January 25, 2020

I need to get up to speed on the "head on a pike" story.

I'm trying to read "Schiff refers to CBS 'head on pike' story, infuriating GOP: 'Every one of us knows it is not true'" (Fox News), "Schiff sparks blowback with head on a 'pike' line" (The Hill), "GOP senators incensed by Schiff’s ‘head on a pike’ remark" (AP).

Did Adam Schiff make up another quote?!

At CNN ("See tense moment that left key GOP senator shaking her head"):



After he says "vote against the President and your head will be on a pike," he touches his nose — a tell? — and pauses. He hears murmurs of objection from the Senators and starts talking about "irony" and how he hopes it's not true. The irony he finds is in his own argument that Trump is making himself into a king and putting heads on pikes is a method of governance associated with kings. So if someone associated with Trump said "head on a pike," it would be more support for Schiff's argument that Trump is acting like a king. He made all that up and delivers it in his ultra-serious closing argument to the Senators who are required to sit still and silent and take it.

From the Fox News article:
"I thought he was doing fine with [talking about] moral courage until he got to the 'head on a pike.' That's where he lost me,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who has said she might be open to calling witnesses in the trial, told reporters. “He's a good orator. ... It was just unnecessary.”...

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, considered another key Republican vote, agreed with Murkowski. “Not only have I never heard the ‘head on the pike’ line but also I know of no Republican senator who has been threatened in any way by anyone in the administration," she told reporters.
And here's how The Washington Post presents the story: "Adam Schiff delivered a detailed, hour-long summary of the Democrats’ impeachment case. Some Republicans dismissed it because of one line." Oh! Poor Adam Schiff! He spoke for so long and they focused on one line:
The reference came from a CBS News report that had gone viral earlier Friday, quoting an anonymous Trump confidant claiming that senators were warned that “your head will be on a pike” if they vote against the president on impeachment. The report did not say who had delivered the threat or which senators had been so warned.

“I don’t know if that’s true,” Schiff (D-Calif.) said. “I hope it’s not true. But I’m struck by the irony of the idea, when we’re talking about a president who would make himself a monarch, that whoever that was would use the terminology of a penalty that was imposed by a monarch — a head on a pike.”

Schiff sandwiched the reference between an anecdote about his father trying to get into the military with bad eyes and a flat feet during World War II, succeeding on the third attempt, and a tribute to the late representative Thomas F. Railsback (R-Ill.), who worked to build bipartisan support for President Richard M. Nixon’s impeachment. 
Oh! He sandwiched it. Well, then. So unfair to Schiff not to give him credit for the bread around that nasty filling. That was a shit sandwich on Railsback and flat-footed Dad.

ADDED: What is the history of heads on pikes? Wikipedia says:
Placing a severed head on a spike (or pike or pole) is a custom used sometimes in human history and in culture. The symbolic value may change over time. It may give a warning to spectators. The head may be a human head or an animal head.
The all-time most famous head on a pike was Oliver Cromwell:

It's not just monarchs who do heads on pikes. The French revolutionaries did it:
And Hollywood did it to George W. Bush:


123 comments:

pacwest said...

Wasn't Pelosi the one who threatened to primary anyone who didn't follow the mandate on impeachment? The tell is the projection.

tim maguire said...

If all Democrats vote a certain way, they’re standing strong for principle. If all Republicans vote a certain way, they’re being kept in line by ruthless leadership.

tim maguire said...

pacwest said...Wasn't Pelosi the one who threatened to primary anyone who didn't follow the mandate on impeachment? The tell is the projection

One of the truisms of partisan politics—if you want to know what a liberal is up to, look to what they are accusing their opponents of.

Francisco D said...

Schiff seems to be a congenital liar with absolutely no shame.

He will soon be considered Presidential material by the media.

Browndog said...

What I find fascinating is the implication that everything Schiff said up to that point was true, compelling and on point.

Temujin said...

Everyone knows that only Liberals put a President's head on a pike. Bush makes Game of Thrones

Meade said...

I don’t know if it’s true, I hope it’s not true. But I’m struck by the irony of the idea that Schiff wants everyone to stick their head on a pencil.

iowan2 said...

After 23 hours of the House Managers delivering their evidence to support the 2 articles of impeachment, "having their heads on pikes" was literally the only new words uttered in the last 23 hours. So of course we are going to focus on the new information.

Lucid-Ideas said...

So 'shit sandwich' tag when?

Jersey Fled said...

CBS still has the story on their website. The reporter, Nancy Cordes, attributes the statement to a "Trump confident", i.e. an old gypsy woman.

There are only three or four Republicans whose vote is even in question, but apparently Nancy didn't bother to check with them. Too busy I guess. Doesn't even bother to say they denied it.

Fernandinande said...

And a one, and a two...and a flat feet.

Amadeus 48 said...

What I found so remarkable about this is the way Schiff put the story out there and said four or five times, "I don't know if it's true." Dude, then why did you say it? That has been Scheisskopf's m.o. from the beginning starting when he falsely savaged Rep. Nunes's memo on the FISA warrant. He constantly spouts stuff that isn't true, and when caught says, well, I didn't know if it was true or not, but somebody else said it.

If Murkowski thought he was doing well until that moment, that would be amusing. Murkowski pounces!

Michael K said...

Is it over? Is it really over?

I can come out now?

Jersey Fled said...

The reporter, Nancy Cordes, is apparently a "terrific hula dancer" according to an article at The Hill from four years ago.

Amadeus 48 said...

Unless you can pounce and over-run, you'll never devour anyone.--Hobbes's tiger aphorisms.

gilbar said...

Serious Question:

Professor? can I get away with making up malicious lies if I follow them up be saying;
I Don't Know If It's True, I Hope It's Not True

I'm ASSUMING that the answer is NO, you'll ban me if i start following up nasty comments about some commentators her with "I Don't Know If It's True"; so I WON'T do it;
So, I'll be keeping my tongue in my mouth; But, i thought i'd better ask

Fernandinande said...

"See tense moment that left key GOP senator shaking her head"

Wow! That's something, all right!

Amadeus 48 said...

Getting to know you/ getting to know all about you.

Scheisskopf! You dummkopf!

cf said...

I am stunned at the ability of the nation to be so mannerly about this gangrape of our governance.

What.The.Hell.

#TheyAllKnow it is rank theater. every news person knows. every Democrat knows.

you want heads on a pike? I will give you my list:

1. I start with that fuckin Elite Supremacist par excellance @SamanthaPower and her 260 approvals for surveillance of American citizens. Good show starter there.

2. Then I go back a bit further to the start/the signal for all treasonous obamabots in govt to go low: Lois Lerner.

( and After the major perp-walking purges, I'd return to get the top tenth of IRS management under Obama, how many folks would that be? that's a lotta pikes)

3. ... Well shoot, in truth, just those Two casual monster would satiate me a good while.

cf said...

To sum-up, my nominations for
Heads on a Pike:
Samantha Power
Lois Lerner

Browndog said...

“He was going fine with moral courage until he got to head on a pike. That’s where he lost me”

-Lisa Murkowski

Lost you as a fiend? A fan? An ally?

Meade said...

I don’t know if it’s true, I hope it’s not true. But I’m struck by the irony of the idea that Democrats are only too willing to let Adam Schiff grab them by their pussies.

Amadeus 48 said...

Somebody told me that Nancy Cordes, the reporter, and Adam Schiff have an act they do called "The Aristocrats". I don't know if its true. I hope it's not true. Maybe you saw the movie "The Aristocrats". Yes. I hope it's not true.

Amadeus 48 said...

Anyone who juxtaposes Schiff and sandwich is asking for trouble.

policraticus said...

I've said it before, I will say it again. Jonah Goldberg is right.

Trump is not Hitler. Hitler could have gotten Obamacare repealed.

Big Mike said...

Comment from Jonathan Turley regarding impeachment Article II:

“I can't emphasize this enough...if you impeach a president if you make a high crime and misdemeanor of going to the courts, it is an abuse of power. It's your abuse of power. You're doing precisely what you're criticizing the President for doing," [Emphasis mine]

Turley suggests that the best way for the House managers to salvage something is to drop Article II and offer to swap witnesses — Bolton for Hunter Biden, as a for instance — on Article I. I suspect Turley knows that even that is a forlorn hope.

AllenS said...

If you think that this episode is terrible, wait until the Democrats realize that this farce impeachment is going nowhere. Then, things will get really out of hand.

Big Mike said...

tense moment that left key GOP senator shaking her head

She wanted to make sure it was still attached to her neck.

Ryan said...

Kinda reminds one of Kathy Griffin's stunt, no?

Lucid-Ideas said...

"Heads on pikes"

It was common practice to find some way to preserve the head from putrefaction (which would of course begin rather quickly). This would include:

Parboiling
Pickling
Covering in pine pitch
'Banding' - as in wrapping in bands of iron or wire (like Cromwell)
Salting

The more famous the head, the longer they'd want to keep it up. This was decades in some cases.

Schiff would be so lucky to receive simple hanging. His head on a pike, with the above treatment, would look like a goddamn candy apple.

Paco Wové said...

"you want heads on a pike? I will give you my list:"

Only three? Piker.

Big Mike said...

[Schiff] constantly spouts stuff that isn't true, and when caught says, well, I didn't know if it was true or not, but somebody else said it.

Amadeus 48 is onto something. This is a regular pattern for Schiff, his “go to move.”

Big Mike said...

Behold! The best and the brightest of the Democrats’ House leadership!

boatbuilder said...

Apparently the squishy senators only get really upset when Schiff or Nadler say something untrue about or critical of them personally, as opposed to the neverending and constant steaming piles of already disproven falsehoods about the President whose conduct they are supposed to be impartially judging. Egomaniacs, no?

I suspect that the squishies have decided that this is a good talking point for them to use to justify their vote to dismiss or aquit--"I know what he said about my own interaction with the President was false; how can I trust anything else?"

What a farce!

tds said...

"Schiff sandwiched the reference between an anecdote about his father trying to get into the military with bad eyes and a flat feet during World War II, succeeding on the third attempt"

I'd be impressed if Adam Schiff told anecdote about himself trying to get into the military with bad eyes and flat feet and finally succeeding and being deployed into a war zone

Ryan said...

Spinal Tap Reference to the two-word album review: "Shit sandwitch."

That's my review of the impeachment as well.

Qwinn said...

What do you want?

Qwinn:
I'd like to live just long enough to be there when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike as a warning to the next ten generations that some favors come with too high a price. I would look up at your lifeless eyes and wave like this. [gives a mockingly cheerful finger waggle] Can you and your associates arrange that for me, Mr. Schiff?

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=palemoon&q=vir+morden+pike&ia=videos&iax=videos&iai=S0n2vurSBIQ

RNB said...

Came to this news article this morning after reading a comment on Facebook last night in which the poster enthused that Schiff was "such a brilliant man" and "has a great future ahead of him."

Schiff's the best they've got? It's not just at the Presidential level that the Democrats' bench is a bunch of mediocrities and worse.

narciso said...

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/01/the-week-in-pictures-groundhog-day-edition-4.php

William said...

I wonder if it rained on Schiff's wedding day. That kind of traumatic experience sometimes accounts for people using irony in inappropriate ways. If so, he's more to be pitied than condemned.....During the French Revolution, the mob beheaded one of Marie Antoinette's lady friends, stuck her head on a pike, and paraded said head on front of the queen. Now that's a threatening gesture. Not much word play or irony to it......I think they dug up Cromwell's corpse and then put the skull on a pike. That gesture was more macabre than threatening. I guess you can't label the concept of beheading a corpse ironic, but it is kind of an empty gesture.

boatbuilder said...

In fairness Trump uses the "I don't know if this is true, but someone said it was…" gambit all the time to mock his opponents at rallies and in press conferences. Not in what is supposed to be a court proceeding while acting as prosecutor, however.

Qwinn said...

I heard the peasants brought a guillotine up to the governor's mansion in Puerto Rico this week.

So there's a chance for a head on pike there, I guess.

Hagar said...

When I first saw it, I took it as a graphic prediction of how Trump's voters would feel about them come election time.

AllenS said...

I've been following Trump from day one, and when he says something about what happened, or about someone, he usually names that person.

Sebastian said...

""I thought he was doing fine with [talking about] moral courage until he got to the 'head on a pike.' That's where he lost me,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who has said she might be open to calling witnesses in the trial, told reporters. “He's a good orator"

That's our GOPe: : "he was doing fine," "He's a good orator."

Thanks, Schiffty, for making even GOPers recoil.

But forget heads on a pike. Don't you know there's a special place in hell for women who don't vote for women?

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Schiff didn’t make it up. Nancy Cordes at CBS reported the head on a pike line as coming from a confidante of the President.

narciso said...


Which one


https://mobile.twitter.com/CalebJHull/status/1220943742921773057

AllenS said...

Name the confidante.

pious agnostic said...

Left Bank of the Charles said...
Schiff didn’t make it up. Nancy Cordes at CBS reported the head on a pike line as coming from a confidante of the President.

1/25/20, 8:03 AM


Yes, but the point (of the pike) is that the Senators who heard Schiff repeat the story knew it was not true. While they (and, well, everyone really) knows that reporters are going to relate any third- and fourth-hand gossip that they find useful, it's significant to see such tales repeated as part of an impeachment prosecution.

Leland said...

I think the most telling response is Collins: "I know of no Republican senator who has been threatened in any way by anyone in the administration"

The rest of this is theatrics, but when Schiff tells the tale that "Trump is making himself a monarch", and the would-be subjects of anecdotes claim not to be the subjects; then it becomes obvious this theater is showing a fictional story. It doesn't help that while Schiff claims Trump is threatening Senators, Nadler is claiming the same Senators are part of a treacherous cover-up and that the House Managers can't trust elections.

The question needs to be asked, which Democrat Senators will condone the behavior of Schiff and Nadler?

Danno said...

When you've lost Susan Collins you have probably lost a few red-state Dem Senators alos.

Paco Wové said...

"it becomes obvious this theater is showing a fictional story"

Feeding the Senate a schiff sandwich, as it were.

narciso said...


What they do when they get in power:


https://mobile.twitter.com/RealSaavedra/status/1220899459145465857

rehajm said...

It’s good cover for the brilliant Collins et al...

traditionalguy said...

Oliver Cromwell and his Parliament buddies beat them all every time, and then he executed the King for high Treason for selling out England to Louis XIV for cold hard cash. He then ruled the Republic of England nine years until he died of natural causes.

The Royalists, with a little more cash help from The Sun King in France, then were able to bring back the British Monarch. Only then were the 100% losers to Cromwell every time able to dig up Cromwell's body and display his head on on a pike.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

The confidante of the President who gave Nancy Cordes the heads on a pike quote could be one of the coup plotters, perhaps Mike Pence himself.

boatbuilder said...

AllenS--True, and Trump usually references a report in the MSM or something that one of his opponents said--"Hey, these are people who hate me; I don't know if this is fake news or not, but that's what they said." But during the primaries he used it on Cruz and Carson (who seem to have gotten over it).

SeanF said...

William: I wonder if it rained on Schiff's wedding day. That kind of traumatic experience sometimes accounts for people using irony in inappropriate ways.

Damn, William, I bet Alanis felt that from here. ::applause::

Gusty Winds said...

Would it be ok if we just tar and feather them instead?

Original Mike said...

Left Bank of the Charles said..."Schiff didn’t make it up. Nancy Cordes at CBS reported the head on a pike line as coming from a confidante of the President."

Yet none of the targets of the supposed threat will confirm it, even anonymously. Get a clue, dude.

Clyde said...

For as long as Schiff and Nadler have been in Congress, they really don’t seem to understand that the Senate is NOT the House of Representatives. Both of them have managed to offend lot of Senators with their language.

rcocean said...

The only reason we have to care about Lisa Murky and Collins is assholes like Mittens who side with them and give them the crucial 51st Vote. I hope both Collins and Murky are bored out of their skulls and enjoying the insults, they wanted it.

rcocean said...

Collins voted AGAINST removing Clinton when he clearly obstructed Justice and committed perjury under oath WHILE PRESIDENT. Now, she's all Open-minded about removing Trump for some fake charges.

What a fraud!

Original Mike said...

I wonder if anyone has kept a tally of all of Adam Schiff's lies. Here's a start.

rcocean said...

"When you've lost Susan Collins you have probably lost a few red-state Dem Senators alos."

Dream on. There are no "Red state Democrats". They all vote in lockstep with Schumer. The only "Maverick" is the guy from WV, and he'll still vote Guilty on at least one charge.

rcocean said...

He's a lying piece of Schiff.

Howard said...

Schift must be a fan of the Althouse blog. Heads on Pikes is a popular talking point repeated by deplorables along with threats of armed revolution. It's in the ether.

RobKleine said...

Can you say projection?

rcocean said...

The D's have already declared Collins enemy No. 1 for voting for Kavanaugh. They've been pouring $$ into Maine to defeat her. She'll probably appease them by casting a meaningless "Guilty" vote on 1 article.

William said...

King Charles, just before he was beheaded by Cromwell, turned to the crowd and said words like "If they can do this to me, your anointed King, think of how they will treat you". That was a far more dire warning than a head on a pike. Also it has a certain amount of applicability to the present situation. Not much irony though.

wendybar said...

All he did was piss off Murkowski and Collins. They really do want to lose, so they can blame Republicans to their base. (because there is NO WAY they would ever get 20 Republicans to believe their lies.)

Levi Starks said...

The head on a spike reference sandwiched as it is, is in fact what Schiff calculated to be an acceptable way to call Republicans cowards in advance.
I know I can’t convince you with evidence, and win my case, but I will insult you none the less.
Mission accomplished.
Surprisingly the senators know they’ve been insulted, and don’t appreciate it.

AllenS said...

Right now the Democrats need to get a simple majority of Senators to move this bullshit forward to call witnesses. Without those Republican flippers, this impeachment is over.

Michael K said...

Heads on Pikes is a popular talking point repeated by deplorables along with threats of armed revolution. It's in the ether.

No, it's "a la lanterne."

Chuck said...


Blogger pacwest said...
Wasn't Pelosi the one who threatened to primary anyone who didn't follow the mandate on impeachment? The tell is the projection.

1/25/20, 6:58 AM


I saw that comment last night and looked it up. There were three Democrats who voted against one or both articles.

1. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey. He was already being primaried, before his vote. He has now of course changed parties and was promptly given Trump’s full Oval Office endorsement, enraging the lifelong Republicans who were already entered in the Republican primary. Van Drew himself had endorsed Cory Booker for President before the impeachment vote and had expressed a concern that impeachment would only help result in the re-election of Trump. Most of Van Drew’s senior staff resigned in protest after his vote and switch.

2. Collin Peterson of Minnesota. His vast west-Minnesota district went +30% for Trump. The deadline for a primary challenge isn’t until June. If the Dems care about the district at all, there could be a primary. But it would not seem to help much in a district like that. There’s no primary challenger yet.

3. Jared Golden of Maine. There are just 38 days left, if any as-yet unannounced primary challenger wants to try to enter the Democratic primary. Golden took his last primary with 100%, unopposed. While Golden did vote against impeachment, he’s otherwise been a Trump opponent in his congressional voting. Even more anti-Trump than his district might otherwise dictate:

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/jared-golden/

Gilbert Pinfold said...

Cromwell’s head was reburied on the grounds of Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge. There is a commemorative carving saying that the burial site is “near”, presumably to keep the actual burial site undisturbed. Sidney Sussex College was Cromwell’s “alma mater” and was the only college not to have its plate melted down during the Protectorate.

Lurker21 said...

William said...

I wonder if it rained on Schiff's wedding day.


Nah. It was the black fly in his Chardonnay.

Darrell said...

Just hang Schiff from a lamp post. No need to be cruel.

tcrosse said...

As a fish, the pike rots from the head.

walter said...

So how did Schitt sandwich his bug eyed, I mean bad eyed Father into this?
It's not like the gravitas of working as a mailman.

Martin said...

If he doesn't know it's true, why is he bringing it up? It has nothing to do with the substance, such as it is, of the impeachment charges.

Schiff is a slimy little weasel. I hope his constituents are proud.

gilbar said...

enraging the lifelong Republicans who were already entered in the Republican primary.

Feature?
Flaw?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

A total liar is in charge of the Democrat party.

Tie every democrat running in 2020 to ADAM FUCKING SCHITT.

Night Owl said...

Schiff lies with impunity and has been doing it all through Trump's presidency. Where's his proof Trump canoodled with Russia? (Or was it "colluded"?... Whatever.) How many dictators would allow this to go on for so long? And how many people would feel so comfortable verbally attacking a man that they "fear" is a dictator in the making?

Trump is not Hitler, and Shifty Schiff is full of shit. I don't need to see Schiff's ugly mug on a pike. A mugshot would do fine.

mockturtle said...

Does Time Magazine have an 'Asshole of the Year' award?

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

That pencil-neck geek looks like his head is already on a pike.

rhhardin said...

It looks like fake outrage on the right. The mobs on the right are no better than on the left.

Say anything you want, ought to be the rule.

It's idiotic to counter the left by reenforcing their rule that there's stuff you can't say.

Night Owl said...

Has anyone coined the phrase "That's bull-schiff!" yet?

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

If Trump said that, good for him!

Why should he be nice to those who would stab him in the back? When you need to get tough, get tough. It's time to separate the Republicans from the RINOs.

pious agnostic said...

Say anything you want, ought to be the rule.

Sure, sure. Go ahead and lie, and don't expect anyone to call you on it.

Iman said...

I’ll never see a head on a pike, but I have seen Schiff’s head on a rock cod.

Tom T. said...

I think Levi Starks is correct. Schiff and Nadler have been going out of their way to alienate Senate Republicans, and even if they're personally stupid, they can't be so poorly advised that it's happening unintentionally. This is just clickbait for the base to chew on after acquittal.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

I believe Trump said it. I hope it's true.

Is anyone seriously taking this literally? Does anyone believe it means he will actually DECAPITATE senators and publicly display their severed heads in the air?

Iman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lucien said...

It seems to me that the play for McConnell has been to tell the squishy R senators that as long as they stick with him on the procedural stuff he can afford to have a few peel off on the ultimate vote without repercussions from leadership. The ads, meanwhile, ran their part of the show so unfairly that they motivated all theRs to say screw you.

Iman said...

and I ain’t lyin’...

https://www.channelislandssportfishing.com/img/galleryf/600/400/2105/.jpg

Wince said...

I need to get up to speed on the "head on a pike" story.

Maybe he was talking about getting head at a Turnpike rest stop?

pacwest said...

@Chuck
"The tell is the projection."

So the the only 3 nay votes were immune from Pelosi's threats? That's what I thought too. Thanks. It's pretty clear now that Trump nor McConnell didn't use the same deplorable tactics.

JaimeRoberto said...

I heard that Schiff screws goats and dogs.i don't know if it's true, but it's pretty disturbing if it is.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Trump should post the heads on the fence in front of the White House.

walter said...

“He's a good orator...'
--
Storyteller, perhaps Ed Buck fellator. I hope that isn't true.

OldManRick said...

Does anyone remember if the house managers in the Clinton impeachment included this sort of garbage in their presentation? Did they call Clinton a dictator, monarch, or mention "Droit du seigneur" as a parallel to his activities?
Did the house managers in the Clinton impeachment "pound the facts"?
Or did they "pound the table" like the current impeachment managers?

I don't remember anything in the Clinton impeachment that matches the garbage rhetoric that we are hearing now.

JAORE said...

Schiff lied?

Say it ain't so, Joe.

pacwest said...

I also wonder if Pelosi/Schumer will use the same threat with Senators. While a few defections make no difference in the final outcome the Republicans can make the "bipartisan" argument. (Evidently we are so divided that getting one or two votes from the other side is considered bipartisan.)

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

I love the well done, but historically inaccurate 1970 movie Cromwell. The scene in which the President of the Court says "Sir, you are before a court of justice.", and Obi-Wan Kenobi replies, "Well, sir, I see that I am before a POWER." is particularly good . I don't take sides with the Charles or with Cromwell on this, but I love the quietly defiant way the king stood up to that 17th century Schiff.

SPOILER -- Someone lost his head!

Lawrence Person said...

They did this a lot on old London bridge.

Skeptical Voter said...

Bug eyed baloney spewing babble strikes again! Adam has a rich fantasy life, and is none too careful where the truth is concerned.

The Germans have a colorful invective full of animal terms. We've all heard "schwweinehund" or "pig dog". They also have a phrase "schafshacker" meaning sheep's penis. But now we'll have to coin another phrase "Schiffshacker" --and Lil Adam is always stepping on it as he strays from the truth.

Scott Patton said...

Such hyperbole is beyond the pale.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

well Adam, you 'Schitt the bed' with that one.

"And, in closing, let me lob one last faux/fail/scary Hail Mary"

oh, hypothetically, if those pics of you at Ed Buck's sex romp
are real, are they coming out the 29th?
Did you have a lot of fun at the Hotel Marmont?
'

Paco Wové said...

I will give Schiff credit for getting the idea of heads-on-pikes out into the public discourse. This is the first step in getting heads-on-pikes acceptable. Overton Window, people! Then it's just a matter of ensuring it's the right heads on the right pikes.

Jim at said...

Does Time Magazine have an 'Asshole of the Year' award?

Yes. But they prematurely gave it to Greta Thunberg.

FullMoon said...

Mexican drug cartels still do that, and worse.

Anyway, one of the democrats following orders gave that story to CBS so that Schiff could reference it. Same as Warrens campaign fed media the Bernie dissed women story.

Kinda simple now. Anonymous too commonplace. My favorite is "familiar with the presidents thinking". Heck, we all familiar with his thinking by now.

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

well Adam, you 'Schitt the bed' with that one.

Had to be tough growing up with that name. Nadler a elephant from day one, actually over a hundred pounds below his normal weight now. Al Green look like a caveman. One might wonder about continuing effect of being taunted throughout formative years .

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Narr said...

The government can have my pike when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.

Narr
I support the right to keep and bear pikes, halberds, and zweihanders

Milwaukie guy said...

Great non-rainy day and certainly late to the thread.

I think Oliver Cromwell should be the only Protestant Saint [other than nationalist figures like St. Andrew].

Cromwell led the Dissenters in Regicide in support of Parliament, against the state church as well as the crown.

The Lord Protector period is problematic but you've got to love the New Model Army. Aren't all Saints kind of flawed?

Josephbleau said...

I like the design of Cromwell's pike, a great compromise in using cheap wood to support rare metal.

Gary said...

Republican Senators whipping up fake outrage about one line to justify a No vote.
Please, anyone who doesn't know that Trump and those around him have often threatened retaliation against Republican for much lesser things has their head in the sand, their pants pulled down, and their ass in the air.
Puh-leaze.

Josephbleau said...

Very poetic, the pants down and ass in the air concept. Obviously spoken from deep convictions. Truth is what remains, in broken shards on the floor, when your dreams are shattered.

Narr said...

Churchill wanted to name a dreadnought "Lord Protector" or the like (was it just "Cromwell"?)

Narr
Vague but true, and over to you

Gary said...

Maybe the White House Meant “Take Her Out” and “Your Head Will Be on a Pike” in an Innocent Way?


https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/01/trump-warns-take-her-out-your-head-will-be-on-a-pike.html


Saying they are shocked a presidential adviser said it is fake outrage and head in the sand.

Kirk Parker said...

rhhardin @ 9:24 AM,

Good Lord, man -- part of reading comprehension includes understanding the context! No, a prosecutor doesn't get to just say anything they want; mistrials happen all the time due to that sort of misbehavior.