American politics 2016: Lawyers, Guns, and D-Money

according to a friend who has done some work for them they absolutely still smoke inside the offices at RAI. there are 'smoking areas' now (right out in the open - not like those gross little booths at airports), as opposed to ppl just smoking at their desks or wherever the hell they want to, which probably happened right up until this century.

but apparently it's also v mod and beautiful so i guess they keep it painted and re-upholstered on the reg

But do they get a health insurance premium discount if they quit smoking?

good question. i wonder if they get free or significantly reduced cigs

in other news:

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-pence-syria-refugees-appeals-20160914-snap-story.html

Indiana Solicitor Gen. Thomas Fisher repeatedly cited in court FBI directors' past comments about less information being available on Syrian refugees compared with those from other countries.

The judges, in sharp exchanges at times, were skeptical.

When Fisher interrupted a judge, another on the bench issued a rebuke. Later, when Judge Richard Posner launched into queries about how Indiana had determined Syrians were more dangerous than other refugees, he appeared unsatisfied with Fisher's response.

"Honestly, you are so out of it," Posner said.

snap story indeed

Posner is a national hero

In July 2012, Posner stated, "I've become less conservative since the Republican Party started becoming goofy."

I admit I feel a certain amount of tribal-related satisfaction in seeing a conservative Jew stand up for the rights of displaced Muslims

(I mean I'm not certain he's Jewish but it seems likely)

My friend the Capitol Hill aide took me on a tour of congressmen's offices and he said that Boehner still smoked in his office. This was 2009.

the rules dont apply to some people.. harvey weinstein used to smoke cigars in my old firm's lobby in california. nobody said shit to him.

RIP Frank Barbaro, a quality NYC liberal who ran a mayoral campaign vs the vile Koch in '81

In the Legislature, Mr. Barbaro was a fierce advocate for organized labor, tenants and minorities. He later served for six years as a State Supreme Court justice.

Mr. Barbaro took on Mr. Koch in the 1981 Democratic primary when New York’s political establishment was embracing the mayor’s re-election bid after he had restored the city to fiscal stability. Mr. Koch was all but assured of the Republican nomination, too.

Outspent by a ratio of nearly 10 to 1, Mr. Barbaro nonetheless ran a spirited campaign, vowing to “liberate the legend of Fiorello La Guardia from an impostor.” Far from being an heir to the progressive Mayor La Guardia, he said, Mr. Koch was a union buster, an apologist for President Ronald Reagan, a racial polarizer and a “pipsqueak.” He derided him as “shifty Ed.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/15/nyregion/frank-barbaro-dead.html

This can probably go into any number of threads, but I'm going to put it here:

"In Jim Cooley’s open-carry America, even a trip to Walmart can require an AR-15"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/guns-and-sodas/2016/09/17/805e0db4-79e9-11e6-bd86-b7bbd53d2b5d_story.html

As Maria goes ahead, Jim veers to the right, where he climbs into a complimentary electric scooter, repositions his AR-15 so its barrel points toward the scuffed vinyl floor, and rolls into the store.

Photo of Jim Cooley carrying his AR-15 ran prominently on cover of Washington Post newsprint (likely causing rightwingers to rant about radical Islamists could be anywhere)

Breaking:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/nyregion/bridgegate-trial.html

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey knew that his close associates were involved in a plan to shut down lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge as it was happening and that the closings were intended to punish a local mayor for declining to support him, prosecutors said on Monday. It was the first time Mr. Christie, a Republican, has been accused of knowing about the scheme as it unfolded.

what a maroon

It was the first time Mr. Christie, a Republican, has been accused of knowing about the scheme as it unfolded.

Well, I know that's not true! I have every confidence that several million people have accused him of that.

Oh look, now you have your white suburban SpecOps/tactical/AR15 fetishists offering their own coffee. No need to give money to those latte liberal companies!

http://www.blackriflecoffee.com/

Oh, and, of course, they have their own blog covering their take of the day's news:

http://blog.blackriflecoffee.com

lmao

"We develop each of our explosive roast profiles with the same mission focus we implemented as Special Forces Operators serving this great country."

getting a strong aroma of stolen valor from these guys

Found out it today from today's Chapo Trap House:

https://soundcloud.com/chapo-trap-house/episode-42-uber-for-ubermenschen-feat-nkulw-and-edzitron-91816

just searched twitter for this, of course they're all over it

Connor Kilpatrick
‏@ckilpatrick

1980s GOP: "Just pull yourself up by your bootstraps!"

2010s Dems: "Just learn to code and/or open a micro-brewery!"

538 has a senate forecast, and it gives dems 58% of senate majority. Quite surprised at that. A reminder that the polls are still in dems favor, no matter how much they panic right now.

http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/senate/?ex_cid=538twitter

so during MNF last night there were two political commercials during halftime - one right after another. the first was a pro-hillary/anti-trump commercial and the second was an anti-mcginty commercial. i've noticed the same thing w/ mailings. i'm getting pro hillary mailings and anti-mcginty mailings but seeing almost no trump commercials and getting absolutely no trump mailings. republicans in PA must have decided trump doesn't stand a chance here so they're putting all their eggs in the keeping toomey senator basket and totally ignoring the potus race. normal anecdotal disclaimer but alongside the recent PA polling hopefully it gives ppl some relief to know that PA seems totally off the table for Trump.

kinda amazing he hasn't ended up in jail yet

http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/the-wrap/article/Anthony-Weiner-Accused-of-Sexting-With-9236883.php

epipen hearing on the hill seemed to get more attention than the one with the head of the IRS (although if one watches Fox News it was probably the opposite)

The usual games

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/09/22/senate-republicans-move-ahead-with-spending-bill-as-negotiations-with-democrats-stall/?wpisrc=nl_daily202&wpmm=1

The legislation also includes $500 million in disaster relief for flooding in Louisiana, but it does not include a bipartisan aid package for the water crisis in Flint, Mich., that Democrats have demanded.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she and other Democrats will not support the bill over “partisan policy riders” they oppose. For instance, the legislation includes a measure opposed by Democrats that would keep in place language preventing the Securities and Exchange Commission from requiring corporations to publicly disclose their political spending.

Watching opening ceremony for new Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture on Cspan now, and heading back there shortly. Was cool just seeing Reverend Calvin Butts talking economics and history (If I had people working for nothing for me for 250 years I'd be very successful now too; We kept that Statue of Liberty shined up") in his benediction with Paul makers and takers Ryan having to sit and listen. Chief Justice Roberts too

NYT blurb i shan't be clicking on

The Bush and Obama families have a deep bond, thanks to the shared experience of life in the White House and George W. Bush’s decorum as an ex-president.

Ha, I guess vanishing from sight after a disastrous presidency and generally not further embarrassing yourself counts as decorum these days.

well he never came out w/ verbal guns blazing after O

maybe bcz he carried on with so many of his policies

The presidential clubhouse is even smaller and more exclusive than the senatorial clubhouse. all the members are usually chummy with each other.

http://images.indianexpress.com/2016/09/michelle-bush-hug-main_759_dessinemoi-twitter.jpg

that doesn't bother me. so few ppl who know what it's like to have that job - ppl bond over far less.

@NickPinkerton
A daring reinterpretation of the Pietà.

yeah wgaf ex-prezzes are all chummy

Hail to the Chiefs with a wave of the hand

http://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.1996864.1410196140!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/image.jpg

There are fewer living ex-presidents than there are Morbs posts on this thread in the last half hour.

Ex presidents tend to get along when they don't belong to the same party.

Pappy Bush and Jr definitely seem far less evil out of power.

hey speaking of d-money, foia request got gov lepage's li'l trapper keeper of drug dealers:

https://twitter.com/mikeshepherdME/status/780409434082279424

hey also if you see it on video that hug is pretty cold and lasts all of a quarter of a second

photographs lie

Famous TV guy weighed in on Michelle-W photo:

David Simon
‏@AoDespair
An American Rohrschach: If offended from either end of spectrum, you're an ideologue. If just a moment, maybe not.

@ggreenwald
If you're opposed to the embracing & normalizing of a torturer & war criminal, then you're a dirty "ideologue." After all, he's an AMERICAN.

Pappy Bush and Jr definitely seem far less evil out of power.

It's like what they did never happened! Etch-a-Sketch history.

Boy, you're really obsessed with this.

Just so we're all on the record, what, in this situation, should Michelle Obama have done? Spit on him? Slap him? Snub him? Shake his hand with a sneer of contempt? Please include in your answer what you think the result from the chattering classes would have been.

exiled him to live with Snowden

i don't expect slime to do anything but slime, chief

Greenwald was backing that torturer and war criminal up when it actually mattered.