Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

75% of people clapping liked the show!

We will not go back.

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Bark louder, little dog.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

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

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Monday Morning Open Thread: At Least We Have A Circus to Amuse Us

Monday Morning Open Thread: At Least We Have A Circus to Amuse Us

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Apart from taking what pleasure we can, what’s on the agenda as we start a new week?

Some backstory, for those of you sensible enough to stay away from news media over the weekend…

The woman Raddatz is jousting with is Sarah Huckabee Sander, whose only marketable skill seems to be having been born Mike Huckabee’s daughter, bless her heart.

Reader Interactions

167Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    You’d think some Republican member of Congress would see there is a huge opportunity to be the first to call for Trump’s resignation.

    Actually, the advantage lies in being the second to call for his resignation.

  2. 2.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    I snuggled with the girls and napped, now I’m wide awake. I was planning on a trip to UCLA(need a license plate frame for the new car) and the LA Country Natural History Museum for their LA History exhibit.

  3. 3.

    amk

    The kenyan inherited one of the biggest shitshows ever and cleaned it up for a racist nation to elect this shitshow. Can’t wait for a real crisis to come and bite this kkklowns show.

  4. 4.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Benjy Sarlin @BenjySarlin

    Round of applause and cheers as Obama leaves the National Gallery, becoming a thing apparently (photo)

    12:23 PM – 5 Mar 2017

    140 Retweets
    354 Favorites

  5. 5.

    Baud

    @amk: It took 8 months for 9/11 to happen after Bush was sworn in. Hopefully, Trump’s first external crisis won’t be so tragic.

  9. 9.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @amk: Was reading yesterday at the Guardian that it is all too likely to come out of the Balkans. Seeing as how much the Russians have invested in Serbia, one doesn’t have to be a psychic to see which way Trump will fold.

  11. 11.

    Kay

    In addition to being concerned about potential attacks on the bureau’s credibility, senior F.B.I. officials are said to be worried that the notion of a court-approved wiretap will raise the public’s expectations that the federal authorities have significant evidence implicating the Trump campaign in colluding with Russia’s efforts to disrupt the presidential election.

    They can forget about “credibility” – they pissed that away with the Clinton witch hunt- but Comey is saying here that they don’t have significant evidence of collusion. For what that’s worth. It’s not worth anything to me other than if he’s saying it now it’s also what he told the Senate a week or so ago in the briefing.

  16. 16.

    Baud

    @Kay: Yeah, I think that’s where the FBI will come out. I’m sure Comey will give a nice right speech about Trump’s reckless behavior though.

  20. 20.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Well, it could change. The FBI planted a story in the NYTimes on October 31st that said there was no evidence the hacking was intended to favor Trump. A week later the other intelligence agencies said there was evidence and the FBI changed their story. No one ever mentioned the 10/31 story again or asked why they either lied or changed their mind.

    They really don’t have any credibility and it’s not just Comey stepping over the line on Clinton. Someone in the FBI planted a false story in the NYTimes a week before the election exonerating Trump. That happened.

  22. 22.

    Baud

    @Kay: How long did the investigation into Clinton’s email take? This has got to take longer, right?

  23. 23.

    amk

    @Kay: Fucking bureau of ineptitude does not have the final word on this “nothing to see here, collusion? what collusion?”, does it? There are other agencies with solid proofs stating otherwise, so comey can gfh.

  25. 25.

    bystander

    @Baud:

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: I’m waiting for people to stand up on the table and say O Captain My Captain.

    …to the sound of a sad trombone. Or, in Trump’s case, a rusty one.

  27. 27.

    amk

    comey: no, obama didn’t do it.

    comey: no, russians didn’t do it.

    cya: yes.

    credibility: down the toilet.

  28. 28.

    bystander

    @Kay: Remember the Times’s scoop from an unnamed source that Hillary was about to be indicted on criminal charges? Which turned out to be the opposite of the truth? And what did the Times do about their unnamed source who burned them? I hate the NYTimes.

  29. 29.

    MomSense

    Morning everyone. Watching 45 publicly lose his shit while the media take his ravings seriously is not reassuring.

    Also I am not getting a cold. I am not getting a cold. I am NOT getting a cold.

    I’m totally getting a cold and two days of mostly sleeping didn’t help.

  32. 32.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    Right? I can’t believe he’s still doing this. He has evidence- he doesn’t have evidence- how can he have that job? He cannot shut up.

    Adam (the front pager) told me that it’s a group of intelligence agencies not just the FBI so that’s good.

  36. 36.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    @Kay: they also planted false story exonerating Flynn on calls to Russia on January 23 and that didn’t work out.

    FBI finds nothing illicit in Michael Flynn’s calls with Russian ambassador

  39. 39.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @MomSense:

    Watching 45 publicly lose his shit while the media take his ravings seriously is not reassuring.

    What is the media supposed to do, ignore what the raving lunatic twit running around with the nuclear codes says?

  40. 40.

    Baud

    @Kay:

    Adam (the front pager) told me that it’s a group of intelligence agencies not just the FBI so that’s good.

    That means it can’t be quick if it’s a legit investigation.

  42. 42.

    low-tech cyclist

    whose only marketable skill seems to be having been born Mike Huckabee’s daughter, bless her heart.

    You may live up north, AL, but I see you’ve mastered the proper Southern usage of ‘bless his/her heart.’ Well played!

  43. 43.

    Kay

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:

    Wow. I didn’t know that. Honestly I’ve had my doubts about them ever since they couldn’t catch the abortion clinic bomber who was camping for 5 years.

    In the pre-dawn hours of May 31, 2003, a rookie Murphy police officer, 21-year-old Jeff Postell, was on patrol and cruising the Sav-A-Lot parking lot. He saw something out of place, so turned out his cruiser lights the second time he circled around. He confronted Rudolph as he foraged for food in the dumpster. Rudolph had a long Maglite flashlight strapped to his body, which Postell thought was a gun. He drew down on the vagrant, and called for backup.

  46. 46.

    Baud

    IIRC the IG is conducting an investigation in Comey’s handling of the email investigation.

  47. 47.

    MomSense

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Maybe just say his accusations are bonkers and demonstrate he is unfit instead of repeating endlessly that the President is calling for an investigation of Obama as if it were credible.

  49. 49.

    JMG

    Good morning! This AM, Trump announces new travel ban. This PM, action switches to various federal courts. If Trump loses again there (have no idea, know no law), I suspect last weekend’s tweetfest will seem like he was telling folks to go see Lego Batman.

  51. 51.

    Baud

    @JMG: If they did a halfway decent job, they might be able to defeat a preliminary injunction, even if they lose in the end.

  52. 52.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    I was shocked by the press conference. He’s just not supposed to do that.

    Obviously if there was a FISA warrant in October then he would have some explaining to do on why he felt the American people needed to know about Weiner’s laptop but not Trump’s Russian connections.

  56. 56.

    satby

    Good morning, rikyrah and all.

    For once, NPR just did some straight reporting on Twitler’s raving, including the phrase “alleged with no proof” and quoting (Clapper?) flatly denying the story.

  58. 58.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: Assuming we survive this catastrophic experiment in hiring an unhinged demagogue as chief executive and that a majority of Americans come to their senses over the next couple of years, we need a Joan Crawford-level institutional house cleaning. The FBI would be a good place to start.

  63. 63.

    satby

    @MomSense: Take care of yourself! Tom Levinson’s post and his article in the Boston Globe yesterday left me pretty pessimistic about our future with antibiotic resistant infections.

  66. 66.

    JPL

    Chaffetz is stating that he hopes that Trump has something to back up his tweets. Chaffetz is saying that he’s not sure there is no evidence. He wants investigation. Nora tried to push back, but she’s no Martha Radditz.

  68. 68.

    JPL

    Chaffetz wants to investigate Obama, but mentions a special prosecutor for Trump is unnecessary since he has not seen evidence of collusion between Trump campaign and Russia.

    WTF

  70. 70.

    SRW1

    @JPL:

    Maybe Chaffetz should call Levin and Breitbart as witnesses. I am sure they wouldn’t plant shit without evidence. Bwaaaaahhhhaaaahhh.

  74. 74.

    Davebo

    @SRW1:

    Maybe Chaffetz should call Levin and Breitbart as witnesses.

    Actually he should call Louise Mensch, then the Breitbart writer, then Levin followed by Trump himself. Those are the only sources of the story with the Donald obviously having the biggest megaphone.

    Trump is right! Take the oath and sit down in front of congress and we’ll get to the bottom of this!

    As if that’s going to happen. But it should because after all Trump has demanded it.

  75. 75.

    debbie

    @MomSense:

    It’s the second time in a year and a half, so I have to start taking it seriously. Don’t let your cold linger too long.

  76. 76.

    PPCLI

    @JPL: There should be a standard response by any newscaster to any Trump ally claiming he should be believed about anything. It could be written on a card like a Miranda warning, read in a flat monotone:
    “Donald Trump continually lied for five years without a shred of evidence that Obama was born in Kenya, not in the US. Even after Obama released his birth certificate, Trump continually claimed he had “credible sources”, and that his investigators had come up with bombshells that he would reveal the shocking truth. When you do something like this, you lose the right to getting the benefit of the doubt the next time you make claims without providing evidence.”

    Something a bit shorter and snappier would be better, but something like that should be the baseline answer. Hammer home that Trump has earned complete skepticism, through his incessant pathological lying and gaslighting behavior for years.

  77. 77.

    Kay

    @Betty Cracker:

    Not to drag you too deep into the fever swamp, but Pizzagate and Weiner are connected to Right wingers obsession with human trafficking. Okay, there IS human trafficking but they’ve gone completely insane about it. It’s like the day care Satanic rituals thing. I met two of the human trafficking conspiracy theorists. They were badgering this poor woman locally because they believed she had been trafficked. They were making money on Youtube with this story. It’s the kind of experience that makes your head hurt, meeting them. They had convinced a court investigator – it got that far.

  79. 79.

    Davebo

    Another thing, Obama could hold a news conference today and demand that Trump either put up or show up regarding his accusation. He won’t and that’s probably the right decision but I’d truly love to see it.

  82. 82.

    Kay

    @JPL:

    Good. Let him investigate Obama. Obama’s clean and it will discourage their base.

    Obama didn’t illegally wiretap Donald Trump and Obama can’t legally wiretap Trump all by himself which means a court approved it. Which takes us right back to Trump.

  84. 84.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @MomSense: You will find that… on the opinion pages. You won’t ever find it in a straight news article, with a few exceptions. I know we all want to live again in an age of “the most trusted man in America” but those days, for better or worse, are long gone and I don’t see them coming back. Whether we like it or not, thru constant browbeating the GOP has turned the majority of the press into stenographers. In combination with the internet people are able to hear only what they want to hear. It is up to DEMs to figure out how to get their message out in a way that a majority of people will trust.

  85. 85.

    satby

    @debbie: You take care of yourself too. Last time I had pneumonia (last year) I soldiered on for longer than I should have, and was sick for a month longer as a result.

  86. 86.

    Betty Cracker

    @Davebo: Ironic, isn’t it? If Trump read non-sycophantic publications or took advantage of the many intelligence agencies that exist to funnel information to him, he’d know the last thing on earth he wants is to keep this Russia story going by dragging PBO into it. The Republicans were ready to countenance treason to secure tax cuts for rich folks and reduce women’s bodily autonomy! But that fucker just can’t shut up about it. I bet every time McConnell and Ryan see Trump, they have to fight the urge to grab the nearest heavy object and bash in his skull.

  87. 87.

    Ithink

    I had no idea that Huckabee was female offspring to the most cringeworthy of failed Bible Thumping G.O.P presidential candidates! No wonder she was so logically incoherent on calling for an equal Intel/congressional investigation of an impossible wire tapping by Barry to Dolt 45 as the latter’s mounting and improbably obtuse Kremlin connections. Seriously f*** everybody propagating this treasonous nonsense that leaked from the fever sewers of reactionary media grease deposits like Breitbart & Mark Levin on the radio, no less!
    Bannon, along w/ the entirety of the kakistocratic vandals that encompass the Trump/Pence administration, should be exiled from polite society to an island w/ no modern amenities and so very many wild man eating animals after they are impeached or hopefully decisively voted out come Election Day 2020.
    Josh Marshall’s tweet above pretty much nailed all the sentiment and surreal realities of the spectacle perfectly, because President Obama would’ve been rotiserried along w/ his entire extended family on the White House Lawn. And for saying even a fractoid of the dumb s*** He, Trump has, let alone acting upon or justifying the subsequent action. What a time to be alive, Dear God…

  88. 88.

    satby

    @Baud: speaking of news, heard from Watergirl. She’s fine, crazy busy, but lurking occasionally. Hoping she starts popping in again when she has more free time.

  91. 91.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Benedict Donald says “sadly, Heidi Klum is no longer a 10.”

    You decide from this Sunday night (photo)

  92. 92.

    JMG

    @Baud: Absolutely. Trump attacked Obama because he thinks “no fair. I’m President and everybody loves him and all I get is grief.” Drives Trump crazy, because he doesn’t really understand winning an election doesn’t mean your opponents become big fans. “Those should be MY cheers.”

  93. 93.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    Obama didn’t say there was no wiretap. He said he didn’t order it. He can’t order it. As usual, everything the Trump people say is both a lie and incorrect even in the basis of the lie.

    I think it drives Trump crazy that he’s unpopular. I don’t think he gives a shit about policy. He fell in love with running for President because he’s a needy, empty person and he requires constant reassurance. He can’t bear that so many people hate him.

  94. 94.

    Peale

    @Kay: yep. And even if there wasn’t any evidence of collusion that could be proven, haven’t we learned from the Susan Rice affair, that meeting to discuss talking points on any issue is against the rules and should disqualify everyone involved from office?

  95. 95.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @PPCLI:

    Something a bit shorter and snappier would be better,

    ‘Liar liar, pants on fire’ comes to mind.

  96. 96.

    weaselone

    It’s pathetic. If I tweeted “Just found out that Trump has been having sex with underage chinchillas. What a sicko.” Nobody would take it seriously. Trump’s President, but he also has a history of dishonesty and a strong ulterior motive to spread this type of BS given his current situation.

  99. 99.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    The 8th grade boy set have turned on him over environmentalism. I would not have predicted that but they love Bill Nye and Neil Degrasse Tyson and it’s uncool to be anti-science. Which is good. Whatever liberal fascist convinced them of that, kudos! :)

  102. 102.

    Sab

    @Kay: Ibcould classical music to worship this guy, but it still won’t help me when I want to buy insurance next year.Special place in he’ll for our insurance commissioner and lieutenant gov. Mary Taylor.z

  104. 104.

    bystander

    @Baud:

    @satby: Almost every news story I’ve seen has said “citing no evidence.”

    Yes, but I keep hearing, “…but if it’s true, it would be…” Horse racing is in their blood.

  105. 105.

    Central Planning

    @Kay: All 5 of my kids (11 to 20) love BN and NDT. I think it’s because their parents *cough* love them too and live in a fact-based world. I wonder if being atheists helps with that.

    ETA – we’re also going to the Environmental March in DC on April 29. Only 3 of the kids will go since the older two have school/work. The younger 3 are already exited about joining the march and rallying against Dolt 45.

  106. 106.

    Davebo

    @Betty Cracker:

    I bet every time McConnell and Ryan see Trump, they have to fight the urge to grab the nearest heavy object and bash in his skull.

    I’m just thanking FSM that Trump pulled off the nomination. I had lost hope that the GOP would ever pay the price for creating the Tea Party and for a long time it looked like they wouldn’t but IMO they are now and Trump is that price. Sure, they won, but now it’s almost, but not quite, a “careful what you wish for” scenario.

  107. 107.

    Sab

    @Sab: this time I am gobsmacked. Autocorrect changed it so much I cannot remember what I originally meant to say but it wasn’t that. Classical Music? I like it but what does it have to do with the context of what I said?

  108. 108.

    NorthLeft12

    @amk: I think those deplorables are still pissed at Pres. Obama for being ultra competent and intelligent.
    I would say that he [and Michelle] literally drove them crazy, but honestly they were pretty much already there.
    I’m not exactly sure what it says about the US that enough of the “good” people could not recognize the danger or be bothered to do something [like vote?] to ensure Deadbeat Donald never got close to the Presidency. But I don’t think it says anything good.

  109. 109.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    What people are forgetting here is the potential that whatever transcripts may be cycling may have come through due to Five Eyes and NATO sharing.

    The IC (and I’m including counterparts among Five Eyes and NATO) are begging Congress to do its job, this the leak pace accelerates. Congress, responding to the primary base hyenas, has its heels dug in. Something I said in the past about Limbaugh applies to Trump – you could have uncontrovertible video of Trump snorting coke from the asscrack of a dead twink rentboy that he had just strangled and assbanged on the video, and conservatives (particularly the evangelicals) would excuse and defend him, citing “our degraded culture” and drawing an equivalence to King David.

    Zero integrity in Conservatism.

  112. 112.

    TS

    Both sides media is still looking for equivalences to Trump and his staff lies in the Obama administration. Funny they never tried the same with Bush II once he left the White House.

  113. 113.

    Kay

    @Central Planning:

    They love those two guys and they’re constantly lectured to go into stem careers and load up and math and science at school so I think that has an effect. They’re pro-science. I love eavesdropping on them. When they were younger one of them came into the kitchen to ask me “what is a ‘lumberjack’?” I just love that question on so many levels. Settle this lumberjack dispute, please. They have this circular way of talking that I understand :)

  115. 115.

    Bruce K

    @Davebo: Technically, they won last year, but they did it in much the same way that Lance Armstrong won all those Tours de France. What does everyone remember Mr. Armstrong for, again?

  116. 116.

    JMG

    The media, especially cable news reporters outside of Fox, are in a hard spot. They know Trump’s demented and his close associates are demented, incompetent or both, but they can’t say so upfront because they’d get fired. To their bosses, Trump is money. Their immediate news bosses see ratings, their big corporate bosses see totally deregulated telecommunications monopolies. So they try to convey skepticism (an accepted journalistic attitude) rather than horror. Also remember that all of cable news’s audience is Trump’s base. It’s not just Fox, all three rely on old white people, especially those without lives. I’m an old white person myself, and I can’t imagine turning on Morning Joe or its equivalents to start my day. More fun here. Way more.

  117. 117.

    efgoldman

    @Kay:

    Adam (the front pager) told me that it’s a group of intelligence agencies not just the FBI so that’s good.

    He also said the FBI counter intelligence division just beavers on, doing its job, regardless of what Comey, the Integritytudeness Rock of Gibraltar, says to cover his ass.

  119. 119.

    NorthLeft12

    @Davebo: I don’t think I can disagree with you and Betty more. Deadbeat Donald is perfect for the GOP congressional “leadership”.
    1. He does everything that they want, and then some. Let’s remember this is really the standard GOP platform for the last ten to twenty years that is being implemented here.
    2. Donald’s craziness provides cover for the complete incompetence of Ryan, McConnell, et al in running the Congress. Nobody is paying attention to their own and their minions’ foolishness while the Deadbeat is hogging the spotlight.
    3. They have an obvious and plausible fall guy for the inevitable implosion that is occurring. They will walk away from this as clean as can be and be able to face the mid term elections as the GOP voice of reason.

    Unfortunately, your press and public are sufficiently subservient and ignorant that this will [is] work[ing].

  123. 123.

    efgoldman

    @JPL:

    Chaffetz wants to investigate Obama

    Is he actually stupid enough, with enough hubris, to go after Obama? The pres will pants him 200 times over. He’ll make what HRC did to Gowdy’s committee look like a standoff.

  124. 124.

    Jack the Second

    I am not nearly so eager as half y’all about bringing Obama into things.

    Remember Pizzagate, and the RWNJ showing up with an assault rifle to “investigate”? Do you not think if Trump, Breitbart, and Infowars make enough noise about Obama undermining the Constitution with a shadow government working against Trump from inside the Federal government, there won’t be RWNJ taking matters into their own hands?

    He may still have a token amount of security, but it is no where near a Presidential cordon.

  125. 125.

    Woodrow/Asim

    @Davebo:

    I had lost hope that the GOP would ever pay the price for creating the Tea Party and for a long time it looked like they wouldn’t but IMO they are now and Trump is that price.

    But we’re all — the entire world — paying a heavy price for that.

    The horrors that have been inflicted just this month aren’t worth the political price you’re foreseeing the GOP eventually pay. We could have dismantled them without the upcoming shitstorm of pain, agony, and heartbreak that’s coming on the horizon, so long as these guys are in change, and like the Pharoah in the Bible, hardening their hearts.

  127. 127.

    amk

    Impeachment is off the table.

    I sometimes wonder if the dems preemptively dropped the ball on that one.

  128. 128.

    Central Planning

    @Kay: Nice. Last weekend all the kids were here for dinner with one of their friends, and the dinner table discussion got into how the universe came into being (A Universe From Nothing by Lawrence Krauss – great book) and how there can actually be nothing, like the space in atoms between protons/neutrons and the electrons.

    Speaking of sitting around dinner tables, I asked my daughter last night after we were doing a goofy yes/no argument at the table how many of her friends sit around the table doing this with their parents. She said none of them. They don’t usually even eat together. Sad! I don’t want to believe my family is atypical, but I’m afraid it might be.

  129. 129.

    Paul in KY

    @Jack the Second: Pres Dumbfuck is bringing him in. I’m sure Pres. Obama & Michelle will evaluate & make right call for them. I understand your concern here.

  130. 130.

    Peale

    @Jack the Second: yep. Obama and Hillary (you know she’ll get dragged in) in jail would be right wing fever swamp fantasy orgy material. And it’s what authoritarians do.

  131. 131.

    Central Planning

    @Woodrow/Asim:

    We could have dismantled them without the upcoming shitstorm of pain, agony, and heartbreak that’s coming…

    I’m not sure we could have. I can envision Hillary being President and nothing but investigations and obstruction for 4 more years. I’m not sure there would be a way to dismantle that when the Rs have so much support and encouragement to obstruct. It’s unfortunate that electing Dolt 45 might have been the only way to ultimately get past them.

  133. 133.

    SFAW

    @amk:

    The kenyan inherited one of the biggest shitshows ever and cleaned it up for a racist nation to elect this shitshow. Can’t wait for a real crisis to come and bite this kkklowns show.

    Years ago, my brother commented that, in Nassau County [NY], when the Rethugs ran things, they’d fuck things up enough that they’d get voted out. Then, the newly-elected Dems, in order to fix the Rethugs’ fuck-ups, would have to implement unpopular but necessary measures (not unlike Clinton’s tax increase). Then, after things were more-or-less back on an even keel, the genius voters would reward the Dems by electing Rethugs again.

    Lather, rinse, repeat.

    So when someone tells me that voters will remember that Rethugs fuck things up and thus reward Dems, I chuckle.

  134. 134.

    p.a.

    Where is FBI Director in presidential line of succession? It would be irresponsible not to speculate!

  135. 135.

    PST

    @raven:

    Mika is about to cry. . .

    True, and yet, she instantly characterized the story in classic he-said-she-said terms. She declared that EITHER the sitting president has made an astonishing accusation against his predecessor without evidence, OR the former president is guilty of a Watergate-level crime. She could not have played into Trump’s hands more perfectly. We have equivalent alternatives, pick the one you like. What better response could they hope for.

  136. 136.

    BlueDWarrior

    @PST: Which I think is the ultimate game, to forment a hardened 40% of the population that will never accept rule by anyone except Republicans, or to put it another way, either there is Republican government, or no government.

    We’re at the point to where the ‘two sides’ are arguing if 2+2 really equals 4; countries have cleaved in twain for seemingly less than this.

  137. 137.

    Iowa Old Lady

    Rs have been at sea without Obama and Clinton to rage against since the don’t know how to govern. I’m sure they’re now going “Phew! Investigate Obama. Great. We know how to do that.”

  138. 138.

    Betty Cracker

    @BlueDWarrior: Great point, but I’d argue the Republicans already won that game. Trump wouldn’t be possible if 40% of the population weren’t conditioned to vote R no matter how incompetent, unhinged and embarrassing a buffoon wore the label.

  139. 139.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    “Phew! Investigate Obama. Great. We know how to do that.”

    No, they know how to play at “investigating Obama” the same way a child knows how to play “Cowboys and Indians”.

    “BANG! BANG! You’re dead!”
    “No, I’m not! You missed me with your totally made up witch hunt of 17 Benghazi investigations!”

  141. 141.

    Another Scott

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Wouldn’t Memeorandum be a much quicker and more efficient way to see what they’re up to?

    I’ve never watched MJ. I can’t bear the thought of giving MSNBC/Comcast any more reasons to keep such blatantly pro-GOP stuff on the ‘tubes.

    (I wish there was something comparable to Memeorandum for rational/lefty news.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  143. 143.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @SFAW:

    So when someone tells me that voters will remember that Rethugs fuck things up and thus reward Dems, I chuckle.

    I think it’s more, stupid old white people always vote Republican because they brainwashed by these shows they listen and watch that play on their fears. When things get bad more people show up and are enough to vote the idiots out of office. When things are good normal people can’t be bothered and the stupid old white people vote the idiots back into office. But I also suspect this will start changing over the next decade as the Boomers, who are the core of the stupid, old white people demographic, start dying in large numbers.

  144. 144.

    satby

    @Betty Cracker: we’ve been in a cold civil war for the last 8 years, but it’s heated up; now we get to see how many of our fellow citizens step up for the country and how many will be “Good Germans”. So far our side is bigger but has been way too complacent.

  145. 145.

    O. Felix Culpa

    So, here’s why – if you needed convincing – winning a Democratic legislative majority matters. We won back the House and retained the Senate in New Mexico and below are a few headlines from our current legislative session:

    -House panel rejects bill to bring back death penalty
    -House committee tables two anti-abortion measures
    -Senate OKs ban on openly carrying firearms in Capitol
    -House votes to hike statewide minimum wage

    Both sides are not the same.

  149. 149.

    Kay

    WH spokesperson on Obama’s denial of unsubstantiated wiretap claim: “They don’t have the best track record”

    Guffaw. As compared to the high standards in the Trump Administration.

    Donald Trump was a low quality hire so it shouldn’t surprise anyone he hires bad people. Of course he does. That’s part of why he’s a low quality hire himself. He hires bad people and hiring good people is his job.

  150. 150.

    Another Scott

    @efgoldman: They’ll try to turn Obama into Jimmy Carter[cubed]. They can’t accept people looking back at the administration of a good, intelligent, thoughtful, competent man with fondness and longing to bring back those days. There’s never been any doubt that they are going to do what they can to trash him, especially since he’s black.

    It’s what they do.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  151. 151.

    Baud

    @Kay: Sarah Huckabee was pitching the same talking point this morning. “How come people treat Obama’s denial as true but question everything Trump says?”

  153. 153.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Rod Rosenstein: ‘honorable’ US attorney poised to be next Russia investigator

    Sessions’ recusal could immediately put Rosenstein into a much higher-profile position than he might have imagined when he was nominated to serve as deputy attorney general. If confirmed, he would oversee any justice department investigation into Russian interference in the election – including any contacts between Russia and members of the Trump campaign.

    Rosenstein, who is currently the US attorney in Maryland, was a surprising choice to serve as the No 2 official in Trump’s justice department, said Philip Heymann, who was Rosenstein’s law professor at Harvard, and later his boss in the Clinton justice department. Rosenstein has served in the Department of Justice for 26 years, including in the tax division, the public integrity section, and as an assistant US attorney in Maryland.

    Rosenstein is a skilled prosecutor and “a straight shooter”, with a deep knowledge of the day-to-day workings of the department, but he did not seem particularly close to either Sessions or Trump, Heymann said.

    “It surprises me that they didn’t pick somebody who was more partisan,” he said.

    James Cole, who served for four years as Eric Holder’s deputy attorney general, also offered unqualified praise for Rosenstein’s skill and credibility. “He doesn’t make any decisions that either are or appear to be political,” he said.

    Questions on the Russia investigation are likely to be at the center of Rosenstein’s confirmation hearing on Tuesday. He declined to comment.

    Interesting. Will have to check in on how that hearing went.

  156. 156.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    Bingo – 2/3 of the boomers were inclined to Conservatism, and hailed primarily from the suburbs, exurbs and ruralities. Due to location, though, that 1/3 inclined center left to left was in the country’s major media markets and took on the mantle of “representative of the demographic”.

  157. 157.

    Bupalos

    Radditz thinks she’s being tough, and she’s almost able to hang with it here…but despite the press now having 10+ examples of how this works and what the Trumpublicans are up to with this stuff, they just can’t seem to fully grok the game plan. Or can’t seem to help themselves.

    1. RWNJ/State News outlet cooks up opinion/conspiracy story
    2. Trump tweets about story
    3. Other outlets report that trump tweeted about the story
    4. Trump PR layer shows up on TV invoking the stir and namedropping outlets from (3) as if they had reported on the original “story.”
    5. Unwashed horde of Trumpies froth at the mouth about controversial new scandal that is practically verified by the fact that it was important enough to be given time by “even the liberal x…”

    It’s newslaundering.

    Media outlets confronted with this new reality need to elevate their language. Instead of asking “where’s the proof,” or reporting that Trump said something “without proof” they need to ask if there is any indication at all that this wasn’t created out of whole cloth, and ask about the rationale for the creation of the theory. “Do you think Trump will benefit if people believed this theory that Obama/the media/foreigners are out to get him?” It’s a meta thing, and needs to be addressed on that level. “What is Trump’s purpose in having you talk about this as if it’s something that has evidence behind it?”

  159. 159.

    sheparick

    @Baud: Bruce Bartlett is still thinking of the Republican Party of his youth back in the 1980s, before the few dozen millionaires who owned it arranged for the summary execution of any Republican who misses the memo to follow the party line for the day.

    1. The big news this morning, that is being missed by the MSM pundits, and even most of us on the Left (you can find it at both Driftglass and No More Mr. Nice Blog) is that “Obama wiretapped” trump has already become, in just 24 hours an “alternative fact” in the Republican Conservative Movement Universe that is as irrebuttable as the belief that human caused global warming is a hoax or that he was born in Kenya and is a secret Muslim. As Steve M writes, what dumb MSM media sees as disaster, is perfect for his base:

    “To make base voters happy, Trump doesn’t have to bring back manufacturing jobs or build the wall or defeat ISIS. He just has to give them their own facts, angrily and at the top of his lungs.” http://nomoremister.blogspot.com/2017/03/trumps-base-is-probably-more-energized.html

    As he also writes,

    “…This is what conservatism is. It’s not a movement of ideas. It’s an opposition research operation for a permanent campaign. One reason unified Republican government hasn’t accomplished very much in the first few weeks of the Trump presidency is that the campaign to make heartland whites hate Democrats and non-white people has become the principal focus of conservatism — figuring out how to govern is so far down on the list of priorities that no one seems to know how to do it. That’s not seen as an important skill on the right. The ability to generate a hate-nugget like this gets much more respect.” http://nomoremister.blogspot.com/2017/03/how-is-right-wing-media-trying-to-make.html

    2. I do disagree somewhat with Steve M. and Driftglass to this extent. The Republican Party has another function besides giving the Base their daily 2-minutes of hate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Minutes_Hate, The Party also exists to cut and eliminate taxes on the rich, to allow them to loot and pollute to the limit of imagination, and to fire hose as much public money (through DoD, Homeland Security, Private prisons, and private for profit “schools”) as there is to collect. Also, to fuck and immiserate as many working people as possible because it feels so good to be rich when other people’s lives suck.

    3. Hence, the Koch brothers are issuing their marching orders to repeal the Affordable Care and get on with dismantling the New Deal and Great Society as quickly as possible .https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/05/us/politics/koch-brothers-affordable-care-act.html?_r=0

    4. Meanwhile, despite the chaos of Trump himself, he, Mike Pence, Jim DeMint, and Heritage have already blown up he EPA and and are in the process of rendering as dead letters Environmental laws and regulations that they can’t repeal. They are basically going to allow the banks to go back to the glory days of the Big Short where they will be trying to every piece of crappy loan they can give to any sap who can cause condensation on a mirror, wrap it in a fancy name, and sell it to other poor saps who believe the AAA rating they buy for it. All this has happen in just the first six weeks.

    5. The latest poll shows he stil has that hard 45%. That is 45% of registered voters, which means 47% of likely voters in a Presidential election and 52% in a off-year election. Till there is an actual shooting war (which does not get wrapped up in 6 weeks) or a sharp recession. That 45% is happy with having this idiot in the White House.

  160. 160.

    O. Felix Culpa

    @satby: @Baud: @amk: Now we need to elect a Democratic governor in 2018. New Mexico’s post-recession recovery has stagnated in the last five or so years thanks to – you guessed it – tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy! Oddly, the promised job growth did not materialize. Hoocouldanode?

  161. 161.

    Timurid

    @p.a.: Thankfully, he’s somewhere between ‘zombie virus’ and ‘asteroid impact’ in the line of succession.

  165. 165.

    NorthLeft12

    @Baud:

    How come people treat Obama’s denial as true but question everything Trump says?”

    I think this fits the definition of a rhetorical question.

  166. 166.

    J R in WV

    @Kay:

    But the FBI is more of an urban, white-collar fraud, accountants and lawyers type of agency. Really, the Border Patrol on horseback would have had a better chance of catching that rat Rudolph in the woods than the FBI. Or the Forest Service. Park Rangers with rifles, even.

    Mostly it looks like the FBI spends its time setting up would-be terrorists with phony bombs… them against the Russian KGB/FSB sounds like me versus Mike Tyson. And I’m partly disabled.

  167. 167.

    No One You Know

    @JMG: I’ll bet it also drives him crazy that the 44th President is still called “President.”

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