It seemed like a quiet day, but here’s some highlights:
CNN going with the BIG FONT this week:
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-impeachment-trial-01-21-20/
They have to do this WITHOUT coffee? Kill me now.
Senators aren’t allowed anything but water, milk during floor proceedings
Not only are those taking part in Trump’s impeachment trial barred from speaking or having their phones during the hours and hours of debate, they also face strict rules on what beverages they’re allowed to drink in the chamber.
WaPo
This seems bad, and not just because we all saw his naked selfies:
I can think of worse ways to go other than doing what you love.
Former Deadspinner Laura Wagner has a bit of possible good news:
https://www.vice.com/amp/en_us/article/y3mpdx/the-new-york-times-is-doing-something-about-their-embarrassing-opinion-section
The NY Times has announced that the Opinion section — home to such luminaries as Bret Stephene, Bari Weiss and Tom Friedman — will now get a degree of oversight from the standards editor.
This is potentially significant for two reasons. One, it may cut back on some of the fact free nonsense that flows from those pages. Two, it may signal a loss of faith in Opinion editor James Bennet, who has ramped up the stupidity on the Opinion pages, and has been rumored to be one of the top options for replacing Dean Baquet when he retires as top news editor in a couple of years.
Or, it may just be a fig leaf to appease angry younger staffers and media critics. There is almost no way we will know if the editor will have any authority, unless someone witnesses Bret Stephens sobbing in a high end bar on the Upper East Side, blubbering about how he was told his column needed real facts and not just stuff cribbed from a Heritage Foundation press release.
How the Bret Bug is able to sit up there and pontificate like is does is beyond me. The whole “Bret Bug” incident brings me endless entertainment, but missing that would be a small price to pay for the paper of record to show a modicum of integrity.
Good I fucking hope they make some changes. I literally canceled my subscription because of their shit show of an opinion section. I think they have lost so much credibility because of it.
Every time I run out of free articles I think I should get a subscription, but then something really dumb gets posted and I change my mind.
Yeah same here. I can get WaPo to work in incognito mode (I also canceled that subscription at some point), but not NYTimes.
I moved my money from both those subscriptions to a local homeless shelter and to ProPublica. I’m not supporting that capitalist trash anymore.
That’s a good idea…
Who else did MBS message on WhatsApp?
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/01/its-near-certain-saudi-crown-prince-hacked-jared-kushners-phone-and-had-secret-access-for-years-reporter/
Wild guess is MBS didn’t have to message anyone else, Kushner just went ahead and forwarded the malware to everyone in his contacts on his own initiative.
Somebody on Twitter pointed out that a few years back MBS said that Kushner was “in his pocket” and now we know he was being literal and had all of Kushner’s info on his phone
Glad I’m not friends with Mo Bone Saw.
It would seem that our president is going to be acquitted. I knew this was a forgone conclusion, but seeing the GOP all vote to block the amendments just brings it home that they’re all goons and will keep being goons.
I have been worried about this moment – not because it’s unexpected, but because I wondered how it would feel for it to actually come to pass in front of my eyes. It’s emotionally tough on me. The blatant corruption of the people in charge is so jarring, still.
I’m shocked. I didn’t expect that.
Wait, I did!
So I’d just quit the Senate if I couldn’t have coffee.
Milk? What are we, 9?
…the milk thing kind of made me laugh – do you remember when you were a kid & they told you the calcium would give you nice strong bones?
…they aren’t young & those suckers get brittle with age…so maybe they should all be on obligatory milk rations until they develop some fucking spines?
Mike Pence definitely asks “Mother” for milk.
Yeah I mean, truth be told, I probably like milk more than most adults – sometimes I just crave a glass of it. But like…I don’t expect milk to be an offering at the office or something…
No pbjs? (This must be a shout-out to their dairy farmer constituents. There is literally no other reason, aside from faiths for which caffeine is a no-no; which, just don’t choose those drinks!)