When I rule the world, here’s who we’re sending to the guillotines:
Jeff Zucker
Mark Burnett
Sheldon Adelson
Roger Ailes
Rupert Murdoch
That’s just the beginning of the list. I know Ailes is dead and Adelson and Murdock will likely follow him before too long, but we’ll dig up their corpses and decapitate whatever is left of them. In cases of cremation, we’ll accept a close family member.
But Burnett — that guy really rankles, especially after reading the Apprentice part of the NYT tax package:
Mark Burnett, a British television producer best known for the hit series “Survivor,” approached him with an idea for a different reality show, this one based in a boardroom. In Mr. Burnett’s vision, a cast of wannabe entrepreneurs would come to New York and compete for the approval of the Donald, with the winner to work on a Trump project. Mr. Trump eagerly agreed to host “The Apprentice” and went on to ham it up as the billionaire kingmaker, yelling “You’re fired” each week until one contestant was left.
Some of Mr. Burnett’s staff members wondered how a wealthy businessman supposedly running a real estate empire could spare the time, but they soon discovered that not everything in Mr. Trump’s world was as it appeared.
“We walked through the offices and saw chipped furniture,” Bill Pruitt, one of the producers, told The New Yorker in 2018. “We saw a crumbling empire at every turn. Our job was to make it seem otherwise.”
Mr. Burnett wasted no time spinning the illusion of a successful and high-minded Mr. Trump, telling The Times in October 2003 that the new show was all about “Donald Trump giving back” by educating the public on how his can-do spirit had provided jobs and economic security.
“What makes the world a safe place right now?” Mr. Burnett said. “I think it’s American dollars, which come from taxes, which come because of Donald Trump.”
And that led to the licensing, the multilevel marketing schemes, and the full unleashing of hucksterism. Although I found this paragraph amusing:
Bayrock proposed to bring the Trump brand to hotels around the country and overseas, where Mr. Trump’s flamboyant taste for gold and glitz played well among wealthy foreigners with a caricatured notion of American success.
So sorry, Mark. No appeal for you. Cigarette while we wait for the tumbrel?
That was honestly one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. I’m going to sit back and wait for my absentee ballot to arrive. You can read something I wrote for yesterday’s Deadline, if you like. But now I have to get to work.
basset said on September 30, 2020 at 9:54 am
Didn’t even try to watch the debate, knew we wouldn’t be able to stand it.
Our absentee ballots have already been filled out, returned, and checked in at the election commission.
185 chars
LAMary said on September 30, 2020 at 10:24 am
The only good thing about it was trump was so horrible that maybe a few people on the fence decided to go blue. Of course there are people who think it’s great he’s a monster and they were probably happy with his performance. Stand by and stand back.
250 chars
Deborah said on September 30, 2020 at 11:22 am
Did any of you who stayed to the bitter end last night notice the awkward moment when Melania and Jill Biden went on stage? Jill and Joe had a nice hug and maybe kissed, she had a mask on so maybe not. Melania was maskless, walked over to Trump smiling, said something then Trump barely touched her back and she barely touched his arm. Then they stood next to each other holding hands and Trump did a sort of twitching motion with his hand. I don’t know if Melania was trying to jerk her hand away and he was trying to hang on?
I used to think I had a kind of radar that could tell when a couple was experiencing a miserable marriage, probably because I had a miserable first marriage myself. Anyway, every time I see Melania and Donald together I get that vibe, it’s obvious, lots of people have said the same. That awkward moment last night compared to the obvious love Jill and Joe have for each other was telling. I remember Trump greeting Ivanka on the stage at the 2016 Republican convention, he seemed genuinely affectionate, actually creepily so, given that she’s his daughter.
You should try to watch the video of the moment, there are a few from various angles. What’s really weird is when I tried to google it to find a link to post here the only press I could find about the awkward moment were foreign, New Zealand, Austrailia and the U.K. mentioned it but I found no US press mentions on Google.
1416 chars
Julie Robinson said on September 30, 2020 at 11:28 am
Didn’t watch and I’m glad; just the comments I’m reading give me all the picture I need. George Conway: “Imagine debating a monkey that just makes noises and throws poop.”
I’m voting straight ticket this time. If you still put an R next to your name, you’re complicit and you won’t get my vote. This includes the son of some friends who is a state representative. We’re now in his district, and he’s a good man in many ways, but that R is toxic to me.
455 chars
nancy said on September 30, 2020 at 11:33 am
Deborah, I found a brief clip and tweeted it.
136 chars
Peter said on September 30, 2020 at 11:58 am
Well, my blood pressure didn’t go through the roof, but it did hit a six month high. Last I checked though it’s gone back to a better number.
I do like what David Frum said after the debate: After tonight, I think we’re a little further from civil strife, a little closer to Florida being called for Biden by 10:00 PM Eastern.
330 chars
Maria said on September 30, 2020 at 12:03 pm
This is small potatoes compared to the Trumps’ major corruption and grifting, but I think it is a good reveal of their general tackiness: Ivanka’s wedding invitations included a brochure touting the Trump hotels and golf courses.
229 chars
Jeff Borden said on September 30, 2020 at 12:09 pm
My friends from overseas were absolutely appalled. People I’ve met while traveling and with whom I stay in mild contact live in Scotland, Finland and Germany. They believe our nation already is lost if this is what passes for political dialogue. An old colleague now living and working in Dubai and a high school friend who has lived in Australia since she was 22 also expressed great alarm at the state of our democracy. His cultists may be too dense to understand it, but the damage this oaf has done to our image on the international stage may never be repaired. Silvio Berlusconi was close to his equal in being a sexist, racist, bullying, bragging asshole, but he was only the leader of Italy. Honestly, Putin, Xi, Erdogan, et.al. must be beside themselves with joy.
The statement given much attention in the coverage I’ve heard and read was tRumpy’s shout-out to the Proud Boys, the violent racist rightwing group. He’s telling them to “stand down and stand by.” Stand by for what, you traitorous pus bag? To act the goons at polling places. . .to intimidate people of color. . .to scare election judges?
Unless there is an absolute tidal wave of blue in November, we are looking at some very dangerous times. And even if that occurs, look out. An unrestrained GOP Senate and tRumpy will be laying booby traps everywhere in the lame duck session.
1358 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 30, 2020 at 12:35 pm
Historic precedents for executing corpses include Oliver Cromwell, John Wycliffe, Blackbeard the pirate, and a hatful of others. Plus Mussolini was shot, but then later . . . anyhow.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posthumous_execution
236 chars
Suzanne said on September 30, 2020 at 12:50 pm
Malaria is totally trying to disengage herself from Donny Scream’s hand. I do believe that if I were her, at this point, I’d be thinking that none of this is worth the money.
174 chars
David C said on September 30, 2020 at 12:51 pm
Even though he’s a tRump appointment, I don’t think Christopher Wray is stupid. I’m pretty sure the proud boys have been infiltrated six ways from Sunday.
154 chars
Sherri said on September 30, 2020 at 12:54 pm
Mark Zuckerberg unquestionably belongs on that list.
52 chars
Deborah said on September 30, 2020 at 1:10 pm
When I clicked on that Shannon Watts Twitter video of the awkward Melania/Donald post debate moment I noticed there were other videos that people posted in the replies. Some showed Trump’s arm twitching similarly in different instances. I showed them all to my husband and he was aghast remembering how his uncle had similar arm twitching spells when he was in earlier stages of Alzheimer’s, I had forgotten about that. There may be some serious neurological issues presenting or Melania is just desperately trying to disengage from his slimy grasp.
549 chars
Mark P said on September 30, 2020 at 1:57 pm
Deborah, people often think that snakes are slimy, but they aren’t. They’re scaly.
86 chars
Sherri said on September 30, 2020 at 1:59 pm
I don’t think there’s much doubt that trump has dementia of some sort. The balance issues, the slurring of his words, the delusions that keep getting grander and grander, and the lashing out are all hallmarks of dementia.
It’s a little less obvious because he’s also a narcissist who has always lied about everything, and he pretty clearly has dyslexia or some other type of processing disorder that makes it difficult for him to read, so he’s always manifested some of this. Because he’s such a narcissist, he can’t admit that he has a reading disorder, so he doesn’t do anything to adapt to it (if he would admit to it, his staff could experiment with ways other than reading off a teleprompter for him to give speeches because he just can’t do that well.)
Reagan was suffering from dementia before his term ended, but he was genial and good at covering. Staff knew, though. I listened to that Iran-Contra podcast, and there were comments about Reagan not being able to remember that they had just answered that question minutes ago, and asking it again.
Trump defines whatever he does as perfect, so there’s no coping with his deficits.
1169 chars
Heather said on September 30, 2020 at 2:01 pm
Yeah, that arm twitch is neurological for sure. @TomJChicago on Twitter has been posting about Trump’s decline for months. Guy’s not a doctor but he’s had several relatives with dementia and was able to see it years before they were diagnosed in some cases.
https://twitter.com/TomJChicago
292 chars
Jakash said on September 30, 2020 at 2:05 pm
I have no interest in reality TV. But even among the options that I never considered watching, tuning in to see a belligerent, gold-plated buffoon and ignoramus “fire” regular people and D-list celebrities was at the bottom of the list. Little could I have imagined that such a show would do so much to deeply damage America, though.
I don’t know what folks who’ve observed the Tangerine Toddler’s antics for the last 5 years could possibly have been expecting, but I wouldn’t watch him “debate” for all the tea in his least-favorite country.
547 chars
Minnie Fleming said on September 30, 2020 at 2:17 pm
Add: Newt Gingrich, Lee Atwater
31 chars
St Bitch said on September 30, 2020 at 2:42 pm
He didn’t even say, “stand down…”; he said, “stand back and stand by”. That was a call to arms!
During the primaries, every time a pundit speculated on how the candidates would handle Trump in a debate, my head exploded. How do you fight a suicide bomber? Who’s foolish enough to try?
I was late tuning into The Hunger Games, just as Biden was telling Trump to shut up. Regretfully, I became a slack-jawed captive audience. It was almost an hour before I was able to look away.
Biden will have my vote as soon as the absentee ballot arrives; but he won’t bolster my support by casting himself as a martyr to the cause and agreeing to participate in any more perverse spectacles of unleashed reckless hatred.
Nor will I allow another televised event to violate and abuse me in my own coronavirus cocoon.
826 chars
Scout said on September 30, 2020 at 3:32 pm
My wife and I knew our BP could not handle watching trump shart all over the presidency again so we volunteered to hand out Biden/Harris and Mark Kelly yard signs last night. A good friend said she had to sage her condo to rid it of the odious energy and then watch a feel good movie to settle down. We made the right choice.
325 chars
Dave said on September 30, 2020 at 4:00 pm
Mark Burnett and his wife, Roma Downey, were the powers behind the CBS show, Touched by an Angel, that was on CBS for several years. My wife used to watch that show regularly. They’ve made numerous other Bible-based TV productions. Burnett probably made a fortune off of Trump’s show, as well as all the Biblical productions and surely knows plenty of Trump dirt. He isn’t telling. These folk that claim to be so religious and support that behavior irritate me no end.
Didn’t Lee Atwater make some deathbed amends, such as they were?
543 chars
basset said on September 30, 2020 at 4:23 pm
From Wikipedia, for what that’s worth:
In the months after the severity of his illness became apparent, Atwater said he had converted to Roman Catholicism, through the help of Father John Hardon[30] and, in an act of repentance, Atwater issued a number of public and written letters to individuals to whom he had been opposed during his political career. In a June 28, 1990, letter to Tom Turnipseed, he stated, “It is very important to me that I let you know that out of everything that has happened in my career, one of the low points remains the so-called ‘jumper cable’ episode”, adding, “My illness has taught me something about the nature of humanity, love, brotherhood, and relationships that I never understood, and probably never would have. So, from that standpoint, there is some truth and good in everything.”
824 chars
ROGirl said on September 30, 2020 at 4:30 pm
More candidates for the guillotine: Mitch McConnell, Karl Rove, Ken Starr, Jerry Falwell, Phyllis Schlafley
107 chars
Mark P said on September 30, 2020 at 4:33 pm
I’m going to have to rethink my opinion about people who make a public display of their “religion”. I used to think that they were ignoring Jesus’s warning that such people got their reward on Earth, not in heaven. Now I’m beginning to think they were paying attention, and that is exactly their plan. I’m pretty sure their beliefs are like mine; they are atheists, but they have figured out how to turn other people’s belief into cash.
451 chars
Suzanne said on September 30, 2020 at 4:53 pm
Trivia bit:
Roma Downey was previously married to Indiana’s own David Anspaugh, of Hoosiers & Rudy fame.
111 chars
Jeff Borden said on September 30, 2020 at 5:01 pm
More for the guillotine: the Mercers, the Kochs, the DeVos’,the Scaifes, the Coors
82 chars
Dave said on September 30, 2020 at 5:12 pm
I had to know what the “jumper cable” incident was and I found this, per the New York Times, from September 19, 2008:
One of the cruelest examples of this maneuver involved former State Senator Tom Turnipseed, a South Carolina Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1980. As a youth, Mr. Turnipseed had shock therapy for depression, which he talked about on occasion.
Mr. Atwater, who was working for the Republican, was not sympathetic. He went around the state telling people that the Democratic candidate had once “been hooked up to jumper cables.” No matter how much Mr. Turnipseed talked about education or crime or dirty tricks after that, voters only saw the jumper cables.
Lee Atwater passed away in 1991, I didn’t realize how long ago it has been.
772 chars
LAMary said on September 30, 2020 at 5:22 pm
That video is disturbing. I hope a lot of people saw it because it says so much. My epileptic brother had a twitch sort of like that before having a seizure. It was one of the ways you knew to move anything that might hurt him if he fell.
238 chars
LAMary said on September 30, 2020 at 5:38 pm
Did we forget Newt Gingrich? He should be on the list.
54 chars
Icarus said on September 30, 2020 at 5:43 pm
even if my douche nuggets would have let me watch, I knew the debate was a waste of time I’d never get back.
In an alternate universe where Hilary won, I wonder whom she would have debated this round.
and this:
https://whatever.scalzi.com/2020/09/30/a-white-supremacist-for-white-supremacists-counting-on-white-supremacists/
333 chars
Mouse said on September 30, 2020 at 5:47 pm
Suzanne,David is an old friend of mine and yes he was married to her for few years. He had some chemical dependency problems for awhile which resulted in some mild depression. She decided that he was bad for her Christian image and the woman she starred with in Touched By An Angel pressured her to divorce him.So instead of helping through a rough time in his life she cast him aside like an old rug.Real Christian you know!!He lives in Bloomington now and last I knew was lecturing at IU.
490 chars
beb said on September 30, 2020 at 6:02 pm
Green M&M — actually it was brown M&M. It was a real contract clause and had a good reason. Here’s Snopes with the scopes.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/brown-out/
I’m surprised that after Trump stalked Hillary across the stage during the 2016 debate that they did not install a kill switch on the mikes. They (apparently) had a two minute rule on answers but with no way of enforcing it. Personally I would opts for one of that electrified dog collars for when he went overtime.
I’m with Sherri that Zuckerberg belongs on that list. It seems like there is growing evidence that Facebook leans conservative, perhaps even “heavily leans conservative.”
That Guillotine is going to be so busy we might have to set up two! Bill Barr and Mike Pompeo have to be on the list, too. I’d also like to see Trump with his head shaved and locked in stocks for a week.
878 chars
Julie Robinson said on September 30, 2020 at 6:17 pm
Mouse, far be it from me to diagnose at a distance, but is it possible the chemicals were an an attempt to self-medicate the depression? Only I’ve known all too many for whom that is true.
Are we letting Jeff Bezos off for his financial support of the Washington Post? Jury is mixed here.
291 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 30, 2020 at 6:18 pm
I can make it all better, honest. Five minutes to a little peace of mind, and a smile.
https://twitter.com/alyankovic/status/1311415596509278209
147 chars
Indiana Jack said on September 30, 2020 at 6:32 pm
My wife and I told ourselves we would watch 5 minutes of the “debate” then escape to baseball. But the mess was even more appalling than we could have imagined. We watched in horror right to the end. Our expressions matched those of the MSNBC crew when the shitshow was finally over.
The president* is disgusting. Equally disgusting is the fact that his supporters don’t care.
Vote. Our country’s future depends on it.
420 chars
beb said on September 30, 2020 at 6:35 pm
A further thought about the debate. As someone was saying people don’t really learn anything new during the debate. So instead of having a 90 minute debate how about two 45 minute interviews. Canndidates are asked the same questions and are limited to the same length of time to reply. Then show them back to back. I know people like to see the personal sparring, but the debates are supposed to be educational not blood-sports.
429 chars
Sherri said on September 30, 2020 at 6:40 pm
Bezos is bad, but not markedly worse than other rich guy tech CEOs. Zuckerberg is. Travis Kalanick (the Uber guy) is markedly worse, but his impact is less. Peter Thiel might belong on the list, for his direct and indirect effects, but probably a second tier.
Bezos is just a extra-ruthless capitalist. He doesn’t seem interested in destroying democracy the way Zuckerberg and Thiel do.
391 chars
susan said on September 30, 2020 at 6:59 pm
beb, I think Samuel L. Jackson should be the kill switch in those shit-shows. Sam L. should stand right next to the person “moderating” the show, ready to blurt:
“I said two minutes Mother ƒü¢ker, now shut up!”
221 chars
Julie Robinson said on September 30, 2020 at 7:26 pm
And then he puts them on a plane filled with snakes.
52 chars
Mouse said on September 30, 2020 at 7:49 pm
To answer your question Julie,I would say that cocaine was pretty much the “Thing”in Hollywood in those days and a lot of people got caught up into it.
151 chars
Dexter Friend said on September 30, 2020 at 8:06 pm
With just a few weeks left, I am ready to call the election. I agree with un-named WaPo Republicans , reported by Robert Costa of the same newspaper last night, who are worrying about a Biden landslide. I thought about this all day. I now believe Biden is going to destroy Trump in the electoral college in Nixon-McGovern and LBJ-Goldwater numbers. A landslide, an overwhelming defeat.
Does anyone here have love or hate for James Baker? Peter Baker (NYT) and his wife Susan Glasser just released their book on him. I always considered him another flunky/fixer of corrupt Republican presidents, but I always hated all corrupt Republican presidents. https://www.wamc.org/post/nyts-peter-baker-james-baker-iii-trump-working-his-wife-and-why-he-doesnt-vote
766 chars
Icarus said on September 30, 2020 at 9:15 pm
would it be wrong to tell my in-laws in Grosse Pointe, who probably either voted for Trump or stayed home in 2016…but have a house they can no longer afford…
either vote for Biden or I’ll come there and set your house on fire, solving your financial dilemma.
265 chars
LAMary said on September 30, 2020 at 11:20 pm
Was Della Reese the woman on the show with Roma Downey? I had a co-worker who was a writer or something (he was a co-worker at a headhunting firm, so the writer thing didn’t work out) on that show and he really thought Della and Roma were just the most wonderful people and that the show with its uplifting Christian message was something the world needed. What it was was something he needed so he could get paid to write the pap he cranked out. He and another woman at the headhunting company used to try to out Christian each other a lot. If I carpooled to a company lunch with one of them they would put a cassette of sermons on in the car. No offense, Jeff. I’m betting your sermons are not at all like those.
714 chars
Dave said on October 1, 2020 at 1:01 am
Yes, it was Della Reese.
24 chars
Dexter Friend said on October 1, 2020 at 3:47 am
Add Sherrod Brown, D-OH, to the list of politicians who are realizing more and more we have a Biden tsunami coming. Brown said North Carolina and Colorado and yes, Ohio, are clearly going to go for Biden. Anyway, for sure, the polls are indicating a clear Biden win.
268 chars
Alan Stamm said on October 1, 2020 at 7:04 am
Cant lie: I looked up tumbrel.
Never too old for vocab expansion. T h a n k s !
97 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on October 1, 2020 at 8:52 am
Out-Christianing each other is not a thing! No offense taken. However, the Book does say at Romans 12:10 — “Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.”
That’s the only competition listed in those pages.
239 chars
LAMary said on October 1, 2020 at 9:57 am
I wasn’t seeing much of the competition you mention, Jeff. I saw a lot of smugness and judgmental behavior. I had a coworker like that at a hospital where I worked too. She was ickier about it. Probably my best friend at that hospital was the palliative care chaplain, an Episcopalian woman. She was brilliant, not judgy and good at her job which was not an easy one.
367 chars
Deborah said on October 1, 2020 at 10:16 am
Bad morning, we got a call early this morning that uncle J has fallen and fractured his hip. My husband was scheduled to be there tomorrow and through the weekend. Uncle J is deteriorating mentally and physically as he continues in the final Alzheimer’s phase.
I’m going down to the loop today to try to get my real ID, my driver’s license expires on my birthday this month. Also today is the first day of early voting in IL, only one place in Chicago in the loop not that far away from where I’m going so if the line isn’t too long I might vote there today. We got our mail in ballots so we might turn those in at the voting place unused and just vote in person. That’s what I read is the proper protocol if you change from mail-in to in-person. If the line is too long we’ll either try again a few days from now or got to another much closer early voting spot that will open on Oct 14. There will also be a mail-in drop box at that early voting place, so we have lots of options. Our goal is to vote as early as possible.
1026 chars
Suzanne said on October 1, 2020 at 10:18 am
Out-Christianing is a thing. It stems from the prosperity gospel mindset. If you are doing what God wants, following his rules of righteous living, then you will be successful in all walks of life and you don’t even have to feel sadness for those who are worse off because everything you have has been given by God! Too bad for those who haven’t lived up to God’s standards but if they would just do it right, they too could be among the chosen. People try to out-Christian each other to prove their Christian cred so God will reward them. For this type of (and I use the term loosely) Christian, walking “in the valley of the shadow of death” is a bad thing really, because if you are there, it must be due to your own screw-ups.
Many churches have become a consumer driven entertainment/self-help venues where the skies are not cloudy all day. Live your best life! And live it proudly and loudly even if it annoys others.
925 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on October 1, 2020 at 10:54 am
Dang. AP sticks their foot in it, big time, framing BLM issues as something Appalachia and rural Ohio sees from a distance. In fact, we are inside the debate and the demonstrations and the discussions, which are not that hard to find. (And may I plug again my friend Jack Shuler’s book “This Is Ohio” just out, in which I make a few cheerful appearances…)
https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-race-and-ethnicity-financial-markets-ohio-99c9310e7a43c4a4a77d5a9ea1465f63
which clearly was written in complete ignorance of:
https://newrepublic.com/article/158351/can-white-people-small-town-america-get-behind-movement-black-lives
642 chars
Sherri said on October 1, 2020 at 11:30 am
Nothing against rural and small town Ohio, but I could write one of those articles myself by this point without stepping foot in the state, there have been so many written. White people aren’t the only rural people in the country; if you go to Alabama or Mississippi, you’ll find plenty of Black rural people, who have been stuck in generational poverty, but we don’t get article after article about them.
411 chars
Dave said on October 1, 2020 at 11:48 am
When the coal mines in Southeast Ohio died, Shawnee and the other towns mentioned also went into long term decay. My wife is the descendant of coal miners from Hocking County, OH, who were there for several generations until her grandfather left. I myself am the child of parents who grew up in Scioto County, OH, and left when they married. For generations, these towns have been on the decline and the solution was mostly to leave, the same goes for desolate areas of West Virginia and Kentucky.
My father grew up in the rural area of Minford, OH. Today, I’ve a few distant cousins who never left and one who returned in retirement. Minford has been a center for the opioid epidemic and big stories were written last year in the New York Times about the devastation that the epidemic brought on only one of the graduating classes from Minford, the class of 2000. Minford isn’t even a town that people would pass through, kind of off the beaten track. I should amend that, it was completely off the beaten track until the Portsmouth bypass was built, which also took part of a great aunt and uncle’s farm. Minford. It still shocks me just thinking about what Minford became.
People who have the means or the gumption leave.
1237 chars
JodiP said on October 1, 2020 at 11:50 am
Deborah, I am sorry to hear about Uncle J. I hope things go smoothly with getting him his care. It’s so hard to see once vibrant people decline.
I will be dropping off my ballot tomorrow. We are headed to a friend’s cabin, and sharing cooking, so I have to shop and I might as well get that done!Today’s my Friday!
318 chars
Jakash said on October 1, 2020 at 11:59 am
I’d rather hear that a blue tsunami is coming than the opposite, but personally I’d prefer not to give anybody the impression that the thing is in the bag. Though I’ve also heard that people prefer to back a winner; so if it spurs more folks to pile on — good!
Funny, Alan S. @ 46, this being about the 4th time I’ve checked in and seen the title of the post, I had just looked up “tumbrel” myself, before reading your comment.
434 chars
Jim said on October 1, 2020 at 12:22 pm
I thought I was beyond the point of being stunned, but then I saw this: https://www.politico.com
And, I would like to add Tim Murtaugh to the headless list.
158 chars
Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on October 1, 2020 at 12:35 pm
I’m guessing Jim means this one:
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/01/trump-letter-food-aid-boxes-424230
111 chars
Jim said on October 1, 2020 at 1:33 pm
Thanks Jeff! Yes, he did.
25 chars
Deborah said on October 1, 2020 at 2:32 pm
I voted! My husband and I decided to stick out the block long line, the guy in front of us said he tried to vote first thing this morning but the line was 3 blocks long then. It didn’t take that much time to get through the line. Lots of diversity on display and lots and lots of TV camera crews filming at the front door.
Unfortunately I didn’t get my drivers license renewed or my real ID because all of the center city Chicago locations are closed but they didn’t say that online. So tomorrow we’re going to the next closest one which is 10 miles away. Since my husband will have a rental car for his trip up to uncle J’s we’re going to drive up to that location and he’ll go on out of town, I’ll take a Lyft back home.
726 chars
Julie Robinson said on October 1, 2020 at 3:34 pm
Jodi, a weekend away? Fantastic! Enjoy yourselves.
Deborah, I’m so sorry about Uncle J, knowing how often a broken hip is the start of the final decline. And just double checking if you have everything you need to get the real ID, because it wasn’t easy for my mom or me. You have to have legal proof of every time your name has changed, and it has to bear an embossed government seal. So our marriage license was rejected even though we got it through the county, guess they weren’t doing embossed seals then. As well as all the other documents, but name change is the one that trips up a lot of women.
We just came back from yet another medical appointment for my mother, and this one was positive, as the doctor said he’s almost positive her enlarged red blood cells aren’t cancer. They’re running more bloodwork, but he wasn’t concerned at all. And realistically, I don’t think she would choose treatment at this stage of her life. Now we wait for the results of her heart tests on Tuesday. Her arms look like the proverbial bruised pincushion.
1054 chars
Deborah said on October 1, 2020 at 3:54 pm
Julie, I think I have everything I need, I have collected a bunch of stuff. I have had 3 last names and it’s been “fun” finding all of those documents. And technically I don’t really need a real ID for flying etc because I have a US passport. I’m still going to get one because I don’t trust that something won’t come up that it will be required.
I thought this was interesting https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/30/opinions/first-biden-trump-debate-body-language-opinion-mcgowan-silva/index.html
Also I was wrong, Uncle J has a fractured pelvis from his fall not a fractured hip. Not sure if that is better or not.
614 chars
Jakash said on October 1, 2020 at 4:12 pm
LAMary, we stumbled into some Grillo’s pickles at Costco the other day. Picked them up, based on your recommendation. They’re good! Plus, no Polysorbate 80 or artificial color, as in many brands. That’s good, too… Thanks for the tip.
240 chars
Jeff Borden said on October 1, 2020 at 4:50 pm
Have any visitors to NN.C ever used in vitro fertilization or know anyone who has? A letter signed by future SCOTUS justice Amy Coney Barrett argued that life begins as “fertilization” and that IVF results in the destruction of an innocent human life as much as an abortion. One of my coworkers in Ohio and her husband went the IVF route and were rewarded with a wonderful child. I’d hate to see people like her be denied the chance of becoming parents because of a hardcore “charismatic Catholic.”
498 chars
Beobachter said on October 1, 2020 at 4:55 pm
Vexing Voting..
Plan A: faxing my Florida ballot. Received it today, all 17” (and 2-sided)!
My scanner goes past 11, but balks at anything over 14” (yes, size matters).
I could create a 4-page PDF (each side folded in half = 8.5*2*2) and email that to
https://www.fvap.gov
but unsure if that would be rejected as a 2020 hanging chad.
Plan B: mail it and hope it gets there in time.
404 chars
Suzanne said on October 1, 2020 at 5:04 pm
My nephew & his wife had a child via IVF after trying to conceive for several years. They are good, decent people and IVF isn’t for the faint hearted; expensive & hard on the mom’s body.
I know a few people who advocate adopting frozen fertilized eggs that are no longer needed so they aren’t destroyed because they consider that murder. People don’t realize what we are in for if these extremists get too much power.
435 chars
Heather said on October 1, 2020 at 5:04 pm
Oh I know several people who have done IVF. Consider also that outlawing abortion means doctors won’t be able to save women when pregnancies go wrong–like ectopic pregnancies or if they start hemorrhaging, etc. Any attempt to save the mother’s life over the fetus will be seen as abortion. That is pretty fucking terrifying. And if you don’t think they’ll go after other aspects of women’s health, bodily autonomy, or agency, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
467 chars
Jeff Borden said on October 1, 2020 at 5:21 pm
It’s become abundantly apparent ‘Murica is now ruled by a minority. The majority of Americans –58 percent– are opposed to outlawing abortion. Gun control? Sixty-six percent of Americans favor stricter gun laws. Fifty-six percent want to see a form of federal health care. We broadly support allowing immigrants brought here as children to have a path to citizenship. And 61 percent are concerned about the effects of climate change.
And yet nothing is done. Remember, Democratic Senators represent 18 million more Americans than Republicans, yet the GOP refuses to engage in any kind of good faith negotiations on any of these issues or much of anything else.
If there is a blue tsunami. . .and I pray it happens. . .we absolutely must abolish the Electoral College and move to “one person, one vote.” It would be a good start to returning some semblance of majority rule to our government.
898 chars
Sherri said on October 1, 2020 at 5:27 pm
I’ve done IVF, unsuccessfully, and have a number of friends who have done IVF with varying degrees of success. Amy Coney Barrett can fuck right off.
I’m always being told that at least pro-life Catholics are consistent in their beliefs, because Catholics are also opposed to the death penalty, but it’s a funny thing that the conservative Catholics on SCOTUS don’t seem to be opposed to the death penalty at all. In fact, they seem much more frustrated that all the appeals slow down the machinery of death. Amy Coney Barrett, despite how devout a Catholic she supposedly is, falls right into this category.
619 chars
Jeff Borden said on October 1, 2020 at 5:42 pm
I want an atheist on SCOTUS.
28 chars
Jakash said on October 1, 2020 at 6:07 pm
Fatcat Pharma CEO makes $500,000 *himself* due specifically to egregiously jacking up the price of one medication. Just another example of the wonderful benefits to all from late-stage capitalism and America’s kick-ass for-profit health-care hustle. Take it to the whiteboard, Rep. Katie Porter…
https://twitter.com/RepKatiePorter/status/1311422510530007041
364 chars
LAMary said on October 1, 2020 at 6:11 pm
Yay. A happy Grillos Pickles fan. I’ve been slicing them very thinly, lengthwise and putting them in sandwiches made with a baguette. Also that way with a hot dog and brown mustard.
182 chars
David C said on October 1, 2020 at 6:17 pm
If only we had such a thing as a national plebiscite like they had for abortion in Ireland. If one of the most Catholic countries on Earth can vote overwhelmingly for it, and polls say something like 60% want abortion laws to stay as they are, I don’t see any reason it wouldn’t pass.
284 chars
alex said on October 1, 2020 at 6:47 pm
I had no idea that the “pro-life” Catholic Church was so vehemently opposed to in vitro until a few years ago, when the local diocese fired a teacher after learning that she had pursued such treatment. She had no idea herself that there was anything objectionable about it and had in fact shared the news with colleagues who were all supportive. Then word somehow reached the pastoral patriarchy and next thing she knew they were kicking her to the curb.
So she sued for gender discrimination. One of the more embarrassing revelations for the church during that trial was that a group of married male teachers from the same school went unpunished for the moral transgression of patronizing strip clubs. She won her lawsuit. And had her baby too.
Thank God I wasn’t raised religious.
788 chars
Suzanne said on October 1, 2020 at 7:07 pm
One beacon of light! I just spoke with my mother who always, always votes straight ticket GOP. Always. Voted for Trump in 2016.
She told me that she mailed in her ballot and did not vote for Trump.
I am in shock.
215 chars
basset said on October 1, 2020 at 7:09 pm
We’re with you on the pickles, there’s are some in our fridge right now. The tub they come in is great for growing cat grass, we have several and rotate them inside as the grass gets taller and kitty eats it.
Anyone else have a cat who only wants to eat dry cat food? Ours will sit there meowing and wanting some if you’re eating yogurt or sour cream, but offer her meat, fish, or anything else aside from those multicolored pellets in her dish and she doesn’t want to know.
Breaking in some new glasses today, lots of shifting around and adjusting going on.
And there we go, a good thirty or forty seconds that I didn’t think about Tr**p, the election, voter monitoring, the Proud Boys or anything even close to that context.
735 chars
Jeff Borden said on October 1, 2020 at 7:49 pm
Alex,
I was raised Catholic and attended Catholic schools for 10 of my 12 years of education. From Grade 1 to 8, I was taught by nuns. (Grade 4 was a lay teacher, Mrs. Miller) At one point I was a member of the FPA, Future Priest of America.
But when the One True sat on the sidelines during Vietnam, I disengaged. I honestly do not want to malign those who find strength and solace in faith and religion and belief. I’ve been unable –or unwilling– to make that effort.
477 chars
LAMary said on October 1, 2020 at 8:45 pm
My father was raised Dutch Reformed and my mother was a Baptist. Like many good Dutch reformed people, my father stopped going to church as soon as he got out of his parents’ house. I think it’s the religion that’s best at breeding atheists, or at least my paternal grandmother’s version of it was. My mother was pretty religious, I think. It’s hard to say because I was toted off to Sunday school every week to show me off. After four brothers my mother loved to dress me up and have me recite psalms I had memorized. None of my brothers went to church. She died when I was seven and my maternal grandmother moved in. She and my dad sort of hated each other. She insisted I go to church every Sunday. My dad would drop me off there and I would feel abandoned. This was the set up for about a year until I refused to go anymore. Threw tantrums. Nope. I won’t be the only one in the family going to church even if as my grandmother always said, “your mother would be so disappointed.” Instead I started going to a Methodist church with a friend. I joined the jr. choir. I liked it. I sat through two services and one Sunday school class every week and I liked it because no one made me do it and the pastor seemed to know my situation at home. But I never really accepted the miracle stuff and the going to hell stuff. I liked the basic values and I even liked some of the hymns.
1380 chars
basset said on October 1, 2020 at 9:03 pm
Never been a churchgoer, wasn’t raised that way and never felt like I belonged when a friend or someone else got me to go. I will occasionally do a gospel or related song when a few of us gather to play and sing, kinda uneasy the whole time we’re in it though.
261 chars
Connie said on October 1, 2020 at 9:07 pm
I was also raised Dutch Reformed as are all my ancesters. Very seriously religious. Big long church every Sunday and kids at chatechism every Wednesday night.
I managed to walk away from it. I would not have been able to if I still lived there.
I overheard my Mom, in her hospice bed, telling her pastor that her biggest regret was that her daughter didnt grow up to be a Christian
I didnt just go to Dutch Reformed church, I lived in a Dutch Reformed town.
466 chars
Heather said on October 1, 2020 at 9:30 pm
OMG, it’s like Christmas tonight, with a report about Kimberly Guilfoyle (!) being accused of sexual harassment and a recording of Melania complaining about having to do the WH Christmas decorations and getting asked about children separated from their parents at the border.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-secret-history-of-kimberly-guilfoyles-departure-from-fox
https://twitter.com/mattmfm/status/1311837014724161537
439 chars
Indiana Jack said on October 1, 2020 at 9:31 pm
I failed as a Presbyterian when the local pastor decided God is a Republican about the time I filed as a CO. Have only been back for weddings and funerals.
155 chars
alex said on October 1, 2020 at 9:50 pm
Basset, our cat will only eat dry and I have no doubt it’s why she has become so fat. When she first showed up, fierce and ferile and skinny, she’d eat anything, and most days we were giving her canned tuna out of the pantry. Then someone told my partner that Iam’s dry is the only thing you should ever feed a cat and he started feeding her that shit and she bloated up practically overnight. And now she won’t touch anything else. Must be good stuff because her bowl always has shrews/moles eating out of it by day and opossums and raccoons by night, and even though they take most of her food she’s still a blimp.
616 chars
basset said on October 1, 2020 at 10:34 pm
Bella’s an inside cat, no coons or possums eating out of her bowl at night although it did happen with our previous cats. Vet told us a quarter of a cup of dry food in the morning and a quarter at dinnertime, she is supposed to leave some in the bowl and nibble on it throughout the day. Yeah, right.
302 chars
LAMary said on October 1, 2020 at 11:06 pm
The towns in the part of NJ where I grew up were very Dutch. My high school yearbook is full of Spoelstras and Van Ostenbrugges and Gnades. Then there the anglicized Dutch names: the Cortwegs became Shortways and Knyfds became Knights. My paternal grandfather supposedly could recite long passages of the Bible, especially the really scary stuff. He was seriously alcoholic so no church for him. My dad didn’t recite Bible verses but he kept the alcoholic tradition up, as did one of his brothers and one of his sisters. Dutch courage I guess. My grandmother went to church all day on Sunday. She brought a peanut butter and bacon sandwich for lunch. I remember the grease stained brown bags.
692 chars
beb said on October 2, 2020 at 1:10 am
Heather, Christmas just keeps coming. Reports are that Hope Hicks tested positive for the virus, adn rumor has that Trump and Melania have tested positive as well. Since Pence never seems more than 6 feet from Trump he’ll probabky get it next and we may end up with President Pelosi yet.
287 chars
Deborah said on October 2, 2020 at 1:18 am
I was raised Lutheran (LCMS), when I was a kid we thought Catholics were heretics, that the pope was the anti-christ. We went to Sunday school and church every Sunday and during advent and lent went Wednesday nights too. When I was in 7th or 8th grade went to Saturday morning catechism classes. I even went to a Lutheran college. Later I became AELC synod and finally when I was 37 I got out of it all. Now I can’t imagine belonging to a religion named after a person.
469 chars
Sherri said on October 2, 2020 at 1:54 am
Given everything we know about this administration, it’s impossible to trust anything they say, including this news. I think he could die and they would cover it up while Jared and Ivanka try to figure out how to bypass Pence and take power.
243 chars
Dexter Friend said on October 2, 2020 at 3:00 am
Jim Jordan was on the last flight. Wishing thoughts about this. On Air Force One, people don’t sit in buckled seats, they walk around communicating with each other. Doctor Redliner is talking right now, saying Hicks very well may be a super-spreader. Thursday, AF 1 flew to New Jersey and Jared was also on this flight. Wishing more thoughts there as well. But a miracle will straighten all this out, yeah, that’s the ticket, a miracle. We cannot let Trump use this infection to postpone or gawd forbid, cancel the election. No way. Oh…Trump went to a fund raiser after Hope Hicks was confirmed positive. Yes, after. And Hicks is like Trump’s shadow. He knew, the staff knew…and the whole White House is infected or may be.
737 chars