Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Celebrate the fucking wins.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

We still have time to mess this up!

Republicans do not pay their debts.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

The willow is too close to the house.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

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

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

We are aware of all internet traditions.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

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

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Open Thread: “Presidential” — Meaning “Theatrical”

Open Thread: “Presidential” — Meaning “Theatrical”

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Three quick summaries, just to have it on the record that not every DC observer fell for the ol’ roogie-roo last night. (Count on Chris ‘Mad Bitcher’ Cillizza as a easy mark, though.)

Reader Interactions

137Comments

  1. 1.

    debbie

    The excerpts I’ve heard today sound like he was drugged. Based on his tone, it was clear he had little knowledge of what was in the speech.

  3. 3.

    Cacti

    The librul press is like the battered wife in a codependent abusive relationship with the GOP.

  4. 4.

    Mnemosyne

    Okay, I’ll be the one to say it: toddler Trump finally pooped in the potty, and now all of the adults around him are going insane with joy.

  5. 5.

    cmorenc

    Let’s see what happens when Trump’s many untenably fantastic promises (as in, the product of sloppy, unrealistic, superficial and conflicting thinking) start to tangibly hit reality. Let’s see what happens in a year or two when he can no longer coast on Obama’s recovery when he sparks a trade war and an economic downturn – but he’s been hogging credit for the success long enough that he can’t pivot and credibly blame the previous administration.

  6. 6.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    Another day, another undemocratic desire to affix the heads of most of the Beltway Press Corpse on the end of pikes.

  7. 7.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    And NBC News exclusive reporting: senior intelligence sources dispute WH characterization of raid as success. No significant intel *yet.*

    This, to me, should be the story about trump’s gross exploitation of “Ryan”.

    I just spoke to General Mattis, who reconfirmed that, and I quote, “Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies.”

    He claimed Mattis declared the raid a success. Congress changed the law to put Mattis at Defense as a check on Trump. Mattie owes them (by which I mean us) an answer.
    I brought this up earlier, and as always I’ll defer to Adam Silverman or others who know more about the military and intelligence than I do, but it strikes me as highly unlikely that an officer with Mattis’s reputation (the Warrior Monk) would say (beyond the cloying use of the first name) unequivocally that any evidence captured will lead to further success, much less “many more victories against our enemies.” I would bet a lot that Trump, assuming there even was a conversation about this with Mattis, is quoting his own incomplete and inaccurate and probably dictated notes.

  8. 8.

    schrodingers_cat

    First and foremost DC political pundit class are theater critics. T is good at theater and nothing else. They like him because he is like them, hollow and mediocre.

  11. 11.

    jayboat

    Best twitter burn I’ve seen in forever.
    Thilizza is a simpering drip and deserves all things this.

  12. 12.

    hueyplong

    So long as we agree that “presidential” now means “possibly sufficient to avoid a bad result in an involuntary commitment proceeding,” then I’m ok with calling last night “presidential.”

    Even that standard won’t last long. We’re a twitter rant and/or temporary will-thwarting away from returning to the status quo.

  13. 13.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @schrodingers_cat: In light of Trump’s childish insistence on including a radical. Islamic. Terrorism.*, I think we can add McMaster to that list

    *going by what I read on the internet, I didn’t/couldn’t watch

  15. 15.

    Mike in DC

    We could say radical Salafi Jihadi Islamist terrorism, which would cover about 90% of the groups extant. Of course, 90+% of the voters have no idea what those labels mean. 90% of Muslims probably do though.

  19. 19.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    now this just screams confidence in what me and my caucus are doing for you!

    Clara Long‏ @ clarychka 1h1 hour ago
    More
    WI Sen Johnson just sent a cease and desist letter to constituents who want a town hall meeting. This is not a joke.

  20. 20.

    Major Major Major Major

    What we have learned is that the media is OK with you being appallingly unfit for office, a lying, corrupt, borderline insane shitheel who’s been compromised by our enemies, promising war crimes and economic catastrophe, as long as you can kill soldiers and stand in front of a fancy-pants room and read off the TelePrompTer without shouting too much.

    Unless you’re a democrat, of course.

  23. 23.

    Wjs

    It’s too bad Ron Fournier isn’t here to complain about how Trump has failed to lead.

    Sorry-that standard only applies to black presidents.

  24. 24.

    jharp

    My favorite is Trump goading his followers into hatred and violence against foreigners and then taking credit for condemning the violence.

    Reminds me of the arsonist fireman who starts a fire and then wants the credit and praise for putting it out.

    Fuck Donald Trump. He is scum.

  27. 27.

    Hal

    There’s a real disconnect between the press’s portrayal and what everyone but Trump’s base thinks. Sorry Chris, but most people aren’t buying the shit you’re shoveling.

  28. 28.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    I am astounded by Katy Tur’s “What the President did w Owen’s widow was capital P Presidential.” I watched the speech in real time last night, and that part was obscene—like a sudden punch in the gut. And then Trump made the joke about Ryan being happy because of the long applause. And the Republican fuckers in the audience laughed! Unbelievable.

    For what it’s worth, Tur is getting reamed in the comments to her tweet.

    And I predict that before the end of the year Ryan’s widow will be suing the government.

  29. 29.

    trollhattan

    @cmorenc:
    White House, basically hourly: “See, we’re doing what we promised!” [Yo, alpha males in da house.]
    Virtually every Trump voter I’ve heard interviewed the last two months: “He’s doing exactly what he promised. I’m really excited!”
    Reality: “Uh, care to look over…never mind.”

  30. 30.

    Barbara

    More than anyone I have ever read, reading Chris Cilizza makes me realize that there are many people employed by news organizations of all kinds who must realize that they would not have been hired — or gone to whatever school they got into — if they had to compete within a bigger pool and didn’t start out with an advantage of some kind. Honestly, my answer to his question would have been, “Because, Chris, anything you think is a good speech is almost certainly not. You have a proven track record here.”

  31. 31.

    Patricia Kayden

    My goodness! How useless is Cillizza? What was so great about Trump’s speech that it needs to be praised to the highest heavens? Hitler gave some barn burners too in the original German.

  33. 33.

    Barbara

    @Origuy: This is the constitutional wizard who wants to check the political affiliation of people hired as professors by state universities in Iowa, to make sure enough of them are conservative.

  34. 34.

    danielx

    I wonder to what extent we’ve been spoiled by Obama…who could read names from a phone directory and make it sound like a polished and effective delivery.

    Which is not to say that the Village hasn’t set a standard for Trump that requires very little heavy lifting. They want to see some semblance of normalcy so badly after months of disappointment with Republican Daddy.

  35. 35.

    Shalimar

    Whoever Dick Nixon is, he understands the analysis journalists should be using far better than our actual journalists.

  37. 37.

    Stan

    @Gelfling 545:

    Using a recent military wodow as a stage prop is presidential?

    Right on. This was some sick shit. F*ck Trump and his five Vietnam deferments. F*ck him and his buck-passing.

  38. 38.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Hiding behind the skirt of a grieving widow.

    Despicable only begins to describe this.

  39. 39.

    Corner Stone

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    I am astounded by Katy Tur’s “What the President did w Owen’s widow was capital P Presidential.” I watched the speech in real time last night, and that part was obscene—like a sudden punch in the gut. And then Trump made the joke about Ryan being happy because of the long applause. And the Republican fuckers in the audience laughed! Unbelievable.

    More than astounded. Way more. Way past fucking disgusted. It’s like they all decided they had to agree to this part of the speech so they could let loose the other things they wanted to say.
    One of the most shameful and shameless episodes of our national political discourse I have seen in decades.

  40. 40.

    Shalimar

    @danielx: Our brief return to normalcy ends as soon as the revised Muslim-hate order comes out. And then shit really hits the fan when the first Jewish Community Center or school is burned to the ground.

  41. 41.

    Corner Stone

    I expected this from Cilizza, but Tur and even the pathetic Van Jones made me fucking cringe. Bigly.

  42. 42.

    Brachiator

    @Major Major Major Major:

    So sending soldiers to their death because you’re a spiteful idiot and then lying about it to their widow for personal and political gain is presidential?

    Sometimes it is, especially for Trump.

    @trollhattan:

    Virtually every Trump voter I’ve heard interviewed the last two months: “He’s doing exactly what he promised. I’m really excited!”

    I hear this in conversations. It is also amplified by hosts and callers to talk radio stations. Even the blocked executive order on immigration gets praise for trying to keep out “bad Muslim hombres” in order to keep us safe.

    Trumps words and fitful deeds concerning immigration and terrorism are hitting a sweet spot with people who like him. They want to see him do more without any pushback from the Courts or criticism from “fake media.”

  43. 43.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Corner Stone: Van Jones has been assimilated by the Village. It’s really too bad for him that he shaves his head regularly…we’ll have to find another way to punish his collaborator ass.

  44. 44.

    Brachiator

    @Shalimar:

    Our brief return to normalcy ends as soon as the revised Muslim-hate order comes out. And then shit really hits the fan when the first Jewish Community Center or school is burned to the ground.

    It definitely will if this happens and Trump persists with his insane insinuations that somehow Obama is responsible.

  45. 45.

    Corner Stone

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    For what it’s worth, Tur is getting reamed in the comments to her tweet.

    It’s worth nothing but she deserves to be fucking roasted. She’s seen this asshole up close and hateful for over a year. And first crack out of the box she is going to proclaim his shameful celebration of clapping for a dead SEAL as “capital P Presidential”? What in the fucking fuck is that fucking bullshit?

  46. 46.

    efgoldman

    @Major Major Major Major:

    So sending soldiers to their death because you’re a spiteful idiot and then lying about it to their widow for personal and political gain is presidential?

    Somebody suggested today that it got the most applause. He repeats his applause lines over and over. So expect him to get more people killed.

  49. 49.

    TenguPhule

    @trollhattan:

    Virtually every Trump voter I’ve heard interviewed the last two months: “He’s doing exactly what he promised. I’m really excited!”

    Which is why elections are not going to fix anything, assuming we survive to 2018. These people are a clear and present danger to civilization and will keep smashing the civil institutions until they STAY BROKEN or they themselves are eliminated.

  50. 50.

    efgoldman

    @Brachiator:

    Trumps words and fitful deeds concerning immigration and terrorism are hitting a sweet spot with people who like him.

    It’s all that economic insecurity.
    Because they all want jobs picking crops or dismembering chickens for shit wages, right?
    These are the fuckheads we have to “understand” and “speak to”?

    Fuckem

  51. 51.

    Patricia Kayden

    @debbie: That’s what you sound like when you can barely read. I swear that that man is barely literate.

  53. 53.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Corner Stone: Van Jones has shook me. Tur has always sucked up to Trump from what I’ve seen on MSNBC but Van Jones was always one of Trump’s loudest and strongest critics. Very disappointing. Hope Charles Blow doesn’t flip too.

  54. 54.

    BlueDWarrior

    @efgoldman: I’m pretty they’d be ‘economically secure’ once my people are back in chains; or at the very least re-ghettoized into places they can safely ignore.

  55. 55.

    trollhattan

    @Patricia Kayden: From what I’ve read and seen from Charles Blow, he’d treat Trump like a tackling dummy if given the chance, Secret Service or no. He understands who we’re dealing wtih.

  57. 57.

    Brachiator

    @efgoldman: RE: Trumps words and fitful deeds concerning immigration and terrorism are hitting a sweet spot with people who like him.

    It’s all that economic insecurity.
    Because they all want jobs picking crops or dismembering chickens for shit wages, right?
    These are the fuckheads we have to “understand” and “speak to”?

    We’re beyond that. Increasingly, the question is and will be, how do we protect those who are targeted by this administration, and by fellow citizens who feel empowered to hurt people?

  59. 59.

    Nora

    I was shocked this morning that so many of my colleagues at work were talking about how well Trump did last night. Could you imagine a lower bar? “Hey, he didn’t shit himself in public! So presidential!” “He was able to read a speech without going off into digressions that showed what he’s really ‘thinking’! What a brilliant pivot!”

    Seriously, anyone — anyone at all — who criticized Obama’s speeches (or even Hillary’s) and is falling over himself to praise this one has got to be ignored forever after as a non-serious person.

  60. 60.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: NBC Nightly News‏Verified account
    @ NBCNightlyNews
    JUST IN: 10 senior officials across the gov’t tell @NBCNightlyNews that, so far, no valuable intelligence has been produced from Yemen raid.

  63. 63.

    Hal

    @zhena gogolia: Yeah, I’m not worried about Blow being fooled. I’m just wondering if I’ve had the wrong impression about Van Jones, because right, now he can go fuck himself as far as I’m concerned.

  65. 65.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Sweet jumping fucks. I think this guy has become more anti-Trump since the election, and now he could teach his “liberal” colleagues at MSNBC, to say nothing of erstwhile radical* Van Jones how to actually watch a politician talk

    McKay Coppins‏Verified account @ mckaycoppins 6h6 hours ago
    .@ SykesCharlie on MSNBC just attributed the glowing media reaction to Trump’s speech to “battered pundit syndrome.”

    I believe Sykes describes himself as a longtime ally and personal friend of Paul Ryan.

    *joke, though I vaguely recall he was fired for saying something that gave Chuck Todd types the white hot fantods. (the white hot ChuckTodds?)

  68. 68.

    Viva BrisVegas

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    his, to me, should be the story about trump’s gross exploitation of “Ryan”.

    Did nobody over there have trouble with the way Trump exploited that poor widow and yet still made it all about himself?

    “I think he’s very happy now because I think he just broke a record”.

    So for Trump it was about breaking a record? So the dead SEAL is looking down from above and is supposedly happy because he got a bigger round of applause than any previous dead soldier?

    Is this going to be a test during the Trump Administration, whoever gets the biggest round of applause for dying gets the biggest plaudits from their President?

    With Trump everything is a contest. Even when he gets people killed, they have to be the bestest ever people killed.

  72. 72.

    Corner Stone

    @Viva BrisVegas:

    Is this going to a test during the Trump Administration, whoever gets the biggest round of applause for dying gets the biggest plaudits from their President?

    “Are you not entertained?!”

  75. 75.

    Corner Stone

    “It’s something they wanted to do. So I said OK and went back to putting ketchup on my well done $50 steak.”

  76. 76.

    rikyrah

    Two of my favorite pieces on Conway on the couch in the Oval Office:

    Piece One:

    Kellyanne Conway Is White As Fuck
    Damon Young, 2/28/17

    …………………..

    Unfortunately, Kellyanne Conway’s literal Whiteness is not the Whitest thing about her. She is the peak spiritual, psychological, and existential embodiment of capital letter Whiteness. The Whiteness that subjugates and appropriates. The Whiteness that’s performatively and conveniently oblivious and sneakily complicit. The Whiteness that violently enacts suffocating laws while remaining shamelessly immoral. The Whiteness that denies, obfuscates, lies, oppresses, plunders, snatches, shames, feigns, gaslights, constricts, endangers, terrifies, perplexes, debauches, and corrupts. The Whiteness we’re warned about by grandparents and encyclopedias and perpetually weary of. She is both transparently capital letter White and so capital letter White that she’s practically transparent. You see her and you see privilege. You see bias. You see nervously clutched purses in seven-second-long elevator rides and hysterical emails to human resources. You see theft. And mostly you see a void — an endless, yawning, and funereal chasm — filled only by the status she believes her physical and metaphysical Whiteness provides.

  77. 77.

    mai naem mobile

    I didn’t watch the speech but of course I’ve seen/heard clips because it’s impossible to avoid them. Anyhow,I find it really depressing that this asshole, to a large extent,is still conning the press/pundits. I really feel like selling everything i have and moving somewhere out of this country for at least the next four years.

    Also too, I’ve heard the story a couple of times now that Keith Ellison/DWS/Nancy Pelosi/Bernie Sanders sat during the standing ovation for the SEAL team guys widow? Is that true? I find that hard to believe.

  79. 79.

    hovercraft

    @Nora:

    I was shocked this morning that so many of my colleagues at work were talking about how well Trump did last night.

    I overheard one guy defending Twitler by saying that while he’s not a great speaker, he gets his message across and he was looking forward to reading the transcript which he was sure would be much better. So even those who acknowledge that it wasn’t a great speech, make excuses for him. There is no penetrating the stupid.

  81. 81.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @mai naem mobile: doubtful, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz would’ve jumped up and applauded a new line of shoes from Ivanka if the person sitting next to her did.

    I was just thinking, did Trump do my second least favorite thing about the SOTU, the praise of the First Spouse? Who do you think told him something about Melania so he could say something? Or did he just do it about Ivanka?

  82. 82.

    rikyrah

    Piece two:

    Kellyanne Conway Gotta Get Her Feet Off That Couch
    Awesomely Luvvie — February 28, 2017

    Let me tell you something. The entire Trump administration must be made up of people who were raised by savages. Every week, they do some shit that is unbecoming of what people do when they are raised with sense as a core value and guiding principle.

    Latest is the picture that dropped yesterday, of a meeting in the Oval Office with the heads of HBCUs (Historical Black Colleges and Universities). First of all, everything about the picture tap dances on my very last nerves.

    But I’ma let these HBCU presidents cook for now. What I am mostly concerned about is Kellyanne Conway and her lack of refinery. Money can pay for tuition but it surely can’t buy class.

    GET YOUR GAHTDAMB FEET OFF THAT GOOD COUCH, KELLYANNE. Where do you think you are?? This is the Oval Office, not your slumber party. Why are you so comfortable? This is not your house and you don’t pay rent here so what you ain’t gon do is defile the furniture by wearing your outside clothes and then putting your outside feet on top of it. I bet that couch now smells like onion rings. Just unprofessional as hell.

    …………………………….

    This woman ain’t got no home training. Not a piece of broughtupsy to be found. Does she have on shoes? That couch looks like it stains easily and I don’t know where her feet have been and what she’s trudging in. I’m just mad for whoever has to come clean. But then if she doesn’t have on shoes, why is she in the freaking Oval Office without something covering her corns? Either way you slice it, this is unacceptable.

    Someone’s grandma is throwing their shoe at Kellyanne’s head as we speak. She’s the reason for plastic over furniture. She is the reason why none of us are allowed to sit in the sitting room

  83. 83.

    AxelFoley

    @Patricia Kayden:

    @Corner Stone: Van Jones has shook me. Tur has always sucked up to Trump from what I’ve seen on MSNBC but Van Jones was always one of Trump’s loudest and strongest critics. Very disappointing. Hope Charles Blow doesn’t flip too.

    Van’s always been disappointing, but trust, you don’t have to worry about Blow.

  84. 84.

    Corner Stone

    @Josie: Ok, thanks. I haven’t read all her tweets but did read the block related to this subject matter. When you claim that moment was “capital letter P Presidential” it does not matter what else you try to use as qualifiers. You’ve set the baseline of what lens you view this episode through.
    Because that was a despicable, disgusting, shameful and damaging moment Trump put forth. There was nothing Presidential about that. Not “capital P” or any other version. You can’t walk it back or temper it or frog walk your way out of that bullshit later. Retract it or own it.

  86. 86.

    Josie

    @Corner Stone: Got it. Your point is that once she said that first thing, it didn’t matter what she said in later tweets. I disagree, but I see your point.

  88. 88.

    Viva BrisVegas

    @mai naem mobile:

    Also too, I’ve heard the story a couple of times now that Keith Ellison/DWS/Nancy Pelosi/Bernie Sanders sat during the standing ovation for the SEAL team guys widow? Is that true? I find that hard to believe.

    If you find it hard to believe, then why not apply some reason to it.

    Why would anybody not rise for a standing ovation for a dead military hero?

    Why are those particular people being singled out? Does it look suspiciously like the top few entries on the Republican hate list?

    In fact, doesn’t the whole thing stink of Republican ratfvcking?

    Why even give such arrant nonsense the time of day?

  89. 89.

    Hal

    I’ve had two glasses of wine, so now an epiphany:

    Trump thought the Yemen raid was going to be his Bin Laden moment. Major military raid, big terrorist hit, vital information gathered, very presidential.

    He’s off doing his thing like Obama playing it cool at the White House Correspondents Dinner, while this major action is going down. Just waiting to strut it in front of the cameras.

    Instead it went to shit, and now of course he has to provide cover via the widow of a man that died unnecessarily, because Trump is an actual moron. A moron who more than anything wants to be Obama.

    *Pours more wine*

  94. 94.

    dm

    @Josie: When I first read the sequence, I basically agreed with you: “A was Presidential” “….Until you think about B, C, D, E, then it was just crass” is how the entire sequence reads.

    The only problem is, I don’t think “A was Presidential” is true in the first place, so the following provisos don’t really make up for the first statement.

    I suppose she might have been using the first statement as a hook, as in “You might think that A was Presidential”, and her main point was “but B, C, D, E made it crass”.

  96. 96.

    Lapassionara

    Did anyone else hear about Trump’s lunch with editors of major new outlets yesterday? He said that he was only asking to be treated fairly. No one evidently asked him what he meant, but I bet some folks went back and sent an email to their peeps, saying “be careful,” or some such. I think this primed the pump for positive headlines. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that some were written before the speech even started. Disgusting.

  97. 97.

    rikyrah

    SOAP OPERA

    Beau Biden’s widow having affair with his married brother

    The widow of Joe Biden‘s late son Beau Biden has started a romantic relationship with her former brother-in-law, Hunter Biden, the former Vice President’s younger son.

    Hallie Biden, who was devastated when her husband Beau died after suffering from brain cancer in May 2015, is now officially a couple with Hunter, 47, who has separated from his wife Kathleen.

    The astonishing family drama caps a difficult period for the Bidens following the death of Beau at age 46. The former Vice President cited the death of his eldest son as one of the reasons he didn’t feel ready to run for president against Donald Trump.

    Hunter Biden, a lawyer who has three daughters with his estranged wife Kathleen, told Page Six in an exclusive statement, “Hallie and I are incredibly lucky to have found the love and support we have for each other in such a difficult time, and that’s been obvious to the people who love us most. We’ve been so lucky to have family and friends who have supported us every step of the way.”

    Former Vice President Joe Biden added that he and his wife Dr. Jill Biden have given their blessing to the relationship. He said, “We are all lucky that Hunter and Hallie found each other as they were putting their lives together again after such sadness. They have mine and Jill’s full and complete support and we are happy for them.”

    Beau, the former state attorney general of Delaware who served in Iraq as a major in the Delaware Army National Guard, and Hallie have two children, named Natalie and Hunter.

    A source told us that Hunter and his wife Kathleen separated in October 2015, five months after the death of Beau. Kathleen, the chairwoman of the Eleanor Roosevelt Dialogue, didn’t comment.

  98. 98.

    dm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: DWS and Keith Ellison were still getting their boots on while the standing ovation was halfway around the world?

    ETA: never mind. There’s some way to make this variation on “the truth is still getting its boots on while a lie has gotten halfway around the world” work, but it probably won’t come to me until tomorrow morning.

  100. 100.

    waysel

    @dm: It sure took Katy a lot of minutes in between each ‘A,B,C,D’. Almost like she noticed and was trying to amend so as not to look so much like an ass kissing pile of shit.

  101. 101.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Honest to god, I never had any idea how healthy my relationship with my father was until I started following politics (and political media)

    Robert Costa‏Verified account @costareports 4h4 hours ago
    Pres. Trump brought this photo of his father from Trump Tower. He’d glance at it all day there, just as he does now.
    I once asked him about it. He said his father was tough. Photo a reminder of being “tough.” And his father deeply shaped his worldview.
    Growing up, Trump told me that his father would talk about the country, about “winning,” about being “tough.” About money.
    Trump often gets credit for having long held same positions on trade. But those views are mostly echoes of how Fred Trump saw U.S./trade.

  103. 103.

    NotoriousJRT

    @rikyrah: A poem about KAC. It captures her odious essence and makes me believe that karma will bite her bony ass before this is done.

  105. 105.

    rikyrah

    Dustin Volz‏Verified account @dnvolz

    Wow. NYT reports departing Obama officials scrambled to leave a trail of Russia probe intelligence across government

  106. 106.

    rikyrah

    44ever‏ @theonlyadult

    44ever Retweeted Dustin Volz

    Short of not transferring the power, Barack Obama did everything he could to save us

  110. 110.

    efgoldman

    @Hal:

    A moron who more than anything wants to be Obama.

    I’m surprised he hasn’t flipped out yet about the Obamas’ book contracts.
    Ah, well, the 400am twittlestorm is coming.

  111. 111.

    Mai.naem.mobile

    @Viva BrisVegas: I didn’t watch it. I thought perhaps there was some context to them not standing up since Dolt 45 was exploiting the widow and the dad is not happy.

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Snopes,according to RWingers is a left wing website . Like how Dolt 45 thinks everything negative is fake news.

  113. 113.

    efgoldman

    @rikyrah:

    The widow of Joe Biden‘s late son Beau Biden has started a romantic relationship with her former brother-in-law, Hunter Biden, the former Vice President’s younger son.

    Who cares? More to the point, why should we.
    There are plenty of gossip sites out there.

  114. 114.

    efgoldman

    @GrandJury:

    The same fool we saw over and over and over again. Now some of these morons act like he suddenly became a different person or something.

    Asshole-in-Chief will be back; you can count on that. He can’t not fuck up; it’s in his nature.
    He yam what he yam, it’s all what he yam.

  115. 115.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    can’t remember if this is the third or fourth member of Trump’s cabinet (Mnoochin, Price…?) to have been found to have lied during their confirmation hearing.

    Sessions spoke twice with Russian ambassador during Trump’s presidential campaign, Justice officials say
    At his Jan. 10 Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Sessions was asked by Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, what he would do if he learned of any evidence that anyone affiliated with the Trump campaign communicated with the Russian government in the course of the 2016 campaign.
    “I’m not aware of any of those activities,” he responded. He added: “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I did not have communications with the Russians.”
    Officials said Sessions did not consider the conversations relevant to the lawmakers’ questions and did not remember in detail what he discussed with Kislyak.

  116. 116.

    Jeffro

    Sorry to hear about the Biden thing but not really any of our business.

    Back to the Russia issue: so we have Michael Flynn rushing to talk to the Russian ambassador, Jeff sessions in touch with the Russian ambassador, Roger stone helping coordinate with WikiLeaks, that asshole lawyer Cohen in deep with pro Putin forces in Ukraine, and both Paul Manafort and Carter page clearly on the payroll of the kremlin.

    That’s just the Russia shit. The corruption at the FBI is quite unbelievable and deserves it’s own chapter

  117. 117.

    Jeffro

    OT but seen today while walking around Tampa: “Lykes Gaslight Park”. True!

    Kind of custom built for our national media don’t you think ?

  118. 118.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Jeffro: The corruption at the FBI is quite unbelievable and deserves it’s own chapter

    I agree. I can’t imagine how any reform of the FBI could come without a large Dem majority in both houses

  120. 120.

    Jeffro

    Next move by trump via Spicey; ” OK so some people in my campaign and some of my supporters may have talked to Russians – is that wrong? is that a big deal? It shouldn’t be because they are totes awesome “

  122. 122.

    BruceFromOhio

    Trump became a better liar.

    No.
    He’s the same liar.

    People decided to believe the lies. That’s what changed.

    .. and that’s what will doom us all, in the end.

  123. 123.

    BruceFromOhio

    The Russians I knew were utterly, coldly pragmatic. It didn’t make them any less human. It simply distinguished them as who they are. And were.

    And the typical American is completely, totally unprepared to deal with that level of pragmatism.

    ETA: Let’s keep it simple.
    #SCROTUS is checkers.
    Putin is chess.

  124. 124.

    Aleta

    American allies, including the British and the Dutch, had provided information describing meetings in European cities between Russian officials — and others close to Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin — and associates of President-elect Trump, according to three former American officials who requested anonymity in discussing classified intelligence. Separately, American intelligence agencies had intercepted communications of Russian officials, some of them within the Kremlin, discussing contacts with Trump associates

    At the Obama White House, Mr. Trump’s statements stoked fears among some that intelligence could be covered up or destroyed — or its sources exposed — once power changed hands. What followed was a push to preserve the intelligence that underscored the deep anxiety with which the White House and American intelligence agencies had come to view the threat from Moscow.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/01/us/politics/obama-trump-russia-election-hacking.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share

  127. 127.

    zhena gogolia

    @rikyrah:

    My thoughts exactly. All these people were like, “Oh, this is a nothingburger.” But she has her SHOES ON THE COUCH IN THE OVAL OFFICE.

  128. 128.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    without buying into any of the Beltway mythology about the Neocon Burns and Smithers, or holding my breath or a result, I’m a bit surprised that Graham is out ahead of McCain on this, only because the hateful old coot thinks it’s always 1974 and a commie’s a commie

    Edward M. Davis‏ @ TeddyDavisCNN 16m16 minutes ago
    Sen. Lindsey Graham says: “Jeff Sessions – who is my dear friend – cannot make this decision about Trump.”

  131. 131.

    BruceFromOhio

    @zhena gogolia: I’m gonna go out on a limb here. I think the photographer was trying to get everybody together around the presidents desk, and she was busy playing with her phone, and since the picture wasn’t about HER, she pulled her feet up so she wasn’t in the picture, instead of bothering to just move.

    Yeah, lame, and not defending her in any way. It’s just funny how much hay is being made out of something … not really worth making hay over, IMHO.

  132. 132.

    BruceFromOhio

    only because the hateful old coot thinks it’s always 1974 and a commie’s a commie

    No, these cats are far, far worse. Think of the Irish or Italian mob with a standing army. And nukes.

    And… the enemy of my enemy is my friend, come what may. America needs these guys, now.

  133. 133.

    efgoldman

    So, our chief law enforcement officer perjured himself in his confirmation hearings. Whoop de do!
    At least John Mitchell didn’t do anything illegal until after he was AG.

    Then-Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) spoke twice last year with Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Justice Department officials said, encounters he did not disclose when asked about possible contacts between members of President Trump’s campaign and representatives of Moscow during Sessions’s confirmation hearing to become attorney general.
    The previously undisclosed discussions could fuel new congressional calls for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Russia’s alleged role in the 2016 presidential election. As attorney general, Sessions oversees the Justice Department and the FBI, which have been leading investigations into Russian meddling and any links to Trump’s associates. He has so far resisted calls to recuse himself.

  134. 134.

    Steve in the ATL

    @efgoldman: Republicans sure do lie a lot. Why is that–because they are horrible people? Because their policies are bigly unpopular? Because they are trying to cover up the fact that they are actively trying to destroy our country?

  135. 135.

    Captain C

    @Hal:

    He’s off doing his thing like Obama playing it cool at the White House Correspondents Dinner, while this major action is going down. Just waiting to strut it in front of the cameras.

    I’m pretty sure Obama was in the Situation Room as the Bin Laden raid actually went down, though. Not stuffing his face.

  136. 136.

    Doug G

    I don’t understand Tur. Trump rips her publicly several times during the campaign, and she swoons over THIS? This is verging on DSM-5 level of mental illness.

  137. 137.

    Aleta

    Taken off twitter:

    Rep. Elijah Cummings, top Democrat on House Oversight Committee, calls for Sessions’ resignation, citing Flynn case.

    WSJ reports that U.S. investigators scrutinized Sessions’ contacts with Kislyak as part of broader Russia probe.

    Blake Hounshell
    28 CFR Section 45.2 seems pretty clear that Sessions now needs to recuse himself https://la

    Eric Geller‏Verified account @ericgeller 3h3 hours ago
    House Intelligence Committee leaders announce plan for Russia investigation. They, too, will investigate Trump–Russia links.

    Eric Geller‏Verified account @ericgeller 22m22 minutes ago
    Incredible line in WSJ story: “the attorney general wasn’t aware that his communications have been under investigation.”

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