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Jimmy Kimmel Returns to the ABC

By Jeralyn, Section Colorado News
Posted on Mon Sep 22, 2025 at 04:50:22 PM EST
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Jimmy Kimmel will be back on the air tomorrow night, according to a statement released by Disney, which read:

Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.

There's lots of speculation about what Jimmy will say in his opening monologue. Will he begin with an apology to the Kirk family? Or will he double down on the impropriety of the actions of Disney, ABC and Nextar in removing him, which even a middle-schooler knows were in derogation of his First Amendment constitutional rights?

How will America's authoritarian-in-chief respond?

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    Jimmy Kimmel Returns to the ABC | 199 comments (199 topical)

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    I wonder how much he'll be muzzled... (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by desertswine on Mon Sep 22, 2025 at 09:40:41 PM EST
    if at all.  I believe he's holding the advantage here.

    I wrote a joke for Jimmy (5.00 / 2) (#32)
    by Repack Rider on Wed Sep 24, 2025 at 02:29:06 PM EST
    "Scientists have confirmed that riding on a plane with Jeffrey Epstein causes autism in other people."

    In the monologue last night (none / 0) (#35)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Sep 24, 2025 at 04:09:38 PM EST
    Jimmy said something about how this whole thing could be good because this (free speech) seems to be something we all, left and right, agree on.

    I think Tylenol might be another.  

    Parent

    It's problematic (5.00 / 2) (#36)
    by jondee on Thu Sep 25, 2025 at 01:21:41 AM EST
    to say the left and right both agree on the importance of free speech, when they can't even agree on what constitutes 'speech.'

    For instance, the ongoing argument about whether money, in the form political contributions, is a form of 'speech.' Also, no framer ever envisioned bot armies posting from God knows where, sowing chaos by inundating platforms like X and Facebook. We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto.

    Probably the best one can say is that roughly speaking, we all agree on the importance of free speech in principle.

    Parent

    I just read Disney (5.00 / 2) (#41)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 09:59:42 AM EST
    is telling Sinclair and Nexstar that if they want Monday Night Football they will bring back Jimmy Kimmel.  

    This (5.00 / 1) (#42)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 10:04:20 AM EST
    It's from the NY Post so I won't link

    It's being reported other places.

    But media insiders say Nexstar and Sinclair face even bigger problems from the Disney side if they keep him off the air. Both signed their agreements fully aware of Kimmel's hyper-partisan and anti-Trump political humor. Disney could argue the continued suspension of Kimmel violates their agreement. That's after Kimmel, while not making an apology, at least said nice things about Kirk's widow after ABC lifted its own suspension on Tuesday.

    Disney has other tools in its kit - and some of them are big. It could withhold essential programming like Monday Night Football, which airs both on ABC, and Disney's ESPN cable sports channel.



    Parent
    Sinclair folds (5.00 / 3) (#44)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 02:23:23 PM EST
    Sinclair Ends Jimmy Kimmel Boycott
    September 26, 2025 at 2:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 52 Comments

    Sinclair, one of two large local TV owners that dropped "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" after the late-night comedian's remarks on the Trump administration's reaction to Charlie Kirk's assassination, said on Friday that it would resume showing the program, the New York Times reports

    Parent

    I am so (none / 0) (#43)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 10:04:32 AM EST
    glad people are finally starting to stand up. I think a lot of them thought we will just pay Trump and he will leave us alone. Too bad they had to learn the lesson that if you give him something he only wants more. I do not know if Pritzker & Newsome  showed that you can stand up to Trump and win and/or get under his skin.

    The fact that Pritzker beat back Trump has largely gone unnoticed by most in the media. Hopefully others did notice.

    Parent

    I helped (5.00 / 3) (#93)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Sep 29, 2025 at 06:58:48 PM EST
    Disney Had 1.7 Million Cancellations of Streaming Service
    September 29, 2025 at 4:30 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 75 Comments

    Disney saw more than 1.7 million total paid streaming cancellations in the week after suspending Jimmy Kimmel's late night show, The Handbasket reports.

    Black Rabbit (5.00 / 1) (#134)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Oct 01, 2025 at 05:05:52 PM EST
    This is still the golden age of tv

    This has a very Ozark feel.  One of my favorite things about that show was the little graphic thing they did before each episode with a graphic symbol for 4 things that happen in the episode.

    This is repeated here in a different way.

    I really love this and I have not gotten to the bleak ending yet

    That review is funny (none / 0) (#135)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Oct 01, 2025 at 05:11:30 PM EST
    and wrong

    He mentions another series that I really love that's on HBO. Task. It's also very bleak.

    Maybe I'm in a bleak mood.

    Fast on the heels of HBO's relentlessly bleak Task, which made me yearn for the humor and warmth that scaffolded the bleakness in creator Brad Ingelsby's Mare of Easttown,



    Parent
    Thanks (none / 0) (#136)
    by KeysDan on Wed Oct 01, 2025 at 09:02:05 PM EST
    for the recommendations.  Just finished The Penguin --highly recommended. In the middle of House of. Guinness, also very good.

    Parent
    My husband loved that graphic (none / 0) (#140)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Oct 02, 2025 at 04:45:21 AM EST
    At the start of every Ozark episode too. It seemed to make every episode like a chapter in a book. Ozark was so addictive lol. The characters were so well written, the different daily marriage conflicts were perfection. It grabbed onto you and before you knew it you could comprehend how you and your whole family could justify and become criminals. All these slippery slopes lol. Wendy did scare me sometimes. I saw my husband in the Marty character all the time, less emotional - thinking things through, less reactive than I am when dealing with heavy stress. You could know those people, plunking the evidence into the crematorium they operated (shudder).

    I put the first episode of Black Rabbit on yesterday, but was then distracted. That happens a lot right now lol. I hate Trump, he makes it hard to relax. But isn't that the way of abusers and abuse...sigh, they destroy your sanctuary - that's their goal.

    Parent

    "Marty" is amazing in this. (5.00 / 1) (#142)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Oct 02, 2025 at 07:38:30 AM EST
    Sure fire Emmy nom.  And "Wendy" directed several of the first episodes.

    At first I thought, oh god, another series about a restaurant.

    It's about a lot more.

    Parent

    The ending was surprising (none / 0) (#143)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Oct 02, 2025 at 07:59:43 AM EST
    After reading about how "bleak" it was.

    I did not find the ending all that bleak at all.

    It ended perfectly

    Parent

    Bench slapped again (5.00 / 1) (#145)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Oct 02, 2025 at 08:49:10 AM EST

    "This case--perhaps the most important ever to fall within the jurisdiction of this district court--squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in [the] United States actually have the same free speech rights as the rest of us," Young wrote in his opinion. "The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally `yes, they do.' `No law' means `no law.' The First Amendment does not draw President Trump's invidious distinction, and it is not to be found in our history or jurisprudence."

    'It was dark': Judge's 'chilling' response to Trump's lawyers stuns experts

    A great opinion. But with one qualification. (none / 0) (#147)
    by Peter G on Thu Oct 02, 2025 at 12:07:30 PM EST
    As we all know, "no law" in the First Amendment ("Congress shall make no law respecting the freedom of speech ....") does not really mean "no" law (cf. obscenity, libel, incitement, fraud, threats, and other categories of unprotected speech). Unless you make the circular argument that these categories of expression are not within "the" freedom of speech, because inserting the word "the" in front of "freedom" was itself a limiting principle, implicitly referencing all the exceptions. (The latter is Justice Thomas's argument.) I am pretty sure that in the whole history of the Supreme Court only two justices have adhered to the "no exceptions" interpretation of "no law," that is, Justices Douglas and Black, both of whom died 50 or more years ago.

    Parent
    Arson (5.00 / 1) (#177)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Oct 06, 2025 at 11:17:42 AM EST

    Liberal judge's home is burned down in possible arson attack

    Sorry, no (5.00 / 1) (#181)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Oct 06, 2025 at 03:12:17 PM EST

    A federal prosecutor in Virginia reportedly told colleagues that she has not found probable cause to charge New York Attorney General Letitia James, despite President Donald Trump's call for her prosecution.

    Two sources familiar with the matter told MSNBC that Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth Yusi was expected to inform acting U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan of her conclusion in the coming weeks.
    My understanding (none / 0) (#182)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Oct 06, 2025 at 03:28:05 PM EST
    Is this is even weaker than the Comey  case. James did not even buy a house. Her niece did.

    Dave Aronberg explained the Comey indictment and it is based on what Comey said about Hillary's email case not the Russia investigation. I just couldn't believe it

    Parent

    Der Fuhrer is going to be very angry. (none / 0) (#183)
    by desertswine on Mon Oct 06, 2025 at 09:27:52 PM EST


    Parent
    Good headline (5.00 / 2) (#190)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Oct 07, 2025 at 04:43:26 PM EST

    Trump team faces critical shortage of morally flexible lawyers

    It's a pretty sad read

    I plan to go visit friends in St Louis (5.00 / 1) (#191)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Oct 07, 2025 at 05:51:29 PM EST
    to participate in the NoKings event on the 18th.

    I don't want to watch this one on tv.

    I will post images.

    I bought some special earrings to wear (5.00 / 5) (#192)
    by leap2 on Tue Oct 07, 2025 at 06:20:09 PM EST
    to the local protest.

    Parent
    Hilarious (none / 0) (#194)
    by Militarytracy on Wed Oct 08, 2025 at 12:00:59 PM EST


    Parent
    I plan to attend with my family (5.00 / 2) (#193)
    by MO Blue on Wed Oct 08, 2025 at 10:53:23 AM EST
    We will be at the West Country location not downtown St. Louis.

    There was a great turnout there for the last event. Hope it is even bigger for this one.

    Parent

    So now they are saying (none / 0) (#198)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Oct 12, 2025 at 05:33:19 PM EST
    a 60% chance of rain in StL on Saturday.

    I'm torn.  It's a 4 hour drive

    Parent

    OT - RIP Renato Casaro... (5.00 / 1) (#196)
    by desertswine on Fri Oct 10, 2025 at 12:47:55 PM EST
    Renato Casaro, an artist who was called "the Michelangelo of movie posters" and whose work extended from the spaghetti western era of the 1960s through Hollywood blockbusters like the "Rambo" series and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," died on Sept. 30 at a hospital in Treviso, Italy. He was 89.

    I never knew about this artist, but I certainly knew his work.

    I wonder if the Trump (none / 0) (#1)
    by jondee on Mon Sep 22, 2025 at 04:54:57 PM EST
    and Maga jokes are going to taper off after this?

    I have a feeling Jimmy has too much self respect to knuckle under completely.

    I don't think Jimmy will change much (none / 0) (#2)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Sep 22, 2025 at 05:04:37 PM EST
    He won.  He can be gracious.  It's interesting that afaik he has said nothing publicly.

    I expect he might say something nice about the wife.

    Just said on another thread I hope he says ok, with that out of the way, let's talk about the Epstein files.  

    A subject Charlie Kirk himself spoke about many times.  Charlie said release the files.  

    Some analyst on CNN (none / 0) (#3)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Sep 22, 2025 at 05:17:54 PM EST
    said (speculated) that Disney must have spoken to Sinclair and Nexstar. He said they would have handled them before the announcement.

    So no (none / 0) (#13)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 23, 2025 at 10:04:35 AM EST
    Sinclair will not carry Kimmel.  Nexstar has not apparently decided yet.

    Parent
    ABC affiliates owned by ... (none / 0) (#19)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Sep 23, 2025 at 01:07:19 PM EST
    ... Nexstar are refusing to broadcast "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", and will instead air a special with Donald Trump Jr. sitting at a desk with a big pile of white powder on it and lovingly caressing a bazooka, before suddenly telling the audience "Say hello to my little friend!" and then firing it point blank at a small-scale model replica of Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland, while Kid Rock sings a cover of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA."

    Parent
    I've never watched Jimmy Kimmel (none / 0) (#4)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Sep 22, 2025 at 05:20:33 PM EST
    I guess I have to find a way.   I don't really have network channels.  

    I bet (none / 0) (#5)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Sep 22, 2025 at 05:21:51 PM EST
    I'm not the only one. It's going to be big audience

    Parent
    Ironically (none / 0) (#6)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Sep 22, 2025 at 05:23:54 PM EST
    I just realized my HULU/Disney subscription I cancelled is still good for another week.

    So I'm sure I can probably find it.

    Parent

    I don't have cable either. (none / 0) (#9)
    by vml68 on Mon Sep 22, 2025 at 09:29:35 PM EST
    I watch Kimmel on YouTube the next day.

    Parent
    As far as I can tell (none / 0) (#14)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 23, 2025 at 12:04:48 PM EST
    I don't get Jimmy Kimmel on Disney+

    Which seems weird.

    Parent

    Dumb (none / 0) (#15)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 23, 2025 at 12:06:56 PM EST
    AI Overview

    +1
    You can watch Jimmy Kimmel Live! without having ABC by using a live TV streaming service like Hulu+ Live TV or YouTube TV for live viewing, streaming the full episode on-demand via a standard Hulu subscription the next day, watching highlights on the official ABC website, or checking the official Jimmy Kimmel Live! YouTube channel for clips shortly after the show airs.

    Parent

    The interesting thing about this (none / 0) (#16)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 23, 2025 at 12:52:24 PM EST
    is it also shows people are not stuck with their local Sinclair propaganda station.

    With YouTube and other live tv streamers you can get other abc affiliates besides your local.  I think.

    That might mean even more people start streaming everything.


    Parent

    In response to this (none / 0) (#17)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 23, 2025 at 12:59:02 PM EST
    I mean

    Nexstar and Sinclair Won't Air Jimmy Kimmel's Return, Impacting 66 ABC Stations
    The preemption means that 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' will remain unavailable for some of the U.S. despite its return after a nearly weeklong suspension.



    Parent

    AI (none / 0) (#18)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 23, 2025 at 01:03:53 PM EST
    AI Overview

    To watch "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" despite the Sinclair boycott, you can stream the show on platforms like Hulu or YouTube TV which offer live streaming of ABC, use streaming services like Fubo, DirecTV, or Hulu + Live TV, or watch on demand through the Hulu app. These options bypass Sinclair's local stations, which are preempting the program to air news content instead

    Parent

    It could have been worse (none / 0) (#7)
    by jondee on Mon Sep 22, 2025 at 05:32:49 PM EST
    it could have been Ricky Gervase hosting a late night talk show instead of Jimmy Kimmel.

    I might have to take back (none / 0) (#8)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Sep 22, 2025 at 06:09:29 PM EST
    some of the things I've said over the years about Michael Eisner.  Who ran Disney in the years when I was a mouseketeer.

    What he said was good.  Good for him.

    Were you literally one of the (none / 0) (#11)
    by Peter G on Tue Sep 23, 2025 at 09:48:54 AM EST
    mouseketeers (child performers) on the afternoon Mickey Mouse Show in the '50s? If so, I probably saw you hundreds of times! Or did you just mean that you were one in spirit?

    Parent
    I was not on tv (5.00 / 1) (#12)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 23, 2025 at 10:00:38 AM EST
    but we were all mousketeers

    Parent
    Not all of us. (5.00 / 1) (#21)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Sep 23, 2025 at 01:44:08 PM EST
    My mother has an extended family photo of us all hanging on the wall in her hallway, which was taken during a visit to Disneyland sometime during the summer of 1965. In it, everyone is wearing Mickey Mouse ears and mugging to the camera except 4-year-old me, who's sitting cross-legged in front and obviously angry and pouting with a look of post-toddler / pre-kindergarten contempt.

    Even at that young age, I already had a keen awareness of any potential affront to my sense of personal dignity and decorum - which had obviously long since eroded by the time I got to college - and I wasn't going to let anybody mess with it. There were some things I'd simply refuse to do, and allowing my picture to be taken while wearing Mickey Mouse ears was apparently one of them.

    ;-D

    Parent

    I was referring of course (none / 0) (#23)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 23, 2025 at 05:10:08 PM EST
    to being a Disney employee.  Especially an employee of Feature Animation.  That's professionally about as Mouseketeer as it gets.

    I have never been a Disney fan.  I don't watch the animated movies.  Except some of the really old ones.  

    No one who knew me could believe I was going to work for Disney at the time in 1995 because I was always trashing Disney.

    Funny ole life.

    Parent

    A paycheck is a paycheck. (none / 0) (#25)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Sep 23, 2025 at 06:04:21 PM EST
    My late great-uncle was a senior cartoonist and illustrator at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, and he worked there from 1938 until his death from a heart attack in 1961 at age 57. The first animated film he worked on was Pinocchio (1940), and the last was 101 Dalmatians (1961).

    My grandmother - who was very close to her brother, being only 14 months apart in age - blamed Walt Disney personally for her sibling's death and felt he had been overworked. But in reality, her brother loved his job at Disney Studios and was proud of his work there, and he was already suffering from hypertension long before his demise.

    My great-uncle had always had a real talent for drawing. In fact, he illustrated the first logo for Pasadena's Rose Bowl Stadium, a variation of which exists to this day in the facility's neon signage, which is a virtual copy of his original design from the 1920s.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    I had some stadium signage (5.00 / 1) (#27)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 23, 2025 at 06:42:00 PM EST
    but they tore it down :(

    Parent
    Wonderful legacy (none / 0) (#26)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 23, 2025 at 06:38:04 PM EST
    How I ended up there is a really long story.  The Cliff notes version is myself and a shiteload of others like me were hired by Disney, at a very competitive and lucrative time for us artists, by swearing to us the dinosaurs would not talk.  

    Not a word.  Not ever.  That was literally the reason 80% of us signed up when there was lots of other interesting offers.

    We spent a year creating a very successful test, with no dialogue.  It's on the DVD.  Eisner came to a big unveiling with the whole company and said it's great.   But they have to talk.

    We had all signed contracts that said if we left we could not work in the industry for the duration of the contract.  Most were 3 years.

    It gets really complicated after that.  One detail involved helping to start the first Visual Effects union on earth.  Still is AFAIK. so a nod to Uncle animator.  

    Parent

    Even as a child (none / 0) (#20)
    by jondee on Tue Sep 23, 2025 at 01:16:34 PM EST
    I found that Jimmy guy annoying.

    Speaking of Disney (none / 0) (#22)
    by jondee on Tue Sep 23, 2025 at 02:51:06 PM EST
    How much responsibility do they have for all these 'furries'? I'm looking at you Walt - with your singing squirrels and bunnies..

    This seems like something The Five or Megyn Kelly should be doing a 20 minute rant about. Talk about falling down on the job.

    Megyn Kelly, Matt Taibbi and Glenn Greenwald ... (none / 0) (#24)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Sep 23, 2025 at 05:35:39 PM EST
    ... were all once considered respected members of their journalistic profession at some point in their careers. But listening to each of them today, it's pretty apparent that their elevators are missing more than a few screws and no longer reach the top floor, and there's more than a bit of hyper-manic personality in each of them.

    The late award-winning journalist Michael Hastings ("The Runaway General," Rolling Stone, June 2010) exhibited many of the same characteristics, and in June 2013 he ended up racing his Mercedes-Benz coupe down Highland Ave. at 100 mph in the west Los Angeles neighborhood of Hancock Park before crashing head-on into a date palm. Michael's older brother Jonathan had become so worried about him that he traveled to L.A. a few days prior in an effort to get him to check himself into a rehab facility or psychiatric hospital, or at least convince Michael to return with him to Vermont and seek help there.

    You may not have always agreed with Kelly, Taibbi and Greenwald, but at least they sounded sane and well-grounded earlier in their careers. But nowadays, they've become so disconnected from reality that the stuff they write today often reads like letters home from Earth 2 in some parallel universe. I have to wonder what caused it - PTSD, drugs, what?

    Aloha.

    Parent

    The return was close to perfect (none / 0) (#28)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Sep 24, 2025 at 07:40:39 AM EST
    He did not grovel.  I liked that he thanked Ted Cruz and others.  I figured he would mention the wife for forgiving the shooter.

    Good job all around.

    Agreed. (5.00 / 1) (#30)
    by KeysDan on Wed Sep 24, 2025 at 10:37:39 AM EST
    A great job. Jimmy Kimmel expressed regrets for what some considered ill-timing of his remarks regarding speculation as to who was responsible for Kirk's killing and was emotional about the forgiveness of the killer by Mrs. Kirk.  But he was undaunted about expression of free speech and government coercion by lampooning Trump and his thug, Carr.

    Parent
    I saw a clip of Erica Kirk's entrance onto the (5.00 / 2) (#31)
    by vml68 on Wed Sep 24, 2025 at 01:11:33 PM EST
    stage at Charlie Kirk's memorial.
    Fireworks? Very weird!

    Parent
    She is no stranger to fireworks (5.00 / 1) (#34)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Sep 24, 2025 at 03:43:05 PM EST
    she was a contestant when he ran the pageant

    Online, an X user found bikini photos of Erika from her beauty pageant days, and made a link nobody expected.

    They wrote: "Oooooh. Erika Kirk competed in the 2012 Miss USA competition, which was owned by Trump. Her talent portion for the Miss Arizona contest was performing a dribbling exhibition with two balls. Her website still lists contact info to book her for modeling and acting."



    Parent
    Watch (none / 0) (#29)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Sep 24, 2025 at 08:58:44 AM EST
    youtube

    Parent
    This now has 14,800,000 views. (none / 0) (#33)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Sep 24, 2025 at 03:30:56 PM EST
    A new record for Kimmel

    Jimmy Kimmel's Return Breaks His YouTube Record: Most-Watched Monologue Ever

    Parent

    Switchboards are lighting up (none / 0) (#37)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Sep 25, 2025 at 08:20:05 AM EST
    Local ABC Affiliates Are Getting Slammed
    September 25, 2025 at 9:16 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

    "Early this week, at an ABC affiliate owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the phones were ringing off the hook," according to the Columbia Journalism Review.

    "Every two minutes, someone was calling to complain about Jimmy Kimmel's show being suspended from their local station."

    Heather (5.00 / 1) (#39)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Sep 25, 2025 at 03:22:35 PM EST
    Cox Richardson believes that the worm may have turned because people who don't normally pay attention to politics or haven't been paying attention to what has been going on understood what was going on with Kimmel.

    Parent
    Sinclair (none / 0) (#46)
    by KeysDan on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 02:47:27 PM EST
    is putting Kimmel back on its 38 ABC stations, starting tonight.

    Parent
    See (5.00 / 1) (#47)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 03:04:27 PM EST
    Comment #44

    :)

    Parent

    Nexstar, (none / 0) (#57)
    by KeysDan on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 04:14:58 PM EST
    too..

    Parent
    Boom (none / 0) (#58)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 04:22:17 PM EST


    Parent
    Thanks for playing (none / 0) (#63)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 08:10:40 PM EST
    Sinclair Got Nothing It Demanded
    September 26, 2025 at 8:42 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 17 Comments

    "Conservative broadcaster Sinclair is putting Jimmy Kimmel Live! back on the air... even though ABC and owner Disney haven't accepted its request for an ombudsman and other changes," ArsTechnica reports

    Parent

    Carr gets his turn (none / 0) (#38)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Sep 25, 2025 at 08:35:56 AM EST

    `South Park': Trump Terrorizes FCC Chair Brendan Carr While Kyle's Mom Goes to Israel to Yell at Netanyahu

    I found (none / 0) (#40)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 07:59:44 AM EST
    the answer as to why James and Comey were investigated in the EVA district. Apparently I had the wrong information and Comey actually does live there but honestly that is not where the "crime" occurred. As far as James goes, the allegation is that she helped her niece buy a house in that district. No wonder the news has been full of there is no case against James. It's not even her house.

    Like a said (none / 0) (#45)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 02:24:42 PM EST
    Hegseth to Address Generals on the `Warrior Ethos'
    September 26, 2025 at 2:36 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 163 Comments

    Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered hundreds of generals to travel on short notice from around the world to hear him make a short speech on military standards and the "warrior ethos," the Washington Post reports

    A colossal waste of time and money (5.00 / 3) (#66)
    by Peter G on Sat Sep 27, 2025 at 11:26:53 AM EST
    for something that could easily be done remotely (even assuming it should be done at all). Not to mention a logistical and security nightmare.

    Parent
    Silly enough (none / 0) (#70)
    by KeysDan on Sat Sep 27, 2025 at 02:37:00 PM EST
    to be the truth, but can't help but be skeptical. Especially, in light of Trump's overnight tweet: "At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect war ravaged Portland , and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.  I am authorizing Full Force, if necessary.  Thank you for your attention to this matter."

    Perhaps, redirecting military risks from China to Portland and other domestic hotbeds of terror.

    Parent

    The person occupying the White House can (5.00 / 1) (#72)
    by Peter G on Sat Sep 27, 2025 at 03:20:23 PM EST
    throw words around as he wishes, but Portland (Oregon, I gather, not Maine) is not "war-ravaged"; the word "war" has actual meaning and its invocation has serious legal significance in U.S. and international law. (Put aside, for a moment, that the city is also not "ravaged.") In a war, for example, it is lawful for government troops to use deadly force against enemy combatants.  On the other hand, just claiming that political protesters are "enemies" does not make them so. Even terrorists are not enemies in a war. Much less drug traffickers or gang members, even if they are not U.S. citizens.  As Abraham Lincoln is said to have remarked, "If you call a tail a leg, a dog still only has four legs. Calling a tail a leg does not make it one."

    Parent
    Laws smaws, (5.00 / 2) (#74)
    by KeysDan on Sat Sep 27, 2025 at 04:20:02 PM EST
    It seems as if the laws are whatever Trump says it is. All with the backing of the MAGAt Supreme Court--if just the  shadow docket giving a stay until the case is decided on the merits in 2028.

    Yes. Portland. Oregon. (Regret the cynicism, but  I have no faith in the SC, despite the fair and reasonable rulings of the lower Courts)

    Parent

    Feel the (none / 0) (#77)
    by Ga6thDem on Sat Sep 27, 2025 at 07:06:42 PM EST
    Same. The only thing that is keeping me sane these days is the comedy. And there is a lot of very good comedy. Look at social media and see how people are mocking the war zone with showing pictures of them walking their dogs in the park among other daily activities claiming they are in a war zone.

    Parent
    I recently read that since January, ... (5.00 / 1) (#79)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sun Sep 28, 2025 at 04:14:03 PM EST
    ... challenges to the Trump regime's authority have reached the U.S. Supreme Court 28 times and and on 19 of those occasions, that body's MAGA-addled majority has either sided with Trump or temporarily deferred to his authority as president. Only twice did SCOTUS decline to hear his appeal. Of the other seven cases, four are still pending, and three resulted in no decision.

    The lower courts are generally doing their job, but they're being undercut time and again by SCOTUS shadow docket rulings. Cases are not being decided on the legal merits but rather, by the High Court majority's right-wing politics and clear willingness to ignore and cast aside stare decisis in pursuit of an agenda.

    At what point do institutionalists of good faith decide to stop acquiescing to the SCOTUS MAGA majority's legal charades and start openly defying High Court's rulings and directives? I believe we're actually a lot closer to that moment than many might otherwise wish to acknowledge.

    As for who's to blame for this fast-approaching impasse, one need look no further than Chief Justice John Roberts. His dubious legacy of feckless and myopic leadership will likely be recounted by future historians as certainly the worst since Roger Taney's authorship of Dred Scott (1857). He will be remembered as the man who dismantled democracy's guardrails.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    But to put that in context, lawless actions (none / 0) (#82)
    by Peter G on Mon Sep 29, 2025 at 10:48:27 AM EST
    by this Administration have been challenged in court some 400 or more times, as best I can tell, with about a 70% success rate for the challengers. Very few (albeit often very important ones) go to the Supreme Court. So focusing on those rulings exclusively is, in a way, kind of misleading as a measure of the utility of the courts, in general, as guardians of law and liberty.

    Parent
    They're flooding the zone. (none / 0) (#84)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Sep 29, 2025 at 01:08:23 PM EST
    400+ challenges in 270 days with a 70% success rate means that over 120 Trump initiatives still got through. Further, because the High Court clearly sets the tone, the likelihood that some lower courts tailored their rulings in an effort to avoid being overturned on appeal should not be minimized.

    Ask Latinos how effective they think the courts are right now as "guardians of law and liberty." They've currently got a big bullseye on their backs, courtesy of a Supreme Court shadow docket decision that redefined "probable cause" to allow ICE, Border Patrol, etc. to stop and question people of color for living in this country while non-white.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    Well, yes and no. A fair number (none / 0) (#87)
    by Peter G on Mon Sep 29, 2025 at 02:43:23 PM EST
    of those lawsuits were "hail Mary" attacks on the Administration's terrible policies, not all of which were actually unlawful, tbh, just awful as policy directives.

    Parent
    Which only proves a longstanding point: (5.00 / 1) (#94)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Sep 29, 2025 at 08:41:09 PM EST
    "The essence of immorality is the tendency to make an exception of myself."
    - Jane Addams (1860-1935), social worker and Nobel peace laureate

    Just because you CAN do something, it doesn't necessarily and logically follow that therefore you SHOULD do it. Unfortunately, the Trumpista regime has proclaimed itelf to be the collective exception to the rule and is acting as such, heedless of the potential consequences to the country.

    And that, of course, reminds me of a local story in which a longtime Big Island police chief found himself in a boiling pot of ethical hot water over having literally cajoled his own elderly mother into signing over title to the family's $4 million shoreline home in Wainaku (overlooking the Pacific just north of Hilo), before he then exercised his power of attorney to have her removed from her own house and placed in a local nursing facility over her objections. Afterward, he and his young wife (who was half his age) moved into the house with their toddler children.

    The chief's sister filed suit and took him to court on behalf of his mother, but she ultimately lost because: (a) it was evident that their mother was of sound mind when she deeded the house to her son; (b) he also had legal power of attorney over her affairs, and was therefore within his rights to make the decision to have her declared incompetent and put in a home; and (c) his name now being on the title, he therefore had every right to move into the house in Wainaku. (It also didn't help matters any when Mom died during the trial and the presiding judge declined to allow her deposition to be entered into evidence.)

    It was an ugly story, all of which played out in meticulous detail with a local media who were fool-hungry for scandal. So, anyway, the ex-chief won the case legally and decisively. But within six months' time, due in no small part to the tawdry family drama that had recently played out in public, the members of the county police commission declined to exercise their option to roll over and renew the ex-chief's five-year contract, and he was effectively terminated once it expired later that year.

    It was, to be sure, a backhanded and passive-aggressive way to render community disapproval over the ex-chief's personal conduct, but that's just how we roll in the islands. So, the point was not only made, but it was also pounded home when the guy became unemployable in the public sector. And in a final bit of appropriately bad karma, he ultimately took a job as the CEO-manager of a private local security firm that was later proved to have ties to organized crime.

    In an appalling act of grievously misplaced personal vengeance, the security firm's mob boss-owner in Honolulu had his late 19-year-old son's best friend from high school killed, and then his body dumped unceremoniously into the Kaiwi Channel between Oahu and Molokai. Mr. Mob Boss had wrongly blamed the kid for his son's death in an auto accident, despite clear and compelling evidence from the police report that his son was actually the driver of the vehicle, rather than his friend.

    Anyway, Mr. Mob Boss was arrested and then tried for and convicted of first-degree murder. He subsequently committed suicide by drug overdose while awaiting sentencing, and his businesses - including the security firm - were all closed down by the feds. So now, the ex-police chief is out of work again and nobody wants anything to do with him. It couldn't have happened to a nicer fellow, probably because a nicer fellow wouldn't have done what he did to his own mother and sister and then agreed to work for a Honolulu mob boss.

    As noted above, just because you can do it, that doesn't mean you should. And that concludes today's lesson in "Instant Karma's Gonna Get You." We can only hope that instant karma visits likewise upon all those well-deserving members of the Trump regime.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    There will be legal resistance (none / 0) (#71)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Sep 27, 2025 at 02:57:38 PM EST

    Portland has been a target of right-wing politicians for the way it has handled racial-justice protests as well as its homeless population, tolerating encampments in the central part of the city. But Trump will again encounter the dynamic he did when he deployed the National Guard in Los Angeles -- a military deployment in a state run by a Democratic governor who objects to the decision and will have grounds to fight it in court."



    Parent
    The Idiot Trump's jack-booted.. (none / 0) (#75)
    by desertswine on Sat Sep 27, 2025 at 06:34:58 PM EST
    secret police are going to wind up killing some high-school kids in Portland.  He's an effing mad man.

    Parent
    I think it will get worse (5.00 / 1) (#76)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Sep 27, 2025 at 06:46:49 PM EST
    it's becoming clear republicans are headed for a wipeout in 26.  That will be reinforced by a wipeout in November.  

    He can't let that happen.  He will do anything.

    To be clear I still have faith it will happen.  But I think it will get bad.

    Parent

    If you're a bullet engraving (none / 0) (#48)
    by jondee on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 03:10:08 PM EST
    store, at what point do you start getting a little suspicious?

    Probably not how it works (none / 0) (#49)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 03:23:13 PM EST
    Engraving live ammunition can be dangerous and is not done by reputable businesses due to several factors:
    Risk of ignition: Any kind of engraving on a live primer or propellant could cause the round to detonate.
    Case integrity: Engraving could compromise the structural integrity of the brass casing, which could cause a catastrophic failure when the round is fired.
    Gunsmithing regulations: Due to the risks involved, many engravers will not handle live ammo. Businesses that modify firearms or ammunition are often required to have specific federal licenses.

    Parent
    lots of gun nuts (5.00 / 1) (#64)
    by leap2 on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 09:24:04 PM EST
    pack their own ammo. In that case, couldn't they engrave the casing before loading the charge?

    Parent
    Hood (none / 0) (#65)
    by CaptHowdy on Sat Sep 27, 2025 at 07:07:07 AM EST
    Question.  

    Parent
    Yeah (none / 0) (#55)
    by jondee on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 04:13:12 PM EST
    it was a bad joke.

    Though, I wouldn't be that surprised if bullet engraving was a service offered at gun stores in some parts of the country.

    Parent

    I googled (none / 0) (#56)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 04:14:42 PM EST
    Because I wasn't sure

    Parent
    Something like (none / 0) (#59)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 04:40:24 PM EST
    How do I get my bullets engraved.

    AI can be pretty dryly funny.  

    Parent

    How do I get my jeans embroidered? (none / 0) (#78)
    by jondee on Sun Sep 28, 2025 at 01:30:21 PM EST
    - Zappa

    What a crazy world. We should sell tickets. I'm probably a little paranoid, but personally, I would type "How people get bullets engraved?" Not "How do I get my bullets engraved."

    Parent

    Ken Dilanian: (none / 0) (#50)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 03:23:33 PM EST
    The indictment appears to attribute to Comey words he never uttered. In answering Sen. Cruz, Comey said he stood by his 2017 testimony. He did not say in the 2020 hearing that he had not 'authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports.
    A statement that is literally true, (none / 0) (#67)
    by Peter G on Sat Sep 27, 2025 at 11:37:14 AM EST
    even if misleading, cannot be the basis for a federal perjury conviction, when the questioner has the authority and opportunity to ask follow-up and clarifying questions. So said the Supreme Court in 1973.

    Parent
    I am (none / 0) (#68)
    by Ga6thDem on Sat Sep 27, 2025 at 01:59:43 PM EST
    hearing the same from legal pundits. Also pundits are saying that it's not even clear if the question was about McCabe or another FBI agent. What a CF.

    Parent
    Don't listen to pundits. If you want to know (5.00 / 1) (#69)
    by Peter G on Sat Sep 27, 2025 at 02:24:31 PM EST
    about a federal criminal process question, just ask me. However, I don't have a copy of the transcript of the hearing on Sept. 30, 2020, to which the indictment refers. Only the statement he made on that date, and which is referred to in the indictment, can be the basis for prosecution, given the statute of limitations.  And only if that statement was material to the investigation being conducted by the committee. But not if that statement was literally true (iow, whether Comey did in fact "stand by" his previous statement, regardless of the truthfulness of that previous statement).  And more.

    Parent
    A proper indictment for perjury (none / 0) (#73)
    by Peter G on Sat Sep 27, 2025 at 03:31:45 PM EST
    includes the question that was asked and the full (not excerpted) answer that the defendant gave that is said to have been willfully false. And often adds, "As the defendant then and there well knew, in truth and in fact, XYZ [what the prosecutors allege would have been the required, truthful answer]"

    Parent
    Elon Musk (none / 0) (#51)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 03:26:55 PM EST
    named in new Epstein documents link

    Link is to Tiger Beat on the Potomac but others like Forbes are also reporting. Oversight committee has released the documents on social media. Musk needs to be asked if he went to the island. Oh, that would be rich if proof comes out that he did.

    Along with Peter Thiel (none / 0) (#52)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 03:32:24 PM EST
    Steve Banon and Prince Andrew

    This new stuff was given to the committee by the estate.

    There are "files" in several places.   The DOJ doesn't have them all.

    Parent

    Yes (5.00 / 1) (#53)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 03:43:41 PM EST
    but all that was known before. Theil started a business with Epstein. I think Epstein was the main funder in Theil's tech start up. I wonder if maga knows that Bannon was hanging out with Epstein after he was a registered sex offender. Knowing them they probably see that as a plus. Bill Gates was listed too.

    I wonder where the other location of the files is outside DOJ and the estate. What is amazing to me is that none of the agents that worked on the FBI file have leaked to the press.

    Parent

    Not a great time to be a leaker (5.00 / 1) (#54)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 03:48:42 PM EST
    At the FBI

    Bannon had I believe the last interview with Epstein. He refuses to release it

    Steve Bannon's Secret Epstein Videos: The Tale of the Tapes (Exclusive)
    He says it's a documentary. But the 15 hours of footage Bannon shot with Jeffrey Epstein were reportedly training for a '60 Minutes'-style redemption tour that never happened -- and paid for by Epstein himself.



    Parent

    I saw (none / 0) (#60)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 05:37:38 PM EST
    a podcast with Michael Wolff discussing all this. He reiterated everything in that story except the part about Bannon being the biggest opportunist.

    And I bet maga knows nothing about this. I am quite sure they would be fine with Bannon spending a good amount of time attempting to rehab the reputation of Jeffrey Epstein.

    Parent

    I would not be surprised (none / 0) (#61)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 05:55:20 PM EST
    if some fairly juicy bits were released.  Hoping to stop the discharge petition.

    Probably about democrats.

    Parent

    Kinda (none / 0) (#62)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Sep 26, 2025 at 06:24:34 PM EST
    wondered why it hasn't happened before now. The only reason I can think of is that Trump has been lying about Democrats. Not that they aren't on there but that what he said will be disproven.

    Parent
    "More left wing violence" (none / 0) (#80)
    by jondee on Sun Sep 28, 2025 at 05:29:10 PM EST
    The Michigan church shooter had two large American flags in the truck cab and deer antlers attached to the bumper. Sure signs of Antifa running amok again.

    I hope The Five, Piers Morgan et al continue to do their due diligence and spread the word about the ongoing scourge of left-wing violence.
     

    Still think the Epstein files (none / 0) (#81)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Sep 29, 2025 at 09:15:23 AM EST
    are not a threat?  

    Johnson thinks it's enough if a threat he is  delaying the swearing in of the new member as long as he possibly can so they have more time to browbeat the 4 republicans.

    Neither the delay or the browbeating is going to work.

    Grijalva could be sworn in when Congress is back in session on October 7, but if Johnson waits for Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to deliver the official vote certification she will have to wait until at least October 14,



    Supposedly Johnson (none / 0) (#83)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Sep 29, 2025 at 11:22:01 AM EST
    is waiting on the secretary of state.

    Apparently rumors about the files are starting to leak out that the info is very, very, very, very bad like presidency ending for Trump and likely ending the political careers for a whole lot of Republicans. There is a reason why they are going to such extremes. There may be a whole lot in the files sent by the estate we haven't seen yet. I still cannot believe that some FBI agent, one that has been fired, has not leaked out what is in those files.

    If they haven't gotten those 4 to rescind their support of releasing the files yet they are not going to get it in 2 weeks. Those people have decided that taking their name off the discharge petition is worse than keeping it on.

    Parent

    I'm pretty sure (none / 0) (#85)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Sep 29, 2025 at 02:26:32 PM EST
    I used almost this same language a few months ago to describe what I thought was coming

    very, very, very, very bad like presidency ending for Trump and likely ending the political careers for a whole lot of Republicans.

    Presidency ending.
    I've read it might amoung other things involve the teen aged rape victim who dropped her case against Trump in his first run.
    The one who said he raped her at Epsteins house.
    Maybe there's video.

    It has to be bad to be worth this.


    Parent

    Somehow (none / 0) (#86)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Sep 29, 2025 at 02:31:58 PM EST
    I suspect the very worst info for Trump might be the financial info.  

    Who knows what kind of money laundering things went on.  

    I can't imagine Trump being this worried about a moral offense. Any moral offense.  

    Parent

    I don't know how you tarnish (none / 0) (#88)
    by jondee on Mon Sep 29, 2025 at 03:47:51 PM EST
    the image of someone whose very appeal is based on how tarnished he is.

    Trump said he could kill someone on Main St and they'd still like him. Sometimes I think they'd like him even more if he killed someone on Main Street - and started spouting the n-word and beating Melania etc

    In other words, he's the Id of Republican America. They like that he validates their feelings.

    Parent

    I doubt he's worried about tarnish (none / 0) (#89)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Sep 29, 2025 at 05:23:50 PM EST
    but Trumps very best friends financial records, who had dealings with all kinds of foreign governments, could conceivably have interesting information about Trump financial ties to foreign governments.  

    People have said for years Russia was Trumps bank and sponsor even helping with his campaigns, beyond the help we already know about :).

    Maybe THAT is the kind of information he's worried about.

    I will be surprised if the Easter Egg he's hiding is sexual.

    Parent

    He is sitting (none / 0) (#90)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Sep 29, 2025 at 05:32:50 PM EST
    in the White House everyday laundering money through his crypto and no Republican seems to care. I too have thought about the Katie Johnson case and wondered if that information was in there. However if the money records show Trump wiring money to some young girl in Russia or the US or any other country to pay her off that could be just as bad as the Katie Johnson testimony.

    Parent
    Yeah (none / 0) (#91)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Sep 29, 2025 at 06:13:16 PM EST
    Money laundering was a bad metaphor.  Not exactly.  

    But its pretty clear Epstein had ties to intelligence.  Most people think he was working for a foreign government, he had an island and they don't know how he paid for it, but they don't know which one.

    Maybe WHICH ONE is the Easter egg


    Parent

    Also (none / 0) (#99)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 08:14:52 AM EST
    have thought since Trump has made such a big deal of THE ISLAND simply showing him on a flight log going there while it might not end his presidency certainly would be enough to make whatever is left of the maga coalition completely collapse.

    Parent
    A 100% tariff on Jesus (none / 0) (#92)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Sep 29, 2025 at 06:27:59 PM EST

    Mel Gibson, Donald Trump's Hollywood ambassador, will have trouble with his latest movie.

    Trump has announced a 100% tariff on all movies made outside the United States.

    Gibson is shooting his two part "Passion of the Christ" sequel, and it's not in Altoona, trust me.
    Mel, the guy (none / 0) (#95)
    by jondee on Mon Sep 29, 2025 at 08:53:10 PM EST
    who built a special church for his Holocaust denier father, Hutton, because the Gibsons believe all the post-Vatican II Popes are too liberal.

    Considering who makes up his base, I would think Trump might make special accommodations for anyone who appeals to reactionary Christians.

    Parent

    Trump named Mel (none / 0) (#96)
    by jondee on Mon Sep 29, 2025 at 08:55:55 PM EST
    as one of his "special envoys to Hollywood" awhile back.

    Parent
    Say what - a two-part sequel? (none / 0) (#97)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Sep 29, 2025 at 08:58:54 PM EST
    How so? I mean, the title character was already arrested in the first movie and then badly beaten, had a crown of thorns shoved on his head until it bled into his eyes, was badly beaten some more, lashed 39 times with a cat'o'nine tails and if I recall correctly, was even thrown off a friggin' bridge before finally being crucified, and then stabbed with a spear for good measure to ensure he was dead. It was like watching Jesus meet Rasputin's prolonged fate.

    Further, Saturday Night Live already did the definitive sequel, and probably much better.

    ;-D

    Parent

    Jesus Uncrossed (none / 0) (#98)
    by jondee on Mon Sep 29, 2025 at 09:15:44 PM EST
    and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter were both more historically accurate than Braveheart.

    Parent
    I loved "Braveheart." (none / 0) (#123)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Oct 01, 2025 at 05:39:05 AM EST
    I found it very entertaining. But yeah, when the screenwriters decided to loosely base their story on historical events, the term "loosely base" was doing an awful lot of work here, just like it did in director Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 1963 cinematic barge "Cleopatra."

    Hollywood often takes serious dramatic license when it comes to real historical figures and events and sometimes, the results can be downright embarrassing - you know, like, whose bright idea was it to cast Sir Alec Guiness in the title role for "Hitler: The Last Ten Days" (1973)? How badly miscast was Guiness? Well, compare him to Swiss actor Bruno Ganz as Der Fuhrer in a remarkably similar scene in director Oliver Hirschbiegel's critically acclaimed "Der Untergang" (Downfall", 2004).

    Guiness's Adolf Hitler was a phoned-in caricature with a barely suppressed English accent. (Which, of course, begs the obvious question: "What if Obi-Wan Kenobi had been a mentally unraveling antisemitic sociopath in the original Star Wars?") Ganz meticulously studied for five months in preparation for the role, right down to accurately mimicking Hitler's normal conversational tone and Austrian dialect.

    Aloha.

    ;-D

    Parent

    I really don't get it (none / 0) (#128)
    by jondee on Wed Oct 01, 2025 at 02:12:31 PM EST
    the actual story of the Battle of Sterling BRIDGE is pretty damned compelling. Is the explanation for the change as simple as building a bridge would've been too expensive?

    Also, the Scots at that time didn't wear tartan kilts or paint themselves blue. And that gorgeous French princess was, I believe, 6 at the time when Mel had Wallace romancing her. I could go on, but you get the idea.

    If Gibson's 'my fantasy is better than the reality' mentality extends to his interpretation of the history of Christianity, he gets a hard pass from me.

    Parent

    Favorite historic film portrayals (none / 0) (#131)
    by jondee on Wed Oct 01, 2025 at 02:53:52 PM EST
    Salma Hayek (Frida) Geoffrey Rush (Trotsky) and Alfred Molina (Diego Rivera) in Frida

    Jack Nicholson both as Eugene O'Neil in Reds and as Jimmy Hoffa in Hoffa.

    Richard Mulligan as George Armstrong Custer in Little Big Man

    Forest Whittaker as Charlie Parker in Bird.

    Geoffrey Rush as the Marquis De Sade in Quills.

    Parent

    A few more favorite historical portrayals: (5.00 / 2) (#137)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Oct 01, 2025 at 10:37:41 PM EST
    Peter O'Toole in as Col. T.E. Lawrence in "Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

    George C. Scott as Gen. George Patton in "Patton" (1970)

    Diana Ross as Billie Holliday in "Lady Sings the Blues" (1972)

    Dustin Hoffman as Lenny Bruce in "Lenny" (1975)

    Ken Ogata as Yukio Mishima in "Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters" (1985)

    Edward James Olmos as Jaime Escalante in "Stand and Deliver" (1988)

    Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett as Ike and Tina Turner in "What's Love Got to Do with It?" (1993)

    Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth I in "Elizabeth" (1998)

    Billy Bob Thorton as Davy Crockett in "The Alamo" (2004)

    Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II in "The Queen" (2006)

    Ken Watanabe as Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi in "Letters from Iwo Jima" (2006)

    Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela in "Invictus" (2009)

    Sean Penn as Harvey Milk in "Milk" (2009)

    Bill Murray as Franklin D. Roosevelt in "Hyde Park on Hudson" (2012)

    Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field as Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln in "Lincoln" (2012)

    Parent

    I remember saying at the time (none / 0) (#150)
    by jondee on Thu Oct 02, 2025 at 03:22:06 PM EST
    who knew Davey Crockett could shred on the fiddle like Jean Luc Ponty? Maybe he could.

    Peter O'Toole, the absolute master of the meaningful faraway gaze. PT got more mileage out of that move than any actor history, with the possible exception of Laurence Olivier as Hamlet.

    Apparently the gay producer of LOA had a crush on O'Toole and said at the time "He's so pretty, they should call it Florence of Arabia."


    Parent

    The Long Conference (none / 0) (#100)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 10:40:12 AM EST

    WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court justices are scheduled to meet in private on Monday to discuss hundreds of appeals that piled up during their summer recess, including Ghislaine Maxwell's challenge to her criminal convictions for recruiting and grooming teenage girls for Jeffrey Epstein.

    The court only takes up a tiny percentage of appeals and will likely announce a list of those it has agreed to hear later in the week. Four of the nine justices have to vote in favor of hearing a case for it to be taken up.

    A wide array of other cases are also scheduled to be discussed by the justices at what is known as the "long conference." They include such issues as gun rights, social media company immunity and Covid-19 era vaccine disputes.

    Monday also marks 20 years since John Roberts became chief justice. The new nine-month Supreme Court term, when the court will begin hearing cases, officially starts Oct. 6.
    The "long conference" typically results (none / 0) (#102)
    by Peter G on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 11:50:36 AM EST
    in a multipage order listing the hundreds of cases that the Court has chosen not to hear, released (IIRC) next Monday.  On Friday of this week (again, IIRC), it might issue a shorter order listing those (a half dozen or so) it has selected and chosen to hear, including possibly Maxwell's (as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago).

    Parent
    Maxwells case (5.00 / 1) (#107)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 03:15:45 PM EST
    would be big news

    Parent
    Again as I predicted, the Supreme Court (5.00 / 1) (#171)
    by Peter G on Mon Oct 06, 2025 at 09:50:11 AM EST
    issued a 39-page order this morning listing (inter alia) about 750 pending petitions that it "denied" (declined to accept for further review), including Ghislaine Maxwell's. So her conviction and sentence are affirmed and will stand, unless something extraordinary happens, such as a pardon.

    Parent
    Also on the list (none / 0) (#179)
    by KeysDan on Mon Oct 06, 2025 at 01:50:54 PM EST
    of refusals to take up review is the case of Trump's influential whisperer and right wing provocateur, Laura Loomer.  Social media, Facebook and Twitter, banned her over hateful comments which she claimed  caused damage to her unsuccessful political campaigns. Her claims were rejected by the lower courts, although she was subsequently restored to her social media accounts.

    Alito recused himself from the decision.

    Parent

    As I predicted, SCOTUS announced (5.00 / 2) (#162)
    by Peter G on Fri Oct 03, 2025 at 03:38:23 PM EST
    this morning that it will hear five new cases from the hundreds in the "long conference." Ghislaine Maxwell's was NOT one of them. The official list of those denied will be formally released Monday. Hers may be on it, or they may have deferred the petition ("relisted" it) for further consideration.

    Parent
    Thank God (none / 0) (#164)
    by Militarytracy on Sat Oct 04, 2025 at 11:14:06 PM EST
    I think I'd break down and cry if it was one of them. I'm having a really hard time how much straight up evil is getting over right now.

    I did have an interesting day. Granddaughter had a performance kind of thing at a church festival, so went to watch and video. She wants everything videoed lol. Sat down to lunch at a community table and started talking to the woman next to me. This place is a mad hoot. She retired out of DOJ. I think she said she was an executive assistant. I asked her if worked for Janet Reno, and she says,"Oh yes, I worked for her directly." Then she warns me that she was a career civil servant. I was like cool and fine. We continue to talk and then she says she worked for Ken Starr...oh. Then she says Kavanagh is funny. I'm certain my eyes started getting large. By the time she says John Roberts was sweet I knew my eyes must have been saucer-like. She was giggling, talking about how those three were always joking and clowning around. I was trying not to look like a deer in the headlights. Pretty sure I failed, utterly lololol

    Parent

    The end game? (none / 0) (#166)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Oct 05, 2025 at 09:10:47 AM EST

    Supreme Court Will Be Forced to Grapple with Trump
    October 5, 2025 at 6:54 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 37 Comments

    "The Supreme Court and President Donald Trump are headed for a reckoning," the Washington Post reports.

    "After months of terse emergency rulings that largely avoided major confrontations with the new administration, the justices will open their new term on Monday faced with the need to render full, final verdicts on policies at the core of Trump's presidency."



    Parent
    The meeting went about as expected (none / 0) (#101)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 10:44:41 AM EST

    There was very little visible or audible reaction from the assembled generals and senior enlisted personnel in the audience, which was mostly silent except for the sound of hundreds of boots snapping to attention as he took the stage and stepped off. Many took notes in some military field notebooks as Hegseth spoke.

    Trump took the stage afterwards, joking: "I've never walked into a room so silent before."

    Pp
    Read (none / 0) (#103)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 12:24:50 PM EST
    there was a lot of grousing afterwards about spending millions to hear idiocy from Hegseth and another grievance fest from Trump.

    Parent
    The Trump Administration (5.00 / 2) (#108)
    by KeysDan on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 03:28:50 PM EST
    has evolved from Keystone Fascism to Neo-Nazism. The Pete and Donny Reality Show for the Generals was buffoonish, but not funny.  For stupidity, depravity and insanity, Hegseth is a tough act to follow, but Trump did not disappoint.

    Hegseth was all about physical fitness, manliness, personal grooming  and the bad look of fat Generals. Surprising that he did not advocate for uniforms designed by Hugo Boss.

    Trump told the Generals American cities should be "training grounds" for the armed forces, in a thinly veiled  plan to use American military to kill Americans in American cities. Probably the     fundamental  take away intended for the military brass.

    Parent

    What about the CIC? (5.00 / 2) (#109)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 03:30:06 PM EST
    "Frankly, it's tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops," he said. "Likewise, it's completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon leading commands around the country and the world."

    "It's a bad look. It is bad, and it's not who we are," he continued

    Parent

    All I'm saying is (none / 0) (#125)
    by Militarytracy on Wed Oct 01, 2025 at 12:12:34 PM EST
    Beardo Jason Crow is fatter than Kegbreath

    Parent
    I just knew it in my bones ... (none / 0) (#165)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sun Oct 05, 2025 at 04:32:00 AM EST
    ... that SNL was going to take a crack at the Quantico Schittshow in this week's cold open. And Colin Jost and James Austin Johnson didn't disappoint.

    Parent
    I felt a little let down (none / 0) (#167)
    by Militarytracy on Sun Oct 05, 2025 at 12:02:57 PM EST
    Perhaps having an advisor with extensive military experience could help. This was a target rich environment. Then too, maybe we need to walk into this and not run into it.

    Parent
    And then there was Trump this weekend, ... (5.00 / 3) (#168)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sun Oct 05, 2025 at 06:56:54 PM EST
    ... speaking to a captive audience of U.S. Navy personnel on the occasion of the Navy's 250th anniversary:

    "The problem with Vietnam, we, you know, we stopped fighting to win. We would've won easy. We would've won Afghanistan easy. We would've won every war easy. But we got politically correct."

    He tried to goad the sailors into booing President Obama (with only limited success), again made the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen, and implied that Democrats hated the military:

    "We have to take care of this little gnat that's on our shoulder called the Democrats."

    There's no doubt in my mind that had Donald Trump been president in the 1965, he'd have stood with Gov. George Wallace in the doorway of the University of Alabama admissions office, and then invited Lawrence Rainey and Byron de la Beckwith to accompany him to the Army-Navy game.

    This is all going to be a helluva way to commemorate our country's 250th birthday over the next nine months. Yes, ma'am, one helluva way.

    :-(

    Parent

    His comments about Vietnam were extremely (5.00 / 3) (#169)
    by Militarytracy on Sun Oct 05, 2025 at 08:41:38 PM EST
    Upsetting to me. He was a draft dodger. My Uncle enlisted right out of high school because he believed JFK would have supported that fight. He was Marine recon, you had to volunteer to be recon. And the Iraq War caused his PTSD to flare so badly he shot himself in the heart in front the VA sitting in his truck. He left his ID on the dash so he could be immediately identified. My heart is still broken. I still cry.

    To say what he said about Afghanistan, same thing. One of our friends held down the embassy in Kabul waiting for the 82nd Airborne to arrive. He was told he could evacuate but he said No. He chose to continue to destroy things that we didn't need falling into the Taliban's hands. He said he was surrounded by enough badass guns he was going to risk it.

    I read one of his messages about how proud he was of the Marines about 36 hrs before Abbey gate was hit. Everyone had been placed in danger by Trump's deal he worked with the Taliban. And it doomed the Afghan government.

    I can't stand it when anyone says Joe Biden killed those kids. First of all they were Marines. They were Marines performing a dangerous mission. Donald Trump though. had doomed all of us to that mission, not Joe Biden. Trump's dumb draft dodging hubris speak just hurt, and nothing finer, nothing greater. He just talks out of a$$, like an a$$h@le.  


    Parent

    Ah, Force Recon. (5.00 / 2) (#185)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Oct 06, 2025 at 10:52:08 PM EST
    My father was one of the original officers who founded the 1st Marine Reconnaissance Battalion (aka First Force Recon) at Camp Pendleton and then the 2nd Recon Battalion at Camp Lejeune, serving under Gen. Bruce Meyers. He was known to Force Recon members in his day as "Mr. Pathfinder."

    Unfortunately, he also holds the dubious distinction of being the first Marine to die in the Vietnam War, so yeah, Trump's intemperate remarks angered me as well. Given the innate disdain and often unconcealed contempt this malevolent a$$hat has repeatedly shown for those who both serve and have served in our nation's military, I find it absolutely gobsmacking that any veteran or active service member could have voted for him.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    I am sorry you lost your dad that way Donald (none / 0) (#187)
    by Militarytracy on Tue Oct 07, 2025 at 08:32:11 AM EST
    Does it bother you when folks like Trump politicize Vietnam? Like the decisions were easy and someone just miscalled a ball or strike? And then we all lost?

    My Uncle was plagued with guilt. And he was a kid really. I never found a flaw in his choice. And South Korea was grateful and remains grateful for the United States making a similar decision. It looks like and feels like a terrible conundrum in my rear view. Times and choices and living not for the faint hearted, that's for sure.

    Parent

    People have been politicizing Vietnam ... (5.00 / 3) (#188)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Oct 07, 2025 at 01:24:47 PM EST
    ... for decades now. I mean, how else to characterize the fallout over the Pentagon Papers? The folks in charge blatantly misrepresented the conflict to the American people and our country lost 58,000+ dead over what Lt. Col. John Paul Vann correctly characterized as "a bright shining lie." And yet somehow, Jane Fonda is supposed to be the bad guy?

    The thing to remember about the 58,000+ we lost and the hundreds of thousands who were wounded is not just the waste of life, but the extensive collateral damage the war caused in measurable adverse impacts to the families and friends of all those casualties. Those particular numbers are never mentioned in statistical categories.

    The wreckage the war caused to lives at home - well, I remember a 91-year-old mother in Ken Burns' documentary on the war, who still blamed herself for her 17-year-old son's death in Vietnam 50+ years earlier, forever lamenting her signature on his enlistment papers that gave her consent to join the Army underage. "It was my duty as his mother to protect him," she mourned, "but instead, I naively signed his death warrant and sent him to his doom."

    That pain never goes away. Never, ever. Now, as a Gold Star family member, I don't begrudge anyone's avoidance of military service in that misbegotten conflict. But that said, they should at the very least have the f*cking decency to know when to shut up, show some humility and not let their mouths run like a sick bird's a$$ when discussing these matters.

    As far as I'm concerned, Trump and all those smack-talking chickenhawks like Stephen Miller and Joe Rogan, none of whom ever served yet still love to say the U.S. "stopped fighting to win" in Vietnam and blame the "woke left" for our defeat, well, they can all go to hell and f*ck themselves.

    Aloha.

    Parent

    All I saw... (none / 0) (#104)
    by desertswine on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 02:45:32 PM EST
    was an ignorant old man.  I missed the part with Bourbon Pete. I was thinking that I couldn't believe that they got all these generals and admirals together from all over the world to listen to this sh!t.

    Parent
    9 yo (none / 0) (#105)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 03:10:38 PM EST

    "These clips from the secretary's speech have the same energy as a 9 year old boy who decided to start a secret club and is explaining to his friends why they should all call themselves 'the vipers' from now on," quipped Vox's Elias Isquith.



    Parent
    Awkward (none / 0) (#106)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 03:14:48 PM EST

    "Should our enemies choose foolishly to challenge us, they will be crushed by the violence, precision, and ferocity of the War Department," Hegseth said. "To our enemies, FAFO."

    Hegseth spelled out the abbreviation, which is a genteelism for the phrase, "f--k around and find out," then paused for a moment surveying the room.

    It remained silent - save for one audible "woohoo" - in keeping with Pentagon rules regarding speeches by military commanders.

    "If necessary, our troops can translate that for you," the secretary added.

    Social media users reacted to the content of Hegseth's speech and the reaction in the room.

    "'To our enemies: FAFO,'" said the widely followed Tennessee Holler account. "Holds for applause that doesn't come. Cringey awkward moment as Hegseth summons all generals to hear him do a one-man show about how strong we are."

    "Him spelling out FAFO instead of saying f--k around and find out is parody," agreed Bluesky user Earl Verdant. "That he followed it with a pause and a grin like he was expecting applause is beyond parody."



    Parent
    Yes, and (none / 0) (#111)
    by KeysDan on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 03:37:41 PM EST
    it was made clear by the next speaker up to bat, Trump, that by "enemies", he means  "enemies within"---in those Democratic-run American cities.  

    My take of the conclave was that the Generals need to know, and get on board with, the shift from foreign enemies to domestic enemies (aka, Democrats)---or get out.

    Parent

    I don't believe the National Guard (5.00 / 1) (#115)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 04:12:21 PM EST
    or the Military would allow themselves to be used the way Trump made clear today he wants to use them.

    I don't.  I don't believe they can fire and replace enough generals to make that happen.  

    He trying to create his own SS (or brown shirts not sure) with ICE.  But any conflict between ICE and actual military would probably end quickly.

    Today was horrible.  Frightening.  Gobsmacking.   But possibly a turning point.  Did you see the faces of those men?

    Parent

    Unfortunately we are at a wait and see (5.00 / 1) (#124)
    by Militarytracy on Wed Oct 01, 2025 at 11:51:41 AM EST
    Spot. I have had some exposure to National Guard commands, and they have separate legal structure advising their commands. So each state has a legal team of lawyer Guardsmen who will be breaking down the requests and demands and holding everything up to the light. They will be advising their highest ranking officers of legal jeopardy. The highest ranking lawyer may also at times have a duty to push back. This makes relying on National Guard a problem for Trump. He has to go state by state gaining compliance to participating in missions.

    Trump holds more instant sway over active duty military and the rules of engagement of missions, but using them against the American people is more dangerous for him legally if he ever faces consequences.

    Once your Guard command commits you, then we are at each Guardsman and their individual choices. Some of them could wait until they arrive at mission, and then refuse to obey orders. Doing something like that is costly financially and drains a mission of momentum.

    If regular active duty troops become committed to be used against the American people - that is scarier. Active duty is more accustom to using lethal force. So once on the ground...smh, the chances of not good things happening is greater IMO.

    The National Guard has a frame of reference for being a component of helping their people and communities, not attacking them. They train for it, they have regular interaction with their communities. Standard military really doesn't have that and is more isolated from American civilians, especially if they want to be. They don't even have to leave base or post if they don't want to. Everything they could need is right there wrapped in active duty service 24/7.

    Parent

    I would bet (none / 0) (#110)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 03:34:26 PM EST
    there are a lot of military brass today really pi$$ed off at being summoned to travel thousands of miles to be a prop in a political speech.

    Parent
    They don't get pissed like that (5.00 / 1) (#116)
    by Militarytracy on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 04:37:33 PM EST
    Over something like being summoned by the CiC. That kind of General and toxic ego has gone by the wayside. It is normally a compliment to be summoned, it signals your service and knowledge is of some importance.

    I imagine grave concern is much more the mood. Professionally speaking they all know placing them all anywhere in one room at the same time is refusal to observe appropriate protocols. As a group they all witnessed the incompetence of their SecDef and CiC. It was unmistakable.

    Some of them have close relationships, have known each other since youth and academies. They were the over-achievers. But this is also probably a set up. Trumpco wants to see who talks to who about what.

    They are all good at communicating using the unsaid. They wouldn't be where they are if they weren't.

    After it was over my husband sighed long. And then he asked the air, "I wonder who Judas is going to be?"

    Parent

    I guess (5.00 / 1) (#119)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 04:52:32 PM EST
    they will all be keeping their mouths shut as no one knows who Judas will be.

    Parent
    How about the talk (none / 0) (#120)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 04:58:29 PM EST
    about fat soldiers and fat generals?

    I wondered what they thought of that.  It just seemed so unnecessary.  

    Parent

    I think they chuckled quietly inside (5.00 / 1) (#121)
    by Militarytracy on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 05:43:01 PM EST
    Because a dude who has lost all his muscle mass to alcoholism thinks he's fit because he looks thinner than they do. Most of those generals take part in all the base and post 5 mile runs. There is a retired SoF general in my neighborhood out there every morning running. They run, they lift to maintain bone density and muscle mass. It's like brushing their teeth.They will all knock you on your ass with curated muscle mass and tone lol. They can phuck some stuff up lol.

    Do you remember how Brad Pitt imitated Stanley McChrystal running in war machine? Because that is what Stan McChrystal looks like running after all the knee injuries and rotator cuff injuries, and he's still going to run. He's probably going to run right into the grave.

    I think Kegsbreath is a poser pogue lol.

    Parent

    Who put that on the teleprompter? (5.00 / 1) (#122)
    by jondee on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 08:55:23 PM EST
    and made Ted 'Ron Burgundy' Cruz chastise the nation for "attacking pedophiles"?

    Parent
    I just saw that (none / 0) (#139)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Oct 02, 2025 at 04:21:11 AM EST
    What do we even do with that?

    Or Madeleine Dean confronting Johnson about Trump being ill. I actually felt relief watching her do that, it feels like she opened a door to discussing that.

    I see that Google AI won't answer you if you ask it if Donald Trump shows signs of dementia?

    Parent

    Agreed. (none / 0) (#112)
    by KeysDan on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 03:39:29 PM EST
    Probably many sitting there running numbers through their heads as to how many years they have to retirement.  

    Parent
    Good (5.00 / 1) (#113)
    by CaptHowdy on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 03:53:05 PM EST
    I want them to hate him enough to ignore him.

    Parent
    Wonder (5.00 / 1) (#114)
    by KeysDan on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 04:03:35 PM EST
    what percentage are MAGAts?  My guess is 20 percent, with a good number of those in the Air Force.

    Parent
    I say that is a fair guess (none / 0) (#118)
    by Militarytracy on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 04:41:26 PM EST
    They all tend to know a lot of their leanings. But there's a Judas. He's going to try to trap those who aren't.

    Parent
    It is a bad time though (5.00 / 1) (#126)
    by Militarytracy on Wed Oct 01, 2025 at 12:52:42 PM EST
    This is a bad scene. We just started making recruitment numbers. The military was once again looking like an attractive career, particularly after Biden finished Afghanistan. And China is a problem, a huge issue.

    Europe and Ukraine are going to manage Putin without us.

    But the timeline of military service structure is kind of rigid. A person only has a segment of their lifetime when active duty service meshes with their degree of mental and physical fitness. As you head toward the end of your career a successful service member is this wealth of institutional and leadership knowledge that needs to be imparted to those who will replace them. Stressful retirements impede that process.

    At the other end of the spectrum we need our youth genuinely interested in a career in national security and active duty service to have smooth access to making the commitment. Just today, delving into the issue of someone needing a waiver because they have an autism diagnosis I am hitting a wall..."no waivers for anyone".

    The actual intel component of military intelligence has always been a motley crew. There has always been a heavy nerd presence, people on the spectrum tend to be able to hyperfocus on data collection.  There has also always been a heavy lgbtq presence in military intelligence. We need a constant stream of young people going in because people are always leaving. But Kegsbreath is going to damage this pretty badly it seems.

    Parent

    Yes (5.00 / 1) (#127)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Oct 01, 2025 at 02:08:21 PM EST
    the thing is there are a lot of positions that don't require all the standards that Kegsbreath named. A kid with blue hair and tatoos is probably an asset in intelligence because it would fool a lot of people as to what they did. You don't need to be in shape to read intelligence reports but I am guessing you would need to be in shape to pass basic training.

    And Kegsbreath acted like he didn't even know what basic training was or what the requirements were. There never was an issue about being in shape in basic.

    Parent

    A bit, but you have fighters in there (none / 0) (#117)
    by Militarytracy on Tue Sep 30, 2025 at 04:38:31 PM EST


    Parent
    A massage table in the middle of your house? (none / 0) (#129)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Oct 01, 2025 at 02:34:03 PM EST

    Lutnick Calls Epstein the `Greatest Blackmailer Ever'
    October 1, 2025 at 3:09 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 22 Comments

    "Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, in a notable break with the Department of Justice, claimed late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was `the greatest blackmailer ever' -- and may have traded the feds video of his rich and well-connected associates getting massages from young women in exchange for a controversial 2008 plea deal," the New York Post reports.

    "The 64-year-old cabinet secretary said that Epstein himself showed off his notorious `massage room' while giving Lutnick and his wife a tour of the infamous East 71st Street townhouse after the couple moved in next door to the since-disgraced financier in 2005."

    Said Lutnick: "I say to him, `Massage table in the middle of your house? How often do you have a massage?' And he says, `Every day.' And then he gets, like weirdly close to me, and he says, `And the right kind of massage.'"
    Well (5.00 / 1) (#132)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Oct 01, 2025 at 03:03:07 PM EST
    if he traded those video then likely they do not exist anymore.

    The massage room was upstairs by the bedroom in the pictures.

    Parent

    Not sure whether Howard Nutlick is (none / 0) (#146)
    by Peter G on Thu Oct 02, 2025 at 11:54:51 AM EST
    more dumb, more greedy, or more dishonest. Or equally all three. And I say this with enormous gratitude to him as one of the two most generous donors ever to our mutual alma mater. But if that comment was honest and accurate, it is of enormous importance in the whole current Epstein imbroglio. (And no, that's not a typo in the subject line; it's what my fellow alums are calling him.)

    Parent
    Nutlick (5.00 / 1) (#148)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Oct 02, 2025 at 12:41:58 PM EST
    got himself a subpoena I think.

    Parent
    Tim Miller say (none / 0) (#149)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Oct 02, 2025 at 03:21:18 PM EST
    "the thing about Lutnick is that in a cabinet of stupid people that has a weekend talk show host and a former wrestling supervisor Lutnick is the stupidest.  And if you polled the others in the cabinet they would agree with you".

    Parent
    Ha (5.00 / 1) (#151)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Oct 02, 2025 at 03:22:53 PM EST
    "..and sometimes really stupid people just don't know how to stay on the talking points"

    Hahaha

    Parent

    Kinda crazy (none / 0) (#154)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Oct 02, 2025 at 05:29:33 PM EST
    it took this to make the administration realize he is dumb. I guess they missed all the failed "trade talks" Nutlick had.

    Parent
    On the "stay on message" aspect (none / 0) (#160)
    by Peter G on Fri Oct 03, 2025 at 01:47:54 PM EST
    There is some reporting that officials in the Administration are not pleased with Nutlick's recent interview.

    Parent
    Ha (none / 0) (#161)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Oct 03, 2025 at 02:26:03 PM EST

    Several senior Trump officials, some of whom were responsible for carefully curating the messaging regarding the administration's decision to end its Epstein investigation, were apoplectic on Wednesday, bemoaning to one another about why Lutnick is still employed



    Parent
    Can (5.00 / 1) (#163)
    by Ga6thDem on Fri Oct 03, 2025 at 05:11:40 PM EST
    you imagine what would happen if Nutlick was fired? It would be more talking about Epstein than there already is.

    This is where their stupidity is coming back to bite them. If they were competent they would have fired Nutlick long ago when he kept screwing up trade negotiations.

    Parent

    New NPR NewsHour Marist poll (none / 0) (#152)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Oct 02, 2025 at 03:32:24 PM EST
    Says 90% want the Epstein files released
    6% don't.

    So now we are basically down to the only one against release are the co-conspiritors

    Parent

    Whack a mole (none / 0) (#153)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Oct 02, 2025 at 03:47:04 PM EST

    A pop-up statue of President Donald Trump holding hands with late financier and child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein has gone back up on the National Mall, after the National Park Service took it down.

    The reinstallation of the statue, known officially as the "Trump-Epstein Friendship Statue" and erected as a protest by a group known as Secret Handshake, was reported on X by Joe Heim of The Washington Post. Its return comes amid ongoing controversy about the Trump administration's refusal to release the full trove of files on the Epstein criminal case, and reporting that Trump himself is mentioned in the files.



    Parent
    I'm afraid WaPo is correct (none / 0) (#130)
    by CaptHowdy on Wed Oct 01, 2025 at 02:37:16 PM EST
    From the Washington Post editorial board:

    "The Democratic Party shut off any potential escape valve to avoid a shutdown, which began at midnight on Tuesday. In doing so, progressives embraced the same disastrous mentality that led the House Freedom Caucus to believe it could come out ahead in previous government funding standoffs: They wrongly assumed their political leverage would withstand the ensuing fallout."

    They need (5.00 / 1) (#133)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Oct 01, 2025 at 03:29:53 PM EST
    an offramp. I don't know what that is but that is why the tea party shutdown didn't work. We shall see.

    Parent
    Kinda hard to broker a deal ... (5.00 / 2) (#138)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Wed Oct 01, 2025 at 10:53:01 PM EST
    ... with people who have a well-documented track record of not negotiating in good faith. Who in their right minds would trust Republicans to keep their side of the bargain? They've already blocked and froze funding that's already been appropriated and released. And they'll do it again. The members of WaPo's editorial board have their collective heads up their a$$es. The Republicans hold the White House, House of Representatives and Senate. The bad actors here are the MAGA GOPers, not the Dems.

    Parent
    I'm with Donald on this (none / 0) (#141)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Oct 02, 2025 at 04:58:34 AM EST
    Different media outlets are attempting to force the American people to blame Democrats for a government shutdown that hasn't effected anyone yet. Nobody has angst about this shutdown yet. It hasn't hindered anyone.

    What government shutdown ever hindered most anyone here? They used to mess my life up a little, because all the support on post didn't come to work and my husband was working 70 hr work weeks. But he worked 60 hr work weeks before the shutdown so...meh. Big deal lololol

    The Republicans can't be counted on in any negotiation. There is no good faith. So how is this on the Democrats at all? It won't be placed on Democrats. That's propaganda and WAPO can bite me.

    Parent

    The editorial (none / 0) (#144)
    by CaptHowdy on Thu Oct 02, 2025 at 08:05:58 AM EST
    did not say Dems were bad actors.  It said they don't have an plan b.

    Parent
    Why do they need one? (none / 0) (#155)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Oct 02, 2025 at 11:24:37 PM EST
    They don't

    This outcome is none of their doing.

    And because the Republicans aren't negotiating in good faith, it is pointless and a waste of brain energy trying to make one.

    Plan Bs aren't always possible or even necessary.

    Parent

    This is new (none / 0) (#156)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Oct 03, 2025 at 08:13:56 AM EST

    Your Neighbors Are Watching'
    October 3, 2025 at 4:44 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 69 Comments

    "As the race for Tennessee's 7th Congressional District heats up, some Tennessee residents have expressed concerns after getting a political postcard in the mail," WKRN reports.

    Said the postcard: "Your neighbors are watching and will know if you miss this critical special election. The TN Republican party HQ will see whether you have voted... We are compiling an official list of Republicans who fail to vote."<s<p>



    Here (none / 0) (#157)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Oct 03, 2025 at 08:19:37 AM EST
    link

    link

    Parent

    Bad Bunny (none / 0) (#158)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Oct 03, 2025 at 08:27:39 AM EST
    Is going to the Superbowl

    Bad Bunny's Super Bowl
    MAGA isn't going to like this halftime show.

    This drops today (none / 0) (#159)
    by CaptHowdy on Fri Oct 03, 2025 at 08:37:11 AM EST
    Monster: The Ed Gein Story

    It's definitely October.
    I've been looking forward to this.

    Crazy left wing judge (that Trump appointed) (none / 0) (#170)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Oct 06, 2025 at 08:57:27 AM EST
    Blocks him twice in 2 days

    Timeline of Immergut's rulings:

    Saturday, October 4, 2025: Judge Immergut ruled that the protests did not meet the threshold of a "rebellion" necessary for federalizing the Oregon National Guard. She found that the deployment could inflame tensions and violate Oregon's state sovereignty.

    Sunday, October 5, 2025: After the Trump administration attempted to deploy National Guard troops from other states, Immergut issued a second temporary restraining order, blocking the deployment of any National Guard members to Portland.

    link

    I understand (5.00 / 1) (#173)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Oct 06, 2025 at 10:17:26 AM EST
    DC is a different case but using guardsmen from one state to another? Frankly I see all this as a pretense to send the military into the cities to mow down people.

    I was heartened by the response of the generals but I fear one general disobeying illegal orders will just get fired and all who disobey will get fired until he finds a general or officer that will obey his orders.

    Parent

    They don't have to (5.00 / 4) (#189)
    by Zorba on Tue Oct 07, 2025 at 03:36:32 PM EST
    Send out of state National Guards to mow people down in a particular state.
    The in-state National Guard has been used in the past to shoot their own state citizens.
    I remember Kent State. Quite clearly.

    Parent
    Yeah. That was America's low point ... (none / 0) (#195)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Thu Oct 09, 2025 at 07:35:20 PM EST
    Zorba: "I remember Kent State. Quite clearly."

    ... in the Vietnam War, along with the My Lai massacre. But unlike My Lai, absolutely no one in the Ohio Nat'l Guard was ever held to account for the order to enter Kent State's campus fully loaded for bear, never mind the point-blank fire into a crowd of unarmed college students. Two of those who were killed weren't even involved in the antiwar demonstration. One 19-year-old was literally heading to his next class when he caught a stray bullet.

    Obviously, this was all Jane fonda's fault. (Cue eye roll.)

    Parent

    The Supreme Court in 1974 initially (none / 0) (#197)
    by Peter G on Fri Oct 10, 2025 at 12:55:46 PM EST
    vacated and remanded the dismissal of a civil rights suit against Ohio Governor Rhodes by the parents of the kids that were killed at Kent State, holding unanimously that the question whether the governor had immunity from damages depending on the true facts of what had occurred, not just on what he claimed was his justification for calling out the National Guard. Ten years later, by 5-4 vote, the Supreme Court disapproved its prior decision (effectively overruling it) and tightened the immunity doctrine that protects high-ranking state officials from being held liable for the consequences of their decisions, on a rationale very much like that which prevailed in the 2024 presidential immunity case.

    Parent
    We were wondering if something wasn't up (none / 0) (#178)
    by Militarytracy on Mon Oct 06, 2025 at 12:11:22 PM EST
    With the California's Adjutant General last night just willing to roll right into Oregon with Trump. We have some experience with Guard politics and how an Adjutant General might be pulling shit that a Governor isn't aware of. Also, that heinous Podcaster Kurt Shlincter (or something like that lol) is a retired officer out of the California Guard - and that seemed to me to indicate the possibility that California's Guard could be quite colorful. So I started googling for some California Guard news story.

    People, you couldn't even guess the half of it lololololololol. Scandals and accusations lololololol. One of the one's that stuck in my head was the current AG Beever's being "credibly accused" of lamenting, "This Guard is being run by a bunch of Kike attorneys!" Holy craptacular lolololol

    Parent

    If that's actually the case, ... (5.00 / 1) (#184)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Mon Oct 06, 2025 at 09:49:38 PM EST
    ... then Gov. Gavin Newsom has the authority to correct that forthwith. As California's adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Matthew Beevers serves at the pleasure of the governor who actually appointed him to that post in May 2023.

    As far as the scandal you cited is concerned, in Jan. 2024 Gen. Jeffrey Magram (Ret.) filed suit against Beevers in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging that the adjutant general "discriminated against Magram by harassing and wrongfully terminating Magram because of Magram's Jewish faith, Jewish heritage, and Magram's complaints about Beevers' antisemitic discrimination and harassment."

    The California National Guard has long been a mess.

    Parent

    The deal with Magram and Beevers lol (none / 0) (#186)
    by Militarytracy on Tue Oct 07, 2025 at 05:04:45 AM EST
    I've seen this before in another blue state. So you have the top officer of the Air Guard and the top officer of Army Guard both vying for the open TAG position. Both of them are actually unethical sorts lol. In that initial conflict it sounds like Magram was exposed as being the most corrupt by Beevers, and it sounds like it was Magram's disability claims that exposed him. So the right thing was done and Magram was relieved. Beevers hung up a flag over his door that read Gay as Fuck...and tada, received the crown of new TAG. But he's got issues too.

    Doesn't sound like he cares for his Guard attorneys much.

    Newsom has choices though. Just firing the guy is one, but it wouldn't be what I would do. Firing is what Trump does, and it would also politicize the California Guard and whoever the replacement is too. So no, that plays into Trump's hands.

    Beevers could really be playing with fire, especially if his legal advisers have been advising him that decisions aren't legal and he still goes with them. It is important for California and the United States that if Beevers is involved in following illegal orders even after his attorneys have advised him against it, that he experience public scrutiny for all of it and then the consequences.

    We shall have to see how any of that goes if it goes, if Beevers has actually been doing sketchy things. Newsom is better off in the immediate having the courts square up the boundaries, and then dealing with Beevers later in a way that prevents the California Guard from becoming politicized. GAH! Our lives under the orange one  

    Parent

    Crossroads (none / 0) (#172)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Oct 06, 2025 at 09:59:10 AM EST
    Cream

    SEMAFOR

    The Supreme Court launches its new term today, and the Trump administration is anticipating more wins.

    The high court has already ruled in Trump's favor with its interim decisions, and there are still plenty of final calls on the way, including decisions on Trump's tariffs and whether he has the authority to fire individuals at independent agencies (like Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook).

    The court is also poised to take up a number of cases related to transgender people's rights, and the Justice Department has petitioned it to review Trump's order ending birthright citizenship.

    For many administration officials who predicted the conservative-dominated court would have the final say on Trump's agenda, these showdowns are a long time coming.
    Considering (none / 0) (#174)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Oct 06, 2025 at 10:23:00 AM EST
    what has happened with the court the Trump Administration has every right to feel that way. Obviously the court does not care if it remains a subject of derision by the voting public. John Roberts has done more to destroy the reputation of the supreme court than anyone in over 100 years.

    I am waiting on them to say Trump can just randomly assign tariffs overturning the legal authority of congress assigned in the constitution.

    Parent

    Hmmm (5.00 / 1) (#175)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Oct 06, 2025 at 11:12:38 AM EST
    I've been thinking they will give him a big early loss with tariffs.  

    They promised to do it in early Oct.  We won't have long to wait.

    Parent

    And they will (5.00 / 1) (#176)
    by CaptHowdy on Mon Oct 06, 2025 at 11:14:07 AM EST
    affirm birthright citizenship.

    He will love that.

    Parent

    I hope (none / 0) (#180)
    by Ga6thDem on Mon Oct 06, 2025 at 02:04:43 PM EST
    You are right. I have to say some are saying they might split the baby saying further tariffs have to go through congress but letting the current ones stand. If they do overturn his tariffs that is going to put the GOP in a spot with the house and senate having to directly sign onto this nonsense

    Parent
    You would hate it. (none / 0) (#199)
    by CaptHowdy on Sun Oct 12, 2025 at 06:54:40 PM EST
    And you wouldn't know ANYbody.

    "I don't think there's anything that's gonna get me in heaven. I think I'm not maybe heaven bound."

    -- President Trump

    Have we been following the recent "yearly" visit to the hospital.
    For the second time in a few months.

    Lots of theories there

    Jimmy Kimmel Returns to the ABC | 199 comments (199 topical)

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