NEW: Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi will be named to a post in the Trump White House, sources tell me. Trump aides finalizing her role.
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) January 5, 2017
To recap, in 2013, Bondi’s office was investigating fraud claims against known fraud factory Trump U. Trump illegally contributed $25K via his “charity” to Bondi’s reelection campaign. The Trump U probe went away.
After the investigation was dropped, Trump made a substantially higher in-kind donation by holding a fundraiser for Bondi at his tacky-ass mansion in Florida, charging Bondi $5 grand for use of the facility, which he would later charge his own presidential campaign $140K to use.
Paid? Played!
Quid? Pro-quo’d!
On the bright side, if this deal goes down, the citizens of Florida will be rid of Crooked Pam, at least at the state level. But her replacement will almost certainly be someone just as venal and corrupt.
The Moar You Know
Problem here is, Florida is all swamp.
Mister Forkbeard
Everyone once in a while, I remember friends who told me “Hillary is SO CORRUPT. Trump at least won’t be doing the pay-for-play thing”, and while I can’t quite bring myself to smile I DO feel some schadenfreude.
Seriously, the amount of corruption here is pretty amazing, and Trump hasn’t even taken office yet. Going to be a long four years.
AnderJ
@The Moar You Know: The thread is over after the first comment. You win the internets today.
O. Felix Culpa
@The Moar You Know:
As is Washington, D.C. Coincidence? I think not.
ruemara
Well, that worked
Thoroughly Pizzled
Might as well convert the White House to a federal penitentiary so we won’t have to bother transporting them.
Droppy
Just keep reminding yourself that, although Trump may be a mysogynistic, anti-Semitic, racist, incompetent, deranged, dishonest, corrupt, degenerate, unqualified, ignorant, irrational, immature, humorless, authoritarian Putin-puppet, Hillary Clinton did something wrong with her email. Please keep things in perspective.
goblue72
@Mister Forkbeard: Anybody who claimed Trump wouldn’t be able to do a pay-for-play thing should have had their head immediately smacked. Repeatedly until the stupid fell out.
goblue72
Given its Trump, he’ll probably make her his “receptionist”. Maybe Secretary for Correspondences.
cmorenc
@Mister Forkbeard:
Except that many of them will firmly remain willfully blind, deaf, and dumb to the blatantly obvious corruption of the incoming Trump Administration – it will take awhile and a few meteor-strike level incidents to penetrate their “lalalala I can’t HEAR you” attitude if you attempt to point it out to them. This very weekend, I’m going to have the opportunity to test that proposition because my otherwise very considerate, polite nephew is going to bunk at our house because his new job took him out of town, and this is his National Guard weekend in Raleigh.
Cermet
The Dump is doomed; all the thugs are doing is letting the fool hang himself with his base – will take two years before they do it (after mid-terms). Then, they install their real man (current VP) after an impeachment/removal for the Dump’s many crimes.
O. Felix Culpa
At the risk of sacrilege, I almost don’t care about the corruption. What burns me is that it’s not enough for these self-indulgent trough-feeding miscreants to gorge themselves, they must also chisel the poor and middle classes out of what few creature comforts and services they have. Dickens knew these people. Dante assuredly had a circle in Hell for them.
Mnemosyne
@Mister Forkbeard:
Yep. I STILL have morons spouting that on my Facebook, and I can’t even unfriend them because they’re posts that other people are liking.
If you have your head so far up your ass that you can’t admit that Donald Trump is worse than Hillary Clinton, there is no hope for you.
Kathleen
@Thoroughly Pizzled: Not Federal Penitentiary. The Pam Bondi Memorial Correctional Resort (after Pam pays for naming rights).
Raven
@Mnemosyne: it’s you they hate, remember that.
EZSmirkzz
Sigh
And to think, I used to say that about W.
We are doomed. Doomed! Doomed i tell ya.
Mister Forkbeard
@cmorenc:
@Mnemosyne:
@goblue72:
No argument with any of you. But there was this sense that he was an “independent businessman who’d clean things up” for some completely bizarre reason that I couldn’t get a lot of people to acknowledge – some of whom were blind Bernie or Busters, and some of whom were conservatives. Likewise, no one was ever able to actually show any evidence of pay-for-play with Hillary, just some “suggestions it might maybe have occurred”. Trump has already surpassed that low bar by huge amounts.
debbie
My vocabulary fails me.
JPL
Biden on NewsHour told Trump to grow up. There will be tweets. SAD
Mnemosyne
@Mister Forkbeard:
Misogyny and Clinton Derangement Syndrome is a deadly combination.
ThresherK
What, no spots to appoint Katharine Harris to?
Baud
@Raven: Yep.
@Mnemosyne: Yep.
p.a.
@Cermet: I tend to agree, but don’t forget the sparrow/curtainrod* theory. Even if his base comes to dislike him, they still may support him. And if he helps Repubs keep winning, he ain’t goin’ nowhere.
*Really needs a name.
Also too, certainly a minor point given current trajectory and concerns, but here’s a thought to increase our indignation: some day there’ll be a Donald tRump Presidential Library.
Calouste
@p.a.:
pat
@p.a.:
hoo boy let’s have fun deciding what they will put in THAT. Not books, for sure
Mike E
@JPL: If Biden said “big boy pants” I’d personally go to Penn and shake his hand.
ruemara
@p.a.: now with even less books than the GWB one!
Ugh.
If we still know how to read
Mnemosyne
@p.a.:
And it’ll be right in the middle of New York City.
Calouste
@ThresherK: Did she endorse the shitgibbon at any point? That’s the only qualification for a politician to get a spot in the shitgibbon’s administration.
Shell
Can you build a whole library around nothing but tweets?
Betty Cracker
@p.a.: Ewww. I hadn’t even thought of that. Hopefully it’ll be in NYC somewhere since that is the Bethlehem from whence the rough shitgibbon slouched, and thus the “presidential” library will be the target of frequent streams of urine and other acts of vandalism by the good people of that blue city.
? Martin
@Mnemosyne: Good luck getting the city to approve that. It’ll be in Florida.
debbie
@Mnemosyne:
Its only content a lonely Twitter machine.
ruemara
@Mnemosyne: We will burn that shit down. No it fucking won’t.
ok, I have to go to the urgent care clinic. This is a pretty bad virus. Y’all have fun planning to storm the castle
germy
@goblue72:
So smart! Any more words of wisdom?
Baud
@? Martin: It should be in Moscow.
Steve in the ATL
@ThresherK:
No, she’s old and no longer hot. Maybe she has a daughter?
Steeplejack (tablet)
@p.a.:
Spinner rack in the lobby of Trump Tower.
RepubAnon
On a brighter note, the entire Congressional Ethics Office staff will soon be working for $1:
SiubhanDuinne
@ruemara:
Started from the bottom of the comments so no idea what, if anything, preceded this — but sounds unpleasant. I hope you get it under control quickly.
stinger
There’s not the obvious corruption as with the Bondi thing, but I was so glad to see IA Gov Terry Branstad named for Amb. to China. AT LAST we will be rid of him. The man’s been governor practically half my lifetime, and I’m OLD. The fact that M. les Petits Doigts promptly set about alienating China is just icing on the cupcake.
hovercraft
Since I assume Batboy will fill the vacancy, I actually think the person could be even worse if you can imagine that. Sigh.
Mnemosyne
Apropos of nothing, I saw The King and I for the first time yesterday and realized that the “Joseph Smith American Moses” number in Book of Mormon is a tribute to that show’s “The Small House of Uncle Thomas.” Trey Parker really is a fan of traditional musicals.
Also, I’m assuming that the book for TKaI has had a few edits over the years, or else the actors were really good, because Anna’s prissy Victorianism and the King’s “barbarianism” looked pretty equally archaic. To me, Anna’s encouragement of Tuptim’s tragic romance made me kind of mad that she would endanger those two people’s lives out of ignorance.
(And, yes, since it’s 2016, all of the Asian roles were played by actual Asian-Americans. Jose Llana as the King was particularly good.)
Roger Moore
@p.a.:
And they’re going to fight even harder than the Nixon people did to keep everything he did secret.
Baud
Dan Coats was appointed Director of National Intelligence. He’s apparently not a fan of NSA reforms and privacy protections, so I’m sure all the civil libertarians will be speaking out right about now . . . . right?
randy khan
@ Martin:
There’s no way they could raise enough money for it to be in Manhattan (unless he’d donate a floor of Trump Tower (as if)), and the only borough of New York that voted for him was Staten Island, which is so déclassé even he wouldn’t put his library there, so it’s got to be Florida.
Major Major Major Major
I posted an article about the $1 pay thing on the book of faces today, and I guess my privacy settings reverted to default, because a gun-humping Johnson-voting libertarian who I keep friended for business reasons chimed in with a “Good, ‘do what I say or you’re fired’ is called ‘having a boss’ for most people.”
So I deleted his comment and redid my privacy settings, but I just figured I would complain.
@Baud: 2016 was a decision between Goldman Sachs and Donald Trump, dontcha know.
Baud
@Major Major Major Major: I see your libertarian friend doesn’t believe in labor contracts. Quelle surprise!
ETA:
Another reason I don’t Facebook.
Ian
Trump IS draining the swamp. He just never said what he would do with all of the moldy corpses, alligators, and catfish he found at the bottom.
Thru the Looking Glass...
Just keep track of EVERYTHING these crooked SOBs do, like this, and then remind every Republican you know, over and over and over and over and over…
Don’t call ’em names… don’t accuse them personally of anything… just mention it every chance you get…
Until they hear it in their sleep…
Mebbe ask them… ‘so, how’s that working out for you?’
And keep asking for that damned tax return… every f-in’ day…
Mnemosyne
@Baud:
Somebody pointed out towards the end of one of the previous threads that Coats is best-known for his Clinton-era questioning of our attempts to kill Osama Bin Laden as being a distraction from the more important Blowjob Impeachment.
(In fact, that “somebody” may have been you, but I honestly don’t remember.)
So, yeah, he’s clearly an astute judge of what’s a threat to the US and what isn’t.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
And we got to have BOTH Goldman Sachs and Trump running everything! Aren’t we lucky? //
Corner Stone
@Steve in the ATL:
“No longer hot?” What? She has been 100 Dalmatians short of a coat for basically her entire time in the limelight.
Baud
@Mnemosyne: It wasn’t me.
And to be fair, wasn’t that accusation about Clinton floating around on the left side of the room as well?
hovercraft
@ThresherK:
Remember he hates the Bush’s, or was that yesterday, he may now love them.
I’m waiting with baited breath to see what La Palin gets, she swooped down a couple of times to campaign for him, surely she deserves something, no? Or does her star shine too bright for him?
Shalimar
@debbie: Don’t be silly. The Trump Presidential Library will also contain the stuffed remains of all the secretaries he dictated his tweets to. And also a stuffed lion that Don Jr. killed on safari, because the taxidermist threw it in as a bonus.
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: It was because the last thing I posted was set to ‘public’. One must maintain constant vigilance.
Incidentally, the last thing I posted was a picture I made of my cat with mouse ears.
Baud
@Major Major Major Major: That’s a great picture.
Mnemosyne
@Thru the Looking Glass…:
I’m an asshole, so I love to remind Trump supporters that they chose this. Sorry, no complaining allowed — this is what you wanted.
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: Thanks!
Shalimar
@Thru the Looking Glass…: I don’t know any Republicans. All the Republicans in my family are pissed off that I kept calling them evil at family gatherings. Also heartless sociopaths.
Roger Moore
@Baud:
The freedom to enter into contracts is sacred, unless it protects proles. In the same vein, the way to prevent private wrongdoing is through lawsuits, not regulation, but we must pass tort reform.
Mnemosyne
@Baud:
Nope, it was a Republican thing.
Roger Moore
@hovercraft:
Ambassador to Russia? She’s practically there already!
Baud
@Mnemosyne: Lots of things are Republican things that get adopted by the left. But maybe this wasn’t one of them.
Emerald
@Droppy:
Actually, no, Hillary Clinton did not do anything wrong with her emails. That was nothing more than a smear campaign led by the New York Times. Our intrepid political media had to have something to bash her with, but they didn’t, so they made it up. (Or, as Adam says, it was a shot across her bow in anticipation of her becoming President.)
delk
Pam spent a whole bunch of money claiming that my marriage would ‘Impose Significant Public Harm’.
Shalimar
@Roger Moore: She doesn’t even have to leave her house!
Baud
@Roger Moore: You understand perfectly, grasshopper.
Shalimar
@delk: Rumor has it that Pam’s dominatrix ordered her to do that.
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: I remember it coming from the left, but I was also young.
Iowa Old Lady
The idea that a rich person won’t be motivated by money is ridiculous. How do you think they got to be rich?
hovercraft
@Mnemosyne:
What and become the most vandalized place in the city? I think not, but if it was located in the city, I would recommend placing a homeless center right next door to drive him nuts, between them and the street vendors outside he’d go nuts. Perhaps they can give it to Wharton*, after all he’s their most famous, most successful alumni, right?
* Yes I know that there is something hinky about the Wharton story, he didn’t really go there or something.
Patricia Kayden
@Baud: Calling Greenwald and Snowden. Please pick up the white phone.
Patricia Kayden
@hovercraft: Ambassador to Russia, which she can see from her house in Alaska, would be perfect. She could word salad it up with her fascist pal, Putin and be out of our sight.
Mike in NC
He’ll just rebrand his tacky Mar-A-Lago joint as his presidential library and charge admission to it.
hovercraft
@Baud:
FTW !!
Kathleen
@debbie: A “Tiny House” Library as a fitting tribute to President TIny Hands.
Corner Stone
@Iowa Old Lady:
They inherited it and then used that money to bully people who had no defense, and then stole everything from them? Repeat as needed?
Kathleen
@ruemara: Hope you feel better soon! Wise to get it taken care of. This stuff seems to be lingering with a few of us.
Mike in NC
Stan Lee of Marvel Comics couldn’t have come up with a bigger roster of losers and lunatics than the members of the incoming Trump Administration.
Mnemosyne
@Baud:
See also, 90 percent of the attacks on Hillary Clinton in this last election.
Mnemosyne
@Emerald:
I think Droppy forgot the sarcasm tags.
For anyone who isn’t here every day, that would be a double slash after any comment that might be a little too dry. Like so: //
hovercraft
@stinger:
Isn’t the problem that he keeps coming back and your people keep electing him? My understanding was that he’s basically rewired your entire state, and made it extremely difficult for any democrat to win for the foreseeable future.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
A couple questions…
Is there actually a Trump Resistance movement or organization one could join? I saw George Takei urge people to “join the resistance”. Or is it more like just referring to oneself as “a fellow traveller”? I know folks like Oppenheimer got in trouble for attending meetings or donating to the red cause back in the 30’s.
I’m sure I’ve worded this naively, but any thoughts? I mean, the alt right has no problem loudly and proudly declaring their shit.
pacem appellant
What is wrong with you purple states? Here in CA, we just wipe the floor Republican party. Democrats not only control both the upper and lower chamber, but with super-majorities in both. Plus, there isn’t a single Republican at the executive, not for several election cycles, not since… Schwarzenegger. While our national delegation is good, it still has the loathsome Darryl Issa, and we sadly just replaced a good Dem (Mike Honda) with an milquetoast one (Ro Khanna). Point is, we’re holding water for a lot of you all. Back us up here!
First up: Florida. Stop running that former Republican for governor (the other bald gut). He’s pretty lame. And in six years, send someone more handsome to run against Sen. Sippy Cup; shouldn’t be too hard for the Sunshine state. Next, send Zika into some of the retirement communities; not to prune the vine, as it were, but to get some of those grouches to grow an empathy engine. And make sure everyone can vote! Even if you, yes you Betty, have to personally drive each and every voter to the polls. Do you have absentee voting? It’s the best, get that, too. Register everyone.
Major Major Major Major
@Emerald:
Are you joking?
She sent them while Hillary Clinton.
Mnemosyne
@ruemara:
Ugh. Are you in the path of all the rain? My friends in Santa Cruz county are getting slammed right now.
hovercraft
@Ian:
Perhaps he meant the swamp that is the republican party, and the dregs that are left behind are being brought to DC. It’s like he’s the joker, and he’s assembling a team of super-villains.
Mister Forkbeard
@Mnemosyne: It’s pretty dry in CA at the moment. Basically scattered showers over most of CA, and we’re expecting a big deluge this weekend again…. but Friday is supposed to be clear.
Ella in New Mexico
@Cermet@Cermet:
I tend to think this too.
What’ll be the twist in this story is that VP Pence and his Merry Band of Transition Team Fiends ARE the ones coming up with these appointments. They ARE the ones telling Donald to hit the Twitter with his crazy support of Putin and Assange. They ARE the ones encouraging him to stick to his guns when it comes to all his financial conflicts of interest. “Don, it’s your right to keep your businesses. You EARNED them, Don. And besides, you’re the President so if you do it it’s legal. PROMISE.”
So he’s charging full steam ahead with his stoopid. And they’re waiting, waiting until every thing is in place. And then they’ll stick the shiv in to the hilt.
I can’t wait for the day that he does get his ass kicked out of there and you see that look on his face. That look of betrayal, of “How did this happen to me?”Of “Oh my God WHAT HAVE I DONE!!!!”.
It’ll be the best Twilight Zone episode since the one where obsessive, self-centered reader Henry Beemis survives the horror of a nuclear attack, and stumbles upon the front steps of the New York Library, now his alone to enjoy.
And then his glasses fall off his face and he’s stuck there for the rest of his life, unable to see a God-damned thing.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
If you had an idea for a bumper sticker or tee-shirt (anti Trump related), would you go the Cafe Press route or have to legally protect the written expression to protect the product?
I’ve had a thought for such a product, but have no clue how to proceed. Could I declare it in writing here at BJ in a comment and thus establish a sort of ownership? Hell, maybe someone else has already run with it and I’m a day late and a dollar short….
Thru the Looking Glass...
@Mnemosyne: Yup… and be polite about it… and ENDLESSLY persistent…
You’ll never change everyone’s mind… you just need to change enough of them to win the next election…
Katep
Just watched thoughtful, intelligent interview with Joe Biden on the NewsHour. Feeling suicidal once again. How did we let this happen?
debbie
@Kathleen:
I like it! Tiny gold trim throughout!
Roger Moore
@West of the Rockies (been a while):
I think as a practical matter that you should just go for it and not worry too much about legal protection. You legally get copyright protection the moment you fix your idea in tangible form, but actually pursuing legal cases against violators can be more expensive than it’s worth. You’re better off just creating something good and selling it before anyone else gets in.
germy
@Ella in New Mexico:
Interesting that’s your take on Henry Beemis. It says quite a lot about you.
Mnemosyne
@Mister Forkbeard:
I’m down in LA County, so we had big rain last night, with some today. There will be a little more on Saturday, with the next big rain on Monday.
My friends in Santa Cruz are keeping a close eye on the creek behind their house, because it’s currently a raging river and getting higher by the hour.
Dog Dawg Damn
BREAKING: Former CIA dir. and senior Trump transition official James Woolsey just resigned, effective immediately.
Mnemosyne
@Dog Dawg Damn:
When is the big intelligence report about Russia supposed to be presented to the Trumpers, again?
One wonders if Woolsey got a special sneak preview and freaked out.
Dog Dawg Damn
@Mnemosyne: President Obama got it this afternoon. Andrea Mitchell said it would most likely be shared with Trump. His briefing is tomorrow.
There is something crazy going on behind scenes for this all to be happening so fast.
Mister Forkbeard
@Dog Dawg Damn: Oh, THAT’s interesting. I wonder what that’s about?
@Mnemosyne: Ah. I’m in the Bay Area. It rained a bit last night (but not a lot), but it was freaking pouring on Tuesday.
p.a.
@debbie: The virtual tour of beauty pageant dressing rooms will be popular with fratbros. P***y grabbing tourguides discouraged unless your net worth is 9 figures and up.
Major Major Major Major
@efgoldman: What if he was about to become a party-destroying millstone?
stinger
@hovercraft: We shall see, once he’s out of the country. (He probably has, but I live in hope.)
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@Roger Moore:
Thank you for the input. I know squat about marketing or design, but have a slogan I think would genuinely sell well.
It looks like there’s no startup costs if you go through Cafepress, and you get 10% of any sales, but even font choice kind of evades me. I’d happily split the profits if anyone knows that stuff and Cafepress workings.
Dog Dawg Damn
@Major Major Major Major: I think impeachment is a significant possibility given how unfit he is.
I think it may become untenable.
Patricia Kayden
@efgoldman: And even if they impeached Trump, we would then end up with President Pence, the Christianist Nightmare who hates women’s reproductive rights and gay rights.
? Martin
@Major Major Major Major: About to? But I agree, I can easily foresee a set of circumstances where the GOP decide they can’t afford to have him attached to the party.
Dog Dawg Damn
@Dog Dawg Damn: The magical thinking will evaporate when/if he starts actually doing what he says he’s going to do.
And then pushing back on their own agenda.
Very easy to see them take him down, to be honest.
Mister Forkbeard
@Mnemosyne: Looks like Woolsey was upset that he was being cut out of Intel discussions:
Tweet from Josh Marshall: “James Woolsey has resigned from Trump transition. Sources say he was cut out of intel talks w/ Trump & Flynn, grew uncomfortable. Story TK”
debbie
Oops.
Dog Dawg Damn
@Patricia Kayden: This would be a preferable outcome. If we actually believe he is the kind of threat we are saying he is, then we have to acknowledge Pence is better outcome.
Also, they’d be quite crippled. Impeachment would roil the nation. Calls for bipartisanship would mount. This is preferable. All of it.
Patricia Kayden
@Major Major Major Major: What would Trump do which would turn him into a party-destroying millstone? I have to laugh at this suggestion since he’s already so deranged and egotistical that any sensible group of people would be ashamed to be associated with him. And yet, Republicans are falling over themselves to please him.
Dog Dawg Damn
And let’s be honest–if he is impeached it will be because the nation was put at severe, undeniable risk. That risk will be so great, so undeniable, that the nation will panic and demand he be removed.
After a crisis like that, they aren’t going to have as much leeway to shove unpopular shit through Congress.
? Martin
California considering moving its primary earlier to benefit Kamala Harris should she decide to run in 2020. Oh please, oh please, oh please make this happen.
debbie
@Mnemosyne:
He’s also been very anti-Assange. I’m sure Mango Mussolini didn’t appreciate that.
Roger Moore
@Mister Forkbeard:
He was undoubtedly hewing too close to reality for the Trump team to accept.
West of the Rockies (been a while)
@West of the Rockies (been a while):
Damn auto-correct! That should be “font evades me…”
I’d happily split any profits if anyone here knows a little about design and Cafepress workings.
Dog Dawg Damn
@Roger Moore: Possible that there is new information?
trollhattan
@Mister Forkbeard:
The various water supply and flood control agencies are ramping up, as the coming storm might be a doozy (technical term) and depending on where it tracks across the Sierra, may overwhelm one or more already saturated river drainage. Continual rain currently predicted starting Saturday through Thursday, heaviest over the weekend. Stay tuned.
Major Major Major Major
@Patricia Kayden: Something that would be bad for the party’s electoral prospects, obviously.
? Martin
@Patricia Kayden: Well, the GOP has limited options nationally, and Trump delivered PA, MI, WI for them. Hard to deny that benefit. They have no real option but to support him at this time. Really, we’re facing something of a cultural rift that is almost impossible for politicians to bridge. There is no viable middle ground on so many of these issues so what else can they do but go all-in on the voters that got them this far.
The same conditions constrain democrats, with the beneficial knowledge that demographics are in their favor long-term, provided the GOP doesn’t so massively undermine the very structure of democracy that popular candidates can’t win (as we just saw).
Mister Forkbeard
@? Martin: I really like Kamala Harris, but I do not want another female nominee in 2020. VP is fine. But I think we just sufficiently demonstrated that misogyny is a major force in American politics, and unless dynamics change in the next 4 years it’s not worth the risk that Trump gets another 4 years.
I feel really awful about this, but I don’t really know what else to do.
SiubhanDuinne
Everybody who’s talking about “impeachment,” I think what you really mean, and really need to say each time you reference the possibility, is “impeachment and conviction.”
Let’s face it, Bill Clinton was impeached by the House, but was never convicted in the Senate. Al Gore never became President. In order for Mike Pence to ascend to the Presidency in this kind of scenario, Trump would have to be impeached and convicted, or resign voluntarily as Nixon did in the sure expectation that he would otherwise be forced out of office. (I’m not currently entertaining ideas of heart attacks, strokes, and similar health issues.)
pacem appellant
@? Martin: Interesting! I’ll bring this up at the local Dem club and see what folks think.
SatanicPanic
@? Martin: YES! It’s about time we start throwing our weight around.
SiubhanDuinne
@Mister Forkbeard:
Sorry, but apparently I am insufficiently aware of The Cyber and its lingo. What does “Story TK” mean, please?
pacem appellant
@Mister Forkbeard: I really like Harris, too, but at this point, I don’t think she’s charismatic enough. Hopefully 4 years in the Senate under Warren’s tutelage will teach her what motivates national dems, not just the pinkos on the left coast. In fact, of all the CA elected officials, I think Gavin Newsom is the most charismatic, though I don’t think he should run in 2020. He’s gunning for governor, and I think he should stop there.
Baud
@? Martin: They need to revamp the whole primary calendar.
SatanicPanic
@Mister Forkbeard: I don’t think we win by being chickens. Everyone will remember Democrats as that party that threw minorities under the bus at the first sign of resistance.
Major Major Major Major
@Baud: Soooo fucking sick of Iowa. Do they have pictures of every other state with a goat or something?
ETA: My news alert says that the US has identified the ‘go-betweens’ the Russian government used to get emails to Wikileaks.
goblue72
@? Martin: She’s an empty suit with a penchant for grandstanding who keeps failing upward. She’s US Senator because Loretta Sanchez melted down into a looney tune under the spotlight, and the best the state GOP could field was a Silicon Valley Republican whose name was “Duf”.
She was useless in the SF DA’s office and she was useless as state AG. I know career attorneys in the state AG who take their jobs seriously – they were all glad when she left and are now hoping they will get to actually be lawyers again pursuing actual cases like they were able to when Jerry was AG.
Last thing we need is her running against Trump and leaving us with a party that in addition to losing every state we did this time around, also loses us Minnesota, NH, and Virginia.
Gvg
@efgoldman: yes they might. If they are going to lose a lot of elections. If they prefer Pence, who doesn’t seem to be as prone to declaring war on colleagues, it’s not going to happen right now.
When was the last time any republican said anything nice about Bush2? He is never mentioned. He hasn’t been asked to campaign for anyone. Not even sure JEB asked him to. Media thought JEB was a shoe in but he got about 2% of the vote…republican’s can hate republican’s in the right situation. I think Trump can manage to get hated. That is a talent I think he has.
debbie
@SiubhanDuinne:
TK = To Come
SatanicPanic
@goblue72: oh here we go again. *rolls eyes*
Mister Forkbeard
@SatanicPanic: It’s not about throwing women or minorities under the bus. It’s about not lowering possibilities of election for no particular reason.
Kamala’s generally pretty good. But getting a nominee that lots of Americans don’t have an automatic aversion/condescension to is going to be preferable for now, assuming we have other good candidates. And we probably do.
SiubhanDuinne
@debbie:
Ah. Fonetik.
Thanx.
Mnemosyne
@Mister Forkbeard:
Flynn was getting paid by Russian state propaganda outlet Russia Today, and now a former CIA director is being kept out of meetings.
Nothing to see here, comrades, move along for your ration of Victory Gin.
Baud
@Mister Forkbeard:
.
We do.
Baud
@debbie:
Is that the Russian spelling?
Roger Moore
@Patricia Kayden:
I can imagine that the Russia stuff could get very bad very quickly if it comes out that he was directly involved with releasing the hacked data. It’s one thing for him to say “Russia should hack Hillary’s server and release the rest of her emails”, since people could see that as a joke. It would be very different if it turned out that he was actively cooperating with Russian intelligence.
SatanicPanic
@Mister Forkbeard: Isn’t that the same thing? Sorry guys, we can’t run a black woman, because white people will get upset. Besides, we can’t totally chalk up Hillary’s loss to misogyny. There were plenty of factors there.
Jeffro
@Shell:
Maybe it’ll just be a special commemorative issue of MAD Magazine?
? Martin
@Mister Forkbeard: Fuck it. She’s solid. Clinton’s backstory did as much damage as anything else. Obama’s the lesson here – the RWNM didn’t have 20 years of tearing him down when he arrived so voters got a clean look at him. Same will apply to Harris. Young voters will fucking love her.
debbie
@Baud:
“To come” is a printing and journalism reference, commonly abbreviated to “TK”. It is used to signify that additional material will be added at a later date. TK as an abbreviation may originally have come into use because very few words feature this letter combination.
(Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_come_(publishing)
goblue72
@pacem appellant: That’s if he is able to make a go of it for Governor’s office. He’s everybody’s “idea” of what a winning politician “looks like”, but there’s not much there under the hair gel. His 8 years as Mayor of SF were notable for how much he DIDN’T get done. His claims to fame were his PR stunt around gay marriage (which stunt was quickly undone) and his Care-Not-Cash program for the homeless, which he got enacted as member of BoS even before he was mayor. He was regularly getting spanked by the BoS and he struggled to get bond measures passed. Ed “The Mustache” Lee, for all his faults as a party machine hack, has been mostly able to bottle up the BoS, win most of his fights, and get most of his propositions on the ballot passed (including a rather sizable Affordable Housing Bond).
Villaraigosa will make a go of it. And John Chiang is a bit of an underdog candidate right now, but I wouldn’t be all that shocked if he managed to outflank from the center-right in the jungle primary, and also wouldn’t be shocked if Jerry gives him an endorsement late in the race if he’s managed to make a solid run at it, given the John’s a tightwad & Jerry if anything likes a tightwad.
Jeffro
@Corner Stone:
Stealing that.
SiubhanDuinne
@Roger Moore:
As so many of the teevee “pundints” say: We are in “unchartered” territory.
SiubhanDuinne
@debbie:
Very interesting. Thanks.
Baud
Why do we let 2020 primary voters decide after a campaign who are nominee should be?
Meanwhile, there are other elections to win.
goblue72
@SatanicPanic: Whatever. I live in the Bay Area. I lived in SF when Harris was DA. And been in Bay Area while she was state AG. So I am well familiar with her performance – or lack thereof. And yes, I actually work and socialize in circles with people who have worked for her. Sorry if I actually have some relevant experience.
SatanicPanic
@goblue72: You know I might be more inclined to believe you if everything else I’d read from you before wasn’t ridiculous.
Mister Forkbeard
@SatanicPanic: No, it’s “Given three equally good candidates, let’s not choose the one that the media will demonstrably treat worse and large chunks of americans will automatically discount.”
If she’s a better candidate, then she gets the nod. But I doubt she’s much better than our other alternatives, and given those realities I’d rather go with the other candidates. That’s it.
@? Martin: It’s worth trying. But then, “Clinton’s Backstory” was largely fabricated and a BIG part of it was “ambitious woman = untrustworthy”, so I’m still skeptical. If Kamala Harris can pull it out and does well in the primaries, more power to her and she should get the nod. But I’m predisposed against it for the reasons I’ve previously stated.
Jeffro
@Mister Forkbeard:
Woolsey’s a nut, but…can you imagine how bananas Trump & Flynn must be to deal with (especially at the same time, especially if one has even an inkling of this thing we call ‘reality’)?? I guess ‘cut out of intel talks’ = ‘still had one foot on planet Earth’
ETA: oh fuck…of course someone else got there first (RM @ #125)
Mnemosyne
@goblue72:
Villaraigosa’s zipper control problems are much worse than Newsome’s, and he got jack shit done as mayor of LA. Nah. Gah. Happen.
Jay Noble
Since Pence will have been complicit in at least some of the impeachment charges, why not do an impeachment two-fer?
SatanicPanic
@Mister Forkbeard: But you’re missing the other side of that- lots of people are excited about her candidacy already. We don’t need to win over many Trump voters (if any), we just need to give our base a better reason to turn out.
goblue72
@Mister Forkbeard: Last thing Democrats should be thinking about is the White House. The overweening focus on the Presidency is part of reason Democratic party is such a mess. The party needs to change and part of that change is the party needs to figure out how to appeal to people who DON’T live on the coasts or in large urban areas.
Counting on “the demographics will save us” is just sheer stupidity.
Major Major Major Major
@SatanicPanic: I think this time the blind pig might have found an acorn, as I agree with goblue about Harris.
ETA: Reading her wiki article makes me feel like my lived experience is inaccurate, and I hear mixed things from people who have worked for her.
hovercraft
So when he’s not bringing in corrupt kleptocrats, he’s adding morons to his team.
Trump’s New Health Care Policy Staffer Thinks Birth Control Causes Abortions
Donald Trump’s transition team announced Thursday an addition to the President-elect’s White House policy team who has a history of railing against chemical birth control, claiming that it causes abortions and “deliberate miscarriages.”
Katy Talento, who will serve on Trump’s Domestic Policy Council working on healthcare policy is “an infectious disease epidemiologist with nearly 20 years of experience in public health and health policy, as well as government oversight and investigations and program evaluation,” according to the announcement by the Trump transition team. She has served the Trump campaign since July 2016 and has spent 12 years working in the Senate.
Talento’s advocacy against birth control was first surfaced when she has hired as a legislative director for Sen. Thom Tillis (R-SC). In an article she published at The Federalist in January 2015, Talento preached about the risks of birth control, some of which are founded in facts, like the risk of cardiovascular problems. But she also made bogus claims, including that birth control pills may cause miscarriages.
“Preventing a fertilized egg (i.e. after conception) from hunkering down in the wall of the uterus, where it can grow normally,” she wrote. “Progestin in birth control thins the endometrial lining (uterine wall), but a fertilized egg needs a thick, fluffy, blood-rich uterine wall to attach to and begin growth. Without it, the embryo can’t survive, and a miscarriage occurs.”
There is no link between miscarriages and taking birth control pills before a pregnancy, according to The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Talento also claimed in the article that birth control may limit a person’s ability to have children in the future.
‘Let’s say your life stage changes and you’re ready to try to have a baby,” she wrote. “You go off the Pill or the intrauterine device or whatever you’re taking. It takes a few months for the effects of the birth control to wear off and then you’re good to go, right? Wrong.”
Talento cited one study from 2012, but most other studies and experts have found no link between taking birth control and getting pregnant once going off the pill.
The top of Talento’s article asserted that “Chemical birth control causes abortions and often has terrible side effects, including deliberate miscarriage,” but she never expanded on how birth control could cause an abortion in the piece.
Talento had maintained an active Twitter presence until the Federalist article was circulated in 2015, promoting the piece on birth control as well as firing off tweets about “transgenderism” and “a black man trapped in a white body.”
SatanicPanic
@Major Major Major Major: That must be a weird place to be.
germy
@Major Major Major Major: A blind pig will occasionally find an acorn. GoBlue72 by accidentally sitting on it.
Jeffro
@Roger Moore:
It’ll be almost as interesting when Paul Manafort, Carter Page, and Roger Stone all get implicated in various parts of the hacking, communications about/planning for the hacked emails to be released, etc. Oh and hey don’t forget about ol’ Rudy, too.
Patricia Kayden
@Major Major Major Major: Like? Like be caught on tape boasting about sexually assaulting women? Like calling Mexicans rapists and criminals? Like refusing to release tax returns? Like admitting that he hasn’t paid personal taxes in years?
Like what? Republicans love him no matter what he does. I can’t see what he would do to change their minds unless he divorced Melania and married a Black woman.
Jeffro
@? Martin:
AY-MEN
Harris, Castro, Booker, Hickenlooper, Gillibrand, and many more I’m sure.
Major Major Major Major
@Patricia Kayden: I don’t know, but everybody’s got a breaking point.
@Jeffro: Yay Hickenlooper!
ETA: @efgoldman: I should have said, something that would be bad for their electoral prospects AND that they don’t want to do.
Patricia Kayden
@hovercraft: Small government party, y’all.
goblue72
@Mnemosyne: Oh I don’t disagree. I don’t think Villaraigosa is going to win. I just think he will make a go of it, and probably last longer than he did last time around, because there won’t a Jerry Brown entering the race and blowing all the empty suits out of the race. Just that Newsom isn’t that much better of candidate. They are BOTH mediocre.
Which is why I think Chiang has a shot if he’s able to get some traction (and assuming Becerra doesnt run). Chiang’s problem is his political career (BOE, Comptroller, Treasury) is all in “bean counting” positions and that time he stood up to Schwarzenegger is ancient history at this point. He’ll have to run to the center-right but do so in a way to not scare off to many liberal voters. Not sure he has the chops to pull off that dance or not.
Ella in New Mexico
@germy: Ok, are you stalking me now? Cuz it feels like harassment at this point. Not like you really want to have friendly conversation on my insights into Henry Beemis’s character on Twilight Zone.
germy
@Ella in New Mexico: Take a break, kiddo.
Mnemosyne
@SatanicPanic:
I’ve heard enough rumbles about Harris that I’m willing to hang back and see how she does as a senator before anointing her the next Barack Obama. She might do fine, but she might crash and burn. Let’s spread our eggs between more than one basket just in case.
FlipYrWhig
@SatanicPanic: Candidates who people like and vote for obviously suck! We should have more candidates who something something better, and also the working class.
goblue72
@Ella in New Mexico: Don’t take it personally. There’s a number of angry little nutbars here who can’t stand to have their little bubbles pierced by reality.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@FlipYrWhig: also, too, Millenials. I think Dwight is a Millenial on Thursdays.
FlipYrWhig
@Mnemosyne: But girls are icky and bad at things! Anyone but one of THOSE! *shudder* :P
Mister Forkbeard
@SatanicPanic: Cool. Then she’s got a head start. I’m looking forward to seeing how she does.
@goblue72: Focusing on the presidential election is a big mistake. But I’m not completely convinced we need to completely retool the party except in terms of optics, given that large chunks of the country agree with us. Hence why I’m hopeful but skeptical for Harris. I’d be more interested in pursuing a good opposition strategy over the next 2 years, and the lines and candidates that resonate are going to gravitate towards the top of the presidential lists in 2020.
FlipYrWhig
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: He’s the millennial whisperer. He knows how they think, and it’s with chukka boots and Twitter.
Mnemosyne
@goblue72:
And Chiang would need to run to the “center-right” in a state that went 60 percent to Hillary Clinton … why, again?
SatanicPanic
@Mnemosyne: Fair enough. I might be biased because her FB feed is making me go “YES!” like twice daily right now. She could just be full of it.
@FlipYrWhig: We should definitely not run someone popular in cities or on the coast, because it’s not like that’s where most people live.
germy
@goblue72: goblue72 against the world.
Ella in New Mexico
@efgoldman:
Maybe. As long as he’s useful to them as a way to get their agenda done. But the minute he becomes a liability–which i’d wager is already happening with this Russia thing, which makes him look to even his supporters like he’s a patsy–they won’t need him anymore because they’d have Pence. For now their content to use Trump with Pence and Co. running things in the background. But give it time.
Donald is a weak, weak man prone to making unfortunate mistakes.
Roger Moore
@Mister Forkbeard:
The point isn’t that it wasn’t fabricated but that it had 25 years of coverage to sink in, and that major media entities had made getting a Clinton part of their mission. A candidate without Hillary’s history wouldn’t have those disadvantages.
FlipYrWhig
@SatanicPanic: Oh, definitely not. It should be someone who millennials like but also not a lady, because of working class and banks and leaderless radical resistance.
Mnemosyne
@Jay Noble:
Because then we end up with President Paul Ryan, who’s next in line.
It’s assholes all the way down.
Baud
Why don’t we run a Vietnam vet with a purple heart? No way the media can demonize that.
pacem appellant
@goblue72: We’re just as susceptible to good looks and charm, and Newsom has both in spades. If he aspires for a national position, his lack of convictions will do nicely. (And I say this as a fan of Newsom). I’d rather the Dems not nominate Brown Clone (Chiang) to the governorship, but he’d do well as gov as well. I just don’t see him going up past gov, whereas Newsom–if he can catapult his charisma into the governor’s mansion–has yet to reach his ceiling.
SatanicPanic
@FlipYrWhig: Clearly it will have to be someone with just the right beard.
FlipYrWhig
@SatanicPanic: Indispensable.
StringOnAStick
My sister worked in the NV statehouse and she has nothing but praise for the new Democratic Senator from there, so put her on “possible” list too.
goblue72
@FlipYrWhig: Newsflash. A Democrat was going to win US Senate for California. Voters had two choices in the GE – a Democrat and a Democrat, thanks to our jungle primary system. The GOP is a rump party in the state, as evidenced by the Republican who ran in the primary being Duf Sundheim, a guy nobody could pick out of a lineup and who came in 3rd with measly 7.8% of the vote.
Harris had statewide name recognition and was endorsed by Obama, Biden, Boxer, Feinstein, Jerry Brown and everybody else who mattered or whose name anybody could recognize. And then they had their debate and Sanchez would probably have done better if she stripped down naked, smeared chocolate pudding all over herself and farted the Star Spangled Banner. It was just THAT bad. Esp. since it was a US Senate race in California, so beside TV ads, it was about the only time most voters actually “saw” either one in action. (Retail “shoe leather” politics in CA for statewide office being a bit of a challenge.)
Roger Moore
@Mnemosyne:
Agreed. I see Chiang as the less flashy candidate, but he has a good track record as Controller and Treasurer. The real dark horse, as I see it, is Betty Yee.
Ella in New Mexico
@goblue72: Oh, I don’t. Except germy seems to be here a lot, often contributes interesting commentary, and as such, should behave in a civil manner to the rest of the regulars or risk being considered a nut-job.
It’s weird and creepy to hate-stalk people through different threads. Eeew.
FlipYrWhig
@goblue72: No, you’re right, politicians who get elected to stuff suck, we need to knock off that shit before they get used to it.
Roger Moore
@hovercraft:
And when he’s really on his game, he gets a twofer.
MomSense
@Mister Forkbeard:
She’s an accomplished, ambitious woman ergo corrupt. This is how misogyny alters reality.
MomSense
@ruemara:
Yikes. Hope you feel better.
Cacti
@germy:
Bet on the world.
germy
@Ella in New Mexico: cray cray.
That was your reply to one of my comments (that wasn’t even addressed to you). Tell me more about how to behave in a civil manner. You show up here to name call and abuse people, and then you’re all “eek!” after any pushback. Also, I’m not your friend.
There are front pagers here and commenters who make excellent observations. You and goblue72 are the opposite. All hot air and dumb remarks, with nothing of value to contribute.
Roger Moore
@goblue72:
Sanchez was not helped by being the candidate the Republicans preferred to Harris.
Major Major Major Major
@Roger Moore: she’d certainly earned that distinction.
Mnemosyne
@goblue72:
Also, Sanchez is well known in So Cal to be right on the edge of corrupt, if not already there and merely unindicted. Maybe you need to spend some time in the more populated areas of the state since you seem to be unfamiliar with our local politicians.
Mister Forkbeard
@MomSense: Yeah. I’ve tried making that exact point awhile ago. It’s a big problem.
JPL
@Baud: lol
We could ask Kerry what he thinks.
goblue72
@Roger Moore: She’d first have to run for the office- which she hasn’t announced yet. That and she’s not going to be Governor. She’s not going to go run & split the Asian vote, whereas Chiang has already announced he’s running and started fundraising furiously. That and her tax plan is politically stupid – she was against extending Jerry’s income tax on the rich (which fight she lost) and wants to lower it and instead tax medical, legal and software services.
She’ll run for Treasurer though and I could see her winning. Esp. since the “musical chairs” system in state politics has slowed down a bit with the recent changes to legislative term limits.
Hitless
So…I’ll go with a wild guess that John Bel Edwards will be the nominee in for Democrats in 2020.
Ruviana
@West of the Rockies (been a while): I’ve joined OfA, which is now Organizing for Action. I’m signed up to listen to a call about strategies for supporting ACA on Sunday night. You can just google the name. There’s also Refuse Fascism which is more leftist and is planning some different things. I’ve checked out their website. I’m thinking that maybe some of the 1/21 march groups may evolve into something but I do know about these two.
goblue72
@Roger Moore: There is that too. I don’t know if you watched the Harris – Sanchez debate. I’m serious that Sanchez farting the Star Spangled Banner on-air would have been an improvement. Normally these days, these kind of state level debates are snoozefests. And would have been otherwise if Sanchez hadn’t decided that do whatever the hell THAT was. I guess it got her a lot of viral video buzz. Of the Dean Scream variety.
debbie
@Major Major Major Major:
It inspired the claims of the tail wagging the dog from the GOP. The left was cowed by the right into fits of moral.
goblue72
@Mnemosyne: I’m not exactly sure how you think the Bay Area is “not populated” but whatever insanity floats your insane boat.
And yes, I was aware of her reputation. But it was a reputation that was mostly confined to the L.A. area – and was not really a factor in most of rest of state – including the 9-county Bay Area – AKA the reason why California is blue, has jobs, and has a balanced budget.
Major Major Major Major
@goblue72: she said less populated, and it’s true.
Mnemosyne
@goblue72:
The population of the Bay Area is 7.5 million.
The population of the greater Los Angeles area is 18.5 million.
But I guess we should only listen to The Voice of the People (and the majority of the voters) if they live near your ivory tower.
Baud
@Mnemosyne: Only because the DNC rigged the census.
Ella in New Mexico
@germy: Y
First of all, give me a God-damned break with the “abuse” crap. No one abused you–you were the first person to start telling people to fuck off all over the place instead of trying to engage in a conversation. I so regret thinking you were a thinking, engaged person who could take a friendly back and forth without completely misconstruing it as some kind of personal attack.
Apparently, you did not follow the context of my conversation with the other, more civil folks, but it was about the whole idea that continuing to torture one’s self over and over again about something that one can no longer fix and merely ends up wasting energy needed to do the things that one CAN fix is crazy. As in cray-cray. As in the definition of crazy is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
Given that I’ve been here WAY longer than you have, and given that apparently, you’ve never read anything I’ve written before today, you really have no right to tell me if what I say matters or if I belong here or not. And the whole “you don’t belong here!” crap isn’t gonna work. I belong here as much as you do and I’m staying so get over yourself.
Stop stalking me, put the cleek filter on me if you must, but at this point in time, you cease to be someone I would consider sane and civil. I’m serious: Go away.
Mnemosyne
@goblue72:
Also, you should probably look at the Greater LA election results (LA, OC and Ventura) before you try to pull that “we keep California blue” bullshit.
Fucking Sacramento blowhards thinking they’re the fucking majority.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
You people disrespecting Dwight are gonna feel real silly when he finally gets over his endearing modesty and tells some of the honest and for true stories of his successful grass roots organizing and activism that totally really happened.
BillinGlendaleCA
@? Martin: He’ll put it in Trump Tower and the charge the Federal Government rent for it. Remember, always the grift.
germy
@Ella in New Mexico: I didn’t say you don’t belong here. I said you contribute nothing of value. Of course you’ll keep commenting (just like goblue72), but I won’t be reading any of it. Filter.
trollhattan
@Mnemosyne:
Hey now, I get to be the Sacramento blowhard, not this delusional hump!
Ella in New Mexico
@germy: good.
Mnemosyne
@trollhattan:
#NotAllSacramentans ?
mainmata
@Cermet: Dump will not last even one year either because of a) outrageous malfeasance/treason, b) mental incompetence (medically adjudicated), or c) boredom/frustration (he just resigns). He never expected to win. His proposed Cabinet is a ludicrous legion of Batman villains. What can you say? He is a grave national security risk right now.
Lurking Canadian
@p.a.: Two autographed copies of the Art of the Deal and a gift shop.