Your Once and Final Supreme Double Impeachee

[rogue]

I'm waiting for the next conspiracy theory that the fly is actually a miniature drone created by the Democrats in an attempt to fluster Pence. Better yet, that it was the deep state using the drone fly to read Pence's notes and communicate them to Harris. He wasn't flustered by the fly, so he clearly won the debate.

I have heard that fans of Saturday Night Live want Jeff Goldblum to appear so that he can once again play the role of The Fly.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by rogue

<snip>
He wasn't flustered by the fly, so he clearly won the debate.
<snip>

Mike Pence had a fly crawling around on his head for over a minute and apparently didn't even notice. Think about it. If a fly landed on your head, wouldn't you notice? Even back when I had a full head of hair, and kept it cut longer than Mike Pence has his, when I had any insect much bigger than a mosquito land on my head, I noticed it and went to brush it off tout de suite. (The only flies I remember landing on my head were Deer Flies (genus Chrysops, "Golden eye"), which are considerably larger than houseflies. I'd usually notice one homing in on me before it actually landed; and when it did land, it usually managed to deliver a vicious bite as its last act before I crushed it.)

So why didn't Mike Pence notice, or appear to notice?

For a demon from hell, of course, having flies on one's body may be so commonplace as not to be noticeable. But there are other possibilities. Has he been hitting the Botox too hard, perhaps? Or is he among The Walking Dead?

[kladner]

Deer Flies are nasty and fast.

I thought maybe Pence's hair is so glued into shape that it is like a helmet. A fly landing made no impression. Or he was showing how totally imperturbable he is in the face of overwhelming threat.

Finally, the best explanation I've seen for the fly is simple: Pence is a Shithead.

Well, afterthought The fly is a drone. But, it is controlling him through brain waves. This accounts for his flat affect and wooden demeanor.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by kladner

Well, afterthought The fly is a drone. But, it is controlling him through brain waves. This accounts for his flat affect and wooden demeanor.

Perhaps it was just a fly, but was controlling Pence through brain waves, by dint of its superior intellect.

[kladner]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

Perhaps it was just a fly, but was controlling Pence through brain waves, by dint of its superior intellect.

[axn]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

Perhaps it was just a fly, but was controlling Pence through brain waves, by dint of its superior intellect.

Ratatouille (2007)

[MooMoo2]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

Mike Pence had a fly crawling around on his head for over a minute and apparently didn't even notice. Think about it. If a fly landed on your head, wouldn't you notice? Even back when I had a full head of hair, and kept it cut longer than Mike Pence has his, when I had any insect much bigger than a mosquito land on my head, I noticed it and went to brush it off tout de suite. (The only flies I remember landing on my head were Deer Flies (genus Chrysops, "Golden eye"), which are considerably larger than houseflies. I'd usually notice one homing in on me before it actually landed; and when it did land, it usually managed to deliver a vicious bite as its last act before I crushed it.)

So why didn't Mike Pence notice, or appear to notice?

For a demon from hell, of course, having flies on one's body may be so commonplace as not to be noticeable. But there are other possibilities. Has he been hitting the Botox too hard, perhaps? Or is he among The Walking Dead?

That reminds me of my trip to Uluru last July. There are websites which promote the climb (i.e., https://uluruclimb.wordpress.com/blog/ ) or other outdoor activities that can be done there, but what most of those sites fail to mention are the notorious flies that permeate the Australian Outback. Even during the Australian winter, it sometimes seems that you can't take two steps outside without being swarmed by those creatures.

I took the attached picture on my trip. The only good thing about those annoying critters is that they aren't active at night and typically don't go indoors. Believe it or not, there were no flies in my hotel room or in my rental car. Or maybe they were on my head, and I didn't notice them?

edit: I went during the "quiet season" for flies. This is how it looks like in the Australian fall / late summer:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/20...-video/9764018
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/20...tions/12180742

[Dr Sardonicus]

White House puts 'politicals' at CDC to try to control info

NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump White House has installed two political operatives at the nation's top public health agency to try to control the information it releases about the coronavirus pandemic as the administration seeks to paint a positive outlook, sometimes at odds with the scientific evidence.

The two appointees assigned to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Atlanta headquarters in June have no public health background. They have instead been tasked with keeping an eye on Dr. Robert Redfield, the agency director, as well as scientists, according to a half-dozen CDC and administration officials who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal government affairs.

The appointments were part of a push to get more "politicals" into the CDC to help control messaging after a handful of leaks were "upsetting the apple cart," said an administration official.

When the two appointees showed up in Atlanta, their roles were a mystery to senior CDC staff, the people said. They had not even been assigned offices. Eventually one, Nina Witkofsky, became acting chief of staff, an influential role as Redfield's right hand. The other, her deputy Chester "Trey" Moeller, also began sitting in on scientific meetings, the sources said.

[Dr Sardonicus]

Originally Posted by Dr Sardonicus

DOJ asks to defend Trump in rape accuser's defamation suit

I will consider myself fortunate if this doesn't give me a fatal case of the dry heaves.

Trump rape accuser 'stunned' at DOJ no-show at court hearing

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman who has accused President Donald Trump of raping her in the 1990s said she was stunned and speechless after the Justice Department on Wednesday turned down an opportunity to make oral arguments on whether Trump can substitute the United States for himself as the defendant in her defamation lawsuit.

E. Jean Carroll watched from a seat in the top row of a jury box as U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan gave a government lawyer a chance to argue by phone, after the lawyer who was supposed to argue in person was banned from the courthouse because he traveled from Virginia. New York requires visitors from Virginia to quarantine for 14 days.

William Lane, a Department of Justice civil division attorney, told the judge the government would rest on its papers, meaning it would rely solely on already submitted written arguments.

"I'm stunned, stunned, and actually speechless, which is unusual," Carroll told reporters outside the courthouse.

Attorney Roberta Kaplan, an attorney for Carroll, said it was a "shocking scenario for the government to just, essentially surrender, and not even try to argue the case."
<snip>

[Dr Sardonicus]

Trump fires Esper as Pentagon chief after election defeat

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday, an unprecedented move by a president struggling to accept election defeat and angry at a Pentagon leader he believes wasn't loyal enough.

The decision was widely expected as Trump had grown increasingly unhappy with Esper over the summer, including sharp differences between them over the use of the military during the civil unrest in June. But the move could unsettle international allies and Pentagon leadership and injects another element of uncertainty to a rocky transition period as Joe Biden prepares to assume the presidency.
<snip>
Trump announced the news in a tweet, saying that "effective immediately" Christopher Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, will serve as acting secretary, sidestepping the department's No.2-ranking official, Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist.
<snip>

[Dr Sardonicus]

Maybe this, on top of losing the election, will make his head explode.

Judge: DHS head didn't have authority to suspend DACA

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge in New York ruled Saturday that Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf assumed his position unlawfully, a determination that invalidated Wolf's suspension of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which shields young people from deportation.

"DHS failed to follow the order of succession as it was lawfully designated," U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis wrote. "Therefore, the actions taken by purported Acting Secretaries, who were not properly in their roles according to the lawful order of succession, were taken without legal authority."
<snip>
In Garaufis' ruling Saturday, the judge wrote that DHS didn't follow an order of succession established when then-Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen resigned in April 2019. Kevin McAleenan, who succeeded Nielsen until he resigned in October 2019, also didn't have statutory authority to hold the position, Garaufis wrote.