Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

The lights are all blinking red.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

You cannot love your country only when you win.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

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

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

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

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Russiagate Open Thread: Trump’s New Trial Balloon

Russiagate Open Thread: Trump’s New Trial Balloon

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Well, it should improve ratings for the Attorney-General tomorrow…


.

Dude really thinks this is some kind of spinoff reality show, doesn’t he?

Concur with a Canadian observer:

Reader Interactions

159Comments

  1. 1.

    Suzanne

    The main reason I’ve concluded there is some substance to the Russia story is I’ve never seen anyone act as guilty as Trump is acting.

    QFT.
    If you’ve got nothing to fear, then you have nothing to hide, Dampnut.

  2. 2.

    Lahke

    Well, I’ve got nothing to hide, and I would resent folks rooting in my business. Of course, I didn’t run for president.

  3. 3.

    BBA

    In response, Trump will have Sessions indict Hillary for killing Vince Foster. (I’d say BENGHAZI or TEH EMAILS but the statute of limitations for most federal crimes is 5 years and I don’t think any of those allegations date to after June of 2012. But there’s no statute of limitations for murder.)

  4. 4.

    Lavocat

    Oh, please, I beg you, DO THIS!

    There will be rioting across the nation and 24/7 protesting.

    And then Trump will try to push through all sorts of draconian suspensions of civil rights.

    Bring. It. On.

    Let’s rid ourselves of the pretense that we are still living in a democracy once and for all.

  5. 5.

    Mary G

    I’ve got a giant video ad right in the middle of this post: Leaked video will ruin Obama, watch his guilty face at 0:33.” So much wrong, Sad!

    I think he will fire Mueller and try to brazen it out until they get the h/c bill through. If so, we must kick the #resistance up to 11.

  8. 8.

    Adam L Silverman

    You missed one!

    Ruh Roh!!!!!!!

  9. 9.

    Aleta

    Discredit the investigation so supporters will doubt the results. Give TV heads a topic that’s more exciting than health care. Deflate the coverage about Sessions that was planned for tonight.

  10. 10.

    Chet Murthy

    To continue from the last thread: It isn’t merely that the Rs would be committing to an out-and-out hard coup (by allowing Dampnut to fire Mueller w/out immediately moving to reinstate), but they would also be telling our allies that indeed,we’ve been compromised, and they need to make their own arrangements. I *must* believe that just as (per Adam) the IC has been “taking shots for range”, so have our allies’ ICs. The leaks all claim that all our allies (even the Baltics ffs, though they sure have a lot at stake!) have damning intel, and I’d expect that the minute it looks like the US is taken over by an enemy, all our allies will start figuring out how to put a hurt on us. And I’m sure they’ve made that clear to everybody in power here in the good ol’ US of A.

    It seems difficult-to-believe that the Rs would go that far. W & Darth Cheney appear to be taking it lightly on foreign travel, and they only started a mad, illegal war killing brown people (like me, but still). Imagine what would await any R who participated in a coup.

    I guess what I’m saying is: yeah, it’s not great. But the danger to democracy isn’t the short-term actions — it’s the longer-term ones.

  13. 13.

    Major Major Major Major

    I refuse to believe any of this is to give cover for anything. Trump isn’t capable of thinking that far in advance, and even if they did manage to ‘plan’ something, I don’t think they could coordinate their way out of a locked room if one of them had the key.

  14. 14.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Chet Murthy:

    and I’d expect that the minute it looks like the US is taken over by an enemy, all our allies will start figuring out how to put a hurt on us. And I’m sure they’ve made that clear to everybody in power here in the good ol’ US of A.

    Yes, but (emphasis mine):
    http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/06/12/how-russia-targets-the-us-military-215247

    In May and June of 2015, Kellermann, who was then the chief cybersecurity officer at Trend Micro, said the firm warned the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that Kremlin hackers had drawn up a list of 2,300 people comprising the most powerful leaders in Washington and New York along with their spouses and lovers to target with a concerted hacking campaign. Kellerman said he does not know whether the government acted on the tip, which warned that the hackers had the ability to turn on microphones and cameras on the personal devices of their targets to obtain sensitive information about their personal lives. But he believes the campaign has successfully compromised American leaders, emboldening the Kremlin. “When you wonder why certain people act certain ways,” he said, “You have to remember these people have been warned that their dirty laundry could be aired.” (Spokespeople for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the FBI declined to comment.)

  17. 17.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Bradd Jaffy‏Verified account @ BraddJaffy 3h3 hours ago
    Last week, @ KamalaHarris was pressing Rosenstein over concern about his ability to fire Mueller when she got cut off

    and scolded by the man whose wife has apparently been aggressively courted to accept a title I mean a State Dept position

    After months of being offered—and rejecting—several potential posts in the Trump administration, Cindy McCain and the president came to the agreement of a Washington, D.C.-based ambassador-at-large position, which would focus on anti human trafficking efforts, refugees, and humanitarian-aid matters. The title being kicked around internally is “U.S. ambassador-at-large for human rights,” though that title is subject to change, and it is unclear if a new office within the State Department would be created for her.
    “[Trump personally], aggressively courted her for this,” one White House official told The Daily Beast. “It’s a done deal now… The president had floated several positions before—this is the one that stuck.”

    She’s doing this purely for ego. A hundred-plus million and being the wife of a beltway sacred cow aren’t enough. She wants to be introduced as “Ambassador McCain”, or maybe “Ambassador Hensley-McCain”, like those fancy Brits on PBS! But I suspect that would go over like a fart in church with her rage-o-colic husband.

  18. 18.

    amk

    Note to media: please stop saying you "can't imagine" Trump would actually fire the special prosecutor. Of course you can imagine it.— Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) June 13, 2017

  19. 19.

    Chet Murthy

    @Adam L Silverman: Adam, here’s the thing: it doesn’t really matter if these Rs are between Scylla and Charybdis, does it? If their travel options are “stay in Putin’s USA, or fly to Russia/China/Syria/Iran”, that’s not really so … appetizing, is it? And then there’s the hit from Europe accelerating moving off the dollar (and I’m sure they would — can you imagine us letting the USSR run the world financial system?) and who-knows-what-else.

    Being the metropole comes with duties, too, is what I’m saying. And when the moment comes, and the Rs stare off the edge of that precipice, I gotta believe they’ll balk. Not b/c they’re decent. But b/c they know that once they go, they’re persona non grata in every decent place on the planet. Hell, even Canada is already starting to talk about a foreign/defense policy independent of the USA.

    I *can* believe that the Dems will be forced to do a deal with the Rs — something to wipe out all crimes before a certain date. And that’ll suck. But I can’t believe that the Rs will just go with a hard coup.

  24. 24.

    MJS

    @Aleta: Trump supporters were always going to doubt the results. Firing Mueller will enrage the opposition and make fools of elected Republicans who continue to support him. When you’re throwing your lot in with has-beens like Gingrich and Coulter, you’ve lost. You just don’t know it yet.

  25. 25.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Cheryl Rofer: just makes one wonder if, in his long career as a Republican campaign pro/flack, Rick Wilson has ever met any Republicans currently holding office

  26. 26.

    Fair Economist

    @Suzanne: Jeet Heer and you are being far too charitable to Trump. There’s no reason to fire Mueller unless Trump is guilty of something VERY serious. My guess is the #1 crime is not collaborating with the Russians on the election (which is already very bad) but giving the Russians the names of all our agents (remember how several Russian government officials got hauled off for kangaroo trials right after the inauguration?)

  30. 30.

    chopper

    firing mueller would be a balls stupid thing to do, which is why I think there’s at least a 50% chance the schmuck’ll do it.

  31. 31.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Chet Murthy: This assumes the GOP members of Congress are critical and strategic thinkers. As opposed to reactive tactical actors.

  32. 32.

    jl

    I was downtown looking at CNN broadcast in an eatery, and heard some one say that higher percentage of population wants Trump impeached than support him. So, I looked it up, and….

    Poll: 47 percent back impeachment for Trump
    http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/337476-poll-47-percent-of-voters-support-trumps-impeachment

    Lavocat above might be correct. Imagine what that number will be if Trump fires, or even makes a serious attempt to fire, Mueller.
    Unlike Lavocat, I’d prefer Trump not try.

    Edit: from numbers in article, I figure we have a new metric for polarization. About 40 percent support Trump and don’t want him impeached. About 55 percent or slightly more don’t support him and vast majority of them want him impeached.

  34. 34.

    Walker

    I have read somewhere that Mueller could refuse to step down if he felt the grounds for cause were not sufficient. How would that be resolved? Would it go to SCOTUS?

  37. 37.

    Cheryl Rofer

    @Chet Murthy: You present an interesting what if. I doubt that it is the case that Trump has been compromised to the degree that he is a Russian agent, but it’s worth gaming out your hypothesis.

    As you say, if it looks like the US government has been compromised in a major way, our allies will have to start thinking out their own ways through this. But some of that, as in the Civil War, will include allying with internal US factions that are favorable. I would not be surprised if very exploratory conversations along these lines had taken place already, just as parts of normal meetings in which what-if’s are proposed. Or perhaps just winks and nods at this point. There are Americans in various governmental organizations in Europe, for example NATO and the various embassies. Or perhaps NGOs and contractors, multinational organizations.

    It could get fairly complicated.

  38. 38.

    Chet Murthy

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’m hoping that with Wilson (and with Jennifer Rubin, Max Boot), it’s a matter of “scales fall from eyes”. But hey, maybe they’ll go back to being execrable, assuming we keep our Republic.

  42. 42.

    Corner Stone

    @Chet Murthy: Stop wallowing! We haven’t flown the RUS flag over the capitol yet! Don’t get down until you can wallow in despair and bad things!

  43. 43.

    Sab

    @Walker: She is very young, and apparently misspent her youth learning really difficult languages, instead of watching cable news.

  44. 44.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Waratah: No. He’s also already signaled that Executive Privilege will be invoked for questions pertaining to the Comey firing. This is interesting given that the President has discussed in interviews and tweeted about it at length. My guess is the Democratic members of the committee and Senator King will hammer him on it while the committee Republicans will just brush it off. It will also be interesting to see if Senators McCain and Reed, who were there on a courtesy as they are not members of the committee, will be attending and participating tomorrow.

  47. 47.

    Chet Murthy

    @Adam L Silverman: [I just wanna say, again, that I think the real danger is the destruction of democracy in coming elections, and I think that that danger is still really great.]

    I tend to believe that McConnell is indeed a brilliant strategist. B/c shit, he kept PBHO and a Dem majority at bay for eight fricken’ years. I believe that he’s going to go for the long con, and not some short-con that might blow up in his face. I -can- believe that his price for pulling the plug on this travesty, is a “get out of jail free” card for every R in government.

  49. 49.

    Chet Murthy

    @Corner Stone: CS, quite the opposite, I’m arguing that we should NOT wallow. That we should have some faith in our democracy, in our citizenry, and our *ALLIES*. At least, as regards the short-con in which we are currently enmeshed.

    ETA: In short, I agree with you from #297 of immediately prior thread.

  51. 51.

    GregB

    @lamh36:

    Her first mistake was giving a fuck about what GG thinks.

    The second bigger mistake was trusting anyone at TI.

  53. 53.

    mapaghimagsik

    @Lavocat: You seem to be forgetting all the innocents caught in the crossfire. As much as I think it might come to this, I’d much prefer it didn’t — and I’m in a nice, reasonably safe, blue state.

  56. 56.

    Chet Murthy

    @Mnemosyne: Completely willing to believe it. Heck, let’s stipulate it. We’ll find it out, when the terms of the “deal” to end this farce, include “all Rs get out of jail free”. At that point, *all* they’ll have to deal with is the reputational damage. And I think they’ll find a way, oh, I think they will.

    @Cheryl Rofer: Yep, it sure could get complicated. I’m counting on our allies (and large corps) making that crystal-clear to the Rs. Just how deep the quicksand goes.

  57. 57.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Waratah: He doesn’t seem particularly smart. If he was he wouldn’t have lied under oath during his confirmation hearing without even being prompted to need to by a specific question. The lie he told to Senator Franken had absolutely nothing to do with Senator Franken’s actual question. Also, I have no idea what he was thinking when he also lied on his SF 86. It says, in bold face type, right before the space to sign the thing, that signing it acknowledges true information to the best of one’s recollection under penalty of perjury and cites the appropriate statute.

  59. 59.

    randy khan

    @Waratah:

    So long as he hasn’t been given immunity, no, it doesn’t, and I can’t imagine a sitting Attorney General would be granted immunity. The reason that North got off was that he was granted immunity, and it was essentially impossible to prove that the information used to charge him didn’t come from his immunized testimony.

  60. 60.

    Chet Murthy

    @Corner Stone:

    What’s the cutoff?

    Eh? Sorry, don’t understand. If this is from the lingo of grifters, I’ll confess that the bit I know of it, is from watching _The Sting_ and _Grifters_. And probably forgot most of the arcane bits.

    If you mean ‘when does the short con turn into the long con”, I personally believe that the voter suppression and election tampering we have in store for us, is the real danger to our democracy. And I have *no* idea how to fix that. B/c it happens at the level of states. Absent a massive wave, how does one reverse what’s happening in NC, for instance. What Walker did in WI? Or what’s happening in TX?

  61. 61.

    efgoldman

    @Mary G:

    I think he will fire Mueller and try to brazen it out until they get the h/c bill through.

    Every time somebody says anything like this (and not just about firing Mueller) the first thing that goes thru my mind is: “Even HE isn’t that fucking stupid. And even if he is, his family, lawyers and close advisors won’t allow it.”
    And then, of course, he proves that he is EXACTLY THAT FUCKING STUPID!!
    So who the fuck knows what comes next.
    Saturday Night Massacre made it worse for Tricksie in the end, and made heroes out of Ruckleshaus and Richardson, but it ain’t the 1970s anymore.

  63. 63.

    efgoldman

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Senate Intel Cmte convening closed-door meeting with NSA Director Mike Rogers

    Rogers is a partisan tool. He has no more business being in charge of the NSA than I do.

  64. 64.

    Adam L Silverman

    @efgoldman: Do you have a fancy double breasted navy blue blazer with a lot of gold piping on the cuff? If not, then he does have more business being in charge of the NSA than you do.

  67. 67.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    @lamh36: poor dummy, she didn’t realize Griftwald is russian agent.

    An agent of influence is an agent of some stature who uses his or her position to influence public opinion or decision making to produce results beneficial to the country whose intelligence service operates the agent.[1] Agents of influence are often the most difficult agents to detect, as there is seldom material evidence that connects them with a foreign power,[2] but they can be among the most effective means of influencing foreign opinion and actions as they hold considerable credibility among the target audience.[3] Most commonly they serve the interests of a foreign power in one of three ways: either as a controlled agent directly recruited and controlled by a foreign power; as a “trusted contact” that consciously collaborates to advance foreign interests but are not directly recruited or controlled by a foreign power; or as a “useful idiot” that is completely unaware of how their actions further the interests of a foreign power.[4]

    Sad!

  69. 69.

    SFBayAreaGal

    Fireworks exploding, neighbors next door yelling with excitement, and neighborhood dogs barking, and car alarms going off. Hmmm must be Warriors won!!!!

  70. 70.

    Suzanne

    @GregB: It’s awful that she’s going to pay such a high price and the douchebags at The Intercept just go on as if nothing happened.

  71. 71.

    danielx

    @Adam L Silverman:

    It says, in bold face type, right before the space to sign the thing, that signing it acknowledges true information to the best of one’s recollection under penalty of perjury and cites the appropriate statute.

    Truth, but when is the last time a Republican office holder worried about being charged with perjury? Scooter Libby was a one-off.

  72. 72.

    gene108

    Drezner’s wrong. Congressional Republicans are slow walking the Russia investigation and ignoring the bazillion other conflicts of interest Trump has.

    The only thing that can get Trump is a Special Prosecutor, who has the ability to connect the dots. The intelligence community will look at parts of the Russian interference, but I doubt they could put something together that would be able to link Trump or his inner circle on collusion with the Russians. They have much more limited authority than a Special Prosecutor.

    Kill the FBI and Special Prosecutor investigations, and hope Republicans hold both houses of Congress in 2018 and you are home free for the rest of your first (and hopefully only) term.

  73. 73.

    MomSense

    @Mnemosyne:

    Exactly. I think his PAC has been taking Russian funds which also means he’s been spreading that money to his Republican colleagues.

  74. 74.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    I don’t know how everybody else feels about this shit, but I just want Czar Manbaby to fire Mueller and get it over with. We all know it’s coming. We all know where this is leading. And we all know that he could shoot a baby on Fifth Avenue and eat its heart live on television and his base of 25-30% of authoritarian yahoos wouldn’t go anywhere. But this might shake loose everybody else, and that’s what we need to freak Republicans out enough to do something about this clown. This can’t go on much longer. It just can’t. The sooner this happens, and sets off the Constitutional crisis, as they like to say in the newz biz, the better.

  75. 75.

    GregB

    @Suzanne:

    I can’t imagine folks are knocking on the doors at Intercept to spill any beans now.

    They’ll be reduced to writing about celebrity recipes before long.

  77. 77.

    TriassicSands

    …I’ve never seen anyone act as guilty as Trump is acting.

    Oh, yeah, well you never saw my brother.

    Seriously, is Trump acting guilty or is it just that his rich-white-man entitlement tells him no one has the right to investigate the Emperor or his henchmen?

    I actually think it could easily be the entitlement. Trump’s an idiot who clearly thinks he’s above the law. The Republicans are doing everything they can to put him above the law and keep him there. It is a lower point in our history than Watergate. In that scandal we had Nixon and his associates, not one entire political party, thumbing their noses at the law and Constitution. In that sense, whether there is any underlying crime or not, this is, in my opinion, worse than Watergate. And much less likely to end with the president leaving office.

  78. 78.

    efgoldman

    @Adam L Silverman:

    It will also be interesting to see if Senators McCain and Reed, who were there on a courtesy as they are not members of the committee, will be attending and participating tomorrow.

    Jack is one of mine, and a good one. I expect he’ll be there.

  79. 79.

    sukabi

    @Waratah: would the perjury that Sessions will throw down tomorrow come under Mueller’s purview …who’s going to check the evil elf for honesty after his questioning?

  81. 81.

    ArchTeryx

    @efgoldman: That tweetstorm wouldn’t be smoking any harder if he’d used the term ‘cuckservative’ instead of ‘clickservative’. That’s a 152mm howitzer blast right there.

    Too bad it won’t change anything. *sigh*

  82. 82.

    efgoldman

    @InternetDragons:

    wanted to take a moment and recognize that civil rights leader Medgar Evers was assassinated 54 years ago tonight:

    Oh my. It was that long ago, wasn’t it. I used to think that he, and Goodman, Cheney and Schwermer, Viola Liuzzo, MLK and all the forgotten names who were murdered in that period didn’t die in vain. Now I’m not so sure, and I find that very depressing.

  83. 83.

    jl

    @TriassicSands: rich-white-man entitlement would not have lasted so long if they were all as damaged and stupid as Trump. Though, of course, stupid and malicious (and guilty) are not mutually exclusive.

  85. 85.

    efgoldman

    @Adam L Silverman:

    right before the space to sign the thing, that signing it acknowledges true information to the best of one’s recollection under penalty of perjury and cites the appropriate statute.

    He’s a lawyer and the Attorney General, for chrissakes, and a bone-deep racist RWNJ asshole. Why the fuck should HE have to pay any attention to what it says on a fucking form? Isn’t that why his Lord and Master was “elected”?

    ETA: Could be worse. He could have successfully been confirmed for that judgeship lifetime appointment in the 80s.

  86. 86.

    TriassicSands

    @Lavocat:

    My sense is that the vast majority of Americans will be willing to tell a pollster they think what Trump did was wrong, but that will be the extent of their involvement in “protest.”

    Trump’s constant assault on the norms of a free and open society and democratic government are exhausting. Americans, in general, have a short attention span and most would probably prefer to just ignore Trump in the hope he will go away.

    We’ve gotten to the point here in the US where a takeover like that of Germany in the thirties is entirely possible. Trump has an advantage — he has an entire major political party covering his ass and enabling him every step of the way. There are plenty of people in this country who would fall in line and be good Ger…, uh, i mean good Amurkins. The deciding factor will be is there any line in sand for Republicans beyond which they won’t support Trump? I’m squinting and I can’t see one…though it could be out there somewhere.

  87. 87.

    Thaedu

    512 days till November 6, 2018

    The news stories, polls, scandals, the 47% percent that backs impeachment of Trump – all mean nothing.

    The GOP is in it for sheer power. Power does as power wants. Power justifies itself. Since when does the wolf listen to the sheep? It’s Nietzsche all the way.

    The only thing – THE ONLY THING – that counts is the number of votes for Democrats on Nov 6 2018. Get more Democrats registered to vote. Get them Voter IDs. Get them to vote.

    Nothing else matters.

  88. 88.

    efgoldman

    @Oldgold:

    I am sure Kush could handle the investigation.

    I’m honestly not sure that Kushkie (like his father in law) can feed and dress himself.

  89. 89.

    Mike in DC

    The “get out of jail free” card should be contingent upon public confession of all their legal sins.

  90. 90.

    burnspbesq

    @Lavocat:

    Let’s rid ourselves of the pretense that we are still living in a democracy once and for all.

    And then what, ye fookin’ lunatic?

  91. 91.

    efgoldman

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Do you have a fancy double breasted navy blue blazer with a lot of gold piping on the cuff?

    No gold piping, no. And the thing is now so big on me it would go around twice. But hey, I can get a Captain of the Pinafore suit from Siubhan Duinne.
    I’m sorry, I don’t care what uniform they’re wearing. Anybody who joined/joins this maladministration has debased themselves and sold out. I mean, Kelly had all that braid, too; so did Flynn, and he’s likely going in the sneezer.

  93. 93.

    ArchTeryx

    @burnspbesq: Then shit gets real. How real, well, we had a civil war over a question like that some time ago, and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that it’ll happen again.

  94. 94.

    burnspbesq

    @jl:

    Poll: 47 percent back impeachment for Trump

    So? Only two people’s views on impeachment matter: Ryan and McConnell. From where I sit, that looks like an ironclad guarantee that impeachment will never happen.

  96. 96.

    TriassicSands

    @jl:

    The key here is Trump’s stupidity. It makes it really hard to decide what is going on.
    Of course, you’re right, he could easily be both entitled and guilty.

    I just did my daily check and Trump’s disapproval is up to 59% (Gallup Daily), while his approval is down two points to 36%. That is his second lowest number since the inauguration. He was at 35% on 3/28. Fifty-nine percent is tied for the highest disapproval of his entire administration. That was also on 3/28. (He was also at 36% on 6/3.)

    C’mon, people. Let’s get in the twenties and sixties or seventies.

    I desperately want the American people to surprise me by openly opposing what is going on. If Trump does fire Mueller, it would renew my feelings for the people of this country if they showed some spine and openly went to the streets in massive numbers. Hope springs eternal.

  97. 97.

    Adam L Silverman

    @joel hanes: Ornstein and Mann are, despite where they work, especially the former, non-partisan. I’ve known Norm for a while now. Really good guy.

  98. 98.

    Davebo

    My first reaction is “JUMP MOTHER FUCKER!!” but then I realize this isn’t a trial balloon but just a weak attempt at trolling. And even if he did want to fire the guy surely someone on his staff would slap him right? I mean, this goes beyond idiotic tweets.

    But assuming Don decided Mueller had to go how would the mechanics work? Sessions recused himself from the investigation and even he wouldn’t pull the trigger would he? That leaves Rosenstein and from what I’ve read of him I doubt he’d do it.

    So who is the next Robert Bork?

  99. 99.

    danielx

    @gene108:

    Kill the FBI and Special Prosecutor investigations, and hope Republicans hold both houses of Congress in 2018 and you are home free for the rest of your first (and hopefully only) term.

    Which is probably Trump’s strategy, insofar as a guy with an attention span of about thirty seconds can have a strategy.

    It amazes me still that pundits, pols, Villagers – oh yes, definitely the Villagers – are still breaking so much wind about “analyzing” Trump’s plans and goals.

    He has no plans. He has no goals beyond the further aggrandizement of Donald J. Trump. There is no possibility of the long-awaited “pivot”, because there are no policy goals beyond those of congressional Republicans. He has no thought patterns to analyze other than his need for for approval and applause, which makes his ridiculous cabinet meeting quite understandable. The only constant about Trump is his narcissism.

    Detest David Brooks I do – loathe would probably be a better word. His own detestation of Trump is quite understandable also; Trump makes things so difficult for professional Republican apologists! But every so often he does get off a good line:

    We’ve got this perverse situation in which the vast analytic powers of the entire world are being spent trying to understand a guy whose thoughts are often just six fireflies beeping randomly in a jar.

    And in charge of the world’s largest nuclear arsenal to boot, not to mention the most powerful surveillance machine on earth.

  101. 101.

    MCA1

    @Wag: I hope Mueller’s got the phone of every staffer close to Sessions tapped this evening, too, to see who attempts to tip him off for what’s coming his way tomorrow.

  102. 102.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @TriassicSands:

    We’ve gotten to the point here in the US where a takeover like that of Germany in the thirties is entirely possible.

    Seriously dude, were did Hilter have the backing of the Russians? You can’t lead a conservative revolution to take the country back as a sock puppet of another nation. Shit like the Nazis comes with the reaction to Trump.

  103. 103.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @efgoldman:

    I can get a Captain of the Pinafore suit from Siubhan Duinne.

    And a right good Captain of the Pinafore suit too!

  104. 104.

    tobie

    @Chet Murthy: McConnell obviously knows all the levers to pull in the Senate. Is he brilliant, though? I’d prefer to say ruthless and craven. He believes in nothing but power and is willing to destroy everything, including his own institution, to keep it. It’s really hard to know how to deal with someone who is willing to blow up everything to get his way. I guess this makes McConnell something of a suicide bomber when it comes to the Senate.

  105. 105.

    Chet Murthy

    @Lavocat: This is an enormously rich country. With a ton of arms all over. And split (so it seems) down the middle, population-wise, on these deeply divisive issues. Do you -want- us to end up like Syria (or Bosnia)? B/c that’s where we’re headed. So no, you DO NOT want this to be fought in the streets, forcing everyone to take sides.

    Oh, and by the time it’s over, think of all the capital (as in buildings, physical plant) that’ll be wrecked. The carrying capacity of the country will be vastly diminished. More poverty, more deaths.

  106. 106.

    jl

    @burnspbesq: Where in my comment did I assert that the poll was evidence that an impeachment would happen?

    Maybe you missed it, but I added an edit to indicate that I thought the poll was interesting because it indicated the degree of polarization in public opinion.

  107. 107.

    Adam L Silverman

    @efgoldman: There is a difference here. The first is that Rogers is serving uniformed military. You want them serving regardless of who is elected and from what party. The second is that his current assignment is a carryover. As are all the Geographic Combatant Commanders, Service Component Commanders, Major Command Commanders, Marine Expeditionary Force Commanders, Corps Commanders, Division Commanders, Fleet Commanders, etc. Even the commands that have turned over in the past few months are the result of selection boards and staffing decisions made/started before he was elected or inaugurated.

  108. 108.

    sukabi

    @Mike in DC: aaaaaannnnnndd be banned from EVER participating in government, lobbying, punditfying on tv, radio or internet…

    Sick of republican criminals (North, Liddy, Libby, ECT.) Being “rehabbed” to continue shutting in the public square.

  109. 109.

    TriassicSands

    @danielx:

    He has no plans. He has no goals beyond the further aggrandizement of Donald J. Trump.

    I’d take exception to that. Aggrandizement has to share the stage with enrichment. I couldn’t begin to guess which is number one. They may just be opposite sides of the same coin to Trump.

  110. 110.

    Chet Murthy

    @burnspbesq: @ArchTeryx: More importantly, and b/c you’ve brought it up on this blog, AT, you *depend* on the existence of a modern medical system for survival. Every diabetic who needs insulin, same thing. Every HIV-positive American, same thing. And it goes on and on. They’re all dead, if a hot civil war gets going. We -all- need for this to be resolved peacefully.

  111. 111.

    jl

    @Adam L Silverman: I thought Cole got you front posters a home version of the BJ commenter game so you could practice and understand the moves. Gripe, counsel despair and panic, suggest nothing constructive to prevent the most dire fever dreams one repeatedly advertises, obessively grind axes, ride hobby horses, and never ever abandon grudges, for they are holy.

  113. 113.

    Chet Murthy

    @tobie:

    “When you surround the enemy
    Always allow them an escape route.
    They must see that there is
    An alternative to death.”
    —Sun Tzu, The Art of War, Cloud Hands edition

    I have to believe that McC will see an escape route, and will not decide to become a Constitutional suicide bomber. And as much as I hate it, if the Dems decide to give him a “get out of jail free” card as that escape route, I’ll have to support it.

  114. 114.

    danielx

    @jl:

    …never ever abandon grudges, for they are holy.

    Yes, they are. Hold grudges until they die, then have them stuffed and mounted. I’m still of the opinion that tar and feathers are a damn sight too good for that miserable narcissistic sonofabitch Ralph Nader, for example.

  116. 116.

    jl

    @Adam L Silverman: I’ll email you my copy. It’s autographed by Cole himself, back when he issued us all punches in the neck on a regular basis.

    Cole’s gone soft is the problem Now he is happy with a home and edging toward happy family life. Writes thoughtful posts and stuff.
    Cole, Make Ballon-Juice Great Again! (MBJGA!). I’ll buy a MBJGA! hat if you make them.
    Some of these dang kids these commenting these days need some internet punches in the neck.

  117. 117.

    efgoldman

    @jl:

    and never ever abandon grudges, for they are holy.

    Sorry, but you don’t know from grudges. My mother carried grudges to her grave (in 2011, at 93) from before she was born (1917). and probably before her mother was born.
    Now them’s some grudges.

  120. 120.

    jl

    @Chet Murthy:

    ” Always allow them an escape route. ”

    Sometimes wisdom is of no use, even from one of history’s greatest of wise men.
    Master Tzu makes assumptions that may not always hold.
    That one’s opponent has the wit and wisdom to seek an escape route.
    That one’s opponent sees any defeat, no matter how small, as worse then death.
    That one’s own death and/or defeat is all that matters.

    Probably those apply to Trump, Not sure about McConnell.

  122. 122.

    jl

    @efgoldman: Ha, you don’t know the Swiss-German side of my family. Sounds like we would have a close contest.

    BTW, you sure you are Jewish and not Swiss-German?
    (I’m guessing Appenzeller)

  123. 123.

    joel hanes

    @Adam L Silverman

    despite where they work, especially the former, non-partisan

    You cannot work where Mann and Ornstein have worked, done what they have done, written what they have written, and not have supported Republicanism in some of its most problematic aspects.
    The long-time friend and supporter of my enemy will never actually be my friend.

    Always exceptung John Cole, the notably rare exception that proves* every rule.

    —
    where “proves” is here used to mean “provides a crucial and illuminating test case for”,]
    or in far less words,”challenges”

  124. 124.

    Chet Murthy

    @jl: I can’t believe I’m writing this, but:

    “I think I’m expecting more intelligence, more strategy, more wit and wisdom, from Mitch”.

    B/c evil != stupid.

    But I could be wrong.

  125. 125.

    efgoldman

    @jl:

    you sure you are Jewish and not Swiss-German?

    Positive.
    And I haven’t even mentioned mrs efg’s Italian side. Including the cousins who owned a little sub shop, but always drove brand new Cadillacs (except the son, who always had a new Vette).

  128. 128.

    efgoldman

    @Chet Murthy:

    B/c evil != stupid.

    Yertle McTurtle is a lot of things, very few of them good, but stupid ain’t among ’em.
    He’s already 75, and he’s due again in 2020 (he’ll be 78). One wonders how long he can hang on, especially if it looks like he took or spread around Russian money.

  129. 129.

    Adam L Silverman

    @jl: Who is Master Tzu? Lao Tzu? Kun Fu Tzu? Men Tzu? Sun Tzu?

    If you’re referring to Sifu Sun from the Bin Fa literature/tradition than it is Sun not Tzu.

  130. 130.

    jl

    @Chet Murthy:

    I meant to type:
    ” That one’s opponent sees any defeat, no matter how small, as NOT worse then death. ”

    If Putin has goods on people like McConnell, might not be sexy time or personal corruption. May be something that would destroy him electorally*.
    If Putin has gotten close to the key to manipulating elections in the US, he probably wants to use that tool Extinguishing democracy too quickly might not be the best plan. Afterall, Putin still has ‘elections’

    *though he is so damn old, why would he care so much? Well, they are sick in the head, some of them. If the McCain and spouses recent political wrangles are a scheme to keep McCain family in power until McCain is on his death bed, McCain has become sick in the head that way too.

  132. 132.

    Adam L Silverman

    @joel hanes: Mann and Ornstein are the preeminent public scholars of Congress. If anything they’ve been far, far harder on Republicans than Democrats since the late 00s.

  133. 133.

    efgoldman

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Must have been some really good sandwiches.

    Great big fancy house on the shore, too. And they had a “driver” with them all the time, who looked like he chewed granite for fun.
    I don’t think they ever got caught. I expect they reported their actual income on their 1040 pretty closely.

  136. 136.

    Adam L Silverman

    @jl: I figured, but not everyone is as familiar with either Taoism in general or the Bin Fa literature in specific.

    Also, I forgot Chuang Tzu. Didn’t meant to leave him out.

  139. 139.

    bemused senior

    From the Hill: The Senate has clinched a wide-ranging bipartisan agreement to slap new financial penalties on Russia and limit President Trump’s ability to lift sanctions without giving Congress a chance to weigh in.

    “It’s as comprehensive as we could make it, and it’s going to be a very good piece of legislation,” Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) told reporters on Monday night, shortly after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) formally filed the deal.

    The agreement imposes new sanctions including “malicious cyber activity” on behalf of Moscow, individuals supplying weapons to Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government or individuals tied to Russia’s intelligence and defense sectors.

  140. 140.

    Fair Economist

    Vicious and evil as McConnell is, I never thought he was the kind to sell his country down the river as he has been during this. I could have misjudged him – perhaps he lacks any redeeming qualities – but I think the Russians have something on him. Something big.

  141. 141.

    TS

    @Mary G:

    I’ve got a giant video ad right in the middle of this post: Leaked video will ruin Obama, watch his guilty face at 0:33.” So much wrong, Sad!

    While talking about trump’s money making ventures re his hotels and resorts, Joe of the morning & his sidekick got started on Bill Clinton getting paid more for his speeches after Hillary became SoS. Both sides.

  144. 144.

    patroclus

    Mann and Ornstein are old breed Villagers – generally even-handed analysts of Congressional and legislative maneuvering who, up til about a decade ago, assumed the good faith of all actors, who analyzed and criticized the actual policy substance of legislative policy proposals and tried to predict the actual outcomes of whatever policy emerged. They were crosses between moderate/conservative Dems and moderate/liberal Republicans and generally played to the center left and the center right. The rise of the nihilistic Republicans who are solely into obtaining and exercising power regardless of ideology or belief and contemptuous of serious policy-making has left both of them aghast and grasping for continued relevancy. They are both now quite critical of Republicans but their criticism doesn’t really have the effect that they want or that it used to have. If anything, they should have reacted more quickly than they did – back in the late 80’s and through the 90’s it might have made more of a difference than it does now. The fundamental reality is that the Republicans don’t really care about good policy any more; they don’t care about democratic norms, the regular order of legislation or useful debate. That’s what Mann and Ornstein are good at – in Republican-dominated eras, it just doesn’t matter anymore. In their world, no President would ever even consider firing a FBI director or a special counsel – to do so would be a cataclysm.

  145. 145.

    Adam L Silverman

    @patroclus: Part of the problem is that after their first article, followed quickly by their first book, placing appropriate blame with significant documentation on the GOP they immediately ceased to be booked by any news, news commentary, and/or political commentary show on broadcast TV. And in short order this also became the reality for them on the cable news networks. Without access to those outlets their reach, and therefore the ability to get their message out and have it penetrate into the prevailing narratives, became greatly diminished.

    And with that I’m to bed.

  146. 146.

    dogwood

    @patroclus:
    They wrote “Its Worse Than You Think” a few years ago. A pointed indictment of the Republican Party. And were never invited on the Sunday shows or cable shows to discuss their analysis. I read it; it was good but not surprising since I knew how bad things were. These are the bipartisan analysts that media should be using to inform Americans of the truth. Instead “fair and balanced” now means give a platform to Alex Jones, and Jeffrey Lord and call that “balanced”.

  147. 147.

    Ruckus

    @Fair Economist:
    He has obtained a lot of power by being a rather conservative asshole and going with most every republican idea. I’d expect him to shoot someone on 5th right after dumpf, just to show his support. IOW he is exactly what you should expect him to be, nothing more, nothing less. Not an honorable man, not in any way.

  148. 148.

    dogwood

    @patroclus:
    Speaking of “old breed villagers”, that’s a term that fits Comey and Mueller as well. It’s why the Comey firing got so much flack from the media. And firing Mueller would result in even more outrage from the Villagers. Leon Panetta is another one of those guys. Former congressman Lee Hamilton fits the bill as well.

  150. 150.

    Anne Laurie

    @Mnemosyne:

    I suspect that McConnell is compromised by the Russians and has been for a long time, whether he realizes it or not.

    Prob’ly not McConnell — he’s got no higher ambition than his current job, we’re told — but his wife Elaine Chao, who is Trump’s Transportation Secretary, has been given some political side-eye for her family’s international shipping company. Mitch has every (C.R.E.A.M.) reason *not* to want anyone poking around the Chao’s Taiwan/PRC ties, and of course doing such kompromat would be pretty standard for Putin’s people, nyet?

  151. 151.

    TenguPhule

    @Lavocat:

    Bring. It. On.

    If you would venture into the abyss, at least do so knowing what horrors await you within it.

    Otherwise, you’re just writing checks you have no intentions of cashing.

  152. 152.

    moops

    @Anne Laurie:

    I suspect McConnell’s wife is the reason that privatizing the air traffic control system is the first major symbolic legislation Trump is pushing forward. ATC is under the DOT, which Trump put McConnell’s wife in charge of. that old Heritage Foundation c__t is aching to put the that peach into private hands for a big payout on the other end.

    PRC contacts? maybe…

  157. 157.

    Amusing Ourselves to Death

    He’ll do it. A couple of just like watergate thumbsuckers will be published and then nothing will happen. The election is over and we lost. Get that thru your thick skulls. They won’t take on their own team. No rules no shame.

  159. 159.

    J R in WV

    @InternetDragons:

    Thank you for posting this. I was a young child, tween I guess, when that particular atrocity was committed. There were so many from 1955-1970 that it’s difficult to keep them all ordered in my memory. Even the names blur together.

    I will never forget the night that Bobby Kennedy was killed, after winning the California Primary, in the kitchen of his CA HQ hotel, now torn down IIRC. I was a freshman in college, at a relatively liberal small college in Carlyle, Pa. There was an unanimous groan of despair when the news came over the small TV in the lounge, where we had to go to see TV.

    After so many political and white supremacy murders for the past 20 years, including Bobby’s own brother, and our brother Martin Luther King Jr. It was sort of a final blow for many of us.

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