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How stupid are these people?

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

Mediocre white men think RFK Jr’s pathetic midlife crisis is inspirational. The bar is set so low for them, it’s subterranean.

Stay strong, because they are weak.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

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We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

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

You cannot love your country only when you win.

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Democracy is not a spectator sport.

The world has changed, and neither one recognizes it.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

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If rights aren’t universal, they are privilege, not rights.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Russiagate Open Thread: “Reality Winner” Leaks to the Intercept

Russiagate Open Thread: “Reality Winner” Leaks to the Intercept

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No, srsly…

Per Buzzfeed:

A federal contractor in Georgia has been charged with leaking classified material to an online news outlet, the Justice Department announced Monday.

Reality Leigh Winner, 25, was arrested by the FBI at her home on Saturday and appeared in federal court in Augusta on Monday afternoon, DOJ said in a statement.

Winner is a contractor with Pluribus International Corporation who held top secret clearance, according to the statement.

“Winner printed and improperly removed classified intelligence reporting, which contained classified national defense information from an intelligence community agency, and unlawfully retained it,” DOJ said in the statement. “Approximately a few days later, Winner unlawfully transmitted by mail the intelligence reporting to an online news outlet.”…

“Releasing classified material without authorization threatens our nation’s security and undermines public faith in government,” Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

Reality Leigh Winner. Because we’re living in a Pynchon novel, now.

Reader Interactions

349Comments

  3. 3.

    Honus

    Wasn’t Pluribus a villainous Russian company in one of the Lee Child/Jack Reacher novels?

  4. 4.

    guachi

    I’ll add that I don’t know anything about her. I’ll guess that if she’s 25 she’s ex-military.

  5. 5.

    dr. bloor

    25 year old with less than three months on the job gets top secret clearance. 25 year old passes on information in dumbest possible manner. “News Organization” shares original document with gov’t.

    Winners all around.

  6. 6.

    debbie

    I’ve been checking out Pluribus’s website. From their Corporate Philosophy page,

    Our company’s strength is in identifying, hiring, and leading teams of high-quality service providers and managing successful outcomes by implementing rigorous Quality Assurance and Risk Management methodologies.

    Oops.

  7. 7.

    lamh36

    So DOJ basically confirms that the document is legit…so confirm Russia hacking during the election..

    So…will this young woman get the book thrown at her that they couldn’t throw at Eddie Snow…

    Oh and wasn’t GG et al just saying all the “Russian election interference” stuff was paranoia and overblown?

  8. 8.

    guachi

    If she’s former military (and it’s a good bet she is) she has about four years of TS/SCI clearance under her belt.

    Still pretty stupid.

  9. 9.

    Peter

    @lamh36: He’s still saying that. The man’s head is rammed directly up his own asshole.

    In other news, I don’t think anybody is ever going to leak anything to the Intercept ever again. What a journalistic Gong Show.

  11. 11.

    Baud

    @Peter: Hey at least The Intercept published it. WikiLeaks would have buried the news since it implicates Russia.

  12. 12.

    trollhattan

    @debbie: Random capitalization Always Burnishes a Company’s Credibility with potential ClientsPartners.

  19. 19.

    Anne Laurie

    @PsiFighter37:

    Who the fuck names their kid that?

    I was named after an obsolete pop song, and that was 60 years ago, when the standards were much stricter.

    One of the few family stories I actually believe to be true: My dad won the evening Monopoly game, so he got to pick their firstborn’s name. (My mother had to wait 9 years to use her choice — my baby sister is Barbara Ellen.)

  22. 22.

    Anne Laurie

    @dr. bloor:

    I’m so old I remember when “Fawn Hall” pushed the envelope.

    HA! Almost used that in my post, but figured at least one of you jackals would hit that softball for me…

  27. 27.

    quakerinabasement

    “Reality Winner?”

    Find out which writer dreamed up that name and fire him, now!

  31. 31.

    guachi

    Looking at her Facebook page, she’s a former linguist (probably Russian) who was in MD for a few years.

    She was really good at not having military stuff in her Facebook page, but there are mentions of an OPI and Monterey, so linguist (probably Russian)

  32. 32.

    germy

    Glenn showed up at LGM one evening to argue with everyone.

    Don’t we rate a visit?

  33. 33.

    lamh36

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): Snowden…

    This is what happens when someone learns all their news from unreliable or biased sources…I’m sure she’s read all kinds of bullshit emails and online stories on FB and the like…and she bought the line that GG an his brood were soo good to Snowden…so of course…she could do the same…

    As Cheeto proves, you don’t have to be “smart” to get clearance do you…smh

  35. 35.

    MoxieM

    Reality Winner and Krystle Ball. It sounds like a horse race. Or a dog race. Not, yaknow, the Fourth and Fifth Estates of our supposedly Common-weal.

  36. 36.

    germy

    Glenn Greenwald‏Verified account
    @ggreenwald

    Replying to @AuerbachKeller @theintercept
    Journalism requires that document be published and reported. Rationality requires it be read skeptically.

  42. 42.

    different-church-lady

    @germy:

    Rationality requires it be read skeptically.

    SO DOES YOUR FUCKING WEBSITE, GLENN.

  43. 43.

    lamh36

    @jonswaine 7m7 minutes ago
    More
    Reality Winner, arrested for alleged classified leak, is a former US Air Force linguist who speaks Pashto, Farsi & Dari, her mother tells me

  46. 46.

    Baud

    @JPL: We’re two hours in and we are already declaring this a win for Trump?

    That’s a win for Trump.

  47. 47.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    Not to go all James Angleton, but you have to wonder if this is a set up from the start. Why would anyone leak Russia hacking info to an outlet that is openly hostile to the russia hacking probe/storyline.

    For example, if you had some info of Trump personally colluding would you leak it to Sean Hannity. Of course not, he’s hostile to the investigation and coverage.

  48. 48.

    gammyjill

    @Anne Laurie: Hey. My two older sisters were named “Ellen” and “Barbara”. Ellen’s still kicking at 71, but Barbara died 9 years ago, right before Obama’s election. She worked hard for him and I’d have given anything to have her see his victory…oh well, maybe she was looking down.

  49. 49.

    Quinerly

    @guachi:
    Looks like she has no privacy controls on her FB page. Posting up to June 2 about her dog pooping and being on a “spiritual journey” to Belize at the end of May. Looks like a child in one of those pics. Texas blonde.

  51. 51.

    Baud

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:

    Not to go all James Angleton, but you have to wonder if this is a set up from the start. Why would anyone leak Russia hacking info to an outlet that is openly hostile to the russia hacking probe/storyline.

    Although not dismissing this idea, it wouldn’t surprise me if The Intercept and GG still have the reputation with a lot of people of being honest journalists only concerned about exposing secrets.

  54. 54.

    germy

    @Quinerly:

    Posting up to June 2 about her dog pooping and being on a “spiritual journey” to Belize at the end of May.

    Impressive. I mean, all dogs poop but how many dogs attempt spiritual journeys to Belize? My dog got as far as the front door, then decided to lick himself instead.

  55. 55.

    lamh36

    @germy: Gawd…I hope not…the last time he showed up, it was beyond obnoxious…and John was still in his “my good friend Glenn” phase, IIRC?

  56. 56.

    Baud

    Remember when the only proof needed to establish Hillary’s guilt was “where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

  58. 58.

    hitchhiker

    If it adds to the confusion about how Trump could possibly have persuaded any rational person to vote for him, it’s not a win.

    And it definitely adds to the confusion.

    This is Russia, it’s top secret, somebody got arrested for leaking it, and it talks about voting machines and voter registration files. A whole lot of people are going to take it more seriously than they have been … especially with stupid old racist Donald Trump embarrassing our country with his nasty tweets and his Paris Accords decision.

    At some point there’s a shift, and everybody starts trying to find the exit ramp from this horror-show ride.

  59. 59.

    ? Martin

    Going after election officials/companies is not a bad strategy:

    About 26,000 people across Pennsylvania — 17,000 in Philadelphia alone — may not have received voter registration cards until after the November Presidential election because their voter registration applications were processed late, according to a new report released this week by a nonpartisan conglomerate of organizations that advocate for election reform.

    No indication this had anything to do with the Russian efforts, but if you could slow down processing in major Democratic areas, even if you can’t ballot stuff/block/alter on election day, could decide a close race. Truth is, these problems are easily solved if we politically want them solved.

  60. 60.

    lamh36

    To be honest, I can’t even quip about her name (I mean my own family have alot of “unique” names)…the world of hurt this young lady is in for…and the fall back on her family, cause you know they looking for ANYONE she’s come in contact with for 25 years…

    Lord, how soon before we get the high school yearbook…hell, how far back will the stories go…they gonna have post about her damn birth weight soon…smh

  61. 61.

    different-church-lady

    @Baud: Hell, I’m so old I can remember when we were still allies with the United Kingdom.

  62. 62.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?

    @different-church-lady: Doesn’t Glenn consider himself the one true god? Anything he says is true is to believed without question. Ditto on anything he seems false

  67. 67.

    Redshift

    @Peale: Yeah, and Ryan Grim, who was one of the bylines on this story, is actually a real journalist who’s done good work in the past. I’m on his email list from before, and I can’t figure out why he went to writing for the Intercept and The Young Turks, but it doesn’t seem to have noticeably affected his work.

  68. 68.

    Quinerly

    @germy:
    Don’t think the dog went with her. She has kitties too! Her family looks pretty normal, her “Grammy” gave her a Christmas tree she was late unpacking. One day she had to tell at least 10 people that Reality Winner was her legal name, plus FB required her to send them a copy of her driver’s license. She’s into cross fit and body building, loves bananas. I kinda feel like I know her…she’s also big on sending letters to her senators. Considers herself a lover of the environment.

  82. 82.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @debbie:

    Our company’s strength is in identifying, hiring, and leading teams of high-quality service providers and managing successful outcomes by implementing rigorous Quality Assurance and Risk Management methodologies.

    I hope I’m not the only person in these environs who loathes, detests, and hates this kind of crap corporate “philosophy” and “mission statement.” Time for the entire idea to die a swift, decisive death.

  83. 83.

    Camembert

    @? Martin: I’m so old I remember when ACORN got brutalized over a guy who shot white supremacy cosplay videos in their offices without their consent.

  84. 84.

    Quinerly

    OT: Carter Page is trying to convince Chris Matthews that everyone is going after him because he is Catholic. HRC doesn’t like him because he’s Catholic. I kid you not.

  88. 88.

    germy

    Washington Post: Why are Republicans getting so little done? Because their agenda is deeply unpopular. By Paul Waldman

    The latest Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll finds that an incredible 84 percent of Americans say that it’s important that any replacement of the Affordable Care Act maintains the ACA’s expansion of Medicaid. Even 71 percent of Republicans said so. Which is a problem for the GOP, because rolling back the Medicaid expansion is the centerpiece of the Republican repeal plan.

  90. 90.

    different-church-lady

    @germy:

    Which is a problem for of no concern to the GOP, because rolling back the Medicaid expansion is the centerpiece of the Republican repeal plan they have become a party of sociopaths.

  92. 92.

    Millard Filmore

    @zhena gogolia:

    GG published the leak in such a way as to result in the immediate arrest of the leaker, thus discouraging other leakers

    I have come to this thread late, so many pardons if this is already discussed, GG wants to stop future anti russia leaks? Understandable if true.

  95. 95.

    Corner Stone

    @Jeffro: GOOD GOD!! DON’T SAY THAT OUT LOUD HERE!! FER FUCK’S SAKE, HOW DARE YOU DESECRATE THESE HALLOWED HALLS!!

  100. 100.

    Lyrebird

    @guachi: That’s also what they say (ditto the languages listed) on “Heavy.com” whoever they are.

    I do not think current conversations do much to remember that whistleblowing is important, and at the same time I don’t have much knowledge re: what it takes to get to her (now-former) security clearance.

    ETA: Sounds like she might not have been too wise in her choices, but I sure hope she doesn’t get some kind of maximum sentence (e.g. what is wished by the “Heavy” readership) while Kushner Bannon Miller Flynn etc walk around free as birdies.

  101. 101.

    Quinerly

    @Cheryl Rofer:
    Well, I guess you heard Chris Matthews is interviewing him. Some of us were watching because our radios are broken and we can’t listen to NPR. ?

  105. 105.

    Corner Stone

    @Jeffro: SHADDUP SHADDUP SHADDUP!! NAHNAHNAHNAHNAHNAHNAH!!! I CAAAANNN’T HEAR YOUOUOUOU!!! NAHNHANAHNAHNAHNAHNAHA!!!

  107. 107.

    efgoldman

    @germy:

    Why are Republicans getting so little done? Because their agenda is deeply unpopular.

    Well, duuuuhhhh!
    But also because nobody in the congressional majority, up to and including the “speaker”, has ever actually written and passed legislation.
    And Peach Pustule is even worse.
    Not that we should mind.

  110. 110.

    hovercraft

    @Corner Stone:
    I just watched that, two idiots talking in circles. Tweety agrees Twitler’s desire to pull us out of the mid-east is a worthy goal? Page is under attack because of anti-Catholicism pushed by Madeline Albright? Oh and did you know Page was wire tapped illegally.

  113. 113.

    Corner Stone

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Or, a cheaper alternative. A keyboard that prevents you from saying the same stupid fucking comment 100 times about what somebody else chooses to watch and comment on here.
    Seems like that would be free, eh? Free, maybe? Free? Just to say fucking nothing?

  116. 116.

    Immanentize

    @Quinerly: Well, Madelyn Albright did end up being a secret member of the tribe from her immigrant Czech relatives ….

  117. 117.

    Corner Stone

    @Quinerly: I was taking a Boss Nap. So maybe for those few precious minutes I upheld the Code that Bill lives by.

  118. 118.

    Morzer

    Fans of Outlander/Diana Gabaldon (and even concealed carry!) might enjoy this:

    theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/jun/05/bonnie-prince-charlie-jacobites-exhibition-national-museum-…

    I am standing in an ostentatiously nondescript modern building in Granton, a suburb of Edinburgh, next to a former marine biologist whose novels have sold in excess of 30m copies. We are looking at the backside of what resembles a large tartan onesie. The author is Diana Gabaldon, who is eagerly taking photographs on her mobile and gleefully saying she will be sending these to the person who does the costumes for Outlander, the TV series based on her cult sequence of novels that launched in 2014.
    …
    One of the objects in the room is a strange sporran that can contain two flintlock pistols. Gabaldon studies it intently, later saying that this will certainly appear in future books. Historical fiction, as the writer JG Lockhart said, gloriously illustrates the margins: the past is fixed, there can’t be a victory for Charles at Culloden. So has she, I wonder, given the series a definitive ending? “I wrote the last scene of the last book 15 years ago,” she replies, after the kind of wry pause that seems to typify her approach.

  120. 120.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?

    @Morzer: The GOP just couldn’t get the deed done. Somebody get them political Viagra. Stat!

    (Or not because that means millions might not get hurt/killed)

  125. 125.

    efgoldman

    @Quinerly:

    I’m one sick Mofo today. I even caught 15 minutes of Nicole Wallace. I hate myself.

    You ought to let the dog watch it and take notes. It wouldn’t be any less coherent.

  129. 129.

    lamh36

    If we assume they already knew she had dowloaded docs, then they were aware of her…did they wait to see if she’d leak the docs before arrest?

    Otherwise it was when the intercept contacted the feds, trying to validate the doc and they didn’t properly protect their source and now she’ll likely spend time in prison because of it.

    Hmmm, either way, this doesn’t make the Intercept look great…

  130. 130.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?

    @germy: It’s almost as if the GOP don’t represent a majority of Americans and only control the government (state and federal) through vote suppression, gerrymandering, and other dirty/borderline anti-democratic tactics.

    Edit: not that the GOP doesn’t have a large enough base to get elected. Big money and everything else combined is hoped to maintain their dominance permanently

  132. 132.

    Morzer

    @Gin & Tonic:

    And that is called paying the Dane-geld;
    But we’ve proved it again and again,
    That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld
    You never get rid of the Dane.

  134. 134.

    goblue72

    @guachi: The Twitters say that her mother has indicated she is former USAF linguist who speaks Pashto, Farsi, and Dari (version of Persian spoken in Afghanistan)

  138. 138.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Corner Stone: You’re in luck yet again(I’d buy some lottery tickets, if I was you), gotta take care of the doggies(dinner/walk) and head out for a local photog meetup in DTLA. I sure the efgoldman will help take up the slack in my absence.

  140. 140.

    Quinerly

    @Peale:
    If you believe Carter Page. Honestly, I don’t know what the hell he was babbling about. He seemed to be trying to do this “wink wink nod nod” to Tweety that everyone was out to get him because he was Catholic.

  141. 141.

    efgoldman

    @Morzer:

    I’d like to think Quinerly takes better notes than that!

    That’s the point. The show is so incoherent the dog’s notes would be fine.

  142. 142.

    Morzer

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I’d buy some lottery tickets, if I was you

    Our company’s strength is in identifying high-quality bridge-purchase opportunities and managing successful outcomes by implementing rigorous Quality Assurance and Risk Management methodologies.

  145. 145.

    goblue72

    @Morzer: Are those bridge-purchase opportunities also available in high water table, wetland-positive southern peninsular locations?

  147. 147.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?

    @Morzer: That’s a point that is always lost on rightists. Despite being a white guy, I’m more afraid of the next Dylan Roof or some cop who decides he/she wants to give me a hard time than I am Islamists from half a world away

  149. 149.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @debbie:

    I don’t mind the basic idea of mission statements. But the way they are structured and the language that is used just makes me shudder.

    And yes, about corporations making money. They need to be honest about it.

  151. 151.

    Mike in DC

    I’m not sure what the climb-down route for GG, Taibbi, TYT etc is. “We were just waiting for stronger evidence/you can’t blame us for mistrusting the IC…” probably won’t work.

  152. 152.

    lamh36

    Hmm…IDK when it happened, but I’ve become a non-fan of Richard Engel…Is it just me, or does Richard Engel always seem to find a way to lean his news analyis towards a Politically-Right lean?

  155. 155.

    Morzer

    @different-church-lady:

    I like to think of myself as more of a gap-enhancing technology provider leveraging creative synergies in pursuit of dynamic solutions with a strong trans-aquatic tradition.

  156. 156.

    Quinerly

    @Immanentize:
    It’s ok. We aren’t speaking to each other today. Briefly passed in the hall and I glared at him. He put his tail between his legs and went outside. Kitties Ivan and John Lennon are appalled by his behavior last night.

  158. 158.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?

    @lamh36: Don’t watch much Engel. From what I’ve heard and read about him, he seemed like a straight shooter. Someone desperately needed in the media to report on foreign affairs. What did he do or say?

  163. 163.

    Morzer

    @Mike in DC:

    To be fair to Taibbi,, he’s been concerned from the start to make sure that the left doesn’t buy into a conspiracy theory, promote it and get hammered when it falls apart. That’s not an unreasonable approach, even if caution seems to be out of fashion in the Age of Trumpfail.

  164. 164.

    gene108

    The charges come as the administration makes finding the “leakers” of classified information a key rallying cry. Finding anonymous leakers has been a fixture of President Donald Trump’s Twitter feed. The Obama administration, during its eight years, also aggressively investigated leaks.

    “Releasing classified material without authorization threatens our nation’s security and undermines public faith in government,” Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement.

    FFS, releasing classified info is not the same as leaking.

    Leaking is telling reporters Bannon gave an atomic wedgie to J-Kush at the last staff meeting and Trump just sat there, while everyone else laughed, because Trump is weird and does not laugh.

    That’s not illegal to divulge. S

  165. 165.

    clay

    @Quinerly: That’s been his shtick for a while. It makes as much sense as anything Carter Page says.

    For a guy with a remarkable ability to talk himself into knots, he sure does voluntarily go on TV a lot.

  167. 167.

    hovercraft

    @Peale:
    The part of the trip where he made nice with the Saudi’s and Israel in order to advance peace, including that first ever flight from Riyadh to Tel Aviv/Jerusalem. But he was referring to Carter Page’s supposed reason for joining Twitler, he like Tweety wanted less mid east adventurism, something Tweety felt that the war monger Hillary couldn’t be trusted on.

  170. 170.

    Quinerly

    @Immanentize:
    Now I remember why I have been hanging out with you guys all day! Don’t want to face the hole in my basement created by Poco late yesterday afternoon. And don’t feel sorry for Poco. He has a great life…road trips, exotic smells, and beach walks. I’m still pretty pissed about this damage. He’s losing his doggie door and basement privileges.

  171. 171.

    Jeffro

    @hovercraft:

    I just watched that, two idiots talking in circles. Tweety agrees Twitler’s desire to pull us out of the mid-east is a worthy goal? Page is under attack because of anti-Catholicism pushed by Madeline Albright? Oh and did you know Page was wire tapped illegally.

    You almost have to wonder: who benefits, when two idiots talk in circles and throw up that much smoke? Who, indeed?

  173. 173.

    Jeffro

    @SiubhanDuinne: @Baud:

    I’d like mission statements more if more of them were irreverent…snarky…had some character. And if they had one buzzword at most, as opposed to “the most buzzwords ever”.

  175. 175.

    Quinerly

    @Immanentize:
    We have truly gone full circle. I just composed a Poco/basement wall post..and it was eaten. That’s how my morning started.

  178. 178.

    TenguPhule

    @Baud:

    Hey at least The Intercept published it. WikiLeaks would have buried the news since it implicates Russia.

    Check Adam in prior thread. Intercept leaked it in the worst possible manner to burn their source and give Russia more intelligence on US sources and methods of intelligence.

  180. 180.

    TenguPhule

    @Baud:

    Balloon Juice needs a mission statement.

    Resistance is Futile, You will covevey DougJ.

  181. 181.

    piratedan

    a couple of things….

    Isn’t Page aware that HRC nominated a Catholic as her running mate, Tim Freaking Kaine? Guy is worse than Otto from a FCW…

    In regards to “The Intercept” folks, I could see them not giving a shit and burning young Ms. Winner because after all, the leak proves that Russia was indeed fucking about in our election and it does serve a two-fold purpose… it deflects from the Money angle (for now) about how certain people have been bought or suborned… and it serves as a purpose to make other “keyboard patriots” think twice about who to contact.

    Granted, if someone actually has stuff that they think should be out there, there are outlets for said items as well as their Congressional Representatives (oohhahhwhhahwhhahhaha) to bring this to their attention. I’ll give Ms. Winner something of a pass because I think people at 25 may not be as worldly as curmudgeonly blog commentators who have seen the elephant and stepped in its shit enough to recognize when you’re being played.

    As for personal feelings, I would like to see GG in jail, spending his free time working on gratis briefs for fellow conspirators.

  185. 185.

    Corner Stone

    I’m just not a fan of Naveed Jamali and I wish the un-spoken of TV network would stop having him on air.

  189. 189.

    Quinerly

    @Corner Stone:
    Well, I like him quite a bit! So, there. Plus, I think your not so secret girlfriend, Joy, likes him too! I think he is on every one of her shows.

  192. 192.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Haven’t read the thread so someone already probably mentioned that “Reality Winner” sounds like the name of a Bond girl.

    Also, too, I wonder what Greendork has to say about all this? Vlad’s eager puppet?

  193. 193.

    TenguPhule

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Also, too, I wonder what Greendork has to say about all this? Vlad’s eager puppet?

    To summarize GG: “Leaking is a very serious crime and the documents are probably fake so we shouldn’t rush to judge.”

    I would suggest Drone strikes, but I’m still in the minority on that, apparently.

  196. 196.

    jl

    @Baud:

    ” Balloon Juice needs a mission statement. ”

    I thought you were the virtual BJ mission statement.

  197. 197.

    Mnemosyne

    @germy:

    Can’t have it both ways, Glennie. Either it’s fake information and the leaker should be freed immediately, or it’s real.

  199. 199.

    Quinerly

    @Cheryl Rofer:
    Thanks for finding them/posting them. I think the gods are trying to tell me to stay off of Balloon Juice today. It’s been fun while it lasted…needed a diversion today for a lot of reasons. Tomorrow is another story, though.

  200. 200.

    TenguPhule

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Like Vald’s other puppet is going to order drone strikes on Brazil.

    I like to think that the non-Republican put into power after Trump’s removal will do what it takes to put the fear of the CIA and Hellfire missiles into GG, Snowden and every other fucking Putin-puppet with an Internet connection.

  201. 201.

    TenguPhule

    @Mnemosyne:

    Can’t have it both ways, Glennie.

    Hah! You don’t know GG. He can deny two things contradicting each other before breakfast and another four by lunch.

  208. 208.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @TenguPhule:
    Not to mention coming up with arguments so breathtakingly dishonest it’s hard to believe anyone could have such gall. I will never forget his declarations that Democrats criticize Ron Paul because we don’t want to admit we want to kill babies.

  209. 209.

    lamh36

    @yashar
    Following
    More
    BTW for those who keep doubting that RT is Kremlin funded propaganda, last night Putin referred to RT as “our company, Russia Today”

  211. 211.

    Lurking Canadian

    @Mike in DC: I’m absolutely baffled by the people who are chanting “no evidence! no evidence!”

    I sort of get “We shouldn’t jump to conclusions, nothing’s proven in court yet, no way to know how much Trump himself was involved…”

    But “no evidence”? We already know Flynn was in the pay of Turkey and intervened in foreign policy to prevent something Turkey didn’t want. We already know Manafort was in the pay of Russia and intervened to get pro-Russian language into the Republican platform.

    What we don’t yet know is just how guilty they are. There is no longer any possible doubt that they are at least a little guilty.

  212. 212.

    Mnemosyne

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    I will never forget his declarations that Democrats criticize Ron Paul because we don’t want to admit we want to kill babies.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if GG was a secret pro-lifer. He wouldn’t be the first gay man to decide it was his business to decide what women get to do with their ladyparts (see also, Andrew Sullivan).

  213. 213.

    Morzer

    thedailybeast.com/pro-trump-canadians-throw-million-deplorable-march-rightwing-media-counts-5000-cop…

    Although it was dubbed the “Million Canadian Deplorables March,” both The Daily Caller and Breitbart claimed about 5,000 people showed up in Ottawa to protest Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and to show favor for Donald Trump, whom protest organizer Mike Waine called a “smart man.”
    …
    Ironically, Ottawa police now say there weren’t thousands, let alone 5,000 or a million, protesters at the March at all.
    “We average about two or three (demonstrations) a day. It would be like Washington D.C. for you guys,” said Ottawa Police Constable Marc Soucy. “This one would be on the small side for sure.”
    Soucy said that, while the Ottawa Police doesn’t officially provide crowd estimates, there were not 5,000 people at the rally’s “gathering point” in Ottawa’s Confederation Park.
    “There were less than 100 [at the park],” he said.
    A spokesperson for the Parliamentary Protection Services estimated to Canada’s iPolicy, who first reported on the discrepancy, that 300 to 400 people in total went to the rally in at the Canadian capital.

  214. 214.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Corner Stone: “Whom.” But since he adds nothing, and in some cases actively subtracts from the sum total of human knowledge, he does not need replacing.

  216. 216.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Mnemosyne: it’s very much part of the Paul family understanding of “libertarian”. See also, IIANM, Dave Weigel (who I think does a decent job but I think should be ID’d as having a slant like Greg Sargent is)

  219. 219.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    Greenwald said that, along with a fat dollop of condescending faux-compassion about how we wouldn’t want to admit that about ourselves, of course. This was his response to being told he should not spend so much time praising Ron Paul, because Ron Paul is a racist so virulent he publishes pamphlets describing blacks as animals.

  221. 221.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Baud: Ms. Winner is a hero in my book. Anyone who exposes this criminal regime deserves praise and adoration.

  222. 222.

    lamh36

    @Hadas_Gold 5m5 minutes ago
    More
    DOJ charges alleged media leaker under Espionage Act

  223. 223.

    TenguPhule

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Ms. Winner is a hero in my book. Anyone who exposes this criminal regime deserves praise and adoration.

    Only it appears she did so in the worst way possible. Compounded by Intercept releasing it in the worst way possible.

    So no heroes, just a lot of bad faith actors.

  225. 225.

    Quinerly

    Looks like Reality Winner is ex Air Force. I spent about 20 minutes on her FB page poking around. Daily Caller is reporting that she is a Bernie supporter and at some point called Trump “a piece of shit.”http://www.kingsvillerecord.com/news/winner-completes-basic-training/image_f8b7452e-ff57-54fc-aefd-b0643df13cc9.html?mode=jqm

  226. 226.

    TenguPhule

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Why would this regime arrest and charge Ms. Winner if the documents weren’t real?

    Because leaking is the real crime! Didn’t you listen to anything Trump said? Of course the leaks are fake, but the leakers are the real criminals for coming up with such bold lies about what’s not happening! Believe it!

    /Excuse me, I need a moment to let the nausea of emulating a Trump-supporter pass

  227. 227.

    Spanky

    @Patricia Kayden: Be careful who to whom you hitch your wagon to. It’s still early in the game.

    Edited to please the damned pedants around here, of which I am one.

  231. 231.

    TenguPhule

    @lamh36: Tim Farron is unfortunately a British wanker of the Lib Dem party. Which is the British equivalent of an unholy fusion of Bernie/Jill Stein with a dose of Libertarianism and Ron Paul’s hunger for power.

  232. 232.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @lamh36: Damn, it’s not the fringe, it’s not even Labour, it’s (as I understand it ) the dithering centrists!

    In a statement on Monday, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron called for British Prime Minister Theresa May to rescind Trump’s invitation to the country.
    “Trump is an embarrassment to America,” Farron said. “In the wake of the recent terrorist attack, two of which killed people on the streets of London, Donald Trump decides to use his time in the Oval Office to attack the Mayor of London on Twitter.”

  233. 233.

    chris

    Carter Page says his secret meetings w/ Russian officials didn't accomplish anything.So…he just confirmed that he had secret meetings.— Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) 5 June 2017

    Test. Also, that guy’s dumber than bean dip.

  234. 234.

    Mnemosyne

    @Spanky:

    True, that whole lionizing of Ed Snowden thing didn’t really work out well for anyone except Comrade Putin.

  235. 235.

    TenguPhule

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    it’s (as I understand it ) the dithering centrists!

    Er no, the Lib Dems are a non-entity ever since they banded with the Tories and proved to be the biggest sell outs in British political history. They were rightly punished by losing almost every seat they had during the last election.

  236. 236.

    Mike in DC

    If you don’t have Nance, then you’re stuck with McMullen and maybe the occasional appearance by Clint Watts. It seems like there’s a perceived need to have an intelligence community/counterintelligence expert on hand to comment as needed.

  241. 241.

    Morzer

    @TenguPhule:

    No, not even close. The Lib Dems are a fusion of the old Liberal party and a centre/center-right Labour faction that split off and formed their own party when the hard Left were leading Labour nowhere but down.

  243. 243.

    Corner Stone

    @Mike in DC: I like Clint Watts just fine for what he can speak to. If someone beyond dick pic John Schindler can tell me what is specifically wrong with Nance I will evaluate. Adam has said in the past that MN is a real deal. I am happy to take info from different perspectives and make my own decision. Give me something.

  244. 244.

    TenguPhule

    @Morzer:

    The Lib Dems are a fusion of the old Liberal party and a centre/center-right Labour faction that split off and formed their own party when the hard Left were leading Labour nowhere but down.

    I’m sure that’s why they went into Coalition with the Tories, enabled them to rape Britain’s college goer’s finances and then pretty much got kicked out of most of their seats in favor of genuine Tory bastards instead of their mealy substitutes. As it stands, their only real use now is tactical voting to deny Tory seats in areas Labor candidates have no chances in.

  247. 247.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Corner Stone: I have no idea what the beef that Schindler has with Nance. It may simply be the difference between former Navy officer and retired Navy senior NCO. Watts is very sharp.

    As to Jamali – he’s currently a junior officer in Navy Intel. His work for the FBI was as a civilian working under cover under FBI direction. He wasn’t an FBI agent or special agent. And that is often obscured when he’s introduced. Doesn’t discount what he did then, nor what he’s doing in his current US Navy Reserve intel career.

    The real problem is that too few of these folks have the backgrounds and/or experience to speak about both the tactical and the strategic implications of what they’re being asked about. Schindler does. Nichols does.

  248. 248.

    jl

    @Adam L Silverman: I always start by watching a deranged and frothing Fox News proclaimed expert who yells that we are all doomed. Then, I figure, whatever I hear elsewhere will be less depressing and will cheer up my mood a little.

  249. 249.

    Adam L Silverman

    @lamh36: Read this as: “our attorneys are reviewing the instructions we just got from Germany’s regulators about what happens to our business if we don’t comply to see what kind of wiggle room we have before Angela Merkel has our bank seized by the German government”.

  251. 251.

    TenguPhule

    @jl:

    Then, I figure, whatever I hear elsewhere will be less depressing and will cheer up my mood a little.

    You prefer being told in a calm and honest manner that we’re all doomed for different reasons based on facts in evidence and that there’s very little that can be done about it?

  252. 252.

    Corner Stone

    @Adam L Silverman: That’s fine. If they want to bring Tom Nichols or Schindler on air I would prefer being shot with a nail gun then listen to their presentation. They are assholes and enemies of a free and democratic society. They should both expect to be near the wall one day.

  254. 254.

    GregB

    It’s funny, I had seen the Intercept pimping for people to leak to them and I remember thinking, only sucker would leak to those assholes.

  256. 256.

    Morzer

    @TenguPhule:

    Please, stop embarrassing yourself. The Lib Dems have voted against the Tories more than Corbyn ever bothered to do.

  259. 259.

    TenguPhule

    @Morzer:

    The Lib Dems have voted against the Tories more than Corbyn ever bothered to do.

    Not when it would actually make a difference. That’s been a consistent failing of the Lib Dems: “Too little, Too late.” Hell, that should be their official motto.

  260. 260.

    GregB

    @Lurking Canadian:

    Do’t expect logic from these deluded fascists. They are the same people convinced some pizza joint without a basement was running an abuse mill from the non existent basement.

  266. 266.

    Partisancheese

    Haha, knew if I came over here, most comments would ignore the content of the report, and just go straight into some good old Greenwald bashing. With the added bonus of being able to rip on some young Berniecrat who leaked it.

    The right has George Soros, progressives have, Koch bros, you guys have, Glenn Greenwald, as your boogeyman. Cool. Never change, Balloon-Juice. Let the GG triggering commence.

  267. 267.

    TenguPhule

    @chris:

    True, but it’s not sentient.

    Are you sure? After too long in the fridge I understand it can look funny.

  268. 268.

    lamh36

    how do you know when a BJ thread has gotten too long…when the trolls roll in…

  269. 269.

    TenguPhule

    @Partisancheese:

    and just go straight into some good old Greenwald bashing.

    The same GG telling us all to ignore the contents of the report as Deep State agi-prop while also telling us that leaking is a very serious offense?

    You are Greenwald and I claim my five pounds.

  271. 271.

    Corner Stone

    @chris: This is fine. His book used open source intel. Anyone could take or leave what he put in there. You got something relevant to say?

  272. 272.

    Gin & Tonic

    @chris: Does not know the language and has no relevant operational experience, yet wrote a book about it.

    My first comment to anyone who presents him/herself as knowledgeable is “Привет, ты говоришь по русски?”

  273. 273.

    Lyrebird

    @Partisancheese:
    Speaking of ignoring the content…

    being able to rip on some young Berniecrat who leaked it.

    The comments I’ve read thus far do not resemble any part of that, other than maybe questioning whether she’d served herself well.

  274. 274.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Gin & Tonic: @chris: @Corner Stone: Nance is NBC’s/MSNBC’s senior natsec analyst. This means that he serves as the in house, non journalist (these would be Ken Dilanian and Richard Engel) specialist. It also means he gets to be on the air on these issues when he wants and he has a lot of say in who the show bookers bring on on these issues as well. I used to know his counterpart at CNN back in the mid 00s.

  277. 277.

    Mike in DC

    @Corner Stone:
    Schindler also tainted by association with Mensch. Who has “sources” who get basic constitutional/legal procedural details and intel community jargon wrong.

  278. 278.

    Morzer

    @TenguPhule:

    Ah, so we’ve gone back to the old dodge that says that Corbyn’s betrayals and lies were rooted in his awareness of … something …, whereas the Lib Dems actually voting against the Tories isn’t principled opposition at all, but… something…. I am always amazed by your apparent lack of knowledge on any of the topics you attempt to discuss. You don’t even understand that Corbyn is committed to keeping 9 billion pounds of Tory cuts to welfare, you don’t care that he’s enabling the Tories to achieve Brexit, and, apparently, you don’t know the difference between the Lib Dems and the Carswell/Hannan faction of the Tories.

  281. 281.

    Lyrebird

    @Corner Stone:
    (sorry this will look like yelling but it isn’t)
    OH GABARUT PO EBREUCKU U PO ARAbCKUU.

    ETA oh that’s especialy bad without a pi. Needs pi’s.

  288. 288.

    TenguPhule

    @Morzer:

    Ah, so we’ve gone back to the old dodge that says that Corbyn’s betrayals and lies were rooted in his awareness of … something …, whereas the Lib Dems actually voting against the Tories isn’t principled opposition at all, but… something

    Corbyn campaigned for remain. Every fucking idiot insists he didn’t. Or that he didn’t make a proper effort of it. He delivered Labor’s remain vote majority. His opponents didn’t deliver jack shit.

    Corbyn voted against the Tories and his own party on genuine issues that he’s been proven right on.

    The Lib Dems ran on a platform, signed a contract, then shit on and betrayed their own supporters.

    And if you can’t figure out that trying to deny a majority vote by “we’ll just ignore it” is a bad idea, that would explain your glorious defense of the Lib Dems.

  289. 289.

    Corner Stone

    @Gin & Tonic: You haven’t actually made a case for your slagging. I’m not sleeping with Nance. I’m not his agent. But do something better than what you have been doing.

  291. 291.

    Lyrebird

    @Gin & Tonic: Hi, I can’t add a link back to you using Edit. You’re the one with the highest chance of actually laughing based on my clumsy comment above… hope you enjoy.

    Not meant to take away from your beef.
    I can’t face the news w/o some dumb jokes to keep me going.

    What I wrote is true though!
    [more bad Cyrillish jibber jabber elided bc it wasn’t funny enough.]

  292. 292.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @jl:

    ” Balloon Juice needs a mission statement. ”

    I think that is a perfect mission statement.

  293. 293.

    rikyrah

    Georgetown middle school girl called an ape, slave by fellow students
    Posted: 12:00 a.m. Saturday, June 03, 2017

    A girl at Tippit Middle School in Georgetown told an African-American girl in May that she looked like an ape and also referred to her as a slave and pretended to whip her, according to a written report from the school.

    A male student also made a racial remark to the black student, the report said.

    The father of the 12-year-old student who was harassed, Robert Ranco, said last week the school didn’t appropriately discipline the girl or other students who were involved. None of the students were suspended, said Ranco, who is a civil rights lawyer in Round Rock.

    mystatesman.com/news/local/georgetown-middle-school-girl-called-ape-slave-fellow-students/r3OVdWpibg…

  296. 296.

    efgoldman

    @Corner Stone:

    Screw you, jackass!

    Must be nice to be omniscient and know everything there is to know about everything.

    All the while being a nasty jackass about it.

    When are you running for president; or starting your own blog?

  297. 297.

    rikyrah

    Matt McDermott‏Verified account @mattmfm

    It’s now Day 137 and Trump has still accomplished 0 of the 10 legislative measures he promised in the first 100 days of his Administration.

  298. 298.

    Adam L Silverman

    @efgoldman:

    When are you running for president; or starting your own blog?

    Should we really be encouraging these types of choices?

  299. 299.

    brendancalling

    @Anne Laurie: I’m named for Brendan Behan, and neither of my parents have a drop of Irish blood in them. They read “Borstal Boy” and sympathized with the fight for independence.

  300. 300.

    different-church-lady

    Must be nice to be omniscient and know everything there is to know about everything.

    It is, in fact.

    Oh, wait, you weren’t talking to me, were you?

  302. 302.

    efgoldman

    @rikyrah:

    Jared Kushner’s family needs $250 million to pay off Chinese investors — but US banks wary of lending

    Can the Chinese repossess Ivanka?

  304. 304.

    lamh36

    Crazy fucker just cant help himself

    @realDonaldTrump
    That’s right, we need a TRAVEL BAN for certain DANGEROUS countries, not some politically correct term that won’t help us protect our people!

    FYI, he tweeted this bout an 30min or so ago…smh

  305. 305.

    efgoldman

    @Corner Stone:

    You don’t like it? Go fuck yourself. Fuckface.

    Always courteous and considerate, that’s you. Apparently your health plan doesn’t cover counseling for anger management. Is this what you’re teaching your kid?

  311. 311.

    tobie

    I’m really late to this story so apologies in advance if what I write has already been addressed, but I still find myself wondering what Reality Winner’s motivation was in leaking just now and to The Intercept of all places. Do you think it has anything to do with NSA Chief Roger’s upcoming testimony this week? Maybe an effort to embarrass him in advance? Obviously none of us know her or can read her mind but I am curious what others think. Maybe she leaked to The Intercept not in spite of its hostility to the Trump-Russia story but because of it. Maybe she believed this would put the collusion stories to rest. Or maybe she was just foolish. I dunno. This is sheer speculation on my part. I’m just mystified why she thought Greenwald’s site would be the appropriate vehicle for this information.

  315. 315.

    misterpuff

    LO’D trolling the hell out of Drumpf….Who can he trust? No one.
    Keeps mentioning a Pence presidency…..

    Guess if LO’Ds going out, he might as well go out Bigly.

  317. 317.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @lamh36: I’ll believe it, if someone could walk me through how Ivanka could make Sessions look bad.
    “Daddy, Jared only said you should fire Mr Comey cause Mr Sessions said you should. He’s a lawyer! he should have known better than to tell Jared something bad! Do you want me to dance in front of the lava lamp some more?

  319. 319.

    jl

    @lamh36: Lordy. The guy is completely out of control.
    Edit: only silver lining is that he is sabotaging one his own bad ideas. I guess this outburst is an attempt to salvage something from his string of variously offensive, dishonest, and idiotic tweets since the London attacks.

    I guess ‘certain DANGEROUS countries’ means those countries that have never been the source of an terrorist attack on the US and that don’t contain a Trump business to protect.

    Seems to me that the ‘no rational basis’ argument should be more prominent in the case against the Trump Muslim ban (BAN! his words, not mine!)

    Josh Marshall has been discussing the problem that the US has a head of state and executive officer in one office that is, I think in Jefferson’s words, ‘a bad edition of Polish king’. This is his latest installment.

    The Madness of King Trump
    TPM
    talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-madness-of-king-trump

  320. 320.

    Adam L Silverman

    @lamh36: @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Remember: It can never be the President’s fault. He has to have someone to blame. And he doesn’t like people who do things he thinks are weak. He made it clear when it happened that he thought there was no need for Sessions’ recusal and that it was a bad idea. He also carries grudges and stews in his displeasure. As things get worse the pressure on Sessions will increase. Because the President’s own internal emotional pressure over what Sessions has or has not done will increase.

  323. 323.

    lamh36

    @Adam L Silverman: I don’t buy it…reporting or no…I don’t buy anything coming out of this White House, even news as potentially titillating as this…
    nope

    I think Sarah is right here:
    @sarahkendzior 22m22 minutes ago
    More
    Sarah Kendzior Retweeted Jesse Berney
    Wait for more sources on this story. NYT telling bullshit palace intrigue tales for months. Remember Bannon, Gorka on outs? Please. ?

    @sarahkendzior
    Sarah Kendzior Retweeted Sarah Kendzior
    “Palace intrigue” tales give illusion of internal dissent instead of autocratic consolidation…

    sarahkendzior
    At this point, it’s beneficial for Trump and Sessions to appear as if feuding since both signed off on Comey fire, are implicated w/Russia

  324. 324.

    Gravenstone

    @lamh36: Oh I can believe it. He probably wonders why Sessions hasn’t made the whole Russia mess go away. What good is a bought and paid for AG if he can’t hide your misdeeds?

  326. 326.

    ByRookorbyCrook

    Remember: It can never be the President’s fault. He has to have someone to blame. And he doesn’t like people who do things he thinks are weak. He made it clear when it happened that he thought there was no need for Sessions’ recusal and that it was a bad idea. He also carries grudges and stews in his displeasure. As things get worse the pressure on Sessions will increase. Because the President’s own internal emotional pressure over what Sessions has or has not done will increase.

    He put Sessions in as AG too defend him from this. What is the point of having a toady who won’t toady?

  327. 327.

    jl

    @lamh36: I agree that it would a mistake to make any plans based on reported WH feuds. Everything runs on Trump’s moods and what he saw on Fox News last time he looked. Even if there is some momentary truth to a report, Trump’s mood could change in a moment. Surely his attention will shift and whatever he was obsessing about will be lost in some mental chaos, to be retrieved randomly some time in the future, or not.

    Edit: but I think she is worrying too much, from what I saw in her twitter feed. No one is going to like Sessions because Trump doesn’t, even if Trump really is pissed at him, even if Trump dumps him. Easier to bring that crook to justice for perjury, and for other crimes if he did dirt with the Russians.

  329. 329.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Erica WernerVerified account @ ericawerner
    WH planning to move infrastructure via reconciliation, per Marc Short.
    Pretty much abandoning any last hope for bipartisan legislating.

    I’m no parliamentarian, but as I understand it the clock runs out on legislatin’ in mid-August when Congress goes on a six-week break, because any reconciliation bill has to be passed by both houses by October 1. I supposed they could suspend the Byrd Rule, cancel the recess or just kill the filibuster, but I don’t know if Paul Ryan wants to/can pass a big spending bill

  330. 330.

    GregB

    @lamh36:

    I don’t put much stock in the stories with a Haberman byline.

    I agree with Kendzior, these insider palace intrigue stories are used by the administration to set agendas and talking points.

    The one behind the scenes story I do believe is that this cabal of amoral grifters gets jollies from lying and seeing their lies in print.

    Eff Trump, Kushner, Bloated Bannon, Confederate elf Sessions and anyone else bleeding this nation of moral standing and material wealth at their behest.

  331. 331.

    jl

    @Adam L Silverman: Thanks. A brave new kind of presidency is upon us. I’ll read it carefully later this evening when I have more time.

    But, anyone know why ‘no rational basis’ argument is not all that is needed to sink Trump’s Muslim ban? The ban makes no sense, for reasons I referred to in my comment above. Why not simply argue that it just makes no kind of rational sense at all, and make that the main argument. Then, can make the religious test and over reaching (where it trespasses on Congressional lawmaking) arguments.

  332. 332.

    lamh36

    I do agree with joy about this

    @JoyAnnReid
    Jefferson Sessions took the job to gut civil rights and nonwhite immigration. Trump hired him to kill #Russiagate.

  333. 333.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yep. Also, there’s no way infrastructure legislation of any form is going to pass the Byrd Rule.

    Ryan can’t. Here is what is going to happen. They’re coming back from Memorial Day recess. They’ve got hearings and will do not much between now and August when they go on their Summer vacation. When they come back in OCT they’ll immediately move into full panic mode about raising the debt ceiling and doing another omnibus CR to keep the government open. Most likely you’ll see a temp measure that kicks both those cans down the road a month to six weeks because they can’t actually get it done. Then they’ll come back and realize they can’t default on the debt and shut the government down right before Christmas going into an election year, so they’ll pass an omnibus CR and a debt ceiling increase. Then go on Christmas and New Year vacation. When they come back they’ll be fully into campaigning for reelection and nothing much at all will get done in 2018.

  334. 334.

    Lyrebird

    @Adam L Silverman: TL;but did read enough to enjoy this thing of beauty:

    And Judge Stephanie Thacker’s concurrence states, “Our constitutional system creates a strong presumption of legitimacy for presidential action; however, this deference does not require us to cover our eyes and ears and stand mute simply because a president incants the words ‘national security.’”

  335. 335.

    Adam L Silverman

    @jl: I am not a lawyer. So I have no idea. As a natsec professional it is just stupid and demonstrates a marked failure to have even the foggiest notion of how security processes for immigration/entering the country happen or the strategic communication misstep that doing this creates.

  336. 336.

    efgoldman

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Then go on Christmas and New Year vacation. When they come back they’ll be fully into campaigning for reelection and nothing much at all will get done in 2018.

    Yeah, your dates might not be exact, but I think your general prediction is right.
    It’s as true as it was last month, last year, the year before that…. There’s not a single person in the house majority. including “the speaker”, who has written and passed legislation.
    Naming post offices and passing fantasy bills that can’t pass the senate or will surely be vetoed doesn’t count.

  337. 337.

    Another Scott

    @Lyrebird: Agreed. That should be made into a gross of bronze plaques and posted in every office in the White House.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  338. 338.

    BruceFromOhio

    “Releasing classified material without authorization threatens our nation’s security and undermines public faith in government,” Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein said in a statement.

    Yeah, um, about those submarines in the South Pacific, do they count as ‘classified’?

    Asking for a friend.

  339. 339.

    Another Scott

    @Adam L Silverman: FT:

    JUNE 1, 2017 By: Alexandra Scaggs

    The federal government’s tax collections haven’t been growing much recently. That could be a warning about the health of the American consumer and, by extension, corporate earnings.

    It also has some implications for the Treasury’s upcoming collision with the debt ceiling.

    Until recently, analysts were forecasting a hard deadline of October. But White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said last week that tax receipts have risen less than expected this year, and warned the ceiling would therefore be breached in August without any policy changes.

    […]

    Whoops.

    (sigh)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  340. 340.

    Anne Laurie

    @mdblanche:

    Christ, what an imagination I’ve got!

    Ten thousand points to you, good sir or madam!

    (How’d I miss the Brunner reference, dammit… )

  343. 343.

    Jeffro

    @Adam L Silverman: Fascinating! I’m slow but even I picked up on the gist here:

    To put it another way, the cases are an expression of the “presumption of regularity,” the idea that we can usually trust public officials to do their duty. And as the Trump administration is discovering, that presumption of regularity is only a presumption, which courts can waive in extraordinary circumstances.

    Wow. Not that it will register with him, but hey Trumpov, how do you feel about going down in history as the psycho who had courts waive presumption of regularity due to your daddy issues (and related tweets)?

  344. 344.

    jeannedalbret

    @tobie:

    I admit to occasional political paranoia, but I share your skepticism…she was hired in Feb of this year. Awfully quick to contact Intercept by March 30th. Why Intercept? Why Intercept decide to release report 8 weeks later, just before Rogers and Comey report to Congress?

  345. 345.

    Gian

    @Corner Stone: living near LA, the local news frequently preempts everything to do helicopter live coverage of car chases.

    (not that anyone will read this)
    but seriously vote security has been the red headed step child of some liberal activists since the post 2000 election switch to e-voting.

  346. 346.

    Caravelle

    On reflection i think “Reality” is a beautiful name. Euphonious, and a pretty cool meaning for those so inclined. Like the modern woman’s version of names like “Charity”.

    I’ve been on a weird journey lately, I always wanted to give my children unique names, I couldn’t see the point of sharing your name with other kids in the classroom. But in the last few years I’ve been being surprised by the names my friends find for their own kids (they’re not unique/invented names, just… unusual to me) and now I’m thinking of doing something like calling my kids “Anna” after some female relatives.

    For all I know they would be the only ones in their classroom with their name at this rate. (they’d find themselves everywhere in fiction and history however).

  347. 347.

    TenguPhule

    @Adam L Silverman:

    When they come back in OCT they’ll immediately move into full panic mode about raising the debt ceiling and doing another omnibus CR to keep the government open.

    Sorry Adam, you forgot they forgot to account for not having enough money several months too early.

    Debt ceiling needs to be raised by July 31, or WAAF.

  348. 348.

    Jack the Second

    Is Reality really any worse than Pearl, Daisy, Ruby, Chastity, Constance, Virginia, or Christian?

    Most people’s names are or started out as words. Most of us are just too dumb to know what they mean. Is Reality really that bad a choice?

  349. 349.

    Sunny

    At last, we have confirmation that the Russians were hacking into what James Clapper, Sally Yates, and James Comey have all referred to as “U.S. voting infrastructure” in their various congressional testimonies to date.

    This is big news. It verifies the Russian attack was more than stolen emails, and propaganda bots. I have long believed that the actual G.O.T.V. (Get out the Vote) efforts of the not only the Clinton campaign but also Dems at both the Senate and House level were directly attacked.

    Things just did not add up regarding voter lists during the big G.O.T.V. push after the Democratic convention. Anyone who volunteered for a campaign and was cutting turf sheets for door knocking and call banking will tell you — something was askew. And as we all know, the pre-election polls, as well as exit polls, did not align with the outcome.

    I have a feeling that in time this piece of information will be regarded as that one piece of the puzzle to set off a cascade of alignment. And Ms. Reality Leigh Winner just might go down in history as the next Deep Throat.

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