By David Futrelle
News overload! We have a Category 4 hurricane bearing down on the coast of Texas that promises to dump massive quantities of rain as it pushes its way inland. The situation looks dire, and the chances that the Trump administration will be up to the challenge of dealing with it are essentially nil.
Meanwhile, Trump seems to be using the hurricane as cover to announce two, let’s say, controversial acts: the implementation of his straight-up hateful transgender ban, and a pardon of the despicable Joe Arpaio.
Oh, and Sebastian Gorka is OUT of the White House, meaning that the creepy pics of him I posted a week ago WORKED. I guess I’ll have to do Stephen Miller next.
Plus new news on the Russia investigation, and North Korea fires more missiles.
Let’s start with the literal hurricane.
"Rainfall of this magnitude will cause catastrophic and life-threatening flooding." https://t.co/bsXWMJFxP1
— Jamil Smith جميل كريم (@JamilSmith) August 25, 2017
This is scary. I have never seen a rainfall forecast like this in my entire career.
Texas will be recovering from #Harvey for years. https://t.co/2l4agI5WfC— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) August 25, 2017
Texas mayor: If you're not evacuating before #HurricaneHarvey, write your name and SocSec number on your arm https://t.co/X48bSjYpwD pic.twitter.com/zXKVicrkO7
— Holly Figueroa O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) August 26, 2017
National Hurricane Center on the impact of Hurricane Harvey: "Locations may be uninhabitable for weeks or months.” https://t.co/aBPMA4uqr7 pic.twitter.com/0s8BGAyR3i
— CNN (@CNN) August 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/justinjm1/status/901222278066733062
As #Harvey Threatens Texas Coast, Immigration Checkpoints May Cost Lives, @reportbywilson at @Rewire_News: https://t.co/kG8HjjzWeC https://t.co/pE4oCbyIYV
— Rewire News Group (@RewireNewsGroup) August 25, 2017
https://twitter.com/owillis/status/901114037152477184
Anything to say to the people of Texas?
"Good luck."
🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄pic.twitter.com/rDcVcvcWRh— Holly Figueroa O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) August 25, 2017
But wait, there’s more:
Trump pardoned Sheriff Joe Arpaio
No better distraction than a #HurricaneHarvey to cover up a bad decision
This is a travesty of justice pic.twitter.com/qtsUvHtql7
— Ted Corcoran (RedTRaccoon) (@RedTRaccoon) August 26, 2017
DOJ had no role in Arpaio pardon per source with knowledge — this did not follow typical Office of Pardon Attorney process
— Laura Jarrett (@LauraAJarrett) August 26, 2017
There's no difference between Trump pardoning Sheriff Joe and telling his supporters he'll pay their legal fees for assaulting people.
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) August 26, 2017
FRIDAY DOCUMENT DUMP: Trump Signs Transgender Ban As Hurricane Coverage Dominates All Networks – https://t.co/b7TfvKrilX pic.twitter.com/yZGqOpmPkX
— JoeMyGod (@JoeMyGod) August 25, 2017
Trump's transgender ban is a vicious hate crime on a federal scale. Most Americans are against it.
— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) August 25, 2017
Doing a heckuva job, Donnie pic.twitter.com/u9etITxDo6
— David Futrelle (@DavidFutrelle) August 26, 2017
But we’re not done yet!
Another one bites the dust.
❌Gorka
❌Bannon
❌Scaramucci
❌Reince
❌Flynn
❌Spicer
❌Manafort
❌Page
❌Dubke
❌Epshtyn
❌Short
❌Harvey#ImpeachTrump— Scott Dworkin (@funder) August 26, 2017
Woah. IT WORKED. Gorka is OUT! I guess I'll do Stephen Miller next, then work up to Trump. https://t.co/l3tgp9tcKw
— David Futrelle (@DavidFutrelle) August 26, 2017
Gorka resigning in the middle of so much horrible news is like finding a $20 bill on the street before getting hit by a bus.
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) August 26, 2017
#BREAKING: Special counsel investigating whether Flynn tried to obtain Clinton emails from Russia: report https://t.co/IAi2hMLNAT pic.twitter.com/w7RIADX87H
— The Hill (@thehill) August 25, 2017
And if that weren’t enough:
UPDATE: North Korea tests 3 short-range missiles. 2 failed in flight, 1 "appears to have blown up almost immediately." – @PacificCommand
— Kevin Baron (@DefenseBaron) August 25, 2017
ahh the familiar trans military ban category 4 hurricane joe arpaio pardon seb gorka resignation north korean missile news cycle
— Gideon Resnick (@GideonResnick) August 26, 2017
https://twitter.com/profmusgrave/status/901238685391360001
Trump administration—I know I don't ever have any Friday night plans, but it would be nice if you didn't just assume
— joel tyler (@joeltyler_) August 26, 2017
"Mr. President, Texas is facing total devastation and North Korea just fired a missile, what do you want to do"
"Let's pardon the racist"
— Ashley Feinberg (ashleyfeinberg.bsky.social) (@ashleyfeinberg) August 26, 2017
And a sort of kicker: Alt-right organizers in San Francisco have cancelled their original plan for a rally because they didn’t like the restrictions on things that could be used as weapons that the police were imposing on them. So now they’re planning an unsanctioned rally closer to where the counterprotesters will be. Clearly this isn’t about free speech. They want violence, and hope the violence will intimidate the left.
My statement on extremists' decision to cancel permitted rally at Crissy Field and to hold an illegal, volatile rally at Alamo Square. pic.twitter.com/MtN2T2fvDt
— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) August 25, 2017
These are straight-up Nazi SS tactics.
I think we need a few cute animals right about now.
https://twitter.com/shibesbot/status/901140115266957313
https://twitter.com/zboah/status/901085820236464128
https://twitter.com/ReIatable/status/899198085771014144
https://twitter.com/bestcataccount/status/900877595092430849
EDIT: Added the stuff on the San Francisco rally.
EDIT 2: Added a few more tweets.
Update for our part of Texas: The rain is taking a break and letting the wind take the spotlight. Power’s still on, so we’re still fine. Cats still annoyed that we haven’t improved the weather, but have decided to sit on us. Another day of atoning by being cat furniture.
I just hexed some jerks for David!….
“Jabba Ar-Hutto!”
“Huttsy DeSlug!”
….annnnnnddddd….
“Jabbert Slimer”
Using my custom “Jabba The Hutt” filter is perfect for these guys! These guy and Fake-POTUS Jabba The Fartt are all part of the Big Jabba Continuum!
….Waddaya think?
Hurricane update (Austin): Rain’s stopped, just cloudy and a bit windy. More rain bands expected.
It’s still much worse SE of here and nearer coast.
@Jesalin
Trump knows Joe the Asshole Sheriff from the “birther” days. They’ve been “friends” for years.
On the hurricane. ICE has been maintaining its checkpoints to detain undocumented immigrants even through the storm.
Those fascist pigs.
Holy shit the wind. Wind picked back up. I’m watching the eye inch closer and closer to where I am. Highly recommend peeps getting on the radar and checking out Harvey.
I’m in a safer spot that most people in southeast texas and it’s still scary and stressful. I live in a house, and it’s old. I have zero clue how the roof will manage.
I hope everybody got out that needed to leave. Had some people from Houston crash at my place.
I’m sad for my chickens too. They have shelter but haaate storms, and somehow its all my fault in their little chicken brains.
I could never live on the coast. The shit is fucking stressful.
Used to be “fascist pig” was a hyperbolic epithet. Now it appears to be accurate description.
I’ve heard that, back in Nixon/Ford days, Nixon got pardoned. Then a group of college students put up a large phallic symbol with banner reading, “Pardon Our Dick, Too”.
I miss the days of protesting mostly to be heard, and to effect change, and not because we had to save the whole damn country from flag-carrying fascists.
TX Gov did say that ID wouldn’t be required to get into shelters, but nothing about what happens if you want to leave. Immigrants (legal and illegal) built this country’s infrastructure, and culture. And if we’re honest, the first white people in to the US could be considered illegal immigrants to Native lands.
I also wish the best for those in the hurricane’s path. I read something disturbing, about a town in Texas (I think it was in Texas) where citizens were told to evacuate. Around 60% choose not to. The mayor recommended that these people write their name and Social Security number on their arm with a Sharpie pen.
Cats and rain. Heh. During rainstorms, one of my cats used to go to the front door, then meow to be let out. I would open the door, in order to show her the rain. She wouldn’t go outside. A little later, she’d be meowing at the BACK door. Same deal…she didn’t want to go outside, once she saw the rain.
Rockport, TX is the town in question. It’s a smaller town (10K), but directly in predicted path. Yes, the mayor suggested writing on arm with a sharpie if you weren’t leaving.
I’m cat furniture right now of course. It’s pretty common.
My curious cat has decided that drizzle is ok in Iqaluit. In Montreal, any water at all meant I was a bad, bad human. I suspect the difference is that here there’s lemmings to, uh, “play” with.
I recall summer 2004 in Pittsburgh, we got a record rainfall due to remnants of a hurricane going by, about 3.5″ of rain. It was pretty damaging. Then a week or two later another remnant went by and dumped more than 8″ on the waterlogged ground. Utter disaster.
And Texas is dealing with five times worse.
Also, those storms blew through in hours. Texas is forecast to be getting rain until Thursday. Ridiculous.
My childhood kitty used to do the same thing. Only he’d growl at whoever opened the door. Because obviously it was our fault. He was a sweetie though. He just didn’t like to let that on too often. When I was little, he’d follow me most of the way to the school bus stop.
I’m glad the Parasols and our other Texans are okay so far. Also very glad that my cousin’s NASA job ended and she’s out of Houston. And that my grandmother is in El Paso, well away from the coasts.
Funniest recent El Paso tweet about Ted Cruz.
Daniel Borunda @BorundaDaniel Aug 24
Sen. Ted Cruz touring PMT factory in Far East #ElPaso
I know what he meant, but.. there is no real “Far East” in West Texas.
Welcome to El Paso del Saudi Arabia!
Best of luck with Harvey, Texan Mammotheers.
@Orion
I’m just glad I don’t *think* my dad was supposed to be in Houston for his regular checkup at MD Anderson’s. (Making sure his mantle cell lymphoma doesn’t rear its ugly head again, so on.) And glad the Parasols are okay so far, other than kitty death glares.
Is this an open thread? I’ve been cheating with my meds for a while (shhh!). Without the SSRI, now everything makes me cry again. Two songs that never fail:
Needs no further explanation. The second one is maybe more curious.
Fewest words possible to paint the biggest picture possible. Almost every bar is a tear-jerker, somehow.
Two unrelated songs that have played all summer.
(Heads up for random bad words in those last two, most notably “p***y” a few times.)
Apart from that, still waiting for psych evaluation. They said 8 months tops, now it’s been 16 and they still say it’ll be at least 6 months. In other words, I gotta make it through at least the first semester of my studies undiagnosed and unmedicated. Any advice?
The good new is, Trump’s strategy of pardoning Joe Arpaio during a disaster so no one would notice has failed. Even CNN has been criticizing it all day. The bad news is that the trans military ban is being overshadowed.
While it may sound morbid, it’s nice that now the hurricane has downgraded and rain has gone down. From personal experience the winds are dangerous but the rain is the one you should be worried about.
I grew up in Dominican Republic and lived through at least two hurricanes, one cat. 3 (George) and one cat. 1 (Jerry). A bridge that survived George was destroyed by the floods that Jerry caused and parts of the country were almost inaccessible because of it.
Good news: that little shit Dan Borden, (one of the 5 that brutally beat Deandre Harris) has been artested in Ohio!! YEEESSSSSSSS!!!
@Imaginary Petal
Maybe give 5-HTP a try, as long as you aren’t on any SSRI’s. I don’t know if it’s available in Europe. I think it was taken off the market, in the US. 5-HTP seems to have a mild SSRI effect. It evened out my moods. I didn’t take things so much to heart when I used it.
Phenibut might help, as long as you follow the instructions on the package, and research it thoroughly before using it. It has a relaxing effect. It can be addictive, though. Also, it’s not a good idea to drink alcohol while you’re on it.
And the rain continues. 😛 So does the cat grumpiness, and the aggressive cuddling. Right now one of our cats is on the back of my chair chewing at my hair,
Immigration checkpoints to catch people fleeing a category four hurricane?!?! That’s sickening and could end up getting people killed.
Concerning the Trans-ban; I hope this helps as a silver-lining….
http://www.politicususa.com/2017/08/25/trump-signs-memo-giving-military-authority-kick-transgender-people.html
….Read the second paragraph. It states that the Military Leaders have no intention of heeding Trump’s memo and it was conditional on that.
The Trans ban still needs to be rid of but there’s a silver lining.
AWESOME! Lets hope he gets thrown in The Can for GOOD!
FINALLY; I HOPE FOLKS IN “THE LONE STAR STATE” ARE A-OK!
RE: Sheriff Joe
On top of everything else he did, in 2004 his deputies set a puppy on fire and laughed at the owners’ distress.
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/dog-day-afternoon-6438729
Geez-o-pete; right now weather is reporting rainfall in central Houston of about 5.5 inches PER HOUR. And it’s expected to be sustained at close to that for the next several hours. (it’s about 2300 hr Houston time)
Hunker down, my friends. And if you’re not down there (I’m in Seattle, fer crissakes: we could USE some rain), think good thoughts.