Monday Open Thread | Christmas Jams 2018

Posted on December 3, 2018 by SouthernGirl2

All I Want for Christmas Is You is a song by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey from her fourth studio album, Merry Christmas. It was released as the lead single from the album on November 1, 1994 by Columbia Records. The song was written by Carey and Walter Afanasieff, the latter co-arranging and producing the song as well. As an up-tempo love song, it also incorporates pop music and traditional beats. The song’s lyrics describe an event in which the protagonist declares that she does not care about Christmas presents or lights; all she wants for Christmas is to be with her lover.

About SouthernGirl2

A Native Texan who adores baby kittens, loves horses, rodeos, pomegranates, & collect Eagles. Enjoys politics, games shows, & dancing to all types of music. Loves discussing and learning about different cultures. A Phi Theta Kappa lifetime member with a passion for Social & Civil Justice.
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61 Responses to Monday Open Thread | Christmas Jams 2018

  1. rikyrah says:
    December 3, 2018 at 9:06 pm

    Maddow spent pretty much the last half of her show tonight on the Epstein case.

    Reply
  2. Liza says:
    December 3, 2018 at 9:01 pm

    Senator Markey is a 21st century kind of guy.

    https://twitter.com/SenMarkey/status/1069686443109466113

    Reply
  6. eliihass says:
    December 3, 2018 at 4:22 pm

    Watching … and beyond the honoring of the memory of a former president, it’s absolutely fascinating through the coverage, just how many in the so-called ‘liberal’ MSM ..the ‘news’ anchors, ‘hosts’, ‘strategists’, ‘pundits’, etc. are all outing themselves as long-term hardcore Republicans..

    Explains quite a lot..

    And, also too.. the endless gaslighting …and blatant politics of revisionism..

    Whatever the case, let’s keep our guard fiercely up, and make sure not to allow the sneaky, vile, unpatriotic repugs get away with trying their darnedest to use this as an opportunity to burnish themselves, their outrightly unpatriotic and dubiously awful and tattered brand, and their decidedly horrid and unpatriotic party …to try to reclaim and hijack the narrative and our politics …

    I spy far too many who’ve been brazenly complicit in the aiding and abetting of, and the continued elevation and protection of a treasonous buffoon installed by a hostile foreign entity determined to destroy our democracy and fragile union in service to his paying despotic owners, now trying to ride for all it’s worth, this ultimate pomp and circumstance for legitimate presidents … exploit this memorial and dedicated media spotlight to gaslight and positively recast themselves and boost their bonafides as somehow ‘mainstream’, ‘moderate’, and incredulously, as ‘patriotic’..

    Even the treasonous buffoon and Birther 3rd wife, are so excited like it’s that ultimate prom …desperate for what they assume finally ‘inducts’ them into the hallowed presidential circle …complete with a seating arrangement that places them finally together with legitimate presidential couples, and a legitimizing photo-op to boot, to place in their future photo-books, …has been placed by his handlers on something of a 48 hour hold… a moratorium from the worst of his juvenile, hateful press conferences, tweets and shenanigans… And him doing his darnedest to suck up to the Bushes …low energy Jeb included…so they don’t disinvite him from the ‘normalizing’, legitimizing, and elevating photo-op he desperately craves and hopes will finally give him his ‘moment’ as part of the group of legitimate presidents..

    The thirsty, dishonorable veterans of both Bush white houses who greedily, desperately and unpatriotically signed up for tax payer funded lucrative gigs with the treasonous buffoon, are now self-servingly actively engineering much of the ‘legitimizing’ and ‘unification’ of the treasonous buffoon …and entirely for their own selfish purposes.. As the rehabbing of 43 continues, and low-energy Jeb mulls yet another run, and his awful shameless son Prescott continues to swim the swamp and dance the jig for the treasonous buffoon who thoroughly disrespected his father, uncle and grandfather..

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      December 3, 2018 at 4:49 pm

      I”m not watching coverage of the shit-show.

      I don’t care if the Obamas will attend the funeral. They are doing their obligatory duty as former POTUS & FLOTUS.

      Reply
      • eliihass says:
        December 3, 2018 at 5:16 pm

        Just caught snippets …

        For the funeral however, I’ll probably watch… You know I can’t help myself.. whenever and wherever my historic First Couple show up, I watch..

        You know they bring a certain je ne sais quoi to every gathering – especially of presidential couples.. Always fascinating too to watch the high-profile Alt-Right folks strain from their spots in the far back, to get a glimpse of them.. and whisper among themselves..

        I just absolutely hate that they’re being forced to put up with the treasonous buffoon and his vapid, lying, Birther 3rd wife …ugh..

        My historic FLOTUS is currently in London blowing them away with her awesomeness..

        She was back with students of the schools she visited on their various State visits to England..

        Had a fantastic Q and A with the old students who’ve all now long graduated …many of them now upwardly mobile but conscious University graduates – and some even with post-graduate degrees… and the newer, younger current students all screaming for our FLOTUS in their school auditorium …she’s legendary and now forever connected to their schools, with her letters exchanged with them over the years, framed and hanging in their hallway… I’ll have to try to find it to post… It was just so heartwarming.. brought me to tears..

        It’s remarkable that my FLOTUS’ Instagram memorial post for 41, has over 2 million likes .. far and away the most likes for any tribute to him.. including by members of his family ..

        Reply
  7. Ametia says:
    December 3, 2018 at 3:15 pm

    Orange is the new white

    Reply
  8. Ametia says:
    December 3, 2018 at 3:06 pm
    Reply
  11. Ametia says:
    December 3, 2018 at 2:35 pm

    Trump’s not winning anything, anywhere

    By Jennifer Rubin
    Opinion writer
    December 3 at 11:45 AM

    President Trump pulled the United States out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), but he has no apparent substitute for containing Iran’s aggression. We are isolated from our European allies. Trump says he wants to pull out of the North American Free Trade Agreement, but NAFTA 2.0 is not ratified (nor is it likely to be), and in any event, it isn’t dramatically different from the original. We’re out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership but not out of a trade war with China (although tariffs are not rising quite yet).

    Trump met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, declared the nuclear threat gone and wants to meet again. North Korea, however, has not shown it is prepared to denuclearize. Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris accord; the other world leaders are meeting in Poland to discuss steps forward without the United States. Meanwhile, the climate change problem becomes more urgent with each passing year, according to the administration’s own report.

    Our European and North American allies scorn and distrust Trump, revile his pullout from international agreements and his erratic trade threats, and rightly see him as unable to lead the West in an existential battle against illiberal regimes.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2018/12/03/trumps-not-winning-anything-anywhere/?utm_term=.8a68b54f1591&wpisrc=nl_popns&wpmm=1

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      December 3, 2018 at 4:32 pm

      Sure, you say that …But Stephanie Ruhle insists that the treasonous buffoon is not just the ultimate ‘salesman’ and ‘deal maker’, but his ‘unpredictability’ is part of his ‘genius’ …he keeps the Chinese on their toes with his ‘genius unpredictability’ unlike the historic President.. who according to Stephanie Ruhle was ‘too predictable’ …

      And this fam, with all these gaslighting media types spinning and touting dumb, ignorant and unprepared as ‘genius’, and effusively propping up an incurious treasonous buffoon as ‘brilliantly strategic’, is why the treasonous buffoon kkklan and cohort are emboldened and digging in..

      Reply
  12. Ametia says:
    December 3, 2018 at 2:33 pm

    SG2, SOUND FAMILIAR?

    A Young Girl’s Black Girl Magic Left Her White Classmates In Tears
    “She was walking around the classroom yelling, “I have Black Girl Magic.”

    https://blavity.com/a-young-girls-black-girl-magic-left-her-white-classmates-in-tears

    Reply
  15. rikyrah says:
    December 3, 2018 at 12:38 pm

    Donald Trump Is Witness Tampering Again
    I mean, why do we even have witness tampering laws if this is going to be okay.
    By ELIE MYSTAL
    at 1:13 PM

    If you’re about to testify about the Mafia, and goodfella shows up outside your house and says “nice family there, it’d be a shame if anything happened to them,” that’d be witness tampering.

    If you were about to testify about you boss, and your boss took you to the racquetball club and gave you a big speech about loyalty before dangling a promotion in front of you, that’d be witness tampering.

    The reason why both of those conversations would happen in private is because the mafioso and the shady boss know that there are laws against witness tampering and they’re not trying to catch an obstruction of justice charge while intimidating you.

    We live in a world where the President of the United States violates these laws against witness tampering, and he violates them in public from the Oval Office (or wherever Trump accesses Twitter). NOBODY has sufficiently explained to me why he faces no consequences for activity that would get any thug on the street thrown in jail.

    Donald Trump is witness tampering again, today, IN FRONT OF OUR VERY EYES.

    Reply
  17. rikyrah says:
    December 3, 2018 at 10:53 am

    Trump met with Putin at the G-20 summit after all
    12/03/18 11:20 AM
    By Steve Benen

    The drama surrounding a possible Trump-Putin discussion at the G-20 summit became needlessly confusing. There was a resolution, though it wasn’t an entirely satisfying one.

    To recap, on Thursday morning, the Kremlin announced that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin would have a one-on-one meeting in Argentina. Russian officials said that U.S. officials had “confirmed” that the presidential encounter would happen, and the American leader told reporters soon after, “I think it’s a very good time to have the meeting.”

    An hour later, Trump reversed course, announcing by way of a tweet that he’d canceled the meeting, blaming “the fact that the ships and sailors have not been returned to Ukraine from Russia.” Russian officials and media publicly mocked the explanation, largely because it was literally unbelievable.

    As the summit got underway, a Kremlin spokesperson claimed the two leaders would have an impromptu meeting in Argentina, though a White House official denied it. So, what ended up happening? If you guessed that the two would have a private chat despite all the drama, give yourself a prize. USA Today reported:

    “As is typical at multilateral events, President Trump and the first lady had a number of informal conversations with world leaders at the dinner last night, including President Putin,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

    Sanders did not provide additional detail about the extent of the meeting, or what was discussed. Trump drew fire for a similar encounter over dinner at the G-20 summit in Hamburg last year when the White House disclosed days later that the two presidents met without any U.S. aides present.

    Reply
  18. rikyrah says:
    December 3, 2018 at 10:52 am

    Michigan Republicans scramble to rig the game before they lose power
    12/03/18 10:40 AM—UPDATED 12/03/18 11:02 AM
    By Steve Benen

    We talked earlier about Wisconsin Republicans, after suffering a series of losses, scrambling to overhaul state government, rigging the game in their favor, before they’re forced to relinquish power in the new year. As it happens, an eerily similar situation is unfolding in a state next door.

    For the first time in nearly three decades, voters in Michigan elected a Democratic governor, attorney general, and secretary of state. As the Detroit Free Press reported the other day, GOP state legislators don’t appear to be taking it well:

    As Democratic candidates prepare to take three statewide offices on Jan. 1 – governor, attorney general and secretary of state – Republican lawmakers introduced bills Thursday to challenge their authority.

    State Rep. Robert VerHeulen, R-Walker, introduced a bill that would allow the state House of Representatives and Senate to intervene in any legal proceedings involving the state, which has traditionally been the purview of the state attorney general or the governor’s office.

    In addition, state Sen. David Robertson, R-Grand Blanc, introduced a bill that would shift oversight of campaign finance law from the secretary of state to a six-person commission appointed by the governor. The panel members would be nominated by the state Republican and Democratic parties

    .

    Reply
  19. rikyrah says:
    December 3, 2018 at 10:51 am

    Wisconsin Republicans scramble to rig the game before they lose power
    12/03/18 10:00 AM—UPDATED 12/03/18 10:05 AM
    By Steve Benen

    In 2016, only one incumbent Republican governor lost: North Carolina’s Pat McCrory. After the race was called, the GOP-led state legislature gathered for a special session, ostensibly to work on disaster relief for hurricane victims, but instead launched a “legislative coup” to undermine the new Democratic governor’s powers before he could take office.

    It was banana-republic style governance. It was also, evidently, a model for other Republicans willing to exercise maximalist partisanship.

    Last month, after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) narrowly lost his bid for a third term, his Republican allies in the state legislature immediately started talking about stripping Gov.-elect Tony Evers (D) of some of his authority.

    It was not just idle chatter. After an election in which Wisconsin voters elected a Democratic governor, re-elected a Democratic U.S. senator, re-elected a Democratic secretary of state, and elected a Democratic state attorney general, Republicans are suddenly scrambling to overhaul the state government in the GOP’s favor. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported:

    Republican lawmakers are seeking to limit voter turnout and want to take away key powers from the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general before GOP Gov. Scott Walker leaves office in January.

    The sweeping plan – to be taken up Tuesday – would remove Gov.-elect Tony Evers’ power to approve major actions by Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul and give that authority to Republican lawmakers.

    That could mean the campaign promise made by Evers and Kaul to immediately withdraw Wisconsin from a federal lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act would likely be blocked.

    Reply
  20. rikyrah says:
    December 3, 2018 at 10:49 am

    Fraud allegations jolt election results in key North Carolina race
    12/03/18 09:20 AM
    By Steve Benen

    Up and down the Atlantic coast, this year’s midterm elections brought up significant changes in nearly every state. The exception was North Carolina, where, thanks to Republican gerrymandering, Republicans received roughly 50% the vote, but ended up with roughly 77% of the power.
    The rigged electoral system in the Tar Heel State all but guaranteed that North Carolinians wouldn’t have any interesting U.S. House races at all – or so we thought.

    The only contest that appeared even remotely competitive was in the state’s 9th congressional district, where former far-right pastor Mark Harris (R) managed to pull off an upset over an incumbent congressman in a Republican May primary, and where Harris apparently won a very close contest on Election Day over Dan McCready (D). The Republican’s record of highly provocative rhetoric, especially about women and religious minorities, made his candidacy one of the nation’s most controversial, but local voters, by a 905-vote margin, elected him anyway.

    Except, maybe they didn’t.

    The first sign of trouble emerged last week, when the state board of elections unanimously agreed not to certify the results, citing what one board member described as “unfortunate activities.” As the Washington Post reported, we’re starting to understand what those “activities” allegedly entailed.

    The State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement has collected at least six sworn statements from voters in rural Bladen County, near the South Carolina border, who described people coming to their doors and urging them to hand over their absentee ballots, sometimes without filling them out. Others described receiving absentee ballots by mail that they had not requested.

    Among the allegations is that an individual who worked for the Harris campaign coordinated an effort to collect and fill in, or discard, the ballots of Democratic voters who might have otherwise voted for McCready. Several of the affidavits come from elderly African American voters. It is illegal to take someone else’s ballot, whether to turn it in or discard it.

    Officials are also examining unusually high numbers of absentee ballots cast in some precincts in the 9th District – and unusually high numbers of ballots requested but never returned.

    Reply
  21. rikyrah says:
    December 3, 2018 at 10:48 am

    Mattis breaks new ground, claims Russian interference in midterms
    12/03/18 08:40 AM
    By Steve Benen

    Defense Secretary James Mattis spoke over the weekend at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California, where the Pentagon chief conceded that the relationship between the United States and Russia has deteriorated over the last two years. As the Associated Press reported, however, that’s not all Mattis said.

    Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Saturday took aim at Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of trying to “muck around” in the U.S. midterm elections, of duplicity in arms control and of acting irresponsibly in last weekend’s naval confrontation with Ukraine. […]

    “We are dealing with someone that we simply cannot trust,” he said. “There is no doubt the relationship has worsened.” Mattis did not elaborate on his claim that Russia tried to interfere in last month’s elections, adding only, “We are seeing a continued effort along those lines.”

    Moscow’s interest in this year’s U.S. elections is neither new nor surprising. On the contrary, this is exactly what intelligence officials and agencies warned us about for months.

    There are, however, a couple of important angles to Mattis’ public comments. For one thing, they appear to be the first time since Election Day that a high-ranking official in the Trump administration has confirmed the Kremlin’s attempts to interfere not only with the 2016 cycle, but also the 2018 cycle

    Reply
  23. rikyrah says:
    December 3, 2018 at 10:17 am

    I read Charles Blow’s article posted in the Morning Thread.

    And, I understand his thoughts.
    But, there was a guy on MSNBC AM Joy on Sunday who was like,
    ” Fox didn’t have a spin for the happenings this week. They couldn’t spin Manafort and Cohen.”

    ICYMI,

    Please check out this Maddow segment from last week where she lays it all out. It’s quite good.

    Lifting Russian sanctions key to Trump deal exposed by Cohen

    Rachel Maddow shows how the Trump Organization’s continued pursuit of a Trump Tower Moscow deal into the 2016 campaign, exposed by Michael Cohen this week, explains Donald Trump’s soft stance on sanctioning Russian entities, including the bank that would finance the Trump Tower deal.

    Reply
    • Liza says:
      December 3, 2018 at 11:29 am

      This, what CB said…
      “In short, I don’t believe we are reaching the end of a nightmare, but rather we are entering one. This will not get easier, but harder.”

      “The country is about to enter the crucible. This test of our republic is without a true comparison. And we do not have a clear picture of how the test will resolve. But, I believe damage is certain.”
      —–
      I’ll tell you the truth. I wake up every day with a certain level of fear about where this is going. And I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Blow that damage is certain. Many people have already suffered irreparable damage, but sadly, it goes deeper than that.

      I remember Nixon. It was different.

      Reply
  25. Ametia says:
    December 3, 2018 at 10:12 am

    Word of the Day : December 3, 2018

    Circumvent: verb ser-kum-VENT

    Definition
    1 : to manage to get around especially by ingenuity or stratagem

    2 a : to hem in

    b : to make a circuit around

    https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/circumvent-2018-12-03?pronunciation&lang=en_us&dir=c&file=circum39&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=wotd&utm_content=pron

    Reply
  29. rikyrah says:
    December 3, 2018 at 9:28 am

    From Charles Blow:

    I no longer think that anyone in America, including Donald Trump’s most loyal supporters, can afford to put off the consideration of the central question of this administration: What if Donald Trump or those closest to him were compromised by the Russians or colluded with them?

    There have always been those of us on the left who viewed his presidency as compromised, asterisk-worthy if not wholly illegitimate, because of the Russian interference.

    A crime had been committed by Russia and Trump cheered the crime and used the loot thereof to advance his candidacy. That is clear.

    The Russians made repeated attempts to contact people in Trump’s orbit and in some cases were able to meet with members of the team, as evidenced by the Trump Tower meeting. That is clear.

    Members of Trump’s team were extremely interested in and eager to accept any assistance that the Russians could provide. That is clear.

    And since assuming office, Trump has openly attempted to obstruct justice and damage or impede the investigation into what the Russians did and whether anyone in his orbit was part of the crime. That too is clear.

    But for the people who support and defend Trump, this has already been absorbed and absolved. They may not like it, but they are willing to overlook it. Indeed, they are so attached to Trump that his fortunes and his fate have become synonymous with theirs. There is a spiritual linkage, a baleful bond, between the man and his minions.

    But what happens if the evidence that the investigation by the special counsel, Robert Mueller, uncovers reveals a direct link between Trump and the Russians? How do Trump’s boosters respond?

    Last week, when Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about the timeline and the extent of Mr. Trump’s involvement in negotiations for a Trump Tower in Moscow, the political earth shifted.

    If Trump was lying to or misleading the American people about his efforts to do business in Russia while running for president and the Russians knew — and presumably had evidence — that he wasn’t being completely honest and forthcoming, then he was compromised.

    While it is by no means clear that the Russians ever used any information that they may have had to blackmail or otherwise pressure Trump, Cohen’s plea makes clear that they had the material to do just that.

    This brings ever more clarity to Trump’s curious inclination to go soft on Russia condemnation, to take Russian President Vladimir Putin’s word over that of his own intelligence agencies, and to drag his feet in acknowledging that Russia attacked our election in 2016 and may continue to do so in the future.

    How would Americans who support Trump now respond to evidence that Team Trump put their own personal and financial interests over the national interest? Would they break from their blind support and turn away from him and turn on him? How could they justify wearing the blinders for so long and countenancing so much? What language would they use to correct their complicity?

    There is a precedent in the Nixon investigation. When the evidence of wrongdoing was clear and incontrovertible, people began to peel away, tails tucked and full of shame.

    But that was a different time, one in which media wasn’t so fractured and partisan, before the advent of social media and our current dissociable mentalities.

    Nixon had no propaganda arm. Trump has one. It’s called Fox News. There is little daylight between the network’s programming and the White House’s priorities. If Trump goes down, so too does Fox, in some measure. So the network has a vested interest in defending Trump until the bitter end, and that narrative-crafting could impede an otherwise natural and normal disaffection with Trump.

    Furthermore, Trump does not strike me as a man amenable to contrition or one interested in the health and stability of the nation.

    I expect Trump to admit nothing, even if faced with proof positive of his own misconduct. There is nothing in the record to convince me otherwise. He will call the truth a lie and vice versa.

    I also don’t think that Trump would ever voluntarily leave office as Nixon did, even if he felt impeachment was imminent. I’m not even sure that he would willingly leave if he were impeached and the Senate moved to convict, a scenario that is hard to imagine at this point.

    I don’t think any of this gets better, even as the evidence becomes clearer. I don’t believe that Trump’s supporters would reverse course in the same way that Nixon’s did. I don’t believe that the facts Mueller presents will be considered unassailable. I don’t believe Trump will go down without bringing the country down with him.

    In short, I don’t believe we are reaching the end of a nightmare, but rather we are entering one. This will not get easier, but harder.

    The country is about to enter the crucible. This test of our republic is without a true comparison. And we do not have a clear picture of how the test will resolve. But, I believe damage is certain.

    Reply
  33. rikyrah says:
    December 3, 2018 at 8:14 am

    @armandodkos

    Bernie just held a conference featuring non stop attacks on Democrats with people who refused to endorse Hillary in 2016- Sarandon, West, Turner, de Moro. Do give me a fucking break with this bullshit.

    229 replies 782 retweets 2,239 likes

    Reply
  34. rikyrah says:
    December 3, 2018 at 8:13 am

    lips pursed hard

    Marcus H. Johnson
    ‏Verified account @marcushjohnson

    Bernie droning on about Dems & rural white voters is dumb. His electoral thesis was that Bernie politics would win these voters back. Candidates he backed in rural districts & states consistently lost to generic Republicans. Rural is GOP. Minorities & white burbs are Dem base

    77 replies 362 retweets 1,548 likes

    Tom Watson
    ‏Verified account @tomwatson
    Dec 1

    Tom Watson Retweeted m. mendoza ferrer

    Rural America. On an all white panel. In Vermont. Trump became President because Democrats couldn’t see the pain. (Only Bernie could). Folks, this is some presidential launch.

    157 replies 193 retweets 534 likes

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      December 3, 2018 at 10:10 am

      FUCK Sanders! POC, predominately BLACK WOMEN are the BASE of the Democratic Party.

      Just go the fuck away Bernie Sanders,. You’re not a Democrat. Stay your ass in lily white Vermont.

      Reply
  35. rikyrah says:
    December 3, 2018 at 8:11 am

    UH HUH
    UH HUH

    m. mendoza ferrer
    ‏ @mgranville1
    Nov 30

    Just wondering how in a world of 7.5 billion people @TheSandersInst “Gathering” could host an International Roundtable that did not include one person of color today.

    m. mendoza ferrer
    ‏ @mgranville1

    Bernie continues to say that all coalitions must work to understand the pain and suffering in rural (ie “white”) America – that it’s something Dems don’t understand and why Trump elected. No mention of racism. Or discrimination of any kind.

    Reply
  42. rikyrah says:
    December 3, 2018 at 1:02 am

    Good Morning, Everyone 😄 😄😄

    Reply

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