Alby's Latest Posts
Sept. 12 Open Thread: Surf’s Up!
All year long we’ve heard pundits warning that maybe a blue wave was just wishful thinking, that a Democratic takeover of the House might not happen because the polls could tighten. That was true. But it was just as true that the polls might widen, which is exactly what they’re doing. Democrats hold a 14-point […]
Sept. 9 Open Thread: Anonymice, a Failed State and Insubordinate Hillbillies
An anonymous White House source has outed himself. No, not the writer, the one who spoke the obvious. Mick Mulvaney, one of the sneakiest rats on the USS Trump, is the one who told donors that Ted Cruz could lose his Senate race. The notion that this is news makes sense only in GOP World, […]
Sept. 8 Open Thread: Kavanaugh Wears a Robe Because His Pants Are on Fire
The Anomynous Controversy™ has managed to obscure the most important revelation in the Brett Kavanaugh hearings: The future SCOTUS justice is a sack of shit who thinks nothing of lying under oath, which he has done repeatedly. This is prompting calls not just for denying him a Supreme Court seat but for impeaching him from […]
Sept. 7 Open Thread: Some Days I Can’t Even
It has nothing to do with the local primaries, which went as I expected/feared they would. It’s rather the latest development in the ongoing reality series “White House Apprentice.” The publication of the anonymous (or anomynous, as Trump would have it) letter to the New York Times has turned this into a game show. Every […]
Sept. 5 Open Thread: Woodward Confirms What We All Know
Official Washington’s reaction to Bob Woodward’s book is exactly what you’d expect in Kabuki theater: People are shocked, shocked to learn that “the adults” in the White House have been working overtime to try to pretend that the Trump White House is operating like a real government. There’s nothing that’s been revealed so far that […]
McCain Eulogy Revives Biden 2020 Chatter
Oratory is Joe Biden’s trademark as a politician, and he displays it best at funerals. His eulogy for John McCain was so good it prompted some pundits to muse about his presidential qualities. Lots of media outlets used his appearance in Pittsburgh’s Labor Day parade as a fresh peg for another round of “Will Joe […]
Sept. 4 Open Thread: Woodward Details White House Bedlam
This is what they mean when they say “the institutions are working,” apparently: The Washington Post has a copy of Bob Woodward’s new book, in which former administration officials confess swiping documents off Trump’s desk to keep him from harming himself and others. In one case, an aide swiped a letter that would have withdrawn […]
Who’s Smarter, Dogs or Republicans?
I’m gonna have to go with dogs. Not all dogs, mind you. A lot breeds will do exactly as they’re told, just like Republicans. But the smartest breeds, especially herders like border collies, have to be able to think independently. Very few Republicans can meet that standard. I realized that this morning when confronted by […]
Sept. 3 Open Thread: Democrats Went Soft on Financial Crime, So We Have a Financial Criminal as President
Given how permissive Democrats have been about white-collar Wall Street crime, punishing no bankers for their law-breaking around the Great Recession, how can they ever convince Republicans in Congress that Trump should be punished for money laundering? Marshall Auerback argues that they can’t, and that Democratic indifference to those crimes laid the groundwork for the […]
Sept. 2 Open Thread: The Fighter Still Remains
It was a heckuva week for funerals. Aretha Franklin’s, in Detroit, employed stirring eulogies, heartfelt performances, and more than 100 pink Cadillacs in a 10-hour celebration of her life and art. John McCain’s service, in Washington, lasted only 2 1/2 hours, but managed to bring together both his friends and foes to celebrate a bipartisan […]
Sept. 1 Open Thread: GOP Still Gunning for Obamacare
I’m starting to understand why Republicans aren’t eager to replace Trump with Mike Pence: He’s not only a dick, he’s a kind of stupid one. He promised Wisconsin voters that the GOP will again try to kill Obamacare if they retain control of Congress. He’s not the only one, as lots of conservative pinheads are […]
Aug. 31 Open Thread: Trump Still More Popular Than Cancer, Genital Warts
New polls show Trump entering Dick Cheney levels of unpopularity, as his unfavorable rating rose to 60%, a level familiar only to the architect of the Iraq War. Andrew Gillum’s victory in the Florida Democratic primary shocked pollsters. No poll had him winning, and in the aggregate he was expected to finish fourth, with 12% […]
Republican Candidates for Congress Just a Couple of Old White Guys Yelling at Their TVs
Give Donald Trump credit: He has inspired thousands of people to run for office who never considered it before. Among Democrats, that has meant a wave of female and minority candidates for offices large and small. Among Republicans, it has meant a ripple of old white guys going public with the stuff they once hollered […]
Recent Comments