Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

White supremacy is terrorism.

This fight is for everything.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Second rate reporter says what?

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

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

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

The words do not have to be perfect.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Security Theater Open Thread: Wolverines! — Not the UM Kind

Security Theater Open Thread: Wolverines! — Not the UM Kind

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As ever, the brilliance of the Trump Administration: Getting a roomful of people with every reason to hate Islamic terrorists united in anger against… the Trump administration. Per the Detroit Free Press:

In a meeting today with Arab-Americans and Muslims in Dearborn, Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly stood up at one point and threatened to leave after a community advocate accused the department of targeting their communities, according to meeting participants.

The tense exchange took place during a hour-long meeting at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, where Kelly met with several Arab-American and Muslim advocates as part of a visit to metro Detroit. At a separate earlier meeting with immigrant, Latino, and Chaldean advocates, some also criticized the department for allegedly targeting minority groups…

At the meeting, Nabih Ayad, an active civil rights leader and attorney who is founder of the Dearborn-based Arab American Civil Rights League, said he pressed Kelly about executive orders from his department that target six Muslim-majority nations.

He also mentioned alleged profiling of Arabs and Muslims at ports of entry. Ayad said he asked Kelly to create a record of who gets stopped for questioning at ports of entry so there can be data to see if there is disproportionate targeting of Arabs and Muslims.

“He stood up and walked away almost,” Ayad said. “He said, I’m leaving unless you decide to stop your questions and have someone else ask a question. … He actually got out his seat.”

Ayad said he then stopped his comments and another Arab-American advocate started to speak. Ayad’s account was confirmed by two other Arab-Americans who attended the meeting. U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, who had invited Kelly to Michigan, were also at the meeting…

Reader Interactions

125Comments

  1. 1.

    Roger Moore

    Kelly being offended at the idea of collecting data to see if profiling is occurring is peak accusations of racism are worse than racism

    If so, then we’ve been at peak for a while. Republicans have been doing their very best to prevent anyone from collecting data to prove accusations of racism for quite a while.

  3. 3.

    rikyrah

    “John Kelly stood up at one point and threatened to leave after a community advocate accused the department of targeting their communities”

    How dare those folks stand up for themselves.

    Hmmph.

  6. 6.

    rikyrah

    In February Trump told reporters he had NO dealing with Russia. “And I have no loans with Russia. I have no loans with Russia at all.”
    Yet in 2013, after Trump addressed potential investors in Moscow, he bragged to Real Estate Weekly about his access to Russia’s rich and powerful. “I have a great relationship with many Russians, and almost all of the oligarchs were in the room.” http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/03/28/trump-business-past-ties-russian-mobsters-organized-crime/98321252/

  7. 7.

    artem1s

    So military guy can’t abide having his orders questioned. Who could have known. You are a public servant now bub. Suck it up.

  8. 8.

    rikyrah

    Republicans roll back the clock on Internet privacy protections
    03/29/17 08:40 AM
    By Steve Benen
    Advocates of Internet privacy protections received some very bad news yesterday. Slate’s report summarized the developments on Capitol Hill nicely:

    In a defeat for digital privacy advocates, the House of Representatives voted Tuesday to allow internet service providers to sell information about consumers’ browsing history without their knowledge or consent.

    The bill repeals FCC the broadband privacy rules passed during the final months of the Obama administration. In addition to protecting customer data, the rules, which never had a chance to go into effect, also required the providers to notify customers when they experienced a data breach. The Senate voted to revoke the rules last week.

    Politico tweeted overnight that the House voted “nearly unanimously to revoke broadband privacy rules.” That’s not even close to being true: the House voted 215 to 205. Literally zero Democrats voted for the bill, while nearly every Republican voted for it. In the Senate, the same legislation passed 50 to 48, again along party lines. (Sen. Rand Paul missed the vote, but was a co-sponsor of the legislation.)

  9. 9.

    schrodingers_cat

    Kelly’s actions so far have not inspired any confidence me. He was OK with the travel ban 1.0. He wants to separate mothers from their children at the border to deter unauthorized border crossings. I am sure there are things that I am missing. So much for the idea the senior military brass was supposed bring as semblance of competence and humanity to the proceedings.

  10. 10.

    rikyrah

    Trump’s lawyers try to shield him from sexual misconduct lawsuit
    03/29/17 08:00 AM
    By Steve Benen
    In the weeks leading up to the presidential election, nearly a dozen women came forward to accuse Donald Trump of sexual misconduct. The Republican denied each of the allegations and vowed to sue the women after the election.

    Like so many of Trump’s claims, the promise turned out to be untrue, but that doesn’t mean the accusations are behind him. On the contrary, one of the women has now sued the president for defamation, and as USA Today reported, Trump’s attorneys have responded to the litigation by saying he should be immune from the lawsuit – because he’s too busy being president to be distracted by the case.

    Summer Zervos, a former contestant from The Apprentice, sued Trump in New York on Jan. 17, just days before the inauguration. She came forward in October and accused Trump of kissing and groping her in a Beverly Hills hotel room in 2007. Trump denied the accusation, including a series of tweets calling the sexual misconduct allegations “100% fabricated and made-up charges,” “totally false” and “totally made up nonsense.”

    Zervos’ attorney, Gloria Allred, demanded a retraction, to no avail. So, she sued. Zervos’ lawsuit claims the alleged defamation was “detrimental to Ms. Zervos’s reputation, honor and dignity.”

    Trump’s lawyers – his private counsel, not the White House counsel – told the court this week the case could “distract a President from his public duties to the detriment of not only the President and his office but also the Nation.”

  14. 14.

    rikyrah

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 3/28/17
    Cyprus helping US in Manafort finances investigations
    Richard Engel, NBC News chief foreign correspondent, talks with Rachel Maddow about how Cyprus is trying to shed its reputation as a place for laundering dirty Russian money and is helping the U.S. in its investigation of former Donald Trump campaign manager Manafort.

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 3/28/17
    Trump aide Manafort’s money trail traced through Cyprus accounts
    Richard Engel, NBC News chief foreign correspondent, talks with Rachel Maddow about the investigations into former Donald Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort’s use of Cyprus bank accounts to process large amounts of money.

    THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 3/28/17
    Trump aide Manafort’s real estate deals raise suspicion
    Rachel Maddow reports on how a pattern of real estate spending and borrowing by former Donald Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort follows a pattern experts say is used in laundering money.

  15. 15.

    rikyrah

    Quick Takes: Medicaid Comes of Age
    by Nancy LeTourneau March 28, 2017 6:00 PM

    * A silver lining to the ugly cloud we witnessed in the attempt to repeal Obamacare is that – due in part to it’s central role in the ACA – Medicaid came of age.

    …over the past five decades, Medicaid has surpassed Medicare in the number of Americans it covers. It has grown gradually into a behemoth that provides for the medical needs of one in five Americans — 74 million people — starting for many in the womb, and for others, ending only when they go to their graves.

    Medicaid, so central to the country’s health care system, also played a major, though far less appreciated, role in last week’s collapse of the Republican drive to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. While President Trump and others largely blamed the conservative Freedom Caucus for that failure, the objections of moderate Republicans to the deep cuts in Medicaid also helped doom the Republican bill…

    Medicaid now provides medical care to four out of 10 American children. It covers the costs of nearly half of all births in the United States. It pays for the care for two-thirds of people in nursing homes. And it provides for 10 million children and adults with physical or mental disabilities. For states, it accounts for 60% of federal funding — meaning that cuts hurt not only poor and middle-class families caring for their children with autism or dying parents, but also bond ratings.

  16. 16.

    Roger Moore

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Only White, Christian, straight, blued eyed folk with all 4 grandparents born in the US count. Doncha know.

    If having all 4 grandparents born in the US were important, we would have gotten Hillary as president, not trump. In fact, nobody in the whole trump clan can claim 4 American born grandparents; IIRC, Tiffany is the only one who had even the majority of hers born in the USA. Having foreign parents or grandparents is no impediment as long as they’re the right kind of foreign, IYKWIMAITYD.

  17. 17.

    danielx

    In February Trump told reporters he had NO dealing with Russia. “And I have no loans with Russia. I have no loans with Russia at all.”

    Channeling Samuel L. Jackson: MUTHAFUKKA…..PLEASE!

  18. 18.

    Kay

    “John Kelly stood up at one point and threatened to leave after a community advocate accused the department of targeting their communities”

    But Team Trump are awesome salespeople! I’m told that again and again despite how nasty and rude they are every single day and how they’re completely unprofessional in every interaction with anyone who dissents.

    We obviously admire this in the United States. We admire “public servants” who have utter contempt for the majority who disagree with them. This is “smart” and “tough” and “savvy”. Seriously, fuck these people. They’re not doing me any favors. They’re bad at their jobs and I resent paying them. This attitude they have that they’re not “here to make friends” is just bullshit. Yes, they actually ARE here to make friends because we don’t work for them.

    I wouldn’t have hired any of these low quality incompetents but since I’m stuck with them the least they could is try not to be the assholes they are for 15 minutes a day.

  19. 19.

    Barbara

    @rikyrah: The irony here is too thick to penetrate. A kid in a candy store has fewer temptations and the synapses in my brain are shorting out because the possibilities for repartee are just too vast.

  20. 20.

    germy

    Who What Why: Why FBI Can’t Tell All on Trump, Russia
    Why? Because doing so would jeopardize a long-running, ultra-sensitive operation targeting mobsters tied to Russian President Vladimir Putin — and to Trump.

  21. 21.

    Betty Cracker

    Trump about 15 minutes ago:

    Butt-hurt over routine coverage of his corrupt, sleazy administration or worried about another shoe that’s about to drop? ?

  22. 22.

    rikyrah

    Does Trump Really Want a Grand Bargain With Democrats?
    by Nancy LeTourneau March 29, 2017 8:00 AM

    After a devastating defeat on health care, it might be that Trump is ready to jettison the idea of working with the House Freedom Caucus.

    The Republican House Freedom Caucus was able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. After so many bad years they were ready for a win!

    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2017

    Jonathan Swan is reporting that for his next act, the president might attempt a grand bargain with Democrats.

    The Trump administration is looking at driving tax reform and infrastructure concurrently, according to a White House source with direct knowledge.

    It’s a major strategic shift – infrastructure was likely going to be parked until next year – and is only possible because of last week’s healthcare debacle.

    President Trump feels burned by the ultra conservative House Freedom Caucus and is ready to deal with Democrats. Dangling infrastructure spending is an obvious way to buy the support of potentially dozens of Dems, meaning he wouldn’t have to bargain with the hardliners.

    ………………………..

    That has led them to a bit of an “oops, maybe we made a mistake” conclusion.

    Some Trump friends think he has made a huge mistake since the inauguration by antagonizing Dems rather than courting them. Because of his tweets and rants, they’re less likely to give him the benefit of the doubt than they were Jan. 20, and any ambitious Dem who tried to work with him would get fiercer blowback from the base.

  25. 25.

    themann1086

    Hey folks, my google-fu is failing so hopefully someone here remembers: one of the front pagers had highlighted an NGO that acted on behalf of refugees back in January. Does anyone remember the name? Thanks!

  26. 26.

    Chris

    @rikyrah:

    Weren’t the FC and Ryan also saying that this wasn’t over and that they were going to try to keep working on a repeal until enough people agreed?

  27. 27.

    Betty Cracker

    @germy: I really hate having to put my faith in the Comey-led FBI, which means lumping the poor leadership and judgment of Comey himself along with the Trump-colluding NY office and who knows how many other rogue branches. I hope they’re on the side of the angels, but IMO, they are a thin-ass reed to hang our national hopes upon. I’m hoping Rep. Nunes’ epic stupidity and the admin’s and their congressional allies’ continued flailing creates an unstoppable demand for a special counselor and independent investigation.

  28. 28.

    germy

    By Faroll Hamer From The Washington Post

    April 8, 2016

    Faroll Hamer retired in 2014 as director of planning for the city of Alexandria.

    I spent 30 years as a city planner in the D.C. area, and a big part of my job was meeting with developers. Over time, I created what I called the Developer Profile to entertain my staff. If you want to understand Donald Trump, start here. Of course, I would never say all developers are like this. (But they are.)

    They have short attention spans. They’re terrible listeners. They come to meetings to negotiate the fate of a project and can’t sit still — they rock and jiggle while you talk to them, waiting for you to finish, then say their piece and leave. There’s no dialogue.

    They don’t read. Sending a letter or an email is useless. You have to pick up the phone and talk to them.

    They view themselves as victims. They see regulations as getting in the way of what’s good for economic development and society as a whole, and believe governments exist to pick on them. Everything they do is for us, because they are building places for us to live, shop or work. And it’s true developers play an important role in the growth and revitalization of cities. So they’re not just victims, in their minds, but heroes, too.

    Risk just doesn’t bother them the way it does other people. You can really lose your shirt as a developer. The good side of this risk tolerance is that developers are decisive and can take bold action. The scary side is that they sometimes brush aside legal obstacles to what they see as a worthy goal. They know the difference between right and wrong, but often they aren’t particularly worried about the letter of the law.

    While tactically inventive, they are strategically unimaginative. They’re not people who enjoy creative thinking or the big picture; they’ll build the same building over and over, but they are endlessly flexible about achieving each project. It’s all about the next step. In negotiations they’re willing to get only part of what they want because they know they’re going to come back and get another part and another, until before you know it, they have it all. They’re into getting their nose under the tent.

    Because they concentrate on immediate tactical goals, you can’t expect consistency of argument from them. They’re extremely pragmatic. They have no interest in ideology. They value loyalty over principle — you’re either in the circle or not — and they’re usually generous to loyal friends of every race and gender. The ones at the top are driven, expansive people. And since they identify their projects with the general social welfare, they tend to be a little megalomaniacal. Almost any attention you give them is good. They don’t mind being teased, but pointed criticism is unacceptable. That might sound contradictory, but it’s the way they are.

    What does this tell us about what Trump would be like as president? The Developer’s Profile can give us a pretty good idea.

    On those few issues he identifies closely with, such as trade and restricting immigration, he would be unrelenting and inventive. He really would build a wall. He can’t keep Muslims out of the United States or return lost jobs to the country, but he would do what he can and call it a success.

    On many of the other issues that a president deals with, Trump is perfectly unqualified now and would stay that way. He is a quick study, but only about things that interest him. He would rely on staff, which is probably good, depending on who’s around him. In foreign policy, he would have little strategy. He would play the victim, be reactive and un­or­tho­dox. Being risk-tolerant, he may do things that are truly dangerous. Being willing to cut losses, he would be more likely than other presidents to leave allies in the lurch.

    The positive side of having no strategy is that he’s not an ideologue. On many issues Trump would govern as a pragmatist. I doubt he’s a racist — developers don’t care if you’re black or white. But he has become the candidate of racists, which presents him with a problem: How does he satisfy this constituency without turning the rest of the country against him? This is the sort of difficulty you get into if you act for short-term tactical gain without principles and without knowing where you’re going. Multiply this problem by a thousand if you’re president.

    And it’s when a developer encounters political resistance that his sense of victimhood really kicks in. Trump has called himself a “counter-puncher”; once offended, he reacts with little restraint. But Twitter insults are pretty trivial. The presidency is not.

  29. 29.

    rikyrah

    Scarborough: Bannon trying to ‘help his falling standing’ in WH
    BY JOE CONCHA – 03/29/17 09:16 AM EDT

    MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough says White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is “trying to save his hide inside the White House” following reports of another effort to try to repeal and replace ObamaCare after failure last week.

    “This is idiotic for them to be talking about this because … they’re just pointing back to their failures of last week and the week before, and the broken promises,” the “Morning Joe” host said to open the show.

    “Mitch McConnell has got it right. Democrats have what they want. They have the status quo. Let’s just see how that works out,” he continued.

    Scarborough said Bannon, the former chairman of far-right website Breitbart, is behind the renewed push on healthcare.

    “Why is Steve Bannon — is he trying to help his falling standing inside the White House? Scarborough asked, calling Bannon a “website operator until August of ’16.”

  30. 30.

    hovercraft

    Kelly said he protected mosques in Iraq as Gen.

    He’s equating what he did in a war zone, with what’s happening here? The ineptitude of this cabinet is staggering. So much for the retired military leaders being the saner more qualified ones, they are just as bad as the rest. This is taking the “I have a black friend” defense to a whole new level. Petulant asshole!

  31. 31.

    rikyrah

    Mercer group running $1M pro-Trump ad blitz
    BY REBECCA SAVRANSKY – 03/29/17 09:10 AM EDT

    A group of wealthy backers of President Trump is launching a media blitz in 10 states highlighting the president’s achievements.

    The nonprofit Making America Great, run by Rebekah Mercer, will air $1 million in television ads and is carrying out a $300,000 digital advertising campaign, Bloomberg News reported.

    The ads, beginning Wednesday, will air in 10 states — including West Virginia, Michigan and Florida — where a Democratic senator is up for reelection and President Trump won the vote in the presidential election. They will also air in Washington, D.C.

    “Our group will be a conduit to highlight President Trump’s achievement to the rest of the country,” said Emily Cornell, who is moving from the Mercer-funded data firm Cambridge Analytica to run Making America Great’s day-to-day operations.

    “We are here to promote successes and hold accountable broken promises — not just to those who voted for Trump, but to all Americans.”

    The group’s chief strategist David Bossie said the group has the “full support of the White House.”

  33. 33.

    Roger Moore

    @Betty Cracker:

    If the people of our great country could only see how viciously and inaccurately my administration is covered by certain media! -DJT

    I’d love to have some people learn how inaccurately it’s being covered by Fox, Breitbart, InfoWars, etc.

  35. 35.

    Roger Moore

    If the people of our great country could only see how viciously and inaccurately my administration is covered by certain media! -DJT

    I can’t help but agree. I’d love for some people to see how inaccurately his administration is being covered by the right-wing media.

  36. 36.

    rikyrah

    ALEC’s Push For A Constitutional Convention Reaches Wisconsin

    Wisconsin State Senator Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) wants a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and he wants a new constitutional convention to ratify it.

    A constitutional convention makes for a snappy hashtag, #ConCon. But, as GOP leaders in Idaho recently discovered, it is a dangerous and impractical idea that could result in a “runaway” convention and substantial rewrites to the U.S. Constitution.

    ALEC Politician Advances ALEC Idea

    Under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, if 34 state legislatures “issue a call” for a constitutional convention, Congress must convene one. By some counts, the right-wing only needs six more states.

    ALEC is so gung-ho about the constitutional convention idea that it has multiple “model bills”pushing the idea and a “how-to” manual on how to achieve it.

    Kapenga is a long-time member of the corporate-funded American Legislative Executive Council (ALEC). ALEC is so gung-ho about the constitutional convention idea that it has multiple “model bills”pushing the idea and a “how-to” manual on how to achieve it. ALEC hosts workshops and events for several pro-convention groups, including the Balanced Budget Amendment Task Force. It also promotes a much broader effort to re-write the Constitution byCitizens for Self Governance. That group is led by “Tea Party Patriots” co-founder Mark Meckler and Wisconsin dark-money man Eric O’Keefe.

    Kapenga’s Senate Joint Resolution 18 calls for a constitutional convention and states that the resolution represents a “continuing application” for a convention. This language is included so the resolution does not have to be renewed, and in hopes of preventing its repeal by future legislatures. Senate Bill 107 states that the GOP-controlled legislature and the governor will appoint seven delegates to the convention, and attempts to provide for the replacement of delegates if they go off-script. Senate Joint Resolution 19 commits the state of Wisconsin to follow a set of convention rules and procedures drafted by the “Assembly of State Legislatures.” Kapenga and friends founded the organization to advance the constitutional convention idea, and that group too has presented at ALEC.

  37. 37.

    Roger Moore

    @Betty Cracker:

    If the people of our great country could only see how viciously and inaccurately my administration is covered by certain media!

    There’s a lot of truth in that statement. It would be wonderful if people who rely on Fox, Breitbart, InfoWars, etc. could be shown just how viciously inaccurate their coverage is.

  39. 39.

    hovercraft

    @rikyrah:This ties back to the point that @Roger Moore: made, if you don’t count it, it doesn’t exist. Data is not their friend so instead of being forced to defend their bogus claims they eliminate the data, and then say, “no one knows.”
    There’s a reason we don’t keep track of how many people are killed by police each year.

  40. 40.

    rikyrah

    He also mentioned alleged profiling of Arabs and Muslims at ports of entry. Ayad said he asked Kelly to create a record of who gets stopped for questioning at ports of entry so there can be data to see if there is disproportionate targeting of Arabs and Muslims.

    “He stood up and walked away almost,” Ayad said. “He said, I’m leaving unless you decide to stop your questions and have someone else ask a question. … He actually got out his seat.”

    Ayad said he then stopped his comments and another Arab-American advocate started to speak. Ayad’s account was confirmed by two other Arab-Americans who attended the meeting. U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, who had invited Kelly to Michigan, were also at the meeting…

    This is phucking ridiculous.

    He’s going to walk out because folks asking questions?

    PHUCK.OUTTA.HERE!!!!!

  41. 41.

    hovercraft

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Only White, Christian, straight, blued eyed folk with all 4 grandparents born in the US count. Doncha know.

    Twitler may be orange, um, white and blue eyed, but he fails the grandparent test. Does that mean we can simply deport him and get a do over?
    Pleas, asking for a friend ;-0

  42. 42.

    The Moar You Know

    Jonathan Swan is reporting that for his next act, the president might attempt a grand bargain with Democrats.

    @rikyrah: That is going to require a lot of phone calls to my Senators. I’m pretty sure Harris is smart enough to not fall for this, but Feinstein will want to get in on the scam with every fiber of her rotten being.

    I don’t even know how long I’ve been voting for her. A long damn time. And I’ve done it, she’s got the right letter after her name and she’s one in the win column everytime (and THAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING) but damn, I’d sure like to feel good about it for once. And she’s never given me much reason to.

    and any ambitious Dem who tried to work with him would get fiercer blowback from the base.

    @rikyrah: We need to be real clear with our elected Democrats: any response to Trump or the GOP that doesn’t involve the word “no” with no qualifiers is totally unacceptable, and will lead to a primary challenge.

    Two can play your game, McConnell. Shall we dance?

  44. 44.

    rikyrah

    @hovercraft:

    @rikyrah:This ties back to the point that @Roger Moore: made, if you don’t count it, it doesn’t exist. Data is not their friend so instead of being forced to defend their bogus claims they eliminate the data, and then say, “no one knows.”
    There’s a reason we don’t keep track of how many people are killed by police each year.

    You don’t have to tell me.

    Racial Profiling, aka, Driving While Black, was all in our imaginations..

    until the laws were passed and the data collected, and whocouldaknowed?

    Driving While Black was REAL – backed by stats.

    So, instead of dealing with the ramifications of what the DATA proved….

    The right doesn’t want to collect the data.

    You DO NOT have to tell me what this is about.

  45. 45.

    MJS

    Shouldn’t Kelly threatening to walk out of a meeting when things get tough earn him the “snowflake” moniker?

  46. 46.

    Ruckus

    @Kay:

    I wouldn’t have hired any of these low quality incompetents but since I’m stuck with them the least they could is try not to be the assholes they are for 15 minutes a day.

    You know the answer to this. This is who they are. This is all they are. They don’t know any other way. They don’t understand there might even be another way. They are fucking assholes, through and through. They’ve gone through life being this way and they finally have the power they think they deserve. They are going to use it. They are going to abuse it. And they are going to tell all of us to go fuck ourselves while doing it. As Adam says we are in a constitutional crisis. And it is because our checks and balances are provided by the very people who we are talking about. They don’t care about the constitution as it is written and has been added to over the years. They care about the ones that they didn’t get to keep back in the middle 1800s. We better hope that the third of the government that hasn’t been almost completely taken over can prevail and that there is enough rational people left in congress. We can protest and complain all we want but that won’t change them. They don’t need us to gain their power, they have that. We can hope that their incompetence and their assholyness is so great that the vast majority of the citizens rebel but that’s about it.
    And yes, I am just a ray of sunshine this morning.

  47. 47.

    hovercraft

    @Kay:

    But Team Trump are awesome salespeople!

    To bullies and spoiled entitled people they are. Threatening to storm out is a great negotiating tactic. We all know that when someone threatens to take their toys and go home they win!

  49. 49.

    aimai

    @rikyrah:
    How scary that must have been for him to be confronted by the searing reality of the stupidity and plain evil of Trump’s policies and not to be able to defend them. The humiliation must have been so great that he longed to get up and run from the room and spontaneously got up to do so before realizing that he couldn’t handle that shame, either, without a good excuse. Pathetic.

  50. 50.

    evodevo

    @Roger Moore: Same with gunshot incidents and doctor-reporting requirements. The NRA deep-sixed that years ago. Hey! If there’s no data, there’s no reason to worry… or whatever…

  51. 51.

    Chris

    @Ruckus:

    More to the point, this is who they were elected to be. A majority of whites voted for these guys in order to see them kick all the undesirables in the teeth, and that’s pretty much the only thing that might keep them in office. So of course they’re going to do it. Even those who might know better have no interest in it.

  53. 53.

    PPCLI

    @rikyrah: Amusingly, it was Kelly Anne Conway’s husband (as one of the hired guns in the Paula Jones lawsuit) who argued and won the right to sue a sitting president in a civil suit. I do hope we’ll have a chance to watching him argue the exact opposite.

    (The Trump lawyers are, if I understand correctly, trying to argue that the Clinton suit was in Federal court whereas this one is in a state court and that is 100% totally absolutely different. I’m not a lawyer, so I have no idea whether or not this has a hope of succeeding.)

  55. 55.

    PPCLI

    @danielx: One thing I wish was said more often. The evidence that there is something suspicious about the Trump dealings with Russia isn’t just that there might be SIGINT evidence or follow-the-money evidence etc. etc. It’s that every one of those goniffs is constantly being discovered to have flatly lied about it, on hundreds of points, over and over!

    It would be good to make their constant lying more of a weapon against them: Repeatedly lying and covering up information is a sign of consciousness of guilt!

    We need to hammer that home.

  56. 56.

    Roger Moore

    @The Moar You Know:

    We need to be real clear with our elected Democrats: any response to Trump or the GOP that doesn’t involve the word “no” with no qualifiers is totally unacceptable, and will lead to a primary challenge.

    I disagree. I think some qualifiers to “no” like “hell” or “fuck” would be fine.

  57. 57.

    hovercraft

    @Betty Cracker:
    Those poll numbers keep falling, and them media keeps talking about his and ZEGS spectacular failure last week, and comparing it to how Obama, Pelosi and Reid crafted and passed the ACA, and they won’t stop talking about the whole TRussia affair. Dammit, why won’t they move on and talk about Obama or better yet Clinton corruption, yes the Clintons, talk about Obama and how wonderful he is drives me nuts! This worked so well during the campaign, but now they are just brushing my bullshit aside and coming back with more questions about TRussia!!
    It’s not fair, they are ruining this for me, I just want to be PRESIDENT!! All this other stuff is no fun.

  59. 59.

    bystander

    @The Moar You Know: I decided I couldn’t stand DiFi back in her SF city politics days and I’ve never changed. Primary her.

    Can we get started on building that scaffold?

  60. 60.

    dmsilev

    Tales from the Waaaaambulance: Trump’s poll numbers are low. But the people who put him in office say it’s not time to judge him — yet

    President Trump has yet to deliver jobs or the repeal of Obamacare. But here, in an area crucial to his unexpected election victory, many residents are more frustrated with what they see as obstruction and a rush to judgment than they are with Trump.

    Give him six months to prove himself, said an information technology supervisor. Give him a year, said a service manager. Give him four years, said a retired print shop owner.

    “Give the man a chance,” said Crystal Matthews, a 59-year-old hospital employee. “They’re just going to fight him tooth and nail, the whole way.”

  63. 63.

    hovercraft

    @rikyrah:

    Some Trump friends think he has made a huge mistake since the inauguration by antagonizing Dems rather than courting them. Because of his tweets and rants, they’re less likely to give him the benefit of the doubt than they were Jan. 20, and any ambitious Dem who tried to work with him would get fiercer blowback from the base.

    Arev these “friends” aware that he is still talking, tweeting and ranting? Because as recently as yesterday he was trying to distract us by attacking the Clintons and blaming democrats for the spectacular flameout of Trumpcare. Seems to me these are the same people who’ve been telling us that he’s going to become presidential, any day now, and he’ll pivot, just you wait !

  65. 65.

    Old Dan and Little Anne

    I received a Democratic survey in the mail yesterday. It was a pain the ass to fill out. One of the questions was about what is most disturbing about trump. It required me to only pick 4 out of 12. WTF! All the choices were disturbing. fuck trump.

  66. 66.

    Aleta

    Kelly threatening to leave when asked about racist profiling sounds like “Yes we are” to me.

  67. 67.

    rikyrah

    @PPCLI:

    It would be good to make their constant lying more of a weapon against them: Repeatedly lying and covering up information is a sign of consciousness of guilt!

    We need to hammer that home.

    Keep on saying it.

  68. 68.

    hovercraft

    @Ruckus:

    And yes, I am just a ray of sunshine this morning.

    Yes you are, and you’re our ray of sunshine!
    Shine on ;- )

  69. 69.

    Chris

    @dmsilev:

    Give him six months to prove himself, said an information technology supervisor. Give him a year, said a service manager. Give him four years, said a retired print shop owner.

    Sure, we’ll give him that. The same six months, the same year, the same four years, that they gave Obama.

  70. 70.

    Barbara

    @The Moar You Know: So, while Steve Bannon doubles down on a Republican only deal, it is reported that Trump is pursuing a grand bargain with Democrats. Both of these things cannot be true at the same time.

    Basically, Trump has no talent or discipline or strategy for pursuing bargains let alone grand bargains. On the other hand, my view is that he will sign anything so long as he can have a pretty picture of him sitting in a grand setting using a quill pen. The problem is, Democrats are not in a position to get exactly what they want, not without Republican votes, and even if there are some moderates who are willing to deal (they need approximately 22), there is no earthly reason to believe that any of this will have the cooperation of the Republican speaker, which would be at least minimally necessary. This is why Boehner was effectively pushed out. Ryan not only doesn’t want to get pushed out, he doesn’t believe in this so-called grand bargain. It’s the opposite of what he actually wants.

    So I am more inclined to believe reports that Bannon is banging his head against a wall, and think those reports about Trump wanting to deal with Democrats are the equivalent of fairy dust thrown up by Trump allies who wish he would try to do that. Not that he is actually trying.

  73. 73.

    Betty Cracker

    @bystander: I’m not familiar with CA politics, but from the bottom right corner of the country, it sure looks like DiFi needs a primary opponent. Would Californians elect a moderate Republican in her stead if Democrats fielded a non-cray primary opponent? Even in the age of the shitgibbon?

    Here in FL, we Democrats are used to voting for blue doggish, fake astronaut Bill Nelson every time the seat comes up because the GOP alternative is not only FAR worse but whichever cretin they nominate usually has a credible shot at unseating Nelson. Seems like CA wouldn’t present such a conundrum, but like I said, I don’t know CA politics well at all.

  74. 74.

    hovercraft

    @dmsilev:

    Give him six months to prove himself, said an information technology supervisor. Give him a year, said a service manager. Give him four years, said a retired print shop owner.

    “Give the man a chance,” said Crystal Matthews, a 59-year-old hospital employee. “They’re just going to fight him tooth and nail, the whole way.”

    So apart from the fact that he himself claimed he was going to get us back to winning on day one. The fact that he claimed he alone could fix “it”, now we are supposed to discount his own words and give him anywhere from 6 months to 4 years to judge him? Fuck that shit, the GOP spent inauguration day plotting against Obama, and never let up till the day he left. These people need to understand that so far it isn’t even the democrats who have stymied Twitler, it’s his own incompetence, his party and the courts. The uprising against repealing Obamacare was from the people not democratic leaders.
    His problems at this point are all of his own making, just wait till the democrats start fighting him as well, the poor little snowflake and his fans will really have something to cry about. The debt ceiling ought to be fun.

  76. 76.

    Betty Cracker

    @Barbara: I don’t believe this “grand bargain” business at all. Trump got stiffed by the Freedom Caucus loons, so he’s threatening to take his toys and go home. That’s all it is.

  77. 77.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @dmsilev:

    “Give the man a chance,” said Crystal Matthews, a 59-year-old hospital employee. “They’re just going to fight him tooth and nail, the whole way.”

    Oh, fuck off and die, bint.

  78. 78.

    randy khan

    @rikyrah:

    I get why everyone’s upset about this, but to be 100% clear, it’s entirely a symbolic vote. The FCC voted 2-1 (with the holdover Dem as the dissenter) to stay a chunk of these rules at the beginning of March, and the more or less all of the rest of them are sitting at the Office of Management and Budget waiting for a review that won’t happen before they can go into effect. And the FCC already was planning to reconsider (that is, get rid of) the rules.

    What all this means is that consumer broadband providers are subject only to the underlying privacy provision of the Communications Act, at least for now. Nobody exactly knows how that would work for broadband, but they’ve generally been following the telephone rules, which prohibit sharing personal information with third parties without permission. (There’s a lot more nuance than that, but it’s close enough.)

    The real action is coming later, when the FCC looks at network neutrality again. The current FCC chairman hates hates hates the decision made by the last FCC to reclassify broadband as a utility service, and will be looking to overturn it. If that happens, then even the privacy provisions of the Communications Act will not apply. There’s also some chance of Congressional action, although it probably would have be through a regular bill and therefore subject to filibuster in the Senate, which gives the Dems leverage they didn’t have on the Congressional Review Act votes.

  79. 79.

    Roger Moore

    @Betty Cracker:
    California has moved to a jungle primary, so it’s highly unpredictable. Assuming DiFi runs again- no guarantee given her age- the Democrats can run at least one challenger without much risk. Recent experience suggests that the Republicans will have a very wide field. They had more than a dozen candidates in the past 2 senatorial elections, which included one with and one without an incumbent. If that’s the case again, the Democrats have a solid chance of having a two Democrat runoff (as we did in 2016) if they limit the field to three or four challengers.

  80. 80.

    rikyrah

    @dmsilev:

    President Trump has yet to deliver jobs or the repeal of Obamacare. But here, in an area crucial to his unexpected election victory, many residents are more frustrated with what they see as obstruction and a rush to judgment than they are with Trump.

    Give him six months to prove himself, said an information technology supervisor. Give him a year, said a service manager. Give him four years, said a retired print shop owner.

    “Give the man a chance,” said Crystal Matthews, a 59-year-old hospital employee. “They’re just going to fight him tooth and nail, the whole way.

    PHUCK.OUTTA.HERE.

    We have absolutely NO obligation to give him a chance.

    Just like all the chances they gave 44.

    Receipts, muthaphuckas.
    We have them.
    We WILL pull them.

  83. 83.

    The Moar You Know

    I’m not familiar with CA politics, but from the bottom right corner of the country, it sure looks like DiFi needs a primary opponent.

    @Betty Cracker: Cal native here. I say no. Yeah, she’s a DINO in a lot of ways, and loves her some war, but she’s generally been a very solid ally and I see no good reason to get rid of her. I’d rather the party put money into either state races here or getting someone over the line in a purple/red state.

    Would Californians elect a moderate Republican in her stead if Democrats fielded a non-cray primary opponent?

    Short answer: no. Longer answer: CA no longer has “moderate” Republicans. We never really did, but that situation’s gotten worse not better. Even longer answer: even my rep, Darrell “The Arsonist” Issa won’t identify himself publicly as a Republican anymore, that’s how toxic the brand is here in this state. So no, you wouldn’t get a GOPer in place of DiFi, but you would be pulling someone valuable from a VERY thin statewide bench. We’re going to need a governor here pretty soon, and it needs to not be Gavin Newsom.

    (It will probably end up being Gavin Newsom, and I feel very strongly that he could be the end of Dem domination of the state, because he is an idiot)

  86. 86.

    rikyrah

    Trump’s ‘big’ jobs announcement points to Obama-era success story
    03/29/17 10:00 AM
    By Steve Benen
    Donald Trump declared with pride yesterday morning, “Big announcement by Ford today. Major investment to be made in three Michigan plants. Car companies coming back to U.S. JOBS! JOBS! JOBS!” Soon after, Kellyanne Conway, a top aide to the president, added that Ford’s investments come just “two weeks after” Trump’s meeting with auto-industry executives.

    The implication wasn’t subtle: Americans are supposed to believe that the president met with industry leaders, which led to Ford’s good news soon after.

    But the White House’s latest effort to take credit for good economic news is eerily similar to its previous efforts – which is to say, it was wildly misleading. CNBC reported:

    The White House on Tuesday promoted a Ford investment in American plants, most of which was part of a plan the automaker first announced in 2015.

    The U.S. auto giant on Tuesday outlined new details of its planned $9 billion in U.S. facility investments through 2019. The company said it planned to create or retain 8,500 jobs as part of its 2015 contract with the United Auto Workers.

    A company spokesperson confirmed to BuzzFeef that “the majority of what was announced” yesterday was the result of “the 2015 UAW contract.”

    Steven Rattner, who oversaw President Obama’s successful rescue of the American auto industry eight years ago, noted the news and asked, “When will [Trump] stop misleading people?”

  87. 87.

    Roger Moore

    @schrodingers_cat:
    I think there’s a bit more too it. If you notice, for example, it’s the grand bargain stories they’re recycling, not the “Obama is aloof” or even the “Obama spends too much time playing golf” stories, even though those could both reasonably be applied to Trump. They’re recycling the grand bargain stories because they’re wish fulfillment. They desperately want a grand bargain, so they’re trotting out grand bargain stories in an attempt to create one.

  89. 89.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Roger Moore: They exist to make Rs look good and Dems fickle and insincere. They so want T to succeed. They helped his campaign every step of the way. I am looking at you NYT and NPR and PBS and other so called prestige media. At least Fox and Brietbart are less hypocritical.

  90. 90.

    hovercraft

    Remain calm, Twitlers new plan to get us back to winning is fool proof!!!
    Here we all thought he flailing and lashing out, no it’s strategery! Notice how no one’s talking about the failure of TRryancare or TRussia anymore?

    Frustrated Trump looks to turn it around

    President Trump is looking for fast action to restore momentum after his crushing defeat in attempting to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act…….

    The failed push to repeal ObamaCare, which reached its denouement last Friday, was a debacle even in the eyes of the president’s natural allies. While some Republicans such as Speaker Paul Ryan (Wis.) are vowing to revisit ObamaCare, there is no clear path forward.

    Meanwhile, investigations into alleged connections between Russia and people in Trump’s orbit are pestering the administration — as is the related controversy over the conduct of Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

    The next big-ticket item on Trump’s agenda is tax reform. However, any push toward that goal will be subject to the same treacherous cross currents on Capitol Hill that sank the healthcare push.

    Executive orders repealing Obama-era regulations and hard-edged rhetoric on a favorite subject such as illegal immigration at least give supporters heart.

    “I don’t think his agenda has changed,” said Barry Bennett, who served as a senior adviser for Trump’s presidential bid. But, Bennett added, items that did not require congressional approval “are going to happen, so [the White House] can shift the narrative when they desire, which is what they are doing.”

    Bennett argued that Trump’s capacity to drive media coverage — and change the subject when required — can be vital.

    “It’s really valuable because it’s only Tuesday and we are not talking about defeat on Friday,” Bennett said yesterday. “We are talking about coal and sanctuary cities and reforming government.”

    Trump has not focused only on policy since the healthcare push went awry. He has taken to Twitter to blame the conservative House Freedom Caucus for his defeat and has insisted that ObamaCare will “explode.”

    Fueling the kind of palace intrigue that has surrounded his White House, Trump tweeted a recommendation that his followers should watch Jeanine Pirro’s Fox News show over the weekend. Pirro used that platform to call for the resignation of Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). The White House pushed back at suggestions that Trump knew what Pirro was going to say.

    To some critics, Trump’s feverish level of activity has a negative flip side: an unwillingness to do the honest self-reflection that might help him avoid repeating mistakes.

    “He lives in a sort of reality-distortion field where he doesn’t want to acknowledge that he makes any mistakes,” said Timothy O’Brien, the author of a biography of Trump. “He very rarely acknowledges making mistakes, and I think that is largely because he has been insulated from the consequences of his mistakes his whole life.”…….

    “He’s the maestro of agenda-setting, both for good and bad. All it takes is 140 characters [on Twitter] and at least one or two news cycles get converted to focusing on a new aspect of Trump and his presidency.”

    Critical voices like O’Brien’s believe Trump is in a different world now, however — subject to the intense scrutiny that faces any president and with the Russian controversy lapping at his feet.

    “The most dangerous thing, staring him right in the face, is the Russia investigation,” O’Brien said. “And all of his diversionary tactics haven’t actually taken that away as the central thing that the media and Capitol Hill are looking at. He hasn’t changed the narrative on that and, in fact, the response has been very ham-handed. Exhibit A on that is Devin Nunes.”

    But Trump loyalists remain convinced that he can bounce back once again, even when the stakes are at their highest.

    “I am still very optimistic,” said Bennett. “We had bad days in the campaign. Next day, we’re on to the next fight.”

    Strategery!!

  91. 91.

    trollhattan

    @Betty Cracker:
    You simply can’t unseat a multi-term senator in a state Iike CA (think McCain). It’s hers until she decides it’s not and my presumption is she won’t run in ’18, but she’s playing coy.

  92. 92.

    amk

    In conversations Tuesday, a dozen Democrats from Trump-voting states and districts generally dismissed the political threats from the White House — which, confusingly, have alternated with rhetoric about the president reaching across the aisle to cut deals. Badgered in hallways about what sort of negotiations they could have with Trump, most suggested long-standing Democratic policies.

    “I’d like to see the public option back on the table,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).

    “I’m grateful that their ineptness and incompetence and demagoguery ensured that 900,000 Ohioans still have insurance, 1 million Ohioans still have the expansion of Medicaid, and every Ohioan still has those protections,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), another “Trump state” Democrat.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/03/28/democrats-once-threatened-by-trump-see-little-reason-to-worry/?utm_term=.4d672186a326

  94. 94.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Kelly being offended at the idea of collecting data to see if profiling is occurring is peak accusations of racism are worse than racism

    Talk about an admission of guilt on Kelly’s part.

  96. 96.

    hovercraft

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    “Give him a chance” also implies we should wipe the whole campaign out of our minds and start his evaluation period on Jan 20. No.

    Stop being such an obstructionist, the “people” have spoken, middle America told us that this is what they want and it’s our job to listen to them. They have been neglected for far too long, they are hurting because they were shunted to the back of the line. Shut up and let them shine, let them finally enjoy their moment in the sun. If on;y you people knew how very hard it is to a white working or middle class family in America you would understand their pain.

  98. 98.

    hovercraft

    Zinke Suggests Parts Of Border Wall Could Be On Mexican Side Of Rio Grande

    Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke on Tuesday suggested that parts of President Donald Trump’s proposed wall could be on the Mexican side of the United States’ southern border.

    “The Rio Grande, what side of the river are you going to put the wall? We’re not going to put it on our side and cede the river to Mexico,” Zinke told members of the Public Lands Council, as quoted by E&E News. “And we’re probably not going to put it in the middle of the river.”

    A 1970 boundary treaty mandates that structures along the Rio Grande and Colorado River, which define the U.S.-Mexican border, cannot disrupt the flow of either.

    Zinke conceded that electronic defenses may be more appropriate than a physical barrier in some areas, and that regions with preexisting natural barriers may not need further construction.

    “The border is complicated, as far as building a physical wall,” he said.

    Wow, the bestest ever cabinet !!!
    So much WIN !!!

  99. 99.

    schrodingers_cat

    @hovercraft:

    Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke on Tuesday suggested that parts of President Donald Trump’s proposed wall could be on the Mexican side of the United States’ southern border.

    And Mexico is going to oblige T, because?

  102. 102.

    Jeffro

    J-Rubs laying the wood to Trumpov, Ryan, and Nunes in the WaPo, now with an update about Rep Cummings.

  103. 103.

    rikyrah

    Why Trump is suddenly eager to cut funding for medical research
    03/29/17 10:47 AM—UPDATED 03/29/17 11:40 AM
    By Steve Benen
    Donald Trump, who ran on a platform of America “winning,” has been losing quite a bit lately. What the president may not appreciate is the fact that his troubles are likely to get worse before they get better.

    The White House’s radical budget proposal is already deeply controversial – and likely to face quite a bit of resistance on Capitol Hill, even from his Republican allies – but it refers to a spending blueprint Trump has in mind for the next fiscal year. What’s less appreciated is the administration’s plans for the current fiscal year, which runs through September.

    Politico reported, for example, that Trump “doesn’t want to wait until next year to slash government spending on everything from education to mental health programs”; he wants to cut billions of dollars in spending right away. The White House’s latest plan includes deep cuts to the State Department and the National Institutes of Health – which is why you’ve probably seen headlines about Trump wanting to “cut $1.2 billion from medical research.”

    Military spending, meanwhile, would get a boost, while $2 billion would go towards Trump’s border wall.

    All of this, according to the White House, should be approved by Congress in the coming weeks – before current federal funding is exhausted on April 28.

  105. 105.

    rikyrah

    It’s a little late for Trump to try reaching out to Democrats
    03/29/17 11:25 AM—UPDATED 03/29/17 11:30 AM
    By Steve Benen
    After Donald Trump won the presidency, he found himself in a seemingly enviable position: he would not only lead the executive branch, he also had a Republican Congress to do his bidding. The president decided that Democrats, when they weren’t being ignored, could be freely mocked without fear of consequence.

    After years in which Beltway pundits implored President Obama to be as bipartisan as humanly possible, the word effectively disappeared from the Beltway lexicon. Trump would be a proud and unapologetic partisan in the White House, leading an era of Republican dominance.

    At least, that was the idea. The Washington Post reports that the president is suddenly realizing that his assumptions and instincts may have been wrong.

    ……………………………………

    Consider this from a Democratic perspective.

    An outlandish Republican president, who lost the popular vote and won in part thanks to illegal intervention from a foreign adversary, rose to political prominence by pushing a racist conspiracy theory about his Democratic predecessor.

    After the election, he mocked Democrats, chose cabinet nominees he knew Democrats would hate, made no effort to reach out to Democrats on any issue, continued a crusade against his Democratic predecessor and defeated Democratic opponent, pushed a radical policy agenda that no Democrat could support, and has offered Democrats nothing in the way of possible concessions in order to reach a consensus on key issues.

    And it’s against this backdrop that Trump is reportedly hoping Democrats will help get his flailing presidency on track.

    I can almost hear the laughter from Chuck Schumer’s and Nancy Pelosi’s offices.

  106. 106.

    hovercraft

    Dem Senators Ask Ethics Office For Clarity On Ivanka Trump’s WH Role

    Two Democratic senators are asking the Office of Government Ethics to confirm that Ivanka Trump will comply with federal ethics rules as an adviser in her father’s White House.

    “Ms. Trump’s increasing, albeit unspecified, White House role, her potential conflicts of interest, and her commitment to voluntarily comply with relevant ethics and conflicts of interest laws have resulted in substantial confusion,” Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Tom Carper (D-DE) wrote Wednesday in a letter to OGE Director Walter Shaub.

    The President’s eldest daughter will reportedly serve as Trump’s “eyes and ears” in the West Wing, where she will have an office but receive no salary or official title. The President has also reportedly requested a security clearance for her.

    Though Ivanka Trump has already sat in on White House meetings with foreign leaders and lawmakers, despite retaining ownership of Ivanka Trump Marks LLC, her retail clothing and accessories brand.

    As Trump’s unofficial position makes her unbound by ethics rules that apply to other executive branch staffers, she has offered to voluntarily comply with them.

    Warren and Carper say that’s not enough of an assurance.

    They asked OGE to “determine which ethics rules apply to Ms. Trump, which disclosures she will be required to make to demonstrate her compliance, and whether her compliance with these rules will be monitored and enforced.”

    Ivanka Trump’s brand currently faces a class action unfair competition lawsuit from a California clothing retailer.

  107. 107.

    Ghost of Joe Liebling's Dog

    @rikyrah:

    I loved the IT supe (“give him six months to prove himself”). Would he give a new tech on his IT team who beshat every deliverable his team even thought about touching even six weeks before presenting a box, a final check, and a hearty “hasta la bye-bye”?

    Magic 8 Ball says “SOURCES SAY NO”.

  108. 108.

    Barbara

    @hovercraft: Okay. If you build a wall in Mexico why wouldn’t Mexico just take it down? Or, you know, disrupt the building before it even gets built. And the issue of the Rio Grande River is kind of obvious. “Hey, isn’t there a river on that border that some people on our side depend on for drinking water both human and animal?” There is too much fail for one person to absorb here.

  109. 109.

    hovercraft

    By Steve Benen
    Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.

    * Making America Great, a group Rebekah Mercer, a prominent Republican megadonor and Donald Trump supporter, is reportedly launching a new ad campaign targeting Democratic senators from states Trump won in 2016. Here’s the ad, launched as part of a $1.3 million effort.

    * In Georgia’s congressional special election, Club for Growth Action is launching ads targeting the top Republican contender, former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, for not being conservative enough.

    * A new CBS News poll shows Trump with a 40% approval rating. The same results found House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) faring even worse with a 33% approval rating.

    * Corey Stewart, who served as the Trump campaign’s chairman in Virginia last year, is running an explicitly pro-Confederate gubernatorial campaign this year, including unfurling a Confederate battle flag at a recent event. “Folks, this is a symbol of heritage. It is not a symbol of racism. It is not a symbol of slavery,” Stewart declared. “I’m proud to be here with this flag.”

    * On a related note, in Virginia’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, former Rep. Tom Perriello has made his opposition to Trump a central message of his campaign. Asked about this, his primary rival, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, told Slate, “Donald Trump is a narcissistic maniac, and I will do all I can to keep his hate out of Virginia.”

    * The Associated Press reports today on the president’s relationship with his chief of staff, Reince Priebus. “For laughs,” the article noted, “Trump will sometimes recount a tense exchange with Priebus at one of the campaign’s lowest moments: the release of a video in which Trump is heard making predatory comments about women. During an emergency campaign meeting, Priebus told Trump he should either drop out of the race or risk dragging down Republican candidates across the country.” (I’m not sure I get the president’s sense of humor.)

    * And at the DNC, new Chairman Tom Perez is overhauling the party’s internal organization, requesting resignation letters from all current staffers. Previous DNC chairs have made similar moves after changes in party leadership.

  110. 110.

    StringOnAStick

    IF you haven’t clicked through to Adam’s link from last night at WhoWhatWhen.com, you really should do so. It’s a long but extremely well-written article that puts together so much, including why the FBI didn’t rat out Drumfph before the election and why it isn’t doing so now, plus how some retired FBI guys went on to be in charge of his personal security before the election. Suffice it to say that the FBI didn’t and likely won’t release their evidence about him is because they think it is more important to preserve the source(s) they have inside the Russian network.

    Considering that the main fish that most haven’t heard much about yet is THE main Russian mafia guy and that he has possession of nukes and other ordnance that got lose at the end of the USSR era, I suspect the FBI thinks access to that world is more important than having a mobbed-up, corrupt POTUS who was placed in office by Putin and for Putin’s purposes. And that fucking depresses me to no end. Until I read that article and realized how deep this goes and that it is about more than just most of the money in the world, I thought we had a strong chance of this taking out Drumfph in some way; now I think the FBI is going to protect him because they are after something bigger and more dangerous.

    I guess us little folk are just going to have to suck it up and see the country trashed in order for the FBI to protect their sources and methods. I sure do hope the other members of the IC and especially the world’s IC are able to do what the FBI isn’t going to do.

  111. 111.

    gvg

    @Chris: I have been hearing about Trump since the 70’s. I thought he was vulgar then and later I saw proof he was racist as anyone. He is also a bad businessman. I believe my eyes and ears. Nobody with brains or ethics should have voted for him. The Presidency is important, and these voters are a big problem. I think that may be part of an unspoken text from his voters…it means give THEM a chance, and I don’t. The proof of what they have done is right there. We have to save what we can.

    incidently, my NRA loving gun nut uncle who used to vote republican, is horrified by Trump from the start. definately made family gatherings easier. His daughter too. so there is that.

  112. 112.

    Immanentize

    @Barbara: Think about the Israeli example — just invade the border and create a “security border” in Mexico. I have been wondering if this is part of the plan….

  113. 113.

    Barbara

    @hovercraft: The real issue with Corey Stewart is whether he will run as an independent. I very much doubt he will win the Republican primary. I realize that Virginia was the capital of the Confederacy but the appetite for a Confederate revival is pretty modest. Bob McDonnell registered significant blowback for declaring Confederate History Month even after it was watered down to remove offensive references to slavery. That was more than seven years ago. Republicans have not won a single statewide office in Virginia since 2009. I don’t know what state Stewart thinks he is living in.

  114. 114.

    hovercraft

    Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski Explain Their ‘Crazy’ Beef with Trump to Seth Meyers
    ‘Honestly, the fact that Republicans are still sucking up to him at this point is kind of pathetic,’ the ‘Morning Joe’ hosts said.

    Remember when Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski were seen as enabling the presidential campaign of their good friend Donald Trump? They don’t.

    On Tuesday, the Morning Joe co-hosts sat down with Seth Meyers on Late Night to discuss how they are feeling about the state of Trump’s presidency. Sixty-seven days in, Meyers asked the pair if it has been “what you expected, worse than what you expected, or better than what you expected?”

    “Hmm,” Brzezinski said, turning to Scarborough before delivering her answer. “It’s far worse. It’s almost at the point of no return.”

    Scarborough said they have known Trump for more than a decade and “never expected it to be quite this bad.” When Meyers suggested they used to have a “friendly relationship” with Trump, he replied, “Not a physical relationship.” Brzezinski corrected Scarborough by calling it a “friendship.”

    As Meyers pointed out, Trump recently unfollowed both of them on Twitter. Scarborough said that was a “highlight” of his month, while Brzezinski added, “In all seriousness, it shows that we got in his head.” ……..

    “Mika and I both have been surprised by the people who we think in a time of crisis have actually stepped up,” Scarborough added later, praising Republicans like Mitch McConnell, John McCain, and Lindsey Graham, whom they never expected would actually push back against Trump’s “B.S.”

    “Honestly, the fact that Republicans are still sucking up to him at this point is kind of pathetic,” Brzezinski said. “The whole thing has turned into lies and misinformation, calling the news ‘fake news,’ undermining the judiciary, undermining practically every branch of government. I don’t care if you’re a Republican or a Democrat, there’s right and there’s wrong. And this guy’s wrong.”

    For that, she received almost as much applause as Scarborough did when he told Stephen Colbert last month that Republicans would be “judged” by future generations for how they responded to Trump.

    “I hope that Donald Trump becomes the Donald Trump that—and we’ll say it—that we’ve known privately,” Scarborough said. “A guy that’s a hell of a lot more gracious in private than this sort of reality-show president that he plays on TV.”

    “That is so weird,” Meyers replied. “Everybody else in show business are nice on television and then assholes behind the camera.”

    _______________________

    I’m so glad that I stopped watching them after the 2010 midterms. They are pathetic. The main focus of their critique is his attacks on the media, not the damage he’s doing to our country.

  115. 115.

    hovercraft

    @Barbara:
    I’m glad to hear that. He probably lives in the same right wing bubble that Par McCrory lived in, they are surrounded by people who really want to go back to the good old days.

  116. 116.

    The Moar You Know

    I have been hearing about Trump since the 70’s. I thought he was vulgar then and later I saw proof he was racist as anyone. He is also a bad businessman.

    @gvg: Thought he was a rich partyboy cokehead who’d be dead by 35 after blowing his inheritance on 8-balls, cheap Russian whores, and ladyboy hookers.

    Which I suspect he did. But somehow, he lived through the experience. Oh well. Here we are.

  118. 118.

    ruemara

    I love how it’s insulting to them that they’re being called out for their pogrom (i said it) by the people they’re victimizing. Also, fuck these bigots, their enablers and every last person saying give it a chance.

  119. 119.

    Betty Cracker

    @hovercraft: Never heard of Corey Stewart until today, but he’s a lying piece of shit — “heritage, not hate” my cracker ass. Along one of the routes I walk with my dogs each morning, I pass two separate houses with pickup trucks that have large Confederate flags affixed to the rear of the truck bed. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about walking by one morning with a can of lighter fluid, yanking those rags down and setting them ablaze in the road. Maybe 30 years ago you could get away with that “heritage” bullshit. Not today. Not after Dylann Roof, etc.

  120. 120.

    gvg

    Incidently, while we are making a list of those who ought to be investigated, I have to add the National Inquirer. They are so bad at the truth that most of us tuned them out years ago but I was noticing how politically slanted their coverage was all through the Obama years and outright lunatic now. Supposedly the owner is friends with Trump….well Trump has a lot a shady connections and lately we have been seeing all his connections lead to Russia. Plus Adam explained the Russian intent even if Trump didn’t win was to undermine our trust in our institutions. a lot of us blame Fox for that and its stupid conspiracy theories, but the National Inquirer has done worse for decades and is where all kinds of the type come from. Kennedy stuff, NASA stuff etc. I have known people who actually read that and they really don’t believe in government. Seems like a good way to push non reality non logical thinking.
    I am also suspicious of the Mercers. I think its good that the Koch’s aren’t also pushing Trump that I have heard.

  122. 122.

    ruckus

    @rikyrah:
    That’s not laughter that I’m hearing. Sounds like quite a few fuck offs and no fucking ways to me. And if it isn’t, it should be.

  123. 123.

    ruckus

    @StringOnAStick:
    Think about the FBI,’s history. For most of it, the FBI has been on its own side. They really are an extra governmental agency.. I’ll be amazed if they aren’t this time.

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