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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Open Thread: Social Notes from the Global Kleptocracy

Open Thread: Social Notes from the Global Kleptocracy

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But since this is Lord Smallgloves’ court we’re talking about, things can always get more embarrassingly complicated. Per the NYTimes, “As Trump Meets Xi at Mar-a-Lago, There’s a ‘Wild Card’”:

… Mr. Guo Wengui is a Chinese property magnate who has been living outside the country for more than two years. In recent weeks, he has launched a broadside — in television interviews and on Twitter — criticizing the effectiveness of the Communist Party’s fight against corruption, all from the safety of financial capitals like London and New York. He is also a member at President Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, and posted photos of himself on the grounds last month with Mar-a-Lago’s managing director.

Mr. Guo’s newly public persona — more akin to a dissident Russian oligarch and highly unusual in Chinese politics — comes at an awkward time, just before China’s president, Xi Jinping, and Mr. Trump are to meet at the resort for their first summit meeting. The Chinese billionaire’s ties to the club are a new twist in how President Trump’s business interests can complicate diplomacy, in this case with arguably the world’s most important bilateral relationship…

At the very least, it would be embarrassing if Mr. Guo, who is also known as Miles Kwok, were to show up at the seaside resort during the meeting Thursday and Friday. At worst, his presence could incense Mr. Xi and the Chinese delegation. Mr. Guo left China during a corruption scandal linked to the jailing of his political patron, a top security official. Mr. Guo said his assets in China — he puts the figure at more than $17 billion — were seized…

Mr. Guo’s membership could be especially sensitive because of the lengths China’s leaders go to stamp out any political discussion that deviates from the Communist Party line, particularly remarks about the wealth of top leaders. Mr. Guo has leveled specific accusations against a former top party leader.

In two recent Chinese-language interviews and on Twitter, Mr. Guo, while highly critical of many current and former Chinese leaders, has praised Mr. Xi, or at least refrained from directly criticizing him…

China has more billionaires than any other country with the possible exception of the United States, but none as outspoken and flamboyant as Mr. Guo. He has a penchant for posting photos of himself in workout tights and camouflage, performing planks and other exercises. He sips vintage French wine in front of a picture of an aviator glasses-wearing, cigarette-smoking chimpanzee in his London office and likes to show off the private jets he uses for his frequent trans-Atlantic flights. One American who met with him described him as affable.

But Mr. Guo is anything but happy-go-lucky. He built a fortune in the Darwinian world of Chinese real estate, and people who crossed him soon rued the day. In 2006, he handed to the police a sex tape of a Beijing deputy mayor who had disputed one of his land deals. The official was imprisoned and Mr. Guo got the property, building the torch-shaped Pangu Plaza next to Beijing’s Olympic Green, a landmark during the 2008 Summer Games…

It’s like a Trollope novel, as written by John le Carre.
.

Reader Interactions

159Comments

  5. 5.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Somehow I have a tiny feeling that Xi’s team are slightly more prepared for this meeting than the Trumpians are. (Snark.)

  6. 6.

    MattF

    We now observe the trials and tribulations of searching for honor among thieves. At least at Versailles, the denizens followed certain traditions. At Mar-a-Lago… not so much.

  10. 10.

    Yarrow

    I don’t know anything about this Miles Kwok/Guo person, but from those photos he looks like a typical rich d-bag. And what’s he wearing? Long underwear under his shorts? Is that a thing now?

  11. 11.

    Corner Stone

    There is absolutely no end of things Trump can say or do that will embarrass the entire whole fuck of the US nation at this meeting with Xi.
    First of all, why would you agree to meet at a freaking golf resort in Florida? This is just demeaning for world leaders, And what happens when Trump tries his lawnmower starter style handshake and pulls Xi to the ground?
    This is nothing like meeting with leaders from Canada, or Mexico, or Japan or even Germany. I am scared to fucking death.

  17. 17.

    Mike J

    Dave Weigel‏ Verified account @daveweigel 2 minutes ago
    Heritage’s Mike Needham says there were 20 Freedom Caucus votes for new WH health care deal; dead bc of “intransigence of the Tuesday group”

  18. 18.

    kindness

    Lord Smallgloves likes his palace intrigue (chaos) and he likes to bring his Machavellian setting to all. I bet our allies and our adversaries never planned on having to deal with this on their own doorsteps. Surprise! Trump’s gifts.

    Curiously the only nation not yet raked over these coals is Russia. Gee…..I wonder why that is?

  19. 19.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    So who’s in a better position to own all the assets of America at the end of the day? Russia or China? Or will they be content with 50/50 while the Trump family gets all the licenses for naming everything as the quid pro quo?

  20. 20.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Yarrow:

    Is that a thing now?

    I guess you didn’t watch the NCAA men’s basketball tournament that just concluded?

  23. 23.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Corner Stone: It’s not even normal for a President to be conducting official meetings with foreign dignitaries in his private residence. Trump is getting away with so much nonsense. And all at our expense.

  24. 24.

    Corner Stone

    There is zero evidence of Ivanka Trump successfully advocating for any policy. Any policy at all. Can we please get the entire fuck over her and stop acting like she is anything but a living, breathing brand.

  27. 27.

    dmsilev

    @Mike J: It amazes me that there were/are apparently some GOP Reps who thought it was possible to vote on Trumpcare 2.0 before the House leaves on recess on Friday. Yes, let’s introduce a huge bill upending a massive segment of the economy and try to jam it through in two days. Truly, Paul Ryan is a serious policy wonk whose wonky seriousity has never before been seen.

  28. 28.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Russia has the balls of over half of the members of the legislative and judicial branches in a tiny little jar in Putin’s desk drawer though.

  29. 29.

    rikyrah

    @Mike J:

    Dave Weigel‏ Verified account @daveweigel 2 minutes ago
    Heritage’s Mike Needham says there were 20 Freedom Caucus votes for new WH health care deal; dead bc of “intransigence of the Tuesday group”

    You mean, the 23 GOPers from districts that Hillary WON?

    I don’t know WHY they’d be nervous about voting for Trumpcare.

  34. 34.

    Yarrow

    @Gin & Tonic: Some of it. Wearing it on the basketball court as a player is a bit different from wearing it as casual wear at a fancy resort.

  40. 40.

    clay

    TPM has a good write-up about the new attempt at repealing/”replacing” Obamacare, and how facts on the ground aren’t any more favorable to Ryan/Trump than they were a month ago. But they’re gonna try anyway, and the WH wants a vote within 48 hours (HA!).

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/trump-health-care-freedom-caucus-republicans-obamacare

    My question is this… Don’t we want them to keep fucking this chicken? The more time they waste on the almost-certainly futile* attempt to get this passed in the House (much less the Senate), the less time they have to work on things that would be more likely to pass, like billionaire tax cuts. And repeated failures are simply going to further diminish Trump’s reputation as a “deal maker” who can “so easily” fix “the disastrous Obamacare”.

    And I think that last point — Trump can’t do what he promised — is the main thing that’s going to hurt him with the not-overtly-racist people who voted for him.

    So, yeah. Please proceed, shitbag.

    *Obviously even a minuscule chance is still a chance, so we should definitely keep up the phone call and town hall pressure.

  41. 41.

    dmsilev

    @Baud: Apparently we’re living inside a giant performance of _The Mikado_, with Kushner holding down the role of Pooh-Bah, Lord High Everything Else.

  42. 42.

    Baud

    @Yarrow: Her and her husband’s only job is to prevent thermonuclear war. If they do that, I’ll consider them a success.

  43. 43.

    Corner Stone

    @Chet Murthy: But everything Trump is doing or has done makes it much less likely now that the sanctions will be removed. At some point Pootie has to decide to regroup and cut his losses before NK goes nuclear/gets nuked. The man wants more money and to stay in power forever. I don’t think Trump is aiding him in any way on either.

  51. 51.

    Chet Murthy

    @Corner Stone: Oh, hm. I. Did. Not. Think. Of. That. At the point when Putin thinks he’s not getting his sanctions dropped, I guess I can see where he’d switch to Plan B: “further disrupt our adversary”. And then yeah, dropping the sextape and a buncha other incriminating evidence would be in order.

    I don’t think it’ll happen, though. I think he’ll continue to work his hapless agents for as long as possible. Putin plays the long game. Think how much damage he can do if he gets just a few dozen agents spread thru the US Govt for a decade. I’d think he wouldn’t want to give up that chance.

  54. 54.

    Corner Stone

    @dmsilev:

    Truly, Paul Ryan is a serious policy wonk whose wonky seriousity has never before been seen.

    What is clear is that you have obviously never seen a Master Wonk at work. The level and layers of policy ZEGS is wonking at right now? A non-serious mind such as yours could not even begin to fathom.
    He is so seriously wonking the needed policy wonk to pull off this serious wonk that Yoda himself now calls him his master.
    If we could somehow only harness the serious wonkery he is wonking we could be energy independent in no time. But, alas, clean wonky energy is not his calling right now. He only dedicates himself to policies that help the poor, and wonks as only he can to do something serious about the poverty. For that is really what he cares most deeply about, and has driven his wonky soul lo these many years.

  56. 56.

    SFAW

    [email protected]dmsilev:

    Apparently we’re living inside a giant performance of _The Mikado_, with Kushner holding down the role of Pooh-Bah, Lord High Everything Else.

    He is the very model of a modern Major A-ass-hole

    (And he ain’t the only one.)

  58. 58.

    Brachiator

    It’s like a Trollope novel, as written by John le Carre.

    Or James Clavell’s Hong Kong novel, Noble House@dmsilev:

    Apparently we’re living inside a giant performance of _The Mikado_, with Kushner holding down the role of Pooh-Bah, Lord High Everything Else

    Does that make Ivanka Yum-Yum?
    .

  60. 60.

    Tom

    @clay: In the words of a awesome Internet commentator of years past: “I think you’re going to need a bigger chicken.”

  61. 61.

    rikyrah

    1: Breaking their promise, Republicans now want to quarantine people with pre-existing conditions in separate “high-risk pools.”

    — Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) April 5, 2017

  62. 62.

    SFAW

    @Baud:

    I should have been a billionaire.

    Instead of a bum Baud, which is what you are, let’s face it Charlie.

  67. 67.

    MattF

    @clay: TPM is good here. Noting, e.g., that any concession to the hard right earns only additional, more extreme, demands. Also, ‘moderates’ are simply being left out of any negotiations. How is that supposed to work?

    ETA: Note also, that since Gohmert has joined the HFC, he’s become their spokesman. ‘Nuff said.

  69. 69.

    Corner Stone

    @Chet Murthy:

    Putin plays the long game.

    I keep hearing about this “long game”. Obama played it for 8 years. Putin is playing for a couple decades. Who else is playing it? Is there like an All Star game? Or Hall of Fame? If you’re playing it for 8 years are you really playing the “long game”? Can anyone buy tickets or get a PSL? Who has the concessions licensing? Is there a long game players union?

  74. 74.

    Corner Stone

    @rikyrah:

    1: Breaking their promise, Republicans now want to quarantine people with pre-existing conditions in separate “high-risk pools.”

    That is what they’ve always wanted. And those pools will collapse and people will die. Fin.

  77. 77.

    Corner Stone

    For God’s sake, dude. You’re the fucking POTUS. Stop this weakshit blame attempt to put Syria on Obama. Man the fuck up and deal, loser.

  78. 78.

    MattF

    @rikyrah: But, but… ‘breaking their promise’ is what Republicans always do, so it’s an unfair accusation to say they’re doing it just this time.

  80. 80.

    hovercraft

    @dmsilev:

    It amazes me that there were/are apparently some GOP Reps who thought it was possible to vote on Trumpcare 2.0 before the House leaves on recess on Friday. Yes, let’s introduce a huge bill upending a massive segment of the economy and try to jam it through in two days. Truly, Paul Ryan is a serious policy wonk whose wonky seriousity has never before been seen.

    The villagers who are starting to recognize this are having a sad, Their brilliant blue eyed boy, who they were all counting on to lead the GOP back, is not smart, competent policy wonk they thought he was. Turns out that he was just good at producing, ahem, passing on white papers from Heritage, which upon closer examination were based on fantasy. SAD !

  82. 82.

    JMG

    If we are going to be led by a corrupt rich guy, can’t we sub out Trump for Mr. Guo? Seems like he’s an altogether more fun person. Smarter, too.

  84. 84.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @dmsilev:

    Truly, Paul Ryan is a serious policy wonk whose wonky seriousity has never before been seen.

    Only in the original derivational sense of “wonk”–i.e., “know” spelt backwards. Because everygoddamnthing the Zombie-Eyed Granny Starver thinks he knows is bass-ackwards. (And there is serious doubt whether in fact he “thinks” at all….)

  86. 86.

    hovercraft

    @Baud:

    Maybe Jared should be speaker.

    Teh heh!

    He’d be great at it! But I don’t think Twitler can spare him right now, what with running our entire foreign policy and still staffing the administration, all while keeping Lucretia happy, his plates a little full. When would he have time to jet off on vacation? No for now they’ll let Lil Paulie continue to flounder. Do you think for one minuet Twitler has forgotten that Paulie was against him last year? Paulie is taking a major hit with the villagers and the party, so is Twitler, but in his mind he’s always able to bounce back and keep “winning”
    can Ryan?

  89. 89.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    Did you take a class?

    n͉̠̙͉̗̺̋̋̔ͧ̊o͎̜̓̇ͫ̉͊ͨ͊, i̞̟̫̺ͭ̒ͭͣ d̥̝̮͙͈͂̐̇ͮ̏̔̀̚ͅo͎̜̓̇ͫ̉͊ͨ͊w̠̘̗͖̮̥ͣ̽ͫ͂n͉̠̙͉̗̺̋̋̔ͧ̊l͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨo͎̜̓̇ͫ̉͊ͨ͊a̘̫͈̭͌͛͌̇̇̍d̥̝̮͙͈͂̐̇ͮ̏̔̀̚ͅe̮̟͈̣̖̰̩̹͈̾ͨ̑͑d̥̝̮͙͈͂̐̇ͮ̏̔̀̚ͅ a̘̫͈̭͌͛͌̇̇̍ k̲̱̠̞̖ͧ̔͊̇̽̿̑ͯͅe̮̟͈̣̖̰̩̹͈̾ͨ̑͑y͉̝͖̻̯ͮ̒̂ͮ͋ͫͨb͎̣̫͈̥̗͒͌̃͑̔̾ͅo͎̜̓̇ͫ̉͊ͨ͊a̘̫͈̭͌͛͌̇̇̍r̼̯̤̈ͭ̃ͨ̆d̥̝̮͙͈͂̐̇ͮ̏̔̀̚ͅ a̘̫͈̭͌͛͌̇̇̍p̱̱̬̻̞̩͎̌ͦ̏p̱̱̬̻̞̩͎̌ͦ̏ w̠̘̗͖̮̥ͣ̽ͫ͂i̞̟̫̺ͭ̒ͭͣt̘̟̼̉̈́͐͋͌̊h͚̖̜̍̃͐ a̘̫͈̭͌͛͌̇̇̍l͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨl͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨ k̲̱̠̞̖ͧ̔͊̇̽̿̑ͯͅi̞̟̫̺ͭ̒ͭͣn͉̠̙͉̗̺̋̋̔ͧ̊d̥̝̮͙͈͂̐̇ͮ̏̔̀̚ͅs̪̭̱̼̼̉̈́ͪ͋̽̚ o͎̜̓̇ͫ̉͊ͨ͊f̳͉̼͉̙͔͈̂̉ b͎̣̫͈̥̗͒͌̃͑̔̾ͅi̞̟̫̺ͭ̒ͭͣz̼͖̺̠̰͇̙̓͛ͮͩͦ̎ͦ̑ͅa̘̫͈̭͌͛͌̇̇̍r̼̯̤̈ͭ̃ͨ̆r̼̯̤̈ͭ̃ͨ̆e̮̟͈̣̖̰̩̹͈̾ͨ̑͑ f̳͉̼͉̙͔͈̂̉o͎̜̓̇ͫ̉͊ͨ͊n͉̠̙͉̗̺̋̋̔ͧ̊t̘̟̼̉̈́͐͋͌̊s̪̭̱̼̼̉̈́ͪ͋̽̚.

  90. 90.

    Boatboy_srq

    @Corner Stone: Who do you suggest he blame? It’s not as if he will EVER admit that anything is his responsibility unless it’s gleaming and sparkly and perfect.

  92. 92.

    Jeffro

    @Corner Stone:

    There is zero evidence of Ivanka Trump successfully advocating for any policy. Any policy at all. Can we please get the entire fuck over her and stop acting like she is anything but a living, breathing brand.

    Speaking of kleptocracy, and Ivanka, and “branding”…how much of this $1T in “infrastructure” “spending” do we think will get skimmed off by Trumpov and his billionaire buddies?

    But no worries, because

    The initiative will also require a sales job to many of Trump’s fellow Republicans, who remain wary of new government spending.

    Tuesday’s town hall consisted of several 20-minute sessions, including one on workforce development that featured Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter who recently took a formal White House job.

    She stressed the importance of education in building the country’s workforce and touted the value of vocational education, which prepares people to work in a trade. Several other panelists spoke of a need to “rebrand” vocational education, arguing that it is stigmatized as inferior to more traditional schooling.

    “Fortunately we have someone in Ivanka who knows a little about branding,” said Reed Cordish, an assistant to the president for intragovernmental and technology initiatives, who served as the emcee for Tuesday’s town hall.

    Riiiiiiight. Got it. Ivanka’s going to talk millions of American kids into vo-tech pathways, on the strength of all her awesome branding. Didn’t all her shit just get yanked from multiple major department stores chains?

    It’s almost as dumb as Kendall Jenner offering a cop a Pepsi – racial animosity disappeared overnight, remember?

  96. 96.

    Adam L Silverman

    @SiubhanDuinne: It would not be unreasonable to go into the meetings with a working assumption that last night’s missile test had tacit PRC approval to provide them additional leverage in Xi’s meetings with the President. We really do not have a good understanding of how that connection works, so keeping the possibility in mind would be an appropriate preparation.

  97. 97.

    hovercraft

    @Yarrow:

    Who is this “we” you are referring to? I’ve been over her as long as I can remember. She gets worse with every passing day.

    The people who were dazzled by her looks, and gushed about how well spoken she is, and what a wonderful job she did of humanizing her father and how she would help moderate him. None of these morons have ever once explained to us how a woman who’d never had a job in government or anything remotely related to it, who grew up with a sliver spoon in her mouth, married a billionaires son and works for daddy, could help him run the fucking government of the fucking United States. This family has one skill and one skill only, they are very good at selling bullshit, period and then walking away leaving you with a steaming pile of shit while they laugh all the way to the bank.

  98. 98.

    Baud

    @Jeffro:

    It’s almost as dumb as Kendall Jenner offering a cop a Pepsi – racial animosity disappeared overnight, remember?

    Justice = a refreshing beverage.

  99. 99.

    Adam L Silverman

    @rikyrah: And pondering how they’re going to pay for all of this…

    There was an article about an African American young woman who got accepted at all the Iveys plus several of the top tier (public Iveys) as well.

  101. 101.

    rikyrah

    @Adam L Silverman:

    There was an article about an African American young woman who got accepted at all the Iveys plus several of the top tier (public Iveys) as well.

    I know. She was from New Jersey, I think.

  102. 102.

    rikyrah

    @Jeffro:

    Speaking of kleptocracy, and Ivanka, and “branding”…how much of this $1T in “infrastructure” “spending” do we think will get skimmed off by Trumpov and his billionaire buddies?

    His infrastructure plan is nothing but a privatization scheme.

  103. 103.

    The Moar You Know

    Wengui is Miles Kwok? Oh man, this could his massive CF dimensions very quickly.

  105. 105.

    hovercraft

    @rikyrah:

    Can someone ask him why if being anti the president is not okay, why the fuck we had to tolerate Twitler on our TV’s for years bleating about birth certificates?

  106. 106.

    rikyrah

    GOP considers ‘Zombie Trumpcare,’ which is worse than the original
    04/05/17 10:48 AM—UPDATED 04/05/17 10:56 AM
    By Steve Benen

    Exactly one month ago tomorrow, House Republicans formally unveiled their long-awaited health care plan, along with an online Q&A about the proposal’s alleged virtues. The site asked, “Are you repealing patient protections, including for people with pre-existing conditions?”

    Answering their own question, Republicans replied, “No. Americans should never be denied coverage or charged more because of a pre-existing condition.”

    Of course, a lot has happened over the last month. House Speaker Paul Ryan was forced to change his “American Health Care Act” in the face of opposition from within his own party, and then change it again. The entire initiative failed spectacularly, though the Republican drive to repeal the Affordable Care Act didn’t disappear.

    And so, GOP leaders continued to plot and scheme, looking for ways to alter the party’s plan to satisfy the demands of various party factions, most notably the far-right House Freedom Caucus. NBC News’ Benjy Sarlin reported yesterday on the latest iteration, which takes aim at the protections for those with pre-existing condition – the same protections Republicans vowed to keep.

    Under the ACA, insurers are required to offer comprehensive health plans to everyone and charge them the same price regardless of whether they have a pre-existing condition. They can charge smokers more than non-smokers and older people up to three times as much as young people, but they aren’t allowed to take other health factors into account.

    The proposal the White House is floating would change all that.
    To be sure, the emerging compromise – what many are calling “Zombie Trumpcare,” because it’s back from the dead – doesn’t yet exist in written form. Closed-door negotiations have been ongoing, but the talks haven’t led to specific legislative text that we can scrutinize in detail.

    But we know enough to recognize that Republicans are weighing a new plan that’s vastly worse than its wildly unpopular original plan.

    The new, emerging version includes all of the elements the American mainstream already opposed – taking coverage from tens of millions of people, slashing Medicaid, handing big tax cuts to the wealth – adds the elimination of essential health benefits, including maternity care, and then tops it off by scrapping the “community rating” provision of the ACA.

    In practical terms, while “Obamacare” prevents insurers from charging the sick more for insurance than the healthy, the new-and-not-improved Republican plan would scrap the protection.

    Some GOP officials have pushed back against this interpretation, saying Americans with pre-existing conditions would still be able to buy private coverage, but there’s no reason to take this seriously. If you were born with a heart condition, and your insurer says, “We’ll cover your heart-related ailments for $1 million,” you’ve effectively had your health security taken away.

  109. 109.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    Bannon’s off the Security Council. I wonder whether that has anything to do with Xi coming.

  110. 110.

    Corner Stone

    @Adam L Silverman: I hear that General Tso is doing great things, great things! Finally getting the credit his work deserves. Lots of people are now recognizing. Did you know him? He was Chinese, not a lot of people know that.
    Here, for you – gold plated Trump brand chopsticks. Go on, give em a twirl! They’re the best, believe me.

  111. 111.

    Major Major Major Major

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    n͉̠̙͉̗̺̋̋̔ͧ̊o͎̜̓̇ͫ̉͊ͨ͊, i̞̟̫̺ͭ̒ͭͣ d̥̝̮͙͈͂̐̇ͮ̏̔̀̚ͅo͎̜̓̇ͫ̉͊ͨ͊w̠̘̗͖̮̥ͣ̽ͫ͂n͉̠̙͉̗̺̋̋̔ͧ̊l͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨo͎̜̓̇ͫ̉͊ͨ͊a̘̫͈̭͌͛͌̇̇̍d̥̝̮͙͈͂̐̇ͮ̏̔̀̚ͅe̮̟͈̣̖̰̩̹͈̾ͨ̑͑d̥̝̮͙͈͂̐̇ͮ̏̔̀̚ͅ a̘̫͈̭͌͛͌̇̇̍ k̲̱̠̞̖ͧ̔͊̇̽̿̑ͯͅe̮̟͈̣̖̰̩̹͈̾ͨ̑͑y͉̝͖̻̯ͮ̒̂ͮ͋ͫͨb͎̣̫͈̥̗͒͌̃͑̔̾ͅo͎̜̓̇ͫ̉͊ͨ͊a̘̫͈̭͌͛͌̇̇̍r̼̯̤̈ͭ̃ͨ̆d̥̝̮͙͈͂̐̇ͮ̏̔̀̚ͅ a̘̫͈̭͌͛͌̇̇̍p̱̱̬̻̞̩͎̌ͦ̏p̱̱̬̻̞̩͎̌ͦ̏ w̠̘̗͖̮̥ͣ̽ͫ͂i̞̟̫̺ͭ̒ͭͣt̘̟̼̉̈́͐͋͌̊h͚̖̜̍̃͐ a̘̫͈̭͌͛͌̇̇̍l͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨl͕͖͉̭̰ͬ̍ͤ͆̊ͨ k̲̱̠̞̖ͧ̔͊̇̽̿̑ͯͅi̞̟̫̺ͭ̒ͭͣn͉̠̙͉̗̺̋̋̔ͧ̊d̥̝̮͙͈͂̐̇ͮ̏̔̀̚ͅs̪̭̱̼̼̉̈́ͪ͋̽̚ o͎̜̓̇ͫ̉͊ͨ͊f̳͉̼͉̙͔͈̂̉ b͎̣̫͈̥̗͒͌̃͑̔̾ͅi̞̟̫̺ͭ̒ͭͣz̼͖̺̠̰͇̙̓͛ͮͩͦ̎ͦ̑ͅa̘̫͈̭͌͛͌̇̇̍r̼̯̤̈ͭ̃ͨ̆r̼̯̤̈ͭ̃ͨ̆e̮̟͈̣̖̰̩̹͈̾ͨ̑͑ f̳͉̼͉̙͔͈̂̉o͎̜̓̇ͫ̉͊ͨ͊n͉̠̙͉̗̺̋̋̔ͧ̊t̘̟̼̉̈́͐͋͌̊s̪̭̱̼̼̉̈́ͪ͋̽̚

    Technically that’s a keyboard app with all kinds of bizarre characters.

  114. 114.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Major Major Major Major: And at least five of those are breaks to go to the restroom and for afternoon naps because the average age of the members of the Senate make it not the world’s greatest deliberative body, but the foyer to G-d’s waiting room.

  118. 118.

    rikyrah

    Appeals court rejects LGBT employment discrimination
    04/05/17 11:20 AM
    By Steve Benen

    Democrats in recent years have pushed repeatedly for changes to existing laws against workplace discrimination, because there’s an obvious gap. While many states prohibit discrimination against LGBT workers, federal law includes no such protections.

    Employers can’t discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, religion, national origin, disability, or genetic information, but federal civil rights law make no specific references to sexual orientation or sexual identity. Democrats have championed measures like the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) to remedy the problem.

    But in a surprising twist, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded yesterday that the law may not necessarily need improving – because existing law should already be interpreted to extend anti-discrimination protections to LGBT Americans.

    A federal appeals court in Chicago ruled Tuesday that long-standing federal civil rights laws prohibit discrimination on the job against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees.

    It was the first ruling of its kind from a federal appeals court.

    The decision, from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago, said “discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is a form of sex discrimination.”

  121. 121.

    hovercraft

    @Corner Stone: @the Conster, la Citoyenne:

    President Donald Trump reorganized his National Security Council on Wednesday, removing his chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, and downgrading the role of his Homeland Security Adviser, Tom Bossert, according to a person familiar with the decision and a regulatory filing.

    National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster was given responsibility for setting the agenda for meetings of the NSC or the Homeland Security Council, and was authorized to delegate that authority to Bossert, at his discretion, according to the filing.

    Under the move, the national intelligence director, Dan Coats, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, are again “regular attendees” of the NSC’s principals committee.

    Bannon, the former executive chairman of Breitbart News, was elevated to the National Security Council’s principals committee at the beginning of Trump’s presidency. The move drew criticism from some members of Congress and Washington’s foreign policy establishment.

    @Baud:

    ETA: Yes I thin Jared is winning, he’s getting more and more and Bannon’s been kind of pushed off to the sidelines. Twitler needed someone to blame for the TRaycare so why not Bannon?

    ETA: Isn’t Twitler supposed to be a tough guy? Yet he can’t take people calling him names on TV? SAD!

  123. 123.

    Barbara

    @Baud: According to the Washington Post he is off the NSC. Regarding Kushner and Bannon, I don’t believe anything I read, but honestly, there are not that many people who like the idea of chaos and destroying the administrative state, so it wouldn’t surprise me if Kushner and even others might get tired of his idiosyncracies. Just, for instance, I read an interview in which he said that over the last 30 years, America has basically funded investment capital that has gone to China. Okay, maybe that’s true to some degree. But how does pushing a bill that would eviscerate social programs like Medicaid and give the investor class even more money in the form of tax breaks to invest help? It seems to exacerbate the very problem that he just said he is on a mission to fix. Forget about whether I agree with how he defined the problem, even by his own definition his actions are illogical and counterproductive.

  125. 125.

    Barbara

    @SiubhanDuinne: I bet McMaster told him he would leave unless Trump made changes. Probably after reading about how the guy he wanted to fire all along was feeding TS information to Devin Nunes, and perhaps because of what has been happening in NK. I would not be surprised if other departures or reassignments are imminent.

  126. 126.

    Adam L Silverman

    @rikyrah: And given that Judge Posner, the most intellectually consistent (and perhaps rigorous) conservative judge/justice and legal scholar in the US wrote a concurring opinion that shreds originalism this should be fun to watch going forward.

  127. 127.

    hovercraft

    @rikyrah: @Baud:

    So this shouldn’t be allowed?

    Louis C.K. Opines On Trump: ‘He’s Just A Lying Sack Of Sh*t’

    New Yorkers long ago sized Trump up for what he is: a bullshitter. Why much of the rest of the country overlooked the obvious remains a complete and utter mystery.

    Source: The Hill

    In an interview with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night’s episode of “Late Show,” C.K. ranted about various types of liars. The show tweeted out a clip with the caption “Tune in tonight to hear #LouisCK explain what type of liar our President is.”

    “Someones people lie – ‘That guy lied, they found out he lied.’ Then there’s somebody who lies because they can’t quite stay inside the boundaries of truth,” he began.

    “Then you have a liar, somebody who it’s almost like a problem, they lie a lot.

    “Then you have a lying sack of s—t,” he said to applause from the audience, referring to the president. “That’s somebody who just they just lie, they like it — he likes it. He goes, ‘Heh heh, it wasn’t even true. Wasn’t even true. Then I said ‘they were liars.'”

    “It’s just an insane. It’s just gross. He’s just a gross, crook, dirty, rotten, lying sack of s–t,” the comedian said.

    Colbert pointed to someone in his audience: “Louis, there’s a guy who voted for him up there.”

    C.K. said it was the voters who were the “victims of the lying.”

    “Look if you voted, that’s the guy he lied to,” he said. “He didn’t lie to me. He lied to him. He didn’t lie to me. Everybody else was like ‘yeah, no that’s not true.’ But that guy bought it. “

  128. 128.

    Barbara

    @rikyrah: I didn’t read the opinion but this has been the emerging doctrine for a long time. Basically, the Supreme Court has held in several opinions that discrimination based on expectations about gender norms is a kind of gender bias, e.g., that women wear skirts or keep their hair long. The expectation that women pair up with men or that men pair up with women is an expectation based on gender norms and is thus a kind of gender bias.

  129. 129.

    Major Major Major Major

    On the radio just now, KQED was doing a story about a democratic primary in CA-34. One of the top two, who will be going to the runoff, is a dark horse Korean-American candidate who rode an unexpected groundswell of Asian-American support to come in second. The interview threatened to be a dumb human interest story about Asian-American representation in politics, but thankfully the interviewer was able to steer it away from that and towards a real topic by interrupting the person talking and asking instead what this election said about the national rift in the Democratic Party.

  130. 130.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Barbara: There appear to be underlying reasons for this apart from the pro forma boiler plate of the reorganization statement. It remains to be seen if those reasons will be reported. Before you ask: I do not know what they are. I have speculative ideas, but I’m not going to say because they’re just semi-educated guesses.

  131. 131.

    LAO

    @Adam L Silverman: Judge Posner no longer thinks of himself as “conservative,” in today’s speak. LINK.

    Best quote:

    “I’ve become less conservative since the Republican Party started becoming goofy,” he said.

  132. 132.

    hovercraft

    @Adam L Silverman:

    It’s doctored from his Cinco de Mayo taco bowl tweet last year.

    That’s the problem with this level of stupidity and incompetence, in spite of the backlash, they could be dumb and arrogant enough to think it was a good idea to redo it. If I was thinking I would have remembered that Twitler’s been too much of a chickenshit to step back in NYC since his inauguration.
    See it’s rubbing of, I’m getting dumber and more gullible ;-(

  133. 133.

    MattF

    @Barbara: But there are lots of ‘idiosyncratic’ people surrounding Trump. It seems more likely to me Trump decided that because Bannon isn’t family, he can’t be trusted. And there might actually be some truth to that reasoning.

  136. 136.

    Jeffro

    @rikyrah: Agreed…hence the “double” “air quotes”. Whatever he doesn’t just sell off, he’ll either pay the private sector 2x or 3x its usual cost to run, or run up the tab on contracting that’s 2x or 3x as much as usual, or both.

  138. 138.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Adam L Silverman:
    HA HA HA HA! Oh my god, you’re RIGHT. China, buying Trump only through surrogates so far, has not yet grasped what a moron he is. Used to a system of political scheming, cut-throat ruthlessness, and corrupt autocratic power that makes Russia look tame, they still think he MUST have gotten the presidency by cunning and the goofiness is a front. This meeting is going to blow. Their. Minds. And then they’ll give him $100 million dollars and a list of foreign policy requests, and that will be that.

  140. 140.

    Chris

    @clay:

    My question is this… Don’t we want them to keep fucking this chicken?

    Not really – the longer they stay at it, the higher the chances that they’ll somehow figure out something to pass. I’d much rather have them going from TARFU to TARFU than spending enough time on one to actually potentially pass what they want.

  142. 142.

    The Moar You Know

    “I’ve become less conservative since the Republican Party started becoming goofy,” he said.

    @LAO: No he hasn’t. He’s just frantically trying to distance himself from the idiots he so willingly climbed into bed with, in order to save his career.

  144. 144.

    Mnemosyne

    @Baud:

    Coca-Cola executives are gleefully thinking that they’re headquartered in fucking Georgia and yet they still knew how dumb that Pepsi commercial is.

  145. 145.

    Adam L Silverman

    @LAO: He should’ve been put on the court instead of Roberts or Alito. But the GOP and the movement conservatives wanted a political operator masquerading as a judge, not a judge.

  146. 146.

    Adam L Silverman

    @The Moar You Know: He’s in his mid to late 70s. He was elevated to the Federal bench a very, very long time ago. Reagan put him on the Court of Appeals in 1981.

  149. 149.

    The Moar You Know

    He’s in his mid to late 70s. He was elevated to the Federal bench a very, very long time ago. Reagan put him on the Court of Appeals in 1981.

    @Adam L Silverman: I know his history. I know the techbro community loves him. I don’t trust him. He still identifies as a Republican, right?

  152. 152.

    TenguPhule

    @clay:

    Don’t we want them to keep fucking this chicken?

    No, because sooner or later they’re going to give it bird-flu which will mutate into a new zombie virus and kill us all.

  153. 153.

    TenguPhule

    @Corner Stone:

    There is absolutely no end of things Trump can say or do that will embarrass the entire whole fuck of the US nation at this meeting with Xi.

    If China is smart, they’ll poison Trump at the meeting during the handshake. Something subtle that kicks in after a few hours. Otherwise they’re going to suffer several long hours of losing face with the Idiot who thinks himself king.

  154. 154.

    hovercraft

    @The Moar You Know:
    IANAL

    He may have recently relinquished the republican moniker, but he’s what a conservative republican used to be before the Federalist started minting neanderthals to pack the court with, From the little I know Posner is not my kind of judge, but he’s not insane, and he does try for some degree of consistency, he doesn’t flip on a dime in order to side with his “side”. He is willing to acknowledge error which is rare. In our two party system with both sides getting to nominate, Posner is the type I wish we had to deal with, he can be reasoned with, Alito and Thomas have no care for the law, on;y in advancing the GOP agenda, Roberts at least has the desire to mask their inconsistencies and so tempers his actions.

  155. 155.

    Adam L Silverman

    @The Moar You Know: I’m not a techbro, do not attend their meetings, do not get their newsletters, though I do occasionally email with M4 and Alain. So I cannot speak in regard to the techbro thing. My understanding is he no longer identifies as either a conservative or a Republican.

  157. 157.

    seaboogie

    @Yarrow: I dunno. Remember Cole’s inadvertent “reveal” when he was wearing shorts? ABC might find that look on him preferable to overalls, with the added bonus of wearing nothing that can be described as *pants*.

  158. 158.

    Seanly

    Well, I may not have $17 billion being held by the Chinese government, but at least I don’t wear white knee high socks with knee length shorts. EDIT: I see some folks think it might be long underwear? In Florida? Okaaayyy.
    Still, I may be poor & not too stylish, but I don’t look that bad.
    Looking forward to being accused of being a lookist.

  159. 159.

    TerryC

    @Baud: We have Mississauga rattlers in our basement but also mice, and at least two squirrel families in the walls of our 1870 farmhouse.

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