Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Let’s finish the job.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

Infrastructure week. at last.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

T R E 4 5 O N

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

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Reader Interactions

172Comments

  3. 3.

    MisterForkbeard

    @ellie: One of them is the stupidest man on the planet (Jim Hoft), noted blogger, racist and idiot. I’m going to assume Lucian Wintrich is also a racist idiot – it seems like a safe bet.

  4. 4.

    David Spikes

    These guys make my butt bleed.
    Wonder if the repubs have ever thought about having at least one spokesperson who is attractive, persuasive, charming and occasionally tells the truth-please can we have Miller handle the Sunday shows again this week?

  6. 6.

    FlipYrWhig

    I don’t think I ever would have guessed that there was an actual human being named “Lucian Wintrich,” but now that I know that there is one, that’s pretty much exactly what I’d have expected him to look like.

  7. 7.

    Yarrow

    I had no idea who this Lucianne person was so I googled. Most of the links were Breitbart, but here’s a Media Matters link.

    Wintrich is a “gay conservative mouthpiece” primarily known as the artist behind a “Twinks4Trump” photography exhibit that debuted at the GOP convention last summer. He explained that he aims to be “the first rational voice that the American people have had in White House press in ages.” He recently wrote on social media, “I don’t consider myself a journalist, I consider myself the future of journalism.”

    Are all the alt-right people gay white men? Seems like it.

  8. 8.

    rikyrah

    Quick Takes: The Mad King
    by Nancy LeTourneau
    February 13, 2017 5:28 PM
    POLITICAL ANIMAL BLOG

    * Andrew Sullivan is not someone who is known for understatement. But in this case, I think he’s correct.

    Then there is the obvious question of the president’s mental and psychological health. I know we’re not supposed to bring this up — but it is staring us brutally in the face. I keep asking myself this simple question: If you came across someone in your everyday life who repeatedly said fantastically and demonstrably untrue things, what would you think of him?…Here’s what I’d think: This man is off his rocker. He’s deranged; he’s bizarrely living in an alternative universe; he’s delusional…

    I think this is a fundamental reason why so many of us have been so unsettled, anxious, and near panic these past few months. It is not so much this president’s agenda. That always changes from administration to administration. It is that when the linchpin of an entire country is literally delusional, clinically deceptive, and responds to any attempt to correct the record with rage and vengeance, everyone is always on edge.

    * I’m going to suggest that you watch this entire clip from Morning Joe today for two reasons: (1) If you didn’t watch the atrocious interviews with Stephen Miller on the Sunday morning shows yesterday, it will give you a good run-down of just how awful he is, and (2) imagine Donald Trump (who LOVED Miller’s performance) watching the commentary after the clips. It has been pretty well established that he’s addicted to watching this show.

  9. 9.

    MisterForkbeard

    @LAO: They were given White House Press credentials? Uh. Wow.

    It’s a sad commentary on this country and the administration that this isn’t a real fucking scandal right there. Have you seen the things Hoft has written?

  11. 11.

    rikyrah

    Flynn is Gone, But the President is Still There
    by Martin Longman
    February 14, 2017 12:33 PM

    If you were a fly on the wall in the White House over the weekend (or on March 22, 1973), you might have heard an exchange that went something like this.

    PRESIDENT: You think, you think we want to, want to go this route now? And the — let it hang out, so to speak?
    McGAHN: Well, it’s, it isn’t really that —
    MILLER: It’s a limited hang out.
    McGAHN: It’s a limited hang out.
    BANNON: It’s a modified limited hang out.
    PRESIDENT: Well, it’s only the questions of the thing hanging out publicly or privately.

    All I’ve done here is change the names from Dean, Haldeman, and Erlichmann. A limited (modified) hangout is something the intelligence community does when things have gotten out of hand and they can no longer just deny, deny, deny.

    In spy jargon, it’s a tactic used when “they can no longer rely on a phony cover story to misinform the public, they resort to admitting—sometimes even volunteering—some of the truth while still managing to withhold the key and damaging facts in the case. The public, however, is usually so intrigued by the new information that it never thinks to pursue the matter further.”

  13. 13.

    hovercraft

    As I just said in the previous thread, at what point does the WHCA say enough, what is it’s purpose if the likes of this moron can get in? When does Robert Spencer get his, and what about Pamela Geller, David Duke is now an upstanding member of the GOP, he ran for senate as a republican and 3% of the party voted for him, he has a radio show so he is a part of the media, so why not him? Does Alex Jones have his credentials yet, the Shitgibbon is a big fan, so why not give him an international platform?

  14. 14.

    sharl

    Shane Bauer ‏@shane_bauer 23 hours ago
    The new White House correspondent for the @gatewaypundit.

    Lucian B. Wintrich ‏@lucianwintrich

    [email protected]_baumgart do you even date trans, or just pretend to until they choppy chop?

    (I don’t know what “choppy chop” means here, but I assume it’s not respectful.)

    Shane Bauer ‏@shane_bauer 23 hours ago

    The new White House correspondent for the @gatewaypundit.

    Lucian B. Wintrich @lucianwintrich

    Fuck the 60-year-old fat broad sitting at the front of @GOPWomen_WNRC who thought I was a liberal operative.

    He’s charming AND professional!

  15. 15.

    rikyrah

    Rep. Elijah Cummings: “Flynn was secretly communicating with Russian officials at the same time that Russia was attacking our democracy.” pic.twitter.com/oJFDlfEsMW

    — Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) February 14, 2017

    Reply

  18. 18.

    Calouste

    @Yarrow:

    Are all the alt-right people gay white men? Seems like it.

    Gynophobia is a hell of a drug.

    (Not saying that all gays are gynophobic, far from that, but that are a number of right-wing gays where it’s pretty obvious.)

  19. 19.

    hovercraft

    @sharl:

    (I don’t know what “choppy chop” means here, but I assume it’s not respectful.)

    It’s a reference to the surgery necessary to complete the transition from male to female. Given the nastiness of the person tweeting I think it’s an even more offensive way of calling whoever he’s referring to a pu s s y.

  22. 22.

    Thoroughly Pizzled

    Nothing makes my blood boil like seeing that frog. It was just a cartoon!

    I suppose it reminds me that these people are as pathetic as they are hateful. And they’re in charge.

  24. 24.

    Yarrow

    @Calouste: Yeah, seems like a thing with those people. I’d never heard of this guy, but there’s the Milo guy too he’s also gay and white and male. Seems like a trend.

    Edit: I don’t mean to imply that most gay, white and male people are of this ilk. Seems there’s a subset. Perhaps where it also includes the gynophobia referenced above? Just seems odd given that these folks would be targeted if the larger rightwing group got their way.

  27. 27.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    So, the little dude on the right us a junior Rage Furby then? Never heard of him. They look very pleased with themselves.

  29. 29.

    LAO

    @Thoroughly Pizzled: What gets me — is how fucking proud they are to be associated with white nationalism. It makes me physically ill when I think of these stupid, little fuckheads and remember that they fucking won! I’m the goddamn loser and these little pricks get to carry the day — what a joke on us.

  30. 30.

    Yarrow

    “Lucian Wintrich” seems like a name J.K. Rowling would create for a bad guy in the Harry Potter books.

    I also like how there’s a backpack on the floor in the background of that photo. Really classes up the place.

  31. 31.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    There are turds in every group. Omarosa is not representative of black women. Hoft does not speak for gay men. The Toronto BLM spokeswoman does not represent the broader mindset of the group. Trump ain’t all white straight males.

  34. 34.

    patroclus

    That’s “Lucian Baxter Wintrich IV” – with a name like that, and with a degree from Bard, he just HAS to be a gay Trump guy and the founder of Twinks for Trump.

  35. 35.

    hovercraft

    @Yarrow:
    A sad truth of the Shitgibbon era s that comparing him, his minions and his fans to anyone or anything is unfair. They are so deplorable that they making comparisons is offensive to even a shit sandwich.
    SAD :-(

    I am in no way saying that special needs kids are bad or anything, I have a kid on the spectrum. When people compare the Shitgibbon to a spoiled toddler, we are unfairly maligning toddlers, they are better behaved.

  39. 39.

    Yarrow

    @? Martin: Oooh, ooh! We should petition for Balloon Juice to get a credential. I hear they’re letting some reporters who can’t be there in person join via Skype. I’d pay money to see John Cole ask a question.

  41. 41.

    Elizabelle

    I second getting Balloon Juice press credentials. Why not?

    RE the two at the podium: Make America Gag Again.

  42. 42.

    Citizen_X

    Twinks4Trump

    *blinks*

    You must admit, there’s been something new and amazing every day, ever since we entered BizzaroWorld.

  44. 44.

    scav

    Shades of Jeff Gannon!

    Interesting echoes. As a gop returns to his vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. Party line, Party on dudes.

    ETA. I’ll cop to not catching any twinkle whatsoever. matte matte matte and flat flat flat on the dar.

  45. 45.

    cmorenc

    In other over-the-top absurdities, in what Bizarro universe does Andrea Mitchell declare: “Jared Kushner is the Nancy Reagan of this Administration”.

    Unfortunately, this one.

  47. 47.

    rikyrah

    The Mysterious James Comey
    The FBI must have known that Michael Flynn illegally discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador.

    by Mike Lofgren
    February 13, 2017

    On February 10, the Washington Post ran an above-the-fold story stating that — according to multiple government sources — Michael Flynn, President Trump’s national security adviser, took a phone call from Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak and discussed U.S sanctions against that country. Since the call took place on December 29, three weeks before the inauguration, the call itself would have been irregular even if the subject matter discussed had been innocuous.

    The fact that it occurred on the day the Obama administration applied additional sanctions on Russia made the call a curious coincidence. The Post cited numerous senior government officials claiming that Flynn discussed those sanctions with Russia’s ambassador, making the call highly improper at a minimum. CBS News led its story with the suggestion that Flynn may have violated the law. Increasing the appearance of wrongdoing was Flynn’s previous assertion that he had not discussed policy matters, and that he had only conveyed greetings and discussed arrangements for a post-inaugural phone call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    It is a good bet that the media will make heavy weather of the issue of whether a person can be charged with the Logan Act, a law prohibiting unauthorized private individuals from conducting diplomacy with foreign powers — a law which has never been used to prosecute anybody. They will ask whether the national security adviser is fit to serve, given his seeming lack of truthfulness regarding the phone call, his poor policy judgment, and his chumminess with Putin. There is also the embarrassing matter of Vice President Mike Pence already having publicly asserted that Flynn did not discuss the sanctions issue.

  48. 48.

    Scott P.

    I don’t think I ever would have guessed that there was an actual human being named “Lucian Wintrich,” but now that I know that there is one, that’s pretty much exactly what I’d have expected him to look like.

    I bet he’s planning to become the head of Slytherin.

  50. 50.

    SFAW

    So The Stupidest Administration in History, led by (perhaps) the Stupidest President in History, has given press credentials to the Stupidest Man on the Internet and his little dog Toto flying twinkie monkey. Am I supposed to be surprised by this?

  51. 51.

    Kryptik

    I still don’t get the fucking significance with the awkward-ass ‘OK’ sign they and Rage Furby use for every single picture they take.

  52. 52.

    Calouste

    @Yarrow: I guess there idea is that their smaller rightwing group gets their way ahead of the larger rightwing group. There is obviously no space for openly gay bigots in the GOP, however white or manly they might be, but white supremacy movements have been more open to gays usually, at least as long as it was convenient (cf. the original Night of the Long Knives).

  55. 55.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Is it take your sullen middle schooler to work and pose for an awkward, embarrassing picture day again already?

    also, too,

    Kyle Griffin ‏@ kylegriffin1 52s52 seconds ago
    More
    Jason Chaffetz is requesting details from the W.H. on security protocols regarding sensitive information at Mar-a-Lago.

    maybe Mother Chaffetz sat him down and told him about this Evan McMullen fellow

  58. 58.

    The Moar You Know

    “Twinks4Trump”

    @Yarrow: Um, say what now?

    Are all the alt-right people gay white men? Seems like it

    Not all gay men are Nazis but a hell of a lot of Nazis (actual Nazi Germany, too) are gay men.

  59. 59.

    Kryptik

    @Citizen_X:

    I have to quote the panel of Preacher I keep having to post elsewhere because it continues to remain relevant with assholes like Hoft:
    “Why is it the greatest champions of the white race always turn out to be the worst examples of it?”

  60. 60.

    NorthLeft12

    @rikyrah: Re-Mr. Sullivan’s take on Deadbeat Donald’s mental fitness; this guy was elected President of the US while displaying all these same traits publicly before, and during the campaign.
    And enough people in enough states looked at that input, and either ignored it or embraced it for themselves, their families, their neighbours, their country, and the world. WTF does that say about your society?

  61. 61.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @cmorenc: Andrea Mitchell declare: “Jared Kushner is the Nancy Reagan of this Administration”.
    A hair-do with anxiety? I didn’t know he had anxiety, but living with the Trumps would be a cause. But his hair barely looks done in the pictures I’ve seen

  63. 63.

    janelle

    @FlipYrWhig: I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that Wintrich is Hoft’s underage rentboy (Hoft came out as the second-most noxious gay wingnut blogger last year, Milo still being #1). His Twitter profile lists him as a blogger for Hoft’s website.

  65. 65.

    John Revolta

    @Yarrow: “Some men are born gay, some achieve gayness, and others have gayness thrust upon them because no woman wants to have anything to do with them”

    – J. Revolta

  68. 68.

    schrodingers_cat

    @debbie: I disagree. If cable TV had not given T wall to wall coverage, the result of the Presidential race would have been different. They thrive on publicity. They need to be shunned not feted and linked to.

  70. 70.

    Mnemosyne

    Question I asked in a previous thread:

    Kind-of sort-of but not really off-topic, has Karl Rove been taking victory laps as the architect of this result, or has he been keeping his head down so nobody remembers that this was his plan?

    I was thinking of trying to search and find out, but I couldn’t stop vomiting until the urge passed.

  73. 73.

    PaulW

    @Mnemosyne:

    His plan was to make this work for a permanent Republican majority led by people who were deemed rational or competent (i.e. the Bush Crime Family). He never planned on letting clowns take control of the bus.

  75. 75.

    Elizabelle

    @rikyrah:

    I think this is a fundamental reason why so many of us have been so unsettled, anxious, and near panic these past few months.

    That’s kinda Andrew Sullivan’s usual demeanor. Excitable boy, he is. But if he wants to go off about Trump, fine by me.

    I suspect Mr. Sullivan is not panicking for the same reason a lot of us are but, different strokes.

  77. 77.

    PST

    This is completely off topic for this thread, but there is a good story on Vox at the moment under the title For so many Americans, Obamacare offered career freedom. A repeal could take that away. I think middle class people can often forget how much the ACA has in it for people just like them. People who might, for whatever reason, want to phase out to a consulting role, work part time, start a business, freelance, or whatever. I’ve known plenty of people who were tied to a job they didn’t want and couldn’t stand by health insurance alone, which was particularly tragic when so many other people wanted and needed those jobs.

  79. 79.

    Mart

    @cmorenc: In other over-the-top absurdities, in what Bizarro universe does Mrs. Alan Greenspan declare: “Jared Kushner is the Nancy Reagan of this Administration”.

    Her husband would know a Nancy boy when he sees one..

  80. 80.

    PaulW

    @Gravenstone:

    They breed.

    Been around the world and found
    That only stupid people are breeding
    The cretins cloning and feeding
    And I don’t even own a tv
    Put me in the hospital for nerves
    And then they had to commit me
    You told them all I was crazy
    They cut off my legs now I’m an amputee, god damn you!
    — Flagpole Sitta, Harvey Danger

  82. 82.

    Calouste

    @Kryptik:

    “Why is it the greatest champions of the white race always turn out to be the worst examples of it?”

    I know! I know! Pick me!

    It’s because in a racist society at least they have their whiteness going for them, otherwise they wouldn’t have anything at all.

  83. 83.

    hovercraft

    @cmorenc:
    The Trumpenfuror tweeted that this morning:

    The real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington? Will these leaks be happening as I deal on N.Korea etc?
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 14, 2017

    That’s today’s talking point. Also too, that it’s the DOJ’s fault for taking too long to tell them about the problem, and no one told the Trumpenfuror about the DOJ warning.

    See the WH has clean hand, none of this is their problem.

  84. 84.

    Gravenstone

    @cmorenc: Yep. Also note how many Republicans in Congress and the Senate are going out of their way to cover for Trump et al. Chaffetz is knocking down suggestions of investigating Flynn. The chair of another sub-committee has rebuffed the request of his senior member to obtain and review Trump’s tax returns (can no longer find the TPM article). They’re all dancing as fucking fast as they can to try and make this all go away without having it blow up in their faces. The only thing they care about is keeping Trump in office long enough to sign off on their pet legislative wrecking balls. After that, he’s as expendable as the rest of the country.

  88. 88.

    hovercraft

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: @Gin & Tonic: Poor Jason, this oversight thingy is so hard when there are real things to investigate.

    House Democrats stick it to Rep. Jason Chaffetz for conducting ‘ZERO’ oversight on Trump

    By Kerry Eleveld

    Tuesday Feb 14, 2017 · 1:22 PM EST

    “Do you hear the silence?” queried Rep. Elijah Cummings at a Tuesday press conference. “This is the sound of House Republicans conducting no oversight of President Trump. Zero. That is what it sounds like when they abdicate their duty under the Constitution.”

    Cummings and Democrats are zeroing in on the fact that GOP House Oversight chair Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who launched an endless string of fruitless inquiries into Hillary Clinton, has completely refused to question anything about the endless flow of ethics and security breaches pouring out of Trump’s White House.

    Cummings laid out an airtight case for exactly why that oversight is a glaring abdication of responsibility by Republicans and should have begun weeks, if not months, ago.

    “We need some answers to a lot of questions. But the obvious questions are, What did the president know, and when did he know it? Was the president aware of Flynn’s efforts. Did he support them? Last night we learn the Justice Department warned the White House counsel three weeks ago that Flynn secretly talked with the Russians about sanctions and may have lied about it to the vice president. The department warned that the national security advisor was at risk of being blackmailed by the Russian government. That was three weeks ago. Three long weeks ago. 21 days ago.

    So why did the president say on Friday he did not know anything about Flynn’s calls with the Russian ambassador? Did the White House counsel really never tell the president? Because if that’s true, if that is true, I cannot say the white house counsel could stay in his position. That would be a major national security breach not to inform the president at such a serious charge. Another question, why did Flynn continue to sit in on the most sensitive classified meetings until just two days ago? Ladies and gentlemen, something is wrong with that picture. […]

    Who at the White House decided to do nothing for three weeks as Flynn sat in on meeting after meeting after meeting. Did the president decide to wait? Did counsel decide to wait? Something is wrong here.”

    Watch it below the fold.

  89. 89.

    Mnemosyne

    @PaulW:

    Right, that’s why I’m wondering if he’s taking a victory lap or trying to pretend he had nothing to do with it because otherwise Jim Baker will slap him down.

  94. 94.

    Barney

    So it’s Sneak your Grandson into a Restricted Area Day, then? How did the Stupidest Man on the Internet get into the White House?

  95. 95.

    Miss Bianca

    @PaulW: Hey! Person subject to depression who sort of forgot that it was Valentine’s Day until I got heart-shaped lollipops at work says, “buck up, it will soon be over, and then all that great chocolate goes on sale!”

  96. 96.

    lgerard

    Since trolling is now man’s highest aspiration, it is only fitting that trolls cover the troll presidency.

  97. 97.

    ? Martin

    So we’re still a long ways away, but the GOP is starting to break. They don’t actually have to break, they just need to get stuck in that middle state where they’re paralyzed and unable to function. That’s sufficient for now.

  99. 99.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @West of the Rockies (been a while):

    Trump ain’t all white straight males.

    Sadly, the election showed he’s at least half of us. I would be more ashamed if I were surprised. Having lived in the South, I knew he was exactly what Republican men wanted.

    @NorthLeft12:

    WTF does that say about your society?

    That racism is so thick in our country that more than half of white people are single-issue racism voters. They will ignore absolutely everything else, no matter how horrible a candidate is, if there’s a choice between helping minorities and shitting on them even more.

  100. 100.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @PaulW:

    Totally unsolicited, but have you thought about maybe joining a group or club? I know the Sierra Club is active locally. I’ve been curious about the Noetics Society, too (founded by NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell).

    Curiously, after a few unsuccessful relationships, I decided to swear off women; about two days later I met a wonderful woman who is crazy intelligent, strong and kind. We’ve been together for just over a year now.

  101. 101.

    NotMax

    An infinite number of monkeys might eventually produce Hamlet, but they will never produce journalism (nor a credible administration, for that matter).

  104. 104.

    Major Major Major Major

    @NorthLeft12:

    Re-Mr. Sullivan’s take on Deadbeat Donald’s mental fitness; this guy was elected President of the US while displaying all these same traits publicly before, and during the campaign.
    And enough people in enough states looked at that input, and either ignored it or embraced it for themselves, their families, their neighbours, their country, and the world. WTF does that say about your society?

    Easy there, mister “the city my country calls its New York elected Rob Ford mayor”.

  107. 107.

    hovercraft

    @? Martin:
    House Conservatives Signal Openness To Flynn Investigations

    “I would support an investigation, if it’s warranted based on information from the intelligence community, and the first step would be for the intelligence committees to have that understanding with the intelligence community,” said Rep, Justin Amash (R-MI). “The rest of us in Congress wouldn’t have immediate access to the same information. So really it’s incumbent upon the intelligence community, and the intelligence committees to work together.”

    Their openness to probing Flynn’s behavior went farther than other House GOP leaders — including House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes (R-CA and House Oversight Committee Chair Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) — who sounded ready to leave the matter alone now that Flynn has resigned.

    At the briefing with conservatives, Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) said he didn’t want comment “without the facts” but acknowledged, “I don’t know how you get the facts without doing some kind of investigation so let me say that.”

    “There needs to be a full accounting so we understand what happened,” Perry said.

    Another prominent House conservative, Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID), said he agreed with Perry and Amash, adding, “I do think it’s incumbent on the Intel Committees to determine what the facts are and to see if there has to be further investigation.”

    There have been similar calls on the Senate side from a handful of Republicans, including Sens. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and John McCain (R-AZ), who have said that there are questions they still want answered about Flynn’s actions.

  108. 108.

    Cacti

    @retiredeng:

    The Internet is full of right wing Nazis of the gay persuasion.

    Isn’t being a gay internet fascist pretty much the entire schtick of Milo Yiannopoulos?

  109. 109.

    Mart

    @hovercraft: Going back to the GOP convention, Trump folks inserted pro Putin, anti Crimea, anti NATO into the GOP platform; and everyone was good with that. WTF?

  112. 112.

    Applejinx

    @scav:

    ETA. I’ll cop to not catching any twinkle whatsoever. matte matte matte and flat flat flat on the dar.

    You must be calibrated for human. Try recalibrating for ‘drow’ :)

  113. 113.

    jl

    They seem to think everything is OK? Maybe WH will release it as evidence that the Flynn flap is no bid deal?

    And, this guy, I wonder if he just had a sudden realization of an obvious truth, or he was openly musing about how to message it to the rubes.

    ‘ Rep. Labrador (R-ID): “If we’re just going to replace Obamacare with Obamacare-lite..were we just against it because it was proposed by Ds?” ‘
    https://twitter.com/cimarcos/status/831545321087959042

  114. 114.

    Miss Bianca

    @hovercraft: Oh, in other words, there are a few Republicans who see the benefit of at least *pretending* to give a shit about actual national security, as opposed to national security theater? That’s interesting – they’re getting a clue faster than I would have given them credit for!

    @jl: “So…so…maybe this guy Cleek and his Law really are a thing?!”

  115. 115.

    ? Martin

    @hovercraft: Let’s not deceive ourselves into thinking this would be an honest investigation, but the urgent part is that it’s energy being expended on not tearing down the ACA and other parts of government. This is why they kept the Clinton WH running in circles – just to slow them down. For a month after inauguration, that’s a pretty big step. With both Congress and the WH on defense, that means they aren’t on offense. We’re trying to minimize damage for about the next 12 months, before everyone goes into full-bore re-election mode. If we can win the House or Senate in 2018, then we can at least play to a draw.

  117. 117.

    rikyrah

    After Three Weeks, Trump Baffled, Staff Exhausted
    by Martin Longman
    February 10, 2017 4:38 PM

    Politico has a new piece up on low morale in the White House. It’s based on interviews with “nearly two dozen people who’ve spent time with Trump in the three weeks since his inauguration.” It’s kind of amazing to realize that it’s only been three weeks because, to me, it seems more like a millennium. And I guess the administration’s staff feels about the same way.

    Really hard to overstate level of misery radiating from several members of White House staff over last few days.

    — Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 10, 2017

    It’s only been three weeks, but that’s been long enough for Trump to create “a climate where people are ‘very careful who they talk to.’” It’s been long enough to create a “powder-keg of a workplace where job duties are unclear, morale among some is low, factionalism is rampant and exhaustion is running high.”

    Hell, considering that “two visitors to the White House last week said they were struck by how tired the staff looks,” things were already so bad after only two weeks that people were wearing down.

    Stamina. How does it work?

  118. 118.

    Jeffro

    Btw, I missed this a few weeks…was wondering where La Palin had gotten to…

    The end of Sarah Palin is here.

    Michael Beckel of the Center for Public Integrity flagged for me this news: Palin has officially shut down Sarah PAC as of the end of 2016. Kaput. Donezo.

    But, that’s not even the real story. Again, via Beckel: In the 2016 election cycle, Palin’s Sarah PAC spent $830,000 on consultants and just $82,500 in donations to other candidates — a.k.a its ostensible purpose. Not only that but Sarah PAC spent $168,000 on travel and lodging expenses during the 2016 election — double what it donated to candidates, which is its ostensible … well you get the idea.

    This was not an isolated incident. In the 2010 election cycle — when Sarah PAC was functioning on all cylinders — it raised $5.6 million and spent $4.3 million. Just $509,000 of that total — less than 12 percent of total expenditures — went to either candidates or political/party committees.

    12%!!!

    That’s amazing!!! I bet Trump can’t even get lower than that.

  120. 120.

    hovercraft

    White House staffers turn to ‘secret chat app’ for private messages
    By Steve Benen
    02/14/17 10:50AM


    On Wednesday, Axios reported that, spooked by the Democratic National Committee hack, “numerous senior GOP operatives and several members of the Trump administration” are using Confide, an encrypted messaging app. Confide self-destructs messages once they are read, promising that they will be “gone forever” — or at least wiped from your device and from Confide’s servers.

    The preferred technology of “senior GOP operatives” is of little interest, but if “several members of the Trump administration” are using communications apps that delete their messages instantly, there’s a potential problem. As the Slate piece added, “At the White House, all official business correspondence is supposed to take place over White House email for preservation purposes.”

    But are members of Donald Trump’s team honoring what’s “supposed to” happen? By some accounts, no. The Washington Post reported overnight:

    Upset about damaging leaks of his calls with world leaders and other national security information, Trump has ordered an internal investigation to find the leakers. Staffers, meanwhile, are so fearful of being accused of talking to the media that some have resorted to a secret chat app — Confide — that erases messages as soon as they’re read.

    Seriously? We just finished a presidential campaign in which Hillary Clinton’s communications were considered the single most important issue confronting the nation, and three weeks into the Trump administration, White House staffers are already using tools that may help them circumvent the Presidential Records Act?

    Where the fuck is the media on this this, WTF?

  124. 124.

    Betty Cracker

    @Peale: Yep — the Trumpenproletariat is lousy with MRAs and garden variety misogynists of all persuasions, but for every election think piece that examines the role of misogyny, it seems there are 100K that ponder the inscrutable Rust Belt. And I’ve yet to see a piece that looks into why when America finally elected an honest-to-dog racist, sexist, xenophobic authoritarian, he came from New York City rather than Dixie.

  125. 125.

    Jeffro

    @Iowa Old Lady: That is a great question there, Rep Labrador…let’s ask every Republican to articulate exactly what it was that was so abominable, shall we?

    Because whatever it was, I’m sure the GOP has an actual, workable plan to address it, right? Right?

  126. 126.

    Calouste

    @hovercraft: Well, the staffers use the app to avoid messages being read by the President or his enforcers, not necessarily to avoid them being read by the public. So maybe the Presidential Records Act doesn’t apply.

    And of course, in any case, IOKIYAR.

  128. 128.

    jl

    @rikyrah: Might be some good news. Greater likelihood that the ‘last person’ who talks to Trump will make a plug for keeping Obama care for the long term mental health coverage they will need after this mess is over.

  129. 129.

    Jeffro

    @hovercraft: Also, are we certain that there’s no way for the makers of “Confide” to hack the messages being sent on their app? No way for them to turn around and let foreign parties have that info? No way for them to blackmail Trumpov admin officials?

    You know what’s easier than all that bullshit?!?!? JUST. BEING. ETHICAL. AND DOING. THEIR JOBS.

  131. 131.

    ? Martin

    @Jeffro:

    Also, are we certain that there’s no way for the makers of “Confide” to hack the messages being sent on their app?

    Pretty sure. Anything like that probably would have been detected, and what would be their incentive? As soon as that was caught their business would collapse. That’s different from injecting malware or using an app as a trojan for some other purpose – in those cases you aren’t building a brand – you’re just relying on random success to work in your favor.

  132. 132.

    Doug R

    @Jeffro: You got a good point there. Maybe the true purpose of Confide is to capture comprimat. Wouldn’t put it past the Russians.

  133. 133.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @father pussbucket:

    That looks like a SNL skit with deliberately ridiculous makeup jobs.

    odd, that was my first thought when I saw the picture “Did SNL sneak two of their comedians into the WH?”

  135. 135.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Calouste:

    but white supremacy movements have been more open to gays usually, at least as long as it was convenient (cf. the original Night of the Long Knives).

    Indeed, a lot of the SA was openly gay and gynophobic.

  138. 138.

    hovercraft

    @Jeffro:

    JUST. BEING. ETHICAL. AND DOING. THEIR JOBS.

    You are referring to the current administration right? They will be capable of taking your advice when pigs fly, when a camel goes through the eye of a needle. These people are as dishonest as the day is long, if they are speaking they are lying, if they are strategizing, they are figuring out how to lie and steal and cheat us out of more of our money. They believe their job is to steal as much of our money as possible as fast as possible, before we catch on.

  142. 142.

    retiredeng

    @Cacti:@Cacti:

    Isn’t being a gay internet fascist pretty much the entire schtick of Milo Yiannopoulos?

    He’s one of hundreds of thousands or more. Lots in Germany and here in the US. Hyper masculine racists.

  143. 143.

    Immanentize

    @Mnemosyne:

    Jim Baker

    Didn’t the Trump people just roll him into the White House? I guess it was for his amazing crisis control mad skilz.

  145. 145.

    The Moar You Know

    Rep. Labrador (R-ID): “If we’re just going to replace Obamacare with Obamacare-lite..were we just against it because it was proposed by Ds?”

    @Iowa Old Lady: I refuse to accept that he could be that clueless. OF COURSE it was the only reason.

  147. 147.

    ET

    You know what this reminds me of? That place at the Smithsonian’s American History Museum where you can stand behind the podium and “see” yourself on the TV like the president that is popular with teenagers.

  148. 148.

    Nate

    @LAO: Is it just me or is calling that moron “The stupidest man on the internet” sound too nice after all of this time? Maybe we should come up with something new. Maybe something gleefully misspelled?

  150. 150.

    Larkspur

    @Miss Bianca: Yeah, another person subject to depression who is house/dog-sitting at a nice place and the housecleaner is here and she made everything sparkle and I went and bought her a pretty and delicious-looking Valentine’s Day cupcake and now I’m less depressed.

  153. 153.

    Larkspur

    @Seth Owen: Well, now there’s a nightmare. In the Republic of Gilead there will be an Oflucien and a goddamn turkey baster. I’d rather head for the badlands.

  157. 157.

    Hovercraft

    @randy khan:
    It’s not against the law when this president and his crew do it, only when blackety black ones do it. Or democrats, chaffetz said so.

  158. 158.

    Montanareddog

    Because nothing affirms the ineffable superiority of the white man than Groot in a skin suit and Frodo Baggins

  161. 161.

    Mnemosyne

    @Immanentize:

    I’m assuming Baker is going to try and prevent Trump from flushing the whole damn Reagan project down the toilet. Hopefully he’s too late

  163. 163.

    jake the antisoshul soshulist

    @Mart:

    That actually makes some sense. Nancy was Ronnie’s closest confidant and access gatekeeper. He trusted Nancy more than anyone else.

  166. 166.

    Felonius Monk

    Since when are the WH janitorial staff required to wear ties? Also too, I wasn’t aware that there are toilets in the Press Room.

  170. 170.

    MuckJagger

    I guess if the lunatics are in charge, there’s probably no reason why they shouldn’t bring the rest of the lunatics with them.

  171. 171.

    MuckJagger

    @patroclus: I’m Lucian Baxter Wintrich III. I named my kid Lucian Baxter Wintrich IV because I wanted him to get beat up two or three times a day.

  172. 172.

    Applejinx

    @? Martin:

    Pretty sure. Anything like that probably would have been detected, and what would be their incentive? As soon as that was caught their business would collapse.

    Um. Your trust in the invisible hand of the marketplace is… touching?

    I think Russian oligarchs or pretty much fucking any well-heeled bad actor would be able to make whole the revenue stream of the poor, mistrusted app developer so that questions of marketplace viability would quickly be the least of their concerns. Jesus FUCKING Christ man.

    This is what worries me so much about Americans. There’s this automatic, knee-jerk tendency to view everything in terms of free market principles and it’s completely independent of political orientation, apparent intelligence… it is flatly astonishing to me.

    Markets don’t fucking work, seriously. Santa isn’t real either. And I can’t think of a single thing more valuable for kompromat than ‘special smartphone app that securely sends your most secret conspirings and automatically deletes them the instant they’re read, forever!’.

    How stupid are these people? Have they ever heard of the word ‘phishing’ or ‘spear phishing’? I’ve had phishing emails legitimately from a major law firm claiming legal action for my company making charges (directly, the first ‘tell’) to a user. That major law firm is real. But they’re also on a list of companies compromised through spear phishing exploits… and the payload was more than suspicious.

    But sure, an independent company claiming a ultra-secure messaging app is wholly trustworthy. The market would punish them if they were a trap, and then they wouldn’t be able to earn a profit!

    JFC.

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