House Republicans prepare to kill a measure that could force Trump to reveal ties with Russia, conflicts of interest https://t.co/PccR2CMYQ0
— Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum) February 23, 2017
The Washington Post has a new subhed: Democracy Dies in Darkness. The GOP would dearly love to make it so:
House Republicans next week plan to derail a Democratic resolution that would have forced disclosure of President Donald Trump’s potential ties with Russia and any possible business conflicts of interest, according to multiple House sources.
Seeking to avoid a full House vote on the so-called “resolution of inquiry” — a roll call that would be particularly embarrassing and divisive for the right — Republicans will send proposal by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) to the House Judiciary Committee for a panel vote on Tuesday, two Democratic sources said. The GOP-controlled committee is expected to kill the resolution…
The markup has yet to be noticed by the panel. But the Tuesday vote will come just a few hours before Trump will give his first address to Congress. Indeed, Democrats are fuming that Republicans are trying to bury the panel vote by scheduling it on a busy news day.
Resolutions of inquiry are rare in Congress and privileged, meaning lawmakers can circumvent leadership and force action on the floor if they’re ignored for 14 legislative days.
The resolutions can force presidents and agencies to give Congress private records. Nadler’s, for example, demands that Attorney General Jeff Sessions hand over to the Hill “any document, record, memo, correspondence or other communication” pertaining to “criminal or counterintelligence investigations” related to Trump, White House staff or his business…
The mark-up will likely prove awkward for Judiciary Committee Republicans who will have to block the resolution. Judiciary member and Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) just last week, for instance, faced sharp questions from constituents who accused him of steering the Oversight panel’s agenda to protect Trump…
Well, since #JasonintheHouse already whined that town hall protests in his district were meant to “bully and intimidate” him, here’s hoping he’s ready for a whole new onslaught…
Other than McCain/Graham micro-dissent, has anybody in the party even acknowledged Trump's Russian connections as a concern at all?
— Schooley (@Rschooley) February 23, 2017
@anneapplebaum @politico We should see this for exactly what it is: one giant and unequivocal admission of guilt. Publicise it widely.
— Will Lake (@WillLakeCopy) February 23, 2017
lollipopguild
There is nothing to see here, move along. 23 skidoo!
TenguPhule
And in related news, is this raising any alarm bells yet?
I don’t think 2018 is going to come quickly enough to stop all hell from breaking loose.
rikyrah
they are all traitors.the entire lot
debbie
The American people need to humiliate and shame the GOP out of doing this.
TenguPhule
And the whole party deserve to be rewarded as traitors deserve.
dmsilev
Party over country.
Timurid
@TenguPhule: If there is a plot to knock off Supreme Court justices, I’m pretty sure they’re not going to cc Ted Cruz.
Timurid
@dmsilev: Race over country.
TenguPhule
@Timurid: The problem is that if someone like Ted Cruz is starting to talk openly about it, the Trump base is listening eagerly. And even the suggestion is bad enough. Its just another potential fuse for Civil War. One of far too many now.
Also, Trump might actually be that stupid.
Odebbie
Someone forgot to cc the FBI about their plan.
TenguPhule
@debbie: The problem is they have no shame and no morals or honor. After fellating Trump, there isn’t a lot that’s more humiliating then that.
Thru the Looking Glass...
Push it and push it and push it.
They’re running scared.
Tie Trump and the Russians around the GOP’s neck like and anchor and push ’em overboard…
In DEEP water…
debbie
One more time:
Someone forgot to cc the FBI about the GOP’s plan.
hovercraft
Why does the media insist on telling people what Twitler and his minions are doing, where is their respect for the president?
Oatler.
“The alt-right is an Alinskyite plot!”
schrodingers_cat
@TenguPhule: Your excitement for wanting an apocalypse to visit us is a tad unseemly.
Thru the Looking Glass...
@rikyrah: @debbie:
Yes to both of you…
This is going to end up being as big as 9/11, if not bigger… in terms of affecting the course of the country for a long time to come…
hovercraft
@rikyrah:
They can’t be traitors, this is “their” country, so anything they do by definition is patriotic. We on the other hand hate America and we are not “real America” so anything the did to take the country back from us, even if it involved a hostile nation, is justified and needs no further investigation.
Thru the Looking Glass...
@Timurid: Does that mean Ted is acting on his own?
lamh36
Long day for me today.
I was finally off after 10 straight days of work. Main goal for today was to check out some apartments. I had 4 on my list to look at. I only actually saw 2 of them. 2 of the 4 I never even toured cause the neighborhood was too sketchy. The two, I did tour were both nice and spacious. Both 1 bdrm/1bath, $800, basically in the same area of town (near my new job…oh wait did forget to say I got another job offer and I’ve accepted it!…more on that later), on had newer appliances and upgraded fixtures (thx Katrina) and a full size washer/dryer in the apartment along with an enclosed sunroom that really sold it for me. The other apartment was also spacious and had an open kitchen wall, which I loved, but did NOT have a washer/dryer in the apartment.
I vowed after living with my mom, who apt has not washer/dryer, that I was NEVER living in another apt without washer/dryer inside. So the apartment without the washer/dryer won out.
Sent in my application, along with deposit and security and we’ll see if I get it. I hope so.
Baud
This seems backward to me, but what do I know?
p.a.
@Oatler.: The alt-right is real and succeeding, unlike Alinsky plots.
debbie
And now defending dignity is considered to be anti-Trump. ??
debbie
@lamh36:
Nice! Not having to deal with the laundromat is a real joy!
SenyorDave
Oh well, back to hoping an ebola-type virus strikes all the Republicans in the US Congress. Because it would just be removing a bunch of treasonous sob’s.
Spanky
@lamh36: Congrats on both the apt and new job! And (as a home owner for 30+ years) agree a billion percent about the W&D.
A note on new jobs: Make sure you have a very good explanation why you’ve had several short-term jobs, since it’s a red flag for employers (like you don’t already know that). Being severely underpaid, underemployed, and/or being trained out of your old positions are excellent reasons. IIRC, you’ve had one or two of these reasons already.
TenguPhule
@schrodingers_cat: Not excited. It makes me sick to my stomach. But I just don’t see a way to avoid the mines in this minefield that the GOP has pushed us into. We’re at the point where this nation has lost its mind and is a hair’s breath away from losing its soul.
geg6
Traitors, every one of them.
And just back off with your overly legal parsing of the word. They are traitors by any common sense definition of the word.
Bex
@TenguPhule: Karma: Cruz gets run over by a bus in July.
Lurking Canadian
@Thru the Looking Glass…: The man’s father did kill Kennedy after all. It would only match family tradition for him to turn assassin too.
jl
@debbie: Well, its a free country, and we can exercise our freedoms of speech and expression as long as they are not unreasonable and dangerous and provocative political statements. And anything the regime does not like is defined to be ‘political’. Those are two hallmarks of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes. Another sad hallmark is a lot of obscure chickenshit citizens are eager to go along and censor and punish people in a pro-active (and ultimately completely futile) attempt to stay out of trouble and avoid any possibility of getting any attention for anything.
TenguPhule
@Bex: Which backs up again just to make sure.
If only.
replicnt6
@TenguPhule: Advice to Supremes: avoid drinking tea with Russians.
Spanky
A note on “treason”.
In the past I’ve been one of “those guys” that’s pointed out that the actions of the GOP don’t arise to “real” treason since they’re not aiding a true enemy. We’re not at war with Russia.
Yeah, screw that.
Words matter, and I’ve come to the conclusion that describing their actions as treason is, while not technically accurate, a very reasonable and concise summation of what’s been happening. It’s a good shorthand to convey to, say, lesser informed individuals.
So fire away. I’ll no longer raise the objection.
ETA: I was typing this up as geg6 was posting, not in response to it.
hovercraft
@debbie:
So is Comey still the greatest, most honest broker ever ?
TenguPhule
@Spanky: Welcome to the revolution. We have cookies.
Goku
@debbie: The terrifying thing is that they can’t be shamed. They’re completely craven and fighting for their political lives. Maybe even their actual lives if this thing is as bad as it seems. Who are these people? The ones who wrapped themselves in the flag. They care more about their own power then doing the right thing or being patriotic Americans. They all deserve to die for this, them and their assholes supporters.
lamh36
@Spanky: yep…I def got the question about short term jobs in this latest interview.
I’ve actually only had long terms jobs before moving back to NOLA. First after Katrina for 7 years and then 3 years more before moving back to Louisiana. Even my current position is going on 3 years now. I’ve only ever stayed in a job a year or less, one because of Hurricana Katrina, the other because it was truly a transitional job just to get back home to Louisiana, which folks seem to understand.
As for the apartment, still waiting to hear back from the leasing office. It’s carnival time, so next week is Mardi Gras and so the background check and credit checks and rental checks may take a bit longer…but I’m looking for a move in date of March 1
Roger Moore
@Thru the Looking Glass…:
The Zodiac Killer claims another victim!
lamh36
So job search update.
THE WAIT IS OVER!!!
I just got a job offer from the last lab i interviewed with last week.
I was waiting to hear from them. It was getting tough for a minute there…but it came right on time!
the job is here in NOLA area. they agreed to my pay terms AND it has a 5 digit sign on bonus!!!
they want me to start as soon as I can but i told them i needs to give my current job a 2 weeks notice. So unless I don’t clear the background check for some reason, my start date is March 13!!!
So, i’m gonna email my new supervisor to setup a meeting tomorrow to talk to her about a “shift schedule” change. There is a PRN position in my department listed. i was gonna open up with…”are we still hiring for the additional PRN position, if so i’d like to move FT to PRN…weekends only for now”
if she says the PRN position is still available then i’m gonna tell her i’d like to move to that position ASAP…
the official offer letter from the new lab should come tomorrow or Monday. It’s carnival time here in NOLA, so i figured tmrw would be best and if i get the offer letter by tomorrow and she’s not interested in letting me move to PRN then i’ll give her my letter of resignation tomorrow
if i don’t get the offer letter until Monday i still figure i talk to her still tomorrow and then on Monday submit my resignation
mai naem mobile
But going after Clintons IT guy is more important according to Chaffetz. I think the Russkies must have tape of hookers pooping on Chaffetz and extra outtakes.
Goku
@lamh36: Good for you! No washer/dryer would be potentially a deal breaker for me, tho
TenguPhule
@mai naem mobile: My bet is they have tapes of him banging his daughter. It wouldn’t be the first time a Republican has done that, after all.
Baud
@lamh36: Congratulations!
Roger Moore
@Spanky:
This. Another way to think of it: if the best way they can come up with to defend their actions is that they technically aren’t treason because Russia isn’t formally an enemy, let them try.
SiubhanDuinne
@TenguPhule:
jl
@Spanky: I’m a Democrat, and the GOP and reactionaries have been accusing me of being complicit with a treasonous party since long before I was born. So, fire away with whatever words people want to use.
I prefer to be more specific, so I will stick to ‘criminal’, ‘impeachable’, ‘malfeasant’, ‘illegal’, ‘unconstitutional’, ‘negligent’, ‘lawless’.
There are a lot of words to chose from to describe this pustulant lawless authoritarian regime.
I heard a news report that the Frump regime secretly contacted the FBI and tried to quash the investigation into the Frump campaign’s Russian ties. The impeachable offenses pile up. GOPers will have to so terrified of the midterms that they are crapping their pants before they start mentioning it. Scaring the shit out of them over the midterms is every citizen’s duty.
Mnemosyne
@lamh36:
Yay for new apartments! I saw this GIF and thought you might want it, though it may already be in your extensive collection.
Spanky
@TenguPhule:
In the end, this is really all that matters.
Kay
I feel like the Russia stuff will come out despite best efforts. There’s just too much of it.
Trump didn’t get any real scrutiny. It was all just airy bullshit and his own Tweets. I keep thinking of that ridiculous press conference they had where the family stood there arrayed around those stacks of folders that PURPORTED to be..whatever but no one can look inside the folders because they’re secret. That was presented to the public as serious “news”! I mean come, on. It was stacks of folders and then family members saying what was inside them! This wouldn’t fly in a muni court on a traffic ticket. I think people would laugh at that in small claims proceeding. You have to actually show the documents! The Trumps said “we have these folders….with PAPERS in them and the PAPERS say…”
If our institutions are so pitifully weak that they cannot expose these low quality grifters then our institutions suck and they deserve to die. We’ll start over. Find better quality elites. Build more resilient institutions.
debbie
@hovercraft:
You’d really have to define down honesty to include him.
Gvg
@TenguPhule: no that is not significant. Several of the liberal Supreams are alarmingly old and frail. I have expressed anger Ginsberg didn’t retire when Obama was elected. Cruz doesn’t need any explanation to predict one will die. It is just statistically likely. Which doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck. Didn’t some of our commenters express annoyance with prospective voters who said they don’t want to hear about the Supreams court as a reason to vote? We all said what idiots…..special babies.
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh36:
YAY WOW FANTASTIC, tell us soon! Every detail. Start at the beginning and don’t stop until you’re done.
Major Major Major Major
OT: Hmm, well, customs is a breeze if you’re a tall white dude coming from a tall white person country full of sheep.
Villago Delenda Est
At the risk of getting Omnes all excited in his pedantry, the GOP is now the party of treason.
EriktheRed
@lamh36:
Typo?
TenguPhule
@Kay:
It wasn’t the offices that failed, it was the men and women holding office and who failed to do their duty that failed. Our system was designed to be idiot-resistant, not idiot proof.
But the tree of liberty has indeed dried up due to the long drought of reason and logic fostered upon us by the GOP.
Kay
This is what I mean about low quality elites. We have to face up to this. This is the WSJ. This is supposed to be a quality newspaper!
Why do the WSJ and the NYTimes continue to play along with Ivanka Trump and Kushner? These two people are obviously planting these stories about themselves. Yet it’s presented as news. It’s marketing. Ivanka and Kushner are marketing themselves in two elite US news outlets and we’re all supposed to pretend it isn’t happening.
I won’t. I refuse to play.
Baud
@Major Major Major Major: You should bottle that up and sell it.
Thru the Looking Glass...
@Lurking Canadian: Good point… runs in the family?
Some sort of offering to Trump, to get back in the Orange One’s good graces?
SiubhanDuinne
@debbie:
It’s really kind of horrifying just how hateful, vindictive, and violent I feel much of the time these days. I know it can’t be healthful.
TenguPhule
@Gvg:
Yes, but this is Ted Cruz. And Donald Trump.
Can you reasonably say this behavior would be beyond them?
lamh36
@EriktheRed: lol…yes… I went with the apartment with in house washer/dryer, and this cute little sunroom/alcove in the living room.
I hope my application gets approved. Things are gonna get tight here at mom’s real soon. One of my sisters, who’s 4 months preggers, is moving back home and planning to live with mom and the 3 of us all together is NOT a good mix for my already diagnosed high blood pressure…lol
Timurid
@Thru the Looking Glass…: A grassy knoll might be involved…
lamh36
@Goku: I had a typo…I went with the apartment WITH the washer/dryer
Corner Stone
All of our norms, our conventions, our institutions. They are all weak and have failed.
Hal
Maybe the witches will save us!
http://www.someecards.com/news/weird-news/witches-donald-trump-spell-curse-hex-ritual/
lamh36
@Mnemosyne: Ha….yep…one of my favs…and yes I really do have too many GIFs in that folder…lol
Kay
@TenguPhule:
But “the office” can’t live forever on the work other people did before this current crop. The credibility was earned. It’s not endless. It can be depleted.
It’s like making withdrawals out of a bank account and never making deposits. You can’t do that forever. At some point “the office” becomes a reflection of the people in it. That’s where the credibility came from in the first place- people. It didn’t just arrive from outer space.
It gets a little threadbare, don’t you think? “I respect the office”. Well, why, though? You have to be able to point to something or it becomes circular.
Lurking Canadian
@lamh36: Excellent news! Congratulations!
Corner Stone
@Kay:
Weren’t they recently celebrated widely by their publicist as being LGBT friendly in the admin? Where is Ivanka’s “moderating” influence in the WH when her pa throws LGBT community and trans kids to the fucking wolves?
Villago Delenda Est
@Kay: In the Army, yeah, you’ve got the brass on your hat that says you’re supposed to be saluted, and you are.
But you must transcend the costume jewelry at some point, and actually earn the respect of your subordinates. You DO Have to make those deposits. The costume jewelry only goes so far, and for a short time.
Lurking Canadian
@Corner Stone: I think it’s as simple as people being unable to believe that a good looking blonde is not good at heart. Sure, Bannon is trouble, but Ivanka? She MUST be a moderating influence. Just look at her!
Thru the Looking Glass...
@Timurid: Hmmm… you might be right…
Currently watching highlights of protestors at Republican town halls go crazy right now…
Makes me feel good!
Kay
@Corner Stone:
Donald Trump beat them! They must have been all hollowed out and rotten. We’ll need all new construction.
Also- a hard look at why the merit system seems to be broken. Our pay scale is all fucked up.
TenguPhule
@Kay: Which is why I said that those in office failed. But the principles remain the same. Any replacement system would face the same human flaws, people tend to be stupid and greedy and not think things through unless they put some effort into enlightening themselves and even then its not a sure thing.
The Democrats kept depositing into the bank, the Republicans from Nixon onwards have been stealing from it. And now Donnie has bankrupted the bank. But it wasn’t the bank’s fault.
Major Major Major Major
I gotta say, this Boehner story cracks me the fuck up. He really thinks Ryan is a little fucking twerp. He doesn’t give a fuck so hard. Congress died, he helped kill it, sure, but at least he understands how a bill becomes a law.
@Corner Stone: well, they did momentarily nix the “Indiana for all!” EO.
Mnemosyne
@Thru the Looking Glass…:
I’m not sure this whole “paid protester” and “outside agitator” line of attack is working. It seems to be pissing off the constituents.
efgoldman
@Thru the Looking Glass…:
That’s what he’s done since the day he was elected to the senate, and probably before.
Oh, except for that little episode when he spent three months on his knees licking Tinyscrotum,s balls.
germy
@Major Major Major Major:
And the sheep get waved right through; no pat down necessary.
lamh36
shared this on twitter, but sharing on here in case ya missed it…
Senator @marcorubio runs from a constituent asking if he’s going to come to the scheduled town hall:
#RESIST
#shareblue
#wheresmarco
Where ya going lil Marco?
Corner Stone
@Kay:
It’s not really even that he did it. Just that a vile buffoon said, “I break contracts all the time with no penalty. You’re telling me there is not even a written description against doing this? Then FUCK THAT! Let’s do whatever we want.”
Kay
@Villago Delenda Est:
I don’t know about the army but I’m starting to suspect you can ride along a good long time on costume jewelry in the civilian world. Our institutions folded like cheap lawn chairs. It was shocking but now we all know so it’s time to admit it.
germy
@lamh36:
Major Major Major Major
@germy: just don’t try to bring one with you or the USDA will have your ass. Single person ok, single sheep ok, one person one sheep baaad.
TenguPhule
@Corner Stone: Wait, I thought I was the pessimist here. You’re making me have to defend the optimists and the framework behind the system here. Its like gravity has gone into reverse.
germy
amk
bannonazi at kkklowns show – It’s a new political order, we won, you suck, we gonna come and getchu.
efgoldman
@Major Major Major Major:
As long as they don’t know you’re gay….
Kay
@Corner Stone:
That’s what I mean, though. I kept waiting for some person or persons to say “hell, yes, you will release those tax returns!” and it just never happened.
No one knows how much the President of the United States owes and who he owes it to. That is REMARKABLE. It continues, too! For all I know Kushner is borrowing from Russian mobsters now instead of Trump. They could just change the name on top. They’re all the same entity anyway.
Roger Moore
@TenguPhule:
It’s the bankers’ fault, since they kept hiring branch managers who stole from the till.
Major Major Major Major
@efgoldman: they didn’t seem to mind. White gay guys are fully white now, remember? Thiel said so.
Zinsky
The Constitution defines treason as “giving aid and comfort to enemies of the United States”. How does this action by the Republican Party not qualify?
lamh36
CNN is considering skipping the white house correspondents’ dinner
Peale
@SenyorDave: sadly, it looks like there may now be an effective vaccine for Ebola. On the plus side, we could rid ourselves of the anti vaxxers. On the minus side it would be their children who died, which while it would serve them right, isn’t really justice.
jl
@lamh36: Maybe Marco’s getting old and is having trouble hearing?
Thanks for a nice video of the cowardly little crumb bum.
Millard Filmore
@TenguPhule: If Cruz and Trump don’t have connections to arrange the wet work, Putin can be called upon to lend his support.
Baud
@Major Major Major Major: Congratulations!
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh36:
I’m not sure exactly when CNN started growing balls, but good for them if true!!
Major Major Major Major
Jesus Christ American coffee is disgusting.
efgoldman
@Mnemosyne:
Plus, on at least two networks the last few days, they sent reporters to rallies to report back – definitively, one said – that nobody was paid to protest.
Where was all this hard-hitting journalism in 2010?
amygdala
Holy crap. Malaysia is saying that Kim Jong-nam was killed by VX.
Shana
@lamh36: Lovely news on the apartment. Finding the right place at a price you’re comfortable with can be tough. My younger daughter’s boyfriend had a lot of trouble finding a place once he’d moved out here to be with her. He lived in our guest room for a period but Hubby didn’t want that to be permanent. The place he finally found was a basement apartment in a house, but strangely when they made the basement into a separate apartment they didn’t put in a oven…
It did, however, have a washer/dryer unit.
Also, great news on the job.
efgoldman
@Major Major Major Major:
Sorry. I forgot to download update 2.13.4
Kay
@Corner Stone:
It seems so unfair to me. I sit in court every day and listen to people get asked the most personal, painful questions and they have to reveal all of it. They have to produce. The results of the drug test, the DNA, their psych eval, their tax returns, their horrible relative who is a monster. Demands. They produce what’s demanded. They’re stripped naked.
Donald Trump, the President of the United States, doesn’t even have to show that there’s something other than blank paper in those folders. It’s not fair.
I know all about Obama’s home mortgage. I read it in the Washington Post. I know where Obama met his wife. I know all about his mother’s relationship with his father.
Why doesn’t anyone know anything about the President? How did this happen?
sukabi
Haven’t read the thread yet, but Rancid Pen¡s has just involved himself in the cover-up…
Baud
@Kay: Emails took precedence.
Corner Stone
@sukabi: There’s no law against it…
joel hanes
@SiubhanDuinne:
he brought his Masked Marvel comic books
and four hundred and ninety seven feet of rope
Jaime Brockett, “The Legend of the USS Titanic”
Aleta
@lamh36: That’s fantastic. Hope you get the apt. Sunroom and laundry, couldn’t get that around here for that price.
joel hanes
@Major Major Major Major:
Jeremiah’s Pick real Mocha Java, available online.
Not inexpensive, though …
Lapassionara
@Kay: this! The R party should not have allowed anyone to run who was not going to release tax returns. This is the issue to focus on!
amk
twitler’s twin bro.
Kay
@Baud:
CNN sent a reporter to Obama’s grade school.
Trump produced a stack of folders. With great fanfare. To show he is ethical. And that flew. It worked!
It’s ludicrous to me. It’s as if I carried my file into a hearing and then just told everyone what was in it but they may not see any of these things and they all said “okay, thanks” and we all go home.
Republicans now regularly say “the President can’t have a conflict”. “A conflict” is a real thing. It exists independent of a specific statute barring “conflicts”. The concept of “conflict of interest” isn’t GONE because there’s no federal law or rule that specifically applies. He has conflicts! Oh, yes, he does! What he doesn’t have is any concept of right and wrong.
amk
@Kay:
that’s the problem, isn’t it?
efgoldman
@Lapassionara:
You’re joking, right? This is exactly the opportunity they’ve been waiting for to break another norm.
Grandpa Walnuts is a sitting senator, so his info was already more or less out there, but Mittster fought it tooth, nail, and hooves.
raven
@joel hanes: They say this train don’t haul no coal. . .
schrodingers_cat
@Kay: No one has even bothered to investigate any immigration violations by his many businesses.
Baud
@Kay: Plenty of time for investigating now.
Iowa Old Lady
@lamh36: Sounds like a great apartment! I hope you get it .
Patricia Kayden
Hope Dems skip the SOTU. No need to normalize this fraud of a President and sit through his lies.
mike in dc
I’m pretty sure the IC is capable of dripping out damaging leaks for months to come. Better for the Republicans in Congress to make a clean break and rip the scab off than death by a thousand cuts. But, if the Congressional Republican leadership wants to go down with the ship, I’m not going to stop them.
Aleta
Too bad it’s only Congress that has the power to impeach a president. (Is that true?) As a cost saving measure I’d like to impeach the whole lot of them Republicans at the same time.
Jeffro
Again, anyone wanting to make an easy $1M, crank out a quick book of bathroom reading, “No More Double Standards: Things that must be okay with Republicans when a Democrat is elected president in 2020”
– financial connections to foreign governments continuing into the Democratic president’s term
– D prez leveraging the power of the presidency to cut even more deals
– Not knowing a fucking thing
– having a campaign and administration riddled with people in thrall to a hostile foreign power
– just making up shit as we go along
– costing taxpayers $1M a day when the First Husband doesn’t want to relocate to DC from California or New York
– playing golf every week
– jetting back to CA every weekend
– holding campaign rallies a month into her term
– declaring herself a candidate on her inauguration day
what else am I missing here?
Oh that’s right:
– telling the budget office to start with 3.5% annual growth projections and then work backwards, lying if necessary, to produce that growth
– insulting various American businesses on Instagram
– praising businesses she owns stock in on Facebook
debbie
OT, if you like Brandi Carlisle’s music, she’s releasing an album of covers of her first album. All proceeds will benefit a British organization benefiting refugee kids.
Jeffro
@mike in dc:
Nothing makes sense unless several of them are also compromised…even if that just means that they know to a certainty that Trump is compromised. There’s just no way out at this point for them.
tobie
@Kay:
Kay, if you don’t put this in a tweet response to the Peter Nicholas, someone must. I don’t tweet, but I gather it means tons to media people in DC. Our press is so out of practice, it needs guidance on what kinds of followup stories it should write to its own reporting.
Thru the Looking Glass...
@efgoldman:
It is a damned good thing I DID NOT have a mouthful of liquid when I read that, or I’d be out shopping for a new key board right now…
efgoldman
@Patricia Kayden:
It would be better if they silently walked out as he started to speak, or even if they got up and all silently stood with their backs turned. But they won’t, not any of those things.
Thru the Looking Glass...
@mike in dc:
I say we help them anyway we can…
I suspect some of the damning information will come from European sources, like Baltic states afraid of Russia who routinely eavesdrop…
This is so farking big that the GOP will NEVER be able to keep it hidden forever…
efgoldman
@Thru the Looking Glass…:
I live to serve.
misterpuff
@efgoldman: I just want each of them to serially call out “You Lie!” after each Shitgibbon statement.
It would be poetic justice and be accurate each and every time.
Thru the Looking Glass...
@efgoldman:
There’s simply NO f’in way Repubs didn’t know about Trump’s baggage when they hitched their wagons to his crazy train…
NO… F’IN WAY…
And they went ahead anyways…
The whole F’IN lot of ’em are traitors…
Ruckus
@Villago Delenda Est:
You and I may have been in a different military. Or at least at a different time in history.
Villago Delenda Est
@efgoldman: They should. Unusual times call for unusual reactions. The shitgibbon cannot earn anyone’s respect. He must be disrespected at every turn.
Thru the Looking Glass...
@efgoldman: Well… you certainly aced that one…
jl
Remember, the press is the enemy of the people…
FBI refused White House request to knock down recent Trump-Russia stories
By Jim Sciutto, Evan Perez, Shimon Prokupecz, Manu Raju and Pamela Brown, CNN
Updated 8:21 PM ET, Thu February 23, 2017
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/23/politics/fbi-refused-white-house-request-to-knock-down-recent-trump-russia-stories/index.html
Found via Josh Marshall’s twitter
Edit: ‘Treason’ is fun to throw around. But I think it will come down to just regular good old fashioned crimes.
Villago Delenda Est
@Ruckus: All I know is that yeah, the costume jewelry helps a lot, but if you really want to have your troops follow you, you have to earn it. Somehow I managed to do it with my first platoon even though I stumbled around. I went back to visit my old unit after I’d been shipped off to the infantry, and one of the new troops who joined since I left recognized my name and the old timers were telling stories about me that had nothing to do with reality, but were told with humor, exaggeration, and respect.
This was in the early 80’s, mind. The Army was recovering from the clusterfuck in SE Asia.
Thru the Looking Glass...
@jl:
But shouting TREASON!!! is so… so… satisfying…
In Trump’s case, I’m guessing money laundering as the regular, good old fashioned crime…
Omnes Omnibus
I hope this fits.
Omnes Omnibus
@Spanky: I conceded on that the other day after one last ditch battle. It works as a rhetoric even if it doesn’t match the legal definition.
Ruckus
@Villago Delenda Est:
Of course as stated here numerous times, navy, during the clusterfuck.
I met a couple of lifers who easily earned my respect, both of them E7, one navy, one marine. A few others that did their jobs and the rest only had the time in. In the officer corp I had one ship’s capt who I’d have gladly followed anywhere, mostly because he was smart enough to recognize that it took most of the men on the ship to keep it moving and that his respecting them was far more important than anyone respecting him. Most of the rest of the officers were just placeholders, a few were absolute assholes, who received all the respect they deserved. You might be pleased to know that I served with Ensign Parker, not his real name but he was such a clown that McHale would have pushed him off the boat.
Villago Delenda Est
@Omnes Omnibus: That is pretty much what seems to be happening to the GOP at town hall meeetings.
efgoldman
@Villago Delenda Est:
That’s true of any manager, military or civilian. Of course, the consequences of, say, being a bad bank manager are a lot less dire.
jl
@Thru the Looking Glass…: If GOP gets scared enough, will get closer to looking into money laundering for Russian mob and oligarchs through front real estate purchases and leases. Trump will say he don’t know nothing about nothing, just business transactions. Or, if not money laundering, impeachment and trial for willing to do favors to Russia for its oligarch’s keeping Trumps sketchy real estate projects afloat.
Ruckus
@Villago Delenda Est:
And isn’t it just touching?
Ruckus
@Omnes Omnibus:
How did I know that was the clip you’d link?
Omnes Omnibus
@Lurking Canadian: My ex was a good looking blonde. Just saying.
efgoldman
@Omnes Omnibus:
Given the original source, it’s perfect.
Villago Delenda Est
@Ruckus: Very. My Schadenfreude meter is in constant danger of going “kaboom!”
rikyrah
@lamh36:
Congratulations!!
Omnes Omnibus
@Ruckus: You said sir to all the officers, right? How many walked the walk and earned your respect. For how many was the sir an empty gesture. OTOH, I’ve met navy officers. I see your point.
rikyrah
@Kay:
they clung to the Whiteness
glory b
Per L. O’Donnell on msnbc just now, Ed Schultz will speak at CPAC.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: Oddly, in my current gig as legally related management in a corporate environment, I find that my concept of management – taking care of the troops – is at odds with the numbers driven concept of everyone else. I’ll give someone an easy assignment after a couple of difficult ones as a break. Corporate logic is that, if the guy can do difficult jobs, dump more of of them on him.
Villago Delenda Est
@Omnes Omnibus: As you well know, there is more than just a little empty gesture in the Army. “Salute the rank, not the person”, etc.
Then there’s those times when being yelled out by a superior is a sign of respect. I experienced this in front of 9th ID HQ at Fort Lewis one time. The G3 ripped me up one side and down the other because “the most important communications platform in the division” (his words, not mine!), his HMMWV, had some sort of radio problem. I wasn’t about to point out to him that this was the HHC Commander’s problem, not mine, nor that I was the wire officer, not the radio officer, in the Division Signal shop.
My fellow staff officers were beyond amused by all this. And knew what it meant…that the G3 actually liked me. Those he didn’t like got an icy silent treatment that would chill your bones.
amk
@Kay: voter apathy = banana republic.
@glory b: ah, the dahling of the loony left.
Villago Delenda Est
@Omnes Omnibus: The “beat the Army mule” syndrome.
Ruckus
@Omnes Omnibus:
LOL
Exactly one walked the walk and easily earned my respect. Mostly the sir was an empty gesture. There were a few for whom it was pure contempt.
I’ve since met a few fellow vets who were officers during the clusterfuck and while I don’t know what they were like then, most have my respect today. One in particular, a Marine fighter pilot, went on to play in the NFL for 9 yrs, him I respect the same as the ships capt I mentioned first.
Thru the Looking Glass...
@amk:
At this point, I’m thinking bananas republic would be more appropriate…
patrick II
@SiubhanDuinne:
When their ratings started going up. If they could get better ratings by siding with Trump, that’s what they would do. It has nothing to do with balls.
Corner Stone
@Omnes Omnibus:
It’s more closely tied to, “Holy shit. That guy can do a job. Pile more on top of him.”
Thru the Looking Glass...
@jl:
Yes… this right here…
SHOW US THE TAXES! SHOW US THE TAXES!
SHOW US THE TAXES! SHOW US THE TAXES!
Corner Stone
I love how all these crackers have learned a new word in their vocab. “ACA”
Omnes Omnibus
@Villago Delenda Est: I had an E-6 whose wife got into some trouble. She was going to be sentenced some community service (I.e. litter pick-up on the weekend) by the bitter, end-of-his-career 0-6 Deputy Garrison Commander. My BC and I requested a meeting with the guy and stood up for the soldier and his wife. We volunteered that, if she got in trouble again we (BC and I) would do double the community service time. We won. And word got around. She never had any problems again.
efgoldman
@Omnes Omnibus:
I trained at the medical Training Center in San Antonio, where they basically sent newly-commissioned doctors and nurses to learn how to dress themselves properly, who reported to them, and how to salute.
It was fun to troll them walking down the street. They didn’t know who or how, or whether they were supposed to salute first, or when….
Of course every once in a while you’d come across one who was a military hardass first. That’s when you got into “with all due respect, sir” territory.
Omnes Omnibus
@Corner Stone: But I look at “let’s not beat the shit out of him and drive him away. Let’s try this new guy and see what he will do.”
Yes, i am looking for a new position.
Lyrebird
@Omnes Omnibus:
Fingers crossed.
Job hunting… well the uncertainty in my case is something I’m sometimes handling okay, but not at all enjoying.
FWIW I have worked for one startup where they managed like you want to manage people, and my sister is that kind of manager, too.
Gian
@mai naem mobile:
Wasn’t a problem for David Vitter
efgoldman
@Omnes Omnibus:
Why don’t you run for state legislature? Or a lower-court judgeship? Or AG?
I’m only halfway kidding.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: I have skeletons even worse than Balloon Juice. Unelectable!
Gian
@glory b:
If my memory is correct,. Prior to the air america radio experiment Schultz was a wannabe Rush. No not the Canadian band
Corner Stone
Deconstruction of the administrative state.
The Fat Kate Middleton
@SiubhanDuinne:
Yes. I’m entirely convinced Twitler is behind my breast cancer diagnosis last month – and the fact that one day after surgery I experienced an attack of colitis. And I’ll thank you all not to argue with me on this. I’m one of those people who looks for reasons. (BTW – the cancer really is no big deal – early catch, teeny-tiny, no chemo, etc. etc.) Mostly, I just feel lucky.
Thru the Looking Glass...
@Corner Stone: Yup…
All sales are final! Wonder how long it will be before one of these dildo*s suggests reviving commercial whaling? There is money to be made there, ya know…
It would put a bullseye on Chris Christie’s back, but you wanna make an omelette…
The Fat Kate Middleton
@Hal: I laughed when I first saw the story earlier – then I read the ritual. I love it. It’s very calming, connecting me with all that’s good.
Mnemosyne
@amk:
So Schultz has been a quiet white supremacist this whole time.
… explains a lot, actually. Especially his weird hatred of/condescension towards President Obama.
Miss Bianca
@Omnes Omnibus: All you’d have to is say, “I’m at least as qualified for public office as the current President, and whatever I’ve done in the past, it didn’t involve bags of money from the Russians.”
SFAW
@Omnes Omnibus:
Goddammit!! I WARNED you about those e-mails! And that “private” server! But did you listen? NO!!!!
And, of course, your efgoldman-Sachs connection is another problem
SFAW
@Gian:
Interesting you should say that. Back when I (occasionally) listened to him — probably during the W reign — I thought his voice sounded remarkably similar to Rushbo’s.
J R in WV
@Ruckus:
When was the word “fragging” invented? Sometime in the 1960s or so, right? In the jungles of Viet Nam, right? Dropping a fragmentation grenade into the foxhole of a leader who was going to get his whole unit killed through total inadequacy, right?
Wow, what an appropriate word to remember today.
Ruckus
@J R in WV:
It also meant, as I’ve been told, being shot by your own. Sometimes in the face, sometimes from the side, and sometimes in the back. I’d think that anyone who’d spent a bit of time in the shit and survived would take a lot less uninformed douchebaggery from farm fresh O-1s who’d been there an entire week and already knew everything. Everything mostly about getting people killed that is. As I’ve said before I spent a couple of months in hospital with mostly marines fresh back from getting their asses shot up or trying and failing to keep their heads on tight enough. From that experience I’d bet there was more than one or two who could have notched a “friendly accident.”
Lurking Canadian
@Omnes Omnibus: I’m pretty sure Trump proved skeletons don’t matter. I’m with efgoldman. The people of Wisconsin need you.