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The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as 'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”

Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."

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The Commentariat -- February 10, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Jim Tankersley, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump released a $4.8 trillion budget proposal on Monday that includes a familiar list of deep cuts to student loan assistance, affordable housing efforts, food stamps and Medicaid, reflecting Mr. Trump's election-year effort to continue shrinking the federal safety net. The proposal, which must be approved by Congress, includes additional spending for the military, national defense and border enforcement, along with money for Mr. Trump's Space Force initiative and an extension of the individual income tax cuts that were set to expire in 2025. Its biggest reduction is an annual 2 percent decrease in spending on discretionary domestic programs, like education and environmental protection."

Jon Keller of CBS Boston: "This New Hampshire primary has been a rollercoaster ride, with one last hairpin turn in the final night of the exclusive WBZ/Boston Globe/Suffolk University tracking poll. Bernie Sanders appears to be cementing his hold on first place with 27 percent, while Pete Buttigieg, who had surged into a virtual tie with Sanders as the week ended, in second with 19 percent. And Amy Klobuchar continues her momentum from last night with a 14 percent showing, good for third place. However, she is still within the poll's 4.4 percent margin of error of Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren, who placed within a fraction of each other in fourth and fifth place." Mrs. McC: Yes, but it's boring Donald Trump.

Barr Suggests Giuliani Is Like Any Crackpot Phoning in Tips to the DOJ. Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Attorney General Bill Barr went out of his way Monday to express skepticism about information ... Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani is offering on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, but Barr also made clear the Justice Department is open to receiving whatever Giuliani wants to share. Addressing comments by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) that he'd arranged for Giuliani to present Justice officials with fruits of his on-the-ground research into the Bidens and Ukraine, Barr said information originating in Ukraine must be treated with caution. 'The Department of Justice has the obligation to have an open door to anybody who wishes to provide us information that they think is relevant,' Barr said in response to a reporter's question at a news conference on unrelated database hacking charges..... Barr left the news conference Monday without taking any follow-up questions, but FBI Deputy Director David Bowditch said any report from Giuliani would be handled in the usual course. 'We're taking information as we would in any case. We will evaluate it appropriately,' Bowditch said." ~~~

     ~~~ Related stories linked below. Everybody but Trump is treating Rudy like the avaricious, publicity-hounding nutter he is.

~~~~~~~~~~

Will be in Manchester, New Hampshire, tonight for a big Rally. Want to shake up the Dems a little bit - they have a really boring deal going on. Still waiting for the Iowa results, votes were fried. Big crowds in Manchester! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet this morning

Zach Montellaro of Politico: "Pete Buttigieg has narrowly edged out Bernie Sanders for delegates from last week's Iowa caucuses, according to an announcement late Sunday by the state Democratic Party. Updated results from the party show Buttigieg with 26.2 percent of state delegate equivalents, compared to 26.1 percent for Sanders. Elizabeth Warren (18 percent) was third, and Joe Biden (15.8 percent) was fourth. According to the state Democratic Party, Buttigieg is projected to win 14 delegates to the national convention this summer in Milwaukee, while Sanders will get 12 delegates. Warren will receive eight delegates, Joe Biden will get six, and Amy Klobuchar will receive a single delegate. Sanders did have the support of more caucus-goers, both on the first and final alignments. But because of the caucus rules, he will receive slightly fewer delegates. The announcement came after a review by the party of precincts with apparent mistakes in their results." The page includes a graph of the delegate count & second-round vote totals. A Washington Post story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "... errors in the result tabulations have led several news organizations, including The New York Times, to refrain from calling the race. And shortly after the party's announcement, Senator Bernie Sanders's campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, said the campaign would be calling for a partial recanvass of the results.... The Associated Press, which historically verifies election results and makes calls on the outcome of races, has not allotted the final delegate to Mr. Buttigieg because of the errors in the caucus results-counting, nor has The A.P. declared a winner in the Iowa race."

~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: There's a front-page story in today's New York Times titled, "How the Iowa Caucuses Became an Epic Fiasco for Democrats." It's a lo-o-ong story with four writers on the byline. And the story is hardly unique: it's one of dozens of such stories that have appeared in news outlets over the past six days. Really? Now let's get on the way-back machine and see how the NYT treated the Iowa Republican caucuses of 2012, when the winner of the caucus -- Mitt Romney -- was declared, only to be demoted to second place when a recount put Rick Santorum in the top spot. There's a blogpost -- that is, a post that doesn't appear in the print version of the Times -- dated more than two weeks after the announcement of Mitt's victory, about Santorum's "claiming a belated victory" and the Iowa Republican party saying there would be no official winner. There's another blogpost saying that other GOP primary news "overshadowed" Santorum's win. Finally, a third blogpost by Andrew Rosenthal (I think he headed the NYT editorial page at the time) titled "And the Official Winner in Iowa Is ... Who Cares?" and a fourth post by statistician Nate Silver (which I can't access) also saying that Santorum's win isn't likely to change anything. Why is it that the Democrats' screw-up is an "epic fiasco" and the Republicans' miscount gets a "meh"?

Grumpy Old Man. Cleve Wootson of the Washington Post: "Madison Moore..., [a] student at Mercer University in Georgia..., [asked Joe Biden] ... a version of what's been asked of the former vice president since his disappointing fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses: 'How do you explain the performance in Iowa, and why should voters believe that you can win the national election?' What happened next left her a little shaken, Moore said. Biden said it was legitimate question, but then turned the spotlight back on her, asking: 'Iowa's a caucus. Have you ever been to a caucus?' When she indicated yes, he rebuked her 'No, you haven't. You're a lying dog-faced pony soldier.'" Emphasis added. A video of the exchange accompanies the story, so it's definitely true. ~~~

     ~~~ Matthew Dessem of Slate has more on the "origins" of the insult.

Jon Keller of CBS Boston: "All week long, the story has been the rise of Pete Buttigieg to co-frontrunner status with Bernie Sanders. The latest exclusive WBZ/Boston Globe/Suffolk University tracking poll shows they're still co-leaders within the poll's 4.4% margin of error, with Sanders holding steady at 24% and Buttigieg slipping a bit to 22%. Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden remain static in third and fourth places with 13% and 10% respectively. But now there's another candidate on a bit of a roll. Amy Klobuchar is right behind Biden now at 9%, up three points over Friday night. She appears to be the only candidate to get a boost from Friday's debate, with two-thirds of the poll taken during and after that event."

Here's Politico's summary of Sunday's events in New Hampshire's Democratic primaries. New York Times live updates are here. The whole final sprint reminds me of Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign speech when he asked New Hampshire voters to give him a second chance, in exchange for which he promised to be with them "till the last dog dies." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

David Masciotra in Salon: "The recent events of Trump's acquittal in the Senate, his State of the Union address and his spiteful, rambling monologue at the White House on Thursday have collectively acted as the flatline on the heart monitor of decency. As decency dies, American life becomes ever more precarious." Thanks to NJC for the link. Mrs. McC: What Masciotra is talking about here is what conventional pundits were calling "institutional norms" after Trump's inauguration. But, at bottom, Trump violates those norms because, as Masciotra writes, he has "no sense of decency." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

I DON'T UNDERSTAND THESE PEOPLE. Sabrina Tavernise of the New York Times: "Republicans in Wisconsin did not immediately warm to Mr. Trump.... But in about two dozen interviews over three days, many Republicans said that while they voted for Mr. Trump reluctantly in 2016, they no longer felt hesitant.... 'He's from New York, and I thought nothing good could come out of New York,' said Marge Ingold, a retired business owner who voted for Mr. Cruz in the primary. She is now a firm Trump supporter. 'He believes what we believe,' she said. 'He is standing up for the people.'" Mrs. McC: Assuming Tavernise did some or all of her own field interviews (there's no joint credit for the article) & that she IDed herself as a NYT reporter, Marge there knew she was talking to a New Yorker when she said nothing good could come out of New York.

Jon Haworth of ABC News: "A man has been arrested after allegedly deliberately driving a van into a tent full of Trump supporters who were working to register new voters at a shopping center parking lot [in Jacksonville, Florida].... The driver narrowly missed several people in the tent and fled the scene after the incident by car." Donald Trump threatened "tough guys"; RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel & both Florida Senators Marco Rubio & Rick Scott, tweeted assertions that the attack was politically motivated. Mrs. McC: However, the article does not indicate a motive. It's certainly possible, but the driver could just be a nut.


Caitlin Emma of Politico: "... Donald Trump's budget request on Monday will pitch billions of dollars in cuts to non-defense spending despite a budget deal he already negotiated with Congress, in addition to seeking major savings by targeting the federal safety net, a senior administration official told Politico on Sunday. Trump also will ask Congress for a slight spending increase for the Pentagon as he releases his $4.8 trillion budget blueprint for the upcoming fiscal year -- all proposals sure to be rejected by Democrats who control the House.... The president's budget plan once again assumes more robust economic growth than what most economists predict at 3 percent over the next decade, driven by the implementation of his policies. And as with his previous budget proposals, Trump is once again seeking deep and unrealistic cuts to a number of federal agency budgets, and the cuts are unlikely to be embraced by Congress." Emphasis added. ~~~

~~~ Medicare, Too! Inae Oh of Mother Jones: "The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday..., 'The White House proposes to cut spending by $4.4 trillion over a decade. Of that, it targets $2 trillion in savings from mandatory spending programs, including $130 billion from changes to Medicare prescription-drug pricing, $292 billion from safety-net cuts -- such as work requirements for Medicaid and food stamps -- and $70 billion from tightening eligibility access to federal disability benefits.'... If Trump does unveil his budget tomorrow as expected, it will have been less than a week since his State of the Union address where he vowed to protect Medicare and Social Security. That itself was a galling shift from what he had said just two weeks before, when he publicly threatened to go after those very programs." ~~~

~~~ Social Security, Too! Matt Stieb of New York: "In addition to the targeting of Medicare prescription-drug pricing, the budget also intends to cut the Social Security Disability Insurance program providing benefits to disabled members of the workforce; last year, the administration recommended a $10 billion cut to the program. Shortly after reports on the budget emerged, Trump doled out some low-effort PR management to save face: 'We will not be touching your Social Security or Medicare in Fiscal 2021 Budget. Only the Democrats will destroy them by destroying our Country's greatest ever Economy!' [Trump tweet-lied.]"

Paulina Ferozi of the Washington Post: "Construction crews began blasting sites within Arizona's Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument as part of the construction of President Trump's border barrier, and the affected areas include sites sacred to Native American groups, according to a congressman from Arizona and advocates. The Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is an internationally recognized biosphere reserve -- meaning it has plants and animals so rare that the United Nations has given it a special designation. It includes about 330,000 acres of designated wilderness and is home to ancestral grounds sacred to the Tohono O'odham Nation, one of at least a dozen Native American groups that claim connections to grounds within the monument." Mrs. McC: This is similar to an Intercept story linked last week, with more emphasis here on the Native American sacred sites.

Another Scam from Trump's "Reality" Show SOTU: "Failing Government Schools." Maddie Hanna & Kristen Graham of the Philadelphia Inquirer: "... Donald Trump turned a Philadelphia fourth grader into a poster child for the school-choice movement Tuesday when he told the nation that thousands of students were 'trapped in failing government schools' and announced that the girl was at last getting a scholarship to attend the school of her choice.... Because of a scholarship personally paid for by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, the president told Janiyah Tuesday night, 'you will soon be headed to the school of your choice.' But Janiyah Davis already attends one of the city's most sought-after charter schools, The Inquirer has learned. In September, months before she was an honored guest at Trump's State of the Union address, she entered Math, Science and Technology Community Charter School III ... -- meaning

Lindsey Backs Off the Crazy, Leaves It to Bill Barr. Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) ... appeared to back away [Sunday] from his assertions in recent weeks that he would lead a probe into former vice president Joe Biden's time overseeing Ukraine policy.... [Graham] said Sunday that the Justice Department is vetting information that President Trump's personal attorney has delivered regarding Hunter Biden's work on the board of a Ukrainian energy company. Graham, citing an early-morning conversation with Attorney General William P. Barr, said that Rudolph W. Giuliani is giving his information to national security experts.... He warned that Giuliani might be getting bad information from his trips to Ukraine as part of a disinformation campaign by Russian security experts.... Graham said he called Barr and Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Sunday morning after hearing about Giuliani's interview Saturday night on Fox News's 'Watters' World.'... 'Lindsey, get started. Yes, I have -- I have what I used to call when I was U.S. attorney, a smoking gun,' Giuliani said. Then, just as 'Face the Nation' started Sunday morning, Trump sent out a tweet urging Graham to launch an undefined investigations..., which CBS's Margaret Brennan read to the senator on air." ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Lest you think this is Lindsey suddenly exhibiting a profile in courage, let me remind you of this story we linked Friday afternoon: Jordain Carney of the Hill: "A pledge to investigate the Bidens and Ukraine once the impeachment trial wraps is sparking divisions among Senate Republicans.... Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a vocal ally of Trump's, is pledging 'oversight.' Other GOP senators are warning that it's time for the Senate to move on after a weeks-long divisive fight that left scars on the chamber's normally clubby atmosphere. 'I know there's been some discussion about the Judiciary Committee taking a look at that. I think what I would like to see happen around here is a return to normalcy,' said Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Republican senator...." IOW, Lindsey got told.

Mr. Romney Goes to Washington. Eliot Cohen in the Atlantic: "Viewed from [the] perspective [of 50 years], the most important thing about the impeachment of Donald Trump will probably be Mitt Romney's speech explaining his vote to convict the president of abuse of power. In the near term, that speech will do neither Romney nor his cause any good. The armies of trolls and sneering louts will come after him, their jeers all the louder because they emanate from a terrified emptiness within. Shambling, tongueless, and invertebrate politicians who deep down know better will resent Romney for having the courage to say what they believed, but dared not utter. But that speech will last. When future anthologies of great American political speeches are published by the Library of America, Romney's remarks will be there." Mrs. McC: Personally, I thought Adam Schiff's closing argument was more eloquent than Romney's, but it didn't take the moral grit Romney's did.

AP: "A man carrying a knife was arrested outside the White House after he told a U.S. Secret Service officer that he was there to kill the president, police said. Roger Hedgpeth ... approached a Secret Service officer who was patrolling outside the White House and said he was there to 'assassinate' ... Donald Trump and 'I have a knife to do it with,' according to a police report obtained by The Associated Press. Police found a 3 1/2-inch knife in a sheath on his left hip, and Hedgpeth also had an empty pistol holster on his right hip, authorities said." Mrs. McC: Possibly not the most carefully thought-through plan.

Way Beyond the Beltway

Ireland. Rory Carroll of the Guardian: "Sinn Féin will try to form a government in Ireland after apparently winning more votes than any other party in Saturday's general election -- a historic result that upended the political system.... Sinn Féin, once a pariah for its IRA links, won almost a quarter of first-preference votes, possibly pipping Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, two centrist rivals that have taken turns ruling Ireland for a century. It rode a wave of anger over homelessness, soaring rents and hospital waiting lists as well as disillusionment with the traditional political duopoly."

Israel. Now, This Is an "Epic Fiasco." Emma Tucker of the Daily Beast: "The personal information of over six million citizens was leaked after Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party uploaded the full register of Israeli voters to an app, Haaretz reported Sunday. The information includes full names, identity card numbers, addresses, genders, phone numbers, and other personal details.... The vulnerability in the application reportedly allowed for anyone to easily download the entire voter registry on a computer.... Israeli political parties receive the information of voters before the elections and vow to protect their privacy.... The data [include] ... users in countries abroad such as the United States, Russia, and China...." Emphasis added.

News Ledes

AP: "Mainland China's death toll from the new virus outbreak has risen to 811, surpassing the number of fatalities in the 2002-2003 SARS pandemic. However, the number of new cases reported over the last 24 hours on Sunday fell significantly from the previous period, something experts see as a sign the spread of the virus may be slowing. Another 89 deaths were reported, while 2,656 new cases were added for a total of 37,198. On Saturday, 3,399 cases were reported for the previous 24 hours. SARS is widely considered to have killed 774 people and sickened 8,098, mainly in mainland China and Hong Kong. The response this time has been much quicker and countries around the world are enforcing stricter measures to contain the spread."

AP: "A gunman described as a soldier angry over a financial dispute killed two people and then went on a far bloodier rampage Saturday in northeastern Thailand, shooting as he drove to a busy mall where shoppers fled in terror. At least 21 people were killed in all, 31 were injured and others were believed to be still inside the building as more gunshots rang out early Sunday."

AP: "Robert Conrad, the rugged, contentious actor who starred in the hugely popular 1960s television series 'Hawaiian Eye' and 'The Wild, Wild West,' died Saturday. He was 84."

AP: "Orson Bean, the witty actor and comedian who enlivened the game show 'To Tell the Truth' and played a crotchety merchant on 'Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,' was hit and killed by a car in Los Angeles, authorities said. He was 91."

New York: Friday "the National Transport Safety Board released its preliminary report into the January 26 helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, that killed Kobe Bryant and eight others. For the first time, it revealed that moments before impact the pilot deliberately broke FAA regulations meant to prevent just such kinds of accidents. As previously reported, in the minutes prior to the crash, pilot Ara Zobayan was flying just a few hundred feet over the floor of the San Fernando Valley, which lies at an elevation of 800 feet. An opaque layer of overcast clouds covered the area at an altitude of 1,900 feet. As Zobayan reached the southwestern edge of the valley and crossed into Calabasas, the ground below him climbed higher until he was zooming 150 mph over the road at scarcely more than 100 feet...."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (7)

It would have been such fun to read what Marge Ingold, resident of the state where there are more cows than people, ( as my mother used to say) would have said if asked after Marge said of Trump:

"He [Trump] believes what we believe; he is standing up for the people."

So Sabrina could have asked Marge what exactly does she believe (I would love to hear that answer) and then follow up with HOW is Trump standing up –-implying perhaps Marge and her kind of people need standing "up" for?

But given that Marge thinks (or thought until Trump) "nothing good could come out of N.Y." Sabrina, a New Yorker, might have thought better than to probe.

The report of the blasting of "sites within Arizona's organ Pipe Cactus National Monument" makes me sick! Our febrile brain destroyer doesn't give a rat's ass about sacred ground or the killing of rare plants and animals––he wants his goddamn wall. Where is the outrage over this?
In the good old days Tyrone Power would gather his soldiers and trot out to that site and stop it. Fatty would tweet that Power was "a lying dog-faced pony soldier" ––something he borrowed from Biden, who by the way is yesterday's dessert but has been the catalyst for Trump's impeachment ––so it was all for naught in the end–-such irony.

Last night at the Oscars: Twas paradise for the S.Korean film, "Parasite"–––many awards and well received.

Best bleeped out segment was Ray Romano who said Joe Pesci would tell him "Get the fuck out of my chair"–––if Ray was sitting in it on the set of "The Irishman." I thought how perfect if the next president elect would say to Trump in big bold tweets: GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY CHAIR!

Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.

February 10, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

I agree, PD. No one ever follows up on those sweeping idiotic statements by the cult members about how he "cares" for the "little people" (How? by killing them with no health insurance? By giving tax cuts to others of higher income?) and I am left to believe that the only things they REALLY identify with in reference to the Bloated Weasel are: his vitriol, his revenge fantasies and real moves, his racism, his hatred for Democrats and women as anything but sex objects, his puffed-up quackery, his inability to read anything, his inability to give a speech without the incessant whining and screeching, his greed, victimhood, treachery, meanness, dishonesty, and his plans to bankrupt the government and line his own pockets. Therefore, I conclude that that most of his followers are the same type of people. Including that stupid woman. They will not budge, and we should not expect them to... If an entire party, an entire group of traditionally thoughtful-in-the-past senators and the media who love him can become automated Dump robots, we must recruit the other whatever% and get them to the polls. Fecking nitwits must not dominate the airwaves and the letters sections of newspapers. And the headlines. (Thanks, NYT, for your assumptions that the Dems are the ones to hyperbole over, always...)

February 10, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterJeanne

Jeanne, I believe the verb form is "hyperbowl", as in "He hyperbowled them over big time, like you've never seen. People are saying."

February 10, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterPatrick

Assuming that "I thought nothing good could come out of" Kentucky (no, that's not what I think), I would not say to a reporter from the Paducah Sun, "I thought nothing good could come out of Kentucky." Marge has all the social graces of, say, Donald Trump.

February 10, 2020 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Florida man holds rally in New Hampshire to see if he can persuade
Bea McCrabbie to support him. Gets the tongue lashing of his life!

February 10, 2020 | Unregistered CommenterForrest Morris

@Forrest Morris: Trump will get more than a tongue-lashing from me if he comes to my door seeking an endorsement. I'll lash him with whatever is handy, perhaps one of the canes or umbrellas stored near my front door. If the Secret Service objects/wrestles me to the ground, I have a defense ready: "But I thought he was a burglar! He was wearing an orange mask!"

February 10, 2020 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

A long piece on HuffPo about elite white-collar crime and why it's increasing.

More evidence of the hypocrisy of our country.

February 10, 2020 | Unregistered Commenterunwashed
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