465 Comments
User's avatar
Stuart's avatar

Trump has a peculiar notion of loyalty -- I mean his loyalty to others, not theirs to him. He routinely disses nations like Canada and France even though, as we have learned this week, a honey-not-vinegar approach would have helped bail him out of a serious jam at the Straits of Hormuz. On the other hand, he is relentlessly loyal to losers like Smirnov and Tina Peters who cannot possibly do him any good. I don't get it.

Zyxomma's avatar

Ta, Gary. Chant with me: epstein! Epstein!! EPstein!!!! EPSTEIN!!!!!!!! E-P-S-T-E-I-N!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and our newest chant:

You're protecting pedophiles

Now release the Epstein files

N-O-W!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JanuaryClaire's avatar

ICKSTAIN, ICKSTAIN, ICKSTAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bradthe🤖's avatar

Drafted and ready for autopen as soon as the bribe clears.

Why So Lugubrious?'s avatar

" fiddlebritches and tugglenuts"

Chef's kiss, #nonotes

Ron Spangler's avatar

Man, Trump's got a lot of people to keep quiet.

Lisa's avatar

It must be exhausting. Perhaps that's why he falls asleep during war briefings and everything else....

C&A Bongo Man's avatar

So, we're saying Hunter Biden's dong is back on the table?

Queen Méabh's avatar

Since this post is about getting someone out of prison, I will share my last half hour's frustration with the Missouri Parole Board.

I want to send a letter of support for early release of one of the inmates I advocate for. So I go online to find their mailing address.

I found 4 different mailing addresses. Don't know which one to use. So I call the number listed for the Parole Board. I get a voice menu with 6 options, 5 of which don't apply but the 6th is "Operator" so I pressed that. I got a recording with "The system does not recognize that as a valid input" and then kicked me back to the main menu. I tried the other 5 options, one by one, and only #1 actually connected me to someone...all the others gave me the Not Valid Input message. The one I did reach could not answer my question.

So I called the main DOC number, and I got a different voice menu, with 8 choices, and again only #1 actually worked...the other 7 all gave me the Not Valid Input message. The one I did reach couldn't help me either and she had a bad attitude and was snippy with me.

So I called the Governor's office just to let them know that these various phone menu systems are not working. They transferred me to another office, who could not help me and told me to send an email to the DOC. I told her No Fucking Way and that I'd already spent 20 minutes trying to alert the fucking State of Missouri that their fucking phone systems weren't fucking working and got nowhere, and I'm DONE WITH THIS SHIT. Except I said it politely. Assertively, but politely.

So I tried to be a responsible citizen and report that their phone systems are all fucked up and all I got was attitude and incompetence. No surprise there.

UPDATE: I did my taxes today and I owe ZERO to the State of Missouri, which is exactly what they deserve from me.

𝕺𝖓𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖍𝖆𝖓𝖉's avatar

Can you write four identical letters and send them all off to the respective addresses?

Queen Méabh's avatar

I could, but frankly I'm done with it.

Alternative Dog's avatar

Franz Kafka shrieks in horror.

I was a pen-pal to a person incarcerated in a California prison and I've dealt with many of the systems in and around the prison-industrial complex. I'm convinced they are designed specifically to inflict as much pain as possible upon anyone who dares to try to accomplish anything within the system.

Diane's Less Hostile Username's avatar

Missouri should be paying you for what you have been through!

Queen Méabh's avatar

Don't worry...they will pay.

Marlon Again's avatar

Sigh.

Missouri government and its facilities are the worst part of Missouri, except for the Dept. of Conservation, they're okay.

Queen Méabh's avatar

What really bothers me is that almost all circuit clerks and circuit courts now have these phone menu systems, which means that no jail or prison inmate can ever call them. Sometimes they need to know when a court date is or if additional charges have been filed, and prison officials won't tell them, and they can't call using the inmate phone system because a live person has to answer their call and press "1" to accept the call.

So they call me and I call the court and then I have to email the inmate the info.

It should be illegal for any court at any level to use those menu systems, because some people HAVE to call them but CAN'T call them. This makes me furious.

Queen Méabh's avatar

True If I call my local Conservation office an actual live person answers the phone. I guess they didn't get the memo saying Customer Service Is Dead.

PuraVida's avatar

"We're not happy until you're not happy."

Marlon Again's avatar

BTW. I went to the store and was approached by a petition person. We had a nice chat and I mentioned your situation and your web site. She brought it up on her phone and was amazed and said she'd share with everyone she knows.

A little free PR for you, kid.

Queen Méabh's avatar

Oooooh!!!! That's wonderful! Thank you so much!!!

Oy!'s avatar

Boston Globe: "Attorney General Pam Bondi subpoenaed to answer questions from Congress about the Epstein files"

It's in about a month so Pami's staff will have time to put together another of those "burn books" she uses to go on the attack and avoid answering question.

Dave's Not Here's avatar

Fuck that arsonist John Roberts.

Tecolote's avatar

Stuff like this is why Pam Bondi is not going anywhere. She is uniquely qualified to do this criminal stuff--knows the system, which buttons to push, has no sense of morals or ethics, and is absolutely committed to protecting PAB and going after his enemies.

Marlon Again's avatar

She's been invited to share. If she lies under oath, she is a done bitch.

AIB's avatar

Who’s going to “do” her? Jeanine Pirro? The three guys in NJ?

Bradthe🤖's avatar

Trump lied under oath and somehow he’s not done?

Marlon Again's avatar

Trump is in charge; Bondi is a pawn.

zuludaddy (seam & key)'s avatar

okaaaaaaaay it lit!

yrrr

smoking lamp?

it is lit yes

paul's avatar

FOTUS told the press he spoke to a former POTUS who told him of the Iran war, "I wish I would have done that." He would not say which one.

Aides of all former POTUS said it wasn't their bosses.

Either he is lying or believes he spoke to one. It's either/or. I can't think of another option.

Biff52 Lost Canadian's avatar

47 spoke to 45.

They are usually on the same page.

AIB's avatar

Winner of best theory.

ciaobella's avatar

He’s lying. And he doesn’t care if he gets caught in a lie, because you’re fake news and also (if female) a nasty piggy.

Eureka's avatar

Wouldn’t that be a fine how-do-you-do if his handlers are faking stuff like that to him now.

More likely explanation is tha he’s just lying.

Mysterysurf's avatar

Simple. He was talking to #45.

Angryoldman's avatar

That's it for sure. You can expect that blonde bimbo press secretary to use that dodge in 3...2...1

cmd Human Scum's avatar

From the article: The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reported on Tuesday that another GOP Senator, speaking on the condition of anonymity, also worries the bill will hurt rural voters.

Sad you have to be anonymous to give a shit about rural voters.

devourerofpancakes's avatar

Aww, and they put all that trans stuff in there to sweeten the bill (barf).

Parakeetist's avatar

My Mom would have to get a new passport to vote. She's going to do that anyway, but I don't think she knows about this law yet. Birb will have to tell her.

She is not going to be happppi.

Saviour of Bread's avatar

Ok shipmates, let’s go through this one more time: describing multiple countries* as “America”s allies” is outdated at best. The world isn’t binary, it probably never was. Countries have fellow travellers at best and to see everything through the lens of their relationship with the US ignores other, often more important, relationships.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

*two points for the first person to rise to the bait.