S12E10: Deportations

[Lantern7]

If ever a LWT episode needed to end on a segment on rebrandings and gimmicks from minor league baseball teams, this was it.

That was fucking depressing. I can’t express my feelings in full watching John showcase MAGA inhumanity to man because I might cross lines. The word “fuck” would be repeated. Fantasies of humiliation and beyond would also be a thing. It’s horrifying that most of us on this forum live in a nation where humiliating and deporting people is not only allowed, but also enthusiastically expected in some quarters. And even when the wrong people are sent off, or when defenseless children or booted, the faithful shrug their shoulders, smirk, mutter “Fuck ‘em,” and then walk away.

I’m waiting for someone to interview the President, try to explain things to him, utterly fail, and then lunge for his vital spots. It probably won’t happen. We never had an episode of The Apprentice end where a contestant got royally screwed and attempted to extract a pound of flesh. I always figured there were large men ready to dole out punishment off-camera, and I don’t think that’s changed today.

Anyone live in a town with minor league baseball? On Staten Island, we had a short-season single-A affiliate of the Yankees. When teams contracted after COVID, the Yankees decided not to renew things. There’s an independent minor league team with a halfway decent name (Ferryhawks), but it isn’t that well publicized.

[buttersister]

So by the time they reprised the exploding whale, someone started chopping onions around here. And this is why the Emmy’s keep coming. 

[ebk57]

The Baysox/"Oyster Catchers" are my local minor league team.  Unfortunately, before I knew they were selling the jerseys and donating proceeds, they were sold out.  Ah well... 

The stadium on Staten Island is nice.  There was no game when we were there, but we could see from the center field gates.  I did enjoyed the game I saw in Brooklyn.

[kittykat]

Had to chuckle over the Right Wing Scapegoat runner up being Women Who Work.  It's the little details.

And holy hell I seriously can't believe ICE wants to deport humans like Amazon Prime.  Humans are not a business.  Actually I can believe they want that I still can't believe I'm actually hearing it.

And that's not all they resort to vandalism to go for the wrong person and there's absolutely no accountability here.  And the sickening idea of patrolling work sites to make their numbers, I am seriously fuming here.

Dumbest holiday ever!  I would celebrate the shit out of Shrimp Scampi Day.

Edited May 5 by kittykat

[Annber03]

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

That was fucking depressing. I can’t express my feelings in full watching John showcase MAGA inhumanity to man because I might cross lines. The word “fuck” would be repeated. 

My thoughts exactly. John's "rot in hell" comment is about the nicest thing I can say right now, but boy... So much I could say. So, SO much. I truly do not understand how this isn't immediate grounds for removal from office. I do not want to fucking wait until 2028 in the hopes of getting Trump out of here. He needs to fucking go NOW. And so do every last one of his ghouls. What the hell does it have to take to get rid of him already? 

Quote

I’m waiting for someone to interview the President, try to explain things to him, utterly fail, and then lunge for his vital spots.

I genuinely half expected something like that when they showed that clip of the reporter interviewing him about Garcia's tattoos. He has far more restraint than I think a lot of people would in his position, let's just put it that wya. 

I did appreciate John showing that clip of Iowa voters confronting Grassley (speaking of people who need to get the hell out of office). I saw that clip on Stephen's show a few weeks ago, but it's always great to see it again. The guy asking if he could get away with refusing to pay a parking ticket is my new hero. 

(And Grassley being like, "That's not an act of Congress." Well, Trump's thrown the rules out the window in terms of what the various braches of government are and aren't allowed to do, so if he can do that, you guys sure as fuck have no excuse to just sit on your hands and let him do whatever the hell he wants without consequence.)

1 hour ago, buttersister said:

So by the time they reprised the exploding whale, someone started chopping onions around here. And this is why the Emmy’s keep coming. 

That clip, and the whole backstory, was insane. That dented car...

 

[smittykins]

6 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Anyone live in a town with minor league baseball? On Staten Island, we had a short-season single-A affiliate of the Yankees. When teams contracted after COVID, the Yankees decided not to renew things. There’s an independent minor league team with a halfway decent name (Ferryhawks), but it isn’t that well publicized.

The closest minor-league team to me is the Auburn(NY)Doubledays(short-season A).  There used to be in Geneva, but it moved to Williamsport, PA in 1993; IIRC, the Geneva stadium required updating and they couldn’t get the money to do it.  Apparently, there’s still a collegiate summer team called the Red Wings.

[peeayebee]

8 hours ago, Annber03 said:

I do not want to fucking wait until 2028 in the hopes of getting Trump out of here. He needs to fucking go NOW. And so do every last one of his ghouls.

God, I hate him. It is a visceral hatred. I don't think he has a single redeeming quality. He is the epitome of everything that can go wrong with a human being.

"You can't have a trial." Yes. We. Can. Like John said, it doesn't matter if it's inconvenient; it's the law. We are a nation of laws. It's mind-boggling that many people don't understand why due process is so important.

How STUPID is he that he believes the "M S 1 3" on Abrego Garcia's knuckles is real. When this photo first came out, I googled MS13 tattoos, and they are, as John said, explicit. There's a huge M, a huge S, a huge 1, a huge 3. There's nothing in code.

I expected John to mention the little captions below each tattoo. "Marijuana" under the pic of a marijuana leaf, and so on. 

The awful videos of people being deported are deliberately provoking. I can't think of the word for it. Not 'owning the libs,' but ... man, I can't remember. It sucks getting old. Anyway, I'm sure that those videos and also photos (like of Trump as the Pope or as some Rambo or whatever cosplay he depicts) are meant to enrage us, which they love. "Get mad. I drink your tears. What are you gonna do about it?"

Quote

I did appreciate John showing that clip of Iowa voters confronting Grassley (speaking of people who need to get the hell out of office). I saw that clip on Stephen's show a few weeks ago, but it's always great to see it again. The guy asking if he could get away with refusing to pay a parking ticket is my new hero. 

That was great. I love what some Dems are doing, but there's so much more they can do. For instance, Congress controls the purse, so how the hell is "DOGE" cutting funding everywhere.

:sigh:

I loved ending the show on the minor league baseball segment. That was so enjoyable. I want to try to get Trash Panda merch. Everything else was great, too. Bubblewrap Night was a hoot. The chihuahua shirt was hilarious. (I used to see ads on various sites for these kinds of shirts, and they creeped me out.) I'm so excited to see what the show comes up with for a team rebranding. I certainly hope someone takes them up on it.

Edited May 5 by peeayebee

[DoctorAtomic]

I had asked in The Daily Show thread if Trump actually thought the M S 1 3 was the tattoo because the clip wasn't clear that they showed. Looking at the full clip, it's clear he thinks they are the tattoos, but I'm wondering if he actually saw the picture, or if Miller or someone just said, and he's repeating, as he always does. Showing him the actual picture wouldn't do anything because he'd just double down on it. He's never going to admit he was wrong, and then you're setting yourself up to 'Look at the media being mean to me.'

I think the reporter could have been clearer when he said 'that M S 1, and 3 was actually photoshopped so I think you might be conflating the two', and he'll still double down, but that's about as much as you can do. 

I've always said I'm not a blame the media guy, but they aren't as up to the task as they should be. This is the second time around. You know what he's going to do. I'm not saying be all 'gotcha questions', but you should be more prepared for the interview. 

I've heard about the whale explosion before and the oyster story somewhere else. 

When is the last time the show made a ridiculous offer?

2 hours ago, peeayebee said:

Congress controls the purse, so how the hell is "DOGE" cutting funding everywhere.

Congress has farmed out a lot of their responsibilities while the executive branch has ballooned. This is actually a both sides issue. Obama and Biden also signed a lot of executive orders but obviously stopped when the courts said they couldn't do whatever. Though, clearly now, the executive powers have crossed the line. That's part of the problem. From my pov, this century executive power has slowly gotten out of control, but it's so slow, that people kind of shrug their shoulders because they're inured to it. 

There's a law that says any branch can't just give away their constitutional authority. If 2026 flips the House as it should, the real message from Democrats needs to be that Congress is an equal branch and will exercise its lawful powers accordingly. Don't be like "We're going to do everything to stop Trump." It should be "We're going to resume normal order." Don't worry about the Senate. Pass bills that you should pass, hold the hearings you should hold, and show that there are sensible adults in charge. 

 

 

[peeayebee]

1 hour ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I had asked in The Daily Show thread if Trump actually thought the M S 1 3 was the tattoo because the clip wasn't clear that they showed. Looking at the full clip, it's clear he thinks they are the tattoos, but I'm wondering if he actually saw the picture, or if Miller or someone just said, and he's repeating, as he always does. Showing him the actual picture wouldn't do anything because he'd just double down on it. He's never going to admit he was wrong

It's possible that he was only told about the picture, but I doubt it. He loves looking at pictures, and even if someone in his Administration didn't show him that photo, he would certainly come across it on his social media site.

I do wonder if he looked at the photo again after that interview. If he then asked someone if the 'MS13' was part of the tattoo or photoshopped, I really don't think he would be told that it was all real. And I imagine he would then blow up at his staff for making him look bad.

But you're right -- He will never ever ever admit he's wrong.

Quote

I've heard about the whale explosion before and the oyster story somewhere else. 

I've seen that video of the whale explosion before. I hadn't heard about the oyster story.

 

[DoctorAtomic]

I'm not so sure he saw the picture. Whatever the last person tells him is what he goes with. He's racist enough that even if the guy was deported due to 'administrative error', *he* didn't make the error, and he's the type to say 'he probably is guilty of something anyway.'

He can be that stupid that he'd look at the M S 1 3 and think it's not actually the tattoo. If the reporter actually showed it, he'd just gaslight him and say "I didn't say the letters were the actual tattoo" or something like that.

It's no-win really. 

[SoMuchTV]

I thought I saw a news photo of him holding a copy of the picture.  Did I imagine that?  Fake news?

[peeayebee]

Yes, you're right. I had forgotten.

[Annber03]

8 hours ago, peeayebee said:

God, I hate him. It is a visceral hatred. I don't think he has a single redeeming quality. He is the epitome of everything that can go wrong with a human being.

Same. I truly do not think I've ever despised someone as much as I do him. When they were showing clips of him during the segment last night i just spent the whole time flipping off my TV screen. 

[DoctorAtomic]

You cannot be serious with the picture. Come on. 

[peeayebee]

Are you saying that pic of Trump holding the photo is fake?

[DoctorAtomic]

No, I don't think it's fake. If he looked at the picture and seriously thinks the M S 1 3 is there, then they need the 25th last week. 

I mean, he could be gaslighting in the interview, but he's the best actor on the planet or he seriously doesn't remember? 

 

[iMonrey]

11 hours ago, peeayebee said:

How STUPID is he that he believes the "M S 1 3" on Abrego Garcia's knuckles is real.

I can't decide if he's so stupid he thought it was real, or if he thinks we're so stupid we'd believe him.

I said the same thing John did. I wanted the interviewer to really nail him down on this. Pull out the picture, show him the letters, put him on the spot and ask him to say, on record, that he actually believes the MS13 is on that guy's knuckles. Despite the fact that we have photographic evidence they are not. I didn't want the interviewer to try to move off the subject, I wanted him to nail him on it. Give him enough rope to hang himself. Everybody lets Trump get away with lying.

8 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Showing him the actual picture wouldn't do anything because he'd just double down on it. He's never going to admit he was wrong, and then you're setting yourself up to 'Look at the media being mean to me.'

No, he would never admit he is wrong. BUT. The interviewer can be explicitly clear in showing the audience how dumb he is. 

I heard Chuck Todd on a podcast saying you can't bring Trump into your reality, but you can show the voters the reality he lives in.

[bilgistic]

3 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Same. I truly do not think I've ever despised someone as much as I do him. When they were showing clips of him during the segment last night i just spent the whole time flipping off my TV screen. 

I can't even watch the impressions of him on SNL. HATE.

[DoctorAtomic]

I don't know. It's a tight line. The guy forces the issue and Trump whines for the rest of the week how 'nasty' he is and beating up on poor, little Trump. Then everyone is whipped into a frenzy over all this nonsense and Miller uses it as cover. 

People who live in the real world, who are seemingly not enough, can look up the picture themselves and see it's photoshopped. He tweeted the picture out. Anyone following him, or most, saw it. They just don't care. Like I said before, they're all thinking 'Garcia must be guilty of something anyway'. 

I do think the reporter should have been better prepared - 'Are you saying you think the M,S,1,3 are tattooed on?' Ask more clearly. He's still going to bloviate over him. 

Maybe the producers thought about it and discarded the idea. They had to have known something like this was going to happen, and if not, then they need to be retired because that's just negligent. 

[purist]

LWT has never made me cry before. The cruelty of this administration is too much.

[peeayebee]

10 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

No, I don't think it's fake. If he looked at the picture and seriously thinks the M S 1 3 is there, then they need the 25th last week. 

Right. Psychiatrists and psychologists have said he's showing signs of dementia. It's clear to laymen like us, too. In this case, I think he's just stupid. 

10 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I do think the reporter should have been better prepared - 'Are you saying you think the M,S,1,3 are tattooed on?' Ask more clearly. He's still going to bloviate over him. 

Maybe saying something like, "I agree that the tattoos of marijuana, a smile, a cross, and a skull are real, but the M-S-1-3 have been photoshopped in by someone."

But yes, he's going to bloviate all over the place. 

[Shrek]

11 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I can't decide if he's so stupid he thought it was real, or if he thinks we're so stupid we'd believe him.

I said the same thing John did. I wanted the interviewer to really nail him down on this. Pull out the picture, show him the letters, put him on the spot and ask him to say, on record, that he actually believes the MS13 is on that guy's knuckles. Despite the fact that we have photographic evidence they are not. I didn't want the interviewer to try to move off the subject, I wanted him to nail him on it. Give him enough rope to hang himself. Everybody lets Trump get away with lying.

No, he would never admit he is wrong. BUT. The interviewer can be explicitly clear in showing the audience how dumb he is. 

I heard Chuck Todd on a podcast saying you can't bring Trump into your reality, but you can show the voters the reality he lives in.

The problem is that those of us who know that he's an idiot already know it but no matter how stupid any interviewer makes him look his followers will make excuses for him & hound said interviewer into at best interview hell where he will never work again & at worst to his grave. It's just not worth it as nobody is changing their mind about him, least of all his lunatic fringe until it directly effects them & then they still make excuses for him or changing his mind.

Interviewing him must be like trying to have a serious conversation with a 5-year-old, except the 5-year-old will have less temper tantrums over any given time span & may even concede a point or two. 

 

[RedbirdNelly]

I appreciated ending on a light note just to keep sane. I also wondered why my local minor league team doesn't do fun renamings. They are just the Sounds as far as I know

I'd not seen the exploding whale footage before--that car! can you imagine explaining what happened to your car?

[iMonrey]

13 hours ago, bilgistic said:

I can't even watch the impressions of him on SNL. HATE.

Yeah me neither. It just isn't funny anymore.

2 hours ago, Shrek said:

The problem is that those of us who know that he's an idiot already know it but no matter how stupid any interviewer makes him look his followers will make excuses for him & hound said interviewer into at best interview hell where he will never work again & at worst to his grave. It's just not worth it as nobody is changing their mind about him, least of all his lunatic fringe until it directly effects them & then they still make excuses for him or changing his mind.

But then we're just surrendering to him and letting him get away with lies. Journalists in particular have a duty to call out the lies regardless of whether Trump supporters are going to get mad at him or whether they change anyone's mind. If they don't they're just validating the lies.

[Shrek]

21 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Yeah me neither. It just isn't funny anymore.

But then we're just surrendering to him and letting him get away with lies. Journalists in particular have a duty to call out the lies regardless of whether Trump supporters are going to get mad at him or whether they change anyone's mind. If they don't they're just validating the lies.

He did try to call it out but how long do you spend on one thing? Every day there's another 4 or 5 lies/bs comments etc. & it's impossible to fire at everything & these guys just have to choose their battles & how hard or long to stay on the one thing. 

As I've found out it's very hard to argue with a 5-year-old who just throws a tantrum every time you try to tell them anything they don't think is right. It's not like you can send Trump to bed or whatever punishment you think is appropriate when he just stamps his feet & sulks every time.

Is a tattoo as important as saying he doesn't know if he has to uphold the constitution & he has lawyers who will decide that? Or as important as saying something like "well the good parts of the economy are down to me & the bad parts are Biden's fault"? Next thing you know he's going to change the name of the San Andreas Fault to Bidens Fault. Or the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America & punish any companies who don't kow tow to his name change.

Only one of those examples is a joke & if you didn't know which one it would be difficult to pick which one actually isn't real. 

The point being where do you draw the line & stay on the one thing. It's impossible to do with him.

[DoctorAtomic]

That's what I'm saying that the media know this and need to be better prepared. He's going to say something nonsensical and spew all over, you just don't know what it is. That is going to happen. "Agree to disagree" isn't the right response. 

I mean, isn't this what AI is for? Make a Trump simulator to practice on. 

[Shrek]

36 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

That's what I'm saying that the media know this and need to be better prepared. He's going to say something nonsensical and spew all over, you just don't know what it is. That is going to happen. "Agree to disagree" isn't the right response. 

I mean, isn't this what AI is for? Make a Trump simulator to practice on. 

But is that the hill you want to die on? Because as sure as shit stinks, when someone makes that stand it will be the hill their career dies on. Or do you wait & let him hang himself, because he very often does but he just carries on as at the moment there are zero consequences for him. 

I just don't think a tattoo is the right thing to choose when there are a lot more egregious things you could choose & some of you do so we can just agree to disagree. 

[peeayebee]

Yeah, the tattoo thing is low-hanging fruit. Besides, having a tattoo isn't against the law. 

10 minutes ago, Shrek said:

But is that the hill you want to die on? Because as sure as shit stinks, when someone makes that stand it will be the hill their career dies on.

And reporters want access. If they don't push back too hard, they might be able to get another interview or at least ask a question. I'm not condoning that. It's aiding and abetting that liar.

[DoctorAtomic]

1 hour ago, Shrek said:

I just don't think a tattoo is the right thing to choose when there are a lot more egregious things you could choose & some of you do so we can just agree to disagree. 

We're actually agreeing. I'm not talking about dying on a hill. The larger strategic approach is what is the issue here. 

[Shrek]

The biggest problem either way is that he holds all of the power. If the SC says anything he doesn't like he just ignores them & will do exactly the same if the Republicans lose big in the midterms, he's already shown he doesn't care what anyone thinks if it's different to what he thinks so he just ignores anything he doesn't like.

 

Edited May 6 by Shrek

[heatherchandler]

14 hours ago, iMonrey said:

 

But then we're just surrendering to him and letting him get away with lies. Journalists in particular have a duty to call out the lies regardless of whether Trump supporters are going to get mad at him or whether they change anyone's mind. If they don't they're just validating the lies.

It doesn’t matter, people have zero respect for journalists.  They don’t trust them like they used to.  And honestly they shouldn’t.    

it doesn’t matter what side you are on.  The stories are cherry picked to suit the audience.  We shouldn’t be able to tell what news source printed a story.  The journalist is either preaching to the choir or to people who don’t believe them.

[iMonrey]

On 5/7/2025 at 1:38 AM, heatherchandler said:

It doesn’t matter, people have zero respect for journalists.

Which people?

[andromeda331]

On 5/6/2025 at 12:26 PM, Shrek said:

The biggest problem either way is that he holds all of the power. If the SC says anything he doesn't like he just ignores them & will do exactly the same if the Republicans lose big in the midterms, he's already shown he doesn't care what anyone thinks if it's different to what he thinks so he just ignores anything he doesn't like.

That is the problem. Trump is doing whatever he wants. Deporting hundreds of migrants because he wants to. He doesn't care if they're guilty or not. He didn't care when the courts told him to stop, to turn the planes around or bring Garcia back. No one is going to stop him. There are no consequences to his actions. It's just going to keep going on. It's so sad and so depressing. I don't seen an end to it. 

[heatherchandler]

7 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Which people?

All people.  Do you trust the journalists on Fox News?

[iMonrey]

16 hours ago, heatherchandler said:

All people.  Do you trust the journalists on Fox News?

All people? Not this people. That's rather a blanket statement, don't you think?

There are no "journalists" on Fox News. But yes, I trust respected, hard-working journalists. I also ignore right wing propaganda and am grateful to know the difference.

[Shrek]

17 hours ago, heatherchandler said:

All people.  Do you trust the journalists on Fox News?

Maybe if there were any actual journalists but there's not & it's already been shown in a court of law that this isn't an actual news channel. On the other hand I won't watch MSNBC for the same reason, it's mostly just people spouting opinion rather than actual news. 

They are both only any use as mild amusement but the crazies amongst us take them very seriously & go around repeating the bullshit they see & hear as fact rather than opinion.

[heatherchandler]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

All people? Not this people. That's rather a blanket statement, don't you think?

There are no "journalists" on Fox News. But yes, I trust respected, hard-working journalists. I also ignore right wing propaganda and am grateful to know the difference.

You’re kind of proving my point.  Yes it’s a blanket statement and I stand behind it.  People just do not trust journalists because there is often a slant.  
And yes there are journalists on Fox.  You don’t trust them. But there are journalists.  
Fox News aside, do you trust all journalists on msnbc and cnn? 
My point stands that it doesn’t matter what the news reporters say, people don’t believe them depending on what channel they are on.  There’s a lot of lying on all of them.
 

3 hours ago, Shrek said:

Maybe if there were any actual journalists but there's not & it's already been shown in a court of law that this isn't an actual news channel. On the other hand I won't watch MSNBC for the same reason, it's mostly just people spouting opinion rather than actual news. 

They are both only any use as mild amusement but the crazies amongst us take them very seriously & go around repeating the bullshit they see & hear as fact rather than opinion.

Right, it’s not true journalism like in the days when we could turn on any channel and trust that we are getting facts.

No channel can be trusted. But this is what we’ve been given, these are the reporters.  People don’t trust them.  For good reason, but it’s the whole problem.

[Shrek]

There are no journalists on Fox news, it's just a cesspit full of the worst sort of people who just peddle lie after lie to incite the MAGA crowd into a frenzy of hate & violence against anyone who disagrees with them but particularly anyone who isn't a white male & dares to enter what they call "their country" because Fox news tells them they are the only true patriots. They twist whatever the tangerine tyrant says to meet today's agenda, even if it's the polar opposite of what they & he said yesterday. 

If the country is still around in its present form once he goes to meet his maker he will have sent it down a road there may be no coming back from & that will not be good for anyone. Watch any History program on the 2nd world war & a certain German and you could lift some of his speeches almost word for word and use them at a MAGA rally today, some have probably even been used to incite the hatred that is present today, a lot of it by Fox news.

 

[DoctorAtomic]

PBSNews has actual journalists. 

[Anela]

Christiane Amanpour is a real journalist.   

[iMonrey]

On 5/11/2025 at 3:17 PM, heatherchandler said:

You’re kind of proving my point.  Yes it’s a blanket statement and I stand behind it.  People just do not trust journalists because there is often a slant.

This seems deliberately obtuse to me. You specified "all people." I countered that this person, in particular, does trust journalists. All journalists? Not those who call themselves journalists but are in fact pundits and propagandists, but certainly some good, proven journalists. 

I have worked for news organizations myself, and I know who I trust. So do the people who work for them. So, no, "all people" do not distrust journalism.

[heatherchandler]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

This seems deliberately obtuse to me. You specified "all people." I countered that this person, in particular, does trust journalists. All journalists? Not those who call themselves journalists but are in fact pundits and propagandists, but certainly some good, proven journalists. 

I have worked for news organizations myself, and I know who I trust. So do the people who work for them. So, no, "all people" do not distrust journalism.

 

I don’t think it’s obtuse to state that people on the left don’t trust right slanting news and people on the right don’t trust left slanted news.  This is not some big crazy revelation. 
 

Do you not believe me?

The whole point I went into this for was someone saying that journalists/news reporters should state such and such.  And that would work 30 years ago, it will not work now.  Because people don’t trust what they hear from news organizations.  I’m honestly not understanding why you don’t get that.

 

5 hours ago, Anela said:

Christiane Amanpour is a real journalist.   

And there are people who don’t trust her.  And people who don’t trust PBS, or Fox, or CNN.  I don’t think anyone trust MSNBC.  It’s down to where you fall politically.  And you can say they are idiots but it doesn’t make what I’m saying less true.  Even People magazine, they report on a story and there are arguments on every article, debating the “truth.”