May 13, 2017

Barry Blitt depicts the Comey ousting...

... on the cover of the new New Yorker:



ADDED: WaPo interviews the lawyer for the man who was dragged off the United flight:
Would you compare Dao’s dragging to Comey’s firing?

Dr. Dao had his glasses askew, he had blood coming out of his mouth, he may have been unconscious at that point. And here Mr. Comey is looking as dapper as ever, and he’s not harmed.

The analogy was not respectful of what Dr. Dao went through.
AND: The lawyer's remark exemplifies the loss of a sense of humor in Trump's America. I understand why a lawyer would maintain a humorless demeanor, and I even understand why Trump's antagonists won't absorb his weirder statements — "James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!" — as comedy. I think Trump thinks he's funny, and I think he's funny. But when the funnyman holds vast power, he's like the classic bully whose taunt is "What's the matter, can't you take a joke?"

And yet, if political discourse loses its humor dimension, and it becomes nothing but outrage and That's not funny, many people — I feel it happening to me — will turn away. We need the leavening, most of us.

202 comments:

1 – 200 of 202   Newer›   Newest»
traditionalguy said...

Great cover. Go Jeff. Take out the trash.

Snark said...

Poor United! The small mercy of of time and distance, gone.

tim in vermont said...

Could be Truman and MacArthur too.

John said...

Why are Henry Gibson and John Madden being maligned by the New Yorker?

Original Mike said...

"The analogy was not respectful of what Dr. Dao went through."

Spoilsport.

mockturtle said...

The illustration was well drawn. The parallel was not.

Birches said...

Ok, that is a legit funny cover. I love it. The lawyer whining? Not so much. But then, shame on the WAPO for even caring what they think. And I think the guy deserves the millions he is going to get.

Wince said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Wince said...

I think a more apt depiction would be the media trying to eject a bloodied Trump from the plane.

The seat in the Oval Office is Trump's.

And the media are colluding with the Democrats to bloody him up so he can be dragged out.

tcrosse said...

It's fitting that Comey is deadpan, because it hasn't really been determined whether he's a Good Guy or a Bad Guy. It all depends on who drags him off the plane, doesn't it ?

Wince said...

What is accurate about the illustration, however, is that nobody on that plane seems to care Comey is being removed.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Would be better if the cartoon depicted a midnight massacre or the gassing of the Jews. Come on leftists, up your ridiculous game.

Hagar said...

There is also the possibility that Dr. Dao might have gotten tired of the doctoring thing and recognized that his opportunity to strike it rich with a P.I. lawsuit had come.
The airline claims he purposefully acted up and injured himself.

Bay Area Guy said...

How come the Left often botches up the victim-culprit relationship. Comey is now the victim? But I thought Hillary just told us that Comey was the culprit in causing her to lose the election.

It is now 6 months after their epic presidential loss, and the Left still hasn't gotten over it. The Dems need to learn how to lose gracefully. Instead, they are dragging us through this ridiculous path to impeachment via a Trump-Russian collusion claim that doesn't exist.

It's like Watergate, without the burglary.

Gahrie said...

The analogy is unfair...but it is unfair to Trump and Sessions, not Dr. Dao. The doctor was a douche.

Bob Boyd said...

Comey should be happy. A minute and a half ago, everybody hated him. He was the cause of all the Democrat's woes. Hillary had named him as one of the reasons she lost. The Republicans despised him because, in their view, he let Hillary skate. He was widely portrayed as the guy who screwed it up.
Now he's a martyr. Getting canned by Trump will turn out to be one the best things that ever happened to him.

Plus, when a Prog martyr goes to paradise, he gets 72 vegetarians...so he's got that going for him.

Kate said...

Replacing a minority with a white guy. The New Yorker needs sensitivity training.

David Baker said...

I think Blitt's intent was to capture the towering, unflappable self-righteousness of James Comey. While the weakness of the Sessions' caricature represents the hapless man-in-the-middle, like who's dragging whom?. And depicting Captain Trump as his take-no-prisoners self, as in; "Get that bum off my plane."

Wince said...

"PRICE $8.99"

Holy shit!

Original Mike said...

"Comey is now the victim? But I thought Hillary just told us that Comey was the culprit in causing her to lose the election."

Speaking of Hillary, we still haven't heard from her, have we? I think she's laying low, concerned that a new Director might reopen her case.

John said...

WAPO: "Do you think the outrage over Comey’s firing will do to the administration what the outrage over Dao’s dragging did to the airline industry?"

No. Because the majority of people can empathize with Dao. He did nothing and received that treatment. Those that relate to Comey have likely come to realize they deserved to be fired.

vanderleun said...

Too bad about the New Yorker (Yes, The New Yorker) . They had some values and self-esteem once. But that was back towards the end of the 20th century.

Gahrie said...

And yet, if political discourse loses its humor dimension, and it becomes nothing but outrage and That's not funny, many people — I feel it happening to me

Where have you been the last thirty years? there is a reason that the most popular joke about feminists is:

Q. How many feminists does it take to change a light bulb?
A. That's not funny.

urbane legend said...

Bob Boyd said...
Plus, when a Prog martyr goes to paradise, he gets 72 vegetarians...so he's got that going for him.

Now that's funny! Well done.

Darrell said...

Dr. Dao's injuries were self-inflicted. Like Comey's.

n.n said...

Democrats were against Comey before they were for him. Classic Pro-Choice.

Trumpit said...

That is such a splendid piece of artwork that I'm going out to buy a copy. I love the colors and pastels. I will frame it and put it on the wall. The artist, Blitts, perfectly captured a certain something in the faces of Trump, Sessions, & Comey that is difficult to describe in words, but is easily recognizable from having seen theses characters in recent months. My mother had a lot of innate artistic talent, but sadly I didn't get any. Althouse can soothe, and delight with her camera, and capture nature's beauty in all its fullness. The bests artists, and authors are known by their last names, which like their one-of-a-kind talents is inherited.

Chuck said...

Jonah Goldberg, writing in the National Review Online:

"Ask anybody — off the record, of course — on Capitol Hill about whether all this drama helps them get bills passed or judges confirmed. They will laugh at the question.

"This is irrespective of any specific policy agenda. If you want a wall that can be seen from space along the southern border, if you want a Muslim ban, if you want to get rid of Obamacare, spend a trillion dollars on infrastructure, or any other core goal of the original MAGA agenda, none of this helps. None of it. Trump was never destined for Mt. Rushmore, but every insane tweet is a step further away from it."

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/g-file/447594/donald-trump-james-comey-debacle-fbi-director-fired-certified-letter


Goldberg points out that the Comey is of a piece with this ongoing political malpractice. Because Trump didn't just can Comey; in the process, Trump hung his press secretary, his deputy press secretary and his Vice President out to dry, with their phony and dishonest explanations for the Comey firing.

It's such a great column. Goldberg also takes on the layers of problematic issues posed by Trump's bizarre claim to have recently invented the phrase "priming the pump" for economic stumulus.

I think there is a typo in there, perhaps the result of an overeager editor, in which "Downton Abbey" is spelled "Downtown Abbey." I already wrote to Jonah to warn him about that one.

Gahrie said...

Hey Chuckles...I've got some great news.....Hillary still isn't president, and neither is Jeb Bush!

Paco Wové said...

"They had some values and self-esteem once. "

And, of course, the same could be said for the Washington Post, now just an undead version of its former self.

n.n said...

The analogy was not respectful of what Dr. Dao went through.

This is reminiscent of the disharmony between women and transgender/crossovers. The Democrats have a developing problem reconciling, let alone leveraging, the diametrically conflicting special and peculiar interests that inhabit the Party. There is a progressive schism in the Pro-Choice Church: the 1%, the activists, and colorful clumps of cells, foreign and domestic. I wonder how much they will need to redistribute in order to maintain the status quo.

harkin said...

"Would you compare Dao’s dragging to Comey’s firing?"

No, would not even consider the question.....but they are The New Yorker so must draw lame toons and be praised by the herd while continuing to alienate half the country.

Fernandinande said...

Gahrie said...
Q. How many feminists does it take to change a light bulb?


A: One to screw it in, one to excoriate men for creating the need for illumination, one to blame men for inventing such a faulty means of illumination, one to suggest the whole "screwing" bit to be too "rape-like", one to deconstruct the light bulb itself as being phallic, one to blame men for not changing the bulb, one to blame men for trying to change the bulb instead of letting a woman do it, one to blame men for creating a society that discourages women from changing light bulbs, one to blame men for creating a society where women change too many light bulbs, one to advocate that light bulb changers should have wage parity with electricians, one to alert the media that women are now "out-light-bulbing" men, and one to just sit there taking pictures for her blog for photo-evidence that men are unnecessary.

Paco Wové said...

"I already wrote to Jonah to warn him about that one."

Every so often I unblock your comments to see if you've become less of a self-parody. You haven't.

Snark said...

The fact that it feels like a stoic Comey is making eye contact is bloody brilliant. It feels to me like an implicit request to not turn away from the potential gravity of these events and the larger situation.

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Original Mike said...

" I already wrote to Jonah to warn him about that one."

Where would the world be without Chuck?

n.n said...

The analogy was not respectful of what Dr. Dao went through.

Or babies born in hospitals versus decapitated, dismembered, disemboweled in Planned Parenthood offices and abortion chambers. Perhaps Gaddafi, or Stevens, dragged, sodomized, and aborted in the streets. The New Yorker has a diverse menu to scavenge for their front page. Instead, they decide to minimize the experience of a man mistreated on a plane.

readering said...

Hey, listen to the emperor's new "tapes" joke . . . .

Anonymous said...

It is, too, funny.

(Is it really necessary to agree to agree with a particular interpretation of events, to find something funny and clever?)

Snark said...

The colour purple is an interesting choice too. It at times connotes royalty, and martyrdom. Both perhaps relevant to Comey's towering self perception and as yet unwritten history.

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bay Area Guy said...

@Chuck,

Normally, Jonah Goldberg is great. His book Liberal Fascism is an absolute must-read. I like him, read him, and respect him.

But he is wrong here.

The #Nevertrumpers were wrong pre-election, and now they are wrong post-election. They really need to step away from the keyboard and play some golf or something.

It's very simple. The Left will freak out and hyperventilate in reaction to whatever Trump does. The key for sensible right of center folks is not to join them.

I totally agree that Trump is an acquired taste. He ruffles feathers. But with Gorsuch, reduced illegal border crossings, the Keystone Pipeline and the step towards repealing Obamacare, cut him some slack, I would suggest.

David said...

The cover is funny. I am not interested in arguing whether the parallel is appropriate.

n.n said...

They lost the babies through Choice.

They lost Americans through condescension.

They lost the election through premature dreams of demographic disenfranchisement.

They learned nothing. They're doing it again.

Anyway, preaching, trial, and, apparently, governance by Press. We need a separation of Press and State.

David said...

Ferdinande, don't you also need a feminist to tell a man to go to the store and buy some light bulbs. Another to reject the selected bulb as environmentally unsound. Would you need a third to instruct the man in what kind of bulb to buy, or could the first two handle that duty?

Darrell said...

I think the Democrats lost because they didn't move far enough to the Left. Yes, that's it.

tim in vermont said...

Yes,let's continue to use the honorific 'Doctor' even though he abused that position to manipulate minors with opioids because it makes him sound like a better person than he actually is.

Anonymous said...

Paco Wové: Every so often I unblock your comments to see if you've become less of a self-parody. You haven't.

Chuck is the Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells of lifelong Republicans.

His entire life is politics. That way lies madness.

Hagar said...

Trump's "tape" tweet is innteresting. Does he suspect he may be living in enemy territory and his every move is being recorded by the Deep State?

mockturtle said...

n.n @ 9:35: Nicely done!

Darrell said...

Dao supposedly got the security guard to relinguish control of him by shouting out that he was a diabetic that was having an attack. The guard didn't want any part of a lawsuit resulting from his actions. Dao then proceeded to bash his face into a seat to cause the bleeding. That would look better for a jury.

Marty Keller said...

Yeah, Jonah, like Chuck and that dreadful Bill Kristol, keep doubling down on their useless meme: "Trump is a horrible, useless, disgusting human being."

Got it, guys. Thanks for playing.

Saying it a trillion times does not improve the banal insight.

Methinks their endless virtue signaling merely reveals their political impotence.

Darrell said...

Trump didn't invent the words in the dictionary. He just deploys them for maximum advantage when necessary.

Achilles said...

"It's very simple. The Left will freak out and hyperventilate in reaction to whatever Trump does. The key for sensible right of center folks is not to join them."

You are wrong. They are not sensible right of center folks. This isn't about right and left. This is about the political class vs. the rest of us. If you haven't noticed Chuck and Jonah want no part of the MAGA agenda. They are democrat operatives who are paid to do what the oligarchs want them to do. NRO is just another cog in the DC wheel.

Quayle said...

Ho hum. Another nearsighted view from 9th Avenue.

What caught my attention from the hinterlands was the woman peering from the third visible row.

Is that Maureen Dowd sitting on President Obama's lap?

Richard said...

What the news media fails to understand is that with their constant barrage of anti-Trump stories the public is experiencing sensory overload. Thus their manufactured outrage is no longer having any effect on the public.

Darrell said...

Chuck--did you email Gordon Lightfoot suggesting that he write a song about The Mauling of Michelle Fields?

mockturtle said...

Vanderleun observes: Too bad about the New Yorker (Yes, The New Yorker) . They had some values and self-esteem once. But that was back towards the end of the 20th century.

Pre-1990. We had subscribed for almost two decades. When we cancelled, we got a call from the magazine asking why [I'm assuming we were not the only ones].

harrogate said...

You've been saying you feel yourself "turning away" from politics for years and years, and always managing to blame those horrible liberals for it.

And yet never really turning away, you continue to blame the horrible liberals.


Sad!

buwaya said...

Its not funny anymore because this isnt normal politics or a normal society. Its a cold civil war between two (at least, both sides are really coalitions) incompatible societies occupying the same territory.

Its like demanding humor in Spain, in June 1936, just as both sides are preparing to put the others up against a wall.

The failure of humor and whimsy- in a funny and whimsical movie-
"Ay, Carmela", Carlos Saura, 1990

tim in vermont said...

I thought we were still mad about Comey.

Rusty said...

I think we need to start keeping sharp objects out of Chucks reach. It's only a matter of time before he starts to boil live rabits on the stove.


harrogate said...
"You've been saying you feel yourself "turning away" from politics for years and years, and always managing to blame those horrible liberals for it.

And yet never really turning away, you continue to blame the horrible liberals."

Maybe if you liberals didn't fuck up so much and then lie like hell.

buwaya said...

And the mass media, and especially such parts of it as the New Yorker, are an organ of one side, most emphatically not the other.
They are simply the mouth of the enemy, for the other side.

That is reality, but it seems that old attitudes that come from old times are difficult to break. Reality often changes faster than peoples attitudes towards it. We have a continuity bias.

mockturtle said...

Buwaya, your insight is always brilliant but I believe that there is always room for humor, however dire the circumstances.

Wince said...

Now, that would be a real New Yorker cartoon if it had a caption.

"Come stretch-out in first class."

Sprezzatura said...

The problem w/ a bully (or someone using power to harm others) isn't related in any way to his/her sense of humor.

Is there a tag for: Althouse grasping at straws.

wwww said...

Its not funny anymore because this isnt normal politics or a normal society. Its a cold civil war between two (at least, both sides are really coalitions) incompatible societies occupying the same territory.



Yeah but they're not fighting over anything big policy-wise. I mean, not "let's have a Civil War" big. It's some substantial but mostly minor changes.

It's not a fight over "slavery" or communism vs. democracy.

It's tax policy changes that are fairly minor. Will the corporate tax be 30% or 15%? Or will people be required to purchase health insurance? Or how do we tinker with immigration policy?

Mr. Money Moustache calls many freak-outs Tiny Detail Exaggeration Syndrome.

Darrell said...

All New Yorker cartoons are funnier if you substitute the caption--I'm thinking of committing suicide. Iowahawk.

Anonymous said...

You think he was joking? Are you joking?

Mark said...

National Review pissed away any respect people might have for it years ago, starting not too long after the next generation took over from Buckley. Bill Kristol -- who is like the Chelsea Clinton of his time, notable only because he is the son of Irving Kristol -- was never deserving of such respect.

Wince said...

Bay Area Guy said...

It's very simple. The Left will freak out and hyperventilate in reaction to whatever Trump does.

So, Trump is throwing a toga party and driving around in a cake float that says "Eat Me!"

wendybar said...

The Democrats freak out IS turning people off. They are getting more violent and intolerant everyday. It won't stop until they kill somebody.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Forget it, Jake. It's The NewYorker.

buwaya said...

The conflict is not about, for the most part, specific public policy issues. Most civil wars arent. At best, a conflict over an issue is merely a proxy, or a point where things come out in the open, for the underlying problem.

This can seem like a lot of petty things, but its not.

Its really about who calls the shots, and for whose benefit. One side is being locked out of the future, unless it kowtows to the hegemonic system and becomes either its pawns or abandons its culture. This is the same reason, for instance, for the Tamil-Sinhalese Sri Lankan civil war. It was not about language requirements for university admissions or likelihood of promotion in the civil service.

tcrosse said...

Pity poor Hillary. The villain who helped steal the election is now a big Liberal hero for having been fired by the greater villain who usurped her rightful throne. And for once it's not All About Her.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Confederate Cracker Sessions is an abomination any way you cut it. His newest wasteful expenditure of federal funds is to reinvigorate the war on non-toxic and other drugs in other people's bodies so that we can once again depopulate our available, working-age population and allow the private prisons to beat and abuse them for pay.

This guy needs to go back to his own century. Same with Trump.

wendybar said...

n.n said...
They lost the babies through Choice.

They lost Americans through condescension.

They lost the election through premature dreams of demographic disenfranchisement.

They learned nothing. They're doing it again.

Anyway, preaching, trial, and, apparently, governance by Press. We need a separation of Press and State.

5/13/17, 9:35 AM


Hear Hear!! Agree 100%

Original Mike said...

"Pity poor Hillary. The villain who helped steal the election is now a big Liberal hero for having been fired by the greater villain who usurped her rightful throne. And for once it's not All About Her."

Here's hoping the new director does make it all about her.

Dude1394 said...

Well I certainly have turned away from almost all democrat media. I am also turning away from the constant and violent victim hood and angst going on with liberals and SJW. I just DO NOT CARE.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

It's not a literal comparison, you light-weights. It's taking the theme of cronyism, corruption and corporate malfeasance run amok in our society and letting you know that the unhinged and tattered restraints that would have previously kept both the airline industry and Confederate Cracker Sessions in line are not working. Intentionally. By design. This is the system that Republicans have built, and always wanted to implement.

Wince said...

wwww said...
It's not a fight over "slavery" or communism vs. democracy.

It's tax policy changes that are fairly minor. Will the corporate tax be 30% or 15%? Or will people be required to purchase health insurance? Or how do we tinker with immigration policy?


I'm convinced Trump's opponents are more worried Trump's policies will succeed, or at least improve things in some measure, rather than harm people.

The Democrats know that they've imposed on those outside the political class to make sacrifices -- lower growth, higher taxes and insurance premiums, declining wages -- a hair shirt for thee not for me virtue signaling agenda they thought would get them reelected by dint of their moral and intellectual superiority.

David Begley said...

Journalist and author Mark Bowden reports that Obama had a taping system in the Oval Office. See, Twitchy.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Wouldn't it be great if Trump were to announce that he re-hired Comey?
The Comey love would return to hate instantly.

Lewis Wetzel said...

"Confederate Cracker Sessions."
Refight a war you've won.
Tell me again who are the "lightweights"?

buwaya said...

Tax policy does matter in the socio-economic conflict. High effective tax rates make it difficult for those in the top 1-10% to move up and accumulate capital, while not bothering, much, the top .5-.0001%

Your hedge fund and investor class like Warren Buffet dont care about income tax rates. Or even, too much, about corporate tax rates. The owners of Gibson Guitar Co. do.

Its no coincidence that the conflict sides break down in that pattern.

David Begley said...

http://twitchy.com/gregp-3534/2017/05/12/question-for-ben-rhodes-how-many-oval-office-conversations-did-obama-tape/

Taping system exists!

Yancey Ward said...

If you wanted that analogy really to click in a big humorous way, it needed to drawn on November 9th and be Comey dragging Hillary! off the plane. That would leave me on the floor laughing.

As for the cartoon Comey's physical demeanor in the drawing, I theorize that the cartoonist simply couldn't bring himself to make Comey appear any more a victim- remember, it was just last Monday that the Left thought Comey should have been fired, and at least some of them can recognize the cognitive dissonance they are experiencing.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Trump is performance art. The reaction to him is the funny part. Like the "uninstructed" audiences reacting like normal people to the Comey dismissal and flu mixing the "professional comedians" doing agitprop. Now THAT shit's funny!

buwaya said...

Its no accident that the other side has, to an enormous degree, the advantage in funding and institutional control. The balance of power and money is vastly against Trump.

Bay Area Guy said...

@EDH,

"So, Trump is throwing a toga party and driving around in a cake float that says "Eat Me!"

Heh - that would work for me. "You fucked up, you trusted us. Now make the best of it"

Sebastian said...

"it becomes nothing but outrage and That's not funny, many people — I feel it happening to me — will turn away." Many of us already have. But they don't care. Your turning away reinforces prog hegemony. Their troops will keep feeding on outrage. It's not about arguments or humor, just about moves in the culture war, judged by whether they can dominate the culture and retake power in the polity. So it all boils down to whether the disaffected Althouses outnumber the outraged progs.

buwaya said...

With a great deal of money behind them, its also no surprise that the organs of entertainment are also massively on one side. Who pays the piper calls the tune.

Megthered said...

The people I know are tired of the constant media tantrums and the Dems screeching about everything Trump does. I have tuned out the tv, and cut the cable. It's tiring and means nothing to normal, non-beltway people. They look foolish.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

buwaya said...
Its no accident that the other side has, to an enormous degree, the advantage in funding and institutional control.


I sometimes wonder what world you live in.

Trump's problems are entirely self-made. He has no real legislative agenda, so he was co-opted by Ryan and the GOP for their dismal program. He is so undisciplined that he has even put this dubious enterprise into doubt. He is clueless, outside marketing. All the engineers here who would normally make fun of the clowns in marketing voted for someone from marketing.

tcrosse said...

All the engineers here who would normally make fun of the clowns in marketing voted for someone from marketing.

The alternative was to vote for someone from HR.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

In a follow up to what I wrote above, thank you Chuck for illustrating the same phenomenon on the "right." You and Jonah are humorless scolds looking for nits to pick. All of the explanations are true, you idiots! Trump has thought for a long time Comey needed to go. Comey gave untrue answers to Congress last week and has obstructed Senate inquiries into leaks. And AAG review of Comey's pitiful record sealed the deal. I don't see conflict where none exists.

Like I just saw on PowerLine, "If Trump came out against the 2nd Amendment then Democrats [and LLRs] would suddenly turn pro-gun.

traditionalguy said...

Buwaya @ 10:41 sums it all up. The super wealthy who own Congress are primarily motivated to stop the semi-wealth from ascending to their level.

There has not been a middle class Tax Cut since Reagan's first one. It has been all super wealthy in control since then. They donate/buy Dems as tools using Marxist theory and meaningless income gap statistics as the Narrative. But when Bernie called their bluff, that unhinged Queen Clinton's kingdom of Narrative.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Original Mike said...

"The alternative was to vote for someone from HR."

Heh.

Anonymous said...

"They look foolish".

When people stop reacting the the insanity coming out of the White House, they themselves need their heads examined. The President is not normal. His foolish, no, his bizarre behavior should not be "absorbed". Since when do sane people not react when the insane are running White House. He has become so out of control, even his children can't rein him in. You people don't recognize the danger? Makes me think of frogs in the pot of slowly warming water. To "absorb" or dismiss, or ignore this behavior as joking is very concerning.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

tcrosse said...
The alternative was to vote for someone from HR.


Not sure this negates the problems associated with having someone from marketing in charge of making actual decisions. Steam or digital?

Chuck said...

Gahrie said...
Hey Chuckles...I've got some great news.....Hillary still isn't president, and neither is Jeb Bush!

That was one of the lines Jonah Goldberg anticipated. I'm betting that you posted before you even read his column. Jonah: "I’ve written a lot about how people can’t let go of the campaign mindset. The best example of this is how I hear every day that whatever Trump may be doing wrong, it’s still “better than Hillary.” Of course, that’s got a lot of truth to it when it comes to things such as judicial appointments and the fact that we don’t have to put up with the Clintons’ “there’s no eating in the library” officiousness. But now that Trump is president, it’s utterly irrelevant, save to those who need to reassure themselves daily."

http://www.nationalreview.com/g-file/447594/donald-trump-james-comey-debacle-fbi-director-fired-certified-letter

Achilles said...
...
...This isn't about right and left. This is about the political class vs. the rest of us. If you haven't noticed Chuck and Jonah want no part of the MAGA agenda. They are democrat operatives who are paid to do what the oligarchs want them to do. NRO is just another cog in the DC wheel.

What a weird comment. Because Jonah's premise was along the lines of, Let's presume that the goal is to enact the MAGA agenda; this is the wrong way to get any of it done.

I've all along laughed at the folks who accuse me of being a Democrat operative. No one has ever found so much as a line of my writing in which I endorsed anything that was big-D Democrat. And I've been regularly writing about the conservative side of election law, same-sex marriage, judicial selection, politics, etc.

You have jumped the shark, when you breeze past "Chuck is a Dem operative," and head into "Jonah Goldberg is a Dem operative." Jonah is the author of Proud to be Right: Voices of the Next Conservative Generation, Blackout: The Gosnell Grand Jury Report that the Media Does Not Want You to See, What is Conservatism, The Tyranny of Cliches: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas and Liberal Facsism.

In TrumpLand, one of the dozen or so leading conservative writers in America is a Dem operative.

Rusty said...
I think we need to start keeping sharp objects out of Chucks reach. It's only a matter of time before he starts to boil live rabits on the stove.

Yeah, right. Where Jonah Goldberg and I are considered "Dem operatives," the person(s) to worry about are... the Trump critics.

I have said it before and I'll say it again. The level of personal attacks on me -- like Rusty's -- makes me wonder if the Althouse blog actually has a rule that says, "don't make personal attacks on other commenters."

Darrell said...

The number 1 rule of Althouse commenting is "Don't be a bore."
You are a bore, Chuck. Fuck off.

Anonymous said...

Achilles said...
"This isn't about right and left. This is about the political class vs. the rest of us. If you haven't noticed Chuck and Jonah want no part of the MAGA agenda. They are democrat operatives who are paid to do what the oligarchs want them to do. NRO is just another cog in the DC wheel."

How weird, how nuts. Trump is an oligarch. His Cabinet are oligarchs. Yet somehow these people care about the average American and will save us from the oligarchs? My God, the sheer stupid nuttery is astounding.

buwaya said...

B. Goldberg and NRO are owned by that portion of the .5-.0001% that pay them to exist. Its not quite the same people of that .5-.0001% that subsidize the NYT and the New Yorker, but as I said above, the sides are coalitions.

Who pays the piper, etc.

tcrosse said...

Not sure this negates the problems associated with having someone from marketing in charge of making actual decisions.

We're in the fix we're in because the two most awful people in America ended up running against each other for President. This happened because the Democrats rigged their nomination and the Republicans didn't rig theirs. This presented thoughtful voters with a Hobson's Choice between a couple of unspeakable highbinders. Well, one of them got elected, even though the loser gave a very insincere concession, so we have to live with it until the next election.

Darrell said...

You are a bore, New-Inga. Fuck off.

Anonymous said...

"I have said it before and I'll say it again. The level of personal attacks on me -- like Rusty's -- makes me wonder if the Althouse blog actually has a rule that says, "don't make personal attacks on other commenters.""

It's a fast and loose rule.

Anonymous said...

Darrell, you are the epitome of the stupid nuttery of the average Trumpist. Plus you are an unimaginative dull bore.

Darrell said...

How creative, Faux-Inga. Saying the same thing I said.

Michael K said...


Yeah, Jonah, like Chuck and that dreadful Bill Kristol, keep doubling down on their useless meme: "Trump is a horrible, useless, disgusting human being."


The Bill Kristol- Chelsea analogy strikes me as interesting. I read Kristol and Jonah, and I agree "Liberal Fascism" is still essential reading, but both have gone off the deep end and I'm not sure why.

People are tuning out the outrage machine of the left and the right. The outrage machine is losing interest for many people, who just go on with their lives and ignore it.

Be smart: Don't underestimate how much wiggle room Trump bought himself with his voters and conservatives by putting Gorsuch on the Supreme Court, enforcing the red line in Syria, and muscling a partial repeal of Obamacare through the House. He has a long leash with Trump Country.

The eventual results will depend on the economy and the price of gas. OPEC is hysterical as it loses its lever on the West.

If Trump gets the economy going and taxes get cut and a half way reasonable Obamacare replacement happens, The Democrats may be heading for a cliff.

cubanbob said...

buwaya said...
Tax policy does matter in the socio-economic conflict. High effective tax rates make it difficult for those in the top 1-10% to move up and accumulate capital, while not bothering, much, the top .5-.0001%

Your hedge fund and investor class like Warren Buffet dont care about income tax rates. Or even, too much, about corporate tax rates. The owners of Gibson Guitar Co. do.

Its no coincidence that the conflict sides break down in that pattern.

5/13/17, 10:41 AM"

True. These tax policies currently in place make it harder for the small business owner to retain earnings to reinvest in their business. These kinds of businesses employ the bulk of the private sector workforce but are not the kind of businesses that venture capitalists will invest in and that the founder shareholders can some day cash out by going public. Let's also not forget Buffet's original fortune came from selling second to die life insurance policies to help cover estate taxes. He hasn't forgotten where he made his money from and who to thank for creating an artificial market for him to prosper in.

traditionalguy said...

I like Inga. She keeps us realists on our toes. The Conservative should think of her special point of view as needed Target Practice for the gang that cannot not shoot straight.

Peace, Inga.

Anonymous said...

I was holding up the mirror to you Darrell, see how unimaginative you are? Sniffing gas fumes all those years didn't help your underlying personality disorder. Now go fuck yourself, because I'm quite sure no one else will.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Trad guy. I always liked you and still do, despite your er, um, affliction.💋

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Trump is performance art.

That's good. So if Trump is a phony, a fake, just a pantomime president, I think it's long past time we asked him to leave the stage - and make way for a real president. Besides, his ratings SUCK.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Sorry, pussyhatted schoolmarm Scoldinga, but Darrel is funny. Get on your broom and fly off to a blog that appreciates your lame act.

Anonymous said...

But Trad guy, how do you explain your acceptance of the Trump administration's Keystone Cops style of governing, which isn't funny actually and should be sending up all sorts of red flags.

buwaya said...

Nobody on the other side on this cares to address the fact of the preponderance of financial power on the Democrat-bureaucratic axis. Its always diversions. A very, very inconvenient fact I suppose.

For instance, one Tom Steyer, who besides being a minor player in US politics (hence his relatively high profile), also controls a wealth-management fund, where he represents the interests of many others like himself. There are dozens of Tom Steyers and many such funds.

Trump was one of those rare characters who was willing to both oppose the other members of his class, most insultingly to them, and had the personal means to largely fund his own campaign. Any other politician would have had to beg, and kowtow.

Anonymous said...

Mike, Darrell is "funny"?

Oky doky then. Feels like the inmates are running the asylum.

tcrosse said...

Besides, his ratings SUCK.

So he won't be able to appoint any more Federal Judges or Supreme Court justices until his ratins improve ?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

tcrosse said...
We're in the fix we're in because the two most awful people in America ended up running against each other for President.


I thought that Trump would bring more to the table. He looks lost. He has a personal intimidatory style that works well in certain settings and is a disaster in others. He seems to lack the flexibility to adapt to his new circumstances, in part because he is too old but also because his worldly experience, or at least what he learned from that experience, is constrained to a greater extent than you might have reasonably anticipated.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

This isn't about right and left. This is about the political class vs. the rest of us.

If one of the "rest of us" is convinced that Betsy DeVos, with her $5.4 billion family net worth (much more than Trump), $17 million in contributions to the RNC (the largest soft money contributor by 1997) -- and statement that, she has "decided to stop taking offense at the suggestion that we are buying influence, Now I simply concede the point. They are right," -- is "one of us," then I'd say someone is suffering from a failure to communicate.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

"Governing," Inga? The governing has been awesome. Ya'll are mostly complaining about tweeting, PR, appearances, Trump family dynamics and who gets more ice cream at dinner. If we actually had discussions of policy then you and Chuck might be interesting again.

Chuck said...

Mike said...
In a follow up to what I wrote above, thank you Chuck for illustrating the same phenomenon on the "right." You and Jonah are humorless scolds looking for nits to pick. All of the explanations are true, you idiots! Trump has thought for a long time Comey needed to go. Comey gave untrue answers to Congress last week and has obstructed Senate inquiries into leaks. And AAG review of Comey's pitiful record sealed the deal. I don't see conflict where none exists.

Like I just saw on PowerLine, "If Trump came out against the 2nd Amendment then Democrats [and LLRs] would suddenly turn pro-gun.

I had a different thought. Because there is a zero-point-zero chance that Republicans and Democrats will flip on gun rights. (Although the Black Panther Party used to be pro-gun rights.) My thought was that if Trump came out in favor of a constitutional right to same-sex marriage (and I'm not so sure that he hasn't already), all the Trumpkins would join him.

As for Comey; the reason that "all of the explanations" can't be true is because V.P. Pence, and Sara Huckabee Sanders, and Spicey all stated emphatically that the one reason for the Comey firing was because of what the Deputy AG memorialized in a memo. Right before Trump, in an effort to put his own personal mark on it, said that he had decided before then to fire Comey. It is why Trump had to then complete the process of throwing them all under the bus entirely, by Tweeting that his surrogates can't always be accurate, in such a fast-moving presidency.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Sorry, pussyhatted schoolmarm Scoldinga, but Darrel is funny. Get on your broom and fly off to a blog that appreciates your lame act.

Why don't you get on your broom and fly off to a blog that appreciates yours, Mike.

Snark said...

3rdGradePB_GoodPerson said...
The problem w/ a bully (or someone using power to harm others) isn't related in any way to his/her sense of humor.

Is there a tag for: Althouse grasping at straws.

There are several. Off the top of my head I've noticed Trump, Trump Derangement Syndrome, Trump rhetoric, Trump plus some other words and some other words plus Trump.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

buwaya keeps strumming the single note of powerlessness but Trump just sacked the Director of the FBI, not exactly powerless. It is the complete lack of a strategy to use that power that is the problem.

Anonymous said...

I think that Trump should continue to tweet and give interviews. The more the better. He should also do the daily White House press conferences, on whatever schedule he wants. We need to see Trump in his full glory, often, daily if possible. No one should try to muzzle him.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Chuck you are outright lying about what SH Sanders said. My post was a paraphrase but she said the same things were ALL contributing factors in the sacking of the director. Then she pointed out how every Democrat had bee calling for Comey's head since 11/8. If you were more honest you would be more fun to debate on this subject and others.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Hey TTR why don't you commission a poll and ask the question. If Althouse's commentariat vote me off the island I'll go. Unlike Ritmo ER Toothless ER whatever you go by now. I'll do the full Garage Mahal and hang it up. A little pruning always helps the garden, as Chauncy says.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Sounds good, Mike. Just go ahead and ask the same of your Orange Excuse for a president, first.

Anonymous said...

So Mike,
How good was Trump's Travel Ban? How good is TrumpCare? How's that Wall coming along? Did Mexico agree to pay for it yet? How is Trump getting along with our strongest allies?

buwaya said...

They ALL influence US politics. Some very few, these days, serve the populist interest, and some others through their agents, like Elaine Chao, represent a concession to traditional interests.

De Vos is one of those traditional interests in fact. Not exactly a populist.

Add up all political funding in the US however and its clear who sides where. A lot of people havent caught up with this change in facts either.

Quayle said...

Inga says "When people stop reacting the the insanity coming out of the White House, they themselves need their heads examined. The President is not normal. His foolish, no, his bizarre behavior should not be "absorbed""

Funny thing, Inga: in a democracy the voters get as President the person they want, not who you or others in their self-assumed superiority want.

Or are you not supportive of democracy as a process?

Or would you prefer from the White House a very carefully coordinated and groomed stream of calculated lies and half-truths like we've had in previous administrations?

Anonymous said...

How did Trump do on the defunding of those Sanctuary Cities?

Chuck said...

Mike, that is what Sanders said after Trump's blundering Lester Holt interview. She had to round off the corners that way. Her boss forced her into it.

It isn't how she started out. The WaPo does a timeline on the shifting stories:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/05/12/all-of-the-white-houses-conflicting-explanations-for-comeys-firing-a-timeline/?utm_term=.2b117735dbb2

So I am not lying. Maybe the one thing that we can agree on, is that Sanders changed her story.

She did try to point to all of the Democrats' calling for Comey's head. And to be clear, you are wrong in suggesting that "all" Democrats wanted Comey to resign. Some said that. Many others did not. So let's be accurate.

And let's be clear -- because I watched that presser, live -- Sanders was getting pounded on the shifting stories (because they were in fact shifting) and she tried to dodge and deflect by brining up the totally true, and completely irrelevant, factoid that some Democrats had long ago suggested resignation for Comey.

I am not lying. But I am willing to help you understand better.

Darrell said...

Ritmo and Faux-Inga (Unknown-99) both think that repetition is the height of creativity. "Mirroring." Yeah, that's the ticket. It should be added to the list of symptoms for diagnosis of Leftist disorder.

tcrosse said...

She: That vagina dentata thing is a myth. If you'll examine, you'll see that I have no teeth there.
He: So I see. And no wonder: your gums are terrible.

buwaya said...

ARM,
Its a battle. The people vs the powerful.
The people managed to assert their own sort of power, but its a fragile thing.
Trump attacks and counterattacks, to the extent, it seems, that there is an opening to do so. The other side is using everything its got, or that it can buy, to oppose him. That press- wurlitzer for instance is damned expensive, as are all those Republican Senators. You have to wonder about who of them have large promissory notes in their back pockets.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

To take one example of Trump's cluelessness. He has a memo saying Comey should be sacked. Leak the memo, get people on record saying he should be sacked immediately and then sack him. Line up allies and if they don't line up as hoped don't sack him. Test the waters don't dictate. Trump seems unable to adapt to a multipolar world, he has spent too much of his time being the sole voice that has any say in his world.

Michael K said...

" A lot of people havent caught up with this change in facts either."

A lot of people still think the Democrats are for the little guy.

It's like that Teachers' Union official who said, "When children start to pay union dies, I'll care about children."

n.n said...

So, the joke is not in the depiction but in the analogy. The comedic break begins when the New Yorker takes itself far too seriously. They need to lighten up.

Anyway, sometimes lack of merit requires a dismissal. The government established for the People and our Posterity is not an affirmative action sanctuary.

Snark said...

Chuck said..

I have said it before and I'll say it again. The level of personal attacks on me -- like Rusty's -- makes me wonder if the Althouse blog actually has a rule that says, "don't make personal attacks on other commenters.


I appreciate a largely unmoderated comment section, but more awareness and some action is necessary when chronic bullying develops against a commenter that typically holds a minority opinion. You are chronically bullied and I admire that you claim your place here anyway.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

How did Trump do on the defunding of those Sanctuary Cities?

You could ask the same about any legal question he involved himself in. He just squirms himself in there like a rat without ever bothering to ask competent legal counsel, let alone seeking sage advice. That's how tyrants are. They view the courts as something worse than an inconvenience - but as something to be trampled over and shooed away. He got comfortable thinking he could always get a lawyer to bail himself out of something, probably being inspired early on by Roy Cohn's belligerence. (His friendship was cheap and poorly reciprocated though, by all accounts). Since then, he's loved getting his overpaid, underskilled staff of legal weasels to write cease and desist orders whenever someone insults him, and relies on the intimidation factor for that to take effect. But no one where he based himself in NYC believed him anymore after at least 15 years ago. He's a blowhard who knows he has no case and just uses his lawyers as the same for of sleight-of-hand that is his act in every other sense.

Trump is what he insults with the most: A total loser.

Michael K said...

"How did Trump do on the defunding of those Sanctuary Cities?"

There actually are people whose attention span is longer than the next news cycle.

The sanctuary cities thing may take until the next budget but it's coming.

Anonymous said...

"Funny thing, Inga: in a democracy the voters get as President the person they want, not who you or others in their self-assumed superiority want"

The rest of us love our country and don't want to burn it all down. We don't want our country to be made the laughingstock of the world. If you people were duped into voting for this fraud, that's on you. We who didn't vote for him shouldn't have to suffer the consequences of his disastrous Presidency along with those of you who still live in some Trumpian dystopia.

n.n said...

Trump does seem to have an authentic interest in people who live in flyover country and the urban jungle. Perhaps even a desire to reconcile diverse and diverging interests between the People (and our Posterity) and hopefully people globally. The first genuine, sustained opposition to the status quo in several generations. It can't be easy to confront the special and peculiar interests, left, right, and center, that are entrenched in the public and private spaces.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I appreciate a largely unmoderated comment section, but more awareness and some action is necessary when chronic bullying develops against a commenter that typically holds a minority opinion. You are chronically bullied and I admire that you claim your place here anyway.

Me too.

Moderation tends to favor the majority opinion. But the hard-core right wing here is never more than 60%, sometimes even 40 - 50%. If it seems greater, that's because there are quieter moderate conservatives and libertarians and various other shades of undecideds - although they usually are more sympathetic to the political right. Enough to make a difference.

I think it's funny that it usually takes about five of one of them to match evenly against one or at most two non-right wing commenters.

Anonymous said...

Sure Michael K,

He just needs more time, sure, sure. That's what's wrong, we haven't given him enough time. He will surely pivot....

Anonymous said...

"You are chronically bullied and I admire that you claim your place here anyway."

Yes! There are so few truly principled conservatives that are brave enough to speak out nowadays. The Congress is full of those cowards.

Quayle said...

Inga, you've made yourself clear.

You are an anti-democracy elitist.

Thank you for being clear. The only question now for you to answer for us is whether you are willing to burn down the constitution and the democracy to carry out your elitist views.

And as for the voters being duped, how exactly is Trump different now than before the election? What about him has changed from before people voted for him?

And are you seriously trying to assert and argue that Hillary Clinton's campaign was void of any attempt to deceive or dupe?

David Begley said...

Hey! Obama had a taping system in the WH. See above.

That's the news!

Original Mike said...

"nd let's be clear -- because I watched that presser, live -- Sanders was getting pounded on the shifting stories (because they were in fact shifting) and she tried to dodge and deflect by brining up the totally true, and completely irrelevant, factoid that some Democrats had long ago suggested resignation for Comey."

I watched it too. You saw "pounded" because you wanted to see pounded. I saw a room full of ineffectual journalists bleating over minutia.

Trump is right; there really isn't a point to that exercise.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Blogger Inga said...
. . .
Yes! There are so few truly principled conservatives that are brave enough to speak out nowadays. The Congress is full of those cowards.


Maybe because voters prefer them to Democrats?
Just a thought.

Anonymous said...

Trump's Travel Ban and his Sanctuary Cities defunding EOs were blocked because the are unConstitutional. So Quayle, tell me how this sits with you. I respect the Constitution, unlike Trump who demands loyalty oaths to HIM.

Lewis Wetzel said...

The Republicans have their own problems, of course, but what strikes me is the lack of introspection on the part of the Democrats. Since 2008 they have lost power at the federal, state, and local level. This in spite of the fact they control academia, Hollywood, and Silicon Valley.
For this they blame the Koch brothers. Or Fox news. Anyone but themselves.
They do not seem to understand that as a political party in a Republic, it is their job to serve the people, not the other way around.

Original Mike said...

"Trump's Travel Ban and his Sanctuary Cities defunding EOs were blocked because the are unConstitutional."

You do realize that that is far from established yet, right?

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"All the engineers here who would normally make fun of the clowns in marketing voted for someone from marketing.

The alternative was to vote for someone from HR."

Hilarious and the most insightful comment in this thread, intentionally or not.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure there will be more appeals, OM.

Quayle said...

Inga, nice diversion to nothing.

Do you yourself know that Trump's border orders are unconstitutional? Please explain how. Walk us through the legal analysis.

I'll even help with a simplified outline:

Step one: identify the right

Step two: identify the legitimate holders of the right with standing.

Step three: show how Trumps order violates that right.

Step four: explain how no exception applies.

We're waiting.

And how does Trump exact loyalty to him personally? Please explain how what you claim is loyalty to the person isn't in fact loyalty to the office of the presidency? Unlike you, Inga, Trump actually has office and power conferred by the constitution.

We're waiting for some precision of thought here.

Michael K said...

we haven't given him enough time. He will surely pivot....

No, he will not "pivot" and when it comes, the squeals from California will be music to my ears.

Rosalyn C. said...

One of my formerly closest friends posted a "cartoon" a few days ago called, "Strength Through Unity How to spot fascism before it's too late," a confused discourse about how Trump is a fascist and the country is drifting into a fascist state and maybe how the US has always been a fascist state. It wasn't funny, of course. What's really troubling is my friend's total lack of humor and his absolute certainty of being right to the point of ending any conversation. Mostly the point is that Trump is horrible.

I think Trump is humorous by nature and his humor serves as a form of generosity, recognizing the inevitable combative give and take in life of people having differences. But then I agree with him and perhaps I'd feel differently if I didn't. Maybe I'd see him as a bully. Even so, I don't see him demonizing people with whom he disagrees. He's trying to bring people together around a common goal -- improving the country. Democrats won't even engage in that discussion.

Quayle said...

What isn't funny is how many people like Inga are ignorantly convincing themselves that the constitution and democracy must be destroyed to save the country.

Chuck said...

Original Mike; what does the fact that a dozen or so Democrats called for Comey to resign, back in 2016, have to do with Trump's reasons for firing Comey last week?

It's just a distraction. When she said that, it wasn't even responsive to the question.

walter said...

Poor analogy..Dao had a way to avoid the conflict right up until it happened...and had stated "intent" to leverage what was to happen for a lawsuit.

Original Mike said...

Chuck: Comey had lost credibility with everybody; President and Democrats alike. That's why he's out.

chickelit said...

The artist made Comey look like a doormat.

Intentional?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Original Mike saw what I saw: bleating pontificating journ-O-listers reading DNC talking points and trying to gin up a controversy out of nothing. What makes the DNC officeholders' (as opposed to their hack press operatives) repeated calls for Comey to resign germane is that no journ-O-listers ever questioned Waters, Schumer, Schiff et al on that point but one millisecond after the sacking we suddenly need REASONS and TIMELINES and EVIDENCE to JUSTIFY firing Comey.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Every "fail" cited by TTR and Thinga are issues that have yet to be settled by the courts or the legislative process. So many dopes are cheering about tiny stumbles in the first 5 minutes of an hour long game. Patience assholes. Patience.

tcrosse said...

The artist made Comey look like a doormat.

The look is ambiguous. Comey switched from villain to hero so quickly, they might have been afraid that he'd switch back just as quickly. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin, and all that.

Brian McKim and/or Traci Skene said...

Comedy considers the possibility that some of us might be wrong or mistaken, that some of us might hold absurd views or that some of us might have only a tenuous grip on power. There is a certain gang of people for whom those features of comedy are terrifying. So, there is a low-level war being waged on comedy as we speak.

As someone in the comedy trenches for 30+ years (and who has kept his eye on the subtle and not so subtle changes in the American attitude toward comedy), I can say with certainty that comedy has never been in more danger.

The attitude of the attorney is nothing new and it is a symptom of the larger disease.

Comedy and humor traditionally existed outside the fray and was accepted commentary on the absurdity of life. Now, however, all humor is fair game-- don't like a joke from an HBO special? Fact-check it and do a 1,200-word piece on how it's just not funny. Jokes are now hate speech. Comedians-- who begged for two decades to be taken seriously-- are now reaping the benefits-- and the horrible consequences-- of being expected to be serious.

Nice going, dickheads.

Original Mike said...

The White Press briefing is a less than useless exercise. The journalists aren't intersted in policy, they are interested in nitpicking and gotchas. Many of the questions are "what was in the President's mind" type questions? How can the press secretary answer that? Those should appropriately be addressed to the President himself, not a surrogate.

mockturtle said...

He's trying to bring people together around a common goal -- improving the country. Democrats won't even engage in that discussion.

Of course, R.J. Chatt. The Left doesn't want to MAGA. They want it to be dissolved into the vast global mediocrity.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

He's trying to bring people together around a common goal -- improving the country. Democrats won't even engage in that discussion.

What are you even talking about? Just giving a marketing/branding title is meaningless fluff. None of the actual substance - policy stuff - he pushes for is supported popularly or decent or good for the country at all.

Of course, R.J. Chatt. The Left doesn't want to MAGA. They want it to be dissolved into the vast global mediocrity.

This is why the right has decided it will continue on its crash and burn collision course to being shut out of power - as it thankfully was 85 years ago. There are countries that have long ago surpassed our own progress on numerous domestic fronts. And the others will catch up. Everything Trump does - EVERYTHING - is a step backward, and usually all for himself. You don't make America "great" by pretending that 1980 or 1929 policy is effective in 2017. You don't "MAGA" (talk about an apelike acronym) by getting the swamp dwellers to pollute the cabinet further. You fools don't seem to understand that beating Hillary on an anti-corruption campaign when the con man who did it turns out to entertain even more and more widespread corruption, is just a joke.

Apparently he let the Russians take cell phone photo shots inside the Oval Office. This guy is going down.

Michael K said...

So many dopes are cheering about tiny stumbles in the first 5 minutes of an hour long game. Patience assholes. Patience.

The one thing the left does not have is patience when a Republican, even a Republican with a lot of "liberal" ideas, is in office.

I don't know if Trump is going to succeed with so much of the country opposing his every move.

The super rich like the way things were going. The big stock investors like the ZIRP which forces all money into stocks and seems like a tree that can grow to the sky.

The big donors who most politicians depend on for money are in that group.

All Trump has is the people who aren't in on the scam.

furious_a said...

The First Rule of United Fight Club is...You DO NOT put United Fight Club on The New Yorker cover!

furious_a said...

But President HILLARY! was supposed to fire Comey!

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The one thing the left does not have is patience when a Republican, even a Republican with a lot of "liberal" ideas, is in office.

Patience?! The guy is on the campaign trail with only 3 years, 6 months to go and believes he's had a more productive 100 days than anyone ever.

He's ambitious. Ambitiously implementing a pro-Trump/pro-Putin agenda while he lurks around in a bathrobe, golfs four times as much as Obama (and millions spent on the trip each time), and does a lot of empty marketing.

The country will look so bad by the time he's finally chased out that I don't think you'll even have the heart to ever defend another Republican again.

furious_a said...

"serves at the pleasure of..." is such a simple concept even someone like Chuck should be able to understand it.

furious_a said...

tcrosse: The alternative was to vote for someone from HR.

Harry Callahan: "Personnel?!" That's for assholes!

furious_a said...

Does he suspect he may be living in enemy territory and his every move is being recorded by the Deep State?

Trump's bringing his own video crew along for the interview, so to speak.

Professional lady said...

I very reluctantly voted for Trump. As the efforts go on to "denormalize" him, his opponents are looking more and more extreme to me and Trump is looking more and more normal.

Bilwick said...

Dr. Dao is more like the US citizen, being dragged off the Good Ship Liberty by "liberals."

chickelit said...

TTR wrote: This is why the right has decided it will continue on its crash and burn collision course to being shut out of power - as it thankfully was 85 years ago.

I'm just not seeing this assertion backed by facts like number of Statehouses and other elected offices.

khesanh0802 said...

I don't think it is fair to lump The New Yorker in with the MSM. Its circulation is just over 1 million copies total. The population of Manhattan alone is 1.6 million. Field and Stream magazine - which is practically defunct - has a circulation of 1.4 million. The New Yorker serves the self- important, blinkered intelligentsia, F&S serves Hillary's deplorables. Neither is a major player in the MSM. The WSJ has 2.5 million daily subscribers including both print and digital.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I'm just not seeing this assertion backed by facts like number of Statehouses and other elected offices.

They make special glasses for people who have trouble seeing beyond one election cycle.

Bilwick said...

"The country will look so bad by the time he's finally chased out that I don't think you'll even have the heart to ever defend another Republican again."

As a libertarian RINO, I would, if he/she were consistently pro-freedom Republican.

tcrosse said...

They make special glasses for people who have trouble seeing beyond one election cycle.

But then there are the willfully obtuse who don't need glasses, but drink straight from the bottle.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Go suck a dick, tcrosse. Maybe a different one than your usual member.

Michael K said...

The lefty commenters seem to have multiplied since last fall. Of course, they use different IDs so may be we see more than there are. The same thing has been happening at Powerline.

tcrosse said...

I guess you told me.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

The lefty commenters seem to have multiplied since last fall.

A horrendously bad, mendacious right-wing president will do that to a country.

Of course, they use different IDs so may be we see more than there are.

There's the paranoia the right-wing needs to believe its own lies. Distort and dissemble!

The same thing has been happening at Powerline.

Yeah, not even the rightest of the wrong-wing is safe.

Enjoy your downfall.

President-Mom-Jeans said...

Uh oh, Bitchmo has been drinking tonight. Already with the homophobic slurs.

How progressive of you.

chickelit said...

The Trump caricature in the Blitt cartoon is right out of that Pussy Riot video.

Brookzene said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
William said...

Nobody except us conservatives seemed too put out when Obama "joked" about siccing the IRS on people who crossed him, and then did it.

Freeman Hunt said...

Well put. The leavening is lacking causing leaving.

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