Deep in the hold of the ship, this rustbucket, this groaning mass of timbers and sheet steel that no one expected to float, much less clear the harbor on its perilous journey, the rats are growing restless.
From one angle, the voyage looks like a success. They’re making progress, but near-constant storms have most of the crew pale from nausea, and the captain’s equally constant stream of bile and abuse has dispirited all of them, although the first mate, a young man with an old man’s hairline and the dead eyes of a shark, seems just fine. The eyes of the other officers sink deeper into their skulls and even routine encounters in the passageways between their cabins tend to degenerate into shouting matches with the thin edge of hysteria.
The charts and navigation aids tell the story: The ship is moving. Enthusiastic communiques are arriving from shore, urging them on. The captain likes this.
But belowdecks, among the vermin that live on all ships, subsisting on nibbles stolen from the galley, from the hold, from the seemingly inedible leavings of any human gathering, things don’t seem…quite right. Even allowing for all the rest of the craziness. This last storm is still raging; it’s only started in fact, and unlike many of the others, this looks like no squall. It could be a hurricane, followed by another hurricane, and they’re not halfway through the journey.
One rat sits mournfully in the corner, whiskers a-twitch, when he feels it, under his paws. Not the ever-present moisture of any ship, from condensation or the rain. No, this trickle tickling the soft pads of his feet has the tang of salt. This is it — the first leak that will be followed by a breach, a rushing in of seawater, listing and the inevitable sinking.
No rats will be welcome in the lifeboats, and will there even be any, by the time this storm is over? The tradition for this animal is for it to jump into the water and take its chances, which are good; few species on earth are as hardy and adaptable as rattus rattus. One might think drowning is inevitable after such a move, but all it takes is a bit of floating debris to climb on, a favorable breeze, and this rat could be washed ashore in a new place while the humans in the lifeboats are still fighting over a tinned biscuit.
But this rat has resources, skills and connections unknown to previous generations. He knows someone at the New York Times. And so, after yet another day of screaming, of doors slamming into bulkheads, of despairing officers pacing at the stern rail with suicide in their eyes, he boots his personal laptop and begins his cri de coeur:
President Trump is facing a test to his presidency unlike any faced by a modern American leader.
It’s not just that the special counsel looms large. Or that the country is bitterly divided over Mr. Trump’s leadership. Or even that his party might well lose the House to an opposition hellbent on his downfall.
The dilemma — which he does not fully grasp — is that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.
I would know. I am one of them.
The rat smiles at the work so far. He knows he’s going to be just fine.
Sherri said on September 5, 2018 at 6:21 pm
Perfect response to this self-congratulatory piece of dreck. Telling me a self-appointed, secret, unelected, unaccountable cabal is really in charge is supposed to make me feel better? Fuck that shit.
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David C. said on September 5, 2018 at 6:49 pm
Pardon me if I don’t just sit back and relax because some chickenshit who won’t say out loud and proud that he’s working for a lunatic is telling us it’s OK.
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Heather said on September 5, 2018 at 6:57 pm
The whole piece makes it sound like the staff is required to tiptoe around an inbred monarch who can’t be fired. Um–he can, if anyone would just get the eggs to do so. Also, this is the problem with having so many corporate types in government. While we all might have to deal with an unbalanced boss at work occasionally, it’s a mite different when it’s someone who’s supposed to be working for the public.
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Julie Robinson said on September 5, 2018 at 8:37 pm
A fine piece of writing, Nancy.
Wouldn’t you love to be a fly on the wall in DC tomorrow? No one is gonna get any work done for all the speculation. I’d say the person has a fairly identifiable writing style. Speechwriter? Are there former journalists in the administration?
At any rate we won’t have long to wait for the exposure of this generation’s Deep Throat.
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alex said on September 5, 2018 at 9:30 pm
Fresh from the bowels of the listing Ship of State. Or was it thrown from the poop deck? Or does it matter? With Woodward’s book out this week, Trump’s fat head may just finally explode and leave AquaNet all over the walls.
As someone pointed out earlier, if he’s too preoccupied to dance on Rahm Emmanuel’s political grave, you know it must be eating him but good.
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Suzanne said on September 5, 2018 at 9:38 pm
Today’s revelations show how utterly worthless the GOP Congress is. They should all be locked up for destroying the country.
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basset said on September 5, 2018 at 9:38 pm
Well put, Nancy.
What’s the over and under on the outing of that op-ed author? I’ll say four days, whether or not the accusation is true.
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Kim said on September 5, 2018 at 10:02 pm
That was brilliant. Thank you!
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Deborah said on September 5, 2018 at 10:17 pm
Love your analogy of rats on a sinking ship, Nancy. But I’m curious as to why the rats can’t have guts enough to come out in the open when there is so much in peril. I get that they’re rats but still.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 5, 2018 at 10:46 pm
Have Pence’s writing skills really improved that much?
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Deborah said on September 5, 2018 at 10:56 pm
Lawrence O’Donnell thinks it’s Dan Coates, that makes sense to me. Lots of questions though: why the NYT? Who is the audience? Why anonymous? Will we find out soon?
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Rana said on September 5, 2018 at 11:16 pm
I find that op-ed chilling, and not because of what it says about Trump.
Rather, what it admits to is that basically the country is being run by a group of people who are accountable to no one but themselves, against the wishes of the elected leadership.
ETA: I see Mr. Pierce has beaten me to it: https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22997506/donald-trump-white-house-coup-gary-cohn/
Isn’t that the very definition of a coup?
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beb said on September 6, 2018 at 12:03 am
A writer at Raw Story makes an convincing case for Mike Pence. The op-ed writer used “lodestar” in his article which is an unconventional word. But Pence seems to have used it numerous times since 2000. Is he hoping to get the big enchilada? Or is a false flag operation trying to bury Woodward’s book. It has certainly push both Woodward and Cavanaugh off the front page as everyone tries to figure who the author is. And isn’t that what Trump would want. Perhaps *he* wrote the op-ed…. no… he can’t write that well.
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Diane said on September 6, 2018 at 12:08 am
I believe Pence is the odds on favorite in Vegas but I’m thinking Coates. But wait, aren’t we supposed to be watching the Kavanaugh hearing?
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Jolene said on September 6, 2018 at 1:08 am
In my limited observations of Coats (no e), he has seemed to be far too straight to do something as crazy as publishing that op-ed. I don’t think Pence has that much imagination either–not that I have a better idea.
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ROGirl said on September 6, 2018 at 6:00 am
The rat chose this ship in the first place, it made the decision to get on board and ride it to the destination that the unhinged lunatic was headed toward. The unhinged lunatic revealed himself a long time ago, but the rat liked the promised destination. So the rat turned because the unhinged lunatic wasn’t delivering on the promised ends. And the unhinged lunatic is still at the helm.
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Alan Stamm said on September 6, 2018 at 7:52 am
Stylish, elegant and compelling. A riff so nice I read it twice.
Strong game you play, Nancy.
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Deggjr said on September 6, 2018 at 8:28 am
The NYT piece does have a Dan Rather-ish feel to it. Roger Stone again?
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Suzanne said on September 6, 2018 at 8:29 am
We have, I believe, experienced a soft coup. The Constitution,that the right shouts so loudly that they love and hold right up there with the holy scripture, has set out ways to deal with a lunatic president, but the spineless GOP Congress refuses to act. I am glad the inner circle of the White House is acting to keep Trump from blowing up the world or just plain inviting Kim & Putin to hang out as co-rulers, but come on! If y’all love the Constitution so much, do what it tells you to do!
I don’t think the op-ed is written by Pence. No tea party talking points which is all he knows to say. Coats? Maybe.
And may I say what a bada$$ Kamala Harris is?
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Mark P said on September 6, 2018 at 9:10 am
Language Log ( languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu) has a couple of posts on this. Mark Liberman doesn’t attempt to identify anyone but points out a few considerations on it.
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Julie Robinsonth said on September 6, 2018 at 9:27 am
Pence doesn’t have the smarts or style to have written this. He’s just an opportunist who has Peter-Principled his way up. Coats? Does he spend his days in the daily White House scrum? I dunno.
I also read another message in this, one to loyal Republicans, reassuring them that despite the crazy person at the top, the administration is humming along with the business of the country. Therefore there’s no reason to change course in November. But judging from my own life-long conservative mother, that ship, to continue Nancy’s analogy, may have sailed.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 6, 2018 at 9:40 am
. . . but Pence’s chief of staff, on the other hand . . .
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Peter said on September 6, 2018 at 9:40 am
1. Sure, a lot of people have said Pence, and there’s a strong Coats contingent. I’d put my money on a couple of dark horses – Larry Kudlow and Nikki Haley. They both work on foreign policy issues, which was a feature of the article, they both have more smarts, morals, and guts than the typical administration hacks, although that is a VERY low bar, and they both can land on their feet if they get outed.
2. The really disturbing take I got from that op-ed is not the whole coup feeling, but that this brave person and his ilk are preventing the really crazy stuff from happening. Wait, what – you mean the shit we’ve been seeing is the SANE stuff?
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FDChief said on September 6, 2018 at 9:53 am
And, you’ll note, the rat loves his cheese; tax cuts for bloated plutocrats, fat largesse shoved at defense contractors, and a free hand for fellow rats to shit in the humans’ air and water.
“Hero”? No, sorry. You’re just another worthless GOP rat.
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Bitter Scribe said on September 6, 2018 at 10:08 am
I notice Trump’s reaction so far veers between “this person doesn’t exist” and “this person is a traitor.” Probably wants to see which one gets more traction.
I wouldn’t count Trump out just yet. Remember when everyone did that during the campaign? He’s as shrewd and survival-oriented as any rat.
Let me echo the others who say great writing, Nancy.
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Sherri said on September 6, 2018 at 11:44 am
The only problem that Republicans in Congress and the administration have with The Current Occupant is that he so crude and vulgar. If he were quieter and would stop tweeting and otherwise do all the same things he’s doing, they’d be happy as clams. But they think he’s making them look bad, and might cost them power before they can get everything locked down.
Fuck those Republican Senators like Corker and Sasse who are saying, yeah, we hear the same thing, good thing we have some grownups there. How about you be a grownup and do your job?
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Sherri said on September 6, 2018 at 12:28 pm
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely to matter, but for someone who’s been on the Republican short list for the Court for years, Kavanaugh is not showing it.
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a23008325/brett-kavanaugh-kamala-harris-corey-booker/
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brian stouder said on September 6, 2018 at 12:55 pm
Allow me to add to the chorus of admiration of our Proprietress’s writing skills; a very evocative thread today, indeed.
When Pam and I were taking in the latest news last night, about our latter-day Deep Throat, I immediately guessed DNI Coats, as he was priceless on the stage with Andrea Mitchell a few months back.
Then, Lawrence O’Donnell made the same pick, so now I think it was a swing-and-a-miss….
But – we shall see
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Scout said on September 6, 2018 at 1:25 pm
This was so good I read it twice. I love being part of a blog community that is headed by someone with your level of talent, Nancy.
No matter who DeepStateThroat is, what is amazing is that people are only abuzz about who it is; nobody is even saying it isn’t true.
FD Chief @24 said “And, you’ll note, the rat loves his cheese; tax cuts for bloated plutocrats, fat largesse shoved at defense contractors, and a free hand for fellow rats to shit in the humans’ air and water. “Hero”? No, sorry. You’re just another worthless GOP rat.” I couldn’t agree more. Not too many Americans will find ‘I’m enabling a racist, insane president because I like tax cuts’ exactly heroic once the ship finally hits the fatal iceberg.
Kamala Harris has become my new Shero with this question: “Can you think of any laws that give the government the power to make decisions about the male body?” To which Kavanaugh, that insidious piece of shit, had to answer NO.
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Jeff Borden said on September 6, 2018 at 1:50 pm
It should be easy to find the rat who penned the oped. Look for someone with exceptionally long arms. . .used to pat himself/herself on the back so heartily. There’s absolutely nothing “heroic” about this person. They should get themselves over to Capitol Hill and start talking to Congress. . .loudly and insistently.
Given the absolute lack of morality on the part of the Republican Congress, I fully expect Brett Kavanaugh to get his seat on SCOTUS. But the emails unearthed by Sen. Cory Booker paint him as even more of a lizard than we might have expected. . .particularly on the issues of abortion and affirmative action. Would Sen. Tim Scott, the black Republican senator from South Carolina who successfully opposed the appointment of a racist judge to a federal court, feel the need to stand against Kavanaugh? I don’t expect a thing from the so-called moderates Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. They’re Republicans first, last and always.
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Deborah said on September 6, 2018 at 2:43 pm
Does Kavanaugh wear a hairpiece?
Booker and Harris are coming off we’ll these days, in my book. They look like fighters.
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Scout said on September 6, 2018 at 3:07 pm
Because he hasn’t written anything political all summer, I stopped checking Scalzi’s site. Today I stopped by and found a SERIES. Here is today’s installment, and it’s excellent. https://whatever.scalzi.com/2018/09/06/1998-2018-whatever-20-20-day-six-presidents/
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Suzanne said on September 6, 2018 at 3:09 pm
Did someone already link to this?
http://www.shakesville.com/2018/09/the-republicans-casually-announce-their.html
She makes a good case that the coup has already happened and that Trump is coming to the end of his usefulness to the GOP radicals
“These are not people who value democracy. They are people who want to destroy it on their terms.”
“They are hoping that the rest of us will be grateful — and, more importantly, be quiet — as they covertly take over the presidency as they see fit, until Trump is removed and replaced with someone whose vulgarity won’t belie the obscenity of their agenda.
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Scout said on September 6, 2018 at 3:09 pm
Oh and one more thing…
https://twitter.com/ALT_uscis/status/1037769172128878592
I LOL’d. Sorry, not sorry.
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Jeff Borden said on September 6, 2018 at 3:10 pm
The Bandit has driven his black Trans Am to the Pearly Gates. Burt Reynolds has died at age 82. He was in many terrible movies, but I always kind of liked the guy for being funny and unpretentious. His visits to Johnny Carson’s “Tonight” show were always hilarious.
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alex said on September 6, 2018 at 4:30 pm
Eighty-two. That makes him about the same age as Dinah Shore was back in the ’70s when they were an item.
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Deborah said on September 6, 2018 at 4:58 pm
Deliverance was a pretty good movie as I recall. Reynolds was another one of those guys that I thought already died a few years back.
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Sherri said on September 6, 2018 at 5:32 pm
That Chinese hoax strikes again: https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Fire-Insurance-Canceled-for-Homeowners-in-Oakland-492573891.html
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ragazza said on September 6, 2018 at 6:42 pm
I finally figured out who Kavanaugh reminds me of–disgraced newspaper columnist Bob Greene. It was a friend referring to his hairpiece that did it (although if K’s is a piece, it’s a lot better than Bob’s).
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Bitter Scribe said on September 6, 2018 at 8:19 pm
Ragazza: When I wore a mop on my head as part of a Halloween costume, it was a lot better than Bob’s.
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Randy said on September 6, 2018 at 8:40 pm
Gonna need a bigger boat, any boats for sale?
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Jakash said on September 7, 2018 at 2:00 am
Well, here’s a serendipitous discovery! I’d put up the emojis for 2 or 3 sirens if I knew how, but I don’t.
I forget whose mother coined this nickname for nn.c commenters’ ongoing enjoyment (Suzanne?), but I ran across this while checking out the feeds of some witty tweeters:
“Apropos of nothing, my Greek husband calls Mike Pence ‘My Pants’ because he can’t say his name correctly, but I think ‘My Pants’ is the only way Mike Pence should ever be pronounced from now on. e.g: ‘thanks My Pants for fucking up the White House tonight. yay, My Pants!'”
https://twitter.com/bourgeoisalien/status/1037503877770354688
Needless to say, most of *my* comments are also “apropos of nothing,” so this fits right in!
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Suzanne said on September 7, 2018 at 8:36 am
LOL! It was me from a comment I read in the comments section of (I think) the N.Y. Times in which someone explained that his hard of hearing elderly mother was watching some political debate or something and wondered why they kept talking about My Pants. It was just so perfect.
And…little Marco Rubio just stated, on NPR, re: the NYT op-ed, that Trump’s behavior doesn’t matter as long as the outcome is what the Republicans want.
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brian stouder said on September 7, 2018 at 9:57 am
Thread-win for Alex at 36; made me LOL!
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Sherri said on September 7, 2018 at 11:15 am
I think we could all use a nice palate cleanser, right?
https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/09/jocelyn-bell-burnell-wins-3-million-prize-for-discovering-pulsars/
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susan said on September 7, 2018 at 1:21 pm
Sherri, here is a podcast about Jocelyn Bell, from about a month ago, on one of my favorite podcasts, Science Friction. It’s an Aussie ‘cast. Another good sciencey/natural history podcast from the Antipodes is Off Track.
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Deborah said on September 7, 2018 at 1:27 pm
This! It’s not Trump it’s his shameless enablers https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/policy-and-politics/2018/9/6/17825406/trump-woodward-op-ed-nyt-anonymous-impeachment?__twitter_impression=true
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Jakash said on September 7, 2018 at 3:35 pm
From Deborah’s link: “Trump is what he is. And what he is is a man who shouldn’t be president. The question is whether our political system is capable of responding to that kind of mistake, or threat, in any serious way. So far, the answer is no.”
Sadly, the answer will always be no. Looking at what transpired in 2016 — Russian interference in the election, Republicans’ successful efforts to keep certain voters from being able to exercise their right to vote, their success in having gerrymandered things such that they have a disproportionate number of seats in the House, the effects of their legalization of the concept of money as speech, Hillary “winning” by 3 million votes, but losing the election — all these things are clear indications that the election of Hair Furor was fraudulent from the get-go. The fair and, to my mind, logical response to that election would be to have it be invalidated and done over. None of the legislative consequences of that election are valid, but, no matter what happens to Trump himself, we’re stuck with the last 2 years of his agenda being implemented, regardless. And if My Pants assumes the top job, that does nothing to address the fact that he was unfairly elected, as well, and that the illegitimate agenda will be pursued just as avidly, though perhaps less crudely. No wonder so many of us “snowflakes” are so freaking “triggered.”
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Deborah said on September 7, 2018 at 4:30 pm
I’m inspired by what Obama said today. There is still hope, it will not be easy, all of the Democrats (and anyone who will support Democrats) need to get off of the stick and vote, get others to vote, all of it. Of course the other side will cheat, they always do. I don’t know what the answer is in that regard, it will be a slog to combat it with creativity and guts. Two important dates to remember 11.06.18 and 11.03.20, I’m going to start a countdown so I remember to do something every day.
https://howmanydaystill.com/its/2018-midterm-elections
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LAMary said on September 7, 2018 at 5:14 pm
I think it was Kudlow who wrote the NYT op ed. I heard him interviewed about the Fed on NPR a week or so ago and he impressed me as someone who would simultaneously defend Trump while thinking he was a jerk. Just saying.
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Deborah said on September 7, 2018 at 6:38 pm
Hotel workers in Chicago are on strike in Chicago. There are a lot of hotels in our neighborhood and as we came back from Uncle J’s place today it was quite raucous. I say more power to them, don’t let the 1% owners and shareholders take it all. The workers should get their fair share.
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basset said on September 7, 2018 at 7:06 pm
I have retired, as of today… at least from my full-time job, have a freelance gig coming up tomorrow. And Mrs. B will come home next Thursday, gotta get those handrails up.
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susan said on September 7, 2018 at 7:56 pm
basset, wooooot! Good for you. You’ll love working or not working here and there or not anywhere.
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Deborah said on September 7, 2018 at 8:01 pm
Basset, welcome to the land of retirement, I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine.
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Deborah said on September 7, 2018 at 8:40 pm
Is it Huntsman? https://amp.slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/09/new-york-times-op-ed-anonymous-writer-trump.html?__twitter_impression=true
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Jakash said on September 8, 2018 at 1:30 am
Charles Pierce’s opinion on the Op-Ed author, via his wife’s analysis:
“If, as I speculated on Wednesday, this is a vehicle on which you can ride away from the garbage fire that is this administration*, but you still want to hold onto your conservative Republican street cred, this is exactly the kind of thing you’d concoct.
She thinks it’s Kellyanne Conway.
And now, so do I…”
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a23013590/anonymous-op-ed-new-york-times-kellyanne-conway/
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Jakash said on September 8, 2018 at 1:54 am
“I’m no HR professional but it’s prob a bad sign when an employee writes an anonymous letter calling you a brain-dead asshole and you can’t even narrow it down to 100 people”
https://twitter.com/TheDweck/status/1037732736453070850
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Dexter Friend said on September 8, 2018 at 2:20 am
msnbc is getting much more attention from me, as their Trump coverage is non-stop. On Hardball, Omarosa gave up anonymous…one of Pence’s staff . But geez…anyone hanging around Trump all-cozy as she did, who gives her words creedence anyway?
Last night Kerry did not rule out a 2020 run…this cheered me up as a cloud has settled over our family. Just like that, snap, my daughter’s routine exam sounded alarm bells and yesterday she was DX’d and it was confirmed: she has breast cancer. She’s 40. Monday, MRI and CT scan, as the battle begins. S^2C.
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Sherri said on September 8, 2018 at 9:59 am
So sorry about your daughter, Dex! Hope all goes well with treatment.
On Kavanaugh’s crime-ridden hometown: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-too-grew-up-in-the-crime-ridden-streets-of-bethesda-maryland
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 8, 2018 at 10:14 am
Dexter, my best hopes and prayers for strength to you and yours.
Yeah, Kellyanne is looking likely. With the intentional sideswipe of “lodestar” to throw dust in the air and shove Pence off-balance.
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connie said on September 8, 2018 at 10:27 am
So I am on the road and just ordered at my first McDs kiosk. It was fast and easy. Now to see if my order actually comes to my table.
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Deborah said on September 8, 2018 at 11:33 am
Wow, Dexter, life needs to cut you some slack. Sorry to hear about your daughter.
KAC seems like a back stabbing bitch so it makes sense that she’d possibly do something like that. I wonder what Trump will do with her if that is confirmed? Crazytown indeed.
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diane said on September 8, 2018 at 11:40 am
So sorry about your daughter Dexter.
I’m moving my money to Kellyanne. She’s geared first and foremost to be an opportunist and survivor and that’s what I think the op ed piece was about.
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Sherri said on September 8, 2018 at 1:00 pm
Ezra Klein unpacks the “that’s how we got Trump” method of blaming liberals.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/7/17832104/barack-obama-donald-trump-ben-shapiro-speech
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Little Bird said on September 8, 2018 at 3:35 pm
I maintain that the letter is from Melania and written by Michelle.
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The Garden Fairy said on September 8, 2018 at 4:44 pm
@65/Little Bird — GREAT one!!
My money remains on Coats – he’s old enough that if fire rains down on him, he can walk away. No unbearable career consequences.
I killed my connections to TV news in the run-up to the 2016 conventions so am out of the loop on certain kinds of speculation. But from the point of view of “deniability”, if the op-ed was written by multiple folks, but in the first person, then all can, in the contorted way of parsing truth these days, answer truthfully “Are you Anonymous?,” with a “No.”
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Deborah said on September 8, 2018 at 4:48 pm
Sherri, that Vox link is excellent. Makes it clear and it’s concise.
My husband and I took a long walk today. My iPhone pedometer said I walked 14,000+ steps and that it was 4.8 miles. His iPhone pedometer said it was about 13,500+ steps and that it was 6.3 miles. We walked the exact same walk and neither of us had walked much around our place before we went out. We also have the same phones and ped apps.
On our way back home we stopped at a grocery store for provisions for dinner and they were sampling a veggie burger that tasted exactly like rare hamburger. It was delicious, unlike any fake meat burger I’ve ever had before. It was uncanny how much it looked and tasted like hamburger meat. I know this sounds like I’m getting paid to say this but I was impressed. The brand is called Beyond Meat. I didn’t buy any and didn’t ask so I have no idea how much it costs. It appeared to come in a package with 2 patties. I will definitely buy some sometime when I’m planning to have burgers.
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Denice Beb said on September 8, 2018 at 7:12 pm
This is great writing. I want to read a whole book of this! Why not be the Novelist you are at heart?
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Julie Robinson said on September 8, 2018 at 7:12 pm
Do we really think Kellyanne can write that eloquently?
Dexter, I’m so sorry about your daughter’s cancer. I pray that they’ve caught it early and can find an effective treatment. I had just a glimpse of how scary that would be when I had my cancer scare earlier this year. So I also wish peace for all.
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beb said on September 8, 2018 at 9:41 pm
Remember when we found out who Deepthroat was? It was someone no one had ever heard of before. A totally obscure official. That’s what will happen we finally find how who wrote the Anonymous NYT article. It will be someone never even heard of or thought of before. Someone like that Ohr fellow Trump wants to remove his security clearance.
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Jakash said on September 9, 2018 at 1:27 am
Well, this Op-Ed has indeed brought Deep Throat to mind for many. Here’s a tweet I saw with a shot of a June 25, 1974 front-page article from the Wall Street Journal wondering about his identity. That’s “10 days after publication date of ‘All the President’s Men'” and about a month and a half *before* Nixon resigned. The first sentence: “W. Mark Felt says he isn’t now, nor has he ever been, Deep Throat.” So, that’s pretty cool! ; )
https://twitter.com/wjosephcampbell/status/1037499943223734272/photo/1?
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Dexter Friend said on September 9, 2018 at 2:02 am
Thanks for the kind words. Daughter’s name is Vanessa. I named her for Vanessa Redgrave, my favorite actor from then, when we called women actresses. My wife has been in Las Vegas with the oldest daughter & family , including the 2 Las Vegas based great-grandkids. She coming home on a redeye in a few days and we’re all getting together in Columbus next weekend.
No English football Saturday so I watched baseball and college football, hoping Ball State could finish off Notre Dame, but alas, just fell short.
Anybody watching Ozark on HBO? It seems the show has jumped the shark with incredible plot turns and twists. I will watch, but it is not a classic series.
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Jolene said on September 9, 2018 at 2:19 am
I’m late to hear the news, but I, too, send my best hopes for your daughter. Keep us posted as to how she is doing as her treatment progresses.
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Deborah said on September 9, 2018 at 11:44 am
If you want to help a woman get elected to the house, this woman is highly qualified https://www.xochforcongress.com. She’s running for NM 2nd district, our place in Santa Fe and our cabin in Abiquiu are in the 3rd, so she wouldn’t represent us (Lujan is our rep, but we vote in IL) we need people like her in general. I just contributed, won’t you? The seat she is running for was held by Pearce (R) who is currently running for governor of NM. That race is a dead heat so far, Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) is leading Pearce by only 2 points.
In some ways I wish I could vote in NM to help Grisham win but It’s important to oust Rauner, the horrible governor of IL, though he is way behind the Democratic candidate (Pritzker) in the polls by double digits, I didn’t vote for Pritzker in the primary but I will certainly vote for him in Nov. So I’ll retain my vote in IL and keep my fingers crossed for NM.
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Jolene said on September 9, 2018 at 12:19 pm
As I’ve said before, another campaign that could use your support is that of Heidi Heitkamp, the incumbent Democratic candidate for Senate in North Dakota. I think she has a reasonable chance to win, despite being from a state that Trump won massively. She is currently tied with her R opponent, and my impression is that she is well liked in the state. And, because ND is a small state and, hence, a low-cost media market, modest contributions can be a big help.
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beb said on September 9, 2018 at 2:27 pm
This case “Dallas cop faces homicide charge after killing neighbor in his [own] apartment” intrigues me because the basic question that has not been answered is how did this woman cop get into her neighbor’s apartment. Wouldn’t the door have been locked, or is that too much a Detroit thing for Texas? Did he let her in? How could she not recognize an apartment neighbor? I mean, the brief time we lived in an apartment we never knew the names of our neighbors but we at least recognized that they were our neighbors and not intruders. At least the Dallas police has decided to approach this as a homicide and not a police incident.
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Snarkworth said on September 9, 2018 at 2:41 pm
Dexter, best wishes to your daughter, from someone who has been there and back. There is so much reason for optimism these days. I hope she is in good spirits.
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LAMary said on September 9, 2018 at 5:40 pm
Dexter, we watched the England/Spain game on one of the Spanish language channels. The match was on two of them. There’s a France/Netherlands match this week too. Same flag, ninety degrees rotation.
I’ll keep your daughter in my thoughts and I’ll sic all my nun friends from my former employer on her cancer. I may be an atheist but I have no problem with asking any believers I know to help out.
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Jolene said on September 9, 2018 at 6:21 pm
How could she not recognize an apartment neighbor?
This doesn’t surprise me at all. I’m a longtime apartment dweller and have no idea who else is living here, even in the apartments nearest me. I rarely even see other people.
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Jeff Borden said on September 9, 2018 at 6:38 pm
I’m in Jolene’s camp. We’ve lived in our house for more than 25 years but I know the occupants of maybe one-third of the housues/apartments on our block. And anyone who knows me knows I’m an uber-extrovert. We’ve just never run into each other, I guess.
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David C. said on September 9, 2018 at 8:16 pm
Beb, from what I read the victim heard her keys in the lock and opened the door to find out what was going on.
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