Some Republican lawmakers are now calling for an independent counsel to investigate Hillary Clinton’s use of private email server while secretary of state following a public recommendation Tuesday from the FBI director that Clinton not be charged criminally, according to The Washington Post.
Here’ s Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH)
“It is time for Secretary Clinton to be held accountable for her extremely careless actions.”
The Clinton rules never change. Never.
My response? After wishing them all the pleasure they can take from repeated below-the-waist self-penetration with heavily oxidized agricultural implements?
Let’s beat these recidivist poultry-violators like rented mules.*¹ Up one side of the street and down the other. The House probably isn’t in play, but just on the off chance, let’s see just how fast and how thoroughly the GOP of Donald Trump, David Duke, and all their respectable enablers from Ryan and McConnell on down can be tossed onto the ash-heap of history.
*Block-That-Metaphor alert
¹Not to suggest anyone IRL treat any livestock in their care as they might a rented Chevy Spark.
Image: Artemisia Gentilleschi, Justice embracing Peace, c. 1635.
chopper
damn, this afternoon’s got more bigfoot than a monster truck rally.
Schlemazel Khan
ALERT THE MEDIA!! WE HAVE FOUND A NEST OF BIG FOOTS (big feet?)
Jerzy Russian
OK, who is Justice and who is Peace in that image, and why are they embracing?
dr. bloor
@Schlemazel Khan: In re: our last exchange, I’ll take the “over” please.
chopper
If we hit that bullseye, the rest of the dominoes should fall like a house of cards. Checkmate!
Felonius Monk
How about an independent counsel investigating Trey Gowdy & Company for criminal waste of taxpayer money conducting a phony Benghazi probe.
Corner Stone
A crime of treason, punishable by public flogging and then a mild hanging by the neck until dead, dead, dead.
Corner Stone
Kellyanne Conway on WADR just layed out exactly what Comey’s goal was. Ready made ads with the FBI Director himself being quoted about HRC’s cupidity and culpability in her conviction.
Tom Levenson
@chopper: The thread. It is won.
cmorenc
The House Republicans are probably going to call hearings on why FBI director Comey failed to exercise proper legal judgment in not calling for Clinton to be indicted, because they claim that gross negligence is enough to charge her with a felony. We are being continually gifted this election season with Republicans stomping all over their own dicks because they cannot catch that wrascally wabbit, er Hillary Clinton.
redshirt
Wasn’t there a law passed during W’s reign that severely limited the possibility of special consuls and investigations of the like Bill endured throughout his terms? That’s why I assume Republicans didn’t try the same tricks with Obama, and that it won’t work with Hillz either.
Quinerly
Does this mean that Saint Bernie gets to be president??
Trentrunner
@Corner Stone: This is 100% correct, and it was 100% inappropriate of Comey to make this public non-indictment indictment. But that’s why he did it.
And Trump is STILL going to lose by 12+ points.
Trollhattan
@chopper:
The Republicans will spew candy like a home run derby piñata.
cmorenc
@Corner Stone:
This campaign tactic might have even worked had the GOP nominated someone they could pass off to the MSM as solid and sensible, like John Kasich. However, in Trump, the GOP is saddled with a nominee who cannot avoid stepping on his own dick with spiked cleats at least twice a week. If it comes down to a trust issue, a majority of voters will in the end pick someone (Clinton) about whom they have some trust reservations, over someone (Trump) who has enormous trust, judgment, and temperament issues.
Keith P.
@cmorenc: I think now that the FBI is done, the *real* investigation can begin…9 Congressional investigations into the matter, the last of which will have subpoena power!
khead
Andrea Mitchell was just telling me on NBC that the “Clinton rollout with Obama in NC” has been “ruined”.
redshirt
@chopper: It has been prophesied that this post too will be big footed by Adam in short order.
As it was written, so it shall be done.
scav
No wonder the Trumpster and Team R aren’t worried about election fundraising differences or lack of campaign staff– they’re planning to devote large chunks of the Congressional budget and staff to generating “questions”, sound-bytes and photo-ops.
Roger Moore
@chopper:
Thanks, Captain Brannigan.
Eric S.
@Tom Levenson: King him (or her).
FlipYrWhig
@khead: I really hate that fucking Andrea Mitchell.
cmorenc
@khead:
Thank you for that political insight Mrs. Greenspan.
SiubhanDuinne
I would like it very much if Gentilleschi had painted a companion piece entitled Hope embracing Change.
Jay C
@khead:
Maybe she should tell it to the huge cheering crowds Mrs Clinton and President Obama drew in N C ….
Hack…
Keith P.
Incidentally, since Comey apparently bends to pressure wrt addressing investigation of government officials, where’s all the browbeating to wrap up the Chris Christie investigation. Director, will the FBI recommend charges or not?
SiubhanDuinne
@khead:
Did she even watch it? Did she listen to the President’s words? Did she see the huge happy smile on Secretary Clinton’s face? Did she hear the cheers and chants of the ecstatic crowd?
“Ruined.” Huh.
patrick II
If they are co-equal branches of government, why does the legislative branch get to investigate the hell out of the executive branch for political purposes and not vice-versa? I would bet there are numerous “careless” “private” emails from republican senators/congressmen sitting on the committees for homeland security.
I guess it would be just too dangerous — as the Bush administration showed by using the justice department to look for democratic instances of voter fraud. But damn, sometimes I would sure like a little tit for tat.
JordanRules
@SiubhanDuinne: They don’t report what happened, they report what they wanted to happen. She’s pathetic.
As far as I’m concerned Trump should still be dealing with the fallout from that awful anti-semetic tweet he sent this weekend and instead we have this repeated stupidity. Makes my blood boil.
lamh36
@khead: Andrea Mitchell and Brian Williams can go play on a busy highway..together…
Gimlet
The President is lawless, Hillary is lawless and now…
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/06/us/politics/house-gop-may-seek-to-punish-democrats-for-gun-control-sit-in.html?_r=0
WASHINGTON — Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader, said on Tuesday that Democrats who protested the lack of votes on gun legislation by essentially seizing the House floor for more than 24 hours recently may be punished for breaking House rules.
The behavior was not “becoming of the U.S. Congress,” Mr. McCarthy said in an interview with a few dozen reporters on Tuesday. He said that it was his understanding that Democrats had mistreated House staff members and perhaps even damaged congressional furniture as they shut down the chamber with a sit-in-style protest.
Mr. McCarthy said that he and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan would be meeting with the House sergeant-at-arms later on Tuesday to discuss investigative paths and possible ramifications for the Democrats.
lamh36
@khead:
Andrea Mitchell and Brian Williams can go play on a busy highway..together…
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Trump asked Tom Brady (his good friend of 15 years) to speak at the convention and he said no.
Ditka and Nugent turned him down and Mike Tyson was cancelled quickly after Lawrence O’Donnell brought up Tyson’s rape conviction.
So I’m guess the only speakers will be the Duck Dynasty guys, some realty show contestants, and Palin.
Miss Bianca
Note to self: Do not go on to FB. Remember this. No amount of cute dog and kitty videos are worth confirming that your RWNJ relatives are planning to vote for Trump and would likely support this “independent counsel” nonsense.
Just.not.worth it.
Mike in NC
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Christie and Gingrich will each be allotted three hours to talk about themselves.
burnspbesq
Oddly, there were Republican majorities in both houses of Congress when the independent counsel statute was allowed to sunset.
Bwahahahaha.
Roger Moore
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:
You forgot Donald J. Trump Sr.; Donald J. Trump, Jr.; Donald J. Trump, Sr.; Ivanka Trump; Donald J. Trump Sr.; Eric Trump; Donald J. Trump, Sr.; Barron Trump; and Donald J. Trump, Sr.
Roger Moore
Deleted. Factually incorrect.
Trollhattan
@Roger Moore:
Clint Eastwood chasing a Roomba.
Corner Stone
@lamh36: I noted earlier this was fucking egregious:
“Chuck Todd asked if Obama was too good at this. MSNBC is a toilet.”
chopper
@SiubhanDuinne:
let’s ask the republican Magic 8-Ball(tm).
shakeshakeshake
ALL SIGNS POINT TO “DERP”
smith
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Stop the presses! Trump has found yoooge headliner to speak in Cleveland! Scott Walker (yes, the Scott Walker) will be on the program!
redshirt
@burnspbesq: I’m sure that there was a Republican president at the time was entirely coincidental.
Schlemazel Khan
@srv: There will be blow
backjobs:OH NOES!! When you have lost the Mourning Consult you have lost . . . well, nothing really
piratedan
@Corner Stone: well he’s certainly better at it than Chuck Todd will be at anything other than sucking ass.
FlipYrWhig
@efgoldman:
She’s been terrible for many, many tears. And years, too. At least 20 very bad ones. Do you think Alan Greenspan would have married a _good_ journalist?
hovercraft
@Corner Stone:
I look forward to his first briefing with President Clinton, that won’t be awkward at all.
shell
Nooooo, not the furniture!!
Will hav to give CNN and MSNBC a pass for at least 24 hours, cause it will be email outrage all the time. Nothing but tut-tutting how this is somehow Clintons doom. But most infuriating is their insinuation that Obamas endorsment of Clinton is nothing more than selfishly trying to ensure his legacy.
Ultraviolet Thunder
I have to fly tomorrow, getting up at 2:00 am.
Should I:
1) go to bed now
2) drink the last Sierra Nevada and read Tom’s Vulcan book
3) horse around on the internet until midnight and oversleep?
hovercraft
@SiubhanDuinne:
According to all the talking heads it was, scathing, consequential, damaging, crippling, and so many more negative adjectives, but at the end of the day it will be the villagers and republicans who will be influenced by this. They can call for a special prosecutor but Obama will not fall for that nonsense, they’ve tried with Benghazi, Fast and Furious and all the other non scandals and Obama has said no. That’s why they’ve had to resort to partisan congressional committees that do not carry the same weight.
Smiling Mortician
@Ultraviolet Thunder: Combine 1 and 2.
eric
@Ultraviolet Thunder: I am getting up at 3 am for a flight….whatever you decide, your body will choose plan b
The Lodger
@Ultraviolet Thunder: Voting for Sierra Nevada and Vulcan, myself. It’s on my short To Read stack right after the next-to-last Hugo Best Novel nominee.
Ian
@Trollhattan:
I’d rather have the chair on the stage by itself.
Hal
@FlipYrWhig: Pretty sure she was the one who compared Obama to Nixon and Watergate when that idiotic IRS scandal hit. I do remember her throwing in one of those “if true” lines just to cover her ass, though.
Ultraviolet Thunder
@The Lodger:
Moot point now. A furious thunder storm started, I got soaked running to close the windows on my rental car and now the power is out.
If it’s not on in 30 minutes I’m going to decamp to a hotel at BHM airport.
Tuscaloosa is suddenly undesirable.
ETA:
Shit. No power no elevator. I’m 5 floors up with my weight in luggage.
Son of a BITCH.
hovercraft
@Corner Stone:
Yes Obama is the best pure campaigner of my lifetime, but he did not detract from Hillary, he augmented her. They are trying to get her to bench her best supporting player. Not going to happen, he will be out there with her as much as he can when he is not busy with his day job.
Origuy
@SiubhanDuinne: How about this one? The art world may call it Judith Slaying Holofernes, but Artimisia was a visionary; her own title was Hillary Beheading Donald.
redshirt
@Ultraviolet Thunder: It’s a great workout!
Ultraviolet Thunder
Nobody’s reading this but now there’s a bigfat double rainbow outside my window.
The storm quit and the sun is out.
Ultraviolet Thunder
Still no power and no traffic lights.
So screwed.
scav
Generalized problems will at least save you from the stairs plus luggage attempt.
Oldgold
Other than Hayes, the only good thing about MSNBC is that virtually nobody watches it.
Paul T
As long as the investigator also goes after Condoleeza Rice and Colin Powell…………………..
Ultraviolet Thunder
And the power is back on. I guess this is survivable after all.
WarMunchkin
I hear there’s this “Kenneth” fellow available.
frosty
@Ultraviolet Thunder:
Well, 1 is right out. If you do that you’ll lie awake and end up at 3. 3’s probably not a good choice for catching a flight. So that leaves 2. You’re lucky there’s only because if there were more you could drink them and end up at #3 anyway.
My advice: Fly out the night before and pay for the hotel yourself.
AnotherBruce
Do the Democrats get to appoint an independent counselor for Donald Trump’s involvement with Trump University? Apparently there were some real victims involved in that imbroglio. The Republicans can never let the resignation of Richard Milhouse Nixon go.
grandpa john
@hovercraft: I have a feeling that he may well be looking for a new job come late January
J R in WV
@efgoldman:
She was smiling so hugely as she dissed both the President and Secretary Clinton. It made her look, well, to be kind, not well.
Isn’t she 70? No, 69, she’ll be 70 in October.
No One You Know
@Gimlet: Someone clearly slept through American history class. And furthermore, had never taken a guided tour of the Representatives’s historic, as well as the current, chamber, with a polite and well-educated intern bubbling with good cheer about bad behavior in the House.
Vhh
@patrick II: how about letters from Senators to the heads of hostile govts (ie Iran) seeking to undermine the President’s negotiations with said govts in his Constitutional roles as Commander in Chief? Intentional aid and comfort to the enemy is High Treason in Britain,and used to be punished by hanging, drawing, and quartering.
Tom Levenson
@Ultraviolet Thunder: ;-)
That is all.
redshirt
@Tom Levenson: I read your Vulcan book then gave it to my somewhat newly hatched (last 8 years shockingly) Wingnut Dad and after a month I inquired he said he liked it except for the politics. I didn’t comment as per our (my) agreement not to discuss politics.
I loved it, but thought your ending was abrupt. Should have worked it for another chapter.
Tom Levenson
@redshirt: What politics? Seriously. That was as thoroughly a non political book as I ever expect to write.
As for the ending? What more did you want to know? As a rule, I’m happy if I leave a reader wanting more.
redshirt
@Tom Levenson: I’m sure it was mere mention of climate change. That’s it. Fox news has programmed folks to respond negatively towards the idea of climate change so they go into attack mode. It’s breathtaking and heartbreaking to see.