Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Everybody saw this coming.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

He really is that stupid.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

After roe, women are no longer free.

No one could have predicted…

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

“And when the Committee says to “report your income,” that could mean anything!

Republicans don’t trust women.

A consequence of cucumbers

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Golden Opportunities

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Golden Opportunities

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I think we may have found the perfect chant for the Women’s March!

(Sure, like you could resist.)

***********
Apart from putting on our hip waders and rubber gloves, what’s on the agenda for… (uh oh)… Hump Day?

Reader Interactions

127Comments

  3. 3.

    Betty Cracker

    I’ve been pondering what to put on my sign for the Women’s March. Thanks, George Takei!

  4. 4.

    laura

    I’m going out on a limb here, but I think this might be an interesting day news-wise.
    I’m looking forward to see how the confirmation hearings are impacted going forward, especially Tillerson.

    If Putins goal is to get sanctions lifted so he can get back to his artic drilling or pipelining, and that Tillerson had/has interests or connections, well, it would certainly go a ways to answering the why Trump/useful tool question.

  5. 5.

    OzarkHillbilly

    A spokesman for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday denied Russia has collected compromising information on Trump and dismissed news reports as a “complete fabrication and utter nonsense.” Dmitry Peskov insisted that the Kremlin “does not engage in collecting compromising material.”

    In other words, they got the goods on Trump.

  8. 8.

    Mustang Bobby

    Not to be contrary (moi?), but this kind of news won’t upset the GOP base. I’ve criss-crossed my share of flyover country and the billboards for fireworks are only outweighed by the ones for adult entertainment and toys.

    But if there were boys involved, well, that’s a whole nother thing.

  9. 9.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    The irony – you know who else was a coprophiliac? This guy (photo)

    “If she wasn’t my daughter….”

  11. 11.

    Bruce K

    @amk: They got Capone on income tax evasion. It sounds like we’re rapidly approaching a point where it doesn’t matter how Trump and his enablers in the GOP get taken down, so long as they go down.

  12. 12.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Remember when Wiener had to resign in 2011 and Drumpf was obsessed with the story, repeatedly commenting about it on twitter.

    People thought it was odd as he had no relationship with the guy who represented a working class district in the outter borough and, at the time, he was very good terms with the Clintons.

    Now it makes sense: it was all self loathing projection.

    Psychological projection is a theory in psychology in which humans defend themselves against their own unconscious impulses or qualities (both positive and negative) by denying their existence in themselves while attributing them to others.

  13. 13.

    Taylor

    I have a request of the front-pagers: Since a lot of BJers last night were breathlessly talking about moving to Ireland, can we have a post about Denis O’Brien?

    See also this. Executive summary: There is no first amendment right of free speech in Ireland or UK, and media are afraid to publish stuff because of the fear of lawsuits. Members of the Irish Parliament (the Dail, pronounced Dawl) have a right of free speech in that parliament, but O’Brien is now suing the members of a parliamentary committee for divulging details of his insider business deals.

    For context about the corruption that remains undisclosed and unpunished, with the taxpayer picking up the bill to the tune of billions of dollars, read about Anglo Irish Bank

    If this blog were published in Ireland, this comment would be enough to have O’Brien go to the courts to have it shut down.

  14. 14.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    And in a Senate hearing today, Ron Wyden (D-OR) pressed Comey to reveal whether the FBI was investigating Donald Trump’s ties to Russia, a tactic Wyden has used in the past to call attention to the existence of classified information without revealing it. The Guardian also reported Tuesday that the FBI had sought, and was at least temporarily denied, a warrant to monitor the communications of four Trump staffers in its investigation of their ties to Russia.

    “Tic Toc Tic Toc…” (clip)

  17. 17.

    SFAW

    Although I have not looked through every thread-comment since the Russia info started flowing, I’d be a little amazed if no one had pointed out that the official portrait will be done by Andres Serrano.

    ETA: No it’s not original from me, of course.

  21. 21.

    Waldo

    I’m sure the Russians can corroborate the most salacious part of the story, but that’s one streaming video I never want to see.

  28. 28.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    I am now issuing a blanket “Phrasing!” to cover everything in the immediate future. Apply as needed.

  29. 29.

    Mai.naem.mobile

    I say he doesn’t have a presser. There is no way they don’t come up with some BS reason.

  32. 32.

    Kay

    Dan MericaVerified account
    ‏@danmericaCNN Dan Merica Retweeted Late Night
    Notable: Conway says that Trump was “not aware” of being briefed on the info from CNN’s report… “He has said that he’s not aware of that.”

    Embarrassing answer. “Not aware”. What? He doesn’t remember? He wasn’t in a state of awareness that day?

    This is what it will be like for every single person who works for him. They’ll have to say ridiculous things to defend him every day and he’s not even loyal to them! 9 times out of 10 he then contradicts the sucker who made up the story to defend him, making that person out to be the liar. So, only terrible people will work for him, which just creates more problems, which they’ll all have to lie about.

  38. 38.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Of the fairly damning allegations, Conway said “As an American citizen…we should be concerned that intelligence officials leaked to the press and won’t go tell the president-elect or the President of the United States what the information is,”

    They should probably stay away from the word “leaked”.

  39. 39.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Kay: I saw that clip; Seth Meyers asked the question, Kellyanne tried to spin and he asked her again and pressed for an answer. It’d be nice if we didn’t have to have comedians doing the tough questioning. There used to be a profession that did that, what ever happened to them?

  41. 41.

    Kay

    I wonder if they played around with releasing this themselves. The set-up would have been when Trump said he didn’t believe intelligence agencies on Russian hacking and would reveal why he didn’t believe it. He didn’t do it- he never gave the promised explanation- but they could have put it in that context .

  43. 43.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    Well, like she told us the other day, listen to his heart, not what comes out of his mouth.

    PS: Takei is a national treasure.

  45. 45.

    Kay

    Comey could give one his speeches like those he delivered on Hillary Clinton and Americans would know a lot more.

    It was vital we know they were searching a laptop. This is less vital? He’s already blown any pretense of professionalism or objectivity in law enforcement. Picking and choosing when to apply the rules just makes it worse.

    So here’s our situation as far as law enforcement oversight of Donald Trump. We have the FBI, which is apparently ruled with an iron hand by the “NY Field Office” and certain House Republicans, and we have Sessions, a Trump loyalist who went along with Trump bellowing “lock her up” about his political opponent.

    Not looking good for the Rule of Law.

  47. 47.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Comey isn’t credible. His continued presence makes the FBI not credible either. Maybe it’s not “fair” but his smearing Clinton wasn’t fair either and she seems to be dealing with it.

  54. 54.

    Betty Cracker

    @Baud: Gotta like Angus King’s response to that smug preening from Comey yesterday. There’s a good reason I’m not a senator. I would have had a decidedly more violent and profane retort (involving flung water pitchers and flying f-bombs).

  55. 55.

    debbie

    Wasn’t Facebook supposed to fix its algorithms so the trending topics would be more accurate? Donald Trump is nowhere to be seen on the list on my feed.

  58. 58.

    The Thin Black Duke

    Just think, Trump isn’t even President yet and he’s already in over his head. Welcome to the big leagues, Donnie.

  62. 62.

    debbie

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    Tinkle jokes aside, was Trump between wives when this incident took place? If not, where are the evangelicals on this? I picked a bad morning not to stay home and listen to Glenn Beck.

  63. 63.

    Betty Cracker

    Ooooo y’all — Combover Caligula is having a Twitter tantrum right now! Another day’s productivity shot to hell.

  64. 64.

    Baud

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    If there is one possible silver lining to Trump, it’s that he will reduce the power of the presidency. Bush concentrated power after 9/11. I think Obama tried to make Congress more of a focus, but political forces on the right and the left, and the media, believed it was in their best interest to keep the focus on Obama. Trump will diminish the office so much that we might end up with a better balance of power at the end of it all. But it’s a long road from here to there.

  66. 66.

    r€nato

    Regarding this supposed intel about Trump, I’m going to go with Peggy Noonan on this one:

    It would be irresponsible not to speculate.

  73. 73.

    r€nato

    slow your roll, libturds. This is almost certainly fake news. Why would Trump pay Russian prostitutes when 66 million Americans would gladly piss on him for free?

  75. 75.

    SFAW

    @Baud:

    For you or Trump.

    Betty, obviously.
    Trump has not had a “productive” day in the last 20-30 years. Unless you’re using a different meaning of “productive” — one of which I am not aware.

  76. 76.

    Kay

    @Waldo:

    Well, he’s retreating to the rule. The rules and norms about not blabbing your head off don’t just protect the subject of the investigation- they also protect the law enforcement agency from political interference.

    He wants the protections and benefits of the rules but not the downside. The downside of acting professionally would have been Republicans accusing him of withholding information, which just isn’t that big a burden for him to bear.

  78. 78.

    r€nato

    What’s Trump’s favorite punk band? The Sex Pisstols.

    His favorite Kinks song? Urea Got Me Now.

    His favorite children’s book? The Princess and the Pee.

    His favorite novel? War and Pees.

    His favorite DiCaprio film? It’s a tie between “The Great Gatspee” and “Catch Pee If You Can”

  79. 79.

    SFAW

    @r€nato:

    dude, I have so many of these jokes I would quickly become a thread-spammer if I posted even a fraction of them.

    Far be it from me to stanch the flow of your creative juices, so to speak.

  80. 80.

    резидент американской области Российской Федерации

    @Betty Cracker:
    Mph, and Deadbeat Donnie is claiming that he doesn’t have business ties to Russia, directly contradicting old statements from Junior.

  81. 81.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @Baud: Hopefully that long road won’t be a dead end. Then again, in spite of being born on third base with a silver spoon in his ass, Trump has fucked up everything he’s touched for his entire life. His incompetency might be the only thing that prevents the United States from turning into either a dictatorship or a radioactive wasteland. Stupid is as stupid does.

  82. 82.

    r€nato

    It’s absolutely not true that Trump paid Russian prostitutes for golden showers. He stiffed them like he does everyone else who works for him.

  84. 84.

    Kay

    @Waldo:

    Because here’s the next question Mr. Comey and the FBI face- if they were investigating Trump’s Russian adventures, then why wasn’t it essential to reveal that prior to the election? It was essential to reveal their dumb and fruitless search of the laptop in Clinton’s case. Why not in Trump’s? He can’t retreat to the rule he didn’t honor only when the rule protects him. I think he should be compelled to answer that question.

  87. 87.

    NickM

    Isn’t the CIA and other Western or pro -West people in Russia worried about Trump outing people working with the US on Russia? Doesn’t that possibility threaten their lives?

  89. 89.

    SFAW

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    His incompetency might be the only thing that prevents the United States from turning into either a dictatorship or a radioactive wasteland.

    “What’s THIS button do? … Ooops.”

    Unfortunately, his stupidity and incompetence is much more likely to destroy the America that most of us here believe in — whether over the course of eight years, or in 30 minutes. As evil as Cheney is/was, at least he wasn’t a fucking moron.

    Of course, that raises the philosophical question: Is it better to have someone evil and smart running the country, or someone not-quite-as-evil, but stupid?

  92. 92.

    SFAW

    @r€nato:

    He stiffed them like he does everyone else who works for him.

    Oh, bullshit. Does Viarga work on something that small? And how could anyone tell if it had?

    Oh, you meant money-wise. Never mind.

    ETA: Changed spelling to try to get out of moderation, because I am apparently a moron, etc.

  93. 93.

    резидент американской области Российской Федерации

    The info on him went from trickle to firehose.

    He went and fucked with the wrong people when he took on the CIA. If he doesn’t blow his fool brains out, guzzle a polonium cocktail or get disappeared by his Russian praetorian guards on his private security staff in the next week, he doesn’t last more than six month in office before landing his own dumb ass in a jail cell while getting his sleazy piece of shit son-in-law indicted.

  95. 95.

    SFAW

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    George W showed us the dangers of the latter.

    See, that’s where we could have an argument: was it Bush or Cheney running the country? Although I guess we got a two-fer.

  96. 96.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @NotMax: His favorite song is John Lennon’s “Give Pees a Chance”.

    He has a bumper sticker on his limo that says “Envision World Pees”

  97. 97.

    Iowa Old Lady

    Trump on twitter within the last hour. This one is getting to him. He’s screaming in all caps.

    Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump · 57m57 minutes ago

    Russia just said the unverified report paid for by political opponents is “A COMPLETE AND TOTAL FABRICATION, UTTER NONSENSE.” Very unfair!

    Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump · 39m39 minutes ago

    Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA – NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!

    Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump · 27m27 minutes ago

    I win an election easily, a great “movement” is verified, and crooked opponents try to belittle our victory with FAKE NEWS. A sorry state!

    Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump · 23m23 minutes ago

    Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to “leak” into the public. One last shot at me.Are we living in Nazi Germany?

  99. 99.

    satby

    Fucking NPR just ran a report detailing Trump denying the existence of any Intel on him and calling it fake news and the Russians saying they don’t have compromising dirt on him, with no other details or rebuttal. NPeeR, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Trump, Inc.

  102. 102.

    Elizabelle

    This is all so sordid.

    And a sideshow. Go after the financial ties to Russia. They have to be there.

  103. 103.

    mai naem mobile

    I am trying to imagine the person who had to read Lumpy this dossier. Did the person have to try real hard not to laugh? The briefer must have had to practice a lot beforehand not to start laughing,

  110. 110.

    danielx

    @Mustang Bobby:

    I wasn’t looking closely enough yesterday. My sincere condolences for your loss, and may you and your family eventually find a measure of peace.

  112. 112.

    danielx

    @Mustang Bobby:

    You left out gun stores.

    One of the more surreal travel moments I’ve ever had was passing a humongous cross by the side of I-75 in Tennessee and about two hundred yards after that passing a sign for an adult superstore. Like they couldn’t decide if they wanted to be saved or get their freak on in a serious way. Or maybe get their freak on but feel really guilty about it.

  113. 113.

    Another Scott

    Has anyone mentioned that this yellow-journalism story doesn’t need to be true to have it’s intended effect?

    This is one of the oldest and most effective tricks in politics. Every hack in the business has used it in times of trouble, and it has even been elevated to the level of political mythology in a story about one of Lyndon Johnson’s early campaigns in Texas. The race was close and Johnson was getting worried. Finally he told his campaign manager to start a massive rumor campaign about his opponent’s life-long habit of enjoying carnal knowledge of his own barnyard sows.

    “Christ, we can’t get a way calling him a pig-fucker,” the campaign manager protested. “Nobody’s going to believe a thing like that.”

    “I know,” Johnson replied. “But let’s make the sonofabitch deny it.”

    It’s a good thing that Donnie isn’t a politician and isn’t susceptible to things like this, huh?

    :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  114. 114.

    danielx

    @amk:

    sexual sleaze is a piss poor way to take this corrupt clown down.

    Hey, they nailed Al Capone for income tax evasion. I’ll take whatever I can get.

  117. 117.

    r€nato

    Mr. Trump, I’m glad to see you finally scored some A-listers for urine-auguration. R. Kelly, Pee Wee Herman, and Urethra Franklin. Also, Van Halen has agreed to appear and perform “Urea Got Me Now”.

  125. 125.

    Retr2327

    @Another Scott: and the beauty of it is that the easily verifiable details are probably accurate: when Trump went to Moscow, he probably did stay in the best room in the best hotel, just as the POTUS would.

  127. 127.

    azelie

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: David Vitter was re-elected as senator after the DC madam investigation and, I think, would have continued to hold office as senator if he hadn’t run for governor. Family values republicans don’t care if one of their own is a hypocrite, and Louisiana has a well-known tolerance for politicians’ indiscretions. What got him was the nasty (and I do mean nasty) gubernatorial campaign he ran against other republicans. Vitter alienated so many people in his gubernatorial campaign that he probably figured that he couldn’t win re-election, though given Louisiana’s support for Trump, I’m not sure he was right that being a vindictive and mean adulterer with rumored fetishes would have been detrimental to his re-election chances this year.

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