change it. You could change it. Think on it, babe.

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  129. Sherri said on November 30, 2017 at 10:58 pm

    It’s not the rain, it’s the dark that gets you: http://komonews.com/weather/scotts-weather-blog/tuesday-was-darkest-dreariest-day-in-two-years

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  130. Jerry said on December 1, 2017 at 3:03 am

    Deborah you may want to consider La Belle Sauvage by Phillip Pullman. I haven’t read it yet but his Northern Lights trilogy was excellent.

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  131. 4dbirds said on December 1, 2017 at 8:54 am

    Pilot Joe, the only reason you put pilot in your signature is because you want all of us think your dick goes to eleven.

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  132. Deborah said on December 1, 2017 at 9:15 am

    Vincent Scully has died at 97. Maybe the only one here who knows who that is, would be Peter. He was a highly influential architectural historian who taught at Yale. He wrote an excellent book about the Native American southwest called, “Pueblo: Mountain, Village, Dance” and a book about the architect Louis Kahn (who is my favorite). He wrote a lot of other books too, that I haven’t read but they’re in our library.

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  133. Diane said on December 1, 2017 at 9:35 am

    Deborah, if you like something a little lighter for a plane trip maybe A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. It takes a little bit to get into it but I thought it was very enjoyable once I got going.

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  134. Deborah said on December 1, 2017 at 9:48 am

    Flynn flipped! Here’s a good thread that explains what will probably happen https://mobile.twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/936602442996813824

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  135. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 1, 2017 at 10:17 am

    Coozledad, you had me at “lumbering evasions in the passive voice.”

    This is why I need editors!

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  136. Joe K said on December 1, 2017 at 10:50 am

    4dbird,
    Stop, your making me blush.
    Pilot Joe

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  137. Julie Robinson said on December 1, 2017 at 11:08 am

    It’s 4dbirds, and you’re.
    Nitpicker Julie

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  138. Jeff Borden said on December 1, 2017 at 11:17 am

    I’ve found it hard not to be at a low boil since the elevation of the Orange King. It’s exhausting to process the daily tsunami of stupidity, corruption, racism and cruelty gushing from the Oval Office and Congress. And today I read more boneheaded hardliners are likely to join the administration. Secretary of State in waiting Mike Pompeo is a Tea Party weasel who wants to shred the Iran nuclear deal and get more bellicose with North Korea, while CIA chief in waiting Tom Cotton is a big fan of water boarding and extraordinary rendition. They greatly increase the chances we soon will find ourselves at war again. Meanwhile, the esteemed “maverick” senator from Arizona, who is dying of terminal brain cancer, votes for the horrific tax bill that strips deductions for expensive medical procedures. The “stiff-spined senator” from Alaska rolls over like a puppy in exchange for the right to despoil the Arctic preserves with oil extractions. And the “independent-minded” senator from Maine got enough goodies to vote yes. So, at home and abroad, great damage is being done by a political party utterly divorced from the lives of its constituents. How can I not be angry?

    It’s gotten to the point where I see this as a race. Will Robert Mueller’s investigation derail the cheap gang of con artists in the White House before we start throwing down with North Korea or Iran? Or will we start yet another bloody conflagration before the indictments fly?

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  139. Peter said on December 1, 2017 at 11:45 am

    Oh Deborah, that’s so sad about Vincent Scully – although he did have a good run.

    As for Louis Kahn – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – when Law and Order had the episode with the architect who had a heart attack at the train station and they found out he had multiple wives and/or mistresses and I said “no architect has enough money to pull that off in real life”, then I find out that not only is it true but it’s Louis “I’m uglier than Donald Trump” Kahn with a movie out to boot, my mind went into core meltdown.

    Although that Salk Center is a real beauty, I’ll tell you.

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  140. Peter said on December 1, 2017 at 11:54 am

    ABC News is reporting that Flynn is prepared to testify that Cheetolini told Flynn to contact the Russians for help in the election.

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  141. Deborah said on December 1, 2017 at 12:08 pm

    And the Kimble Art museum in Ft. Worth is another fantastic Louis Kahn building, Peter.

    I’m glued to the TV, connecting the dots.

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  142. Peter said on December 1, 2017 at 12:08 pm

    And Trump’s lawyer is now saying that Flynn is an Obama Administration official who was kept on by the Trump campaign….

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  143. Jakash said on December 1, 2017 at 12:28 pm

    I’d say the punch line from the thread Deborah linked to @ 134 is: “What this indicates—beyond any serious doubt—is the following: Special Counsel Bob Mueller, the former Director of the FBI, believes Mike Flynn’s testimony will *incriminate* the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, or both of these two men.”

    But what an odd world we live in that the way Mr. Abramson delivers his extended, incisive analysis is via 62 tweets!

    Julie @ 137,

    Seems like the first thing they teach at Right Wing Troll U. is never to use the correct version when you’re writing your clever (ahem) contributions to the conversation…

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  144. Brandon said on December 1, 2017 at 12:35 pm

    https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/01/blake-farenthold-taxpayer-funds-sexual-harassment-274458

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  145. Joe Kobiela said on December 1, 2017 at 1:42 pm

    Nope, first thing they teach is liberals have no sense of humour.
    Pilot Joe

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  146. Beobachter said on December 1, 2017 at 1:42 pm

    In case a Twitter thread reader is news, an easier way to view Mr Abramson:

    https://threadreaderapp.com/user/SethAbramson

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  147. Deborah said on December 1, 2017 at 2:24 pm

    So are they voting on the horrendous tax bill today or not?

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  148. Judybusy said on December 1, 2017 at 2:25 pm

    Please, please, let Flynn’s testimony bring this disaster down. I don’t want it to be true (because, holy crap!) but if it is, there need to be charges brought. Get that sexual predator out of office. I know if the president and VP both are out of office, we are stuck with the creepy Paul Ryan, but hopefully he won’t be completely unhinged and tweeting all sorts of hateful, moronic crap.

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  149. Scout said on December 1, 2017 at 3:42 pm

    Troll poo on aisle 145.

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  150. Icarus said on December 1, 2017 at 3:49 pm

    Small request of our host…if it’s not too much trouble, when you start a new post, could you drop a comment on the
    Last thread so we know to move there…

    I think too many good subjects get lost in transition

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    • jcburns said on December 1, 2017 at 5:30 pm

      Okay, now when you’re on a post page and when Nancy has posted a newer post, there will be a bright red “There is a newer post” at the top of the sidebar (the column on the right.) Of course there are some devices (like phones) where you don’t see the sidebar because it’s too narrow a space for it. How’s that? Terrific, right? All you ever wanted. right? Thought so.

      In other site business, I did put the now-traditional collection of comments up for Hattie.

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  151. Jeff Borden said on December 1, 2017 at 3:53 pm

    I’m fucking funny as hell, Joe.

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  152. Dorothy said on December 1, 2017 at 3:56 pm

    Joe’s BRITISH?! WOW – who knew?

    You guys have to stop. I’m about to pee my pants (or is that ‘pea’, Joe?) laughing at Julie and Scout.

    Depends Dorothy

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  153. Deborah said on December 1, 2017 at 4:01 pm

    Yay, I’m at the passport place waiting to pick up my renewed passport and I passed another Barnes & Noble where I was able to get a copy of Lillian Fishbox Takes a Walk, it’s hardback but small so won’t be heavy or take up too much room in my bag. Now when I get my passport I’m gonna celebrate.

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  154. Brandon said on December 1, 2017 at 4:01 pm

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_spelling_differences#-our,_-or

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  155. Deborah said on December 1, 2017 at 5:14 pm

    I’m getting a “Parse error…” message off to the right on my laptop where the list of commenters usually is?

    I’m home with my passport. Yay!

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  156. Deborah said on December 1, 2017 at 5:21 pm

    OK, the error message is gone now and the list of names is back. Must have been my laptop.

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    • jcburns said on December 1, 2017 at 5:33 pm

      Deborah, there’s no chance at all that I might have been working on the “There is a newer post” feature at the very moment you hit the page and I had a small typo in the code. No, none at all.

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  157. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 1, 2017 at 5:28 pm

    Can you fire a son-in-law? (Asking for a friend.)

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  158. FDChief said on December 1, 2017 at 5:30 pm

    My favorite take on the Melania/Christmas mashup.

    https://twitter.com/imillhiser/status/935314147641839616

    In case you miss the reference, here’s a reference: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/cs-lewis-greatest-fiction-convincing-american-kids-that-they-would-like-turkish-delight

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  159. Scout said on December 1, 2017 at 5:42 pm

    That Melanoma picture is terrifying, fdchief. She looks like she is on a quest for braaaiiinsssss.

    While checking that out, I saw this. WASF.
    https://twitter.com/clairecmc/status/936678750577623041

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  160. susan said on December 1, 2017 at 6:11 pm

    WASF?

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  161. Scout said on December 1, 2017 at 6:24 pm

    susan: We. Are. So. Fucked.

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  162. Julie Robinson said on December 1, 2017 at 6:48 pm

    Yes, WASF, but can’t a girl just enjoy the Flynn story for an hour or so?

    Love the White Witch reference. After a lifetime of picturing Turkish Delight as some kind of divinity, I finally got to try some. Ptui, ptui.

    Nice one, JC. And I saw that you already have Hattie up. Thanks.

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  163. susan said on December 1, 2017 at 7:47 pm

    Scout, oh. Guess if I were a texter I’d know that one! I kept trying “whiney ass…shit fucker”? “whiney ass stupid fucker”? I figured fuck had to be in there somehow.

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